July 15th: The Past that Haunts

September 20th, 16 years ago.

“Jesus Christ… not him too,” Steel Cuffs sighed, dabbing at the sweat on his brow under his shock of silver hair. It was hot, damned hot, and the Junction County Sheriff’s Department sheriff was getting really damned tired of it, seemed like the heatwave was only going to last, it’d been pushing 90 for the past ten days, and it finally hit the big Nine-Oh.

Iron Bars grunted, his rust red mustache in the handle bar style, framing his frowning face as he looked into the car, inside, the cries of a young child could be heard as EMTs bustled about, freeing the child from the bloody mess of a car. The other occupant of the vehicle, a man, was identified as Bolero, 26. An easy one to figure out despite the blood splattering the passenger window, the tri-colored hair easy to spot in a crowd, let alone on his own. He was relatively well known around town, since his wife had been Gleaming Shield, one of the best deputies the JCSD had ever seen. She’d passed two days earlier, while giving birth to the small little girl that had been extracted from the car seat in the back.

“Damn shame is what it is. I thought for sure Bolero would have been able to handle that loss. Had somethin’ to live for, ya know?” Iron Bars grumbled, his eyes shooting to the EMTs who were loading the child onto one of the ambulances. A quick shock of light green-and-blue hair could be seen atop the child’s head.

Steel just nodded as he catalogued the pistol used to do the deed: a .38 special, normally carried for self defense, had put a neat hole in the right side of Bolero’s head, and come out the other side. Death was likely instantaneous, Steel noted to himself, cringing a bit. Damn, this job had made him numb, he sighed.

Opening the briefcase in the passenger seat revealed a stack of papers, most seemingly new; amongst them was a birth certificate. “Got a name for the kid; seems like the last thing Bolero was able to do before blowing his brains out.”

“Yeah, what’s her name? Kid’s gonna need at least that much to get by in life.” Iron Bars slid up next to his partner, and the slightly shorter man looked up to the taller.

“Says here, her name’s Sweet Pea.”

July 15th, present day, San Francisco, CA.

Sweet Pea groaned. Had it been half a year ago, one wouldn’t have been shocked to have found that moan one of seeming lust-filled pleasure, even if forced for a client, likely with her bent over, legs spread wide. These days, the only utterances Sweet Pea seemed to be making were those of frustration as she tried to catch up on six years of schooling she’d lost, between the time she’d run away from Dodge Junction at the not-so-tender age of ten, to her current age of sixteen.

“Seriously, fuck math, hard, and unpleasantly.” She was glad she was alone, working on the work sheets: She’d made decent strides, and was sitting at around middle school level of study as a result. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, moving her glasses aside. She had to admit, the short hair and glasses made her look fairly cute, so much so that she hardly recognized herself these days, dressing mostly conservatively in pants and long-sleeves and sweaters. Thankfully it was unusually cool in San Fran this summer, with the cool sea air blowing off the Pacific, to allow that

“But wouldn’t you rather be back there, legs spread, taking a long, thick co…”

“NO!” She took a deep breath, trying to relax. There was this odd desire; it kept cropping up in her head. An urge to fall back into that old life: to the drugs and the sex and all the insanity that came along with it. She knew she was better off here though: she had a foster brother and sister that loved her. They were her legal guardians, of course, but given how young they were, it felt… odd, fostering her as parents, and they settled for a sibling relationship instead.

“Pft, even now I don’t get parents - hell, even Sunny got ‘rentals!” she grumbled and pushed away from her desk to flop back on her bed. A comfortable bed that was hers - no, a full room that was hers, one she’d chosen to decorate with lots of floral patterns. It was a bit mismatched, but Sweet Pea had made it her own, a far cry from the crack dens and flophouses she’d been staying in just a few months back. The notion did feel good, of course... but - always that damned but - there was always that lingering feeling of want.

She pulled out the old, faded picture of her mother and father, caressing slender fingers over it. She had it good though: a good family and a decent place to live. But her heart yearned for more: she wanted a full family, someone to call Mom and Dad. She’d yet to meet her foster brother’s or sister’s parents, and she wasn’t sure she could ever see them as her parents anyway. Certainly with her background, they might not be so eager to see her as theirs.

She let her head rest back on the pillows. It was mid-day, but she felt tired, just drained from the constant cycle of study and going out. After the events at the concert a week prior, she’d been able to actually count the group Pinkie Pie called “The Eightmazing Eight” as her friends. But the best part to come out of that encounter had been meeting Melancholy Rose, Rainbow Dash’s adopted sister’s biological sister. She smirked as that fact came to mind. “Try saying that one five times fast.” she thought with a little grin.

The events of the concert had been something else: an epic performance by the god of rock himself - Discord. But also with his daughter, Fluttershy. One which would have never happened, had Rose and Sweet Pea not pulled the chiffon-haired teen out of her idiotic funk. Still, it had been a worthwhile goal … even if Sweet Pea hadn’t slept well since.

She had never had an issue with girls or guys; in fact, she’d had clients on both sides of the street as it were. And so far as her own personal preference went, she didn’t mind either. But that day, revealing herself to Fluttershy, she’d laid bare what she’d been through in her past. It hadn’t taken much to snap the shy teen out of her own issues with her father, but it had taken more of a toll on the jade-haired teen than she’d expected.

Laying back, her eyes drifted closed, and she let her mind wander till a knock at her door caused her to sit up straight. “Y..yeah?!”

The door creaked open, revealing a tall, built man, easily 5’10”, 190 pounds of muscle. His hair was cut in the military style, and his brown eyes gazed on her from there. “Sweet Pea, how nice of you to still be here.” His voice was rough, filled with lust and desire, but not an ounce of love.

She couldn’t move, “U-uncle Tripwire…. B-but you’re supposed to be….”

“What, in prison? Because, like a little fucking narc bitch, you ratted me out?!” The rage was apparent in his voice as he snarled, “All because you’re a little whore who couldn’t keep her hands off me?” He moved into the room, his presence almost taking up the entirety of it.

Sweet Pea’s eyes went wide as she found herself chained to the bed, naked. Bared again to the world as his hands moved to his own pants, unzipping. “Sweet Pea...you…”

“Sweet Pea…. SWEET PEA!” a voice called, as she could feel the hands on her, shaking her.

“AHHHH!!!” the jade-haired teen jumped off the bed, falling off the opposite side from where she’d been touched and rocked, landing quite ungracefully in a heap.

“Shit - sorry, Pea, didn’t mean to scare you,” Melancholy Rose voiced as she moved around to the other side of the bed. Her eyes falling on the form of a curled-up Sweet Pea, who looked completely broken.

Sweet Pea looked up, her tangelo eyes meeting Rose’s, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. “What’s it like?”

“What’s what like?” Rose asked, moving to sit beside her friend, who just leaned over to rest her head on her best friend’s shoulder.

“To be innocent?” Pea asked, closing her eyes as she just tried to gain strength from one of the few people she felt she could trust in this shitty world.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Pea, seriously, you can’t keep doing this to yourself.” She wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder for support. Despite the words, she wanted her friend feeling better.

“Every time I close my eyes, Rose. Every. Fucking. Time. He shows up, and I’m reduced to nothing.” She looked every bit as fragile as she sounded. “Ever since Flutters, every night, every time I pass out for half a minute.” She glanced at the clock, and from the numbers on its digital face, she’d been asleep for just over an hour apparently.

“And it’s seriously affecting your memory, or did you forget about our lunch plans today?” Rose asked, causing Sweet Pea to facepalm.

“Fuck, knew I was forgetting something,” Pea groaned, and Rose chuckled.

“Yeah, and you’re slipping on your f-bombs, too.”

“I’m working on it, okay? It’s when shi...stuff like this happens... it’s hard, okay?!” Her frustration came to the forefront and Rose nodded, giving her a squeeze.

“Yeah, I know, it’s why I ordered pizza, Hawaiian…. Should be here soon.” She gave a smile to Pea, who returned it with her own, though tired, mirror.

“You know just how to make me feel better, Rose.” Pea slowly climbed to her feet and stretched. “And it’s cool, I mean, you didn’t mean to scare me or anything; I’m just screwed up.”

“You’re not ‘screwed up’, Pea.” Rose said, giving the quotes around the term with her fingers. “Let’s be real: You’ve had it rough, rougher than most. And you’re just coming into things actually being good, so of course you’re gonna freak a bit. Just how this stuff goes, I guess, but you don’t have to freak alone, you know you can call me anytime and I’ll be here for ya in a hot minute.”

“Thanks Rose, you’re the best friend I could ask for.” Pea rubbed at her eyes, as tears had been building and she wiped them away. “Let’s just hope that maybe the trial of that bastard will help me put this crap behind me finally.” Sweet Pea gave a smile, one she didn’t entirely feel as she heard the dark, mocking chuckle in the back of her mind.

“Oh you’ll never put it behind you Amelia, because that’s who you really are….”

She grimaced as she walked out of the room, headed for the bathroom to freshen up. Her brother and sister were out of the house for another few hours till they got home from work, and that was fine, as she’d rather her family not see her like this. And after some time with Rose, she’d probably feel much better.

Melancholy Rose, for her part, let her eyes linger on the back of her friend as she walked out of the room. She sighed softly, shaking her head. The other girl was a mess, and Rose felt like she was trying to pick up the pieces that their plan for Fluttershy had left them with. It had been fast put together, and Rose had only known Pea for a couple of days by that point, but they were already fast becoming the best of friends, and when Pea had gotten the idea of how to bring the pink-haired teen out of her funk it had seemed like a good idea at the time - a very unorthodox one, but an effective one, nonetheless.

Now...now she was wondering if it had done more harm to her friend than they’d expected it would. “You’re stronger than you know Pea; just... we’ll get you through this.” She followed her friend out to the living room; after all, the pizza would be getting here soon, and she was sure they could do with watching a movie or something.

Rose had gone home for the night, and Sweet Pea smiled as her foster family returned. “Hey guys, you just missed Rose.”

Buck Withers chuckled. His shirt was stained with sweat, evidence that he’d been working out. True to his word, he’d re-upped at the gym close by and had been getting back in shape in the six months since he’d taken in the troubled teen. And he was starting to look like his old, athletic self, something his wife Lemony Gems wasn’t exactly going to complain about.

“Oh, hey sis. Yeah I passed her on the road as I was coming in. Figured she’d come by to see you. Did you finish your studies for the day?” He’d been doing his best to keep her on track, and she’d made great strides in her studies even without his ensuring she was doing her work, but he always liked to be sure. He wanted the best for her, else he’d never have stuck his neck out for her like this.

As Lemony opened the door, Sweet Pea waved, but answered Buck’s question: “Yeah I got it done ... well, mostly.” She winced. “I got stuck and decided to take a break before I tore my hair out.” She pouts. “Why’s math gotta be so confusing?!”

Lemony chuckled. “You know, Buck was never good at math either, at least not the numbers on the page. Put it in a sports setting, though, and he’d reel off stats to you like it was nothing,” she said as she grinned. “Maybe you just need to adjust how you think of the problem a bit?” Buck shot her a look and what bordered on a pout, as she stuck her tongue out at him, smirking after.

Pea shrugged, a piece of leftover pizza between her lips as she took a bite. “Mmm, yeah maybe.” she said after swallowing, and giving a grin. “There’s about half a pizza left if you guys want some, it’s Hawaiian, courtesy of Rose. I should probably go finish up my work and try to get some sleep.” It was about 6pm now, and she knew the work would likely take another couple of hours.

Buck nodded. “That was nice of Rose, and yeah, best get on that. You’ve made great progress, but it’s not all that long before we want to get you into classes, preferably by the start of the next school year.” He smiled, and walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You can do it though, we’ve got faith in you, Pea.”

Pea, for her part, tried not to cringe at the touch. She didn’t mind it from family, but at the same time she could hear that voice sing its siren’s call from the back of her mind: “Just imagine him touching you other places, those strong hands…” She shrugged away from his hand, but shot him a forced smile. “Thanks bro. I’ll pull it off; I’ve got to, right?”

With that, Pea turned, and headed up the stairs to her room, leaving Buck standing there giving a curious look to Lemony, who just shook her head with a soft sigh, running a hand through her locks, before grabbing a slice. How do you talk to someone about...that? she wondered.

Lemony had spoken with Pea once, and of course, had a long, long discussion with Shining Armor and Cadence over the teen’s predicament. She knew most of the same information Sweet Pea had laid out for Cadence, and honestly she was still shocked the girl had lived through such horror.

“Buck, I know she’s hurting, I can see it in her eyes. I just don’t know how to even broach the subject and with the…” Lemony was cut off by Buck, who wrapped his arms around his wife and tugged her close.

“I know, Lemony. I noticed she shies away a lot, and yeah, it’s not long is it?” His eyes drifted to the calendar that was pinned up on the wall, August 29th was the hearing date in Dodge Junction for the crimes that had been done to the girl Buck Withers considered a younger sister… the man that destroyed that poor girl’s self worth. He gritted his teeth. “Think she can handle it?”

Lemony shook her head, “No, but I don’t think she has much of a choice if we want that man locked up for the rest of his life.” She drew free of her husband and kissed his cheek, before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Buck standing there with a single slice of pizza, and concern for his younger sister’s soon-to-come meeting with Tripwire.

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