Stockholm Shimmer

The police station was an entire different place when the night set in, it was quiet and somber. Every step she took echoed off the glass and plywood walls and the only area that was lit up was the receptionist's lobby. The contrasting silence of the night gave the place an eerie ambiance.

Twilight quickly made her way to the archive room and tried to retrace her steps to the shelf where she had seen Sunset's file. It didn't take her long, after less than a minute of looking she was finally back in front of the mysterious box. Without hesitation, she pulled it out of the shelf and took it upstairs to her office. Once at her desk, she lifted the lid and threw it aside, revealing the secrets underneath.

Inside the box there were at least a dozen old folders and many small empty evidence bags. Twilight grabbed the nearest folder and opened it, it had the personal information of one Sunset Shimmer, as well as a missing person report with an old picture of her. Inside the other folders she discovered more investigation files related to the search for the missing Sunset, but she found nothing that revealed why the case was closed, nor how it was resolved, it simply had been frozen and confined to the archive room without explanation. Twilight kept looking, but she was unable to find anything useful, other than the fact that she knew Sunset was lying to her. She'd need to dive even deeper now if she wanted to find out the truth. In one of the files she found the address to what was allegedly Sunset's old home. That was her next lead.

The drive was long, since the house was in the northern outskirts of the city; as she moved through the dark streets of the city she could feel the drowsiness falling upon her, it was very late into the night, but turning back now was not an option.

The house described in the file was nothing like what she found upon arriving at the address. It was a two-story house that looked like it had been long abandoned, the paint on the outside was so deteriorated it looked like it had been hit by a hurricane, some of the windows were completely broken and the small graden in the front yard was almost entirely dead save for a single pine tree that still prevailed.

Twilight got out of her car and looked at the house; the blackness of the night made it even creepier as she got closer, from the sidewalk it almost looked like a haunted house. Twilight didn't know what she'd find inside, but she decided she was prepared for anything.

The first thing she noticed upon crossing the entrance fence was that the mailbox was overflowing with years-old correspondence, letters and envelopes of many different sizes and shapes decorated the front yard where green grass once grew; after crossing the yard she noticed the front door was unlocked, she hesitated for a second but then opened it, the door felt heavy and the rusted hinges whirred loudly as she pushed, giving out a ghastly metallic screeching. Once inside she felt a gust of chilling wind strike her from the main hallway, shivers crept up her skin, she could not tell if they were for the cold or the eerie sight. She tried to turn on the light switch, but the power was out, so she took her flashlight out of her coat. The hallway was in a state of decay, but it didn't look evacuated, there were common everyday items all over the place. She looked into the living room and noticed a backpack leaning against a couch, she went to investigate and found high school books and unused pens and notebooks; in the kitchen she noticed a foul smell that she eventually realized came from the fridge, it was filled with spoiled foods and drinks expired decades ago. It was as if the inhabitants of the house had just left and never returned, taking nothing with them.

She went upstairs, there was another hallway and three doors, the first one led to a bathroom and the second one led to an empty room that seemed to be in a halted process of remodelling, it was completely empty save for an old ladder that leaned against the wall. In the last door she noticed something that drew a gasp out of her. Right under the peephole were inscribed on a plaque the initials "S. S.", above a painting of a sun identical to the one Sunset always wore on her clothing. Twilight took a step back, she breathed in and slowly took her hand to the doorknob.

She was just about to open it when she felt another presence in the hallway with her. She froze in place for a second, then heard the air cracking beside her.

She haphazardly ducked and heard a loud crash behind her. When she turned around she saw a mysterious person clad in full black clothing taking a bat out of the cracked plywood wall. Twilight regained her composure and stood up. The stranger swung the bat at her, Twilight dodged again, then threw a punch at the hooded person's face.

The attacker back off against the wall, dropping the bat with a loud thunk. Twilight lunged forward but the stranger evaded her attack, Twilight crashed against the wall, she could feel her head becoming light.

Taking advantage of Twilight's momentary daze, the hooded stranger tackled her, making her tumble to the floor. The two fighters struggled as they each tried to get the upper hand.

Twilight's attacker held her against the ground, trying to suffocate her. Twilight managed to free her neck from the attacker's grasp but let her guard down in the process. She didn't notice when, but the attacker pulled out what seemed to be a piece of cloth and tried to push it against her face. Twilight struggled to keep her foe's arms away from her but the accumulated exhaustion began to get to her. Her arms slowly stopped responding and as the stranger covered her mouth and nose with the wet rag she could feel the world fuse together around her, the shapes began to make no sense, she could not feel her limbs, or the person's weight pressing her against the ground, one by one, her senses began to shut down, and before long, darkness seeped in.

She woke up with a terrible headache, she hastily got to her feet, she was still in the same hallway in Sunset's old home. She could hear a thunderstorm raging outside. It was still dark, probably past midnight, she thought. She tried to recollect her thoughts as she recovered from the previous struggle. She looked through the hallway window, the rain was heavy. She looked around the place for clues about her attacker but was unable to find anything, she looked back at the door with the painted sun. She tried to open it but realized it had been locked.

"Well someone doesn't want me to know something." She thought out loud. She then reached into her pocket to look for her phone but realized there was something inside which she had not put there, she took it out and lifted it up to her face; it was a magenta guitar pick. She had seen this guitar pick before. "Sunset Shimmer." She whispered. she must've had it with her when she attacked me, sloppy. She thought to herself.

She didn't waste time, she hurried downstairs and rushed to her car. Outside, the thunderstorm raged on, the street was completely covered in enough water to soak her feet whole. She started the engine, her destination was clear, and the answers to her questions awaited her.