Shadows Over CHS

Sunset Shimmer

When her alarm went off, Sunset barely felt rested at all. Although the rest of her sleep that morning was thankfully dreamless, she couldn't quite put that dream out of her mind. Up until the void, it all felt too real. Even now, she could remember the feeling of the magic coursing through her. That wasn't anything she'd ever experienced in her dreams before, and even now, she could sense a lingering disturbance in her own, formerly dormant, magical reserves.

It was marginally better than thinking about what had happened at Crystal Prep, mind you, but all it did was leave her feeling conflicted. She didn't want to believe that this was some sort of prophetic vision or a portent. That would mean putting stock in the idea that she'd had some sort of vision, and that was all just pseudomagical hokum. Yet something about it nagged at her.

It hadn't come to mind when she woke up the first time. After all, she'd been more concerned about the sleep paralysis and the emotions the dream had provoked. Thinking back, however, the dream matched up with the flashes she had during that weird episode the previous morning. What was it that Princess Celestia used to say? 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern.' Admittedly, it was more to do with when cookies vanished from the royal cookie jar, but still.

As she made her way into the kitchenette and put coffee on, she wondered what it all meant. If not for the unmistakable surge in the ambient magic the previous morning, and the lingering excitement in her own personal magic, she'd have been quite inclined to dismiss it all. As it was, it felt a bit beyond the realm of mere coincidence.

It reminded her of her earliest days after coming to this world. With the complete change in species, she futilely grasped for something familiar: the touch of her magic. Try as she might, though, she couldn't do more than sense that it was inside her. Similarly, she could detect that the world had a magical field, not unlike Equestria's, but it was so still that it was almost imperceptible. The only time she'd felt any sort of excitement in the magical field was when the portal opened.

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, her thoughts were interrupted when there came a knock at the door to the upstairs. Sunset quirked an eyebrow. It was a bit early to get a visit from Redheart, and she usually gave a bit more notice before stopping by. "Come on in," she called out as she sat at her small table.

The door opened to reveal a tired woman already dressed in her usual light-blue scrubs, although she hadn't yet tried her long pink locks up into her signature bun. She still had a cordless phone handset clutched with one hand. "Hey, Sunset." She sounded like she wished very much to go back to bed. "You haven't listened to the radio yet this morning, have you?" When the teenager shook her head, Redheart ran her free hand through her unkempt locks before glancing down at the phone in her hand. "I just got off the phone with Luna."

It always caught the former Equestrian off guard whenever Red mentioned the other school staff members without their job title or even an honorific. That was something the woman only ever did when she was being serious. "The school board has determined that classes should be cancelled for the day, although all faculty is still required to come in for a meeting," she explained standing opposite from Sunset. "It would seem that the school board is having security assessments done on all schools in the area, and there will probably be increased security at the school in the future."

The raised eyebrow from the amber teen did not go unnoticed. "Don't look so surprised, Sunset," the nurse remarked as she started walking towards the door back upstairs. "Despite the decrease in physical incidents in recent years, the district has been looking for excuses to start wiring the schools with CCTV, and what happened at Crystal Prep just gave them their justification. It might not get done all at once this year, but you can expect to see security when you go to class tomorrow."

Although she shut the door behind her, Sunset waited until she heard Redheart's footsteps upstairs before retreating to her sofa. She barely paid any mind as she turned the TV on to the news and took a seat. With a sip of her coffee, she began to consider her next moves.

First and foremost, what, if any, interference will guards and cameras create for my plans? Security guards could become obstructions, or useful pawns depending on the incidents. If she set up the right scenario, and pushed the right buttons, someone could easily be removed if they became a thorn in her side. I don't like the idea of weaponising people who are supposed to protect us, but if someone gets violent, I want them gone.

Cameras, on the other hand, could be more of a nuisance. Depending on placements, it'd make dealing with troublemakers a lot riskier to both her and her assistants. Would they be able to justify full audio recording all over the place or... She couldn't exactly whip out the blueprints she'd gotten her hands on while Redheart was in the house, so she couldn't extrapolate the best placements or potential camera angles just yet.

"I'll have to wait and see what they do," she murmured, watching as the weather forecaster predicted clear skies the rest of the week. There were, of course, options to make that situation a bit more favourable. With the right conditions, she could probably adjust the cameras over time to create a dead zone. Depending on whether they're actively watched, or only checked in the event of an incident, such blind spot could easily go unnoticed.

"—we've received preliminary numbers regarding yesterday's incident at Crystal Preparatory Academy," came the voice of the the same news anchor who, just yesterday evening, was lambasting a studio employee live on TV after they aired alleged footage from inside the school. The woman sounded a lot calmer, and far more sombre. "Twenty-three students, and one member of staff are confirmed deceased at this time. Over eight hundred students and thirty faculty members have been hospitalised, one of which is still in critical condition. Nine students are missing, and the police have not yet been able to contact their families. Our hearts go out to those grieving their losses."

The number was staggering. If there were eight hundred hospitalised students, that likely meant that the load had probably been spread out among the three hospitals in the Greater Canterlot Metro Area, and a few further out. This wasn't even one percent of the city's population. Even after all these years in the human world, the population numbers still caught her off guard.

When she was still in Equestria, it was considered a dense population centre if there were just 20,000 ponies living in a place. Discounting the Equestrian Royal Guards stationed in Canterlot, there was only a population of 12,000 in her homeland's capital. Seven percent—rounded up—of the entire population of Equestria's Canterlot being hospitalised would have likely caused havoc. Worse, if that seven percent was comprised mostly of children, Princess Celestia herself would not rest until every one of those foals was healed.

These people don't have an immortal demigoddess protecting and guiding them, though...

Her mind drifted back toward the dream she'd had, and the faces of all the Crystal Prep and Canterlot High students that watched in fear as she tried to talk down a power-mad girl. She didn't understand why she would ever put herself in that sort of situation, and yet the image of people looking at her with hope in their eyes stirred something in her. How hard must all of their families be taking this? How many are going to have their savings ravaged by medical bills? Then her mind drifted. What would Mom do?

She shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought. Feelings like that had no place in her experiment. She didn't need people to like her; they only needed to respect the authority she built herself—or fear her if it came down to it. Yet, she couldn't deny that it could be useful if she could improve her image. It'd make setting the groundwork for phase two that much easier. Plus, she needed to test if things could still work if the school were to unify, even temporarily.

Yes, that's it. It's about my image, nothing so silly as conscience.

With that solidified in her mind, she grabbed a loose sheet of copy paper from the coffee table, and a pen. She quickly penned out a rough proposal for a fundraiser campaign to provide aid to the families of those hurt or killed. Bake sales, car washes, maybe even an auction. Hell, she even wrote a suggestion to announce that they were taking further proposals. A tiny part of her was tempted to not sign the document at all—just pass it off to a member of staff and ask to remain anonymous. After all Princess Celestia would never approve of using charity as a mask to improve one's image—even if it was a common tactic used in both worlds to gain political capital.

Instead, as she heard the heeled footsteps of Redheart heading for the door, she hastily signed her name and threw on a pair of sneakers. Many humans might have baulked at the idea of running outside in their pyjamas, but Sunset had no such reservations. She quickly threw open the door leading outside, ran up the steps, and around the front of the small split-entry home.

Evidently, Redheart was surprised by her sudden appearance in the driveway, because it took the woman a moment to roll down her window. "Could you give this to Principal Celestia before the faculty meeting?" she asked, passing the sheet of paper to her landlord. "I think that, given the situation, she might like the idea."

The nurse readily accepted the piece of paper, but quickly looked over it. Her eyebrows quickly rose as she regarded her student-tenant. There was a mix of emotions on her face, suspicion and surprise chief among them, but there was something else there that Sunset couldn't quite put her finger on. Even as the nurse nodded before backing out of the driveway, she couldn't identify what she'd seen.

That afternoon, Sunset's mood had not improved in the least. Although she'd finally put that dream out of her mind, she quickly found that things were not going her way. While she'd been paying extra attention to the network of students associated with Canterlot High on MyStable, she noticed a number of students expressing concerns for their safety. The PTA members didn't typically didn't interact with the day-to-day student discussions; even they were expressing doubts as to the safety of their kids.

She couldn't exactly blame them; if such a thing could happen at a fancy private school for the best of the best, what hope was there for an average high-school in the suburbs? Still, the whole situation put her Human Advancement experiments at risk, because if the situation didn't change soon, she would likely see some of her most promising subjects transferring to different districts.

Also not helping things was what she'd heard from Snails. The boy hadn't required her to provide him with any money for bribes just yet, but he'd managed to get her some useful information in just a day. None of the girls flagged in her notes for promiscuity, nor those most likely to flock to the jocks, admitted to being at that party. He hadn't yet gotten around to asking those who might be easily pressured into such a thing, but she didn't imagine he'd have much luck when he got a chance to continue.

This is giving me a bad feeling, she thought, considering her next steps. It didn't make sense that, given Score's law enforcement father, he'd be dumb enough to involve actual prostitutes when most of the rugby team is minors. Then again, it might just make him arrogant enough to believe he's untouchable. She certainly couldn't just make moves against him willy-nilly. I need to hear back from Snips before I start planning any major moves.

Just as she was retrieving all the ingredients from the fridge and pantry for dinner—eggplant parm, a comfort food she loved back in Equestria—she got a text notification on her phone. She had hoped that it might be her other associate, finally contacting her with his initial findings. It'd be much easier to determine if she needed to make a plan to deal with Score and his accomplices, if things really were as bad as she was starting to believe, with a bit more information.

Hey, boss? :Snails

Have you heard from Snips since yesterday? :Snails

Sunset: No; I was hoping you might have.

Damn. He was supposed to meet me at the arcade after school yesterday, but he never showed. :Snails

He isn't picking up his phone, either. :Snails

Although Sunset was too rational a person to believe Snips had suffered some grim fate similar to that of the Crystal Prep students and staff, a tiny part of her mind thought it was a bit suspicious—more than a bit, if she was being completely honest with herself. The same day she asked him to investigate an extremely suspect party, he just so happened to disappear? That was just too convenient.

She was just getting ready to call the missing boy's mother when she heard the house's front door open and close. Evidently, Redheart was home, which in itself wasn't unusual. What was unusual, however, was the fact that the nurse's footsteps seemed to head straight for where Sunset recalled seeing a liquor cabinet. She'd only been upstairs a few times, but she was almost certain that was where it was. The thing was that you could hear wherever someone moved in the part of the house above her, and the nurse seldom went to that cabinet.

It was tempting to ignore it and simply leave the nurse to drink in peace. That said, if she intended on improving her image, being able to pretend to be sociable outside what was necessary was a must. Plus, something was clearly bugging her, so wouldn't it be right to go up and check in on her?

Setting her phone down on the kitchenette counter, she made her way over to the door to the upper portion of the home. Although there were doors at the bottom and top of the stairs, they were usually kept unlocked out of mutual respect. The only times they were ever locked was if one or the other had guests. Making her way up the stairs, she wondered what had gotten under the nurse's skin so bad.

"Redheart, do you mind if I come up?" she asked as she knocked at the door.

There was a moment of silence as the nurse made her way into her own kitchen. "I don't mind," she responded in a tired voice. When Sunset opened the door, she saw Redheart retrieving ice from her freezer, dropping it into a glass. As the nurse wandered back over to the counter, where a bottle of whiskey sat, she remarked, "It's a bit of a surprise. Usually I'm the one looking to talk."

Sunset looked a bit sheepish at that. Although she knew the landlord/tenant relationship the two had was unusual, she couldn't help but realise just how little Red expected of her socially. "I heard you go to your liquor cabinet, and thought you might want to talk," was her only explanation. "Long day?"

With a nod, Redheart poured a few fingers of liquor into the glass. "Like you wouldn't believe," she commented. Taking a gentle sip, the nurse sighed. "Not even a day into the school year, and not only are we completely reassessing our security policies, but we've also had a student spend a night in a locker."

That actually elicited a blink of surprise from Sunset Shimmer. Something like that hadn't happened since before she graduated from the CHS middle school program. In fact, it was how she met Micro Chips in the first place: finding out who had stuffed him in said locker and ensuring that didn't happen again. Most of the people who attended CHS seemed to have far more sense than to do such a thing, given that if someone ended up trapped over a weekend, someone could be hospitalised or killed.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Redheart continued, reclining against the counter. She shook her head in frustration. "The boy was pretty roughed up, but he refused to say who did it." With her free hand, the woman rubbed her eyes. "Honestly, he was lucky that anyone was even going through that hallway. With how dehydrated he already was, he would have been in really bad shape if he'd spent another night in there."

As she schooled her expression, Sunset let out a sigh of her own. What was it about today and things that happened to be way too coincidental? "It was Snips, wasn't it?" she asked. It was hard, but she managed to keep the rising fury out of her voice, especially given the look of alarm that quickly crossed Redheart's face all but confirming it. I would have hoped you'd be more careful, Snips... But if they're that sensitive about probing, they definitely have something to hide.

"Look, most of the staff is aware you use those two boys to keep tabs on the student body," Redheart said in an even voice while finishing her whiskey, "but if you're thinking about retaliating on his behalf, don't. The police are already involved."

Sunset didn't meet the woman's eyes, instead turning to return to her own apartment. Unfortunately, given that the one who did it was probably Score or someone in his posse, police aren't going to be doing anything, she thought bitterly. The fact that they were confident enough to strike out at her assistant for asking uncomfortable questions made her surprisingly angry. Those boys weren't theirs to punish for perceived slights; they were hers.

Those jocks were seriously starting to get on her nerves. Not only were they jeopardising her entire experiment, but now they were attacking her associates. You boys definitely have something to hide, but if you think that hurting my underlings would scare me off, you're grossly mistaken. Several different ideas began to run screaming through her mind. At first, you merely had my interest, but now you have my full attention.

Jinx Charm

If there was something Jinx thought she'd be doing today, joining a police officer in visiting his fiance and sister in the hospital definitely wasn't in the cards. She'd been called in to give another sample after initial testing detected Benzodiazepines in her system. Of course she'd rushed over to provide another sample to verify, and despite the building being packed full of Crystal Prep casualties, it had mostly been an in-and-out affair. Fingers crossed, they'd be able to say definitively that she'd been drugged.

It was when she was on her way out that she ran into the police officer she'd spoken to yesterday—Shining Armour. He was clearly off-duty, what with the chinos and polo shirt he was wearing, and the bag at his side. For a moment, she thought nothing of seeing him again. Then he did a double take and approached her, putting her entire day on its head.

"You know, when I saw you yesterday, I could have sworn we'd met before," he commented, stopping in front of her before she could pass the front desk. "Do you remember a police officer bringing you here a few years ago?"

That was... that would have been when her parents were hospitalised after getting hit by that drunk when she was sixteen. Come to think of it, wasn't there a pale-skinned officer with blue hair that night? Her eyes widened as she looked at him with recognition. "That was you," she said in a voice so quiet that it was nearly a whisper. "I never got to thank you for staying with me that night."

He nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way." He fixed her with a considering gaze. "Though I am curious what brings you by the hospital again. Do you volunteer here perhaps?"

Shining Armour seemed like a nice enough guy, but since he was part of the Canterlot P.D., she wasn't exactly comfortable just yet. "That is... a bit personal," she remarked, folding her arms in front of her. She pointed at the bag at his side. "I don't imagine you're here to talk to me, though. I'm sure your fiance and sister would rather you didn't keep them waiting."

The man glanced down at the bag at his side and then chuckled. "Fair enough," he answered. He made to leave, but paused. "They're keeping Cadance in for observation for a few days, so she's already going stir-crazy. She might appreciate having someone other than a nurse to talk to." His expression fell and he looked away. "Twilight is being kept under sedation for the time being. Probably for the best..."

She wilted slightly at that. "Sorry to hear that." She didn't exactly want to let him pressure her into joining him and his beloved, but it wasn't like she had much to do until her shift at the gas station. "I guess I could join you for a while."

It felt weird to Jinx, following the man through the halls to one of the recovery suites. She didn't really know why she was engaging this bit of whimsy. An act of kindness and charity? They weren't well off, but on top of living below their means, her parents were always into that sort of thing, and she'd even spent her middle-school years volunteering at a soup kitchen with them. Giving this man and his fiance some company in the hospital felt like the sort of thing they'd do. It's just neighbourly, Dad'd say.

Moving through these sterile halls made her uneasy, however. Following Shining Armour only intensified that anxious feeling, because it was so easy to imagine it was the day she'd been led down these same halls to see her parents. If she'd known it was going to be the last time she'd see either of them alive, she would have properly said goodbye. Instead, she'd been a hopelessly stupid little girl, and only said, "Mom, Dad, come home soon, okay?"

When they got to the room his little sister and his fiance were being kept in, he led her right in. "Hey, Cady, sorry for the wait," Shining said with a casualness Jinx could never imagine matching. The way the woman lying in the bed gave him a cocked eyebrow and half-smirk told her that this wasn't unusual. "I ran into that girl I was telling you about—the one I helped on my first night on the job."

Now that she got a better look at Cadance, Jinx thought she recognised her. Yeah, she'd definitely met the woman just before starting high school. Crystal Prep had scouted her for her grades, and Cadance was the guidance counsellor that had given her and her folks a tour of the facility at the time. Her folks were more than willing to shell out for her, but between the stuffy atmosphere of the school, and the fact that she knew it wouldn't be cheap, she'd ultimately decided not to attend.

"Hello, Ms. Cadance," Jinx said, idly rubbing her right elbow. "You might not remember me, but you gave me and my parents a tour of Crystal Prep a few years ago."

As she brushed a golden lock out of her face, Cadance smiled and nodded. "You've definitely blossomed since last we met, Jinx Charm" she noted. "Cinch was disappointed we couldn't get you." Her expression dimmed slightly, and she broke her gaze. "May she rest in peace."

Unsure of what to say, Jinx instead bowed her head in silence. She never met Principal Cinch, but she knew of the woman by reputation. Online, students liked to gossip, even with students from outside their own school. Often, the woman was described as driven, and invested in the growth of the students. Unfortunately, that investment was apparently rather stifling, and students considered her something of a hardass.

Looking to change the topic away from the dour nature of what had happened at her school, Cadance pointed to the necklace around Jinx's neck. "That's a pretty necklace. I've never seen anything quite like it before."

Jinx unconsciously moved one of her hands to caress one of the beads on her necklace. "It belonged to my Mom," she said softly. "Before she met Dad, she used to travel a lot, and collected odd little mementos. Mom swore up and down that the three jade beads warded off evil and brought good fortune." Inadvertently, she let out a bitter laugh and muttered, "Funny how when we needed protection most, we both left it at home..."

If either adult noticed that last part, they chose not to mention it. Instead, Jinx happily engaged in Cadance's idle chit-chat. Did she like it at CHS? What were her thoughts on the Principal and Vice Principal? Pretty much anything to fill the air. All the while Shining Armour pulled up a chair beside the other bed in the room. After putting a pair of glasses on the table beside the bed, he seemed content to hold the occupant's bandaged hand.

Talking with people like this, without the thought of what had been done to her, or what had happened at her rival school, turned out to be a bit cathartic. For the first time in days, she actually felt something approaching normalcy. She didn't even mind that, when her paranormal hobbies and tarot came up, Shining Armour joked that they'd all get a lecture from his sister if she could hear them. It made her feel like something other than a victim.

Somehow, some way, I'm going to make those bastards pay, she thought, tightening her grip around one of the beads.

That sobered up the mood awful quickly. For the most part, she'd kept her back to Shining and the unconscious Twilight. Yet, now that the attention had been drawn, she couldn't help but wince as she took in the sight. The girl in the bed looked to be covered in bandages or plasters. There was gauze wrapped around her head, likely for some scalp wound. An occasional wince and twitch played across Twilight's features, as though she were caught in a nightmare.

It didn't help any that Twilight was so pallid that she was closer to Jinx's own grey tone than her natural colour. That seemed to be addressed with a blood IV bag. There wasn't really hiding the reason why she needed blood. Despite it being covered by a nice cosy hospital blanket, she could see that the girl's right leg terminated at the knee. "They tried their best," Shining commented as he caught her gaze lingering, "but... well... Crush injuries are no joke."

Jinx looked down at the floor, noting once more that the shadow of the occupied bed seemed somehow darker than any of the other shadows in the room, as if it was trying to swallow all other darkness in the room. As she stared at that dense shadow, she came to a decision. You didn't deserve any of this... whatever happened over there... She wasn't sure she bought the media story that it was just a wild animal given how easily it came and went, and then there was the almost demonic fervour with which it tore through the school. You need this more than I do.

Stepping over beside Shining Armour, she slowly took off her necklace. Jinx stared at the memento of her mother and sighed. Her mothers words were practically ringing in her ears. Yeah, I know Mom. 'It's the right thing to do.' "I know you said she doesn't believe in this sort of thing," she said in a quiet voice. To her surprise, Shining Armour didn't stop her as she reached down and wrapped the beaded necklace around Twilight's free hand. "Hell, I'm closer to a sceptic than a true believer, but... if any of it really is real, then this should bring her luck, and maybe even keep her safe."

As she was about to step back, the twitching and pained looks from Twilight faded. She felt a hand close down on her shoulder. It shouldn't have startled her nearly as much as it did, but it took all her effort not to jerk out of Shining Armour's grasp and scream. Again, if it was something either adult noticed, they didn't comment. "She'll probably be upset that we let 'some mystic fraud' near her, but I know that deep down, she'll appreciate the sentiment." A look to her side showed that Shining was smiling. "I certainly do. We see a lot awful stuff on the job that starts to shake my faith in humanity, but it's things like this that lets me hold out hope."

Now that Twilight was still, she had an almost peaceful look about her. The shadow cast by the girl's bed no longer looked darker than any of the others in the room, either. Perhaps that really was the spectre of death looming over her. It amused her to think that something as silly as a trinket could ward off death itself, but it seemed to bring comfort, so who was she to judge?

Glancing up at the clock, Jinx paled. Is it really that time already? "Sorry, I gotta get to work." She apologised, stepping towards the door. "I hope you and Twilight get better soon, Cadance."

Both Cadance and Shining had noticed something was bugging the girl—it was impossible not to hear that earlier muttered sentence—and their professions and compassionate natures insisted they offer the chance to lighten her load. She just seemed to be so emotionally closed off. It was clear as day that their conversation was as much for her own distraction as it was Cadance's, and that bothered her as a former counsellor.

Shining Armour in particular already suspected what was up. Between the flinch, mentioning not having protection when it was most needed, and visiting the hospital two days in a row, he feared the young woman was the victim of sexual assault. He wondered why she tried to hide it earlier, then... unless she didn't trust the police to help her.

Although she opened her mouth to speak, Cadance never got the opportunity to make an offer to talk. As soon as Jinx finished speaking, she was out the door at a hurried pace. After all, her place wouldn't pay for itself. None of those she later came across noticed—or cared—that the pale young woman's shadow seemed to flicker like a dying flame. Then again, it'd been a miracle that she was even perceptive enough to notice Twilight's heavy shadow.