//------------------------------// // Seventeen: The Notebook // Story: Her Broken Childhood // by girasol //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle waved goodbye to Apple Bloom and Big Mac when they dropped her off. She made her way up the drive way and up to the front door. The middle schooler pulled out her copy of the house key, unlocked the door and swung the door wide open, causing it to collide with the wall. “Rarity!” Sweetie Belle shouted, stomping her way into the living room. Just as she rounded the corner, she realized that her older sister wasn’t the only one home. Ops... I forgot Rarity said they were going to be here tonight... and said to not come in the house like I usually do cause of... Sunset. Rarity narrowed her eyes at her younger sister, “Sweetie Belle! What did I tell you about opening the door in that way! If you’ve made another dent in the wall—“ “I know, I know,” Sweetie Belle grumbled, “Mom and dad’ll take it out of my allowance.” Rarity grumbled something under her breath as she walked out of the room to check if her sister did make a dent. Sweetie Belle rubbed her elbow, and awkwardly waved a greeting to the group, which they returned. The CMC member’s eyes drifted over to the young girl who was gripping Twilight’s shirt. Sweetie Belle tried giving her a friendly smile, “Hi Sunset.” Sunset froze up, her eyes locked on the middle schooler. She turned her face away from her and buried it into Twilight’s shirt. Sweetie Belle formed her mouth into a thin line, glancing away from Sunset and turned her gaze towards Twilight, who gave her an apologetic smile. Rarity retuned from the checking the front door, giving Sweetie Belle a glare, “You’re lucky you didn’t make a dent young lady!” Sweetie Belle shrugged then blinked when she suddenly remembered what she was going to tell her sister, “Oh yeah, mom and dad aren’t coming home tonight. They’re having a—“ Sweetie Belle gaged, “Date night.” Rarity nodded, “Well I guess we get the house to ourselves tonight.” Sweetie Belle gasped, “Can we order pizza?” Rarity grimaced, “Again?” “There’s no such thing as too much pizza,” Pinkie Pie stated. “I second that,” Rainbow said. Rarity glanced towards Sunset, who’s eyes lit up at the mention of pizza, “Fine! But tomorrow, no pizza!” “My goodness Sunset, you really do love pizza don’t you?” Sunset, with pizza sauce all over her face, nodded back at Rarity. Twilight laughed, wiping all the sauce off of the amber child’s face. Sunset smiled back up at Twilight after she finished cleaning her up and quickly went back to eating her pizza. Sweetie Belle smiled at the scene, but she could not keep her eyes off of the black veins on Sunset’s arms. Those weren’t there yesterday... What could that be? I’ll ask Rarity about it later. Sweetie Belle then meet Sunset’s gaze. The younger girl had her eyes locked on her. Sunset’s eyes darted back and forth, trying to figure out what the middle schooler was staring at. Her eyes then fell on her arms. Sunset’s breathing quickened a little, realizing that the pale girl was staring at the black veins. Sunset swiftly retracted her arms under the table. Sweetie Belle quickly pried her eyes away, guilt setting in when she realized that the young girl knew what she was looking at. When Sweetie Belle looked back up, she noticed Rarity glaring at her. Sweetie Belle gulped. Uh-oh. After everyone was done, they all walked to Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s living room. “Sweetie Belle,” Rarity began in a hard tone, “May I speak with you please?” Sweetie Belle gulped, but followed her sister out the living room and into the backyard. Rarity faced her sister, “Sweetie Belle, I know it’s difficult, but please, try not to stare at her. She’s paranoid enough as it is.” Sweetie Belle dropped her head down in shame, not wanting to meet her sister’s scornful gaze, “Sorry.” Rarity sighed, “I know you are darling, please, just... try your best to be good to her... that poor dear’s had a terrible day.” Sweetie Belle lifted her head at that, “What do you mean?” Rarity sighed again, retelling what had happened in the morning as well as the events that occurred at CHS. A tear escaped Sweetie Belle’s eye, “Is she... okay now?” Rarity shook her head, “I don’t know darling, Twilight’s still trying to figure it out.” Sweetie Belle lowered her head, “Oh.” “Alright let’s get back before they come searching for us,” Rarity said as she stepped back inside. Sunset watched as Rarity and her younger sister—Sweetie Belle, if she remembered correctly—walked out of the living room. She furrowed her brows, wondering why Rarity looked so angry and why she asked to speak with Sweetie Belle. Are they talking about me? They’re talking about me... No... Rarity said she wanted to be my friend. What if she’s lying? Like they all were lying... Twilight looked down at Sunset, who was gripping on her shirt with one hand and clutching her Phoenix plush with the other. She noticed Sunset’s breathing was beginning to quicken, “Sunset are you alright?” Sunset nodded, nervously picking at her bottom lip. Twilight frowned at her response. Not wanting to make the girl uncomfortable—well, even more uncomfortable than she already seemed, Twilight just brushed her fingers through Sunset’s red hair, “Okay.” Sunset whimpered, burying her face into Twilight’s shirt. “Sunset? Are you in any pain?” Twilight asked, now convinced that something was wrong. Sunset nodded, which made her whimper again, “My head still hurts. Twilight put the back of her hand to Sunset’s forehead, “Hmm... you don’t feel any warmer,” taking the thermometer that was still on the side table, Twilight turned it on and put it to Sunset’s mouth. Twilight frowned when the numbers started going backwards from 90°F. Putting a hand to Sunset’s forehead again, she was shocked to find that suddenly she felt cold. What? How can she be at 45°F? Twilight turned her attention back at Sunset, who was looking a little pale, “Sunset... are you cold? Do you want to lie down?” Shivering, Sunset slowly shook her head, which made the girl immediately regret the action. She gulped down some nausea as she felt her head beginning to swirl. She then began to pant a little, not being able to keep the feeling of nausea down. Twilight instantly recognized what was going on. Quickly, she brought Sunset in her arms and ran to the nearby bathroom. After Sunset let out all her nausea, she began taking deep breaths, trying to get her breathing back to normal. The girl then began to softly cry, making Twilight wrap her arms around her. “Shh... it’s okay. It’s okay,” Twilight took a bit of toilet paper to wipe the girl’s mouth, “Do you feel better now?” Sunset sniffled, nodding back up at Twilight, “I am sick, aren’t I?” Twilight winced, “It seems that way... don’t worry, if you are, I’ll take care of you, okay?” Sunset nodded once more, too exhausted to do anything else. “Is everything alright Twilight?” Rarity asked, glancing worriedly back and forth between the pair on the ground. Twilight nodded, picking the sick child up from the floor, she walked out of the bathroom. Rarity gave Twilight a concerned gaze as they walked back to the living room. Twilight sat back down on her previous spot, setting Sunset down on her lap, keeping her head to where her shoulder was. The group sat in silence, not knowing what else to do. Rarity handed Twilight a glass of water, which she handed to Sunset. “Sunset,” Twilight looked down at the girl who had just finished drinking the glass of water, “I... I need to talk with the girls okay? I’ll be right outside talking to them...” Twilight paused, waiting for Sunset to react, “Is that okay?” “No...” Sunset whimpered out, clenching on harder to Twilight’s shirt. “Sweetie, I’m just going to be right outside. Only for a couple of minutes. I promise it won’t be for long...” Sunset sniffled and nodded, not having the strength to plead her to stay any longer. Twilight gently set her down on the couch, “Okay, if you need anything, just call me, okay?” Sunset nodded in response. Twilight smiled at her, placing a kiss to the girl’s forehead before she turned to grab a couple of books and signaled the girls to follow her. Sweetie Belle got up from her seat but Rarity stopped her. She whispered something in her sister’s ear and the middle schooler nodded in response, sitting back down on the chair. Sunset was left alone with the middle schooler. Sunset stared at her in silence, not moving an inch from where she was, her cyan eyes watching every movement Sweetie Belle made. Sweetie Belle meanwhile, was trying her hardest not to stare at the frightened girl. She tapped her fingers along the chair’s armrests. The pale girl looked around the room, hoping to find inspiration for something to do. Her eyes landed on the box of crayons and the stack of papers of the shelf. The pink and purple haired girl stood up from her seat and walked over to the shelf. She grabbed the box of crayons and a couple of papers. She then turned to Sunset, “Do you wanna maybe draw? Or color?” Sunset blinked at the girl, shifting her eyes back and forth between the box of crayons and the stack of papers. She directed her eyes back to the pale girl’s face and nodded. Sweetie Belle smiled, “Great! We can color on the coffee table, my mom says we’re not supposed to, but I do it anyways,” she set the supplies down on the wooden table and motioned Sunset to come over. Sunset did not move, not knowing if it was a trap or not, she kept her eyes locked on Sweetie Belle. Reading the girl’s hesitant body language, Sweetie Belle gave her a reassuring smile, “Hey it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” Slowly, Sunset hesitantly got off the couch and made her way over the where the pale girl was. Sweetie Belle slid her a blank sheet of paper and placed the box of crayons in-between the both of them, “You can use these crayons if you want, or I have markers if you prefers those. I would’ve also have gotten the paint but my mom doesn’t let me paint in the living room,” Sweetie Belle opened the crayon box to reveal an enormous amount of fresh crayons. Sunset carefully watched Sweetie Belle as she grabbed a couple of crayons and began drawing. The younger girl frowned. She’s never used her hands before. Usually in art class, she would use her magic. Now, since she didn’t have her horn, she would need to use her... hands. Sunset slowly picked up an light orange crayon and brought it to the blank page. Strangely, it felt like she’s done this before, as if she’s used her hands to draw or write. But how can that be? She’s only been human for a couple of days... right? Sunset was soon lost in her own drawing. It felt so easy. She let her imagination take her to wherever it wanted to go. Sweetie Belle turned to look at the younger girl’s drawing, “That’s pretty good!” Sunset gave her a shy smile and returned to finishing up her drawing. When she was finished she stood up from her spot on the floor and carefully placed her colorful drawing in her brown backpack. Sweetie Belle looked back to her drawing and frowned, she’s never really been much of an artist. Hmm... what can we do now? She thought to herself, “Hey Sunset, do you wanna play a game?” Twilight waited until all of her friends were in the hallway with her before Rarity opened the back door to head outside. Twilight sighed, opening up her book and flipped to a couple of pages. They stood in silence for a while before Fluttershy surprisingly broke it. “What did you want to talk to us about?” Fluttershy asked, nervously fidgeting with a strand of her pink hair. Twilight took a deep breath, “There’s a missing page in one of my books,” she flipped the book open, “I think... I think Princess Celestia knows about it. She gave me this book. I need to send a message to her but I’m scared... what if it’s something bad? What if it’s something really bad? Or what if she doesn’t even know at all? W—“ “Simmer down now Twilight,” Applejack put a reassuring hand to her friend’s shoulder, “Ahm sure she’ll know what to do.” “But what if she doesn’t? I have never seen anything like this! There’s nothing in these books even remotely related to what we are seeing. I don’t know what kind of sickness this is. And what if it’s contagious? Should I bring her back to Equestria? Or what if we are all already infected? Those black veins... And her temperature! It went down to 45°F just now! How is that even possible!—“ Twilight stopped, taking deep breaths, “Rarity, when the... veins were... growing, did she feel cold?” Rarity shook her head, “On the contrary darling, she felt hot. I didn’t really think much of it at the time.” “If she is sick, I think we should keep track of her temperature, her symptoms, and anything else. Rainbow can you pass me the notebook?” Rainbow, who has been uncharacteristically the most silent in the group, was numbly staring at the notebook in her hands. “Uh Rainbow?” Applejack called. Pinkie, with her hair slightly flattened, waved her pink hand in front of her sporty friend’s face, “Earth to Rainbow!” Rainbow blinked, “Huh?” “Didn’ ya hear Twilight?” Applejack asked in worry. “Darling are you alright?” Rarity asked, also concerned for her friend. Rainbow Dash shook her head, “Yeah, I’m f-fine. I’m just... Here.” Twilight took the notebook from Rainbow, trying to read her friend’s eyes. She opened the notebook, flipping through it to find a blank page. She suddenly stopped when her eyes caught a page filled with black ink. Twilight, after reading what was on the nightmare of a page, slowly lifted her head to face Rainbow Dash. Confused, everyone in the group took a peek at the notebook. The notebook had a page full of chaotic writing and drawings. That page was nothing short of a nightmare. Words and phrases held hauntings of the past while the drawings held the fight between sanity and oblivion. Mistake Alone Mistake Freak You should be dead Alone The closet Nopony loves you MONSTER Nopony believes you The closet Alone Freak The Bath Drown Glass Stove Burn Knife Bleed Whip The closet Suffocate Strangle Freeze Bleed Die Twilight closed the notebook after everyone went back to their places. Silence filled the group once more, not knowing what to make of the notebook that held the mind of a tortured soul. Just as Twilight was about to open her mouth, everyone, including herself, whipped their heads around at the alarming scream coming from inside the house.