The whole Apple Family sat around the breakfast table, eating pancakes. Sunset's pancakes, however, remained uneaten.
"Can I stay home?" Sunset asked fearfully. Everyone stopped eating and looked at Sunset with concern.
"Sunset," Granny Smith admonished.
"It's just one day," Sunset pleaded weakly, her lips quivering.
"Sunset if you don't march yourself to school-", Granny began, but stopped as Sunset again broke down in tears.
"Please, please, don't make me go," Sunset said tearfully.
"Sunset, I know you're scared," Applejack said reassuringly, "but if you stay home even one day, all you're doing is feeding that varmint."
"Really?!" Sunset shrieked with bitter sarcasm "Me going to school didn't stop him from drowning me!" Sunset began breaking down again, only for someone to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sunset looked up and saw Apple Bloom looking at her with a warm smile.
"Don't worry Sunset," Apple Bloom said, "I'll protect you from this meanie." Apple Bloom's kind demeanor, a drastic change from the looks of disdain the young farmer girl had given her, raise Sunset's spirits considerably. Sunset's mood was further lifted by Big Mac and Applejack coming up to her to offer comfort.
"We'll protect you from this monster," Applejack said with determination.
"Eeyup," the eldest Apple sibling uttered.
"I'd protect ya', but I'm just an old prune," Granny Smith gripped playfully from the other side of the table. "But I'll punish this cretin by taking away his grub."
"How could that be a punishment?" Applejack quipped. The other Apple siblings began to chuckle. Granny tried to force a frown on her face, but couldn't hide the amusement in her eyes.
"Say that on this side of the table, I dares ya," Granny Smith bellowed, raising her fists with a falsely challenging expression, causing everyone else at the table to start laughing harder.
"Move out the way," Apple Bloom shrieked to some random student. Apple Bloom walked in front of Sunset, while her older siblings walked behind Sunset, forming a barrier around the fire-haired girl as she walked to her first class. The short eight-grader looked around, skulking the hallway for potential threats. The three other upperclassmen looked at Apple Bloom with no small amount of amusement.
"She's like some puppy that thinks it's a Rottweiler," Sunset said under her breath with a snicker.
"Yeah," Applejack said with a happy smile, "she always gets like this when the people she cares about are in trouble." Sunset's mood was further lifted by Applejack's kind words.
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh said proudly, watching Apple Bloom act(the key word being "act") like a tough-as-nails bodyguard.
"Move it or lose it," Apple Bloom said to another random student.
"Hey Sunset," Sandalwood said happily while approaching the fire-haired girl, "do you have your school schedule, I-,"
"Beat it, chump!" Apple Bloom said, to Sandalwood's confusion.
"Apple Bloom," Applejack admonished.
"Get out, suspect, or you'll be detained," Apple Bloom ordered the taller teen.
"Never mind," Sandalwood said, giving up and walking away with some confusion.
"Apple Bloom, I know you're trying to help Sunset," Applejack said to her younger sibling. "But you're not helping by yelling at random strangers."
"You know the rules sis," Apple Bloom said, trying to look like an edgy cop. "Guilty til' proven innocent."
"I think its' the other way around, sugar cube," Applejack began with a roll of her eyes.
"Hey you with the lacrosse stick," Apple Bloom said with bared fists to some random student. "Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Applejack let out a frustrated sigh while Big Mac and Sunset rolled their eyes.
For the first time in days, Rainbow Dash was sitting with her friends again at the lunch table. But the circumstances were less than pleasant, and Rainbow was still treating Sunset somewhat coldly.
"We couldn't find any evidence on Gilda," Applejack said.
"Well you didn't want to spy on her in her house," Rainbow Dash threw back.
"She lives in a cotton-pickin' military base," Applejack argued. "What were you planning to do?"
"I had this really great plan to break in," Pinkie Pie said with a mixture, "I would distract one of the military guards with my juggling."
"And then I would use my strength you into the base where you would find information," Rainbow Dash finished with an excitable tone. "I mean, what's the flaw in that plan?" Applejack pinched the bridge of her nose.
"One. The place is thousands of acres. Two. I think they have enough security to find a couple of hoodlums breaking in. Three, we could get in serious trouble for breaking into a military base. Four. It is dumb!"
"I think we ought to take Gilda of the list," Rarity interjected. "For the simple reason that, if she was sending death threats in the mail, she would've acted on them from the beginning. I doubt she would send them over something as ludicrous as the cake incident."
"Besides, she loves little kiddies," Pinkie Pie said in a cooing tone. "What evil meanie would love kiddies?"
"Serial killers can be nice too," Rainbow muttered under her breath.
"Anyways, we've got to move on to other suspects," Applejack said.
"But who else is there?"
"Sprint and his crew," Applejack said furiously, glancing at the gang of frat boys with a suspicious eye.
"Sprint?" Rainbow Dash said with disbelief. "Guys, I know the track team can be idiots, but they're not psychos."
"They've had it in for her from the beginning," Rarity said ominously.
"But I paid them back," Sunset protested sadly. "And Sprint, Quick, Twinkle Toes and the others have been nice to me."
"Well, maybe one of them might still be angry at Sunset," Rarity said, "but has managed to hide it."
"I guess," Rainbow said reluctantly. Rainbow accidentally glanced toward Sunset with a sad look, then abruptly looked away from the fire-haired girl with a frown. Sunset let out a sad sigh, upset that Rainbow was still not cool with her. Pinkie Pie looked at this with upset frustration, but didn't comment on it, knowing she had to let Rainbow forgive Sunset on her own.
"We've got to report them," Applejack said with some resolve, "if it means we can catch the varmint." Rainbow let out her own sad sigh, reluctantly accepting that some of her best friends might be guilty of drowning someone.
"I didn't do it," Sprint protested while sitting in front of Luna.
"You and your friends have tormented Sunset from the beginning," Luna said in a calm but firm manner. "You have to understand how that looks."
"Yeah, I wanted Sunset gone," the green-skinned teen protested with some remorse, "but didn't want to cut off her oxygen supply."
"Mr. Speed," Principal Luna said with even greater resolve. "The way you treated Sunset was still wrong, kill or no kill. You tormented someone in the dark during their community service."
"She blew up the gym," Sprint argued.
"You and your friends aren't guilty of your own shenanigans?" Luna asked with some irony. "What about your little parade stunt?"
"My friends and I never sabotaged a tournament," Sprint protested with some fury, "nor are we guilty of magical terrorism."
"But you have acted out and caused some havoc," Luna threw back. "But even when I punished you, never did I once treat you like a lost cause. Never once did I treat you with hate and scorn. Would it have been right for me to bully you after your many, many stunts?"
"You're right," Sprint said after a few moments of hesitation. "I had no right to hurt Sunset."
"You didn't," Luna finished in a way that couldn't be argued. "And normally I would punish you and your friends for such behavior."
"Why won't you?" Sprint asked softly.
"Because, as Rainbow told me, you did cease your attacks and gave Sunset a chance to make it up to you," Luna said, her voice becoming softer. "And you did it in such a way that much of the hatred toward Sunset vanished."
"Well, not all of it," Sprint said with some fear. "Even at my angriest, I would never drown someone."
"Which is why we need to catch this person before they hurt Sunset or someone else," Luna said. "And I need to know if any of your friends might still hold a grudge."
"I don't know," Sprint said with, "none of them have really talked about Sunset since the dunk tank."
"Mr. Speed," Luna said firmly. "If you're covering up for one of your friends, you're neither helping that friend, nor yourself, nor the student body. If you know something and don't tell, than you are enabling that person, and making them think it is OK to do what they did. That person might not only hurt Sunset, but could end up hurting someone else." She leaned forward to stare directly at the track captain. "Look me in the eye and tell me if you know something."
"I don't," Sprint said, his face carved from stone. "I don't. If I did, I would tell you. Yeah, I've acted like an idiot, but I wouldn't cover for a friend who did this."
"OK," Luna said, "you may go to class now." Once Sprint left the room, Luna let out a frustrated sigh, crossing out several names from a list.
"La la la la," Pinkie Pie sang as she skipped into the girl's bathroom with cake-batter covered hands, "baking is fun and messy." Pinkie Pie ran her hands under the warm tap water.
"Yay," Pinkie said happily, wiggling her now clean fingers. "All clean." She paused she felt someone grab her by the back of her blouse and shove her toward the sink. Pinkie looked up at the mirror and whimpered.
Gilda Griffon was staring at her in the mirror with her meanie-look, while pinning her head to the ceramic sink.
"Pie!" Gilda bellowed.
"Please don't kill me!" Pinkie Pie wailed, before being yanked up and forced to turn around to face the military girl.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't break all your bones for what you did yesterday!" Gilda bellowed, staring at Pinkie with pure hatred.
"How did you get past our ingenious disguises?" Pinkie Pie asked with dismay.
"Yeah, real ingenious," Gilda said sarcastic. "Except for the part where you didn't cover your foreheads, where I can clearly see your skin colors, you buffoon!"
"Rats," Pinkie Pie muttered. "Please don't kill me-,"
"You peeped on me in the girl's locker room!" Gilda shouted. "Why shouldn't I-,"
"What?" Pinkie Pie
"You, Applejack, and...the other one were staring at my butt when I was taking off my pants!" Gilda screamed.
"Oh that," Pinkie Pie said, a goofy smile on her face. "We weren't peeping on you silly!" Gilda glared at the pink girl with disbelief. "We only were following you around because we suspected you of attempted murder."
"Really," Gilda said in a softer voice, "that makes it ok, I guess."
"Really?" Pinkie Pie said hopefully.
"NO!" Gilda lifted the pink girl up by her blouse until they were face to face. "Let me you tell something. I don't care what you think! Your not gonna find a thing on me!"
"I know that silly!" Pinkie Pie said, not remotely afraid of Gilda. "I know you love little kiddies to much to do that."
"Th-That's not true," Gilda said, with some forced bite, her grip weakening on the party lover. "I-I'm just there to keep the brats in line!" Gilda stammered at Pinkie's increasingly large grin. "I'm just doing it for volunteer credit." Pinkie's grin grew even wider. "Listen to what I'm telling you! You better listen to me, Pie!"
"You like being an auntie, don't you Gilda?" Pinkie Pie asked her in the most innocent voice possible. Gilda once again pulled Pinkie up to her face again.
"Whether I do or I don't is none of your business," Gilda growled. "You ever stalk me again, you're last party will be at your funeral. Got it?"
"Can there be cake at my funeral?" Pinkie Pie asked innocently. "And balloons, and streamers, and party hats, and-," Gilda let go of Pinkie Pie and ran out of the room with an annoyed yell.
"Talking to her is like talking to a block of wood," Gilda muttered as she walked down the hall, running her palm along her face. She paused, as if remembering something. "Oh wait. I got to do number 2." She went back to the bathroom. Much to her frustration, none of the stalls had any toilet paper.
"No toilet paper," Gilda muttered angrily. "Does anybody have any matters anymore?!" She ran out into the empty hall, and bumped into some stranger.
"Watch where you're going asshole!" Gilda bellowed to the rude person who had the nerve to bump into. She looked down the hall and saw a storage closet.
"Maybe there's some in there," Gilda wondered aloud. She opened the door and saw someone in the closet, bent over and wearing black.
"Can you move?" Gilda asked impatiently. "I need to get some..." her voice trailed off as the person rose to face her. The person was tall, covered in a black shawl, and had some freaky skull mask on his face. But what was truly unsettling to Gilda was that the weirdo was wielding some bloody knife. And on the ground next to him/her was an unconscious Applejack.
A small pool of blood was forming near her face.