30 Days/ 30 Stories

by Fenton

Like The World Is Ending

People often hated Mondays in general, but Sunset Shimmer hated mornings specifically.

She groaned as she turned in her bed. She wanted to go back to sleep. It was Sunday, no one needed her, and she needed nobody and nothing, except to have a lie-in. She hid her head below her pillow, but the half-past-eleven Sun was too bright for the little piece of bedding to protect her from the light.

Accepting defeat, Sunset rose from the bed and resigned herself to getting prepared for the day to come. Or what was left of it.

First thing first, she needed music if she wanted to accomplish any of her routine task. An angry finger pushed the power button of the radio set, but it refused to turn on. Even a whole fist didn’t convince it.

Curse you, you damn cheap piece of garbage!

That old thing was still battery operated. Sunset tried to look for some in her drawers, but found none.

She resigned once again, and went to the store to buy new ones, but not before having loudly cursed and kicked several pieces of furniture. She put a jacket, not caring for the probable horrid smell the customers and the cashier would have to endure.

Inside the supermarket, she quickly found a batch of four batteries. She checked that they were the ones her radio set needed, and went for the checkout. And she groaned again. There were five people before her, and of course, only one checkout was open. She clenched her fists, ready to literally tore out anyone’s throat reckless enough to even open their mouth.

She calmed herself by humming her favorite songs, the ones she should have been listening to right now. It worked well enough that Sunset closed her eyes, forgetting the rest of the world.

After the twelfth song, she opened them and almost gasped. Only one customer had successfully passed the checkout.

It was a nightmare, a horrible, painful nightmare. She would wake up any second now.

Any second now.

But she didn’t. She pinched herself, but the pain was real, even though it was nothing compared to the existential dread she was living through.

She glanced at the other waiting customers, looking for something in their eyes that would tell her she wasn’t alone in this, some empathy or acknowledgement, a small flicker of hope that would say “It’s okay, it will be tough, but in the end, we’ll get out of here”. There was nothing. Their eyes were dark, bottomless wells, opened on emptiness. She understood she couldn’t expect anything from these servile sheeps, completely devoted to the almighty god of consumerism. It was too late for them, even the two children in front of her had already been corrupted.

She wanted to scream, to warn any empathic being about the situation, warn them to flee before —

“Miss, I’m opening.”

Sunset looked on her right and thanked every god of this world, Equestria, and any other universe for their mercy. She ran for the newly opened checkout and gave the batch of batteries to the old lady.

“I’d like to buy only two batteries, please,” Sunset told her.

“Can’t you see they are sold in four?” replied the lady, exasperated. “It will be four dollars.”

Sunset’s eye twitched. “I’m sorry, but I know my rights. And there isn’t any single law forcing me to buy four batteries when I only need two.” She put two dollars in front of her, and repeated her request.

“Well, if you take it like that, I’m calling my boss.”

“Mister Richard,” she yelled on the cheap microphone in front of her, her voice filled with all of her dull life’s dissatisfaction. “Mister Richard, there’s a problem with a customer!”

Sunset wanted to punch the lady, and she almost wished she was an evil creature from Equestria so she could blast her with some Harmony. She remembered the guidelines of that same Harmony and patiently waited for her boss. After a minute, Sunset saw a plump man coming to them, an unctuous smile on his lips.

“What’s the problem?” he asked.

Sunset explained him she wanted to buy only two batteries, that she was in her right, and that his employee had refused to acknowledge her yet simple request.

The little man, who had probably dealt with many angry customers before, simply took two batteries from the batch, and gave them to Sunset in exchange of two dollars. At the sight of the dumbfounded cashier, Sunset felt her heart getting filled with joy and satisfaction. She still forgave the old lady. After all, that's what Friendship was about, right?

She left the store with the other customers’ cheers, probably woken up by Sunset’s grand gesture. They could have hope, they weren’t powerless.

When she got back home, Sunset, satisfied, open the small hatch behind her radio set, in order to insert the two batteries inside.

She stared at four slots!

Author's Note:

What? A complete story? What is happening?
Inspiration and pleasure, that's what happened. Second EQG fic I write, and I realise I should do it more often. It allows to do things you can't with ponies.

Big thanks to Orbiting Kettle for proofreading.

See you tomorrow for the last one.

Comments

[Dr_Tornado]

Is this the last one?

[Fenton]

8398684
No, one last story will be publish later today.