Twilight raced down the halls at top speed, poking her head around every corner before seeing faces she recognized standing at their lockers chatting away. Applejack and Rainbow Dash always seemed to have their lockers placed next to each other since elementary school apparently as Twilight had heard, it was no wonder the two were so close.

Finally catching up with them Twilight kneeled down panting, lifting a finger to tell the two girls to hold up for her while she caught her breath.

Applejack and Rainbow looked at each other with confusion before looking back to Twilight who was starting to be able to breathe again as she pulled herself up and composed herself. She was slightly embarrassed at how out of shape she was, but at the moment her mind was in other places.

“I just heard from someone that Sunset is coming back to school? Have you guys heard anything?” Twilight asked.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both nodded.

“Sure have. Me an’ Rainbow just saw her meetin’ with Principal Celestia; didn’t get a chance to talk to her though…” Applejack crossed her arms.

Twilight’s eyes lit up as she leaned in with interest. “Do you think she’s going to be attending classes again?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, we flagged down Celestia and squeezed her for info. She wouldn’t tell us much, but she said Sunset would start attending classes again today. She said Sunset had to run for a bit, but she’d be back by third period. Guess Celestia finally pressured her to come back.”

Twilight felt a huge grin on her face from the news. It had been months since she saw her best friend in person. She looked down at herself, internally cursing that she didn’t wear something more flattering than a large knit sweater with grey leggings.

“’Ah will say… Sunset has… changed a bit since she’s been away…” Applejack stated quietly.

“Changed?” Twilight tilted her head.

Rainbow smirked. “Oh yeah, the getup she was wearing. Hardcore alternative stuff, sexy as hell. Guess she had some of Shimmer’s outfits modified to fit her, but damn she looked good. I would not mind getting down on my knees and-”

Applejack punched Rainbow’s shoulder. “’Ah swear can we go a whole day without y’all bein’ a pig?”

“Well oink oink, excuse me for thinking our friend is super attractive.” Rainbow growled as she rubbed her now hurt shoulder.

Applejack rolled her eyes at her friend and sighed. “’Ah don’t know ‘bout that. Maybe it’s jus’ not my thing-“

Rainbow cut her off with a smirk. “Oh please, your thing is Rarity, Rarity, Rarity.”

“Hey, shut it!” Applejack’s face turned a slight rosy color.

“Dude, you have only ever shown interest in Rarity. Convinced that you’re not even gay, you’re just a Raritysexual,” Rainbow teased.

Rolling her eyes, Applejack looked away. “Whatever… Point is that such drastic changes ain’t always good.”

Twilight shrugged, unsure of what to make of this change. It was too early for her to determine if it was good or bad especially since she hadn’t seen it yet. “I’m just glad she’s back. Hopefully, I get a chance to talk to her…”
Applejack smiled and nudged Rainbow’s arm. “Rainbow shares third period with her. Maybe she can see what’s up before lunch?”

Nodding, Rainbow bowed. “Leave it to me!”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Rainbow.”

“What’re friends for?” Rainbow snickered.

“In ‘yer case? Bustin’ on me for having a thing with Rarity…” Applejack sighed.

“Oh please, it’s all in good fun. I’m happy for both of you, really. I’m just amazed that it took the great Applejack so long to court her.” Rainbow smirked.

“Like farm work, love is all about patience…” Applejack replied.

The smirk on Rainbow’s face grew as she made an obscene hand gesture to accompany her next question. “So… have you two…? You know?”

Applejack raised a brow. “Know what?”

“Gone to pound town?” Rainbow giggled.

“’Ah ain’t tellin’ y’all that.” Applejack sighed.

“Oh come on! I’m your friend, details!” Rainbow pleaded.

Twilight found herself giggling as she watched the two girls bicker back and forth. She hoped that Sunset would soon be able to enjoy their friends again after all this time. A part of her wished things could just go back to how they were before any of this happened, but she knew that was unlikely.

Sitting bored in English class, Rainbow sighed as her eyes scanned across the room looking for Sunset who didn’t appear to be there. Class was already underway for a good ten minutes and there was no sign of her partially long-lost friend. She was starting to worry a bit that what she heard from Celestia was either untrue or that Sunset bailed on school at the last minute. A part of her wanted to congratulate her for her rebellion, but at the same time, she would need to actually be able to talk to her for that to happen.

The class was halfway over when finally the door to the classroom open and in walked Sunset in her attractive outfit. Chains rattled as she walked in her heels as she gently approached the teacher who stopped talking and waited for her to hand him a slip of paper. He looked it over briefly and nodded before gesturing to the class.

“Students, I’m sure many of you remember your old classmate Ms. Sunset Shimmer. She apparently will be rejoining us today, so I’d like you all to make her feel welcome and comfortable.” He smiled before gesturing toward the chairs. “Please, take a seat, Sunset.”

Nodding, Sunset gave a gentle bow before walking with her hands in front of her. Locating her old desk she carefully positioned herself in it and crossed her legs as she paid attention to the board.

Rainbow was a good four seats away but she could finally get a better look at her even if it was from behind. She could see a set of pentagram earrings on the girl and smiled as she observed her. Sunset had changed wardrobes for sure, but somehow it suited her. Even since they met she always noticed how the longer they knew her, the more alternative Sunset became, this only felt like a natural progression.

Returning to the boring lecture, Rainbow couldn’t help but stare at her friend who hadn’t turned around once to face her and made no attempt to communicate. Instead, she was scribbling in a notebook in what she presumed were notes for the class they were in.

Looking down to her own notebook Rainbow saw tons of crude sketches of comic book heroes and Daring Do fanfiction ideas. She chuckled internally as she realized she likely could take some advice on note-taking from Sunset.

She found herself having a difficult time paying attention as she kept looking up toward Sunset, trying to think of what to say to her when the moment came. She knew eventually the bell would let them both out and that would be her opportunity to finally speak with the girl that had shut all of them out for the past few months, but now that the moment was actually coming, she was struggling to figure out what she even wanted to say to the girl.

Planning it out she decided the best thing to do was see if they could talk somewhere alone given that the two likely would be unable to avoid the discussion of Shimmer’s murder and possibly even magic.

When the bell finally rang, Rainbow came to a stand and scooped her things into her bag as she watched Sunset load her books into a purse. She squinted wondering when Sunset started carrying a purse but shrugged it off. The purse didn’t quite suit her, but she could see the practicality of it being easy to pull things out of quickly.

Slowly following her out of the classroom, Rainbow followed the girl unsure of how to get her attention without making the situation awkward. She would follow Sunset all the way to the bathroom and smiled a bit as it worked out perfectly for her plan. Once she peeked around to see the two were alone she came up behind Sunset and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing the girl to turn to face Rainbow slowly and quietly.

Part of Rainbow was surprised that she didn’t jump or flinch but instead seemed almost uncaring.

There was a brief moment of silence followed by Rainbow breaking it with a simple, “hey.”

“Hey,” Sunset replied.

Rainbow cursed herself internally at how pathetic that introduction was. After a good half hour of planning on how she would execute this encounter the best she could muster was a simple “hey” and then stand there awkwardly.

“It’s been a long time…” Sunset smiled.

Something about her smile seemed off like she wasn’t all there or that her mind was somewhere else.

“Yeah… It’s cool to see you again… what brings you back exactly?” Rainbow crossed her arms and leaned against the door of a bathroom stall.

Sunset shrugged. “Finally got tired of being at home. Doctors told me that fresh air is good for me, so I’m trying it out.”

Rainbow could tell the teen was joking with her, but it had that irksome feeling to it like she was using it as a shield to hide what was truly bothering her. Without any evidence to prod further though, Rainbow let it go.

“You never responded to any of my texts…” Rainbow raised a questioning brow.

Nodding, Sunset just stood there silently.

Deciding to lighten the mood, Rainbow grew a smile and decided to laugh it off was the best option. “Anyone else might have been offended.”

“You’re far from anyone else, though,” Sunset reminded.

As if lighting a match under her ego, Rainbow smirked and nodded while she pointed to herself with her thumb. “Damn straight, I’m Rainbow fucking Dash and regardless it’s good to see you again.”

Sunset nodded with a gentle smile. “Likewise, now if you excuse me, I have another class I have to get to soon…”

Rainbow stepped out of her way but not before Sunset caught the edge of her shoe and stumbled, falling down to her hands and knees, dropping her bag and the contents pouring out. Rainbow blinked and knelt down to help her up. “Shit, I’m sorry, are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine… Just not used to walking in heels yet…” Sunset explained before scrambling over to her bag to reload it with her things.

Feeling guilty still, Rainbow rushed over to assist her only to pause as she noticed an object sitting under a textbook. The metal of the device shined in the harsh light of the bathroom and the shape was unmistakable. Sunset noticed what Rainbow was staring at and scooped it up along with her other belongings and stuffed them into her bag before coming to a stand and brushing herself off, pretending like nothing happened.

“Well, I have to get going…”

Rainbow blocked the door. “Is that what I think it is?” She pointed to Sunset’s purse.

“It doesn’t matter, please get out of my way…” Sunset tried to get around Rainbow only to be stopped.

“Un-fucking-believable… You really brought that here? Where did you even get that?” Rainbow questioned.

“Not that it’s anyone’s business but there happens to be an armory in my basement, now please I’m going to be late.” Sunset growled.

“Are you out of your fucking mind!? You brought a gun to school!?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Step aside, Rainbow and mind your own business.” Sunset growled before pushing the athlete out of the way and forcing her way out the door.

Rainbow just stood there silently watching the girl walk away. She knew she had to inform the others as soon as possible. Sunset may have finally gone off the deep end. She pulled out her phone and quickly began texting Applejack.

Twilight patiently waited through all of math class to see if Sunset would enter the classroom. Sadly the entire lecture came and went and her best friend never showed herself, despite Twilight being told prior that Sunset would be coming to school today and that Rainbow Dash just had a class with her.

For the first time in her life, Twilight actually couldn’t wait for a class to be over as she wanted to get out into the halls to try and flag down Sunset and find out why she skipped math. It was her favorite subject after all and if there was any class she would skip it wouldn’t be math.

When that bell rang, Twilight scooped up her books as quickly as possible and rushed out into the hall to try and find Sunset. Her eyes scanned around and tried to find the appearance of a girl that matched the description that Rainbow has given.

Looking through the crowd one girl, in particular, stood out. A long shredded looking skirt with belts draped more to one side covered her legs that were in black stockings with dog bones on them, a pair she recognized Shimmer wearing once. The skirt was purposefully designed to go at a slant and go down to her knee on one side and only just below her thigh on the other. Complimenting her nice legs while her feet were covered in black heels with little skulls decorating the strap that held them on.

Over her top, she wore a corset that showed off perhaps a little more of her cleavage line than was allowed in school, but Twilight suspected that the principal looked the other way, just happy she had come to school at all. With the elegant laces and black with white trimming it looks fabulous on her. She bore detached sleeves held on by belts with flared cuffs. Twilight could see fingerless arm stockings dark grey in color covering her hands.

With her hair the same wild mess it always was, it was complemented by the dark eyeshadow and mascara she was wearing, and just a hint of lip gloss.

On her ears were a set of pentagram earrings that matched a necklace she had chosen to wear which sat so cutely on top of her cleavage line.

Twilight was practically drooling as she stared. Sunset looked incredible, sexier than she had ever seen her. This was clearly what Sunset was capable of looking like when she put effort into it, and suddenly Twilight felt small and inferior. To convince a girl as cute as her to give her a chance? It was unthinkable.

As she approached the girl who was conversing with a teacher she couldn’t help but notice several boys (and a girl or two) turning their head to get a look at Sunset.

Finally reaching her, Sunset blinked and turned to Twilight with a smile. “Oh, hey Twilight.”

The teacher nodded and bowed his head lightly. “I’ll leave you to converse with your friends, I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do.”

Sunset nodded and looked back to Twilight. “Been a while, stranger.”

Twilight nodded unable to form any words as she found herself staring.

“Something wrong?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion.

Twilight stuttered as she managed to form a sentence. “Y-you look…”

“Different? I know, I guess I was feeling that I needed to show the world how much I’m not conforming today…” Sunset giggled.

“Amazing…” Twilight finished.

A light blush came to Sunset’s face. “Heh, you think so?”

Twilight nodded. “You’re…” she paused before getting the word out, “Hot.”

Giggling, Sunset winked at Twilight. “I was worried that I was showing off too much of my tits, but I’m glad to hear at least the effect is working.”

Twilight shook her head trying to get her mind out of the gutter, but it was proving difficult. Sunset’s outfit was driving her crazy and she was already stuck on having impure thoughts, all the things she’d like to see, such as Sunset slipping out of that thing or perhaps even keeping it on while she had her way with Twilight.

“No your tits look great…” Twilight blurted out before covering her mouth with her whole face turning red.

Sunset let out a jovial laugh and held her ribcage as it grew into a full-blown chuckle explosion. “W-wow! You are just too much, Sparkle!”

Twilight shook her head and looked away. “F-forget I said that… I’m not…”

“Not what? Gay?” Sunset giggled before wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes.

“Oh man, it’s been a long time since I laughed like that…” She added.

“Well…” Twilight looked away.

Sunset rolled her eyes and placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s cool. You being bi doesn’t bother me. If I was bothered by homosexuality then Rainbow Dash would have made me puke by now.”

Twilight nodded and sighed. “So… Why’d you miss math class?”

Sunset crossed her arms and looked up thoughtfully trying to think of a good answer. “I have an excuse to get me out of it… I had some business to take care of, you know? Now that I am the head of the Shimmer family and the only member I have to oversee the school that they own. Every now and then it requires my attention…”

“A lot of responsibility at just eighteen…” Twilight frowned.

Sunset shrugged. “Eh, I was making my own meals at eight. This is the norm for me at this point.”

“So… are we…” Twilight rubbed her neck not sure how to ask.

“You’re going to ask if you’re going to see me more now?” Sunset smirked.

Twilight nodded. “More or less…”

With a smile, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be coming to school more often now. So you can stare at my tits all the time from now on.”

Twilight blushed and covered her face. “I feel like such an idiot for saying that…”

Sunset giggled and came closer, leaning in to whisper in Twilight’s ear. “It’s okay, I like girls too.”

Twilight blinked and froze as Sunset pulled away, she could still feel her breath on her ear as Sunset stood back and winked, patting Twilight’s shoulder. “See you around, Sparkle.”

As Sunset left Twilight looked over her shoulder to watch her hips sway gently as she walked, her backside just as pleasing as her front. She was amazed she managed to make such a fool of herself in front of Sunset.

Her mind lingered on the fact that it felt like Sunset was keeping secrets, but she tried to push that fact out of her mind for the time being. Sunset always kept secrets, so Twilight didn’t know why she had expected that to change after a long absence.

Sighing she remembered she had received a text message in class that she never opened. On principle Twilight never looked at her phone when in class.

Unlocking her phone she stared down at the screen to see a single sentence from Rainbow Dash on the screen.

“What are we gonna do ‘bout this, Rainbow?” Applejack asked as she crossed her arms leaning against a bathroom stall door.

“Chill for a second, we need to think this through, alright?” Rainbow replied as she stepped out of the stall and walked over to the sink. She adjusted her pants and turned the sink one to begin washing her hands.

Applejack grumbled and stepped toward the sink next to Rainbow and rested her hands on the sink itself as she leaned over it, looking in the mirror as Rainbow washed up.

“Y’all are certain it was a gun?” Applejack raised a brow.

Rainbow nodded. “Definitely. I know what guns look like, and it was a 1911, a pretty tough handgun…” She stated as she turned the sink off and grabbed a paper towel from a dispenser on the wall.

“’Ah didn’t take y’all ‘fer someone who knew guns…” Applejack blinked.

“Yeah well… My dad was in the army and when I was a kid he used to take me out hunting. I know my way around a gun or two, but that’s not the point…” Rainbow sighed, clearly wanting to drop the subject.

This was the first Applejack had heard of Rainbow’s father being in the army before, she guessed it wasn’t something she enjoyed talking about.

“We have to tell Celestia…” Applejack suggested.

Instantly Rainbow shook her head and voiced her disagreement with that proposal. “No way! We can’t do that!”

“Rainbow, she has a gun in school. If she gets caught, she’ll be in bigger trouble…” Applejack sighed hoping that Rainbow would see her perspective.

“I don’t care! I’m not snitching on our friend, I have loyalty…” Rainbow growled.

Applejack wished for a moment that loyalty wasn’t her best friend’s greatest virtue at that time.

“Rainbow…” Applejack began but was cut off.

“Relax, she’s not going to kill anyone here. I’m sure there is an explanation, but we can’t just jump to conclusions. We have to address the situation delicately, no one is hurt yet.” Rainbow explained as she faced Applejack with serious eyes. “If we tell Celestia, Sunset is going to get expelled, and that is not going to help anyone. She just came out of her house after months, you want to send her back? That kind of solitude can drive someone nuts, we can’t take that risk.”

Applejack sighed when she met Rainbow’s eyes. She knew that once Rainbow was set on something and those eyes grew as serious as they did that there was no changing her mind. Rainbow often joked about how Applejack and Rarity had stubbornness in common, but Rainbow wasn’t much different. When it came to loyalty to her friends, Rainbow seldom faltered.

“Alright… What do we do then?” Applejack asked with a small smile on her face.

“We handle it in-house so to speak. Keep the situation contained, we both keep an eye on her, make sure she never pulls that thing out and that no one sees it,” Rainbow stated her plan.

“Ain’t possible when she goes to the classes that neither of us got…” Applejack said, poking a hole in Rainbow’s plan.

“We enlist Twilight then. Between the three of us, there is never a moment where she isn’t being watched by one of us.” Rainbow smirked.

Applejack let out another sigh and nodded. “Alright, let’s do this.”

After her class with Twilight, Sunset noticed that Applejack didn’t stray too far from her when she went to her next class. The entire time she noticed every time she looked Applejack’s way that Applejack would avert her gaze, doing a very poor job of hiding the fact that she was watching her.

She tested her theory and excused herself to go to the bathroom during class and sure enough, Applejack did the same only seconds later.

Sitting in the bathroom stall, Sunset paid attention to the floor to see Applejack’s feet enter the stall next to her. She was now confident that Applejack was watching her. Her eyes were drawn to her own purse as she peeked inside to see the item that likely started this ordeal. It was clear to her that Rainbow Dash told Applejack, and now Applejack was watching her like a hawk. Sunset semi-guessed that Rainbow would not heed her words and keep the incident between the two of them; she told Applejack everything after all.

She gathered quickly that Rainbow would be her other pursuer, the two of them obviously working together to ensure she never left their sight.

Deciding to play oblivious she stood up and exited the stall to wash her hands, noting that Applejack did the same.

Sunset looked over at her friend and gave a gentle smile. “Hello, Applejack…”

Applejack nodded and gave an obviously forced smile. “Howdy.”

Sunset raised a brow. “That’s it?”

“What y’all mean?” Applejack blinked as she finished washing her hands and took some paper towels to dry them.

“Well, you haven’t seen or heard from me in months and the best you have to say is ‘howdy’? I would have imagined you’d have much more to say…” Sunset inquired.

She knew Applejack to be someone who seldom held in what she was thinking, so her behavior was strange, to say the least.

Applejack shrugged and tossed the ball of wet towels into the trash can before rubbing her neck. “’Ah guess… still, a bit overwhelmed by it all, y’know? Shock or whatever…”

That much was likely true.

“Well, I suppose we should get back…” Sunset ended the conversation and made her way back to the classroom, Applejack following trying to act casual with her hands in her jean pockets. It was obvious now, Applejack definitely knew about the incident from earlier, her behavior was a dead giveaway.

Continuing her oblivious act, Sunset sat back down in the classroom and within only a short few minutes the bell that would dismiss them to lunch rang. Sunset noted the actual clock in the classroom was a few minutes fast reading 12:08 rather than twelve o’ clock sharp. Standing up to head for lunch, Sunset paid attention to Applejack’s movements, wondering if she and Rainbow would do a trade-off at lunchtime to try and make their actions less obvious or they would foolishly have Applejack tail her all day.

Rainbow was certainly far better at being sneaky than Applejack, it amazed Sunset that she always incorporated Applejack into her plans.

Sunset decided to walk straight to the cafeteria not paying much mind to Applejack stayed a good ten feet away.

Finally making it to the large room, she carefully made her way into line. She relaxed a bit as she saw Twilight get into line behind her. She smiled at the girl who smiled back.

“Hello, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded, but her face soon contorted to one of concern.

“Hey…”

Sunset already had a suspicion where the conversation was going. She couldn’t believe Rainbow would involve Twilight as well.

“What’s up?” Sunset asked, already knowing the answer.

“So… I talked to Rainbow today…” Twilight began.

Sunset continued to feign ignorance. “What about?”

“You actually… She mentioned you have a…” Twilight leaned in to whisper the next part, “gun.”

Closing her eyes Sunset leaned back a bit and let out a breath. “I see…”

“Is it true?” Twilight asked.

“It doesn’t matter; it’s not anyone’s business…” Sunset defended.

The two came to the end of the line and Twilight followed Sunset to an empty table setting her tray down next to her. Her demeanor changed to one of sheer annoyance. “Are you fucking stupid!?” She growled under her breath, trying to keep her voice down.

“If you get caught with that, you’re on a one-way ticket to being expelled.”

“I don’t care.” Sunset hissed back.

“What!? Are you serious!? You are a straight-A student, you love school!” Twilight pointed out.

“I love being alive a lot more, Twilight. In case you haven’t fucking noticed there is a murderer on the loose who just murdered my sister. I’m not going to be stupid and walk around unprotected.” Sunset banged her hand on the table.

“You’re going to fuck up your life for that? And then what? What will happen if you should have to use that thing?” Twilight asked.

“Then I’ll do what I have to and hope everyone minds their own damn business. Get real, Twilight. This isn’t like Camp Everfree. We can’t just sing some songs, talk about friendship and make this all go away… not this time. This person is beyond saving, they chose to end someone’s life… I don’t know about you but I don’t want mine to be the next one they end…” Sunset explained.

Twilight frowned. “You know… you and I had to go through redemption before…”

“There’s only one way to redeem someone like this, and I’m carrying it in my purse.” Sunset growled before standing up.

“I’ve lost my appetite… I’m gonna go…”

Twilight sighed and said nothing, but stared at her tray as Sunset stormed out of the cafeteria, her anger obviously flaring. Twilight closed her eyes and allowed tears to stream down her cheeks.

Ghost is untouchable, face it.

Sunset sighed as she concentrated, her eyes closed as she listened to the voice that called out to her. When she opened her eyes she could see she was standing in a black empty abyss, yet somehow able to see her hand in front of her face perfectly despite there not being a shred of light. She looked around her looking for the origin of the voice but saw nothing.

“Who are you?” She asked out loud, but could not hear her own voice. She covered her mouth and blinked as she listened for a response.

It doesn’t matter. You know Ghost will escape, so why are you even bothering to try?

She noticed the voice rang in her head as if it were coming from someone standing next to her, whispering in her ear.

“I will find them…” Sunset mouthed to the abyss.

And then what? Even if you manage to hunt down Ghost, what makes you think that you’ll be enough to stop them?

Sunset contorted her face into an annoyed scowl as she responded. “What makes you so certain that I can’t?”

Simple, Ghost is ruthless, able to kill to accomplish his goals, you, however, are too weak to make such a decision.

Sunset smirked and crossed her arms as she listened to the voice that echoed in her mind. “And what do you propose?”

There was an exceptionally long silence only broken by a simple sentence.

Embrace Darkness, Sunset.

Sunset had been sitting atop of an old vent atop of the school looking past the railing that was intended to prevent one from falling off of the roof. The entire area was a maintenance access created for janitors or staff members to access the roof and air conditioning units of the school if they needed to. She had managed to filch a set of keys from a janitor without being noticed sometime earlier that morning, knowing she’d need a place of solitude. She knew that no one would look for her here.

The day was coming to an end as she watched the Sun dip deeper and deeper into the ocean that was the horizon. Soon it would be sunset and she would be back at her home ready to get back to work on trying to find Ghost.

Part of her contemplated if coming back to school was indeed a waste of time, she had hoped that a change of pace would help her relieve stress and clear her head, but it seemed to be having the opposite effect. She was more stressed than ever after interacting with her friends and was given more to think about than before.

The dreams she had been having up to this point were beginning to become regular, now even when she was meditating here on the roof she would slip into the dream world and speak once again with that voice.

Every time it seemed to keep its distance, and in the beginning, she could barely understand what it was trying to say, but as if it was slowly getting stronger she was now able to fully understand it even if she couldn’t see it.

She knew however that the wisest thing to do was never to give into it and instead deny it entry into her mind whenever she could, however, she only humored it in the dreams out of curiosity, or rather that was at least what she told herself. Still, giving into darkness was out of the question, she knew all too well what happened last time she had done that, or when Twilight had.

Instead, she knew that the dreams were testing her fortitude, tempting her with an option to find and stop Ghost that was almost irresistible. The thought of being able to end Ghost with ease had its appeals, however, Sunset knew the risks and that any change made by returning to darkness would likely be permanent and she couldn’t take that risk.

She knew that regular magic might be more than enough. She had an advantage over Ghost, she had magic and Ghost did not. Even if Ghost had stolen information on magic and wanted it, there was no way he could just acquire it. With magic up her sleeve, she had a trump card against Ghost, even if Ghost knew she had it.

Sunset looked down toward the ground below at the statue in front of the school, the hidden portal to her homeworld. It was hard to believe that Shimmer had dragged her through said portal and remained with her for eight days before bringing the both of them back to the human world.

A part of her considered enlisting Princess Twilight’s help, but she had dismissed it early on due to the desire to not involve anyone else in her troubles.

Her mind fixated back on the idea of Shimmer, curious as to who would want her dead or why. She knew her family such as her aunt wanted her money, but they didn’t seem the murdering type. They were weak and pathetic, but not brave enough to make the plunge into murder, let alone do such a good job of keeping it under wraps for so long. They were sloppy people, and Ghost clearly wasn’t sloppy. Ghost had clearly planned all of this out, every angle she could attack the problem was thought of before she could get there, and that was why there were no tracks to follow.

Sunset’s train of thought was broken when her cell phone began to ring. Blinking she reached into her purse and retrieved it checking the number to see it was a blocked call.

Cautiously she answered it. “Hello?”

“Hello, Sunset Shimmer,” an unfamiliar voice spoke.

Sunset froze but did her best not to show fear as she spoke. “Who are you? Ghost?”

“Afraid not, but I work for Ghost. The boss is… well, they’re a meticulous type who plans things out before revealing their winning hand,” The voice said, “I’m Ghost’s assistant so to speak… Name’s Speedy.”

Sunset kept her composure as she stood up while talking on the phone. “What exactly do you want, Speedy? Can I talk to Ghost?”

There was a short laugh. “Relax I just called to give you a little hint… And no, Ghost isn’t interested in talking to you right now. In fact, they’re shaking their head right now.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, this man was in the same room as Ghost that meant. If she could find where he was, then maybe she could locate Ghost.

“Anyway… I called to tell you that the police got nothing. They ain’t even remotely close, we know everything they know, and they are never going to help you find us…” He smugly stated.

Sunset tried to keep calm as she answered, “What do you want? What can I do to make you stop?”

“Just wait a while…” He said before hanging up.

Sunset growled in annoyance and shoved her phone into her bag with anger. Now Ghost was toying with her, trying to get into her head. Still, the comment about the police did worry her a little, but she did her best not to show it to her enemy.

She placed a hand on her forehead as she closed her eyes trying to calm herself, knowing that if she got angrier that she would not think clearly. At that moment she noticed the door leading to the stairwell to get back into the school started to make a noise, the knob slowly turned as the door began to creak.

Cautiously, Sunset reached into her bag and retrieved her firearm, carefully pointing it at the door, ready to fire if necessary. No one knew she was up here, that narrowed down the possibilities. Could Ghost have been watching her during that entire call?

Her breathing sped up as she focused, the barrel of her gun pointed directly at the door as it swung open.

There was a gentle yelp from the door as Sunset’s eyes revealed Twilight standing there with her hands in front of her face, taking a defensive stance. “It’s just me!” She called out.

Letting out a deep sigh, Sunset lowered her weapon and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. “Fuck… you scared me half to death, Twilight…” Sunset stated.

“Me? What the hell are you doing waving that thing around!?” Twilight scolded as she approached.

“Sorry… I thought you were… someone else…” Sunset rubbed her neck before putting the gun back into her purse.

“Sunset, this is going too far, what if I was a teacher, or the janitor wondering why you’re up here? You could have gotten in huge trouble, or worse accidentally killed someone!” Twilight crossed her arms.

Twilight was right, Sunset’s fear could have caused her to do the unthinkable, but she needed to tell herself not to be afraid from here on out. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to frighten you… I’m glad you’re not hurt, but how did you find me?”

“Applejack and Rainbow told me to tail you, I figured this was the only place I didn’t check and I know how resourceful you are, so I figured you may have a way to get up here…” Twilight smiled lightly.

Nodding, Sunset returned the smile. “Well, don’t worry about me. I’m just a little jumpy, that’s all. Nerves and whatnot…”

“I’m jumpy, and I don’t pull guns out on people when they startle me…” Twilight frowned.

Sunset just shrugged, unsure of how to respond to that claim. “I’ll be fine, Twilight, promise.”

“I wouldn’t count pointing guns at your friends as fine…” Twilight protested, crossing her arms and trying to block Sunset’s path.

Sunset attempted to step around her only for Twilight to block the way again, stepping with Sunset to prevent her from advancing. Finally, Sunset let out a sigh and took a breath. “Twilight, I promise we’ll talk about this later, but right now I have some stuff I have to take care of. It’s relatively important, so I’d appreciate it if you let me leave…”

“Promise me that you’ll let me help if you’re in trouble…” Twilight stated extending a hand with a pinkie finger extended.

Looking down at the hand then up at Twilight’s concerned face, Sunset tried to step around her again only to be blocked once more. Twilight thrusted her pinkie forward and held her ground, “promise me, Sunset.”

With a sigh, Sunset took Twilight’s pinkie in her own and locked fingers with her. “I promise if I am in serious trouble, I’ll rely on you for help, okay?”

Twilight smiled and nodded as the two released their hand gesture and she stepped aside. “Is it alright if I call you later? Just… to catch up?”

Sunset nodded as she stepped past Twilight, “yeah, that’s fine. I’d like that actually… It’s been too long.”

Nodding, Twilight watched as the teen approached the door and exited, making her way down from the roof. While she was still partially worried, Sunset’s promise put her somewhat more at ease. Sunset seldom broke promises.

Reaching her home, Sunset moved directly to her bedroom where she sat in the chair at the vanity mirror to remove her footwear. Tossing her boots aside she leaned back in the chair and sighed as she heard the pitter patter of Moon run down the hall and into the room, quickly coming to her side for attention.

With a gentle giggle, Sunset reached down and pet the canine before setting her bag down. “Well it looks like you had a good day; I wish I could say the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rainbow and Applejack are standing outside my window stalking me at home,” she joked, though partially believing it may be true.

The dog just sighed contently as she rubbed behind his ear. “What I wouldn’t give to live in your world sometimes… far less complicated…”

At that moment her bag began to vibrate. She reached a free hand in and scooped her phone out of it and checked the number to see that Shining was calling her.

“Speaking of complicated…” She rolled her eyes as she answered the phone.

“Detective Armor, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked.

“Someone sounds sarcastic, and I told you to call me Shining…” He responded.

“Right, sorry… Just a stressful day is all, I recently went back to school and it’s a bit overwhelming…” Sunset admitted.

She decided to leave the part about Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight finding out she brought a gun out. The last thing she needed was Shining snitching on her to Celestia, though part of her believed he wouldn’t considering he already was bending the rules a little on her account. If she was honest with herself, she felt somewhat bad about making Shining lie to his superiors for her.

“You’ve spent months in solitude, that’s normal. If you want I can arrange for a therapist to meet with you…” He suggested.

Shining truly was sweet. Sunset smiled for a moment thinking about how he must treat his wife, she must have been a very lucky lady. “That’s alright, I’ll manage. Growing up I had all kinds of problems but my parents never sent me to therapy.”

“Didn’t believe in it?” Shining asked.

“More like they didn’t give a damn.” Sunset chuckled.

“I’m sorry to hear, but I do give a damn thus why I’m checking up on you all the time…” He responded.

Sunset felt a blush on her face as she heard those words. Shining clearly took his job seriously, but more so it was evident that he cared about her on a personal level. Now she realized that she too was lucky to have such a person watching over her.

“Have you found anything out that might help the investigation?” Shining changed the subject.

Sunset almost mentioned the phone call, but then remembered what was discussed.

We know everything they know, and they are never going to help you find us.

She grew quiet and replied with a simple, “no.”

“Alright, well if you find anything out, give me a call, and Sunset…” He paused.

“Yeah?”

“Take care of yourself, please.”

Sunset sighed, “Yeah, thanks…”

She hung up and set the phone down on the end table. As much as she wanted to, she knew now more than ever that she couldn’t rely on the police, and that included Detective Armor.

Man a lot of this chapter's finalization came up at the very last second, but thankfully we pulled it off!

Thank god that Twilight didn't get shot amirite? Some of you probably had a small heart attack if you saw the illustration before you read the text, I bet. Sorry about that!