“Don’t Be Ridiculous, Rainbow.”
Sunset’s spoon stopped midway to her open mouth as the girl’s brain processed the question she had been asked. “Could you repeat, please?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I asked if you’re worried Wallflower Blush is going to kill you.”
The spoon remained in place. “My first question is ‘What’s wrong with you?’, my second is ‘Why?’”
“Are you saying it doesn’t make sense?” Rainbow questioned.
Sunset’s spoon finally descended back to her tray. “It’s so ridiculous that I would totally believe you were Pinkie Pie disguised as Rainbow were it not for the fact she’s sitting at your side.”
Pinkie stopped stuffing her mouth with muffins and spoke amazingly clear for someone with a mouthful of pastry. “My Rainbow costume is in the laundry.”
Rainbow let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, she hated you enough to try and erase every good thing you ever did for the school to bring you the same misery she felt for years. Why is killing suddenly out of the realm of possibility?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Because she would gain absolutely nothing out of my death? Or maybe because, I don’t know, we forgave her?”
Rainbow let out a raspberry. “We forgive everyone! Even if she killed you, we would probably forgive her afterwards.”
Sunset frowned. “Are you serious? You would just ditch me like that?”
“Well, if she did kill you, I certainly wouldn’t want to cross her,” Rarity admitted as she fixed her hair.
“There’s also the moral consequences of seeking revenge and all that,” Applejack added.
Sunset look at her friends in disbelief. “You girls would seriously let someone kill me and get away with it to maintain the moral high ground?”
“I could avenge your death,” Fluttershy offered in a low voice.
“Would,” Sunset corrected before looking at Rainbow. “And also, why would Wallflower of all villains want to kill me? The sirens hated me way more than her.”
Rainbow looked at the ceiling with a ‘I can’t believe I need to explain this’ expression. “You, Midnight, and Gaia were under the influence of Equestrian magic, and the sirens are from Equestria, the land of peace and prosperity for ponykind, I doubt murder is in their genetics.”
“Did you just used genetics in a sentence?” Twilight asked in shock.
Sunset ignored that question. “Equestria is also the land where villains enslaved ponies, and its ruler has a very effective censoring system.”
“It still probably doesn’t hold a candle to what humans have done over the years, and Wallflower is a human that got access to a magical artifact. She didn’t even have a cool final boss form at the end!”
“I really hope we don’t get another villain with a final form now that you said that.” Sunset covered her face with her hands. “Rainbow, Wallflower’s almost as shy as Fluttershy. You can’t possibly expect me to believe she’s secretly a serial killer.”
Rainbow crossed her arms. “You know what they say about the quiet ones.”
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy exclaimed angrily. “That’s a very hurtful stereotype!”
The athlete looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You failed to poison Sunset days before the Fall Formal.”
Sunset blinked twice. “She did what?”
“I should’ve used a dose fit for a horse,” Fluttershy grumbled before noticing her friend was looking at her. “I mean, I'm happy that it didn't work, and we're friends now,” she quickly added before going back to eating her salad and avoiding eye contact.
Sunset shook her head in frustration. "Okay, horrible implications aside, all this started because I was a bit of a huge flaming bitch back then. I'm different now, and Wallflower has seen it. So why in Tartarus would she–"
“Uh, Sunset?” a soft voice asked behind her.
Sunset turned around. "Yes Wall–" In front of her stood a familiar girl with wild green hair in a beige sweater and jeans, which wouldn’t be so shocking if the right side of her body wasn’t covered in a crimson tint. "Hey... You spilled some... Juice? Punch? Tomato sauce?" she asked with a bit of nervousness.
Wallflower looked at herself. “It’s just blood.”
Sunset gulped audibly. “Oh... Blood... A lot of blood..."
"Don't worry, it's not mine."
"That's both reassuring and worrying. Care to tell me what happened?"
Wallflower’s eyes darted around the cafeteria before asking. “Can we talk in private? In a place where no one could hear you if you screamed?"
Sunset looked at her friends for help, but none of them seemed to have noticed the blood-soaked girl’s arrival, except for Rainbow, who was giving Sunset the smuggest ‘I told you so’ look in history.
Sunset glared at her friend and stood up. "Yes Wallflower, I will follow you to some remote location away from public eyes, because previous statements that someone made are wrong, so I've nothing to fear."
Wallflower raised a confused eyebrow. "Okay... please follow me."
Rainbow’s smug face didn’t falter. “I know I’m right.” She slowly reclined in her seat, failing to notice a yellow hand spicing her drink with laxatives.
Sunset walked through the halls of the school following Wallflower’s slow pace, having severe difficulty with averting her eyes from the blood-soaked girl next to her. “Aren’t you worried you will get in trouble due to the blood?”
Wallflower barely glanced at her ruined clothes. “It doesn’t really matter, I’m invisible to everybody.”
Sunset frowned. “But the Memory Stone was destroyed.”
Wallflower let out a sigh. “I’m still very unremarkable, even with blood all over myself.”
Sunset was about to say something, but then Sandalwood collided with her green haired friend, sending her to the floor.
“Oh, sorry Sunset, didn’t see you there,” Sandalwood apologized before continuing his way down the corridor.
“But you bumped into…” Sunset tried to correct, but he didn’t seem to hear her. She looked down at Wallflower rubbing the back of her head and helped her stand up. “I don’t know what I’m afraid of. Wallflower is harmless, and she would had snapped long ago if she weren’t.”
“I swear, I probably don’t even need to smuggle a gun to school,” Wallflower complained moving some hair out of her face.
“Wouldn’t,” Sunset corrected.
Wallflower looked at her confused. “What?”
“Since the action hasn’t been made yet, you should use wouldn’t instead of don’t,” the redhead explained.
Wallflower looked at her with even more confusion. “Uh, sure, let’s go with that.”
Eventually, they crossed the door to the school’s courtyard and continued until they entered the small forest where Wallflower has her unintentionally secret garden.
“Okay, we’re here,” Sunset said with a bit of nervousness. “Alone and away from everybody. What did you wanted to talk about my definitely-not-serial-killer-friend?”
Wallflower tapped her fingers together, struggling to talk. “I… Well…”
Seeing the girl so nervous brought some calm to Sunset. "There's no way she's going to try and kill me if she can’t even talk to me."
" I need you to help me bury a body."
Sunset’s calmness vanished instantly. "Oh, right, I forgot about the possibility of her killing someone else." She cleared her throat before speaking. “Um, a body you say?”
"It's in my truck." Wallflower pointed behind her.
"Is it an unmarked white ban?" Sunset half-joked with a forced smile.
Wallflower frowned a bit. "No… That would be suspicious and make people call the police."
Sunset nodded hiding her panic. "And we wouldn’t want that."
“Yeah, and I don’t want to go to prison again.”
Sunset felt her body tensing. “Again?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Can you give me the abridged version?” Sunset asked, not sure if she wanted an answer.
“Clowns.” Wallflower answered, her eyes lost in the memories. “And that’s all you’re getting without ending in a body bag.”
Sunset clapped her hands together. “Say no more! How about we go bury that body?”
“Oh, yeah,” Wallflower exclaimed as she snapped back to reality. "We need to go to the Savalier Woods."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Why that specific place?"
“Not many people go there so there’s less chance of being spotted,” Wallflower explained. “You can easily get away with murder there.”
Sunset was sweating profusely by this point. "Okay, I will help you!” She declared trying to hide her shaking legs. “Because we're friends! Best of friends! The besties! And besties wouldn't hurt each other, right?"
"Uh, sure... If it makes you feel better," Wallflower said as she walked towards her truck.
Sunset followed her while screaming inside her head. "Rainbow's not right, Rainbow's not right, Rainbow's not right!"
Sunset tapped her knees nervously as she and Wallflower traveled in the green girl’s old pickup truck. It had been a very silent journey, with one focused on driving and the other in not thinking about the many ways she could die in the near future.
“Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” Sunset asked, wanting to muffle her thoughts with music.
“Go ahead.”
Sunset pressed the dial, and a female voice started talking. “The authorities are still looking for the one behind the murder of three teenage girls. Witnesses described the killer as a girl with green–”
Sunset slammed the radio off, getting the attention of the driver. “Did it scare you?”
“No! What should I be scared off?” The redhead exclaimed defensively. “How about some small talk to pass the time?”
Wallflower looked back at the road. “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
Sunset’s panicking brain went to the basic. “Do you have any hobbies?”
The green girl slowly turned her head towards Sunset with a raised eyebrow. “Gardening…”
Sunset mentally facepalmed. “Oh. I kind of forgo– I mean. It’s your turn now.”
The driver spent a few seconds thinking. “Do you think the Dazzlings taste like sushi?”
“Yeah, that’s totally not some serial killer thinking.” Sunset thought sarcastically.“I hope I never find out.”
“Well, they aren’t around anymore so… wish granted, I guess,” Wallflower said with a shrug.
“Oh yeah, I always wondered what happened to them. They just disappeared after–” Sunset froze as she remembered what the radio had said.
“The authorities are still looking for the one behind the murder of three teenage girls.”
“Three teenage girls.”
“Witnesses described the killer as a girl with green.”
Sunset swallowed a lump in her throat.
“Would you like to know what happened to them?” Wallflower asked without looking at her.
Sunset slammed the radio back on and turned the volume all the way up. “Oh, I love this song!”
Wallflower flinched at the sudden noise. “Sunset, that’s the weather report.”
“80% chance of heavy rain tonight!” Sunset sang while they continued their travel towards the Savalier woods.
The radio kept blaring all the way until Wallflower stopped the truck and killed the engine. Both girls got out of the vehicle, stretching a bit after the long travel, and walked to the back of the truck.
When Wallflower pushed some trash away, Sunset saw the body for the first time, completely wrapped in a black tarp and leaking a bit of blood on the floor of the truck.
“I’ll carry the body; you bring the shovels. I mostly need help digging the grave.” Wallflower explained, handling two shovels to Sunset.
Sunset nodded. “Fine by me.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Wallflower went back to the cabin of the truck and came back a few seconds later wearing a leather belt with two holsters, one holding a big knife, and a pistol in the other.
Sunset couldn’t look away from the two possible murder weapons. “Uh, big-best-bestie? Why are you... Arming yourself?"
"For protection. I wouldn't want to join the disappearances in the forest," Wallflower answered casually while lifting the body-bag.
"Me neither! We have so much in common!" Sunset exclaimed with a nervous laugh.
The green girl let out a sigh. “Don’t worry Sunset, it’s all going to end soon.”
“Worry? I’ve nothing to fear,” Sunset said with a little laugh while she set Rainbow’s number on speed-dial just in case.
They then started to walk into the dense forest, avoiding the overgrowth and low hanging branches from the trees. Wallflower clearly knew the area since she didn’t seem to be wandering aimlessly despite the darkness caused by the vegetation, and she moved quite well despite carrying a body almost as big as her.
“You’ve a very strong back,” Sunset admitted, trying to get on the girl’s good graces while also planning a possible escape route.
“Years of practice,” Wallflower said with a bit of pride.
Sunset was sweating again, her clothes drenched by this point. “Y-Years?!”
Wallflower smiled. "Yeah, ever since dad and I went hunting."
"And… what did you hunt?" Sunset asked. “Please don’t say people, please don’t say people!”
The green girl patted the bag on her shoulder. “Deer mostly.”
Sunset stopped dead in her tracks. “Wait… That’s a deer?”
Wallflower also stopped, turning around to look at Sunset. “Uh, yes. Why? You thought it was a pig?”
“I thought it was a person!” Sunset exclaimed without thinking.
Wallflower did a double check to confirm she heard her right. “What?! You thought I killed someone?”
“Yes! I mean no! I mean… maybe,” Sunset mumbled. “It was Rainbow’s stupid theory!”
Wallflower would’ve facepalmed were she not carrying a dead deer. “Sunset, I walked up to you in the middle of the cafeteria. All your friends were there. If you suddenly disappeared, I would be the number one suspect, and without a good alibi I would be behind bars even before they found your body. If there was a time to kill you, that would’ve been while I still had the stone!”
“I feel like that should’ve calmed me more than it actually did,” the redhead admitted.
Wallflower’s frustration was starting to be visible in her face. “Sunset, I hunt. My dad taught me years ago and I do it every now and then.”
"Then why did you sound so suspicious about it? You threw me a lot of red herrings!" Sunset complained, rising her arms.
“I barely talk to people!” Wallflower shouted. “Sorry for not having good social skills!”
Sunset took a moment to calm herself. “Okay, now that murder is out of the equation. Why are you hunting deer and just burying them in the forest?”
Wallflower let out an annoyed sigh. “I don’t hunt for sport. I bring them home and butcher them for food. It saves a lot of money and I know a guy that buys the hides.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you eat meat? I thought you were a vegetarian.”
Wallflower frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“You know… Garden, love for plants… green…”
“Sunset, Do you eat hay?” the green girl deadpanned.
“No. Why would I– Oh! Yeah, I get it now. Sorry. Fluttershy was right about the stereotyping thing.”
“Can we go back to burying?” Wallflower asked tiredly.
“Wait” Sunset pointed at the deer. “Why aren’t you eating this one?”
“It has ticks, so it’s not really edible. I didn’t want to just leave it rotting in the forest in case some other animal ate it and got sick, so I wanted to bury it, but I pulled a muscle while carrying it to my truck, so I wanted some help. Now, my back is hurting like hell, so can we please keep moving?!”
Sunset lifted her hands defensively. “Okay okay, sorry. I just… let Rainbow’s words affect me too much.”
Wallflower let out a long sigh. “Sorry, it’s just… you’re apparently the only one that notices me enough to care and… turns out you were terrified of me all this time.”
Sunset winced at that. “Hey, I’m sorry, it was just dumb paranoia. Here, let me help carry that.”
“You’re gonna get blood all over yourself.”
“The leather will make it easier to wash,” Sunset countered before lifting the body all by herself. “I got it, lead the way.”
Wallflower smiled at the girl’s helpful gesture while she took the shovels. “Thank you. It shouldn’t take too long to find a place.” They continued their walk through the forest, with Sunset doing her best to balance the deer in her arms. “Hey… I know that all this has been a bit traumatic for you, but… wait, is me hunting deer offensive to you? Being a horse and all that.”
Sunset shook her head. “No, we don’t have deer in Equestria.”
“Okay, well… I was wondering…” Wallflower looked at the sky, trying to find either the words or the courage to ask. “Would you like to join me?”
“You mean join your hunting trips?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah. Since dad’s not around anymore, hunting has started to feel a lot lonelier. So, since you already know what I do and are helping me bury a body. I was wondering…”
“Well…” Sunset tried to think about it, but her mind still had a bit of that fight or flight instinct running around. “Let’s first bury this guy, then go rub it in Rainbow’s dumb face that she was wrong, and then I’ll think about it.”
Wallflower smiled with a bit of hope. “Okay. Thank you for considering it.”
After a few more steps, they arrived at a small clearing, and after checking the dirt in the floor, the hunter announced. “This is a good spot, put the deer over there." Sunset did as she was told, and Wallflower grabbed one of thew shovels. “I’ll mark the perimeter of the hole so you can…” She looked at Sunset and noticed that the redhead was staring directly at her knife. “I’m not going to kill you for fuck’s sake!”
Sunset jumped on the spot, raising her arms in defense. “Sorry, it’s just… I’m still thinking about it.” She looked back the way they came. “Maybe it’s better if I just wait in the truck until you finish here.”
“But the whole point of this was–” Wallflower watched Sunset starting to leave, and her eye twitched. “Sunset.” She called out before taking out her pistol, the safety still on, and pointed it at the redhead. “Start digging.”
Rainbow Dash, hidden behind some bushes, smiled as she watched Sunset digging a grave while Wallflower held her at gunpoint. “Ha! I knew I was right.” She whispered in celebration before a loud rumbling in her stomach forced her to look for a more discreet location. “Dammit, what did they served us in the cafeteria today?”
