//------------------------------// // Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice // Story: PONYVERSE // by TopWanted //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice ===SS=== “So, Sunset,” Dr. Wolf greeted as they sat down for their session, “what seems to be the problem?” Sunset sat uncomfortably on the couch opposite and rolled her eyes. “I’m hearing a voice.” Dr. Wolf raised an eyebrow. “Like… voices in your head?” “No,” she gritted her teeth. “Just one voice. And don’t narrate me,” she added with a mutter. “What did I just say?” Dr. Wolf looked uncomfortable. “Okay… And how long have you had this voice follow you around?” Sunset paused. Come to think of it, she had woken up with this voice after that event in the hall, right? The whole thing was still a bit fuzzy but she could recall something breaking. Something else occurred to her. “Wait a minute. What was that about ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice’? You don’t cut back to me for hours and then there’s that?” “Sunset?” Dr. Wolf asked. She froze and flushed rubbing her arms together shyly. Dr. Wolf wasn’t the most judgmental of teachers she knew at Hoofwarts, but he was the most curious. She actually found it rather charming, especially since his puffy white hair and beard combined with his short stature made him look like a teddy bear. “I was not thinking that!” she shouted unexpectedly. Dr. Wolf merely cocked his head to the side. She groaned and leaned back against the couch. “Look, Dr. Wolf, this is a wizarding school, isn’t there some magical reason I could be hearing voices?” Dr. Wolf smiled. “Oh plenty! You could be possessed by an invisible dream demon, corrupted by a glowing green gem, or a ghost could simply be haunting you. But from your teachers’ descriptions this doesn’t sound like that.” He tapped his pencil on his notebook in thought. “You said, ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice’ why refer to yourself like that?” Sunset threw up her arms. “It’s not me, it’s just how the voice worked. It goes on and on about ponies and this whole interdimensional feud and then when it cuts back to me it says ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice’ then starts narrating my life again.” Dr. Wolf looked perplexed for a moment then shook his head. Despite the whole pony thing he might have an idea. “I really don’t blame you for shaking that off.” “Come again,” he asked. “Nothing.” “Regardless, it sounds like this voice is narrating your life like it’s some kind of script?” “More like a story. It can sometimes be hard to tell who’s talking and often times it will get super in depth into the process of things. Character A turns to Character B who slowly turns and nods to Character C. Why can’t you just say they all nod?!” “…Uh huh. Tell me, do you have any idea why you would want to narrate your own life?” Sunset was about to answer but she stopped. The voice wasn’t her own. It was someone else’s. Someone indistinct. Even now as it spoke she couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. How was that possible? “GAAAHH!!” Sunset stood up and frazzled her hair in frustration before sitting down again. She looked dejected. “Doctor, please just tell me how I can get rid of this thing?” Doctor Wolf pursed his lips and tapped his notebook again. “Well, in my professional opinion-” “As a psychiatrist for wizards.” “IN MY PROFESSIONAL OPINION, the problem may lie with your head.” She slumped down a little more. “But let’s say we indulge in this delusion. You say that the voice rarely cuts back to you, instead staying on something off topic.” Sunset perked up. “Yeah?” “Well, perhaps that makes you a side character in its story. Whatever it is.” Sunset frowned. “It really doesn’t feel like that. I feel a lot more… ancillary than that.” Doctor Wolf frowned too. “Hmm, maybe if you want to understand where you stand in this narrative you’ll have to understand a little bit more about the writing process.” Sunset deadpanned. “You want me to read writing books?” He held up a finger and got up going over to his desk. He pulled out a small book and handed it to her. It was titled “Write Right, Right?” “This will give you a basic idea of narrative flow and maybe help you understand what this voice, be it a part of your own mind or something else, wants from you.” She turned it over and then flipped through the pages. “Did you like to write, Doc?” He flushed. “Oh, um, in my earlier days I suppose.” She smirked. She bet he had twenty books like this in his desk. A bell rang outside and she got up to leave, slipping the book in her bag. “Well, thanks for the help, Doc.” “Oh, we’re far from over, Miss Shimmer.” She froze at the door and cringed. She knew this was coming. “I expect to see you two more days this week and next. This is still technically a punishment for all your behavior in class.” She sighed. “Yes, sir.” As she left the office something new occurred to her. The voice was still going. Normally it had stopped talking about her after a few minutes or so but it had been following her for a while now. “Just when I think I have you figured out, voice.” Thankfully, her next class was close by so she didn’t need to be there immediately. She peeked her head around the hall for a moment to make sure she was alone before taking the book back out of her knapsack. She stayed close to the wall and read it as she walked slowly toward her next class. “First chapter. ‘There’s No Denial of the Story’s Title’. Is that supposed to rhyme?” She sighed but kept on reading. “Do I have to? …Ugh, fine. Ahem, ‘the title is the first thing a reader sees and the first thing to draw their attention. Depending on the story you can have many titles but most of the time its better to be short and sweet.’” She frowned in thought. Come to think of it, the voice did seem to begin every adventure those ponies had with a phrase or words. “For a Few Bits Noir” came to mind. “I guess that’s supposed to be a pun or something. Not that I get it.” She began to reason it out logically. “Logically, huh? Okay… so… let’s say those are chapters. That would mean that since I got an introduction phrase this is my chapter.” She stopped in the hall and lowered the book looking at the sky. “And ‘Sunset Shimmer and the Mysterious Voice’ is all you could think up?! That sounds like a parody of a young adult book! Do you know how boring it is to name your title the ‘main character and the driving force’? I thought you were a little more creative than that, voice!” “Uh, Sunset?” Sunset spun with wide eyes as she saw she wasn’t alone in the hall. Her face paled as she saw Flash Sentry cock his head at her with a curious expression. “I-I-I uh… you see…” He was staring at her. She couldn’t take those eyes drilling into her. She hugged the book to her chest and ran. “I’m sorry!” “Woah, hold on!” Flash grabbed her arm as she passed and she was surprised to find his grip so strong. She tried not to look at him. “You’ve been acting weird since yesterday. Is everything alright?” Her cheeks flushed and she tried to hide behind her shoulders. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would it be wrong?” Flash seemed to take the hint that she was uncomfortable and let her go, making sure she stayed long enough for him to get answers. “Oh, I don’t know. You keep seeming to talk to yourself and you were sent to the nurse’s office yesterday. Everyone in school is saying you had a seizure.” “It was not a seizure!” She shot at him, immediately blushing again and lowering her head. “It was…” How did she explain it? Even she had a hard time putting it into words. It was like watching the world itself crack. Whatever it was it caused these voices in her head. She sagged a little and waved her hand despondently. “Nothing. You should just leave me alone. I don’t think you’d understand what I’m going through.” Flash frowned but grinned as he eyed the book she kept close to her. Sunset pulled it back but was too late as he snatched it from her. “Well, whatever it is its gotta do with this, right? Probably some kind of spell, right?” He read the title. “Okay, didn’t expect that.” Sunset gritted her teeth, her cheeks on fire with embarrassment. “Just give it back!” She waved her arm at him but the guy kept it just out of her reach. “Not until you tell me what’s up?” “Why do you care?!” she asked angrily. A long moment passed between them as they looked into each other’s eyes. Sunset finally pulled away and straightened her glasses. “I mean, well, we never really talk outside of class.” Flash put the book down looking slightly sullen. “That, um, doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” Sunset perked her head and gave him a sideways glance. “You’re just so hard to approach. Being a celebrity and all.” Sunset scoffed. “I really don’t think something that happened to me as a baby should make me a celebrity.” Flash waved his arm dismissively. “Despite that. Despite surviving against Lord Tirek and all that. You’ve been pretty famous here too. Top of the class. First choice for everyone around here when it comes to clubs or games. You’ve got a lot of potential. Some people can look at that and find it a bit threatening.” Sunset frowned. “Are you one of those people?” Flash shook his head. “No, at least I don’t try to be. My family is a bit weird about relationships though. If they heard I liked the ‘Girl Who Lived,’ I wouldn’t hear the end of it.” His eyes widened as he realized what he’d said and slapped his forehead, blushing profusely. “I… um…” Sunset chuckled slightly at his reaction which turned into a genuine laugh which made Flash blush even more. When she was done she wiped an eye and looked at him with a smile. “Do you really like me?” Flash hesitated nervously but nodded. He really did like her. “No, I want you to say it.” He didn’t know what she meant but he nodded again. “I really like you.” Sunset smiled and reached for her book in his hands. She pulled it to her chest and drummed her fingers along the spine, biting her lip nervously. “So this is going to sound really weird but I want you to have an open mind.” Flash smiled broadly. “I’m all ears.”