Chapters The Encounter (Sunset PoV)
She touched him. It was only a brief moment, but for her, it lasted an eternity. Something was different about this time. Something felt… wrong. She stopped in her tracks; she did not recognize him. He was different from the others. She needed to know what had caused this. She gave chase and caught up to him after some time. She grabbed at him, but soon let go as her mind was barraged with the utter nothingness that consumed his soul. As she braved the nothingness, she embraced him. He shivered and stopped. She felt him go cold at the contact. He turned his head to meet her gaze. His eyes were grey, he did not bother to speak. He could not speak, there was nothing to say. No one else would understand him. As she let go, he continued his journey without a second thought, wasting no time putting distance between the two. Not even glancing back.
When he was gone, she sat there in silence, thinking over the day’s events. The man appeared normal, but the geode around her neck gave her a power that few could comprehend and that power usually gave her access to their inner thoughts. But this man seemingly had none. His mind was blank, not even the hint of anything within him. This scared her. To think that someone was at such a low point in their life that they no longer thought. What kind of torment would someone have to endure to experience such nothingness and seemingly be content? She was curious but ultimately decided that curiosity killed the cat, as it were; at least for the moment.
She decided to consult her friends on the matter. Surely, they could help her decide what to do. She knew she should not just leave him alone. She would set out to look for him, later. She met up with her friends at the old haunt. This was always where they met for important decisions, but it was cozy enough to just hang out as well. It was one of the few places She felt at home in this world.
She sat at her usual booth after texting her friends to meet her and that it was urgent. She had a bad feeling about this but knew none of the others would understand. After all, all her friends were The Aspects of Friendship. But her ability was more special. She saw raw emotion, or at least she would if it had been there.
Her friends burst in, they looked as though they had been running. They all bent over, hands on knees, huffing for air. When they had regained their breath, they sat down and addressed the girl who had been waiting for them. “Hey, Sunset. We got your message. What’s up?” They all asked.
“I have a bad feeling…” she began. She had to start at the beginning though. She knew they knew about her power, but she had to tell them of her experience with the man. So, she continued. “This morning, I met a man-”
Sunset’s facial expression remained somber. “No, this time things were different. He wasn’t like you or me. Something was wrong. When he brushed past me, I looked into his mind…” She paused. The others looked at her questioningly.
“What’s so wrong about that? You do it to us all the time.” Applejack said.
“I saw….” She shuttered at the thought. “I saw nothing . His mind was completely empty. It was a vast blackness with no trace of happiness or light.” The others looked at her, mouths dropped open in awe. This was certainly alarming. Never before had they seen anyone with nothing in their mind.
This encounter deeply moved the girls and they all made up their minds to try and find this strange, broken, lonely man to try and help him. Sunset had found her first friendship problem. Twilight would be proud. Or would she? Maybe Sunset had been the cause of this from back when she used to rule much of this little piece of the world in her stupid attempt at greatness. Maybe he was one of the people she used to bully and she had taken it too far with him. But he did not seem to recognize her, so maybe she was overthinking everything.
Fluttershy had taken this new knowledge pretty hard. Knowing there was someone that she did not know who needed desperately to be shown kindness and having no way to reach them except through blind luck. She would not have that. She set out to search. But where do you look for a man you know nothing about? Who most likely had no friends of his own and therefore no reason to go anywhere but his home or maybe the grocery store for food? The grocery store was probably her safest bet to find this man, though she knew she could be camping that spot for days if not a week before he showed up. The only other spot that everyone in the city visited on a weekly basis was the Sweets Shoppe. But Pinkie worked there every day, so that base was as covered as it could get. The other girls would no doubt have their own places they would check. There was a small fear that started nagging at Fluttershy: is she doing enough for this new person? Could she be doing more?
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Inside the Mind of the Mindless (Strange Man PoV)
He had awoken in a place he knew well. He had slept here all night. He cursed under his breath. "Damn her. Why did she have to be like that?!" He kicked the wall with a thud that reverberated through the halls of the library. He didn’t have the heart to go home anymore. Too many things to remind him of Her. Of what she had done. This betrayal will fade with time . He thought. After everything he had done to make their relationship a reality, he could not face what she had done. Everything had been a lie. Every word from her silver tongue. Every one of her lies he tried so desperately to believe. All he needed was something to hold onto. Anything to hold onto. But there was nothing left. The truth always finds a way out. Every lie will crumble eventually.
He was unsure what to trust anymore. Everything he had built his life around, the fortress with high walls of steel around his mind and heart had been built atop quicksand that had appeared as concrete. She was the firm foundation that he built his happiness around. Pleasing her was all he had ever wanted to do. Why had things gone so wrong?
It’s not that he didn't try to get out more and try again. It was more that he realized the futility in such actions because they have always ended the same way and gave him more PTSD than anything else.
He had been walking in thought, he bumped into something… more specifically someone . He recognized her: Sunset Shimmer. He felt something invade his mind and watched her expressions change from shock to confusion to fear. It did not take a genius to know that it was probably here presence he was feeling. Though he was not totally sure how this was possible. All he knew was he had to get out of here. This would get awkward if she were allowed to ask questions. No one needed to worry about him. He was nothing to anyone. Even those who promised to stay by his side were nowhere to be found. Anyone he ever talked to just told him what they thought he wanted to hear.
So, he ran off. Anywhere to put distance between him and the potentially unending barrage of questions from her and the others. No doubt, if he was caught by one of them, the rest would soon follow. He had had enough torment for one day.
He put the hood of his hoodie on and disappeared into the crowd of people. Hoping to make a clean getaway.
He knew that he was no longer safe around town. They would surely be looking for him. He knew they needed another body to parade around town like they had done with Sunset for oh so long after her supposed reformation after the Fall Formal. But, anyone could see, that at least back then, they were not really her friends. They just liked the confidence boost that their power over her provided. But lately, they had seemed to make their relationships more real. So, maybe he had been reading all of this wrong and should at least talk to Sunset. Surely she would be able to understand his predicament with friendship and whatever else he had been feeling recently. He had never been good with explaining his feelings, but he knew he needed help. The one thing that no one teaches you in school id how to seek help in non-academic subjects. Normally, you would ask your friends; and he would if he had any left. They had all abandoned him. No one else seemed to care. But maybe she would be worth giving a chance.
He decided to write a letter to Sunset and leave it in her locker. Just a short letter and leave it unsigned telling her to come alone to meet him after school. He just prayed she would actually be alone. He knew her friends would be curious though, so he expected them to come regardless.
Sunset walked to her locker after classes were over for the day. As soon as her locker opened, a note fell out. She noticed it and picked it up. She was rather nervous reading it over. It was highly unusual for anyone to want to meet with her alone after school. Maybe this is a prank? she thought, "maybe someone has it out for me?" She followed the letter, neglecting to mention it to the others, only telling them that she had something to take care of after school and she would meet them at the old hangout after she was finished. They had not questioned her further.
Sunset arrived at the location the letter had mentioned and there seemed to be no one around. Then she spotted a boy in a hoodie. He motioned to her and she drew near. "Where are the others?" he questioned. "Around a corner somewhere waiting for their time to pounce?" he asked. She shook her head.
"I came alone. I did not even mention that I was meeting you to the girls. They are at the Sweet Shoppe waiting for me." Sunset said.
The man seemed surprised. She had actually done as he had asked? Maybe she was trustworthy after all.
Maybe this whole friendship thing was something that could actually work. That was a chance he was a little more than scared to make though.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" She already had an idea what he would say, but she let him say it on his own time. It is never good to make others rush into things. It might scare them off. She knew he would probably ask her about friendship or something like that.
She waited for his response. When he said nothing, she looked at him worried. Then, she was quite surprised. He was... hugging her? What had she done to merit that? Little did she know, she had not known much, but she did show that there was someone who genuinely cared for him. He began to tear up. These were not tears of the hurt he had endured his entire life, these tears were not the abandonment issues or the brokenheartedness that he had felt. These were genuinely happy tears. Something he had not had in, well it must have been years.
"Would the others act the same?" he questioned in a slightly worried tone. She responded with a happy nod.
"Would you like to actually meet them? If you know me, then I am sure you know them, but you probably only know what everyone else knows, so would you be interested in going to the Sweet Shoppe with me?" She finally asked after a brief happy silence between them.
The strange man started to laugh a little. "Asking me on a date already? Little early for that don't ya think?" Sunset blushed immediately as she registered what she had just said to the man.
"That's not the way I meant it, but I'm not opposed to the idea if you would be interested in it," she said winking.
With that, they talked and had a few laughs on their way to meet the others. Surely they would be worried. She had been gone for nearly two hours.
The doorbell (still a physical bell because of how long the Sweet Shoppe had been here) to the Sweet Shoppe rang and the other girls looked surprised to see Sunset with a boy on her arm. "Hey, girls," She said, "Dory, this is Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight." She gestured to each with their names. They all said their hello's and sat down.
Rainbow, being the queen of rude questions, asked if the two of them were dating or something similar. Dory just blushed and Sunset denied it. Okay, Dory thought, good to know where we stand with each other. Throughout the rest of the questioning and the extensive storytelling Dory was giving them, Sunset's arm never left his side. It felt like she was trying to prove a point to him. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he had always thought. He had no idea why he was so comfortable telling them all about his life. The life that he swore he would keep hidden from others because no one was trustworthy anymore. But then again, Applejack was the Element of Honesty, she would probably ask more questions if he had just made his whole story up and starting off lying to potential friends was never a good opener. If they could not trust him to be honest now, how would they know he was sincere any time down the road?