//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - Panic // Story: Synchrony // by Fangren //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer walked into the O'Patty's on Queen's Avenue with a single desire: have a quick and quiet lunch. Burger, fries, and a soda – the staple meal of the girl on the go, especially when the girl didn't have a steady flow of cash. She could have done without waiting in line, though. All it did was eat up her valuable time and force her to listen to the idiots in front of her dither over which minor variation of a chicken sandwich they wanted or whatever. Tapping a foot impatiently, she considered whether or not superpowers could help her force random nobodies like Mr. Space Heroes T-shirt at the counter to actually be decisive for once in their worthless lives. Probably not, she decided. That would be too convenient. And also not really worth it if she was limited in the scope and number of powers she could obtain. Then again, would she even have a choice? Could she afford to be picky? Once again, probably not. But it would suck to be stuck with something stupid like the ability to talk to animals or turn into a puddle or something without a more potent power to back it up. Though of course she knew she'd be able to make the best out of any superpower she ended up with, without exception. She was also getting ahead of herself a little bit – she hadn't gotten her powers yet. For all she knew, she wouldn't even be able to get them that day! Also the woman in front of her had just finished her order, so it was time for Sunset to focus again. She put on her most natural, and therefore best, scowl, and stepped up to the counter. “Yeah, I'll have the number one,” she said in a tone that would brook no delay, cutting off whatever schmuck was taking orders from their corporate-mandated greeting. “...right away, ma'am,” the kid replied, all semblance of a smile wiped away. Clearly not happy with Sunset's attitude, but since when had she cared about the feelings of nobodies like him? He relayed the order down the line, then looked back at her and gave her the total. She set a carefully pre-counted wad of cash and coins down on the counter as payment, souring his mood even more, but she gave him a Look and so he rang her up. She stepped aside to wait for her order to be handed to her, which it was in due time, and then went to get her seat. And then stopped because four people in a booth were staring at her. She recognized exactly none of them – three teenage girls younger than her, one guy a little older. Local unimportant nobodies, clearly, but they were staring at her as though they knew her. “Heya, Sunset!” said the girl with the stupid-looking bow in her hair. How Sunset kept herself from swearing she didn't know; every alarm in her mind had gone from zero to Red Alert in the span of a nanosecond. But her mental gears shifted with an ease born of years of being on the run, and with a carefully blank face she made a beeline for the party of four. The orange girl asked something about her motorcycle with the same bizarre cordiality as ribbon-girl, but aside from a small note that they might be able to recognize her bike Sunset pushed it from her mind. Once she was close enough her anger boiled over, and through teeth clenched tight by a scowl she asked “How do you know that name?” She knew she should have expected it, but the confusion the four expressed was bewildering. “What do you mean?” the ribbon-girl asked in an irritatingly cutesy country accent. “Why wouldn't we know who ya are?” “Did something happen?” said the third girl, white-skinned and curly-haired. “We only saw you and Twilight a little while ago, and you didn't look at all like you do now!” She motioned to Sunset's face and clothes, looking at them as though collectively they were some kind of second head. Sunset's first thought was 'The hell is wrong with the way I look?' Her second, 'Who the #@&% is Twilight?' Her third, once all the right details and inferences had been processed, consisted of two words: 'Mistaken identity.' Obviously, she decided, there was some other girl running around the city who looked like her, and was also named Sunset. Whether it was some kind of ridiculous coincidence or a long-lost identical twin that had no doubt been separated at birth Sunset didn't know, but she intended to find out. Eventually, anyway. Priority #1 was, as always, to lay relatively low and stay safe lest the cops track her down. Fortunately for her, the four she was glaring at seemed easily intimidated. She could work with that. Just make it clear to them that she wasn't who they thought she was, and that getting involved with her would only spell trouble for them, and she would be golden. “I don't know what, or who, you're talking about,” she told them, crossing her arms and putting on her best glare – the one that had left a rookie cop quaking in his boots one time. “So if you brats know what's good for you, you'll stop staring at me like I'm an old friend or something and mind your own business.” Her point made, she left as soon as possible lest her temper get the better of her and she cause a scene. Devouring her meal in record time, she marched out the door with her mind ablaze and gave the party of four – still staring at her out of the window – a parting bird before mounting her bike and driving away. Her stomach full, if not entirely happy about the circumstances, her priorities shifted. If four random nobodies had recognized her, even if it was a case of mistaken identity, she had a problem in need of solving. Until she could manipulate the situation to her advantage, the chance of other people calling attention to her under the false presumption she was a 'friend' or something could only lead to trouble. Depending on how things ended up with this potential other 'Sunset', she'd have to bail on Canterlot ahead of schedule. In fact, she should probably do so anyway just to be safe. But for now, she just needed to disappear. Starlight Glimmer was lost. For real this time. She couldn't deny it; despite her unparalleled brilliance, she was no longer certain of where she was in Canterlot. She blamed, as she had for some time now, that pair of weirdos who had freaked her out. They had completely derailed her flawless plan to go to the library and do some research, through a combination of being Sunset Shimmer's long-lost identical twin and possibly being in some kinda wizard cult that was now after her. And she had responded completely rationally by doing the rational thing and trying to lay low! But in her panicked escape, she had somehow lost track of where she was and where she had gone. At least she was fairly certain of the compass directions, thanks to the position of the sun, current time, and the latitude. So she had some confidence that, given sufficient time, she would be able to navigate to just about anywhere in the city. Her current goal, of course, was to get back to the motel. Then she could lock herself in, wait for Sunset – her Sunset – to return, grill her about her twin sister, and go from there. The plan was basic, but reliable. The only caveat was that she genuinely didn't know how far the reach of those who were looking for her actually extended, both in terms of people and resources. For all she knew, they already knew where she was staying. Heck, for all she knew the people who ran the motel were part of them! Though she did kind of doubt that. As internet-savvy as she was, Starlight felt confident she knew of all the noteworthy weirdo secret societies in the country. And there were only like two or three of them in Canterlot, surprisingly enough, and none of them believed in real, actual magic. Anyway, whether or not she had to deal with a possible cultist ambush at the crummy motel she was staying at wasn't the problem right now. She was crouched behind yet another dumpster, trying to work up the will to return to the open streets in a manner that was both casual and cautious. And also quick. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and regretted it immediately. “Seriously, do they not pick up trash around here?” she said through her coughs. Groaning into her arm as she placed it over her nose and mouth, she closed her eyes and forced herself to dash back out into the open. And promptly stumbled off the curb, falling flat onto the street itself. Eyes popping open in instant terror, she pushed herself back to her feet and got to scrambling. Straight across the street, earning a few angry honks from motorists who'd had to quickly brake. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” Starlight repeated under her breath, heart pounding in her chest. Her attempts at lying low had backfired and brought even more attention onto her, even if it was only temporary. People had taken notice of her, and that meant they might remember her, which meant that they might allow other people to find her... “My life is a mess,” she moaned, darting into another alleyway and coming to rest against the wall. “Why did I have to overreact at the stupid bus stop?” She slumped down until she was sitting, head in her hands. Sunset didn't consider herself lucky that nobody had apparently noticed her on her (rather circuitous) way back to the motel; she considered it skill. And good choice in riding wear, of course. A good helmet went a long way towards being stealthy. The fact that she hadn't seen any sign of her two super-powered targets was mildly irritating, but a big part of her was somewhat grateful she didn't have the added distraction. She needed to focus on the task at hand, the first step of which was rapidly approaching. She pulled into the motel parking lot as casually as she could, and left her bike right next to Starlight's. Heading inside was mostly just for show, though she did take the opportunity to rest up a little and solidify her plan in her head. Those four at the O'Patty's knew what she and her bike looked like. Which meant anything she did could potentially be traced back to her through them. And should they, or anyone else, try to find her due to what happened at lunch or something else, there was now a solid description of her. Or rather, the current her. It wasn't like she only had one set of clothes even traveling light. This wasn't the first time she'd needed an emergency outfit change. She took off her helmet and jacket, and grabbed the dark red spare jacket from where she'd stashed her belongings. It wasn't as nice as her black leather one, more tattered and torn and just generally not as cool a color, but it would do nicely. As for her helmet... well, it didn't take long for her to determine that Starlight had stupidly left hers practically out in the open, and they were the same size. It was just a matter of pulling it out from under Starlight's bed. But she needed one last thing before her swap could be complete. “Now, where is it?” she muttered to herself as she ruffled through her bag, momentarily angry at herself for not investing in a key ring. Or stealing one, anyway. But she knew why she'd done it; a loose key was less likely to be noticed than an extra key she shouldn't have that was always on her. “Ah-ha!” she said triumphantly, pulling out the small brass key she'd had copied on the sly about a year ago. She hadn't had occasion to use it before now, but she had never regretted spending the five bucks it cost. Sunset put on the spare jacket and helmet and took a few moments to get adjusted, as well as peek outside the window shades to check that nobody was milling around outside. Once she'd checked the door's peephole as well and was thoroughly satisfied, she left the room and locked the door behind her. She strode over to Starlight's bike as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and put the key in the ignition. Turned it. Smirked behind her helmet as the engine came to life. Sure, it wasn't nearly as different from her own bike as Sunset would have liked – a byproduct of Starlight's ridiculous need to blend in and conform at all times – but the plates were different, and that meant a lot. If those four at the O'Patty's had made a note of her license plate before she'd left, the most they'd be able to find was the motel. Which meant, at bare minimum, Sunset would have several hours off the radar. The fact that any crimes she were to commit while on the bike would get traced back to Starlight rather than straight to her was just icing on the cake. And also a possible lead-in to her ditching the hanger-on for good if things went incredibly south. But for now, confident that the first part of her plan had gone off without a hitch, Sunset sped back onto the roads to begin phase two. Starlight had, eventually, regained her composure enough to get her bearings in the city. Her notepad was a lifesaver in this regard, as she'd written down several street names when she was taking notes several hours ago. Not enough to form a map of the city, unfortunately, but enough for her to recognize the name of the next street she started following. And thanks to its orientation, it was trivial to follow it south until she came to a building she'd made note of earlier. From there, she decided to trace her steps back to the motel. “Okay, should just be a couple more blocks,” she told herself under her breath, head down and hands in her pockets as she walked down the sidewalk. Even though she was hardly in the best corner of the city, there were still plenty of people walking about that afternoon. Normally she would have welcomed the crowd, even sought out a denser one to blend in and lose herself for a little while, but right now all she could feel was anxious. More than just the cops were after her now, she was sure of it, and she couldn't know who. It was a bad feeling. Unnatural. Like she was well and truly alone again, something she hadn't felt since... She shook her head. Now was not the time to lose herself in her past; she'd long since moved on from it and gotten stronger. She wasn't going to let the fear of being singled out sway her from her course. If some kind of cult were after her, then let them come! The worst that would happen is another crafty escape on her part. In fact, she realized, if she played her cards right she might even be able to come out on top! A cult would be a fantastic way to start the rise of her vision of equality! Head held high, Starlight increased her pace and proceeded with confidence. A confidence that steadily eroded over the course of the last few blocks as nothing notable happened and she realized that staying puffed up and prideful was way more trouble than it was worth. All it did was make her a little more tired and cause people to look at her, neither of which she really wanted right then. When she finally had the motel in sight, crummy as it was, she felt nothing but relief. It didn't look like anyone was around, which meant she'd be able to rest her tired legs in peace. Have a few glasses of probably-safe-to-drink tap water to stay hydrated, maybe see if she could wrangle a snack from the vending machine outside... She wasn't certain if television was included in the room, or if the ancient thing sitting in it actually worked, but if it was and did then checking the local news wouldn't be a bad idea. A smile on her lips, Starlight entered the motel parking lot and found her eyes drifting to where she'd parked her bike. She stopped – something seemed off. The parking lot was filled with potholes and weeds so it made it difficult to tell where the actual spaces were meant to be, but even then she got the feeling she'd parked her bike a little bit to the right of where she was seeing it now. She jogged forward to investigate, and her heart dropped when her worst suspicions were confirmed: the bike wasn't hers, it was Sunset's. Half-formed panic on her lips, she turned around and around trying to spot her bike in the mostly-empty parking lot. “Wh... where is it? Where did it go?” she finally voiced, unable to control herself. She sprinted to the side of the building and checked around the corner to see if it had been moved to the back for some reason, but found nothing. Even in her panic she knew she couldn't just alert the motel management lest she risk the police getting involved, which left her with one recourse. Sprinting back around to the front, and then to the door to her room, it was all she could do to stop herself from pounding on it. Forcing herself to take a breath, she gave the door three knocks in a specific rhythm and hissed “Sunset! It's me! Open up, it's an emergency!” She spent approximately half a second tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for her riding partner to respond before pressing her eye against the peephole. She saw nothing, and groaned. “Of all the times to use the bathroom...” Then she repeated the special knock, and more loudly said “Sunset, hurry up! It's Starlight! I'm alone! Seriously, it's an emergency!” No response, not even after she gave it a few seconds. Growling in frustration, she reached for her copy of the room key in her bag. “Alright, I'm letting myself in!” she announced, fitting the key into the lock. “You better not have locked it from the inside!” She turned the knob and opened the door, and stepped into a deserted room. “...Sunset?” she called, confusion rising as she shut the door behind her. “Are you here?” she asked, making a beeline for the bathroom. The door was open, the light off. It was as empty as the rest of the room. “Sunset?” she repeated, walking back towards the beds. “Seriously, if this is some stupid prank or something, knock it off, my bike's been stolen.” She knew instinctively that the chances of this being a prank were slim to none, but she needed to clear away the possibility nonetheless. And when she bent down to look under the beds, and saw that her bike helmet was missing, it all came together. She stood up and swore, her previous fear and confusion getting rapidly swallowed by her all-consuming anger. “She stole my bike! The nerve of that woman, how dare she!” Clenching her fists hard enough her nails left indents in her palms, she let out a scream of frustration. “Great! Just great!” she ranted, beginning to pace the room. “Sunset's out there with my bike and my helmet, doing who knows what! What, was she out of gas and didn't feel like paying for a full tank herself or something? I keep telling her not to ride around when she doesn't need to, but does she ever listen? No! Sunset Shimmer is too good to be frugal with our money! And yet she has the nerve to get mad at me for buying things that are useful!” Another scream, though she had the sense of mind to at least attempt to stifle it. “And now she's out there,” she motioned vaguely in the direction of the city, “probably framing me for something...” Starlight stopped to catch her breath, and ended up sitting down on her bed. “How did she even get it started?” She groaned, falling backwards with her face in her hands. “I'm gonna have to pay to get it fixed, aren't I? That's gonna set me back even more!” Starlight let out a long, bedraggled sigh, letting her arms flop out to her sides. “What am I gonna do now?” she moaned. “Trapped in Canterlot. Weirdos looking for me. Sunset probably trying to frame me. Is this really where it ends for me?” She went silent after that, until an ember of anger was stoked inside her heart. “No,” she said, clenching her fists. “No, I'm not giving up.” She sat up on the bed. “Not like this, not today.” She stood, and resumed pacing. “Think, Starlight, think! Sunset's screwing you over, so she's probably gonna lead the cops right back here and then ditch you. You gotta find somewhere to hide.” "Sunset's bike is useless to me, so I'll have to go on foot," Starlight said to herself before she remembered something important: where Sunset had stashed her things. Her lips curling into a devious grin, adding "But I can at least get some revenge before I go." Walking over and crouching down, she quickly found Sunset's helmet and tossed it aside to get at the real prize: her bag of personal belongings. The first thing she found in that was Sunset's black leather jacket, which momentarily confused her. “What, did she need a full costume change or something?” she wondered aloud, holding up the jacket and inspecting it for damage – there was nothing new that she noticed. “Huh,” she said, checking its pockets and tossing it aside. Starlight momentarily considered whether or not the same people who were after her were after Sunset as well, then snorted and smiled when she realized how little she cared if that were the case. “Good riddance! Maybe I will try to join up with them after all and sell your butt out.” Tossing the jacket aside, she rifled through the rest of Sunset's things and took out anything vaguely of value. Which wasn't much – a few articles of clothing that only had one or two holes in them, a couple pennies, and two open boxes of powerbars. She stuffed it all, as well as the rest of her own belongings, into her own bag, got it adjusted on her shoulder, and took a deep breath. “Okay, Starlight, you can do this. You've planned on ditching Sunset for years. This is just a little... different than how you envisioned it. That's all. Just... go out there, and try to figure out what the deal is with those girls from the bus stop. And if they are a cult, see if you can join them! Easy as pie.” Sufficiently reassured, she finally stepped up to the door. Out of habit she looked out the peephole to see if the coast was clear, then left the room for good and locked the door behind her. Though she did keep her copy of the key, just in case. She could always return it later. Phase two of Sunset Shimmer's current grand plan was, in essence, the same as what her plan for the day had originally been: track down those superheroes to try and get some powers of her own, and snag some easy cash if she saw the opportunity. She was back to traipsing the city incognito, and it felt liberating. Sure, Starlight would be mad if she found out Sunset had taken her bike, but that was a pretty big if, and she knew she could cow the weaker girl pretty easily should it come to that. For now, though, she'd had to suffer a string of poor luck. She'd tried following those hero-chasing paparazzi again, but hadn't caught sight of the rainbow-girl or the one in the purple cape quite yet. There were plenty of places to stage a mugging, but doing so in broad daylight was difficult to pull off. Picking pockets or running scams would require her to remove her helmet, which wasn't something she was willing to do quite yet. Which left her with dumpster-diving or combing abandoned buildings for metal if she wanted to make some spending money. As she idled at an intersection, she thought back to what she'd seen earlier that morning. She'd followed the rainbow-girl throughout what felt like most of the city, and then there'd been that robbery the two heroes had foiled... She was annoyed there wasn't an obvious pattern, but wasn't about to let it stop her. The rainbow-girl wasn't wearing any mask that Sunset could see, so unless there was some serious color-changing elements in her costume, she probably wasn't too interested with keeping her civilian identity a secret. But the other one, who as far as Sunset knew covered up every inch of her skin... That girl didn't want people to know who she really was. And since she was, according to what information Sunset had dug up in the past few days and weeks, the only one actually doing any real hero business, Sunset guessed she probably had some sort of hideout. Somewhere she could rest, and train, and maybe eavesdrop on police radio like they did on TV. And, of course, somewhere she could switch between her identities. Granted, Sunset knew she was assuming quite a lot about her quarry. But she also felt confident that she was on to something, that a superhero like that would want somewhere they could hide out away from prying eyes. At the next intersection Sunset made a quick turn westward, towards the old industrial districts. Starlight was beginning to tire of walking around. She'd checked the bus stop where she'd seen the other Sunset and her friend but to no avail, and had decided against following the directions she'd been given to the library. The possibility of walking into a trap just wasn't high enough, and now that she actually wanted to be kidnapped by a cult she had decided that walking around in the open gave her better chances. “Honestly, the life I lead...,” she said to herself as she continued along. “Who would've guessed this is what I'd be doing today?” After walking another block unmolested, Starlight stopped on a corner and thought about her approach. If anybody did want to kidnap her, they weren't likely to do so while she was walking the streets in broad daylight. And in the very real circumstance that there wasn't some kind of non-police group trying to find her, staying to the shadows would probably be her best bet to stay safe while whatever was going on blew over and she could make her escape to... Well, she wasn't sure yet, but if the day didn't pan out how she hoped then an escape was going to be in her future. “Well, here goes nothing,” she said, ducking into the next alley she came across. Out of habit more than anything else she kept her movements quick, but quiet. Ducking behind dumpsters and into doorways; cautiously checking every corner she came across; if her heart hadn't been starting to pound with the tension of it all she might have found it nearly fun. She reached the end of her current alley, stuck her head out streetwise, and hurried across once she decided there wasn't much traffic. Her gaze drifted upwards, and she realized she was heading into the space between and behind an apartment complex and a department store – a prime place to go dumpster diving, she noted. “No reason I can't scrounge up some spare change while I wait,” she said to herself with a pleased smile. But before she could do that, she wanted to get the lay of the land as it were. So she proceeded more-or-less as she had, keeping to cover but noting the dumpsters, checking a side alley and being relieved that it was a dead-end, before proceeding towards where it seemed to open onto a wider side street. She heard the sound of a falling body far too late. “Stop right there!” a voice shouted at her from above, and the suddenness and force behind it startled Starlight into doing just that. What appeared – no, floated down – before her defied all logical explanation. Dimly, she recognized the figure from the tabloid piece Sunset had been fixating on recently, but actually seeing what amounted to a comic book character in the flesh was mind-boggling. A teenage girl, about a year or so younger than her at best. Blue skin, weirdly high and pointed ears, rainbow hair tied back into a ponytail. Every last piece of her outfit covered in glitter – blue leggings, maroon vest and skirt, orange sneakers with little wings on them. Even the strange translucent yellow bits attached to her skirt that looked kinda like lightning bolts glittered in the sun. The yellow crystal armory bits on her hips and wrists and shoulders didn't glitter, though. Neither did the incredibly sharp and inflexible-looking crystalline wings, though those did seem to be vibrating slightly. All of this flashed through Starlight's genius brain in mere nanoseconds, leading her to the most logical of responses: “What the heck?!” That was all she said before her fight-or-flight responses went full throttle on flight, and she about-faced and sprinted away. She got maybe a yard before the flying rainbow-girl was in front of her again. “Crap,” she muttered as she skid to a halt, mind racing through the possibilities. Had she seriously miscalculated what was going on in Canterlot? Had those two girls sicked some superhero on her? Was this the magic they had been talking about? Was the superhero part of the cult? Or had there never been a cult to begin with, and Starlight had just jumped to conclusions? “You won't escape, Mare-Do-Well!” the rainbow-girl declared, looking cocky. Starlight's thought process ground to a halt. “Mare-Do-Well?” she repeated. “Who the heck are you talking about?” 'Don't tell me this is some kind of mistaken identity thing,' she thought to herself. It was worse. The rainbow-girl laughed. “Don't act like you don't know!” she said. “I have friends who told me you disappeared mysteriously earlier. And there's only one person in town capable of something like that!” With a haughty smirk, she pointed at Starlight and said “The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!” In dawning horror, it came to Starlight: the girl in front of her was, in fact, friends with the two from the bus stop, had been sent by them to look for her, and was under the mistaken impression that she, Starlight, was also some kind of superhero. Starlight immediately began trying to back away, both from the rainbow-girl and the situation in general. “Y-y-y-y-you've got the wrong girl, I swear!” she tried to explain despite her horror and panic. “I don't know anything about that Mare-Do-Well character!” “Oh really?” the girl replied, and it was obvious to Starlight that she wasn't even entertaining the notion of having gotten the wrong person. “Yes!” Starlight stammered, desperate for any chance at escape no matter how slim. “Th-th-the disappearance was all a, a misunderstanding,” she said, mind racing to come up with a something she could say to get herself out of this. “I just... climbed up the wall and onto the roof!” Her would-be foe remained skeptical. “A likely story. Now come here, so I can give them proof that I caught you!” Starlight's mind immediately jumping to the worst possibility, her flight response kicked it back into overdrive and sent her running back towards the street. It didn't matter; the rainbow-girl quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a mockery of a friendly side-hug. And to make matters worse, she proceeded to take a selfie. “Now smile for the camera!” Starlight couldn't have smiled if she'd tried. “Please,” she said as she desperately struggled against her captor, “you've got this all wrong! I'm really not who you think I am!” She only got a snort of disdain in reply, the rainbow-girl diverting her attention to texting someone – whoever had sent her, Starlight guessed, or perhaps whoever she reported to in whatever chain of command she was a part of. “Still don't believe you,” she said offhandedly. “Why would I after how suspicious you've been acting?” Again, Starlight's mind raced. She considered just decking the girl or stomping on her foot or something and then running; her captor didn't seem to have a firm grasp of the art, or her, and it wasn't like Starlight had never been in a similar situation. But she could already see how fleeing would work out: she'd get maybe a yard before the rainbow-girl flew in front of her again. She could also attempt to just knock the other girl out. And were it a normal person she was dealing with, Starlight likely would have done so. But assaulting an actual, real-life superhero with powers and everything seemed like a terrible idea. For all she knew the girl holding onto her was invulnerable, and attacking her would only make her mad. And even if Starlight did knock her out, she'd wake up eventually and had seen Starlight's face. The last thing she wanted was to wind up getting named a supervillain when she was trying to stay hidden. As she was thinking this, her mouth went on autopilot. “S-suspicious? I, I don't know what you're talking about!” A sharp growl pierced Starlight's runaway thoughts, forcing her attention back to the present. “Really,” the hero girl said, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. “So you call running away from my friends for no good reason, mysteriously disappearing from a dead-end alley, and skulking around back here,” she made a vague motion around them, “not suspicious?” That, of all things, seemed to cause a snap somewhere in Starlight's psyche. “I was running away because your friends decided to chase me,” she said, feeling her anger rise up and clenching her teeth to contain it. “And I've been 'skulking around' as you put it for the same reason! I have been freaking the heck out all morning wondering who could possibly want to be chasing me, and seeing how someone like you got involved, I'd say that was a pretty reasonable decision on my end. “And for the last time, I didn't 'mysteriously disappear',” she allowed herself the gratification of air quotes and an eyeroll, “I just climbed!” It didn't seem to faze the rainbow-girl, who just snorted and continued to text. For a brief moment, Starlight felt she felt sympathy towards the older generations and their complaints about her generation's alleged phone obsession. It didn't last, though; her hatred and disgust for the systems of the world and the people propping them up squashed those feelings quite handily. “Yeah, well, we'll find out the truth soon enough,” the rainbow-girl said with an annoyingly cocky smirk. A car passing by the nearest alley ending drew the rainbow-girl's attention away for a moment, and once again Starlight contemplated trying to make her escape. But before she could even strike that notion down the same way as before, she felt the grip on her arm tighten. “Come on,” she was told, the so-called 'hero' dragging Starlight deeper into the alley. Her fear began to reassert itself. “Wha... what are you gonna do to me?” “Who knows?” The mocking reply came alongside a new text message, which was quickly read and smirked at. She resumed pulling Starlight along, saying “We'll have to wait for my friends to get here to find out.” She paused, then added “But, uh, if you stop lying and tell me the truth, the less they'll have to do.” Desperate, Starlight tried once more to plead with her captor. “B-but I have been telling the truth, the whole time! I really don't know anything about that Mare-Do-Well person or whoever it is you think I am! I'm innocent, I swear!” It wasn't her best argument of all time, even considering her level of panic, but it was all she really had without fully coming clean about all her intentions that day. And something told her that telling a superhero how she had been hoping to get abducted by a cult and join them as a way of protecting herself both from the law and the machinations of her riding partner who looked identical to the superhero's friend was.... not a great idea. For some bewildering reason the rainbow-girl, despite being pleased with her response, replied with “That's what they all say!” It provided Starlight with the last bit of evidence she needed to convince herself she had been captured by an idiot. Sunset was not at all bothered by the fact that she'd abandoned heading towards the nearest collection of abandoned industrial buildings the moment she'd noticed activity amongst the roving packs of hero-chasers. After all, she reasoned, secret bases didn't typically move that often. She needed to be decisive and opportunistic, always chasing the leads that presented themselves. She wasn't even bothered by the fact that they, and by extension she, had lost track of the rainbow-girl before Sunset had seen her. That morning's long and meandering chase had imparted upon her the need for patience in her hero-tracking. No, what bothered Sunset was the needle on her bike's fuel gauge, and how it was reading far lower than she wanted it to. “Uggh! Starlight, you idiot, when's the last time you put gas in this thing?” she muttered angrily as she slowed down and turned into the deserted parking lot of a seedy-looking old 24-hour corner store. “Fat lot of good stealing this stupid thing did me if it runs out of gas.” She let out a frustrated sigh, and weighed her options. One, she could drive back to the motel and return Starlight's bike in exchange for her own. That would risk putting attention back on herself, so no. Two, she could just abandon the bike and go about it on foot. Also a bad idea for what she felt were self-evident reasons. Three, she could finally get around to scrounging up some money. Paying for what was effectively Starlight's gas left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it was still the most palatable option. She pulled back onto the street immediately, in search of somewhere to work. It didn't take her much driving to find a place she liked, one of the slightly nicer districts in town where money flowed and goods flowed along with it. She pulled down a minor side street, slowed to a rolling stop that ended on the sidewalk, turned off the bike and walked it into an alley. The building to the right of her was a bakery, offering the possibility of some free food on top of money, and when she saw the immediate alley deserted she pumped a fist. She parked her bike just inside so that she could make a quick exit to the street if need be, and started investigating the dumpsters. The first was a disgusting mess, a bunch of old shampoo bottles that had leaked everywhere and produced a smell that made Sunset want to throw up. Still, she managed to close the lid gingerly enough to not attract attention, and after getting a breath of fresher air moved on. The second dumpster was a little ways away, and it quickly became clear that it, at least, was used by the bakery. “Score,” she whispered, smiling at the bounty of individually-wrapped bread loaves that lay before her. A few minutes later she'd extracted the two best-looking loaves of the bunch, as well as a pair of battered old cake pans covered in scorch marks, and even a single corkscrew. “Not bad,” she mused, slipping the corkscrew into her pocket and closing the dumpster. Picking up the pans and bread, she walked back to her bike and opened the trunk with the stolen key. “Figures,” she snorted, seeing the first aid and motorcycle repair kits sitting inside under the tarp. “Starlight wouldn't keep anything valuable in here, would she?” Stuff her spoils inside as best she could, Sunset closed and relocked the trunk before swing a leg over the bike. “Where to next...,” she thought aloud, feeling the engine start up beneath her. “Maybe there's a hardware store around here, or a Big-o-Mart...” Even with her helmet and the gentle hum of the idling engine, Sunset's ears – honed by her years on the wrong side of the law – still picked up the sound of feet on pavement. Many feet. Smelling an opportunity, she moved her hand to headlight switch. And the moment she saw four girls step into view, she turned it on. The effect was immediate; the girls froze, and Sunset's eyes honed in on the most natural target: a long-haired girl on the alley side of the sidewalk with a purse on her shoulder. A rev of the engine, a burst of speed, and a deft and gloved hand; before she knew it she was speeding away with the girl's purse in her clutches. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline pumping through her veins bringing a wild smile to her unseen face. All remnants of her previous plan were lost in the rush; her focus was now directed solely towards getting as far away from the crime scene as fast as possible. Knowledge born of experience told her that anybody who'd been around almost certainly wouldn't call the cops, thanks to the suddenness of her crime and the good old bystander effect. Even the girls themselves likely hadn't seen enough of her to give the cops a solid description, though Sunset knew she'd likely have to be careful about her bike and jacket for the time being. Following traffic laws would help keep eyes off her, so despite her haste she made sure to stop when the lights and signs told her to. But the moment she got back into a more decrepit part of Canterlot, she sped off onto emptier streets in search of somewhere away from prying eyes so she could loot her ill-gotten purse. Sunset turned onto another street she felt was sure to have somewhere she could hide out in for a couple minutes, only to be taken off-guard by someone actually walking briskly down the sidewalk. She cursed under her breath, then looked took another glance at the girl as she passed her by. “Wait a minute... I've seen her before,” she said to herself, slowing down and turning into a deserted parking garage even as she racked her brain for answers. It hit her as she came to a stop. “Before the bank robbery! After I lost the rainbow-haired girl!” She pulled off her helmet, and sent a vicious smile in the direction she'd seen her new white-haired target. “Interesting. What was a girl like her doing in a place like this?”