Shining was waiting, a bit impatiently, for his little sister’s progress. Twilight had a lot of time in-between classes at CPA, with her grades, she was able to ace most of the classes and earn herself some free periods where she could do what she wanted, most of those times were spent researching or reading different topics, but most likely, he assumed, she was using that time to work on his request. Either that or she’d work on it feverishly once she got back home.

The young detective wanted to give Sunset a call to see what the status was now regarding her friend’s family, but remembered that her cellphone was in Twilight’s hands right now. He did think about swinging by CHS and speaking with her, but thought against it. It would raise a lot of questions about why a detective with the CCPD was contacting a high school girl, especially when it wasn’t related to any ongoing cases.

So here he waited, in his office, pouring over older cases and compiling some information to give to Sunset regarding the three major Mystery Murder cases that were still open. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long, Shining Armor received a call around three ‘o clock from Twilight, informing him that she was done and could come home to see her about what she had found.

Shining asked Spearhead to cover for him as he rushed out the door and into his car. He felt a sense of urgency in this whole matter, not just because there were Wendigos involved, but because of how Sunset looked when she told him about this. A family could be destroyed, and Sunset felt that fear as her own. Family was important to Shining Armor, his bond with Twilight, his parents, and his girlfriend, all of it was precious to him, and the idea of losing all of that to some lowlifes was unthinkable.

When Shining arrived he put on a poker face used the house key to enter. “Mom, Dad, Twily, I’m here!”

“Arf! Arf!”

A small purple dog came running around the corner and leaped straight up at Shining Armor. The detective caught the small canine, which then proceeded to lick his face.

“Spike, c’mon now! I’m happy to see you too!”

A middle aged woman walked from same corner. If one wasn’t paying attention, one would mistake this woman for Twilight’s older sister, instead of her mother. Although, given that the two women had the same first name, her father, and everyone else, just referred to his mother as Velvet.

“Shining, dear, you’re home? I didn’t know you were stopping by,” said Velvet.

Spike finally stopped licking him as he approached his mother. “I was just stopping by to see Twilight, she wanted to show me something she was working on.”

Velvet sighed. “Now, Shiny, you don’t have to drop everything at the drop of a hat for her. I know you love your little sister, but I don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss.”

“It’s no trouble, really.”

“If you say so, will you be staying long? I could set an extra place at the dinner table,” Velvet suggested.

Shining Armor waved off her gesture. “No, that’s alright, I’ll be in and out. I have to head back to follow up on some leads, this was just a little break from the bleakness.”

Velvet loved her son, and loved that he had such a strong sense of justice. She and her husband were so proud of their son when he joined the police force, and even more so when he made detective. Of course, with that pride came worry. Being a homicide detective meant that he was having to hunt down violent criminals, sometimes taking him down to places that were more dangerous. When he was just a uniform cop, Shining could just do his job and then not have to worry about following it up and go out on patrol again. But as a detective, he had to work a case all the way through until it was solved, which meant having to revisit murder scenes and having to think about those cases even when he was off the clock.

Through it all though, he remained positive. Velvet imagined that Cadence had a hand in that, and she knew for a fact that Twilight did as well. A strong family bond, and that’s why Velvet and Night Light made sure to keep this home as a safe place for either of their children to come back to. Whether it would be to unwind or to just feel safe for a while.

Shining Armor walked over to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading upstairs with Spike in tow. Once upstairs, Shining knocked on the door to Twilight’s room, and he sighed in dismay.

Twilight was nose deep into her computer, she was only halfway out of her school clothes. Her socks, skirt, and jacket were lying on the floor, her backpack was set on her bed, and the two cellphones that he gave her were sitting on the same desk, connected to said laptop.

“Twily, you really should finish getting dressed before you get into your stuff,” said Shining Armor.

“Sorry, I just wanted to get to work on your request as soon as possible. I did work on it while at school, thankfully it was slow today. I’m just giving it one last look through before I finish up,” said Twilight.

Shining Armor set Spike down and picked up her clothes. Twilight was normally a neat freak, but when she was laser focused on a project, some things tended to be thrown to the wayside, like remembering to fully dress herself.

I swear, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen her in her underwear. Thank god I don’t have a sister complex, thought Shining Armor. “So, what did you find?”

Twilight turned around in her chair and said, “This phone, the one belonging to the friend of your friend, it was definitely hacked.”

Shining Armor stopped and looked to Twilight. “Are you sure?!”

Twilight nodded. “One-hundred percent. They used a backdoor program that allowed them access to the cellphone’s files. There was a video file labeled ‘X’, and it was hidden amongst a whole lot of a dummy folders. Whatever it is, the person who owns this phone didn’t want anyone to find it.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Just to ask, you didn’t look at it…did you?”

Twilight scratched the back of her head. “I was tempted to, but I figured that whatever’s happening to this person, it’s better if less people know why it’s happening. So, no, I didn’t.”

“Okay…So, we know it was hacked, do you know where the files went to?”

Twilight smiled as she turned around in her chair and brought up a program. “I traced the path of the hack, where the file was copied to, and found it led to a company downtown. Someplace called ‘Flim & Flam Inc.’ I did some digging on them, it’s run by a couple of businessmen, twin brothers of the same name.”

Twilight got out of her chair and let Shining Armor go through the information, she had gathered. While he was doing so, Twilight thought it best to finish changing. Shining scrolled through the plethora of information Twilight had found, apparently the FlimFlam brothers were shrewd businessmen, and, it seemed, con men. There were several articles that Twilight pulled up of the two brothers swindling people out of their money, or taking over businesses in town, but doing so in such a way that it was hard to build a case against them. Shining Armor was starting to understand now, whatever this “X” file was, it was something bad enough to force Sunset’s friend’s family into a corner.

Twilight finished changing into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and walked around to Shining’s left. “These guys are really bad, I don’t get why the police haven’t arrested them.”

“Guys like these know how to cover their tracks, or get information damning enough that it makes it impossible for people to try and go against them, ‘cause that would mean exposing themselves,” said Shining Armor.

“And you’re saying the owner of this phone is in that situation…I know it’s not right to pass judgement, but…how good can this person be if they have something that’s bad enough that they can’t go to the police with it?’

Shining Armor gave a small sigh. “In this job, it’s not all black and white, Twily, it’s all grey. A person can be good, but sometimes good people make a mistake, something that they wished they had never done and are genuinely sorry for doing so, and try to bury it and do more good to make up for that mistake. Kind of like a lot kids your age, how they do something now that they think was cool at the time, but come later on in life, they realize that it was the stupidest thing they ever done and wish to take it back. I don’t know what’s on the video file, but I trust the person who’s asking me to help them.”

“I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have said that,” said Twilight with a shameful tone in her voice.

Shining Armor grinned at Twilight and patted her on the head, she groaned in annoyance, but she didn’t pull away. “It’s alright, but what else did you find?”

Twilight’s smile returned as she walked over to her backpack and pulled out a flash drive. “I could only get so far into their systems from my end, but I engineered a virus that, once jacked into their system, will fry their hard drives and erase all content, no matter how deep it’s buried. However, I can’t guarantee that they might’ve made copies of the file by now and are hiding it. On that note though, the virus has a secondary feature that will hunt down any video files that are copies and connected to the same network. Cellphones, servers, whatever it may be.”

Shining Armor had to admit, sometimes his little sister scared him with how smart she was. Not only did she get all this information, but she also made a computer virus that could effectively shut down these guys. He was glad that Twilight’s ambitions for science were focused on the benefits of humanity and not its destruction. “Thanks, Twily, my friend will appreciate this. I’ll head to them now and give ‘em an update. Oh, what about the other phone?”

Twilight shook her head. “There was nothing. Nothing showing that it was tampered with, externally or internally. Nor could I find any viruses that would allow someone remote access, sorry.”

Shining Armor grimaced a little, he was hoping to bring Sunset some good news on the Anon-A-Miss front, but it seemed that he was only going to come through for her regarding her friend. “Alright…well, one out of two isn’t bad.”

Twilight fidgeted in place and asked, “Shining, I know you can’t tell me about that second phone, but the first one, the one belonging to your friend, who is it? Maybe I can still help?”

Shining Armor debated about telling her about Sunset, she went to CHS, which was already in Twilight’s crosshairs due to the energy her instruments detected, and with what Shining Armor knew occurred there, and was still occurring there, he really didn’t want her to be at CHS. Although, come time for the Friendship Games, he’d have no way to prevent that. But, maybe he could give her something, for when the day of the games happened, maybe Sunset could watch over her?

“The owner of that phone, she goes to CHS.”

“CHS! Canterlot High School! The same place where I’ve been getting all my–!”

“Twily, focus,” Shining Armor interrupted.

“Sorry.”

Shining Armor cleared his throat. “Her name’s Sunset Shimmer, she wasn’t exactly a nice girl in the past, but I can tell she’s got a good heart and is trying to make up for her past misdeeds. However, someone’s trying to harm her, using MyStable and going by the name of ‘Anon-A-Miss’. This person is telling the secrets of the students in that school, and pinning the blame on Sunset. Now, she gets harassed every day, is singled out or ignored, she was even attacked not too long ago by a couple of her classmates. What’s worse, she lost her friends because of it, that girl’s alone, but persevering through it all, trying to bring Anon-A-Miss into the light. I want to help her, but I don’t know what I can do…Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes were wide, this girl, Sunset Shimmer, she sounded exactly the same as her. Harassed every day, shunned and targeted, physically abused, and no doubt psychologically. She was alone, just like her, alone in an environment full of enemies with not a friendly face in sight. No, it was probably worse, this Sunset Shimmer had friends, but they abandoned her, Twilight was alone from the beginning, but this other girl had friends and lost them. Twilight wasn’t much for friendship, but still, she could only imagine the pain that caused this girl.

“Twily, you okay?” Shining Armor asked.

Twilight snapped herself out of her thoughts and said, “Y-Yes, I’m fine. I just…I just can’t believe someone would do that to another person…” Twilight’s fist tightened and her brow furrowed. “Shiny, let me help too! No one deserves to be treated like that, and no one has the right to do that to another person. I’ll do whatever I can, so, please, let me help!”

Shining Armor was surprised by how adamant Twilight was, it was almost as if she felt a connection to Sunset without even meeting her. The young detective took up Sunset’s phone and went to her pictures, she found one of Sunset and her friends and showed it to Twilight. “The one with the red and yellow hair, that’s Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight looked upon the picture. The girl in the photo looked happy, and strangely attractive to Twilight. With her flaming hair, intense eyes, that smile…Twilight snapped herself out of her thoughts, again. “She looks happy…You don’t have to tell her that I’m helping out, but let her know that she does have someone who is.”

Honestly, I hope you two don’t meet, ‘cause that’s going to get all kinds of awkward. “I will, and thanks again, little sis.”

“I FUCKING KNEW IT!”

Shining Armor had come by to Sunset’s home and took her out of the house to give her the rundown. They stopped by a fast food restaurant and got something to eat. Shining figured it was better to think on a full stomach than an empty one.

“So you knew it was them?” Shining asked.

“They came by on that same day, I didn’t know if those kidnappers were in on it, but now with what you found out, it confirms it.” Sunset then held up the flash drive that Shining Armor brought. “And this is the key to getting rid of it all?”

“My contact says we need to plug it into their computers, once it’s in, it’ll hunt down all the files and delete them, along with frying their systems to make sure nothing survives,” Shining explained.

Sunset smirked. “Tell your friend I like their style. You’ll have to introduce us some day.”

Yeah, again, rather prolong that meeting. Shining Armor looked at Sunset, and he could tell she was formulating a plan. “Sunset, I can see that look in your eyes. You’re planning on hitting their place aren’t you?”

Sunset furrowed her brow. “It’s either now or never. Time’s running out for my friend, and if I don’t do this, we’ll lose them, and they’ll lose everything. I’m not going to ask you to help me out with this, you’re a cop still, and it’ll be bad if they find out you did something like this.”

Shining Armor held his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling of his car. “I don’t know…I just might be passing by that place on my way home…and, you know, if I so happen to see something suspicious…like say, a break in? Then that’s probable cause for me to go in and investigate.”

“Shining…”

The young detective put on a serious expression and said, “If these guys are using people possessed with those demon spirits as hitmen, then I have to bring them down. Guess we’re partners tonight, kid.”

Sunset brought up her right fist and said, “Then let’s get to it, partner.”

Shining Armor smirked and bumped his fist with Sunset’s, sealing their partnership.

It was late at night when their “mission” started. The clouds had rolled in and it started snowing. Sunset and Shining Armor had staked out the facility where they would be infiltrating. It was the main headquarters of Flim & Flam Incorporated, a warehouse located in the city, complete with corporate offices and a shipping and receiving warehouse. They waited for hours, watching as the last employee drove out of the place, and the lights shut off. At the same time, they watched the security guard make his rounds, timing how often they did so.

It was now midnight, and the snow was still falling. The guard was a no show, and the time was now. Shining Armor and Sunset nodded to each other and exited the car. Shining was wearing his bullet proof vest, and had a small, tactical shotgun, a Remington V3 Tac-13, holstered on his back. Not exactly standard issue, but it packed a punch, and so long as he didn’t use it on a normal human, he could justify using the weapon.

There was a chain link fence, as far as they could see, there were no cameras in that area. The top of the fence had barbed wire, and if they went any further down to the left, they’d just end up at the front of the building, however, if they went further down to the left, they’d hit the guard’s station around the corner.

“How do we get in, if you don’t mind me asking?” Shining asked.

Sunset took a few steps back and closed her eyes. The heat rose inside her, filling her body, and filling it with a rush of power and ecstasy. The ruby of the Witchblade shined brighter and brighter, and then, it came alive. The metal strands of the bracelet expanded and multiplied, tearing through Sunset’s clothes and leaving her bare for a moment before wrapping around her and cladding in the supernatural armor.

Shining Armor blushed and looked away when he saw the clothes being ripped apart, but even after, it was still kind of hard to look at her. “Does it have to rip your clothes off every time?”

“I’ve had this conversation with someone else, and the answer is yes. Now,” Sunset’s back flared with bat-like wings, “are you afraid of heights?”

“No.”

“Good!”

Before Shining Armor could ask why, Sunset jumped up, grabbed Shining Armor from under his pits and took off into the air. It took everything in his being to keep from screaming from the sudden acceleration, and then there was the height. But before Shining Armor could fully process that, Sunset flew them back down onto the roof of the warehouse. She gently descended and let Shining Armor down first, and then landed beside him.

“Not bad, huh?”

“Blaaaagggh!”

Sunset winced when she saw Shining Armor throw up next to her. After a couple of seconds, Shining Armor said, “Never…do that…again…!”

“S-Sorry, but you said you weren’t afraid of heights!”

“Yeah, but I do…get airsick…”

“Oh…” Sunset blushed in shame for not taking that into consideration. “I’m really sorry!”

Shining Armor waved it off. “It’s over, we’re here, let’s get going.”

Sunset and Shining Armor made their way to a skylight. The bearer of the Witchblade concentrated, making the ends of her hair snake towards the glass and turning the tips into razor sharp blades. The blades cut a large, perfect circle, while other strands slipped through the cuts and gripped the cut glass. Once she was done, the strands pulled the cut piece off, and gently placed it to the side. Sunset peered inside first, her enhanced vision cut through the darkness of the warehouse, allowing her to see everything as clear as day.

“Coast seems clear,” said Sunset.

“Let’s move,” said Shining Armor.

Sunset concentrated, forming a grappling hook into the palm of her left hand. She then fired the hook, letting it hook itself onto the edge of the roof while also forming a chain. “This might be a bit awkward, but you’re going to need to hang onto to me while I lower us down.”

Shining Armor gulped, his eyes briefly scanning Sunset up and down before looking away again. “Can’t you just…make another chain and lower me first?”

“If those two guys are here, I don’t want to lower you down and have you end up getting killed before I can get to you. I can just jump down and be okay, but you can’t, so…this is a slightly better option…” Sunset noticed the awkward look he was giving her. “This isn’t exactly fun for me either! Let’s just hurry up and get down there!”

Shining Armor gulped, but decided to bite the bullet. He hugged Sunset and Sunset did the same, the first thing that struck him was how warm she was. Those times they were outside he could see steam wafting off of her body, but he just thought that was just a trick of the eye, but no, her body was really warm, it was no wonder Sunset didn’t feel cold out in the open. And of course, the second thing he felt was her sizeable lady pillows that were just barely being covered by the armor.

God this so awkward! Shining thought.

“Get ready, and please don’t throw up on me.”

Sunset jumped and took them both through the hole she made. The chain that came from her arm was being made longer, allowing them to descend further down into the warehouse. From their vantage point, they could see rows upon rows of pallets stacked with containers, what was in them was anyone’s guess.

They stayed suspended there, allowing Sunset to rotate them and look around. She spotted some offices on the far end of the warehouse and nodded in that direction. Shining nodded back in acknowledgement and Sunset resumed their descent. Once they were on the ground, Sunset took point and led Shining Armor around the rows of racks. Sunset spotted a few security cameras, but swiftly took care of them with a well-placed shuriken or dart.

Thankfully, they managed to get to the other end undetected, but with the cameras destroyed, but knew it wouldn’t take long before the security guard would be coming in to check and see what was happening. When they got to the offices, they saw that it was locked with a padlock.

“I know you could cut it, but we don’t want to draw too much attention to what we did, best if we pick it,” said Shining Armor. “It’s been a while, but I don’t think I’m too rusty.”

“You know how to pick a lock?”

“It can come in handy depending on the situation, it’s a skill, not good or evil.”

Sunset smirked. “Keep that in mind when you see this.”

Shining Armor watched as Sunset’s armor released small metal strands that slithered their way towards the lock, a couple held it in place while two more entered the lock itself. Sunset closed her eyes, concentrating and feeling the actions of the armor as she mentally commanded it. After a couple of seconds, the lock disengaged allowing Sunset to take it off.

“I wasn’t a nice person, and before that I was on the streets. I had to learn some skills to survive, and others to get what I wanted from people…”

Shining Armor reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Like I said, it all depends on how you use your skills. We’re using them to help your friend and their family, you’ll get no judgement from me.”

Sunset smiled and opened the door. They moved towards one of the computers in the back corner, far from the windows. They huddled around it to make sure the light of screen didn’t shine too brightly for someone to see. Sunset retracted some of the armor around her finger tips, allowing her to type without destroying the keyboard. Shining Armor watched as Sunset’s fingers flew across the keyboards, already gaining access to the computer systems of Flim & Flam Inc.

Shining Armor watched this with confusion evident on his face. “I thought you didn’t know how to hack?”

“I may not be a super hacker, but I never said I didn’t know how to hack,” said Sunset. “I’m just good enough to get into places and cover my tracks, to a degree. Do you have that thing?”

Shining Armor reached into his pocket and took out the flash drive, he then handed it over to Sunset who took it into her hand.

“Time to fry these…wait, what’s this?” As Sunset was going through the files, she noticed there was one hidden deep inside about Sweet Apple Acres. “Okay, let’s see what these asshats are planning to do with AJ’s farm.”

Sunset cracked the file open and delved deeper into what the con men had in store. Shining Armor watched as Sunset brought up a lot of geological surveys, as well as…mining permits?

“What the hell is this?” Sunset asked. “I thought these guys just wanted to take the farm? But with all this it looks like they’re going to gut it all!”

“Sunset…I think there’s more to this than what either you or your friend thinks, see that symbol there?” Shining Armor pointed to a scientific symbol that read “Au”. “I remember that from my geology class, and periodic tables, that’s the symbol for gold!”

“GOLD?!” Sunset clamped her mouth realizing she had spoken too loudly. “Gold! These guys want their farm to dig up gold?! How’s that possible?!”

“Hey, there’s a lot of privately owned land from way back in the day during the founding of Canterlot City, land that was never properly looked into, or had restricted access since it was owned by some influential families, at least back during that time. So who knows what they might be sitting on top of.”

Sunset looked around the room, she dug through some of the drawers until she found what she wanted, another flash drive. Without wasting a second, Sunset plugged it into the computer and began downloading everything the FlimFlam brothers had found about the gold under the Apple Family property.

“What are you doing?!”

“Helping a friend, with this information, AJ, Bloom, Mac, and Granny can live a life without worrying about their futures! This is their golden apple, and I’m sure as hell not letting these guys take it from them!”

The download took a couple of minutes, but Sunset finally got all the files she needed to help Applejack, she then took the flash drive and let the ruby on the Witchblade absorb the device into itself for safe keeping, she couldn’t wait to show her. “Alright, now for the payback.” Sunset took out the first flash drive and inserted the second, the moment it was in the virus inside went to work. It wormed its way through everything, corrupting the computer and everything else, including the files on the gold. “Damn, glad I got them when I did.”

Shining and Sunset watched as the virus continued its work, destroying everything that made up the company. Shining Armor felt guilty about this, the bosses of this workplace were miserable human beings, but the employees who were oblivious to this whole thing were about to be out of a job come tomorrow, or at the very least wouldn’t be able to work for a long while. Still, one way or another, if this was able to have been found out the legal way, the employees would still be in the same boat.

“Damn, your friend is scary good at making a virus. Remind me never to piss them off,” said Sunset.

“Sometimes they even scare me,” Shining replied.

}}} I sense a them. {{{

“Sense who?”

}}} The “asshats” you spoke off. I sense them, up those stairs. {{{

“I know you’re talking to that thing, what’s it saying?” Shining Armor asked.

Sunset’s glowing eyes narrowed as she looked towards the stairs. “They’re here, Flim and Flam.”

Shining Armor watched as Sunset began to go up the stairs, prompting Shining Armor to ask, “What are you doing?!”

“I thought I’d put the fear of God into them, wanna join?” Sunset didn’t wait for a reply as she ascended the stairs.

“Grrgh!” Shining Armor growled. He looked to the computer and saw that the virus had done its work. He quickly took out the flash drive and hurried after Sunset.

Sunset waited at the top of the stairs; a playful smirk was on her face as she saw Shining Armor approach. “You didn’t think I’d go that far, did you?”

Shining smirked back. “It crossed my mind, a little.”

The duo stealthily made their way to the offices of the FlimFlam brothers, they could hear voices the closer they got. Sunset recognized the twin brothers’ voices, but there was a third voice she couldn’t identify. Once there, Sunset stood against the left side of the door, and Shining Armor the right.

“So, how goes our ‘acquisition’ of the Apple Farm?”

“It’s going perfectly,” said Flim.

“By the day after tomorrow, we’ll have the farm, and they’ll be in jail,” said Flam.

“Heh, heh, ha! Good, good! The more gold Ah get, the stronger Ah become. Wasn’t easy gettin’ them folks to do those surveys all stealth like, but we got what we needed.”

“And they got what they wanted,” said Flam.

“All the gold they could want, too bad they were trapped in it all,” said Flim with mirthful tone.

Shining Armor’s eyes widened upon hearing that. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

“What?”

Shining Armor took out his pistol, checked the clip, and then cocked it. “Look, I wanted to tell you sooner, but I couldn’t find the right time. There are at least three ongoing cases, three possessed people that started the Mystery Murders. One of them turns people into gold, and that one is probably behind this door!”

Sunset narrowed her gaze, her eyes piercing through the door to the enemy that waited behind it. “Again, the Wendigos are trying to mess with my friends! Trying to hurt more people! They’re going down, now!”

“Ah, shit…” Shining Armor put his pistol away, and took out the shotgun. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Sunset didn’t waste any time with subtly, her hair extended into metal blades and swiftly slashed through the door, turning it into wooden blocks as it fell to the floor. “Knock, knock.”

Inside the office was Flim and Flam, but there was a third person behind the desk. He was a slightly portly man, with a grayish blue complexion, light gray, pompadour styled hair, and jade green eyes. His suit was purple, with rhinestones decorating the lapels, as well as his orange bowtie.

“My, my, my, to what do we owe this pleasure, my dear?” the man asked.

“I know who you are, I know what you are.” Sunset’s right arm created a forearm blade, while her left arm formed a crescent blade. “So, either you fess up now, or I’ll take your heads, your choice.”

Flim and Flam looked a bit afraid, however the third man did not look as scared.

Just then, Shining Armor came from around the corner and pointed his shotgun into the room. “CCPD, nobody move!”

“Officer? Thank god you’re here, this crazy woman came in and threatened to kill us!” Flim stated.

Flam looked at the officer with suspicion. “On that note, that was pretty fast, since we didn’t call yet.”

Shining Armor shrugged. “I saw someone enter the premises and decided to investigate. Lo and behold, I stumbled onto something bigger. Right, Gladmane.”

Sunset looked to Shining Armor. “You know this guy?”

“He’s been on our radar for money laundering, blackmail, assault, running illegal casinos, and prostitution. A lot of people who were going to be witnesses, or were connected to him, were mysteriously spirited away. I had my suspicions that you were behind it, but I didn’t think you were also another culprit, Midas!”

Gladmane rose up and clapped slowly. “Well, look at the brains on this one boys. Although, y’all might regret findin’ me out, ‘cause now Ah can’t let ya leave here alive.”

}}} Sunset! {{{

“Shit!” Sunset turned to Shining Armor and yelled. “GET OUT!!!”

Three silver lights shined inside the room, Shining Armor quickly did as she said and ran out of the room. At the same time, a crashing sound went off behind Shining Armor, when he looked back, he saw a big gaping hole in the wall, and a lot of dust.

Sunset found herself being shoved through multiple layers of drywall, metal, and concrete before finally ending up in open air. That was short lived as well as Sunset found herself hurtling towards some racks and slamming into them, what happened next caused a domino effect, making the rest of the racks fall down one after the other, slamming and slamming until an entire row was collapsed. Sunset hurt all over, but managed to get herself back up. Shaking off the damage, she glanced towards her newest opponents. Two of them she recognized, the Shielder and Blader, but the third one, which she assumed was Gladmane, was less appealing.

His body was completely made of gold, with a round belly, and muscly arms and legs, like that of a sumo wrestler. His ears were pointed, and sported two horns on his forehead, his beady eyes glowed red in the dim light of the warehouse. Two fangs protruded from his bottom row of teeth, extending past the lip. His hair was a sleek silver color and reached down his back, to which he also had a hefty tail that clanged on the ground every time he moved. The hands of the creature were large, sporting spikes on the knuckles, sharp nails, and one spike coming out of each shoulder. At the center of the palm was a topaz jewel, or what looked like topaz anyway.

Compared to his lackeys, Gladmane, or rather, Midas, stood about seven feet tall, towering over everyone. Sunset got into a defensive position, readying herself to fight these creatures.

“You picked a bad day to come and snoop around, Witchblade,” said Flim (Blader).

“Now we’re going to have to kill you, and your cop friend, can’t very well have witnesses who know our secret,” said Flam (Shielder).

“Answer me this, I took a look through your computers. You seem to be interested in a possible gold mine on some farm, what could you possible need gold for?” Sunset asked.

The large demon chuckled, which echoed in the warehouse already gave his demonic appearance a more ominous feel. “Simple, I want gold. It fuels me, makes me stronger. There’s so much hate swirling around such a precious metal, people have committed the most horrible sins just to get a piece of gold. They’ve murdered, stolen, kidnapped, raped, and hell, destroyed entire nations for it alone! So what do you think will happen when Ah bring all that out into the light, all that gold just sittin’ there?”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she connected the dots. “You’re going to leak the information once you’ve gotten ahold of that property.”

Midas slapped his knee. “Exactly! People are gonna be linin’ up to try and stake a claim, I’ll add a little fuel to that fire myself, but with every person trying to fight over it, people will try every underhanded trick to get it. Killin’ and stealin’, all with malice and greed in their hearts. See Ah’m special, kitten, hate is one aspect I draw off of, Ah can also feed on greed! And greedy people are so much fun to mess with! That bein’ said, like the boys stated earlier, we can’t let ya live.”

Blader and Shielder jumped out of the way as Midas rushed towards Sunset. The wielder of the Balance was caught off guard by how fast the portly monster could move, but thankfully managed to bring up her arms to form a shield. Midas cocked back his right fist and threw a punch with his large fist, striking the shield and sending Sunset flying in the opposite direction.

Sunset released her shield and spun in midair, she then slammed her feet into the concrete floor, stopping her momentum and bringing her to a halt. Her turquoise eyes shone as she took off straight for Midas, forming a claymore sword into her right hand.

Just then, Shielder intercepted, blocking her warpath. Sunset brought her sword down, hitting his shield with enough force to make the floor fissure. At the same time, Blader zipped around to her left side and slashed with his right arm blade. Sunset yelped in pain as she felt the blade slice through her side, feeling the warm blood leave her wound, she jumped away and clutched at the wound.

The attack had cut through several organs and intestines, but thankfully, the Witchblade repaired the damage in a matter of seconds. “I think we need to get serious.”

}}} Agreed. {{{

The Witchblade’s jewels began to glow, the armor expanded, covering the exposed parts of her body, forming the same armor that she used to fight Harpy a few weeks back. Sunset lowered herself, bending at the knees and getting into an attack position that was more akin to a wild animal. Shielder and Blader readied themselves, but Sunset was going to smash that shield and break that blade.

Sunset took off once again, aiming for Shielder. As expected, Shielder readied to absorb the attack, just what she wanted. Sunset formed a new weapon around her forearm, it was blocky, with a spike tip, and the rest of said tip was pulled back, which measured at about six feet in length. The bringer of Balance smashed her fist into the shield, and upon doing so, activated her weapon. The spike shot out like a bullet, hitting the shield with a concentrated strike, forcing Shielder back. When he skidded to a halt, the strong forearm shields showed a dent and cracks from where the spike had struck.

Blader used its speed and tried to rush Sunset from behind, but Sunset’s hair extended, turning into blades that began slashing at Blader. Sparks flew as Blader parried and countered as many of the strikes as he could, but some managed to cut him, spilling some of his black blood onto the floor.

Sunset prepared to attack Shielder again, but noticed that a shadow covered the area. Acting quickly, Sunset jumped to the right just as Midas landed on the spot she was standing at before, the large demon swiped his large left hand and backhanded Sunset into another rack. Midas chased after her, cocking back his fist yet again and slamming it into her, sending the heroine flying again.

Shielder dashed across the way and got right into Sunset’s path, he then dashed forward and smashed his shield into Sunset, sending her into a spin. Blader appeared before her and thrust his blade straight into her chest, the blade couldn’t pierce, but it did manage to send her straight into the ground. A thunderous boom echoed through the warehouse, making more of the racks fall over.

A body sized crater formed from the impact, and Sunset slowly dragged herself out of it. However, Midas appeared at the edge and grabbed her by the leg, he then began to slam her into the ground repeatedly, again, and again, and again before tossing her like a ragdoll.

Shielder, once again, used his shield and stopped her from going farther as her back hit his shield. Some of the armor was retracting as Sunset’s concentration wavered from the constant assault of the three demons. Unfortunately, it wasn’t over.

Midas now stood before her and grabbed Sunset by the head, she struggled to make him release her, but the beating she had taken disoriented her. “Now don’t worry, kitten, ya ain’t gonna die.”

Suddenly, a flash of yellow light went off in Midas’ hand. Almost immediately, Sunset’s body went still, gold started to grow around her, forming around every inch, every curve of her body until she was completely covered in it. When Midas released his hand, she was shown to have been in mid-scream before the flash.

“You’ll live, until you die in there, that is,” said Midas.

Shielder and Blader gathered around their boss and marveled at his handy work.

“Shame, she was quite the looker,” said Blader.

“I think you mean, hooker,” Shielder joked.

Just then, Blader was hit in the face with something fiery that exploded in his eyes. Before Shielder could ask what happened, he too was hit with the same fiery explosion to the face. Midas looked around, hearing the sound of gunfire each time that happened.

“Well now, it looks like our cop friend is trying to play hero! Y’all are wastin’ yer time! Yer little gun can’t kill us, and the only one who can is now a livin’ statue. Best to come out and let us kill you, believe me, that’s us bein’ merciful!”

Shining Armor hid behind rack, reloading his shotgun with incendiary rounds. Yeah, he knew full well the rounds wouldn’t kill them, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still feel pain. Sunset was turned to gold, he couldn’t believe it, but he had to believe that she could get out of it, unlike Midas’ other victims, she had the Witchblade, that had to count for something. In the meantime, Shining could at least make sure that they stuck around long enough for her to get out.

Inside the gold, Sunset was panicking.

Oh, shit! Oh, shit! I’m trapped! I’m trapped in this thing! There’re no holes, I’ll suffocate in this thing!

}}} Calm yourself, Sunset! I’m here with you! {{{

Sunset slowed her breathing, yeah, she wasn’t alone, the Witchblade was with her, she was trapped in the gold with a powerful weapon.

}}} Concentrate, this pitiful excuse for a prison can’t hold the likes of me, the likes of you! Do not forget, your friend is in need of your help! She will lose her family and her home if we are not successful in slaying these creatures this night! {{{

Applejack…Apple Bloom…Big Macintosh…Granny Smith…I won’t…I can’t let them down! No, that fat fuck is not beating me, is not going to take everything away from them!

}}} Yes, Sunset, let your righteous fury swell inside you, and let me be the weapon which delivers that fury to your foes! {{{

The three demons were preparing to give chase to Shining Armor, but that was stopped when they saw that the gold around Sunset was beginning to bubble and heat up.

“Uh…boss…what’s happening?” Blader asked.

Midas hurried back to the statue and released another flash of light. The gold solidified, and Midas released a sigh of relief. However, the metal began to bubble again. Midas hurriedly recast his gold flash, but each time he did, the metal continued to boil not a second later, each application wearing off faster than the last time. Midas took a few steps back as the metal finally reached its breaking point, plasmatic red flames shot out of the metal, burning it into nothing.

From the ashes of the gold, Sunset stood, panting and taking in fresh air. Her armor, strangely, was shifting in color, it was a black obsidian color, and then would shift to a crimson red color. When Sunset looked up at both of her opponents, her eyes were doing the same thing, but this time shifting from turquoise to gold, back and forth, back and forth. Even her hair was changing colors, some of the edges were silver instead of the red and yellows.

“What…are you?” Midas asked.

Sunset didn’t answer, instead, she charged straight at the demon trio. Shielder readied to block yet again, but this time, Sunset had something more in store for him. She reformed her pile driver and struck his shield, but this time, she layered the spike with crimson flames, superheating the metal spike as it shot forward, piercing straight through the shield and through Shielder’s heart. The spike was retracted, allowing Shielder’s body to collapse onto the floor, with a cauterized hole where his heart used to be.

“FLAM!!!” Blader’s eyes shined with fury as he glared at Sunset. “YOU BITCH! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!!!”

Sunset formed two swords, but these two had a serrated design to them. She got both of Blader’s blades as the two struggled for dominance. “I see, so you’re like her. You willingly merged with the Wendigo, which means you’re in complete control of your actions.”

“What does it matter?!”

“It matters, ‘cause now I don’t have to feel bad about killing you!!!”

Sunset focused her crimson flames into the blades, superheating them as well. She deflected Blader’s arm blades and then slashed the two blades in half. Sunset dismissed her swords, grabbed the two pieces in midair, and then stabbed them into his stomach, Sunset formed a katana and slashed across his chest, twice, forming an “X”. Black blood sprayed from the wounds, and after, Blader fell to the ground dead.

Midas got into a defensive position, he didn’t like this, whatever was going on, the color transitioning of Witchblade’s armor was behind it, she had gotten stronger somehow, and because of that she had dispatched his two subordinates. But he couldn’t be beaten, he was one of the three, he had to kill her or else he’d never hear the end of it from those two. Midas charged for Sunset, but in a flash, she was gone. He looked around but didn’t see her, that is, of course, if he bothered to look up.

Sunset descended down atop of Midas’ broad shoulders, piercing his left right shoulder with a sword that went down about four feet into his body. Midas spat up black blood as he tried to buck her off, but Sunset quickly jumped off of him and landed a few feet away. Then Sunset revealed that her right hand had a chain in it, and that chain was connected to the sword embedded in his shoulder.

Midas looked from the weapon and then back to Sunset and shouted, “NOOOO!!!”

Sunset gave a tug at the chain, the sword expanded inside him, turning into a fan blade that tore itself out of Midas, lobbing off his right arm in the process, once again the ground was stained with black blood. Midas howled in pain as he clutched at the wound, dropping to one knee as he continued to release his painful cries. The color change had finally stopped, her armor settling on the obsidian black, her hair no longer had the tinges of silver, and her eyes were a solid turquoise color. When that stopped, Sunset felt exhausted, but otherwise alright.

She dismissed the fan blade and reformed her claymore, slowly walking over to Midas to finish him. “It’s over, no more killing for you.”

“You think so…kitten?!”

Midas placed his left palm against the floor, and when he did, yellow light began to shine and gather to that spot.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Ya got about ten seconds to get yer ass and that cop’s outta here before I turn the entire building, and everything inside it, into gold!” Midas threatened.

“No way?!”

“Seven seconds, kitten! Six…! Five…!”

Sunset couldn’t risk that Midas was bluffing. She spotted Shining Armor and dashed towards him, when she got to him she said, “I know you said you get airsick, but throw up when we’re on the ground!”

The bringer of Balance flared her wings and soared straight for the skylight, smashing through the window just as a bright yellow flash went off inside the warehouse. From up above, Shining Armor and Sunset watched as the entire warehouse was turned into solid gold, there were several police outside, no doubt their brawl was reported, and both were thankful none of them had entered.

Sunset flew down from the sky and landed before the police officers, all of whom aimed their weapons at Sunset. She released Shining Armor and put her hands up. “Hey, hey, we’re cool, right guys?”

“Blaaarggh!”

The officers and Sunset winced when they saw Shining Armor throw up, again. After doing so, Shining Armor said, “Stand down! She helped me get out of there, this was a 303 incident, do not shoot her!” The officers lowered their weapons, when they did, Shining Armor looked to Sunset. “Go on, I can take it from here.”

Sunset smiled and saluted Shining. “Officer.”

The police watched as Sunset spread her wings and took off into the sky, disappearing into the night.

“Damn, she is hot,” said an officer.

Shining Armor face palmed. “For crying out – secure the perimeter already! And call CSU!”

Applejack could hardly sleep, none of the Apple Family could really. The looming threat of their entire lives about to be upturned, losing the farm, possibly going to jail, and the very real idea of having to get out of town. None of this was fair, of course, Applejack had no one to blame but herself. They wanted to do what they did, knowing full well what being found out would do to their family, but in the end, it turned out so much worse than what either Applejack or Big Mac imagined. Sunset had told her she’d take care of it, that she’d help them somehow.

She knew Sunset was resourceful, and scary good when she was serious, but Applejack didn’t hold out any hope. Flim and Flam were shrewd con men, as smart as Sunset was, there was no way she could get a leg up on them.

*tap, tap*

“Maybe it ain’t too late to talk to them…offer ‘em somethin’…me, maybe?”

*tap, tap*

“No…hell, they could get anyone they wanted, they’d just say yes, use me, then do what they were planin’ on doin.”

*tap, tap, tap!*

“Goddammit if that crow’s back, Ah’m goin to shoooooo…”

Applejack was rendered speechless when she saw what, or rather, who was at her window. Hovering just outside was a girl, clad in obsidian black armor, with glowing eyes, and bat-like wings. It took everything in Applejack’s body to not scream bloody murder right now. Instead, though, she chuckled hysterically.

“Heh…well…guess that’s about right, a demon is at meh window, probably goin’ to spare me the trip and just take me straight down…sure, why not,” said Applejack.

The farm girl cautiously walked over to the window, she knew it was a sin to sleep with your own sibling, so a demon coming to visit her wasn’t out of the question. With trembling hands, Applejack opened the window and stepped back. The demon grabbed the edge of the window and retracted her wings as she entered Applejack’s room. She hated to admit it, but this demon looked really hot, no pun intended.

“Are ya…are ya here to take me to hell…? If ya are…can Ah at least say goodbye to my family first?” Applejack asked.

“What? No, I’m not here to take you to hell!”

“Oh…then…are ya one of those succubus demons then? Ah mean…Ah don’t know how this works, but aren’t y’all supposed to be visitin’ guys instead of girls?”

Sunset’s left eye twitched. “No, I’m not a succubus! It’s me, Sunset! I’m Witchblade!”

Applejack’s eyes went wide with shock. “Okay, now Ah know I’m dreamin’.”

Sunset sighed, walked up to Applejack, and lightly pinched her cheek. “Still think this is a dream?”

“Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay, it ain’t a dream!” Applejack relented.

The bringer of Balance released her friend and said, “Good, there’s some things I need to talk to you about, let’s have a seat. And, do you have an extra shirt?”

“Uh…y-yeah.”

Applejack went into her dresser and pulled out a baggy t-shirt, handing it to Sunset. Once she had it, Sunset released the armor and was now standing nude in Applejack’s room. The farm girl turned around, her face as red as her apples. Sunset put the shirt on, which reached past her waist and halfway down her thighs.

“Okay, you can look I’m decent.”

Applejack turned around and said, “‘Kay…now, what in the blue hell is goin’ on here?!”

Sunset went to Applejack’s bed and sat on it, she then patted the spot next to her and said, “Have a seat, it’s a bit of a long story.”

The next couple of hours were spent with Sunset retelling the story of how she obtained the Witchblade, how she saved Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, freed Lightning Dust from the Wendigo that possessed her, learned that her actions during the Fall Formal broke the seal that kept the Wendigos locked up, saved Rarity, and about what she just did tonight. Through it all, Applejack’s expressions changed up and down at different parts, but the main expression that was seen throughout was astonishment. During the tale of tonight’s events, Sunset willed the Witchblade to produce Apple Bloom’s cellphone, and the flash drive that contained the information on the gold.

“Yer sayin’… there’s gold on our property?” Applejack asked.

“From what I read, yeah. In your hands, is the future for you and your family, AJ. The better life for Apple Bloom, yourself, Mac, and Granny Smith, it’s all right there, and it’s out there.”

Applejack looked upon the flash drive as if it were the most precious thing in the world, and held it so gently as if it was also the most fragile thing in the world. Sunset had done all of this, fought monsters, saved her little sister, and in one night saved their home and family. Applejack couldn’t hold back the tears started to flow down her face as she hunched over, trying to sob quietly as to not wake her siblings. Sunset wrapped her arms around her, hugging Applejack as she let her cry. These weren’t tears of sadness, these were tears of relief, of joy, and of regret. Regret that she ever had any doubts about how much Sunset valued their friendships, valued any of them, and of how they treated her, how she treated her.

“Can…Can ya ever fergive me, fer actin’ like such a fool all this time?” Applejack asked between sobs.

Sunset teared up a bit. “Applejack, I forgave you a long time ago.”

Both stayed like that for a minute before separating, both wearing warm smiles. Applejack wiped her tears and asked, “Guess ya better get goin’ before it gets too much later. Got school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, oh, and I’ll come up with something to explain how I got that, and don’t be too harsh on Apple Bloom when you see her. Oh, better give me back her phone, I’ll give it to her tomorrow,” said Sunset.

The farm girl huffed a bit as she handed it over. “Ah’m still a mite ticked that she had that on her phone and didn’t delete it. But…since it’s all over, Ah won’t.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Sunset stood up and took off the shirt, making Applejack look away again. In a matter of seconds, the Witchblade once again covered Sunset’s body, Applejack still couldn’t believe that Sunset fought in such revealing armor. Sunset peeked over her shoulder and struck a sexy pose.

“Like what you see, AJ?”

“Get off it, and fly on home,” said Applejack playfully.

“Your loss, they say a life or death fight can really boost the sex drive,” Sunset teased.

“If yer that hot and bothered, go visit Rainbow, Ah’m pretty sure she’s got a thing for this version of you.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled. “If I did, and she found out it was me, she’d probably never speak to me again for tricking her. Anyway, goodnight Applejack.”

“Night, Sunset.”

Applejack watched as Sunset leapt out of her window and flew through the sky. The farm girl went back to her bed and placed the flash drive in the drawer of her nightstand, she almost couldn’t wait until tomorrow, her family was in for a big surprise.

Down in the sewers, Midas was hiding. Now that his identity as Gladmane was exposed, showing his face up top was going to be troublesome. Jumping bodies was an option, but Gladmane and Midas were in sync with each other, he was a good host and Midas didn’t want to risk giving that up for something less. Just then, he sensed the Call, the two were wanting to speak with him.

Before his eyes, the ghostly apparitions of his two high ranking Wendigos appeared. One was pink and had a female form, the only thing visible were the eyes, which were crystal blue. The second was gray, with piercing red eyes, but this one was only a mist.

“Wow, you look like shit,” said the pink apparition.

“Your kindness is much appreciated, you glorified slut,” Midas shot back.

“Enough you two. What happened?”

Midas filled in the two Wendigos, both of whom seemed agitated that the Witchblade was once again interfering with them. “And that’s how Ah’m in this sorry state right now!”

“That is a bit unnerving, this Witchblade is easily dispatching us, some of our minor servants that come into being are one thing, but to see this kind of damage done to a higher rank…”

“Indeed, not only that, but when she kills, it’s oblivion. She can kill us in spirit form and in a host as well. Normally, we can jump from body to body, so losing a host body is no real loss. But this Witchblade, when she kills our hosts, she can kill us too.”

“We can beat her if we had more numbers, somethin’ Ah thought you were workin’ on, Nihil!” Midas accused.

“In due time, human children are not complex, but can also be contradictorily complex as well. The epicenter of the magic which freed us is the key to giving us the power we need to fully manifest. The school is the key, I just need to rile them up a little more.”

“Well, you have your way of doing that, and I have mine. By the way, ‘Midas’, jeez, these humans and their names for us, what are you going to do about that body?”

“Keep it, duh! Ah ain’t lettin’ that bitch take what’s mine so easily! Ah can’t go through with my plan now those two are dead…” Midas grunted in pain as he felt the sting of his lost limb. “Ah’ll have to wait until this grows back.”

“Guess I’m picking up the slack then. Very well, suppose I can get a little more aggressive with my followers.”

Author's Notes:

Case Ongoing