Twilight stumbled back and fell on her haunches.
Sunset Shimmer was here! Why was Sunset Shimmer here?! What possible chain of events could have led the strongest unicorn in the world to show up here?!
Coming downstairs was a horrible mistake! Coming to the door was a horrible mistake! Twilight needed to get back to the bedroom right now and wake the others up!
“I’ll just break down the door,” Sunset’s voice came from the other side of the door. “If they’re not home, we’ll just search the place without them.”
That wasn’t going to take long! Twilight turned and ran up the stairs.
She could hear behind her a spell hit the door, the crumpling sound of something being hit by a disintegration spell. Sunset must have disintegrated the entire door!
One second after the door disintegrated, Sunset Shimmer teleported to the top of the stairs, to where that miniature room was, right in front of Twilight.
Now Twilight was face to face with her ex-hero. She still had no idea what to expect of Sunset, but this probably wasn’t going to go well.
“Why were you running?” Sunset asked, though the question sounded more like an accusation.
“I-“ Twilight struggled to think of some kind of excuse. “This isn’t my house. I was just getting the uh- Rarity. H-hey! Rari-!”
Twilight tried yelling out for her in hopes of waking the others up, but Sunset cast another spell, a silence spell, on Twilight. The sound vanished halfway out of Twilight’s mouth. She tried saying a few words, but nothing was coming out now.
“No yelling,” said Sunset. “If there are other ponies here, then I’ll find them. But let’s deal with you first, huh?”
This was bad! Twilight needed some way to get back to Rarity’s room or wake the others up. She glanced over in the direction of the bedroom for one second. Sunset picked up on that immediately, following Twilight's glance to the bedroom door, and deduced there was something there.
She cast a spell over the door to Rarity’s room, then gestured twice to one of her guards, who flew up next to the door and stood outside it, waiting.
Meanwhile, Sunset grabbed Twilight with her magic and effortlessly levitated Twilight downstairs with her, as though Twilight were as heavy as a feather. Either Sunset was grabbing Twilight way too tight or Twilight was becoming less tolerant to light magic but being in her grip stung!
She mercifully set Twilight down at the bottom of the stairs, though she herself stayed about three steps up, keeping herself above Twilight.
She had ten royal guards with her and four or five police officers. Already they’d dispersed into the house and started going through all the drawers and cabinets. They were already ripping open couch cushions and the like, but to Twilight's disdain, they weren't making a lot of noise. Sunset must have ordered them to be quiet.
“If you yell, I’m throwing you in jail.” Sunset looked down at Twilight. “Just so we’re clear, you’re not dealing with the police right now. I can basically ignore the law whenever there's a state of emergency. Whatever lawyer shenanigans you’re used to playing won’t work on me. I can literally throw you in a cage for no reason, leave you there till you die and nopony will ever even ask me why I did it. Do you understand me?”
Twilight nodded.
She was so dead!
Sunset took the silence spell off.
"I've declared a state of emergency in this town," said Sunset Shimmer. "Do you know why?"
"N-no?" Twilight guessed.
Sunset watched Twilight very closely when she spoke like she could straight through her. Twilight had little doubt she'd catch a lie instantly. Though right now that was a good thing since Twilight was sincerely telling the truth. Sunset looked almost skeptical for a moment like she could see Twilight was telling the truth but didn't want to believe it.
"Fine. I heard rumors that everypony in your gang has a rare medical condition,” Sunset spoke slowly, like she was trying to emphasize every word she spoke. “Do you have a rare medical condition?”
Sunset looked at Twilight like she was waiting for the other unicorn to take the hint.
Twilight slowly realized what this must have meant. ‘Rare medical condition’ was a euphemism for vampire.
There was absolutely no way Sunset didn’t know about vampires! But did the rest of these ponies? Probably not or she’d just come out and say it. But how much did Sunset know? The vampires and Celestia were supposed to have a truce so maybe Twilight would get saved by that?
But should Twilight give her any information?
“Do you understand the question?” Sunset asked it like she was talking to a total idiot.
"Uh-! Maybe."
"Maybe," Sunset repeated the word like she was handling poison.
"See, it's kind of a long story." Twilight's heart was racing. She decided that stalling was the best bet. This commotion had to wake up the others before long. "I've been to an optometrist because I noticed-"
“I'm not stupid. I've been dealing with delinquent filth like you non-stop since I was eight. I know when ponies are trying to stall. You only get one chance to screw with me and you just blew it.” Sunset looked over to one of the guards tearing up the house. “Open all the curtains. It’s too dark in here.”
Now there was zero doubt she knew.
The curtains flew open almost all at once. It got brighter than Twilight had ever seen this place. Sunlight filling the room felt like a far worse violation than them merely tearing everything up. The sun felt worse than normal, but Twilight was hardly a vampire for real yet, and could stand it.
But then Sunset took Twilight’s glasses off and Twilight could barely keep her eyes open. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out during the day without her protection, but it was far worse now.
Sunset grabbed Twilight and forced one of her eyes open wide and looked at it very carefully. Her eye burned. It was so bright Twilight couldn’t even see what Sunset was doing for a moment.
“Hey! You can’t open the curtains. We have-“ Twilight tried to complain.
Sunset shoved Twilight to the ground and threw her glasses back to her. Twilight desperately got them back on, feeling the familiar relief wash over her.
“Yeah, yeah. Look, I’m not stupid. I know exactly what’s going on here. Arrest this pony.” Sunset grabbed Twilight with her magic and threw her at one of the guards. Even the guard was taken aback by how sudden the command came. “Like right now? Get her out of here this second? Go?”
Twilight was in huge trouble now! She needed to do something!
“Rarity!” Twilight shouted as loud as she could. “Everypony! Wake up! We-!”
The guard punched in the chest, knocking the wind out of her and her glasses off. He then wound up and punched her even harder in the face. And that guy hit hard! Twilight nearly blacked out from the hit. Her head rang and she struggled to regain her bearings.
“But let her keep the glasses.” Sunset gave them to one of the guards. “Even in jail. She’s got some condition.”
But the guard didn’t give her the glasses back immediately. Instead, he stomped down on Twilight’s side, even though Twilight wasn’t even getting back up yet. Before Twilight could recover from being hit again, all her clothes were stripped off. A horn ring had been snapped on, her legs tied and she was being carried outside.
Just as she got to the door, Twilight managed to look up and saw the door to the bedroom open slightly, then immediately close. Sunset teleported right in front of the door and then-
Then Twilight was outside and she didn’t get to see any more.
Twilight screamed and screamed for the rest of the gang’s help, but none came. They couldn’t get outside to help her right now! Twilight somehow had to get back in there, but how?!
She struggled but couldn’t get out. She tried casting a spell, but that ring made dark magic impossible too! In the end, Twilight got thrown onto a cart and was soon traveling into town, watching the house get smaller until they turned a corner and it went out of sight entirely.
The sun was so bright, Twilight couldn’t even keep her eyes open. She was too dependent on her sunglasses now, which the guards did not give Twilight despite having been told to a moment ago!
It was only when Twilight got to the town jail and was brought back inside that she was able to open her eyes for more than a second at a time.
Sunset had been busy today. The jail was already filled, about seven ponies in each of the four cells. And Twilight was pretty sure she’d seen several cages outside as well, meaning they expected there to be a lot more. It didn’t look like Twilight was the only one the guards roughed up either. Half the ponies in jail had bruises somewhere on their bodies. Two of them were in particularly rough shape.
And they weren’t done being rough with Twilight, either. They threw her into the jail cell right after taking her leg bindings off, leaving Twilight to slam into the ground. She was quickly learning that the police from Canterlot weren’t anything like the ones in Ponyville. They roughly threw Twilight’s glasses at her next, but Twilight saw it as a mercy.
Twilight put them on as fast as she could. At least she could see comfortably again, but now her eyes were burning. The fact that Sunset let Twilight keep these confirmed in her mind that Sunset knew all about vampires. At least she wasn’t completely without mercy.
But then why didn’t all four of them get arrested? Maybe it was because Sunset couldn’t drag the others out here without burning them to death? Or she decided Twilight was the weak one and wanted her to bargain with? Or maybe they ended up fighting and… hopefully, Rarity won if they did.
She looked up at the clock. It was about seven hours till sundown, at any rate. Twilight tried to comfort herself by pretending she’d definitely be out of here by then. Her gang would never just leave her here!
“I have connections!” Twilight warned them. “Rarity’s gonna get me out of her in like, five bucking minutes! Or maybe seven hours. But no more than that!”
One of the guards, without saying anything, opened the cell, walked over to Twilight, and punched her hard in the chest, sending her down to her knees. He then kicked her hard, sending her onto her side, before walking out of the cell and closing it again.
Complaining wasn’t going to work today. Twilight got back up slowly, glaring at the guard. He just stood there silently, not looking at anypony, not showing even the slightest emotion. His stoic expression made Twilight’s blood boil. This guy could just beat somepony up without feeling anything!
And nopony here was going to say anything. Nopony in this town or anywhere in the world was going to say anything except for Twilight’s gang. They were Twilight’s only hope.
Rarity knew the law better than anypony. She’d kept Twilight out of trouble so far. And the one time Pinkie did get arrested, Rarity had her out in an hour. Maybe it’d be a little harder if Sunset Shimmer was involved, but she could still maybe get Twilight out too. There was that truce after all. That could maybe help! And she knew Fluttershy now, who had direct access to ponies near the top!
And if not, maybe her gang would come and literally break her out of jail. Then they’d just have to run into the forest and never come back. That wouldn’t be so bad! Probably. Twilight would certainly prefer living in the woods for a few months at this point.
Though… the three of them could also just run off to the woods without her. An image of them just ditching Twilight forced its way into her mind.
But no! Rarity loved Twilight! Twilight wasn’t going to let these invasive thoughts into her head. The gang was absolutely coming back for her one way or another.
But what if she got dragged out to the dungeons in Canterlot before anypony had a chance to help?! Then how would Twilight get out? They couldn’t enter Canterlot without dying! There’d be no way to rescue her and if Rarity couldn’t negotiate Twilight’s release then nopony in the entire world would care if she were left to rot away in a dungeon!
Twilight looked up at the clock and it’d only been three minutes! Was she just thinking at the speed of light now?!
The first hour got slower and slower as the second hand struggled with every single tick. Every possible scenario played out in Twilight’s mind in that first hour. She imagined Rarity strutting into the jailhouse to demand Twilights release, either convincing the guards or bribing them or eventually breaking out into a fight with them all. She imagined Pinkie showing up at the window just behind her to tell her one of a million plans. Or the other three getting arrested and thrown in here after sundown.
And though she tried to keep them out, occasionally, a darker thought would creep into her mind. Being stuck in the Canterlot dungeons, growing old while the others stayed young. Twilight getting released as an old crone only to reunite with a still young Rarity far too late to change anymore. Or else the others just shrugging and deciding Twilight wasn’t really one of them yet so they didn’t need to risk too much for her and just going away forever.
If Twilight had been walking instead of pacing, she could have been in Canterlot by now.
At the end of the first hour, a new shipment of prisoners came, maybe eight or nine in total. Importantly, one of them was Cloudchaser, one of the ponies Twilight was relatively friendly with. Cloudchaser was one of the more delinquent ponies in town, which put her high on Twilight's list.
Cloudchaser was in rough shape. She was wearing a black eye, like Twilight, but had a few other bruises all over her body, her forelegs particularly cut up and battered. Her mane and coat had a lot of dirt in them, which made Twilight suspect she’d spent most of the ‘fight’ on the ground, trying to block blows. She was bleeding from a few minor cuts and it didn’t look like anypony was going to give her a bandage.
“Does anypony know what the buck is going on?” Cloudchaser asked, looking over the crowd. In the end, she decided that Twilight was her closest friend in this place and trotted over to her. “Do you, Twilight? I didn’t do anything! Sunset just said I ‘wasn’t answering her questions fast enough’ and next thing I know they’re beating me up and then I’m dragged off here? It doesn’t make any sense!”
The other two who were as beat up as her, Twilight had overheard by now, also felt indignant that they hadn’t done anything. Twilight was certain she knew what was going on with the brutality now. They were beating up a few random ponies and keeping them in sight of the other prisoners as an intimidation tactic.
“I’m in the same boat.” Twilight point to her eye, which certainly felt swollen by now. “They just showed up at our place, punched me in the face, and dragged me off here. Maybe it was the hair?”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Knowing those guys they would send an army out here to stop a haircut.” Cloudchaser tried to force a smile. “But why did they only arrest you? Did the rest of your gang get away?”
“I have no idea where they are right now.”
“Maybe it’s cause they got xerodermia? And they gotta be held in a special cell or something?”
“Maybe.”
That was a possibility. Was there a vampire jail?
“Well! You know, I don’t think either of us are in serious trouble,” said Cloudchaser. “Sunset threw me onto a prison cart with like twenty other ponies. Five of them got put on a train to Canterlot and the rest of us got put here. So they already got rid of the ponies in real trouble. We're just being held here cause we look weird and they hate weird stuff. I think that means we’re okay as long as we don’t say anything stupid.”
Though Twilight got the impression Cloudchaser was saying that to comfort herself more than anything else.
“Yeah,” Twilight decided to steal her idea. “I doubt they brought Sunset Shimmer down here to arrest a bunch of delinquents like us. She’s gotta be here looking for something important! There was a big monster attack last night, wasn't there? Maybe that has something to do with it."
“There’s been a bunch of monster attacks.” Cloudchaser raised her eyebrow. “Oh, right! You sleep in really late. Well there was one big one with that uh, ether-something I think they called it? Etherexalim… ether… I don’t remember.”
“A what?” Twilight wished she’d been brave enough to study Applejack’s monster book now.
“Like some big lizard thing with a huge mouth that stands on its hind legs. And it could move through walls and stuff.” Cloudchaser gave up on the name and shook her head. “I never heard of it before either. It got five ponies this morning, but Sunset showed up and totally killed that thing. It is very dead. But even after that, the monsters have been super aggressive since last night. I never saw so many jackalopes before. My sister got a huge gash from them!”
Twilight wondered where Fluttershy was right now. Fighting monsters was largely a fake job for her, Twilight learned, but she was supposed to get involved when unusual cases like this emerged.
“So obviously that’s why she came here,” said Cloudchaser. “But I don’t know why she’d be arresting everypony like this instead of going after the monsters.”
Twilight had a few possible explanations. They could just be doing it to make it look like they were still in control of the situation. Authoritarians needed to make constant displays of power. But she didn’t dare say that out loud, not with that big, silent guard standing just a few feet away.
“They could be looking for somepony specific,” said Twilight instead. That was another possibility. Though apparently, it wasn't any of the Blue Diamonds if they kept looking after going over there.
“Yeah, there’s way worse ponies than us. Oh, that reminds me!” Cloudchaser got excited again. “There was something crazy going on by the train tracks. There was this guy, Rust Bucket I think it was, kind of a hermit, I guess. Sunset was over there just before we all got carted here. She tore up all the floorboards and guess what she found? There were like five dead bodies over there! One of them was Lyra!”
“What?!”
“Yeah. Sunset beat that guy to a bloody pulp and shipped him off to Canterlot. He was actually in the same jail cart as me. I woulda been nervous but- heh, that guy was a bloody mess. If you think I look bad, you shoulda seen him.” Cloudchaser hit her muzzle. "But yeah, that's how I know they're shipping the real bad ponies back to Canterlot."
So a serial killer did kill Lyra? And it was some guy Twilight never heard of? Though that name did seem vaguely familiar.
At least that squashed another one of Applejack’s theories. Rarity was a good pony after all! She’d absolutely come to get Twilight eventually.
Four more ponies got brought in shortly after. It didn’t look like any more ponies would fit into the cells after that. Twilight and the others were practically sitting wither to wither, all the others trying very hard to avoid physical contact with one another.
One of the new prisoners looked particularly nervous. Twilight didn’t recognize this guy, but she could tell he was eager to start talking to somepony to try and calm his own nerves.
“Ah, geez! It’s crazy out there!” He started talking to what was probably a stranger right then. “Sunset got into this huge fight a little while ago over on the far edge of town. Down by the uh-“
The pony was drawing a blank for a moment. That could have been with Rarity! They were on one of the far sides of town!
“The millhouse!”
So that wasn’t them. Twilight was only half relieved. She would welcome any kind of update at this point.
“It was the craziest fight I ever saw! Sunset really is as amazing as they say! That thing was the size of a house and she took it down in like five minutes without any help.”
“Wait,” the other pony spoke up, “what was she fighting exactly?”
“I have no idea what that thing was. It was this huge bug.” He held his forehooves as far apart as they’d go. “But it also had tentacles coming out of it? She got over there before it hurt anypony and ripped all the tentacles out with her telekinesis.”
A third strong monster came out of the forest? And that was just the ones Twilight heard of. Something was clearly very wrong here. All the other ponies in the cell thought so too. Twilight didn’t think the mood could get any more uncomfortable, but the cell quieted down completely for the first time.
“This day keeps getting worse,” Cloudchaser leaned back against the wall, wincing as her injuries were just starting to catch up with her.
“Yeah, but Sunset Shimmer will save us,” the nervous stallion assured everypony. “I just saw her in action and she’s incredible! She’ll find what’s causing this and fix it.”
And basically, everypony in the room save Twilight said something or nodded in agreement with that.
It was impressive they still had faith in Sunset even after she’d beaten them up and threw them in jail for no reason. This was why they were in this position in the first place.
She looked up at the clock. Still, three hours were left. Twilight was only halfway to sundown. What was taking Rarity so long?
Two more hours dragged on and on until finally, they brought one last batch of ponies into the cell. To Twilight’s surprise, one was Raindrops, probably the biggest goody-four-shoes Twilight had met in this town. If Raindrops was here, they were totally arresting ponies at random.
“I’ll tell you everything you want! I swear!” Raindrops ran right up to the bars and started crying “Twilight’s been saying all kinds of horrible things for months and months! Her gang has parties where they try to twist everypony’s minds! And they have banned books and movies! I even heard rumors they go into the forest sometimes. She’s the one you want.” Raindrops looked over the cell for anypony else she could snitch on. “Cloudchaser has an illegal magazine! I know where it is! And Sunshower blasphemed Celestia just three days ago! And-”
“At least now we know who our real friends are,” Twilight muttered to Cloudchaser as Raindrops went on.
“Yeesh.” Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “At least you got Rarity to bribe you out of here later. Wish I had a friend like that.”
Cloudchaser saying that out loud made Twilight feel so much better!
“Thanks,” said Twilight. “You know what? When she gets me out of here, I’ll ask her if there’s anything she can do for you. You’re one of the good daywalkers.”
“Heh. Thanks.”
Raindrops stopped her plea mid-sentence and the room grew quiet again. Twilight wearily looked up half-expecting to see Raindrops about to get pummeled, but instead saw a new pony striding into the room. Sunset Shimmer was back.
Her unhappiness was less hidden than it was last time Twilight saw her, giving a pensive glare at each pony like she was a hungry lion deciding which elk to devour. Needless to say, nopony made any noise that might draw attention to herself.
Sunset’s right foreleg had bandages wrapped around it now, just enough blood leaking through to give it a slight red tint near the middle. But where did she get that wound? Fighting Rarity? That monster? The serial killer? She could understand, from the fact that there was a list, why Sunset might be less chill now.
Sunset came right up to the bars of the jail. She put her hoof on her temple and let out a frustrated sigh before speaking.
“Alright. You. The punk.” Sunset pointed at Twilight, her disdain peeking out from behind her controlled expression.
Sunset glared at Twilight, tapping her hoof against the ground a few times.
Twilight’s heart stopped beating as Sunset per her hoof on the door of the jail cell and slowly opened it.
This was it!
“You’re clear of all charges.” Sunset pointed to the door leading outside. “Get out.”
It took a moment for that to register. Twilight’s eyes reacted first, widening, then her mouth, turning up in a smile, and then Twilight’s brain finally caught up with her.
Rarity must have done something! One way or another she got Twilight out of jail! It was the only explanation! Finally, for once in Twilight’s life, nepotism had worked in her favor.
Twilight got out of the cell as fast as she could. The guard took the horn ring off and handed her stuff back.
All the other ponies in jail didn’t like this move. There was a rabble of ‘come on!’s and ‘seriously?’s behind Twilight. Poor Raindrops looked like she’d been frozen in time, unable to accept her new reality. Cloudchaser alone cheered for her release. Twilight couldn’t help but get the tiniest bit of satisfaction from all this.
“I bet Rarity bribed them,” one pony whispered to another.
“She’s the one who gets out?!”
“This isn’t fair!”
“Yeah! See that?” Twilight pointed back at the jailed ponies as she put her jacket back on. “The spikey-haired punk is the only one who gets out. Let this be a lesson to you. Gangs are awesome. Screw the rules. You gotta-“
“Don’t push your luck,” said Sunset.
“Ah! Right. Sorry, ma’am.” Twilight bowed her head, then hurried to get the last of her things together. “Forget everything I just said. Praise Celestia. Goodbye.”
Twilight turned to get the buck out of there but felt somepony’s magic grabbing her.
“Hold on.” Sunset pulled Twilight back a little as she was about to walk past.
Sunset looked Twilight over very carefully, but her eyes never lingered in one spot too long so Twilight couldn’t tell what exactly she was looking at.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“You’ve been here about seven months?” Sunset asked. “And moved here from Canterlot?”
Twilight had no idea whether she should answer that question or not. It seemed innocent enough and Twilight didn’t want to risk getting thrown right back in jail. But she still didn’t think giving Sunset any information was a good idea.
“Yeah?”
“Nothing.” Sunset let go of her. “Listen. You're supposed to be back home before sundown. If I see you again it'll be a very bad day for you so try to avoid that."
Twilight nodded and got out of there fast.
“As for the rest of you,” Sunset turned to face the rest. “Most of you are here for failing to cooperate. Give me answers and-“
And Twilight didn’t hear the rest.
The first thing that struck Twilight was that it was enormously hot outside for fall, especially this late in the day. It felt like summer, only now the bright sun beating on her back had that nasty, slimy feeling it’d been taking on lately. The pegasi must have lost control of the weather yet again, this time having the excuse of all the chaos going around town.
It was crowded just outside the jail. More ponies than Twilight even knew lived in this town were hanging around Main Street. It probably was more than the actual population, Twilight thought, if you counted all the guards that came in.
Next to the jail were several more cages the contained a few dozen more prisoners. The whole area was littered with guards from Canterlot, more than you’d see even in Canterlot. Pegasi were circling the skies. Tents had been set up all along the side of the main road, several ponies looking like they intended to camp out here. Even just glancing through the windows as she passed, Twilight could tell that the tavern, the church, and the school were all filled.
They must have all moved here from the edges of town, seeking the safety of other ponies. And Twilight didn’t see any monsters around, so it was working. Twilight wondered if it would be better to stay here for a few hours until the sun went down. Were the guards or the monsters a bigger risk, was the question.
Something about all this was making Twilight nauseous, jittery in a way she didn’t normally get. The sun mercilessly pounding on her wasn’t helping either. She was sweating now, felt terribly fatigued. It made her want to get back home, back to where the others were and it was pitch black.
She decided to at least move to the edge of the crowd, where she could see just how many monsters were around. Her legs were reluctant to carry her that far, Twilight had to force them along until she got near the edge of downtown.
The rest of town looked even more deserted than normal. No ponies, but no monsters either.
She took a step towards the deserted streets and stumbled, her leg wobbling from weakness. There was something wrong. It wasn’t just heat or fear or exhaustion! Something was wrong!
What if it was the sun? She should still be fine to go outside for the next several months, but-
She remembered the way Sunset had looked her over and that made Twilight wonder. She ran her tongue over her teeth and there were no fangs. She put her hoof up to her ears and-
Twilight did have ear tufts! Not just a little bit of fuzz, but fully grown ear tufts! They might even have been bigger than anypony else's! That must have been what Sunset saw. Did anypony else notice?! Maybe they were all too distracted by Twilight’s mane and black eye.
But why had there been such a sudden growth spurt now? That wasn’t supposed to happen! They told her she wouldn’t be able to grow full ear tufts until around the time they’d show her how their disguises worked. Twilight had wanted fuzzy ears for so long now, but suddenly it felt scary rather than a cause for celebration.
Twilight tried walking forward, just to see if she could but found herself getting winded now! She was sweating badly and already she felt like she was getting sunburned.
Obviously, the sun was affecting her a lot more than it should be. They’d told her she would be able to safely go out during the day for at least another half a year, but Twilight honestly didn’t think she could make it back home now.
Did they… lie?
No! There was lots of weird stuff going on right now, this was just part of that! Whatever it was!
Twilight didn’t want to think about it! She was too weak right now. She needed to get out of the sun first because otherwise she’d likely collapse in the streets. They had safe spaces set up all through town where they could rest during the day, Twilight remembered.
She looked and the graveyard was right there. Rarity's family tomb, one of their safe spaces, was nearby.
Twilight tried making a run for it but stumbled a little shortly after starting. If she fell, she wasn’t sure she’d get back up right now and the sun was burning. Twilight just waded forward, relying on that initial bit of forced momentum to carry her to the tomb.
Thankfully, Rarity never actually locked this place back up. Twilight swatted away the chains and stumbled inside, nearly falling down the stairs before closing the door behind her.
It was totally black in here when the door was closed, Twilight knew from experience, but this was the first time Twilight could see inside the tomb with literally zero light. Everything had a faint glow to it, allowing Twilight to make out the outline of everything just fine. But still Twilight couldn’t make out anything but the general shape of things without light, whereas she’d been told a full vampire could see things in full color even without any light.
But who knew what was even true anymore. Her eyes weren’t supposed to start changing this much for months and months!
Twilight sat down on the slab in the middle of the tomb and caught her breath quickly enough.
She already felt a lot better.
That feeling of dread was already dying down, even though there was literally no reason to be calm right now. The only possibility that came to her mind was that she was out of the sun now. Rarity did warn her that her natural instinct would change to seeing light as scary and the dark as comforting, but Twilight never imagined it’d be like this! This was way too much too fast. And the others didn’t seem that scared of the light.
She'd been changing so slowly up until now!
Unless it was the case that you started slow and changed suddenly! And Twilight didn’t know how to use their transformation magic! And then- she didn’t know where the other vampires lived either! Twilight basically couldn’t survive with them at all now! The pieces seemed to fit together.
Her friends turning on her… not being her friends even despite her eating their fruit. It was a dream even crueler than that horrible nightmare she used to have of them turning on her for not joining them.
Twilight winced and tried to shake the intrusive thoughts from her mind. She reminded herself that something weird was going on, strange enough to bring Sunset Shimmer herself here! And Rarity got Twilight out of jail so obviously, they still wanted her around! Twilight wanted to be one of them anyway, this wasn't a big deal.
Yeah.
If she did change fast for some reason that's just meant she could leave this place sooner, could run away into the forest if things went bad with Sunset. It was starting to make Twilight feel better.
But what if there was something important they kept from her?
No! Twilight was just having invasive thoughts again like she did until she met her friends. She wouldn't conclude anything until she saw them again and she would see them again. Twilight just had to wait till sundown.
She remembered where the hidden stash of fruit chews was and took them out, eating them more to pass the time than to satiate the hunger masked by her fear. They tasted a little different than normal. Better, but different.
Only another two hours left until sundown! Two excruciatingly long hours! Suddenly being back in jail didn’t seem so bad.
Twilight sat there in the dark, not even knowing how slow time was moving.