//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 — Horseflies 
// Story: The Hero of My Story 
// by maxisscrewed 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer pounded her fists into the punching bag that was suspended from the ceiling.  Her hands were covered in blood, sweat, and wrapped in bandages from the strange events of the previous night.  Then, to interrupt the silence, there was a gentle knock at the garage door before it slowly slid open, and in front of the punching bag was the beautiful Rarity.  “Dear, are you okay?  You got very upset last night and I just came around to check on you.”

“I’m fine,” Sunset grumpily muttered, glaring at Rarity.

“Well you certainly don’t seem fine.”  She softly sat up on the toolbox in the garage and smoothed her tube skirt out.  “Would you like to talk about it?”  Usually, Sunset would decline.  This time, it seemed like those words were the trigger to a gun that had just been fired.

“Why does Artie have to be so indecisive about who he wants to be,” she grumbled, stopping just long enough to grab a sip of water and adjust her tee shirt.

"What are you talking about, sweetheart?"

“One minute he’s nice and the next he wants to kill me!  That’s probably why Twilight read through my journal—because her whole family is dysfunctional!”

“I don’t think she meant any harm, Sunset.  She knew you liked drawing and I suppose she wanted to see some of your art.  What I saw was gorgeous, too.”

“Oh, I bet you all had a great time looking at them!”  Rarity frowned when she saw the tears trickle down her beautiful cheeks.

"Dearest, no," she cooed in a motherly voice, "Twilight put them in a folder to give back to you.  We didn’t look, and I promise this from the bottom of my heart."

"Twilight isn’t the monster, Rarity, I am!  I switched our roles because I was so angry about my nightmares!"

"I think she would understand, Sunset."

“I hate myself,” she finally shrieked, and started punching into the bag with both fists heavily.  She opened her hands to stop the heavy bag from coming back into her, but a beam of white shot from her palms where the suns were, causing them to feel fuzzy as if she had slept on top of them for hours.  The force knocked her back into the toolbox, and Rarity leapt from it, landing on her tall, red high heels.  Sunset lied on the floor for a second, and when she opened her eyes, the punching bag was lying in the driveway and Rarity was standing over her, helping her onto her bottom and her back against the toolbox.

"Oh my God," she squeaked, looking down at her hands.

"What was that," Rarity shouted in fear, looking at her hands as the bandages had been scorched away.

"I don’t know," Sunset shrieked, looking up at Rarity in fear.  The fashionista watched the last searing string of dark brown smoke lift from the punching bag, which had a hole burnt straight through.  "Something bad is happening, Rarity, I’ve been burning everything!  I even burnt my yogurt this morning!"

"Do you think—never mind."

"What?"

"This might seem silly," Rarity laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear.  She waited for a second before biting her lip.  "Do you think your story and nightmares are coming to life?"  They stared at each other and Sunset looked back at her hands.

"I gotta apologize to Twilight and get those sketches back."





The doorbell chimed and a Rarity rubbed Sunset Shimmer’s shoulder as she began to feel weary again.  "You always get sick here.  Is something wrong?"

"Artie—"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."  The door opened, and Twilight answered the door.  Her cheeks were stained with tears and her eyes were puffy from crying for hours.  "Twilight, I am... Oh God..."

"What?"  Sunset shook her head and looked up at what had been causing her sickness this whole time.  There were tiny, wretched creatures, with the body of a wasp and the face of a horse’s skull.  They growled at her and she watched as a trail of yellow and red glitter was sucked from her mouth from the creatures, which flapped their leathery wings.  "Sunset, what’s wrong," Rarity worriedly shouted, and Sunset’s eyes rolled into the back of her head.  The last thing she heard was Rarity asking once more what happened and she heard a lady’s scream, before she closed her eyes and groaned.

Celestia came to the door and watched just in time as the slender girl fell backwards and collapsed down the stairs.