What a misty Friday morning this was. Sunset had trouble sleeping that night despite trying many different methods to fall asleep. In the end, she simply chose to get some fresh air in the early morning before her classes. There was a somewhat thick mist present in Canterlot, but it wasn’t too hard to see what was over in the distance.
Sunset Shimmer brought a jacket along for the ride as it was cold outside. The breeze was quite chilly, almost freezing. This at least helped her stay awake. She then moved to the Sweet Snacks Café to kill the time before school. A good drink would surely give her the energy she’d need for the day.
It usually opened at very early hours in the morning, so she could stay inside to warm herself up with a hot beverage. Entering the café, she went up to the counter and ordered her drink, then took a seat to drink it in peace.
There was practically nobody in the café at the time being. Well, that was until an old man entered the scene. He was wearing a purple coat alongside a boat hat, which was quite a rare sight for Sunset. His mustache was snow white and his skin was slightly paler than normal. He was in a hunched posture, holding a cane tightly to help him walk. He looked really old and frail as his entire body was trembling with each step he took. It almost seemed like being alive was an arduous process for the poor elder.
He ordered a cup of coffee and took a seat, right next to where Sunset was sitting at. “Oh my, I didn’t know there was someone else in here. I usually find myself alone when I go at such early hours.”
“I suppose you must like the peace and quiet in here?” asked Sunset Shimmer.
The old man smiled. “Yes, that I do. I’ve had quite the eventful life. Now, it just feels good to finally be able to relax.” He looked at her for a moment, his eyes almost seemed fully closed thanks to the large number of wrinkles on his face. “Hold on, I think I've seen your face before.”
Sunset looked quite surprised. “Hm? You did? I just go to Canterlot High, maybe you have grandkids that attend this school?”
The old man’s face suddenly illuminated. “Ah! I remember now. You’ve been on the newspaper recently!”
“What? Really?” Sunset was extremely curious as to why she was in the newspaper.
“It was about the Friendship Games. I’ve read that plenty of exciting things happened this year, some even more spectacular and quite frankly, hard to believe.” He chuckled lightly.
“I’d hardly believe any of it happened if I wasn’t there myself.”
“You were specifically mentioned due to your contribution to Canterlot High, Mrs. Sunset Shimmer.” continued the elder. “I am happy to see that our school is finally showing the arrogant heads at Crystal Prep what we’re capable of!” He pumped a trembling fist up, a gesture that looked quite adorable to Sunset.
“Thanks for the kind words, sir.”
Sunset’s expression was quite the complex one indeed, showing both happiness and a certain sense of sorrow. The old man picked up on that, mostly thanks to the wisdom he had acquired over a very long life. “Is something the matter? You don’t look entirely happy...”
“Oh! It’s nothing to feel concerned about. It’s just that I’ve done some regrettable things in that school. I’m just trying to fix my mistakes.”
The elder nodded, then apologised. “My bad, I shouldn’t be prodding into other people’s life.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Ah! I believe I still haven’t properly introduced myself. I am Beelz.”
“And I'm Sunset Shimmer, though you already knew that.” responded the amused girl.
Beelz’s face darkened out of the blue. “I’ve... also heard about the recent murder that took place in Canterlot High yesterday. Truly horrible stuff.”
“It’s especially bad for us. We go to that school for the whole week. Now the atmosphere in there is stressful. People are afraid this killer is gonna strike again.”
“I understand how they feel; I’ve been in the force myself when I was still young and full of energy. I’ve solved many cases like this over a very long career.”
The mist outside began to clear, it was now much easier to make out what was outside. Sunset was intrigued by the kind of life Beelz had led. “That’s sounds really awesome!” Hopefully, his knowledge in these cases might prove to be useful in catching this murderer who is most likely using some form of magic to get his way. “Do you think, maybe you could share your experiences in solving murder cases? I’d like to hear your stories.”
The elder took a sip from his coffee. “Heh, of course! I’ll tell you some. And if you want to hear more; you know where to find me!”
Arts and craft, a domain Sunset Shimmer was quite interested in. She wanted to improve her skills with painting, and who better to ask for advice than Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy? Quite the lucky coincidence she was with the both of them for this class.
“Just be careful not to paint too roughly or else you’ll get messy lines. It’s all about control.” advised Fluttershy.
Sunset’s painting was very simple in nature, depicting only one object without any background. But hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere.
She certainly did catch Pinkie’s attention; she was now looking over her shoulder. “Ooh! It’s actually quite good for a beginner! I’m sure you’ll be able to paint just as good as me if you keep it up!”
Sunset giggled nervously. “I sure hope so, painting’s a lot harder than I initially thought it would be.”
“That’s what I also thought, but I didn’t give up and kept on trying until I was finally satisfied with what I was painting.” said Fluttershy to keep her friend motivated.
“Ha ha! That’s true! All it takes is perseverance and time to truly get good at something! You surely must know just how much success some people obtain just by being driven by passion and desire!” added Pinkie Pie.
“Yeah, it’s impressive just how much motivation plays a large role in success. Some people go to truly extraordinary length just to get what they want! I won’t let any blunders bring me down!”
The halls of the school were now littered with various decoration for the upcoming party. Halloween was going to take place in the next Friday. Just one more week before the big event everybody was waiting for. During lunch hours, many students participated in hanging up the decorations alongside the staff. Sunset also wanted to help, partially as a way for redeeming herself for all the bad things she’s done although it didn’t bother her as much now as it did before the Friendship Games.
She chose to help in the gym, seeing as it was the biggest room in the entire school alongside the library. Walking up to the stage, she spotted Trixie casually flying while hanging up skeletons around. Wait, flying?
“Wha- Trixie are you flying?”
Trixie spun around flamboyantly. “Why yes! The Great and Powerful Trrixie-”
Sunset now noticed the rather obvious wires attached to the self-proclaimed magician. “Never mind, I can see through the magic now...”
Trixie frowned for a moment, before regaining her cool. “I’ll let you know that I can do real magic just as well as you! I just don’t feel the need to show it now.”
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to go any further in this discussion. “Sure, I’ll leave you to it then.” she said unimpressed.
Trixie watched on as the girl left, feeling insulted by her reaction. “I’ll show you what I'm made of... on Halloween of course.” she told Sunset before speaking to herself. “I’m more than a show-off. I’m the real deal. You’ll see.”
Finally back home, Sunset dropped her bag and fell on the couch, exhausted by this long and stressful week. She just wanted to sit in front of her computer and browse the Internet for this afternoon, nothing really demanding.
Her phone suddenly vibrated; it was a message on their group chat. Rarity asked them if they had a costume prepared for the upcoming Halloween party. Sunset figured she only asked because she wanted to make their costume, it was her passion to craft all sorts of pretty clothing. Halloween was all about creepy ghouls and other scary monsters, it would be very interesting to see how Rarity would go about crafting a costume to fit the spooky mood.
I have one prepared for myself, and Spike as well! He really loves Halloween! Wrote Twi to the group.
Sunset smiled as she read her message. She really wanted to see what adorable costume Twi had cooked up for the little puppy.
I’m still trying to think of one, but there’s just so much to choose from... I’m thinking maybe an animal would be good. Fluttershy added.
I know what you’re thinking Rarity! And no, I'm not letting you design my Halloween costume! I want it to be super awesome and terrifying! Spouted out Rainbow Dash. Of course, she wouldn’t want Rarity’s rather extravagant touches to spoil the terror her costume was supposed to bring.
Rarity defended herself, wanting to be given another chance. Dash! Come on! Give me a chance, I may have messed up last year, but this time, and this time! I’m going to make you the best Halloween costume in all of Canterlot!
The chat went silent for a minute. Fine, but you better make it 20% cooler...
I’m sure you girls will like my costume! It’ll be quite the scene-maker! Wrote Pinkie Pie, adding in some emojis to spice up her text.
Let me guess... a clown? Responded Applejack.
How’d you know?
Sunset decided to tease them a bit with what she was preparing for this event. Just wait until you see what I’ve got, Pinkie!
Gasp! It seems I have finally met my rival! Jokingly replied Pinkie Pie.
Maybe as a butterfly? Proposed Fluttershy.
Rarity seemed thrilled. Why yes! I can absolutely work with that Fluttershy!
I’ll keep mine a secret; Granny Smith is helping Applebloom and I with our costume. You’ll just have to wait and see. Teased Applejack, spicing it up with a smirking emoji.
I’d like to see it surpass mine! Taunted Rainbow Dash with full confidence.
The discussion kept on going for a while, and slowly but surely, the friends all left one by one, occupied with their homework and tasks at hand. Time passed by quickly as Sunset was watching all sorts of videos on the Internet to entertain herself. She could afford to procrastinate on her studies just for this night only because she already had amazing grades. She was in no hurry whatsoever.
Now it was dark outside, and Sunset tucked herself in her bed, still holding onto her phone. She was scrolling around various news site, still unable to get the recent events out of her mind. The best thing to do in that situation was to entertain her curiosity by gathering as much information as possible on this tragedy.
Her room was terribly dark, and thanks to the fact that she had her face buried in her phone, everything around her was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see anything in there. She probably could have turned a fan on to make some noise at the very least. It was deathly quiet, giving off an unnerving feel to what was supposed to be her comfort zone. Well, it’s not like someone could have gotten inside her room, she had closed her door and locked her front door. Plus, she wasn’t on the first floor, so it was unlikely someone would just climb in from the window.
Ah yeah, the window. She had pulled the curtains on it, blocking any light from getting in. That only served to make the bedroom pitch black. Not a great idea in hindsight. She kept on scrolling and scrolling... but then a sudden creak took her out of her trance-like state. It was the creak of her bedroom door opening!
The sounds that followed were the most disturbing part, however. They sounded like bones cracking, and snapping all at once, grinding on themselves for an even worse effect. Then, they just stopped completely. An eerie silence filled the atmosphere with a sense of dread.
Sunset hesitated to move even an inch, too scared to see what was just outside her bedroom. After many long seconds of pure nothingness, she finally made a move. Turning her phone around ever so slightly, the light of her phone finally reached the door only to reveal a man standing by her door.
She couldn’t even make out a single feature from him as he left almost immediately, most like startled by her scream. The sounds of bones snapping returned with a vengeance as Sunset instinctively jumped out of her bed in a fight or flight response.
The man’s loud stomping echoed throughout the entire apartment, stopping abruptly once he reached a nearby window, though Sunset didn’t see any of this happening as she locked her bedroom door and took to calling the cops.
911, what’s our emergency?
“There’s a man inside my apartment! Please, send the cops immediately!”
After a few unbearable minutes of pacing around her room in a panic, the cops finally arrived at her apartment.
“Police! Open the door!”
Their voices finally got Sunset Shimmer to leave her bedroom. She ran up to the front door to let them in as quickly as possible just in case the man was still inside.
“Don’t worry ma’am, you’re safe now. We’ll search your apartment for any sign of a break-in.”
Four cops entered and they began to search around the place in hopes of finding clues about the mysterious intruder. Sunset stayed behind with the fifth one, better let the professionals do their job.
This intruder might have no relation to the murderer they were looking for, but Sunset wasn’t going to let this slide. She’d talk about this the next day to get her friends on board with this new problematic.
Then, one of the cops screamed and nearly fell on his butt. Alerted, the rest of them quickly joined him, wondering what had gotten such a strong reaction out of him. Lo and behold, on a counter lied a gruesome and truly abhorrent sight.
A severed head that belonged to a woman, a teenager more specifically. But... that wasn’t the disturbing part. No, what was most shocking was that the head was decorated to look exactly like Sunset Shimmer. Plus, there was a message in her mouth. I’m coming for you. It read. A threat, courtesy of the stranger that had broken in.
Her heart began to beat faster and faster as her vision got blurrier with sweat now accompanying her terrible panic attack. No doubts about it, the intruder was the killer, and he’s coming after her now. Worst of all, it feels personal. Far too personal to just be a surface level pick. She will be... his next victim.