Pinkie Pie yawned as she sat on a rock by the side of the road where the school bus always stopped, pulling her knitted hat down around her ears and shivering a little in her thick pink jacket. It was a long, dusty track caked in dirty snow that was barely on the edge of the local school district. The bus that came out to get her and her sisters, along with anyone else who lived out here or along the convenient route, was one of the smaller ones and Pinkie had gotten a lot of teasing as a kid for being on the ‘short bus’ early on, but that had lasted about as long as it took Limestone, who was sitting just to Pinkie’s right at that moment, to lose her temper over the matter which was slightly less than a full school week.

Of course, people still occasionally teased her, Pinkie knew she was a little weird so it was to be expected. Kids could be real meanies when they weren’t thinking about how other people felt.

Pinkie knew that unfortunate truth for a fact.

“Are you okay, Pinkie?” Maud’s monotone voice brought Pinkie’s gaze up to look at her sister. “You’ve been pretty down all vacation.”

“Yeah… I’m not feelin’ so pinkie keen right now, Maudie…” Pinkie said quietly. “I… I dunno… ever since what happened with Sunset it feels like I lost something big.”

“Dunno why you’re still worked up over her,” Limestone grumbled. “If she doesn’t want to be friends then that’s that.”

Pinkie turned and fixed Limestone with a glare that made the bellicose Pie sister recoil.

“I helped ruin her life, Lime,” Pinkie said in a low and very not-Pinkie voice.

“But… but she tried to ruin yours, too!” Limestone shouted back, stomping her foot. “Isn’t it fair?! Maybe she got what she deserved!”

Pinkie continued to stare at Limestone for several seconds, each passing moment becoming more unnerving. Despite never blinking, Limestone never saw Pinkie’s next movement as Pinkie rose up and smacked her hand hard across Limestone’s cheek, rocking her back a step.

“How… how dare you,” Pinkie said in a hollow voice that was on the edge of tears. “Sunset is crippled for the rest of her life, Lime, so no… she didn’t get what she deserved. Nobody deserves that.”

Limestone stared at her sister in shock. Never in her entire life had she ever known Pinkie to hit someone like that. Playful rough-housing and wrestling, sure, they were sisters so of course accidents happened.

But to strike someone out of anger?

“Pinkie,” Maud’s voice was a toneless blade and Pinkie flinched at the anger she heard underneath it. “Apologise.”

Hanging her head slightly, Pinkie wrapped her arms around herself and sat back down on the rock. “I’m sorry I hit you, Lime… I really am… but, you need to not talk to me for a while, okay? What you said… I’ll forgive you later.”

Limestone opened her mouth to agree but a look from Pinkie put paid to whatever she was about to say. Instead she just nodded after a moment of awkward silence.

“So, is there any news about the present?” Maud inquired, her dry, toneless voice betrayed no emotion to the lay listener, but Pinkie could hear the faint touch of concern as Maid tried to break through the tension.

Pinkie played along, nodding with a fragile smile. “S-Sorta!”

Pulling out her phone, Pinkie thumbed the unlock, brought up the recent messages, and handed it over to Maud. Taking the phone, Maud scanned the recent texts from Applejack to a group chat; it was a set of screenshots of a conversation.

//Sunny: I got the present.//

//Applejack: Yeah?! Didja open it?//

//Sunny: No.//

//Applejack: oh, well, it’s okay if ya don’t wanna.//

//Sunny: I might, eventually.//

//Applejack: rely?!//

//Applejack: really?!*//

//Sunny: Don’t get your hopes up, Jackie, all it means is I didn’t throw it away.//

//Applejack: guess that’s pretty good progress by our standards, huh sugarcube?//

//Sunny: Don’t call me that.//

//Applejack: sorry//

//Sunny: Anyway, I just wanted to tell you it was delivered and say to thanks for the Christmas present. Even if I don’t open it… the thought was nice.//

//Applejack: yeah, yer mighty welcome. Mind if I let the other girls know?//

//Sunny: Go for it, I’m gonna go now, don’t text me back.//

“Wow, that was kind of cold,” Maud said in a colorless voice, handing the phone back to Pinkie. “Especially since you got her a present.”

Pinkie just shook her head. “Uh-uh, after what we did I’m kinda crazy-surprised she didn’t just bin the present right away! It means… it means maybe one day she’ll forgive us for… for…”

Maud put an arm around Pinkie as her sister curled up on the rock and started sniffling. Pinkie leaned against Maud’s side and wrapped her arms around the stoic sister’s waist as she cried quietly. There had been a lot of days and nights like this since the whole Anon-A-Miss disaster and while Maud couldn’t deny she was disappointed in Pinkie for abandoning her friend, Pinkie was still her baby sister.

“I took away her smile, Maudie,” Pinkie sobbed not for the first time. “I’ve never done that before, to anyone! I just want Sunny-buns to smile at me again!”

“Ssh, I know,” Maud said in monotone comfort. “It’s going to be hard work to make up for it, Pinkie, but if you keep trying I have faith that you’ll make it happen.”

In the distance the bus appeared at the far end of the road, rumbling down the cold, snowy dirt. Wiping her cheeks dry on her mittens, Pinkie took a deep breath and put on a smile. It wasn’t her biggest one or her most genuine, but it wasn’t fake either, which made Maud feel a bit better. It had been hard seeing Pinkie so moody and low for the past few weeks. Her optimism and good cheer that most in the family would readily describe as ‘relentless’ had been much absent from the household, making the cold season much colder than normal.

The bus came to a squeaking stop by the rock that had been decided upon long ago as the arbitrary place for it to make pick-ups, mostly by dint of it being the primary noticeable landmark that existed by the mostly-empty road. The doors accordioned open with a dull, pneumatic hiss, and Maud waved goodbye to her sisters as Pinkie hopped off the rock, grabbing her backpack from behind it and getting onto the bus with Limestone not far behind.

“Have a good day, Pinkie, you too Limestone,” Maud intoned in an empty-sounding voice, but Pinkie smiled as she heard the affection in it.

“Will do, Maudie!” Pinkie replied, waving back.

Scanning the back rows of the bus, Pinkie spotted the waterfall of pink hair belonging to her friend and quickly left her sister's side and trotted over as the door hissed shut and the bus began rumbling forward again.

Fluttershy’s family kept an animal sanctuary on the edge of town not far from the Pie Farm, it was how they had met. Her mother was a veterinarian who helped care for many of the larger animals on the farms surrounding Canterlot. There were very few in the outskirts of the city that didn’t know the Shy family, but their proximity meant that Fluttershy was one of Pinkie’s few childhood friends.

It hurt Pinkie to see the gentle girl so routinely distraught lately almost as much as it hurt her thinking of what happened with Sunset. Fluttershy had been taking it particularly hard because of the harsh words she’d thrown at Sunset that day in the hallway.

Not that Pinkie felt like she had any room to talk.

“Hey ‘Shy,” Pinkie said, settling in next to her friend. “What’s shakin’?”

“Oh… not much…” Fluttershy said softly from where she was half-buried in her jacket, three scarves, large beanie, and long, thick skirt.

“You uh… you saw Jackie’s text, right?” Pinkie asked, already knowing the answer but not knowing how else to broach the subject. “At… at least she kept it, right?”

Fluttershy nodded dully.

“C’mon Shy… we’re gettin’ there!” Pinkie said, trying to keep the cheer in her voice as she put an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders. “I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

“Should it?” Fluttershy’s muffled voice asked as she stared vaguely ahead. “Do we even deserve for it to?”

Pinkie’s face fell for a moment before she rallied, scrunching her face in the closest approximation she had to a glare.

“It doesn’t matter if we deserve it,” Pinkie insisted. “Maybe we don’t, but it’s not up to us, one way or the other, okay!? It’s up to Sunny-buns, and that means we gotta keep trying to make up for our stupid mistake until she tells us to stop!”

“What if we’re just making it worse, though?” Fluttershy asked, finally turning her head to face Pinkie. “What if we’re just making it harder for her to move on?”

Pinkie frowned but shook her head. “Then Sunny will tell us, we didn’t trust her once but… but now we’ve got to now, okay?” Pulling Fluttershy into a tight hug, Pinkie took a deep breath and dredged up as big a smile as she could for Fluttershy. “Poppa Pie says that when we wrong someone we have to make up for it no matter what, and sometimes that means walking away, but that should never be the first thing you do because that’s just giving up, and I’m never giving up on Sunny-buns ever again, oki doki?”

Fluttershy smiled a little weakly through her scarf and nodded. “Yeah… you’re right, we can’t give up on her again. I’m sorry, Pinkie, it’s just… I don’t know what to do. I feel so terrible about the things I said to her.”

“Me too, ‘Shy,” Pinkie confessed. “I’ve been feelin’ pretty pinkie-mean since we found out the truth. That… that was a tough cookie to swallow, y’know?”

“I really hope she opens the present, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said after a moment. “Especially after all the trouble you went to.”

“We all put our hearts into it, ‘Shy!” Pinkie insisted, frowning. “That’s what made it so super-duper special, and besides it was Dashie’s idea!”

“But you put more effort into it than the rest of us combined,” Fluttershy insisted. “Even Rainbow knows that! We literally wouldn’t have been able to do it at all without you!”

“Heh, well, that just goes to show it pays to have friends in the journalism club, y’know?” Pinkie said, chuckling a little. “But… but I hope she opens it to, even if she doesn’t forgive us I want her to know that we love her.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy agreed.

As the early morning wore on the bus entered the city limits of Canterlot proper, rolling along the road towards the school. Rainbow Dash joined them on the bus not long after they got into the suburbs, sitting down in the back near Pinkie and Fluttershy. Applejack and Rarity never used the bus, Applejack because she got a ride to work with her grandmother, and Rarity because she had her own little car.

Technically Fluttershy did to, though it was a large and slightly beat up van, but the timid girl strongly preferred not to drive it if she could help it. Driving was, more often than not, a practice in stress management for Fluttershy.

“Hey girls,” Rainbow said a little dourly as she slumped into the seat across from Pinkie and Fluttershy. “Ugh, winter break sucked.”

“It… it wasn’t so bad,” Pinkie said, trying to keep her smile in place. “You okay, Dashie?”

Rainbow sighed, before leaning conspiratorially. “L-Look, I just… I found out something pretty fucked up over break, okay? I… didn’t really know how to talk about it either. I got in a big fight with my dad about it.”

“What?!” Fluttershy gasped. Rainbow Dash would deny it to her grave but she was the biggest daddy’s girl in the group. Her father was her idol almost as much as the various sports stars she followed. “What happened?”

“He just… he lied to me,” Rainbow admitted. “When I was kid I mean… my dad lied about something huge, like massive, crazy-huge.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie glanced at each other uneasily.

“S-So… y’know how me and Gilda used to be friends, right?” Rainbow started, looking up at Fluttershy who had known the both of them at that same time. “Like, we were basically inseparable, y’know?”

“Uh huh,” Fluttershy nodded. “Then she moved away and when she came back she was, uhm, not as nice.”

“Yeah, understatement there, ‘Shy,” Dash chuckled grimly. “Turns out there’s a pretty good reason for that. See, she didn’t move away, she got put into the foster system.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy’s eyes both widened considerably.

“B-but, what about her parents?” Fluttershy asked, “why would they put her-” Her brain caught up to her mouth a moment later. “N-no… Rainbow… it’s not… is it?”

Rainbow nodded grimly. “Yeah, they died in this horrible car crash, I guess.”

Pinkie’s hands flew up to her mouth in horror and Fluttershy went pale and looked nauseous at the notion.

“She was in the car when it happened,” Rainbow went on, “and my dad only found out a lot later. By then I guess everything was done with, y’know?”

“Holy shit,” Fluttershy mumbled dully, drawing looks of shock from both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. “O-oh, pardon my language.”

“Anyway, my dad lied about the whole thing,” Rainbow said, her features darkening. “He told me she moved away so I wouldn’t have to deal with knowing she was in this horrifying fuckin’ accident.”

The bus came to a stop just outside the school as Rainbow let the confession of what she’d learned over break settle in. Slowly, they filed out of the bus towards the school.

Fluttershy felt a little shell-shocked honestly. She had no idea that the Grimfeather’s had suffered such a terrible fate. Nothing in her own life had even come close to that kind of tragedy, she’d never known the Grimfeather’s well, but the thought that they had just… died like that. Out of nowhere? It was mind-boggling.

One thing scratched just at the edge of Fluttershy’s mind, though.

“Rainbow?”

Dash looked back behind her as they made their way into the halls of CHS. “What’s up ‘Shy?”

“Whatever happened to-”

Thunder eclipsed whatever it was that Fluttershy was about to say. The noise rattled the lockers and shook the walls of the school. It wasn’t just thunder though, it was the voice that rode the thunder. It was filled with such manifold rage that Fluttershy wilted in place as every part of her seized up from the sheer aggression in it.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!”

Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy stared at each other for barely a moment before sprinting towards the voice. All three of them knew it, they had just never heard that voice sound that furious.

It was Gilda’s voice, and where Gilda was…

In the lower levels of Crystal Prep, Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her chair and sipping from a cup of heavily cream-and-sugared coffee as she stared at a printed read out. Running her hands through her messy and slightly greasy bun of hair, Twilight pulled off her glasses and set them in her lab jacket pocket so she could rub at her eyes. Glancing at the mirror she grimaced at the bags. She really needed to get some real sleep and maybe start eating a little better before Pawnee came to visit, Twilight decided. She didn’t even know what her friend looked like but she still wanted to look nice for her first date ever.

Sighing, Twilight turned back to the screen and her newest conundrum. For the past week and a half she’d been putting her all into trying to determine the makeup of the gauntlets that Pawnee had given her the specs for. Failing at that she had tried to determine where they came from and only found limited success.

They were old, she knew that much. Crazy old, in fact. Thousands of years at least. Ancient pictographs and murals found in Mareyan Temples and Marexican Pueblos dating thousands of years back held the suggestion of these gauntlets in conjunction with some kind of pagan religion. At the same time, there was always the suggestion of some kind of disaster that followed.

Sighing heavily, Twilight pushed her rolling chair back to her other computer and typed out a message.

//Labrat19: Still nothing concrete on the physical makeup, at this point I'm not even sure it actually is metal.//

//Pawnee4: What do you mean?//

//Labrat19: I mean the energy profile of this thing is such that any known metal possessing it would be in the form of a boiling liquid. Plus, the few reputable historical sources I found all seem to agree that the gauntlets were made by a god or something. Oh and that they’re cursed, somehow.//

//Pawnee4: Sounds kinda sus, Lab, pretty much everything weird or strange back then was ‘magical’ or ‘cursed’.//

//Labrat19: I know, but there’s a weird kind of unity to those murals I sent you pics of, despite them being from vastly different cultures and time periods. And I’d be more inclined to dismiss the superstition if these gauntlets didn’t completely defy scientific explanation.//

//Pawnee4: Kind of a moot point, though, innit? We have the gauntlets so what’s worse? Figuring them out? Or ignoring them?//

Twilight grimaced, Pawnee had a really good point there. You couldn’t just ignore stuff like that, it went against the fundamental principles of science. If it was dangerous then she had a duty to determine how and more importantly why, and if it was just a historical artifact with a curiously spotty history then she needed to verify it.

//Labrat19: I know, I know… just seems weird is all.//

//Pawnee4: I getcha, Lab, and it’s cool if you want out. No hard feelings, sav?//

Scowling, Twilight practically pounded out her response.

//Labrat19: No way! We’re in this together, Pawnee, okay?//

//Pawnee4: Heh, yeah, okay.//

//Labrat19: So… any idea when you’ll be coming up?//

//Pawnee4: That eager to see me, lab?//

Twilight blushed furiously as she buried her face in her hands, spinning around in her chair as she tried to think up a response that didn’t make her sound completely desperate for affection or something.

//Labrat19: I am, okay!? I’m really excited to see you!//

//Pawnee4: Aw, and here I was hoping to do more than just see you.//

Swallowing hard at the suggestion, Twilight bit her lip and giggled a little to herself before typing out her response.

//Labrat19: Oh yeah? Uhm, like what?//

//Pawnee4: Oh, you know, holding hands… cuddling on a park bench…//

Twilight felt her temperature rising as her cheeks flamed red. Pawnee was so romantic sometimes… it wasn’t the first time they’d teased her like this since Christmas.

//Pawnee4: And I’m definitely gonna get at least one kiss.//

“Eep!” Twilight squeaked as she toppled out of her spinning chair at reading that last message. “Pawnee! No fair…” Twilight grumbled to their non-present friend before reaching out for the keyboard to grumble at them over the internet.

Her hands froze in place as a certain machine in the corner of her room starting beeping wildly. Scrambling to her feet, Twilight rushed over to the machine and grab at the readings it was churning out; wild and inconsistent spikes measured at seemingly random points in the city, the Commons, a few warehouses, a random neighborhood in the ‘burbs, suddenly concentrated like never before…

“At Canterlot High School?” Twilight mumbled, then her eyes widened as she remembered the first few reading in the Fall. Huge spikes of energy and then… nothing. “That was at Canterlot, too! Except after that there was total silence and then… but…”

Turning back to her computer she sat down.

/Labrat19: Pawnee! Did you see that spike!?//

//Pawnee4: Sure did, Lab, and guess what?//

//Labrat19: What?//

//Pawnee4: Line up the energy profiles off the reading with the spectrograph readout of the gauntlets.//

Twilight’s eyes widened as spun around and grabbed the new readings with one hand while clicking over to the spectrograph file on her computer and plastered the readout against the screen. Twilight felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at the lines.

It wasn’t a perfect lineup, but the peaks and troughs? The general pattern? It was nearly identical.

A few hours earlier…

“Seriously, Sunshine, you sure about this?” Gilda asked for the millionth time as Sunset pulled on the jacket that Luna and Celestia had given her for Christmas. “Pretty sure the Principal would get it if ya didn’t wanna go back t’school right away, savvy?”

Sunset sighed, and nodded. “I know they would, and I know I could stay home, babe, but I also know that it’s not going to get any easier.”

Sitting on the edge of their bed, Sunset carefully brushed her hair. One hundred strokes total got her hair exactly the way she liked it. Gilda was moving around the flat with half of a piece of toast in her mouth that was slowly disappearing as she got ready, pausing only to check if Sunset was really, really sure she wanted to go back to classes today.

Really, though, Gilda was going full mama bear, and Sunset got it. She did understand because honestly… the idea of going back was terrifying. Suddenly being surrounded by everyone who had tormented her for weeks who would probably want to ask all about her wheelchair and ask for her to forgive them and…

Sunset took a deep breath and focused on her brush.

Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine, get your head out of the gutter, Sunset, seventy…

“I know, I know,” Gilda grumbled as she strapped her talon to the back of her belt and pulled on her bomber jacket. “Guess I’m just antsy about this whole thing.”

“Trust me, Gil, I’m aware,” Sunset said with a laugh. Eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three. “Oh, hey, c’mere! I wanna show you something!”

Gilda cracked her knuckles, a nervous tic she was starting to develop that had Sunset a little concerned, before dropping her schoolbag next to the door and walking over to Sunset.

“What’s up, Sunflower?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Dropping the brush on the bed beside her, Sunset held up her right hand and wiggled her fingers at Gilda.

“Remember that old analog antenna you had your closet?” Sunset asked with a smile. “I stripped some of the wiring and made this!”

Leaning in, Gilda’s eyes widened a little as she spotted a little copper loop around Sunset’s right ring finger. Blushing, Gilda leaned back and covered her face as she was wont to do every time she got embarrassed.

“Aw, Sunshine…” Gilda said, not even bothering to keep the smile out of her face. The weight of the gold bracelet Gilda wore was all the more noticeable suddenly. “Ain’t it supposed t’be a secret, though?”

“We’ll just call it a promise ring,” Sunset said, smiling gently as she examined the ring. “Plenty of people our age have worn them so it won’t be as weird as, y’know, people knowing you actually proposed to me.”

The truth was, ever since the little ring of ice had melted that same night, Sunset had felt like there was an emptiness on her hand. It was as if she were missing something that ought to be there, and the little copper ring helped.

“Y’know copper stains right?” Gilda asked, smiling wryly as reached out and took Sunset by the hand. “S’gonna turn a whole band ‘round y’finger green.”

“I’ll just keep it polished,” Sunset replied with a smirk. “Besides, even if it does stain I’m gonna be wearing another ring there eventually, so no one will ever know.”

“Gay,” Gilda snarked.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Considering what we spent pretty much the whole rest of the night-slash-morning after you proposed doing, uh, yeah… I’m pretty gay, babe, and I got some bad news… so are you.”

“Only for you, Sunshine,” Gilda shot back.

“Bullshit, Gil,” Sunset replied, crossing her arms and smirking. “I saw you checking out Octavia’s flank.”

“Ass, babe,” Gilda said, sighing and trying to cover a blush. “Not flank, ‘ass’.”

“Fine, you were checking out her ass.”

Gilda shrugged. “She’s got a real nice caboose for a rich girl.”

“Not arguing that,” Sunset remarked.

“Does… that bug you?” Gilda asked, her voice suddenly becoming much more subdued. “Y’know I ain’t ever gonna have eyes for anyone but you, right, Sunflower? Like, if it makes ya uncomfortable I-”

“Gilda, hush,” Sunset said with a small smile. “You are perfectly allowed to admire another lady’s rear end, or a dude’s for that matter.”

Sunset reached her arms out for Gilda who obliged, stepping forward and wrapping her own arms around Sunset and lifting her up in a princess carry, Sunset’s favorite way to be held, Gilda had quickly discovered.

“You promised to marry me, Gil,” Sunset said, her eyes shining. “So yeah, I trust you. Besides, you put up with all my quirks and sometimes-crazy outbursts so I think you’re entitled to admire a few butts here and there.”

“O-okay… just, y’know,” Gilda stammered, chuckling a little nervously as she leaned in and kissed Sunset softly on the lips. “I just… never want ya t’think a time’ll ever come when I ain’t in love you, savvy?”

“Maybe it’s unfair of me…” Sunset started, leaning in to press her forehead against Gilda’s. “But I’ve got a lot of issues so I’ll just blame them when I say I’m gonna go ahead and hold you to that, okay?”

“Fine by me, Sunshine,” Gilda replied as she walked over to Sunset’s wheelchair and gently sat her girlfriend down in it. “Ready for school?”

“Not even a little,” Sunset answered tiredly. “But I can’t avoid it forever, savvy? So we might as well get this train wreck out of the way.”

Grabbing her bag from the floor, Gilda got behind Sunset and pushed her outside. There was a small, chilly breeze that made both of them pull their scarves a little tighter as the wind sprinkled flurries of snow chaotically around the parking lot of the flats. The progress was a little slow thanks to the buildup of snow from the evening, and the Commons were always a slightly lower priority for clearing than the Heights thanks to suspiciously carefully planned plow truck routes.

In spite of the slight obstruction the pair made it to the bus stop in enough time for both of them to board.

Therein lay the first challenge of the day as Gilda glared death at every single student who even looked sideways at Sunset. Every single person the two of them passed began whispering to one another, causing Sunset to retreat into the comfort of her scarf and beanie, pulling them closer around her. One hand fell on the headset that was plugged into her phone and lay just inside her jacket but Sunset forced herself to let go of it.

It’s a last resort, if things get too much, Sunset mentally reminded herself. You don’t need to resort to shutting the whole world away the moment some people start talking.

Taking several deep breaths, Sunset closed her eyes and let Gilda push her along to the back of the bus where the disabled seating was and park her there, strapping her in carefully before taking a seat beside her.

“You alright there, Sunshine?”

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset slowly shook her head as she continued to stare straight ahead, not trusting herself to move too much without losing it.

“Say the word and we’re outta here, savvy?” Gilda said, her voice low and hard as iron. “Auntie’ll understand.”

“I’m not giving up, Gil,” Sunset said softly, pulling her mittens off and massaging her chilly hands. “But… thank you…”

“No probs, Sunshine,” Gilda replied with a slightly forced smirk.

Smiling, Sunset mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to Gilda, who smiled back at her as the bus kicked off again.The bus ride was, for lack of a better term, tense. Sunset did her level best to avoid the constant not-so-subtle stares being thrown her way, and while they weren’t the acidic and hate-filled ones she had become used to over the course of Anon-A-Miss’s reign, the sheer pity in them was almost worse.

It’s not shutting the world out if I just want to listen to music… Sunset thought to herself as she pulled her headphones out and settled them over her head, adjusting them so they were buried in her hair before putting her beanie back on. What else am I supposed to do on the bus?

Pulling out her phone, Sunset checked to make sure the plug was fixed in the jack, then flicked the music app open and hit shuffle. Soft tones and bass beats started playing in her ears and Sunset smiled as she closed her eyes and settled into her chair. Vinyl was right, the headphones made the whole world vanish. She could still feel the faint rumble of the bus in her bones but the the voices, the whispers, the stares… they were all gone.

A faint pressure on her hand brought Sunset back to reality, and she looked over to see Gilda had locked their fingers together as she leaned back in her own seat. Smiling slightly, Sunset gave Gilda’s hand a squeeze. She suppressed a small laugh as Sunset felt Gilda’s thumb trace idly over the little copper ring she had fashioned that morning.

Movement near the edge of her vision drew Sunset’s eye, and she saw a few students across from them staring and whispering to each other. Narrowing her eyes, Sunset gripped Gilda’s hand harder and looked away.

Let them judge if they wanted to.

Gilda’s own hand tightened almost painfully around Sunset’s all of a sudden as the bus stopped, and Sunset glanced up in concern. Flicking her gaze down towards the front of the bus, she saw what had made Gilda start.

Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score had just gotten onto the bus and were headed back towards the far end where Sunset and Gilda were seated. They hadn’t noticed either of the two girls yet but Sunset could feel the tension in Gilda’s body. She was like bowstring pulled fully taut, and her free hand was twitching and shaking.

As the three boys approached, Sunset lifted Gilda’s hand to her lips and pressed her lips softly to Gilda’s knuckles. The sensation drew Gilda’s attention, bringing her back to reality just like Sunset knew it would.

Reaching up, Sunset pulled the right speaker of her headphones from her head and gave Gilda a small smile.

“No murder on the bus, Gil,” Sunset whispered softly.

Dumbbell passed by, his eyes widening as he spotted Sunset and he slapped his hand back into Hoops’ chest, drawing the other boy’s gaze. Score followed suit a moment later and his reaction was the strongest.

Hoops just looked upset, Dumbbell look shocked, but Score? He looked like someone had just gutted him. Sunset tried to muster an expression, or some kind of something, but no matter how far down she dredged she found… nothing. Score just stared, rocking slightly as the bus started up again, as Sunset looked at him with tired eyes from her wheelchair.

“I… S-Sunset… I…” Score choked out but a shout of ‘Sit down!’ from the bus driver combined with his friends dragging him back cut him off.

Just as well, Gilda was looking properly murderous.

“Gonna kill’im first chance I get,” Gilda muttered as the three boys moved past them and sat at the very back of the bus. “Tear his fuckin’ throat out for what he-”

“Gilda,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s quiet, angry tirade like a blade. “Don’t, okay? No more violence, no more hurting… I’ll deal with him myself, savvy?”

“B-but, Sunshine he-!” Gilda stammered, staring down at Sunset’s legs that were hidden and kept warm under dull gray blankets. “It’s his fault that you’re… you’re…”

“I know,” Sunset said tiredly, “believe me I know…”

Some of the wind went out of Gilda as she stared at Sunset who was shaking in her chair, eyes clenched shut and hand gripping Gilda’s hard. Gently, Gilda reached over and pulled the errant speaker back over Sunset’s ear, shutting the world back out and filling her ears with music again.

Sunset relaxed a little as all the sounds of the world faded and she looked up Gilda gratefully who smiled back at her and scooted a little closer, resting her arm on Sunset’s chair so Sunset could lean her head to the side and rest on Gilda’s shoulder. She took slow, deep breaths, savoring the scent of her girlfriend as the bus rumbled forward towards the school. Sunset did her level best not to think too hard about the coming rest of the day. If the bus ride was this bad, and Gilda was right by her side for the whole thing, then how bad would it be when Gilda had to go to her own classes leaving Sunset alone.

Maybe shutting the rest of the world out wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The bus ride took far too little time, in Sunset’s opinion. One moment, she was settled comfortably against Gilda’s arm listening to her tunes and letting the world drift by unattended, the next she was being shaken softly by Gilda.

Pulling her headphones away, Sunset glanced up at Gilda’s grimacing face.

“We’re here, babe,” Gilda said softly, getting up and leaning down and start unbuckling Sunset’s chair.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset steeled herself for the oncoming day. She knew she couldn’t avoid the world forever, even if she could shut it up for a little while with Vinyl’s thoughtful present.

Mental note: thank Vinyl and Octavia profusely for the headphones, Sunset mused dryly as she was extracted from her position on the bus and rolled out to the sidewalk.

Sunset Shimmer kept her eyes fixed determinedly on non-existent point directly in front of her as pulled her gloves back on and gripped her wheels, rolling herself forward towards the ramp on the side of the school entrance. Gilda stalked beside her, glaring at the rest of the student body, forcing them to keep their distance. That would work right up until they reached the hallways where space was necessarily limited.

The whispering never stop and, joy of joys, had been joined by fingers being unsubtly pointed in Sunset’s direction. Moving off to the side of the stairs leading up and into the school Sunset almost made it to the ramp before someone called out her name.

“S-Sunset wait!”

Gilda froze, eye twitching as her left hand drifted almost reflexively toward her talons. “No way,” she muttered angrily. “Nope, can’t be… no one is that fuckin’ suicidal.”

Sunset gripped her wheels hard, eventually mustering the courage to turn and see Score running up towards her with Dumbbell and Hoops sprinting just behind him.

“What the fuck’re you doin’, man?!” Hoops hissed as he caught up and grabbed him by the shoulder. “You got a deathwish?!”

“C’mon man, let’s scram!” Dumbbell snapped, his eyes never leaving Gilda’s furious expression as he grabbed Score by the arm and pulled.

Score didn’t budge, nor did he look up at Gilda. His eyes were fixed solely on Sunset who was staring at him with an expression of vague terror and panic.

“Is… is that my fault?” Score asked, his voice a little empty as he brushed his black hair away from his eyes. They were wide with fear. “Was that… because of me?”

Gilda moved but barely got more than a few inches before Sunset’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm. With Gilda’s strength she could’ve easily kept powering forward and dragged Sunset along for the ride, but the moment Sunset’s hand settled on her arm she stopped.

“Gil, give us a minute, savvy?” Sunset said softly. “Just me and Score.”

Her eyes went wide and Gilda started to protest, but the burning look in Sunset’s own gaze shut down any words before they made their way out.

“Y-yeah… savvy,” Gilda said finally before turning to Hoops and Dumbbell. “C’mon guys, the lady said alone.”

Advancing on the pair, she reached out and gripped them both by the scruff of their jackets and lifted them bodily, one-handed each, and stalked off. Gilda’s grip was implacable as she moved them a good few meters to the side.

Once they were a decent distance away, Sunset turned and gestured for Score to come closer. He seemed profoundly reluctant to do so but after a moment, swallowed thickly, nodded, and stepped up until he was directly in front of Sunset, looking down at her.

“You put the Dogs onto me, right?” Sunset said quietly. Her voice held no accusation, only a firm statement, but Score flinched nonetheless before nodding. “Can I ask why?”

Score’s whole body was tense, his hands curled into fists and he was shaking as he opened and closed his mouth several times trying to dredge up an answer. Nothing was forthcoming, and eventually he just clenched his eyes shut as hot, angry tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

“I-I don’t know!” Score finally choked out. “I was just pissed off! I was… I was just angry, okay?!”

To his credit, he didn’t run. Score stood his ground, trying desperately to keep his tears in and failing badly. He looked to Sunset like he was choking on something horrible. On impulse, she reached out and set her fingers on one tight and shaking fist.

Pain, guilt, and self-hatred… they were almost palpable. They radiated off of him like heat from a glowing ember. They were eating at his insides like acid. She could almost feel it killing him on the inside.

Up til that moment, Sunset hadn’t been quite sure what she would do when she saw Score. She knew he was responsible for the Dogs finding her ‘home’, of course, and of course he couldn’t have known what would happen but he should’ve expected something bad.

Right?

Except…

Sunset knew all about acting rashly and idiotically out of anger. She knew, probably better than anyone in two worlds, exactly what kind of wages were paid to rash decisions made in the sound and fury of the moment while deaf to even the most basic of logic.

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset did what had to be done. What had been done for her. She reached up and set her hands on his shoulders and pulled him down into a hug.

Score froze as Sunset wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. His shaking stilled momentarily only to become worse by an order of magnitude a second later as he lowered himself to his knees from his awkward, bent-backed position mostly because Score no longer trusted his legs to hold him up.

“It’s okay,” Sunset whispered. “I… I forgive you.”

His hands went up to hug Sunset back mostly because Score wasn’t really sure what else to do. Feeling his heart choking up into his throat, Score managed to hack out a single, broken word as he buried his face in Sunset’s shoulder.

“Why?!”

Sighing, Sunset patted his back as the word devolved into a strangled cry and then into broken, cracked sobs.

“I think it’s because…” Sunset started, staring up at tiredly at the blank gray sky, “...because I’ve been where you are? Because all hating you will do is make you hate yourself, and what’s the point of that?”

Sniffling, Score pulled away, his long heavy bangs matting against his tear stained cheeks. “B-but I almost killed you… and I… I fuckin’... your legs! I… I…”

Giving Score a faint smile, Sunset reached up and swept some tears from Score’s cheek with her thumb.

“Yeah, y’did,” Sunset agreed. “I’m pretty much fucked now thanks to your decision. But I’m still alive, and so are you, so… what’s the point? Just... next time you get mad? Do better… be better, okay?”

“But I…” Score started, but Sunset silence him with a look.

“Do you want me to hold a grudge?” Sunset asked pointedly, and Score shook his head emphatically. “Do you want me to hate you?” Score shook his head again. “Good, because I don’t, I don’t want to hate people and hold grudges. I don’t want to be miserable and cling to the things that fucked up my life, savvy? I want to move on.”

“S-so… what do I do?” Score asked, sounding small and lost.

Sunset just shrugged. “Dunno, Score… maybe learn a lesson from all this? Learn to think before you act, I guess, because sometimes you do things that have serious fuckin’ consequences.” Sunset gestured to her wheelchair at her last word and Score flinched.

“I don’t think we’re ever gonna be friends, Score,” Sunset said after a moment, “but I don’t hate you, mostly because I was you not so long ago, and I’m pretty sure that’s as good as we’re gonna get, savvy?”

Score sniffled a little but smiled and nodded. “Heh, y’sound like Gilda when you say that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sunset replied, “and another thing… don’t be afraid to cry. As someone who’s done their fair share these last couple of weeks, it really does help, okay?”

Score nodded as he stood up and stepped away from Sunset. “So… what now?”

“Now I go to class and try not to meltdown, freak out, or have a panic attack,” Sunset answered blithely, earning another flinch from Score, causing Sunset to sigh. “Look, up to you if wanna carry this fuckup around with you for the rest of your life, savvy? But I said my piece.”

“Yeah… hey, Shimmer?” Score said as Sunset began turning away, she looked back up at him questioningly. “You ever need anything? Or… y’know… just… ask, okay?”

Grimacing, Sunset shrugged but nodded. “Sure thing, Score.”

Gilda moved up to Sunset’s side a moment later as started pushed her up the ramp. They’d barely made the top before Gilda spoke up in a tight voice.

“Dunno why y’did that, Sunshine, s’gonna give the rest of these losers ideas.”

Sunset crooked an eyebrow up at Gilda. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look,” Gilda nodded her head slightly towards the crowd.

Sunset glanced towards the gathering students surreptitiously, careful to keep her eyes low and her scarf covering most of her face. Gilda wanted to her see something but all she could see was the other students looking up at her, just like they had been since she got to the school.

Except…

They looked less nervous, less uneasy… they looked almost hopeful.

“Oh,” Sunset said softly.

“Yeah,” Gilda grunted in annoyance. “Bet my dad’s jacket they all think Saint Sunset’s gonna forgive’m all, because hey, they just made ya miserable, savvy? You just forgave the guy who fucked up y’legs.”

“I… I just…” Sunset stammered as Gilda pushed her into the hall. “I did that for me, maybe a little for him too, but… he didn’t even do it because I was Anon-A-Miss!”

“Nah, that’s the hilarious thing, savvy?” Gilda said with a nasty smirk. “Score wasn’t even tryin’ to aim f’you, he was tryin’ to hurt me.”

“Exactly!” Sunset hissed. “It was an accident! Yeah, it was a stupid choice but we’re friggin teenagers, it’s what we do! He didn’t try to hurt me, he just didn’t think it through! I threw a fucking fireball at Twilight that was hot enough to slag concrete so trust me I get that!”

Gilda shook her head, her mouth tracing into a thin line. “Don’t matter t’those assholes out there, Sunshine,” she said quietly. “They’re gonna think they can just waltz up and get a hug and an ‘I forgive you’ and move on.”

“Well they won’t!” Sunset snarled. “Score didn’t try to hurt me, he just made a shitty choice and had bad aim, unlike me. The rest of those, though? They actively made my life miserable for weeks based on the flimsiest fucking evidence!”

“H-Hey, Sunset!”

Sunset turned slightly, glancing worriedly over her shoulder to see a student running up to her with a slightly nervous smile on his face. She didn’t recognize him by name but definitely remembered the nasty smirk he wore in the hallways while she was scrubbing off her locker one day. She remembered the harsh tone in his voice as he swore at her over something Anon-A-Miss had posted. And she definitely remembered the rough shoves he threw her way when they passed on the hall.

Her view was eclipsed as Gilda moved in between her and him, and the taller girl glowered down at the student. “Beat it, she’s not talkin’ to you, Sandalwood.”

“Hey!” Sandalwood practically growled. “I justed wanted to apologise!”

“And I’m tellin’ you t’get lost,” Gilda retorted stepping forward and glaring down at him, causing him to step back reflexively.

Gathering up his courage, Sandalwood stepped forward again and tried to move around Gilda who stopped him with a palm to his chest and shoved him roughly backward.

“Try that again and you’re on the ground, savvy?” Gilda said in low, deadly voice.

“Sunset! Can we talk?” Another student, that Sunset vaguely recognized as Cherry Crash from her punk aesthetic, swept by around Gilda’s other side. “I just wanted to-”

“Hey, the fuck did I just say?!” Gilda snapped her arm out and grabbed the girl by her faux leather vest and pulled her away from Sunset. “She’s not talkin’ to you shits!”

Turning, Gilda got behind Sunset and pushed her forward, Sunset had her hands covering her head and pulling her beanie down. Gilda could hear the harsh, gasping breaths coming from Sunset that signaled an oncoming panic attack.

“S’okay babe, y’fine,” Gilda muttered as several angry students followed them. “I ain’t leavin’ ya, savvy?”

“This was a mistake, Gil,” Sunset sobbed raggedly. “I shouldn’t’ve come back, I sh-shouldn’t have even tried.”

“Fuckit, I’m gettin’ ya outta here,” Gilda snarled. “Principal’s’ll hafta understand, Sunshine, because this ain’t fuckin’ workin’.”

Taking a turn, Gilda aimed for the side doors at the other end of the school near the cafeteria. It was usually relatively quiet in the morning except for the kids who got the free breakfast.

“Sunset!”

“Hey, hey Sunset!”

Voices were calling from down the hall, Gilda glanced over her shoulder to see a few figures turning the corner and pointing.

“She’s over there!”

“Fuck!” Gilda swore, putting on a little more speed and taking a moment to considering the cost-to-benefit of modding Sunset’s wheelchair for better handling.

They barely made it to the cafeteria before a trio of students, Photo Finish and her friends Violet and Pixel, walked out of the double doors chatting, their conversation dying the moment they saw Sunset and Gilda.

“S-Sunset!” Violet gasped, nudging Photo who stared from behind her overlarge shades.

“Ah, Zunzet, I vas hoping to-”

“Nope,” Gilda took a hard turn towards the next nearest exit.

Luck was not with either of them, though, as they turned a corner to a small crowd with several others following.

“Shit,” Gilda muttered, her eyes widening as she glanced around. “This is gonna turn into a fight.”

“Sunset!”

“Hey, Shimmer, look I just-”

“Hey!”

Looking down Gilda saw Sunset was hugging herself tightly as the students called out to her, her breath coming to short, sharp heaves as she scrabbled for her headphones and jammed them over her ears and closed her eyes.

Snarling, Gilda ripped her talon off of her belt and snapped it on, scraping it hard and loud against the nearby locked, drawing dull scratches across the cheap metal.

“Beat it!” Gilda growled. “She doesn’t wanna talk t’any’a you fucks so get the fuck away!”

“Sunset! C’mon, we just wanna talk!” Another student advanced from one end.

Two more came in from the sides as the first distracted Gilda and they made the first cardinal mistake.

One of them touched Sunset.

“Hey, I just wanted to say I was-” Fleetfoot, one of the soccer team members who had made Sunset’s life hell after several of the team’s secrets were published, put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

The pressure, the touch, the scent; Sunset’s eyes snapped open. It wasn’t Gilda touching her. It was someone else. Someone Else.

Sunset screamed.

Gilda had heard a lot of things from Sunset. Soft cries and loud wails, sobs and pleads, she had heard gentle whispers and happy laughter. Gilda heard so many things and every moment she heard Sunset’s voice lit her up inside a little, even if it hurt.

She had never heard Sunset Shimmer scream.

Thunder detonated throughout the hall.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!” Gilda roared as lightning snapped and crashed around the hallway as she turned to curl protectively around Sunset.

Every student within a few meters of Gilda was bodily thrown from their feet to the ground, and even those further away were knocked backwards violently. The students of Canterlot High stared at the display; at the massive set of brown-feathered wings that were wrapping around Sunset, wheelchair and all, as small arcs of lightning snapped out from them to scorch the lockers where they touched.

“Hey! What in the Sam Hill’s goin’ on?”

A familiar stetson bobbed near the back of the crowd but quickly shoved it’s way forward as Applejack elbowed and shouldered through. Rarity was gripping her hand and following quickly behind with a worried expression.

“Jackie?! What’s going on?!” Pinkie’s voice called from near the other side as she, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash pushed through to meet in the middle, on the other side of the shield of feathers.

Peeking over them, Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Woah, what the heck is this?”

“They’re… they’re wings,” Fluttershy answered. “Red-Tailed Hawk, I think, from the pattern and whitening around the edges of the coverts and primaries, female, specifically.”

“Thanks for the vet lesson, ‘Shy,” Rainbow groaned, “I’m askin’ what’s actually happening?”

“Did you hear that scream, darlings?!” Rarity asked worriedly.

From inside the veil of her wings, Gilda ignored the voices outside that were chattering and talking. If anyone tried to get to them they’d get a face full of claw for their trouble. Instead she just pressed her forehead to Sunset’s, closing her eyes and petting Sunset’s back soothingly.

“Ssh, s’okay Sunshine,” Gilda whispered softly, cradling Sunset in her wheelchair as she flexed her wings and tightened them around the two of them. “I gotcha, okay? Sunshine?”

Gilda’s eyes widened as she realised Sunset’s eyes were closed. She wasn’t moving, she was just… laying there in Gilda’s arms. Feeling a stab of mad panic, Gilda shook Sunset gently. “C-C’mon Sunflower, what’s wrong?! H-Hey! Wake up!”

“Gilda?” Applejack’s voice broke through Gilda’s panic. “That you, sugarcube?”

A part of Gilda wanted to ignore the call but this wasn’t about her, Sunset… something was wrong with Sunset. Pulling the veil of feathers away slightly Gilda looked up and out at Applejack who had Rarity clinging to her arm, both of them were staring down in concern.

“P-please, y’gotta help!” Gilda pleaded, not caring that these were the people who had ruined Sunset’s life. “She ain’t wakin’ up!”

Applejack’s eyes widened, and without a moment’s hesitation shrugged off Rarity’s arm and ducked underneath the nest of feathers to get in close to Sunset.

“Damn, Ah don’t… wait,” Leaning her head out, Applejack called out. “Hey, Fluttershy, you there, sugarcube?”

“U-uhm, yeah, over here!” Fluttershy called from the other side of the feather shield.

“Let’er in, Gilda, she’s First Aid certified, a’right?” Applejack begged, putting a hand on Gilda’s shoulder.

Gilda grimaced but nodded, lowering her left wing and raising her right to admit Fluttershy in. The timid girl quickly ducked in, stopping only momentarily to admire Gilda’s wings from the inside before crawling over to where Gilda was cradling Sunset.

“S-sorry, I just need to get closer,” Fluttershy said softly.

Reaching out, Fluttershy took one of Sunset’s wrists very gently, settling her thumb over the vein. At the same time she put a finger to Sunset’s neck. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy focused for a moment, concentrating, then opened her eyes again.

“Her pulse is good and she’s breathing steadily,” Fluttershy said in the most steady voice that Gilda had ever heard from the normally fearful girl. “If I had to guess from the sweat and tension, I’d say she had a panic attack and fainted.” Looking back up to Gilda, Fluttershy met the taller girl’s gold eyes with her intense, almost fiery blue ones. “You need to get her to the nurses office now, though, alright? She needs rest.”

Gilda felt her breath catch hard in her throat at the sheer intensity of Fluttershy’s gaze, but nodded.

“Good,” Fluttershy said after a moment, smiling beatifically. “I know you don’t like us, and you have every right, but let us help you okay? Just this once?”

Biting her lip, Gilda considered denying her but… that was stupid and selfish. It certainly wouldn’t help Sunset.

“Fine,” Gilda spat. “This once, savvy?”

Gathering up Sunset in her arms, Gilda stood, letting her wings fade away as she focused on bringing her emotions back down to a manageable level. Applejack and Rarity started gathering up Gilda and Sunset’s things, piling them onto the wheelchair.

“The rest’a you can fuck off, though,” Gilda growled. “She doesn’t need t’wake up to you lot and go passin’ out again.”

Pinkie started forward but was stopped by a blue hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, meeting Gilda’s gaze. “You got it, G, c’mon Pinks, help me break up the peanut gallery.”

Gilda blinked in surprise as Rainbow nodded, not even trying to argue the matter, which took Gilda a moment to take in. As Rainbow was pushing Pinkie away she turned back to Gilda and frowned.

“H-Hey, G, can we talk sometime?” Rainbow asked in a subdued voice. “Not about the crap with, y’know, the Rainbooms and all… about, us… please?”

Hefting Sunset a little so she was resting her head comfortably against Gilda’s shoulder, Gilda stared questioningly at Rainbow. Sighing, Gilda shrugged.

“Yeah, sure thing, Dash,” Gilda replied, “but you try’n turn it into a thing about Sunshine here and I’ll clock you one, savvy?”

“Yeah, got it,” Rainbow agreed before following Pinkie who was doing an admirable job to breaking everything up peaceably.

Rarity pushed the pack-ladden wheelchair along, with whatever didn’t fit on it being carried by Applejack who walked alongside Gilda towards the nurse’s office. Gilda couldn’t help glaring at every student who crossed their path and with Applejack flanking her most of students quickly got out of their way.

Applejack glanced over her shoulder as they approached the nurse’s office, calling out to Rarity. “Hey, hon, you go ahead t’class after ya’ll drop the stuff with Nurse Manners, a’right?”

Smiling, Gilda chuckled a little. “Guess you’n fancy-frills over there’re finally knockin’ boots, huh?”

Rarity and Applejack both blushed furiously and Applejack shot Gilda a glare. “Y’mind bein’ a little more discreet about that, sugarcube?”

“Why?” Gilda asked, sounding oddly conversational. “Ain’t like people aren’t gonna notice after a few weeks, even if ya don’t say anything, and if ya keep it quiet people’ll figure there’s a reason yer not talkin’ about it, meanin’ it must be somethin’ t’fuckin’ talk about.”

“That’s… oddly insightful, Miss Grimfeather,” Rarity said from behind the two of them. “But Applejack’s family is, shall we say, very traditional. Mine are far more, ah, liberal in that regard of course; the fact of the matter is that you can’t be any part of the fashion industry without having a rather open mind, but…”

“But what? Family’a farmers, yeah?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow at Applejack who nodded. “Not much of a family if they kick ya t’the curb the moment ya stop fittin’ in.”

Applejack opened her mouth, her face twisting angrily for a moment before the subtext of what Gilda had said hit her and she closed her mouth, looking down in shame, glancing momentarily at Sunset.

“Y-yeah, guess ya’ll ain’t wrong,” Applejack said quietly. “But… still, mind lettin’ us get to it in our own time, there, Gilda?”

Gilda shrugged again. “Whatever y’say, Hoedown. S’your life, not mine, y’wanna spend it hiding who you are it’s no skin off’a my back, savvy?”

Elbowing open the door to the Nurse’s office, Gilda cleared her throat. “H-hey, Nurse Manners, I… I need help,” she tried her best to keep her voice level but it quaked nonetheless.

Bedside Manners had been the nurse for Canterlot High for almost fifteen years and so there were really no students who didn’t know her save for the very newest. Her bob of blue hair tucked neatly behind a nurses cap and clean white scrubs were a sigh few students hadn’t seen at least a few times during cold and flu season. Being around them so much of their formative years and tending to them meant that Nurse Manners tended to be very protective of the kids in her charge… with a few exceptions.

Gilda was one of those exceptions.

“Miss Grimfeather what did you do to that girl?!” Nurse Manners snapped, her eyes widening as they fell on Sunset’s unconscious form.

In Nurse Manner’s defense, almost all of her prior interactions with Gilda had been patching up those who got on the bigger and stronger girl’s bad side. Plenty of students made the mistake of mocking Gilda for one thing or another, whether it was her white hair or bad grades, but very few of them had suffered the kind of consequence that openly making fun of a former gangbanger tended to carry with it.

That ‘consequence’ being a beating of legendary proportion.

So it was fair to Nurse Manners that she was completely wrong-footed and set back on her heel when Gilda responded.

“I’D FUCKIN’ NEVER!” Gilda roared, gripping Sunset tight and glaring death and hatred at the Nurse who staggered back from the girl whose eyes were suddenly snapping with electricity.

“Easy there, sugarcube,” Applejack said, settling a strong hand on Gilda’s shoulder and pulling her back before turning to Nurse Manners. “Powerful sorry ‘bout that, Nurse Manners, Sunset here is Gilda’s girlfriend and she had a panic attack in the hallway and passed out. Ah can vouch fer it, n’so can Rarity.”

“I… I see,” Nurse Manners said, glancing once down at Sunset then back up to Gilda.

Gilda was breathing hard, her face twisted in a rictus of anger. The idea, just the thought of hurting Sunset made her want to vomit. The idea that someone thought she would be that? That someone thought Gilda would ever, ever hurt her Sunshine was…

“Ease up there, girl,” Applejack said quietly, patting Gilda’s back. “Let Nurse Manners do’er thing, a’right?”

Nodding silently, not trusting herself not to say something else awful, Gilda walked over to an empty bed and, with a shocking amount of care and tenderness, laid Sunset down on the clean white sheets. Carefully, Gilda unlaced Sunset’s shoes and pulled them off one by one, setting them by the bedside, then reached out a hand and gestured for Rarity to bring the wheelchair closer.

Rarity obliged, and Nurse Manners watched in shock as Gilda gathered up the patchy but warm-looking grey blankets and gently tucked them around Sunset legs up to her chest.

“S-she gets cold, savvy?” Gilda said quietly, staring down at Sunset as she reached out to run her hands through the unconscious girl’s hair. “An’ she gets night terrors when she sleeps. Dunno if it’ll happen like this but if she starts thrashing get me here, I can stop’em, y’know?”

“I’ll bear that in mind, Miss Grimfeather,” Nurse Manners said, keeping her voice low as she joined Gilda at Sunset’s bedside.

“And… y’know about her legs right?” Gilda asked. “She can’t move’em, so be careful, okay? And… and let the Principal’s know too, savvy? They know about it all.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Manners said, reaching out and putting a hand on Gilda’s arm. “I need to examine her now, though, Miss Grimfeather.”

Blinking and shaking her head, Gilda took a shaky breath and nodded.

“Y-yeah, guess given everything y’probably want me outta here, huh?” Gilda said softly, not looking at Nurse Manners.

Leaning down, kneeling slightly to bring her larger frame to Sunset’s level, Gilda brushed her lips across Sunset’s, then pressed her forehead to Sunset’s shoulder.

“I’m a call away, Sunflower,” Gilda whispered. “I love you.”

Turning to leave, Nurse Manners reached out and put a steadying hand on Gilda’s shoulder.

“Wait, Miss… Gilda,” Nurse Manners started, shaking her head. “You can, assuming you behave yourself for once, stay in the waiting area just outside my office, alright? I’ll just write you a note. All things being equal, I really should ask you about what happened.”

“Uh… y-yeah…” Gilda nodded, looking relieved. “I’ll wait.”

Walking out of the small, cot-filled room, Gilda settled down into one of the slightly-uncomfortable plastic chairs that sat outside of Nurse Manners’ office.

“You gonna be alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder at Gilda as she opened the door to the hallway. “Ah can stick around too, if’n ya want.”

“Nah, I… I’m fine,” Gilda said, her left hand drifting up to her right wrist and fiddling with the bracelet that lay under her jacket. “But, uh… y’know, thanks, Hoedown, fer bein’ there’n and helpin’ out.”

Applejack smiled wanly. “Ah figure Ah ain’t been there Sunset plenty as it is, so Ah might as well start makin’ up fer lost time.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Gilda replied, letting out a sigh.

Applejack waited a few moments more before shrugging and turning to leave and join Rarity outside. As she was leaving, though, Gilda found her voice again.

“H-Hey, Hoedown,” Gilda called, drawing another look from Applejack. “I… I don’t hate ya, I hate… I hate what you all did t’Sunshine but… I don’t think I hate ya.”

“Well, reckon that’s a step in the right direction fer all’o us, ain’t it?” Applejack replied with a more genuine grin this time before leaving and quietly shutting the door behind her.

“Guess maybe it is,” Gilda mumbled, leaning back in her chair and staring down at the floor.

For as long as she’d been with Sunset all she had ever felt for the Rainbooms had been, at best, antipathy. At worst it was outright hatred. Not so long ago Gilda would’ve gladly cracked their heads against the pavement just to satisfy her anger at what they had done to Sunset. The only thing stopping her all this time had been the knowledge of how deeply Sunset would disapprove of her actions.

Gilda sighed, burying her face in her hands as she groaned in irritation.

“Penny for your thoughts, Miss Grimfeather?”

Gilda glanced up to find Nurse Manners standing in front of her with a bemused look on her face. Before Gilda could answer, though, Nurse Manners gestured towards her office.

“There’re nicer chairs in there, if you’d like,” Manners said blithely as she stepped past Gilda and fitted her key to unlock her office door and enter. “I have to finish reporting Miss Shimmer’s condition anyway, so you might as well follow.”

Following Nurse Manners into her office, Gilda glanced around, taking in the dimly lit little room. It had a comforting feel to it and the chairs by the desk were soft, cushioned ones rather than the hard, unpleasant plastic outside.

“Take a seat, then,” Manners said, gesturing at the chair as she swept around her desk and settled into her own seat and brought her computer back to life with a few mouse flicks.

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” Gilda said quietly, taking a seat across from the Nurse and crossing her arms. Unconsciously, her fingers slid up her sleeve to run across the smooth metal of her bracelet. “So is… is Sunset, okay?”

“Mhm, quite so,” Nurse Manners replied. “I suspect she hyperventilated and passed out, which tracks with what you and your friends said, I imagine she’ll be back among us within the next half hour.”

“They ain’t my friends,” Gilda replied, scowling a little. “They… guess they’re nice enough but they screwed over Sunshine pretty bad.”

Nurse Manners looked up from her computer for a moment, her gaze a little sad. “The Anon-A-Miss incident, I assume? That was such an awful thing.”

“Yeah, they pretty much ruined her life fer fuckn’ no reason at all,” Gilda growled. “They goddamn dropped her like it was nothin’! I can’t even… fuckin’... what kinda friends-?”

Nurse Manners held up a hand, forestalling Gilda’s little tirade. “I understand you’re passionate about this but I really do need you to tell me precisely what happened in the hall this morning.”

“O-oh, yeah, savvy,” Gilda said, breathing out a sigh shrugging. “Well, we basically were pretty sure it was all gonna go t’shit in the first place, y’know…?”

Nure Manners listened closely as Gilda recounted everything that happened, from getting on the bus, to the small incident in front of the school, to the event that ultimately led to Sunset’s panic attack in the hallways. Manners couldn’t help but grimace a little as Gilda told the story. The students of Canterlot High School were good at heart, she truly believed that even accounting for the whole Anon-A-Miss fiasco. Teenagers never did handle having embarrassing secrets aired out for all to see very well in her experience so there weren’t many ways that mess was going to go but poorly.

Still, they ought to have known better than to just mob the poor girl. Well, forethought was also never a great talent of the young, at least not so much as enthusiasm was.

As Gilda trailed off, Bedside Manners couldn’t help but notice her eyes kept drifting to the side toward the wall. Precisely in the direction where Sunset Shimmer was laying asleep.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Nurse Manners said softly after a moment. “I can’t imagine anything else changing someone so drastically in so short a period of time than that.”

Gilda clammed up for a moment, tightening her arms around herself as she did. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but after a moment, Gilda nodded.

“How much do you love her, I wonder?” Manners asked, staring at Gilda with piercing eyes. “I’ve seen a lot of high school romances burn bright, flicker, and fade, but I can honestly say that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen whatever it is I’m looking at right now.”

“She’s… she’s everything,” Gilda said in a slightly raw voice. “Sunshine? She’s… my whole world, savvy?” Letting a slow, shaky breath, Gilda scrubbed her fist over her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “I felt like I was havin’ a fuckin’ heart attack when she stopped movin’ in the hall, y’know? It was like… like I was right back in the alley when I found her under all that metal, right? Like she was gonna die and there wasn’t shit I could do about it.”

“Sunset will be just fine,” Nurse Manners said with a faint smile. “At worst she might have a bad headache after waking up. I’m more worried about you, Gilda.”

“Me? I’m just fuckin’ fine,” Gilda replied before catching herself, coughing lightly and amending to, “uh… I mean, I’m… I’m fine, Nurse.”

“See, that right there,” Nurse Manners said, pointing a finger at Gilda. “No offense, Miss Grimfeather, but you have a very poor reputation in my little office, you understand?” Manners narrowed her eyes at the wilting teen in front of her for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. “I’ll be honest, Gilda, I’m supposed to be impartial but the truth is that up until a moment ago I could honestly say I did not like you. Not one bit. I’ve seen so many bruises, black eyes, split lips, and broken noses inflicted specifically by you pass through my office that I’m not sure I’d have trusted myself if I had to patch you up.”

Gilda sagged in her seat, but nodded. That wasn’t too surprising, all things considered. Gilda knew she had a reputation for violence, given how she grew up it wasn’t surprising but it wasn’t an excuse either.

“Y-Yeah… sorry about that.”

Nurse Manners pointed at Gilda again. “See? There it is again.”

“What?” Gilda asked, feeling a little annoyed. “I just apologised.”

“Precisely,” Manners replied. “Over my tenure here at Canterlot High I’ve only known a few bullies that were as prolific as you, Gilda Grimfeather, and I don’t think I ever heard a single one of them apologise and actually sound like they meant it.” Leaning back in her chair, Nurse Manners’ mouth hardened into a thin line. “And yet… when you said that I… I believed you. I genuinely think you’re sorry for what you’ve done in the past. That’s… shocking, if I’m being honest.”

“Why?” Gilda grumbled, feeling a little put out as she crossed her arms. “What’s so friggin’ shocking about me wanting to be better, huh?”

“Everything, really,” Manners replied, cocking her head to the side a little in amusement. “I always got the impression you didn’t, as you would say, ‘give a shit’ about being anything other than what you were.”

Gilda opened her mouth to refute the Nurse’s words but choked on it as she realised that was exactly true. A few months ago that was exactly what she’d thought. There was no need to change, no reason to be different, no reason to move on.

Not since Zee died.

“And yet here we are,” Manners said, gesturing around her office. “You’ve clearly changed a great deal for the better, and I’m left wondering if maybe I was the one who failed all of those other children who passed through here that I wrote off as bullies.”

Leaning back in her chair, Gilda cracked her knuckles and shrugged. “I… I don’t think ya did, if it means anything…” she said quietly. “Most folks ain’t gonna change unless they got a really good fuckin’ reason, savvy?” Gilda glanced over her shoulder towards the door. “I got me a real good reason to change, see? I gotta if I’m gonna be good enough f’her, y’know?”

“I do know,” Nurse Manners replied. “Love can bring out the best or the worst in us, depending on how it flows and whether we’re mature enough to handle it.” Chuckling a little to herself, Manners gave Gilda wry smile. “I’ll admit you wouldn’t have been my first guess as someone who apparently is, but… I’m glad you are.”

“Sunshine… she’s the best part’a my world, y’know?” Gilda said quietly, wringing her hands. “I… I love her, a lot, like… I dunno, I’m not so good with words, savvy? But… I’d do a lot more than die f’her, y’know?”

“Duty is heavier than a mountain, death is lighter than a feather,” Nurse Manners intoned softly. “A quote from an old Neighponese Rescript to their soldiers; that is to say, dying in service is all well and good but catching a bullet is hardly difficult, living for something greater than yourself? That is far more challenging.”

“Living f’something other than me, huh?” Gilda repeated, before smiling and nodding. “Yeah, that sounds right. You wanna know how much I love Sunset? I’d live for her.”

Nurse Manners nodded, smiling as she rolled her neck. “Good, I’m glad to hear it, and hopefully you keep to that, Gilda, because I daresay it’s done both your demeanor and your mood a world of good.”

A brief knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Nurse Manners called out for them to enter. The door opened and Vice Principal Luna walked in, her face schooled to neutrality but Nurse Manners could see the tension on the edges of her eyes.

“Nurse Manners, I heard Miss Shimmer was accosted in the hallways, is that right?” Luna said, her voice tight with barely restrained anger.

“Not quite,” Manners replied with a sigh. “It seems the students were simply… overzealous in attempting to ask Miss Shimmer’s forgiveness for their behaviour over the last few weeks of school prior to break.”

Some of the tension left Luna’s features as Manners explained the matter fully, with a few interjections and clarifying questions pointed at Gilda.

“I see, that’s unfortunate,” Luna said after Manners finished. “I can understand how it happened. I’m not happy about it, but I see where it came from. I blame myself for not foreseeing this and making some kind of announcement.”

“Pretty sure Sunshine wouldn’ta wanted ya to,” Gilda said from the side. “She’s stubborn like that, y’know?”

Luna sighed. “Yes I am fully aware of Sunset’s fiercely independent personality.” Stepping out of the small office, Luna glared down towards the cots. “I strongly suspect it’s that which led her to refuse asking for help.”

“I shouldn’ta let’er come,” Gilda grumbled as she followed Luna out Manners’ office. “I knew it was gonna go wrong, savvy? Too much bullshit in one place.”

“I can’t help but agree, though I’d ask you to tone down your language in these hallways, Gilda,” Luna responded with a sardonic smile. “I don’t personally mind but as I’m employed by the state one might say that I’m paid to care.”

“R-right, sorry,” Gilda replied sheepishly.

“Here’s your note, Gilda,” Nurse Manners said, exiting her office with a pale yellow slip of paper. “Just drop it by Cranky’s classroom, alright?”

Gilda grimaced as she thought about the abrasive maths teacher. “Ugh, yeah… right, savvy.”

“I’ll let Sunset know you stayed,” Manners said, putting a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “But you really ought to go to class. I’ll call you in around lunchtime to get her, if that’s alright?”

“Uh, y-yeah, sounds good, Nurse,” Gilda agreed, taking the note from Manners. “Don’t want her goin’ around the halls alone, y’know?”

“I agree,” Luna said in a deeply annoyed voice. “Regardless of Sunset’s wishes, I’m going to make an announcement to leave her alone. A remarkable young woman she might be, but she is not invincible and I will not have her hospitalized over her own stubborn refusal to take things one step at a time.”

“Can’t argue there, VP,” Gilda replied.

The walk to the Algebra classroom was a quiet one. It was about a quarter of the way through second class and the halls were empty. Gilda nervously held the crumpled note in her hand as she walked towards Cranky’s classroom. The old man had never liked her, and frankly Gilda had never given him a reason to. She was rude, surly, and generally slept through all of his classes. She was disrespectful and probably got more detentions from him than she did from Miss Harshwhinny, which was sort of impressive. Although Gilda largely suspected Harshwhinny simply didn’t care enough to bother with a detention slip.

Still… it didn’t make walking into the classroom any easier.

Stopping in front of the door, Gilda looked through the little glass window. Cranky was sitting at his desk, his classroom empty, grading papers most likely.

Taking a deep breath, Gilda knocked on the door.

“C’mon in,” Cranky grunted from his desk without looking up.

Swallowing hard, Gilda turned the knob and opened the door, walking in and up to Cranky’s desk. “H-hey, Mister Cranky… just uh… droppin’ off a note from Nurse Manners, y’know? S’why I wasn’t in class this morning.”

Gilda stared at the ground, feeling irritated at how guilty she felt as she held the note out and moment of nothing passed before Cranky finally responded.

“You gonna look at me, Miss Grimfeather or you set on winnin’ that starin’ contest with the ground?”

Biting her lip, grimaced and looked up at Cranky. His expression surprised her though as he reached out and plucked the note from Gilda’s hand.

He looked… sad.

“Alright then, was that it?” Cranky asked.

“Uh… yeah,” Gilda responded, rubbing her neck. “I… I guess so.”

Turning on her heel, Gilda set off back towards the door.

“Y’even walk like yer daddy, yknow?” Cranky’s voice said.

Gilda stopped in her tracks, her breath catching hard in her throat as she turned to look over her shoulder at the old maths teacher.

“W-what?” Gilda choked out.

“Yer daddy,” Cranky repeated, looking down at the note with eyes that clearly were seeing something else. “Ol’ Grendel Grimfeather’n I were good friends, a’fore he passed’n all.”

“I… I didn’t know ya knew’em,” Gilda said quietly, turning around and shoving her hands in her pockets for lack of anything better to do. “Guess I never asked, though, huh?”

“You weren’t the only one who never asked,” Cranky said in a sour voice. “Shoulda known no daughter’a Grendel’d be lazy or a layabout.”

“The hells that suppose’ta mean?” Gilda asked, grimacing.

“Ya never tried in my class, and ya had an ugly reputation about ya,” Cranky said, turning in his seat to face Gilda. “Thought it was such a damn shame ya turned out so bad, but… Celly and Luna talked to the staff a few days back during the first meeting of the year, see? Among the topics were that we’d have to dust off the old stuff about Dyslexia, as we had a student who needed the help.”

Gilda’s cheeks reddened and she looked down at the ground, her hands curling into fists as shame leaked into her heart.

“Ain’t your fault, hon,” Cranky said with more fire in his voice than Gilda had ever heard, drawing her eyes back up. “Look, I shoulda seen the signs, alright? You ain’t exactly the first Dyslexic kid I’ve taught. Far from it, I seen it before and I ain’t got no excuse for missin’ it this time.”

Cranky stood up from his seat. He was never a tall man, shorter than Gilda by a fair margin, bald as the moon with something like a permanent grimace on his face. Now though, he just looked sad.

“Grendel, Drusella, and I were good friends up until the day they passed,” Cranky said softly. “And if Matilda and I could’a afforded it ya know any kid’a Grendel’s would be welcome in our home.”

“Ain’t your fault, Mister Cranky,” Gilda said quietly. “I’m a fuckup, and I’m stupid, so… I ain’t blamin’ ya.”

“Don’t you go doin’ that, girl,” Cranky snarled. “Puttin’ yerself down like that, phooey on that I say. You think I didn’t ask to know what you been up to all break when Celly broke the news? Think I don’t know you been breakin’ your back givin’ that poor Shimmer girl a home? Think I don’t know you got a job with Ol’ Crank down in the Commons? I’ve got plenty’a friends ‘round town, Gilda Grimfeather.”

Gilda choked quietly as tears welled up in her eyes. “I… I ain’t… I’m just doin’ the right thing, s-savvy?” Gilda said, her voice cracking in a sob before stepping forward. “I don’t… I don’t give a shit if anyone knows it!”

Cranky shook his head and took Gilda’s left hand in his; hands were broad and dark and thick with calluses. “Aw hon, ain’t like that… I just wanted you to know I’m sorry, alright? Ain’t easy for an old man t’say but I was wrong to give up on ya like I did, even if ya didn’t know it. I owed you better and I certainly owed your daddy better. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of ya.”

Sniffling, Gilda brought her free hand up to rub at her eyes, nodding silently because she didn’t trust herself not to break down if she opened her mouth to say anything. A few more moments passed as Gilda wiped at her eyes and nose, coughing as she stepped away and smiled.

“T-thanks Mister Cranky,” Gilda said finally, “I dunno why but… it was really good t’hear that, y’know?”

“Ya oughta come ‘round for dinner sometime,” Cranky said, smiling warmly. “Matilda’d love it, I know, and o’course Miss Shimmer’s invited too.”

“Y-yeah, maybe,” Gilda nodded. “I’ll see if Sunshine wants to, y’know?”

As Gilda turned to leave again Cranky called out. “Gilda, if it ain’t a question you wanna answer ya don’t have to but… can I ask something else?”

Gilda turned, a coldness in her gut telling her that she knew what the question was going to be.

Rainbow Dash kicked her soccer ball lazily around the field. She was the only one out there at the moment since lunch had just started. She had a bagged lunch and usually sat with her friends but today she had no appetite and even less desire to socialise.

Besides, she had a meeting.

Gilda had texted her earlier letting her know she’d be out in the fields if Rainbow still wanted to talk. She was going to be waiting for Nurse Manners to call her in to pick up Sunset.

The soccer ball went hurtling across the field as Rainbow aimed a particularly hard kick at it, sending it far off course towards the edge of the school building. A second later the ball came hurtling back and Rainbow barely managed to headbutt it back to the ground before glancing up to see Gilda standing at the corner, a cigarette dangling from her mouth.

“You wanna talk or what?” Gilda called, moving the cigarette, using her lips to shift the cigarette from one side of her mouth to the other. “I ain’t sittin’ here all day, Rainbutt.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly as she rubbed at the slightly red spot on her forehead before walking over to the wall and leaning against it.

“I forgot you did that,” Dash said with a laugh. “Nicknaming and stuff? You got in a lotta fights over that.”

“Got in a lot more fights over your stupid hair,” Gilda shot back, with a slight sneer. “Fights ain’t ever stopped me before, Rainbutt.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Dash said, before letting the conversation fade into awkward silence.

After a few moments, Gilda plucked the cigarette from her lips and knocked some of the ashes away with her thumb as she blew out a plume of gray smoke.

“Look, we gonna talk or not?” Gilda asked in annoyance.

“My dad lied to me,” Rainbow said finally, not really knowing how else to start. “About why you left when we were kids, and what happened to your parents and shit. My dad told me you just moved away… he lied.”

Gilda stared impassively at Rainbow for several seconds before taking another drag and blowing another plume of smoke.

“Can’t say I blame’im, savvy?” Gilda replied finally.

“You were my best friend, G!” Rainbow shot back, her face contorting in anger. “You and me were friggin’ inseparable, and then suddenly you were gone! If I’da known-!”

“You’da what?” Gilda shot back, grimacing. “Believe me, Dashie, it wouldn’ta fuckin’ done your eight year old ass any good to get an earful ‘bout how’er best friend’s family got fuckin’ pancaked by a Mack truck ‘cause the driver nodded off, savvy?”

Rainbow visibly recoiled, turning a little green around the gills.

“I’ve had a long-ass time t’get around that shit, Dash,” Gilda said in quiet voice. “My family ain’t comin’ back, and there ain’t no reason to make a deal outta it.”

“When you came back though…” Dash started, her gaze dropping to the ground. “I… I didn’t know… y’know?”

“So what?” Gilda shot back. “I was a bitch, dead parents or no, savvy? Y’weren’t wrong to kick me t’the curb.”

“Bullshit!” Dash snapped. “We were best friends, G! I shoulda tried harder! I shoulda figured something went wrong! I should’ve… I should’a…. done something,” she sagged against the wall, scowling angrily. “Something other than just fuckin’... leaving you behind.”

“I wouldn’ta been any good f’you, Dash,” Gilda said quietly. “Trust me on this, I was a bad fuckin’ influence. If you’da stuck around, I know you, you’da kept on with it until I dragged you down to wherever the fuck it was that I was.”

Wheeling on Gilda, Dash got in her face, the burning ember of Gilda’s lit cigarette burning inches from Dash’s face.

“Or maybe I’da been the one to drag you up, huh?” Rainbow cried. “Maybe I’da brought you around! Or… or gotten you help or something! Maybe then…”

Rainbow backed off, tears trickling down her cheeks that she quickly rubbed away as she leaned against the wall with her back to Gilda.

“Maybe what, Rainbutt?” Gilda asked, mildly curious. “You think you coulda gotten through this thick skull’a mine?” She said, jabbing a finger to her temple. “Not fuckin’ right, Dashie, you’da just gone bad like I did.”

“Or maybe…” Rainbow started, biting her lip then turning to Gilda.

Gilda blinked as she realised Rainbow as shaking. Her hands gripped in tight fists as she tried to wrench out whatever it was that was in her throat out into the daylight.

“Heh,” Gilda chuckled reaching out a hand to settle it on Rainbow’s head to mess up her hair. “Always were a crybaby, Rainbutt.”

Rainbow let out a sob, leaning her weight against Gilda’s hand.

“I’m sorry…” Rainbow whispered, her breath coming in rough coughs as she cried. “I missed you so much, G… I really, really missed you…”

Gilda sighed, she wanted to hate the Rainbooms, she wanted to hate them for all the things they did to Sunset and for being a bunch of assholes who ranted about friendship and then cut and run when it came time for all the talk to mean anything.

But no matter how deep down Gilda looked, she couldn’t find it in her to hate her old friend. Not really. Rainbow Dash was still the little rainbow-headed crybaby that she had protected from bullies in the schoolyard.

Sighing, Gilda stepped closer and pulled Rainbow into a rough embrace.

“Weren’t y’fault, Rainbutt,” Gilda said quietly. “I’m the one that chased ya off, remember?”

“B-but I-!” Rainbow’s muffled voice was cut as Gilda hugged her tighter.

“Nah, I mean it, Rainbutt,” Gilda said, grimacing as she took another drag and dug up the courage to say what she needed to say. To admit the truth. “I did it on purpose.”

Rainbow Dash froze in Gilda’s arms, after a few moments she pushed away and looked up at the tall, dark-skinned girl.

“W-what?”

Gilda looked down at Rainbow, her golden eyes boring into the bright cerise orbs of her old friend. “Y’heard what I said, Dash, I did it on purpose. Y’think I don’t remember little Stuttershy from when we were kids? You were as protective of her as I was a’you, savvy? So why the fuck d’ya think she’s the one I picked on?”

“You did it so… so I’d…” Rainbow stammered, her face starting to redden with anger. Rainbow always did wear her emotions right on her face.

“Yeah, I did,” Gilda said, stepping away from Rainbow. “I fucked with her because I knew it was the one thing that’d get ya t’drop me faster than’a flamin’ shit.”

“Why?!”

Gilda shook her head. “You got no clue what I went through, Dash, a’right? I was a fuckin’ wreck, savvy? I didn’t wanna get better either, too much effort… too much work.” Gilda pulled the cigarette from her mouth, shaking free more ashes and blowing out a breath. “I knew the minute I saw ya again that you’d start followin’ me around just like before. I didn’t want no one lookin’ up t’me, I sure as fuck didn’t want someone actin’ like me.”

“But… I wouldn’t have…” Rainbow stammered, “I wanted to help!”

“Yeah, I know,” Gilda replied, setting the last dregs of the cigarette back to her lips. “But you woulda done it, just like I said, see? Lookit ya now… even after all these years yer actin’ like me. That in-ya-face, take-no-shit attitude? Fake it til ya make it right?”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and hung her head against Gilda, she didn’t really have a good answer to that. Gilda wasn’t wrong, after all; Dash had modeled her behaviour after that of her childhood friend and protector for so much of her life. Dash had, maybe unconsciously, been trying to embody all the best parts of what Gilda had been to her all those years ago. Even now when Dash thought about ‘strong’... she thought about Gilda.

Never backing down, never giving up, and never, ever, leaving a friend hanging.

“S’kinda cute,” Gilda said with a laugh, patting Dash’s head. “I guess yer what I mighta been if I hadn’t gotten all fucked up, savvy? Not so bad, there, huh, Dashie?”

Dash stared up at Gilda as the snow fell gently around them, her tears dry as she wiped them away. There was definitely something different about Gilda now; there was an ease to her, something that was just a little bit more… relaxed. Her smile was a bit more like Rainbow Dash remembered, cocky and self-assured but not cruel, not like it used to be.

It felt good, seeing Gilda like that, it made Dash feel…

Rainbow Danger Dash had a speciality, and it wasn’t in speed or even necessarily loyalty. It was ‘action’. There’s a certain kind of virtue in being the one who acts rather than the one who waffles over whether or not something is the right decision or not. Sometimes acting in the moment can be the difference between life and death, success or failure, ruin or reward.

The keyword being ‘sometimes’.

The rest of the time, on the other hand…

Gilda’s eyes snapped wide as Rainbow Dash pulled herself up and pressed her lips gently against Gilda’s and the effect was instantaneous.

Shoving Rainbow back, Gilda’s right hand snapped up and cracked hard between Rainbow Dash’s eyes, sending her staggering back cross-eyed with a shout of surprise to fall on her ass on the sodden, snowy ground.

“What the FUCK?!” Gilda roared, spitting her cigarette to the ground and swearing viciously. “You wanna go, Dash? ‘Cause I oughta slam your face into that fuckin’ ember I just spat on the ground f’that shit!”

“S-shit, I’m sorry!” Rainbow cried, holding a handover her bruised face. “I’m sorry, G! I’m sorry! I just… I wasn’t thinking okay? I just… I…”

“Just fuckin’ right, you weren’t!” Gilda snapped. “You know I’m with Sunshine, you fuckin’ KNOW THAT!”

“BUT IT COULD’VE BEEN ME!” Rainbow shouted back, her eyes watering from pain and rejection, sending Gilda back a step.

“W-what?” Gilda replied, wrong-footed.

“If… if I’d stuck around… maybe it could’ve been me,” Rainbow sobbed from the ground. “Maybe I’d be the one you fell in love with… y’know? Maybe… maybe I coulda been the one you got all sappy and smiled about all the fuckin’ time, but…”

Gilda stared, her heart hammering with adrenaline that was slowly fading as she flexed her hands, easing the tension from her fists and pulling out of her combat-ready stance. Beyond that, though, she wasn’t sure what to say. Rainbow Dash wiped at her eyes but it didn’t do any good, and Gilda couldn’t help but grimace a little at the bruise forming on Rainbow’s face. Nurse Manners’ was probably gonna have some words about that.

“I just… after ya left I cried fer weeks, y’know?” Rainbow admitted. “I kept imagining you’d come back and we’d be friends like always… then, y’know, as I got older, I started thinking we might… might be more.”

“Dash… I don’t think it’d work, y’know?” Gilda said quietly, sighing as she pressed her palm to her face. “We’re like, fuckin’, fire’n gasoline, savvy? I’m a fuckup and you’d just make it worse ‘cause you’d do whatever I did, and then I’d just… make shit worse f’you ‘cause you wouldn’t leave and… shit, I didn’t even know you were gay.”

“Dunno if I am,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I only ever felt like this about you, y’know? Just you, no one else… just you Gilda.”

“Yeah well, sorry Dashie,” Gilda said, shaking her head. “I never… I never felt like that about you, y’know? Friends? Sure, but… nothin’ else.”

Rainbow Dash curled up against her knees, face buried in her arms as her shoulders shook and she cried. Gilda sighed and wiped her arm against her lips. It was almost a physical sting, the idea that someone else had touched her lips like that other than Sunset. She wanted to be angrier at Dash but seeing her like this?

Gilda pulled out her cell phone and opened a text.

//Gilda: come get rainbutt in the soccer yard, she needs a hand.//

//Hoedown: Gilda? What’s wrong with Dash?//

//Gilda: long story, she’s cryin though and believe me I ain’t gonna be any fuckin help here, savvy? Short of it, she kissed me and I punched her, ask her about it.//

//Hoedown: Uh… wow, yeah, alright, I’m comin//

“I’m sorry, Dash,” Gilda said softly, not knowing what else to say and Dash didn’t respond. “Sorry I couldn’t be that, sorry that you fell for an asshole, sorry that… I dunno, that shit lined up like it did. But I ain’t sorry for choosing my Sunshine, a’right? If y’still wanna be friends down the road though… dunno, shoot me a text, we’ll see where it goes, savvy?”

The P.A. system flickered to life with a spurt of static: “Gilda Grimfeather, to the Nurse’s office, please… Gilda Grimfeather to the Nurse’s office, please…”

“That’s me, Dash,” Gilda said, shaking her head free of snow, she knelt down one last time and set a hand on Rainbow’s head. “Even if you hate me… guess it doesn’t matter to you but… I ain’t leavin’ you hanging either, a’right?”

Gilda glanced to the side as the side-door to the High School opened and Applejack stepped out, looking around worriedly with Rarity on her heels. Gilda stood and flagged them down, walking towards the and jerking a thumb towards Rainbow who was still sitting on the ground.

Applejack raced past Gilda to Rainbow, only giving a brief nod of thanks to Gilda as she passed. Rarity stared at Gilda as she walked past then down at Rainbow, then back up at Gilda.

“Couldn’t… couldn’t you have let her down a little easier?” Rarity asked quietly.

Gilda stopped in her tracks and glanced back at the pale girl, looking pensive for a moment before shrugging.

“Maybe, but I didn’t,” Gilda said finally. “S’not like I can go back in time and fix it.”

“I suppose not, darling,” Rarity answered sorrowfully. “Thank you, though… for calling us out here.”

“Yeah,” Gilda replied, turning away from Rarity and Applejack. “No problem just… take care of her, savvy? She’s a real soft crybaby under all that gruff, so don’t leave’r alone for awhile, even if she asks.”

“Agreed, don’t worry,” Rarity promised. “Thank you again.”

Gilda didn’t answer, just waved a hand as she stalked back inside the school, feeling a sourness in the pit of her stomach. Turning to the trash, she scowled and spit into it, scraping her hands over her lips against.

How was she gonna tell Sunset?

Author's Notes:

Check out our new tvtropes page!

Also as note: there will not be a Featherfall update next week as I will be posting a submission for Oroboro's Sunset Shipping Contest. Guess who it's gonna be?

It won't be a part of Featherfall canon, no crippled Sunset, no Anon-A-Miss. It is definitely Featherfall-adjacent though. Many of the world-building elements are still there.