Tuesday had been a drag for Twilight, and she had been relieved that Bella had been absent upon her return to school on Monday. She knew she'd have to confront her eventually, but a couple days without Bella flaunting about herself constantly was quite the relief Twilight had needed. Between the blazing summer heat and Bella's egotistic nature, it was beyond relentless torture to anybody's senses, so she took it without complaint or a second thought.
She wiped sweat residing on her forehead from her brow, trying to focus on her current ride back to her house. The temperature that day had hit a record peak, so even the air conditioner's cool waves escaping the ducts didn't ease Twilight's already unsettled attitude.
It had been a terrible day at Canterlot High.
Her performances in almost every category of academics had been poor. She didn't know why her physical strength in both her body and mind had been poor, but it was obvious and she knew it. Sure, Twilight wasn't the most giddy individual, but if there was one thing she didn't normally lack on, it was her studies.
She guessed that it may have been the dreaded heat, but at the same time, she knew that wasn't the cause. Hot weather wouldn't stop her, and she knew that for sure.
These conflicting thoughts made it all the harder to drive straight, but luckily, she was at the turn to the street where she lived. A sight she enjoyed, just wanting her day to be over and done with. Her plan was to just heat some leftovers, lock the doors and windows, and let Beethoven's symphonies carry her into a deep sleep. Simple, sweet, and free of any drama that could potentially send her over the edge.
She pulled into the driveway and got out of her metal trap, locking the doors and not even bothering to collect her school luggage. For all she cared, that heavy shit could stay in that thing for the rest of the week. She had no reason to carry it in, so what was the point?
Upon entering the cool and calm house, Twilight locked the door and just led herself to the fridge, finding some spaghetti. She threw some onto a plate, sprinkled some water onto the noodles, and after four minutes of heating her makeshift dinner, she dragged herself to her room and shut the door with a moderate slam.
She set the scorching hot plate on her nightstand and plopped down onto her unmade bed, staring at her bedroom ceiling for a good few minutes. She didn't know what she was doing, but didn't care at the same time. It was relaxing to her, so she just allowed it to happen. The essence of her dinner, as much as her grumbling stomach yelling at her for consumption of the meal, eventually forced her out of the embrace with her bed sheets, sitting back up and grabbing the plate rested on her nightstand.
The dinner rested in her lap, the heat slowly seeping it's way through the fabric of her jeans, as she grabbed the fork and proceeded to stab it into the serving. She didn't mind the mild amount of heat embracing her lap as she twirled the fork into a dance with her dinner, eventually forming a spiraled set of noodles on her utensil.
As she went to blow on the spaghetti laced on her fork, a set of knocks interrupted her date with herself. They were heavy knocks, which set Twilight's PTSD from her past home invasion off on full alert. However, the insecurities were replaced with confusion upon a set of words that followed the knocks.
"Police! Open up!"
She immediately recognized the officer's voice as the same one that questioned her at the hospital. While she was confused and shocked, she knew he wasn't a threat, so she set her plate aside and worked quickly to the front door, unlocking it and opening it to the sight of the same officer from the hospital in the doorway.
His car was parked along the curbside with its lights flashing abruptly, slightly irritating Twilight's eyes as she addressed the officer.
"May I help you, officer?" Twilight questioned.
"Yes, Ms. Sparkle," he started. "I'm Officer Carlson, and I believe you may have some information regarding a recent event that occurred."
"Such as?"
Officer Carlson took a second to exhale a breath and give Twilight a glare that made her shiver. It was clear that he had come on something serious.
"Ms. Sparkle, how is your relationship with Bella Thompson?" he asked.
Twilight was immediately confused. Of all the things that she thought he was going to ask, that wasn't even something she thought would've been an option. She just complied with the situation, having no reason to lie.
"Bella?" she stuttered in surprise. "We aren't the best of friends, but I don't necessarily hate her or wish her any sort of ill will. Why?"
The officer paused letting out another long breath.
"Would you mind coming with me?" he asked.
Twilight swallowed hard, her blood running cold.
"I-I'm not in trouble, am I?!" she panicked.
"No. You're not under arrest, but someone's gonna be," he said calmly. "I think you can help us to figure out who did this."
Twilight paused, relieved that she wasn't in any legal trouble, but her confusion still remained.
"What happened? Is Bella hurt?"
Carlson took a few steps back and turned to where Twilight's sight was met with his patrol car.
"It's best you just come with me, Ms. Sparkle."
Hunting had never been a challenge for Sunset; from the day she had been old enough to hunt efficiently, she had been naturally gifted at it. Her senses were very strong and sensitive, and she could track down and claim a meal in less than five minutes out in the open. She even outperformed the royals, but because of her choice of what to feed on, she was an outcast to them, despite her hunting skills being of the highest level.
Her family's choice of meal had always been animals rather than humans, and it wasn't because of taste preference, it was simply due to the fact that hunting humans had always seemed wrong and immoral to them. Because of their beliefs, Sunset had gotten teased by her fellow vampiric kin growing up, and while she hated it then, now she found her family's beliefs all-too-true.
One hunt, she had gone against her parents and ended up hunting down a human; a young male athlete that, while strong and healthier than the average human, had stood no chance against an immortal being. While Sunset easily had the advantage and could've pounced, something had held her back from finishing the task. The smell of his blood had been intoxicating to her, but something in her mind just had forced her to fly away and never try hunting humans since then.
Still, to this day, she couldn't explain why she had stopped, and just hunts her usual preferences; deer, rabbits, squirrels; basically any casual woodland creature that pumps that sweet crimson nectar. Sometimes she can hunt multiple meals if she wishes, but she normally prefers one small serving in-between her usual cycle of feedings. One deer could last her up to four days without another feeding if she was lucky to run into one on a hunt.
The only thing currently on her mind, was letting some steam off after the grisly demise of her mother. Her mother had always been her hunting partner, so hunting was her only way of having some connection to her mother. Her father dealt mostly with the royal's shenanigans and did his best to keep order in their little society away from the humans. It had seemed to work well enough, up until the previous night. Now, Sunset wasn't sure what her father was going to do about the corrupt "order" the royals called "vampire law."
"More like bullshit law," Sunset thought to herself.
She raised her ears to the open forest, listening for the rustling of any woodland creature that she could detect. First, the north; mild wind and the slight bristle of leaves. East; the local river flowing and one frog croaking on its edge.
"Poisonous," Sunset muttered to herself upon the discovery of the frog.
South; leaves rustling in the breeze, chirping birds, bones crushing from the might of a bear's jaw.
Sunset braced herself for the fast attack on the bear, up until she heard another sound not even a yard from the bear. It was a mild yelp culminated by two other sets that Sunset recognized well, and immediately stopped her from proceeding with her attack.
"Nothing else needs to lose their mother," she choked out in defeat, focusing her senses back to the forest.
West; more wind, a squirrel skittering up a tree, hooves walking gently along a trail.
"Perfect." Sunset stated, preparing herself for the quick pounce. "I need a good meal after last night."
With careful focus, Sunset caught the scent of her prey and took off like a rocket through the thick woods. The run was like a flash to Sunset, while to a human, it was more like nothing. Sunset was untraceable by a naked human eye at the speed she was going, and the only thing that could track her was another vampire. It was one of the perks that came with vampirism, and Sunset was one of the fastest at it.
Within the blink of an eye, Sunset had her prey grasped and injected with her venom as if it were simple work. The deer still spasmed, but Sunset's strength was far more powerful and not even a match for her. Her fangs glistened with the crimson glow of the animal's blood in the moonlight as she took in her meal with full satisfaction. The deer fell limp not long after that, and Sunset only continued to enjoy her well-earned meal under the stars.
Sunset downed the entire life supply of the mammal in no less than ten minutes, and even found herself crying in the midst of the feasting. The main reason was because it reminded her of her first hunt with her mom, and the realization of what the pompous royals had done to her had struck her hard in-between her thick crimson meal. She hadn't meant to drink the animal free of all of it's blood, but her emotions had unintentionally caused her to.
She stood up, wiping her fangs free of the red tint that now glossed them, and looked up to the moon, reminiscing about her mother.
Nine years earlier
"Wait… so it's better to hunt when the moon is full than when it's not?" a young Sunset questioned her mother, both sprawled out underneath the stars.
"Mhm. The best time to hunt is when you are most lethal," Starry Dawn confirmed to her daughter by her side, giving her hunting tips that she was taught as a kid. "The moon aids us in both hunger and agility. We're much more lethal and dangerous under a full moon, Sunset."
"Hmm. Seems kinda the opposite, because aren't vampires supposed to be stealthy and remain in the shadows?"
Starry giggled at her daughter's theory, even if it was partly true.
"Yes, we are supposed to remain in the shadows, but we also cannot go without feeding. We can't be in the shadows all the time, Sunset. We have to come out every now and then."
"But didn't the royals teach us to be "one with the shadows and darkness? Do we just ignore everything they've taught us?"
"The royals have their ways of teaching, but we have our own. Why do you think we pulled you out of their ways of teaching and preferred to teach you on our own?"
"Because you don't like them?"
Starry lost her laughter, coughing in-between her words in surprise at the sudden response.
"I-It's more that…. the royals have a way of teaching that isn't what your father and I want for you. One day you'll move out of your father and I's care, and we want you to have proper guidance and knowledge on how to survive on your own in this world. How to hunt, who to trust, and most importantly, how to live your life happily."
"But I'm happy here with you and daddy! Why would I ever choose to leave both of you!"
Starry paused and looked up to the sky, admiring the haunting glow of the full moon. A smile crept across her lips as she turned to her confused and troubled daughter, placing a free hand on the right side of Sunset's head and running her fingers through her fiery hair in a dance. She stroked her daughter's hair comfortingly as she answered her daughter's question.
"You'll understand someday dear." Starry answered, following by kissing her daughter's forehead and continuing to stroke her hair.
Present day
Sunset hadn't realized that she unintentionally was stroking her own hair coming out of the memory. It was a fond memory that she had remembered well over the years. She lowered the hand she had been flowing through her hair and used it to wipe tears from her eyes. In the midst of moonlight and cool summer night air, she could feel a presence with her, and she smiled at it, knowing her mom was there.
"I miss you, mom," she choked out.
The somewhat-reunion between mother and daughter was broken up by a distant noise; something that caught Sunset's attention immediately, given what was being said. It sounded like a pair of three males discussing something to do with a meal. All Sunset had cared about was one name mentioned, and she immediately knew she had to look into this.
"Yeah… that Twilight Sparkle ain't gonna be around for much longer…
She dashed in the direction of the conversation, and quickly found three other vampires walking in the palely moonlit woods. Her arrival wasn't noticed, surprisingly enough, so she played stealth for the time being, taking refuge in a thicker upper part of a tree.
"Wait, what do you mean she's not going to be around for much longer?" one of the male occupants questioned.
Sunset tried to distinguish the men, but the darkness made it hard to tell exactly who they were. Sunset just continued to stalk them in the trees and listened further into the conversation.
"Dalko got all he needed for Molsken from that other girl in the detention center. He even got a damn meal out of her," the raspy-voiced attendee clarified.
"Dalko" was a name Sunset recognized. He was one of Molsken's weasels, but that wasn't the important thing to Sunset; she was more interested in what Molsken was planning, seeing there was definitely a plan in motion.
"So, what's the plan when he gets this girl out of the picture? Why would he even be out to kill a mortal?"
"He didn't say. Maybe some rare blood or some shit?"
"Hmm, seems like something Molsken would try for. A little extreme though for a mortal."
"That's what I said. Let's get home. We don't need anyone getting air of whatever Molsken is planning."
"Sure thing, Alos."
The three dashed off like lightning bolts, and Sunset descended from the tree. The last name mentioned wasn't even familiar to Sunset, and that made the current mystery all the more mysterious. All she knew, based on what she had just heard, was that Molsken was out to kill Twilight, the girl she had saved, and was most likely up to more than just murdering a mortal.
Something came over Sunset almost immediately, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Normally, she never intervened with mortals or even cared if a mortal lived or died, but for some reason, then and there, she felt compelled to intervene with Molsken's plan. Doing that though would interfere with the "bullshit order" she had just barely escaped breaking with her head on her shoulders.
"Just go home, Sunset," she said to herself. "Unless you want to end up like mom, go home."
She tried to erase the thought of saving Twilight again from her mind, but something held it there, just like that "something" that had held her back from killing that human. She had walked only a few yards before she came to her decision, spreading her wings and cussing herself out as she took flight in the direction of Twilight's house.
The ride with Officer Carlson had led to the local hospital where he had found a parking spot and had advised Twilight to get out of the vehicle with a gesture of his hand. Twilight followed, opening the door of the car and following Carlson into the building, unsure of what to expect. They took the elevator to the third floor, a fun jazz tune being the entertainment upon the ascension, and navigated down many pairs of long empty halls, up until they turned into the ICU unit through a pair of double doors.
It was a very circular unit with a service desk to your right as you walked in and multiple separate rooms to your left and all around as you continued forward. A nurse assisted Officer Carlson while Twilight gazed around the full unit. It had a sense of sadness and horror, given what sort of cases came into that place; cancer patients, coma patients, too many deaths to count, and much more. And now, Twilight was here for some reason.
"Let's go, Twilight," Carlson commanded, causing Twilight to jump.
Twilight nodded and followed him deeper into the unit.
They rounded the service desk, up until they came to the last room at the end of the right side of the unit. The room was lit and accompanied by balloons and cards off to the side of the bed. When Twilight saw who was in the bed, she nearly lost her stomach; Bella Thompson was in the bed on life support.
She was pale and lifeless, heartbeat faint, and skin caked with dried blood from her neck brace down. It was like looking at a dead corpse in a horror movie, and Twilight could barely glimpse at the grisly scene. She eventually lost her school lunch in the closest garbage can, unable to keep her gag reflex at bay. Carlson caught on and quickly escorted Twilight out of the unit and back to his car. It took Twilight a minute to collect herself as Officer Carlson filled her in with some much-important details.
"She was found that way in her detention cell this morning," Carlson explained. "The door had been displaced from it's mechanical parts that allow it to slide open and closed, and the scene had been one of the most disturbing I've ever seen."
"Was she alive?" Twilight asked between shaky breaths.
"She was only alive by a flitter of a heartbeat," he replied. "Paramedics lost her on the way to the hospital but got her back after three recessitator attempts, but she hasn't come to fully since, once."
Twilight paused, holding her hands on the sides of her head in disgust and sadness.
"Who would do this, and how?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out, Ms. Sparkle, and while I appreciate your compliance, you are considered a suspect in this case."
Twilight shuddered, losing her temper between the accusation, and the fact that her day had already been bad enough.
"Do I look like someone able to break into a detention center, force open a mechanical door, and cause this amount of physical harm to Bella?!" she snapped.
"We're not pointing fingers specifically at you, Twilight, but given everything that has happened as of late, we have to consider you a suspect, but that's all you are for now."
Twilight just folded her arms and sat back in her seat in complete irritation.
"Take me home, now," she demanded.
Carlson didn't fight and did as she asked, starting up the car and driving her back home. The drive was quiet for the most part, and neither of them spoke a word. All Twilight could think about was the sight of Bella's body, and would probably never forget it as long as she lived. The fact that she was a suspect in a potential murder case made her want to cry; she had never wanted to kill anybody, so to even be considered a murderer was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.
They pulled into the curb of Twilight's house about twenty minutes later, and Twilight gladly exited the patrol car with a slam. She had started to walk up towards the driveway when she heard the officer call out to her again. She knew the law well, so she just complied with him, remaining quiet and displeased.
"Make sure to stick around," he informed. "Just comply and everything will be fine, alright."
Twilight didn't give any response except by glaring daggers at him until he had left her line of sight in his car. Once he was gone, Twilight exhaled a long breath of air and started towards the steps, slipping out her keys from her pocket. However, something stopped her in her tracks; in the driveway, her car erupted to life and Twilight had immediately resorted to objecting to the situation.
"Hey! That's my car!" she yelled, pulling out her cell phone. "Get out or I'm calling the police!"
Nothing happened for a moment, and Twilight had started to dial 911 to prove her claim, but was surprised when she heard her driver door open and shut, the carjacker coming into view slowly in front of the headlights.
"Would you rather deal with someone accusing you of murder or live?" the carjacker questioned.
"Is that a threat?!" Twilight questioned in return, showing the phone screen with the number dialed to prove she wasn't joking.
"No, it's a fact, Twilight, and unless we get out of here, you'll be dead by dawn," the carjacker warned. "Take it from someone who has saved your life before, that you are in serious danger."
Twilight jumped at the namedrop, not sure whether or not to push the call button.
"Who are you, and how do you know my name!?" Twilight commanded.
The supposed-carjacker stepped forward further into the lights, and immediately, Twilight's mind flashed back to the description she had of her savior at the party; a hair of fire.
In the headlights was a semi-tall girl with hair that resembled fire, dressed in a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and ankle-high black boots. The perfect description of the partygoer that saved her from Brandon.
"My name is Sunset, and unless you want to die a horrible death from someone else hunting for you as we speak, you need to trust me."
Twilight lowered her phone, feeling safe for some reason. This girl could have switchblades in her inner jacket pockets for all she knew, but yet she was lowering her guard without any worries. She stood her ground, calming down.
"How do I know I can trust you?" Twilight proposed. "Aside from the party incident, I have no idea who you are or know anything about you. I've never even seen you before."
"What if I told you that if you come with me, I can get that officer off your back, and prove your innocence." Sunset countered.
Twilight bit her lip at the offer. She knew jack-squat about this girl, but she really wanted Officer Dickweed off her back and this whole mess resolved. She pondered for a long moment, pushing Sunset's patience to its peak.
"Decide quick!" Sunset warned. "I didn't have to come and save you from assured death, and could've just left you for dead! The longer we wait, the more likely he is to show up and kill you!"
Twilight jumped at that, and with a very conflicted grunt of defeat, she agreed to Sunset's offer.
"Fine! But, I'm holding you to your promises!"
"Fine. Now hurry and get in!"
Twilight listened, rushing to the passenger door and opening it with ease, the casual creaking sound accompanying it. She slid into the car seat and shut the door quickly, Sunset joining in the adjacent seat of the vehicle.
Sunset shut the door and quickly buckled up, Twilight following and continuing to eye the girl. Twilight had no idea if she had just been kidnapped or potentially avoided death for the second time now, thanks to the same person. Either way, she was along for the ride now, and with a shift into reverse, the car rolled out of the driveway. One hard turn to the right and shift into first later, the car accelerated off to somewhere yet to be discovered.