Sunset's Wonderful Life

by sonicfan05

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Drama, Original Character, Equestria Girls, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Slice of Life
Length: 65586

After the event at the school went wrong due to her past, Sunset wishes that she was never born. A mysterous teenaged girl, who claimed to be her gaurdian angel, showed Sunset what the world and her friends would be like without her.

WARNING: There are major spoilers in the comment section. You have been warned!

After some time of turning over a new leaf, Sunset was happy with her life. She gained new friends, slowly winning over the students at CHS and became the protector of the human world alongside her friends against any rouge magic and creatures. She wanted to give back to everyone by becoming the head director of the Christmas party and Toys for Kids Festival at the school on Christmas Eve.

But when the events of the party and festival went wrong due to her past, Sunset was down on her dumps after she was blamed for the disaster and felt like she had ruined her friends lives because of her. Just when she was about to give up on everything, a mysterious teenaged girl, who claimed to be her guardian angel, showed Sunset what the world and her friends would be like without her.

This is an Equestria Girls take of an ever so beloved classic Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life!

FEATURED: 3/20/20 - Wow! Thank you all so much! :twilightsmile:

This story now has a Spanish translation by Arthor2017 :raritystarry:

And on a Tv Tropes page! :scootangel:

Published 2019-12-14 22:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-03-20 21:54:47 UTC

2. The Setback

A few weeks have passed since the announcement and it was early morning on Christmas Eve. Normally, Sunset isn't a morning person and preferred to sleep in, but because of school and that she was required to arrive early due to her duties as the head director, she has no choice. Speaking of which, being the director of the Festival was admittedly… challenging for Sunset. Aside that she had to up earlier in the mornings than usual, the job was very daunting. She had to be involved in everything when it comes to running a Toys for Kids Festival and Christmas party; the planning, the music, the seating, the organization. the decorations, you name it. Sunset almost wished she took Pinkie’s offer to help her out since this was her expertise. Sunset would often get stressed and exhausted with every day's work, but if it means to give back to her friends, help the children and for everyone to have fun time will be worth it to her.

Sunset was walking down her neighborhood towards her school in her winter gear as normal. Halfway there, she spotted her familiar friend with purple hair with a pink stripe and glasses that Sunset knew and loved.

"Good morning Twilight!" Sunset greeted with a warm smile.

Twilight turned to Sunset. "Oh… morning Sunset," she said somberly.

Sunset immediately frowned. Ever since the Friendship Games, she and Twilight started walking to school together in the mornings and sometimes back home together as well. Having a one-on-one conversation with Twilight is always her favorite part of the day. They would talk about everything from Sunset's life in Equestria to about every topic they come up with. She even liked to listen to Twilight's ongoing rant about everything she learned or discovered. She thought the way Twilight talked so much like an excited child always warmed her heart, especially seeing a smile on her friend's face. But this was the first to see Twilight looked so gloomy and quiet. And her friend's behavior alone really concerned the former unicorn.

"Are... you okay?" Sunset asked gently.

"O-oh yeah! I'm fine Sunset," Twilight responded with a forced smile on her face.

Sunset cocked her eyebrow, clearly not buying her friend's answer. "No offense Twilight, but you don't look fine."

"I'm telling you Sunset, I'm fine!" Twilight responded with some aggravation.

Sunset placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "You know you can always talk to me if you're--"

Twilight stopped walking, shrugged Sunset's hand off her shoulder and turned towards Sunset with an angry expression.

"I said I'm fine Sunset, okay!?" Twilight shouted.

Sunset flinched. Twilight never yelled at her like that before. She didn't know what was wrong with Twilight, but she feared that she upset her further. After seeing her friend's hurt expression, Twilight immediately felt guilty for acting so aggressive to someone so caring who was worried about her.

"I'm… I'm so sorry Sunset!" Twilight said sadly, not looking directly at Sunset. "I-I didn't mean to--"

Twilight then felt Sunset touched her cheek and gently turned her head towards her, who had a caring and understanding expression.

"No no, I get it Twilight," Sunset said gently. "I shouldn't have been so pushy. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. But I'm here for you if you wanted to talk about it, okay?"

Twilight smiled, glad that she didn't damage her friendship with Sunset. "Thanks Sunset. And I'm sorry again for snapping at you like that."

Sunset smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said as they resumed walking.

As they are heading towards the school, Twilight still felt bad for yelling at Sunset. After a few minutes of silence, Twilight decided to bring up a topic.

“So… how are things as the head director Sunset?”

"Busy!" Sunset responded with a chuckle. "I thought my brain is going to explode after last night. But at least the setup is almost done, just in time for the opening of the festival."

Twilight gave her friend her sympathetic look. "You know, we can help you finish the job much faster if you let us."

"Thanks but I got this," Sunset assured. "Besides, you all helped enough with the toy donations for the kids. Baked goods and animals in Pinkie and Fluttershy's case."

Twilight grinned. "Well with you running it, I have a feeling that it was going to be a great party!"

“Or ‘awesome’ as Rainbow puts it!” Sunset added.

The two laughed at their own joke as they finally made it to the entrance of CHS. They were just entering the hallway to get to their lockers when they run into their Vice Principal Luna. They frowned when they saw a serious look on their Vice Principal’s face.

“Sunset, Twilight. I’ve been waiting for you,” She stated.

The two teens looked at each other with confused expressions before facing their Vice Principal again.

“Um… hello Vice Principal Luna? Did we do something wrong?” Sunset asked.

Vice Principal Luna sighed. “No but… it involves you and your friends. We have a serious situation.”

“What kind of situation?” Twilight asked.

“...I’m afraid this is something my sister could answer,” Luna answered. “Please follow me!” She requested as she turned and heading towards the Principal’s Office.

The two girls are now nervous from their Vice Principal’s statement as they followed her. Sunset was wondering what could that possibly be? Yet another Equestian Magic on the loose? Someone possessed another artifact from Equestria? An evil monster invading their world again? Each possible scenario made Sunset more and more nervous and Luna’s silence didn’t help much.

So much for no trouble around the holidays.

They eventually made it to the Principal's Office door and Luna opened it, gesturing the two teens inside first. When they both entered, they were shocked to discover not only Principal Celestia was waiting for them, but every single one of their friends were waiting for them too. Whatever was going on can’t be any good if the Principals called them all in to their office.

“Sunset? Twilight? Wat is going on here?” Applejack questioned. “Why are we all called in? None of the Principals are tellin us why?”

“How should I know Applejack?” Sunset responded. “Twi and I are just as much in the dark as you are!”

Before they could argue further, Principal Celestia cleared her throat. “I’m very sorry to dragged you all here on such notice, but we have a bit of a situation.”

“That’s what your sister said,” said Sunset in her annoyed tone. “But she never mentioned what that “situation” was!”

“Sunset, you are in charge of setting up the Toys for Kids Festival and the Christmas Party, yes?” Celestia asked calmly.

Sunset blinked, then nodded with a concerned look. “Y-yeah, I am. Why?”

Celestia sighed. “Last night… something happened to the gym where the party had taken place and… well… see for yourself.”

Celestia took out a few photographs from her desk and handed it over to Sunset. Sunset, along with her friends looked over the photograph and they all gasped in shock. In these photographs was the gym with the party decorations. But the one major thing they all have in common was each decoration for the party was destroyed! Each photo was shown that tables were turned over, toys were crushed, streamers were taken down, balloons were popped, chairs were tossed around, the disco ball smashed in the middle of the room and there was even some strange stains that was all over the floor and walls.

“Land snakes!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Wha- what happened to the gym!?” Rainbow cried!

“Everything is destroyed!” Twilight added.

“This is terrible!” Rarity shouted.

“Who would do such a thing!?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“This was worse than the time Sunset, Snips and Snails ruined the decorations for the Fall Formel back when Sunset was a meanie!” Pinkie shouted, before giving Sunset her sheepish smile. “No offense Sunny!”

“...none taken,” Sunset commented while staring at the picture with widened eyes. “How did this all happen? Everything I worked hard on was ruined!”

“That’s the thing, we don’t know,” said Celestia. “But we believe this all happen due to… unusual event.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked in her confused tone.

Celestia turned towards her sister. “Luna, play the tape!”

Luna nodded as she rolled an old TV with a VCR over to the girls. Before any of them could ask, Celestia beat them to it. “Unlike what happened at the Fall Formal, we actually managed to get a recording of the incident thanks to the security cameras we installed a few months back,” she explained. “Unfortunately, even with the recordings… finding out the culprit was proven more difficult, especially... after what we saw on that tape.”

“After Luna set up the TV, she inserted the tape and pushed the play button. A black and white video clip of the gym appeared on screen. For the first few minutes, everything seemed to be normal, until they saw a glowing lights at different sections of the room. Then, they watched as many various items were violently thrown and smashed everywhere across the room. They witnessed the balloons mysteriously popped, the disco ball and streamers fall down from the ceiling. And finally, some mysterious substance appeared out of nowhere and left a random trail on the floor and ceiling. But what really disturbed the girls the most, was those same substance was now forming itself into a written message on the stage curtains. When it was finished, the message on the curtains reads:

YOUR PAST IS COMING TO HAUNT YOU SUNSET SHIMMER!

Even after the video had reached the end, Sunset just stared at the screen with her face as pale as a sheet. It was shocking enough that objects had moved on its own and other decorations falling down, but seeing an angry message directly at her, shocked her to the core. Was something or someone trying to come after her?

“Just wat the hay is going on!?” Applejack exclaimed. “Either Ah’m seeing some pre-release B-rated horror film or Ah’m actually seeing objects moving around like it was being controlled by ghosts!”

“Y-you don’t s-s-supposed that the g-gym is being h-h-haunted?!” Fluttershy whimpered in fright.

“Don’t worry Flutter-butter!” Pinkie Pie assured. “If we go over and simply giggle at the ghosties, they’ll go away and never bothered us again!”

“That’s ridiculous!” said Twilight as she adjusted her glasses. “There has to be some sort of scientific explanation! There are no such thing as ghosts!”

“And yet magic from the magical pony land exists?” Rainbow said flatly.

“That’s different!” Twilight huffed. “Ghosts and Magic are two seperate things!”

“AHEM!” Celestia cleared her throat loudly, getting the girls attention. “Actually, they’re not ghosts! Look closely at the beginning of the video!”

The girls watched as Luna played the tape again, but this time they watched at a specific spot where the glowing lights were. After a minute of observation, it was Twilight who spoke up.

“Wait… those lights,” she said with widened eyes. “They’re actually–”

“Equestrian Magic,” Sunset concluded, startling the others. “Someone must've gotten hold of Equestria Magic and used it to destroy the gym.”

“How did you know that it was a person Sunset?” Rarity asked.

Sunset sighed. “Because someone wrote that message on the curtains.... which was meant for me! Whoever did this have some kind of grudge against me… probably because… what I did to them.”

Everyone stood there in silence as Sunset stared at the floor. Even after her bullying days were behind her, she still guilty for all the things she had done. While most of the students have forgiven her, there were some who refused to forgive Sunset for her actions. Even though she got friends on her side now, she sometimes wondered if she really deserved them. It’s one thing if her past comes back to bite her, but if it involves her friends or anyone around her, she could never forgive herself.

“Sunset,” Applejack called quietly, getting her friend’s attention. “Ah know wat yer thinking, but wat happened at that gym wasn’t yer fault!”

“Well who else is to blame then?” Sunset retorted. “Someone trashed the room just to get back at me! And because of that, there won’t be any party!” Sunset growled in frustration. “It’s ruined!”

“You’re wrong buster!”

Sunset looked up in shock. “W-what?”

She saw Pinkie giving Sunset her serious expression as she stood too close to her face.

“No one ruins a party that my best friend put together! Not if I have anything to say about it! We WILL have this party tonight and I will make sure that it’ll be the best Christmas party of the ENTIRE town!”

“...Pinkie,” Sunset said in awe.

“And we’re going to help too!” Twilight added before facing her friends. “Right girls!”

Everyone nodded and hummed in approval, willing to help however they can.

“You girls…” Sunset sniffed, while trying to hold back her tears. “Thank you! I know we got work cut out for us, but I know that we can do it!”

“I’m glad that I can count on you girls to fix this mess and bring our party back on track!” Celestia praised before frowning. “But that mysterious offender is still at large. I’m afraid that whoever this person is, may try to ruin our efforts again.”

“Do you have any idea how this person is using this magic?” Luna asked.

Sunset shook her head. “No. There were many types of Equestian Magic that works differently from each one,” Sunset explained. “I don’t know if it was used naturally, an artifact, potion? If I could find out what type of magic it was, I can ask Princess Twilight to identify it and then we’ll find a way to counter it!”

“I see,” said Luna. “Then we have no choice but to secure the room and keep an eye out if anything was suspicious. Until then, you girls redo the gym and have it all set up by tonight if possible!”

“We won’t let you down!” Sunset promised. “C’mon girls, let’s get to work!”

“On it!” Rainbow cried as she used her super speed to rush out of the room while everyone else followed her.

Once the Equestria Girls left the room, Luna gave Celestia her serious look. “I assumed you already knew the identity of the perpetrator for the destruction of the room?”

Celestia sighed. “I have a hunch, but I don’t have any proof I can use against her!”

Luna raised her brow. “By “her” you mean...

Celestia nodded. “Yes. Like me, she planned things out like she’s some sort of chessmaster. And something tells me… that wrecking the room was only a part of her master plan!” And I just wish I knew what her “master plan” was!

Author's Note

Well that's not good! :twilightoops:

How are they are going to fix the gym before the party? :pinkiegasp:

Stay tuned for more!

3. Falling Apart (Pt. 1)

It was late in the early evening and it was only two hours until the Christmas Party and Toys for Kids Festival to begin as scheduled. The Equestrian Girls have been working hard on cleaning up all the damages from the gym and then they started to reset everything for the event. Even the CMC's and Twilight's dog, Spike was helping out by recreating the banners for the party to replace the ones that are destroyed. They replaced the tables and chairs, they replaced the decorations, they replaced the toys by placing the back-ups in the school's storage for safe keeping, they pretty much nearly restored everything that was damaged from the mysterious attack. They even managed to keep that mysterious message against Sunset under-wraps so that everyone from school won’t blame her in case if the party gets canceled.

Not unless Pinkie has something to say about that.

Despite this major setback, they were cutting it close. Even with Rainbow's super speed, they still got more things to do before the guests arrived, including the Mayor. While Sunset kept her act together, she had gotten more stressed by the hour in fear that they won't get to finish on time. She wanted to make sure that everything is in order and that they won't be wasting any more time then they did already. She inwardly cursed whoever did such a cruel act and led them in this position in the first place.

"Sunset? Are you alright?"

Sunset nearly jumped from the sudden sound of the person's voice. She turned to see Twilight who was giving her her concerned expression.

"Oh, I'm alright," Sunset answered. "I just… have a lot on my mind right now with everything that happened."

Twilight nodded in sympathy. "Yeah I can understand how stressed you are right now. I would be crazy too if I were in your shoes." She then grinned. "I remember back at Crystal Prep, I would get so crazy over the smallest thing, people over there would say, "Looks like Twilight is Twi-lighting again"!"

Sunset snorted in amusement. "Really? People actually made you into a verb?"

"Yeeeeeeah, I still don't get it myself," Twilight said sheepishly with a blush before clearing her throat. "Anyway, the point is, you shouldn't have to worry. You got us to help you fix this before the party. Even the CMC's are volunteering to help out!"

CRASH!

Sunset and Twilight jumped from the loud sound like something have dropped. They turned to see a paint can, which was turned over and paint was spilled all over the floor. Even poor Spike was partially covered in paint as a result. They then noticed Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo by a huge blank banner that they're working on with apologetic expressions.

"Oops… um… sorry Sunset," said Apple Bloom. "We accidentally knocked over da paint can and now the paint is all ov'a da floor!"

“And Spike!” Sweetie added.

“This paint can come off easily... right?” Spike asked nervously.

“...probably?” Scootaloo answered with an uncertain tone.

While Twilight was trying not to freak out about her pet covered in paint, Sunset felt her right eye twitch repeatedly while trying to put on a stained smile. "That's… fine Apple Bloom… but please... clean that up and… try not to make any more messes… okay?"

Apple Bloom gulped from the site of Sunset's reaction. "Y-yes Sunset!"

“And we’ll get the paint off of Spike too!” Sweetie added.

“Absolutely,” Scootaloo added quickly. “I get us a razor so we can start shaving his fur off right away!”

“Great! Thank you girls so– wait WHAT!?” Spike exclaimed as Sweetie carried him off despite him struggling to get himself free.

As Apple Bloom and her friends were cleaning up the mess and Spike, Sunset let out an uneasy laugh.

"It'll be fine!" Sunset mumbled to herself with a huge crazed grin. "Just a minor setback! No biggie! Is not like the Festival will be on a line over a simple paint spill! Hehehehe!"

Twilight felt uneasily and concerned for her friend as she watched Sunset having a mental episode. As she continued to watched Sunset, Fluttershy and the rest of her friends showed up, just to see what was the commotion involving their friend.

"Um… is Sunset okay?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"I'm… not sure," Twilight answered. "Sunset was trying to keep herself composed after Apple Bloom spilled the paint can as they were making a banner."

"Paint… It's only paint!" Sunset proclaimed loudly before breaking into an insane laughter.

The girls cringed from the site of their friend.

"Yeah… I think Sunny is now coco in a loco!"

Applejack rolled her eyes as she took some punch from the punch bowl with a cup. She then walked right up to Sunset and splashed some punch all over her face, ceasing her laughter.

After finally regaining her senses, Sunset cleared her throat in an awkward manner.

"S-sorry about that girls," said Sunset. "I got it out of my system. I'm fine now! It's only just a small… mishap!"

"What mishap?"

They nearly jumped from the sudden voice. They all turned towards the source, only to have a major shock after seeing who their sudden guest was. It was an older woman in dark blue dress with purple leggings and high heels. She also had half glasses on the bridge of her nose. She had dark purple hair, red ruby lips, a mole on her right cheek and a stern, yet professional expression on her face. But what probably stood her out the most was even wearing a silver cobra medallion with rubies as its eyes. Rarity was probably having a fashion field day after seeing an ugly piece of jewelry like that.

“M-Ms. Cinch?” Twilight cried. Principal Cinch was the former Principal of Crystal Prep. The last time she and the others saw her was after the "incident" from the Friendship Games, which she was eventually forced to step down from her position as the position. Seeing her again was a big shot to everyone, including Twilight.

"We meet again Twilight," Cinch said coolly before she eyed the others. "And your friend, Sunshed and her gang!"

Sunset frowned. "It's Sunset!"

"What brings you here Ms. Cinch?" Twilight asked, trying to prevent a fight between her friend and her former Principal.

Cinch raised her eyebrow as she adjusted her glasses. "Why Twilight Sparkle, I'm shocked that you assumed that I never come here. Surely you realized that anyone is allowed to come here!"

"Hey! Don't get all condescending on her!" Sunset spat. "You were a horrible Principal who threatened Twilight to make her join the Friendship Games for the independent study she wanted and then you forced her to release the magic from her pendant! So no, you don't deserve to come here!"

Cinch's narrowed her eyes. "I would watch what you say, Miss Shimmer!" she spoke in her low tone."Especially to one of the Mayor's Advisers!"

Everyone nearly dropped their jaws from this sudden revelation.

"Y-you... became the Mayor's Adviser?" Twilight meekly asked.

Cinch nodded as she placed her hands behind her. "Yes. After my… departure from Crystal Prep, I decided to have a change of career. So I worked for the town since! And I thought you be grateful after suggesting the Mayor to have that Toys for Kids Festival event at your school!"

"You suggested the Mayor to come here?" Rainbow Dash cried out in disbelief.

"Indeed. I decided to let bygones be bygones and helped out giving a boost to your school's reputation!" Cinch sniffed with an unsatisfied expression. "But from the looks of things… I'm not impressed. You need to be on your A-Game if you ever want the Mayor to approve of this party. But luckily for you, I brought some crew from the town to assist for your preparations for the event!"

Sunset crossed her arms. "Principal Celestia never mentioned that we're getting additional help from the town?"

"I suggested it at the last second," Cinch answered. "I even got her approval along with the town! Go ask her of them if you don't believe me!" She then turned with her back facing them. "Anyway, I best be off and see if there's any other section that needs… improving!"

Without another word, Cinch made her way to the other room, most likely to inspect the room for the sake of the Festival. The girls were staring at Cinch's back with a mixture of shock, annoyance and anger.

"Oooh! That woman is so rude!" Rarity exclaimed.

"And scary too!" Fluttershy added.

"She really needs to lighten up!" said Pinkie before thinking out loud. "I wonder if I should bake her favorite cupcake flavor so that she'll be less of a meanie."

"I doubt that'll work Pinkie," Applejack deadpanned.

Rainbow gave Twilight her a serious, yet curious look. "Hey Twilight? Is Cinch really that ruthless?"

Twilight sighed, as she rubbed her arm in a nervous manner. "Unfortunately... yes Rainbow Dash. From the years I spent at Crystal Prep, I've known Cinch long enough that she is a brilliant, but cold woman. She has the obsession to be the best at everything all for the sake of the school's… reputation!"

Rainbow scoffed. "More like for her reputation!"

"Anyway," Twilight continued. "If someone actually threatened or did something to tarnish her rep, even if it wasn't a big deal to most people… you'll be Cinch's enemy number one!" She then shuddered. "One time, someone spoke up about the way Cinch runs the school and not doing a proper job. When Cinch found out about it, she not only she quietly expelled that student for… not fitting in the system, but also blacklisted that student for ever applying to any schools… for life!"

"Oh my," Rarity gasped "I knew Cinch isn't a nice person, but this… this is beyond cruel!"

Fluttershy whimpered and nodded in agreement.

"Well Ah can't believe that snake got away with it for so long from the way she was running dat school!" said Applejack, disgusted from Cinch's actions. "Sure glad that she was fired after what she did to Twilight during the Games!" She turned to Twilight with a sheepish look. "Err… no offense,"

"None taken," Twilight responded casually.

Rarity huffed. "While Cinch got what she deserved, but it seemed that she works for the town now."

Rainbow Dash frowned. "Yeah well, I don't trust her! She looks like she was up to no good!"

"For once, I agree with Rainbow Dash," said Sunset.

"Hey! What do ya mean, "for once"!?" Rainbow Dash cried out indignantly, but Sunset ignored her.

"Cinch always had a thing against CHS for years, and yet she generously suggested the Mayor to come here!"

Applejack rubbed her chin. "Seems mighty suspicious if ya ask me!"

"Should we do something about her?" Twilight asked.

Sunset hummed. "Well she technically didn't do anything wrong, but we should keep an eye on her just in case." She then picked up her clipboard. "In the meantime, we should get back to work!"

"But should we take a break first?" Applejack asked.

"No time Applejack!" said Sunset with a huff as she walked away. "We need to get this done! Now do your part!"

As Sunset headed to the other side of the gym, the girls were given each other looks.

"Is it just me… or is she becoming more demanding all of the sudden?" Rainbow Dash asked for the whole group.

Meanwhile, Cinch was heading towards the front entrance of the school. She looked around to see if anyone was watching before she opened the door. Then three mysterious figures dressed in a dark blue town staff uniform and work caps, stepped inside of the building. Cinch eyed her crew for a moment as her “workers” were giving her their full attention.

"Alright, you all remember the plan?" Cinch asked in her hushed voice.

The three figures nodded.

"Good!" Cinch said with a grin. "Now go sabotage everything these girls were working on, but do it discreetly!"

The three figures nodded again before heading to the gym so they can start their own dastardly deeds.

At the stage area of the gym, Applejack was tasked to fix the broken areas of the stage so it will be safe for the musicians to play their instruments. Applejack pounded the last of her nail into the wooden board with her hammer. Once it was in place, Applejack wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

"Whew! The stage is almost done!" said Applejack. "Now Ah just need to do some more adjustments and than Ah'm done!"

She was about to move on to the next section of the stage, until she heard someone from behind her.

"Yo! You need some help or what?"

Applejack turned to see one of the town's staff. While this person's face was hard to make out, but Applejack couldn't help but think that this person looked familiar to her, especially after seeing this person's tough demeanor and two pigtails. She mentally shrugged that off, thinking it wasn't important at the moment.

"Thanks, but I got it! Ah can handle it mahself!" Applejack answered.

The town staff person frowned. "Last I checked, that Shimmer girl instructed me to assist you fixing that stage!"

Applejack blinked. "Sunset said dat?" She wondered why Sunset never told her that she's getting additional help, but then she shrugged it off, figuring that Sunset was busy and a lot on her plate to five her updates.

"Well… in dat case, see if you can adjust the center of the stage," Applejack instructed as she pointed towards the center of the stage. "But be careful. Dem boards are looser than da wheel from my family's eighty year old wagon!"

"...riiiiiiight! I'll get right on it!" The staff said in disdain before heading towards the center of the stage. The person waited for the farm girl to leave towards the back of the stage before they pulled out different sort of tools out of their pocket and then started "tinkering" with the stage.

Pinkie Pie was busy in the kitchen, baking up the storm. Her task was to bake a lot of sweet goodies for the guests to snack on during the party. She already gathered all the ingredients she can used to start her baking project.

"Alright then! Time to make us some cupcakes!" Pinkie cheered before she started mixing up her ingredients for her first batch.

"All I have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix!~" Pinkie sang as she added the amount of flour into the mixing bowl. "Now I just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a PINCH!~"

"Excuse me?"

Pinkie stopped her singing and mixing her ingredients and turned to her visitor. It was one of the town staff who worked for Cinch. While the uniform made the person looked intimidating, but the person seemed friendly enough, especially with child-like eyes and a long ponytail. Pinkie wondered if she ever met this person before.

Probably not, but Pinkie loves to make new friends.

"Oh hi there! What can I do for you?" Pinkie greeted with a smile.

"Actually, what can I do for you?" The staff member replied with a smile. "See, Sunset was thinking that you could use an assistant to make some yummy cupcakes? So… can I help?"

Pinkie let out a gasp. "Are you kidding me? Of course you can help! The more the merrier!~" Pinkie cheered happily. Before the staff person could react, Pinkie immediately moved that person to the counter next to her and even placed a baking apron on the person… somehow. "You can start making a new batch right over there!"

The staff member saluted with a grin. "You got it boss!"

Pinkie giggled. "Just call me Pinkie silly!"

"Sorry, you got it Pinkie!" said the staff member.

Pinkie went back to her mixing bowl and resumed her work.

"Sunny sent me a helper? How thoughtful of her!" Pinkie gushed happily.

Little does Pinkie know, the staff person secretly pulls out a small brown bottle and slowly poured the contents into the mixing bowl with a wicked grin.

Somewhere at the back room of the gym, Rarity was working on some new clothing line so that she can give these away to the children for the festival. She had been working non stop since this morning and she created over dozens of clothing, she felt like she was on top of the world.

"Oooh! The kids are going to love these new outfits!" Rarity said excitedly. "Which type of clothing am I designing next? So many possibilities!~"

Just then, there was a knock on a door. The door opened and revealed to be Twilight with a nervous look.

"Oh hello Twilight!" Rarity greeted. "What can I do for you?"

Twilight shuffled her feet. "Um… Rarity? Can I talk to you for a moment… alone?"

"I would love to Darling," said Rarity with a smile before she frowned. "But I can't just leave these clothes behind! These are all too important to leave them unsupervised!"

"I'll look after them!"

The girls turned to see a sudden new arrival in the room. A town staff member was standing there with full confidence on their face. While the color of the person's poofy hair doesn't go well with the uniform, Rarity could tell that person is very mature.

"You will?" Rarity asked in awe.

The staff member grinned. "Of course! Miss Shimmer said that you needed a much needed break for slaving on these clothes all day. So I suggest you go with your friend and relax for a bit."

Rarity smiled at the thoughtfulness of her friend for her own well-being. "Well in that case, let's head into the storage room!" she stood up and waved at the staff member. "Thanks for looking after my fabrics Darling!"

With that, she and Twilight walked out of the room, failed to see the staff person's nasty smirk on their face.

"Well, there won't be any fabrics left once I finish with them!"

The person then took out a small bottle, which was filled with many moths inside. The person then walked over to rack of many different clothing before the person hovered the bottle over them and pulled out the cork.

"Okay boys," said the person in a menacing voice. "Chow time!"

Sunset had been working in the storage room for quite some time. She dusted and rearranged the objects around the shelves so that she can use them to store toys for later. She was currently cleaning up the last shelf as she carefully organized the area.

"Alright, I'm almost done with this shelf," Sunset mumbled. "Now I just need to store these sport balls in these baskets..."

Sunset carefully placed each ball into its own basket that fits the theme. However, as she picked up the baseball, the ball slipped out if her fingers and bounced towards the back behind piles of boxes.

"Oh shoot!" Sunset cried.

She walked over to the back of the boxes and got on her hands and knees just so she can find that ball. While she was searching for the ball, she heard the storage room door opened, followed by two sets of feet walking into the room. Before she could call out who's there, she heard someone talking.

"I just don't know Rarity," said the voice, which clearly belonged to Twilight. "While it was for the best, I still felt bad about it. Especially after Sunset arranged my date with him at that restaurant from downtown."

Sunset eyes widened. She knew what Twilight was talking about. Twilight mentioned to her a few days back that she wanted to take her boyfriend out somewhere so that the two of them can have a serious talk. Thinking that it was probably about her friend wanted to take her relationship with her boyfriend another level, so she asked a few favors and managed to get Twilight a reserved seating at the most fanciest restaurant in town. Despite her friend's protests, Sunset insisted that her friend deserved to have a good time with someone special. But by the sound of things... the date between Timber and Twilight didn't go well. Sunset hoped that nothing went seriously wrong between the two.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Darling," Rarity soothed, trying to comfort her friend. "You can't help yourself for feeling that way. Besides, he understands."

"I know, but… I can still see the hurt in his eyes when it happened last night. I just wish I've done something different." Twilight said quietly.

"I know Twilight, but what's done is done," Rarity sighed. "I always knew that you and Timber will break up eventually."

Sunset widened her eyes in shock. WHAT!? Twilight and Timber broke up?

A million things ran into her mind. What went wrong between the two of them. Did they have a fight? Did Timber did something mean or anything to make Twilight upset or uncomfortable? The way Twilight acted this morning now makes so much sense because it happened last night. Despite that major bombshell, only one thing came into Sunset's mind.

Why didn't Twilight tell me?

"How would you know that our relationship won't last Rarity?" Twilight questioned.

"A girl has her hunch!" Rarity replied. "But look on the bright side, at least now you can focus on your other goal!"

"Yeah… if that ever happens," Twilight said quietly with a sigh. "Listen Rarity… I already talked to the other girls about this, but could you not tell Sunset about this? You girls are the only ones that I can trust you the most about this!"

"But Darling, why are you not telling Sunset?" Rarity asked.

"You know why Rares!" Twilight replied with a huff. "Besides, now is not really a good time! With her directing the party and that mysterious party wrecker… I don't want to make things worse! This could affect our Friendship!"

"But if you don't tell her, things will get even worse for the both of you!" Rarity pointed out.

"I just can't risk it!" Twilight shouted. "Just… promise me Rarity!"

There were silence so quite sometime before Sunset head Rarity let out a sigh.

"Very well Darling, my lips are sealed. But I still don't like it!"

"Thank you Rarity," said Twilight in her grateful tone. "Now… let's head back to the gym."

The two girls walked towards the storage door and left the room, leaving a hurt Sunset alone.

She couldn't believe it. Twilight and Timber broke up. She told all of her friends about her breakup… but not her! Her best friend! And Twilight considered the others to be more trustworthy with the news if her breakup than her. Was she… afraid that she will spread the info to the school to hurt her like she did back in her bully days. She never felt this hurt since her friends thought that she was the one spreading secrets online as a cyberbully or that one time that they have forgotten her due to Equestrian magic and they don't believe that she is their friend despite her proof. She teared up as her heart was slowly broken into tiny pieces.

Twilight… why? she thought sadly. Why wouldn't you tell me? Am I… not really a trustworthy friend to you?

Author's Note

What's this? Cinch is back? Who are her minions? And Twilight and Timber broke up!? :pinkiegasp:

What will happen now? Stay tuned for the next chapter!

4. Falling Apart (Pt. 2)

It was almost time for the party and the festival to begin. The decorations were up and the snacks are set. The stage were still in the process of setting up, but close to ready for the music club. Fluttershy was almost done getting her animal friends ready for the adoptions, and the new toys for the kids were in the process of transferring to a storage until later event. Everything seemed to be okay and no one has any issues.

Except for one.

"What do you mean Trixie's fireworks are not allowed?" Trixie complained as she argued with Rainbow Dash in the middle of the gym. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can not complete her performance without them!"

Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed sigh as she pinched her nose. "Trixie… we were trying to put together a fun and safe party, not a potential fire hazard! Can't you just perform one of your other lame tricks?"

Trixie growled and clenched her fists in rage. "How dare you! Trixie's tricks are not lame! And if you're really concerned with my fireworks, Trixie can take it down a notch!"

"Even after you take it down a notch, it's still enough to potentially light up the stage in flames!" Rainbow argued. "My answer is still 'no'!"

Before they could argue further, Rainbow Dash noticed Sunset walking slowly passed them from the corner of her eye.

"Hey Sunset!" Rainbow Dash called her friend out. "Tell Trixie about the fireworks that she's been pushing to use for her show!"

Sunset looked over to her friend with a hum before responding in her halfhearted tone. "Oh, yeah... sure. Knock yourself out Trixie."

While Rainbow Dash stood there in disbelief Trixie let out a huge cheer!

"HA! The Great and Powerful Trixie triumphs again!" She then started walking away in her upbeat tone. "Now to get Trixie some good fireworks!"

Rainbow Dash watched Trixie walked off for a moment before she walked up to Sunset with a peeved expression.

"What the heck Sunset!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Why did you allowed her to use the fireworks? You know that she--" Rainbow Dash paused when she noticed that not only Sunset wasn't phased with her angry rant, but Sunset also appeared to be… distressed. Rainbow Dash's frustration melted away and replaced with a look of concern. "Hey… you alright, Sunset? You looked pretty upset?"

"You should ask Twilight! After all, she trusts you!" Sunset muttered quietly in her bitter tone.

Rainbow Dash blinked, barely understood Sunset's response. "Huh?"

Sunset sighed and shook her head to calm herself. "Nevermind! Where's Snips and Snails? They're supposed to be here to collect the tickets from our guests!"

"Oh. They just called in sick," Rainbow Dash responded uneasily. "Apparently they both caught a cold after spending too much time outside... without wearing their jackets!"

Sunset sighed and rubbed her temples in frustration. "For crying out loud..."

Even though these two boys were her old minions and they're no longer bad as her old self, they're still not the brightest bulbs in the Christmas tree. Not that she could blame them for getting themselves sick, but because there was a crowd of people currently waiting outside to get into the party, this was not a good time to happen at a time like this.

"Rainbow… can you run the ticket stand in their place?" said Sunset out of desperation.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and shook her head. "But Sunset, I can't do that on my own! There's tons of people out there!"

"Then bring the CMC's with you to help you out!" Sunset suggested. "Besides… they keep ruining the set-up in here."

CRASH

The two teens turned to the source of the crash, only to see the two young girls in question, cleaning up their mess, while the third one was busy putting on different sweaters for the now bald pup, Spike instead of working.

"Oops, dropped a plate!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"I spilled some drinks!" Scootaloo added.

"I got some more sweaters for Spike!" Sweetie chirped.

"Why me!" Spike moaned in distress.

"...good point," Rainbow conceded. "But what about--"

"Trixie? Don't worry about her!" said Sunset. "Just worry about the tickets! And if anybody needs me, I'm assisting Applejack with those musical instruments!"

Rainbow watched as Sunset quickly rushed towards the stage with that same concerned expression.

"...it wasn't Trixie I was worried about!" Rainbow said quietly to herself.

"Okay everyone, it's feeding time," Fluttershy said softly as she was given each of her animal friends their food.

Fluttershy was tasked to care and prep the animals at the back of the school's grounds before they are ready to be presented for any potential guests to adopt them as pets. She really was glad that Sunset got Principal Celestia's approval to have her shelter partnered up with the school and allowed to bring animals to the event. These sweet and loving creatures deserve to have homes of their own and to be cared for by their new owners.

Unknown to Fluttershy, someone was hiding from the bleachers, watching her with a sinister smile on their face. The person then took out what seemed to be a thin whistle of some kind and lightly blow into it. All of a sudden, the animals jolted and soon they began howling, yapping, hissing, screeching and roaring nonstop and started running around all over the place.

Fluttershy was immediately alerted from the commotion and started to feel panic as she watched animals acting very strangely.

"Wha- what's going on!?" Fluttershy exclaimed as she attempted to help the distressing animals. "Everyone please calm down! Just please calmly tell me what's going on so that I can--"

Unfortunately for Fluttershy, her plea fell on deaf ears as the two biggest animals threw themselves onto the fence with great force and parts of the fence collapsed to the ground. In the process, the animals fled from the area and charged to the back of the school, leading to the gym. Fluttershy watched the fleeing animals with a look of terror on her face.

"...oh dear."

Meanwhile, Twilight was tasked with storing the toys into the school's storage room along with some help from Rarity. They each just brought in the last boxes of toys and placed them on the shelves. Twilight wiped some sweat off of her forehead and turned to her friend with a grateful smile.

"Thanks for helping me storing the rest of the toys to the storage room Rarity! But you didn't have to spend on your break for me."

"Nonsense Darling!" Rarity insisted with a wave of her hand. "I'm always happy to help out a friend!" She then turned and headed out the door. "Now let's see how the preparations are going!"

Rarity and Twilight walked out of the storage room and closed the doors behind them. Some time later, the doors opened again. The three city staff peered into the room, specifically at the shelves where the toys were located. One of the staff person, who stood between the other two, let out their sinister smirk.

"Alright you two… you know what to do!" The person commanded.

The two nodded with smirks of their own and then went over to the shelves to begin taking boxes of toys out of the room. While that was happening, the third staff walked out of the room and headed towards the gym to proceed the final part of their operation.

"Alright be careful now!" Applejack instructed. "These items are very diligent! We don't want the owners of those instruments to be mad at us if anythin' happens!"

The students nodded as they were handling the equipment. Applejack selected a few volunteers to help out moving the musical instruments and equipment to the stage for later event. The few volunteers in question were Flash Sentry, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch (aka DJ Pon3), Lyra, Bon Bon, Bulk Biceps and Derpy. As Applejack continued to supervise the volunteers, Sunset walked up to Applejack with a tired by calm expression.

"How's the musical set-up coming AJ?" Sunset asked.

Applejack grinned. "Everythin' is A-ok Sunset! We're almost done here!"

While Sunset was please with the news, she couldn't help but nervously glance at the center of the stage.

"This stage is fixed, right?"

Applejack nodded. "Sure is! And Ah actually got it done a lot quicker with dat staff member you sent out earlier."

Sunset blinked with a confused expression. "Staff member? What are you talking about?"

While this was going on, the staff person was hiding behind the curtain at the back of the stage, who was eating a banana. As this person was finishing their snack, Derpy appeared around the corner, carrying a huge sound box towards the stage which obscures her vision. The staff member smirked as they hovered a now banana peel over to a certain part of the floor where Derpy might step on it.

And now… a distraction. The person thought mischievously as the banana peel was dropped on the floor.

The person hidden themselves behind the curtain again and watched with anticipation as Derpy reached the area and unknowingly stepped on a peel.

"WHOA!" Derpy shouted as she slipped across the room and headed towards the center stage.

Sunset and the others were suddenly startled from Derpy's shout and gasped as she fumbled towards the center area.

"DERPY! WATCH O--"

Unfortunately for Sunset, she couldn't warned or help her in time as Derpy finally loses her balance and fell onto the floor along with the sound box, which was now cracked into two. To make things worse, Derpy's force caused a domino effect as the boards from the center part of the stage cracked and she fell right into the hole. Then, the hole grew bigger and bigger to the point that other instruments were caught from the growing hole and fell into it as well, crashing towards the bottom and broke into many pieces. The volunteers as well as the guests saw the commotion and let out horrifying gasps.

"MY INSTRUMENT!" Octavia screamed.

"MY STAGE!" Sunset shouted in panic.

"MY GOODNESS!" Applejack gasped.

"My bad…" Derpy moaned from the bottom of the hole.

"This is humiliating!" Spike muttered. "First you all shaved my fur off, then you girls forced me to take a bath, and now you're making me wear this horrible looking holiday sweater!"

To demonstrate his point, he stood on his rear paws and showed off his sweater that Sweetie Belle made him wear. It was a green sweater with a face of a brown reindeer with a huge smile and a white background behind it. There was even a huge red ball in front of a reindeer, which was designed as its nose.

"But it looks so cute on you!" Sweetie Belle cooed.

"I'm not cute!"

The CMC's and Rainbow Dash was currently sitting outside on their tables, handling the tickets for any upcoming guests. Despite that they were overwhelmed by a huge crowd of people, they managed to handle them and let them in with procedure. After they let the last guest entered the building, they've been sitting outside for over twenty minutes as instructed by Sunset in case if the Mayor showed up. Sunset hoped that by giving the Mayor their warm welcome as their best impression, then everything will run smoothly.

However, Rainbow Dash and the CMC's were not pleased that they have to sit outside in the cold a little longer instead of going back inside and join the party. Most of them, except for Sweetie Belle, just leaned on their arms and stared at nothing. Some tapping their fingers on the table, others were randomly blowing into the air just to see their own breath out of boredom. After what it felt like an eternally, Scootaloo let out a loud groan.

"Man, this is sooo boring!" Scootaloo complained loudly. "We could've joined the fun in there!"

Rainbow Dash, while silently agreed with her protege, let out a long tired sigh. "I know Scoots and I don't like sitting here either! But because Snips and Snails got themselves sick, Sunset assigned us here in their place! That… and that you three won't make another mess in the gym."

Scootaloo threw her hands up and huffed. "We said we were sorry!"

Before Rainbow could retort, her cell phone rang.

"Hold that thought Scoots!" said Rainbow Dash as she accepted the call and placed the phone to her ear. "Sup Applejack?"

Rainbow Dash listened as she heard Applejack's distressed and frantic voice from the other line. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash widened her eyes in shock.

"What? Seriously!?" she exclaimed. She listened on her phone a little longer before replying, "Okay, I'll be there in a second!" Rainbow Dash hung up her phone and let out an exasperated sigh. "Of all the times she had to be so clumsy…"

Rainbow Dash then stood and glanced at the CMC's. "Excuse me girls, I'll be right back!" she shouted before she disappeared into the school with her super speed.

The girls and Spike looked at each other in confusion and curiosity.

"What do y'all suppose dat was all about?" Apple Bloom asked.

Everyone (and dog) shrugged in response. Scootaloo once again moaned and leaned onto the table.

"How long do we have to sit here? It's obliviously that no one else is coming!"

Apple Bloom huffed at her friend's attitude. "Ah know yer impatient Scoots, but we have to wait just a little bit long--"

Suddenly, they heard a loud 'clang', coming from the side of the school's building. The girls and Spike looked at each other for a moment before they got up from their seats and peeked around the corner of the building. From there, they spotted the three mysterious figures in uniform sneaked out of the building with big boxes, which was filled with toys for the festival. More specifically, two figures were carrying the boxes while the third was only barking orders in a hushed tone.

Scootaloo leaned into Sweetie Belle's ear. "Hey isn't that… the staff people who works for the town?"

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah, but why are they bringing out the toys? Weren't those supposed to be for the festival?"

“The were!” Spike responded quietly. “But Twilight or Sunset never mentioned that they’re being moved to another location.

As the three city staff were heading to a loading truck, the CMC and Spike crept up further until they reached the bushes so they can continue to spy on them. The one staff member opened up the back of the truck so that the other two can start loading the boxes. As the girls and dog witnessed their deeds, Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes.

"Girls… is it just me, or is there somethin' fishy going on here?"

"Yeah, and the way these "staff" were acting is very... suspicious!" Scootaloo agreed.

"They also looked very familiar too,” Sweetie Belle added with a frown. “But my mind is drawing a... blank for some reason!"

Scootaloo gave Sweetie Belle her confused look. "What do you mean Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie Belle furrowed her brows. "Well… it's hard to explain, but every time I'm trying to recall who they are as I'm looking at them… I felt there is some kind of force that's… prevented me from remembering them."

The four were quiet for a while before Apple Bloom spoke up. "You know what Sweetie Belle, Ah felt that too!"

"Yeah, me three!" added Scootaloo with a thoughtful frown. "But what does that mean?"

Their silent conversation was interrupted when they heard one of the staff member shouted.

"Hurry up you two!" the first staff barked. "Load the rest of them into this truck at post haste!"

The second staff member huffed. "We could've finished this faster if you helped out!"

"I have to distract these party goers for you two to sneak out!” The first staff argued. “We can't afford to get caught and made that old hag angry!"

"I don't see what the big deal is!" The third staff commented with an upbeat tone. "No one will recognize us thanks to these necklaces she gave us!"

The third staff immediately took off what appeared to be a necklace of some sort off of their neck and stared at it. The necklace themselves is a small rounded golden medallion with three small different colored stones on it; green, blue and pink.

"Pretty…" The third staffed droned while staring at their necklace.

Suddenly, multi-colored aura glowed briefly around the third staff member for a moment before the light evaporated. After that happened, the CMCs almost immediately gasped when the memories of that person finally came back to them almost instantly. The first staff noticed that too and let out furious growl.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? PUT THAT BACK ON YOU IDIOT!" the first staff shouted.

The third staff yelped from that angry tone and immediately put the necklace back on their neck. Once again the multi-colored glow surrounded the person but this time submerged into the person. And just like that, the familiarity of that person disappeared from the girls’ minds as if someone just covered themselves with a blanket. Despite that, they still remember who that was before that necklace was put back on. They watched as the first staff walked over to the third staff and then whacked the third staff at the back of the head.

"Are you mad!?” The first staff scolded. “If anyone saw that as you took it off, our disguise spell would've been broken and then we’ll get caught! You’re lucky that no one was around! If anyone saw you took that off, the spell won’t work the second time! Now do NOT take that off again until we're back to base! Am I clear?"

"...crystal," the third staff squeaked.

The first staff growled again before heading to the front of the truck. "Now finish the job and get in the truck!"

The third staff whimpered as that person did as instructed while the second one rolled their eyes and muttered how much of an idiot their partner was. Meanwhile, the CMCs stared at them with shocked faces, not expecting to see these particular people in their lives again.

“Girls,” Apple Bloom muttered in awe. “Are ya seeing… wat Ah’m seeing?”

Sweetie Belle nodded while in a shocked state. "I...I don't believe it… it's them!"

Scootaloo gulped. "Yeah... it's only was only for a split second, but I recognize them as clear as day!"

Apple Bloom frowned. "But wat are they doing here? We haven't seen them since--"

"Um, excuse me?" Spike spoke up. "But who are ‘they’?"

Scootaloo widened her eyes and turned to Spike. "Oh yeah, that's right! It happens with the other you around! You see, those three were actually--"

"They're on da move girls!" Apple Bloom interrupted.

They turned and watched as the other two staff entered the truck before it came to life. As the truck slowly pulling out from the parking lot, Apple Bloom stared at the truck with determination on her face.

"We should follow 'em y'all!" Apple Bloom spoke up.

The two girls and a dog looked at their farmer friend with stunned expressions.

"But shouldn't we report this to Sunset and the others?" said Spike in his worried tone.

"No time!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "If they get away with the toys… then there ain't gonna be any festival or a party!"

She immediately ran to her bike near the biking lot so she can ride after the truck. "Let's go!" she shouted as she pedaled off.

Sweetie Belle and Scootloo looked at each other, nodded before doing the same to follow their friend. Spike's eyes widened as he watched the girls ran towards their bikes.

"Wait girls!" Spike cried, hoping to stop them in their tracks.

Unfortunately his cries fell to deaf ears as he watched the two girls started pedaling away towards the street. Spike knew that what their doing is both stupid and a dangerous move. He should run back to the school and alert Twilight that the CMCs are chasing after toy thieves right away so they can alert the authorities. On the other paw, he was worried that something is going to happen to these girls during the chase and they may run into trouble with no help at all. For a split second as Sweetie Belle left the parking lot, Spike made his decision.

"I'm so going to regret this," he muttered as he gave chase behind Scootaloo. "Hey, wait for me!"

As soon as the truck, three girls and a dog disappeared out of site, Rainbow Dash finally returned to the table with her super speed and let out a tired sigh.

"Okay, I'm back!" Rainbow Dash announced. "Sorry about that. There was a situation at the stage. Hope I didn’t take too--"

Rainbow Dash paused when she noticed that she was the only one around and that the three girls and a dog were nowhere in sight.

"Uh… Girls? Spike... where did you go?!" Rainbow Dash cried out with dread.

Author's Note

Originally, there was only one chapter today, but due to how long this is, I'm spitting it into two!

So the next chapter will come out shortly! :pinkiesmile:

5. Falling Apart (Pt. 3)

Things weren’t so good from the stage area of the party. After that accident caused by Derpy, Sunset, Applejack and a few students helped Derpy out of the hole and was then sent to the nurse’s office by Lyra and Bon Bon. After that, everyone in the area (including Rainbow Dash for a brief moment) helped retrieving one equipment out of a hole at a time. Unfortunately, almost every instrument was wrecked from the accident and the students who owned them was really upset. While this was going on, Sunset was trying to pick a bone with her friend and she was not happy.

"I thought you said that you fixed the stage Applejack!" Sunset snapped.

Applejack’s nose flared. "It's not mah fault! That so-called helper of yours was the one who did this!"

Sunset growled. "What are you talking about!? I didn't send anyone to you!” Her eyes then narrowed. “You’re not making that up are you?"

Applejack clenched her teeth in anger. "Are ya callin’ me a liar?"

"I never said that!” Sunset responded in frustration. “I was trying to get to the bottom of it!”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “How do Ah know that yer the one whose lying! It ain’t the first time that yer being a two-faced snake!”

Sunset felt a major sting in her chest and her face changed to a pained expression. Applejack immediately regretted for letting her anger get the best of her and tried to apologize.

“Sunset… Ah’m--”

"SUNNY! WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!"

Sunset and Applejack immediately spotted Pinkie Pie who ran towards them who had a panicked expression.

“What is it Pinkie Pie?” Sunset asked, putting her problem with Applejack aside for the time being.

"I gave everyone my Pinkie Famous Cupcakes after I baked them with an assistant,” Pinkie explained in a frantic manner. “And the next thing I know, everyone is having a tummy ache!"

Sunset eyes widened in shock. "WHAT!?” She turned towards the snack section at the other side of the room. She watched in horror as most of the party guests were moaning in pain as they were standing, sitting on their chairs or even lying on the floor. Some of their faces turned deep green due to sickness and some even puked either on their plates, trash cans or even on the floor.

Sunset quickly turned back to Pinkie. "Pinkie!? How could you let this happen!?" Sunset demanded. “You didn't used any of the old or spoiled ingredients, did you?"

Pinkie frowned deeply, hurt and insulted from Sunset’s question. "No! I would never do that! I made sure I went over the ingredients and measured them properly before I used them! I Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie then crossed her arms and turned away from Sunset. “I don’t know who you sent to me, but having someone give everyone food poisoning isn’t a very funny prank Sunny!”

Sunset scowled. “What the heck are you talking about Pinkie?”

“I’m talking about some person you sent to assist me in baking Sunset!” Pinkie responded angrily.

“What? You too!?” Sunset exclaimed. “I didn’t send anyone to you Pinkie!”

Applejack opened her mouth.

“And I didn’t send someone to you either Applejack!” Sunset added with angry eyes.

Applejack closed her mouth.

Before Pinkie could argue further, Rarity barreled into Pinkie and stood in front of Sunset with her mascara running down her cheeks due to her tears.

"Sunset!" Rarity sobbed loudly. "My clothes! My beautiful, beautiful clothes were… RU-HO-HO-HO-IIIIIINNNNDDD!"

"Rarity, what happened to your outfits?" said Sunset as she held her friend’s shoulders to calm her down.

Rarity sniffed as she gave Sunset her exasperated stare. "What happened? What HAPPENED!? I’ll tell you ‘what happened’! I returned to the drama department to finish up and make another set of clothes for the kids, only to find both my finished set and my unused fabrics were eaten by... MOTHS!"

Sunset blinked. "Moths? How could there be any moths around this time? It's winter!"

Rarity scoffed and glared at Sunset. "Well obviously, that person who watched my clothes sabotaged them! I can't believe you chose such an untrustworthy person to go anywhere near my outfits Sunset!"

Sunset growled out in frustration. "Okay, what is it with you guys accusing me of sending these people to you!” she shouted, startling her friends and everyone else around her. “Let me make myself clear: I. Did. Not. SEND. ANYONE!"

Rarity stood there with her stunned expression while Sunset simply glared at her, daring her to say anything else. Suddenly, Twilight ran up to Sunset with a frantic look.

“Sunset!”

Sunset let out a tired sigh. “What now?”

Twilight took a moment to catch her breath due to all the running. "Sunset... the gifts are gone!"

"WHAT?” Sunset cried as she turned to Twilight “What do you mean they're gone!?"

Twilight took a few breathing exercises to keep herself calm before speaking. “I decided to check on the toys after Rarity and I placed them in the school’s storage. But when I entered, the boxes are missing!”

“A-are you sure they were placed in the storage?” Sunset asked, silently hoped that maybe Twilight simply overlooked.

Twilight shook her head. “I’m one hundread percent sure that’s where we left them! Right Rarity?”

Rarity nodded, verifying Twilight's story.

Sunset groaned as she kept herself from panicking. This can’t be happening! First the stage accident, then the food poisoning, then ruined clothes and now missing toys! What’s next!?

Suddenly, a rainbow blur zipped right through the gym's doors, across the room and then stopped in front of Sunset, revealing a very frantic Rainbow Dash.

"Sunset! Scoots and her friends are missing!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" The girls cried.

Applejack, Rarity and Twilight immediately went up to Rainbow's face, demanding answers.

"Where's mah sister!"

“Where’s Sweetie Belle?”

“And my dog!?”

Rainbow Dash backed away from her frantic friends with both hands raised up in defense. "I-I don't know! I couldn't find them anywhere! I even tried calling Scoots' cell but she didn't pick up!"

“M-maybe they took a walk?” Sunset theorized, silently hoping that was the case.

Applejack shook her head. “There’s no way that Apple Bloom and her friends would ditch us without tellin’ us! They usually let us know!”

"But didn't they go and do a lot of crazy antics many times without telling you before?" Sunset pointed out.

"Yes, but they never usually leave in the middle of an important task without reason!" Applejack argued before baring a worried frown. "What if somethin' bad happened to them!"

"I'm... sure they'll be fine!" Sunset reassured with an uneasy smile. "Right now, we need to get this party back in--"

"Is that all you cared about!?” Rainbow Dash retorted. “This stupid party over finding our sisters? What’s wrong with you dude?”

Sunset growled angrily, upset by Rainbow’s accusation. “Hey! I never said those things! Don’t put words into my mouth! I can’t just drop everything and go look for your sibling, even if it was potentially nothing happened to them!”

“Well maybe if you do a better job at managing this party and not acting like a jerk, then maybe our sisters will still be here!” Rainbow Dash shouted, not noticing her friends shaking their heads ‘no’ at her. “Friends don’t abandon friends Sunset!”

Sunset let out a humorless chuckle. “Oh that’s typical of you Rainbow Dash! Blame it all on me when something goes wrong! Why don’t we blame it all on Sunset Shimmer because she never does anything right or that she is always the bad guy in our eyes!”

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes in horror after realizing just how she sounded when accusing Sunset. Rainbow Dash immediately felt guilty for accusing her friend, especially after knowing how stressful her friend was.

“Sunset, I… I didn’t mean anything of that!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Well you did!” Sunset retorted angrily.

As the girls silently stared at Sunset in uncomfortable silence, Sunset sighed as she placed her head on her right hand.

Well… this can't get any worse.

As if the world was mocking her, the ground suddenly began to shake. At first, the girls feared that it was an earthquake, but then they heard a commotion coming from outside. As soon as they set their eyes at the gym's doors, they suddenly burst open and all of the animals in all different shapes and sizes stampeded into the room. This caused a lot of party guests to scream and flee from the animals.

As the girls stood there in shock, Fluttershy ran into the gym with a worried expression, only to flinched back in fear when Sunset gave her an angry look.

"Fluttershy! Why are these animals running around and out of control!?" Sunset demanded.

"I-I don't know!" Fluttershy answered in a frantic tone. "Something must have spooked them! I can't get them to calm down!"

Sunset growled as she felt her right eye twitching. "Well do something! They're destroying the gymnasium!"

Meanwhile, the animals continued to run amok and destroy everything in their paths. The tables and chairs were knocked over and scattered across the room, the food was eaten or stomped over and they even chased after some party guests. During the commotion, Trixie reentered the gym with piles of fireworks in her arms, unaware of all the chaos surrounding her.

"Trixie's back with the fireworks!" Trixie announced with a proud grin.

Suddenly, a panicked Llama accidentally knocked Trixie over, causing her to tossed her fireworks into the air and landed on the table with a Birthday cake. Unfortunately, that cake was full of lit candles and in the process, the candles light up the fireworks and the fireworks were launched towards the ceiling. Some of them hit at random spots, which ended up causing a fire. The exploding fireworks and fire caused even more of a panic to both the party guests and animals as they all run the area like headless chickens.

The girls tensed at the sight of the disaster happening right in front of them, least likely that their party and fundraiser was salvageable at that point.

"Fluttershy, anyone! Stop those animals!" Sunset cried!

The girls immediately sprung into action. Pinkie distracted the animals by throwing treats at them while Applejack used her lasso to catch as many animals as possible. Rarity used her gem shield to block off the animals escape route and to reach the party guests while Fluttershy gently calmed them down. Rainbow Dash used her super speed to round up as much animals as possible and took them back outside to their fence before rounding up the others her friends caught. And Sunset quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and put out the fires while Twilight assisted her by using her levitation ability to lift up the punch bowls that was filled with punch and used them to put out the flames.

Soon, the fires was put out and the animals returned to their fence, but the party was a disaster. Everything in the area was destroyed and beyond repair. The gym was even worse shape then it was the first time it was destroyed. The guests were scared, upset and angry after going through all of that while the girls were distraught that all of their work was for naught. Sunset however was desperately trying to salvage the party.

"Um, don't worry girls… we can still fix this!" said Sunset. "Quick! Let's clean this all up before--"

"What's going on in here!?"

The girls winced from the sound of an authoritative voice, but it was not from Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna. They slowly turned and their eyes widened to see not only Celestia, Luna and Cinch, but also the Mayor of Canterlot City. She wore a dark tan vest over her white dress shirt with collar, long tan pants, teal shoes and teal cravat. She also had long gray hair and half oval glasses on the bridge of her nose. Normally, Mayor Mare is a very kind person who helps out the citizens of her town, tonight however, she had a mixture of anger and displeasure on her face. From the look on her face, she was anything but happy with how the party and festival turned out to be.

Sunset Shimmer gulped. "M-Mayor Mare!" she said nervously. "You… you came in early!"

Mayor Mare grunted. "I would have come here at a normal time, but my adviser recommended that I should come in early!” She then took a brief look around the room. “Although now I'm having second thoughts about coming here!"

Sunset winced at the Mayor’s harsh words. She was afraid that this will happen if things went out of control, and now she is living in an unwakeable nightmare. Principal Celestia stepped forward with a disturbed and anger expression.

"What is going on Sunset?" Celestia demanded. "What happened to this place?"

Sunset tried to open her mouth to explain herself, to tell Celestia everything from what happened, but she couldn’t. It all happened so fast, she was unable to pinpoint what went wrong. From the ruined stage, the food poisoning, the ruined clothes, the toys, the CMCs and Spike are missing and now the gym was destroyed by animals and fireworks. In the end, Sunset Shimmer craned her neck and let out a resigned sigh.

"I… I don't know anymore,” she answered quietly. “There's so much wrong going on that I... can't keep track of everything!"

Cinch hummed as she crossed her arms. "So you trusted that student to run the party?" She sneered. "Didn't you tell me how she made plenty of mistakes in the past? Honestly, if I run this school, I made sure to never assigned this girl again!"

"This isn't your school Cinch!" Luna growled to Sunset’s defence before Celestia could respond. "Yes she made mistakes in the past, but she's a gifted student and made herself better since then!"

"You call this better!?" Mayor Mare interjected with a scowl. "If this was really at her best, then I hate to see her worst!"

Once again, Sunset felt her chest stung from the Mayor’s words as everyone else stood there in silence, feeling bleak and hopeless. After what it felt like an eternity, Cinch stepped over to the Mayor.

"I think it's high time that we put an end to this party and have the town investigate this school to see if there's any foul play. Don’t you agree Mayor?” Cinch suggested, as she lightly grasped her cobra medallion. Sunset could swear for a moment she thought she saw something glowing from the cobra’s eyes, but probably figured that it was because of the light reflected from the jewels. The Mayor’s glanced at her advisor for a moment before she slowly nodded in agreement.

"Yes… I think we all have seen enough!" The Mayor declared as her eyes narrowed at Sunset and the students. "Because of the destruction and ignoring the safety of the kids, I'm afraid I have no choice… but to cancel the festival and shutting down this school until further notice!"

“WHAT!?” Everyone gasped in shock! Never in the history of CHS that their school was forced to shut down. Not even during the Battle of the Bands or even during the Fall Formal incident! While this may sound like a good thing that their school is canceled for a day or two, but not for a long period of time! They won’t be able to eventually graduate if their school is on a standstill. And worse of all, this all happened during the Holidays!

"Mayor… you can't be serious!" Celestia stammered.

"I'm afraid so Celestia,” The Mayor said coldly. “If these kids think they can get away with having a wild party then handling this festival seriously like responsible adults, then they’re clearly mistaken!"

“This was just a major misstep Mayor!” said Celestia with pleading eyes. “These students are the most responsible people I’ve ever known. They would never purposely sabotage such an important event like this!”

“...well it looks like you are wrong Miss Celestia!” The Mayor responded. “And now they need to find another school that will be more their alley, assuming they’ll be able to enroll another one after this incident!”

As she was about to turn and walk away, she was suddenly stopped by Sunset.

"Wait! You can't!" She pleaded. "This was just a mistake! Please… give us another chance! If you need to blame someone from this… then blame me! Banned me from this school or this town if you have to! I don’t care! Please don’t ruin everyone’s Christmas and lives because of me!"

"I'm sorry Miss Shimmer,” said the Mayor with her back towards her. “But my decision is final! Let's go Miss Cinch!"

Cinch gave them a somewhat smug grin before she followed the Mayor out of the gym and closed the doors behind them. Despite the major bombshell from earlier, Principal Celestia tried to assure her students, as well as herself.

“Don’t you worry everyone,” she said soothingly. “The Mayor was having a... stressful time from her earlier meetings. I’m sure we can still convince her to change her mind once she calms down. I’ll go talk to her now.” She gave them her reassuring smile before she headed towards the door, planning to go after the Mayor.

Luna sighed heavily. “You kids don't have to be here. We’ll worry about the mess later. Just go home and… have a Merry Christmas.”

She gave everyone her last look before she turned and followed her sister out the door. Everyone stood there with miserable expressions, but not as much miserable as Sunset. She felt she has all the blame for letting this happen. And now, the students' lives were ruined because of not one, but two botched parties that she failed to produce. She let everyone down, including her friends.

"I can't believe this!” Pinkie said sadly as her lips trembled. “Our party and festival is... canceled!" She then burst into tears as soon as she said the most forbidden word when it comes to parties.

Applejack sighed miserably. "And everythin' we worked hard on was fer nothin'!"

“And worst of all… our school is shut down!” Twilight said quietly. “We can’t come here anymore!”

“Just because the school is shut down, that doesn’t mean it is closed forever!” said Rainbow Dash “It’s only temporary... right?”

Rarity sighed as she sniffed. “I doubt it Darling! We may be forced to apply to a different school that’s available to our majors!”

“W-worse of all,” Fluttershy added with tears in her eyes. “Whether we’re a-able to apply to another s-school or not... WE WON’T BE TOGETHER ANYMORE!”

Pinkie hugged Fluttershy as they continued to sob, while the rest of the girls just stood feeling depressed. The rest of the school body were also depressed, crying, and tried to comfort one another. Sunset, felt her heart aching in guilt after witnessing her friends’ sadness and the students miserably.

This is all my fault! She thought, trying not to break down into tears. Everything that happened to my friends and this school is my fault! How could I let this happen!?

All of the sudden, one of the students walked up to Sunset. “What do you mean?”

Sunset turned with her confused expression. “What?”

“What do you mean when you said, ‘don’t ruin everyone’s Christmas and lives because of me’?” The student repeated before turning to one of the Equestria Girls. “Do any of you girls know something about that?”

Time stood still as everyone watched them expectedly. The Equestria Girls, including Sunset felt very uncomfortable at the moment. Not wanting to make things worse for their friend, they tried to come up with excuses.

“Um… it was nothing to be concerned about!” Rarity lied.

“Y-yeah, Sunset was… having a moment!” Twilight added.

Pinkie nodded with a false smile. “Yeah, it’s not like it was because some person who ruined the first party was possibly the same person who ruined this one because of what Sunset did to them in the past!”

“PINKIE!” The girls shouted!

Pinkie Pie immediately covered her mouth, feeling ashamed for accidentally letting that info slip. “...oops!”

Unfortunately the damage has been done as students angrily muttered after what they learned what was to blame or most specifically who was to blame for the cause of ruining two parties and the school's shut down.

“So it was Sunset’s fault?” one student asked angrily.

“We lost a party all because Sunset did something to that person?” Another student exclaimed.

One by one, each student expressed their anger towards the the amber teen.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“She never changed!”

“I don’t care what happens to her, but we all shouldn’t suffer because of her!”

“You ruined Christmas!”

“It’s better off if you never come here!”

Each angry remarks Sunset heard from other students felt like she was being stabbed in the heart from a dagger. She felt more and more in despair and hurt as she continued to listen to everyone giving her mean comments. She tried to cover her ears and block out the barrage of mean comments while keeping herself from crying, but she could still hear them. Worse of all, her friends were just silently standing there, whether they also blame her or not, Sunset wasn’t certain. Things took a turn for the worse when she heard someone say the cruelest thing about her.

“Typical Sunset Shimmer! Once a She-Demon, always a She-Demon!”

Sunset's mind finally snapped.

“ENOUGH!” she roared.

Everyone ceased their comments and flinched back from Sunset's loud outburst. Even her friends flinched from her sudden rage, but Sunset no longer cared as she berated everyone who were present.

“You all think I was doing this on purpose!?" She screamed. "I tried to set this up, slaved myself all of this... just to give you all this stupid party as my way to give you people back for giving me a chance and finally start fresh! But every single time I’m trying to be good, it wasn’t enough! It was never enough! If all of you were really that ungrateful and judgmental for what I’ve done, even if I’ve done something good or if it was an accident, then… then SCREW ALL OF YOU! YOU ALL DESERVED TO NOT HAVE A PARTY AND LOST YOUR SCHOOL!”

Everyone was at a loss for words after Sunset’s outbursts. Everyone stared at her in silence in fear and hurt from her words. Whether they’re ashamed from their actions or not, Sunset paid no attention to them. Her stress and frustrations had finally reached her boiling point. She glared at all of them as if she challenged anyone to try to bad mouthed her again. She barely noticed one of her friends tried to gently touched her shoulder.

“S-Sunset,” Applejack stammered. “Ah think maybe you should calm down before ya--”

"Don’t you start lecture me AJ!" Sunset snarled, turning around to face a bewildered farmer. “Didn’t you just say to me that I’m a ‘two-time snake’? I admit that I was bad in the past, but I tried to be better and be honest with you! But you seemed to think that I’m nothing but a liar!”

Applejack winced from Sunset’s words. "N-now Sunset, Ah… Ah was just--"

“I seem to recall,” Sunset added angerily. “That last Christmas, you once said I was family to you before you tossed me away, thinking I’m a cyber bully*, even though I’m telling you the truth! Ironically, it was one of you own family member who did this and yet you forgive them easily! So how do I know that you’re actually the big fat liar? HUH?”

Applejack bowed her head. While Sunset’s words hurt her, but she knew it was true. She still felt ashamed from last year after she and her friends accused her for something Sunset did not do. To add salt in the wound, it was from her own kin. And it looks like history almost repeat itself.

"Now wait a minute Sunny!” Pinkie Pie spoke up to Applejack’s defense. “You can’t treat Applejack like--"

"And you Pinkie!” Sunset growled, nearly scaring her pink friend. “If you actually try to take things more seriously instead of acting like this was all just a game and laugh at every stupid joke, then maybe no one would be puking right now! Or maybe you rather wanted to take my smile away like before?"

Pinkie whimpered in sadness as her hair suddenly went straight and flat.

“Rarity!” Sunset snapped before the fashionista could speak up. “You may act like you’re a generous soul, but you can also be selfish at times! So why don’t you help out more instead of crying over some stupid clothes that no kids are ever interested in!”

Rarity gasped and nearly fainted at that.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash cried. “That’s enough Sun--”

"And you!" Sunset shouted, naring her eyes at the athlete. "You have the nerve and audacity to blame me for your sister’s disappearance, even though that you were supposed to be watching them? That’s sooo like you Dash! Acting so high and mighty like you’re sooo much better than everyone, but really you were being an insensitive jerk and blamed others when something went wrong, especially to me! So maybe instead of being a stupid hothead and pointing fingers at me as always, you should just accept the fact that you are nothing but a major screw up and don’t do anything right! Some loyal friend you are!"

Rainbow looked like she just got slapped in the face and her eyes were nearly pooled in tears.

Sunset slowly turned her head towards a very scared Fluttershy.

"And Fluttershy,” Sunset stated coldly. “...grow a freakin backbone instead of being a scaredy wimp!"

Fluttershy began to cry while Pinkie Pie tried to comfort her.

"Sunset, enough!" Twilight cried, appalled from how her friend was behaving. "Don't take this out on everyone, including our friends! They tried just as hard as you are to make this happen! You don't treat our friends like that!"

Sunset set her angry eyes on Twilight. "Oh, like you're the one to talk Twilight!" she seethed. "Since you're such an expert when it comes to let everyone know your feelings and who you trust the most!"

While still upset with Sunset, Twilight was genuinely confused from Sunset's statement. "Sunset… what are you talking about?"

Sunset growled. "I know Twilight!"

"You know what?" Twilight yelled loudly.

"I KNOW THAT TIMBER BROKE UP WITH YOU!" Sunset shouted.

Everyone gasped while Twilight had the look of shock on her face.

"What!? H-how... how did you know that?" Twilight asked nervously.

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "I overheard you talking to Rarity as I was cleaning the school storage earlier today!" As both Twilight and Rarity winced for not being careful with their secret, Sunset continued. "And that you told everyone else about it and wanted them to not say anything to me! Why didn't you tell me that Timber broke up with you!?"

For a moment, no one said a word. Sunset stood there impatiently for Twilight's answer, while Twilight feeling nervous and uncomfortable under Sunset's gaze. Finally, after what it seemed like minutes have passed, Twilight spoke.

"It wasn't Timber who broke up with me," Twilight said quietly. "I was the one… who broke up with him!"

Sunset raised her eyebrows in surprise, but kept her anger expression. "You broke up with him? Why? Why did you break up with him? Why did you tell everyone else about the break up, but not me?" She then had a hurt expression. "Am I not that important to you? Do you not trust me?"

"NO! It's not like that at all!" Twilight cried out desperately.

"Then why Twilight?" Sunset demanded. "Why are you trying to hide this from me?"

Twilight kept quiet, angering Sunset further.

"ANSWER ME!" she shouted.

"IT WAS YOU SUNSET!" Twilight screamed with tears in her eyes. "ME AND TIMBER BROKE UP BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Twilight gasped and covered her mouth from her sudden outburst, but the damage was done. Sunset anger was immediately wiped away and replaced with a stunned look. Time stood still as everyone watched them anxiously. The whole gym as so tense, you could cut it with a knife. After for what it felt like a minute, Sunset bowed her head and let out a sniff.

"I see…" Sunset said quietly. "So I ruined your relationship with Timber… just like I ruined everything else!"

Twilight gasped and tried to reach out to Sunset. "Wait Sunset, that's not what I--"

"STOP!” Sunset shouted, causing Twilight to flinch back. “Just stop... okay?" Sunset lifted her head, revealing her face which was soaked from tears. "If that's what you and everyone else feels about me than... I'll just leave before I make everything worse!"

While holding back a sob, Sunset quickly turned and ran towards the door.

"Sunset wait!" Twilight cried, but Sunset didn’t listen as she shut the door behind her.

As everyone stared at the door, processing of what just happened, Twilight let her tears fall, feeling sad, hurt and regret.

"Oh Sunset…"

Sometime later, Sunset was hiding in one of the classrooms, crying her eyes out. She felt really guilty for taking her anger out on everyone, especially her friends, hurting them all in the process. She was being unfair to them, even if some of her anger was justified. Worse of all, she was incredibly guilty for not only yelling at her crush, but also the cause of her crush’s breakup.

Sunset didn’t know what she did to ruin the relationship between Twilight and Timber and she spent some time thinking of some possibilities. Perhaps she did something to make Twilight feel uncomfortable after she set up the date for them? Or maybe she somehow made Twilight doubt herself for being a good girlfriend? Whatever the reason, Twilight broke up with Timber and it was all her fault. It was no wonder why Twilight never wanted to tell her.

She wished she could take back what she said to her. She wished she could take back what she said to her friends. To everyone at the party, even if the things they said was uncalled for. But she couldn’t. Once again, she acted like a monster.

No, she acted like a She-Demon. It was the Fall Formal incident all over again, except she has no one by her side. She was now all alone.

And she has no one to blame, but herself.

I ruined it… I ruined everything! Sunset weeped. The party, the festival, my friendship… and Twilight's happiness! I'll could never escape my past! And now my friends hate me!

"Feeling down Miss Shimmer?"

Sunset jerked up from a sudden sound of a voice from an intruder. She quickly wiped her tears and turned around and frowned angrily when she saw Cinch, standing in front of her with that same calming and cold expression.

"You!" Sunset growled with contempt. "W-what do you want?"

"Why I don't want anything from you," Cinch replied casually as she adjusted her glasses. "I'm just seeing if you're alright after that marvelous display you did back there! I may not be a teacher anymore, but it is still my duty to check the wellbeing of young students."

Sunset's eyes narrowed, not buying Cinch's explanation. "Yeah right! If you're that concerned for your students wellbeing, then you would never made Twilight released the magic from her pendant and have her turned into an unstable creature!"

Cinch placed her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and frowned at the teenaged girl. "While I'll admit that it was my fault that I strongly… suggested her to use that magic, but I can assure you that I would never put my former student in that position have I known that it could turned her into that… monster."

"Even so, you should have never messed with something that you have no idea what it can do!" Sunset snapped as she crossed her arms. "That magic is very unstable and it could lead to harm if you don't understand it properly!"

Cinch cocked an eyebrow. "You mean like how you use that magical crown from another world properly back at the Fall Formal last year and becoming a She-Demon?"

Sunset recoiled in shock, shocked that Cinch knew about her past despite Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna's efforts to keep the incident hidden from the public.

"Or how about that camp counselor who properly used those rocks necklace and becoming a plant monster?" Cinch continued as she took each step towards Sunset. "Or that ex-gofer from the film studio who properly used that mirror and turned into a giant woman? Or that meek plant loving girl who properly used some magical rock to erase people's memories? Need I go on?"

Sunset was now panicking. Their worst enemy somehow knew all of their previous incidents that involves Equestrian magic. Her mind was in overdrive as to how that woman knew all of that.

Sunset gulped. "How… how did you know all of that?"

Cinch smirked. "Let's just say… I've been a big fan of yours Sunset Shimmer!"

She took out her phone and showed a collab clips of everything she and her friends have done. From saving someone from turning into creatures, destroying an artifact, or rescuing people from a magical storm. Sunset stared at Cinch's phone with wide eyes.

“Yo- you’ve been keeping tabs on us!?” she exclaimed.

“Indeed!" Cinch replied with a somewhat smug look on her face. "I like to keep tabs on certain people, especially from a few people who ruined my life! It's amazing what kind of leverage you find when meeting the right people!"

"W-what are you planning to do with these videos?" Sunset asked with dread.

“Why I'm planning to share these so that everyone will know what's going on at your school as well as your lives!" She revealed in a pleasing tone. "Once the school board and the town sees this, not even Principal Celestia will help you cover this! This will guarantee ruin everyone including your friends lives once it was out in public." She paused. "Unless…"

"Unless… what?" Sunset asked quietly.

Cinch crossed her arms. "Unless you leave from this school AND this world… and never return! Only then I can convince the Mayor to change her mind about closing the school and everything will be back to normal."

Sunset narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch," said Cinch as she tapped her chin. "Well… maybe not for you. I will also convince Celestia to let me run her school sixty percent of the school and run it however I see fit!"

Sunset growled in anger. She couldn't believe that formal Principal of Crystal Prep to not only somehow recording everything she and her friends lives with magic so that Cinch can use it to blackmail her to leave this world, but also use it to gain control of Canterlot High. All of this just to get back at her and her friends for calling her out on her misdeeds back from Friendship Games. Sunset have never hated anyone so much in her life.

"You're crazy!" Sunset exclaimed. "There's no way that Celestia or anyone at CHS would ever agree to let you run our school after the way you run your former school! And even if I'm crazy enough to agree to your terms, then how do I know you'll honor your deal, especially after what you did to Twilight?"

Cinch stroked her chin with her finger as if she was having a deep thought, but Sunset could tell that Cinch was just mocking her.

"You made excellent point Miss Shimmer," Cinch responded nonchalantly. "I suppose you have every right to not trust me since we were on opposite sides last time." She placed her hands as well as her phone behind her back. "But then again, how do you know that things will ever be right again? After all, it was your fault for not only for letting everything wrong tonight, but also bringing your… "magic" into our domain and letting some hooligan using magic like it was some toy! You dare preached me about responsibility when you originally come here as an irresponsible, spoiled child who thinks she can make a difference and not understanding the consequences!"

"I'm not that person anymore!" Sunset shouted.

Cinch raised her eyebrow. "Did your friends think you changed, especially after the way you chewed them out earlier?"

Sunset tried to speak out, proving Cinch wrong. But she didn't. Her memories of how she treated her friends and everyone else after her breakdown was still fresh on her mind. She felt deeply ashamed for the way she treated them, especially to Twilight. She was now having doubts about herself. Was she never really changed since the Fall Formal? Is she still friends with them? Are they even friends at all?

"I thought so," Cinch said with a humph. "Anyway, since our discussion is over and that I still have work to do, I'll let you sit on my "offer" for a while. You have until midnight tonight to think about it! If you don't have an answer or refused, well… let's just say... you won't be having a very happy holiday!"

With that, Cinch turned and walked away from Sunset, all while hiding her victorious smirk from a distraught teenager.

Now all alone, Sunset felt more worthless and defeated than she was before. The party and the festival was ruined, the school is now shut down until further notice, she lost her friends including her crush, and now Cinch is blackmailing her to leave this world or else she'll ruined her friends lives. Tears were leaking from her eyes again as she felt more alone and have no one to turn to. She can't go back to her friends for obvious reasons, she can't go back to Equestria without having Princess Twilight barrage her with questions due to her emotional state and she can't go back to her apartment in case if her friends are looking for her; assuming if they want to find her.

No one wanted to have anything to do with her anymore.

With her cheeks still soaked from her tears, she looked up and gazed at the windows. There was only one place where she could go.

And the one place where she will be gone… permanently.

Author's Note

*Based from the events from the Equestria Girls' IDW comic: Equestria Girls Holiday Special!

I'm soooo sorry for the long wait! I originally planned to release a new chapter everyday until Christmas Eve, but due to a bad cold, writer's block and plans with my family for the holidays, I delayed them until now.

So... I guess you can consider these two chapters as a late Christmas gift! :twilightblush:

Anyway, I'll try to post the rest of these chapters in due time. Hopefully, this story will be finished by the end of January, but I won't promise anything. :ajsleepy:

The next chapter is coming soon! :pinkiesmile:

6. Meet Rebecca

Sunset didn’t know how long she was out in the cold, nor that she was lightly covered in snow, or how long she was walking through the snow through the neighborhood. Quite frankly, she no longer cared. She just wanted to get away from everything. She didn't want anyone to find her. She just wanted to be alone, especially after what happened tonight.

She continued to walk under the night's sky until she eventually reached the tall bridge towards Canterlot City and over the rapid river. The bridge is quite famous when it was first built to allow many tourists or potential new residents to travel over it and visit the great city of Canterlot. However this bridge is also infamous for anyone who use this location for much more darker purpose, especially when their lives went downhill.

Sunset leaned over the bridge's railing at stared out over the dark horizon with a depressing sigh.

“Who could ever cared about some former bully girl like me?” Sunset asked herself softly with a sniff. “I ruined the Christmas Festival, the school is going to shut down because of me and now everyone hated me… even my best friends.”

She thought back to what happened tonight. How it all gone wrong. How her friends reacted in anger from every one of her mistakes and the hurt they felt after she latched out against them. Cinch somehow recording their lives with magic about them and are now blackmailing her to leave the human world. And of course, Twilight's revelation of what was the cause of her breakup with Timber.

It was all coming back to Sunset. Everything from the moment she rebelled against her teacher and mother equivalent to now. How that she caused so much trouble for everyone just because she inadvertently brought Equestrian magic to this world and how she had hurt someone so badly as a bully. By the time she realized the damages she caused, it was too little too late. If only she hadn't acted like a high horse, heed her teacher's advice and not ran away to this world like a spoiled brat, none of this ever happened. They would have been celebrating their party right now. Those kids could have been playing with their new toys by now. They would still have their school to go to. And her friends lives would never be ruined.

Assuming if they still wanted her to be their friend after this.

She sighed sadly through her nose. “My past mistakes is always coming back to hurt not just me, but to everyone else. I always bring trouble to everyone, even when I’m trying to be good. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough! Maybe it would’ve been best if I didn’t come to this world at all. Maybe it would probably be best…” She let a lone tear trailing down along her cheek. “If I just… disappear!”

Sunset looked down over the railing, seeing a dark water rapids moving at a fast rate. She wondered if anyone would ever miss her if she was gone, but with everything that happened because of her, she doubted it. With a look of despair and hopelessness, Sunset climbed up and stood up on the railing. As she stared at the watery depths below, she thought back to her friends one last time.

I’m sorry everyone. I’m sorry Princess Celestia. I'm sorry Princess Twilight. And I’m sorry… Twilight.

Sunset closed her eyes and proceeded to step off the railing.

“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!”

Sunset immediately stopped what she was doing and opened her eyes when she heard a desperate cry for help. Was there somebody else on the bridge?

“HELP! DOWN HERE! SOMEONE SAVE ME!”

Sunset looked down and gasped. There was indeed a person just below her. Sunset couldn't make out any features from the person due to darkness, distance and snowy weather, but judging from the person's voice, Sunset identified to be a teenaged girl. Sunset didn't know how that girl got there, but that mysterious stranger was currently hanging on to the edge of the beam with her dear life, but not for very long.

“Oh my gosh! Hang on! I’m coming!” Sunset cried as she proceed to slowly climbed over the railing and scaling down the side of the bridge to save the girl.

“HELP! I’M SLIPPING!” The girl cried desperately as she slowly sliding away from the edge.

“I’m almost there!” Sunset hollered as she continued to shimmy her way over to the girl.

Once she had reached the bottom ledge of the bridge, Sunset went over to the girl and reached her hand out to her.

“Quick! Grab my hand!” Sunset cried.

The girl looked up to Sunset and reached out to Sunset. After some struggle the Sunset finally reached girl and grabbed her hand and then pulling her up. Once the girl was in a much safer spot, Sunset let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew, that was close! Are you alright?” Sunset asked.

The girl nodded, despite her shaking due to the cold. “Y-yeah! T-thanks for saving me! I-I thought I was a g-goner for sure!”

Sunset took a good look at the girl. She had teal eyes, brown hair. Her face was also a little pale, probably because she was out in the cold for who knows how long. Sunset placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, only to wince when she felt the girl's shoulders were as cold as ice.

Geez, she’s freezing! Sunset exclaimed in thought. How long was she out here? How long was she hanging on from that bridge?

Despite not knowing who the person is, Sunset couldn't just leave this poor girl alone. She needed to get this person out from the cold and help her back to health.

“Can you stand?” Sunset asked.

The girl simply nodded.

“Alright, then follow me!" Sunset instructed. "I’ll take you somewhere warm!”

After they climbed themselves out if the bridge's beam, Sunset led the girl over to Sweet Shoppe to get themselves warm up. Thankfully, the Shoppe was still open and Sunset ordered two hot cocoa for themselves. Once they got their drinks, they went over to one of the booths to relax. They each took a long sip from their drinks and then they let out a satisfied sigh, feeling the warmth from their stomachs.

“Ahh~ This hot cocoa almost tasted like it came from heaven!” said the girl with a smile. “You sure you don’t want me to pay you back?”

“Don’t sweat it, it’s on me!" Sunset assured with a smile. "I’m just glad you are feeling better.”

Sunset mused as she observed this stranger's behavior. Her personalty kinda reminded her of a combination between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Very kind and gentle, yet fun and energetic. But unlike her two friends, there was something about that girl that seemed... different from her friends or anyone else for that matter, like she wasn't even from this world. Sunset couldn't put her finger on it, but just looking at this girl made her feel... at peace and safe.

"You know… I don't think I've ever seen you around in this town before. Are you new here?" Sunset asked with her curious expression.

After taking another sip of her hot cocoa, the girl placed the cup down on the table with a sheepish grin. “Oh right, where are my manners? My name is Rebecca! It's nice to meet you Sunset Shimmer!"

"Well it's nice to meet you--" Sunset paused, processing what the stranger just said to her. Then it clicked. "Wait… how'd you know my name? I don't recall telling you who I am before bringing you here."

"Well, you could say that I know a lot about you," Rebecca answered cryptically. "I know everything what you've done at CHS and beyond."

Sunset drooped and frowned deeply. "Oh... so other people told you about me huh?" She chuckled humorlessly. "That certainly doesn't surprise me. Figures that there are some people who still have a grudge on me and would jump at the chance to tell others how awful I was."

"You're not awful Sunset," Rebecca said soothingly. "Sure, you had a major fallout with Princess Celestia, fled from your world to this world, becoming a bully and turned into a She-Demon after you stole Princess Twilight's crown, but you come a long way and becoming a better person!"

Sunset sighed heavily. "I don't know. Despite all my efforts, I still don't think I'm--"

Sunset suddenly stopped talking again and her eyes widened in saucers. She realized that the stranger was just talking about her home world and everypony who lives there! She definitely never mentioned anything about her home world once!

"Hang on… how did you know Princess Celestia?" Sunset questioned "Or that I'm from-?"

"Another dimensional world full of ponies and other creatures?" Rebecca finished as she took another sip of her cocoa. "Oh yes, I know all about that. And I also know that you were an orphaned girl who was abandoned from your birth parents and was very alone despite living in an orphanage until you were adopted by Princess Celestia and views you as her own daughter." She then gave Sunset her look of sympathy. "And even after you've seen the error of your ways, you feared of seeing your 'mother' again because of how you treated her before you came here, feeling like you have let her down."

Alarm bells started ringing in Sunset's mind. This person somehow knew all about her entire life. Not just in the human world, but in Equestria as well. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she leaned close to her new "friend's" face.

"Alright, who are you and what do you want?" She growled quietly. "Are you another one of those evil villains from my world? Are you after Equestrian magic here? Or are you trying to get back at me as revenge for what I did to you?" She banged the table with her fist, startling Mrs. Cake in the process. "TELL ME!?"

Despite Sunset's aggressive nature, Rebecca had a calming smile on her face.

"Now now Sunny," Rebecca said gently as if she was speaking to a child. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you."

Sunset calmed down somewhat, but stared at Rebecca confusingly. "Help me?"

Rebecca nodded. "Oh yes. You see, you were feeling lost, depressed and helpless… more than usual due to the recent events." She then puts on a sad frown. "And when you were on that bridge about to make the biggest mistake of your life, I have to step in!"

"'Step in'?" Sunset parroted, still feeling confused. She thought about what Rebecca's words were implying for a moment. Then, her mind clicked.

"Wait… did you… jump over the bridge on purpose!?" Sunset cried out in disbelief.

Rebecca had a small blush on her face with a sheepish smile. "Well technically… I actually appeared over that railing." She then cleared her throat. "It wasn't my original plan, but at least I stopped you from jumping off of that bridge."

Sunset continued to stare at her with her mouth gaping. She couldn't believe that a stranger would do something so extreme, just to prevent her from doing herself in. She wasn't sure if she should be admired or disturbed from that person's deeds. She had many questions floating around in her brain, but didn't know which one to ask.

In the end, she decided to pick this one question in particular.

"Why… why did you do it?" She asked quietly.

Rebecca grinned softly. "Because it was my duty," she replied simply.

Sunset tilted her head. "Duty?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes… as your guardian angel of course!"

...

"I'm sorry… what?" Sunset asked, after a moment of stunned silence.

"I'm your guardian angel," Rebecca repeated.

Sunset blinked, not sure if she heard her correctly.

"You're... my guardian angel?" Sunset clarified.

When Rebecca nodded, Sunset had a skeptic frown on her face.

"I'm sorry, but I find this hard to believe! There are no such thing as a guardian angels!"

Rebecca cocked an eyebrow. "So you're saying that there is such a thing as talking ponies, magical crazed She-Demons, evil sirens, some plant monster, a giant woman and a killer robot… but not guardian angels?"

"...okay, you got me there!" Sunset conceded but still very skeptic. "But if you really are my 'guardian angel', then where's your wings?"

Rebecca then blushed out of embarrassment. "Well… I'm technically still an AS-two."

Sunset blinked. "An AS-two?"

"Angel Second Class," Rebecca clarified. "I… still haven't... earn my wings yet... despite being an angel for over two hundred years."

Despite Sunset's curiously about Rebecca being around for so long, the news that Rebecca wasn't a true angel didn't sit well for her. She lightly facepalmed.

"Oh, well that's just great!" Sunset moaned before giving Rebecca her angry look. "Well maybe you didn't do a good job as my guardian angel because you didn't do a good job with guiding me! Like where were you when I really needed you, huh? Where were you when I first arrived here with no way home? Or after I turned into a She-Demon? Or even after the first few weeks of trying to be good and apologize to everyone but many people spat in my face? Or last Christmas? Or all my miserable lonely years at the orphanage as a filly? WHY WEREN'T YOU THERE THEN!?"

Sunset controlled her breathing after she finished her raging tirade. While Rebecca still had a calm look on her face, Sunset also noticed Mrs. Cake was looking at her with a face full of concern. Sunset immediately felt guilty for once again letting her anger get the better of her. She gave an apologetic glance at Mrs. Cake, assuring her that she's alright before facing Rebecca again.

"I'm… I'm sorry," said Sunset, feeling ashamed. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I was just-"

Rebecca raised her palm up, stopping Sunset from talking. "It's alright Sunset, I understand," she said gently. "You didn't have an easy life and you briefly lost your way due to your anger and loneliness, but you are a strong person! Now you have friends on your side whenever you were down." She frowned. "However, I sensed that you were in major trouble, your morale was lower than usual and in deep despair. Worse of all, I sensed that you felt like your life didn't really matter. It was because of that… I decided to finally intervene."

Sunset stared at Rebecca with a look of awe. While she was still skeptical about Rebecca being a guardian angel, her explanation does make some sort of sense. It was also comforting that this "angel" decided to come to help her of all people in the time of need. Then, a thought came to mind which brings her a little hope.

"So... are you here to help me save my friends and the school because of my mistake?" Sunset asked.

"Unfortunately… no," Rebecca answered, much to Sunset's disappointment. "I can't help you for that, but I can help you get back on track!" Rebecca finished what was left of her cocoa before she continued. "While you may think that you are a burden to everyone and that your life is pointless, but I can assure you that your life does matters. Every person's life is just as important as another. So much so, we even made an impact to one or more lives in the process, even if we don't realise it. But yours Sunset," she grinned. "Your life are one of the few that I seen are incredibly special! Not just in this world, but also from the world where you come from!"

Sunset stared at Rebecca some more after hearing that inspiring speech. Part of her wanted to believe that, thinking that her purpose of being in the human world really does matter and that her friends are happy with her being there with them. But doubts still weighed in her heart and let out a depressing sigh.

“Yeah, well… I don’t feel like I’m special at all!" Sunset said sadly. "I was such a spoiled brat when I was Princess Celestia’s pupil! I wanted power... and be the very best, but Princess Celestia refused to give it to be. Instead of heeding her advice and warnings... I spat in her face and fled into this world to plot out my revenge. As I stayed here, I became much worse as I treated everyone at CHS horribly, humiliating and crushing anyone who gets in my way… as a bully."

Sunset then stared into her cup filled her cocoa, contemplating on all of her past actions that she was still regretting to this day. She let out a long sigh.

"Thankfully, Twilight… the pony Twilight and the Rainbooms, who later become my best friends, stopped me… but the damage was already done. Sure, a lot of students and the teachers at CHS forgave me eventually, but there are some who still hates me to this very day… not that I could blame them. And to make things worse… because of my actions, I inadvertently brought Equestian magic into this world. Either people like Twilight, the human version, became corrupt with magic or some random magic mishaps happens in town!”

She buried herself into her hand, trying to keep her tears at bay.

“Even when I tried to do good… I’m nothing but trouble. And now everything is ruined because of me… and I let everyone down… including my friends. Maybe it would’ve been better… if I never come to this world in the first place. Or better yet… maybe it would’ve been better in both worlds… if I never been–”

“Stop. Right. There!”

Sunset stopped talking and then immediately looked up. She was nearly taken aback when she noticed Rebecca had a very angry and stern expression on her face. Completely opposite to her happy and gentle personality from before.

“I know what you are going to say, and you shouldn’t even say that!” Rebecca scolded. “Look Sunset… we all made mistakes and have bad moments every now and then, but there are a lot of good moments too, even if we don’t realised it!"

Despite Rebecca's sudden change of attitude, Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Well maybe for you and some other people, but I doubt I did good for any world!”

Rebecca didn't back down. “Sunset, I can’t stressed this enough, but you made a lot of big impacts not just your life, but your friends' lives as well… in BOTH worlds!”

“My friends?" Sunset cried out in disbelief. "What do you know about my friends!? I’ll tell you what I know, my friends will probably be better off without me, that’s what I know!”

Rebecca frowned in worry. “Now that’s not true Sunset–”

“It IS true!” Sunset screamed angrily. “If I didn’t come to this world, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation! I just keep ruining my friends and everyone else’s lives because of my actions! And now the school is paying the price no thanks to me and there’s nothing we can do about it! So how about you just go back to wherever you came from, and tell whoever’s in charge of you that I wished I’ve never been BORN!”

Rebecca's eyes widened before she let out a groan. “OOOOH! I told you not to say that!”

“Well I just did!" Sunset snapped. "In fact, let me say this again: I WISH I’VE NEVER BEEN BORN!”

The whole Shoppe was now a quiet as a church. It was so painfully quiet, you could hear a needle drop. While Sunset continued to stare at the guardian angel with a look of anger in her eyes, Rebecca once again groaned and shook her head.

“Ooooh! Why did you have to say that? Why can’t you understand how important and wonderful your life really–”

She paused and thought for a moment. She realised that the flaming head teen was too stubborn to listen to see reason. But with Sunset's wish, then maybe she could use this as an opportunity to show her how important her life really is. Rebecca let out a sly grin.

“Alright… very well then!” said Rebecca as she clapped her hands.

Suddenly, Sunset felt something strange, as if some force left her body. Then the ground shook lightly as if there was a small earthquake. On top of that, the doors and windows of the Shoppe opened randomly and a strong breeze flowed into the building and surrounding her. About a minute later, everything stopped and the doors and windows slammed shut as if it never happened.

“Wha- what was that?” Sunset exclaimed as she looked around the shop with a bewildered expression.

“You made a wish, and I just grant it!” Rebecca answered simply.

“What, you’re a genie now?” Sunset scoffed as she turned back towards her guest. “How can you–”

When Sunset set her eyes where Rebecca sat, she was gone. With the exception of a now empty cocoa cup, there wasn't a single trace of the supposed guardian angel.

Wha– where did she go? Sunset thought.

She looked around the Shoppe again to see if the girl was actually hiding or pulling a prank. There wasn't a single person in the building at all, even Mrs. Cake seemed to have disappeared. Too tired and annoyed to deal with this, Sunset let out a sigh.

“Whatever... I’ll just go home,” she muttered to herself as she got up from her seat and walked out of the Shoppe.

What a night! She thought. Our school is in deep trouble, equestrian magic ruined our chances of saving CHS, the fundraiser was ruined, I yelled at my friends and upsetting them in the process, and on top of that, I met a girl who happened to be my... “guardian angel”, who saved me from jumping off the bridge. She let out a long sigh. I might as well go to bed and worry about this tomorrow… assuming we still have our school to go to… and if I actually want to show my face to everyone I let down.

With a small huff, Sunset dug into her pocket to take out her apartment key. To her confusion, she didn't feel her key in her pocket at all.

“What the– where's my key?” She checked every pocket she could dig into to find her missing key.

While this wasn't the first time that she had lost her key, but Sunset swore to herself that she remembered putting away her key in one of her pants pockets. Her key wasn't the only one that was missing. She also had lost her cell phone, her wallet and to her horror, her magical geode that she used to read people's minds and feelings.

"Where are my things!?" She shouted out loud. She then let out a loud grunt in frustration. “That's just great! I must've either misplaced them at the Shoppe, the school or… the bridge. Oh I hope I didn't drop them over that bridge!"

With a loud huff, Sunset turned towards her window still where her plant was sitting. “Well it’s a good thing I hid my spare key by the plants as an emergency!"

Sunset immediately dig into her plant to find her spare key. She planned that once she entered her home, she called the girls and ask them for help to find her things, strained friendships be darned. But her frustration only increased when her spare key was missing from its usual spot.

“What the– my spare key is not there either?” She exclaimed before turning towards her door with narrowed eyes. “Okay… did Pinkie Pie pranked me again?”

With a growl, Sunset began to bang on her apartment door with her fist. “Hello? Pinkie, are you in my house?” Sunset demanded loudly, not caring that she’ll wake her neighbors up in the process. “Did you changed my locks on my door as a prank again? Because if you did, this isn’t funny Pinkie! Open the door!”

Sunset kept banging on the door for a minute longer until she saw a light illuminated from her door’s window with a figure in front of it. When the door finally opened, Sunset prepared to let her party friend have it, despite that she did already.

“What the hay is wrong with you Pinkie?! What is the meaning of–”

Sunset immediately stopped screaming when she realized the person she was screaming to wasn’t one of her friend or anyone she was familiar with. Instead, she was looking at a complete stranger who was middle aged bloated woman. She was wearing a pink robe with light blue slippers, rollers in her hair and a green facial mask.

“Um… who are you?” Sunset asked in her stunned tone.

“I should be asking you that!” The woman let out an annoyed grunt after being interrupted from her sleep. “What are you doing knocking on my door to my apartment at this time at night?”

Sunset was flabbergasted from the stranger's statement before her expression turned to anger.

“Your apartment?" Sunset snapped. "This is MY apartment! And you’re transpassing!”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I think you’ve lost your mind kid! I suggest you leave now before I called the authorities!”

“Like heck you are!” Sunset shouted as she tried to enter the building. “I’ll be the one to call the authorities once I get in and kick you out!”

“HEY! You stop that right now!” The woman yelled as she was blocking Sunset from entering.

“You let me in and get out of my home this instant!” Sunset shouted in frustration, trying her best to shove the lady out of her way.

“Excuse me, is there a problem here?”

The two stopped what they were doing and towards to the sudden voice of a mysterious third person. To Sunset's surprise, the voice belonged to none other than Rebecca, who had that same pleasant expression on her face.

“YOU!?” Sunset cried. “What are you doing here?”

“I followed you!” Rebecca said simply. “I gotta make sure you didn’t run into any trouble.”

Sunset frown. “Then why did you disappeared earlier?”

“For fun!”

Sunset let out an annoyed sigh.

“Excuse me!” The woman exclaimed with an indignant look. “I don’t know what game you two are playing at, but I want the both of you off of my property or else!”

Sunset whipped her head around and glared at the woman. “Your property!?” she growled. “I told you, I live here! You are the one who I want you to leave or else I–”

“This is not you apartment Sunset!" Rebecca intervened. “In fact, you never lived in an apartment or anywhere else… ever!”

As Sunset stood there with her confused look, the woman let out a scoff. “See? Even your friend said you don’t live here! Now scram before I call the cops!”

Before Sunset could argue further, the woman slammed the door behind her. Losing her patience and wanting to get to the bottom of this, Sunset turned to face her "guardian angel".

“What is going on here?” Sunset demanded. “What do you mean I don’t live in my apartment or anywhere else? Answer me!”

Rebecca cocked an eyebrow. “You really don’t know yet Sunset? Then allow me to elaborate!" She then gestured everything around her. "Welcome to the world… in which you’re never born!”

Author's Note

And so it begins... :moustache:

Fun Fact: The name I gave to Sunset's guardian angel was inspired by Sunset Shimmer's English voice actress, Rebecca Shoichet! :twilightsmile:

7. A World Without Sunset?

Sunset had a stunned expression on her face and her mind nearly went blank as soon as Rebecca said those words. While it was barely even a minute, Sunset just stood there in silence for what it seems like an eternally. Eventually, Sunset shook off her stupor and gave Rebecca her deadpan look.

“I’m sorry… what?” she asked.

“I said, welcome to the world in which you’re–”

“I know what you said!” Sunset snapped. “Just... what do you mean!?”

Rebecca grinned. “It means that you don’t exist in this world! You are now living in a world, heck, in this universe without a Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset still had a skeptic frown on her face and let out an annoyed huff.

“Okay listen... I don’t know how you pulled this off and how you managed to get this crazy woman into my apartment and change my locks, but I want you to stop this nonsense at once so that I can go back to my apartment and find my things!”

Rebecca shook her head. “You don’t have an apartment Sunset Shimmer! Or any place to live for that matter! You also don't own anything to your name because you don’t exist!”

Sunset growled, already losing her patience. “You know what, fine! I’ll just go to one of my friends' houses and spent the night there, then we'll be calling the cops!”

“You don’t have friends either Sunset!” Rebecca called out as Sunset stumped away from her. “They don’t know you because you’ve never been born!”

“Walking away now!” Sunset shouted as she got further away from her.

Rebecca sighed as she watched Sunset moving further and further away down the sidewalk.

“What a stubborn girl,” Rebecca muttered as she shook her head. “Whelp, I guess I’ll just let her figure this out the hard way!”

That girl is nuts!Sunset thought as she continued to walk down the sidewalk which was filled with snow. I thought her claiming to be my guardian angel was crazy enough already, but her claiming now that I don't exist now? Give me a break! As soon as I reached Twi--

Sunset immediately stopped walking and frowned after remembering her current predicament she nearly forgot about.

Oh… right. I blew up to them… and they hated me. I doubt they’ll help me after that. She let out a sad sigh. Maybe… I'll go ask Principal Celestia for help? She frowned. But… would she and her sister would want to help me after I single-handedly ruined their school? I know they helped me out and stuck their necks out for me before during my dark times before, especially after the Fall Formal, but now… I don’t know if they want to have anything to do with me anymore.

Sunset looked up to the sky with a sad expression, not caring that her face was getting cold from the wind nor she noticed a small tear leaking down her left cheek.

“S-stop! Please! Don’t hurt me!”

Sunset snapped out of her sad state when she heard someone crying out. She turned to her right and she noticed with wide eyes that there were two people on the other side of the road. She couldn’t make out who these two people are, but what caught her attention was one person tightly held the other person by the front of the coat and leaned closer to the other person’s face in an aggressive manner.

“You know the rules sissy!” The first person threatened. “If you don’t pay up, then you’ll get the consequences!”

“No please!” The second person begged. “I don’t have enough! Just give me more time!”

Sunset eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She immediately realized that someone was being bullied for “protection money”. Flashbacks of her old self appeared in her mind. While she never physically hurt anyone, but she remembered back when she was a bully herself, she used old methods like blackmailing to get what she wants. While she was personally ashamed of herself looking back, she didn’t want to see anyone suffer like that again and she certainly wasn’t going to let someone suffered in front of her now.

As she rushed across the street towards the pair, she heard the first person let out a mocking laugh.

“No can do! If I let you slide, then all the other losers at school will get the wrong idea! To think that I use to let people like YOU mocked me all the time!”

“L-listen, I’m sorry from before!” The second person quivered. “And I swear that I won’t mock you again and I will get you the money, just please spare me!”

“You got it coming you pathetic little cry baby!” The bully snarled. Sunset was getting closer as the first person raised their arm up, ready to strike down the victim. “Now say goodnight, Trixie!”

Sunset was surprised when the assalent announced the person’s name. She even took a quick glance under the second person face, only to confirm that the person really was Trixie. While the known wannabe magician was a braggart, but Trixie never let anyone push her around, even Sunset back when she was a bully. Despite they kinda clear the air and still butting heads every now and then, Sunset isn’t going to let anyone hurt Trixie while she was around.

“STOP!” Sunset shouted. “You leave her alone!”

The mysterious person immediately stopped right before punching the living daylights out of Trixie. While the person’s back was towards Sunset, Sunset could see that this person had long blonde hair while wearing a thick leather jacket, jeans, black boots and a chain just on the side of the hip. Sunset assumed that this person was from CHS, but she couldn’t recall ever seeing this person around before. She could hear this person growl like a bear who just interrupted from its meal.

“...Who said that!?” The person stated coldly.

“Me that’s who!” Sunset challenged. “Just let her go! There’s no reason to beat her up for something that she did to you in the pas–”

Sunset words immediately died in her throat once the mysterious bully turned around. For starters, that bully is a girl judging from her features. Whole her hair is blonde, but there were also some red streaks in there too and there was one scare on the right side of her face. But what really caught Sunset’s attention was the person’s eyes. Not only they were yellow, but they were also misaligned.

“D–Derpy!?” Sunset gasped in shock.

Before Sunset could blink, she was suddenly grabbed by the front of her coat and starring at Derpy’s enraged expression.

“I don’t know who you are or how you know me, but don’t you EVER say that name again or else I’ll break your spine! It’s Ditzy Doo! Got it!” Derpy growled.

Sunset gulped and nodded.

Derpy then grinned as she let Sunset go. “You must be new here,” she said casually with a sneer as she flicked Sunset chin up. “I suppose my reputation precedes me. I don’t know who told you that name, but I’ll find whoever did, then I’ll teach them a lesson. After that… I’ll come after you next!”

She then turned towards Trixie who was sitting on a snowy sidewalk after Derpy dropped her from earlier. “Guess what Lunamoon! I decided to spare you, so consider this as my Christmas gift to you!” Her eyes then narrowed. “But don’t mistake that I’m doing this as a goodness from my heart, I'm doing this to give you more time to get my money! If you don’t have it for me the next time we meet, well let’s just say… you won’t be so lucky next time!”

Derpy turned and walked away, but not before she shoved Sunset aside with her shoulder. Sunset watched Derpy with a stunned expression. She couldn’t believe what she just witnessed. It was like watching herself becoming a bully again, only it was Derpy of all people and she treated everyone much worse than how Sunset does in the past!

What the heck is going on!? Sunset exclaimed internally. Derpy... as a bully!? What happened to her? She was usually a very sweet girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly! Even back when I was so mean to her!

Her thoughts were put on hold when she heard a moan behind her. Remembering that she wasn’t alone, Sunset immediately went over to Trixie’s aid.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sunset asked with a concerned expression as she help Trixie stand up from the ground.

“Y-yeah… I’m okay,” said Trixie as she stood back up and gave Sunset her shaky but grateful smile. “T-thank you so much for s-stopping her from beating me up! I… I thought that I was a g-goner for sure!”

While Sunset was glad that her friend wasn’t injured, she paused when she got a good look at Trixie’s face. Trixie’s looked very… different. Instead of her usual proud and confident expression, Trixie was acting much more meek and timid. Her hair was all tied up to a ponytail, she wore a pair of glasses on her face. While Trixie looked pretty cute in that getup, this made Sunset even more confused because she had seen Trixie over an hour ago and she never looked like that from earlier.

“Um… I’m happy to help Trixie, but since when did you start wearing glasses?”

“Oh, I wore them since Freshman year,” Trixie answered as she was cleaning her glasses. “My eyes weren’t the same ever since–” She paused and then looked up at Sunset as she puts her glasses back on her face. “Hold on… you know me?”

Sunset had a bewildered expression. “Of course I know you! I’m Sunset Shimmer!” She then frowned. “Don’t you… recognized me?”

Trixie shook her head. “I… I don’t! I’m sorry… are we friends back at elementary school?”

"NO!” Sunset shouted. “Stop joking around Trixie! I'm in the same high school as you are!"

Trixie was now starting to shake in fear. "I-I… I'm sorry! B-b-but I never saw you before in my life!"

"But you saw me all the–" Sunset paused as she watched the poor girl frightened face because of her. This made Sunset feel guilty again for her behavior. As much as was frustrated with Trixie weirdness, the poor girl was still traumatized after getting bullied.

Sunset sighed. "Nevermind... why didn’t you just report her bullying to the Principal?”

To Sunset’s confusion, Trixie appeared to be more demoralized than ever. “...she didn’t care.”

Sunset nearly flabbergasted with this sudden revelation. “What do you mean, ‘she didn’t care’?” Sunset questioned. “Principal Celestia is a kind and fair person and so does her sister! She will help you stop Der-- I mean Ditzy Doo from bullying you!”

Trixie gave Sunset her look of confusion. “Principal Celestia? No! I was talking about Principal Cinch!”

Sunset eyes widened in shock. “WHAT!? It– it can not be! Cinch can not be the Principal of Canterlot High! She used to run Crystal Prep!”

“She still does!” said Trixie. “But she also runs another Crystal Prep, specifically the Eastern Division where Canterlot High used to be!"

"W-WHAT!" Sunset exclaimed with her eyes shrunk to a size of a pin needles. "But that… it can't… it's not possible!"

Without a word Sunset turned towards the direction where the school should be and ran off, leaving a very confused Trixie behind.

"...what a strange girl," Trixie muttered.

Sunset ran for sometime now, huffing and puffing the whole way. As much as she was still skeptical about the whole thing, but after everything she witnessed, what she learned from Trixie and what Rebecca told her earlier about that she was not in her world anymore, Sunset was instantly worried. A part of her hoped that Trixie was just playing a cruel prank on her after ruining the party. The only way she’ll know for sure is to check out the school herself.

Trixie has to be lying! Sunset thought. She has to be lying! There no way CHS has become another Crystal Prep!

Sunset eventually approached the final turn which leads to CHS. And once she did, she was in a shock of a lifetime.

To Sunset's horror, CHS was no longer there. Instead, there was a different building in its place. It was a little bigger and taller than the original CHS building. The color of the building had many shades of blue and crystals was placed in different parts of the building. The turf was a little bigger with a fence built all around the area. To add insult to injury, the podium where the horse statue used to be (and where the portal to Equestria was usually located) was now replaced with a statue of Cinch with that same authoritative expression.

Near hyperventilating, Sunset drew in deep breaths to try to keep herself calm. She kept begging herself to wake up from this horrible nightmare. But when her eyes set on a plague on the side of the fence, her eyes widened when it said:

NEW CRYSTAL PREP – East Division

This… this cannot be! Sunset exclaimed internally as she touched the plague to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. This has to be a nightmare! But… This is… REAL!

“Now do you believe me?”

Sunset immediately turned towards the sound of a voice, only to feel rage when she saw Rebecca standing there with that same gentle expression.

“YOU!” Sunset roared. “WHAT DID YOU DO!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Rebecca said calmly. “It was you who wished for this, so I granted it! So now we’re living in a world without you being born!”

Sunset took a step back, as if she just got slapped in the face. “...I did this?” she whispered, as she took a glance at the school again. “You mean all this happened… Trixie, Derpy and the school… all because I don’t exist?”

“I’m afraid so," Rebecca answered solemnly. "You made a lot of impact to this world, more than you realize!”

Sunset gave Rebecca a skeptic look, not believing her words. “Okay one; I doubt it! Two; how could I possibly be the one who made Trixie, the biggest showboat on earth, Derpy, one of the nicest girl I know and preventing our school to become the second Crystal Prep?”

“I’ll be more than happy to answer your questions,” Rebecca responded as she crossed her arms. “For starters, Trixie became a “showboat,” as you call her, because she was inspired by you!”

Sunset had a look of disbelief. “Um… could you run that by me again? I... inspired HER?”

“Yes,” Rebecca answered with a serious expression. “While she won’t admit it, but ever since you first showed up and bullied her in person, you actually pushed her to finally come out of her shell and gained her self confidence… even if she became a little arrogant. Yes, she despite you for a while, but her views of you changed and inspired her further on one particular night that involves you!”

Sunset thought for a moment, wondering which night Rebecca was referring to. Suddenly, her mind clicked and her eyes widened.

“You mean… the Fall Formal?”

“That’s correct,” said Rebecca. “You single-handedly showed her that magic does exist! You see, she had self doubting issues about following her family footsteps to become a magician, especially when everyone thinks that it was all tricks and no magic and that she wasn't very good at it to boot. But your actions not only gave her hope, but you made her go above and beyond to make herself become the "greatest" and most "powerful" magician of this generation with real magic… even when she’s jealous that you and her friends are more magical than her."

Sunset shook her head with an amused grin. Despite Trixie's efforts to hide her jealousy, it was already a common knowledge between her and her friends since they suspected it long ago.

Rebecca continued. "She even went as far to put on a "showman" act everyday to not only have others see her as a very confident person, but to also make herself feel confident."

Sunset had an awe-like expression on her face, now seeing a well known "braggart" in a whole new light.

“Wow… I have no idea that I changed Trixie’s life so dramatically!” said Sunset, looking down in thought.

Rebecca nodded. “Yes you did. But without you showing up, Trixie is nothing but a lonely, meek girl with no confidence in herself what-so-ever.”

“...and Derpy?” Sunset asked with hesitation.

Rebecca let out a sad sigh. “Derpy… is much sadder case. You know about her… eyes, right?”

Sunset grimaced, already could tell where this is going. “I… I do. She told me once that she was just born like that, but she usually never let that bother her.”

“You are half correct,” Rebecca replied. “Derpy always felt that she was alienated and alone all because of her eyes. It also didn’t helped that some people bullied her because of her eyes.”

Sunset craned her neck in shame, remembering that she was one of her bullies. “I know I bullied her in the past, but I never go as far as making fun of her disability! Even I have standards!”

“That’s true,” Rebecca conceded. “And unlike most bullies, you did something that helped changed her life for the better!" When Sunset gave her a questionable look, Rebecca elaborated. "She was actually having a rough time during her first year in high school. And after witnessing how much of a… *ahem*... meanie you were towards her and the others, she realized she doesn’t want to be that person, but was still scared about being herself.”

Sunset frowned. “Oh… so I made her the way she is now because I scared her. That makes me feel sooo much better!”

“You did… in a sense," said Rebecca. "But on the bright side, you swayed Derpy away from becoming a bully herself.” She then grinned. “But that’s not all you did to change her for the better! Do you remember what you did the day after the Fall Formal?”

Sunset sighed through her nose as she thought back to that particular day. “Well... aside from going through a day of dealing with a bunch of angry students, I apologized to Derpy first... outside of my friends.”

“And do you remember how exactly you apologized to her?”

Sunset blushed as if she appeared to be embarrassed about something. “I... told her that... the reason I bullied her because I was... jealous of her bubbly personality and go-to attitude and... that she is… prettier than me.”

Rebecca had an amusing smirk on her face. “And?”

Sunset gave Rebecca an annoyed look, but then she relented. “And… I told her that she is a kind person, how smart she is... and how she can cheer up others despite her clumsiness." Sunset then smiled fondly. "I told her that she can accomplish anything if she can put her mind into it and that she shouldn’t be afraid of expressing herself because there will be people who like her the way she is. And she shouldn’t let any naysayers told her otherwise… not even me.”

Sunset remembered how her heart warmed up after seeing Derpy's eyes lit up in joy before she hugged her, thanking her for the kind words and that she forgave her. Sunset never felt so good for making other people happy. It was that moment Sunset decided to put into effort to make things right, even if it was a hard road for her at the time.

Sunset chuckled. “While it was kinda awkward for me then because I still wasn’t good at making friends at the time, but at least she forgave me. I'm just glad that she wasn’t afraid of me anymore.”

“You did more than just that,” Rebecca pointed out. “Because of your kind words, she no longer considered her disability as a curse and decided to give others a chance and become much more outgoing and a sweet heart that you know her today. And luckily, she made a lot of friends who cared about her. And she has you to thank!”

Sunset couldn't believe that she not only made Trixie's life better, but Derpy's as well because of her actions. As touching as this sounds, there was still one major thing that bothered her.

"What about the school?" Sunset questioned. "How do I fit in this? How does me being born and come to this world affects the school?"

"Now this is where it gets complicated," said Rebecca. "But I'll try to make it simple. You know that CHS lost to Crystal Prep at every Friendship Games?"

Sunset nodded.

"Well at every Friendship Games, the morale at CHS decreased so much to the point that they believed that they'll never beat Crystal Prep and that they're not good enough," Rebecca explained. "Your Friendship Game was CHS' last chance to prove themselves. After they lost this one, Cinch managed to "convinced" Principal Celestia to form a partnership with her so that she can help improve the students' academic skills." She then grimaced. "But in return… Cinch will run sixty percent of the school and run it however she sees fit."

Sunset stared at Rebecca with a horrified shocked expression. This was the exact same "deal" that Cinch offered to her, except Principal Celestia actually took the deal almost without a second thought. Sunset shook her head in disbelief.

"No way…" she whispered before shouting angrily. "There's no way that Principal Celestia would ever agree to that witch's terms, especially letting this happened to her own students!" Sunset then gestured towards the school. "Just look at our school! Did you even see what she did to it? She took more than just sixty percent of it!"

Rebecca sighed. "Well, when the whole school is demoralized, even Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal lost confidence in themselves to keep running it. And overtime, Cinch found a way to give these two an "early retirement"... and took over the school." Rebecca sighed sadly. "And Celestia and Luna left without a fight."

Sunset took steady breaths, keeping herself from hyperventilating. "This can't be happening!" she cried. "No way this cannot be true!" She then paused before giving Rebecca her confused expression. "But I still don't understand what this all have to do with me?"

Rebecca grinned. "That's because you, Sunset Shimmer, are the spark of your school's confidence!"

"Huh!?" Sunset uttered, not expecting that answer. "But… I didn't do anything, except taking part of the Friendship Games. Rainbow Dash was the one who boosted up the school's confidence when she did a pep rally!"

"That's true," Rebecca conceded. "However, she did that because she was inspired by you!” As Sunset had a shocked expression, Rebecca continued. “Thanks to your magic and your friendship, it boosted Rainbow's confidence enough to spread her school spirit to all the students. And even so, the fact that you helped save the school from the Dazzlings during the Battle of the Bands and led the team during the Friendship Games, you gave them hope and confidence that not only do they have a fighting chance, but you also made proud of being a Wondercolt, even after you lost that first round against Twilight."

Sunset couldn’t believe what she was hearing. While she was indeed proud of herself for taking part in the games and helped her fellow students, but she had no idea that she made that huge of an impact to everyone at school. Even though it was sometime after the Battle of the Bands and almost everyone have forgiven her at that point, she never expected that they all thought of her that highly. But what really surprised Sunset was finding out that she was Rainbow Dash’s inspiration to do a pep rally in the first place.

Could this really be true? Sunset thought. If it is... then why didn’t Rainbow Dash tell me?

"It’s because she wasn’t good at being sappy and her pride hold her back as usual," Rebecca immediately answered, nearly scaring the poor teen. "Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I can read your mind and feelings. Didn't mean to invade your privacy."

Rebecca chuckled sheepishly when Sunset gave her an annoyed glare. Rebecca’s good-naturedness was short lived when her expression became serious again.

"Anyway, what you just learned was only a sample of what the world is like without you." She then proceed to walked past Sunset and headed towards the school. “Come… we’re heading inside. There’s someone we’re going to see!”

Sunset frowned. “Um… who?”

Rebecca stopped walking and turned her head towards Sunset. “Why one of your friends of course!”

Author's Note

As Rebecca said, this was only the beginning! :eeyup:

8. Broken Laughter

Sunset continued to follow Rebecca as they entered the school. Sunset eyed the interior of the school as she walked by, feeling more and more horrified of how different her school was after Cinch has taken control. Everything inside had many shades of blue, including walls, doors, floors, lockers, the list goes on. Everything that represents CHS or the Wondercolts like banners and awards had been replaced with everything that has Crystal Prep or Shadowbolts on them. There were also many different pictures of Cinch on the walls as if they're here as a reminder of who runs the school.

And I thought Rainbow Dash or Trixie have an overinflated egos! Sunset thought as she eyed the area with an uneasily look.

She then noticed the students who were in the hallway. To her surprise and horror, they were all the same students from CHS, except each and every one of them were now wearing Crystal Prep uniforms. She recognized almost every single one of them, despite how different they looked.

She noticed Vinyl Scratch (aka DJ Pon-3) was more classy looking with a ponytail instead of her DJ getup and not wearing her signature glasses, Sandalwood now has a short hair and without his beanie hat and Bulk Biceps was now overweight and no longer have massive muscles.

But what they all have in common though, was that they all have uncaring, yet miserable expressions on their faces. Everyone would either act indifferent or hostile towards another student; like how Lyra and Bonbon sneered to each other as they crossed paths, despite that these two are supposed to be best friends. Flash (Sunset's old boyfriend), who looked like a geek due to his glasses, was seen shoved around by some random students without a single utter of apology. Sunset remembered everything Twilight's had told her about how awful the school was with Cinch in charge, but to see it in person, that was a whole new level.

"I can't believe this!" said Sunset with widened eyes. "Everyone I know is acting so cold from one another! It's a complete opposite of how we usually treat one another at CHS! How could Cinch let this happen? Doesn't she care about the students well-being?"

"She doesn't care how the students were feeling, if they're suffering or all the friendships she destroyed," said Rebecca with a grunt. "Just as long she gets the best results from the students skills and help boost her "reputation", that's all that matters to her!"

"But that's not right!" Sunset replied, disgusted with how Cinch runs the place. "While it's one thing to improve one's academic skills, but not at a cost to their happiness and friendship!"

As Sunset voiced her frustration, she failed to notice a person in front of her. As a result, she accidentally bumped into that person, nearly sending that person to the floor.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going buster!” The person snapped out of annoyance.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sunset exclaimed. "I didn’t mean to–”

When Sunset got a good look of the person she just bumped into, Sunset nearly gasped in shock.

“P… Pinkie Pie?”

That person was indeed Pinkie Pie, the party loving and happiest friend she knows, but there was something way off about her friend. For starters, Pinkie was now wearing a Crystal Prep uniform just like the rest of the students. Instead of Pinkie's signature poofy and curly hair, it was all flat and deflated. But what really stood out the most was Pinkie's deep frown on her face.

And Pinkie rarely frowns.

“How– how do you know me!?" Pinkie demanded with a surprised expression. "Are you psychic?”

Sunset shook her head. “Pinkie... it’s me! Sunset!”

Pinkie blinked, but still had a frown on her face. “Sunset? Friend? Impossible! I don’t have friends!”

Sunset nearly fell over in shock. She couldn't believe that Pinkie, possibly the most extroverted person on the planet, never have any friends!

“What do you mean Pinkie?” Sunset exclaimed. “You have six best friends, including me! And you have over a thousand friends on MyStable for Celestia's sake! You even threw a party for Wallflower about a week ago!”

Pinkie was starting to feel annoyed with the bacon-haired antics. She then went up to Sunset's face and narrowed her eyes into hers.

“Okay first of all, I. Don’t. Have. Friends!" She growled. "And second, I don’t do parties! They’re a waste of time! And third… you’re crazy!”

Sunset immediately stepped away from her angry friend. “No, I’m not crazy Pinkie!" Sunset cried desperately. "We’ve been friends for a couple of years now! And how could you think parties are a waste of time? You love parties, especially that you’re doing all of that to make people happy! Heck, just seeing you laughing about anything puts a smile on everyone’s face, including me!”

“Stop it! Just stop it!” Pinkie shouted angrily, getting everyone's attention in the process. “You listen here lady, I don’t know who you are or how do you know my name, but just… stay away from me! And if you think laughing and partying is going to help you make friends, DON’T!" Her eyes then welled up. "From my experience, it doesn’t bring you joy or friends! It only brings you loneliness and miserably!”

Sunset felt her heart ache for seeing her friend so upset. She then tried to reach out to her.

“Pinkie, that’s not true! You–”

But Pinkie slapped her hand away.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” She screamed as she rushed past her and ran down the hallway, leaving behind her trail of tears.

“Wait Pinkie!” Sunset shouted as she tried to chase after her. “Don’t–”

Unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t able to follow Pinkie when she felt a strong grip on her shoulder. Sunset turned with an angry look, thinking it was Rebecca who stopped her, only her face went pale when it was actually another person who stopped her.

It was Pinkie's older sister, Maud Pie and had that same blank expression on her face. However, instead of her usual frock, she was wearing a leather jack over her Crystal Prep uniform, a black hairband with spikes around her hair to keep it into a ponytail and she even have huge arm muscles.

“I believe my sister said for you to leave her alone!” Maud stated in her deadpan tone. “Now will you complied with her wishes or are you going to have to deal with me?”

Sunset gulped, she can tell that Maud was actually serious with her threat. The fact that Maud still threatened her in her usual stoic self and that she was staring right through her to her soul really made her feel uneasy. Before she could respond, Rebecca finally intervened.

“So sorry about that!” said Rebecca in a cheery tone, despite the situation. “I’ll make sure she won’t bother your sister anymore! Count on it!”

Maud still stared Sunset a moment longer before turning to Rebecca. “...very good,” she said. “You have a nice day.”

Maud slowly turned around and walked down the hallway before disappearing into the crowd. As soon as Maud was gone and there was no longer any drama, the students went back to their own business like nothing ever happened. Sunset let out a breath that she didn't know how long she was holding and felt her sweat trailing down her head. Rebecca let out a sigh.

“That was a close one," she said. "Despite her aggressiveness, it's nice to know that Maud is still looking after her little sister.”

That was her being aggressive!? Sunset exclaimed in thought as she rapidly shook her head.

“I… I don’t understand! Pinkie Pie is the most energetic and the happy-go-lucky person I’ve ever known! It was her life's mission to make people happy, even when someone is having a bad day. Even if someone was being rude to her, she almost never lost her smile. But just now... she was all... sad, grouchy… and miserable!”

Rebecca let out a sigh with a grim expression. “Just because she always appeared to be a happy, that doesn’t mean that she’s always happy. While it is true that she’s a major extrovert and loves to make friends, but deep down… poor Pinkie Pie felt very insecure with herself for being annoying.”

Sunset gave Rebecca a look of disbelief. “What? That’s ridiculous! She’s not annoying!”

Rebecca simply cocked her eyebrow while giving Sunset a skeptic look.

“...well okay, she can be annoying sometimes," Sunset admitted. "But she’s still a wonderful person and I wouldn’t trade her for anything!”

Rebecca nodded. “I’m glad that you think that way about her friend, but Pinkie doesn’t always think herself so highly. Do you remember when you first arrived at CHS after you fled from your world?”

Sunset nearly cringed from how she acted to her former mentor from that, but kept her composure as she recalled after arriving to the human world for the first time.

“Y-yeah… I remember,” she whispered. “It was during Freshman Fair when I was still getting used to my surroundings. Most of the students there was nervous about entering High School for the first time or meeting new people, but me… I was nervous of entering a whole new world and I didn’t even have a clue as to where I am or anything about this world! I was even having second thoughts and wanted to go back to Equestria, even if I’m going to get locked up by Princess Celestia.”

“That is until you met Pinkie Pie, right?” Rebecca questioned.

"...yeah," Sunset answered. "She just came right out of nowhere when I was in deep thought. I was perturbed and annoyed with her at first for trying to befriend me, but when she offered to help me out by showing me around the school and the city, I decided to take her offer. Although admittedly, I was using her to map out the area and learn about the people in my school for my long-term plan of taking over this world and Equestria and then I broke up her friends by stealing her phone.” Sunset looked down in shame. “I’m… not very proud of that and I’m still guilty for using her. I thought she hated me and didn't want to have anything to do with me again, but to my surprise, she didn’t hold any grudges towards me and was the first to support me. We became friends for real after that.” Sunset then smiled fondly. “She even went out of her way to cheer me up and make me smile everyday during my rough times after the Fall Formal… and she still does today.”

“Sounds to me that even though you were using her for your own selfish intentions back then, deep down, you already considered her your friend,” Rebecca commented. “And believe it or not, your first encounter with Pinkie was important to her too… more than you know!”

Sunset blinked. “What do you mean?”

“As I mentioned earlier," Rebecca lectured. "Pinkie was a very insecure person… and still kinda is now. She hated to be alone, especially if a friend decided to ditch her and not be friends with her anymore.”

Sunset shivered at the memory of a time she and her friends planned a surprise birthday party for Pinkie, which took them weeks of planning. They tried to avoid Pinkie or dodge her questions so that she doesn't spoil her surprise. But in doing so, they unknowingly made Pinkie upset and lonely due to their actions. She even went as far as to throw her own party and used rocks and a bucket of turnips as party guests. It took them a while to convince her that they're not kicking her out of her group, but Sunset still shivered at the thought of Pinkie's crazed smile due to her "episode".

“Yeaaaaaaaah, I know what you mean," Sunset uttered before frowning. "But what does that have to do with anything?”

"Back when you two were Freshmen, she was a lot more sensitive when it comes to meeting people," Rebecca explained. "Entering High School was the biggest moment of her life and she was actually nervous about meeting new people. So she decided to try to befriend anyone she meets in hopes to make her first friend. But because of her, um… expressive personality, many were too scared or weirded out to go near her. All except for…”

Sunset eyes widened, finally connecting the dots. “Me! Until she met... me!”

Rebecca nodded. “Right! Because you gave her a chance, you boosted up her confidence of meeting more people to gain more friends, which are the very same friends you have today! And despite your “history”, you are still very important to Pinkie because not only you are her first friend, but you also didn’t mind her for being herself!” Rebecca frowned sadly. “But without you… Pinkie never met a single person who wanted to be her friend to the point that she gave up on herself and lost her happiness… and becoming a sad, miserable and grouchy young lady you saw just now.”

“I… I had no idea,” Sunset spoke softly, now seeing Pinkie in a whole new light. “But… this is still hard to believe that Pinkie would act this way, especially that I had something to do with it!”

“Sometimes, even if it's a tiniest thing we've done to one person… ended up making a huge impact on their lives,” said Rebecca in a soft tone as she began walking down the hall. “Now come, we’re heading to the gym. We're going to see another one of your friends!”

“Wait… you mean there’s more?” Sunset exclaimed in horror. “Is… is me not existing in this world really affects my friends?"

“I won’t sugarcoat this Sunset," Rebecca warned with a sigh. "Throughout our little trip, you will see just how each of your friends’ lives would be like without you around. And each one will be worse than the last! What you just saw what happened to Pinkie Pie… barely scratched the surface!”

Author's Note

Poor Pinkie! :fluttershysad:

I bet none of you are expecting Sunset to see her first, didn't ya? Who will be the next friend Sunset is going to see?

Find out... next time.

9. Shattered Loyalty

Sunset wasn’t even sure how long she was standing. As soon as she and her angel friend stepped into the school’s gym, Sunset was shocked. She couldn’t believe that the same gym she was in over an hour ago, trying to set up a Christmas party and Festival for Kids was now not only different, but bigger too. Aside the new school themed colors (of course), the gym now was about the size of two football fields. There was also a fancier new stage, a running track, basketball hoops, football goal posts, and the main ground even had an artificial turf. How Cinch had the money to change all of this, Sunset wasn’t certain. If it weren’t for the fact that she was in an actual alternative universe, Sunset would’ve thought that she was in an episode of that show Twilight introduced her to once.

"Jeez, they even changed the gym too?" Sunset exclaimed. "This looks like it was made for a sports stadium, not a High School!"

Rebecca shrugged. "Well, when it comes to Cinch, she wanted Crystal Prep to be the best of the best and will do everything to keep up with their so-called "reputation" as a superior school in the country, even if it's extreme."

Sunset blinked. "Um… don't you mean, in town?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No really! Crystal Prep became the greatest school of the country after a few years in time after taking over Canterlot High."

"Now I know you're making this up!" Sunset scoffed. "There's no way Crystal Prep became the best from the way Cinch runs it!"

Without saying a word, Rebecca simply pointed behind Sunset. Curious as to what Rebecca was pointing at, Sunset turned around, only for her eyes to bug out when she saw the plaque on the wall that said:

CRYSTAL PREP - The #1 Best High School in the Country

Sunset's shock was short-lived when she suddenly had an annoyed expression on her face. "Okay, now this alternate world is just mocking me!"

"C'mon! Move those legs people!"

Sunset turned towards the sound of a loud voice. Across from her, there was a group of students running around a big track of a gym. Some of the students were either neck to neck or partly behind as they ran halfway around the track. In the middle of the room, there stood an older man in a Crystal Prep track uniform with a whistle around his neck. Sunset recognized him as Wind Rider, one of the most famous Track and Field athletes in this world. And judging by his get-up, Wind Rider was probably the coach of this school. From what she heard about him, there was a recent scandal about Wind Rider that he tried to pin a rival of a crime just to preserve his record. He was then banned from every sports for life as a result. Sunset didn't know how he got himself hired as a coach, but she guessed that he and Cinch most likely had some sort of "deal" from behind the scenes.

"Keep it up!" Wind Rider barked. "Don't even think about slowing down!"

Eventually, the students have reached the finish line. As each one crossed the end point, Wind Rider glanced at his stopwatch, looking more and more unimpressed with each student.

"Better… but you're all still average!" Wind Rider bellowed with a stern expression. "You all need to try harder! Run faster! Our reputation is on the line!" He then breathed, calming himself down. "You all need to push yourselves further and take risks in order to be the best of the best! You all need to be exactly like our best athlete we have of our school!"

I bet he was talking about Rainbow Dash. Sunset thought with a grin. After all, she is literally the captain of every sports team of our--

"Lightning Dust! Get out here and show these bums how it's done!" Wind Rider shouted.

Sunset's eyes widened. "What!? Lightning Dust!?"

Sunset watched as a girl with a gold and orange hair ran towards the start of the track and hot herself into a position. Sunset remembered Lightning Dust is a girl who has a major ego, very competitive and loves to take risks. She is the equivalent of another Rainbow Dash, except that she is very reckless and did all sorts of dangerous stunts, not caring if she harmed anyone in her path. On top of that, she is also a major jerk and sees herself more superior than anyone else.

She and Rainbow Dash met one time during a soccer tryouts during school and hit it off at first. But after several training sections and a game that nearly injured one of her teammates due to her recklessness, Rainbow Dash booted her off of the team and Lightning Dust considered Rainbow as her rival since. After several of her dangerous reckless acts and bullying, Lightning Dust was eventually expelled from CHS, which was why Sunset was so shock of seeing her again.

With a blow of the coach’s whistle, Lightning Dust took off like a rocket and began sprinting around the track. As Lightning Dust was halfway around the track, Sunset admitted that she was impressed with her speed and could give Rainbow Dash a run for her money.

Too bad that Lightning Dust turned out to be a major jerk.

In no less than a second, Lightning Dust crossed the finish line, allowing Wind Rider to check his stopwatch and let out an impressed whistle.

"Sixty seconds on the dot! That's a new school record!" Wind Rider announced proudly. "As expected from our biggest sports star of our school!"

"Ha! Didn't even break a sweat!" Lightning Dust boasted, causing everyone, including Sunset to roll their eyes.

"And confidence! Something that you kids should take notes from!" Wind Rider added. He then checked his wristwatch. "Anyway, I'm heading to my office for a while. Lightning, show these bums how it's done!"

Lightning Dust grinned. "You got it grandpa!"

She immediately faltered when Wind Rider narrowed his eyes at her.

"I-I mean... yes coach!" Lightning Dust corrected.

Sunset blinked. So Lightning Dust is Wind Rider's granddaughter! Sunset thought. That explains so much! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from a tree!

With a satisfied nod, Wind Rider walked away from the group and disappeared into his office. One the old man was out of sight, Lightning faced the group with a scowl on her face.

"Alright you worms, if you wanted to be as close as me, then do as I say so! And don't even think about beating my record, otherwise… there will be another accident like what happened with Spitfire! Got it?"

The group of students gulped but nodded in obedience. While everyone began to warm up again, Sunset watched Lightning Dust with a scowl.

"What the hay is her problem?" Sunset exclaimed. "And how the heck did she become the top athlete of the school? This was the same girl who nearly send the whole track team to the nurse's office!"

Rebecca frowned. "Well Lightning Dust is the number one sports star of the school even before CHS becomes the Second Crystal Prep. But unlike Rainbow Dash, she uses intimidation, fear or whatever dirty trick in the book just to keep herself as the best!"

Sunset frowned in disgust about Lightning Dust's dirty method before her expression changed to worry. "I'm afraid to ask, but what does Lightning Dust mean when she said that Spitfire was in an... accident?"

Rebecca sighed. "Well at one point, Spitfire was right up there with Lightning Dust as the top players of the school for the soccer leagues. Lightning Dust felt threatened that Spitfire would take away her title, not even her intimidation methods didn't work on her. So during one of the matches… she "accidentally" broke Spitfire's leg and have her sit out for the rest of the season."

Sunset eyes widened in shock before her face twisted in disgust. "You gotta be kidding me!" she growled. "She did that to Spitfire… all for that stupid title of being the best?"

Rebecca nodded gravely. "Yes, what she did to Spitfire was a disgusting act. And unfortunately there are people who have this horrible mindset just to fulfill these petty acts, even if they have to hurt others in the process."

Sunset gritted her teeth in anger, hating Lightning Dust more and more. She couldn’t believe this girl would sink so low just to make herself look great. While Sunset had done some bad things in the past as a bully, but she could never bring herself to harm others just to get her way. How Lighting Dust kept getting away from her terrible acts was beyond her.

"What about Rainbow Dash?" Sunset questioned, while trying to calm herself. "Where is she in all of this?"

Before Rebecca could answer, Lightning Dust called out.

“Yo, water girl! Where’s my water? I should have my water five minutes ago!”

“Alright, alright! I’m coming! Sheesh!" someone cried with a raspy voice.

Sunset eyes widened. She recognized that voice. Her suspicions had been confirmed when a familiar girl with rainbow hair ran out of the locker room, nearly causing Sunset to drop her jaw. The girl’s hair was shorter, wearing a uniform with the words "Water Crew" on her chest and instead of her usual cocky and confident self, she looked all moody and miserable.

“R–Rainbow Dash!?” Sunset cried in shock and disbelief. “Rainbow Dash is the water girl!?”

She watched as Rainbow Dash continued to make her way towards a group of athletes with a tray of many water bottles. Each student took a bottle of water from Rainbow Dash, while not even thanking her or even acknowledged her. Finally, Rainbow Dash went over towards Lightning Dust.

“About time!” said Lightning Dust as Rainbow Dash handed her a bottle of water. "Seriously, you should've given me this water in ten seconds flat!"

Lightning Dust then took a swing of water, only to spat it out with a look of disgust.

“What the heck is this!?” Lightning Dust spat while glaring at Rainbow Dash. “I wanted cold water, not lukewarm!”

“I-I’m sorry," Rainbow Dash said nervously with a gulp. "B-but the waters weren’t cold enough yet!" She then pointed at the girl with blonde hair. "Besides, Cloud Chaser took the last cold water!"

Sunset stood in shock from Rainbow Dash's behavior while the girl in question gasped.

"Dash!? H-how could you?"

Lightning Dust send a glare at her, making the girl trembled in fear.

"I'll deal with you later, Cloud Chaser!" Lightning Dust growled before turning to Rainbow again. "And as for you Rainbow Crash, you're not off the hook! You should always reserve the coldest water for me and me only! And you should always keep it cold! And you've failed on both counts!"

Rainbow Dash then began to shake. “P-please Lightning Dust… give me another chance! I-I’ll try to make it colder!”

“No… I have a much better idea!” said Lightning with an evil grin. “When was the last time you showered Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash gave Lightning Dust her confused look. “U-um… this morning?”

“Well you’re looking awfully sweaty today Rainbow Dash! How about we... rinse you off!" Lightning chuckled with a sinister look.

Rainbow Dash eyes widened in fear and tried to back away, only to be trapped as other athletes circled around her. Before she could react, Lightning grabbed her and held her to the ground as she and the others took out their water bottles and dumped water all over her.

"No stop! PLEASE!" Rainbow Dash begged as water continued to pour all over her face.

As the girls laughed at Rainbow Dash's suffering, Sunset was trembling in rage. Rebecca noticed Sunset's reaction and tried to calm her down.

“Listen Sunset, I know this is hard to watch, but since you’re not from here, it’s best that you don’t get yourself involved in–”

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Sunset screamed.

Rebecca could only sigh in annoyance. “Why does nobody ever listen to me?”

The bullies stopped in their tracks with looks of disbelief while Lightning Dust gave Sunset a cold glare.

“What did you say?” Lightning Dust challenged as she stood up.

“I SAID, leave her alone!” Sunset repeated with a more edge to her voice.

Lightning Dust took a good look at Sunset before cocking an eyebrow. “Um… who the heck are you?"

“Your worst nightmare if you and your cronies keep bullying her!” Sunset threatened.

“Me? Bullying her!” Lightning Dust scoffed. “We were only showing this trash her place if she didn’t do her job right, especially for a sport star like me!”

“I don’t care who you are!" Sunset exclaimed. "That doesn’t mean you should treat people like that! Just wait until I report you to the principal of this school!”

There was silence for a moment, until Lightning Dust threw her head back and laughed. Much to Sunset's confusion, everyone else laughed along with Lightning Dust as if they just heard something funny. And about a minute of laughter, Lightning Dust and the others finally calmed down.

“Was that a joke just now?" Lightning Dust jabbed with a chuckle. "I haven’t laughed this hard in a while!”

Sunset's eyes narrowed in anger. “Do I look like I was joking?”

Lightning Dust grinned smugly. “You must be new here!” she said as she slowly walked over to Sunset. “Listen here newbie, I’m only going to say this once; I’m in charge! And I get to decide who is the winner and who is the loser! And right now, both you and Rainbow Trash are losers!”

She then jabbed her finger on Sunset's chest. “And even if you decided to rat me out, Principal Cinch won’t care about you, Trash or anyone in this school! All she cares about is using the best of the best by any means for our school’s reputation! And since I’m the top athlete of this school, Cinch is willing to turn her blind eye to keep me on top, while you suffer from the hands of both her… and me!”

Sunset tightened her fist. “That’s not right! No student or adult should treat anyone that way! And you don’t deserve to be on top for not only being disrespectful to others, but also being an arrogant, reckless, selfish and talentless punk!”

The students gasped out loud from Sunset's boldness while Lightning now had a cold fury on her face. She immediately grabbed Sunset by the front of her jacket and brought Sunset up to her face.

“…you just made a grave mistake, newbie!” Lightning Dust hissed aggressively.

Before a fight had started, Wind Rider suddenly burst out from his office and rushed towards them after hearing a commotion.

“What’s going on here?” Wind Rider demanded.

Lightning Dust immediately let's go of Sunset and gave him her innocence look. “Nothing Gran- I mean, coach! I was just… showing this new kid the ropes of how we run here!”

Wind Rider narrowed his eyes. “Well you can show her the ropes another time! We’re closing the gym soon!” She then glared at Rainbow Dash, not caring how wet she is. “And water girl! Clean up that mess you made!”

Without another word, Wind Rider stormed his way back to his office and slammed the door behind him. Lightning Dust turned towards Sunset with a glare.

“You’re lucky this time newbie!” She spat. “But the next time we meet, you’re going to wish that you’re never been born!”

Lightning Dust and her cronies headed towards the locker room, but not before she roughly shoved Sunset with her shoulder.

Sunset scoffed. Hmph! Well joke’s on her! I already did!

Sunset then ran up to Rainbow Dash and offered her hand towards her. "Hey, you okay?"

Rainbow Dash grunted as she slapped Sunset's hand away. "I don't need your help!"

As Rainbow Dash got herself up from a wet floor, Sunset was flabbergasted with her friend's attitude. Rainbow Dash can be stubborn at times, but she never acted this coldly when someone offered to help.

"But… Lightning Dust and the others were bullying you!" Sunset exclaimed. "I can't just stand by and do nothing!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, no thanks to you, Lightning Dust is targeting me now more than ever! And it looks like she's targeting you as well!"

"Please, she doesn't scare me! I dealt with people who are far worse than her!" Sunset said with a smirk before her expression became serious. "Why can't you just report all the things she had done to you to the Principal?"

As Rainbow Dash squeezed the water out of her shirt, she stared at Sunset like as has two heads. "Have you been listening to her? With Principal Cinch in charge, she'll do everything she can to keep this school a "good reputation". As long as Lightning continues to give benefits to our school, Cinch will keep allowing that jerk to treat us that way because we're nothing to her! And before you suggest anything else, the teachers won't help us either as long as Cinch rules them under her thumb!"

Sunset couldn't believe that Cinch would be cruel enough to keep up with the school's reputation over the safety and concern for the students. It was also hard to believe that everyone in the school faculty will have to follow Cinch's ways. If no teacher in school are willing to help these students, then who else will they turn to?

"What about your friends?" Sunset asked softly. "Won't they help you?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Friends? I have no friends! Everyone I knew ditched me, including Fluttershy! I learned long ago that the only person who you should be loyal and look out for… is yourself!"

Horrified from what she heard, Sunset shook her head. "I don't know what happened between you and your friends, but a friend of mine once said that you should always be loyal and stick up for your friends! No matter how bad things will be, sticking by your friend's side is worth fighting for!"

"Yeah well... tell your friend that she's wrong!" Rainbow snapped as she stomped her way towards the locker room. "Now leave me alone and don't come near me again!"

Sunset was about to go after her, but Rebecca grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. Sunset watched helplessly as Rainbow Dash headed into the lockers but not before noticing a tear trailing down Rainbow's cheek. The two girls stood there in silence for a moment before Rebecca let out a sigh.

"Welp… that went well!"

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t understand," Sunset said quietly. "The Rainbow Dash I know is usually very confidant and full of herself, but also a very loyal person to a fault! But this… she a total opposite of the Rainbow Dash I know!”

Rebecca nodded. “Yes. It was indeed a sad sight of a once strong person is now reduced to a self-doubting and somewhat cold person.”

Sunset gave Rebecca her melancholy, yet curious look. “You said that without me, each of my friends lives will be difficult! But how do I fit in Rainbow Dash’s life? She worked so hard to get herself into a sporting career and she wouldn’t let anyone walk all over her, even me back when I was a bully!”

“Well you’re half right,” Rebecca replied. “Yes, Rainbow Dash is usually a strong-willed person, but only because she has friends by her side. Like Pinkie Pie, she too was secretly insecure with herself of failing to live up to her own image or self-worth. But she’s usually strong when she got friends to cheer her on.”

“But she has friends even before she befriended me!” Sunset pointed out.

“True, but believe it or not, her self-confidence improved drastically after she befriended you!” said Rebecca, surprising the bacon haired girl. “And on top of that, you’re evil plans of separating her and Applejack actually lead her life for the better!”

“Huh?” Sunset uttered in disbelief. “You must be joking! How does my evil scheme actually helped her? At the time, I did that just to weaken the bonds between them so they don’t stand in my way.”

“Life can work in such a mysterious, yet very funny way!” Rebecca chuckled. “Are you familiar with the butterfly effect?”

Sunset shook her head.

“A butterfly effect is an interesting phenomenon from a chaos theory that a small change in one state of a complex system can result in a large difference in a later state in time!” Rebecca defined.

When Sunset gave her a blank expression, Rebecca clarified.

“In other words, whatever decision or action you made that may be a small thing, could potentially lead to a much bigger outcome later in life either towards you or someone else in the long run. What happened to Pinkie Pie was a great example to that. Because you gave her the time of day and became her friend at the Freshmen Fair (even though it was one-sided at her end), it leads her to become a much happier person and a major social butterfly… no pun intended.”

Sunset nodded, understanding Rebecca's words. “Okay, as interesting as this sounds, but what does that have to do with Rainbow Dash?”

“By sending fake emails to Rainbow Dash and Applejack about the Bake Sale at two separate times and places… you prevented Rainbow Dash from ever meeting the person who you saw was bullying her now!” Rebecca revealed.

Sunset's eyes widened. “You mean… my actions prevented Rainbow Dash from meeting Lightning Dust?”

Rebecca nodded. “Yes. You see, had their bake sale went exactly as scheduled without your interference, Rainbow would never have the misfortune of befriending Lightning Dust. Yes, she did eventually meet her anyway at a later date, but back then, she was still a little naive and a little more cocky when it comes to meeting people. Rainbow Dash instantly became friends with her because of their common love for competitiveness and to be the best. It went well at first, but then Lightning Dust slowly convinced her to do a few things things that risked getting people hurt and ditched Fluttershy."

Rebecca then frowned. "But things went worse on the day of tryouts for sports. Because of her own selfish interest and wanted to get rid of her potential tough rival, Lightning Dust framed Rainbow Dash for cheating the game. And as a result, not only Rainbow Dash was kicked out of any sports activities, but Lightning Dust also single-handedly ruined Rainbow Dash's chances of getting her future sports career. Her reputation were also in tatters and everyone turned against her… including her 'younger sister', Scootaloo." She sadly shook her head. "And on top of that. Rainbow Dash was loyal to Lightning Dust until the betrayal. And as a result, she never became loyal to anyone else ever again."

"So that's why she ratted Cloudy Kicks when Lightning Dust demanded about the water!" said Sunset before she scowled. "And to think, Rainbow Dash became like that because of that witch!"

"Yes, that is unfortunate," Rebecca added with a nod. "But because of you, she never met Lightning Dust until much later! Just hanging around and befriending you, Rainbow Dash became much more wiser and maybe a little bit more mature enough to see Lightning's schemes!" She then smiled. "While she never mentioned it, but she owe you for making her become the person she is today; both good and bad. Which reminds me...”

Rebecca then snapped her fingers. Sunset was a little confused at first, until she lost the feeling of cold air touching her skin. She looked herself over for a moment, only to be alarmed afterward when she sees her body no longer solid. She then looked at her hand, or rather, she looked through her hand. It was as if she was becoming a ghost, but was still alive. Although whether she is alive or not, Sunset was not certain. She then immediately looked at Rebecca who was also now becoming a see-through.

"Wha- what did you do to me!?" Sunset demanded, both angry and confused with Rebecca's actions.

"Relax Sunset," Rebecca soothed. "I just used a spell to make ourselves invisible, as well as intangible. Meaning, people will no longer see and hear you and you won't be able to touch them and vise versa."

"What!? Why did you do that?" Sunset shouted.

"Because you didn't heed my instructions to not engage with your friends and you didn't listen, twice! So I had to take drastic measures!" Rebecca stated sternly before her expression changed to a thoughtful look. "Now that I think about it, it's kinda fitting because you don't exist in this world anyway."

Before Sunset could ask if Rebecca's spell works, Wind Rider suddenly showed up again.

“Oh, I almost forgot everyone! Our next meeting will be at–” He paused when he noticed a huge puddle of water in the middle of the floor and not the two people in front of him. “HEY! Where did everybody go! And why is the floor still wet?" He huffed. "When I see that water girl again, I have a few choice of words to say to her!”

With that he headed back to his office, grumbling the whole way. He didn't even noticed that he walked through Sunset in the process. For Sunset, it felt pretty weird as if a wind flew past her. Once Wind Rider disappeared, Sunset turned to Rebecca with wide eyes.

“It… it works!” Sunset uttered.

“Of course it works!" said Rebecca in a matter-of-fact tone. "A Guardian Angel is required to know these spells in case of situations like this!” She then started to head towards one of the gym's exits. "Now come! "We've got more places to be!"

Sunset groaned. "Where are we going now?"

Rebecca paused before facing Sunset. "There’s a certain farm that we must attend to!"

Author's Note

Poor Rainbow! :fluttershysad:

Next Chapter coming soon!

10. Lack of Honesty

It has been fifteen minutes since they left the school building and were walking down the neighborhood towards Sweet Apple Acres. Rebbecca was leading the way with a cheerful smile on her face while Sunset followed behind her with a pouty expression. While it was an interesting experience about being a ghost, she really did not like the idea of being turned into one unwillingly. She won’t be able to talk to anyone, touch anything, heck, she can’t even feel anything. She quickly discovered that fact as soon as they walked out the building and did not feel the cold from the outdoor air or wind.

Well at least I’m not cold anymore. Sunset thought before letting out a sigh. Still… I don’t like the idea of being invisible and not interact with any of my friends, even if they’re not the same people I know.

It was then occurred to her that she was in this state all because she disobeyed Rebbecca twice. Maybe if she apologized and get on Rebbecca’s good side, maybe she’ll reverse the spell?

“Listen Rebecca,” Sunset began. “I’m sorry about disobeying you a couple a times. Even though they’re technically not the same people, they’re still my friends and… I just wanted to help them. If I promise to behave and not disobey you again, will you reverse your spell off from me?”

“Apology accepted!” said Rebecca, before shaking her head. “But no can do Sunset! I know well enough from your life history that you’ll end up going back on your word just so you help them out, even for a good reason. Even if there is a small possibly that you’ll keep your word, I’m not going to take my chances!”

Disappointed that her request was denied, Sunset let out a sigh. Well so much for that!

Sunset then thought up something else that occurred to her, this time it was about her earlier interactions with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Despite their looks and personalities, there was something else that was so different about them that she couldn’t put her finger on it. She thought about for a while until she realized the one crucial thing that the two of her friends have in common.

None of them wore their geodes!

"Rebecca!” Sunset spoke up.

“I told you Sunset, I’m not changing my mind!” said Rebecca.

Sunset shook her head. “No not that, our pendants!”

“What about them?” asked Rebecca without stopping or looking back to Sunset.

“Our pendants contained magical geodes, which was the source of our Equestrian Magic!” Sunset exclaimed. “Both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash weren't wearing them!"

"That’s because they never have them,” Rebecca replied. “Or any of your friends! Twilight, aka Midnight Sparkle, never destroyed that statue in front of your school. Therefore, those geodes never existed… at least without you around.”

Sunset blinked. Their geodes ended up it the cave at Everfree forest because Twilight destroyed a part of the statue where the portal is? Could that be the reason how the Equestrian magic leaked into this world? Sunset decided to put those questions aside for the time being in favor of another issue that she was dreading.

“What about Camp Everfree? Is it still around?”

"Not anymore," Rebecca replied in a grave tone. "Without you and those stones, they never get any help of saving their camp. As a result, their camping ground is now a new Spa joint, owned by Filthy Rich."

Sunset’s eyes widened. "No way!? Gloriosa and Timber would never go down without a fight!"

"They've tried,” Rebecca replied. “Believe me, they did all they could, but it wasn't enough. After they lost their camp, poor Gloriosa got herself into a deep depression and was never the same again, not even with her brother's support. But hey, at least she didn't get turned into a plant monster."

Sunset swallowed. She couldn’t believe that they lost their camp to the richest (and greedest) man in town. She really couldn’t believe that they lost their camp simply because she wasn’t around. Is her coming to this world and inadvertently bringing magic to this world actually helped them saved their camp? If it weren’t for her, Gloriosa wouldn’t have misused those geodes for herself and became Gaia Everfree, just to protect her camp. On the other hand, it was because of that that she and her friends noticed their situation and understood why Gloriosa did what she did. So they all helped out by quickly putting together a fundraiser and saved their camp before Filthy could snatched it away. Both Gloriosa and Timber are forever grateful for their help since and they even allowed the Equestria Girls to invite back at their camp anytime they wanted, even if Sunset or her friends never succeeded of rebuilding the docks. While Sunset was glad that they helped, but hearing that their camp is gone without her, still breaks her heart. Maybe she and her friends should return to camp sometime and see how Gloriosa and Timber were doing now.

Assuming… if she could get back… and if her friends are talking to her.

“Oh look! We’re here!” Rebecca announced, snapping out of Sunset’s thoughts in the process.

Sunset looked around, anxiously expected to see a major change, just like all the other places she visited. But to her surprise and relief, the Sweet Apple Acres looked exactly as she last saw it. Everything around the area was covered in snow, including fences, a barn, hills, apple trees and Applejack's house. Everything from Applejack’s farm was still here, remained untouched for not existing.

"It's… the same," Sunset whispered with a smile. "Sweet Apple Acres is still the same! That means Applejack and her family is okay and my nonexistent didn't affect them!"

"Yes… the farm is still standing,” said Rebecca before she slowly facing Sunset. “But as they say; 'looks can be deceiving!'"

Before Sunset could ask what Rebecca ment, she heard the door opened from the main house. Sunset turned towards the house, expecting to see Applejack or any of the Apple family to be standing by the door. But what she saw instead nearly made her jaw drop.

There were two men standing by the front door. While they wore thick coats and hats, their features looked familiar. They both have green eyes, red and white hairs and one of them has a red bushy moustache above their lip. The two men breathed the cold air into their nostrils before letting out long satisfied sighs.

"Ahh~! Looks like it's another day of profits and riches, eh brother!" asked the first man.

"Right you are dear brother of mine, even during the holidays!" replied the second man.

"And when there's a holiday–"

"There's triple the profit!"

“HAZZAH!” They both cheered.

Sunset couldn’t believe who was she seeing standing on the Apples pourch and shook her head in disbelief.

"Flim and Flam!?" Sunset screeched loudly in shock. "What are they doing here? These two and the Apple family are bitter rivals! And why are they at their house and acting like they own the place? This farm belongs to the Apples!"

"Actually… it belongs to these two now," Rebecca answered.

"WHAT!?" Sunset roared.

Before she say anything else, Rebecca pointed at something behind her. When Sunset turned around, her eyes widened in disbelief when she sees a huge sign that she hadn't noticed before and read:

Film & Flam's Sweet Apple Acres

Sunset stared at the sign for what it felt like an eternally. The Apples are usually proud of their land and hard working life. They would never let anything happen to their home and they would rather die than let creeps like Flim and Flam take it from them. Yet, here she is, standing at the Apple farm which was now owned by these two con artists.

“How?” Sunset whispered as she shook her head. "How does this all happened!"

Rebecca sighed. "Well at one point, the Apple family was having… financial troubles.

“Financial troubles!?” Sunset parroted incredulity. “That’s impossible! The Apples sell the best products, both apples and anything that’s made of apples of the entire town! Heck, of the entire country for all I know! They never have any financial troubles!”

“They didn’t… all thanks to you!”

Sunset was taken aback from Rebecca’s statement. “Me?” said Sunset in her surprised tone. “I helped them out from their financial trouble? No way! How was I the one who helped keep their business alive? They’ve been running their farm for years, even before I arrived here and then befriended her! Heck, I used to insult their products and Applejack all the time when I was–”

Sunset stopped her angry banter before looking down in shame. “Back before I was... awful! So how could I possibly helped make her life better?”

Sunset still stared at the floor with a melancholy expression, until she felt someone gently touched her shoulder. Sunset slowly looked up to see Rebecca with a kind expression.

“While it’s true that you had a rough history with them at first and that they’ve been running the farm for years and did well on their own, but after your stunt at the fall formal, you worked at their farm for months as an apology for treating them so badly. You even went as far by advertising their products on your ViewTube gaming channel to bring awareness to their farm, which helped increase their sells far more that what Filthy Rich could ever do!” Rebecca then grinned. “But the biggest thing you did for them was during your time helping them out for the first few weeks after the Fall Formal. Do you remember what you find at the east orchard of the apple farm?”

Sunset thought for a moment, recalling her memories of working alongside with Applejack and her family for the first rough weeks before nodding.

“I… I do!” she responded. “I remember... finding these weird... plants... grown hidden at the bottom of those trees. After informing Applejack, I realized that these plants turned out to be weeds and some kind of bacteria, feeding off and poisoning all the trees. We spent a whole DAY of clearing everything out of there!” Sunset then smiled fondly. “It was then that not only Applejack started to trust me a lot more… but we also became much closer as friends!”

Rebecca nodded. “And she was forever grateful that you found these hidden things during an early state when you did. It was a big deal to Applejack and her family because it was from their biggest and main orchard of their farm. If you haven’t spotted them, it would’ve been a huge blow to their profits and had a much more difficult time to grow new apple trees for the next few years!”

Sunset eyes widened. “You mean–”

“Yep,” Rebecca said gravely. “Because you were never born, it happened! And by the time they finally noticed them, it was too late to save their trees.” She then sighed. “After the loss of their biggest orchard, they had the most difficult time of keeping up with the demands of their customers. Because they couldn’t meet the deadlines, many buyers moved on to the next products, losing more and more of their sells. What really didn't help was the fact that Cinch decided to… "laid off" Granny Smith in favor of a much more... fitting chef for the school’s cafeteria. On top of that, they couldn't even afford to enroll at the school after Cinch took over.”

Sunset stood there in shock. “Are you serious?!” she shouted. “How much do they have to pay just to get in Cinch’s school?”

“Well…” Rebecca said uneasily. “Let’s just say… the cost for enrolling to her school for one semester is the equivalent of the cost of four years worth at college.” Rebecca answered, much to Sunset’s shock. “Although if you ask me, she was also doing this just to filter out all the, *ahem*… unfitting students for her school.”

Sunset was trembling in rage. “That greedy little–”

She quickly shook off her rage when the concerns for her friend came to her mind.

“W–what does this has to do with the Flim Flam Brothers?” Sunset asked.

Rebecca grimaced. “Well after a few years of making ends meet, the Apples weren’t able to make enough money anymore to the point that their home was in danger for foreclosure. In desperation to keep their house and their business afloat… they had no choice but to partner up with their most hated rival, the Flim Flam Brothers. The brothers agreed to help them “improved” their business and bring in more profits, but the only condition... was to make the Flim Flam Brothers the sole owners of their farm.”

Sunset stared at Rebecca in disbelief before she rapidly shook her head. “There's no way they'll agree to that!” she shouted. “While I understand their dilemma, but those brothers are a bunch of slimeballs! They couldn’t be trusted!”

"As shady as they are, the Apples didn't have a choice," said Rebecca solemnly.

Sunset swallowed with a look of dread. “If these two bozos own their house… then where did the Apple stay?”

With a blank look, Rebecca simply turned her head away as if she was looking at something. Curious, Sunset followed Rebecca’s gaze and spotted one of the Apple’s barns. Sunset was confused for a moment, wondering why Rebecca was just staring at the barn. Suddenly, her mind click and her eyes widened in horror after realizing what Rebecca was implying.

“...no!” Sunset whispered, aghast of the Apple’s living arrangement. “They’re living in that barn?”

“I may like to joke sometimes, but I could never joke about something as serious as that!” Rebecca said quietly. “As part of the condition, the Apple family lived in that barn was the only way they can stay at Sweet Apple Acres. As cruel as that sounds, but to them, anything is better than living on the streets.” Rebecca sighed. “Luckily or unluckily, only Applejack and Big Mac are living there.”

“O...only Applejack and Big Mac?” Sunset stuttered.

“Yes,” Rebecca replied. “Another condition to the Flim Flam brothers was that Applejack and Mac must work for them exclusively. Big Mac handles the trading out of town while Applejack handles all the labor here, but under the brothers methods.”

Sunset felt her throat tightened. “...where’s Apple Bloom?”

Rebecca sighed. “Apple Bloom… no longer lives here. Big Mac and Applejack didn’t want Apple Bloom suffered the same fate as them, so they sacrificed themselves and used the money they had left just so Apple Bloom can continue her own education, but to another school at Appleloosa."

“...and Granny Smith?” Sunset whispered.

Rebecca hesitated for a moment. “Granny Smith health… wasn’t doing so good, to put it mildly. So she is staying at a hospital and was kept there to be treated as long as they could… for a fee of course. And to make things worse… her hospital bills are currently founded… by the brothers themselves.”

Sunset was confused look on her face. “Okay… while that sounds completely out of character from these two for helping out, but how was this a bad thing?”

“Why don’t you check out that shack over there and find out!” said Rebecca as she pointed at another direction.

Sunset turned towards the direction where Rebecca was pointing at, which turned out to be the Apple family’s garage that looked like a barn. Curious, Sunset made her way towards the garage to see what was there. As she got closer, she noticed an elderly lady was standing inside of the garage facing what it appeared to be a merchant stand. As Sunset stepped inside of the garage, the elder lady spoke.

"So you sure that this here Apple Cider Tonic will guarantee to help my joint problem?" she asked in her skeptic tone.

"Oh absolutely darling!" someone replied in her refined voice. "And with each and every sip, you will feel like you’ve gone closer to your youthful self again! And it will also help treat your any other health problems you have!"

Sunset blinked. She was taken aback from the sound of this person’s voice alone. It also sounded very cultured and elegant like Rarity, only Sunset knew for a fact that Rarity would never work at a farm except if she decided to volunteer for a friend. And Sunset couldn’t recall anyone from the Apple family who spoke in that manner, and yet, it all sounded familiar despite having a thick Manehattanite accent. But what really set Sunset off was Applejack's expression on her face. While Applejack appeared to be happy, but her smile was more forced than her usual genuine smile.

So Sunset strolled around the woman just so she could see who that person was. Once she finally got a good look at the person, her jaw nearly dropped in shock.

"Ap… Applejack!?" Sunset exclaimed.

Sunset was thankful that no one heard her outburst because of the spell, but she couldn't believe that she is seeing another person instead of her friend she was familiar with. Applejack was wearing a nice fancy dress, made with a red top made of silk and a long green skirt with white diamonds on them. She was also wearing golden bracelets around her wrist and her ankles. She wore burgundy heels with green jewel on the front of each shoe and she even wore a hair band with two jewels just to keep her hair up. Like Rainbow Dash, Applejack normally doesn’t want to wear anything that is too girly or “frou-frou” no matter how many times Rarity would ask her to try it, but to see Applejack wearing that outfit now was almost too surreal.

Sunset was suddenly snapped out if her shock when she heard the customer loudly scoffed.

"I don't know… this all sounded too good to be true. How do I know that you're not hustling me?"

Applejack let out a fake gasp. "Perish the thought! I only wanted to help as one lady to another. I simply ask you to consider giving it a try!"

The customer’s eyes narrowed. "Fine! Then how much do I owe you?"

Applejack smiled. "That'll cost you one-hundred and twenty dollars."

Both the customer’s and Sunset’s eyes widened after hearing the cost.

"WHAT! For that small bottle?" the customer roared.

Applejack’s grin wavered for a bit, but she kept herself composed. "W-well, along with our apples, it was made with the best, yet limited ingredients that you couldn't find anywhere else."

"I call bull on that!" the customer snapped. "Just a few moments ago, you said that it was made with simple ingredients!"

"They are!” Applejack insisted. “It’s just… it was made from overseas!”

“Overseas my foot!” the customer shouted. “Forget this, I want my money back!”

“Ah– I’m sorry ma’am, but all sells are final!” Applejack said firmly, yet reluctantly.

The customer slammed her hand on the stand in anger. “Unbelievable!" she seethed. "Whatever happened to the farm I used to know? You folks used to be an honest, hard working family that sells great products and never steered us wrong in the past! But now… you all became just like the rest of these corporate companies… a bunch of greedy, shady and lairs!"

As the customer turned and stomped away from the stand (and walked right through Sunset in the process), Applejack finally snapped out of her salesperson persona and stood up.

"No wait!" She pleaded, now in her normal voice. "Ah–Ah ain’t a liar! Ah–"

By the time she spoke up, the customer was gone. As Applejack let out a distressed groan, Sunset stared at her friend with her stunned expression. As shocking as it was to see Applejack doing her job the dishonest way instead of her usual way, it was even more shocking to see that Applejack was acting like an upper class person. She often told Sunset how proud she was with her background as a hard working farmer, but what changed to make her act this way?

Suddenly, they both heard two sets of feet entered the garage. To Sunset’s annoyance and Applejack’s horror, there stood the Flim Flam brothers with predatory grins.

"Well miss Applejack, it would seem like you just lost another customer!" Flim stated.

"And you reverted back to your hillbilly accent again!” Flam added.

"That's another deduction to your weekly salary!"

"Aaaand you got yourself another few hours with no overtime!"

Sunset’s face twisted into anger from the brothers unfair act while Applejack rushes over to them and got on her knees.

"Oh please have mercy!" Applejack begged. "It’s… it's almost Christmas! Can't ya just give me the rest of my night off and… maybe half a day off tomorrow?"

“Sorry my dear, but you know the rules!” Flim said in his false cheery voice.

“If you don’t make enough sales, your shift will be longer until you meet your sales goal.” Flam finished while also in his cheery voice.

“And to do that, you gotta give them the info they wanted to hear!”

“And as long as your sales pitch is convincing enough, the customers will be all over you like flies!”

Applejack slowly shook her head. "Ah… no. Ah just can't! What Ah've been doing was dishonest! Those folks were our longtime customers and they relied on us fer years! It just… kills me to lie about these useless products just to make a few extra dollars!"

Both the Flim Flam brothers then have sinister grins.

"Then I suppose we'll just continue to cut your salary!" Flim suggested.

"Or better yet,” Flam added. “We can just cut our funds altogether from that hospital where your certain sweet granny is resting right now?"

Sunset gasped from the implications from the brothers threats. She finally understood why the Flim Flam brothers are founding the hospital bills for Granny Smith. They weren’t helping the Apples at all, they were using Granny Smith as leverage, just so they can get what they want from the Apple siblings. While Sunset admitted that she was just as bad in the past, especially when it involves blackmail, but what the brothers did to the Apple family was a step too far!

Applejack’s face morphed into terror and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "NO DON'T!” she screamed. “PLEASE...ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

Flim and Flam looked at each other with sly looks before facing Applejack.

"So you'll do as we say?" Flim asked.

"And with no questions asked?" Flam added.

To Sunset’s horror, Applejack just bowed her head and nodded numbly.

"Very good!" said Flim. "Now get back to your station and make some sales! And remember, your working until late tonight!"

"And be sure you get a good night's sleep,” Flam ordered. “Because you'll be starting again first thing early in the morning!"

Sunset tightened her fists in rage from the brothers cruelty. If she wasn’t forced to become invisible and couldn’t touch anyone, she would’ve punched these two con-artists right in their smug faces. Not wanting to witness anymore of her friend’s abuse, she immediately ran right up to Applejack’s fallen form.

“No Applejack!” Sunset screamed. "Don’t let these crooks get away with this! It’s your family’s farm! Your granny wouldn't want you to let them threaten you. You need to stand up for yourself! You gonna fight for it! FIGHT FOR IT!”

Sunset tried to touch Applejack’s shoulder to get her friend to snap out of her depressed state. But the moment she tried to touch Applejack’s shoulder, her hand just went through it. As Sunset stared at her hand in horror, Rebecca sadly shook her head.

“It’s no use Sunset Shimmer,” Rebecca said solemnly. “She didn’t have any fight left in her. The happy, strong and honest Applejack you knew is now a miserable, weak and worse of all… a liar; to her family, friends and even… to herself."

Sunset watched helplessly as the two brothers then started headed out the garage with triumphant grins.

"Merry Christmas!" they both chorused before letting out their cruel laughter.

As the brothers laughter echoed from the distance, Sunset watched as Applejack slowly got up from the floor and walked right back to her stand. The moment she sat down, Applejack buried herself into her arms and began to sob loudly in sadness. Sunset felt her heart was broken into two for seeing Applejack, one of the toughest girls in the group, broke into tears and that there was nothing she could do to help her.

“Why?” Sunset whispered, trying not to break down herself. “Why would Applejack trying to act like a city girl and let these jerks pushed her around like that? She is a strong country girl and is proud of who she is and where her heritage is from!”

Rebecca let out a deep sigh. “Well, aside being convinced to act this way from those brothers, this was all brought back from her days when she first becomes a freshman,” Rebecca explained. “She tried fitting in by being herself, but she was often mocked and turned away because she was… different from those other teens. Sure, she eventually met the others who accepted her, but that usually doesn’t last long.”

Sunset sighed. “Let me guess... when I showed up, I somehow boost her confidence in herself and that she doesn’t have to change who she is?”

“You are mostly right!” Rebecca replied. “Back when you were a big meanie, she was hurt when you keep insulting her about her life as a farmer.”

Sunset winced as she remembered how she treated Applejack when she was her old self before looking down in shame. “Yeah… I was awful,” she said quietly. “Still felt guilty for all the insults I used to give her and her family.”

“Yes it was bad,” Rebecca agreed. “But you only made her stood up for herself and her family with so much courage, while inadvertnly made everyone realized that she is more than just a simple farmer girl. Not only that, you also ended up encouraging her by proving you wrong that she can accomplish anything by being herself, despite her background.”

Sunset shook her head. “She doesn’t have to accomplish anything! Applejack is already an awesome person and I was wrong for belittling her like that.”

“She knows," said Rebecca. "Especially after you apologized to her and become her friend. But without you, she had a hard time in proving herself to the whole school!” Rebecca turned towards Applejack with a look of pity. “The students view of her doesn’t change and would rather want to hang out with the kids who are normal than some strange country girl who couldn’t adapt easily in the suburban lifestyle, even the people who she befriended. Not wanting to be alone and be an outcast any longer, she desperately decided to lie about her background so that she’ll be accepted by everyone. Worse of all, she lied about herself for so long, she ended up becoming that very person… even though she absolutely hated it.”

“I can’t believe that Applejack thinks so low of herself,” Sunset whispered while her eyes downcast. “I always considered her to be the strongest one out of all of us, both emotionally and physically… literally.”

Rebecca hummed. “People can be strange sometimes. People like her and Rainbow Dash, would often act tough on the outside just to hide their true feelings and insecurities on the inside. It takes a great friend like you, to make them realize that the best version they can be, is their true selves.”

Sunset turned to her friend again, who was still buying her head into her arms, now softly crying in loneliness and sorrow.

“Oh Applejack…” Sunset said quietly with tears in her eyes. She wanted to give Applejack a hug or do anything to help comfort her, but the spell made everything impossible to her.

Sunset then felt Rebecca placing her hand on her shoulder.

“Come Sunset," Rebecca said quietly. "There is still more to see.”

About a half an hour has passed since their visit at Sweet Apple Acres, Sunset and Rebecca were crossing the bridge towards the city. Sunset would’ve shivered at the thought of what she almost did at that bridge hours back, but her mind was still occupied from her visit to Applejack, as well as her other encounters with her other friends.

This is nuts! Sunset thought, while hugging herself tightly for comfort. I know Rebecca said that my friends lives wouldn’t be good without me, but I didn’t think it would be this bad! First Pinkie Pie lost her happiness and laughter, then Rainbow Dash ditched her loyalty and lost her self-confidence after someone betrayed her, and now Applejack sacrificed her honestly and her way of life just to make ends meet for her already broken family! What's next!?

Just as the two girls made it to the other side, a hooded figure slowly walked right through them and continued crossing the bridge. Sunset stopped and turned towards the retreating figure of the hooded person. There was something about that figure that stood her out for whatever reason. It wasn’t that the figure creeped her out or threatening, although the way the person was walking like it was a zombie didn’t help much. Plus, Sunset was invisible, so she wasn’t feeling any fear of getting attacked by a strange person. However, when that person walked through her, Sunset felt deep sadness, despair, loneliness and great pain. And despite that person had their hood up, Sunset had this strange feeling like she knew this person, but couldn’t put her finger on it.

"Well here we are!" Rebecca announced, interrupting Sunset’s thought. "Our next destination!"

Sunset looked up but was taken aback when she saw Canterlot City.

Or at least, what was supposed to be Canterlot City.

While most of the buildings she was familiar with was there, some of them were modified in a way that you could only see from the ancient civilization. Not only that, everything in the city was all worn and broken down, like they haven’t been repaired in years. Sunset then noticed there was so many people walking around, filling the sidewalk and streets more than usual. What was strange is that a lot of them preferred walking around the city instead of driving. In fact, there wasn’t a single car in the area. What really stood out to Sunset, was all the winter coats people were wearing were all worn out and beaten up, like they all came from a cheap bargain bin. And to top it all off, everyone that was there had a miserable and hopeless looks on their faces.

“Something wrong here,” Sunset uttered as she surveyed the area. “Canterlot City wasn’t supposed to be like this! It’s big and a bit overwhelming at times, sure, but… this place feels so... cold... and lifeless!”

“Well this is the same city you come to know, but it also isn’t either!” Rebecca said cryptically.

Sunset turned to Rebecca with a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

Before Rebecca could answer, Sunset suddenly heard music, coming from the loud speakers throughout the town. At first, the music doesn't even phased her, but as it kept playing in the background, the music was starting to sound more familiar to her. Then she nearly gasped when the three very familiar voices began to sing.

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh~
You didn't know that you fell~
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh~
Now that you're under our spell~

That… song! Sunset thought. I haven’t heard that song since–

Suddenly, Sunset widened her eyes and her pupils shrink about the size of a pin needle.

...no! It can’t be!

Sunset looked around the city with a frantic look on her face, silently hoping that she was wrong. But the moment she looked up, her expression changed to horror when she sees the big billboard sign near the city’s entrance with images of three certain girls with smirks on their faces which said:

Welcome to Dazzling City!
A place where you ADORE US!

Author's Note

I'll admit, the Applejack chapter was pretty tough to write, but I hoped you all enjoyed it. Hopefully the next chapter won't take too long as this one! :twilightblush:

So what happens next? Stay tuned! :eeyup:

12. The Loss of Kindness

Author's Note

After some thought, I figured I should let you all know that this following chapter have some mild dark themes.

You have been warned!

12. The Loss of Kindness

Both Rebecca and Sunset were walking through the back alley for quite some time. The alleyway itself was slightly dark, dirty and above all just plain creepy. Sunset had seen rats crawling from one trash can to another, another homeless person sitting inside of the cardboard box with missing teeth and spluttering nonsense words, and she swore she saw an outline of a person in chalk. Sunset felt more and more uncomfortable as they traveled further down the alley, despite knowing that no one will harm her due to Rebecca's spell.

After what it felt like minutes, Sunset finally spoke to Rebecca.

"Um… Rebecca?" Sunset asked timidly. "W-why are we here? A-and why would Fluttershy be in a place like this?"

Before Rebecca could answer, they heard hushed voices.

"C'mon hurry!" the first voice hissed. "We don't want to keep our boss waiting!"

"I know, I know!!" The second voice responded, also in their hushed tone. "We would've arrived sooner, but our little 'package' isn't making things easier for us!"

Sunset turned just in time to see two figures right in front of her, while carrying what seemed to be a long object inside of a black bag. Despite being in the shadows, Sunset could make out that the two of them are female girls from her school. Upon further inspection on these girls, Sunset immediately recognized the identity of these two girls.

"I know these girls!" Sunset exclaimed. "They're Gilda's goons!" She then set her eyes on the bag they were carrying. "And what's in that big, long bag?"

As Sunset was staring at that large bag the two goons were carrying, she noticed that the bag was moving, as if there was something inside that was trying to squirm their way out. At first, Sunset thought that they captured some kind of large animal, but as soon as she heard a loud whimpering coming from a female person, Sunset widened her eyes in horror.

"...No!" Sunset whispered as the two goons disappeared around the corner. "Don't tell me that's…"

Rebecca immediately went up to Sunset. "Listen Sunset, before you do anything crazy, that's--"

"THEY'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Sunset roared before she immediately ran past Rebecca and chased after the two girls.

"Sunset wait!" Rebecca cried, but Sunset ignored her.

I don't know what Gilda wanted with Fluttershy, but she has gone way too far this time! Sunset thought in anger. I will not allow her or her cronies to harm her, even if I'm a ghost!

As soon as Sunset rushed around the corner, she immediately spotted what appeared to be some kind of hideout from within this hidden alleyway. There are huts made from tents and blankets, a few portable work lights (probably stolen from a random construction site) and a campfire at the center along with boxes and fallen trash cans as seats.

Right by the came fire, there were those two goons again with a trapped person in a bag and, to Sunset's shock, Derpy again with a stoic expression.

"Did you get her?" Derpy asked.

"We got the wimp as the boss instructed!" One of the goons replied as she dropped the bag on a snowy ground.

The person from within the bag began to whimper real loud now. One of the goons noticed it and scowled at the bag.

"SHUT UP YA CRYBABY!" one of the goons shouted as she kicked the bag really hard to make the person stop whimpering.

Sunset was furious at the site of their cruelty. "YOU PIGS!" Sunset roared in rage as she swung her fist at the goon.

Unfortunately for her, her fists went right through the girl, leaving the person harmless with none the wiser.

"Shall we get our special guest out of this bag so we can have some fun?" One of the goons asked.

Derpy nodded. "Be my guest."

Sunset fist was trembling in rage. If it weren’t for the fact that she was invisible and couldn’t touch them, she would have pummeled them to the ground by now and took Fluttershy away from this horrible place. But she couldn’t as she continued to watch these jerks laughing as they roughly tore open the bag to harm her friend further.

"STOP IT!" Sunset screamed, as she continued to punch them but to no avail. "LEAVE FLUTTERSHY ALONE! I WILL HAUNT YOU ALL FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS IF YOU LAY A SINGLE FINGER ON--"

Sunset immediately stopped her speaking the moment the goons completely removed their prisoner out of the bag. The person who was on the ground sniveling before her was not Fluttershy at all. It was a difficult girl who had white and purple hair, yellow eyes, brown leather jacket, black pants and black boots.

"G--Gilda!?" Sunset exclaimed in shock. "I… I thought--"

"That's what I was trying to tell you!"

Sunset immediately turned to see Rebecca with an annoyed frown. "The person that they captured was not your friend, but Gilda!"

"I… I don't understand!" said Sunset. "Why is she like this?"

"Well… after another mean and much tougher person showed up, Gilda lost her power and reputation as a tough person and ended up becoming a target for the main bully instead," Rebecca responded.

Sunset had a stunned look on her face. She then turned back to Gilda as the goons, sans Derpy, began to throw snowballs at her out of torture. While she and Gilda don't see eye to eye and that she was a brute at fault, but even she doesn't deserve to be treated like this.

Sunset then had a look of confusion. "But, if that's Gilda… then where's-"

"Not so fast ladies!" said the voice, causing everyone to stop throwing snowballs. "Let me have a small chat with her first!"

The two goons stiffened and moved back slightly with a look of fear.

"Y-yes boss!" They both chorused.

With a respectful bow, Derpy opened the flap of the hut to allow the person to step out into the light. The moment that person was revealed, Sunset nearly dropped her jaw in shock.

The leader of the group was a girl. She wore a black tank top shirt with bats graphic on it and showed off her midriff, long black pants which had several rips on the front of each leg and a black belt with studs all around. She also wore long black boots with three belts on each boot, a black collar with studs around her neck, three earrings on each ear and two green arm sleeves on her arms. She had long eye latches, purple eyeshadow and lips and a very familiar pink, but short and wild hairstyle.

"F...FLUTTERSHY!?" Sunset shrieked.

Sunset couldn’t believe that the sweet animal loving girl who was usually afraid of her own shadow is now looking like a street punk. Sunset did not see any usual gentleness and kindness on Fluttershy’s face, instead, it was nothing but hate and malice. Fluttershy slowly walked over to the fallen quivering girl and then looked down on her with her eyes narrowed in contempt.

"Well, well, well!" Fluttershy began in a cold tone. "So… the great and mighty Gilda is now in my presence… begging and crying for mercy! How pathetic!"

"P-p-please!" Gilda begged, as she tried to lift herself from the ground but to no avail. "J-just… just let me go!"

Fluttershy turned her head away, hiding her face from view. "Let you go?" Fluttershy said quietly before she turned back to Gilda with a look of pure hate. "YOU WANT ME TO LET YOU GO!?"

Sunset was taken aback from the way Fluttershy was acting towards Gilda. Sunset couldn't believe the huge amount of raw anger coming from Fluttershy of all people. Granted, Sunset had seen her meek friend get angry sometimes when she was pushed to the edge or if someone tried to hurt her friends or her beloved animals, but nothing like this.

Fluttershy then leaned her face so close to a now frightened Gilda. "Do you expect me to show you any mercy or kindness after what you did to me all those years ago during my freshman year?"

"W-what are ya t-t-talking about?" Gilda said in confusion and fear. "I-I couldn't even r-recall what I learned from p-physics class!"

Fluttershy scoffed as she fully stood back up away from the girl. "Figures, not only you are mean and dumb… but you are also forgetful! Well allow me to refresh your memory!" Fluttershy took a deep breath before she continued. "After my first few months as a freshman, I found myself all alone after Rainbow Dash was busy practicing at many sports teams with… Lightning Dust.” Fluttershy spat at that name like it was poison. “I was trying to give out many flyers for the pet shelter that I work at at the time, hoping to get the students to adopt the animals as their pet. Of course… no one wanted to take them or cared enough to notice me. I was ready to give up… until I met… you!"

Fluttershy leaned a little closer to Gilda. "You came to me wanting to get a pet. You said that you wanted to be my friend… and I was so... happy! You came over to the shelter a few times to check out the animals or you just wanted to hang out… just so you get to know me more!" She growled. "I was so naive! Little do I know your true motives of getting closer to me! It was the night before the Spring Fling when you wanted to have a little stroll with me, saying something about wanting to ‘show’ me something! It all changed when we walked by the alley…"

Sunset’s breath hitched and her heart was filled with dread, already could tell where this story is going.

"You… dragged me into there… shoved me and beat me to the ground! And not only you robbed me, but you also… HURT ANGEL!" Fluttershy screamed.

While Sunset gasped loudly at the revelation, Fluttershy kept shouting at Gilda.

“Angel was the best friend I ever had and he was with me that night. He was only fighting back against you just to protect me, despite all of my protests. But you pin him down and then you attack him with one hit after another. I pleaded to you, BEG for you to stop attacking and hurt my bunny, but you. Kept. HURTING HIM!”

Fluttershy breathed heavily after her rant, leaving the fallen girl stunned with realization and Sunset staring at Fluttershy in fear and sadness. Fluttershy sighed and moved away from Gilda.

"After that happened,” she whispered with a sniff. “You said you got what you wanted and just... left me there! Despite my pain, I tried to crawl my way towards my bunny to help him. But by the time I got to him he… he…”

Sunset placed her hand over her mouth and trembled in horror.

No…

Fluttershy looked like she was about to burst into tears, but she quickly shook that off and glared angrily at Gilda.

“As I was lying there all alone on a cold ground for the whole night, I felt like I lost something precious to me that day! Worse of all, when I need her the most... my so-called “best friend” ditched me! It was the worst day of my life… but it taught me two of the most valuable lessons: no one in this world would ever care about you! And kindness… are nothing but weakness, because scum like you will take advantage of it for their own benefits… and then they stab you in the back once they get what they wanted! I will not be so weak anymore! For tonight… it is I who is superior and you… are the weakest link!"

Gilda was now downright sobbing at this point, but mostly from fear. "P-please… I'm sorry!” She cried. “I-I'm sorry for w-what I did to you a-and your r-rabbit! I-I promise I won't g-go near you or a-a-anyone again if you just l-l-let me go! Please!"

Sunset stared at Gilda in disgust. While she could never forgive Gilda for hurting Fluttershy but she could tell that she really meant it. She then quickly turned towards Fluttershy who once again hidden her face from view.

"You know something Gilda,” said Fluttershy. ”You actually sounded so sincerely when you apologized to me. It nearly brings me to tears! I would be happy to forgive you and let you go!"

Gilda eyes lit up in hope, relieved that the girl she once bullied will actually give her mercy.

"...but that's what the old Fluttershy would do!"

Gilda’s hopes were dashed as Fluttershy slowly lifted her head towards her.

"The new Fluttershy however…"

To Sunset’s shock, Fluttershy stumped on Gilda's right hand really hard, causing the injured girl to scream out loudly in pain.

"...is not so forgiving!” Fluttershy finished before gesturing to her goons. “Take her away!"

Gilda’s face went pale and shook in fear as the two goons grabbed her by each of her arms.

"No please! Let me go! Let me go! LET ME GO! NOOOOOOO!"

Gilda screamed as she was dragged across the ground and then disappeared into the tent, presumably to receive punishment from the two goons. With a slack jaw, Sunset slowly turned towards Fluttershy as Derpy walked up and stood by her.

"You alright boss?" asked Derpy with a somewhat concerned expression on her face.

"I'm fine Dizzy!" Fluttershy huffed while not looking at her second in command member. "Now round up the others! We're going to cause some chaos over at the west Crystal Prep!"

Derpy nodded and walked away to gather up their members as instructed. Once she left, Fluttershy finally dropped her tough demeanor and changed to a much more somber look. With a sigh, Fluttershy dug into her shirt and took out her locket which was hidden in view. She then opened up her tiny locket and revealed to be a picture of her beloved pet bunny with a cute smile on his face. This photo only made Fluttershy let out a small tear leaking from her left eye.

"Oh my sweet Angel Bunny," Fluttershy whispered in a sad tone. "If only I was strong enough to save you…"

“Boss! Are you ready?” Derpy called.

Fluttershy shut her locket and hid it in her shirt again. She then wiped her tear away and put on her tough look again before she headed towards Derpy’s direction. Meanwhile, Sunset stood there in shock, couldn’t believe that a sweet person like Fluttershy became a cruel and unforgiving gang leader. She was even worse than how Sunset acted back from her early days as a bully.

"...sweet Celestia!" Sunset whispered. She then turned towards Rebecca. "Don't tell me Gilda actually did that to her! And Angel Bunny..."

Rebecca sighed as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "After Gilda attacked her and left her in the alley, poor Fluttershy was never the same again… and became a dark version of herself. She slowly became the meanest and toughest girl in school and harmed anyone who even looked at her direction. Shortly after that, she dropped out of school and became the leader of the most notorious street gang in Dazzling City, ‘The Dark Angels’ and pulled off many crimes!”

"This… this is horrible!" Sunset exclaimed. "While I don't agree with what Fluttershy is doing to Gilda, I can’t believe that Gilda would harm a gentle soul like her!"

"She would've… if you haven't intervened," said Rebecca.

"W-what?" Sunset uttered in her surprised tone.

"Do you remember that day when you happened to be in the area when Gilda was harassing Fluttershy?" Rebecca asked.

Sunset took a moment to think back to that very day before she nodded. "Yes… it's all coming back to me!” she said quietly. “I was… heading home that day so I can plan on sabotaging Rarity at the Spring Fling until I heard a commotion. Just so it happened… it came from Fluttershy… while being held by Gilda at the alley. At first… I was going to ignore them and keep on walking since it wasn't my business and Fluttershy was one of my targets to break her friendship up. But…"

"You couldn't bring yourself to leave Fluttershy to her fate?" Rebecca interjected.

"...no," Sunset sighed. "I'll admit, I was no angel and I treated Fluttershy horribly during my early years, but even I have my standards! So I immediately rushed into the alleyway and then… I kicked that loud month’s butt!"

"You most certainly did!” Rebecca commented. “No doubt that Gilda held a grudge on you ever since."

"Yeah, I'm on her radar for a while, but I don't regret what I've done, especially that I saved Fluttershy!" She then looked down in shame. "Except... I still treated her terribly after saving her. I even said to her (and everyone else) that I was only saving her because the one who gets to bully her is me!"

“Even though that was a lie?” Rebecca pressed which Sunset nodded. "She was really grateful that you've saved her you know! Despite what you said, what you did to save her and making sure that she was okay was the kindest thing that anyone had ever done to her, outside of her family and Rainbow Dash."

Sunset looked down towards the ground with doubt. "But… I was still mean to her afterwards."

"That doesn't matter," said Rebecca. "Because of your actions, she realized that there are some good in you as well as most other people. You even proved to her that the acts of kindness do exist. Which was why she was less fearful to you when you continued to bully her… and why she was the first of the group to forgive you!"

"...she did," Sunset said quietly with fondness. "I honestly thought she would never want to be my friend after everything I've done to her. But the fact that she forgave me and wanted to be my friend… really moved me. Her kindness alone also made me realize that she is actually a stronger and a better person, than I could ever be. So I made a vow right there and then to not only keep protecting Shy, but to protect all my friends too!" She then turned to where Fluttershy was with a sad expression. "But the fact that this happened to her when I'm not around…"

Sunset clenched her fist, angry with herself for letting this happen and her eyes were full of tears. Rebecca calmly walked up to Sunset and placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Sunset… this isn’t your fault for what happened to Fluttershy,” she said gently.

“Not my fault?” said Sunset disbelief before facing Rebecca with a look of anger. “How is all of this not my fault? CHS is gone, my friends' lives are miserable and the city– as well as the entire world was taken over from our greatest enemies… all because I was never born! How can this get any worse than this?”

Rebecca winced at that statement. “Actually…”

Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion coming from the main streets. Off guard and curious from the noise, Sunset ran down the alleyway to see what was the commotion with Rebecca in tow. After a minute of running, Sunset finally made her way out of the alley and back on the the street of the city. But the moment she reached her destination, Sunset’s pupils shrank in shock and terror on her face.

The buildings and parts of the street were destroyed with flames burning some parts of the area. People were screaming and running around in panic, not caring if they pushed or knocked anyone down in the process. But what really terrified Sunset was this familiar creature floating in the sky.

The creature was all dark purple including its clothes. It's hair was long and wild with sparks surrounding it. It had a long horn on its forehead and large purple bat wings on it's back. It even had a purple tiara sitting on top of its head. But the most disturbing feature was the look of pure hate and rage on the creature's face.

“SIRENS! COME ON OUT TO FACE ME!” The creature roared as it continued to destroy buildings from the palm of its hand.

“MIDNIGHT SPARKLE!?” Sunset screamed in shock, not believing what she was witnessing.

“YOU THREE SHALL PAY FOR DOUBLE CROSSING ME!" Midnight continued in her loud, infuriating voice. "YOU WILL LET ME RULE MOST OF THIS PLANET AS AGREED, OR ELSE THERE WILL BE MORE CONSEQUENCES COMING YOUR WAY!”

Sunset just stood there trembling in fear while watching her friend continue to go on a rampage.

“Twilight…” Sunset whispered with a pained expression. She shook her head. "No, no, NO! How could I let this happen!? How did I not realize that without me, Twilight is still trapped as Midnight Sparkle!"

"She didn't!"

Sunset quickly turned around the moment she heard Rebecca. "W-what!? What are you talking about?"

"Perhaps I wasn't being specific," said Rebecca. "That wasn't the human Twilight!" She then pointed directly at Midnight Sparkle. “The one you're seeing now… was actually the pony Twilight!”

13. Faded Magic

Author's Note

Once again, the following chapter contained some mild dark themes. You have been warned!

Don't worry, this will be the last time.

13. Faded Magic

“W-W-W-WHAT!?” Sunset exclaimed in shock with a perplexed look. She constantly looked back and forth between Rebecca and Midnight Sparkle while still trying to make sense of things. She then slowly pointed her shaking finger at Midnight Sparkle, who was still destroying the city in the process.

“Y-you've gotta be kidding me!" Sunset shouted. "Midnight Sparkle is Princess Twilight? HOW!? How can this be? And how did she get in the human world?"

Sunset would've continued her tirade, but Rebecca grasped two of her shoulders to get her to calm down.

"Listen Sunset, you remember what I said earlier that your life matters to both this world and your homeworld?" She asked. When Sunset slowly nodded, Rebecca continued. "Sunset… the most critical part of your life is your time in Equestria before you fled to this world! You recalled when Princess Celestia showed you that mirror, which was an important part of your life… yes?"

Sunset, who was now calmed down for the most part nodded. "Y-yeah," she responded slowly and then frowned. "While I'm not proud of who I was and how I acted to everyone including my mentor, but at the same time… I don't regret it either because if I hadn't come here… I would never have met my best friends." Even when I didn't know it at the time.

"Well, believe it or not, that moment changed for Princess Celestia too!" Rebecca explained. "She learned from her mistakes after how she acted to her sister… and to you. So since then, she decided to be close to the ponies she cared about instead of keeping her distance and how to plan things out a little more carefully for the sake of Equestria."

Sunset gave Rebecca her confused look since she already knew of this fact. "Okay… but what does that have to do with Princess Twilight?"

"...everything!" Rebecca answered, strongly emphasizing the word to show Sunset how serious it was. "As much as this hurts you, she didn’t want to make the same mistake with mentoring Twilight with how she tried to mentor you. Instead of letting her be like what she did to you, she decided to push Twilight in the right direction by having Twilight meet the ponies in Ponyville during the Summer Sun Celebration, which then became friends with later on and helped her defeat Nightmare Moon. Overtime, Twilight eventually became the Princess of Friendship and saved the world along with her friends multiple times!” Her eyes then narrowed. “But without you being born…”

Sunset eyes widened, fully understanding the issue. “Then... Princess Celestia mistakes with me... carried over to Twilight, including–”

“Showing her the mirror!” Rebecca finished with a serious expression. “However, with Twilight prematurely seeing the mirror was actually worse than when Celestia showed it to you!”

Sunset swallowed nervously. “You mean… Twilight seeing that mirror... is the result of Twilight becoming…" Sunset then slowly glanced up in the sky where one of the building was currently demolished. "...her?”

“Essentially… yes,” Rebecca answered grimly. "You remembered that your Twilight becoming Midnight Sparkle was a result of not just peer pressured from her former classmates, but also her unhealthy thirst for knowledge about magic? Well in Princess Twilight's case, she was pretty much the same as the human version, but instead of peer pressure, she was a total shut-in and preferred to seek knowledge. Seeing that mirror early before when she was truly ready only fueled her hunger for even greater knowledge… about the world beyond Equestria. What really didn’t help was that she also learned the history about three certain sirens being sent to another dimension by her idol, Starswirl the Bearded. When Princess Celestia denied that, well… let's just say… that Equestria isn't the same anymore."

“W–what do you mean?” Sunset asked nervously.

Without saying a word, Rebecca snapped her fingers and she opened up what it appeared to be some kind of small portal, but it was a size of a viewable window. Sunset felt uneasy but also curious about what Rebecca was trying to show her. After debating with herself, her curious side won and decided to take a peek into that "window". The moment she looked into the "window" her heart nearly stopped beating.

What Sunset saw through that "window" was her original home, Equestria. But Equestria isn't how she remembered from the last time she visited. Instead, Equestria was nothing but a wasteland with no pony or any creature in sight. Everything is all dark and all plant life and buildings are destroyed. What disturbed Sunset the most was that it was supposed to be Canterlot where Princess Celestia's castle was supposed to be.

"M-my home!” Sunset cried with a look of horror on her face. “What happened to my home!"

"Twilight destroyed it,” Rebecca simply answered, much to Sunset's shock. “After years of gathering knowledge of magic, especially dark magic, which slowly transformed her into her own version of Midnight Sparkle. She also allied with other villains, only to betray them after she got what she wanted. And when she eventually at her full power, she banished Princess Celestia to the sun… permanently."

"She then ruled Equestria with an iron hoof for years as the most fearful tyrant in history, and no pony was able to defeat her, especially that the Elements of Harmony is rendered useless without the magic welder. But despite all of her accomplishments, she still wasn't satisfied. So after studying the mirror, she eventually figured out a way to use it and then entered this world in hopes of ruling it as well. From there, she teamed up with the Dazzlings to help her take over the world, only for them to betray her and take the world for themselves. This, of course, infuriated Midnight Sparkle and as a result, they were having a war of who rules this plant and still goes on to this very day, leaving everyone else caught in a crossfire."

Sunset stared at Rebecca with a mixture of stunned and horrified expression. She looked at the direction to where Midnight Sparkle was, who was still wrecking the city in search of the Dazzlings. Sunset then slowly looked back down and held her head before her knees collapsed onto a snowy ground.

“This is… all too much,” Sunset whimpered, keeping herself from freaking out further. She removed her hands from her head and looked up towards Rebecca with her sad expression. "How… how could things be so bad without me?"

Rebecca gave Sunset a look of empathy before she let out a long sigh. "Well, I guess it's because someone like you made a lot of difference in a lot of lives. Whether you realize this or not, you are just as important to your friends as they are to you!" Rebecca answered softly.

She’s right. Sunset thought. My friends are important to me in my life. I guess I never realized that I’m important to them too. And here I thought earlier that they are better off without me. She sighed heavily. I’m so sorry Principal Celesia, Vice-Principal Luna, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight and…

Suddenly, as if a bolt of lightning had struck her, Sunset realized the one crucial thing throughout her little "trip" with Rebecca.

“Wait… where’s Twilight?” Sunset inquired as she turned towards her guardian angel with a look of expectation.

Rebecca hesitated for a brief moment before she quickly pointed behind her. “She’s over there, still rampaging the city.”

Sunset shook her head. “No no! Not that Twilight, the other Twilight! MY Twilight!”

Rebecca then had a teasing grin on her face. “Well, well, well. So you’re having the hots for your friend eh?”

Sunset's cheeks were red before she quickly shook her head and glared at Rebecca. “D-don’t dodge the question! Where is she? Where’s the human Twilight?”

Rebecca was silent for a moment with a blank look before she turned away slightly.

“I… I can’t say.”

"Can't!? What do you mean "can't"?" Sunset yelled angrily. "You've been telling me how my other friends' lives were like without me, why not her?" She then narrowed her eyes at Rebecca. “Now that I think about it, every time I tried bringing her up, you either changed the topic or you just flat out ignored me!” Sunset stood up and looked directly into Rebecca's eyes. “What are you hiding Rebecca? What happened to Twilight?”

Once again, Rebecca was hesitant for a moment before answering in a low voice. "I… I don't think I should be telling you. You were distraught enough already after seeing your friends, but because of how close you are to Twilight… I feared that this would only devastate you."

"You mean… Twilight's life without me is worse than Fluttershy's? Worse than Princess Twilight's!?" Sunset questioned in a panicked tone.

Rebecca turned away. "I said too much!"

Rebecca's cryptic answer only made Sunset feared for her best friend even more.

"Rebecca… what happened to Twilight?" Sunset demanded with huge anxiety.

"Sunset, I really can't–"

"ANSWER ME!" Sunset roared.

Rebecca could only stare at Sunset, who was almost having a meltdown for almost a full minute. Finally, Rebecca closed her eyes and sighed.

"Twilight… is miserable… more miserable than all of your friends combined!" Rebecca revealed, most to Sunset's dismay. "You know how difficult her life was like when she stayed at Crystal Prep before she transferred to CHS?"

Sunset nodded while dreading where this conversation was leading to.

"Midnight Sparkle incident aside, you showed Twilight another way to live her life and became her first friend," said Rebecca. "And because of you… her life is much brighter and happier with you and your friends than how she lived in her old life. Most importantly, you understand what she was going through and you were there with her during her hard times… even after she transferred to CHS. She always considered herself lucky that she has you… as her best friend!"

Rebecca looked downward with the most pained expression that Sunset had ever seen from her. "But without you… her life after the games… turned for the worst. She ended up single-handedly botched the Friendship Games for the Shadowbolts and for the first time in history… Crystal Prep lost a single event. Despite that they still win the games, everyone at Crystal Prep hated her after that and openly shamed her as the one who ruined the school's "reputation" of being the perfect school. People would either mock her, shun or even bully her whenever they see her, making Twilight feel more and more worthless by the day."

"That's awful!" Sunset exclaimed in her angered tone. "And Cinch let the bullying happen and didn't stop it?"

Rebecca scoffed. "Let it? She's the one who started Twilight's torment!"

"She WHAT!?" Sunset roared in fury.

Rebecca nodded. "Cinch was furious that Twilight cost one of the events during the games, so she singled Twilight out as being the most incapable person in the academy and even encouraged anyone to mock her, just to use her as an example so that no one will end up being a failure as Twilight. Cinch even went as far to deny Twilight’s chance to not only take that Independent Study Program she always wanted, but to go to ANY academy!"

Sunset tightly clenched her fist in rage. She never felt so much hatred towards anyone in her entire life, not even when she was once a bully.

"That… cold-hearted… WITCH!" Sunset spat out in anger. "What about Dean Cadance in all of this? Didn’t she help Twilight?"

"She tried,” Rebecca said miserably. “But apparently, Cinch decided to "let her go", due to Cadance's “poor” performance as a Dean and held back on having Twilight release her potential. She even openly accused Cadance of giving Twilight a “free ride” through the academy due to her abuse of power."

"What!? That's ridiculous!” Sunset cried in disbelief. “From what I've known Cadance, while she loves her sister-in-law, she would never abuse her position just to give Twilight a free pass. She treats her like every other student. And she also cared about the students from Crystal Prep and always took her job seriously! Heck, she did a much better job at the school than that hag of a woman!"

"Yes, and I agree with you tenfold!” Rebecca replied with a frown. “But unfortunately… Cinch has her ways to shift the blame off from her and then pin it on another person. Not to mention, she easily manipulated the school board to agree with her, thanks to that artifact of hers. Everyone then openly accused Twilight of being a cheater once the news about Cadance was out. Not that it matters to her, because after Cadance lost her job, Twilight felt even more responsible and blamed it on herself."

"And... what about her dog, Spike?" Sunset asked with hesitation.

Rebecca paused with an uneasy look. "Spike protected Twilight... for a while. Until Spike bit one of the bullies arm while defending Twilight. Despite the circumstances, Cinch had her dog... to be put to sleep."

Sunset felt her voice hitched and her eyes widened in terror. What Cinch had done to Twilight’s beloved pet (and only friend) really crossed the line. Sunset wondered how could anyone be so cruel to another living being, let alone a dog.

Rebecca sighed heavily. "After she lost her pet, Twilight's depression has gotten worse with each passing day after another until…"

"Until… what?" Sunset demanded with fear in her voice. “What happened to Twilight?”

Rebecca sighed. "As we speak, she ditched the school and fled somewhere after another terrible run-in from the bullies."

“Where!?” Sunset pressed. "Where is she now?"

Rebecca didn’t respond as if she refused to answer.

"Rebecca, answer me!” Sunset cried desperately. “Where. IS. TWILIGHT!?”

After what it felt like an eternity, Rebecca finally responded which sent chills down Sunset’s spine.

“She’s at the bridge… the very same bridge where I found you and where we last saw her."

“W-what?” Sunset stammered. “What are you talking about? And why would she be at that bri–”

That was when it finally hit her. She finally understood what Rebecca was talking about from earlier. She recalled that mysterious figure who walked through her earlier when she and Rebecca were on their way to Dazzling city for the first time. Sunset didn't know it then, but she thought she saw parts of that purple hair and that familiar pair of glasses when she took a glance under that person’s hood. That person from before was none other than Twilight. Sunset cursed herself for not realizing this sooner. On top of that, Twilight was at that very same bridge where Rebecca found Sunset.

“...no!" Sunset whispered with widened eyes. "No... she wouldn’t!”

She quickly turned towards where the bridge was. If what Rebecca was saying about how bad Twilight's life was is true, then that would mean that Twilight is all alone and in grave danger.

"Rebecca, you must take me to that bridge right at–"

By the time Sunset fully turned back, she was taken aback that Rebecca had disappeared without a trace.

"Rebecca, where are you!?" Sunset cried as she searched around the area. "This is no time for games! I need your help! Please!"

When she received no response from the girl, Sunset yelled out both in frustration and in panic.

"GAH! I have no time for this!"

Sunset then quickly ran towards the direction of the bridge, leaving the rampaging Midnight Sparkle behind.

Twilight, please... don't do what I think you're gonna do! Just… hang in there!

Sunset eventually reached the bridge between the town and her neighborhood. She ran along the bridge in Hope's to find her best friend.

Where is she? Where is she!? WHERE IS SHE!? Sunset thought in panic, desperately looking around the area as she ran. I hope I'm not too late!

Every second of fruitless searching made Sunset feel more and more hopeless, believing that she had failed to find her friend. Eventually, she found someone standing in the middle of the bridge by the railing, looking over the ocean. What was bizarre to Sunset was that the person was standing was the same spot where Rebecca had found her before she could do the deed. The person who was standing there was the same person from earlier who wore that same hooded sweatshirt, only this time, the hood was off and Sunset can see the person's face.

"Twilight!" Sunset cried, both relieved and concerned after spotting her friend.

She ran up to Twilight to try to give her a hug but stopped herself when she noticed something seriously wrong with her friend. Twilight is that same happy and eager brainiac that Sunset comes to love. Instead, Twilight was deeply depressed, miserable and defeated. Her eyes were lifeless and her face was dull. Even her body looked too thin and frail like she hadn't eaten anything in weeks. Sunset stared at Twilight with widened eyes as if she was just watching herself from hours before. After a whole minute of silence, Sunset heard Twilight letting out a sad sigh.

“Who could ever cared about some nerdy girl like me?” Twilight asked herself softly with a sniff. “My parents are always busy, my big brother cared about the school’s reputation than me, Cadance's life is ruined because of me, the students at Crystal Prep hates me, and Principal Cinch was just using me for her own gain and then turned it around and have me blacklisted from every academy! I have no future, I’m all alone and my life’s ruined… and no one cared.” She let a lone tear trailing down along her cheek. “No one cared about me at all!”

“That’s not true Twilight!” said Sunset, as she began to teared up. “A lot of people cared about you! Your family cared about you! Our friends cared about you! I cared about you! You’re the most amazing person I know and a best friend to me! Heck, it was you that kept me going every day when things get tough! Just… don’t give up! Please don’t give up!”

Sadly, Twilight didn't hear any of Sunset's heartfelt words as she sniffed again with a look of pure sadness on her face.

“My life is worthless,” Twilight whispered, letting more tears falling down from her face. “If no one in the world cared about me to begin with, then it’s probably best if I… disappear!”

Sunset eyes widened from Twilight's words and shook her head. “Twilight! Twilight no! Don’t do this!” Sunset begged.

Sunset tried to grab onto Twilight's shoulders to prevent her friend from climbing up the railing, but her hands kept going through her. She watched in horror as Twilight climbed up the railing and then slowly walked along the beam to go further and further towards the edge.

“No Twilight stop! STOP IT PLEASE!” Sunset screamed, now full-on crying. “PLEASE DON’T JUMP!”

No matter how much Sunset screamed, begged or cried, Twilight was still slowly walking forward towards her doom. Not wanting to see more of this and as desperation, she began to scream out towards the sky.

“Rebecca!" Sunset shouted. "Why are you doing this!? Why are you doing this to me!? I don’t want to see Twilight like that! I don't want to see her go! I don’t want to see my friends or anyone else I know suffered!” She held her hands together in a pleading manner. “I understand now! I don’t want the people that I love to suffer without me there! I want my life back! I WANT MY LIFE BACK!”

Twilight was now dangerously close to the edge. Sunset realized if Twilight takes another step forward, she's done for.

“Rebecca, somebody, please! I’m begging you!" Sunset sobbed. "PLEASE! PLEASE! I want to live again! I want to live again!”

Sunset buried her head into her arms the moment Twilight was about to take her final step off of the ledge.

“I WANT TO LIVE AGAIN!”

14. The Power of Friendship (Part 1)

Sunset didn't dare to look up. She couldn't bring herself to look up to see her friend jumped off the bridge. Instead, she kept herself buried into her arms and wept, blaming herself for not being able to save her friend… and her beloved crush.

"I want to live again… I want to live again… I want to–"

Sunset was interrupted by her sorrow when she felt someone touching her shoulder.

"Sunset? Sunset are you okay?"

Sunset grunted and tried to wave her intruder off. "Not now Twilight! Can't you see that I'm mourning for y--"

Sunset ceased her crying and lifted her head up in realization after hearing a very familiar voice. Hoping it wasn't a cruel dream, Sunset slowly turned around and then gasped when she saw who it was and filled her with so much joy.

"TWILIGHT!" Sunset exclaimed. Before her friend could react, Sunset immediately hugged tightly around her, never wanting to let her go again.

"Twilight… you're okay!" Sunset whispered, letting a few tears of joy leaking down her face.

"Um… of course I'm okay Sunset," her friend responded before she chuckled softly. "Wow, I know it's been a while since I last visited you from Equestria, but I didn't know you missed me that much!"

Sunset eyes flew open from her words. Slowly she brought herself out of the embrace and properly looked over her friend. Twilight was wearing a purple sweater with a violet coat over it, dark purple winter pants, light purple boots and white fluffy earmuffs. Sunset immediately blushed when she realized that not only this Twilight had longer hair and wasn't wearing her glasses, but also the fact that she was speaking to a different Twilight.

"Oh, Princess Twilight!" Sunset exclaimed before she immediately backed away, feeling embarrassed from her behavior from earlier. "I'm… I'm so sorry! I… I was just–"

"No, it's okay Sunset," Princess Twilight insisted, despite the blush on her cheeks. She then quickly cleared her throat. "You must have gone through a lot tonight! With the party ruined twice and that CHS is in danger of closing down by the mayor."

Sunset was taken aback from Princess Twilight's statement. "H-how did you know?"

"The girls already explained it to me after they used your journal to call me over," Princess Twilight explained.

"...oh. I see," Sunset said softly as she sadly looked away. "Are they still mad at me? I don't blame them after everything that happened."

Princess Twilight stared at Sunset in disbelief. "Mad? They're worried sick! You disappeared for a long time after your outburst and they were afraid that something happened to you. After I came over, we organized a search party to find you, the CMC's and this world's Spike all over the town!" She then smiled. "Thank Celestia that you're okay!"

Sunset was taken aback by how her friends went through all of the efforts of finding her for her safety, despite everything that happened.

"You…all worried about me?" Sunset spoke quietly, nearly on the verge of tears. "They… still cared about me?"

"Of course we're worried about you!" said Princess Twilight with a caring smile. "We all care about you Sunset… especially the other me!"

"Other you?" Sunset asked slowly before her eyes widened with realization. "You mean my Twilight?"

Princess Twilight giggled from the way Sunset had phrased her human version. "Yes. She was the one who organized a search party to find you. Despite that you were missing for three hours, she wouldn't stop resting until she finds you and knows that you're safe, along with the others!" Princess Twilight then frowned. "Poor girl was running herself ragged. But I guess I would be worried too if someone I cared about was missing."

...Twilight, Sunset thought with a somber expression. Even after everything I said and done, she still wanted to be my friend. And my friends… they needed me as much as I needed them! I will never leave them behind and doubted myself ever again. I will go back and be with them… even if this is my last night.

There were some things that Sunset was concerned about and needed to be sure. She looked at Princess Twilight in the eyes with a desperate expression.

"Anything happened in Equestria?" Sunset asked. "And how are you and your friends?"

Princess Twilight gave Sunset her confused look. "Oh, well… other than saving the world from my former student of my school, Equestria was fine!" she answered before smiling. "In fact, it is just as lively as ever, especially that Hearth's Warming is just around the corner. As for me, I was busy with my royal duties, but I was fine and so are my friends. We're actually going to spend the holidays at my castle tomorrow to celebrate Hearth's Warming and you're more than welcome to join if you want!"

Sunset felt touched that Princess Twilight was inviting her to a Hearth's Warming party back at her castle Equestria. If only she knew that Sunset was persuaded to go back to her homeworld permanently, but Sunset to put that issue aside for now.

"And… Princess Celestia?" Sunset added with anticipation.

"Oh she's fine!" said Princess Twilight. "Busy, but she is fine. She really missed you since your last visit to Canterlot."

Sunset let out a huge sigh of relief. Oh, thank goodness! Equestria is okay! My teacher is okay! My friends are okay! Everything is okay!

Sunset's thoughts were interrupted when she felt Princess Twilight touching her shoulder. She looked up to see her concerned expression.

"Sunset… are you okay?" Twilight asked quietly.

It was then that Sunset was finally aware that she was crying. However, those weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of happiness and relief. She quickly wiped them away.

"Sorry, I… I'm just glad you're here," Sunset said softly.

Twilight gave Sunset her caring look. "Of course I'm here Sunset! I'm always here for my friends!" She then broke off her hug. "C'mon, let's get you back to CHS and let everyone know you're okay."

As Twilight turned around, Sunset spoke up.

"Twilight?"

When she got her friend's attention, Sunset gave Twilight a look of gratitude.

"… thank you," said Sunset softly.

Twilight tilted her head. "For finding you?"

Sunset smiled. "For giving me another chance so many moons ago… and for being a good friend."

As she and Princess Twilight were heading back to the school, Sunset was immediately relieved after seeing the town's name back to Canterlot City and not Dazzling City. She was also glad that none of the buildings were destroyed from Midnight Sparkle and that the town folk was happy and healthy instead of hopeless and despair due to the Sirens’ greed. Everything seemed like it was back to normal, but Sunset wasn't completely convinced until she sees the school and her friends.

The two teenaged girls eventually arrived at the school. Sunset was not only relieved when she saw her school back to the original look but also happy to see the sign which said:

Canterlot High School.

Keeping her tears at bay, Sunset bowed her head with a smile on her face. I never thought that I'll be so happy to see my school again! Thank goodness that I'm back!

"You okay Sunset?" Princess Twilight asked, noticing her friend acting very quiet all of a sudden.

Sunset looked up to her friend with an assuring smile. "I am now Twilight. Now let's head inside."

So Sunset and Princess Twilight walked through the main school doors and headed towards the gym. As soon as they entered the gym, Sunset couldn't believe what she was seeing. She spotted many students running around with their cell phones close to their ears, talking frantically. There was also a small group at the corner of the room, going over a huge map of the town and neighborhood with Xs at certain areas with a photo of her, along with the CMC’s and Spike. Sunset also noticed some other people like Gloriosa Daisy, Timber Spruce, Juniper Montage and (to Sunset’s surprise) some Crystal Prep among the group including the Shadowbolts who apparently joined in on the search as well. While this was going on, no one even noticed Sunset and Princess Twilight in the room at all.

"Wha...what's all this?" Sunset asked quietly with a stunned expression.

"I told you Sunset," Princess Twilight replied. "After you disappeared, your friends organized a search party for you and the others. Everyone felt really bad about how they treated you and the stress you went through to organize this party for them, so we all pitched in to help look for you, as well as the CMC's and Spike. Even the people from Camp Everfree and Crystal Prep who heard of what happened had volunteered to help search for you!"

"They're... all helping out… to find... me?" she asked softly, feeling her eyes welled up a bit.

She never thought anyone outside of her friends would even bother to help find her, especially with her “history” and her “episode” a couple of hours back. But seeing both the student body and many others going through the trouble to help find her whereabouts just to come back safely really touched Sunset. She really felt like she truly belonged here.

Just as she was going to ask Princess Twilight where her friends are, she heard a shout from the side.

"You listen here buster!"

Sunset turned, only to see her Twilight yelling at her cell phone close to the markerboard with written locations ideas of where the missing people are. From the look of things, Twilight’s hair looked a bit frazzled, probably due to the stress of finding her and the others. Sunset could also sworn that Twilight’s eyes looked red and puffy. Sunset wondered had her friend been crying after she disappeared. She felt horrible for leaving her friend like that after her blow up. She then heard Twilight spoke up again.

"You better stop stuffing your face with donuts, get off of your butt and actually do your job or I'll have my brother have your badge! You got it!?"

Twilight hanged up the phone and then let out a frustrated and distressful sigh as she buried her face on her hand. Before Sunset could approach her, she saw Rarity already at Twilight’s side.

"Any luck darling?" Rarity asked.

"No," Twilight sighed with a resentful frown. "Officer Blind Eye thinks finding those missing students are too insignificant for his job!"

Rarity had a look of disgust. "Are you serious!? How is finding our missing friend and sisters insignificant? That officer should be fired!"

At that moment, Applejack approached the two of them with a frown on her face.

"Any luck AJ?" Twilight asked.

Applejack shook her head. "Nope, nothin'! Everyone is still lookin' fer Sunset and our sisters! We’re trying our best to search every crook and cranny in this town!"

Suddenly, Applejack was interrupted when Octavia walked over to her.

"Sunset is not at her home," she said.

"Well look again!" Applejack responded.

As Octavia walked away, Lyra approached Applejack.

Sunset is not at the mall!" she said.

"Well look again!" said Applejack with a sigh.

As Lyra walked away, Trixie approached her with an annoyed expression.

"Well she's not in Trixie's thoughts," Trixie announced dully.

Applejack huffed at the magician. "WELL THINK AGAIN!"

During that commotion, Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared from her speed ability with a determined look.

"Me and my search team are going downtown again!” Rainbow Dash said as she put on her winter coat. “But this time, I won't be back until I find them."

"Here are the missing fliers that me and Pinkie made!" said Fluttershy as she and Pinkie approached the girls.

“I even made you some snacks while you’re out there!” Pinkie added as she handed the snacked to Rainbow Dash.

"But Rainbow Dash, we've been looking for hours, we don't know where Sunset or the others are!" Rarity protested.

"I can search all night if I have to!" Rainbow retorted as she was putting away the snacks and flyers into her backpack. "I won't give up on them, especially Sunset!” She looked down with a guilty expression. “I… I wanted to apologize to her from how I acted earlier!"

"You're not the only one Rainbow Dash," said Twilight with a sigh. "We all need to apologize to her, especially me! I felt like I'm the cause of all of this!"

Applejack placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. "Oh Sugarcube, it's not yer fault that Sunset and the others are missin'!"

"Even so, I still made it worse," Twilight retorted with tears in her eyes. "If only I told her sooner about Timber and me! And to also tell her how much I–"

"Um… hey everyone!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment they heard Sunset spoke. When they all turned to see her, everyone in the gym gasped.

"SUNSET!" Her friends exclaimed.

Before Sunset could utter a single word, her friends immediately ran up to her and engulfed her into a tight group hug.

"Where were ya?"

"Are you okay?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Do you want me to bring you something warm to wear?"

"Do you need a cupcake?"

As her concerned friends kept bombarding her with their questions, for the first time since before this whole incident started, Sunset laughed. Despite that her tears were flowing down from her cheeks, she continued to laugh wholeheartedly, feeling overwhelmingly happy that she was with her friends again. No alternative universe or any unfortunate events could ever take that happy moment away from her.

Sunset began to calm down somewhat when she noticed her friends were giving her their strange and concerned looks.

"Girls, girls, it's okay! I'm okay!" Sunset said merrily as she wiped her eyes. "In fact, I'm more than okay! I never felt so happy in my entire life! And it's almost Christmas! We should be happy and celebrate life instead of frowns and sadness!” Sunset then raised her arms and cheered, “Merry Christmas CHS! Merry Christmas everyone! Feliz Navidad! And a Happy New Year!"

Everyone including her friends felt even more concerned after seeing how overwhelmingly happy Sunset was as opposed to when she was having a breakdown hours ago.

"Oh boy… Sunset had finally lost it!" Rainbow commented.

“Yeah, she definitely went loco in the coco!” Pinkie agreed.

"Oh no… I think the poor dear was out in the cold for too long!” said Rarity.

“Should we get her some hot soup?" Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.

“Maybe we should get Nurse Redheart?” Applejack suggested.

After hearing her friends’ concerns, Sunset quickly stepped away and raised her palms out to her friends. "No girls! I am not sick or have lost my mind! Honest! I was just..." Sunset paused. "Well, let's just say… a lot has happened while I was away.” She then let out a long sigh. “Anyway... I wanted to apologize to all of you for how I was behaving.”

The girls gave Sunset their looks of understanding and sympathy.

“Oh sugarcube,” Applejack began. “You don’t need to apologize to us. We’re–”

“No no, I need to do this,” Sunset interrupted firmly. “What I said and how I acted towards you girls and everyone else was... out of line.”

Sunset set her eyes on Pinkie Pie first, who still had straight and flat hair.

"Pinkie Pie… what I said to you about your jokes and laughter is stupid and that you never take anything seriously… I'm really sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I know you always take things seriously and that you just wanted to make people smile, including me. And the truth is… I always enjoyed your jokes, your laughter and your bubbly personality. Those always made me smile… and that you are my friend!”

Touched from her friend’s apology, Pinkie Pie had a sweet smile on her face with tears in her eyes. "Aww, Sunny!” Suddenly, Pinkie’s hair changed back to her poofy look before she gave Sunset her big hug. “Of course I forgive you Sunny! Parties may be crazy and silly at times, but my friends are what really made me smile! It brings me so much joy that me being your friend means so much to you!”

Sunset hugged back. “You and me both Pinkie.”

Sunset broke her hug from Pinkie and turned to Rainbow Dash next.

"Rainbow Dash… I'm sorry for accusing you of never being loyal to me and calling you an insensitive jerk. It was uncalled for and… you were nothing but loyal to me and I was too angry, stressed and a big… jerk to see it. I hope you forgive me!"

Rainbow Dash had a look of surprise before her expression changed to her caring look.

"Well duh! Of course I forgive you Sunset!” said Rainbow Dash as she playfully punched Sunset’s shoulder with a smile. She then frowned and rubbed at the back of her neck. “That is... if you forgive me for not being cool with you either and acting like a hothead? I… was never really good at talking about my feelings.”

Sunset nodded before placing her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “I know, but I’m glad I have such an awesome friend like you and thanks for always sticking by me.”

Rainbow Dash simply smiled at Sunset.

With a heavy sigh, Sunset talked to Rarity next.

"Rarity… I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier. I take back what I said about you being selfish and that your clothes are… are…”

“Stupid?” Rarity guessed.

Sunset inwardly winced from that word but she nodded. “Y-yeah, that. But they’re not stupid at all! You always make the best clothes and you are an amazing and generous person, as well as beautiful both inside and outside. You are an inspiration to us all... even me!”

“...oh Darling,” Rarity cooed while trying to keep her tears at bay. “You don’t need to apologize Sunset! While your comment from earlier stung me a lot, I was at fault too for fussing over some clothes over my friend’s feelings!”

“But you were also stressed and upset from the sabotage of your clothes and my anger made things worse,” Sunset pointed out in shame. “Can you ever forgive me Rares?”

Rarity smiled sweetly before hugging Sunset. “Only if you forgive me Darling.”

Once they broke the hug, Sunset turned to Fluttershy. She also burst into tears after seeing her, remembering what happened to her in the alternate world. Still, Sunset kept herself composed and spoke to her friend in a gentle manner.

"Fluttershy… I’m really sorry for calling you a wimp and took my frustration out on you. You’re actually a wonderful, strong and caring person and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, including me!” Sunset sighed sadly. “I don’t deserve any of your kindness you’ve been giving me... or your friendship.”

Sunset was suddenly engulfed into a hug by Fluttershy, who was giving her her watery smile.

"It's okay Sunset,” said Fluttershy. “I forgive you and I don't blame you for acting that way. And as I told you multiple times, everyone deserves a little kindness, including you. And I’m blessed to have you as my friend!"

Sunset teared up. "You really are an angel Flutters!"

Finally, she faced Applejack and look at her farmer friend in the eye.

"Applejack, I… I'm sorry for accusing you of being a liar and… said all those terrible things I said to you about not caring about me at all... and bad-mouthing your family member! What you called me earlier really hurt me, but that’s no excuse for the way I blew you and everyone up like that. Can you forgive me?”

Applejack smiled softly before she gave Sunset a quick hug. "Ah shucks Sugarcube, I fergive ya!” said Applejack. She then frowned somberly, feeling ashamed of herself. “But to tell ya the truth… Ah'm the one who should be apologizing to you fer acting like a mule from earlier… along with other things. What Ah said was also out of line. You’ve done nothin’ but good to us all this time and when things went wrong, I kept throwin’ yer past to yer face. Ah wasn’t being fair to ya and Ah should’ve known that it was still a sore spot to ya. If anythang… Ah was a terrible friend!”

Stunned from her friend’s words, Sunset shook her head.

"Applejack, you’re not a terrible–"

"Now look here Sunset," Applejack said sternly before stepping back. "We were just to blame for this party debacle as you are and we did a terrible job of not only helping you for the party, but also defending you when everything was falling apart.” She then turned and glared at someone from the crowd. “Especially after some people who decided to unnecessarily badmouth ya on Christmas of all days!”

Some students in the crowd bowed their heads down in shame for partaking in ridiculing Sunset from earlier, especially Trixie for calling Sunset that "nickname", which caused the tipping point of Sunset breakdown. Applejack shook her head at them in disappointment before bringing her attention back to Sunset.

“Anyways, we realized you were highly stressed from this and it was unfair of us to pin the blame on ya like that. We were even worried that something happened to ya when you left and it was our mission to find you and… our sisters. And since yer finally here, we just want to say…”

Applejack as well as the rest of the Equestria Girls grouped themselves together and looked at Sunset with their sincere expressions.

“We’re sorry Sunset!” they all said.

“You guys…" Sunset choked before joining her friends in a group hug. "I forgive you girls! I'm so lucky to have you all as my friends!"

"And we're lucky to have you as our friend!" Applejack responded with a smile. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

Sunset felt so happy and touched that her friends still cared about her and didn't hate her despite what happened earlier. She truly was lucky to have them as her friends. But as happy as she was, there was still one more person she owed an apology to.

Sunset broke away the group hug from her friends and turned towards her last friend that she had yet to apologize to: Twilight Sparkle. Despite the circumstances, Sunset was overjoyed that her best friend (and crush) was here in front of her and alive and well. However, ever since Sunset's arrival, Twilight became very quiet and haven't said a word. Sunset wasn't sure if her friend was still upset with her due to a blank expression on her friend's face, which made her all the more nervous. With a gulp, Sunset slowly walked up to Twilight until they were inches away from each other. Even if things don't work out for the two of them, Sunset was at least glad that her friend is okay.

"Um, h-hey Twilight," Sunset said quietly.

Twilight didn't respond and her expression remained unchanged. Sunset sighed sadly and decided to get right to the point.

"I… I know you're probably still angry... and upset with me from how I acted… a-and you have every right to be!" Sunset then teared up. "B-before you s-say anything, l-let me first to say, that I'm--"

Sunset was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace by Twilight, who began to cry into her shoulder.

"Sunset, I'm glad you're okay!" Twilight cried. She wiped her tears before giving Sunset her angry look. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

Sunset winced from Twilight's tone, making her feel even more guilty for worrying her friend.

"I'm so sorry Twilight," Sunset said softly. "I didn't mean to make you and everyone else worried about me. I won't run off like that again."

Sunset then looked right into Twilight's eyes with a pained expression. "And I'm also sorry… for everything I did to you. For taking my anger out on you, for what I said to you and for acting like a big... meanie." She swallowed a small lump from her throat and sighed. "When I overheard you talking to Rarity from the storage room that you told everyone about your breakup with Timber but me… I was hurt. I thought that I wasn't a good enough friend to you... and that you wouldn't trust me enough to let me help out, but after the way that I acted… I realized that I'm not being a very good friend… and that I'm possibly the one who single-handedly ruined your relationship with him. I don't know what I did exactly, but I wanted to fix it for you and Timber no matter what it takes!" She looked sad, trying to keep her tears at bay. "Even if you don't forgive me and… not wanting to be my friend anymore."

"Oh, Sunset…" Twilight said softly with tears in her eyes. She then shook her head and wiped her tears away. "You got it all wrong! I was never mad at you! Yes, you hurt me, but I thought it was something what I did! Even if you did something wrong, I'll never stop being your friend, no… my best friend and I trusted you with my life! So, of course, I forgive you!"

"Twilight…" Sunset whispered with a look of awe on her face.

"It was also my fault for not telling you sooner," Twilight sighed with a guilty expression. "I didn't break up with Timber because you did something terrible."

Sunset blinked. "It… it isn't?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. You see… Timber and I… don't feel any connection between us at all. Sure, we had fun with our dates, but every time we’re together, we don’t feel any of that spark at all. And after our last date, I decided to break up with him, on good terms I should add, after I realized… that I have feelings for someone else."

Sunset stared at Twilight both in shock and confusion. "Really?” she said.

While Sunset was glad that she didn’t ruin Twilight’s relationship with Timber, there was still something that she didn’t quite understand based on the conversation she heard between Twilight and Rarity.

“Then... who was it?” Sunset asked. “And what does that have to do with me?”

To Sunset’s confusion, she noticed Twilight was looking away from her as she began to blush around her cheeks. Was it something that Twilight was too embarrassed to tell her what that is? Was it about the person that she likes? Or maybe it was the gender of the person that she likes? Whatever that is, Twilight should know that she will never make fun of her for anything, including whoever she likes. Sunset swore to herself that whoever her friend likes, she will give her friend her full support no matter what.

With a gulp, Twilight looked back into Sunset’s eyes and took a deep breath. "Sunset… the truth is–"

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!?”

Both Sunset and Twilight jumped from an authoritative voice. The two teens and everyone else in the gym turned towards the source to see Mayor Mare who was heading towards them with an angered look with Abacus Cinch in tow.

Sunset’s eyes widened in panic at the sight of the pair. Oh shoot! I forgot about them!

When the two older ladies finally reached them, Mayor Mare gave them her piercing glare.

“I thought I told you all that I’m shutting down this school and you kids should go home!” Mayor Mare growled.

“We only stuck around because our friend was missin' and organized a search party!” Applejack spoke up for everyone's defense.

“Yes, and Sunset had just returned to us!” Rarity added.

“Sunset is here?”

Everyone turned to see Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna entering the gym. They both rushed towards Sunset until Principal Celestia was close enough to engulf Sunset into a hug.

“Sunset! Oh, thank goodness!" she cried. "Are you okay? Where have you been?”

Sunset winced from the Principal's hug but still managed to reply. “I… I’m okay Principal Celestia! I… went out for a walk… to do some soul searching.”

Principal Celestia broke away from the hug, feeling sheepish for letting her emotions get the better of her before giving Sunset her stern stare.

“Well don’t do that again young lady! You had us all worried sick!”

“I know,” Sunset sighed with a guilty expression. “I promise to not disappear like that again!”

“You pinkie promise?” Pinkie Pie spoke up with her pleading look.

Sunset turned to her friend with a reassuring grin. “Pinkie promise!”

The moment was interrupted when they heard Cinch clearing her throat.

“Well, now that little problem is solved, it’s best that you all leave! You are currently trespassing!” Cinch said snidely.

“We can’t leave yet!” Rarity protested. “There’s still three more kids and a dog missing that we need to find!”

Cinch snorted. “Well, you can find those kids elsewhere! It’s none of my concern whether those brats are found or not!”

“What did ya say!?” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

“That’s OUR sisters you were talking about!” Rarity exclaimed, appalled by Cinch's behavior.

“Ya ain’t telling us what to do!” Applejack yelled.

Everyone else was also voicing out in anger until Principal Celestia spoke up.

“Settle down everyone!” Principal Celestia soothed before turning towards Mayor Mare and Cinch. “But the kids had a point! We’re trying to locate the other missing children. Please have a heart Ms. Mayor!”

Cinch scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Oh very well then. We’ll allow you to continue with this “search party” a little longer.” She then turned towards Sunset with an expected look. “And as for you Ms. Shimmer,” don’t you have a place to return to… like we discussed?”

Sunset was beginning to look uncomfortable while everyone stared at her with confused expressions.

“Sunset… what was she talking about?” Twilight asked.

Knowing that she can’t avoid the issue and delay the inevitable any longer, Sunset let out a long sigh. "Listen girls… tonight is my last night on CHS… and this world."

"W-what!?" said Twilight, dread filling her heart. "Sunset, what do you mean!?"

"...I'm returning to Equestria," Sunset answered bluntly.

Her friends’ eyes widened. “WHAT!?”

“But you just got here!”

“Why are you leaving us!”

“Did we hurt you that much?”

“Please don’t go!”

“We love you Sunny!”

Sunset kept herself from crying, but she needed to be strong and keep her friends safe.

“I’m sorry girls… but I already made up my mind. It was time for me to return to where I came… it’s better that way.”

“Sunset, I don’t understand!” Princess Twilight spoke up. “Why are you suddenly decided to go back? I thought you said that everything’s okay!”

“...let’s go, Princess!” Sunset said emotionlessly as she began to move.

Despite her friends’ plea, Sunset slowly walked away from them, heading to the door. She felt great pain from within her heart, but she pushed on despite tears flowing down from her eyes. Cinch for her part let out a grin as she watched one of the most influential girls of this school to finally be out of her way.

“Cinch was controlling you, wasn’t she?”

Sunset stopped in her tracks while Cinch had an annoyed scowled as someone spoke up.

At first, Sunset thought it was the Princess again, but when she turned around, it was actually her Twilight who spoke up. Sunset should have known that her friend would catch on, but she didn’t want to get hurt by Cinch.

“Twilight… Cinch isn’t controlling me,” said Sunset. “It was from my–”

“Please don’t lie to me!”

Sunset flinched from Twilight’s harsh words. Twilight breathed slowly to calm herself before she gave Sunset her serious expression.

“Cinch once blackmailed me that she’ll deny my independent study in order to join the Friendship Games! The fact that she oh-so-gently reminds you to go somewhere and your reaction tells me that she somehow got a hold of you!” Her eyes narrowed. “What exactly is she threatening you?”

“Miss Sparkle,” Cinch stated. “What your friend and I discussed was none of your concern!”

Twilight glared at the older woman. “Whatever you’re doing to my best friend IS my business you HAG!”

Everyone gasped at Twilight’s response, surprised that she could talk back to anyone like that. Even Cinch was taken aback from her former student’s response. She never talked back to her like that before. In fact, no one ever talked back to her like that in all her life.

Satisfied that her former Principal was a loss for words, she turned her focus on Sunset again.

"Sunset… I know that you wouldn't be acting this way unless you have a good reason," said Twilight with a concerned expression. "Please… tell me what she did to you?"

Sunset wanted to deny her friend's plea, lie to her that there was nothing wrong and told her to just drop it, but after a look from her friend's caring face, she couldn't bring herself to do it. As she glanced around the room, her friends were giving her that same look too, wanting desperately to help her and leave no room for argument. She inwardly cursed herself for getting caught in this situation and that she couldn't protect her friends.

With a somber sigh, Sunset bowed her head. "She was keeping tabs on us!"

Twilight blinked. "What?"

"Cinch has been keeping tabs on us!" Sunset repeated much more loudly, shocking everyone in the room. Sunset then looked at her friend in the eye. "She's somehow got a recording of us using our Equestrian Magic and where we got our powers from. She threatened me that she'll release them to the public and ruin you guys unless I return to Equestria and never to return here again!"

Tears began to flow out from her eyes like waterfalls, but Sunset didn't care at that point.

"I don't want to go and leave any of you!" She sobbed. "But none of you wouldn't be in this mess if I hadn't brought magic to this world! I will never forgive myself if your lives are ruined because of me, so… I have to go and protect you… even if I would never see you again!"

She bowed her head again, afraid to see her friend's reaction. She feared that everyone including Twilight will blame her for letting this happen, and their silence only increased her fear. She was thinking about running out of the room again until she felt someone’s arms wrapped around her and pulled into a warm hug.

"...oh Sunset," Twilight whispered, almost in tears. "I had no idea you were in so much pain this whole time. I'm sorry that I didn't notice sooner."

Twilight then turned towards her former Principal and sent her the angriest glare that Sunset had ever seen from her.

"...You!" Twilight shouted. “You were trying to chase off my best friend by using us to blackmail her!?”

Cinch, who felt indifferent from Twilight’s anger crossed her arms. “And what if I was?”

Twilight growled. "You evil, heartless, no-good... WITCH!” She pointed accusingly at Cinch. “It was bad enough that you once threatened me over something petty, but now you just threatened my best friend for something so cruel!"

"That’s right!” Rarity added. “What you did to Sunset was horrible you brute of a woman!"

"Yeah, that was not cool!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

"You big meanie!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"You big snake!" Applejack spat.

"You mother frigging, big nasty, stuck up… FEMALE DOG!"

The girls turned towards Fluttershy with surprised expressions, who the latter took notice.

"Oh, um… too much?" Fluttershy asked meekly.

"G...girls?" Sunset uttered quietly.

Twilight turned towards Sunset. "Sunset… you can’t blame yourself for bringing magic into this world. While it may have happened unintentionally, but because of that, we never would have met you!” She then placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. "You remembered what I said to you when we were on that yacht trip a while back? I really meant what I said that I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world. Ever since we first meet, not only you understood my pain, even before I became Midnight Sparkle, but you are also my very first friend! Every time I was with you, I felt like I can do anything! Without you… I wouldn’t be the person I am today!”

Sunset eyes widened from Twilight’s words. While she had seen what her life was like without her, but she had no idea how much she really impacted Twilight’s life that much. The thought that Twilight really felt highly of her really made her heart feel lighter.

Twilight then gave Sunset her tender smile. “So you see... have done more good than anything since you came here and you made each of our lives for the better, including me! And I’m sure the others felt the same!” She then had a determined look. “You always went after your way to help us… now it’s our turn to let us help you!”

While Twilight’s words made her feel better, but the fear of what Cinch will do to her and her friends still held her back.

"But Twilight, Girls… she has the recording of ALL of us! And once she'll release it then–"

"We know Sunset... but we don't care!” Twilight interrupted firmly. “WE don’t care what happens to us! If our powers get exposed to the public is the cost of keeping our dear friend from leaving this world, then we’ll gladly take it! No matter what you do to try to convince us otherwise, we will stick it to you to the end!"

The girls nodded in agreement with encouraging smiles, willing to put their lives on the line for her. Their actions only made Sunset teared up more but in happiness.

“Twilight… girls…”

Their moment was interrupted when Cinch let out a loud scoff. “Are you serious!? You are willing to stick up for this girl? The same one who used to bully and tormented everyone and single-handily made you all freaks after she infecting this world with her magic? As far as I know… she is better off not coming to this world at all!”

Everyone who was in the gym was appalled to both Cinch’s behavior and the things that she had done to Sunset. Even both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were trying to keep themselves together from harming their former college. Twilight, having enough of Cinch belittling her friend, walked up to the older woman and was nearly close to her face.

"You listen here Abacus Cinch!" Twilight spat with a look of contempt. "Sunset is the most wonderful person I've ever known and I'm proud to be her friend, regardless of her past! In fact, she is a far better person than you'll ever be! You are nothing more than a disgusting, vile and horrible human being! I don't want to see you and hear your horrid comments about her or any of my friends in front of me again, including to the person I love!"

Sunset’s eyes went wide after hearing her best friend’s confession. “W… Wha?”

Suddenly, she heard a few of her friends whooped loudly from behind her, making her even more perplexed.

"Whoo-hoo! Go Twilight!"

"How romantic!"

"About time!"

"Oh… my!"

"You owe me five bucks AJ!"

Sunset slowly shifted her gaze at Timber Spruce, who awkwardly smiled back at her. It was then that Sunset realized exactly why Twilight broke up with Timber and only told her friends. It wasn’t because of something bad she did to Twilight and Timber, it was because Twilight has feelings for her. Sunset felt so many different emotions running through her right now. But before she could fully process this, she spotted Twilight stood in front of her while still looking at Cinch in the eye.

"If you want to get to Sunset, you have to go through me first!" Twilight declared.

Cinch sputtered, couldn’t believe that a once shy and quiet genius from her old school was now standing up to her as if she was trash. She quickly recovered and narrowed her eyes at her former student.

"...fine,” she spat quietly before lifting up her phone. “Then I shall ruin your life as well!"

"Not so fast!"

They all turned just in time to see Rainbow Dash stepping towards Cinch with her challenging glare.

"If you're coming after my best friends, you'll also have to go through me!" Rainbow Dash growled as she stood in front of Sunset next to Twilight.

"And me as well!" Applejack added as she also stood in front of Sunset.

"Same here!" Rarity replied, following her friends’ example.

"And me!"

"And me too!"

"And don't forget about me!

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight also stood in front of Sunset with challenging looks.

Sunset’s felt her heart soar. She couldn’t believe that her friends would risk themselves to get their lives exposed just to protect her. She felt her throat tightened.

“Girls…”

Cinch scoffed as she pushed her glasses. "Fine! Then you AND your friends are going to be exposed as well!"

"Not on my watch!"

To the girls’ shock, someone else joined in to form into a barrier for Sunset, and it was none other than a certain blonde girl with misaligned eyes.

"You'll have to go through me before coming after Sunset and these girls!" she said with a determined glare.

Then someone else joined in and it was the person they least expect it.

"You'll have to take down the Great and Powerful Triiiixie, before getting them!" Trixie declared.

Then one by one, more students joined in to form into a protective wall for Sunset.

“And me!”

“And me!”

"And me too!"

“Me as well!”

"YEAH!!! ME TOO!"

Sunset couldn’t believe what was happening. Not only her friends are protecting her, but everyone from her school as well! Tears started to form in the corners of Sunset's as she was was fully convinced that everyone does care about her and that she truly belonged here.

"I don't think it's necessarily everyone," Celestia stated as she stood in front of Cinch with narrowed eyes. "Because the one they have to go through first is me!"

"And me as well!" Vice Principal Luna added.

Twilight gave Cinch her smug grin. “Well Cinch, you messed with one Wondercolt, you messed with all of us!”

Everyone nodded in unison while Cinch let out an infuriating growl.

"Fine!" Cinch spat. "Then I shall expose the entire school! Say goodbye to your lives!”

Just as she was about to press her phone, the gym doors suddenly burst open, startling everyone in the room.

"HOLD IT!"

Author's Note

This chapter is so HUGE, I have to split it into two. Next part comes shortly!

15. The Power of Friendship (Part 2)

Everyone quickly turned towards the sound of a voice, only to gasp in shock after seeing three familiar kids and a dog near the door.

"Apple Bloom!"

"Sweetie Belle!"

"Scootaloo!"

"Spike!"

The four teens stared at their younger siblings (and dog) for a moment, happy and relieved that they were here safe and sound, only that it was short-lived when all four suddenly had anger expressions on their faces.

"Where have YOU been!?" The four teens yelled angrily.

The CMC’s and Spike winced from their sisters (and owner) shouting. Before either one of them responded, a new voice spoke up.

"They're with me!"

Everyone turned towards the direction of a new voice just as a police officer entered the gym. Both Twilights gasped when they recognized who that person was.

"Shining Armor!" They cried in unison.

Shining Armor blinked as he stared at two Twilights. “Am I more tired then I thought or am I really seeing two of my sisters?”

Before anyone said anything, Rarity cut in.

"What's going on?" Rarity asked, both out of confusion and dread. "Did our sisters get themselves into trouble… again?"

Putting his shock of double Twilights aside, Shining Armor shook his head. "No, they didn't cause any trouble… this time at least!"

"We caught the bad guys!" Scootaloo cried cheerfully!

Applejack blinked. "Bad guys?"

As Applejack questioned that statement, three new people were dragged into the gym with each one paired up with two cops with handcuffs behind their backs. To everyone’s shock they were the same ones who claimed to be working for the town. There was also something familiar about those three but no one could recall where they saw them before. Following them, more police officers walked into the gym. What caught everyone’s attention was that each officer was carrying a box, which contained the stolen toys that were missing from the storage room for the party.

“HEY! That’s our toys!” Sunset exclaimed.

"We noticed these guys were actin’ strangely earlier at the party!” Apple Bloom spoke up, getting everyone’s attention. “And when we saw them takin’ somethin’ from the school to their trucks, we knew somethin’ was up!"

"Turns out, they stole all the toys from the storage!” Sweetie Belle added. “So we followed them until we're at a warehouse near the docks! They would've burned all those toys to the ground if we hadn't called Officer Armor!"

"You girls did the right thing of calling me once you reached the building!" Shining Armor praised with a smile before he frowned sternly. "But next time, don't try to follow them again!"

"You follow them!?" Applejack screamed, scaring the younger Apple sibling. "Apple Bloom, why didn't ya call the police then?"

"Or better yet, why didn't you come to us?” Rarity added just as angrily. “Do you have any idea of what just happened or how dangerous this was?"

"And you followed them Spike!?" Twilight demanded.

Spike gulped. "I-I would've come to you right away Twilight!” Spike defended nervously. “B-but I followed them to make sure that they didn't get themselves hurt!"

"And if we haven't followed them, they would've gotten away with those stolen toys!" Sweetie added.

Apple Bloom nodded. “We knew that it was risky and that you all don’t like that we ran off without tellin’ ya, but we knew that any second longer, it would be too late!”

Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at each other for a moment before they nodded and faced their siblings and dog again.

"Alright, we'll admit, if y’all haven’t followed them, we wouldn’t get our toys back!” Applejack admitted on behalf of the group. “You four really saved the day!"

Apple Bloom smiled in relief.

"Thanks Applejack!"

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. "But also because of yer stunt, yer grounded!"

"WAT!" Apple Bloom screeched.

"And you're also grounded once our parents heard of this Sweetie Belle!" Rarity added.

"Aw C'mon Rarity!" Sweetie Belle whined.

Scootaloo stared at her idol/sister figure with a nervous expression, expecting to get punished too. Rainbow Dash noticed this and gave her her sly expression.

"Don't worry Scoots! You're not grounded since we're technically not related by blood!" Rainbow Dash whispered slyly, making Scootaloo feel at ease.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was loud enough for both Applejack and Rarity to hear and they both gave her their expected glares. Rainbow Dash noticed their glares and nearly gulped.

"Buuuuuuuuut, once your Aunts hear about this... my hands are tied," Rainbow Dash added in her apologetic tone, causing Scootaloo to groan loudly in defeat.

"Ah shoot!"

Spike walked up to Twilight and then looked up to her with his ears drooped and a nervous expression. “Am I in trouble too?”

Twilight stared at her dog for a moment with an unreadable expression before she let out a sigh. “Well... considering that you were making sure that these girls are safe, I’ll let this one slide.” Her eyes then narrowed. “But don’t you EVER ran off without letting me know again! Understand?”

Spike nodded, making Twilight smile. “Good!” she said before she picked up her dog, nuzzling him affectionately.

The three CMC’s pouted at the sight of Twilight hugging her dog.

“Hey, no fair!” Sweetie Belle complained. “How come Spike gets rewarded while we get punished?”

Rarity crossed her arms. “Because despite that he followed you girls, Spikey-Wikey was being responsible by keeping you three safe from harm!”

Sweetie Belle and her friends grumbled in response.

The girls and the rest of the student body then set their eyes on three suspects who were currently held by police officers. They didn’t recognize any of these suspects until three of the Equestria Girls widen their eyes in realization.

"Hey! It's that same girl who helped me with the food, claiming that Sunset told her to help me!" Pinkie exclaimed as she eyed the girl with a long blue ponytail.

"And so was that gal who said Sunset sent her to help with the stage!" Applejack added as she stared at the scowling girl with purple pigtails.

"And that's the girl who offered to keep an eye of my clothes per Sunset's suggestion!" said Rarity while studying the third girl with huge orange hair. Rarity rubbed her chin in thought as she looked at each of the three suspects. "Although, those three looked very familiar, but I can’t seem to grasp who they are!"

"That's because they have THESE on!" Apple Bloom announced as she and her friends pulled the necklaces off from their necks before any of the officers could stop them. Once again, multi-colored aura glowed briefly, sounding the three suspects before the light evaporated into thin air. After that light display, everyone gasped in shock once their memories were no longer resisted from some strange force.

"It's the Dazzlings!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

With widened eyes, Sunset stared at the three sirens as the first two scowling at her while Sonata was waving at her with a sheepish expression.

"Adagio, Aria... and Sonata?" Sunset uttered before she growled. “What are you three doing here and why are you doing this?”

Adagio scoffed. "Hmph! We're doing this as revenge against you girls, especially you, Sunset Shimmer for ruining our lives! So the we figured we’ll get back at you and the school by ruining this event and your precious Christmas party!"

“But how did you do it?” Sunset demanded.

Adagio and the other sirens turned away, refusing to answer.

Princess Twilight turned towards Apple Bloom. “Those medallions, let me see them!”

Apple Bloom obliged as she handed them over to Princess Twilight.

Princess Twilight inspected the three medallions for a moment before her eyes widened. “I don’t believe this… these necklaces are from Equestria!”

“You know these necklaces Princess Twilight?” Sunset inquired.

Princess Twilight nodded. “Yes, I read about them once. These medallions were originally from the ancient civilization of the sirens many moons ago! At some point, the Sirens powers were getting weak and couldn’t use their abilities to conquest other nations. So they enchanted these medallions in hopes to use their original powers and other abilities in case if they completely lost their powers. Unfortunately for them… their race passed on before they could use them and the medallions were lost ever since.”

“You’re wrong about one thing Princess!” Adagio sneered. “They were never lost! The few Sirens who survived managed to hide them for safekeeping, until we got our hands on them as our backup to conquer this pathetic planet! But we used it as revenge instead!”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms. “How’s that working out for ya?” she mocked.

Adagio growled in response.

“What do you mean… ‘other abilities’?” Sunset asked.

Princess Twilight’s brow furrowed. “From what I could remember, almost each one gave them abilities to turn invisible, levitate, go through walls and the most interesting one of all, preventing anyone who saw them won’t be able to recognize the user!”

“So dat’s how both our parties got ruined twice!” Applejack exclaimed. “Those snakes used them this whole time, ruinin’ our party and put the blame on Sunset!”

“Seeing Sunset and this cursed school go down in flames would’ve been a sweet revenge for us!” said Adagio. She then scowled angrily before she turned and glared at the CMC’s. "And we would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids!"

"A-hem!"

Adagio rolled her eyes. "Oh… and that mangy dog too!"

Spike held his chest and head up high with pride.

"Hey look on the bright side, at least we got ourselves some free tacos!~" Sonata said cheerfully.

Aria growled in annoyance. "UGH! Go back to sleep Sonata!"

Sonata frowned. “Well you’re just mad because you didn’t get to have them after our deal we have with–”

“I think that’s quite enough!” Cinch said quickly, cutting Sonata off. “I believe these hooligans should be taken away and locked up at once!”

Adagio looked appalled by Cinch’s words. “Hey, we have a dea–”

Wait… was Adagio going to say, “deal”? Sunset thought.

Suddenly her eyes widened when she put two and two together.

“Hey, wait a minute…” Sunset then glared accusingly at Cinch. “You and the Dazzling are working together weren’t you?”

Everyone was shocked by this revelation while Cinch scoffed.

“You dare accused me, girl?” Cinch exclaimed. “Why would I be working with such low lives as those three?”

“Because you also wanted to get back at us as revenge by joining them!” Sunset answered. “And trying to get me out of the picture was one of them! And you dare telling me that I’M the bad one!” Sunset then turned to her friends. “I’ll admit… that almost worked… if not for my friends!”

The Equestria Girls gave Sunset their supporting smiles before glaring at Cinch.

"Don’t be absurd!" Cinch scoffed. “She’s obviously lying!”

She then turned to Shining Armor. “Officer, arrest those kids for refusing to listen to their authority!”

“Shining Armor crossed his arms. “No can do ma’am. I’m these kids did nothing wrong, especially that you are acting more suspicious then them!”

“Oh really?” Cinch said with a grin as she walked over to the Mayor, who was strangely quiet this whole time. “Why don’t we ask her?

She then leaned over towards the Mayor and lightly grasped her cobra medallion. “These kids are obviously in the wrong and they deserved to be punished! Don’t you agree Ms. Mare?”

"...yes,” Mayor Mare responded slowly. “I... agree."

Everyone began to protest how rediculous the Mayor was acting while Sunset had a thoughtful look as she stared at Cinch’s medallion. While Cinch was touching her necklace, Sunset spotted something glowing from the cobra’s eyes again. Unlike last time that she thought it was just a reflection, this time she paid close attention to it. She noticed that the cobra’s eyes were not glowing from the light reflection, it was actually glowing on its own in bright red. Sunset also sensed felt a very familiar force coming from the medallion as its eyes glow. What really disturbed her the most was the Mayor had that same glowing red eyes as the cobra of the medallion.

Suddenly, Sunset’s eyes widened when she recalled all of Rebecca’s words from earlier echoing within her mind.

“There was one person who is not only immune to their ‘magic’, but also made a deal with them so that she could use one of their artifacts so that she can control over the people too.”

"They would've got her under their spell just like the others… if not for that artifact she found."

"That artifact has the same ability as the Dazzlings, but without the music. The artifact has a face of a cobra with magical ruby jewels as its eyes. Anyone who sees them, their minds are instantly controlled by the welder. But the real kicker... was that these artifacts originally belonged to those sirens."

"The sirens brought it along with them as a backup in case something happens to their powers. They hid their artifacts after their arrival to this world, but Cinch ended up finding them."

It was then that Sunset realized that Rebecca wasn't just telling her what Cinch could have done without her being born, she was also warning her what Cinch was about to do now! Sunset remembered that there were four Equestrian artifacts that the sirens brought over to this world. The first three artifacts were already taken away from the Dazzlings, but Cinch was holding the forth medallion, and she was using it to control the Mayor right now.

Sunset knew what she had to do.

"Mayor Mare, what is wrong with you?" Principal Celestia exclaimed, appalled by the Mayor’s behavior.

"I know what's wrong!" Sunset exclaimed as she immediately got close to Cinch and yanked the cobra medallion away from Cinch’s neck.

"HEY!" Cinch shouted.

Before Cinch could stop her, Sunset threw the necklace on the ground and then stomped on it, breaking it into several pieces.

"MY ARTIFACT!" Cinch screamed.

Red sparks suddenly appeared throughout the broken cobra medallion until it exploded and red spoke shot up into the air and then exploded again into small particles. At the same time, Mayor Mare’s eyes slowly changed from light red into blue and the older woman let out a loud groan as if she had just woke up from a very long slumber.

"Wha… what happened?” Mayor Mare slurred.

Once she got her bearings, Mayor Mare looked around with a look of confusion on her face. Once she spotted Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, she was immediately surprised as if this was the first time she had saw her.

“Miss Celestia... Miss Luna?” Mayor Mare exclaimed. “Where am I? And why am I here at your school?"

Both ladies blinked, taken back with the Mayor’s sudden mood change.

"You... really don't remember Mayor?" Principal Celestia inquired.

Mayor Mare slowly shook her head. "No…” She then grasped her head, feeling a major headache as she was trying to recollect her thoughts. “Last I remembered… I was signing much-needed paperwork for the upcoming Thanksgiving Parade for our town. My newest aide Cinch then wanted to show me something for the parade then… nothing!"

Everyone at the gym, sans Sunset, was shocked and horrified by this revelation, which the Mayor noticed.

“...W-what?” Mayor Mare asked, both confused and nervous from their reactions.

Vice Principal Luna cleared her throat with an uncomfortable look on her face. “Mayor… that was a month ago! And today’s Christmas Eve!”

Mayor Mare’s eyes widened in shock. “W-WHAT!? Impossible!?” She screeched, panic shown on her face. “How is this Christmas already!? How many meetings did I miss!? And why can’t I remember anything!?”

Before the Mayor was on full breakdown, Sunset scooped up the broken cobra medallion. "Mayor, you've been brainwashed!" Sunset announced before showing the medallion. "Your “aide” was using this to hypnotize you and then controlling you just to get what she wanted this whole time, including trying to shut down our school!"

Mayor Mare inspected the medallion with a shock expression before it was turned into rage.

"W-w-w-what? ...WHAT!?"

She turned towards Cinch to demand answers, only to see Cinch who was trying to sneak away towards the door during the commotion.

"Cinch!” Mayor screamed. “Where do you think you're going, you snake!?"

Cinch was slowly stepping away with a nervous grin. “M-Miss Mayor! Please… allow me to explain–”

“Officer Armor!” Mayor Mare shouted. “Arrest that woman!”

Not needed to be told twice, Shining Armor immediately made his way over to Cinch. The Equestria Girls and the rest of the student body also decided to slowly go after Cinch to keep her from escaping. Cinch hurried herself backing away from the crowd towards the door until she felt like she bumped into someone. Cinch quickly turned around, only to be shocked and confused when she saw who had stopped her.

The person she bumped into was a woman and was dressed in a white and golden gown and a golden tiara on her head. But what stood out to Cinch the most was that not only this woman had a familiar face, but also a very familiar blue, green and pink hairstyle.

“Going somewhere?” The woman asked in an aggressive tone.

Both Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight gasped. “Princess Celestia!” they exclaimed in unison.

Cinch quickly looked behind her to see Principal Celestia, who was just as shocked to see her doppelganger before turning back to Princess Celestia with a perplexed look.

“Who… who are you!?” Cinch demanded in her fearful tone.

Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Someone you don’t want to run into after messing with MY daughter!”

Cinch began to panic as she looked around the room with everyone closing in on her. She couldn’t believe that her laid out plans were falling apart and with no hope to escape, even her “minions” refused to help her after being double-crossed by her. In desperation, Cinch looked around until she noticed that she was right next to the CMC’s and in a split second, she grabbed Sweetie Belle and held close to her.

"Stay back! All of you!" Cinch screamed.

Sweetie Belle started screeching in fear as everyone else gasped as Cinch now has her hostage.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity screamed in horror.

"Take another step closer or else this girl gets it!" Cinch threatened as she held up her phone from her other hand. "And let's not forget, I still have these videos of you girls! Try anything funny, and I'll send these to the public and your lives will be ruined!"

Sunset and her friends growled in rage. What Cinch did to Sunset and the rest of the school was despicable enough just for petty revenge. But kidnapping a child just to use by any means of escaping had gone too far. They don’t care if their lives get exposed at this point, but they don’t want to risk Sweetie Belle any more danger than she already was. Cinch smirked triumphantly, feeling in control of this situation. While she was now pretty much exposed, she can at least finally have her revenge on those brats who ruined her reputation.

While the standoff was happing, no one noticed the purple dog stealthfully sneaked around the crowd and then slowly approached Cinch from behind. Once he noticed Cinch was lowering her guard, Spike jumped towards Cinch and bit her arm where it held Sweetie.

“YOW!” Cinch screamed in pain, as she immediately let go of Sweetie Belle, which allowed her to escape and ran over to hug her sister for safety.

Cinch tried to pry herself off from Spike, but Spike held her on like a vice grip. As Cinch continued to struggle, she finally took a good look at Spike and her eyes widened in horror. For you see, it was common knowledge back at Crystal Prep that Cinch is allergic to dogs, which was partly why she banned them from ever entering the building. Just the sight of Spike intently made her eye glossy, severe itchiness from where Spike had bitten and most importantly, her nose began running, which lead her to a very loud, strong and unladylike sneeze.

Her sneeze not only made Spike to finally let go of her arm but also she unintentionally let go of her phone, which was flown into the air. By the time Cinch realized this, her phone had crashed onto the floor with a sickening crunch, broken into two beyond repair. Just like that, her only copy of those videos and her leverage against those “magical” brats was destroyed.

"Nooooooo!" Cinch screamed in despair as Shining and the rest of the officers to finally nab her before she could have the chance of escaping or harm anyone else.

“Well here goes that entertainment!” Aria said in her dull tone while Adagio smirked at Cinch’s schadenfreude and Sonata mindlessly hummed “Jingle Bells”.

Glad that Sweetie Belle was unharmed, she walked over to Cinch and crossed her arms.

"It's over Cinch!” Sunset announced with a huge grin on her face. “You have lost with nowhere to go and no more leverage for you to use against us!"

Cinch growled in anger as Shining Armor handcuffed her from behind her back.

"Abacus Cinch, you are under arrest for abducting and then brainwashing the Mayor, abuse use of power, being the mastermind of vandalism, stalking and blackmailing these kids and almost ruining Christmas!" Shining Armor stated.

"Enjoy spending Christmas alone in jail Cinch!" Rainbow Dash taunted as Cinch was slowly dragged away towards the door with the officers.

“This isn’t over!” Cinch snarled as she was glaring at the girls despite being dragged away. “Somehow, someday, I will have my revenge! I swear it!”

“Yeah, yeah, tell that down by the station!” Shining Armor interrupted before Cinch and his colleagues disappeared out the door leading outside. He then faced the girls. “Everyone okay?”

“We’re okay Shining Armor, thanks to you!” said Twilight with a smile.

“I only help put handcuffs on this lady!” said Shining as he beamed at a certain canine. “Spike’s the one who saved Sweetie Belle! He’s the real hero!”

Everyone praised Spike for his bravery and heroic actions, causing Spike to blush humbly, even as Sweetie Belle kissed him from the top of his head.

“My hero!” Sweetie Belle squeaked happily.

Twilight made a mental note to add something extra to Spike’s stocking for tonight.

“Okay guys, take these creeps back to our vehicles!” Shining Armor ordered as he heads back outside.

As the cops lead the Dazzlings towards the door, Sonata suddenly gasped as if she just realized the situation she was in.

"Oh no! Is Santa still going to deliver the presents to me even in prison?” Sonata asked out loud as she was lead out the door. “I was hoping for a sombrero and a couple of maracas for this year!"

"Shut up Sonata!" Aria growled as she followed Sonata.

Adagio rolled her eyes in annoyance, not looking forward to spending her time in prison with these two idiots. "Christmas... bah humbug!" Adagio grunted as she disappeared out the door.

Vice Principal Luna let out a sigh, exhausted from the events. “Gotta say, this is without a doubt the wackiest Christmas we ever have in our school!

Pinkie, who overheard Luna, shrugged playfully. “Eh, to us, it’s only Tuesday!”

Vice Principal Luna only gave Pinkie her blank stare.

Sunset Shimmer slowly approached the Equestrian Celestia with a surprised expression. “Princess... Celestia?”

Princess Celestia turned towards Sunset with a gentle smile. “Hello… my little Sun.”

Before she could blink, Sunset ran over to her and hugged her tightly.

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Sunset cried, tears spilling from her eyes. While she was relieved that she was okay from Princess Twilight, but to see her mentor and mother figure alive and well in person truly made her happy.

Princess Celestia smiled and hugged her back. “It’s good to see you again my little Sun. I wished we meet again under better circumstances. Did you missed me?”

“More than you know!”

Sunset broke her hug and looked up to her mentor. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining.”

“Twilight,” she paused as she saw two Twilights. “Princess Twilight,” she corrected. “Sent me a message that you were missing. So I dropped everything to come here to this world to find you.” She then frowned. “It’s a good thing I did, especially that I overheard what that woman did to you and helped catch her before she escaped. She’s very lucky that she was taken away before I could punish her myself!”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “May I ask what kind of punishment?”

Celestia had a dark look. “Let’s just say… the place I had in mind to imprison her will be very hot!”

Sunset shuddered from her mentor’s tone before she quickly smiled. “Um… have you met my friends?”

Sunset then introduced her mentor to her friends one by one. She was very happy that her friends greeted her with opened arms while her mentor responded back with warm reception. What really amused her was when Princess Celestia introduced herself to her doppelganger. At first, it was a bit awkward between the two of them, but then slowly they opened up and acted like they each met their long lost twin sisters.

As the two Celestias continued their conversation, Sunset noticed that Mayor Mare was talking quietly to Vice Principal Luna, still in shock about her being hypnotized this whole time. She cautiously approached the woman and gently cleared her throat to get their attention.

“Um… Miss Mare? Is our school still shut down and our party’s canceled?”

Everyone set their eyes on the Mayor with a sad and worried look, remembering what happened hours ago. Thankfully, after being informed by both Principals, Mayor Mare gave them all their assuring looks.

“Fret not everyone!” said Mayor Mare with a smile. “I don’t know exactly what kind of damage Ms. Cinch had caused to our town, but I will do everything in my power to fix them, including bringing your school back up and running and resuming the party and Toys for Kids Festival effective immediately!”

Everybody at the school let out a huge cheer of joy, happy from the Mayor’s news and that things are right again.

"YES! We have our school back!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"And the party's not canceled! It's a Christmas miracle!" Pinkie yelled out happily as she was randomly upsidedown and tossed confetti into the air.

The girls hugged each other in celebration, including Sunset and Twilight. When they realized that they hugged each other and remembered what happened earlier, they began to blush but still smiled.

“Thank you Twilight... for everything!” Sunset whispered.

“It is I who should be thanking you!” Twilight replied with a tender smile.

They stared at each other for a moment until Sunset realized something.

“Oh no the party!” she exclaimed in panic, letting go of Twilight in the process. “How are we going to set up the party the third time!? Everything was ruined and destroyed!”

Sunset became confused when Twilight gave her a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry Sunset We got ya covered Sunset, right girls!”

Pinkie let out a huge grin before turning to the group. “You heard the lady, the party is back on! WHO’S READY TO HELP?”

Everyone cheered loudly before they rushed out of the building. Before Sunset could say anything Twilight spoke up.

“I mean what I said, let us help you, it’s the least we can do!” She said with a smile. “You just leave the planning to me… the organization is kinda my thing!”

“In that case, let me help you!” Princess Twilight spoke up with an exciting grin. “I may not be Pinkie Pie, but I certainly know how to organize an event like this!”

Twilight’s eyes smiled. “Sure, the more the merrier! Plus it’s nice to be working with someone with the same love for planning!” She then turned back to Sunset and blush. “Um… we can talk more about… us later, is that okay?”

Sunset nodded with an assuring smile. “Sure… we can talk later.”

With a happy grin, Twilight, along with her doppelganger walked off while discussing party plans with each other. Sunset, now alone with the Mayor, decided to bring up a conversation with her.

“Thanks for allowing us to have our party again Ms. Mare... and I’m sorry for what happened from earlier,” said Sunset.

The older woman smiled but had guilt in her eyes. “It’s not your fault for what happened to me Miss Shimmer,” Mayor Mare responded. “And it’s the least I could do for letting Ms. Cinch caused all that heartache for the past several hours. Your friends are really lucky to have you as their friends!”

Sunset nodded with a smile before changed to a nervous expression. “And… what about the knowledge of us having magic?”

Mayor Mare gave Sunset her sly grin. “What magic?”

Author's Note

Cinch is finally punished! I hope it was all worth the wait! :rainbowdetermined2:

Only one more chapter to go! :pinkiesmile:

16. Sunset's Wonderful Life (Epilogue)

Less than an hour later, the party went back in full swing as if the first two blunders never happened. The tables and chairs were replaced, the music was performing with their new equipment which was donated thanks to the Crystal Prep students and the food was restocked and rebaked at a record’s time thanks to Pinkie Pie.

How Pinkie managed to pull that off, Sunset never knew.

And even the toys were giving away to all the little boys and girls for them to play with for the holidays. Everyone congratulated Sunset for pulling off this amazing party, only for her to reply that she wouldn’t pull this off without the help from them and her friends.

Speaking of which, Sunset enjoyed spending her time with her friends during the party. She made her personal mission to spend a moment with each and every one of them throughout the party, letting them know how much they mean to her, and they each responded that she means a lot to them. The only person Sunset couldn’t find throughout the party was her best friend Twilight. No matter where she looked or who to ask, she was nowhere in sight. She wondered if Twilight was still busy with running the party or if she was actually avoiding her. There were things that the two of them really need to settle, especially after the latest development during their confrontation with Cinch.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Principal Celestia got everyone’s attention while she was on stage with her microphone.

“Thanks for coming everyone!” Principal Celestia announced. “I’m happy to announce that our Toys For Kids Festival was a complete success!”

Everyone cheered loudly and applauded for their success, allowing Principal Celestia to continue.

“Now as both a celebration and a permitted request, here’s Applejack and her family performing the next song.”

With another applause from the audience, Applejack, along with Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith entered the stage. With a thankful nod to the Principal, Applejack stood in front of the mic with her bass and began to speak.

“Thank ya kindly Principal Celestia,” Applejack began before facing the crowd. “Before we began, I would like to dedicate this here’s song to mah dear friend... and an honorary family member… to Sunset Shimmer, fer makin’ this happen fer us!”

As the crowd applauded to Sunset, Sunset was nearly in tears, touched that Applejack considered her to be part of a family.

Applejack smiled at Sunset before she faced the crowd to continue. “Ah also wanted to dedicate this song to you y’all, includin’ our family and friends, whether they’re here with us now or in spirit. Hit it Big Mac!”

Big Mac nodded before he began playing the music with his flute. Applejack then started to sing in a rather emotional song about family, with Apple Bloom and sometimes the rest of the Apple Family joined in from time to time. Soon, everyone in the room was singing along in harmony as they either stood by or side hugged each other, enjoying each other’s company. Sunset watched all this with a genuine smile on her face, happy to see everyone was having a good time and that they all treated each other kindly, even those who weren’t from CHS.

Then from the corner of her eye, Sunset noticed someone was staring at her. It was none other than Twilight, who was standing near the gym doors, watching her with a shy smile. Feeling the need to join her friend and planned an overdue conversation with her, Sunset made her way over towards her friend until she reached a foot length from her. Both girls stared at each other in the eyes with a warm blush on their cheeks.

“...hey,” Sunset greeted quietly.

“...hey,” Twilight greeted back, just as quietly.

For a while, neither one of them spoke. Ever since Twilight made her feelings known about Sunset in front of Cinch, things were a little awkward between the two of them. While Sunset felt joy that Twilight felt that way about her, but she was still confused with Twilight’s behavior. Decided to get to the bottom of things once and for all, Sunset began to speak.

“So… you have feelings for me this whole time?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded while remained silent.

“How long?” Sunset pressed gently. “And why me?”

Twilight was silent for a while longer before she let out a long sigh. “Well… to tell you the truth… I’m not really sure,” Twilight admitted. “I might’ve felt that about you a few days after the Friendship Games, but I thought it was my admiration towards you for being a good friend and all the support you’ve been giving me. And after I started dating Timber… I couldn’t help but feel... that it wasn’t right. Don’t get me wrong, Timber is a sweet guy and he’s been treating me with respect, but each and every time I went out with him… I don’t feel anything from him at all other than a good friendship.” She then blushed. “But… every time I was with you… I felt a deeper connection with you… and my admiration towards you grows. And when the memory stone incident happened, I realize how important you are to me… and I can't imagine my life without you!” She then gave Sunset her more heartfelt smile. “That’s is why… I’m in love with you!"

Sunset’s eyes widened. "Twilight…"

Twilight giggled. “Goodness… I can’t believe I did that! I was nervous about confessing to you... but that surprisingly felt good!” She then sighed and bowed down. “I was hoping to wait after the holidays after seeing just how stress you are with the party and everything else that happened. I’m so sorry that I made things worse.”

“Oh Twilight…” Sunset said softly before hugging her friend. “Don’t ever apologize for things like that! Yes, I was emotionally stressed, but I was being so stupid for jumping to conclusions and thinking you don’t care about me when really you cared so much about me! I hope you forgive me for how I acted!”

Twilight smiled. “As long as you forgive me Sunset!”

Sunset smiled back as she blushed. “To tell you the truth, I… I also love you... with all my heart… and you mean the whole world to me, more than you realize! Nothing makes me happier… then to always have you in my life!"

Twilight began to tear up with a wavy smile. “So does that mean… you really wanted me to be your girlfriend?”

Sunset smiled back who also had tears in her eyes. “If you’re willing to have me as your girlfriend!”

With heartfelt smiles on their faces, both Twilight and Sunset hugged each other, making themselves official as girlfriends. Sunset hugged her new girlfriend with all her might, not wanting to let this beautiful girl go and silently vowed to always love and protect this girl with her very life.

As they continued to hug, neither wanting this moment to end, Sunset noticed something above her which was never there before.

"Hey… Is that... a mistletoe?" Sunset asked.

Twilight blinked. As soon as she looked up, she began to freak out.

"W-WHAT!?” She shrieked, breaking her hug from Sunset. “Where did that come from? I did not remember telling anyone to put that there."

As Twilight looked around, trying to figure it out who placed that mistletoe above them, Sunset noticed someone who was staring at them from the sideline. It was none other than her guardian angel, Rebecca, who was now wearing a white robe and brand new angel wings on her back. Sunset gave her new friend a warm and thankful smile before she quickly waved.

"I think I know who..." Sunset mused playfully.

Confused, Twilight turned her head towards Sunset. "Who?"

With a friendly wink and a wave goodbye, Rebecca slowly faded away until she disappeared for the final time.

"...a friend!" Sunset answered before facing Twilight with a blush. "Um… since we're a couple now… and this is usually a tradition around the holidays... maybe we can… kiss?” When Twilight's face turned bright red, Sunset quickly added, “B-but only if you want to! I-I don't want to p-pressure you to do anything o-or to make you feel uncomfor--"

Sunset ceased her ramblings when she suddenly felt lips on hers. Sunset was shocked that Twilight boldly kissed her and caught her off guard like that, yet she also felt delighted that she was being kissed from her long-time crush. Her eyes lidded and tried to lean in more into their kiss, wishing that this moment won’t end. Sadly, the kiss ended when Twilight slowly pulled away and gave Sunset a coy, yet adorable smile.

"And you say I talked too much!" Twilight teased with a giggle. Her expression then became much more loving and heartfelt.

"Merry Christmas Sunset!" Twilight whispered earnestly.

Sunset smiled back warmly. "Merry Christmas Twilight!"

As Sunset kissed her now girlfriend's lips again, only one thing came to mind...

Her life was indeed... wonderful!

"Remember, no man is a failure who has friends." - Clarence, It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Author's Note

Whelp, it's finally over! My second holiday story is finally completed... in March! Whoops! :twilightblush: :derpytongue2:

I do apologize for taking so long to finish it! I meant to get this done by Christmas of last year, but with so many things going on lately, it took me longer than expected. So I do hope it was all worth the wait and that you all enjoyed my story!

On a bright side, now I can focus on another story I'm planning to write! :pinkiehappy:

Anyway, thank you all so much for favoriting this story, leaving me likes/comments and despite being March (as of writing), I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and whatever Holidays you all celebrated and have a very SAFE and Happy New Year! :twilightsmile:

1. How It All Began

It was a cold and dark night near Canterlot City. The school grounds and the land beyond was covered with a light blanket of snow as snowflakes gently fell from the sky. The weather was so cold that it would take a dozen layers of clothing to keep yourself warm. Everyone who lived in the area were probably at their homes, keeping themselves warm and preparing to spend the Holidays with their friends and family.

All except for this one sad girl, who was standing on the bridge alone.

This girl have a red and yellow flaming hair with sad teal eyes. Despite that she was wearing a winter outfit, she felt very chilly from the cold. Normally, she would happily be hanging out with her friends and having fun for the holidays, but due to recent events, she is now alone on this very bridge.

And losing her friends in the process.

Sunset leaned over the bridge's railing at stared out over the dark horizon with a depressing sigh.

“Who could ever cared about some former bully girl like me?” Sunset asked herself softly with a sniff. “I ruined the Christmas Festival, the school is going to shut down because of me and now everyone hated me… even my best friends.”

She thought back to all the events that happened to this very moment… and how it all went wrong.

Two Weeks Earlier

It was just an ordinary day at Canter High School and it was currently lunch time. Many students were at their tables chatting excitedly about their upcoming winter break and their plans for the holidays from within the school's cafeteria, including seven of the most popular teenaged girls of the school. Their names were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle (or Sci-Twi for short) and Sunset Shimmer. Together, they were known as, “the Equestria Girls”, or “the Rainbooms” whenever they performed a music band together.

For you see, these seven girls in particular are very special because they each have magical powers known as Equestrian Magic. It was originally from another dimension, which is a world of ponies and creatures. When Sunset Shimmer, who was a unicorn from another world, fled to the human world, she ended up bringing some Equestrian magic over with her as well. Ever since then, Equestrian magic bring havoc to the human world from time to time. Sometimes creatures invaded their world due to portals, sometimes magical storm clouds mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and attacked the area, but most commonly, the magic was in possession of another person, leaving their minds corrupted due to the many misuses of its magic. Luckily, the girls used Equestrian Magic of their own and the Power of Friendship to save the day many times just to keep loose magic at bay and to protect the people they cared about, including each other.

Luckily for them, there hasn’t been any magic attack for over a month. And considering that it is now close to a holiday season, they all felt that they can all use a break. A girl with rainbow-hair took a sip of her soda before letting out a loud cheer.

“AW YEAH!” the rainbow hair girl, known as Rainbow Dash whooped. “Winter break is almost here! Which means no school, fun activities, and best of all, no school!”

“You said no school twice, Rainbow Dash!” The blonde haired stetson girl, known as Applejack deadpanned.

“And while I’m all for fun, we still have to do homework over the break!” the spectacle girl with purple and light magenta striped hair girl added, known as Twilight.

“Details, details!” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly as she waved her hand towards her friend. “I can work on that anytime before the break ends.”

The pretty girl with long purple hair, known as Rarity, cocked an eyebrow. “Um, no offense Darling, but didn’t you say that last year, only you end up getting a– ahem… mediocre grade for trying to work on it at the last second?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Hey, it was one time! I won’t goof off at the last second like last time!”

The shy girl with long pink hair named Fluttershy, gave her friend her worried frown. “Um… isn’t that what you said last time too Dashie? Maybe you should do it early this year.”

“Yeah Dashie!” The energetic girl with curly pink hair named Pinkie Pie added with a smile. “You should finish your work as soon as you get it so you can have plenty of time to goof off!”

“Oh come on! I’m not gonna goof off!” Rainbow exclaimed before facing the red and yellow haired girl. “Sunset, back me up here!”

“Sorry Rainbow, but I agree with them,” Sunset responded with an apologetic tone. “If you start later instead of early, you’ll only forgot about it again. And I’m pretty sure that Mr. Cranky will not go easy on you this time.”

“...et tu Sunset?” asked Rainbow before she loudly groan in annoyance. “Just exactly what I need to do during the hoildays… write some stupid science paper that I don’t even care about!”

“I can offer you to help out with the paper if you want,” Twilight offered. “Science is my specialty afterall!”

“You will?” Rainbow Dash perked up. “Will you do all the research and references for me too?”

“...don’t push it!” Twilight respond flatly, causing Rainbow Dash to chuckle nervously.

Sunset smiled at her nerdy friend. She remembered that Twilight came a long way after that fateful day at the Friendship Games many months ago. How Twilight was lost and frightened after she became Midnight Sparkle and using her powers for the first time. After saving her, Sunset became Twilight’s first friend and helped her every step of the way to not only get Twilight back on her feet, but also to her feel comfortable about using her magic and hanging out with her friends. Thankfully, Twilight warmed up to her friends after Twilight transferred to CHS and Twilight eventually got over her fear of her own magic.

It was interesting that Sunset was helping out a counterpart of Princess Twilight, who ironically helped her after her own downfall from the Fall Formal last year. By helping out the human version of Twilight, she felt that everything came in a full circle. Even though Sci-Twi (a nickname she and her friends came up with in case of confusion between the two Twilights) was technically the same person, but overtime, Sunset later learned that there are some differences then her pony counterpart as well. Even though Twilight is now happy to be at CHS with her friends then her time at Crystal Prep, but out of all the girls, she felt that she bonded with Sunset the most, even considering her as her best friend. And Sunset was touched by this.

The two of them were often seen together, rarely separate from one another. Many students, their friends included, often joked that the two of them made a cute couple. While Sunset knew that her friends were just kidding, but deep down, there are some truth involving her nerdy friend.

She remembered after the first few months after the Fall Formal, she opened up to her friends that she is Bi. Thankfully, the girls gave her their full support. While Sunset is attractive to both males and females, she wasn't interested in dating anyone for the time being after all she did during her time as the queen bee, even if most of the students had already forgiven her, Flash included. But after Sci-Twi transferred to CHS and been friends with her for a while, Sunset admitted that she felt attracted to her friend. As her feelings grew, she became more and more protective of her so that Twilight wouldn't have to suffer from the aftermath after becoming a Demon, just like she was. And after Twilight admitted to Sunset that she is her best friend and that she trusted her the most, that's was when Sunset fell in love with her friend.

Despite her love to her friend, Twilight already got herself a boyfriend, Timber Spruce, who worked as a camp counselor at Camp Everfree alongside with his sister. While Sunset was sad that Twilight is together with Timber, but Sunset gave her friend her full support and offered her any advice whenever her friend needs it. As long as her friend is happy, than Sunset is happy.

"Attention all students," a voice from the intercom boomed, getting Sunset and the rest of the students attention from the cafeteria. "This is Principal Celestia and I'm making a quick announcement. As you all know, winter break is almost here and I'm sure you're all very excited about it. But let's not forget that we have fun times here at CHS too, which is why I have an exciting announcement! This year, we will be hosting Toys for Kids Festival and the school's Christmas party alongside with Mayor Mare, right here for the entire town and you are all invited to attend!"

Everyone in the cafeteria cheered from their Principal's announcement, already looking forward to the party and having fun with their friends.

"The Festival and party will take place during the early evening on Christmas Eve. So be sure to mark your calendars!" Principal Celestia continued. "Additionally, since the whole point of Toys for the Kids Festival was to help out giving away toys to less fortunate children. If any of you are interested in volunteering to help our during the event and wanted a position as the head director of the festival, please come down by my office to sign up! Now enjoy the rest of your day!"

The students in the school cafeteria returned to their own conversations, but with more positive energy. Many were excited about the upcoming Christmas party where they can all relax and have fun with their friends instead of boring school lectures for once. But none were as excited as our main heros, especially from a certain rainbowed-haired teen.

"Did you hear that? We'll be having a Christmas party right here in the school! This is gonna be awesome!" Rainbow Dash cheered with a fist pump.

"Well, I for one, am interested in the Toys for Kids Festival part of the news!” said Rarity with a smile. “It's great that there is an organization whose dedication to help those poor children who couldn't afford any toys, which I would be happy enough to take part in, including some clothes for me to give away."

"Eh, I doubt that they'll want clothes," Rainbow commented flatly while ignoring Rarity’s annoyed expression. "But I know that they'll love the goods I'll give them, which I totally don't need anymore! ...except my Daring Doo Plushie."

"Well Ah would certainly love to help out!” Applejack added. “Ah'm sure me and my siblings have a bunch of old toys stored around somewhere for us to donate for the youngins."

"Um… maybe I can ask Principal Celestia if I could bring a few animals over from the shelter for any possible adoptions for the children," said Fluttershy with a hopeful expression.

"Maaaaybe I can put together a bake sale so that these kids can have something to snack on during the party-slash-festival! I know I would!~" Pinkie Pie added with a grin as she was eating her cupcake from her hair… somehow.

"Well, I definitely would like to help out as well! I think I may have a few old toy-like gadgets for me to give out!" Twilight added with pride. She then quickly added, "Don't worry, they're completely safe!"

Sunset smiled as her friends talked more about the event. From her time living in this world, Toys for Kids Festival is a pretty big deal around in Canterlot City, especially around the Holidays. Her friends clearly wanted to be a part of it not just for fun and spreading cheer, but to also help out giving the toys to the children and made their Christmas magical, and she definitely wants to be a part of it. Perhaps if she contribute to the festival, she will finally pay back to them for helping her at her lowest point and becoming their friend.

Not to mention, having to show off her kind and generous side to Twilight was also a plus.

"You know what? Why don't we all volunteer?" Sunset suggested. "How about I'll go talk to Principal Celestia our proposals to contribute for Toys for Kids Festival and see if she'll let us run it? I'll even be the head director of the Festival!"

The girls stared at Sunset in shock. It’s not that Sunset isn’t fit for a job, far from it. But that kind of job is known to be very stressful, especially around the holidays.

"Really? You don't mind Sunset?” Twilight asked in concern. “Being a head director of the festival is a huge responsibility!"

"Of course I don't mind!" Sunset responded with a confident tone. "If I can direct that musical we did months ago, then I should have no problem running the festival. Besides, I definitely wanted to be a part of this event too, especially with you guys!"

Her friends grinned, touched by Sunset's words and her selflessness.

"Whelp, then Ah guess that's settled!" said Applejack. "Ah like speak for everyone here that we appreciate what you're doing Sunset!"

Sunset beamed. "Hey, you all did a lot for me ever since you welcomed me into the group. It's the least I can do for you girls!"

Suddenly, the school bell rang throughout the school.

Twilight stood up and slowly gathered her things. "Looks like lunch over, we better be heading to our classes!"

"Well since this is my free period, I might as well go see Principal Celestia right now," said Sunset as she stood up. "See you girls later!"

With a quick wave goodbye to her friends, Sunset made her way out of the cafeteria and headed to Principal Celestia's office. As she was walking across the hallway, Sunset smiled as she was reminiscing of her life to where she was now.

It’s amazing how far I come. She thought fondly. I went from the most feared and hated person, to the most liked and respected person of the school! And I changed for the better! And it was all thanks to my dear friends. Without their guidance, I could never get as far as I am now.

Now I can focus on setting up the Toys for Kids Festival, have fun with my friends and best of all, no corrupted Equestrian Magic or any vengeful people around to ruin the holidays for us. What can go wrong?

Somewhere on the other side of town, a mysterious figure was sitting in a dark room with a scowl on the person's face. The person stared at the local newspaper with the headlines announcing that Canterlot High School will be hosting this year's Toys for Kids for the holidays along with Mayor Mare. But what really set this person off was the image on the paper, showing off these seven familiar teenaged girls, standing in front of the school with happy smiles on their faces.

"Those brats!" she spat bitterly with contempt as she crumpled up the paper in the process. "They think they are so special! They think that they are so superior and humiliated me? Well, they won't feel so special any longer, because this Christmas… I will single-handedly destroy them… starting with their leader! And once they fall apart, I will be back on top! But this time…"

The mysterious figure smirked as the person turned and eyed three other figures in the room who also had evil smirks on their faces.

"I got "friends" of my own!"

Author's Note

Hey everypony! This is my second attempt to create a holiday themed story. And this time, this will take place in Equestria Girls Universe!

Staring my favorite human! :twilightsmile:

So what is going to happen next? You'll find out... shortly! :moustache:

All comments and criticism welcomed, but please be polite! :pinkiesmile:

11. Absence of Generosity

Sunset could hardly believe what was happening. Here she was, standing in the middle of the road, staring at the welcome sign with a different city name, along with three familiar faces on it. Not only that, these are the faces of her and her friends' enemies.

Sunset felt her heart stopped beating and could barely breathe. She wanted to believe that this was nothing more than a terrible nightmare and that she was about to wake up at any second now. But no matter how many times she desperately blinked, that same sign with those three Sirens are still there like they're mocking her.

“This– this can’t be real!” Sunset said shakingly. “This… this is supposed to be Canterlot City!”

“Was Canterlot City,” Rebecca corrected. “But it is not Sunset Shimmer! This city is now renamed by the new rulers of this town!”

Sunset's face went pale. “You don’t mean…”

“We interrupt your program to bring you this message from our beloved rulers of our world!”

Sunset jumped from a loud announcement, coming from the many TV's coming from a window of some electronic store. Sunset turned to see one of the TV's just as the words "Dazzlings Breaking News" from the screen before it cuts to a person that Sunset never expected to see again so soon.

This girl was about the same age as Sunset. She had a huge puffy orange hair, which (in Sunset's opinion) looked like a size of a giant cheese puff. She also wore a purple business suit and light purple tie. But the most disturbing image of all, she had that same arrogant smirk on her face like the last time Sunset saw her.

“Greetings citizens of Dazzling City,” the teen with a huge orange hair announced with a smirk. “It is I, you beloved Mayor, aka Queen of the World, Adagio Dazzle!”

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, causing Adagio to frown and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Oh right… and my two co-rulers, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk!”

Soon, two more teenaged girls appeared alongside with Adagio. One was a purple pigtailed haired girl, known as Aria, crossing her arms with a scoff and acting like she doesn't care. The other girl with a blue pony haired girl, known as Sonata, had a huge excited smile on her face which rivaled Pinkie Pie.

“OOH! Are we on TV! Are we REALLY on TV!” Sonata chirped as she started waving at the camera. “Hi everyone! Tell the people I said hi! They are hearing me right? Because I couldn’t hear them! Maybe we should check our tech again just in case–”

“Hey! Shut your trap Sonata!” Aria shouted angrily.

Sonata turned towards Aria with angry eyes. “No YOU shut your trap!”

“No you!”

“No YOU!”

"YOU!"

"YOOOOOOOU!"

“QUIET!” Adagio screamed with an enraged look.

The two girls instantly ceased their argument with Sonata had a look of fright on her face while Aria appeared to be indifferent. Adagio glared intensely at the two for a moment before she cleared her throat to calm herself and slowly faced the camera.

“Anyway… we’re here to remind you, our beloved viewers and residents to come to our town hall later tonight and deliver all the presents to us!" Adagio said cheerfully. "And if your present is good enough, we may let you live for another year!”

“And if your gift sucks… well let’s just say you’ll be getting something that is far worse than a lump of coal for Christmas!” Aria added with a smug look.

“Yes it’s hard to get gifts these days since we have all the money in the world and you peasants have, well... nothing," Adagio commented in her false empathy voice before she let out a cruel smirk. "But I’m sure you all can figure it out! Till then, have a Merry Christmas… and may your precious day be your last!”

“And in others news, Christmas also happened to be the same day as… you guest it, Taco Tuesday!" Sonata announced cheerfully. She quickly ducked down from view for a moment before she reappeared with a sombrero on her head and two maracas. "So wear your best sombreros, get yourselves some tacos… and deliver them all to me!" She then started dancing as she shook her maracas. "Feliz Navidad!~”

Adagio simply facepalmed while Aria rolled her eyes with a huff.

“UGH, go back to sleep Sonata!” Aria deadpanned before their feed was cut back to the scheduled program.

Sunset couldn't believe what she was watching. Those same three girls that she and her friends defeated from the Battle of the Bands, are sitting in their office as Mayors. She felt her body shake uncontrollably like she was about to hyperventilate at any second.

“No…" Sunset uttered with shakiness in her voice. "The Dazzlings ruled this city!?”

“I’m afraid so,” Rebecca said sullenly. “With no one to stop them, those three took over the school with their magic almost a year ago! After that, they used those hypnotized teens to bring others to join them and the whole city falls under their influence within a week!”

Sunset took breathing exercises to calm herself down. As she slowly regained control of herself, she began to think of how those three managed to take over the town so easily. Then, something came to her mind as she recalled the one thing that stood out to her throughout their whole "announcement".

“Hang on… they just called themselves 'Rulers of the World'!" She turned to Rebecca with a nervous look. "W-what do they mean by that?”

“You’re not gonna like the next part!” said Rebeccabefore sighing. “They didn’t stop from there! They continued to use their magic and their influenced “Fans” to one city after another, until the whole country was taken over by them! And then they did the same with the next country! And then…”

Sunset eyes widened in horror. “They took over the entire world!”

“Now you’re catching on!” said Rebecca with a grim expression. “The most horrifying thing of all is that it only took them almost a month of conquering the planet and made themselves rulers of the world!”

Sunset felt like she was about to have a heart attack at any second. “This is insane!” Sunset exclaimed as she shook her head. "I know that these girls are bad, but this... that's just pure evil! But what does any of this have to do with me? How could they take over if I’ve never been born? None of the Equestrian Magic comes here if it weren’t for me!”

“Well… you’re only half right Sunset Shimmer, but it’s a little complicated,” Rebecca answered. “If you recall, you’re not the first Equestrian of ever coming to this world. During their battle against the Pillars many moons ago, Starswirl tricked the Dazzlings into his magical portal and dumped them to this world, trapping them. He believes that by sending them to this world with no magic, the Dazzlings will have no access to use their Equestrian magic at all.”

“But if that’s the case, then how did they easily rule this planet?” Sunset questioned.

“Starswirl may be the most powerful unicorn in our world, but that doesn’t mean that he’s perfect,” Rebecca stated. “What he failed to realize was that by using his magic to dump the sirens to this world, he caused a minor… leak, if you will, in between the dimensions and unintentionally let a small flow of Equestrian Magic to this world where the Dazzlings slowly regaining all of their magic… even after the portals were sealed.”

Sunset blinked with a blank expression. While she understood most of Rebecca’s explanation, a part of her was still confused. “But… I still don’t see how this has something to do with me.”

“Well for starters, by wearing Princess Twilight’s crown, you caused a huge amount of Equestian Magic flow right into you and this world,” Rebecca explained. “At the same time, the Dazzlings happened to be around near the area and regained most of their magic back, speeding up their efforts of taking over the planet.”

“...oh I see,” Sunset said miserably. “So because of me, I unintentionally made them show up at my school earlier than intended!” She then huffed. “You spent the whole time trying to convince me that I did a lot of good things for being born, and yet you’re telling me that I did something terrible for existing for once! I feel so much better now!”

“I wasn’t finished,” Rebecca said sternly before sighing. “Yes, you did unintentionally let them regain their powers quickly and have them showed up at your school sooner than anticipated. But in doing so, you also gave your friends access to their own magic with music and have them properly prepared for their attack, despite some setbacks within the group. But most importantly, when the Dazzlings had the upper hand against your friends during the final battle, who was the one person who helped them finally beat them when they needed the most?”

Sunset silently recalled that moment when her friends had a final showdown against the Dazzlings with their music during the Battle of the Bands. Her friends were holding off well at first, but the Dazzlings easily overpowered them, causing Princess Twilight to drop her microphone and landed by Sunset’s feet. Just when hope seems to be lost, she remembered Princess Twilight turned and reached out to her and cried,

“Sunset Shimmer… we need YOU!”

“…me!" Sunset said quietly. "It was because of me that we defeated the Dazzlings!”

“That’s right,” Rebecca said softly with a warm smile. “Not only you’ve redeemed yourself and became a hero to the eyes of everyone in school, but you also became a wonderful friend… to your friends' eyes.”

She remembered that it was at that moment that Sunset finally had the courage to stand up to the sirens and helped her friends defeat them one and for all. After that, not only her life had changed for the better, but she also earned almost everyone’s trust and forgiveness at the school, including her best friends. Sunset has never felt so loved and belonged all in her life until that very day and she considered herself lucky that she is a part of their friends lives now. With all the stress and heartache recently, she had forgotten all about that moment... until today.

Rebecca then frowned sadly. “But, without you around… the Dazzlings have won and then they took over the entire planet, leaving everyone who lives here became their mindless, loyal slaves and misery for all eternally.”

“...everyone?” Sunset whispered.

“Well… almost everyone,” Rebecca answered cryptically. “There was one person who is not only immune to their ‘magic’, but also made a deal with them so that she could use one of their artifacts so that she can control over the people too.”

“Seriously?” Sunset exclaimed, couldn’t believe that there was another person who was just as bad as the sirens. “Then who was that person?”

Before Rebecca could answer, a loud voice interrupted them.

"Dresses! I got dresses!"

“Speaking of misery...” Rebecca muttered.

"Dresses! I got dresses for anyone to buy!"

Sunset turned towards the direction of that loud voice, only to gasp at what she saw.

Or rather, who she saw.

There was a person, standing by the corner of the building, showing off what appeared to be some kind of dress, which was made from many different fabrics sewn together. This person appeared to be a teenaged girl, wearing a beaten up brown robe, old black shoes with mismatched socks, a black cap and dirt in her cheek. The most shocking detail was that this girl has blue eyes and a familiar long, yet messy purple hair.

"R–Rarity!?" Sunset exclaimed in shock.

Sunset couldn't believe that she was seeing her most highly sophisticated friend is now reduced to rags like a homeless person. Not only that, her friend was standing outside in the cold trying to sell her "dress", despite that the dress itself didn't look very appealing all and not caring that she was freezing.

"How about you darling?" Rarity offered as some random stranger walked by her. "Are you interested in this dress?"

The stranger placed her finger on her chin in thought. "Well… how much are you selling?"

Rarity grinned. "I'm willing to sell this for two-hundred dollars!"

Sunset dropped her jaw in shock while the stranger's face went red.

"Two-hundred dollars!?" She yelled. "For that dress?"

"You're right," Rarity conceded. "What was I thinking… it was actually three-hundred dollars!"

The stranger was even angrier. "Are you kidding me!? That dress looked like a bunch of rags sewn together! I ain't paying that thing even if it costs a dollar!"

"But it's one of a kind ma'am!" Rarity insisted. "This was made exclusively from another country!"

"More like it came from the garbage!" The stranger scoffed before walking away. "Get a real job ya bum!"

"No wait! Come back!" Rarity screamed desperately.

But the stranger ignored her and disappeared down the street. Rarity slumped forward and let out a defeated sigh.

"Great… I lost another customer," said Rarity as she raised her arm and placed it over her head in her most dramatic manner. "Oh woe is me! I'll never be a fashion designer!"

"Um… excuse me?"

Rarity and Sunset looked down and noticed a very young girl with purple hair and a small cloak. The young girl looked up at Rarity with pleading eyes.

"Um… I'm interested in your dress. Can I have it?" The girl asked hopefully.

"Do you have any money?" Rarity asked stoically.

The girl frowned. "Well… no, but–"

"Then beat it!" Rarity stated coldly, much to Sunset's shock by her friend’s heartlessness.

"B–but I need that for my mommy!" The girl begged with tears in her eyes. "Please? She's really getting sick and I need that dress to keep her warm!"

Rarity scoffed. "Look kid, when living out in this cruel world, it's everybody for themselves! And I'm not giving away this one-of-a-kind dress to someone who can't even afford a simple dress! Now get out of my sight!"

The girl sniffed sadly and then she turned and walked away with a broken heart. Sunset had a horrified, shocked look on her face, appalled by Rarity’s behavior. She couldn’t believe that the most generous person she knows, acted so vicious and greedy right in front of her.

"Sweet Celestia," Sunset whispered. "What happened to her? Not only she is in that state, but she is also acting so cruel and selfish! The real Rarity I know would never turn that poor girl away and is actually very successful at her job!"

Rebecca shook her head. "Except here… she didn't achieve her dream and failed miserably in the fashion industry."

“But Rarity is very successful when it comes to fashion!” Sunset asserted. “She worked so hard to make a name for herself in the fashion community!”

“She did, but not without the help from her friends, especially you Sunset!” Rebecca pointed out. “You played the biggest part of her success and made her who she is today!”

“Me!?” Sunset exclaimed in disbelief. “How could I possibly make her life successful?”

“Well you helped support her as a start,” Rebecca listed. “And after you reformed, the first thing you did was to make up for her by volunteering as a model for her fashion jobs!”

“I did,” Sunset said solemnly. “It’s the least I could do after what I did to her at the Spring Fling. I’m actually surprised that she had forgiven me even before I offered to volunteer.”

“Even so, not only did she appreciate what you did to help her, but you also build her confidence and boost her reputation as an amazing fashion designer,” said Rebecca. “But that’s not all you did! Do you remember when Ms. Hemline hired Rarity to set up a window display for her shop?”

Sunset widened her eyes from the memory. “How could I forget! Rarity’s boss is… very hard to please, even after her two years of working for her as a lowly paid associate. The window display assignment was her biggest chance to impress her boss and show off her skills, but had a huge pressure to come up with anything. Eventually… the stress was too much to her and decided to give up, kissing her career goodbye.”

“Until you secretly stepped in and finished the display window for her as “Flanksy”, saving her career in the process,” Rebecca finished.

“I did,” Sunset admitted with a small smile. “It was Rarity’s dream to make herself big in the fashion world. I still feel bad for what I did to her during the Spring Fling years back, so I helped her out in secret to not only make up for it, but also as a friend. Of course, Rarity knew about it anyway and said that I don’t have to make up for her for anything, but she said she is forever grateful for helping her.” Sunset chuckled softly. “She truly is a very generous person.”

“Well it seems to me that some of her generosity must have rubbed off on you since you didn’t want anything from her in return,” Rebecca said slyly.

“She doesn’t need to!” Sunset stressed. “Her happiness and me being her friend is more than enough I need from her!”

“And I’m sure that she felt the same way about you!” Rebecca said kindly. “Regardless, ever since that day, she is forever grateful to you for not only saving your career, but also inspired her to be the young woman who she is today!" She then sighed heavily as her eyes set to the Rarity in front of them. “But without you… things took a darker turn for her.”

Sunset had a mixture of concern and fear on her face. “Oh no! Ms. Hemline didn’t really... fire her for not finishing that stupid window display, did she?”

“She did,” Rebecca confirmed in a grave tone much to Sunset's dismay. “Because she was both unimpressed and insulted that Rarity couldn’t handle the pressure, she openly told Rarity in front of her peers that she was a failure and that she'll never have what it takes to be a fashion designer."

Sunset winced. "Ouch! I heard that Hemline is known for being blunt, but that was just harsh!"

"Yes, but that's not the worst of it!" Rebecca sighed. "One of those peers who happened to be around and witnessed Hemline firing Rarity… decided to spread Rarity's failure to Rarity's school and throughout the fashion community out of spite."

"What!? Who?" Sunset demanded, angered at the thought of someone making her friend's life miserable.

"...Suri Polomare," Rebecca answered.

“SURI!?” Sunset cried out in disbelief and anger. “You mean the one who once tried to steal Rarity’s designs and claimed them as her own, just to cheat her way during the Fashion Week?”

"Yes, the very same!" Rebecca answered with a look of displeasure. "She thought by exposing Rarity's failure will be her way of knocking out another competitor and bringing herself closer to the top of the fashion world… as cruel and selfish it sounds."

Sunset grit her teeth in anger. "That... witch!"

"Because of that,” Rebecca continued. “Rarity's career is ruined and no one in the fashion business will hire her again. Overtime, Rarity became depressed and tried to sell her own clothing line by using whatever material she could find from off of the streets at a high price, no matter how ridiculous it was to her customers. And ironically, Rarity even took Suri's actions as a 'lesson' to herself that there is no such thing as generosity and will only look after herself. And on top of that... she even became a crazy cat lady!”

Sunset balked at that revelation. “What!? But she only has one cat!”

Rebecca cocked an eyebrow. “Wanna bet?”

Suddenly, a white dirty cat with light green eyes came out from around the corner of the alleyway and slowly walked towards Rarity. Even without the purple bow and collar, Sunset immediately recognized Rarity’s grumpy pet cat, Opalescence, or Opal for short. To Sunset’s surprise, another cat came out from around the corner and followed Opal. One by one, more cats came out from the corner and made their way to Rarity. By the time the last cat showed up, there were a total of six cats, much to Sunset’s disbelief.

“Come along Opal, Ruby, Topaz, Jasper, Sapphire and Jade…” Rarity sighed as she started walking down the street past Sunset. “Let’s just… go home and mope about life over dinner. There should be plenty of cat food for everyone at home... including me.”

Sunset watched in shock as Rarity walked further and further away with six cats in tow. As crazy as it was to see Rarity owned so many cats, but seeing Rarity so miserable, cold, poor and alone breaks her heart. She was also horrified after hearing what her friend had to eat to survive out there on the street.

“Oh dear Faust!” Sunset spoke quietly. “Did her family even lose all of their money to the point of becoming poor and couldn’t afford food... all because I was never born!?”

“No... her family is still rich,” Rebecca said in a joyless tone. “Her family actually kicked her out!"

"WHAT!? Why?" Sunset screamed, infuriated at Rarity's family for their cruelty. "Why did they do that!? How could they do that to their own daughter? Why would they do something so cruel?"

"Actually… someone suggested to them that they should kick her out," said Rebecca.

Sunset frowned deeply. "Oh really? Who?"

Rebecca sighed. "...Cinch."

"...what?" Sunset responded in her angry tone.

"Once the news spread out about Rarity's failure, not only Cinch kicked her out from the school, but she also told her parents that they should give her the boot!" Rebecca explained.

"But how could Cinch do this to her?" Sunset exclaimed. "Heck, how could her family listen to that heartless woman!?"

"Well, do you remember when I said earlier that the one person who was not under the Dazzlings spell after they made a deal with them?" Sunset nodded. "Well… that person… was also Cinch!"

"...you gotta be kidding me!" Sunset yelled, clenching her fist in rage. "How does Cinch pull that off? There's no way that even the Dazzlings would want to work for her!"

"They would've got her under their spell just like the others… if not for that artifact she found," said Rebecca.

Sunset blinked in thought. "Artifact? Wait… you mentioned something about an artifact earlier! Was it from Equestria? Where does she get it? Did that had anything to do with how Rarity ended up on the street?"

"It has everything to do with Rarity and much more!" Rebecca responded. "Shortly after the Friendship Games, Cinch stumbled onto that artifact along with three other artifacts!"

"Three!?" Sunset exclaimed, alarmed with this revelation. "She has more than one!?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes, but those other three artifacts was how she made a deal with the sirens. That they can have them and use them to take over the world. And in return, Cinch wanted them to use their "influence" to make her school the "best" thing in the world. She also wanted to keep that one artifact she found, which gives her the ability to control the minds of students and the staff."

Sunset gasped. "You mean… she was using it to hypnotize these people from school?"

"Yes, along with a many others." Rebecca responded. "That artifact has the same ability as the Dazzlings, but without the music. The artifact has a face of a cobra with magical ruby jewels as its eyes. Anyone who sees them, their minds are instantly controlled by the welder." Her expression then became serious. "But the real kicker... was that these artifacts originally belonged to those sirens."

Sunset stared at Rebecca with a surprised expression before letting out a loud groan. "And this just keeps getting better and BETTER!" She cried. "But if those artifacts actually belongs to them, then why didn't they have them then? And how Cinch got a hold of them?"

"The sirens brought it along with them as a backup in case something happens to their powers," Rebecca answered. "They hid their artifacts after their arrival to this world, but Cinch ended up finding them. But even so, they were doing well without them and didn't feel the need to use 'em."

And yet, the sirens I know failed on their evil plot! Sunset thought. If they really hid their artifacts as their trump card, then why didn't they use them immediately after we beat them?

Sunset decided to put aside that topic for the time being and focused on the main issue.

“Well even so, that's just wrong!" Sunset shouted. "She can't just ruin Rarity's life all because she was fired from her job! And it has nothing to do with her!"

"Well to Cinch, the reputation of the school matters to her more than the lives of her students!" Rebecca said with disgust. "She only used the performance and superior academic skills of students, just to make herself look good to the public. But if anyone from her school have done something that reflects poorly towards her, at least in her mind, she'll give them a harsh punishment as an example so that no one will think twice about tarnishing the school's reputation, no matter if it was intentional or not. And unfortunately, Rarity was one of those victims."

Sunset growled with contempt. "I take that back… that woman is more evil than these sirens!"

Rebecca sighed. "Yeah… it was hard to believe that there are people like her who would act so cruelly." She then sadly shook her head. "Still, with Rarity losing her career, getting kicked out from that school and her home and becoming an outcast to society on top of that really hit her hard! Her spirit was so broken, she didn’t even try anymore. She even lost her generous nature in the process.”

Sunset turned towards the direction where Rarity disappeared to again with a sad frown.

“Rarity…” she whispered.

This was really starting to get too much for Sunset. Each of her friends she witnessed what their lives were like without her was just as heartbreaking as the other. And it keeps on getting worse and worse just as Rebecca told her. But what could possibly be worse than what was happening to Rarity?

Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror when that one particular person came to her mind.

“Wait... where’s Fluttershy?” Sunset asked with dread and concern as she faced Rebecca. “You haven’t shown me her yet! What happened to her? I need to know!”

Rebecca hesitated for a moment, thinking whether or not she should answer Sunset’s question. “Listen Sunset, I know where and what has happened to Fluttershy… but you’re not going to like this!”

Sunset shook her head with a determined look. “I don’t care! Please, just take me to her!”

After a moment of silence, Rebecca let out a long sigh. “Very well Sunset… but don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

As Rebecca turned and headed to the alleyway, Sunset had a gut feeling that the worst has yet to come.

Author's Note

Poor Rarity! :fluttercry:

Get ready to buckle up folks! Things are going to get "bumpy" in the next two chapters! :unsuresweetie: