Darkest Sunset

by Pathious

Those Raspberry Eyes

Rainbow’s eyes were heavy as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She could feel something wet being rubbed against her forehead, and was laying on what seemed to be a recliner. She could see a familiar yet blurred image before her. She finally managed to clear her vision to see the face of none other than Adagio Dazzle, tending to her with a wet cloth. Adagio's bright raspberry eyes were looking straight at Rainbow with concern. Her touch was surprisingly light. Sonata was standing back by Aria. Aria had a disgusted look on her face.

"I know, I'm the last face you’d want to see." Adagio said with a note of disgust. Clearly she hadn't much time to debate what to do. "But don't worry, the feeling is mutual. I don't entirely appreciate your presence either." Adagio said with a smirk as she slowly removed the wet cloth from Rainbow’s forehead. "You're all patched up… though I wouldn't recommend going anywhere. Not with the damage you took."

"I'm fine." Rainbow finally managed to utter as she tried to stand up. Her efforts quickly rebounded with an intense surge of pain that shot through her body and gave her a crippling headache.

"You were saying?"Aria said, rolling her eyes as she put her hood over her head and approached her leader. "Told you it would have been easier to put her down." Aria smiled as she slowly walked out of the room, somehow condescendingly swaying her hips.

"Yeah Aria. What would that prove?.. That we haven't changed at all? That we’re nothing but a pack of savages who can't show a even a little bit of hospitality every once in awhile?!" Adagio's right eye twitched as she slowly turned back to Rainbow with a strained smile. Adagio and her crew really had changed if they took the time to patch her up. If you're hungry, we have a fridge full of fish, fish, and other fishy products. We like fish." Adagio rolled her eyes at the lack of any other food. “And before you ask, no, that's not cannibalism. We were Sirens in Equestria, not brainless bottom feeders.”

"What the hell are you even doing?! I helped beat you at the Battle of the Bands!" Rainbow said with a groan of pain. She heald her hand down by the patched wound.

"Don't push your luck, sweetheart. The less you mention of that, the more likelihood you have of not pissing me off. I know how to let things go. I'm not as much of a vengeance seeker as many would think. " Adagio said as she took a seat near Rainbow. "On the other hand, I can be quite the deadly viper if you manage to get on my ‘unpleasant side’. Mentioning that night is a great way to go from my good side to my prey."

"Right.. Got it." Rainbow cringed again as she sat up straighter. "Adagio.... Don't get me wrong, I’m really grateful to not be dead... I just wasn't expecting you of all people, to save me." Rainbow gave a smile to the sea devil as she took a deep breath. Her stomach was still throbbing in pain. That was when the memory came to her. "I was chasing something... I-it killed my friend… I have to-!" Rainbow screamed out as she tried to stand up. "I need to stop it… It was just too fast!"

"I know, I know... I saw it too. Tried to kill Sonata here as well. It just didn't know that Aria and I were around. We managed to chase it away with almost no harm done to Sonata."

"Did you manage to see who it was? What they looked like? Did it come in after me?" Rainbow said, feeling guilty for the hurt caused to this pack of Sirens.

"After we got you in here, it came in with... so much force. All the lights went out when it came. Like it didn't want to be seen. Whatever it was.. It was powerful." Adagio sad as she brushed her bangs from her eyes. There was a small cut below her left eye. Rainbow felt bad for them. They wouldn't have been attacked if they hadn't come to help her. She just wished they would have caught a glimpse of the culprit or something.

"Adagio, listen ... I'm sorry your kindness towards me has caused this much strife amongst you and your.. F-friends." Rainbow realized that like herself Adagio was only helping her friends. They just had conflicting views.
"They're more like my sisters." Adagio said with a smile as she twirled a pointed finger in her hair. "I would do anything for my family... I'm sure that’s something our species must share.”
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~

Sunset rolled over in bed, cyan eyes looking over at her pink friend who was curled up in a ball not far from her. Sunset was glad all of her friends were here. She wasn't sure she could handle this stress all by herself. She let out a long sigh as thunder began to boom in the distance. It had been storming off and on all week. She kept thinking back to Applejack’s memory. Why wouldn't that have been something Applejack would feel the need to tell them? She was beginning to wonder if any of her other friends were going through things they weren't letting on about. She let her eyes drift over to AJ. Maybe if she could just see a little more she would know. She just wanted to know what happened to Fluttershy. Sunset slowly moved her hand over to the farmer. She was an inch away when Pinkie rolled over, onto her hand. Sunset’s eyes lit up the moment they touched.

"Fluttershy, why are you avoiding me?!" Pinkie said in her trademark high pitched voice.

"Please, just leave me alone. You wouldn't understand if I told you. I can handle this on my own." Fluttershy said as she crossed her arms a walking away from Pinkie.

"Fluttershy, you said you were going to help me today! Fluttershy. Wait!" Pinkie yelled out as Fluttershy just kept walking. Pinkie opened her phone up, and the date was immediately presented to be the same date that Applejack had talked to Fluttershy. Pinkie opened up the phone and began to talk to AJ. The text read.

"Applejack, you really need to help me find out what is wrong with Fluttershy.. She’s being so distant.. I'm really scared."
~

Sunset quickly pulled away as she saw just a bunch of random details that were getting her nowhere. She wanted answers, not a bunch of thoughts that were leading her to the same dead end. What the hell was Fluttershy so scared of? Sunset was getting frustrated, and fast. She just wanted justice for her fallen friend. She just wanted to be sure that what she was doing would help. If her new abilities could actually help. Then again, how could what she learned be relevant in the eyes of the law? How would she explain knowing so much? She had so many thoughts, she didn't know exactly what to do anymore. The only thing she was certain about was that she needed to help. She needed to find out just what had caused this much chaos?

“Don’t worry, guys… I will figure this out… I promise.” Sunset said to herself in a soft and shaky voice. “I swear to Celestia this will not go cold.” Sunset flinched as she felt a soft hand grab her shoulder. It was Twilight, wide awake and sitting next to her.

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. I haven’t lost anyone so close to me before. We are all hurting and we all want to make that difference.” Twilight adjusted her glasses and pajama top. Twilight was very tearful as she spoke. Fluttershy’s death was taking it’s toll on the whole group. “I myself want justice for her; all of us do. On the other hand, I trust in the authorities to do what they do best.” Twilight smiled and wiped her own eyes. “Do you remember at the camp when you reassured me that I was stronger than Midnight?” Twilight rubbed Sunsets shoulder reassuringly.

“Of course I remember, Twilight. How could I forget?” She smiled back at her friend with watery eyes. “We have magic, and sure it isn't that great... But it can be.” Sunset said as she was now cross legged on the bed. “I want to help… Fluttershy was my friend, one of the first to accept I was reformed, even after all the harm I caused her, and she meant so much to me. Having her gone is hurting so much.”

“You're strong, Sunset. You're talented and very smart.” Twilight used her hand to move her hanging hair out of her own face, her eyes now gleaming in the moonlight casting through the window. “You're not weak, and you can make it through this. We are here for you, and I mean it when I say I can speak for our sleeping friends. You all showed me that this world we live in isn't so terrible. I came from a school where no one cared about anything but winning, reputation, and themselves.” She shook her head. “Even when someone won something at Crystal Prep, no one was happy unless it was them who was winning.”

“I’m glad I could help you out. I really wish I could have been there for Fluttershy though... I’ve seen some things that have caused me to really question my life here.” Sunset placed her face in the palms of her hands. “I need to do this, Twilight. I need to find out who did this to her.” Twilight looked like she was about to give a huge speech about the magic of friendship or something, but instead she gave out some very inspirational words.

“You can continue to dig and dig to try and find answers. Sometimes you will find what you are looking for, and there will be times you will find yourself in a deeper hole than you were presented with. If you continue to dig, you may end up driving yourself insane before you find any justice. Sometimes you may find those answers were closer to the surface and you overlooked them. Watch where you dig, Sunset. You matter so much so many… Don't slip away from us.” Twilight swung her legs down to the side of the bed as she slowly got up.

“Thanks, Twilight… I really appreciate it. This means a lot to me.” Sunset said as she felt her phone began to vibrate within her pocket. She flinched at its sudden vibration. She slowly removed it from her soft pajama pocket to see the number was unknown. She raised a brow as she hovered her thumb over the ignore button. The phone continued to vibrate as she debated whether or not to click it. She slowly moved her thumb over to answer as she gently pressed down her finger. She shifted it up to her ear as she listened.
“Hello?”

“Sunset, is it you?” Rainbow said on the other end.

“Rainbow...? What? Why? Where are you? Why weren’t you at Fluttershy's? Are you ok?” Sunsets said as she rose to her feet. She felt a familiar concern begin to swell inside her.

“Sunset… I was there.” Rainbow responded as she fought to keep the pain out of her voice. “I was there when she was attacked. I tried to help her, I really did… But the creatures, they... they were everywhere.”

“There was more than one?” Sunset said, nearly dropping her phone from shock upon hearing the news.

“I couldn’t see their faces… I hardly even remember what happened.” Rainbow’s voice started to sound crackly as Sunset picked up another voice saying “Run.” on the line. The voice was deep and hard to distinguish. She hoped it was just static from a bad connection.

“Where are you?” Sunset asked in a worried tone. W-whose phone are you using?” Sunset stood up and began to pace.

“Don’t worry.” Rainbow paused for a second, as if she was making eye contact with someone. “I’m with... friends. I’m still a little hurt, so I can’t come see you.” Rainbow started to get choked up. “I will say, Sunny, I’m glad you weren’t there when I was…” The line suddenly went dead as Rainbow’s connection blanked out. Sunset frantically fumbled the phone in her hands as she struggled to try and dial back. When she did, the phone would give Herat error message saying that the number didn't exist. Twilight was looking at Sunset with a worried expression. AJ and Pinkie, who had woken during her conversation, were also casting worried glances.

“What’s going on here, Sugarcube?” AJ said as she rubbed her tired eyes.

“Rainbow… It’s Rainbow.” Sunset said as she collapsed onto her bed. “I was talking to her… And now I can’t even call her back!” Sunsets eyes remained locked on the ceiling as she clenched her phone tightly. She felt an anger rising inside her as her body temperature began to rise. “I just want to know what happened!” She sat up suddenly and threw her phone at the wall. It shattered upon impact.

“You need to breathe.” Pinkie said as she hopped up on the bed. “If you work yourself up too much, you're going to hurt yourself and others with all that pent up anger.”

“Pinkie is right. Fluttershy… she's gone. We can’t change that. Let all of that anger out, I’m sure you'll feel better.” Sunset heard the words her friends were speaking. She didn't care. Se knew what she had to do, she wasn't going to stop ‘till she used her every available means, including her new powers, to right the wrong that had been committed. Now she just had to find out where Rainbow was...

Author's Note:

Will Sunset ever manage to get a proper length memory. She needs clues. Stay tuned in for the next chap.