//------------------------------// // Melancholy: Part 3 // Story: Struggles // by Echo Breeze //------------------------------// Sunset looked at her nightstand clock, seeing that it was only a quarter to six in the morning. She had never had such a surreal nightmare before, even the one she had had the previous night hadn't felt as real. She had no idea what was going on anymore. She growled in frustration. 'That makes two nights in a row now that my sleep has been messed with.' Sunset thought to herself. 'If this goes on, I won't be able to concentrate on lessons when I get back to school.' __________________________________________ It was the Monday after the surreal nightmare experience that had woken Sunset with a start, and she was glad that she hadn't experienced one since. She had woken up at her usual time for a Monday, five minutes past seven, and proceeded with her morning routine. She got out of bed, and went to shower. After she had finished her shower, she proceeded to make her way to her kitchenette to make herself some breakfast. As she sat on her sofa, eating her oats, flavoured with a hint of vanilla and spiced with a dash of cinnamon, she got a text alert. She opened her text messaging app, and read the message. It was a text alert from her bank saying that the insurance had paid the money to replace the stolen items. She finished her breakfast, and after washing the dishes, went out for the day. Sunset had decided to go around looking for a cheap used car, as she could never hope to carry all the stuff she would buy on her bike. She sat at a coffee shop and went online to see if she could find a bargain. __________________________________________ A few hours later, she was back on the road. She had found a cheap used truck for sale for twelve thousand dollars. It was a Ford F-150 Raptor Supercab, and it was in desperate need of some love. She arrived at the house, seeing the truck standing in the driveway. She parked her bike in the driveway and went to inspect what would soon be her latest purchase. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that a few engine parts were missing, and there were spots of rust all over. She went to the front door and rang the bell. "Hi, good morning. I spoke to you over the phone earlier about purchasing your truck." Sunset said as the owner opened the door. The owner was a middle aged man, slightly taller than herself, with blonde hair. "Sure thing miss. I'm sure you saw her sittin' out on the drive when ya came in." he replied, stepping out of the house and fully into the lukewarm fall morning air. "She does need a bit o' work, but she is a fine piece o' machinery." "Yeah, I saw her there, even did a bit of an inspection before ringing the bell. Hope you don't mind?" Sunset said as they walked to the truck. "Naw, I don't mind. I'm actually glad that she's gonna go to a person that knows how to look after her." he replied. "Yeah, there is one small problem though. I can't afford to pay the full twelve thousand dollars for her if I still want to do some repairs. Is there any way in which you would accept nine thousand in cash?" she asked, doing her best to use a tone of voice that suggested she was a teen with no means of paying the full amount. "I'm sure that'll do, miss." he said. "Thanks." she said, taking out her wallet and starting to count out the bills necessary to pay the man. After paying the man, and signing some release papers stating that she was the new owner, she was back on her bike to go get the necessary parts to get it running. __________________________________________ After a few hours of hard labour, she sat in the cab of the truck, inserting the key into the ignition. "Alright, time to see if you'll start." she said as she turned the key. The starter motor clicked and whirred, and after a few seconds, the V8 roared to life. She pulled out of the driveway to do a shakedown run to find any more faults that she may have missed. A couple of minutes later, after finding no more faults, she returned to pick up her bike. She laid out a plank of wood to wheel the bike up onto the bed, afterwards, getting a length of rope, that she had bought while buying the parts, out of her bag and fastened the bike to the bed. __________________________________________ After a few hours of shopping for the items she needed to replace, and a few that were not listed, she sat at one of the tables outside Blue Wendalls to have a milkshake. She looked at the time on her phone and saw that school had been out for an hour already. She cursed under her breath as she realised that if she didn't leave soon, she would bump into people from school. She didn't want to have to deal with them on one of the days where she happened to be in a good mood. She got up, threw her empty take-out milkshake cup in the trash, and started to head towards the exit. She got about five feet away from the table she had been seated at when she heard a scornful voice. "Ha, Sunset Shimmer. The Great and Powerful Trixie thought she spied you trying to slink away." Trixie said as Sunset turned to face her. "And she was just thinking why the she-demon wasn't at school today. Did she get suspended. That's really too bad." "Seriously Trixie, I don't have the time or the strength to deal with you right now. Sunset said dejectedly, a scornful look leveled at Trixie. "Just leave me alone." "Ha, as if, she-demon. Like I would leave the biggest bully in CHS history alone without getting some sort of revenge." Trixie said. "Please Trixie, just leave me alone." Sunset said as tears started pooling in her eyes. She tried in vain to keep them from spilling "Ha, are you actually crying, the Great and Powerful Trixie hasn't even done anything to you yet." Trixie said, her voice dripping with venom. Sunset turned and ran, tears running down her cheeks. She could hear Trixie laughing in the distance. She got into her truck and sat, sobbing, for nearly half an hour. After she had regained her composure, she started her truck, and pulled off. 'If that's how Trixie treated me at the mall, how are the rest of the students at CHS going to treat me when I return next week. Maybe I shouldn't return at all' Sunset thought darkly to herself. She returned to her apartment ten minutes later, and after unloading her truck, decided to distract herself by setting everything that she had bought up. __________________________________________ Sunset had just finished setting up her new forty inch HD TV and Ponystation 4 and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon playing. In the middle of playing one of the games, she got a text. She paused the game and looked at her phone. It was a message from Rainbow Dash. 'Hey Shimmer. Heard what went down at the mall today with Trixie. You doing alright. I can rip her a new one for ya tomorrow at school' the text from Rainbow Dash read. 'It's fine Rainbow Dash. I don't want you to get suspended for my sake. Just leave it be.' Sunset replied. 'Alright, if ur sure. And pls, call me Dash or RD. All my friends do.' Rainbow replied after a few seconds. Sunset could not believe her eyes. That now made four of the five people whom she was the biggest bitch imaginable to that wanted to be her friends. 'Sure thing Dash. I'll see you guys on Monday when this godforsaken suspension is over.' Sunset typed. __________________________________________ The following Monday, Sunset was once again woken by a nightmare. This one worse than the one she had last week. The whole week was plagued with nightmares, though they had gradually grown worse. In this one, she had seen her transformation from a bystander's point of view, and watched as the demon had shot the fireball at Twilight and her friends, only this time, the magic that had managed to block the fireball failed to activate, killing all six of them instantly. The demon laughed as she turned on Sunset. "Do you see now, you foolish little pony. No matter what you do, I will eventually regain control of your pathetic body, and everyone that you call friend will die slowly by my hand, starting with that pathetic little pony princess." the demon said, finishing with a cackle of maniacal laughter. The demon then proceeded to attack her, each punch, kick and scratch getting more and more violent. Sunset woke up after getting hit in the stomach, knocking all the air out of her lungs, trying desperately to get her breath back. 'What the fuck is wrong with me. Ever since my encounter with Trixie, the nightmares have started getting more and more violent. At this point, I don't know if I can make it.' Sunset thought to herself. Sunset then got out of bed and went through her morning routine. She finished up on time to head out when she got a text from Rainbow Dash again. 'Hey Shimmer, when ya get to school, meet in music room 2. I'll wait outside the school if ya need an escort. See ya later' Sunset looked at the time and realised that most students were at school at this time. She grabbed her helmet and set off towards the parking garage. She hopped on her bike, turned it over, and shot out of the garage and rode at a blistering pace toward the school. When Sunset arrived, she saw Rainbow Dash waving at her from a spot next to her own bike. She had a custom Suzuki GSX1000-R painted in the rainbow colours of her hair. Sunset pulled into the spot and cut the motor. She stood and removed her helmet. "Hey Sunset. Awesome bike. Could use some bodywork though." Rainbow said, enveloping Sunset in a warm embrace. "Yeah, she still has some work, but she rides nice. I finished working on her over my suspension, gave me something to do other than die of boredom." Sunset replied, doing her best attempt at a fake smile. Rainbow laughed, levelling a knowing look at Sunset. "Yeah, I hear ya. Let's head inside, the others are all waiting for us in the music room I texted you about." she said. And with that, they headed inside, Rainbow ready for the new day, but Sunset dreading it all the way.