Katon family home
Date: Feb 14th, time: 8:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Emi, ya need ta wear shoes, even if it is pajama day at school.”, Brigid said.

“No! Ah don’t wear shoes ta bed, so Ah shouldn’t need ta wear ‘hem.”, Emi said.

“Yes, ya do. Ya need ta protect y’r feet when outside.”

“But Ah’m wearing my onesie with the footies.”, Emi said, pointing at her raised foot.

“Dat doesn’t count. It be like goin’ outside in y’r socks.”

“No”

“Anzhong, help me with this.”

Sunset looked over to Anzhong and saw him trying to hold back his laughter as much as she was.

“Emi, if you don’t wear shoes over socks or pajamas with footies when you go outside, a yokai called the Kutsushita rikkā will come and lick your feet until they are completely wet.”, Anzhong said, trying to not break into a fit of laughter.

A look of absolute horror came over Emi’s face. “No! No! I’ll put shoes on!” Emi ran upstairs in a panic.

Sunset finally broke down into a fit of laughter. “Is -he he- is there really -pffa- is there really a yokai that licks socks? -bahahaha”

“Pff-hn, no, I completely made that one up.”, Anzhong said.

“Come on, we need to get going soon.”, Brigid said.

Canterlot Ice Rink
Date: Feb 15th, time: 3:30 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset’s hockey team split up into two teams and readied themselves for their practice match. Sunset was on one team, captained by High Winds, and Rainbow was captaining the other. Sunset’s team was currently putting together a game plan. Sunset was signing everything said as Megan, one of her teammates, was deaf.

“Okay, here’s the game plan.” High showed the team a whiteboard with her game plan on it.

“That’s a terrible game plan.”, Sunset said.

“Yeah, Violet should switch places with Sunset, and Ginger should switch places with Megan.”, Tiny said in her thick South African accent.

“The only way that plan could be worse is if you had Tiny as a forward.”, Violet said.

“Hey, I’m the captain. I make the game plans.”, High said.

“You were picked at random to be captain, and it's probational.”, Sunset translated for Meg.

“Yeah, I say we switch captains.”, Ginger said.

“Well, fine then. Any nominees.”, High said indignantly.

“I nominate Sunset. All in favor?”, Tiny said.

Ginger, Sunset, Tiny, Violet, and Meg all raised their hands. High gave everyone sour looks.

“Hey Couch, we’re gonna switch captains!”, Ginger called.

“Whatever, just be ready to play in five minutes.”, the coach said.

Sunset extended her hand for the whiteboard. High gave the whiteboard to Sunset. “So, the lines are good, but, like Tiny said, Ginger, switch with Meg, and Violet, switch with me.”

Everyone gave their affirmations and took up their positions. Tiny was netminder, Ginger and Meg were defenseman, and Sunset, Violet, and High were the forwards. On the other team, Rainbow, Sherbirt, and Grace were forwards, Spade and Harper were defensemen, and Betta was netminder. Sunset and Rainbow were centers. Sunset and Rainbow got into position and stared each other down. The puck was dropped, and the game was on.

Sunset got the puck first, rounded Rainbow, and passed the puck to High. Sherbirt tried to intercept, but High passed to Violet. Violet tried to rush the net but was intercepted by Harper. Harper passed the puck to Rainbow, and Rainbow rushed the net. Rainbow took her shot, but it was denied by Tiny. Tiny passed the puck to Meg, and Meg passed the puck to Sunset. Sunset saw Rainbow coming to bodycheck her, but Sunset was bigger and leaned into the check. Rainbow was sent to the ice, and Sunset made a beeline line to the net. As soon as Sunset was over the centerline, she shot the puck, and it soared straight between Betta’s legs and into the net.

Ice Rink locker room
Date: same day, time: 4:35 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset stared down at the captain’s patch velcroed to her jersey. The fact she had this on still baffled her. One minute she was celebrating her team’s victory then the next, Rainbow was slapping the captain’s patch onto her jersey. She said that Sunset deserved it, and she most certainly did, but it was still odd. She knew that she should feel excited about this, but she didn’t. Maybe it’s because I don’t know why I got it.

“Hey, Rainbow.”, Sunset said as Rainbow was walking past.

“Yeah, what’s up.”

“What made you want to give me this?”

“What happened to keeping interactions to a minimum?”

“Minimum doesn’t mean ‘none’. It means ‘only what is necessary’. This is necessary information.”

“It’s because you’re a great leader. I’d follow you.” Rainbow left it at that and walked off.

That answer was sufficient but not satisfactory. However, Sunset knew she was not likely to get a better explanation from her teammate.

Sunset decided to stick around the rink for a little bit and explore. Sunset walked out to the rink and saw the Zamboni going across the ice. Zamboni is a strange word. I wonder how it got that name. The ice rink sat on the edge of the border of Canterlot and Canterville. It was relatively small but could still hold several thousand people. The rink and seatings make up the center of the arena. The outer ring of the arena is made up of a lower ring, where the locker rooms and the equipment storage rooms are, and an upper ring, where the concessions, bathrooms, and all the other spectator stuff are. Sunset had never been to the upper ring, so she decided to explore there. Making her way upstairs, Sunset saw a lot of old posters for old hockey games. There was one for the nineteen sixties with clear propaganda on it. The upper ring had clearly not been updated much since the arena was first built in 1926, but it had a strange vintage look to it that Sunset rather liked. “Pit Trap’s bar and lounge, established 1926” It was one of the few permanent fixtures in the upper ring. Sunset pulled on the door and found it unlocked. Odd. Well, it is unlocked. Sunset walked in and found the place to be exactly what she expected. The interior has a green and brown color scheme. The far wall consisted solely of a floor to ceiling window that allowed the lounge’s occupant’s to watch the game.

“Can I help you with something?” Sunset spun to the source of the voice. Sunset found an elderly man standing behind the bar.

“Hi, I was just exploring.”, Sunset said.

“Do your parents know where you are?”, the man said.

“Yes” It was a lie, but Sunset wasn’t gonna tell an absolute stranger that she was alone. “Are you Pit Trap?”

“No, Pit Trap was my grandfather. I’m Mud Trap. What’s your name?”, Mud Trap said.

“Sunset. Why are you here alone?”

“I like watching the young teams practice. You’re one of the players, right?”

“Yeah, I’m number seven.” Sunset walked over to the window to see the current team playing. Same team that always played after them. Soon Sunset got bored and left the lounge. Sunset continued to look around, but everything else was locked up. Sunset left the arena and walked down to the bus stop. When she got to the bus stop, she checked her phone. Ten minutes before the bus shows up. “Yey, ten minutes in the cold.”, Sunset deadpanned. Sunset still felt this numbness inside her. Come to think of it, it has been getting harder to feel excitement about anything. It got worse whenever Sunset was alone. When she was with others, she would mimic what the other people were feeling. Group survival mechanism. Maybe the tournament will get me excited.

CMS fencing club
Date: Feb 23th, time: 3:30 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset and Rose were practicing together, and Sunset was getting the upper hand. Rose was quickly losing ground. Sunset thrusted her sabre, and Rose fell backwards.

“Do you expect to beat Crystal Prep like that?! Not even the worst fencer I know fell on his ass!”, Sunset berated.

“I don’t expect to beat Crystal Prep! Nobody’s beaten them at anything in decades!”, Rose shouted back.

“And it’s attitudes like that will keep them undefeated!”

“Girls, what is going on?!”, Coach Swift asked.

“Sunset’s a psycho!”, Rose shouted.

Sunset was about to retort when Coach Swift interrupted. “Ladies, let’s all take a deep breath and maybe a fiver. Sunset you go sit over there, and Rose, you sit over there.” Coach Swift pointed to opposite sides of the gym.

“You’re putting us in timeout! We need ta train!”, Sunset shouted.

“No, you need to take breaks. Now go, or I’ll send you both to the principal's office.”

Sunset walked off with a huff, and Rose walked off grumbling she didn’t do anything. When Sunset sat down, she realized that she still didn’t feel excited. She just felt mad. What’s happening to me?

Minerva’s house
Date: same day, time: 5:00 pm

*Emi’s perspective*

Emi and Sunset sat on the bench in Minerva’s backyard. Emi and Sunset were playing I spy, and Emi was winning. Emi looked over to Sunset, as Sunset seemed like she wasn’t even trying. Sunset seemed sad, but there was something else as well, but Emi couldn’t identify it.

“Sunset, are you okay?”

“Hmm, yeah, I’m fine.”

“Then why are you so sad?”

“I just haven’t been feeling excited. I should feel excited when I’m playing sports, but I haven’t.”

Emi thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. “Do you have your house keys?”

“Yes. Why?”

Emi hopped off the bench and held her hand out for Sunset. “Come with me.”

Sunset looked confused but complied. Emi led Sunset back into Minerva’s house and towards the front door. “Minerva! We’re going home for a bit!”, Emi shouted as they passed the basement door. “Be careful!”, Minerva shouted back. Emi led Sunset out the house, across the street, into their house, and up to her room. Emi sat Sunset down on her bed, went to her closet, and pulled out her doctor kit.

“What are you doing with that?”, Sunset asked.

“Ah am gonna figure out what is wrong with ya.”, Emi said as she put on her oversized lab coat. Emi picked up her doctor bag and made her way over to Sunset. Sunset started giggling. “What’s so funny. Medicine is no laughing matter.” “I’m sorry. You jus’ look so damn cute.” “Well, stop laughing. We need to figure out what’s wrong with ya.” “Okay, okay.” Emi hopped up onto her bed, pulled out her stethoscope, and put it over her shoulders. “So, what seems to be the problem?” “I’ve been feeling emotionally numb and haven’t been excited for anything in a while.” “Oh”, Emi said sadly. “That sounds like something’s wrong in here.” Emi pointed to Sunset’s head. Emi then suddenly stood up straight, crossed her arms, and began looking very serious. “I diagnose you with lots of sadness. All the sad and scary things y’ve gone through have left you emotionally drained and unable to feel excited.” “Do you have a treatment plan?” “Hmm, hugs, lots of them.” Emi proceeded to wrap Sunset up as best she could.

“Ya know, y’r the best thing in my life.”, Sunset said, returning the hug.

Author's Note

This is gonna be the last chapter for a while. I gotta go binge watch Animaniacs season 2. I'll be back with new chapters soon.