Chapter 2 - Decisions

Sunset awoke to find that several hours had passed. The sun had long since set, leaving her ramshackle room in total darkness. Groaning, she sat up, the dull pain in her arms motivating her to climb to her feet. She didn’t bother with her bedroom light, instead simply stumbling blindly towards the bathroom across the small hallway. The hall contained, in addition to the bathroom, her own room and the stairway leading to the ground floor of the factory. The faded, yellow fluorescent lights blinked on, illuminating Sunset’s sullen face in the mirror. She was still clad in only her undergarments and was caked with dried blood. The aching girl heaved a sigh and began the arduous process of tending to her self-inflicted wounds.

Sunset first opened up the small cabinet underneath the sink and pulled out her first-aid supplies, setting them onto the edge of the sink. Rolls of gauze, medical tape, sterile pads, band-aids, disinfectant wipes, and a bottle hydrogen peroxide came out of their resting place and into the dim light of the bathroom. She spent most of her small paycheck on food; the rest generally went to this kind of product. Her hands shook as she twisted the water on, wetting a stained washcloth and cleaning the dried blood from her arms. Some of the lacerations started bleeding again; Sunset carefully dabbed away the fresh blood.

Next, she soaked a different washcloth in hydrogen peroxide, this cloth home to less blood stains than its predecessor. Sunset hissed in pain as she disinfected the cuts, her least favourite part of the process. She discarded the used washcloths into the sink. The teen, trembling in the cold air, pressed several sterile pads to the affronted flesh, securing them in place with gauze, the white material wrapped tightly around her arms. Finally, the somber girl applied the medical tape, binding the whole thing together.

Sunset always took good care of her injuries after the fact; she could not afford a hospital trip (not to mention her lack of required human paperwork), and she definitely did not want anyone to find out about her… issues. No, she would handle everything alone; not even her former friends knew about her struggles.

“At least I don’t have to cover these up any time soon,” Sunset thought as her eyes roamed up and down her covered limbs. “Keeping a fuckton of bandages concealed is a hassle I don’t feel like bothering with today.” And she wouldn’t have to go through the process until school started back up once more, but by then the fissures in her skin would be partially healed; healed enough for Sunset to lessen the copious amounts of gauze and sterile pads she had to use.

Having finished cleaning up, Sunset went back to her room, flicking the lights on as she entered. The red-head rifled through her clothing, selecting a warm pair of pajama pants and a baggy hooded sweatshirt that wouldn’t agitate her bandages. Finally dressed, Sunset was ready for breakfast. She grabbed her phone from her backpack and left the room.

The girl meandered down the stairs, reaching a small, open common area that also served as the main ‘foyer’. In the center of the back wall were the massive doors that led to the main floor of the factory. Two smaller doors adorned the left and right walls. The one on the right was labelled “Maintenance.” Sunset had explored the small room when she first found the factory, finding that it held what you would typically find in a janitor’s closet plus a few extra hardware related items; old metal pipes resided high above her head, creating a rusted maze that served as a ceiling.

The door on the left introduced a tiny kitchenette, complete with a small pantry, a microwave, a little refrigerator, and a few cabinets. This was Sunset’s destination. Pouring herself a bowl of cereal, Sunset sat at the small table in the center of the room and pulled out her phone. She had no interest in torturing herself by perusing the Anon-a-miss profile, so she settled for merely checking the time; 9:47pm. “I napped for five hours, huh?” Sunset smiled slightly at the information. “Nice way to start winter break.”

***

The first week of break blurred together in an apathetic haze for Sunset Shimmer. She slept in irregular patterns, a habit formed in her days as Princess Celestia’s student, and spent her waking hours lazing about. She hadn’t even changed out of the flannel pants and dark hoodie she had put on at the start of the week. Sunset spent those first seven days watching videos and movies on her laptop, only leaving to get food from the kitchen. Speaking of food…

“I’m out,” Sunset thought as she looked into her almost empty refrigerator. It was the day after Christmas, and Sunset was exhausted and hungry. She had spent the entire night prior crying and cutting, thinking about her erstwhile friends and demeaning herself with scathing assertions. Opening her pantry, Sunset discovered that all that was left was a small bit of stale cereal left at the bottom of its box, and an apple that sat next to it. “That means a trip to the store, which means leaving my house- er, factory-” she corrected, “which means the possibility of seeing someone that hates me.”

Sunset’s stomach complained loudly. “I guess not eating isn’t an option,” Sunset chuckled, snatching the apple and taking a bite. “I’ll go after breakfast...” She could use a break from the tedium of living alone in a secluded factory, she decided.

True to her word, after Sunset finished her apple she changed from her pajama pants into a pair of black jeans, leaving the hoodie on. Grabbing her wallet- “running low on cash again,”- and her phone, the teen left the factory, slamming the heavy door shut behind her. It was cold, and Sunset shivered as she walked to the closest grocery store; a store that was still too far away for Sunset’s liking. She arrived at her destination, punctuated by a lively neon sign above the store’s facade that broke the grey winter monotony around it.

The automatic doors slid open to welcome the fatigued and nervous customer. Sunset pulled her hood up over her head, hiding her blazing hair in an attempt to keep her identity unknown. Now adequately hidden, Sunset moved quickly around the store, dropping her choices into the grocery basket in her right hand. More apples, some canned soup, microwavable dinners; a quick glance into her wallet revealed that she didn’t have enough money for anything else.

As she made her way to the self check-out area, Sunset heard a couple of familiar voices enter the store.

“Ah’m just sayin’, Pinkie, you don’t have to throw a ‘day-after-christmas’ party for us,” a familiar Southern drawl chided.

“I know,” came the cheerful reply, “but I wanted to cheer everyone up and help take our minds of the whole incident with- SUNSET?!”

The girl in question flinched as her attempts to leave the store unnoticed failed. Applejack’s head whipped up, seeking out the Sunset with malice in her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” The farmhand accused. Pinkie Pie seemed to deflate beside her, as though a raincloud had emptied a disconsolate storm onto her persona. Her sorrowful eyes avoided Sunsets own tortured ones, finding interest in the tiled floor.

“I’m- um, I’m getting food,” Sunset replied indignantly. She just wanted the conversation to be over, shifting on her feet and fidgeting with her hands as she stole glances at the exit only a few feet away. Applejack had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed as she muttered a quiet “oh.” An awkward silence started to descend on the group, so Sunset took that has her cue to leave. She was almost out the door when she heard an almost inaudible voice call out:

“Why did you do it Sunny?” Pinkie Pie’s voice was small but intense, and it stopped Sunset in her tracks. She turned around. Pinkie’s usually energetic hair was flat and dull. Tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes; a doleful fury was simmering just below the surface of her unusually quiet demeanor.

“I-I didn’t-”Sunset started, but she was cut off by a fuming Applejack

“Don’t even try it!” She yelled. People were starting to stare at the spectacle the three girls were making. “Don’t bother making yer flimsy excuses with us! We know what you really are,” Applejack’s words pierced Sunset straight through the heart. Some of the onlookers were whispering, a few even recognized Sunset and the crime she was wrongfully accused of committing.

Anon-a-miss

She-demon

Sunset felt her anxiety skyrocket; it had already increased at the idea of going out in public, but this fiasco was enough to send Sunset into a complete panic. She gripped her groceries tightly and spun around, dashing out of the building as fast as her legs could carry her. She tore across the sidewalk, determined to make it home before anything else went wrong.

THUD

“Oof!”

“So much for that plan,” Sunset thought as she collided with another warm body, knocking them both to the ground. Sunset, still panicking, scrambled to her feet, reaching a hand out to whomever she knocked down. “I’m so so sorry I wasn’t paying attention I just-” her ramblings were cut short by a regal voice.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need any assistan- Sunset?” Trixie looked up at Sunset, the latter of whom was shaking.

“Fuck, I-I gotta go,” Sunset rushed her words, retracting her hand as the tears that she had been fighting finally started to trickle down her cheeks and onto the concrete below. Sunset started running again just as Trixie got to her feet.

“Wait, Sunset!” Trixie shouted after her, but Sunset kept her pace.

The miserable Sunset Shimmer sprinted all the way back to her factory. She ran into her home and collapsed against the door behind her, sobbing as she dropped her groceries at her feet.

Unbeknownst to her, a figure her watched on with sad purple eyes, making note of the location before heading to her own, definitely more comfortable home.

***

Sunset lay on her mattress, once again wearing only her undergarments. She stared at the ceiling, unmoving, unblinking. After a solid thirty minutes of just sitting in her entryway and weeping her eyes out, the mournful teen had managed to muster enough energy to get up from her spot on the floor and hastily drop her groceries into their proper places. Now, hours had passed. The event at the grocery store weighed heavily on Sunset’s mind. She felt drained. She felt heartbroken.

She felt betrayed.

They were supposed to be her friends! Together forever, through thick and thin, no matter the weather! And there she was, all alone, abandoned at the first drop of rain. The whole Anon-a-miss situation made Sunset question the sincerity of her friendship with the five girls. This felt like some sort of test; a test that everyone failed. Sunset had apparently failed to prove that her reformation was honest and true, and the five failed to prove their dedication to Sunset. The circumstance was obviously a set-up; yet Sunset was used and discarded, as though the girls had been looking for an excuse to get rid of her.

These thoughts spun through the red-head’s mind, along with the existential conclusions that she drew. Without her friends, who was she? Was she the arrogant, self-righteous bitch that conquered the school, ruling with an iron fist? The anxiety-ridden but innocent child that the Princess had taken under her wing? Someone else?

“I’m a failure,” Sunset decided. “A useless fucking waste of space. No matter what I do, I somehow end up fucking everything up for myself and for others.” Sunset’s gaze continued to bore into the ceiling. “So, what now?” She asked herself. “I shunned my mentor, terrorized the students of Canterlot High, and now I’ve lost the only people to ever really give me a second chance.”

Sunset felt a wetness on her face, one she had unfortunately became quite acquainted with over the past month. Tears once again started flowing freely down her cheeks, and, as terrible thoughts circulated through her brain, Sunset made a decision.

“I know what I have to do.” She spoke to no one, and nobody responded. “Tomorrow...” Her mind said as she drifted off.

“Tomorrow, everything will be okay.”

***

Sunset arose from her slumber at 11:23am. “It’s time,” she told herself as she clambered out of bed. She was chilled down to the bone, having not bothered with more clothing than her underwear the previous night. Her normally bright skin was pale and sickly. She ignored the frigid feeling as she grabbed her knife, then turning to make her way down the cool cement stairs, once again foregoing more than what she was already dressed in. She found herself in the common area, but she did not turn in the direction of her kitchenette; no, she was not here for food. She did not have much of an appetite anyways. Instead, Sunset turned to the right, the direction of the utility closet. She opened the door and turned on the lights. She scanned the small room’s contents, looking for one item in particular. Her sunken eyes landed on their target:

A thick coil of rope.

Sunset sat on the ancient wooden chair that took residence in the back corner of the cramped space. She pulled out her knife, gazing down at its strangely enticing colour. Her broken reflection stared back up at her. She flipped it open, the familiar motion somewhat comforting to her. “Everything will be fine, now. Everyone will be happy, including me.”

These dark thoughts kept Sunset company as she got to work, filling the remaining space on her right arm with violent gashes before moving on to her legs. Her cuts were messy and desperate, and tears blurred her vision. But despite the blood and tears, despite the horrible feeling in her chest, she smiled. A small upturn of the lips became wider and wider, until she was grinning hysterically, admiring her handiwork as she abruptly dropped her knife.

Her small fit of tears was eliminated as she swiftly wiped her face. Sunset was quiet. She made no noise; no sobs of agony, no screams of pain, no last words as she grasped the coarse rope in her hands, lifting it from its home on the dusty shelf. She fumbled as she tied the noose, a process she had looked up long ago out of curiosity. Eventually she tied it right- “at least I got one thing right,”- and dragged the wobbly chair to the center of the room, underneath the sturdiest looking pipe that helped create the odd ceiling. Sunset stood on the chair, stretching up on her toes to reach the pipe. She wrapped the rope around it, winding it over a few additional times for good measure. Blood dripped from her body, still seeping from the cuts, but she paid it no mind. She tied a knot, then another, then a third just for extra insurance. The noose hung gloomily in the makeshift gallows, but Sunset was not intimidated.

Her hands did not shake as she gripped the rough and scratchy material of the cord.

Her eyes did not see as she pulled it over her head and fastened it around her neck.

Her heart did not feel as she took one last apathetic glance at her surroundings; the door to the closet was slightly ajar, but that wouldn’t be a problem. Sunset had come into this strange dimension alone, and, now, she would leave it alone too.

“Goodbye.”

Sunset took a deep, useless breath and kicked the chair out from under her.

Author's Note

Wow, that was depressing. But hey! Another update, and so soon after the first! I'm making good progress with this fic, I think it's going to be pretty okay.

Let me know what you think

~Bitty Bug