Volume II - Chapter 16: Pulling the strings
The first morning rays of the sun shimmered through the half opened curtain, bathing the room with the early morning light. The teenage girl laying in her bed, face down on her pillow, made a small grunt when her alarm clock went on.
She gathered all her courage, and slowly but surely, sat on the edge of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and lets out a loud unladylike yawn. Her red and gold hair were a mess, and her eyes were injected with blood. This is what it was like to get up after a night of three hours of sleep.
She looked around her and sighed. She didn’t like this room, it wasn’t hers.
It’s already been a week since Luna and herself lost their home, and since they had nowhere to go, Redheart offered them to stay at her house for the time being.
Sunset stayed in the small guest room, and she quickly understood that she might be the first to actually use it as such. Seeing all the cardboard boxes around filled with clothes and other things, Sunset guessed Redheart must’ve used it as a storage room.
Sunset put her slippers on and slowly marched towards the door, as soon as she put her hand on the handle, she stopped. She heard two small feminine voices speaking with each other in hushed tone on the other end.
Sunset put an ear on the door and listened.
“…might actually help.” She heard Redheart finishing a sentence.
“Fair enough.” Luna replied with a sigh, Sunset could hear in her sobbing voice that something was wrong. “At least, I can go on my own terms…”
“I’m sorry Luna…” Redheart replied with an empathetic tone, “The teachers and I tried our best but…”
“I know, and I’m grateful for that.” Sunset heard something colliding with the kitchen’s table, “I just… Don’t know how to explain it to Sunset.”
“She’s a smart girl, Luna. She’ll understand.” Redheart tried.
Luna let out another sob, “This… This is my sister’s legacy. Celestia must be so disappointed…”
“Don’t say that!” Redheart quickly exclaimed.
“But it’s true!” Luna finished in a whisper. “At least, they left me until the end of the year before kicking me out…”
Sunset already knew what they were talking about though. As clever as Luna was, she wasn’t Celestia. She didn’t have what it takes to run a school.
This summer, Luna will be out of job.
Sunset took a deep breath and carefully opened the door, the voices of Luna and Redheart carefully faded away.
“Hi guys.” Sunset simply stated, walking toward the kitchen’s table.
Redheart’s house was way tinier than Celestia’s, the room Sunset was actually staying in was right next to the kitchen.
“Good morning Sunset!” Redheart joyfully stated, “I hope you slept well. Coffee?”
“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Sunset replied, dropping herself in the nearest chair as Redheart smiled and gets up to make some coffee.
“Ready for school?” Luna asked her, avoiding Sunset’s gaze, pretending to read this morning newspaper which she had already read an hour ago.
Sunset stretched her arms and lets out a smaller yawn than before, “I guess.” She said with a shrug.
“Do you want a ride or are you going to take the bus?” Luna casually asked, still looking at the newspaper Sunset knew she wasn’t actually reading.
At her former home, Sunset never had to take the bus. She just had to make a twenty minutes’ walk to get to school. But Redheart’s home was on the other end of Canterlot’s suburbs, right next to Ponyville.
So she had three choices, a two hours walk, taking the bus which can at least take an hour depending on the traffic, or a twenty minutes’ drive with Luna, which was tempting but meant that Sunset would get in school an hour and a half before classes started, which was out of the question.
‘Actually… I have a fourth option.’ She thought.
“I’ll… take the bus.” Sunset stated, already planning to swing around through the city. The perks of being Spider-girl.
“Alright, well I must get going.” Luna stated, putting the newspaper on the table and finishing her own mug of coffee before standing up. “No skipping classes today, missy.” She said, pointing in Sunset’s direction with a menacing finger. “It’s not because you have good grades and you’ve soon finished with high school that it means you can start to slack off.”
Sunset smirked, “Of course not.”
‘You didn’t make me swear it.’ She thought.
“Good.” Luna replied with a smirk of her own. She grabbed her purse and put on her jacket. “Have a good day today, Sunset. You can always come down to my office if you need anything.”
“Yeah, I know.” Sunset replied. It was something Celestia always used to say before going to school in the morning.
As soon as Luna was going to leave, she looked back and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Don’t wait after me for diner. I have… Something to do tonight.”
Sunset just shrugged as she took a sip of her coffee and watches as Luna left with a wave of her hand.
A week ago…
Sunset woke up, screaming at the top of her lungs. She quickly felt somebody’s embrace around her, and looked at the side to see Twilight. She was breathing loudly, drops of sweat rolling in her back, tears in the corners of her eyes.
Sunset managed to retrieve her calm. “T-Twilight?” Sunset took a closer look around her, “W-Where are we?”
“In my room, darling.” Rarity’s voice came from Sunset’s right. The young fashionista was sat on a chair nearby. She was putting some make-up on her face with the help of her pocket mirror. “You were lucky my dear parents went on more than deserved vacations.”
“Why am I here?” Sunset asked, then the memory of last night’s fight came back. She straightened up, “The symbiote! It got away! We ha-”
“Sunset listen to me!” Twilight ordered, which Sunset did. She put her gentle hand on Sunset’s chest, forcing her to lay back in the bed. “You’re not in a state of doing anything right now!”
Sunset took a closer look at her body and saw that there were bandages covering most of it. Now that she realized it, she felt a sharp pain on her arm, making her wince.
“You must rest, dear.” Rarity put a gentle hand on Sunset’s.
“B-But, what about Taskmaster?! And Cat! Is she okay?” Sunset asked.
Twilight gulped, “So, there is one good news, and one bad news.”
‘Obviously.’ Sunset thought. She grunted and took a more comfortable position in the bed, “Start with the good one.”
“Taskmaster was arrested for attempted murder on Discord, Rarity and Luna. Speaking of which, she’s fine.” Twilight quickly stated when she saw Sunset opening her mouth to ask how she was doing. “A bit overwhelmed, but fine. It seems she knew Taskmaster’s identity, so she’s actually helping my brother a lot on this. She’s currently at the police station.”
“From what Twilight told me,” Rarity added, “This ruffian Taskmaster is en route for the Raft as we speak.”
‘Well, that’s good.’ She thought. ‘I’ll have to talk with Luna about this though.’
“The bad news is…” Twilight added, “When I came home later that night, Black Cat had already left.”
“Wish I said I was surprised. I hope she stays out of trouble for a while.” Sunset said, sitting at the edge of Rarity’s bed. “And what about the symbiote? You know where it went?”
Twilight made a nervous smile, “Hum… Make it two bad news.”
Sunset looked at her feet, “I see.”
Looking in her eyes, Sunset saw Twilight had more to say. The scientist girl was nervously fidgeting her purple hair.
“What’s going on Sparky?” Sunset knew it would be something uncomfortable to hear, seeing Twilight’s attitude.
“I… Had a long talk with my brother.” Twilight gulped, “And, to make things short… He wants to talk with you.”
Sunset felt a shiver down her spine, “With me? You mean-”
“With Spider-girl!” Twilight quickly added, ending the confusion, “He has no idea who you really are.”
“Oh…”
“I said that I’ll let Spider-girl know, but it was her call, not mine.” Twilight explained.
“And what is that brother of yours want to talk with her? If I may ask.” Rarity said.
“I have no idea.” Twilight admitted. “I had to say I worked with you for a while, to let you off his hook for a bit. But now he wants answers, and he won’t stop until he has it. He’s stubborn.” She grunted, “And I’m grounded.”
“He’s stubborn? Well, guess it runs in the family then.” Sunset added with a laugh when Twilight pouted. “We’ll see about that, I don’t know if he’s going trust me after what happened last night.” Sunset stated, “But if the symbiote is still running wild, it would be better for everyone if we worked together.”
“Very mature of you Sunset.” Rarity smiled, “But please be careful.”
“You know me, I’m always careful.”
“That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard.” Twilight rolled her eyes with a laugh.
Sunset quickly joined her, followed by Rarity. She didn’t remember the last time she got a good heartfelt laugh like that. She could already feel the absence of the symbiote in her body.
“Oh and… What about… My house?” Sunset finally asked, afraid of the answer.
Twilight and Rarity both stopped laughing and exchanged a nervous look.
“Okay, let’s make it three bad news.”
Present day…
Canterlot High School’s hallways were as noisy as usual, students making their ways to their respective classrooms, chatting between themselves. The sun rose high in the sky and the temperature slowly starting to rise up, the end of winter was near and students could feel it.
One of their classmates wasn’t sharing their enthusiasm though. As Sunset Shimmer made her way through the hallways, she looked around her, searching for one person in particular.
She lets out a yawn and scratched her eyes. It’s been a week now since what Twilight called, ‘The Symbiote incident’. Criminality was at its peak in the city and Sunset hasn’t had any good night of sleep since.
“Hi Sunny!” A cheerful voice came from behind.
Sunset felt two arms around her waist and, knowing who it was, the shadow of a smile appeared on her face.
“Hello, Pinkie.” Sunset stated as Pinkie Pie ended the hug.
Pinkie circled around Sunset to stand in front of her, a wide grin on her face. “I’m so happy that you’re back!” Pinkie cheerfully exclaimed.
“Yeah… I’m happy to be here…” Sunset said, scratching the back of her head, “Say, you didn’t come across Rainbow Dash by any chance?”
Pinkie’s smile fell down a bit. Just a bit. “N-No, I haven’t.” Pinkie made a forced chuckle as she looked away, “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea Sunny.” She finished her sentence in a whisper, “She still seems… Pretty mad.”
Sunset sighed. “I know, that’s why I want to talk with her.” She looked at the ground, “I know I can’t erase what I said or done. But at least, I want her to know that I’m sorry.”
Pinkie’s cheerful demeanor quickly came back, “Don’t worry Sunny! It’s Rainbow we’re talking about! She’s not the kind of person to hold a grudge for that long! Right?”
Sunset gave her a doubtful glare as she raised her eyebrows.
“Hey! I’m trying to be optimistic here!” Pinkie said.
“Good morning, girls.” A small voice greeted next to them.
Fluttershy stood there, a small smile on her face. It quickly disappeared when Fluttershy saw two black bags under the eyes of Sunset’s face.
“Sunset, you look exhausted!” Fluttershy said with worry in her voice.
“Y-Yeah, I don’t get much sleep those days. But hey, it is what it is.” Sunset tried a smile.
Fluttershy didn’t smile back. “You know… I honestly think it would be okay if you take one night off from your… Activities.” She finished in a whisper, “We were… pretty concerned when Rarity explained us what happened a week ago.”
“I don’t think it is Flutters.” Sunset stated. She was going to explain further to the worried girl in front of her that if she took only one night off, the city would burn, but her gaze caught a disrupted Bonbon, hanging what seemed to be some sort of posters on the corridor’s wall.
Pinkie noticed it too and waved her arm calling her. “Hey Bonbon, what’s up?!”
Bonbon startled before turning around and facing them.
“Oh oh, something’s wrong.” Pinkie said, seeing the puffy eyes on Bonbon’s face as she made her way towards them.
When she arrived in front of them, Sunset greeted her, “Hey Bons, what’s going on?”
“I-It’s Lyra…” Bonbon said with a trembling voice, she gave Sunset one of her papers and Sunset saw that it was a picture of Lyra with ‘Have you seen this person?’ written at the top, at the bottom was what Sunset’s recognized as Bonbon phone number. “She disappeared a week ago… At first I thought she was sick, and last week, I tried to call her but she didn’t respond. I tried to call her house too, but it went straight to voicemail…”
“That’s weird.” Sunset said, “Lyra’s not the type to skip classes. I don’t even recall a day were she wasn’t here.”
“Exactly!” Bonbon stated, “That’s what worrying me… What if… Something happened to her.” She sobbed, “I wanted to go see her, but she never told me where she lived after she moved out a year ago.”
“Have you tried calling the police?” Sunset tried.
“I-I didn’t… What if she’s… In some sort of trouble?” Bonbon explained, avoiding Sunset’s gaze.
Fluttershy took Bonbon in her kind arms and gently patted her back, both her and Pinkie looked at Sunset expectantly.
‘Of course, I see where this is going…’ She thought, rolling her eyes.
“For what it’s worth, I might be able to help you.” Sunset finally said.
“W-What?” Bonbon wasn’t believing what she heard, “Why would you do that? I-I know you and Lyra weren’t… the closest friends.”
“Yeah, that’s one way to put it.” Sunset nodded, “But you need help, I always help my friends. And I might have an idea that could help you.”
“R-Really?” Bonbon asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“Remember when I was a stupid brat who ruled over the school?” Sunset asked.
“Sunset dear,” Pinkie stated, an arm around Sunset’s shoulders, “Everybody remembers that.”
“Ah ah, right…” Sunset said with a forced chuckle. She cleared her throat, “Well I used to steal files from the school to have knowledge about my targets.” She saw the disappointed look Fluttershy gave her and looked away, “Anyway, those files were pretty convenient. I had access to their phone numbers, their grades, and even their addresses. I know I had Lyra’s files some time ago. If I still do, and that’s a big if, it must be on my hard drive… I think.”
“Sunset, it would be amazing!” Bonbon cheerfully stated.
Fluttershy sighed but managed a smile, “At least, you’re using your powers for good now.”
Pinkie appeared next to her and whispered in her ear, “Isn’t that… what she’s been doing for the past six months?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes but giggled, “You know what I meant, Pinkie.”
Two days ago…
“I’m truly sorry to bother you with that Ma’am… Again.” Shining Armor stated as he held the entrance door of the police station.
“It’s nothing, really.” Luna stated as she walked out, “I’m happy to help.”
With a nod, Luna walked away to her car and Shining armor watched her as she drove away from the parking lot. His phone started buzzing in his pocket. He took it out, wondering who it could possibly be when he saw that Twilight as send a text message.
When he opened it, he saw that it was only a thumbs up. But he knew what it meant. He made his way back into the police station and walked up the stairs, towards the roof.
As he arrived, he looked around seeing nothing but darkness.
“Hey, officer Armor! What’s up?” Spider-girl playfully greeted when she landed on the top of the police station, right behind him.
“It’s Deputy for you.” Shining armor stated as he turned around to face her and he crossed his arms, eyes frowned. He did not seem happy.
“I kind of was expecting it to be a trap.” Spider-girl said as she looked at her surroundings.
“It was very tempting, to be honest with you.” Shining Armor replied, his gaze not moving from Spider-girl. “But Twilight seems to be quite fond of you… So I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. To make it clear, I don’t trust you.” He cleared his throat. “But I trust Twily, and she already explained me what happened five days ago. And even that lovely Miss Luna speaks highly of you. She said it was actually the second time you saved her, talk about a coincidence.”
“Small world, eh?” Spider-girl said with a giggle.
“You tell me.” He said, narrowing his eyes. “So, an… Alien symbiote, is that right?”
“Yeah…” Spider-girl replied, scratching the back of her head. “I guess it’s pretty farfetched.”
“Well, you would have told me that a year ago, I would’ve laugh at your face and put you into custody.” He said, “But now, with what happened over the last six months, I’m pretty sure nothing can surprise me anymore.” Shining shook his head from right to left with a sigh, “Meta humans, super villains, aliens… Kids this days…”
“Listen.” Spider-girl began, “I know I… Made quite a fuss back then, but the symbiote took control over my body.” She explained, “I managed to get rid of it, but it needs a host to survive.”
“And where is it now?” Shining asked.
“I… don’t know.” Sunset admitted. “I really hope it did not found a host.”
Shining Armor closed his eyes, lost in his thought. “That is not good.”
“Welp, you tell me.” Spider-girl chuckled. It quickly faded away when she saw the glare on Shining’s face. “B-but don’t worry, I’ll find it!” She walked towards the policeman and handed out her hand. “Listen, I know you don’t like me but… I really could use the help.”
Shining Armor looked at Spider-girl’s hand for a few seconds, unimpressed. Then he sighed and decided to shake it anyway.
“Alright.” He simply stated.
Sunset grinned under her mask.
“Partners?” She tried.
“Don’t push it.” Shining Armor replied.
Then, his radio hung on his chest went on just as he was going to say something.
“…we have a ten seventy-one on Crescent, seven men armed and dangerous, need some backups…”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and looked at Shining Armor.
“Need some help with that?”
Now…
“… and I told him that it wasn’t possible!” Screwball giggled. “You know, since penguins do have knees.”
Sunset Shimmer wasn’t listening a word Screwball had said. Her head was resting in her palm, her eyes staring in the void, she was fighting to keep herself awake. She managed to fight the urge to fall asleep in first period, so she could easily endure two more hours. At least, she thought.
Screwball sitting next to her was a ball of nerves. She was bouncing up and down, her eyes wide open, speaking at the speed of light. It was too much for Sunset, she was used to Pinkie Pie in the morning, but Screwball was on another level of annoying.
“Are you listening Sunset?” Screwball finally asked when she saw Sunset’s eyes slowly closing.
“Hmm-hmm.” Sunset nodded, her eyes still closed, not noticing Screwball’s face two inches away from hers.
Screwball sighed from relief and sat back in her place, “Phew, I thought I’ll have to start over!” She said with a laugh.
But Sunset wasn’t in the mood to laugh. She spent most of her nights fighting criminals in the street, she had a total of eight hours of sleep for the past three days. She was searching for any clues of where the symbiote went, but in vain.
And since they don’t have a house anymore, Sunset had to be more careful than ever before to not be caught by either Luna, or Redheart. Luna had said she found a new apartment and that they were moving in a few days, it was small but Sunset wasn’t complaining. At least they’ll have each other’s.
Sunset was sad she lost the home Celestia took her in, but at least Luna was okay and it was the most important thing at the moment. After the incident, Luna had tried to call Sunset all night while she was at the police station. As soon as Sunset was out of bed, she ran to join her and both of them shared a tearful embrace.
Sunset and Luna were at their lowest right now, they had no money, no house, and for Sunset, no sleep.
“… it would be amazing! Don’t you think?” Screwball asked Sunset.
“Hum hum.” Sunset nodded.
“Holy potato! That’s great! What about next week?” Screwball asked again, stars in her twirly eyes.
“Yeah sure, whatever…” Then Sunset eyes snapped open, she turned her head to look at Screwball, “Wait, what were we talking about?”
Screwball lets out a laugh, “Someone isn’t totally awake uh?” She giggled, “I invited you to spend some time at my house! Since, you know, yours exploded!”
“Oh, right.” Sunset forgot that the whole school knew about that. It was on the Daily Bugle’s front page the morning following the incident. “Yeah sure Screws, it could be nice.” Sunset let out a yawn, “And where do you live exactly?”
Screwball blinked twice. “Sunset are you dumb?”
“Excuse me?” Sunset frowned.
Screwball ignored it and put an arm around Sunset’s waist, drawing her closer, and rose a hand to the sky. “I live in the highest point of the city! Surrounded by clouds and stars! At the border of the sky itself!”
“You’re not making any sense right now.” Sunset plainly stated. Then Sunset realized what Screwball was talking about and sighed, face palming herself. “You’re living in Discorp’s tower.”
“Dummy, yeah!” Screwball exclaimed, “At the very top!”
“All right then, why not.” Screwball wasn’t one of Sunset’s closest friends, but Sunset wasn’t going to turn away some bonding time. Pinkie told her one day that you can’t have too much friends.
“And why not bring Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy with you? You guys are friends right? We can have the biggest sleepover ever!” Screwball finished, jumping on her feet.
“Pinkie and Flutters?” Sunset asked, “I didn’t realize you guys were friends.”
“Of course I love Pinkie! I finally found someone who love flip flops as much as I do!” Screwball explained. It actually made a lot of sense to Sunset, who knew what kind of characters Screwball and Pinkie Pie both were. “I call her P.P!” Screwball giggled.
“Please don’t.”
“And Fluttershy has been the nicest person I’ve ever encountered in my life! We’re liked, best friends now!” Screwball continued.
“Uh-uh. And for how long have you two been talking?” Sunset curiously asked.
“Uh, two days?” Screwball put a finger on her chin, “Now that I think of it, we’ve only talked once.”
Sunset was going to explain to her that it wasn’t how friendship worked, when someone in front of them grunted and turned around.
“Can you guys keep it down? Trixie can’t even hear her own thoughts!” Trixie spat.
“Don’t be grumpy like that!” Screwball laughed, “I think it’s the major reason why you don’t have any friends.”
Trixie’s face became red with fury, “Trixie has friends!”
“Then, why are you always sitting alone at lunch?” Screwball taunted, malice in her eyes.
“Because Trixie enjoys her own company!” Trixie exclaimed, stomping the ground.
“Yeah sure!” Screwball chuckled.
As entertaining as it was, Sunset decided to put her hand on Screwball’s shoulder. “That’s enough Screws.” She stated.
Screwball laughed harder, “Hey, not my fault if miss grumpy pants here is no fun!”
Trixie stand up to her feet, “What?! Trixie can be a lot of fun if she wants to! More than you!”
“Oh yeah?” Screwball said with a smirk and a defying glare, “Then prove it! Come at the sleepover next week and we’ll decide who’s the funniest between us!”
“Are you…” Trixie responded to Screwball’s defying glare with her own, “Challenging Trixie?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. ‘Oh god.’
“What if…” Screwball started, speaking slowly, “I am?”
They glared at each other’s for a minutes, Trixie’s face red in a mix of anger and embarrassment and Screwball who seemed to have the time of her life.
“Fine!” Trixie stated, as she pointed at the two girls, “You’ll see! They don’t call me ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ for no reasons!”
Screwball looked lost for a second and turned to Sunset, “Uh… Who calls her that?”
“Herself, mostly.” Sunset said, playing with her hairs, “Rainbow Dash and Red does too, but I’m pretty sure they’re making fun of her.”
Trixie lets out a small ‘humpf!’ and turned around, sitting back in place.
“Next week…” Screwball joyfully stated, “It’s going to be so fun!”
Sunset looked back in front of her as the next teacher arrived in the room.
‘What in the world I got myself into… again.’ Sunset thought.
Later that night…
“Damnit!” Felicia yelled in a grunt of pain as she changed her bandages.
She was sat on mattress in one of her safe houses around the city. It was a small apartment at the edge of town, empty of all belonging besides the one mattress, a small television in the corner and some medical supplies scattered around her.
She was half naked, treating her wounds and ruminating on her defeat many days ago. The injuries she got from her fight with Taskmaster were a bit more serious than it looked like, it was taking more time to heal than she initially thought.
“That damn freak got lucky he’s been arrested!” She said, gritting her teeth. “Next time I see him…”
When she finished, she got up from her makeshift bed and gathered the supplies around her and put them away in a storage box in the corner of the room. She thought a shower wouldn’t do any harm but she remembered that place only had cold water so she thought against it as she sat back on the mattress.
She looked at the broken mirror in front of her and sighed at the look of the girl in the reflection. She looked like a mess. She has not brushed her silver hair for days now and her face was clearly showing her lack of sleep.
Her phone buzzed on the ground next to the mattress and her mouth became a thin line when she saw the phone number of the person who was trying to reach her. She thought a minute about leaving it ring and to not answer it but if she did that, she knew she would be in a lot more trouble than she already was.
She finally took it and answered the call.
“What?” She coldly asked.
“Felicia, it’s been a while. I almost thought you were killed.” The voice began laughing with a devilish tone, “You almost got me scared.”
“Well, I’m still alive. Thanks to you, I guess.” Felicia continued with a snarl, “The last thing I expected from you was to rescue me against that freak.”
“Oh, you’re giving me too much credit. I distracted him, that’s all.” The Green Goblin replied, on the other end of the phone. “No, the person you should really be thankfully of is your pal, Spider-girl.” There was a small pause when Felicia gulped at the mention of Spider-girl. “By the way, I hope the poor girl is doing okay after the incident.”
Felicia kept quiet. When she heard what happened after she passed out, the fight with Taskmaster and the black suit overpowering her, Felicia wanted nothing more than to check on her. If it was up to her, she would be at Sunset’s side by now.
“I know what you’re thinking.” The Green Goblin continued, “You want to run by her side. How charming.” he chuckled. “Aren’t you getting a bit too sentimental? After all, I’m the one who asked you to get close to her. This is a mission, do not forget it.”
“I’m not.” Felicia quickly replied with a frown, “You’re getting the wrong idea, she means nothing to me. As soon I’m done with her… She’s all yours.” She finished, looking away.
“Good.” He stated, “And how are your injuries?”
The silver haired thief grunted as she looked at her bandaged body, “It could be worse… I think. I can still move so I can still work.”
“Excellent. Then I have a job for you.”
Felicia got up from her mattress and sighed, “Already? Alright then… What do you want me to do?”
The Green Goblin laughed, “Don’t be like that! This is a very special mission I’ve got here! You can even consider it as a present!”
Felicia raised an eyebrow, “What the hell are you talking about?”
She could feel the Green Goblin smiling diabolically, “I think it’s… Finally time for our good old friend Wilson Fisk to bid us farewell.”
Felicia froze.
And Felicia smirked.
“Finally indeed.”
Meanwhile…
“Are you… Sure you’re up to this? I don’t want to force you to do anything but...” Shining Armor asked as he parked at the prison’s parking lot. “She said she’d only talk to you.”
“You’re not forcing me to do anything.” Luna reassured him. “I’m happy to help, and besides…” She sighed, “She was my friend… I want to know what happened to her.”
Shining gave her a sympathetic smile. He got out of his police car and opened the door to Luna.
“I have to tell you though,” Shining continued, “She’s different…”
“W-What do you mean different?” Luna asked as she stepped over a small puddle.
She followed him to the entrance of the prison where Shining showed his badge to the guards at the entrance.
“Busy night guys?” Shining asked as one the guard opened the door for them.
“It’s always a busy night.” The guard replied.
As they entered and the guard closed behind them, Shining continued, “From what you told us, the night she attacked you and Spider-girl, she was confident, cocky.”
“Y-Yeah?”
“Well… You’ll see for yourself.”
Luna remained silent as she quietly followed Shining Armor through the long corridors of the prison. She politely smiled at each prison workers she walked past by as Shining leaded her to the deepest part of the prison.
They stopped in front of a white gate.
“Block C…” Shining began, “Here we are. Stay close to me.”
Luna nodded as Shining entered a code and the door opened. They began their walk through the hall, walking next to prisoner’s cells whom where glaring and insulting them.
“Fuck you Armor! I’m here because of you!” One prisoner yelled.
“Hey pigs! Are you lost or something?” Another one said.
When Luna walked too close from a cell, a prisoner jumped forward and tried to grab her through the bars, “Come here beautiful! I’ll make you have a good time, you’ll see!”
Luna jumped back in fear as the nearest guard drew out his electric baton and hit the prisoner on his arm. “Stay back, scum!”
Luna gulped as Shining Armor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah… Let’s just get this over with.” She said in a whisper.
Shining slowly nodded before beckoning her to march forward. They finally reached the end of the hallway and arrived in front of another metallic door. The guard in front of it nodded at them when they arrived and he opened it with a warning.
“We had to restrain her. Even with her handcuffs, she put six of our guys in the hospital. Be careful out there.” He told them.
“Thank you.” Shining replied to him as they entered the room.
The room was dark and small, there was only a chair in front of a glass panel. On the other side of the glass panel was a woman, tied up on a chair with leather straps. She stared at them with an empty look on her face full of scars, some of her dirty mid length dark blue hair falling in front of her face.
“Hello Luna.” She stated.
Luna sighed and retrieved her courage before taking a sit on the chair.
“Hello Ember.” She greeted.
“Surprised?” Taskmaster, or Ember, asked her.
Luna nodded, “I am.” She then took a closer look at her former comrade. “You’re not like I… Remembered.”
“Things happened.”
“I guess.”
They both looked at each other silently for a minute before Shining politely coughed in his fist, signaling Luna’s time was running out.
“You said you only wanted to talk to me, Ember. Here I am.”
“Your friend here had questions.” Ember replied, giving a glare at Shining Armor. “Ask them. I’ll… Try to answer them.”
“Then I guess it’ll be too much to ask who you were working for?” Shining asked her.
“I’m not talking to you.” Ember snarled. “I’m talking to Luna.”
Shining frowned and was going to give her a piece of his mind but Luna politely stopped him. “I got this.” Shining retrieved his calm but crossed his arms and Luna sighed. “There is a question burning my lips… Why did you wanted to kill me?”
“Didn’t I told you before?” Ember gave her a questioning look, “I hate you.”
“B-But why?” Luna asked. “I-I thought we were friends.”
“Friends?” Then Ember seemed lost for a few seconds. “We were?”
Luna gave her an interrogating look, “What do you mean?”
“I thought… I always thought that… Well, I’m supposed to hate you because…” Ember looked stressed, her whole demeanor changed in a few seconds. She looked like she was concentrating herself as she tried to remember. She glanced from left to right. “Everything’s a… Blur.” She said with a frown.
“E-Ember,” Luna continued. “Last time we spoke on the phone, two years ago, you seemed… Well. You told me you were in the military… What happened?”
“In the military, that’s what I told you, eh?” Ember replied. “I don’t remember most of it since they played mad scientist with my brain…” She retrieved her calm and seemed lost for a second.
“They?” Luna asked, sharing a look with Shining. “W-Who’s ‘they’?”
Ember seemed to be willing to give her an answer, but at that moment she closed her eyes and grunted in pain.
“Ugh, my head…” Ember whispered as Luna could tell she was in pain. “They… They told me to…”
“Ember?” Luna asked with concern. Something was wrong.
“I… I don’t remember.” Ember admitted. Then, she went from calm to angry in an instant. “And why do you care, uh? I’m still going to kill you, one way or another you know?” She chuckled with contempt, “And after that, it’ll be Sunset Shimmer’s turn.”
Luna gulped, “Y-You want to kill me, fine! I still don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, but please let Sunset out of this! She has nothing to do with all of this!”
Then Ember notices something in Luna’s eyes.
“Oh… You don’t know, do you?” Ember asked her.
“K-Know what?” Luna asked her in return, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer.
Ember did not reply to Luna, she looked from left to right again, and them, for a brief moment, seemed afraid of something.
“E-Ember…” Luna tried captivating her attention as she put her hand on the glass in front of her.
“I… I shouldn’t tell you that…” She whispered staring at the ceiling, “No I shouldn’t…”
“Ember what’s going on?”
Her attitude was so different than the night at her house that Luna felt the ambiance frightening. This wasn’t the Ember that attacked her that night. Taskmaster was cold, manipulative and dangerous. It wasn’t the Ember she knew. But this Ember in front of her looked like she was afraid of something, she looked like she needed help.
Shining lost patience. He stepped forward and asked, “Ember, or Taskmaster, whatever you want to be called…” He began, “Who are you working for?”
Ember violently shook her head and glared down. “I… I’m trying to remember but…”
“P-Please Ember…” Luna tried.
“I… I remember a woman… With red hair…” She frowned as the pain in her head started to grow.
“A woman with red hair?” Shining insisted, “Do you remember her name? Or her face?”
“N-No…” Ember continued, trying to dig in her thoughts against the pain. She then raised her glare to Luna who could see the distress in the eyes of her former friend. “Cut off one head…”
Then out of the blue, her eyes turned and she began to convulse on her chair. Luna screamed in surprise as Shining quickly ran towards the door and violently knocked on it as he called the guard for help.
“Ember!” Luna called as she slammed her hands on the glass panel as she watched her former friend convulse on the chair and her saliva began to foam in her mouth.
It all went by quickly as a pack of guards quickly entered the room and escorted Luna out.
“W-What is going on?!” She yelled as one guard dragged her out.
“Please stay here ma’am.” He ordered as he shut the door as soon as Shining got out.
“W-Wait!” Luna screamed as she slammed her fist on the door, “Let me in! She needs my help!”
“Miss Luna!” Shining Armor grabbed her by the shoulders, “They’re going to help her! There’s nothing we can do right now.”
Two guards appeared next to them. They both looked identical to each other, the only difference was that one of them had a mustache. “She did it again, didn’t she?” One of them asked.
“W-What, you mean it isn’t the first time?” Shining asked him.
“No. It happens every time we try to get information from her… That’s why we accepted when she asked for you.” The guard stated as he pointed to Luna, “We thought it could’ve turn out differently but…”
“I see…” Shining sighed, “Well, I guess there’s nothing much we can do. We should get going Miss Luna.”
“B-But, what about Ember? I can’t leave her-” Luna started.
“She’s going to be fine.” The other guard quickly stated. “You should go, we’ll handle her.”
Both Luna and Shining exchanged a look but, since it didn’t seem like they had a choice in the matter, they started to walk away as Shining continued to reassure Luna on their way out.
When they disappeared around the corner of the hallway, both guard looked at each other.
“I told you this was a bad idea, she almost remembered.”
The other one nodded, “Looks like they were right, brother. We have to do something about that.”
“On it, Flim. You… Should get rid of her.” The first guard stated as he made a sign of his head towards the door.
“Will do, Flam.”
They both exchanged a handshake.
A few moments later, on the prison’s parking lot, Luna and Shining both walked toward the police car.
“I’m sorry about that.” Shining said, “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“T-This wasn’t your fault…” Luna replied.
Shining was lost in his thoughts for a few seconds, “Isn’t it strange that, when she started to remember, she had a stroke? Right at that moment?”
“W-What do you mean?” Luna asked him as she opened the passenger’s door.
“I mean that there’s something even more shady than what I originally thought going on here.” He said as he glared back at the prison. Then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He rolled his eyes has he got it out. “I swear I can’t even get a minute…” He answered the call and put the phone on his ear. “Shining Armor speak-Oh woaw, Spider-girl?”
Luna raised an eyebrow as she looked at him.
“W-Wait a second, speak slower and take your breath… I said speak slower-NOT THAT SLOW!” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “I swear, kids… Wait-What did you just say…”
Luna stared at him as she saw his eyes growing wide in Luna guessed was shock.
“On my way, don’t move.”
“W-What is going on?” Luna asked him, “Nothing too bad I hope?”
“I…” Shining started, “I’m sorry Miss Luna, it’ll be better if I drop you off on my way there.”
He then remained quiet as he sat behind the wheel. The rest of the trip back to the main city was done in total silence, Shining ignoring the worried glare Luna was giving him.
A few moments earlier…
“Wait, let me get this straight…” Applejack replied on the other end of the phone. “You want me to ask Rainbow to come talk to you?” Sunset could easily guess Applejack’s eyebrows raising at the tone of her voice. “I mean, I guess I could sugarcube but can’t you do that yourself?”
Spider-girl was standing on a roof of an apartment complex, in a creepy part of Canterlot. The kind of area of the city where you shouldn’t wander alone at night. “She doesn’t want to talk to me!” Sunset replied, “She’s avoiding me at school, ignoring my texts and she’s not returning my calls…”
“Well… She kinda explained to us what happened and… Can you blame her?” Applejack asked her, “You did hurt her after all when all she wanted from you was answers.”
“I… Wasn’t myself at the time.” Sunset sighed while looking away. “But this is not an excuse. That’s why I need to talk to her.”
She heard Applejack sigh, “Alright then, even if this isn’t any of my business, I can’t let down one of my best friends.”
Sunset smirked under her mask, “You’re the best AJ!”
“But, Sunset… Promise me one thing?”
“Anything.”
“Can the two of you please be friends again? It breaks my heart to see you two like this. Well not only mine, all the girls thinks the same actually.” Applejack stated.
“I swear it.” Sunset nodded with determination.
“Alright, I should get goin’. Be careful tonight sugarcube.”
“Will do AJ, will do.” Sunset said as she ended the call and put her phone back in her pocket.
She put her white hood back on and glared down at the apartment complex in front of her. She spent the early night searching through her computer for Lyra’s address and, to her surprise, she easily found it.
She didn’t realized Lyra was living in a neighborhood like this one and guessed Lyra’s life must’ve been quite hard here.
“That’d explain why she’s so… unhinged.” She scratched her chin. “That’s not a nice thing to say.” She shrugged, “Oh well.”
She jumped from the roof she was standing to the other one on the other side of the street and landed perfectly. She crawled down on the wall on the left side of the building, and when she arrived at the third floor, she searched for an open window.
“I really hope that no one’s at home right now.” She said to herself when luckily for her, she actually found a window that was opened. “Hi?” She tried as she passed her head through and looked around the empty room. “Don’t mind me then.” She entered the room and crawled on the ceiling, she lets herself drop on the bed beneath her and crossed her legs.
She looked around and guessed this was Lyra’s room. There was a lyre on the ground next to the bed, a few band posters on the walls and a computer on the corner of the room but besides that the room was clearly empty.
“Hey Lyra, it’s your ol’ pal Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset whispered to herself as she got up from the bed and looked around the room, “I know you can’t stand me but your ex is worried about ya’ so, you know, I thought I could come in unannounced and say hi.” she opened the closet to see all of Lyra’s clothes were still there. “But you know, if you want me gone just say so.” She waited a few seconds, “Well, if you don’t say anything, I’ll make myself at home then.”
‘Her clothes are still there, so I don’t really think she ran away.’ Sunset thought.
She walked toward the door and slowly opened it, it directly leaded to the living room. The light was off, and no one was actually home.
“It seems her father ain’t here either.” She walked around the living room. “Where are you Lyra?”
Sunset sniffed and felt there was something odd in the air. The smell of something…
“Rotten?” Sunset asked herself. “Did they left food around here?”
When the young girl looked around in the living room, she didn’t found anything, but the smell came from another room where she could see a door ajar.
Sunset frowned and quietly walked towards the room. She gently opened the door and the smell was stronger than before, making Sunset nauseous. The curtains being closed, the small room was filled with darkness so Sunset tried to reach the light’s switch next to her.
“Where is it... Ah!” She exclaimed when she found it and switched the lights on. “Let there be light-”
Sunset stopped herself at the horrifying sight in front of her. She yelped in surprise and horror as she fell backward on the ground.
In front of her, on the bed, was a dead body which seemed to be there for quite some time. The corpse already started its stage of decomposition, and blood was everywhere on the ground and the walls.
Sunset crawled back, feeling cold all of a sudden as she refrained her urge to vomit. She started shaking and she realized she had stopped breathing, she managed to stand back on her feet and carefully walked towards the bed.
“Oh my god…” She mumbled. Half a year of being a super-hero and yet, this was the most horrifying, disgusting sight Sunset ever witnessed. “W-What should I do?”
She looked around as a thought appeared in her mind. She quickly grabbed her phone and dialed Shining Armor’s number.
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So who’s going to be Norman Osborne?
11807814
Discord is, it's kind of obvious
Huh i guess it kinda obvious Lyra would kill her dad. And keep up the great work.👍👍👍👍👍👍.
Yikes. That was uncalled for.
11807816
This was an intense chapter.
11807883
Yeah, I'm accelerating things a bit
11807853
Well considering she's Eddie Brock here..... if he dad's based off who I think he is...... he deserved. WORSE
11808107
Yeah well, I agree with you but don't forget this story is Teen-Rated after all
11808483
...... but he is based off Carl a bit to just to clarify?
11808484
Yes!
11808485
THEN HE DEFINITELY DESERVED WORSE...... also you can DM me but please.... is my son, or daughter in this case, gonna get the redemption arc? Don't need to elaborate or anything. Yes or no works.
Sweet mother of Faust!
It’s a ratings approved blood bath massacre of the symbiote kind!