Heaving a heavy box down a flight of stairs, two men reached the bottom and set it down, taking a rest. The taller one who went by the name, Ace chose to take a seat and light up a cigarette as he took a break. The other, named Flight sat down next to him and sighed as he lit up a cancer stick of his own. The two men relaxed after a long afternoon of hauling crates.

“Fuck man… Normally the grunts do this shit, why isn’t Ghost making them do it?” Flight asked.

Ace shrugged and looked up in thought. “Beats me, to be fair, the grunts have all been acting pretty strange lately… Whatever Ghost has been telling them is keeping them in line, they’re scared to death of that woman… They won’t even sneeze if she says not to…”

Flight looked over at Ace and removed the cigarette from his own mouth, exhaling smoke. “When we worked for Black he often killed guys to show others what happens when you betray the cause, Ghost is probably doing the same thing…”

Ace shook his head. “Nah, I haven’t noticed anyone going missing… Everyone is still here, all accounted for… Yet they are all insanely obedient… Whatever Ghost is doing behind closed doors must be some scary ass shit…”

A familiar distorted voice echoed through the air, accompanied by gentle footsteps. “Gossiping about me, are we?”

Turning Ace and Flight’s faces grew pale as they gazed upon the familiar gas mask covering the woman’s face. Flight felt cold sweat run down his neck as he instantly took to apologizing. “W-what? No way!”

Ghost took a single step forward, her arms still crossed behind her back. “Deceive me, and you have proven to be in compromise of my trust… Is that truly a position you wish to take?”

Flight shook his head. “No way! Sorry! We didn’t mean to-“

Ace cut him off, “Yeah actually…”

Flight looked over at his colleague with wide eyes. “Ace, what the fuck are you doing?”

Taking a long drag from his cigarette he exhaled and tossed the remains forward, hitting Ghost and bouncing off of her form, leaving a small bit of ashes on her otherwise clean tight body suit. Her head moved gently to look down at the ash and then back up at Ace who had hopped off the box he was sitting atop of and approached Ghost.

Up close, Ace remember he was a good head or so taller than her, a woman of above average height, but nothing compared to a man who towered at six feet, five inches. He could see she had toned muscles, but nothing that he would consider body builder levels, or even intimidating. Her personality was clearly her biggest weapon.

He stared her down as she looked up to see him, her arms still crossed behind her back. Coming only inches from her, he spoke in a serious and lethal tone. “Why should I take orders from you? You may scare the others, but you don’t scare me…”

Ghost spoke up. “You do not experience fear, then?”

“No, nothing scares me…” Ace’s tone became more threatening as he looked down at his opponent. While she had some tone to her, up close Ghost didn’t look like anything that threatening. Her body mass was low, very little if any fat on her.

“Then you are a weakling…” Ghost stated, a sigh heard from her before her hand came out in front of her and jabbed Ace in the gut at lightning speed. Ace grunted and fell to his knees where Ghost kneed him directly in the jaw, knocking a tooth out, and leaving a bloody lip on his face.

Ace covered his face and tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding as Ghost gripped his shoulder in her hand. She began to slowly squeeze, progressively adding more and more pressure, causing the man to groan in pain as he could feel her grip getting tighter and tighter. He couldn’t believe that a woman possessed such unspeakable strength, her grip felt tighter than a vice, her fingers barely feeling like they were trying.

“Without fear, you will never know power… To be strong one must first understand what it is to be weak… to be completely helpless… Only then, when you are completely and utterly powerless can you begin to understand what strength is… How can you hope to understand power if you do not understand what it is to be weak? You must understand why it is that you need power first...” Ghost lectured as she gripped tighter and tighter, Flight watched in horror as he heard the snapping of bones from Ghost’s grip.

“I shall not kill you, so that you may learn this lesson and perhaps know what true strength is… Until then, you follow my command, my lead, everything I tell you. You don’t even shit unless I say it’s okay, understand?” She commanded.

Ace screamed in agony and nodded. “Y-yeah…”

“I can’t hear you…” Ghost’s tone became more sinister as her grip tightened causing more yelps of pain out of Ace.

“Yes! I will do whatever you say!” He screamed in agony.

Releasing him, Ghost nodded. “Good, I’d rather not waste time making you like one of the grunts as you call them… I believe there is potential for you to be a powerful asset… If you do as I say, you may live to see that day… If not… you will surely die long before then…”

Placing a hand on his now injured shoulder Ace looked up at Ghost who had turned away. “What is the point though? Why are we chasing this girl? What is the point? At least tell me that…”

Ghost remained silent for a good few seconds before her distorted and synthesized voice echoed in the air. “If you pay attention close enough… you’ll soon see she means everything… Everything that ever mattered. Pay close attention and I’ll show you…”

He didn’t dare question it any further, it was clear that Ghost had her own objectives and wasn’t going to reveal them that easily to a lowly peon.

Ghost stepped toward the exit and looked back once more. “You will see what true power can do soon enough…”

Shimmer stood in her lab nervously as she took a deep breath and released it. The experiment she was prepared to conduct, she still had reservations about due to the unknown safety factor. She had been experimenting with the force that had allowed her to create the explosion that killed her parents for some time now. Every experiment, however, was always little things like observing her body for abnormalities, sampling her DNA for analysis and virtually harmless endeavors.

This, however, would mark the first time she actually performed an experiment trying to utilize the force itself, to actually attempt to harness it and do something with it. Needless to say, she was concerned.

There was no telling what would happen, thus she had taken precautions. Her body was covered in a flame retardant suit, and all living things had been removed from the lab. Further caution was added as the experiment area was cleared of all equipment and anything that could break as a result of the experiment.

Standing a good distance away from the test area was a camera on a tripod recording everything. Shimmer looked at the camera and began to speak. “Experiment number twenty-eight, I will now for the first time attempt to harness this force and use it on command. This is highly dangerous, so I have taken precautions. The first thing I shall try to do is emulate the original scenario but on a smaller scale. If I am correct, I should be able to control fire to an extent and make something burst into flames without physical contact…”

Adjusting her glasses, Shimmer gulped as she looked to the test area to see a piece of paper held up on a small metal stand by a clip holding it in place. “I shall now attempt to ignite this piece of paper from this distance without any source of fire…”

Gulping, Shimmer focused her mind and put her hand in front of her. She extended her finger and opened her hand as she closed her eyes and opened them again, her eyes concentrating on the scrap of paper, envisioning the fire that she desired, it took a few seconds, but soon a red aura began to surround her hand and the paper began to smoke before igniting into flames. Shock filled Shimmer’s expression as she watched it turn to ashes in a matter of seconds as the fire fizzled out.

She looked at her hand and then back at the ashes in amazement. “The… experiment seems to be a success thus far…” She spoke for the camera before repositioning herself.

“Let us see what else we can do, or if this power is limited to fire only…” She smiled, a bit excited now that she had a grip on how to command this ability of hers.

Looking to a rock kept in a display unit she looked at her hand and then back to it. “Let us see if I can move that rock…”

She repeated the process from before, closing her eyes and then opening them, but this time focusing on moving the object in question rather than making it ignite. It took a few seconds and she could feel her head start to ache a bit, but the rock began to move ever so slightly, first a wiggle, then a gentle jolt forward before finally levitating in the air before her.

Shimmer laughed with excitement as she watched the marvel before her. “Incredible!”

“This is unprecedented, I can’t wait to report-“ She stopped mid-sentence as the aura around her hand grew, sparks bursting from it and small flames bouncing off of her hand before landing on a nearby table, casting it in flames.

She attempted to halt the ability only for more flames to burst from her hand, causing a yelp from the scared scientist. “Please stop!” She screamed at her body out loud, hoping it would obey.

Her hand continued to glow, and fire now surrounded it. She wasn’t burning, but she could feel a tremendous heat around her appendage. In a panic she raced to a nearby beaker and dunked her entire hand in, causing smoke to rise up, hitting the smoke alarm. Within seconds the sprinklers were set off, causing all the fire set to be extinguished.

Panting, Shimmer looked to the rock to see that it had fallen to the floor and cracked in half. Hesitantly she pulled her hand out of the beaker and looked at it. It had ceased glowing, but smoke was fuming from it as she slogged back to the camera. She checked it over to see if the sprinklers had damaged it, but to her surprise, it was still running.

Clearing her throat, and taking a breath, Shimmer looked directly into the lens. “Well… that certainly proved that this power is far too dangerous to test by conventional means… I have no way of controlling it… It seems that when I use it, it goes crazy… For my best interests, I will not try to utilize it in the future for any further research, the side effects are far too dangerous… I shall continue my work to try and conduct some kind of antidote to remove or disable this ability… This is Sunset Shimmer… End log…”

Sunset stood in awe at the room she had discovered from moving the light fixture out in the hallway. It was exceptionally impressive, computers left and right, what appeared to be a server based upon the limited computer knowledge that Sunset held, sat in the corner of the room and there in the middle was a desk that Shimmer likely sat in.

The teenager was amazed at how well hidden the room was. She reached and tapped the metal walls and blinked realizing the room was likely soundproof as well. There wasn’t much light, but the glow of the computers illuminated it enough to navigate.

Sunset approached the computer and sat down noticing a VCR connected to an old TV was on the same desk. By the look of it, however, it was only put in the room recently, judging by the sloppy set up compared to everything else that was so neatly organized.

Looking down, Sunset noted a tape sitting atop of the VCR with the words “Sunset, play me” written on it. Shrugging, she picked up the tape and pushed it into the VCR as she turned on the television set.

Not to much surprise, Shimmer’s image appeared on screen as she adjusted the camera. Judging by the background she had recorded the tape in this very room some time ago.

Shimmer cleared her throat on the tape and sat up straight as she spoke. “Sunset, if you’re watching this then I am either dead or something has happened to me that has caused me to disappear. Whichever the circumstance you likely have found this room via the clues I left for you.” Shimmer cleared her throat and continued. “The room you’re sitting in is my private server room, it was constructed privately some years ago and it does not even appear in the blueprints for the house… There are actually a few rooms like this, which I think you should familiarize yourself with now…”

Sunset leaned in with interest. Shimmer clearly had back up plans for her back up plans, she only wished that her younger sister were there to help her in planning for catching Ghost.

“In the drawer of the desk you’re sitting at should be a blueprint of the house where I’ve marked secret locations. There are a few paths that lead outside the house or to other rooms in secret, you may need to know them if my suspicions are true… Ghost is attempting to steal my research, thus why I moved it here, there is only one computer in this room that connects to the internet and it is hard wired and does not connect to the server itself for data safety reasons,” Shimmer explained.

Reaching into the drawer, Sunset retrieved the blueprints right from where they were said to be and looked back to the screen to allow Shimmer’s tape to finish.

“I am certain the data in this room may help you, and I am under the impression that Ghost will do anything to get it, so you must not let them find this room or those blueprints that mark it. In a worst-case scenario… the keychain in that drawer contains a small device that looks sort of like a calculator…” Sunset blinked and looked back in the drawer to see that the tape was correct and the device in question was indeed inside the drawer. She reached down and picked up it, examining it. She noted that there was a USB port on the other side, making it look like some kind of bulky flash drive.

“That device is the key to getting on the server in this room… I have set the passcode to 8888, punch that in before plugging it in, it is very important you put the code in correctly, and make sure it’s plugged in… I have set the server to completely wipe itself if that key is not inserted correctly. A bit drastic, but a safety protocol in the event that Ghost manages to get into this house and find this room…” Shimmer continued.

Gripping the device in her hand, Sunset made a mental note to add it to her car keys. It was slightly less safe to have it out in the open, but leaving it unattended felt far less wise; besides, so long as Ghost didn’t know the code the key was useless.

“I don’t think I need to tell you that you should destroy this tape after you leave this room, and from here on out exercise extreme caution… I don’t know what kind of person Ghost is, but I suspect if you’re watching this, then there is the chance I’m dead. If that’s the case, assume Ghost will try and kill you as well… I’m sorry I can’t be there to help, Sunset. I love you and good luck…” The tape finished with those words causing Sunset to close her eyes and sigh. If there were ever a time where she wished Shimmer were present, it would be now.

Shrugging, she decided to try the key out at that moment, punching the code in, she inserted the USB drive into the machine, noting it turned on without any further interaction.

Sunset leaned in to view the screen better as she saw a plethora of files come up on screen. One, in particular, caught her attention labeled “Ghost”. Without hesitation, she clicked on it and began to read its contents.

This mysterious figure still eludes me, but seems to have taken an interest in my research. Despite all of my findings stating that magic cannot simply manifest in another person without a cause or a “trigger” if you will. In my case, that trigger was Sunset, having something to do with us being connected through being alternate universe versions of each other.

What is stranger is that Ghost appears to have some kind of fixation on myself and Sunset as well. I have a feeling that whoever they are, they have reason to cause us harm. I’m not entirely sure what they’re capable of, but they are certainly a skilled hacker at the very least.

Several searches have turned up nothing on this man (or woman), and I’m exhausting every possibility, but I can’t seem to figure out who they are. I’m hoping more information will come to light at a later point.

Update: A few hours ago I was sent an encrypted message, I attempted to trace where it originated but it is hidden beyond excessive layers of security. The message didn’t say much, but it confirmed my suspicion that Ghost is indeed hostile. What follows is the message.

“Sunset… Revenge is a bitch, isn’t it?”

Sunset blinked as she read over the text. As expected there wasn’t much info on Ghost, but she did have a new clue, Ghost was seeking revenge on Shimmer, but what for? Besides her own family, Sunset couldn’t think of anyone else that wanted her dead, or she had hurt enough to want to kill her. Then again she knew little about Shimmer’s life before she came into the picture, but it looked like she would need to find out a lot more about Shimmer before she arrived to get the story behind Ghost.

She decided her next course of action was to study the blueprints, she would need every advantage she could get in this battle, and she knew there was the chance that Ghost would bring it to her home; the least she could do was get a home playing field advantage.

Popping the tab of a Fanta soda open, Sunset quickly began to chug the beverage as she stepped out of the bathroom attached to Twilight’s bedroom. She found it odd that Twilight’s home had two master bedrooms with bathroom attachments, but she surmised that her mother and she often had issues getting to the shower at the same time.

She yawned and stretched as she plopped down on Twilight’s bed leaning up against the pillows against the headboard. She sipped her soda and smiled at Twilight who sat next to her flipping through a book.

Twilight stopped her reading and peaked over at Sunset from behind her glasses and smiled. “A body as impressive as yours and you still wear those unflattering pajamas to bed? I would have imagined you would sleep in sexy lingerie or something by now,” Twilight commented.

“Are you calling me sexy, Sparkle?” Sunset smirked.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “So predictable…”

Sunset chuckled a bit before taking another long swig of her soda. “I guess I still don’t have that kind of confidence… It’s funny… when I was driven by hate and desire I felt confident enough to do anything, now though… “ She paused as she thought it over, for a brief moment getting lost in her thoughts before shaking her head and snapping back to reality, “I guess there are some perks to being evil, huh?”

Twilight frowned, not liking what she was hearing. “I doubt it; yeah you were more confident but you were horrendously overconfident and look what that ended up doing…”

Sunset conceded that Twilight was right; still, she couldn’t help but wish she had some of that confidence at this point in her life where she felt almost powerless. It took her months to finally be able to get out of the house and accept Shimmer’s death.

The sleepover the two of them were partaking in was planned a few days ago, Twilight was eager to get caught up and relive “old times” with her best friend, and Sunset had a difficult time saying no when Twilight made her pouty face, even if she felt said face looked adorable laughable at times. She knew that her time would be more productively spent at home, but when she realized a key fact, it made it that much more in Sunset’s interest to agree.

Twilight’s room felt alien to Sunset, despite spending so much time in it in the past, after the ordeals she had been through, it felt like an eternity since she last stepped foot in it. Shimmer’s death, however, made her question how real anything felt anymore, however. For weeks she had a hard time shaking the idea that Shimmer was truly dead, her perception of reality had been warped for a brief period of time, but now there was no question, Dead was Shimmer, and that was how it was to stay.

She had put so much distance between herself and her friends she was amazed to find they still cared about her when she finally did make her return, Twilight being one of the first ones waiting for her, never seeming to have given up on her in the first place. She smiled internally as she thought of how loyal her best friend truly was. Years ago she had no one to even say she had more than an acquaintance with, now she had a girl at her side that would wait months just to see her again. She only wished Princess Twilight could see her at that moment, for that brief second she felt like a success, rather than someone who always let others down.

Blinking, Twilight leaned in, “You alright? You look like you have something on your mind?”

Shrugging, Sunset waved it off. “It’s nothing, just the usual crap clouding my head, you know how it is, nothing to worry over.”

Sunset finished off her soda and set the can on the nightstand. “So, rock, paper, scissors for the bed?”

Twilight blushed and turned away slightly. “Well… I was thinking… I mean… It’s a queen sized bed, no sense in one of us hogging it to ourselves…”

“Yeah, but isn’t it kind of wasteful for both of us to sleep on the floor just so that one of us isn’t feeling left out?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion.

“Well… No… I was thinking…” She paused, clearly struggling with her own words.

“Yeah?” Sunset raised a brow.

“We could… share it?” Twilight asked with an audible gulp.

Why is she so nervous? Sunset thought, but then quickly proposed a few solutions, the reality was Twilight was likely having a hard time admitting she was scared, scared for Sunset, and more scared that she would scare her friend away again.

When Sunset didn’t answer right away, Twilight shook her head. “Forget it… it’s stupid…”

Sunset grinned and shook her head as she rested it on a pillow. “No takesies backsies,” she teased.

Twilight blinked before nodding and allowing herself to lay down as well next to Sunset. “So long as you don’t go bragging that you slept with me, Sparkle.” Sunset smirked.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m already thinking of the ways I will brag about it tomorrow. If you trade PJ bottoms with me I will brag about getting into your pants too.”

“Eh, I’ve already seen what’s in yours.” Sunset winked.

Twilight’s face turned red. “W-wha!? When!?”

“I may have noticed you changing into your PJ bottoms in the bathroom, cute striped panties, by the way…” Sunset smirked.

“You are such a pervert!” Twilight moaned.

Sunset shrugged and winked. “That’s why I’m your best friend, I can tell you though that you have a nice butt, guys will be lined up once you learn how to talk to them without stumbling every eight seconds…”

Twilight rolled her eyes again. “I’ll take that as an awkward offhand compliment coming from you… You’re not exactly the best person at talking to guys either…”

“True, I never know what to say; at least I don’t bumble around like an idiot though. I remember once when Timber called you up and you just blurted out ‘I LIKE SPORTS!’ as if that was supposed to be something that impressed him.” Sunset placed a hand over her own mouth to contain her snickers.

“Yeah… I remember him laughing at how ridiculous I sounded… Thanks for reminding me…” Twilight sighed.

“It comes with being your best friend, I’m supposed to remind you of all the time you looked or sounded dumb, as I expect you to do with me.” Sunset winked at her friend.

Yawning, Twilight removed her glasses and set them on the other end table on the other side of her bed before laying on her side and looking toward Sunset with a smile. She scooted up on her bed and adjusted her position to get more comfortable as she found the perfect spot to sleep in.

“Good night, Sunset…” Twilight said with a yawn.

Sunset followed suit and nodded before laying on her back and closing her eyes. Twilight watched the girl fall asleep for a good few minutes. She observed her form as Sunset began to breathe lightly and clearly had fallen into REM sleep after a good ten minutes. Twilight smiled as she looked at her friend, how many nights she longed to have her in bed next to her, it was breathtaking in a way to see it as a reality, though not entirely under the circumstances she wished for, it was at the very least something.

Despite all the trouble Sunset had been through, all she had endured, Twilight couldn’t help but notice how peaceful she looked in her sleep.

Turning slightly, Sunset’s lengthy hair shifted with her and draped over the pillows adorably as Twilight observed her face. Her eyes became fixated on Sunset’s lips, the thought of leaning in and planting a kiss on them was tempting, overwhelming even, but she stopped herself before that idea became action. It wasn’t how she wanted a kiss between them to happen. She preferred to do so when she was awake and Sunset wanted Twilight to kiss her. She knew the chances of that happening were low, but she simply could not bring herself to kiss someone who didn’t want her to.

Sunset had mentioned before she had never been kissed, so the last thing Twilight wanted to do was steal her first kiss in such a terrible way.

She sighed as she took her mind off the subject and allowed herself to close her own eyes and drift into a slumber of her own. Her mind clearing as she felt the pleasant feeling of sleep overtake her.

Within a few more minutes, the entire room fell silent, shy of the sound of Spike snoring in his dog bed. A new sound was added to the fray however as Sunset’s Apple watch vibrated. She blinked herself awake and looked down to the vibrating alarm. She had purposefully set it to not make any noise but to vibrate on her wrist to wake her up. She didn’t quite understand the attraction of smartwatches, but she wore it as sort of a memory toward Shimmer; to her good fortune, she had found a practical use of the device.

Grumbling at her interrupted sleep, it took her a moment to remember why she had set the device to wake her before she finally came to and gently pulled herself out of the bed. She looked back at Twilight who was out like a log. She smirked as she recalled what a heavy sleeper Twilight was. Tiptoeing out of the room, Sunset made her way down the hall.

She headed toward the guest bedroom and checked to see if it was locked, and to her good fortune, it was not. Peaking inside she could see Twilight’s elder brother, Detective Shining Armor snoring away as he laid there. Sunset had discovered he was coming to visit Twilight after work and would spend the night there. To Sunset that proposed a unique opportunity, he would be there without his wife and coming home from work he likely would have his work computer with him.

Sunset couldn’t pass up the opportunity to find out what Shining and the police knew for herself to aid her own investigation. She felt bad for having ulterior motives for coming to visit Twilight, but she actually did want to see her friend so she only felt half deceptive.

Gently pushing her way into the room and carefully stepping about, she noted his bag sitting on a chair in front of a desk in the room. Carefully and quietly she unzipped it slowly, keeping her eyes on the snoring older man in the room to make sure she was ready to make a break for it if she caught wind of him waking up.

Once she had the bag open she could see a laptop sitting there on top of all his other various things. With a smile, she lifted it and opened it to see it was still powered on. However, to Sunset’s dismay, it was asking to insert an ID card. She silently cursed before she could see Shining’s work pants laid across the floor.

With the laptop in one hand, she gently snuck over only a good few feet from the sleeping man and searched his pockets until she acquired his wallet. Digging through it she found tons of photos of Shining and his wife Cadance, many of which of the two of them acting insanely ridiculous. Had the circumstances been different she would have complimented him on how in love the two seem to be.

Finally locating his work ID, she slid it out and popped it into the card slot on the laptop. Sure enough, the lock screen vanished and granted her access. She made a silent celebratory fist raise in the air before she decided to go through the contents as quickly as she could to find anything of key value.

It took her a good eighty seconds or so of navigating before she located a file that Shining was keeping on “recent leads”. Most of it seemed to be repeating what Sunset already knew, but near the bottom, she saw a note that interested her.

Sunset quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the screen before closing the document and returning everyone on the computer back to the way it was. This info was perfect, up to this point she had no idea where to even look for Ghost, but she now at least had an address that Ghost may have visited at some point, or even could still be residing at.

Pulling the ID card out of the computer she carefully placed it back in the wallet and stuffed it back into Shining’s pants pocket and returned them to their haphazard manner laying across the floor. Once she was satisfied, she returned the laptop to the bag and zipped it shut.

With more quiet footwork, she made her way to the door and froze for a second as she heard him grumble, but sighed a sigh of relief when she saw he hadn’t woken up.

After freezing for a moment, she heard him talk in his sleep, barely a mumble, but enough to keep her attention. "I'll protect you, Sunset..." He said.

Sunset felt her heart sink for a moment. She looked to the floor in shame as she realized what she was doing. Shining may have been someone she didn't want to get hurt, but she realized then that she wasn't giving him enough credit. He wasn't like Twilight or the others, he was a police officer. While he wasn't trained to deal with magic or Equestria, he was trained to handle danger, and here she was treating him like the enemy; she felt rotten.

She sighed and nodded as she agreed to herself that she would tell him the truth soon. Sunset knew in her heart that she could trust Shining. It didn't matter if Ghost could learn what the police knew, she would just have to inform him of that and the two would agree to commit important information only to memory.

While she didn't want Twilight or the others getting hurt, she knew that Shining could handle himself and maybe even hold his own better than Sunset could. She would visit this place to follow his lead and then she would call him and tell him everything she knew.

Gently and quietly she shut the door and slowly made her way back to Twilight’s bedroom.

Opening the door, and slipping back in, Twilight turned and yawned as she noticed Sunset re-entering the bed. “Sunset? Where were you?”

Thinking quickly, Sunset came up with an excuse. “Oh, I went to get a glass of water.”

Nodding Twilight yawned and allowed Sunset to re-enter the bed before the room fell silent again. Sunset’s mind already racing with ideas of how to plan her visit to the potential place where Ghost might reside.

Her thoughts were interrupted by more sleepy words of Twilight, “Hey, Sunset…?”

Sunset blinked and kept her gaze on the ceiling as she answered. “Hm?”

“I know this might sound dumb but like… can we… snuggle?” Twilight asked.

That caught her attention. Sunset turned her head to face Twilight with a look of confusion. “Why?”

Twilight frowned. “It’s dumb… Forget I mentioned it…”

“No, tell me…” Sunset pleaded.

Sighing, Twilight closed her eyes. “It’s just… I missed you… for so long you were distant and I keep feeling like… I’m going to lose you again, you know? You’re the yin to my yang when you’re around I know what to do… I just… I keep worrying you’re going to get yourself hurt over this thing with Shimmer’s killer…”

Blinking, Sunset scooted closer and pulled Twilight in and allowed her to rest her head on her right breast. Twilight blushed slightly and wrapped her arms around Sunset as Sunset stroked the girl’s hair. “I’m your best friend… I’m going to be fine though, I promise…”

“I just keep thinking… Of hearing about you die or something…” Twilight kept her eyes closed.

“I promise no matter what happens, I won’t die. I screwed up when I promised to protect Shimmer, so I won’t screw up this time…” Sunset explained.

“I believe you…” Twilight smiled, “I know you have to do this and you won’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise, but at least be as careful as you can, okay?”

“Promise,” Sunset shushed the girl and continued to pet her head as the two of them allowed themselves to fall back asleep. While she laid there with Twilight, she had completely forgotten everything about Ghost for that night, but she knew that a time would come where Twilight would need to know what was going on, thankfully it could wait for another day.

School the next day was an experiment in dealing with anxiety for Sunset. All she could think about was her plan to take a visit to Ghost’s potential hideout, she had difficulty focusing in class. She sat there in her final class tapping her pen as she stared at the clock.

When the bell finally rang she quickly scooped up her things and threw them into her bag as she made her way down the hall, walking right past her locker. She didn’t have time to worry about bringing home textbooks to study from, all she could think about was trying to get to Ghost before the police attempted to. She knew by the time Shining had gotten that warrant, Ghost would have already wised up and moved on.

She made her way to the back of the school, through the parking lot when her eyes fell not only on the Mercedes sitting there, but the girl standing next to it with a textbook clenched in her hands. Sunset silently cursed as she saw Twilight standing there. She didn’t have time to try to think of convincing lies to tell her, but she also didn’t want her getting suspicious.

Sunset approached casually and smiled. “Hey, Twilight…”

“Hey… I uh… had fun last night…” Twilight began awkwardly.

Sunset nodded in agreement. “I mostly snuggle with a teddy bear.”

Twilight rubbed her neck and looked away. “I was more referring to just hanging out, but I do hope I was a good substitute.”

Chuckling, Sunset nodded. “You were fine, Sparkle.”

A moment of silence came between them before Twilight looked up. “So I was wondering if you wanted to… hang out again tonight?”

Sunset frowned and shook her head. “Sorry, Twilight… I have plans…”

“What kind of plans?” Twilight raised a brow.

It was then that Sunset could tell Twilight was suspicious. “Just… Plans…” Sunset stated as she went around Twilight and got into the driver’s side of her car, closing the door only for Twilight to tap on the window.

With a sigh, Sunset rolled the window down and looked at Twilight as she placed sunglasses on her face.

“Sunset… If you’re doing something… Something dangerous…” Twilight frowned.

“What makes you think that?” Sunset asked.

“Your demeanor today… Everything, you’ve been off…” Twilight stated.

“Off? Me? Nah.” Sunset dismissed.

Twilight’s face grew more serious. “A girl doesn’t start dressing at gothic as you have and then today show up in jeans and a grey hoodie. That’s a pretty drastic change of style… I’m no Rarity, but I’d say that means something…”

Sunset blinked as she realized perhaps she may have been too obvious. She chose something more practical today to wear for her plans after school. There was no telling what she’d encounter, so she felt that her normal attire simply was only going to get in the way.

“I was just running late this morning when I ran home from your place in the morning. No biggie,” Sunset dismissed.

Sighing, Twilight nodded and stepped away from the car. “Just… Be safe, okay?”

With a smile, Sunset nodded back and gave a thumbs up. “You know me.”

With those words, she pulled out of her parking spot and sped off, confident that she had eased Twilight’s suspicion.

Twilight merely stood there with a sigh. “Yes… Unfortunately, I do…”

Sunset cursed herself for not telling Twilight the truth. She knew it was probably time to tell her, but she fell into the habit she had formed of keeping silent so easily. She reminded herself to have a difficult conversation with her later and tell her what was really going on.

Sunset pulled up to the address and decided to park across the street. Realizing how run down this part of town was, she cursed herself for not thinking to bring a more inconspicuous car, rather than a Mercedes on a part of town that likely didn’t see them that often. Shrugging it off, she stepped out of the car and reached into the back seat to retrieve a few items.

First and foremost she retrieved her phone and stuffed it into her pocket. She realized she may need to take some photos, so she wanted to be prepared, next she pulled out the handgun she had grown accustomed to carrying. She stared at it for a good few minutes before realizing she may actually have to use it on another person today. Mentally preparing herself for that possibility she took a breath in and placed the weapon in her waistband and covered it with her hoodie.

She exhaled before looking at the old run down warehouse and grabbed a crowbar from her bag. Making her way to the side entrance in an alleyway she checked to make sure no one was around. Thankfully this part of town was mostly abandoned and few came this way.

Jamming the bar into the door, she quickly heaved it open and dropped the metal device on the ground, not really interested in taking more weight with her.

Carefully she stepped inside and kept her eyes wide open for any sign of other people.

Coming to the center of the empty warehouse she noticed something on the ground. Leaning down she got closer to a red stain on the floor, it was dry but there was no mistaking it, it was blood. Now she was definitely certain that Ghost was here, as otherwise there would be no signs of people in this old place.

Her mind began to race with questions of where the blood came from or what kind of operation Ghost was running before a distorted voice came from behind her. The voice sounded almost computer generated. “Well, it looks like we have a visitor…”

Sunset’s entire body went cold, she could feel the sweat run down her neck when she heard the voice. Coming to a slow stand, she daringly turned to face the stranger.

There standing about her own height was a face covered by a gas mask, impossible to see the person behind it. Sunset surmised they had some kind of voice changer behind their mask. Their entire lean and well-trained body was covered in tight black spandex, it reminded her of some kind of stealth suit she would see in movies.

Black combat boots with belts hanging off of them, and covering her body was a large open trench coat that her hands were stuffed into. Could this really be Ghost?

“If you’re wondering about the mess, one of our own managed to cut himself pretty deep when clearing the area… It is hard to find competent help these days…” The stranger spoke.

Standing next to them were a group of four large brutish looking men who all stood at attention in silence.

“Who are you?” Sunset questioned.

“When one wears a mask, that is almost certainly the first question they will be asked, isn’t it? You may refer to me as Ghost… But you already knew that didn’t you, Sunset Shimmer?” They replied.

Sunset blinked and held a fighting stance, ready to go at a moment’s notice. “You’re a woman?”

“Man… Woman… These are merely words to me… And to you… they hold little consequence… You shouldn’t concern yourself with who I am, but more what I am going to do… Would you not agree?” Ghost asked as she gave a gesture for the four of her henchmen to stand back. Obliging they took a step back as Ghost put her hands back in her pockets and began to walk around Sunset in a circle from a good distance, Sunset keeping her eyes on the masked stranger as she walked.

“And what are you going to do?” Sunset asked.

A gentle laugh escaped from behind Ghost’s mask. “Patience is the key to the best revenge… Wouldn’t you say?”

“What’re you talking about?” Sunset asked, one of her hands reaching to be ready to retrieve her gun if needed.

“You have been eagerly waiting to meet me, haven’t you? Ready to end my life with that gun you have tucked behind your back, right?” Ghost asked.

Sunset blinked and froze for a second. How did she know?

“Unfortunately for you… You won’t get to use it today-“ Ghost cut off her own sentence and moved quickly her hand forming a small fist and jabbing Sunset in the throat at full speed. The impact of the blow caused instant effects as Sunset felt the wind knocked out of her and choked as she held her neck in agony.

She coughed and managed to get out a “fuck” before Ghost delivered a follow-up attack and quickly whirled her foot up high and knocked Sunset on the side of the face. That hit while just as powerful gave Sunset enough time to retrieve the gun from behind her only for Ghost to reach forward and quickly grab Sunset’s wrist and twist it.

The strain of her twisted joint caused her to groan in pain and drop the gun. Trying to take advantage of the distraction, Sunset came at Ghost with her right hand only for the woman to block it with her free hand and squeeze it until Sunset’s fingers cracked. “AHHH!” Sunset howled in pain as she could feel her fingers dislocate.

“Patience, child…” Ghost taunted before kneeing Sunset in the gut, causing the girl to fumble backward and fall to her knees, gripping her stomach.

“I see you’ve attempted to prepare for my arrival, however, your preparations are nothing compared to what I have endured. I was preparing for this for far longer… My motivation is greater than yours…” Ghost explained before reaching forward and gripping Sunset’s hair, pulling up.

Sunset responded with a yelp of pain as she tried to reach toward Ghost’s hands and make her let go, only for Ghost to pull harder. Ghost managed to pull Sunset into a stand and guided her toward a wall by the hair. “A weakling like you? You have no hope of defeating me… All the training and preparation will not allow you the strength necessary to beat me…” Ghost instructed before thrusting Sunset toward the wall and smashing her head into it.

A trickle of blood ran down Sunset’s head as Ghost chuckled lightly before smashing her head against the wall again, and again and again. After a good eight or so times, Ghost released her. Sunset tumbled backward and fell on her rear. Everything was getting hazy, she was having a difficult time even collecting herself, the pain was overwhelming.

While she sat there trying to recoup herself, Ghost gave her a swift kick in the side, causing her to fall over. Quickly taking advantage of the moment, Ghost climbed over top of her and began punching Sunset repeatedly in the stomach. Each hit feeling harder than the last, Sunset found herself unable to even breathe as the hits continued to land one after another. Finally, Ghost reached into her jacket and retrieved a switchblade knife that she promptly stabbed into Sunset’s shoulder.

The blade sunk in with ease as Sunset growled in agony. She had never been stabbed before, but the pain was something she wouldn’t soon forget. The cold steel piercing her body, pushing deeper until the entire blade was inside her.

As if that pain was not enough, the feeling of the blade exiting her caused her to groan a second time as she quickly gripped her shoulder.

Ghost climbed off of her and flicked the knife to try and get some of the blood off of it before coming to a full stand with her fists at her sides in an intimidating pose. “Now run little one… Run so that I can chase you…”

Sunset looked up at the menacing figure, realizing that Ghost’s advice may be her only option. She pulled herself up as quickly as she could and limped her way to the door she came in from, noticing that none of the group tried to follow her. Making it out the door, she looked at her car and prayed they wouldn’t follow her.

To her good luck, Ghost’s overconfidence shined through as Sunset managed to make it to the car without any followers.

Standing there with her four henchmen, Ghost merely stared in the direction of the door. The largest of the group leaned in and spoke. “Ma’am, why not go after her now? She’s weak, easily beaten now?”

Ghost raised a hand signifying him to remain quiet. “Patience, revenge must be savored, not rushed. Striking fear into your enemies is an essential part of these operations; it allows her potential allies to know what they would be dealing with. We don’t want any other interlopers to interfere before the grand finale. I want her death to be special, to truly send a message out to her friends…”

The man shrugged at his leader, not quite understanding why all the theatrics, but he wasn’t in a position to question her. “She isn’t skipping town or anything, I’m certain of that… So I wouldn’t worry about it… She has too much invested in trying to kill me, she won’t just run from that… She’ll go lick her wounds and then she’ll come right back to me, like a moth to a flame…” Ghost explained.

Stepping forward Ghost placed her hands back in her pockets. “This is about to get interesting…”

This chapter went through some revisions, some minor changes and some major which will really affect the next chapter more. Taking reader feedback into account for sure.

THAT SUNSET AND TWILIGHT SNUGGLE PIC. <3