Twilight awoke that Monday morning with trepidation. Last Friday, she met the girl who had been shot and survived, the girl whom she thought she failed, Sunset Shimmer. But something didn’t make sense, Twilight had called Shining Armor to inquire on Sunset Shimmer, he said she was doing great and that he helped her get a new motorcycle. He also confirmed that Sunset Shimmer was still attending CHS.

So who are you…?

Twilight contemplated this as she rose up and got changed. She was a smart girl, although that was an understatement, she was also very curious, especially when there was a mystery set before her. Like the mysterious energy signatures, and now, the appearance of this other Sunset Shimmer.

Although, Twilight mused, that’s not to say that the Sunset that Shining knows is in fact the original. But they could also be twins…no, that wouldn’t be right, who would give two identical twins the same exact name? Not even the laziest of parents are that inept.

Once Twilight was done changing, playing a little with Spike, and eating breakfast, she made her way outside and waited for her rideshare to arrive. Her parents offered to drive her several times, but Twilight said that that was unnecessary, she didn’t want to bother them with having to shuttle her to and from school. If all else failed at the end of the day, she’d just ask Cadence for a ride home.

Once her ride arrived, Twilight got in and was taken to Crystal Prep. The whole ride was filled with silence as Twilight gazed out the window and continued to think about the prospect of two Sunset Shimmers. Another theory that popped into her head was the existence of parallel dimensions, the “multiverse theory”. Being a fan of Sci-Fi and anime, the multiverse theory is a widely popular theory, used in entertainment media either as the main plot point or as a convenient plot twist. There are those in the scientific community that believe in it, and have gone through great lengths to prove it.

Twilight hoped to be the one to make the discovery, one day.

Soon, albeit too soon for Twilight’s tastes, she arrived at CPA. It wouldn’t be much longer before she graduated and said goodbye to the school and the people in it. She told herself she just needed to survive a few more months and then it would be over. With a sigh, she thanked the driver and exited.

Twilight made her long walk down the quad and into the viper pit. The moment she entered, Twilight could feel the oppressive aura push down on her, feeling the eyes of her fellow students falling onto her, as if they were wolves who had just smelt fresh meat being thrown to them. Twilight hugged her books tight to her chest and made herself as small as possible as she prepared to make her through the hall.

“Hey, Sparky!”

Twilight froze and then arched her eyebrow in confusion. “Sparky”? Twilight turned to her left and watched as Sunset Shimmer came walking towards her. She had a confident smile on her face, Twilight wished she could smile like that, but she had to admit, it made her feel better seeing it.

Sunset stood before Twilight and raised her right hand for a high-five, but the moment she did, Twilight flinched and brought up her books to act like a makeshift shield. Sunset’s smile faded upon seeing this and instead was filled with concern.

“Whoa…Sparky, you alright? I-I’m not going to hurt you,” said Sunset.

Twilight realized what she had done and cursed herself, it was just a reflex, but one that she couldn’t stop from happening. “N-No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to react that way.”

Sunset’s brow furrowed a little. “Has someone hurt you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, no, it’s nothing, really! I got hit in the face with a softball a long time ago, so I’m a little skittish whenever someone looks like they’re going to throw something my way.” God that was such a lame excuse! Could that be anymore flimsy?!

Sunset studied her a moment, her serious expression faded a little, but Twilight could tell that she wasn’t convinced. “Alright, if you say so.”

The two girls walked side by side down the hall, Sunset walked a little out in front like she did last Friday, acting like a shield to make the other students not shoulder check Twilight or make her stumble. Twilight admitted, she very much appreciated that, but she didn’t know why Sunset was doing it? What was her angle?

“Um, Sunset Shimmer?”

“You don’t have to say my whole name,” Sunset chuckled, “just call me Sunset, Sparky.”

“Okay, um, why do you call me ‘Sparky’?” Twilight asked.

Sunset sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Oh, sorry, I kind of have a habit of giving nicknames to people I like. I can stop if you want?”

For some reason, Twilight didn’t want her to. “No, that’s alright, you can call me Sparky, Sunset.”

Sunset smiled and they continued their walk.

“So, do you by chance have any siblings?” Twilight inquired.

“Nope, only child. You?” Sunset asked.

“I have a BBBFF.”

Sunset stopped walking and looked at her with confusion. “What now?”

Twilight blushed. “It stands for Big Brother Best Friend Forever…I-I know it sounds corny and…”

“Nah, I like it, it’s cute! So I guess you really like your bro?”

Twilight nodded excitedly. “He’s the best, he’s a detective with the CCPD homicide division!”

“No shit? That’s hardcore! You see any of his cases?” Sunset asked

Twilight blew a raspberry. “No, despite my offering to help him with his cases, but he always says ‘I don’t want you having nightmares about these things, Twily.’”

Sunset chuckled. “Geez, but it’s probably for the best, the shit he sees must be gruesome. Didn’t you guys have those Mystery Murders not too long ago?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, he was working those cases, but they’re closed now, or so he’s told me.”

Sunset put her hands behind her back as they continued their stroll down the hall. “That’s good, I didn’t want to move to a new town just to find out it’s infested with demons.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it’s ‘demons’, perhaps some variant of a virus that causes mutation, maybe.”

“So you thinkin’ like mad cow disease or rabies? Both have been cited to be the catalysts to a potential zombie virus, or some variant of it,” said Sunset.

“Perhaps, but if Suri Polomare was anything to go off of, she seemed to have full cognition, completely aware of her actions, she was even carrying on a coherent rant. So perhaps–!” Twilight cut herself off. “I-I’m sorry, I was about to go into a long rant myself…”

Sunset grinned and the playfully flicked Twilight between the eyes, Twilight yelped a rubbed the spot she hit. “Don’t apologize for being a brain, I’m kind of one myself. It’s going to be nice having someone who can keep up with me.”

Despite the small stinging sensation, Twilight smiled.

“My locker’s down there, I’ll walk with you to yours,” said Sunset.

Twilight shook her head. “No, no, you don’t have to. I’ll be fine, just go on ahead and I’ll meet you there.”

Sunset shrugged and then nodded as she went on to her locker. Twilight took a breath and opened her locker, for some reason, she felt more tense when Sunset wasn’t around. She knew she should know better, Sunset may be acting friendly now, but Crystal Prep has a way of snuffing out that attitude quickly and without mercy. Soon enough, Sunset Shimmer would find some group of kids she wanted to be part of, and would subsequently do something to her that gets Sunset in their good graces. Twilight hated to be so cynical about it, but it was the truth she learned in these halls.

As Twilight finished changing out her books, she pulled away and her locker door slammed shut, making her yelp as she jumped back a bit. Standing next to her locker was Indigo Zap, Twilight tensed up even more, not only was Indigo very handsy, she was also physically far stronger than Twilight.

“Hey, Sparkle,” said Indigo.

“H-Hey…”

“Still helping out that new girl?”

Twilight nodded.

“So, you say something to her about not wanting me to show her around?” Indigo asked.

Twilight shook her head vigorously. “N-N-No! I-I didn’t! She surprised me as much as she did you!”

“Uh-huh, you looked real chummy back there.” Indigo began to circle Twilight, forcing Twilight to have her back against the locker. “You know that girl?”

“I swear, I don’t! She’s just…nice.” Twilight confessed.

“Ha! ‘Nice’, yeah, no one acts ‘nice’ unless they want something. What could she want from you?” Indigo moved forward and placed her hand against Twilight’s locker, just a few inches away from the left side of her head and leaned forward. “It better not be something I’ve already staked my claim on?”

Twilight trembled, she knew better than to struggle against Indigo, it was better to let her do what she wanted and walk away like nothing ever happened.

“Sparky!”

Sunset?

Twilight looked to her left at the same time as Indigo, Sunset came walking towards them, a confident strut in her step as if she was the queen or an unstoppable force waiting to be challenged by an unmovable object.

“Am I interrupting something?” Sunset asked.

“Nah, just a little talk between pals,” said Indigo. “I’ll see you around, Sparkle.”

Indigo moved away from Twilight, she then moved closer and shoulder checked Sunset as she whispered, “She’s mine bitch.” and walked on. Twilight watched as Sunset glared at Indigo Zap, and for a moment, she swore she saw a flicker of flames in her eyes.

Sunset’s glare faded when she looked at Twilight. “Are you alright?”

“I…I’m fine, it’s nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing. If she’s your girlfriend I’ll back off, I didn’t mean to intrude on you guys,” said Sunset.

Twilight hugged her books closer to her chest. “She’s not my girlfriend. I’ve never had one, or know if I’m attracted to girls, I’ve certainly never had any boys look at me with interest and – WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?!” Twilight clamped her mouth shut, red in the face at how she just rambled on like that.

Sunset chuckled at Twilight’s embarrassment. “Well, it’s their loss, ‘cause you’re pretty cute Sparky.”

Twilight blushed harder. Cute? Me?

“C’mon, class is about to start.”

Twilight couldn’t pay much attention to her teachers’ words – not like she needed to – if she was ever called on to answer a question she was able to answer it without any problem. A fact that annoyed her teachers and fellow students alike. Twilight never understood why? Just because she was thinking of something else, didn’t mean she wasn’t listening, and she often read ahead of the class to make sure she’d be able to answer any of the teacher’s questions. She was just being a prepared, good student. What was wrong with that? It was almost as if the teachers wanted her to flub up and not know the answer, just to make an example out of the student.

At this point it was becoming something like a game to them, “Who could trip up Twilight Sparkle, and make her look like a fool in front of the class?” That was fine, there were other students who were like that, but Twilight wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of letting herself be one of them.

But that wasn’t important. What was important was Sunset Shimmer, Shining Armor never told her that Sunset was going to be transferring to Crystal Prep, she was very certain that he’d say something to her about that given that she helped with her case.

For all the good I did…she still ended up getting hurt because I wasn’t smart enough to get around another hacker…

Despite having been told by her big brother that it wasn’t her fault, Twilight couldn’t help but feel some level of guilt over it. Perhaps, even though the Anon-A-Miss thing was over, the events had caused too much damage for Sunset to stay at CHS and forced her to change schools?

There’s really only one way to do this. I have to ask her, I still feel guilty about it, and if there’s any way for me to ask for forgiveness, this would be my chance.

Twilight decided then that she’d confront Sunset Shimmer around lunch time and tell her she was sorry for what happened to her. She wasn’t sure if Shining Armor told her that it was her who helped with phone hacking, but either way, she was going to do it.

A couple of hours passed and lunch time finally arrived, luckily, Sunset had the same time as her, so she was able to have Sunset come with her. Twilight had been sitting alone for a while, so much so that she found a nice little spot where no one would bother her or eavesdrop

Once seated, Twilight would pick at her food, sparing a glance at Sunset once and a while.

“Penny for your thoughts, Sparky?”

Twilight tensed. “Uh, sorry?”

Sunset turned to Twilight and rested her chin in her upturned palm. “You look like you got something on your mind. You can tell me.”

Twilight sighed heavily, there was no putting this off any longer. The brainy girl turned and faced Sunset and then said, “Sunset Shimmer, I’m sorry. I was the one who helped Shining Armor when you asked for help to look into you and your friend’s phones getting hacked. I was also helping him look into Anon-A-Miss.” At this point, Twilight’s eyes started to water. “I tried my hardest to try and take down that webpage, but I just couldn’t…and you got hurt…got shot because of that! I…I know I didn’t pull the trigger, but I still feel responsible for not taking it down sooner to prevent that! I just want you to know how sorry I am!”

Sunset looked genuinely concerned by Twilight’s crying, she turned fully to Twilight and removed her glasses. She then gave Twilight a napkin to wipe her tears and clear her nose. After a minute, Sunset gave Twilight her glasses back and looked her in the eyes.

“Sparky…I…I really hate to say this after all that…but, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Twilight felt as if the world came to a grinding halt. “S’cuse me?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she said, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. ‘Anon-A-Miss’, ‘Shining Armor’, and what’s all this about me getting shot?”

Twilight began to stammer, she couldn’t have been mistaken, she looked exactly like the photo Shining showed her. The news didn’t show a picture of Sunset, but they did drop her name more than once. Twilight had impeccable memory recall, an eidetic memory – or photographic memory as it was commonly called.

“Sparky, are you alright?”

Twilight brought up her phone and searched the news report on the shooting. When she found it, Twilight played the video clip and let Sunset look and listen. Twilight noticed Sunset’s brow furrowing and then she arched an eyebrow.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Twilight stated.

Sunset handed Twilight back her phone and said, “Sparky, I don’t know what to say, but…I’ve been out of the country for at least two weeks. The week after that was spent moving to Canterlot City and getting my stuff set up here at CPA. I’ve never been to Canterlot High School. But, I will admit, I did hear my name said several times, it could be an error?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I know it’s you! My brother showed me a picture of you! He was helping you with this!”

“Why would your brother have a picture of me? Am I being stalked?” Sunset asked.

“No! Like I said, he is a detective with the CCPD! You were involved in some cases due to some unforeseen circumstances and he’s protected you!”

Sunset nodded and smirked. “Hmm, I never did ask, is he cute?”

Twilight blushed. “He’s in a relationship.”

Sunset snapped her fingers. “Shoot, that’s my luck.”

Twilight groaned as she rubbed her temples. “Please be serious! There’s something wrong here! Either you’re purposefully lying to me so that you don’t have to relive that trauma – which I can respect and if that’s the case I’ll stop talking about it – or…or…”

“Or there’s another me walking around out there.” Sunset finished. “Is that what you were going to say?”

Twilight didn’t want to completely delve into that theory, but right now there wasn’t much she could go off of. She had already been detecting strange energy readings coming from CHS, and during that hellish blizzard, the readings were near off the charts. Was it possible that there was a connection between the two?

“You’re thinking about something, what is it?” Sunset asked.

“It’s…It’s complicated, it’s also a side project I’ve been working on and I don’t want to come off as sounding…weird.”

Sunset placed a hand on her hip. “You mean weirder than people turning into monsters? Weirder than a bikini armored demon slayer? Or weirder than the possibility that I might have a doppelganger walking around?”

Twilight needed answers, she hated not knowing something, but contrarily, she liked it. The prospect of learning something new and exciting, something strange and possibly groundbreaking, it was like a drug that Twilight couldn’t get enough of.

“Wanna go to CHS and look around?” Sunset suggested.

Twilight fidgeted, like a child who knew the right answer was no, but their body said otherwise. “My brother said that it wasn’t a good idea right now, they’re still getting over what happened, and if there is another Sunset Shimmer there, then that could be bad for you if someone recognizes you.”

“What’s an investigation without a little danger?” Sunset asked.

Twilight couldn’t argue that too much, some scientific investigations had some degree of danger. “Okay…let’s go, today if possible.”

Sunset smirked widened. “Sweet, a little covert ops science investigation. I like it. Text me your address and I’ll pick you up.”

Twilight blushed. “Pick me up?”

“Do you drive?”

“N-No.”

“Then I’ll pick you up. By the way, what size helmet do you wear?”

“……Excuse me?”

Sunset Shimmer was loving Monday, which was weird because she normally hated Mondays, but she didn’t care, it was great. She rode to school on her new motorcycle and loved every second of it. Celestia had lamented a little about not being able to drive her to school anymore, but her guardian was happy that Sunset had a mode of transportation again.

Her ride with Pinkie on Saturday was very enjoyable, taking Pinkie helmet shopping was a bit of a hassle, as her hyperactive girlfriend wouldn’t sit still for too long and would try on every strange looking helmet that she came across. Not that Sunset didn’t like it, she wouldn’t have it any other way when it came to Pinkie Pie.

School had gotten back to a relative sense of normalcy. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were still suspended for the next two months from school, and even when they came back they were going to spend another three months in detention, even though that would run into Summer Vacation, their detention sentence would continue into the new school year.

Sunset wished she’d still be here, but the end of this year marked the end of her high school career, then it was off to college. She wanted to stay and help the girls as there was no doubt that those three were going to have hell to pay when they were back with the students, some of whom would still be there long after Sunset and her friends were gone.

In the sparse amount of time that she and Pinkie had seen the younger of their friends, Pinkie showed that she still hadn’t forgiven them for what they did. Yes, Sunset wasn’t dead, but the point was that something like what happened could’ve happened even without the Wendigos. And if Sunset did not possess the Witchblade, she would’ve died plain and simple, for that fact, Pinkie couldn’t forgive them, or at least not yet.

Throughout the past three weeks, and now into the fourth week, the students were still extremely apologetic towards Sunset. Each one offering some form of apology or the other, during this time she had been advocating forgiveness on the CMC’s behalf, and although many seemed reluctant, Sunset prayed that the mere act of showing that she forgave them was enough to sway the others into at least being open to it.

As the days passed, and even today, Sunset wondered what exactly she wanted to do in her life. Her cutie mark defined her as being adept in magic, much like Princess Twilight. But, here, magic was…scarce, not gone, apparently, but scarce. Sunset wondered even more what she was to do with the Witchblade. She thought that it had appeared just to help her take down the Wendigos, but something told her that the Witchblade wasn’t that simple, if anything, it seemed like she was stuck with it for life. Something that Sunset didn’t dislike in the least bit.

The school was abuzz with talks of the upcoming Friendship Games, and that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were already making a list of potential candidates for the twelve slots of the team. Sunset never saw much point in the whole “high school rivalry” thing, but she could understand not wanting to lose.

The day ran by swiftly as Sunset soon found herself at the end of the school day. Before the Anon-A-Miss fiasco, when she was trying to be a better person and looking for a way to get out her frustration, Sunset had joined the Fencing Club, and found she was pretty good with a sword. Naturally, However, when the fiasco started, she was banned from the club, but of course they reversed that decision shortly after it was over.

Currently, Sunset was standing in a designated lane, with six members of the Fencing Club on one side, and another six on the opposite side. Her opponent was feet away from her, left hand behind her back, and her flail pointed at Sunset.

Sunset narrowed her gaze as she assumed the same stance, steadying her breath as readied to attack. Underneath the faceguard, her opponent, Cloud Kicker, did the same, both holding their positions and looking for the slightest hint of movement. Cloud saw a slight twitch of Sunset’s hand and lunged forward with her flail.

Sunset parried the blade away and stepped forward to attack, Cloud backed up quickly and putting enough space between them so that she could thrust again. The gym filled with the sounds of metal smacking metal, the clacking of their flail swords echoing with each successive strike along with the loud stomps of their feet as the two girls would step forward and step back.

Sunset liked this kind of fight, her life wasn’t on the line, there was no one to protect, it was just pure sport and love of crossing swords with your opponent. Still, that didn’t mean that Sunset liked to lose either. Sunset stepped back as a feint, lowering her right arm just enough to give Cloud the idea that she miss stepped.

Cloud took the bait and lunged forward, her foot stomping down as she thrust her flail forward. Sunset smirked as she swiftly shuffled her feet to the left, throwing off Cloud’s interpretation of her actions. She then swept upwards and made Cloud Kicker lose her grip on the sword, making it fly backwards. The former unicorn then charged forward and stopped when the flat tip of her flail pressed against the neck guard of Cloud’s mask.

“Match over!” The referee announced. “Winner, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset smiled and pulled away, another of the club members went to grab Cloud’s flail and brought it back to her.

“Salute.”

Sunset and Cloud brought their swords up and then swiped downward. Both women took off their helmets and walked towards the center and shook hands.

“Damn, three weeks away and it’s like you got hella better! Did you do some secret training or something?” Cloud asked.

Sunset briefly glanced at her right wrist, where underneath the glove rested the Witchblade. “Something like that, I had a lot of free time during that whole mess.”

The rest of the club time was spent going over exercises, more matches, and a little sparring match between other students. After they were done everyone hit the showers, when they went back to their lockers to get dressed Cloud Kicker asked, “So how’s it going with you and Pinkie Pie?”

Sunset smiled. “Good, so far. I really like her, but we only just started dating though. How about you and Rainbow?”

Cloud chuckled a little. “We’re not really ‘going out’. We’re just friends with benefits.”

Sunset blinked. “Oh, wow.”

“Yeah, between you and me, I think she’s still got a thing for Lightning Dust,” whispered Cloud.

Sunset felt bad for the girl, she was still in juvie for the time being, along with Fleur de Lis. The former was used unwillingly in the killings of those people, while the latter was complacent with being used to kill people. According to the last update she got from Shining Armor, the courts were still not sure what to do with them. Demonic possession wasn’t exactly looked on as a valid defense, some who did claim such things were either mentally unstable or serial killers. But in this case, it was literal.

“They can’t acquit them because it would like they’re getting away with murder, and they can’t prosecute them because they technically weren’t the ones committing the crimes, the monsters inside them were. For now, they’re kind of stuck in limbo.”

If this was Equestria, such a thing would’ve been considered into the defense. With her knowledge of their laws, Sunset already knew the outcome. Lightning Dust would’ve been set free as her possession was coerced and unwanted. While Fleur would be convicted and sentenced due to her complicity in letting the demon take over her body and letting her commit murder.

But this isn’t Equestria…the laws here don’t take things like magic and monsters into account.

“Does that bother you at all?” Sunset asked.

“No, not really. Cap’s great in the sack, and a great friend, but as far as girlfriend…I don’t think I’m ready for that. ‘Sides, I don’t want to make her choose between me and Lightning. ‘Cause what happens if she’s released and wants to get together with Cap?”

Sunset finished getting dressed and patted Cloud on the shoulder. “You’re a good friend Cloud.”

Cloud looked down somberly as she put her shirt on. “I still feel like shit for putting Cap and you through all that…”

“We all make mistakes, Cloud, what matters is what you do going forward. So long as you’re there for Rainbow, then you’re on your way,” said Sunset.

Sunset left the gym and walked out into the crisp air. She took a moment to stop at the steps of the school, and as usual, the faint blot of her spilled blood was still there. Celestia said she was looking into getting that section of the stone steps replaced. Sunset sat at the top step and produced her journal and looked it over.

Since this Wendigo incident, Sunset hadn’t had that much time to message Princess Twilight, but when it was over and things settled down, Sunset filled the journal with a lot of pages about what had happened. And as expected, Princess Twilight was panicked and asking if she needed to come there and help. In hindsight, it might’ve been good to have here, but at the same time, considering everything that happened, she didn’t want to run the risk of Princess Twilight getting attacked by a Wendigo possessed person.

Thankfully she was able to assuage her fears and then peak curiosity about getting a look at the Witchblade.

}}} I would not recommend any kind of “examination” being conducted on me. {{{

Agreed, it was already a hassle to get Dr. Blueheart from doing that. Thankfully she was okay with me answering her questions and transforming in front of her.

Sunset took out a pen and began to write in the journal.

“Dear Princess Twilight,

How’s it going lately?

Things have quieted down a little since Anon-A-Miss, today will mark the fourth week of that horrible time coming to an end. But lately…I don’t know, I’m starting to wonder what I want to do.

Graduation will be coming around and I don’t know what I want to do? Now that you have a way to stabilize and maintain the portal, I can cross over and continue my studies in magic, I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to learn in the years I’ve been gone.

Although, I’ll probably learn under you. I don’t think I’m ready to face Princess Celestia yet and ask her to take me under wing, but I wouldn’t mind being under yours.

That being said, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do if I do stay here? Science is really advanced here compared to Equestria, and it’s kind of like magic, and it’s really fascinating. I was thinking maybe becoming a scientist? But, I don’t know…

I made the decision to stay here and make a life for myself, so going back feels like I’m giving up. Anyway, whenever you can, write back. Or if you want, we can chat in person this weekend? Up to you, no pressure.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer.”

So wrapped up in her journal writing, the Sunset didn’t notice when two people showed up at the front of the school.

Twilight wasn’t sure about having Sunset Shimmer drive her to CHS, but it did sound fun nonetheless. However, Twilight was more than a little apprehensive about riding on a motorcycle. Even with the most cautious drivers, the death rate for people riding them was very high, higher when there was a second person riding with them. Even her parents were a little iffy about letting Twilight ride with Sunset.

Yet, somehow, Sunset was able to convince not only them, but also Twilight herself. She held onto Sunset for dear life, while she was afraid that she was crushing Sunset’s stomach and ribs, she was more afraid of getting thrown off. Although, Twilight would admit, she did like how warm Sunset felt.

After a few minutes of driving, Sunset and Twilight came up to the corner of the street that turned onto CHS. They both wore casual clothes, a pair of jean pants, light gray for Twilight and black for Sunset. While Twilight wore a black hoodie, Sunset wore a black shirt with a black leather jacket. Her helmet visor was mirror tinted, so neither her face or eyes would be seen, Sunset had also grabbed one for Twilight, one from when she was younger that fit Twilight perfectly.

“You ready, Sparky?” Sunset asked.

“N-Not really, b-but also yes!” Twilight answered.

Sunset turned onto the street and pulled up to the sidewalk closest to the school. Twilight hopped off and reached into Sunset’s saddle bags, pulling out a device that she quickly turned on. The device began to beep and emit sounds. Two long prong attachments began to wave up and down and blink depending on where Twilight pointed it. Sunset remained on the bike so that they could make a quick get away if need be.

Twilight looked upon the public school that was Canterlot High. On the surface, it looked like any other school building, maybe a little nicer than most public schools. The device in her hand beeped and beeped the closer she moved towards the school, the readings she was getting were off the charts, as if the entire area was saturated with the anomalous energy.

Twilight moved closer towards the school, when she pointed the device at the Wondercolt statue, the peeping increased more, but when she pointed it at the school itself it went up dramatically. Twilight so wanted to go inside and get more readings, but she knew she was pushing it by being on the grounds. With that in mind, she focused on the statue. The device continued to beep as the prongs shot upwards towards the marble horse statue.

The teen genius placed her right hand on the cool surface, and for the briefest of moments, saw a ripple, almost as if she had touched a pool of water. That’s not possible…it has to be some illusion, right?

Twilight went to touch it again.

“Hey?!”

Twilight froze, she quickly turned to her right and she gasped. There, sitting on the steps to the school, was Sunset Shimmer. Her mind raced as she looked back from the Sunset sitting on the steps and to the one sitting on her bike. It was impossible, and yet it was so, there were two Sunset Shimmers. A million different scientific theories popped into Twilight’s mind, her rational part trying to hurriedly sift through each one to make sense of what she was looking at. Of course that stopped when she saw the Sunset on the school steps get up.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Steps Sunset asked.

Twilight began to panic, she wasn’t supposed to be here, and if this Sunset knew her big brother and told him she was here – Wait, this Sunset doesn’t know who I am, Shiny never told her my name. Steps Sunset began to move towards her. Still, I can’t process this right now!

Twilight broke into a sprint as she ran towards Biker Sunset, she paused momentarily when she reached her, now she wondered who this Sunset Shimmer was, because this one knew nothing about Anon-A-Miss or getting shot, which meant the one behind her did, and in that case, who was she?

Biker Sunset glanced from Twilight and back to Steps Sunset. Biker Sunset narrowed her gaze and shouted, “GET ON!”

That seemed to snap Twilight out of her stupor as she finally mounted the bike and held onto Biker Sunset. With little time to waste, Biker Sunset revved the engine and took off down the street as her tires screeched and squealed. Twilight would’ve said something about how fast she was going, but right now speed was their friend and they needed to get distance from Steps Sunset Shimmer in case she decided to pursue them.

Ten miles later, both CPA girls stopped in front of a gas station. Twilight’s heart was pounding from both excitement and plain old confusion. Biker Sunset removed her helmet and released a deep sigh, turning to Twilight and flashing her a smile.

“You okay, Sparky?” Sunset asked.

“I…I…”

“Take off your helmet and take a deep breath, it helps.”

Twilight did as Sunset told her, removing her helmet and inhaling deeply, then exhaling. She did this for a minute until her heart rate slowed.

“Better?”

“Yes…Sunset…you saw her right? I know you did.”

Sunset knitted her brow. “Yeah…I saw her. Guess I do have a twin sister, huh?”

Twilight knitted her brow as well as she rose from the bike and stood before Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset, don’t lie to me, this is serious! You have a double, and she sounded and looked exactly like you! If anything, I’d say she was a clone! If you’re trying to hide something, then just tell me!”

Sunset flipped the kickstand, swung her legs around, and sat on her bike. “I’m telling you the truth, Sparky. I don’t know who she is, or why she looks like me. But there’s no denying that she did look and sound like. I’m an only child, I never had any siblings, much less a twin. I’m not part of any illegal cloning experiments either, I have money but I don’t have access to that level of tech. Whatever’s going on, I’m just as in the dark as you are…”

Twilight’s expression softened when she saw the same look of confusion as she had. The young genius clutched her left arm and said, “I’m sorry, this must be as much a shock to you as it is to me.”

“Oh yeah…but, what can we do? I’m not really up to seeing my other self, at least not right now.”

“Let’s just take some time to look this over, explore different avenues and theories as to why she looks and sounds like you. As the great detective used to say, ‘If you eliminate everything that is logical, whatever is left – no matter how improbable – must be the truth’.”

Sunset smirked as she nodded with that line of thinking. “Looks like we have ourselves a little project, Sparky.”

The Russian mob had sought to gain a foothold in Canterlot City, but the Lupos Family and the Canterlot Blood Pack were making it hard to keep it there. Problem was, they were so busy fighting each other that they barely had the time to peddle any of their illegal wares. Guns, drugs, gambling, and prostituting, all of it was being put in jeopardy due to their three-way war.

When the demon monsters showed up, it made it even harder due to people being afraid to come out at night, or stay out too late at night. Now though, something different was happening, they were getting attacked. They were struck by someone who was single handedly taking down their operation, and that was not good.

The leaders of the Canterlot Chapter of the mob had ordered a meeting of the top lieutenants, they were at war and they needed to fight back. They had all gathered at a compound in the upper eastside of Canterlot, it was filled with a lot of rich people, and typically had a strong police presence. The compound itself was on its own, isolated, plot of land. A brick and mortar wall surrounded the perimeter, a few guards walked the grounds, their hands resting in the inside of their coats, gripping their guns, prepared to fire on any intruders.

Sombra King stuck to the shadows, watching the movements of the guards. Ultimately it didn’t matter what their patrol patterns were, he just needed something to do as he waited for the rest of the Russian mob’s “generals” and “lieutenants” arrived. Once he was sure that there were no more coming, Sombra decided to make his move.

Young Blood had argued that he and the rest of their crew should come with Sombra and attack the mob head on. Sombra shot that down, he was sure that they could bloody up the mobsters, but truthfully, they would only be in the way. Sombra took a drag off a cigarette and blew smoke into the cold night air, he then dropped it onto the ground and stomp it out.

The guards at the gates watched as Sombra walked towards them, their hands were already reaching for their guns, unfortunately for them, Sombra was quicker. Sombra sidestepped to the left and pulled out a couple of Desert Eagles and gunned down both guards before they even knew what hit them.

Sombra was sure that was going to get someone’s attention, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting rid of any potential allies to the Lupos, and once they were gone…well…this was a nice city.

<^> We could easily wipe this place from the face of the Earth. Why make this tedious? <^>

It’s called savoring the moment, plus, gotta make sure that they send as many of their guys out as possible, we need to make it showy.

Sombra’s eyes shimmered red as black tendrils grew from his back. The sharpened tendrils shot towards the gate and wrapped themselves around the wrought iron bars. With one pull, tendrils ripped the gates off their hinges, sending mortar and brick flying. Some more men came from around both corners and were about to open fire, that is until the tendrils threw the gates at them. The gates sailed with such speed and force that they crushed their targets upon impact, turning them into bloody mush.

Sombra ran towards the main house, things like fatigue didn’t affect him, not with the power he had, he could run for miles without breaking a sweat or being short of breath. Automatic weapons fire sounded up ahead of him, and not long after that, several bullets flew his way. The tendrils moved to the front and acted as a shield against the barrage.

Once he was closer, Sombra began firing his guns. He wasn’t an impatient shooter, no, he made sure his shots counted, why waste ten bullets killing someone when you can do it with just one?

The first shot hit the first guard in his neck, piercing his carotid artery as blood filled his mouth and sprayed from his neck. The spray of blood distracted the second shooter close to him, which gave Sombra another clean shot as he fired two rounds and hit him in the heart. You always double tap the heart. The tendrils reached up and slammed down on the ground catapulting Sombra into the air and making the guards look on in shock.

Sombra took aim and fired multiple shots from his position in the air, each shot hit their targets, riddling their heads, shoulders and chest with bullet holes. Both guards hit the ground just as Sombra landed behind them. Two more guards emerged from the house, but Sombra merely produced two more tentacles, these had multiple, glowing, red slit eyes and mouths filled with razor sharp teeth. The two tentacles shot towards the men and with the force of a cannonball, punched a hole through their chests. On the other side, the creatures’ jaws had clamped down on their hearts, with their sharp teeth they ate them and swallowed them before retracting from their targets.

Despite having witnessed the gruesome deaths of their comrades didn’t seem to deter them from trying to kill him. Sombra stopped at the entrance, the lights were still on. The guards continued to open fire, Sombra made more tendrils of inky blackness appear and move rapidly to swat the bullets away. In his mind however, he was working.

Hey, what the hell are you doing? The fucking lights are still on!

~Keep yer panties on! I got tied up by some of these pricks and had to take care of business!~

On the far end of the compound, a hunched back creature stood before a large fuse box. He had a strange, metal backpack, with two tesla coils that emitted sparks of electricity. In both of his hands he held two electrodes that buzzed and crackled with the same electricity. Right beside the beady, yellow eyed creature were two men who were lying on the ground, both of them with charred skin and foam at their mouths, hair standing up on its ends.

The creature broke open the fuse box and smiled wickedly. The tapped the two electrodes and when he did, an arch of lightning ran between them as it crackled.

~Time to get a real buzz!~

The creature put the electrodes to the fuse box, and immediately after a huge surge of electricity was sent through the fuse box. The creature continued to cackle like a madman until it and the fuse box exploded in a shower of sparks.

Back at the front of the house, the lights all went dead, and darkness fell on the entire compound. Just like Sombra wanted. The shadows came alive as more tentacles rose, some sharp and barbed, others with eyes and jaws. Sombra put away his Desert Eagles as his eyes shined read in the night, and with a flick of his wrist, the tendrils went to work as he walked forward.

Screams of pure carnage and terror, along with the sounds of unholy hisses and screeches echoed through the compound, alongside gunfire that was drastically decreasing by the minute. Inside the house bodies laid strewn across the floor, over staircases, from chandeliers, and furniture. Some were dismembered, cut down the middle, or just generally ripped to pieces.

Sombra continued his slow walk into the building, his boots scattering the many bullet cases that littered the floor from the mobsters’ futile attempts to kill him. Some of his tendrils acted as his eyes and ears, slithering like snakes through the vents, along the floors, walls and ceilings, searching for the head honchos that were called to his meeting.

“They got a pretty fucking big house. Starting to think you had the right idea of just wiping this whole place in one whack,” said Sombra.

<^> Told you. <^>

Finally, one of the tendrils found his marks. Sombra followed it and arrived at a pair of large, wooden, double doors. The guards were already killed, and at least four of his hungry mouthed tendrils stood guard outside the door, making sure none escaped.

Sombra kicked open the door, he half expected them to open fire on him, but upon taking stock of the faces in the room, he could tell that they were more afraid of what he’d do if they tried to shoot him than if they just shot.

“L-L-Look, we’ll leave the city! We’ll pull out our whole operation! Just don’t kill us!” one of them pleaded.

“I appreciate that.” Sombra reached into his jacket pocket and everyone tensed. The gangster chuckled at their reactions as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and then a lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a relaxing drag from the famed “cancer stick” and then exhaled a plume of smoke. “Thing is, I’ve been in the business, and I know only one thing gets the point across better than an order from up top. Fear. Being scared so shitless that even just thinking about disobeying puts someone into a panic attack.”

The tendrils began to move into the room, making the men practically wet themselves. “Just take some solace in the fact that I don’t hurt women and kids. Part of my code, unlike some of you…”

Next Chapter: Setting up the Pieces: Part 3 Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 57 Minutes