The Witchblade EqG: Mystery Murder Files

Sunset meditated in a replica of the Canterlot Castle gardens. It was her favorite place in the castle, all the flowers in bloom, the crisp mountain air, and the wide clear blue skies above. It was a place that she and Princess Celestia would often visit together, and have talks about lessons, the goings on in the city, and–

“Whooo, shake that ass girl!”

…And enjoy each other’s company. Sip tea, secretly swipe some cake from the royal bakery and eat it in the garden. Sunset recalled–

“Damn, that’s hot! Spread ‘em, spread ‘em, spread ‘em – holy shit!”

“WOULD YOU PLEASE CUT THAT SHIT OUT?!”

Sunset didn’t know how long they’d been together, it felt like ages in the dreamscape, but time was dictated differently in such a place. During Sunset’s solitude with her dark half, Sunset Satan, Sunset had decided to try and figure out a way out of her current predicament, by herself, without the help of her dark side. Sunset learned that she could manipulate the dreamscape, allowing her to recreate certain things from her memories, or made up things.

This unfortunately extended to Sunset Satan as well, allowing her to create all manner of crude, inappropriate things. Sunset Shimmer had decided that they should put some space between themselves, Sunset Shimmer took up one half with her garden, but Sunset Satan, she took up her half with…something else.

Sunset Satan changed her form a little. She was still the tall, seven to eight foot tall creature she was before, but her hair was no longer rising up, and instead fell down her back much like Sunset Shimmer’s. Sunset Satan had forgone her black boots in favor of a pair of sneakers, and her long fiery dress was replaced by a black tank top, and a pair of jean shorts.

Her demonic half created, of all things, a strip club. The stage had three poles, and each one was occupied by a different person, or pony depending on her preference at the time. Currently, the stage right pole was occupied by Princess Twilight (human form), she was completely topless as she swung around the pole and gazed seductively into the nonexistent crowd. The stage left pole had Princess Cadence, the newly crowned alicorn that Sunset remembered from before she left Equestria, the one who got her angry enough to go snooping in the forbidden section.

Sunset hadn’t seen the alicorn for years, so she had no idea what she looked like now. The current form that was dancing was Cadence when she was a teen, which was the age she last remembered her being. The Princess of Love’s dance was more seductive and entrancing, flaring her wings and using them to hide certain parts of her body to tease the audience. She’d move one wing away and show off her teats, then cover them up, she’d then turn around and show of her plot and marehood, then quickly cover them again.

The middle pole was occupied by their current love interest, Pinkie Pie. And it was this one that Sunset Shimmer had a problem with. “Uh-uh, nope, no way, stop this shit right now!” Sunset marched from her side of the dreamscape and into the sleazy club of Sunset Satan. “You are not going to objectify Pinkie Pie like this!”

Sunset Satan looked at her pony light half incredulously. “What, you don’t think Pinkie Pie is sexy enough to pole dance?!”

“Don’t try and high road me! You know I think she’s sexy!” Sunset Shimmer shot back.

“Then what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is you have her pole dancing in some strip joint, alongside Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence, like they’re some cheap hookers!” Sunset Shimmer spat.

Sunset Satan looked at her with disappointment. “First off, pole dancing is an empowering activity, it’s good exercise, and builds confidence for girls who lack a little. You and I both know that Pinkie doesn’t think she’s sexy enough for us, you don’t think that she’d do something like this to show that she is?”

Sunset Shimmer stammered as she tried to come up with a good counter argument. It was true that Pinkie sees herself as not sexy enough, but dammit she was, and Sunset wished Pinkie saw that in herself like she did. “Take away Twilight and Cadence.”

Sunset Satan smirked and snapped her fingers. The human and alicorn disappeared, leaving only Pinkie Pie to entertain them both. The pink party planner hand a thin bikini top, which barely held back her impressive bust and left little to the imagination, down lower, she wore a blue thong, which disappeared into Pinkie’s shapely ass.

“Enjoying the show?” Sunset Satan asked.

“Shut up.”

“If you want to flick your bean, go ahead.”

Sunset Shimmer glared at her dark half with flushed cheeks. “I am NOT going to do that! And even if I wanted to, why the hell would I do it in front of you?!”

Sunset Satan grinned. “If you don’t want to, I can do it for you, or you could do me.”

Sunset deadpanned. “Okay, I am not even going to discuss the psychological narcissism of having sex with myself.”

“It’s not sex, it’s masturbation! I’m you and you’re me, it’s not like we’re twins or something. Huh…now there’s a thought, if two identical twins do it, is it considered sex or masturbation?”

Sunset Shimmer slammed her head against the table and groaned loudly, “I want to go home now! Not even Rainbow Dash is this much of a pervert!”

“Yeah, you really rein yourself in, you really could out pervert her if you let me in a little,” said Sunset Satan.

Sunset Shimmer wanted to go back to the waking world, to Pinkie Pie and her friends, and to go after the one who shot her, Nihil.

“Thinking about why Nihil shot us?”

“Yes.” Sunset Shimmer watched as her dark half dismissed the strip show and turned to face her. “I’ve been trying to figure out why she did it. She knew that I have the Witchblade.”

“Maybe she’s trying to see just how strong it’s healing powers are? Or trying to assess what weapons are effective at hindering us.”

“That would make sense, but she said ‘This is what you get, Anon-A-Miss!’ when she fired her last shots. And why the hell would she know about Anon-A-Miss?”

“She made it a point to say that out loud, like a fucking battle cry. Could she be Anon-A-Miss?”

Sunset’s horn lit up and multiple windows appeared around her. “We know that Anon-A-Miss uses secrets, and is targeting me directly. Rarity said that it might be one of them.”

“I would’ve thought it’d be Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, but after that Ishtar crap, I’d say that theory’s shot to shit,” said Sunset Satan.

“Not necessarily.”

Sunset’s horn lit up again, and two windows were brought up. One showed the slumber parties that she had at Applejacks and the second she had at Rarity’s. Both the light and dark halves watched the slumber parties play out over and over again, combing over any detail that could give them answers. Sunset’s cellphone wasn’t hacked, and the only one who knew of Applejack’s embarrassing story were the girls in the room, and her family.

“Her family…”

“Her family…”

Both Sunset’s looked intently at the only other people who were with them during those parties, mainly, the ones who were forced out of the party despite their wanting to join.

“You don’t think?”

“I don’t, I know. Those little shits!” Sunset Satan raised her fist and slammed it onto the table, splitting it in half, and a second later it returned to normal. “They’re Anon-A-Miss, they have to be!”

“But the photos on the phone, it wasn’t hacked so how did they get the photos?”

“Sweetie Belle must’ve snuck into the room and swiped our phone, it’s the only way because we sure as hell didn’t do it!”

Sunset Shimmer looked down at the table forlornly. “But…why? When I changed, I only ever tried to be nice to them, I thought we were getting along?”

Sunset Satan slammed her fists together. “Who cares why, when we wake up, I’m going to fucking kill them!”

Sunset Shimmer shot her dark side a glare. “No you’re not! ……Maybe slap them around a little, but we’re not killing them. I mostly want answers as to why. And I know you do too.”

Sunset Satan huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah…I kinda do too.”

A rumble shook through the entire dreamscape, making both sides stand up.

“Something’s happening.”

“I know, I can feel it. The magic is getting whipped up.”

“It’s getting agitated.” Sunset Satan looked down at Sunset Shimmer, she then gave a long sigh and waved off Sunset Shimmer. “Hurry back, I get the feeling that they need us right now.”

“Wait, you mean I can go?! So you’ve been keeping me here!” Sunset Shimmer accused.

[b]“Yeah, I kinda have, but mostly because he said you needed time to recover.” Sunset Satan pointed to her left, and as if it had been there the whole time, the Witchblade gauntlet hovered in midair. “I also wanted to tell you that the only way for you to get stronger, is to embrace me. You’re running away from me, trying to bury all that you did by being all good. But humans, even ponies, are made up of light and darkness, and the Witchblade is the Bringer of Balance. Remember that. Oh, and don’t die again!”

Sunset Shimmer wanted to discuss this further, but she could still sense the agitation, something bad was happening and she needed to hurry up and get back. Sunset Shimmer galloped towards the Witchblade, as she got closer, her body swiftly transitioned back into her human form. By the time she reached it, Sunset’s right hand touched the ruby jewel and bright red light shined in the dreamscape.

~*~*~*~

Sunset’s eyes fluttered open, she felt sluggish, and her mouth was dry. She glanced about the room and saw that Pinkie Pie was sitting at her beside on her left, her focus was on the TV, showing a news report about a sudden blizzard that kicked up around Canterlot City. Sunset looked down and saw that her left hand was in Pinkie’s right, she gave it a firm squeeze, causing Pinkie Pie to gasp and whip her head in Sunset’s direction.

“Hey, Babe,” Sunset greeted.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes watered as tears of joy leaked down her cheeks, her hair puffing back up as her smile broadened dramatically. “SUNSET!!!!” The pink party planner practically threw herself at Sunset, latching her arms around her neck and bringing her lover in a near bone crushing hug.

“ACK! P-Pinkie, I’m happy to be back…but if you keep this up…I might go into another coma…!” Sunset warned.

Pinkie Pie released Sunset immediately. “S-Sorry, I was just so happy your awake! I…I didn’t mean to hug you so tight, are you hurting anywhere?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, I’m fine, but what’s going on?”

Pinkie Pie looked at the window and Sunset followed her gaze. Outside the wind was blustering and howling, snow and freezing rain was pelting Canterlot City, a little blizzard from hell had descended upon the city.

“The news is saying it’s a freak blizzard that developed out of nowhere, they’re putting us under a blizzard warning and are telling people to stay indoors and for drivers to get into shelter,” Pinkie explained.

“I got a feeling that there’s more to it than that.”

“I’ve…I’ve been hearing strange sounds since it started. The wind’s howling, but it doesn’t sound right. It sounds angry, alive.”

Sunset tried to sit up, but paused when she felt something connected to her, and not just the I. V. in her arm. “Did they…put something…down there?”

Pinkie Pie blushed. “They might’ve put a catheter in you…you have been out for two days now.”

“Riiiiiiiiight…ugh, this is going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Something bad is happening, and I need to get to CHS, now,” said Sunset.

“NO!” Pinkie Pie stated with panic in her eyes. “You were almost killed, for the second time! I can’t…I can’t see that happen again…” Pinkie Pie began to cry as she laid her head on the edge of the bed. “I don’t think I’m strong enough…I felt dead when you died…”

Sunset placed her hand atop Pinkie’s head and stroked her hair caringly. “I’m sorry you saw that, I’m sorry you had to see me get hurt and nearly die twice. I don’t ever want to be the reason why you’re sad or hurting, I only want you to smile.”

“I do too,” Pinkie sniffled, “all I want is to see you smile. To laugh with you, and to be with you.”

“Same here, but Pinkie, you know that I have to do something about this. The Witchblade chose me to be a protector, and I have to protect this city, and you.”

Pinkie Pie looked up at Sunset and gave her a sad smile. “I know, and I know keeping you here won’t help anyone. You’re a hero, just like I knew could be.”

Sunset blushed at the compliment. “Thanks.”

Pinkie Pie sat up straight and then slapped her cheeks, shook her head, and then put on a confident smile. “Okay, what do you need me to do, Sunset?!”

Sunset uneasily looked down, following the clear tube with her eyes. Pinkie Pie did the same and she winced.

“You know it’s going to hurt, a lot.”

“I know.”

“You sure you don’t want me to get the nurse to take it out?”

“They’re going to be busy with this blizzard, and I don’t think we have time to waste on waiting for them to do it the right way…” Sunset cringed at the idea of this happening.

“Do you want me to…?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Sunset lied back and sighed heavily as she gripped the blankets. “Just yank it out as fast as you can, the Witchblade will heal the rest.”

Pinkie Pie gulped, she checked behind her to make sure that the nurses weren’t looking. She very carefully moved towards the door and closed it, once that was done, Pinkie Pie went back to the bed and pulled back on the blankets until they were above Sunset’s waist. She reached for the tube that disappeared under her hospital gown, Pinkie Pie gripped it, not bothering to pull up the gown. Yes she kind of saw Sunset naked that one time, but she didn’t want to ruin her surprise for later on in their relationship.

“Ready?”

“On three then…One–”

“Three!”

*YANK!*

“SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!!!!”

Nihil floated above the school at the eye of the vortex. She could feel it, like a warm steam rising from a delicious hot meal, the magic, the hatred, the wrath of the students of CHS, it all flowed upwards like a gust of warm air fueling a storm. Beside her were Midas and Ishtar, both of them basking in the power as well.

“So, this was your plan, Nihil,” said Midas.

“Like I said, I had them on the edge, and all I needed was a little push. You’re information on Witchblade was helpful, Ishtar. I was able to incapacitate her at the very least, and now our plan can come to fruition.”

Midas chuckled, his round golden belly juggling from the effort. “Do y’all really think they’ll be able to kill those youngins’?”

“I hope not,” said Ishtar. “I owe those brats. I at least want them alive enough so that their dear big sisters can watch as I break them in front of their eyes! I owe Sunset Shimmer a pair of legs.”

“Honestly it doesn’t matter if those three die or not, the more their rage builds, the more the magic that touches upon this entire school and those within begins to rise, and with all this hate…” A couple of spirits broke away from the vortex and went straight down into the school. “More our kind can come through.”

Suddenly, Nihil felt something strange. She looked down and saw something golden pierce through the vortex wall and right into the school itself.

“What was that?”

The wind was blustering and howling, screeching like the storm was a raging beast that was rising from its long slumber. And given the circumstances, it might as well have been, for unseen to many, creatures flew within the wind, beasts with glowing blue eyes that ran with the wind, kicking up the storm more and more. The epicenter of this great blizzard was around Canterlot High School, it was hard for anyone to tell, but a vortex of spiraling snow and ice had completely cut off the school from the rest of the world.

The faculty were trying to call for help, but their cellphones weren’t getting any service. They tried the landlines next, but again, they weren’t able to get anyone. The snow was piling up, blanketing their vehicles and bunching up around the exits and entrances into the school. Even the roof access was cut off, not that it would do them much good, visibility outside was less than two feet, and the temperatures were going lower with each passing second.

Despite all this, the students of CHS didn’t seem to care much about it. That was because they were out for blood, they knew who was responsible for all the hate, all the division in their school, and it wasn’t Sunset Shimmer. Poor Sunset, she as much a victim as any of them, even more so because she was shot. But now the students had the chance to make things right, they had the chance to show just how sorry they were, and they were going to accomplish this by savagely beating the three little brats who started it all, either that or damn near kill them in return for Sunset almost getting killed.

Thus began the massive manhunt, every clique in the school was searching for them. The faculty tried to calm their students down, but they vastly outnumbered them, practically ten to one. The faculty were forced into confinement in the faculty lounge, and with no outside help coming, they had no way of making their students listen to reason. They knew full well what they were going to do, and they couldn’t let them do it, but the students wouldn’t listen. All they could think about was hurting Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom, all they wanted was to make an example of them. They would get their blood, and revenge would be theirs.

Of course, there were three girls who were opposed to this, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash managed to insert themselves into their different cliques under the false pretense that they were just as mad at them as everyone else, if not more so. Thanks to that, they were able to join search parties and/or allowed to go off and search on their.

Rainbow Dash managed to find the trio and tried to text her friends that she found them, but the cell service was not working, which meant it was on Rainbow Dash to protect them for the time being.

“What are we going to do?” Sweetie Belle asked in fear.

“I’ll get you guys out of here, I promise I won’t let any of these assholes touch you,” said Rainbow.

But right now, I don’t know who I’m trying to convince. The entire school’s lost their shit, and they’re seriously talking about killing them! Get it together Dash, you gotta hide them somewhere, someplace safe.

Problem was that number of safe spots were far and few between. The idea of stuffing each of them into a locker had come to mind, they were small and thin enough to fit into one if she took out the contents, but she quickly dismissed that plan outright. Rainbow wished she could just take them outside and to Rarity’s car, but the freak blizzard outside had cut off all pretense of even thinking that going outside was an option for them.

The more Rainbow thought about it, the more she believed that the classroom they were in was the best option. The door opened inward, which meant they just needed to barricade it and they could just hunker down and wait until the storm passed to jump out the window. Although, at the rate the snow was piling up, there was no way that they’d be able to do that.

“Okay, we’re blocking the door, we’ll wait it out until help arrives or until they come to their senses,” said Rainbow.

The girls nodded and quickly went to work, Rainbow managed to push the teacher’s desk all the way up against the door. The middle school trio hurried and piled desk after desk around the door, working it like a puzzle as they interlocked the legs to make a tangled mess of an obstacle course, even if someone managed to break through the door, they’d have to climb around the desks, and doing so would only hurt the mob in the end.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow…I’m really sorry…” Scootaloo whimpered.

“Tell that to Sunset if we live through this. Personally, I think you three should get on your knees and beg her to forgive you, as a start!” Rainbow scolded.

The girls shook from the anger in her voice. Rainbow sighed heavily, she knew now wasn’t the time to get on them for all the trouble they caused, there would be time for that later. All that mattered right now was that they hunkered down in that room until the students calmed down and the storm stopped.

*Stomp*

The girls froze, they felt the floor shake.

*Stomp*

The girls looked around, the windows were covered by snow, the only door in or out was blocked by a desk and more desks.

*Stomp*

“Scootaloo…” Rainbow whispered.

“Y-Yeah?”

“Give me that blade.”

Scootaloo quickly handed Rainbow Dash the makeshift weapon they broke off. Rainbow held the cutting blade in her right hand, she moved closer to the door, listening carefully for anyone or anything. The stomping from earlier was hard to pinpoint, she couldn’t tell if it was coming from outside the door or–

“The ceiling!” Rainbow hissed.

The ceiling of the classroom had a hole punched through it, sending light fixtures along with metal and drywall falling down to the floor. Rainbow coughed from the dust it kicked up, her eyes squinting from the particles that got into them, but once her vision cleared, she was able to see what exactly came through the ceiling.

It was big, metal, and angry. The creature stood at eight feet tall, a rounded metal orb acted as its body, connected by a slender metal tube that was linked to a secondary orb that acted as its hips. The creature had metal rivets that were aligned around its torso, waist, shoulders, and legs. Two more balls acted as the shoulders, and what hung off those shoulders were two, seven-foot-long spiked balls and chains. The creature’s yellow eyes wandered around the room, but eventually landed on that which it sought.

“You two…You’re responsible for all of this! You got Sunset shot…! I’ll kill you! Kill Anon-A-Miss!” the creature proclaimed.

A…A Wendigo?! No…No way, all this hate, it’s allowing them to possess people?! “GET AWAY FROM THEM!”

The possessed student whipped its head in Rainbow’s direction, it then whipped its left arm straight for Rainbow. The athletic girl quickly dodged to the left just as the ball and chain smashed into the wall. Rainbow rolled on the floor and got back into a kneeling position, she knew she stood no chance against a Wendigo, her dinky little weapon wouldn’t make a dent in it.

But if I find a spot then I can at least hurt it.

Rainbow began scanning the monster, but it was becoming hard to do so in the dimly lit room. It was only noon, but with the storm, it might as well have been night time. Unfortunately, Rainbow wouldn’t get the chance as the wall to the classroom was busted down. Light poured into the classroom, revealing the second Wendigo of the day. This one was female, its body was made of vines and leaves, its head had red rose petals for hair, but had no eyes. It did have a mouth, and it hissed. Vines rose into the air like cobras, shooting out straight for the girls.

The plant Wendigo’s vines coiled around the trio, one wrapped itself all around Apple Bloom like an anaconda, the vines coiling tighter. Four others wrapped themselves around Scootaloo’s wrists and ankles, pulling her out until she formed an “X” with her body. Two attacked Sweetie Belle, wrapping around both her wrists and pulling back on her arms, while the second wrapped tightly around her neck. Apple Bloom felt the vines squeeze tighter and tighter, her breathing was becoming more labored as she found herself unable to properly inflate her legs. Scootaloo was screaming in pain as she felt the four vines pull her in opposite directions, she fought as much as she could, knowing that the longer this went on her limbs would eventually be pulled from her sockets, and unfortunately, she was sure that it wouldn’t stop there. Sweetie Belle felt her arms being pulled back so hard she thought that they were going to be torn off, but that wasn’t her immediate concern as much as the vine around her neck, it squeezed tighter, cutting off her air supply as she gagged, trying to take in breath but finding impossible.

Rainbow Dash ran for the vines of the plant Wendigo, raising her blade up and hacking at the closest vine. The blade cut into the vine, but the moment she drew it back, it regenerated the damage. Rainbow did it again and again, but to no avail, she looked towards the girls, they were dying, they were dying and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it, they looked at her with pleading eyes, screaming in silence “HELP ME!” Rainbow tightened her grip on the blade and ran towards the source itself. The plant Wendigo had another vine come out and swipe at Rainbow Dash, the blow sent her flying into the opposite wall, nearly knocking her out upon impact.

Dammit…get up Dash…you can’t let them die…I won’t…I can’t…what they did was shitty, but they don’t deserve to die for it…!

Rainbow dragged herself back up, propping herself against the wall as she steadied her body. However, that didn’t seem to matter as the metal Wendigo stepped forward, its ball and chain arms rising and ready to turn Rainbow Dash into red paste.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” Rainbow managed to say.

All of a sudden, the plant Wendigo screamed in pain. Rainbow and metal Wendigo looked in its direction and saw that a bronze colored blade was sticking out of its stomach. The demon hunched over in pain as the blade was quickly pulled out, the wielder of the blade jumped over the plant Wendigo and landed upon the floor. It was hard to see who it was, but their weapon was easy to make out. The weapon that pierced the demon was a spear, bronze in color, it was about five feet long at the hilt, and the blade itself was three feet long, and the flat of the spear had an ornate cross carved into it.

The one who wielded the spear was clad in a black cloak with red and gold trimming. The cloak moved just a bit and allowed them a better view of her outfit. It was a black leather-like suit, the forearms were wrapped in red metal bracers with gold trimming, shoulder pauldrons were attached to the upper part of the suit, also red and gold trimmed, but the pauldrons had a golden cross. Some of the warrior’s midriff was exposed, revealing the cream color of her skin. Further down she wore leather-like pants, with red leather plates sewn into the hips and ran halfway down the thighs, both of which sported ornate crosses down in gold. The warrior also wore metal boots, similarly colored as her bracers. The medallions that held the cloak and hood sported the same religious symbols, and under that hood, Rainbow could spot…pink hair.

“No way…”

The warrior swiped her spear across the vines that held the girls, the swinging of her weapon was done so fast that all that Rainbow could see was the streak of bronze that glowed in the dark. The girls fell to the ground, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took in deep gasping breaths while Scootaloo messaged her aching hips and shoulders.

The warrior looked towards Rainbow Dash, she recognized the warrior, she’d recognize those teal colored eyes anywhere. “F-Fluttershy?!”

“Get the girls out of the room!” Fluttershy ordered.

Rainbow wasted no time and hurried to the girls, as much as she wanted to give them a minute to recover, they were not out of the woods. The metal Wendigo finally snapped out of its stupor and readied to attack. Fluttershy saw this and immediately dashed towards the creature, she spun her spear around with expert skill, and then thrust the butt of her spear right into the monster’s chest. The impact made the monster cough up black blood, and dented its chest. Fluttershy turned the weapon around and with surgical precision, slashed the chains off the monster, all of this happening in less than a second. The monster was sent flying into the wall, smashing through it and into the next classroom while its arm weapons lied on the floor where it once stood. Fluttershy turned her attention to the plant Wendigo, dashing once again and leaping into the air. She spun once and struck the monster with a flying roundhouse to the head. The monster hit the side of the broken wall, but staggered up. Fluttershy slashed with her spear again, cutting off both of the monster’s arms and making it spray black blood onto the floor.

“C’MON!” Fluttershy stated.

Rainbow and the girls didn’t argue, they followed Fluttershy as she led the way down the hall. Along the way they were spotted by a few of the students who were out to get the middle school trio, but the moment they dared get close, Fluttershy attacked them, utilizing immobilizing techniques as she hit specific pressure points on their bodies and made them fall to the ground, temporarily paralyzed.

Fluttershy spotted someone up ahead, it was Flash Sentry. He didn’t look like the rest of them, no blood thirsty look in the eyes. He was waving his hands as if to flag them down. Taking a chance, all five of them headed his way. The group saw the door to the basement level of the school and went inside. Flash took up the rear and shut the door quickly, locking it from the inside and sliding a bar through the handle.

All five girls panted, but paused when they heard footsteps. They waited with hitched breath for a few seconds, but when then the footsteps retreated they released a sigh of relief.

“Glad you’re safe,” said Flash.

“Yeah…how come you’re not murder happy like the rest ‘em? Not that we’re complaining,” said Rainbow.

“Definitely not complaining,” Sweetie commented.

Flash looked at the three girls with some contempt. “I do agree that what you girls did was terrible and that you should be punished, but I don’t think that killing you will make things right. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

Fluttershy pulled down her hood and said, “Amen.”

Speaking of, Flash, the CMC, and Rainbow Dash turned their attention to Fluttershy. The outfit she wore hugged her figure nicely, and as stated before, exposed a bit of her midriff, something that Fluttershy would never wear. And then there was the spear that she was currently holding, everything about this was just so not Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a pacifist, she would never hurt a fly or even pick up such a dangerous weapon, and yet they just watched her kick the assess of two demons like it was just another day at work for her.

“Yeah, what’s up with the spear, the outfit, and the mad fighting skills, ALL OF IT?!” Rainbow asked.

“Are we sure she’s even Fluttershy and not just some demon that looks like her?” Apple Bloom asked.

Fluttershy look saddened that her friends didn’t recognize her, to be honest, she didn’t even recognize herself after doing all the things she just did, but it was expected. “Ask me a question, something only you would know, Dashie.”

Sweetie, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Flash watched as Rainbow thought about her question. After a minute of thinking, Rainbow asked, “When we were sixteen, and I had my first taste of beer. What did I do you?”

“EEP!” Fluttershy squeaked as she clutched at her spear. “U-U-Um m-m-maybe you could p-pick another question?”

“Nope, tell me.”

“Flash is here…”

“Tell me.”

“The girls are not old enough to hear that.”

“Tell me or you can go back outside.”

Fluttershy was blushing up to her ears, but relented. “You got drunk after one beer, your parents said you could so long as you were at home with them there, and me to make sure you’d be okay. I was trying to get you to lie down, but you ended up…oooh…you ended up dragging me into bed with you and grouped my chest for almost ten minutes straight.”

Flash and the girls blushed up to their ears, matching Fluttershy.

“Yep, it’s her.”

Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow. “Wait, you mean that’s true?!”

Fluttershy pulled her hood back on and looked down. “Happy?”

“Nope, sorry.” Rainbow walked forward and gave Fluttershy a hug. “It’s good seein’ ya, it’s been almost four days, Shy, I was worried about you.”

Fluttershy smiled and used her free arm to hug Rainbow back. “I’m sorry, I had things that I needed to do.”

“Let’s talk downstairs, there’s some people waiting for us,” said Flash.

Flash led them into the basement, next to a still functioning boiler that provided welcome warmth into the room. Around the boiler were Rarity, Applejack, Derpy, and Bulk Biceps. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle broke from the group and ran for their siblings, the older sisters gave their younger sisters a fierce hug, happy to see them alive, oh there would be hell to pay later, but right now all that mattered was that they weren’t dead.

The others laid eyes on Fluttershy, shocked at her appearance, and even more so by the weapon she carried.

“I’m guessin’ Shy’s the reason why y’all are alive?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah! We were almost killed by this plant monster, but Fluttershy came in and took them both down like it was nothing,” said Sweetie Belle.

Derpy blinked. “Wow, Fluttershy, you look really cool. Thank you for saving them.”

“Y-Yeah,” said Bulk as he tried not to look at her, his face heating up.

Fluttershy’s face was doing the same as she tried to avoid his gaze as well. “T-Thank you, all.”

“So, how long do ya reckon we can stay here before they find us?” Applejack asked out loud.

Rainbow sat down on her rear. “I hope for a little while longer, we can’t even get to our cars with that snow blocking our way. Wish we had a snowplow or something.”

“Um, can’t you guys use your magic? With the pony ears, wings, and magic rainbows?” Derpy asked.

Rarity sighed. “I wish we could, but Princess Twilight isn’t here, and Pinkie Pie’s in the hospital watching over Sunset. We’re scattered and our instruments are in the music room, there’s no way to get there without getting jumped by our fellow students, and now apparently Wendigo possessed students.”

Bulk scratched the back of his head. “So…what do we do?”

Everyone went silent when they started to hear something close to crashing. Repeated crashing. Fluttershy pulled up her hood and readied her spear, the others got behind her as Fluttershy listened closely to the noise. It was getting louder.

Suddenly the ceiling exploded as something crashed through it and landed in the basement, dust floated around the area, causing the others to cough. The light that poured down from the hole in the ceiling allowed them to see two silhouettes, and one of them was sparkling. The sparkling silhouette made a move and caused a gust of wind to kick up and blow the dust away, followed by a strong shockwave. Fluttershy braced against the shockwave as the others were sent falling to their rears. Once the dust cleared, everyone was able to see what had crashed into their hiding spot.

Ishtar, in her beast form, was currently having her tail held back by Witchblade, her clawed hands digging into the crystalline tail of the creature as she dug her heels into the concrete floor. Witchblade managed to turn her head and her eyes went wide upon seeing her friends, one in particular.

“Sunset…?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Fluttershy?”