Twilight stirred in her room, figuring out a way to sneak down to her lab. She didn’t want her parents to find out that she had snuck to the basement at three in the morning, so she could go record the readings that her device was retrieving.
Carefully opening the door, and poking her head out, she searched the hallways to make sure no one was awake but her. Putting one leg out on the hardwood floor, followed by the rest of her body. Not only was she scared out of her mind that her mother would pop out in front of her, but she was also worried that she would lose all this valuable information. As quietly as she could, she tip-toed down the hall, placing her feet in certain places so the floor boards would not squeak. Twilight reached the apex of the stairs, and began her slow and steady way down.
She knew that her dad would be up in an hour and a half for work, which was more time than she needed. Twilight had become swift with picking up and recording new information and readings. Opening the basement door, she hurried down, her parents wouldn’t be able to hear anything due to the sound-proofing she placed around the walls. Quickly, she opened her laptop, plugged in the circular device in her hands. A map like image appeared on her screen, and the words ‘Locating...’ showed shortly after. Twilight had programmed the device to locate any sign of an energy surge. It only took a few minutes for her laptop to pinpoint the location.
It was on the other side of town, a little farther down from Canterlot High School. Twilight had been recording these surges for a week and three days now, and most of them seemed to occur around the school. What was odd, was the girl she had followed in the mall the other day, also went to Canterlot High. This reading location didn’t seem to have anything to do with Canterlot in general. Twilight took a few screenshots, and pin-pointed the location on a large map on her wall. She looked for any signs of ley lines, or a connection, but just couldn’t find any. There was only one conclusion she could make, but it might take some convincing on her part.
Sunset did not go back to sleep after the nightmare she had that night. She did not want to experience whatever happened again. Every once and awhile, she would check her phone and wait for the laundromat to open. Her phone time read thirty past five, and in half an hour, she would have to be at the school. If she skipped, Sunset would ruin her perfect record of attendance, and that was one thing that she didn’t want to lose. She had already lost so much in the days of the Fall Formal, and her attendance was not going to be one of them.
As if Sunset’s luck was already horrible enough, she read that the laundromat opened at eight in the morning on Fridays. Sunset could only stare at her phone for the time being, wondering how much the universe hated her. Tempted to through her phone out the window, she got up, punched a pillow, and went to get dressed. The only luck Sunset received that morning was how the upper part of her shirt had been covered in blood. As long as she wore her jacket all day, she wouldn’t be seen. Sunset would probably be able to grab a shirt from student resources and say she spilled ketchup on hers.
Sunset walked out of the old building, trying to keep her mind steady. She would usually walk to school on nice days like this, but every step she took felt like hell. Sunset walked over to the alley where she parked her motorcycle, and swung her left leg over. She put her bike in neutral, and backed out. She had fifty minutes to go to school, and Sunset had a plan to execute when she got there.
After a short 20 minute drive on her motorcycle later did Sunset arrive at the school. Ignoring the glares she got as she hopped off, she walked into the school early so she could get to the janitors closet. Pushing the doors open, she saw that the halls were mostly empty. Students that were usually there early were at their lockers, and didn’t pay much attention to Sunset. If you did however, you could see the girl looked panicked and anxious.
Sunset walked towards the janitor closet, which also served as a storage closet. If she was lucky, she could find a shirt in there herself without having to go to Student Resources. Rushing through the hallways, she made her way to the closet, which she knew would be locked. Quickly grabbing her lock picking kit out of her backpack, she fiddled around with the keyhole, and got the door to open. Taking one last look around, she snuck inside and began her search for a disinfectant.
“Come on it has to be here somewhere,” Sunset muttered to herself while she rummaged through boxes and drawers. She knew that there had to be some in here, she had seen Nurse Redheart come in here as well. She leaned down and her jacket lifted up, her back to the door, as she picked up a box the read ‘Medical Supplies’. “Ah hah!”
“You find everything you were looking for?” A voice said from behind Sunset. She froze in her place, and jumped and turned to see who was talking to her. Sunset’s blood ran cold, she looked like a deer in headlights. It was none other than Vice-Principal Luna.
“I—um—er.” Were the only words Sunset was able to spit out as the woman gave her a glare that could kill. She grabbed the bottle of disinfectant from Sunset, and grabbed her by the shoulders and led her out. Sunset began her walk of shame to the Head of Discipline’s office. No words needed to be said to let Sunset know she was in trouble.
She arrived at the office, and sat down slowly so she wouldn’t be in so much pain. Luna had walked into Principal Celestia’s office, holding the bottle of disinfectant in her hands to show Celestia. Sunset sat for fifteen minutes outside the office, waiting for whatever punishment Luna had in store for her. As much as she wanted to cry, she couldn’t. Finally she heard the Principal’s door click open, and a soft “Come in.” was heard. Sunset picked up whatever confidence she had left inside of her, and shuffled into the office.
Sunset looked down at her feet when she entered, but looked up to see the faces of the two women. Celestia wore a soft, but disappointed face, and Luna resumed her cold glare.
“Have a seat Sunset,” Principal Celestia said softly, her eyes not leaving the teen. After a few seconds of examining the her, she decided to ask, “You want to tell me why you snuck into the janitor’s closet Sunset?”
Sunset simply shook her head, and fidgeted with her hands. She could feel the principal’s gaze on her, and it was making her extremely nervous. It continued like this for a few minutes, but Sunset thought it felt like hours.
“Take off your jacket Miss Shimmer.” Vice-Principal Luna commanded out of the blue. It made Sunset jump. It took a few moments for Sunset to process what she had asked, but then she realized soon enough what she wanted.
“I-I don’t think that is n-necessary.” Sunset murmured.
“It is very necessary, now please, take off your jacket.” Luna urged Sunset, a little softer than last time. Sunset realized that she wasn’t going to leave the office until she had taken off her jacket. So after a minute of thinking, she let out a deep sigh, and started to shrug off her jacket.
Once it was fully off, the two women gasped at what they saw. The upper part of Sunset’s shirt had been covered in what looked like dry blood. Now it was time for Sunset to cry, and she did. Luna quickly ran out of the office to go get the nurse, while Celestia went to reassure the sobbing teen.
“How did this happen Sunset?” Celestia asked gingerly.
“I-It was the d-demon,” Sunset said between sobs. “It said it was going to come back, I’m scared.”
Celestia gently hugged Sunset, not wanted to aggravate the wounds on her back. She continued to reassure Sunset, as the Nurse and Vice-Principal ran into the room.
Nurse Red Heart scurried over to Sunset and gasped at the bloodied shirt. “Oh dear, she needs to be taken to a hospital!” Red Heart exclaimed as she lifted Sunset’s shirt to reveal the wounds on her back.
“No! I can’t go to a hospital, I don’t have any documents for that!” Sunset said, fear filling her throat.
“It’s okay we won’t take you to a hospital Sunset, Red Heart, surely you can do something here?” Celestia asked.
“I might be able to do something, but she has to come down to the clinic in order for me to help. I can clean the wounds, if they are smaller than they look, they might be able to heal by themselves.” The nurse replied.
They walked Sunset out of the office into the hallway, having her put her jacket back on so they didn’t cause a scene. Only a few people looked in her direction, finding it odd as she was being escorted to the clinic by the two principals and nurse. They made it inside, and had Sunset lay flat on the bed.
Nurse Red Heart had retrieved her own bottle of disinfectant from a cabinet and a couple of wipes along with it.
“Okay Sunset, this might sting a little okay hun?”
Sunset nodded her head against the bed, and felt a cool liquid run down her back. The cool feeling soon turned into a stinging one, and all she could do was clutch the bed sheets tightly as the nurse wiped around the wounds. Celestia and Luna had walked out of the clinic to make sure no one would walk in and see Sunset.
After a few minutes of painful wiping and cleaning, the Nurse exclaimed, “I don’t think you will need any stitches Sunset!”
Sunset let out a relieved sigh as her grip on the bed sheets loosened. Celestia walked in with a Wondercolts t-shirt in her hands. Sunset gladly accepted the change of clothes. She slid the shirt on, though it was a bit large she was grateful for it. She gave the principal a half-hearted ‘thanks’ as she sat up and looked at her.
Celestia looked at Sunset with sorrowful eyes, much like her counterpart would have done. Sunset looked down, tears of guilt running down her cheeks. Principal Celestia put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile.
“Are you okay Sunset?” Celestia asked softly as she took a seat next to Sunset.
“Yeah, I guess I’m okay,” Sunset replied as she looked up to meet Celestia’s smile. “You remind me so much of her, that’s all.”
“So much of who?”
“Your counterpart, she was my mentor, you remind me so much of her.”
Celestia didn’t know how to respond to the teens comment, so she wrapped an arm around her. They sat like that together for awhile, the school day had started by now, but Celestia didn’t leave Sunset’s side.
“Why don’t you leave school early today?” She asked Sunset.
Sunset looked up a little confused, and asked, “What about my detention?”
“You are excused from that today, I think you've had enough to deal with today.” She said, her soft smile was warming to the teen.
“You don’t have to ask me twice then!” Sunset exclaimed as she got up and gave Celestia a smile and wave and ran out the door rather quickly. She wasn’t going to let the events at school ruin her day, besides, she had a party to prepare for today.