Sunset made her way down the sun-baked road, stopping when she saw a familiar red truck coming towards her. Confident, she stood her ground in the middle of the road, forcing the occupant of the truck to slam on the breaks.

Jumping out of the truck, Big McIntosh yelled out in anger, “What in tarnation is the matter with--” His eyes widened in shock when he got a good look at Sunset, who stood in front of him with a sick smirk on her face. “S-Sunset, what the hay are you doing here? Ah coulda hit ya.”

“Yes, you could have. Good thing you were paying attention. But that doesn't matter. You're going to answer a question for me.”

Big Mac eyed her suspiciously. “And what would that be?”

“Where are Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle?”

Immediately, Big Mac turned to get back into his truck, freezing when he felt an icy hand come to rest on his left shoulder. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself flying backward through the air, hitting a tree. He screamed in pain as he felt his right shoulder break like glass.

“Where are they!?” he heard Sunset yell.

Trying to stand while cradling his busted shoulder, he spat back in anger, “Ah’ll never tell ya!”

“Then I’ll beat the information out of you!”

Sunset quickly closed the gap between herself and Big Mac, landing a right hook to his jaw and sending him into another tree. As he regained his senses and be held Sunset storming toward him, Big Mac held up his hands. “Sunset, stop! Yer wasting yer time; Ah'm not tellin' ya anything.”

Kicking him in the stomach, Sunset screamed in rage, “Where are they?” Watching as he doubled over from the pain, she again kicked him and again screamed, “Tell me!”

Coughing, Big Mac spat blood onto her boots, saying while holding his stomach with his good arm, “Find them yerself. Ah won’t help ya hurt m' little sister.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about your precious little sister getting hurt. I just wanna...talk to them,” Sunset said, smirking. "And you're not gonna stop me."

Landing blow after blow to Big Mac's face and chest, Sunset laughed wickedly, savoring the crunching and cracking of his body. When she finished, he sat against the tree, barely conscious. His eyes flickered to an old, worn-out path nearby with a desperate look. Snapping her attention to where he was looking, Sunset smirked darkly and, flashing Big Mac a perversely grateful look, made her way down the road.

It wasn't long before she reached a large tree house. A light was shining through the windows, and voices could be heard inside. Sunset took a moment to listen to the conversation while she planned her next move.

“I’m going to Sugar Cube Cafe,” Sunset heard Sweetie Belle say. “I want to talk to the Cakes before I leave for Manehatten. I have to find a way to make this right for them. And for us, as well.”

“How can we possibly make this right?” Sunset heard Scootaloo’s familiar voice. “Sunset's dead, Sweetie Belle. You can't just undo that. What good will going to Sunset's parents do?”

“It'll give me a chance to tell them why I even took part in this," Sweetie replied. "Even if they never forgive me, I at least want to explain myself.”

“Well, Ah ain't a-goin'. Ah don’t see why any of us should face her parents, who're probably just gonna skin us alive fer what we did to their daughter,” Apple Bloom said, causing Sunset to growl in anger. Apple Bloom let out a growl of her own. “Damnit, Sunset, why'd ya go 'n' off yerself? Why couldn't you have just moved away or somethin'. That way, you'd have new friends, and Ah wouldn't be away from mah family fer five years!”

Enraged at the implication, Sunset's skin swiftly reddened and her sclerae blackened. The top of her head started heating up, while she felt a painful pressure from her shoulder blades. In rage, Sunset screamed, “Are fucking you kidding me!?”

Hearing her familiar voice from outside of the tree house, each of the girls rushed outside, freezing cold in their tracks when they saw Sunset Shimmer glaring daggers at them. Applebloom gulped, saying as she gazed at Sunset, “Sunset? How are you alive? My sister was at yer funeral.”

Maintaining her glare, Sunset started to walk towards the tree house, saying with each step she took, “Are you seriously blaming me for the consequences of your actions? Because that's what it sounds like! You wanna know why I 'offed myself'? I did it because there was no other way out of the fucking hell hole you little shits threw me into!” Halfway up the ramp, she added, “You three did more than just take me away from my family. You three took the very best parts of my life away from me!”

The girls had heard enough. They rushed back inside, shutting and locking the door. “We have to get out of here!” Scootaloo shouted.

“But how? We have nowhere to run!” Applebloom yelled in terror.

“Applebloom's right. We’re trapped!” Sweetie Belle said, whimpering.

Scootaloo looked around a bit, spotting the open window. "Girls, the window!"

They began to run toward it, but before they reached it, the door crashed open, the lock snapping like a dry branch. Sunset stomped inside, screaming, “It's payback time!”

Seeing that Scootaloo was trying to get out the back window, Sunset grabbing a stool to her right. She hurled it through the air, hitting Scootaloo square in her right leg, causing the sporty girl to fall to the floor, screaming in pain as her bones shattered.

“Sunset, stop! You’ll kill her!” Applebloom screamed, throwing herself defensively over Scootaloo.

Quickly closing the gap between herself and Apple Bloom, Sunset grabbed the farm girl by her right foot, suddenly twisting and jerking it to the right. Apple Bloom screamed as her ankle snapped.

“You can scream and beg all you want. It still won’t save you,” Sunset growled, grinning at the stark terror and pain in Applebloom's eyes. She let the girl's foot fall limply to the floor, the impact causing another yelp to escape Apple Bloom's mouth. Turning around, she saw that Sweetie Belle had gotten away during the commotion.

Storming outside, Sunset quickly spotted her next victim running down the path towards the farmhouse. The terrified girl screamed as she ran away from the mad woman, “Granny Smith, help! She’s gonna kill us!”

Sunset grinned predatorily. The pressure in her back built and built until two bat-like wings erupted from it in a spray of blood, destroying flesh and shirt on the way out. After a few flaps to stretch them out, Sunset took off, flying after Sweetie Belle.

Getting to the farmhouse a few moments later with Sunset close behind her, Sweetie Belle rushed inside, desperately trying to find the matriarch. She heard the door slam open behind her, accompanied by the sound of cracking wood, causing Sweetie Belle to scream in terror as she fled into the kitchen and hid inside a cupboard.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are~” Sunset sang, sounding very much like she enjoyed the hunt.

As Sunset searched, Granny Smith came into the kitchen through the back door, freezing in her tracks and dropping her basket of apples when she saw Sunset in the kitchen.

“What in tarnat--”

Her words were cut short when Sunset whirled around and slammed her fist into Granny Smith's face, knocking the elder to the floor, completely out cold. Her fun ruined, Sunset growled and looked around. “Sweetie Belle, I'm done playing. If you don't come out in five seconds, I'm gonna go back and rip your friends apart!” She smirked. "They can't have gone far."

Fearing for their safety, Sweetie Belle risked a peek out of her hiding place, spotting the handle of a knife peeking over the edge of the counter above her. As Sunset left the kitchen, presumably to make good on her promise, Sweetie Belle reached up and grabbed the knife as quickly and quietly as she could. Inspecting it, she saw that it was a hunting knife still in its sheath. The sheath read ‘McIntosh Apple’. Unsheathing the knife and inching out of the cupboard, she saw to her relief that Sunset was nowhere to be found

“Now's my chance. All I need to do is get to the phone and call the police,” she thought.

Keeping her eyes and ears peeled, Sweetie crept into the living room. Seeing the phone a few feet from her, she raced over to it, only to be stopped when she felt an iron grip on her shoulder.

“Gotcha,” Sunset taunted. “Now, you're--”

Thinking quickly, Sweetie Belle whirled and tried to stab Sunset’s shoulder, only for her attack to be halted when Sunset caught her wrist and pulled. The world rotated in Sweetie Belle's vision before she found herself painfully slammed into the floor on her belly. Kneeling on Sweetie's back, Sunset twisted the captive girl's wrist painfully, forcing the knife out of Sweetie Belle's hand. Bracing Sweetie's upper arm with one hand and holding her forearm with the other, Sunset said, “This might hurt a bit, but just remember: You brought this on yourself.”

Using her superhuman strength, Sunset wrenched Sweetie's arm backward, breaking her elbow. Sweetie screamed as Sunset laughed, getting up and watching in sick delight while the pale girl cradled her broken arm. Looking up at Sunset as tears streamed down her cheeks, Sweetie Belle said, “Why, Sunset? Why are you doing this?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Sunset asked incredulously. She knelt down and grabbed a fistful of Sweetie's hair. “Are you really that dense? Well, maybe this'll jog your memory!”

Sunset slammed Sweetie's head into the floor, knocking the prone girl out cold, her forehead bleeding from the impact. Sunset quickly grabbed the knife and got up. Eyeing the phone on an end table near the couch, she walked over and cut its cord.

Quickly sheathing and pocketing the knife, Sunset returned to Sweetie Belle and picked the unconscious girl up, muttering, “Damn, you're way heavier than you look. Guess that bitch Rarity let you have too many snacks before dinner.”

Carrying Sweetie Belle over her shoulder, Sunset walked back to the treehouse at a leisurely pace. When she eventually reached her destination, Sunset was delighted to see that Applebloom and Scootaloo were still there, holding each other and sobbing in pain. The girls shouted in despair when Sunset dropped Sweetie Belle to the floor in front of them.

“Now, you three stay here while I go get McIntosh’s truck ready,” Sunset commanded.

“What d'ya need my brother's truck for?” Apple Bloom asked.

“For transport, you idiot,” Sunset snapped. Leaning in close, her eyes as black as night, Sunset growled, “See, my plans don't end here. You think this is bad? Wait until I hit you three where it hurts the most.”

Turning around, Sunset laughed as she headed back outside and down the path to the truck. Seeing that Big McIntosh was coming around, Sunset knelt down next to him, saying, “Don't worry, McIntosh; your sister's in good hands. You just sit here and relax for a bit while I take care of her.” Quickly drawing the knife, Sunset jammed it into Big Mac's right knee, causing him to howl in pain. "Besides, you look like you could use the rest," Sunset said, snickering.

While Big Mac writhed, Sunset pulled his keys, wallet, and cell phone from his pocket. Getting into the truck, she started the old rust bucket up, cooing as she listened to the engine rev with a strength that belied the truck's appearance. "And now for one last thing before heading home," she thought.

Driving back to the tree house, Sunset pulled some old cloth and rope from the back seat of the truck and quickly set to work binding and gagging the young girls. It took three trips and a lot of struggling, but she finally loaded them into the truck.

“Whew! They put up more of a struggle than I expected. All that work made me hungry. I guess I can stop and get some food on the way home," Sunset thought, her stomach growling as she returned to her human form. "Should I get something for the others?" She shook her head. "Nah, fuck 'em. Except for Sonata. Yeah, you know what? Caballos Tacos sounds pretty good.”

Thinking about dinner while the three helpless girls struggled in the back seats, Sunset pressed her foot on the gas and took off, leaving Big McIntosh and Granny Smith to their fate.

Next Chapter: Choices (Edited and Tilted by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 54 Minutes