Trixie woke up to a bright light shining on her face. After taking a few seconds to blink and let her eyes adjust, she checked out her surroundings. She found herself in a nondescript, worn-down room, the light of a nearby lamp piercing her eyes.

"Where am I?" Trixie muttered to herself taking in her surroundings. "This isn't CHS."

She tried to get up, but her body stayed in place. Confused and worried, she looked down and discovered that she was tied to a chair.

"What the hell? Why am I tied up? What happened?"

She struggled against her bindings, trying to remember how she got there. As she worked, a door to her right began to open, and to Trixie's surprise and horror, Sunset walked in, saying, “Ah, good, you're awake. I think we need to have ourselves a little chat.”

“S-Sunset?” Trixie said in shock. "I heard you died. H-How are you alive?"

With a grin, Sunset replied, “That's not important. What is important is the information you have for me.”

“What information?” Trixie asked hesitantly.

Sunset looked Trixie dead in the eye and cut straight to the chase. “Who's Anon-a-Miss, Trixie?”

Looking down, Trixie sighed, then hesitantly said, “I....really don’t want to tell you. I saw what you did to those girls with me, and all they did was get in your way. I don't want to know what you plan to do to Anon-a-Miss. Even after all they did, they don't deserve that.”

"'They'? Anon-a-Miss is more than one person?" Sunset asked, surprised.

Trixie's eyes widened at her own gaffe, and she quickly shut her mouth, her teeth making an audible click from the force.

"Who are they, Trixie?" After a few seconds without an answer, Sunset snapped, "Trixie!"

Still, Trixie kept quiet, screwing her eyes shut to avoid making eye contact.

After a few more silent seconds, Sunset, frustrated, pinched the bridge of her nose and said, “I see. I'm gonna have to force you to talk, then.”

Trixie kept her eyes shut until she felt a shuffling at her feet. She risked a peek and was surprised to see Sunset untying her. After Sunset finished her work, she motioned for Trixie to stand. Hesitantly, Trixie stood up, only to yelp in surprise as Sunset grabbed her around the waist and slung her over her shoulder. Trixie tried struggling, but Sunset quickly yet painfully squeezed Trixie's legs, sending a silent message. Trixie stopped struggling, resigning herself to pitiful whimpers of worry as Sunset carried her out of the room and down a dirty, poorly lit hallway and into another room.

The room was devoid of furniture or decoration except for a single dining chair and a table. Not a single window interrupted the blank, faded-brown expanse of the walls. Sitting atop the table was a large, closed, wooden box, illuminated by a single dim bulb in the ceiling light fixture. Its opening was on the side of the box facing the chair. Sunset sat Trixie in the chair and retied her bindings, keeping Trixie from trying to escape.

As Sunset moved across the room and closed the door, Trixie finally spoke. "S-Sunset, what's in the box?"

"Why, it's my way to get you to talk," Sunset smirked, bearing slightly elongated canines. "Don't worry; you'll love it."

Trixie gulped and leaned away from the box, trying to guess what horrible device occupied the unassuming container. Sunset walked over and opened the side of the box, rapping on the top of the box with her knuckle. When she finished, she stood back and waited.

Trixie waited, too, squinting and trying to peer into the box to see what sat inside it, but the wan light from the ceiling did little to penetrate the darkness inside.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Trixie noticed something. It was subtle, but she swore she saw something...move inside the box. She didn't have time to think about it, however, as soon afterward, the contents of the box revealed itself.

Slowly creeping out of the box into the faint light, the creature paused a moment, flicking its tongue out to taste the surrounding air. The creature stared through slitted pupils at the motionless giant in front of it, eventually locking eyes with the immobile being and instantly recognizing the look of fear in its eyes.

The creature, never breaking eye contact, slowly slithered forward toward the giant, exposing all eight feet of its long, thick body to the stale air of the room. The creature had no difficulty using its muscles to keep its body steady as it crossed the gap between the table and the giant's shoulder.

As soon as the massive snake's head touched her shoulder, Trixie broke out of her trance and began thrashing about in terror. "Sunset, get this thing off me this instant!" she cried, trying and failing to unbalance the serpent.

Snickering behind her hand, Sunset said, "Aww, she likes you." When Trixie showed no signs of stopping her violent thrashing, Sunset warned, “Careful, Trixie. You don't want to scare her. Who knows what she'll do?” as the python began wrapping itself around Trixie's neck, baring its fangs threateningly.

Immediately, Trixie stopped moving, though she couldn't stop herself from faintly shuddering, nor could she stop her eyes from watering in fear as the snake, calming down, resumed slithering around Trixie's body, never removing itself from around her neck but keeping its body loose enough to not hurt Trixie. Finally, assured that the snake wouldn't suddenly bite or strangle her, Trixie shakily said, "S-Sunset, the snake. W-Where? How? Why?"

“Okay, first off, her name's not 'the snake', it's Kindness. And not that it's important, but I found her in the park earlier today. No idea how it got to this country, but I'm not complaining. She took an instant liking to me, and given my plans for this evening, I figured I'd find a use for her before anyone called animal control. As for why,” Sunset smirked deviously as she finished, "you and I both know that you're deathly terrified of snakes." Sunset drew out the word "deathly", though whether the implied threat was genuine or facetious, Trixie didn't know. Trixie wasn't laughing, either way.

Trixie's entire body tensed as she felt Kindness slither down her shirt and pause when it reached Trixie's hips, enjoying the warmth of the direct contact with Trixie's chest and belly. Repulsed and terrified that the cold snake was now touching her most vulnerable areas, Trixie began to cry freely, whimpering, "Sunset, get it off me. Please!"

Sunset quirked an eyebrow, saying, “Oh, come on, Trixie. Kindness isn’t that bad, is she?”

“Please, Sunset, just take it back,” Trixie replied, her tears running down her cheeks and onto Kindness's body and staining it black with her running mascara. The sudden impact made Kindness tense briefly, slightly constricting Trixie's neck, which caused Trixie to stand at the precipice of a full-blown panic attack as she tried to force herself to stay calm. Eventually, Kindness relaxed, and so did Trixie. Slightly.

Unsympathetically, Sunset said, “You know how to get me to take her back, Trixie." She approached Trixie and leaned down, bringing herself face-to-face with Trixie. "Tell me who Anon-a-Miss is.”

Sobbing, Trixie replied as her thick tears ran down her cheeks constantly enough to stop startling Kindness, “It was Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. They're Anon-a-Miss.”

Sunset paused, a deadpan look on her face. "Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle."

"Yes."

"They're Anon-a-Miss."

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Really."

After a few seconds of silence, Sunset scoffed. “Yeah, right,” she said. "Like those three would do something like that to their own sisters."

"It's true!" Trixie insisted. "Check Trixie's backpack. There's a copy of the school paper in there. That'll prove it."

Sunset stared at her for a second before saying, "Fine." Reaching down Trixie's shirt, Sunset gently took a hold of Kindness and carefully took her off of Trixie. “But you'd better not be lying. Or else.” Placing Kindness back into her box, Sunset finished, “I’ll be back in a little bit. You just sit tight and stew.”

Sunset left the room, quickly heading back to the room where she first kept Trixie. She hastily checked Trixie's backpack. Just as Trixie said, Sunset found a newspaper inside.

Skimming the front-page article and raising her eyebrow in surprise when she saw that Pinkie Pie of all people wrote it, Sunset felt her blood boil as the truth was laid out before her. “Those...Those little brats. Those fucking little bitches! I’ll kill them!” she practically shouted.

Storming back to Trixie with the newspaper in hand, Sunset slapped it onto the table, causing Trixie to jump slightly.

“Is this true, or is Pinkie just spouting BS?” Sunset demanded.

“It’s all true, I swear,” Trixie said nervously. "Pretty much every student at CHS has a copy."

Sunset scrutinized the paper for any signs of forgery, but from all she saw, it was a genuine school newspaper, complete with articles about awards, sports, and the like. When she was finished, she said, suspiciously calmly, "Okay, I believe you."

Trixie's shoulders relaxed as she let out a relieved sigh. She even wore a small smile as Sunset undid her bindings. She allowed Sunset to take her hand and lead her out of the room, only for her relief to give way to surprise and worry when Sunset suddenly yanked her back toward the first room. "Sunset? What gives?" she asked, trying and failing to pull her hand from Sunset's grasp.

Sunset didn't reply. Instead, she entered the room with Trixie and practically threw Trixie into the chair, quickly beginning to retie the ropes while the blue girl was dazed.

When Trixie snapped out of it, she began to struggle, saying, “Sunset, what the hell? I thought you were going to let me go!”

“Well, I wasn't. I'm not done with you just yet. I have to go find Honesty, and then, we can sit and have a proper talk about some...unfortunate things I learned about you. Be right back.” Leaving Trixie to struggle, Sunset left the room and moved swiftly to Honesty's room, which was a few doors down the hall from Trixie's room.

Much like the other two rooms, this room was dimly lit and sparsely furnished. On the single, sturdy table sat a small terrarium, it's light slightly brighter than the ceiling bulb. Sunset walked over to it and peered inside, saying, "Honesty, time to come out." When nothing happened, Sunset said, "Honesty?" She carefully moved the few decorations around and looked under the one hiding place, but her little friend was nowhere to be seen. "Well, that's not good," she said under her breath. "Where could she have gone to?"

As if in answer, she heard a shriek coming from Trixie's room, followed shortly by Trixie's panicking voice. “Sunset, get back here!”

“I guess that answers that,” Sunset muttered. She unhurriedly walked back to Trixie's room. When she opened the door and looked inside, she smiled and said, “Oh, there you are, Honesty, you naughty girl. How'd you get all the way in here so fast?”

Sunset watched as a big, hairy, brown and black tarantula slowly crawled up Trixie's leg, coming to rest on her right thigh. Trixie, holding absolutely still, whispered, “Sunset, please, for the love of God, get this disgusting thing off me!”

“What, you don’t like spiders, either?" Sunset said, smirking, "That's a shame; I think she likes you.”

“Get it off, get it off, get it off!” Trixie yelled.

"Not quite yet," Sunset said, pulling up the second chair. Carefully, she picked up Honesty and placed her on Trixie's shoulder, its fangs millimeters from Trixie's exposed neck. Trixie's eyes widened in alarm and her breathing shallowed as the spider's hairy legs and clawed feet came in contact with her skin. Sunset calmly sat down and casually crossed her legs as she said, "As I said, we're going to have a little talk, and you're going to be honest with me because if you're not, I'm going to clap my hands. Loudly. Next to Honesty."

At Trixie's confused glance, Sunset sighed condescendingly and said, "Trixie, do you know what Honesty does when she gets startled?"

It didn't take long before it clicked. Trixie's eyes widened further, and she stuttered, "Y-You wouldn't."

"Try me," Sunset replied simply, her eyes narrowing.

Frightened, Trixie spluttered, "Sunset, what more do you want from me? I told you what you wanted to know. Can't you just let me go? I promise I won't tell anyone about this, honest. Just let me go home!"

"Trixie!" Sunset snapped, causing Trixie to pause. "Shut up." Trixie instantly clamped her mouth shut. "That's better. Now, let's begin, shall we?" Sunset leaned forward, staring Trixie in the eyes as she said, "You lied to me."

Trixie gasped. "Trixie did no such thing!" she said, shocked at the accusation and regaining some of her lost confidence. "You saw the paper! You know Trixie's telling the truth."

"That's not what I'm talking about, you idiot!" Sunset snapped, silencing Trixie. "Shortly before I died, I confronted you in the halls at school, and you blatantly told me that you had no idea who Anon-a-Miss was. Imagine my surprise when I heard just a few hours ago that you did know who they were."

Trixie's mouth worked for a second before she blustered, "T-Trixie was just saying things! Those girls were new, and Trixie wanted them to know how great she was. You know me, always bragging and trying to build my reputation, right?" Trixie ended her sentence with a fabricated, nervous giggle, trying to assuage Sunset's anger. Sunset's unimpressed stare quickly clued Trixie in to what Sunset thought of her explanation.

"So, you were lying to those girls, and you told the truth to me back then. Is that right?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow. Trixie nodded as vigorously as she could with a tarantula right next to her neck. "Okay, but what about the second thing you said?" Sunset asked. "You said you didn't do anything about Anon-a-Miss because you enjoyed what they were doing to me. Is that a lie, too? Because that's what you said back then!" Sunset was shouting by the time she finished.

Trixie could feel Honesty bristle on her neck, sending her heartbeat skyrocketing as her tears returned, but she didn't challenge Sunset's accusation. Sunset, in her rage at Trixie's implied confirmation, brought her hands close to Honesty. "Sunset, don't!" Trixie shouted, instantly regretting it. She felt the weight on her shoulder suddenly shift, and when she chanced a glance, she saw that Honesty was reared back in a threatening posture. She also noticed that Sunset was looking at her expectantly, hands at the ready.

Knowing she was on thin ice, Trixie forced herself to calm down and said, "Yes, Trixie was telling the truth then. Trixie still didn't trust you, and she still hated you for all you've done to us. Honestly, Trixie truly didn't know who Anon-a-Miss was before that article hit the paper, but Trixie still loved the torment those three girls put you through. It was like, if Trixie couldn't easily get back at you, then she'd at least get some catharsis from someone else doing it."

Sunset was silent for a long time, hands still frozen in place. The whole while, she leveled a disgusted glare at Trixie. During that time, Honesty lowered back to a neutral posture, and Trixie allowed herself a fraction of relief. And then Sunset spoke.

"So, after all I've done to try and make up for what I've done, after going out of my way to try to help people, after accepting all the glares, insults, shoulderings, and passive-aggressive barbs as something I deserved for my previous actions, after saving the hides and minds of everyone at the school--including your precious Rainbooms--you still found pleasure in a trio of brats airing everyone's dirty laundry just because it made everyone loathe me? You still reveled in the hatred I received, the hatred that, for once, I had not brought upon myself?"

Wordlessly, Trixie nodded.

Sunset said nothing at first. She silently picked Honesty back up, which relieved Trixie, though Trixie couldn't help but worry about any of Sunset's ulterior motives. "You know, Trixie," she finally said, getting Trixie's attention, "you and Dumbbell were made for each other."

Trixie's blood ran cold. "How...How did you know we were an item?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"I found a photo of you two together in his wallet," Sunset replied, pausing a bit for effect before finishing, "after I fucked him up."

Sunset turned on her heel and left the room with Honesty, closing and locking the door behind her. Trixie just stared at the door, her mind reeling. "She...She hurt Dumbbell? Is that why he wasn't at school today? Is that why he never answered my texts? What did she do to him? Where is he? Is he..." Trixie shook her head, forbidding herself from thinking that way. "But what is she going to do to me now that she knows? Is she coming back? She wouldn't just leave me here, would she

Her train of thought screeched to a halt as Sunset re-entered the room, carrying, to Trixie's surprise, a large skunk in her arms. Trixie, instantly disliking where this was going, slowly asked, "Sunset, what's with the skunk?"

"This is Loyalty. I met Loyalty a while ago, actually, shortly after I came back. I couldn't exactly uproot her from her den in the park, but I made sure to spend quite a bit of time with her in the weeks afterward, and I figured a night out wouldn't hurt too much. Isn't she cute?" Sunset wore what seemed like an actual genuine smile as she asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Trixie replied, looking at Loyalty more closely. It was certainly no snake or spider, that was for sure, and Trixie found herself unconsciously relaxing at Sunset's demeanor and in the presence of an actual friendly-looking animal.

"Right? She's sharp as a tack, too," Sunset's smile quickly grew darkly mischievous. "Watch."

Sunset placed Loyalty on the floor, and Loyalty curiously approached Trixie. When it got about two feet from her, Sunset said, "Loyalty." When the skunk gave Sunset her attention, Sunset pointed at Trixie. When Loyalty turned back to Trixie, Sunset simply said, "Mean."

Instantly, Loyalty whirled around and sprayed Trixie with its potent musk. Trixie shrieked, turning her head away to fruitlessly try avoiding the smell and to keep the fluid from getting in her mouth. Sunset, for her part, giggled, keeping her nose lightly covered.

When Loyalty was finished, Trixie looked down at her now-soaked shirt, tears threatening to return at the rude reminder that her night with Sunset would not be a pleasant one. "Sunset, what was that for!"

"That's what you get, Trixie. That's what happens when you stand by and let an innocent person suffer: bad things happen." Sunset closed the distance and continued, "And don't think that's the end of it. I have a few more questions, and once again, you better be honest with me. Or else."

"The spider?" Trixie worriedly asked.

Sunset put her hand under Trixie's chin, squeezing her cheeks with her thumb and index finger as she yanked Trixie's face closer to hers, snarling, "Call her by her name!" When Trixie hesitated, taken aback by Sunset's sudden aggression, Sunset snapped, "Say it!"

"Honesty!" Trixie said. When Sunset let go, Trixie said again, "Her name is Honesty." When Sunset nodded in satisfaction, Trixie asked again, "Are you going to get Honesty?"

"I would, but I don't think Honesty would wanna go near you after Loyalty sprayed you. Neither would Kindness or...the others," Sunset replied more calmly, causing Trixie to worry about the other animals Sunset no doubt had in store for her. "That said, spraying isn't the only thing Loyalty can do. She has claws. And teeth."

Trixie gulped at the implication, and Sunset started her questions. "So, how long have you been dating?"

"Uh, about five months, now," Trixie said, trying her best to ignore the stench wafting off of her but finding herself dry-heaving nevertheless.

"Okay. Now, tell me. Do you know what Dumbbell did to me?"

Hesitantly, Trixie said, "Y-Yeah. Everyone at school knows."

"And you stayed with him, even after that?" Sunset asked, eye twitching.

"W-Well, he just lost his temper, is all. Anon-a-Miss said something really bad about his mom, and he thought it was you, so--" Trixie was interrupted by a guttural growl coming from Sunset's throat, and she snapped her gaze downward, saying quietly, "Yes."

"Uh-huh. Okay, next question." Sunset narrowed her eyes at Trixie. "Did you know that Dumbbell would do that to me?"

Trixie's eyes widened in shock and fear. She said quickly, "No! No, Sunset, I had no idea he'd do that to you. I didn't like you, sure, but I would never have wished that upon you! I didn't even know he was capable of something like that."

Sunset gave her a disbelieving look. "Really? I'd expect you of all people to know about his violent outbursts. Or did you lose your memory whenever the abusive asshole knocked you around?"

"Dumbbell is not abusive!" Trixie snapped.

Sunset found herself slightly surprised at Trixie's outburst. Nevertheless, she raised her eyebrow in incredulity. "Really? He's never once hit you?"

"No!" Trixie stated. Under Sunset's continued stare, Trixie's confidence withered, and she looked away. "Well...s-sometimes. But he hasn't done it a lot, and there's always a good reason!"

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

A bit surprised at the challenge, Trixie said, "Well, sometimes our team lost a big game, and he'd be in a bad mood, and I would bother him too much about wanting to show him a new trick. Other times, he'd get bad grades, and I'd be a bit too insistent on what that meant for his sports career while at school." After a pause, she said, "The point is, yeah, he hurts me every now and then, but it's always my fault." She smiled nostalgically. "And afterward, he'd always apologize and get me ice cream or something and talk about his feelings with me. He's really sweet when you really get to know him."

Sunset didn't know what surprised her more: that Trixie was defending Dumbbell or that Trixie genuinely seemed to believe what she said. "Trixie, the guy's bad news, and you know it." Something clicked with Sunset, and she continued. "That's why you kept your relationship secret, isn't it? You didn't want the hit to your reputation that'd surely come if everyone found out you were dating Dumbbell of all people, especially after what he did to me."

Trixie remained silent, though whether she was confirming Sunset's accusations or just didn't want to risk angering her captor further, Sunset didn't know. After a few seconds, Sunset sighed and walked over, stroking Trixie's hair. "Look, Trixie, you're a pretty girl, and I'm sure plenty of people find your confidence attractive. You could do so much better than Dumbbell."

"Shut up, Sunset. You don't know what you're--"

"Fortunately for you, you don't have much of a choice. Not after what I did to him," Sunset said, smirking.

Trixie's pupils shrank to pinpoints at the reminder. "W-What did you do to him?"

"I fucked him up real good," Sunset said proudly. "Dunno if he's gonna make it out of the hospital, but if he does, he'll be having nightmares for months."

"N-No." Trixie couldn't stop herself from trembling.

"Yep. So, you know, enjoy your freedom while it lasts. Maybe swim around and check out the other fish. Forget about Dumbbell, because he's never gonna think about anything but me ever again."

That was it: the last straw. Trixie couldn't take any more. Broken, she hung her head and started weeping, her tears and makeup staining her still-damp shirt. As her sobs got louder and turned into wailing, Sunset said, satisfied, "Well, looks like I'm done here. Didn't even need to introduce you to Laughter and Generosity. You would've loved them; Laughter's a cute, friendly opossum, and Generosity's a huge, adorable rat. Actually, you wanna meet them real quick?" Her tone took on an eager edge to it as she finished.

Trixie didn't respond; she just kept sobbing loudly. Sunset shrugged and said, "Guess not. Oh, well. Your loss. But cheer up; I'm not just gonna leave you here all tied up." While Trixie cried, Sunset set to work undoing Trixie's bindings. Her arms and legs finally free, Trixie curled up in a fetal position on her chair, sobbing into her knees and staining her skirt and legs with mascara, tears, and mucus. Sunset, seemingly oblivious or apathetic to Trixie's misery, said, "Don't worry, your phone's still in your backpack, so you should still be able to get home or call for help. Better hurry, though; who knows what kind of people are gonna be around these parts this time of night?"

Sunset picked Loyalty up and turned to leave, but stopped herself. "Oh, yeah, one last thing before I go," Sunset said, presenting an index card with a series of numbers on it. Trixie looked at it, confusion momentarily overcoming her sadness. "If you want some help getting over Dumbbell, or if you can't find some other partner, or even if you just feel like experimenting," Sunset winked before finishing, "call me."

Trixie didn't know how to respond, at once equal parts surprised, disgusted, and frightened. Wordlessly, almost robotically, she reached up and took the card, staring at it. Satisfied, Sunset turned and left the room, leaving Trixie to her own thoughts.

---

“Hello. Apple residence.”

“Hi, Granny Thmith. It's Twitht. Ith it okay if I come over after thchool tomorrow? I wanna hang out with Apple Bloom before thee leaveth for her new thchool.”

“Well, Ah don’t see why not. Ah’ll have her 'n' her two friends here tomorra. They wanted one last day together, and Ah didn’t have the heart ta say no this time, seein' as how they won’t be seein' each other till they're eighteen 'n' all.”

“Thankth, Granny Thmith. I’ll thee you and Apple Bloom tomorrow, then. Bye.”

Sunset hung up her phone and smirked as she got ready to return her animals to their homes in the wild. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day, indeed.

Next Chapter: School Board (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 23 Minutes