Morning came too fast.

When I woke up, sunset was the first thing that caught my attention. Her hair was glistening like fire in the gentle light of the early morning as she remained curled up next to me.

We got up, got dressed, exchanged a few sleepy words, and then headed to school.

Straight into a warzone.

Anon-a-Miss was working hard. Too hard. Whispers, laughter, and rage were all jumbled together in a poisonous storm of gossip, and the hallways were noisier than normal. I observed individuals squinting and browsing through their phones. Sunset also saw it, I knew. I could sense the tension flowing from her, even though she kept her head down.

It wasn’t her.

It couldn’t be her.

She wasn’t thinking straight last night, but she wouldn’t have had time to post anything. No way.

I heard the definite clatter of something striking the floor as I opened my locker in an attempt to assuage my uneasiness. I turned just in time to see Rarity's hand shaking over her phone, which was lying there. Her mouth was open a little, her face frozen in shock.

Sunset noticed it too.

"Rarity? What's wrong?" Sunset asked, stepping closer.

That’s when Rarity snapped.

With a furious expression, she lunged at Sunset not to hit her, but in that aggressive, furious, girl way, where everything in her posture screamed attack.

I didn’t think.

I just moved.

I stepped between them, grabbing Rarity before she could do something she’d regret. She struggled in my grip, eyes burning with rage.

"What the fuck are you doing, Rari—"

"CHECK MYSTABLE!" she screamed, shaking against my hold.

Sunset and I exchanged a look.

"What?" I asked, but she wasn’t listening anymore.

Applejack with her expression beeing already dark pulled out her phone and scrolled through the site. And then, she stopped. Her fingers tightened around the phone like she wanted to crush it.

“There” she said, voice sharp with disbelief.

Sunset and I leaned in.

A new post.

A photo.

Fluttershy. Next to me. Her hands grabbing my pants, trying to wipe the spilled apple juice away.

And the caption:

"The shy girl getting into action :O"

No.

No, no, no.

"Who the hell would post this?"

Beside me, Sunset drew a trembling breath and gazed at the screen as if it were surreal. However, Rarity's voice pierced the atmosphere before she could even respond.

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER?! SHE MADE THAT PHOTO!"

Silence.

I let go of Rarity, stepping back like I had been burned.

My reality cracked at the seams.

I turned to Sunset.

She looked just as lost as I felt.

This didn’t make sense. Why would she post this when things were finally getting better?

I just started getting my memories back. Were they lies?

No.

No, something was wrong here.

This fucking reeks.

But the girls? They weren’t seeing what I was seeing.

Fluttershy didn’t say a word. She just turned and ran with her face hidden behind hair.

No one stopped her.

Sunset instinctively reached out, her fingers lifting slightly as if she wanted to tell her to stay. But she didn’t say anything.

What could she say?

And that’s when I made my choice.

No more second-guessing. No more switching paths.

I believe in Sunset.

I stepped beside her, standing tall, facing the others.

"Girls. Think about it. There's no reason for her to post it. She—"

"There is a reason."

Rainbow’s voice sliced through my sentence.

She was shaking with anger.

"Her ass got burned when you started liking Fluttershy more than her" Rainbow spat, pointing at Sunset like she was something disgusting.

Sunset flinched.

Rainbow didn’t stop.

"She wanted to eliminate her enemy. Like she used to."

I felt something ugly rise in my chest.

"Rainbow, stop—"

"SHE'S A WHORE!"

Sunset recoiled like she had been slapped.

Sunset didn't defend herself.

She just... stood there.

Maybe she knew it didn’t matter what she say. They wouldn’t believe her.

I could see it in their faces. The doubt. The cracks in what little trust she had left.

They had already decided.

Anon-a-Miss was Sunset.

End of story.

But for me?

For me, this wasn’t the end.

I knew something was wrong.

And I wasn’t going to let Sunset stand alone.

I looked at them—Applejack. Rarity. Rainbow Dash. Pinkie.

The people who had sworn they’d be her friends. The ones who had laughed with her, cried with her, fought beside her. The ones who had told her she was forgiven.

"Why?" I asked "Why do you suddenly think all the evil is her? You were fucking friends a moment ago!"

Silence.

Pinkie was the first to react. Her usually bouncy hair had fallen straighter, limper. She looked... lost. "You're right..." she mumbled. "We were."

Then she laughed.

A bitter, empty laugh that felt wrong coming from her.

"Haha, good one. She were one of us... Magic of friendship. What a joke."

The others turned to look at her, eyes wide, like they hadn’t expected that from Pinkie.

Applejack’s jaw clenched. "How much longer we gotta suffer 'cause of her?"

Sunset flinched.

"I want to believe her," Applejack continued. "I really do. But the evidence says otherwise. She took that photo. She was there. She’s a suspect... You need to see it too."

No.

I refused to see it that way.

"No. I don't believe it. Someone could’ve hacked her phone. Anon-a-Miss is good at this, remember?"

Rainbow scoffed, crossing her arms. "Oh, cut the crap."

Her eyes burned with fury, with certainty.

"You expect us to believe Anon-a-Miss just perfectly timed a hack the second she took that photo? She's not Anon-a-Miss? Fine. Then she's working with them."

She stepped toward Sunset, and I moved before I even thought.

I shoved her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

One more step, and she'd regret it.

Something dark coiled in my chest.

For a second, the air felt heavy. The faintest, flickering trace of dark energy curled around my fingers—like a warning.

Rainbow saw it.

And laughed.

"Oh-ho-ho. So you’re two in this, huh?" she sneered. "Who would’ve thought? Maybe the Memory Stone was a lie too."

Her expression changed, turning serious. She straightened, lifting her hand in a sharp, cutting gesture like a judge delivering a sentence.

"How are we supposed to trust you?" she demanded.

"Your time has come."

Her words felt final.

"Our trust ran out."

The others nodded.

"Now the time has come to leave you."

Her eyes burned with a mix of fury and something worse.

Disgust.

"You relied on trust."

Her voice was cold.

"And it died out."

Then, she turned.

"We’re leaving."

She looked at the others Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and they followed.

"They’re not our problem now," Rainbow said. "Forget the slumber parties. Forget everything. We’re done."

They turned away.

Just like that.

"You fucking bitch."

The words ripped out of me.

Rainbow stopped in her tracks.

"That’s it?" I growled. "That’s all you got? After everything Sunset told me you’ve been through? After everything she did to prove herself?! You’re throwing her away over a stupid post?!"

Rainbow turned.

Her eyes blazed with fury.

And she swung.

I saw it coming.

I ducked, the punch missing my chin by inches.

Before she could pull back, I hit her first.

My fist connected with her face, sending her stumbling back.

She caught herself, hand flying to her chin.

And then, she spat onto the floor.

A drop of blood mixed in with the saliva.

Rainbow wiped her mouth and grinned.

A sick, twisted grin.

"That’s the real you," she spat. "That’s who you really are. That’s why you two are together."

"Fuck you both."

Applejack caught her before she could fall again.

I saw it.

Tears.

In her eyes.

In all their eyes.

Even mine.

But Sunset?

Sunset didn’t cry.

Sunset broke.

I heard it.

The sound of something shattering, not outside, but inside.

Her knees buckled. She crumpled to the ground, her hands shaking as she clutched her arms, as if trying to hold herself together.

I dropped down in front of her, kneeling.

She didn’t look at me.

She just stared ahead, hollow, empty, like everything inside her had been ripped out.

And I knew.

Right then, I knew.

This was it.

The moment where she lost everything.

Sunset…

I looked at her the strongest person I knew.

And now she was nothing.

A hollow shell, shattered into a million pieces, with no one left to pick them up.

"We’ll fix it. We always d—"

And then it hit me.

A sharp, searing pain in my skull.

Another shock.

Another fragment of memory slamming back into place.

Flashes of moments, of us.

The fights. The laughter. The victories. The failures.

And through it all—her.

Sunset.

The one who never let go. The one who stayed even when I lost myself.

Not everything came back, but it was enough to remind me that no matter what happened, I wasn’t letting go either.

"Sunset…"

I reached for her, trying to lift her back to her feet.

But she couldn’t stand.

Her legs gave out.

Before I could say anything else, a voice cut through the silence.

"What is happening here?"

Principal Celestia.

And beside her, Discord.

Celestia’s expression was one of shock and concern. Discord, however, just watched. He had been there the whole time—seeing everything—but he hadn’t stepped in.

Because he valued this moment.

He wanted to see how it would break us.

She rushed forward, kneeling in front of Sunset. Her hands found Sunset’s shoulders, gentle but firm, her eyes were full of"

Worry. Fear and Love.

"What happened?" she asked me.

"The girls left us."

Her eyes widened.

"Because of some stupid fucking post."

I could hear my voice shaking, but I didn’t care.

"That’s all it took to break us. That’s all it fucking took."

Celestia looked heartbroken.

Together, we lifted Sunset—her body limp, her breath ragged—and helped her into Celestia’s office.

The couch.

She barely sat down before she collapsed into tears.

I stood there.

I didn’t know what to do.

Discord stood beside me, just as lost.

But Celestia?

She knew.

She moved with the quiet, patient grace of a mother.

She sat beside Sunset, pulling her close, whispering things neither of us could hear.

Sunset sobbed into her chest, clutching onto Celestia.

"Why?" Sunset choked. "Why is this happening to me?"

Celestia stroked her hair, whispering soft reassurances.

"I didn’t do anything."

Her voice cracked.

"I didn’t do anything!!"

She clung to Celestia like a drowning person.

"I’m just in this storm, and I don’t know how to get out."

I couldn’t take it.

I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around her.

I held her close, tighter than ever, as if that alone would keep her from falling apart completely.

"I still have you," she whispered.

Her voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear it.

"Despite everything. Despite your memory being gone.*"

She let out a shaky chuckle, wet with tears.

"Why do you always stay?"

"Maybe it’s destiny."

She giggled. Actually giggled,

And then she hugged me back.

Her tears soaked into my shirt.

I held her. I held her like I was holding on to the last piece of sanity in this goddamn nightmare.

I didn’t know what to do.

But I knew one thing.

This wasn’t over.

Some of my memories were back—still only 9%—but I didn’t need all of them to know that I would do anything to protect her.

To prove to everyone that this wasn’t her.

I looked at Discord.

He had been quiet this whole time. Watching. Waiting.

But now?

I saw it.

The opportunity.

I extended my hand.

He raised an eyebrow, grinning in that mischievous, devilish way.

Because he knew.

He knew what I was about to do.

"It’s time to play," he said, reaching out.

His fingers wrapped around mine.

And I let him take it.

Just a little.

Only a little.

But I felt it—the pull, the siphon, the flow of magic being drawn from me to him.

His dissonant eyes flashed.

"Ughhh," he groaned, stretching. "Only this much?"

He cracked his neck, shaking out his limbs, his smirk widening.

"Fine. Anon-a-Miss..." His voice darkened, his mismatched pupils glowing. "I’ll take care of him. I’ll do whatever needs to be done. Even—"

"Kill him if necessary."

"NO!"

Celestia’s voice rang out like a gunshot.

Sunset looked up, horrified.

"NO!" she screamed. "That’s too far!"

I sighed. "Okay, okay, maybe that’s too far."

But then I glanced back at Discord.

And I gave him a wink.

He smirked.

Because we both knew the truth.

I wasn’t taking it back.

He knew what had to be done.

He didn’t laugh this time.

He just nodded once and vanished.

And the game began.

The game where we played all our cards.

And I wanted to go with him.

I wanted to follow Discord into the night, to hunt down Anon-a-Miss, to feel his skull crack beneath my hands. I wanted to drag him out into the open, to show him the wrath of someone who had lost everything.

I wanted to bring his head to Sunset.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

Because I still didn’t know how to use my magic.

I knew it was there, lingering just beneath my skin like a pulse that had been severed and left bleeding. I could feel it inside me, the weight of something ancient, something powerful. But it was out of reach—blurred, locked away behind the fractures in my mind.

And if they had the Memory Stone…

If they used it again—if they twisted my memories even further, if they turned me into one of Anon-a-Miss’s allies…

Then it would be over.

Sunset would be alone.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

So, for now, I stayed behind.

For now, I watched.

For now… I let Discord handle it.

Despite his chaotic nature, despite his love of games, Discord was something more than just a trickster. He was primordial right? Older than time itself, a being who had seen the rise and fall of gods, of civilizations, of entire realities.

If anyone was going to handle this job, it would be him.

And now?

Now that Fluttershy had been hurt?

Now that someone had dared to break something he cared about?

It was over for them.

I could see it in his mismatched eyes.

The same thing I felt boiling inside of me rage.

Anon-a-Miss started this game.

And we were going to end it.

I didn’t care about what Discord had promised me.

I didn’t care about the deal we made.

I only cared about one thing.

I turned my head to look at Sunset.

At her torn, broken expression.

At the girl who had dedicated her entire life to making things right.

And yet, in the end, it only took a few words on a screen to turn everyone against her.

I would remember.

Even if my mind was fractured, even if my memories were buried in the dark, I would remember her.

And I would never let this happen again.

My hands clenched into fists. I could feel my nails digging into my palms, hard enough that I swore I could feel the skin splitting.

And then something dark moved inside me.It spread through my veins like poison, twisting, pulsing, clawing at my soul like something that had been waiting to be fed.

My breath grew heavy.

And all I could think about was blood.

His blood.

Whoever was behind Anon-a-Miss—whoever had dedicated their life to torturing everyone but themselves—

I wanted them dead.

Not beaten.

Not broken.

Dead.

I wanted them to suffer.

I wanted them to feel everything Sunset was feeling right now.

To feel the weight of betrayal crushing them.

To feel the knife of loneliness carving into their chest.

To feel the way their soul would shatter when they realized that no one was coming to save them.

I wanted to hear their screams.

I wanted to watch the fear in their eyes.

Because they deserved it.

They deserved to be hunted.

They deserved to be the ones begging for help while everyone else just watched.

Sunset looked at me, worried.

"Your eyes…" she whispered. "They’re… different."

I swallowed hard, trying to calm myself down.

Trying to suppress the darkness creeping into my thoughts.

But it was still there.

It would always be there.

I glanced back at where Discord had disappeared.

For the first time, I believed in him.

Because he would finish this.

Something like Discord would get the job done.

Wouldn’t he?

Wouldn’t he bring Anon-a-Miss down, tear them apart, make them feel the pain they deserved?

But then, warm hands cupped my cheeks, pulling me back.

"Hey… hey."

Sunset.

Her thumbs brushed against my skin,wiping away the sweat I hadn’t even realized had formed. I blinked, my vision still swimming in that dark haze, my thoughts still spiraling into violence, vengeance, blood.

She was still crying. And yet, despite everything, she was worried about me.

"Remember what I told you? If you overuse it, it’ll consume you again."

I swallowed hard. She meant… that part of me.

The one that was itching to tear the world apart.

The one I could feel lurking beneath my skin, waiting for an excuse to take over.

I should have reassured her.

But instead, I just laughed.

I didn’t even know why I did it. Maybe I wanted to convince myself that this wasn’tas bad as it looked. Maybe I just wanted her to stop worrying about me and focus on herself.

Or maybe…

Maybe it just felt like something I would have done.

I leaned in…

And kissed her.

On the cheek. Duh on lips was to much for me

Her entire body went stiff, her breath hitched

I pulled back slightly, watching her reaction.

Her eyes were wide.

Her face was flushed.

"You—" her voice cracked. "You really just kissed me?"

I smirked.

"Yeah."

She blinked.

"And… in front of Principal Celestia?"

…Oh, fuck.

I turned my head slowly.

Celestia was still sitting on the couch, right on the other side of Sunset.

She was watching us.

I could feel the amusement radiating off her.

Sunset and Celestia giggled.

Sunset wiped at her eyes, trying to pull herself together.

"The old you…" she whispered, shaking her head. "The old you would totally do something like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

In a voice so small, so fragile, she whispered—

"I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too…"

I felt those words.

She had already lost so much.

Her friends.

Her trust.

Her entire world.

And yet…

Despite everything, she still had me.

And I—I was trying, wasn’t I?

Trying to be what she needed.

Trying to be the person I used to be, even if I didn’t remember how.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.

She melted into me.

I ran my fingers through her hair, whispering, "I’m still here, Sunset."

For a moment, it felt like nothing had changed.

Like we weren’t standing in the wreckage of everything.

Like she wasn’t on the verge of breaking all over again.

Like I wasn’t still missing most of my memories.

And yet, despite all of that, I knew one thing for certain.

I would protect her.

No matter what.

Because I believed in her.

I trusted her.

…Didn’t I?

A chill ran down my spine.

A whisper at the edge of my thoughts.

A warning I couldn’t quite hear.

Something lurking in the shadows of the future.

I shoved the feeling away.

Because right now, I had one job.

To keep Sunset from falling apart.

To remind her that she wasn’t alone.

And if that meant pretending I remembered what our relationship used to be, then I’d do it.

Even if it hurt.

Even if something in my gut told me that…

One day, she’d lose me too.

Author's Note

Hello, hello, shorter chapter again, hm but everything i needed to do is her, next one will show how discord did his job, and oopsie no spoilers, but a chaos entity would never lost right? The anon-a-miss is just a human, a god losing to human haha that's good unless... Have fun reading