//------------------------------// // Twenty One: To Dream // Story: Her Broken Childhood // by girasol //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle turned on all of the lights in their path as she and Sunset walked through the house. Rarity did tell her that the younger girl was scared of the dark, so when they got to her room, the first thing Sweetie Belle did was turn on her room’s light. “Okay, here’s my bedroom!” Sweetie Belle spread her arms out, showing off her room. She smiled down at Sunset, who was frozen at the doorway and looking around the pink and purple room in wonder. “It’s okay, you can come in,” Sweetie Belle said when she noticed that Sunset hadn’t moved from her spot, “Don’t be shy,” she extended her hand to Sunset. Sunset stared at Sweetie Belle’s pale hand and shifted her eyes upward to meet the older girl’s green eyes. Closing her eyes, Sunset took a deep breath in and slowly let her breath out. After opening her eyes, she hesitantly stepped inside the middle schooler’s room. Sweetie Belle smiled, “Over there’s my bed, by the window, and here’s my desk. Oh! And I have a TV in here!” Sweetie Belle pointed to box the the table next to her dresser. Sunset followed closely behind Sweetie Belle as she walk over to her desk. “Here’s the paper!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, a little too loudly for Sunset’s taste, “Sorry!” The older girl apologized when she noted that the fiery haired girl had flinched at her volume, “I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sunset took a deep breath and nodded. Her eyes wandered passed Sweetie Belle, noticing a framed photo of three girls on the slick white desk. The one on the far left was obviously the girl in front of her. The girl in the middle was one she recognized as Apple Bloom. Though she wasn’t too sure about the one on the far right, she made a good estimate that it was the other middle schooler she met the other day when they went to get pizza and ice cream. Sweetie Belle followed Sunset’s gaze and landed on the framed photo, “Oh! These are my best friends!” She walked closer to Sunset, “That’s Apple Bloom, well, I’m sure you already know her, that’s me, and that’s Scottaloo.” Sunset looked on longingly at the photo. She’s never had a group of friends before. She’s always wondered what it’d be like to have friends that are always there for you, that understand you, that accept you in every way or form. Yes, she’s always wanted friends, but everypony at school turns her away. “Sunset?” Sweetie Belle asked upon seeing the younger girl’s face grow sad. The middle schooler followed Sunset’s gaze on the photo. Hm. What’s wrong with her? Rarity said to distract her... “Sunset, look! I’ve brought more paper so we can draw! I’ve got the crayons from downstairs too!” Sunset blinked and turned around at the sound of the pale girl’s voice. “C’mon! We can draw on my desk! Or on the floor if you’d like,” Sweetie Belle stood up to grab the crayons and sheets of paper to plop them on her desk, “But I think that on here, we’ll be more comfortable.” Sunset walked slowly toward the pink and purple haired girl. Yeah, she was friendly enough but Sunset didn’t want to take any chances. “Here, you can use my chair. Look it spins!” Sweetie Belle sat on the chair and spun around, sticking her hands up in the air. By the time Sweetie Belle had stopped spinning, Sunset had arrived by her side. Sweetie Belle’s head was visibly spinning from the many turns she took. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the spinning room, “Wanna try?” She asked as got off the chair and extended her hands. Sunset stood still. Should she trust her? She’s been nice to her so far. She gulped and climbed on to the chair by herself. She slowly nodded at the older girl. “Hold on tight!” Sweetie Belle told her. Once she made sure Sunset was safely secured in the chair, she slowly spun the chair around. Sunset held her breath as she watched the room, along with the pale girl spin around. When she came to a slow stop, she placed her hands on the desk to steady herself. After her world stopped spinning, she grinned up at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle giggled and handed the younger girl a blank sheet of paper. Twilight sighed as she read Spike’s letter once more. Maybe she hasn’t seen the letter? She did say that a situation came up at The Crystal Empire. She’s probably busy... No but that hasn’t stopped her from reading my other letters that I’ve sent to her when she was away. “Watcha thinkin’ about Twilight?” Pinkie asked her looking over her shoulder at the journal in front of her. Twilight smiled at her friend, “I’m really confused on why Princess Celestia hasn’t returned any of my letters.” Pinkie patted Twilight’s head, “Don’t worry you worry warts. I’m sure she just hasn’t had time to send one back! She probably reeeeeeeeallllyyy busy.” “Maybe,” Twilight responded, not fully believing what could be a simple explanation. “What’s the matter Rainbow?” Fluttershy said softly, stroking the blue teen’s shoulders. Rainbow shook her head, “N-nothin.’” Applejack shook her head, “Rainbow Dash for as long as Ah’ve known you, you’ve always been the same: a terrible lair. So Ah suggest that ya tell us what’s buggin’ ya.” Rainbow cringed at the statement. Rubbing her hand on the nape of her neck, she looked down at her lap in defeat, “I...” she sighed, “I can’t stop thinking about... about that notebook.” The whole room went silent after that before Rainbow continued, “I mean... I know she wasn’t the nicest person before The Fall Formal but she’s still a member of our school. She... she’s been writing those things in that notebook all this time. And we never knew!” Applejack nodded, “Goes to show ya don’ really know what’s goin’ on with anyone. No matter how they may seem n’ act, they may be hidin’ somethin’ dark.” Twilight took those words in. When she first met Sunset Shimmer, she never suspected her past to be this dark. It was terrifying to say the least. She shivered and moved her eyes downwards towards the brown book in her hands. Thank Celestia Sunset was found by Princess Celestia all those years ago. Who knows where Sunset might be if she wasn’t rescued from the streets... Twilight sighed. Trying to distract herself from her train of thought, she opened the journal to see if there was any more new messages. When nothing but a blank page came up, Twilight slammed the book closed, “I’m taking her to Equestria tomorrow.” The group blinked at her, each of them showing different reactions to her statement. “Ya sure?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow at the Equestrian, “Ah thought ya said—” Twilight huffed, “She’s not responding. I don’t care if I interrupt her meeting or whatever she’s doing. Sunset needs help. If she cared enough, she would’ve responded by now.” “Twilight,” Rarity said, leaning forward a little, “I—“ Twilight shook her head, “We’re leaving tomorrow.” Fluttershy gave a sad sigh, “If that’s what you think is best—“ “Of course it’s what’s best!” Rainbow declared, crossing her arms over her chest, “That princess is abandoning Sunset! Damn whatever is her excuse!” Rarity narrowed her eyes at Rainbow, not amused with her language, “I do agree with that, but Twilight, are you sure there’s nothing we can do here? If it’s the hospital expenses, I’m happy to lead a hand.” Twilight smiled at the generous offer but shook her head, “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think it’s the best idea. I know that what we’re dealing with is magic related. I don’t know how the hospital would react to something like this. There’s no magic that can help us here.” “Wha about the portal?” Applejack said. Twilight frowned, “What about the portal?” “Are ya sure it’s safe for her to cross?” Applejack asked, looking worried at her own question. Twilight bit her lip, “I... I think it’s okay. I mean, she was fine when we came.” Pinkie nodded and sadly hugged Twilight, “She’ll feel better over there. “Weren’t you going to go with Luna tomorrow?” Fluttershy asked, looking unsure of herself. Twilight blinked, finally remembering her plans with Luna tomorrow. She sighed, slapping her hand to her face, “I forgot about that.” “Well, one of us could go,” Rainbow reassured her, “Just tell us what you needed ta look for.” Twilight smiled, “Okay then,” she opened a notebook a flipped to a page with writing, “I’ve written down the things Princess Celestia wanted me to check here...” Sweetie Belle smiled as Sunset stuck her tongue out a little as she concentrated on continuing to color her drawing. Just as she was about to continue her own, her phone dinged. Sweetie Belle picked up her phone from her back pocket of her pants and opened the message. Scootaloo Hey do you guys wanna play online together? Sweetie Belle bit her bottom lip. Sweetie Belle I can’t. I’m with Sunset right now. Scootaloo Sunset? What’s she doing there Sweetie Belle Yeah the girls are sleeping over at Rarity’s tonight. Apple Bloom Don’t ya remember that AJ and Rarity told us when we went to the mall? Scootaloo Yea Apple Bloom Then what’s the problem Scoots? Scootaloo Idk I just find it weird I mean she was a bully before the formal Sweetie Belle She’s like a completely different person Apple Bloom Yea she hardly talks at all and she’s very shy Sweetie Belle She kinda reminds me of that girl from season 1 of that sci-fi show. What’s her name again? It’s a number Idk I forgot Scootaloo Well I guess so. She did seem really shy when we all went out the other day. Maybe someday I’ll meet her. She does seem really cute Apple Bloom Wyd now? Sweetie Belle She’s coloring Apple Bloom Aw! Can ya send a picture of her? Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrows at Apple Blooms message. Hopefully she won’t notice. She made sure her flash and ringer were off before she snapped a quick photo of Sunset, who was busy drawing to even bother looking up at the middle schooler. Sweetie Belle smiled at the photo before sending it to her friends. Apple Bloom Aw! Scootaloo Is she okay? I don’t want to sound mean but what happened to her arms? I don’t remember seeing that the other day. Sweetie Belle cringed. Sweetie Belle Idk. The girls are still trying to figure it out Scootaloo Oh Well I hope that she’s okay... Sweetie Belle Yeah same. Gtg talk to you guys later Sweetie Belle put away her phone and went back to her drawing. After a few seconds, Sweetie Belle looked at Sunset, who was still busy with her own drawing, “So Sunset, I’ve heard that you like to read. Is that right?” Sunset put down her crayon to look at Sweetie Belle. She took a few short breaths and looked down at her lap and finally nodded. “That’s good,” Sweetie Belle told her. Okay... should I continue talking to her or not? Sweetie Belle was brought out of her thoughts when Sunset began to whimper, “Hey it’s okay Sunset. What’s wrong?” Sunset didn’t respond, she was beginning to breath heavily. Should I call Rarity or Twilight? Sweetie Belle glanced at her pocketed phone, “Don’t be scared. There’s nothing that could hurt you here,” Sweetie Belle glanced around the room and spotted her TV. Apple Bloom did say that she stopped having a panic attack after she turned on the TV. “Hey look! Do you wanna watch something?” Sweetie Belle quickly switched the TV on. An animated movie was playing. From the looks of it, the movie was just beginning. A young girl with red-brown hair was with an older woman, who gifted the young girl with a music box. The grandmother then began singing a song about December with her granddaughter. At the sound of the pair singing, Sunset fully faced the TV. Though she was still sniffling, she had her full attention on the screen. Sunset’s face fell a little. The young girl and her grandmother on the screen seemed so happy together. She’s always wanted a family. A real family. One that truly cares about her. Mother and Father would never care for her, she knew that. Though her mind told her it was useless to dream, her heart still hoped. Her heart dreamed of the that day someone would come and rescue her. She dreamed of the day that someone would tell her they loved her. She then thought of Princess Celestia, and Twilight. They were the first ponies who has ever cared about her. Maybe, just maybe, they can be a family.