To start over

by Midnight_Song95

Chapter 4

“Take off your jacket.”

The command caught Sunset off-guard and made her nervous now that she was inside the small office with Luna. Just what was she planning?

“W-what?” Sunset Stammered, eyes growing wide as she took an instinctive step back. The woman suddenly seemed more intimidating than usual.

“I said take off your jacket. There is blood on the bottom of your shirt, now either you can remove your jacket or I can call emergency services.” Luna responded, crossing her arms over her chest. She just hoped that Sunset didn't call her bluff.

“Y-you can't! If they catch on that I'm not from here…”

Luna winced when she heard the panic in the girl’s voice. Okay, never trying that tactic again. I liked her better when she argued with and backtalked anyone of authority. She thought as she moved to put a hand on the redhead’s shoulder.

“Sunset, relax. But I need to see how badly you are injured.”

The tone that Luna took caught Sunset off-guard because Luna’s tone had become softer than she had ever heard it. Knowing that she didn't have much of a choice she slowly shrugged out of her jacket, wincing as hot pain ran through her shoulders.

Luna had to bite back a gasp when she saw the condition of Sunset’s shirt, which was covered in blood. “Sunset, how did this happen?” she asked, gingerly lifting the fabric from the girl’s back.

She winced as she saw this, her stomach twisting with guilt as she saw the condition that the girl’s skin was in. There was bruising covering the whole upper and lower parts of her back, though the worst part was her shoulder blades where the skin seemed to have been flayed away, leaving raw, angry wounds as wide as Luna’s palm.

Why didn't she say anything? It had to hurt like hell when she was working Friday night and Saturday. She wondered as Sunset answered her in a whisper “It was the demon. When I transformed I...could feel the skin ripping. H-how bad is it?”

Sunset was afraid to know, especially since she had gotten only a few hours of sleep the night before due to the pain.

“Like a bad case of road rash. Why didn't you tell either Celestia or I about this?” Luna said in response as she moved toward her desk, cleaning the top of it off and motioning for Sunset to sit on the surface before retrieving a first aid kit.

“Why would I? I did something dumb and got exactly what I deserved.” Sunset responded, earning an unreadable look.

“You deserved getting humiliated in front of the whole school that night, not this. Does magic always affect the user in such a way?” Luna responded.

“No, only if someone tries to use more power than they can handle. I'm lucky it didn't kill me. Sometimes I wish it did.” Sunset answered, her voice becoming almost a whisper as she said the last part of her statement.

“against protocol or not if you say that again I will hit you.”

Sunset just stared at the woman, trying to figure out if she was serious or not. Would Luna really hit her? She wondered though she relaxed when Luna smiled slightly. Was that an attempt at a joke? Since when did Nightmare moon actually smile?

“you would not.” She challenged, earning a slight chuckle as Luna opened a bottle of sterile water. “Do you want to try me?” Luna retorted in an almost playful tone as she started washing away the blood, being as gentle as possible.

Sunset clenched her jacket tight in her arms as she tried to keep from flinching away from the Vice Principal, knowing that she was trying to be as gentle as possible. This went on for a few minutes until Luna spoke again “Sunset, try to brace yourself because this will sting.”

Sunset closed her eyes as she buried her face against the fabric, trying to bite back the scream as something cold was sprayed onto her back, igniting into a fire in the next second. You deserve this, you were the idiot who thought you could just put on a crown and become a princess! She reminded herself though even this didn't keep the tears at bay.

“Why can't you be more like your brother?”

“You stupid foal! You will never make anything worthwhile of yourself!”

Her mind raced with memories, each word seeming even truer now that she had done something so stupid.

“Sunset? Are you okay?”

She suddenly became aware of a hand stroking her hair, giving her something to focus on instead of the self-abusing thoughts that were rushing through her mind. “I know I deserve everything that is happening but….I…” Sunset tried to form a sentence, though her throat tightened as a sob wracked her frame.

“Sunset, no one deserves to have salt thrown into their eyes or have someone attack them when they are unable to defend themselves.” Luna said, feeling yet another wave of anger at herself for adding to the girl’s suffering.

“But I do I could have.....I almost killed those girls. I didn't want to….I tried to stop but it was still my fault.” the redhead sobbed out, earning a sigh.

“Did you know you would turn into that thing?” she questioned getting a negative shake of the head in response “Then what did you believe would happen?”

Sunset tried to calm herself down to answer the woman, which was easier now that the burning sensation seemed to be dying down. “I thought I would become powerful and that I could return to my world and prove to my former mentor that I was worthy of becoming an alicorn. I didn't know that it would take the anger I felt and turn it into...that thing.”

Luna nodded, moving away from her then and began to apply bandages to the teen’s battered skin. “So there was no plans on leading an army?” Luna asked, earning a sigh

“No, that would have been useless. I mean it took me a week just to learn to walk on two legs, I couldn't imagine how clumsy someone born with two would be while learning to walk on four!” Sunset answered, chuckling slightly at the mental image.

A silence fell over them then, Luna becoming lost in thought.
“I think this should be a lesson about letting your anger and hatred control you because essentially that is what happened that night. Trust me Sunset, you are not the only person who has had to learn that lesson. Now, let’s go talk to Celestia. I need to get you a clean shirt and I need to speak with a few people about something important.”

Comments

[andres_arg]

I love that Luna is the first who helps Sunset after the formal fall

[HB_DS2013]

Are Sunset and Sunburst related in this fic?

[Midnight_Song95]

8905506
Yes. (A lot will be explained through the story.)

[clownluv]

That would be funny to see an army of teens going from walking on two legs to walking on four legs stumbling all the time while brainwashed.

[Charli13]

“Why can't you be more like your brother?”

“You stupid foal! You will never make anything worthwhile of yourself!”

Lines like these are always hard to read, for anyone, but especially for people who have been emotionally abused you forget how to trust and overthink everything and are always on edge you always expect anyone to turn on you at any moment. Really when the people that are supposed to love you the most call you waste of space and the biggest disappointment on a regular bases you come to expect it. Seeing words like this used in writing brings you back. It was well used in this chapter though well done.

[Yubella]

“You deserved getting humiliated in front of the whole school that night, not this. Does magic always affect the user in such a way?” Luna responded.

I don't think anyone deserves that unless it was seriously bad.

[Speedingninja]

Luna winced when she heard the panic in the girl’s voice. Okay, never trying that tactic again. I liked her better when she argued with and backtalked anyone of authority. She thought as she moved to put a hand on the redhead’s shoulder.

Is it bad that I can see Luna saying that