Chapter 3: Claustrophobia
Monday morning came at last, much to Sunset’s displeasure. It was her first day back into the regular school day since her suspension ended. She took a breath as she stepped off the bus in front of the school. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had made anyone this terrified to enter the school.
She walked across the street and could already feel the hateful gazes upon her and the odd insult shouted or whispered. When they first started, she had handled them well but the more hate she endured, the more it seemed to sting. Almost everyone in the school was in on this and Sunset let them get all their anger out. They had every right.
One thing did puzzle her though, other than Snips and Snails, there were five people who never gave her any trouble; Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. All they did was watch her and study her every move when they could see her. To be fair though, they did have to hit her with a rainbow laser. They were probably just being careful.
Not a moment after opening her locker, she was shoved inside it. When the door closed she could see Trixie standing there with a triumphant grin on her face through the grates.
“Hope you like it in there.” Trixie said as she stepped forward.
Click!
Sunset’s eyes widened. She had locked her in. Even Sunset thought this over the top. Never had she ever locked someone in a locker. It was dangerous, especially if that person was claustrophobic. The one thing Sunset refused to do, was to do anything that would cause physical harm to the receiving party. Now, she was trapped and feeling the tendrils of claustrophobia closing in.
Trixie laughed as Sunset banged against the door while trying not to hyperventilate but it wasn’t working. She was starting to have a hard time breathing as the bell rang for class and the hallway cleared. She knew very well that most teenagers wouldn’t even remember she was in there come next period. She panicked more.
After a futile effort of trying to open the door, she became frantic and desperate, trying to beat the door open with her head, having lost all self control. Sunset started to tremble as her breathing quickened and her heart beat hard in her chest to the point it felt like it would break out. She was forced to stop beating her locker as she was now gasping for breath, now having a full-blown panic attack. Sunset’s mind was blank as she fought for breath.
“Et-…lock…ombo?” A voice tried to reach her but she was having a hard time getting it to register.
The muffled sounds of more voices sounded outside the locker but Sunset couldn't make them out.
“Breath.” A voice came, one she recognized but couldn’t place or describe at the moment but somehow, it reached her and she tried to slow her breathing, “We need your combination to get ya out.” It said again, “Just breath.”
She tried to say something but she couldn’t work her jaw and the world started spinning, she just slammed her head on the door once to try to say that she heard them.
“Knock it.” The voice suggested, “Try knocking the combination.”
Sunset slammed her knee against the locker twice.
“Two.” The voice confirmed, she knocked again this one taking more time, “twenty-five.” One last knock, “seven.”
With that Sunset heard a click and the door was yanked open. Sunset was a little calmer but her legs were like jelly and she fell forward but two hands gripped her tightly and lead her so she was sitting on the ground against the lockers.
Her shoulders shook as she brought her knees up to bury her head.
A hand lay its self on her shoulder and another rubbed her back, telling her to breath, walking her through some breathing exercises, “It’s OK. You’re OK.” This voice though, was different, much softer than the other one but as she started to calm down, she realized she still didn’t know who her saviors were.
Looking up from her knees, she almost started to panic again as she saw just who had come to her rescue. Fluttershy was the one rubbing her back while Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood not too far away in their gym clothes, concerned looks on all of their faces. Fluttershy still held a sweet and comforting smile.
Sunset honestly didn’t know what to do so she just sat there staring wide eyed at the girls in front of her. She had honestly thought Trixie would have saved her before they did.
“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked with genuine concern.
“That was a cruel move Trixie made.” Rainbow Dash spoke, “Not even you would lock the door.”
Applejack elbowed her in the ribs, “Fluttershy saw what happened, Pinkie went to get Principal Celestia and the school nurse.”
They had all finally realized that Sunset hadn’t said anything, only stared. Rainbow waved a hand in front of her face, causing the girl to look up at her. When she did, Rainbow’s eyes went wide, turning to look at Applejack. Fluttershy carefully moved Sunset’s hair to the side and gasped, looking back at her friends. Sliding down the side of her nose was a streak of red oozing from a gash in the middle of her fire head.
“Are you feeling alright sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
Sunset didn’t answer, she was having a hard time concentrating on what was going on, eyes wandering and ears ringing. Her only solid thoughts were; Why are they helping me? Why are they treating me so nicely?
Sunset heard various feet coming down the hallway but she just stared forward. Fluttershy moved aside as another person knelt in front of her, moving her hair. She winced as the other person’s fingers played with a painful spot on her forehead.
“Sunset,” a woman’s voice said, “Can you hear me?”
Sunset nodded slightly.
“Does you head hurt?” She asked.
Another nod, though Sunset felt it was kind of a rhetorical question.
“Look at me,” Nurse Tender Heart ordered and Sunset does as she’s told, “Try to follow my finger.”
The school nurse, Nurse Tender Heart, slowly moved her finger in front of Sunset. She was definitely trying but her eyes ended up all over the place. Tender Heart looked up at Principal Celestia who turned to the other four girls.
“Tell me what happened.” The principal ordered.
Rainbow Dash was the one to answer, “Fluttershy saw Trixie lock Sunset in her locker so she came and got me and Applejack. Applejack managed to get her to give us her combination.”
“She was having a panic attack.” Fluttershy cut in, “I think she got desperate and started hitting her head against the locker.”
“-erved it.” Sunset mumbled, speaking for the first time since getting out of the locker.
“What?” Rainbow questioned.
Sunset took a shaky breath, “I had it coming, I deserved it.”
Nurse Tender Heart looked at Celestia with a concerned expression on her face. Before she could say anything, Rainbow spoke up.
“She locked you in there!” Rainbow Protested, “Not even you did that! You could have seriously hurt yourself!”
“I’m fine.” Sunset said adamantly.
She tried to get up but as soon as she did, she started to feel dizzy and fell back down, grunting as her butt hit the tile. Ultimately, she felt like throwing up
The nurse took another look at her head, moving the younger girl’s hair to reveal a moderately sized gash in the middle of her forehead, likely made by Sunset repeatedly slamming her head on the inside of the locker.
“How are you feeling, Sunset?” Tender asked in effort to keep the girl from passing out.
It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts to respond, “Tired and nauseous.” Her gaze met the other four other teens in the hallway, “Why do you guys even care?”
The girls looked at each other but the nurse spoke before they had a chance, “I think she gave herself a concussion.” She said to Celestia.
Celestia bit her lip. Usually in this situation, she would call a parent or guardian to come get her and take her to the
hospital but this wasn’t just any situation. She checked her watch and frowned, there was no way she had time to take the girl to the hospital unless she left her there alone. That was not an option.
“Take Sunset to the infirmary and keep an eye on her.” Celestia said then looked towards the other girls, “Applejack and Rainbow will assist you, everyone else, go to class. I will deal with Trixie.”
Sunset’s head shot up, “No!” The volume of her own voice sent a wave of pain though her temples and she gripped her head before continuing in a lower volume, “It will just make things worse. Leave it alone.”
“I can’t just let this stand, Sunset. If Fluttershy hadn’t gotten her friends, you would probably have done more damage to yourself.” Celestia said.
“Please,” She pleaded, “Leave it alone, just this once.”
Celestia thought for a moment. Sunset had done a lot of things to the student body and most of them seemed to be
geared towards revenge. Sunset wasn’t violent, Celestia knew that but if the girl wasn’t willing to punish another
student’s actions, there really wasn’t anything she could do.
The Principal sighed, “If you are not willing to press the issue, there is nothing I can do. However, if anything like this
happens again, I will have to act.”
Sunset made an audible grunt as Applejack and Rainbow Dash lifted her up, “Fine.”
After that, the group dispersed and they made their way to the infirmary, Sunset having no choice but to use the girls as support.
“I can walk on my own.” Sunset said stubbornly, “You don’t have to do this.”
Applejack raised a brow, “I’m sorry but we just watched you almost pass out.”
“Besides,” Rainbow said, “Twilight asked us to look out for you, and that’s what we are going to do.”
Sunset forced them to a stop, “Why?”
“Cause’ we promised.” Applejack said simply.
“Twilight is in Equestria for another thirty moons,” Sunset grumbled, “And you don’t owe me anything.”
The two girls pulled Sunset along as they continued, “It’s not like we haven’t thought about that.” Applejack admitted,
“We actually just discussed it this morning and, from what we’ve seen last week, this is goin’ to be harder on ya than it was for anyone else. You’re just one-person, Sunset and there was only so much you could do. Now the entire student body is against ya.”
“We are only giving you one chance.” Rainbow continued, “Twilight seemed to think you could change and that’s good
enough for now.”
Sunset was shocked but she was too tired to take it all in. They were silent for the rest of the trip. Once they let Sunset
down on one of the beds in the infirmary, Nurse Tender Heart went about cleaning up Sunset’s head as they headed to
class.
“You did a number on yourself.” She told the girl.
Sunset averted her eyes. She was afraid to admit she had a panic attack and that she would have done anything to get out of the locker, that also meant using her head as a battering ram. Not one of her brightest ideas.
“I’m sure you’re tired and want to go to sleep.” The nurse said softly, “But you need to try to stay awake for an hour at least. Just to be safe.”
Sunset nodded as the nurse went over to her desk and started to write something on her computer. She huddled on the bed, head in her knees feeling like she was hit with a train and starting to develop a painful migraine.
Sunset knew how concussions worked and why she had to stay awake but it was better said than done. It was hard to keep her eyes open, so she took out her earbuds and phone, playing music quietly to give her something to focus on.
She had a feel this would be a painfully long day.
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Is there supposed to be a chapter 1?
OH COME ON! Seriously she letting Trixie get away with it! That a abuse victim saying thier spouse not hurting them!
8657476
Crap sorry my bad, Chapter 1 is there now. Still getting used to the FIMfiction format.
8657509
Yeah, Sorry, it's there now. Thanks. I'm still getting used to FIM Fiction. Probably didn't help that i didn't read the instructions...
8657552
Well think about it. She's been mentally scared and she thinks she's completely alone.
8657636
Yes but this pisses me off she does thsi every single tme in every fic, and Trixie went toof ar, what would happen f she put inthe hosptial, and she will do it again in fact. By not allowing celestia to punsih her this invites everyone to beat up Sunset.
8657682
You know, I can actually see where you are coming from. I also have resolved this issue because i did think about that. Thanks though! You made a great point.
8657636
Yeah I feel the whole turning into a demon thing would mess with her mind.
8657722
Glad was able to help, i understand why Sunset would allow herself to be beaten up. It makes sense and so sad, but it never good thing.
she alreadys uffering and allowing others to hurt ehr doesn;t make things better it only adds more misery.
I'm not saying she kicks ass, but ask for help and if Celestia is fair but very very stern, she drive a point home.
go on pick on Sunset get you're revenge but know this...you'll answer to me, my sister Luna and you're parents!
Interesting. Don’t think Celestia should have let the offense go as it only shows that it’s possible to avoid punishment for such actions, but I am looking forward to the next chapter. Also Sunsets locker door is probably dented to hell if she hit it that hard.
That was a fantastic chapter can’t wait for the next one
8660548
Exactly and it's a thing I hate in all these fics.
TRIXIE! you, you need a starlight in your life.
8808178
While I would agree, THIS Trixie needs a swift and hard kick in the butt for this.
I have General Anxiety Disorder and I have extremely bad panic attacks on various occasions. The last time I had one, I felt like I was having a full blown heart attack. Had it not passed, I probably would have had a real one and dropped dead from it.
Now, I know this has nothing to do with claustrophobia, but being locked in the locker caused her to have a panic attack. Had the other girls not come to her rescue, she might have hurt herself even worse or just dropped dead. Then, Trixie’s butt would have been arrested for murder.
As far as I’m concerned, she needs to be expelled.
To everyone in the comments saying that Sunset shouldn't have let Trixie get away with what she did, you're right. Thing is, Sunset here is clearly not in her right mind. She's behaving irrationally, unstable and weak in the aftermath of a serious trauma. I really can't imagine myself being in any better of a state of mind under the circumstances, she's keeping it together as best she can and trying to make amends in the only way her poor social skills know how: revenge. It's at least understandable, while not reasonable.
CELESTIA, on the other hand...
This decision, personally motivated and emotionally driven, is a terrible mistake for an authority figure to make. To let Trixie get away with this incident, which resulted in physical harm to one of her charges already suffering a mental breakdown, only invites further attacks until the Principal does put her foot down. Not a good move to give Sunset this one, no matter how benevolent her intentions.
All that said, thoroughly enjoying the story so far, Wolf. Keep up the good work!
- Headwind
Trixie should be charged with attempted murder for this!
10270439
Yes, I am aware I have typos in this story. I know I need to overhaul the entire thing
Ok, trixie went too far there.
They got your back Sunset, you have nothing to worry about.
Getting locked in a locker isn't something anyone should ever do sunset but of course trixie didn't think that.
What you just went through isn't something anyone should ignore Sunset, even if you got really hurt or not. You need help asap!
And will be a long recovery process as well.