You Will Never Escape

by Autistic Witch

You will never escape ch10

I woke up with an annoying but not agonizing hangover. A cold breeze running over my shoulder prompted me to pull the blankets further up. I felt Twilight nuzzle up against my boobs, and I pet her hair. This roused her, and Twilight looked up at me the way she does when she’s hungover, kinda looking like she’s having a stroke. She slowly fully woke up, and her “hungover death face” morphed into a sleepy smile. I smooshed her into my body and heard some content hums.

“I wish we could stay like this all day.”, Twilight said, muffled through my fat.

“Take the day off of work. You’ve been working so hard. You deserve it.”

Twilight unburied her head and looked up at me with a crooked smile, like she thought I was joking. “You know I can’t. I still have a lot of work to do.”

I looked down at her with a serious, sad look. “Twi, please.”

Twilight’s smile dropped to a sad, kinda scarred frown. “This isn’t funny. Don’t joke like that.”

“I’m not joking.”

Twilight let out a small whine and buried her face back into me. I resumed petting her hair and heard her quietly begging for this not to be real and for me to be wrong for once. “Hey,” I said softly, getting Twilight to look back up at me, “let’s not spend this last day being sad. Let’s go out, have some fun, make this a good final day.”

The pain in Twilight’s face was evident, but nonetheless, she nodded and started getting out of bed. We went through our morning routines and got ready to leave. As we approached the door, I handed Twi my spare helmet. We headed down to my bike, and I drove us around the city. I had no particular destination in mind. It just felt nice to have Twilight holding onto my midsection. She never fully came around to the idea of my motorcycle, but I made her feel safe, and I knew, deep down, she liked the rush. Still, I refrained from my usual stupid stunts.

We ended up at a cafe we like, not Sugarcube Corner. It was a small, French style place with very little indoor seating. We ordered our drinks and took seats outside.

“Huh, the clouds parted.”, Twilight commented.

I looked up, and yeah, the clouds were parting. “Huh, blue.”, was all my slowly degrading mind could come up with. Twilight lightly nudged me in the side, and I gave her a raspberry as revenge.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a well dressed woman sitting down at the table next to us. The lack of other people and the way she was dressed made an action that would normally fade into the background stand out to me. Fashion was never my strong suit, but I’ve spent enough time around Rarity and Twi’s place to tell the faker crap from the actually good quality stuff. The clothes she wore were well fitting and well worn, clearly having lasted her at least a good few years. People that try to look rich will wear those “high end” brands that have their logo plastered all over them in order to let the whole world know you have this expensive, luxury thing but are actually crap quality and wouldn’t last nine months. She had on a yellow sun dress with a matching ribbon around her hair and a black leather jacket with matching ankle boots, all as high of quality as what I was wearing. Seeing someone in those kinds of clothes on this side of town was odd.

Her skin was a salmony pink. She had curly, light blue hair and crimson eyes, and she looked to be in her early twenties. The more I looked at her, the more I felt like I knew her from somewhere but couldn’t place her. The feeling she gave me also made my hair stand on end.

My staring had apparently gotten Twilight’s attention as I felt her grab my arm hard enough to get mine. “Should I be jealous?”, Twilight asked with a smirk. I fixed her with the ‘this is serious, we might be in danger’ face, and all silliness dropped from hers, which instantly switched to ‘oh, crap’. She tried to school her face into something more neutral as she stole glances at the woman. I put my hand on the side of her face and firmly kept her looking at me. I brushed my thumb over her face and kissed her forehead. She still looked like she wanted to turn around but restrained herself.

I resumed watching the woman and saw she’d pulled out her phone and now appeared to be checking her messages. “What? What is wrong with these people?”, she said quietly, and I finally knew where I knew her from. She was the woman from the suspicious case, the Chess Master. We were definitely in danger.

I looked back down at Twilight, and her expression had become even more scared. I nuzzled the side of her face and kept my voice low. “Kiss me goodbye then walk out of sight.”

I could hear Twilight’s heart beat jump to triple digits, but as I pulled back, I could see that her face was one of determination. She gave me the goodbye kiss then got up and left, leaving her helmet. I watched her go until she was out of sight then turned my attention back to the Chess Master. My heart nearly jumped into my throat when I saw that she was looking straight at me. I quickly recomposed myself and took this as an opportunity to “introduce” myself.

I grabbed our helmets and sat down in the seat across from her, giving her my best ‘friendly’ smile. She looked at me curiously but made no protest to my actions. “I think you and I know each other.”, I said.

Surprise and recognition flashed across the Chess Master’s face, but she quickly reschooled it to a more “sinisterly happy” look. “So, we finally meet.” The Chess Master flicked her eyes to where Twilight went then back to me, clearly meant to tell me she saw her. “Your girlfriend’s pretty.”, she said with a sneer.

“She’s an uninvolved party. She’s not a part of our world.”, I said firmly.

“Oh, I don’t intend to involve her. That is assuming I don’t have to.”

“I don’t intend on turning you in.” As much as I want to. Dying before ever pulling a James Bond, that’s the real tragedy of my life. - or maybe. “I wouldn’t even have the time to see it through. I’ll be dead by tomorrow.”

“Oh, what from?”

“There’s this entity that’s stalking me. It already took an old classmate of mine. It’s a sort of shadowy, humanoid thing.”

The Chess Master looked at me worriedly but not like I was crazy. “Oddly enough, I believe you.”

I smiled wider and more evilly than I had in a long time. It wouldn’t have looked out of place on my middle school self. I didn’t bother to hide my contempt for her existence. “Good” I got up quickly, leaving her confused, and got back on my bike. I drove around until I found Twilight, and she nearly tackled me off my bike when she ran up and hugged me. I steadied myself and petted her hair to comfort her. She wasn’t crying, just scared. “It’s okay. I’m here.” Twilight pulled back, and I gave her back her helmet.

“Who was that?”

“Me, if I were still evil. I’m not sure what her next move will be, so I want to take precautions.”

I motioned for Twilight to get back on, which she did, and resumed driving us, but this time, I had a destination in mind. I brought us to Tempest’s youth center, which took decently less time to reach than it did from Twi’s part of town.

“What are we doing here?”

“I just pissed off someone that knows you exist and that I’m dying. I don’t peg her as the vengeful type, so I don’t think she will make a move against you, but I still want to get you some protection.”

“Firstly, from a youth center? Secondly, what the fuck did you do?!”, Twi asked disbelievingly then angrily.

I dismounted my bike and pointed at the building. “That’s where my middle sister works. She’s who we’re here to see.”

Twilight looked reluctant but placed her helmet in my tail box anyway and followed me inside. I took my helmet off as we got inside, and I saw instant recognition on the receptionist’s face.

“Hey, I know you. You were here yesterday.”, the receptionist said enthusiastically.

“Yes, that was me.”

“Hard to forget that hair. Tempest is down that way.”

“Thank you.” I led Twilight down the way the receptionist pointed, which was the same way as last time and led to the same open double doors. Tempest was once again inside but this time was playing with the kids in that rugged area. I brought Twilight over to her and tapped Tempest on the shoulder.

Tempest turned around and looked genuinely surprised to see me. “Sunset? I thought you said you were gonna die.”

“Close, I said I’ll be dead by tomorrow. Speaking of which, you told me you wished you could’ve protected me. Well, she needs protecting.”

Tempest looked behind me and gave Twilight a surprisingly kind smile. “Hello, and who are you?”, she said in a well practiced tone meant to make scared kids feel more comfortable.

She really has very limited experience with handling adults, doesn’t she?

“My name is Twilight. I’m Sunset’s girlfriend.”, Twilight said in a tone that told me she was agitated with Tempest but trying not to show it. I gave her the ‘look around’ side nod, and she acknowledged it.

“We should sit down for this.”, I said.

Tempest nodded then bent down to let her charge know she had to leave for a bit but will be back shortly. She then led us to one of the white folding tables, and the three of us took seats around it.

“So, what does she need protecting from?”, Tempest asked me.

“A couple days ago, I was contracted to find a man. This contract seemed off, and I was able to determine that the client was looking for a person in witness protection. Earlier today, we ran into the client, and she became aware of Twilight’s existence. I don’t believe she’ll do anything, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Tempest looked between then nodded her head. “I’ll protect her.”

“Thank you.”

“I work from home, so you don’t need to worry about that.”, Twilight said.

“She also lives in the same building as Dad but on different floors.”

“Great”, Tempest said unenthusiastically.

We continued talking about what was to be done, what needs to be done and when, and other details that needed to be hammered out. Once I felt Twilight would be adequately protected, we let Tempest get back to work and headed back out to my bike.

“So, what now?”, Twilight asked. “Are we going to go back to your apartment?”

“No, I still want to spend this day with you, and I ain’t letting some Sunset knockoff ruin it.” I popped my helmet back on, got on my bike, and extended my hand out for Twilight.

Twilight shook her head, grabbed her helmet, put it on, and took my hand. I helped her get on and started up the bike. I began driving again, again without a destination in mind. I drove around the city, making sure to pass by our favorite places. It almost seemed like the only places from our childhoods that weren’t closed down were Sugarcube Corner and the school. I continued our drive to the outside of town. The rolling green fields looked lovely with the sun shining off of the still damp grass. I took in the sight, knowing it’d be the last time.

I felt Twilight’s chest heave against my back. Feeling her breathe, hearing her heartbeat, it’s the most comforting thing in the world. That, that’s what I’ll miss the most about being alive.

When it was a couple hours from sunset, I turned my bike around and headed back to my building. Once we got back, we dismounted my bike, and Twilight handed me back her helmet. She pulled me into a hug and put her ear to my chest. I stroked her hair and held her close.

I pulled back slightly and brought Twilight’s face up to look me in the face. “Thank you, for being my everything.” I took her hand and led her up to my apartment. I brought her into the main space and motioned for her to stay. Twilight looked confused but didn’t say anything. I disappeared into my bedroom and went to Mustard’s tank. I grabbed the cup of his food, put it in, unplugged his lamp, balanced that on top, and took the whole thing back out to Twilight. “Here, I’d like you to have Mustard. I’ll understand if you can’t though. You can give him to Fluttershy.”

Twilight took his tank, taking a second to properly balance things. She looked like she wanted to say something, probably some quip about how I better come pick him up tomorrow, but couldn’t seem to bring herself to, so I said it.

“If I do survive the night, I’ll come and get him back.”

“You better.”, Twilight mumbled. “I love you, Sunset.”

“Love you too, Sparkles.”, I said softly.

Twilight left my apartment, and I was left waiting for her to leave the area. I still had things to do before night fell, things I don’t want Twi to have to bear witness to.

---

I’ve used recorders to give Rarity messages before, ranging from pranks to- okay, I pretty much only use these things to prank Rarity when not work. What was on it, now, was about as far from a prank as you can get. I laid it on her desk right where she’d see it, along with my office keys, wiped the tears from my eyes, and left for the garage. I ran my hand along the side of my bike. This would be my last ride. I was going to make it count. I climbed on and rode back to my apartment, taking the scenic route. There was a blackout across the entire city. For the first time in years, I could see the stars. Their twinkling brilliance brought me back to when the girls and I went camping. Camp Everfree was such a beautiful place. Shame it’s gone.

The thing was waiting outside my door when I got back. Like the last few nights, I walked straight through it. I walked inside and pulled up the blinds. I wanted to spend my last moments on Earth under the stars. All that was left now was to wait.

I pulled a chair around to face my door and waited and waited. After however long, I grabbed myself a snack and started a video. After a few hours, the damned shadow stalker finally came through the door. No, it did not open it or leave a vaguely shadow person size hole in it.

“So, you can move and, apparently, have no concern for anyone else’s time. Oh yay, fear snark.”

The thing slowly and silently approached. It didn’t move its legs. It just glided across the floor. Out of instinct, I got up from the chair and backed away. Questions of ‘What was going to happen to me?’ and ‘Is it going to be worse than death?’ swirled in my mind. It was overwhelming. My heart pounded like a computer fan that was preparing for take off, and I could hear the blood rushing through my ears.

“What are you going to do to me?” Fear laced my voice. If I knew what was going to happen, I could be mad, but I have no idea what’s going to happen. Death? What if? I don’t know what comes after death, but I know this thing won’t have me. “You won’t take me! I won’t let you!”

I pulled my gun from my holster and put it to my head, tears running down my face. “Goodbye” I closed my eyes.

---

I fiddled with the recorder in my hands. I still couldn’t believe it. I can’t accept it. This couldn’t be happening. I rewound the tape and played it back. Sunset’s raspy voice came out of the device.

“Hey, Rarity, by the time you’re listening to this, I’ll be gone. Don’t try to find me or continue the Wallflower case, please, for your own safety. I know you’ll have a lot of questions, but I can’t answer them. I would only be putting you in danger. Don-don’t let your life go down the drain. Continue on the firm or don’t. Become a fashion designer or don’t. Jus-just don’t lose sight of what you want to do… and tell the girls that… I’m sorry. I’ve loved every moment we’ve shared together, from the moment you all pulled me out of that dark place to all those long hours on stakeouts,” Sunset’s voice began to quiver, and Rarity could hear her crying, “I’m sorry we’ll never get to see another day together, I’m sorry we’ll never have another sleepover, and-and.. Oh God, Rarity, I’m so scared. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t want to go.”

I stopped the recording there. The rest was just Sunset crying. I couldn’t handle hearing that again. I broke down crying anyways, collapsing into my desk. Tears of sadness and rage streamed down my face, staining my design book. I seethed beneath my arms. No longer able to contain it, I let out a pain filled roar into the night.

“Why?! Why?! Why?! Sunset, I’m sorry.”