Chapters Prologue - This is how it's always been.
Rays of the rising sun peeked through a window, long, velvet curtains being the only things sheltering the room beyond glass from being basked in bright light. A slight breeze pushed a curtain but an inch to the right, allowing the east-facing window to let in the calming tranquility of the morning.
Or, in Sunset Shimmer’s case, the cause of all evil.
She rolled over, mushing her face into a silk-covered pillow. Judging by the lack of an angry, blaring alarm screaming at her to get up, she guessed that the time for that had not arrived yet.
Rolling over to her right, she turned her head to look at the bright, red numbers across the sleek, black alarm clock.
5:17
Deciding that it would be useless to simply lay in bed and wait an extra three minutes the clock would take to ring, she unfurrowed herself from her sheets. Pressing a button on the box to ensure that the alarm would not go off, she slid her feet into a pair of slippers.
Walking over to her closet area, Sunset surveyed the sets of outfits that filled it. Most of her clothes were the same uniform the elementary classes at Crystal Prep were required to wear.
Fetching a white button up shirt, the teal vest that she had to wear over it, and a plain blue skirt, Sunset turned to her bathroom.
After getting dressed and brushing her teeth, she went back to her room and sat herself at the vanity desk near her window.
The next task was quite mundane, simply just brushing her hair thoroughly and styling it. After that, she double checked she had done all of her homework the night before. With that, Sunset grabbed her backpack and took it downstairs.
Noticing that her parents, as usual, were out, she grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen counter. Upon picking it up, she noticed a note on her left. She frowned upon reading it.
Good morning, Sunset Shimmer. Your formal educator has informed us that your report cards are being sent home today. Remember, the lowest grade you are allowed to maintain is a 95%. Don’t find out what happens if you have but a half percentage lower than that.
We will pick you up directly after school and you will show us your grades first thing when we get home.
Do not disappoint us.
Your parents,
Dimming Dusk & Fallen Sun
Sunset crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash. The whole ‘minimum grade’ thing didn’t bother her. As far as Sunset could remember, school had always been a piece of cake. She finished her breakfast, threw the wrapper away, and began her trip to school.
Drops of water fell on a window. Outside, blinding lighting and crashing thunder could be heard.
That didn’t bother the sleeping Sunset Shimmer. She lay under linen sheets, her head supported by soft pillows. Her breathing was slow, steady, and calm. The drumming of water droplets on her window made a sound that could drive anybody to sleep.
An alarm screeched.
Opening a single eye, Sunset reached her hand over and silenced it.
5:45
Upon realizing the time, Sunset sprang up from her bed and raced over to her closet. Grabbing the uniform Crystal Prep assigned for its junior high classes, she rushed into the bathroom.
5:50
Brushing her hair, then styling it.
5:55
The new part her parents insisted she implemented into her routine, makeup.
6:10
Grabbing her backpack, rushing down the stairs, taking an umbrella, and out the door.
At least, Sunset would’ve rushed out the door, if her mother weren’t home.
“Sunset Shimmer.”
Slowly, Sunset turned around. “Yes, mother?”
“What are you still doing in my house?” a stern voice asked.
Sunset looked down at her feet. “I didn’t hear my alarm. I’m sorry, mother.”
Dimming Dusk, Sunset Shimmer’s mother, narrowed her eyes. “And why exactly did you allow that of yourself? As far as I’m aware, I raised you to be a responsible young lady. Are you trying to go out of your way to disappoint me?”
“No, I- well, -I.. I just..” Sunset trailed off. How was she supposed to answer such questions? How was she supposed to handle the implications of the questions?
In the back of her mind, she allowed herself to believe her mother’s implications were right.
“No answer, huh? What’s wrong, did your voice stop working?” Dimming asked in a mocking tone.
Sunsets could feel tears well up in her eyes, as well as a bubbling anger in her chest. “I-I’ll.. do better, mom,” she managed.
Dimming Dusk lifted Sunset’s chin up with her index finger, a flame in her eyes. “What did me and your father say about the lack of use of our proper titles, Shimmer?!” she said sternly, her long, pointy nails digging into her daughter’s skin to the point of slight pain.
Sunset’s eyes widened in fear as she swallowed a knot in that was beginning to form in her throat. “I apologize, mother,” she squeaked out.
Dimming narrowed her eyebrows as she brought Sunset closer to her, and spoke in a harsh tone, “And what did we say of your presentation, whether in public or in the confines of this safe home?”
“Right..” Sunset cleared her throat, slipping into a faked posh accent “Always present oneself with confidence, manners, and proper posture.” She straightened her back once her mother slightly loosened her grip. “Do not speak as one of a lower place, act as an educated individual, and strive to be better than all around.” Sunset put on a confident smirk, though in one looked deep into her eyes, they would see her true feelings.
She felt scared. Hopeless. Fake. Not in control of her life.
She felt coerced.
Author's Note
Enjoy a trash heap of yet another author writing sad Sunny.
But no worries, this trash heap has structure!
Maybe.
K bai
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Chapter 1 - Being perfect is what's expected.
“Hello, mother,” Sunset put on the act her mother cared she keep up all day. “Are we doing something before we go home?”
Dimming Dusk scowled. “That is not your place. You are merely eight years of age, Sunset Shimmer. You are much too young to need to know.”
Sunset frowned as she followed her mother into her car. “I’m nine. My birthday was a week ago.”
“One, do not disrespect me. Two, we had a much more important affair than that. We do not waste time with such useless celebrations.”
Sunset felt a pressure behind her eyes. This ‘more important affair’ was a dinner being held for her great-uncle’s birthday. It’s not fair.
Sunset realized that the lady’s car had halted, and came face-to-face with the navy-toned woman’s teal eyes burning a hole through her as she turned to get out of it.
“Don’t you have something to show me?”
Remembering the note her father and mother had written for her, Sunset gulped as she pulled out the printed cardstock.
Dimming took it and read through it, smirking proudly at her daughter’s achievements. Up until she read the last line.
Dimming narrowed her eyes and stepped out of her car, motioning for Sunset to do the same.
Once both of them had arrived inside of the house, Sunset went to sprint up the stairway and hide away from the inevitable wrath of her parents.
She didn’t reach the top.
Sunset bolted upright with a soft yelp. It wasn’t every night her mind replayed horrible memories dealing with those she lived with.
Or, as someone foolish would call them, her parents .
Sunset hated that word beyond what should’ve been humanly possible. So you’re not human. The people of this world are unkempt anyways. But not us. Sunset shook her head. Shut up.
She had long since stopped believing that one day, her takers would care for her beyond simple social climbing.
She rolled her neck and looked to see the time.
4:20 AM
Sunset sighed at the numbers. Realizing that getting her extra hour of sleep would be impossible, she slipped out of bed.
Sunset shuffled through her room, ending up in her bathroom. Sunset looked up at the mirror. There was a girl in the mirror. Sunset didn’t quite recognize her. She had crimson hair with golden strands neatly waving through, and gold skin as soft as the richest silk. Looking at her face, she noticed cheeks that were positioned just right, eyes in the exact same mirrored position, lips that were just the right amount of smooth, and full lashes that the best fake lashes would envy.
But the girl in the mirror’s eyes.
The eyes, at a shallow glance, were a teal that were tinted beautifully. However, if one were to look deep into those eyes, they would see hope for a better life, hidden far beneath fear, pain, suffering, a slight anger, horrible memories, and just plain sadness that all just wished to be released.
But that small, almost insignificant amount of hope was what kept the girl going. If not for that hope, that belief that something would free her from all of her pain, then she would’ve subjected to sleep longer than she could ever achieved during life. If not for that hope, the only thing that could’ve kept her would’ve been someone who cared. But no one ever looked deep enough to notice, to see her cry for help. So that hope was all she had.
It’s interesting how much one can tell from such a simple part of the human body.
And that simple part of the human body was the only part Sunset recognized as her own. Everything else didn’t quite feel right, like a placeholder for something much more personalized and fitting.
Sunset let a breath out. She felt relatively better than she was when she woke up. That was until she noticed her soap dispenser was an inch too far to her left.
Sunset’s breathing became harsh and uneven as she rushed to fix the stupid, stupid mistake. She could feel a memory of the last time this happened bubble to the very front of her mind, blocking out all other senses.
Sunset walked to her bathroom from her desk upon hearing her father call her. “Yes, father?” she responded.
Fallen Sun was standing in the doorway, his usually dark plum face red while looking at the sink. “I thought I raised you to be perfect, and then I come up here to find you misplaced this.” He raised up a soap dispenser that was merely an inch away from its proper place. He placed it in the correct place and opened a nearby cabinet.
Sunset responded to the outburst by apologizing. “I’m sorry, father. I promise not to do it again. If I do, I will remember to tell you and mother to punish me as fitted.” Sunset gulped as she remembered what her parents considered fitting as a punishment for a twelve-year-old.
Fallen nodded and pulled a small, shiny object out of the drawer. “Good, now I just have to convince you not to do it again.” He drew out the item, which turned out to be a quite sharp shard of glass.
Seeing the object, Sunset’s fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. She tried to run out of her room, only to come face-to-face with her father locking it in place.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, “Not until I’m done with you.” Without even a second to wait, he pinned Sunset up against a corner and placed the shard on her upper arm, ready to slice at the slightest movement.
Sunset shrunk and tried to move away, only to wince in a sharp pain when the glass sliced her arm, effectively drawing a bead of blood.
“Now, I’m going to make a little tally board of what you did wrong. First,” he pulled the shard back across her skin and made a cut. “You weren’t perfect, like we raised you to be. Second,” another cut. “Improper phrasing of an apology. You are not sorry, you wish for my forgiveness. Third,” by this time, Sunset’s arm was slightly purple at the loss of blood. “You tried to run away from my discipline. And fourth,” he drew another tally, then two more for good measure. “You dared to try to escape me.” Finally, he dropped the young girl.
Sunset nodded in confirmation. “I’ll remember that, father. May I continue my studies?” she said, keeping the tears building up from letting her drop her persona.
Fallen Sun left the room, making his way downstairs.
Sunset crawled to her desk and pushed her papers away from her. There, sitting by herself in the dark, she let it all out.
Sunset found herself in a fetal position on the floor, rocking herself back and forth to try and calm her nerves. It didn’t help. Her breaths were shallow, barely allowing any air to reach her lungs. She tried to take deep breaths, as her teachers would suggest when a less composed student would have a panic attack.
Oh god, imagine if this were happening in a public place. She tried not to imagine it, but it only brought the thought of people ridiculing her, teachers being disappointed, or her cousins ever finding out. Oh god, what if they find out about this? Sunset’s breathing only got less controlled.
Sunset tried to slow her breathing again, but to no avail. She could feel the wetness on her cheeks as she let all the tears she couldn’t shed with anyone else around out.
After about half an hour of the same repeating cycle of trials and failures to breathing, Sunset was finally able to calm herself enough to successfully turn on her shower.
And then she started crying again.
Sunset couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t feel like breaking down into her most basic set of emotions. Her “parents” told her that simple emotions were never good for the image, that such basic feelings were only suitable for either the too young or the too dumb. She was three when they first told her that.
Most people would’ve sought help, or at least somewhere to vent their troubles. She had tried that, in a journal.
Her parents had found the journal. She couldn’t remember what happened after that. The only thing she had to remind herself of the experience was the light scar on her neck.
Sunset had a lot of physical scars. Roughly about ten prominent ones on each arm, with many faded ones hidden away by time. The same went for her legs, the scars becoming more noticeable - as a result of deeper cuts - as they got further up. Scars on her stomach, scars on her back, even some on her neck.
And that was just the ones someone could see. Not that they would look close enough to notice anyways. But the scars in her mind were greater, and more affecting than any of the ones hidden away by her usual attire. As those who gave her this sufferable life made her grow up mentally faster than what was appropriate for her age, Sunset had the mentality of someone who was in their early twenties at age fifteen. However, that caused her mental growth to be stunted, as she never really had a childhood. In fact, the last time Sunset remembered ever being close to being treated like her age was when she was five, and her cousins indulged her in her first ever game of ‘hide and seek’ outside. It ended with her getting punished severely for getting dirty, as could be seen by a slightly faded scar on her stomach. That was one of the deeper ones.
Getting out of the shower, Sunset dried herself off and walked into her closet. Grabbing her clothes for the day, she freed herself of her constrictive towel as she came out of the closet.
After dressing herself, she went through her normal routine of brushing her hair, doing some last-minute changes on homework, makeup, teeth, and shoes. After that, she stepped down her stairs, grabbed some cash her parents left out for breakfast at a cafe, and headed out for school.
Author's Note
What's this? Dex (my nickname if u dont know) actually posted twice in the same month? w0w.
Also, just a side note, I'm probably portraying her thoughts wrong. I haven't really experienced what I'm writing first hand (thankfully), so if anyone can describe them to me or just tell me what I'm doing wrong or unrealistically that would be a huge help.
Chapter 2 - This is all I've ever known.
Author's Note
Angst that sorta makes sense, the sequel!
May I suggest listening to Pegasus Device as you read this? Trust me, it makes it angstier.
Alright, kudos to whoever reads my stuff, and enjoy!
Chapter 2 - This is all I've ever known.
Flinching, Sunset traveled back down the stairway as her parents called her to the kitchen. “Yes, mother and father?” she said with faux confidence.
“Do not speak, Shimmer.” Dimming Dusk said with force. “I recall ordering you to pass with higher than a ninety-five percentage for every class, correct?”
Sunset nodded.
“And I’m correct when I say that you managed a ninety-four-point-ninety-nine for your advanced history class?”
Sunset’s bravado slightly slipped, and she gulped.
“So why ,” Dimming narrowed her eyes, orange waves falling in front of her face, “Does my daughter wish to be such a failure?” Dimming’s eyes glowed in anger. She turned to look at her husband. “Get the knife.”
Sunset’s eyes were wide as she recoiled towards the front door to her house. “No.. no… please, n-not again. I- you- I’ll… call the police!” She backed up into a corner and shrunk herself down.
Fallen Sun laughed cynically. “Oh, you stupid, worthless child. If you weren’t such a waste of a human, you would have the basic ability to remember that I am the head of the police department. I am above everyone else, so calling those meatheads on me only helps my cause.”
Sunset fought the urge to cry in fear. “W-why do you- you do this to… to me! I- I never do anything wrong!”
Fallen lifted up the knife, grinned, and said, “Oh, you’ve just made everything so much worse.”
Sunset Shimmer walked out of a high-quality cafe, half of a breakfast sandwich in one hand and a cup of the richest tea around in the other. Continuing on her journey back to Crystal Prep, Sunset took small sips out of her tea and tiny nibbles from her sandwich
She wore the uniform for the female high school students at Crystal Prep Academy, her hair loose and a blue designer backpack draped over her shoulders.
Her “family” always seemed to pressure Sunset to enjoy the color blue. She wasn’t quite sure why. She much preferred the colour purple.
Everything else Sunset was forced into doing had at least some sort of reasoning, the most prominent theme being ‘to gain more power in society.’
Which, to Sunset, didn’t make sense either. Why would those who gave birth to her use her as a means to become more powerful? Wouldn’t becoming more socially powerful propel their popularity, therefore making their abuse blatantly obvious to the world? They probably don’t even care.
Thinking back, the popularity was the only thing her “parents” ever cared, or even thought about. It was like the fame was all they lived for. Huh.
Sunset remembered the tales people would tell of her great-grandfather. He was the legend of his time, being one who controlled all people that dared challenge him. People saw him as a great, legendary man.
Of course, they didn’t know of the pressure he put on his children.
Those who raised her always said that being a tale to tell was the greatest achievement one could ever achieve. Told her that, if she was put beside a legend, she wouldn’t even compare.
She also remembered her ancestors main strategies, to use those below as a step stool. As her aunt had so generously put it, “All of those failures help to fuel our success, like a well thought out game of chess.”
The saying her “parents” always repeated, “You’ve proven to all of us that you will never be worthy enough. You don’t even deserve your title as one of our blood.”
A hint of sunlight caught Sunset’s eye, and she looked up. The tall, wide, glimmering covering over the walls of Crystal Prep reflected the rising Sun’s beams. Sunset shielded her face and walked to the crystal building. Waving hello in a practiced manner to all of the teachers she passed by, she walked over to her locker and took her supplies out of it.
Closing the locker, Sunset noticed a note on it. She took it, and frowned.
Hey there, Sunny. I noticed you being a teacher’s pet. What’s up with that, goody two shoes? Just thought you should know, no one cares about what you do. Nobody at this school cares about you.
-M
I know people don’t care. Stop reminding me. Sunset sighed and crumpled up the paper, stuffing it into a nearby trash bin. As she walked to class, she thought the note over. Trust me, I don’t even have a bit of respect for those teachers. I’ve seen what they do to kids who don’t listen to their every command, though. And that would lead to them telling my… them. Sunset walked to the school courtyard and sat. She watched the elementary kids play in the playground area, the junior high kids chatting in groups, and the high school kids fooling around.
Sunset took out a book and pretended to read it, but thought things out. And we all know how that’ll end. She looked at her sleeve, which was just long enough to cover her noticeable scars. I wonder… what if I just… run away? Escape all my worries? Sunset’s brows furrowed. Escape to where, though. Sunset’s eyes widened in realization. The police station, duh. But… I don’t want to go to some orphanage. Unless… maybe I can ask to simply be adopted out before I go into the system. Sunset smiled to herself. The hope in the girl’s eyes flickered to the front of them, just for a second.
That was enough.
A shrill bell rung, enticing thousands of students to file out of classrooms and buildings. Sunset was among them. It was quite strange, how a single sound could convince so many people to react the same way. Like a voice of someone, someone who had control over all he looked at. Sounds familiar.
Walking out from the sports building on to the high school building, Sunset rolled her thoughts from earlier that day around her head. If I do just run away, I’ll need to know what I’m doing. I can’t just not come home one day. Sunset came up to the courtyard, and saw a girl looking confused.
Ignoring her, Sunset walked on. Then she came up to Sunset.
“Um, sorry if I’m interrupting anything, but do you know where the office is?” she asked.
Sunset pointed up to the top floor of a building. “The stairs are inside, to your immediate left,” she said, putting on her faux accent.
“Thanks. Hey, what grade are you in?” she asked.
Sunset prepared herself for more than five seconds of social interaction. “Tenth. You?”
“Oh, I’m in tenth grade too! I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”
Twilight . “I’m Sunset, it’s lovely to meet you!” Sunset put on a smile.
“Hey, are you from here? You don’t sound like the other people that live in this area,” Twilight said.
Sunset fought the urge to laugh. “No, it’s just how my parents make me-” Sunset realized her mistake. “Er, how I talk. Yep! Just how I say things. No other reason,” Sunset trailed off. “Well, I should go now. See you around, Twilight!”
Twilight waved goodbye to Sunset, then went inside the building.
Sunset’s face flushed. Alright. Cool. Now, back to my plan. Sunset let out a snicker. My plan. Oh, it sounds like I’m planning to overthrow an evil queen and king. Which, I mean, seems pretty close to what I’m doing. She filled her backpack with what she would need to complete her homework.
She walked out into the parking lot of the school, then waited for her “father” to pick her up. Hm. What if I… no, that won’t work… maybe if… that works! And then I’ll be able to… yeah! Good. Sunset smiled, that hope in the girl’s eyes becoming just a little less distant each and every minute that passed.
Noticing her “father”’s car pull into the pickup zone, Sunset quickly walked towards it. Here we go again . Sunset put on her accent again and greeted the other in the car, who grunted in response. Better than the knife. Sunset went to reach for her phone, then halted herself. Didn’t turn out so well last time . Sunset’s pupils shrank in fear. No, not now . Her mind didn’t listen to her suggestion, and began to bring forth a memory. Sunset fought to keep conscious until she got home.
Thankfully, Sunset managed to keep her consciousness.
When she got home, though, the first thing she did was race to her bathroom and lock herself away.
No, no. Please, don’t. No.
Unlike when she was in the car, her mind brought the memory forward quickly.
Walking out of the high school building, Sunset noticed her father’s car outside. She walked towards it and sat down.
After they had set out into the road, Sunset saw it fit to listen to music on her phone. She took it out, plugged her headphones in, and leaned back.
Getting home, Sunset turned to go upstairs. She was stopped by a tug on her wrist, followed by a sharp sting on her arm. Oh no.
Slowly, she turned around to look at her father. She gulped, but decided not to say anything in hopes of getting out of this with a few less scars.
“What did we tell you about disrespecting us, Shimmer?!” His eyes flared, and Sunset swore she could see a willingness to kill in them. “Now, you’re going to stay still, and I’m going to pay it back. I’ve had a stressful day, and I’ve been begging for some way to relax.” He smiled maniacally, pushing Sunset against a wall.
Please. I… why? Sunset felt her shirt being pulled up, then a sharp pain on her back. It was then and there, that Sunset could no longer call that man her father. The pain as he dug the knife over and into her skin in multiple places was mind numbing. She looked to her right, and noticed her mother standing in a nearby doorframe, a glass of wine in her hand. She was also holding a knife. No! Not more! Sunset fought tears.
The woman, who Sunset also couldn’t call her mother, stalked over with a predatory smile and joined her husband along with the cutting.
No.. stop.. please.
“STOP!”
Sunset lay on her floor, eyes bloodshot. She breathed in unsteady breaths, unable to quiet the sound of her heaving. She started coughing violently, and doubled over to try and breathe a little easier. Eventually, the coughing stopped, replaced with a strong thirst. Sunset took a glass cup from her cabinet and filled it with water from her sink, gulping it down as soon as it was full.
Her stomach grumbled in hunger. There was nothing she could do about that. When she was thirteen and others focused on her body image, her parents stopped allowing dinners.
Sunset sighed. One of these days. One day, someone will care enough.
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Chapter 3 - And I can't help but feel neglected.
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 3.5 : Intervention
Dimming Dusk paced the main office room. Although her husband had told her not to be suspicious about her daughter's particular note, she knew that he was less intellectually advanced than her. Therefore, she knew that his advice was absolutely useless. Not unlike him. Why did they pick me to marry him of all people? She shook the thought away. The marriage was already completed, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Still, complaining about her parents' choice in husband for her wasn't the problem. The problem was Sunset.
But the problem was always Sunset, wasn't it? Why did Dimming have to spend so much time of her day focused on figuring out what that brat was doing?
Yet even though Sunset tended to not follow home rules, Dimming was confident that the girl followed her basic social rules. She knew that her daughter wouldn't break rules of hers as simple as "Help people only three times unless it benefits you," or "Don't be open to other people."
But even then, she doubted that the girl could possible comprehend what her life would be like on her own, or how it would affect the reputable family. Oh, if she told anyone how we discipline her. And at that, Dimming knew she had to prevent Sunset's plan from going through.
She wouldn't stop until she was sure that Sunset was in her family's system.
Author's Note
Hello! I needed to write a short transition chapter into the next "section" of the story, so here's this. Also, I'm trying to do some basic world-building, so if you have any suggestions/questions/anything you're confused about in the story that you want answered, ask it here!
Really. Please do.