The woman in the black overcoat skidded to a halt as Rainbow zipped past her and stopped, arms folded, looking confident.
“Hi there,” she said, “You're busted!”
The woman growled and hurled another bolt of pink lightning at the athlete. Rainbow dodged to the left, barely evading the bolt, which crashed into another information sign, causing it to explode. Rainbow leaped into action, zipping through the hallway, grabbing bystanders and getting them to safety as the fragments of the sign flew through the air. She came to a stop and cursed as she saw the woman turn the far corner into the next wing of the mall. She grabbed her phone and called Rarity.
“She's heading into the east hall! I'll keep her busy, you and Twilight try to get behind her!”
She hung up, not giving Rarity a chance to answer. She grabbed the geode again and felt the tingle in her ears and her back as she ponied up. She took to the air and zoomed around the corner, flying over the heads of a couple of astonished security guards.
“Attention customers and tenants,” came a voice over the PA. The speaker was clearly trying to remain calm, but there was an edge of panic to their voice. “Due to unexpected issues, we need to evacuate the mall at this time. Please head for your nearest exit in a calm and orderly fashion.”
Rainbow watched as the customers below her ran for the exits. She scanned the hall looking for any sign of the black-coated woman. .She couldn't have gotten that far ahead of me.
She caught a flash of pink light from the corner of her eye, then pain exploded in her side. Rainbow let out a cry and bounced off the wall. Her vision blurred as she crashed to the floor, rolling a few feet to a stop.
“You just couldn't let it go, could you?” came a voice. Rainbow looked up to see the woman walking slowly towards her.
“Sh-Shut up!” Rainbow gasped. She clutched her side as she got to her feet. It didn't feel like she was bleeding or anything was broken, but she was sure she was going to have a huge bruise later.
The woman ignored her. “You could have just accepted your so-called friend finally paid for what she did, buried her, and moved on, but no.”
She raised her hand again and hurled more bolts of lightning. Rainbow took to the air again and began flying in random patterns, trying to avoid being struck.
“YOU. HAD. TO. KEEP. PUSHING!” the woman screamed. She thrust out both hands unleashing a massive beam of energy at the flying girl. Rainbow yelped and did an impressive mid-air back flip, the beam passing over her and gouging a huge gash in the ceiling.
Rainbow frowned and gritted her teeth. She flew up as high as she could and thrust herself downward, one leg extended. The woman threw her arms up in front of her face as Rainbow's foot connected, sending both of them crashing to the floor. The woman scrabbled back to her feet first and kicked Rainbow in the side, causing the athlete to cry out and collapse back to the floor.
The woman grinned and stood over the fallen ponygirl. She thrust out a sparking hand and prepared to fire a bolt straight into Rainbow's head.
“That's quite enough of that, I think!”
Suddenly, the woman's hand was encased in a purple glow. She fought to keep it in position, but her strength gave out and she was hurled backward down the hall. Rainbow looked up and let out as sigh of relief at the sight of Rarity and Twilight, both ponied up, standing in front of her. Twilight held her hands out, manipulating her telekinetic field. Her teeth were clenched, and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead.
The woman screamed and started to get to her feet, fighting against the purple aura that now surrounded her. The three girls gawped as the woman managed to force herself to her knees.
“Don't let her move!” Rainbow cried, staggering to her feet.
“I'm trying!” Twilight yelled back. “But she's fighting me! I don't know how long I can hold it.”
“Then let me deal with her!” Rarity threw her hands up and sent out half a dozen crystals. They quickly surrounded the woman and caged her. Rarity grinned as Twilight dropped her telekinesis, sighing in relief as she did so.
“That takes care of that,” Rarity said, smiling. “Now, all we have to do is get her to undo – “
Rainbow made a frantic “no no” gesture with her hands. Rarity and Twilight Looked at her oddly, but Rainbow mouthed “Trust me” and stepped forward. The woman, who had been bashing her fists against the crystals, raised her head and snarled at her.
“No,” she said, “We won't let it go. You kill our friend and you think we're just going to let that slide? Not a chance.”
“Hmm?!” both Twilight and Rarity let out noises of surprise from behind her. Rainbow put a hand behind her back and flapped it, indicating they needed to keep quiet.
“Once we figure out how to take away your magic, you're going to jail,” she continued. “And there's only one thing we want to know: why?”
“You should know. Aside from her,” the woman quickly nodded her head at Twilight,“you were all there. You know what she did.”
The woman grinned, the pink glow near her throat beginning to glow brighter. The three girls frowned. Rarity concentrated harder, attempting to reinforce the shield. The glow grew even brighter, refracted by the crystal panels. Rainbow and Twilight put an arm up to block the blinding glare, while Rarity began to squint.
“Something's not right!” she cried. She began to feel the same resistance Twilight had. Across the way, the crystals began to crack. The form of the woman was almost lost in the pink glow.
“As for taking my magic,” the woman's voice echoed inside the crystal prison. “I don't think so.”
The pink light exploded, shattering Rarity's shield and the rush of energy sent the three girls hurtling down the hall. They landed hard and slid twenty feet along the floor. They looked up to see the woman back on her feet, before there was another explosion of pink light. The woman turned into a giant bolt of lightning and vanished into the light fixture in the ceiling, causing it to short out and the other lights to flicker.
“Wow,” Rainbow said, getting painfully to her feet. “That's not good.”
“No,” said Twilight, pulling out her magic detector. She looked at it, pushing buttons and fiddling with the touch screen. “These readings are higher than anything I've seen before. I- I honestly don't know if we can beat her.”
“We'll worry about that later, darling,” Rarity said. “In the meantime, I think we'd better check on Beachberry.”
At that moment, they heard the faint sound of a siren. Which brought their attention to the destruction surrounding them.
“On second thought,” Rarity began. “Let's talk to Beachberry tomorrow after she's been seen to.”
“We probably should leave now, before the police show up,” Twilight said. Her breath was starting to become fast and erratic. “Because then we'll have to explain about the magic, and what we were doing, and then they'll call our parents, and we'll be held responsible for the damage, and then we'll get sued and grounded and – “
“Twilight!” Rarity and Rainbow shouted. Twilight shut up and swallowed hard. There was a flash of light and the three reverted to normal.
“Right,” Rarity said. “I think it's time to go.” The three began quickly making their way to the nearest exit. Twilight continued fiddling with the magic detector as they walked.
“At least now we know what we're up against,” Rarity said. “She's not going to be easy to defeat. She seems to be in tune with the magic much more than anyone else we've faced.”
“We know something else too,” Rainbow replied. “She thinks she's killed Sunset. She said we should have just buried her and got on with our lives.”
“Ah!” Rarity exclaimed. “That explains that.”
“Not really,” Twilight piped up. “Something's bothering me. She thinks she's killed Sunset, but she also said you were all there when whatever Sunset did to her happened. The kids at school all seem to know Sunset's in the hospital, not dead. Not only that, if Sunset was her target, and she thinks Sunset's dead, why attack Beachberry?”
“We'll find that out tomorrow,” Rainbow said. “And this time, we'll make sure to find out why she had it in for Sunset to begin with.”
“But she was just attacked,” Twilight insisted. “That proves she's not whoever that woman was. She couldn't have attacked Sunset.”
“No, but as Shadow Spade always says, 'you never know what's going to be a clue if you don't get as much information as you can,'” Rarity said, quoting a line from her favorite series of mystery novels. “As for her thinking she killed Sunset, it's entirely possible that while she attended CHS, she doesn't anymore.”
“Which clears Firecracker Burst and Moondancer, doesn't it?” Twilight asked. Rarity frowned, realizing the implications. The group finally reached Rarity's car, got in and managed to leave without being noticed by the police who had arrived on the scene.
After the mall had vanished from the rear view mirror, Rarity spoke.
“You're absolutely right, Twilight. If she thinks Sunset's dead, then she can't go to CHS. And if she doesn't go to CHS, then she can't be any of the three girls Pinkie talked to.”
“Unless she's lying,” Rainbow said in a quiet voice. Rarity and Twilight looked at her in the rear view mirror. Rainbow had an expression of wonder on her face, like something had just clicked in her head.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“She might have been trying to fake us out,” Rainbow explained. “Just like I was trying to get her to spill the beans, she might have been pretending to think Sunset's dead to keep us running in circles.”
“Possible,” Rarity conceded. “But, you must admit, kind of a gamble to take.”
“I know,” Rainbow said. “That's the only thing that doesn't make sense. Why use that trick now? There's only two reasons I can think of. Either she does go to CHS and knew we were looking into what she did to Sunset and she wants to throw us off. Or – ” Rainbow trailed off and her eyes grew wide with shock. “Call Miss Bookbinder! Now!”
“Whatever for?” Rarity said.
“It's a threat!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I hope I'm wrong, but if not, she may be going after Sunset to finish the job right now!”