Horizon came out of class and stuffed her notebook in her side bag as she wandered her way to the lockers. With her eyes forward, she scanned the crowded hallway full of students all trying to gather their things to leave school as promptly as possible, for her newfound acquaintance from the other day. It would only take a few seconds until the shape of Yuna came into her vision.

Approaching from behind, Horizon placed her hands in front of herself after tapping the young teen on the shoulder.

Yuna yelped and jumped before turning around and blushing as she came to face Horizon. “O-oh... Horizon, I didn’t see you there.”

Horizon shrugged as she stood still.

Yuna examined her, her uniform was gorgeously form-fitting for the girl, and the black skull hairpin added just a tiny bit of originality to the outfit that made her stand out slightly from other students. She was gorgeous, Yuna wanted to just lean in to kiss her, in front of everyone to make the other students think that they were dating. That was what she wanted, but she was far too nervous to even make an attempt like that.

“Are you ready to go?” Horizon asked.

Yuna nodded.

Stepping toward the exit to the school, Horizon made a gesture with her hand to signal Yuna to follow, which she did. The artist kept close to Horizon as they wandered through the hall. Many students glanced in their direction but lost interest quickly as two invisible students chose to associate with each other. While people would sometimes whisper about both of them, no one really was concerned about Yuna and Horizon.

Inching closer to Horizon, Yuna could smell her body spray. It had a mango scent to it, which Yuna found intoxicating. She just wanted to lean in and sniff the girl’s hair after she began to scratch her head. She wondered if Horizon was the type of girl who cooed with delight when she got her head scratched or if she just closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Yuna bit her lip as the two approached Horizon’s car. Yuna blinked a few times as she adjusted her glasses and observed the expensive car. “Wow... This is a nice car...”

Horizon glanced back at Yuna and shrugged before opening the driver’s side door and stepping inside. Yuna quickly ran around to the other side and let herself into the passenger’s seat where she fastened her seatbelt.

Checking the mirror, Horizon tapped a touch screen on the console and heard a familiar digital assistant speak to her. “Where to today, Horizon?”

Horizon looked over at Yuna.

Yuna stared for a minute, observing her soft eyes that seemed to sport a bored expression at all times. Yuna had never once drawn her smiling, as she didn’t want to try and capture it on paper if she had never seen it, as she wanted it to be authentic.

“Oh, my address... It’s 80 Youth Hopper Street...” Yuna blushed as she wondered if Horizon had caught her staring.

Nodding, Horizon looked back at the console and spoke. “Take us there, Siri.”

“Understood, please relax as I bring us all to your destination,” Siri responded.

Leaning back in her seat, Horizon yawned as she let the car do all the work. Auto-pilot on cars had grown advanced enough to take people virtually anywhere without interaction from the driver, but people still usually preferred to drive manually. Auto-pilot was often just used to go short distances.

Yuna smiled as the two made eye contact. “T-thank you for bringing me home...”

Horizon kept her tired eyes focused on Yuna as she responded. “It’s alright. I didn’t have anything planned anyway. I kept my schedule open for you since I don’t know how long it takes to be drawn.”

The blush on Yuna’s face grew. “Well, it can take hours if done right, especially with color...”

“That’s alright. I googled a bit on modeling yesterday to make sure that I could be a good model for you,” Horizon explained.

She actually went out of her way to make sure she would be a good model for me? Yuna thought.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine...” Yuna meekly replied.

There was a silence between the two until Horizon let out a long yawn. “Is it alright if I nap while we wait? Looks like traffic is bad, so we have a good twenty minutes...”

Yuna nodded. “Go ahead, I can get some practice drawing you while you sleep.”

“Sounds good to me...” Horizon yawned again and closed her eyes, quickly drifting off into a slumber as Yuna retrieved her sketchbook and instantly went to work.

Within only eight minutes, Yuna was starting to get a decent likeness of the sleeping girl who laid quite lazily. Horizon reminded Yuna somewhat of a dog that slept lazily, and it was insanely adorable.

As she traced her figure with her pencil, Yuna noted how Horizon made cute noises while she slept, they were soft and subtle to where you had to really listen for them to hear them, but Yuna loved hearing them.

Adjusting her glasses and gulping, Yuna reached forward and brushed a strand of the girl’s hair out of her face ever so carefully. She panicked as the girl stirred in her sleep, wondering if she was going to wake up from the touch, but thankfully, Horizon stayed asleep.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yuna continued her drawing, studying Horizon as closely as she could without disturbing her slumber.

She’s so cute! Yuna giggled internally as she watched her.

Yuna noticed a charm located on Horizon’s bag that caught her interest. The emblem on it was familiar, it was the same emblem that Sunset Shimmer sported. She had seen it before because Moondancer had a few pictures of the girl and a few newspaper articles about the Shimmer family.

She had never seen any of the Shimmers in person except for Horizon, so she wondered what they were like. What kind of person was Twilight Shimmer? What kind of person was Sunset Shimmer? Yuna was intrigued. While Moondancer said she was friends with the family, Twilight was a busy woman so they didn't see each other in years.

Yuna continued her drawing all the way until the car parked next to her house. Siri acknowledged their arrival and Yuna leaned over to gently shake Horizon awake. “Horizon, we’re here...”

Stretching, Horizon opened her eyes and adjusted her glasses that were falling off of her face. She looked over at the house and then back at Yuna. “You live here?”

Yuna nodded.

Horizon sat up and undid her seatbelt and unlocked her door. Yuna followed suit and both of them stepped outside the car, with Horizon locking the door behind them. The two glanced at the house before Horizon gestured for Yuna to lead.

Nervously, Yuna opened the gate and let the two of them in and they began to ascent up the stairs into the house proper. “I’m home!” Yuna yelled through the house.

There was no response. Sighing, Yuna looked back at Horizon and shrugged. “Sorry, I guess my sister is working late, so it’s just us, are you hungry?”

“Not really. Shall I change into a more suitable outfit for your drawing?” Horizon asked.

Yuna pointed toward one of the four bathrooms in the building. “You can change in the bathroom over there. My room is across the hall two doors down.” She pointed toward her room after. “I’ll meet you in there.”

Horizon nodded and headed to the bathroom with her bag. Yuna, on the other hand, wandered into her bedroom and cleared off a chair for Horizon to use. It had occurred to her though that her room was a mess, and she should have cleaned up a bit before Horizon came over. She was worried that Horizon would think she lived in squaller.

Adjusting her sketchbook, Yuna straightened herself up as Horizon walked back into the room. Her outfit had Yuna practically drooling.

Horizon was wearing a short black spaghetti strap dress that was longer on the right than the left. The skirt came down to just above her knee on one side and the other side sat just below her hip, getting dangerously close to exposing her panties.

Yuna could tell that the bra Horizon was wearing was a deep purple from the straps.

“Where should I sit?” Horizon asked.

Yuna blushed and cleared her throat as she pointed to the chair she had set up for her. “Right over there is fine.”

Looking at the chair, Horizon wandered over to it and placed a hand upon the back.

“Sorry, it’s so messy...” Yuna frowned.

Horizon shook her head. “It’s fine, but most of the pictures I saw online wouldn’t use a kitchen chair to model with.”

Yuna rubbed her neck. She had a point.

“What else can we use?” Yuna asked.

Horizon glanced around the room and noted the only other place to sit that wasn’t covered in clothes, books, or sketches was the bed. Horizon pointed to the bed and wandered over to it. Yuna wanted to object as she wasn’t sure how ready she was for Horizon to get on her bed, but no words came out.

Climbing onto the bed, Horizon crawled up and turned on her side, allowing the strap of her dress to fall down her shoulder. Her legs curled up ever so slightly giving a tiny glimpse of her panties which matched her bra. Yuna’s entire face went red as she found herself breathing heavily. Horizon Shimmer was in her bed, posing for her in perhaps the sexiest pose she had ever imagined.

A part of Yuna wanted to crawl into bed with her and let Horizon have her way with her. She restrained herself as her shyness won out.

Clearing her throat, Yuna felt like she had a frog in her throat. “That’s... Quite a pose...”

Horizon shrugged lightly. “I looked it up online, is this acceptable?”

It’s beyond acceptable. Yuna thought.

“Y-yeah... It’s fine...” She played it off.

“Are you alright?” Horizon asked.

I want you to do unspeakable things to me. Yuna shivered as she felt her spine tingle just at the thought, but she composed herself and picked up her sketchbook, ready to focus and draw.

“I’m fine. Are you comfortable?” Yuna asked.

Horizon nodded.

“Alright, just hold still for me,” Yuna instructed as her pencil went to work.

The room was silent for several minutes as Yuna traced the girl’s attractive body onto paper. Her mind began to get in the zone as she started to see the drawing come to life and slowly begin to resemble the subject it was based upon.

“How long have you been drawing?” Horizon broke the silence.

Keeping her focus on the drawing, Yuna carried the conversation with her eyes glancing back and forth between the paper and Horizon’s form. “About as long as I can remember. I want to be an illustrator one day.”

“I can’t draw,” Horizon responded plainly.

“It just takes practice. What are you good at, Horizon?” Yuna took the opportunity to get to know the girl better.

“Not much. I’m pretty good at climbing, I guess?” Horizon said.

“What are you into?” Yuna asked.

“Anime, I guess.” Horizon shrugged.

Yuna giggled. “I like anime too.”

“Did you learn to draw from anime?” Horizon asked.

Yuna nodded. “Sure did. It inspired me when I was little.”

“I suppose it’s good to have a passion, that’s what Twilight says all the time, anyway,” Horizon said.

Yuna drew a few more lines on the paper before speaking again. “Are you and Twilight close?”

Horizon shrugged once more. “I don’t know. We talk now and then, but I guess I don’t really know what ‘close’ between two people is.”

“Why do you call her Twilight?” Yuna asked.

“She said it’s a respect thing because Sunset is my mother so she didn’t want to steal the title or something like that...” Horizon looked like she was trying to recall the reason without paraphrasing, but she was certain that she must have worded it wrong.

Yuna focused on her sketch, her eyes wandering between the gorgeous figure in front of her and her paper. Her face got hotter as she began to trace Horizon’s thin legs. While the girl didn’t have large hips, she had attractive slender legs, that looked even cuter when she was barefoot.

The artist took note of the girl’s tiny feet, she was probably a size five shoe by Yuna’s guess.

“Is the drawing turning out okay?” Horizon asked.

Yuna’s blush grew deeper. “Oh, yes... You’re an excellent subject...”

Horizon tilted her head slightly. “Do you think I’m beautiful, Yuna?”

The girl froze and looked up at Horizon. The question came out as a general question and not one of insecurity.

“Would it be weird if I said you were?” Yuna asked.

“Probably, but I think I’m used to weird at this point because I don’t really know what is normal,” Horizon responded.

Nodding, Yuna looked back down at her paper and spoke in a quiet tone. “I think even my drawings don’t capture your beauty properly, Horizon...”

“No one has ever said that about me before,” Horizon yawned.

“Does it make you happy to hear?” Yuna asked.

Once again, Horizon shrugged, unsure of how she felt about it. “I don’t know. Thank you, regardless.”

A slight frown came to Yuna’s face. She had hoped that question would give her more answers as to Horizon’s sexuality, but as always, the girl was cryptic. Oddly enough though, her cryptic nature only served to excite Yuna more. She wanted to learn more about Horizon Shimmer.

The two continued on that way for a good three hours until Yuna leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh. “I think it’s done...”

“May I see it?” Horizon asked.

Yuna felt a cold sweat run down her neck. She rarely showed anyone her artwork, not even her own sister. The thought of not only showing it to someone but the subject of said art was beyond nerve-wracking. How would she react? What if she hated it?

The girl felt herself freeze until Horizon tilted her head in confusion, giving a gentle “hm” as she observed Yuna’s reaction.

“S-sure...” Yuna nodded as she turned the drawing around and offered it to Horizon.

The model sat up and took the large paper in her hands after adjusting her glasses. She stared at it and scanned it into her mind carefully, taking in every detail that Yuna had captured.

The drawing was remarkably lifelike. It was almost like looking into a mirror, and Yuna had captured her so perfectly. While Horizon had no opinion on her own appearance, she could tell that Yuna put passion into this drawing, it was a gorgeous rendition of Horizon for sure.

Horizon looked up at Yuna, whose face was still nervous.

“It’s amazing,” Horizon stated plainly.

While Yuna expected to see more emotion on her face, she was relieved to hear that Horizon liked the drawing.

“It’s only that good because the subject was easy to capture...” Yuna gave a light smile.

“You’re very talented, Yuna.” Horizon nodded.

“Thank you...” Yuna’s smile grew at the praise.

Horizon stared once again at the drawing and then ran her fingers along the lines, contouring the details ever so carefully.

“I want you to have it, Horizon...” Yuna said quietly.

Looking up, Horizon blinked. “Are you sure? Something this detailed?”

Yuna nodded. “I was only able to make it because of you, so I think it belongs with you. Consider it a token of our friendship...” Yuna smiled at her.

Horizon blinked again. “Are you saying you consider me your friend?”

“I... I hope so?” Yuna blushed.

Looking back at the picture, Horizon looked back up at her and nodded. “Thank you, Yuna. I’m glad we’re friends.”

Yuna was ecstatic just to hear those words. “You have no idea how happy I am just to hear that...”

As the two sat across from each other, Yuna found her eyes drawn to Horizon’s lips. She had small lips, that were very cute. Yuna wanted so badly to attempt to close the distance between the two and give her model a kiss. She had fantasized about it for so long, but in reality, she was far too shy to attempt something like that. She just wasn’t bold enough to attempt to kiss a girl who wasn’t expecting it.

The silence which was dragging on now was interrupted by Horizon. “I don’t have many friends, but Twilight keeps telling me to make more.”

“I guess I know what it’s like to not have any friends... Not counting my sister, you’re basically my first... I always kept to myself at school, so...” Yuna blushed.

Horizon hummed at her response and looked off into the distance in thought. After a few seconds of silence, she finally said, “then I guess we have something in common.”

Eight Ball was an odd one for sure. His tendencies seemed to be beyond awkward, and he had a weird habit of sticking his thumb in his maw and biting down upon it. To top it off, he had a weird twitch that always put all of the others around him at unease.

His stature was short, barely breaking five foot three, and his body was almost that of a child’s. Puberty had not been very giving to him, and as a result, he was commonly mistaken for a child despite being almost thirty. His hair was a messy shining neon green that came down to his neck.

The squared glasses on his face sat just slightly crooked in front of his hazel eyes that always had bags under them. The man was in a perpetual state of being tired as he sat there with his legs dangling from a crate he was perched upon, his back arched forward as he twirled a knife in his hand. The blade was ornate, but exceptionally sharp. He had honed the blade on a regular basis, his obsessive-compulsive disorder ruling over him.

With haggard eyes, he kept his ears open as another walked into the room where he sat with his group.

The other had long straightened hair, red in color down to his lower back, and a lab coat. He cleared his throat as he glanced around the room to see Eight and the other two inhabitants who were chatting idly up to this point. One of which stopped talking and pointed, causing the other to turn around and face the new person who had entered, the other following suit.

Eight didn’t bother to respond or even glance in their direction, he kept his eyes wide open and locked on the blade in his hand that he continued to spin meticulously.

The red-haired man spoke in a low octave voice that commanded the room. “Blade is dead.”

The one female in the room blinked and opened her eyes. “You’re sure, Chem?”

Chemical Compound was the good doctor’s name, a chemical expert by trade, and a damned good one at that. Chem could tell the mixture of just about anything just by getting a glance at it.

“Positive. Surely, you must have sensed his demon presence is gone, right?” Chem stated.

The female and the other male in the room both shook their heads. “No, not really, but I can’t say I’m surprised, he was always stupid. What do you think did him in?” The girl asked.

The other man in the room grunted and crossed his arms. “Who cares? He was a liability, he didn’t listen. It’s probably better that he’s gone.”

“I sensed it...” Eight finally chimed in, his shrill voice making the others look in his direction.

His eyes still focused on his knife as it spun in his hand.

“You? You can actually sense demon energy? I’m surprised at that...” The girl laughed at him.

Eight’s eyes looked up at her, and his menacing stare made her insanely uneasy. He had a deranged look upon his face. “You’re just weak. I can sense all the demonic energy around me. Even right now, I can sense something far away, probably a few states over that is growing... Can’t you feel it?”

The girl gulped and trembled as Eight’s stare made her shrink. He was a loose cannon, there was no telling what he would do if provoked. Unlike the rest of them there, they had no real idea of what Eight’s abilities were. They had been kept under wraps for a long time, and the group didn’t dare ask what he was capable of. Regardless, just looking into his soulless eyes would tell anyone that whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant.

With a cold stare, he stopped twirling his knife and glanced over at Chemical. “The doctor is right. Blade’s dead. A shame, because I wanted to play with him at some point...”

“He was one of us, why would you-“ The other male began but Eight cut him off.

“I play with whoever I want. I make the rules. Demon, mortal, immortal, it doesn’t make a difference to me...” Eight’s voice droned on as he stared at him.

Chemical grimaced uneasily as he felt a bit colder just standing in the same room as Eight.

The male growled and held up a fist. “You don’t scare me. You can’t just do whatever the fuck you want!”

Those words were his last. Quickly, the knife in Eight’s hand soared across the room and impaled the man right in the skull, causing black blood to spurt out before he collapsed backward, his body turning into black mist and dissipating just as quickly. The girl with them stood in horror as she watched him die. Her eyes came back to Eight who held his hand out, a thin black line coming from his wrist that slowly reached out and grabbed the knife from the floor and pulled it back to him before disappearing once the blade returned to his right hand.

His gaze was as cold as ever.

The girl spoke up. “You’re fucking nuts! You can’t just-“

“I’ll kill you too if you don’t shut up...” Eight shot a glance her way.

She gulped and closed her mouth.

“Let’s find out who killed Blade, then we can see if they’re worth playing with...” Eight said.

“You’re the boss...” The girl nodded obediently in fear.

Eight looked forward and nodded. “I’ve been bored for far too long...”

Horizon walked with Jasper from the parking lot of the mall into the building proper, he smiled at her as he stood by her side with his hands in his pockets. He stood a good head or so taller than her, and anyone who saw them might believe they were a couple.

Though after a glance one would notice the two were very different in style. Jasper was outdated in fashion and very “proper”, while Horizon was nearly a goth with a splash of color added.

As the two teens walked together, Jasper smiled at her. “So, how was your time with Yuna?”

“It was exceptional. She is quite the talented artist, I modeled for her,” Horizon replied as she glanced inside a clothing store which she began to wander into, Jasper following her at a safe distance.

The store workers nodded to acknowledge them which Horizon waved them away to signal that she didn’t need help.

“Y’all didn’t pose...” Jasper bit his lip, not sure if he should even finish that sentence, but like clockwork, Horizon finished it for him.

“Nude?”

Blushing, Jasper looked away. “I was tryin’ to think of a more modest way to ask...”

“No, though I offered. She seemed uncomfortable with the idea. After some conversation, she mentioned she’s never drawn nudes before,” Horizon explained as her hand ran along the fabric of a skirt that she was debating if she wanted.

Jasper raised a brow. “Y’all just met this girl and ya’ offered to get naked in front of her?”

“I thought that was the kind of thing that artists liked. Obviously, I was somewhat mistaken; she didn’t appear to take any offense to the suggestion though, so I guess it’s fine.” Horizon stated.

Jasper looked around the store, feeling quite out of place but kept quiet about it and focused on their conversation at hand to keep his mind off of the fact that he normally wouldn’t shop at a place like this.

“What’s she like?” Jasper tried to steer the conversation away from Horizon’s dense nature and offering to pose nude.

Horizon considered the question for a moment before giving her answer, which was “fairly normal, I suppose. Then again, I’ve been told that I don’t know what constitutes as normal.”

Jasper chuckled as Horizon held up a shirt in front of her form tilting her head. “Does this look okay on me?”

Looking at the shirt, Jasper smiled. “Definitely, y’all are always spiffy in my book.”

Horizon looked at him and blinked. “Do you think that Sunset intended for us to find out all that we have? That she meant of us to find the box?”

That was a question that Jasper lacked an answer to. He wished he could say that he knew, but in all honesty, he only had an idea. “I wanna say that she probably did, I mean the box supposedly opens with magic, which I guess y’all can do, so it might have been meant for you to open.”

Horizon corrected him as she raised a finger. “Remember though, we’re assuming that Sunset knew I was capable of performing these powers, which up to this point she’d have no reason to believe so...”

“Unless she could too...” Jasper suggested.

“So she would assume genetic wise that I would be capable of such as well?” Horizon followed his logic.

Jasper merely nodded.

Horizon placed a finger on her chin as she looked up in thought. “Two problems though; the first being that we’re assuming my powers work that way. For all we know, it could just be something more random to where I can do it and she couldn’t. Secondly, we’re assuming I’m the only one who meets the requirements to do it...”

“What do ya’ mean?” Jasper blinked.

Slinging the shirt she intended to buy over her forearm, Horizon explained. “If there are others out there, then the box could have been intended for them. There is also another possibility that Sunset didn’t even know how to open the box herself.”

That was all true. Jasper was glad that Horizon was the kind of person who thought outside of the box all the time as if she wasn’t, they likely would waste tons of valuable time chasing conclusions that they hadn’t considered could be completely wrong.

“Guess we really need to figure out more information then huh?” Jasper asked.

“It would appear that way.” Horizon nodded.

Setting down a glass of wine, Twilight Shimmer flipped through one of her notebooks before letting out a long sigh. She had been at work more often than usual for the past eight days and it was starting to take a toll upon her body.

Technically, she didn’t even need to work to maintain the family wealth, but she was dedicated to her job. The last thing she wanted to do was sit around all day and every day just to make sure Horizon, who seldom came home on time was safe. It set a bad example for her daughter anyway.

Twilight buried herself in work to hide from her emotion. She stressed about if she was raising Horizon correctly, and so many times did she wish that she had another parent figure with her to help guide the young teen, who up to this point was certainly turning out odd.

Horizon spent an inordinate amount of time just sitting around doing little to nothing at all. She had no passion for any kind of hobbies. If anything, she only did things because they were on her schedule and put there prior by Twilight. She wanted the girl to focus on exercising at least twice a week, and so she scheduled an hour every Tuesday and Thursday at the gym in the basement and a self-defense lesson that she would teach herself on Fridays.

It was approaching the time for said lesson, and Twilight picked herself up and tied her long hair into a ponytail as she headed downstairs, shredding off her long-sleeve shirt and tossing it into a hamper before leaving her bedroom.

She looked down at her phone and noted that she had a good eight minutes to get to the gym downstairs and decided to text a reminder to her daughter as she came to the master staircase and descended.

Don’t forget out lesson today.

To Twilight’s surprise, she got a text back instantly, and one she wasn’t expecting.

I’m already there, waiting for you.

It was peculiar. Usually, Twilight had to pull the girl out of her room and drag her down, as her laziness was holding her hostage. Today though, Horizon was actually already up and about, it was definitely odd.

Oh okay. Be right there.

Making her way downstairs, Twilight made a left turn at the bottom and headed toward the stairwell in the other wing of the house and headed down to the basement level. She passed the unused servant’s quarters and made her way to the gym that was right next to the armory. Standing in front of the gym was Horizon, with a bandana over her head, keeping her messy hair out of her face.

She had chosen to wear a pair of tight shorts and a tank top that hugged her form, reminding Twilight that the two of them were built similarly.

“Can we do some target practice too?” Horizon asked.

Twilight blinked and glanced over at the armory. “Alright, we’ll do that first then...”

She was a tad suspicious, but she went with it. In the entire time they had lived there, Horizon had probably only practiced at the target range about eight times. She was never interested in shooting, but Twilight occasionally would show her, even though she herself hated guns.

The two of them wandered into the armory and Twilight carefully selected a handgun and hesitated for a second before taking it in her hand. She hated how it felt, but she knew that it was probably for the best that she knew how to use one, given the kind of people that Sunset had run into in the past. She hated how Adagio had made her wife so paranoid, but she knew that there was a stark reality before her; a reality where one had to be prepared for dangerous people, even if they were gone at this point.

Eagerly, Horizon picked up two revolvers and began to examine them both, trying to decide which she preferred. Twilight just blinked as she watched her daughter examine the weapons. Deciding upon one, Horizon placed the other one back and grabbed a pair of goggles and earmuffs which she put on immediately.

Twilight watched as the girl grabbed two boxes of rounds and opened the chamber of her weapon and loaded the bullets in. Then after they were in, she dumped them back out onto the table to load them again. She repeated the process a few times, clearly trying to master the skill so she could load the weapon quickly.

Saying nothing, Twilight grabbed an extra two clips for her pistol and waited for Horizon to be satisfied.

Once her daughter was content with her ability to load the gun, she looked over at her mother.

“Shall we?” Twilight gestured toward the door that lead to the range.

“Hm.” Horizon nodded.

Placing her own earmuffs and goggles on, Twilight watched her daughter as they entered the range next to each other. Horizon aimed her gun down the range and looked over at her mother for guidance.

Smiling, Twilight stepped over and got behind Horizon and helped her aim. “So, a revolver is a bit different than a pistol. The one you have in your hand is powerful and accurate. You have a lower ammo count, so it’s about making every shot count.”

Horizon nodded as she listened.

“Aim with the sight at the end of the barrel and focus. Inhale, and fire when you exhale,” Twilight instructed as she pointed to the target down the range.

Following her instructions, Horizon took in a breath and let out a shot as she exhaled.

Twilight blinked as the bullet had pierced the head of the target directly between where the eyes would be. Horizon concentrated and let out another, hitting in almost the same spot.

“Well, it looks like you found a new talent, Horizon.” Twilight chuckled as she ruffled the girl’s hair.

Horizon concentrated and carefully placed her remaining shots in a similar style. Quickly she opened the chamber of the gun and dumped the exhausted rounds out, and loaded up six fresh ones at lightning speed. With her eyes locked on the range, she aimed again, and this time she unloaded all six shots, pounding down the hammer between each one with her other hand.

It looked like something straight out of a western film, but Twilight’s mouth was left open when she saw that every shot had hit the target in the head.

“That’s amazing! How did you do that!?” Twilight leaned in.

Emptying the exhausted rounds, Horizon began to load up six new ones. “Concentration.”

“You’re really motivated today, what’s the occasion? You normally aren’t this eager to take our self-defense course, let alone target practice...” Twilight pointed out.

Horizon looked over at her guardian with plain eyes. She looked so innocent, but she was impossible to read. “I don’t know.”

Twilight assumed it was a lie, but all teenagers lied, so it was far from abnormal.

There was clearly something else going on with her daughter.

“Horizon, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Twilight smiled.

“I’m aware.” Was all Horizon had to say back.

Twilight sighed and nodded, as she watched her daughter continue to perform her target practice. Twilight’s hand reached up as she watched and wrapped around the magic medallion that she had held onto since high school. She didn’t know what was going on, but she had a bad feeling.

His patience was growing thin. Eight Ball barked an order at his subordinate as she returned empty-handed. “I told you to find more out about it...”

She bowed gently as sweat ran down her neck. “I told you before, there wasn’t anything I could find...”

“I’m tired of your excuses...” He shook his head.

Panic overtook the girl before a black tendril came from Eight’s wrist and attached itself to her chest, her heart now raced faster and faster. The tendril was ethereal, yet she could still feel it inside of her, wrapping itself around her heart as it stuck out of her body and connected to Eight’s wrist.

“Please! Give me another chance!” She begged.

“I am. This is your chance,” he stated.

“Please! I’ll figure it out! I promise!” She continued.

Sighing, Eight retrieved a coin from his pocket. “Power is wasted on a creature like you. How much do you wager?”

Her eyes focused on the coin in fear. “Please...”

“How about we just play for keeps then?” He grinned.

“That’s not possible...” She shook her head.

“One eighth from me is about all of yours, so that will be our wager. You win, you get your second chance, and one-eighth of what I have. Lose... You die,” Eight explained the rules.

Gulping, the girl kept her eyes on the coin. Her odds were fifty-fifty, but she knew that Eight had incredible luck when it came even to games of chance. However, if she weighed out the odds, if she refused then he would likely kill her anyway. Her odds of getting a second chance would only happen if she chose to play and she would have to bet a lot just to be able to play.

Nodding, she composed herself. “Okay, I’ll play.”

Eight grinned as he placed the coin into position to be flipped. “Call it.”

“Heads,” she said nervously.

Tossing the metal disk into the air, it soared upward and came down slowly. Both watched as the object hit the ground revealing that it had landed with heads facing the floor. It was tails.

“No...” She fell to her knees.

“You lose.” Eight smirked.

With those words, the black tendril sucked all the energy out of her body, causing her to scream in agony as her power left her along with her life force. When it was over, the tendril returned to Eight’s hand and dropped the, now dead girl onto the floor as her body disappeared into mist like all the others.

Eight shook his head as he crossed his arms and frowned. “As I said, power is wasted on someone as worthless as you. I’ll be sure to put it to better use than you did.”

Chemical had just walked in the door only seconds before the girl’s demise as he let out a sigh. “If you keep killing subordinates, it’s going to be hard to keep this operation going, you know?”

Eight came to a stand and found himself staring at the floor where she had been. “She was useless anyway. I have no use for useless people, her power is wasted on her.”

“Still, you know that we need bodies to keep things running...” Chemical frowned.

“Bodies are a dime a dozen, I can just get us some... indentured servants if we really need them...” Eight stated.

Chemical already knew what he was implying, as he had seen his method of “hiring” before when they needed help.

“Fine, forget I said anything...” Chemical sighed as he stuffed his hands into his lab coat pockets.

“Chemical, I need you to go and find out everything you can about the person who killed Blade...” Eight changed the subject.

“Does that include-“ Chemical was cut off.

“Everything. I want to know who they are and what they are. If they’re human, mortal, demon, immortal, I don’t care, I want every bit of info you can find,” Eight commanded.

Sighing, Chemical nodded. “Understood, though this isn’t the best use of my talents...”

“I’ll decide what’s the best use of your talents, now do what you’re told or you can share the girl’s fate...” Eight pointed to where his subordinate previously stood.

“Yes, sir...” Chemical sighed again.

A screen in a window of a shop was displaying a music video of two young teen sisters who had slowly been becoming singing sensations in the past few months. Their angelic voices had made them into stars, and their story of humble beginnings in their homeland of Russia was slowly capturing the hearts of many. They had started out in New York and were slated to head to Maryland very soon.

Crowds in New York City gathered around the screen to watch the two sing, many snapping photos with their ultraphones, others making screens display before their faces to send out posts onto their social media platforms.

In the back of the crowd, a figure waded through the people and pushed others out of the way to get to the front of the pack. Their rudeness causing many to grunt and complain, but one look at their odd attire caused most to go quiet.

When they reached the front to see the screens, they stood there with their dark brown hood up, concealing their face. It was peculiar for someone to wear a cloak in general out in public, but this stranger had an odd demeanor to go along with it.

Staring at the screen, they concentrated on what they saw. A man reached for them and grabbed their muscular arm and complained. “Hey, you can’t just push people out of the way to...” He blinked as he felt how strong and powerful the arm was.

The person in the cloak glanced over at him, their face still concealed by the shadow of their hood as they spoke in a raspy voice. “Don’t touch me...” They commanded.

The man shook his head and composed himself as he faked bravado. “You pushed my girlfriend out of the way, how about you apologize and I won’t beat the shit out of you.”

The stranger seemed unaffected by his threat. Their demeanor remained calm. “Is that a threat?”

As the stranger turned, he could now see a set of swords at their sides. It was very strange for people to carry around swords in general, let alone in the middle of the city.

Gulping, the man let go of their arm and stepped back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it...”

The hooded stranger nodded and turned back to the screen as the crowd began to dissipate out of fear. There was no telling what this stranger was capable of, and no one wanted to find out.

As Adagio and Serenade’s face appeared on screen, the program began to speak of how their talent was unmatched and how they would surely soar to the top of the charts in record time.

The stranger’s raspy voice spoke in a low tone as they responded to the screen. “Not if I have anything to do with it... Guess I’m going back to Maryland...”

“It’s a fucking disgrace what that girl has done to Twilight and you know it, Cadance!” Shining growled as he crushed his empty can of soda and slammed it back onto the table.

Cadance sighed and sat down across from her middle-aged husband and reached across the table to take his hand in hers. She caressed it gently to calm him down, knowing that the subject of his sister could easily get him fired up, especially when Sunset Shimmer was involved in that conversation.

“Shiny, try and calm down...” Cadance frowned.

He shook his head. “It just isn’t right! She up and leaves her, twice and poor Twilight is left to raise Horizon on her own!? I can’t believe her! We trusted her, we treated her like family and we even looked past how she disappeared the first time because she apparently had a good reason and this is how she repays us!?”

Cadance could already tell that he needed to vent to be past it. Sighing, she stood up and wandered over to the fridge, retrieving two ginger ales, offering him one. Shining took it swiftly and popped it open.

After taking a long sip and letting out a sound of content, he nodded at his wife and smiled, his temper cooling down just a slight bit. She was always so thoughtful, it was difficult to stay too upset with her around. Cadance just had that kind of effect on people in general; perhaps it was her soft face.

“I know it bothers you, but you can’t let it get to you so much every time Twilight and Horizon come over... Thank you, for not going off about Sunset in front of Horizon though, I know that isn’t easy.” Cadance offered a smile before opening her own soda and taking a long sip.

Shining could never bring himself to criticize Sunset or even comment on her disappearance in front of Horizon. She was his niece, and he had to remind himself that badmouthing her mother in front of her or even Twilight was a bad idea.

They had all just had a family gathering and the subject got to music. When they began to talk about it, Twilight had mentioned that Sunset was in a band once. That lead to Horizon asking if she was any good, to which Twilight had said, “she was exceptionally talented, your mother was a great singer and guitar player. I envied her skills.”

She had then gone on a good ten to fifteen minutes about how incredible Sunset was, and it was only annoying her brother who was sitting in the same room more and more. He couldn’t stand to hear her talk so highly about Sunset after all she had done to her. After Sunset had abandoned her, it bothered him that Twilight still felt so highly of her despite it all.

“I just don’t get why Twilight is filling Horizon’s head with that shit. Eventually, the girl has to find out that her mother abandoned her, I mean she probably already thinks it now!” Shining complained.

Nodding, Cadance stroked his hand with her thumb. “I know, sweetie, but it’s not our place. And if Sunset were ever to come back, we have to support whatever Twilight wants to do.”

He twitched just at the thought. “Come back? That girl better never come back, I hope she’s dead somewhere!”

“You don’t mean that.” Cadance frowned.

Shining glanced over at his wife and could see legitimate hurt in her eyes. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, I guess not... I suppose she doesn’t deserve to die, I’m sorry. I just really would hate to see Twilight just take her back like nothing happened, you know?”

“I know, but you can’t say stuff like that. What if you found out that she actually is dead? You’d feel horrible then,” Cadance pointed out.

He had to think about it for a moment. A part of him wasn’t sure if he’d actually feel that bad until he realized that Twilight might be upset. While he didn’t think her tears would be put to good use by crying about her, he still couldn’t stand the idea of the pain she’s going through.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Shining nodded.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think a lot of the family would punch her into next week if she just walked through the door tomorrow, but I doubt she will be.” Cadance stroked his hand some more.

Sighing, Shining leaned back in his chair, and nodded as he let her keep stroking his hand. “I just can’t believe she did this is all... I trusted her, Cadance... I lied for her, I risked my career to keep her secret safe and she repays me by leaving my sister high and dry after telling her that she loved her. That girl thanked me at her wedding for donating the sample that helped make that little girl and she was so thankful... Then she abandons her, twice.”

Cadance sighed and gave his hand a squeeze. Shining was always so protective of his little sister and ordinarily, it was endearing and sweet, but lately, it had just become stressful to deal with. Cadance put up with it, but she now avoided the subject of Twilight as she hated fighting with him.

“Shiny, I know that you’re looking out for Twilight, but don’t forget she can take care of herself. Let her focus on this, and how she wants to deal with it. You can’t spend so much time upset on her behalf. Given the kind of world Sunset came from and what she has done, it’s possible that she didn’t come back because she died, did you consider that?” Cadance frowned at the thought.

Shining’s eyes widened. He had heard her before when Cadance had suggested that Sunset could have been dead, but he had forgotten the girl’s track record. She had gone toe-to-toe with a murderer over nearly two decades ago, one with ridiculous powers. Prior to that, she had saved her school a few times. He also recalled Twilight telling him a story of how she almost died from illness many years back. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Sunset Shimmer could take quite a licking before going down.

“I don’t think she’s dead. She took down Adagio, and she survived that illness that she apparently should have died from. Not to mention she’s fought sirens and apparently demons according to Twilight... It would take a lot to kill that girl.” Shining shook his head in disagreement.

“I suppose so, but still try and let Twilight be the one to focus on this? Be there if she needs you to be, but at the end of the day, it’s her choice.” Cadance smiled warmly at her husband.

She was right, of course, as she usually was. Shining let out a sigh and nodded before taking her hand in his own, stroking it softly. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, now how about we go to bed?” Cadance stated.

Shining smirked and grew a perverted smile. “I don’t think so...”

“Why not?” Cadance blinked in confusion.

“Because ma’am, you’re under arrest,” his voice grew low and husky.

Playing along, Cadance pleaded in a helpless tone. “Oh officer, there must be something I can do!”

“I can think of a few things...” He chuckled.

Horizon stood with Jasper, Bolt, and Cloud in the secret computer room she had found in her house a while back. The same room that Sunset had used and her aunt Shimmer apparently. There were many secrets hidden in this place, and she knew it, but they were all locked behind a computer that she could not gain access to.

The boys looked around the tiny poorly lit room, inspecting the equipment, which while dated now, they surmised was probably state of the art at the time the room was built. Whoever used this room, certainly wanted the best of the best.

“So you don’t know any sort of back door ways to get on the computer?” Bolt asked as he glanced over at Horizon who was just standing there with her hands behind her back.

She shook her head nonchalantly. “I’m not very good with computers.”

Bolt sighed and rolled his eyes. “I know how to work them and do a lot of stuff, but not bypass passwords or anything like that. Sounds like hacker shit to me...”

Jasper sat down at the only chair in the room and placed a hand upon his chin. “Curious, this room ain’t even hooked up to the net, right?”

Horizon shook her head. “Nope, and the WiFi signal doesn’t get in here either, on top of that, even cellphone service is dead in this place.”

“A single room in the house that is designed to get no access to the internet? That’s insanely strange...” Cloud said.

Bolt crossed his arms. “Very strange, but I’d guess it’s probably because she didn’t want whatever is on this computer to get outside of this room. No outside interference of any kind...”

Horizon had to admit that his theory made sense. That meant that whatever was being done in this room was intended only for certain eyes and that they were extra paranoid about others getting access to it.

“I think thus far all of the evidence points to my Aunt Shimmer being the one who used this room. The diary was her’s after all, and there’s really not much evidence to suggest that all of this stuff wasn’t already like this before Sunset found this place...” Horizon thought out loud.

“So that would mean that Shimmer was definitely the person using this room like we originally theorized, and that would mean that only Shimmer would know the password to the computer...” Bolt pointed out, not wanting to curb her enthusiasm.

That was definitely the most sound theory. Shimmer had used the room sometime before her death, and that meant that her note to Sunset probably meant that Sunset didn’t know the password either. That meant there was a chance that they had not guessed the password either and potentially had never even gotten that note in the first place.

Horizon reminded herself that she needed to be careful about straight-jacketing her line of thinking and remain open-minded to other possibilities.

If Sunset had never seen what was on the computer, that would mean it had to be about things prior to Sunset’s disappearance and death, so it wasn’t related, right?

No, there was still a chance that everything was connected at a deeper level. She couldn’t be certain it was unrelated until she saw it for herself.

“What if despite all of that, what’s on this computer is super important?” Horizon asked.

Jasper nodded. “I’d wager that’s probably likely.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter how important anything on it is. None of us have the know how to get into it anyway...” Bolt reminded her.

“As much as I hate to agree with him, he has a point...” Jasper sighed.

Bolt growled and gave Jasper a nasty look, which Jasper didn’t return, instead, he looked to the door in thought.

“We’re really hitting a roadblock here then. If we can’t get into the computer, this room is useless...” Cloud sighed.

At that moment, for some reason, Horizon’s brain clicked and ideas began to form. Nodding, she placed a hand atop of the outdated monitor to the computer and shook her head. “I think I know how I can get into that computer now.”

“Mind enlightening us?” Bolt raised a brow.

“I know someone who can more than likely figure out a way in, but it will require me to let them in on what’s we’re doing...” Horizon explained.

“Are y’all sure it’s a good idea to tell more people ‘bout what we’re up to? Seems like this operation is growin’ too fast,” Jasper stated.

Horizon shook her head. “We can trust her.”

“Who is she?” Bolt questioned.

“Her name is Yuna, if anyone can get us into that computer, it’s her,” Horizon said.

“How are you so sure?” Bolt asked.

“I’ve seen her abilities with computers, she’s exceptional. I don’t know why I didn’t think of asking her right away, but I’ll ask her tomorrow,” Horizon said.

“Hopefully this poor Yuna girl knows what she’s gettin’ into...” Jasper sighed.

Horizon shrugged. “Well, tomorrow she will.”

Jasper didn’t like the idea of getting others involved, but if it meant they would be closer to solving this mystery for Horizon, he could look the other way.

Hey! It's been so long!

I swear it was sooooo cute writing this chapter for obvious reasons. Poor Yuna, you're so sexually frustrated it's adorable.