Equestria Girls: Sunset Awakening

Chapters

Prologue
Ch.1: Old Flames
Ch.2: Another Sunset Shimmer?
Ch.3: Making Amends/Do We Have a Deal?
Ch.4: The Unidentifiable
Ch.5: Amending Fences/Nightmares
Ch.6: The Entity
Ch.7: Scrap Her
Ch.8: Impossible
Ch.9: Incognito
Ch.10: Back Again
Ch.11: Rethinking the Past
Ch.12: Party
Ch.13: Date Night
Ch.14: Signs

Prologue

It had been a week since the war against Queen Chrysalis. The battle was won, and school had gone back to normal. At least… for the most part.

The atmosphere of the school was somber. The war was won, but at the cost of one of CHS’s students. Toxigo Paralysis, CHS’s most recent student, had sacrificed himself in order to save their world and Equestria. All that was left of him was a letter, his synthetic arm, and the magical amulet he wore around his neck.

Students and faculty from both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep were gathered in the gymnasium to give their respects. Principal Celestia gave her speech, praising Toxigo for his heroic efforts when he saved many students from a fire that occurred. Even Abacus Cinch said some words. She didn’t say a lot, but it was meaningful nonetheless, expressing her shame for everything that happened to him while he attended Crystal Prep.

The last person with a speech was none other than Sunset Shimmer, arguably the one who was closest to him. She walked up to the podium, clenching the amulet being worn around her neck. Toxigo’s amulet; a token of his memory.

She arrived at the podium, and took a deep breath as she gazed out into the audience.

“Today, we mourn the loss of a dear friend. He wasn’t with us for very long, but the impact he had on us all was anything but little. He gave his life to save us and our entire world. Toxigo Paralysis wasn’t just a friend, he was a hero. Anyone willing to pay the ultimate price to keep their friends safe is someone to be respected. But in his wake, he left us a relic. A letter containing his final wishes in case he didn’t survive. And his final wish wasn’t for us to mourn over him, but rather celebrate our victory and what we gained, rather than focus on… what we lost…” Sunset could feel the tears threatening to push out behind her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself, not wanting to cry in front of everyone. A few sniffles escaped, and with a deep breath, she continued. “So let’s not mourn. Let’s honor his final wish, and celebrate our victory. Focus on the good, rather than dwell on the bad. He may be gone, but his memory is still alive. In our hearts, he’s immortal. So… let’s celebrate, everyone. For Toxigo!”

“For Toxigo!” the audience replied. Sunset could see she did a good job at raising their morale, judging by all the smiles she saw. With her speech over, everyone started mingling with each other, or grabbing some food set up on various tables around the gym.

But despite the collective morale of the room, Sunset couldn’t find it within herself to be optimistic. She stepped down from the stage, and just stood still. She looked down at her necklace, holding the pendant in her hand. One of the few things to remember him by…

“Sugarcube?” a voice beside her said. Sunset looked to see Applejack and Rarity standing next to her.

“Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Sorry, girls. I just… I just need a moment,” Sunset said. Before her friends could question her further, she excused herself outside.

She sat down on the entrance stairs, letting out a heavy sigh. She took her necklace off, and held it in her hand. Just the sight of it was enough to trigger memories. Memories of… Toxy.

“I know you don’t want me to mourn, but… I can’t help it,” Sunset said, finally allowing a tear to fall.

“Why did you have to die? Why did it have to be you?” Sunset cooed, allowing more tears to fall. “You didn’t deserve this, Toxy. We won, but… now you’re gone…”

Her tears could no longer be kept at bay. Gripping the amulet tightly, she buried her face in her arms, crying her eyes out.

“I… I miss you so much, Toxy. Was there really no other way?” Sunset pleaded, continuing to bawl.

Sunset knew she wasn’t honoring Toxigo’s last wish by crying over him, but she couldn’t help it. She would’ve loved to make him happy. Give him the love he deserves, and show him how amazing he is. But now she can’t. He’s gone, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

What she wouldn’t give to hear him call her Shimmer-cakes again…

She lifted her head to look at the amulet again. The Alicorn Amulet. The amulet worn by Toxigo to enable him to use magic in this world, and entrusted to her by him. A reminder that he’s always with her. A reminder that he… loves her…

Another tear fell at the memory of her first kiss with Toxigo. Such a sudden display of love, and amidst the most dire of situations. Sunset has never felt such pleasure and joy in her life. She could still feel his tender lips on hers.

Her first… and last kiss with him. A bittersweet memory, but Sunset couldn’t deny the love she felt from his kiss.

“I… I love you too, Toxy,” Sunset said. She would give anything to kiss him again.

The sound of something scraping the pavement nearby broke Sunset’s mourning. Her jolted senses pointed her head in the direction of the broken Wondercolt statue. In the darkness, she could barely make out a dark silhouette.

Before she could question it, the figure moved suddenly, accompanied with a pained grunt. Sunset stood up in surprise.

“Hello?” Sunset called out. “Is someone there?”

The figure didn’t reply. In fact, they did the exact opposite. They ran away, bolting towards the street.

“Hey, you! Wait!” Sunset called out, running in the figure’s direction.

The hooded figure didn’t yield. They continued running, not even sparing a glance.

In the darkness of the night, Sunset failed to notice a black car on the side of the street. The figure got in the car, started it up, and in the blink of an eye speeded away, screeching their tires in the process.

Sunset stood where the car once was, watching as the mystery figure drove away into the night.

She scratched her head in utter confusion. Were they… watching her? They seemed to bolt as soon as she noticed them. But… why? Was it someone stalking the school? Was someone stalking Sunset? Was it someone in the wrong place at the wrong time?

She couldn’t even get a good look at their face, or the license plate of the car. The car looked black, but it could’ve been any dark color that could be concealed by the night. She had no definitive way of identifying this potential stalker.

Left with no other choice, she walked back inside to join everyone else at the party.

But… who was that?

A dark-colored car pulled up to a very big, mansion-like house. The driver parked the car in the driveway, and got out to enter the house. After closing the door, the hooded figure retreated to a downstairs room, surrounded by high-tech devices and electronics.

“You were right,” the figure said, taking their hood off, letting her long, red-and-yellow hair flow. “I found her. My equivalent.”

She smiled, and uttered a rather dark, evil snicker.

“Well, once I learn how this ‘magic’ of theirs works, only one Sunset Shimmer will remain.”

Evil laughter bellowed from beside her. Concealed by darkness, the only thing visible was a pair of menacing, glowing green eyes...

Ch.1: Old Flames

The party was going rather smoothly, in spite of the circumstances. Both CHS and CPA were getting along nicely, brought together by this event. Bittersweet, but neither of the student bodies could remember their schools being this friendly to one another. And as the party went on, the Dazzlings went on stage and sung with their voices now restored back to normal. They sang some of the songs they did back in the Battle of the Bands, but they didn’t control anyone this time around. They just sang as they watched everyone finally get along with one another.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for all of the students.

Some of the CPA kids didn’t show any form of sympathy for someone who had just died. Jet Set, Upper Crust, Fleur De Lis, Suri Polomare. Royal Pin, and the bighead, Neon Lights.

Even an event as tragic as this wasn’t enough to move their thick heads. To them, Toxigo was still an enemy, and were unwilling to give even a single ounce of sympathy.

“I can’t believe CPA’s wasting time by giving this douche a party.” Neon said. “Especially for everything he’s pulled on us.”

“Trust me, Neon, I know the emotion. The inhumanity…” Jet Set replied.

“Oh did any of you hear? Those five girls who made it to the finals at the Friendship Games? They’re attending Canterlot High now just because they wanted to ‘make it up to them’.” Royal stated.

“Really?” Neon snapped. “They’re leaving Crystal Prep to come to this stupid place?”

“Yeah, they are.” Royal replied. “I don’t get it.”

“Those girls are idiots. They aren’t gonna gain anything by going here,” Neon said.

“Exactly,” Jet Set said. “What sort of things would they ever–” he paused when he noticed something. Or rather… someone…

“Jet? You okay dude?” Neon asked.

Jet pointed to the table in front of him, and they looked to see Coppermane and Fluttershy sitting at a table with some of his friends.

“Maybe we could have a little… fun with them?” Jet offered.

“I like your thinking, Jet.” Neon replied with a devious smirk.

Over at another table, Coppermane, Fluttershy, Flash, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity were all sitting together, talking amongst themselves. Coppermane had been kept out of the loop this entire time, and was curious as to exactly what happened. More importantly, who Toxigo really was.

“Any chance you can explain to me who he was?” Coppermane asked.

Pinkie immediately started pulling out still screens showing Coppermane exactly what had happened.

“Of course! He was a new student but he was disabled with a synthetic arm, an eyepatch, and synthetic ears from all the bullying. He’s also from Crystal Prep, and had the exact same bullies as you. But then he encountered the Dazzlings and we found out he had magic and it turned out he was from Equestria, and so we all spent time with him to see if he was gonna take over, and it turns out he wasn’t, and then we got him to make up with five Shadowbolt girls, the same ones that competed against us in the final round of the Friendship Games. Then we ended up getting kidnapped by a scary bug queen and her bug army, called 'changelings'. But the girls, Flash, this robot version of Dashie, and himself followed us to Equestria and rescued us! We battled with them, and the end result is we got the Dazzlings on our side, and now the world is safe! And this all happened in the span of 5 weeks!”

Coppermane was silent for a moment, trying to process the onslaught of information.

“Wow… that’s a lot,” Coppermane said. “Sounds like a really awesome guy, though.”

“Yeah… he was,” Pinkie said, sounding more solemn. Before everyone’s eyes, Pinkie’s hair went from lively and energetic to flat and limp. Her face went sorrow.

“Um… if that's not too much to ask… how did he die?” Coppermane asked.

The everyone at the table sighed, looking at one another to see who was going to be the one to tell him. Eventually, Twilight spoke up.

“He… he sacrificed himself,” Twilight said. “He used his amulet to absorb the queen’s magic. But… it was too much. It caused an explosion, and he… he got caught in it.”

“All we found of him was his synthetic arm and magical amulet,” Rainbow said.

“Wow…” Coppermane said. “Well, at least he died a hero, right?”

He didn’t get a response, but saw some small, yet genuine smiles on some of their faces.

“How’s Sunset doing?” Coppermane asked. “She had a crush on the guy, right?”

The girls nodded.

“A big crush,” Pinkie cooed.

“She excused herself outside not too long ago,” Applejack said. “She didn’t look so good. I don’t think she’s gonna forget this for a long time.”

“Poor darling…” Rarity said.

“She’s strong. I know she’ll make it,” Coppermane said. He gave Fluttershy, who sat in his lap, a light squeeze, and kiss on the cheek. “I’m just happy you’re safe.”

“Thanks. I wish I can say the same for Tox though.” Fluttershy cooed.

Coppermane held Fluttershy in a tight embrace, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Fluttershy leaned her head on Coppermane’s shoulder as he held her. At least he was here to help comfort her. Suddenly, Fluttershy heard Coppermane gasp, and felt his arms tighten around her. She looked up and saw a worried expression on his face.

“Coppermane?” Fluttershy said. “What’s wrong?”

“Look,” Coppermane said, his head to the side gesturing to Neon, Royal and Jet all standing together talking with one another.

Fluttershy looked in the direction Coppermane was facing, and gasped. To the side was Neon Lights, Royal Pin, and Jet Set talking in their own little cluster.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy cooed. “I forgot they would be here.”

“Don’t worry, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Ah’m sure if we ignore them, they’ll leave us alone.”

“Um… they just saw us,” Coppermane said, biting his lip. “Oh no, they’re walking this way.”

“Don’t worry, darling,” Rarity said. “We’re here for you.”

In mere moments, Neon, Royal, and Jet were at their table, with less-than-friendly expressions.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the old gang again. Enjoying the party?” Neon asked with a devious smirk.

“Yep. It’s just fine, Neon. Can you please leave us be?” Coppermane asked.

“Coppermane, been a long time since I’ve seen you. How’ve you been holding up since you got expelled from Crystal Prep, like you should have been?”

Coppermane sighed. He did not want to deal with these three right now.

He felt something grip his hand. He looked to see Fluttershy’s hand over his. She had the sweetest smile on her face, reassuring him that she was there for him. He interlaced his fingers with hers, and gave Neon a sneer.

“I’ve been doing really well, actually,” Coppermane said. “No thanks to you.”

“Why don’t you three go mingle with everyone else?” Rarity said. “I’m sure they’d be interested in what you’d have to say.”

“Oh, we would, but no one else is of any delight here. You girls and boys on the other hand seem to be a lot more… interesting to talk to. And congrats to your Sunset friend for the most awful song I had ever had come across” Jet insulted.

Had Sunset been there, she would have been very angry. Sunset put her heart and soul into singing that song, and they treated her own feelings and well being as it if was nothing.

“So, how are you all holding up with Tox now dead? I mean, I think we all can agree that freak should have been gone a long time ago.” Neon smirked.

Nobody said a word. They weren’t going to give Neon the satisfaction. But to their annoyance, he just snickered.

“You miss that freak?” Neon said. “Really?”

“He wasn’t a freak, Neon.” Rarity sneered, “I’m appalled you have the audacity to call him that after everything you ruffians have done to him.”

“Oh come on, that twerp should never have come to CPA in the first place,” Royal said. “And maybe we wouldn’t have had to mess with him if he didn’t constantly bother us. Just like Coppermane over here.”

It took everything in Coppermane’s power to not get in Neon’s face, but he held back. Those three jerks were lucky Fluttershy was here.

But before anything else could be said…

“Girls, Flash, Coppermane,” said Sunset Shimmer, walking briskly into the room. “Music room, now.”

With absolutely no hesitancy whatsoever, the main group followed Sunset to one of the practice rooms. Thank goodness. Any longer in front of those jerks, and Coppermane would’ve lost his mind. Quickly, they made their way to the practice room.

They arrived at the practice room, and Sunset closed the door, locking it behind them.

“What’s this about?” Twilight asked.

“And why do y’all look so worried?” Applejack asked. “Did something happen?”

“We may have a problem. I think someone’s been watching me” Sunset explained.

“Why do you say that?” Fluttershy asked.

“I was sitting on the steps, and I heard someone fall down. It was right by the Wondercolt statue,” Sunset said. “I got up to get a closer look, and whoever it was just ran away. I tried chasing after them to see what was up, but they drove off before I could talk to him or her.”

Everyone looked intrigued… yet worried. Was someone outside of Crystal Prep getting suspicious about anomalous events at CHS? It wouldn’t be good at all if someone else discovered the presence of their magic. It could also just be a stalker, but even that wasn’t anything to brush off.

“Well, did you get a good look at them at all? Any defining features?” Twilight asked.

“It was too dark to see much of anything,” Sunset said. “I did hear a grunt when they slipped though, and it sounded pretty feminine. I’m almost certain it’s a girl, but I have no idea who she might be.”

“Is someone curious about the magic?” Rarity asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sunset said. “But I just wanted to let you know so you can be on your guard. Be careful with your magic, and keep an eye out.”

Everyone nodded, making Sunset smile. With that, everyone returned to the party. At least most of them did.

“Fluttershy?” Coppermane said.

“Yes?” Fluttershy said.

“Can I talk to you alone for a moment?” Coppermane asked.

“Of course,” Fluttershy said, smiling. She waited before everyone left the room, and closed the door before walking back over to Coppermane. “What is it?”

“Listen, you already know about Neon and I, right?” Coppermane asked.

Fluttershy offered a sympathetic smile, and placed her hand on his heart. “How could I forget? You poor thing…”

“Here’s the thing… I didn’t know they could do such horrible things. I never knew Toxigo, but I thought I already knew how bad Neon and his friends were. I guess I was wrong. Just… please keep your guard up,” Coppermane said, lifting his hand to stroke her cheek. “I can’t bear the thought of that pretty face getting hurt.”

Fluttershy felt her face heat up at his words. She lifted her hand to touch his.

“I will,” Fluttershy said. “And don’t worry. You have friends now, remember? We won’t let those meanies hurt you. You can be sure of that.”

Coppermane smiled, and pulled Fluttershy closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. She wrapped his arms around his neck as he gazed into her deep, teal eyes. It didn’t take long before their lips met in a passionate kiss.

They pulled away, and shared a loving embrace. There were very few things Coppermane loved more than holding his princess in his arms. The feeling of holding her close and keeping her safe was amazing.

"Want a ride back to the party?" Coppermane asked.

"What?" Fluttershy asked, stifling a giggle. "It's only in the gym."

"I know," Coppermane said. "Just say yes."

Fluttershy didn't know what was going on in his head, but how could she reject an offer from her prince?

"Okay... y-yes?" Fluttershy cooed.

A devious smile came over Coppermane's face, and Fluttershy let out a yelp as her prince scooped her up in his arms, carrying her bridal-style. Fluttershy's eyes were wide as she grew a big smile.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy cooed.

Coppermane looked back at her with those big, chocolaty brown eyes, making Fluttershy's heart melt. He always knew how to sweep her off her feet... quite literally.

She gave Coppermane a kiss on the cheek as he carried her back to the gymnasium to join the party.

An admittedly weird night... but very enjoyable at the same time. Toxigo would surely be happy.

Ch.2: Another Sunset Shimmer?

Neon Lights, Jet Set, Royal Pin, Upper Crust, Fleur De Lis, and Suri Polomare all took a seat at one of their favorite hangout places, a coffee shop named the Hot Kettle Cafe, for the time being until they had to return back to CPA. They never set foot in Sugarcube Corner since CHS students always came to that place.

They all grabbed their regular drinks, and took a seat at their usual table. None of them were looking particularly happy, especially since they all got heavy amounts of repercussions since hard evidence of their bullying was shown to their principal. They’d all gotten various, severe punishments from their parents, but now it was all over for them.

“So guys, what’s new?” Suri asked sipping her coffee.

“Other than the most popular girls in Crystal Prep are now attending Canterlot High?” Royal complained.

“Wait a minute,” Suri said, “Are you talking about–”

“Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, and Indigo Zap. Yes, that’s exactly who we’re talking about.” Jet Set said, taking a sip of his tea, while snuggling with his girlfriend, Upper Crust.

“This is terrible news,” Fleur sneered. “What ever made them decide to go to that inferior school?”

“Apparently they beat up Toxigo more than we ever had and wanted to attend just to satisfy his ‘final wish’ or something.” Neon replied. He felt sick just saying that.

“What do you think they’ll learn from there? Maybe learn a little more how not to be a well mannered lady like that Sunset Shimmer is?” Upper Crust asked.

The group giggled slightly at Crust’s comment. Making fun of how awful Canterlot was one of their afterschool time things to do, other than just hang out, have a little fun, maybe prank a CHS student or faculty, and even meet up together to work on schoolwork.

“What do you think allows them to use the magic?” Suri asked.

This got all five of them in silence all pausing to think about it. They had never knew how they were able to use magic, and during the times they saw it being used, they really wanted to use some of it against them.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“No, it's alright Suri. You didn’t start anything. That’s just… we kind of stopped talking about it since we don’t really have any idea on how it works. And if we don’t have any equipment on how it works, then we have no way of getting back at them.” Royal replied.

What they didn’t know was that someone in a hood had been eavesdropping on their entire conversation.

And now they had just the information she needed…

Back at Canterlot High, the students attended their classes as usual, and live their normal lives. Well, it would be normal, but considering all the magical encounters they’ve dealt with over the past three years, nothing would be normal anymore.

In the science lab, Twilight, Sunset, and the only other thing left behind by Toxigo, their android friend Echo Dash (in her Rainbow Dash skin), were dissembling the light cannons they used back in Equestria to fight the changelings. They had no use since they weren’t engaging in any war, and if any of their enemies got ahold of the weaponry, a world war would start in the blink of an eye.

“I still can’t believe he managed to build these things. Is there anything he isn’t good at?” Twilight asked.

“I have an answer for that, but you’re not gonna want to hear it.” Echo replied.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Twilight said. “What isn’t he good at?”

“That would be aiming at a target since he only had one eye, staying calm in dire situations, fixing cars, playing musical instruments, science experiments, trying to punch down the people who hurt him in the past–”

“Echo,” Sunset interrupted. “We don’t need to hear everything.”

At that moment, the door opened, and two people entered. It was Coppermane and Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie told me to come along and–” Coppermane’s eyes were locked onto the weapon they were taking apart. “Whoa… what is that?”

“It's a light cannon.” Pinkie said, smiling.

“A… what?” Coppermane asked, clearly perplexed.

“They were weapons made for us to use to combat the magic in Equestria,” Twilight said. “Tox built these things right here in the lab.”

“But why are you taking them apart?”

“Now that the war is over, we don’t have a need for these things. And if they fall into enemy hands… Oh, I don’t want another war started again.” Sunset’s hand fell on her face just thinking about the war they engaged in back in Equestria.

But soon their attention was drawn to the sound of pain as Echo Dash backed off after getting zapped in the face.

“Echo, are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“System check… No damage detected.”

Echo looked up and gave a smile, but a little bit of skin tore off just from around her left eye, which gave Coppermane quite a shock at the sight of the bronze titanium skin exposed.

“Dah! Wait… is…? what is…? Who…?”

Pinkie giggled at his stuttering. “She’s the android that helped rescue us in Equestria.”

Echo extended an arm out to shake hands with Coppermane.

“I am Echo. Built to protect those, who cannot protect themselves. Identify yourself”

“Um… Coppermane. Nice to meet you Echo.”

“Registering databanks… Coppermane now registered in memory databanks. Classified as FRIEND.”

Coppermane smiled after being confirmed as a friend to the automaton. But he then turned his attention onto the light cannons taking a look at them.

“Whoa… These are fantastic. I never seen this kind of weaponry before. How did he make these things?” Coppermane asked.

“He combined Equestrian magic with titanium alloy, and lots of parts from other machine guns, car batteries, and computers.” Twilight replied.

“I almost wish I was there to help. I would have loved to try and use these things against those bugs.”

“Well maybe you can!” Pinkie grinned.

“Wait… what?” Coppermane said.

“We always take these things out into the fields for target practice. We make a game out of it.” Pinkie said with a big smile.

“I’d love to try and use these things. But are you sure it’s… you know… legal?” Coppermane asked.

“Of course! We just go out into the fields where they can’t hurt anyone. They don’t really shoot that far, anyway. And we had to sign some papers by Principal Celestia on the authority of where and when we’d use them.”

Little did any of them know that someone had been watching through a small crack in the door. Someone with a teal colored eye who found their conversation… interesting.

“And we always take them apart every time we’re–”

“Scanning… Scanning…” Echo interrupted.

“Um… Echo?” Sunset asked. “Why are you…?”

“Threat detected. Threat detected. Engaging defense mode.” Echo then stood in a fighting position, facing the door.

“What is she talking about?” Twilight asked.

Without saying another world, Echo charged right at the door, bashing it open. Apparently someone was on the other side, because the next sound was a pained grunt.

“OW! Agh…”

Echo made a ninja roll into the hallway looking at the person in the hood. Her eyes were locked onto the person she smacked the door into. Everyone stepped out to see who it was. The hooded girl decided to make a run for it, and Echo and Pinkie gave chase after her.

They ran a left down the hall, and kept on running after her. Soon, Pinkie made a leap and tackled the hooded girl to the ground and she gave out another grunt, and her hood fell off. She got herself up, which gave Pinkie and Echo a look at her red and yellow colored hair.

Pinkie gasped so loud, she gave the girl a scare. She slipped her hood back on, and started running again, leaving them behind. Soon Twilight, Coppermane, and Sunset came to their direction check on them.

“Who was that?” Coppermane asked.

“I think that was the same girl who ran from me last night. Were any of you able to see who it was?”

“Threat identified as… Sunset Shimmer.”

“What?” Sunset asked.

“Threat was identified as Sunset Shimmer.
Species: Human.
Gender: Female.
Affiliations: Unknown.
Strengths: Unknown.
Directive: Unknown.”

Everyone looked at each other. Their faces communicated mutual concern and confusion. Another Sunset Shimmer?

If this Sunset Shimmer had been spying on them here, and on the night before, there could be a chance she heard their entire conversation on the weaponry, and she could have come across all of the magical anomalies at Canterlot High: The Fall Formal, The Battle of the Bands, Coppermane’s speech while standing up to Hoops and Score, the Friendship Games, and possibly every time Tox had used his magic against some of the CPA kids or even the Dazzlings.

The very thought of this being exposed terrified them. One thing was for certain. They had to find out more about what this… other Sunset could be planning, and keep her from gaining an understanding on their magic. It would be bad for everyone if she discovered the mechanics of their magic.

Ch.3: Making Amends/Do We Have a Deal?

The next day at CHS, the sun was shining, making for another glorious day. Even so, the former Shadowbolts, Indigo, Lemon, Sunny, Sour, and Sugarcoat were all very nervous. Today was their first official day at CHS and they were hoping to make amends with everyone. They didn’t expect it to be easy, but they’d be damned if they didn’t try.

One immediate perk to attending CHS verses Crystal Prep was not having to wear those uniforms. Now they could dress in anything as long as it was within the school dress code.

Indigo now wore a pink t-shirt with an indigo cloud firing a lightning bolt on it, blue jeans, running boots, her signature goggles on her forehead, and the piercings on her ears.

Lemon now wore a pink shirt with a graphic of a lemon slice with flowers on it, yellow short shorts, and sneakers. Her hair was styled differently, still long, but now looking more punkish and spiked.

Sugarcoat wore a yellow button up shirt, with black jeans. Her belt had an emblem of a colorful stick of dynamite. She also had a bandage over her left knee due to the changeling bite from her fight in Equestria.

Sunny Flare now wore a short black jacket with the sleeves tucked up, a purple shirt with a sort of pink “partly cloudy” graphic, a pink skirt, and blue boots.

Sour Sweet wore a pink tank top, a skirt with a heart and diamond graphic on it, and green boots.

The five girls only hoped that how mean they’ve been to CHS in the past wouldn’t ruin their chances of making friends here. Hopefully it wouldn’t be an impossible endeavor.

“I’m a little nervous. You sure this will be okay?” Sunny asked.

“We’ll be fine. Besides we helped save Equest… er… something,” Indigo stammered. “Look we promised Tox we’d go through with his final wish, so I say we can do it.”

With a collective deep breath, the girls entered into the school and stood near the entrance doors to wait for their tour guide. Eventually, they showed up, and to their surprise, it was Adagio, one of their friends and allies from the war in Equestria.

“Hello there, former Shadowbolts. I take it you’re all prepared for your first day?” Adagio asked.

The five of them smiled and nodded. Adagio then led them through the school, leading them to each of the major locations.

“So Adagio, have you been to this school before?” Sunny asked.

“That’s kind of a dumb question Sunny. Clearly she has if she knows her way around here.” Sugarcoat responded.

“Well to answer that question, Flare, yes I have,” Adagio said. “Two years ago, we actually attended this school for a couple of days to try and obtain our power back to rule again. It didn’t go so well, but those were the old days for my sisters and I. We’re not into that kind of thing anymore”

Soon, they came around a corner, and heard music playing inside one of the practice rooms. Sunny took a peek inside of the room, and saw the Rainbooms… and someone else that made her face go completely white.

“Oh no…” Sunny said.

“What, what is it?” Indigo asked.

“Look…” Sunny said, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Indigo, Lemon, Sour, and Sugar all took a quick look, and their faces turned to similar, but less severe versions of Sunny’s face.

“Coppermane’s in there? Isn’t he the dude who jumped Neon Lights?” Lemon asked.

“That’s him,” Indigo said. “Oh yeah… he used to have a huge crush on you, didn’t he?” Indigo asked.

“Yeah… he did.” Sunny said, biting her lip.

“Oh, I remember,” Sugarcoat said. “He confessed one day, and then Indigo gave him a fake phone number, and when he tried to talk to you, you shot him down in front of everyone. He brought you flowers and everything. Didn’t you slap him in the face with them?”

“Don’t remind me…” Sunny said, covering her face.

“I mean…” Sour said, “We’re all guilty of bullying him (it was mostly Sunny though).”

“We have to talk to him, don’t we?” Sunny said.

Indigo grunted. “It’s going to be like Toxigo all over again.”

“Well at least we didn’t run him over with a car… or made him deaf… or stab one of his eyes out.” Lemon replied.

“And he is a little nicer than Toxigo. He might actually talk instead of holding us in a trapped room while pointing a weapon at us.” Sugarcoat said.

“You saw what he did to Neon, right?” Indigo said. “What if he’s got stored up frustrations with us as well?”

“At least you girls might have a chance for him to forgive you,” Sunny said. “He’ll probably never forgive me.”

“Doesn’t he have a girlfriend now?” Lemon asked.

“Yes and I influenced Neon to try and sabotage their relationship.” Sunny replied.

“Why?” Indigo asked. “Did you become jealous?”

“What? No!” Sunny said. “I never liked him like that. I just… ugh… I don’t know. I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Wow… we were really horrible to him, weren’t we?” Sour said.

“What are we going to do?” Sunny said.

“I think I might have an idea,” Adagio interjected.

“What?” the girls asked.

“Buck up,” Adagio replied bluntly.

“That’s all you have to say?” Sunny asked. “Seriously?”

“I used to be a giant sea siren that fed off of everyone’s hatred and anger to grow powerful. I’ve been here longer than any of you have, and I’ve had to apologize to everyone before we were ever allowed to attend CHS again. Now it's your turn.” Adagio replied. “You’ll have to do it at some point, so why not now? Besides, there are others in there, and they’re already your friends. If you want to apologize to him, now is the best time.”

The girls were silent, pondering amongst themselves. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, the former siren was right. If there was ever a time to make amends with their former enemy, it was now.

Sunny sighed. “Alright, let's just get it over with.”

Adagio smiled. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check up on my sisters. Good luck. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think?”

“No, it’ll be rough,” Sugarcoat said.

“Wow… thanks, Sugar,” Sour said. “(Why are you so blunt?)”

“He probably won’t forgive us right away,” Indigo said, “But we can at least try, right?”

Sunny sighed. At least they could get this over with. Adagio walked away, leaving the five girls alone in front of the practice room.

With a collective deep breath, Sunny knocked on the door. It took a moment, but eventually the door opened, and they were greeted by Rarity.

“Oh! It’s you five!” Rarity said. “I forgot it was your first day. Come on in!”

Indigo, Lemon, Sugar, Sunny, and Sour entered into the room, and were greeted by the rest of the Rainbooms, who couldn’t help but notice how nervous the five ex-Shadowbolts looked.

“Um… are you okay, girls?” Twilight asked.

The Rainbooms noticed Sunny’s gaze fixated on something. They followed her eyes and saw Coppermane staring back at her, mirroring Sunny’s face.

“Coppermane… um… hey. It's been a while…” Sunny said, playing with her fingers.

“Sunny Flare…” Coppermane said. His eyebrows furled slightly. “What are you girls doing here?”

“Oh… well… we’re Wondercolts now,” Indigo said.

“Yeah,” Lemon said. “We heard such… great things about this place… and…”

“Oh, quit beating around the bush” Sugarcoat interrupted, then faced Coppermane in the dead eye, “We’re attending because we made a promise to attend for the guy that’s now dead. I believe you know who we’re talking about.”

“No... I do.” Coppermane replied, gritting his teeth.

“Wait, you’ve met before?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah… we have.” Coppermane replied.

“Sunny humiliated him in front of a crowd of people because he had a crush on her back in Crystal Prep.” Sugarcoat said.

Sunny froze after Sugarcoat blabbed, giving her a nasty glare. “There’s no beating around the bush with you, is there, Sugarcoat?”

Sugarcoat simply shook her head no, completely oblivious to Sunny’s snarling.

“This is pretty awkward....” Pinkie rubbed her hand on the back of her head.

“It doesn’t matter Sugarcoat. Yes, I used to have a crush on Sunny before, but now I don’t anymore. It's long gone.” Coppermane replied with a sneer, then looking at Flare. “Very… gone.”

Sunny didn’t say a word. Coppermane’s gaze was piercing…

“So…. how have you been doing over here at CHS?” Lemon asked trying to lighten the mood.

Coppermane didn’t say a word, but instead just gave them an icy look. The ex-Shadowbolts just bit their lip. Looks like today was going to be rougher than they thought.

Later that day, the girls were on their way to cafeteria to get lunch, but the minute they stepped in the cafeteria they could tell they weren’t liked among CHS. Everyone was giving them cold stares. They just tried to ignore them, and found an empty table to sit at.

“I’m uncomfortable.” Lemon said.

“(Well, duh.)” replied Sour Sweet as she took a sip of her drink.

“How were classes?” Sunny asked.

“I could barely make it,” Indigo said. “All of the kids in gym kept giving me nasty stares and they kept reminding me of what a jerk I was. I don’t think they’re going to forget everything we did for a long time.”

“We were pretty awful.” Sugarcoat replied.

“But all of that stuff was last year. Shouldn’t that be old news?” Indigo asked.

“Sometimes things from the past can work their way into the present.” Flare replied as she saw death eyes from another student walking past them.

Sunny spotted another student out of her peripheral vision with a blue jacket and sparkling skirt walking on by. Maybe she could try and make a friend?

“Excuse me?” Sunny called out. The girl looked in her direction. “Um… hi. What’s your name?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t talk to those who abused us in the past.” Trixie sneered.

“What? What are you talking about?” Sunny asked.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Trixie snapped. “Everyone knows about all the things you have done to us in the past, everyone knows about what you Shadowbolts did to Coppermane, and nobody is giving you any sympathy for what you did to Toxigo Paralysis either.”

“I agree,” said a voice off to the side. Sunny looked to see Octavia glaring at them, along with her friends Lyra, Bon Bon, and Vinyl Scratch.

“I can’t believe what you did to them,” Lyra said.

“I can’t believe you even have the guts to show your faces here,” Bon Bon said.

Sunny slowly walked back to her table, biting her lip as other students shouted at them.

“Go back to Crystal Prep!”

“You don’t belong here!”

“Get lost, Shadowbolt!”

“You are the worst people ever!”

Sunny’s shoulders drooped and she sat back at her table with the rest of her friends, still getting angry looks and comments from the other students.

“It was over before it even started,” Sunny said, burying her face in her palms.

Indigo sighed, pushing her tray of food away. The hateful atmosphere made her lose her appetite.

“Let’s face it. We deserve this,” Indigo said.

Nobody at the table said another word. It hurt, but it was true. How could they ever recover?

Over at CPA, Neon was getting his backpack and school supplies from his locker to go home for the day, but when he opened up the locker, an envelope with his name appeared.

Neon Lights,

I may have something you’d be interested to hear. Meet me over at one of the tables near the front of CPA. Don’t worry, your friends will have gotten the same letter like this from me. Just meet them near the front.

Signed,
A friend

A little later, he met up where the letter said to, and was shocked to discover he wasn’t alone when he arrived. In fact, all his friends were there.

“Wait, you all got letters too?” Neon asked.

“Yeah.” Royal replied.

“But… why?” Jet asked.

At that moment, a hooded figure walked up towards them, and spoke.

“I believe you all are wondering why you were called here?”

Everyone nodded and gasped when the figure took their hood off, and revealed long red, and yellow hair.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Neon said, earning a nod and a grin from her. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have magic you should be wielding?”

“I would if I was actually from the same world as that other Sunset Shimmer.”

Everyone looked at each other questionably. They didn’t understand a single thing she was talking about, but soon they all came to realization that if they kept asking about another Twilight, then surely there…

“So, wait… you’re…”

“I’m like all of you guys, and I know you’re all interested in all of the magic over at Canterlot High.” Sunset said. “May I sit?”

“Oh, please darling, have a seat.” Fleur replied.

Sunset took kindly to Fleur’s generosity and took a seat at the table.

“So, I understand you all want to deal with the magic over at Canterlot High, is that correct?”

The group gave a nod.

“Well, what if I told you the magic has existed a little longer than you all think?” Sunset asked.

“What are you talking about?” Suri asked.

Sunset pulled out her phone, and started a video. All six of them leaned in a little closer to see, and they could see video footage of the other Sunset Shimmer turning into a raging she-demon.

“I took this video back in 2013. I immediately knew the strange anomalies I picked up couldn’t be fake.”

She then changed the video over to the final round at the Battle of the Bands, showing the Dazzlings all turning into the sea monster hybrids.

“I got that, back in 2014, along with this, interesting video.”

The video changed again this time showing Coppermane standing up to Hoops and Score, and they all gasped at the sight of him being protected by the magical barrier. And then of him levitating while kissing his girlfriend.

“That bastard has magic!?” Neon yelled.

“How does he, have magic!?” Royal angrily replied.

“There’s more than that, Royal Pin.” Sunset replied.

Royal was taken aback. The fact this girl knew his name gave him a shock, but then again, she knew all of their names.

She then changed the video again this time showing evidence of Tox using his magic against the Dazzlings on the night he tried to save Applebloom.

“There’s two things you forgot here.” Suri stated. “One, there was the Friendship Games, and two, that last video you showed, he’s dead.”

“Wait, you mean the kid with the--”

“Synthetic arm, eyepatch and the synthetic ears?” Neon interrupted. “Yeah, he’s dead. So that’s one less person we won’t have to deal with.”

Sunset gave a devious smile after hearing that.

“Perfect….anyways, I wanted to see if maybe we could form somewhat of an… alliance. I want to get rid of that other Sunset Shimmer from this world, and all of you want to get even with those kids at CHS. It's a perfect reason to team up. Interested?”

All looked at one another thinking this over. Working with this Sunset Shimmer could get them even with the girls and boys that ‘started’ this whole mess in the first place.

“I think you just made a deal.” Neon then shook hands with the other Sunset Shimmer.

“Perfect,” Sunset said. “Now that we’re all on board with one another, do any of you want to see some of the progress I’ve made in this? I’ve been waiting to unveil what I’ve got in store.”

“Well, what is it, Sunset?” Upper asked.

“Come with me over to my house, and I’ll show you.”

The seven of them all walked over to human Sunset Shimmer’s mansion, and as they entered inside, they were all quite impressed. The entrance was looking something out of a rich and grand millionaire’s house.

“Feel free to take off your coats and put them anywhere.” Sunset said.

“How did you get this decor?” Fleur asked. “This is absolutely fantastic.”

“Well when you’re rich and alone, you basically can choose what you want.” Sunset replied.

The Crystal Prep kids were surprised. She was rich?

“Well if you’re rich, then how come you don’t attend Crystal Prep? I’m sure you’d be perfect for that school.” Upper Crust asked.

“I would, but based on all of the conspiracy surrounding the school, it kind of made me not want to attend. Plus, based on all the things I heard about the students that attend Crystal Prep would kind of make me not really feel welcome.”

“Nonsense, darling. You’d be perfect. Besides you’re helping us, there’s not a reason we wouldn’t not make you feel welcome.” Jet replied.

Sunset stopped after hearing that. “You… you really think so?”

“Of course. We both share a same goal, you’re rich, and you have just as much interest in the magic as we do.” Neon said placing an arm around her shoulder. “I believe you would be perfect at CPA. Better than that… ugh… Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well, I don’t know… but I’ll think about it. In the meantime, you want to see the latest project I’ve been working on?” Sunset asked.

They nodded their heads responding to ‘yes’, and they walked downstairs with her into the basement.

There they could see lots of lab equipment. Jars, beakers, chemicals, cryogenic fridge, computer screens, you name it, and she would have it.

“Whoa, someone’s been busy.” Royal replied looking in awe at the sight of all of the equipment.

Their heads turned to a board and saw a bunch of pictures of the magical anomalies at CHS, along with several amounts of strings liking pictures together. Clearly she had been watching them for a long time. Many of the photos were old memories of CHS from the last year, but they were also familiar things to the Crystal Prep students. Some photos showed Coppermane ponying up during his speech standing up to Hoops and Score, another including a photo of the machine set up in the gym as Tox, Echo, Flash and the former Shadowbolts were all getting sucked in through the portal, and another included Midnight Sparkle’s reign during the Friendship Games.

“How long have you been working on this?”

“I’ve had many years to work on it, since I didn’t have much to do outside of my online school, I just kept on searching for more magical anomalies, and soon they would keep coming.” Sunset replied. “In fact, one of them landed in my front lawn and I--”

*loud growl*

Sunset nearly jumped back in fright from hearing the snarl, but then sighed in relief knowing what it is. She turned her head to face the darkness and yelled “Shut up!”

The Crystal Prep kids were now a little terrified as to what she had been keeping in the darkness.

“What are you keeping in there?” Royal asked with fear.

“Oh, um… Okay, I should probably tell you. I have no idea. Something came and crashed onto the path of my mansion, and I don’t know what it is. It was completely covered by a silhouette and I haven’t been able to identify it. I used a scanner to identify it and I found out it had magic, just like that other Sunset. So I stole his magic, and have been keeping it in this.”

Sunset showed the 6 of them a giant machine connected to a collection tank where green magic kept spiraling around in the tank, bouncing off the glass.

“After I stole the magic, I tried to talk to him, or it. I think it's a person, and I tried to help him because one of his arms was missing. So I injected some green goo from the pod after discovering it was regenerative goo. But he kept resisting like if something was bad with it. And he tried to attack me, so I’ve been keeping him locked up in here. So far nothing bad has happened.”

All of them looked a little closer, but even they could identify it. It was covered in darkness, and they only thing that was noticeable were the green, menacing eyes glowing, but concealed by the darkness.

Royal tried to lean in closer but got a snarl from it.

“Did that thing just snarl at me?” Royal asked.

“Yeah… that thing’s kind of an asshole.”

“Well why not release this absolutely terrifying creature?” Upper Crust asked.

“Because, Crust, if I do then he’s gonna be tracked, and if they find out who experimented on it, it will lead to me, and they’ll discover everything I’ve worked so hard to build on, and if they find that out, it will destroy any chance of getting rid of those CHS students because they’ll think we’re crazy. Okay?”

All of them nodded in understandment. But all flinched at the thing growling some more.

“Say, uh, anyone want a chocolate chip cookie? I could go for a snack. I don’t think I can stay in here anymore.” Sunset offered.

Everyone said yes, and they followed her upstairs. Well, almost everyone.

Neon Lights looked down one more time to see the green eyes staring into his soul, and he shuddered at the sight of it, right before closing the door letting his eyes glow in the darkness.

“Just you wait Crystal Prep….. Soon I’ll be free, and you’ll have a new problem on your hands….” Came from a demonic, and very distorted voice in the darkness.

And in one moment, a snapping of a metal chain was heard.

Ch.4: The Unidentifiable

The next day, over at CPA, Lemon and Indigo were walking around. They weren’t taking any classes, rather they were getting supplies they forgot. Cinch allowed them to come back and collect things they missed.

However, their minds were dominated by their first day at CHS, which was anything but welcoming.

“Ugh, what are we gonna do?” Lemon groaned. “We barely said anything and we’re already the most hated people there.” In frustration she banged her head against the locker and didn’t raise it back up.

“We do kind of deserve it Lemon. It was pretty crappy of us to pull all of those stunts on CHS in the past.” Indigo replied as she entered the combination on her locker.

“But what can we do? We can’t be hated forever, can we?”

“Well…. No, but--”

“Then we got to do something about it.” Lemon finished as she pulled out the last bit of materials from her locker. But just as she was about to slip on her headset listening to more of rock and roll tunes, she froze to see Royal Pin walking on by, looking incredibly suspicious. He stopped and seemed to pan around the room for a second before continuing to walk.

“Hey, did Royal seem a little suspicious to you?” Lemon asked.

“Yeah, he did. Wanna see what’s going on?” Indigo offered.

Lemon nodded, closed her locker, and followed Indigo creeping down the hallway to find Royal with Upper Crust and Suri. She leaned in closer, looking through the cracked open door to listen in.

“Look, how do we know this plan is gonna work?” Royal asked. “Can we even trust this girl?”

“Look, while I don’t know if it's a wise idea to listen, she’s giving us help, so I say we take it, M’kay?” Suri replied.

“I must agree with Suri. Sunset’s offering all the help we can get, and I for one think this is the perfect opportunity for some… revenge as you seem to call it.” Upper replied.

Lemon and Indigo couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Sunset was helping them? But another thought came into their mind, Sunset wouldn’t dare help them. Maybe someone else with her name was helping them?

However they wouldn’t have much else to listen to, for more people were heading for the door. Luckily Indigo and Lemon backed out just in time as they stayed hidden, and watched the three of the exit the room and meet up with Neon, Jet, and Fleur, and they walked down the hallway.

Little did any of them know, that soon Lemon and Indigo would be creeping behind them, following them all the way...

“Indigo, this is crazy!” Lemon said.

“I know,” Indigo said. “But we need to figure out what’s going on. Two Sunset Shimmers?”

Lemon sighed. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

Like cops, they tailed the suspicious group to wherever their destination was. After a while, they followed them to a… mansion?

“What the…?” Indigo said.

“Where are we?” Lemon said.

“We’re gonna find out,” Indigo said. “Now be quiet. We don’t want to get caught.”

Indigo and Lemon hid behind some bushes as they watched Neon, Jet, and Fleur enter the mansion. The door closed behind them, making an audible, metallic sound when it shut.

“Alright, let’s go in,” Indigo said, getting out from the bushes.

“Wait!” Lemon said, pulling Indigo back. “We can’t just walk through the front door.”

“Why not?” Indigo asked.

“We could hear the door shut from here,” Lemon said. “Imagine how loud it must be inside the house. We’ll get busted for sure.”

“Ooh… good point,” Indigo said, biting her lip. “Wait… I see something.”

“What?” Lemon said.

Indigo pointed her finger to an open window. “There.”

Lemon’s eyes went wide. “That just might work. And I don’t think the lights are on either.”

“Let’s do it,” Indigo said.

Quietly, they snuck up to the wall of the mansion. Indigo peered in to see if anyone was watching. When the coast seemed clear, she crawled through the window, quickly but quietly followed by Lemon.

They heard voice coming from somewhere in the mansion. Carefully, the snuck around, following the sounds to the source. They kept their mouths shut, not wanting to make a single peep and get busted.

They followed the sound downstairs, and came to the only room that existed on the lower level. The door was cracked open, and inside they heard voices. The same voices, and louder than ever. They were here.

Indigo and Lemon peeked into the room, and did their best to muffle their gasps at what they saw.

Machines, electronics, and radars were everywhere. A giant tank was in the corner of the room, emitting a strange aura. Strange… but an aura that seemed oddly familiar. It was hard to make out, but there appeared to be a map of the city with red ball-pins placed in certain places.

“What is all this?” Indigo asked.

“Is that a tank of… magic?” Lemon asked.

“More like a silo,” Indigo said. “It’s huge. I think I can feel it from here.”

“Me too,” Lemon said.

“I think they’re saying something,” Indigo said, shushing Lemon.

“Are you sure about this?” Fleur asked. “We can’t discuss this somewhere else? This place is… ugh… shady…”

“She said to meet her down here,” Jet said.

Indigo raised an eyebrow. “Her? Do they mean…?”

“Ahem,” a voice behind them said, making them jump.

Indigo and Lemon darted their heads to look behind them, and the last thing either of them remembered was a blow to the face before everything went black.

Indigo and Lemon slowly awoke, their eyes slightly flinched at the bright light. Distorted shapes appeared in their vision, vaguely resembling humanoid forms. Once their vision adjusted, the sights of a devious Jet, Royal, and Neon were all staring down at them.

Great, if they’re here then we should… wait… I can’t move… Why can’t I move!?

Indigo realized her feet were now tied together with rope, and she looked sort of behind and saw her hands were tied to a bar mounted into the ground, and she couldn’t get loose. Things were not looking good. Her head turned to see Lemon and she was tied as well, only her hands were chained to the wall.

“Where are we?” Indigo asked.

“Well from what we know, you’re two girls breaking and entering so that question is answered.” Royal replied.

Lemon tried to get her hands loose, but she had no luck.

“Where are we?” Lemon asked with fear.

“You’re in my house.” Came from a voice in the darkness.

The girl walked up towards them, appearing in their vision, as Sunset Shimmer.

“Sunset? Why are you here, and why are they here?” Indigo asked.

Jet snickered a bit, but regained his composure.

“You two actually believe this is your Sunset? We found the actual human Sunset Shimmer, who is now helping us.” Jet replied with a smirk.

“And you two are going to tell us what you know about their magic.”

“Like we ever would tell you. And even if we could, we don’t understand it.” Lemon replied.

Sunset laughed slightly at her comment, but then she noticed Lemon and Indigo’s serious faces.

“You’re not joking!?” she yelled.

“No, we’re not. We don’t understand their magic. Because, well, it's magic.” Indigo replied.

“Then tell us what you know about that… other Sunset Shimmer and her friends…” human Sunset snarled.

“Like we’d ever tell you.” Indigo snapped.

“You won’t get away with this, you know!? You can’t keep us in here forever!” Lemon yelled.

“If you don’t shut up right now--”

“Oh, and just what are you gonna do about it!?” Lemon shouted back.

The human Sunset urged Neon to follow her and the two stepped into the darkness. There they could hear them opening up drawers, and their footsteps making their way towards them. The two then leaned down and Indigo and Lemon both freaked after seeing what they had in their hands.

“No, no, wait, don’t p-MMM! RMM!! LLMM MMM GMM!” Indigo had a rag shoved into her mouth, and then Neon wrapped duct tape around her head to keep it secure. Sunset did the same with Lemon Zest who kept trying to scream under her gag, but she had no luck.

“Until such time as you want to give me an answer, you’ll be staying here for the time being. And if you think your friends or your families will look for you, guess again. They’ve been texted already. And I don’t know how much you know, but I do know that you know we now have some of that magic.…. And I’ll only say this, what we’re using it for, will reset balance to our crazy messed up world. See you.”

Sunset and the three boys left them in the basement, letting their screams stay muffled in the gags. They tried getting free, but they had no luck. The ropes were tied up pretty tied. They tried to see if they could somehow communicate, but the tape muffled them pretty good. And after struggling for an hour, they both gave up. Lemon laid her head against Indigo’s shoulder crying, in fear they would soon probably be killed, or worse, tortured.

Time had passed to 11:00 in the evening, and all of Sunset and her friends were worried as to what had happened to the two girls. They were not seen in the next couple of hours, and they were beginning to get worried, so they decided to try and head out and see where they ended up.

Over at human Sunset’s house, she had already gone to sleep, and the Shadowbolts had left, and the two hostages had fallen asleep. Until the sound of clanking woke them up.

Indigo jolted up in shock, and Lemon woke up after nearly hitting her head against the ground.

Indigo with what little vision she had, tried to look in the darkness of the room to see where it was coming from, but she hadn’t seen anything. Until the gleaming light of green, menacing eyes shined right into her vision. Soon the eyes began to move a little closer, and Indigo and Lemon were terrified. They tried backing up against the wall, but they found they had nowhere to run, especially since they were tied up and couldn’t scream.

They backed up more, and this time, the unidentifiable figure revealed itself in the little bit of moonlight, showing what it looked like. But from their vision, it was still unknown what it was. But from a few details, they could see its arm were slender and black, with a few holes jotted in them. The ears were pointed up like an equine, it had fangs, its hair was long, mucky green and messy, and it's eyes were threatening, as if looking straight into their souls.

Indigo and Lemon were both thinking the same thought. Was this thing gonna eat them? A bit of muffled panic noises emerged, until…

“I could sever one limb at a time...”

Indigo gave a small nod and watched as the strange being raised a talon from his left hand and slit through the ropes keeping her legs restrained. And he moved right up to her face. Fear paralyzed her as she stared face to face with this… thing.

“Scream and you’ll slowly fade… from your soul...”

Indigo gave a small nod, trying not to shake too much, but the sheer level of fear was making it difficult.

The creature then raising a finger with a talon put back, pulled the piece of tape off her mouth, and pulled out the rag, letting Indigo cough heavily from having it in her mouth.

The creature asked the same thing to Lemon and she obliged as well, and just like Indigo coughed heavily from being finally being able to breathe again. Soon a talon was raised, and he cut through the ropes with just one swing getting Lemon and Indigo free from their restraints.

They got onto their feet, dusting their clothes off, and the creature stood up to face them, and the two girls got a better look at it. From their views it looked like a human fused with a changeling they faced from Equestria.

Its skin was looking shiny and a little sticky, its fingers were long and slender, looking as if it can cut through someone’s skin in one swipe. Other features shown were its feet being muscular and brawny, with sharp talons on the toenails, its chest looked as if it had an outer rib cage acting as more muscles and a shield, and a tail was waving around like a snake, but instead of a rattle it possessed a dagger like tip.

“Wait… what are you?”

“I am… what happens when humans think they are superior… they think they are gods when they possess a supernatural power… and their greedy minds up corrupting them… to the point of them turning into a monster from the inside… and turning on all of their friends…. And if you ever tell anyone I’m in this world… “ The creature moved closer towards Indigo’s face with its fangs extended out, all sharpened. “I will tear into your stomach and tear your guts out!!”

“No, of course. No, no issues!” Indigo raised her hands in surrender as sweat ran down her forehead.

The creature then led them to a window for them to crawl through, and raised it open.

“You can escape through here... Once you do, tell all your friends about what you’ve seen. Sunset Shimmer will fall… as well as all of Crystal Prep. But when you tell them what you’ve seen... you will forget you ever saw me… or I will find you… and you’ll have surrendered your right to live… and I will slowly… painfully… mutilate you...”

And with that final line, the monster climbed through the window and the girls never saw them again.

“Come on Lemon, we got to get out of here while we can.”

Soon Lemon pulled herself up on the ledge and climbed out of the window, and she helped pull Indigo through and she escaped as well.

The two leaned against the wall listening in for any sounds, and luckily no sounds were heard. But just to check, Indigo poked her head out at both sides to see, and no one was there.

So the two of them took advantage of no one being around them, and ran down the sidewalk, not looking back. The feel of the wind hit their faces as they ran down the sidewalks and luckily made it back into the small town. By the time they got back, they were out of breath.

“Okay… please tell me you have some idea, on, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” Indigo shouted at the top of her lungs.

“I don’t know! You don’t think one of those changelings made it here on Earth, do you?” Lemon asked, while still coughing a bit from having that rag in her mouth.

“I hope not, but if one of them did, we have a serious problem on our hands.” Indigo clutched her knees still trying to catch her breath from the hard running. “Okay, right now, we should head home. We’ll tell them what we saw those Bolts doing tomorrow.”

“But what about that… thing we just saw? Shouldn’t we tell them about it? I think we would probably be killed either way.” Lemon replied.

Indigo took in thought of Lemon’s question. She didn’t want to be killed by the monster, but at the same time, she didn’t want to be hiding crucial information from their friends. So, it looked they had a choice. Either let them be hidden in the dark over that info, or be protected by them with that info.

“Okay. We’ll tell them tomorrow. But, keep your guard up. That thing could be anywhere.”

“Of course. Night, Indy.” Lemon smiled.

“Night, Lemon.”

And so the girls walked to their respective homes, hoping for tomorrow would be much better.

Little did any of them know, that the creature from the basement stood facing down at the small town, on the roof of Canterlot High school, standing tall and slender.

“Beware, Canterlot… A new terror has been born...”

Ch.5: Amending Fences/Nightmares

“Good morning, CHS. Welcome back. I hope you all had a great weekend.” said Principal Celestia’s voice over the intercom. “Just another reminder, the last week of October we will be hosting a Halloween Ball. So get your costumes together and mark your calendars. We hope to see you all there. Thank you, and have a great day, everyone.”

Over in the practice room, the former Shadowbolts joined Sunset and her friends to tell them what they had witnessed as of late.

“So, you think this other Sunset is planning on stealing our Equestrian magic?” Twilight asked.

Indigo and Lemon nodded.

“Hm… This could be worse than I thought.” Sunset said, leaning back in her chair.

“If she knows about the events that happened at CHS over the past few years, then she might even know how you girls made it over to Equestria, or even if the other me came through the portal.” Twilight replied.

Everyone looked at each other, seeing mutual concern in their faces. It's bad enough she’s gathered information on all of the magical anomalies, but if she has knowledge of the portal? Things would take a turn for the worse.

“Although I must ask, how exactly did you two get out of her basement?” Rarity asked.

Lemon and Indigo froze.

“Um…” Lemon said. “W-We can’t tell you…”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“This… thing that she had in the basement freed us, but it threatened to hunt us down and kill us if we ever told anyone.” Indigo replied.

“Aw, don’t worry about that,” Rainbow said. “We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. That thing is gonna have to get by us!”

Lemon and Indigo shared a look. As paranoid as they were, it would be admittedly selfish for them to keep to themselves. The fate of their entire world could be at stake. On one hand, they could snitch and risk their own lives, or keep quiet and risk everyone’s lives.

Well, the choice was clear.

“Okay, if you say so…” Lemon replied. “This thing… it's hard to describe. It looks like something of a human and those changelings from Equestria. I think it's a hybrid. And I think it probably is, because it said it was the result of when humans believe they’re the gods, or something.”

Sunset rose an eyebrow. How could a changeling, a creature that feeds off of love, creatures bent on manipulation and masters of deception, make their way to the human world?

“And whatever it was, it said that Sunset Shimmer and all of Crystal Prep would fall.” Indigo finished.

A chill was sent down everyone’s spine. This monster that was locked in the other Sunset Shimmer’s basement, could possibly be planning the downfall for Crystal Prep, and it might be hunting for their Sunset Shimmer. And while no one knew what to do, one thing came into their minds, they had to keep their eyes peeled and their ears open for any signs.

Later that day, the former Shadowbolts were sitting in the practice room, trying again to see if they could make amends with an old enemy.

“Are you sure this is gonna work? I highly doubt it will.” Sour asked.

“We have to make up with him at some point, and I say now is the time to do so.” Sunny replied.

“I conclusively believe this isn’t going to work.” Sugarcoat replied.

“Well we have to try!” Indigo declared.

At that moment, stepping in with the same black hoodie, was Coppermane. He froze when he made contact with the five girls. His eyebrows furled, clearly less than thrilled to see them.

“What do you want?” Coppermane sneered. “Come to make my life miserable again?”

“No, dearie. Not at all. We… we want to apologize to you,” Sunny said. “You didn’t deserve our harrasment back at Crystal Prep and we want to make it up to you.”

Coppermane didn’t look convinced in the slightest. His eyes were ice-cold.

“Coppermane, you have to believe us,” Sunny said.

“Believe you? Why the hell should I believe you?” Coppermane barked, loudly enough to make Sunny back away a little. “You tortured me everyday. You made my live in constant fear for my life! I almost killed myself because of how miserable I was!”

The girls all gasped, their faces going visibly paler.

“Suicide?” Lemon said.

“Are you seriously surprised by this?” Coppermane sneered. “What did I do to deserve any of that? For that matter, what did Toxigo do? What did Twilight do? What did any of us do?! Why are you asking me to believe you after everything you’ve done to me?”

The girls were dumbfounded. What could they say? What could they possibly say?

“And Sunny,” Coppermane scolded. “All I wanted was to make you happy. That’s all I wanted. Did that really warrant humiliating me in front of the entire school?”

Sunny opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. Again, what could she say? They took the most understanding guy in the world, and turned him into an impenetrable brick wall.

“Coppermane,” Indigo said. “If you just give us a chance--”

“Stop,” Sunny said.

Sunny’s friends looked at her with shocked expressions.

“What?” they asked.

“Just… just stop,” Sunny said, burying her face in her palm. “He’s right… about everything. What are we doing?”

“Sunny, we promised we’d make amends with everyone,” Sour said. “Coppermane is part of everyone.”

“Well, we just can’t!” Sunny snapped. “Face it, we hurt him too much. We almost drove him to suicide. We can’t undo this!”

“But what about Toxigo?” Lemon interjected. “We made up with him!”

“That wasn’t the same. We hurt Toxigo physically, but Coppermane… we hurt him emotionally. And… I hurt him. I broke his heart. I shattered it. I made him cry in front of the whole school, and for what? For having a crush on me? This… this is all my fault.” Sunny couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She didn’t even care that her friends and Coppermane were watching. It was too much. It was a hopeless endeavor. She looked at Coppermane, but his face was obscured by her own tears. “Coppermane, I don’t expect you to forgive us, and I don’t even expect the benefit of the doubt, but… I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry! I’ve felt so guilty after what I did to you. I shouldn’t have hurt you, and I have no excuses. It was unforgivable, and… I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.” She fell to her knees, her face buried in her palms as she bawled.

Minutes passed as Sunny cried her eyes out on the floor, in plain sight of everyone in the room.

Sunny’s friends looked at Coppermane, but his eyes weren’t cold like before. His face conveyed shock… and empathy.

“S-Sunny?” Coppermane said.

“Don’t!” Sunny barked. “Just don’t! We know you hate us, and you have every reason to! I… I… oh gosh, I’m so stupid!”

“Sunny…” Coppermane said.

“I’m so sorry, Coppermane!” Sunny screamed. “I’m… I’m… I’m so sorry!”

Indigo was about to get up and comfort Sunny, but was stopped when Coppermane held his hand out, gesturing her to stop. Indigo and the rest of them were a bit confused, until Coppermane did the unthinkable.

Without saying another word, Coppermane knelt down beside Sunny, and pulled her into a big hug.

Sunny gasped loudly at the sudden embrace, and was even more shocked to see a familiar meadow of coppery hair next to her.

“C-Coppermane?” Sunny cooed. “Wh-What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Coppermane asked.

Sunny sighed, and wrapped his arms around him in return, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I… I thought you hated me…” Sunny said.

Coppermane released her from his embrace, and helped her stand back up.

“I didn’t believe you at first,” Coppermane said, “but those tears were honest.”

Sunny lit up. There was no way…

“Y-You believe me?” Sunny asked.

Coppermane nodded. “Look, it’ll take a long time for you to win my trust, Sunny. For all of you. But… I learned from a special someone that everyone deserves a chance. And I’ve learned how powerful and wonderful the benefit of the doubt can be… so I’m willing to give it to you all.”

The girls all gasped, gaining big smiles.

“You won’t regret this, Coppermane!” Indigo said.

“We’ll show you we’ve changed,” Lemon said.

“I’m honestly pretty surprised,” Sugarcoat said. “But I’m thankful.”

“This will be great!” Sour said. “How could anyone forgive us for what we’ve done?”

“Coppermane… thank you,” Sunny said. “I promise, we’re serious. You won’t regret this.”

“We’ll see,” Coppermane said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was going to practice for a little bit, so…”

“Say no more!” Indigo said. “C’mon girls.”

With that, the girls began to walk out of the room as Coppermane made his way to the piano.

“Oh, Coppermane?” Sunny said, lingering by the door.

“Hmm?” Coppermane said.

“Who taught you about giving people chances?” Sunny asked.

A big smile grew on Coppermane’s face. “Only the most amazing girl in the world. The one who makes the sun rise and fall in my world.”

“Your girlfriend?” Sunny asked.

Coppermane nodded. “My princess, yep.”

“I’m glad you found someone to make you happy,” Sunny said.

“Thanks,” Coppermane said.

“See you later, then?” Sunny asked.

“I guess so,” Coppermane said. “Bye.”

“Bye, dearie,” Sunny said. “And thanks again.”

With that, Sunny left the room, leaving Coppermane alone to practice his music.

Evening came, and the streets were peaceful. Echo Dash was returning back to her home after a few hours of target practice and surveillance. She was about ready to shut herself down for the night.

She unlocked the door of the dojo-like house, somehow still standing even after a raid from the changeling queen, and stepped inside. She flipped the lightswitch, but nothing happened. The power, was out.

“Switching to night vision mode.”

Echo’s night vision mode switched on, giving her more light as she was about to walk downstairs. However her senses picked up something in the room.

“Motion detected.”

She walked downstairs carefully with grace, bracing herself for anything that might happen. Her hands started emitting electricity in the palm and she was ready to strike. But as she made the ninja jump around the corner and made the strike…

*MEOW!*

A cat had snuck in through some of the damage, and then ran away from Echo’s metal clenched fist.

“No threat detected. Resuming normal functions and--”

*ZAP*

At that moment, Echo’s system shut down and she fell on the ground face first into the rubble of concrete.

From the void, Jet Set and Upper Crust appeared with snooty expressions.

“My word, this was much easier than anticipated.” Upper commented.

“I agree my dear. Now let's get this disposable scrapile over to Sunset and see what she can do with it.”

Midnight struck, and the suburban town of Canterlot was in silence amongst the pitch-black night. The streetlights were illuminated the empty streets.

Over in the store/house of Bon Bon’, was sending a text over to best friend, Lyra Heartstrings. She giggled at some of the comments Lyra made over things in the past, and she agreed with her about how the former Bolts shouldn’t have come to their school.

“Hehe… how desperate can they get?” Bon Bon asked herself.

But suddenly a clattering sound was heard downstairs and it gave her the chills. In one quick motion, she dialed for Lyra’s number.

“Bonnie, what’s wrong?” Lyra asked.

“I think there’s someone in the store. I’m gonna check it out.” Bon Bon whispered.

“But what if it's a criminal? You need me to call someone?” Lyra asked with fear.

“I’m sure it's probably just an animal having snuck in. Besides, what criminals have ever come into our town?”

Bon Bon crept downstairs in her PJs, while also keeping the phone to her ear and holding a flashlight in her other hand, keeping an eye out.

She moved around a corner, keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of danger. After unlocking a door, she moved into the front area of the store to see if anyone had broken in, but there wasn’t anything. The front store door wasn’t opened, the windows weren’t broken, and not even the ceiling or wall vents weren’t opened up.

“Where is that coming from?” Bon Bon whispered to herself.

She heard the clattering again, and this time, she got a clearer sound of where it was coming from. It was coming from… the bakery kitchen?

Bon Bon slowly tip-toed her way into the back kitchen looking for any signs of anyone, but nothing. She saw some of the candy treats she had made for tomorrow were still fresh and sitting on the countertop, but when she turned to the left she saw some of the chocolate chip cookies that were supposed to be freshly made all looked like an animal had broken in and gnawed through them. But what made these stand out from regular bites, was that it looked like it had been devoured by something the size of a person or a lion.

“I hope it's just rats.” Bon Bon quivered.

Bon Bon then jumped slightly at the sound of the radio in the kitchen playing an old song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ziSLGVQOSg

Bon Bon pondered as to why the song was playing out of nowhere, but that was the least of her worries right now. She shined a light around some more, and found something else that stood out. She moved toward a cabinet, and found a sticky residue leaking from the open cabinet.

“Ugh…disgusting...”

But a new sound had alarmed her. This one was a little more terrifying. She heard snarling and chewing. She turned the light around and saw a tail slithering from around a corner. She was scared to move a muscle, she didn’t want to get close to whatever it was. But she moved anyway.

She shined the light on the slender and dagger-tipped tail and found the rest of the body it was attached to. The creature was found feasting on some cakes that were freshly made.

She gasped in terror and dropped the flashlight, which got the creature’s attention. It turned around with demonic turquoise eyes and tackled her to the ground, causing Bon Bon to drop her phone.

She breathed heavily trying to stay calm, but it was nearly impossible to with a monster staring at her and having tackled her to the ground, and spoke to her with the demonic and distorted voice.

“Are you the one they call... Bon Bon?”

“P-Please don’t kill me!” Bon Bon yelled trying to keep herself calm.

“I only need to know one thing. Where is Shimmer?”

But Bon Bon had blacked out, and didn’t wake back up, all while Lyra kept screaming into the phone.

“Bonnie!? Bonnie!? Are you there!?”

All the creature did was smash her phone with the dagger tail, while the electricity sparks kept sizzling.

“Hm… You may fear me… but there is only one to fear. Sunset Shimmer will fall. All will fall….”

Ch.6: The Entity

The next day at school, the student were becoming worried. They saw Bon Bon coming to school with Lyra, Octavia, and Vinyl, but she was shaken up so much she didn’t say a word, and kept shivering. The monster she encountered last night sure left its scar on her.

The staff was starting to get worried, and so they tried to get a professional to talk to her, but that didn’t work either. They looked towards the other option, which was get some of the girls who have handled magic before to talk with them.

During the lunch period, Sunset, Coppermane and Fluttershy came down into the counselor's office where Lyra, Octavia, and Vinyl were, and took a seat in two chairs.

“I tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t listen,” Lyra said. “I don’t even know what happened last night.”

“Well, maybe we can,”Sunset said. “We’ve dealt with this kind of thing before, maybe it’d be best if we listen.”

Principal Celestia closed the door.

“Alright, Bon Bon, it's okay.” Celestia assured Bon Bon.

Bon Bon’s attention was brought onto the classmates, sitting in front of her, along with Lyra on her left, and Vinyl and Octavia sitting on her right.

“Any chance you can start from the beginning?” Coppermane asked.

Bon Bon nodded, took a deep breath, and began speaking.

“Okay, um… it was last night. I was in bed, texting with Lyra, having a good time. And, it was around midnight, so late in the evening.”

“Okay.” Sunset replied.

“And everything was alright, but then I heard a clattering noise coming from downstairs in the shop. I thought there might have been some rats making a mess again.”

“So, what happened next?” Fluttershy asked.

“I walked downstairs, and I kept my phone with me. I called Lyra telling her about it, just in case something dangerous was happening. She was worried for my safety and suggested I call the police, but I didn’t.”

“Alright, continue.” Sunset replied.

Bon Bon’s hands were getting a little shaky, and she kept tapping her left foot on the ground.

“I entered the kitchen, and it looked like there may have been somewhat of an infestation. The food I had set up to be sold for the shop were all gnawed through… but… these bites… they weren’t rat bites. They were like something the size of maybe a lion ate through them. I kept looking, and there was also a bit of sticky stuff on my cabinets. I didn’t know what it was. But then I turned around and... “

Bon Bon froze just thinking about what she had witnessed last night.

“That… that thing… the… monster!” she exclaimed, sobbing into her hands at the images.

“Can you tell us what it looked like?” Sunset asked.

Bon Bon took a deep breath, trying to talk through her fearful tears. “It was muscular. It… It looked a little bug-like. There’s no way it was human. There’s no way! I-It had a tail. There were fangs. I… I never seen anything like it. And… It attacked me! Worse… it spoke! It asked where Sunset was, but I blacked out! I don’t know what it wants, but… it left me! What if it comes back?! I… I…”

Bon Bon broke down crying, and Lyra came over to comfort her.

Sunset bit her lip. This thing that Indigo and Lemon had described was now on the prowl. But, one question still bugged her, what is this thing after?

The day was over, and the Mane 9 decided to have another sleepover. Something they did on a semi-regular basis. Usually it was to just have fun, and occasionally work on some homework in the company of their friends. However, this time around, the primary focus was on the new updates about this… monster.

“So this monster that scared Bon Bon, you think is coming after you?” Flash asked.

“Yes, I do,” Sunset said. “If it was asking where I was, it might be after me. But I don’t know why.”

“Maybe it’s not after you! Maybe it's after something you own!” Pinkie said.

“Why would a changeling from Equestria be after something she owned?” Coppermane asked.

“Well changelings are very intelligent. Maybe the person that was fused with the changeling knows something that we don’t,” Twilight replied.

“But why? Why would someone fuse a human being with a changeling?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know, but that’s something we have to find out.” Twilight replied.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you suggesting we have to get close to that thing?” Rainbow asked. She was not looking to get anywhere near it.

“I’m not saying that, but if the creature gave some vital information every time it encountered someone--” Twilight started.

“It will lead us to who made it, who it is, and what it wants.” Flash finished.

“Exactly.” Twilight replied with a smile.

“Well whatever this creature is, I hope it doesn’t do any harm to us. Heaven knows we’re dealing with enough danger with the Crystal Preppers.” Rarity replied.

“Yeah, we are.” Coppermane replied.

Coppermane was returning to the main room after a quick run to the restroom, but stopped when he heard… crying?

He followed the sound, and soon found himself at the foot of the staircase. It was coming from the second floor. He walked up, and at the top he saw a familiar fiery red hairdo out of the corner of his eye. He looked and saw Sunset with her face buried in her hands.

He didn’t waste another second.

“Sunset? Are you okay?”

The puffy cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and tears leaking from her face shown she wasn’t okay.

“No…” She whimpered.

“Oh, Sunset…” Coppermane held Sunset in a hug as she cried onto his shoulder.

“It’s just… he’s... “

Coppermane looked Sunset in the eye.

“You miss Toxigo, don’t you?”

Sunset nodded somberly.

“I’m so sorry Sunset. I wish I could do something to help.”

“Well there isn’t. Unless Toxy just magically comes back from the dead, I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this.”

Coppermane wasn’t sure of what to do, but an idea had popped into his head.

“Hey, what if you told me some stuff about Toxigo. Maybe tell me some sweet things about him. Maybe that could work?” Coppermane asked. “Besides, I don’t really know that much, and I’ve been wanting to know a little more about him.”

Sunset sighed. Her eyes were filled with such heavy amounts of pain, but eventually a small smile appeared.

“Coppermane, where do I even start?” Sunset said. “He was just so… heroic. Saving CHS from a fire, saving our world from the Changelings, being so nice to me… and sweet. And surviving Neon Lights and his group of monsters…”

“Wait, what?” Coppermane asked.

“Toxy was bullied by Neon Lights and his friends when he was at Crystal Prep,” Sunset said. “He’s the reason for the fake eye.”

“Well, we have the same bully then,” Coppermane said.

“Really?” Sunset said.

“Yeah…” Coppermane said. “But this isn’t about me, it’s about you. What else about Toxigo?”

Sunset sighed again, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

“Coppermane, I’d love to go on and on about how amazing Toxy was… but it just hurts to much to talk about right now,” Sunset said, her lips trembling.

“I understand,” Coppermane said, pulling her into another hug. “Just remember that we’re here for you, okay?”

“Thanks,” Sunset said, reciprocating his embrace.

As night struck over, everyone had fallen asleep. Well almost everyone…

Coppermane tried getting himself to fall asleep but he just couldn’t sleep. Unable to think of anything else to do, he got up, and snuck his way out of the room without making a creak in the ground which would have awakened Flash.

He moved through the hallway and looked into the girl's bedroom and saw Fluttershy peacefully asleep. He smiled at the sight. His princess was just the cutest thing. He blew her a kiss before proceeding downstairs.

Coppermane felt a little thirsty, so he decided to get some water. After turning off the faucet, he took a seat at the table on the island countertop, and just sat there, drinking, alone in his thoughts. Most of what was going on in his head was the success of making amends with the Bolts, and another successful day with his friends.

“Maybe there’s some hope after all. All we gotta do now is deal with the Shadow… Bolts….”

Copper didn’t finish his sentence, for something had caught his eye. He saw some sticky residue on the floor, gleaming in the small kitchen light. He crouched down to look at it, placed on finger on it, and took a closer look at it.

“What is this?”

A sound had halted his attention. The sound of a saw blade spinning. He stepped up to listen, and heard the sound coming from one of the rooms. He moved towards one of the rooms and heard a saw blade going off as well as the pain and groan of something of a monster. Both sounds alone made him worried.

“Hey, who’s there? Hello?” Coppermane peaked through the cracked door frame and from the moonlight and a bit of light that was turned on, he saw some green liquid spilled on the floor. It was definitely blood.

“Wait. Is that… blood?”

He moved his eyes up and saw the silhouette of a creature, grabbing onto the prosthetic arm, and what looked like was hacking the metal right off of it exposing the wiring and gears inside.

“What the…”

And in quick flash, lightning flashed, and thunder clapped making the room dark. Once the light came back on, the figure in the room had vanished, making Coppermane gasped.

“Where...wait… he was...what the hell was that?”

Hoping that was only a figment of his imagination, he walked back over to the kitchen and splashed hot water onto his face, hopefully getting the image out of his head. As the water dripped down his face, he wiped it off with a washcloth.

“That… no. That’s just stupid.” Coppermane talked to himself, praying he was only seeing things.

After considering telling the girls what he saw, he was about to head on upstairs until he stopped to see Fluttershy standing with her back turned in the doorframe on his right.

“Hey, Fluttershy” Coppermane said with a smile. “You’re up late.”

No reply. She just stood still.

“Fluttershy?” Coppermane coaxed. “Hello?”

And out of nowhere… music. Music just started playing. Coppermane looked around. The stereo system was turned off, and his phone wasn’t playing anything.

You’re mine… and we belong together...

“Fluttershy? Babe, did you start that?”

Fluttershy lifted her head up, and turned around to face Coppermane. But that face… that face… it wasn’t Fluttershy’s. Her eyes were black voids, and she was smiling deviously. Coppermane held back a loud shriek at the sight. A quiet giggle bellowed, sending chills down his spine.

The lights sizzled out, becoming dark, and once they flipped on, she was gone. Coppermane’s heart was pounding. He looked everywhere to see where she was, but no signs were available.

“Get out…” A whisper erupted, followed by a creepy yet clear voice.

“Are you him? Are you the one who nearly murdered that… child? Are you the one who needs to die? Well, it really doesn’t matter… ”

Coppermane tried slowly backing away, but the minute he turned his head around, he got a surprise grab to the throat and was pinned against a wall, up in the air, with his feet not touching the ground.

The creature’s threatening eyes leered at Coppermane. He breathed heavily as he was held to the wall by the black claw of the monster.

“So.. you’re… the bastard that scared… Bon-Bon. Let… me...go!” Coppermane said, trying to speak with the creature clamped around his throat.

Coppermane tried to get himself free, but he had no luck. The humanoid changeling was too strong, and he could only look into those scary, turquoise eyes.

“Where do you think you’re gonna go? There’s nowhere to hide… nowhere to run… so tell me, what are you afraid of? Maybe you fear… isolation? Being all alone with nowhere to go… as the walls close in on you, the silence is deafening…. or maybe you fear… losing a loved one? The only girl meant for you? The only one who ever listened to you? The one that saved you from ending it all?”

Coppermane said nothing. His pounding heart rang in his ear like a bell.

“No one survives in this world. What was once a world full of joy and friendship is now slowly becoming a void of chaos and anarchy… with the blood of the innocent… man turning on one another, beginning war after war… thanks to you, however, not so innocent blood has been shed... “

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“The one you call... Neon Lights. His blood has been shed over at Crystal Prep… and now… his new desire is for your blood to be shed… to be splattered at Canterlot High… in front of the girl you love. In front of… FLUTTERSHY! I believe a rather painful death is in order. I believe suffering would do good things.. For his soul-- HIS SOUL…. But for now… by setting your eyes on me… you’ve surrendered your right to live. This isn’t your world to rule…. SHE will rise again… now DIE!”

In one quick motion, a claw shrieked across Coppermane’s face, and he was tossed onto the kitchen concrete on his back like a sack of potatoes, and he blacked out.

Coppermane’s vision was slowly restored as the shapes of his friends came into focus above him. He could hear their voices speaking overhead. His vision returned, and the first thing he saw was the face of his beautiful princess.

“Coppermane, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, cupping his face. She looked terrified.

“Why are you on the floor down here and why does it look like a lion scratched your face?” Flash asked.

Coppermane pulled himself up, feeling the scratches around his throat and the bit of the scratch across his face.

“Wh-What happened?” Coppermane asked.

“The Alicorn Amulet has been stolen!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Wait, what?” Coppermane asked, trying to get up but faltering as soon as a sharp pain rang through his head, bringing him right back down to the floor.

Fluttershy took his hand. “You poor thing. Come with me to the couch.”

Coppermane smiled and allowed Fluttershy to help him up. He leaned on her as she led him to the couch. Everyone else followed.

“Here,” Fluttershy said as he sat down. “I’ll be right back.”

Fluttershy went back to the kitchen as everyone else gathered around.

“Someone came into the house in the middle of the night and stole the Amulet around Sunset’s neck, and whoever it was stole Toxigo’s prosthetic arm as well.” Applejack replied.

“Hold on, I understand it's bad the Amulet is stolen, but why is bad that the arm is stolen? I don’t quite understand.” Coppermane asked.

Just then, Fluttershy returned with some hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls. She poured some and applied it on Coppermane’s wounds.

“Thanks,” he said, making Fluttershy smile. “So… why is the arm so important?”

“That thing alone can be used as a weapon. There’s a lot of weapons installed inside the arm, and if anyone comes across it, they could find the weapons inside it.” Sunset replied.

Memories of it suddenly flooded Coppermane’s mind.

“Wait a minute, I think I know what happened to it. Someone was hacking it apart or something, but I don’t know what,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Flash asked.

“I came down in the middle of the night to get a drink, and I heard a strange noise in the other room. I went to see and it looked like someone had sawed off their arm and hacking apart the synthetic one. I thought I was just seeing things, but this creature, thing, pinned me against the wall. I honestly thought I was gonna die. But all he did was just mentally scare me reminding me of what I’m afraid of most, and it said something like Neon Lights was going to die. After that, he scratched my face, tossed me towards the ground and I blacked out.”

Everyone was now concerned. But a new thought emerged into their minds. This creature was hunting for Sunset. And it came into Sunset’s house, yet it didn’t kill her. Was it after the Alicorn Amulet, or was it after something the other Shimmer possessed?

“That’s not good, that’s very bad! If that changeling took them, then he’s probably causing destruction right about now, and he could be planning to get the changelings over here from Equestria, and that will only escalate our problems even more since we have the Crystal Prep kids and my human equivalent to deal with, and having a changeling army here on Earth will only make things worse than it already is!” Sunset yelled.

She buried her face into her hands, trying to keep herself together. But everyone could hear her quietly crying. She was dealing with a major amount of stress. And didn’t help that the situation they were in just got worse….

Ch.7: Scrap Her

Lucky for Sunset Shimmer, the Alicorn Amulet and prosthetic arm didn’t travel very far. For it along with the monster had only gone so far as to fall asleep after a night of chaos and they ended up in an alleyway in the small town of Canterlot.

The changeling hybrid opened his eyes slowly, flinching bright sunlight.

“Ugh… my head. Wait… where am I? What… what happened? How did I get here?”

The hybrid then felt the side of his left hand, feeling the pain along with a few droplets of green blood. It looked at his palm seeing the green blood dripping down, and gasped slightly.

“Changeling blood… why am I bleeding changeling blood… more importantly, why is it coming out of my system…”

After looking around at where he was, it discovered his body was still in its monstrous state, and without any question or remorse, he began digging into his chest, and started pulling the changeling skin off…

“It's time….that… you… get… off...my…. body!”

Once all the skin was torn off, the former monster stood facing the peeled off skin, and in the shadows, one eye illuminated in demonic red, with a black diamond retina. Looking around, he faced the prosthetic arm on the ground, and raised it up, and the wires began fusing into the side of his arm while he groaned in pain.

“Agh, ow… damn it, this hurts! Agh… finally.”

The now restored human with the ominous eye looked at his arm re-connected in place.

“Okay, now… let's… get… moving...”

The changeling hybrid started to lose his vision and soon he ended up falling onto the ground face first into the ground blacking out.

Over at a food court, the former Shadow 5 were all with their food awaiting for Coppermane to arrive. He had called them over in a request to talk to them and giving updates.

“So, did anyone hear from Sunset?” Sunny asked.

“Sort of. She kept crying and I didn’t understand a single word she said.” Sugarcoat replied.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“What was she even crying about?” Lemon asked.

“The Alicorn Amulet and Toxigo’s prosthetic arm was stolen.” a familiar voice said.

Their heads turned to look at who talked and saw Coppermane. Their eyes bulged to see the huge scratch that went down his left cheek and reaching above his eye. There were still some marks showing, but most of it was shown to have healed.

“Dude, did you mess with a baby tiger down at the animal shelter again?” Lemon asked.

“No, I didn’t. I had a run in with that monster that you and Indigo met last night.” Coppermane said as he took a seat next to Sunny.

“You finally saw that changeling hybrid?” Indigo asked.

“Yeah I did. You were right. That thing is scary.” Coppermane shuddered.

“Did it do anything else to you?” Sour asked.

“Yeah, it did. It held me against the wall and taunted me with all my deepest fears, and said that Neon Lights was gonna die and… this last thing that’s actually got me worried the most.”

“What did it say?” Sunny asked.

“This thing said something like ‘This isn’t your world to rule. She will rise again’ or something.” Coppermane replied.

The girls looked at each other concerned, something about that seemed off.

“You don’t think the “she” that thing was referring to is…” Sour began.

“I highly doubt that’s the case. She died from the explosion, remember?” Sugarcoat replied.

“We didn’t see the explosion. For all we know, she could have found a way to make it out alive” Sour said.

“Who are you talking about?” Coppermane asked.

“Queen Chrysalis.” Indigo replied.

“Wait, is she the changeling queen that kidnapped the girls and the queen you all fought against with Toxigo?”

“Yep,” they all said.

“But I thought she was killed from the explosion.” Coppermane said.

“Well that’s the other thing, we were all evacuated from area, and we didn’t see what happened. So… that’s…” Sunny began, but she soon paused. “What if the Queen didn’t die from the explosion? What if she was still alive? But how?”

“Well if she is alive, we’ll take her down. There’s no way we’re letting those things take over.” Indigo smirked.

Coppermane smiled in relief and as he looked to the others he noticed something he didn’t see before. All of them had different wounds and cuts on them like if they were recently hurt.

“So… you said you girls made up with Toxigo, right?” Coppermane asked.

“Yeah. We did.” Indigo quietly responded.

“How exactly?” Coppermane raised a brow.

“We got our butts handed to us fighting changelings in Equestria as well as nearly died and got an understanding of how dangerous Canterlot High’s job is of keeping the magic safe.” Sugarcoat bluntly replied.

“So, is that why a bunch of you girls look like you were recently attacked?” Coppermane asked.

“Yep, pretty much. I got the scar from crawling around in the sewers from those bugs.” Indigo replied and pointed to the red scar going down her left eye.

“I got the knee bandage from a bite.” Sugarcoat said pulling her pant leg up showing the bandage wrapped around her knee.

“As for why Sour and Lemon don’t really have scratches is because they got chucked into an empty realm and stayed there floating for a majority of our battle time.” Sunny replied.

“Oh okay.” Coppermane replied.

“Why do you ask?” Lemon asked.

“Well, something kind of got me curious with my conversation with Sunset. Our Sunset. She said Neon Lights was the reason he had a fake eye.” Coppermane finished.

The table went completely silent and the girls stared at each other.

“Please don’t ask what we did, please don’t ask what we did, please don’t ask what we did…” Lemon whispered to herself.

“I wanted to ask, how did any of you hurt him?”

Indigo paused for a moment. She really didn’t want to tell him about what they did, especially after they were about to make up with one another. But they knew he was gonna find out eventually.

“You… you promise you won’t walk away from us when we tell you?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah… why?”

“Well, some of the stuff we did was just… evil. And after you gave us the benefit of the doubt, I… I didn’t want to tell you because we thought you wouldn’t trust us again.”

Coppermane could tell Sunny wasn’t lying. But as much as they were right, he had to know.

“Sunny, I promise I won’t walk away from you girls. Just tell me what you did.” Coppermane replied.

Indigo gave a sigh and said the first response. “Well, first thing we have to tell you. We were actually blackmailed into hurting him.”

Coppermane’s eyes widened a bit. “But, by who?”

Lemon gulped. “Neon Lights.”

Coppermane groaned. “I thought so. Why did he blackmail you?”

“From what we remember, after the Friendship Games, he and his groupies began bullying everyone to doing what they wanted, one of them being Toxigo. They blackmailed us into hurting him with them because if not they’d post some… inappropriate pictures that no one should ever have.”

“Ouch…” Coppermane said.

“Actually, we’re all to blame. Mostly it was Neon though.” Sour said.

“Well, what did they have you guys do?” Coppermane asked.

“I had tied him up and gagged in a cornfield overnight which I still question how he got out of, Lemon Zest made him go deaf, Sunny kept pushing him down several flights of stairs, Indigo ran over him with a car, and Sour by some miracle sawed his ears off. And Neon tried making a permanent tattoo on his head with a power drill but Tox flinched at the last moment and got a spinning drill bit in his eye, hence the fake eye part.” Sugarcoat bluntly replied.

Coppermane’s eyes bulged out of his head and his mouth expressed great amount of terror.

“Good, god, that’s terrible!”

The girls nodded.

“We all still regret everything we’ve done. Now he’s dead, and everyone at CHS is still giving us a hard time about what we did to him… and you” Indigo replied.

Coppermane suddenly became intrigued by what she said.

“What do you mean including me?”

“Everyone at CHS hates us for what we did to Tox and you.” Sunny responded.

“I don’t think they’ll forget what we did for a long time.” Lemon replied.

“Well, I can see why. But how about this? Next week, on Monday, I’ll try and tell everyone to stop picking on you girls and tell them that my disputes with you five are over.” Coppermane offered.

The five of them paused for a moment and all gave each other nods. It seemed like a fair response.

“I think that’s a yes.” Indigo said.

“Perfect.” Coppermane said.

“Hey, since you’re here, you want lunch?” Sunny offered.

“I don’t see why not. I don’t have anything else to do today.” Coppermane said as he took a menu with all of them.

As Coppermane ate with the girls, they were all in deep conversation, mostly discussing their plans for the upcoming Halloween party. But one thing on everyone’s mind was this. The had enough information on what their threats were, they just had to figure out why they wanted to take them down, and what did human Sunset Shimmer want from this whole deal?

MEANWHILE

Jet, Royal, and Neon were raiding Toxigo’s dojo home to take the weaponry from his home, along with another plan they had set in mind.

“Did we get everything?” Royal asked.

“Well most of the items we were able to access, everything else is just too impossible to break through.” Jet replied.

“Okay, so does that mean we finally let the place burn?” Royal asked.

“Yes, it does.” Neon replied sounding unsure, making his friends concerned.

“Neon are you okay?” Jet asked.

“Ah, no, actually.” Neon replied.

“How come?” Royal asked.

Neon took a deep breath and spoke.

“Is… Is what we’re doing… right?”

Royal and Jet looked at each other with confused faces.

“What do you mean?” Royal asked.

“Is what, we’re doing, right here and right now, right?” Neon asked.

“When did you get so concerned about that? What we are doing is right, we’re putting an end to their little charades.” Jet replied.

“Oh… right.” Neon responded.

Royal and Jet just got back to more loading up the car, while Neon looked at the front of the house in ruins. He couldn’t help but just feel a little bit bad that they were stealing things from a dead guy.

“We’re gonna get this stuff over to Sunset. You want the honor of burning the place down?” Royal asked.

“Yeah, I would. Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” Neon replied.

With that, Jet and Royal drove off in their truck leaving Neon to look back to the house and talk to himself, and supposedly to the spirit of Toxigo.

“Hey, Tox. How are you doing? Well, I assume you’re doing much better since you’re dead and far away from me.” Neon laughed.

His eyes gazed towards the open door, and the lights that were still sizzling with electricity.

“You know… I remember when we were actually friends.You realize how much that would have affected our reputation? You would have been perfectly fine if you just let that shit alone. But no… you… you had to go out and die.” Neon said with his voice breaking up.

Neon rubbed his hands over his eyes trying to clear the tears from his face, and then once he opened them he got such a shock of what he saw standing in front of him. He thought he was seeing Toxigo standing right in front of him, but he wasn’t so sure.

He shook his head violently trying to get the image out of his head, and once his eyes opened, it wasn’t there.

“Get a grip on yourself, Neon. You’re just seeing things. He’s dead. He doesn’t matter anymore.” Neon said to himself.

“Neon….. Neon….” A voice whispered.

The voice sent chills down Neon’s spine. There couldn’t have been anyone inside the house, could there? The sound of thunder made him shriek a bit and looked up to see the stormy clouds.

“Oh, right. There’s supposed to be a thunderstorm today.” Neon said.

Neon quickly walked inside just to get out of the storm. And in case, he began to walk around the house, just to make sure no one else was inside. He walked into the kitchen, nothing. He walked into the living room, nothing. Where was that noise coming from?

He opened a door which led him into Toxigo’s bedroom still messy as it was last time he was there. He could see lots of clothes scattered about, bed not made, a few toys on the floor which he looked down, and picked one up to take a look. The toy he analyzed was looking like a robot that could possibly be changed into a racecar.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were a fan of Battle of the Form Changers.” Neon said before putting it back down.

He continued to look around and found a huge board on the wall with several amounts of push pins and photos attached to it, looking as if all of the pictures were all linked together. This one was just like Human Sunset’s was linking the magical occurrences over at CHS.

“So you were also curious about the magic anomalies too.”

Neon then turned his head and from he saw made him shocked. He picked up a picture frame which had a photo of him and all of their friends including Toxigo all standing with each other making silly faces at a carnival like environment, embezzled with a caption that said “Best Friends Forever”

Neon’s eyes hands were beginning to shake up and his eyes watered slightly.

“You…. you kept that photo. I can’t believe you still kept that photo of after everything we’ve done…”

Unfortunately he quickly became distracted by the sound of clattering which made him put the picture back down. However, he froze for a moment to look back at it, and so he opened up the back, folded up the picture and put it in his pocket.

So Neon walked into the office/engineering lab where he heard the source coming from. But for some reason, no one was in there. Or was there… His eyes gazed to the ground which looked as if some muddy footprints had been traced. Either someone had been recently walking in here, or Royal forgot to wipe his feet again.

Neon walked, following the footsteps and found himself walking through to another part of the lab where Toxigo still had the target practice gear set up. He took off his sunglasses to take a better look at the equipment around him.

“Huh, you sure have a lot of time on your hands don’t you Tox?” Neon said to himself. He turned his head and almost got a shock. There was someone else in the room with him. But all he was seeing was the back of someone looking down at a desk.

From the back he could tell this person had on a black tank top, green skin, a left black boot with the other foot being metallic and bronze. This figure also had what looked like a sheet hanging from his waist that only extended to his knees, almost like a waistcoat, and his hair was all ruffled up and messy.

After standing in silence for a moment, Neon cleared his throat and spoke.

“Hi. Uh, sorry for intruding in like this, but the door was open.”

No sound or reply came back from the figure. But Neon blinked again and suddenly the details on that figure were becoming a little… familiar...

“Tox… is… is that you?”

The figure turned himself around giggling quietly which made Neon gasp in fear. This person… it couldn’t have been. He stared right at the face of someone he never would have imagined to show up. But what made him scarier was that his eyes were all dark voids with nothing in them.

Neon slapped his face and winced in pain from how hard he hit himself. He turned his head back and saw the person wasn’t there. It was all visions from his imagination.

“God... No… never… never!” Neon shouted.

He pulled out the pulse rifle hanging from his back which he had stolen along with the other items they stole, loaded it up, and began at random spots around the laboratory and his face expressed great amounts of distress.

Sweat ran down his face as fired the high powered weapon towards a generator, a smoke detector, a sprinkler in the ceiling, and some transformers. Soon, the generator began a fire which began to spread as papers burned, the target cardboard cutouts were burning to ashes and dust, and soon parts of the ceiling began to collapse.

“I’m… I’m sorry. ”

Neon ran out of the house as quick as he could and jumped into his car, and sped off. Letting the house burn to the ground, and fall apart to ashes, and dust….

During the storm, Twilight walked down the sidewalk her arms clutching to her sides from being cold from the rain, and she was still contemplating over the monster attack.

“I can’t believe that monster made it over. Surely there must....”

Twilight didn’t finish her sentence for something caught her eye. She saw a hand sticking out of what appeared to be cardboard box. Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to see what its contents were. After a bit of scouring, the sight of Echo Dash’s dented and damaged head made her quietly shriek.

“Echo… What happened to you?”

No reply came from the head, and so only one option came into her mind. She put her head back in the box, picked it up, and carried it with her over and sped up her walking as fast as she could.

Twilight quickly opened up the door and stepped inside her home now soaked from the rain and dripping onto the floor. She dried herself off and then walked upstairs with the box of the disassembled android.

She entered inside her room and began pulling out her remains, which sadly weren’t many. All she found was a bit of her upper chest that had been sliced apart, with all there being left were a bit of the breast, one arm, and her head.

“Okay, let's see if I can find a way to kick you back on.” Twilight turned her head to the side, pulled out a connector plug and plugged it into a USB port on the side of her head, and then connected it to her battery.

Echo began jolting, and her operating system began to reboot once more.

“Paralysis Systems. Echo Dash, online.”

Jolting, she turned her head up and her functioning eye opened to look forwards at a concerned Twilight.

“Hey, Echo. How are you feeling?”

“Not so good. I can’t feel my legs.” Echo’s voice kept on shortening out, making it seem a little unclear as to what she was saying.

“Echo, what… what happened to you?”

“Responding to the non-Wondercolt entity is an unnecessary drain on my power units and is therefore disallowed…” Echo repeated from her last encounter.

“You said that to someone else. Who did you say that to?” Twilight asked.

“Its very dark in here… the end… is near.” Echo strained.

“Who did you say that last line to?” Twilight asked sounding slightly impatient.

Echo slowly positioned her head up to sort of get Twilight in her view, and spewed out one sentence.

“This world’s… Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight looked puzzled, and stressed at the same time. If she attacked Echo, then chances are she knows everything about them.

“Does she know anything about us?” Twilight asked with a bit of worry.

“No. The human equivalent to Sunset Shimmer and the Shadowbolts don’t have any information on us. I erased my memories files just before they were able to hack into me.”

“So, we’re safe then?” Twilight asked.

Echo looked Twilight in the eyes, and wheezed a bit just before speaking.

“No. They… they’re planning something.”

“Do you know what they’re planning?” Twilight sniffled.

Echo sadly shook her head. “Self has no knowledge of prior engagements.”

Twilight paused. Things weren’t looking pretty.

“I hurt. Please… do me a favor, and disconnect me. Permanently.”

“But Echo, you’re one of our friends. We can’t just do that, we can fix you!” Twilight pleaded.

“No Twilight… I could be reworked, but I’ll never stay strong as all of you. I rather stay shut down. Please… disconnect me. For me?” Echo begged with a dying breath.

Twilight teared a bit, but he satisfy her final wish, so she got ready to pull the plug until--

“Wait. One last thing… before you end myself.”

“What is it?”

Echo slowly moved the only arm she had on her towards her head, and from Twilight could see, she pulled out a small data chip. She opened up Twilight’s palm with what strength she had and placed it in her hand.

“I offer my last contribution to help your situation. Sunset doesn’t know… but I have picked up some...vital information.”

“Vital information on what?” Twilight asked.

“I may not be useful anymore, but I know who that monster is. Look at all of the data files on this chip… I may not know how to stop him, but you will know who it is… ”

“Okay. And I promise to keep your last wish. Thank you for everything you did for us.” Twilight teared.

“And thank you… for giving me a purpose… and for giving my master something to care for… for giving my master...friends...” Echo then banged her head back down on the table, and Twilight pulled the plug out listening to her breath one last time.

Twilight tried to keep her composure at the sight of one of her new friends now dead, and she managed to stay calm. She picked up the small data chip card, and analyzed it closely.

“Who could that monster be?”

Twilight placed the chip inside her computer and began opening the folders and found files labeled Monster Identification.

She loaded up the files and began analyzing them. The first photo that shown was a satellite picture of four meteors soaring across the town of Canterlot, and the first oddity she noticed was the date on the side of the picture that was marked.

“Wait a minute, that’s a week before we had that war celebration….”

Twilight flipped over to the next file which was a video recording. She hit play and she saw footage from Echo’s point of view along with the camera’s constantly switching to other people’s points of views from their first fight against the changelings in Equestria. The cameras were showing them freak out in the caves.

“They’re coming out of the goddamn walls!” Flash shouted.

“Where’s Twilight! Where’s Twilight!” Tox shouted into Indigo’s point of view camera.

“Twilight’s gone! Let's just get the hell out of here!” Indigo shouted with an extreme look of panic on her face.

Twilight stopped the video in fear of that awful memory. She didn’t liked seeing her friends terrified out of their minds, especially when it came to them having to fight an enemy they couldn’t see.

She hit next and found another file showing another video, only the icon was on… Sunset holding a camera? The file had peaked her interest and she hit play.

“Okay… The subject is still sleeping. But, get a look at this.” Sunset turned the camera towards a giant glass silo container, with the green orb bouncing around inside it.

“He has magic. And now, I have it!” She shouted with joy, and then turned the camera to look towards her face.

“Now. I do have his magic, but that’s all I wanted. But after a bit of analyzing the wreckage, I discovered green goo from that weird thing, I don’t know how to describe it… anyways. I took a look towards the specimen and…”

Sunset turned the camera towards the small sample reader and her computer displayed an image of a DNA reading, and it read Regenerative Blood.

“This blood is regenerative, and I found out he lost an arm. And so what I’m gonna do is give his arm back, and then set him free. Fair’s fair.”

A groaning noise erupted and caught Sunset’s attention, and looked to the left.

“Oh good. You’re awake. It certainly has been a while hasn’t it?” Sunset asked.

“Where… where am I?” A voice called out from the background

“You crashed landed from a meteor on a bit of the grass on the hill. Just a few feet in front of my house.”

“Well… Wait, why I am strapped to the wall!?” He shouted.

“Relax, you’ll be freed soon, I just need to do something first.”

Sunset moved the camera around to a needle filled with the green blood and walked towards the darkness of the basement where a bit of light was shown on the hostage.

Once it was known who he was, Twilight’s eyes bulged out of her head.

“What… no… that’s...that’s impossible!” She stammered.

“No...no...NO!!!!!!”

Fear was apparent on Twilight’s face.

Sunset backed away after watching her subject twitch and attempt to hurt himself in pain, but alas he had stopped and blacked out. She turned the camera around and the look on her face shown she was now disturbed and scared.

“Okay… I guess he might have known something I don’t. But, it doesn’t matter he’s got an arm back.”

A snarling was heard from the background in the video, and Sunset moved her eyes to look.

“And he’s snarling at me like an animal. Why don’t you turn into a monster while you’re at it!?”

Her face drooped with shock looking into the background hearing some bizarre sounds, and then looked back at the camera.

“We’ll be right back.”

Sunset placed the camera down on the table and walked off to the side while the camera stayed on a shot of another part of the dark and mucky basement.

The video kept showing that one shot and nothing happened. Twilight allowing the video to play, jumped back in her chair thinking about what she saw. She couldn’t have imagined that, but at the same time, she didn’t.

“This… this isn’t good. But… how?”

Twilight didn’t have long to think about it for at that moment, for when she was about to ponder, the camera screen on the video began glitching and making lots of static, until glowing eyes illuminated in the darkness.

“I...will rise again...”

Twilight’s fear got the best of her, and she slammed her laptop lid down, threw what was left of Echo into a box, and locked the room, holding her back against it, and slid down in fear.

“No… that can’t be real. He can’t be real...that’s impossible!” Twilight talked to herself.

She couldn’t believe what she had seen, and part of her wished she hadn’t seen it. But deep down, she knew whoever it was, had returned. And she would have to face him one way or another…

Ch.8: Impossible

It was 6:00 in the evening, and a majority of the city was quiet. Coppermane was walking down the street to his car having gone to the store to get some supplies to help Pinkie set up the Halloween party at CHS.

“Okay, last bit of supplies on the list. This Halloween party’s gonna be awesome.” Coppermane said with excitement.

He put the supplies in his car and turned around and his heart dropped when he was face to face with Jet Set.

“Hello, Coppermane,” Jet Set said.

“Um… hi, Jet Set,” Coppermane said. “What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing… except for this.” Without saying anything else, slipping behind his back was two mini light cannons strapped to his wrists.

“Whoa!” Coppermane yelped. “Wh-What the hell?!”

“Now, if you will kindly come with me, I won’t harm you.” Jet replied. “Hands on your head.”

Coppermane complied, and Jet roughly forced him around. Coppermane managed to glimpse the gun in Jet’s hand, and noticed something. It looked suspiciously familiar to one of the light cannons Sunset and Twilight were taking apart.

“Where did you get that?” Coppermane asked.

“And why should I tell you?” Jet asked.

“Um… I don’t know,” Coppermane said. “I-It just looks cool… I guess…”

Jet raised an eyebrow, and sighed with clear frustration.

“Well, if you must know, we found it in your friend’s home,” Jet said. “Not sure why these were laying around without being properly secured, but why am I complaining? It made it easier for us.”

“I’m sure were guarded fine until you decided to pull them out. They’re extremely dangerous you know.” Coppermane snarled.

“No, the only things that are dangerous are you and your friends. And since of you’re already out of the way, it's going to make our job easier. It's kind of funny really, since one of you has already been taken care of for us, it only leaves you nine left.” Jet snarled.

“Are you talking about the dead one? You’re sick,” Coppermane glared. “Wait… the rest of us? I swear, if you hurt my Fluttershy…”

“You know exactly what I mean. I can’t even believe I was even friends with that wretched little... traitor.” Jet said.

“Wait… friends?” Coppermane sputtered.

“That’s beside the point. He’s dead, and you’re going to come with me. And if you try anything, I will use this. And just to give you a little demonstration...” Jet said as he pointed to his right on into the alleyway completely darkened.

He pulled the trigger and a high powered bright blast fired off into the darkness. However, little did he know by that one shot, he set off a loud groan which scared both Jet and Coppermane.

Both of them froze from hearing the groan and their eyes looked at one another.

Jet nodded with a look of fear on his face. Curious, he shot into the alleyway again erupting the same groan, followed by the sight of a glowing demonic red eye.

“Ow...” the voice said.

Coppermane’s eyes widened. He recognized that voice from the night the monster tried to kill him.

Jet, scared out of his mind, fired another shot into the darkness which made him wince again and this time sent something bouncing onto the ground. A metal clanging could be heard and soon something slid across the concrete in front of Coppermane’s shoes.

He bent down to take a look and discovered it was the Alicorn Amulet gleaming bright gold with a bit of green blood on it.

“You’re the bastard that stole the Alicorn Amulet.” Coppermane muttered.

He reached out to grab it, but a metal hand yanked it away in a flash. Coppermane stood back up and stared down into the darkness as the one red glowing eye stared into their souls.

“Jet Set… Royal Pin…. Upper Crust…. Trenderhoof… Suri Polomare… Fleur De Lis… Neon Fricken Lights… who will die first? Only time will tell..”

Coppermane and Jet slowly backed away, realizing they were facing a mutual threat.

The eyes slowly got closer. Slowly, some defining features emerged from the shadows as it got closer and closer.

A figure finally stepped out of the darkness, roughly their same height but was completely covered in shadow. The only defining features seen were the gold Alicorn Amulet around his neck and his one eye.

“Well as much as I question who you are, I’ll kill you last!” Jet snarled as he pointed the light cannon towards Coppermane.

Coppermane braced himself for what would happen. He heard shots fired, but didn’t feel the impact. He opened his eyes to see the shadowed figure in front of him with some smoke billowing from him.

Coppermane just stared in disbelief.

“Did... did you just save me?” Coppermane asked.

“Get… behind… the car. Now!” he grunted.

Without question, Coppermane jumped and hid behind his car and watched as he slowly turned around to fight Jet.

“I don’t know who you are but I won’t let you interfere!” Jet barked.

The shadow figured wasted no time, and charged at him. They ran into each other, and began practically wrestling, waiting for the prime time when their weak points.

Coppermane then noticed that the shadow figured was removing one of the light cannons off his arm, and soon he tossed it behind him which landed on the hood of Coppermane’s car. Moving quickly, he grabbed it from the hood and strapped it onto his wrist and gripped the bar/trigger.

Once both figures were both off the ground, Jet began firing energy rounds towards the shadow figure. A shot hit the Alicorn Amulet perfectly, knocking it off the figure’s neck. Suddenly, the darkness around the figure vanished. No longer concealed by the shadows, the figure was completely visible. Jet gasped.

“You!” Jet shouted. “No… that's… that’s impossible!”

The no-longer-concealed figure’s eyes opened up. His right one was blood red, and the left one was a pitch black orb with an artificial looking yellow light in the middle. It even looked a little… corroded. Like metal.

He held the side of his stomach as he tried to stand up, while some blood leaked onto his hand. He had dark green skin, shredded short black pants, a ruffled-up tank top, a prosthetic, skeletal-like arm, and a similar looking prosthetic right foot.

He was demonized, weakened, and somehow still alive.

“Toxigo Paralysis?” Jet beckoned.

“Remarkable… isn’t it Jet Set?” Toxigo snarled.

“No… th-that’s impossible!” Jet cried.

Toxigo pulled the trigger, but none of the energy shots made contact with Jet’s body. His injuries rendered him unable to aim.

“Are you serious right now?” Jet uttered trying his best not to laugh.

Toxigo didn’t yield, continuing to fire, but his every shot sailed past him like all the rest.

The gun magazine ran out, and he quickly tried to reload, only to be shot in the chest by Jet Set, making him cry out.

“Urgh… Please… s-stop…” Toxigo wheezed.

“First you try to take us down, now you beg for mercy?” Jet said with a chuckle. He pointed the gun at Toxigo again. “I don’t think so.”

“I… I was trying to save you!” Tox stammered. “Cinch… needed… to be stopped! You were tampering with forces beyond your control!”

“You didn’t save anyone. You’re pathetic…” Jet uttered. He pulled the trigger again this time landing a shot to his face hitting his red eye.

“AGH!!!!” Toxigo yelled.

“If you can’t see, you can’t fight.” Jet laughed.

Jet reloaded his magazine and pointed the gun back at Toxigo.

“I’m going to enjoy this…” Jet said.

Jet was about to pull the trigger, but froze when he felt cold metal touch his temple.

“Put the gun down,” Coppermane said off to the side. Jet looked to his side to see Coppermane with the energy gun Toxigo threw in his hand. And the barrel was resting on Jet’s temple.

“And just what are you doing with that?” Jet remarked smirking.

“You pull the trigger, and I will too,” Coppermane said. “Put the gun down, and leave him alone.”

Jet saw nothing but ice in Coppermane’s eyes. He was serious.

What choice did he have, unless he wanted the streets to be painted with his blood. Jet lowered his gun.

“Leave. Now.” Coppermane snarled. “And don’t try anything. I will use this.”

Jet just simply snarled back and his attention turned to hearing Toxigo continuing to groan.

“I’ll be back,” Jet said. “And you won’t be so lucky.”

Jet didn’t waste any more time in rushing over to his car and driving away, leaving Coppermane and Toxigo alone.

Coppermane moved back and helped Toxigo get off the ground.

“Please…. Help… me…” Toxigo wheezed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you to a hospital.” Coppermane stammered.

Without any further question, Coppermane got Toxigo into his car and quickly sped off to the hospital.

Coppermane kept pacing back and forth in the waiting room, hoping Toxigo was okay.

It took a little longer than he would’ve liked, but a doctor eventually came out and approached Coppermane.

“How is he?” Coppermane asked.

“Your friend will be alright. It’s a good thing you got him here quickly,” the doctor said. “We just needed to patch up some wounds. He seems to have sustained a lot of damage throughout his life. He’s blind at the moment, as is bleeding quite a bit. He should be fine by tomorrow, though.”

“I allowed to see him?” Coppermane asked.

“Yes, you are. In fact, he requested that he see you,” the doctor said.

“Really?” Coppermane said. “Can you take me to him, please?”

“Absolutely,” the doctor said. “Right this way.”

Coppermane followed the doctor down to Toxigo’s room. He entered, and was a little surprised at everything Toxigo was hooked up to. He had an IV needle in his right arm, and a bandage wrapped around his head, as well as his shoulder where the border of flesh and his prosthetic limb existed. One more bandage was wrapped around his left eye, with the synthetic one still exposed. Coppermane has never seen anyone in such bad shape.

“Hey,” Coppermane said. “Y-You alright?”

Toxigo turned his head towards Coppermane, who winced a little at seeing his synthetic eye.

“I’m still breathing” Tox replied. “You… you are over there right?”

“Yeah,” Coppermane said. “Who are you?”

“Toxigo Paralysis.” replied Toxigo, coughing heavily.

Coppermane’s eyes went wide. “It really is you.”

“Yeah…” Tox said awkwardly.

Coppermane couldn’t believe his eyes. All of the things he heard about him about how great he was and how he died, he was actually right in front of him and he was alive. He’s heard from his friends about how amazing he was, and how heroic he was in sacrificing himself to save everyone. He never thought he’d actually meet him.

“Wow…” Coppermane said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Coppermane.”

Coppermane then moved forward and shook hands with Tox’s metal hand.

“Coppermane, I’ve heard great things about you. Pleasure to finally meet you.” Tox replied weakly. “I remember Fluttershy couldn’t stop talking about you.”

Coppermane felt himself blush. “Really?”

Toxigo nodded. “She sure is a sweetheart.”

“Only the sweetest girl in the world,” Coppermane said.

Toxigo sighed. “I wish I could see.”

“The doctor said you should have your vision restored tomorrow,” Coppermane said. “But… everyone told me you were dead.”

“You actually believed I was dead?” Tox asked.

Coppermane nodded.

“Not to brag or be rude, but it takes a little more than a power overdose to stop me. I know that for a fact.” Tox boasted.

“Really?” Coppermane said. “That’s… that’s actually kind of freaky. And awesome.”

Tox just shrugged.

“But… how did you survive?”

“Do you have time for a story?” Tox asked.

Coppermane smiled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Toxigo smiled. After being in hiding for so long, it was nice to have some company for a change.

“Very well… I believe I can explain. You know how I supposedly exploded from magic overdose?”

Coppermane nodded, taking a seat in a chair next to Toxigo’s bed.

“Well, I’m afraid you don’t know the whole story…”

Toxigo felt the magic surging through him, and the sheer levels of energy burned him. He could see his limbs starting to deteriorate.

“No… stay strong… hang in there…”

Toxigo clung onto life as the energy seared him. As he watched the arm that was fusing with the power, he had an idea. He used the power he already had, and fired it into the sky, ripping open a portal. Using what little and waning energy he had left, he removed the Alicorn Amulet from his neck, along with a slip of paper, and tossed it to the ground next to his prosthetic arm before it was covered with debris.

Using the energy, he soared up towards the portal in order to keep the explosion away from the town. But Queen Chrysalis was not far behind.

Toxigo crossed the portal, and looked back at Canterlot. He summoned all his strength and fired all his energy into the rift. The beam crossed the gateway into Equestria, and struck the ground with force comparable to a thermonuclear explosion, and the force knocked Toxigo out cold.

Toxigo awoke, his vision still blurry. Once his sight came into focus, he saw nothing but void, and felt the sensation of weightlessness. Indeed, he was floating in complete darkness. But he wasn’t alone. Looking around, he was able to make out some unconscious changelings, some debris, and…

“Queen Chrysalis,” Toxigo murmured. “Oh no...”

The Queen woke up, and her gaze landed on Toxigo. Once she saw him, her eyes flickered with rage.

“You…” Queen Chrysalis snarled. “You and your friends have ruined everything I’ve worked for! And now, you will suffer!”

Toxigo’s heart dropped. He didn’t realize until now that he was completely powerless. No Alicorn Amulet. Practically no magic. He was no match for Queen Chrysalis herself.

“I… I have to get out of here,” Toxigo panicked. Left with no other choice, he swam through the void with what little energy he had.

“You can never escape from me!”

Chrysalis fired green beams at Toxigo, making contact with his chest.

“ARGH!” Toxigo held his chest in pain, continuing to flee. “I can get us out of here! W-We don’t have to stay in this realm! J-Just stop!”

“Not so powerful without your precious necklace, are you? Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. But you… the void will be the last thing you see.”

With some quick thinking, Toxigo used his intact arm, and the residual energy he absorbed, and fired a beam into the shadows and ripped open another portal. He swam to the rift, closely pursued by Chrysalis. They crossed the boundary, and both began falling from the sky right above Canterlot.

Toxigo opened his eyes to find himself in a grassy field. Lying not too far from him was Queen Chrysalis. She wasn’t moving. Not even a twitch. He couldn’t even see breathing.

He caught a glimpse of her horn in his own hand, covered in green and red blood before he blacked out again.

“Everything else is a blur,” Toxigo said. “Though, I can vaguely waking up in an alley with… changeling skin. The doctor said he found a strange green substance in my system, but he said it was nothing harmless. Figured that would be cause for alarm in a hospital, but maybe I’m wrong. The stuff isn’t toxic, but I kind of assumed it would be affecting me somehow more… significantly.”

“I think it has,” Coppermane said.

“What do you mean?”

“You and I had an encounter last night,” Coppermane said. “You were this changeling, hybrid thing. That’s probably why you found the skin. From what we know, and what we believe, it was probably cooked up in the basement of… well… our new enemy.”

“New enemy?” Toxigo said. “Who?”

Coppermane cleared his throat. “You sure you want to know? You’re not going to like it.”

“Just tell me who it is,” Toxigo said. “They’re obviously a big threat. Just tell me.”

Coppermane sighed. “This world’s Sunset Shimmer.”

“What?” Toxigo said. “Why?”

“I wish I could answer that. We have no idea,” Coppermane said. “We’re trying to figure out a way to stop her. But hopefully with you back, you can help us.”

“I’ll do my best.” He was silent for a moment before sighing. “Is… Is Shimmercakes okay?”

“You mean Sunset? Our Sunset?” Coppermane asked.

Toxigo smiled. “Yeah. Is she okay?”

Coppermane sighed. “Honestly… no. She took your death really hard.”

Toxigo groaned. “I should’ve let her help me. I was only trying to keep her safe.”

“I think Sunset knows that,” Coppermane said.

“At least she’s safe,” Toxigo said, resting back on his pillow.

“Hey, Toxigo. I know we just met, but can I ask you something?” Coppermane asked.

“Ask away,” Toxigo replied.

“Does your voice always sound… raspy?” Coppermane hesitated.

“Not usually. The doctor gave me some medicine that should help clear it up a bit,” Toxigo said. “My eye’s just a permanent curse, though. It’ll probably be red forever.”

“Ouch. Sorry to hear that,” Coppermane said.

“Don’t be. I’ve gotten used to it.” Tox then thought for a moment. “Now, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Uh… sure.” Coppermane replied.

Toxigo sighed. “I need to know something. You said I was the monster who attacked you, right? Aren’t you the least bit scared right now?”

Coppermane shook his head. “Why would I be scared? Should I be?”

“No no, it’s not that,” Toxigo said. “I just know I would be a little paranoid. That’s all.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Coppermane said. “But now I know you didn’t have control. And from what everyone’s told me, you seemed like a good guy. I know I’m looking at the real Toxigo now. And they weren’t wrong. You’re alright, Tox.”

Toxigo was silent for a moment, before giving him a small, yet sincere smile. “Thanks.”

“So, do you know when you’re going to be out?” Coppermane asked.

“They told me I should be fine by tomorrow,” Toxigo said. “But… if it’s not too much to ask… can you bring me some stuff?”

“What do you need?” Coppermane asked.

“I need a set of clothes,” Toxigo said. “There should be some at my dojo. If it’s still standing, that is.”

“Anything in particular?” Coppermane asked.

“Just a simple tank top, black pants, the small sheet attached with the belt, and some socks and underwear,” Toxigo said. “Something simple. I just need something clean.”

“I can bring it up tomorrow,” Coppermane said. “Does that work?”

“Perfect. Thanks,” Toxigo said. “There should be a key under the doormat, or in some pebbles near the pond.”

Suddenly, Toxigo’s stomach grumbled loudly.

Coppermane chuckled. “Want me to get you some food as well?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great,” Toxigo said.

“Anything specific?” Coppermane asked.

“Any place with burgers is fine. A cheeseburger, some fries, and a chocolate shake?” Toxigo said. “I’m in the mood for something greasy.”

Coppermane laughed. “I hear you. I think I know a place that delivers.” Coppermane got his phone out and called for delivery. A few minutes passed as Coppermane talked with them.

“Alright, they said it’ll be about 25 minutes or so,” Coppermane said. “They said they’ll call when they’re here.”

“Thank you so much,” Toxigo said. “I’ll pay you back.”

“I mean, you don’t have to,” Coppermane said. “But I certainly won’t stop you.”

Toxigo laughed. “I’ll pay you back. It’s the least I could do.”

“Sounds good,” Coppermane said.

“Oh, and… do you think you could stick around?” Toxigo asked. “I could use some company.”

Coppermane smiled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Toxigo smiled. “Thanks.”

“Alright, food’s here,” Coppermane said, walking in with the food.

“Thank goodness,” Toxigo said. “I’m starving. This’ll be way better than anything they’d serve here.”

“No kidding,” Coppermane said.

“So… you and Fluttershy, huh?” Toxigo said.

Coppermane smiled and chuckled. “Yeah…”

“How did that happen?” Toxigo said. “Not to be mean, but she seems a little out of your league.”

“Oh, I know she’s out of my league,” Coppermane said. “But that only makes me love her more. Besides, she’s just the cutest thing ever. So sweet and kind, and the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.”

“Sounds just like how I feel about Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said.

Coppermane chuckled. “Where did that nickname come from?”

“Well, she’s sweet like… like cake,” Toxigo said. “She’s nice, sweet, pretty, and… the light that guides me. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening caught their attention.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours are over, and I’m afraid Toxigo needs his rest,” the doctor said.

Toxigo groaned. “You sure he can’t stay for a few more minutes?”

“It’s fine, Toxigo,” Coppermane said. “I’ll be back first thing tomorrow. Besides, you’ll have your vision back tomorrow.”

Toxigo just sighed. “Alright…”

“Get some rest, alright?” Coppermane said.

Tox began stretching his arms and soon yawned. “If you say so. Wait, one more thing.”

“Yeah?” Coppermane asked.

“Can you maybe… not tell anyone that I’m alive?” Toxigo asked. “I just need to stay incognito for a little while.”

Coppermane smiled. “Yeah, sure. My lips are sealed. We should probably say something soon, though.”

“Oh, of course,” Toxigo said. “I’m thinking maybe on Monday?”

“Sounds good,” Coppermane said. “Just be ready for Pinkie Pie to throw a party.”

“I know,” Toxigo said, laughing.

“Good night, Tox,” Coppermane said.

“Goodnight, Coppermane. One last thing… thank you. You saved my life. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t stand up for me.”

Coppermane smiled. “Anything for a friend. See you later, Tox.”

Toxigo watched as Coppermane walked out of the room. The doctor closed the door, leaving him alone. He yawned loudly, realizing he was more tired than he thought. He laid his head back on the pillow, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Toxigo found himself in nothing but pitch-blackness. He had no idea where he was, but he knew something wasn’t right. He looked around as many figured came into view. He was thrilled when he realized it was his friends.

Then his happiness came crashing down again when he saw their current state.

They were hanging‒all of them‒from nooses.

“What?” Toxigo panicked. “No! How?!”

“Because of me…” A voice bellowed from the darkness. A bug-like, equine creature with menacing green eyes emerged from the darkness, and stepped into the light.

“You?!” Toxigo cried. “No! That’s not possible! You were dead!”

The entity bellowed a ground-tremoring laugh. “I’m a part of you. You can never defeat me. I’ll always be with you. I AM you…”

“No… no, please!” Toxigo cried. “You’ve left me with nothing! Leave me alone! Get out of my head!”

“Your mind is MINE.”

A beam of light manifested on her horn, and fired at Toxigo.

“NO!!!” Toxigo screamed, sitting upright in his bed. He felt the cold air hit his sweat-drenched skin, sending chills through his body.

A dream? A nightmare? A vision? What was this?

Toxigo fell back on his pillow, now wide awake. It was impossible. Chrysalis was dead. He saw her. She couldn’t possibly…

Toxigo’s gaze was fixated on the ceiling. Sweat poured down his face as tears welled up in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Sunset…” Tox cried. “I… I failed…”

Ch.9: Incognito

Coppermane was at the hospital early the next morning. He had gotten up earlier than usual in order to pick up the items Toxigo needed. Or at least, he salvaged what he could from the smoldering remains of his burned down dojo.

Luckily, he found what he needed to find, and was at the hospital in a flash.

“I’m here to visit a Toxigo Paralysis?” Coppermane asked the person at the front desk.

“Ah yes, they told me you would be coming. Go right on up.”

Coppermane walked up to the floor Toxigo was on, and found his doctor standing outside the room

“Hello,” Coppermane said. “I’m here to pick up Toxigo.”

“Ah good,” the doctor said. “You should be able to take him soon.”

“Perfect,” Coppermane said. “Oh, and I have some things here that he wanted me to bring. Can I give it to him?”

“Well, I suggest you do it now,” the doctor said. “He’s on his third shower.”

“Third shower?” Coppermane asked.

“He said he smells like blood and bugs,” the doctor said. “I asked him if that was true, but all he said was that he wanted to stay clean.”

“Alright then,” Coppermane said. He entered the room, and immediately noticed the shredded up clothes on the bed. No wonder he wanted fresh clothes.

A door opened, and Coppermane saw Toxigo walk out in a bathrobe while drying his hair. He made eye contact with Coppermane, and froze.

“Um… good morning,” Toxigo said. “Coppermane, I presume?”

“Y-Yep,” Coppermane said. “Morning.”

Toxigo blinked, and focused his vision on Coppermane.

“Huh, you’re actually not that bad looking,” Toxigo said.

Coppermane gave him a quizzical look. “Um… th-thanks?”

“Sorry for stepping out in a robe. I didn’t have anything else to wear, and those shredded up things are too uncomfortable,” Toxigo said.

“Well, it's better than you walking out naked.” Coppermane chuckled. “I did manage to get some clothes for you. And I got your toothbrush and toothpaste.”

Toxigo grabbed them into his hands and grinned. “Thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to suit up.” He walked into the bathroom with his clothes.

“So, I take it you’re able to see to see again?” Coppermane said through the bathroom door.

“Yep,” Toxigo said. “Feels great.” He stepped out of the bathroom in his fresh clothes that Coppermane brought. “Ah… much better. So, where to next? I think before we do anything we should go back to my place. I’ll probably need to throw out everything in the fridge. Maybe toss the fridge itself depending on how bad it is…”

“Yeah… um… about that…” Coppermane said.

“What?” Toxigo asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Um… well… there’s not much left of it,” Coppermane said. “It’s just ashes now.”

Toxigo’s eyes went wide.

“We’re definitely going there first,” Toxigo said.

They arrived at the scene, and Toxigo was beside himself. His home was nothing but smoldering, charred ashes. It was all gone.

He slowly walked forward looking down the rubbled mess, all the while more parts began decaying. He walked over to a pile of rubble, and felt his blood start to boil.

“ARRGGHH!!!” he screamed, kicking the ashes into the air. His fists were shaking. His entire home was gone. He was about to kick one of the smoldering wood planks to dust, until he noticed something foreign. A small, metallic star in the debris. He bent down and picked it up. “I don’t own any belt buckle like this. But… it looks familiar…”

Coppermane walked up behind Toxigo to take a look.

“Huh… it does look familiar,” Coppermane said.

Coppermane and Toxigo were silent for a moment, before they both had an epiphany. The only person they knew who had stars on their belt.

“Neon Lights,” they said in unison.

Toxigo dropped the star onto the ground and surveyed the damage again.

“Tox? You okay?” Coppermane asked.

Toxigo sighed, and collapsed onto his knees. “No…”

“I’m really sorry, man,” Coppermane said.

Toxigo clenched his fists. “Why does it have to be like this? I never thought Neon would stoop so low as to burn down my house. Now where will I go?”

“Hey, how about this,” Coppermane said. “Why don’t you come stay with me until you find somewhere else to go.”

Toxigo sighed. “I suppose. You don’t have to, y’know.”

“It’s fine,” Coppermane said. “Only temporary, but it’ll do for now, right?”

Toxigo nodded. “Thanks a lot, Coppermane. Do you think you could help me salvage anything that survived? There might be something useful in this mess.”

“Gladly.” Coppermane replied.

Back at Coppermane’s home, he helped Toxigo get everything they salvaged inside.

“A few clothes and my laptop,” Toxigo said. “At least not everything was burned. Something’s weird, though.”

“What?” Coppermane asked.

“It seemed like all the weapons we found were… lacking. It’s just kind of weird,” Toxigo said.

“We’ve still got the other weapons right?” Coppermane said.

“Well, let’s see,” Toxigo said. “We’ve got 4 pulse rifles with 99 rounds in each. Two heavy light cannons, 5 mini light cannons, and we’ve got 3 smart guns. Not ideal. However, there is some good news.”

Toxigo opened up another box, revealing more light cannons, similar in shape to the heavier ones. However, instead of four barrel, it had one. It also had only one handle, with a red button near the top to pull the trigger.

“We’ve got plenty, of these medium-sized, light cannons.”

Coppermane’s curiosity spiked, making him examine one of the guns. “Huh, I half expected it to be heavier.”

“Well that’s why it's medium sized. The heavy ones actually require both a strap and two handles.” Toxigo replied, and he opened up another box pulling out more contents. “And I’ve still got plenty of blueprints for other weapons I can make, as well as spare parts and prosthetics to replace the limbs I lost.” Tox finished. “It's still not a good amount, though. Especially if their hands are on them.”

Toxigo put the weapons back in the box and locked them up tight.

“By the way, Coppermane. Just letting you know, if the cops ever come around questioning why we have these, it's all on me. What I’ve made isn’t 100 percent legal, and I’m responsible for making these things, you shouldn’t be taking the blame.” Toxigo said.

“Okay,” Coppermane said. “So… what do you want to do now? Or is there something you need to do?”

“Well, wanna just hang out?” Toxigo said. “I could use a day to just relax.”

“Sounds good to me,” Coppermane said. “Where do you want to go?”

“How about the mall?” Toxigo said.

“Um… are you sure that’s the best idea?” Coppermane asked. “We might run into people we know there.”

“True, but I need to get some stuff,” Toxigo said. “Actually…”

Toxigo opened up another box and pulled out a strange looking costume. It’s shirt had a graphic of a skeletal rib cage, it had arm stockings with skeleton graphics, a skeleton mask, a black long coat, and a hat.

“I already got my disguise. What do you think?” Toxigo asked.

“Looks good to me,” Coppermane said. “Let’s go.”

“So, where are we going again?” Toxigo asked.

“Well, you said you wanted to get some sunglasses to cover your eyes, right?” Coppermane asked.

“Oh yeah, right,” Toxigo said. “I have a feeling my eyes would scare people.”

“But you got a skin-tight mask covering your entire head, and a skeleton mask covering it.” Coppermane said.

“True, but I can’t wear it all the time,” Toxigo said.

Coppermane and Toxigo made their way to a stand near a store and found a display holder which held many different sunglasses. Soon both Toxigo and Coppermane began trying on different shades.

“Huh… These are actually pretty cool.” Coppermane said looking into a mirror.

Coppermane then looked back at Tox judging another pair.

“Ugh, none of these are good.”

“Is there a specific one you’re looking for?”

Toxigo nodded. “Neon Lights’.”

Coppermane’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“Because he’s the reason why my eyes look the way they do,” Toxigo said. “I could at least claim a trophy for what he did. Besides, I’ll admit that they actually look kinda good.”

Coppermane just shrugged.

“Also, if we ever run into him in this place, please try and hold me back because I’ll probably try to hurt him. Or worse, kill him.”

“Don’t worry,” Coppermane said. “I’ll have some things to say to him as well. So, is there any place you’d like to stop at first?” Coppermane asked.

“Actually, there is something,” Toxigo said. “I want to get something for Shimmercakes. Just to thank her for everything she’s done for me. But what?”

“Why not win her a stuffed animal from the arcade?” Coppermane suggested, gesturing to the arcade.

Toxigo thought for a moment. “Would that really work?”

“Worked for Fluttershy,” Coppermane said. “It’s not anything big, but it’s the little things that let them know you really care.”

Toxigo grinned under the mask. “That’s good enough for me. I think I know exactly what I’m going to get her.”

They entered the arcade, and Toxigo froze when he noticed a few CHS students inside.

“Crap,” Toxigo said. “What if they figure out it’s me? They’ll tell everyone, and then we’re all screwed.”

“Tox, don’t worry,” Coppermane said. “You’re in costume. It’s fine.”

“Okay, but I’ll have to be careful,” Toxigo said. “Now… um… what should I play? I’ve never played any of these before.”

Coppermane grinned. “Follow me.”

Coppermane led Toxigo to a skeeball game in the corner of the arcade.

“This looks easy. I had to play a lot of basketball back at Crystal Prep.” Toxigo replied.

“Maybe I can win another stuffed animal for Fluttershy,” Coppermane said.

They began playing the game, but unfortunately, their voice attracted attention. Two of them in particular. One belonged to a girl with indigo hair and white skin, and the other belonged to one with rainbow hair.

“Come on!” Toxigo complained. “I almost made it! I just need a few more tickets!”

Coppermane pat Toxigo’s shoulder. “It's okay. We can try another game.”

They turned around, and were face to face with two familiar girls.

“Hey Coppermane, how are you doing?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh… crap,” Toxigo said, muffled under the mask.

“Rainbow! Rarity!” Coppermane said. “Um… h-hi… wh-what are you doing here?”

“Just killing time,” Rainbow replied. Her face turned curious. “Um… who’s he?”

Toxigo’s heart dropped. He just stood frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

“Him?” Coppermane stammered. “Oh, he’s just… a new friend. I-I met him the other day and we decided to hang out here.” He didn’t even realize he was rubbing his neck and looking away.

“Coppermane, darling, is something wrong?” Rarity asked. “You look… troubled.”

“Is your friend wearing a mask?” Rainbow asked.

Toxigo panicked and stumbled back, and Rainbow unfortunately followed him, pinning him against the wall.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?” Coppermane said.

“Your friend just seems… sketchy,” Rainbow said.

“Rainbow… I think you’re making him uncomfortable,” Coppermane said.

“Why is he wearing a mask?” Rarity asked. “And that outfit is just a tad… severe.”

“Girls, please,” Coppermane said. “Is it really that important?”

“Coppermane, darling, you seem nervous about something,” Rarity said.

“Like you’re hiding something,” Rainbow said. “And I think this mask might have something to do with it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Coppermane shrugged.

Rainbow inched closer to Toxigo. “Why are you wearing a mask, huh? Tell us!”

“Because he’s trying to protect me!” Toxigo shouted.

Rarity and Rainbow went bug-eyed, their jaws dropping.

“That voice…” Rarity said. “Is it really?”

“No… it can’t be,” Rainbow said. “That’s impossible.”

“Look, I’ll take the mask off if we go to somewhere more private,” Toxigo said. “Deal?”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Rainbow asked.

“You can,” Coppermane said. “He’s cool.”

Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other and shared quizzical looks. If Coppermane trusted him, then he must be clean.

“Alright,” Rarity said.

“Don’t try anything, though,” Rainbow said.

Rainbow let him go, and they began walking off. They found a little alcove with low traffic that would be safe.

“Alright, are you ready?” Toxigo asked.

Rarity and Rainbow nodded. Once they did, Toxigo began unveiling his face. He dropped the hat to the ground, he pulled the skeleton face off, and pulled the skin tight head mask off revealing his wacky Vinyl Scratch styled hair.

The girls’ eyes went wide, and their jaws practically hit the floor.

“Darling….” Rarity said.

Toxigo opened his mismatched colored eyes and looked right at them.

“H-Hey, Skittles. Rare. It's been a while…” Toxigo said.

“You… you’re alive?” Rarity stammered.

Toxigo simply nodded and looked away in shame.

“This…. is…. awesome!” Rainbow shouted.

“Toxy! This is wonderful!”

The girls lunged forward and gave Toxigo a big hug. Too big of a hug.

“G-Girls… you’re collapsing my lungs!” Tox wheezed.

The girls backed off, but remained just as excited as they were before.

“How are you still alive?!” Rainbow beckoned.

“We saw the explosion!” Rarity said.

Toxigo groaned. “Great, I have to explain this story again?”

Coppermane interrupted. “Hey, Tox, it's okay. I’ll explain everything.”

“And that’s basically it.” Coppermane replied.

The four of them were now at a different location, now sitting in a food court in a private area by themselves. And Toxigo was finally okay to keep the mask off.

“Wow… dude, I’m so sorry.” Rainbow said.

“It’s okay Rainbow. It’s not your fault.” Toxigo replied.

Rarity suddenly gasped. “I just realized! Sunset! We have to tell her immediately!”

“NO!” Toxigo shouted, followed by silence between the group. Toxigo cleared his throat and spoke quietly again. “I mean… not yet. Can you not call her right now?”

“Why shouldn’t we?” Rainbow asked. “She’s missed you so much.”

“Because I don’t know if I’m completely okay. For one thing, I have Queen Chrysalis’s blood running in my veins. I need to make sure I’m not under any spell or mind control. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Why wouldn’t you be okay?” Rainbow asked.

Tox just glared at Rainbow, clearly unamused.

“Oh… right.”

“Nothing’s happened yet,” Toxigo said. “I don’t think that’ll be the case for long, though. I don’t want to bring any new problems to the table, especially since you seem to have enough on your plate. But enough about me. What about you girls?”

“Sunset’s been really down since you’ve been gone,” Rainbow said. “Those five Crystal Prep girls are Wondercolts now, and we’ve got a big Halloween party coming up. Other than that, not much.”

“How are the former Bolts?” Toxigo asked.

Rarity bit her lip. “It could be better. The other CHS students aren’t exactly fond of them.”

“Nobody talks to them,” Coppermane said. “They all know about what they did to you and me.”

Toxigo sighed. “I see…”

“Hey, Tox?” Rainbow asked. “If you don’t mind us asking… are you coming back to CHS?”

Toxigo nodded, making the girls smile. “Tomorrow. That is, as long as we don't want to get shot at by Neon and his henchmen.”

“Shot?” Rarity beckoned. “Darling, surely they won’t do that.”

“Don’t be too sure,” Coppermane said.. “I was attacked by Jet Set earlier, and he had one of those… light cannons with him. He was merciless with Toxigo.”

“Oh, you poor things,” Rarity cried.

“Those light cannons don’t kill, though,” Toxigo said. “They’re designed to only damage the skin, and no further. Still, most of the guns are in their possession now…”

“At least you still have the blueprints, right?” Coppermane said. “And they didn’t get all of them.”

“And now that you’re back, Tox, we might actually have a chance,” Rainbow said.

“Don’t be too sure,” Toxigo said. “I don’t have the Alicorn Amulet anymore. Without it, I’m powerless.”

“Tox, you’re not useless,” Rainbow said. “Rarity and I have seen how you work. You always know what to do and get us out of bad situations. You don’t need magic for that.”

“And you have us again, sweetheart,” Rarity said. “We won’t let any of those despicable boys hurt you.”

Toxigo gave the girls a smile, feeling more at ease. “Thanks, girls. I’ll do my best. But at the moment, I have something more important I need to do.”

“What’s that?” Rarity asked.

“I almost have enough tickets to win a teddy bear for Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

Toxigo got up and headed to the arcade, and the rest of them decided to follow him inside.

“C’mon… just a few more…” Toxigo whined, holding the final skeeball. “I just want to make Shimmercakes smile…”

He stood still, holding the skeeball in his hand, planning his throw with precision. This shot had to be perfect. With a deep breath, he brought his arm up behind him, and threw the ball onto the skeeball lane. With nearly flawless trajectory, it landed in the 100 cup.

Toxigo cheered as the skeeball console fed out the rest of the tickets he needed for Sunset’s new teddy bear. He walked up to the counter with his tickets, and picked out the biggest one he could afford.

“Perfect,” Toxigo said.

“Sunset will love this!” Rarity said.

“I hope,” Toxigo said. “Hey, Rarity. Are you good with jewelry?”

“I know a thing or two,” Rarity said. “Why, sweetie?”

“I was hoping I could give Sunset a necklace too,” Toxigo said. “I was thinking an aquamarine necklace to match her eyes. Think you could help me?”

“I would love to help,” Rarity said.

“Sweet. Now I—” Toxigo’s heart dropped. “Crap! Don’t look!”

“What?” Rainbow asked, turning her head “What’s going—”

“Don’t look!” Toxigo said, making sure they were all huddled together.

“What’s going on?” Coppermane asked.

“Neon Lights… he’s here,” Toxigo said.

“Oh no…” Coppermane groaned.

“What do we do?” Rainbow asked.

“What do you think?” Toxigo said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“No arguments here,” Coppermane said.

Without wasting another second, the four attempted to sneak off away from Neon and his gang. They managed to find a way through another store to get around Neon and sneak out to the entrance. To be safe, they walked a little ways away from the entrance in case they got spotted. After a while, they turned around and saw that nobody had followed them.

“That was close,” Coppermane said.

“I suppose this place isn’t safe for us anymore,” Rarity said. “Pity. I was hoping we could find some clothes for you, Rainbow.”

“Maybe some other time,” Rainbow said. “But I guess if we have nothing else to do, we could meet up with the others and work on homework or something.”

Rarity sighed. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. Would you boys like to join us?”

“I probably shouldn’t leave Toxigo alone,” Coppermane said. “I’ll do whatever he does.”

“Let’s just go home,” Toxigo said. “We’ll be safest there.”

“You sure you can make it back?” Rainbow asked.

“As long as we don’t attract any attention, we should be fine,” Toxigo said.

“Alright. Stay safe you two.” Rarity said.

“We will,” Toxigo said. “Good luck, and I’ll see you and everyone else tomorrow.”

With that, the two groups split up, leaving Toxigo and Coppermane alone. They walked back to their car to go home, and not risk being seen by Neon or anyone else.

Toxigo and Coppermane sat across from each other in their home, eating dinner in relative silence. Mostly because they were processing everything that happened today.

“Hey, Tox. Can I ask you something?” Coppermane asked.

“Sure,” Toxigo said. “What’s up?”

“I just remember Jet Set saying something really strange when he attacked us,” Coppermane said. “He said he was friends with you, or something.”

Coppermane saw Toxigo’s eye go wide, and sit completely still.

“Toxigo? You alright?” Coppermane asked. “Did I say something?”

Toxigo sighed heavily, almost shakily.

“No, you’re fine,” Toxigo said.

“Do you know why Jet would say that?” Coppermane asked. “He has to be full of crap. Right?”

Toxigo bit his lip. “Well…”

“Wait… were you really…?”

“...friends with him?” Toxigo finished. “It pains me to say it but… yes. Jet Set, Trenderhoof, Royal Pin, Suri Polomare, Fleur Dis Lee, and even Neon Lights. We were all friends at one point way back when I was at Crystal Prep.”

Coppermane pursed his lips. “Wow. Well, why do they hate you so much now?”

Toxigo clenched his fists, biting his lip hard. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Coppermane coaxed. “Right?”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Toxigo snapped, slamming his hand on the table. He noticed Coppermane’s shocked face, and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Sorry. I-I didn’t mean to snap like that. It’s just… it’s a sensitive topic for me.”

Coppermane bit his lip. “I see. Sorry for triggering you.”

“No worries,” Toxigo said. “You didn’t know. I shouldn’t have snapped. But… why does he go after you? What’s his problem with you?”

“I have no idea,” Coppermane said, sighing. “I wish I knew. I mean, he bullied me a lot in the past, and I lashed out one day and beat him up in front of everyone. I regret that every day. I guess he’s been hell-bent on ruining my life since then.”

“So… pretty much just to be a prick?” Toxigo said.

“There’s probably more to it,” Coppermane said. “I just wish he wouldn’t try to hurt Fluttershy. I wish I could date her without putting her in danger.”

“Hey, Coppermane?” Toxigo said. “Can we maybe… change the subject? I’d rather not worry about Neon if we don’t have to.”

“Oh, yeah of course,” Coppermane said.

Suddenly, Coppermane’s phone buzzed. He opened up his phone, and Toxigo chuckled when he saw a big smile appear on his face.

“Who texted you?” Toxigo asked.

“Fluttershy,” Coppermane said. “She just sent me an ‘I love you’ text with a picture of her blowing a kiss.”

Toxigo chuckled. “She’s a sweetheart.”

“The sweetest sweetheart in the world,” Coppermane said. “We send each other ‘I love you’ texts randomly all the time.”

“That’s really nice,” Toxigo said.

Coppermane texted Fluttershy back, saying he loves her too, and put his phone back down.

“She’s the best,” Coppermane said. “Oh, that reminds me. Anything planned for Sunset now that you’re back?”

Toxigo smiled at the thought of Sunset.

“I did have a few things in mind,” Toxigo said. “Mostly I just want to spend time with her. I never got a chance to cuddle with her. Heck, I never even asked her out. Didn’t you say there’s a Halloween Ball coming up?”

Coppermane nodded. “Maybe you can ask her out to that?”

“You know what? I think I will,” Toxigo said.

“Do you know what you’re go as?” Coppermane asked.

Toxigo bit his lip. “I’m actually not sure. Admittedly, I’ve never actually been to a real Halloween party before. I’ve heard what they’re about, but I think I may have a distorted view from the Crystal Prep parties. They throw poor excuses for parties over there.”

“Because they don’t have Pinkie Pie,” Coppermane said.

Toxigo chuckled. “I just don’t know what I should go as. I don’t want to look stupid. I mean, I just don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean?” Coppermane asked.

“Well… when you guys do Halloween, what do you do?” Toxigo asked.

“I don’t know about everyone else, but I know what I do,” Coppermane said. “I go full-on geek. It’s really all based on personal preference.”

“I see... “ Toxigo said. “Well, that’s not my focus now. I need to ask Sunset to the dance first before I do anything. I just don’t know how, though. The moment needs to be perfect.”

“I’m sure it will come eventually.” Coppermane replied.

“I guess you’re right,” Toxigo said. “But… what if Sunset doesn’t want to talk to me?”

“What do you mean?” Coppermane asked. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.”

“But I abandoned her,” Toxigo said. “Or what if Chrysalis gets to me. What if I hurt her?”

“Tox, don’t worry,” Coppermane said. “If she’s still mad, just explain what happened. If she really cares about you, she’ll understand.”

Toxigo sighed. “I just hope I haven’t completely lost her.”

“It’ll be fine,” Coppermane said.

“I hope you’re right, Coppermane,” Toxigo said.

With that, Toxigo and Coppermane continued eating and chatting the night away.

Toxigo found himself in the void again. But it didn’t last long. Sudden heat radiated from behind him, making his body feel like night and day. He turned around, and gasped.

Canterlot High was ablaze. The structure crumbled under the roaring heat of the flames. Burned bodies were laid out across the front. Some were still alive, groaning with sheer pain as their flesh smoldered.

“No!” Toxigo cried. “How?! How did this happen?!”

An evil laugh from behind answered his question. He turned around, and was faced with bright, demonic green eyes on a chitin, equine body.

“You!” Toxigo said. “Stop this! Why? Leave me alone!”

“Why won’t you leave me alone!?”

“We are of one mind. I course through your veins. I AM you. You and me are one, Toxigo Paralysis. You can't escape me.”

Toxigo’s head suddenly began ringing, pounding against his skull. He screamed, clenching his head and falling to his knees.

“What do you want from me?” Toxigo pleaded. “Make it stop!"

Toxigo managed to open his eyes long enough to see the changeling queen lunge at him with her fangs.

“No!!! Stop!!!” Toxigo cried. The pounding… it stopped. His eyes were wide open. His heart pounded against his chest. He looked around, and realized he was at Coppermane’s still.

Tears began streaming down his face. These nightmares. They were unbearable. Chrysalis was still alive… within him. As long as he lived, she lived. They were one. She was inescapable… and hidden.

He couldn’t take this anymore.

He got out of bed and wandered downstairs to the kitchen. In the window, he could see his reflection. He looked at himself, and saw a strange green glow in his eyes, prompting him to look away immediately. A tear ran down his cheek.

He reached down and opened a drawer. “I won’t let her,” he said, retrieving something from the drawer. “You can’t have me. I won’t let you hurt my friends. I won’t let you hurt my Shimmercakes.”

Out of the drawer, he drew a sharp knife. His hands trembled as tears stained his cheek. He lifted it up, pointing the blade towards him.

“I won’t let you…”

Ch.10: Back Again

“I won’t let you…” Toxigo raised the blade, shaking in his hand.

“Toxigo! What are you doing?!”

Toxigo turned his head to see Coppermane.

“Don’t get any closer,” Toxigo said.

“Toxigo, put the knife down,” Coppermane said, slowly approaching Toxigo.

Toxigo shook his head. “She still lives...”

“What are you talking about?” Coppermane beckoned. “Who still lives?”

“Don’t worry, Coppermane,” Toxigo said. “Soon, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

“Toxigo, listen to me,” Coppermane pleaded. “Just tell me what’s going on. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t the solution.”

“There’s no other way. I have to do this,” Toxigo said. He lifted his hand, taking a deep breath. But before he could finish the job, Coppermane lunged forward and pushed his hand up.

“Toxigo, stop!”’ Coppermane yelled. “Just talk to me!”

“There’s nothing to tell!” Toxigo shouted.

“Tox, I won’t let you do this to yourself,” Coppermane said, struggling against Toxigo. “You have to open up to me. I can help you.”

“I’m doing this to keep everyone safe!” Toxigo yelled. “Why can’t you understand that?!”

“Because you’re my friend, and we need you!” Coppermane shouted. Toxigo didn’t budge, continuing to fight against him. Seeing no other way, he kicked Toxigo’s leg, knocking him to the ground and loosening his grip on the knife, dropping it from his hand. Toxigo fell to the ground with a clank along with the knife, and Coppermane snatched it before Toxigo could.

Toxigo looked up at Coppermane, whom held the knife in his hand.

“I’m sorry, Tox, but I had no choice,” Coppermane said. “It’s for your own good.”

Toxigo balled his fists in rage as he slowly stood up. Coppermane didn’t seem fazed at all, looking at him sternly. He must’ve learned how to stare like that from Fluttershy.

“Fine…” Toxigo snarled. “You really want to know what’s going on?”

Coppermane nodded. Toxigo stayed silent for a moment, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

“She’s in me,” Toxigo mumbled.

“What?”

“Chrysalis,” Toxigo said. “I don’t know how, but she’s inside me. Her blood is running through my veins. She taunts me in my nightmares, and they’re just getting worse. As long as I’m alive, so is she. I can’t escape her, I’m afraid she might take over my mind. I don’t know if she’s growing stronger with time, but I can’t let her kill you all. Not to mention Jet Set has probably told everyone that I’m alive, and now they’ll be hunting me down. I’m only bringing more harm to you all, and I don’t want to be a burden.”

“But I thought you said you killed her?” Coppermane asked. “Once you’re dead, you’re dead, right?”

“I thought so, Coppermane. But she’s still alive. I can feel her,” Toxigo said. “She taunts me in my sleep, saying she’s going to awaken soon. God, why is she doing this to me? She took my family away from me, I can’t let her take anything else away from me. I don’t know what to do,” Tox felt his hands shaking and his working eye tearing up, “… I… I…”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Coppermane said, rubbing Toxigo’s shoulder. “No wonder you couldn’t sleep.”

“I’m only bringing danger by living,” Toxigo said. “I shouldn’t be alive…”

“Don’t say that,” Coppermane said. “Think about how happy Rarity and Rainbow Dash were to see you. Remember?”

Toxigo sighed. “I suppose…”

“And what about Sunset?” Coppermane asked. “I thought you were excited to see her.”

“I am, but what does someone like Sunset even see in me? I’m just a pile of scrap metal. How can I even call myself a person when half of me is an amalgamation of metal? Sunset deserves better than a walking pile of junk like me.”

“Toxigo, stop. I know what Sunset sees in you. She wouldn’t stop talking about you for the longest time. In her eyes, you’re a hero. You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the world. That takes a lot of guts. Besides, I know you’re not totally disabled. You’ve been able to adapt to your prosthetics, right?”

Toxigo examined his prosthetics, flexing the synthetic limbs a little.

“I guess…” Toxigo mumbled. “I’m sure she wouldn’t want someone with so much emotional baggage, though.”

“I have a lot of baggage too,” Coppermane said. “It doesn’t make you weak. Sunset likes you because you’re you.”

Toxigo didn’t budge, deep in his own thoughts.

“I know this is hard,” Coppermane said, “But I’m sure the others will help you if you tell them what’s going on.”

“No!” Toxigo snapped.

Coppermane flinched. “But, why not? They need to know.”

“It’s only going to raise more problems,” Toxigo said. “Just stay quiet, please? We don’t need any more problems as it is.”

Coppermane shook his head. “This is too important, Tox. Besides, you’re going to have to tell them at some point. You can’t keep hiding.”

“Coppermane, I’ll figure something out,” Toxigo said sternly. “I don’t want to make them worry right when I see them again, especially Sunset. I just want to enjoy some time with my friends with no worries for a little while. Please?”

Coppermane sighed. “Fine. If that’s what you really want, as selfish as it is, then I guess I won’t make you. I’m just saying that it would benefit us all if you came clean.”

Toxigo sighed. “I just don’t want to create more problems.”

“I know,” Coppermane said. “I don’t want to be the bad guy, Tox, but I have to be upfront as well, y’know?”

“I get it,” Toxigo said.

“Your friends are here for you, Tox,” Coppermane said. “But we can’t help you if you don’t let us. We’ll help you all the way, and we won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Coppermane gave Toxigo a pat on the shoulder. “You get me?”

Toxigo looked up at Coppermane and gave him a nod. “Sure.”

“Good,” Coppermane said. “I’m gonna head back to bed, and I suggest you do too. Promise me that I’ll see you in the morning?”

Toxigo sighed and nodded. “I promise.”

“Perfect,” Coppermane said. “And hey, if you need something happy to think about, just try to imagine how big Sunset’s smile will be when you give her that stuffed animal.”

Toxigo pondered, and the thought of Sunset’s smile managed to bring some light to his heart.

“Thanks, Coppermane. You’re right,” Toxigo said. Coppermane stepped up the stairs and didn’t look back to see the look on Toxigo’s face, along with his eyes illuminating green. “Everything will be just fine.”

Toxigo’s eyes opened to the bright morning sun. He let out a mighty yawn and stretched his limbs before sitting up to get out of bed. After a quick pit-stop at the bathroom, he walked downstairs, and his mouth began to water when he was greeted with the smell of pancakes.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, and looked to the kitchen to see Coppermane cooking breakfast.

“Morning,” Toxigo called out.

Coppermane turned around and smiled. “Morning, Tox. Sleep alright?”

Toxigo shrugged. “I didn’t have another nightmare, so I suppose I did.” He started walking to the table, and was surprised to see there were more than two people in the house.

“Rarity? Rainbow Dash?” Toxigo asked.

“There’s our favorite cyborg,” Rainbow said.

“Um… morning,” Toxigo said. “When did you get here?”

“About fifteen minutes ago,” Rarity said. “Coppermane invited us.”

“Why?” Toxigo asked.

“I thought it might be good to have some more… protection for you on your first day back. Things at Crystal Prep have gotten bad, so I figured it couldn’t hurt,” Coppermane replied.

“Don’t you think this might be overkill?” Toxigo asked.

“Nonsense, darling,” Rarity said. “The more the merrier. Besides, I finished the necklace you requested for Sunset.”

Rarity handed the necklace to Toxigo, who grinned. “Wow, nice work. I knew I could count on you. Thank you so much.”

“I’m always happy to help,” Rarity said. “I know Sunset will just love it!”

Toxigo smiled and took a seat with everyone else. He had a big day to look forward to. Seeing his friends again, and more importantly, seeing his Shimmercakes again.

“We’ll meet up with the others inside and get them ready” Rainbow said.

“Alright,” Toxigo replied. “I’ll try to keep myself calm.”

“It’ll be fine, darling,” Rarity said. “We won’t be long!”

Rainbow and Rarity entered the school, eager to tell their friends the news.

“Rainbow! Rarity!”

They jumped when a voice boomed from the Rainbooms’ usual practice room. Twilight was poking her head out.

“Twilight?” they beckoned.

“In here, now,” Twilight said.

They yelped when Twilight practically yanked them inside. The rest of the gang, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Flash Sentry, were in there along with Twilight.

“Darling! Was that really necessary? You could’ve stretched the elastic on my shirt,” Rarity whimpered, checking her shirt.

“I’m sorry, girls, but this is important. Take a look,” Twilight said, gesturing to the table beside her.

Rainbow and Rarity walked over to examine, and they both gasped. On the table was the head of Echo, along with the rest of her remains inside the box.

“Echo?” Rainbow said. “What happened to her?”

“Our world’s Sunset Shimmer,” Applejack said. “She hacked her apart.”

“There goes any chance of having some slight defense.” Flash groaned.

“But that’s not it,” Twilight said. “There’s more bad news.”

“What could be more awful than this?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight pulled out the data chip she obtained from Echo, presenting it to everyone. “Echo gave this chip to me before she demanded to be shut down for good. I took a look at the contents… and I know who the monster is.”

“Who?” everyone beckoned.

Twilight bit her lip. “It’s Toxigo.”

Everyone gasped.

“But that’s impossible,” Applejack said. “He died in the explosion, right?”

“Wrong,” Twilight said. “Apparently he escaped Equestria and crash-landed here in this world. Our world’s Sunset Shimmer then locked him up in her basement and turned him into that changeling hybrid. The thing that was hunting for our Sunset, and that attacked Coppermane.”

“Wait a minute,” Flash said. “If Toxigo is that changeling hybrid, then…”

“Then he survived the explosion,” Applejack continued. “Which means…”

“Which means he’s still alive!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Their joy was replaced almost immediately by another more concerning thought.

“But… can we trust him?” Twilight asked. “What if Sunset finds out that he’s the monster? Or worse, what if he’s not himself anymore?”

Everyone began conversing with each other, except for Rainbow and Rarity. Second thoughts of reintroducing Toxigo to the group had surfaced, and now they didn’t know what to do.

Coppermane and Tox stood outside at the front of the school, waiting for the girls to return. Toxigo wore the same suit he wore at the mall to remain incognito. They slowly walked inside, hanging out by the entrance.

“Okay, you know the plan?” Toxigo asked.

“I get the girls out here to meet with Sunset, and then once we prep them, you reveal yourself. Then we’ll send the Alicorn Amulet back to Equestria where it belongs, and you’ll come back to help us win the fight against CPA,” Coppermane said. “Did I get all of it?”

“Rock-solid,” Toxigo said.

“You ready?” Coppermane asked.

“I think so,” Toxigo said. But something in his peripheral vision caught his eye. He looked, and his heart dropped. “No.. no no no, why now?”

“What?” Coppermane asked.

“Neon Lights is packing,” Toxigo said. “And he brought company.”

Coppermane took a look for himself.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Coppermane groaned. “What do we do now?”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” Toxigo said. He leaned into Coppermane’s ear, and whispered what he had in mind. “You follow me?”

“I think so,” Coppermane said. “But we have to hurry.”

Toxigo guided Coppermane to a nearby ventilation shaft. He managed to get it open and crawled inside, followed by Coppermane. They watched closely, and Toxigo’s heart skipped a beat when Sunset Shimmer walked by.

“I’m so sorry, Toxy. I lost it. I’ve failed you…” Sunset cooed as tears fell down her cheek.

She sighed heavily as she turned the combination lock on her locker.

“Hello, bitch.”

Sunset froze, and slowly turned her head. The second she noticed something amiss, she was pinned against the locker, and was face to face with Neon Lights. A knife punctured her jacket above her shoulder as Neon stared right into her eyes. Behind him was the rest of his posse.

“You,” Sunset growled. “What do you want?”

“Information,” Neon sneered. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“T-Toxy?”

“Who else?!” Neon shouted.

“Toxy’s dead!”

Trenderhoof walked up and pulled a small spectrometer out. He held it up to her, and Sunset could feel the magic being extracted from her.

“Tell us now!” Neon shouted.

Sunset backed away from the spectrometer. “I-I don’t know!”

“Hey!”

Neon and his gang turned around to see Sunset’s friends standing firm.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your faces here,” Flash growled.

“Get your filthy hands off our friend,” Rarity sneered.

“Or what?” Neon sneered.

“Or we’ll have to use force,” Rainbow snarled, cracking her knuckles.

Jet Set and Upper Crust drew light cannons from their backs. Royal Pin did as well, pointing his at Sunset, making her yelp.

“Come any closer, and the bitch gets it,” Neon growled. “It doesn’t matter who answers me, but my patience is running thin. Where is Toxigo?!”

Nobody said a word. Sunset shed a tear as she looked at her friends.

Neon chuckled. “You fell for Toxigo. I don’t know why. A girl like you deserves someone who can actually defend you. Not some pile of scrap metal from a junkyard.” He turned to look at her friends. “I don’t know what any of you saw in that freak. But our Sunset has opened our eyes. You’re all pathetic. I know for a fact ladies don’t like pathetic people.”

“Ladies don’t like you either,” a voice said.

Neon flinched, as did everyone else. They panned around to discern where the sound came from, and jumped when someone jumped down from the ceiling vent. He stood up, and Neon’s eyes filled with rage.

“Coppermane?!” Neon sneered. He was about to walk towards him, but didn’t want Sunset to get away. “Royal, watch the bimbo.” Royal nodded and took Sunset from Neon. He walked towards Coppermane, balling his fists.

“You insulting, patronizing, asshole!” A familiar voice yelled.

The voice came from the vent again. Neon looked up, and in the darkness he saw a pair of red eyes looking at him.

“What the…”

Out of nowhere, Neon was grabbed by two odd hands from up above, hauling him up into the vent, making his friends freak out.

Silence blanketed the hall before Neon fell back out of the vent, covered in sticky residue, and missing his sunglasses.

“What the hell was that!?” Neon shouted.

“My new friend, Neon.” Coppermane replied, looking smug.

Coppermane looked back up towards the ceiling vent. Two arms were sticking out of the vent holding onto the sides. Toxigo jumped out and landed on the ground. He slowly raised his head, icily staring down the Crystal Prep students.

“What the…” Neon asked.

Toxigo took off his mask, making them gasp. “Long time no see, Neon.”

“No! No! That’s impossible!” Neon said.

“I told you he was alive!” Jet yelled.

Neon turned his head back to Toxigo and quivered in fear. He could only imagine how much anger flowed through his veins after hurting his girl.

“Uh.. hey.. Tox, old buddy.” Neon nervously said. “It's...been awhile, hasn’t it?”

“Did you miss me?” Tox sneered.

“Oh, uh, yes, of course buddy. I’ve missed you. I-I thought you died.”

“Do I look like someone who died, you idiot?” Tox replied with his eyes illuminating devilishly.

Neon could feel the sweat running down his head. “Well, it's great to see you’re back, again. And you’ve...got a new scar, th-that’s, that’s cool. Makes you look like--”

“Like what?” Toxigo snarled.

“Like an action hero!” Neon quickly said.

The halls went dead silent. And no one said anything else. Until Neon spoke up again.

“So, uh, Coppermane said you were his friend, is... is that right?”

Tox snarled some more. “Yes.”

“Well..w-why would you make friends with that loser? Why not just come back with us again… b-buddy?” Neon nervously asked.

Tox looked back at the rest of Neon’s posse all looking scared out of their minds, and slowly backing away. They knew they were in big trouble. Tox’s eyes kept moving side to side, observing their emotions, and then leaned down to Neon.

“Because Coppermane is something you aren’t. Loyal, honest, brave, intelligent, kind… a best friend. A real friend. Something you clearly are not. Real friends don’t go stabbing each other in the back. They give them the support they need. He helped me when I needed it, he saved my own life from decaying, he kept me alive from the monsters that you’ve all become. And I’ve heard about everything that you put him through. But as for what you’ve done to me? Well... I think a bigger punishment is in store for what I’ve got planned for you.” Tox finished with his eyes slowly becoming empty voids.

Toxigo’s eye just stared down into Neon’s soul. With a quick grab, he pulled him up by the tie and collar, and stared into the pits of his eyes. His metal hand quickly rose up close and clamped around his throat, pulling him closer to stare eye to eyes. Neon felt his other hand grabbing onto his other arm and from what he could see, he began loosening the straps that were holding the light cannon onto his arm. Once the final strap was loosened, it fell and hit the ground with a hard metallic bang.

“Not fun when you’re the one getting hurt, is it Neon?”

Neon just shook his head, afraid of what he was going to do.

“You burned my house down, destroyed my eyes, blackmailed my friends against me, beat me up, insult my new friends, attacked my girl, steal my technology, and you betrayed me… WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO GAIN BY HURTING ME!?” Tox screamed at the top of his lungs.

“You know what we had to do!” Royal yelled back.

“We couldn’t let you make that choice!” Trenderhoof retorted.

Coppermane and the others except for Sunset all looked at each other with questionable faces. What is it that they were talking about? What choice did he make?

Tox looked back to see Sunset crying, and he felt a tear go down his own face. He couldn’t stand the sight alone of his girl in pain. And now, he had the head of the attackers in his clutches.

Tox slowly turned his eyes back to Neon and snarled.

“You hurt my girl… and now, you’re going to die. Slowly…swiftly….painfully...” Toxigo sneered.

Neon struggled to get himself freed, and stared at Tox’s eyes, seeing the fury flowing.

“No… please! Grant me mercy, I beg of you!” Neon pleaded.

“I begged for mercy from you when you assaulted me, but you responded by shoving a spinning drill into my face! It's too late for it now, Neon. Way too late...” Tox said with an evil tone, removing his metal hand, exchanging it for the other one and readying his metal one.

“You’ve never dealt with an cyborg haven’t you? Well, let's see how you like being hurt by one…”

“Toxigo!” Coppermane shouted.

Tox’s attention turned to Coppermane looking at him sternly.

“You’ve made your point. I think it's time that they just leave.” Coppermane said
.
Tox then looked back to see the rest of his posse terrified beyond all belief, and then see his own friends scared. The thought of scaring them just hurt inside. Coppermane was right. He couldn’t just kill someone in front of them, not when he made it this far to get back with them.

“Fine. But I’m only letting you go because you said so.”

Tox looked back at Neon’s quivering face.

“But if I catch you stepping on our school’s property again, I will find you. And unlike this time, I will actually finish what you started… Understand!?” Toxigo said.

Neon nodded quickly, and Tox pushed him away from his face, making Neon fall to the floor. He could feel the anger that Toxigo had growing inside.

“Neon…” Royal said.

“I know,” Neon said. “Let’s get out of here!”

The Crystal Prep students bolted out of the school at the speed of sound, not letting another second pass.

“And stay out!” Tox shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Ugh! They got away again!” Rainbow groaned.

“I think that can wait…” Applejack replied, pointing at Toxigo.

Toxigo turned around and collected Neon’s shades, then slowly walked towards Sunset. She was still pinned to the lockers, her face buried in her hands as she cried.

“We can’t just stand here!” Twilight panicked. “What if he attacks us?!”

“Twilight, it's okay!” Coppermane said. “He’s fine.”

Toxigo slowly approached Sunset, removing the knives from her jacket to free her.

“Shimmercakes?”

Sunset only recoiled more, trembling harder.

“Shimmercakes, I-I got this for you.”

Sunset slowly opened her eyes, and lit up when she saw a beautiful necklace being presented to her. A pendant of bright aquamarine, cut in the shape of her cutie mark. She looked up, and gasped when she saw who it was. Her eyes began to water again, but out of joy instead of fear.

“T-Toxy?”

“Hi, Shimmercakes. Sorry I took so long.”

Silence blanketed the halls again. Were Sunset’s eyes deceiving her? Was this just a dream? No. It wasn’t. Shimmercakes… she’s never heard such music in a long time. A smile graced her face as pure joy took control of her. She cried out as she began bawling, and immediately lunged into Toxigo’s arms. Toxigo held her tight, never letting go.

“Toxy… it… it’s really you…” Sunset whimpered.

“Shh… it’s okay. I’m back, and I’m here for you,” Toxigo said, rubbing her back as she continued to bawl on his shoulder. He couldn’t stop a tear from falling from his own eye too.

“Toxy? Wh-Why are you crying?” Sunset cooed.

“Sunset, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tox bawled. “I can’t believe I let them hurt you, and… I hurt you…”

“No, Toxy…” Sunset cleared a tear coming down his face. “It's okay… You’re back. You’re home.”

Sunset’s eyes were so inviting and sweet, and when his eyes panned down to her lips, he couldn’t help himself. He cupped Sunset’s face and surprised her with a passionate kiss. Sunset was stiff for only a split-second before relaxing in Toxigo’s embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck. It’s been too long since their first kiss. Toxigo almost forgot how sweet her lips were.

They pulled away, and Toxigo gave Sunset a smirk.

“I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time,” Toxigo said.

Sunset blushed. “I guess this means we’re together now?” she said with a smirk.

“I guess so,” Toxigo remarked.

Sunset giggled and leaned in to kiss Toxigo again, all while their friends smiled.

“Well I’ll be. It's really him.” Applejack smiled.

“I never thought I’d be glad to see him again.” Flash said.

“But, he’s the monster!” Twilight barked. “He’s the one who stole the Alicorn Amulet and almost killed Coppermane! How can--”

“Twilight.” Coppermane interrupted. “It's okay. I ran into him Saturday night and got him over to a hospital. He means no harm to any of us. Don’t worry.”

Twilight took a moment to study Toxigo from afar now that everything was calm, and he didn’t look off at all. He looked… normal.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive Twilight.” Coppermane replied.

“Wait, hold on. If you knew he was alive, how come you didn’t tell any of us?” Flash asked.

“He asked me to keep it a secret until today because he wanted to surprise you guys.” Coppermane replied.

“Actually, I kind of knew too.” Rainbow said.

“Me too. We promised we’d keep our lips sealed until today.” Rarity replied.

Everyone gave a simple nod in response, still trying to take everything in.

“Well I’ll admit, you did surprise us.” Applejack replied.

“Is this why you said you were busy yesterday?” Flash asked.

“Yeah. I was helping Toxigo get back in his normal state. Well, mostly normal. He’s got red eyes, but he told me that was a curse left by the Alicorn Amulet.”

Coppermane’s head turned back to Toxigo, whom observed Neon’s sunglasses.

“Well, Neon got away, but at least I got my hands on a trophy,” Toxigo said, placing Neon’s shades atop his face. “What do you think?”

Sunset giggled. “I love it. Welcome home, Toxy.”

Toxigo smiled and gave Sunset a big hug.

“I missed you so much, Shimmercakes.”

“Me too…” Sunset said.

“Group hug!” Pinkie squealed, everyone gathering around in a huge hug around the new couple.

“Great to have you back, bud.” Rainbow said.

“Welcome home, sugarcube.” Applejack smiled.

“We’ve missed you so much!” Fluttershy cooed.

“We’ve got so much to catch up on!” Pinkie squeed.

“I missed you guys too. It's great to be back again.” Toxigo smiled.

“So, how much do you know what’s been going on with us?” Twilight asked.

In the Rainbooms’ practice room, Twilight was showing Toxigo the video footage and supporting evidence of his transformation.

“So that’s how I turned into that... thing,” Tox murmured. “I remember now. I dragged two changelings with me while I fought Chrysalis in the sky. I blacked out when I hit the ground. When I came to, I was met with her placing the Queen’s blood in my veins. I begged her not to, but apparently this world’s Sunset thought otherwise.” Toxigo groaned, looking away from the laptop. “So… aside from all of that, what else has happened?”

“Well we know human Sunset is the reason you’ve got changeling blood inside your system, which is why you can’t remember anything that happened.” Twilight responded.

“And we believe that she is in your possession of your unicorn magic,” Flash said.

Toxigo’s heart dropped. “You’re kidding.” Everyone shook their heads, making Toxigo sigh. “Well, do any of you at least know why she’s doing this?” Everyone shook their heads again, eliciting another groan. “Great. Just great. I just hope this won’t involve any magic consumption.”

“Is there anything going on with you that we should know about?” Applejack asked.

“There is. The Alicorn Amulet is staying out of my hands, and it should go back to Equestria where it belongs. Safer in the hooves of somepony there than it is here. As much as I would love to use it against the Crystal Prep students, I don’t want to… um… repeat history, if you know what I mean.”

Sunset gave a nod. “I’ll be sure to let Princess Twilight know. Anything else?”

“Um… n-not that I know of. Except… I’ve slowly become weaker and now I’ve just endangered your lives by even showing up.”

Everyone stayed silent for a bit, just thinking of what to do now. What could they do? But Coppermane looked at Toxigo with a questioning face.

“Uh, shouldn’t we tell everyone here that he’s not actually dead?” Applejack asked. “I’m sure everyone would be thrilled.”

At that moment the bell rang.

“Oh, sweet! Lunch break. It's the perfect time!” Rainbow said.

“You want to tell everyone you’re back? They’re gonna find out eventually.” Sunset asked.

Toxigo sighed. “I guess. Neon and his friends already know I’m alive, so there’s no point in hiding anymore.”

“Actually, can I talk with you privately first?” Coppermane asked.

“Huh?” Toxigo grunted.

“I just want to talk to you about something real fast,” Coppermane said.

“Uh, okay. I guess that’s fine…” Toxigo said quietly. “You guys okay with that?”

Everyone nodded and stepped outside. Once the door closed, Coppermane spoke up.

“Tox, you need to tell them what you told me.”

“What? I’m not saying anything!” Toxigo said.

“That kind of information is vital to our cause, Toxigo. If you want to help us, tell them what you told me,” Coppermane said.

“We’ve got enough problems as it is. I don’t think they need to know about the last bit of a Queen that’s inside of my body!” Toxigo said.

“This problem is as real as our other issues, Toxigo,” Coppermane said. “You can’t hide it forever.”

“Just… give me some time to think, okay?” Toxigo said. “We have enough to worry about already. Besides… I just got together with Sunset.”

“I know, but I just don’t want it to get out of hand,” Coppermane said.

“I’ll come clean when it feels right,” Toxigo said.

Coppermane sighed. “If you say so. C’mon, we shouldn’t keep the others waiting.”

The group arrived at the cafeteria, but were surprised to find some unsettling sounds coming from the doors. They opened the doors, and saw everyone arranged in a circular formation around the middle.

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

“Oh, thank goodness you all are here,” said a voice. The group looked to see Octavia Melody approaching them, looking worried. “I don’t suppose you could intervene and stop the fighting at all?”

“What?” Fluttershy sputtered. “Who’s fighting?”

“It’s Hoops and Score. They’re fighting our new classmates.” Octavia replied.

“What?!” Coppermane growled.

“Hoops and Score? Who are they?” Toxigo asked.

“They’re the brutes who bullied Coppermane when we met him,” Rarity said.

“Looks like they’ve found some new prey,” Applejack sneered.

“Not on my watch,” Coppermane sneered, stomping over to the commotion. He shoved his way through the crowd to get to the middle, revealing Hoops and Score in a heated fight with Indigo, Lemon, Sunny, Sour, and Sugarcoat; the Crystal Prep transfers.

“We helped save our planet from world domination!” Indigo insulted.

“Go back to Crystal Prep!” Hoops retorted.

Indigo’s fists clenched tightly and tried swinging another punch, but she was quickly blocked and punched back by Score. She winced, tumbling to the floor, hacking up some blood.

“Get up and fight!” Score shouted.

“I think you’ve done enough!” Sunny snarled.

“Go back where you came from!” Hoops remarked.

“Hey!” A voice called out.

The crowd parted to make way for a very angry-looking Coppermane.

“Leave them alone,” Coppermane growled.

“Coppermane, no!” Sunny cried. “Don’t get into this!”

“You five don’t belong here,” Score said.

“You five are the reason Coppermane and Toxigo suffered!” a random student yelled.

“YEAH!” Everyone yelled.

“And now because of you five, Toxigo’s dead!”

“Stop!” Coppermane shouted, silencing everyone. “Now, leave these girls alone.”

Score chuckled. “Or what?”

“You beat us once, but that was just dumb luck,” Hoops smirked. “We won’t hesitate to kick your ass again.”

“Maybe I can’t… but perhaps my new friend can,” Coppermane said.

Score stifled a laugh. “Yeah, right! I’d like to see what kind of wimp you’ve paid to--”

“He said leave them alone.”

Coppermane smirked and turned around, and so did everyone else. A collective gasp filled the cafeteria as they began backing away. Parting the crowd was a green-skinned boy with wacky hair and a trophy from his last skirmish in the form of shades.

“No… no. No you can’t be!” Indigo cried.

He removed his shades, revealing a synthetic eye and a blood-curdling red eye, freaky enough to send chills up everyone’s spine.

“Did you miss me?” Toxigo smirked.

The former Shadowbolts backed away.

“H-How?!” Lemon beckoned. “How is that possible?!”

“No…” Hoops stammered. “Y-You’re dead. Th-There was a funeral and everything!”

“Do I look dead to you?” Toxigo remarked raising a brow. “Hoops and Score… Coppermane’s bullies...”

“You’re friends with that loser?” Score cried.

“You bet I am,” Toxigo said. “And he’s a better person than either of you could ever hope to be. Now, you leave those five girls alone, or I’ll have to remind you of what I’m capable of.”

“I’d like to see you try you worthless piece of junk,” Score retorted. He threw a punch but Toxigo moved in time and grabbed his incoming fist with his mechanical hand.

“Wha--? Let go!”

“Don’t test me, Score,” Toxigo sneered.

But despite Toxigo’s warning, Score delivered a strong blow to Toxigo’s cheek with his other hand, forcing him to let go. Everyone went dead silent as Toxigo rubbed his cheek, painting his hand with trace amounts of blood.

Rage filling him, he straightened his arm to activate the integrated weapons. But no weapons readied.

“Damn… no weapons,” Toxigo said. “Guess we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

In the blink of an eye, Toxigo grabbed Score’s arm and threw him down on the ground like a wet towel. He let go and put his food on Score’s chest.

“Believe me, I could go on,” Toxigo smirked.

“No, please! I’m sorry! I’ll stop!” Score pleaded.

“Wise decision,” Toxigo said. “Now you listen. These girls have changed, more than you know. If I ever catch you bullying them again, you’ll get a better taste of what I can do. Whether you like it or not. Understand?”

Score nodded, his eyes saturated with fear. Toxigo lifted his foot and allowed Score to get up. He and Hoops wasted no time in getting the hell out of there.

He walked over to Lemon Zest to help her get Indigo back on her feet, and then sneered at everyone around the room.

“Now… it’s obviously true. I’m still alive. Mostly thanks to Coppermane helping me. But that’s trivial compared to how you’re treating these five girls. I understand your anger, believe me. But we’ve put all grudges behind us, and you should too. The hate ends now.”

“They kept attacking CHS!”

“Endless years of pranks and threats!”

“Non-stop gloating!”

“Enough!” Toxigo shouted. “What is the matter with you people?! Y’know, I loved this school because everyone was treated like family, no matter who you were. It didn’t matter if you had different skin, a different nationality, interests or disinterests, you were treated like a family member. Compared to that, Crystal Prep is a nightmare. If you stand out even the tiniest amount, you’ll be ridiculed for the rest of your high school life. These girls are on our side now. They’ve changed. Why can’t you all see that? What happened to CHS while I was gone?”

“Toxigo, stop,” Coppermane said. “They’re not the enemy. It’s Neon and his gang. After all, they’re the ones who blackmailed those five girls into hurting you.”

Everyone gasped.

“Yeah… they were blackmailed,” Coppermane said. “Neon sabotaged their friendship. They never wanted to hurt him, but they didn’t have a choice. It’s over now, though. Don’t take your anger out on them, Toxigo. It’s not worth it.”

Toxigo sighed. “Fine. But I’m still disappointed in all of you. And bottom line… don’t let me catch you hurting these five again. Get me?”

The look in his eye was cold… and dead serious. Everyone nodded, not wanting to taste Toxigo’s wrath.

Toxigo suddenly grasped his temples as if he had a headache. His eyes closed, and when they reopened, the red glow was gone.

“Whoa…” Toxigo groaned. “Wh-What just happened?” He looked around and noticed some concerned and/or confused looks from everyone around him. “Um… well… g-go back to whatever you were doing… I guess…”

Everyone shrugged and resumed what they were doing before, mostly going back to eating food and talking.

“Tox… y-you okay?” Indigo asked.

“Um… yeah, I am.” Toxigo said.

Indigo gave a friendly smile along with the other girls.

“Well, now that that’s over… you’re alive!” Sunny exclaimed, giving him a big hug. The rest of her friends quickly joined in.

“Great to see you again, dude,” Lemon said.

“Welcome back. Surprised you aren’t dead yet.” Sour said.

“Welcome home, Tox.” Indigo replied.

Tox looked at some of the bruises on Indigo and winced in concern. “You should probably go to the nurse's office.”

“I’ll get her over there.” Sugarcoat said.

Sugarcoat and the rest of her friends walked off to get Indigo over to the nurse’s office, leaving Toxigo alone with his friends.

“Listen… I’m sorry for getting into another fight. I don’t like doing it, but I had to take action, y’know?”

“We understand, darling,” Rarity said.

“So… what do we do now?” Applejack asked.

“We should probably contact Princess Twilight about the Alicorn Amulet. I think it’s time I lived without omnipotence. Something like this is just too dangerous in this world. But first… let’s get something to eat.”

“We should visit the nurse’s office at some point too,” Sunset said. “Just in case, y’know?”

Toxigo shuddered when he felt Sunset take his hand, examining the semi-dried blood on it.

“Good idea,” Toxigo said.

“I agree!” Pinkie blurted out. “We want to make sure you’re good and healthy for the party later today!”

“Wait, what?” Toxigo asked. “A party?”

“Of course!” Pinkie said. “How else are we going to celebrate you cheating death???”

Their friends just chuckled.

“I could definitely use something to unwind for a little bit,” Toxigo said.

“Yes! Welcome back party!” Pinkie squealed.

The group clamoured as they went to go get some food. Toxigo offered his hand to Sunset, whom gladly took it. She surprised him with a kiss on the cheek and a side-hug.

“I’m so happy you’re back,” Sunset said.

Toxgio felt himself blush. He gave her a peck and squeezed her hand.

“And I’m so happy you’re finally mine,” he said, making Sunset’s face go as red as her fiery hair.

“Is the coast clear?” Hoops asked.

“I think so,” Score said. “But just to be safe, let’s stay how we are.”

“Good point,” Hoops said. “But the green one called Toxigo has what we need. We have to get it!”

“We have to strike when the time’s right,” Score said. “Not when all his friends are around him.”

“I’m aware of that,” Hoops growled. “But once we have it, we’ll be unstoppable, and she will certainly be pleased.”

Score snickered, his eyes glowing slightly green. “Yes… and soon the rising tide of time shall take him.”

Hoops’ eyes shimmered with a similar green color. “Soon, my friend. Soon…”

Ch.11: Rethinking the Past

Everyone sat in total silence around the dining room table of human Sunset’s mansion. What had they just witnessed? Someone rising from the dead? The reanimation of dead flesh? It was incomprehensible.

“He’s….he’s….” Suri stammered.

“But that’s impossible,” Royal said. “I thought everyone said he died!”

“Well, clearly he’s not,” Jet said, evoking a long sigh from everyone.

The door opened, and in walked human Sunset Shimmer holding a silver tray with several coffee cups and a plate with chocolate chip cookies.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset said, putting the tray down. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I have something very important to tell you.”

“What is it?” Fleur asked.

“I’ve been doing some thinking…” Sunset said. “…I’d like to register at Crystal Prep Academy.”

Everyone’s eyes went wide, and some broke out in grins.

“Darling, a-are you serious?” Upper Crust asked.

Sunset nodded.

“Sunset, this is wonderful news!” Jet exclaimed.

“What made you change your mind?” Royal asked.

“I decided that I can’t stay alone anymore. Since you all agreed to help me end all of this chaos with the magic, I thought it should only be fair that I’d join you all at your school,” Sunset said.

Trenderhoof grinned, “Well, it’d be amazing to have you there. It's been getting pretty dull without someone like you to help us out.”

“Well, I’m glad you all accepted me as a…a…” Sunset trailed off.

“Friend?” Royal asked.

“Y-Yes,” Sunset nodded, “I-It's great to finally have friends.”

“Wait, what do you mean... finally?” Jet asked.

Sunset bit her lip, looking down at the ground while playing with her hands.

“Sunset, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t wish to,” Fleur said.

“No, it's okay. I… I’ve just never had friends before…” Sunset said. “I think you all should hear this. Back when I was younger, no one really liked me. It’s not that I didn’t try, I just never had any luck. However, my mind immediately stopped trying to make friends when it came to around a few years back… with what happened at CHS, on one particular night...” Sunset trailed off, gritting her teeth. “I saw… her. My other counterpart, supposedly. After I saw what happened, I thought she was going to take over the world. I got all the video and photographic evidence, but nobody believed me. I stuck to my story with an iron grip, but they all assumed I was crazy.”

Sunset paused, looking around the room at her new friends.

“We’re listening,” Fleur said.

“Please, keep going,” Royal said.

Sunset gave a nod. “Later… I saw what happened at the Friendship Games. What I had witnessed… it was too much. That… that thing was about to destroy us all. Tear the threads that hold our world together. From then on… I vowed to rid the world of every magic-infested creature. Eradicate them before they harm the world or put anyone around me in danger.”

Sunset didn’t look up, too lost in her own thoughts. The memory of every magical creature that threatened to destroy everything she knew.

“So, that’s your mission?” Royal asked.

“To rid the world of chaos and magic?” Suri asked.

Sunset nodded.

“Sunset, we’re all on board,” Jet said. “If it means ending that other Sunset Shimmer and her little magic-infected friends, then we’re in.”

Sunset gave a small, but genuine smile. “Thanks. Everyone… thank you.”

Before she could make another noise, her stomach began to rumble.

“Uh, I’m gonna go use the bathroom real quick, Be right back.”

Sunset walked out of the dining room, leaving the Crystal Prep kids to talk.

“Does anyone think we should tell her about… you-know-who?” Royal said.

Everyone nodded.

“But if no one’s going to say this, then I will. Neon, why didn’t you do anything when he was right in front of you? You never back down from anyone. Neon?” Jet asked.

Suri stopped and saw Neon wasn’t paying attention to any of them. His face was totally frozen.

“Neon?” Fleur asked.

Neon blinked for a moment, looking up to find concerned looks on his friends’ faces.

“You okay?” Royal asked.

“Um… y-yeah,” Neon stammered. “I just… need to clear my head real quick. I-I need a drink.”

Not giving any time to be questioned, Neon bolted out to the kitchen.

“You think he’s alright, what with… you know…?” Fleur gestured.

“I’m not sure he is,” Royal said.

Neon entered the kitchen, going to the sink and splashing his face with some ice-cold water. Standing at the sink, he gathered his thoughts. His head began to pound, swirling with a concoction of remorse and hate.

He wiped his hands dry on his clothes before reaching inside his blazer, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, and just for a moment, the contents brought him peace...

Neon held his rifle, gripped in his hand, ready to pull the trigger.

“Ready… aim…. Fire!”

He pulled the trigger, the recoil delivering a light bump back. After firing, he took his eye away from the scope.

“Ugh, again!?” Neon groaned.

He had missed the target again! He was having the worst luck at this prize corner.

“Hey, no one’s a perfect shot Neon.” Toxigo said, patting his back.

“This entire carnival is rigged,” Neon sighed.

“Better luck next time, huh?” Toxigo grinned, holding a teddy bear in his arms. AKA his prize from this very prize corner.

“The only reason you won was because the targets were set up easy,” Neon glared.

“Hey, now. The only reason I won was because I had years of practice with aiming targets. Practice makes perfect Neon, remember? Sour Sweet also took me out to paintball fields enough times for me to get the idea of how to lock onto a target and never give up.”

Neon shrugged, “I guess that explains it. Come on, let's find the others.”

After walking for a few minutes, they found the rest of the group standing near what appeared to be a spinning UFO ride.

“Hey guys, how come you’re waiting here?” Toxigo asked.

Royal huffed slightly, “Trenderhoof kind of made a dare on Indigo saying that she couldn’t last a second in that spinning ride.”

“Ooh… big mistake.” Toxigo said.

Once the ride stopped, a door opened up revealing a nauseous Trenderhoof, and a grinning Indigo Zap.

“That was fun, let's do it again!” Indigo pumped her arms in the air.

Toxigo giggled, “Same old Indy.”

Trenderhoof stumbled around, holding his head.

“You don’t look so good Trenderhoof. Need a hand?” Toxigo asked.

Trenderhoof raised an arm up, gesturing a no.

Toxigo just shrugged and slowly stepped away.

“Come on, let's find a spot. I want to get a group photo!” Sunny said.

“Lead the way, Sunny,” Jet said.

A bittersweet memory. Happy, but heavy with shame after everything they’ve done to their past friend. Neon just stood there, the happiness and sadness canceling each other out into a blank, vacant stare as he looked at the photo.

Unfortunately, he had to get back to the group before they began worrying. He folded the picture back up and placed it in his blazer before going back out to join everyone.

Sunset Shimmer walked out of the bathroom, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed something above her living room fireplace. A mantle with some flowers, two silver urns, and a picture in the middle. In the picture, two adults in orange and reddish outfits, in a hospital setting. And one of them held a baby.

Sunset walked up to the picture, placing her hand on the frame. Perfectly synced with her finger running down the frame was a tear on her cheek.

“I’m gonna put an end to this once and for all…” she murmured. “Balance will be restored. This I vow.”

With a sigh, she managed to pull herself away from the picture, rejoining the others.

“So…” Sunset said, “How are things on your end? Did that spectrometer work okay?”

“It worked fine, Sunset,” Royal said. “But you don’t know how much we risked to get the blueprints for the damn thing.”

“It was worth it though... right?” Sunset asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Right before we were about to use it, Neon got strangled by your counterpart’s cybernetic boyfriend.”

“What? Who’s her boyfriend?” Sunset asked.

“Toxigo Paralysis… that damn traitor,” Neon snarled.

“Huh?” Sunset said. “Who’s Toxigo Paralysis?”

“He transferred to CHS at the end of last school year,” Royal growled.

Sunset tilted her head. “Um… still drawing a blank…”

Suri sighed. “Green skin, bad attitude, highly aggressive, prosthetic limbs…?”

Sunset still looked confused.

“Okay, the photo you showed us with that boy? The one with the prosthetic arm?” Jet asked.

Sunset nodded.

“That’s him,” Jet said.

Sunset’s eyes widened, “Wait, hold on a second. Did you say he has a prosthetic limb? And green skin?”

Jet nodded.

Sunset bit her lip. “Um… would you excuse me for a moment?”

Sunset dashed out of the room, heading for the basement. She ran down the stairs, almost tripping on her way down. She flipped on the lights, but she didn’t see what she expected.

The chains meant to hold a prisoner were snapped off. All of them were. The basement was completely vacant.

“No… no….” Sunset pleaded.

Sunset rushed back upstairs and sat back down at the table, practically heaving.

“Okay… do not panic, but I think I’m the reason Toxigo is back,” Sunset said.

“What?” Fleur asked.

“What do you mean?” Trenderhoof asked.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier,” Sunset said. “Toxigo… I found him on my front lawn. It was uncanny. It was like he’d fallen from the sky, like a meteor. I didn’t know who he was at the time, so I took him to my basement to find out. He wouldn’t talk, though. The only thing I got was some magic, but nothing else. And somehow he got out. I-I’m sorry, guys.”

Sunset bit her lip, awaiting the shouting and rage from her friends. But it never happened. Instead, they just smiled at her.

“Well? If you’re gonna yell at me, just do it already!” Sunset pleaded.

They all started chuckling.

“What are you talking about?” Royal asked.

“Wait… you’re not mad?” Sunset asked.

They shook their heads.

“As far as we know, we have a sample or two of magic, a laboratory, and weapons to fight against magic, and of course, you,” Trenderhoof said. “That’s a start, right?”

“So he’s back,” Fleur said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Everyone else nodded, still smiling at Sunset.

“We’ll take them down either way,” Jet said. “And with them, the magic too.”

Sunset let out a sigh of relief, smiling back at her friends.

“Yeah… we’ll take the magic down once and for all,” Sunset said. “And if Toxigo Paralysis really is my counterpart’s boyfriend, we might be able to use their relationship to our advantage...”

Ch.12: Party

After a long week of school, the main ten agreed that it was overdue for some time to unwind. Just one day at least would be amazing after all the chaos they’ve been going through. To that effect, Pinkie invited everyone to come over for a slumber party. A chance to relax with good friends, and have some fun while they’re at it.

Nobody was really in the mood for anything spectacular tonight. Simply a night of relaxation and friends was all they wanted. That didn’t stop Pinkie from going all out with decorations, though. Many colors of streamers and balloons painted the room, along with a big cake for everyone to enjoy. But for the most part, everyone was content with sitting in the living room and chatting amongst each other.

And of course, Toxigo took this as an opportunity to hold Sunset in his arms. Everyone chatted amongst each other, but Toxigo found himself getting lost in Sunset’s eyes.

“About time we get some time to unwind,” Rainbow said.

“No kiddin’,” Applejack agreed.

“How are you doing, Toxy?” Sunset asked.

“I’m doing great,” Toxigo said. “I somehow cheated death, I have my friends back, I can help against Crystal Prep, and most importantly… Shimmercakes is mine, now.”

Sunset giggled as Toxigo kissed her cheek. “Toxy…”

Sunset blushed harshly when all her friends started giggling.

“What did you end up doing with the Alicorn Amulet?” Twilight asked.

“Sunset gave it back to Princess Twilight,” Toxigo said.

“Did you have to hide in the bushes when Sunset was giving it back to Princess Twilight?” Applejack asked.

Toxigo looked at Applejack with an unamused expression, “Yes.”

“But why?”

“I don’t think they’d like to know that someone who accidentally demolished half their city is still alive,” Toxigo said. “Best to remain incognito with them.”

“You know they probably aren’t going to press charges against you for that, right?” Twilight asked.

“I’d rather not test that theory, Twilight,” Toxigo said.

“But why would you want to get rid of such a powerful artifact?” Coppermane asked.

Toxigo bit his lip. “Well, there’s something about it that I wish I had known before.”

“Like what?” Coppermane asked.

“Apparently, the more you use it, the more it corrupts you. You are powerful, and you feel powerful. It’s a deadly combination that feeds on your zeal, positive or negative. I got carried away and… well… almost killed Indigo Zap.”

Fluttershy nodded. “That was pretty scary…”

“Yeah,” Toxigo shrugged. “Such great power always comes with its consequences. Word of advice, thoroughly research relics you’re about to steal,” he said, taking a drink.

“Wait, you stole it?” Flash asked.

Toxigo almost choked on his drink.

“Um…”

“Toxy… you stole it?” Sunset asked. “Why?”

Toxigo looked down, covering his face in shame. Sunset’s disappointed eyes were like daggers. He looked up, and saw everyone else sharing a similar expression to Sunset’s.

“Okay, yes I did, but please hear me out,” Toxigo said. He waited a moment to see if they would ask him to leave or start scolding him, but thankfully they didn’t.

“We’re listening, darling,” Rarity said.

Toxigo took a deep breath. “During one of my trips back to Equestria, I saw this zebra bury it. I’m guessing it was to hide it away where nopony could find it, but I did. You have to understand, though, that this was way back when I was younger. I didn’t know any better. My only means of income were stealing bits, metal, and ancient relics back in Equestria. I’m not proud of it, but what choice did I have?” He looked at Sunset, and immediately filled with cold shame. “I’m sorry, Shimmercakes.”

Sunset didn’t push him away like he expected, or anything of the sort. She gave him a warm smile instead.

“Toxy, we all make mistakes. Remember how awful I used to be? But I’ve moved past that. Old Sunset Shimmer is in the past, and now there’s Shimmercakes. We all know you’ve changed, Toxy. The important thing is the present and future. You’re redeeming yourself, and that’s truly admirable.”

Toxigo felt his face heat up, “So… you’re still with me?”

Sunset smiled, kissing him on the cheek. “Of course I am.”

Toxigo couldn’t help but smile. He interlaced his fingers with hers as he leaned in for a kiss. It was just a peck, but every kiss from Sunset was pure heaven. He squeezed her in his arms, making her giggle… and everyone else too, apparently.

“You two are so adorable!” Pinkie squealed.

Toxigo gave a light chuckle, “Thanks Pinkie. All of you. One more thing while we have a moment, how are we going to deal with Crystal Prep for the time being? I don’t want them bothering us while we’re trying to get some time off.”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight said. “Indigo and the others talked to us this week. To pay us back for standing up for them and getting CHS to be friendlier to them, they said they’ll take care of Crystal Prep.”

“So I can focus on keeping myself healthy and relaxing for a little while,” Toxigo said. “Thank goodness. That means time for us, Shimmercakes.”

Sunset giggled, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

And so, everyone continued to chat the night away.

Everyone stayed up for as long as they possibly could, until everyone’s collective yawning gave them a hint that they should call it quits for the night.

The girls were in Pinkie Pie’s room, and the boys were in the guest room down the hall. Everyone was sound asleep, but a sound in the hallway stirred Toxigo out of his slumber.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he listened closely. It sounded like footsteps, and listening even more intently, it sounded like sniffles as well.

Toxigo couldn’t help himself. He had to investigate. Quietly, he snuck out of the guest room to the stairwell. At the top of the stairs, he heard more than sniffles. The sniffles were accompanied by whimpering. And what’s more, the voice sounded familiar. Familiar enough to tug on his heartstrings more than any other sound.

Slowly but surely, he made his way down the stairs. Peering around the corner, a certain fiery hairdo made his heart skip a beat. She appeared to be at the sink, splashing water in her face. She also appeared to be breathing rather heavily, leaning over the water basin.

“Shimmercakes?”

Sunset flinched, freezing stiff and staying turned away. “T-Toxy?”

“Hi, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said. “Are you okay?”

Sunset wiped her face, and turned around, revealing her reddened face and tattered hair.

“What are you doing up so late?” Toxigo asked.

“Um… just getting a drink,” Sunset said. “Woke up, and was a little parched. That’s all.”

Toxigo rose an eyebrow. “Sunset, talk to me. Your eyes look pretty bloodshot.”

Sunset bit her lip. “Toxy… I-I’m fine…”

“Shimmercakes, c’mon. I can see some excess mascara running down your cheek.”

Sunset took a finger and rubbed her cheek, wiping off some excess black powder.

Toxigo grabbed Sunset’s shoulders. “Sunset, you can talk to me about anything. Nothing is too silly or too outrageous that you can’t discuss it with me. I’m here for you. Now…” He lifted her chin with his hand. “...look me in the eye and answer me. Are you okay?”

Toxigo waited, and watched as Sunset’s lips frowned, her eyes losing their light as a tear fell out.

“N-No…” Sunset whimpered, crumbling into tears.

“Woah, woah, whoa… it’s okay, Sunset,” Toxigo said, giving her a big hug as she cried on his shoulder. “Shh… it’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Toxigo held Sunset tightly as she soaked his shoulder with her tears. It took a few minutes, but she eventually began to calm down.

“Here, let’s go over to the couch,” Toxigo said. Sunset didn’t say anything, still whimpering and crying, but she gave him a nod instead in response.

Toxigo slowly led Sunset over to the couch, sitting down next to each other. Sunset leaned on Toxigo’s shoulder as he held her.

“Now talk to me, babe,” Toxigo said. “What’s making that pretty face so sad?”

Sunset stayed quiet for a moment before letting out a long, shaky sigh.

“I… I’m worried,” Sunset said.

“Worried?” Toxgio asked. “About what?”

Sunset sighed. “Gosh… I’m not usually like this,” she said, wiping more tears off her cheeks.

“It’s okay, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said. “What are you so worried about?”

Sunset looked up at Toxigo, and placed her hand on his heart. “I’ve been thinking about what Neon and his friends did to you in the past. I… I’m just scared it’ll happen again… but worse. The ambush this morning… it was just too close. I can’t bear the thought of them harming you, or any of our friends. It… it’s just too much…”

Sunset began to bawl, breaking down and lying on Toxigo’s legs.

“Oh no, Sunset. Don’t cry,” Toxigo pleaded, wrapping his arms around her. “C’mere… it’s okay. I’m here for you.”

“Toxy… I’ve lost you once… I can’t lose you again,” Sunset cried.

“Don’t think about that, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said. “Shh… shh… it’s alright…”

Sunset cried for a good few minutes, unrelenting. Toxigo stayed right by her side, holding her tight and rubbing her back. He’s never seen Sunset so distressed before.

When she started calming down, she pulled away, rubbing her cheeks. Her face was red and tear-stained, and her hair was ragged.

“I-I’m sorry, Toxy. I’m usually not like this,” Sunset said. “Gosh, my hair’s a mess.”

Toxigo chuckled. “It’s perfect, babe.”

Sunset blushed, smiling for the first time tonight. “Don’t lie, Toxy. I look like a total wreck,” she said, feeling through her tattered hair.

“Shimmercakes, look at me,” Toxigo said, lifting Sunset’s chin. “I’m not lying. Your hair is perfect, just like everything else about you. No matter what, you will always be gorgeous to me, Sunset.”

Sunset’s face went as red as red velvet cake. And she was smiling. At this moment, Sunset’s smile was the most beautiful thing in the world to Toxigo. He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek, making her giggle. The way she leaned into his hand was adorable.

“And Sunset, I will never leave you again,” Toxigo said. “I finally have you, and not even Princess Celestia herself can make me let you go.” He took her hand. “You’re my Shimmercakes, and I’m your Toxy. Nothing will change that. I promise.”

Sunset gave Toxigo the warmest of smiles, mimicking the feeling in her heart. She leaned in and gave Toxigo a kiss on the cheek, followed by a big hug.

“Together… no matter what,” Sunset said.

“That’s right,” Toxigo said, giving Sunset a peck. “You’ll always be my beautiful Shimmercakes.”

Sunset giggled, her face as red as her hair. “Thanks, Toxy. I really needed this.”

“You’re very welcome,” Toxigo said. “I’m glad I could get some alone time with you.”

Sunset gave Toxigo a peck. “Me too.”

“Actually, I just remembered. I have something for you,” Toxigo said.

“What? Really?” Sunset said.

“Really,” Toxigo said. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay!” Sunset said.

Sunset waited patiently as Toxigo went upstairs. What did he have for her? Especially so late at night, and seemingly spur-of-the-moment. It didn’t take long for Toxigo to come back downstairs.

“I almost forgot about this with everything that’s been going on,” Toxigo said, returning with his hands behind his back. “So… soon after I returned and Coppermane helped me, we decided to hang out at the arcade. And the first thing I thought of was you.”

Sunset blushed. “Really?”

Toxigo nodded. “I wanted to give you something when we saw each other again. Even if it was small, I wanted to give you a present.”

Sunset smiled. “So… what is it?”

“Well, it’s not much, but after many rounds of skeeball, I was able to get you this,” Toxigo said, revealing what was behind his back.

Sunset gasped when she saw her present. A white teddy bear about the size of a hand pillow.

“Aww, Toxy!” Sunset squeaked.

Toxigo blushed. “You like it?”

“It’s adorable!” Sunset squealed, accepting it as he handed it to her. She gave it a big hug. “This is so thoughtful of you, Toxy!” She gave Toxigo a big kiss, followed by a hug. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said, holding her. “I’m glad you like it.”

They shared another kiss, this one much more passionate than the rest. Sunset’s lips were somehow sweet and spicy at the same time. Such a wonderful sensation.

“Hopefully the teddy bear will help you sleep tonight,” Toxigo said.

Sunset giggled. “You know what else would help me sleep?”

“What?” Toxigo asked.

Sunset gave Toxigo a flirty smile. “You.”

Toxigo’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

Sunset nodded. “Nothing would help me more to sleep than knowing you’re next to me.”

Toxigo smiled. “Of course, Shimmercakes.”

He leaned forward, giving Sunset a kiss before lying down on the couch. He scooted over to make room for Sunset, and pat the spot in front of him. Sunset blushed and laid down in front of him. She held her teddy bear like a hand pillow, and Toxigo wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to keep her safe as she slept.

Toxigo gave Sunset a kiss on the cheek. “I’m right here for you, Shimmercakes. Sweet dreams, beautiful.”

Sunset looked behind her, using her hand to bring Toxigo in for a goodnight kiss.

“Thanks, Toxy,” Sunset whispered. “Goodnight.”

Toxigo gave Sunset one more kiss on the cheek before she fell back asleep. Toxigo took a moment to just watch her sleep. It was perhaps the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. She looked so at peace. The sweet scent of her hair enraptured his senses. The moonlight shined through the window, contouring her perfect complexion and figure. It was like she was glowing, and she was beautiful. Then again, she always is.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo whispered. He kissed her cheek again. “Goodnight, my beautiful Sunset.”

Toxigo relaxed, and eventually let the clutches of sleep take him, and Sunset’s body provided all the warmth he needed.

Ch.13: Date Night

“Thank you ever so much for offering to make breakfast for us, Pinkie,” Rarity said, walking downstairs, followed by everyone else.

“No problem!” Pinkie said. “I love cooking!”

“Lemme help ya out some, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “Should make things a mite quick--”

“Oh! Shh!” Rarity exclaimed.

“What?” Rainbow asked. “We’re all awake!”

“Keep it down!” Rarity said. “Look… on the couch.”

Everyone filed down the stairs and gathered around the couch to see what Rarity was so excited about. It was Sunset and Toxigo sleeping together. Toxigo had his arms wrapped around Sunset’s waist, and Sunset held a teddy bear close to her.

“Aww!” the girls went.

“But, where did the teddy bear come from?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, when Tox was finally out of the hospital, I took him out to the arcade and he won a teddy bear for Sunset,” Coppermane said.

“Aw, that’s so sweet of him,” Fluttershy said.

Applejack let out another chuckle, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sunset so happy. I think she’s found her guy.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. The smile on Sunset’s face as she slept was undeniable. Unexpected snickering could be heard behind the group, and they turned around to see Rainbow Dash with what appeared to be a small air horn.

“Rainbow, no,” Coppermane said.

“Come on, it’ll be funny,” Rainbow said.

“Don't make me take that from you, Rainbow,” a voice said from the couch.

Rainbow looked down to see Toxigo with his eyes open.

“Tox? I-I thought you were--”

“--asleep? You girls aren’t exactly quiet, so you woke me up,” Toxigo whispered. “But I’m certainly not waking my Shimmercakes up. When she wakes up, so will I.” Toxigo gave Sunset a kiss on the cheek before snuggling back up with her and closing his eyes.

Rainbow groaned. “Party pooper…”

The girls giggled and quickly got started on breakfast. The scent of food stirred Sunset’s senses, waking her up. She looked behind to see who, or what, was holding her, and she was met with Toxigo’s smile.

“Morning, Shimmercakes,” Toxigo said.

Sunset giggled, “Morning Toxy.”

Toxigo gave Sunset a kiss on the cheek, “You sleep okay?”

“Sure did,” Sunset said.

Toxigo released Sunset and they sat up next to each other. Toxigo wrapped his arm around Sunset’s waist and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. After gazing into each other’s eyes for a moment, Sunset got up to tidy herself up in the bathroom, whilst Toxigo made his way to the kitchen.

“Morning… again,” Toxigo said.

“Morning!” everyone replied.

“Hey, Toxigo, why were you on the couch?” Coppermane asked. “I got a little worried when I woke up and didn’t see you in the room.”

“Oh, Sunset came down here in the middle of the night, and she said she couldn’t sleep. I stayed down here with her to help.”

“Oh, how sweet!” Rarity said.

Toxigo blushed. “I just want her to be happy. And… speaking of which… can I ask you girls for some… advice?”

“Sure!” Pinkie said, answering for everyone. “If it’s baking, you’ve come to the right place!

“Not baking advice,” Toxigo said, making Pinkie frown a little. “Um… I need some dating advice. You see… it dawned on me that Sunset and I haven’t gone on our official first date yet. I want to rectify that today, but I’m not sure what to do. My last relationship… it didn’t go so well. I just don’t want to mess up, because I really, really, really like Sunset. A girl that perfect deserves nothing but the best I can offer. I just have no clue what to do.”

“Darling, you’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Rarity said. “I’m sure whatever you do, Sunset will love it.”

“No, that’s not good enough,” Toxigo said. “It needs to be perfect. As perfect as Sunset herself.”

“Well, for starters, that 50s diner in the mall has Sunset’s favorite food,” Twilight said.

“Gotcha,” Toxigo said, typing notes into his phone. “What else?”

“Don’t bring up anything involving the Fall Formal,” Applejack said.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. “She’s really sensitive about her past.”

“Can’t blame her for that,” Toxigo said. “Next?”

“Well… we can’t really give you an exact equation for a perfect date,” Twilight said. “I mean… I don’t think we can. Maybe if I study for long enough…”

“No, Twilight. You’re absolutely right,” Rarity said. “Toxigo, sweetheart, you shouldn’t overthink it. If you’re distressed, Sunset will be too, and then neither of you will be able to enjoy yourselves. I think the biggest thing here is to remember that Sunset will just love spending quality time with you. Treat her like a lady, and remember why you’re going out with her: to spend quality time with her, and to make her happy. That’s the ‘equation’ for a perfect date.”

Everyone was speechless, but their smiles all spelled agreement.

“Well said,” Toxigo said. “Thanks a lot.”

“Anytime, darling!” Rarity said.

“Ah… much better.”

Toxigo looked to see Sunset walking out of the bathroom towards the group, and he found himself captivated by the sight. She tossed her fiery hair from side to side, straightening it out afterwards as she walked. It was like watching a supermodel strutting her stuff as she walked down the runway. Her gaze landed on him, and her gorgeous eyes seemed to sparkle. Her smile melted his heart like ice cream.

“Toxy? Are you okay?”

It took a moment for him to realize that Sunset was right in front of him, and he’d been ogling her that whole time in front of her friends.

“Um… yeah”, Toxigo stammered, rubbing his eyes. “It’s just… um… y-you look really pretty.”

Sunset blushed majorly. “Gosh… I mean… I don’t have any makeup on.”

“Shimmercakes, you need no makeup at all to be beautiful,” Toxigo said.

As if it was possible, Sunset’s face went redder. She started twirling her hair. “Toxy…”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sunset blush so much!” Rainbow teased.

“You two are so cute!” Pinkie squealed.

“Um… I need to use the bathroom now,” Toxigo said, practically on fire from how much he was blushing right now. Sunset gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he rushed off.

Toxigo washed his hands in the bathroom with a big smile on his face, unable to stop thinking about Sunset. He splashed some water in his face to jolt his senses and help wake him up. Maybe now he won’t be so flustered by Sunset’s mere presence. Then again, how could he not be flustered by such a perfect creature?

Soon…

Toxigo froze, the water drenching his face keeping his eyes closed. He waved his arms behind him, and his heart began to pound when he felt nothing. His eyes were still shut, but the room seemed to get darker… and colder. He rubbed the water out of his eyes and looked up.

In the mirror, the walls were replaced by warping green flames. The radiating heat distorted the image of Toxigo with skin of black chitin and translucent green orbs for eyes.

Soon…

A figure rose behind his tainted reflection, resembling a mutated equine creature.

The clock’s ticking. Tick tock. I grow closer. Tick tock. Ever closer…

Toxigo found himself frozen as the sounds of a grandfather clock pierced the air. A swinging pendulum appeared to be swinging behind the figure.

“Go away…” Toxigo pleaded. “Go away…”

Slow and steady… patient… unstoppable… tick tock…

“Go away!” Toxigo shouted, quickly turning around to face the entity… only to find the same, normal bathroom wall. He examined his hands, and they were as they should be. He felt around his face. Skin; not chitin.

“Do I dare look back at the mirror?”

Toxigo summoned his strength and turned back to the mirror, and the reflection was normal. A perfect, sane reflection of the bathroom. He leaned on the countertop to collect himself, breathing heavily.

Tick tock… tick tock… tick tock…

A grandfather clock pendulum echoed in his head. A hallucination, perhaps? Or was it… her?

Soon…

Toxigo looked up, staring intently at himself. Nothing out of the ordinary now.

“No… get yourself together. We worry about this another day,” he said. “Today is about Shimmercakes, and nothing else. Get it? Got it? Good.”

Toxigo took a deep breath before drying his hands off and walking out to meet with everyone else. Being with Sunset and his friends would definitely help calm him down.

Everyone hung out for a little while longer before the early afternoon came along. Soon they all started to get ready to go their separate ways for the day. But Toxigo was quick about getting his things ready. Once he was done, he went to find Sunset.

“Hey, Shimmercakes. Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?” Toxigo asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Sunset said. “What’s up, Toxy?”

“Listen…” Toxigo said. “I was really happy that we were able to talk last night. Finally had some quality alone time with you, y’know?”

Sunset smiled. “I liked it too.”

“Well, it got me thinking…” Toxigo said. “I realized something. We haven’t actually… like… gone out together yet. Officially, I mean.”

Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “Oh… I never thought about that. You’re right.”

Toxigo chuckled. “Yeah… so… are you free tonight?”

Sunset slowly smirked. “Yes. Yes I am.”

Toxigo suddenly felt his hand start shaking. “Cool. So… um… d-do you… um…”

“Toxy, do you want to go out with me tonight?” Sunset asked.

Toxigo’s heart dropped. “Whoa… wh-what?”

Sunset laughed. “You heard what I said.”

Toxigo pursed his lips, rubbing the back of his neck. “Jumping the gun, huh?”

“You looked nervous, so I wanted to help out.”

Toxigo blushed. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Sunset said. “Just say yes.”

Toxigo noticed the gleam in Sunset’s eyes, nearly taking his breath away. How could he possibly say no to such a pretty face?

“Sunset… it would be an honor,” Toxigo said.

Sunset cheered and gave Toxigo a big hug. “Oh, we’re gonna have so much fun!”

Sunset pulled her head back a little, giving Toxigo a prime opportunity to give Sunset a big kiss. Sunset melted in his arms, along with his own heart. Knowing he could kiss Sunset whenever he wanted to filled him with joy. He pulled back, and gazed into her gorgeous turquoise eyes. It was unfair that one girl could be so beautiful.

“Y’know, we’re already dating, Toxy,” Sunset said. “Why were you so nervous before?”

Toxigo blushed. “Well, it’s been a long time. I might as well have never done it. Sorry.”

Sunset giggled. “Don’t worry about it, Toxy. Wanna know something? I think it’s really cute when you’re shy.”

Toxigo’s face only went redder. “Really?”

“It’s the cutest thing ever,” Sunset said, kissing his burning cheek.

“Um… I-I don’t know what to say…” Toxigo stammered.

“Just c’mere,” Sunset said, giving Toxigo a kiss. Toxigo didn’t mind one bit. Her lips were as sweet as candy, if not sweeter. They pulled away, and just held each other for a moment.

“Alright, I need to get going,” Sunset said. “I need to pick out my outfit for tonight.”

“I’d be perfectly fine if you just wore what you’re wearing now,” Toxigo said.

“Are you dressing up?” Sunset asked.

“Of course,” Toxigo said. “I have to. You don’t.”

“I’m dressing up, Toxy, and you’re just gonna have to deal with it,” Sunset said, giving him a sassy smile.

Toxigo laughed. “I guess if I have to…”

Sunset laughed and gave Toxigo a peck. “Give me a hand with my things?”

Toxigo nodded, helping pack up some things. But the entire time, his mind was pondering what Sunset might wear. A dress? Something even better? What kind of makeup would she wear? Would she do her hair? The possibilities were endless for how Sunset would manage to make herself even prettier than she already is. Whatever would happen, he knew he would love it.

Tonight’s gonna be amazing.

The afternoon turned to dusk, and Toxigo’s date with Sunset was growing near. Too near. He was starting to lose his mind. She would be here any minute. He didn’t have his roommate here to help him calm down, as he was on his own date. All he could do was try taking deep breaths as he stood in front of the mirror adjusting his suit and tie.

“Okay… calm down,” Toxigo said. “It’s just Sunset. You already know she likes you. You’ll be fine.”

Suddenly the sound of the doorbell echoed through the home, making Toxigo jump five feet into the air. Once he collected himself, he examined himself in the mirror one last time. It wasn’t ideal, but Sunset was out there waiting for him. Whether he liked it or not, he had to be ready right now.

He looked through the peephole first, and immediately felt happier when he saw the familiar fiery hairdo of Sunset Shimmer. He opened the door, and his happiness skyrocketed when he laid his eyes on beauty incarnate standing before him. Sunset’s hair was no different than it was normally, but the dress she wore was breathtaking. A sleeveless dress of sparkling magenta with a red neck-piece and red bracelet, brought out by her flowing hair. She seemed to be wearing mascara too, because her eyes were somehow more gorgeous than they usually are. Toxigo was standing before a goddess, and was wondering if he should be dropping to his knees or not.

“Sunset… y-you look amazing,” Toxigo said.

Sunset giggled. “Thanks! You look pretty sharp yourself.”

Toxigo blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Really? Thanks. So… may I take your hand?”

Sunset giggled again. “You certainly may,” she said, holding it out.

Right before he took her hand, he had a thought, making him look up at Sunset with a smirk. He took Sunset’s hand and pulled her in, dipping her back slightly and kissing her hand, staring intently into her eyes.

“Toxy…” Sunset said, her eyes wide. “Suave.”

Toxigo smirked again before pulling Sunset into a passionate kiss, holding her tight.

“I know just where to go tonight,” Toxigo said.

“Oh? Where?” Sunset asked.

“You’ll see,” Toxigo said.

Toxigo led Sunset to her car and kindly opened up the door for her. She stepped inside and she closed the door. Tox moved over to the other side and sat in the driver seat. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he looked ahead.

“Do you mind being my co-pilot? I only have one eye working and my depth perceptions a bit… you know,” Tox said.

“No of course,” Sunset smiled.

Toxigo grinned back and he started the engine. The car began to start up and he pulled the vehicle out of the parking spot and out onto the open road heading to the restaurant for their date.

Toxigo and Sunset arrived, and purposely parked a little further away than necessary so he could walk with Sunset more while holding her hand. It felt amazing to show everyone who walked past them that Sunset was his.

They arrived at the diner, and Sunset gasped.

“Toxy… I love this place! How did you know?” Sunset asked.

Toxigo shrugged, “Call it a hunch.”

Sunset smiled and eagerly walked inside, followed by Toxigo. They were quickly seated and helped by the waitstaff. After ordering their drinks, they took a moment to just marvel at their significant other.

“Sunset, can I ask you something?” Toxigo asked.

“Sure Toxy, what is it?”

Toxigo sighed. “Well, forgive me for sounding selfish, but… why do you like me?”

Sunset looked at him quizzically, but with a smile. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… why did you choose me?” Toxigo asked. “How did I win you over? I-I’m just curious.”

Sunset giggled, running her hand up his arm with a sexy smile. “Well, I like you because I think you’re very sweet, smart, brave, and strong. I think all the technology you’ve made is amazing, and it’s amazing that you’ve been able to overcome so much in your life. Plus… I think it’s very cute when you’re shy.”

“Y-You really think that?” Toxigo asked.

“I really do,” Sunset said. “Why are you asking?”

Toxigo sighed, “You sure you want to know?”

Sunset’s smile seemed to dwindle, probably from Toxigo’s frown.

“Toxy, is everything okay?” Sunset asked. “If you want to talk about something, I’m right here. You can talk to me about anything.”

Toxigo pursed his lips. “I’ve done some bad things in my life, Shimmercakes. Some really horrible things. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see what you and your friends see. I don’t see a friend. I see a monster. Honestly, if you had seen half of the things I had done, you’d see what I see.”

“Toxy, no. You’re not a monster.”

“Sunset, just look at me,” Toxigo said. “I look like an abandoned science experiment. Metallic limbs, a robotic eye… it’s even red, like I’m possessed. I’m barely put together. What do you think goes through people’s heads when they see me? Look me dead in the eye and tell me that I’m not the stuff of nightmares.”

“Toxigo Paralysis, stop,” Sunset said sternly. “Toxy, look at me.” She lifted his chin up, forcing him to look at her. He blinked, and a tear was forced out. She used her hands to wipe his cheeks dry before offering a tender smile; the warmest she could muster. “I understand how you feel. I totally get it. But believe me when I say that no matter what you did, no matter how bad it was, it doesn’t affect who you are today. I know from personal experience. I don’t see a monster when I look at you. I see the sweetest guy I’ve ever met, who’s made mistakes in the past and his doing everything in his power to rectify his transgressions. You care about us. You defend us. You would do anything to save us, even sacrifice yourself. Toxy… you’re my hero.”

Toxigo’s eyes went wide. More tears fell, but he was anything but sad.

“R-Really?”

Sunset nodded, leaning over to give him a peck. “Most importantly… you’re mine, Toxy. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Shimmercakes, if we weren’t in the middle of a restaurant right now, I would be giving you the biggest kiss ever.”

Sunset laughed, her face going bright red. She took his hand, looking deeply into his eyes. “I know you’re dealing with a lot of stress right now, but there’s no need to worry. We won’t let Neon or any of his friends hurt you. If Neon wants to tangle with you, he has to go through me first.”

Toxigo gave a warm smile, “You really would do that for me?”

Sunset grinned and gave a nod, “Of course. You mess with my Toxy, you mess with me. And that goes for all of us. If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get.”

Toxigo chuckled, “I love your enthusiasm.”

Sunset blushed a bit.

The waiter soon came by and gave them their drinks. Then once they received their drinks, the waiter walked away with their orders.

“Well… I guess while we’re on the subject… can I tell you a secret?” Toxgio asked.

“What kind of secret?” Sunset asked.

“Well… um…” Toxgio paused and sighed. “Shimmercakes, I have to be honest. I haven’t told you everything. Remember how I said I’ve done some horrible things?”

“Mmmhmm,” Sunset said.

“I told you about my mom and dad being taken away from me… but you didn’t hear the whole story. I ran as far as I could with the loot I took, but I didn’t run away from Equestria. Instead, I ran to the one place I know I could be accepted. I went to the city of Canterlot and I found my Aunt and Uncle’s home. They took me in for a bit. But I couldn’t stay…”

Sunset interrupted, “Did they ever find out about your mom and dad?”

Toxigo nodded, “I told them everything I knew. Afterwards, I ended up breaking down, and they calmed me down. They opened up their home to me, and I stayed for a few weeks. But it wasn’t the same to me. And I still feared Chrysalis’s return. So… without saying a word, I snuck out one night with all the loot I stole, and I ran off sneaking through Princess Celestia’s castle. But during my visit, I found myself stuck trying to find a place to hide. I hid in a closet, and that’s when I discovered… you.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, “M-Me?”

“Yes. I remember seeing you talking with Princess Celestia, and she showed you a mirror that she said could transport someone into another dimension but it opened only every 30 moons. Once you two were gone, I took my chance and I disappeared through the portal. I never came back to Equestria unless I was going to see how the world was looking while I was here, or if there was anything of value I could take back here.”

Sunset didn’t say a word. She only looked straight forward with a face that spelled deep thought, twirling her hair. Toxigo covered his face with his hand.

“Sunset, I’m so sorry,” Toxigo said. “This is the worst date ever.”

“Toxy, don’t say that,” Sunset said.

“It’s true, though,” Toxigo said.

“No,” Sunset said. “No it isn’t.”

Toxigo looked back, “It isn’t?”

Sunset shook her head, still smiling. “Trust me, I’ve been on much worse.”

“So… that means this date is bad, then,” Toxigo said.

“Toxy, this is not a bad date,” Sunset said. “Believe it or not, I’m having a really nice time.”

“B-But… I lied to you. I lied to you about being homeless, I--”

“Toxy,” Sunset said. “What did I say before? I said that your past doesn’t matter. I used to rule the school with an iron fist, and was mean to everyone around me. Princess Twilight opened my eyes, and sure, I was hated for a while, but that time is past. Now I have the greatest friends I could ever ask for, and an amazing boyfriend,” she said with a wink. “If that’s taught me anything, it’s that the past doesn’t matter. What matters is who you are now. I won’t say the things you did aren’t horrible, but that’s all over with. There’s no fixing what’s already happened. The best you can do is march forward and try to be a better person. And Toxigo… I think you’re doing a fantastic job.”

Toxgio was left speechless again. He found himself contemplating again whether or not he should drop to his knees in front of Sunset. After everything she’s said, her beauty radiated like Celestia’s sun. Inner beauty and outer beauty. Sunset really was a goddess.

“Shimmercakes… I don’t know what to say…” Toxgio said.

Sunset giggled. “Don’t worry about it. Just remember that you have friends now, and you have me. And we’ll always be here for you.”

Toxigo couldn’t help himself from leaning over to give Sunset a kiss. It was meant to be a peck, but it went on for much longer.

Ahem!

The couple was jolted out of their trance by their waiter standing next to them with their food. They blushed profusely, but the waiter just laughed before handing them their respective dishes. And the evening carried on, with Toxigo trying some things including feeding Sunset some of his food. Just a simple evening of smiles, flirting, and laughing with Sunset Shimmer. What could be better?

Night had fallen by the time Toxigo and Sunset arrived at Toxigo’s home. The couple stood by Sunset’s car before saying farewell for the night, holding each other and looking into their significant other’s eyes.

“Toxigo, I had an amazing time tonight,” Sunset said.

“I did too,” Toxigo said. “Thanks for everything you said. Like… I seriously can’t thank you enough. I really needed to hear that.”

“No problem,” Sunset said. “Remember, we’re always here for you, no matter what.”

Sunset let out a mighty yawn, causing Toxigo to yawn as well.

“It’s getting late. I should get going,” Sunset said.

“Same,” Toxigo said. “Good night, Shimmercakes.”

“Good night, Toxy,” Sunset said.

Before they let each other go, they shared a long, passionate kiss. At the end of it, Sunset gave Toxigo a sexy wink before getting into her car. Toxigo walked up to the front door, but turned back to take one more look at Sunset. He might have to ask Sunset to wear that dress again on a future date. Her car went out of sight, and he immediately missed her a little.

One thing was for sure after tonight: Toxigo hasn’t felt this happy in a long time.

Ch.14: Signs

Another Sunday has arrived, with all the time in the world, a familiar group of boys decided to spend it looking for costumes for the upcoming Halloween Ball. They decided to look around the Canterlot Mall, since lots of Halloween stores are open there during this time of year. Arriving at the first store, they began to browse around.

“Hm… what to wear, and what to wear to scare…”, Toxigo said.

Coppermane looked to Toxigo, “Why not just apply makeup to look like you’re possessed? Just add some eyeliner, and some extra makeup. I mean, your eyes already are looking like you’re possessed.”

Toxigo raised a brow as he looked to Coppermane.

Coppermane raised his hands up, “Not that it's a bad thing!”

“That could work, but what I’m looking for is something I can wear to dance with Sunset Shimmer. Something simple. If I have time, I can make it better, but just something to start with.”

“Well, we’ve got several days, and a couple weeks before we get there. You should still have some time on your hands,” Coppermane replied.

The boys walked inside the store and began looking around at the different costumes that were on display, and were around the shelves and in packages. Toxigo’s gaze went up and down as he began observing a pirate costume that was in a bag. He picked it up and squinted his eye as he took a look at it.

“Nope, not my size and it looks stupid,” Toxigo replied.

Flash looked on the left side of the store and he was looking through some science fiction costumes.

Toxigo leaned his head from the side, looking at what Flash was looking at.

“You into sci-fi?”

Flash looked back, “Actually it's Twilight who’s into sci-fi. I thought maybe I could go as a character from one of her favorite shows she likes.”

Toxigo smiled, “Aw, that’s sweet of you.”

Flash grinned and he looked back at the costumes. Could he pick this one? Would Twilight like this one?

Over with Coppermane, he was busy looking at a few superhero costumes that were available.

“Let's see… nope. Not my size.”

Coppermane looked at some of the masks and a grin came on his face. He began trying them on, and he looked at himself in a mirror seeing each one that went on his face. But by the time he pulled the third mask off, he froze when he saw a boy with gray-blue skin and black spiked hair standing behind him in the mirror.

“Neon…” Coppermane said, turning around with a sneer. “Have you come to start another fight?”

“I’m not here to fight Coppermane. Besides, we’re here in a public place. Fighting you out in public would be… unethical.”

Coppermane sneered, “Well why would you be here? You trying to reclaim your glasses? Which by the way, you don’t really need. You’re indoors, for god's sake.”

“I’m not here to reclaim my glasses. I’ve come here to talk to you,” Neon said.

“Me?” Coppermane raised a brow.

Neon nodded.

“I have some things I need to tell you. Things you need to know about your little friend… Tox.”

“Don’t even try to Neon, I already know everything about him,” Coppermane said turning around, looking back at the costumes.

“Well do you know this? Before he ever joined you Wondercolts, he was one of us,” Neon said.

“I know. He was a former Shadowbolt just like me,” Coppermane said without interest.

“Well did you know that he was our friend?”

“Yes,” Coppermane interrupted.

Neon’s eyes widened, “And how do you know that?”

Coppermane gave a smug look to Neon, “He told me.”

“Why would he tell you, of all people?” Neon hissed.

“Because I asked him,” Coppermane said. “He’s our friend, and he trusts us. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have costumes to look through.”

Coppermane turned his back, looking intently at the costumes on the shelf.

“You can’t win you know,” Neon huffed.

“And what makes you so sure?” Coppermane sneered.

“Because I know what you’re dealing with. We can take down you, your friends, your girlfriend, and your scrap pile of a friend all down. You think you can just waltz in with new magic at your beck and call?”

“What makes you think we were gonna do things with magic at all?” Coppermane said. “Do you not remember the Friendship Games? They used their magic to save us from being killed.”

“That’s what you think,” Neon said. “You know just as well as I do, you wanted to use that magic to cheat.”

“Just let it go already!” a voice yelled.

Neon turned his head to the side and entered in a boy with spiked up blue hair and a gray jacket. He crossed his arms, glaring at Neon.

“And who are you?” Neon asked.

“I’m the guy who’s gonna kick your ass if you threaten my friend,” Flash growled. “The Friendship Games happened months ago, just let it go already! It's not anything worth being this upset about!”

Neon rolled his eyes. Flash paused when he noticed he wasn’t wearing his usual pair of shades.

“Huh. You know you look better without the glasses. Why do you even wear them, you don’t even need them.”

Neon snarled, “Don’t even start with me on those.”

Flash and Coppermane sneered at Neon with ice cold glares.

“Why are you really here, Neon?”

Neon took a moment and paused. Then he stared at Flash and Coppermane with a serious look.

“Just want to leave a word of advice. Be careful around your new ‘friend’ Toxigo. He may have told you a few things, but I guarantee there so much more he hasn’t told you. Like maybe you don’t know this, but you actually have met him long before you or him ever went to CHS. Do you even remember him, Coppermane?”

Coppermane paused, “Um… no?”

Neon chuckled, “I thought so. But I should give you a fair warning, he’s keeping quiet about a few things.”

Coppermane and Flash looked to one another, and Neon chuckled.

“Is that a little distrust I see? Distrust for Tox? I think you’re having second thoughts about him now.”

“Back off. This is none of your business.”

Neon felt his skin go cold when he heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned around and he saw Toxigo leaning against the side of a wall, with his arms crossed, and with his own shades worn on Toxigo’s face. A sneer crept Toxigo’s face as he glared at Neon heavily.

“Consider yourself lucky I’m in a good mood. Now back away from my friends,” Toxigo snarled.

“Friends!? You actually call these two, friends!? Coppermane’s a total loser!”

Toxigo just stomped past Neon and stood next to Coppermane with a smug look on his face.

“Coppermane is so much more than you ever were, Neon. Unlike you, he has my back. He’s someone I can sympathize with. And he doesn’t attack or judge me without reason,” Toxigo said patting Coppermane’s shoulder.

Coppermane couldn’t help but feel smug. Three against one. Neon was outnumbered.

“Besides, you have thousands of pairs of sunglasses. One pair won’t make a difference.”

Toxigo’s cold metallic hand grasped the side of Neon’s face, making him freeze in place. Neon could feel the sharp little tips of the fingers touching the side; he could only hope that they wouldn’t be digging into his skin, scraping the flesh off his beautiful face.

“No… I suppose it won’t,” Neon replied.

Toxigo grinned, “Good. Its nice to see even someone like you can be reasonable as to not make a scene.”

Neon still left a sneer on his face as he glared at the three of them.

“I still don’t understand how these two would let in a junkheap like you into their kind. Canterlot has nothing on us,” Neon replied.

Tox felt his fist clench up, but he felt Coppermane’s hand pat his shoulder with a stern look on his face. Toxigo just simply exhaled and backed off.

“I think you’ve forgotten something Neon. You assaulted him. You and your friends drove him away from Crystal Prep. He’s with us now.”

“And if you think I’m gonna back down like I did before, you’re wrong. You can try as you might, I only get stronger,” Tox said as his clashed his metal fingers together, making some scraping noises. They sounded like swords clashing together just from the clanging.

Toxigo moved his hand up to take off the shades, exposing his red blood eye and his yellow fake replacement.

“If you didn’t fear be before… you will,” Toxigo growled. He noticed how Neon was looking at him. As if he was looking at a ghost.

“What are you gaping at?” Toxigo snarled.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Neon said.

“Good. You wouldn’t want to be near the tips of my fingers… you see these?” Tox presented his metallic fingertips in front of Neon’s eyes, giving him a view of the sharp ends that gleamed with luster. “These tips have been made from several kitchen knives and blades that I forged into my hand. Not just for cutting through food and material, but it has a strong grip and it can slice right through human skin. Amazing what you can do when you have all of the time in the summer to grow stronger and more powerful than you ever imagined.”

Neon still said nothing. His heart was pounding against his chest.

Tox smirked, “You’re scared aren’t you? I can see it in your eyes. Fear. Deep, lingering, delicious fear.”

Nothing was said. Not from Neon. Not from Coppermane or Flash. Neon stood still, seemingly paralyzed, still as if he was seeing a ghost.

“Tox?”

“What?!” he shouted, staring down Coppermane as he gradually shrunk down.

“Toxigo… just calm down,” Flash said.

“You too?” Toxigo said. “I’m just trying to protect you guys.”

“Tox, maybe take it back a notch,” Flash said. “You’re starting to freak me out.”

“What do you mean?” Toxigo asked.

“Tox… this doesn’t sound like you,” Coppermane said, holding his hands up defensively. “I know you hate Neon, I do too, but… you just sound sadistic.”

Toxigo stood for a moment, noticing how shaken Coppermane looked, cowering below him. He then noticed that his hand was clenched in a fist, as if he was about to punch one of them. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his fist and held his other hand out to Coppermane.

“Sorry, dude,” Toxigo said. “Not sure what came over me.”

Coppermane accepted his hand and Toxigo helped him up.

“N-No problem,” Coppermane stammered. “Um… you sure you’re okay?”

“I think so,” Toxigo said. “But now… back to business.”

Toxigo turned around, only to see that Neon had disappeared.

“Damn it! He got away!” Toxigo said.

“It’s alright,” Flash said. “If anything, I’m happy he’s gone. Now we can keep looking at costumes.”

“Oh yeah. I almost forgot,” Toxigo said.

After leaving the store with the supplies they had bought, the boys began to wander around, seeing what else they could do for the day.

But all through their wandering, Coppermane kept a small distance from Toxigo. The very thought of what Neon said had clouded his mind with worry. Was there a dark truth to his new friend that he didn’t know? But that wasn’t the only thing he thought about. Tox was starting to act very strange. This wasn’t like his normal behavior at all. Why did he act like that? When did he ever act so… sadistic?

Toxigo came to a stop when he saw Coppermane behind him.

“You okay there, buddy?” Tox asked.

“Huh?” Coppermane blinked.

“You okay? Looks like something’s on your mind.”

“Oh, I was just spacing out for a bit. Just thinking about what we could do for the Halloween party, that’s all. You mind if I talk with Flash alone?”

“Um, sure, yeah. Catch on up?”

“Yes, of course.”

Tox nodded and walked away, leaving Flash and Coppermane to talk alone.

Flash turned to look at Coppermane, “You doing okay, Coppermane?”

“Something’s going on with Toxigo. Is there something he’s not telling us?” Coppermane asked.

Flash wasn’t sure, “Um… maybe? I don’t know.”

“Well, think about it. At first, you and the girls didn’t know anything about him and he mostly kept to himself. But now that he’s back here with us engaged in a battle with Neon Lights and the Shadowbolts, he’s starting to tell us these things we didn’t even know about him. Stealing the Alicorn Amulet, Sunset even told us that his family isn’t completely gone. He even told me something personal when we had dinner before we met up with you and everyone else.”

“Really? What is it?” Flash asked.

“Oh, um…”, Coppermane bit his lip, “I’m not sure if I should tell you. It's kind of a sensitive subject for Tox, and I don’t want anyone else to bring it up to him.”

“I won’t tell anyone. What did he say?”

Coppermane sighed, “You swear you won’t speak of this?”

“I promise.”

Coppermane sighed. “I hope he won’t find out because he won’t be happy if anyone finds out. When I had dinner with him, he told me he was friends with Neon Lights and the rest of his groupies.”

“What!?”

Flash clamped his mouth shut with his hand, taking notice of how loud he reacted.

“Sorry. But, seriously?” Flash beckoned.

‘Yes. Jet, Royal, Upper, Trenderhoof, all of them,” Coppermane replied.

“Did he tell you why they aren’t friends anymore?”

“Unfortunately no. I tried asking him but I got a dent in my dining room table as an answer,” Coppermane said.

“Yikes.”

“Whatever happened between them must have been really bad. But I don’t think we’re gonna get him to tell us about happened.”

“But shouldn’t we know? We’re his friends,” Flash said.

“True as that may be, I don’t think he really wants to talk about it.”

“Okay I guess… but we’ve got to find out sometime. He can’t hide it forever,” Flash replied.

“I know. We can ask him another time. Come on, we better find him… where did he even go?”

Looking around, they saw a glimpse of his hair in the window of the store on their left. The store had pictures of puppies and kittens and other various animals. The two boys walked inside the store and they heard the sound of little puppies barking.

“So… where did he go?” Flash asked.

Coppermane looked to one of the people working in the store.

“Excuse me sir, did you happen to see a guy with a prosthetic arm come in here?”

“Yes, he’s right over there playing with the puppies,” the man said pointing off into another direction.

They walked over to the left side of the store and they were met with an adorable sight. Toxigo was sitting in one of the playpens, playing with some of the puppies that were trying to get on him. One of them that drew his attention was a gray, black and white fluffy puppy, with a black nose and jaw, along with a curled up tail.

“Hey girl, you’re not vicious are you? No, you’re a nice doggie,” Tox said as another puppy crawled on his lap. He picked up one of the puppies and hugged it as it kept licking his face. Flash and Coppermane couldn’t help but stifle a snicker.

Toxigo froze when he heard them and he gazed up to see them giving smirks to him. He froze as the puppies continued to play and attempt to climb on him.

“Um… hi,” Toxigo said with a slight blush on his face.

Coppermane and Flash still smiled, just watching the puppies jump and bounce all over him.

“I have a soft spot for puppies,” Toxgio said.

Tox was silent and he just looked away for a second. He looked to the puppy in his lap and he set it down with the other bouncing puppies.

“Sorry sweetie, I’m afraid I can’t adopt you. But I’ll make sure I’ll come visit you,” Tox said ruffling the fur on the puppy’s head. He got back up on his feet, and stepped out of the pen.

“Thanks for letting me visit sir,” Toxigo said to one of the people working. “I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat.”

The three boys each got their food and sat a table far off in a corner over in the food court. And out of all of them, Tox was the only one who didn’t seem very happy.

“So… is there a reason you like dogs?” Coppermane asked.

Toxigo just scowled in return, “I said, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Tox, there’s nothing wrong with liking dogs, we just want to know,” Flash replied.

Tox just glared and huffed, “Fine. You want to know why I do? It’s because back in Equestria when I still had all of my limbs, I had a dog that I loved very much but I lost him because he died! Okay? You happy?”

Toxigo’s hands clamped onto his face, scrunching it. Coppermane and Flash were about to speak up, but they could only hear a small sound muffled from behind his hands. It sounded like… crying?

“Tox? A-Are you okay?” Coppermane asked. “Buddy?”

Tox slowly removed his hands to receive a friendly look from Coppermane and Flash.

“It’s okay buddy,” Coppermane said, “We’re here for you. It's alright. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Tox took a moment to breathe in and out to calm down, “O-Okay…”

“Just know, if you do want to talk about this… it’s okay. We can talk to you about this.”

Tox sighed, “Thanks guys… I really appreciate this.”

“Hm… he seems to be staying relatively close with those two mortals. This will make things more difficult…”, Hoops said.

“Relax,” Score said, “We can get them soon enough. We just need to keep monitoring their progress and inform her.”

Score pulled out a phone from his pocket and he dialed in a number to call.

“The green one that you’re after… he’s staying very close with two friends of his.”

“Mmm… so I see. Keep monitoring their progress and report back to me. I am more than halfway to the power I need… once the time comes, then I’ll make my move. He has what I need, and if I’m going to regain my power, I need him!”

“Understood.”

The double of Score hung up on the phone and he smirked with the Hoops double.

“Enjoy your time with your friends Toxigo. It’ll be ending sooner than you think…”