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.
Ch. 2 - The Sunset Over Suburbia
The long moment spent watching the clear stream cut its way through the moss is not yet over. The stump of the more moderately sized joint lies dead upon the lush ground. The two girls sit in a silent haze, just watching the singing stream and listening to the forest around them. A few beer-cans and a cider-bottle left empty as some manner of mark that they were there. This moment was theirs and it will never come again. Whatever happens from here on, this is where something sprang to life.
Riot fumbles about for her cigarettes and Sunset does not even acknowledge that she is moving at all. It is first when the spark of fire from the lighter burns the cancer-stick that she turns her head to look. Riot blows smoke and grins for her.
"I think sunlight's gonna start fading soon. Outta beer, too."
Sunset blinks slowly. Riot is strangely articulate for someone of her meagre size who has had that much weed and what, six-seven beers? She nods, the only form of communication she can manage right now. Walking through this primeval labyrinth is not going to be easy. But her sense for adventure has definitely been heightened. Sunset casts one last look down the rivulet and ponders a second about the water, where it will end up and the fact that it will never, ever pass this place again.
Riot rises slowly, unlike her usual bounce, all the while erupting cigarette smoke. She brushes herself off, without much effect. The moisture from the moss has crept into their clothes, Sunset had not even noticed until also she stands up. She takes a step, almost instantly looses her footing and topples over. In a panicked attempt to save herself, she grabs onto Riot, who is completely oblivious to the entire predicament. They both crash in a flailing mess of limbs, back down into the soft moss. Riot bottom first, almost as if she is attempting to sit down on a chair that is not there. Sunset follows face-first, she cannot avoid knocking her head into Riot's. Forehead against forehead, Sunset's vision goes dark. She comes to just a second later. A very long second. She is unsure where or perhaps even who she is for a few moments, her stoned mind unable to deal with the sudden impact.
"This is nice and all but could you please get off me?"
Sunset scrambles to push herself up and look around, who was that voice, why does this moss feel like cloth... And... Breasts?
Sunset looks down, both her hands are pressed against Riot's chest. The mohawked girl is wearing a sharp, face-splitting grin.
"You move too fast, Sunset Shimmer, I'd at least like a candle-lit dinner first."
Sunset just lets out an unintelligible little screech and dives to the side, rolling over onto her back in the moss. She lays still for a moment, head swimming from the smoke, drink and light trauma. Trauma from the hit, not from the breasts. Riot is chuckling heartily, apparently enjoying her own joke. Sunset attempts to focus on some spot in the mighty thicket above but her vision is soon obscured by Riot. Her face hovers very close to Sunset's.
"Hey, Sunset Shimmer, ever kissed a girl?"
Sunset looks profoundly lost. Has she? No, not that she can recall. Has she had the desire to? No, not really. Has she even had the opportunity to? Probably but she did not notice, apparently. As she explores her own thoughts, Riot disappears from her line of sight.
"Come on now, little miss deep-thought, daylight's burning and we only have two bottles of cider."
Sunset groans as she sits up. Riot helps her to stand.
"Besides, you never answered my question."
Sunset gives Riot a bewildered look. Right, she was busy thinking about the kissing thing. Is Riot just messing with her head again?
"Never... No... Um, I mean, never really thought about it."
Riot shrugs and smiles while taking Sunset's hand to start walking.
"Well, you oughtta try it sometime. Girls kiss better than guys. Come on now, no more tumbles."
Sunset swallows as she feels Riot's hand in hers. All of this is way more physical contact than she has had in what, months?
She allows Riot to lead her, out of the dank, gnarled grove and back into the clearing they started off in. The sun is indeed soon to begin its final descent. They follow a little bread-crumb trail of beer-cans and cigarette butts out of the forest. As they reach civilisation again, the sun has dropped so low that the world is bathed in an amber glow. Sunset drags her feet down the street, marvelling at everything in this twilit majesty. A boring old suburban neighbourhood like the most exquisite art-piece. Riot happily skips along, stops, waits for Sunset, repeats. She alternates a cigarette and one of the last bottles of cider. Shouldn't she be ridiculously drunk by now?
They close in on the well-manicured house with the trashed garage. No signs of anyone being home in the house. Whoever owns it is a mystery, a mystery Sunset is not going to try to solve now. As they walk up the drive-way, she takes one last look around. As her eyes fall on Riot, she notices the mohawked girl is basically crackling with energy. She tears open the garage door and steps inside. She places her empty bottle on the already full-packed table and puts out her cig in an ashtray so full the tray itself cannot be seen. Sunset follows slowly and looks around, the garage sure is a different place from the world outside.
Riot hurries over to the far end of the garage and a second later, the whole place lights up. Naked light-bulbs on hanging wires, a few multi-coloured christmas lights, a half-leaked lavalamp. The dark garage turns into a dimly-lit, multicoloured mess. Flags all over the ceiling. Anarchy symbols, what a surprise. Bands Sunset never heard of. She looks around at the glorious chaos in awe. Just like outside, in here is more simple beauty. Riot roots around in the back for a while, then throws another switch and presses a few buttons. Sunset watches her every move and puts on a broad smile of her own as Riot walks over carrying a beat-up electric guitar. Cracked, taped, packed with stickers and very shoddily stringed. Just what she would expect from the punk girl. Riot hands it over as if it were a ceremonial sword and Sunset unknowingly accepts it in a similar manner. As Riot goes to fiddle with the amp, Sunset examines the guitar, finds a pick, strums the strings and lets out a satisfied sigh, almost all at once. She has been in need of this feeling for hours. Riot turns to her and speaks.
"Let's hear what you've got, cute stoner."
Sunset huffs, still a big smile on her face. The broken amp screeches out feedback for a moment and Sunset's mind snaps right into place. She drags the pick over the strings. Hot and heavy, if a bit strained. It only takes her a few seconds to get into the groove of things. Nirvana's "Negative creep", as good as a stoned teenage girl plays it, blares out of the busted amplifier. Close enough to the real thing. Riot looks both surprised and pleased. Sunset grinds on for a bit but eventually just begins playing around with the sound. She handles the instrument rather skilfully, playing a little solo before letting it chug on like something out of classic rock. Riot waltzes over to sit down on the arm-rest of one of the sofas. She watches Sunset like a cat eyeing some reflection of dancing sunlight. Sunset is completely lost in the guitar. She plucks, strums, drags and picks. The distorted, beautifully broken noise fills the room like a musical fog. Riot absent-mindedly goes for her packet of cigarettes, changes her mind, stands up and bounds over to her discarded backpack. She rifles through it, finds what she is looking for and bounces back towards the sofa. Sunset plays on, she only stops for a second as Riot decides to clean the table in the crudest way possible. The mohawked girl simply sweeps her arm against cans and bottles, sending them crashing to the floor. A cascade of clattering. Sunset makes the guitar screech and Riot laughs loudly. Riot brushes some stray ash off the table as well before she begins the same rolling antics she did in the woods. This time, she prepares a pile of green stuff and several papers. Sunset walks over, while still playing, to observe. Given this setting, a table and out of the wind, Riot is like a joint-rolling machine. Fold and roll a filter, perfect S-shape in the middle. Measure up the green, fold, roll, lick, twist. She moves on to the next one. Just a few moments later, she has made six almost perfectly cigarette-shaped joints.
Sunset is in awe of the seemingly useless but still impressive skill. She slowly finishes her improvised jam and sets the guitar down, leaning it against the sofa. She then goes to sit down next to Riot. Almost as soon as she sits down, Riot flies up. Sunset follows her movements with her eyes as Riot bounces around the room again. Even attempting to jam with Sunset will have to wait. She is in the mood for music.
"Can't have silence after that awesome guitar-reverie. How about sooome...?"
She trails off as she starts tearing through a large plastic tray, filled with a myriad different CD's and some very well-used vinyl records.
"Varukers? No. Goober Patrol? No. What do I want...?"
Sunset tilts her head to the side as Riot mutters band-names to herself. She takes a deep breath and rubs her eyes. They feel like they are full of sand. Feels like sand in her mouth too, for that matter. Her eyes wander over to the ice-chest. How many drinks did she have already? Three? One more couldn't hurt. She staggers up and over to the cooler, opening it to grab a bottle while Riot swears to herself. Just as Sunset opens the bottle and takes the first sip, Riot exclaims triumph and holds up an album.
"Perfect for the current mood, Mad Caddies."
Sunset looks at the album with a blank stare. She does not know the band. Then again, she is just about to. Perhaps not the most epic of first-time experiences but a first-time experience none the less. Riot puts the disc into her large, once-upon-a-time expensive stereo. Just like seemingly everything in the garage, it has seen better days and is seemingly held together by tape and glue. The music starts. Gigantic speaker-towers roaring alive by the sound of something Sunset did not expect. Brass? Some kind of trumpet. No, multiple different instruments. Then, a bit more expected, comes fast drums and a melodic but undeniably punk guitar. Ska tunes. Lots of brass and shifting speeds. Not a style of music Sunset usually listens to but in this moment, it is absolute ear-candy.
Riot seems pleased with her own choice and Sunset's reaction alike. She saunters back over to the table, grabs one of the weed-cigarettes and flops down in the sofa. Sunset drinks absent-mindedly, still standing, actually enjoying the music quite the bit. The tiny combustion of Riot's lighter draws her attention for a second. While she more or less knows how many drinks she herself has had, she is unsure about how much either of them has smoked. Strangely enough, her brain might be fuzzy beyond anything she has ever experienced but she does not at all feel tired. A bit hungry perhaps but not the usual jelly-legged sleepiness. Could be the quality of the weed, perhaps the company, the music and maybe even the alcohol. Standing around thinking for longer than necessary, she apparently draws Riot's attention.
"Mulling over any nuggets of wisdom in that adorable head of yours? Perhaps you need something to take your mind off... Well, whatever really. I could turn on the TV."
Sunset snaps out of it and looks at Riot, a bit confused. There is no TV in the garage, even if she wanted to partake in braindead programming, how would that be possible?
"I don't see a..."
She begins but soon falls silent as Riot gets up out of the sofa. The mohawked girl steps over to the garage door and yanks the handle. The crooked metal groans but eventually folds up. Sunset is about to follow Riot but she does not step outside. She turns and raises her arms.
"Reality TV, free, unfiltered and without commercial breaks. Now help me with the sofa."
Sunset's jaw drops, then she laughs. She should have guessed. Could she have...? Possibly. She goes along with Riot and drags the nearest sofa out onto the driveway. Darkness has not yet settled entirely, stars are visible in the last light of the sky. Riot flops down in the sofa and Sunset joins her. The quickly-dying joint is passed back and forth until it does just that, dies.
"Look at that."
Riot motions with her arm over the suburban landscape all around them while exhaling whitish smoke.
"Hundreds, thousands of things happening all around us that we never notice or care about. A car rolling down this quiet street. Who is the driver? Where is he going? What is his goal? We don't care unless he is some kinda celebrity, or we're told later he did something horrific. Which also makes him a kind of celebrity. Plenty of axemurderers from suburbia."
Riot looks from the empty, still street to Sunset's contemplative face. Riot is right, the world lives in the details of things. The hidden machinery, both man-made and nature alike. No magic, perhaps a very sparse dash of mysticism. Mostly it is just people. Good people, bad people. Sunset glances at Riot, she instantly breaks out into her trademark smile. Sunset scooches closer to her and slowly, delicately puts a hand on her knee. She looks to the ground for a moment but soon looks up to answer her smile with one of her own, albeit not as wicked.
"Riot, you are a good person."
Riot croaks out a sharp, short, bark-like sound and then quickly slings an arm around Sunset's shoulders to pull her close. Some manner of half-hug.
"I just like an audience while talking to myself is all."
Sunset pats her knee a few times and breathes out in a long exhale before relaxing in her grip.
"I'll gladly listen, anytime, anyplace."
So that is what that feels like. Making a friend. Sunset lets out a satisfied little sigh and does not mind at all as Riot twirls a strand of her hair around her fingers.
"Great, it's a deal then. Stars are out now, the night sky is just as interesting as our little slice of suburbia. Do you know any constellations?"
Sunset looks up to the stars in the clear night sky.
"Not in this world, no..."
Riot looks down from the cosmos above while snickering.
"Little lady, you did get fucked up after all."
Sunset just sighs again and lets her head rest on Riot's shoulder. The sounds of night mix with the muffled ska-punk from inside. The unknown, unchanging celestial dome above draws little of her attention. At last, she feels tired. Riot is a fairly comfortable pillow and her being company helps as well. Sunset feels... Safe. Strange but true. She listens to Riot talk about astronomy, or well, an enthusiastic hobbyist's tall-tale version of astronomy anyhow. Sleep tugs at her. Riot does not seem to mind or even notice.
Sleeping in a sofa on a driveway is not how Sunset Shimmer thought this day was going to end.
Author's Note
Probably going to play around with this setting more. Just feel that this one is complete.
