The sun rose up high above the sleeping city of Canterlot. Sunset was just making her way downstairs to get breakfast for herself. Seeing that her parents were gone, she sat alone in the living room. Turning on the TV, she flipped through several channels before selecting the weather channel.

“Good morning and happy Saturday. Today, we're looking at a high of forty-six degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of ten degrees,” the weatherman said. Sunset wrinkled her nose at the announcement but smiled when she looked out the window to see light snowfall.

Two days had passed since Sunset had been arrested. All the teen wanted more than anything was a friend to talk to, yet she felt so alone and so abandoned. Finishing her breakfast, Sunset washed and put away her dishes, then headed back upstairs, returning downstairs a few minutes later, fully dressed. She left her parents a note and headed outside.

Looking up and feeling the cold air on her face, she closed her eyes, saying to herself, “I can really connect with this weather. The cold feels good yet sad at the same time.”

Heading down the street, she walked for an hour before stopping in front of a window that had lots of flowers in it. Looking in the window Sunset saw a man buying flowers, then watched as he handed the flowers to someone that was next to him. The warm scene caused Sunset to walk away in a huff.

Getting further down the street, she stopped when she heard, “Mew.”

“What was that?” Sunset muttered to herself.

As if in answer, she again heard, “Mew.”

Sunset began to look around, hearing the soft but noticeable meowing around her. Her eyes fell on a sewer grate. Walking up to it, she peered down in between the grates to see two deep, sky-blue eyes staring back up at her. “Mew,” the little creature cried out. Sunset scrunched her eyebrows together, saying as she stared at the little fellow below her, “How did you get in there, kitty?”

Looking across the street, Sunset saw a hardware store. She looked back at the little cat that had somehow fallen into the sewer below her. Sunset knelt down, saying softly to the little kitten, “You stay there. I’ll be back in a few seconds. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out...somehow.”

Getting up, Sunset headed over to the hardware store, making sure to look both ways before crossing the street. Entering the store, she smiled to a clerk, asking him, “Excuse me, where do you stock crowbars?”

The clerk looked at Sunset, then smiled back warmly, replying, “Go to aisle two. They should be halfway down the aisle on your right.”

“Thank you.” Getting to the aisle a few moments later, Sunset looked through the different crowbars, selecting the biggest one she could find. Taking out her wallet, she made sure she had enough money for it thinking to herself, “Alright, this should pry that grate up. Then, I can get the little cat out of there and hopefully find him a good home.”

Sunset brought the crowbar up to the cashier's desk, paid for the item, then headed back over to the street where the cat was. Sunset was just getting back to the grate when she heard again the cat cry out to her. Sunset placed the crowbar down into the grate, saying, “Don’t worry, little one. I’ll have you free in just a few min--”

“What are you doing?” a stern voice said from behind her, catching her off guard.

Sunset turned around to see a man standing behind her. He had a white goatee, beady red eyes with yellow sclera, and snow-white hair with a black streak. Sunset looked at him as the cat cried again, noticing the man had a long, brown trench coat on, mismatched boots--one brown, the other green--mismatched gloves--one thin and yellow, the other furry and tan--and glasses on the edge of his nose. He smiled a slightly toothy grin, which caused Sunset to take a step back from him. Again, he said, “What are you doing?” and again, Sunset heard the mewling of the cat, crying desperately to be freed from its entrapment in the sewer.

“There's a cat stuck in the sewer. I'm just trying to free it,” Sunset replied, gripping the crowbar tightly in her hands.

“Really? A cat, you say?” The man looked slightly confused before he too heard the cry from the grate next to him. Looking down, he saw the same sky-blue eyes that Sunset had seen. “Why, would you look at that? There really is a cat down there.”

“If you step aside, I can free him.”

“Oh, of course, my child. You go ahead and get to work. After all, Sunset Shimmer, that's why I put it there in the first place.”

Hearing his words, Sunset stepped back again, gripping the crowbar tighter in her hands as she snarled, “Why would you do this to such a defenseless, little cat? What gives you the right to do something so cruel? And how in all of Tartarus do you know my name!?”

“Why, Sunset, you wound me.” The person grinned even wider than before “I know your name because your parents wanted me to talk to you about what has been going on at your school. I am Discord, and I am here to help you, but I wanted to see for myself if you really were the bully that everyone is making you out to be. So, I set up this little test and, well--”

“Leave or I swear I will make you eat this crowbar!” Sunset slowly raised the bar up, making her warning clear as she continued, “How dare you put an innocent creature in danger just to see if I'm a bully. Get the hell out of here! Now!”

Sunset glared viciously at Discord, who simply batted his eyelashes and smiled back playfully to her. It wasn’t until they both heard another soft meow from the cat below them that both stopped what they were doing. Discord, seeing that Sunset was distracted, reached up and took the crowbar away from her.

Before she could protest or try to take it back, he quickly opened the sewer grate, reached in, and took hold of the cat, placing it in Sunset's arms. Looking down at the little kitten in her arms, Sunset said softly while petting the cat, “It's okay, little guy. I got you now. This mean person won’t do that to you again.”

Discord, hearing her words, smiled another toothy grin to her, saying as he set down the crowbar on the sidewalk next to Sunset, “Why, my dear, I have no intention of harming Lucky here. In fact, it is my hope that you will take him in and become friends with him.”

“Lucky?” Sunset looked up at Discord with a confused look on her face. “I don’t understand. How did you know I needed a friend?”

“I know many things, my dear. Come by my office when you're ready. I've already given your parents all that they need to get you to my office. We will talk then. I hope to see you around, Sunset Shimmer.” Reaching out, Discord petted Lucky on his head, continuing, “You take care of her, Lucky. She's your friend now, and I am sure she will take good care of you. Perhaps you can even help reconnect her with her friends.”

With that, Discord smiled one last time, turned around and headed down the street, leaving a purring cat and one very confused, slightly angry, teenage girl behind. Sunset, feeling a cold breeze blowing through the city, placed the cat under her shirt for warmth and headed towards the only place she knew she could get help for him.

A half-hour later, she found herself standing in front of the animal shelter where her former friend Fluttershy worked. Looking at her watch, she saw it was 11:00 in the morning. Sunset took a breath, then placed her hand onto the door of the shelter.

“I hope Fluttershy won’t be upset with me for stopping by like this, but I don’t know how to take care of you, Lucky. If I'm gonna keep you, I need her help.”

Opening the door, Sunset headed into the shelter and saw that Fluttershy was sitting at the front desk. Before she could say anything to her, Lucky cried out, “Mew.”

Fluttershy looked up from her computer, glaring at Sunset, who offered a week smile, saying, “H-Hi, Fluttershy. I was wondering if you--”

“You need to leave, Sunset. I don’t want to talk to you. You're not my friend, and clearly, you never have been.” Lucky mewled again. Fluttershy sighed, then continued, “Making fake cat noises to get my attention won’t help you, either.”

“That’s not me, Fluttershy. Hold on.”

Fluttershy watched as Sunset removed a small, black cat from underneath her shirt. Placing the cat down on the counter, Sunset said softly while stroking the cat's fur, “I found Lucky in a sewer drain not far from here. I was hoping you would be able to tell me how to take care of him.”

“You found him?”

“Yes. Look, all I want to do is find a way to take care of him. I don’t want to fight. I promise.”

“Then if you don’t want to fight, please leave. I don’t want anything to do with you. You hurt me when you posted my photo on MyStable.”

Sunset swallowed hard, something that Fluttershy picked up on. Sunset gently picked up the cat, placing him into Fluttershy's hands, saying, “I'm not Anon-a-Miss, Fluttershy. Why won’t you listen to me?”

Fluttershy walked away, placing the cat into a metal cage, then returned, staring coldly at Sunset as she replied, “Listen to you, Sunset Shimmer? I listened to you for two years while you bullied me, picked on me and made fun of me.”

“I-I--”

“No!” Sunset took a step back, seeing only anger in Fluttershy's face, which frightened her badly, “I'm not going to listen to you anymore, Sunset. You're nothing but a bully who gets off on hurting innocent people. And now, you hurt animals, too! Get out before I call the police.”

Sunset's jaw quivered slightly, and tears began to run down her cheeks. Her voice starting to break, she said, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I am so sorry for how I treated you back then. You're right, I am just a bully.”

Fluttershy raised a hand to her mouth as she watched her former friend bolt out of the shelter and run down the street, shocked at what she had seen. She had only seen big, bad Sunset cry twice before: The first time was after the Fall Formal, and the second time was when Fluttershy and her friends first accused Sunset of being Anon-a-Miss.

Fluttershy was startled to find a pattern to those tears. The first time, she and her friends had no choice but to help Twilight stop Sunset. The second time, she and her friends made Sunset cry after yelling at her and accusing her of being Anon-a-Miss. This third time, she made Sunset cry after calling her a bully and threatening her. Each time Sunset cried, Fluttershy had a hand in causing it, but this time, Sunset's tears were entirely Fluttershy's fault.

And really, what kind of big, mean bully cries that hard, that often, with tears that real?

Turning to Lucky, she took the cat out of the cage, held him in her arms, and began to cry, saying, “Oh, Lucky, what have I done?”

Next Chapter: No Compassion (Edited and Titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 15 Minutes