On The Run

by Sagami

Going down

Sunset’s shoulder hurt from busting through the door. Not her most brilliant idea, but certainly the only one she had to save Fluttershy and herself. She had heard their room door collapse under the policemen’s orders: they were close. Very close. Too close. She had no time to think clearly. No time to think at all, really.

“Sunset, what was that noise?!”

Fluttershy was still holding on to her left wrist, like a frightened animal seeking comfort. No need to use her powers here: she could feel the fear and panic in her friend’s eyes.
Then again, there was what one could feel, and what one could see. And at that very moment, Sunset really wanted to see a door, preferably an unlocked one. Luckily, this room main entrance admitted to another hallway, perpendicular to the one they first came through, which meant they could escape without being noticed by the men she suspected were watching at their door.

“Please don’t be locked, please don’t be locked…”

It wasn’t. Thank goodness. Or not? The emotional ride she was experiencing prevented her from feeling any sense of relief. Maybe some men were waiting behind that door, maybe…

...Nothing. Without realizing it, she had opened the door in a hurry, and was now standing in the empty hallway, only a few meters away from the law enforcement. She could even hear them, beyond the cement walls:

“Are they gone?”

“He told us they’d be here.”

“Check the bathroom.”

Fuck. No time to waste, or to wonder who they were referring to. No time for anything, except running towards that small green sign marked “exit” at the end of the hallway, glowing like a little beacon of hope. A misleading beacon, leading to what looked like more misery. What would they even do? This was truly their last chance to turn themselves in. Sunset thought about it for a second that seemed like hours: on one side, their friends, Fluttershy’s parents, and the perspective of being two runaways from the law with nowhere to go… but on the other, endangering the very same friends, being falsely accused and risking prison, not only for a murder they didn’t commit, but also for her lack of papers.

And one last thing.

Twilight. Equestria Twilight, not… here-world-human-ish… Twilight. One way or another, she would hear of this, and then… what would she do? What would she not do? And princess Celestia… Now that she had forgiven Sunset, she could very well decide to intervene as well. Could Sunset’s situation escalate into a conflict between the two worlds? And what about how she promised Twilight to be better? Could the princess lose faith in her and abandon her? Could her friends abandon her?

She knew what she had to do. She turned to Fluttershy, placing her hands on her shoulders:

“Last chance Fluttershy, you can still stay here, I promise I’ll be fine.”

“No you won’t! What am I going to do? And what are you going to do all alone? It’s not like you have Twilight or Rainbow Dash to help you out! I could never forgive myself if I let you by yourself!”

Damn, that was… unexpected of Fluttershy to say. But it was certainly what Sunset needed to hear. She dried her tears, grabbed her friend’s arm, and the two started running towards the exit. They reached the end of the hallway, and look at the single window on the wall: it was leading into a small metal staircase, coiling down the hotel floors and ending in a narrow back alley, filled with large garbage bins and empty bottles. She swiftly opened the window before helping a trembling Fluttershy onto the stairs. She followed as closely as she could, trying her best to close the window from the outside. The guitarist ran down the staircase so fast she could feel her head crying for help. Once their feet finally reached the ground, they both took a few seconds to breathe, as Sunset tried to remember which side of the alley led to the police cars, and which one was safe.

“You’re still with me Fluttershy?”

“...Of course…” The girl answered, still panting from the effort. She followed as Sunset walked towards the next street and peeked to make sure the path was clear. Nothing but a few pedestrians, restaurants opening their doors and taking out the tables, all unaware of what was going on in the Golden Horseshoe Hotel.

There it was. What Sunset was hoping to find. The new bus line. It just had been opened to public, and she had no idea where it was headed. But no matter. The bus was approaching, just a few yards away from the green sign. Just the time they needed to run and get in.
With Fluttershy still by her side, she sprinted across the street, not letting her eyes off her friend behind her. When they finally reached the bus door, she relished that idea she once had, to always keep a few tickets in her wallet. With a shaking hand, she handed them to the driver, and sat with Fluttershy on the back of the nearly empty bus.

“This is it… A dive into the great unknown… No going back…”

When she realized she had said these words out loud, Fluttershy had already laid her head on Sunset’s shoulder, holding her arm close and shivering at the cold of the morning.

}--oO0Oo--{

“Last stop!”

Sunset opened her eyes. Had she fallen asleep? How much time had passed since they left? She had no idea. Fluttershy was still laying on her side, looking so calm Sunset barely wanted to wake her up.

“...Hey, Fluttershy… We’ve arrived.”

“Arrived?” She asked, yawning, “Where?”

“I… don’t know…” Sunset admitted, looking around through the bus windows, “Definitely not in Canterlot anymore. It’s strange though, I feel like I’ve seen this road before…”

“Misses? You’re gonna get off or what?”

“Sure!” Sunset answered, quickly gathering her stuff and helping a still sleepy Fluttershy to get up. When they finally stepped off the vehicle, they got the chance to observe their surroundings in greater details:

“Looks like we’ve reached the edge of a forest. But in which direction is Canterlot?”

Sunset took out her phone, and opened the compass to realize They were East from the city.

“Wait, East of Canterlot is…”

“Hey Sunset, look at this!” Fluttershy exclaimed, pointing at the stop sign, “We’re back at Everfree forest!”

They were indeed. That road they were looking at was the one the school bus used to reach Camp Everfree, located deep into the woods. And now here they were. Sunset could feel her necklace pulse under the greater magical presence inhabiting those wild lands.

“Oh hello there sir!”

Sunset turned around briskly. Was someone else here?! She looked at Fluttershy, sitting on the ground, turning her back to Sunset. Nobody else was here.

“Fluttershy, who were you talking to?”

“Mister Redstart over here of course!” She answered cheerfully, turning around and revealing a small orange bird perched on her finger.”

That’s right. Fluttershy’s own necklace allowed her to communicate with animals. Often cute, sometimes surprising, especially with the 10 feet polar bear from the Canterlot Zoological Park. But in their situation, it could be more than useful.

“Say, Fluttershy, could you ask your friend if there is any rest area of some kind near us? A place where we could maybe know more precisely where we are?”

“Of course! Mr. Redstart, tell me, would you happen to know any place where we could rest for a bit, please?”

The bird looked at the two girls for a few seconds, before emitting several joyful (or what could be interpreted as joyful coming from a specie whose favorite hobby is pulling out worms from the ground) chirps and leaving Fluttershy’s finger to fly north.

“So?”

“He’s going to lead us to a camping site located around five hundred yards North. He said the people there are usually very nice and give him bread.”

“Great, hope they’ll be as welcoming with us. If we’re lucky, the news from Canterlot haven’t reached them yet. We’re gonna have to walk.”

“Alright! Quick, don’t lose sight of Mr. Redstart!”

Sunset wondered… How could Fluttershy be so… carefree? With everything that was going on, everything that had happened in the past hours, how could she now be following a bird, walking like it was nothing?

“Hey Fluttershy? I wanted to ask you-”

Bzzzzzz

Bzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzz

Bzzzz

Wow. Both their phones were vibrating like they were trying to get out of the girls bags. They probably had reached a zone with mobile coverage again. Sunset took out hers, only to see more notifications than she ever had had before:

“Where tf r u?! R.D”

“Sunset please call us back. Twi”

“Darling, where are you? Is Fluttershy with you?”

“Sunset where did you go? What’s going on downtown?!”

“Yo everyone’s worried for you at CHS! -Lyra”

“Sunset this is principal Celestia. There is a situation here. Some policemen from CPD showed up at the school, and are apparently looking for you and Fluttershy? Please contact me as soon as you get this message.”

Author's Note:

Jesus what an incredibly long wait for 1.5k words amirite?

Jesus I need to kill myself.

Seriously though, I am sorry for the long hiatus guys, hope this story's already small public wasn't reduced too drastically.
Why did it take so long? I... don't really know. Sometimes I didn't have time to write, sometimes I didn't really want to... I... still don't know if people actually like this fic or not? It's a bit blurry.
But the important thing is here I am! Back for the winter I'm interesting, the best thing since wrestling, infesting in your kids ears and nesting!

Bisous,

Saga.

Comments

[VampDash]

Love it so far!

[Sagami]

9548688
Haha thank you my man! Appreciate it! Loving you back <3

[VampDash]

9548743
Honestly hope to see how they get out of this... and to clarify they saw a dead body correct?

[Sagami]

9548745
They did.

OR WAS IT REALLY DEA- Yeah it was.

[VampDash]

9548747
Figured. I'm assuming some time down the road they'll encounter the killer who tries to kill them.

[FanficReader920]

I’m surprised Sunset didn’t have the foresight to discard the phones. Also, why not just use the portal? If you explain to Twilight what happened, she’ll be happy to hide them for the time being.

[Sagami]

9548767
First, cops don't track your phones 4 hours after an incident unless you're already a wanted fugitive. I mean, that's the info I found online, but I consider it true enough for my small-scale fic.
For the portal, well CHS is kinda at the other side of the city, so unless RD was with them, they couldn't go really far. Mind you, she still has the diary, so more of that to come...
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

[akira_redtiger]

Finally!!!

Man, I really wondered whether or not you still wanted to continue this story! (I mean, not really because I knew you had a lot of upcoming ideas, but still, it's been a while)

Anyway, I liked this chapter, especially because their escape is so realistic, in a way. Okay, they find open doors but it's "standard" luck, then take the bus, which is what anyone would probably do, and the fact that everyone suddenly try to call them to ask what's going on is very normal but strangely, few stories picture that when narrating characters on the run. One detail I really appreciated was how you described Fluttershy's powers! It's just so fun to visualize her asking for a shelter to the nearest bird, and sometimes having a talk with any animal at the zoo xD

Overall, I enjoy reading Sunset's point of view. Her thoughts about Twilight and Celestia are very natural, they don't disturb the pace of the story, and I liked her reaction when seeing that Fluttershy wouldn't abandon her. Look forward to seeing what happens next, and where they'll be heading!

Thanks for this chapter!! Mix and twist: duck confit and stracciatella.

[Blue Horizon]

I like this chapter, and I like the story as a whole. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[Sagami]

9557224
Heeyyyyy, thank you man! Glad you like it and look forward for the next chapters!