Sunset stood in an alleyway naked. She tried to run, move, anything, but her body felt like it was made of stone. She tried to shout for help or just scream in general, but nothing came out, not even a strangled whisper. Hands reached out, grabbing her, fists rained down on her. A fetid stench filled her nostrils , nearly making her gag. She knew what was happening and tried to beg or scream or anything, but again no sound came out. Bodies pressed into her, pinning her down, violating her in every hole, violating her most sacred spaces. She felt the disgusting slime coat her body, she tasted the polluting fluid coat her tongue, she felt the vile seed enter her body. Cruel voices called her whore as they laughed at her pain.

"NO!", Sunset screamed sitting straight up from the nightmare, like all the other times before, it was all to real. Panic sweat coated her body and soaked the sheets. It was dark, she didn't know where she was. They lurked just beyond her vision, moving in slowly, ready to pounce and attack again. She could smell the stink of their sweat, hear their cruel laughter, taste their polluting fluid, feel their corrupting seed creep through her body, poisoning anything that was pure left. She tried to scream, to cry out, to beg for help, but could only whimper. She tried to will herself to move, to run, to crawl, to flail, but her body refused to move. The world didn't make sense, there was no up or down, no front or back, just that horrifying stink and taste and feel.

The door door to the room opened, allowing merciful light to flood in from the hallway. The nurse stepped in and flipped the switch, even more merciful light filled the room, melting the shadows away and driving off the monsters that lurked within them. "Miss Shimmer? Are you okay?"

Sunset sat trembling for a few minutes as she looked into the the face of the concerned nurse. She wanted to tell the nurse that she wasn't okay, monsters were attacking her, but when she opened her mouth to speak, tears streamed down her face and pained sobs poured from her mouth.

The nurse walked over and gently placed her hand on Sunset's forearm. "Nightmares again?"

"Mhm."

"You need your anxiety medication?"

"No.", Sunset whispered through her still wired shut jaw, "I just want this all to stop."

The nurse gave a sad smile a she patted Sunset on the arm. "You're soaked in sweat hon. Why don't you go clean up and then we'll get you some clean dry sheets."

Sunset nodded and slowly rose from the bed on wobbly legs as the nurse helped brace her, it had been a week since she had gotten out of the ICU, though she was getting stronger, she still needed some help. The nurse gave her some privacy to slip out of the gown.

Leaning on the counter, Sunset looked at her reflection, loathing what she saw. It wasn't the bruising and swelling on her face that made her look like a raccoon, nor the way her nose was crooked to the side or the thick braces that held her jaw shut and kept her teeth clenched together. It was her eyes, filled with shame and fear that filled her with loathing. Every waking moment that wasn't filled with fear and terror at her attack, it was filled with shame and disgust at the memories of her body betraying her every time they entered or released inside her. What kind of vile disgusting thing was she if she got off at being raped in every hole? She wasn't a girl or a mare or the person who Princess twilight Sparkle pulled from a crater or the member of the Rainbooms that helped defeat the sirens from ancient Equestria or the champion that saved a girl who was being corrupted and consumed by Equestrian magic at the friendship games, she was something tainted, corrupted, broken, foul. "Stop looking at me whore!", she snarled at her reflection through clenched teeth.

Sunset sat on the bench in the shower as the water streamed down on her. She fiddled with the nobs, trying to adjust the water, it wasn't hot enough to dissolve the slime that still clung to her skin. Giving up on trying to find water hot enough, she lathered up soap on a wash cloth and began scrubbing the skin on her shoulder and scrubbing and scrubbing. After an unknown amount of time, she stopped, pulling the washcloth away, she saw the bright red, raw skin where she was scrubbing herself. Tossing the washcloth in disgust into the bottom of the shower, she rinsed off, gt out of the shower and began drying off. She slipped on the fresh gown the nurse left hanging on the hook near the door.

"Are you sure you don't want your anxiety medication?", the nurse asked Sunset as she walked back into the hospital room and she shook her head no. The nurse helped her back onto the bed and headed back to the door. "If you need anything, just push the call button." She flipped the light switch off leaving the room.

Sunset pushed the button on the wall, turning on the light above the bed, it wasn't very bright, but it pushed the shadows back far enough so they couldn't spring out at her. You can't go back home now for certain. Celestia doesn't let disgusting whores in her kingdom. She rocked back and forth on the bed, tears stinging her eyes remembering the times as a filly when she went to bed hungry because her parents cared about attending parties and climbing the social ladder, she thought about all the times she screamed in anger at Celestia before jumping through the mirror portal. Tonight would be the first of many nights when Sunset Shimmer refused to sleep, preferring to face exhaustion and her feelings of loathing rather than face the nightmares.
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Sunset's head hung heavily from exhaustion and fatigue. Over the last week she had barely slept twenty hours, only falling asleep when the exhaustion finally caught up with her. She was getting released today, both the doctor and Cadance had agreed that until she was stronger and more stable it wasn't good for her to be left on her own. Mr. and Mrs Shy had agreed to take her in for a few days. The one thing she hated about that was Zephyr. Though she disliked Fluttershy's brother almost as much as Rainbow, he never said anything unbecoming nor tried to come on to her, he was just an insufferable jackass, but he meant well, for a shiftless, whiny bum.

A nurse brought in a can of protein shake, opened it and dropped a straw in. "When you finish drinking this, we'll work on getting you signed out."

Sunset loathed the polluting slime on her tongue that spoiled anything she swallowed almost as much as the corrupting poison she felt creeping through her veins, making sure nothing pure could ever grow inside again. Reluctantly she drank the shake, even though it felt it was curdling in her stomach, she didn't want to stay in this hospital anymore. Deep down she feared that the corrupting poison that was crawling though her veins was polluting this place and threatening to infect everyone around her.

A crackly-slurpy sound came from the can as Sunset sucked up the last of the shake. She didn't feel full, just not hungry anymore. A soft tap on the door drew her attention from the now empty can and a familiar soft came through, "Um...Sunset? Can I come in?" Tell her to get far away from you, whores don't deserve friends. "Come in Fluttershy." You filthy disgusting whore! You're going to pollute your friends! The door opened and Fluttershy stepped in. "We...um...stopped by your house a few days ago to get some of your things and...um...somebody had kicked in your front door. They took your TV, laptop and couch." Whores don't deserve anything! She laid the small bundle of clothes down next to Sunset. Sunset sniffled, looking at the clothes. Fluttershy wouldn't be so nice to her if she knew her friend was a filthy, disgusting, broken whore.

Tears began to trickle, then pour. Gasping sobs wracked Sunset's body. "Sunset? What's the matter?", Fluttershy asked full of concern as she sat on the bed. "I-I don't know!", Sunset croaked between sobs, "I c-can't stop-stop cry...crying!" Fluttershy pulled Sunset into a gentle hug, placing her hand on the back of her hurt and scared friend's head, she pressed her friend's head onto her shoulder. Sunset sobbed into Fluttershy's shoulder until it was soaked with tears, snot and slobber. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Fluttershy said nothing, she knew her friend was scared and hurting, she just held her friend close, letting the girl completely soak her shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut as tears filled her eyes and silently wept for her friend.

After several minutes Sunset began to calm down and her sobs subsided. Leaning back from her friend, she frowned at mess she made of her shoulder. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I don't know what came over me." Fluttershy gave a gentle smile. "Don't worry about it, you're going through a bad time right now." She picked up the box of tissues from the nearby table and passed it to Sunset, who yanked out a few and blew her nose with several loud honks. Sunset would have laughed at the sound at any other time.

Picking up the clothes, Sunset walked into the bathroom to get dressed. She leaned against the counter in her bra and panties looking at her reflection in the mirror. Again those light cyan eyes filled with shame and fear filled her with loathing. "You disgust me filthy whore!", she snarled at her reflection before turning away. She pulled the T-shirt down across her body and the sweatpants up to her hips, then slipped her feet into the pair of flip-flops.

Fluttershy chewed her lip as she stood in the hospital room. She had heard Sunset say something unbelievably nasty things and she assumed her friend was probably saying it to herself. She had heard about this before, people who had been sexually attacked often they believed they deserved it and that they struggled wit self image issues, the thought sent a shiver down her spine. Sunset was fighting demons in her head and Fluttershy wasn't sure to do except try and reach out to her friend. When Sunset walked out of the bathroom, Fluttershy asked, "Sunset? I-is there something you want to talk about?"

"I...it's just...no."

Fluttershy frowned before letting a kind smile replace it. The next time she saw Cadance, she would talk to her about this, she'd talk to her friend too, Sunset was hurting and scared and her mind wasn't in a good place. Fluttershy extend a slender hand to Sunset, "Come on, let's go home. I've got a fluffy bunny that's wanting to give you some snuggles." Sunset initially recoiled from her friend's hand, she was afraid that the corrupting poison in her veins that had befouled her, would infect and spoil her friend. She locked eyes onto that kind, nonjudgmental gaze and slowly extended her trembling hand. As soon as the fingertips touched, Fluttershy gently gripped her hand and for a brief moment Sunset felt like she had an anchor that kept her from blowing away in this howling storm of insanity.

The two walked side-by-side through the hallway, when ever Sunset started to panic, Fluttershy would gently squeeze her hand, anchoring her when the winds of fear would buffet her mind. Slowly the two girls walked through the hallway, Fluttershy allowed Sunset to set the pace and she simply matched her speed, giving her friend the support she needed. They reached the nurses station and a heavyset nurse with graying hair looked over the top of her glasses and smiled.

"Sign here, here and here Miss Shimmer.", the heavyset nurse said pointing to spots on the release form, "Alrighy, initial here and here and finally signature here." After Sunset signed the form, the nurse looked it over and laid a filled out prescription on the counter. "Get this filled out as soon as you can. If you're experiencing pain, get some liquid acetaminophen." She laid an appointment card on the counter. "The doctor would like to see you in two weeks to see how you're healing."

Sunset nodded then took the two pieces of paper. She went to put them in her pocket and scowled when she found that the sweatpants had no pockets, she passed them to Fluttershy who folded them with one hand before putting them in her pants pocket. The two girls slowly walked to the front entrance of the hospital hand-in-hand. Standing by the front door with nervous looks on their faces were Mr. and Mrs. Shy, Zephyr stood looking at a bouquet of fake flowers and scoffed, making some kind of comment that Sunset couldn't quite hear.

After getting into the car with the Shy family, Sunset leaned against the door and laid her head against the window. A headache was forming behind her eyes and she felt nauseous as a migraine began setting in. She wasn't sure why she was getting a migraine, she just wished she could turn it off. Panic began ramping up, which made the migraine even worse and Sunset rubbed her temples with her fingers to make it stop.

Sunset groaned as the migraine began throbbing and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Rocking back and forth, she couldn't tell if the car was moving or not as between the migraine and the panic, her mind filled with fog. She could hear Fluttershy, Zephyr and Mr. and Mrs. Shy discussing something, but their words were all muffled and garbled like they were talking a hundred miles away through a pile of blankets.

Sunset clenched her eyes shut tightly and grasped the side of her head. The only sounds she could clearly hear was the blood rushing in her ears and the only clear thought she could latch on to was her begging for her head to stop hurting. Suddenly her esophagus felt like it shortened by two feet and her stomach was about to slingshot out of her mouth. Sunset clumsily fumbled with the switch to lower the window. She barely got her head out of the window as what felt and tasted like raw sewage sprayed out of her mouth and nose.

Sunset flopped back in the seat, her body trembling and her head still throbbing, at least she didn't feel sick anymore. Gasping for air, she could still taste the acidic bile in her mouth and smell it in her sinuses, but at least for now it covered up the stink of the sweat of her attackers and covered up the taste of the polluting slime on her tongue.

Sunset's skeleton nearly leapt out of her body as Fluttershy laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I just feel a little sick.", Sunset replied, "When we get to your house, I just want to lay down."

Fluttershy nodded as she passed Sunset a tissue and a bottle of water. As Sunset swished the water around in her mouth and spat it out the window, Fluttershy held her phone down low, giving a few quick texts.

"Kill me now.", Sunset groaned as she tossed the used tissue into a plastic bag that Mrs. Shy had provided. Her eyes fluttered shut from the combination of exhaustion and the migraine.

Fluttershy watched concerned as she friend slumped into a fitful nap. Sunset laid slack in the seat, her head slumping forward. Sunset's face twisted up in agony as her head shook back and forth, red and blonde stripped hair flopping back and forth. "No.", she mumbled, "Stop. Please *mumble mumble* me."

Fluttershy slowly reached a hand out to nudge her friend, she hesitated, her hand stopping short. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sunset shot upright screaming, her arms flailing wildly. Everybody in the car flinched in pain or jammed their fingers into their ears and Mr. Shy jammed his foot down on the brake pedal, sending everyone lurching forward. In a blind panic Sunset tried stand up and run, but the seat belt held her in place. The panicking girl thrashed, gibbered and screamed as she struggled against the heavy strap meant to hold one in place in the event of a crash.

Pulling his fingers out of his ears, Zephyr said, "Why does she have to...OW!"

Fluttershy slapped her brother across his mouth as she quickly unsnapped her seat belt and crawled across the seat. "Sunset!", the normally demure girl called out, "Look at me! Look...at...me!"

Through the haze of pure animalistic fear Sunset heard her friend calling to her. Her vision faded in from the narrow pinpoint created by panic to the narrow tunnel and she made out a pair of bright blue eyes, full of concern peering from behind a curtain of pink hair. Her hands were hurting long with her head.

Once Fluttershy recognized that Sunset was coming down from the pure panicked state, she began going through the overly exaggerated breathing exercises her psychologist had taught help her deal with her anxiety attacks. "Just breath with me..", she took in a deep breath through her nose, "...in through the nose...", she pursed her lips as she blew out, "...out through the mouth." She continued the mantra along with the over-exaggerated breathing to help terrified girl.

Sunset felt foolish as she came down from the panicked state. Looking down at her trembling hands, she was appalled at what she saw, the palms were red and raw from struggling with the seat belt, fingernail tips were ragged from clawing at it and a couple were nearly torn away. "I'm sorry for scaring everyone.", she said hanging her head, feeling ashamed, "I don't know hat came over me."

Mrs. Shy had turned herself completely around in the seat after unsnapping her seat belt and reaching out an arm to lay a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "It's okay sweetie. After everything that's happened, I'd be hard-pressed to be holding together half as good as you are."

"Do you want to talk about it?", Fluttershy asked.

"It was just...no.", Sunset said. When Fluttershy gave her a stern look, she would have chewed her lip if she could. "It was just a bad dream." She cast her eyes down. "I just want to get home and lay down."

"I'm here if you want to talk.", Fluttershy said as she crawled back to her set.

Zephyr huffed as his sister crawled back across him. "That goodness, your bony knees were-OWOWOWOW!" He reached down to grab is foot as his sister jammed her heel into his toes.

Sunset wrapped her arms around her shoulders s she shivered. Everyone was quiet for the rest of the ride, except for Zephyr who grumbled at Fluttershy for stomping on his toes.

The car pulled up to the Shy house and everyone got out. "I hope Pinkie's not throwing one of her surprise parties, my head is hurting and I just want to lay down.", Sunset said. Fluttershy chewed her lip, which prompted Sunset to groan. "Err...um...well...I texted her and said to make it something calm and quiet as you aren't feeling good." Sunset took in a breath to brace herself, "Let's just get this over with."

Sunset flipped the light switch on, revealing her other friends sitting at a table. Pinkie stood up from the table, tossed some confetti in the air and whispered excitedly, "Surprise!" A hastily edited banner hung over from the ceiling reading "Super duper quiet welcome back Sunset Shimmer".

"We tried tuh convince Pinkie that ya dinit want a party, but tryin' to keep her from throwin' ya one is like tryin' tuh keep the sun from a'risin'.", Applejack apologized.

"Rain-bow Dash!", Zephyr said strutting over, "You just can't keep away from me, can ya?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes in disgust. "Ugh! When are you gonna get it through your head I'm not into guys? And if I were, I sure wouldn't be into lazy, shiftless, bum-assed hipsters whose only ambition is to live off their parents." She got up and walked away from him.

Zephyr scurried over and placed his hand on the wall by the girl with the rainbow-colored hair. "Come on baby, don't be like that. Everybody knows you like me, you don't need to put a front just because your friends are here."

Rainbow gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "I swear to fuck, if you don't get away from me in the next three second, you're going to regret it!"

"Talk mean all you want, I know*GAK!*" Zephyr put a hand to his throat a split second after a cyan fist collided with it, he staggered away with tears in his eyes while trying to catch his breath.

"Consider yourself lucky that Rainbow's here to support Sunset, any other time she probably would have trounced you.", Rarity chided Zephyr as she shooed him away.

Sunset sat down at the table as Pinkie put on some music and turned the volume down so it was little more than ambiance. She didn't want to attend this party, but her pink, slightly chubby friend had put in the work and had even put in the consideration to not startle her or make her feel crowded. Sunset put on her best forced smile, "Thank you Pinkie."

"I stopped by your classes and got the teachers to give me your hmework for the past couple of weeks.", Sci-Twi said in an unsure tone, "I can help you out with it all when you're feeling better."

Sunset gave a small smirk, regardless whether it was pony mare or human girl, both Twilights were the same room. She thought about what would happen if the two of them were together in the same room, they'd probably wind up in a week long sleepless session heavily debating science, magic, philosophy and ethics. Then they'd probably spend the rest of their lives exchanging papers they've written on various subjects.

"Darlin', Ah dun think Sunset wants tuh think 'bout homework right now.", Applejack spoke up, "Heck, she prob'ly dun want to have a party right now. If'n Ah were in her shoes right now, Ah'd pob'ly wanna go lay down and collect mahself for a little but."

Sunset looked over at Applejack for a moment, then to Fluttershy, then to the rest of her friends. "I can sit here and enjoy the party for a few minutes. Pinkie did go all out to make sure I'm not overwhelmed."

Pinkie smiled from ear to ear as she made a soft "squee" sound and laid a cak and some ice cream out on the table. "Let's get this party started!", she whispered in an excited tone.

"Uh, Pinkie? You know I can't open my mouth to eat any cake, right?", Sunset asked as she parted her lips showing the heavy braces holding her jaw shut.

"I came prepared for that.", Pinkie said happily and pulled out a blender.

"I'll go get us some cups.", Fluttershy said, "Twilight, could you help me?"

"Sure Fluttershy!", Sci-Twi responded in a chipper tone.

The two girls walked into the kitchen and Fluttershy opened the cabinet to pull out some cups, she turned to the purple-haired girl, "Twilight, would you help me tell the girl that we need to keep an eye on Sunset?"

Sci-Twi took some of the cups from Fluttershy and asked, "We were planning on doing that. IS something wrong?"

"She's in a real bad place and I'm worried she might do something...extreme...to herself."

"Of course she's in a bad way. I wasn't brutally attacked, raped and left for dead by Long Pass, all he did was pin me against the wall and shove his fingers into me against my will and that has left me feeling a little shaken up."

"No Twilight...", Fluttershy snapped as she turned to face her friend, "...b-back at the hospital when she was getting dressed I heard her call herself a whore. I think somewhere in her mind she's blaming herself for what happened and that's scaring me. We need to keep a very close eye on her. Tell Miss...I mean Doctor Cadance about this, m-maybe with both her help and ours we can help pull Sunset through this."

Sci-Twi chewed her lip in concern as the two girls rejoined the quiet party.

Pinkie grabbed one of the cups and placed it next to the blender as she plopped a couple of scoops of ice cream, a slice of cake and poured some milk into it. She pressed the pulse button several times until the ingredients blended into a cake shake. The slightly pudgy girl scraped the shake into the cup with a spatula, shoved a straw into the thick concoction and slid it to Sunset.

Picking up the cup, Sunset placed her lips around the end of the straw and began to try and suck up the thick shake. Her eyes went wide as she felt like her face was going to implode from how thick the shake was. She pulled away from the straw and placed a hand where the break in her lower jawbone was. "It's really thick Pinkie." She stirred the shake around with the straw to try and break it up. After several minutes she managed to thin it out a bit and tried sucking some of the shake through the straw.

Sunset coughed as the cloying sweetness of the shake caught her off guard. "Wow!", she croaked between gasps, "That's really sweet!" She pulled more of the shake through. "Does it come with a side of insulin?", she joked, receiving some chuckles from her friends, causing her to smile slightly.

Sunset looked around the table as Fluttershy and Sci-Twi quietly whispered something into the other girls' ears. She frowned slightly seeing that. They know you're a filthy whore!

Pinkie placed a box with brightly colored wrapping paper. "We all got you presents. Open mine firste! Open mine first!", she said vibrating in place, making her chipmunk cheeks jiggle.

Sunset cautiously pulled the paper from the box and pulled off the top revealing a sketch pad and some charcoal pencils. "Thank you Pinkie!"

"I know how you super duper love to draw and when I saw this, I had to get it for you!"

Rarity walked to the next room, opened a closet and pulled out something on a hanger with crinkly white paper covering it. Returning to the room, she pulled the paper off revealing an orange and black leather jacked with gold-colored piping, on the back was a stylized sunburst, half yellow, half orange. "It's not finished yet, I've still got to finish attaching the liner. Go ahead darling, try it on."

Sunset gasped as she ran her hand across the leather jacket. She pulled it off the hanger and tried it on, other than being a little stiff and lacking the liner, it was perfect. She sniffled, "Th-thank you Rarity." Tears began rolling down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands as shaking sobs poured out.

Rarity gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "What's the matter darling?"

"I-I-I don't kn-know.", Sunset croaked between sobs, "I can't...can't stop crying!" She slumped forward as her body shook with sobs.

Rarity immediately dropped the hanger and immediately squeezed her friend in tight with a hug. The other girls hurried over and surrounded Sunset in a group hug as wailing cries and incoherent, pain-filled gibbering poured out. Tears glistened in the eyes of the six girls as they held the seventh while her body shook with sobs.

after what felt like hours, Sunset's sobs finally petered out, leaving her eyes red and puffy and her throat sore. The warm group hug still surrounded her. She winced in pain as the migraine returned with a vengeance, feeling like someone had shoved an ice pick behind her eyes. "I'm not feeling to good right now and I think I'm going to lay down for a bit."

The six girls broke from the group hug nodding. "Rainbow, why don't you show Sunset up to the guest room while I help clean up down here."

Rainbow nodded and she began guiding Sunset to the stairs. "Oh, here Rarity, you are probably going to want this back.", Sunset said as she started to pull off the jacket. "Keep it darling, I can finish it later. You just go lay down and focus on feeling better."

Sunset frowned at the concerned looks on her friends faces, she especially frowned at the now sagging cotton candy pink-colored bouffant on Pinkie's head starting to deflate. She turned her face away ashamed. "I'm sorry for ruining everyone's fun."

Pinkie blew one of the sagging curls from her face. "Don't worry about it, everyone had fun and we all hope you feel better soon. Besides, I've got to get back to Sugar Cube corner to babysit the twins tonight and then when I get back home, I've got to give boulder his bath while Maude is sick."

Sunset slowly made her way up the stairs while Rainbow helped her. Partway up the stairs the migraine increased in a magnitude of intensity, feeling like a shard of super-heated glass was being jammed behind her eyes and wiggled around. She her hands to her temples. "Ngh!" Her feet faltered and one caught the edge of a step, causing her to stumble.

Rainbow reached out and caught Sunset in her strong, athletic arms, bracing her. "Whoa! Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?"

"It's just a migraine Rainbow. Thanks anyway, I just want to lay down."

Rainbow shifted Sunset's weight so that she could brace her friend. "Just lean on me and I'll get you to the room."

The two girls walked up the stairs and down the hallway, Rainbow using her strong, slender athletic form to brace Sunset. Reaching out a cyan hand, Rainbow pushed open the door to the guest bedroom and helped Sunset to the bed. Sunset slid out of the jacket and kicked off the flip-flops, then laid on the bed, curling up in the fetal position, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "Thanks a million Rainbow." "Eh, it was nothin'. What are friend for?"

Rainbow quietly backed out of the room and gently closed the door. Sunset reached out and flipped on the lamp by the bed. The light made her migraine throb even more, but the light pushed away the shadows where they hid, stalking her. Her heart began pounding and she could the blood rushing in her ears. The foul stink of their sweat filled the room making her almost gag, she could taste the polluting slime on her tongue and on her skin, she could feel the toxic, corrupting poison spreading inside her, killing anything pure in her. "Please stop.", she whimpered as tears dripped onto the pillow.

Sunset laid on the bed for hours, rubbing her temples with her fingers, trying to will the migraine, foul stink, disgusting taste and slimy feeling to all stop. A soft knock at the door drew her attention, lifting her head, Mrs. Shy opened the door slowly. "Sunset? Do you want to join us for dinner?"

Sunset reluctantly rose from the bed and followed Mrs. Shy down the stairs into the small dinning room where the smells of cooking food met them both. Mrs. Shy paused at a small mirror on the wall and checked her hair. Sunset scoffed in disgust at the fear and shame-filled eyes reflected in the mirror.

Sunset sat at the table with the Shy family and Mr. Shy placed a bowl in front of her, then ladled some rich vegetable broth with tiny bits of mashed-up carrots, potatoes, leeks and other vegetables mixed in. Picking up the spoon, she looked around the table seeing the Shy family also eating the same soup. "Y-you didn't have to do this for me, I would have been fine with a canned shake on the couch."

"Nonsense.", Mrs. Shy said kindly, "As long as you're here, you can think of yourself as family."

"Family" The word echoed in Sunset's mind. She sat there for a moment contemplating the word, once it stopped echoing around her head, she felt something on the edges of her mind, it wasn't the fear and panic that had been plaguing her for the past week, though that was still there, it was something else entirely, it was something more insidious, something gray. It lingered at the edges of her mind, the fear and panic holding it back. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and scooped up some f the broth, slurping the best she could with the wired shut jaw.
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Sunset had been staying at the Shy house for three days now. She sat on the bed, knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, fighting off sleep, not wanting to see the nightmares again. She was exhausted, the migraines wouldn't stop, the panic attacks made her feel drained. Her stomach gurgled and growled, she had not eaten dinner that night as she didn't feel particularly hungry. Her head felt heavy, eyelids felt like they were made of solid lead. Her head slowly drooped as her eyelids slowly slipped closed. Her head shot up with a snort and she began rocking back and forth in bed. "Not going to fall asleep! Not going to fall asleep! Not going to fall asleep!", she half-muttered half-sang to herself.

Sunset was standing naked in an alleyway. Hands reached out holding her in place. Fists rained down on her face and body, filing her with intense pain. Bodies thrust themselves onto her, violating every hole and filling her with slime. She tried to fight back, tried to run, tried to scream, but found her body tangled up with the hands and bodies.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOO! LET ME GOOOO! HELP MEEEEEEEE!"

Fluttershy snapped up from a dead sleep at the sound of Sunset screaming for help. Stumbling half awake, she hurried into the hallway and flung the door to the guest bedroom open. Sunset was tangled up in the blankets and sheets, thrashing around in a blind panic, screaming bloody murder. "Sunset! Shh! Shh!", she called out as she tried to free her panicking friend from the blankets. A sharp pain at her temple was followed by blackness.

Fluttershy felt a cool pressure on her face as the world slowly faded back in. Her father was leaning over her, wiping a cool, damp rag across her face. "Dad? What happened?"

"Sunset woke up screaming in a panic attack. She was tangled up in the sheets and when you tried to get her loose, she accidentally caught you with an elbow."

Fluttershy groaned as she sat up. She shook off the last of the cobwebs. "How long was I out for?"

"Just a couple of minutes.", Mr. Shy replied.

Soft whimpering caught Fluttershy's attention and she turned her head seeing Mrs. Shy trying to comfort Sunset who was curled up in the corner, knees pressed to her chin. Fear-filled light cyan eyes met concern-filled sapphire blue eyes. Rising slowly to her feet, she walked slowly over to help calm down her friend. Sunset shrieked in terror and ran in a pony-like manor across the floor. The only other time Fluttershy had seen someone run like that was when the Twilight from the other world first came through.

Sunset looked at Fluttershy through her mane full of fear as she huddled against the side of the bed. Her hooves trembled under. The girl with the butter-yellow skin, long pink hair and sapphire eyes lowered herself to the floor and crawled across the floor towards her. Slowly Sunset began to come back to the world as Fluttershy reached out for her, she wasn't a pony over on this side, she was a girl over here and her friend was saying something to her, but the blood rushing in her ears was drowning out all sounds.

Fluttershy reached Sunset and laid a hand gently on her arm. "Sunset? Can you hear me?" The dam broke and fat tears rolled down Sunset's cheeks, she grabbed Fluttershy in a tight hug, squeezing her. "Help me Fluttersy!", she whispered, "They're coming to hurt me!" Sunset's body shook with heaving sobs. "THEY KEEP HURTING ME!" Her body collapsed into Fluttershy's, the panic had robbed her of all her strength and energy, she shook as she bawled.

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut as tears trickled down her cheeks and she squeezed Sunset back tightly in the hug. "I'm here and I'll protect you. I won't let anyone hurt you." She opened her eyes slightly seeing her parents looking at her with concern and he gestured with a finger that she had this. The two girls held each other through the night, Fluttershy humming soft tunes to help Sunset fight off the demons in her head.
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As the first rays of morning crept through the gaps in the curtains, Fluttershy still held the trembling form of Sunset despite her own tiredness and exhaustion. She slumped forward slightly as her eyes drifted close, immediately she snapped open, she swore she'd sit here with her friend and protect her from her own demons.

Sunset groaned as she leaned away from Fluttershy, the evil migraine had returned many times for the night, jamming shards of molten metal behind her eyes and it had returned again this morning. Pushing away from the embrace, she whispered, "Thank you Fluttershy. I've asked too much of you."

Fluttershy shook her head, "Don't say that Sunset, you're hurting and scared. If the roles were reversed, you'd be the one doing this. I'm happy to help you." She groaned as her tired muscles ached and she stretched. "You can get a shower of you want while I find us some breakfast."

Sunset nodded as she rose from the floor and limped slightly down the hallway, her leg was asleep from sitting on the floor for so long. Standing in front of the sink, she leaned on the counter. Her eyes came to rest on the razor sitting in the little slot above the sink. Almost as if it had a mind of its own, her hand reached slowly for it. Thoughts of opening her wrists to end the pain buzzed through her mind and she had to will her hand to stop. It hung in the air trembling as if her hand and mind warred with each other and she reached up with her other hand to pull it away. "You disgust me!", she snarled at her reflection.

Stripping down, Sunset turned on the water in the shower. Stepping in, she picked up the bar of soap and a washcloth and began scrubbing herself and scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing. "Ngh!", she groaned as her migraine throbbed again, "Can't get clean! Can't get clean! Can't get clean!" She scrubbed her body harder and harder, a groan of frustration leapt from her lips as she tossed the washcloth down and lathered up her hand and started scrubbing her body with them. "Can't get clean! Can't get clean!"

Fluttershy staggered into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee on the counter. Pouring herself a cup, she took a few gulps without adding any of her usual cream and sugar. She sighed as the hot, dark caffeinated liquid entered her stomach and shoved away the exhaustion. She became aware of voices talking in the house, two were her parents, one was Sci-Twi and the last was Cadance. She staggered into the living room still sipping on the black coffee, sure enough Sci-Twi and Cadance were sitting on the couch.

Cadance looked up and smiled when she saw Fluttershy enter into the room. "Just the girl I want to see. I hear that Sunset's having some trouble?"

"She's not in a good place right now.", Fluttershy answered around the cup of coffee.

Cadance frowned slightly. "Tell me what you've seen."

"When I brought her some clothes the other day before we brought her home from the hospital I heard her call herself a whore in the bathroom.", Fluttershy said before gulping down the last half of the black coffee in one dreadful swallow, "She barely sleeps and when she does, she wakes up screaming. Though she hasn't said anything, she's been having bad migraines, last night was pretty bad, after she woke up screaming, she begged me to stay with her, that they were hurting her." She turned to take the cup to the kitchen. "Oh and before I forget, when she thinks no one is looking, she glares at her own reflection like she hates what she sees."

Cadance rose from the couch and walked towards the stairs as she gestured for Sci-Twi to stay put. "Thank you Fluttershy. Where is she now?"

"I uh...think she's still in the shower. I can still hear it running."

Cadance gave Fluttershy a thankful smile before walking up the stairs. She followed the sound of running water and as she reached out to knock on the bathroom door, pausing as she heard something over the running water.

"Can't get clean! Can't get clean! Ngh! Can't get clean!"

Flinging the door open, Cadance rushed over to the shower and flung the curtain open. What she saw made her blood run cold, Sunset, her skin bright red and raw from furiously scrubbing was continually repeating the same mantra, stopping only to rub her temples as she grunted in pain.

Reaching out a hand, Cadance turned off the shower head. Sunset was broken out of her near-fugue state and locked eyes with Cadance. Tear shined in her eyes as her voice croaked, "I-I-I can't get clean! The filth won't come off! Ngh!" Hands shot to her temples as the migraine throbbed again.

Author's Note

This chapter is going to be the first of three parts where Sunset's mind is going to drift into a bleak place before she starts getting better, so strap in my fellow bronies and pegasisters.

thank you all and I hope you all enjoy.

Feel free to leave a comment, criticisms, throw shade or pure bane.