Making it back to her home, Sunset groaned in agony as she quickly put a grip on her bleeding shoulder. She cursed as she realized she’d need the inside of her car cleaned and silently apologized to Shimmer for ruining her nice leather seats. The pain was so much she could hardly get herself to move from the car, but with enough willpower she eventually pushed herself to open the door and tumble out onto the pavement. With a hiss, she gripped her bleeding shoulder again and struggled her way to her feet.

Limping into the house, she managed to get inside and make her way to the nearest bathroom where she stocked first aid supplies. She cursed and swore with each step, causing Moon to come running to her aid, but following her helplessly whimpering as the dog realized there was little he could do to cease his new master’s suffering.

Stumbling into the bathroom, she gripped a first aid kit that she kept under the sink and sat herself down on the toilet panting heavily.

Her eyes turned to her fingers that were twisted in unnatural ways. She took a breath and closed her eyes before she gripped one and snapped it back into place. She let out an extreme yelp before bracing herself to do the next one. Panting heavily she screamed as she pulled down and snapped the second finger back into place.

Her eyes focused on her third finger as she whimpered in agony. Concentrating she motivated herself to endure the pain once more as a loud crack rang through the air and her third and final finger fell back into place. Breathing heavily, she gave her hand a few flexes to see how it performed. Once she was satisfied, she nodded and turned her attention to the wound in her shoulder. To her good fortune, the pain from her finger snapping had made her temporarily forget about the pain in her shoulder, but not for long.

She tried to remove her hoodie but found herself unable to lift her other shoulder. Reaching into the first aid kit she grabbed a pair of sheers and began to cut the fabric off slowly. Once she had exposed the wound, she tapped it with her fingers to determine how sore it still was. The mere touch of her fingers caused her to hiss in pain.

She knew she needed to stop the bleeding, but knew that wrapping her shoulder up herself with only one arm would be a challenge. Sunset closed her eyes for a moment and contemplated just stitching it closed, but then her mind turned to another thought.

Magic.

Was it possible? Could magic be used to heal her wounds? There was only one way to know for certain.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset focused and placed her two fingers above the wound and concentrated. She had enough understanding of magic in the human world to know that like in Equestria, willpower made it work, but also knowing what to focus on.

Her mind focused on the concept of water, she calmed herself thinking of an ocean and how soothing water could be. That focus she could feel move through her body all the way down to her fingertips as they began to glow. Within seconds she could feel the pain being lifted and as she opened her eyes she watched as the open skin began to slowly graft back together, weaving itself fresh as the wound began to close.

The longer she held the spell though, the more energy she could feel drain from herself, the more her head began to hurt. Growling in agony from the tremendous headache she finally ceased and looked down. The hole in her had turned into little more than a cut and was at least mostly healed. She sighed in relief as she reached into the first aid kit to retrieve a bandage to put over the now smaller wound.

Now Sunset knew she could not delay things any further. She had to tell Shining what was happening, or at least convey to him that the two of them needed to talk. Since Ghost made it clear that they possibly were monitoring the police, it was safest to talk in person.

Retrieving her phone, she quickly dialed out to Shining's number and sighed as she heard him pick up.

"Sunset? What's up?" He said.

"Detective Armor... Err... I mean... Shining..." She corrected herself.

"What's wrong, Sunset? You sound exhausted..." He replied.

That was an understatement.

"Shining... I haven't been entirely honest regarding my knowledge of the case... There's actually... a lot more that I haven't told you about..." Sunset stated.

There was a short pause followed by Sunset speaking again. "Still there?"

"Yeah..." His voice was quiet. "Why have you been keeping information from me?"

A sigh escaped Sunset, knowing he was likely going to be offended. "It's... Well it's complicated but the short version is I didn't think I could trust the police..."

"Right now I'm not a police officer, I'm your friend and you can trust you friends, can't you?" Shining asked.

Sunset bit her lip. "I... I didn't want anyone to get hurt... That's all..."

"Do you trust me now?" Shining asked.

"Of course, I never distrusted you... It wasn't about that... Look... We need to talk, but not here. We need to meet in person at some point so we can go over everything I know alright?" Sunset stated.

He seemed to quickly get over the offense as his tone perked up. "Sounds good, when do you want to do this?"

"Well... right now isn't the best time, but how about in a few days? I need to heal up, get some rest... long story, I promise we'll talk about it when we meet though, alright?"

"Sounds good... partner," Shining replied.

A smile came to Sunset's face as she nodded. "Yeah... partner... I could use some allies in this fight after all..."

"I'll see you soon, okay?" Shining said.

"Yeah, I'll call you in a few days when I'm feeling better, okay?" Sunset responded. The two said their goodbyes and she hung up with a smile on her face. She knew she had done the right thing, and with Shining by her side, she at least had one more person in the fight with her. Her attention however returned to her role in this all.

She was glad she had figured out how to use magic for healing but took note of how much energy it took to even heal a single wound. The rest of her was still a bit banged up, and bruises were starting to appear. Sunset knew though that if she waited a while to regain her energy she could heal up much faster and be ready to face Ghost again when necessary.

It was clear to her now though that whatever preparations she had done to get ready to meet Ghost, Ghost had done far more. The woman had anticipated meeting Sunset and even prepared herself for the possibility that Sunset had been training.

Next time she knew she had to bring a whole different level of fighting with her. She had trained her body and honed weapon skills, but now she needed to master her only true advantage over Ghost, Magic.

Sitting down at their usual table, Applejack set her tray in front of herself and smiled at Rarity whom she sat next to. Rarity offered a gentle brush of Applejack’s thigh as she sat and leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek, which despite a small gesture already had Pinkie Pie gushing and ready to shower the two with compliments of how adorable they were as a couple. Truthfully, Applejack wasn’t much of a fan of all the attention, but she knew that Rarity was likely soaking it all up.

Pinkie smiled at her friends and destroyed the pile of mashed potatoes in front of her in record times. Rarity once suggested they enter her in an eating contest and bet everything on her.

“You two are sooooooooooo cute!” Pinkie exclaimed after swallowing a bite of food.

Rolling her eyes, Applejack nodded. “Yeah, yeah… y’all told us already…”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t like hearing it.” Rarity wagged a finger at Applejack as she winked, causing her girlfriend to sigh and shake her head. There were times where Applejack realized that Rarity’s ego was almost as big as Rainbow’s.

“Anyhoo, how y’all been?” Applejack changed the subject.

Twilight who had been silent for the entire lunch period poked at her food with a fork uninterested before Applejack noticed how detached she was behaving. “Hey, Twi…?”

Twilight blinked and looked up. “Huh, what?”

“Y’all spacin’ out on us?” Applejack asked.

“Oh… Sorry…” Twilight shrugged before her gaze returned to her food, still only prodding it without much interest in actually eating it.

Deciding to see if she could find the reason for Twilight’s demeanor, Applejack sighed as she prepared to broach the difficult subject. “Y’all hear from Sunset, lately?”

Twilight frowned, knowing that she clearly wore her problems on her sleeve. She cursed herself for being too obvious around Applejack, who was known for being unable to leave well enough alone when she sensed someone had a problem.

“Sadly… No… I haven’t heard from her in two days and she’s skipped school without a warning… I’m worried she’s returning back to how she was…” Twilight admitted.

“Worried about her relapsin’?” Applejack tilted her head.

Twilight only nodded.

Rarity smiled and offered her advice on the matter. “Twilight, darling, I’m sure everything is fine, maybe she just got sick? You should talk to Principal Celestia or something before assuming.”

“She hasn’t answered my calls or texts either…” Twilight explained.

“That does sound bad…” Pinkie threw in her two cents, causing glares from Applejack and Rarity. Pinkie shrugged, unsure of why the two seemed to be angry with her, “what? I’m just sayin’ is all…”

“Whatever the case is… I’m sure everything is fine, Twilight. Have a chat with the principal, and I’m sure she’ll put your mind at ease. The past few weeks of Sunset coming back to school has shown that she’s become a lot more like her old self again, albeit slowly; I doubt she’d regress so quickly without warning…” Rarity offered.

Sighing, Twilight nodded, knowing that she was probably overreacting, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. “Still… I’ll see if I can talk to Principal Celestia before I can rest easy…”

“I’m sure Celestia knows the answer,” Rarity smiled.

Twilight nodded again, forcing a smile. “I hope you’re right…”

Tapping on the office door, Twilight gulped nervously. She was hoping Celestia could put her mind at ease, but a part of her said that she wouldn’t get such a luxury today. There was something inside of her that told her that things were not okay with Sunset and she had every reason to be panicking at this very moment. Try as she might, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Hearing the knock, Celestia looked up from her paperwork and called out to the door. “Come on in.”

Taking a breath, Twilight sighed and opened the door, taking a few cautious steps into the principal’s office.

“Ah, Twilight. How are you?” The woman asked.

Twilight swallowed and managed to get herself to form words. “H-hello Principal Celestia…”

Quickly detecting Twilight’s nervous demeanor, Celestia tilted her head in confusion. “Something bothering you?”

“Ma’am… It’s Sunset…” Twilight admitted.

Celestia chuckled and sighed before setting down her pen and crossing her arms with a smug grin plastered on her face. “You know… You care an awful lot about your friend Sunset…”

“S-she’s my best friend!” Twilight defended.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed and the grin remained on her face. “Have you told her that you have feelings for her yet?”

Twilight sighed as she realized how obvious she was. She was so obvious that she wondered if even Sunset had figured out how she felt. She did her best to hide it, but truthfully she knew she wore her problems on her sleeve and wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if Sunset already knew about her little crush.

“I… I haven’t exactly figured out how yet…” Twilight admitted.

Celestia nodded and closed her eyes. “Love is a difficult thing, Twilight. Even us adults struggle with it…”

“You, Principal Celestia?” Twilight blinked.

Celestia kept her eyes closed and nodded again. “Indeed…”

“With all due respect ma’am… You’re beautiful… I can’t imagine it would be difficult for you to find someone…” Twilight stated, hoping she wasn’t being disrespectful.

Chuckling, Celestia shook her head. “I have a tendency to overcomplicate these things. Another story for another day, however… Back on the subject of Sunset, however, I did notice she was absent for two days without warning, and when I attempted to drop things off at her home she never even opened the gate… I just assumed she was out…”

“She isn’t answering her phone either…” Twilight stated.

Celestia put a hand to her chin and thought it over. “I would definitely recommend investigating… This is certainly odd behavior…”

Twilight nodded and gave a salute to the principal. “You can count on me!”

Sunset began to think over the events of a few days ago while she stood there in the target range in the basement of her home. She understood so little, but she needed to make sure she had what she did comprehend down. Her and Shining were to meet very soon and she'd explain everything to him, she needed to make sure she didn't miss out on any details.

The first and most important thing was that Ghost unlike her previous assumption was a woman and not a man. Though that could too be a ruse as she was wearing a mask, so it was clear she didn’t want her identity revealed to Sunset.

The second thing was that she was working with some kind of criminal organization to accomplish her goals. What those were, were not certain, but Sunset knew she wasn’t above violence to get what she wanted, and she was most definitely Shimmer’s killer, there was little doubt about that in Sunset’s mind.

The third and final thing was that she was unbelievably strong and agile. Her kicks and punches hurt like being hit by a brick wall, and there was no telling what other kinds of moves that Ghost had at her disposal. She clearly practiced and trained for this encounter between them and even anticipated Sunset preparing herself as well. In her current state, even with her training, she wasn’t going to be enough to take on Ghost in a head to head fight.

Her only chance at victory was to master magic. A few days ago, a simple healing spell to heal only a tiny stab wound drained nearly all of her energy. Granted healing was perhaps the most potent magic she knew of back in Equestria, naturally requiring high energy reserves, but she still knew she would need to vastly expand her talent with magic. Ghost may have had fighting moves and even knives, but magic she did not have.

Sunset knew that she would need to almost double her abilities with it however if she wished to pose even a minor threat to Ghost. If Ghost did, in fact, get her hands on any of Shimmer’s research she likely was already working on if not completed ways to counter magic attacks.

For the past two days, while healing her wounds, Sunset had focused on practicing her magic abilities and how to use them to her advantage. While her geode granted her the base power to feel people’s emotions and read their thoughts, it was hardly useful in combat as it was.

The more she practiced though, the more she discovered. In only two short days she had learned how to tap into people’s thoughts from a small distance rather than by touching them physically. This meant that if used properly she could utilize it to predict what Ghost was going to do and counter appropriately.

It was far from the only trick she had learned though.

Concentrating and closing her eyes, Sunset inhaled and thrust her hands forward blasting small fireballs into the distance at targets she had set up with each exhale. Fire magic was tricky to master due to its inherent nature. Many elemental based mages in Equestria avoided fire as their first focus of study due to how challenging it was to master. It relied entirely on proper breathing and self-control. A unicorn that improperly handled fire was sure to get burned.

Every unicorn had a certain element that they were born under that they were naturally more gifted with, Sunset’s was fire.

That wasn’t to say that mastering the other elements was impossible, but it meant that their affinity element was the one that they would have the most ease with. Even so, fire was still a challenge for any to take control of due to how quickly it spread and how easy it was to lose control of it.

Looking at the target in the distance, Sunset frowned as she saw how small her fireballs truly were, nowhere near enough to pose a threat to Ghost.

She closed her eyes and listened as a familiar distorted voice spoke to her.

You need to get stronger… I can help you…

Opening her eyes, Sunset peered around the room, looking for any possible place for the voice to originate from. Not to much surprise though she was alone in this room. She paused for a moment before speaking aloud, seeing if the voice would respond. “Hello? Who are you?” Sunset asked.

It doesn’t matter… I can help you…

Sunset paused, unsure of how to feel about voices coming from seemingly nowhere in her home. While she was interested in any help she could get in defeating Ghost, she wasn’t expecting said help to come from a strange disembodied voice.

“Where are you?” Sunset demanded.

I’m inside of you…

Sunset blinked and placed two fingers atop of her heart as she looked down. It was true, she could feel something inside of her, something that had been growing in the past few weeks, something that felt like it hungered. The more she tried to push it back though, the more it seemed to try and get out.

“What are you…?” Sunset closed her eyes as she asked.

There was a long pause before it answered.

Your true self.

Sunset opened her eyes and shook her head. “That’s not possible, I’m the only me there is, there’s no way you could be who I really am. I know myself better than anyone else, and that’s for sure.”

Are you sure about that?

Sunset nodded. “Positive!”

There was a time where you thirsted for power, a time where you were willing to do anything to accomplish your goals… Have you forgotten?

Growling, Sunset answered. “I’m at peace with who I was! I’m not that person now!”

A shame, that person you were had the power to defeat Ghost…

“What’re you talking about?” Sunset crossed her arms.

Ghost is not like other foes you’ve faced. A lesson about friendship will not stop her. She is a killer, one who is capable of going farther than you could ever imagine. To achieve the kind of power she has, you need to become stronger, and the only way to do that is to give in to the darkness inside of you. That small flame that never truly went out… It’s the key to winning this fight…

Pausing, Sunset thought it over. “H-how do I use it?”

Surrender yourself to me…

A smirk came to Sunset’s face as she shook her head. “Sorry, no deal. Not in a million years… I’m not falling for your tricks.”

You’re making a grave mistake.

“I’ll take my chances…” Sunset replied.

At that moment, Sunset flinched as she felt her pocket begin to vibrate. Sighing, she retrieved her phone from the pocket and checked the screen. Twilight’s name appeared on screen, but Sunset shook her head and pressed the reject call button, not quite ready to face that difficult conversation yet.

Twilight looked down at her phone as she heard the sound of a rejected call. Confirming her suspicion, she could see the words “Call Rejected” on screen. She sighed and shook her head as she looked back at her friends with a frown.

“Looks like Sunset isn’t answering… It’s just as I thought…” Twilight stated.

“Principal Celestia didn’t know what she was up to, and now she won’t even answer Twilight? Yeah, something is definitely wrong… So what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked as she crossed her legs sitting atop of the staircase in front of the school.

The group of friends had decided to gather out in front of the school and see if they could get a hold of Sunset after not seeing her for so long. They figured if she saw a call from Twilight that she’s come running, but no such luck.

“Maybe she just needs space…?” Fluttershy meekly suggested.

Growling, Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, we can’t take that risk… not anymore… Now that she’s brought a gun to school, we have to assume Sunset is losing it. She shouldn’t be left alone any longer…”

“We have to respect her privacy, Rainbow…” Twilight argued.

Applejack shook her head and crossed her arms, defending Rainbow’s argument immediately, “Nope, the rules have changed. Sunset is unstable, ‘Ah can see it in ‘er. She’s bound t’do somethin’ stupid if she ain’t watched. Right now she needs someone lookin’ out fer’ her. That girl is a tickin’ time bomb…”

Twilight sighed and looked at Pinkie. “What do you think?”

Pinkie shrugged. “She does seem to be acting strange…” Pinkie nodded.

“That’s saying something coming from her…” Rainbow smirked.

Letting out another sigh, Twilight shrunk down as she sat down on the bottom step. “Well… I suppose one of us could go to her estate… I happen to have a set of keys just in case…”

Rarity came to a stand and walked to the bottom of the stairs, her tight leggings showing off her lower half (much to Applejack’s pleasure) as she reached the bottom and stood in front of Twilight. Meeting the girl with serious eyes, she extended a hand to Twilight.

“Give me the keys, I’ll go and speak with her…” Rarity said.

Blinking, Twilight tilted her head. “You actually are siding with them, Rarity?”

Rarity nodded. “Call it a sixth sense, but I just can’t help but feel that Sunset needs us right now. I can’t ignore that. I’ll go and bring her back here so we can talk…”

“Why should you be the one to go?” Rainbow questioned.

Rarity turned and gave Rainbow a powerful glare, one that could probably make a man drop dead if locked onto them long enough. “Because I’m tired of sitting around and being useless… I want to be more proactive in helping our friend.”

Twilight blinked and nodded before reaching into her pocket and shuffling about. When she located the small key ring she cautiously offered it to Rarity before dropping it in her open hand and watching her close her perfectly painted nails around it, the same serious face she had still there. “Thank you…” She said quietly.

Rarity turned and started heading toward the parking lot before Applejack stood and chased after her, stopping her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Rare… Are y’all alright?”

Rarity nodded and looked down at the key in her hand before looking back over her shoulder at Applejack. “I can’t sit around and do nothing anymore… Sunset needs to realize that she needs her friends, she’s facing whatever she is dealing with alone and I’m not going to stand by idly as she continues to walk head first into danger for all we know…”

“Y’all will be in danger too, y’know?” Applejack frowned.

Smirking, Rarity winked. “Don’t worry… I’ll bring the danger back here for you to deal with… After all, you promised you’d protect me, right?”

Blushing, Applejack rubbed her neck and nodded. “Y-yeah… ‘Ah guess so…”

Turning to face Applejack Rarity placed her hands behind her back and stared with a small smile on her face. Applejack blinked and blushed deeper. “Uh… Somethin’ y’all need?”

“I’m waiting…” Rarity coyly spoke.

“For?” Applejack raised a brow.

“My kiss goodbye…” Rarity snickered.

Applejack coughed and rubbed her neck as she looked over her shoulder at the other girls still watching the two. She looked back at Rarity and sighed as she realized the girl wasn’t going to back down. Applejack still wasn’t that used to public affection especially with a girl as cute as Rarity, but she closed her eyes and stepped forward, placing her hands on the girl’s hips.

As she pulled her girlfriend forward, Rarity leaned upward to close the small height difference between the two and wrapping her arms around Applejack’s neck she puckered her lips and allowed Applejack to pull her in for a loving embrace.

Locking Lips with her girlfriend, Rarity giggled lightly as she tasted Applejack. After a brief few seconds, Applejack parted their lips and smiled at Rarity. “We’ll be waitin’ right here, alright?”

Rarity nodded as she removed her arms from Applejack’s neck. “I’ll only be gone for an hour, promise.”

Applejack nodded back as she watched Rarity break into a run toward her Mazda, a smile on her face and her mind filled with pleasant thoughts. She was so occupied that she didn’t even notice the rest of her friends sneak up behind her. Pinkie’s hand placed on her shoulder caused Applejack to snap back to reality and look behind herself to see Pinkie standing there, rocking back and forth on the balls of the back of her feet.

“SOOOOOO ADORABLEEEEE!”

Applejack merely rolled her eyes while Pinkie seemed to wiggle in place out of sheer excitement. Applejack soon looked back in Rarity’s direction when she heard the car engine startup. She sighed as she watched the girl pull out of the parking lot, a strange feeling of concern overcoming her. She knew that Rarity could take care of herself, but something was still bugging her.

Moondancer submerged herself in a bathtub and sighed. The hot water was soothing, but it hardly proved effective at distracting her. She hadn’t bathed in days, which wasn’t uncommon for her lately. She once forgot to eat and bathe for a solid three days. Running on such little sleep she almost passed out, thankfully she avoided that situation.

She looked around at the much larger bathroom that they had now. It had been a few months since Moondancer and her mother had moved out of their tiny apartment and into a slightly larger one thanks to the money that Shimmer had left behind. Despite the sum of cash being far larger than anything they had ever had, they took the advice of the financial advisor that Shimmer had provided for them and decided not to live too well above their means. They were so used to the bare necessities, however, that upgrading to only slightly above that was an easy accommodation for them.

They didn’t have a sports car in the parking lot but instead replaced their ten-year-old car with a new economy model fresh off the lot. Nothing too fancy, but not cheap garbage either.

They didn’t have personal chefs or maids either, instead, Moondancer’s mother simply switched from working full time to being a mom and housewife (sans husband) full time. Despite still keeping busy she seemed far happier and was able to take a rest when she needed it. Moondancer could notice a change in her mother, genuine happiness radiated from the woman. Moondancer knew that raising her was the most important thing to her mother, and she was thankful she finally had the freedom to pursue what she liked.

She owed Shimmer so much for giving her mother that freedom, but she knew she owed her for more than just that. She could never forget the feelings that Shimmer allowed her to experience, her, a simple social outcast who didn’t know how to even talk to other people was able to experience a feeling of belonging, feelings of friendship and most importantly feelings of love.

Her mind could still vividly paint the picture of Shimmer in her head, every little curve, every little detail. She recalled their first night together making love. Moondancer shivered and wrapped her arms around herself under the warm water. What she would do to feel Shimmer’s embrace just once more; she’d give anything for it.

Sighing, she shook her head and pulled the drain to the tub and rose out of the water. Coming to a stand she meandered her way over to the sink and grabbed a towel she hung off of it and began to rub her hair dry. She blinked as she looked at the melancholy girl staring back at her. Her eyes were bloodshot with dark rings around them, a clear symptom of being tired all the time.

She looked down at her chest to see she hadn’t grown too much. She was still at the tail end of an A cup, but somehow she was happy with herself. She remembered Shimmer liked her smaller chest and that brought a small smile to her face temporarily. Before Shimmer, Moondancer never imagined herself as attractive.

Wrapping the towel around herself, she exited the bathroom and made her way down the hall with a yawn.

“Moondancer? Is that you?” Her mother’s voice called from down the hall.

Another yawn escaped her before she responded. “Yeah, mom, just taking a bath…”

“You sound exhausted you should really get some sleep, sweetie! Final exams will be upon you before you know it!” Her mother lectured.

Moondancer nodded and placed a hand on her bedroom door. “Don’t worry mom, I am going to get some studying done then it’s right to bed, okay?”

“That’s my girl!” Her mother called back.

Nodding, Moondancer turned the knob and entered her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She looked at the walls to see all of the various notes, newspaper clippings, and photos she had hung up. Her entire bedroom has been transformed into an investigation center. There was not a section of wall available for anything that wasn’t related to Shimmer’s death.

Dropping the towel on the ground, the nude girl approached a computer at her desk. Sitting down she stretched and yawned before logging in.

Her mother wasn’t even slightly wise to what went on in Moondancer’s room as the woman had a strict policy of respecting her daughter’s privacy.

Moondancer looked at the time to see it was 5:08 PM. She knew she’d have to squeeze some actual studying in that night at some point. She had to maintain a delicate balance of studying and her investigation into Shimmer’s death. She couldn’t allow herself to start slipping in class or she’d risk losing her scholarship to Crystal Prep and that might get her mother to get more involved, which would make her investigation difficult from then on.

Sadly to accomplish all she needed to be done, that meant sacrificing sleep, which had turned Moondancer into a coffee addict. She looked to the three empty mugs sitting next to her desk and chuckled for a moment before looking back to her computer screen at the recent notes she had been taking before her bath.

Leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs she closed her eyes in thought. Everything she understood up to this point suggested that this “Ghost” person that she was chasing was setting their plan into motion soon. She knew that there was a recent change in Sunset’s activity and that she stopped going to school. Moondancer’s only explanation was that Ghost and Sunset had met. This meant she would need to keep a closer eye on Sunset if she hoped to catch Ghost.

She had hacked into the security system in Sunset’s estate, but sadly the security only covered the outside perimeter and gave her no look inside. Sunset had slipped inside looking relatively injured a few days ago and hadn’t come out. Part of Moondancer for a moment wondered if Sunset was dead, but ruled it out, knowing that if that had been the case, Ghost surely would have known about it by now.

Magic, that was the key behind it all, whatever Ghost wanted had some kind of connection to magic, perhaps the same magic that Shimmer was capable of, the only missing clue was what Ghost hoped to accomplish using said magic. Was it possible that Ghost found a way for normal humans to unlock the powers of magic beyond what Sunset’s friends were capable of? It made sense that currently, the only way to utilize magic was to be connected to someone who already did, that explained Sunset’s friends, but regular humans? It simply didn’t make sense.

Moondancer contemplated going to Equestria to find out, but she didn’t imagine that a human randomly entering their world would be met well. She needed to play it safe.

She yawned and was ready to go and turn in for bed when her eyes focused on something on the screen. Blinking, she reached over the desk and retrieved her glasses. Placing the new frames on her face she leaned in to watch the video feed of the late Shimmer’s estate. There in the driveway, a Mazda pulled in followed by a well-dressed girl that she could make out as Rarity stepping out of the car to approach the gate.

Moondancer cracked her knuckles and leaned in watching, knowing she was already approaching a long night.

Rarity arrived at Sunset’s estate rather quickly after Twilight had handed her the keys. Determination rang through her as she stepped out of her car and looked up at the gates to the entrance. The family name was etched skillfully into a metal plaque that hung from the gate near the top. The gothic design was a bit much for Rarity, but she definitely appreciated the craftsmanship. It was clear that these gates were custom-made and she recalled something about Shimmer stating that her entire home was designed as a gift to her mother.

A smile came to Rarity’s face as she dug the key out of her purse as she wondered if Applejack would ever do something so special for her. She knew designing a mansion after her may be out of the question as the chances of Applejack having that kind of money were slim, hell she doubted she herself could even gain the kind of wealth that the Shimmer family had. She came from some money, but nothing like the Shimmer family.

Her life was spent dreaming of the high-class life, but since being around Applejack almost her entire life and growing closer and closer to her, she had slowly begun to mature out of that mindset and instead desired a more comfortable middle class (possibly upper middle class) existence with the girl she had fallen in love with over the past few months.

As she turned the key she pushed the gates open and continued to push until they snapped into some holders that kept them open. She noticed that the gates were controlled electronically normally, but she doubted Sunset would simply let her in, so she didn’t bother ringing the bell.

Looking up she saw a camera looking at her from the wall next to the gate. She wondered if Sunset was keeping her eye on the security of the place. She smiled and waved at the camera and spoke. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m coming in whether you like it or not, Sunset!”

Realizing she wouldn’t receive an answer, she shrugged and wandered back to her car carefully and stepped inside. Starting her engine back up she drove past the open gate and told herself she would make sure to close it on her way out. She doubted anyone would simply drive right into such a lavish estate so boldly.

On her way inside, she drove slowly and took note of all the security cameras on the outside perimeter. By her count, she could see eight on each side; eight on the west side, and eight on the east side. She never recalled seeing any cameras inside the building, but with her limited knowledge of computers from Twilight, Rarity surmised she likely was worried about someone hacking into them or something which naturally would create some serious privacy concerns. With how much the media loved to pester Shimmer, Rarity guessed that they wouldn’t be above trying to sneak a photo of her in her unmentionables from her own security cameras.

Rarity shuddered in disgust at the thought and slowed down, eventually coming to a full stop at the front door. She noted that the large garage to the right side of the house was closed, meaning that there was the possibility that Sunset wasn’t home.

Sighing she exited her car and approached the large door at the front of the house. She craned her neck to get another good look at it and marvel in such an impressive structure. She recalled there were five stories to this home and three basement floors, making for a total of eight floors. She had never seen most of them, but she imagined that Sunset hadn’t either; there was even the possibility that Shimmer had not seen most of her own home.

After inserting the key and turning it, Rarity pushed the door open and peered around. She was instantly met with a warmth which made her expensive boots and leg warmers feel like a bit much. She had opted to wear jeans due to the decreasing temperature and complimented them with a knitted white scoop neck sweater over her top.

Closing the door behind her, she called out Sunset’s name. “Sunset!? Where are you!?”

There was no response.

Sighing she shook her head realizing that she may have to search the house to find her friend, who could be in any number of rooms at this point. Twilight was slightly more familiar with the house, but Rarity had only been there a few times and barely knew where Sunset’s bedroom was.

Thinking it over she dialed Sunset’s phone to see if she could hear it ring in the house. After a few seconds, she heard nothing come from the house and naturally, Sunset didn’t answer the call either.

Rarity groaned over not having a map but decided the next best course of action was to wander about and see if she could find Sunset that way. She lacked a better plan so she shrugged and began heading down a nearby hall that was poorly lit. She took note that this side of the house didn’t appear to be frequented often, but as she walked she saw a gum wrapper on the floor that looked relatively new. She nodded to herself as she figured Sunset must have come this way and began to follow the hall looking for any other clues.

It wouldn’t take long before she noticed a stairwell going down. Blinking she looked down the stairs and heard footsteps.

She leaned over the balcony of the stairwell and called out. “Sunset!?”

A voice traveled back up the stairs as Sunset came into view at the bottom looking up at Rarity. “Rarity? What are you doing here? How’d you get in?”

Sunset raced up the stairs and came to the top to meet Rarity. She was wearing some kind of athletic garb with her large breasts covered only by a sports bra and her lower half sporting a pair of workout shorts. Her hair was tied back and she looked absolutely sweaty and exhausted, Rarity dreaded even thinking about touching her. Over her form she had thrown on a plain white hoodie that was left unzipped with the sleeves rolled up.

Rarity noticed that Sunset was far more toned and muscular than she remembered. While she was far from looking extremely masculine in her muscular form she was looking closer to Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s physique which was saying something.

“You’re in good shape…” Rarity commented.

Sunset rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Yeah, I work out a lot, but that’s not what we’re talking about, we’re talking about why you’re here and how you got into my house…”

Rarity frowned at how standoffish Sunset was behaving, knowing that she was technically intruding she decided it was best to tread lightly on the subject. “I apologize… I acquired the key from Twilight. We were worried about you because you hadn’t answered your phone or shown up for school in days… I volunteered to come check on you to make sure that you’re alright…”

Sunset growled and looked away as she huffed. “Well, now you see that I’m fine… You should go home… I'm going out in a few to meet with Shining about something...”

Rarity raised a brow in suspicion as she took a defiant step forward. “Excuse me, that’s no way to talk to a friend, Sunset…”

Seeing Rarity’s advance, Sunset stepped backward and kept her arms crossed as she refused to make eye contact with Rarity. “I’m serious, Rarity… I want you to go home… You can’t be here…”

“And why not!?” Rarity mimicked Sunset and crossed her own arms as she tapped her foot waiting for a valid explanation as to why her presence was problematic.

“Because it’s not safe…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“What exactly isn’t safe?” Rarity asked.

Sunset opened her mouth to answer only to close it as she focused her hearing. Outside she could hear cars pulling up. She raced toward one of the windows in the hallway and peeked outside. Sure enough, several cars she didn’t recognize were pulling up to the house and several men wearing ski masks began to exit the cars. Sunset observed for a few more seconds to see many of them started pulling various firearms out of the cars.

“Shit!” Sunset cursed as she looked at Rarity.

“Rarity, follow me and do not leave my sight, got it!?” Sunset reached over and grabbed Rarity by the shoulders.

“W-wha!?” Rarity began only for Sunset to crouch and pull Rarity down with her.

“Get down!” She commanded Rarity.

Glass soon flung into the room from the windows along with the sound of shattering windows and bullets hitting the side of the house. Sunset kept low, holding Rarity’s arm as she guided her along trying to avoid any bullets heading their way.

“Shit!” Sunset said as Rarity was starting to compose herself and realize what was going on.

“Who is shooting at us!?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know, but stay down. Follow me and don’t stick your head out!” Sunset commanded as she brought Rarity to a nearby wall and hugged it until they managed to find their way into a small bathroom, the sound of bullets still screaming through the air. Once inside, Sunset reached up for a light fixture on the wall and pulled it. To Rarity’s surprise, the wall opened revealing a small passageway.

Sunset ushered her inside and closed the passage from behind. Rarity almost screamed when she saw a spider web along with its owner in front of herself but covered her mouth and contained it.

Raising a finger to her lips, Sunset gestured for Rarity to keep quiet but to follow her. Rarity nodded as she kept low and kept behind Sunset. She could still hear gunshots outside and soon the sounds of footsteps of dozens of men entering the house.

“What is this place…?” Rarity whispered.

“Old escape route, there are tons in the house. Dusty Shimmer had them built in case of emergencies so that they could slip around the house and escape if intruders came about… There’s also a few panic rooms as well. I memorized where every secret passage in the house is over the past few months…” Sunset whispered back as they approached a ladder heading downward just up ahead.

Climbing down, the duo kept silent until they approached another ladder heading up. “What’s going on, Sunset?” Rarity finally asked.

“I can’t explain right now, we need to get out of here first; so when we get up there… I need you to keep close and do exactly as I say…” Sunset stated as she placed a hand on the ladder.

Rarity merely nodded and followed Sunset as they made the climb. At the top of the ladder, Sunset lifted open a hatch to a small dark enclosure. She poked her head up and pushed a small door in front of her to peek outside.

The ladder let out into a cupboard at floor level in the bottom floor kitchen. She could see the coast was clear as she looked down at Rarity and nodded her head approvingly. Gently she and Rarity slipped out of the passageway and out of the cupboard into the kitchen proper.

Hearing footsteps, Sunset ushered Rarity and herself behind an island in the center of the room and peeked around the corner to see two men enter the room. Fortunately for Sunset and Rarity they were completely hidden behind the island so long as the two men didn’t come and check the other side.

One of them began speaking to the other. “Where the fuck is she!?” He hissed.

“Someone else is here too, there was another car in the driveway…” The other man replied.

“I’ll look this way, you go back with the others and search that wing, we’ll find the bitch… You heard Ghosts orders, she doesn’t need to be alive by much so don’t worry about roughing her up a bit, but don’t overdo it…” The first man said.

The other nodded and made his exit out the way he came in. Sunset kept watch on the man who remained in the room and peeked over the top of the island to see that he had turned around. She came to a slow stand and grabbed a frying pan that was sitting atop of the island and lowered back down to Rarity’s level and held the cooking utensil firmly in her grip.

Rarity blinked as she stared at Sunset with the frying pan. Sunset kept her voice nearly inaudible as she spoke to Rarity. “Whatever happens… stay out of sight…”

With those words and before Rarity could even object, Sunset snuck out from behind the island, keeping herself semi-crouched as she slowly approached the man standing there and raised her frying pan. He turned slowly and caught a glimpse of her, but before he could react she swung her weapon with as much force as she could muster letting a clang ring in the air as he went down. Once he hit the ground groaning she whipped him again with the pan knocking him out cold.

She set the pan down quietly and called out to Rarity quietly. “Coast is clear, come on.”

Rarity stepped out into the open, still crouching while Sunset searched the unconscious man. Rarity gulped as she looked at the blood on the back of the frying pan. “Is he…?” Rarity dreaded the possible answer.

Sunset looked at the pan that Rarity was looking at and shook her head before returning to searching the man’s person. “No, he’s just knocked out. He’ll live…”

Finding what she was looking for Sunset retrieved a pistol from the man’s waistband and checked it to find it was fully loaded. Nodding, Sunset retrieved any extra clips he had and stuffed them in her hoodie pockets.

Blinking, Rarity watched as Sunset wielded the weapon. “What are you going to do with that!?”

“Whatever I have to, now come on…” Sunset began to make her way out of the kitchen still keeping low to the ground with Rarity following.

The two made their way into the living room when the sound of a shot came in their direction. Rarity yelped in pain as she gripped her shoulder, causing Sunset to react and pull the two behind a low wall in the room. Before they knew it gunshots were coming their way. “Fuck!” Sunset said.

Through the sounds of gunshots, Sunset could hear a voice call out to her. “You’re outnumbered! Why not surrender little girl!?”

Growling she looked to the bleeding Rarity and took in a breath. “Rarity… I need you to make a barrier for me and put it above this low hanging wall…”

“What for!?” Rarity asked.

“Please don’t question me, just do it!” Sunset ordered.

Nodding, Rarity decided that there was no time to argue and did as instructed. Focusing with her free hand she conjured up a barrier of diamonds in front of the wall and Sunset popped up and stood behind it. Bullets flew in her direction but were all stopped by the barrier. Admittedly she was taking a gamble as she wasn’t sure if Rarity’s ability could deflect bullets, but she felt fortunate that her plan had somehow worked.

Once one of the men stopped to reload, Sunset poked out from behind the barrier and let off a shot into the man’s leg causing him to tumble down. She quickly adjusted her aim onto another target and hit another one of the masked men in the foot causing him to drop his weapon and grip the new wound in pain.

Getting back behind the barrier she commanded Rarity. “Okay, I need a moving barrier, we’re going to advance!”

“Alright…” Rarity whimpered as she conjured up another barrier. The strain of both magic and the pain of her arm starting to get to her, the only thing keeping her going was pure adrenaline.

When the barrier came up, Sunset grabbed Rarity’s other arm and guided her forward while bullets flew in their direction. She quickly got the two up to another exit for the living room and raised a hand causing a fire to ignite in the room, blocking the other men from following as she began to run, pulling Rarity along with her.

Finally letting her barrier down, Rarity panted as Sunset tugged her along into what appeared to be a storage closet. Sunset grunted as she moved a box up against a wall out of the way and opened yet another passage hidden in the small room. She shoved Rarity inside and followed after, closing the door behind them.

Rarity kept a tight grip on her wound while Sunset moved the two down a long narrow hallway that appeared to go between the walls. After a few minutes of what seemed like an eternity of running, the two came to a doorway at the end which Sunset forced open by bashing into it with her shoulder.

As the door swung open, a pile of boxes that were stacked in front of it tumbled and when Rarity came out from behind Sunset she saw the two were in the garage.

Sunset looked to the wall and grabbed a spare key to one of the many cars in the room and pulled Rarity to one of the Mercedes parked there. Opening the door, she assisted Rarity inside before running to the driver’s side and putting the key in. Before turning it, she looked to Rarity with a serious expression.

“Duck, and do not look up no matter what happens until I say so…” Sunset stated.

Rarity only nodded and did as she was told while Sunset hit a button on the keychain causing the garage door to begin to lift. In a single motion, she popped the key into the car and started the engine. Once the door was open just enough for the car to get through she revved the engine and pulled out at top speed.

She swerved to avoid the other cars parked outside. To her good fortune, it looked like all of the men entered the house, leaving the outside unguarded.

Sunset pushed forward until she eventually came out of the open gate in front of the estate. Once she had put a good distance between herself and the estate she let out a sigh of relief. “Alright… you can get up now…”

Rarity sat up and exhaled. “What was that about!?” Rarity demanded.

“We’ll talk about it in a bit…”

“Where are we going!?” Rarity growled.

“Just trust me, alright!?” Sunset yelled.

"What about your meeting with Shining?" Rarity asked.

"It'll have to be delayed for a few extra minutes, now please just be quiet for me!" Sunset hissed.

Rarity could tell that Sunset was agitated, and given the circumstances, she didn’t have the energy to badger the girl any further. Instead, Rarity sighed and leaned back in her seat and kept the pressure on her wound while the two drove in silence.

Pinkie's polka dot sweater is amazing and you know you want one.