Chapters "What do you think, chief?" Twilight asked.
"We're done." Chief Fate Blossom answered stiffly. "Trail's gone cold, we can't dive any further."
"But, we already found one of the bodies, we only need to follow the same steps again and..." Twilight tried to explain, but she was interrupted by her commanding officer, who simply raised a hand.
"No 'buts', detective, case is closed, that's an order." The chief had a stern look on her brow, and her gaze was frigid. She dismissed Twilight with a glance and sharply turned to the other officer in the room. "Officer Candlesticks, get these files to the archive, we're moving on from this."
"Yes ma'am." Candlesticks responded diligently and quickly began rounding up the paperwork on the desk. The chief made her way to the door, but as she turned the knob she glanced at Twilight one last time.
"I'm sorry." She whispered with a sad tone. "But even you can't save everyone, Miss Sparkle."
Twilight could feel the frustration build up inside her, she always hated closing case files she was sure she could solve given enough time and resources, but the South Canterlot Police Department was always running short on time and supplies. She saw every day how her fellow officers lost their hair to the constantly accumulating cases that made their way to their desks. The southern districts of Canterlot City were among the most turbulent zones in the entirety of Equestria, and she always felt like their performance was continuously getting more and more lackluster. She always made her best effort to tackle as many cases as possible, but the city was too big, and the week had only so many days, she couldn't possibly handle everything on her own. She needed a break, but she didn't want to take it. The citizens of Canterlot depended on her.
She helped Candlesticks get the closed case's files to the archive room. Candlesticks was one of the newest recruits to make their way into the South Department, he was a lot younger than her and a lot skinnier, had bone-white skin and dirty blonde hair, he was a humble and shy guy, they were good friends and regularly chatted about the cases she worked on, Twilight was glad she had someone like him to talk to when she worked overtime, she got along with most of her fellow officers, but she found it hard to make any significant relationships with any of them. The only close friends she had from her time at CHS that still lived in Canterlot were Sunset Shimmer and Applejack; nevertheless, she barely ever had time to visit or even talk to them; that was when Candlesticks' company came as a warm relief to her, despite his introverted demeanor.
She hadn't realized how much paperwork a case could generate, especially a big case like this one. When she was working on one she barely ever had time to stop and think about the documents she recovered and the ones she created, the only thing that mattered were the clues and the leads, all she cared about was finding out the truth. The last case had filled three huge boxes that stacked on top of each other were just as tall as her. Getting them down to the basement was a challenge in and of itself.
She was familiar with the archive room, but she hadn't visited it in a long time, at least, not with time to really observe it. It was a big underground storage area that encompassed nearly the entire basement of the police station, it had rows upon rows of shelves and racks topped with boxes of many sizes and colours extending all the way to the very back of the room, the light inside it was dim and one of the ceiling lamps seemed to be flickering, giving the place an eerie feel as one delved further into it. The older boxes smelled of moss and humidity and some were so old they had spider webs all over them.
"Where should this one go, Miss Sparkle?" the frail officer asked as they both arrived with their new boxes filled with paperwork.
"There's no space in the closest shelves, we'll have to go a bit further, just follow my lead" Twilight responded serenely. Candlesticks nodded and the two officers carefully moved through the completely packed and unorganized shelving of the archive room looking for a rack to finally be able to call it a day, Twilight really needed to unwind after the extensive work she did throughout the entire month. She was tired, and having the notion of a new unsolved case to archive certainly didn't help improve her mood.
"Someone really ought to organize this place." Twilight complained after a few minutes of walking through the rows of shelves. "Who could ever find anything in here?" She knew it didn't matter to anyone in the department though, archive files were rarely ever mentioned, let alone touched again after they were put in the room, once a case was archived, it was nearly guaranteed to never see the light of day again. The notion made her even sadder than she already was, Candlesticks kept a silent and steady pace, the lack of noises made Twilight moderately anxious.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, the duo finally made it to a nearly empty shelf in the back of the storage area, still a few rows away from the end of the room, it is a big room indeed , Twilight thought. The officers gently stacked the boxes of archive on the shelf and soon were ready to head back out.
"That's the last of them." Candlesticks said once they were done. "We should probably go back, our shift is almost over."
"I..." Twilight pondered for a second. "...I think I'll wait here for a second, you go on ahead, don't let me slow you down."
"Something wrong, detective?" Candlesticks asked, a concerned look had been drawn on his brow.
"It's nothing, just...thoughts."
"Are you sure you don't need help?"
"I'm alright, Candlesticks." Twilight reassured her comrade. "I appreciate your concern, but I promise, there is nothing to be worried about. Go home, you deserve some rest."
"If you say so." The officer replied. "If you need anything, don't hesitate in giving me a call, okay?"
"I'll keep it in mind."
The officer tipped his hat and walked away, disappearing into the rows of shelves. Twilight rested her back against a shelf, looking at the boxes they had just brought in, she breathed in deeply and then exhaled, she studied the shelves around her. The clean and unpolluted cardboard of the new crates contrasted sharply with the dusty and worn-out grim old boxes that surrounded them. There were other newer-looking boxes, but the archive was so poorly managed that it was almost impossible to determine what had been put where and when. Ancient-looking boxes were piled against pristine ones and many files didn't even have boxes, while others had been deteriorated to the point of breaking , causing an abundance of documents just laying around on the floor and shelves. Twilight felt the urge to start putting it all in place, but she was too tired, and no one would care anyway, it was all dead files. She sighed and stood straight.
"Sorry." She whispered, giving the unsolved case's files one last glance. She began making her way back to the entrance, as she went along she eyed the files on the shelves, most of them included labels with categories on them, evidence , personal data , field report ; other boxes had labels with names of locations in the city, Merchant District , Star Swirl Avenue , Hoofield Street ; and other had names of people, Peggy Fisher , Holly Frostlocks ...
"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight stopped abruptly as she read the label. At first she thought her exhausted brain was playing tricks on her, but when she turned to give the box a closer look she saw it again, it was an archived case for one Sunset Shimmer, labelled under 'missing person?' .
Twilight could feel her eyes widening as she placed both her hands on the box and cleared the dust off the label. She tried to analyze what was going on. Maybe it's a mistake , she thought, She can't possibly be...abducted, right? , maybe it's a joke...but the file is so old and dusty, it must have been here for at least a few years already .
She twirled the thought in her mind relentlessly, she didn't understand, what did that mean? She'd known Sunset for over twenty years already, she could not wrap her head around why she'd hide something like this from her friends. She hesitated from pulling the box out of the shelf, she feared what she'd find inside, she needed to look, but she wasn't sure if she had the strength to do it, a million thoughts rushed through the detective's head as she pondered about looking inside the box. She placed a hand on the lid to attempt to open it when suddenly...Riiiiiiiiing!
The alarm bell in her phone startled her so much she almost tripped on an empty box behind her, she managed to hold on to the shelf in front of her and recovered her balance. Riiiiing! . The phone kept on ringing loudly, the sound echoing off the walls all around her. She haphazardly took it out of her jacket and looked at it.
"Oh no, the meeting!" She exclaimed with a facepalm. "I'm late!"
She snoozed the alarm off and tucked the phone away, then she pondered, she looked at Sunset's box, then she looked at the door in the distance, then back at the box...she closed her fists in disarray as she looked back at the door and decided her friends were more important than some dusty old crate of files.
As she closed the door behind her, she could feel the box calling to her, as if it was her duty to find out the truth lying beneath the lid.
Upon finishing college, the Rainbooms faced a tough challenge, keeping in touch. At first it had seemed like a near impossible task, since the only three girls who stayed in Canterlot had been Applejack, Twilight and Sunset, the rest of them went on to live miles away.
Rainbow Dash lived upstate in a Wonderbolt military zone, Pinkie Pie travelled all over Equestria with Cheese Sandwich throughout the whole year, Fluttershy had moved to Vanhoover to work as a veterinarian, and after making it big in Equestria, Rarity moved across the sea to spread her fashion brand all over the world. Applejack still worked near Canterlot in Sweet Apple Acres and Sunset Shimmer had become the school psychologist at Canterlot High School.
Nevertheless, ever since they parted ways they had successfully kept their promise of reuniting every now and then at their favourite spot to hang out; the Sugarcube Corner café. It was common knowledge that every six months the Rainbooms came back together to play at local pubs in Canterlot, including Sugarcube Corner, and they enjoyed every bit of it. Twilight always loved going back to their days in the school battles of bands and going in the afternoons to earn bits around town. Playing music with her friends filled her with joy and helped take her mind of the constant stress that was being a detective. She always looked forward to their reunions with enthusiasm, but today was different, the archive with Sunset's name failed to leave her mind, the thought lingered with her as she drove to the cafe to meet her friends. She wanted to think about the meeting, she wanted to get her mind back to the band, to playing music, singing and having a few drinks with her best friends in the world, but whenever she pictured Sunset she could only remember the box, and the label; missing person . She tried to shake it off, but failed. Her curiosity slowly began to get the best of her.
Only when she got to the café street she realized how late she was, the meeting was scheduled for six o'clock and it was quarter past-six already. Twilight had never enjoyed the prospect of being late for anything, but her mind was not focused on that, and Twilight knew that that wasn't normal.
Close to being twenty minutes late she saw her destination. She immediately recognized her friends had already arrived. In the parking lot she saw Rainbow Dash's sleek racing bike, painted in the colors of the Wonderbolt Academy; blue, silver and pastel yellow; right next to it she saw Rarity's one-of-a-kind supercar, a flamboyant piece of machinery that embodied Rarity's love for show with elegance and style; after that was Applecjack's bulky old pick-up truck and finally, Sunset's simple, yet elegant jet black motorcycle.
Twilight pulled up next to Applejack's truck and left her car. Next to Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's flamboyant rides, the rest of the vehicles looked dull and monotone, she glanced at her old black sedan one last time before entering Sugarcube corner. Looking good . She had never paid much attention to buying a fancy vehicle, something that moved fast and lasted long was enough for detective Twilight Sparkle.
She headed into the building. Outside, the sun was beginning to fall over the horizon and the sky had painted itself with a bright orange hue, the sun looked like a bright flashlight looming over the distant hills, clearly visible from that side of the city. It was refreshing for her to be in a place that wasn't so busy, the metropolitan area of Canterlot was as stressful as big cities can get, especially in the police station. The temperate air of the café filled her lungs as she strolled in, breathing in she could feel the smell of lattes and espressos as well as newly-baked donuts. There was some mild chattering in the few tables that were occupied, but indubitably the loudest of them all was the one that was waiting for her. From all the way across the room, the Rainbooms caught sight of her and began beckoning her enthusiastically.
"Over here, Twilight!" yelled Pinkie Pie in her usual extraverted demeanor and high-pitched voice. Her words flooded the room like a siren had gone off. Twilight blushed but with unhesitant steps made her way to her friends who were eagerly awaiting her arrival. One by one, her friends greeted her with warm words and hugs, their voices overlapped onto each other as they tried to get her attention.
"Sorry I'm late." Twilight apologized once she had seated herself. "We had a pretty busy day at the station today, I kinda lost track of time."
"Oh, that's okay darling, we understand." Rarity reassured her. "Work can be a bit too much sometimes, one simply gets absorbed, so you're excused."
The rest of her friends nodded in agreement. The next to speak was Fluttershy.
"She's right, I could barely make time to travel all the way from Vanhoover, there is an awful lot of work at the clinic, but I could never miss out on our meeting, I just hope everything is okay back home while I'm gone."
"I'm sure everything is just fine, Fluttershy." Applejack replied. "For now let's just forget about work, it's our week off, we gotta make the most of it."
"So, what's with the trench coat, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked.
She only then realized that she had not had time to go home and leave her uniform.
"I...uh, well, like I said, busy at work." Twilight replied with a nervous smile. "Didn't exactly have time to change."
"Well, I for one think it looks fabulous on you, Twilight, it really goes with the season." Rarity complimented.
"Thanks, Rarity." Twilight replied. "So what have you guys been up to? I'm sure you've already caught up on some stuff"
"Well, I for one have finally struck a deal with a very important businessman across the sea in Gryphonstone, and my first overseas boutique is soon to be opened there." Rarity explained. "Needless to say, I am quite excited about it."
"Wow, that is very impressive Rarity, I'm happy for you." Twilight replied proudly.
"Well, that's just Rarity for you, wherever she aims, she strikes." Applejack said, winking.
"Oh, stop it AJ! you're gonna make me blush." Rarity giggled. "But you're right, I am a great negotiator, am I not?"
The rest of them chuckled in unison. Appplejack was about to speak up but Twilight interrupted her.
"Uhmm...has any of you seen Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight asked after scanning the room twice and finding no sight of her. "I saw her motorcycle outside, why isn't she with you?"
"Oh, she said she really had to go to the bathroom." Rainbow Dash replied. "I think she left right before you walked into the café, she should be around any minute now"
Twilight sighed in relief and the six friends continued talking about their lives across the country while they waited for Sunset Shimmer to arrive. Pinkie Pie was in the middle of explaining her travels across Equestria with her husband Cheese Sandwich when Sunset Shimmer came walking from the restrooms. Twilight tried to keep a straight face and avoid thinking about the file.
"If it isn't Canterlot's best detective in person!" Sunset exclaimed. "How're you doing Twi?"
"I've been better." Twilight replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could. "But right now I'm mostly tired."
The two friends exchanged a brief hug and went back to their seats. In that moment Pinkie Pie resumed her story. As she spoke, Twilight could not get her eyes off Sunset, and her mind kept veering off towards the file, she felt she could not contain it any longer, but she made her best attempt to keep it cool. The group talked for hours, by the time they finshed the night had already kicked in. Outside, the sky had become a blue so dark it was almost black, save for the astounding white, shiny full moon that grazed it with its beauty.
"So, how about a little concert tomorrow, huh?" Rainbow asked as they exited Sugarcube Corner. "We can't have a Rainbooms reunion without some actual Rainbooms action, you know?"
"I sure do miss playing with y'all. I say yes." AJ replied.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind picking up my old keyboard one more time." Rarity replied. "Say, Fluttershy, do you happen to have written any new songs since our last reunion?"
"Funny that you should mention it, I have one new song I've been practicing by myself, I could give you the lyrics tomorrow morning so we can rehearse."
"Awesome, I know a great pub that accepts last-minute submissions for night performances." Rainbow replied with excitement. "I still got their number, I'll hook us up asap "
"Super Rainbooms reunion concert!" Pinkie exclaimed. "This is going to be exciting!"
"I can't wait to hear the new lyrics, Fluttershy." Sunset said.
"Yeah, me too." Twilight agreed. Fluttershy blushed and nodded. After talking some more in the parking lot and saying their goodbyes, everyone got in their vehicles and drove away. The first one off was Rinbow, she waved at them from the street as she revved up her bike and quickly drove out of sight. Rarity and Fluttershy had booked the same hotel and left together on Rarity's extravagant car and Applejack offered Pinkie a ride to her own house; one by one, the lots of the café car park were emptied, leaving Sunset and Twilight alone under the moonlight.
"Sunset." Twilight called as Sunset grabbed her helmet from the bike.
"Yes, Twilight?" Sunset turned to look at her. There was a silence. She hadn't thought of how to tell her, what if she said the wrong thing? what if it was all a misunderstanding? Could it have all been a product of her imagination? The more she thought of the file the more it began to feel like a distant, but strangely vivid dream. She saw as the expression on Sunset's face turned from a warm smile to a concerned frown. "Something wrong?"
"It's just..." Twilight struggled to formulate the words in her mouth. "We have been friends for a long time, so you know I trust you completely, right?"
"Right." Sunset answered, her eyes fixed on Twilight's slightly nervous temperament. The two of them shared a moment of silence, then Sunset spoke again. "Did something happen Twi?"
"You wouldn't hide anything from me, even if that something could potentially change everything we know about each other, right?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"Just answer; yes or no."
"Well, of course not, why would I keep secrets from my friends?"
"Correct." Twilight answered coldly.
"Twilight, what's going on?"
"At the police station, earlier today, I found something very peculiar in the archive room." Twilight explained.
"Okay."
"It was an old file I hadn't ever seen." Twilight looked her in the eyes. "From back when we were in high school, before I even met you."
"So, what was so special about this box? I'm sure there are many old files from those times there."
"It had your name on it"
Sunset's eyes twitched barely noticeably, her expression became subtly more stiff. Twilight could see Sunset was not being genuine, she had dealt with too many investigations to be led astray by false words; her vast experience with criminals and witnesses had made her immune to visual trickery, she was able to see through people's emotions, and she could see Sunset's, it was discomfort.
"Well, I'm sure there's a sound reason for that I...may have skipped over a few stop signs in the past." Sunset evaded. "I'm sure transit fines must be worth archiving."
"Maybe you're right."
Sunset put an arm over Twilight's shoulder.
"Come on, you must be really tired, and we have a lot planned for tomorrow." Sunset said as she ushered her to her car. "Let's take our minds off work for a bit, Twi. Enjoy the moment, it's not everyday that we all get to spend time together."
"I guess you're right." Twilight said unenthusiastically before gently breaking free of Sunset's grasp. "I'm gonna go home. It was good seeing you again."
"It was good seeing you too." Sunset replied before leaning in for a hug. The two girls shared the embrace for a few seconds. For a moment, Twilight wasn't sure if it was Sunset she was feeling, or if it was someone else, as her mind twirled around her answers and the memory of the box, she started feeling like she was hugging a stranger. "It's all going to be okay Twilight, we'll have time to properly unwind with the girls tomorrow."
Sunset said her goodbyes and quickly made her way out of the parking lot and off into the darkness of the night cityscape. Twilight wandered around her car for a bit, considering seriously going home and brushing all this off as a machination of her mind. But something inside her told her to dive further into the mystery, she could not shake off the uncertainty and the relentless curiosity that swarmed her thoughts. After what felt like an eternity of thinking she finally decided to get in her car and drive back to the police station, she needed answers, and she was going to get them no matter what.
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.
Twilight drove swiftly through the empty nocturnal streets of Canterlot. The rain was barely an inconvenience at that point, she was fed up with the intrigue what was Sunset hiding? And why was she so belligerent in keeping her from knowing it that she'd attack her at her old home? She would soon find out. Once outside Sunset's house she got ready for the struggle ahead, she reached into the glovebox and grabbed her taser gun and a few extra cartridges and stuffed them inside her trench coat, she also grabbed her security baton and a pair of handcuffs, whatever Sunset was hiding, she was more than willing to fight for it, so Twilight had to be ready for it. She looked through the window of her car and noticed the front door was open. Strange she thought.
She quickly left the vehicle and ran through the heavy rain towards the house, she barged in through the front door.
"Sunset Shimmer!" She called. "Canterlot Police, I only want you to answer a few questions for me."
She got no answer. She looked in each of the rooms in the first floor, but no one was there, she kept her taser gun in her hands, ready to fire. She called again. "Come out now, we don't have to make this any more difficult! Sunset!"
She looked into the kitchen, then the kitchen, dining room, but no sign of the suspect. She was about to go upstairs when she realized she had missed Sunset's studio at the end of the main hallway, the lights were on inside and the door was half-open, she slowly made her way to the room, gun in hand, she carefully opened the door, pointing her taser forwards, inside the studio she found nothing but musical instruments and sound equipment. She scanned the room in search of clues. Maybe she's not even here . She thought.
She looked around again. Suddenly, the silence of the room was invaded by faint voices coming from seemingly nowhere, Twilight tried to follow where they were coming from, she walked across the studio until she hit a wall, the voices seemed to be coming from underneath her. She scanned the wall, there was a breaker box on it. "Now that's a weird place to put a breaker box in." She said to herself as she flipped the switch. As soon as the switch was up, the wall split in two, revealing a hidden staircase that went down.
She tightened her grip around the taser gun and descended the secret passage. As she got lower the voices became clearer, she recognized Sunset's voice. She was yelling, as if she was having an argument with someone. Twilight kept on moving. As the voices became clearer she realized it sounded as if it was two Sunsets having an argument. Don't be silly, that can't possibly be true . Twilight thought.
Emerging from the stairs Twilight found herself in another hallway, it was decorated like a vintage hotel bedroom hall, on the walls were old-fashioned tapestries and antique lamps that gavr off a yellowish glow. Twilight followed the voices, they seemed to come from the furthermost door, right at the end of the passageway. The voices became less muffled as she got closer to the door and she could make out the words on the other side.
"You have to go! We can't risk it!"
"No! I don't want to, we can face it together."
Twilight pressed her shoulder against the door and gripped her gun. one...two...three . With a strong kick twilight forced the door open. "Canterlot Police, hands where I can see them!" What she saw inside almost made her choke on her spit.
Sunset, still wearing the black hoodie she used to attack her at her old home, looked at her in disbelief from one corner of the bedroom, but right in front of her, was another Sunset, her hair was shorter and she wore a more casual outfit, she carried a handgun which she instinctively aimed at the detective. The two Sunsets looked at her as she pointed her taser gun at the duplicate. "Don't make any stupid moves." Twilight warned them.
"Twilight..." The hooded Sunset said nervously. "W...what are you doing here?"
Twilight grabbed the guitar pick from her coat and threw it at her.
"You should be careful about leaving too many clues, Sunset."
"I...I...can explain."
"You better."
The short-haired Sunset was visibly more distraught, her hands shook as she struggled to keep the gun aimed at Twilight, she could sense the fear in her gaze.
"Sweetie, please, look at me." Sunset told her distraught duplicate, who shakily turned to look at her. "Lower the gun, please, there is no need to do anything rash."
"B...but..." the distraught duplicate stammered. She was trembling, the gun shaking heavily in her grasp.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, look at me." Sunset said as she approached her. She lifted a hand to her chin and the short-haired Sunset seemed to begin to simmer down. Twilight was perplexed. She lowered her gun, and the detective did the same.
As she lowered the taser she took a small step forward. In that moment, the duplicate panicked and the gun discharged. there was a loud bang and Twilight could only feel a paralyzing stinging pain strike her on the left side of her chest, she lost her balance and tumbled back, her vision became blurry and she could feel her hands lose grip.
"What have you done?!" Sunset yelled. Twilight could barely make out any of their subsequent moves, but she heard them arguing again, Sunset ushered the distraught duplicate away from the wounded detective.
Twilight rolled to the side and quickly covered her wound with her hand, the pain was unbearable and she struggled to keep her mind straight.
After the initial shock was gone she looked at her palm and realized there was no blood. She had forgotten to take off her bullet-proof vest. Once the pain had begun to fade away she looked for her taser gun. After some struggling she finally grasped it and with her regained vision she aimed at the duplicate who was still panicking. [iZAP!]. the taser gun fired its electrified fangs and struck the duplicate, who almost instantly fainted on the floor with a loud thud .
"No!" Sunset exclaimed in disarray.
Twilight got to her feet and reloaded her gun. Sunset then lunged at her but Twilight managed to wrestle her and send her tumbling against the bed. Then aimed the taser at her.
"It's over Sunset, explain, now" Sunset looked at the fainted duplicate and then at Twilight. She breathed in and sighed.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"Everything. All that you have been hiding, including her."
Sunset lowered her head an sighed.
"Remember the memory stone? the one Wallflower used to wipe your good memories of me back in high school?"
"What of it?"
"She wasn't the first person to use it since the times of Clover the Clever. When I crossed the portal from Equestria to this world all those years ago, I knew exactly where it had been hidden, so I used it. I kidnapped myself from this dimension and hid her away from the world and then used the stone to wipe everyone's memories of before I arrived, as well as her disappearance."
"But that was such a long time ago, why have you kept this secret from us all these years?"
"I wanted to tell the truth. I swear! But I...didn't count on one thing."
"And that is?"
"When I wiped her memory, she turned into a different person, she no longer was...me."
"What do you mean?"
"She adopted a new personality, she became someone else, and to be honest, I kinda liked it that way, her mind retained some of my own essence, and even though she has since referred to herself as someone else, she is still very much like me. After a while, we kinda became a thing....I know it sounds weird, but even before the memory stone was destroyed I never thought of changing her back, she is her own person, she is no longer me, and we built something beautiful together..."
With every word Sunset spoke, Twilight became more and more confused, she didn't know whether to believe her or not, she talked and talked but none of what she said made a pint of sense to the detective. It was all so contrived.
"Inside a basement, under your house, while keeping everyone who trusts you out there in the dark about what you had done." Twilight replied, irritated. "Yes. Very beautiful."
"You don't have to like it to know it's real, I love her for who she became, and she loves me. She's no longer the missing person you saw in that file Twilight. I don't want you to accept this, I only want you to understand it, the case is closed. The missing Sunset never existed."
"You're insane"
"And you're so absorbed by your self-rightgeousness that you'd force us to stop loving each other."
"Love?" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief. "What of this is love to you? You fed her lies for decades and kept her against her will for your amusement."
"She is here of her own free will." Sunset replied stubbornly.
"You erased her memory! You're a criminal Sunset, people out there get life-imprisonment for way less."
"Then we are at an impasse." Sunset said before looking at the drawer, where there was another gun.
"Don't do it." Twilight warned.
"I'm sorry Twi."
Sunset threw herself from the bed to try to reach for the gun, but before she could grab it, Twilight pulled the trigger. The wires flew through the air, sticking to Sunset's back, she let out a scream before landing unconscious beside the bed.
Twilight detached the cartridge from the gun and tucked it away. She then stepped back and pressed her back against the wall and sighed. She tried to process what had just happened, but it was all so convoluted, she then thought of whst would come next; she had solved the case, but the job was far from over.
She let herself fall to the floor and thought about Sunset, and about all the things they'd faced together, the thought of what little their friendship meant to her made her sick. She had found out the truth, but at what cost? She thought of her friends and the concert they had planned for that day, she imagined their reactions to what Sunset had done, she wasn't sure she had the stomach to tell them even after all she'd seen.
This was the easy part . She thought as she scanned the room one last time.
