“We’re here!” exclaimed the stallion as he finally got to saw the village in the horizon. His expression of relief quickly shifted to horror as he saw the village being up in flames. The dragon was flying above, raining down fire on the poor townsfolk while the two unicorns watched, disturbed at the apocalyptic scenario happening right before their very eyes.
The mare looked at her partner with uncertainty. “Do you... have a plan B? Because I don’t think we are going to enter the dragon’s lair after all.”
He stared horrified for a minute before springing back to life. “Holy Sun-on-a-stick, this is terrible! We’ve got to form a new plan, now!”
The mare examined the dragon briefly, it looked like your run of the mill dragon, a good thing considering these flying beasts are tough to bring down. “Beating a dragon is out of the question, we should try to lure it away. You know what these monsters seek don’t you? You’ve done your studies?” she asked with slight hints of arrogance in her voice.
“Of course, I did!” The stallion proudly reached a hoof out to his chest and closed his eyes. “Celestia wouldn’t look at me so favourably if I neglected my studies and her teachings.”
“Yeah, she wouldn’t otherwise...” responded the disgruntled mare. She quickly changed her expression when the stallion started looking at her, slightly confused. “We’ll just need to find a diamond big and shiny enough to get its attention.”
The stallion smirked, knowing it was his time to shine. “Or we could just craft a fake diamond with magic. It just has to look like the real deal for your plan to work!” He sounded very proud of himself in these two sentences. A rare sight to see.
The mare’s face now showed a slight hint of disdain towards the stallion, though the latter didn’t pick up on it whatsoever. She knew she couldn’t pull off this kind of spell, and it made her angry. “Sure, go ahead.”
The stallion began to form the fake diamond, his horn glowing to an extraordinary degree. “You’re really good at acting on the spot and I must admit; I wish I could be as confident as you are, but I'm sure I can improve on that front!” he said enthusiastically.
The mare scoffed. “Thanks.” Her gratitude didn’t feel genuine, which was something the stallion, again, didn’t pick up on.
The diamond took shape. It was bright, shiny and beautiful. Nopony would ever be able to tell this one was fake without examining it closely with magic. It would surely work on a dragon too. The goal was simple; to lure it away to buy them enough time to form a new plan to stop the dragon’s tyranny over the village.
“Alright, I think we’re good to now. This village needs us, we can’t afford to mess this up.” he said as he picked up the heavy diamond with his magic.
“Sure thing. Lead the way, Stardust Radiant.”
Sunset Shimmer woke up before her alarm. One quick look at the time confirmed that it was better to get out of bed rather than to snooze for a while longer. She slowly lifted herself up from her resting position and stretched out before taking her first steps out of her bed.
She yawned as she sluggishly walked over to the kitchen, preparing a bowl of cereal. She used to put the milk before the cereals, but that changed after her defeat at the hands of Twilight Sparkle. Now, she preferred to put the cereals before the milk. An odd detail for sure.
She turned on the TV as she was eating, wanting to listen to the news just in case there was something important going on.
“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to deliver a tragic new. A night guard was recently found murdered inside the halls of Canterlot High by the school’s principal.”
Sunset nearly choked on her cereals. Now, she had her full attention aimed at the news broadcast. A murder, in Canterlot? Even worse, it was at Canterlot High!
“The body was discovered earlier this morning as principal Celestia entered the establishment and headed to her office. The night guard appeared to have died right by her office with a gunshot wound on his forehead. Stranger still, the word “murderer” has been written in his blood on the wall above him. The police have been called to the school and are currently investigating the crime scene in hopes they can find anything to track down the killer. Stay tuned for more information on this case, later that day. We leave you back to your regularly scheduled program.”
She didn’t even take a single bite during the whole broadcast. She was in far too much shock to even fully process what she had just watched. Many crazy things happened at Canterlot High, but this was the first time there had ever been a murder there.
Sunset snapped out of it after a while, realising that she still needed to finish her cereals. She ate them quickly and then took out her phone to hop into her friends group chat, wanting to know if they saw the news too.
No new messages, so she decided to send one herself to get the others attention.
Did you guys see what was on the news?
Not long after, Twi replied. Yeah, I just did. The night guard was murdered while he was on his shift!
This is horrible! Rarity added. What’s to say this killer is going to stop at just one?
We should be careful y’all. This killer might hang around Canterlot High seeing as the murder happened at night. Pointed out Applejack.
Do you think he was looking for something? Asked Rainbow Dash.
Very likely, you don’t go into a school at night just to hang around. Answered Twi. This murderer wanted something in Celestia’s office.
This is sending chills down my spine, really bad chills! Wrote Pinkie Pie.
I am scared to go to school today. Admitted Fluttershy.
Still, why would the killer write “murderer” in the victim’s blood? That doesn’t make any sense! Pointed out Rainbow Dash.
Maybe this is some kind of threat or something? Responded Applejack.
We should talk about this more at school during recess and lunch. If this killer isn’t going to stop there; we’ll have to take immediate action. Finished Sunset as she closed her phone.
It would be best to chat about the murder face-to-face. None of them knew what the killer’s intention was to sneak inside the school at night. From now on, they should be careful for none of them are truly safe.
Sunset quickly packed her bag and headed out in direction of Canterlot High. There was so much to talk about, but she would first have to sit through her classes.
Threading through the streets of Canterlot, Sunset couldn’t help but think about the murder. More specifically, the circumstances, the victim, the fact it took place near the principal’s office. She was cobbling together some theories as to what the killer was doing in there. Her daydreaming was cut short when she noticed a strange man standing still just in front of her.
She stopped walking and... snickered. That man was strange indeed, wearing a pickle suit out in public with absolutely zero sign of shame or embarrassment. It was quite a funny sight, and definitely an odd one at that.
Oh well, no use in mocking him for his extravagant choices, she was well beyond the point of being a bully. She walked forward, getting past the man in the pickle suit without a second thought.
But then, he called out to her. “Hey, you.”
Sunset turned around, curious as to what he was going to say. Now that she was closer to him, she noticed that he was wearing fingerless gloves and sunglasses. “Yeah, what is it?”
“No more lies, no more cover-up, no more projecting a false image.”
Sunset looked terribly confused, this guy sounded like he knew everything about her just from the way he was trying to speak. It was kind of cringy even, just how much he had this “cool guy” voice as if he was a video game character or something. To make it worse, he was gesturing as if he was acting in a movie. The epitome of trying way too hard to appear intimidating. “O...k?”
“We’re all sick of it, sick of your deceit. I know your secret. Your biggest secret, and I'll bring it to light.”
She chuckled, obviously this stranger didn’t know anything about her. “Yeah, sure you do.”
He was still adamant on keeping this over-the-top serious face. “See, I have your mugshot.” He pulled out a picture from a pocket inside his suit. He showed it to Sunset, and this time, she was struck with worry.
The picture was an extremely unflattering image of Sunset while she was all by herself in the school. Why and how he got that picture was a mystery, but from the looks of things; he was trying to blackmail her into something.
No longer finding this guy amusing, Sunset took on a more agitated expression and posture. “Hey! How did you get that picture? Are you blackmailing me?!”
The man in the pickle suit put the picture away and shook his head. “No, I'm letting you know I have all the cards. You’ll just have to deal with the hand I give you.” He approached her at a rapid pace, making the girl take a step back in fear. “Your consequences aren’t easy to swallow.” he said, this time, his voice had a growl added to it. And oh boy, did it sound ten times more intimidating than before.
He left just as quickly as he appeared, leaving Sunset in disarray. She simply looked at the man exiting the scene until he was no longer in sight. “What... what just happened!?”
The bell rang and it was time for recess. Finally, Sunset could join her friends and theorise about the situation. They’ve saved the school from the Dazzlings, from the arrogance of Crystal Prep and now, it was their duty to protect it from whatever killer was roaming out there. She waited in their practicing room for the Rainbooms to come and in just a minute; the gang was all here.
Rainbow was the first to enter the room, looking frustrated. “Gah, I can’t believe they lost my butterfly knife!”
“This again?” asked Applejack.
“Yeah! I asked principal Celestia about it and she couldn’t find where they putted it! It’s just... gone!” she continued, sounding desperate and frustrated all the same.
“Wait, hold it there! You said that your butterfly knife was taken to principal’s Celestia’s office? And now it’s gone?” questioned Twi.
Rainbow Dash looked at her, slightly confused. “Uh, yeah. That’s literally what I just said.”
Twi shook her head, annoyed that her friend didn’t even think much about it for more than a second. “Dash! The murderer was snooping around in Celestia’s office! He must have taken your knife!”
Dash’s eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “Oh.”
Fluttershy though about the incident and realised something strange. “But if they took Dash’s knife, then, why didn’t they steal the guard’s firearm? A gun is deadlier than a knife.”
Sunset looked at her, intrigued by the good point that the shy student made. “You’re right, why would he settle for just a small knife? It just doesn’t make much sense!”
“Well, this “killer” was just snooping around the school at night. I assume it wasn’t their initial intention to kill the guard.” shared Rarity. From how the whole event was described, there was some semblance of truth in there.
“But then, why write “murderer” in the victim’s blood? What is this intruder trying to say?” spoke out Twi as she took a hand to her chin.
Pinkie Pie wasn’t participating in the conversation. She looked very trouble which was normal considering the circumstances. “Hey, can we stop talking about this creepy man? It’s making Pinkie feel very anxious right now!”
Applejack looked at her, perplexed at the mention of the word “man”. “Creepy man? Do you know something about the killer we don’t or were you just assuming their gender?”
“It’s gotta be a man! Didn’t you see just how strong the night guard looks? This creepy murderer must have been a man to have done it!” Pinkie sounded really adamant about their Mr.X’s gender.
Sunset took Pinkie’s side, knowing just how good she was at figuring things out about people. “Well since Pinkie is saying it’s a man who did it; then I'm inclined to believe she’s right.”
“Argh! If only I still had my knife with me, I'd at least feel safer.” groaned Rainbow Dash as she curled up her hands into fists.
Rarity had her two cents to give regarding this statement. “And how is a small knife going to help you against a man who’s most likely twice your size, Dashie?”
Dash’s arm fell unenthusiastically to her sides. “Not much I guess...” she responded in defeat.
During this time, Fluttershy was browsing the Internet on her phone, hoping that there would be an update on the news regarding the murder. Lo and behold, there were now more information regarding the incident, but it was something very strange. “Girls! You gotta hear this.” she called out to her friends.
The others stopped talking and now had their full attention towards the shy girl. “We’re listening Fluttershy.” said Twi.
“It says in the news that they have done an autopsy on the body and searched around for fingerprints.” relayed Fluttershy.
“And..?” they said in unison.
“They only found the guard’s fingerprint on the murder weapon! Moreover, his brain appears to be scrambled, not just from the shot but from something else entirely.” continued Fluttershy, her voice raising more and more as she went on.
“What?!” screamed Pinkie while she hopped around the room, stricken with fear. “That doesn’t make any sense, even for me!”
“The message written in blood confirms that this is a murder case, so why did he just shoot himself in the head?” asked Sunset, horribly confused, a sentiment now shared by everybody in the room.
“Darling, please don’t tell me our mysterious killer knows magic.” said Rarity, her voice trembling with every word she spoke.
“But if he knows magic, then...” started Twi, stopping mid-sentence to reconsider what she was about to say. “Then we’re not going to let him get away with this!”
Applejack felt a shiver go down her spine. “Something’s weird is going on y’all. And I have a feeling it’s going to get much worse...”
Everybody in Canterlot High was in the gym, awaiting the principal and the vice-principal's speech regarding the troublesome situation. Tensions were at an all-time high amongst the students and teachers. This was the first time somebody had died in their high school, which made this problem very different from those that had come before.
Sunset stood near her friends while they were waiting for the two to show up, still talking about the investigation. It was all that was on their mind for the time being. With nothing much to do, she scouted the room with her eyes, looking at everybody’s reaction. They were lots of chatting and murmuring, which only made the entire gym feel more oppressive.
What was that? Sunset’s stare quickly snapped back at a group of students sitting on the benches. It was just Derpy, Lila and Bonbon who were there. But Shimmer swore she saw someone else sitting behind them for just a split second. Someone big. But then again, that could have been just an hallucination. Those occur quite frequently under periods of heightened stress and anxiety.
It’s like when you just stroll down a dark street at night and you see a couple of trash bag in a dark alleyway and mistake it for like, the grim reaper or something. It’s nothing more than a bizarre illusion, courtesy of your brain.
Suddenly, the whole room went quiet. Celestia and Luna had walked up on stage and were about to give their speech to the whole school. The principal was the first to speak.
“Attention everybody, I understand that you are all feeling quite anxious and afraid about the recent tragedy that has taken place here, in Canterlot High. This situation has made us realise the shortcomings of our security system. We promise that we’ll work our hardest to make sure that our school is safe place for students to perfect their education.” Celestia said with a warm and comforting tone.
Then, it was Luna’s turn to talk.
“We’re all deeply saddened about the unfortunate passing of our beloved night guard. He was a good man who took his work to heart to ensure the school’s safety at night. In honor of all the heart and passion he put into his job; we will establish a memorial to remember him by...”
Now there were movements in the corner of Sunset’s eyes. Not just students moving their heads around, but it was someone who was walking around. Every time Sunset tried to pinpoint who was wandering around the gym, she would be met with nothing. It was as if this person vanished any time, she would look at them.
At this point, it can’t be just an hallucination, it had to be real. Either that, or she’s going insane... Nah, couldn’t be. She’s tougher than that and she knew it. It was just her mind playing tricks on her, if she just ignored it, then it won’t bother her...
“Boo.”
Sunset jumped as she spun around and let out a surprised yelp. That voice couldn’t belong to anybody around her. It was deep, sinister, sounding much more like a growl than anything. Luna stopped her speech and looked at her in confusion. Her friends did too, and nearly all of the students and teachers inside the gym.
“Uh, Sunset? You alright?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Realising that everyone’s eyes were on her, Sunset blushed out of embarrassment and tried to cover her face. “Y-Yeah. It was nothing...”
It was a bright day outside, and yet... the shack was nearly pitch black inside. All the windows were closed, boarded off to prevent any sunlight from entering, casting the interior in darkness. Once again, the only thing that lighted up the place was the archaic lantern.
The man was reading a book he had stolen from Canterlot High’s library. It was a book about the art of hypnotism, a craft he was already great at. He knew that there existed more effective ways to go about it, and he was dying to know.
“Perfecting your craft? This should be interesting.”
The murderer stopped his reading and slowly turned his head around, not out of fear, but out of curiosity at just who this voice belonged to. He had only started to hear it mere days after his arrival in Canterlot. But as he got to see what was behind him, he was meet with emptiness. He truly was the only person in this rundown shack.
Or... maybe not. He took out the butterfly knife he stole from Canterlot High and examined it. The handle was rainbow colored, not the most intimidating look but it’ll do the job just fine. The stranger wanted to try out some tricks with the weapon, he hoped that learning how to do them would make his approach much more terrifying. He was going for psychological warfare first, so everything that could strengthen his presence is a good thing.
He first tried the most basic of trick; to open the knife. It looked easy to do, it was just three simple moves to get it done. Well, that was what he thought. Trying the trick, the blade hit his fingers and cut them open, spilling blood over the table. The man didn’t react, nor did he even flinched as he injured himself. Instead, he simply stared at the wound with a certain sense of sorrow.
Placing the knife away for the moment, he directed his attention towards something else, a yearbook photo he took with his phone in the library. It depicted Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms together alongside a girl he recognised. Although she looked different in this picture, no glasses and a different hair style but he knew it was the young schoolgirl he saw a few days ago.
“Interesting information. What are you going to do with it?"
He put the picture away after memorising the faces of everyone in it. Now onto the final point of interest; dangerous chemicals. Lots of dangerous chemicals...
With these, he could make acid, toxic gasses and much more. Though he still didn’t know how he would use them, but it was better than nothing.
“Are you throwing feces at the wall just to see what sticks? You’ll need better planning than that if you want to succeed.”
There it is. Something that can improve his hypnotism. From what the book says, music can strengthen any kind of magic. All he needed was an instrument to combine with his hypnotic abilities to push his power even further. An instrument that was easy to play, most preferably. Auditory hallucinations could then be used to make the victim think there are more being played at once to create a stronger effect.
He'll just need to experiment with this new method first...