Almost a week had passed since that night, and things haven’t exactly gotten any less peaceful. The man, Beetle Underwood, was gone and would never hurt Pinkie again, Sunset made sure of that. But, the Mystery Murders continued, some would say that they increased a little with the recent death of Beetle Underwood. However, Sunset couldn’t do anything about that, not now at least.

Today was Sunday, and as promised, Sunset had her slumber party with Pinkie Pie. Although, given that Pinkie’s room was demolished – partially Sunset’s fault – the duo had to have the party at Sunset’s home. Now that Underwood was dead, they no longer required police protection, and if Sunset was going to be honest, she much preferred living alone. She liked Principal Celestia, but living with her was too much of a reminder of the Princess Celestia she turned her back on in Equestria.

Instead of just coming over, Pinkie Pie opted to stay with Sunset for the weekend, making it an extended slumber party. Sunset was pretty sure that the other reason was due to what happened, Pinkie wouldn’t show it, but she had been through something traumatic. She tried to not let what happened keep her down, and for the most part she was, but being around Sunset seemed to make her feel calmer and more assured. Sunset wasn’t going to argue if that was the reason or not, the fact that she had at least one of her friends back, and was enjoying a simple slumber party with them was more than enough reason to let Pinkie Pie stay over.

Both girls were in the middle of playing a fighting game, with Pinkie showing off her mad button mashing skills, but the whole time they were playing, Sunset was thinking. With the acquisition of the Witchblade, Sunset knew that she had to be the one to stop these murders, but she lacked the investigative power to actually look into these cases. Well, not entirely. I could cross reference all the known crimes, revisit crime scenes, and scour the internet for some info. But…

“Sunset?”

The flame haired girl turned to her right and saw that Pinkie Pie was giving her a concerned look. “Y-Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” she lied.

Pinkie Pie paused the game and sighed. “You don’t have to lie, I know you’re thinking about something.”

“Uh…h-how could you tell?” Sunset asked.

“You get this little crease in your forehead whenever you’re thinking super hard on something…riiiiiiiight…there!” Pinkie used her left index finger and put it right in the middle of Sunset’s forehead.

Sunset groaned, but then chuckled in amusement, causing Pinkie to chuckle too.

“Are you thinking about tomorrow?” Pinkie asked.

“Tomorrow?”

“We have to go back to school tomorrow. It was nice of Principal Celestia to let us stay home for this long,” Pinkie hugged her legs to her chest, “but we can’t avoid going back.”

Sunset sighed heavily as she looked up at her ceiling. “I know…I’m not looking forward to it that much. Anon-A-Miss hasn’t stopped, I’ve been checking.” Sunset raised her cellphone up and opened the MyStable page for Anon-A-Miss. “Some are saying that I faked the whole thing, that I was using your trauma to try and get sympathy for myself.”

Pinkie turned to Sunset with wide eyes. “B-But that’s a lie! You were there, and…and you were hurt! I-I don’t know why you’re okay – I don’t really care how – but, y’know?!”

Sunset put her cellphone down. “It doesn’t matter what the truth is, Pinkie. So long as they believe that I’m Anon-A-Miss, anything I say will be a lie, even if you back me up. When we go back tomorrow, I don’t want you trying to defend me, or convincing anyone that I was there.”

“But…Sunset…”

Sunset turned to face Pinkie. “It’s not that I don’t want you to, believe me, I’d love to have someone advocating for my innocence.”

“But –!”

“But,” Sunset interrupted, “if Anon-A-Miss is at the school, he or she will target anyone that looks like they’re trying to help me. They’ll spread lies about you, make people distrust you as much as they are me. You’ve been through enough this week, I don’t want you getting hurt because of some invisible asshole who’s too afraid to just face me!”

Pinkie didn’t like it, she didn’t like knowing that Sunset was about to walk into a place where everyone was going to be attacking her, enemies from every direction, and not one ally. And to help her, would mean being labeled as her accomplice.

“Promise me that you won’t try and convince anyone, okay?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie nodded. “Okay…”

Sunset looked at the clock and saw that it was already ten at night. “Let’s hit the hay, we have a ‘fun’ day ahead…”

Pinkie was the first to go and wash up in Sunset’s bathroom, emerging a few minutes later and allowing Sunset to do the same.

}}} You’re on edge. {{{

“Gee, ya think?”

}}} Just know that we are one, you can cut down whoever tries to do you harm. {{{

Sunset splashed some water on her face and sighed. “Yeah, not really going to start a killing spree in my school with a supernatural artifact. Almost did that once, not ever doing that again. So, from tomorrow onward, unless I say so, you’re not going to react to anything!”

}}} ………Elaborate. {{{

“Look, there are people who are going to be shoving me around, writing shit on my locker, and some are probably going to be looking to fight me. I’ve either avoided, ignored, or when I did get into a fight, sidestep them as much as possible and let them hurt themselves. Works for the most part, but not always. So, I want your word that you won’t react or attack anyone! Or make that skimpy armor appear!”

}}} Humph, please, I wouldn’t waste a full armor transformation for the likes of a mortal. Maybe an army. But otherwise you needn’t fear that happening. {{{

Sunset brushed her teeth, rinsed, and spat out the remainder into the sink. “Good. So long as you understand. And, look, I’m grateful that you saved me, and that you allowed me the power to kill him. But, please, at least understand what I’m going through. You can see my memories can’t you?”

}}} ……I can. And I don’t like what I see. You remind me of a bearer I once had. She was the definition of a Saint. She fought entire armies for the sake of her people, and in the end, because the people loved her, those with power made the very people who she saved turn against her, and burned her alive under the accusation of being a witch. {{{

Sunset looked at the Witchblade incredulously. “You just let her burn and you didn’t save her?!”

}}} Much like you, she didn’t want to retaliate against her people. Her faith and resolve kept me from acting, and in the end, I lost my bearer. As I said, your actions remind me of her, a little. {{{

“Sorry.” Sunset turned off the faucet. “She sounded like a remarkable woman.”

}}} She was, but she was not the only one. My bearers have gone on to make legends of themselves, their heroic feats spoken only in myths and tales. In this age, it will be jotted down as history, in the future, it will be another legend that the old tell their young. {{{

Sunset smiled as she finished up. “Please, I’m not trying to be legendary…I just want to atone for my sins the best I can.”

The flame haired girl exited the bathroom, and saw all but the upstairs lights were on. She looked down to the couch and saw that Pinkie’s sleeping bag was empty. Sunset ascended the stairs and saw that Pinkie was waiting for her in her bed.

“I thought…maybe we could share the bed this time? You know, instead of sleeping downstairs in sleeping bags?” Pinkie suggested.

Sunset wasn’t going to lie, she was bi. Being a pony, where the female to male ratio was like three to one, ponies had developed into more bisexual or in some cases pansexual beings. So, right now, Sunset was very aware of how…attractive Pinkie looked right now.

Her favorite PJs were wrecked thanks to Underwood, and honestly, Sunset was sure that Pinkie wasn’t going to wear those again after what happened. So, the party girl opted for an oversized white t-shirt, with her signature three balloons on it, problem was, that underneath that was nothing more than Pinkie’s bright pink panties. Sunset wasn’t an idiot, even when she was her old self, she would notice how attractive the girls were, and now after being friends with them, that attractiveness just increased, but was normally kept at the back of her mind due to their budding friendships.

However, right now, tonight, after everything that had happened this week, Sunset felt a bit closer to Pinkie. And there were studies done that two people who had been through a life or death experience together do tend to have increased sex drives. Sunset mentally slapped herself. Get it together Shimmer! Don’t think about her like that! It’s Pinkie Pie for fuck’s sake!

“Ahem…uh, sure, that’s fine with me, Pinks,” said Sunset in as nonchalant a manner as she could muster.

Pinkie Pie smiled and scooted over to let Sunset lay down. For point of reference, Sunset was wearing a red tank top with black boxers. The flame haired teen sat at the edge of her bed and glanced over to Ray. The little lizard seemed to be smirking at his owner in a very, “Lucky girl”, kind of way.

Bite me, Ray.

Sunset turned off the light and she slipped into bed. The room was dark for a moment until Sunset’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed that happened faster than usual lately, most likely due to the Witchblade’s power enhancing her body. An hour passed and Sunset was barely asleep, her mind still racing about what could happen tomorrow. Just then, her body stiffened up as she felt Pinkie Pie turn to her. The pink girl’s arm draped over Sunset’s middle, bringing her closer effectively spooning her.

“Uh…P-Pinkie, you awake?” Sunset whispered.

All she could hear was the soft and steady breathing of Pinkie as she slumbered. Sunset felt Pinkie hold her tighter, and of course, that brought Pinkie’s warm breasts to press against her back. The former unicorn mare blushed at the sensation, to be fair, Sunset felt she had an impressive bust, C-cup bordering on D-cup. But, ahem, out of their group of friends, if it was a contest of who had the biggest rack, then Pinkie and Fluttershy tied for first. Both sported, plump, rounded Ds bordering on Es, and right now those two Ds were pressed against Sunset’s back. Sunset swallowed hard, the sensation, while awkward, was strangely not unwelcomed. The pony turned human was about to say something when she heard Pinkie murmuring.

“I’m sorry……Don’t be mad……don’t leave……Sunset……”

There was a wetness felt on her back, and the sounds of sniffling. All of the tension disappeared in that moment for Sunset, Pinkie was scared, and she just wanted to be close to Sunset right now. Sunset scooted closer and placed her right hand over Pinkie’s, she was trembling. How did I not notice that? Thankfully, the moment Sunset touched her hand the trembling stopped. Somehow, this reassurance made Sunset feel more relaxed. She was going to miss this when Pinkie returned home.

}}} I don’t disapprove. She’s quite attractive. {{{

Shut it you!

The morning sun rose way too fast in Sunset’s opinion, despite knowing that this world did not have a living deity that controlled the sun and moon, it was times like this that made her wonder if that was true.

Sunset and Pinkie awoke and got ready for school. Unfortunately, due to the state that Sunset’s bike was in – by which I mean it was only good for scrap metal – Sunset resorted to taking the bus. Celestia had offered to drive Sunset to and from school, but with the heat of Anon-A-Miss, it was better that Principal Celestia didn’t show any special treatment to her. The last thing Sunset wanted was to cause more trouble for another Celestia.

The bus ride took a few minutes, but Sunset wasn’t unused to it, before she got her bike, this was her mode of transportation. The bus came to a halt at one of its designated spots, and Sunset rose to get off.

“Wait, we still have one more stop before we’re at the school!” Pinkie stated hastily.

“It’s not that far a walk from here, besides, remember what we talked about. I don’t need Anon-A-Miss targeting you too. Just meet up with the girls and just do whatever, I’ll be fine.”

In spite of the reassurance, Pinkie was still worried. She nodded to Sunset and watched her as she got off.

Sunset stood at the bus stop until the hulking vehicle drove away. She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets and huffed as she began her walk. Sunset hated to admit it, but she had become spoiled in her time as a human. When she was a pony, Sunset would teleport, walk, or run to any place in Canterlot or in the palace. But, with the convenience of vehicles, buses, taxis, and ride shares, Sunset’s need to run and walk to any place had been drastically changed. It wasn’t that she detested walking, she just detested it during the winter months, and during rainstorms, and heat waves…so, yeah.

The long walk eventually came to an end when Sunset saw CHS in the distance. She took steady, calming breaths, steeling her nerves and hardening her skin – metaphorically speaking – for what was to come. Sunset approached the school, and the moment she stepped onto the quad, it felt like on oppressive miasma washed over her. The students had been divided, some returning to their cliques, others only sticking around those whom they thought they could trust, or just completely staying away from others and isolating themselves.

Of course, there was only one unifying thing that made them forget each other, and right now Sunset was drawing the eyes of everyone single person there. Before her fall, she was used to seeing fear in the eyes of the students, some anger, but more fear. When she fell, the students would look upon her with suspicion and glares of anger. After the Battle of the Bands, most of those glares had been erased and were replaced with smiles and warm greetings. Now though, if she wasn’t being verbally accosted, she was receiving glares, like hundreds of daggers stabbing her in every direction. The animosity that had been kicked up was palpable, as if at any moment the students would descend upon Sunset and essentially lynch her.

It was enough to make her sick. Not only were they willing to believe these lies, but that the person who started all this wanted this to happen and was getting some sick kicks from causing harm to others so that they could harm her indirectly. Thinking about it made Sunset tighten her fists in her jacket pockets.

Coward, if you have a beef with me then come on out and do something! Yell at me! Beat me up! But making everyone else miserable just to attack me?

Just then, Sunset felt something. Now that she was equipped with the Witchblade, Sunset’s senses had been heightened significantly. For one thing, her spacial awareness had been expanded, allowing her to sense things in a perfect three-sixty degree radius. It was due to this increased sensing ability that Sunset felt something approaching her at high speeds, and by the feel of it and the sound, it sounded like a snowball, but at the same time, it felt heavy.

Sunset sidestepped to the right, moving with great speed as she snatched the snowball out of the air just as it was about to pass her by. The students assembled in the quad all gasped at the show of speed and precision, Sunset hadn’t even crushed the snowball when she grasped it. The former Equestrian noted that the snowball was indeed heavier than a snowball should be, she crushed it in her hand in full view of everyone, and when she did, she scowled.

Sunset thrust her fist forward and dropped the object that was inside the snowball. It was a rock, it clattered against the cement walkway, it was decent sized rock, had it hit Sunset at the speed it was going it would’ve surely gave her a cut, or if she was unlucky, hit her in the temple and knock her out.

“I know whoever threw that’s not brave enough to step forward, so I’ll say this. The next time you try that, I won’t catch it, and if it hits someone when I dodge it, that’s on you.”

Sunset made sure to look everyone in the eyes as she said that, noticing that some had the decency to feel ashamed or were even shocked that there was a rock in the snowball. The redhead huffed and then continued her walk into the school.

Sunset entered the hallway, and the reception was no less unpleasant inside than it was outside. Unlike before, the mere presence of Sunset Shimmer was enough to make people part like the Red Sea whenever she walked down the hallway. Now, it was like to push through a crowded subway. It was as if the student body just realized the simple fact that they were many and she was one, Sunset almost laughed. Had they realized this fact back when she first arrived, maybe her plans, indeed all her actions up to this point, would have never happened. But, now they were united in a common hate of one person, as misplaced as it was.

Sunset continued to push through the crowds, nearly getting tripped in the process, three times. When she made it to her locker, Sunset found that her fellow peers didn’t waste any time in decorating her locker while she and Pinkie were out. The locker was vandalized with graffiti, the words “She-Demon”, “Manipulator”, “Bitch”, “Slut”, and a number of other things were either scratched, painted, or written on the locker door. Sunset wondered if they messed with anything? She had switched from a key lock to a combination lock to make it harder for people to break in, they’d have to take a bolt cutter to it if they wanted to get in. Sunset inspected the locker and could not find any signs of forced entry.

Regardless, she couldn’t leave anything to chance. Sunset put in her combination, hunching over the lock to ensure that no one saw her combination. Once it was unlocked, Sunset stood to the side and opened the door. Nothing happened. In the months of Anon-A-Miss, Sunset had stink bombs left inside, insects from the biology lab, and someone had been elaborate enough to set up a spring loaded boxing glove that nearly nailed Sunset in the gut. But, surprisingly, there was nothing.

Sunset began changing out her books for the classes of the day, she was about done when she heard the sound of a fist slamming against the locker beside her. She had long since lost the ability to be shocked or surprised by the action and loud sound, just as she wasn’t surprised when she saw who was on her left.

Standing at an impressive six feet and two inches, was Gilda Lionheart. She wore a dark brown leather coat, with a white fur collar, black steel toed boots and dark denim jeans. Her complexion was a golden brown, with white feathery hair, her bangs tipped with purple coloring. Her eyes were a piercing yellow, with purple eyeshadow, she scowled at Sunset, her presence meant to be intimidating.

“Gilda.”

“Look who’s back, the Queen Bitch herself,” said Gilda.

Sunset stood back, and just as predicted, her locker door was slammed shut as another person appeared on her left. That other person was someone Sunset knew through Rainbow Dash, her name was Lightning Dust. She had goldenrod colored spiky hair, and had a turquoise colored complexion. She wore black, fingerless gloves on her hands, a black leather jacket over a blue hoodie, and a dark blue denim jeans. Her eyes were the same golden color as her hair, and bore malice.

“Lightning. Can we not do this early in the morning? I’ve had a hell of a week and I just want to get through this Monday,” said Sunset.

“Oh, what? You mean that whole bullshit about you getting attacked?” Gilda asked mockingly.

“Please, don’t make excuses, Shimmer. You were just trying to avoid coming here to take your lumps, like a fucking coward, Anon-A-Miss,” Lightning accused.

Sunset grit her teeth behind pursed lips as she grunted, “I am not Anon-A-Miss.”

Gilda swiftly grabbed a fistful of Sunset’s jacket and pushed her against the locker. Sunset felt a stirring on her wrist, the Witchblade was reacting, she looked down and saw that small strands of metal were creeping out, like vipers waiting to strike at a moment’s notice.

“Do you think anyone here believes that shit?! Who else has the skills to find out the kind of stuff you’ve been posting?! Huh?! Talking shit about my family!” Gilda accused.

“Or spreadin’ some bullshit about my old man abusing me?! What kind of sick fuck are you?!” Lightning added.

}}} They are starting to annoy me… {{{

Sunset briefly glanced to the Witchblade. Don’t you dare! They’re just being stupid!

“Did you ever stop to think that it might be someone with a grudge against me, trying to make me a target? Don’t you get it?! By doing all this you’re playing into Anon-A-Miss’ hands! They’re practically turning you and everyone into their puppets, and the last time I checked, you weren’t one to let yourself be so easily manipulated, Gilda!”

Gilda grit her teeth as she readied to punch Sunset.

“What’s going on here?!”

The students parted when they saw the teacher, Ms. Harshwhinny, appear in the hallway. The woman was known for being stern, so most did not cross her. Her blue eyes scanned the scene before her and her scowl deepened. “Ms. Lionheart, I know you weren’t about to assault a fellow student in the halls of this school, were you?”

Gilda blinked and stuttered as she said, “Uh…I mean…no, no ma’am!”

“That was a rhetorical question. Report to detention!” Ms. Harshwhinny ordered. Her eyes then fell on Lightning Dust. “And you as well Ms. Dust.”

Lightning looked at the teacher incredulously. “What?! Why?! I didn’t do anything!”

“Guilt by association, now let’s go!”

Gilda released Sunset and looked her in the eyes as she said, “This isn’t over, Anon-A-Miss.”

Lighting walked by and added, “We’ll see you soon, Anon-A-Miss.”

Once Gilda and Lightning left, the rest of the students went back to their activities as if nothing had happened.

}}} This “Anon-A-Miss”, I might rescind my earlier statement about not wasting my full armor on a mortal. {{{

Buckle up, the day just started…

Pinkie Pie sat with her friends at lunch, and just as she predicted, the school was not any better than it was when Winter Break started. Everyone was on edge, with their secrets spilled, friendships were fractured, smiles were far and few between. But, the worst part of all of this, was seeing Sunset alone.

The flame haired girl sat at a table in the center of the lunch room, Pinkie figured that it made it easier for Sunset to see who was coming towards her, a table close to a wall would make it too easy for her to get ganged up on and driven into a corner. But it also served another purpose, Sunset made it so that everyone could watch her every move.

How could I let her stay like that…? It’s like she’s on an island with a raging sea all around her. And not the fun kind with coconuts, a sparkling lagoon, and monkeys getting into hijinks either!

“Pinkie, are you okay?”

The curly haired girl turned to her right and saw Fluttershy give her a worried look. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine!”

“Honestly, darling, if you’re not feeling well do tell us or the teachers. After what you’ve been through, you needn’t push yourself,” said Rarity.

Pinkie put on a smile, a forced one, as she said, “Nah, I needed to see you guys! Besides, my room’s a mess, so I really can’t do much there.”

“Ah just can’t believe y’all got attacked by some sorta demon monster! What the hell is goin’ on lately?” Applejack asked with concern.

“Yeah, about that,” Rainbow leaned in, “what exactly happened? A monster doesn’t just die that easily from some gunshots, what really happened?”

Fluttershy glared at Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie went through something terrible! If she doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t ask her!”

Pinkie Pie waved her hand gently as she said, “No, it’s okay, not talking about doesn’t help. I read somewhere that keeping things like that inside and not saying anything is really bad for you. So…what happened was…”

The party girl told her friends what happened that night, everything. Rainbow and Applejack had furious expressions upon their faces upon hearing of the monster’s molestation of their friend, while Rarity and Fluttershy were beside themselves with shock. Then she told them about the person who came to save her, another monster. She told them of how it dragged Underwood out of her room and fought him on her front lawn, and how that same monster killed him. To say that her friends were shocked would be an understatement.

“W-Why the hell didn’t the cops say that on the news?!” Rainbow asked.

“Think about it, Dash. How would it sound if they went around sayin’ there are monsters killin’ people, and that there was another one that killed the other? They’d either think they were crazy or hidin’ somethin’,” said Applejack.

“A-And…are we sure that this isn’t, ahem, Equestria related? Like the Sirens?” Rarity asked.

“Who knows?” Rainbow answered.

“Sunset might…” Fluttershy whispered.

Rarity and Applejack looked to each other upon hearing their former friends name. They were still angry with the girl whom they thought was their friend, but they had to admit, she was the only one in this world who had any knowledge about the mystical creatures that resided in her home dimension, that, and she was the only one with access to the magic journal that allowed them to talk to Princess Twilight.

“No effing way! We’re not asking for help from her!” Rainbow stated.

“Look, Rainbow, Ah ain’t keen on the idea either. But if this is Equestrian Magic related, then the only way to deal with it is to get Sunset’s help,” said Applejack.

“No! We could always ask Princess Twilight!” Rainbow shot back.

“But, Sunset’s the one with the journal, we can’t talk to Princess Twilight,” Fluttershy pointed out.

Rainbow slammed her hands on the table, startling the yellow girl. “Then we’ll just make her give it up! Once we tell her what’s going on, she'll totally be onboard!”

Rarity tapped her fingers against the table. “Oh yes, and how do you suppose that conversation will go? Princess Twilight, darling, how’s everything in your kingdom?! By the way, we’re currently experiencing a rash of murders that we believe are being committed by demonic beasts! Would you happen to know if there are any such things in your world? Why hasn’t Sunset contacted you? Oh that’s because we forced her to hand over the journal because we don’t trust her anymore!”

“W-Wait…you’re not seriously think about asking Sunset to hand over her journal, are you?” Pinkie asked with concern.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and closed her eyes in thought. “Maybe, I mean, after all this Anon-A-Miss crap, I’d say she’s lost the right to talk to Princess Twilight. Plus, she could be messaging her and telling her all kinds of lies about what’s happening.”

Pinkie lost a bit of her cool as she stood up and said, “Did you guys forget what I told you?! Sunset saved my life! She sacrificed herself so that I could live! I saw her get hurt! It happened right in front of me! I still…” Pinkie’s eyes began to water. “I can still remember the warmth of her blood on my cheek and on my hand…”

The girls noticed that Pinkie Pie was trembling as she recalled the memory, a look of guilt spread through the table. Pinkie wasn’t one to make up something like that, and the tears she was shedding were not fake.

Fluttershy stood up and wrapped her arms around Pinkie. “It’s okay…we’re sorry. But Sunset’s okay, she’s over there.”

Pinkie sniffled again. “She’s alive, but she’s far from ‘okay’. As long as this Anon-A-Miss keeps telling people's secrets and spreading lies, no one’s going to be ‘okay’.”

“It’ll stop when she stops,” said Rainbow. “Seriously, who else could’ve gotten those pictures?! We were all in the same room, and Sunset was the only one with them on her cellphone! Plus, she somehow got the ones from Rarity’s phone, which again, we were all in the same room!”

Pinkie gently removed herself from Fluttershy’s embrace and stared defiantly at Rainbow. “I-I don’t know how those got out…! I’m just as confused as you all are…but…I just…I just know that it’s not her!”

Rarity blinked in surprise. “Pinkie, dear, I don’t doubt that Sunset saved your life, but Anon-A-Miss is still spreading rumors, even during those days you were out.”

Pinkie rubbed her eyes and put on a serious face. “Well…I’m tired of being mad at her. I’m tired and I don’t want to be mad, actually, I’m not mad at all! You know what, I believe her!”

The girls’ jaws dropped upon hearing this declaration. Pinkie then took her tray of food and proceeded to walk towards Sunset’s table. The other students watched as the premier party planner of CHS approached Sunset’s table, much to Sunset’s surprise. She then sat down and smiled happily at Sunset as she began eating her lunch.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Sunset asked.

“Eating my lunch,” said Pinkie happily.

“I can see that, but why are you eating your lunch at this table?”

“Do I need a reason to eat lunch with my friend?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset wanted to protest, she wanted to put on a show and yell at Pinkie to make everyone think that this wasn’t okay, but her protest was slowly fading as she watched Pinkie sit there and eat, her smile not wavering in the slightest. She knew what she was doing, and didn’t care.

“Anon-A-Miss is going to make up lies about anyone who helps you, you said so. No point in delaying the inevitable, you gonna eat that cookie? Dibs!”

Pinkie snatched Sunset’s chocolate chip cookie and began munching on it. Sunset couldn’t help but smile, yes, Anon-A-Miss might target Pinkie Pie now, but Pinkie knew the consequences, and didn’t care.

}}} I like her. You should consider her for a mate. {{{

Sunset’s face turned beet red upon hearing the Witchblade’s suggestion. I don’t think of her that way, okay?! She’s my friend!

}}} I didn’t hear a “no”. {{{

Sunset face palmed.

Sunset managed to get through the rest of the day relatively unscathed. All that was left for her to do was to go and change out her books at her locker, take the bus, plop on the couch, go to bed, wake up, and do it all over again. Rinse, dry, repeat. Sunset sighed heavily, she needed to find out who Anon-A-Miss was, but her resources were limited, not only that, but her list of suspects were more than a mile long, and no one in the school was exactly up for helping her investigate since they all pegged her as the guilty one. Well, correction, one person was willing to help.

}}} Look out! {{{

Unfortunately, Sunset’s inner thoughts distracted her from noticing that someone was coming at her. The redheaded teen was violently shoved into one corner of the hallway, a little caddy corner hall that was a dead end of lockers, no doors, one way in, one way out, and right now, that out was being guarded by two familiar girls.

Sunset picked herself up off the floor and growled in frustration. “Gilda, Lightning, I seriously don’t want to do this right now.”

“Tough titties, because it’s happening,” said Gilda.

“Aren’t you both supposed to be in detention?” Sunset asked.

“Slipped out just to see you,” said Lightning as she cracked her knuckles. “No more of you talking shit, Shimmer. Either take down the account, or else.”

Sunset sighed heavily as she slid off her backpack and kicked it behind her. “I’d love to, in fact, if I possessed the resources, I’d send a virus to take down all of MyStable! Sadly, I don’t, just like I don’t have the means to take down the account because IT ISN’T ME!”

Gilda cracked her neck. “Always gotta do things the hard way, huh, Shimmer?!”

The tall teen rushed in, taking a swing at Sunset. The former Equestrian stepped away from the attack, time seemed to slow down for Sunset, her enhanced reflexes and thought processing allowed her to see how Gilda was going to attack, which she then gave a slight push onto Gilda’s back with her right hand, making Gilda fall forward and ram against the lockers.

Lightning came in next, about to throw a haymaker, Sunset moved to the left and stuck out her foot just as Lightning Dust passed her by. The turquoise teen’s foot got tripped up, sending Lightning tumbling to the floor until she hit the lockers.

Sunset knew the Witchblade had to be giving her a boost, Gilda may’ve been tall and muscular, but she was by no means slow, no, Gilda was deceptively quick for someone her size, even more so when she was in a fight. Lightning was the same as Rainbow Dash, both excelled at sports, but Lightning had a nasty habit of pushing her body harder than others, which did lead to her being exceptionally fast and strong, but did also led her to receive a fair share of injuries to go with them. Sunset wasn’t a slacker either, without magic, Sunset had to learn how to defend herself, so she watched several ViewTube videos as well as read as many books as she could about self-defense, kickboxing, and other forms of martial arts. Sunset’s speed was honed over her first couple of years in the human world as a homeless girl, if you weren’t fast and constantly aware of your surroundings, you could end up dead. Which wasn’t that much different from the current situation.

Sunset looked over her shoulder and saw a crowd of students had effectively plugged up the exit and were filling the halls on both ends. If the teachers were coming, there was no way they were going to get to her as quickly as she would’ve liked.

Gilda shook her head and then charged in again, she threw punches wildly, cutting the air with each strike. Sunset managed to dodge each one, but she was quickly noticing that she was being forced back into the crowd, and Sunset figured that they were in no hurry to allow Sunset a way out. But worse than that, if Sunset used the same tactic again, Gilda’s swings could end up hurting someone.

The former unicorn watched as one of Gilda’s punches came at her, but she quickly caught the tan woman by the wrist, surprising Gilda. “Enough, Gilda! I don’t want to fight you! If you keep this up, you’ll hurt yourself or someone else!”

Gilda threw another punch with her left hand, but Sunset caught that as well. “You think that matters right now?! We’re doing what they don’t have the guts to do! And that’s putting a stop to Anon-A-Miss!”

“Yeah! Go, Gilda!”

“Kick her ass!”

“Don’t hold back!”

Sunset heard them, the students were actually cheering on Gilda and Lightning, they really wanted them to beat her up. All because of Anon-A-Miss, this was all that damn account’s, fault. All Sunset wanted was to live in peace with her new friends, to learn the joys and lessons that friendship could bring, but no. All of that was shattered, her fragile trust that Sunset had been building up was dashed like glass against a cliff side.

Gilda took advantage of Sunset’s dismay, rearing back her head and then lurching forward into a headbutt. Gilda’s forehead smacked Sunset right between the eyes, causing Sunset to yelp and release Gilda. The tall teen delivered a punch to Sunset’s gut, slightly lifting her off the ground, and then followed up with the left hook across her face.

Lightning came up behind Gilda and struck Sunset on the opposite cheek with a right hook. Gilda quickly got behind Sunset, getting her arms under Sunset’s pits and locking her up. Lightning took advantage of this and began to wail on Sunset, turning her into a punching bag. All the while, the Witchblade’s ruby gemstone was pulsing, the metal squirming like a cornered cobra that was just itching to strike.

}}} That is enough! {{{

NO! Don’t activate!

}}} I will not standby and allow my wielder to subject herself to this! {{{

Fucking Anon-A-Miss…this pain…these cheers…all of it because of Anon-A-Miss…!

“I’m…not…her…”

Lightning stopped. “What’d you say?”

Sunset’s head rose up and her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits that made Lightning take a step back. “I. AM. NOT. ANON-A-MISS!” Sunset used the leverage that Gilda gave her and reared up her legs and thrust them forward, donkey kicking Lightning in the chest and sending her falling to the floor.

The shift in momentum caused Gilda’s grip to loosen and allowed Sunset to get her right arm loose. Sunset drove her elbow into Gilda’s gut, and then followed up with a hammer back fist right into Gilda’s womanhood.

“SON OF BITCH!” Gilda screamed in pain as she finally let go of Sunset. “FUCK!”

Sunset swept Gilda’s legs from under her, making the tan girl fall forward onto the floor. With great speed, Sunset ground her knee into Gilda’s back as she took Gilda’s right arm and pulled back, effectively pinning her to the floor.

“Goddammit! You seriously cunt punched me?! Dammit that hurt you bitch! AAH!” Sunset bent Gilda’s arm at further back, silencing her.

“Not as much as me dislocating your arm, willing to make a bet?!” Sunset threatened. “I’m done!” She then looked towards the crowd who had stopped their cheering. “You hear me?! I’m through! I’m not the one who’s doing this, but I promise you, Anon-A-Miss, because I know you’re in that crowd watching this, getting your rocks off to seeing us tear each other apart, that when I find you, you’re going to wish that you were never born!”

The crowd seemed visibly shaken by Sunset’s declaration, causing the others to murmur amongst themselves wondering for the first time if Anon-A-Miss was someone else, and if that someone was in the crowd with them?

“Fuck that…” Lightning coughed as she rose back to her feet. “That’s just like you, Shimmer…playing the victim and throwing us off your scent! You’re just trying to confuse us by making us think it’s someone else, so like you! But ya know what…? We ain’t buyin’ it!”

Sunset was about to say something when Lightning, in a surprising display of speed, tackled Sunset right off of Gilda. The flame haired girl was about to retaliate, but then felt Lightning’s hands wrap around her throat. Sunset’s eyes widened as she felt Lightning immediately tighten her grip and constrict her windpipe. She grabbed Lightning’s arms, but for some reason was having a hard time making her let go, even with her enhanced strength.

Lightning straddled Sunset’s stomach as she leaned forward and applied more pressure. Sunset’s legs were flailing about behind Lightning as Sunset continued to struggle against her.

The crowd’s enthusiasm quickly turned to fear as they watched the turquoise teen choke out Sunset Shimmer in front them, she wasn’t beating her up, Lightning was trying to kill her.

Gilda managed to get up from the floor, nursing her hurt right arm, that is until she saw what Lightning was doing. “L-Lightning? Lightning what the hell, stop, that’s enough!” When Lightning didn’t heed her words, Gilda rushed towards her friend and tried to pull her off. “I said that’s enough! Stop it or you’ll fucking kill her!”

Lightning growled as she swiftly took her right hand off of Sunset’s throat and pushed Gilda off, making her slam into the lockers. “SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHE HAS THIS COMING!” Lightning’s hand returned to do its work, she then leaned in close to Sunset as she looked into her eyes. “I bet you like this don’t you fucking slut?! Having a hot girl straddle you and choke you out?! You look like you’d be into this hardcore shit?! Well, are you getting off?! Are you wet down there?!”

}}} That’s it, I’m killing her! {{{

NO…! She’s…wait…what is…? Sunset looked into Lightning’s eyes and noticed that her pupils briefly changed shape, shifting between a rounded “O” to an “X” as a silver glow outlined her irises. Something’s…wrong…

}}} I see it too. Now will you let me come out?! {{{

Just increase my strength, that’s all I need!

The Witchblade didn’t want to do that, it wanted to skewer this girl, but the weapon complied. Sunset’s irises began to take on a slight glow, she even felt a couple of her teeth become sharp like fangs. The familiar heat rose inside her body, invigorating and empowering her. Sunset once again gripped Lightning’s arms and began to pull. Both of their arms shook, but soon, Lightning was letting go. Lightning tried to fight back, but Sunset’s surprising increase in strength was actually overpowering her.

“What…how are you –?!”

“Arrrghaaaah!!!” Sunset yelled as she quickly released Lightning’s right arm and struck Lightning in the face.

The blow sent Lightning flying off her and onto the floor. Sunset got to her knees and coughed violently, taking in raspy gasps of air as she tried to catch her breath. Lightning growled as she got up, but then found herself tackled against the locker by Gilda.

“You’re out of control, Dust! Calm the hell down! You took it too far!” Gilda warned.

“NO! I NEED TO…TO…to…” The glow subsided from her irises as her pupils stopped transitioning and settled back to normal. Lightning looked at Sunset, seeing her clasp at her neck as she struggled to breathe. “Oh shit…did I just…?”

“SUNSET?!” yelled a high-pitched voice.

The crowd finally parted and let Pinkie Pie through, and right behind her were the rest of the girls. They all looked upon the scene before them, Sunset on the ground, a visible bruise forming around her neck, blood dripping from her mouth as her breathes still sounded raspy.

Pinkie gasped in shock as she quickly dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around Sunset’s shoulders. “Sunset?! What’s wrong?! What happened to you?!”

Rainbow Dash looked to Sunset and then to Gilda and Lightning, and her face morphed into a scowl. “What the fuck did you two do?!”

“……” Gilda looked away, a look of shame on her face. She wanted to beat up Sunset, but what Lightning did was taking it too far.

“We were getting back at her! What’s it look like?” Lightning stated.

“No shit Sherlock, I can tell that much! But what did you do to make her sound like that?!” Rainbow demanded.

“Lightning Dust tried to choke Sunset out!” someone called out.

The girls all looked at the turquoise teen, anger was prominent on Rainbow and Applejack’s faces, Rarity was disgusted, Fluttershy was speechless along with Pinkie. The yellow teen quickly dropped to the floor as she looked over Sunset.

“Sunset, did you lose consciousness at any time?!” Sunset shook her head. “Okay, just take in slow breathes. In through your nose, and out through your mouth.”

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!”

The kids finally all scattered to allow free roaming through the hallway, and then Vice Principal Luna appeared, her eyes landing on the scene before her.

“Sunset…? What happened to her?!” Luna demanded.

Applejack turned to face the older woman and said, “Gilda and Lightnin’ cornered Sunset and beat her up, and Lightnin’ nearly choked Sunset to death!”

Luna looked upon the two girls in question. “You two are supposed to be in detention. Lightning Dust, you are coming with me to my office, right now. Same with you Ms. Lionheart!”

Gilda released Lightning, but kept a firm grip on her shoulder as they walked over to Luna. The tall teen looked down at Sunset, who managed to look up to meet her gaze. “………Sorry.”

“Can I count on at least one of you to escort Sunset to Nurse Redheart’s office? I will send for my sister and have her meet you there, Sunset,” said Luna.

“We’ll go,” Rainbow answered.

Sunset looked up at Rainbow, surprised that she didn’t hesitate. She looked to Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy, all of whom seemed to be in agreement with Rainbow. Sunset didn’t need to see Pinkie to know that she wasn’t going anywhere. The pink teen helped Sunset get to her feet, in truth she was starting to feel better, the Witchblade’s accelerated healing abilities were already fixing the injuries and erasing the pain.

“This is unbelievable!” Celestia exclaimed.

Sunset was sitting on the examination table as Nurse Redheart looked Sunset over, the bruise was still there, as well as some others. But Sunset was sure that after a few more minutes it’d be completely gone, and thankfully her breathing had gotten better too.

“Well, thankfully you don’t seem too bad off, but just to be safe, I’d recommend going to the hospital to check and make sure there aren’t any internal injuries,” said Redheart.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay, I’m not hurting as much as earlier,” said Sunset.

“Nonsense, I’ll drive you there myself,” said Celestia with finality. “I just…I knew things were bad with Anon-A-Miss, but to actually try and take your life! And no one tried to stop it?!”

Sunset shook her head. “No, Gilda did. When she saw Lightning choking me, she tried to stop her. But Lightning knocked her away. When I got the chance and knocked Lighting off of me, Gilda pinned her against the lockers to make her stop, that’s when the girls showed up.”

Celestia whipped out her cellphone, and Sunset knew what she was going to do.

“Don’t, Principal Celestia, you don’t have to call the cops.”

Celestia scowled at that. “And why not?! Sunset, you were assaulted, and one of them attempted to kill you! That is not something I can overlook, not as your guardian, and certainly not as the Principal of CHS.”

Sunset got off the table and placed her hand gently on Celestia’s arm. “Look…I saw something strange when Lightning Dust was attacking me. I don’t know what it was, but I don’t think she was fully in control at that moment.”

Celestia eyed Sunset with disbelief. “Don’t make excuses for her, Sunset.”

“Look, you can report it as bullying or assault, but not the trying to kill me part! I know you remember the Sirens and how they’re magic controlled everyone here, it’s possible that Lightning was being controlled too, if only for that moment,” said Sunset.

Celestia couldn’t really deny that as a theory, after the magical events that had happened at the school recently, and with the fact that Sunset’s from another dimension of talking magic ponies, such impossibilities shouldn’t be discounted right away, especially with the even more recent attack on Pinkie and Sunset by that monster.

With a reluctant sigh Celestia said, “Alright. I’ll trust you on this. But if this happens again, I will be calling the police.”

“Principal Celestia, you’re not really going to let them off?” Nurse Redheart asked.

“Of course not! For now, I will have them suspended for the next two weeks, have a serious talk with their parents and warn them. However, what is nonnegotiable is that from here on out, I will be driving you to and from school,” Celestia stated.

“What?! No, Principal Celestia, you can’t do that! If everyone sees you doing that then–!”

“I do not care!” Celestia interrupted. “A student of mine is under attack by some unknown person and is inciting the student body into a lynch mob against you. I am also your guardian, and it would be neglectful of me if I didn’t try and ensure your safety. I honestly don’t care how it looks. Do you understand?”

Sunset nodded her head.

“Good, I’ll gather a few things from my office and I’ll be right back so we can head to the hospital.”

With that, Celestia left the office. Sunset sighed heavily as she sat back down on the table. “I don’t need her doing all of that.”

Nurse Redheart giggled. “Celestia’s just trying to help you. I honestly think she secretly wants to be a mother, but has never found the right guy, so with her being your guardian, I think she’s trying to be as good a mother as she can.”

Sunset’s cheeks flushed as she remembered her Princess Celestia. The kind and gentle ruler of Equestria, the goddess who acted like more of a mother to her than actual parents did. She remembered one time when she was calling out to Princess Celestia, instead of saying her name or title, Sunset accidentally said, “Mom!”. Of course, at that time, she said it loud enough for everypony in the court to hear her. Sunset felt so embarrassed in that moment, she wanted to crawl into a hole and die, she just called her teacher, her ruler, “mom”.

Princess Celestia wasn’t even bothered, she smiled, walked over to her, and placed her wing over her as she nuzzled Sunset’s cheek and said, “No need to feel embarrassed my star pupil, I have seen you grow from a little filly to a young mare, and have helped you and nurtured your talent since, if I may be so bold, I have come to think of myself as a second mother to you. So…ahem…I don’t particularly mind you calling me that.”

Sunset not only felt relieved, but overjoyed that Princess Celestia had thought of her as a surrogate daughter. Which only made her betrayal all the more hurtful, till this day, Sunset wasn’t sure if she could face the Princess, not after everything she did. Sunset pushed those thoughts out of her mind for now as she looked down at her right wrist.

I know that wasn’t easy, but thanks for listening to me.

}}} I am not a fan of inaction. I will not tolerate harm to my wielder. {{{

I appreciate that, as much as I appreciate your restraint. But, seriously, when she was choking me, did you see it too or was my mind playing tricks?”

}}} It was no trick, I sensed something in that moment. Something foul. It felt similar to that worm creature. {{{

Sunset’s brow knitted in frustration. More monsters, guess they’re coming to me.

Celestia returned with her coat and purse, and also managed to find Sunset’s backpack. “Ready to go, Sunset?”

Sunset hopped off the table and said, “Yes, Mom – MMPH!” The flame haired girl slapped her hands over her mouth as she realized her mistake, her face glowing red from embarrassment.

Celestia’s eyes widened as her cheeks tinted red. “Oh…um, ahem, I didn’t think you saw…uh, you saw me that way, Sunset.”

“I-I am so sorry! I-I didn’t me to say that! I mean, it just slipped out! I mean, I’m not saying I wouldn’t want you for a mom! You’re really great mom material and………Can we just go to your car now?”

“Y-Yes, let’s do so.” Celestia held the door open and let Sunset exit, saying in a whisper, “And…I wouldn’t mind having you as a daughter, Sunset…”

Celestia closed the door and now Nurse Redheart was alone. She had watched that whole display and sighed. “Those two really need to be more honest with themselves.”

Shining Armor was looking over the details of the last case that fell under the Mystery Murders. A digital board displayed all the known evidence pertaining to the man known as Beetle Underwood.

According to his file, he was fired from his job amidst allegations of sexual misconduct with his female students, that was a couple of months ago, right around when the time the Mystery Murders started to crop up.

Shining didn’t like lying to the news about what actually happened, but honestly, how would it look if they said that the culprits may be monsters? Underwood’s apartment didn’t yield anything useful from what forensics was able to find, other than what you might find from a creep like that. Lots of books on insects, a collection of specimens, some alive and some pinned to a wall. And a separate, password protected hard drive that was filled with numerous videos of porn depicting women getting brutally raped, the unfortunate thing was that they weren’t actors playing a role, they were from a black site that loaded those kinds of videos.

Based on the description that they were given from Ms. Pie, along with the officer, Mr. Pie, his wife, and the rest of their daughters, they were able to recreate an approximation of what Underwood looked like as a monster. Shining opened the victim files, there were many, some dying in the most horrific ways possible, not to mention bizarre. Still, this was part of the job, he had to cross reference the victims, taking into account this “monster’s” physical weapons.

“Let’s go with teens between the ages of nineteen and thirteen,” said Shining Armor as he typed. “Cause of death: rape, puncture wounds.”

Out of the vast number of victims, only four appeared on screen, teen girls, ages sixteen, seventeen, and two eighteen-year-olds. There was a diagram from the coroner's office that had circles drawn around their pelvic, chest, and head, indicating where the most severe trauma was. The crime scene photos weren’t a pretty sight either, it even made some veterans retch. It had gotten to the point that it was mandatory that several empty trashcans were to be stationed around the “War Room” at all times.

The bodies were either mangled, limps twisted, or split open. There was no way to get that level of trauma to a human body in such a short amount of time, and with such force without using a machine or it having been done by an animal. The problem with this whole thing was, despite being able to match at least four victims to the profile of Underwood, that still left many, many more.

“Shining, you still workin’ on that one?”

Shining Armor turned around and saw his partner, Spearhead standing there. He had a bronze complexion, with messy purple hair, crystal blue eyes, and a sandy colored suit with a red tie. “Yeah, still am. Something isn’t sitting right with me.”

“Which part?” he asked as he approached Shining.

“Truthfully, everything. The brass doesn’t want us to tell anyone the real things that are killing people, fine, I get it, don’t want to cause a mass panic. But why are these killings happening. I mean, it all started a couple of months ago. Just all of a sudden, murder, after murder, after murder, not counting kidnappings on top of all that. Until that time, Underwood was a normal-ish guy, and then he turns into a monster and starts raping and murdering women?”

Spearhead shrugged as he sighed. “Wouldn’t be called the ‘Mystery Murders’ if we knew who or what was killing people.”

Shining Armor brought up his dash-cam video, showing the scantily clad armored woman standing there with Underwood’s body on the ground. “Then there’s her.”

Spearhead let a out wolf whistle upon seeing her. “Damn, man, she’s hot. You know, for a monster that is. Looks like someone might have a chance to live out their of those hentai doujin fantasies.”

Shining Armor furrowed his brow as his cheeks turned red. “Dude, shut the hell up about that! You know I have a girlfriend, right?”

“Yeah, and does she know you’re a closet anime weeaboo, comic book nerd?” Spearhead asked.

“Y-Yes, I’m trying to ease her into the anime stuff…”

“Well, looking at all this crap, is like watching one of those horror anime shows. You think this chick is the key somehow?” Spearhead asked.

Shining Armor stared at that still shot of the woman. “Don’t know…yet. Even if the Underwood case is closed, we still have a lot more. Which means we may have more monsters out there, and if we have more monsters…”

“We’re going to need bigger guns,” said Spearhead.

“From what Mr. Pie said, he practically blew Underwood’s head off and he still came back. But this woman somehow manages to kill him.”

Just then, Shining Armor’s cellphone rang, he stepped away from the board and answered the call. “Hello, Detective Shining Armor.”

{Yes, Mr. Armor, this is Ms. Celestia, Sunset Shimmer’s guardian.}

“Oh, Ms. Celestia, is there something the matter?”

{……Well, yes, there is. First, I’d like to know if you ever spoke with your Cyber Crimes Division to look into that account.}

Shining Armor pulled out his notepad and flipped through the pages. “Actually I did, and…I’m sorry to say, Ma’am, they weren’t able to find much.”

{Excuse me?}

“Whoever is behind the account is shielding their IP address somehow, we’ve contacted the company that owns MyStable, they’re currently working with Cyber to find the owner.”

{Detective, is there nothing more that can be done? Sunset was attacked due to this Anon-A-Miss today, and was nearly severely injured! Can’t you…Can’t you have them shut down the account?!}

Shining Armor felt his forehead scrunch with anger. “As bad as this sounds, that’s good. I’ll look into it in the morning, now that there’s been a physical assault against Sunset, we can use that as leverage to have the site shut down the account or they risk getting charged as an accessory to assault or gross negligence.”

{Thank you Detective Armor, I know you’re doing more important work right now, but…I don’t know what else to do to help her and keep my students safe.}

“It’s no problem, it’s the whole reason why I got into law enforcement, to protect the innocent from people who seek to harm them. Goodbye Ms. Celestia.”

{Goodbye, and thanks again.}

Shining Armor hung up his phone and then paused for a moment. He turned around and looked at the image of the armor clad monster. “Hey, Spearhead, what did you say working this case was like?”

“Um, like watching one of those horror anime. Why?” Spearhead asked.

Shining Armor hummed as he turned away and grabbed a tablet. “No reason…” he entered his password and entered the name “Sunset Shimmer” into the database search bar. “…or maybe there is?”