//------------------------------//
// Act I 
// Story: The Shadow Knows! 
// by Matthais Unidostres 
//------------------------------//

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of people?"

". . . The Shadow knows! Heheheheheheh!"





"The Shadow", the mysterious character who aids those in distress and helps the forces of law and order, is in reality Lawful Crane; a man of wealth, a student of science, and a master of other people's minds. Crane devotes his life to righting wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing the guilty. Using advanced methods that may ultimately become available to all law enforcement agencies, Crane is known to the underworld as "The Shadow". Never seen, only heard, due to a mysterious hypnotic power he learned during his time in the far East. As haunting to superstitious minds as a ghost. As inevitable as a guilty conscience. The identity of The Shadow is known only to his intimate friend and aide, Pearl Lane. 

Today's story, "Anon-a-Miss".





Pearl Lane and Lawful Crane sat across form each other in a café, with two steaming cups of fine coffee before each of them. Pearl was a fair skinned young woman with dark red hair. She wore a fine shawl and a dress, as well as a string of her namesake around her neck. She took a sip of her coffee before bringing her attention to her male companion.

Lawful Crane had a slightly darker, tanner skin tone. The black hat he wore rested on the table next to his cup of coffee. He wore a black coat and a crimson red scarf. At the moment, he was staring at his smartphone with a troubled look on his face.

"Lawful?" Pearl asked loudly.

Lawful Crane blinked suddenly and looked up at his companion and said, "Oh, Pearl, please excuse me. I was lost in thought."

Pearl pursed her lips in annoyance and said, "Indeed, you were. What exactly has you so troubled?"

Lawful frowned and said, "You might not have noticed, Pearl, but during our time here, I've been looking around, keeping my ears open, checking out the latest gossip. And it turns out that there is a serious problem going on in Canterlot Highschool."

Pearl suddenly became alert and interested, and she asked, "What short of trouble?"

"Someone has created a MyStable account named 'Anon-a-Miss' and has been posting embarrassing secrets about other students for everyone to see," Lawful explained, "And while they it may seem like just a few harmless little facts now, this could very well escalate into something that can ruins the futures, careers, and lives of so many innocent teens."

"Oh dear," Pearl said as the gravity of the situation washed over her.

"And it gets worse," Lawful continued, "It seems as if the entire student body is convinced that the culprit is a former bully named Sunset Shimmer, and are treating her more and more harshly as days go by. This I cannot allow."

Confused, Pearl asked, "Well, what makes you think that it wasn't her?"

Lawful handed Pearl his phone and said, "I checked out the MyStable page in question. What do you notice about it?"

Pearl studied the page and said, "There's a lot of yellow and orange on it. . . and the profile picture is a very clear colorized silhouette of some girl with red hair and a black jacket."

Lawful nodded and said, "Precisely. Yellow and orange are Sunset's colors, and the profile picture was drawn to look like Sunset. Clearly, whoever designed this page wanted others to come to the conclusion that it was Sunset."

Pearl nodded as she handed him back his phone, "You're right. If it was her, she would never have made it look so obvious. It's practically suicide. Someone must be framing her. But why?"

Lawful put his phone away and replied, "Perhaps someone is still bitter about her past bullying. Or maybe one of her past accomplices wants her to go back to her old cruel ways. Either way, this whole situation is getting worse by the minute. Not only could a potentially life altering secret get posted, but someone might decide to physically harm Sunset Shimmer to silence her."

"So, are you going to go out and find the real Anon-A-Miss?" Pearl asked.

Lawful shook his head and said, "Not me, Pearl. There is nothing Lawful Crane can do about this. This is a job for The Shadow."





Sunset Shimmer exited the school alone, as usual. It was just another day of abuse, name calling, scorn, and bitter venom. Her eyes were still red from the tears, and her heart continued to ache. With every day that went by, things simply got worse and worse. The other students seemed to get exponentially angrier every time Anon-a-Miss would post a secret. While often the secret would result in other students turning on each other, eventually all the anger and hate would find its way back to her. 

And worst of all was that Sunset no longer had any friends for support.

Sunset had been walking for a while when she heard a voice call out to her, saying scornfully, "Hey! Anon-a-Miss!"

Sunset turned around to see Lightning Dust approaching her.

Sunset sighed and said, "Look, I'm not in the mood for it now. So just let me-."

"Shut-up!" Lightning demanded, hatred burning in her eyes, "We've all had enough of you! All of us! It's bad enough that you think you can turn the whole school against itself, but if you think you can get away with spilling secrets about me, then you're just asking for a beating!"

Sunset's heart pounded, and she realized that Lightning Dust meant business. Part of her expected something like this to happen, but it didn't mean she was prepared for it, or wanted it. So she turned to run, hoping that she could lose the furious teen. However, that plan was dashed when she saw Gilda standing in her way, looking just as angry as Lightning Dust.

Sunset's eyes widened in horror, and she turned back to Lightning and pleaded, "Please! I'm not Anon-a-Miss! You have to-."

Gilda suddenly grabbed both of Sunset's arms in a vice-like grip, smirking as she said, "Save it, witch! You've had this coming to you for a loooooong time!"

Lightning smiled maliciously as she smacked her right fist into her left palm. "Heh-heh-heh. I'm gonna enjoy pounding you, Sunset. How about five. . . no, ten for every secret you spilled."

Sunset shook with panic, trying desperately to escape Gilda's grip. "No! Please! I didn't do it!" she pleaded.

Lightning brought her right fist back and brought it forwards towards Sunset's face, only for it to stop short by a few inches.

Lightning's eyes went wide as she stammered out, "Wha-wha-what!?"

Gilda stared owlishly at Lightning and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Something's got me by the wrist!" Lightning shouted fearfully.

"What?!" Gilda asked in disbelief.

"Hmhmhmhehhehhehhehhehheh!"

The eyes of the three teens all went wide as shivers ran up their spines.

"Who the heck is that!?" Gilda demanded fiercely, although her voice quivered ever so slightly.

"I am called. . . The Shadow," said a voice that was thin and reedy, yet commanding and haunting

"The Shadow?" Lightning Dust echoed.

"Yes. . . I have clouded your minds so that you cannot see me. But I assure you, I am very real."

"Let me go!" Lightning Dust demanded, her nerve slowly returning to her.

Gilda scowled at where she thought The Shadow was and said, "What are you trying to do here, anyway?"

"I am stopping you from assaulting this innocent."

Gilda let out a hollow laugh and said, "Innocent?! Her!? Listen Shadow, you clearly have no idea what's going on here."

"I assure you, I do. Sunset Shimmer has been framed from the creation of the MyStable account known as Anon-a-Miss."

"Framed?" Lightning Dust said incredulously, "Are you serious? Of course she's guilty!"

"You dare set yourself up as judge, jury, and executioner?! Here you are, ambushing this person when they are vulnerable and defenseless just so you can take sick pleasure in exacting revenge on someone who has repented of their crimes and has worked hard to make amends."

Sunset's eyes widened. She was amazed that this invisible stranger was coming to her defense. Then she cried out in pain as Gilda tightened her grip on her arms.

"Talk all you want, Shadow guy!" Gilda said, "Sunset's the only one who could have done it, and everyone in Canterlot High knows it."

"On the contrary. Perhaps, in your wickedness, either of you, or both of you, created Anon-a-Miss so that you'd have an excuse to attack Sunset over her past mistakes to satisfy the sick thirst for revenge you never had a chance to quench."

Lightning Dust gritted her teeth and said, "Oh, now you're trying to pin all of this on us?" She made a fist with her left hand a prepared to swing at the space where she figured The Shadow was standing, "Well, I'm gonna- AHHHH!"

Lighting Dust's right wrist suddenly twisted at an unnatural angle, causing her knees to buckle from the pain.

"Release Sunset Shimmer or I swear I will break her wrist!"

"Do it!" Lightning Dust pleaded.

Freaked out by the turn of events, Gilda obeyed, letting go of Sunset's arms. Sunset quickly backed away from the scene, unable to keep herself from watching.

"Now, do you two promise to leave Sunset Shimmer alone?"

"YES! YES! YES!" Lightning Dust shouted as she shut her eyes tightly, trying to block out the pain.

Gilda hesitated at first, staring at how Lightning Dust's wrist seemed to be suspended in mid air at a weird angle.

"Uh," Gilda said awkwardly.

"We're no match for this guy!" Lightning Dust shouted in pure terror, "You can't stop something you can't see! Just say yes or he'll get us both!"

Gilda swallowed a lump in her throat, and she said, "Okay. Yeah, we'll leave her alone. We promise."

Lightning Dust fell to the ground, gently nursing her freed wrist.

"Very good. Now remember this: As you sow evil, so shall you reap evil! Crime does not pay. . . The Shadow knows! Heheheheheheh!'

Gilda and Lightning Dust quickly took off in different directions to flee the sound of The Shadow's creepy laughter. This left Sunset Shimmer all alone.

". . . Thank you, Shadow," Sunset said softly.

"There is a more specific way in which you can thank me, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset jumped when she heard the voice. It seemed she wasn't quite alone after all. She was surprised that The Shadow hadn't left let, now that the danger had passed.

"H-how?" Sunset asked.

"Tell me, do you have enemies?"

Sunset was relaxed enough to snort and say, "Huh. Try pretty much everyone!"

"What about before Anon-a-Miss appeared?"

Sunset thought about this for a moment, then she said, "Well. . . there's Trixie Lulamoon. Really arrogant. Constantly butts head with me and my frie- former friends. She constantly kept bringing up all the bad stuff I did in the past."

"Good, good. Now, did you have any accomplices when you were a bully?"

Sunset was slightly caught off guard by this, but she nodded and said, "Yes. Snips and Snails. Although they were more like minions than accomplices."

"One more thing. Are there any other bullies in Canterlot High?"

"Just Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon," Sunset replied, "Although Diamond Tiara is the actual bully. Silver Spoon just follows her every whim for some reason. They're in Elementary School though, and mostly focus their bullying on kids who aren't as rich as they are."

"Very well. Now, I suggest you avoid going to school for a few days."

"What?" Sunset said in surprise.

"It isn't safe for you. But don't worry. I am sure that I will find the real Anon-a-Miss in a few days. You won't miss that many classes. I strongly suggest hiding out someplace safe. In fact, I'm sure my friend Pearl Lane will be glad to take you in for a while. Just tell her The Shadow sent you to her and she'll agree to it. Now, get out your phone and take note of this address. . ."





Within the Rich family mansion, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were playing  with a very expensive doll house set in the bedroom of Diamond Tiara. Although technically, only Silver Spoon was playing, as Diamond Tiara seemed to be more interested in her smart phone.

Eventually, Silver Spoon got fed up enough to say, "C'mon, Di! I thought you said we were gonna have a high society tea party?"

Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and said, "In a minute! I just need to take care of something here!"

As Diamond Tiara's fingers typed and tapped away, Silver Spoon huffed and said, "I'm beginning to wish social media never existed. Between you right now and Anon-a-Miss tearing up the school. This stinks!"

"Yeah, yeah, Anon-a-Miss. Whatever," Diamond Tiara said without a care.

"Are you even listening to me?" Silver Spoon said impatiently.

Diamond Tiara smiled and gave the screen one final tap, "There! All done!"

Silver Spoon got close to try and see what was on the screen of Diamond Tiara's phone. "What are you even doing on there, anyway?"

Diamond Tiara pulled the phone away, closing the screen and powering it down quickly as she said harshly, "None of you business!"

"Hmhmhmhehhehhehhehhehheh!"

Both young girls shrieked and hugged each other for protection.

"Who's that?! Who's there!?" Diamond Tiara said in wide eyed fear.

"I am the one that bullies and cowards like you fear the most. . . I am The Shadow."

"Where are you!?" Diamond Tiara shouted, "Show yourself or I'll call my butler! Or my daddy!"

"And what good would that do you? No one can see The Shadow, for I wield hypnotic powers that prevent the mind from seeing me. Anyone who you call in here will find no one but the two of you, and thus you will be named either a liar or insane."

Silver Spoon had tears in her eyes as she said, "Please don't hurt me!"

"I have not come here to harm you. I have simply come here to ask you a question. Are either of you Anon-a-Miss?"

Diamond Tiara huffed, clearly offended by The Shadow's question, and she pushed Silver Spoon away and said to the room at large, "Of course not! How dare you!? Everyone knows it's Sunset Shimmer! How could you possibly accuse us of doing that."

"Because, as I have already stated, you are both bullies and cowards. Although most of the blame falls on you, Diamond Tiara. You lead your accomplice on your sick, twisted missions to tear others down just because you believe them to be inferior to you. Surely the creation of the Anon-a-Miss account, and the framing of Sunset Shimmer, would only feed your lust for the domination of others for your own sick amusement."

Diamond Tiara was seething with rage at this moment, and she said, "So what!? So what if I capitalize on everyone else's flaws! It's not my fault others are so pathetic that they just beg to be torn down. But that's completely different from what Anon-a-Miss is doing. All she does is post random, stupid secrets! Besides, if I was Anon-a-Miss, I wouldn't have started with Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. I would have gone after their annoying little sisters first! That hick farm girl Applebloom! That airheaded Sweetie Belle! That dumb tomboy Scootaloo! I've been waiting forever for Anon-a-Miss to post something about those three losers! I even sent her some embarrassing photos of them I bribed Featherweight into secretly taking, and still nothing!"

"So others have been sending in things to Anon-a-Miss?"

Diamond Tiara shrugged, "Yeah, sure. Isn't it obvious? There's no way Sunset could know all of these secrets herself. Anyway, this isn't the kind of thing I'd do. Too much work. If anything, I'd just blackmail someone else to create something like this."

"You may not be Anon-a-Miss, Diamond Tiara, but your actions will have consequences one day. Perhaps Silver Spoon will grow tired of your behavior and leave you all alone. Perhaps in that moment, you will realize that the path your mother has forced you to walk will only lead to ruin. Goodbye."

Diamond Tiara's eyes widened at this, and she stood in silence for a while. Then shook her head and said, "Oh, what does he know?"

Silver Spoon sat in silence, staring at the floor.

"Silver?!" Diamond Tiara said as she turned her head sharply to look at he bespectacled friend.

Silver Spoon blinked her eyes, then nodded and said miserably, "Yeah. Sure. What does he know. . ."





In the Canterlot Mall's arcade, Snips was leaning against the side of the basketball game as Snail proceeded to make perfect shot after perfect shot, all with a zen-like expression on his face.

Snips shook his head and said, "Seriously, how do you do it?"

Snails just shrugged and said, "I just stop thinking. Seriously, I don't think."

"Hmhmhmhehhehhehhehhehheh!"

Snails froze solid, and Snips looked around with wide eyes.

"Uh, okay, who's doing all the laughing?" Snips asked nervously.

"I am The Shadow. I am completely invisible to you."

"Ooooookay. . ." Snips said slowly.

Snails relaxed and said, "Eh, stranger things have happened to us. Remember the Fall Formal? Yeah, a scary voice is nothing compared to that."

"Tell me, do you truly believe that Sunset Shimmer is Anon-a-Miss?"

Snips sighed and said, "Well, who else could it be? I mean, I don't wanna believe it. I kinda liked New-Sunset better than Old-Sunset."

Snails nodded his head sadly, "Yeah. . . I kinda wish she was innocent."

"Oh, but she is. And I will tell you how we can prove it. But first, during your time as Sunset's accomplices, did you discover any secrets about her, perhaps by accident or without her realizing it? Think hard. Sunset's future depends on it. . ."





Later on, in the food court of the Canterlot Mall, Trixie was muttering to herself rather darkly as she sat down at one of the tables all by herself.

"Stupid Sunset Shimmer. Stupid, stupid, stupid," Trixie muttered as she stared down at her phone, "Making Trixie miserable, ruining Trixie's career with her stupid talents." Then a smile spread across her face and she said, "Well, she certainly got what she deserved, didn't she?"

Trixie let out a good laugh after that, then she began typing something onto her phone. She took a good look at what she had written and said, "Plus, Trixie being able to let everyone see stuff like this without fear of getting caught is quite a nice bonus."

"Hmhmhmhehhehhehhehhehheh!"

Trixie sat up straight in her chair and her eyes darted back and forth, "Who is laughing at Trixie!?"

"It is The Shadow, and you cannot see me. I am entirely invisible to you."

Trixie visibly relaxed and said with a look of annoyance on her face, "Oh, really? Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie doubts that The Shadow could possibly achieve such a feat, when not even I could accomplish something so utterly impossible."

"My invisibility is not at all supernatural. Like the illusions you perform, it is a trick of a mind. Through hypnosis, I can cloud the minds of others so that they cannot see me."

Trixie's look of annoyance became one of intrigue, and she said with an eager smile, "Ooh, it seems The Great and Powerful Trixie has found a kindred spirit! Tell me, how is this trick performed?"

"What have you typed on your phone?"

Trixie's emotional roller coaster continued as the bottom seemed to drop out of her stomach. "Errrrr," she said, and she moved her thumbs with the intention of sending what she's typed and then swiftly closing the window.

A hand suddenly clamped onto Trixie's right shoulder, and her blood cold as The Shadow said in a harsh voice, "Do not touch that screen!"

"What do you want from Trixie?" she squeaked out.

"Are you Anon-a-Miss?"

"You've got the wrong girl! Sunset Shimmer is Anon-a-Miss! Not Trixie!" she said quickly.

"And yet here you have an embarrassing secret ready to be posted."

"Trixie was just sending it to Anon-a-Miss! Lots of students have been doing it! Just for fun!"

"It sickens me to see so many of you condemn Sunset Shimmer for doing something that you all are doing with impunity! How dare you treat her with such cruelty when you are doing the very thing you claim is so wicked!"

"But she started it!" Trixie argued, still very much aware of the hand on her shoulder.

"Or did you, consumed by your hatred and jealousy of Sunset Shimmer, create Anon-a-Miss yourself so you could frame her while also making all of Canterlot High bow to your slightest whim like the grand magician you have deluded yourself into thinking you are!"

"If Trixie were Anon-a-Miss, Trixie would have posted this secret directly on Anon-a-Miss' account instead of sending it through Trixie's own account," Trixie argued desperately, her palms starting to sweat as she stared at the screen in front of her.

"Perhaps. But if I were to take this phone from you, which shows a message containing yet another embarrassing secret to be sent from Trixie's account to Anon-a-Miss' account, and show it to the Principal of Canterlot High, you would be undoubtedly linked to Anon-a-Miss, and thus face all of the abuse Sunset has faced."

Trixie's pupils shrank in complete and utter terror at the thought. "What?" she said in a soft and quiet voice, a complete contract to her normally bold and arrogant personality.

"It would be so easy for me to snatch this phone right out of your hands. . ."

"NO! DON'T! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Trixie shrieked, her eyes begging to well up with tears.

"So you want mercy for doing something you believe Sunset has done, even though you never gave her any mercy for it? Do you not see your own hypocrisy, oh spiller of secrets!"

"I'm sorry!" Trixie sobbed as she silently wished that the hand on her shoulder would just go away.

"Then help me prove Sunset's innocence."

Trixie nodded vigorously and said desperately, "Oh yes, yes! I'll do it, I'll help her!"

"Good. Now, backspace all that you have typed. Then you will type every single word I say and then send it off. Then I will release you. Don't try anything, because while you can't see me, I can clearly see you. Now, here is what you will write. . ."