Preview of the Next Chapter of Seven Days in Sunny June

I shouldn’t be here, Sunset thought to herself as she got off the bus. For one, the bus only ran through the Industrial District on the way to the freeway and the stops in the suburbs to the south; since it was a weekend, the line ran every two hours, so it was going to be a wait. Shining was on patrol today, so if worst came to, she could probably call him for a ride, but he’d probably want to know why she was here as well – and he’d probably tell Velvet and Night and she’d probably get grounded.

Part of her wasn’t even sure why she was here either, but…she had to come. There was really no other way to explain it. Walking the block towards the lot that held the rattletrap building she called home for the past four years…she knew there’d be nothing there; by now, all the possessions she’d had in that building were probably at the bottom of a trash pile at the County Landfill just outside the Everfree National Forest. But still, she had to come.

To her surprise, work had been done fast; they either were truly concerned about squatters or wanted the distro center up quickly, because the main support stanchions had already been laid, giving the general shape of the facility – it took up both her old lot as well as that of three others. Despite the construction trucks and the building materials, there was a clean, antiseptic feel to the whole place, as if it had pushed away the rotting buildings and detritus of the past, determined to throw it all down the memory hole.

And if all that had come before here was now gone, what did it say about her own life here?

As she ignored the NO TRESPASSING sign and walked onto the grounds, she could almost picture how things had been just even scant weeks before: living on a diet of canned food, sleeping on a dingy mattress and taking cold showers on a regular basis; she’d been lucky that the magic within her must have prevented her from becoming sick or worse through all those years. But the magic hadn’t protected her from the loneliness, or the bitterness, or in the end, what she became.

“Is this what you really meant for me, Celestia?” Sunset spoke aloud, speaking to the sky – and to the alicorn somewhere in a realm beyond it. “Is this my real punishment? For me to start to find some little bit of happiness here before you yank me back to Equestria to do whatever you’re going to do? After I’ve really started to finally adjust being here? Is that my punishment?” Sunset wondered if her former mentor was truly that cruel – but then again, this was the ageless mentor who had beaten unspeakable monsters and countless threats to all of ponydom – Princess Celestia was more than capable of utter ruthlessness, regardless of her normally kind and caring demeanor.

When she went back to steal Twilight’s crown…had that really been what Sunset had thought as a chance, or a carefully-laid trap to ensure that the sun alicorn would know where she was? Were the younger alicorn princess’ words to her a suggestion to improve her life…or a warning that someday divine punishment would come on brutal ivory hooves?

That day would come, eventually, she knew. It could be any second now. Or tomorrow. Or maybe ten years from now, when she’d likely have so much more to lose – maybe a husband, children (assuming she could have any), a life. Ironically, she knew, stuff that had not even remotely been on her mind when she first arrived here.

Please, Princess, if there’s any mercy within you, just leave me here in the dungeon and throw away the key. There’s a human saying about it being better to rule in hell than serve in heaven? I don’t even want to rule anymore – I just want to live my life.

Of course, she didn’t expect an answer. Then again, she hadn’t expected to have a sudden, violent blow at the back of her head. The hit crumpled her to the floor, followed by a sharp kick to her barrel. By the time she’d mentally corrected herself to “ribs”, the pain had already started, she was being hit in a few more places and heard a female laugh. She tried to force herself to her feet, only to feel a fist slam across her face as an all-too familiar voice was laughing at her from behind and above: “How you liking this now, huh? Ain’t nobody here to save you now, Shimmer!”