Ch 2: At the Barn
The cold winds continued battering down on Sunset as she struggled to push herself against the cold. She felt her strength waning by the minute, and she knew that she would not be able to stay out for much longer. On top of that, she was feeling hungry. She knew that she would have to take shelter somewhere. But she would have to do it fast, because she did not know for how much longer she would be able to keep this up . . .
After what legitimately felt like an hour of walking, she peered into the horizon to spot a barn that had its front entrance decorated. She felt relieved, because she knew that salvation was at hand. If she could just reach the farm, then she would have a place to stay until the cold winds died down. With that, her willpower ignited again, and she pushed herself to reach the edge of the field. Just a few more steps . . .
Unfortunately, as soon as she entered the farm, she could go no farther. Her energy finally gone,she fell down, the bundle she was carrying toppled onto the ground beside her. She struggled to get up, but found that she could not. That’s when it hit her. She could go no more. She had reached the end.
So this is what it feels like, she mused grimly. To be forsaken by everything you’ve ever known, to be unnoticed and abandoned by everyone you thought you could depend on . . .
There was nothing left to do. Sapped of all her strength, she collapsed onto the ground, as both cold and fatigue washed over her and she fell asleep.
Darkness. Sunset felt something stir against her, something sloppy and wet scrape itself across her face.
“Cut it out, Spike,” Sunset murmured softly in her sleep, feeling something lick her on her face. But the licking did not cease. She stirred softly, then slowly opened her eyes. And she was not prepared for what she saw next.
A small, pumpkin-like creature with four legs, two seeds for pumpkin seeds for eyes, a carved mouth, and stem-like tail was staring back at her. It was wagging its tail excited and panting happily at her. Sunset stood up and brushed off the snow on her clothes, then glanced at her surroundings. A small fire was going near in the center of the room, which had two bunk beds and a small television set. Near the fire sat two figures whom she had never seen before in her life. One was a slim figure with cyan skin with chin-length hair, wearing a blue sundress. The other had lime-green skin and pale yellow hair in a tetrahedron shape, wearing what appeared to be a sleeveless green V-neck uniform, with a dark green outline around the cut-out of the neck area and forming what appeared to be a yellow diamond in the neck area, as well as lime green leggings with the same yellow diamond design. Both figures were now facing her, curiosity apparent on their faces.
“About time,” the blue figure started. “We thought you’d never wake up.” She made her way over to Sunset, then offered her a hand to get up. Sunset paused, wondering whether to accept, then decided that she had no other choice. She took the figure’s hand and pushed herself up until she could finally stand again.
“You can say that again,” she muttered. “Where am I?”
“Well, we found you passed out there in the field,” the girl in blue continued. “And seeing how the nearest town wouldn’t be for another few miles or so, we decided to take you in.”
“It’s probably not much, but we’ve managed so far,” the green one added, flashing her a catlike grin. Her blue counterpart nodded, then did a most unusual thing that Sunset had never seen before: She waved her arms in some sort of motion, then a huge stream of water formed itself into the shape of a chair and froze into ice, forming a chair made of ice. The blue girl motioned to the chair, as if offering her a seat.
“I don’t believe you’ve formally introduced yourselves,” Sunset started. “Who are you?”
“Oh, right,” the girl in blue admitted rather sheepishly. “My name’s Lapis Lazuli. And that”-she motioned to her green counterpart-“is Peridot.” Peridot gave Sunset a friendly wave.
Sunset stared at the two of them, rather confused. “You’re . . . named after gemstones?” she asked.
Lapis and Peridot nodded. “We’re gems,” Peridot clarified. “We came from a distant homeworld from beyond the stars, but unfortunately, we’re not allowed to ever come back again.”
“What about you?” Lapis asked. “What’s your name? And where did you come from?”
Sunset paused, pondering the situation uncertainly. At last, she took a deep breath.
“Sunset,” she said at last. “Sunset Shimmer. And let’s just say that I come from a parallel dimension inhabited by ponies.”
The two Gems looked at each other, confused. Sunset could see that they were not certain as to whether they should believe her.
“What about this little guy?” she asked, motioning to the pumpkin creature. “He’s obviously some sort of pumpkin creature, but what’s his name?”
Both Lapis and Peridot looked at each other. “Pumpkin,” Peridot said at last.
Real original, Sunset thought to herself musingly.
“So, Sunset,” Peridot sat down opposite Sunset, “what brings you to our humble abode?”
Sunset sighed. “Well, just recently, I’ve been betrayed by the ones I thought I could call friends,” she started sadly. “They thought I was spreading rumors about them under the pseudonym ‘Anon-a-Miss’, and they never even bothered hearing what I had to say. So I decided to just pack up and run away.”
“That’s terrible,” Lapis admitted. “I can understand how you feel.”
“Really?” Sunset asked.
“Of course,” Lapis continued empathetically. “I was trapped in a mirror for five thousand years, unable to do anything, and the people I thought I could count on didn’t even bother to free me. I was only able to get out thanks to Steven.”
Sunset looked at the blue Gem curiously. “Who’s Steven?”
“Oh, right,” Peridot chuckled. “He’s one of our closest friends. Trust me, you’re going to enjoy his company. He and his friends, the-ahem-Crystal Gems, live in Beach City and protect the world from the Gem Homeworld, who’s hoping to colonize this planet and bring it under its control.”
“Really?” Sunset asked, surprised. “That’s…terrible. Is there anything I can do?”
Lapis chuckled, somewhat bitterly. “I wish there was. Unfortunately, we don’t see how you could be of assistance.”
“Are you sure?” Sunset responded, disappointed. “Because this dimension is my home now, and I want to be able to protect any way I can. Besides, I don’t plan on returning anytime soon. Especially now that everyone seems to be better off without me,” she added, her tone sprinkled with sadness.
Lapis and Peridot looked at each other, unsure what to do. They knew that Sunset wanted to help them in the fight against Homeworld, and they knew that she was no longer welcome where she had come from, but they just couldn’t see how she could be of any help. At last, Peridot stood up.
“We’re calling Steven,” she said at last. “And the other Gems as well. They’ll know what to do.”
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Well can't wait to see hwo the Rain Boosm react to driving Sunset away.
MORE!!!!
It's mid December. Remember eric, it's mid december!.....Oh, sorry, just something I had to remind myself of with Sunset's cold and all that.
I gotta admit though, this is pushing E rating a bit. Mostly for tone. The beginning of all this feels REALLY bleak. Seeing despair and death and the chill of loneliness cut at Sunset like that.
But perhaps since this reminds me in part of that movie Kubo which was PG, I suppose it's acceptable at this range right now.
I also see based on your framing device that this fic AT THE LEAST takes place after Season 4 episode 8 of Steven Universe, since Pumpkin didn't exist until then. Although, since when do gems need things to keep warm? Did they have that in flashbacks? I know Pearl didn't have it during their mountain expedition, so why would the best gems (patent pending) need a fire? For her? Also, I think you're
Also, I would've figured that being after Pumpkin was made, Lapis would open by saying, "You're in our home. We found you, etc, etc."
That would add to Peridot's comment of "It's probably not much." Give the home comment even more weight.
Should be, "We're not allowed to ever GO back".
Although, I got a chuckle where they're alien rocks with sentience and light projection through various special abilities, but a parallel dimension seems too unbelievable for them.
Also, maybe a line about Sunset wanting to break the tension by asking about pumpkin? Just to help the scene flow more.
I assume she was referring to homeworld here, since I don't think she was counting on The Crystal Gems freeing her.....right?
Anyhow, something tells me, Sunset's in for an interesting Christmas Break. Especially depending on how you decide to frame her stay.
Also, when is this set in the EG timeline? Especially in regards to friendship games, camp everfree, mirror magic, etc?
8467727
This takes place between the second and third movies.
Cancelled? Why?
8642817
Maybe I'll continue it someday in the future . . .
Because I lost the inspiration/motive to continue, and honestly, I don't think it was very well-written.
8649723 Please continue
8800880 He asked me to replace him in writing this. I suggested giving it to EquestrianKim.
9039673 Thanks for the update. Please keep me posted.
9039698 There might not be any promises.
9039703 I understand
I'm hoping you'll uncancel this story someday. I think it has potential.