“I gotta warn you, this isn’t nearly enough to cover the rent.” Sharp pain, the first thing Scootaloo felt was sharp pain, and a voice complaining about rent. Her body felt mummified, and she couldn’t even move. It was as if something was sitting on top of her and holding her down, and yet at the same time causing her immense pain wherever it touched.
“Wave the safety charges for now, money’s a little tight at the moment.” Scootaloo felt the pain clear slightly, and her ear twitched as the voice that just spoke registered. That was Blood Eye. What did she mean money was tight? Surely the fee for Rumble had covered it and more. Then again, Scootaloo’s funds didn’t include it after she had asked for help.
“Well...only for you. Just be careful, you have a lot of enemies in high places. You don’t want the Gorgon trying to turn you into stone.” The pain was fading, and Scootaloo could feel her body starting to respond. It turned out the thing around her was just a blanket. Slowly, she began to open her eyes.
“I’m well aware of the risks. Thank you for your concern however.” Slowly the ceiling came into focus, and Scootaloo looked around. Was she in Blood Eye’s room? Turning her head, she looked to the desk to the side of the bed. There was an alarm clock, a brush, and a small locked box.
“Not concern really, I just don’t want to lose one of my paying customers. You have no idea how hard it is to get the junkies to pay.” Scootaloo heard the voice growing distant, and the sound of a door closing. It was soon followed by a very faint click. Softly, hoofsteps approached the closed door of the room, and Blood Eye entered the room.
“How long was I out?” Scootaloo sat up and examined the hoof that had been hurt during the fight, surprised to find it expertly bandaged. Looking to her back, her wings were also bandaged, as it was wrapped around her waist to cover where she had been hit near the spine.
“Two days.” Blood Eye leaned out and grabbed something, pulling back into the room a moment later. Scootaloo grabbed the cup of water and gulped it down gratefully.
“How many bits do I have left?” Scootaloo looked around for her hoodie, where most of her items were stored. Blood Eye tossed the jumper over, and Scootaloo put it on, dismayed to find not one bit remained in her savings. Turning on Blood Eye, she narrowed her eyes in anger.
“You took some of the money for yourself didn’t you!” Scootaloo reared back, eyes widening at the sound of her own voice. Was that how she really sounded when she was angry? It was almost like an entirely different pony. Blood Eye turned and left the room.
Come to think of it, why was she in Blood Eye’s bed? And why were her wounds so expertly taken care of. Blood Eye didn’t have that medical skill, Scootaloo had seen her tend to her own wounds that night they had gone to Sweetie Belle’s. Standing up, Scootaloo saw the impressive dent where she had been laying for two days, and her mouth turned downwards. Walking out, she saw Blood Eye was sitting on the couch, holding out two wanted posters.
“Sorry,” she spoke, taking a seat beside Blood Eye. If Blood Eye had heard, she made no motion of it. Scootaloo turned to look at the two wanted posters, and her eyes widened and she breathed in, one was of her. Her bounty wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to put it on the regular board, near the higher bounty area. There was also the name they had given her.
“Sunset?” Scootaloo turned to glance to Blood Eye’s wanted poster, which was what the second one was. Blood Eye’s bounty hadn’t changed much, the only difference being she was worth slightly more now. Blood Eye handed Scootaloo one of the posters, then tossed the one of herself in the bin near the kitchen. Scootaloo pocketed her own wanted poster.
“It’s your nickname. Essentially it means something along the lines of ‘light fading from the world.’ That’s likely referring to you originally being from the white, and being orange in color.” Blood Eye glanced to the secret compartment, and her mouth turned downward very slightly. Standing up, she went to the kitchen to cook some stale noodles.
“Huh, what does yours mean? Scootaloo didn’t entirely like the fact she now had an alias, but at least it was a pretty one. Sunset, if that was what her name over here was to be, she might as well start calling herself by it. Scootaloo was her white name. Now in the black, she would become Sunset. Yes, it was almost poetic to Scootaloo.
“It means my only discerning feature is my eyes. Some used the Pulse as a chance to change their identity, like Golden Fork for example. Others found the Pulse changed it for them.” Blood Eye sat down with her noodles, and Scootaloo, no, Sunset, and Sunset sat down on the other stool and dug into her own.
“I remember the Pulse. My sister was teaching me how to use my scooter on clouds and...The Wall just...S-She went to t-try and stop it a-and…” Sunset sniffed once and quickly discarded her tears. They were useless in the black, and would only be seen as weakness. Blood Eye tilted her head curiously.
“Scooter?” Blood Eye paused and looked to her secret compartment, eyes narrowing and hoof coming to her chin. After a moment she shook her head and returned to looking at Sunset, who was puzzled by this behaviour, but decided not to look into it.
“It sounds like your sister was very brave. I’m sure she’s out there somewhere. I’m not sure what condition she’ll be in but-” Blood Eye cut herself off and continued eating her food, looking to the wall in irritation. Sunset could tell Blood Eye was trying to be nice by not continuing, despite the obviousness of the situation. Sunset didn’t want to think about it, would her sister be a don boss, or worse? Shuddering, she decided to move on.
“So what about you Blood Eye, what’s your memories of the Pulse?” Sunset saw Blood Eye wince and glance away, tossing her empty cup into the bin. After a moment she sighed and shrugged, moving her hoof in a wavy motion.
“I was one of the unlucky one’s. We were too close to The Wall when it fell. Most jus’ lost their cutie marks, some even lost their memory, but I got the whole shebang. I lost whatever my mark was, most of my memories pre-Pulse, and I woke up surrounded by thugs who were hoping to sell me as a bunny.” Blood Eye glanced toward the bin, and continued speaking, closing her eyes and breathing out.
“I get brief flashes sometimes, but nothing to really help me solve the mystery. Not to mention without my mark, any chance of someone knowing who I was is pretty much gone out the window. I have a few clues, but I don’t really care enough about my past to pursue it. Pretty busy survivin’ ya hear kid?” Blood Eye opened her eyes and smirked slightly at Sunset. The smile was actually quite chilling, and her teeth were in horrible condition, but Sunset appreciated the sentiment.
“That’s a pity, I would have loved to know who you were. I wonder if you were from Manehattan.” Sunset glanced over Blood Eye carefully, trying to pick out any details that might give her clues into her past. Sadly, no matter how she tried, there was really nothing that stood out. Gray hair, gray body covered by a cloak, and red eyes. Blood Eye turned and headed for her room, pausing at the door to glance back to Sunset, and pointed to her chest.
“You should get those wings chopped off sometime. They only paint you a more appealing target.” Blood Eye closed the door, it giving a soft click as Sunset sat there, mouth agape and eyes wide. Cut off her wings? Nonsense! There was no way in tartarus she would ever do that!
On the other hand, Blood Eye was right about it painting her a target. Sunset sighed and finished her noodles, jumping onto the couch to snuggle into her hoodie.