Seven Days in Sunny June: Innocence Lost

Chapters

September 20th/July 15th: The Past that Haunts
July 20th, A.M. Doubts in Darkness
July 20th,P.M. Chances
July 21st. Working through the hard times.
July 23. A Brand New Day
July 24th New Beginnings.
July 25th. Coming Clean
August 3rd. Ticking Time.
August 4th. Letter From the Lost Days
August 5th: Nightmares and Dreamscapes
August 10th,AM: Ties that bind
August 10th, PM. Dance the night away.
IL: Epilogue: August 29th and September 3rd. What Dreams May Come.

September 20th/July 15th: The Past that Haunts

September 20th, 16 years ago.

“Jesus Christ… not him too,” Steel Cuffs sighed, dabbing at the sweat on his brow under his shock of silver hair. It was hot, damned hot, and the Junction County Sheriff’s Department sheriff was getting really damned tired of it, seemed like the heatwave was only going to last, it’d been pushing 90 for the past ten days, and it finally hit the big Nine-Oh.

Iron Bars grunted, his rust red mustache in the handle bar style, framing his frowning face as he looked into the car, inside, the cries of a young child could be heard as EMTs bustled about, freeing the child from the bloody mess of a car. The other occupant of the vehicle, a man, was identified as Bolero, 26. An easy one to figure out despite the blood splattering the passenger window, the tri-colored hair easy to spot in a crowd, let alone on his own. He was relatively well known around town, since his wife had been Gleaming Shield, one of the best deputies the JCSD had ever seen. She’d passed two days earlier, while giving birth to the small little girl that had been extracted from the car seat in the back.

“Damn shame is what it is. I thought for sure Bolero would have been able to handle that loss. Had somethin’ to live for, ya know?” Iron Bars grumbled, his eyes shooting to the EMTs who were loading the child onto one of the ambulances. A quick shock of light green-and-blue hair could be seen atop the child’s head.

Steel just nodded as he catalogued the pistol used to do the deed: a .38 special, normally carried for self defense, had put a neat hole in the right side of Bolero’s head, and come out the other side. Death was likely instantaneous, Steel noted to himself, cringing a bit. Damn, this job had made him numb, he sighed.

Opening the briefcase in the passenger seat revealed a stack of papers, most seemingly new; amongst them was a birth certificate. “Got a name for the kid; seems like the last thing Bolero was able to do before blowing his brains out.”

“Yeah, what’s her name? Kid’s gonna need at least that much to get by in life.” Iron Bars slid up next to his partner, and the slightly shorter man looked up to the taller.

“Says here, her name’s Sweet Pea.”

July 15th, present day, San Francisco, CA.

Sweet Pea groaned. Had it been half a year ago, one wouldn’t have been shocked to have found that moan one of seeming lust-filled pleasure, even if forced for a client, likely with her bent over, legs spread wide. These days, the only utterances Sweet Pea seemed to be making were those of frustration as she tried to catch up on six years of schooling she’d lost, between the time she’d run away from Dodge Junction at the not-so-tender age of ten, to her current age of sixteen.

“Seriously, fuck math, hard, and unpleasantly.” She was glad she was alone, working on the work sheets: She’d made decent strides, and was sitting at around middle school level of study as a result. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, moving her glasses aside. She had to admit, the short hair and glasses made her look fairly cute, so much so that she hardly recognized herself these days, dressing mostly conservatively in pants and long-sleeves and sweaters. Thankfully it was unusually cool in San Fran this summer, with the cool sea air blowing off the Pacific, to allow that

“But wouldn’t you rather be back there, legs spread, taking a long, thick co…”

“NO!” She took a deep breath, trying to relax. There was this odd desire; it kept cropping up in her head. An urge to fall back into that old life: to the drugs and the sex and all the insanity that came along with it. She knew she was better off here though: she had a foster brother and sister that loved her. They were her legal guardians, of course, but given how young they were, it felt… odd, fostering her as parents, and they settled for a sibling relationship instead.

“Pft, even now I don’t get parents - hell, even Sunny got ‘rentals!” she grumbled and pushed away from her desk to flop back on her bed. A comfortable bed that was hers - no, a full room that was hers, one she’d chosen to decorate with lots of floral patterns. It was a bit mismatched, but Sweet Pea had made it her own, a far cry from the crack dens and flophouses she’d been staying in just a few months back. The notion did feel good, of course... but - always that damned but - there was always that lingering feeling of want.

She pulled out the old, faded picture of her mother and father, caressing slender fingers over it. She had it good though: a good family and a decent place to live. But her heart yearned for more: she wanted a full family, someone to call Mom and Dad. She’d yet to meet her foster brother’s or sister’s parents, and she wasn’t sure she could ever see them as her parents anyway. Certainly with her background, they might not be so eager to see her as theirs.

She let her head rest back on the pillows. It was mid-day, but she felt tired, just drained from the constant cycle of study and going out. After the events at the concert a week prior, she’d been able to actually count the group Pinkie Pie called “The Eightmazing Eight” as her friends. But the best part to come out of that encounter had been meeting Melancholy Rose, Rainbow Dash’s adopted sister’s biological sister. She smirked as that fact came to mind. “Try saying that one five times fast.” she thought with a little grin.

The events of the concert had been something else: an epic performance by the god of rock himself - Discord. But also with his daughter, Fluttershy. One which would have never happened, had Rose and Sweet Pea not pulled the chiffon-haired teen out of her idiotic funk. Still, it had been a worthwhile goal … even if Sweet Pea hadn’t slept well since.

She had never had an issue with girls or guys; in fact, she’d had clients on both sides of the street as it were. And so far as her own personal preference went, she didn’t mind either. But that day, revealing herself to Fluttershy, she’d laid bare what she’d been through in her past. It hadn’t taken much to snap the shy teen out of her own issues with her father, but it had taken more of a toll on the jade-haired teen than she’d expected.

Laying back, her eyes drifted closed, and she let her mind wander till a knock at her door caused her to sit up straight. “Y..yeah?!”

The door creaked open, revealing a tall, built man, easily 5’10”, 190 pounds of muscle. His hair was cut in the military style, and his brown eyes gazed on her from there. “Sweet Pea, how nice of you to still be here.” His voice was rough, filled with lust and desire, but not an ounce of love.

She couldn’t move, “U-uncle Tripwire…. B-but you’re supposed to be….”

“What, in prison? Because, like a little fucking narc bitch, you ratted me out?!” The rage was apparent in his voice as he snarled, “All because you’re a little whore who couldn’t keep her hands off me?” He moved into the room, his presence almost taking up the entirety of it.

Sweet Pea’s eyes went wide as she found herself chained to the bed, naked. Bared again to the world as his hands moved to his own pants, unzipping. “Sweet Pea...you…”

“Sweet Pea…. SWEET PEA!” a voice called, as she could feel the hands on her, shaking her.

“AHHHH!!!” the jade-haired teen jumped off the bed, falling off the opposite side from where she’d been touched and rocked, landing quite ungracefully in a heap.

“Shit - sorry, Pea, didn’t mean to scare you,” Melancholy Rose voiced as she moved around to the other side of the bed. Her eyes falling on the form of a curled-up Sweet Pea, who looked completely broken.

Sweet Pea looked up, her tangelo eyes meeting Rose’s, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. “What’s it like?”

“What’s what like?” Rose asked, moving to sit beside her friend, who just leaned over to rest her head on her best friend’s shoulder.

“To be innocent?” Pea asked, closing her eyes as she just tried to gain strength from one of the few people she felt she could trust in this shitty world.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Pea, seriously, you can’t keep doing this to yourself.” She wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder for support. Despite the words, she wanted her friend feeling better.

“Every time I close my eyes, Rose. Every. Fucking. Time. He shows up, and I’m reduced to nothing.” She looked every bit as fragile as she sounded. “Ever since Flutters, every night, every time I pass out for half a minute.” She glanced at the clock, and from the numbers on its digital face, she’d been asleep for just over an hour apparently.

“And it’s seriously affecting your memory, or did you forget about our lunch plans today?” Rose asked, causing Sweet Pea to facepalm.

“Fuck, knew I was forgetting something,” Pea groaned, and Rose chuckled.

“Yeah, and you’re slipping on your f-bombs, too.”

“I’m working on it, okay? It’s when shi...stuff like this happens... it’s hard, okay?!” Her frustration came to the forefront and Rose nodded, giving her a squeeze.

“Yeah, I know, it’s why I ordered pizza, Hawaiian…. Should be here soon.” She gave a smile to Pea, who returned it with her own, though tired, mirror.

“You know just how to make me feel better, Rose.” Pea slowly climbed to her feet and stretched. “And it’s cool, I mean, you didn’t mean to scare me or anything; I’m just screwed up.”

“You’re not ‘screwed up’, Pea.” Rose said, giving the quotes around the term with her fingers. “Let’s be real: You’ve had it rough, rougher than most. And you’re just coming into things actually being good, so of course you’re gonna freak a bit. Just how this stuff goes, I guess, but you don’t have to freak alone, you know you can call me anytime and I’ll be here for ya in a hot minute.”

“Thanks Rose, you’re the best friend I could ask for.” Pea rubbed at her eyes, as tears had been building and she wiped them away. “Let’s just hope that maybe the trial of that bastard will help me put this crap behind me finally.” Sweet Pea gave a smile, one she didn’t entirely feel as she heard the dark, mocking chuckle in the back of her mind.

“Oh you’ll never put it behind you Amelia, because that’s who you really are….”

She grimaced as she walked out of the room, headed for the bathroom to freshen up. Her brother and sister were out of the house for another few hours till they got home from work, and that was fine, as she’d rather her family not see her like this. And after some time with Rose, she’d probably feel much better.

Melancholy Rose, for her part, let her eyes linger on the back of her friend as she walked out of the room. She sighed softly, shaking her head. The other girl was a mess, and Rose felt like she was trying to pick up the pieces that their plan for Fluttershy had left them with. It had been fast put together, and Rose had only known Pea for a couple of days by that point, but they were already fast becoming the best of friends, and when Pea had gotten the idea of how to bring the pink-haired teen out of her funk it had seemed like a good idea at the time - a very unorthodox one, but an effective one, nonetheless.

Now...now she was wondering if it had done more harm to her friend than they’d expected it would. “You’re stronger than you know Pea; just... we’ll get you through this.” She followed her friend out to the living room; after all, the pizza would be getting here soon, and she was sure they could do with watching a movie or something.

Rose had gone home for the night, and Sweet Pea smiled as her foster family returned. “Hey guys, you just missed Rose.”

Buck Withers chuckled. His shirt was stained with sweat, evidence that he’d been working out. True to his word, he’d re-upped at the gym close by and had been getting back in shape in the six months since he’d taken in the troubled teen. And he was starting to look like his old, athletic self, something his wife Lemony Gems wasn’t exactly going to complain about.

“Oh, hey sis. Yeah I passed her on the road as I was coming in. Figured she’d come by to see you. Did you finish your studies for the day?” He’d been doing his best to keep her on track, and she’d made great strides in her studies even without his ensuring she was doing her work, but he always liked to be sure. He wanted the best for her, else he’d never have stuck his neck out for her like this.

As Lemony opened the door, Sweet Pea waved, but answered Buck’s question: “Yeah I got it done ... well, mostly.” She winced. “I got stuck and decided to take a break before I tore my hair out.” She pouts. “Why’s math gotta be so confusing?!”

Lemony chuckled. “You know, Buck was never good at math either, at least not the numbers on the page. Put it in a sports setting, though, and he’d reel off stats to you like it was nothing,” she said as she grinned. “Maybe you just need to adjust how you think of the problem a bit?” Buck shot her a look and what bordered on a pout, as she stuck her tongue out at him, smirking after.

Pea shrugged, a piece of leftover pizza between her lips as she took a bite. “Mmm, yeah maybe.” she said after swallowing, and giving a grin. “There’s about half a pizza left if you guys want some, it’s Hawaiian, courtesy of Rose. I should probably go finish up my work and try to get some sleep.” It was about 6pm now, and she knew the work would likely take another couple of hours.

Buck nodded. “That was nice of Rose, and yeah, best get on that. You’ve made great progress, but it’s not all that long before we want to get you into classes, preferably by the start of the next school year.” He smiled, and walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You can do it though, we’ve got faith in you, Pea.”

Pea, for her part, tried not to cringe at the touch. She didn’t mind it from family, but at the same time she could hear that voice sing its siren’s call from the back of her mind: “Just imagine him touching you other places, those strong hands…” She shrugged away from his hand, but shot him a forced smile. “Thanks bro. I’ll pull it off; I’ve got to, right?”

With that, Pea turned, and headed up the stairs to her room, leaving Buck standing there giving a curious look to Lemony, who just shook her head with a soft sigh, running a hand through her locks, before grabbing a slice. How do you talk to someone about...that? she wondered.

Lemony had spoken with Pea once, and of course, had a long, long discussion with Shining Armor and Cadence over the teen’s predicament. She knew most of the same information Sweet Pea had laid out for Cadence, and honestly she was still shocked the girl had lived through such horror.

“Buck, I know she’s hurting, I can see it in her eyes. I just don’t know how to even broach the subject and with the…” Lemony was cut off by Buck, who wrapped his arms around his wife and tugged her close.

“I know, Lemony. I noticed she shies away a lot, and yeah, it’s not long is it?” His eyes drifted to the calendar that was pinned up on the wall, August 29th was the hearing date in Dodge Junction for the crimes that had been done to the girl Buck Withers considered a younger sister… the man that destroyed that poor girl’s self worth. He gritted his teeth. “Think she can handle it?”

Lemony shook her head, “No, but I don’t think she has much of a choice if we want that man locked up for the rest of his life.” She drew free of her husband and kissed his cheek, before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Buck standing there with a single slice of pizza, and concern for his younger sister’s soon-to-come meeting with Tripwire.

July 20th, A.M. Doubts in Darkness

July 20th, Junction County Correctional Facility.

“One, two, three, four, five.” The figure counted, voice rough as hands were parted on the cold concrete. Down and up, sets of five. Sweat dripped off the brow of the man as he lowered and raised. It was hard to gauge how many set’s he’d already done, but the sweat pouring from his face made it apparent he’d been at this for some time. His chest bared, the orange jump suit tied around his waist by it’s arms.

BZZZT! “All Prisoners are to step away from the cell doors for inspection.”

He stood, his hair was buzzed in the military style, though clearly in his late forties to early fifties, his dark brown eyes narrowed as he slipped up to his feet, backing up against the wall. It was a small prison, and he knew most of the staff here. His eyes fell on the uniformed visage of Hard Case, who eyed him right back.

“Keep right there, Wire.” The guard said, pointing his nightstick towards him as he walked in, and began a check for any contraband.

“Right, you know, Case, here I thought you’d have wised up, gone back into the service, not babysit the rest of these assholes.”

Hard Case grunted. “I’m still here because your stupid chomo ass is here, Wire.” He scoffed, finding nothing and standing to turn to him. “Look, get this straight: You’d better jump when we tell you, because right now the only thing keeping me from killing you for what you did to her, is that.” he motioned up to the camera in the hall.

Tripwire laughed. “Nothin’s been proven yet! The bitch is just blowing smoke,” he growled. “And I’d love to see you even try to kill me Case, couldn’t do shit to me in Twentynine Palms back after basic, and couldn’t do shit on deployment either… or are you still pissed at yourself over Iraq?”

Hard Case eyed the inmate before walking out of the cell. “You best watch yourself, Wire, or we might just turn the other way once these guys hear just what you did.”

Trip’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t do shit… and until court says I did, you got no fuckin’ grounds to stand on.”

Hard Case smirked. “I’ve got my own morals, Tripwire. Unlike you, I’ve always had those to cling to.”

Tripwire simply watched the guard move on as the door to his cell closed. And the plans started forming...he’d get out. He’d get out and he’d kill that bitch for putting him through this. With a roar of hate, he slammed his fist against the rock wall. It didn’t give, but neither did his meaty hand. “You’ll get yours bitch....You’ll get yours.”

Darkness surrounded her as Sweet Pea looked around. She could feel the cool air on her skin. She was naked, a state of dress she knew all too well. The scars adoring her body seemed almost colder than the rest of her. “H...hello?” She hazarded a call out.

“So, the whore has a voice… so unsure of herself, not at all like the Amelia I knew.” the voice was dark, but also sensual, it held a draw to it, one that made Sweet Pea shiver. “The Amelia I know, well, she might not have been strong, but she was certainly sure. Sure of the size of cock she could take, of how many orgasams she could give a man, or woman.” The voice chuckled, dark, and not at all friendly.

“That’s not me anymore! I’ve changed, alright!?” Pea screamed, as she was slammed against an invisible wall. She could feel the figure next to her, though she couldn’t see it. It felt...female, warmer than the surrounding darkness. It’s flesh pressed into her own, warm and inviting yet cold and distant all the same.

“Oh it’s not is it, what about Rose hmm… I know the thoughts you have, the desires, I can sense every...little...one.” The being caressed what felt like talons along pea’s body, up over the swell of her breast. “How you want her to be your knight in shining armor, right? To come sweep poor Sweet Pea off her feet.” the voice grew darker, even more malice filling it as the taloned hands seemed to wrap around Pea’s neck. “You want to be her Sweet Poon, don’t you? Forget Amelia, forget Sweet Pea, no, you want that name back.”

Sweet Pea tried to breathe, but she couldn’t; the talons around her neck cut off her ability to. She thrashed helplessly under the hand of the creature against her. “N...noo….” she managed to squeak out before the hand became rougher, more human, and distinctly more masculine. And she could just see Tripwire’s face as he leaned in close.

“My Sweet Poon.” he growled, before kissing her harshly, his hands moving to spread her thighs. She could do nothing as he had his way with her once more, the sound of ringing filling her ears with each thrust…

Bzzt! BZZT! BZZZZZZTT!!!

Sweet Pea let out a gasp as she shot upright in the bed. The sea-green nightgown she’d picked for herself clung to her damp body, which was more than a little soaked with sweat. She sighed, running a hand over her face and through her short hair, groaning as she felt the wetness behind her too.

Great, going to have to let the sheets air out. She sighed again and slipped from the bed, taking a glance at the clock on her nightstand, which read 4:53am. Still a good three hours before she usually woke up. She took a breath as she felt something else, a dampness that wasn’t sweat between her legs. She gathered up the sheets, taking them into the laundry room before making it to her bathroom. Slipping inside and disrobing, she positioned herself under the warm water before breaking down and curling into a ball along the tile floor. At least she made it to the shower before breaking down this time.

Lemony’s eyes filled with tears as she could hear her sister’s sobs from her bathroom. Having gotten up early to get ready, she listened to the girl’s fitful dreams, the outcries and groans of near pain. She wiped her face, banishing the tears away God what she’d do to save Sweet Pea any more grief. But she knew there was more to come, and not that far off either.

Her cellphone’s chime went off and she sighed. It was going to be a long day already, she had to go pick up Sapphire Stones for the carpool, and while she and Buck usually went in at the same time, Buck had the day off.

“Sapphire’s going to talk my ear off too,” she murmurred, taking a long drink of the coffee as she adjusted her suit’s sleeves, and shifted the skirt down a bit. After a moment, she quickly pulled out a few of Pea’s favorite treats, hoping to ease the teen’s burden. “Sorry I can’t be here right now, but work calls, sis.” She sighed and headed out the door, having penned a small sticky note she left next to the foodstuffs.

A large glass of chocolate milk and a few breakfast pastries later, a much more refreshed Sweet Pea sat in front of the television, flipping through the channels. She looked up as she heard the rather large yawn of her brother.

“Morning Bro, there’s a fresh pot of coffee.” she motioned towards it, and he gave a half wave as he stumbled into the kitchen, causing a rather girly giggle to escape his adopted sister. Pea had to admit, she was feeling better. The note she’d been left by her sister had made her feel less alone. But still, could she talk to Lemony about everything bothering her? Sure she’d told Rose, but… she didn’t want to burden her family with this crap.

“Morning sis,” came the voice of her brother finally, as Buck downed his first cup of coffee without even adding any sugar. “Ahh, yeah, that’ll wake you right up!” he chuckled and poured another as he snagged one of the other pastries. “You doing okay, kiddo?” he asked as he walked into the living room and slipped into the recliner close by.

“I’m… yeah.” she said, looking down she shook her head. “Okay, no, not really, but I don’t think you guys can really help. It’s just my past ya know, despite all you two have done for me, it just feels like I’m all alone.” Her eyes moved back to his and he nodded sagely.

“I get that, and we see you hurting, Pea.” he sat the pastry down on the coffee table in it’s plate, before turning his full attention to his sister. “You’ve been through a lot, and we knew what we were getting into when we adopted you, sis. But you have to trust us, okay? We’re not going to hurt you, and if anything we’ll do everything we can to help. Hell, kid I’d move the damn sun and moon if I thought it would help.” Buck sat up a bit straighter in the chair, his eyes on her own.

“And that means a ton, seriously you have no idea how much I’ve craved exactly that.” She pouted as she added, “Yet, at the same time…” “At the same time you want him to bend you over the coffee table, tug down your pajama pants, and ride you cowboy style is what you want.” She grimaced, and shut up, looking away.

“Pea, please don’t shut me out.” he reached out, and she shied away, looking almost like a hurt animal as she did, her eyes held a fear he’d never seen directed at him.

“NO! No… it’s... I’m fine, bro. I’ll, I’ll be fine, okay? Just had a bad dream last night and I really can’t deal at the moment.” She got up, grabbing and downing the remainder of her chocolate milk. “I’m going to go change, then go for a walk, I need to clear my head.” she looked to him, her face had softened a little. “I’ll have my cell on me, of course.”

Buck nodded, and sighed, sitting back in the recliner. “Okay, kiddo. Just... be safe. We’re here for you. Always. Don’t forget that, alright?”

“Yeah, I know bro.” She walked off, trying her damndest to ignore the little voice in her head telling her just how much she wanted him slamming his manhood deep inside her, while she buried her face between Lemony’s thighs.

The air was cool this morning but warming fast, as Sweet Pea walked around the park that was a few blocks up the road from her house. She walked fast, something that she had taken up since moving in with Buck and Lemony, power walking mixed with the occasional jog. Music blasted in her ears, the pumping bass of some techno track or another. The sweatpants and hoodie combo, both a dull grey, made her feel like another face in the crowd, and not the broken girl she knew she was.

The park was fairly empty—save for the occasional other jogger—and she had the path to herself. She soon found herself at one of the smaller ponds. Taking a seat to rest, she brought the hood down and pulled the earbuds from her ears. The jogging had been a nice distraction and had helped clear her head. She let her eyes drift closed for a second, just feeling the cool morning air surrounding the park.

Looking up, her eyes landed on another girl on the other side of the park, seeming about her age wearing a rather severe looking school uniform. Her white hair streaked with alice-blue, it was done up in almost tri pigtails, or so it looked like from this angle. A pair of orange glasses framed lavender eyes. The girl looked up, their eyes meeting before she crossed her arms. “It’s impolite to stare you know.” The African-merican girl’s voice sounded almost rushed.

“Totally wasn’t staring,” Sweet Pea defended, crossing her own arms and sticking her tongue out, which caused the other to chuckle.

“Right, anyway you don’t look like you’re from around here...no uniform.” Her tone was almost harsh, but there was also an air of curiosity to it. “I’m Sugarcoat.”

Pea offered a genuine smile, “Sweet Pea. I don’t go to any of the schools around here,” she admitted waving lightly since they were too far for a handshake. Maybe this morning would be better than she thought.

“Homeschooled? You look the type, you know.” She smirked. “I attend Cornerstone Academy. It’s one of the more prestigious in the area.” Sugarcoat glanced down at her left wrist, blinking a few times. “I’ve gotta go, Sweet Pea right? See you around.”

Without a single word more, she got up and headed off, leaving a rather confused Sweet Pea to offer a weak “Goodbye,” towards her back.

“Or, maybe it won’t be as good as I’d hoped.” She closed her eyes once more, doing her best to ignore the voice telling her that she was a creep, and no wonder a slut like her scared away a potential friend.

July 20th,P.M. Chances

July 20th, PM.

“So then, I see Sapphire Shores and her entire dance crew coming down the hall. And this guy just busts through the security blockade and rams right into Sweet Steps, knocking her over; then into Twinkle Toes, who twirled and landed with his face right between Sapphire’s cleavage.” Rose chuckled, shaking her head and taking a drink of the mocha latte seated in front of her. “And you know what Sapphire does? She just laughs it off, helps him up, makes sure Sweet Steps was fine… before making sure the guy who ran through security was alright, then gave him an autograph and just moved on. Turns out, the guy didn’t even really care about that, he was trying to get to a meeting and was running late.”

The soft chuckle of Sweet Pea joined that of her friend’s. “Man, it’s gotta be pretty cool getting to see all these big name stars all the time.” She sipped her white chocolate mocha, relaxing with her friend. After the morning she’d had, she was just glad to get back together with Rose and get some time with one of the few people she felt comfortable with.

“Yeah, it’s kinda cool, but you get used to it, and they just become people.” Rose voice evened out a little, as she shook her head. “I’ve only got a couple of days left in town… turns out, my dad wants me back in LA by the 23rd.” she said, letting her eyes drift up to those of her friends.

Pea had been in mid-sip when she stopped; her eyes went wide as she barely turned to spit out the swig she’d nearly choked on.

“That soon?!” She felt the panic well up inside her: her friend was heading back to LA in just three days, leaving Pea behind...and broken.

“No...nonononono!” Her mind went into panic mode, but then she felt Rose’s hand on her own.

“Relax Pea. I know you’re in a rough spot, but there’s always our phones and Skype and all, so it’s fine… we’ll be able to keep in touch. We can call and text whenever you need it.” Rose tried to calm the other girl but she shook her head.

“Rose, seriously I-I don’t know if I can handle it alone, I mean, you… you’re one of the few people that knows all of it, you’ve been able to pull me out of my stupid every time I’ve gone into it.” she looks up into Rose’s eyes. “Y...you’re one of the few people who I trust, like Shining.”

Her mind shot back to that time, where she’d propositioned the cop that had ended up doing so much good for her. Shining Armor had been... well, a prince worthy of his namesake. He didn’t take her up on her offer, and that had allowed her to trust him, and...make a few rather inappropriate passes at him in the hopes that maybe he’d sweep her off her feet. It wasn’t to be: Ms. Cadence had him firmly locked down, not that she blamed her—they made a fairly cute couple.

Rose blinked. “I know that but…” She was cut off by Pea.

“No, Rose I….” Pea had turned her hand, and was holding Rose’s, before she leaned forward quickly, her lips inches from Rose’s before her friend leaned back.

“Yo, Pea, the fuck? Girl, look, I like you and all but… wait, do…” realization dawned on Rose as her eyes widened, looking to a very heartbroken Sweet Pea...who had now let go, and was currently grabbing her purse.

“Whatever... Look, sorry I tried that, but I’m out. Have a good trip to LA, okay?” Sweet Pea’s motions caused her to knock over the chocolate mocha she was drinking, the resulting brown puddle escaping her notice as she hastily made for the door.

However, Rose had quickly gotten to her feet, getting a hand on the other’s shoulder before she’d gotten anywhere.“Pea, wait… I… look, I’m just... I don’t swing that way, okay? You’re a sweet girl, and the last thing I want to do is lead you on.” Rose sighed, then continued. “You’re vulnerable and afraid, I get that… and you latched onto me, which I appreciate. I’m glad I could be that important to you but….”

Rose warred with herself; those eyes of Pea’s looked so fragile, so broken. Rose winced inwardly at having to let her down like this, and it didn’t help that what she had to say next tasted bitter even to her. “I don’t think that it would work out, even if I did swing that way. A long distance relationship would just be too strenuous for both of us. You need someone who can be here for you, Pea, but I’m not that girl, not in that way. I’ll always be your friend, and best friend if you’ll still have me, but I can’t be more than that.”

Pea stood, shaking for a few moments, trying to reign in her emotions… and ignore the cackling laughter in the back of her head from that damned voice. “Oh, fucking classic! Good job girl, almost assault the love of your life, then have her drop your skanky ass at the first sign that you’re into her? FUCKING PRICELESS!”

Pea brought a shaky hand to her head and shook herself free. “Yeah, I’m falling apart. I keep hearing shit, and the nightmares are getting worse… and yeah, I got clingy. You’ve been so nice and understanding and all I… I guess I misread you. I’m sorry, Rose… but I just need some time to myself right now.” Moving towards the door, she didn’t get very far as Rose’s hand rested on her arm softly.

Sweet Pea wanted to run, she wanted to leave and get away from this mistake, but she couldn’t just walk away yet and leave her (possibly former) best friend without at least some form of explanation. “I, just really need some air, okay? We’ll… talk about this later.” With that said, she headed for the door and out onto The Embarcadero.

Rose looked down at the spilled drink, and sighed, finishing off her own. “Yeah, later.” she said, the taste of the Mocha Latte an unsatisfying, bitter taste in her mouth. Just like what she’d told Pea.

The sound of the hustle and bustle of the pier met her ears as she walked through the Embarcadero’s waterfront. Stopping, she looked out over the Pacific Ocean that stretched out in front of her, taking in the sights. Before long, she ended up settling on admiring the Golden Gate Bridge, its crimson lines stretching out with the dimming light shining behind it. Sighing, she let her eyes close, finally coming to terms with the situation that had happened nearly an hour before.

The tone of “Love is an Insane Chimera” issued from her phone, and with practiced ease she fished it from it’s pocket in her purse and answered. “Hey, bro,” her voice easily holding the hurt of the day.

“Hey kiddo, you okay?” Buck’s voice was that of a concerned parent, regardless of adoption status. It made her smile lightly, but only for a moment.

“I’m...no...no, not really. Today’s been kinda a crapshoot.” She checked the time on the phone. “I know it’s getting late. I’ll be coming back soon, should be home in time for dinner.”

Lemony’s voice could be heard in the background, and Buck’s own voice brightened. “She told me to tell you she’s making Lemon Chicken.”

Pea’s own face brightened at that. “Then I’ll definitely be home. Thanks for checking up on me bro.” She felt better as they said their goodbyes. Hanging up, she slid the phone into her rear left pocket of her jeans. Guess I’ll walk the pier once more, then head home.

It was then that just as she started moving, she nearly ran face first into the body of another girl, both nearly falling save for the quick reflexes of the other green haired girl. Her hand shooting out to ensure Sweet Pea didn’t bite the pavement, causing Pea to let out a surprised squeak.

“I was so into this music, I didn’t even notice you, Totally sorry, okay?” She’d taken off the green headphones... well, not entirely; the little kitty ears on top of them seemed to pulse with a neon green light to the music, but she’d moved the ear cups so she could hear.

“No...look, I wasn’t paying attention. You’re okay though, right?” Pea asked. Her eyes darting over the other girl’s form, checking mostly for injuries. As neither had fallen, she soon laughed lightly in relief. “God I’m such a space cadet lately.” She extended a hand. “Sweet Pea… again, sorry about this.”

The green-haired girl smiled brightly. Shifting the book bag that hung at her hip, she took Pea’s hand with enthusiasm, “Hey it’s totally cool, name’s Lemon Tart.” She took a moment then blinked a few times. “Wait a sec, I’ve seen you before…” She tilted her head, as if trying to get a better look at Sweet Pea, which caused the other girl to shift a bit uncomfortably. “Yeah, no, I totally saw you hanging out with those girls from the Gods of Rock concert, right? The Friends of… Fluttershy I think her name was—the one that admitted to being the daughter of Discord live on stage and all?!”

Sweet Pea coughed a bit at that, “Uh, yeah… I know her, and her friends, I guess.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “So I guess you saw the concert?”

Tart nodded quickly, her body almost screamed energetic, thin, and she wore a T-shirt with the words ‘Cute as Hell’ over a pair of short shorts. “Hell yeah I did, and Fluttershy’s been the talk of the Internet!” she giggles. “Then again, most of it’s been the guys going on about well… you know guys,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I like Discord and all, but I’m way more into K-rock—and by that I mean the one out west, not down south—and K-pop.”

Without warning she slid the headphones around Sweet Pea’s head, which caused the other teen to eep as the sudden beat of K-pop met her ears. She couldn’t tell what it was, but the beat was fairly enjoyable.

After a few moments, Sweet Pea returned the headphones to their owner. “Well, I mean, as good as that sounds, I kinda like understanding what I listen to.” She ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out. “Those are kinda cool headphones though.”

Lemon Tart smiled bright, readying an onslaught of explanation as to where she got the neko inspired design before a slight cough issued behind her. “You really should be more careful, Tart, and pull your head out of the clouds.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes landed on someone she’d met earlier in the day, the ebony skin and white hair of one Sugarcoat easily seen, the girl still in her school uniform, purse slung over her left shoulder, she blinked a few times. “Sweet Pea, didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” her voice, that typical rushed tone.

Lemon Tart laughed. “Oh relax, Coat! I mean yeah, we kinda literally bumped into each other, but then again, maybe it was fate, like in…”

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “You know the likelihood of an event happening in your life being fated like in one of your anime is abysmally slim.” But Coat had lost the other girl in her own mind for a moment, as she went on about something or another anime pairings. She sighed a bit rubbing the bridge of her nose under her glasses. “You’ll have to excuse her. She’s an otaku.”

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “It’s ok… but she’s right: we did kinda run into each other, I’d say it’s likely both our faults.” She found a smile back on her face for the first time since this morning.

“Well, she tends to have her head in the clouds.” Coat uncrossed her arms, a smile finally playing at her own lips. “But she’s been there for me no matter what.” she looks over to Pea. “You seemed out of it when I left this morning.”

Pea winced a bit inwardly. “Yeah, I’ve had a lot on my plate, but I’m dealing.” She turned away, and in that movement, Lemon Tart finally stopped and looked at the one she’d accidently ran into.

“Hey, we all go through stuff, it’s cool.” Offering a genuine smile to Pea, one that Pea had a sneaking suspicion was always genuine from this girl, Lemon Tart bounced up, before Sugarcoat rested a hand on the younger’s shoulder.

“We really should get going Tart, we’ve both got homework.” Coat’s eyes turned to Sweet Pea. “Here, my cell number.” she held her phone up—a recent model, Pea noted—she’d already set it to broadcast her number to any phone with bluetooth capability if they came close enough to one another.

“Oh yeah, here’s mine too!” Lemon Tart extended her own phone, which Pea mirrored the gesture, gathering the two’s contact information.

“Thanks girls, I... yeah I think it would be cool to hang at some point.” Pea gave a slightly awkward smile as Coat and Tart nodded in agreement.

“Awesome!” Tart smiled brightly, bobbing a bit to the music coming through her headphones. It was hard to tell if the awesome was about the music, or exchange of contact information… or both. “We’ll catch ya later Sweet Pea!” With that, Lemon Tart and Sugarcoat took their leave, heading back down the Embarcadero Sugarcoat tossing up a wave as they left.

Sweet Pea herself, turned, a slow smile finding her face… Yeah, maybe today was looking up a bit. In the very back of her mind, that dark voice simply laughed.

Lemony Gems wiped the sweat from her brow. She’d been standing over the stove since she got home. Right now, however, she found herself putting the finishing garnish on three plates of lemon baked chicken, the wonderful aroma of the chicken and pasta dish she’d created wafted through the air and pleased the senses.

“Oh, now there’s my girl.” Buck slipped behind her in a big bear hug, causing her to give an “eep” of surprise, though she soon relaxed back into his embrace.

“Think this will help?” she asked, turning to press a soft, but warm kiss to his lips, one he gently returned with a warmth of his own.

“She sounded better than this morning over the phone, so yeah, I think so,” he smirked. “I know good food always makes me feel better.” Buck’s grin fell slightly as his wife elbowed him playfully.

The sound of the front door opening and closing announced Sweet Pea’s arrival. “I’m home!” she called out, stopping long enough to take her shoes off and slip inside, locking the door behind her.

Lemony looked up to Buck and kissed his cheek before smiling. “I think, we may end up doing a girls night after dinner; she may need it.” She hugged him warmly as he returned the gesture.

“Yeah well, I wouldn’t want to intrude, I’ve been meaning to go see that new action flick that came out anyway.” he finally addressed Pea. “Welcome home, Sis!”

Sweet Pea sighed, the wonderful scent of the meal hitting her nose. Her hunger got the better of her as her stomach gave an appreciative growl. “Thanks Bro, wow, that smells amazing, Lemony!” She had a little more pep in her step as she walked into the kitchen, giving Lemony and Buck both hugs, causing the two adults to blink a bit owlishly.

“I guess things turned around after Buck hung up. Either that or the food smells really good?” Lemony asked with grin, returning the hug while it lasted. Around three months in, Sweet Pea had gotten much more comfortable around them. It had been the first time she’d been hugged by the girl… and since those other girls from Canterlot had come to visit, Sweet Pea had seemed to revert to nearly the same level of distance she’d been at during her first month with them.

Sweet Pea’s nod and smile said it all. “I um, met some new friends… at least I think I did.” Settling her purse on a hook just outside the dining room, she stretched a bit before settling in at the dinner table with her family.

Lemony moved off, serving up the delicious chicken meal and finally settling in as Buck nodded in approval. “That’s great, but you were saying things weren't too good today?” He asked, taking a bite of the meal and giving a pleased “Mmm.” at the flavor.

Sweet Pea’s smile faltered a little. “Yeah... I, uh, had an issue with Rose, then found out she’s heading back to LA in a couple of days.” She sighed and took a bite of the meal herself, savoring it despite the unpleasant conversation.

Buck nodded. “Everyone gets in arguments at some time. It’s how you handle it that counts,” he said as he took a drink of the milk. Lemony nodded her own agreement.

“Exactly, Sweet Pea. Trust me, things will work out I’m sure of it. But honestly honey, what I’m concerned about is, well… you’ve been getting kinda distant lately.” She gave a gentle gaze towards her sister. “After all, things were going very well, then after those girls from Canterlot came to visit for the concert, you’ve been… hiding again… pulling away.”

Pea winced, and sat her fork down, sighing and looking up to her adoptive siblings. And it was Lemony’s words that reminded that this was Pea’s family. “I know, and I’m sorry.” she sighed, taking a breath and lifting the fork from the food. “Can we discuss it after tomorrow? I-I’m pretty much done with all my schoolwork for the week and… I’m going to need a night's sleep before we get into things.”

Lemony relented, nodding as she sat back. “Sure, in fact, I’m all ears now that I’m home, and I do have tomorrow off. What do you say we have a girls day tomorrow: get some trashy movies, and watch them while we talk, just you and me, hmm?”

Pea blinked as she was about to take a bite, and chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

Buck for his part, just smiled. Hoping that maybe some sororal bonding would help his sister with whatever she’s going through.

January 14th, 11 years ago.

Tripwire grunted, running a hand through his shaggy hair. A bottle of Jack Daniels hung loosely from his fingers as he lounged in his favorite chair, his eyes were bleary, and he could barely make out the room around him. All but around a fifth of the bottle had been consumed.

The military vet grunted again, his hand moving to his own crotch for a moment, scratching a spot on the inside of his left thigh. The brush caused him to become instantly aware of another mounting problem, one he hadn’t been able to really take care of since that little rotten kid came into his life. No woman wanted to date a guy in his twenties raising a five year old girl.

He growled. “Fuckin’ split-tails don’t know what they're missin’ out on.” His slur was strong, and he rolled his head forward, just in time to catch a bit of movement. “Speak of the devil.” he mumbled, before calling out, “Sweet Pea, get your ass over here!” An idea had started to form. After all, the girl was exactly that, right? A girl… and it wasn’t like he hadn’t had experience with a younger generation while he was overseas anyway… Chances were, she’d be even better than that near-bleeder he had in Phuket.

Sweet Pea jumped and hugged the doorway for a moment, big eyes looking up at the man she called her uncle. She wore a little white sundress and socks currently, since she was just inside.

“Y-yes Uncle Tripwire?” she asked, slowly letting go of the doorframe and working her way towards him. She’d learned early that to disobey him when he was like this usually earned her either a sore rear in by way of a spanking, or on more than one occasion, she’d been slapped hard across the face. And it never felt good. The pain only served to reinforce that she should do what he told her.

“Come here, Sweet Pea… climb up here and let ol’ Uncle Trip tell ya some stories.” The slur was even stronger now, as the drink had time to settle even stronger in his system. His eyes gazed at her, falling on creamy white legs. Oh yeah, she’d do just fine. His smirk grew as he motioned her over.

Sweet Pea blinked. She could already smell that foul drink on his breath, he always got mean when he drank that stuff. But now... now he was being unusually sweet. Yet something in her mind craved that; she saw other kids outside with their parents being kind to them, and it was something she wished for with every part of her being. She nodded and climbed up into his lap.

“What kind of story, Uncle Tripwire?” she asked with all the enthusiasm of a five year old.

“Welp…” he drew his hand around her, gently holding her to him. He leaned forward taking in the scent of her hair, his fingers caressed over the softness of her leg, he did his best to make it seem accidental. “You know, I was in the military right? That I fought for this country to protect it from those evil men overseas.”

Sweet Pea shifted uncomfortably, it wasn’t often he was gentle, and definitely not touchy. But he was being kind, soft. “Mmmhm, you fought the bad men.” She said. There were pictures that she’d asked about, and he’d told her about fighting ‘the bad men’.

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah I did.” He dropped the bottle, using his other hand to keep her and held her against him, his strength easily overpowering the young girl in his grasp, as his hand slid up along her thigh. Caressing that soft, sweet flesh. “And you know what I got for it? Nothin’. So I think you should give me a little prize for it.”

He turned her head, and forced a kiss on her lips. She thrashed against him, but what could she do? After all, he’d have his release soon enough. “My Sweet Poon.” he growled, as he slid his hand home under her dress.

Author's Note

1:00am MST, november 22nd, updated with additional edits provided by Flynt Cole.

Thanks Flynt, and to the rest of the 7DSJ crew on the whole.

July 21st. Working through the hard times.

July 21st

Thin rays of sunlight burst forth through the blinds in a certain teen’s room, splaying lines of sunlight across pale features, causing a rather annoyed grumble and shift to try to get away from the offending brightness. Of course, that was easier said than done as the Saturday morning sun continued to warm where it touched, and finally a rather disheveled Sweet Pea sat up, rubbing at her eyes as she grumbled even more. “It’s Saturday… go away sun.”

The T-shirt she’d worn for the night draping off one shoulder as she looked across the room at the mirror sitting on her dresser. She could see the patchwork of scars that was her body, each strand of healed or sewn-together flesh a story, and not always a good one.. A thin line that led to her right breast, where she could just see the pucker of one particular scar…

“Do you see this?” she said, pointing to a pucker on her right breast. “A client did this to me in Sunnytown. Paid my pimp extra to hurt me, he said. My, ahem, ‘employer’ never told me a Goddamn thing.”

Pea winced as she found her fingers caressing the spot through her top. She sighed, drawing herself from the bed, and stood before the mirror, stripping the t-shirt off and revealing herself to the mirror. She looked at herself carefully again. The pucker on her right breast, the line along her left ribs, a rather vicious zig-zagged scar that ran from above her left breast to her left shoulder. Several rather disturbing scars along her fairly toned stomach from various operations that hadn’t gone quite right due to the back alley ‘doctor’ she’d been taken to. She let her fingers caress over them, then looked to her arms, the long since scarred over track marks from needles she’d used over the years. The sixteen-year-old girl’s body looked like a twenty mile stretch of bad road.

Shaking herself out of it, she took a slow, steadying breath and wiped the tears she hadn’t quite shed from her eyes before a knock at her door caused her to start. The voice of her sister, Lemony Gems came through.

“Sweet Pea, are you awake?” The voice held a warmth that made the teen smile slightly, despite her dour mood only moments before.

“Yeah, give me a sec to get some clothes on.” She opened the dresser and began getting ready for the day that she and her sister had planned. After all, maybe what she really needed, was to reconnect with her new family.

Lemony Gems found herself smiling as she heard the teen call back through the door, and heard the movement of the drawers opening. “Alright, breakfast is ready when you are.” She heard the return answer of “Awesome!” called through the door and chuckled. Maybe Sweet Pea was finally coming out of whatever had been bothering her lately.

Her thoughts turned to the events just a couple of weeks prior. While she hadn’t known all the details, she’d briefly met Twilight Sparkle and her adopted sister Sunset Shimmer when in Canterlot visiting Shining Armor just prior to last Christmas, before the wedding of her friend (and husband’s ex) Mi Amore Cadenza. Lemony had to admit, Cadence and Shining Armor seemed to have a wonderful family. But when Twilight and Sunset and their band of friends had come out to attend the Gods of Rock concert, her sister had gone from out of her shell, to right back in. And Lemony still didn’t have the answers to just why. As she walked through the hall, she combed her brain once again, trying to piece together the threads of what might have happened. Sweet Pea didn’t seem like she’d been attacked by the teens; after all, everything that she said about them seemed to be positive in fact, save for some venting early on about Fluttershy, who Lemony had come to understand was the daughter of one God of Rock himself, Discord. Though from what she’d been able to gather, the girl was very very shy, and not the type to hurt anyone… at least not intentionally. But there had clearly been some group frustration with her, and that there had been some issues with her and her father.

Exiting the hall, Lemony heard the door to Sweet Pea’s room open behind her and she turned to see the teen wave as she exited her room. “Breakfast’s on the table.” she motioned into the kitchen as Sweet Pea passed with a look of gratitude.

“Thanks sis, you’re the best.” Sweet Pea smiled as she threw a quick hug around Lemony, who returned the gesture with a bit of a chuckle.

“I wasn’t expecting this. Feeling a bit better?” she asked as she let the girl go, and watched her head to the kitchen, following suit, some coffee sounding needed in her mind.

“Yeah, well, kinda.” Pea shook her head. “Better than I have been, not as good as I was?” she says in a tone that sounded a bit questioning, like she was working through it herself. “I didn’t have any nightmares last night, at least not that I remember, so there’s that.”

Lemony winced a bit. “I’ve heard you call out a couple of times over the past week, what’s been going on exactly?” She poured two cups, knowing the teen would likely need one, too.

Sweet Pea took a bite of bacon and chewed as she thought how to talk about it. “You remember the pictures of me, right? That they showed you when you picked up my paperwork?”

Lemony nodded. The photos had been a complete breakdown of the damage the girl had been through, and information on her medical history also included since it would be the couple’s job to take care of Sweet Pea’s health. She knew it was one of the reasons Pea tended towards longer sleeved dress in general. “Yeah, I remember.”

Pea finally retold what had happened during the concert, and what she’d done to snap Fluttershy out of her histrionic funk. The demons she’d had to confront, and how they rehaunted her since. Lemony listened, and her opinion of her sister just jumped. She knew what she’d done had been extreme, but it had clearly worked, and it made Lemony proud that Sweet Pea would be willing to put herself through that for another.

“Oh Pea.” she sighed and shook her head. “I’m proud that you’d do that, but you’ve been hurting ever since.”

Pea nodded. “Yeah, I know, it brought back a lot of personal issues that I thought I was over, which was why I even brought the idea up to Rose in the first place.” She took a bite of her eggs, and grabbed some hot sauce to add to it, before digging back in for a few moments. Once sated, she sighed and sat back, looking up to her sister as the older woman set the cup of coffee down for her, which she gratefully accepted.

“Thanks sis.” She took a long sip of the drink. Made just like she liked it, with sugar and chocolate mocha creamer. She smiled, feeling the coffee take its hold warm in her stomach. “Mm, so anyway ever since that night, I’ve had nightmares about… the past, my life, things that happened.” She closed her eyes and shuddered slightly. “Of him.”

Lemony rested a hand on Pea’s shoulder and squeezed lightly, which caused the younger teen to bring her hand to her sister’s and squeeze back, thankful for the support as she continued on. “There’s also been… a voice. Desires… this almost… longing I guess?” she shook her head. “It’s really hard to explain but I know it’s in my head. It’s like, my doubts, or something. This tiny part of me that’s obnoxious and willing to go back into my old life… and I feel like I’m constantly at war with it, ya know?”

The older woman shook her head, “Can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything like that, but I guess I can understand where you’re coming from. You lived for six years on your own, with very little oversight outside of, well…” She winced as she thought of them as the girls pimps, nothing that a girl should have to go through. “Anyway you were mostly on your own, and it’s not easy to get away from that.”

Pea shakes her head. “It’s not just that Lemony, it’s…” she fell short, eyes falling on the coffee, the pale brown drawing her eyes and making her think of Rose. She sighed. “Sometimes, when I talk to Buck, or you, or, anyone… that voice pops up, and I think about... sex.” she said, looking back up. “With you, with him. I’m disgusted by it, I hate it… I’ve thought about it with just about everyone I talk to regularly, and I know I shouldn’t… but that part of me keeps popping up.” She looked back down. “It’s why I’ve been avoiding Buck lately.”

Lemony gave her shoulder another squeeze before sitting down across from her. “You know, not exactly what I was expecting, Pea. But thank you for being honest about it.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her own ear as she thought, sipping her coffee before continuing. “You say it’s revolting, so it’s not exactly a desire you have to actually do these things right?”

Pea set aside her fork, having cleared the plate and nodded, food not exactly sitting the best given the current discussion, but she was still happy for a full meal. “Exactly, it’s more... I can picture it happening, and it sickens me.”

She sat up a bit and wrapped her fingers around the coffee cup. “And I can hear that voice laughing, saying how much ‘Amelia’ wants it,” she sighed. “For years I lived as Amelia, sis, and I thought I finally put that part of me away, but it’s like she’s trying to claw her way back out….”

Lemony shook her head, “No, no she’s not, because you’re stronger than her, Pea — think about what you did for Fluttershy, what you did for your friends, who frankly, I want to blame but know better. No, that sits with everyone in your past that’s hurt you. At your core, you’re a strong, caring person who’s had a lot of bad things happen, and you’re trying to move on.” She smiled a bit, a smile that Sweet Pea found herself returning. “And that is the girl I brought into my life… that Buck and I brought into our lives.” She raises her cup and smirked. “And I’m more than proud of that girl, so let’s put all this depressing talk aside for a wonderful girl's day, hmm?”

Sweet Pea chuckled. “You know what? That sounds like a plan.” With that, she raised her own cup of coffee before downing it.

“SHE DID WHAT?!” the sound of a certain rainbow-haired athlete issued from the computer speakers as Melancholy Rose winced, the video image of Rainbow Dash on the screen showing the teen rather puffed up and looking more than a little pissed.

“Dash, seriously. Relax, it’s fine. I mean it’s not fine, but I’m handling it, though, possibly badly.” Rose huffed and slumps back in her chair, running a hand through her own hair as she thought. “I didn’t expect her to latch onto me like that, and honestly I do like her, just not quite that much. I think... gah!” she sighed and shook her head. “She’s been seriously fucked up after the concert, though.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, I bet it was just a reason for her to try to get into your pants.”

Rose narrowed her eyes. “Doubtful, honestly I think she’s freaked out by sex at this point with the shit she’s been through. Seriously Dash, if you’re not gonna help…”

Dash cut Rose off. “Yeah yeah ok, sorry, I just... she’s rubbed me the wrong way since I met her. Look Rose, I don’t know what to tell you here, you’d be better off talking to Rarity or Sunny or some shit, because I’m way out of my league here, and I didn’t even know you swung that way, I mean weren't you dating what’s his name anyway?”

Rose rolled her eyes, “I guess I didn’t really know it till recently myself. After Dreamy Waves and I broke up, I kinda figured out guys just are not my cup of tea.” she sighs, “But I mean, I’m heading back to LA in a couple of days, and, frankly, Sweet Pea needs someone who can be here for her, right?”

Dash shrugged. “Again, totally not my area of expertise… look, if you want better advice on this one, seriously, Rares or Sunny is your best bet.”

There was a knock that came through Rose’s speakers and Dash turned, chuckling as Scootaloo peeked in. “Yo, Rose!” The young teen’s face appeared over Rainbow’s shoulder as she waved, and Rose waved back.

“Hey squirt, good to see you again. Dash keeping you out of trouble?” Rose couldn’t help but tease her biological sister a bit as the teen stuck out her tongue. And Dash laughed heartly.

“Always, and getting into it with me.” Scootaloo smirked as Dash playfully shoved her out of frame. “Hey Dash, you were gonna take me to Bloom’s for the Meetup, right?”

Dash blinked, glancing at the screen and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. On it, Scoots. Yo Rose, we’ll catch back up later, I promised her I’d take her to her friend’s. But seriously though, if you really want some advice, I’d recommend contacting Sunny or Rares on this one. I just... man, Pea’s something crazy.”

Rose shook her head. “She’s in a rough place, so don’t be so hard on her.” Rose gave a nod at that. “Yeah we’ll catch up later, and... thanks Dash. Even if you could just point me in a direction.” As Rainbow Dash waved and logged off, Rose sat looking at the twin sets of contact info for Rarity and Sunset Shimmer, before adding both and sending a quick message to them, in the hopes of maybe sorting out her own feelings at the same time.

Pea was in heaven, or well, the closest she could picture heaven being. A cup of hot, wonderful mocha coffee, with a few marshmallows a la-hot chocolate style, a cute new pair of green silk PJ’s that her sister had picked up for her that fit just right and felt amazing, a bunch of trashy snacks, and a rather cute Pixar film on the TV was leaving her feeling very, very relaxed as she curled against the side of her adopted sister, taking a sip of the chocolate coffee before sitting the cup aside.

“I didn’t want to bother you or Buck with this stuff; I just wanted to work through it.” Pea shifted a bit, sitting up, finally getting back to the conversation she’d stepped away from for a while. She sighed softly, hugging a pillow to her chest as she looked over to Lemony. “And, I guess part of me was afraid I’d lose you both. I mean…”

Lemony interrupted. “No, Pea. Sweetie you wouldn’t lose us.” Resting a hand on Pea’s arm, the teen looked up to her gratefully. “Look, Sweet Pea, there’s a ton going on in your head, I get that, and what you did for... ‘Fluttershy’ was it?” She tilted her head as Pea affirmed the name. “Anyway, what you did for her was amazing, if a little crazy.” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Not exactly the way I’d have gone about it. But you saved a family and Discord’s career, and helped pull her out of her own head, at the expense of yourself.” The look she gave her sister was one of pride. “It takes a special person to be willing to do something like that for a friend.”

Sweet Pea just looked down at the hand on her arm, and rested her hand on it gently, squeezing. “Thanks sis… I just, I really thought maybe you and Buck would decide I wasn’t worth the hassle, ya know? That I’d just end up the broken girl back in the system.” she withdrew her arm, curling both around her knees which she’d pulled to her chest. Her eyes drifted to the movie that was playing, though it was lost in the myriad of her thoughts for the moment. Her doubts and fears playing back to the surface before Lemony’s touch drew her back to the present.

“We wouldn’t do that to you, Sweet Pea. We chose you not because Shining wanted us to, but because we saw someone who needed a family, and we wanted you with us.” Lemony grinned. “Besides I don’t think you could get rid of us if you wanted to.” She reached over and ruffled Sweet Pea’s hair, causing the teen to give an eek and try to shy away.

“Ok ok, I get it. I was being stupid!” she couldn’t help but giggle, feeling much better as she took a long sip of the mocha once more, letting an honest smile grace her lips.

Lemony leaned back on the couch, finally feeling a bit more relaxed. Sweet Pea’s eyes showed that the girl’s confidence seemed to be returning. Maybe she’ll finally come back to us.

PSY blasted through the speakers in a room that was, well...otaku might be putting it mildly. Posters of various anime hung around the room, some signed by various seiyu and American voice actors. There was a shelf on one side that contained a varying array of models and figurines of various characters, mostly cute things, and more than a few seemingly paired off.

The clacking of keys seemed to echo around the room as one Lemon Tart worked at her latest masterpiece. She leaned in, sweat on her brow as she hit the last few keystrokes.

“Annnnnnd… DONE!” she hit enter, and then saved the document just as her phone began to ring, with a deft hand she paused the music and spun in the chair, kicking her legs out as she did so, the long, knee high black stockings adorning her legs shining slightly in the light of the room.

“Yo, this is Lem, hit me!” the teen leaned forward and blinked as the voice that came through the other end was a very specific, dry tone.

“You’d rather I didn’t, you know. I practice aikido.” Sugarcoat’s dry tone met Lemon’s ears as the other teen cleared her throat. “Anyway I have news, there’s a new arrival coming to the school next week. I got the heads up from Tail Spin, and despite her usual flair for the dramatic, this sounds legit, and if the arrival is anything like what she says…” Sugarcoat let that hang causing Lemon to straighten up.

“Well don’t keep me in suspense, Sugs!” Lemon smirked, knowing the nickname would get on the other girl’s nerves just enough to make her hurry up.

“Ungh, don’t call me that, Coat, or Sugar will suffice if you have to shorten it… anyway way I hear it, some girl moved out this way from Canterlot. Got kicked out of school for some rather… bad behavior.” Lemon could hear Sugarcoat flipping through a notebook. “Let’s see here, apparently several accusations of slander, and sexual assault, as well as spreading lots of lies around. Turns out she attempted to attack some other athlete with a friend of hers and got the boot. Oh and was implicated in the stabbing of another girl the same year.”

Lemon’s eyes went wide as she covered her mouth with a free hand. “Y..you’re kidding me, right Coat?” she knew better, Sugarcoat’s humor was as dry as her voice, and usually pretty obvious, but this... this couldn’t be her idea of a joke. “How the hell did she even get into Cornerstone?!”

“Apparently she’s a hell of a runner, despite her boasts that she’s better than she is. She’s got potential, on top of that her grades were decent. And I guess it was part of a deal that got made with the local authorities...that or her parents have some pull. Not sure, details are sketchy on that one.” Sugarcoat sighed. “I was really hoping to avoid this after the whole Indigo Bliss debacle.. anyway, best keep a lookout for anyone by the name of Lightning Dust.”

Author's Note

This, took a good bit longer than I'd meant for it to take, and I wanted to apologize for that.

But hey, first new chapter of the new year, YAY!

Edit as of 1/4/16, adjusted a screw up with the end and some items that got imported from G-docs that shouldn't have.

Thanks to Flynt Coal for the catch, could have sworn things were good on posting.

July 23. A Brand New Day

July 23rd, Monday.

The jingling tone of Lemony Gem’s cell rang out, sliding it from her purse she glanced at the screen as she walked into the Golden Compass bank she worked at, the number was one that she’d had programmed in since she’d finalized the paperwork for taking in her Sister, and she froze, mid step, pressing the ANSWER command on the phone.

“Lemony, go ahead.”

“We have a problem.”

The voice was gruff, old and hard and the kind of voice that someone who smoked far too much held. Lemony’s heart sank and she leaned against the wall for support as the words came to her ears.

“He’s escaped, been missin’ as of this morning’s roll call, soon as I heard, you were the first person I contacted.”

Lemony’s mind rushed at the implications, as she licked her lips, finding her voice… she finally spoke, though it cracked as she did, the first tears trailing her mascara down her cheeks.

“Thank you for the warning Iron Bars… God above, what should I do?”

“Go home Lemony, tell Buck, tell Sweet Pea, because God knows, if he’s as agitated as Hard Case was telling me he’d been getting, he may be trying to find her… and Lord above that’s the last thing your sister needs right now, any of you need. Be careful Lemony, I’ll keep working this side to get him back, but…”

Iron’s voice was cut off by Lemony’s, as she nodded and agreed, saying goodbye she hung up the phone and instantly hit the speed dial for Buck as she lost her footing and finally slid completely down the wall that had been holding her up, the tears rolling freely as she began to sob, all the worst case scenario’s she’d played through her head seemed to be coming true, not even the voice of Buck could draw her entirely out of her sobbing as she said one simple sentence.

“Buck, he’s escaped, that bastard, and he’s coming for us…”

An absolute demon of a man had escaped his fate, and was likely coming for her sister.

Dust kicked up behind bare feet as they pounded at the high desert scrub, ignoring the scorching pain as he moved forward, finding a rock outcropping he buried himself into it. Tripwire panted as he finally took a long, slow breath, in through the nose, then out through his mouth, teeth grit against the grit he found caking his mouth. He’d gotten out with another inmate, Hard Time, name like that not shocking the other male had ended up in Prison, but what he hadn’t expected, was for Tripwire to slit his throat after they had gotten out. He’d found the other inmate insufferable and had only used him for his resources to get out.

Checking the crude shank he’d crafted out of melting the back end of a plastic spoon and sharpening it against the concrete, he looked out towards the city he could see in the distance. It wasn’t far, few miles out really, from there, he could find passage towards LA, then…

“Then you can pay that little skank back for taking your freedom.”

A cruel smile found the chapped, cracked lips of their owner, steely eyes set on his way out, of course first, he’d have to liberate some new dress of course, his prison jumpsuit, already noticeable due to its neon-orange coloring, was made worse due to its current stain with the blood of Hard Time, had already become dusty and a little ratty really, he’d been running for what felt like hours, putting as much distance between him and Dodge Junction as he could in the day he’d been out, heading the relative direction to the city, and now, now it was in his grasp.

“Just gotta keep going, get to town, get some water, and new clothes, then, then lay low for a bit, let shit die down.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Then, when they’re not expecting me, I’ll find her, yeah, then I’ll make her pay for the year of my life I’ll never get back!”

He focused himself, then pushed out of the outcropping, bare feet landing on hot scrubland yet again, he simply grimaced and continued forward, after all, freedom awaited.

Steel blue eyes took in the sight before him, the slightly pudgy cop crossed his arms as he looked carefully over the scene. CSI was already on site, cataloging the situation, getting whatever they could, but this was one hell of a breakout.

“Got word from the other team lead by United Front, found a body, I.D’s as ‘Hard Time’. Guy was in for multiple sentences, found him out ‘bout a mile west, multiple stab wounds and a slit throat, tracks lead southwest, not much else to go on.”

Steel Cuffs’ looked to his partner, the taller, thinner Iron Bars’s, the man's rust red mustache and hair had greyed on the sides and peppered over the years, but he was still one hell of a fine cop in Steel’s mind.

“No sign of Tripwire huh.”

Iron Bars shook his head.

“Nothin.”

Steel ran a hand through his slightly shaggy hair, and sighed as Iron rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Already got ahold of Pea’s family, let em know what’s comin’… can’t really do much else, been workin’ on gettin’ in contact with SFPD to get them some protection but…”

Steel Cuffs simply nodded, and looked up to the taller cop.

“Best we can do right now, in the mean time, let’s find this guy before he can become a bigger problem. He’s already got one body behind him, and if he was willing to kill one, he’ll probably kill more.

For Iron’s part, he stroked that rust red handlebar mustache, “Yer right about that Steel… but Ah just feel for that girl, been handed way too many raw deals. Deserves a break.” his jaw set and he looked to his partner. “Let’s get this bastard.”

Steel smirked for a moment, glad to see that fire in Iron’s eyes, however he turned towards the front of the prison. “I just hope we can catch him before things get any worse.”

The sound of the clock echoed around the rather large office, a large, mahogany desk sat, with one rather, timid looking Sweet Pea in one seat, wearing her best long light blue skirt and white blouse, and her brother Buck Withers, sitting next to her wearing his own suit. Across from them, sat a rather gruff looking man, wearing a sharp suit and a pair of glasses as he looked over the paperwork in his hand. The name placard on his desk reading SLIDE RULE, Ed. D., HEADMASTER

“Hmm, well, you’ve made quite the impressive strides in the past year given your history, Ms. Pea.”

Sitting down the paperwork Slide Rule looked over the rim of his glasses at her, taking in her measure. Under the withering stare, she straightened, and raised her head a bit, her eyes finding his own as she looked back.

“Thank you Sir, I’ve, been doing my best to make up for a long time.”

Buck glanced sideways to Sweet Pea and then back to the principal, who held a smile on his lips.

“It’s not often we get a prospective student such as yourself, Sweet Pea. While you have improved your standing, you’re still not quite where we’d like to see you. Cornerstone Academy prides itself on the academic achievements of its students you see.”

The principal took a moment, but before the other two could speak, he raised a hand.

“However, looking into your file, it’s clear that you have been handed a rather...unique...deal, so to speak. And given your improvement in such a short time, frankly, it’s astounding.”

Picking the files back up he flipped a page, looking over the file in detail.

“You were without schooling for six years, yet in just over half a year, you’ve made strides that have bridged three of those years, putting you on par with our freshmen. A rather impressive achievement, I might add. While you don’t have outstanding marks, you are above the average in scores for your work.”

He looked a bit further down the paperwork, each and every time he flipped a page, it made Pea squirm a bit in her seat. It wasn’t often she was put on the spot like this, and she felt like shrinking into the rather lovely blouse she was wearing.

“Prior to your ‘disappearance’ from the school system, you had, middling grades, though right at the end of your tenure, your grade tanked, due to family issues it seems. The records from the Junction County School District, however, wasn’t terribly clear on that.”

Spectacled eyes fell on Buck, as if taking in the measure of the man across from him. Buck simply straightened and nodded in agreement with the assessment so far.

“You are her egal guardian and loco parentis, is that correct, Mr. Withers?”

“That is correct sir, my wife and I felt a sibling relationship would be more stable for her given our proximity in age, as well as her physical age.”

Slide Rule clucked his tongue as he considered them, it was rare when a situation from the state came to his school, and frankly, while Cornerstone Preparatory was mostly attended by what many considered to be students from affluent families, they did on occasion, take in cases such as this, both for state education assistance funds and for the good publicity. Though to be fair, the girl in front of him had made great strides forward. She seemingly had a strong work ethic and home life at this point.

For Sweet Pea’s part, she was starting to wonder if the discussion she’d had with Buck the day before, regarding the possibility of attending Cornerstone Academy was the right one. Sure she knew Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart in passing, but she’d decided on the school after taking a quick look up of the website, and of course, on the fact the two girls she knew attended here, which would at least, give her a step up in the social circles here. At least, that was the hope, but with Slide Rule’s demeanor, it was putting her quite on edge. Shifting for comfort, she rested her hands on her lap, hoping to present as a proper lady, at the very least.

“Pfft, proper, you wouldn’t know proper unless it was how to properly suck a cock, or properly eat a pussy. Ohh, how about properly taking it up the ass! Hey, maybe if you fuck him, he’ll give you a break - he doesn’t look like he’s had a good lay in ages...and giving good lays are what you do best, right?”

Pea squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the voice in her head, when she felt Buck’s hand on her shoulder.

“Pea, you okay?”

Hearing her brother’s voice laced with concern, she gave a beatific smile and nodded.

“Yeah, just, fighting off a headache.”

Slide Rule coughed lightly, to draw their attention.

“Yes, well, as I was saying Ms. Pea, your forward movement has been impressive enough, I think that, with our staff, you could make even greater strides. As such, we’ll pass the paperwork to your guardian, and hope to see you in classes as early as tomorrow. Due to the sudden placement, I won’t expect you to have your uniforms until next week, but until then, our alternate dress code is business attire.”

The rather, rotund principal extended a hand across the desk, which Sweet Pea took and gave an eager shake.

“I promise not to let you down in that assessment sir.”

The electronic chime that rang through Cornerstone Academy was one of a rather cheery sound, not one that most would associate with the rather upscale school. Of course, that tune did bring a smile to a normally dour girl’s face. Sugarcoat gathered her books, and slid them into the rather small backpack she wore. History had gone well enough, and she’d aced the return exam for Math she’d had today, and her chemistry lab had been mostly research for the coming project. Finished gathering up her things, she headed for the cafeteria, walking down the brightly painted halls, she nodded to the occasional student. Glacial Breeze and her twin brother Frosty Breeze, whom she’d worked with on an English research project and the fact that the two had pulled their weight had impressed her, waved as she passed and she returned the gesture.

The feeling of vibration against her hip, as well as the small chirping tone of her cell phone alerted her to the fact she’d just received a text, and the rocking, K-pop tune that came behind her caused her to turn to face a rather crestfallen Lemon Tart, who had been just about to pounce her long time friend.

“Aww man, I would have to get a text right then!” She pouted and removed her cell from her skirt’s pocket as Sugarcoat did the same. Their eyes falling on the exact same message, but before either could actually check their phones, a rather tall, thin framed blond broke between them, nearly knocking Lemon Tart’s phone from her hands.

“Jeez, think you two dykes could get out of people’s way, after all, it is lunch.”

Sugarcoat’s eyes fell on the blonde, her jaw setting as Lemon Tart recovered her phone before it hit the ground.

“There’s plenty of room around us you know, no point getting pushy.”

The white haired girl’s words fell on deaf ears as the blonde just flipped the pair the bird as she walked past, hips swaying like she owned the place.

“Pft, whatever, you guys were taking up way over half the hallway.”

Lemon Tart stomped a foot in indignation, angered by this newcomer's words, but Sugarcoat’s arm moved to stop Tart from moving closer, as Coat shook her head to the slightly younger teen before looking to the blond.

“You know, considering your history, Lightning Dust, I had assumed you might actually try to straighten up. Glad to know my cynical side was right in figuring you’d be just as bad here as in Canterlot.”

Lightning Dust froze for just a moment, before whirling and rushing Sugarcoat, slamming her hard into the paned window lining the hall, causing her to cry out as she pressed in close, her eyes staring daggers into Sugarcoat’s as the dark skinned girl just looked back at the athlete, while the slam had hurt, she’d taken harder in training.

Lemon Tart, for her part, was shocked at the sudden display of violence… and given the sudden, empty hallway, she knew help wasn’t coming any time soon.

“Coat!”

She moved to try to help, but Lightning Dust had turned just enough to position herself to block any attempts to help.

“This ain’t your fight, sweet stuff.” Lightning Dust turned her eyes back on Sugarcoat, before leaning in close, still pressing her tight against the window. “You think having a little info about me will give you an edge up, thank again, so, if you see me coming you’d better stay the hell out of my way. ‘Coat’.“

Sugarcoat just glared right back at her, she wouldn’t raise a hand, not now. She was trained, holding a black belt in aikido, she wasn’t about to put herself in a position that could be misconstrued as assault.

“Are you done? I’d quite like to answer my text, and get lunch, speaking of which, you’re missing out wasting time with me here.”

Lemon’s eyebrow raised, the tone that Coat had taken here, was one that she’d only heard a few times, there was a slight lit to her normally dry voice. One that only creeped into Coat’s speech when she was pissed, and ready to throw down, which Lemon could count the times that she’d heard it on one hand.

“Coat… it’s not…”

Lemon was cut off by Coat’s hand raising, signaling for her to go quiet, which she did. Lightning Dust’s eyes moved between the two, and she gave coat a final shove, which, once released, the taller, darker girl simply straightened her blouse and skirt.

“This isn’t the end of this, I hear you two spreading shit, we’ll have bigger problems.”

With that, Lightning spun on her heel, and stalked off down the hall, disappearing right down the corridor. Leaving a shocked Lemon Tart and a rather, annoyed Sugarcoat behind.

“You ok Sugar?”

Lemon moved to her friends side, hugging her softly as Sugarcoat nodded.

“Yeah I’m fine Lem, come on let’s go get lunch.”

The trip to the cafeteria was met with a mixed reception, having dealt with Lightning’s attack, there was the matter of the text.

Sweet Pea:“Hey guys, big news, I just spoke with Principal Slide Rule, looks like I start at Cornerstone tomorrow, I’ll be essentially freshman level in my studies, but on an enhanced course to speed me through some studies. Totally looking forward to seeing you both!”

Sugarcoat sighed and shook her head.

“Her timing couldn’t have been worse.”

For Lemon Tart, she couldn’t help but do a little dance. She’d liked Sweet Pea since they’d met, and having her around could be pretty awesome.

“We’ve totally got to throw a party this weekend for her! What kind of music do you think she likes? She seems like a Rocker type!”

The thud of Sugarcoat’s head hitting the table as she let it drop, could almost be heard over the chatter of the students as lunch was served.

Sweet Pea was walking out of Cornerstone Prep with Buck, and she couldn’t help but smile bright. Things were looking up, and she was getting back into the swing of a normal life.

“You know, I never thought I’d be totally psyched to go back to school, but I seriously am!”

The teen did a little spin, and then shifted to hug Buck tight. A hug which the older male returned warmly with a laugh.

“Well, most kids your age are dreading it, and I’m sure you’ll get around to that eventually, but yeah, this is pretty great, I’m glad he let you in… just, kinda wish he hadn’t given us the third degree… felt like I was on trial or something in there.”

He tugged at his collar which caused Sweet Pea to giggle.

“It was fine, I think he just has to act tough, you know being a principal and all that, gotta keep everyone in line.”

Buck shook his head as he looked to his sister, he couldn’t help but find himself swelling with pride as she let go of him and bounded towards the car. She was turning into a young girl again it felt like. Each day felt like she lost a little more of that world weary woman he’d initially taken in, and it almost felt like a bit of her innocence was returning with each day.

The text tone on his phone beeped and he took the phone from his pocket, looking over the message as his face fell, and he looked back up to Sweet Pea, his eyes filled with worry at the message contained.

L.G: “Buck, oh god, he’s escaped, Tripwire escaped Dodge Junction Correctional Facility… they say he might be coming after her, after us. I’m home, waiting for you both.”

Sweet Pea laughed, bounding towards the car as she came to a stop at the car. Without a clue of what the world was about to throw her way yet again.

“So, what do you say we should do for lunch bro?”

July 24th New Beginnings.

July 24th, Tuesday.

The hustle and bustle of the morning was never Sweet Pea’s strong suit. In her old life as Amelia, she’d usually sleep during the day, and be out all night—for obvious reasons. These days though, she was attempting to be the type of girl that was early to bed and early to rise. Of course, that didn’t mean she was entirely used to it, much less healthy, wealthy and wise. Pea currently wore a long, black skirt overtop stockinged legs, her white blouse and business jacket over top. It was similar to what Lemony tended to wear for work, and given she worked at a bank, if this wasn’t good enough until she got her uniform this weekend she didn’t know what would be.

Lemony smiled brightly to her sister, looking the girl over she nodded approvingly. “Relax Pea, you’ll be fine.” She finished her toast and eggs, glancing at her watch. “I’ve gotta get going; got a meeting with Golden Desires this morning. You have a great day, okay?” She leaned over and pecked her sister on the cheek before gathering her purse and shouldering it.

Pea for her part, smiled up to her older sister. “Yeah I’m sure I’ll be fine, just, bluh, mornings.” She ate the eggs and waved as Lemony took off, Buck not far behind his wife.

“You’ll do great, sis. Don’t forget the bus will be at the stop in thirty, so you’d better get going.” Buck adjusted his suit and reached out to squeeze Pea’s shoulder affectionately before picking up his briefcase and heading for the door.

“See you tonight, bro!” With those words, the door closed, almost echoing through the house as Sweet Pea sat at the table, munching on the buttered toast and finishing the eggs. Sipping the large cup of coffee her eyes drifted to the clock, she could push a few more minutes, before she had to brush her teeth then get out the door.

The tone of “Love is an Insane Chimera” escaped her cell, indicating a text.

Sugarcoat: Morning, if you want when you get here, Lemon Tart and I will be waiting for you near the main office, since you’ll have to turn in your paperwork and get a schedule.

Sweet Pea hammered out the return text on her phone quickly, thankful for the full keyboard.

Sweet Pea: Thanks, you two are going to be a huge help, I’ll see you in around 30, still have to catch the bus, speaking of, gotta run!

With that, she hit send and rushed off to finish getting ready for her first trip to a new school.

Lemon Tart squeed yet again as she danced to the music pumping through her earbuds, the upbeat J-pop tunes keeping the teen moving as her best friend leaned against the wall next to the admissions office of Cornerstone Academy, the dark-skinned girl twirling one of her twin pigtails around a finger as they waited.

It was a nervous habit, and one that Sugarcoat rarely engaged in, but today, with Sweet Pea attending for her first day....

“Aww come on, relax Coat, you look super tense!” The cheery voice of Lemon Tart met Sugarcoat’s ears as the shorter Asian girl danced in front of her, grinning. “Pea’s going to be here any minute, and I doubt she’ll want to see you all grumpy and tense. Relax, feel the good vibes yo!”

Coat scoffed. “After yesterday I’m finding it relatively difficult to find those ‘good vibes’ you speak of, Lem.” She grumbled. “I can’t help but feel like Pea’s going to get dragged into this mess with Lightning, simply by association.”

Lemon waved it off, rolling her eyes. “Come on, Lightning Dust is old news, and while she’s a total bitch, that doesn’t mean we should let her get us down. Our new friend’s attending our school, and this is pure, unlimited 100% Awesome with a Capital A!”

Sugarcoat couldn’t help but find her friends energy infectious as she found a smile on her lips. “Yeah, well, I guess you do have a point there.”

Lemon Tart lost herself in the music for a few minutes longer, before she glanced up at the entrance, her eyes falling on the form of none other than Sweet Pea. Lemon’s eyes went a bit wide as she took in the look of the girl waving their way, the business attire suiting Sweet Pea nicely in the girl’s mind. She blinked a few times, before pulling the earbuds free of her ears and waving. “Yo, Pea, glad you made it early!” Her smile was bright as the sea-green haired girl walked up and smiled to them both.

“Hey girls, yeah, I made it. Though, is everyone here as cold as the reception I got on the bus?” She asked curiously, rubbing her arm a bit. “I swear, I’ve gotten more welcome receptions in… “ she trailed off. “Anyway, let me slip in and turn in my paperwork, shouldn’t take too long to get the schedule and all, then maybe you two can show me around before class starts?”

Sugarcoat shrugged. “Some students can be cold, but for the most part, we haven’t had any issues. Then again, we’re not the new girl.” She smiles softly. “Yeah, we’ll be here…” her eyes drifted to Lemon Tart who had shifted a bit closer to Sugarcoat and though her smile hadn’t left her face, her eyes seemed to be almost drinking in Sweet Pea.

“Yeah, no, we’ll totally wait for you Pea, go do what you gotta!” Lemon’s eyes drifted over her new friend’s retreating form, leaving Sugarcoat to shake her head as she watched her closest friend check out their newest.

Being at a new school, with new friends, Sweet Pea felt on top of the world. Having gathered her schedule and met back up with Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart, as the pair toured her around, showing her where her classes would be. She found out that she shared third period History with Tart, but sadly, as of right now, that was the only class she shared with her friends, as many of her classes specialized to help propel her to the proper grade level that would match her with Sugarcoat.

“This place is a lot bigger than I thought, but it seems like I’ll have time to get everywhere.” She checked her watch and noticed it was nearing first period as they stopped at her locker for her to stow most of her books between classes.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty big school, but you get used to it. Trust me, you’ll love it here, Pea!” Lemon practically danced around her as Pea found the smile on her face brighter than it had been in almost a month.

“With you two looking out for me, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She smiled to the others as the first period bell rang, and the three parted ways.

Maybe things won’t be so bad here, Pea thought, running a hand through her hair as she walked into her home room. Though in the back recesses of her mind, that dark laughter echoed across her mind.

“Oh sure, everything will go totally fine, after all, how many boys are here that you can totally fuck? I’m sure it’ll up your standing, being the top slut of the school.”

Pea pushed the thoughts to the side. After all, it wasn’t like she wanted to take the cute boy up front with the frost blue hair and blow him till he popped or anything.

Third period came and Mr. Yearly’s history class was in full swing. After introducing the new student to the class—which Sweet Pea was experiencing in each of her classes—she’d found a spot not too far from Lemon Tart that was empty and took a seat. Lemon, for her part, couldn’t help but cast a warm smile her way as she tried to focus on the lesson the teacher was droning on about—something about Greece and the Spartans—she’d essentially tuned out the lecture as her eyes drifted back to her new friend, who sat hunched over her notes, scribbling down everything she could.

Lemon Tart sighed softly, letting her mind wonder. Not something she did too often in class, at least, not over actual people. Now if it was Yuki and Midori… or some other pair she found attractive in one of her many anime, sure but outside of a couple of crushes, and only one she’d acted on in her two years at this institution, she tended to keep her head level while in class.

“Miss Tart, would you please read the current paragraph?” The voice of Mr. Yearly drew the teen out of her thoughts.

“What? Oh, right got it Mr Yearly, we were uh…” She rubbed the back of her head, and sighed. “I kinda lost my place, um…”

A chorus of laughs escaped the class, causing her to shrink back into her seat a bit, though a glance at Sweet Pea saved her as pea mouthed “Paragraph five.”

“Oh right… yeah uh….” Taking up the textbook she began to recite the paragraph from it.

Thankfully, she was spared further embarrassment as the bell rang, signaling the end of class, and the start of the lunch period. Exiting the class with everyone else, she blew at her bangs.

“You totally spaced out in there, Lemon. You ok?” Pea asked as she walked up behind the slightly younger teen who just nodded.

“Yeah I know, I just, I dunno, I’ve been kinda out of it today, must just be excited you’re here.” She smiled up to Sweet Pea and shrugged. “Anyway thanks for the save in there. Seriously, lifesaver much?”

Sweet Pea giggled. “Don’t mention it. Anyway I need to stop by my locker before lunch. Catch you and Coat in the cafeteria, okay?”

Lemon Tart nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’ll see ya there.” She waved as she headed off, giving the girl one last longing look before turning and nearly running straight into Sugarcoat’s rather ample bosom. The taller girl reaching out to steady her friend.

“Wow, you’re seriously out of it Lem. You okay?” She asked, her eyes meeting Lemon’s, whose own darted to the side.“Lem… you’re not crushing on Sweet Pea are you?” Coat’s voice was filled with concern at her friend as Lemon whirled around and blinked owlishly

“What?! No way, Coat! I mean, yeah she’s cute but I barely know her, and well, I wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable.” She shifted a bit side to side, looking to one side. “I mean, yeah she looks good and all, but…”

Coat chuckled and shook her head. “Just be careful. Like you said, we barely know her and I’d hate for you to get burned like you did with Yin.”

Lemon stuck her tongue out at Sugarcoat. “Oh come on, that’s not even fair. I didn’t even know Yin Yang was dating someone already… besides, she looked super cute in her gym uniform and well…” She kicked at a pebble. “Besides, it wouldn’t have worked out with us anyway, even if she is super cute.” She sighed lightly.

Coat could only reach out and squeeze her friend’s shoulder as they worked their way to the cafeteria. “Where is Sweet Pea anyway?”

Lemon shrugged. “She said she had to hit her locker first.”

The thud of the stall door echoed through the empty bathroom as she closed and locked it, slumping against the wall as she fought to hold on. The voice had been getting steadily stronger all day, mocking her, making light of her insecurities, pointing out all the hot guys and girls and how well she could pleasure each and every one of them. Not even her thoughts of Sugarcoat or Lemon Tart had been safe. Images of her face buried between chocolatey thighs, or the imagined moans of a rather cute Korean girl under her ministrations.

Her eyes closing tight she sat back onto the toilet, holding back the tears and the sobs she wanted to let out, fighting against the scream that was just at the back of her throat.

The sound of the bathroom door opening was almost deafening as two girls walked in, their voices carrying over the stalls.

“You have no idea, ok? I mean that bitch and her dyke girlfriend just got in my way yesterday. Seriously, you don’t have to take up the entire hallway with your makeout session, ya know.”

Sweet Pea’s head shot up, the voice in the back of her mind quieting, seemingly just as interested in the conversation.

“Yeah but L.D., come on girl, I’ve heard a lot of shit, but Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart? I know they’re close but you can’t actually be serious you caught them making out.”

Pea’s eyebrow raised a notch. Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart a couple?

“I’m completely serious, Ember! Look, I know I’m new here, but I swear to you they were taking up the whole hall basically.”

Ember made a noise, and dug through her purse. “Well I’m not about to jump to conclusions, but I’ll keep an eye out, L.D. I mean, I’ve known those girls for a while, and while Sugarcoat can be...well blunt, and Lemon Tart has her head in the clouds constantly, outside of them seemingly being friends, I’ve never seen anything that could indicate they are more. Still, they are close. I’ll put out the word, see if others notice stuff.”

It wasn’t long before the two girls had walked back out. Leaving Sweet Pea to her own devices in the Stall, she blinked away her shock. Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart were totally not a couple right? So why was that L.D. person claiming so?

Slowly, she slipped out of the bathroom, lunch had only been going for about ten minutes, leaving her fifty minutes of the precious time to catch back up with her friends, her earlier worries nearly forgotten.

Lemon’s head bobbed back and forth to the music pumping through her headphones as she listened to the beat of the new K-pop running through the earbuds, savoring the taste of a rather wonderful hamburger (given their meals were provided via outsourcing to local businesses, and these burgers came straight from a local In-N-Out franchise). She sipped the cola she’d grabbed and her eyes brightened, seeing the form of her newest friend coming to sit across from her and Sugarcoat.

“Yo, so Sweet Pea finally decides to join the cool kids!” Her grin went ear to ear as she held up the cola. Though she took a moment as Sweet Pea’s gaze shifted between the two friends.

“Hey Lemon, Coat… did… are you two?” Sweet Pea pointed between the two of them, motioning with a finger.

Sugarcoat for her part, raised an eyebrow. “Are we...what?” she asked, having been mid-bite on a couple of french fries.

“Ya know, are you two, together?” Pea asked, slumping a bit, feeling bad even asking. “Because while I really don’t care, there’s someone spreading some kinda fucked up stuff about you two, I heard someone talking about it while in the bathroom a bit ago.”

Coat’s jaw tightened, and Lemon blushed furiously, deciding to answer. “Um, no, we’re not. Though I do kinda swing that way, Coat’s straight as they come.”

The darker girl nodded, “Yeah, and this is the second time this week something came up like this.” her eyes drifted over the crowd of students. “Did you talk to them, do you know who was saying it?”

Sweet Pea shook her head, holding up her hands. “No, I was using the stall, but it was two girls, one of them was... well not discounting it but she was kinda going to bat for you two, admittedly. The other girl though…” she considered for a second. “I think the one called her L.D?”

Sugarcoat’s eyes rolled. “Great, Lightning Dust… most likely.” she groaned again, letting her head hang. “You know, after yesterday, you’d think she’d have learned her lesson.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes darted between her friends. “Something going on I should be aware of?”

Lemon Tart sighed. “Yeah, yesterday Coat and Dust got into a bit of a scuff, after Dust made some rather rude comments that implied me and Coat were together.” She shook her head. “Coat’s trained, and likely could have dropped her, but she’s always careful of how she uses her skills, and Dust... well, she has a history.”

Sugarcoat nodded, and pulled out her tablet, bringing up some information she had saved. “As a matter of fact, I did some more digging on her.” She looks up to Sweet Pea. “Just so you get up to speed, she’s a transfer from Canterlot. Nasty character, implicated in quite a few things, mostly talking trash and sexually harassing some people, but the big one was the assault of another student.” She slid the tablet over to Sweet Pea. On the screen was a headline from a local blog: Local Teen Attacked in Industrial District, Two Suspects Caught. Pictured, was none other than Sunset Shimmer with mugshots of her attackers below her: Gilda Griffon and a face shot of Lightning Dust.

“I know her.” Sweet Pea said, “I met her and her sister when I was in Canterlot for a while.” she blinks, “I wasn’t aware she’d been attacked.” She checked the date, noticing it was just before she met Sunset and Twilight. “November, huh? That was just before I met them.”

Lemon Tart smirked. “Oh, so you used to live in Canterlot?” She asked, eager to get a bit of new information on her friend.

“What? Oh, uh, yeah, I lived there for a while.” she said, rubbing her neck as she handed the tablet back to Sugarcoat, her gaze downcast to her burger as she took it up and took a big bite to hopefully change the subject.

Sugarcoat saved her that trouble. “Yeah, she’s dangerous, and apparently has a family that had money or something, she got lucky enough to basically be ran out of town instead, and her skills at running were good enough to warrant her getting brought in to this school.”

Lemon nodded. “She’s also super rude. Like seriously, we didn’t do anything, she just barreled into us and then started tossing around insults and all.” She made a face as she sipped her cola. “I don’t even know why.”

Coat grunted, “I do. She thinks that’s the way to the top,” she grumbled, shaking her head as her eyes finally landed on the girl in question. Who was over by a good few of the jocks, laughing and having herself a good time. “What she forgets, is that the higher you get, the harder the fall to the Bottom.”

Lemon and Pea both winced at that, but Lemon couldn’t argue. “Ya got that right, Coat… just hope it’s not you that has to give her that push.”

Steam billowed off the freshly poured coffee as Buck looked over the screen on his computer. He’d pulled up all the information he could on Tripwire, which wasn’t much, Served in Operation Desert Storm was about all he’d been able to really pull up outside of the news of his arrest and holding for trial.

He ran a hand through his hair, they hadn’t told Sweet Pea yet, only informed her to come straight home after school. Buck’s eyes shot to the clock, 3:40pm. The clock almost seemed to mock him in his worry, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. It would be fine, he was positive, she’d be home soon then they could all talk.

Lemony for her part, was sitting across from him, looking a bit worse for wear herself, her hair a bit disheveled and her eyes held dark bags under them from a fitful night’s sleep. They had both called off from work, deciding to try to take the day to figure out just how they were going to tell Sweet Pea about the situation.

“Do you really think we should tell her?” Lemony asked. “I mean, I know we should but… She’s finally settling in again, and now this.” She shook her head as Buck reached out to take her hand and give it a squeeze.

“She needs to know, and we need to be the ones to tell her, and you know it.”

Her eyes shifted to his, losing herself in them for a moment, before she nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

The door opened, and Sweet Pea’s voice called out “I’m home.” causing both adults to breathe a sigh of relief they didn’t quite realise they were holding in… now to break the news.

Joints popped as shoulders rolled under the new shirt. Breaking into an older store in the outskirts of Palo Verde had been easy. And Tripwire was glad to finally catch a break, as well as get the chance to break a neck. The owner of the shop had been doing inventory, and had threatened to ring the alarm, and he couldn’t have that. Decked out in a white t-shirt and jeans, as well as a brand new pair of sneakers and a dark blue ball cap, he felt just a bit like a new man, checking his image in a mirror after sliding home a pair of aviator sunglasses. After liberating the remaining cash from Jingle Sales’ wallet, and then from the cash register, all he had to do now was get a weapon. Exiting out the back of the shop, he counted the cash. Around five hundred dollars to his name.

“Well, this should get me through the next couple of days.” Pocketing the cash in the leather wallet he’d gotten, he began to make his way towards the town proper, getting a drink, then catching a bus or other means out of town should be fairly simple, worse comes to worse, hotwiring some piece of junk truck the locals had would prove easy, and stay fairly non-descript.

His sights set on his destination, he headed out, whistling a tune as he went, hands in his pockets, leaving behind the body without a care in the world, after all, he had a mission.

July 25th. Coming Clean

July 25th, Wednesday.

Jumpy didn’t even begin to describe Sweet Pea: her phone’s text tone issuing out, caused her to nearly jump out of bed and cling to her ceiling fan. Her eyes large and worried as they darted around the room before picking up the phone and looking at the offending text.

M.R: Hey S.P, I hope things are okay, I’m set to leave SF today,back to L.A. 5pm flight. are we cool?

Sweet Pea’s eyes scanned over the single line of text, and she groaned, flopping back onto the bed, it was still early, she had an hour before she needed to be ready for classes, but she was debating calling in, not that it would be a good showing being her second day of classes and already calling out, but she had a feeling Administration would understand when they learned about...him.

Typing out a quick message, she assured her friend that they were indeed cool, and that she’d go meet her at the airport after class. Pea sighed, she’d been hoping to make up with Melancholy Rose before she left, but now she knew that was unlikely. She’d squandered the days her best friend was here, and now she had so much on her plate.

“Gah… guess when it rains, it pours.” She says with a grumble, getting up and heading to the shower… which resulted in a blood curdling scream as she ran, covered only in her towel, from her personal bathroom. “BUCK!!!”

In an instant her brother was at her side, having run nearly the entire length of the house.

“What, what is it!?”

Sweet Pea pointed into the bathroom… there between the glass of the sliding door that lead to the shower, was a large wolf spider, stuck between the panes of glass, which caused Buck to laugh while his sister hit his arm and ran back to her room, slamming the door until Buck could take care of the offending arachnid.

“TODAY FUCKING SUCKS!” was the answer Buck got when he knocked on her door a few minutes later, the spider dead and Sweet Pea even more freaked out than she’d been upon awakening.

“Language, Pea, but yes, I gotta agree.” Buck sighed, running a hand through his hair as he returned to getting ready for work. After all, life didn’t stop just because your sister was in possible danger.

Rose looked at the return text from Sweet Pea with relief, before dialing another number, the tone rang twice before there was an answer, as well as a light sound of a hand grasping to get a hold of the phone itself.

“Melancholy Rose, good morning dear.” The voice punctuated the statement with a slight yawn. “Oh goodness, forgive me Rose, but I’m afraid I did not sleep that well last night, is everything okay?”

Rose chuckled slightly. “I’m fine, Rarity, I just wanted to let you know your idea of giving her some space worked, Pea says we’re on good terms, and she’ll be seeing me off tonight.”

There was a slightly approving sound from the other end, as Rarity smiled. “Oh that’s wonderful, though, you really should sit down with her when you get the chance Rose, I’m sure it’ll be worthwhile.”

Rose nodded and sighed. “Yeah I know I can’t just not tell her, but now’s not the right time for it, the distance will be an issue and all, and I personally couldn’t handle that.” She felt a little better admitting that again. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you, and, sorry if it’s a bit early for a call like this, but, you were right to have me give her some space.”

Rarity giggled. “Oh it was nothing, darling, really. Just don’t forget about us while dealing with all those stars out there in the City of Angels dear.”

Finishing the call and saying their goodbyes. Melancholy Rose found herself unable to stop smiling. Her friendship with Pea was intact. She looked over to the small CD collection the girl had gotten her, and smiled, toying a finger over the cover of Parried Moves greatest hits album, before returning to packing up for the afternoon travel to come.

The day had only started, and Sweet Pea was still on edge. She’d nearly knocked Sugarcoat for a loop when the girl came up behind her and scared Pea out of her wits. Of course, Coat was able to block the hit, but she demanded an explanation about what happened to get Pea so worked up. Thankfully lunch came fast enough and the girls found themselves at a table alone, and a good distance from everyone.

“So spill girl, you’re as twitchy as ChibiUsa on a sugar high.” Tart said, motioning to Pea as she jumped at the sound of a rather loud tray hitting the table a few tables down.

“I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to go through this with you guys, but given what’s happened…” Sweet Pea winced a bit to herself and looked down at her own lunch for a moment, the school hamburger sitting on its plate, she poked at it lightly, trying to figure out where to start.

“Oh, I don’t know, why not start with how big of an absolute whore you were,” the everpresent voice from within taunted, and Pea ignored it as best she could.

She closed her eyes tight, and took a deep breath. “You know what, fuck it, you girls have been great to me, and I trust you both, so….” she breathed out, taking a moment to compose herself before she looked to Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart. “My life has been complete shit up until about half a year ago.” She dropped all pretenses of politeness, as she got it off her chest finally to her newest friends.

“When I was born, my mother died in childbirth, she was a sheriff's deputy out in Dodge Junction, South Dakota; my father, unable to deal with the loss of his wife, blew his own brains out in the car with me sitting next to him… I was found hours later by some of my mother’s co-workers, and placed to live with my uncle, Tripwire. Tripwire served in the Marine Corps back during Operation Desert Storm… he used to tell me stories about the fights.”

She let out a laugh, that was anything but pleasant, as she looked down into the plate of food. “In fact, one of the most memorable times he told me a story like that, I was ten… and he was drunk… talk about a bad combination.” she took a slow breath. “That was the day I lost my virginity to my own uncle – he took it from me – and continued taking what he wanted for nearly half a year. How could I fight back at ten years old?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else, as she clenched her fists on the table, forcing herself to continue.

“But I was a smart kid, and I got out, I ran away, and was quite good at hiding and scrounging food… at least, until I got to Canterlot.” She looked to the other two girls. “For several years, I lived with a guy that called himself Sly Dreams. Wasn’t his real name, and for years I went by the name Amelia.” She looked around carefully, making sure no one was looking her way, before lifting the long sleeve of her right arm, the looks of horror on her friends’ faces was enough as she showed the track marks there before lowering the sleeve back into place. “I was literally a whore, an underage prostitute for five years, between Sly Dreams and Stone Cold, who killed Sly just to get me as one of his girls.” She looked down at the table surface, unable to face her friends. “Sly was my first pimp, and Stone my second. I did all sorts of things: you paid, and I’d do it – just about anything. Sometimes I didn’t know what was coming, though: you think the track marks from the drug use is bad… should see the rest of my body.” She looked to Tart, whose eyes were wide, and shining with tears.

“T..that’s why you wear stuff that covers you so much?” she asked, reaching out to rest a hand on Pea’s arm, who gently drew away, not really wanting the touch at the moment.

“Yeah… maybe one day I’ll show you the other stuff, but right now, this is hard enough.” Her jaw set and she continued her story. “It was around Christmas last year, that my fortune changed. I ran into a cop named Shining Armor. I figured he was as corrupt as the others I’d dealt with and propositioned him; after all,most of the time I just had to offer up some sex and you could get out of everything. Not with Armor though.” This time her laugh was a bit more real, with some actual emotion to it. “He didn’t want that, and I found out why: He was about to get married, and his girl’s a literal knock out... Well, that and he had some actual morals unlike some of the others I’d encountered. Instead of taking advantage of me, or taking me to Social… he risked his job for me, and contacted some friends of his who were looking to adopt.”

A real smile found her lips. “That’s how I met Buck and Lemony, my brother and sister, they’re really more like my adopted parents, but I’m old enough that they figured a sibling relationship would work better, but for the first time in my life, I found people that actually cared, and were not out to just use me as an object.”

She stopped long enough to take in the faces of her friends, Coat was just staring at her and Tart looked on the verge of bawling and wanting to just hug Pea silly.

Nodding Pea sighed. “As part of the agreement, I helped Shining start an internal affairs investigation of Canterlot PD. His fiancee, Cadenza, helped catch my uncle – she’s a public defender back in Canterlot.”

“How’d he get caught?” Coat asked. “Sounds like he’s the kind of guy who would cover his ass to make sure he didn’t get nailed by the cops.”

“he’d taped one of the nights he had with me, and when I ran, I took the tape with me,” Pea explained. “It was enough to get him tossed in the county jail, awaiting trial. The trial was supposed to be later this year, and my family and I were going to go to make sure that he was put away for a long time.” She nearly buried her face in her hands as she added, “But that’s not going to happen now.”

“Why not?” Tart asked.

“Well, as of last night, that bastard of an uncle escaped Dodge Junction Correctional, killed an inmate on his way out, and vanished into the high desert, He’s currently armed, dangerous, and according to what Lemony and Buck told me… it sounds like he’s been blaming me for ruining his life… as if the bastard didn’t ruin mine.”

Unable to hold back, both girls wrapped Sweet Pea up in a hug. Sugarcoat finally finding words. “That story is absolutely insane, but, guess it’s so crazy it’s true huh?” she asked, receiving a nod from Pea she nodded back. “Well, you’ve got us, too.”

Lemon Tart nodded in agreement. “Exactly, we’ll do what we can to keep you safe too.” She smiled, wiping away her tears and hugging Pea a bit tighter. “I’m so, so sorry all that happened to you Pea. No one should ever have to go through that kind of stuff.”

Pea had been so sure of that voice in the back of her head, that dark cackling that had been laughing it up through her entire story, however, at the response of her friends, it had quieted down, as if beaten back by the showing of support for the moment.

“I’m broken goods, girls.” she said gently, squeezing both back. “But, I’m trying to move on; it’s just...with him out there, all my worries and insecurities, which I thought I was finally getting back into check after the last issue… they’re back at the forefront. I still have nightmares about him attacking me, taking me, using that damned nickname he came up with.” She sniffled, and tears she hadn’t realised she had welling up, finally spilling as she hugged her friends for support.

Sugarcoat smirked. “Let him try – I’ll kick his ass.”

That made Sweet Pea laugh lightly, “I hope so Coat, I really do.” she took up her napkin and wiped away the tears that had spilled. “Thanks girls, for understanding.”

Tart shrugged, “Hey, you’re a friend: so you had a rocky past, we didn’t know you then right?”

Sugarcoat smirked. “Exactly, and you seem pretty alright in my book.”

San Francisco International Airport was a place bustling with activity, people went here and there, rushing between various terminals.

There, outside Terminal 12 for the flight to LAX , stood a lone teen, long midnight blue hair flowed down her back, kept back out of her face with a ponytail, and pink eyes scanned the people filtering through the terminal. The girl had her bag packed, a single, large luggage piece that had carried her clothes and a few other things she’d needed. She sat scrolling through her phone, almost missing the call out of her name.

“Rose!”

Looking up, her eyes fell on the form of her best friend, wearing a...school uniform? She noticed the other two girls with her, a rather cute Asian girl and a tall, somewhat imposing African-American girl. Getting up, she met Sweet Pea with a tight hug as the girl came running over and hugged her tightly. “Rose, I’m so sorry about the other day, forgive me?”

Rose chuckled softly. “I already did Pea, I’m sorry myself… I know you wanted me to stick around, but, life calls, ya know.” she squeezed the slightly shorter form of Sweet Pea before letting her friend go. “Thanks for seeing me off.” She looked past Pea and motioned to the girls.

“Oh, yeah, uh, Melancholy Rose, meet Sugarcoat and Lemon Tart, two of my friends from Cornerstone Academy.” Pea motioned to them who both walked over.

“Hey good to see she’s got some more friends.” Smiling brightly, Rose shook each one’s hands, making note of Coat’s quite firm grip.

“Hey it’s cool, Pea’s totally awesome.” Tart smirked, the sound of her music heard through the over the ear headphones that were around her neck currently, obviously blasting the music, but still hard to hear over the noise in the terminal.

Coat gave a nod. “Exactly, and I’m glad we could become friends.” she admitted, releasing the elder teen’s hand.

Rose nodded. “Well, my plane’s leaving in about ten minutes, so I really should get aboard… but thank you again, Pea, for seeing me off.” Unable to hold back, she gave Pea another tight hug. “We’ll talk more soon okay? You’ve got my Skype.”

Pea nodded, her eyes shining with tears, she’d had one hell of a day. “Before you go Mel, you should know… Tripwire escaped, a couple of days ago, killed a guy, and, so far as I know, is coming this way.”

Rose’s eyes nearly bugged out. “What? Seriously? Sweet Pea...” she covered her mouth. “Just, stay safe, okay?” She gave the girl one last hug, before glancing at the time. “Look, when I get home, I want you to give me all the details.”

Pea nodded, and let the other teen go, as she headed for her flight. Leaving a somewhat saddened Sweet Pea and her friends as she watched her retreat further into the terminal.

LAX was hugely busy, and all the incoming and outgoing flights had the terminal’s filled with people. It was 7:45pm by the time flight 15 from San Francisco International landed and its passengers disembarked from it’s depths.

Sitting at one of the small deli shops, sipping a coffee, dressed in nondescript clothing, with a blue ballcap over his short military cut, was Tripwire, enjoying a sandwich. He’d neither notice, nor be noticed, by the teen who’d just arrived back in her home town.

Looking up at the television, the news was fairly quiet on his escape. He’d seen a couple of reports, but for the most part, he was blending in perfectly. He’d done a quick search for Sweet Pea’s name, and gotten a hit on her Facebook page, listing her as living in San Francisco; while it was a huge haystack, Tripwire knew finding this needle would be anything but difficult… after all, his little girl was quite the unique looker, if her facebook profile picture was any indication.

He checked the ticket he held, Flight 45, out of Terminal 15, leaving in two hours for San Fran. Nodding to himself he finished the sub sandwich he’d been eating, savoring the taste of the peppers included. He was getting closer to his ultimate goal, he’d make her pay, of course, he’d have a little fun first. Pulling out the small phone he’d picked up, he brought up the Facebook app, and went to her page again, studying the details of the cute teen pictured there. She’d be sixteen now, and perfect for what he wanted from her. He wondered if she’d be better lay now that she had some time to ripen.

Hell, he was getting excited just thinking about it.

Author's Note

Edited to fix an error cought by Namar13766, as well as add the proper cutie mark breaks between scenes.

I really should stop writing when I'm dead tired.

August 3rd. Ticking Time.

August 3rd, Friday.

Another week had gone by without a hitch. Having seen her best friend back to L.A. Sweet Pea was feeling, well, actually pretty good when it came right down to it. Despite Rose being back in her hometown, and in the path of the impending hurricane bearing down directly on SoCal, Sweet Pea had two friends who were watching out for her.

Right now though, she was dealing with yet another problem on her own as she slammed hard against the lockers, her arm was twisted painfully behind her. “Ow, goddamn get offa me!” She tried to twist, but the power of the other behind her kept her held against the lockers.

“Why, so you can run off to the Les squad you call friends? You throw your lot in with them, you can expect this a bit more often…”

The teen behind her let go as Sweet Pea’s foot came down hard, digging her moderate heel into the top of the other girl’s foot, causing her to cry out and release Sweet Pea, who instantly bolted, thankful her heels were a bit more chunky and allowed her to run, the clacking down the hall had her run right into view of Twist Ties, the Home Economics teacher.

“Woah there miss, no running in the halls!” He chided as she skid to a halt just before hitting him. The thudding of running feet echoing down the hall behind Sweet Pea, causing the elder teacher to lean to the side to see who else was coming. One Lightning Dust coming into his vision.

“MISS DUST!” he called, his eyes stern as he slipped around and she skid to a halt, eyes wide.

“Y...yes mister Ties?!” she answered, straightening right up as he addressed her, though her eyes fell directly on Sweet Pea, practically glaring daggers.

Pea, for her part, shrunk slightly behind the instructor, who didn’t fail to take notice of that. “What do you think you are doing chasing another student through these halls?”

Dust, for her part, paled a bit, and bit back a witty retort. “I was just trying to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.”

“Well, I hardly think that’s a reason for either of you to be running through the halls. Miss Pea, was it?” he asked, turning to Sweet Pea and seeing her nod. “Yes, I don’t believe I’ve heard any negatives about you, so a warning will suffice, should I catch you misbehaving again, you can count on detention… you however, Miss Dust.” his eyes fell once more on the athletic teen. “I do think I’ve heard a bit much about you lately. Be sure to come to my classroom after classes today; if you don’t, count on two days official Detention, understood?”

Lightning Dust visibly paled, “But, I’ll miss Track practice!”

Twist Ties shook his head. “Then I guess I have no choice than to…”

She cut him off. “No, no, it’s fine, I’ll see you after class.” She glared at Sweet Pea before walking off in a huff.

Pea let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding, as the instructor looked over to her. “Am I free to go sir?” she asked expectantly, not about to be rude to someone she considered a savior in this instance.

“Yes, of course. Just no running, got that?”

She nodded, and turned to head for the cafeteria. “Got it sir, and thank you.”

“Hey Pea!” the hyperactive ball of cute that was Lemon Tart waved, before pouncing her friend, causing Sweet Pea to eek out as she nearly fell over. “You’re not busy this weekend are you? Because I could totally use someone to hang out with, and Coat’s busy!” the teen pouted over to Sugarcoat who shrugged.

“I can’t help the fact that I have a test in Chem on Monday, and I really need to memorise the formulas, Tart.”

“Nyah!” Tart stuck her tongue out at her friend before laughing and letting Pea go, who couldn’t help but giggle at her friends antics a bit.

“Right, well as for me, I’m still doing home studies to supplement my class work, so I was planning on buckling down and doing some more work, I mean, with Tripwire out there…” she suppressed a shudder ran down her back.

Tart sighed but nodded, “Yeah, you're right.” she settled into her spot next to Sweet Pea, pouting a bit as she poked at the food on her plate. “Still, I was totally hoping to get to hang out with you guys.” She bit into a fry and made a face, before settling into the meal.

“Yeah I know, but I doubt that Buck and Lemony would let me out anyway,” Sweet Pea sighed a bit. “Seems like my life gets a little better, then goes to hell, ya know?”

Sugarcoat shrugged. “Could be worse, we could be down south right now with the hurricane. At least you don’t have to worry about crazy weather on top of it all.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, thank god for small favors.” She bit down into the hamburger, and focused on trying to ignore the annoyance she was feeling.

Tart’s eyes darted around the cafeteria as she ate her own hamburger, landing on Sweet Pea yet again she couldn’t help but find her mind wondering yet again about the girl that had only recently come into her life. The blush that found her cheeks brightened a bit as she thought about telling the other girl her feelings.

At the same time, the thought of Sugarcoat’s warning from a few days ago echoed through her mind: about how badly things had gone prior, and her own doubts if Pea even swung that way. Not to mention she didn’t want to make things weird with her… after all the girl had been abused bad.

Pea glanced up from her burger. “You sending signals to the moon there Tart? Because you’re lookin kinda spaced out.”

Tart shook her head, and chuckled. “Yeah sorry just, something on my mind.” She refocused on her food. She’d tell her, soon. After all, she respected Sweet Pea enough to owe her at least that much.

The hustle and bustle of San Francisco International Airport was lost on the man in the dirty blue baseball cap and nondescript navy blue jacket over a white t-shirt and pants. Behind his aviator sunglasses he’d bought before catching the flight out, he looked at the screen on the tablet, having grabbed a small android device to access the internet and follow his intended target. He looked over the image on the screen, a candid shot of Sweet Pea, wearing her school uniform, taken in her full length mirror, likely in her room.

Tapping away at the screen, he worked through the various sources he had, mostly internet searches. A little money here and there had secured information, an address to her home, and an address to the school she attended. Following her Facebook feed had shown a penchant for spending time at the Pier, or the Embarcadero as the locals seemed to call it. He tilted his head to one side, the plans forming in his mind as he looked at her. An odd mix of arousal and hate filled the man, and he sat the tablet face down for a moment, attending to the still warm cup of coffee he’d had sitting in front of him, drinking it down, before putting the tablet in his jacket pocket and getting up. He pulled out the tracphone he’d picked up and dialed an old number.

“Yo, you’ve reached Haymaker, leave a message.” The message was followed by a rather annoying beep.

“Hay, you know who this is. Gonna need your expertise on a little something. Money’s good, if you don’t ask questions. Call me back.” leaving the number he hung up, and headed out of the airport proper. His mind now focused on the next thing he’d need… a vehicle.

Laying back in bed, Sweet Pea glanced at the weather report, the meteorologist pointing out the odd “Freak” storm that was sweeping the southern part of the state, and had already hit L.A. in full force.

“I really hope Rose is ok…” she bit her lower lip before turning off the television in her room. Laying back on the bed she stared up at the ceiling, watching her fan rotate lazily in a circle, she followed it with her eyes for a moment.

“She could be dead, for all you know, but you don’t really care do you? You just wanted a muff to dive into.”

Sweet Pea’s eyes closed tight as she fought back the wave of revulsion at that. “No, that’s so not my interest in Rose… Yes I find her attractive, and yes I would have loved to have a relationship with her, but no, it was more than just sex you goddamned freak.” That last word slid from her mouth as almost a hiss.

“Oh, I’m the freak now am I? I’m not the one that sucked all that dick over the years, or took it, or munched so much carpet you’d make a mint in carpentry fees.”

Pea grit her teeth. “Get, outta my head! Look, I don’t need you, you’re not me, you’re not going to convince me to go back to that!” Her voice rose a bit but she was trying to keep her rage downplayed, the last thing she wanted was her brother or sister coming in to hear her talking to herself like this.

“Aww, little Sweet Pea thinks she can just run away and hide with her new family…” the room was turning cold, and Pea shivered and wrapped herself up in her own arms, as the voice continued, seeming almost behind her, as if she was resting against someone who was speaking in her ear. “You’ll never escape that part of yourself,Amelia.” The voice taunted, she could almost feel the touch of something vile on her arms, a caress of darkness that made her shiver harder.

“You think that just because you have a loving family, that gets you away from the things you did? The men and women you seduced for money? That you willingly gave your body to? You cannot outrun the scars.” she could practically feel the one on her breast burning, as if the knife had been replaced anew. “No... no you cannot outrun what you were, what you are, and that is a little whore who’s playing good girl right now.”

Pea grabbed one of the pillows next to her and hugged it tight to herself, as she felt the presence fade, that dark laughing almost echoing through the room around her, she sobbed hard. Part of her knew it was right; she was a whore, had been, and will always be in some way, no matter what she thought.

Sleep eventually claimed Pea, leaving her in the inky blackness to scream and cry, with only the answer of dark laughter to her pleas of redemption.

August 4th. Letter From the Lost Days

August 4th, Saturday.

Music pumped through the speakers as one rather short teen rocked out to the beat of what could only be described as sugary sweet metal—hard riffs mixed with sweet, almost pop like voices in what sounded like Japanese. The teen was mid-dress: boy shorts, a bra and a towel were all that adorned her currently as she jammed around her room. It was in a bit of a mess, with various CD cases scattered around, as well as a good number of writing journals, a few laid open, displaying their contents to the world at large. Not that she minded.

The ding of a message on her phone drew the teen from the good vibes she was in, as she snagged the device from the bed and tilted her head at the message, one of her various alert apps had gotten her attention. “BOGO at Seaside Sounds?!”

The squee nearly rocked the small home off its foundation as she threw off the towel from her morning shower, heading to her closet while texting with one hand, her thumb a virtual blur.

LT: Hey Sugs! Yo U Tots gotta come with me to the pier! BOGO sale!!!!!

Tart smirked as she started getting ready, selecting an ensemble that fit her mood for the day, her phone chirped with the tone assigned to Sugarcoat, and she blinked as the text displayed.

SC: You know I can’t today LT, I really need to finish this report for History, and Mom needs me here today… Sorry.

Her face fell slightly at that, but then, she got an idea.

“A little white lie never hurt anyone, right?”

Deftly her fingers slid to the speed dial she had Sweet Pea on while she slipped on the small tube top to cover her torso.

“Hey Lems, what’s up?”

“Hey Pea, 911 sitch, seriously need you at pier 39 like, right now!”

“Wha? Is everything okay?”

“Just please! I’ll see you at the DQ, lunch is on me, okay?”

Sliding the phone home in her rear pocket after ending the call, she hammered out a quick status update on her social media page. Not waiting for an answer, she snagged her rollerblades.

“Yeah, today’s going to be awesome!” sipping the earbuds into her ears, she headed out the door, destination firmly in mind.

Sweet Pea had been mid-study session, something she’d been kinda putting to the side lately since she had began working on her social circle. Not to mention the stress of Tripwire’s escape. But the call had been from Lems and there’d been a bit of desperation in her voice.

She looked down at the Algebra book, then to her phone after the call had finished. “Hmm, Algebra, or Lems?” she chuckled already knowing the answer to that question, despite her desire to study, she could always finish up when she got home, besides….

“You’re only young once right?” she headed for her closet, her focus turning to just what to wear on such a warm day. Settling finally on a pair of light blue jeans that wouldn’t be too heavy and a white shortsleeve blouse, she ran a brush through her hair getting the highlights just right, before nodding to herself and snagging a cute pair of flats. Heading down stairs (snagging a pop tart for a snack on the way), she slipped by her sister, Lemony Gems, and gave her a hug on the way out.
“Hey, got a call from Lems, she needs me at the pier. Sounded important.”

Lemony Gems blinked, hugging her sister back. “Oh? Well, just be careful, okay? And be home before dark!” she called out to the retreating form of Sweet Pea, who gave a wave back as she passed Buck Withers, her brother, who was just walking in.

“Whoa there, Kiddo…” he barely got the words out before she hugged him on the way.

“I’ll be back later, Lems called for me. Gotta hurry.”

With that, she headed down the path, leaving two rather confused adults looking at each other.

“She seemed... happy.” Buck said as he looked to her retreating form.

Lemony chuckled. “Hey, we were young not that long ago. You know, at that age, friends are your entire world.”

Buck couldn’t help but smile at that. “Yeah… sure seemed like it, huh?”

Coffee – it had always been his stimulant of choice, and the tall, black one he was sipping on currently while sitting tucked away in a small cafe was doing its intended job of keeping him focused as he juggled through three different social media accounts, Tripwire smirked as he noticed the seeming youngest of the trio of girls had posted an update to her social media.

Totally hitting Pier 39 today with a BFF, BOGO here we come!

The one named Lemon Tart had posted that. He smirked, admittedly the girls were all cute. Sugarcoat had that sweet mocha look to her, Lemon Tart looked really young, which hit a chord with Tripwire that made him consider maybe getting to know her a bit better, but his true target… he toggled over to the page with Sweet Pea, his eyes feasting on the girl. She was so much older, but that hair, those eyes, nothing would get those looks out of Trip’s mind.

He’d gotten a lead on the girl’s social media accounts from an old friend, and he’d cashed in the favor owed to get the information to follow them. However, Sugarcoat’s profile was private, outside of her image and name, he couldn’t get much more information there. Lemon and Sweet Pea, however, had public profiles, and led seemingly public online lives. Pea didn’t post much, he’d discovered, though a group shot photo of the three girls from the school cafeteria had been enough to confirm her social circle. Lemon Tart on the other hand, seemed to post a ton. Between story updates to personal info, the girl didn’t hardly seem to hide a thing, including posting a few rather saucy images of herself, clearly fancying herself a looker.

“Bet she’d love a good rut.” he sneered to himself, knocking back the remainder of the coffee. He closed the tablet and stretched, glancing around before leaving a tip and heading for the car. He had a pier to get to. At the very least, he could tail this Lemon Tart girl—she’d eventually lead him to Sweet Pea, and maybe he’d show Lemon just what she’d been missing out on.

“Ugh...do we have to do this, Lems?” Sweet Pea groaned. She had planned to stay home and work on her studying – for a rare change, she was on a roll, and she wanted to study – but then she got an emergency call from her friend Lemon Tart who said she needed her help urgently. Said help turned out to be a huge sale at the boutique record store at Pier 39.

“Aww, c’mon! I couldn’t get Sugarcoat to help me, and you were the only one I could get a hold of!” Lemon groaned.

“And why are we doing this again?”

“Because Seaside Sounds is having a totally awesome BOGO sale on house music!”

“When did you start listening to house?” Pea asked.

“You know me! I’m always listening to all things awesome!” Showing her usual flagrant disregard for... well, everything, she danced around the crowd, wearing her “summer attire”: tube top, shorts that would be more at home on a ten-year-old (mainly because they’d fit normally) and rollerblades. Even Pea hadn’t dressed as scantily during her days as Amelia, and while her friends had gotten her to loosen up slightly on the “near-burka clothing” (as Sugarcoat called it), she still wouldn’t dress as scantily as Lemon did.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there! The store’s right next to Dock I.” Lemon slid around one guy, dodging his attempt to pat her on the butt, instead giving him a playful wink and moving on.

Pea was about to chew out her friend for her flirting, but instead noticed someone familiar waiting by the dock. Moreover, she was with a very attractive young man. “Hey, do you mind a second? Think I see someone I know.”

Lemon shrugged, then slid to a stop. “Sure, friend away. We got time.”

Pea went up to the pair and said, “Hey, Sunny! Why didn’t you tell me you were in town? And who’s your boyfriend?”

Sunset Shimmer turned around, but the response she got wasn’t one she expected from one of her (technically) oldest friends. “Excuse me, but do I know you?”

“Haha, Sunny. Seriously, where’s Twily and the others?” She then looked at the guy. “Or do your parents know about this?”

“I’m sorry,” Sunset told her, “but you must be mistaking me for someone else.”

“Red and gold hair, cyan eyes, has a sorta model look? No, I don’t think so,” Pea told her. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, Sunny, but you don’t have to pret—”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are, and frankly, you’re being a little pushy at the moment. Now, I have a dinner date – and who he is, is frankly none of your business – so if you’ll excuse me, please leave me alone.”

At that point, Pea was about to say something nastier, but Lemon intervened. “C’mon, Pea, you promised me!” she said, grabbing her friend’s arm.

“Fine,” she told her. “But this isn’t over yet, Sunny.”

Lemon managed to drag her friend into Seaside Sounds, but no sooner than she did, Pea pulled out her phone and dialed a particular number. “Sunny, what the fuck?”

“Oh, hey, Pea. What’s up?” Sunset asked on the other end.

“What’s up is that you just blew me off at Dock I with that guy you’re with! Not cool, Sunset, not cool at all.”

“Huh?” the girl said on the other side. “Dock I? I didn’t even know we had a place like that here in Canterlot!”

“Canterlot? I’m here at Fisherman’s Wharf, you doof! So why the hell did you blow me off? It’s not like I was hitting on him or anything!”

“Wait, what? I’m lost here. What are you talking about?” Frustrated, Pea unloaded on Sunset, explaining everything that had happened in the past few minutes. “Uh, Pea?” Sunset finally replied, “I’m here in my bedroom in Canterlot.”

“Look, I know what I saw, Sunny – she looked exactly like you! My friend Lemon Tart’s with me and she can vouch.”

There was some background noise, and a second later a different voice chimed in. “Pea, this is Twily. We are sitting in Sunny’s bedroom in our house.”

“Wow, you aren’t kidding,” Pea admitted. “Uh, sorry.”

“No worries; happens all the time. Pinkie was telling me about some exchange student that was in town last year that looked a little bit like me. Would’ve been interesting to meet her.”

“Yeah, but you gotta see this girl; she’s a dead ringer. Hold on, let me go outside and get a picture.” Pea departed the store to see the ferry sailing away. “Well, so much for that; she’s not there anymore.”

“I believe you, Pea, it’s not a problem, and Sunny’s not offended, so no problem there.” The two talked for a few more minutes, and then finally Pea ended the call.

“Pea, you promised to help me carry these!” Lemon said as she poked her head out of the store.

“Fine, coming!” the teen grumbled.

“That’s just… weird.” Sweet Pea glanced back out the door, sighing a bit as she shook her head and took a couple of the offered bags to help her friend. How could she be so mistaken about one of her closest friends from Canterlot? That girl looked so much like Sunset.

“Relax, Pea. Seriously, you get freaked out over the tiniest things. So she looked like your friend, big whoop. There’s tons of people out in the world, and they say everyone has a doppelganger, you know.”

“Well yeah, but… no, you know you’re right. I’m totally freaking for no reason.” something still felt odd about it, the girl even had a voice similar to Sunset’s, but she spoke so properly.

“Maybe you just met her interdimensional counterpart or something,” teased Lemon, who tugged the girl over, sliding her own arm around Pea’s own, giving the taller girl a hug. “Come on, you’ve gotta help me with this… there’s soooo much House music here I can’t pick!”

Sweet Pea couldn’t help but smile at the contact, and nodded. “Yeah yeah, you audioslave. Fine, we’ll see what we can find.”

Lemon, for her part, gave Sweet Pea’s arm a swat. “Hey, I resemble that comment!” she giggled, and went back to browsing, the pile of disks slowly growing.

Tripwire watched with interest, as the girl told off Sweet Pea, then took off on the boat with her seemingly boyfriend. “Huh, how the hell does Pea know so many hotties?” he asked himself, leaning against the railing, watching Pea and Lemon Tart enter the Seaside Sounds shop.

Things were close, he had looked over the area for a bit, and the pier was fairly busy, he’d have to track the girls for some time longer, wait till they were alone.

He was currently sitting on one of the many benches that dotted the pier, easily relaxing and looking much like a guy just taking a break, sipping on a cola. To the average everyday person, he was just another guy out enjoying the sea air of San Francisco.

It wasn’t too much longer before his targets exited the shop, and began their way down the pier and back inland. Waiting a moment, but keeping them in sight, he stood, and began his stalk once more.

Pea shifted the bags a bit and rolled her eyes. “Only you could go out and nearly buy the whole record store out of their house selection, Lems.”

Lemon Tart smirked, skating backwards to stick her tongue out at her friend playfully. “Oh come on! Don’t tell me you’re still mad at me for calling you out here.” She skated a circle around Sweet Pea and smirked, hugging her from behind. “I mean, seriously, I just really wanted to spend some time with one of my best friends, is that so wrong?”

Pea couldn’t help but smile at the embrace, and the constant good vibes that her friend seemed to almost always give off. “Yeah, okay, I mean I guess it is more fun than Math.”

Her sights set for the path beyond the parking lot, Lemon focused ahead, slowing her speed so Pea could catch up. “So, I heard Lightning ended up with a good couple of days of detention after the stunt she pulled with you.”

Pea sighed. “You know, I don’t even get why she has it out for me, or why she keeps calling you and Coat the Les Squad and all that.”

Lems winced slightly. “That’s... kinda my fault. I’m pretty open about it, but yeah, I kinda asked Coat out when we first met. She’s straight, so it clearly didn’t work out, but I kinda never shook the rep. Even though we’re good friends… it doesn’t help that every crush I end up with seems to blow up in my face.”

Pea blinked. “Every one?” she asked curiously, tucking a strand of blue-green hair behind her ear and tilting her head to one side, “I mean seriously, you’re a bit of a spaz sometimes, but I can’t imagine you wouldn’t have found someone by now.”

Lemon’s heart soared at that compliment. “I dunno, but I seem to always crush on straight girls.” she sighed dramatically coming to Pea’s side and wrapping an arm around her friends own. “You’ll never leave me though right?” She asked, giving Sweet Pea a pair of puppy dog eyes that would make Fluttershy squee.

Sweet Pea’s eyes blinked a bit, and she blushed, “Lems, I came out here as soon as I heard the 911 call. Granted, you lied, and you’re gonna pay for that one with another lunch, but I care, okay?” Her heart was practically melting at the other teen’s puppy dog eyes though, and she started putting two and two together, the touches, the looks. “Level with me though… you’re, uh, crushing on me aren't you?”

At the question, Lemon Tart blushed furiously, and let go of her friends arm, her eyes downcast a bit, “Yeah… yeah I kinda am.” she slowed to a stop. They’d made a good bit of progress down one of the side streets, it was another few blocks up to Lemon’s house. “I mean, don’t be mad, okay? But like, you’re totally awesome, and I just, I dunno, I just kinda….”

Unable to get the words out, she let her skates take her back down the slight incline a bit, before she bumped into someone. “Ahh!” The arms that came around her were strong, and clearly male, causing her to tense up, but what she wasn’t ready for, was the sudden strength with which she was tossed to the side.

Pea had turned just in time to see her friend skate backwards into a rather tall, burly man. It took her a moment to realise who it was as he grabbed Lems and tossed her aside almost like a rag doll. It was all Pea could do to hold back a scream of fear as he settled his eyes on her, and began moving towards her. Time slowed, as realization sunk into Sweet Pea, the features of the man before her clearing in her mind.

Tripwire.

The scream she released drowned out the scream that Lemon had unleashed as she twisted her ankle in the fall. Pea, having darted to the side to try to help her friend, froze mid-step as the realization of who was in front of her came to her mind.

Tripwire moved, fast, closing the distance between himself and Sweet Pea, a look of almost feral glee etched across his face as he instantly ignored the girl he’d just tossed aside for his true prey.

Lemon winced, and worked the blade’s quick release, freeing her feet from the roller blades, she instantly focused on Sweet Pea and this man who were both now booking it down the street. “Oh fuck… PEA, RUN!”

Pea didn’t even hear her friend’s yell, her mind was clouded with the primal urge to run already, her fight or flight reflex firmly on it’s flight setting. She ran, hard and fast, her exhales nothing but a scream for help, while she ran, dodging trash cans. She darted across an intersection, with Tripwire hot on her heels.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!” The older male reached out, and finally caught her shoulder, spinning Pea around as he missed his grip, but still held her long enough to change her momentum, causing her to spin hard against a tree.

“Oof!” The wind knocked out of her, Sweet Pea went down hard, skinning her arm in the process as she tried to keep her footing but was unable, rolling to a stop against the curb of the sidewalk. She tried to get her feet back under her as Tripwire grabbed her and hauled her hard into the alleyway to their right.

“Oh, no you don’t, Sweet Poon.” he sneered, slamming her hard around behind one of the dumpsters about halfway down the alleyway, pinning her against it he looked into her eyes, an arm across the top of her chest holding her in place as his other hand covered her mouth to keep her from screaming anymore. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this little reunion?” he asked, eyes shining with hate, lust, and almost pure rage.

Pea’s eyes were wide with fear: an elemental, primal fear, and in that moment of terror, she heard the cold, seductive laugh of the darkness that kept taunting her.

“Ahh, look who it is, the first cock to ever take you, the one that caused you to go after every cock you ever saw. Nothing like a reunion for old times sake, eh?”

Her mind was hazy from the pain and the adrenaline, her breath short, coming in deep, snotty gasps as she tried to fight against the older, stronger male.

Tripwire’s eyes were wide as he looked down at Sweet Pea. “My beautiful little Sweet Poon, my my how you’ve grown.” he sneered, his hand moving to roughly grab one of her breasts while he held her hard against the dumpster. He was ready to have some fun, here and now.

But what he wasn’t ready for was the rather large wooden plank that landed square across the back of his head, crumpling him into a heap to Pea’s left, and freeing her from his grasp as she looked up to see Lemon Tart standing there, chest heaving as she dropped the plank and held a hand out to Sweet Pea. “We gotta go, now! Who knows when he’ll come to!”

Pea nodded, taking the hand and standing up shakily, as they moved, she noticed the limp that Lemon had, and shifted to help her walk on the twisted ankle. “You okay?”

Lemon shook her head, “No, but neither are you. Look, let’s just get to my place okay? It’s just two blocks up.”

With a busted-up Lemon Tart, and not feeling the best herself, the pair moved forward at as fast a pace as they could, Tart had taken enough time to change into the sandals she’d brought so walking wasn’t an issue, but she’d lost her blades in her hurry, and frankly, their lives were more important.

They left the crumpled form of Tripwire behind, moving quickly out of the alley way, and down the street. They would be a block away before he would come to. Gathering himself, he limped out of the alleyway nursing his throbbing head has he headed back to his procured vehicle, left a couple of streets over.

“Okay, what, THE FUCK?” Lemon Tart asked as they finally made it past her front door, and locked it, bolting the deadbolt and the chain lock as she and Pea leaned against the door for just a moment, catching their breaths.

Pea, for her part, had slumped against the door, the adrenaline finally having run it’s course. She felt exhausted, drained, and emotionally broken, as she found herself sobbing next to her friend, leaning against Tart’s good right leg, she broke down completely.

Lemon winced, for her part, the encounter had left her scared, confused, hurt, and more than a little pissed off. Her best friend, and herself, had just come under attack by a guy that was very clearly gunning for Pea.

Not sure what else to do, Lemon Tart just gently ran her fingers through Pea’s short cropped hair. The broken girl, simply hugged her friends leg tighter, whimpering.

“It was him.” She finally got out, the sound almost a croak in her throat. “Tripwire… m-my uncle.”

Lemon’s eyes shot wide. “Tripwire, as in the guy who...” the rest died on her tongue as she watched her friend's reaction.

Pea looked up at Lems and nodded, the fear in her eyes raw. “Yes.” Her voice was tiny, practically a whisper as she wiped at her eyes with her fingers, but the tears just kept coming.

Lemon’s mind was racing as she took in the information, but nodded. “Okay, okay, come on, let’s get to my room, and I’ll get the first aid kit, and a bag of peas for my ankle. You can rest, I’ll patch you up, then we can call your brother and sister, okay?” Gently she helped Pea to her feet.

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” She seemed hesitant, but right now, Lemon was her lifeline in the sudden sea of emotion and fear she found herself drowning in. She followed Lemon back to her room. The asian girl’s room was a mess, but in that totally cluttered way. Pea barely took notice as she sat on the bed, sniffling and just curling up into a ball, laying on her side.

“I’ll get the first aid kit, and be right back.” Lemon gently hugged the sobbing mess on the bed before rushing off to the bathroom to gather the needed supplies.

She hastily grabbed the first aid kit her family kept in the small guest bathroom, her mother, Raven Quill, a writing professor at the local college, insisted on being ready for an emergency. Lemon had always laughed about it, finding it silly. Today however, she was glad for her mother’s caution.

Limping back to her bedroom, she found Pea sitting up, looking at the display of anime figurines that adorned one of Lemon’s walls, pointing to a set of magical girl ones. “Those are cute.” her voice was without the emotion she’d had earlier in the day, drained, tired.

“They’re from Madoka. I’ll show you some time, though it’s a bit depressing.” She withdrew the needed items from the kit, including a cold pressure compress for herself as she coaxes Pea back into the bed. “Now look, just lay down, and let me take care of this, okay? I might not look it, but I was in Girl Scouts for a good few years when I was younger, and I can patch a wound pretty good.

Pea nodded, and let her friend lay her back down, and tend to her arm.

“He’s the reason I’m so fucked up.” Her voice was quiet yet again, but Sweet Pea continued. “Why I ran away, became a whore… in a weird way, he’s the reason why we’re even friends.”

Lemon shook her head. “Don’t do that.” She was focused on applying antiseptic to the wound, which caused Pea to wince a bit. “Don’t give him the credit for your life, Pea.”

Sweet Pea nodded, she knew, in the back of her mind, that Lem’s was right, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was the reason she’d gone down the road she had.

“I... I need to call Lemony, and Buck… let them know.” Pea’s fingers were shaking as she reached for her phone, drawing it from her pocket, the screen was decimated, in the fall, the screen had cracked, having been facing outward in her pocket.

“I’ll take care of it...just, give me the number and I’ll let them know. You rest.” Lemon Tart gently pushed her friend back down on her bed, and finished bandaging her arm. Taking down the number, and after popping a few Ibuprofen for her own injury, as well as limping out to the living room to apply the cold compress to her ankle, she dialed the number.

The ringing seemed to go on forever, till she got the voicemail.

“Hi, Lemony Gems, this is Lemon Tart, I’m a friend of your sister’s… Sweet Pea and I were attacked by her uncle. We’re at my place, just, we’re okay...ish. Just, you should know, right?”

After leaving her address and phone number she sat her phone down, and slumped back into the couch, the events of the morning, finally washing over her, her own tears started to flow.

“Pea…” she glanced back towards her room, where the slightly older girl was, before letting exhaustion finally take her.

August 5th: Nightmares and Dreamscapes

August 5th, Sunday.

Sitting quietly, poking at the plate of eggs and sausage before her, Sweet Pea examined her surroundings. They were different, strange, and she felt hollow. The only thing that seemed to ground her was when her citrine eyes glanced across the table and saw Lemon Tart, seemingly equally listless at the moment.

The event played over and over in her mind. Tart getting tossed aside, the slow, dark grin that seemed to spread on Tripwire’s face as he saw her. The run, the fall, his weight on her, the feel of his hand on her body again…. She winced to herself, and curled up as best she could in the chair. She’d slept fitfully, and the sound of the adults in the living room, just through a single door frame, didn’t help.

“I don’t see what this has to do with our daughter. Your sister gets attacked and so does our little girl! I’m surprised they’re okay!” The voice was that of Lemon Tart’s mother, Sequin Stone, and she was by no means pleased with the situation..

The somewhat gruffer voice of her father, Touring Abode, interjected. “It is an unusual situation, so you’re telling us…”

Buck Withers nodded, lifting the cup of coffee to his lips and taking a long sip. Next to him was Lemony Gems, who was clutching her purse to her chest like her life depended on holding it as tight as she could. She looked, for all the world, like she was lost at sea, clutching a life preserver.

“It’s like we said, Touring: We treat Pea as if she’s a kid sister, but the truth is that we’re her legal guardians. We took her in, because she needed some stability in her life after some incidents in her past, and it goes without saying that part of that instability was the man that attacked her and Lemon Tart yesterday,” Buck explained.. “The man’s name is Tripwire, and he’s Pea’s maternal uncle, as well as her first legal guardian after her parents died when she was a baby.” Buck let his gaze turn towards the doorway that lead into the dining room, and where Sweet Pea and Lemon Tart currently were.

“He was in jail, being held for his crimes against Sweet Pea. Needless to say, they were many… and not pleasant. He would’ve gotten way with it if she hadn’t found some evidence and ran away to Canterlot, which is where we got involved..” Sitting the cup down, Buck looked to the parents across from him, and shook his head. “I’m sorry this got your daughter involved, but you have my thanks. From what I understand, she saved my sister.”

Lemony Gems finally broke her silence, her voice on the verge of breaking. “She called us, I was at work, my phone on silent due to a meeting, out of habit!” she nearly broke down, it was only Buck’s arm sliding around her that grounded her back to the here and now. “Lemon Tart called, telling me what happened, and to come by… as soon as I got the voicemail I came over but I was so out of sorts. I....”

Sequin watched the mother figure of the girl in the other room and took a breath. Despite the fact her own daughter had been in danger, she was proud of Lemon for having protected her friend. “It’s just, I’m sorry Lemony, It’s hard for anyone to wrap their head around is all, and....” She fell silent, looking down at the cup of tea before her she bit her lower lip, trying to formulate what to say. “I’m, glad both girls are okay,” she finally settled upon.

“So are we.” Buck said with a smile. “But your daughter and my sister are close, from what I understand, and along with their mutual friend Sugarcoat, they are quite the little clique at school. And given this situation, we wanted to give you the full disclosure. The last thing Sweet Pea needs is to be put in a position where she feels like she doesn’t have anyone.” He shook his head. “She’s already been there, and it was really hard for her.”

Lemony picked up from there, glancing at Buck, then the parents across from her. “And we understand you have concerns. Just... we want everyone safe.” She deflated a bit, feeling like they would be anything but.

There was the sound of a chair in the other room moving, and all the gathered adults looked up to see Sweet Pea standing there, her eyes on the entire room. Just behind her was Lemon Tart, who reached out for Pea just as she moved forward into the room. “You want full disclosure? You want to know why he came after me?” she asks, her eyes looking to Sequin and Touring. The two adults gave the faintest of nods, and Pea’s eyes narrowed slightly, before she took a breath.

“It’s because I’m his... I’m his little ‘Sweet Poon.’” She reiterated the nickname he’d given her with venom, practically spitting the words from her mouth. “When I was nine was when it started… he fucked me… and no, I’m not going to apologize for the phrasing. He fucked me raw… he raped me at nine years old, and it didn’t stop – ever. From the day I first came to live with him, I was his plaything, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried anything before my earliest memories formed.” Her jaw set and she looked at those assembled, the horror on her sister and brother’s faces, as well as a similar look on the faces of her best friend.

“He taped a few of the times he did it, and I jacked the tape when I ran away. Kept it with me while I ran around, no matter where I went. It was my most important treasure, even when I was out in Canterlot whoring myself out…”

Sequin gasped. “You don’t mean…?”

“Yes I do: I was a teenage whore.” Her voice was even, measured as she spoke, with a sense of near-detachment, as if it had happened almost to another person. But that distance vanished as she lifted the sleeves on the arms of her shirt, showing the pock marks on her arms from years of substance abuse. “I’ve done things that you could only dream of in your deepest nightmares, all because some clients wanted it that way. For a while, I was even addicted to heroin – black tar, the nasty stuff, not the white Hollywood crap.” She tugged her sleeves back down and looked at everyone present. “I have a fucked up past, and I know it, Lemon Tart knows it, Sugarcoat knows it… and now you all know it…. Not even my family know all the details, and there are some things I won’t go into, ever.” Her eyes narrowed as she added, “But that bastard, he’s out there somewhere and he’s after me, because I’m the little whore that put him behind bars. I snitched him out… and he’s not happy about that.” She looked at Tart and added, “And as far as he’s concerned...now I come with a playmate.”

She closed her eyes, warding off tears she promised herself she was done shedding. “I understand if you want me to stay away from Lemon Tart. I hope that’s not the case, but given my history, I’m not exactly the best role model and I may not be the safest girl to be around right now. All I can tell you is that I’m trying to be normal again, thanks to the chance offered to me by people who want me to be better than I think I am.” She looked at her adoptive siblings, giving them a smile with all the love she could.

She took a breath after letting it all out. “But thank you for letting me spend the night, despite the situation, and for breakfast.” she finished with, looking to the adults. “And my apologies for my bluntness, but you needed to know. Full disclosure and all that. And I had to tell it the only way I know how – there’s no way to clean it up.”

Lemon looked to her friend, and there were tears in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Sweet Pea from behind, giving the slightly taller girl some support, and was rewarded when she felt Pea lean back against her, as if feeding off it, needing it. “Pea…” Lemon peeked out from behind her friend’s back, to the horrified look on the adult’s faces. Her parents seemed to be staring in a mix of disbelief, horror… and a bit of pride. She blinked a bit. “Please, we’re okay. A little banged up sure, but don’t keep her from hanging with me, please. She’s been a good friend.” Lemon looked down, and felt Pea’s hand on her own, squeezing, which made her look back up. Sweet Pea smiling to her caused her heart to jump in her chest.

“How could we?” Sequin asked. “I...I just want to protect you Lem, that’s all I want, but I can’t always be there. At least with a friend, you have some backup, and it’s not her fault her uncle’s an absolute dredge of humanity.”

Touring nodded in agreement. “Exactly: the man sounds absolutely terrible. If she’d been alone, I can only imagine what we’d be hearing about today, but she wasn’t. You saved her, and you both got out.” He smiled as he stood up, walking over to the pair of girls, he rested a hand on Sweet Pea’s shoulder. “Thank you for your honesty in all this, Sweet Pea. You’re stronger than you know if you’re pushing forward despite the past you have.” He looked to Lemon, who looked up at her father, then he took her warmly into his arms, hugging her. “We’re just glad you’re okay, Lem.”

Lemon couldn’t hold it back, and cried into her father’s shoulder, the emotions of the past day finally crashing down on her. Sweet Pea squeezed her shoulder before moving over to Buck and Lemony, both of whom were up in an instant and hugging her, the two families just happy that their youngest were fine.

It was Sweet Pea who broke the silence after a few minutes. “So...is it okay if Lemon comes over? I’m kinda not ready to be without a friend, but I could use a change of clothes.”

Finally back home, Sweet Pea had headed for the shower, and had spent a good, long time soaking in the heat of the water that poured down her body. Now, she stood in front of the fogged-up mirror, looking into it, as if searching her soul. She’d bared herself, again, to people who were strangers to her, and they had accepted her. Maybe been a bit wary, but they’d come around. “Maybe I’m not as messed up as I thought.”

“Or maybe you’re just a little whore everyone wants to fuck, so they take pity on you, who knows?” The voice was dark and mocking, and it made Sweet Pea wince as she saw the image in the mirror shift, and through the fog, she saw a darker version of herself, but a more perfect version, one unmarred by the scars that crisscrossed her body. “The poor little whore, who’s uncle fucked her silly before she was even a bleeder… boo hoo.” The image smirked. “You tell the story like you didn’t like it, like you didn’t crave that cock sliding in an…”

Swiping at the mirror, it did nothing but clearing the image, and leaving a cackling laugh in the back of her mind. As she gripped the sink, squeezing she whispered the words, “Fuck you.” Sweet Pea reached for her clothes—she didn’t have time for this shit. After all, she had a friend in her room.

Lemon Tart laid back on Pea’s bed and smiled a bit. The room was not what she’d expected, way more girly, but it had the scent of the girl she loved. She just closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling surrounded by Sweet Pea here.

She’d texted Sugarcoat, giving her the details of what had happened the day before. Of course, the white haired teen was on her way to Pea’s house to help support the pair against “that fuckface”.

Chuckling, she glanced over as Pea entered the room. This time the teen was wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts, and her hair—still a bit wet from the shower—was quite spiky, going this way and that. “Hey girl, you look ten times better than you did earlier.”

Sweet Pea nodded, and tossed the towel she’d been using on her hair into the basket. “Yeah, I feel it.” she slumped back onto the bed herself, sliding up against the headboard. She pulled a small pony plush in against herself, one of those Filly Funtasia designs, and nuzzled up with it, looking at Lemon Tart. “Hey, did you mean it?” she asked, citrine eyes glancing up from the pony she was cuddling.

Lemon glanced from her phone, having been going through her social media. Eyes meeting her friend’s own, she saw the questioning look, and sighed again. “Yeah.” she grinned. “Can’t help who you fall for and all that, ya know, so yeah. I meant it.”

Sweet Pea settled back against the headboard again, as if considering the girl for a moment. She had to admit, Lemon Tart was attractive, so far as that went, the girl flaunted it at times too, like yesterday. She blushed as she thought about how awesome Lemon had looked, tossing away that stray board she’d used to knock out Tripwire, and reaching out to her…

She blinked the image away, she didn’t need a relationship based on hero worship… but she did respect the girl across from her quite a bit, and the events of the day before had only exacerbated her feelings. Was it attraction, or even love? Pea wasn’t sure, she’d never been in love, she’d found lust a couple of times; pure, physical attraction to the occasional client… she’d even convinced herself she loved one of her pimps once, when she was thirteen…. Of course, he was the one that sold her out hardest.

“Hey, Lem…” with that, she leaned forward, and pressed a quick, but firm kiss to the other girl’s lips.

Lemon Tart’s eyes went wide open, the feeling of warm, sweet lips on hers came as a not-unwelcome surprise, and she responded in kind, pressing back into the kiss for a moment. Her eyes slowly drifting to half closed, savoring the experience. Her heart felt like it was going to pound through her chest as she kissed Sweet Pea.

Then, the sound of the door opening hit their ears. “Hey I just got here and woah! Uh, you girls need a few more minutes here?” Sugarcoat’s wry voice met the ears of the two kissing teens, who immediately scooted to opposite ends of the bed from one another.

Sweet Pea’s eyes shot open, as the water in the tub splashed around her. The warm water felt amazing against her body, though she found the redness in her skin due to the flushing indicated time for her to get out. She rubbed her eyes, blinking owlishly a few times. This was the first time she’d ever fantasized about anyone, let alone a friend. She thought about the slightly younger girl, and found herself blushing yet again. Sighing she slid from the bath, grabbing her towel and beginning the process of drying off. May as well get back out there.

By the time Sweet Pea had slipped back into her room, Sugarcoat has arrived, having been called on by Lemon Tart, the white haired teen smirked as she dropped the bag of goodies she was holding on the bed. “Figured we could eat and chat,” Coat commented, and inside the bag were a delightful assortment of sweets, and various other treats that would fuel the girls for the rest of the day.

“Ohh, Thin Mints!” Pea dove for the box, grabbing it up and pulling it to her, “My Precious…”

Sugarcoat smirked ear to ear. “Thought that was Lem over there.”

For her part, Lemon Tart, blushed a pink that would rival even Pinkie Pie’s hair. “H-HEY!” she gasped.

Pea smirked. “Maybe, but these are my second precious,” she announced, taking a bite of one of the thin, chocolate deliciousness.

Sugarcoat chuckled. “Good. So spill, the fuck happened? I get a text from Lem saying that you two were attacked yesterday outside of the Pier?”

Pea sat the box aside, open for the rest of the girls to have some as she nodded. “Tripwire. Bastard found me, not sure how.” She shook her head. “He tossed Lem aside like she was a doll, then came after me. If it wasn’t for Lem knocking his ass out with a board in an alleyway, I might be dead.”

Lemon Tart smirked. “I hit him good too, felt it reverb up the board, just a solid crack.” She smirked, though she winced and shifted on her ankle. “He did kinda screw up my ankle though when he threw me.” She shivered. “I was totally scared, Coat. Like, insanely so, but I had to help Pea, right?”

Sugarcoat nodded, “I’m glad you’re both ok, and from now on we move together, the three of us, ok?” she looked between the other two, who nodded in agreement. “Good, because if I see him, I’m going to make sure I break his kneecap.” she said simply before taking up a thin mint for herself.

“Vodka, check; Advil, check….” Popping open the pill bottle, Tripwire downed around double the recommended dose of the painkiller, chasing it with a long pull from the bottle of vodka as he groaned. That bitch had nearly caved his head in, but thankfully she wasn’t that strong. Still, the hit had hurt, and he likely had a concussion, but that wasn’t going to stop him. No, he had a mission.

The image of Sweet Pea, under him, powerless, trapped against that dumpster, it was getting him excited already, to the point he had to adjust his sitting position to account for it. “Yeah, bitch was mine… so close, so Goddamned close I’m getting a hard-on just thinking about it.” He grit his teeth against the pain his anger caused him, every time he spoke, the pain echoed. He’d been close to a grenade back in the war that had gone off, it’s what gave him the scar on his face, yet this pain was worse, because it was inflicted by that little bitch who was protecting what was his!

“I’ll track her down, then I’ll teach her a lesson, school’s in, and they won’t know what hit em.”

He pulled the laptop forward, a small netbook he’d grabbed for cheap, and began his research. He’d move soon; they wouldn’t expect him to strike again so quickly, and he knew he needed that element of surprise.

Sweet Pea and her little cunt of a friend were going to be all his, ripe for the plucking. Then, when he was done...well, they’d never find the pieces. And even if they did? Good thing some psychopath over in Canterlot was all but openly inviting the blame be put on him. Tripwire may have had some...unique kinks, but at least he wasn’t a sloppy Jack the Ripper wannabe.

Night was falling, and San Francisco was covered in a dull, orange light. The girls had spent the day together catching up on what had happened, and comforting one another. Pea and Tart having finally come to terms with it, and Sugarcoat playing the middle ground for them to work through the issues.

Now, Pea and Tart were settled on the small couch in Pea’s room, while Coat settled in on the bed, the three watching some random drama they’d found on Netflix.

“Oh come on, it’s not like she even likes him!” Coat stuck her tongue out at the screen. “They are totally incompatible, Jesus who’s writing this?”

Sweet Pea laughed, “It’s a trashy drama, like it matters, Coat.”

Coat huffed. “Well, excuse me for having higher standards for media. Just because they can take shortcuts with the story doesn’t mean they should, you know!”

Lemon giggled. “She’s got a point, but yeah, this isn’t very good.” she shrugged, “Still, way more fun with friends.”

Lemony Gems slowly opened the door, peeking in on the three. “You girls okay? It’s getting late, and tomorrow is a school day.”

Sugarcoat blinked, then winced. “Yeah tomorrow is Monday, isn’t it?”

Lemon Tart removed her arm from around Pea, and nodded, “Yeah, should probably head back. Would you mind taking me home, Coat?”

Sugarcoat nodded, “Yeah I gotcha.” She looked to Sweet Pea, who for her part, was looking a bit sad at the prospect of her friends heading off at this rate. “You gonna be alright?”

Sweet Pea nodded, “Yeah, yeah I think so. I mean, things are both good and bad.” She smiled to Tart, who returned the grin… she had someone to lean on, and that meant the world to her, but right now, she really wished the other girls didn’t have to go.

“Look, let’s plan for something this coming weekend, and we’ll still see each other at school.” Tart said, smiling up to Lemony Gems who nodded in return.

“I’m sure we can host a sleepover or something in a week. But school comes first.” she looked at Sugarcoat. “Drive safe, okay? And call if something happens.”

Coat nodded, “You got it, Mrs. Gems. You take care as well, Pea. We’ll catch you in the morning, okay?” The pale teen hugged Sweet Pea, who returned the gesture.

“Thanks Coat, Tart… both of you, thank you so much.” She hugged Lemon Tart tight, who returned the hug with equal warmth.

“Yeah it won’t be but a few hours before we’re together again, we got each other’s backs.” The smaller teen smiled brightly before moving with Sugarcoat, heading for her car.

Lemony smiled warmly to Sweet Pea. “Come here.” she said, opening her arms… to which Sweet Pea slid into them, hugging her sister tight.

“I have friends, I have family… now, I just need to be rid of him.” She squeezed Lemony before pulling back. “Thanks for being here for me, Lemony.”

Lemony for her part waved it off. “We’re family Pea, and I like to think that the family we choose is stronger than the family we’re given in some cases.”

August 10th,AM: Ties that bind

August 10th, Friday.

“Man, you hear about what’s going on over in Canterlot…? Apparently there’s a serial killer on the loose, and get this, whoever it is, seems to be targeting girls exclusively.” One of the jocks, Juke Time, said while digging into his burger.

Another guy shook his head, his dark purple hair in dreadlocks. “Oh come on, that’s bullshit.” Wooly Threads was a known gamer, but also had his foot in the door with the jocks, as one of the running backs. “I did hear a couple of cops got offed though.”

One of the girls at the table, a cheerleader aptly named Sugar Pep, perked up. “I’ve got an uncle that works just north of Canterlot, says that they’re going crazy trying to find this guy, Wooly, and get this....” She looked left and right, before leaning in. “He said the killer’s targeting virgins.”

Wooly couldn’t help but smirk a bit at that, “So what you’re telling me, is best way to keep you safe is…”

Sugar threw a fry at him. “Not in a million years, Gamer Boy.”

Sweet Pea rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Great, dealing with Tripwire over here, and there’s a nutjob putting my Canterlot friends in danger over there.” She set her tray down next to her friends, and groaned, still a bit sore from the attack last week.

“I’m sure your friends are fine, Pea. The likelihood of them coming under attack is actually pretty low, given the population of Canterlot,” Sugarcoat said, raising a fry to her lips and taking a bite of the ketchup covered deliciousness...well if you could call the cafeteria food delicious, that was.

“I should probably text Sunny or Twily, given everything going on, and the storm system and all, I’ve been thinking about them a good bit lately. Besides, it’d be nice to just hear from them.” Sweet Pea settled in and took up her tuna sandwich, taking a bite as she considered her Canterlot friends. Just how were things with Sunset and Twilight, anyway? She doubted they were going through as rough a patch as she was right now.

Her thoughts turned to Tripwire, and her brows furrowed as she considered the man. He was, well, a monster. As if he was a focus of her own self loathing made manifest. And he was out there, hunting her....

She jumped, as she felt the hand of Lemon Tart on her arm. “Hey, you’re doing it again.”

It was then that she noticed, she’d dropped her tuna sandwich, and her hands were shaking. She clenched them into fists, and looked to Lemon Tart, before getting up and heading out of the room, without a word. Because right now, she just needed to get away… from what, she didn’t even know, just that she had to get some space at the moment, despite the fact she knew her friends were there for her.

Several days had passed since the last encounter. But he’d heard nothing in the grapevine, nothing regarding the attack had been made public outside of Lemon Tart posting on her social media about it. Tripwire sneered at the most recent post the girl had made, practically calling him out for his ineptitude. He seethed, as he let his hand curl around the fitted grip of the 1911 he’d “acquired”. Oh, he’d show those girls, he’d show them exactly what happened when you fucked with your betters.

LT: Dude couldn’t even take down a couple of teen girls, I mean how dumb can you get?!

The sneer on his face only grew… he’d fuck the holes he made in them, then they’d know who was better.

The door swung open with a slam against the inside wall as Sweet Pea hurried into the bathroom and into one of the open stalls, quickly slipping inside and slamming it shut. She found herself sitting on the toilet and curling up into herself. She knew she shouldn’t let her fears get the better of her, but it had been just a few days ago, and some of the pain of the attack was still fresh.

He’d been so close to her, she could still smell his breath, his odor… it stained her. She felt the hot tears come yet again, and wiped at her eyes, she felt like they’d never stop.

“That’s because they never will, not as long as you’re Sweet Pea… Amelia never shut down like this… Amelia would get high, party, maybe suck a nice fat cock, or bury her face in a cute muff… Hey there’s an idea… why don’t you go and bury your face between Lemon Tart’s cute legs… bet you could rock her world real good, and take your mind off the bullshit, sounds like a win win situation to me.”

There she was again, that darkness. Part of her wanted to agree with her, to fall back into her “Tougher” self, but Sweet couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be right to Lemon Tart, and it wouldn’t be true to herself either.

“I can’t… I just can’t.” she curls her legs in closer against herself. As the laughing only got louder in her ears.

Moments passed, then, came the gentle knocking at the stall door. “Pea… it’s Lem, come on girl! Don’t shut us out, Coat’s outside the bathroom, we’ve got privacy, so spill, what’s up?”

The weak chuckle that met Lemon Tart’s ears was that of a defeated teen. “Lemon, I’m fucked up, okay? I’ve got an uncle that raped the hell out of me as a kid, and now wants to do it again, all because I just wanted to get away… I had years of drug use and I mean, God, you know my issues as well as I do.”

Lemon nodded, and sighed. “Yeah, I do Pea, but that’s part of why I care, ya know, you’ve been through so much, but you’re still working forward. You’ve hit a snag, and the attack is fresh on your mind, hell my ankle still hurts.” She chuckled a bit. “But you have to move on, for your family, for yourself, and for me and Coat…. We’ll get past this, but you gotta get yourself back together, Pea.”

Sweet Pea laughed. It was an honest laugh, one that only came out when someone you cared about, pointed something you already knew, but were denying yourself. “I know, Lem.” The door unlocked, and opened, a rather, disheveled Sweet Pea peeking out. “But, I mean, I don’t know that I can keep doing this, I’m, kinda at my wits end over this, and now I feel like I’m putting my friends in danger.”

Lemon Tart smirked. “You’re not. Things happen, and you can’t blame yourself for his actions.” She drew herself up and hugged Sweet Pea, adding, “Look, there’s a dance tonight, here, in the Gym. Why don’t we all go, cut loose a bit, in a safe place where you’ll be surrounded by teachers and staff and plenty of us who care!” She gave Sweet Pea her sunniest smile, the one that she knew said would herald a brighter day. “We can enjoy a night out, and get over this, okay? I seriously doubt he’ll try again after what happened.”

Sweet Pea nodded at that, returning the hug that was lavished on her, drawing the strength she needed, that simple hug helping her come down. “I dunno that bro and sis will be okay with that, but I guess we could ask.”

She looked to Lemon Tart, when both girls turned, hearing a commotion outside the bathroom…

...and one very pissed-off sounding Sugarcoat.

Sugarcoat was getting increasingly irritated, as the girl infront of her continued the assault. “If you weren’t totally braindead, you’d understand that there’s someone who needs a few moments, huh? So just back...off.”

“Why, so that the two lesbos can have their fucking makeout session?! I need to shit, so either you get out of my way, or I’m going to put you through the door…”

Sugarcoat looked about to lose her perpetual cool, when the door cracked open behind her. “It’s fine, she can use it, I’m...I’m okay,” Pea said, as she reached around to rest a hand on Sugarcoat’s shoulder. “Thanks for giving me some space.”

Coat glanced back, just in time to catch the right hook that came her way, landing square across her left jaw, her head craned to the side and her neck let out an audible pop. Leaving a very stunned Sweet Pea and Lemon Tart standing there awestruck as the grin plastered itself across Sugarcoat’s lips.

“See, now you dun fucked up.” Sugarcoat lashed out, almost as if she’d been coiled to strike the entire time, her fist, burying itself deep into Lightning Dust’s stomach. The athletic teen doubling over as Coat pulled back, her eyes narrowing. “Get out of here, and I won’t have to absolutely ruin your day, Dust.”

Lighting Dust, for her part, stumbled back; the hit had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She’d thought she’d drop that lanky bitch with a single blow, but instead, she was the one dropped. “F...fine,” she gasped, pulled herself back, trying to inch away from Sugarcoat, who nodded.

“Oh, and seriously: stop fucking with us. What did we do to you, huh? You’re new, so we’d have welcomed you as a friend, but instead, you’ve picked the preppy bitches. Newsflash: they’ll eat you alive if they find out what just happened here… Better not say anything, hmm?” her eyes flashed dangerously, as Lightning Dust retreated down the hall. Coat, for her part, turned and entered the bathroom. “Fuck, she’s got a hell of a right hook,” she groaned as her two friends flanked her. Pea looked close.

“You’re going to swell bad… didn’t cut you though.” She bit her lower lip. “I have some concealer, but it’s not really your shade.”

Sugarcoat shook her head. “It’ll be fine, I end up this way on occasion after practice, so I’ll just write it up as that if anyone asks…. Though if you’ve got an Advil, it would be appreciated.” Sweet Pea dug in her backpack and pulled out a small bottle and offered it to the girl, who instantly popped two, running the cold water to soak her now swollen eye. “Ungh, Mom’s not going to be happy.”

Sweet Pea just looked to the girl, but gave her a soft hug from behind. “Thanks for taking one for me, Coat.”

Sugarcoat smirked a bit. “Hey, you’re a friend, least I could do.” she gave the slightly shorter girl a squeeze before standing up and straightening her hair in the mirror. “Alright, I think I’m passable for the rest of the day… Come on girls, let’s get this done, then we can get out of here for a while.”

Dark eyes watched as the teens spilled out of the school, wave after wave of them, until two teens caught the eye of the observer.

Tripwire sat quietly, just watching from the car, as the girls walked together, a trio instead of the duo he’d attacked, of course, his focus was on the green haired one in the middle. The tall, lanky black number definitely struck a chord in his loins. Oh yeah, she’d look great spread out under him.

But still, despite the little chocolate number, it was the pale, green haired girl that drew his attention once more. The only one that stoked his ire, and slaked his lust.

He turned over the car’s engine, before pulling out, keeping his distance, he’d turn down the streets, enough to keep an eye on them.

Approval from her siblings had never meant so much. After detailing out the dance that evening to Lemony and Buck, the two had agreed to let her go so long as she came right home after. Sugarcoat had already agreed to pick her up, and right now, she was focused on getting ready. She looked at herself in the mirror. A long, slender white dress hugged her form, covering just enough to be safe, while revealing just enough to be a little scandalous. Pea eyed it, a little makeup could cover some of her more severe scars, and besides, she was going out with Tart and Coat, she didn’t have to go too far out of her way to look amazing. Still, she liked this number, it was adorned with the faintest hints of green along the edges, which shimmered just right when the light hit.

Part of her wanted to run from this, but she focused past it – no, she had to push past all this fear, all this worry. She was going to go out and cut loose a bit; maybe not as wild as she used to, but she was for sure going to have a good time with her friends.

Buck peeked in after knocking on the door frame. “Hey sis, wow, looking pretty good… You sure you’re up to this though?” he asked, standing up straight and walking towards the middle of the room, where Sweet Pea met him, and the two embraced.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Believe me, bro, I need this. I just need to go out, have some fun, and get my head together, ya know. After the attack, I just need to cut loose.” Pea just hugged him before letting go and smiling. “Besides, like you said, there and back. Tart’s cleared to stay over tonight too, if you’re still cool with it.”

He nodded. “I know, Pea, and yeah it’s still cool.” He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Go have fun, Sugar Coat just arrived and is waiting.”

Sweet Pea grabbed the small purse that went with the outfit, giving him a tight hug, before kissing his cheek. “Awesome, We’ll be home by 10.” With that, she practically bounced out the doorway, leaving a rather happy brother in her wake.

Standing in the front room, talking to Lemony, was Sugar Coat. The girl was dressed quite elegantly in her own ensemble. A yellow top with white skirt that hugged her form nicely much like Pea’s did… open backed, showing off her toned form. She smiled over to Sweet Pea as she entered. “Lookin good, Pea.” she embraced her friend as Pea smiled back.

“Hey you too, we ready to do this?” She looked to Lemony who giggled a bit.

“Alright you two, just be safe, okay?” Her face turned somber, before Sugar Coat smiled.

“She’s in good hands Mrs. Gems. After all, we’ll be at the school, straight there, straight back, I promise.”

Lemony could only nod at that. “Just be careful, if anything happens, Sweet Pea, call home, okay?”

“You know I will, Sis. I just... we panicked last time.” She hugged her sister sweetly and smiled. “We’ll be back later tonight.”

With that, the two teens headed off for Sugar Coat’s car, a rather sporty Chrysler 300m.

Rope? Check.
Knife? Check.
Gun? Check, low ammo… no time to buy more. Checking the magazine in the 1911, he had three shots. Would be more than enough to take care of the girls once they got boring.

Tripwire slid the gun home against the small of his back as he finished gathering up his supplies. The small, cute one’s Facebook had the update he’d been waiting for.

“Totally going out tonight with my girls, gonna rock the dance! WHOO @Cornerstone Academy.”

Tripwire grinned, Cornerstone Academy was about to see a reckoning like it never had before.

August 10th, PM. Dance the night away.

August 10th, PM.

Thumping bass could be heard coming from the building, various lights flashing through the doors and windows of the cafeteria-turned-dancefloor for the night. A few students and teachers lined the outside, and a table for checking tickets stood, with a couple of volunteers checking admission and taking money for at the door sales.

Sugarcoat pulled the car into the parking lot. Shifting the vehicle into its space, and putting it into park, she looked at the other two. “Alright girls, we ready for this?”

Lemon Tart smirked; she was rocking out to the music on the radio, but she nodded. “Hells yeah, you know I’m always down for a dance, Coat!”

Sweet Pea glanced up, she’d been holding on to her phone, looking at it the whole ride… her sister’s request for them to call her if something came up echoing through her mind. She blinked, Coat was looking at her with a concerned eye. “What, oh, yeah, I’m totally down for this. Just... still a little shaken up you know.”

Sugar smiled lightly and rested a hand on her friend's shoulder… Lemon however, wrapped her arms around the taller girl. “Chillax, Pea, seriously! I know that uncle of yours is a total freak, but we’ve got an awesome dance to hit up, plus, we should totally dance together!”

Pea laughed lightly, sliding her phone into her purse, grinning ear to ear, as she hugged her friend back and chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose I do owe you that much.” she teased, which got a squee out of the smaller teen.

Sugarcoat, of course, smiled. Yeah, maybe Lem had finally found the one for her, she did kinda hope so. “Well regardless of who’s dancing with whom, we need to get moving.” she got out of the car, Lemon and Pea following.

Lemon Tart had gotten into her own little black dress, the girl’s form hugged in all the right ways. She grinned ear to ear as she hooked an arm through Sweet Pea’s own, wrapping her up and leaning in close. Pea blushed, but just let it happen, at this point, not shocked.

The trio worked their way inside, immediately getting some looks, a few of the boys casting appreciative looks over the trio, and a couple of the girls too, save for the typical elites, who scoffed, and Lightning Dust, who just looked away after noticing Sugarcoat and the others.

Tripwire rolled the vehicle he’d been using for the past few days up along the street. The school coming into view, he could see the lights pulsing, the bass hitting him even this far out. His eyes lingered on the front of the school, just a couple of adults, it’d be easy enough to sneak in, he’d do it through the back, not like there were going to be guards. He smirked; it was sad how low-security schools were these days after all the troubles.

He parked down the street, and slid from the vehicle, his eyes on the wall before him. He climbed it with little trouble, his training making it easy to scale, and slipped over the wall. Glancing around, he moved to the rear of the building, and began looking over the place. Given the school was open for the dance, the alarms were turned off, making it easy to breach the door and enter the school.

The halls were empty, making moving about the place very easy, as he worked his way towards the event, following the heavy thumping of the music. He slid his hand to the gun at his hip, caressing the 1911’s handle slowly… maybe he’d fuck her with it, yeah… then fire off a round in that used up cunt… that’d teach her. Maybe he’d do that after he took her friends in front of her, starting with that little mocha number.

He could already feel the rush of blood to his loins just thinking about it, but he focused beyond the lust, the desires to destroy this girl had him on a razor focus. She’d ruined his life, so he’d ruin hers, then end her like he should have years ago, before that little bitch ran off and started fucking the whole of Canterlot.

He’d been researching, and he knew what she’d gotten up to. She had gone by Amelia while there, the exotic name that those who hired her called her. He smirked, maybe he’d whisper it into her ear while he dumped a load in her.

He smirked, his eyes falling on a janitor's closet, popping the lock with his knife, he nodded, this would work perfectly…. Now he just had to get at them, one by one.

The music pumped, and it practically flowed as Pea walked into the hall, she could feel the energy of it, of course, having a cute teen dancing on your arm helped with that. She giggled a bit at Lemon Tart, watching the younger girl dance.

Lemon let Sweet Pea go, just feeling the music work through her, the audiophile of the group, Lemon was practically melting into the music, her body swayed, popped, locked… Pea had to wonder just where the girl had learned some of these moves, then she remembered the internet was a thing, and chuckled, just swaying a bit to the music herself for now. She was never really much of a dancer, and far be it for her to display her lack of skills now.

Sugarcoat smiled, watching the pair from a short distance, she moved in, speaking loud enough for the pair to hear. “I’ll get us drinks!” Lemon and Pea both nodded, at that, the idea sounding perfect.

Sugarcoat headed off towards the refreshment table, sure things were a little pricey, but the dance had been thrown together to help fund the senior trip. Most everyone was away from the area, out on the dance floor. She never saw the powerful arms wrap around her, one around her chest, the other around her mouth, her attempted scream was met by only the thumping of the music.

Lemon Tart felt alive. The thumping of the music, the sound of the bass, the highs, the lows. The girl practically lived for this. Her body moved practically of its own accord, working it’s way over the dance floor, and around the object of her affection. She’d opened her eyes now and again to spy Sweet Pea, who’s gaze had kept on the slightly younger teen through every move.

Lemon Tart smirked a bit as she wrapped her arms around Pea and danced against her slightly. She felt slender arms work around her waist… just as the music changed, a softer, gentle song hitting the air.

She fell into the swaying motion easily. With Sweet Pea behind her, arms wrapped around her waist, the pair swayed. And Lemon Tart, was in heaven. “Thanks for this Pea, even if this is just as far as things go…”

Sweet Pea shook her head. “Just, I’m scared, Lems, okay?” she said softly, though she was swaying with the girl, there was a stiffness to it. Lemon could feel it, and she turned to the other, looking up into citrine eyes.

“Talk to me Pea, what’s got you scared of this?” she asked, head tilting to the side.

Pea for her part, just shook her head. “Old habits, Lemon… I never really got to explore my personal sexuality, ya know.” she drew back gently, and sighed. Glancing around for a few moments. She wasn’t the most comfortable talking about this, but the girl deserved to hear this. “My sexuality was decidedly chosen for me: bisexual.”
“Why?” Lemon dared to ask.

Pea laughed bitterly. “Because for the right price, you could buy my sexuality.” The laugh went away and she said honestly, “You could get more money out of someone who could swing both ways,” she said flatly. Her eyes fell on Lemon’s, and she could see the sadness in those orbs. At that, Sweet Pea reached out, and drew the girl into a soft hug. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like you that way, because, I do, Lemon, I really do, but I’m afraid that I’ll hurt you.” she says softly. “I’m broken goods and…”

Sweet Pea didn’t get the chance to continue that line of thought, as Lemon Tart leaned up, and captured her lips gently, a soft, loving kiss pressing against her lips, one that caused the older, taller teen to stiffen slightly at first, before relaxing into after a few moments. The kiss lasted just a few seconds before Lemon broke it, looking into Pea’s eyes. “You might be broken, but you’re still wonderful.” she said softly. “All I ask is you give me the chance, Pea, please... “ There was a hint of desperation in Lemon’s voice, of a girl who’d been shot down so many times.

Sweet Pea could only smile gently, and nod. “You got it Lem. Seriously, girl, I was working up to asking you out tonight,” she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck before she glanced up.

Then it finally hit her. “Hey… where’s Coat?” she asked, scanning the crowd.

Lemon blinked a bit, as it hit her too, she looked around, nowhere, could their dark, platinum-haired friend be found.

She was strong, incredibly so for her age, yet Tripwire pinned the girl against the wall and pulled the gun, placing it right against her temple. “You know what this is, bitch?”

Sugarcoat went still, and nodded, eyes wide, she knew very well what that was… the sideways glance, she could see the barrel, and she winced.

Tripwire smirked. “Yeah...Colt 1911, .45cal of death… play nice, and maybe you’ll make it out of this.” he grabbed her arms, and withdrew the rope he’d wrapped around himself for storage, and began binding her arms behind her, a knee pressed into her lower back to keep her held against the wall.

She was sobbing now, Sugarcoat could handle herself in a straight up fight, but this...being held at gunpoint. “W...why?” she asked.

He smirked even wider… a rictus of a grin that would have made the Joker proud… “Because, you’re friends with Sweet Pea.” he struck her against the temple with the gun, and she crumpled. That’d make it easier to move her, and he hefted her over his shoulder. She was built, and he could appreciate that. Dropping her off in the janitor's closet, he couldn’t help but gaze over her form for a moment. She alone would be one hell of a prize…

He reached down and cupped the teen’s ample chest in his hand, getting a feel for her breasts, before he pulled himself back. “Time for that later.” he chided himself, before shutting the door behind him, yeah, he had two more victims to gather, then, the real fun could begin.

Sweet Pea’s eyes shifted around, Sugarcoat hadn’t been gone that long, but the girl wasn’t at the refreshments table, Lemon came out of the bathroom, and shook her head. “Naah, and none of the other girls had seen her, or at least, weren't talking.” the Korean teen said as Sweet Pea sighed.

“I doubt she’d just bail without saying anything, plus she’s our ride. Still, it is a bit early...” her thought was interrupted as she heard Lemon’s cell chirp.

“Yeah it’s a text.” She glanced down at it reading over. “Huh, she went out back, said she just needed some air, wanted to give us some alone time, but she needs to talk to me.” she sighs a bit and glanced up to Sweet Pea. “I really should check on her. I think she’s a bit twitchy, about us. Not in a bad way, she just...she worries about me, ever since well…” she looked down, right hand moving to her left wrist, rubbing softly.

Pea noticed the motion, and she knew, nodding. “I...it’s fine, Lem, trust me,” she smiled lightly. “She’s been your friend for a while, and she worries, I’ve seen her worry.” She giggled. “Go, I’ll be here, the music’s good and I could use a drink.” She gives her friend a tight hug. “Just text if you need me, okay?”

Lemon Tart nodded, before heading off, giving Pea a little wave. Watching her go, Sweet Pea jumped when she felt the tap at her shoulder, she turned around, only to face one Lightning Dust.

The girl just looked at Sweet Pea for a few moments before finally speaking up. “Hey look, I just... I wanted you to know I’ll be backing off you and your friends.” She turned, as Pea was about to speak up. The athletic teen shook her head, ignoring Pea beyond that, she headed back into the crowd. Pea was a little taken back, but after the asskicking she’d gotten from Coat, she guessed that was to be expected. Still, that was one less problem to worry about. She looked out over the dance floor, once more alone, and sighed, heading to get some refreshment herself. hopefully Coat was okay.

Lemon Tart walked outside, phone in one hand, purse on her shoulder as she walked, heels clicking on the concrete. She glanced up as she rounded the building. Coat must be more worried about her than she’d thought, given the text, and they’d been friends for so long…

When she rounded the corner, she’d been about to call for Coat, when the blow came, a crack could be heard and she was suddenly sideways, her eyes crossed, she groaned as she turned, trying to crawl away from whomever had just hit her, when she looked up and saw him… that face, that grin, those eyes… “Y...you…”

Tripwire just grinned back as he leaned over her, and hefted her up. “Yep, it’s me.” he grabbed her and she tried to scream, at least, she’d started to take the breath, when she was suddenly staring down the barrel of the gun, and she shut right up.

“Yeah, that’s a good little piece of fuckmeat, keep your trap shut and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you out of this alive, got it?” he left little time for her to respond, as she hefted to her her feet and slammed her against the wall. She cried out, but instantly quieted down, despite the sobs that were beginning to rack her body. He worked fast, tucking the gun into his waistband, then expertly bound her arms with the rope he’d kept with him, much like he had Sugarcoat. He yanked her over to the spot he’d initially hit her, she’d dropped her cell, and thankfully, the device hadn’t broken. He pocketed it, and shoved her in past the door, heading for where he was already storing the other one.

“You, and your little mocha friend are going to watch, as I get the payback against my niece that I deserve… bitch ruined my life, so I’m going to ruin hers...and you two get to watch.” His gravelly voice hit her ears, and she just let him lead, what else could she do? She’d lost her phone, and he had it, not only that Coat was the martial artist and… then it hit her. “C..coat?”

He opened the closet, and there was Sugarcoat, knocked out, a trickle of blood staining her white hair at the Temple, as he tossed Lemon in with her friend. “Now sit down, shut up, and wait for me, we’ll have a wonderful little reunion in just a bit.” He shut the door, plunging the two girls into darkness…

Sugarcoat groaned, slowly rolling onto her back. “Ugh, fuck… L...Lem?” the voice was music to Lemon Tart’s ears, as she nodded, though she worked herself to a sitting position.

“Yeah, Coat, it’s me, I thought you texted me, and well, it was him…”

Coat whispered. “It’s okay, Lem, you couldn’t have known, but he’s after Pea…”

“Yeah, I know.” the smaller teen just sniffled.

That was when Sugarcoat shifted her way up, she had a headache from hell, but she supposed steel hitting your temple would do that. “Lem, put your back to mine. I’ve got an idea.”

The dance was in full swing, and Pea felt lost in a sea of people, that at most that she had no ties to. She sighed and looked down at her phone, leaning back against the far wall, watching the minutes tick by. It was already 8:30pm, and her friends had seemingly abandoned her…

“Some friends they are huh, the minute things seem to be looking up, the second you get that sweet, sweet girl interested, they ditch you.”

Pea winced, as she tried to shut out that voice, that cruel, dark voice that nagged the back of her mind. “No, it’s not like that…”

“Oh, isn’t it? I bet Coat and Lem are out back getting their freak on together, that’s why Coat was worried about Lem right, she just wanted that sweet, sweet mu…”

Pea grit her teeth, and pushed the voice out of her mind as her own phone chirped and buzzed in her hand. Glancing down she looked to the text.

“Hey, Coat and I need to talk to you, we’re still out back. K?”

Pea blinked a bit, her heart sinking a bit. Did Coat have that big of an issue with this?

“Alright, BRT.” Pea pressed SEND and sighed. Sometimes this kind of social stuff was so damned difficult.

The air outside was cool, compared to the warmth of the bodies inside the dance. She took a deep breath, just taking a moment outfront. She had to admit, she did like it here; things were better than her old days in Canterlot, she had family that cared, she had friends that seemed to care. She was probably overthinking things here. Her friends cared, she knew that.

Rounding the corner, her eyes lifted just in time to fall on the form that haunted her nightmares, reaching out for her. She was unable to get the scream from her lips as powerful arms worked around her, one around her waist, lifting her easily off the ground as the other clamped down around her mouth, cutting off the scream she’d been about to let out.

Pea’s mind was reeling as she bit down, hard, sinking her teeth into the nearest finger she could get.

Tripwire let out a grunt, and slammed her hard against the nearest wall, knocking the air out of her with a gasp, before she doubled over, a fist having met her gut quite hard.

Tripwire was pissed, and he grabbed her by the hair, dragging her towards the door. “Alright, you fucking slut, time you got what was coming to you!”

Sugarcoat worked her fingers against Lemon Tart’s rope; thankfully, Tripwire was in a hurry, and getting sloppy: the knot he’d used, while tough to get out of yourself, was easily undone by another. Lemon, on the other hand, was still curled up, crying.

“Alright Lemon, I know you’re scared, but I need you to focus, okay? You should be able to get out of the rope now, but I need you to undo mine, and do exactly what I say after, alright?”

Lemon nodded and sniffed. There was just enough light in the small room to see by, and Lemon trusted Sugarcoat. She drew her hands free and wiped at her eyes, before turning around, and quickly working at Coat’s rope. She was trying to push past her fear. “Yeah, yeah, okay.” she finally got the rope free and Coat stood, rubbing at the side of her head with a wince.

“Alright, find something hard. He’ll be back soon, so find something hard and heavy, and we’re going to clock him good.” Sugarcoat looked around, grabbing a rather large can of cleaning spray. She could spray this in his face too if it came to that. “Alright, we both need to get on each side of the door, I’ll slam him from one side, and spray him in this face with this, you hit him with what you have…”

Lemon found a wrench, it was on the smallish side, but metal. “Yeah okay…” she moved to the one side of the door, curling up and trying to make herself as small as she could so she wouldn’t get spotted when he came back… and judging by the sounds coming down the hall, he’d be here soon.

Coat smirked, oh she was going to get some payback on this asshole when he came through. She uncapped the spray, ready to get at his face, when the sound of a loud bang down the hallway allerted her to something more going on out in the hall. Carefully, she pried the door open, glancing out.

Pain, a familiar feeling, one that Sweet Pea had become accustomed to during her time as Amelia. Her body ached already, her stomach was pounding, and she was pretty sure, she felt like she was going to throw up. All of that pain paled in comparison to the excruciating sensation running through her scalp as she was practically dragged by her hair into the school, and flung against the nearest set of lockers with a loud BANG.

Crumpling to the floor, she was only there for a second, before those big, burly hands found her tresses yet again, and hoisted her up.

“Enough sandbagging, Sweet.” The voice was gravely as he pushed her against the wall, and she wanted to just withdraw in on herself as she felt that other large hand grope at her chest. Practically enveloping her left breast in a painful squeeze. She wanted to protest, but instead, her body defaulted, and she just did nothing. She just stood there, letting a man have his way with her, as if a switch had flipped in her mind. She just stood there, pain coursing through her form, and took it, her eyes just gazing off past him.

She registered it all, every touch, the feel of him yanking down her top or freeing her breasts of the bra she’d chosen for the evening registered in the back of her mind, but she just stood there, pinned against the lockers, head to one side. Maybe he’d just go away when he got what he wanted.

Of course, she knew better, deep down. This was her first abuser, this was the man that had set her on the path she’d lived for several years before finding a home. She could feel that hand having retreated, and her thighs being spread, she could feel him working his way inside of her, taking her as he had all those times before. She just grunted, barely a sound as the tears streamed down her face. In her mind, she was eight years old again and her uncle’s play thing once more, his Sweet Poon….

Seeing the actions of the man outside, Coat sprung into action, she motioned for Lemon to follow, and slid outside the closet, working her way, carefully, towards Tripwire, whose back was to them, and was currently…. She shoved aside the thought as she had what amounted to a front row seat watching her friend be violated by the man who had nearly destroyed her life once before.

The two girls just moved in behind him, until Lemon took a swing, clocking the large male in the temple with the wrench she’d found, it sent him reeling, his pants tripping him up as he pulled free of Sweet Pea, falling over, exposed to the world. That gave Sugarcoat the chance she was looking for. She spread the cleaning chemicals into his face, causing Tripwire to scream out in pure, unadulterated pain as the chemicals did a number on his vision, and sent him into a coughing fit.

With Tripwire down, and writhing on the ground, Sugarcoat went for the gun. “Get Pea outta here!” she called, looking to the two girls, wrestling with the incapacitated male, who knew he was at the disadvantage, but was trying to use size and skill to overwhelm the younger opponent.

Lemon had already moved to Pea, who was still stock still, her chest exposed to the cool night air of the school building, her dress hiked up. Lemon just got into her line of sight.

“Pea, sweetie, you need to come with me, okay?” The smaller girl was in tears at seeing her love like this, but she had to be strong, she had to be, she took Pea’s hand, who just blinked a few times.

“L..Lem?”

Lemon nodded, “Yeah, come on, we gotta go, we gotta get the cops now.” She pulled her friend, who just seemed almost too shocked to move, but began moving with Lemon towards the exit.

Shaking her head, Sweet Pea let go of Lemon gently, looking into her eyes. “I can’t...not yet.” she looked over, seeing Sugarcoat deliver a strong kick to Tripwire’s side which made the male double over yet again. She saw the gun, and picked it up… fingers tightening around the grip, index finger caressing the trigger as her eyes fell on Tripwire once more, the man that had ruined her life again and again.

“Sugarcoat… go, get Lemon out of here.” her voice was hard, harder than she’d let her voice be in well over a year, her eyes narrowing on the male once more. Sugarcoat just nodded, grabbing Lemon, who looked worried.

“A...are you sure we should just?”

Coat shook her head. “She needs this, Lem, trust me.” she took the younger girl towards the door.

“Whatever you think you’re gonna do bitch, you won’t! This is my day! Mine!”

The sound of two shots rang out down the hall and out the exit as Sugarcoat helped her friend out of the school. The sound of the dance coming to a halt, screams could be heard after the shots as the students began pouring out of the front of the school, evacuation in full progress.

Sugarcoat stopped long enough to turn as Pea walked out, the white haired girl helping Pea pull her top up, to cover her friend’s modesty as best as she could, before Lemon drew Pea close, hugging her. “Okay, okay…” she looked around, seeing Pea’s phone on the ground, she ran for it. She was sure cops would be on the way with two shots fired at a school, she could already hear yelling from the other side of the building as she used the emergency function of the phone to dial 911.

Pea was in shock, but the two shots she’d pumped into the man having rocked her to the core, however, and she was starting to come to her senses, which only served to make her slide down the side of the building’s wall, curling her legs in on herself. She could still feel him, inside her again. She hugged her legs against her chest as she listened to Lemon frantically make the call to the authorities.

Squad cars were on the scene within three minutes, Lemon having told them about Tripwire, about the assaults, and everything to the dispatcher after reporting the initial shots.

Paramedics arrived on scene moments later. A stretcher brought out with Tripwire on it, the big male still screaming and cursing, even trying to fight against the paramedics. Then he saw Lemon and Pea and fought even harder. His attempts to get free of the stretcher caused it to tip over, spilling him to the ground with a cry of pain, as it became clear what had happened, the big male’s legs a mess of blood.

Sweet Pea had shot out both of his kneecaps, yet despite this, he tried to crawl towards Pea as if compelled by some twisted psychosis. Pea in turn moved to lash back at her abuser, her fight or flight reflex pinning firmly to fight,slamming kick after kick into the man’s face as he attempted to grab at her. Police quickly moved in, pulling the violated teen back and finally subduing Tripwire, ensuring he was put under by the paramedics before they pulled him back onto the stretcher and carried him out.

A female medic from another ambulance walked over to Sweet Pea and Lemon Tart, who were finishing up with the police after Tripwire had been wheeled away. “Hello girls, My name is Bedside Manner. Lemon Tart and Sweet Pea, correct?”

Both girls nodded, Lemon speaking up. “I’m Lemon, she’s Pea.” She looked over, watching Coat explain everything as one of the cops held the 1911, sealing it away for evidence

“Alright, Lemon, Pea, I just... given the nature of what happened, and the reports…” she looked to Pea, who just held up a hand.

“I… I know what you’re asking, and what you need,” she said softly, her eyes looking to the paramedic, and nodding. “I’ll go to the hospital after this; my family will want me to anyway.” She wrapped her arms around herself. Looking over to Lemon, the girl nodded, never leaving Pea’s side, something Pea couldn’t help but be happy for despite this entire situation.

Bedside nodded. “Alright, I just...if what I overheard your friend telling the cops is true, I want this guy put away forever.” She squeezed Pea’s arm very gently, letting her know she was in her corner, before looking to Lemon. “I need to check you out as well – I can see you took a blow to the head.”

Lemon nodded. “I know but…” She looked over to Sweet Pea, who looked down to her friend, nodding.

“Go, Lem, get yourself checked out. I’m safe,” she said, as if disbelieving the very notion. “I’m finally safe.”

Lemon nodded, heading off with Bedside as a very familiar car pulled up. Buck Withers and Lemony Gems rushed over to Pea, hugging her tightly from both sides.

“Sweet Pea, oh God, you’re okay!” Lemony was in tears, as she held her adopted sister, with Buck looking absolutely pissed.

“Where the hell was the faculty in all of this!?” he growled as one of the officers stepped up.

“Buck Withers, I assume? Sweet Pea’s guardian?” The officer asked, as Buck just nodded. “Officer Elm, SFPD. The facility was unaware of the situation given the dance, and the locations everything took place were not patrolled. Your...sister shot the assailant in his kneecaps. Hell of a shot too.” Elm nodded over to Pea, who was looking, shaken, clearly not in the best of places, which got Buck quite upset.

“I see… I want full charges pressed against Tripwire. Everything you can pin on him, I want brought against him.”

“Invent something, if you have to,” Lemony growled.

Elm nodded. “Trust me, we’re already looking into that. He’s also an escaped convict, so I really don’t think there’s going to be much problem with that, Mr. Withers, Mrs. Gems. Just take care of your sister, because she’s going to need you.” The officer withdrew a card, passing it to Buck. “This is the number for RAINN. You won’t believe how often this happens, to the point that we have to carry cards.”

Buck took the card, and moved back to his family, as Sugarcoat, rejoined by Lemon Tart, saw to their friend. Buck, nodded to Sugar. “You saved her...thank you Sugar.”

Sugarcoat sighed and shook her head. “She’s my friend, and… I just want her safe, and after what he did… what he’s done, everything, I just...I had to save my friends.”

“They were there for me, he...he attacked them first, then me.” Pea looked down. “S..so what now?”

Lemony looked to Buck, then back to her sister. “Now we bring him to justice.”

Author's Note

And we've finally hit nearly the ending of all of this.

I want to thank each and every one of you who have kept up with this fic, and driven me to continue.

Thank you, all of you.

IL: Epilogue: August 29th and September 3rd. What Dreams May Come.

August 29th

Five sat quietly: three family and two friends to the girl whose life was being put on display before a jury – before the man who had destroyed her life multiple times.

Sly Defense had tried hard to defend his client Tripwire, casting doubt on Sweet Pea’s character, essentially trying to break down the girl’s past as a prostitute and drug user to cast absolute doubt on her accusations.

However Legal Means, the prosecutor backing Sweet Pea’s case, had a plan. The woman stepped forward, now ready to execute it: “You Honor, I would like to present this VHS tape to the court as evidence of the Defendant’s horrific actions…” She looked to those gathered in the courtroom, giving a sad look to Sweet Pea, knowing what was on that tape. But Pea sat there, resolute, and gave a nod—her bravery pushed Means’ actions now.

The judge motioned for the tape as Legal Means spoke once more. “Upon that tape is a recording of the Defendant, Tripwire, sexually assaulting Ms. Pea, at the tender age of nine. In graphic detail, may I add.”

The judge practically paled. “Court is in recess while I review this evidence. Given the nature of it… I will view it and pass the findings to the jury after we will reconvene in thirty minutes.”

Tripwire seemed to not care one bit, but with his legs in casts, he sat there in an orange prison jumpsuit, simply glaring daggers at Sweet Pea and her family the entire time.

Means brought Pea and her family to the edge of the courtroom as to give them privacy. Looking at Sweet Pea, she whispered, “You’re sure about this? I mean, that tape…”

In response, Sweet Pea nodded.

“Sweet Pea, I watched that tape,” Means reminded her. “I couldn’t sleep that night and I cried the next day over what happened to you. I’ve seen a lot of things over my career as an ADA, but that...that tape….”

“I know what he’s done to me,” Pea said in a tone that would not brook discussion. “They should too. You saw it and couldn’t handle it...so lets see how the judge fares.”

Lemony moved to just hug her sister, Buck joining in. Sugarcoat and Lemon both adding to the pile as Legal watched, a soft smile finding her face.

“Well at least you have a good family and friends. And well, if I know this judge… Tripwire won’t make it out of this courtroom here a free man after all he’s done.”

September 3rd

Just over three weeks had gone by since the attack, and Sweet Pea had settled back into what was her new normal life. And part of that involved close friends, including the girl currently clinging to her side as they cuddled up with a movie on the TV.

“I’m here for you, Pea, you know that?” Lemon looked up to her girlfriend, who nodded.

“We both are,” Sugarcoat agreed. “Though, I’m not going to kiss you, sorry.”

Pea laughed at that, then closed her eyes and rested her head against Lemon’s shoulder as they snuggled up on the couch. “I know, and thank you both for being there during the trial. That lawyer was a scumbag! I can’t believe he actually tried to defend Tripwire!”

Lemony just looked over from where she was cuddled up with Buck and smiled softly “Well, yeah, but it was his job, to defend those who don’t have the cash to hire someone better, or whomever the state says he has to defend, regardless of if they believe his innocence or not.”

Sweet Pea briefly thought about the lawyer she’d met in Canterlot – Cadance – and wondered if she’d ever had to defend someone she didn’t want to. Realizing that, Sweet Pea sighed, nodding. “Yeah, well… at least he’s put away now, and won’t be hurting anyone else.”

At least she hoped. Deep, in the back of her mind, that dark laughter could be heard still, the remnants of that darkness within her still toying at the edges of her mind, but had mostly gone silent since the events of the dance.

Pea pushed the sound aside in her mind, and just leaned over, pressing a kiss to Lemon’s cheek, causing the younger girl to blush up a storm.

“Love you, Lem.”

Lemon just smiled up to Sweet Pea, eyes meeting eyes. “Love you too, Pea.”

Pea’s phone chirped, and a single line of text could be seen on the screen.

“I’m glad you’re safe. Don’t worry about him anymore – he’s never going to harm anyone ever again.” The message was unsigned, but beneath it was an odd image: the picture of an eclipsed sun, its corona blazing.

Sugarcoat, enjoying some of the popcorn glanced over to Sweet Pea. “That’s, not your usual ringtone, is it?”

Pea blinked, Shaking her head. “No, no it’s not.” She’d been about to show Sugarcoat the message but it seemingly vanished from her phone before she could even hit the reply button. Despite this, she couldn’t help but smile. “But, I think it’s okay.” That symbol, after all, reminded her of a dear friend.

Laying in his bed, his legs still in casts, Tripwire grunted. Solitary was a bitch, the small cell so tiny he could barely move to use the shitcan they called a toilet in Marin Point Prison, California’s maximum security prison.

Still, his mind was free, and with that, he planned. He’d been given thirty years, and even if he made parole, he would still end up behind bars back in South Dakota. Supposedly he heard something about the two states making a deal where he’d serve his combined sentence here, but he didn’t give two fucks about that – he hadn’t planned to serve more than it took for his legs to heal.

After all, he busted out of prison before, he could do so again. And when he was done, he’d find his Sweet Poon again and let her know who owned her. But now, he had two more on the list: that bitch Sugarcunt, and their fuckbuddy, Lemon Twat. He was going to get all three of them, no matter how long it took, and when he was done, they would either beg him to kill them...or beg for more.

He smiled. All he had to do was heal.

However, a light suddenly flashed in the room, brighter than a star, so much so that he had to shield his eyes. When the light went away, he saw a young woman floating above him, her red-and-gold hair radiating pure power. She looked porn star perfect, but despite the situation, Tripwire couldn’t imagine getting in between this girl’s thighs.

Not with the cold fury in her cyan eyes, a burning so powerful it made him wilt.

“You don’t get to hurt anyone anymore,” she said simply, as if it was a natural law. She lit on the ground and part of him wondered if he was going mad: a girl, clearly tailor-made for fucking, and somehow, he was afraid of her.

“I guess your niece really did a number on your legs, didn’t she?” the stranger asked.
“Who the fuck are y––” he began, but she raised her finger and he found he could no longer speak.

“Who am I? You can call me God,” she said, a cruel smile coming to her face. “Perhaps not the Abrahamic one, but one all the same. And my adorant called.”

“Adorant?” he gasped, the brief lock on his speech having vanished.

“She isn’t a worshipper – I don’t want those – but she cares about me all the same, and so it suffices,” the girl said in a mysterious tone, a riddle that no mortal could answer. She walked over to where he sat and conjured a chair. “You hurt her. You took what you had no right to. You destroyed her and only now is she living the life she deserves. You committed murder – and I’m not talking about whatever lives you took, as you will pay for those. No, you murdered the girl Sweet Pea could have been, and though she will find herself anew in the years to come, you still took that life and there will still be a reckoning.”

Tripwire laughed. Goddess or not, she had no right to tell him what to do with what he owned. “And once I get out of here, I’ll do it again. And to Sugarcunt and Lemon Twat, too. Hey, maybe I’ll even get that woman that’s raising Poon and fuck them all on that man’s body.” He gave her a grimace. “All I have to do is get out.”

“Then today is your lucky day,” the flame-haired deity replied, “for today, you are leaving.” Seeing the curious look on his face, she laughed. “Oh, no one will know. When they come here in an hour, they’ll find that you hung yourself, and you will be reported as dead. But you and I know you won’t be.”

With her hand, she clawed open reality and tore a hole, revealing hell. “You are going to a prison where none escapes. You should be honored – you will be the second human to ever sit in the bowels of Tartarus.” Her eyes flickered with a burning light.

“The second?” he asked, just as the world became filled with darkness.

When he came to, he screamed. He was no longer human, but instead had been turned into some kind of horse, his hands having turned into forelegs, covered in a coat of muddy brown. He sat in the middle of some sort of circular room, with a flickering shield around the whole of the rotunda. Seated in the corner was a forlorn unicorn, whose horn had been covered with some sort of metal, but Tripwire ignored that for now.

He walked up to one of the shields and saw his reflection: a stallion, with a brown coat, short dark gray mane and tail, unshorn hocks, a flaming ordnance shell branded onto his flanks and indigo-hued eyes, one marred by a scar. He then heard a snap and fell to the ground; he snarled and looked at his hooves, which were now encased in glowing, iron manacles – hobbles.

“Welcome to hell, Mr. Tripwire.” He turned to see a maize-colored unicorn with wings, and the same hair color, and somehow, he knew it was the goddess. “Virgins are allowed a wish from a unicorn,” the mare said. “In her heart, Sweet Pea is still that, even if she doesn’t realize it. Her wish in her heart of hearts was to be free. I’ve given that to her.

“You murdered the child Sweet Pea was. Yet she has grown and has the love of family, friends and a devoted paramour. I have just murdered you, Tripwire. Let’s see what you end up with.” Nothing more to say, she walked away, his screams ringing in the distance.

As she came out of Tartarus, the doors closing behind her, Sunset changed into her human form and conjured a snack for Cerberus, reaching over and petting him.

“I’m not even going to ask why you’re here.” Sunset turned to see Princess Twilight approaching. Her fellow alicorn’s duties now included being the warden of Tartarus, which meant that new prisoners were her responsibility.

“Twi, let’s just say that there are humans that deserve this place more than even the worst we can give them. Today, I put someone there because he deserved it. I’m not going to justify it to you or anyone else. All I’m going to say is that I did it to protect a friend.”

“I understand,” was all Twilight said. “But...how did you get here without using the mirror?”

Sunset laughed and snapped her fingers, opening a new portal. “That’s the prerogative of the Alicorn of Earth,” she said, reaching over to hug her friend briefly before going home.

Author's Note

It's been a long, long time coming, but it's finally finished.

This was something of an important fic for me, simply because of my own history of abuse as a child. While not as painful as what Sweet Pea has gone through, those scars run deep, and even now, years later, I have memories of what happened.

Sweet Pea has been through hell, but so have so many of us, it's through this work that I hope to let people know, you're not alone out there, you're not the only one that bad things happen to. Not all of us get happy endings though... and Pea, well, somehow, I doubt this is the last we'll see of Sweet Pea, Lemon, and Sugar Coat again. When, well, I have no idea, but I'm sure, this isn't the last we've seen of them.