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// Rock Bottom-Part 2 Sunset's Week 
// Story: Goodnight Sunset, Good Morning Sunrise 
// by Twilight Nightmare 
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3 DAYS AGO…TUESDAY

Waking up at the first rays of the sun was never something Sunset enjoyed doing, despite what her cutie mark was. Waking up on the cold hard ground, her neck hurting from the lumpy makeshift pillow, didn’t help in the least. She wasn’t sure just how long she stayed there, hugging her purse tightly to her, as she tried to figure out what to do. Would Principal Celestia help her if she went to the older woman? Probably not with the way Vice-Principal Luna had reacted to her presence. Then again Luna did say that Celestia was more willing to give her a second chance.

A second chance though wasn’t help in finding a place to stay or food though, it was letting her come back to school when her temporary banishment was lifted. She highly doubted Celestia actually wanted to see her after all the trouble that Sunset caused until the older woman had plenty of time to cool off. Even then she doubted Celestia would really want to do much to help her until she could prove she wanted to be a better person. And even then a small part of her whispered that Celestia still wouldn’t forgive her.

Sitting up she clutched her purse to herself as she looked around. She wasn’t too sure what to do, yesterday was a bust on job searches, and she checked about every job that hired teens. She was sure that she wasn’t going to find a job easily now, and despite being in the world for a few years, she had no idea what she could do. She could possibly go to another city, but it would be a long walk, not that she could. She was afraid to get too far away from the mirror since she could feel its magic, and if it somehow opened early, she wouldn’t make it back before it closed again. Yes, she wanted to go home to Canterlot and face the consequences. It was better than being stuck here like this any longer.

Climbing to her feet, she shouldered her duffle bag and clutched her purse to her. It was going to be a long day, but if she could make it to Monday she could at least get some food. For now though she needed a place to clean up, and without a bathroom she had little choices in the matter. Remembering that the park had a public restroom she guessed that maybe she could clean up in the sink a little at least.

The bathroom wasn’t exactly the cleanest, but with only one person locked in the stall Sunset sat her things down on the floor next to the sink and started the water waiting for it to warm up. After it was at a decent temperature, she squirted some soap from the container bolted to the wall and washed her hands. Getting more soap, she lathered it up and started washing her face. It was kind of nasty smelling antibacterial stuff, the scent very strong, and she wasn’t really expecting just how bad it would sting her eyes. 

As she cried out, furiously splashing water in her face in an attempt to wash away the soap, the door opened on the stall and a girl slowly made her way out, eyeing the bags on the floor and Sunset. Faster than Sunset could get the soap washed away, the girl grabbed the bags and ran off. By the time Sunset managed to get the soap washed away, leaving her eyes red and bloodshot, she saw that her things were missing. With a cry of surprise Sunset looked around the restroom before running out of the exit, not seeing anyone near by.

“You can’t be serious!” Sunset cried out in frustration as she turned and punched the wall behind her. Screaming in pain as she cradled her hand, she was glad that it didn’t seem to be broken, but it would be sore for a day or two.

She wanted to break down and cry right there, what little she had left had just been stolen, including what little identification she had. Without that there was no way to keep looking for a job, even if there was very little chance of finding one with her reputation. She literally had nothing but the clothes on her back as even what little hope she had was gone.

“Good morning, dearie.” An older woman with graying hair, a brown sweater and old, stained slacks said in greeting. “Are you okay?”

“Let’s see, I haven’t really eaten since Friday, I lost my apartment, and someone just stole what little I had left.” Sunset snapped out, an old familiar feeling that she was once used to flaring up for a moment. The anger quickly flowed out of her though leaving an emptiness deep in her soul. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that, dearie.” The woman said sadly, “I too have fallen on hard times. I was just going to get breakfast if you would like to join me.”

“I don’t have any money.” Sunset whimpered, her stomach growling, demanding to be fed. 

“Oh honey, you don’t need money if you know where to look.” The older woman chuckled, giving Sunset an amused look. “Come along child, I’ll show you how to survive on the streets. My name is Maria.”

“My name’s Sunset.” Sunset said softly as she walked with the woman through town. It was strange that this woman seemed happy to help her, but she couldn’t help being a little weary of her. 

“So child, want to tell me how you ended up homeless?” Maria asked kindly, the two of them waiting to cross the street to a Burger Queen. Sunset was about to deny being homeless, but the stark realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She was homeless with nowhere to turn, no one she could really trust.

“I…I don’t want to talk about it.” Sunset sighed, a look of annoyance crossing the older woman’s face for a moment. The crossing signal finally changed to green before the woman could respond making the two hurry across the street.

“You will have to talk about it sometime dearie, but for now we have arrived.” Maria said confusing Sunset. They were standing behind the restaurant, in front of the dumpster. The smell alone was making Sunset queasy as she watched the woman walk forward and climb up on a ridge on the dumpster to look down inside of it.

“You can’t be serious.” Sunset gagged, covering her mouth as she watched wide eyed as Maria ripped open one bag after another before pulling out a wrapped sandwhich and some fries covered in a couple pickles and mustard that possibly came off something else.

“Dearie, when you are hungry with no money, you sometimes have to do things that aren’t very pleasant. Maria said eating one of the fries before holding the container out towards Sunset. The smell coming from the yellow substance didn’t smell like mustard, and she wasn’t sure what caused it more, the stench or the thought of it, but Sunset spun around and started dry heaving making the woman angry. “This is good food! If you think your so good to be homeless with no money, and not have to eat things like this, then maybe yoy need a reality check!”

“I’m sorry!” Sunset cried out, stumbling back away from the woman. She couldn’t take the smell, true it may have been partly mental, but it didn’t matter. It was too much for her making her flee the scene. She really didn’t mean to upset the woman, Sunset knew she angered Maria, had offended the woman. What was she supposed to do though? She wasn’t used to this, she was used to getting her looks or blackmail to get what she needed. Now she was lost, no map or directions to find a way out of her situation.

2 DAYS AGO…WEDNESDAY

Tuesday had been a bust, nothing to eat and the only person who may have been a friend upset at her. The morning she had tried looking for a few more jobs, but met with the same trouble as the day before, with the new addition of not have identification even if someone did even debate about hiring her. 

Now, she was looking through the park trying to find something to eat. Maybe some apples growing off a tree or some wild berries growing on a bush. Over an hour of searching she was ready to give up when she did find something. It wasn’t food though, but it was something that she could use. 

Sitting on a park bench, nobody around her, Sunset studied the dull pocket knife in her hands. The handle was black plastic that had several chips and cracks, while the blade was dull with a little rust. The metal was cool to the touch as she traced it up and down her arm, following where she knew her veins were. It would be so easy to just apply a little pressure. Sure it would hurt for a few minutes, but if done right, then it shouldn’t last very long at all. All of her pain and problems would be over. All of her humiliation over every single cruel thing she did to people would be forgotten as it couldn’t haunt a dead body. 

Did she really want that though? She had never given up before, but she really didn’t see any outs for her. There wasn’t really any help out there for her, and she doubted she would be allowed on school grounds smelling the way she was starting to. Her clothes were getting dirtier and dirtier, and with the few changes she had stolen, she couldn’t change. Still, she was stronger than this. Wasn’t she?

With a heavy sigh, Sunset stood all of a sudden and began walking away from the park. It was maybe a fifteen minute walk, but there was a bridge going cross a river running through Canterlot. It separated some of the worse parts of Canterlot from the main area where the school was. Standing on the bridge, she thought for awhile, weighing all the pros and cons of just ending it all as she hugged herself. It was a little chilly, and she didn’t have a jacket or anything to help protect for the cold.

Looking out over the now peaceful waters below, Sunset took a shuddering breath as she tried to stop the tears. It seemed that was all she had done since her sound defeat at the Fall Formal. She wasn’t sure how she had so many tears, but maybe it was holding them back for so long, storing them up. Still, lost or not, she couldn’t bring herself to end it. Not like this. Taking a deep breath, Sunset drew the knife back and hurled it with as much force as she could off the side of the bridge into the waters below. She knew if she kept it, then she may end up doing something stupid. Maybe not today, but soon. Desperation was a powerful motivator.

1 DAYS AGO…THURSDAY

Once again, Sunset stood on the bridge from the day before, looking over the edge down into the waters below. Unlike yesterday, she was standing up on the railing as wind whipped her hair back and forth threatening to blow her over the edge. She didn’t really care though as tears fell freely as she shuddered from the biting cold. It was much colder than the previous day, and the hunger pains was beyond anything that she had ever felt before. They were staring to go from being highly uncomfortable, to actually painful. She was practically at the end of her rope, regretting throwing the knife away. At least she had the bridge…

“What the heck do you think your doing?” A male voice cried out in alarm, grabbing her around the waist and yanking her off the railing and onto the firm floor of the bridge. Squirming away Sunset took a few steps away to turn and look at an incredibly handsome, if sleazy looking man. He had slicked back blonde hair and a pair of dark shades over his eyes. He was wearing what looked to be a very expensive suit, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. He had a bit of stuble, a soul patch on his chin. All in all he seemed kind of sleazy to Sunset for a reason…maybe it was the way she could just feel his eyes slowly tracing her body up and down, despite his sunglasses, before smiling as if he hit the jackpot.

“Don’t touch me!” Sunset screamed out, slashing her hand through the air angrily. How dare he but into her life? Yet, she couldn’t help feeling a little thankful that he had stopped her as she realized that if he didn’t, she may have just jumped. It was enough to make her legs start to feel weak.

“Hey, no problem. Just thought it would be a waste for such a cute thing like you to just jump like that. I mean surely, I bet it would shatter some poor guy’s heart. Or is he the reason you were doing that? If so, then he’s an idiot.” The man smiled, “Name’s Jack West, I own a club not far from here.”

“Uh…it wan’t over some stupid guy!” Sunset snapped out, fighting off the blush that his compliment caused. She couldn’t figure out if he was looking at her like a piece of meat or something that was broken. Either was, it sort of made her mad. It was hard to be sure though without actually being able to see his eyes. “I…if it’s any of your business I can’t find a job and lost my apartment!”

“That’s horrible!” Jack  gasped, sounding as if he was genuine with his concern. Something about the whole thing was bothering Sunset though, a voice whispering inside of herself that was begging her to walk away. “A cute thing like you, I’m sure you could get any job you wanted.”

“Yeah…you’d think that.” Sunset sighed, knowing full well that if she didn’t have the reputation for being a monster, or had proper identification, she may have found a job.

“Well, I’m always hiring, but the job may not be up your alley. A sweet girl like yourself, I mean surely you would want something better than I can offer.” Jack said, all of a sudden becoming unsure of himself as he stuffed is hands in his pocket. “I always need dancers and waitresses.”

“I can waitress.” Sunset said softly, more warning bells screaming in her head as she forced herself to ignore the dancer comment.

“Well, you see, my club caters to a certain clintelle. While none of my dancers or waitresses have to do anything they don’t want, there is a certain dress code you see.” Jack explained, looking up into the sky for a moment before looking back down at Sunset with a heavy sigh. “You see, all of my waitresses have to be topless during work, and have to dance at least once a week. The more you dance though, the more tips you make. And of course, there is private booths for…more private dances.”

“What?” Sunset asked, her mouth opening and closing, making herself resemble a fish. 

“Just think about it, cutie.” Jack said, taking a card from his pocket and putting it in Sunset’s hands, closing them around it. “If you decide you want to give it a shot, come by tomorrow night. I’ll let you try dancing then waitressing, and see how things go.”

“I…I don’t want to do something like that!” Sunset cried out, watching the man start to walk away.

“Keep the card just in case, cutie! I pay cash nightly, no need for ID or anything.” Jack called out, waving back over his shoulder. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking as she pocketed the card, her face burning hotly in embarrassment at even doing that. There was no way she would do it though.  The card was black with silver type, the outline of a woman’s bode with the letters ‘XXX’ proudly printed across it. She knew what kind of place it was, and knew the neighborhood it was in. There were dealers and prostitutes all over the area there, and most sane students from Canterlot stayed far away from it. 

“Pervert!” Sunset finally cried out, but the man was out of sight by then. 

CURRENT DAY…FRIDAY

All day yesterday since her run in with Jack, Sunset thought about his offer. She hated the fact that she couldn’t push it out of her mind, the thought of having to strip in front of a crowd of strangers unnerved her. Serving drinks and food topless was even more disgusting to her. Yet, it was the only thing she could see herself doing. Everyone hated her, she had no money and no identification. What else could she do?

Maybe if she wasn’t so hungry she would be able to figure something else out. She was filthy though, no food and no options. She felt that if she didn’t get something to eat by end of the weekend she may end up very sick. She was already feeling very light headed and nauseous all day, having very little strength. 

It was growing dark as she crossed the bridge, going to find the club that jack supposedly owned. She was hoping that he would provide her with a place to clean up, and some hot food in exchange for doing just tonight. And maybe, just maybe, if things went okay she might actually think about staying on longer. Not that she planned to, just thinking about it was humiliating enough. She was actually starting to hate herself for coming here, even if she had finally broken down and saw no other way.

Finally finding the address on the card, Sunset stumbled into the street as her eyes locked onto the neon lit signs. Night had finally fully fallen, the blinking lights giving her the only illumination she had. She hugged herself tightly in disgust, shaking a little as she tried not to cry. Somewhere deep inside she knew that if she stepped inside this building that she would be trapped. She wouldn’t be kept as a prisoner, at least she hoped not, but she felt that if she stepped inside then she would be stuck doing this for more than just one night. 

Stumbling a little, almost falling onto the middle of the road as she tried to get to the parking lot. She shivered more, the chill air mixing with her hoplessness. She tried to get across the street, she really did, but she felt so disgusted with herself and so weak at the moment that she didn’t care when a pair of headlights blinded her.

She didn’t pay attention to the car though, averting her gaze when the tires squealed as the car skidded to a stop. She wasn’t sure what to expect, maybe the driver cussing her out. When it didn’t come, Sunset stumbled a few more steps toward the building, trying her best to keep on her feet.

“There you are!” A very familiar voice called out from behind Sunset, just before a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her around to look up into Celestia’s worried eyes. Sunset tried to look away, but she heard the shocked gasp from Celestia. Sunset knew she looked horrible, besides being filthy, her eyes were red and bloodshot, as well as having bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Despite having a spot away from the main path, Sunset still had trouble sleeping on the uncomfortable ground, jumping at every noise. “Sunset Shimmer…what are you doing at a place like this?”

“What do you care?” Sunset sobbed out, stepping toward Celestia as she sobbed out. She intended to get in the woman’s face and yell at her, but instead a dizzy spell washed over her, forcing her to pitch forward into Celestia’s arms. The older woman held her, trying to steady her until she finally lost the battle with consciousness.