Egress
Chapter 3
Egress
Turning, tumbling, rising, falling, never stopping.
Fire lightning, coursing, striking.
Falling, falling, but never stopping, never stops.
A kaleidoscope of misery indestructible.
It will not break no matter how hard I turn it, twist it, it just makes it worse.
Colors swirl never fading, never ending.
Blue, black, orange, yellow, fire, raging, crashing, stop.
Wind crashing, snow falling, falling, falling, fell.
Cold, so cold, still cold. Colder and colder…
“...Darn it, the stupid heater is on the fritz again.”
Gloved fingers jammed a pencil against the car’s heating controls fruitlessly. Despite the dial being broken through a not-uncommon-as-of-late fit of rage, sometimes the heating worked. ‘Sometimes’ just wasn’t in that moment, apparently. Eventually, with a frustrated groan, the driver gave up. Sinking into the worn driver's seat, the girl tugged her hood over her head, tucking her favored red beret beneath it away, desperate for every bit of warmth she could possibly acquire. She looked at the clock.
'Any minute now.'
Cruddy car aside, it wasn't too bad a gig, as far as part-time jobs went. She got to put her relatively fresh driver's license to use, her uncle gets a much needed break, and she gets a much needed distraction until school starts up again. A much, much needed distraction.
Also, she got paid. Money is… well, it keeps her notebooks flowing and pencils fresh, so that’s nice.
Sending wave and wave of frost and snow.
“… just seemed to be pretty attached to it.” Ah, a voice, distant, but growing closer. “Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty! Tell you what, sonny—you come bring it back when it warms up and I’ll break out the good beans.”
Sounds like an older gentleman. Weirdly happy, though. She glanced up from her notebook, squinting through the slightly fogged window. ‘Yep, it’s the cemetery.’
A fog fallen, fallen, falling on—
The eraser rubbed.
—over my mind.
Better.
Blurring the lights, the lines, thick, thin, bright, dim.
Spin, spin, spinning, spinning.
Blinding, shining, so bright but so dim.
Is the sun rising or is it setting—
The paper was torn roughly out of the notebook, crushed and thrown haphazardly over her shoulder.
“Too depressing anyway. Ugh.”
Rear driver-side door opens, then closes. She tossed her book onto the passenger seat, probably a bit more aggressively than necessary. ‘Darn right you better shut that door, old timer. It’s colder than my mother out there.’
That was a joke. That was actually Granny Tempo.
“Alright sir, where—?”
A knock on her window. What? Oh, it’s the guy. She rolled down the window.
“Heeeey, sir… uh, what’s up?”
“Ah, not much, wayward souls and the usual stuff. You old enough to drive, little miss?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m older than I look.”
“Uh huh, well listen,” he discreetly slipped some cash into the window, rolled up. No way. That’s, like, fifty at least! “Here take li’l sonny wherever she needs to go, and you go ahead and keep the change, alright?”
“Holy—yeah, mister, thanks!” She tucked the bills into her pocket, then leaned out of the window and looked around. “But uh, where is the little guy—wait ‘she’?”
“Yeah, she’s already in there.”
“She is?” She turned around—.
Sunset.
A sharp inhale. “H-hi—.”
“A-ah!” No! No, no, no! What?! “Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” She threw herself against her steering wheel, binding up her seatbelt in panic. Awkwardly twisted, refusing to look away for fear of—fear of something, she screamed and screamed and screamed.
“Miss, what happened?! What’s wrong?!”
“Y-you! What?! You! Ah! You—n-no. No!” Through force of will, she tore her eyes away from the apparition before her to furiously rub them, hoping to dislodge the visages of the dead and broken so broken girl before her.
She opened her eyes. The ghost didn’t leave. It was real. “Oh gosh…” She couldn’t breathe. Trapped in a cold cab with dead girl. A coffin by any other name. “I-I can’t…!”
Cold air rushed in as the door was yanked open. Hands reached around her. Click. The seatbelt ran free. Hands grasped high and pulled her out by her shoulders. Desperate for escape, she followed the pull out of the cab. Desperate for escape, she immediately struggled out of the grasp. The old man readily let her go.
“Miss! Miss, look at me!” She did. It gave her something to look at that wasn’t the source of her distress. But she knew better than anyone that just because you can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s gone. She dropped to her knees, refusing to look at the car behind her.
“Oh, Sugar, come back just for one day…” He groaned quietly to the sky. “Okay, miss, uh do you need help? I can call an ambulance. Do you need me to?” She rapidly shook her head (her whole body, really) in response. “Okay well, uh…” He fidgeted. “Can you talk? What’s your name, miss?” She struggled briefly, taking several short breaths, occasionally holding her breath, but never for long.
“W-w—,” she growled in anger, but at nobody in particular, “M-melody. Watermelody.”
“Okay, well I’m Old Flint. Miss Melody, you okay? Need any help?”
“S-shut up!” Watermelody shuddered with barely contained… fear? Anger?
“Okay! Yeesh, kid…” Watermelody panicked quietly, clutching at herself, her arms, her hood, grasping at air, eyes wild. The older man looked over the distraught driver’s shoulder. He quickly and discretely shook his head. It was a long, uncomfortable few minutes before she seemed to, quite literally, wrestle herself back into some semblance of calm. “You okay now?”
“Yeah,” she heaved with a shuddering sigh. “Yeah. I’m sorry, mister. I just—,” she breathes deeply, a deep frown on her face. “There is nobody in my car.”
“Um, she’s right there—.”
“There is nobody in my car,” she insisted fervently. “There is nobody. Nobody. And definitely not some dead girl.”
“Ah what the heck, did sonny say something weird again?”
“’Sonny’? ‘Sunny’…!” Melody made a strangled noise in the back of her throat. She glanced over her shoulder. Sunny was there, pressing her face nose-first against the glass, staring, staring, glassy eyes wide staring, cutting into her mind—“Ah! Shit!”
“Hey, watch yer—!” Flint floundered. “Ah crud, Look, Miss Melody, I’ve seen the pictures. I know they look similar, but Miss Sunny Song is not Sunset Shimmer.”
“Who the heck is Sunny Song?!” Melody hissed.
“She’s the ‘dead girl in your car.’” He ran his hand down his face. “Okay, I think I'm getting that you knew Miss Shimmer in the past but—.”
“I saw her, damn it!” She’s screaming. She doesn’t care. Her words were punctuated by sharp breathing and she couldn't be bothered to care. “I saw her… I-I saw her fall-fallen—ground, found, on the, down—!” She buried her face into her hands. “Damn it! Damn it all…” She tore off her hood—she needed to breathe.
Flint opened, shut, opened, but shut his mouth again. “I, uh.” Shut. Open. “I… honestly I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry. I, uh…” He thought to ask her about it. He immediately thought better. “Well, we’re in no rush. If you want we could just have another cab roll on over. I wouldn’t say anything about you.”
“No!” she started, before realizing her tone. ‘I’m on uncle’s record. He doesn’t even know that I... ’ “No, no, I can… I can do it. I—just give me a few… She’s…” ‘Damn girl, pull yourself together!’ She took a deep, not-quite calming breath. “You said that, what, Sunny isn’t Suns—her right? Then why the heck does she look just like her, huh?”
“Well,” he looked over Watermelody’s shoulder, and shot a quick thumbs up and ‘wait’ gesture, “she didn’t talk much about it and I didn’t ask, but she’s from out of town from what I can tell. Her sister or something, probably. Came to visit Miss Shimmer’s grave and passed out right on it. Can’t walk or drive, so… yeah.” He continues quietly, “She’s still kind of out of it, so, uh, don’t mind that she’s a bit… different. I’m not convinced that she’s all that normal sober, either.”
“Uh huh. Yeah. Great.” After several minutes of breathing, further inquiries going ignored. The story doesn’t exactly make sense, but it’s feasible enough. Besides, coming back from the dead would be pretty farfetched, even for Sunset, right?
‘Right?’ For her sanity’s sake, the answer was ‘yes’.
Watermelody suddenly stood up, followed quickly by Flint. “Okay… Okay.” She took some quick, deep breaths. She turned around.
There she was. Pressing—uh… Huh. Pressing her face, her cheek now, firmly against the window, pawing sluggishly and fruitlessly against the top of the window. Their eyes met, Melody flinched. It took all of her effort to not break her gaze away. She was shaking, but not violently so. The moment their eyes met, Sunny stopped her gentle assault against the window, settling to instead press her palm against the window, too.
They stared. At first, it seemed as though Sunset—Sunny was wiping the window, but Melody quickly realized she was waving. Sunny was attempting to wave, whilst doing an impression of a flower pressed in a book.
‘Yeah, different. Downright ‘speshul’ is what.’ It didn’t take her long to feel the guilt of the thought, but it did remain. Melody awkwardly raised her hand at her hip, about to her waist. She timidly waved back.
Sunny’s cheek pressed further into the glass as a small smile jerked its way onto her face.
‘Weirdo.’
“Okay.” The driver took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
A hard sigh. “Yeah. Okay. I can do this.” She noted the still open driver door. Goodbye, heat. “So… her sister?”
“Don’t know for sure, I never really asked. I just kinda wanted to distract her, you know?”
“Yeah… I know. Okay. Oh uh,” she fished around in her pocket, drawing out the bills. “Here. I’ll, uh… This ride's on me.”
“No, no, you keep it.” Flint gently pushed her hand back to her. “You look like you need it more than I do.”
“I...” she thought better than to argue. “…Okay. I’m, uh,” she glanced around, then back to the car. Sunny was still there, just as she last saw her. “I’d better get to it. Have a nice day, sir.”
“You, too. Try to take it easy.” He didn’t leave. Probably wanted to make sure she didn’t crash on her way out or something. Great.
Slowly, hesitantly, she climbed back into the car. She fastened her seatbelt and, after a moment of hesitation and glance to the back seat, shut the door. There. Now she’s alone with her dead girl’s sister.
Awkward.
A deep inhale whispered its way through the cab. “Hhi.” A breathy voice intoned. A soft exhale followed the brief statement.
A brief moment of silence.
“Hello.” Watermelody adjusted her rearview mirror to more accurately see Sunny Song. Her dress was pretty nice, but contrasted with her pretty plain scarf and that old cloak—no, a blanket—that she couldn’t really tell what it looked like besides that it was a soft blue. She didn’t see any of Sunset’s signature marks on her… Closest thing was her scarf that had a shovel on dirt stitched onto it.
Inhale. “I’mm s-sorry…” Exhale. Why does she keep doing that?
“Me, too. That wasn’t professional.” ‘That’s it, simple and sweet. You got this.’ “What are you sorry for?”
In. “Scared you…” Out.
“Oh.” She tapped the heat button a couple of times. Nothing. “Don’t worry about it. You look like Sun—somebody else is all.”
In. “Sunshet?” Out. Melody glared sharply at the girl through the mirror, who had a distinctly troubled line upon her brow.
“…Where are you headed, miss?”
In. “Don’t kn-know yett.” Out. Ugh, that’s getting old.
“Well, how about I take you down the road a bit so that your guy could stop watching me?” Watermelody suggested. “No offence, but a little creepy.”
In. “Oh. Shure.” Out.
Deftly shifting the car into drive, she rolled away down the street. The elaborate Canter City Gardens sign grew smaller and smaller, before suddenly disappearing behind other buildings as she turned a corner. The old man watched her the entire way. Now out of sight of the cemetery, she parked on the side of the road. ‘Not too busy today. Nice.’
“Let me know when you figure out where you want to go.”
In. “That'sh alright?” Out.
“Yes, miss.”
In. “Thanksh.” Out. Watermelody grit her teeth.
Less than a minute passed that way in cold silence, but it felt so much longer than that. Melody couldn’t help but fidget—she adjusted her seat, played with the heating buttons, smoothed invisible wrinkles in her jacket and gloves. A glance into the mirror turned into an extended stare. There she saw Sunny slouched in her back seat, disturbingly still, staring neutrally past the front windshield, unblinking, unseeing, unbreathing—.
Melody tore her gaze away, yanking over her notebook. She’d need a new one soon, this one was getting close to its end. Regardless, she drew her pencil, flipped to a new page and began to write.
Some—
Eraser.
Without—
Eraser.
Sides of the same coin on two different planes.
But why does one side have greater worth than the other?
The coin flips, falls, flips, a gamble of my own making.
Yet no matter what, one side falls down while the other stares back at me.
Accusing. Guilting. Judging for a wrong that is nobody else’s but mine.
No matter what, I will always lose.
I wish I never played.
Pencil scratching paused as Watermelody idly considered tearing out this page as well. She glanced in the rearview. Eyes widened and she snapped her vision to the side. Sunset’s face inches from her own—.
The driver threw herself against the door. “S—Back off, what’s your freakin’ problem?!”
Sunny blinked, looked at her with wide eyes, and breathed in deeply.
“Would you stop—!”
“S-sorry! Sorry. Um. I was c-curious,” she finished quietly, looking down at the driver’s lap. “Wanted to,” inhale, “ssee.”
“Y-yeah, well just back up a little, would you?” Sunset—‘Sunny, darn it!’—nodded and dropped herself back into the back seat. Watermelody opened her mouth to say something, but realized that she had nothing meaningful to say. She turned her attention back to her notebook.
She had nothing to write.
She heard the girl inhale. ‘Great, what now?’
“Did. Uh. D-did you know Suns-set?”
“Yes.” The young Melody hoped the girl couldn’t hear her teeth grind. “Yes, I did.”
“Oh.” Inhale. “What was she like?”
“You tell me. You’re her relative, aren’t you.”
“B-but I don’t know her.”
“Then why are you even here?” ‘Just to cause trouble? To torment me?’
“I…” Exhale—a sigh? Inhale. “I want t-to know mmore about her.”
“But why then?” She tucked her pencil away and shut her book. ‘She really is different.’ “S-Sunset Shimmer is d-dead. Learning more won’t bring her back.” A silent moment passed. She sighed. “Actually… sorry. I… That wasn’t appropriate. I’ve just been…” She floundered. “It’s been a hard time as of late. Not that it’s an excuse. I mean, she was your family, but…”
Inhale. “It’s ookay. Y-you’re upshet.” Sunny leaned to her side, seeking eye contact outside of a mirror. Watermelody deftly avoided it. “She’sh a part of me. But I d-don’t know herr. I want to know her bettter.” Inhale. “I w-waant to know what I’m missing.”
‘Wow, now not only am I guilty, I also feel like a complete jerk.’ “Wow that’s… I can’t say that I sympathize with you because… well, yeah. But you do have my empathy.” A beat. “I know that doesn’t seem like that much—I mean, my first impression wasn’t… er, yeah. But I do mean it.” Sunny smiled and nodded, looking thoughtful. Then she stared. And smiled and Stared. “Okay.” The driver coughed into a gloved hand. “So, uh, how are you related to her, anyway?”
Inhale. She opened her mouth to respond, but apparently thought better of it. Watermelody raised a brow. She was going to say something, when Sunny opened her mouth again. “Were you Sunset’s f-friend?”
‘Did… did she just ignore me?’ Watermelody tried not to let her annoyance show. “You…” she sighed. “No, I wasn’t.” She paused, then gently backpedaled, thoughtful. “Actually, maybe at one point. We came close to being… almost friends, I think. But then… yeah, it was too late, I guess.” The worn leather creaked as she leaned back into the driver’s seat, surprisingly at ease considering her situation. Still, she was by no means relaxed. "I spent a lot of time avoiding her at first, to be honest.”
In. “Why?” Out.
Melody opened her mouth then closed it. ‘Crud.’ “Well, the reasons varied, but ultimately, she just made me uncomfortable.” A moment passed before she shot up in her chair. “Wait, no that didn’t come out right. What I meant, uh…” She slipped off her beret and raked her hand through her hair, catching several knots in the green strands. “She just—I was nervous around her. I didn’t really feel all that… secure around her, if that makes sense.”
Pause, but then Sunny nodded. In. “You did ev-ventully?”
“Eventually… no. No, I suppose I didn’t. I do wish that I did. Maybe then things would’ve ended differently.”
In. “How…” Is she? She isn’t. “… How did it end?” She is. Damn it all, she is. Melody took a deep, steadying breath. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—.”
“She fell,” Watermelody quickly blurted out. ‘Like a filthy bandage.’ “She f-fell off of the school roof sometime during break. An accident, maybe. She was dead and frozen when w-we found her.”
Sharply in. “W-why did—?”
“Let’s stop talking about it, please.”
“…Okhay.” Out.
Silence. Watermelody adjusted her beret, discretely glancing again at the figure of the girl in her backseat. ‘Somehow, this girl is wrong…’
“I’m surprised you even needed to ask about it,” she slowly probed. “I mean, it was on the news, in the newspaper, and got a little attention online for some time.”
Sunny turned to her and stared, but not at her. No, the void seemed to call to her, and she seemed incline to stare stupidly back. Watermelody, though at first intent to stare expectantly at her charge, impulsively ducked away from the wierdo’s unnerving gaze. ‘Somehow this girl is wrong.’
Inhale. “I know wwhere I want t-to go.” Out.
“Hm…” Suspicious. Oh well, back to business then. “Alright. Address?”
“Closhest li…” Out. In. “Closest l-library please.”
“Library?” Watermelody raised her brow as the girl in back nodded her head. “You know I should be bringing you home.”
“D-don’t have one anymore. Has booksh. Close enough.”
‘What the heck is that supposed to mean?’ “…Fine.” The customer was always usually right. It’d get her out of the car, too. After a brief search on her phone—which, by the way, seemed to captivate her passenger, the freak—she had coordinates entered, route established, and was underway. ‘This is going to be the longest short ride of my life.’
After a few minutes of observing the passing scenery with interest—wonder, perhaps?—she breathed in deeply. But then, she breathed out. This process repeated.
In.
Out.
In.
Pause.
Out.
Silence.
In. “Watermelody.” By the bard himself, hearing her name in such a familiar voice—almost hers!—sent an absolute chill down her spine. Hands gripped the steering wheel in a death grip. Thank everything that the roads were relatively empty this early around this time of year.
Watermelody breathed in. “Yes?”
“If…” Out…
...In.
“What w-would you say if I were Sunset Shim—?”
The car screeched to a halt beneath a green traffic light. Watermelody did not turn around, nor did she look into her mirror. She ignored the way her seat jerked forward when her passenger’s body slammed into it. When she spoke, her voice was low, monotonous, and trembled with a strange cocktail of emotion that could not be explained.
“Stop. Talking.”
“OkayI’mshorry.” It was barely a whisper. Like the air was taken out of her lungs.
There was no response. The car resumed its journey. Sunny quietly peeled herself off of the back of the driver's seat.
In. “’m sorry.” There was no response. Sunny pulled the blanket tighter around herself and buried her chin into the scarf. “… ‘s cold.” Watermelody glanced at the heating controls, barely functional when she first sat in the car.
Even less so after she broke it.
“It usually is.” She missed the heat dearly. She dreaded cold days. But at that moment, she was too upset to care.
I couldn't help it.
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Ok I'm super confused. At first, but now i know the character from the art work. That Artist girl, and Sunset jumped...Ok is this connected to Anon A Miss or did something else happen?
Good it good keep it up pizz
Holy shit that was awesome
This whole thing is awesome I can't wait to see how this story goes!
Is this an anon a miss fic?
I've read a lot of Sunset fics. A LOT of Sunset fics.
This is easily now one of my favorites.
Rereading this, Watermelody's writings and flashes of memory take on whole new meanings now that I know what she's witnessed. Funny enough, I'm reminded of a similar thing in Last Light, my own SadSunny fic.
Needless to say, I'm very interested to see where you take the story from here. This is up there with Coping as my favorite In-Progress story.
Oh goodness
My interest: piqued
Oh man oh man oh man!
You sinned again
Shortly after this, you also had a couple instances of present tense verbs in your past tense fic.
I like how earlier Flint mentioned his late wife was better with kids, and in this chapter he laments as such ("Oh Sugar, come back for just one day.") Little character continuities like that add so much.
I love how you choose Watermelody/Drama Letter here as the one unlucky enough to be driving. This isnt the first fic where she's working when one of the Main 7 stroll in and cause drama. I guess her design is relatable in a way..
This is frighteningly realistic in terms of how someone would react if they saw the 'dead' walking. Well done!
Ow, my heart. :( What a poignant character moment. Especially how he mentioned his wife was "better with kids" than he was in the previous chapter.
Flint is such a good guy. I really felt for both him and Watermelody (now that's a nice EqG OC name) in this chapter. Him for trying the right thing in (what seems to him) a strange situation, and... for her...
... Wow. I can't imagine how it must feel to see a literal ghost, especially considering the traumatizing circumstances. I think you captured the chaos of the situation and her reaction extremely well. This was a rough, yet compelling read. And again, the artwork you included at the end captures those emotions perfectly. Although I shamefully admit that I laughed a bit at Sunset pressing her face against the cab window.
That probably wasn't the first time either... And I have a sense it won't be the last.