Sparkle and Flame

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to Equestria with us for now, Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sure, Twilight. Besides, I have a place where I can lay low for a while.” Sunset said.

“Well, in that case, me and Rainbow Dash will stay around and investigate this Anon-A-Miss person. We both have a good clue as to who it is, we just need to glue the clues we can find.”

“Yeah, and when we find the culprits, they’ll wish they haven’t messed with you!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“And don’t worry about us not having this world’s currency, me and Rainbow took care of that while we looked for you at the mall.” Twilight showed Sunset a few hundred dollars on hand, which caused the fiery haired girl to snicker.

“Let me guess, you pawned a few bits? Very clever, Twilight, even for me.”

Twilight and Rainbow pulled Sunset in for a group hug, before letting go and saying their goodbyes for now, with the duo staying at a nearby Hotel that will serve as their Resting Place. Sunset’s phone vibrated, checking it to see that Sci-Twi’s been calling her for the past five minutes.

“Hello?”

“Sunset! Are you okay!? I was worried when you didn’t came back an hour earlier! Please tell me you’re not in trouble!”

“No, Twilight, I’m not. I’ll explain later, but can you pick me up? I’m at the entrance of Canterlot Mall. I got the groceries that you asked for.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.” Sci-Twi hanged up, leaving Sunset alone with her thoughts.

As she sat down by the entrance bench, Sunset thought about the misfortunes she had to endure this past week. What started as a happy Slumber Party, it all went downhill when Anon-A-Miss started to post pictures and secrets that only she and the girls shared in private. Her friends were quick to point fingers and accuse her as Anon-A-Miss, that she went back to her old ways by stealing secrets and exposing them to the internet.

Worse, she was shunned by the very same people she could count on whenever danger grabs hold of her. She felt betrayed when they didn’t lift a finger or raised their voices in protest when Gilda beat her to a bloody pulp back in the Cafeteria. Thinking about these things, Sunset can’t help but start to sob uncontrollably. “Why, why am I cursed to be shunned like this…?”

Minutes later, Sci-Twi arrived by the mall entrance, only to be introduced to a sobbing Sunset Shimmer by the bench. Quickly unbuckling her seatbelt and locking the car doors, she ran to where Sunset is and embraced her. “T-T-Twilight…? Is t-that you..?” Sunset stammered.

“It’s me, Sunset. What’s wrong?” She took a closer look at Sunset’s face and gasped at what she’s seen. “What happened to your face, Sunset!? Who did this to you!?” Twilight asked as her cheeks turned red out of anger.

“I-It’s nothing, Twi…”

“It IS something, Sunset! Please, tell me who did this to you…”

Sunset sighed, and took a deep breath. “It’s a student named Gilda. She nearly beat me to a bloody pulp if it weren’t for someone stepping in to save me…”

The name rings a bell in Twilight’s mind. If she can recall, there was a student named Gilda that got expelled from Crystal Prep because of her bullying and late remarks. Remembering this, Twilight can’t contain her anger anymore and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing, Twi?”

“Calling my brother. He’s a policeman, I’ll be filing charges for assault against Gilda.”

“No!” That left Twilight confused. “I mean, no, you shouldn’t. I fear that Gilda would just hunt me down for it if the charges failed to see daylight.”

“Absolutely not, Sunset! I don’t want that bully to hurt you, or worse! I'm worried for what she'll do to you!” She sighed, and helped Sunset with the groceries. “I’ll have a talk with Shining later, but for now, we should get you home and have those bruises treated. I appreciate you buying groceries for me. Though, next time, I’ll come along now that I know leaving you alone wasn’t a good idea after all.”

Sunset chuckled softly, and smiled. “Thanks, Twilight, and don’t mention it. It’s what friends do for each other. I’m just glad she didn’t spoiled most of the foodstuffs I bought, except for a few bottles of milk.”

Putting in the groceries inside the car trunk, both girls left the mall. “So, Sunset… I had a talk with my dad over the phone a few hours ago. It’s about you.”

Sunset smiled nervously, “And what did he say?”

“He’s okay with you staying at our home as well. In fact, I think Cadence would’ve liked you if she were to drop by with my brother.”

“That’s… that’s great. Thanks, Twi. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it, Sunset. I wouldn’t want you to stay in that derelict house.”

Once they arrived safely at home, Twilight treated Sunset’s bruises. To the fiery haired girl, she has never felt this loved before her time with Celestia. She figures that if she can sow the trust with this world’s Twilight, then she won’t have to worry about anything else.

For Twilight, she feels the need to help the poor girl. Not only is she homeless, but bullied as well for some reason. It made her furious to find out that Gilda’s been picking on students such as herself. Nevertheless, Twilight will do her best to keep Sunset safe.

“Feeling better?”

Sunset looked up at Twilight, before taking a look at the mirror to check her face. “Yeah. I feel much better now that the bruises have been taken care of. Thanks, Twi.”

“You’re welcome. So, what do you want for dinner? Mom’s cooking Beef Lasagna tonight, which is my favorite!”

“Yeah, I’d love that very much.” For sunset, eating meat is frowned upon the lands of Equestria, only reserved to dragons. Yet when she arrived in this world, she learned to adapt to this world’s diet that consisted of vegetables and meat. At first, she was disgusted but as time goes by, she’s learned to stomach the idea of eating cooked meat.

Twilight squealed in excitement. She hasn’t shared her favorite meal in a long time, and to share it with Sunset made the bookworm express her excitement.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash have booked a 1 Queen Sized bedroom at Canterlot’s finest hotel. Rainbow took the time to rest by the bed after taking a shower, while Twilight pinned various pictures on the board.

“Twilight, are you sure that this world’s CMC’s behind Anon-A-Miss?”

“I’m not sure, Rainbow. Yet I have a suspicion that we’re dealing with a Gabby Gums situation here, only this time at a much worse scale.”

Rainbow closed the book she’s been reading and embraced Twilight from behind. “You need to chill down for a bit, Twi. You might pop a vein if you keep stressing yourself out.”

Twilight nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek, “I know you mean well Rainbow, but the sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. Sunset’s name is in peril and I intend to prove that she is innocent. For now, we start with the bottom up to the top. Our first suspects, Trixie and Micro Chips.

“Trixie and Micro Chips? Why start with them?”

“They’re one of the students that hated Sunset’s guts when she was still a bully, and besides, it’s logical to start at the bottom of an investigation list, that way we can sweep away other suspects as we move up. Sure, the CMC’s are our biggest suspicions, but we cannot rule out the possibility that other students could be Anon-A-Miss as well.”

“Yeaaah, you have a point there. Continue.”

“From what I’ve heard, Trixie’s magical shows have been sabotaged by Sunset a few years ago, and Micro Chips have been in the bad end of Sunset’s quest for lunch money. I theorize that these two may be in cahoots as Anon-A-Miss, a form of revenge against Sunset despite her turning over a new leaf.

“Well, I don’t know about Micro Chips, but Trixie I can guess she’s bent on revenge if Sunset did do those things in the past.”

“Correct. So, we start by questioning these two students tomorrow morning. As for the honesty problem, I-” Twilight is interrupted with a few knocks on the door. She opened the door to see Applejack standing in front of them.

“Applejack, what are you doing here? How did you find us?” Twilight sternly asked.

“I followed you. Look, Twilight, Ah’m sorry about the words I said yesterday about Sunset. I’ve had… a nightmare. Perhaps a vision if you call it, telling me that Sunset’s innocent.”

“I’m listening.” Twilight gestured Applejack to come in, closing the door behind them.

“Oh, hey AJ. What are you doing here?” Rainbow glared at the human counterpart.

“Rainbow, shush. Applejack here has some explaining to do.”

“For a good while, I’ve pondered about what Ah’ve dreamt about and to be honest, if Ma and Pa were still here and not working in the west coast, they would’ve definitely give me an earful about not using my Trait of Honesty, especially to a friend who pleaded innocence.”

Applejack wiped away a stray tear from her cheek, “What Ah’m saying is, I want to help you. I want to give Sunset a benefit of the doubt just like before. Since Ah heard much about your investigation plans, I reckoned I’d join in and help you out. Tell you if someone’s telling the truth or not.”

She then extended her right arm for Twilight to shake, “So, what do you say, Twi? Friends once more?”

Twilight stared at Applejack’s hand for a while, before pulling her for an embrace instead of shaking her hand with Rainbow joining in. “Of course, Applejack. Friends once more.”