When the room lit up, it appeared to be some kind of laboratory. Though most of the equipment appeared a good decade out of date, it definitely looked expensive. Everything around them looked important, but their attention was elsewhere.

The entire room was soaked all over with dark brown stains, dried for what appeared to be years. There were scratches on some of the walls indicating some kind of fight happened.

“W-what’s that!?” Bolt asked as he pointed to an object on the floor just behind the leg of a table.

Jasper blinked and carefully stepped forward, he came around the table and knelt down. His face turned white as he saw what was laying there. “Uh, fellas... Y’all may want to come take a look at this.”

Coming around, Horizon and Bolt came into view at what Jasper was looking at. There on the floor was an almost fossilized severed hand. The cut didn’t exactly look clean, almost as if the hand had been ripped off of the bone.

“Horizon is that...?” Jasper’s tone was hushed as he watched his friend get closer.

With the neutral expression she always wore, Horizon leaned in front of the hand and examined it. It had longer fingers but a smaller palm. She knew she had seen this hand before, but the ring upon the finger told her everything. She knew that ring quite well. When her mother was away, she remembered seeing that very same ring in a painting of her mother. It was her wedding band.

“This is Sunset’s hand,” Horizon said plainly.

“How’re ya’ so sure?” Jasper asked trying not to look at the nearly mummified hand that was covered in dry blood.

Horizon reached down and lifted the hand from the ground showing it to both of them. Bolt covered his mouth trying to hold back a gag and Jasper attempted to look away once more. “Horizon put that down!” Jasper demanded.

Naturally and completely in character for her, Horizon ignored their requests as she showed them the ring finger. “This was my mother’s wedding band.”

“It doesn’t creep you out in the slightest that you’re holding your mom’s severed hand!?” Bolt asked.

Horizon looked at the hand and shrugged. Setting the hand back down she began to think hard about the scenario that was before them. It was clear that something complex had occurred in the room they stood in. “What happened here?”

Bolt pointed to the bloody mess all over. “Well, I can at least tell you that Sunset Shimmer is definitely dead, dude.”

Jasper nudged him with his elbow causing Bolt to grunt. “What’d you do that for!?” Bolt growled.

Glancing over at Horizon, Jasper gave Bolt a silent scolding.

Horizon didn’t seem to mind or notice as she turned to bolt and tilted her head. “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

Rubbing his ribs, Bolt began to wander about the room and spoke. “This is a lot of blood. No one would survive this much blood loss, on top of that we have a severed hand. If Sunset were alive, wouldn’t she have taken her hand with her to try and get it reattached? Why would she leave it here? Sunset Shimmer is definitely dead, no one can survive this kind of blood loss. Not to mention, even if she couldn't get her hand reattached, I don't know many women who would abandon their wedding ring like that.” Bolt gestured all around them as proof.

Jasper had to admit that it sadly was the most logical explanation. He approached Horizon with a frown. “I sadly have to agree with him... This is a mighty amount of blood... Ain’t no way she survived somethin’ like this.”

Horizon nodded in agreement. “I suppose that logic is sound. Even still, the bigger question is who killed her and why?”

“Let’s look around for any other kind of clues,” Bolt suggested with his finger up.

While the prospect of searching a facility that was already soaked in blood and they had discovered a severed hand in didn’t really excite Jasper, he couldn’t deny that there weren’t any better options. The possibility of finding other severed body parts was high, but at that moment it was their best chance at finding any kind of clue as to what happened to Sunset Shimmer.

“Alright, let’s split up.” Horizon nodded as she opted to take a path that led her to the back of the rather large room.

As she walked, she noticed that the place was some kind of living facility. She noted there was a treadmill, a kitchen, and even a bed. The entire place looked as though it was designed for someone to live there, but why?

Glancing over to Jasper on the other side of the room, he leaned in to examine some old computers, machines that would be considered obsolete by modern standards. It was clear that this place was more than just a living space, some kind of research or work had to have been done here.

Bolt lifted a piece of paper off of a table and began to examine it. It was stained with a bloody set of fingerprints, but he could still make out the hastily scribbled message written in black ink.

It’s over.

Sunset Shimmer is dead. What is done can’t be undone. I wish there was something I could do, but it’s too late. I’m going to die and that is all there is to it.

If anyone is reading this, I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused. You’ll need to get in touch with the Princess though if you want to solve things.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait for that to be possible. If enough time passes, she’ll likely come looking for me and then you can meet with her.

Forgive me, Twilight.

Bolt cleared his throat and called Horizon over. “Hey, come look at this...”

Horizon lazily made her way over to him and gave a gentle “hm?”

Jasper followed and looked over the boy’s shoulder as he passed the note to Horizon.

Her eyes scanned the letter quickly and went over its contents. Lowering the paper she adjusted her glasses and nodded. “Guess Sunset really is dead.”

“You’re taking it well...” Bolt remarked which caused him again to receive a jab in the stomach by Jasper.

“Ow!” Bolt complained.

“Have some respect,” Jasper tried to speak in a hushed tone, but it was fairly evident that there was little reason as Horizon wasn’t really paying much attention to the two of them.

Instead, the young teen was scanning over the letter written by her mother. She noticed the handwriting was far sloppier and didn’t match her mother’s at all. “This is odd.”

“What is?” Jasper blinked.

Horizon flipped the letter to face the two of them. “This looks like a child wrote it almost. This handwriting is clearly trying to replicate my mother’s, but doing a very mediocre job at it.”

Bolt and Jasper both thought for a moment before Bolt pounded his fist into his palm. “I got it!”

Horizon and Jasper both blinked and looked over at the scrappy boy. He pointed to the floor. “All this blood, no way that a person is going to be at even 80% of their normal demeanor, man. On top of that, she was right-handed wasn’t she?”

“I believe that’s accurate.” Horizon shrugged.

“And her right hand is sitting on that floor over there, so that must mean she wrote the letter with her left hand as she was bleeding out...” Bolt placed a thumb on his chin and nodded in approval of his own reasoning.

Jasper was somewhat impressed. For a dull-looking guy who didn’t exactly give the impression that he paid attention in school, Bolt was pretty good at piecing things together. He almost wanted to congratulate him on his reasoning skills if he wasn’t confident that it would go right to his inflated ego, so instead, he said nothing.

Horizon, however, stood there as the gears in her head began to turn. It all made perfect sense. If Sunset’s hand was cut off and she was bleeding that much, it made sense that she was assuming she would die very shortly. She chose to use her last bit of life to leave behind this letter, but there were still questions left unanswered.

“I think Bolt’s logic is very sound in that she wrote this letter after her hand was severed and that means she was dying as she wrote it...” Horizon thought out loud.

Bolt gave a large grin showing his pride in being correct, glancing over at Jasper waiting for him to object so that he could rub his nose in it.

“But this creates new questions...” Horizon raised a finger.

Her blank and emotionless expression had Bolt uneasy. Her mother was dead and there was a mystery around her death afoot and this girl was treating it like an episode of “Supernatural”. What was with her? It made him a bit uneasy. If she wasn’t so easy on the eyes, he probably would get creeped out just being around a person like her, still, a promise was a promise.

“What do y’all mean?” Jasper asked.

“Why here for starters.” Horizon shrugged.

Now it was Bolt’s turn to tilt his head. “What do you mean?”

Jasper rolled his eyes. “Think about it. How did we get in here?”

Bolt looked back to the entrance and then gave Jasper a squared eyebrow of confusion. “We came in through that door...” He pointed at the entrance behind him.

Jasper nodded and smirked. “And what was stoppin’ us from getting through that door?”

“A strange lock?” Bolt shrugged.

“Exactly.” Jasper nodded again.

“I don’t get it...” Bolt blinked.

Horizon pointed at the door and spoke in her usual neutral tone as she explained it to the lost teen. “If it was this difficult for us to get in here, then whoever else came in would have had just of difficult a time, meaning that someone had to have tracked her down here to kill her.”

Jasper shook his head in disagreement as he stepped forward and sat down at a nearby stool. “That can’t be, Horizon.”

“Why not?” Horizon looked at him.

“Remember when we came in, the lock was still on. Who’d have gone through the trouble to put a lock back on after killing her?” Jasper pointed out.

Bolt chimed in. “Maybe they wanted to keep her hidden?”

It seemed as though Bolt’s deduction skills reduced over time as he was now missing not only obvious clues but ones he himself discovered. Jasper internally retracted his compliment of the boy’s reasoning skills.

“That don’t make sense either,” Jasper stated.

“Why not?”

The blonde pointed at the letter in Horizon’s hand. “If’n he killed her and then left, then how did she get the chance to write that letter?”

“Maybe he thought she was dead?” Bolt shrugged.

“If that were the case, he wouldn’t go through the effort of locking the door unless he was certain. After all, there is no point in trying to hide a crime scene if you leave the chance of the victim being still alive.” Horizon raised her finger once more as she followed Jasper’s line of thinking.

Bolt placed a hand on his chin and thought about it. They all brought up valid points.

“Then there’s only one explanation...” Bolt blinked. He looked down at the two who were waiting expectantly. “It was a suicide. That would explain why the door was locked and there is this note.”

Jasper sighed. “For a moment, I thought y’all were about to say something brilliant. It can’t be a suicide, numb skull.”

“Why not!? I think I’m onto something!” Bolt huffed.

“Who would commit suicide by cuttin’ off their hand?” Jasper rolled his eyes.

While the two were arguing, Horizon was going through the nearby drawers where she withdrew an object that she held up in her hand examining the black metal. “Well, I’d say suicide is out of the question...” Horizon stated as she held up the object.

“Holy fuck! Put that thing down, Horizon!” Bolt jumped back as he registered the thing in her hand as a handgun. “Where the fuck did you get that!?”

“From the drawer.” Horizon shrugged.

“Well, at least it rules out suicide...” Jasper sighed.

“Because if she had access to a gun...” Horizon began to think out loud.

“Then that would be the most efficient way to take yourself out.” Bolt finished.

Jasper chuckled. “Now y’all are gettin’ it.”

Bolt grinned. “So no suicide then. This was definitely murder, some kind of fight happened here.”

Horizon lowered the gun to her side as she kept thinking. “That brings about one final question then.”

Pointing to the jaded teen’s hand, Jasper inched backward in his seat. “Horizon, can ya’ put that thing down?”

Looking down at her hand, Horizon dropped the gun on the floor, making a loud clatter which caused both of the boys to jump. “Fuck!” Bolt cursed.

“Where’s the body?” Horizon ignored their outbursts as she continued her thoughts.

“Body?” Bolt blinked as he composed himself.

The purple-haired girl nodded. “All we have is a severed hand, where’s the rest of the body?”

That was an excellent question, even Jasper had to admit. “I’d say the killer took it to hide their crime, but then this entire crime scene was tucked away and they left all this blood and the hand behind. It don’t make much sense to take a body and then leave all this other evidence behind. Shoot, leavin’ the body here would probably keep it more hidden than takin’ it on account of this place bein’ a big secret an’ all...”

Bolt nodded in agreement. “Why would they only want the body then?”

Horizon was piecing it together slowly. “If they didn’t clean up the crime scene that meant that taking the body wasn’t a matter of trying to hide the crime... They had to take it for some reason...”

“But why?” Jasper blinked.

“I think we have to figure that part out ourselves, but I'm going to guess there was something on her body that they needed and had no other way of taking without taking the entire body. Come on, let’s keep looking around and see if we can find anything else,” Horizon suggested.

The group nodded and split up to keep searching the small facility. Horizon stepped back over to the hand and found herself staring at it carefully. The girl knelt down and got a closer look.

The ring upon the finger intrigued her, and she somehow felt it would be wrong to leave it there. Reaching forward, she lifted the hand up and gently slid the ring off. With how much muscle the fingers had lost, the ring came off easily and Horizon pocketed it.

The atmosphere in the room must have been maintained by some kind of regulation system as the hand was too well preserved otherwise. On the outside, the hand would be nothing but bone by now, yet here it still had flesh attached to it. That also meant that the room was completely sealed and prevented insects from the outside from getting in as well.

What was this room used for? Why was Sunset Shimmer here before she died? Why would someone want her dead?

The deeper she dug into the mystery of Sunset Shimmer, the further she seemed to feel from the truth. Horizon had a feeling that she stepped into something far bigger than she could imagine. She decided it was best to not share said thoughts with the other two.

The continued raid on Sunset’s secret facility on the other side of the town turned up only a few more clues. Jasper had deduced that something major must have been housed there at one point as a large part of the room seemed relatively empty for a cramped living area where one would need to make the most out of all the space provided.

Furthermore, they had determined that whatever work had been done there in the past was destroyed for one reason or another. Checking over all the computers revealed that they had been completely formatted, and all notebooks had had their contents removed along with all drawers being emptied. It was evidence that either Sunset or someone else didn’t want what was being done there to be discovered.

The only major clues they had were the note and the severed hand, which they naturally decided not to take with them, and instead opted for pictures of it instead.

The trio had sat on it for a week relaying conversations only through text and occasionally in person when they saw each other after school. Eight long days had passed and they were now reaching a dead end.

The group sat at a local cafe in town just a few blocks from the school after getting a ride there from Horizon in her car. Bolt sipped from a smoothie as he looked over all of the notes, photos and printed out articles that Horizon had laid across the table. Jasper sat next to her looking them over with her as Bolt took a more relaxed approach.

With his eyes lazily watching, he allowed the other two to go to work and piece together some of the more “difficult” stuff.

Jasper tapped one of the photos. “Maybe this has to do with Shimmer? I mean, the girl was also murdered mysteriously, wasn’t she?”

Horizon nodded lazily. “I suppose that’s a possible angle. My uncle Shining handled that case, and even though it was closed, it may still have some connection.”

“Unfinished business?” Bolt suggested as he slurped to the bottom of his cup, setting it down in disappointment when he realized that the fruity nectar was depleted.

“Probably...” Jasper shrugged.

Bolt tapped his finger on the table as his brain began to work. “So... Maybe other relatives? Shimmer had a ton of money, so maybe they were killing for inheritance?”

Horizon shook her head. “The only ones that are still around would be Lilly and her family and after meeting them in person, there is nothing they could gain from killing Sunset Shimmer. They already knew they were not in Shimmer’s will and they seemed all but certain that they would not be in Sunset’s either.”

Bolt rubbed his chin before grinning. “Maybe... It started off that way with Shimmer, but after they knew they weren’t getting the money this was more about satisfaction?”

Jasper shook his head. “Nah, they did seem like horrid folks from Horizon’s description, but not the murderin’ types. ‘Sides, how would they even get into that facility and more importantly, how did a couple approachin’ their 50s at the time manage to take down a young woman who was in excellent shape? From what info we have, Sunset was in amazin’ shape, worked out every day...”

“I believe the gym at home still lists her personal bests. I believe she deadlifted 178 pounds and she was skilled at martial arts.” Horizon recalled.

Letting out a sigh, Bolt shrugged. “I don’t have a clue...” He paused and then blinked. “Wait, she could deadlift that much? Really?”

Horizon nodded. “I believe her record was about 800 pushups as well.”

“Damn, she must have been a beast!” Bolt whistled in awe.

“I suppose, though she often ate very little, so she was frequently malnourished from my memory.” Horizon shrugged.

Bolt was trying to imagine the woman that they had frequently shown photos of in such a state. Sunset was a very attractive older woman by any boy’s standards, and her fierce stare was powerful enough to lure anyone into her bed if she wanted. Bolt was trying to wrap his head around such a gorgeous woman who was also quite a formidable combatant.

In a way, she reminded him of his own mother to some extent. Rainbow as definitely far more feisty and prankster though. Rainbow was the kind of woman who would rip on you for just about anything she could make an excuse to do so for.

The mystery of Sunset Shimmer continued to perplex the entire group. Who exactly was she?

Bolt decided to finally chime in. “Something’s been bugging me...”

Horizon and Jasper both looked in his direction as the teen lazily hung his arm over the back of his chair.

“Sunset Shimmer... We know next to nothing about her...” Bolt pointed out.

That was true. Horizon knew very little about her mother, and Twilight always said she didn’t know and that Sunset never talked much about her life before they were in it. Horizon had never met her grandparents or even the adopted parents that Twilight said took Sunset in. They didn’t know where she was born, where she grew up, and shy of a birth certificate saying she was born in Maryland, they had no information on her life prior to meeting Twilight.

Could Sunset have been someone leading a double life? Was she someone who erased her past to start over? Was such a thing even possible? Thinking backward, Horizon determined that during Sunset’s childhood technology would have still been fairly advanced, it would be very difficult for someone to simply “disappear” from the public record even with hacking skills. Such a thing would require several people’s assistance.

“That’s true...” Horizon nodded in agreement.

Jasper had a concerned expression as he looked at Horizon. He knew that the further they dug, the greater the risk that Horizon would discover things about her mother that she might have not wanted to know.

“What’s odder is that since her death, ain’t no one filed a missin’ person report, not even Twilight...” Jasper frowned.

Shrugging, Horizon sipped from her drink. “Twilight never said why she didn’t go looking for her...”

Bolt sighed and shook his head as he tapped the table with his finger. “Well duh. Think about it, Sunset left her once before, she probably just felt better assuming that the girl wasn’t coming back than go through the pain of trying to find her and all that.”

That made sense to Jasper, but Horizon had never considered that perspective. “You think so?”

“Obviously, man. If your wife left you and then when they came back they left you again, would you wanna go looking for them, or would you rather move on with your life?” Bolt pointed out.

Horizon blinked. “I’m not very good when it comes to matters of romance or the heart, so you tell me.”

“Clearly...” Bolt shook his head. It was impeccable how little Horizon understood about human nature. She was cute, a bit unkempt, but a total social idiot. She didn’t seem to understand social faux pas or how people reacted when their emotions ran wild.

Horizon looked down at the table and thought it over. She recalled when her parents were together, they were always hugging and kissing, all over each other. That meant that everything was fine prior, right? Or did it? She didn’t know. Did people change how they acted before something major happened or did they continue on as if nothing was wrong? She didn’t know.

“Should we tell Twilight that Sunset is dead then?” Horizon tilted her head unsure.

Bolt was amazed. This girl had learned her mother was dead and murdered and she legitimately had no idea how to react to it. She wasn’t asking because she was concerned for Twilight’s reaction, but out of genuine curiosity. In a way, he was envious of how someone could live so carefree.

Looking away, Bolt lowered his shoulders and thought it over. “I don’t know, I mean telling her might upset her. I don’t know... For now, I think it might be best we keep this all a secret. I have a feeling there is a lot more going on here than we even realize, you know?”

Angel Song sat in the car with Sunburst who smiled at her as she tapped her adorable cyan blue nails against the steering wheel in thought. He had come to know her as a close friend and someone whom he could count on, but she was still so quiet and difficult to get close to despite her easy personality.

For as long as he had known her for close to fifteen years, Sunburst didn’t know too much about Angel Song. She was a quiet person who didn’t talk about herself too much. He knew she was a virgin from Starlight’s stories that she told of her, but she didn’t seem too concerned about it.

Her hair had grown considerably since they had met and now Angel Song had long wavy blue locked that went down to her knees, which was saying something as she was tall and lanky for a woman.

She had an affinity for silver as her wrists were decorated with silver bangles and a silver charm bracelet that every year they would get her a new charm for. On top of that, she had a silver and black pinkie ring.

Over the years she seemed to remain as youthful as always, and her pale skin never seemed to blemish. She was a stunning image of beauty despite her lack of breasts. She had womanly legs and a nice rump to make up for it, not that Sunburst was interested in her like that. No, in his mind, Angel was like a little sister that was always accompanying them.

Angel would do anything for Starlight, him and Nova and whenever they were in over their heads, Angel was right there to dive in with them. She was predictable, but that was a good thing in their line of “work”.

“So, you nervous?” Sunburst asked.

Nodding, Angel kept her eyes on the convenience store where Starlight and Nova took off to use the lavatory.

“I feel like we’re very close to figuring out what this has been all about, you know? It’s hard to believe it’s been close to 20 years now. This all started before I even met you, it’s just weird to think it’ll all be over potentially soon...” Angel rambled.

Sunburst reached forward and adjusted the air conditioner. “Did you ever see yourself doing any of this stuff?”

Angel shook her head. “Nah, I mean it’s crazy. I would have never believed in something like magic or prophetic visions before, but now that all of this stuff has happened to me... I just feel compelled to know why. I can’t really rest until I know the truth, you know?”

“Aren’t you afraid of what the truth might be? I mean what if this is all some big government conspiracy and we’re walking right into it? Maybe we’re asking questions that people aren’t supposed to ask, you know?” Sunburst suggested.

The thought had crossed Angel’s mind many times in the past. “I don’t care... I want to know why we have these powers and what’s really going on. I need to find Sunset Shimmer, that much I know.”

“I guess I’m curious too, I mean this Sunset Shimmer... A lot of mystery surrounds her...” Sunburst admitted.

They didn’t know too much about her, just about what anyone else could find by searching her name and combing through public records. If there was anything remarkable about Sunset Shimmer, it wasn’t going to reveal itself through internet digging. Still, Sunset wasn’t the only mystery they were entwined in. Canterlot would prove promising if they could figure out where to go from there.

Angel didn’t have a clue where any of this was going to take the group of them, but she assumed that she would be wise to be prepared.

On a whim, Horizon had decided to take yet another look inside the storage facility that Sunset had made a little lab out of. A part of her couldn’t shake that there had to be something else of interest located there. The girl arrived at 8 o'clock at night and shut her car off before stepping out and approached the entrance.

She had chosen to go alone this time around and began to snoop through every drawer she could find to no avail. She sat down in the chair that likely was used to type on the computer that sat there and glanced over at the severed hand upon the ground. The teenager found herself staring for a good few moments before turning to the computer and pressing the power button.

Naturally, the screen did not turn on, it appeared as though the machine was damaged during whatever fight went on in the room. Her eyes were however drawn to a floppy disk drive that sat upon the desk, connected to the computer through some kind of adapter.

Horizon blinked a few times. Floppy disks were such an outdated technology that she had never actually seen one in person. A disk was sticking out of the drive which made her curious. Such technology was outdated even eight years ago, why would Sunset have one? Surely there were more efficient ways to store data.

Curiously, Horizon pushed the disk into the drive, and suddenly she heard a click from under the desk.

She wheeled the chair back and saw that under the desk, a tile upon the floor had lifted, revealing some kind of small opening. The opening was probably no bigger than her fist, but her mind was stuck on trying to figure out how it opened.

Looking at the floppy drive, she noticed that she could not move it. It was bolted to the table. She glanced as much as she could underneath it to see a series of other wires being fed through the table. It appeared as though the drive had been gutted and turned into some kind of secret lock mechanism. The floppy drive acted as some kind of lock and the disk was clearly some kind of key.

Such a unique lock mechanism clearly was intended to hide something important. Reaching into the opened tile compartment, Horizon retrieved some kind of box that was about as small as a ring box, but it had some kind of lock on it. The lock lacked a keyhole, meaning there was some other mechanism to unlock it.

Grabbing a nearby knife in a pen cup, Horizon tried to pry the box open, but the gap between the lid and the base was far too tight. It was sealed completely closed and it felt odd in the hand. Could this also be the same kind of lock that the door used? It seemed likely, but Horizon had to test it.

Horizon had taken the box home and brought it down to the workshop on the basement floor. No amount of force seemed to open it. A blowtorch didn’t even scratch it, and a hammer didn’t even dent it. It seemed to be protected by something, but what that something was, Horizon didn’t know.

Sitting in her bedroom, Horizon was sprawled out in her black lacy underwear staring at the box that she held up in front of her face. With her glasses on the end table, she had to hold it fairly close just to see it, but it was black and metallic. It had a strange design on it, it looked like a moon inside of a wing sort of, but what it meant, Horizon wasn’t sure.

This box clearly was important to Sunset, enough to hide it, but she didn’t leave any kind of notes about it, so it was clear that it was intended to remain hidden, even from Horizon.

It’s contents had Horizon mystified, but she placed the box in a drawer next to her four-poster bed and laid back down, staring at the ceiling, letting out a sigh.

As if on cue, Twilight poked her head in the room that had the door still open and blushed as she looked away bashfully. “Again... Clothes...”

Horizon looked at herself and then shrugged. “I’m comfortable.”

Twilight sighed and giggled shaking her head as she wandered into the room. “Your mother was the same way...”

Blinking, Horizon glanced over at Twilight with her blank expression. That was something that Twilight admitted was different from the both of them, her very controlled temperament. Sunset was prone to emotional outbursts and acting rashly based upon said emotion, and Twilight was an extreme worrywart, but Horizon was neither. Horizon was the calmest person that Twilight knew. Nothing seemed to bother her.

“Was she?” Horizon leaned to see Twilight as she sat up with her legs crossed on the bed.

Twilight sat down at the foot of the bed and nodded. “Yeah, she often made breakfast in her underwear” Twilight found herself giggling at the memories.

“I think I remember that...” Horizon nodded.

“I can’t deny that I liked it though...” Twilight blushed and played with a strand of her hair.

Horizon blinked and tilted her head. “Mom was a very beautiful woman wasn’t she?”

Horizon remembered her mother’s face and had seen the pictures and paintings of her around the house, but she had heard people who knew the woman say she was gorgeous.

Twilight nodded. “I was very lucky to even get a person as beautiful as her to even talk to me.”

“You guys met in high school right?” Horizon remembered.

Twilight nodded once more. “Yes, but we went to different schools at first. I went to Crystal Prep like you as you know. She went to Canterlot High, but we met during the Friendship Games. She really looked out for me, and I decided to transfer to Canterlot High after that.”

Horizon had heard this story before, but for some reason, Twilight always kept it vague. She never went into too much detail beyond that.

“She is such a beautiful girl, I think I first started to realize that I loved her shortly after we met, the way she smiles at me still gives me goosebumps...” Twilight continued.

Horizon realized that Twilight spoke of her as if she was coming back. Twilight didn’t know.

The evidence was overwhelming. Sunset was dead, murdered, and whatever she was murdered for most likely had to do with the box, Horizon was sure of it. She had gone through such lengths to keep it hidden, so it wasn’t a coincidence, it had to be connected.

A part of her contemplated asking Twilight about the box, but she thought against it. Telling Twilight about the box could make her ask questions, and at the current state of their investigation, Bolt had recommended against making Twilight aware of what they were doing. Horizon didn’t understand why, but she went along with it, assuming it had to do with some kind of emotional thing.

“I see.” Horizon nodded.

Twilight giggled and reached over, ruffling the teen’s hair. Horizon didn’t resist, instead, she just sat there allowing Twilight to do as she pleased with her soft thick locks.

“You inherited so much of her beauty, Horizon...” Twilight grinned.

Horizon looked down to examine her body in her underwear. She was a relatively short girl, which was abnormal as both of her parents came from fairly tall families. She had slender legs, creating the coveted “thigh gap” that most men seemed to adore, but she was not built like her mother.

Sunset had an attractive hourglass figure, but Horizon felt she herself was mostly just plain looking figure wise. She lacked a lot of the curves that her mother had, even her breasts were a modest B cup.

Horizon never really considered if she was “attractive” or not. Bolt had mentioned she was “cute” but he seemed the type to hit on virtually any girl he met, so she couldn’t really discern if it meant much.

“I don’t see it...” Horizon shrugged.

Twilight giggled. “It’s easy to see. You’re beautiful, Horizon. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

The older woman tapped Horizon’s nose gently as she told her.

“Why did mom leave us?” Horizon changed the subject.

There was a short pause followed by Twilight exhaling. “You haven’t asked that in a long time...”

“You never really answered me when I asked...” Horizon pointed out.

Twilight bit her lip and sighed. “Your mother... I wish I fully knew why she left. I just don’t know... I know it’s not because she didn’t love you or me, so please don’t think it’s that.”

Horizon tilted her head. “Did she say anything before she left?”

Twilight shook her head. “I wish she did. I don’t know anything, I’m sorry if that’s not the answer you were hoping for. But know that if your mother left us it was for a good reason. It would take a lot for her to leave.”

Pausing, Horizon spoke quietly. “Do you think she’ll ever come back?”

Once again Twilight was speechless for a good eight seconds before she responded. “I... I don’t know. I don’t even know how I’d feel if she returned...”

Horizon confirmed that Twilight didn’t know she was murdered.

Sighing, Twilight stood up and brushed her dark colored jeans off. She turned and smiled at her daughter, adjusting her stylish glasses as she looked at her. “Just know that I care about you, Horizon. I love you very much.”

Horizon nodded. “Thank you, Twilight.”

Twilight bit her lip. Her daughter’s odd tendencies didn’t usually bother her, but the one that always irked her slightly was that Horizon seldom would say she loved anyone. It wasn’t in her nature, but Twilight knew it was likely because Horizon struggled to understand emotions, a trait that seemed to always be there with her.

Turning her expression back into a smile, Twilight left the room.

Once she was gone, Horizon felt her phone on her wrist begin vibrating. She contemplated answering it as she allowed it to ring eight times. Once she decided to do so, she made the gesture over her ears to make her light-based headphones appear so she could answer the phone.

“Hello?” She asked.

Bolt’s voice came out of the phone. “Hey, just checking up on you, I guess.”

Horizon yawned as she laid back down. “I see.”

“So, find anything new?” Bolt asked.

“Yes, actually. I found a box.”

“How exciting...” Bolt faked enthusiasm.

“It was hidden in Sunset’s hideout. She went out of her way to hide it, so I’d wager it likely has significance,” Horizon explained.

After that explanation, Bolt seemed more interested. “I see, what was in the box?”

“I don’t know,” Horizon said.

“You don’t know?” Bolt seemed surprised, “You didn’t open it?”

“I can’t. It’s protected by some kind of lock. I can’t pry it open, and the lock doesn’t have a keyhole of any kind. It must unlock electronically or something...” Horizon explained.

“So you think it’s connected to all of this then?” Bolt asked.

“More than likely, though I think after probing Twilight, I doubt she knows anything about it or Sunset’s death for that matter...” Horizon said.

Bolt paused for a moment before asking a question, “Why do you call her Twilight?”

“What do you mean?” Horizon asked.

“Well, you call her by her first name, and I was curious as to why...” Bolt questioned.

Horizon blinked. “It was her suggestion. She said that while she is my parent, she didn’t want to take the title of ‘mother’ away from Sunset since she actually gave birth to me. So I suppose it’s a respect thing? I don’t really understand it myself, but it’s how we’ve always been so I don’t really question it.”

“You have a strange family dynamic, I have to admit...” Bolt stated.

To anyone else, his comment would be considered rude, but not to Horizon Shimmer. She instead just shrugged despite him not being able to see her.

“I suppose so, but I guess I don’t really understand what would constitute a normal family.” Horizon yawned.

“I guess that’s true, well it sounds like you’re tired. We can talk about the box later when we meet up with Jasper...” Bolt said.

“Very well,” Horizon replied.

“Good night, Horizon.”

“Good night.”

Bolt sat up on his phone trying to search for any kind of clues that could give the group any kind of leads. Horizon had mentioned she didn’t know her mother very well and he was inclined to believe her on that as the search results kept implying that no one really knows much about her.

Despite being from a millionaire, there were few public records of her. By the look of it, she didn’t keep up much of a social life after high school, and most of her time was spent in her home with her daughter when she was around. Sunset clearly became a person that was entirely about being a mom after Horizon was born.

The wealth their family had was seldom the talk of the news, as they lived very secretly and seemed to know how to keep the media away. She wasn’t a newsworthy girl, Bolt supposed as few scandals surrounded her after the death of her twin sister.

Still, it was very odd. What was odder was that no records showed that Twilight had even reported her wife missing either time she vanished.

The first time she disappeared, the police would have had to have been suspicious, but after she came back, Bolt guessed that Twilight was able to prove by her first departure that this was the kind of thing that Sunset would do, so they didn’t investigate further.

How does a girl disappear in the 21st century though? With the level of access that any random person had to information, and the technology at everyone’s fingertips, it would be difficult for someone to just disappear off of all records without a trace. Somewhere they would have to use their phone to pay with credit or go somewhere that required they present their ID or something.

That could only mean one thing to Bolt: whoever killed her also had been going around erasing everything about her prior that they could. This wasn’t just a murder, it was a coverup of some kind. Sunset clearly knew about things that someone didn’t want to get out. The bigger question was who, and why.

As he sat there lost in thought, Bolt didn’t even notice his fraternal twin brother had slipped through the partially opened door to Bolt’s bedroom and stood at the foot of his bed with his arms behind his back.

“What’re you doing, Bolt?” Cloud asked curiously.

Bolt cursed under his breath and looked up at his effeminate brother. As long as Bolt could remember, his brother always was a bit strange, but he loved him all the same.

Cloud was always difficult to stay mad at, due to his shy and meek demeanor. He took more after their mother, Fluttershy, clearly.

“It’s uh... Some stuff for some friends...” Bolt rubbed his neck.

“Friends?” Cloud tilted his head in surprise.

“Yeah... Jasper Apple and Horizon Shimmer...” Bolt replied.

Cloud blinked. “Oh, they actually helped me a while back. I didn’t know that you got to know them...”

Bolt shrugged. “Jasper’s kind of a pain in the ass, but the two mean well...”

“What’s Horizon like then?” Cloud asked.

“How do I describe her...” Bolt looked up in thought. It had occurred to him that Horizon Shimmer was the definition of “odd”. He couldn’t think of many ways to describe her besides “she’s weird. Cute, but weird. Like I think most guys would bang her, but probably not date her.”

“Huh?” Cloud blinked.

“Nevermind...” Bolt sighed.

“So what are you doing for them?” Cloud changed the subject.

Bolt bit his lip. “Promise that this stays between us?”

Cloud nodded. “O-of course...”

Bolt began to tell him of their exploits. He told him of Sunset Shimmer, the secret hideout that they had found, the severed hand, and even the mysterious box that Horizon had found. Cloud’s face was full of shock and surprise with every development in the story, but he remained quiet and covered his mouth as Bolt told the tale.

When he was finished, Bolt shrugged. “And now we’re just trying to figure this all out. What happened to Sunset Shimmer, why did she get murdered, what’s with the box, all that...”

“It sounds... Mysterious...” Cloud nodded slowly.

“Yeah, but we’re at a few stopgaps. We need more to go on. Horizon said that there was a computer in a secret room at her mansion, but we’d need someone who is good with computers to figure out how to get into it...” Bolt frowned.

Cloud shrugged. “I don’t know much about that stuff either...”

Bolt smirked and nudged his brother’s shoulder. “Yeah, you’re more about painting.”

It was true, Cloud was quite a magnificent painter. He spent most of his free time painting, and his bedroom was covered with paintings that he had done hung on his walls. However, he was also a clean freak, so the room was always decorated and spotless, a stark contrast to Bolt’s messy room which was covered in skateboard equipment and sports memorabilia.

The two brothers were polar opposites, but they were always by each other’s side. If Cloud was in trouble, Bolt would always be there to back him up. He protected his brother with all his strength, which had earned him a few beatings in his day.

Cloud looked up to his brother, he admired his strength, and spoke highly of him, despite his lesser characteristics. Bolt was brash, stubborn and hot-headed, but he had his heart in the right place. His methods were bold, but his intentions were generally good (except when it came to women, in which case he was almost exclusively thinking about sex).

Leaning in, Cloud gave a frail smile. “W-would it be okay if I began helping you guys?”

Bolt blinked. “Cloud, we’re potentially chasing after a killer here. It’s dangerous...”

Cloud nodded. “I want to help though. It sounds like you guys could use more help...”

Bolt stopped and stared at his brother. His eyes were very serious. He clearly wouldn’t be deterred. With his muted rainbow hair tied in a braid, Cloud actually could easily be mistaken for a girl, which Bolt supposed is why he was able to charm people so easily.

Sighing, Bolt nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’ll let the others know that you were brought up to speed, but you can’t tell mom or mother about this. Horizon and Jasper don’t think it’s a good idea to get them involved.”

Cloud raised his hands in a triumphant pose and nodded. “Got it!”

Horizon and Jasper didn’t mind that Cloud now joined them in their get-togethers if anything, Jasper welcomed him. He was far more tolerable than his brother whom Jasper often found himself rolling his eyes at. Bolt seemed to have a tendency to get aggressive with Jasper, which the well-mannered boy ignored; which only served to piss Bolt off more.

Cloud was timid and meek, he was a follower, not a leader. After Jasper filled him in about details that Bolt may have skimmed over, Horizon scratched her head and roughed up her already messy hair before letting out a yawn.

“Long day at school?” Bolt asked.

Horizon adjusted her designer black leather jacket and rested her chin on the table of the cafe they were sitting at. “More like boring...”

“I imagine that Crystal Prep would be, it’s all hoity-toity and shit.” Bolt shrugged.

Horizon shrugged back. “School, in general, is boring.”

“Ain’t your mom like a scientist or something? My mom says she is really into learning and books?” Bolt asked.

Nodding, Horizon let out another yawn. “That would be correct. Twilight is always reading.”

“Sounds like you two don’t have a lot in common?” Cloud asked before covering his mouth. “Oh, sorry... That was rude of me...”

Jasper sighed as he saw Horizon shrug again. “As far as I always see, they really don’t; and don’t worry about offendin’; Horizon here is pretty difficult to offend.”

“My kind of girl.” Bolt winked.

Looking over at Cloud, Jasper shot him a look. “And you have to live with this fella?”

Cloud looked puzzled, so Jasper just dismissed his point and sighed. Looking back at Horizon. “I’m sorry that y’all ain’t got much in common with Twilight.”

Horizon just shrugged as usual. “We get along, that’s all that matters.”

Jasper knew that that was always the best one could hope for when it came to Horizon Shimmer. She was difficult to get close to, but he knew her well enough.

“So what about this box?” Bolt inquired.

Nodding, Horizon reached into her bag at her side and retrieved the box with the odd crescent moon emblem upon it. Placing it on the table, she placed her hands on her lap and awaited the commentary of the others as they examined it.

Bolt leaned in and squinted as did Cloud. Jasper chose to observe it from afar with his hand upon his chin.

Reaching for it, Bolt picked it up and attempted to pull it open with no luck. He began to examine it after his failed attempt to open it, focusing particularly upon the lock that had no keyhole. He squinted and turned the box around to see if the back revealed any answers, but with no luck.

Tossing it in the air and catching it in his palm he questioned Horizon on it. “So, What would you wager is inside of it?”

As expected, Horizon shrugged. “No idea, but I’d guess it was important. Do you know how to open it?”

“While my lock picking skills are far from what would constitute an ‘expert’, I’d still bet that no one has seen a lock like this before. It must have a very unique way of being opened. That means one thing to me...” Bolt explained.

“And that is?” Jasper raised an annoyed brow.

Glancing at his new rival, Bolt kept a serious face. “This lock must have been uniquely crafted for the sole purpose of keeping others out. Whatever material this box is made out of also seems to resist conventual tools to open from what Horizon has said. That means whoever sealed what’s in here inside must have only intended for a certain person to be able to open it.”

“Do you think the emblem on top has any relevance?” Cloud asked.

Smirking, Bolt clenched the box in his hand and reached over to pet his head. “Good eye, I’d say yeah. I think this emblem is either a hint on how to open it or a hint on where it came from...”

Horizon leaned back in her seat and looked up. “I feel like I’ve seen that emblem before...”

Had she really though? She couldn’t recall any specific memories where she saw such an emblem, but it still seemed oddly familiar to her.

“Whatever is inside, I think you better hang onto it, Horizon.” Bolt handed the box back to her, which she took graciously.

“Let’s go over what we know then...” Horizon began as she grabbed a napkin and began drawing a rather crude timeline of what they understood thus far.

Starting at the beginning, she made a line slightly away from the start of her timeline and marked it “eight years ago”.

“So, eight years ago, Sunset disappears for whatever reason. She goes to this facility possibly sometime after that where she is killed and subsequently hides the box...” Horizon drew another mark on the timeline.

Jasper scratched his chin. “So we can assume the box probably has somethin’ to do with her death...?”

Horizon nodded. “It’s very likely.”

“And also that this all started eight years ago,” Bolt interjected.

Horizon shook her head this time. “That’s where you’re not inherently correct.”

“Huh? How do you figure that?” Bolt blinked.

Drawing another line before her “eight years ago” mark, Horizon tapped the paper with the pen.

“We’re assuming that this all began with Sunset’s second disappearance. This all could have something to do with her first one...” Horizon pointed out.

“What do you mean, Horizon?” Cloud leaned in, his soft voice barely audible.

Drawing an arrow to connect the two points, Horizon stared at her paper diagram. “Is it possible that wherever Sunset went the first time she disappeared... That is where she acquired the box?”

“So the box might have origins before eight years ago? And for that matter, someone else could have had it before her. You’re saying that we’re thinking too small?” Bolt tilted his head.

Horizon kept a neutral expression as always. “I’m merely suggesting that we can’t straight jacket our thinking here. The emblem on the box isn’t Sunset’s, that’s reason enough to believe it didn’t originate with her, and because of that, it means that there is more to this than we know. Whoever wanted this box was willing to kill to get it, that much we can be at least 80% sure of.”

“Makes sense, after all, wasn’t nothin’ else there that looked like it was guarded nearly as well...” Jasper crossed his arms and nodded.

“So now the question is... Where did Sunset go the first time?” Bolt asked.

That was a mystery that they wouldn’t have an easy time solving. Whenever Horizon asked about it, Twilight would merely assure her that she didn’t know. No one else seemed to have any knowledge either, as Horizon had asked it at least eight times growing up, but no one ever seemed to know.

One thing that her mother was good at was disappearing without a trace it seemed.

“No one seems to know,” Horizon answered.

“Every time we get a little closer, it seems like we actually get a bit further away...” Jasper chuckled.

His sentiments were accurate, but Horizon didn’t know how to respond. A part of her felt like they were so close to answers, and she couldn’t stop now. Her eyes locked on the box, wondering why she felt like she had seen the emblem before.

“I guess I never really considered how little I actually knew about my mother,” Horizon said.

Jasper placed a hand upon her shoulder, causing her to look in his direction. He offered her a gentle smile as he reassured her. “I’m sure that she was a great woman. She may have made some odd choices with her life, but there might be a logical explanation for it all...”

Horizon shrugged.

Letting out a sigh, Jasper removed his hand and leaned back in his seat, feeling a bit defeated.

Eight o'clock approached faster than Horizon had expected and she opted to leave the cafe to get into her car. On her way back to her estate, she couldn’t help but notice something out of the corner of her eye. A man on a motorcycle driving next to her. He gestured for her to follow him.

Horizon pointed to herself and he nodded. She turned and began to follow the stranger who seemed to know who she was. After a lengthy drive, the two ended up on the outskirts of the city right before the Everfree Forest where he parked his motorcycle and Horizon parked her Audi nearby.

Turning off her engine, Horizon stepped out, her expensive heeled shoes sinking slightly in the muddy ground as she adjusted her tattered half skirt. With her hands leisurely at her side, Horizon tilted her head as she watched the man remove his helmet.

His eyes were a fierce yellow and his hair had been clipped short and messy. He stood a good six feet tall and then some as he eyed her up and down. His bronzed skin seemed to shine in the moonlight as he placed the helmet atop of the seat of his bike.

“Do I know you?” Horizon asked.

He shook his head and then cracked his knuckles before holding out his hand expectantly.

“Give it to me,” he commanded.

“Give what to you?” Horizon raised a brow.

“Give me the box,” he grunted.

“You mean the box that I found?” Horizon tilted her head. The concept of not showing your entire hand was lost upon her. She’d make a horrid poker partner.

“Yes, now hand it over.” He growled.

“Or?” Horizon dared to ask.

He shook his head and smirked as his hand became covered in shadows that seemed to grow a life of their own. They almost resembled snakes the way they whipped and writhed.

“I’ll take it by force.”

There's an old saying of when you finally have answers that you were looking for for so long, that new questions will soon arise. I think that aptly fits here.

There's a long story about what's going on coming, so strap yourselves in. Remember there's three parts to this act, so a lot has to come out. Also, sorry for the delays, trying to get back to a weekly schedule, soon everyone!