//------------------------------// // Chapter 03: Reopening Wounds // Story: Marceline's Sun // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Marceline's Sun Chapter 03: Reopening Wounds By Wanderer D Fluttershy walked around the Forest Inn, taking in the exotic wildlife. These animals were generally much more sentient than the ones back home. Some spoke, while others acted as expected. There were several that were mutated versions of the ones she knew, but there didn't seem to be any malice in them. She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and looked around. She spotted a bench near a bed of flowers, and made her way there, sitting down and staring at the forest. Sunset Shimmer was alive. Alive and happy, apparently, which made her feel… odd. There had been relief… after all, if Sunset Shimmer was alive—they hadn't murdered her at all! But then there was fear... and then anger. Fluttershy's fingers curled into frustrated fists. Why was she living a happy life here while they suffered? Why did the girl that bullied her and her friends, scared the crap out of her and other students, who broke friendships over and over in the most cruel way possible… get to have a good life here in a world of magic and fancy that she could have never imagined? She hugged herself tighter and took a deep breath. "I shouldn't think about those things. I should be happy she's alive and well." But it hurt. It hurt that she was so angry. It hurt that Sunset could be happy and Fluttershy didn't even know if her friends were okay, or even alive. She knew on some level, she shouldn't hold it against Sunset that she had made a life away from Canterlot City. She had been blasted out of there by her and her friends… and Twilight.  And! It didn't look like she was up to her old… self either. "You really don't want to help them?" The voice of the vampire, Marceline, made Fluttershy start. She looked around, but there was no-one else outside. She glanced above herself, at the round window just above and behind her. "Oh no…" she whispered. She was right outside their room! Should she run? "It's complicated," Sunset's voice answered before Fluttershy could make up her mind. "I don't want them to suffer but… they made their stance clear on whether they wanted me there or not." "Come on, that was ages ago." As Fluttershy reconsidered whether she should stay or go—after all, Sunset was talking about helping her and Principal Celestia—someone strummed a guitar. The melody was melancholic, just like Sunset's voice as she started singing. "You say… that I'm nothing but a monster…" "Sunset." "Nothing but a monster. Feelin's just a rollercoaster…" "Seriously?" The tune picked up in tempo. "But I didn't want you dead! And so you killed me instead…" "We've talked about this song, and it's just as bad now as it was six hundred years ago." A sudden metal twist to it. "With a rainbow of dread!" "Seriously though," Marceline's voice was now mixed with laughter. "Soo now, I'll just bang my head, to the rhythm of… death! And whisper your name, like I'm nailed to my bed!"  Another guitar strummed in, accompanied by Marceline's voice. "And get all the fame, because it's all worth some lead, to take me down—" "—to the edge of town! And sleep with the fish!" "They make a nice dish!" "Really?" Sunset asked. "Told you the song sucked," Marceline countered. "Is it even a song?" "And the pain in my heart, this song from the start, an hymn to pain… a tune to regret, and I want to forget… and a thousand years just gone… like a Band-Aid just torn, and then I'm exposed like-like…" Sunset's voice broke and the guitars stopped. Fluttershy could imagine Marceline putting down her guitar and going to sit next to Sunset. It made her feel uncomfortable, that the bully that had caused her so much pain could also be in pain.  She wanted to stand up and scream at her that she didn't have a right to feel bad or miserable when she was the reason behind so much hate… and that just made her feel worse about herself. About what they had almost done. But she didn't stand up or scream. 'I don't have the guts,' she thought miserably as the conversation among monsters continued uninterrupted. "Hey." "I know I'm being stupid. I'm sorry, Marcy." "No, you're not being stupid. You have a right to be upset. It's been a really long time since you thought that was over, and you still have nightmares now and then." A sniffle. "It's not an excuse for bad music." "Hey, at least we didn't try to compete with that song. Can you imagine? The banjo band after us would've been crying their eyes out of joy." "Right." Sunset sighed. "I just hate having these relapses, Marcy. I'm—old. Almost as old as Princess Celestia now, and I'm still almost 20. I've seen the world change, new life appear, civilizations collapse and I'm still 20. Every time I think I've matured, moved on, I'm reminded that I can't really move forward." "Hey, I know how you feel… but it doesn't mean you haven't grown… it just means that you're still young and just like me, you have some damage. And all that crap only makes us stronger, right? It's just sometimes, we need a little break." A beat. "Listen, why don't you go for a flight? I need to rest anyway so we can head out tonight." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, you need to clear your head and I need to wait till Sunset before I can really go out without looking like I fell out of the discount bin." "I see what you did there." "Then you know I'll be fine." "Alright, sis. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" "See you soon!" Fluttershy heard the door closing after a few moments and released a breath. It was then that she felt the hand on her shoulder and meeped as she looked up at the grinning face of Marceline. "You're coming with me." She barely had a moment to protest before she was pulled through the open window as easily as if she was a weightless plush toy. "I could hear your heart, and your breathing," Marceline said. "And generally speaking, it's not a good idea to spy on demons and vampires. " She grinned, her many, many serrated teeth showing. Fluttershy immediately withdrew into herself, letting her hair cover her face. "I'm sorry! I know it's rude, I was just sitting under the window and I was afraid that if I made a noise, Sunset would hear me!" "As if Sunset was the one you need to be afraid of." Marceline snorted. "Whatever."  Fluttershy flinched. "She did horrible things to me and my friends." Marceline frowned. "I guess she got what she deserved when you and your buddies murdered her for all intents and purposes, huh?" She shook her head, floating up and laying on her back in the air, strumming her axe-guitar. "What does redemption matter if you finally manage to forgive yourself after countless selfless acts and sacrifices, as long as people who were supposed to be long gone after trying to murder you think you still don't deserve it, right?" "Why should she forgive herself?" Fluttershy stood in the middle of the room, hesitantly hugging herself and refusing to meet Marceline's eyes. "You don't know what she was like." "Hm. Maybe I don't." Marceline drawled. "I still think it's pretty fresh that you'd come here and ask for help after basically murdering her." She twirled in the air and got in Fluttershy's face. "So what did she do that she deserved to die? Why don't you tell me?" "I didn't want her to die!" Fluttershy cried. "I wanted her to leave me and my friends alone!" "Right." Marceline snorted, leaning back. "She heard your words, you know? What you were thinking when you blasted her?" Fluttershy looked down. "It's not what I wanted to happen." "Well it did. And you weren't the only one that wanted her gone for good. What, you think your friends were all-forgiving?" Marceline prodded. Fluttershy looked away. "I guess the punishment fits the crime, then," Marceline said. "No!" Fluttershy finally snapped, glaring at the vampire. "I've felt awful ever since it happened! She was horrible to me and to my friends but—I never thought what I felt would…" She shook her head violently. "What she did wasn't right. She slowly destroyed our friendships, and she threatened me and my animals… what did you expect us to be like? Happy?" She paced in the room before turning and sitting down, face in her hands. "What did Twilight want us to do? Just… let things go, as if she'd never damaged any of us? She had secrets on everyone, there were students who were terrified that she'd expose them!" Marceline narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you put a stop to it? What kind of secrets would terrify you so much?"  "Some students were in a very bad place to begin with. Their parents or family, their community or even friends weren't as accepting of their identity, or in some cases downright phobic about it." Fluttershy lowered her hands and entwined her fingers, staring at the floor as she thought about things. "Sexuality, gender, drugs, depression, anything that could embarrass or hurt us… she found it all and she dangled it in front of us."  She glared up at the vampire. "We're teenagers. So what if she never actually shared any of it, or actually never intended to expose them?" she asked. "We were living in fear for our lives just waiting for the day our parents would find out, or the police, or the principals! If we didn't do what she said, she threatened them to use those things! How could we know she wasn't going to do it? How could we even trust her? Every time we did what she said, all we knew was that we had bought ourselves some time before she needed something else." She closed her eyes. "Is it so surprising that we would hate her so much that a fleeting thought of getting rid of her forever would cross my mind when we were actually fighting her with magic?" Marceline kept glaring at her for a moment before sighing and floating down to sit, cross-legged, on the other bed, across from Fluttershy. "I guess not." "Huh?" Fluttershy looked up. "Surprised?" Marceline asked, smirking at Fluttershy's expression. "Sunset did tell me all about it. Not all she knew about you and the other students, but about how she used all of that to hurt you all." Fluttershy frowned. "Then how can you—" "Care for her? Forgive her?" Marceline laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "How about the fact that she regretted so much what she did to all of you, that she willingly went to hell here? Or that she's spent the last thousand years making up for her mistakes, feeling that she deserved to die? Or maybe because she saved me when I was just a kid?" the vampire shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned she's paid in spades for some high school manipulation scheme whether you feel she deserves it or not." Fluttershy bit her lip. "Has it… really been a thousand years?" Marceline shrugged. "Give or take. I'm rounding it up, to be honest. What's the difference between nine hundred and a thousand anyway?" "...a hundred?" Marceline sat up and gave her a look. Fluttershy couldn't help herself and giggled, making the vampire roll her eyes at her. "So what are you going to do now?" Marceline asked.  "About… Sunset?" "In general, I guess." Fluttershy looked down at her hands. "I… understand what you said but… it hasn't been more than a couple of months for me. I don't think I c-can forgive Sunset. Yet." Marceline shrugged. "You do you, but we'll do our own thing too. I'd start looking for a job though, this ain't Canterlot anymore little girl. Now…" She motioned to the door. "I do need to sleep." "R-right." Fluttershy stood up and walked out the room, closing the door behind her. She gulped, then walked down the hallway, politely allowing a pair of walking and talking racoons to walk past her before continuing to the front door. There, she froze, eyes wide and body shaking when she spotted none other than Sunset Shimmer, leaning against the door, as if she had been waiting for her. The first time she had transformed, Fluttershy had been horrified of the shape Sunset had taken, but time here had seemed to adapt her body… it looked more similar to her normal human self, still taller and red-skinned. Her hair now fell on her shoulders just like it had before, curling at the tips, but somehow still made of fire. Black sclera with crimson, slitted pupils studied her, a single white fang visible under her upper lip flashing as she grimaced, Sunset pushed away from the door, her bat-like wings adjusting her balance, and her tail swaying behind her as she sauntered over to her. Fluttershy wanted to scream. It was just like her nightmares. But there was nowhere to run and now— She meeped and flinched when she felt Sunset's clawed hand rest on her shoulder. Then, when nothing happened she opened one eye, then the other. The older girl… the demon held her in place with her eyes. "I heard what you told Marceline." "B-but I thought you'd—" "Gone flying?" Sunset laughed. Shook her head. "No. And I didn't fool Marcy either. But I guess it was enough for you to be absolutely honest." "I-I'm—" "I'm sorry." "W-w—" Fluttershy stared at the demon, who had closed her eyes and had curled her other hand into a fist.  "I'm sorry. I'm glad you're here and I can apologize to one of you, after all this time. I can't even imagine the pain I put you through to make you hate me so much." She sighed, opening her hand and relaxing her shoulders. She opened her eyes as well. "I don't expect you'll forgive me, but I do regret what I did so long ago… it has shaped who I am now. I—" She cleared her throat. "Sorry. Don't want this to be more awkward. I just wanted to tell you that before Marcy and I left tonight." Fluttershy simply nodded. "Anyway, um, no offense but I hope we don't meet again, like you wished." Nodding back, Sunset patted her on the shoulder, then headed into the Inn, leaving her alone. Fluttershy turned to follow her with her eyes. 'I'm sorry too.' at the tip of her tongue. But she didn't say anything, once again hating herself for keeping silent, and once more, Sunset was gone. But this time, there was no relief to go along with the guilt.