A Ray of Sunlight

Cracked

Sunset left the restroom shortly after Trixie. Not quite feeling up to going to class, she found a spot outside to sequester herself until her next class began. The air was brisk, but felt refreshing to Sunset's stressed out body. Since there was still snow on the ground she didn't have to worry too much about running into other students.
     She sat on a bench and played on her phone, checking her favorite apps for any updates. After opening and closing them all, unable to feel enthusiastic about them, she decided to walk the perimeter of the track field. The black of the asphalt poking through where others had walked already. She wondered if she would actually join the team next year.
     Will Rainbow even want me on the team after I just left her there? She thought bitterly.
     She circled the track several times, getting more lost in her thoughts. By the time the bell rang for the final class Sunset was still in a bad mood, but no longer felt like crying. So she headed for the foods class and mentally braced herself to see Sonata again.
     They had, of course, been paired together when it came time to choose partners while cooking. Nobody wanted to work with her, Sonata had even been offered by another group to be a third. This would have been fine with Sunset, but Sonata had declined the offer. So since then Sunset was on high alert for any type of trick or prank. As of yet there were no signs of any such thing, Sonata was actually friendly and helpful in the kitchen.
     Should I just move on and get along with her? She thought.
     Of course not! She's Adagios friend. She's probably been told to mess with me somehow! She argued with herself.
     While Sunset was lost in thought, Sonata was sheepishly trying to get the next ingredient for the recipe.
     "-eed the sugar."
     "What?" Sunset asked as she returned from her internal argument.
     "I need to get the sugar." She gestured to the container behind Sunset.
     Sunset narrowed her eyes and wordlessly stepped aside. The rest of the class was spent in wordless, awkward semi-silence. Broken only by Sonata trying to initiate conversation from time to time. As class drew to a close, Sunset noticed a group of classmates sitting near her desk eating their finished pastries. She continued washing the mixing bowl as her and Sonata's cupcakes finished baking. Sonata dried the dishes and snuck fingertip-fulls of frosting.
     "Mmmm this is really good. I hope we learn to make frosting in class."
     Sunset grunted in response and wiped out the sink.
     Sonata dipped a spoon into the container and held it toward her former friend.
     "It's cho-col-ate, your fa-vor-ite." She said in a sing-song voice.
     "I'm not hungry." She mumbled as her stomach made a growling noise.
     Sonata continued in that same voice. "Your tummy says otherwise."
     Sunset smirked. Sonata had always been able to cause a smile when she'd been a part of the group.
     "Alright, I'll take a spoonful, but you're cleaning the spoon." Sunset said curtly, refusing to give too much.
     "Deal." Sonata handed over the chocolatey utensil.
     The frosting tasted incredible. The sweet flavor of the chocolate covering her taste buds. Having not eaten since breakfast her stomach turned slightly at the rush of sugar it had been given. Sunset grimaced briefly before taking one more scoop.
     "See, told you you'd like it." Sonata grinned.
     Maybe she really doesn't mean any ill will towards me. She thought.
     The cupcakes came out a little crumbly, but the teacher seemed to like them. Sonata and Sunset stayed a couple minutes after the bell rang to finish frosting the rest of the cupcakes. During the course of the frosting Sunset relented and asked how Sonata's day was.
     "It was good." She responded tentatively.
     "That's good." Sunset responded.
     The conversation ended there as they divided the treats between them. They were the last ones in the class as they went to gather their belongings. Sunset saw something resting on top of her bag. She didn't realize what it was until she was standing next to it.
     She retrieved the upturned confection off of her bag. Any benefit of the doubt she'd been willing to entertain was immediately dismissed when she saw the smear of frosting across the top of her bag. Sunset angrily stomped over to the trash bin and spiked the cupcake into it.
     "Is everything alright Sunset?" Mrs. Tart asked.
     Without a word, Sunset hastily wiped the frosting off with a napkin and wrenched her bag off the ground, causing more threads to pop. Her books now sat at an awkward angle and the corner of one dug into her lower back.
     "Sunset! Wait up!" Sonata called after her.
     Sunset's pace quickened. She marched headlong towards the student parking lot. She just wanted to get to her car and get home as quickly as she could. Keeping her focus dead ahead she didn't notice the burly shape of a fellow classmate to her side.
     Their shoulders collided and Sunset spun on her heel. The bottom of her bag gave out and her supplies dropped to the floor, hitting her calf painfully on their way down. She cursed loudly in the middle of the hallway. Dozens of judgemental stares were on her.
     "What! What are you all looking at! Isn't this what you wanted?" She screamed at all the students surrounding her. "Sunset Shimmer's finally lost it!"
     She knelt down and started trying to shovel her things into the ruined bottom of her backpack. In her rush and anger, papers and books slid away from her and she snatched at them. Not a single person offered to help. A gentle hand on her shoulder caused her to whip her head around.
     "Sunset calm down. What happened?" Twilight asked her.
     "Not now Twilight!" She continued scooping. "I don't want to talk about it."
     Twilight felt her face flush. "You never do!" She snapped, surprising herself. "Whenever I try to help you shoot me down. Whenever I try to get you to talk to me you change the subject!" Twilight couldn't stop, her bottled up frustrations bubbling over.
     "You have no idea what I'm dealing with." Sunset spat and stood upright.
     "You're right, because you never talk to me!"
     "It's not your problem Twilight!"
     "I just want to help you, but I can't if you don't tell me what's going on! How can we make this work if you never let me in?"
     Sunset clenched her fists. "Maybe we can't." She said flatly, shoving the last of her things into her bag.
     The fight left Twilight immediately. "Sunset, you don't mean that."
     Sunset held her bag upside down, tears welling in her eyes. She yelled at the surrounding crowd to move and headed in the direction of the parking lot.
     Twilight stared after her and let the tears fall freely.
     Sunset shoved the doors to the parking lot open roughly. She wiped at her eyes, but they refilled immediately. The cold air stung her cheeks where the tears left their salty tracks.
     "Sunset! Hold on!" Sonata came through the doors behind her.
     "Haven't you done enough?" She said, venom dripping from every word.
     "That's what I wan-"
     "Shut up! You ruined everything!" She turned to face Sonata. "Why couldn't you three just leave me alone? Why did you have to bring my past mistakes back? I was finally happy!"
     She shoved Sonata. Not hard, but enough to make her stumble. Tears were streaming down Sunset's cheeks now.
     "Now everybody knows what a monster I used to be and won't look past it! You've turned everybody against me!"
     Sonata scooped her into a hug. "I'm so sorry."
     Sunset froze, taken completely by surprise.
     "I'm so sorry." She repeated, her voice trembling. She pulled back to look Sunset in the eyes. "I need you to know I had nothing to do with that video. I had no idea they were doing anything like that."
     "Why should I believe you?" Sunset glared.
     "You're right, you have no reason to. Trust me though, I have nothing to do with either of them anymore."
     She leered skeptically at Sonata, but remained where she was.
     Seeing that Sunset wasn't leaving, she continued. "After you told Adagio off before the formal, I realized I didn't have to take her bossing me around anymore. It took a few days, but I finally worked up the courage to follow your lead and cut ties with her and Aria."
     Sunset continued listening, keeping her guard up.
     "The next day is when Flash asked me to the dance. I was so happy, because I didn't know he even knew I existed!" Sonata cleared her throat awkwardly. "A conversation for another time. Anyway I didn't see or talk to them until Flash and I got to the dance. We ran into them outside the school and she 'apologized' for everything and asked if we could hang out again for old time's sake."
     Sonata's face hardened. "And like an idiot I believed her. She must have wanted it to look like we were all still friends so you'd hate me as much as them."
     Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "Do you really think she put that much thought into this?"
     "This is Adagio we're talking about. She prides herself on her manipulation."
     "You have a point." She agreed. "Why tell me all this?"
     "Because... because I was hoping we could be friends again." Sonata said quickly. "I miss hanging out with you. You were the only one who didn't order me around. You treated me like an actual person, and I always had fun with you."
     Sunset took a moment before responding."I... I can't deal with this right now."
     "I understand." Sonata said meekly.
     Sunset turned to walk back to her car. She paused mid-step and looked over her shoulder.
     "Thank you for apologizing... I've missed you too." She continued her trek to the parking lot.
     Sonata smiled hopefully after her.
Sunset drove home gripping the steering wheel hard. She gathered her bag and rushed inside. She was glad to see that her uncle wasn't in today. She gave a slight nod to the guy behind the check-in counter on her way to the elevators. When she got inside her room she tossed her ruined bag onto the couch. Some papers and one of her books slid out onto the floor.
     She aggressively pulled out a cup and some orange juice and gulped the citrusy drink down quickly. Realizing she still hadn't eaten she decided to make some dinner. She was feeling like Chinese food so she got the fixings for a sweet and sour chicken meal out. As she cooked up the rice and microwaved popcorn chicken, her mind was focused on the task at hand and no longer racing with everything that happened.
     When the cooking was done, she drizzled the store-bought sauce over the rice and chicken. As she ate her meal she started to hone in on one specific part of the day. When the memory was at the forefront she pushed the remaining food away from her as her stomach knotted uncomfortably. She slapped the table top and rose to her feet.
     "How could I have said that!" She yelled at the empty room. "You idiot! She was the best thing you had and you threw it away!"
     Sunset kicked out at the couch in frustration,  grateful she was still wearing her boots. Groaning loudly, she slumped to the ground. She picked at a loose thread on her pants as thoughts raced through her head. A voice deep within whispered through the cacophony in her brain.
     "This is for the best. There's no point in dragging it out any longer."
     "I should just talk to her." She said quietly to herself.
     "Then what? You drag her into your world full of problems and make them hers? You know she'll get tired of dealing with your garbage and leave eventually." The voice of doubt continued. "Better to call it now."
     "Maybe she'll be understanding."
     "She's not as strong as you. She can't deal like you can with negativity. It would be selfish to drag her into this. Better to just cut her loose, free her from you and your issues."
     "Maybe she will be better off without me." She mumbled as tears trickled down her cheeks.