To put it bluntly, Flash Sentry had died a horrific death. Sunset could see that easily enough, though she’d taken one glance and thrown up across the alley.
Sunset hadn’t wanted to stay at the scene with the police, but she felt like she should. If there was anything she could do to help catch whoever had done this, she was going to do it.
If there was much physical evidence, it was probably on Flash’s body or spread in the pool of blood around it. Sunset didn’t want to look. The police and medical examiners probably wouldn’t let her, anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut, heart palpitating in terror.
Why was she so scared? It was such a horrific act, but now Sunset was surrounded by police. She should be horrified, revolted, sickened, and hopeless, but the current danger was past.
Sunset realized that it wasn’t her fear. She concentrated harder. It was in the air, still hanging around after Flash had been killed.
The whole magical girl thing came with many unexpected facets, but Sunset didn’t think she could detect postmortem emotions unless there was some powerful force behind them.
She pictured what was left of Flash again and immediately regretted it. What kind of person could have perpetrated such a brutal attack? Who could have been strong enough to hold down an athletic high schooler and utterly destroy him?
Sunset swallowed hard. Who - or what. She thought about the last text Flash had sent her. Sirens.
Once the police had taken her statement, Sunset walked numbly back to the busy street. A crowd of people - photographers, reporters, onlookers - had gathered at the police tape. A couple of them tried to talk to her, but she ignored them.
Getting back on her motorcycle, Sunset rode to Sugarcube Corner. She nearly got in an accident on the way, but couldn’t even spare the emotion to feel bad about it. Her thoughts were elsewhere.
Pinkie was at the counter when Sunset came in. She saw the look on Sunset’s face. “Did something happen?”
Sunset fell into a booth and put her head in her hands. Pinkie came over. “You sure look like you could use cheering up. Hey, did you hear the one about the mermaid band?”
Sunset raised her head. Pinkie grinned. “They weren’t very good. They couldn’t even tuna guitar.”
Sunset burst out crying.
“Ohmygosh!” Pinkie touched her shoulder. “I’m so sorry! What did I say?”
Between sobs, Sunset managed to get out, “Flash is dead. Murdered.”
Pinkie grabbed her phone and called the others. They were there in minutes. By the time they arrived, Sunset had managed to stop her tears, but if anything, she looked worse. Fortunately, she didn’t have to explain. The news had already hit the internet, and they all quietly read the report on their phones.
“I think the sirens did this,” said Sunset, finally.
“If so, then this is a much different pattern for them,” said Twilight. “I can’t imagine how something this terrible could have happened.”
“We can’t let them do this again,” said Sunset. “What if they were also behind the other deaths and disappearances?”
A few seconds passed as that sank into the other girls’ minds.
“What about the police?” said Fluttershy.
“I told them what I knew,” said Sunset. “Even if they believe me...I don’t want to think about what might happen in a confrontation. The sirens have powers. More people could die.”
“Didn’t we take their magic away at the Battle of the Bands?” said Rainbow.
Sunset shuddered. “I don’t know what’s happening, but they’re a lot stronger than humans. I don’t know what we’re dealing with. The police have even less idea.”
“What can we do?” asked Rarity.
“I think it would be wise to never go any place alone,” said Twilight. “I’ll start working on something that might help. If they have any residual magic, maybe we can detect it.”
“Emotion,” said Sunset. “That’s what I noticed at the scene. It was so strong that I felt it, and I’m just a unicorn in a human body.”
“Sirens do feed on negative energy, like you told us,” said Twilight. “It’s possible that they found some new way to use that.”
Sunset opened her mouth, and, with some effort, got out, “Torture?”
The table fell silent again. Carefully, Twilight said, “If that’s the case, then we have a pattern. Something we can look for and figure out.”
“But what are we gonna do when we find them?” said Applejack. “If they’re so dangerous, we need a plan.”
“We’ll just do the magic rainbow laser thingy like always, right?” said Pinkie. She looked at Sunset, who still wore a frown. “Right?”
“I don’t know if that will work,” said Sunset. “We’ve already stripped them of their magic. What else can we do?”
“We show them the magic of friendship,” said Rarity.
“They ate his brain,” Sunset snapped. “And I’m not even sure if that’s the worst thing they did to him.”
Other people in Sugarcube Corner had turned to look. Sunset winced, closing her eyes. She shook her head and continued in a quieter voice. “When I tried to take over the school, I was misguided. I didn’t know what I was missing. The magic of friendship showed me the way. But now...we’ve already used that on the sirens, and it apparently didn’t work. What if they’re just simply evil?”
“I don’t know if anyone is truly evil,” said Twilight.
Sunset looked up, locking eyes with her. “You didn’t see what they did to Flash. They’re evil.”
In her fitness studio downtown, Sonata was in a good mood, dancing to Aerosmith in the window while she waited for customers.
She wore her usual spandex and lycra, pink over indigo today. More than a few people had stared at her as they walked by outside. That was vaguely intentional, to attract customers. Mostly, Sonata was giddy and still energetic after eating Flash.
...I met a cheerleader, was a real young bleeder, oh, the times I could reminisce…
And speaking of, her first appointment walked through the door.
Lemon Zest was a student at Crystal Prep. She still had that high school litheness, but under Sonata’s tutelage was getting toned and maturing. She was driven, and had made more progress than just about any other client. She also wore headphones most of the time, and so missed most of the backhanded things Sonata said.
Sonata smiled while Lemon turned away to put down her bag and take off her sweats. What fun it would be to pull her out of her own little world and show her how things really worked, to see her reaction when she learned that the top of the food chain had shifted.
Then, Tire Tracks walked in, already breathing hard. Sonata glanced at him in annoyance, only partially feigned. The fat man had an appointment, and that interrupted what Sonata had in mind.
She could kill them both. Hmm, she’d have to pull the curtain on the window, though.
A thrill went up her spine at the thought of drinking their blood within feet of unknowing people outside. All she’d have to do was turn up the music a little and gag them.
Sonata’s phone rang. Considering it was connected to the sound system, it was hard to ignore. Muttering under her breath, she went to answer it.
The caller was Aria. “Sonata! I just saw the news. Sunset Shimmer was at the scene.”
“What?” Sonata replied.
“She must have gotten there only a little while later, or maybe she even found it.”
“That was a question,” Sonata snapped. “What are you talking about?”
“The place where, ah, Flash Sentry was,” said Aria, seeming to censor herself. Was she worried about being overheard? What was making her so jumpy?
“What about it?”
“There’s a news article,” Aria explained. “I saw one of the photos. Sunset Shimmer was there. She knows what happened to him.”
“So?”
“So now the Rainbooms are onto the murders that have been happening.”
Sonata paused for several seconds.
“Sonata?”
“I’m coming home. We’ll talk.”
Sonata ended the call. She announced, “We’re closed today. Get out.”
“What?” said Lemon Zest, taking off her headphones.
Sonata barely resisted the urge to snap her neck right then and there.
She closed up the studio and went home. Adagio and Aria were waiting.
“At this point, it’s safe to say the Rainbooms know or suspect there’s a series of killings that are connected,” said Aria.
“And it’s personal to them,” added Adagio. “Since it was their classmates.” She gestured to a printout of the picture of Sunset at the scene. She was off to the side, on the inside of the police tape. “Look at her face. She’s emotionally connected.”
“So the Rainbooms are going to get involved?” said Sonata. “That doesn’t mean they know it was us.”
Aria showed her a phone. “This was Flash’s. The last text he sent was to Sunset.”
She showed Sonata the phone. Flash had managed to get his message out.
“Well, still, what are they going to do?” said Sonata. “We know what they’re capable of. It’s not going to hurt us now. Plus, they have to find us. If anything, this gives us the advantage because we can now pick our moment to strike. We can even set a trap for them and lure them in.”
“They aren’t stupid,” Adagio pointed out.
“Even if they aren’t, they’re still mortal. If we take out even one of them, the rest aren’t going to be nearly as effective.” Sonata grinned, teeth on full display. “And can you imagine how revenge will taste?”