//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: “Sunset!” Her Father Said // Story: The Ballad of Sunset Shimmer // by Child of Stars //------------------------------// PRO Sunset walked right through the front doors of her family’s large and lavish mansion. Her hooves met the plush red carpet as servants of the home took her bags to her room. She was making a beeline for the dining room where she knew her father would be, reading today's paper as he always did. And sure enough, there he sat. At the end of a very large and extravagant dinner table, made to house 20 ponies on both sides, sat Sunset’s father.  Sunset quickly rushed over to him, excited to tell him that she had once again run for prom queen and was most likely going to win. As soon as she reached him she began to speak, “Father, I’m running for prom queen again! I have more competition this year, but I’m sure I’ll still win!” Sunset’s father didn’t even look up from his paper, his face obscured by its white pages. Sunset once again tried to get her father’s attention, “I know prom is everything to you and mom so I thought you’d be happy! Aren’t you?” Once again no reply, the only thing that happened was her father turning to the next page of his paper. Sunset got worried and hesitantly reached out to her father. “Father?” She questioned as her hoof brushed his shoulder. Sunset’s father quickly turned and sharply struck Sunset across the face, sending her crashing to the ground, pure rage apparent on his face. Sunset looked up meekly, teary eyed and fearful. “Sunset!” Her father said, “Life is a prom.” He got close to her face, his muzzle pressed against her’s. He had heard about her outburst at school today and was not pleased. She didn’t act how he told her to at school. She nearly did something he couldn’t have covered up, and then everything would be over for her, for him. He looked at her hard, disdain clear on his face. “You know what happens when you don’t perform in the way I want you to.” He said with scorn. Sunset’s eyes shrunk to pin pricks and she began to quake in terror, she knew all too well of father’s punishments. “Please no,” Sunset whispered as the stress of her day began to cause her to cry, “I’ll be good, I’ll do what you say father. Just please, not the basement.”  “The basement alone is too good for you,” Sunset’s father simply stated, “ I was thinking more along the lines of the braid.” “No, no!” Sunset screamed and wailed furiously, a mixture of snot, blood, tears, and drool all pooling beneath her. Her father kept her magically held down as he stood over her, looking down at her and her increasingly swollen black eye.  “Pathetic,” He chided, “Fine this time I’ll let it slide, but next time it’s the braid. No excuses.” “Thank you, thank you!” Sunset wailed in relief.  “Just quit your crying, it’s unbecoming of you.” Sunset’s father scolded. “Yes of course father.” Sunset replied, wiping her tears away and getting up. She started to leave when her father called out to her, causing her to flinch. “Don’t forget to clean that up,” He said referring to her wounded face and gross mane, “Just cover it up with some makeup. And if you do a bad job, and somepony notices you? The basement for two months.” Sunset fearfully shook her head in response and headed to her room upstairs as her father called out one last thing to her. “Oh and Sunset, you better win prom queen. Because you don’t want to know what will happen if you don’t.” “Yes, of course father!” Sunset called back. “I know you won’t disappoint me and mom.” Her father concluded. Sunset knew her mother was on a business trip, but she feared her ire all the same. Even if she couldn’t express her disappointment now, she’d do so later. Sunset made her way into her room and shut the door behind her. As soon as it closed she fell onto the floor in a bundle of tears and fear. All of the day's stresses weighed heavy on her.  First, that bitch Twilight runs against her, then that nobody throws everything into chaos, and finally her father’s anger. ‘They just don’t realize what I need!’ She thought to herself, ‘I need to be prom queen! I don’t want the braid…’   Sunset needed to destress, so she did it the one way that always worked. She levitated over a small metal shard from underneath her bed and began to tear at the flesh on her arms. It helped to detach from her home life and get back into the lie she told herself everyday. The lie that her life was perfect, and that nothing was wrong. She continued to cut into her forearms, vowing to cover up the self-inflicted wounds and the wounds caused by her father with make up later.  She finished up with today’s session of cutting and made her way to her bathroom, getting into the shower and washing off her mane. She cleaned her wounds and tried her best to get the blood out of her coat. After her shower she bandaged up her wounds and looked in her vanity’s mirror. She smiled, she knew that the title of prom queen would be hers. No matter how much that wretched Radiant Hope wanted Sunset to lose and be beat, she wouldn’t let her. No matter what, Sunset would win.  Thinking of Hope made Sunset remember her outburst against her. She wrote out a few letters and magically sent them to her friends in apology for her behavior, blaming it on a stressful day. Thinking of Hope also made her remember Sombra, her dear coltfriend Sombra. She had to talk with him pronto. She quickly wrote up a letter and asked him to join her for an afternoon lunch at the nearby park. ‘Tomorrow is a weekend so hopefully he’ll be free.’ Sunset thought. Almost as soon as Sunset magically mailed her letter to Sombra she got a response back. She was ecstatic that he answered back so quickly. So, she opened up his letter and read what was on the page in her head. “Sure, we need to talk anyway. I’ll bring the food.” ‘Well,’ She thought, ‘I’m not sure I like the sound of we need to talk, but I’ll be optimistic. Maybe he just wants to take our relationship to the next level! I am the perfect mare after all, who wouldn’t want me?’ As she thought that tears began to leak from her eyes as the smile that had slowly built up on her face left. All she could think about as she crumpled once more unto the ground was how there was somepony who didn’t want her, her father.