Ch. 1 - How Does One Run Riot In The Woods?
Riot crosses her legs as she sits down. Her large, spiked mohawk sways as she ruffles about in her jacket to find a packet of cigarettes. Four left, better than she was expecting. She takes one out and puts it to her lips while scanning the area around her. She is not looking for something in particular, her mind is elsewhere, as usual. She pats herself down, looking for a lighter as her gaze locks onto something. Another lone girl sitting just a small distance away. A disheveled mane of red-and-yellow hair. A ruffled flannel shirt and ripped jeans. Was she there just a moment ago? Riot curses her own apathy for a moment, then smirks to herself as she finds her lighter. Standing back up and sparking the fire-device to burn the tip of her cancer-stick, she slowly approaches the stranger.
A few steps closer and her mind has finally processed who it is. A name to go with the appearance. A name on many lips but someone not everyone truly knows. Sunset Shimmer. Riot knows her from a few previous interactions but never anything of real substance. She knows the type though, the undecided, the seeking. She used to be the queen of school and while Riot is comfortable in the shadows, identifying types is one of the mohawked girl's skills. Now that Sunset has fallen, she definitely acts like a completely different person. She sulks and skulks around, alone and quiet. An outcast.
She looks up as Riot approaches, a blank expression on her face. Riot gives a little nod and sits down, close but not too near. An arm's length perhaps. They both sit in silence for a while, Riot smoking and Sunset observing her carefully. After a minute or so of simply looking dead ahead, Riot turns her head to look at Sunset. Just as she expects, the other girl quickly lets her gaze fall to the ground rather than to meet her yellow eyes. Riot slowly inhales more smoke while producing the nearly empty pack of cigarettes to Sunset.
Sunset looks up, first to the cigarettes and then finally to Riot's face. She hesitates as she looks into her brilliantly yellow eyes. Then, just as Riot shows off her missing tooth by smiling, Sunset reaches out. Her slender fingers grasp a cigarette and pulls back. Riot sets the pack down and pats her pockets again, seemingly never remembering where she puts her lighter. A few moments later and Sunset is carefully inhaling the rough cigarette, not a habitual smoker but not coughing wildly either. Riot is watching her like a hawk. Her own cig dies between two fingers instead of lips as she reads into Sunset's reactions and behaviour. Halfway through the cig, Sunset looks to Riot and gives a nervous little smile. Just having company is nice and the smoke was well needed. The silence is a bit strange but then again, what is there to say? She does not know the mohawked girl, she and her tiny crowd never got in her way during her reign. Probably for the better, she never had a chance to make them resent her.
"That look in your eyes."
Riot speaks while picking up the packet again. Two left. She never was any good with saving things. Putting the slightly crumpled burn-stick to her lips and lighting it, she observes Sunset's quizzical expression for a moment before speaking more.
"Like you've woken up from a strange dream, realised it was all real, the world is askew and you have no idea how to fix a damn thing."
Sunset blinks slowly. Even though it sounded like cheap wisdom the mohawked girl is right on so many levels. She looks to Riot to find her observing the thin stream of smoke erupting from the tiny ember at the end of her would-be, could-be microphone. She looks up to the sky as she sets the cigarette to her lips again with a thoughtful look on her face. As she looks back down while exhaling a rather impressive cloud of smoke for a common cig, her expression has changed into that of sharp purpose.
"Hey, Sunset Shimmer, wanna go get fucked up in the woods?"
The question is like a wet slap in the face. A cool, refreshing slap on a hot summer's day but a slap none the less. Sunset sits wide-eyed and silent for almost a minute, staring at Riot with confusion and disbelief written all over her. The question is both completely baffling and ridiculously obvious coming from Riot. Perhaps something to be be expected, part of her character. Wayward youth playing the role of wayward youth. Things rush through Sunset's head, back and forth. Ultimately, the conclusion she reaches is the same from every angle. Accepting the offer is the only way to go.
"Sure."
Her first word in the conversation and she does not at all sound confident. Riot tilts her head to the side and smiles. She puts out the smouldering stump of her cigarette and pretty much bounces up to a standing. Sunset looks at her for a moment, is this really a good idea? She mulls it over in her head for a short moment longer. It is not like she has anything else to do, skipping class is a brutal drudge. A green hand with a multitude of bracelets appears into her field of view. She stares at it blankly for another moment, then lets her vision wander up the arm to land on a sharply smiling face. She takes a deep breath and accepts Riot's hand. In the next second, she is on her feet.
"So, um... What now?"
Sunset does not sound the least bit more confident but the brief touch of human contact has her at least feeling it. Why in all the world is Riot nice to her anyway? Her curiosity runs rampant and besides, what's the worst that could happen, more humiliation? Riot doesn't seem the type. Then again, who does?
While all this internal conflict is rattling around in her brain, she has taken a few steps beside Riot and the mohawked girl answers her question. The one she spoke aloud anyhow.
"We need to run by my garage, gotta resupply. Then I know the perfect spot."
Sunset just nods, she does not know where they are going and by now, she does not care. Riot steps lively, her pace swift but easy to keep up with. A long moment passes in silence, the suburban landscape filling in with its own noises. The streets are familiar enough.
"Isn't far now, just have to navigate the picket-fence maze for a while."
Riot leads on and Sunset follows in silence. Rows of similar houses, well-kept gardens and shiny cars. Is this really where this girl is from? Is this the basis of her rebellion against conformity? Wonders and questions fills Sunset's head, so much so that she does not even notice their journey's end until she stands before the garage door of one of the well-manicured houses. Riot yanks the broken handle of the surprisingly beat-looking door and coaxes it up. It takes a bit of finangeling but it is obvious she has done it before. The door opens to reveal a dark room filled with old, worn furniture, racks and shelves with all kinds of things on them and a sea of beercans and ciderbottles. Sunset marvels at the mess for a while as Riot skips about the place, picking a few things up. A crumpled pack of smokes, a small bag with unknown content and finally a small metal box. She opens the box and pulls out a zippy-bag, examines its contents and then stuffs it into her jacket. She dances around the ripped sofa and gives Sunset a wide grin.
"Grab that pack for me, will you?"
She points to a ragged old backpack in the corner. While Sunset silently complies, Riot makes her way over to a huge, out-of-place-looking ice chest. Opening the treasure-trove reveals a fine abundance of chilled alcoholic beverages. Namely cheap beer and the local cider. Riot grabs ten-twelve drinks and expertly fits them into the small backpack. She then slings it over her shoulder before opening a can of beer.
"Pick your poison, Sunset Shimmer."
Another wide missing-tooth grin is soon obscured by a frosty beercan. Sunset hesitates a short moment but she did indeed come along to get fucked up, as Riot so eloquently stated before. She settles for cider. Better tasting than the beer, if not weaker. She removes the twist-cap and holds the bottle up to examine it briefly before putting the cold glass to her lips. The subtly fizzing golden liquid tastes like flossing with apples. An explosion of perfectly acidic and musty apple-flavour with the distinct bite of alcohol at the end. She lets her sip deepen and she fills her mouth again and again. Just like the cigarette before, the bottle of cider becomes a welcome break in her thoughts. Riot watches with glee as Sunset more or less downs the bottle in one go. When she is done, she lets out a long, satisfied sigh and finds that Riot is holding out another bottle for her.
"One for the road, lady chugsalot. Now come, let us go forth and wreak havoc upon our brains."
Sunset cannot help but to smile as Riot strikes a heroic pose and puts on an exceedingly silly face. They walk out side-by-side and Riot slams the door behind them. She points out the path and then merrily whistles when not busying her lips with beer. Sunset keeps the same spring in her step as Riot. She has definitely gotten more comfortable in the mohawked girl's company. The fact that they only have had minimal conversation is oddly pleasant.
Through the clean streets and across some stranger's yard, soon their surroundings are a whole lot greener. The woodlands at the edge of town reaches far off into the hills. Riot cracks open another can of beer just as they enter the woods. She still walks rather fast, apparently in the know exactly where she is going in this emerald maze. Sunset follows closely and watches her step. The uneven ground and abundant undergrowth slows her down. That and she cannot help but to marvel at the nature in these woods. A while of hiking and some littering in the form of beercans from Riot later and the mohawked girl stops, raises her arms and spins around.
"This, Sunset Shimmer, is a fucking paradise."
Sunset looks around them with some extra attention to the detail in the scenery. Riot sits down in a surprisingly consistent patch of grass and starts going through her things. She hands Sunset a still-cold cider and then gets out the bits and bobs she needs to roll something green of her own. While the punk girl busies herself with joint-crafting, Sunset wanders about a bit to take in more of the clearing. The trees are of a very mixed variety, some old and gnarled, some young and light-coloured. Wild flowers and little shrubs mingle to make the ground look as soft as a cloud. The clear blue sky above is a large island of blue in the otherwise thick sea of green leaves. Sunset looks back to Riot who apparently has managed to sit down in the very center of the clearing. Just as Sunset looks, Riot finishes her creation, looks up and smiles.
"Come on, let's make paradise even better."
She holds up the gargantuan stick of pure marijuana.
"Guests first."
Sunset has a look of concern on her face as she slowly walks over. A swig of her drink to wash it away but Riot has already noticed.
"Not much of a stoner? You've nailed the look anyway."
Riot laughs and Sunset huffs. It is true, she has been moping around in oversized shirts and ripped jeans for some time now. Sunset sits down right across from Riot and watches her light the enormous joint and put it to her lips. She inhales for longer than anyone should and then billows out enough smoke to rival a full-grown dragon. Sunset swallows another mouthful of cider, a bit of a contemplative look on her face. Riot offers the joint. Sunset takes it with a question.
"Why are you nice to me?"
Riot blinks slowly a couple of times, the weed is more than likely hitting her like eight busses riding a train. In space.
She shrugs and makes a dismissive noise.
"You looked like you needed a friend."
Sunset nods slowly. A friend. This is friend-stuff they are doing. Thoughts of Twilight Sparkle flash by in her head just as she inhales the surprisingly smooth smoke of the titanic joint. Another thought hits her just as she exhales.
"I... Uh, I'm sorry... I don't even know your name."
Riot stares at her blankly for a moment, then a sharp smirk spreads across her face.
"In the habit of letting nameless strangers drag you off into the woods and put drugs in you, Sunset Shimmer?"
She exchanges the smirk with a swig of beer, then accepts the joint as Sunset passes it back.
"My name is Riot, I too am into enjoying drugs with strangers."
Riot finishes the sentence with a giggle and then puts the joint to her lips. Sunset smiles. Riot, a fitting name for her appearance. Undoubtedly part of her personality as well. Right now, there is no rioting going on, the fluffy high from the well-grown weed caresses both girls like the warm breeze between the swaying tree-crowns above. Riot billows out another explosion of white mist while falling back into the soft embrace of the grass.
Sunset's silent behaviour is definitely furthered by the addition of the mind-meltingly strong weed. She has smoked a few times before but only really small, bad quality roaches. She watches Riot just lay there for a good few minutes, the monster of a joint dying untouched in her hand. They did not even smoke half of it. She raises her bottle of cider and examines it. Apples from around here sure have their distinct flavour. Character, as well. Just as she is about to drink, Riot interrupts her with some kind of hoarse grunt while raising her head. Mohawk in disarray and a satisfied grin on her face.
"Come over here, Sunset Shimmer, tiny clouds to look at."
Sunset starts standing up but soon has to give up that idea as her head rushes and legs simply do not want to function. She falls forward, giggling as her prospects with the cider goes from wanting a drink to spilling what was left. Leaving the bottle and crawling through the grass on hands and knees, she soon flops down next to Riot. Looking straight up into the sky is a certain level of weird in her current mindset. The thick trees in a ring around them is like the frame to a giant painting of shifting blue stuff. The sky looms as if threatening to fall at any second. Either that or have Sunset fall into it. A feeling of weightless vertigo comes over her. The world looks much like that of being in a boat in still water on a clear, starry night. The water and the sky are the same. Only that here, the sky is the water and the gently swaying thicket is-
Her elaborate chain of nonsensical thought is snapped by a green finger coming into her vision. Riot is pointing at something. Something in the sky-sea. Sunset squints lightly before she sees it. A thin patch of cloud. Very mundane, it does not even dispel her earlier illusions. Or is it delusions?
"That's the smoke i blew."
Riot speaks in a calm, almost sexy tone. Sunset blinks a few times. Her mind attempts desperately to wrap itself around the statement. That is not possible. Is it? After a long silence, she can hear Riot chuckle, a bit to herself.
"The smoke is not all I blew, I blew your fucking mind. Want another cider?"
Riot sits up and pats Sunset on the stomach. The fire-maned girl follows the motion and sits up as well. The world slowly melts back into a place where up and down matters and make sense. The forest around them remains beautifully lit by the sunlight they are sitting in the middle of. Everything is unreal. From the unexpected sudden acts of friendship to the scenery and the loss of coherent thought.
"I'd love a drink... My mouth's so dry it feels like I have eaten a bunch of rocks."
While listening to Sunset, Riot ruffles about in the backpack to pull out more drinks. Another bottle of cider. Another can of beer. It does not take long before they are clinking together in cheers. Both girls throw their heads back and down a hearty amount of alcohol. A lovely compliment to the previously inhaled marijuana. Riot sighs in satisfaction and then speaks.
"The only thing this place is missing is some damn music. Every situation needs music. Don't you think?"
Sunset stares at her bottle for a moment, then smiles for Riot.
"Music is the only thing that's kept me alive lately. Many hours in my room with my guitar or stereo."
Riot shines up even more than usual. She searches around for a bit, eventually finding the half-burnt joint laying in the grass. She holds it up and examines it before patting herself down for a lighter, just as usual. As she lights it, she speaks.
"I suppose I should have guessed. The tormented musician on the wrong path. Then finding another wrong path... Or did she?"
Sunset no longer smiles as she looks to Riot. Not in displeasure, more feeling the sting of truth. She was never good, was she? Just selfish or at least self-centered. In more ways than one. She picks at the fraying of the rips in her jeans for a bit, gaze low. Her internal monologue of self-loathing is interrupted by a green hand yet again. The burning carcass of the monolithic joint accompanies it. She simply stares at it smouldering for a moment before she is jerked out of her trance-like state by a hand being run through her hair. Fingers brushing through the red-and-yellow strands before ending up in a friendly pat on the back. Sunset takes the joint and puts it to her lips while looking at Riot's smiling face. This whole situation is something the old Sunset would never do. She has changed a bit for the better after all.
Riot observes as an ever-silent Sunset takes a bountiful toke off the gigantic roach-to-be. She bravely holds it in but it does not take long before her eyes begin to tear. She leaks a bit of smoke through her nose. Riot looks on in great anticipation. Sunset finally breaks and coughs out a large but thin cloud. A drop in the ocean compared to Riot's smoke-bravado but her biggest one yet. She coughs again, yellow-and-red hair cascading over her face. Riot still observes with a knowing, sly smirk. Sunset just wrecked herself, she just does not know it yet.
Sunset attempts to hold back a cough, fails, laughs at herself and then stares dead ahead. This second hit of the monstrous joint really got her. Her brain is taking a grandiose vacation to la-la land. Riot watches Sunset's happy catatonia with equal amounts of interest as she has been observing the red-and-yellow girl with all along. It is almost like watching a baby animal take its first steps. In more ways than one. Finally, Sunset snaps out of her trance for long enough to fumble around for her cider. She eventually finds it and drinks while locking eyes with Riot. The mohawked girl laughs softly, she can see all the jumbled thoughts in Sunset's head express themselves in her stare and with little twitches in her face. It is only a matter of time now before they start pouring out of her mouth.
"I, uh... What were we talking about?"
Riot laughs again, then answers while rooting around in her backpack for a drink.
"We weren't, really. Perhaps something about music. You play the guitar, hm?"
Sunset shines up while Riot opens her can of beer. They did mention music and she has already forgotten the sorrow and loneliness that came along. Her fingers flex a bit, remembering some chord or chords. Oh how she would like a guitar right now.
"Yes... I... I play."
Riot gives her a grin after swallowing a great mouthful of beer.
"Got a band?"
Sunset breathes in deep through her nose and looks down at her hands.
"Not enough friends for that..."
She soon looks up again as Riot pats her on the back a second time. A simple gesture she is not used to receiving. Emotions well back up and she croaks out some half-sob-half-laugh. She is absolutely dazed by the weed. Riot pats again and speaks slowly.
"You've got a friend now, meet my band, jam with us. We could use another cute stoner in the line-up, draws any good basement-crowd."
Sunset's smoke-infused brain attempts to process all the information, she even forgets to be sad. Wait, did Riot just call her a cute stoner?
"Cute stoner..."
A rather lofty leap from queen of school to a stoner in the woods. She sniffs, then takes a deep breath before looking at Riot.
"I'd like that... Jamming I mean."
She raises her bottle to cure her cotton-mouth and looks off out into the forest. The deep, dark green looks like a completely different world now. Like they are at the portal to some fairyland.
"I feel like walking... I don't know where... I don't think I could find my way out of these woods. Don't wanna get more lost."
Riot does what she did before and pretty much bounces to her feet, only that this time, she is wobbly and her stance is crooked. She flings an arm up to point with the entire limb.
"I know this place like the back of my foot! Let us go thataways. Good spot for walking."
Sunset looks at Riot and blinks in confusion. The rapid movements and response takes a moment for her brain to register. Wasn't Riot sitting down, just now? She shakes her head for herself and painstakingly shuffles up to a standing. Riot spins around for a bit, collecting her things. She is definitely a more experienced smoker, getting energised instead of air-brained. The mohawked girl finishes her can and kicks it away. More littering in paradise. She produces a packet of smokes and offers it to Sunset. The red-and-yellow girl stares at it for a while before declining. Riot lights one for herself and starts walking.
Out of the luminous halo in the clearing, into the dark world beyond. The uneven ground is even more difficult to navigate than it was. For both girls. Riot flails about, giggling while Sunset uses whatever little focus she has left not to fall over. As they enter the shade of the trees fully, they both just have to stop and admire the sight. The light beaming down through the massive thicket above makes it appear that the entire forest is glimmering. Old, gnarled trees and their twisted roots stand in plentiful clusters, seemingly making up big super-trees out of their ancient trunks.
Riot is fairly right about it being a good place for walking. The gloom that comes with the thick leaves above means that almost nothing that requires sunlight grows on the ground. It is all rocks and moss. Some solitary flowers in the glittering light that actually makes it through. Riot flicks her cigarette-butt away nonchalantly. It hits a tree and a tiny rain of embers die before they hit the moss.
"Up ahead is a little stream. It's fucking gorgeous, runs right through the moss. I'm gonna roll another over there."
Sunset just snickers. She cannot see herself inhaling any more smoke and actually making it out of this forest alive. Riot can knock herself out. Or well, no, she can not, for if she does, there is nobody to be the guide. Sunset's thoughts are soon running rampant. Paranoia. She stops as she hears a noise. What is that strange sound? It is constant.
Ah, running water. Sunset hurries to catch up with Riot as the mohawked girl skips over a few mossy boulders. They have now stepped into something straight out of a romantic fantasy novel. The moss is thick around the banks of the surprisingly large stream. Tiny flowers crowd any space they can, apparently more reliant on the water and mushy soil than sunlight.
There is glee in Riot's eyes as she sits down in the slightly damp moss and raises her hands to the forest-ceiling.
"One of these days, I'm gonna run off and live in the forest like some old wood-witch. This place is the only place besides my garage where I feel forever free."
Sunset walks up besides her, then sits down, close. She cannot take her eyes off the running water. It is so clear and beautiful. The little sounds it makes, like undines singing. She reaches in and lets the water caress her hand. It is cold, almost frosty. Probably from some spring high in the hills. She cups her hand and brings some to her mouth. Crisp, clean. Delicious.
Yet again, Riot is watching her with an endearing fascination. Sure, she is busy with her own things but seeing Sunset bumble about and enjoy herself warms a girl's heart. Rebel with a heart of gold? She quickly shoos the thought away.
"Hey, Sunset, let's smoke this fat fucker, smell the moss for a while and then go annoy my neighbourhood with a good jam. What do you say?"
Riot holds up another freshly rolled one. This one not of the same goliathan size. Sunset's sensible side tells her no. Sunset's hand in the cold water and eyes seeking the beauty in the trees tells her yes. She breathes in deep, the scent of damp moss filling her nostrils.
"Light it. I never wanna leave here but I'd give anything for a guitar right now."
-End chapter 1.