Sunrise

Sunrise Chapter 2

It’s 4 fucking thirty…

Four fucking thirty in the morning, and my phone is ringing. Who in the wild wide world of Equestria is fucking calling me, at fucking four thirty?!

“Hey Sunset!”

Fucking. Rainbow. Dash. I swear to God if I snap, she’s going to be the first one I bend over, take the school flagpole, and shove it up her egotistical, pompous…

“Hey there Dash…um…what do you want?”

“Fluttershy texted me and said you were going to come back to the soccer team!” Celestia dammit. Fluttershy must have told her as soon as she got off the phone with me so that I wouldn’t be able to get out of it.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.” That’s it Sunset, just be sincere as possible and…

“Great! She told you we’re having our first practice 6:30 am today, right?” Why is she so excited about a 6:30 am practice?! Of course this would happen after I go on a late night ride. I lift my sleep deprived body into a sitting position against my headboard and wipe the sleep from my eyes. I hold the phone in my right hand as I kick the covers out and stumble into a standing position.

“I had no idea…it must have slipped her mind. We talked really late last night.”

“She told me. Have you been feeling okay? You’ve been going out late ever since you got-”

“I’m fine!” It’s bad enough I’m up at this ungodly hour, the last thing I need is to be reminded about that…thing. “Just…6:30, right?”

“Yeah, on the field behind the school. You know where to find it.”

I don’t even say bye. I just click the phone off and toss it across the room. I look up at the mirror overlooking my dresser. My hair’s a mess, and my eyes have bags from lack of sleep. But a promise is a promise, so I have to deal with the sleep deprivation and tough it out.

“Temper, Temper little girl…” Oh great, the voice in my head is talking to me again.

“I don’t want any of your shit today. Just stay in the dark corners you like so much and shut up.”

“Excuse me, but who do you think is in charge here?” The voice in my head cackles, then the pain starts. Like someone’s drilling on my head with a damn auger. I drop to my knees in pain and clutch my forehead with both hands. My eyes shut tight, and somehow I suppress the screams pooling in my throat. I feel my nails digging the skin as I’m curled into a ball now, crying like a three year old lost in the grocery store looking for her mother. I roll onto my knees with my head against the floor as my stomach starts to churn like a cement mixer. My hands leave my head and instinctively clutch my belly as I get cold. Like near absolute zero cold. So to recap: My head’s vibrating like I’m being assaulted by a jackhammer. I’m blending cement in my belly, and my body’s convulsing like I’m in the arctic. Basically I’m in hell. But before I can contemplate ending my suffering the old fashion way, the pain mercifully ends.

“Looks like I’m tougher than you thought, bitch.” I taunt the demon, Sunset Satan I think they call her. She’s unfazed, as usual.

“Stop kidding yourself child. If I really wanted to hurt you, you’d have no way of stopping me.”

A sharp pain in my stomach makes me cry out before the voice vanishes completely. Shortly after, my body regains its normal functions. When I climb to my feet and check my reflection in the mirror, I notice that I’m bleeding from both nostrils and my bottom lip. Terrific. I dash off into the bathroom and clean up my face. I dig out a few cotton swabs and jam them in my nose, and wash the remaining liquid from my face.

I stare at myself in the mirror. This scene has repeated itself over the past six weeks with increasing intensity. This damn curse, all because of Celestia’s...“student”… Dumb bitch didn’t even teach her that the rainbow beam of purity shit doesn’t work as efficiently here as it does in Equestria, especially with only one damn element. So now I’m stuck with Sunset Satan camping, making my life a living hell.

But I have no time to cry over my situation. I have to find my gear and get a shower. Seeing as I look like I went three rounds with Ronda Rousey and lost, I’d better take my shower first. So off to the bathroom I go.

I jump in the shower, clean my face, and wash the sweat and dirt from being in my riding leathers for so long last night. Twenty minutes later I’m out and looking through my closet for my soccer gear. You don’t know how many outfits you have in your closet before you have to find something, and sifting through this mountain of clothes and shoes eats into the time advantage I had when I decided to get up at this ungodly hour.

Finally, at the very back of my closet, I find my old cleats and shin guards. I got them custom ordered in the school’s sports colors: blue base with gold trim, and the gold horseshoe turned sideways into a C smack dab in the middle. Luckily, they still fit. Into my orange gym bag they go. What I can’t find is my old practice uni. Hopefully I can get a spare from Rainbow Dash, or else I’m going to practice in riding leathers, again.

I throw a spare outfit in the bag for after practice and put on my riding leathers. I cross my room and find my phone, thankfully in one piece, and check the time. Thanks to my early morning demon attack coupled with digging out my soccer gear, I now only have forty five minutes to get to school. It’s a good thing I have a fast ride. I grab my bag, zip it up and sling it over my shoulder and dash out the house, grabbing my helmet and keys on the way.

Usually it takes me about 30 minutes to get to school during ideal traffic. With the roads pretty much empty, I make it there in under ten. I find a nice parking spot right in front of our field and cut the bike off. I take off my helmet and relax, giving a hearty sigh as I watch the sun rise, bathing the fields green grass in a dull orange hue. It’s during this time that I daydream to freshman year.

I needed something to do as most of this world’s vices were rather dull. Their love of sport, however...was something I could get in on. It’s here that I also met Little Miss Awesome herself and Southern-fried companion.

Rainbow Dash is full of pride, and not in a good way. She’s always going on about how awesome she is. Despite that, Princess Sparklebitch saw in her the element of flippen Loyalty. I wish I knew what she was smoking when she came to that decision, I fucking want some. This chick will talk about herself and her “awesomeness” for literally no reason at all. On the field, she holds the ball way too long while trying to take on the entire opposing team herself. God, I remember when we played Fillydelphia, I had to practically yank her to the side by her ponytail and remind her that she’s on a fucking team. And even then we almost lost that game. But I guess she has a seeing eye for holes in the defense, which she exploits easily.

Then there’s her best friend, Applejack. The girl has a big boot, and a big fucking mouth. The “Element of Honesty”, apparently, is another phrase for voicing your opinion when no one asked for it in the first place. She always has to interject herself into everyone’s conversation. It’s probably because she’s the least noticed of her little group of friends. What makes her a good soccer player is those legs of hers. She can kick the ball into the net from clear across the field, a feat witnessed on many occasion.

And where do I fit in this little puzzle of stars? Well I’m what they call a “facilitator”, a fancy word for being good at passing the ball. And when I have a wing as fast as Rainbow Dash and a Midfielder with long range skills like Applejack, it’s not hard to get assists. I also have a reputation for being a hot head, according to my Equestrian Sports Network scouting report (I was number four in the country when I last played). It’s not my fault that one chick from Los Angelhoof ran her face into my elbow, but that bitch didn’t undercut me the next time we played against each other, now did she?

I check my phone for the time. It’s now 6:34, where the hell is everybody? Dashie said this practice was going on at 6:30, and if there’s one thing she isn’t, it’s late. If this was a gag I swear to Celestia I’m gonna bash her face against a goal post!

Movement catches my eye and I look in the direction of the gym just in time to see a flash of pink zoom in the back door. Was that Pinkie Pie? What’s the crack addict doing here?

I put the kickstand down and hop off the bike, and set off towards the building. If anyone would know why Rainbow Dash would apparently stand me up, it would be her. I hop up the steps and give the door handle a firm tug. It doesn’t budge, but I know this damn door was open. So I bang on the door. Like magic, the pink party wonder pops her head out of the door.

“Hey Sunset! What are you doing here so early?!” she asks.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing, you don’t play football.” I respond. It’s not that she’s not an athletic girl, but Pinkie usually likes to watch Rainbow Dash and plan the after parties for the myriad of teams Dash captains.

“Well, umm…I was just helping her plan a party!”

“Party for what?”

“Wait…she didn’t tell you?!”

“Would I be asking you about it if she had? Look, is Dash in there? If I could talk to her...” I grab the door and try to open it, but the door doesn’t budge.

“Wait! We’re not ready yet!” she pleads. I’m not in the mood for her or anyone else’s shit today. I push her out of the way and walk in. And I freeze.

There are streamers and confetti littered all over the places. A large rectangular table full of breakfast treats sits against the right hand wall, with several tables laid out across the floor. Over the stage, a large banner painted “Welcome back Sunset Shimmer!” hangs across the opening. I can’t believe…did they actually…

“SURPRISE!!!!!”

Twelve joyful voices ring out in a chorus as my former teammates leap from their hiding spots, their faces full of smiles. Then I’m suddenly glomped from behind. I managed to keep my balance, and look back to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
Rainbow speaks first.“We thought we’d throw you a little surprise party before practice!”

Applejack nods. “Fluttershy told us ye’r havin a hard time after that whole “Sunset Satan” stuff, so we thought we’d cheer you up a bit!”

I can’t believe this. After everything I did. All the rumors I started, the harsh names I called them, and they still care. Even after I almost killed everyone, they’re still willing to do all of this just to cheer me up? Do I really deserve this? I start to tear up, and hug them close. Then I hear the voice, the soft angelic like voice.

“umm….do you like it…sunset shimmer? It took a lot of work to get everyone together in such a short time…”

I turn around and find Fluttershy being her usual shy self. She looks off to the side, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. When Rainbow and Applejack let me go, I stumble over to her, then envelop her in a tight hug. She meeps, but eventually returns my embrace.

“Thank…you…Thank you so much!” I answer her through my tears of joy and hold her even tighter. I feel her gently pat my back as I let it all out in front of everyone. Six weeks of frustration, six weeks of hating myself and other people because of my damn transformation, and what they thought of me because of it, was let out in tears on Fluttershy’s slender shoulder.

“I’m glad you like it.”Fluttershy whispers and I swear I feel a peck against my cheek. Did she just…

“Now doesn’t that just warm yer heart?”I hear Applejack swoon. I guess that answers my question. I gaze into Fluttershy’s eyes and return the peck, and then face the rest of the crowd. I clear my throat, wipe my face clean of the tears, and address the crowd.

“I…I don’t know what to say…I was a real bitch to all of you, some more than others. And even still you showed up here to welcome me back with open arms. After the past six weeks I’ve had, this is the greatest…greatest…” I can’t hold it together and start to tear up. This time my teammates, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie envelop me in a group hug. I hold them tight as Pinkie Pie speaks.

“We understand Sunset, we’re your friends. And we’re going to be with you no matter what!” She shouts before springing away from the group. “Now let’s paaar-tay!”

For once, Pinkie Pie’s shouting doesn’t annoy me. In fact, things are actually looking up.