Molimentum

The lantern’s light flickered for a moment as a gust of wind came through the windows, the shutters hammering against the walls. Lanternlight looked at it for a moment, a frown appearing on his face before he moved towards her, taking her bright red blanket with his teeth and pulling it over her. He had this warm smile that he always had when he was caring for her. She loved him for it.

“You alright, Sunny?” He asked softly.

Between tangles of a red mane with yellow streaks bright cyan eyes looked back at him and Sunset Shimmer gave a tired smile. “Uh~huh,” she said, giving a yawn. He nodded and walked over to the window, trying to close it.

“Damn, the shutters are broke,” he murmured, unaware that she’d been the one to break them. Yesterday she had slipped away from home and her magic had shattered the locks. Lanternlight was kinder than the warden, but she didn’t want to know what he’ do to her if he found out that she was running through the town late at night. “This is really bad,” he said, then, “I need to fix them, otherwise we’ll have the bloody landlord throwing us out, or giving us back to the fuckin’ orphanage… Damnit.”

He was murmuring and his eyes said so much about all that anger boiling in him. For a moment she wanted to admit her fault, but fear kept her from speaking up, instead she dug herself deeper into her little cave of cloth. If she didn’t speak nothing would happen to her. Lanternlight’s blue eyes turned back towards her, his pale green coat catching the first lights of dawn.

“You should be up and about, Sunny,” he told her, moving his face over the hole she hid in. “I know it’s cold, but you need to get some bread from the baker. I’ll fix the windows in the meantime.”

“I don’t wanna go,” she said, fearing that he might see the guilt on her face.

“And I don’t wanna have some bastard bitching about how we always break everything in this room. Twilight’s ass, either you get bread or we’ll get back to the home. I’m sure the warden would love to see you, again,” he said but she didn’t move. Grunting, he stomped his hoof softly against her bed. “I know what this is about Sunny and I seriously don’t give a shit. Magic’s still new, for all you bloody hornies, so I know that it won’t always work proper. Honestly, as long as you don’t dare to set this fucking room on fire, I won’t be mad at mishaps. With that said: Get. The. Fuck. Up.”

She peeked out from beneath the bed, looking at his face. It looked scruffy, with a mane of grass and ice that was a haven for lice and even more ragged than her own hair. His harsh demeanor made her feel somewhat cautious around him, but Lanternlight only meant the best for both of them. He wouldn’t really do something to hurt her. He was kind and good, much unlike her. Sunset always broke everything.

Slowly she got up and out of bed, carefully eyeing him, while he turned back to the window. “What kind of bread?” She asked carefully.

“The fuck do I care? Just, you know, bread,” he said, sounding annoyed, going for his wallet and picking it up with his mouth, flinging it in her direction. She wasn’t quick enough to catch it and got the saliva-stained leather right in the face. “Take the bloody money and run the hell along. I’m hungry.”

His harsh demeanor scared her, it always did, but he was her lantern in this whole mess. He was the one thing that kept everything straight, she knew and she had to reward that. Whatever the circumstances were, he’d be there to help her through whatever would come.

“Yes,” she said loudly. Talking with a raised voice lifted every bit of grogginess from her, she felt and that made it easier to embrace the morning. A morning where no warden would look at her, then scream at her and then beat her. There was nothing bad going to happen to her as long as Lanternlight remained by her side.

Taking the wallet, she hopped out through the door and over the corridors to the streets of Canterlot.

The city had once been a mess of brown and grey, ugly to behold, with smog hiding the sky. Nowadays, the Canterlot Gardens were known to the world and if you walked to the Lyra Street, you could meet the finest artists in all of Equestria. The Canterlot now was beautiful, everypony said and that was the nicest thing. She had been even littler than now back then, and didn’t remember the city. She could only remember the warden, and that was the one pony she didn’t want to remember.

She and Lanternlight lived in one of the poorer parts of the town, which, funnily enough, didn’t really mean much. The old Canterlot had been completely destroyed and the new one looked like it was taken straight out of a painting. The houses were painted in wonderful colors, with artful spires and roofs that were shaped to imitate various shapes of candy. Not only that, but even in this part of town, ponies aimed to look classy. Even Sunset Shimmer did her best strut, with her chin held high and giving a curt nod to any passerby. This ended in her falling over her own legs more than once, but who cared: She was classy.

The baker was found three streets away from her home, with a smiling mare greeting her and asking what the sweet little thing wanted.

Sunset looked at all the things to be had here, from cakes to cookies to a variety of breads.She had never quite understood why ponies bothered with changing the ingredients. In the end, it didn’t matter to her.

“Could I have the cheapest bread you have?” She asked. It was the easy way to be sure, but no matter how much was in Lanternlight’s wallet, it would probably only hardly be enough anyway. They didn’t have enough money and most of what they had went into bribing their landlord into not telling anybody about them being orphans. Not that the baker cared, she simply gave a nod in her direction, before she went and took out a loaf of fresh bread.

“That’ll be two bits, Sunny,” she said, giving the filly a fine smile.

Sunset nodded and went for the wallet, opening it up only to find one piece of paper in it. She grimaced, paper wasn’t worth anything. Or was it? She wasn’t sure, but took it out anyway. The baker seemed as confounded as the filly as she was handed the piece with a: “Is that enough?”

The mare took it and looked at it, reading it out loud without thinking: “I’m going somewhere far away.”

Sunset blinked and her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes went wide with a realization. Lanternlight was going to leave her, he wouldn’t repair anything and he wouldn’t eat bread with her anymore. Suddenly, she forgot about the bread and bakery, the thoughts about the city and the rising sun on the horizon. Suddenly, the wind was rushing through her mane as she went past the citizens, hurrying back home. She didn’t want to be alone, she didn’t want to be left for good in this town. She would die of hunger, she would freeze to death, or worse, she might even return back to the orphanage. That, she would never let happen again.

So Sunset galloped across town, back towards her home. As the house came into sight, she felt a weight in her stomach, slowing her every move. She didn’t feel like moving forward and more like going away, as if that would make everything disappear. Yet, she didn’t turn around and instead moved forward, into the house and through the open door of her and Lanternlight’s home.

The room was completely demolished, anything that could be taken had been taken and what remained was broken furniture and the the knowledge that Lanternlight had lied to her. She stared at the room, slowly moving into it, as if she didn’t quite want to believe what had happened. She and Lanternlight both had run away from the orphanage, hadn’t they? They had escaped the horrible treatment there and Lantern had always watched out for her since then, he wouldn’t just abandon her.

She heard something behind her. “The hell did you do to my house?” Her heart sank into her knees as she started shaking and sweat started to run down her forehead. She knew that voice. “I asked you a question. Turn around when I’m talking to you, you good-for-nothing orphan.”

She did as he told her and then looked at her landlord’s hooves. Not his jacket, not his absurd pompadour. She couldn’t bear looking up and just watching him approach her in that steady way of his made her shiver enough. Then the hoof came, smashing her face in and catapulting her back against the wall, the pain surging through every part of her body.

Now she looked at his light brown coat, his black mane and the gray eyes that stared at her in endless rage. “I sheltered you and this is what I get?” He put on a fake smile, “Honestly, that’s why I don’t like having kids around.”

He went towards her once more, intending to beat her up, she knew. This time, however, things went different, her own hooves went up to shield her and before he hit her, a feeling welled up inside her head; a warm, fuzzy feeling. She didn’t know what it was but as his hoof connected with her cheek, the warmth became a burn and the burn rushed out in an explosion that threw him back.

Sunset immediately opened her eyes, saw his ugly pompadour burning. She didn’t care about whatever would happen next. Instead, Sunset Shimmer ran.