Animus (The Midnight Series)

Chapter 1: Lost

I

It was late at night. The storm was coming through, with the wind currents brushing up against the doors and windows. The weeds and branches of trees tap upon them, making a sound, as if someone was outside their home. The thunder was light, not touching the ground, nor disrupting the townspeople's sleep throughout the night. It was, instead, calming to listen to. The rain started to drizzle, as Sunset Shimmer heard it from her bathroom window. She was taking a long deserved bath, with candles surrounding the tub to give a dimness of light in an unlit room. She was meditating with the sounds of the rain and wind, picking up the patterns, that was soothing to listen in. The tub was full of bubbles, which began to dissipate as she prolonged her time in the tub with her eyes closed.

She thought about her previous adventure with everyone. She wondered if Twilight was trying to say something to her. Majority of that incident was Midnight's doing, but Twilight might have had something to do with it. Was Twilight really jealous of Princess Twilight? Did she do all of that because of her? There was something unexplained and mysterious, of what she saw back there, all her research and paperwork inside the locked closet. All the things hidden, made Sunset start to shiver. Sunset opened her eyes and saw that the bubbles were gone, and the tub was no longer hot. The candle wax was starting to spill out onto the floor as the flames grew thin, ready to burn out. Sunset doused them out, and she got out to turn on the lights. She grabbed a clean bathrobe from the towel rack at the opposite side of the sink. She drained the tub, drying out her long glossy fiery hair. Her arms felt numb from being in the air, as she wrapped a towel around her head.

II

She walked out into the living room, and the lamps were still on. Making it a nice, dim atmosphere inside the room. The windows were fogged with raindrops pouring down on it from the outside, and the heat from the bathroom was condensing inside. She could hear the nearby branches of trees, scratching up against the walls outside her home as the winds blew. She sat down on her living room couch, still contemplating about Midnight. Her phone was sitting on the desk where her lamp and half drunken tea was left. She picked up her tea, it was cold and bittersweet, as she put it up to her lips to drink. She glanced at her phone and picked it up. She opened to her lock screen, and there were no messages or updates. They had gone through all that effort to get out some heavy secrets from each other, but nothing changed from an ordinary day. Perhaps they sometimes needed time to decompress, as they moved on. Most days were quiet, even during school. The only time they've spent together was during Rainbow Dash's games, or making an occasional vlog video, or even just wanting to hang out to celebrate something. And then comes trouble, which prompts them all to come together to take the evil down. Then it was back to a normal routine once again. Sunset felt kind of out of place, given that she was a pony in a human world. If there was a human Twilight, was there a human Sunset? Sunset had gone through phases of existential moments to try and feel like there was something more. Sunset did not try to seek out the other Sunset, what good would that do? She would often ask herself. With all the vlog videos and internet fame Sunset had, Sunset was sure the other one would notice that there was another person like her in the world somewhere. Sunset thought about what Princess Twilight said about going back to Equestria, maybe during the summer, she could go back to visit? That all depends if the portal was even opened.

As Sunset was sitting comfortably, and re-watching her vlog videos, she heard something outside her front door. She thought it could have been twigs or rocks being thrown around with the wind, but it sounded heavier than that. Sunset walked up to look, but as she stood up, she saw a quick flash outside her window by the front door. It could have been lightning, striking down into the ground, but she had not felt the light struck the earth, or the sound of a boom after it. It sounded as if her light bulb outside her front door had gone out. The sound of the glass breaking against something, in which could have been the dirt swallowed by the winds. Sunset sighed and as she contemplated putting up another light bulb tomorrow morning. Sunset went to her cupboard to fetch a pack of light bulbs. Sunset might as well do it now, because it's not something she usually had to do, so it would not even cross her mind the next day.

III

Sunset went to turn off the light switch. She opened the door, and right outside her door, she saw a figure in the darkness. Sunset screamed, and slammed the door. She locked the door again. She tried to look out the window, she could not see with all the heat condensing from her skin and from the bathroom, with the rain pouring down from the other side, there was fogginess and darkness. Sunset grabbed a flashlight and a baseball bat over by her computers underneath her bed, and she gathered her strength to unlock and reopen the door. If anything, her element was on her neck for guidance. Sunset turned the flashlight on, and readied her weapon to the air. She opened the door. Sunset's eyes had opened wide and her pupils shrunk to the size of pebble.

"T-Twilight?!" Sunset questioned. She saw Twilight Sparkle standing there in the rain with no coat or shoes on. "Come in here!" Twilight followed the light into Sunset's living room. Sunset backed away from her, and shut the door to lock it. There was something off about Twilight, Sunset thought. She seemed... lifeless. The way she was walking to her like a walking corpse. Twilight was soaking wet, her hair was scraggly, and her eyes were dull and wide open without her glasses on, and her feet were covered in dirt, tracking mud all over the floor. "Twilight? What's wrong?!" Sunset continued. "Why were you out there in the rain?!" Twilight did not answer. She stood there silently, and looked up at Sunset with those huge eyes. There was emptiness in them. It frightened Sunset. Sunset saw her hands, and they were bleeding, as the blood fell onto the floor with the dried mud from her feet. "Twilight?!" Sunset screamed.

IV

Sunset rushed her to the bathroom. She washed her hands with soap to wash off the blood and dirt, and saw pieces of glass falling from her hands. It seems Twilight was the one that had made the front light turn off. She held onto the bulb until it burst into her hands and caused her skin to rip open. As Sunset was carefully taking the glass out her hand, Twilight resisted and grunted in pain. Twilight tried to pull away from her, but Sunset had kept her hands into the sink.

"Stop it!" Sunset yelled. Twilight got away from her. "What is wrong with you?!" Sunset grabbed a towel and the first-aid kit from her bathroom cupboard, under the sink. She placed Twilight down on her toilet seat, and cleaned off the water and blood. The towel was soaked, Sunset wrapped her hand with a clean gauze. Twilight stopped resisting her. She just looked at her hands as she was wrapping it, trying to move her fingers, but could only use them as pinchers like a crab. "What are you doing here?! What's wrong?!!" Sunset questioned, as she gently tugged her shoulder. But, all she got was Twilight's dark, soul-gripping eyes that would make her feel uncomfortable and send shivers down Sunset's spine. Sunset brought a towel from the cupboard to wipe her up. Twilight started to fight her as she tried to wipe off her head and body. "Twilight! Stop!" Sunset kept yelling at her. Twilight was still soaked and was cold to the touch of her. There was definitely something wrong with her.

V

Sunset grabbed her shoulders and used her element to see into her mind. She saw nothing but darkness until she saw what happened outside her front door. "What the hell?!" Sunset got up and was mad. Twilight followed her to the living room, she stood by staring at her, as Sunset paced around the living room. Sunset angrily sighed. "What is wrong with you?!" She yelled again, aggressively shaking Twilight. It made Twilight scared. Twilight tried to speak, but she just made a noise like she couldn't speak normally. Twilight yelled. Sunset was devastated. She had no idea what was wrong with Twilight.

Sunset grabbed her phone and called the girls. None of them answered. She was about to phone the police, but she saw Twilight walking around her house, looking at things and touching everything. Twilight came to her book, and Sunset stopped, dropping her phone on the couch, and snatched the book away from her.

"No! Don't you dare touch it!" Sunset yelled. Twilight looked at her. Sunset could not look at her, as her eyes were freaking her out, to continually stare back at her. Sunset placed her book down, and had taken Twilight up the stairs. Sunset wanted to give her some fresh clothes to wear for now to sleep in. Hopefully the girls will come over in the morning to help her figure out Twilight's behavior, Sunset thought to herself. Sunset was scrambling through her dresser and found the sleepwear she gave Princess Twilight, but she had her other pair of pajama shirts and matching pants to wear. She handed the clothes over to Twilight, while she put on her's. Twilight had touched the clothing and looked at them as if she had no idea what they were. "Put them on!" Sunset said to Twilight. Twilight just kept playing around with them, even making them fall onto the floor like a child. "No!" Sunset sighed. "Please, don't make me do this..." Sunset said to herself. Sunset had to do it for her. She took her back down the stairs to the living room to pick up the clothes she dropped, and started taking off her clothes one by one. Twilight was resisting her, and was trying to make her stop. "Stop it!" Sunset yelled. Twilight fought with her. "Stop! I don't want to do this anymore than you do!" Twilight backed away and had given Sunset a mean look, as she tripped to the floor from the steps. "Twilight!" Sunset yelled. Twilight tried to get up to the stairs, but she could not get up quick enough as Sunset tackled her and made her put on the shirt and pants. Twilight stood up, and was touching the clothing on herself. Sunset was exhausted trying to put the clothes on Twilight, she had given no other thought to it. She placed Twilight's soaked clothes and all the towels she had used in the bathroom. Twilight continued to look around as if she had never seen the place before.

VI

Sunset made Twilight head back upstairs. She reached out to her blankets from one corner and uncovered it.

"Get in bed!" Sunset pointed towards the opening she left. Twilight did nothing but stare where Sunset had pointed. "Go to bed!" Sunset continually yelled, and pointed at the opening again. Twilight just looked at her. Sunset disgusted with her, forcefully laid her down. She covered her up, and tightened the sheet and blanket so she won't be able to get up or fall off the bed. Twilight struggled being under the blankets. She couldn't move, so she stopped and watched Sunset head back down the stairs. "Goodnight Twi!" Sunset said, as she turned off the lamps downstairs. "We'll have to figure out what's wrong with you tomorrow!"

Sunset laid on the couch to rest, and she fell asleep as quickly as she laid down. Not even thinking about what just happened.

VII

Later on that evening, Sunset dreamt of Twilight. She was frightened by her. Twilight's eyes were dreadfully cold. The deadly stare, which made everything about the situation worse.

Sunset woke up, as she was getting scared of the dream she had. Sunset turned the lamp on. Twilight was standing right by the couch, with her intense stare looking straight at her. Twilight had nothing but her eyes, she had no other facial features. Sunset screamed as Twilight had placed a blanket over her face.

VIII

Sunset woke up again from the couch. She was scared to turn on the lights, but she did with her eyes closed. Luckily, no one was there, Sunset thought. Sunset would feel the cold piercing and dripping from her head down to her back. The uncomfortable silence made her think twice about going back to sleep again. Sunset walked up to check on her friend. Twilight was awake. She turned her head and watched Sunset come up the stairs. Sunset saw that she was awake, with that stare haunted her. Sunset tried to close her eyes gently, trying to make her go to sleep, but Twilight would open them back up, slowly, and one eye at a time. Sunset shifted back. She was about to head back down the stairs, that was until Twilight had reached out to her arm. Twilight's grip suddenly became stronger, making her arm feel the pain of being crushed. The bandages began to soak up more blood as she reopened up her wounds.

"Ow! Stop it!" Sunset yelled. "Let go!" Sunset tried to get away from her, but her grip was tightening. Sunset kept fighting, until Twilight used her other hand to drag her closer. "No!" Sunset stopped resisting because she was afraid of falling off the platform to the living room. Sunset was tossed around and landed on top of Twilight. In which, Twilight wrapped her arms around her and her legs underneath the blankets had locked up with Sunset's legs. Making it difficult for Sunset to move. "Get off me!" Sunset tried to pull her off, but Twilight kept her arms tight around her until she grew tired of fighting back. Sunset was out of breath and was unconscious. The last thing she sensed was Twilight's cold arms and body wrapped around her. The cold atmosphere made Sunset feel the uncomfortable frozen rain and wind from outside throughout the night. Sunset drifted off into a sleep, with her eyes closing slowly. Twilight's eyes were the last thing she saw.