Derpy Hooves, the city's delivery girl, rode around the town on her little motor scooter, doing what she is best at, delivering parcels and letters, and boy, did she have quite the number of stops to take today.
And funnily enough, each of the many letters she was to deliver all came from the same person, Filthy Rich. Derpy wondered why someone as important and as rich as Filthy Rich would be sending letters to... not as important or rich people. Still, he might have his reasons and it's not really her business, given the fact that she hadn't received a letter from him, but whatever, she let it go and continued delivering the letters.
When Sunset Shimmer had taken the letter, she could only just look at it. It was a golden envelope addressed to her from Filthy Rich. The Filthy Rich, sending a letter to her, a girl who isn't all too fond of the man in the first place.
She opened up the letter and unfolded the rich feeling piece of paper that was inside. It read, 'Dear those who receive this letter,
You are all receiving this letter because you are all formally invited to a very special dinner held at the Rich's manor hosted by none other than me. The reason for your invitation is because all that have received this letter had played their own part in the multiple, supernatural events that have occurred over the last few years.
I am eager to hear each one of your stories of how such power was claimed and how they were all used. The topic of magic, while I cared for none of the sorts in the past, it has really sparked a burning interest in me and I would love nothing more than to learn about it.
I hope to see you all at the dinner tomorrow night.
Sincerely,
Filthy Rich
An invitation? To a dinner? Held at the Rich's mansion? Sunset almost couldn't believe it. She reread the letter multiple times to see if she was missing some big ol' joke. But it all seemed perfectly legit. Filthy Rich had invited her, and likely all of her friends, to dinner to learn more about the magical incidences from the last few years.
Although, there was something about this letter that she, for some reason, had found quite suspicious. What exactly could have happened to this man if he wanted to, so badly, learn about the magic none of the girls really know about themselves, other than the fact that they just have it, anyway? She couldn't recognise what it was, but something just wasn't sitting too right.
She looked at the letter one last time and found a small text in the corner of the page. She squinted her eyes in order to read it just that little more clearly.
P.S No need to worry of coming in wearing any formal clothing. We suggest that you arrive in whatever you feel most comfortable in.
Well, wasn't that something.
The Next Day, Afternoon
Sunset sat with all of her friends in their band's bus, heading down the road that followed to the mansion, which was way further from the city than Sunset had anticipated.
Rain crashed down hard onto the roof of the bus. A storm had began not too long ago, and it didn't look as though it would be stopping anytime soon. Instead of the afternoon sun they all could be getting, they instead have to have dinner with a very dark grey sky with no sign of the sun.
"Are we there yet?" Pinkie Pie asked, resting her head on the seat in front of her.
"Not yet, Pinkie," Applejack responded from the drivers seat. "It shouldn't be too long now."
"Ooh! I simply cannot wait to see the Rich mansion from the inside!" Rarity said excitedly, clapping her hands together. She was the only one out of all of the girls that wore a fancy dress to the party.
"You did know the letter said we could come in our casual outfits, right?" Rainbow Dash mentioned, raising an eyebrow.
Rarity wore a sparkly, shoulderless, purple dress which the skirt reached all the way down to her toes, dragging behind her wherever she walked. To go along with the dress, she also wore similar purple and glittery high heels.
Rarity humphed. "Yes, I read that part, but I felt that it was more appropriate to come in a more fitting attire. I want to look my absolute best, especially for Filthy Rich and his family."
"Isn't Filthy Rich the father of that girl with the crown in the CMCs year?" Twilight asked.
"Diamond Tiara? Yeah, he's the father," Sunset responded, sitting beside Twilight. "Man, you wouldn't believe the way she use to treat people at the school before you came. She'd always boss people around and she made damn well sure she got everything she absolutely wanted."
"What happened to her?"
"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle 'n' Scootaloo slapped some sense into her and now she's jus' like the rest of us," Applejack chimed in. "Her family, however... well, all Ah can say is that Ah like Tiara a heck a lot better."
The wheels on the bus continued spinning through the now soaking dirt path, the bus could only manage to drive through it without getting stuck.
"The rain seems to be getting worse," Fluttershy mentioned, looking right up to the sky.
"Still glad ya came in a purty dress, Rarity?" Applejack asked with a grin.
"Oh, quiet you. It's only a little rain, I'll be fine," complained the walking disco ball.
"Eeyup, and also the mud yer gonna have t'uh walk through once we get out."
They then found a line of cars while also having to join in at the very end. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked, looking out of the front window.
"Ah think we're gonna have t'uh ask someone. Who else could be comin'?" Applejack turned around to see if anyone knew.
Sunset had an idea. "Maybe Trixie was invited. I'll call her." She then took out her phone and began dialling Trixie's number. A few rings later, she picked up the phone.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie speaking. To whom is she talking to on this not so fine day?" Trixie asked on her side.
"Hey Trixie, it's Sunset. Were you also invited to have dinner at Filthy Rich's place?"
"Indeed, I was. I'm just waiting for the drawbridge to go down so I can finally get in!"
"Drawbridge? Is that was this line is for?"
"If it wasn't, I'd already be at that manor drinking their fine, rich wine out of a state of the art wine glass!" Trixie complained.
Sunset suppressed a laugh. "How- How long have you been here for?"
"I'd say about... fifteen to twenty minutes."
"Yikes, and how many people were here then?"
"Not a whole lot. I think I saw that Wallflower girl when I arrived, though. I think she's like... two cars ahead of me."
"Oh, cool! Well, thanks, Trixie. I'll see you when we get in," Sunset concluded the conversation.
"See ya!" Trixie said before hanging up the phone.
Sunset put her phone back in her pocket and saw all of the girls staring at her. Knowing what they wanted to hear, she cleared her throat. "I think we're gonna be here for a while," she said. This answer got a groan from Rainbow Dash.
Another fifteen minutes later, everyone was still eagerly waiting for the bridge to drop and let everyone inside.
"Ugh!! When's this bridge going to drop?!" Rainbow complained.
"Ah reckon it'd be any minute now," Applejack responded.
"But you said that five minutes ago!" Rainbow continued to whine. She laid down on her seat making very bored and very immature moaning noises.
"Oh, have a little patience, Rainbow Dash. It could have been worse," Rarity tried reassuring.
"How, exactly? How could it be any worse than waiting here while nothing happens in the middle of a storm?"
"You could have been here for thirty minutes or more in the pouring rain like most of these people."
Rainbow just looked at Rarity confusingly as if she was just being dumb. "That's still as bad. What are you talking about?"
"Look, Rainbow Dash, I promise the wait's going to be worth it once we get in. Just hang in there a little longer, okay?" Sunset said while looking over the back of her seat over to Rainbow's.
"Ah don't think she'll need to anymore, Sunset," Applejack said from the front seat.
Everyone looked out of the windscreen. They could see the line of cars was beginning to finally move forward. Applejack started the engine again and away they all went, along with a few excited cheers coming from them all.
Now, they could all finally see the mansion. Their mouths all fell upon as they looked. Rarity's expression was that of pure and utter amazement.
"That's a, uhh, pretty big house..." Fluttershy said, breaking the silence.
"It's positively beautiful!" Rarity exclaimed, not able to hold in the sheer joy she felt anymore.
Just beyond the bridge they were about to cross, there was the mansion. Three stories high, not even including the attic, and even wider than about six houses. It was the biggest building that any of them had ever seen.
They arrived at the front lawn, which was also very large. There was a large fountain in the middle, which didn't look as pretty as it should due to the storm, with more than enough parking space around it for everyone.
"There's a lot of people here," Twilight pointed out.
"My guess is he invited literally everyone that played a part in the magic catastrophes," replied Sunset.
Pinkie pressed her face against a window to see if she could recognise anyone through the rain. She happily gasped when she saw someone. "Guys! I think I see Juniper and her uncle!"
Immediately everyone else, apart from Applejack, looked out of the same window to find Juniper Montage.
"Right over... there!" Pinkie pointed towards a small but relatively nice looking green car.
But then, another car caught Rarity's eye, and she also gasped when she realised who it was. "Oh my gosh! It's Vignette Valencia!"
"Her again?" Applejack asked jokingly.
Rarity didn't catch on with the joke and looked back at Applejack confusingly. "What do you mean 'Her again'? I thought you liked her now."
Applejack laughed. "Ah'm kiddin'! Ah do like her now... somewhat."
Sunset squinted hard through the rain. There was another car that she recognised. "Is that... Flash? What was he invited for? He never really played a part in the magic incidents, did he?"
Everyone tried looking back at their memories of Flash.
"Well... he was your boyfriend," Rarity pointed out.
"And he did have feelings for Princess Twilight," Rainbow Dash added.
"Other than that?" Sunset asked.
Nobody else talked. None of them had any past memories other than the only inclusion of Flash in anything was always just some sort of love plot.
Finally, the bus came to a complete stop; Applejack had found a parking spot.
"Alright y'all, when this door opens, we jus' book it to th' door, alright?" Applejack said, standing up from her seat.
"I'm not really in good running wear, Darling," Rarity brought up.
"You want me t'uh carry you, then?"
Rarity blushed. "If you wouldn't mind..."
Applejack pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, for the love of... fine." She walked over to Rarity and picked her up, carrying her with one arm under her legs and the other under her back. Rarity wrapped her arms around Applejack's neck to hold herself up.
"The one day I don't have my geode," Rainbow said, really annoyed and mad. She now had to suffer the wetness outside along with everyone else.
"We ready now?" Applejack asked to be certain.
Everyone nodded in unison.
"Then let's go!"
Everyone began running out of the bus and made their way to the front door.
The rain fell down like bullets from the sky. Everyone was continuously shot by the pellets as their boots and shoes sank into the muddy path, making squishing and smacking noises after each step.
The girls all ran up the small stairway and pressed themselves at the door, where they were sheltered by a balcony sitting above. Despite being out in the rain for barely ten seconds, all of the girls were drenched. They tried to shake themselves dry like dogs which didn't help all too much. After they were done shaking and wringing out their hair, the seven of them all turned towards the door that stood in front of them.
"Do we just go in?" Fluttershy asked, gazing at the sheer size of the door.
"I don't see why not. I mean, we are the guests after all," Rainbow said, reaching for the door handle that separated them from the inside they were about to witness.
But just before Rainbow Dash's hand landed on the handle, the door began opening. It was opened by a well dressed man on the other side, wearing a black tuxedo with a black bowtie. The man was bald with a brown handlebar mustache.
"You must be the remaining guests," he said to them all. He stepped out of the way, gesturing for them all to enter the mansion.
The girls all stepped inside. They currently stood in an incredibly large main hall. There was a giant set of stairs near the back that lead up to the second and third floor, with paths going both left and right on each floor.
As well as them in the hall, there was all of the other guests that had arrived. There were the ones they already knew of, Juniper and her uncle, Trixie, Wallflower, Vignette and Flash. But among them, the girls also saw the Shadowbolts of Canterlot's former rival school, Crystal Prep Academy: Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest. There was also, for some reason, one of the school's most infamous duo, Snips and Snails. There was also the runners of Camp Everfree, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce.
And finally, trying to hide themselves in a corner, Sunset caught sight of the trio of girls the seven had never had redeemed, the Dazzlings: Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. The three of them looked very uncomfortable. They stared at the Rainbooms with both fear and shame.
"Filthy Rich must know of these incidents really well if he invited all of these guys," Sunset whispered to Twilight.
The Rainbooms stepped towards the large crowd of people. The girls were all happy to see all of the people they managed to make amends with over the last few years.
Flash Sentry came walking up to the band. "So, you all were invited to, huh?" Flash asked them.
"Well, of course! We are pretty much the guests of honour and all," Rainbow Dash said confidently, crossing her arms. The other six just rolled their eyes at her and giggled.
Pinkie stepped away and went towards the smallest of all the guests.
"You two are probably the last ones I'd expect to get invited to a party like this," she told Snips and Snails.
"What? You hatin'?" Snips said back with his annoying, snotty voice while stepping towards her confidently.
Pinkie shook her hands. "Oh, no! No! It's just... what parts did you two play during a magic thingy?"
Snails stepped forward beside his short friend, holding a finger up. "We were Sunset's old lackeys-"
"Very trustworthy coworkers!" Snips interrupted. He stepped in front of Snails to get Pinkie to look at him again. "We were her coworkers who would do everything she asked without question!"
Pinkie raised an eyebrow at them. "Really? Because it seemed as though she bossed you two around quite harshly. Doesn't exactly put the 'co' in 'coworkers', not gonna lie."
"Yeah?! W-Well..." Snips couldn't find a retort. "Y-You're-!"
"Snips, just let it go," Snails whispered to him. "I don't think we got this."
Snips looked down sadly but then looked back up at Pinkie Pie with anger. "This isn't the last you'll hear from the mighty Snips and Snails, Pie!" The duo then walked away.
Pinkie was left expressionless. "Yeesh, I can't help but feel a little bad now." She turned and walked back to her group of friends.
Sunset went and found Trixie. "So, still excited to drink some fine wine out of a state of the art wine glass?" Sunset jokingly asked Trixie, trying to mimic what she imagined a fancy person sounded like.
Trixie casted a sly grin. "Hmph. Well, duh! I want to make sure I didn't come here for nothing!"
They both laughed with eachother. Then Wallflower came up to them. Sunset smiled brightly when she saw the gardener.
"Hey Wallflower!" Sunset greeted. "How are you?"
"I've been doing great, thanks!" Wallflower happily responded. "Ever since you and your friends showed me that it's better to live passed our mistakes, I've been making such great friends, and the gardening club has loads of new members."
"That's great to hear. I'm very happy for you."
Twilight went towards the group of girls from her old school. "So, how's Crystal Prep been since we last talked?"
"Really just the same. School is still school no matter who's running it," Sugarcoat responded. "Other than that, I can't complain so much."
"When is it you're having that cruise trip again?" Twilight asked another question.
"Less than two weeks now," Sunny Flare answered. "I can't stress enough how excited we all are for it!"
"Yeah! It's gonna be so sweet!" Indigo Zap added, fist bumping the air.
"Yeah! So sweet not even Sour can complain!" Lemon Zest pointed a thumb over to Sour Sweet.
Sour Sweet crossed her arms while giving a very annoyed humph. "I do look on the brighter side of things, you know," she said. She then gave Lemon a stare of death. "But say that about me again and your head's going on a pipe!"
The crowd waited a little longer for something to happen. They continued talking amongst eachother, but some of them began to get a little impatient and feet began tapping on the ground. Then, their attention was pulled to the top of the stairs by a loud voice.
"Hello there, people of Canterlot! I'm glad you could all come to my little dinner party! Especially you, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce!"
"Don't think this changes much, Rich! You're very lucky we're so nice!" Timber Spruce called back. He received a punch in the arm by his sister, Gloriosa Daisy.
Filthy Rich chose to ignore Timber and slowly began walking down the stairs. He continued where he left off, "Over the last few years, Canterlot City has been met with many terrible incidences involving a once thought completely fictional substance, magic! At first, I didn't heed mind to it, I thought that people had been making up stories for benefit, but then more stories came up.
"From what I remember, there has been three incidents that took place at Canterlot High School, one at a Battle of the Bands, one at Camp Everfree, one at the mall and the most recent one, at the new Equestria Land.
"And what else that I know is that you all have taken part in at least one of those, and many of you had been rightfully stopped by more magic presented by these, here, seven girls." He pointed towards the Rainbooms. "I formally reach my hand out to shake with the leader of this group, who is..."
The girls looked between one another. Never before had they thought that there was a "leader" of their group.
"We... don't exactly have a leader, Mr. Rich," Sunset stepped forward and said. "We kind of all play equal parts."
Filthy Rich hummed surprisingly. "Well then, I reach my hand out to shake with yours, Miss...?"
"Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer," Sunset finished for him, shaking the presented hand. Rarity's jaw fell to the floor as she walked their hands shake.
"Miss Sunset Shimmer! It is an absolute pleasure to let you into my home. Now! If you all would like to follow me, I will lead you to the dining area." Filthy Rich walked out of the crowd and everyone followed on behind him.
Rarity caught up to Sunset, and stared at her with the same face of disbelief. Sunset raised her eyebrow at her. "...What?" She asked.
"Y-You shook the hand of the Filthy Rich!" Rarity replied, looking as though she could faint at any moment.
Sunset looked down at the hand she shook with. Didn't look so special. She then looked back up at Rarity and held the same hand out at her. "You want it?"
"Do I want what?" Rarity asked, confused with the gesture.
"His handshake. Do you want to take it?"
Sunset, along with all of the other girls, began laughing. Rarity, who had caught on with the joke, shook Sunset's hand. It wasn't as special, what with shaking the hand that shook a famous man's hand, but Rarity appreciated it nonetheless.
When the laughter subsided, Sunset looked behind her and saw the Dazzlings keeping their distance from the crowd. The looks on all of their faces, mainly Adagio's, didn't look exactly friendly. Sunset wondered if they changed at all since they were last seen.
Adagio noticed Sunset looking at her and Sunset quickly faced forward again. If it was anyone Sunset was nervous of causing a scene with, it was definitely Adagio Dazzle.
"Are you okay, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked, placing a hand on Sunset's shoulder to get her attention.
"Yeah, it's just... them," Sunset replied very quietly. She threw her eyes behind her, pointing Fluttershy to the irredeemed trio.
Fluttershy looked in the pointed direction. The Dazzlings were looking at the Rainbooms with anything but a happy face.
Fluttershy turned back around, understanding Sunset's noticeable nervousness. "Oh, I see..."
Applejack came over and lightly nudged Sunset with her elbow. "Never you mind them, Sugarcube. They won't be causin' any trouble tonight. They're as about as powerless as a rabbit 'gainst a wolf."
"I know that. It's just..." Sunset didn't know what to say. She just felt uncomfortable, but she didn't want that to ruin the dinner. So, she sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't even pay them any attention. If anything happens, I'll just deal with it then."
They all walked into the dining area. There was a long, stretched table with more than enough seats for everyone. The Rainbooms seated themselves all next to each other and everyone else sat in the remaining seats either beside or in front of the girls.
At the end of the table closest to the front window was a more throne looking chair, which turned out to be the one specifically assigned for Filthy Rich, but he hadn't sat down yet. Instead, he walked to the back end of the room, where there was another door.
"I will check up with the kitchens for the progress of everyone's dinners," Filthy Rich explained, turning back to the crowded table just before he left the room. "In the mean time, chat amongst yourselves, and I will return quickly."
And then, the room fell silent. Everyone just looked at eachother. A lot of people here, some didn't recognise at all.
Juniper Montage turned to her left and saw a green haired and skinned girl. She casted a smile over at her and waved. "Hi. I'm Juniper Montage. What's your name?"
Wallflower blushed slightly and played with her hair with an embarrassing smile. "Umm, h-hello. My name's, uhh... W-Wallflower Blush."
"So, uhh..." Juniper tried looking for a random conversation topic. "... how did the Rainbooms defeat you?"
Now everyone's was paid onto Juniper for her strange question. This didn't go unnoticed by her.
"What? If we're all gonna connect we might as well tell our stories with the Rainbooms if we have any," Juniper tried to explain. "It's not that bad-"
"Alright, I'll tell you!" Wallflower interrupted. She turned her body to face Juniper comfortably. "Basically, a few years ago, I found this old stone that could erase memories. At first I used it to save myself so much embarrassment, but that only led to people forgetting who I was entirely to the point they don't even notice me
"It made me so angry. I then realised the true potential the stone had. Even after her redemption, I never truly believed Sunset Shimmer was who she was now making herself to be. So, I used the stone to erase everyone's good memories of her, even her best friends, making her look like the jerk she use to be again.
"Eventually, she found out what I was doing and confronted me about it and, unfortunately for me, her friends were there. I was about to go above and beyond and erase her friends' memories of high school, but then Sunset jumped in front of them, making her lose her own memories.
"After that, her friends realise that only another friend would sacrifice themself like that. So they all began glowing, had very glittery outfits and they destroyed the stone, letting all of the other memories free."
"Did they forgive you?" Juniper asked.
That made Wallflower laugh. "Who don't they forgive?" Then that question made everyone else begin laughing, all except the Dazzlings, who still tried to hide themselves at the far corner of the table.
After the laughter calmed down, Juniper turned back to the table. "Anyone else have some villain stories?" She then pointed at Vignette who, of course, was on her phone. "Miss Valencia, I've heard that the Rainbooms had to stop you just very recently. What happened?"
Vignette looked up from her phone and visibly tried to remember what happened. "They, like, stabbed a shiny whip through my totally cursed phone." Then she went back to her phone.
Everyone stared at her like they were waiting for more.
"Is that it?" Snips asked rudely.
That was only responded with a shrug from Vignette.
"Okay then... anyone else?" Juniper asked, praying for another good story.
"I do!" Gloriosa Daisy announced, throwing her hand in the air.
Everyone else, including Twilight, shared their stories. It was a good moment to really get to know one another and for the Rainbooms, it was a good time to look back on their past adventures with eachother. All of the bad that they banished from others and the friends they continued to make.
However, the Dazzlings still kept to themselves. They had yet to say anything at all.
Eventually, Filthy Rich returned and behind him came in many chefs that presented each guest with a plate. It was a professionally seared steak with a side of mashed potatoes that had sprinkles of herb and chopped up carrots, all covered in gravy. The chefs also presented with many bottles of wine, which each guest held up their glasses to have some.
Trixie was especially excited when she held up her glass.
"Now, we can truly begin the main event," Rich announced, having his glass being filled up. "While I was gone, I heard that you all were exchanging stories about your magical encounters. A question that came to mind was where it all came from." He took a sip of his wine while he awaited a response.
Everyone then turned to the Rainbooms, specifically Sunset Shimmer, for an answer.
Rich followed everyone's looks. "I take you seven know?" he asked.
Sunset cleared her throat. "We do, it's just... it's a pretty crazy story." She laughed nervously.
"Oh, do tell me! I'm all ears."
"Well, okay, so, umm... basically... the magic came from a portal that's hidden somewhere. The portal leads to a world that's full of that magic called Equestria, which is a world inhabited by ponies and other mythical creatures."
"I see. And how do you know so much about this world, 'Equestria'?" Rich was very excited to hear this part.
"Uuh! Well... funny story... again! But... hehe..." Sunset didn't like this question at all. Most people just thought she was a regular girl and Sunset didn't plan on letting anyone else know about her old life. Nor did she want to tell people about the portal's location. So what was she to do?
Rainbow put up her hand. Rich now looked at her. "Basically when the first ever magical incident happened, we had the assistance of an expert of magic from Equestria," she explained.
"Oh, really?" Rich asked, intrigued on where this was going.
"Yup!" Rainbow nodded. "And she told us stories about their culture and a little bit about their mythology the second time she came when the sirens attacked."
"I see, but how does more magic keep on showing itself, causing more mayhem?"
Rainbow looked down at Twilight and silently asked her, "You mind if I talk about Midnight Sparkle for a minute?"
"No, but why?" Twilight asked Rainbow.
Rainbow jumped back up straight, completely ignoring Twilight. "Okay, so, I take it you know about the incident that happened at the Friendship Games?"
Rich nodded.
"Right, so when Midnight Sparkle was causing some destruction, she ripped some holes in reality and through those holes, you could see Equestria. Now, what I think happened was that the magic in that world came through those holes and got trapped in our world, and now there's just a lot of magic going around," Rainbow finally finished.
Sunset just looked at Rainbow confusingly with a lowered eyebrow. None of them knew exactly how more magic came through, but she was sure it wasn't like that. She looked back at Filthy Rich and he, surprisingly, looks like he's believing the story.
"So what I can understand from there is that after those events, magic began polluting people within the city?" Rich asked for good measure.
"Yup, and ever since, we have been the ones to take care of it," Rainbow said confidently, making sure she looked tough for all of the crowd.
"I see, and could you please give us all an example of how you deal with the magic?"
Rainbow's tough minute suddenly fell as the realisation came. "Uhh, well, we can't because we didn't bring our geodes that gives us our powers. We didn't exactly think we'd need them at a dinner."
"I brought mine," Sunset suddenly said, holding up the small red jewel around her neck.
Rich's eyes widened with excitement. "Amazing! And what is your magical ability?"
"I have the ability to see into people's memories whenever I touch them. So I can identify whether someone's committed a crime, how they did it or why they did it. It's pretty nice and I always have it with me," Sunset explained, looking at the geode as well as everyone. "Would you like me to use it?"
"Oh, please do," Rich said while holding out his arm.
Sunset got up from her chair and walked over to Filthy Rich. "Okay, now think of a memory, anything at all, and I'll tell you what it is."
Sunset then placed her hand on Rich's arm and her eyes began glowing white and barely a second later, they went back to normal.
"You were thinking about writing the letters to this dinner," she told him, her voice lacking any emotion.
Filthy Rich smiled and looked to everyone else at the table. "She's right!" he announced happily. His response had Sunset be met with a round of applause while she went back to her seat.
Everyone then began eating their dinner. Trixie, after a few glasses of wine, stretched across the table and whispered to Sunset, asking if that really was what he was thinking. Sunset told her yes and lightly pushed her back to her seat. Trixie then requested another refill on her drink.
"So I hope you don't mind me asking." Juniper's uncle, Canter Zoom, began talking. "But I can't help but realise that your wife and daughter aren't joining us. Is there a reason?"
"Actually, there is," Rich said. "You see, my wife, Spoiled Rich, and my daughter, Diamond Tiara, are currently out of town at the moment. Which is why I wanted to have this dinner on such short notice."
Outside, the storm only worsened. After a lightning strike, everyone, including Filthy Rich, looked out the big window behind Rich.
"Doesn't look like this storm'll be passin' anytime soon," Applejack commented.
"Indeed," Rich agreed. "I'd hate for any of you all to drive home in that mess."
Trixie's hand then shot up. "Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and almost falling over. "How about we have a sleepover?"
"Are you okay?" Flash asked the witch.
"Never better. Burp. Why?"
"I think she's drunk," Sugarcoat cared to mention. "She has been asking for a lot of refills on her glass."
"Well, what would you do if you were practically given very rich wine? Not drink it?!" Trixie complained, glaring at Sugarcoat who remained expressionless.
"Not completely intoxicate myself for starters."
Trixie shrugged and then belched. "Your... loss, honey!" She then laughed. "So, how's about that sleepover, rich boy?"
The name made Filthy Rich also laugh. When he finished, he pointed a suggestive finger upwards. "Well, I can't let you drive in that storm, that and also you," he pointed towards Trixie, "my dear, are in no condition to be driving a vehicle at all. So, I guess you will have to stay until this all ends."
"How long will this storm even last?" Gloriosa asked.
"Ah'm gonna guess that it could last about the night," Applejack answered. "Ya got any guest rooms that could hold us all, Mr. Rich?"
"Indeed I do. I'll happily take you all there once we've all finished our meals." Filthy Rich concluded the conversation and everyone turned back to their still unfinished plates.
Filthy Rich took everyone upstairs into a hall of guest rooms. There were six rooms, each with six beds inside. Everyone split themselves into separate groups and chose a different guest room. Sunset, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Trixie were all one group. Sunset had to assist Trixie so that she didn't hurt herself going up any stairs.
They were shown where they'd be staying for the night and were left to themselves afterwards.
"Wait. We don't even have our pyjamas. How are we supposed to sleep?" Rainbow asked in an annoying realisation.
"Ye can go one night sleepin' in yer clothes, Rainbow Dash. It ain't the end of the world," Applejack firmly told her. "Now, who's sleepin' where?"
There were six beds to choose from. None of them were different from the rest. They were all single beds with white bedding and pillows and brown, wooden bed frames.
"Now here's an amazing idea." Trixie stepped forward, slurring on some of her words. "What if, now hear me out, we... take the mattresses and build a fort? Huh?" She looked to the other three girls to see if they were catching on with her idea.
Sunset laughed and put her hands on Trixie's shoulders from behind. "How about you get yourself an early night, Trixie? See how you're feeling in the morning?"
Trixie shook Sunset off in a moodily fashion. "Don't you tell me what to
Burp do! I'm going to the bathroom!"
"Need any help?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm perfect-illy fine by myself, thank you very much." Trixie stormed out the door.
The other five all stood in silence, just staring at the door Trixie had just left through.
"Is no one going to comment on how she said 'perfectly'?" Rarity brought up.
Everyone else shook heir heads and retreated to the beds. Sunset unclipped her geode and placed it in the drawer beside her bed. She always had a little fear that she would accidentally break it in her sleep.
"No one's even going to go after her in case anything happens to her?" Rarity also asked.
Rainbow Dash waved her hand up and down at her. "Ack, she'll be fine. There's maids, like, all over this mansion. They'll be there for her when she needs it."
"Ya sure about those maids?" Applejack asked. "'Cause Ah haven't seen one since we got here. All Ah did see, though, were those chefs."
Then, the lights began flickering. The storm outside was messing with the mansion's power.
Trixie had been gone for ten minutes and still hadn't returned. Everyone was wondering if anything had happened to her.
"Do you think that she may have been sick from all of those glasses she drank?" Fluttershy considered.
"That's probably the most possible option," Rarity replied. "I just hope she's alright."
"Why don't we go look for her? See if she's alright ourselves?" Applejack suggested, getting up from her bed.
Everyone looked at eachother, then back at Applejack and gave her all agreeing nods. They all got out of bed and walked out the door. The light of the moon shined through the window into the dark hallway. The girls walked in the only direction they could go which led to the stairs.
Further into the hall, something caught Applejack's eye. "Hey y'all, look at this." She pointed towards shards she saw on the floor. It looked like a vase had been broken.
"Oh my. What happened here?" Rarity wondered.
"Maybe Trixie accidentally knocked it down when she was walking by," Rainbow said.
Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash, gesturing towards the vase. "But you'd think she'd have gotten someone to do something about it, right? Why would she just leave it?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Beats me. She probably didn't even notice."
"But she would have heard it break," Fluttershy added, making it seem more unlikely.
While everyone was analysing the situation, Sunset stepped out of their way and looked out from the wooden railing into the main hall down below, hoping that she'd see Trixie just aimlessly wandering around.
She looked directly down and suddenly screamed.
The rest of the girls immediately turned around and checked on Sunset. They all looked to where Sunset was looking and they all very loudly gasped.
On the bottom floor, laying there completely immobile in a pool of her own blood... was Trixie.
Sunset barged passed her friends and frantically ran down the stairs. She got down to her knees when she arrived at the corpse.
"Trixie?! TRIXIE!" Sunset shouted with tears running like a waterfall. She shook her shoulders, praying to God that she would respond.
The door on the other side of the room blew open.
"What's going on?" Filthy Rich asked, shouting with concern. He ran towards the bawling, kneeling Sunset and his eyes widened at the dead body.
Sunset's screams were loud enough to get the attention of every other guest, so everyone else gathered closely behind her.
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
"Is that a body?!"
Many questions were asked, but Sunset didn't hear any. Not one. All she could hear was her heartbeat pounding right out of her chest and her heavy breathing from her crying. Her throat already hurt from the crying, but she didn't care. Trixie, a good friend of Sunset's, had died.
"Miss Shimmer! What happened?!" Sunset could hear Filthy Rich shout to her, but Sunset couldn't respond. Not now.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to pick Sunset up by both of her arms. Sunset didn't fight back. She didn't even take her eyes off of the body.
Filthy Rich, after getting a good look at the body, stood up and turned to the crowd of people. He put his hands forward.
"Return to your rooms, everyone. We don't know what has happened, but I assure you, we will have this dealt with," Rich explained, speaking loudly through the crowd's murmurs.
Sunset still completely focused on the body. Her breathing didn't slow down nor did it weaken. She tried to look through Trixie's shut eyes just to see their colour again, but that brought her eyes to somewhere else on her face. Her forehead... there was blood spilling from it...
Sunset's head was suddenly feeling light. Her heavy breathing made her feel like she could pass out at any second. She could barely see herself being carried back up the stairs now.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash took her back into their room and sat her on her bed.
"Sunset. Please try to calm down," Applejack tried to tell her.
Sunset's eyes shot up at Applejack. Her pupils looked like ants now.
"How am I supposed to calm down, Applejack?!" Sunset fumed. "I just saw one of my friends laying on a marble floor dead! And you're telling me to be calm?!"
"Listen, Ah know you were Trixie's closest friend for quite some time now and Ah realise that you're hurtin' quite bad, but you're gonna badly hurt yourself unless you calm down. Breath with me, okay?"
Sunset nodded.
Applejack took a deep breath in and Sunset followed her. Then she breathed out, which Sunset also copied. They continued to breath together until Applejack was sure Sunset had calmed down.
Rarity handed Sunset a pack of handkerchiefs that she had in her handbag and Sunset used it to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.
"Ya feel any better, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, giving Sunset a sympathetic smile.
"Yeah, I do," Sunset replied, still wiping her soaking eyes. "Thanks Applejack, you too, Rarity and Rainbow."
She leaned forward and gave the three other girls in the room a hug.
Their room door opened again and in came all of the other guests. They all looked at Sunset, each all sporting the same sad look on their faces.
"Is she alright?" Sunny Flare pulled Applejack aside to ask.
"She's calmed down. She kinda erupted at me before y'all came in, but Ah can't blame her for that," Applejack explained, turning back at Sunset who was talking to some other guests. "Sunset was basically Trixie's best friend after the whole memory stone thing, so Ah can understand her takin' it worse than everyone else."
"Oh Sunset, I'm so sorry," Twilight said with a sorrowful voice, hugging Sunset.
Sunset hugged Twilight back. She didn't want to speak as it may cause her to start crying harder again. Sunset's eyes continued to rain to the point they were very puffy and red.
"Does anyone have any idea of how she could have... y'know?" Rainbow Dash tried asking.
"She was murdered," Sunset responded quickly after letting go of Twilight.
Everyone's sad looks almost immediately turned into confused stares.
"What makes you think Trixie was murdered?" Wallflower asked.
Sunset took another tissue and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes before standing up.
"I know she was murdered, because her forehead had been bashed by something, and there's a broken vase out in the hall where she would have fallen. Trixie didn't get herself killed, someone had to have done it."
"But who would want to kill Trixie?" Fluttershy gave the most important question.
No one spoke after that was asked. No one would have expected for anyone to have an intention to murder others. But maybe the search for the murderer didn't need to last long.
Sunset turned to the drawer beside her bed. She opened it and searched around for her geode, but it wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Hey, has anyone seen where my geode is?" Sunset asked, still looking all around inside the drawer.
"I'm pretty sure you did leave it in there," Rainbow Dash reminded her.
"Well, it's not here now!" Sunset could not believe this. A desperate time where she needed her powers and it was gone. She then looked all around her bed. She checked under, she threw off the duvet and pillows. Still no sign of it. She then turned back to the other guests. "It's gone!"
"There's a murderer on the loose!" Lemon Zest shouted which caused her and all of the other Shadowbolts to scream.
"Everyone calm down!" Applejack shouted over them. They stopped their screaming immediately and turned to Applejack. "How do we know if this is actually a murderer? Now, Ah'm not denyin' that someone killed Trixie, but what if it was a complete accident and they jus' can't open up to it? No need to jump to conclusions."
"Then tell me this, how do you accidentally hit someone on the head with a vase to where it shatters? I don't think you can do that without an intention," Sunset said with a lot of sass.
The lights began flickering again. The storm outside was continuously getting worse by the minute.
"Well, Ah guess you're right there, but why would anyone want to in the first place? Did Trixie ever have any enemies? Did she do anythin' to anyone recently?"
"No, I don't think so. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that the murderer is any one of us." Sunset looked to everyone else. "Was everyone in their rooms before she died? Give me a show of hands."
Sunset then heard a tsk coming from somewhere in the back of the crowd. Sunset looked to where it came from and saw it was from Adagio.
"Honestly, if you really think the murderer is just going to reveal themselves like that then you're an awful detective," the siren leader criticised. "Who would fall for anything like that?"
"Well, where were you when it happened Miss I Like to Hide In Corners?" Sunset bluntly retorted with.
"Trying to sleep this dreadful night away. I'd like to spend as little time here as possible, thank you very much." Adagio crossed her arms and turned her head to the side.
"Why are you even here then if you hate is so much?" Sunset crossed her arms too, not going away from the cross, focused look she had staring at Adagio.
Adagio moaned. "It's because of her." She pointed an angry finger towards her blue haired, taco loving sister, Sonata Dusk. "When we got our letter, Sonata just so happened to be the first one to read it, and when I said at first that we weren't going, she wouldn't stop crying at me for the rest of the day. So, I gave in because I knew I'd never heard the end of it. Now I just want to leave."
Something didn't sit too right with Sunset, however. As far as she knew, the Dazzlings were still as evil as ever. "How can I be sure that you weren't the one's that killed Trixie?" she proceeded to ask.
This actually caused Adagio to grin. "Hah! If I wanted to kill anyone, I'd probably do it ways you couldn't even imagine. However, I'm not really the 'murderous type'. That and we had a witness. Three of them, in fact."
Adagio pointed towards Wallflower, Juniper and Vignette.
Sunset turned to the three of them with a lowered eyebrow and asked, "Is this true?"
The three girls nodded.
"We were with them, but the blue haired one, whatever her name is, had left to find a bathroom not long before we heard Sunset scream," Juniper added.
Everyone suddenly turned towards Sonata. Each of them, apart from her sisters, casting an infuriated glare. They all began slowly approaching Sonata.
Sonata began walking backwards towards the wall, waving her hands with worry. "Woah, woah, hey! I'd never hurt anyone!" she tried to defend herself. "I mean, sure yeah, me and my sisters were never really reformed like most of you were, but I haven't tried to hurt or kill anyone since! I swear!"
"How can we trust you?!" Sour Sweet could be heard shouting.
Sonata slid down the wall she was now at, covering her face with her arms like she was bracing for impact. "Because I've tried to become a better person ever since!"
Everyone suddenly stopped. All of their nasty stares turned into curious looks.
"Wait. Really?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Sonata slowly nodded, looking on the verge of crying. "Ever since we lost, I already knew we were done for. So, I tried to improve my image ever since," she explained. "I wanted my own redemption even if I wasn't likely to get it from any of the Rainbooms. But I swear to you on my life, I didn't kill Trixie."
Everyone could only just look at her then. They didn't know if they could properly trust her, but at the same time, she sounded sincere.
Sunset then began to walk to Sonata by herself. She crouched down to look her directly in the eye. "Can we trust you?" she asked.
Sonata nodded, looking directly back into Sunset's eyes.
Sunset tried looking deeper inside of her, to see any sort of strange thing that would show she was lying. But they only stared at eachother.
Smiling, Sunset stood back up and turned to the crowd. "I trust her. I don't believe she killed Trixie?"
"Then who did?" Twilight calmly asked.
Sunset sighed. "I don't know, and without my powers, I don't see how we're going to find out so easily. However, it's not impossible to do it the old fashioned way."
"What are you proposing?" Canter then asked, pointing at Sunset.
Sunset crossed her arms with confidence. "I say we find the murderer ourselves. We'll search the whole mansion, see if they're still here and if they left any clues behind."
Applejack then stepped forward. "Ah say we travel in groups. That way we can cover more ground faster."
"Good idea, Applejack. Now, how many of us are there?" Sunset stood up on the closest bed and started counting heads. "...twenty-two, twenty-three. Then there's myself, so that's twenty-four. So, we'll have six groups of four. Get into those now."
Everyone then began trying to find a group. Sunset teamed up with Applejack, Wallflower and Juniper. The other teams were: Adagio, Aria, Sonata and Canter Zoom.
Rainbow Dash, Gloriosa, Indigo Zap and Vignette.
Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
Snips, Snails, Rarity and Timber Spruce.
And the last team was Fluttershy, Flash Sentry, Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet.
"Alright everyone. We'll all go to the main hall and then split up. We will all meet back here, though. Got it?"
Everyone, in unison, all said 'Got it!' and they then all walked to the main hall. Trixie's body was still there and Sunset tried all she could to not look at her. But if it was anything Sunset was planning to do, it was avenge her.
Filthy Rich, however, wasn't there anymore. He must have left to call the police or something. So something was already being done.
Everyone stayed in their groups, looking at the different paths that could be taken. There were four paths on the bottom floor alone, and there was likely a lot more on the two upper floors and the attic. Potentially, everyone would be searching all night.
"So, who's going where?" Sunset asked everyone, clapping her hands together. "What with how big this place is, we should probably have about two teams on each floor. So my team will start off down here."
"We'll stay down here and search too," Juniper's uncle stepped forward to announce. Sonata smiled with excitement, despite their given situation.
"We'll take the second floor," Rainbow Dash announced.
"Us too!" Pinkie threw up her hand, fist-pumping the air.
"Guess that means we both have the top floor, then," Rarity said to Fluttershy.
"Guess so. Well, good luck to everyone," Fluttershy finished for everyone. She gave a thumbs up. "And... please be careful."
"Don't worry, Fluttershy. Now, let's all go then!" Sunset and her team turned to the right side of the mansion. "Remember, we meet back in the bedroom if anything happens."
After Sunset had finished, each team went to their assigned locations to search for any clues or the murderer themself.
Snips, Snails, Rarity and Timber searched one half of the top floor. Snips and Snails were taking their job too seriously by looking around corners and rolling to safe spots like cops. They even had finger guns at the ready. Rarity and Timber just watched them do it and didn't say a thing.
Rarity sighed. "So, what kind of clues are we supposed to be finding anyway?" she asked.
"Beats me." Timber shrugged. "Personally, I think that this murderer is the kind to use their environments to kill. For example, the vase that we found broken."
"Well, I personally think that this isn't even a murderer we're dealing with at all. If anything, it's a robber that Trixie ran into." Rarity looked towards the wooden floorboards. "Maybe Applejack was right about the whole jumping to conclusions thing."
"Still, someone killed her, and we should find out who and bring them down, right?" Timber held the back of his head with his hands.
"Oh, absolutely! I'm not denying that we should. It's just... maybe there's not as much to this story as everyone thinks."
"Meh. Only time will tell."
"Guys! Focus!" Snips moaned at the older ones. Him and Snails sat in a corner before a turn in the hallway, finger guns still pointing. "We are trying to catch a murderer! You have to learn to be more stealthy!"
Rarity and Timber just looked at eachother with amused, confused faces and then began to laugh a little.
Then there was another lightning strike, and the lights flickered worse than ever before.
Fluttershy, Flash, Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet searched the other half of the top floor. Fluttershy stuck close by to Flash after lightning just struck.
"The lightning keeps getting worse," Fluttershy brought up, shaking a little.
"Yeah, but at least the power's still on," Flash said reassuringly.
And at that moment, all of the lights around them went out, leaving the team in the darkness. Fluttershy yelped and hid behind Flash.
"Oh, thank you for bringing that up, Flash!" Sour Sweet said with the upmost sweetness, clasping her hands together. It, however, wasn't long lived as her face suddenly turned very sour and she began drooping her head. "Now we're stuck in the dark!"
"Sorry. Very inconvenient timing there." Flash laughed embarrassingly. He looked behind him and saw Fluttershy furiously shaking. "You okay there, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy shook her head very quickly, making it hard for Flash to understand if she even did shake it or not, but he got the message and proceeded to grab her wrists gently.
"Try to calm down. You're stronger than this, I know it," Flash said to her reassuringly.
Fluttershy gulped. "O-Okay," she said quietly and shakily. She took a few deep breaths and tried clearing her mind to get rid of the nerves.
"Geez, you're pretty quick, Sunny," Sour Sweet called out to Sunny Flare, who continued walking down the hall, leaving everyone else behind. "Mind slowing it down?!"
Sunny Flare turned back to her schoolmate. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty focused on finding this person. So, if you wouldn't mind..." She turned back around and continued walking.
"W-Wait! We're supposed to stay together!" Fluttershy pointed out, getting a little calmer.
Sunny moaned and turned again. "Then hurry your asses, people! If you don't want to be murdered as well, you'll keep going!"
That caused Fluttershy to begin shaking again. Now accompanied by whimpering. But she still pressed forward to catch up with Sunny and Sour. Flash followed on behind her.
Rainbow Dash let out a groan as she slumped through the halls. She was annoyed she hadn't brung her geode.
"What's with you?" Indigo Zap asked, looking behind her with a confused look.
"If I had my powers, I'd have already searched this whole mansion from top to bottom, inside and out!" Rainbow explained.
"Why didn't you bring it?" Vignette now asked, very annoyed herself. "If you did, we wouldn't have to search this crappy mansion!"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I thought it was just gonna be a dinner and then we went home. I didn't think we'd do... this!" Rainbow threw her hands up, gesturing to the whole mansion.
Vignette sighed. "At least I still have my phone."
Rainbow, Indigo and Gloriosa then shot looks her way.
"Have you just been leaving us in the dark the whole time?!" Indigo almost shouted, stepping towards Vignette.
"What? Do you all not have yours?"
"Dead," Rainbow and Indigo said in exact unison.
"I didn't bring mine," Gloriosa admitted, rubbing her right arm with shame.
"Geez, none of you were prepared at all," Vignette shamed them all. She turned on her phone's torch and shined it in the direction they were walking in. "And people call me an idiot."
"What?!" Indigo now shouted, staring at the internet star with a very angered stare as she walked passed her.
Gloriosa put her hand on Indigo's shoulder, gaining the attention of the pissed individual. Gloriosa just shook her head at her, telling her it's not worth starting a conflict.
Indigo sighed deeply and they pressed on through the mansion.
Twilight, Pinkie, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest travelled the other half of the second floor. Pinkie seemed to be making sure she had an eye facing in every direction around her, as she kept spinning around, waiting for something to just jump put at her.
"Keep spinning like that and you'll get sick, making you more vulnerable against the murderer," Sugarcoat commented, not even glancing back as they walked.
Pinkie eeped and stopped her spinning almost immediately. If it was something she didn't plan on doing tonight, it was dying. So stayed close to Twilight who was more than happy to comfort her in the time of need.
"So, who do you guys think killed Trixie?" Lemon Zest asked, looking between all of the other girls.
"I don't really care who it is, I just want them to get what's coming to them," Sugarcoat replied.
"Then how are you supposed to know who did it?"
Sugarcoat then peered over her shoulder to look at Lemon with an annoyed look. "I didn't say I didn't care on finding the bastard. I just said I don't care who was the one that did it."
"Well, I think that the most likely candidates are those Dazzling girls, Wallflower or Juniper." Lemon counted the candidates with her fingers.
"Any reason why you think it's them?" Twilight asked. "I mean, do you even know any of them that well?"
"The Dazzlings, I think I understand, but the others you definitely just pulled out of your ass, Lemon," Sugarcoat remarked.
"Oh, screw you, Sugarcoat! I don't see you coming up with any candidates!"
"But I'm not just pulling names out of a hat and saying, 'Whoop! There's our murderer!'" Sugarcoat used a very mocking tone to clarify Lemon Zest's detective skills.
Lemon stopped walking, visibly hurt after what Sugarcoat said. Twilight and Pinkie put their hands on her shoulders and both threw her a comforting smile.
"You'd think she'd tone down her sassiness every once in a while," Pinkie whispered to the other two.
Lemon Zest sighed. "She's Sugarcoat, she's always got something to comment about."
"Listen, Lemon, I know you're trying to help, but it's not worth throwing around accusations," Twilight reassured her. "For all we know, the murderer probably isn't any one of us. So let's just... keep our heads going forward. Okay?"
Lemon Zest nodded. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking, honestly." She facepalmed her forehead gently.
"We're all pretty shaken up about all this," Pinkie said. "I mean, look at Sugarcoat. She's scared too."
"I am not scared!!" Sugarcoat shouted back. Even in the dark, everyone could tell she was blushing.
The girls, minus Sugarcoat, began laughing as they pressed forward. They still had a mission to do.
In terms of how successful everyone was, they were all as successful as eachother, which was not at all.
Sunset, Applejack, Wallflower and Juniper explored half of the bottom floor and so far, they turned out to be very unsuccessful. Nothing seemed to be too out of the ordinary.
They checked in all different rooms they came by and came out completely empty of any clues.
"Yeesh, you'd think a murderer would leave some kind of trace," Juniper commented. "I'm starting to question what it is we're actually looking for."
"I'm with Juniper," Wallflower said. "Whoever killed Trixie, it looks like they didn't leave anything behind. Almost like they're not even here anymore."
Sunset didn't want to admit it, but she began feeling quite doubtful as well. She figured she only wanted to go through with this plan because she acted fast and wanted to avenge her friend. She didn't think this through too well.
Sunset sighed with disappointment as she closed her eyes and looked downwards. She then began nodding her head slowly, but enough for everyone to notice.
"You're probably right." Sunset choked up on some of her words as she felt tears beginning to form again. She tried to force some kind of smile through. "I honestly don't know what I was thinking. This isn't like a movie where the killer would leave all kinds of clues behind to help us find him." She now found it really hard to not begin crying again. "I just gotta accept the fact that one of my friends is now dead and I can't-!"
"Hey, hey. Woah there," Applejack said softly. She hugged Sunset and rubbed her back slowly. "No one blames you for what you tried to do. We get it, you jus' wanted to do what was right, even if it didn't seem all too possible. Ah'll bet Trixie'd be proud 'a' what you tried to do. Tryin' to avenge her to make sure she didn't die in vain. You were a good friend to her, and you're showin' just how committed you are t'uh make sure you're friends get what's right. It's maybe the best you're gonna be able t'uh do, but it's still a lot."
A real smile slowly crept onto Sunset's face after Applejack had finished talking. Sunset hugged her tightly back. They held eachother for a moment before letting go. Sunset then wiped the stains away from around her eyes.
"Y'all good now?" Applejack asked with a soft smile.
"Yeah." Sunset still choked a bit when she spoke, but she was feeling better. "Thanks, AJ... again."
"It's no problem at all, Sunset." Applejack then placed her hands on her hips. "So, what's the plan now?"
"I want to find Filthy Rich, see if he has anyone to fix this power issue," Sunset explained. "Let's go, he might still be down here."
Applejack, Wallflower and Juniper followed on behind their leader. Since hey had already searched the majority of their half of the bottom floor, they decided to see if they could find Filthy Rich in the other half.
The four of them went back through into the main hall. There, they could then see that the door that lead into the dining room was opened a little and there was a flicker of an orange light coming from inside.
Sunset slowly pushed the door further open and peeked inside. She saw a lantern sitting on the table. She opened it further. "Mr. Rich? Are you in-?" Sunset then let out a loud gasp.
Her gasp caused everyone to push the door further open to see what was inside. They all shared the same shocked reaction as Sunset as they then saw.
In front of the side of the table facing them was the body of Filthy Rich laying on the floor, dead.
Applejack went over to him and placed two fingers on the underside of his wrist. She waited until she could feel something, anything. Her face saddened as she felt nothing in the end. "He's dead," she said.
"So, it is a murderer after all," Wallflower said, confirming it for real this time.
After managing to look away from Rich's body, Sunset noticed that the tablecloth looked as though it was pulled down the other side of the table. She went around, peering her head the corners to get a better look.
"But who? Who could have done this?!" Juniper asked, beginning to freak out.
Sunset peeked around the corner of the other side of the table. She gasped again to what was also there.
"J-Juniper..." Sunset called her.
"What is it?" Juniper asked, joining her around the table. When she saw what Sunset saw, her heart shattered. Her eyes were the size of pinpricks. Her breathing almost completely stopped. "U-U-Uncle Canter...?"
Juniper slowly and unsteadily walked closer. Her uncle, Canter Zoom, also laid on the floor dead with a knife in his back.
"No... No! No, NO!!" Juniper shouted as she immediately began crying. "UNCLE CANTER!!" She got down and hugged the lifeless corpse as her crying worsened. She started crying into his shoulder.
Sunset felt like she was about to be sick. Three. Three bodies now. There really is a murderer in this house.
Footsteps could be heard over Juniper's bawling. They were coming towards this room.
"What's going on?!" Sonata worryingly asked, coming in from the entrance to the right of where Sunset and her team came in. She was still with her sisters. "We could hear- Gasp!"
They all looked upon the dead bodies in the room. Canter's more than Rich's.
As soon as Juniper acknowledged the Dazzling's arrival, she immediately stood up with an enraged look. "WHY WASN'T HE WITH YOU?!" she screamed.
"I-I don't know," Sonata answered, stepping back further from the grieving girl. "We turned around and he was suddenly gone! We've been looking for him since!"
"And I see that the murderer also got Filthy Rich," Adagio pointed out. She crossed her arms. "Serves that bastard right."
Everyone, except Juniper who was barely listening, was confused
"Why? What did he do to the three of you?" Applejack asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know, cow girl!" Aria rudely said.
"What?!" Applejack shouted. She began going towards Aria with a look that said she wanted to fight. "Now y'all listen t'uh me! Ah don't-!"
"Not! Right! Now!" Wallflower jumped inbetween them, showing each of them one of her hands. "Two people have just been found dead! Leave the fighting for later!"
Aria mumbled something to herself and turned away.
"We have to meet everyone back at the bedroom," Sunset said. "Come on, let's rally everyone up." She left the dining room, everyone following behind her. She took the lantern that sat on the table.
All six teams were gathered back in Sunset's guest room. No one was told what had happened that had them all come back to base.
Everyone kept asking Sunset questions like "What happened?" and "Did you find any clues?"
Juniper laid down on a bed on the other side of the room, unable to get the image of her dead uncle out of her head.
Still being bombarded with questions, Sunset cleared her throat and spoke loudly. "If everyone could just stop with the questions, I'll tell you why we're back here!"
Everyone fell silent after that.
"Good. Now, while my team decided to scout the other side of the bottom floor, we saw a light coming in from the dining room. We went inside and..." Sunset's words hung in her throat. She looked over at Juniper, who had her back turned to them since they arrived. "...w-we found Filthy Rich and Canter Zoom... dead."
Everyone then beared a shocked expression. A few guests covering their mouths in shock, more guests turning back to look at Juniper.
"We did find a clue, though, but only one. The murderer had left a knife in Canter's back. If we make it through this, and trust that the murderer wasn't too careful, we could take it to the police and they could analyse fingerprints that could be on it," Sunset explained. "However, in the mean time, we should still try and figure out who it is."
"But how are we supposed to find out?" Snips asked. "All that time of searching and all we found was a knife! I hate to say it, Sunset, but I think we're all on our own here!"
"Exactly," Sunset responded.
Everyone looked at Sunset, not understanding what she meant with her response. Sunset took notice of this and continued to explain.
"Snips is right, we are literally on our own. I hate to say it, but... I think the murderer is in this room."
"But who would do such a thing?" Rarity asked.
Before Sunset answered, she looked between each of the guests. She would never expect anyone here to have any sort of murderous intention. So who?
"I don't know," Sunset answered. "If I had my geode, we'd be done with this by now, but it just had to go missing!" She was then hit with a realisation. "Everyone, turn in what's in your pockets."
Everyone complied and emptied their pockets of their phones, money and knick knacks. No sign of Sunset's geode yet.
"Again, Sunset, what an excellent and totally not flawed idea," Adagio sarcastically commented. She and Aria were, conveniently, the only ones who hadn't emptied their pockets. "You're on a roll tonight."
Sunset gave them a suspicious look and walked towards them. She stood directly in front of the two sirens, not breaking eye contact.
"What's in your pockets, Adagio?" Sunset asked with seriousness.
Adagio sighed with annoyance and emptied her pockets too. There were a few pennies, a stick of lipstick and a phone.
Sunset looked at the stuff presented to her and looked back up at Adagio with the same suspicious face. "Is that all?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Adagio answered with a sly grin. "Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations."
Sunset didn't believe her. She moved her hands to search Adagio herself.
Adagio grabbed Sunset's wrists and held them still. "You keep your hands off of me, Shimmer!" she hissed.
"Then show me what you've got." Sunset struggled to free her hands. She, however, kept her gaze focused solely on Adagio's eyes, glaring deeper and deeper. "Why should I trust you if you're not letting me check you?"
Adagio retorted with a look of anger that showed signs of violence. "I don't have to show you shit!"
"You wouldn't if you weren't the murderer." Sunset broke her hands free and reached for Adagio's pockets.
"I've already proven my innocence, so just get away!" Adagio backed up away from Sunset towards the lantern, which was the only thing lighting up the room. She eventually bumped into the small wooden table it sat upon and looked at it. She looked forward again and Sunset was still approaching her.
"Really? Because it seems strange that Canter just disappeared without you all noticing. I don't see how he could do such a thing. That, and we found him before you did, even though that was the section the four of you were searching."
"I swear, I had nothing to do with his death! Now go away!"
"Adagio, please, just comply," Sunset tried requesting more calmly. "You're not making you or your sisters look innocent right now! Just work with me!"
"I said stay away!" Adagio shouted, reaching for the lantern and hurtling it towards Sunset.
Sunset jumped out of the way of the flying lantern and everyone watched as it hit the floor, plunging the room into an unnatural darkness.
Before everyone could process what had just happened, the scurrying of footsteps could be heard running all around the room. There was then muffled shouting, a very uncomfortable cracking and then a loud thud. The footsteps were heard again, sounding as though they were running back to where they started.
"Quick! Turn on your phone flashlights!" Sunset commanded, reaching into her pocket and doing the same.
Multiple beams of light then illuminated the room. Everyone shined theirs all around the room, but Sunset specifically shined hers to where Adagio stood.
When Sunset found her, she was laying on the floor boards, still as a rock. Aria and Sonata gasped loudly and ran over to Adagio.
"Adagio?" Aria called her name out, lifting her up by her shoulders. "C-Come on. Wake up. A-Adagio?" Her voice was very shaky. "Please! Don't do this!"
Sonata cried as she hugged Adagio's now dead body. "Adagio! No! Not you!"
Everyone just watched the sirens both cry at the death of their sister and leader. The murderer had managed to strike again, just as soon as the light had gone out.
Sunset was at a loss for words. She had led Adagio right into her own death, because she pushed her too much. Now her death was on Sunset's hands and it was staying there. Sunset was the cause of one of the murders.
Sunset could hear Aria growling. She stood up and turned around to show Sunset the face of true fury. Sunset slowly stepped backwards, getting as far away from Aria as she could, but the enraged siren was having none of that. She ran towards Sunset and tackled her to the floor.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!!" Aria screamed, holding Sunset's arms down so she couldn't escape. "YOU KILLED OUR SISTER!!" She raised a fist and brought it back down to collide with Sunset's cheek.
Her arm, fortunately, was caught still in the air by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow pulled Aria off of Sunset enough that she could escape. Aria tried her hardest to get out of Rainbow Dash's grasp.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, trying her all to punch Rainbow's arm with her free hand. "Let me give it to that whore!"
"Aria! Calm down! You ain't settlin' nothin' by hurtin' people!" Applejack strictly told her.
Sunset tried to collect herself. She was still so overwhelmed by Adagio's sudden death and Aria's attack. Her breathing was fast and hard, she was barely able to focus, so she just sat on the floor until she felt collected.
A hand suddenly appeared in her vision, which had startled her. She saw that the hand was Fluttershy's, who was offering a hand up. Sunset took the hand and she was pulled right back up to her feet.
"Are you okay, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Sunset said. She looked at Aria again who had given up trying to break free but still gave Sunset death stares. "How's Sonata?"
Fluttershy pointed over to Sonata, who was still sitting at the body of Adagio Dazzle. Her crying seems to have stopped.
Sunset walked over to her and knelt down beside her. She placed a hand on Sonata's shoulder and rubbed it, showing she cared. "How are you doing?"
Sonata took a minute to respond. "I... just can't believe it." She didn't bat an eye away from her sister.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed her so hard."
Sonata sighed softly. "It's not your fault. If she had just... well, let you check her. This would never have happened." She looked up at Sunset, eyes still quite teary. "So, what are we gonna do now?"
Sunset gave it a thought and came up with nothing. "I... don't actually know. I just don't want anyone else to die." She looked towards the door and made a decision for herself. "I'm gonna step out for a moment, try to clear my head. Make sure nothing happens while I'm gone."
"Wait just a minute!" Indigo Zap called out. Sunset turned to see she was pointing at her. "How can we trust you to be on your own? I mean, for all we know, you could be the killer!"
"How dare you!" Wallflower shouted at Indigo. "Juniper, Applejack and I were with her when we found Rich's body! How do we know it isn't you?!"
"Why would I want to kill someone like Rich? I barely knew the guy before we came here!"
"If anything, the murderer's probably Gloriosa! He was trying all he could to shut down Camp Everfree!" Snips accused. "She could have got him out of revenge!"
"We beat Rich in the end and saved the camp, you little shit!" Gloriosa shot a finger directly into the younger boy's chest. "How do we know it isn't really the Dazzlings? You know, the only unreformed villains?!"
"Uh, hello! My sister is dead, you jackass!" Aria stood up. "Why the fuck would I kill my own sister?!"
"To get the fingers to stop pointing at you, probably! You may have been acting 'innocent' this whole time, but you're probably plotting some terrible scheme to kill everyone who you've encountered in the past! You're no saint!"
"Everyone here is as innocent as eachother, which is not at all," Sugarcoat pointed out. "Until we can find the real murderer, we can't trust anyone! You never know which one of us is lying!"
"What? You mean like you? You're almost openly admitting you're the murderer," Flash joined in.
"I'm saying I'm not, but you're not going to take my word on it, are you?"
"But this is why we need to stick together!" Sunset tried to end the argument. "I know it feels like too much and it is, but at the pace we're going right now, who knows if we'll even find the murderer! So we have to-!"
"Nuh-uh, Sunset!" Lemon denied her. "Sugarcoat's right! We can't trust eachother anymore, which means that I can't trust you! I'm leaving!" She then stormed out of the room, leaving Sunset completely stunned.
"Lemon! Come back!" Sunny Flare called out, following Lemon Zest out of the room.
The room fell completely silent after the two Shadowbolts left. No one knew what to do anymore. They were no step closer to finding the one behind all of the murders, more and more of the guests are dying and now everyone is turning against eachother.
Sunset tried thinking about everyone who had died so far and see if she could probably get a better idea of who. There was Trixie... then there was Filthy Rich and Canter Zoom... and now there was Adagio.
This would exclude everyone who was friends with Trixie, that being mainly Sunset and she knew her friends didn't have much against her, so that's the seven of them.
Then there was Filthy Rich... no one was particularly fond of him in the first place, but it was really Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce who has had problems with him before, so they're both not out of the picture.
And then Canter Zoom. Immediately Sunset can take out Juniper seeming as she was with her and Caster was Juniper's uncle, but she never thought somebody would ever want to kill him.
And lastly, Adagio. She seemed to be as tricky as Filthy Rich. She wanted to exclude Aria and Sonata just for the reason that they're her sisters. But she doesn't know if they're both so innocent. Aria didn't seem much different than when she last saw her. Sonata had explained that she has changed her ways, and she definitely has had a change in her attitude and personality, so Sunset could probably exclude her.
Snips and Snails would definitely not be murderers, so she took them out. And Sunset's team were with her the whole time, so it's definitely not Wallflower either.
Then that leaves her with all of the Shadowbolts, Vignette, Gloriosa, Timber, Flash and Aria for being the murderers. That's still ten of them. She thought about how each of them could be the murderer, but not one of them made sense.
"You doing alright, Sunset?" Sonata asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"None of this makes sense..." Sunset quietly said to herself. She didn't pay Sonata any attention.
"What doesn't make sense?"
"All of this." Sunset gestured to the whole mansion. "There's no way someone could have committed all of these murders. I know that some people have had personal beef with others, but no one has any with everyone who died."
"Maybe some of them weren't intentional?" Sonata suggested.
"Probably. That would explain why Rich and Canter were both killed in the same room. Maybe the murderer was going after one of them and the other just walked in." Sunset tried explaining as best as she could, but she was still left confused. "But the one I can't wrap my head around is Adagio. I almost accused her of being the murderer, then when she throws away the lantern someone quickly kills her. Why though? Was she part of the murderer's plan, if they have one?"
"I don't know. This is just as confusing for me as it is to you." They both stood there for a moment in silence. Neither of them had an extra say in the situation. "Sunset... do you trust that I'm not the murderer?"
Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"
Sonata rubbed the side of her neck and shrugged with the other arm. "It's just... I know a lot of us are accusing eachother now and I just wanted to make sure that there's someone I trust who trusts me."
"You did say you had changed your ways, and you're definitely way better than at the Battle of the Bands. What reason shouldn't I trust you?"
Sonata breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I mean, you'd probably have to be clinically insane to kill your own sister, am I right?" She then gave a right hearty laugh.
Sunset laughed nervously with her. "Haha... yeah..."
Eleven.
It had been about twenty minutes since the two Shadowbolts, Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare, had left the room. Everyone else remained sitting in the dark with the only light coming from all of their phones. Vignette was currently using her phone, essentially swinging the flash around the place.
"Vignette, can you stop using your phone?" Sugarcoat requested of her. "No one has a signal and you're gonna give one of us a seizure by swinging around the flash."
Vignette humphed. "Well, excuse me for trying to have some kind of fun," she retorted sarcastically. "We've just been sitting around for, like, half an hour! Are we even going to do anything?!"
"I actually agree with her," Rainbow Dash said, pointing her thumb at the internet star. "Lemon and Sunny have been gone for quite a while. We should probably go look for them, see if we can get them to come back."
Sunset stood up from sitting on the floor. "Alright, we'll go look, but we're not splitting up this time," she requested of everyone. "I want all of us to stick together the whole way. Got it?"
Everyone nodded at her. Sunset then turned to Juniper who was still laying on the bed.
"Juniper, are you coming?" Sunset asked. She didn't respond. "Juniper?"
Sunset slowly walked towards her bed, praying that she wasn't gone too. But before she could reach the bed, she heard soft snoring. Juniper had fallen asleep.
"Oh, thank God." She deeply sighed, relieving herself of all of the anxiety she had built up in that short amount of time.
"The poor dear," Rarity said sadly. "She must have been crying so much that she fell asleep. Someone will have to stay and watch her while we're out."
"I'll do it." Sonata quickly jumped in to take the job.
Sunset turned towards her. She wasn't sure if she should let Sonata stay while everyone was out. "A-Are you sure? It's probably a lot safer to come with us. Y'know, since the murderer won't show themself to a large crowd of people."
Sonata's face turned into a sad frown. "Why aren't you letting me stay? Do... Do you not trust me?"
Sunset realised what she had just done. She started shaking her hands furiously. "No, no, no, no! Th-That's not it at all, it's just..." She couldn't find a way to help herself out of this one.
Sonata gave her a confused glare. "What? What is it 'just'?"
Sunset sighed in defeat and let her head fall. "Alright, I trust you. You can take care of Juniper while we're out." Sunset, along with the rest of the crowd, walked out the door, but Sunset turned back towards Sonata before she left. "I'm sorry, Sonata. We'll be back soon."
Sonata was barely glad to have the job anymore. She didn't reply to Sunset before she closed the door behind her.
When the door closed, Sonata could hear yawning. She turned around to see that Juniper had woken up. Juniper looked around the room and could barely make out Sonata in the darkness.
"Sonata? Is that you?" she asked, stretching her arms. "Where is everyone else?"
"They're away to find Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare," Sonata answered. "We couldn't leave you here on your own so I participated to watch you until they came back. But anyways, how are you feeling?"
Juniper shrugged. "Better, I guess. Though, I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that he's now gone." Tears began forming in her eyes again. "He was the only family I had left."
"What?"
Juniper nodded. "After my parents died in a car accident, I was made to move in with my uncle. And over the time, all of my grandparents had passed too. So it was only him and me.
"Most of my life was spent with him and in the studio. It was a blast. Seeing how movies were made and meeting the cast of such great movies. I loved every minute of it. But now..."
Sonata's face turned sorrowful for Juniper. She gave out a low hum.
The crowd were still exploring the mansion in search of the missing Shadowbolts. However, the mansion was so big, they didn't even know if they were getting closer or further away. The darkness didn't help much either, despite having all of their flashlights on their phones.
"Y'know, if this all was never happening in the first place, this would be the perfect place for the greatest game of hide and seek," Pinkie said with a smirk.
"Pinkie, we're not eight years old anymore. No one plays hide and seek," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Maybe you don't~"
"Guys! Can we please just focus?!" Sunset blurted out. "It's very important that we find them because I don't want any more innocent people dying because I haven't come close to figuring out who's doing it all!"
Everyone, especially Rainbow and Pinkie, we're taken aback by Sunset's angered response. Sunset quickly realised what she had done and hid her face in her hands. She leaned up against the wall and slid down it.
Everyone looked down at her sympathetically. Her friends all stepped forward and knelt down in front of her.
"How're ya feelin', Sugarcube?" Applejack asked calmly.
"Stupid," Sunset responded.
"Beatin' yerself up over everyone's deaths, aren't you?"
Sunset nodded.
Applejack sighed and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Sunset, none of this is your fault."
Rarity spoke after. "All you wanted to do was make sure everyone was completely safe all while trying to find the murderer."
Then Fluttershy. "You've been a great leader all night, even when you were given too much to properly handle. None of that's on you, you just did what felt right."
Rainbow Dash afterwards. "Even with the whole scene with Adagio and when accusations were thrown around, you still tried to keep us all together. Sure, it didn't work all that well, but you still tried." Rainbow's ribs were elbowed by Fluttershy. "Ow. What?"
Next was Pinkie. "Whoever this murderer is, you shouldn't let them get to your head this badly. Finding them is important, but what's also important is that you down let yourself get cuckoo crazy because of it."
And finally, Twilight. "We're your friends, Sunset. You shouldn't have to take responsibility for all of this. We especially shouldn't have let you."
The six girls all stand up again, and Twilight holds her hand out to Sunset. "It's been a long night, and it keeps getting worse, but we can end this. So come on, try to calm down, and let's find Lemon and Sunny together."
"You all do realise what's been happening tonight, right? What everyone's been through?" she asked, glaring at all of the girls as if they actually had forgotten. "This is one hell of an attempt to try and remotivate me."
"Is it working?" Pinkie asked.
Sunset sighed. "Yes." She took Twilight's hand, who then pulled Sunset to her feet.
Twilight gave Sunset a sweet, happy smile. Sunset threw her one in return before rubbing her hands together and looking between all of the others.
"So, where do we think Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare are?"
"Why don't we try the balcony?" Sugarcoat suggested. "Anyone remember the balcony at the front of the mansion?"
"Oh yeah! Let's go outside onto a balcony! Y'know, in the middle of the night while there's a thunderstorm!" Sour Sweet commented. "Is that the best you've got, Sugarcoat?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Sugarcoat crossed her arms, lowering a brow at her fellow Shadowbolt friend.
"It's worth a try anyway," Flash said, already walking in the direction of the balcony. "Come on!"
Everyone else followed Flash, catching up to him and walking as a full team. Sunset herself now felt quite confident. She put too much pressure on herself that she became overwhelmed in the long run. She was glad to have her friends to help her snap out of it.
They travelled through the front section of the second floor and came across the door to the balcony. The door was constantly slammed shut and then opened again by the wind outside. Some of the carpet near the door was stained by the rain. It looked as though Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare really were outside.
Sour Sweet had a scared look as her eyes slowly drifted to Sugarcoat, who was giving her the most devilish smile she had ever seen.
Flash and Timber went up to the doors and tried to push them open, which was made hard due to how strong the winds were. Everyone covered their faces and closed their eyes as soon as they got the doors open. The rain began lashing inside of the house and the wind tried to push them all away.
Everyone pushed through it and gathered all outside onto the balcony. Sunset tried opening her eyes to look around; it was very hard to see anything in the rain. She walked closer to the edge and found herself tripping on something. On the floor now, she turned around to see what she had tripped on.
It was Lemon Zest's body, and lying right beside her was Sunny Flare's body. Sunny Flare had multiple stab wounds all over her body and Lemon Zest's throat was slit deeply. The rain soaked their blood off of the edge, which Sunset found herself sitting in.
The three Shadowbolts cried out and barged passed everyone to get to their bodies. They got down and sobbed next to their now fallen friends.
Sunset stood up. She couldn't believe it. She let the murderer beat her! If she didn't have that episode in the other hall she could have found them first! What was she to do now? What could she do now? Why would anyone-?! Wait... Juniper!
Sunset jumped over the bodies and went through all of her friends. Before she ran off, she turned to them all. "Everyone stay here and make sure nothing else happens!" she commanded before running through the mansion again.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked. "Sunset? Sunset!" Her calls fell on deaf ears.
Sunset sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her back to her room. Once she got there, she pushed the door open so hard she almost broke it off of its hinges.
"Juniper! Are you okay?!" Sunset quickly asked. She turned on the flash on her phone and looked around. "Juniper!"
She shined the light to her Juniper's bed. There, she saw Juniper still laying. Was she still asleep? She got closer and immediately something wasn't right. Juniper had a pillow over her head.
Sunset ran over to her, threw the pillow away and put her ear to Juniper's mouth. Nothing. Juniper Montage was dead too.
Sunset began hyperventilating. Three bodies. They left for a while. The murderer managed to kill another three people! Sunset was so panicked; she cried so much. She only barely came to the realisation... She gave out a loud gasp and covered her mouth to stifle her cries. "Th-the murderer is...!"
And after that, Sunset felt something collide with her head and blacked out.
Sunset moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her head was pounding for some reason. She tried to get up, but she found that she couldn't move her arms. They were bound behind her.
She looked around. It looked like she was in an attic. There were boxes everywhere, most of them being full. There were wooden beams everywhere holding the roof up, which was what Sunset was tied against. There was also a window directly behind her, which she knew because of the light that was getting in. It looked bright outside, and there was no sound of rain, wind or lightning. The storm must have passed.
Sunset tried to break free again, but then someone spoke.
"You're awake! Right on time too!" someone said from the dark patch nearby. Sunset couldn't make out who it was just by looking, but she knew that voice very well.
"Sonata? Is that... you?" Sunset asked.
The dark figure walked closer to Sunset, bringing themself into the light. "Yup! And my oh my, it really took you a long time to figure it out. I was almost certain you wouldn't leave me with Juniper, but you did and now she's dead. So... oopsie-doopsie."
"Th-this doesn't make any sense! How could it have been you?!" Sunset complained, completely stunned by the reveal. "You killed so many people, and for what?!"
Sonata laughed nervously. "You know what, it's actually very funny. You see... my plan was to only kill Filthy Rich. However, you're drunken bitch of a friend, Trixie, got in my way!"
Sonata walked down the dark hallway to the stairs. This was the perfect opportunity. She was really about to do it! She was really about to kill Filthy Rich. She felt so excited about it, yet she felt so enraged as to why she was doing it.
But that was okay, because she could finally take it out on the man that ruined her and her sisters.
"Hey! Look who it is!" someone excitedly called out. "It's the siren girl... umm... Bitch Three!" they began laughing like an idiot afterwards.
Sonata looked behind her and saw Trixie walking her way. She looked as though she could barely stand.
"Hey, uh, Trixie, was it?" Sonata nervously greeted. "What- what are you doing out?"
"I gotta take a piss. What're you doing out, hmm?" Trixie pointed a finger directly at Sonata as if she was interrogating her.
"Oh, same reason. You know how it is. Hehe..."
Trixie seemed to smile after that. "Alright. Imma come with ya then!" She ran beside Sonata, waiting for her to start walking.
"You really don't need to. You can just go on ahead." Sonata tried convincing the drunk girl to go away. Which, unfortunately, failed horrendously. Trixie just stood there, waiting.
Sonata sighed and began walking, Trixie following right beside her.
"Hey, you remember the Battle of the Bands?" Trixie asked, wanting to start a conversation.
"How could I forget?" Sonata answered through gritted teeth. She so desperately wanted to say how it was one of the worst nights of her life.
"Yeah, you three really had your asses handed to you once Sunset came on."
Sonata groaned in anger. Trixie was reaching a limit which she shouldn't.
Trixie burped. "I can't imagine how life would be if you'd all actually won. Well, probably mindless and zombie-like or something like that. Oh well, didn't happen anyways which was good."
Sonata stopped and turned to Trixie. "Listen, witch, I would probably appreciate it if you would kindly just back off! You wouldn't like what would happen if you kept going!"
Trixie began laughing again. "Or what? Y'all got nothin' on me anymore. Know why? Because I have magic..." She pulled a long, rainbow cloth out of her sleeve. "... and you don't. So, what'll it be then? You're basically the equivalent to a suffocating fish now!"
Sonata, out of a fit of rage, grabbed whatever object was closest to her and hit Trixie against the head with it. The object, which turned out to be a flower vase, shattered upon impact.
Trixie cried out in pain and stumbled backwards against the railing, where there was a drop to the bottom floor. Sonata went towards Trixie and pushed her off the edge. Trixie screamed as she fell. Sonata listened as she heard a spine-chilling cracking sound could be heard.
Sonata didn't even look at Trixie. She just breathed heavily, calming herself down. She finally picked up on what had just happened and immediately retreated back to her bedroom.
"While everyone was downstairs mourning over Trixie, I snuck into your room and stole your little jewel so that you couldn't catch me so easily.
"And when you assigned us our locations, you gave me the perfect opportunity to kill Rich, but then came Juniper's uncle when I actually had the chance to kill him!"
Sonata and her team took one side of the bottom floor. Canter Zoom seemed to be the only one actually looking for clues. Adagio and Aria seemed like they couldn't care any less.
So far on their search, they had went through the kitchen to see if there was anything to find. Sonata looked in a drawer and found an assortment of knives. Looking around and seeing everyone was busy, she took a knife and hid it in one of her big pink boots.
They walked passed the dining room, where Sonata could hear a voice coming from the inside. Making sure no one was looking, Sonata snuck off and entered the lit room. Inside was Filthy Rich on the phone. He hadn't noticed someone entered the room.
Sonata took the knife she managed to swipe from the kitchen out of her boot and snuck up behind Rich. She waited until he was done on the phone.
"When do you think you'll come back?" Rich asked whoever was on the phone. "Two days? Alright, that's fine. I'll talk to you soon, I can barely keep this signal as it is because of this storm, and tell Diamond Tiara I said goodnight. I love you. Goodbye." He hung up the phone.
As soon as he put the phone back into his pocket, Sonata forcefully stabbed the knife into his back. Rich cried out in pain and fell down. Sonata got down on top of him and stabbed him again and again until he was finally dead. She finally got her revenge on Filthy Rich.
She huffed and puffed, very pleased with her work. She took the knife out of his back, stood up and kicked him in the stomach for the hell of it.
"That's how it feels, you ungrateful bastard!" Sonata shouted in both fury and relief.
She then heard the door she came through opening. She had not time to hide before someone saw her next to another body.
"Hey, Mr. Rich? Are you in- Gasp!" It was Canter Zoom. He stood in shock as he saw Sonata wielding a knife next to a now dead Filthy Rich. "Y-You! You're the murderer!"
"God dammit," Sonata quietly said to herself.
He turned around and tried to run away. However, his rather old body couldn't carry him faster than Sonata could run. Sonata her arm around his neck and dragged him back into the dining room. Canter tried to break free, but he was thrown onto the floor.
"No witnesses!" Sonata hissed before plunging the knife deep into his back. She tried to pull it out, but it got stuck. Sonata stuck the knife too far in.
She quickly ran out before anyone else could come and joined back with the rest her team, who were oblivious that she left in the first place.
"And then the fingers were being pointed to my sisters and me! So I killed Adagio too, just to make sure Aria and I were out of the accusation circle!"
"I don't get it," Sunset said. "You looked so distraught when you saw Adagio dead."
"Yes, I was very sad that I had to kill her. But what's done is done. It didn't take me long to get over her. She was kind of a bitch to me a lot of the time anyway so... eh." Sonata shrugged. "Anyway, after you left to find those Shadowbolts, it was just Juniper and me, and honestly, I felt so bad for her.
"She explained to me how Canter was her only family left."
Sonata's face turned sorrowful for Juniper. She gave out a low hum. "If only he didn't walk in on me and Rich," she slipped quietly.
Juniper's head snapped to Sonata. "What?" she asked in a monotone voice.
Sonata quickly realised the mistake she just made. "Shit. I said that out loud, didn't I?"
Juniper's sadness was turned into rage in meer seconds. "You... You killed my uncle!" she shouted. "You killed everyone!" She quickly got off of the bed as to get as far away from Sonata as possible.
"Uhh..." was all Sonata could respond with.
Juniper made a break for the door to find Sunset, but Sonata grabbed her arm as she ran and she was hauled backwards. Sonata pinned Juniper to the bed. Juniper thrashed around in an attempt to free herself.
Sonata held her tightly down until she tired herself out. Once done, she quickly grabbed the pillow on Juniper's bed and held it over her face, suffocating the director's niece. Juniper still tried to break free, but Sonata had the upper hand.
Eventually, she stopped moving. Sonata stood away from the bed, leaving the pillow over Juniper's face.
"I got my knife back from Canter when I left, just incase I needed it again, and I went to look for Lemon and Sunny myself. Fortunately for me, you hadn't found them yet."
Sonata searched the halls for the missing Shadowbolts. There was no sign of them anywhere.
She came across a set of double doors. She put her ear against them and hear the rain outside. This door must lead to the balcony. There was no way they were out there. But very faintly, she heard two people talking. She opened the doors and revealed Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare.
"There you girls are!" Sonata gladly announced. "We've been looking for you everywhere."
Lemon and Sunny just stared at her as if she was a low life. Whatever conversation they were having, Sonata had completely cut it off.
"Do you, umm... wanna come back inside? It's nice and dry." Sonata pointed both of her thumbs behind her.
The Shadowbolts looked at eachother and then back at Sonata. "No, not really," Sunny Flare responded. "We don't trust any of you, so we called the police and they'll be the ones to ask everyone the proper questions."
Sonata felt confused. "The proper questions?"
"What Sunset's been doing this whole time, it's just making everything worse. So we called the police and now they'll be coming," Lemon Zest explained, leaning back against the balcony's stone railing. "It's gonna take them a while to get here."
Sonata's eyes widened. This wasn't good. "B-But I thought there was no signal!"
"We got a bar out here. I don't really understand why no one really tried to look for one."
"And besides, we could probably just tell the cops who did it as soon as they get here," Sunny said with confidence, folding her arms.
Sonata chuckled nervously. "How's that?"
"Well, let's see... One, you're acting very nervous just at the mention of the police, and two, you're not very good at hiding your knife." Sunny pointed towards Sonata's right boot, where she could see the bloody tip of the knife's blade just poking out.
They all just stood there in complete silence for a few seconds before Sonata quickly took action. She took the knife out of her boot and shouted as she jumped towards Sunny and began furiously stabbing her.
Lemon Zest tried to run through the door, but the wind was too powerful, it was holding the door shut. She was quickly taken to the ground by Sonata. The murderer held her head up by her hair and slit her throat.
Sonata let Lemon Zest's body drop to the ground afterwards. That was two more bodies she had to kill tonight just to make sure she didn't get caught.
But Sonata was now worried at how obvious she made herself look now. If she was going to get out of this at all, she would need a new plan.
She ran back inside the mansion, plotting her next move.
"...and now, here we are!" Sonata finished confessing herself.
"You did all of this... You killed my friends... you killed your own sister... and it was all just some minor inconvenience?!" Sunset shouted. "You're fucking insane!"
"Well, when you put it like that... yup!" Sonata began maniacally laughing.
"But why?! What did Rich do to you?!"
"Thank you for asking. I'll tell you, but buckle up, because it's a hell of a story!" Sonata sat up against a nearby wall of boxes and then cleared her throat. "It all began just before the music festival at your school started. My sisters and I used our powers to make people do our bidding and to give us things for free such as meals.
"One day, however, our musical talent was noticed by Filthy Rich. He praised my sisters and I to no end, saying just how 'remarkable' we were and said he wanted to make a music deal with us. We didn't even have to mind control him, he did this willingly.
"Anyway, we told him about this Battle of the Bands we had entered and then he had this spectacular idea that he'll only go through with the deal and make sure we could get more widely known if we won the contest. We thought we had it in the bag after we trapped you and your stupid friends, but then you got released by that fricking DJ and stopped us.
"And since we both lost the contest and our singing abilities, Filthy Rush shut us out completely. Saying how the deal was off and how it was probably never our destinies in the first place. He didn't want to associate with us anymore.
"Of course, we were all destroyed after hearing that, since our plan for world domination was shattered by both him and you. The thing is, Adagio and Aria were the only ones who got over it, but me? Hahaha. No, I never got over it.
"Ever since that day, I planned on getting my revenge to those to ruined us. I wanted to kill them. I got one of them. Now I need to get the other." Sonata finished explaining, looking Sunset directly into the eye.
"You're going to kill me?" Sunset asked.
"If I was, you'd already be dead. I actually want to make a deal." Sonata stood up and began pacing around the cramped attic. "You see, the police are gonna be here very shortly and they plan to catch the murderer, so why not have the murderer hand in herself?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, my plan was to escape, but that won't be easy if there's cops swarming the place and I don't really have a stance. My deal is, if you don't want yourself or anyone else to die, you'll take my place and hand yourself to the police!"
Sunset eyes went wide. "B-But there will be people to defend me!"
Sonata shrugged. "What will it matter if you keep saying you're the murderer?"
Sunset looked down. There seemed to be no way out of this. "Why should I go through with this anyway?"
Sunset then heard a clicking sound, causing her to look back up.
"Because I'm the one with the gun and you're still tied up." Sonata began laughing again.
Sunset remained completely still. This whole time Sonata had lied to her. She lied to everyone, including her own sisters. Now she has a gun pointed to Sunset's head, giving her no possible way out.
"What will it be, Sunset?" Sonata asked, kneeling down with the handgun still pointing directly at Sunset. "Are you willing to let everyone stay alive and let me free? Or will you let yourself be killed and have me be on the run for the rest of my life?"
Sunset didn't know what to do. If she gave in, Sonata would still be out in the world, likely to come for all of her friends. But if she tried to escape, Sonata would most likely kill her before she could reach the front door and Sonata could escape. Was it worth the risk? What was she to do?
Sunset sighed and let her head fall down. "Okay," she said quietly. "You win. I'll turn myself in."
Sonata smirked. "Good choice." She stood up and walked behind the beam Sunset was tied to and untied the knot binding her hands together.
Sunset stood up and flexed her wrists and fingers. She then felt something poke her in the back. It was Sonata's gun.
"Now walk, slowly," the siren commanded.
Sunset complied and walked to the twisting staircase that led back downstairs. She said nothing along the way. Was there really nothing she could do?
Sunset let herself be manipulated by the likes of Sonata. She actually felt sorry for her when Adagio died, but none of it even mattered in the first place. It was all Sonata's plan, just to make sure people would take her side. She lied about her own redemption, and now Sunset had to pay for being so foolish.
But was this really how it had to end? For her, to let herself die in one of two ways? Is this really how she goes?
Maybe it didn't have to be. She had an idea. It was a long shot, but it may just work out well for her.
Sonata likely believed that Sunset was under her control now. But there was something that gave Sunset an advantage. She slowed down a little bit more to ensure that Sonata was directly behind her. As soon as the gun had poked Sunset's back again, she lifted her elbow up behind her, having it make contact with Sonata's nose.
Sonata stumbled backwards, groaning in pain.
"You whore!" Sonata growled, wiping her nose on her arm in case there was any blood. "That was a big mistake!" She pointed her gun at her Sunset, only to realise she had accidentally thrown it away. She looked around and found it a few meters behind her.
Sunset and Sonata exchanged glances and they both took off for the gun. They barged eachother into the walls as they reached down to grab it.
Sunset managed to grab it first, which led to Sonata forcefully tackling her, causing them to fall on top of eachother. The gun flew out of Sunset's hand and landed further in the other direction.
Sonata held Sunset down as she stood back up, but Sunset managed to grab Sonata's ankle, causing her to fall, and pulled her backwards. The murderer tried to break free of Sunset's tight grasp by crawling forward and kicking her.
Sonata stretched her arm out as far as possible, attempting again to grab the weapon. She, however, was unable to reach. She looked downwards to kick Sunset off of her. She kicked her arms and her face until she finally broke free. Sonata ran over to the gun and quickly picked it up. Sunset wasn't too far behind her, so she acted fast and shot the gun without properly looking.
Sunset screamed in pain. The bullet made contact with her right shoulder. She stumbled and fell on top of Sonata. The gun fell out of her hand again and slid further down the hall.
Even after collapsing on Sonata, Sunset's body continued rolling. She cried from the pain as she placed a hand over the wound. She opened her eyes to see that Sonata didn't have the gun anymore, so she looked around and saw it was directly behind her. She took the gun with her bad arm and stood up.
Sonata rubbed her head and stood up too.
"Enough is enough!" Sunset shouted, still hissing from the pain. She pointed the gun at the siren girl who held her hands up in surrender. "I want there to be no more blood tonight! So what we're going to do now is hand you over and you'll tell the truth! But first, I'd like to know where my geode is! Now!" Never before had Sunset felt rage like this.
Sonata slowly reached down into her left boot. Sunset could hear her unclipping something that was around her ankle and Sonata pulled out her red geode.
Sunset held her free hand out. "Throw it to me!" Sonata complied and tossed the jewel over, which Sunset had managed to catch and put in her pocket. "Good. Now walk!"
Sonata slowly walked forward and as she was just about to pass, Sunset quickly ran behind her and kept her distance so Sonata wouldn't have the same idea.
They both slowly made their way out of the mansion, walking down all of the stairs, passing by the rooms where Sonata had killed so many people.
Trixie Lulamoon... Filthy Rich... Canter Zoom... Adagio Dazzle... Lemon Zest... Sunny Flare... Juniper Montage... all dead, because of her.
They walked out of the mansion, gun still pointed at Sonata. There were police cars parked around the fountain out front, and all of the survivors were also there behind them. Sunset then dropped the gun to her sides.
Everyone looked at the two of them in disbelief, and the police came over to them.
"Are you girls okay?" one asked.
"Where's the murderer?" another asked.
Sunset pointed to Sonata. The cops looked at her for her to confirm. Sonata knelt down a little and let out a sad sigh. She nodded and one cop brought her over to their car.
Sunset handed the other cop the handgun and walked forward to all of her friends. She noticed that there were also ambulances there, which she was very glad for. She needed her wound treated asap.
"Thank the heavens you're alright!" Rarity cried, dragging Sunset into an embrace, unaware of her injury. Sunset yelped in pain and Rarity immediately let go. "Hehe... sorry."
Applejack stepped forward and put a hand on Sunset's good shoulder. "Yeesh, that there looks nasty," she commented on Sunset's bloody shoulder. "We oughtta get you to the paramedics."
Everyone walked with Sunset to the nearest ambulance. The paramedics helped Sunset by wrapping a bandage around her shoulder. She then sat on the back door of the open van.
"So..." Rainbow tried to start a conversation. "...Sonata ended up being the murderer, huh?"
"Yeah," Sunset responded, looking forward blankly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Fluttershy asked.
"No. At least... not right now."
Sunset saw Aria next to a police car. The innocent siren just looked through the car window and walked towards her van. She noticed that Sunset was looking at her. She threw her a wave and climbed into the van.
"What are you looking at, Sunset?" Rarity asked, looking where Sunset looked. She, however, didn't see what she saw.
"Nothing," Sunset responded, looking away from Aria. She turned back to her friends. "Anyway, I wonder what's going to happen now."
"Well, after everything Sonata has done, I think she's going to be sentenced to life in prison," Twilight explained sadly.
"Oh dear. That means that Aria would be all alone," Fluttershy said afterwards, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Then why don't we invite her to be part of our group?" Pinkie suggested. She looked around for her. "Where is she anyway?"
Sunset looked back to where Aria's van was and noticed that it was gone. Aria had left.
"She'll probably come around eventually," Sunset said. "But for now, I think it's best we leave her alone."
"Excuse me, Miss," someone said. Everyone turned around to see another police officer that carried a notepad. "There are a few questions I'd like to ask you." He was talking to Sunset. "If everyone could clear out, that would be much appreciated."
Rainbow Dash was about to interject, but Applejack put her hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. Everyone then left Sunset and the cop alone.
Sunset was taken to the hospital afterwards to have her wound treated. She now wore a cast that she would have to keep on for a while. The bullet had penetrated part of her humerus, having her being forced to not use her right arm as much for a bit. After that, she was taken home.
She couldn't see very many people recovering so quickly after everything that had happened. Families and friends were broken apart, and it was all because of Sonata Dusk, a girl who faked her own redemption and lied to everyone, even her own family.
What was supposed to be a fun evening turned into a scarring, long, horrible night that would be talked about to no end for months.
There were stories and interviews that tried to break down everything that had happened, and Sunset made sure she answered every single question thrown at her.
The Shadowbolts wanted to have a memorial set for the students of their school that had their lives taken.
The Riches held a funeral for the loss of Filthy Rich.
The students of CHS all made memorial letters and had them stuck to Trixie's locker.
Fans of Canter Zoom's movies all sent their most favourite moments on social media, wishing him and his niece to rest well.
Sonata had been sentenced to death and Aria has not been seen since the incident. No one has heard if anything had happened to her or where she currently is, but Sunset hoped they would both cross paths again one day.
The Rainbooms had made a plan for a concert to commemorate those who all died, which they also planned to include a new song written for them.
It was going to be a long time before everyone fully recovers, especially those who lost someone close to them. It was going to be rough, but it is something Sunset was sure everyone could move past eventually, and keep all of the lost one's memories with them, for them to remember the good times that were had and not grieve on what could have potentially been in the future.
That night is what some may describe as the worst night of their lives, but for now... at least it was the end.
