//------------------------------// // 3 - Restless // Story: From the Ashes // by RC2101_Copey //------------------------------// ‘01:00’. The clock stared back at Sunset as hard as she stared at it. She had gone to bed at eleven, but after tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable, she could have sworn it had been longer than two hours. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she settled down and tried to sleep once more. Sunset went through another bout of squirming for what felt a quarter of an hour. Facing the clock, it mocked her once more; ‘01:02’. With a groan, she threw the covers off and sat up. Rarity’s house was, for all it’s faults, very good at keeping in the heat. Having spent the last three years in a condemned apartment block, she had grown used to sleeping in a colder environment. With sleep currently denied, it left her brain free to wander, inevitably back to her recent loss. Up until a year ago, her sole drive had been to take over the school, and then Equestria. So throughout those first few, the building had just been a means to an end, a place to sleep, and keep her inconsequential things. But ever since, it had become far more. It was her quiet place, the place where she could think about the happy times she had spent with her new friends, where she could plan for the future. Sunset’s frown changed into quivering lips as her mind continued to flash images of her home. It had also been a place to keep her personal things. All of her momentos had been there, her guitar had been hanging up on the wall, surrounded by photos from all of the girl’s get togethers and trips. “Oh no.” Sunset cried, as the mental images once more panned her room. Her journal, the last gift she had received from her mentor, and closest thing she ever had to a mother figure, normally lived on her bedside table. Tears began to flow. It wasn’t just the loss of something so important to her, but the memories it brought with it. ‘This isn’t the first home I’ve lost, is it?’ New images floated in her mind’s eye; white marble walls, tall, rich tapestries emblazoned with the sun, and views across a nation. The only home she had truly known, for almost fifteen years, and one that she had lost just as quickly as her last one. Memories she had been suppressing came flooding back, and the damn broke. Sunset began crying in earnest, unable to hold anything back as the world blurred around her. From an early age, Rarity knew she loved her sister, and she had made sure to be there for her whenever she could. With their parent’s frequent holidays, she was often left in charge, tending for her sister for two to three days at a time. A byproduct of this was that Rarity, while normally a heavy sleeper, had developed the ability to hear certain sounds and wake up, should her sister need her. After saying goodnight to Sunset, she had quickly fallen to sleep, blissfully unaware of the troubles her guest was experiencing. That was, until now. It started with the twitching of her ear, then spread, and she scrunched her nose at the sound, before suddenly sitting bolt upright. “Sweetie Belle!” she cried out. “Wait, Sweetie isn’t here. Then who… Sunset!” Throwing her duvet across the room, Rarity launched herself from the bed and to her door, before her mind caught up with her, and she slowed down. ‘I can’t just go barging in there. Sweetie Belle is one thing, I have to be respectful.’ Now treading carefully, Rarity approached the door slowly, leaning her head close to the frame. "Sunset?" She called lightly. The only response she received was more wailing cries, now much louder the closer she was. Worried, she rapped her knuckles on the door, "Sunset, may I come in?" After another few seconds of nothing, she had made up her mind. "Sunset I am coming in." One deep breath later, she grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door wide... to find Sunset not even looking her way. The amber girl was sitting on the far side of the bed from the door, legs over the edge, and facing away. She was bent over forward, her face in her hands, still bawling her eyes out. Just the very image of one of her closest friends in such pain caused Rarity's heart to break. Rushing over, decorum all but forgotten, Rarity leapt onto the bed, landing behind Sunset, and pulled her into a light but firm hug. Her breath hitching at first, Sunset managed to allow her body to relax, and slumped backwards into the warm embrace, her own hands coming up to find the arms around her. For almost ten minutes, she clung to her friend like a sailor to a life ring. With her breathing becoming steady, the tears had slowed from a torrent, to a small trickle, and she finally found the ability to speak. "Thank you." "There is no need for that," Rarity lightly accosted her. "You need never thank me." She pulled back from the hug, still behind Sunset, and used her hands to rub her friend's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?" The amber girl grumbled. “Pardon darling?” “I said you’d think it was silly.” Sunset whispered “Oh contraire. Anything that brings on the state I just witnessed, no matter how big or some, could never be ‘silly’. So…?” Rarity prodded. “I realised that I’ve lost my journal, the one my mo...mentor gave me, and let’s me talk with Princess Twilight.” She sniffed heavily, the tears threatening to come back. “Oh Sunset.” Rarity hugged her from behind again, before a thought struck her. “I don’t want to raise false hope…,” Sunset turned her head slightly, signalling for her to go on, “but are you sure it was in your room? I’ve seen you either keep it on you, or occasionally leave it in your locker at Canterlot High.” Her guest perked up immediately. “You could be onto something.” But she slumped back down again. “It would mean the world to me if I got it back, but that wasn’t the whole reason I was upset. It’s more what it reminded me of.” “And what was that, darling?” “Home. Or at least, Equestria and the palace I mean, and how I lost both my home and my mo...mentor all in one go. It brought back old feelings.” Rarity’s arms pulled Sunset deeper into the one sided hug, and she found herself looking down at them. In a whisper that barely slipped out, “And your coat colour is almost as beautiful as hers…” ‘What in Tartarus was that?!’ Her conscious mind suddenly screamed at her subconscious one. “What was that, darling, I missed it.” Rarity questioned. “Err… I said we should probably try to go back to bed. We have school in the morning.” She lied. “You raise a good point.” Rarity agreed, whilst Sunset let out a quiet ‘phew’. “Oh my, it’s already past three,” Rarity turned from the clock, and back to Sunset. “We should try right way.” She unhooked her arms from around the girl infront of her, and slipped them away until she felt hands grab hold of them. “Sunset?” Rarity cocked wearing a lite frown. “Please don’t leave.” The frown melted into an understanding smile. “Okay.” She wormed free of Sunset’s hands and slid backwards up the bed. “The bed is big enough for two with room to spare. Just don’t tell anyone at school about this; the rumors would be scandalous!” A real smile formed on Sunset’s face, eliciting a few chuckles of laughter, and she completely missed how red Rarity’s face had become. By the time she turned around, it was gone, and she crawled back up the bed as well. Rarity had erected a small wall of throw pillows down the center, but stayed close enough that Sunset could reach her should she need to. Reaching down to her feet, she grabbed the covers, and pulled them back up. Rarity took her corner, and they quickly settled in, facing away from each other. “Goodnight, Rarity.” “Goodnight, darling.”