//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: But Nobody Came // Story: The Sun Shines No More // by CGPH //------------------------------// Sunday was a quiet day in Canterlot. It was when all the kids were home resting from their fun Saturday and dreading going back to school on Monday. The adults and older teens retreated behind their closed curtains, content with having a duvet day as their heads recovered from the Saturday night. The mall closed early, and the majority of the stores inside closed even earlier. This deep into winter, the only people out were the daily joggers and dog walkers, giving the city an air of stillness. A large clock hung from the wall of the Canterlot Mall. As its hour hand ticked over onto twelve, a silver Skoda estate car pulled up outside. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie climbed out of the back seats carrying a number of papers between them, thanked the driver and set off walking towards the mall. As they neared the entrance, four girls stepped out from the shadows and greeted them. “Ah still find it freaky how on time ya’ll always are,” Applejack remarked to Twilight, causing a blush. “Did you get them done?” Rarity asked, gesturing towards the papers in their hands. “Sure did!” Pinkie thrust the papers forward into Rarity’s waist. Rarity nodded. “These look good.” She turned, gesturing towards the paper, “Sunset?” When all of the girls had stepped forward from their place in the shade, one of them had remained behind. Sunset was leaning back against the wall, holding onto herself. She was not having a good time. She’d spent so much time at the mall over the past few years, whether it was with her friends or out shopping on her own. It felt like a home away from home for her, and she knew these streets like the back of her hand. In fact she’d go one step further, and say this entire city felt like her home, she felt just as comfortable walking to the store as she did walking to her own bathroom. But that had all changed now. She didn’t feel comfortable, or safe. She felt terrified. She didn’t recognize these streets, and every person they’d passed on their way down she was sure was out to get her. Every shadow had a murder lurking in it, every car horn was an explosion and every raised voice was directed at her. She knew where she was but she still felt lost. This world had never felt so big to her, it was like she’d spent her life living in a hamster cage and now had a field to run around in. Normally (or what normal was to her now, anyway) she’d be panicking right now, being this out in the open. But she was around her friends, and while she was around them she felt safe. It was almost as though they produced an invisible shield, sealing her in from the bad things. As they stepped out of her apartment block and onto the street, she’d instantly begun to freak out. Her chest had tightened as the world began to spin around her. But then a hand landed on her shoulder and it was all she needed. One reassuring hand on the shoulder brought her back to reality. It was like she was stuck in a raging current and suddenly a life preserver had appeared. Now, she was on the brink, but in control. Whatever direction she looked in, her brain screamed in protest, telling her she needed to return to the safety of her apartment. But she gritted her teeth against it, and told herself she was safe. She was in control. Sunset stepped forward and took one of pages from her pink friend. There they were, all three of them. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. Sunset had seen this picture before, it was the one the school had used of them for the Battle of the Bands promotion. They all stood side by side holding a microphone, smiling into the camera. They looked so harmless, cute even. Sunset had known they were bad news, but never in a million years would she have imagined faces like that were capable of doing what they did to her. “Yeah. These will do,” she nodded. “Awesome!” Rainbow smiled. “Okay, what’s the plan then?” Applejack let out a cough, clearing her throat and drawing all eyes onto her. “Well, ah say we split up, can cover more ground tha’ way.” “I thought the point of us all doing this was so we had numbers on our side?” Fluttershy asked. Applejack waved her off, “We’ll just try and find leads fer now. Once we got something concrete, we’ll all group up and follow it together.” “If we find anything,” Rarity reminded her. Applejack rolled her eyes. “If we find anythin'.” “Is us all being separated such a good idea though? I mean, what if we do find something?” Twilight asked cautiously. Applejack nodded. “We can go in pairs. Two of us take the mall, two of us take the streets and three of us check the park.” “Wouldn’t it be smarter for the group of three to check the mall? They’ll be a lot more people to ask in there.” Applejack nodded again. “The mall it is. So who’s going where?” “I wouldn’t mind going to the park, if that’s okay?” Fluttershy asked politely. “I wanna do the mall! I’m great with people, if I’m the one asking we’ll have them found in no time!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Sunset and I will take the mall too, if anything just to keep a leash on Pinkie,” she laughed. Sunset frowned. She appreciated everything that Rarity was doing for her, really she did. But there was caring about somebody and then there was treating them like your damn child. “Actually,” Sunset interjected, “I’m going with Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow’s head lifted up at the mention of her name. She looked from Sunset to Rarity, confused. “Ermm, sure, okay,” she blinked. Sunset didn’t look in Rarity’s direction, but she imagined if she did she’d have seen a face of confusion and hurt. “O-kaaay…” Applejack’s eyes shifted around awkwardly. “Well then I guess ah’ll come ta the mall with ya. Which means Twilight, you got park duty with Fluttershy.” Twilight nodded. “I’m okay with that,” she smiled. “Sweet, let’s get this convoy rolling!” Rainbow punched the air. “Rainbooms, roll out!” Pinkie jabbed a finger into the distance. “Never seen ‘em before in my life, sorry.” Rainbow groaned. “Ah, okay… well, thanks anyway.” Four hours of searching later, Sunset and Rainbow found themselves deep in Canterlot’s housing district. The sky had clouded over and rain loomed on the horizon, which seemed to reflect the luck they’d been having. The neighborhood they ended up in belonged to the stereotypical nuclear families, white picket fences and all. The few people they had seen did not recognize the girls, and the ones that did hadn’t seen them recently. “I am soooooooo bored,” Rainbow moaned. She sighed and threw her arms into the air. “I’m going to call the girls again, see if they’ve had any better luck. Keep a look out?” The bacon-haired girl nodded. Despite her calm and cautious exterior, Sunset was ecstatic. The most excited she’d been in days, in fact. In the four hours of searching they’d had, they’d found absolutely nothing. Zip. Natta. Nowt. Not a morsel. And they’d been searching hard, they’d gone into every store within a five mile radius, asked every passer-by and put flyers up on every available lamppost. They’d even been in constant contact with their friends, who all appeared to be having similar luck. If The Dazzlings were still here, they were keeping themselves incredibly well hidden. Too well hidden, in fact. The more they looked, the more she felt the empty place inside her filling up. She was being restored. She wasn’t afraid to see what was around the corner anymore, because she had seen behind the corner and knew it was safe. She no longer felt overwhelmed by the hugeness of the world. She felt grounded, like she knew where she was again. The familiarity of these streets had returned; she no longer felt like a stranger. Sunset was now almost entirely convinced they’d skipped town. There was no other reason as to why nobody had seen them! They were gone, they had to be. When they’d first started looking, Sunset had been entirely in her shell. Any sense of protection she got from being in a large group went away the further away they looked, and even the knowledge of Rainbow being her strongest friend hadn’t helped soothe her anxiety. But eventually as fewer and fewer people seemed to even know the girls, much less remember them, she’d began to open up. Now for the first time in what felt like forever, Sunset felt safe. She had seen first-hand that these streets were a safe. She dared to say she almost felt normal again. “They haven’t seen anything either,” Rainbow returned, placing her cell in her pocket, “I say we call it quits, what about you?” Sunset gave another look around. These streets were nothing to fear. She’d spent years here, she knew they were safe. They were safe. She’d just had one bad experience because of some bad people. Some people who were gone now. Definitely, and completely, one-hundred percent gone. Sunset didn’t know where, and she didn’t care, all she cared about was the fact they were not here anymore. Because they were gone. “Yeah,” Sunset smiled, “I’m happy.” “Awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “Guess we won’t be needing these anymore!” Rainbow dumped the pile of wanted posters they’d be carrying around into the nearest trash-can and set off walking. “I told you we had nothing to worry about, those guys are long gone.” “I know,” Sunset blushed, rubbing her arm, “I guess I just needed to see that for myself.” “I tell you what though, it is a shame we didn’t get to have a tussle with them,” Rainbow nudged Sunset in the rib. Sunset rolled her eyes. “That’s not funny, Rainbow.” “Who’s joking?” Rainbow laughed. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want a little bit of revenge?” Sunset shook her head. “Honestly, I’m just happy they’re gone. Those girls being out of my life is a reward in itself.” Rainbow smiled and nodded. “You’re right. And they are out of your life, completely, positively, absolute-” “Hey, wait up!” The two girls looked around to see an elderly man approaching them. He wore a large dark trench coat, had a scraggly beard reaching his knees and (even at this distance) smelled of urine. Rainbow and Sunset tensed up at the sight of him, unable to make an escape in time. Instead they waited for the limping man to approach them. Sunset nudged herself slightly behind her friend. “Yer lookin’ for these girls?” he asked. He pulled out one of the wanted posters, one that he’d obviously just fished out of the trash. ‘Oh no.’ “Yeah, what of it?” Rainbow asked. Sunset felt the world around her begin to close in. ‘Oh, Celestia, please no.’ “Well, I only darn seen them two days ago! Bloody kids tried takin’ cash outta ma collection cup whist ah slept! Chased ‘em about seven blocks!” “That so, huh?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Where’d ya chase them to?” “The old Kaos building, not two blocks from here! Security kicked me out, but only after I gave him a piece of my mind! I told him, I said: ‘You shunt be letting young lassies of that nature stay here! They’re poisoning ‘ntire community,’ I said!” “This coming from a homeless dude?” The man recoiled, offended. “Why, young lady, I’ll have you know I’m an aspiring actor.” Rainbow frowned. “With a collection cup?” “I… well, I… gotta cover travel costs, sweetheart.” “Rigghhhttt… And you’re sure this was them?” The man gave a gruff nod. “Ah’d bet me life on it.” Rainbow turned to Sunset. “Well, what do you think?” “Let’s check it out.” “Wait, huh!?” Rainbow asked loudly. Sunset gave her a firm look and nodded. “I want to check it out, right now. If there’s even a chance of them being there, I need to know.” “Don’t you think we should like, wait for backup?” Rainbow frowned. Sunset looked away. She felt so on top of the world a moment ago, but now she doubted herself. This man was probably lying, hope to get on their good side in exchange for a donation. But she had come this far, she refused to have everything she’d regained snatched away from her like this. “No, they’ll take too long. We need to go, right now,” Sunset told her friend. Rainbow wave a weary shrug. “Okay, whatever you say.” She turned to the homeless man, “Hey, thanks for your help, buddy.” The man nodded. “Not a problem, me lassie. Don’t suppose you could help a brother out in return, could ya?” He offered his hand. ‘I knew it.’ Relief washed over her, but she remained vigilant. He had sown the seeds of doubt in her mind, but now, by showing of his true intent, he’d stopped them growing. But they still needed to be uprooted completely, so they were still going to check the place out. “Ehhh sure, what the heck? Guess you did help us out,” Rainbow took out her wallet and handed the man five dollars in cash. “Thank yer so much me ladies. 'cord bless ya.” He wandered off. “You sure this is a good idea?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah, I don’t believe a word he said, but I need to know. Let’s get this over with.” The building was only a short walk away from where the homeless man had pointed them. It was a tall slender building in desperate need of restoration. Multiple windows had been replaced with cardboard and graffiti covered the walls of the lower levels. Rainbow grimaced. “We sure this is it?” She asked. Sunset nodded. “It is. Come on.” The girls ventured up the stairs to the entrance and let themselves in. The lobby of the building reflected its outside in both appearance and feel. A large burly man sat behind a desk off to the side, smoking a cigar. As they approached him he didn’t look up. “Ehh, ‘scuse me?” Rainbow asked, leading the way. The man looked up from his newspaper, revealing a large scar trailing down his chin. Rainbow fought the urge to take a step back. “Have y-you seen these girls?” she showed the man one of the posters. The man leaned forward in his chair and examined the picture. He then looked back up at Rainbow, and then to Sunset. “Y’all cops?” He asked. Rainbow frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “Do we look like cops?” she gestured to herself and Sunset. The man’s eyes stayed focused on them a moment longer before returning to his newspaper. “Second Floor. Room Twelve.” “Thanks.” Rainbow exchanged glances with Sunset, who nodded. Rainbow gestured towards the staircase and the two set off towards it. “Hate to sound like a wet blanket, but you sure this is a good idea? This doesn’t really seem like the type of place those girls would hang out…” Rainbow said as she began to climb the stairs. Sunset nodded. “If there’s even a one percent chance they’re here, I have to know.” Rainbow gave a heavy huff. “And what if they are here, Sunset?” “Then…” Sunset had started before she knew how to finish. “T-then… well, you have my back, right?” Rainbow nodded. “Always.” As they reached the floor in question, Rainbow continued. “But I’d much prefer if it didn’t come to that, if you know what I mean.” Sunset nodded. “Don’t worry, it won’t. We’re not going to find anything, I’m sure of it.” “Which room is it?” Rainbow asked. Sunset looked around. “There’s five and seven, so, it must be down this way.” The girls ventured further down the corridor. The closer they got to the number they needed, the more Sunset felt her doubts gaining on her. ‘They won’t be here. They can’t be,’ she repeated. ‘It wouldn’t make sense.’ “This is it,” Rainbow said in a hushed tone, arriving at the door. The door stood seven feet tall, had a silver brass knob and was coated in chipped white paint. On its center hung a golden ‘12’. It looked so ordinary, like it was just a door. But it wasn’t just a door, it was the only thing separating Sunset from her nightmares. This door was all that stood in her way. She’d come so far in the past few days, and now this was it. Her final obstacle. All she needed to do was knock. “Sunset, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” That gave her the push she needed. She needed to prove she could do this. Not just to her friends, but to herself. She knocked on the door. As her knuckles left the wood, Sunset suddenly froze up, holding her hand in mid-air. A wave of chills washed over her as a white adrenaline hit surged through her veins. Her heart leaped into in her mouth. She could feel Rainbow’s anxious gaze in the back of her skull, but she couldn’t return it. Second began to slow, and every millisecond became an hour. She wanted to run. She wanted to get as far away from here as humanly possible. She wanted to go back to Equestria and live out the rest of her days there as a school teacher. There was nothing stopping her. She could do it. But she’d have to go now. Like, right now. Her feet couldn’t move. The walls began to collapse around her. The backdrop started to melt away like paint, oozing out on to the ground and leaving a black void in its place. From that black void, the familiar sensation of a raging torrent crashed in, swallowing her up and throwing her around like a dog with a chew toy. She felt her legs go numb. Black splodges began to fade in and out of her vision. “Wha-“ A fist collided with her face. Sunset blinked the memory away. Did this corridor seem a lot smaller than it did earlier? A second fist into her gut. The walls of this place sure looked a lot higher than she remembered… Another fist into her stomach. “AUUUGGH!” Boy, she hated pennies. There was a matter of seconds left before somebody opened that door, if that. She was seconds away from being reunited with her attackers. What would they do? She didn’t know this area, they could do anything and she’d be at their mercy. She shouldn’t have come alone. She should have waited for back up. She should have called the police the second she found out where they were. She shouldn’t have done this. This was a stupid idea. She was stupid, and now she was going to pay the price. But nobody came. Seconds ticked over. Four seconds. Five seconds. They were coming any minute now. Six seconds. Seven seconds. Did somebody just touch the door handle? Eight seconds. Nine seconds. Apparently not. Ten seconds. Eleven seconds. Sunset frowned and looked to Rainbow, who shared her confused expression. ‘Well, that was anti-climactic.’ “Erm, try it again. Harder,” Rainbow whispered. And so she did. Sunset pulled her hand into a fist and gave a second, much louder rasp on the door. This time there was a response, but not one she expected. As her fist made contact with the wood, the door loosely swung open a few inches, revealing a glimpse into the darkness inside. Her fist froze in mid-air again as she stared into the dark gap. She looked to Rainbow again. Her friend was staring at the door with equal shock and confusion. Sunset lowered her hand and inched closer to the gap, trying to spy as much of the room within as she could. She slowly uncurled her fist and placed it up against the paint-chipped wood. She pushed the door open a few more inches. The door swung silently open almost completely, illuminating the darkened room. Sunset stepped forward. “Hello?” she asked in no more than a whisper. On the wall opposite the door was a large window, scarcely covered by dark blue curtains. The curtains covered enough to hide the outside world from them, but not enough to make the room pitch black. Sunset could make out some finer details, and she wasn’t impressed with what she saw. The room was a complete state. What was once beige wallpaper (now yellow) had peeled itself off the walls, exposing the brick layer beneath. Large damp patches were clearly visible soaking through the ceiling, and with more than a few growing things on them. A thick musty smell hung in the air. It was, what, spoiled milk? Dog food? Sunset couldn’t tell. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, the finer details of the room became apparent to her. A carpet of clothes littered the floor (probably for the best, because the carpet looked filthy) and going by their smell, they were all unwashed. A large blow-up mattress lay half-pushed up against the wall, with the thick sheet on it scrunched up in knots. On the left side of the room was a large makeup table, complete with a mirror that had a splinter crack in its top right corner. On its table top lay an assortment of… used medical equipment? Sunset was no doctor, but she was pretty sure that stuff wasn’t very sanitary. The floor creaked as Rainbow entered the room behind her. “Jeez… they were really living the life here, weren’t they?” she asked. Rainbow took off into the room ahead of her. Sunset snatched out a hand to grab but missed. “Looks like nobody’s been here in ages!” Rainbow said loudly, putting her hands in her pockets and wandering around the flat, taking everything in. “Rainbow, shhh!” Sunset hissed. Rainbow waved her off. “Ahh, relax, we must’a’ missed ‘em by a few days.” Sunset looked over to the pile of medical equipment, and then into the stray beam of light escaping the curtains. “No, they’re still here. Or still live here, anyway.” Rainbow frowned. “How can you tell?” Sunset walked over to the makeup desk and traced her finger across a part of exposed wood. She held her finger up to friend. “No dust.” Rainbow leaned forward and squinted. “Huh. Well okay, Miss Holmes.” The reference made Sunset smile weakly, which Rainbow missed, having already gone back to exploring the room. She gave a silent gaze around the flat. They were still living here. Here, in this dump of an apartment. This was a studio apartment, which meant this was the only room, barring the toilet. This was their lives. It was a bit lost on Sunset, the fact that she was actually here. A week ago she thought she’d never see those girls again, and now she was stood in their home. After breaking in to it, no less. This was The Dazzlings’ version of the apartment she’d been holed up for in the past week. They lived here, they slept here, and they ate here. This was their base, the place they came home to every night. Sunset gave a slow frown. What had happened to their lives to make it this bad? Even after everything they’d done to her, after the mental and physical torture they had put her through, Sunset couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit sorry for them. In her nightmarish fantasies about them, she’d exaggerated them up into horrific demons out to get her. When, in reality, they were three teenage girls struggling to survive. They didn’t have any special powers. They weren’t super-secret spies who had been stalking her to kill her. They didn’t have superhuman strength. They didn’t even have their magic anymore. They were normal. They were less than normal, in fact; they were weak. They had been reduced to living in a rundown apartment and stealing from homeless people to make a living. They were dirt. Actually, no, less than dirt; they were nothing. Sunset had an expensive apartment, she had friends, she went to school, she had a life. They had this. They’d gotten lucky on that night, because in any other circumstance they couldn’t even come close to touching Sunset. This was everything she’d been wanting to see and more. So, the real issue was: why wasn’t she happy about it? “Hey, fancy a beer?” Rainbow noticed a small fridge and made a beeline towards it. “Rainbow, don’t, we don’t want them to know we were here,” Sunset tried. Rainbow shrugged, “Ahh, who cares if they knew we were here? I’ll buy them another one if they get antsy about it.” Rainbow knelt onto the floor and opened the door of the fridge. She froze. “Rainbow?” Rainbow didn’t answer, she simply continued staring into the fridge. Sunset noticed her breathing had halted. “What’s wrong?” After a moment her friend then straightened up, closed the fridge door and re-joined her in the center of the room. “Nothing, just…” Rainbow rubbed her neck. “Let’s get out of here, yeah? This place gives me the creeps.” Sunset frowned and spied the fridge behind Rainbow. “What’s in there?” When a response didn’t come immediately, she turned her attention back to her friend and saw something new. That was an expression she’d never seen on Rainbow Dash before. Her brow was scrunched up and her eyes sloped downwards. She looked… guilty? “Nothing,” she admitted, deflating, “i-it’s… empty.” Since getting a good look at The Dazzlings’ apartment, the way Sunset felt about them had begun to change. Deep in the pit of her stomach, where she had once felt anxiety and fear, she felt something new brewing. As the feeling slowly oozed into the rest of her body, she found herself wishing they’d never let themselves in. The vibe she got from the Sirens had done a full one-eighty, and suddenly she and the trio’s past together felt like nothing more than a faraway memory. She was starting to feel sympathetic towards them. Sunset sighed. “Let’s get out of here.” She and her rainbow-haired friend carefully made their way out, suddenly a lot more aware of their surroundings. Sunset pulled the front door to as much as she could, but it still swung open a few inches as she released it. “What should we tell the others?” Rainbow asked as they began down the corridor they came. Sunset didn’t know what was going through her head right now. Her emotions were at war with one another. She wouldn’t be able to make a rational decision right now, she needed time to think this over. She needed to process what she’d just seen. “We’ll tell them the truth… we didn’t find them.” “Bu-” “We didn't find them.” They’d reunited with the girls an hour after that, and had told them exactly that. Against her better judgement, Rainbow had agreed to leave out any details about finding their apartment. Sunset needed to figure out what her next move was going to be. The girls had called it quits then and there, and they all returned home, satisfied that they had solved Sunset’s issue. But Sunset’s issue hadn’t been solved. If anything, it had been made worse. She couldn’t stop thinking about their apartment. She didn’t even like standing in there, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like living there. The image of it, of the wallpaper peeling off the walls, of the medical equipment and the single mattress, it stuck with her long into the night. She didn’t know what it was that was drawing her interest. Was it the shock, the surprise? Or was she taking some low-key kind of pleasure from picturing her attackers living like that? It wasn’t either of them, she knew full well. She felt sorry for them. Ever since her reformation, Sunset had started looking on the bright side of life. She always looked for something good to say about everything. Even in the darkest of situations, she never gave up hope. Heck, she even enjoyed Batman Vs Superman! She always immediately saw the good in things, to the extent where it had actually become a problem. She’d become a pushover, she was far too forgiving and ready to trust, and it had already bounced back and bitten her in the ass a number of times. This was one of those times. Seeing them living like this, it had changed something inside her. Previously, the sirens had been these big evil demons out to get her, but now she saw them as just as vulnerable as she was. Seeing their apartment like that, it had humanized them for her, it had nullified the threat she felt from them. Even now, as she lay in her bed pondering this thought, she felt the safest she had done since this had all started. She wasn’t scared of them anymore. She should have been happy. Her problems were over and she could finally return to her normal life. But, she wasn’t. That nagging, underlying feeling was still there, it had just changed. The constant flashbacks to her attack were replaced with the images of poverty the sirens were living in. The fear she’d been feeling had been replaced with sympathy. She was still in the same situation as when this all began, except now she felt sympathy towards the girls who attacked her, rather than fear. As she finished that thought, something deep inside Sunset woke. In a corner of her brain she didn’t even know she had, something clicked, and all became clear for her. This had all been one big test. Twilight had told her that while studying the magic of friendship in Ponyville, she hadn’t known the lessons she’d learned had been lessons until they were over. They had first presented themselves as problems. It’d be a rough time to get through, but eventually, with the help of her friends, Twilight would come out on top, and usually with a new friend or two. That’s what this was. All of it. It was so clear to her now. This whole thing was one big friendship lesson. She’d been given a reason to hate The Dazzlings, and it had worked. But now she had been shown them at their weakest, and it was her choice on what to do next. She could take the darker path and let them continue the way they were, and a part of her almost wanted to do that. But no, she wasn’t that girl anymore. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She was going to help them. She didn’t know how, but she knew where to start. She was going to consult the expert. Sunset swung her top half off her bed and snatched up the magic journal from beneath her bed. Giving her first genuine smile in what felt like forever, she began to write. Dear Princess Twilight Boy… have I got a story for you.