Transient
Sunset Shimmer plunged the shovel into the soft earth for what felt like the thousandth time, sweat dripping down her brow and obscuring her vision. She blinked her eyes clear and leaned against it with both hands, gasping for air. Stuffing a filthy hand down her pocket, she whipped her phone out and tapped a button. Her mouth quivered and grimaced as she noticed the time.
“12:37 A.M. Been two hours already...can't stop...”
The pain in her arms and back felt like fire. Her palms were scraped and calloused. Her eyes stung from having to strain them in the dark for so long. Yet she couldn't stop herself from digging, not even for a second. Gripping the handle and taking a deep breath, Sunset rammed her heel into the spade and scooped another pile of semi-solid dirt out of the hole. Eyeballing her surroundings, she was probably getting close to six feet now.
“Nearly...there...just hope I...don't get caught...”
She was fully aware of how illegal this was, and could only hope that no one saw her. She knew she was probably injuring herself by pushing her body like this. Yet no conceivable punishment or consequence could sway her from digging. Aside from the burning ache in her muscles, all she could feel right now were the hairs on her neck standing on end. The icy sting filling her lungs and going down her spine. The faint, imagined whispers pricking at her mind endlessly. The thought that it was only a matter of time until it started again.
“Can't...stop...can't...ah!”
The tip of her shovel stopped halfway, making a hollow, wooden sound. Gasping and letting the shovel fall out of her hands, Sunset dropped to her knees and started scraping the dirt away with her hands, her eyes frantic and her heart beating loudly. When her fingernails were completely filled with dirt, she stopped to finally catch her breath, the sight in front of her making the inside of her chest feel like it was filled with icy needles. It was a wide, curved wooden surface, worn from age and degradation. Swallowing and breathing out her nose, she plunged her hands into the dirt on the right side of it, fishing around for something. It would be another five minutes of searching until she finally found it, her fingers grasping the handle like a vice. Rearranging herself into a crouching position, Sunset pulled upward on the handle with every bit of strength she had left. The hinges creaked with rust and decay before it flew open, causing her to lose her footing and fall onto her behind. She wiped her eyes with her forearm before saying, “(Cough), ugh! I-is it?! Is she here?!”
She scrambled forward on her hands and knees, her jaw hanging loosely at what she saw. She clutched the front of her blouse with her muddy hand, her breath becoming short and labored. Aside from the faded white padding, the casket beneath her was empty.
----
- Canterlot High School, Three Days Ago
Sunset breathed a sigh of relief and slammed her notebook shut, grateful that another agonizing day was over. She had avoided eye contact with anyone as much as she could, but she could still feel their stinging eyes on her like an iron maiden. Scooping up her belongings and literally throwing them into her book bag, Sunset bolted up and out the door, ensuring that she was the first one out of the classroom. Tomorrow was a Saturday, so it would be another two days before she'd have to endure the torture of being in school again.
“Please, please just let me out of here,” she whispered to herself. “I don't know how much more of this I can take...”
She kept her head low and her book bag close to her chest as she walked, her eyes focused solely on where she was going. And whenever she spotted someone getting even remotely close to her, her head snapped away. It was bad enough that she could hear their muffled, hate-filled whispers, but seeing the look in their eyes as they said those things just made it worse. Her own eyes scrunched shut as she pushed past the front doors, letting out a giant sigh as the sun hit her face. She wasn't even aware that she was holding her breath.
“Uhm, excuse me, Sunset Shimmer?”
Her back instinctively went rigid as she heard someone call her name, but loosened up a second later when she recognized the voice. Turning her head to the left, she was greeted by Fluttershy walking towards her, though she stopped when she saw her initial reaction.
“Oh! I'm so sorry, did I startle you?”
Sunset lowered her bag, letting it hang by her fingers as she forced a smile. “No, it's alright...I'm, uh...just a little anxious to get home.”
“Oh, okay...” Fluttershy put her hands behind her back and shuffled her feet. “A-anyway, I wanted to ask if you could help me with...something...”
She edged away from the timid girl. “Can't Applejack or Rainbow Dash help you instead? I'm not really having the best of days...”
“Well, you see, I've already asked them, but they're both pretty busy...Rainbow Dash has soccer practice, and Applejack has to hurry straight home to start on her chores. I'd ask Pinkie or Rarity, but...” She stepped forward and put her hands over her chest. “...it's volunteer work at Canterlot General Hospital. Rarity's too afraid of catching a bug, and I'm scared that Pinkie might startle the patients. You're the only one I can turn to right now.”
Sunset fidgeted in place. “Um...well...Fluttershy, I don't know...”
“Please, Sunset? I was hoping this could be a chance for you to open up a bit more. It's already been a month since the Fall Formal, but you won't even say hi to us. Everyone else is saying you just need time to yourself, but I'm starting to get worried.”
She was purposely looking away this whole time, trying not to look into those big, innocent eyes. The fact that she would even talk to her at all after what had happened last month still boggled her mind. She wasn't just a typical schoolyard bully anymore, she was a supervillain right out of a comic book. The thought of being friends with anyone at this point didn't even cross her mind, much less lending a hand at the hospital. Hanging her head and letting out another sigh, Sunset said, “Listen...you don't have to force yourself to be nice to me. I'm not worth it, not after what I did...”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” She saw her take a step forward in the corner of her eye. “I understand that you've done some mean things in the past, but I'm not upset about it, really. We're friends now, aren't we?”
Sunset finally tore her head away from the pavement to look at the girl reaching out to her. She called her a friend like it was the most natural thing to do. Looking at her now, she was reminded of how sickeningly sincere she always was. Sighing softly, she replied, “Oh, alright...I'll give you a hand.”
Fluttershy smiled and closed her eyes, tilting her head to one side. “Thank you, Sunset! I promise I won't take up too much of your time!”
As she bounded off to the bus stop, Sunset smiled wryly to herself. “Yeesh. How could anyone say no to that face?”
----
- Canterlot General Hospital, Main Foyer
She let the heavy box drop next to the reception desk with a grunt, wiping her brow with her forearm. All in all, it was mostly moving boxes of documents from one wing to another. Too much physical labor for a delicate girl like Fluttershy, but not too much for herself. Looking at the clock in the office beyond the desk, she said to herself, “Getting a bit late now...where could she have gone?”
Fluttershy told her that some of the nurses in pediatrics needed help, but she didn't mention what kind. For all she knew, she could be gone for another hour. Moaning softly, she walked over to the waiting lobby and plopped down into one of the chairs, resting her elbows on its back and looking at the ceiling. “Well, might as well get comfy...”
Her breathing slowed as she stared at the abstract patterns on the ceiling tiles. Somewhere behind her, a TV droned on about some boring local news story, while the faint scent of ethanol started lingering in her head. Yawning, she felt her eyelids go somewhat limp.
“...Sunset? Sunset Shimmer? Is...is that you, Sunny...?”
“Ms. Dawn, please, it's time for your medication!”
Hearing her name, she started to straighten her head out, only to jump up from her seat at the loud clatter of something hitting the linoleum floor. Looking over to where it came from, she saw a woman in what looked like her forties standing up from a wheelchair, while a doctor behind her tried to convince her to sit back down. She was wearing a hospital gown and had a desperate, maniacal look on her face. Her skin was a deep shade of gray, while her shoulder length hair was ragged and unkempt, but shone with a silvery sheen. Her breathing became erratic as she outstretched her thin, bony hands towards Sunset, saying in a raspy voice, “Oh, my sweet little Sunny! Where have you BEEN all these years?!”
She took a step back from the old woman in preparation to run, but didn't count on how quick she was. In moments, she was being pulled into her bosom, her nostrils immediately being invaded by the smell of vaseline and old dust. Squirming in her arms, she said, “Hey, what're you doing?!”
“Oh, it's okay Sunny! It's...it's okay! I...I won't let you be hurt anymore! Mother is so sorry for how she treated you!”
She raised an eyebrow at the mention of her being her 'mother'. She was moments from screaming her head off before she felt her trembling in her embrace, her strange ramblings slowly turning into quiet sobbing.
“It's...all my fault. MY fault. You didn't deserve this. I'm...(huck)...I'm so sorry...”
Sunset could only stand there with her eyes darting about the room, hoping someone was going to stop this crazy, old lady. The doctor that was pushing her wheelchair had already left the lobby, hopefully to get some help. She raised her arms cautiously, like she was going to return the hug, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she just stood there and let her cry on her shoulder.
“It's been so long...so long since I...found you in your room that day...and-and then you were taken from me. So who are YOU supposed to be?!”
The woman pushed her away, glaring at her with wide eyes while letting her arms go limp. “You think you can fool me?! I KNOW what happened! I was there! How DARE you try to trick me! Do you have any idea what I've been through?! DO YOUUU?!”
Sunset was at a loss for words, her mouth trembling and trying to find something, anything that could calm her down. Thankfully, the doctor that was here earlier came back from behind the reception desk with an orderly, the both of them grabbing either of her arms and setting her back down in the wheelchair. She continued to scream and yell incoherent things at her as the orderly wheeled her down a corridor, with Sunset unable to look away.
“I am SO sorry for all this, miss. Are you okay?”
She spun around to face the bespectacled doctor, still unsure of how to feel or think. Her right hand unconsciously grabbed her shoulder as she said, “Uh, yeah, fine...what was that all about?”
The doctor wore a typical white coat, and had her powder blue hair tied back into a bun. Pushing her thin framed glasses onto the bridge of her nose, she sighed and said, “Her name is Silver Dawn. We've been taking care of her here at Canterlot General for quite some time now. I apologize profusely for this, I-I was unaware she would act that way towards you. She's normally very lethargic.”
Sunset shook her head, “No, it's fine, don't worry about it...” Her head wandered toward the hallway where she was taken. “What happened to her, anyway? Shouldn't she be in some loony bin instead of in a hospital?”
“Ordinarily yes, but the city has made special arrangements, considering the incident six years ago.”
She turned back to face the doctor, “Huh? What incident?”
“Oh, you don't know? You must be relatively new to this place, then.” She walked past Sunset, down the hallway where Dawn was taken. “I don't really know all the details, but she lost her sanity when her daughter committed suicide. Her name was Sunset Shimmer.”
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“I don't really know all the details, but she lost her sanity when her daughter committed suicide. Her name was Sunset Shimmer.”
This bit gave me shivers! AWESOME!!!
Oh my god I love this
Finally got around to reading this, and I am already creeped out. That, and I'm impressed with your grammar and spelling; it's nearly flawless. I sure hope you finish this story soon.
sin palabras
Huh.
Huh.
I've been meaning to reread this for a while now, mostly so I could read the two new chapters. I'm glad I finally got to it.