Sunset lied back in Rarity’s bed, going through her cellphone messages and keeping track of Anon-A-Miss. Apparently Celestia had sent a few texts asking if she was still alright, to which Sunset smiled and replied that, yes, she was indeed alright. Across from her, Rarity was working fiercely, the deadline loomed ever closer. The day after tomorrow the show would be begin and Rarity wasn’t going to let this little development stop her.

“By the way, Sunset, wherever did you get that piece of jewelry?” Rarity asked.

Sunset nearly dropped her phone at the mention of the Witchblade. “Um – Uh – y-you mean my bracelet?”

Rarity glanced over her shoulder. “Of course, I haven’t seen you wear it before recently, was it a present or something you just bought yourself?”

The former unicorn’s eyes darted about as she tried to come up with a good excuse. Pinkie Pie hadn’t brought it up before, but then again, Rarity was more fashion and detailed oriented, so something like that would definitely be picked up right away. When Rarity was doing the measurements earlier, Sunset was surprised she didn’t bring it up.

“It’s uh…It’s a good luck charm! Yeah – that’s it! I bought it at a little out-of-the-way store! They said it’s supposed to help get rid of negative energy and ward of evil,” said Sunset.

Rarity turned her attention back to her sewing machine as she said, “Well, given your recent run ins with those horrid creatures, aside from looking fabulous, it doesn’t seem to do too well in the ‘warding off’ part.”

Sunset chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. “Y-Yeah, but, you’re right, it still looks good! And…” Sunset looked at the Witchblade as it’s ruby crystal dimly shined for a moment. “Maybe it’s working in other ways.”

“Sunset, I’ve been thinking about this whole Anon-A-Miss, mess,” Rarity changed the setting on the sewing machine and went back to work. “Is it possible that your phone was hacked by someone?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow in contemplation. “I won’t lie, I’ve been floating that idea around for a bit. But, the only way to do that would be through a Wi-Fi connection, and…”

“Your phone was connected to my home’s Wi-Fi, I gave the password to all of you that night.”

“So, someone had to know that I’d be here on that night,” Sunset concluded.

Rarity grimaced as she continued down her line of thought. “Unfortunately, that narrows the suspect pool dangerously close to…our friends.” Rarity looked over her shoulder and saw Sunset’s shocked expression. “I know it’s not a pleasant thought, darling, but we have to assume that…either one of our friends is lying to us, or someone they know is the culprit.”

Sunset didn’t want to think that one of her friends was putting her through this hell. Yes, she did do some shitty things to them in the past, but to warrant this level of abuse and revenge? The bad thing was, each one of them had good reason to want revenge on her. For sure she could count out Rarity and Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy…she wasn’t too sure about her. The kind girl did forgive Sunset, after a few false starts with talking to her. But after that, they became just as close friends as the rest. Although, before then, Sunset did verbally abuse her, demean her, and threatened physical harm. Albeit the third she did to everyone, but the point was, she couldn’t see Fluttershy going to this level, and yet, at the same time, it did make some twisted sense.

Applejack was too straightforward to go behind someone’s back like this, if she wanted to settle something, the farm girl would’ve called out Sunset a long time ago and settled it then. Rainbow Dash was much the same way, she didn’t like the cowardly approach, to have someone else get her revenge, oh no, Rainbow Dash was more hands on. If she was coming for you, you’d see it coming and all you’d have time to do was brace. That being said…

“Let’s keep that as a backup possibility, it’s still possible that my phone was hacked,” said Sunset.

A small smile appeared on Rarity’s lips. “Well, if that is the case, we’ll need someone who can look into that sort of thing. My first thought is of Microchips, but he’s as much on this Anon-A-Miss train as the rest of the student body.”

“Ironic, we need a hacker to find a hacker. Wish I brushed up more on that stuff, I know some basic stuff, but depending on how sophisticated the hacker is, what I do know would be like trying to find a needle in the rainforest.”

“Don’t despair so soon, I’m sure we can find someone.”

Sunset thought for a moment, then it hit her, she did know someone who could do that, well, more like she knew a certain cop who had access to such resources. “I think I might know someone…I’ll have to give ‘em a call later.”

Rarity nodded. “Very well,” the fashionista turned off the machine and pulled out the piece she was working on, “now let’s get you in this dress so I can see what else needs adjusting.”

“Oh, you’re that much in a hurry to see me naked again?” Sunset teased.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I forgot how much of a pervert you can be sometimes.”

Sunset shook her head and held out her hand. “Hey, I have no problem giving you a show, but I’m going to have to ask for some monetary compensation. The first time was free, second time will cost you,” she stated with a wink.

“Oh would you just get into this thing already!”

During this whole exchange, neither girl suspected that they were being listened in on. Outside the door to Rarity’s room, Sweetie Belle listened closely. She looked both agitated and concerned by the conversation between her big sister and Sunset Shimmer. Believing that that was all she was going to gleam from their talk, Sweetie Belle quietly, but quickly, returned to her bedroom.

The curly haired girl carefully closed her door and paced about her room. Sweetie Belle took out her cellphone and made her way towards her closet, once inside, she closed the door and video called her friends. Two windows appeared on her phone one read “Apple Bloom” and the other “Scootaloo.”

After about a couple of minutes the window came to life, with one showing Apple Bloom somewhere in her own room, and Scootaloo in hers.

{Hey, Sweetie, what’s up?} Scootaloo asked.

“We might have a problem,” she said.

{What kind of problem?} Apple Bloom asked.

“Okay, so…Sunset Shimmer’s at my house.”

The looks of shock and fear were evident on both girls’ faces.

{W-W-What?! Why?! How?! Is your sister there?!}

“She is…and…she’s the one who invited her over. Apparently the model that she had for her fashion thing this weekend up and quit, so she had to go and find someone to fill in.”

{But…why her? Ah mean…after everythin’ we did how in the blue hell is Rarity okay with havin’ her there?! Considerin’ how embarrassed she was after ya got those photos from her phone?!}

Sweetie Belle dragged her hand down her face. “I know…but that’s not even the worst part…well, there are two worst parts.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waited for the news.

“I went to go and ask what we were doing for dinner, and I found my sister…hugging Sunset.”

{……Ah’m sorry, how’s that bad?}

“Sunset was naked and my sister was on top of her,” Sweetie deadpanned.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo blushed fiercely upon hearing this.

{………That’s hot.}

“SCOOTALOO!”
{SCOOTALOO!}

{Sue me! Sunset may be a bitch, but she is hot! And, your sister, too.}

Sweetie Belle’s left eye twitched. “Okay, we’re going to address how long you’ve been perving on my big sis later.”

Apple Bloom waved off the concern. {Don’t get yer panties in a twist, ‘sides, we both know there’s one gal that Scootaloo’s interested in.}

Scootaloo visibly blushed even harder, sputtering to try and come up with a good comeback, which earned a laugh from both girls.

{Shut up!……So what’s the other bad news?}

“They might be suspecting that Anon-A-Miss may be someone else…this is bad. If she manages to convince the others that she’s not Anon-A-Miss, it won’t be long before they figure out it was us!”

A feeling of dread came over all three young girls. Not only had they violated the trust of their sisters, but they’ve also whipped up the students of CHS into a frenzy, nearly got Sunset killed through their actions, and raised the ire of all the students in CHS. They started all this to try and make Sunset stop hanging out with their respective sisters, but then they realized that they could take revenge on Sunset Shimmer, believing that she hadn’t fully paid for her crimes and that she was secretly plotting something under the radar.

If anyone in the school found out it was them, they’d surely go to jail, and that’s if the students or their sister’s hadn’t killed them first. Or worse, if Sunset herself had gotten ahold of them. They knew Sunset was a master of payback whenever she was crossed. After the hell they had put her through, they were surely going to be put through far worse tortures.

{Dammit all…why couldn’t she just give up and leave the school or something?!}

{Maybe we can use somethin’ from tonight. Ya said that she and Rarity were on the bed naked, right? Maybe…Ah don’t know…we could make somethin’ up that Sunset and Rarity are goin’ out or that she’s getting’ her gossip from Rarity? No offense, Sweetie, but yer sis is a gossip queen.}

Sweetie Belle bit her bottom lip, she didn’t want to start bringing her big sister into this. If they did do this, they’d be painting a target on Rarity’s back as well. Sweetie Belle shuddered at the thought that someone like Lightning Dust might do the same thing to Rarity, her big sister was scrappy, but not a fighter like Applejack, Rainbow, or Sunset. If someone tried to hurt her, Rarity wouldn’t stand a chance.

“No, I-I don’t want her to get hurt! We’ve already got stuff set up for Pinkie Pie…as much as I don’t like it, but we can’t let her–!”

*beep, beep*

Sweetie Belle looked at her phone and noticed that a third person was calling, the caller ID read as “Unknown”.

“You think it’s them?” Sweetie asked.

{Well, answer it if it is,} said Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle connected the line to the video chat, a third window opened, but this one only showed darkness, as if the person on the other line was purposefully keeping their identity a secret.

{I seem to have missed the invite. Was there something important happening?}

The girls were still on edge about this person, after the post of the embarrassing photos, this person contacted them, telling them that what they were doing was right, and that Sunset Shimmer needed to be gotten rid of before she could harm anyone else at the school. It was this person that helped them gather more and more secrets from the other students, while some of the students wrote Anon-A-Miss back as a way to get revenge on the person who they thought blabbed their secrets, it was this mystery person who truly got the juicer dirt on the students, it was almost scary how good they were at it.

The girls explained the situation to their mysterious benefactor, and awaited their response. {I see, this is a bit troubling. But not to worry, she won’t suspect us. Sunset likes to think herself smarter than everyone, but she’s not nearly as smart as she thinks. Here’s what we’ll do.}

{We’ll post some things about Sunset and Pinkie as per our agreement. If we post anything about Rarity it’ll be too risky, as it stands, the only person in your house is you, Sweetie, if they’re already this suspicious then it won’t take them long to figure out it was you who spread a rumor about them. We’ll figure out another way to work that in, preferably further down the line. Are we in agreement?}

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all looked at each other and nodded.

{Very well.}

That Friday morning saw Shining Armor back at the crime scene, the CSU crew were still trying to determine what the cocoon was. So far their efforts to dislodge the huge thing were unsuccessful, having used everything from an ax to a chainsaw to try and cut it loose. But, no matter what they used, the threads were too strong, sometimes even breaking the blades they used.

Shining Armor looked off to his left, where a pile of discarded broken tools were left. The lead CSI, a woman named Dr. Pinkheart, looked upon the cocoon with determination and aggravation. She was dressed in a white jumpsuit, with blue gloves around her hands. Her skin tone pink, with white hair, and crystal blue eyes.

“I’m guessing you haven’t had much luck?” Shining Armor deduced.

“Not. At. ALL!” Pinkheart stated. “But, oh-ho-ho, I got something for it, and it should be here any second now.”

No sooner had she said that did one of her fellow CSI members walk in, carrying some kind of Buzzsaw. The blades shined with a bit more flare, the motor and handle made it look like some weapon from a sci-fi war movie. “What the hell is that?”

Pinkheart took the device from her colleague with mirthful glee. “This I had to borrow from Canterlot University’s Science Department! It’s a diamond edged circular saw, it’s function is to cut through meteorites that are too dense for steel, but are also too reflective for laser cutting! Let’s see how it likes this bad boy!”

Shining Armor stepped out, knowing that Dr. Pinkheart was going to get crazy here in a second. Once in the living room, Spearhead entered holding a cup of coffee. “Too early for this weird shit.”

“Amen. What’d you find out?” Shining asked.

“We managed to grab a warrant for Miss Evergreen’s cellphone records from around ten to ten-fifteen last night. During that time, she had two calls, one incoming and one outgoing.”

Shining took a sip of the coffee. “Did you manage to find out who was on the other end of those lines?”

“The inbound call came from a Suri Polomare, heh, get this. She’s a student at our old stomping grounds,” said Spearhead.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Wait, she’s from CPA? Huh…wonder if Twily knows her? Who was the outbound?”

Spearhead looked at his notes and said, “The outbound was to a Rarity Belle. She’s a student at Canterlot High School, our old rivals, well, if you can call them ‘rivals’.”

Shining chuckled a little, he couldn’t blame Spearhead for thinking that way. CHS hadn’t won one Friendship Game in years. “Alright, we’ll question Miss Polomare, I can swing some leverage with Principal Cinch to let me speak to her. I also have some pull in CHS with the Principal, so it shouldn’t be too hard to speak with this Rarity.”

Just then, a loud noise emanated from the bedroom, it was an ungodly loud, shrieking sound, like nails on a chalkboard. The two men looked in that direction and saw Dr. Pinkheart slicing at the cocoon.

“IS THAT REALLY A GOOD IDEA?” Spearhead asked.

“WHAT?”

“I SAID, ‘IS THAT REALLY A GOOD IDEA’!”

“WHAT’S A GOOD IDEA?”

Suddenly the noise stopped, Shining and Spearhead went back to the bedroom and watched as Pinkheart managed to cut a five-foot long gash in the side of the cocoon. She motioned for her colleague to come over, and together, they pulled on the opposite ends of the gash. In a matter of seconds, the tear grew bigger and in the next moment, a body came falling out.

Pinkheart, her colleague, along with Spearhead and Shining Armor, all gasped and jumped back. The body was that of Silva Evergreen, however, she was unclothed, her skin was pale and her hair had lost a lot of its luster. The two CSI members shook off their surprise and carefully moved the body so that she was facing up. Her eyes were milky and dead, around her neck were several puncture wounds, but also seemed to have been filled in with some sort of substance.

“Well, we were hoping for a missing persons, but now we definitely have a murder,” said Spearhead.

“Detective, you really do call in on the most interesting cases,” said Pinkheart.

“I wish I didn’t. Can you determine the cause of death?” Shining asked.

Pinkheart gave the body a look, but she couldn’t tell right away. “Not from a cursory, glance. I’ll need to take the body back to the morgue.”

“Definitely too early for this weird shit,” said Shining Armor.

It came as a surprise to most when Rarity and Sunset Shimmer arrived in the same car, most of the student body knew that the Rainbooms had left Sunset, but also that recently Pinkie Pie had been hanging around the fiery haired teen more often, and now to see Rarity doing the same, it was starting to make people talk and wonder.

During lunch it was more apparent, as Rarity and Pinkie Pie were both sitting at the table that Sunset had been sitting at for the past few months alone. That left Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy to look on in confusion.

“What the hell is going on here?” Rainbow asked.

“Looks like Rares…made up with Sunset?”

Rainbow Dash eyed her former friend suspiciously. “Pinkie Pie is one thing, but Rarity?! Come on! Sunset’s gotta be working her somehow! Maybe she got some really bad dirt on her and threatened to let it out unless she started get in line or something?!”

Applejack crossed her arms as she thought. “The old Sunset Shimmer would do somethin’ like that. But, I’m not entirely sure about the Sunset we’ve seen up till now.”

“Oh don’t start telling me you’re getting on this ‘Sunset’s innocent’ bandwagon?!”

“Ah didn’t say that!”

Fluttershy sighed heavily. “Maybe she’s just forgiven her.”

Rainbow sighed and ran her hand down her face. “Look, Shy, I know you’re religious and think people deserve second chances, but the facts are–!”

“The facts don’t add up. I’ll admit, I was just as angry as the rest of you, but…” Fluttershy paused as she chose her words carefully. “I prayed on this, and I’m not going to keep accusing without proof that Sunset is one-hundred percent Anon-A-Miss, which is what we should’ve done in the first place.”

“If ya think that, why’re you still eatin’ with us instead of with Sunset and the gals?” Applejack asked.

“Because, you’re my friends too. And…because I’m not sure how to approach her, yet, and because…well…” Fluttershy gestured to the state of the cafeteria.

Indeed, it was still a hornets nest of hostility in CHS, cliques had been reformed, and further subdivisions had been made with those whom nobody trusted anymore and those who were already burned by Anon-A-Miss and sought revenge. At best, the only relatively safe places were around Applejack and Rainbow Dash, or – again, relatively speaking – around Sunset’s table. At least then you had a better view of who was coming towards you.

“Can’t say I blame you there, Shy,” said Rainbow.

Applejack nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Rarity, Sunset, and Pinkie were enjoying their lunch. For Sunset this was probably the best lunch time she had in a long while. Two out of five of her friends were sitting with her, and were no longer suspicious of her being Anon-A-Miss. Sunset believed that this might just be the way to defeat this cyber bully, with her friends gathered again, how could Anon-A-Miss justify continuing to post stuff about them?

“I’m glad you don’t think Sunset’s Anon-A-Miss anymore! I really didn’t like having all of my friends divided,” said Pinkie.

“Oh, believe me, it took a semi-heated argument with Sweetie Belle to finally make me see the light,” said Rarity.

“That and hugging me while I was naked,” said Sunset nonchalantly.

Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie was chugging down a soda and was about to do a spit take, but then saw the dangerous look in Rarity’s eyes. The look that said “If you even dare spit that on my outfit, I will stuff you into that soda can!” Pinkie managed to rein it in and gulped down the contents in her mouth, and then gasped for air.

“Y-You mean, y-you two…did it?!” Pinkie asked.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Please, Sunset, don’t make it sound as if we were conducting lewd activities.”

“What? Just telling the truth. You hugged me while the only think I had on were my panties. And then Sweetie Belle saw us, and that’s when you two had your argument.”

“Sweetie Belle saw you two?! Uh…wow, Rarity, I had no idea you swung that way! I mean, I do know a few girls at the school who told me that they’d give their right arm for a night with you, but ...damn!” Pinkie exclaimed, her face blushing the entire time.

Rarity’s face was also red, while Sunset was snickering to the side. “Ahem, let me clarify. I was overexcited about Sunset accepting my offer to model for me, and rushed to hug her. In my haste I failed to realize that she hadn’t fully clothed herself. After my argument with Sweetie, I came to the realization that I’ve been a complete idiot about this Anon-A-Miss mess, and we cried and hugged it out, if you will. So now it’s all water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. And thank you for telling me that I have a few female admirers as well.”

Sunset nudged Rarity and smirked. “Please, like you didn’t know. You can be a bit of a tease sometimes, if not all the time,” she joked.

Pinkie Pie was happy about this, maybe, just maybe things would start to go back to normal, bit by bit, but still it was getting there. What Pinkie loved about this was that Sunset was smiling again, a genuine smile. Since this whole thing started, she hadn’t smiled once, her face was a constant frown. And why should Sunset smile? These past couple of months haven’t exactly been kind to her. Now though, that was changing. The pink haired girl disappeared and reappeared behind both Sunset and Rarity, hooking both arms around their necks and bringing them together into a hug, squishing their faces together.

“I’m so happy we can do stuff like this again! I say, we have a party at Rarity’s house!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Both girls giggled.

“As fun as that sounds, Pinkie, perhaps you should save it and turn it into a victory party! Come this Saturday, I expect to come out on top!” Rarity declared.

{Rarity Belle, Sunset Shimmer, please report to Principal Celestia’s office. Repeat, Rarity Belle, Sunset Shimmer, please come to the principal’s immediately.}

The students all glanced in their direction. Rarity, Sunset, and Pinkie looked between each other in confusion. Murmurs started to erupt from the normal dull roar of the lunch room. Without even knowing the details, the students were already pegging this as something Anon-A-Miss related.

Sunset sighed, she really didn’t need to hear their nonsense. “Let’s go.”

Sunset and Rarity walked to the Principal’s office, it was there that Sunset saw two policemen, one of which she recognized.

“Detective Shining Armor?”

“Hey, Sunset, been a minute,” her replied.

Rarity glanced between the two and grinned devilishly. “Pray tell, who is this handsome fellow, and how do you know him?”

“He’s the detective who worked Pinkie’s case when we were attacked, and the second time when I was ‘attacked’ by the winged monster,” said Sunset. “But, I don’t recognize you.”

Spearhead offered his hand. “Name’s Spearhead Thrust, Detective, I’m Shining’s partner in crime solving.”

Sunset shook his hand. “Not that I’m complaining, but why are you both here? Did you by chance make any headway in this Anon-A-Miss crap?”

“Sorry, but not yet. However, we did come to talk to Ms. Belle. And you, if needed.”

The girls raised their eyebrows curiously. They were then escorted to an empty classroom where they were seated.

“Ms. Belle, do you know a Ms. Silva Evergreen?” Shining asked.

Sunset immediately got on edge, Shining Armor worked the Wendigo cases, if he was here then that meant…

“Yes, I do. She is – was – my model for this weekend’s fashion competition, but she gave me a call that Wednesday night to tell me that she would no longer be working with me.”

“Did she happen to say why?” Spearhead asked.

“Something about getting a contract to work in Manelan. I spoke to her agent about it and said that he’d hadn’t even heard of something like that! He promised that he’d look into it and give me a call, but I told him not to worry about it. As I now have another model who can take her place right here,” said Rarity.

Bothe detectives glanced at each other, Spearhead took some notes while Rarity was talking, and Sunset could tell by the looks on their faces that something worse was about to be dropped on them.

“I’m sorry, but, why are two of Canterlot’s finest questioning me about Silva?”

Shining Armor sighed heavily. “Miss Belle, I hate to tell you this, but…Miss Evergreen is dead.”

Rarity’s eyes widened while her eyes shrunk to pin pricks. “W-W-What? No, no, no, I just spoke with her that night! S-She can’t be…be…”

Sunset moved closer and hugged Rarity as she began to visibly shake, tears already streamed down the fashionista’s face as Shining Armor’s words sank in. Sunset looked at Shining Armor and asked, “When was she killed?”

“We didn’t say that she was,” said Spearhead.

“If she died of natural causes then Rarity would’ve found out through Silva’s agent or through one of her fashion clients. The only reason why two detectives would be here would be because someone killed her and you’re checking in on the last people who had contact with her.”

Rarity looked to Sunset and then to the detectives, waiting to see if she was right.

Shining Armor nodded. “It’s true, Miss Evergreen was murdered. I suspect that someone forced her to call you, and made her cancel on you. And to cover their tracks, the suspect killed her. Miss Belle, is there anyone who would seek to gain from your forfeit of this competition? Anyone that might have reason to harm you?”

Rarity wiped her eyes and shook her head. “No! I mean, the fashion world can be ‘cutthroat’ but not in the literal sense! Despite our rivalries, there is respect amongst us! Something like this…I-I don’t know who’d want to do this!”

Spearhead looked to Sunset and then back to Rarity. “Miss Shimmer here, was she your backup in case this happened?”

Rarity looked ashamed as she brought this up. “No…we…up until now our friendship was torn due to some unknown cyber bully, I believe Detective Armor can tell you about it. But due to this, our relationship was strained. I asked her for help out of desperation. Thankfully we’ve reconciled.” Rarity placed her hand over Sunset’s and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I haven’t announced my newest model, and I planned on heading there with Sunset for a dry run at the end of school today.”

Sunset glanced to Rarity and the back to Shining Armor, she locked eyes with the detective and said, “Um, Detective Armor, is there a chance I could speak to you, alone?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. Spearhead, can you finish up?”

Spearhead nodded.

Sunset and Shining Armor walked out of the room and down into an empty hallway. “Okay, no bullshit, she was killed by someone possessed by a Wendigo, wasn’t she?”

Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, she was. We found her body wrapped in a cocoon of super strong webbing.”

“Shining, you need me on this! If it’s another person who’s possessed then they might be struggling to get free from the Wendigo! If that’s the case, you’ll need me to subdue them!” Sunset stated.

Shining Armor sighed. “Look, I know, I know you’re the only one who can even seriously hurt them and/or kill them! But right now we don’t have any clues to go on. The only thing we can assume is that whoever this person is, they’re targeting your friend, and are willing to kill.”

The blue haired detective placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “The best thing you can do is stay by your friend’s side. If anything, she’s much safer with you close to her, than roaming around the city trying to look for this person.”

Sunset couldn’t disagree with that logic, this person clearly wanted to take out Rarity from the competition. Once they found out that their indirect attack didn’t work, they might try a more direct approach. “You’re right. I’ll stay by her side.”

“Glad you look better.”

“What?”

“After that night with Lightning Dust, when that demon said that stuff, you looked super depressed. I’m just glad you bounced back,” Shining clarified.

Sunset smiled. “Believe me, I wasn’t in a good place for a while. But thankfully one of my friends slapped some sense into me, literally. She slapped me in the face.”

Shining Armor winced. “Ouch.”

After a few more minutes of questioning, Shining Armor and Spearhead left the school. Rarity needed a minute to compose herself before the next class, so Sunset walked her to the girls room. After a while, Sunset asked, “Are you alright?”

“I will be…” Rarity answered.

“Maybe we should just call it off. Not go to this dry run.”

Rarity fixed her make up and then said, “We’re going. If we don’t, whoever killed Silva will relish in the idea that they won, and if I didn’t win now, her death will be in vain. She was forced to cancel on me, whoever did this wants me to bow out, I won’t give them the satisfaction.”

Sunset gripped her right arm hard. “Rarity, you should know, that Shining Armor, he works the Mystery Murders cases. If he came to question us, then that means whoever did this is probably someone possessed by a Wendigo. Which means that they have more than one way to make you stop. They can kill you and no one would know who it was because they’re in a monster form!”

Rarity took a moment to process this information. “My mind’s made up, Sunset. I won’t let this scoundrel intimidate me. Besides, strangely, I feel safer with you at my side. I know I’m asking far more than I was earlier, if you wish to leave now it’s understandable. You twice now escaped the clutches of two monsters, there’s no need to put yourself in the crosshairs of a third.”

Sunset shook her head at that notion. “The hell with that! Like I’d leave one my friends to get hurt by one of those things! One almost violated Pinkie Pie and almost killed her, I’m not going to let the same happen to another friend!”

Rarity smiled and hugged Sunset, to which Sunset hugged her back. As she did, Sunset could feel the fashionista shiver in her embrace. Rarity was scared, but Sunset knew that Rarity wasn’t as fragile a girl as others made her out to be.

I just hope I can keep her safe.

It was late afternoon by the time Shining Armor and Spearhead managed to get all they needed. They had questioned the other suspect, Suri Polomare before seeing Rarity, and the information they got wasn’t much help. The two detectives were currently on their way to the morgue to speak with Dr. Pinkheart and find out what killed the young woman.

“Do you think whoever’s behind this is targeting the CHS girl?” Spearhead asked.

“My gut is telling me that they are. We might need to talk to the chief to post some protective detail at the competition tomorrow, maybe put one on her family’s house as well,” said Shining Armor.

*ring, ring*

Shining Armor’s phone went off, Spearhead answered it and put it on speaker when he saw the caller ID as “Dr. P.”

“Dr. Pinkheart, we were on our way to see you. Did you manage to find out what the cause of death was?” Shining Armor asked.

{Um…funny thing about that…I wasn’t able to.}

Spearhead and Shining were confused by that statement.

“Okay, why not?” Spearhead asked.

{Because…well…the body is gone.}

Shining Armor slammed the brakes on his car, thankfully the cars behind him managed to stop in time, but there were several others honking at him. Spearhead opened the car window and flashed his badge, which ceased some of the honking as he motioned for the drivers to go around.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘the body’s gone’?! It was transported there this morning, you were there!” Shining stated.

{Yes…Yes I was. Now, remember the kind of cases we’re working as I explain. The drawer we kept her in was had its door broken off.}

Spearhead shook his head in disbelief. “Wait, you’re saying someone broke into the morgue and took her body?”

{……A little weirder than that. Please don’t make me say it, I’m looking at it, and I still can’t believe it.}

Shining Armor dragged his hand down his face as he closed his eyes. “The drawer was broken from the inside, not the outside, right?”

{Correct.}

“Wait…” Spearhead held up his hands as he tried to contemplate this. “Are you saying we got a dead body walking around Canterlot City?! Now we’re dealing with zombies?!”

{You said it, I didn’t.}

True to her word, after school, Rarity and Sunset made their way to the Canterlot Grand Hall, where the competition would take place. Upon entering the space, Sunset saw dozens of people walking about, she could easily spot the designers from the models, some were eccentrically dressed, while some wore more tamed garbed.

Rarity informed Sunset to sit with the other models and that she would address the situation with the coordinator of the competition, Prim Hemline. Sunset watched as the designers assembled on stage, one was in a truly goth outfit, another was in a flowing dress, and the other had his hair done in blue and red stripes. After a moment, the coordinator and judge, Prim Hemline, made her appearance on stage. She wore a blue jacket, with gold lining, an opaque blouse, mauve pants, and red high-heel shoes. Her complexion was gray, with light pink hair.

“Before we begin, I’d like to make an announcement. Some of you may or may not know, but one of our models has…tragically, been taken from us before her time. Silva Evergreen,” said Prim.

The designers and models all began to murmur and had looks of worry.

“I regret to say that this was not due to natural causes, rather, it appears that she was killed. The police assure me that they are doing everything in their power to bring our dear Silva’s killer to justice.” Prim looked directly at Rarity when she spoke again. “Rarity, we’ll understand if you wish to take some time.”

Rarity stepped forward. “No, I was informed by the police about her untimely death. But, the show must go on! And I’d like to do so in memory of Silva, she loved working with me, and I want to honor her by going forward.”

A round of applause erupted from the other contestants, as well as the models. Rarity gave a slight bow to all of them, even Prim nodded in respect to Rarity’s wish.

“Very well, if you wish, I can put in a call to try and get someone else to model for you. But on such short notice we’ll be hard pressed to find someone, and even then, the changes to your entry will need to be done,” said Prim.

“Oh, I’m no stranger to all-nighters. However, that won’t be necessary. I have asked a dear friend of mine to help me in this, my hour of need. Her name is Sunset Shimmer!”

The eyes of the models and the designers fell on Sunset, who smiled nervously at the attention as she waved to all of them. Prim Hemline glanced at Sunset, her critical eye going over every detail of the girl Rarity had chosen as her replacement model.

“Are you sure? Your score isn’t just based on your couture alone, the ability of your model to help bring it all together counts a great deal towards your score. I understand the bonds of friendship are deep, but are you sure you wish to do this?” Prim asked.

Sunset gulped, now that she was standing amongst all these professional models, she had to admit, she was feeling a bit self-conscious right now. She had never doubted her looks, even when she was ruling CHS with an iron fist, Sunset ran into no shortage of guys who thought she was hot, or who wanted to sleep with her. That being said, now that she was standing next to these women, maybe she was thinking too highly of herself. Maybe Rarity should choose someone else…

Rarity stood confidently as she said, “I know that, and I will stick with my choice.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Sunset may not be a professional, but she does carry herself with a sense of purpose, power, and grace, I have no doubts in my friend. If you will, please allow her to be my model.”

Prim could see the determination in Rarity’s eyes, upon second glance of Sunset Shimmer, Prim could see what Rarity was speaking of. The fiery haired teen certainly had the body and looks for the job, if she devoted herself to modelling, Prim had no doubt she’d be on par with the rest of the girls here.

“Very well, I will allow it. Now, with that said, we shall go through a dry run of tomorrow’s competition.” Prim then glanced in Sunset’s direction, making the teen stand straight at attention. “I expect you, Miss Shimmer, to be extra attentive to this, you’ll only have today to get it memorized.”

Sunset gulped.

After that Prim went into how the rest of the competition would go. It would start with the announcement of each contestant, showcasing their previous works while on stage via old competition footage. Afterwards, the main event would occur. In total, there were about twenty contestants, and each was allowed to showcase their signature outfit for the winter theme this year. It was here that Sunset paid extra close attention, Rarity sat next to her, giving her pointers and explaining how the models walked, the poses they struck, as well as the timing for when to stop, pose, and then walk on.

Sunset had to admit, there was a lot more to modeling than just standing there and posing. When she was a pony, Sunset remembered walking with a since of grace and authority that came with being the Princess’ protégé, so she would sometimes walk with her head held high and strut down the street whenever she was in the presence of the nobles. They had always looked down on her, even more so when Sunset’s low standing came to light and made them wonder why she was chosen above their own bratty kids.

When it came to be Sunset’s turn, the girl fumbled a bit, getting called out by Prim a few times for either going too fast or too slowly. Thankfully, some of the other models were happy to assist her with the runway walk. Knowing that she was going to be doing this for Silva meant a lot to them, as some of them were friends with the model, so it only seemed right to help Sunset.

After a few hours of making sure everything was done, everyone was allowed to depart.

“Rarity!”

Sunset and Rarity turned around and saw two girls approach them. One was wearing a school uniform that was violet in color. Her skin tone was a pale orchid, with curly purple hair and grayish brown eyes, and she wore a blue plaid ascot around her neck. The girl next to her was in a similar uniform, except she had a red tie. She had cream colored skin, artic blue hair, and striking blue eyes.

The violet uniformed girl approached Rarity and gave her a hug. “I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry about what happened to Silva and that I’m happy to see you continue on. If there’s anything you need help with just ask, ‘kay?”

“Oh, thank you, but I think we’ll be alright,” said Rarity.

“Uh, Rarity, who’s this?” Sunset asked.

The girl broke off her hug and held out her hand to Sunset. “So sorry, forgot my manners. My name’s Suri Polomare, I’m from Crystal Prep Academy. And this is my assistant, Coco Pommel. She’s a freshman at CPA and I’ve decided to take her under my wing, ‘kay.”

“Hello,” said Coco in quiet tone.

“It’s so great that you’re taking on Silva’s role, don’t worry, you’ll do great tomorrow!” Suri assured.

“Thanks, I guess. I’m just hoping I don’t fall on my face,” said Sunset bashfully.

“Nonsense, once you’re on that stage, I know you’ll shine.” Rarity took out her cellphone. “Goodness, so sorry Suri, but we really must be going, I have some last minute additions to make to my entry! Ta-ta!”

“Ta-ta!”

When Sunset and Rarity left, Suri’s face grew serious. “That slutty bitch, she thinks she’s already won. Well, fat chance of that happening. Coco!”

The younger girl stepped forward. “Y-Yes, Suri?!”

“You’re going to be making some adjustments to the design, I don’t care if it takes you all night!” Suri ordered.

“Um…I mean, I can do that…but…are you going to help too? I mean, I know it’s your design but–”

Suri chuckled and wrapped her arm around Coco’s neck. “Oh, Coco. Listen, hon, this is how it works in the big leagues. Either you’re working or working someone else. Besides, I like, have other things I need to work on before tomorrow, and if I don’t, then it’ll impact my chances of winning. And besides. We wouldn’t want any unfortunate accidents to befall you, ‘kay?”

Coco felt Suri’s arm tighten around her, telling her that she had no choice in this matter. “O-Okay, Suri, w-whatever you say!”

“That’s more like it.”

It was already dark by the time Sunset and Rarity left the Grand Hall. The street lamps were already on and the snow was falling yet again. Sunset stared out the window as Rarity drove the car, thinking about tomorrow and growing more nervous by the minute.

“You’ll do fine, darling,” said Rarity.

“W-What?”

Rarity glanced to Sunset. “I know you’re feeling nervous, but I know you’ll do great.”

“Honestly, I’m starting to doubt I was the right pick. Rarity, I appreciate your confidence in me, but it won’t hurt my feelings or change my mind about forgiving you if you take Prim up on her offer.”

Rarity wagged her finger in protest. “Nonsense. As I said, I know you can pull it off, and if it ends up tanking horribly, well then, it’s a small price to pay to share in an activity with my friend.”

Sunset smiled upon hearing that. She really didn’t want to quit, she was just worried about Rarity’s win, but now, Sunset felt like showing up all those professionals tomorrow.

}}} Stay sharp! There’s something coming! {{{

“What?!”

“What?”

*THUNK!*

Rarity swerved a little as something dropped on top of the car, making Sunset hold on as the icy roads made it hard for Rarity take back control. “My god, what hit us?! Was that pile of snow?!”

I doubt you’d warn us about snow, Sunset thought.

There was more noise coming from above the car, it sounded like movement. Suddenly, whatever was on top of the car made itself known as a head popped down and in front of the window. Rarity and Sunset screamed bloody murder as whoever or whatever it was slid down from the top and was now on the hood of Rarity’s car.

From what Sunset could tell, it was a woman, her eyes were glowing a bright artic blue, and she wasn’t wearing anything. The woman cocked back her right fist and punched the window, fracturing the glass and causing Rarity to jerk the steering wheel in response.

“SHAKE HER OFF!” Sunset yelled.

Rarity jerked the wheel again, causing the woman to falter in her next strike and fall, but somehow she managed to stay on top of the hood. Rarity made another jerking movement, which made the woman lose her grip and slide down. Sunset looked around and saw a lamppost, she then pointed towards it and Rarity understood what she meant.

The other cars on the road swerved to avoid her as Rarity aimed her car right for the nearest lamppost, it was hard to aim as the icy roads made it hard for her to stay in a straight line. Unfortunately, the car swerved the wrong way and ended up striking up against the lamppost, on the passenger’s side.

Rarity felt her head spinning from the impact, she looked around and then to Sunset, who was slumped to her left side after the impact. “Sunset…Sunset are you alright…?”

A low groan came from her friend.

Rarity hurriedly unbuckled herself and carefully got the driver’s door open. Once she was sure she could still walk, Rarity hurried to unbuckle Sunset. She slowly dragged Sunset out of the car and onto the road, within seconds Sunset was coming around, feeling like she just got hit with a truck.

“Dammit, that hurt!” Sunset exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Sunset! The road was so icy, I-I couldn’t aim right!” Rarity apologized. “Are you hurt?!”

Sunset felt a small amount of pain, but thanks to the Witchblade, that was going away fast. “I’ll live, but where’s that thing?”

The girls looked around, but could see no sign of the woman who attacked them.

}}} It’s still here, I sense ill intent aimed towards us. {{{

Sunset realized that she may be forced to make a decision that she wasn’t sure she wanted to make. The fiery haired girl stood up and took Rarity’s hand. “We need to run, now!”

“B-But, Sunset, we need to call the police!”

“That thing’s still here! Don’t ask me how I know, we just need to get somewhere safe!”

Sunset pulled Rarity along, forcing her to keep up. Both girls ducked down an alley, Sunset glanced behind them and saw that the woman was still after them, but this time doing some kind of horror movie spider-walk on the walls as she gave chase.

Dammit, it’s going to chase us no matter where we go!……Fine then!

Sunset stopped and put Rarity behind her. “Rarity, there’s a way I can save us, but I need you to promise me that you won’t tell the girls what you’re about to see!”

“Sunset–!”

“Swear it!”

Rarity looked back down the alley, the woman jumped off the wall and was now walking towards them, eyes still glowing in the dimly lit alley. “Yes! I swear, whatever it is, I’ll keep it a secret!”

Sunset wasn’t sure if she was happy about that, mostly because she was about to show Rarity something scary. But right now, a little scary was needed to fight this thing. The Witchblade began to glow bright red, heat swelled in Sunset’s body, rising, filling her with an ecstasy that energized every cell in her body. In the next second, the bracelet exploded out into metal strands that slashed and tore through all of Sunset’s clothing, covering her in the armor of the Witchblade.

Rarity gasped in shock at what she saw, and blushed. She could feel a heat coming off of Sunset’s body, visibly creating steam in the cold night air. She didn’t know what she was looking at, the person before her was Sunset Shimmer, but her outfit, the armor, it barely covered anything of her friend, she was practically half naked. On top of that, her hair and changed to something sharp and metallic. Rarity watched as Sunset turned her head to look over her shoulder, showing off her glowing turquoise eyes.

“I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

The mystery woman widened her stance as Sunset formed a long forearm blade. Sunset dashed down the alley and towards her opponent, she thrust forward with the blade but the mystery woman jumped out of the way, bounded off the wall, and made her way towards Rarity.

“What the hell?!”

Rarity’s body froze as she watched the creature approach her at great speed, preparing to kill her. Sunset turned around and fired off several chains from her armor, each chain flew through the air, quick as a sparrow, and wrapped themselves around the mystery woman’s arms and legs. The mystery woman struggled to get closer, stretching out even her neck to try and bite Rarity. It was at this time that Rarity managed to get a good look at her assailant’s face, and when she did, she clasped her hands around her mouth in shock.

Sunset reeled back the attacker, moving the chains to her left hand as she pulled back as hard as she could, the assailant sailed into the air as Sunset brought her back down, slamming her against the cold, unforgiving pavement. Sunset didn’t waste any time as she quickly pounced on the mystery woman, she drew back her right arm and thrust the blade right into her heart. However, the mystery woman did not stop moving, it still fought and struggled to get free.

“How did that not work?!”

}}} I sense no life in this body. A malevolent power is making it move. {{{

“SUNSET!” Rarity yelled. “T-THAT’S SILVA!”

Sunset’s eyes widened, she looked down at the still struggling corpse as the realization hit her. “You mean…I’m fighting the girl who was killed! I…”

The corpse of Silva took advantage of Sunset’s stunned state and punched her hard in the stomach, making Sunset back off enough for Silva to get free. The living corpse jumped up and began spider-walking on the walls, it gazed upon them, trying to figure out the best way to attack her prey.

“Rarity, are you sure it’s her?!” Sunset asked.

“It is…It’s Silva Evergreen!” Rarity answered in tears.

Sunset looked upon the corpse of Silva and growled with fury. They’d go so far as to desecrate her corpse like this! Using it as a weapon to kill someone?!

}}} It’s only a husk, the spirit has long departed, you needn’t fear harming the true owner of that body. {{{

“Even so…I don’t want to damage her body anymore than I have already! She deserves a proper burial and I’m not going to slice up her corpse!”

Silva’s body lunged towards them, but Sunset managed to deliver a spinning kick to Silva, sending her flying out of the alley and into the streets. Sunset gave chase and watched as her body bounced off the ground, and, under the light of the lamppost, she could see something shimmering, it was long and thin, almost like a thread.

“Hey, did you see that?”

}}} I did. {{{

“Could that be the source of their control?”

}}} Only one way to find out. {{{

Sunset concentrated, and into her hands, formed two boomerang blades. Silva’s body got back up and dashed towards Sunset, at the same time, the slayer of evil threw both boomerangs just as she grappled with Silva. The twin blades whistled as they cut through the air, and in the next moment, sliced through the thin shimmering thread before dissolving into ash. The moment they did, the glow of Silva’s eyes disappeared, and the body went limp, falling to the ground.

Rarity walked out of the alley, slowly, she approached Sunset who was kneeling before Silva’s body. “Is she…?”

“She was already dead long before we saw her…whatever monster is behind this used her body like a puppet to try and attack us.” Sunset carefully pushed down on Silva’s eyelids and placed her hands over her chest. “You didn’t deserve this…I’m so sorry.”

Rarity knelt next to Sunset and placed her own hands into a prayer position. “Silva, I’m sorry…please, find peace.” After her prayer was over, Rarity looked to her friend. “So…it was you, wasn’t it. You’re the one who saved Pinkie Pie from that monster.”

“Yep.”

“And Rainbow Dash, and pulled that demon spirit from Lightning Dust.”

“Also, us.”

Rarity blinked. “Us?”

“Long story…look, I need to go, the police will be here soon.”

As Sunset was about to get up, Rarity fished out her car keys and popped the trunk of her car. “You need to stay here, it’ll be hard to explain how you were at my house or yours when I’m sure they’ll find out that we came from the same place.” Rarity walked over to her trunk and showed off a few clothes. “Fortunately, I have spare clothes, you never know when you’ll need a wardrobe change.”

Sunset smiled, thankful that she wasn’t going to have to go around naked. “Thank you, Rarity!”

“One question…does your…armor…rip apart your clothing every time you bring it out?”

“Every. Single. Time,” Sunset deadpanned.

Rarity winced. “Oh my…well then, I guess you came to the right girl.”