Moonlight hovered over the darkness of the night like a lamp lighting an office desk as it cast its light over the City of Canterlot. Stars dotted the night sky, covering it in their lights as they lit it in their tiny twinkling beds of light. Shadows washed over the entirety of the streets and alleys in inky blankets that the buildings hid from the light of the moon. Residents could be seen coming to and fro, going in numerous directions with various destinations in mind. Every few seconds, a car would go zooming down the roads giving the occasional honk as to crossers and other drivers of potential crashes.

A police car rode through the city, its blue and red lights flashing as it drove through the roads of the giant of a city. Its engine hummed from behind as the tires spurred the vehicle onward, its front lights glaring ahead and acting as a guide for the driver currently inside of the car. The engine behind the car growled and roared slightly, smoke emitting from its gaping hole as it burned away at the gas lying within the machinery.

Calming music flowed within the ears of Officer Starknight as she sat silently within the front seat of her car. One of her hands gripped at the steering while in front of her while the other lay on the armrest, her fingers tapping away in rhythm of the music. Her crystalline eyes stared straight as she watched out for anything that may jump out in front of her. The woman’s snow colored skin gleamed in the moon’s light, giving her an almost ghostly glow that contrasted with her golden shoulder length blonde hair. Lights would occasionally appear in her line of vision, letting her know another vehicle passing by her. She paid it no mind, focused only on keeping herself from being run over by another car, and her destination at hand.

“Man, the moon sure is bright tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it shine so strongly before.” Officer Starknight said to herself as she stared at the massive orb of white. “It must be a special night for it to be glowing this beautifully.” She sighed as she looked away from the ghostly sphere, focusing her gaze back on the road ahead of her. “Too bad I don’t have any time to admire it, given where I’m heading to right now.”

It had been a particularly normal day for Officer Starknight; at least as normal as it could be for a member of the local police department. After arriving at the station, she went through the normal routine of patrolling the city, looking out for anything or anyone that may have seemed out of the ordinary. A few times she had received a few calls from the city police dispatcher about a few rowdy individuals throughout the city that needed to be dealt with, but otherwise her day had been relatively uneventful. While it wasn’t as busy as she thought it’d be, Starknight was thankful for it being one of those slow days, as she didn’t quite feel top notch for a fast day.

Before the woman knew it, her day was already over, and she was truly looking forward to heading back home and relaxing for the rest of the night. That hope was soon brought to an unfortunate end when she received a call from dispatch about a disturbance on the southern side of the city. Starknight was expecting it to be something such as two people fighting in the street or a commotion stirring within a restaurant. She was not expecting to be called to a high school that, from what she was told by dispatch, looked like a bomb had been set off within it.

“I can’t believe this had to happen now of all times. And just when I was about to get off and head up to my nice cozy bed. I swear it’s like the universe is screwing with me and keeping me from enjoying the rest of my night or something!” Starknight groaned, her head hitting the headrest of her driver’s seat in irritation. She gave another sigh as she blew at her hair. “Oh well, might as well get this over with now while the night is still young. Don’t wanna have to come into work and get chewed out by the captain for looking like I had way too many drinks… again.”

As Starknight mentally prepared herself for the task ahead, she caught something out of the corner of her eye that made her look over. She could see a building closing in as she got closer to it, and Starknight had a sneaking suspicion that it was the place she was supposed to head to. Her gut feeling was soon confirmed when she saw the sign in front of the building saying, ‘Canterlot High And Junior High School’. As Starknight closed in on her assigned destination, she felt her eyes slowly grow wide with deep concern.

To say that the school was damaged would’ve been saying that a nuclear bomb had the devastation equivalent to mere firecrackers. It looked like it had been used as a turf war or like it had been through a tornado. A massive hole gaped within the school’s entrance, the stairs in front of it scattered all about the ground in the form of giant rocks. A huge crater lay within the school’s front lawn like land mines had gone off within the soil and earth. Inside some of those craters, electrical wires and gas mains were exposed, electricity crackling from the wires and ready to zap anyone idiotic enough to get too close. It was truly a frightening sight, probably more so than anything Starknight had seen before in her years as an officer.

“What happened here? … I mean look at this place. It looks like something really bad went on around here. I wonder what the hell happened here?…” The woman said, slowly coming out of her shock. A heavy sigh blew from her lips as she looked around a bit taking in the damage, “I better call in some back up”.

Reaching to her dash radio, Starknight took hold of the police mic hanging from the dashboard. She brought it up to her face before pressing the button on the side, static filling her ears seconds later. Clearing her throat, she murmured, “Canterlot Police Department, this is Officer Starknight coming in”.

“Go for dispatch. What’s your situation?” She heard over the radio.

“I'm ten twenty-three at the moment and I’ll be out of my car for the next twenty minutes doing some investigation.” Starknight replied, “I’m currently at the ten-twenty, Canterlot High and Junior High school”

“Ten-twelve, officer.” The dispatcher replied after a second or two passed. “Are you in need of a ten-seventy-eight officer?”

“Negative. I’ll be needing a Code 8 and a ten-seventy-four, though.” Starknight replied swiftly.

“Ten-four officer Starknight.” The dispatcher replied as Starknight exited out of her vehicle. “I’ll be right back with you shortly.”

“Well, isn’t that just swell…” Starknight said to herself, giving a little headshake. While assessing the situation she suddenly noticed something coming from around one of the corners of the school. Her sky blue eyes narrowed as she looked at the person, who, from what she could tell, was a young teenage girl. “Dispatch, we have a possible ten-fourteen.”

“Ten-four. Your Code 8 will be there shortly”. Came the dispatches reply almost immediately after.

“Ten-four dispatch.” Starknight replied quietly, keeping her eyes on the girl. “Also, I need a Ten-25 at my current Ten-Twenty.”

“Ten-four officer Starknight. Please be advised that the Fire Department is Ten-eighty-five due to an out-of-control fire and a ten-ninety-three. Badnews there, ten-seventy-seven will be at least an hour.” The dispatch replied after a couple seconds of static.

“An hour?!” Starknight exclaimed, losing her cool demeanor at that moment. A spark of anger went through her head as she clenched the mic in her hand, feeling like throwing it into the dashboard. She stopped herself just in time as she took in a calming inhale, before replying. “Alright, so be it… ten-four. Will there be another ten-sixty sent to this location?”

“That will be a ten-seventy-four officer.” The dispatch replied, sounding almost amused as Starknight grumbled under her breath. “All other officers are at the first scene, so it will be sometime before they come to your aid. It looks like you’re on your own for the time being.”

“I see… Thank you dispatch. I’ll take it from here until the ten-seventy-seven gets here.” Starknight said, concluding the conversation as the static in the mic went off. “Sergeant Starknight, out.”

Putting the mic back on the dashboard, the woman focused her attention fully on the girl walking around the piles of rock and rubble. It was at that moment that Starknight noticed two more kids with her, showing the girl was not alone. While she didn’t know where they had come from, Starknight did know that now that they were here, the situation had just become more complicated. She didn’t know why they were here specifically, but something told her that the reason for it would be crazier than it looked.

“I better go see why those kids are out here.” Starknight said to herself, stepping out of the car she shut the door taking out her flashlight, switching it on she gave a loud “HALT!”

All three kids heeded the order before their minds had time to catch up, their hands shooting in the air as if they were puppets being controlled by strings. Each of the three squinted their eyes, the brightness of Starknight’s flashlight causing them to wince in pain as they tried to see who it was that had yelled at them. None of them had any time to figure out before Starknight did it for them, addressing the tallest teen first.

“Don’t move, miss! You are about to step on an exposed electrical wire!” Starknight informed the frightened teenager, one of her fingers pointing down to the ground beneath the girl’s feet. “Please step to your right now! You two boys, do the same!”

“O-okay! Okay, I will! P-please don’t shoot us!” The girl replied, her voice laced with fear as slowly went to her right. “W-we weren’t doing anything wrong; I-I swear!”

“Calm down miss, I am not here to arrest you.” Starknight assured, her voice still firm but carrying an undertone of reassurance to it. “I just need you and those boys to step to your right and away from those cords.”

“Y-yes ma’am!” The teen girl replied, giving a gulp as she continued to walk sideways. “U-um, I don’t mean to be rude, but could you lower your light please? I can’t really see where I’m walking with your flashlight in my eyes.”

Starknight lowered her flashlight, allowing the young trio to carefully make their way through the rubble. She kept her eyes on them as they slowly made their way towards her, keeping their hands up just in case the older woman did decide to shoot them on the spot. Once they were in range, Starknight held her hand up, causing them to stop right where they were.

“Good, that’s far enough.” Starknight said, looking the three kids up and down. “Are the three of you alright? Do you have any injuries or anything of the sort?”

“N-no, we don’t…” The first boy replied, sounding younger even more scared than the girl was. “M-Ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, what’re you doing here at this school?

“I was going to ask you the same thing kiddo.” Starknight replied, her arms crossing atop her rather plump ample chest. “What are a few kids like yourselves doing wandering around a school that looks like it had a multitude of bombs going off in it? Especially in the middle of the night?”

“T-that’s kind of a funny story.” The second boy replied, flinching when Starknight’s eyes flickered over to him. “See, we’re kind of on cleaning duty right now.”

One of Starknight’s brows raised at the statement. “…Cleaning duty?”

“Uh-huh, we were tasked to clean up the destroyed debris that’s around the school.” The first boy confirmed, his arms shaking as he fought to keep them raised. “Long story short, we had caused a, uh… ruckus at the school and our principles punished us by having us clean up the damage we caused to the school. Along with repairing the walls of the school.”

“Wait a second!” Starknight held a hand up to stop the first boy from talking. “Your principles had you, three, try to clean up all of this mess? All by yourselves?! Without any assistance from more experienced cleaners?”

“Um…y-yeah...” The girl replied shamefully, her teal eyes meeting Starknight’s own. “Like Snails said, he, Snips and I had caused a lot of damage to the school and our principals are really upset about it.” She gestured to the entrance of the school where a hallway of lockers could be seen. “If you want, you can ask them yourself as to why we’re not at home. But I don’t think you’re going to get much out of them.”

“Is that so? Well, from where I’m standing, I don’t think anyone will be able to explain to me how this level of damage came to be.” Starknight muttered as she looked around her and the young trio. “Still, that’s the only option that I have at the moment.” Pushing her bangs from her face, she put away her flashlight and said, “Okay, I’m going to need the three of you to come with me. It is way too late for three youngsters like yourselves to be out here alone, you should be home with your parents. I’ll explain the situation to your principles in a bit, but right now, I’ll have to take you down to the police station.”

“T-the police station?!” Snips asked, paling.

“Easy, there young man. I already said twice that I’m not placing you under arrest. And I’m definitely not gonna put you in a jail cell either.” Starknight said, holding her hand out before the smaller boy could have a full-blown panic attack. “I’m just gonna drive you down there and wait in our waiting room while I call your parents to come pick you up. You’re not going to jail, I promise”.

“A…alright, we’ll do what you say.” Snails said, looking less nervous than Snips was. “D-do you promise not to blow our brains out if we follow your orders?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Starknight replied dryly. “Now, before we do that, I’m gonna need to know your names. Can’t know who to send you off to if I don’t even know that.”

“T-this boy over here is Snails Garlan, a-and this is his friend, Snips Sheldon . Both of them are ten years old.” The girl said, gesturing to the taller boy on her right before doing the same with the one on her left. “As for me I’m, um… My name is Sunset. S-Sunset Shimmer… a-and I’m about thirteen years old.”

“Sunset Shimmer huh? Well, you definitely live up to the name. If the hair is anything to go by.” Starknight commented as Sunset blushed in response. After writing down their names, in her notebook, she placed her notebook in one of her back pockets before motioning the trio over to her. “Alright, that should be it for now. Please come with me to my vehicle. I’ll have you wait there while I talk to your principles. After that, we’ll be heading off.”

“O-okay, thank you miss… Snips replied, trailing off as he stared at the officer, mainly at her chest. “I’m sorry, but what should we call you?”

Snorting in amusement at where Snips was staring, Starknight tapped at the name tag hanging just above her left breast. “Starknight. Sergeant Starknight.”

“Starknight…” Snails whispered, the name rolling off his tongue like water in a stream. “That’s a really awesome name.”

“Glad you think so.” Starknight chuckled, winking at the kid before leading all three of them to her car. They only managed to get halfway to the vehicle before they were stopped by a voice that boomed with the force of a drill sergeant.

“Sunset Shimmer!”

The quartet stopped where they were, all of them spinning around to the source of the voice with Starknight having been startled the most. Her emotions running high she dropped her hand towards her taser. Stopping herself just short of drawing it when she saw a grayish blue skinned woman standing just outside of the destroyed entrance. A frown was plastered on the woman's face while she glared at the group, her aquamarine eyes peering from behind her navy blue and deep purple hair. While Starknight didn’t know who the woman was, she could tell just by the woman’s body language alone she was the one in charge of this school. Or at least, one of the people in charge.

“V-Vice Principal Luna…” Sunset stammered, her surprise giving way to slight fear as she shrunk slightly under the glare the other woman was giving her.

“Now just where do you think you’re doing young lady?” Luna demanded, her tone sounding like that of a teacher that caught her students doing something incredibly stupid. “I did not say you could go home yet, and you are nowhere near done with-” She paused in her scolding as she took notice of Starknight. “Who are you? And why are you on our school grounds?”

“I am Sergeant Starknight. Canterlot City Police Department.” Starknight replied firmly, taking her hand off her taser. “Are you the principal of this school?”

“I am. What brings you here to Canterlot High School?” Luna asked as she gazed upon the other woman with weariness.

“I was called here because of a disturbance that was said to have happened here. Though I would like to address another more important matter at hand.” Starknight replied, with a scowl. “Could you please explain to me why you have three young kids, working far past curfew while endangering them? Without any supervision or assistance?”

“Endangered?” Luna said incredulously, taking a step back from the accusation. “Whatever do you mean? Sunset, Snips and Snails were not in any danger whatso—”.

“This young lady was two seconds away from stepping on one of these exposed electrical wires and possibly getting electrocuted!” Starknight hissed, sharply cutting Luna off as she put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “What made you think that it was a good idea to let children as young as these three, wander around in such a dangerous environment?! Especially past this hour?!”

“W-well, I erm… that’s uh…” Luna sputtered, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for the officer. “M-my sister and I were just having them clean up the mess that was caused here by them. They had caused a rather big ruckus on the school campus, so we were only giving them a fitting punishment to learn from that.”

“By letting them wander around all this debris with the possibility of falling in that large hole out front? Or tripping over all this mess and breaking a bone, or possibly getting electrocuted?!” Starknight went on, stepping angrily towards Luna. “I don’t see how that is a fitting punishment for anything these three could have done! I’d call it straight up negligence and abuse more than anything! Is this a first for you?! Or is this how you normally discipline your students when they do something bad?!”

Luna gave no reply, just standing where she was gob smacked as the officer tore into her like a guard dog ripping into a criminal. In all her years of being a vice principle, she never had to deal with anyone of this magnitude. Let alone anyone with the level of authority and power the woman glaring at her currently had, which honestly wasn’t much. It was really a first with her and she had no idea as to how to properly go about without angering the officer more. Or without getting her a long uncomfortable night in a jail cell. Upon getting no answer, Starknight grew even angrier and opened her mouth again to chew the younger woman out, only to be stopped by a gentler, but equally firm voice.

“Now what is going on here?”

For the second time that night, Starknight, Sunset, Snips and Snails all looked to the school’s entrance, with Luna adding herself to the action. Calmly coming down the remains of the stairs was a cream-colored woman with long quartet-colored hair flowing all the way down to her knees. Both her magenta pink eyes regarded the officer with calmness as she went to stand next to her sister, putting a protective hand on Luna’s shoulder.

“And just who might you be?” Starknight asked wearily, raising an eyebrow.

“Good evening officer. I am Celestia Sunrise, and this is my younger sister Luna Moonrise. I am the Main Principle of Canterlot High School and Junior High School. Luna is the Vice-Principal.” Celestia replied, giving a polite nod to the other woman. “May I ask what all the commotion is here?”

“As I was saying to your sister, I got called out here because of a disturbance” Starknight replied, her own voice polite, yet still holding some measure of weariness. “When I arrived here just minutes ago I found Sunset, Snips and Snails all walking around this debris with no one around to make sure they didn’t get hurt!” Seeing a raised eyebrow from Celestia, Starknight continued, “Perhaps you could explain to me what actually happened here whereas your sister doesn’t seem able to or willing to”.

“Yes, I can.” Celestia said calmly, “See, Snips and Snails here had brought some items to school that they wanted to use for a prank”. As for Sunset Shimmer here…” She gestured to her student. “…She’s the one responsible for the creator located at the front of the school for doing something of a similar nature earlier tonight. My sister and I decided to keep all of them here to clean up the destruction they’ve caused as punishment for causing such damage to the school.”

Luna, wanting to intervene as much as possible quickly butted in, “You see Sergeant we didn’t know that a gas main was going to blow had we known we would have shut down the school”.

“Officer” Celestia injected, “Our students little prank did indeed cause damage to the school but that damage is located inside of the school” Giving Sunset a quick glance Celestia hoped and prayed she wouldn’t intervene as she continued, “These three offered to help clean up the mess so my sister and I talked and felt it was a good idea to let them stay and help out”.

“I see…” Starknight replied not believing one word from either of the two older women “and I take it that leaving them to deal with this all by themselves with the risk of getting potential injuries was the way to go about it huh?” Starknight asked.

“W-well, we were just doing our jobs as the principals of this school.” Celestia said with a bit of nervousness. “These three had caused a rather big mess in our school, so we only did what we thought was right and needed. Giving them proper punishment that would be effective in preventing them from doing anything like this again.”

“Uh-huh,” Starknight murmured, “I can definitely see why the two of you were put in charge.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?!” Luna asked, taking a step towards the officer. She felt Celestia grab her by her shoulders, but she yanked herself off and squared off with Starknight. “Are you implying that we would dare endanger the lives of our students simply because we want to exercise our authority over them?! My sister and I have been running this school for years since we were elected by the school board! We’d rather have ourselves banished to the moon rather than do something so atrocious and petty!”

“Luna, calm down!” Celestia commanded, pulling her sister back before she did anything stupid.

“Oh, really now?” Starknight challenged, not in the least bit intimidated by the vice principal’s icy glare. “So, you care about your students to the point where you’d face an eternity in outer space than see any of them hurt through any faults of your own? I have a hard time believing that!”

“Well, you’d better believe it!” Luna countered, her teeth gritting. “You have no idea the care and love my and I have for the students at this school! Sunset, Snips and Snails included! We love these students as if they are lost children cooped up together in an orphanage! We’d do anything to ensure they go on the right path for success! Absolutely anything!”

“And that includes putting them in such a dangerous environment as an effective way for them to learn from their stunts?” Starknight asked, to which neither of the principles responded. After a moment, Starknight shook her head and reached out to the back of her belt. “Alright, I think I’ve heard just about enough of this from you two. Get on the ground right now.”

Luna’s eyes widened, as did Celestia’s. “W-what?” both said in unison.

“You heard what I said. What, have you two gone deaf all of a sudden?” Starknight asked as she pulled out two pairs of cuffs, her eyes as piercing as a switch blade. “I am placing the both of you under arrest for child endangerment as of this moment. Get your hands behind your back and get on the ground now! Failure to comply with these orders will result in force being used against you.”

“What… n-no! Please wait!” Celestia pleaded, holding her hands out as the officer moved towards them. “We didn’t do anything wrong! We're only acting as the principles we should be!”

“Tell it to the judge lady.” Starknight spat, growling as she stepped closer. “Now, you’d better get on the ground right now or I’m gonna-”

“STOP!!!” A shrill voice screamed out from behind the officer.

All three women paused as Sunset jumped in between them, holding her arms out as if she was trying to stop a potential fight from happening. Officer Starknight stared at her in surprise, her anger gone while Celestia and Luna stood there, caught off guard by the sudden intervention.

“S-sunset?” Starknight sputtered. “Honey, what are you-?”

“Please don’t arrest them!” Sunset pleaded, her hair whipping back and forth as she shook her head. “I know it seems unbelievable, but everything Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna said is true! Everything that happened here is because of me! Snips and Snails may have done some damage too, but I’m the one who’s really responsible here! If there’s anyone who you should arrest, it’s me!”

Starknight frowned as she looked at the young girl with sympathy and pity. She could tell from the look in her eyes that Celestia and Luna were people she cared about a lot. Even if the older woman didn’t really show the same to her, let alone to her two friends. While Starknight could understand where the girl was coming from, she was not feeling anywhere near as caring towards the women she deemed responsible for what the young trio was going through. Unintentional or not, they still put innocent children in danger, and that was not something she was planning to overlook so easily.

“Sunset, even if all of that is true, it still doesn’t excuse their actions.” She said, her eyes and tone softening. “They put you and your friends here in danger while knowing what would happen if they did. I cannot overlook something that was clearly their fault.”

“Except it wasn’t!” Sunset continued to plead, waving her hands in front of her. “Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna didn’t leave us here unwatched! They were watching us from inside the school the whole time!”

Starknight gave a pause. “What are you talking about?”

“Exactly as Sunset just said.” Celestia said, stepping forward and pointing to a camera that hung just outside of the school's entrance. “There are cameras set up within the school and outside of it as well. Luna and I have been in the security room the entire time making sure they didn’t try to sneak off with their work unfinished.”

“You… actually had security cameras put outside the school?” Starknight asked, slowly lowering her cuffs.

“We did.” Luna confirmed with a firm nod. “My sister ended up needing to go to the restroom and I took a coffee break. When we came back, we found they were no longer there so I headed to the security office to see if I could find them on camera. That's when my sister called me over the radio saying there was a police car out front. Not sure what was going on I told her to come to the security office. We looked over the camera footage, found our students and came out thinking something had happened, and… that’s what led up to everything right now.”

“So… you really were watching them? This entire time?” Starknight asked slowly.

“They were!” Sunset concluded. “Both of them were watching us even though they weren’t outside with us. Neither of them did anything wrong to us and they really were doing their jobs. If they did notice something was wrong, they would’ve already sent us home by now! But they didn’t, so it’s not really their fault!”

The girl’s head hung as her flaming hair cascaded in front of it, blocking it like a curtain covering a window. “So, p-please… can you just let them go?” She whimpered pleadingly. “I-I won’t stop you again if they do anything about it next time. B-but… just this once… can you overlook it? Just this one time?”

Starknight stood silently, caught in a silent battle with her mind and heart. One on hand, she wanted to have Celestia and Luna punished and held accountable for what they had done to Sunset and her two friends. Leaving them to fend for themselves in such a dangerous environment while simultaneously punishing them for the mischief they had done at the school was unthinkable and unforgivable to say the least. On the other hand, Starknight found herself not so sure if she should, especially with the evidence she was given from both Celestia, Luna and Sunset herself.

Even if it was true, Starknight was still irked that they left the young trio to such heavy work by themselves, regardless if it was a form of punishment or not. Still, something about the way Sunset was looking at her made her want to reconsider; to perhaps give the principals a chance to redeem themselves for doing something so reckless and dangerous to such a young trio. Starknight stayed like that for a moment longer, looking in between the trio and two women as she silently worked out what she should do within her mind. Eventually, she let out a sigh and backed off a bit.

“I have to say, there’s nothing that I love more than to send a remorseless scumbag to pay for any crime they committed.” Starknight said slowly, giving Celestia and Luna a look that was nothing short of icy. “Of all the crimes I despise most of all, it is child endangerment.

And nothing brings me more satisfaction than helping to punish those who engage in it”. Another tense moment of silence passed before Starknight spoke again. “However, due to what Sunset and you two told me here tonight, and seeing how much this young girl holds you in such high value… I suppose I’ll make an exception tonight.”

“Really… you’re not going to arrest us?” Luna asked with a blank look.

“Only because you just so happen to have evidence of you not neglecting any of your students.” Starknight replied, the last few words coming out in a bit of a scornful spit. “However, if I find out that you have been using any child to such a degree again, I will see to it that you are sent to prison for this. While you have proven to not have intentionally put these three in harm’s way, that does not mean it doesn’t look like you didn’t. So, don’t let me catch you doing this a second time, or I will see to it that neither of you will escape going to jail. Am I making myself crystal clear?”

“Y-yes officer… we understand clearly.” Celestia replied, looking and sounding more than a little fearful. “We will be sure that nothing of this magnitude happens like this again.”

“See to it that you don’t.” Starknight growled, putting her handcuffs away as she exhaled deeply before looking at Sunset, Snips and Snails. “Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get the three of you three home shall we”.

Excited to be going home, Snails blurted out. “Our addresses are Seven Sixty Yackastan Lane Canterlot city Five Six One Two Eight. And Snips address is One Seven Sixteen Canterlot Park Avenue”

“Alright, just a minute.” Starknight nodded as she took out a notebook and wrote down the information given to her. Once she was done, Starknight went for her police mic and spoke into it. “Dispatch, this is Officer Starknight; come in Dispatch.”

“Dispatch here.” The voice from earlier said in the span of several seconds.

“I’m going to need a ten-forty-four. I have three children that I need to take home.” Starknight said, pressing one of the buttons on her mic. “Permission to leave my current ten twenty and take the children back to their families?”

“Ten four.” Dispatch replied immediately. A couple of seconds later he continued, “Ten twelve officers. All units are in need of a ten fifty-six at Canterlot High School. Two patrol guards are needed for stationary guard duty.”

“Ten-four we’ll take that call” Another officer called back. “Our ten-twenty is only ten minutes away. Send Sergeant Starknight out, we’re on the way”.

Hearing more static over the radio Starknight set her mic back to its place as she waited for the go from dispatch. Sighing, she picked up her clipboard and began filling out paperwork that was stuck to it. Almost a minute later, she heard the dispatcher’s voice over the mic again.

“Sixty-four-seven that is a ten-four.” The dispatcher replied, pausing for a brief second. “Permission granted to leave ten-twenty.”

“Roger that dispatch. I’ll be taking the children home.” Starknight said, giving a relieved sigh as she ended the call. “Alright kiddos, you’re all coming with me. First, I’ll be dropping off Snips to his home, and Snails will be next afterwards. Once they’re safe I’ll return Sunset to wherever she lives.”

“Y-yes, that’s okay.” Sunset said, not bothering to look the officer in the eyes. “Thank you for helping me back there. I really appreciated that.”

“It’s no trouble at all I’m willing to do anything for a child who’s in danger.” Starknight replied kindly, giving a pointed look to the two principals. “I’ll be taking my leave now. My fellow officers will be here shortly to assess the situation, so I’m afraid I cannot see the camera evidence you have. You will have to do that with them since I’ll be busy with these three.”

“That’s alright.” Celestia nodded with a gentle handwave. “We’re just glad to not have to sleep in a jail cell tonight. Given all that we’ve been through… and what we will be going through next.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that it must’ve been pretty taxing.” Starknight nodded, ignoring the frown Luna gave her at her slight passive aggressiveness. “Anyway, I’ll be off now. I hope you two learned a good lesson tonight.”

“We have.” Luna murmured. “Thank you for your time Officer.”

“Just don’t me come back here again” Starknight said, giving a little nod of her own as she turned her attention to her temporary companions. With a smile that was nothing short of motherly, she sweetly asked, “Alright then let’s head out”.

---

Unlike most kids, Sunset never had the fortune nor the misfortune of riding in a police car. Having come from a land where cars were practically nonexistent, the closest she knew of what it was like were carriage rides she’d sometimes take with her old mentor. None of those rides had confinements that prevented her from feeling the warmth that was the Princess’s sun.

Or the coolness of the breeze that blew in her mane that was now her hair, helping her feel comfortable and relaxed on those hot days. It was the one thing that she loved about riding carriages, since it allowed her to really see what she was passing by on the few happy days she had back in her previous home. Something that, even now, she yearned to have back, despite having vowed to never return there again.

As Sunset rode in the front seat of Starknight’s car, Snips and Snails in tow in the back seat, she found herself feeling none of that. It wasn’t really a surprise, given that she was just taken away from a school that was turned into a battleground only a few hours prior to officer Starknight showing up.

Regardless of how she truly felt, Sunset did her best to keep calm, not wanting to cause the officer driving them home any trouble. She watched as the officer hummed to a tune she was listening to over her car's radio. As if she could feel Sunset’s gaze on her, Starknight looked in Sunset’s direction. Seeing the younger girl’s look, the officer chose that moment to make some small talk. If not to try to make Sunset and her two friends feel more relaxed.

“How’re things going, Sunset?” Starknight asked, speaking with the same kind voice she used while helping them into the car. “Are you doing alright? What about you Snail and Snips are you two alright back there?”

“U-um, yes, Miss Starknight,I’m okay.” Sunset replied, “T-thank you for asking...”

“We’re fine too” Snips said nudging his friend Snails with his elbow “Right Snails”

“What? Oh, yes r-right” Snails said gulping.

“Are you sure? You three don’t seem to sound very ‘fine’ to me.” Starknight replied skeptically. “Is there something bothering the three of you?”

Snails shook his head. “No, nothing’s wrong. We just um… this is the first time that we’ve been in a situation like this.”

“Ah, you mean being in a police car?” Starknight asked, quickly connecting the dots. “Let me guess, you two being in the back are a bit put off by the bars while you Sunset aren’t as you are up front and not in the back am I right?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s the first time we’ve seen something like that inside of a car. It’s kind of scary.” Snips replied, looking at the bars as if they were actual jail cell bars.

“I’m not surprised. A lot of people who are put in the back of a police car feel like they’re already in a prison cell, even if they’re not really being arrested.” Starknight pressed her foot to the break coming to a red light she slowed to a stop adding, “Some of the younger folk find it cool, while others see it as a reminder of where they’re going to go.” She chuckled, not noticing the shivers Snips gave. “Of course, that’s not the case now, and it’s not like you’re going to be in this car all night either anyway. I said I was going to take you all home,and that’s what I am going to do.”

“Yeah, you did. I really wouldn’t want to spend the night in a place where a lot of big and scary guys are ready to beat me up.” Snails said while hugging himself. “I’d rather sleep in a garden full of flowers than go a single night in a place like that.”

“For some reason, I believe you.” Starknight murmured, “In any case, it’s good that you three stay on the straight and narrow path neither of you three need to be seeing what prison is like.”

“Duly noted.” Snips replied as he gave a hasty nod, knowing Starknight was serious despite her humorous voice. “We’ve done more than enough of our fair share of trouble tonight, including me. I just wanna go home, sleep this night off, let my mom and uncle scream their heads off at me, and just forget this ever happened.”

“I’d be shocked if they didn't find out why you were out so late.” Starknight said with a laugh, not noticing the flinch Snips gave. “Though, from where I’m sitting, it looks like your odds of not being scolded are rather slim.”

“Still, it’s better than what we went through back at CHS, even if it’ll be just as scary.” Snips muttered, his face scrunching as he let out a groan. “I just hope they’ll go easy on me once I do tell them why I was out past my bedtime.”

“Well, it looks like you won’t have to wonder what your mother and uncle will do for very long Snips.” Starknight commented, giving a turn of her steering wheel. “Because it looks like we’ve finally made it to your home.”

Resisting the urge to laugh at the squeak of fear she heard from Snips, Starknight came to a slow stop in front of a house. It was medium in size, looking like it was built for the countryside rather than the big city. A white picket fence stuck out from either side, coming to the front to stop at a fenced door that stood in front of the sidewalk leading to the house’s front door. Bushes dotted and poked out of random spots of its front yard, done so in a way that made it look like a garden, except without flowers. A large oak tree stood at the far left, its massive shadow covering nearly half of the bushes while a tire swung from it, held by a thick rope. Truly the definition of a home built for life in the country if one did say so themselves.

“Hang on, I'll let you out in a moment.” Starknight said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “It must be nice to be home after being outside for so long, huh?”

“Yeah, it is.” The younger boy replied, not sounding as enthusiastic as he probably wanted to be. “I’d be more excited if it was any other time or any other place though… ugh, why did things have to turn out like this?”

“Hey, I know where you’re coming from Snips. Believe me, I really do.” Starknight said, putting a comforting hand on Snip’s shoulder. “A lot of kids have been in your situation before, including myself, and that’s just how it is in general. You’re not the first, and you definitely won't be the last, you can count on that.”

“I know, I know… still, it’s not gonna make it any easier when I do see my mother and uncle.” Snips said, sighing as he undid his own seatbelt. “I can already see my uncle not being very happy with me about this nor will my mother be happy about this either.”

“I think any kid would be terrified if they were in your position.” Starknight agreed as she walked beside him. “Still, it’s not gonna keep it from happening’ regardless. Best to just face the music now and hope for the best.”

“True.” Snips agreed as made his way up the path leading to the front door of his house “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

As officer Starknight walked besides Snips he bit his lower lip, mentally preparing himself for the inevitable hailstorm that was about to happen. All too soon they arrived at the front door, and Starknight knocked to see if anyone was inside. Moments later, the door opened, revealing a muscular burly man in a white tank-top and brown slacks wearing slippers. The man stared at Starknight with a look that was nothing short of frosty. A chill went down Starknight’s spine as the man’s gaze locked onto her’s, and she instinctively reached for her taser. Something that did not go unnoticed by the now terrified child standing next to her.

“Yeah?” The man asked gruffly as he looked at the woman with curiosity, not noticing Snips next to her. “What do you want?!”

“Hello sir, my name is Starknight, I'm with the Canterlot Police Department.” Starknight said, giving a tip of her hat. “I’m sorry to disturb your night sir, but I need to borrow a moment of your time.”

“Just what the hell do you need from me lady?” The man frowned. “Have you come here because our idiot neighbor called you pigs again due to my sister coming home with yet another black eye?!” He all but screamed at her.

“No,” Starknight instinctively took a step back, keeping her hand on her taser “but I think you’ll find what I have to say to be more important.” Starknight replied, stepping to the side and revealing Snips to him who was sweating bullets. “Do you know this child, sir?”

The man’s eyes widened slightly. “I do… that’s my nephew, Snips'' The man looked back at Starknight adding, “What has he done now?”

“Nothing too serious sir” Officer Starknight replied, still keeping her hand on her taser adding, “I found him and his two friends Snails Garlan and Sunset Shimmer at Canterlot High and Junior School past curfew I thought I would bring him home”.

“I see,” his uncle bitterly grumbled.

“Hey… Uncle Nikolai.” He said meekly, trying, and utterly failing, to give the man his best happy smile.

“Get inside Snips.” Nikolai replied slowly, regaining his composure. Sighing, he looked back at the officer with a half-lidded gaze and asked, “Is he in trouble?”

“No sir. He was apparently helping with cleaning up some damage that I was told by the principals that he and his two friends caused.” Starknight replied, relaxing a bit as the man’s face became more and more deadpan. “I take it that this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this?”

Before Nikolai could reply, he was interrupted by an ear-piercing squeal that came from within the house. A second later, a flash of white emerged from behind the man as a elderly woman went straight for a shocked Snips. The woman appeared to be in her early forties, dressed in a beautiful flannel nightgown with hair the color of silver and glasses that were wire framed. As Starknight got a good look at her, she could just make out a series of bruises on her chin, left eye, right cheek, and the left portion of her mouth. All of which were covered by makeup that was more or less poorly done, at least from Starknight’s personal perspective.

“Snippy honey! My goodness, you’re finally back home!” Ms. Sheldon cried out happily to have her son safe and sound once again. She hugged the boy like a little girl who was embracing a stuffed animal. “Where in the world have you been honey?! I’ve been worried sick about you!”

“Mom, too tight!” Snips whined as he struggled in vain to escape the much older woman’s grasp. “Oooh”” feeling his belly be squished up against his mothers round plump body Snips wined. “I’m going to p-pop” letting her son go for a moment. His mother chuckled as he quickly added “Mom you’re embarrassing me in front of this cool officer.”

“Officer?” Ms. Sheldon asked, finally taking notice of Starknight. As soon as she did, she gasped, as she addressed the officer. “Oh my! I didn’t even see you there dear! Thank you for bringing my precious Snippy home! I hope he didn’t cause you any trouble.”

“No need to thank me ma’am. I was just bringing a child back home after being out far later than he should’ve been.” Starknight replied, holding her hand up to stop the women from thanking her any further. “And no, he didn’t cause any trouble. At least not with me in particular. As for where he was… well, I have already told his uncle here where your son was ma’am.”

“Let me guess, he and his friends Snails and Sunset Shimmer got into another one of their crusades again?” Snips mother asked while already knowing the answer. “Is that what happened?”

“Well… if you wanna call destroying the front of a school entrance and turning its front lawn into a battlefield a little crusade, then yes.” Starknight shrugged while Snips audibly gulped, sweating like a pig in summer heat.

“I thought so.” Snips mother replied, dragging her hand down her face before facing her son. “Snips”

“Ye-yes mom?”

“I am not happy with you at all. '' Her face softened a bit as she added, “but we will talk about this tomorr---” Her words were cut off by her brother Nikolai.

“You. Bed.” Nikolai all but shouted at his nephew “NOW!!”

“Awww man!” Snips whined. “Do I have to…?”

“Yes, you do have to!” Nikolai snarled, making Snips step back from him in fear. “You’ve caused your mother enough trouble for one night, along with Snails and that idiot Sunset Shimmer. Believe me boy!, if you don’t get your butt into bed this instant your punishment will be a hell of a lot worse!”

“Ok that’s enough!” Starknight said stepping in between Snips and his uncle something his uncle didn’t like one bit “I know your nephew is in trouble sir for staying out past curfew but if you yell at him like that again I’ll arrest you for child abuse”.

“What?! How dare you tell me---” He protested being cut off by Starknight

“It’s your choice sir back off or go to jail what’s going to be?” Starknight replied drawing her taser she held it down so as not to intimidate him rather more to show him she was serious “I will use this if I have to sir so make your choice and make it now.”

“Wait please” Ms. Sheldon said stepping in between her brother and Starknight “My brother is very sorry for how he acted please put your taser away officer my brother will cooperate fully with you I promise” Ms. Sheldon turned to face her brother adding in all but growl to him, “won’t you?!”

“Y-yes” Nikolai replied, backing away from his sister and looking more scared of her than he was of officer Starknight “I’ll do as you ask I promise”.

“There that’s better” Ms. Sheldon softly said, “Now officer you can put your taser away he won’t cause any more trouble” shooting her brother a very angry dirty look she finished, “will you brother?”

Starknight watched in concerned shock Nikolai gulp and back away from his sister he looked to Starknight then to his sister then down to the floor. Putting her taser away Starknight shook her head. Snips stood nearby not sure what to do or say. His mother turned to him saying softly, “Alright honey go bed now”.

“Yes mom…” Snips mumbled with his head bowed low as he went into the house, doing what had to be the slowest and saddest walk that Starknight had ever seen in her life. Just as he was inside, Snips gave Starknight, who was intently staring at his uncle, one last weak smile and a wave before going down a hallway and disappearing from sight. As soon as he was out of sight, Ms. Sheldon turned her attention back to Starknight offering her a weak smile.

“I’m so very sorry that you had to see my brother snap at my son like that officer.” She said remorsefully. “He’s going through a difficult time right now. He had only recently lost his wife to cancer and he’s having trouble with coping. Again, thank you so much for bringing my son back to me safe and unharmed.”

“No problem at all ma’am. As I said, I was just doing my duty.” Starknight nodded. “Though, I will have to advise you to please be more careful as to how long you let your son stay out. I will let him off with a verbal warning this time, since he was being punished for causing trouble. But if I find him outside and on the streets again past curfew, I will have to take him to the precinct.”

“Yes, yes of course.” Ms. Sheldon replied, giving a nod of her own. “I promise I’ll make sure that my little Snippy is home well before his bedtime from now on.” She looked over at her brother, who was looking at the officer scornfully. “Right Nikolai?”

“Yeah, yeah… whatever.” Nikolai replied, snorting as he crossed his arms. “Now if you are done here please leave!”

“Very well then. I think that’s all for today. Have a good night, the both of you.” Starknight replied, giving Nikolai one last good look before turning and walking back to her car. The second her back was turned, her ears were blessed with the sound of the door slamming shut with the force of a musk ox ramming its head into a tree. Immediately after, she heard what seemed to be yelling coming from inside, though she couldn’t quite make it out. Whatever was happening behind those doors now, Starknight knew it wasn’t good, and probably a lot worse than she was currently thinking.

‘The hell is that guy's problem with the police?! Sounds like they are having an argument of some kind. It must be over Snips’ Starknight thought, mentally slapping herself as she got further from the door. ‘That woman’s face was covered in bruises underneath all of that make up! Did she seriously think that'd be enough to hide injuries as serious as that? I’ve seen clowns with makeup done better than that!’ She continued to think as she pinched the bridge of her nose, silently scolding herself for her train of thought. ‘In any case, I’m gonna have to make a call to Canterlot Child Protective Services when I get back to the station. From how that woman and Snips were acting around that man, they are more than likely being abused by him. I’m not really sure if that is happening, but I did not like how that man looked at me. Not at all. I’ll need to put a stop to it before it gets worse… sooner rather than later.’

As all this was happening Sunset opened the front passenger door and got out, stopping when she was about to close the door only when Snails called out to her, “Hey Sunset where are you going?”

“I have things to do Snails”. She replied. An unseen figure with translucent cerise crystal wings watched from a nearby house hiding in the shadows of its rooftop while Sunset silently closed the car door. “Now is my chance to get away from that officer before she finds out where I am actually living.” Turning to leave she stopped quickly saying to Snails. “Snails we are going to play a game alright?” Knowing he liked mind games and was a little slow, she added, “If you win I’ll do your homework for the next three weeks, alright?”

“I know you don’t really want to play this game Sunset.” He replied looking into her pleading eyes he looked down adding, “But I’ll play along.” Looking back he finished, “if you do my homework for the next five weeks, alright?”

Groaning in slight irritation she sighed glancing over to Starknight seeing she was heading towards them she said, “Alright deal” Stepping back from the car she added, “The game Snails is a simple one. It's called ‘Who is Sunset?’ the officer who is currently headed this way is also playing it she will ask you where I am and you need to tell her---”

“That I don’t know right?” He replied, his eyebrow raised slightly.

“Yes, you don't know who I am or where I have gone.” She replied, offering him a weak smile.

Seeing he was ready to play she gave him a nod and turned to leave saying over her shoulder quickly,” Thanks Snails I will pay you back for this.”

The unseen figure unfurled its wings thinking to itself “Now where do you think you're going Sunset? You should have stayed with that officer, she was only trying to help you.” Seeing that officer Starknight was getting alongside the squad car the unseen figure took to the air following Sunset down the street and into a nearby alleyway saying to itself. “Sunset, what are you doing?”

Starknight made it to her car safely, getting right up to it she saw Snails was sleeping in the back seat. Smiling to herself she walked up front freezing in her tracks to her shock and bewilderment she saw something was clearly off. Opening the front passenger door Starknight was not pleased to see that a certain fiery yellow and red headed girl was not where she was supposed to be.

“What the?! Sunset’s… not here! Where did she go?!” Starknight asked, looking around the car and outside of it for any sign of the young thirteen year old girl. Seeing no sign of her, Starknight immediately opened the back rear door and went to Snails, placing a hand under his ear and tickling his ear saying, “Snails! Snails,” she continued to tickle his ear trying to wake him up “Wake up already!”

After a few moments of tickling his ear the ten year old boy finally woke up, the first thing he saw being the wide and terrified eyes of the officer before him. Doing his best not to stare at her chest, Snails rubbed at his eyes and groggily asked, “Oh, hey there Officer Starknight? What’s the matter?”

“Snails, it’s Sunset!” Starknight replied, sounding like a mother who had just discovered her child was missing. “She’s not here in the car anymore! She’s gone!”

Quickly remembering Sunset's words to him he replied, “Huh? Uh, who is Sunset?” He replied. Giving her a confused half-witted look he added, “I wasn’t paying attention so I don’t know who you are talking about. Can I go home now?”

“No you can’t go home now, I need your help to find Sunset Shimmer.” Starknight replied, one of her hands coming to rest on the boy’s shoulder. “Did you see her sneak out of the car before you went to sleep? Please Snails, if you know where she is, I need you to tell me so I can find her!”

“N-no… I’m sorry, but I don’t know where she went too” Snails replied, almost breaking eye contact with the officer. “All I remember is suddenly getting tired and Sunset asking me if I wanted to rest my head on her lap. After that I fell asleep… and that was when you woke me up. I didn’t hear or even feel her move me or even leave the car. I’m sorry Officer Starknight…”

“Great… that’s just great! First, I have a potential abuse situation with Snips, and now I have a runaway?! This night just keeps getting worse and worse!” Starknight shouted as she slammed her fest on one of her car’s seats. “The universe really must be messing with me tonight!”

“Um, Officer Starknight? What do you mean by abusive situation? Is Snips in any sort of danger?” Snails asked, his apprehensive tone causing the women to look back up at him.

Starknight, realizing what she had just let slip out, quickly calmed herself down. “Oh, no Snails, it’s nothing to worry about. I just got caught up in the situation, is all. Snips isn’t in any danger, I promise. Please, just forget what I said.”

“Okay… well if you say so.” Snails asked, watching as Starknight made her way to the front of her diver car seat. Not even a split second after the door closed, the woman reached for her mic, pressing on the call button as static echoed within the car.

“I don’t believe this!” Taking her radio from its position in her squad car she said, “Dispatch I need a ten-fifty-seven.”

“Ten-twelve officer.” Hearing static over the radio she heard the dispatcher add, “Alright officer go ahead with the person's description.”

“The name of the runaway in question is Sunset Shimmer.” Starknight replied, not wasting a single millisecond. “She’s a Canterlot High and Junior High School student. She is about five feet and eight inches tall looking to be in her early teens. She was last seen wearing a torn-up leather coat, a ripped orange mini skirt, with a purplish-pink low back sleeveless shirt with a sun emblem on the front, and black and purple leather knee-high boots. She also has cyan colored eyes, red and yellow flaming hair and is estimated to be about one hundred twenty pounds.”

“Ten-four officer Starknight. Ten-sixty-nine will relay messages about your other task.”

“That’s a ten-four dispatch.” Starknight murmured as she hung up her radio before the dispatcher could reply. Once it was safely secured onto her belt, she turned to Snails and said, “Sorry about that Snails, I was just having a little moment with the dispatcher.”

“Now can I go home now officer?” Snails asked, clearly worried.

“Yes you can Snails I’ll take you home now.” Starknight said as she started the engine. “Alright, from now on I want you to be off the streets before curfew starts up, got it Snails? I will give you a warning this time since you had some stuff you needed to fix, but this will be the only time that I will do this for you. If I catch you on the streets again past curfew again then I’ll have to bring you to the precinct and have your father get you there. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am, I understand.” Snails replied as they began to drive off. “And thank you for giving me and Snips a ride in your car. It was a lot of fun.”

“Sure thing, kid. Anytime.” Starknight said, giving the boy her best smile before turning and staring ahead. With those last words, the woman sped off, her siren lights flashing in the darkness as her car took her down the shadow covered road. Had she looked in the top mirror, Starknight would’ve seen Snails fiddling with his thumbs. Along with the look of guilt the boy had as he quietly looked out the window. An hour later Starknight pulled into a long curving gravel driveway with bushes lining most of the pathway leading up to the house. The house she had pulled up to looked old as if it had been built before the civil war.

The grand architecture of the house was such that Starknight upon seeing it let out a soft noticeable whistle. The very symmetrical, and boxy style of the house was a pleasure to say the least, with its center entrance in the front and a large stone pillar balcony above the front door. Looking over the front of the house she noticed it had a gabled roof; symmetrical façade; evenly-spaced windows; Greek-type pillars and very elaborate friezes. Parking the car Starknight got out and headed to the back of the vehicle stopping in her tracks she thought she saw large scratches etched in the stone structure of the house as if they were made by a large beast.

“What in the world?” She thought, hearing tapping on the car's window the sound of which quickly brought her back to her senses, opening the door for Snails. She smiled as she gazed at the massive house in front of her. “Wow” Starknight whistled again, giving Snails a nudge she added, “you live here?”

“Yep I sure do well that is me and my father do” the boy sniffed Starknight notice he was clearly fighting back his tears “an-anyways you should come up and meet my father I am sure he’d love to meet you”.

Taking Snails by the hand, Starknight walked him up the path taking in the neighborhood's homes, each one looking more splendid than Snail's own house. Getting to the front door she raised her hand to knock stopping and she turned to him stooped down to one knee and smiled.

“Snails before I knock on your door I want you to promise me that, from now on you will be off the streets before curfew starts up, got it?” receiving a nod from him she stood up Knocking on the door, she added, “I will give you a warning this time; if I catch you on the streets again past curfew then I’ll have to bring you to the precinct. Do you understand?”

“I understand fully officer” He replied.

“Good to hear,” she said to him.

Knocking again she and Snails waited for a few more moments before the door opened and a short stocky man appeared in the entrance. The man upon seeing Snail shot him a dirty look causing him to let out a light weak chuckle. Looking at the man in front of her Starknight saw he was balding, he had a mustache and a robe on he had a wooden pipe in his mouth. Thick charcoal gray smoke rose from his lips curling around his head. He stood four feet to her six feet eight inches causing him to crane his neck to look into her eyes.

“I am grateful you have found my son.” The man said taking a puff from his pipe and blowing it out in Starknights face she coughed giving him a dirty look in reply, “I have already called the police department I am so happy to see that you responded so quickly.” taking another puff he added, “Mrs, Ms, miss er-umm uh---”

“Starknight sir, my name is Starknight” She replied with a slight smile adding quickly, “And I am happy that your son is back at home where he belongs.”

“Can you tell me where he was?” Turning his attention to his son he added, “You get into your room this instant!”

“Yes, sir.” Snails squeaked out timidly running off towards his bedroom adding, “Thanks for the ride home officer Starknight it was a lot of fun.”

Looking back at Officer Star knight she sighed saying to his father, “He was at Canterlot High Junior High School when I found him. His friends Snips and Sunset Shimmer were also there, each of them were working there past curfew under Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna’s orders.”

Quirking an eyebrow Mr. Garlan stepped out onto his porch coming to rest his arms on the railing of the porch. Looking out to the street beyond his property he puffed on his pipe for a few moments letting out a sigh. “It's been rough on him this past year after his mother passed away last September.” Looking back at Officer Starknight he added, “Well if Celestia and Luna needed him past curfew then that is fine with me but I do wish they had called first.” straightening up and turning he placed his hand on the door, “I won’t do anything to interfere with how Celestia or Luna run that school. Goodnight Officer Starknight.”

“Your welcome sir.” She replied. “And have a good night yourself, sir.”

Heading back to her car she called dispatch, got in and started up the car and headed out of the area. Officer Starknight made her way back to the police station. Getting there an hour later she entered the police station taking her seat at her desk. Taking up her phone she dialed a number and waited for a few moments.

“Hello, this is Canterlot Child Protective Services. My name is Rosy Peddle. How may I help you tonight?”

“Yes, Hello Rosy, this is Officer Starknight with the Canterlot Police Department. I am calling in regards to a possible child neglect and abuse case that I may have.” Looking down for a moment she added, “I would feel better if someone, anyone would just check on this child and his mother for me. I don’t really have probable cause to do so myself so I need someone from your agency to do it.”

“I see. What evidence do you have if any officer?” She heard Rosy reply. “Other than your gut feelings' that is?”

“I saw the child's mother wearing makeup over several places on her face that looked slightly bruised. I couldn’t do anything at the time being as I was without back up and I didn’t want to risk putting either the mother or child at risk. I also need someone to check on a ‘Sunset Shimmer’ as well.”

“Alright I have made a note of that and I will have one of our agents look for this when we conduct the interview. What is the child's name and address?” Rosy replied gently, showing concern in her voice.

“Snips Sheldon and his address is seven sixty yackastan lane Canterlot city Five Six One Two Eight.” She replied.

“And what is Sunset Shimmer's address?" She heard Rosy ask.

“Let me look up Sunset Shimmer’s address,” Starknight replied, “It’ll just take a second to pull that up on my computer.”

Typing on her computer she noticed the time was four in the morning. She groaned lightly to herself in irritation as she waited for Sunset's address to appear on the screen. A few moments later she saw the words ‘Classified Information’ flash across her screen and a buzzing alarm sounded causing her computer to shut down.

“What the heck?!” She exclaimed, her eyes widened slightly quickly saying into her phone “Uh, Rosy, I am sorry about this but I need to call you back. My computer just crashed. I’ll get you Sunset Shimmer's address tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll be at my desk at around ten tomorrow morning you can call me then.” She replied. Adding quickly, “In the meantime, I’ll send someone out to Snips Sheldon’s residence. Have a good night officer.”

Shaking her head she got up from behind her desk and ending her shift she headed for the back door and to her own car. Getting to her vehicle a few moments later letting out a sigh she thought to herself “Whoever classified Sunset Shimmer’s information is going to have a lot to answer for.” Starting up the car she drove towards her home and a well earned nights rest.

In another part of the city on a rundown road the sounds of rapid footsteps echoed across the streets of Canterlot as Sunset sped her way through the allies of the city. Her breaths came out short and rapid, giving an indication as to just how fast she was running and how much she was pushing herself. Behind her, the girl’s hair flew, whipping about in the air like a flag atop a pole as she stared ahead of her. Every few seconds her feet would meet a water puddle, making the liquid splash across her bloodied golden skin as she sprinted for everything that she was worth.

In the midst of her running, Sunset found herself almost running into a stray cat that was making its way through the alleyway. The sight of its glowing piercing eyes was enough to make her stop as the cat let out a loud yowl of surprise. At the same time, she stepped on a rather slippery part of the ground, and she half flipped through the air. A cry of pain escaped her as she met the ground with a wet thud, her limbs and hair sprawling out like a starfish in seawater as the cat ran away.

“Owww, my head…I can’t believe I just flipped through the air like that.” Sunset groaned, one of her hands moving to place itself on the part where her head was throbbing. “I guess I shouldn’t have been running so fast like that when I got away from that police officer. Looks like I’ll have to watch where I go around here when it’s raining.”

An all too familiar sound of blaring police lights pulled Sunset out of her soothing her pain. She whipped her head to see dim red and blue lights brightening the path that she took, making her realize that it was a police car. Possibly the very same one that she had escaped from just a few minutes earlier. Wasting no time, Sunset went and hid in a few nearby trash cans, using her coat as extra camouflage to conceal herself. As quickly as the police siren and lights came, they faded away, allowing the sweet silence to fill Sunset’s ears. Only when she was sure that the police car was long gone did she dare to move out of her hiding place.

“Whew… that was a close one. For a second there I thought that officer was actually going to find me here.” Sunset said to herself. “I guess I was able to get away from her a lot better than I thought I did. I wish I didn’t have to do that though… She was only trying to help me. Not that it would’ve really done me any good anyway.”

Deciding to finally get a move on, Sunset moved away from the trash cans and trudged down the alleyway she was in. Her obsidian leather boots connected softly with the hard concrete, barely registering in her ears. A few stray cats popped out and ran either on the other side or up and down the alley, stopping briefly to look at the girl before continuing on their way. One or two of them even hissed at her for invading what they claimed as their territory. But Sunset paid it no mind, too focused on past events that led to where she currently was.

‘Oh traust, why did things have to turn out like this?’ Sunset thought to herself, the corner of her lips forming a frown. ‘All I wanted was to have a new life and get away from the one that I was living. I just wanted to escape from the people that hurt me every single day. I thought that by escaping through that mirror, taking over that school, and taking that alicorn’s crown would make it all go away’ Her eyes shut tightly to keep the tears she felt from flowing out. ‘It looks like all that did was take me back right where I started. And right where I didn’t want to be anymore… I guess I ended up just screwing myself back over… again.’

Giving a melancholy sigh, Sunset lifted her arm to her face, using the leathery fabric to catch the tears beginning to stain her cheeks. She did this for the next couple of minutes, keeping both eyes on the path in front of her in case she ran into something or someone. The entire time that she was walking, Sunset felt her mind keep going back to the officer she escaped from. A clogged sob grew within her throat, and she did everything she could to keep it down, not wanting to cry anymore than she already did.

‘I still can’t believe I left that officer like that. And after she treated me so kindly and stood up for me against Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna.’ Sunset thought, feeling her heart squeeze within her chest. ‘I didn’t wanna do that to her… but I had to. Or else I would’ve never been able to explain away my situation to Starknight. She definitely would’ve sent me to an orphanage or something like that.’ She looked back to where she had hidden to get herself out of sight of Officer Starknight. ‘I only hope that Snails can keep his promise to me and not say where I really went. I don’t wanna have to do his homework for him for the next month for nothing. Though, knowing him, he’s someone that can keep his word.’

Silently praying that her lackey friend will be able to keep his word, Sunset turned and went the rest of her way down the entrance. Just as she was able to take a left, she felt a shadow zoom past her from above. She froze as if that same shadow turned her rock solid and looked up in fear of someone or something about to jump her. The teen just managed to see something vanish over the edge of the building next to her before she was all alone once again.

‘Strange… I could’ve sworn that I saw something fly over me for a second.’ Sunset thought as her body got moving again. A shrug left her as she made a full right turn in the corner, with another one waiting for her. ‘I guess it was just my imagination. Still, I’m pretty sure that I felt someone watching me back there. Better get back to my hideout before I get caught by another officer, or someone even worse.’

Right as this thought crossed her mind, a crackling sound shot its way into Sunset’s ears, causing her to nearly trip over her own feet. She looked down to see a few soda cans laying in front of her, one of them lying flat under her right foot. Glancing up, she found herself standing in front of a medium sized rundown shack that looked like it hadn’t been used in months. From the dust ridden front porch, to the dirty wooden walls, and the water dripping roof, it looked to be all but destroyed. A sharp contrast to the houses seen on the other side of the city, and somewhere no one would expect someone like Sunset to be living. Then again, it probably wouldn’t be all that surprising if they knew where she was really from. As well as the conditions she was forced to live in during that time.

“Well, it looks like I’m back now. That was a lot quicker than I thought it’d be.” Sunset said to herself, relieved that she was finally back at her hiding spot at last. A shiver went through her as she felt the night air blow through a crack in the shack she called home, making her two-toned hair flutter like a curtain. “It’s starting to get cold… winter will be here soon. I better start looking for a better place to sleep than this”.

The unseen figure silently leapt from her hiding place above the alleyway and landed near the alleyway entrance creeping up to the shack. Looking through a window in the shack the unseen figure watched Sunset curl up on a pile of cold, wet hardwood lining the back most right portion of the shack crying herself to sleep. In disbelief as to what she was seeing inside the shake the unseen figure turned around pressing her back to the shack wall and slid downwards. Her butt touching the cold, wet hard ground, her wings curling around her protectively. She pulled her legs up to her chest, burying her face into her arms. Small tears silently flowed down her cheeks dripping upon the ground beneath her.

“How? How can this be possible” the figure cried, “How can she be… homeless?” feeling a soft cold breeze blow the figure sniffed, dried her tears and stood up “something has to be done”. The figure took to the air once more headed for her own home while Sunset slept soundly unaware of the angelic figure flying away from her shack. “I want to help her but...how?” The unseen figure disappeared into its vast endless ebony cloak of darkness.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2 - Shimmering Solitude Part 1 of 3 : August 2nd, Tuesday, 6:00 AM Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 29 Minutes