Sunset held her hand out to the crouched shadow she had been chatting with, not really expecting anything. What she received however, was a pair of surprisingly warm hands wrapping around her own, as the figure pulled close enough to be seen in the limited light, enough that Sunset almost dropped her cigarette in a cartoonish gape.
"It's nice to meet you Sunset." The girl said, with a strangely knowing smile. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"T-Twilight huh?" Sunset remarked, looking away and hoping the shadows would conceal her blush. After a moment she turned back and pulled on the cigarette, illuminating them both with the glowing ember. "It's, uh, nice to meet you." she managed, hoping her cheeks didn't glow as bright as they felt like they would. "What's got you out here all alone?'
Twilight sniffled for a moment, then took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "Uhh, friendship problems I guess. Y'know." She said, with a slightly bitter chuckle.
Sunset grinned uneasily, not that it could be seen in the darkness. "Yeah, I get that..." She said far more casually than she felt, before again pulling on her smoke.
There was an awkward pause, before Twilight's newly familiar voice burst from the darkness. "What, uh, what brings you out here all alone?"
Sunset chuckled a little more genuinely now. "Oh y'know, looking for the next great adventure." She answered with more of her usual confidence. "I usually hang around the city, so I figured the burbs might offer something new. Though it took me a bit longer to get out here than I expected, not sure I can find a bus back at this point..."
Twilight seemed to giggle at that, before releasing an adorable "Eep!", and pulling out her phone, her frown evident in the ghostly glow of the screen.
"Something wrong?" Sunset asked, surprised to find herself genuinely concerned.
Twilight looked truly panicked. "I-I was supposed to get in touch with my parents hours ago! They must be worried sick! There's no reception in this alley, I don't even know what time it is!"
Sunset grinned, "Well I have you covered there." She raised her left wrist, the ill-fitting watch shinning even in the limited cell phone light. "It's exactly 12:35...give or take 2 minutes..."
Twilight squinted at that curiously for a minute, before her eyes went wide as dinner plates. "I'M SO LATE!!!" she warbled, holding her head. "What am I gonna do!"
Sunset bit her knuckle, trying not to giggle at how adorable the girl was when whipped into a tizzy. "Reception's way better by the bus stop, go try there."
Twilight's head whipped back and forth between Sunset and the alley entrance. "Th-thank you so much!" She gasped before jogging off.
Sunset chuckled before breathing deeply into her mostly gone cigarette, closing her eyes and enjoying the highly temporary satisfaction it provided in the face of the pretty girl leaving her behind.
"W-wait, Sunset!"
"H-hurk!" Sunset nearly tossed up a lung as Twilight's voice returned.
"Uh, S-sorry to surprise you."
Sunset, still gasping and clutching her chest, looked up to see Twilight framed by the light at the mouth of the alley.
"I-I want you to have this!" Twilight practically shouted, throwing a small piece of paper at Sunset before running off.
Sunset took a moment to cough like a middle aged man before scrabbling for the piece of paper and unfolding it. It was what looked like a phone number, followed by a short note. Call me. If she hadn't already had the wind knocked out of her, it certainly would have been now.
As she watched Twilight leave and tried to catch her breath, her ears perked at the sound of heavy boots coming down the alley behind her.
They stopped abruptly. "Well well well, what do we have here?" Came a sneering voice, and Sunset whipped her head around to see three silhouettes that seemed dressed similar to herself.
"Some little tramp on our turf!" The voice continued, with far too much excitement for Sunset's taste. At least Twilight was gone.
"Ugh, I was having a great night, what do you dicks want." Sunset muttered, drawing herself up to her full height, and setting her shoulders, which was more than enough to scare off most creeps in her experience.
Apparently not in this case however.
She somehow tasted the blood before feeling the fist collide with her face, as she fell backwards and landed on the rough concrete. She collected the blood in her mouth and spat before pulling a single brass knuckle from her pocket and letting it glint in the limited light. "Really!? You're just gonna cold cock me like that? What a bunch of turds!" she growled, pulling herself back up slower than she'd like. At least the nervous step back all three took in response was satisfying.
Unfortunately the apparent leader regained his nerve quickly, pulling a hefty pocket knife from his coat. "Oh this one has some fight in her, let's teach her not to step onto our territory with such a pretty face!" he gloated before lunging at her.
Sunset dodged the clumsy thrust easily, landing a solid hit upside the idiot's head, but the two lackeys charged and grabbed her arms, pinning her against the alley wall. She struggled of course, but she couldn't break free before the leader shook his head groggily and stood back up. "Ohhhh you cunt!" He slurred, adopting a manic grin, "You'll pay for that."
Sunset kept struggling, determined to not go down without a fight as the glinting knife grew closer and closer to her face. As it drew within an inch, she grimaced and turned, hoping it would be quick.
At the last moment, Sunset saw a flash out of the corner of her eye as a heavy black boot caught the leader in the side of the head and he crumpled to the ground, followed by heavy elbows to both the lackeys' necks. Sunset nearly crumpled with them in relief, but instead slumped against the alley wall. "Uhhh, B-Batman?"
"No you fuckin moron, Batman is a wuss." Came a stern voice, and as Sunset looked up, all she could see in the limited light was a wiry, feminine, figure with twin tails as it approached and started helping her up.
"Wh-what do you want?" Sunset asked feebly, hating the sound of the waver in her voice.
"To help you, dummy" scoffed the mystery girl, hoisting one of Sunset's arms around her back. "Can you walk?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just let me be, I can handle myself." Sunset grumbled, making a token effort to pull away from the girl, but utterly failing against her grip and her own shaking knees.
"Hah!" Barked the girl harshly. "Sure you can Red. Just shut up and come along already. You can take a nap and then fuck off to whatever it was you were doing."
"Whatever bitch." Sunset muttered sullenly, before letting herself be carried along and using her free hand to pull out her pack of smokes and raise one to her lips, then glancing at the girl carrying her. "You want one?"
The girl looked like she was holding back hysterical laughter, before taking a deep breath and glancing at Sunset. "Sure Red, It's been about three decades, but I could go for one."
Sunset was too tired to decode such a weird comment, so instead she feebly pressed a cigarette into the corner of the girls grin and fumbled for her lighter to ignite both. She took a lazy puff and glanced at the girl. "So where the hell are we going?"