Horizon blinked as the stranger stared her down with his hand extended expectantly. His eyes told her that he was serious. There wasn’t an ounce of silliness about him. If she were better at reading emotion, she could see murderous intent in him, it was clear he wanted the box at any cost, and killing Horizon to get it was not above him. Whatever was hidden inside the box was worth more than just killing Sunset over, but in fact, anyone who possessed it. For that reason, Horizon knew he couldn't have it.

What did Sunset put in here? Horizon thought to herself.

The stranger’s shadowy hand seemed to writhe and move in an unnatural way. The shadowy snake-like tendrils moving violently as he stood there. “Are you going to give me the box, or do I have to kill you for it?”

“How do you know about the box?” Horizon asked.

He made an annoyed face and bore his teeth. “When that cunt Sunset fought with my brother, he was looking for it. Slice cut her hand off and left the bitch to bleed to death... Right before she killed him...”

So that meant that this person was the brother of Sunset’s murderer. If his brother was killed by her though, that left the question of what happened to both bodies.

“Why do you want the box?” Horizon asked, her expression showing little to no fear as he threatened her.

The stranger growled. “None of your fucking business, bitch. Now hand it over.”

Horizon shrugged. “I don’t have it with me.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You think you can trick Blade Sharp? You think I’m a fucking idiot? I know you have it. When you took it from Sunset’s hiding place, it started to emit a signal that any close by who knows how to search for it can detect. Sunset must have put some kind of blocker on the place where she hid it, but the moment you took it, I knew it was with you, now hand it over.”

“So your name is Blade then?” Horizon ignored his threats once more.

This annoyed him further and he clenched his demonic hand into a fist, causing the tendrils around it to flare up and more to come out on his other arm which became shrouded in darkness along with his eyes which turned black and emitted some kind of black fire from them.

His two arms changed shape and turned into blade with the same black fire coming off of them.

Blade took a fighting stance and prepared to attack. “I’m done answering your questions. You give me the box or die, those are your options.”

“How do I know you’re not going to kill me right after I give you the box?” Horizon pointed out.

He laughed and nodded. “You’re clever. You’re correct though, I’ll still kill you after I get the box, but that was supposed to be a surprise.”

Horizon wasn’t exactly dressed to fight, but her years of self-defense classes with Twilight were going to need to come into play. She took a sloppy stance and got low, intending to keep her attacks to the lower part of his body along with staying low enough to dodge his sword swings.

Blade locked eyes with the teenager, a growl growing in his throat. “So, you’d rather go down fighting, that’s good. I was getting bored waiting around this worthless town anyway. It’ll be good to get some action before I get the box.”

“What are you exactly? I’ve never seen anything like you before...” Horizon asked.

He let out a chortle as he began to take his first steps, circling her. “Something beyond your imagination. Let’s just say I’m not about to go down because of some teenage girl.”

It was clear that he wasn’t interested in revealing any information about himself outside of what she had already ascertained.

Before she had a chance to ask anything else, he lunged forward and took a swing at her. Ducking out of the way, Horizon gave a jab at his stomach which had no effect on him. He swung once more, but Horizon backflipped to get out of the way. She landed on all fours before getting back up and dodging another flurry of strikes.

She was studying his patterns, noting that he fought with nothing held back. What little she did understand about fighting told her that he would tire himself out if he continued on such a path.

Between strikes when she could find openings she tried to deliver kicks and punches to him, all with no effect. His body seemed impervious to harm no matter how hard she hit him. Horizon was a slender girl with little muscle, but she still believed he should have felt something.

Once she had dodged his attacks at least eight times, she stepped back and brushed a strand of loose hair out of her face. It was clear that even if he would tire out in time, she would succumb to exhaustion long before he would.

His movements were swift and calculated, clearly, he fought to kill, he was trained to kill, and that meant he was more than a match for a girl who only knew self-defense. He moved without hesitation, and he didn’t seem to put much concern on his own well being.

“You really want that box, huh?” Horizon asked as she wiped some sweat from her brow, stalling as much as she could while she tried to formulate a plan.

“Listen, kid, that box is more important than you’ll ever know. Give it up, these are grown-up matters, nothing that a child should be involved in.” He hissed.

Without another word, he lunged forward catching Horizon by surprise. His blades came down at her causing her to fall backward, landing on her bottom. She lifted her hands up in a futile effort to try and stop his blades, knowing her fate was sealed the moment they connected with her skin.

Her eyes shined, however, as a light came from her hands that repelled the blades, making Blade stagger backward as he covered his eyes to protect them from the new blinding white light.

Horizon blinked as she looked at her now glowing hands in confusion. What had happened? How had she repelled him?

He tried to strike again, but once more, Horizon held her hands up and blocked him, this time he was staggered ever further back, covering his eyes. “No... It’s not possible...” He muttered.

As Horizon came to a stand, she saw a sword made entirely out of light appear before her. Blinking she saw the world around her disappear, she was standing in space, stars all around her. She looked around in confusion as a cloaked figure appeared next to her.

She stared at the figure in white and tilted her head.

“Use it, Horizon,” the figure spoke.

Horizon blinked. “Who are you?”

The figure removed their hood to show their face. It was Horizon’s own face. “You must use the blade of light to defeat him, Horizon. Awaken your powers, and protect the box.”

“How are you here? Where are we?” Horizon asked.

The other Horizon shook their head. “There isn’t any time for that. All you need to know is that you have to awaken your power. Right now it’s still weak, but it should be more than enough to defeat Blade. With light as your magic affinity, you’ll be more than a match.”

Shrugging, Horizon took the blade in her hand and the moment she touched it, the world around her returned, and the other version of herself vanished. Taking a stance with the sword, Horizon prepared to counter-attack.

Blade blinked and saw the new sword in her hand. “Where the fuck did you get that!?”

Horizon looked at the sword and then back at him. She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Doesn’t matter, I guess... You’re still going to die!” He hissed as he rushed her again, both blades coming down on her, but only to be blocked as she held her light sword above her head to block his attack. She pushed him back with a grunt and took a slash at him, connecting just barely with his chest, leaving a sizable mark on him.

The mark festered and glowed white as one of his swords turned back into a hand for him to grip the new wound which apparently burned as he hissed in pain. “Fuck! Holy fucking shit!”

Taking advantage of the situation, Horizon took another swing and sliced his other arm clean off. As it fell to the ground with black sludge dripping from the stub, it evaporated into a black mist before touching the ground. He screamed in agony once more gripping the burning wound.

“FUCK!”

Horizon twirled and kicked his face, making him fall onto his back where she stepped on his chest with her heeled shoe and pointed the sword directly at his throat.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy, kid! You win, alright!?”

Horizon kept her neutral expression as per usual. “What’s in the box?”

He shook his head. “Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t get it.”

“Try,” Horizon said.

His fear turned to laughter as he began to laugh at her. “Why am I even afraid? You’ve never killed anyone before, have you? You don’t have the guts to off me. All you need to know is that you’re getting yourself into something way bigger than you can imagine. What’s in that box is more important than you can comprehend. I’m not the only one after it.”

“Is that all you’re willing to tell me?” Horizon asked.

“Damn straight, you don’t scare me, brat!” He barked.

Nodding, Horizon turned the sword and placed both hands upon the hilt and pointed it downward at his neck.

“Hey, wait a min-!”

It was too late, Horizon pushed the sword down, piercing his neck and severed his head from his shoulders. Once the head came off and the same black sludge spurted out.

Only seconds after his head was removed the entire body along with the head also dissipated into the same black mist that the arm had.

At least it answered one question to her: if Blade’s brother Slice was the same kind of creature he was, then this at least explained where his body went.

Horizon had never harmed someone before, let alone kill them. The sword vanished into thin air as she wandered back to her car and stumbled inside. She placed herself in the driver’s seat and placed both hands upon the steering wheel while she contemplated what had just happened.

Should she have called the authorities? No. They wouldn’t have believed her if she had told them that a man who could transform his arms into blades tried to kill her and when she killed him in self-defense his body disappeared into a black mist. Did she even need to tell them, anyway? After all, there was no body, so it wasn’t as if anyone would find out.

Murder was bad, but Horizon was protecting herself. Something inside of her told her also that there was far more to it than what she understood. This entire thing seemed like it was beyond what the police would comprehend and she had a feeling it was above what they were capable of handling.

Blade had used some kind of power to fight her, something that the police would never understand. The other version of herself that she saw called it magic, but was such a thing possible.

She looked at her hand and realized it was pointless to deny it. She had witnessed it with her own eyes, and that meant that magic was indeed real. What she saw was magic and that was what saved her life. The only questions were why could she use it and how?

For her entire life, Horizon never really felt like she was special or stood out much, so it didn’t make sense for her to be “chosen” to have such a gift.

It didn’t matter though. She had to inform the others of what had just happened. If there were more looking for the box like he was, then the others at least deserved to know that their lives would be in danger if they chose to continue helping Horizon.

Getting her car in motion, Horizon began to drive home in thought.

Horizon had come home from a long and tiring day from Crystal Prep Academy, where Twilight had attended back in her youth. She went on and on about how it was a different school back then, and while Twilight thrived there, she admitted the pressure to succeed and the atmosphere was off-putting to most. Back then Crystal Prep was a ruthless academy where only the best of the best came out on top. The school focused on making sure you were performing at the highest level so as to make the school look good.

Things changed drastically when Twilight’s sister-in-law, Cadance, took over. She continued to achieve excellent results, but with a more nurturing atmosphere.

Horizon had made a visit to Cadance’s office early that day, to be scolded again for being late to class, which was commonplace for the girl. It was easy for Horizon to get lost in daydreams, after all.

When Horizon arrived at home, she tossed her bag onto a nearby chair in her room and quickly pulled her tie off. She unbuttoned her school uniform and managed to get the vest off with ease followed by the top. Now that her torso was free, she sat down in her desk chair with just her dark purple bra covering her upper region.

She made a spanning motion over the empty desk and her phone made a keyboard out of light appear in front of her and a window showing her internet browser. She began to check her usual blogs and message boards while she sat there bored.

Twilight, of course, came poking her head into the room and smiled at her daughter. “Long day at school, sweetie?”

Turning in her chair, Horizon shrugged at her guardian. “I guess so.”

Frowning, Twilight questioned her further. “Cadance says you still haven’t really made any friends?”

Shrugging again, Horizon turned back to her screen. “I guess not, though I don’t see a point.”

Now Twilight had grown concerned. She stepped out of the doorway and into the room proper as she glanced at her daughter who didn’t seem to care. “Horizon, I used to be a lot like you in that regard, but making friends can be a truly rewarding experience. Had I not done that, you wouldn’t even be here, I would never have met your mother.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Horizon turned to look at Twilight with a blank expression.

There was no malice or anger in her words, as per usual with Horizon, she was actually asking a legitimate question that she didn’t have an answer to. It always caught Twilight off guard, but she knew that her daughter was inquisitive like that.

Grimacing, Twilight nodded. “Of course it is.”

Horizon looked down at her knees and then turned back to her computer. “I guess I can’t bring myself to think about that kind of stuff...”

“Why not?” Twilight stepped forward.

Horizon was silent for a few seconds and all Twilight could hear was the synthesized clacking of keys from her digital keyboard. Eight clacks later and Horizon finally answered. “Twilight...”

“Hm?” Twilight leaned in.

“Have you ever felt like you don’t really exist?” Horizon asked, her eyes still glued onto the screen that reflected off of her glasses.

Twilight blinked, it was a question she had never expected to hear. “Like you don’t exist? What do you mean?”

“Like... That you’re not real. That you’re just kind of like... there, but you’re not supposed to be. Like you don’t belong anywhere...” Horizon stated quietly.

Is she sad? Twilight thought. It was rare for her daughter to show emotion, but she still couldn’t tell if it was sadness she was detecting in the girl’s voice or if it was another question like always.

“I’ve definitely felt like I don’t belong, but I can’t say that I have felt like I don’t exist... Do you feel that way, Horizon?” Twilight stepped closer to her daughter and placed a hand on the back of her chair.

The teenager had to think about it for a second.

“I guess so. I mostly notice it at school, but sometimes when I’m at home, I guess I feel the same way too.” She shrugged again.

“Does it... Make you sad?” Twilight moved her hand to her daughter’s shoulder.

Horizon couldn’t answer that right away. How did she feel about it? She didn’t know at first. After a little thought, she formulated an answer.

“I guess like... I’m not really sad about it. I just... Don’t feel anything toward it. If I don’t really exist, then I guess it would make sense that I don’t feel anything toward it because something that doesn’t exist lacks feeling, right?” Horizon clacked away at her keyboard before she noticed Twilight’s arms wrap around her and hold her tightly.

Her guardian kept her close and took a hand to stroke her messy hair. “Horizon... Not only do you exist, but you’re also the most important thing in the world to me. If you didn’t exist, I would have no reason to exist anymore.”

“What do you mean? You’re an important figure to the institute, you’re a successful scientist and-“ Horizon was cut off.

Twilight held the girl tighter as tears rolled down her eyes, ruining her eyeliner. “I only do all of that stuff for you. Maybe a long time ago I would have chased these dreams for myself, but I only do all that I do for you, Horizon. I do it to keep this house, this life we have. Without your mother here, you’re all I have left...”

Horizon was quiet for a moment before replying. “You put a lot of stock into me...”

“I have to. When you were born, I promised your mother that I would treat you better than myself, I promised to love you more than I’ve loved another person...” Twilight explained.

“Is that what having children is like, Twilight?” Horizon asked.

“It is for me. I love you more than you’ll ever know, just like I love your mother... With her gone, all I have is you, and if I ever lost you... I’d have nothing...” Twilight whimpered.

“You still have this estate and your career?” Horizon suggested.

Twilight shook her head. “They would have no value to me without you.”

Horizon didn’t quite understand. She couldn’t get how one person could mean so much to someone, but then again she didn’t get love. Perhaps it was a result of feeling like she didn’t really exist? After all, it was like she said: one who doesn’t exist can’t feel anything.

Reaching up and placing a hand atop of Twilight’s Horizon gave it a gentle squeeze. “Even if I feel like I don’t exist sometimes, there’s no mistaking one thing...”

“What’s that?” Twilight lifted her head up and wiped her tears with her free hand.

“That you exist,” Horizon said plainly.

“How do you figure that?” Twilight smiled.

“There is no mistaking it. Something that doesn’t exist wouldn’t feel as strongly as you do. Your love proves your existence if that makes sense... I think that makes sense anyway...” Horizon placed a hand upon her chin.

Twilight giggled and gave her daughter another squeeze. “Then so long as I love you, you’ll always exist too.”

“I suppose that’s a good theory too...” Horizon nodded in agreement.

Giggling, Twilight kissed her daughter’s forehead.

Horizon stopped her car at a nearby McDonalds and turned the engine off as she tried to contemplate what had just happened. Blade was dead, yet his body evaporated into thin air. At the very least that meant that it would be difficult to link Horizon to the crime, right?

She had to end him though, he was trying to kill her, she acted on instinct. She nodded to herself as she realized it was indeed the most logical conclusion.

Tapping her phone on her wrist, she began a call with Jasper who answered after the eighth ring.

“Horizon? Do y’all know what time it is?”

Checking the time, Horizon gave her answer. “9:08 PM, which should put you right about in the middle of brushing your teeth.”

“How did y’all know I was about to do that?” Jasper questioned.

“When I came over as often as I did, I began to learn a majority of your patterns and mannerisms then,” Horizon explained.

Jasper sighed. “I suppose I should expect y’all to do somethin’ like that...”

Horizon ignored his implication and began to speak about her encounter with Blade. “Jasper, I ran into someone on the way home that I think you should know about.”

“Huh? Who?” Jasper asked.

“Some guy named Blade, he had me follow him to the Everfree forest, and then when he got off his bike he started demanding the box,” Horizon explained.

“How did he know about that?” Jasper asked.

“I don’t know. He said that Sunset and his brother named Slice fought and killed each other, so I guess we know who killed her now...” Horizon continued.

Jasper could be heard rinsing his mouth out before he answered. “So what’d y’all do? Did ya’ give him the box?”

“No. And then when I refused he attacked me and said he was going to kill me for it.”

After spitting, Jasper’s tone grew concerned. “Sheesh! Are y’all alright!? What happened?”

“His arms got covered in this black stuff like it came out of nothingness and his arms sort of... transformed into swords,” Horizon explained.

“His arms... transformed... into swords?” Jasper asked, clearly in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“What did you do?” Jasper gulped.

“I killed him,” Horizon said plainly.

“What!? Horizon this is serious! We gotta call the police!” Jasper panicked.

Horizon leaned back in her car seat and began to rattle her explanation off. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Huh? Why? It was self-defense, you should be fine!” Jasper protested.

“Yeah, but the police are never going to believe his arms turned into swords, on top of that, there’s nothing to report anyway... There’s no body,” Horizon calmly said.

“No body? How?” Jasper asked.

“After he died, his body just... evaporated or something. Like it just turned into a black mist and disappeared. So even if I wanted to report it, there’s no body to do so with...” Horizon explained.

Jasper was silent as he thought it over, but after a few minutes of mulling over what to do, he finally replied. “Horizon, I think we’ve gotten involved in somethin’ dangerous. It might be better to pull out now before it’s too late...”

Horizon was as calm as always in her response. “It’s too late for that now.”

“What do ya’ mean?” Jasper asked.

“There’s something that everyone should know... We’ll gather tomorrow and talk about it, okay?” Horizon said.

“A-alright... I’ll be there. I’ll tell Cloud and Bolt to meet us at the usual spot...” Jasper said.

“Alright, we’ll talk then.” Horizon nodded before hanging up.

Keeping her eyes on the ceiling of her car, she wondered how much stranger this entire thing was going to get. It was too late to go back now though.

When Horizon met with the others, she went over what had transpired and how Blade had attempted to kill her, only to be defeated thanks to what appeared to be another version of herself that had awoken some kind of power within her. She told them of the magic sword of light that vanished from her grip when the fight was over.

After she finished her story, Cloud’s mouth was open in awe as he took it all in. He seemed legitimately fascinated in what had transpired. That fascination seemed to overshadow his initial concern that she had killed a man.

“So some kind of magic sword then? That’s incredible!” Cloud leaned over the table in astonishment.

Jasper nodded as he crossed his arms in thought. “Even I have to admit, that’s a doozy of a story...”

Bolt seemed to be concerned more over what the strange man had initially wanted rather than how impressive Horizon’s fight was. While Bolt could appreciate a good fight, he was more focused on the things that mattered at that moment. “So you’re saying the guy was after the box then?”

Turning to face him, Horizon’s entire demeanor was odd for someone who had nearly dodged being murdered the day prior. “I suppose so, so I guess that means the box is supernatural like he was?”

“Just like that TV show!” Cloud chimed in excitedly clapping his hands together.

“Yeah except we aren’t two brothers chasing after werewolves or something...” Bolt crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

“Werewolves ain’t real.” Jasper sighed.

“I don’t know... I mean if this crap is real, how is it hard to believe that someone could transform into a wolf? This guy apparently turned his arms into blades, doesn’t seem like much of a stretch...” Bolt pointed out.

Jasper opened his mouth to disagree, but he bit his lip as he realized he didn’t have much of an argument to counter with. If a person could transform their arms into swords, then transforming into a wolf seemed just as likely. A few days ago he wouldn’t have even entertained the idea, but after all he had seen, he was willing to believe anything.

“So wait, we’re talking about werewolves now? What do they have to do with any of this?” Cloud tilted his head.

“Nothing.” Bolt groaned.

“Oh... right...” Cloud blushed and sunk down in his seat. It was clear he was just excited to be a part of the conversation. He had been playing catch up for a few days, so he was enjoying feeling like he was finally understanding what was going on.

“Getting off the topic of werewolves, I wonder if Sunset knew about any of the supernatural elements going on surrounding the box...” Horizon wondered out loud.

“We definitely know she did before she died, because if that guy’s brother killed her, then she had to have known at least up to that level...” Bolt suggested.

Jasper shook his head and chuckled. “Y’all are dense ain’t ya?”

“What?” Bolt growled.

“Think about it...” Jasper waved his hand as he spoke.

“What?” Bolt questioned again.

“If Sunset was the one who hid the box which clearly she was hidin’ from them, she had to have known before then...” Jasper smiled as he explained it.

“Always trying to show me up, aren’t you?” Bolt looked away annoyed.

“Don’t take much...” Jasper rolled his eyes.

Standing up and pounding his fists into the table, Bolt hissed at the blonde. “Alright, I’ve had enough of your mouth! Let’s go right now!”

Jasper sighed and shook his head. “Sit down.”

“Oh, you think you’re better than me, huh!?” Bolt growled.

“Calm down, Bolt...” Cloud frowned, grabbing his brother’s pant leg.

“This guy is always slagging me off and I’m tired of it!” Bolt jerked forward.

“Bolt, can we please focus?” Horizon asked.

Looking at the young girl, Bolt’s face seemed to calm down as he locked eyes with her. Horizon’s blank expression somehow was calming at times. She was easy on the eyes, if not a bit unkempt. For a moment, he wondered if she’d be cuter if she smiled.

Sighing, Bolt sat back down. “Fine... Sorry...”

Horizon placed a hand upon her chin as she went over what they knew. “So, this means that Sunset knew about these powers prior to this, and that means... The box may be locked with some kind of magic then?”

“Hey! That’s a good idea there! I mean you said it yourself that the box can’t be opened by conventional means, so maybe magic is the way to unlock it?” Cloud suggested.

“I think Cloud is right... Can you use that magic that you used to open it?” Bolt said.

Horizon shook her head. “I tried to summon the sword again later, but nothing happened. I think it’s a situational thing... That or I’m just not good at it yet...”

“The mystery thickens...” Bolt grinned.

“I think we might be able to find more out if we can get into the computer at my house...” Horizon suggested.

“Yeah, but how?” Bolt asked.

A long black overcoat covered a shivering young teenager who struggled to retain warmth at any given time of the year. She was always freezing due to her low body fat. She was slim and short unlike her elder sister who was slim and tall (she also sported a slightly larger bust than her as well, though far from impressive).

Opening her locker, she glanced at herself in the mirror she had placed inside. Her pale skin shined in the vibrant lights of the Crystal Prep hallways, and her light muted purple with hair with white highlights matched her uniform that was tucked under her long coat. Her long hair was cut with blunt bangs and came down to her lower back. When she was feeling creative or inspired, sometimes she would tie it in a messy bun behind her head, but regardless of how she wore it, it always seemed to be a mess.

A pencil was tucked behind her ear, sitting just above the frame of her glasses which were round in shape, decorating her small face and pointed nose. Peach colored eyes glanced back at her from the mirror as she observed herself. She leaned in and tried adjusting one of the several cowlicks that her hair was sporting but to no avail.

Her pencil behind her ear wasn’t merely for schoolwork though, as she often would doodle in several sketchbooks that she carried with her at all times. They were here most closely guarded treasures as she couldn’t always sneak out her digital drawing stylus during classes. When she had free time, she would pull up a holographic drawing surface with her phone and craft many digital pieces of art.

Her name was Yuna, and she was in the top eight of her class despite her young age. She had been skipped ahead a grade some time ago and continued to excel despite lacking much in the way of social skills.

Sighing, she closed her locker and composed herself as she headed to her next class, math. She was already ahead in math as she had hacked into the teacher’s system and stolen the syllabus months ago. While she was exceptional at hacking, Yuna never used her abilities to cheat in school, only to give herself a head start. Less school work meant more time for drawing after all.

Making her way into math class, the girl kept her sketchbook close to her chest as she wandered in and found her seat. Most of the other students ignored her, shy of the few who whispered as she walked by. Yuna was used to being seen as a “weirdo” or a “freak” as she was dreadful at socializing and kept to herself. In a world where humans were social creatures, being anti-social was a one-way ticket to being mocked, and Yuna accepted that.

In actuality, while school was somewhat of a lonely place, she didn’t make it tremendously. The other kids teased her, but at least 80% of the time it was behind her back where she would never hear it, so she was fine with it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Taking her seat, she heard the bell ring. The teacher began to do roll call followed by them continuing their lecture from the previous day. Yuna became bored from the lack of challenge instantly and looked down at her wrist to check her phone. She produced a small window that displayed her newsfeed for Deviantart which was showing tons of praise for her most recent drawing.

Her eyes were distracted from the feed, however, when the teacher ceased talking and the entire class glanced in the direction of the entrance. There with disheveled hair as always and a plain expression plastered on her face was perhaps the most gorgeous person that Yuna had ever seen in her entire life, Horizon Shimmer.

Horizon stood there bored as she wandered in to take her seat. The moment she sat down, she rested her head on her chin.

The teacher seemed annoyed at her tardiness and chose to grill her on it this time. “Miss Shimmer, you do realize that attending my class on time is a part of your grade?”

“I think I remember reading that on the syllabus, yes...” Horizon shrugged.

“Then I’m going to have to once again ask you to try and be on time. Every time you come in late, you’re interrupted my lecture for all the other students...” He scolded further.

“Okay,” Horizon bluntly responded, her expression unchanged.

The teacher was grinding his teeth for a moment before shaking his head and returning to his lesson, knowing that continuing the argument with Horizon was likely a colossal waste of his precious time.

Whispers about Horizon circled the room for a few seconds before everyone silenced and focused on the lesson when they suspected that the teacher was ready to start handing out detention to those not paying attention.

Yuna stared in Horizon’s direction and examined her. To Yuna, she was the stunning image of perfection. Her cute freckles, her thick messy hair that made Yuna want to run her hands through it, her adorable shining pink eyes. It was too much for her, she had fallen for Horizon Shimmer probably when she first saw her and ever since she had admired her.

Never could she bring herself to actually speak to the girl though, as she knew that someone as attractive and important as Horizon Shimmer would never give her the time of day. She knew that her family owed a lot to the Shimmers, but they weren’t in much contact with them anymore due to the secretive and busy nature they kept.

Yuna knew that her elder sister, Moondancer had a relationship with the younger of the Shimmer heirs long ago before she was murdered and the other, Sunset, married a woman named Twilight Sparkle, who was Horizon’s guardian. After that though, the Shimmers became a fairly secluded family and kept most of their personal life out of the public eye. Moondancer hadn’t seen them in years despite living in the same city, but that was likely due to how busy they were.

Twilight ran a prestigious institute and was quite a heavy investor in the stock market on top of her day job as a researcher.

What kind of crowd Horizon hung around was also a mystery to Yuna as she never saw her associate with anyone at school.

Her pencil went down to her sketchbook and began to trace the girl of her affection’s figure onto paper. Each scratch of her pencil brought it closer and closer to looking like the real thing, and despite only having that class period to draw her crush, Yuna was able to produce quite a detailed replica of her on paper. Most of her details she could draw from memory at this point, and her sketchbooks were filled with hundreds of drawings of the girl.

When Yuna was drawing Horizon, the entire world around her would disappear. Her eyes were glued to the paper and her subject as she glanced up at her from time to time to perfect minor details such as her freckles, ensuring they were in the correct place.

Before she knew it, forty minutes had passed and the bell to end the day had rung. Yuna flinched at the sound as she looked up, watching the other kids all leave. Horizon was stuffing things into her bag quickly to make a hasty exit as well. In all of her time observing the girl, Yuna had never known Horizon to be in a hurry to get anywhere, but in the last few weeks, Horizon had been quite hasty to get out of class.

Something in her personal life must have been going on, Yuna figured and she got up after all had left and started to head out.

The teacher nodded and smiled at the girl who had always finished her assignments on time, causing Yuna to smile and nod back as she adjusted the bag around her shoulder.

With her sketchbook in hand, Yuna pulled up a window for her feed once more and made it display in front of her glasses as she wandered toward her locker.

Without paying much attention, she found herself standing only a few feet away from Horizon Shimmer. Removing the feed from her eyes, Yuna stared at the girl who was standing in front of her locker with her hand inside of it, staring at something that was in her hand inside of the locker.

Biting her lip, Yuna mustered up the courage to try and get a look at what she was looking at. As she inched closer, she lost grip of her sketchbook and it fell to the floor, scattering dozens of drawings that she had stuffed into it all over, almost all of them of Horizon.

Yuna’s heart began to race as she knelt down in a panic, trying to scoop up as many of the drawings as she could, but like clockwork, Horizon stuffed the item that was in her hand in her bag and looked back at the sound that came from behind her.

As Horizon looked at the timid looking girl kneeling down, she too crouched down and picked up a few of the papers and examined them. Without seconds she recognized the subject.

Yuna had frozen as her face grew cold with fear. Her crush had just picked up a stash of her drawings of her and was now staring at them.

There was silence between the two of them for several awkward seconds before Horizon turned one of the drawings over and placed it near her head, her eyes presenting an expression that was impossible to read. “This is me, right?”

Yuna gulped and nodded.

Turning it back around, Horizon looked at it for a few more seconds and nodded before handing it back to her. “It’s an impressive likeness. Do I really have hands that small?”

“I-I guess so...” Yuna stuttered.

Horizon nodded again and helped her gather the rest of her sketches together and passed them off to Yuna.

“You’re Yuna, right?” Horizon asked.

“Y-yes...” Yuna blinked.

Is she really not going to say anything about how weird it is that I have all these drawings of her? Yuna thought.

“Moondancer’s sister, correct?” Horizon continued her questioning.

“Y-yes... That’s correct...” Yuna blushed deeply.

Horizon just nodded and came to a stand, offering her hand to help Yuna up.

Yuna hesitated for a moment but took the girl’s small hand. Feeling their hands connect made Yuna’s heart race even faster than it already was. Her hand was so soft, so gentle, Yuna didn’t want to let go, despite her hands getting sweaty.

Sadly, she had to let go once she was standing, and her eyes locked with Horizon’s making her melt.

“You’re a skilled artist, Yuna,” Horizon commented.

“T-thank you... But I am only as good as my subject...” Yuna blushed as she took a chance at an indirect compliment.

Horizon tilted her head awkwardly. “That’s me, right?”

Feeling her face heat up and her legs tremble, Yuna nodded.

“Did you need me to pose better for you? I can take some pictures if you think that’ll help you,” Horizon suggested.

Yuna felt her heart almost jump out of her throat and now she was choking on it. She struggled to talk as she stammered for a few moments, she could barely keep standing as she tried to contain her nervousness, “I... I...”

Horizon just stood there, oblivious as always. “Hm?”

“I would like that very much...” Yuna looked away bashfully.

Nodding, Horizon held up her wrist with her phone on it. “Let me give you my number so we can talk about it later, alright?”

With butterflies in her stomach, Yuna nodded silently in agreement as she held up her own wrist and the two tapped their phones together, transferring their contact cards.

Checking over the new contact, Horizon nodded. “Send me a message sometime and I’ll have someone bring you over or go over there for you to draw me if you want.”

Yuna blinked in astonishment. This girl didn’t seem to find it weird or creepy that Yuna was always drawing her at all, furthermore, she was very forthcoming with aiding Yuna in drawing her. She was a peculiar case for sure, but Yuna felt her oddities only served to make her more desirable.

“O-okay...” Yuna nodded nervously.

Checking the time first, Horizon gestured with her head toward the entrance. “I have to go meet some people for some stuff that I have to do. I’m sure we’ll converse later. I’ll try and message you tonight.”

Yuna couldn’t even make her hand wave as the strange girl left. Her brain was still processing what had just happened to her. Her crush had just given her her phone number and offered to let her draw her.

“We’re here live with Tea Apple, author, and creator of The Circlet of Feydra which was just greenlit for a new trilogy series based upon her popular book series. It’s great to have you, so I think a lot of people are dying to know what happens now that the circlet is dealt with? What kind of adventures could the heroes go on now?” A interviewer on a holographic TV screen asked a woman sitting across from him.

Sitting across from him, the woman crossed her legs and smiled. “Well, I can’t reveal anything yet, but let’s just say that there’s still other artifacts that had to do with the circlet’s creation that still hold a lot of weight in their universe.”

“Is there anything you can confirm for us?” The interviewer asked.

“I can at least confirm that Curious Strings will be working on the score for it. I’ve had great luck with them in the past.” Tea Apple giggled.

“Turn that off...” Adagio barked at her younger sister.

Serenade sighed and turned the volume down instead. “It was starting to get interesting though. Feydra is actually a pretty great series, you should read it sometime.”

Adagio shook her head. “I have enough to do. Babysitting you take up much of my time.”

Rolling her eyes, Serenade crossed her dainty legs. “You know I’m old enough to take care of myself, right?”

Stepping closer, Adagio ruffled her sister’s lavish thick blonde hair and chuckled. “Even in home country, you would be seen as little shit.”

“And what would they call you?” Serenade asked.

“Saint, for putting up with you.” Adagio smirked as she sat down next to her younger sister.

“You’re so funny...” Serenade rolled her eyes.

The older sister placed an arm around her sibling’s shoulder and smiled as she held her close. Her striped black and white sleeves warming Serenade’s exposed shoulder from her scoop top as it rested there. Adagio could see the girl’s pink bra strap, making her giggle as she realized her sister was getting older. Eventually she would have a boyfriend and maybe even get married. She was an attractive girl after all.

Serenade cooed as her sister began to pet her head affectionately. “We’re going to Maryland next, aren’t we?”

“Yes. Agent say we going to see record company there. Possible new record deal, hopes it will go international,” Adagio answered.

Smiling, Serenade nodded. “That would be so awesome!”

It was quite extraordinary, but Adagio was also relieved that it would get the two of them out of New York. After her encounter a few months back, she didn’t feel it was safe to stay there any longer.

Something bigger than herself was definitely going on, but she was determined to keep Serenade away from it. She didn’t care what she had to do to keep the young teen safe. Her mind was still locked on her encounter from before with another version of herself.

Coming home from Crystal Prep, Yuna undid her Mary Janes and tossed them aside haphazardly. The young teen made her way through the house, announcing she had made it home to her elder sister. “I’m home!”

Moondancer poked her head out of her office and nodded at the girl. “Hey sis, mom says hi from Mexico.”

Yuna smiled at the sentiment and nodded. “I’m glad she’s enjoying her vacation.”

“Same, so how was school?” Moondancer asked.

“F-fine...” Yuna blushed as she remembered her encounter with Horizon Shimmer.

Moondancer nodded and gestured back into her office. “I have to get back to work, but if you need anything let me know, alright? I’ll start dinner in about an hour or so.”

“Okay, thanks sis.” Yuna nodded as she headed into her bedroom.

Once she was inside, she shut the door and undid her tie and began to strip to get into more comfortable clothing. Once her uniform was off and tossed onto a nearby vanity table, Yuna glanced at her form in her underwear in the mirror. She was smaller chested and lacked much in the way of curves, but she had a very feminine face and rear.

Would someone like Horizon ever go for someone like her? Was she even interested in girls? She had never seen her with a boyfriend after all, and she didn’t seem to have any friends at Crystal Prep either. Most of the time, what Yuna heard about her was whispers that were teasing the poor girl. In a way, she felt bad for her, as she knew what it was like to be teased. At school, a lot of the other kids didn’t like her because she was so smart. Most of the time they ignored her though.

She was an outsider just like Horizon, but the difference was that she didn’t come from a prestigious family like Horizon did. Horizon’s family was worth over $800 million, and she had a lavish estate. Yuna’s family had only come into money just before Yuna was born, and were worth around $26 million with their investments.

Their family had only gotten their money from a generous donation left to them in Shimmer’s will. If it were not for Moondancer dating her when she was younger they would all still be poor and Yuna would have never gotten to go to Crystal Prep. She was thankful to the Shimmer family, even if they didn’t acknowledge their family much these days.

Slipping into a green tank top and sliding an oversized hoodie over her form, Yuna moved some of the clutter on her desk aside so she could project a screen and keyboard from her phone in front of her. It had occurred to her from time to time that she was much like her older sister when it came to cleaning and organization. Both of them lived in messes, but it never seemed to bother either of them, though their mother would always get annoyed. Yuna and her sister had quite a bit in common actually, and they got along well. On Friday nights, they would play a round or two of Ogres and Oubliettes and play some PlayStation on Saturdays.

Yuna pulled up her deviantart feed once again and began checking her requests. Many of them were always from horny teenage boys asking her to draw some strange fetish crap, but she just ignored them. She had never drawn anything inappropriate.

Her reading was interrupted by a text message that popped up on the screen. It was from Horizon Shimmer.

Hey, sorry for being in such a hurry. I had some important stuff to do, so I couldn’t stick around. I promised I’d message you, so that’s what I’m doing.

Blinking, Yuna didn’t actually expect her to message her, let alone on the same day.

Oh, it’s alright. You’re probably a very busy person, I don’t want to take up too much of your time after all.

Horizon’s answer was surprising.

Not usually actually. I don’t have many people that require my attention, so I’m usually free all the time. You’ve just caught me coincidentally at a time where something is going on in my life, that’s all.

Yuna didn’t know what to say. It sounded like her theory was correct: Horizon didn’t have many friends, but now she was curious about what she was doing.

I see. Well, thank you for taking the time to message me.

The abrupt subject change startled her a bit as Horizon responded.

So you wanted to draw me, right? Would you prefer I send photos or did you want me to sit there in person? I can hold still for quite a while.

Yuna’s heart started to beat faster. She couldn’t believe that Horizon was offering to pose for her. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

In person is often better because I can get the details more accurate than I can from a photo. I always drew you in the past from when I saw you in person... That’s not weird, is it?

Yuna wondered how many drawings of Horizon she had actually made. She guessed it was somewhere around eighty if she didn’t count quick rough sketches. If she counted those, it was probably over a hundred.

She had gotten to the point where she could probably draw the girl from memory.

Why would that be weird?

Yuna gulped as she went to explain.

Well... It’s usually not normal for someone to draw another person without their permission over and over...

The answer she got to that message baffled her.

It’s not? I guess I wouldn’t know. I’m not very good at social etiquette, sorry. So when did you want me to come over so you could draw me? What should I wear? Or would you prefer I take my clothes off for you?

Yuna’s face got hot as she read that last sentence. Her mind slowly trailed to what Horizon would look like without anything covering her beautiful form.

Her mind began to twirl a fantasy as she envisioned Horizon standing before her slowly stripping off her shirt, then sliding her skirt down before unfastening her bra and leaning down to give Yuna a full look at her cleavage...

She came back to reality and realized she was going overboard. She fanned herself as she realized how hot she had become.

Take your clothes off!? Why would you do that!?

As expected, it wasn’t an attempt to come onto Yuna, but instead just the suggestion of a girl who literally didn’t know any better.

I thought artists liked to draw nudes. Isn’t that what you wanted? Or am I being dense again? Sorry, Bolt says I’m dense sometimes.

She didn’t have a clue who Bolt was, and while she would have loved to tell the girl to take all her clothes off in front of her, Yuna didn’t want to seem too eager; though the idea was tempting and it took everything in her being to decline the offer.

You can keep your clothes on. I don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to come over and get naked anyway... My sister may start getting the wrong idea.

Horizon seemed remarkably agreeable to the situation.

Alright, so you want to do this tomorrow then? I’ll drop by after school, I can give you a ride home, sound good?

Yuna was elated at the offer.

Sure. I’ll see you then?

Horizon ended the conversation.

Yup. See you tomorrow.

Yuna leaned back in her chair and placed her hands upon her chest. Her heart was racing still. This was almost like a date really, though she knew it really wasn’t; still being able to spend so much time close to Horizon Shimmer had her excited.

A paper that had been printed from a local news site sat upon a coffee table. The article detailed two up-and-coming musicians who were starting to get popular in their local area in New York.

Crowds gathered last week to see the performance of Sirens, a singing duo of sisters who have captured the locals’ hearts. The pair have sold out their concerts at least eight times already and are slated to take on big record deals and potentially go international.

The pair is made up of Adagio Dazzle and her younger sister Serenade Dazzle. The two immigrated to the US during the Russian crisis a few years back during the refugee program. They discovered their talent for singing a few years back and have quickly become the local darlings of New York.

During an interview last week, Serenade Dazzle had this to say: “I’m ecstatic that we get this kind of opportunity. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come despite all we’ve been through. It’s really true that America is the land of opportunities, as we’ve been given the opportunity to sing for so many and that’s amazing!”

Adagio commented that their journey has been “incredible” and that she was “very thankful to have the chance at a better life.”

Sirens are scheduled to travel to Maryland shortly to meet up with an undisclosed record company to discuss a new deal. This could be the big breakthrough for the two women with the golden voices. A story of rags to riches for these young maidens.

A scoff could be heard as a switchblade knife stabbed through the paper and an effeminate voice echoed through the room as they stared at the picture of Adagio that now had a knife through it.

“Well, looks like we’ll be heading to Maryland soon...” They said, a smirk coming to their face.

Yuna was the final kid added for Act VII in my notes, and I am super happy with how she turned out. Applety actually designed most of her appearance, but I hope you guys really like her because she's a cutie just like her older sister!

Also, things are heating up!