Chapter 04: Miss Cellophane
Marceline's Sun
Chapter 04: Miss Cellophane
By Wanderer D
Almost 1000 Years Ago… (give or take a hundred)
Simon was long gone, and along with him, the last of Marceline's very limited family. Or those she considered family, in any case. He had run away, just like her mom a few years earlier. Family… didn't really tend to stay, in her experience.
Marceline frowned at her own thoughts, gathering herself and her plush toy closer to the blazing trash can, but careful not to be too close to it, lest Hambo or her shirt catch on fire.
"I guess I scared them away," she said. "Figures. Everyone is afraid of monsters, Hambo. And I'm a monster. But you won't leave me, right?" she asked her plush monkey, holding it to the light against the snow falling around her. "Of course you won't. You're different. I don't scare you." She turned to face the still night in the destroyed city. "But it sure is quiet now, without Simon."
It was then that she heard it.
Against the unnatural hush of the snow.
A sniffle.
A groan.
Sobbing.
"Hello?" she called hesitantly. The city wasn't exactly dangerous, especially after Simon had blasted so many mucus monsters into icy bits, but that didn't mean that it was safe either. There were other things.
The shadows in the windows. The whispering fog. The pink ooze.
But no one answered. Still, she could hear the crying, and after sharing an encouraging look with Hambo, she decided to investigate. She might be a little girl, but she was far from weak.
She stepped out of the remains of the entrance to some sort of underground train… a subway, Simon had called it, where she had set up camp and lit a trashcan on fire to keep warm.
She rubbed her arms as she walked slowly, pausing every so often to strain her hearing and follow the sobs. Whether it was Simon behind it or not, the world seemed to be getting really cold the last few days, around here, and she really needed to get out of there… but she had hoped that he would come back.
"Idiot," she chided herself, "no one ever does."
The crying was a bit more clear now, and she walked around a building almost out of sight from her shelter and found, to her surprise, a small sizzling crater, with a young woman… with wings and fire for hair… curled up into herself, her bat-like wings wrapped protectively… not against the cold, but as if she was expecting to be hit. Her clawed hands were curled into tight fists, and occasionally a small drop or two of blood would seep between her fingers and sizzle against the snow.
"I didn't know…" the demon girl whispered among sobs. "I didn't know there really was another way… I didn't know."
After a moment's thought, Marceline slowly made her way down the crater, carefully approaching the crying demon.
"I don't wanna d-die… I'm sorry. I didn't know… I didn't see it…"
"Hello?" Marceline tried again, stumbling the last few steps so that she could kneel next to the demon girl.
The demon flinched, as if struck, then twitched, her eyes snapping open and she half-rose, eyes wide to look around. "T-twilight?"
"It's closer to midnight," Marceline provided helpfully.
The demon girl's eyes shifted to stare at her. "But—where is everybody?" She sniffled, and used the back of her hand to wipe the tears and snot.
It didn't really clear the snot, and she really should clean it from the sleeve of her nice leather jacket, but Marceline didn't say anything. She knew what that was like. At least it wasn't burnt through or something.
Instead, she shrugged, looking around at the dead buildings outside. "I dunno. They're all gone I guess. I haven't seen that many people for years. Simon said most of them died after the war."
"War?" The demon was quiet for a moment, then gathered herself into a ball of misery, wrapping her arms around her knees and her wings around herself.
Her fiery hair—which had burned bright for a moment—dulled and lost its heat, until it didn't stand on end anymore and fell around her shoulders and face, with only her red, pointy ears poking through. A tail made of fire, which Marceline hadn't noticed earlier, wrapped around the demon's boots.
"You should go home, little girl," the demon said.
"I'm not a little girl! I'm Marceline." She sat down next to the demon girl, unwilling to just leave her alone when she was suffering. She knew what that was like if you were alone. And it sucked.
The demon raised her head just enough so she could peek at her over her arm. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be out? Especially to hang out with… um… a demon?" She sniffled.
"You look like you need a friend."
The demon flinched. "I-I don't deserve friends, Marceline. I… hurt a lot of people. They decided I shouldn't be al—t-that I shouldn't be around them." She hugged herself tighter. "I deserve to be alone. I didn't know then… but now I do. I was wrong and I am so sorry… you shouldn't be around me. I'm not wanted. People hate me for everything I did."
Marceline watched the demon melt into another sobbing mess. "I forgive you," she said after a pause.
The demon's head whipped up, and she turned to stare at Marceline. "B-but you—I can't just… you can't just do that!"
Marceline shrugged. "Seems like you really regret hurting those people you were talking about…" she looked down at her hands. "I hurt others too, you know. And that scared people that I thought…" She bit her cheeks before sighing and glancing at the older demon. "You don't seem too bad for a demon, though. So, I forgive you."
"I thought they had finally killed me…" The demon's eyes slowly welled with tears. "I-I thought… how could I make people hate me so much and not realize how bad that was? How bad it could get?" she sniffled, once again cleaning her eyes with the back of her hand, before freezing still the moment Marceline touched her shoulder.
"It's okay."
It took a second, but then the demon was crying again, although this time, she was hugging Marceline. It was a bit tight, but it didn’t seem like the demon was trying to hurt her, so she didn’t struggle. Instead, she leaned into the embrace and hugged the demon back.
Marceline hummed to herself as she kept busy, opening a can of really old soup and placing it carefully on top of a metal grill she had thrown on top of the burning trash can. Behind her, the demon lady kept to herself, sometimes glancing up at her when she thought Marceline wasn't looking.
It had been two days since the demon lady had arrived, and although mostly she had kept to herself, she had helped a little here and there. Their shelter now had less rubble, and the fire was easier to keep going. They had foraged together through the city, avoided the pink goop that occasionally would smile at them, and overall just kept herself busy.
Marceline had to admit though, that demon was lucky. She didn't have to worry about freezing during this crazy winter, or else her short skirt and leather jacket wouldn't have helped much as each night brought along more chill.
Marceline shuddered, blowing air into her hands and rubbing them together while watching the soup begin to boil. Once it seemed it was ready, she picked it up carefully with some clothes to keep from getting burnt, and went to sit down closer to the other girl, who was watching her with a familiar expression.
"I've been traveling a lot," she explained to the demon girl, who blinked. "First with my mom… and then with Simon." Marceline felt tears welling in her eyes, but fought them back. "I-I know how to take care of myself."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" the demon asked. "We just met and… I'm a demon. Ugly inside and outside."
It was Marceline's turn to blink. "I don't think you're ugly. You're kind of pretty, and your hair looks better down, I think."
The demon chuckled, then seemed to realize what she was doing and then sort of choked it back. It sounded kind of painful.
"Uh, thanks, I guess." The demon shuffled in place, glancing down at her tail. It was an odd one, more like a horse's tail than say, a cat or a devil tail. "But you shouldn't be so trusting, Marceline. I meant it when I said I had hurt a lot of people… so much that they wanted me to die."
Marceline glanced at her. "Did you kill them?"
"What? No!"
"Did you chop them up, or torture them?"
"Well, I didn't chop them up, but sort of tortured?" the demon confessed, looking down. "I knew their secrets and I… I used them to do what I wanted." She huddled more into herself. "Sometimes… just out of pettiness I messed up their friendships or their hopes… I think… I think I was jealous."
"I know what being jealous is like," Marceline said. "The other day I saw a family of racoons and their mom was with them…" she paused, remembering the sudden anger and resentment that she had quickly quelled down. She didn't want a repeat of the Coyote mother. "Are you still jealous?" she asked instead.
The demon chuckled, although she didn't sound like she thought it was funny. "Not… as much." She sighed, crossing her arms over her knees and leaning on them, staring at the snow. "I just wish I had realized what I really wanted before I did all of that." Her voice turned sad. "I wouldn't have hurt so many ponies and humans. Now I'm here—wherever here is—and I can't even apologize."
Marceline didn't know what to say to that. Simon and her mom had both told her that apologizing was important, but what could you do when there was no one to apologize to even if you did have to? She sipped the soup. "Why don't you do it now?"
The demon looked confused. "Do what?"
Marceline walked over to her and kneeled in front of her, facing her seriously. "Apologize?"
"Um, to who? They're not here."
"Well, the whooole wide world is out there," Marceline said, motioning with her arms to the entrance beyond the steps. The snow-covered derelict city expanding beyond their sight. "They might not hear you, but you are apologizing, right?"
"They wouldn't be able to forgive me, what's the point?"
Marceline hummed. "My mom always said that an apology didn't mean you would be forgiven… but it was just the right thing to do if you hurt someone, or did something wrong."
The demon snorted, but didn't frown, her smile growing soft as she glanced at Marceline. "You're alright, Marceline."
"Wanna do it?" Marceline asked, standing up and offering her hand to the demon. "I'll go with you. I guess I should apologize too, since I didn't do it before."
The demon studied her hand for a few seconds before shrugging and taking it. "Ah, what the hay. Let's shout our lungs out. Name's Sunset, by the way. Sunset Shimmer."
Marceline thought about it, nodding. "I like your name," she responded, feeling a smile creep into her face too. And, somehow, a little something within her seemed less empty. "Come on."
She led Sunset all the way up the stairs to the edge of the entrance, where they could see the city beyond them. Seeing that the demon was hesitating, she faced the city too, thinking hard about what to apologize for before bringing both her hands up so she could shout as loud as she could: "I'm sorry I sucked your soul that one time, Mrs. Coyote-creature ma'am!"
"O-kay?" Sunset muttered, then shrugged and followed Marceline's example, shouting at the snowy city. "Umm… I'm sorry, Lyra! Bon-bon really did go to Victorias' Secret for you!"
Marceline glanced at Sunset. "What does that even mean?"
"That I have a lot of baggage and questionable decisions in my past."
Marceline hummed, but Sunset seemed to have gained some confidence and shouted again.
"I'm sorry, everyone in Canterlot High!" She took a deep breath, and shouted again, "I'm sorry I abused your trust and used your secrets against you!"
She took another deep—shuddering—breath. "I'm sorry I threatened so many of you! I'm sorry I made you scared for your lives!
"Wallflower, I'm sorry I had to call the police to stop you from doing something stupid because of what I said!
"Snowflake, I'm sorry the teachers were never on time to stop me!
"I'm sorry all your lives were so miserable because I was there!"
Marceline gulped, then turned to the city as well, unwilling to let Sunset do the whole thing alone. "I'm sorry, Simon! I'm sorry I couldn't-I couldn't stop you from wearing the crown!" She sniffled. "I'm sorry you had to leave! I hope you come back!"
"I'm sorry I made you all hate me so much that you thought I should die!" Sunset's voice choked halfway through that scream.
"I'm sorry you had to take care of me because I wasn't strong enough!" Marceline cried.
"I'm sorry I left home a-and you Princess!" Sunset screamed, pulling into herself for a sob before taking half a step forward and screaming again. "I'm sorry I said those things! I didn't know what I wanted! I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry you had to leave too, mom!" Marceline shouted, sniffling. "I love you! I miss you!"
Sunset's hand gently squeezed Marceline's shoulder as she took in air again to shout, "I'm sorry, Cadence! I'm sorry I said you smelled like a wet chicken that one time you fell into the fountain at Canterlot because I intentionally altered the frequency of your teleportation spell!" A beat. "But you did!"
Marceline blinked, looking up at Sunset, who shrugged, smiling, before kneeling down next to her. "Thank you, Marceline… I do feel a little better."
A smile grew in Marceline's face. She had succeeded. It then faded as she struggled, and failed, to contain a huge yawn.
"That's an impressive set of fangs, Marceline."
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Come on, let's get you to sleep."
Without much strength left, she simply nodded, rubbing her eyes as Sunset led her downstairs and away from the cold air.
Sunset watched the sleeping Marceline in silence. The younger girl—a tween at that point, at most—mumbled something then shifted, cuddling closer into her lap.
There was little to be done about the chill; they were just down a flight of stairs from the street level, and the entrance to the underground had caved in so much that magically blasting it would've probably cause the rest of the structure to collapse on them.
So they were protected from the elements only as far as being outside of the snowfall itself, and a bit out of the way from the wind, but not fully sheltered.
The burning trash can next to them provided some warmth, but some wind would occasionally circulate with enough strength to make the younger girl try to wrap herself tighter in the old blanket she had found somewhere in the destroyed city whenever she wasn't whimpering at something in her dreams.
This had lasted long enough for Sunset to sigh, and scoot closer, letting Marceline—who had been so tired she had only blinked once, then fallen asleep again—rest her head on her thighs as she wrapped her wings around both of them.
Marceline had sighed and cuddled in tighter, still whimpering a little until Sunset had lazily started stroking her hair as she slept. With the younger girl warm and safe, the former unicorn had gazed into the cloudy, snowy sky she could barely see above them, framed by the remains of buildings.
"Where am I?" she wondered. "This doesn't look like Canterlot City…" she glanced down at Marceline. "And it's definitely not Equestria." She sighed, resting her hand on Marceline. "I wonder if I'm in hell or Tartarus of some sort."
She closed her eyes and tried to remember any details that came to mind.
Her nerves burned with blue electricity. "...better off without her…"
A pink haze that made her every bone ache. "...never come back..."
An orange pressure all around her, crushing her. "...she doesn't deserve forgiveness..."
A yellow fear as if she was just seconds from suddenly being torn to shreds. "...if she was dead…"
White flames that froze her blood. "…a hundred years of suffering for everyone she's hurt..."
A purple warmth. "...she needs another chance to be better…"
An all-encompassing cacophony of pain and emotion, loss of her senses, unable to understand words just intent.
LEAVE AND DISCOVER—
Sunset gasped, her head snapping up, her eyes wide. She stared around, unable to remember where she was until Marceline's mumble and the younger girl's arms wrapping around her waist brought her back to reality.
She shivered, but it definitely wasn't the cold. The feelings… the words… the hate. Everything she had reaped herself from her blackmailing, her threats… her willful lack of empathy.
She had known. She had absolutely known that what she was doing was cruel.
She knew and she hadn't held back.
She had known what it felt like to be treated as less than worthy of existing… her first couple of years at Celestia's school had been brutal… but she had also thought herself above that. The fact that whenever Celestia looked at her, it felt like she wasn't seeing her but rather, her usefulness hadn't built any real self-esteem.
And still, she had always assumed that she'd never be as cruel. She'd never be as angry. As jealous. As manipulative. As selfish or abusive as any of them. She hadn't been brought down as bad as the students of Canterlot High had been, but she had felt the sting, and she had felt hurt more than once.
And she had promised she would never, ever be that.
And then, around the time Cadance had been adopted, that had changed. As if all of her pent up conviction had been worth nothing in the face of reality. As if her lessons in friendship, forgiveness and tolerance were nothing more than a layer of dry, peeling paint and she had stumbled into a vat of acetone.
Oh, she had known she was wrong to take pleasure in antagonizing the young alicorn. She had known that it was wrong to really lord over the other students just how much better at magic she was, even if they had been mean to her in the past.
And also, she had known all along how worthless that was at the end of the day. That once Cadance had arrived to the spotlight, her own was diminished. That Cadance had everything she had always wanted and would never get.
In her own eyes, she had become… inconsequential, even invisible to Celestia and others. From being in the cusp of achieving her dream, it had been snatched away, even if unintentionally, by Cadance.
That's when Sunset had realized that she basically had no reason to even be there. How could she compete with an alicorn? How could she still matter to Celestia if there was already somepony better in every way?
She would never live up to that. Cadence had been bullied and still come out on top. She had been mocked and attacked, but she hadn't broken and resorted to petty revenge like Sunset had. She had even become an Alicorn without any prior knowledge of real magic.
There was no way to compete with that. Not as she was. Not with what she was doing.
But it had taken being… murdered by the Elements of Harmony to realize that her problem wasn't lack of power, or knowledge, or drive. Maybe she had been worthy once, when Celestia had adop-taken her in. But along the way, those qualities that the princess had seen had obviously faded into nothing.
And it was too late. She had escaped to become more when she had left Equestria. She had only shown herself to be even less. And when she had gotten power… she had been immediately corrupted even more, brought low… and not forgiven.
Well, not by everyone. But Twilight was a princess. The forgiveness of an immortal was surely easily given. Had she asked Celestia for forgiveness instead of… being herself, she probably would still be in Canterlot with her. Hell if she was immortal she would probably forgive anyone easily too.
What did it even matter, when everyone would be dead in the blink of an eye? No wonder Celestia couldn't adopt non-alicorns. Her 'little ponies' were ultimately just a drop of water in an endless sea.
There was a moment in one's life, she assumed, when things simply just clicked and came into sharp focus. When you met your opposite and also who you could have been, had you simply been better. Meeting Twilight had been that moment for her, even before stealing the crown, she had known that here was a better pony.
And that was the only reason she couldn't really piece things after the fact. How could Twilight Sparkle… the princess of essentially everything she had endeavored to destroy while at Canterlot High… believe in her enough to give her a second chance? Simple. She had nothing to lose.
And now, perhaps because of that last act of pity, one request for mercy against five statements of murder, that she was here in this other world. Where could she even go from here, now that she was stranded in this… destroyed, cold city?
Was there a point for her to be here? Sunset sighed. If she was honest with herself, being somewhere unrelated to her old world was… refreshing. She had a new perspective to internalize, and she was in a place where no one expected anything of her.
Marceline shuffling a little made her look down and smile.
"Maybe you're my second chance…" she said, yawning as she rested her back on the wall and closed her eyes. Maybe… it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe she could be someone here for Marceline and herself.
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Dangit Celly, can you just, not? So many problems would be solved if that mare would exercise just a little more emotional courage and stop hiding behind her crown at the first sign of trouble.
11232042
The problem is that Celestia doesn't know how to deal with children, that's what Luna is good at, not her.
Well, poor Sunset, now only she got exiled as a demon, but she is gonna end in the local Hell and she almost lost her only friend.
Twilight, of course, being the only one of the mane 6 who *genuinely* just wished for Marcy to learn to be a better person.
chokes
Re-reads quote
Blinks in confusion
Did....did Sunset just apologize to Wallflower for preventing her from committing suicide?! Cause that's what I see implied here...
And a really touching yet sad look at Sunset's first days in the Land-That-Would-Become Ooo
awesome chapter and wow ok. But all i can wonder is how will pony celestia react to hearing sunset is a 1000+a few hundred years old?
11232280 give or take a hundred
it would be an interesting discussion, right?
11232254 Her apology is for being the cause of the call in the first place.
Most enlightening look back at the beginning. Sunset still got the dopeslap she needed to shape up; it just came a lot harder than usual. And centuries later, after she thought she'd moved on, here come nasty reminders of how she ended up in Ooo. No wonder she doesn't know how to handle them.
Introspection is the first step towards healing. Too bad it took Sunset going demonic and almost getting gibbed by the Rainbow Beam™ to get there.
And of course, there's Marcy's side of things. I'm glad Sunset's there for her.
11232326
Unfortunately there is the fact those five girls almost killed Sunset and Twilight is not there anymore, so Sunset doesn't want to help and risk being mind controlled.
Plus she is about a thousand years old, if she suddenly stops being a demon she may end dead.
I can't not critique this as it stands...
If this story is primarily about Marcy, the first few chapters are mostly red-herrings. If this story is primarily about Sunset, the flashback chapter doesn't add much that's new (specifics, i concede). If this story is about both of them, I'm waiting to see them do more stuff.
As the story so far seems to focus on Sunset and the Canterlot High business, I will make a prediction: Magic / the universe is meddling where it isn't needed. Sunset had her centuiy or two to atone, and a few more centuries to simply live beneficently and wisely... unless what we've been told/shown about that has been false. If the past is still traumatizing her, then she needs therapy, not a quest.
I very much appreciate the emotional layers here. I just wish I could shake the feeling that there's a lot of handholding as I'm being lead around in circles so far. (It could be I'm just not your target audience.)
11237311 The story is just beginning, but it is about both of them, and how family does change you when it's there for you in a positive way. There's other things there, of course, but telling the whole point of a story in a comment 4 chapters in is kinda spoilery.
They might have called each other sister, but that scene takes to mind that Sunset was more of a mother to young Marceline. But then again centuries together as young women will overcome some five to ten as a teenage maternal figure.
Sorry, super small thing! Just the 'If he' should be changed to 'If she.' Reading all the chapters right now. Will comment on story in most recent chapter for sure.
11242177 oh sh—thanks! Fixing