//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Sirens of the Night: Sunset's Tale // by The Crazed Werewolf //------------------------------// Since I had to spend the day in Detention with Vice-Principal Luna I decided to grab my history book from my locker. I had always struggled with history class. With the exception of PhysEd, all my other classes were advanced placement classes. But human history was a subject that I struggled with. As I zipped up my backpack and stood up, the door to my locker slammed shut. Applejack and Fluttershy would wait for me to turn around before talking to me. Rarity wouldn't do something so unladylike. And Pinkie Pie would creep up behind me and wait to scare the hell out of me. That left only one person. "What the hell Rainbow," I said as I turned to face her, "oh hey Gilda, did you need something?" You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. Everyone knew that there had been a shift in the balance of power at CHS. I had lost my crown, the only question that needed to be answered, would I take it back, or would Gilda rise to power. Gilda was a bully just for the fun of it. I atleast had some morals. Gilda was everything that I wasn't. She didn't care. I never bullied Lyra or Bon-Bon for being lesbians, and I'd be a hypocrite if I bullied Scootaloo for being an orphan. Yes, I would take Microchip's lunch money, and I would tease Trixie because her magic tricks failed consistently. But even I had my limits. But now there was void that needed to be filled, and Gilda was determined to take over. "So Sunshit," Gilda said, "you think that everything is going back to normal?" "I-" I started to say. I wanted to explain to her that I was different now and that I had changed. Buy she cut me off. "I've seen the real you," Gilda said, I could feel her savoring each each word as it came out, "you are nothing. Nothing but a scared little girl that got a taste of power and then you lost it like a fool. You had the entire school within your grasp and you allowed it to slip through your fingers. To think that I once feared you!" After she said that I felt someone grab me and shove me into an empty locker. I don't know if it was Lightning Dust or Short Fuse. Both of them were Gilda's lackeys and I could hear both of them laughing. After about five minutes, I could tell that they had left to torment some other poor souls. I tried to open the locker, only to learn that you couldn't open the locker from the inside. I started to panic. That's when I also learned that I was claustrophobic. I couldn't breathe. I needed air. I needed to get out. I tried to bang on the locker door, but it was so cramped that I couldn't move my arms or hands. I did the next best thing, I slammed my head against the lockers. It made a deafening bang inside the locker, it was so loud that my ears began ringing. Someone certainly must have heard it. After I got no response, I slammed my head into the locker a second time. I vowed then and there to never shove someone else into a locker ever again. I was in the process of slamming my head into the locker for a third time when I thought that I heard a click and the locker door opened, unfortunately, momentum, and disorientation, meant that I continued forward and stumbled out of the locker and ended up sprawled out on the hallway floor. Not my most dignified moment. I blinked my eyes furiously, trying to get them to see straight and trying to get the ringing in my ears to stop. I looked up at my surroundings. Applejack was standing in front of me, holding out her hand to help me up. Rainbow Dash was standing next to her holding my backpack. "Are you Okay Sugarcube," Applejack asked me as she helped me to my feet. Honestly the world was still spinning around me and though I could hear her, there was still a slight ringing in my ears, "just breathe." "I'm fine," I lied. I was grateful that the world had stopped spinning enough that I could stand straight, but I was developing a massive headache. "Who did this," Rainbow asked, "was it Gilda?" "Just let it go," I begged her. I was afraid that if we we went after Gilda and her minions, then it wouldn't take long for me to backslide into my old ways and I never wanted to be that bitch again. "If that's what you want," Rainbow said, "we should atleast tell Luna or Celestia." "Let's leave them out of this," I exclaimed, "this is my own fault, everyone wants revenge and this is my punishment." You once had everything, a voice in the back of my mind said, now you have nothing! I looked around, I recognized that voice. The only other people nearby were Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Yes I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere, the voice said. I swear I could hear the demon laughing at me. All I could hear was the insidious laughing. I had to escape from the demon. I took off running. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't care who was in my way, I shoved them out of the way. I could hear sounds of someone chasing after me, I knew that the demon was after me. Panicking, I pushed Derpy out of my way as I hid in one of the girls bathrooms. I made sure to lock the door behind me. By now my head was pounding and I felt queasy. I tried to slow my breathing. "What's the matter Sunset Shimmer," I heard a familiar and yet sickeningly sweet voice ask. I looked around and saw her in the mirror. She had her wings draped around her like they were clothing. Her white fangs were clearly visible against her red lips. Her eyes were darker than the night sky on the night of a new moon. "I can return you to power," the Demon said, "I'm your only choice." "No," I said ,"I don't want what you are offering! I have friends now!" "Are they really your friends," the Demon taunted me, "or are they your keepers?" "No, that's not true," I cried, I could feel the warmth of the tears as they cascaded down my face. "You know that it's true," the Demon responded, "only I have always been by your side. I can give you everything that you deserve." The demon held out her right hand so that it extended out of the mirror. "Take my hand Sunset," the Demon said, "I will never leave you." I hesitated. I felt my right arm begin to rise up towards the Demon's hand. The Demon was right. It had stayed by my side throughout my self imposed exile. It had helped me during my rise to power. It had listened as I planned my schemes. The Demon had been my constant companion since I had arrived in this world. I balled up my fist just before I slammed it into the mirror. I could hear the demon screaming as the mirror shattered into dozens of shards. I looked down at my hand. There was a long sliver of glass sticking out of my hand. I couldn't help butt notice how satisfyingly comforting the pain felt as I pulled the glass from my hand. "Why am I not surprised that you know how to pick a lock," I heard Applejack say. I heard something messing with the lock on the bathroom door. I hurriedly stuck the sliver of glass in the inside pocket of my jacket. I could use it later as I sure that the only way I could rid myself of the Demon was to rid the world of myself. I was certain that Luna or Celestia were about to find me covered in my own blood. I was relieved when Applejack and Rainbow walked in. "Sunset," Applejack gasped as she saw my blood, "everything is going to be alright. We're here for you." I could see that she meant it. Her eyes told me everything. I smiled for a brief second. Then I threw up and passed out. I woke up on the emergency room. I was told that I had a mild concussion and a broken finger. I had punched a mirror that had been mounted on a concrete wall and I had only broken a finger. My hand though was also covered in blood soaked bandages. "What's your name?" The doctor asked me. "Sunset Shimmer," I answered. "What's your birthday," he asked. "June 16, 1998," I replied. "Do you know where you are," he asked next. "Unless I'm wrong," I said, "I'm in the hospital." "Alright, you were able to answer my questions," the doctor said, "we'll get your mother on here and tell you both what is going to happen next." My mother? I didn't know who he was talking about. Atleast not until Principal Celestia entered the small examination room. The look on her face was one that I had never seen before. She was worried about me. The first thing that she did was wrap me up in a motherly hug when she entered the room. I could see that she had been crying. "Sunset," Celestia said, "I was afraid that I might lose you. There was so much blood." "We've managed to stabilize her," the doctor said, "like I told miss Shimmer, she has a mild concussion and a broken finger. She luckily didn't need to receive any blood. The concussion is what caused her to pass out." "How long will she have to stay in the hospital," Celestia asked. "I feel comfortable with allowing her to return home tonight," the doctor said after a moment of thought, "provided that she takes it easy for the next few days." "She'll get plenty of rest," Celestia said. "There is one more thing," the doctor added, "she has prominent scarring on her back and is a little bit under nourished, does she get enough to eat at home?" "She usually eats more than both my sister and I," Celestia said, "as for the scars she just started living with us, and I couldn't tell you what her living conditions or eating habits were like before." "Well as long as the situation has been remedied," the doctor said, "If you'd like, I can give you a list of vitamins that would be great for her." "I'd appreciate that." Celestia said. "If you have no questions for me, then I will fill out your discharge orders," the doctor said. Celestia and I didn't say anything until we were back on her van and driving home. "Want to tell me what happened today," Celestia asked. "Not really," I mumbled. I knew that I would ht to tell her about some of it. I wasn't proud about what I had almost done. "Gilda confronted me today," I said finally, "she let me know that she is taking over my spot as CHS' queen bully, and that I'm fair game." "What happened in the bathroom," Celestia asked her voice taking on a gentle but stern tone. " I received a visit from the demon I became," I said, "she offered to return me to my former glory." "Did you accept it's offer," Celestia asked me. "I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted," I told her, "but I declined the offer. Sorry about the mirror, I'll find some way to replace it." "Don't worry about it," Celestia said as we pulled into the driveway, "I'm just relieved that you are ok and not hurt worse than you are." Later that night after dinner, I sat at my desk in my room. In my hands I was carefully holding the sliver of glass from the mirror that I had taken earlier that morning. I had originally taken the shard for self-destructive intentions, but now I was having second thoughts. I kept remembering what the Demon had said about my friends, but I also remembered the looks on Applejack's and Rainbow's faces when they found me. Sighing I set the glass shard down on my desk and made my way downstairs. "Celestia," I asked, "do we have any plaster, I need some for an art project." "There should be some in the garage by the dryer." She answered as she looked up from the book she was reading.