Detective Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle was not normally the type of person to sneak around other's backs, but it seemed Sunset Shimmer brought out that side of her. The first time she had snuck around trying to learn about the strange magical energy she now knew was magic Sunset had brought to this world. This time she suspected that the street artist 'Flanksy’ was Sunset, the same person who had smoke bombed and ran from her police officer brother.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she was jolted in her seat from the bus making a hard stop. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and looked out the window, this was her stop. It was lucky the bus had stopped hard, she had been zoned out thinking about the possibility that Sunset was indeed Flanksy. The girl swiftly leapt up from her seat and ran out the door just before it shut.

“Ack!” Twilight coughed and waved a hand in her face, choking on the bus’ exhaust as it pulled away. “Right... Sunset.” She started the short walk to Sunset's studio apartment, returning her thoughts to the fiery haired girl. ‘If she is Flanksy, what's her reason for it? She takes art classes, it's not like she doesn't get to be artistic. What do I even say to her if she admits to being Flanksy? How would I even get her to admit it in the first place?!’

Thinking wasn't doing anything for her, it only gave more questions than answers. “Ugh.” She pulled her phone out and tapped in a passcode, the screen immediately opening to the last thing it had been doing. The notebook app was open, and on the currently opened note was all the information Twilight had gathered on both Flanksy and similarities Sunset Shimmer shared. Convincing Shining Armor to let her review both the dashcam and bodycam footage hadn't given any extra information. The dark was good cover, and Flanksy had made a pretty clean getaway. Twilight had promised her brother she was only curious, not trying to go after Flanksy herself, but if Sunset was Flanksy then it was going to be a different case.

She flicked her thumb, scrolling through the list and quietly mumbling them to herself. “Yellow skin, female teen/young adult, red sport bike, S or 5 as the first character on the license plate, leather jacket?” The last had been more of a guess than anything, the footage wasn't detailed enough to tell, but it was a black jacket possibly like the leather one sunset used to wear. “I hope I'm wrong... Or maybe I hope I'm right.”

Twilight tucked her phone away and looked up as she approached the front of Sunset's home where, outside as usual, was Sunset's red motorcycle. It was definitely a sport bike based on the little knowledge she had learned during her brief online research. She hesitated looking at the license plate, as if it would change what she has seen yesterday. “S-U-N-2-4-3-6... Yup... That's an S or a 5.” There was no denying it, Sunset's motorcycle was a match to the somewhat vague description her brother had given.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned and made for the front door to Sunset's home. “No need to be worried, it's just Sunset, your friend. Your friend who just might be an illegal street artist.” Her attempt to calm herself was a bust. She raised her right hand in a fist and knocked on the door three times, listening for a response.

“Coming!” Sunset rolled out of bed, where she had been laying and playing with her phone, and ran down the stairs. She wasn't expecting anyone to visit today, she had left school yesterday without making any plans with her friends. After the close call during lunch, Sunset didn't want to risk more questions being asked. Her hope was that by the time school started on Monday, her friends would have forgotten about the Flanksy story Twilight had told. That hope was fading a bit however, as Rarity had blown her phone up with text message after text message demanding to know more.

She stopped in front of her mirror for a second to make a half-hearted attempt to fix her bedhead. The pajamas gave away her lazy morning spent in bed anyway she decided, and gave up on her quick fix. At the door, Sunset peeked through the peephole and winced upon seeing Twilight. “Oh no.” Unable to just ignore her friend, she took a breath, unlocked the door, and swung it open with a strained smile. “Twilight! Hey, I wasn't expecting you today! What’s up?”

There was no mistaking the look on Twilight’s face, she was nervous about something. Sunset only hoped it was something other than Flanksy, yesterday had been a bit to close to the truth for her liking. Yes Twilight was her friend, and albeit fairly harmless in her opinion, what she had been doing was still illegal. Not only was it illegal, she had smoke bombed Shining Armor and ran from him to escape. If Twilight did find out, Sunset worried what she would do with the information.

Twilight looked up from her shoes, giving a small smile in return to Sunset’s greeting. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed, her hair was a mess, and her pajamas were still on, she didn’t seem to be doing anything. Her inner detective made herself known again, remembering back to Sunset not joining the rest of the girls to make plans for the weekend. It wasn’t entirely uncommon for one of them to have a busy weekend and not stick around to make plans, but this didn’t appear to be a busy weekend for Sunset, in fact it appeared to be the opposite. Sunset was avoiding them.

“Hi Sunset, sorry I didn't text you to let you know I was coming, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Uhm, mind if we talk?” Nervous, Twilight tucked a few loose strands of her messy bun back behind her ear. She was prone to fidgeting when nervous, messing with her hair, adjusting her glasses, playing with the hem of her skirt, and Sunset picked up on it.

Sunset shrugged casually, some of her fiery hair falling over her shoulders. “Sure, come on in. Want anything to drink?” The neutral tone helped Twilight calm her nerves a bit as she followed Sunset inside, shutting the door behind her.

“Yes please, tea would be nice.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Sunset laughed as she opened a cupboard. “Just gimme a minute.”

Twilight didn't answer, instead sitting on Sunset's couch/futon combo and taking the time to look around the apartment. She had always liked her friend's apartment, it was comfortable and cozy without feeling cramped. The loft bedroom was very cool, and made good use of the former factory's high ceilings that meant much of the interior room was vertical. Sure it was an open floor plan, with everything in one large room sans the bathroom, but it was still cozy. It was very Sunset she decided, even down to the scent of warm spices in the air.

While Sunset waited for the kettle to boil, it left Twilight with time to subtly observe her surroundings. On the back the desk chair was Sunset's leather jacket which could've been the same jacket Flanksy wore. Next to the front door was a black backpack like she had seen in the dashcam footage, with a black hat hanging from a hook above the bag. Her eyes continued to wander until they came across a couple of Sunset's art pieces. The art felt similar to Flanksy's somehow, or maybe it was just her mind wanting to see something that wasn't there.

Finally, Twilight turned her eyes to Sunset Shimmer. The former unicorn stood leaned against the counter, tapping a manicured fingernail on it as she waited on the water. Her skin was a pale yellow, just like the girl on video. She fit the age range of teenager to young adult. The evidence was awfully strong, but there still wasn't any solid proof, only a collection of coincidences, a lot of coincidences.

Just as Twilight's mind was going into overdrive, a sharp whistle shattered the quiet and broke her concentration.

“There we go.” Sunset said aloud, immediately picking up the kettle and pouring steaming water into two mugs. She placed the kettle back in it's home and grabbed the two mugs, careful not to spill as she walked to where Twilight was sat. Twilight's mug landed with a soft clunk on the wooden coffee table, and Sunset let herself fall onto the futon. Getting comfortable, she pulled her legs up against herself and took a small sip of hot tea. “Mmm... So, what's up Twi?”

Twilight grabbed her mug, right away taking a big sip and burning her mouth in the process. Her social crutch had backfired and left her sweating more than she already had been. “Well, uhm. I wasn't really sure who to talk to about this, but you seemed like the best person.” She made up on the fly, occasionally stuttering nervously. “I-I wanted to ask how you felt about Flanksy. The art is really incredible, but she did smoke bomb Shining Armor and I'm conflicted. I'm glad she got away but I feel bad for Shining Armor, plus what she's doing is illegal. It-It's not really a big deal it's just been on my mind. And... Yeah...”

It took all of Sunset's self control to not freeze up like a deer in headlights. She expected Twilight to ask about Flanksy, but it was still nerve wracking how close she was to the truth. “F-Flanksy huh? That is a toughie.” She paused in thought, planning how to proceed carefully. “I think she's pretty harmless in my opinion. The smoke bomb wasn't dangerous to Shining, and she paints walls in alleys.”

Fairly new to more involved social interaction, Twilight did her best to read Sunset's expressions as she spoke. The Equestrian didn't really betray much hidden emotion that Twi could pick up on as she talked, only leaving her more frustrated.

“The way I see it Twilight, she makes boring and lonely alleyways colorful and cheerful. I feel bad Shining got smoke bombed, but she was just trying to keep from being caught without doing harm to others.” Sunset sighed. “Maybe it's my past-self speaking, but I don't really see a problem with what she's doing. It's not like she's vandalizing storefronts and pulling guns on police officers.” Internally, Sunset reminded herself to ask Trixie for some more smoke bombs as she sipped the tea.

Twilight pulled her phone out and unlocked it in a snap, typing in something quickly before putting it away again. “I guess you're right, her art is really nice, and she isn't vandalizing anything significant. I'm just kind of worried for Shining after all that."

“Hey, Shining is your brother, you're a good sister for worrying about him like that Twilight.” Sunset leaned forward and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder with a comforting smile. “I'd take the advice of Starlight Glimmer and live for the moment, what's gonna happen is gonna happen. Flanksy is just a little speed bump.

There was a silent pause as Twilight thought, looking at her steaming tea as she did. “Heh, yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks Sunset.”

*ONE HOUR LATER*

The two teens sat on the cozy futon, chatting about life and school, their tea mugs long since empty. Flanksy seemed to be out of Twilight's mind, hopefully Sunset could do the same with Rarity. “Hate to interrupt you Twi, but I really need to pee.” Sunset abruptly cut off Twilight mid-sentence, her legs squeezed together. “Sorry!”

“Oh, no problem, I should get going anyway, see you in school on Monday?” Twilight pushed her glasses up.

“Yup!” The bathroom-bound girl stood with Twilight and gave a quick hug before quickly walking to the bathroom, the only seperate room in the apartment. “Bye!”

“Bye Sunset.” Twilight couldn't help but giggle softly at seeing Sunset's urgency. There was a thunk from the bathroom door shutting behind her just as Twilight was reaching for the front door.

Mid-turn, Twilight's eyes caught the black backpack next to the door and she released the doorknob. A cautious glance back at the bathroom door gave no hint of Sunset coming back out in the next few seconds. Carefully, Twilight grabbed one of the silver zipper pull tabs and slowly unzipped it, trying to keep quiet. She used her hands to pull the opening in the top of the backpack apart and peek inside with nervous anticipation. There was a dozen cans of spray paint inside the black backpack, all different colors and all used to some degree.

“Flanksy.”

Twilight grabbed her phone and snapped a picture, pausing to take a moment and absorb this new and definitely solid evidence of Sunset being Flanksy. The sound of a toilet flushing made her jump with a squeak and she quickly jumped up, ripping the front door open and bolting outside. Behind her the door closed with a soft click.

With a final look at the red motorcycle, Twilight began walking back to the bus stop with her phone in hand again. Just beneath her latest note, she typed in an new one in all capital letters.