Sunset Shimmer ran as fast as her legs could carry her into the dark of Everfree Forest.

One part of why she ran to the Everfree Forest was because she needed a quiet place to think. Although Everfree Forest at night looked spooky with its looming trees against a backdrop of indigo sky, it still provided a nice ambience to quietly and rationally reflect on one's inner thoughts. Sunset definitely needed somewhere nice and quiet so that she could rationalize her current situation and plan on what she could do next.

Another part was survival. Ever since Anon-a-Miss framed all of its antics on her, everyone was out for her blood. At first, it was metaphorical, with most of the student body whispering all sorts of demeaning things behind her back, spray painting her locker with cruel names such as She-Demon, or just coldly rebuffing her. Then, a week before Christmas Break, its physical appearance showed in real ugly terms. From body-checking her in the hallways to throwing things like paper balls or rotten food at her. Those things were basically becoming routine until today, five days before Christmas Break.

Today, a good portion of the school wanted her dead.

Sunset flinched as she felt a branch cut into the skin of her bare leg but she pressed on, hoping that she would find a good place for an overnight shelter. Her prayers were answered as a tiny hut sheltered by a large tree sat besides the lake. Then she felt someone grab her arm and pull her right into the direction of the hut. Her fear of being caught by the mob plus all of her hurt and exhaustion easily overpowered any common sense or stranger wariness that she might've had normally.

As soon as she entered the hut, she looked back to find that the mob that was pursuing her looked around them in angry confusion. It was as if she disappeared in front of them. They continued milling about, whispering like angry hornets. But then, they decided to clear out, fuming and stewing in their anger. Sunset let out a huge sigh of relief and backpedaled in the hut further. She lay on her back, exhaustion taking over her senses. Closing her eyes, she recalled yesterday's events.

Sunset took in a deep breath as she stood in front of the Sweet Shoppe. Up until this point, she had been trying to get her friends to try and understand that it wasn't her behind Anon-a-Miss. They were the first ones to accuse her, yes, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be reasoned with. And they needed evidence that she wasn't Anon-a-Miss? Okay, she could do that.

She opened the door and could feel the temperature drop by 15 degrees. Cold stares were all around and for a moment, she contemplated on leaving. But she steeled her nerves and headed over to the Rainbooms' table with a special book in her hands. It was the journal that secured communication between her and Twilight.

"What are yah doin' here, ya no-good snake," Applejack snarled. "Didn't we tell yah yer not welcome here?"

"Yeah, what do you want, traitor?" Rainbow Dash growled.

Sunset flinched but she was determined to see this through. "You girls wanted proof that I wasn't Anon-a-Miss, right? Well, here is proof." So saying, she opened the book for them to see. "I talked about this with Twilight and she thinks this wasn't my doing!"

"So?" Rarity curtly asked.

"So, shouldn't this be enough proof for now that I'm not Anon-a-Miss," Sunset asked. She knew that she was grasping for straws here, but if Twilight believed in her, shouldn't they believe in her as well?

"You might've tricked her, though," Fluttershy countered. "Like you tricked us. Well, when she comes over here, we'll tell her the actual truth."

"Why do you girls still believe that I'm lying," Sunset cried. "I'm not lying! You should know that!"

"Stop it, Sunset," Pinkie Pie screeched. "Just stop! You post secrets and hurt everyone in the process! Why should we do anything that you say?"

"You haven't changed at all, have you," Rarity stood up. "You're nothing more than a two-faced psychopath who's willing to ruin lives all for your sick amusement! You shouldn't have been reformed at all!"

"How could you, Sunset," Fluttershy asked, sobbing. "We trusted you and you lied to us! You're...You're nothing to us!"

"To think ah actually called ya mah family," Applejack scowled. "You're an insult to the words 'family member'! Ah bet that your own parents would be ashamed of having yah as a daughter!"

"You're nothing but a meanie secret stealer," Pinkie Pie snapped. "You shouldn't come out of that hole when we blasted you that time!"

"You're nothing but a traitor, Sunset," Rainbow Dash finished. "You'll always be that terrible person! Nobody wants you here!"

"Why don't you get out of our lives for good?!" The Rainbooms screamed.

Sunset stood still, shocked. Even though she opened her mouth, no sounds would come out. What could she do at that moment? She was briefly taken out of her stupor by someone roughly grabbing her arm. She looked up to see that Mrs. Cake dragged her out of the shop while Mr. Cake trailed timidly behind with her things, gently putting the journal in her backpack. She was thrown out unceremoniously into the cold, looking at the couple with unshed tears in her eyes.

"You've caused quite a scene here, Sunset," Mrs. Cake growled. "You have five minutes to get out before I call the police on you."

"We believed in you, Sunset," Mr. Cake sighed disappointedly. "But I guess we had to learn the hard way that you're still the same bully as you've always been."

With shaky legs and despair overwhelming her, Sunset ran back to her apartment.

"My, my, dearie," A soft voice cut into her thoughts. "You've been through quite the ordeal."

Sunset opened her eyes at the speaker looking down at her with a gentle smile. She had auburn hair that cascaded to the small of her back, baby blue eyes that sparkled and shone, and a long minty green dress that seemed to flow to the wind. She was currently stroking Sunset's hair in a tender manner and for a brief second the teenager felt her sadness and grief disappear. But a new emotion washed over her: suspicion. She quickly sat up and turned towards the maiden.

"How did you know what I've been through? Who are you?"

"Oh," The girl blushed bashfully. "My apologies. My name is Sera. I've lived in this hut for a very long time, you see. And it's a bit unbelievable but I swear it's the truth. You see, love, I can read minds ranging from thoughts to dreams."

"Like an esper of sorts?"

"Yes," Sera frowned a bit at Sunset's casual tone. "You don't seem surprised or disbelieving when I told you that."

"Let's just say that I've been through some crazy things involving the supernatural."

"Ah, I see," Sera sadly smiled. "You poor dear. Those friends of yours believed that you were something quite awful, didn't they? And now it's gotten to a point where there's a whole mob after you."

"Well," Sunset scratched the back of her head. "It's not entirely unjustified because I was quite the bully before I reformed. It's not like I didn't have that for a long time coming."

"Does that really make it better," Sera asked. "They should've heard you out still. To accept that without doing so seems a little disingenuous on their part."

Sunset could only shrug casually. She was fully resigned to her fate it seems. To be honest, nobody should have to forgive her for all the things she pulled. That was their business and she had no problem in accepting that. She looked outside to find a full moon shining down on the lake. She smiled as she reminisced about Princess Luna. Come to think, Luna had an equally hard time fitting in after Nightmare Moon was defeated. Maybe, she could pretend that they were comrades once more. Her attention was diverted at someone pulling up her sleeve.

"Oh my gosh," Sera gasped, eyes twinkling. "Who did this to you?"

Sunset looked down. Her arms had two long cuts that led from her carpal to her elbow. Luckily, they were only shallow but they still hurt. She only blinked and bit back a bitter chuckle. She escaped from the mob, yes, but that didn't mean that she escaped unscathed. An incredibly vengeful member had her first shot and did so with careful deliberation, as if she waited a long time to hurt Sunset.

"I see," Sera mused. "How awful. They hurt you for their own feelings." She leaned forward a little, meeting Sunset's eyes. "I can tell that you need help and someone in your corner. Would you like me to help you?"

"I appreciate the help, Sera," Sunset gratefully smiled. "But I can't put you in danger because of me. Besides, it's not like we can convince them that I'm not Anon-a-Miss. They're as stubborn as mules."

"We could, actually," Sera countered. "We can make it so they will have to believe you no matter what. We can also do it in a way that makes them see the errors of their ways."

"What," Sunset blinked, a little unnerved by that statement, "How? If this puts them in real danger..."

"Oh no no no," Sera waved her hands frantically. "Of course not. They won't be put in real danger at all, you can trust me on that. But look at you," She smiled. "You're willing to keep your tormentors out of harm's way. Not many are like that. I was proposing a plan that involves only one thing: your acceptance."

"Why my acceptance?" Sunset asked, suspicion creeping in her voice again.

"The thing is this plan will need some time to get them to understand and I need your acceptance to be patient in that."

"That's it?" Sunset queried.

"That's it." Sera replied back, smiling.

Sunset mulled over this. On one hand, it was pretty daring to put her life in the hands of this stranger who she'd just met. It would be foolish to trust Sera because she was kind and easy to talk to. On the other hand, she didn't judge her at all. It was nice talking to someone who wouldn't rake her over the coals later. Besides, she was right. There weren't any options that were deemed good as alternatives at her disposal right now. Twilight was probably too busy with her duties, Princess Celestia was probably still too angry with her to consider seeing her, and everyone else, even the adults, hated her. If she waited, the mob wouldn't let her live to see Twilight again.

"Okay," Sunset smiled. "I accept."

"Good," Sera said. "Here, drink this." She gently pushed a little cup in Sunset's hands, taking great care to not further hurt her.

"What's this?"

"Just a little cup of tea to get you to sleep. You hit a rough patch lately, so you must be exhausted."

Sunset smiled gratefully and drank the tea. It tasted nice, like a mix of cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and vanilla wrapped in a nice honey glaze. Sera gently led the teenager to a bed where she soundly slept on. For a few moments, the hut stood still in silence with the auburn-haired girl looking down at the sleeping red-and-yellow haired girl. She wore a grimaced on her face but it wasn't directed at Sunset.

"Poor girl," she spoke sincerely. "I hate to do this, but you need your name cleared. And, unfortunately, this is the only way I know how."

She held out two items in her hands. One was a phone pre-dialed to 9-1-1. She knew that as much as she hated doing this, dialing 9-1-1 would protect her new charge from those who wished ill on her. Besides, she knew that the magic in Sunset's body would stabilize her without letting her out of the hospital for a little while. She could enact Sunset's revenge on those who ill-treated her and wanted her to die and that included the Rainbooms. But the plan itself would need blood.

She glanced down at the other item, which was a long knife. Sunset wouldn't feel a thing due to the drugs in her tea, which were enough to briefly knock out an elephant, and the exhaustion that she was feeling. Sera knelt down and uncovered all of the wounds that Sunset bore on her arms. She gently plunged the knife into Sunset's arms so that while blood spilled, it wouldn't cause permanent damage on said girl. Sera then put the knife in Sunset's hand so that it would look like she hurt herself.

"Sorry, Sunset," Sera whispered as she touched the call button. "But this is the only way to clear your name." She waited for a few moments before a voice answered.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

Flash Sentry looked at the clock anxiously while strumming his guitar. It was 9:15 p.m. and his father still wasn't home. He hoped that he would come home soon, for it was quite unusual for him to come home late. He tried to calm himself down by rationalizing that he was probably stuck in traffic or something else came up. A knock jostled him out of his thoughts. A relieved smile came on his face when he saw Purple Heart enter the room.

"Hey, Flash," He smiled tiredly.

"Hi, dad," Flash put away his guitar and turned towards the older man. He frowned slightly as he saw his mother behind in tears. "What's wrong?"

"Flash, this isn't going to be easy to explain to you," Purple Heart began. "But we need to tell you this. Do you know Sunset Shimmer?"

"Yes," Flash replied without any hint of anger or aggression. "Why? What happened? Is she okay?"

"No, she's not," Guarding Shield tearfully shook her head. "The reason Purple Heart was late, dear, was because there was an emergency at the hospital. They found her with blood dripping down her arms. Luckily, she's still alive but..." She trailed off, wringing her hands.

Flash's brain briefly stopped. Sunset was in the hospital? Sunset was injured so badly that it was an emergency? Sunset cut herself? No, he didn't want to believe it. Sunset was the one of the bravest, determined people he knew. She stood her ground even in the face of both the Fall Formal's aftermath and the Battle of the Bands. She held her resolve through the hardships and the pain. Was Anon-a-Miss too much for her? Flash cursed himself now. If only he stood up for her. He knew that she wouldn't throw her redemption away for Anon-a-Miss! Why didn't he stand up for her?

"Both the doctors and nurses at the hospital found that she'd lost a significant amount of blood," Purple Heart continued. "While it seems that the cuts won't do any permanent damage, she's not going to exit the hospital for some time, son."

"What do you mean?" Flash asked, dreading the answer.

"It means that she'll be in a coma for an unknown period of time."

Author's Note

I wanted to add some more warnings to the story, but the blood cutting scene itself didn't warrant enough to add a gore warning.

So, this is based on an old anime series known as Hell Girl. It's basically a revenge fantasy story where the unrepentant douche get sent to Hell for their crimes. While the series does have moments where either a victim is innocent or a punisher is just as bad, the series is also a mark of wishing revenge comes with the price of damning oneself to hell when they die.

It's a good series even though the description I gave it didn't do justice.

Even though the Rainbooms are, admittedly, OOC in this chapter, it should be noted that this is coming from Sunset's POV. At that moment, she just outran a mob that wants her head and she's not having a good time being framed. Another note to add is that even a sweet person can say things nasty enough when they are angry. Combine that with one who is deeply sensitive and that's a volatile experience.

Poll time! Who do you think should be the first to experience Sera's wrath? Don't worry! She won't do too much damage, but just enough to scare them.

a) Rainbow Dash
b) Fluttershy
c) Applejack
d) Pinkie Pie
e) Rarity