The Hidden Truth

Sunset held her wince back and a quiet 'ow' due to her old friends right there. It was bad enough having to suffer classes with them. She couldn't handle it if they found her cutting herself, and they wouldn't probably care enough to stop her. Why would they even care about her if she was?

When she heard the door open and close, the girl sighed as she pulled out some tissue that she kept on her and held it over the wounds. Three new cuts, adding to the collection. It wasn't like she was going to go too far with this. Just a few cuts, nothing more, nothing less.

As she left the stall, Sunset made quick note to put the knife away, stuffing the bloody tissue into her pocket and sighed heavily as she allowed some water to run over her cuts. She dried them off before pulling her sleeves back down. Flash was waiting for her, and she couldn't keep him waiting.

Flash was the first to greet her when she entered the Cafeteria. A smile on his features. "There you are! I was just about to go looking for you. Did you do what you needed to do?"

Sunset felt bad for keeping it from him, but he couldn't know about it.

The two of them made their way to their table and sat down. She was surprised to see Flash had gotten her some food, making sure it was veteran. He smiled happily before digging into his own meal and she gave a weak smile back before gazing down, her cuts feeling itchy all of a sudden.

Then she realized she hadn't answered his question. "Yeah, I did what I needed to do."

Flash nodded as he swallowed some food down. "I was thinking, maybe we should invite your friend over too?"

Sunset blinked, taken aback. "You'd be okay with Sugarcoat, a Shadowbolt, coming to your house? Are you sure about that? It's bad enough you're with me, but having a Shadowbolt over?"

Flash shrugged as he leaned back in his chair, quickly casting a glance over to where the Rainbooms were glaring. "I couldn't care less. She's your friend, and any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Especially if they think you're innocent."

Sunset smiled as she began eating quietly, hoping no one would bug them. It was hard enough having Flash by her side without feeling terrible, knowing the entire school would soon turn on him for merely hanging out with her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see the Rainbooms glaring away; Rainbow scowling, Fluttershy looking down at her plate, Pinkie trying to ignore her with a frown, Applejack frowning heavily, and Rarity who was also scowling.

The teenage boy could see them as well, and sighed heavily as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, ignore them. They don't deserve your friendship. They aren't important."

Sunset's eyes slide down to the table. "They're my friends." she whimpered as she held herself. "How could they have just dropped me like that?"

Flash ran a hand through his hair. "Because they want someone to blame. We all know your past. They blame you, because they know your history with bullying, they won't believe you or blame anyone else."

Sunset shrank back down in her chair to escape everyone else's glares. "Why did we come here anyways?"

Flash gave a sheepish smile. "Uh, is there somewhere you'd rather go for lunch?"

Sunset thought about it, and her first thought was the bathroom to cut. But that wouldn't help her out from hiding from everyone when it came to heading to class. Yet if they went somewhere else for lunch, then she could escape the hurt for an hour or two.

With a small smile, she moved to answer.

The Hidden Truth

When school finally ended, Sunset had gone to the bathroom to make six new cuts throughout the day. Three during lunch, and three during the last period. She had managed to get a hold of Sugarcoat, and she agreed to meet her and Flash at the park so they could walk to his house.

As they entered the park, Sunset smiled as she saw Sugarcoat sitting on a bench.

"Sugarcoat!" Sunset called out and the Shadowbolt looked up from her phone and smiled softly.

Sugarcoat got up to greet them. "Hello."

"Are you ready?" Flash asked kindly and the girls gave him a nod in return. "Come on, my house isn't too far from here."

Sunset blinked. "I thought you drove?"

Flash shrugged as he placed his hand into his pockets. "I kinda... well, uh..."

Sugarcoat placed a hand on her bag and arched an eyebrow. "You crashed it, didn't you?"

The male chuckled nervously as he nodded, feeling a bit bad. Sunset smiled sheepishly as she realized why he hadn't been seen with his cars in the last few days, why he got a ride to school instead. His car was getting fixed in the shop, and who knew how long it would take thanks to the lazy owner and his workers.

As the trio left the park, Sunset stayed close to Sugarcoat instead of being near Flash as he lead the way. There was something about being near Sugarcoat that made her feel at ease, like she could be happy with her. Have the one thing she had lost not so long ago; a real friendship. But what were the chances of a Crystal Prep girl being friends with a Canterlot High girl?

None. That's what!

When they finally reached Flash's house, he unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding the door open for the girls. They left their shoes at the doorway before heading up the stairs, where Flash's mother could be seen in the kitchen.

"Hey mom!" Flash called out. "I brought some friends with me."

Mrs. Sentry looked up from her baking and her jaw nearly dropped when she saw her son's ex. It almost dropped when he saw a new girl with them as well. "Sunset! It's good to see you again, dear!"

Sunset smiled as she waved. "Hello, Candy. What are you baking?" Candy smiled as she held up the recipe for her famous cookies.

Candy's blue eyes slide over to Sugarcoat and she gave a friendly warm smile. "Hello there, I haven't met you before! What's your name, dear?" she asked kindly.

Sugarcoat gave her a polite nod. "My name is Sugarcoat. I'm a new friend of your son."

Flash smiled. "We're going to my room, mom. Is dad here?"

Candy shook her head. "No, afraid not. He's still working his ass off like always." she smiled at the thought of her husband and chuckled. "You know him, always working for money to save up for some big vacation. More so now that Winter Break is coming up."

"Figures."

After ending the conversation, the trio headed into Flash's room, placing their bags on the ground while Flash got out his Netflix on his TV and began searching. They all agreed on a simple movie, The Grinch. However, not even half way through the movie, and Sunset suddenly stood up, saying she needed to go to the bathroom.

The other two nodded wordlessly before turning back to the movie.

What they didn't know was Sunset was really heading to the bathroom to cut. She needed relief and it was the only way possible that wouldn't have her breaking down. It ended a little more and more pain with each slice.