Chapter 3: Bring Me the Horizon

Cloud Cover had never been a stranger to the Internet, and although his tastes in content had changed since he was younger, his skill for information tracking had not been diminished. And the one thing he had learned above all else was that no matter what you were looking for, there was always someone else looking for the same thing...and often times, had an easier way to get it.

Apple Bloom sat in front of him now, quietly looking left to right as if to check out for thieves in the night despite it being her own house. The clock ticked softly in the background of the small farmhouse foyer.

"Ya shouldn't've come here, Cloud."

Cloud calmly sipped his tea as he regarded the young girl before him with an air of patience. "If your brother or sister caught you talking to strangers on the internet it would have caused problems for the both of us. It's easier to pretend to be a professor or a tutor."

Apple Bloom glowered at him. "They know Ah'm a good kid. They don't think Ah'd talk to strangers."

Cloud shrugged. "But that's what you're doing anyway, and if they found you on a chatroom or email late at night they would think that. Especially if Applejack found out given your history...Anon-a-Miss."

Cloud Cover let the last word sink in as Apple Bloom squirmed in her seat. Her discomfort made him nod in approval. "Ah...Ah'm not like that anymore..."

"So you say," Cloud replied in an even tone. "But we both know better...because we both want the same thing."

Anon-a-Miss had come to Cloud's attention not long after he had adjusted his plans for Sunset Shimmer, when he had started observing her school and what people had been saying about her. The first few months had passed largely without incident...until rumors started floating around about Sunset starting some kind of online slander mill

It had been total hogwash, of course. Sunset was many things, but she was absolutely not sloppy; if she wanted to keep a secret she would leave absolutely no trace of connection back to her, and the ties to Sunset were basically set up like a trail of bread crumbs. Besides, if Sunset had truly gone back to her old ways she would have made a complete spectacle of the whole affair.

No, someone was trying to frame Sunset Shimmer, and make her life miserable. For all of Anon-a-Miss's lack of subtlety, they had the same goal...and unlike Cloud Cover, she had access to information on Sunset's friends that he could use.

It had been pretty simple to figure out who Anon-a-Miss was, in retrospect. The proxies and defenses she had set up for the main site were surprisingly intricate for a kid her age, but she had made the mistake of conducting half of her business on her cell phone, to make it look like Sunset was following people and to give Apple Bloom an alibi. Once he had cross referenced where the website's phone-based posts were coming from most often with the activities of the locals, it only took a day or so to narrow it down to Apple Bloom.

Unfortunately, he had found out too late; Apple Bloom had confessed to her actions following some sort of blowup with Applejack, and Anon-a-Miss vanished like so many other shock sites. The well had dried up.

But then again...change was a fickle thing. He had an asset now, and what's more, he had ways to turn her to his advantage.

Cloud set his tea cup onto the wooden table, brushing a strand of freshly washed and trimmed hair out of his face; still gaunt, but a more professional gaunt.

"Tell me, Apple Bloom...the Anon-a-Miss business...why did you start it?"

Apple Bloom squirmed again, staring in anger at him. "Ah told you, Ah'm..."

"Not like that anymore, yes yes. I'm simply asking why you did it."

She looked down at her cell phone for a while, stroking the casing with her thumb, deep in thought.

"It's just...y'all have a family, right?"

Cloud cringed a bit, but kept his emotions under control. "Y-yes...in a manner of speaking."

"So ya know how close family can be...how much they can mean to you."

Cloud nodded; he knew the technical reason she did this, but this was a bit of new context for him. "More than you know."

Apple Bloom wore a sad smile. She had opened her phone's gallery to a picture of Applejack.

"Mah big sister is mah world. She means everythin' to me. When mah folks died, she raised me, taught me right from wrong, showed me how ta run a farm and pick an apple and everythin' I'd need growin' up."

Cloud thought of his own little brother, how he'd shown him writing and chemistry and sports. He wondered how he was doing.

"See, Applejack didn't have any friends at school before Sunset came along, so she'd always spend her time at home with me. She never liked the kids at school, callin' em liars and sneaks and prissies, so we'd always hang out the moment she came home. And then Sunset got reformed and..." Apple Bloom shuddered.

"It wasn't so bad at first. She'd hang out after school for a while and then head home, only a couple of nights a week. But then she started sleepin' over, going on trips, joining that damn devil's music band...and Ah never got to see her at all. Ah hoped if Sunset and the others just...went away, Applejack would come home, y'know?"

Cloud nodded again; the story had hit closer to home than he would have liked, but he was starting to see the cracks in her armor.

"Very true," Cloud said, leaning back and folding his arms, affecting a false smile he had come to master. "So when you confessed to your actions, and told Applejack all of this, she must have made more time to spend with you...right?"

Apple Bloom said nothing, continuing to stare at her picture of her big sister.

"Surely she spent time with other people? Invited you along?"

Apple Bloom quietly shook her head.

Cloud Cover grinned for a moment before regaining control of his expression. "So you're telling me you owned up to your actions, told Applejack what you really thought...and she did't accommodate your feelings? She didn't do a thing different? Almost as if...she didn't care?"

Apple Bloom started and stood up, his implication clearly agitating her. "Watch yer mouth! Applejack is a great big sister! She is!"

Cloud smiled a bit more and nodded. "I'm sure she is, Apple Bloom. And you're a great little sister. You're a go-getter, an innovator, a clever girl...so why are you letting Applejack slip away?"

Apple Bloom stomped her feet and slapped her hands on the table. "I'm not! I told her how I felt and-"

"And she did nothing," spoke Cloud, raising his voice just enough to get her attention. "You bared your soul to her...and she ignored it. She still hangs out with her friends more than you. The problem has not gone away. And something tells me your feelings haven't gone away, either."

Apple Bloom opened her mouth, but could say nothing in response to that.

"You and I both know that nothing is gained by half-hearted efforts and the good will of others. In order to live this life, we have to live it for ourselves. We have to be intentional about our lives...or they will slip away. When you were Anon-a-Miss, you had that drive, that intention, because you wanted your sister back. And the moment you thought she would listen to you...she walked away again."

Apple Bloom sunk back into her seat as the thought settled in her head.

"A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal which is worth achieving. And I think, Apple Bloom, that your desire is worth achieving. You need to finish what you started back then. You need to get your sister back...and I can make it happen."

Apple Bloom looked up at Cloud, her eyes sadly shining. "W-what do you mean?"

Cloud stood up and walked over to the mantle, glancing at a picture of Apple Bloom and her two friends from the school, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Sweetie Belle is Rarity's little sister, and Scootaloo spends most of her time with Rainbow Dash as a sort of adopted sibling. And since Fluttershy spends most of her time with Rainbow Dash, and since you are Applejack's sister, the three of you have ready access to four out of Sunset's friends on a regular basis."

Apple Bloom nodded in affirmation.

"What I want is very simple. Over the next few days, I want you to get your friends together and start gathering information on Sunset's friends. Figure out their plans for the next two weeks, see if anything is bothering them in their personal lives, where they're going to hold any parties, and report it to me. I'll also be doing the same thing, just from a distance."

Apple Bloom said nothing as she placed her head in her hands.

"After a few days of this, I want you to start seeding information from me among the six of them. Now, this cannot be like Anon-a-Miss; if the same pattern repeats itself they will know it was you. All you have to do is mention details in passing that I will direct, like Pinkie's use of recreational drugs, or Fluttershy stealing animals, that sort of thing. Spread distrust among the six of them, but don't do it all at once. I still need all of Sunset's friends to show up at her party for this to work."

Apple Bloom stood up and walked towards him, a dark look on her face as she looked up at Cloud. "And why should Ah do it?"

Cloud looked down on her with a grin. "Sunset Shimmer is the only one I care about; what happens to the rest means nothing to me. So if I were to happen to release some more...delicate information on them, it would complete the schism and break apart their friendship permanently. If we work together we can set it up so that Applejack has noone else in the school to turn to...and I will suggest the idea of me coming in as a home teacher for the two of you. You'll learn what you need to learn, and you and Applejack can spend all day together, every day, until you're both old enough to work the farm full time."

Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she realizes what that meant. "A-and nothing will happen to Applejack?"

Cloud ruffled Apple Bloom's head and knelt down to her level, staring right into her eyes as his face became deathly serious. "If I don't have your help, Apple Bloom, Applejack could easily get caught in the crossfire. Sunset's friends have a great deal of...quirks, to their personalities. If I implement this plan without your help, it could easily turn out that Applejack might attack Sunset at some point. And you and I both know that Sunset is the sort to take...revenge."

Apple Bloom stepped back, the idea seeming to make her shiver.

"Don't worry, kid, with your help I can keep Applejack out of as much hot water as possible. All you have to do is give me all the information you can and do exactly what I say, and she will be kept safe."

Apple Bloom stared up at Cloud as he stood up, writing down a number to his burner phone and placing it in her hands.

"It's a hard decision, going back to the old ways, I know. I'll give you a day to decide what you want to do; if I don't hear from you, I'll go through on my own and see what happens. The choice is yours...but I know you'll make the right one."

Cloud Cover turned around and made for the exit, letting Apple Bloom stand alone with her thoughts and fears. The look of terror on her face had been perfect; she would break down and call him before the night had passed.

Cloud had timed today to the letter, however, and just as he walked through the door he passed by Apple Bloom's grandmother, Granny Smith Apple, a fun, if demented, old lunch lady whom he had always admired for her past accomplishments at this farm.

"Ah, Ms. Granny Smith, perfect timing! I was wondering if you had a phonebook in this house! I'm looking for better school supplies for Apple Bloom's class and I forgot my phone at home." Smile and nod, Cloud reminded himself; he had no doubt she was the last person in town to own one, and he needed to decrease his paper and digital trail as much as possible.

"Yessir, Mr. Cloud Atlas! I always keep one up to date, just in case a giant magnet flies over and wipes all our Intermaaquanets!"

Cloud had to suppress a grin at her surprisingly sound reasoning; he didn't have the heart to tell her something like that would kill the phones as well.

After a few moment's clattering she presented the thick book to Cloud and wandered off to prepare the apple jam for next month's Cider Fest. Such a pity Sunset wouldn't be able to attend; he would have loved to see cider drip down her chest one more time...or maybe blood would work better...

Cloud shook away the fantasy and cracked open the book, thumbing through the pages until he found the section for the Crystal Prep neighborhood, and found the name and number he was looking for and wrote it down in his phone.

"I hope you don't mind company...Twilight."

Cloud grinned a savage grin. It was time to pick up his...gift for Sunset.

You can't show up to a birthday without a present, after all.

Author's Note

Time to meet our secondary villain for the story. Old habits die hard, and evil doesn't just vanish with detention. }:)

But seriously, never skimp on a gift, guys.

Sorry about the wait, by the way, between work and a trip out of state my time was limited. But now we're back, for more Sunset feels and Cloud Cover heels! :)