//------------------------------// // 13. The Plan // Story: Fear The Hypnotist // by JeSuisLaPorte //------------------------------// The first rays of sunlight shined through the windows of Pinkie’s bedroom. A few minutes later, Sunset felt her body rocking back and forth. Then, she heard a voice calling out to her.  “Sunset? Get up, you’ve been sleeping for a while.” that voice belonged to Twi.   It was at that moment that Sunset realised she has fallen asleep again. She must have somehow passed out after her encounter with the Tyrant.  “’ight... I’m getting out of bed.” It did, however, took several more minutes for her to truly step out. Even though she slept well, her body was still tired. Her mind on the other hand was going haywire, theorising and speculating about all the strange happenings in Canterlot. She caught herself laughing a bit when she realised that she was approaching this situation the exact same way as Twilight would. Ok, maybe we’re more similar than we think.  Sunset Shimmer joined the rest of the Rainbooms downstairs where they were making breakfast. Pinkie’s family was still sound asleep, leaving them as the only people awake at the moment.  “Hey Sunset! Come on, I left a seat just for you!” Pinkie’s voice invited her over.  “We need you to help us form a plan to finally stop SKX once and for all.” informed Twi in between as she took a bite of her toast.  SKX... that was the name they agreed on for the killer since they didn’t know who he was, but now Sunset was one hundred percent certain of his identity. Moreover, she couldn’t keep them in the dark as to who he is and what his motives are.  This will be hard, but she’ll have to tell them all the truth. She’s changed for the better after all, lying and abusing just isn’t her style anymore. Coming clean will only help in the long run.  “His name is Stardust Radiant.” she said rather bluntly.  Everyone was surprised to finally learn the name of the killer. Mostly, they were wondering how their friend knew.  “Huh, how’d ya know?” asked Applejack.  Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath and sat next to Pinkie. “I knew him personally. We were close friends a couple of years ago.”  “Wait what?!” screamed Rainbow Dash, nearly spitting out her cereals. “But he’s a zombie now! What happened to him?”  Sunset’s hands grip on her legs tightened, feeling extremely uncomfortable but nevertheless, she must tell them the whole story.  And so, she began to recite the tale of her life with Stardust Radiant, the colt-wonder who was murdered out of jealousy. She began by telling them how her foalhood was like in the Equestrian version of Canterlot. Then, she told them about Stardust’s arrival with Princess Celestia.  She told her story with clear hints of nostalgia and regret in her voice. The wound had just reopened, so she often took breaks during her reciting to not break down into tears. The images of the human and zombified Stardust were haunting her mind with every word she spoke. The first side’s face of apathy was heavily contrasted by the other’s rage.  The feeling was awful, but as they say, no pain, no gain. Sunset needed to get it off her chest so that she’d hopefully find inner peace and forgiveness.   Her friends were quite shocked and horrified when she finally got to Stardust’s untimely death. A death she was entirely responsible for. Then, the story abruptly stopped when she was overwhelmed with emotions and shed a few tears.  The room went silent, with everyone giving each other worried glances. It was a shocking new for them, but that didn’t mean that they’ll get angry at Sunset for something she had done years ago. She changed a lot since her first steps into the human world and with how hard she worked to redeem herself, they were entirely willing to forgive her.  Yet, no one was willing to make a move for they were unsure of how exactly they should go about comforting her. Sunset Shimmer was sobbing, there was no time to waste; they had to calm her down.   Fluttershy was the one who took the initiative and inched herself closer to her crying friend. She placed a hesitant hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry about what happened, but I want you to know that I’m not going to leave your side because of what you’ve done in the past. I mean, you worked so hard to fix all the damage you’ve done in Canterlot High, and I found that admirable. You’re amazing Sunset!”  Her speech gave Pinkie Pie enough confidence to speak her mind. “You’re super fun to hang around with! I’m glad I have you as my best friend... uh, one of my best friends. Didn’t mean to undermine you girls.”  Then, it was Applejack’s turn to cheer her up. “You’re quite smart and level-headed. I’d say this group coulda used someone like you from the get-go. We’re lucky to have ya, girl.”  Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to make her own statement but realised that she didn’t know what exactly to say. “Uh... yeah, what she said.” she babbled, scratching her head out of a slight feeling of embarrassment.  All the combined affection of her friends made Sunset Shimmer feel warmer, not just on the inside but on the outside as well.   Well okay, maybe she felt warmer on the outside because Pinkie Pie was hugging her tightly but that’s beside point.  Sunset cracked a smile through her teary expression, happy to see that her friends handled the shocking revelation well. It would appear that friendship might be the hardest thing to kill. She started to value it more after her initial defeat at Canterlot High but now... she finally understood why Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia believed in friendship this much. “Th... Thank you.” she finally said in a broken voice.      With that out of the way, the Rainbooms could finally focus all their attention on stopping the wrathful zombie from claiming Sunset’s life. Funnily enough, while Stardust Radiant wanted nothing more than to tear her limb from limb, Sunset Shimmer, on the other hand, wanted to save him from his cruel fate. The Tyrant that has gotten a hold of him must surely be tormenting him at every twist and turn. Perhaps, it was even angering him further so he wouldn’t stop his hunt.  The irony in this situation was particularly amusing to said Tyrant, who was observing them as they were discussing their plan.  “Just like with the Dazzlings, we’ll have to use the magic of friendship to overcome Stardust because, just like us, he has magic.” briefed Sunset to the rest of the gang.  “You mean... DARK MAGIC?” specified Pinkie Pie in a melodramatic tone, going even as far as to shine a flashlight at her face for extra effect. This simple act got a few chuckles here and there from her friends.  “So, we’ll use our magic to strip him of his?” questioned Rarity. Spike was sitting on her laps, demanding her to pet him, which she obliged for she found the dog to be too adorable to say no.   Sunset thought about it for a moment. If she wanted to save Stardust, then taking his magic won’t be the way to go. A zombie isn’t a natural being, go figure. Their existence can be entirely attributed to magic. Thus, without magic, there’s no more Stardust. It’ll practically be killing him all over again, something the red-haired girl felt uncomfortable with.  No, to save him, they needed to find an alternative usage of their magic, one that’ll render him defenseless without killing him. But how was she going to convey the message properly to them?  “I think we'll kill him if we take away his magic.” she said, subtly shooting down Rarity’s idea. Twi seemed strangely fine with this, despite being the least sympathetic towards the serial killer. It’s an observation that was overlooked by the other Rainbooms.  “But he murdered a bunch of people! Who cares if we kill him?” complained Rainbow Dash. Her complaint warranted a hit on the shoulder, courtesy of Applejack who sat next to her.  “Dash, that zombie in question was an ol friend ‘o’ her. I don’t think she’s too keen on killin’ him yet again.”  “Oh... right. Almost forgot.”  “Pardon me if that sounds kind of stupid Sunset, but have you tried talking it out?” said Twi, though she didn’t wholeheartedly believe her own idea.  “I did try. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Stardust will never let go of his hatred, which is why I believe talking it out might work if he’s left defenseless.” She then sighed deeply. “I just hope he’ll forgive me and move on. Yet, I still can’t omit the fact that he killed innocent bystanders. I... don’t know how I should really approach this. It’s awful.”  It’s true, there must always be a punishment for a serial killer. Fluttershy thought of something regarding the unique situation they were dealing with. “W-Well, since Stardust is a zombie, then I don’t think it’ll be necessary to bring him to justice. We just have to let his spirit move on.”  “That’s... a fair point Fluttershy. No matter how we go about dealing with Stardust, there will be nothing left to punish in the eyes of the justice system, so we don’t have to worry about that.” affirmed Twi, supporting her friend’s claim.  “Great. With that out of the way, can we go back to the plan? All this talk about the justice system is boring.” interjected Dash in hopes of putting the conversation back on tracks.  “I’ll admit, talking about justice really can be dull at times what with how much rules and procedures there is.” sighed Twi.  Sunset stood up to get everyone’s attention. “Stardust wants only one thing and that’s to kill me. The silver lining here is that he’ll follow me wherever I go, which means we get to decide where we’ll confront him. As long as there is sunlight, he won’t show up, so we’ll have to plan out everything during the day.”  “Anyone got an idea?” asked Rarity as she was looking at herself thanks to her mirror.   Spike lifted his head up for a brief moment. “What about Applejack’s barn?” he asked.  “Well, my barn might be a good place to set up.” affirmed Applejack, the rest of the Rainbooms seemed fine with the idea. “We should have enough time to make some space inside for the band.”  “We’ll set our instruments up inside that barn and place down some additional lights to blind Stardust long enough for us to play a tune which will automatically activate our Equestrian magic. I’ll lure him inside.” briefed Sunset Shimmer.  “And I suppose we’ll take away just enough magic to render him defenseless?” guessed Fluttershy.  Sunset nodded. “Yes, he should be more willing to listen then.”  Pinkie slammed down her bowl of cereal with vigor. She had already eaten everything in record time. “Okay! I’m ready to go!”  Surprised, Rainbow Dash doubled the speed at which she was eating all the while Rarity giggled. “Darling, I don’t think we’re all quite prepared to go just yet.”      “Oh my... you have a date planned for tonight. I’m sorry, I was gonna ask you if you were available to repair the broken window.”  The window inside the shed was cracked. A bird flew into it during that night, how unfortunate. The Tyrant found it quite funny, for he always adored to see stupid creatures doing stupid things.  “Well, not that it matters really. We only rented this place after all... speaking of which, where are the owners?”   Stardust Radiant didn’t answer, much less make a single move to indicate a potential response. Nonetheless, the beast figured it out.  “Nice, I knew you always had it in you to be a monster like me. Say, since this is most likely going to be your final night; how about a present, hmm?”  “What’s the catch here?” Stardust’s eyes shined with surprise. He just spoke, though the words didn’t come from his mouth. His voice sounded ghostly, echoey mostly but that didn’t matter to him. He can talk now.  “Yeah, I’m feeling VERY generous right now. In fact, I've been terribly generous these past few years but what can I say; I’m still so happy about my ultimate victory. Heh, it’s a victory I didn’t even do anything to achieve and yet, I obtained practically everything I ever wanted from it. I became the King of two worlds by doing absolutely nothing.”  His voice had a sinister tone to it, but it was an ominous feeling that Stardust didn’t care about. I mean, why would he even care? He’s going to truly die tonight, whatever happens afterwards is not his business in the slightest.  “I appreciate the kind gift.”  The Tyrant chuckled and took something out of his pocket.  “Hyeh he he he... Hamburger”