Chapter 3: The Sun Rises
“You are the most pathetic creature I’ve ever seen. I cannot believe I’ve given birth to you.”
“But I tried, I thought painting this flower would make you happy. It's your favorite flower, it is a sunflower,” a young filly said, holding the picture with a teal glow of her magic.
“You want to know what will make me happy? Getting Straight A's and becoming a student of the princess so we can finally get out of this dump.” An older unicorn mare said, taking the picture and tearing it to shreds, “get to your room and start studying.”
The young filly headed to her room and laid on her bed crying.
“HAHAHA! See even your own mother thinks you are nothing and your father is drunk who hates you,” the demon said, with a growl and baring sharp teeth.
She stood over sunset who was no longer a young filly but instead was a human teen. Her green and black eyes pierced through her soul; she reached out with her red arm to grab Sunset’s collar, pulling her up. Her claws pierced through her skin.
“Now you think that is the worst pain you felt, I’m going to show you what pain really is.” Demon Sunset said summoning flames around them.
“No please stop, I’m sorry!” Sunset said, screaming in pain as the flames started to engulf her.
“But the fun has only just begun,” Demon Sunset said, laughing maniacally.
“NOOOOOOOO!” Sunset woke in a jolt.
After a minute of trying to collect herself, Sunset realized that she wasn’t in her own bedroom. She looked around the room noticing the pink walls and the yellow dresser with a green lamp on it. She looked at a little alarm clock that read 8:30 and leaped out of the small bed. She then made her way to the dresser. Looking down at herself, she saw she was wearing pink PJs with blue bunnies on them. She pulled her shirt up and looked in the mirror at her back to find it bandaged up.
“Ok whoever brought me here wanted me alive but why?” She said aloud.
She grabbed the lamp and headed down the stairs that lead to the kitchen. Sunset looked around and saw a coffee pot making a fresh brew.
“Ok so they are awake. That means I need to get to the front door as quietly as possible,” She thought to herself clutching the lamp tighter.
Sunset made her way to what she presumed was the living room. She started to make her way to the door but was stopped in her tracks when she noticed a woman laying on the couch. Sunset was starting to inch back to look for another way out of the house. However, a beep from the coffee pot startled her and made her jump. Before she could run for the door, the woman was already up and was met with a crazy looking Sunset wielding a lamp.
“Don’t move or I will hurt you,” Sunset said in determination.
Posey stared at the frightened girl and noticed her trembling like a frightened animal. Posey put her arms up in a calming manner to let the girl know she means no harm.
“I’m not going to hurt you, my name is Dr. Posey Petal but you can call me Dr. Posey,” she says as she was inching her way to the girl.
“Petal as in Fluttershy’s mom?” Sunset asked slowly putting the lamp down on the table next to her.
Taking a closer look at the woman, Sunset noticed how much she looked like an older version of Fluttershy but with a darker skin tone.
“Yes.” Posey said making her way to the kitchen “And she told me everything, you and I have lots to discuss.”
Sunset’s eyes widened, “you mean you know about the portal,” she said in shock.
“Yes I do and I also know about the bullying,” Posey said in an unreadable voice.
“I’m sorry I’ll do whatever you want to make up for it,” Sunset said looking downcast.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. Now come and grab a cup of coffee then we’ll have a chat before the girls wake up,” Posey said making her way to the front porch.
She took a seat next to Posey waiting for her to speak. After a minute of not saying any, Sunset opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Posey.
“ I need you to call your parents and then I’ll call the principal to let her know what happened last night with those three girls.” Posey said, taking a sip of her coffee, ”And I would also like a word with your parents.”
“That would be a problem, I kinda live by myself,” Sunset said scratching her head.
“What!” Posey exclaimed, “How is that possible you’re like sixteen? It's illegal, how do you manage to take care of yourself?”
Sunset looked at the older woman confused as to why she would even care.
“It was hard at first, but I managed to get some fake documents with the bits I had when I came over here, then I started school at Canterlot to stay close to the portal. I started to bully kids for money. However, it didn't pay enough for housing so I took refuge in a homeless shelter, but when they didn’t have a bed to spare I usually stayed at some of my hideouts in abandoned places. As for food, I would sometimes sneak into the school’s kitchen and take whatever I could carry,” Sunset said, looking at her own cup.
“Are you saying that you are from that universe and homeless?” Posey stared at the girl with sympathy.
“Yes, but I’m ok being alone besides I’m used to it, my parents and I never had a close relationship. I don’t even know if you can call what we had a relationship,” Sunset said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Posey reached to put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder but the girl flinched away. She took note of this and thought to ask her about it later.
“That’s not a good way to live. You shouldn’t be by yourself especially now with your injuries,” Posey said looking straight at the girl.
“I’ll be fine. You can just give me instructions on cleaning so I can leave you in peace,” Sunset said, getting up from her seat.
“ No you are going to stay here as my guest until further,” Posey said, getting up from her own seat.
“But I’ll just be a nuisance, look I’ve been by myself for three years and I’ve been taking care of myself a whole lot longer. I’ll be fine,” Sunset stood getting ready to go back in the house and wash the coffee mug.
“No You are going to stay here no ifs, and, or buts,” Posey said in a commanding voice.
“Yes ma'am,” Sunset said in a small voice.
“Now I have a question and this is coming from a concerned parent. How long have you been cutting yourself?” Posey asked concerningly.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Sunset tried denying the fact.
“Look I saw the scars so don’t try to deny it,” Posey gave her an unreadable expression.
“Ok I started it up again when I first got to this world but I stopped. However I started doing it again after I saw the princess make Twilight one,” Sunset said, looking downcast.
“What do you mean you saw her become a princess and did you return to your world?” Posey asked, sounding confused.
“I did when it opened a couple of days before the Formal. It made me upset that she chose her over me so that’s when I formed the plan to take the crown and return home to show her that I was not a mistake. However it did not go as planned,” Sunset said, hugging herself.
“Sunset you are not a mistake and I don’t want you talking like that if you need to talk about anything you can talk to me,” Posey said placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder taking note that the girl flinched away.
“Yes ma'am,” Sunset said shyly.
“Please call me Posey. It’ll make things easier since you are now staying with us,” Posey said, giving the girl a reassuring smile.
“Now I’m going to get the girls up and make breakfast then I’ll call Celestia afterward,” she said making her way into the kitchen and up the stairs.
“Please don’t get the police involved. I know what they did was bad but it would just cause too many questions, questions that could lead to them finding the portal,” Sunset said worriedly.
“Ok but I’m still going to call principal Celestia about the new living arrangements,” Posey stated before heading up the stairs.
After Posey left, Sunset went to go sit on the couch, “maybe if I leave now she’ll just let me be,” Sunset thought to herself but her train of thought was interrupted by the grumbling of her stomach.
“Ok fine I’ll stay for breakfast after all I’m extremely low on food right now,” Sunset said to herself.
After five minutes of waiting, two girls walked into the living room and were greeted by a nervous-looking Sunset.
“Good morning,” was all Sunset could say without looking like she was about to fall apart.
“Morning,” the two girls said in unison.
“So I heard you are going to stay with me and my mother?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“Yes, I guess if that's ok with you? If you want me to leave I will,” Sunset asked looking at the carpet.
“No, you are welcome as long as you need,” Fluttershy said with conviction.
Rainbow and Sunset stared at her in amazement. Sunset knew that Fluttershy was the element of kindness but Sunset thought that she didn’t deserve any kindness. After all, she bullied the poor girl for lunch money for years. She even threatened to tell the principal about her bringing her pets to school if she didn’t give her money.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Sunset asked, starting to cry.
“Because it seems that no one has in a long time,” Fluttershy putting her arms around the girl.
“Hey you’re going to be ok,” Rainbow said wrapping her arms around the two girls.
After a minute of crying and hugging, Sunset regained her composure and the girls started talking about what to do next.
“So to begin with I’m sorry for what happened at the Fall Formal. I didn’t know that crown would turn me into that thing,” Sunset said, putting her knees to her chest.
“Wait, you didn’t mean to do that, and what was your plan exactly?” Rainbow asked with some confusion.
“No, oh Celestia I never actually wanted to hurt anyone. I wanted to return home to prove I was not a mistake to the princess and become one myself. However, when Put the crown on everything was like I was on autopilot. I had no control over myself,” Sunset said, burying her head deeper into her knees.
“Are you saying you are from that world too?”
Sunset shook her head up and down at the question Fluttershy asked.
“So that’s how you knew about the Portal,” Rainbow stated.
“How much did princess Twilight tell you?” Sunset lifted a quizzical eyebrow.
“I mean not much we did not have much time to talk. We had to get the crown and she had to get home before the portal closed.” Fluttershy realized that Sunset can no longer go home for another thirty moons,” Oh Sunset I’m sorry you can’t return home. Your parents are probably worried sick.”
“Ha! if only my parents only cared about me if I came home with an award for magic but other than that I was nothing to them,” Sunset said a little upset.
“I’m sorry.” That was all Fluttershy could say.
Rainbow just stared at Sunset with sympathy.
“Girls breakfast is ready!” Posey yelled from the kitchen,
When the three of them entered the kitchen they saw scrambled eggs with cheese and a stack of pancakes, that were almost as tall as Posey, with toast and butter on a plate next to them. Sunset starred in wonder; never in her life, she saw this much food before.
“I know it's a lot but ms. Dash over here can eat. Her stomach is like a black hole,” Posey said laughing at Sunset’s expression.
“I’m sorry to tell you there's not meat. We are vegetarians if you like meat, later today we could go shopping for some,” Posey offered Sunset a plate.
“No ma'am this is perfect. I’m a vegetarian myself,” Sunset said, taking a mouthful of pancakes.
After Breakfast thanked Posey and Fluttershy for letting her stay with them and feeding her. She and the other two girls headed to Fluttershy’s room to talk about their plans for the weekend, while Posey went into the living room to call Principal Celestia. After a couple of rings, Principal Celestia picked up the phone.
“Hello,” Celestia spoke at the other end of the phone.
“Hi, Celestia this is Dr. Posey.” Posey replied,” I’m calling about Sunset shimmer and what happened with her the other night.”
“I assure you everyone was unharmed. She was upset that she lost the crown to a new student of ours and she decided to throw a prank. However, the chemicals caused an explosion that messed up the school’s front entrance. The girl will be getting a two-week suspension,” Celestia said immediately.
“Cut the Bullshit Tia I know what exactly happened last night, but I’m not calling about that. I’m calling because of ms. Shimmer was attacked last night by three of your students,” Posey said, sounding a little frustrated.
“Good heavens is she alright. Do we need to call the police and who were the three?” Celestia sounded shocked.
“No police would cause too many questions and Sunset doesn’t want them to get involved.” Posey stated sternly, “As for the three girls they are Gilda Griffin, Trixie Lullamoon, And Starlight Glimmer.”
“She’s right, but how is she doing? I didn’t get a chance to talk to her Luna sent her home before I could,” Celestia sounded worried.
“She’s alright except she gained some injuries from an apparent transformation, and she has been living by herself since she came to this world,” Posey said taking a seat on the couch.
“I had no idea but explained a lot actually after the fiasco last night Luna and I took a look at her papers and noticed some discrepancies,” Celestia said with no surprise.
“Well I’m calling to let you know that she will now be staying with us,” Posey said.
“Ok, but be careful she is a tricky one,” Celestia said in exhaustion.
“I think tricks are on the last thing on the girl's mind. She needs someone to look out for her and she seems like she had a rough life,” Posey said with sympathy towards the girl.
“Ok but she is still suspended and as for those three girls I’ll deal with them,” Celestia said in a professional tone.
“Ok thank you Tia and tell Luna I said hi,” Posey ended the call and walked back into the kitchen to grab another cup of Coffee.
“I hope I can make life at least a little easier for this girl. I Promise to make it happier for her at least,” Posey promised to herself.