Good morning, CHS. Welcome back. I hope you all had a great weekend.” said Principal Celestia’s voice over the intercom. “Just another reminder, the last week of October we will be hosting a Halloween Ball. So get your costumes together and mark your calendars. We hope to see you all there. Thank you, and have a great day, everyone.”

Over in the practice room, the former Shadowbolts joined Sunset and her friends to tell them what they had witnessed as of late.

“So, you think this other Sunset is planning on stealing our Equestrian magic?” Twilight asked.

Indigo and Lemon nodded.

“Hm… This could be worse than I thought.” Sunset said, leaning back in her chair.

“If she knows about the events that happened at CHS over the past few years, then she might even know how you girls made it over to Equestria, or even if the other me came through the portal.” Twilight replied.

Everyone looked at each other, seeing mutual concern in their faces. It's bad enough she’s gathered information on all of the magical anomalies, but if she has knowledge of the portal? Things would take a turn for the worse.

“Although I must ask, how exactly did you two even get out of her home?” Rarity asked.

Lemon and Indigo froze.

“Um…” Lemon said. “W-We can’t tell you…”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“This… thing... it... " Indigo sighed. "We got out on our own, but we saw this monster that threatened to hunt us down and kill us if we ever told anyone.” Indigo replied.

“Aw, don’t worry about that,” Rainbow said. “We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. That thing is gonna have to get by us!”

Lemon and Indigo shared a look. As paranoid as they were, it would be admittedly selfish for them to keep to themselves. The fate of their entire world could be at stake. On one hand, they could snitch and risk their own lives, or keep quiet and risk everyone’s lives.

Well, the choice was clear.

“Okay, if you say so…” Lemon replied. “This thing… it's hard to describe. It looks like something of a human and those changelings from Equestria. I think it's a hybrid. And I think it probably is, because it said it was the result of when humans believe they’re the gods, or something.”

Sunset rose an eyebrow. How could a changeling, a creature that feeds off of love, creatures bent on manipulation and masters of deception, make their way to this world?

“And whatever it was, it said that Sunset Shimmer and all of Crystal Prep would fall.” Indigo finished.

A chill was sent down everyone’s spine. This monster that was locked in the other Sunset Shimmer’s basement, could possibly be planning the downfall for Crystal Prep, and it might be hunting for their Sunset Shimmer. And while no one knew what to do, one thing came into their minds, they had to keep their eyes peeled and their ears open for any signs.

---

Later that day, the former Shadowbolts were sitting in the practice room, trying again to see if they could make amends with an old enemy.

“Are you sure this is gonna work? I highly doubt it will.” Sour asked.

“We have to make up with him at some point, and I say now is the time to do so.” Sunny replied.

“I conclusively believe this isn’t going to work.” Sugarcoat replied.

“Well we have to try!” Indigo declared.

At that moment, stepping in with the same black hoodie, was Coppermane. He froze when he made contact with the five girls. His eyebrows furled, clearly less than thrilled to see them.

“What do you want?” Coppermane sneered. “Come to make my life miserable again?”

“No, dearie. Not at all. We… we want to apologize to you,” Sunny said. “You didn’t deserve our harassment back at Crystal Prep and we want to make it up to you.”

Coppermane didn’t look convinced in the slightest. His eyes were ice-cold.

“Coppermane, you have to believe us,” Sunny said.

“Believe you? Why the hell should I believe you?” Coppermane barked, loudly enough to make Sunny back away a little. “You tortured me everyday. You made my live in constant fear for my life! I almost killed myself because of how miserable I was!”

The girls all gasped, their faces going visibly paler.

“Suicide?” Lemon said.

“Are you seriously surprised by this?” Coppermane sneered. “What did I do to deserve any of that? For that matter, what did Smokestack do? What did Twilight do? What did any of us do?! Why are you asking me to believe you after everything you’ve done to me?”

The girls were dumbfounded. What could they say? What could they possibly say?

“And Sunny,” Coppermane scolded. “All I wanted was to make you happy. That’s all I wanted. Did that really warrant humiliating me in front of the entire school?”

Sunny opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. Again, what could she say? They took the most understanding guy in the world, and turned him into an impenetrable brick wall.

“Coppermane,” Indigo said. “If you just give us a chance--”

“Stop,” Sunny said.

Sunny’s friends looked at her with shocked expressions.

“What?” they asked.

“Just… just stop,” Sunny said, burying her face in her palm. “He’s right… about everything. What are we doing?”

“Sunny, we promised we’d make amends with everyone,” Sour said. “Coppermane is part of everyone.”

“Well, we just can’t!” Sunny snapped. “Face it, we hurt him too much. We almost drove him to suicide. We can’t undo this!”

“But what about Smokestack?” Lemon interjected. “We made up with him!”

“That wasn’t the same. We hurt him physically, but Coppermane… we hurt him emotionally. And… I hurt him. I broke his heart. I shattered it. I made him cry in front of the whole school, and for what? For having a crush on me? This… this is all my fault.” Sunny couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She didn’t even care that her friends and Coppermane were watching. It was too much. It was a hopeless endeavor. She looked at Coppermane, but his face was obscured by her own tears. “Coppermane, I don’t expect you to forgive us, and I don’t even expect the benefit of the doubt, but… I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry! I’ve felt so guilty after what I did to you. I shouldn’t have hurt you, and I have no excuses. It was unforgivable, and… I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.” She fell to her knees, her face buried in her palms as she bawled.

Minutes passed as Sunny cried her eyes out on the floor, in plain sight of everyone in the room.

Sunny’s friends looked at Coppermane, but his eyes weren’t cold like before. His face conveyed shock… and empathy.

“S-Sunny?” Coppermane said.

“Don’t!” Sunny barked. “Just don’t! We know you hate us, and you have every reason to! I… I… oh gosh, I’m so stupid!”

“Sunny…” Coppermane said.

“I’m so sorry, Coppermane!” Sunny screamed. “I’m… I’m… I’m so sorry!”

Indigo was about to get up and comfort Sunny, but was stopped when Coppermane held his hand out, gesturing her to stop. Indigo and the rest of them were a bit confused, until Coppermane did the unthinkable.

Without saying another word, Coppermane knelt down beside Sunny, and pulled her into a big hug.

Sunny gasped loudly at the sudden embrace, and was even more shocked to see a familiar meadow of coppery hair next to her.

“C-Coppermane?” Sunny cooed. “Wh-What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Coppermane asked.

Sunny sighed, and wrapped his arms around him in return, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I… I thought you hated me…” Sunny said.

Coppermane released her from his embrace, and helped her stand back up.

“I didn’t believe you at first,” Coppermane said, “but those tears were honest.”

Sunny lit up. There was no way…

“Y-You believe me?” Sunny asked.

Coppermane nodded. “Look, it’ll take a long time for you to win my trust, Sunny. For all of you. But… I learned from a special someone that everyone deserves a chance. And I’ve learned how powerful and wonderful the benefit of the doubt can be… so I’m willing to give it to you all.”

The girls all gasped, gaining big smiles.

“You won’t regret this, Coppermane!” Indigo said.

“We’ll show you we’ve changed,” Lemon said.

“I’m honestly pretty surprised,” Sugarcoat said, before turning her frown into a smile. “But I’m thankful.”

“This will be great!” Sour said. “How could anyone forgive us for what we’ve done?”

“Coppermane… thank you,” Sunny said. “I promise, we’re serious. You won’t regret this.”

“We’ll see,” Coppermane said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was going to practice for a little bit, so…”

“Say no more!” Indigo said. “C’mon girls.”

With that, the girls began to walk out of the room as Coppermane made his way to the piano.

“Oh, Coppermane?” Sunny said, lingering by the door.

“Hmm?” Coppermane said.

“Who taught you about giving people chances?” Sunny asked.

A big smile grew on Coppermane’s face. “Only the most amazing girl in the world. The one who makes the sun rise and fall in my world.”

“Your girlfriend?” Sunny asked.

Coppermane nodded. “My princess, yep.”

“I’m glad you found someone to make you happy,” Sunny said.

“Thanks,” Coppermane said.

“See you later, then?” Sunny asked.

“I guess so,” Coppermane said. “Bye.”

“Bye, dearie,” Sunny said. “And thanks again.”

With that, Sunny left the room, leaving Coppermane alone to practice his music.

---

Midnight struck, and the suburban town of Canterlot was in silence amongst the pitch-black night. The streetlights were illuminated the empty streets.

Over in the store/house of Bon Bon’, was sending a text over to best friend, Lyra Heartstrings. She giggled at some of the comments Lyra made over things in the past, and she agreed with her about how the former Bolts shouldn’t have come to their school.

But suddenly a clattering sound was heard downstairs and it gave her the chills. In one quick motion, she dialed for Lyra’s number.

“Bonnie, what’s wrong?” Lyra asked.

“I think there’s someone in the store. I’m gonna check it out.” Bon Bon whispered.

“But what if it's a criminal? You need me to call someone?” Lyra asked with fear.

“I’m sure it's probably just an animal.”

Bon Bon crept downstairs in her PJs, while also keeping the phone to her ear and holding a flashlight in her other hand, keeping an eye out.

She moved around a corner, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of danger. After unlocking a door, she moved into the front area of the store to see if anyone had broken in, but there wasn’t anything. The front store door wasn’t opened, the windows weren’t broken, and not even the ceiling or wall vents weren’t opened up.

“Where is that coming from?” Bon Bon whispered to herself.

She heard the clattering again, and this time, she got a clearer sound of where it was coming from. It was coming from… the bakery kitchen?

Bon Bon slowly tip-toed her way into the back kitchen looking for any signs of anyone, but nothing. She saw some of the candy treats she had made for tomorrow were still fresh and sitting on the countertop, but when she turned to the left she saw some of the chocolate chip cookies that were supposed to be freshly made all looked like an animal had broken in and gnawed through them. But what made these stand out from regular bites, was that it looked like it had been devoured by something the size of a person or a lion.

“I hope it's just rats.” Bon Bon quivered.

Bon Bon then jumped slightly at the sound of the radio in the kitchen playing an old song.

Bon Bon pondered as to why the song was playing out of nowhere, but that was the least of her worries right now. She shined a light around some more, and found something else that stood out. She moved toward a cabinet, and found a sticky residue leaking from the open cabinet.

“Ugh…disgusting...”

But a new sound had alarmed her. This one was a little more terrifying. She heard snarling and chewing. She turned the light around and saw a tail slithering from around a corner. She was scared to move a muscle, she didn’t want to get close to whatever it was. But she moved anyway.

She shined the light on the slender and dagger-tipped tail and found the rest of the body it was attached to. The creature was found feasting on some cakes that were freshly made.

She gasped in terror and dropped the flashlight, which got the creature’s attention. It turned around with demonic turquoise eyes and tackled her to the ground, causing Bon Bon to drop her phone.

She breathed heavily trying to stay calm, but it was nearly impossible to with a monster staring at her and having tackled her to the ground, and spoke to her with the demonic and distorted voice.

“Are you the one they call... Bon Bon?”

“P-Please don’t kill me!” Bon Bon yelled trying to keep herself calm.

“I only need to know one thing. Where is Shimmer?”

But Bon Bon had blacked out, and didn’t wake back up, all while Lyra kept screaming into the phone.

“Bonnie!? Bonnie!? Are you there!?”

All the creature did was smash her phone with the dagger tail, while the electricity sparks kept sizzling. As the creature got up from the ground, it looked back around in the kitchen. It didn't pay attention, but there was a blender that was plugged in without the plastic container on top. And without even paying attention, its own hand went right at the blades, accidentally turning it on, and making severe cuts into its skin.

"ARGH!!!" The monster roared before swinging its tail at the blender, ripping it from the plug in the wall.

"Sweet Celestia, that hurts!" The monster roared, holding its wounds. Several drips of green blood fell onto the floor. The monster itself growled and snarled some more, but then it stopped and felt ringing in its head. It held onto his own head, dropping to his knees from the agony, its eyes squinting from the pain.

His eyes opened up, and he gasped when he looked.

"Wait... where am I... what is this place?" The monster spoke in a much clearer voice. But it rattled its head, and the snarling demon voice returned once more. “No matter… You may fear me… but there is only one to fear. Sunset Shimmer will fall. All will fall….”

Next Chapter: Chapter 6: Entity Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 13 Minutes