August 4th, Saturday.
Music pumped through the speakers as one rather short teen rocked out to the beat of what could only be described as sugary sweet metal—hard riffs mixed with sweet, almost pop like voices in what sounded like Japanese. The teen was mid-dress: boy shorts, a bra and a towel were all that adorned her currently as she jammed around her room. It was in a bit of a mess, with various CD cases scattered around, as well as a good number of writing journals, a few laid open, displaying their contents to the world at large. Not that she minded.
The ding of a message on her phone drew the teen from the good vibes she was in, as she snagged the device from the bed and tilted her head at the message, one of her various alert apps had gotten her attention. “BOGO at Seaside Sounds?!”
The squee nearly rocked the small home off its foundation as she threw off the towel from her morning shower, heading to her closet while texting with one hand, her thumb a virtual blur.
LT: Hey Sugs! Yo U Tots gotta come with me to the pier! BOGO sale!!!!!
Tart smirked as she started getting ready, selecting an ensemble that fit her mood for the day, her phone chirped with the tone assigned to Sugarcoat, and she blinked as the text displayed.
SC: You know I can’t today LT, I really need to finish this report for History, and Mom needs me here today… Sorry.
Her face fell slightly at that, but then, she got an idea.
“A little white lie never hurt anyone, right?”
Deftly her fingers slid to the speed dial she had Sweet Pea on while she slipped on the small tube top to cover her torso.
“Hey Lems, what’s up?”
“Hey Pea, 911 sitch, seriously need you at pier 39 like, right now!”
“Wha? Is everything okay?”
“Just please! I’ll see you at the DQ, lunch is on me, okay?”
Sliding the phone home in her rear pocket after ending the call, she hammered out a quick status update on her social media page. Not waiting for an answer, she snagged her rollerblades.
“Yeah, today’s going to be awesome!” sipping the earbuds into her ears, she headed out the door, destination firmly in mind.
Sweet Pea had been mid-study session, something she’d been kinda putting to the side lately since she had began working on her social circle. Not to mention the stress of Tripwire’s escape. But the call had been from Lems and there’d been a bit of desperation in her voice.
She looked down at the Algebra book, then to her phone after the call had finished. “Hmm, Algebra, or Lems?” she chuckled already knowing the answer to that question, despite her desire to study, she could always finish up when she got home, besides….
“You’re only young once right?” she headed for her closet, her focus turning to just what to wear on such a warm day. Settling finally on a pair of light blue jeans that wouldn’t be too heavy and a white shortsleeve blouse, she ran a brush through her hair getting the highlights just right, before nodding to herself and snagging a cute pair of flats. Heading down stairs (snagging a pop tart for a snack on the way), she slipped by her sister, Lemony Gems, and gave her a hug on the way out.
“Hey, got a call from Lems, she needs me at the pier. Sounded important.”
Lemony Gems blinked, hugging her sister back. “Oh? Well, just be careful, okay? And be home before dark!” she called out to the retreating form of Sweet Pea, who gave a wave back as she passed Buck Withers, her brother, who was just walking in.
“Whoa there, Kiddo…” he barely got the words out before she hugged him on the way.
“I’ll be back later, Lems called for me. Gotta hurry.”
With that, she headed down the path, leaving two rather confused adults looking at each other.
“She seemed... happy.” Buck said as he looked to her retreating form.
Lemony chuckled. “Hey, we were young not that long ago. You know, at that age, friends are your entire world.”
Buck couldn’t help but smile at that. “Yeah… sure seemed like it, huh?”
Coffee – it had always been his stimulant of choice, and the tall, black one he was sipping on currently while sitting tucked away in a small cafe was doing its intended job of keeping him focused as he juggled through three different social media accounts, Tripwire smirked as he noticed the seeming youngest of the trio of girls had posted an update to her social media.
Totally hitting Pier 39 today with a BFF, BOGO here we come!
The one named Lemon Tart had posted that. He smirked, admittedly the girls were all cute. Sugarcoat had that sweet mocha look to her, Lemon Tart looked really young, which hit a chord with Tripwire that made him consider maybe getting to know her a bit better, but his true target… he toggled over to the page with Sweet Pea, his eyes feasting on the girl. She was so much older, but that hair, those eyes, nothing would get those looks out of Trip’s mind.
He’d gotten a lead on the girl’s social media accounts from an old friend, and he’d cashed in the favor owed to get the information to follow them. However, Sugarcoat’s profile was private, outside of her image and name, he couldn’t get much more information there. Lemon and Sweet Pea, however, had public profiles, and led seemingly public online lives. Pea didn’t post much, he’d discovered, though a group shot photo of the three girls from the school cafeteria had been enough to confirm her social circle. Lemon Tart on the other hand, seemed to post a ton. Between story updates to personal info, the girl didn’t hardly seem to hide a thing, including posting a few rather saucy images of herself, clearly fancying herself a looker.
“Bet she’d love a good rut.” he sneered to himself, knocking back the remainder of the coffee. He closed the tablet and stretched, glancing around before leaving a tip and heading for the car. He had a pier to get to. At the very least, he could tail this Lemon Tart girl—she’d eventually lead him to Sweet Pea, and maybe he’d show Lemon just what she’d been missing out on.
“Ugh...do we have to do this, Lems?” Sweet Pea groaned. She had planned to stay home and work on her studying – for a rare change, she was on a roll, and she wanted to study – but then she got an emergency call from her friend Lemon Tart who said she needed her help urgently. Said help turned out to be a huge sale at the boutique record store at Pier 39.
“Aww, c’mon! I couldn’t get Sugarcoat to help me, and you were the only one I could get a hold of!” Lemon groaned.
“And why are we doing this again?”
“Because Seaside Sounds is having a totally awesome BOGO sale on house music!”
“When did you start listening to house?” Pea asked.
“You know me! I’m always listening to all things awesome!” Showing her usual flagrant disregard for... well, everything, she danced around the crowd, wearing her “summer attire”: tube top, shorts that would be more at home on a ten-year-old (mainly because they’d fit normally) and rollerblades. Even Pea hadn’t dressed as scantily during her days as Amelia, and while her friends had gotten her to loosen up slightly on the “near-burka clothing” (as Sugarcoat called it), she still wouldn’t dress as scantily as Lemon did.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost there! The store’s right next to Dock I.” Lemon slid around one guy, dodging his attempt to pat her on the butt, instead giving him a playful wink and moving on.
Pea was about to chew out her friend for her flirting, but instead noticed someone familiar waiting by the dock. Moreover, she was with a very attractive young man. “Hey, do you mind a second? Think I see someone I know.”
Lemon shrugged, then slid to a stop. “Sure, friend away. We got time.”
Pea went up to the pair and said, “Hey, Sunny! Why didn’t you tell me you were in town? And who’s your boyfriend?”
Sunset Shimmer turned around, but the response she got wasn’t one she expected from one of her (technically) oldest friends. “Excuse me, but do I know you?”
“Haha, Sunny. Seriously, where’s Twily and the others?” She then looked at the guy. “Or do your parents know about this?”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset told her, “but you must be mistaking me for someone else.”
“Red and gold hair, cyan eyes, has a sorta model look? No, I don’t think so,” Pea told her. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, Sunny, but you don’t have to pret—”
“Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are, and frankly, you’re being a little pushy at the moment. Now, I have a dinner date – and who he is, is frankly none of your business – so if you’ll excuse me, please leave me alone.”
At that point, Pea was about to say something nastier, but Lemon intervened. “C’mon, Pea, you promised me!” she said, grabbing her friend’s arm.
“Fine,” she told her. “But this isn’t over yet, Sunny.”
Lemon managed to drag her friend into Seaside Sounds, but no sooner than she did, Pea pulled out her phone and dialed a particular number. “Sunny, what the fuck?”
“Oh, hey, Pea. What’s up?” Sunset asked on the other end.
“What’s up is that you just blew me off at Dock I with that guy you’re with! Not cool, Sunset, not cool at all.”
“Huh?” the girl said on the other side. “Dock I? I didn’t even know we had a place like that here in Canterlot!”
“Canterlot? I’m here at Fisherman’s Wharf, you doof! So why the hell did you blow me off? It’s not like I was hitting on him or anything!”
“Wait, what? I’m lost here. What are you talking about?” Frustrated, Pea unloaded on Sunset, explaining everything that had happened in the past few minutes. “Uh, Pea?” Sunset finally replied, “I’m here in my bedroom in Canterlot.”
“Look, I know what I saw, Sunny – she looked exactly like you! My friend Lemon Tart’s with me and she can vouch.”
There was some background noise, and a second later a different voice chimed in. “Pea, this is Twily. We are sitting in Sunny’s bedroom in our house.”
“Wow, you aren’t kidding,” Pea admitted. “Uh, sorry.”
“No worries; happens all the time. Pinkie was telling me about some exchange student that was in town last year that looked a little bit like me. Would’ve been interesting to meet her.”
“Yeah, but you gotta see this girl; she’s a dead ringer. Hold on, let me go outside and get a picture.” Pea departed the store to see the ferry sailing away. “Well, so much for that; she’s not there anymore.”
“I believe you, Pea, it’s not a problem, and Sunny’s not offended, so no problem there.” The two talked for a few more minutes, and then finally Pea ended the call.
“Pea, you promised to help me carry these!” Lemon said as she poked her head out of the store.
“Fine, coming!” the teen grumbled.
“That’s just… weird.” Sweet Pea glanced back out the door, sighing a bit as she shook her head and took a couple of the offered bags to help her friend. How could she be so mistaken about one of her closest friends from Canterlot? That girl looked so much like Sunset.
“Relax, Pea. Seriously, you get freaked out over the tiniest things. So she looked like your friend, big whoop. There’s tons of people out in the world, and they say everyone has a doppelganger, you know.”
“Well yeah, but… no, you know you’re right. I’m totally freaking for no reason.” something still felt odd about it, the girl even had a voice similar to Sunset’s, but she spoke so properly.
“Maybe you just met her interdimensional counterpart or something,” teased Lemon, who tugged the girl over, sliding her own arm around Pea’s own, giving the taller girl a hug. “Come on, you’ve gotta help me with this… there’s soooo much House music here I can’t pick!”
Sweet Pea couldn’t help but smile at the contact, and nodded. “Yeah yeah, you audioslave. Fine, we’ll see what we can find.”
Lemon, for her part, gave Sweet Pea’s arm a swat. “Hey, I resemble that comment!” she giggled, and went back to browsing, the pile of disks slowly growing.
Tripwire watched with interest, as the girl told off Sweet Pea, then took off on the boat with her seemingly boyfriend. “Huh, how the hell does Pea know so many hotties?” he asked himself, leaning against the railing, watching Pea and Lemon Tart enter the Seaside Sounds shop.
Things were close, he had looked over the area for a bit, and the pier was fairly busy, he’d have to track the girls for some time longer, wait till they were alone.
He was currently sitting on one of the many benches that dotted the pier, easily relaxing and looking much like a guy just taking a break, sipping on a cola. To the average everyday person, he was just another guy out enjoying the sea air of San Francisco.
It wasn’t too much longer before his targets exited the shop, and began their way down the pier and back inland. Waiting a moment, but keeping them in sight, he stood, and began his stalk once more.
Pea shifted the bags a bit and rolled her eyes. “Only you could go out and nearly buy the whole record store out of their house selection, Lems.”
Lemon Tart smirked, skating backwards to stick her tongue out at her friend playfully. “Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’re still mad at me for calling you out here.” She skated a circle around Sweet Pea and smirked, hugging her from behind. “I mean, seriously, I just really wanted to spend some time with one of my best friends, is that so wrong?”
Pea couldn’t help but smile at the embrace, and the constant good vibes that her friend seemed to almost always give off. “Yeah, okay, I mean I guess it is more fun than Math.”
Her sights set for the path beyond the parking lot, Lemon focused ahead, slowing her speed so Pea could catch up. “So, I heard Lightning ended up with a good couple of days of detention after the stunt she pulled with you.”
Pea sighed. “You know, I don’t even get why she has it out for me, or why she keeps calling you and Coat the Les Squad and all that.”
Lems winced slightly. “That’s... kinda my fault. I’m pretty open about it, but yeah, I kinda asked Coat out when we first met. She’s straight, so it clearly didn’t work out, but I kinda never shook the rep. Even though we’re good friends… it doesn’t help that every crush I end up with seems to blow up in my face.”
Pea blinked. “Every one?” she asked curiously, tucking a strand of blue-green hair behind her ear and tilting her head to one side, “I mean seriously, you’re a bit of a spaz sometimes, but I can’t imagine you wouldn’t have found someone by now.”
Lemon’s heart soared at that compliment. “I dunno, but I seem to always crush on straight girls.” she sighed dramatically coming to Pea’s side and wrapping an arm around her friends own. “You’ll never leave me though right?” She asked, giving Sweet Pea a pair of puppy dog eyes that would make Fluttershy squee.
Sweet Pea’s eyes blinked a bit, and she blushed, “Lems, I came out here as soon as I heard the 911 call. Granted, you lied, and you’re gonna pay for that one with another lunch, but I care, okay?” Her heart was practically melting at the other teen’s puppy dog eyes though, and she started putting two and two together, the touches, the looks. “Level with me though… you’re, uh, crushing on me aren't you?”
At the question, Lemon Tart blushed furiously, and let go of her friends arm, her eyes downcast a bit, “Yeah… yeah I kinda am.” she slowed to a stop. They’d made a good bit of progress down one of the side streets, it was another few blocks up to Lemon’s house. “I mean, don’t be mad, okay? But like, you’re totally awesome, and I just, I dunno, I just kinda….”
Unable to get the words out, she let her skates take her back down the slight incline a bit, before she bumped into someone. “Ahh!” The arms that came around her were strong, and clearly male, causing her to tense up, but what she wasn’t ready for, was the sudden strength with which she was tossed to the side.
Pea had turned just in time to see her friend skate backwards into a rather tall, burly man. It took her a moment to realise who it was as he grabbed Lems and tossed her aside almost like a rag doll. It was all Pea could do to hold back a scream of fear as he settled his eyes on her, and began moving towards her. Time slowed, as realization sunk into Sweet Pea, the features of the man before her clearing in her mind.
Tripwire.
The scream she released drowned out the scream that Lemon had unleashed as she twisted her ankle in the fall. Pea, having darted to the side to try to help her friend, froze mid-step as the realization of who was in front of her came to her mind.
Tripwire moved, fast, closing the distance between himself and Sweet Pea, a look of almost feral glee etched across his face as he instantly ignored the girl he’d just tossed aside for his true prey.
Lemon winced, and worked the blade’s quick release, freeing her feet from the roller blades, she instantly focused on Sweet Pea and this man who were both now booking it down the street. “Oh fuck… PEA, RUN!”
Pea didn’t even hear her friend’s yell, her mind was clouded with the primal urge to run already, her fight or flight reflex firmly on it’s flight setting. She ran, hard and fast, her exhales nothing but a scream for help, while she ran, dodging trash cans. She darted across an intersection, with Tripwire hot on her heels.
“GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!” The older male reached out, and finally caught her shoulder, spinning Pea around as he missed his grip, but still held her long enough to change her momentum, causing her to spin hard against a tree.
“Oof!” The wind knocked out of her, Sweet Pea went down hard, skinning her arm in the process as she tried to keep her footing but was unable, rolling to a stop against the curb of the sidewalk. She tried to get her feet back under her as Tripwire grabbed her and hauled her hard into the alleyway to their right.
“Oh, no you don’t, Sweet Poon.” he sneered, slamming her hard around behind one of the dumpsters about halfway down the alleyway, pinning her against it he looked into her eyes, an arm across the top of her chest holding her in place as his other hand covered her mouth to keep her from screaming anymore. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this little reunion?” he asked, eyes shining with hate, lust, and almost pure rage.
Pea’s eyes were wide with fear: an elemental, primal fear, and in that moment of terror, she heard the cold, seductive laugh of the darkness that kept taunting her.
“Ahh, look who it is, the first cock to ever take you, the one that caused you to go after every cock you ever saw. Nothing like a reunion for old times sake, eh?”
Her mind was hazy from the pain and the adrenaline, her breath short, coming in deep, snotty gasps as she tried to fight against the older, stronger male.
Tripwire’s eyes were wide as he looked down at Sweet Pea. “My beautiful little Sweet Poon, my my how you’ve grown.” he sneered, his hand moving to roughly grab one of her breasts while he held her hard against the dumpster. He was ready to have some fun, here and now.
But what he wasn’t ready for was the rather large wooden plank that landed square across the back of his head, crumpling him into a heap to Pea’s left, and freeing her from his grasp as she looked up to see Lemon Tart standing there, chest heaving as she dropped the plank and held a hand out to Sweet Pea. “We gotta go, now! Who knows when he’ll come to!”
Pea nodded, taking the hand and standing up shakily, as they moved, she noticed the limp that Lemon had, and shifted to help her walk on the twisted ankle. “You okay?”
Lemon shook her head, “No, but neither are you. Look, let’s just get to my place okay? It’s just two blocks up.”
With a busted-up Lemon Tart, and not feeling the best herself, the pair moved forward at as fast a pace as they could, Tart had taken enough time to change into the sandals she’d brought so walking wasn’t an issue, but she’d lost her blades in her hurry, and frankly, their lives were more important.
They left the crumpled form of Tripwire behind, moving quickly out of the alley way, and down the street. They would be a block away before he would come to. Gathering himself, he limped out of the alleyway nursing his throbbing head has he headed back to his procured vehicle, left a couple of streets over.
“Okay, what, THE FUCK?” Lemon Tart asked as they finally made it past her front door, and locked it, bolting the deadbolt and the chain lock as she and Pea leaned against the door for just a moment, catching their breaths.
Pea, for her part, had slumped against the door, the adrenaline finally having run it’s course. She felt exhausted, drained, and emotionally broken, as she found herself sobbing next to her friend, leaning against Tart’s good right leg, she broke down completely.
Lemon winced, for her part, the encounter had left her scared, confused, hurt, and more than a little pissed off. Her best friend, and herself, had just come under attack by a guy that was very clearly gunning for Pea.
Not sure what else to do, Lemon Tart just gently ran her fingers through Pea’s short cropped hair. The broken girl, simply hugged her friends leg tighter, whimpering.
“It was him.” She finally got out, the sound almost a croak in her throat. “Tripwire… m-my uncle.”
Lemon’s eyes shot wide. “Tripwire, as in the guy who...” the rest died on her tongue as she watched her friend's reaction.
Pea looked up at Lems and nodded, the fear in her eyes raw. “Yes.” Her voice was tiny, practically a whisper as she wiped at her eyes with her fingers, but the tears just kept coming.
Lemon’s mind was racing as she took in the information, but nodded. “Okay, okay, come on, let’s get to my room, and I’ll get the first aid kit, and a bag of peas for my ankle. You can rest, I’ll patch you up, then we can call your brother and sister, okay?” Gently she helped Pea to her feet.
“Yeah, yeah, fine.” She seemed hesitant, but right now, Lemon was her lifeline in the sudden sea of emotion and fear she found herself drowning in. She followed Lemon back to her room. The asian girl’s room was a mess, but in that totally cluttered way. Pea barely took notice as she sat on the bed, sniffling and just curling up into a ball, laying on her side.
“I’ll get the first aid kit, and be right back.” Lemon gently hugged the sobbing mess on the bed before rushing off to the bathroom to gather the needed supplies.
She hastily grabbed the first aid kit her family kept in the small guest bathroom, her mother, Raven Quill, a writing professor at the local college, insisted on being ready for an emergency. Lemon had always laughed about it, finding it silly. Today however, she was glad for her mother’s caution.
Limping back to her bedroom, she found Pea sitting up, looking at the display of anime figurines that adorned one of Lemon’s walls, pointing to a set of magical girl ones. “Those are cute.” her voice was without the emotion she’d had earlier in the day, drained, tired.
“They’re from Madoka. I’ll show you some time, though it’s a bit depressing.” She withdrew the needed items from the kit, including a cold pressure compress for herself as she coaxes Pea back into the bed. “Now look, just lay down, and let me take care of this, okay? I might not look it, but I was in Girl Scouts for a good few years when I was younger, and I can patch a wound pretty good.
Pea nodded, and let her friend lay her back down, and tend to her arm.
“He’s the reason I’m so fucked up.” Her voice was quiet yet again, but Sweet Pea continued. “Why I ran away, became a whore… in a weird way, he’s the reason why we’re even friends.”
Lemon shook her head. “Don’t do that.” She was focused on applying antiseptic to the wound, which caused Pea to wince a bit. “Don’t give him the credit for your life, Pea.”
Sweet Pea nodded, she knew, in the back of her mind, that Lem’s was right, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was the reason she’d gone down the road she had.
“I... I need to call Lemony, and Buck… let them know.” Pea’s fingers were shaking as she reached for her phone, drawing it from her pocket, the screen was decimated, in the fall, the screen had cracked, having been facing outward in her pocket.
“I’ll take care of it...just, give me the number and I’ll let them know. You rest.” Lemon Tart gently pushed her friend back down on her bed, and finished bandaging her arm. Taking down the number, and after popping a few Ibuprofen for her own injury, as well as limping out to the living room to apply the cold compress to her ankle, she dialed the number.
The ringing seemed to go on forever, till she got the voicemail.
“Hi, Lemony Gems, this is Lemon Tart, I’m a friend of your sister’s… Sweet Pea and I were attacked by her uncle. We’re at my place, just, we’re okay...ish. Just, you should know, right?”
After leaving her address and phone number she sat her phone down, and slumped back into the couch, the events of the morning, finally washing over her, her own tears started to flow.
“Pea…” she glanced back towards her room, where the slightly older girl was, before letting exhaustion finally take her.
