//------------------------------//
// 10b- Cellular Backlight 
// Story: Cold 
// by NightCoreMoon 
//------------------------------//

/x/x/x/

Applejack opens her front door to find her brother leaning against a counter, drinking coffee, and staring at her.

“Hey Mac,” she greets, shutting the door as she scuffs her boots on the welcome mat. “What did I miss?”

Mac just shrugs, taking a sip of coffee. “Not much. Been quiet. Granny’s sleepin’... Bloom’s been in her room all day.”

“Figger’d such.”

“You okay sis?”

“Whaddaya mean? Just got here.”

“No, you got here ten minutes ago. Rustbucket ain’t quiet. You sat in the truck for a bit, then you stood outside the front door for a bit. You ain't lookin’ forward to chattin’ with Bloom, huh?”

Applejack sighs, hanging her hat on the nearby rack, and follows up with her jacket. “I guess I’m pretty obvious. Even followed the speed limit on the way here.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Nah, I’m...” she unbuttons her flannel. “I’m just gonna go talk to Bloom. She been eatin’?”

“She poked at her dinner last night, after ya left. Ate an egg this morning. Haven't seen her since.”

“Hmm.” Applejack finishes taking her flannel off, and wraps it around her forearms. “Why are you drinking coffee at six in the evening?”

“It's decaf.”

The two sit in silence for upwards of a minute, broken only by the occasional sip.

“Ya know...” he murmurs. “You don't gotta talk to her right now.”

“No, I gotta.” She rolls her neck. “I gotta apologize for what I said to her last night. It wasn't right of me to bring ma and pa into this.”

“You know they woulda been.”

“I know. She knows. Didn't give me the right to say it. I was mad at myself, and I took it out on her.”

“You were mad at her too. She had just admitted to hurtin’ your friend and humiliatin’ you in front of the school.”

“And that gave me the right to be a jerk? No, Mac, we were both in the wrong.”

“It ain't bein’ a jerk, it's bein’ an authority figure. You and I are the closest thing she's got to a mom an dad-”

“She has parents.” Applejack snaps. “They just ain't here anymore. We ain't her new parents. We’re brother and sister. Member when Suns spread the rumor we were... y’know. Her real parents?”

“Mmhmm. My... senior year? Maybe junior. I don't remember, high school was so long ago. But you gotta admit, we all but adopted her when she was just a baby, least far as family goes. It was believable. It was effective.”

“Mac. I was four. You were eleven. Sunset’s rumors were never realistic, she always made it so the students was the one who gave it power cuz kids and teens know how to spin things juicier than a steamroller in an orchard. Another thing that I shoulda recognized...”

Mac set his now-empty mug into the sink. “Warn’t your fault.”

“I know. It was Bloom n’ her friends who done it. And I ate it up.”

“It's past. Sunset’s better, right?”

“Yeah. She is. She’s with Rainbow.”

“So y'all made up with each other?”

Applejack groans. “Well... Rare believes that Sunset blackmailed Bloom on account of she’d never believe that her sister would post her lewds.”

Mac blushes. “What?”

“Oh dang. You didn't know either. Yeah... Anon posted photos of Rare in her undies.”

“Bloom exposed private pics of-”

“Warn't Bloom. Belle did that. Bloom just made the account and the text posts. I think. At least I hope.”

“I should hope so too, that's just...” he shakes his head. “Why’d she even have pics like that at all?”

“Well, she sent ‘em to Sunset as reference for puttin’ bras on. Oh, speakin’ of...” she reaches back for a second, then takes off the article in question from underneath her tank and cami. “Ah, that's... that's much better. Anyway, this ain't gonna be one of those conversations where I’m gonna have to tell ya women can have photos like that on their phones without it being a thing?”

“Yeah yeah,” Mac waves her off. “She just didn't strike me as one of those girls- actually, you know what, I'm not gonna say that either because I just went through what you would say back in my head and it didn't end well for me. Either way it's wrong for Belle to do that. To her own sister, no less. And I guess that explains why Miss Rarity ain't so quick to believe and forgive Sunset.”

Applejack bundles her discarded clothes in her hands. “Yeah...” she makes a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh. “This whole dang mess. Those girls just wanted to hurt Sunset and it ended up hurtin’ all of us. There'd be a life lesson in it if Belle n’ Scoot came clean.”

“Hmm...”

“Hmm is right. I don't get what they even stand to gain from shuttin’ Sunset out like this. It ain't like ‘em for petty vengeance.”

“No, that... that ain't what I mean.” Mac bit his thumb for a moment. “They did hurt all o’ y’all, remember? You n’ Piggly Wiggly, Rain’s bad grades, Fluttershy’s hair extensions, Miss Rarity’s private photos. An’ that's just gettin’ started. They spilled beans on everyone in school. Y'all said how everyone was tearin’ each other apart like a barn in a twister. But that don't make no sense. There ain't motive for none of that. There warn’t need to keep on keepin’ on after y'all threw Sunset outta the friend group like a sack o’ moldy apples.”

“Okay. Ouch. But... you're right. Anon a Miss kept postin’ after that. So if their aim was to take away Sunset’s friends an’ make her miserable, they did it. They got everythin’ they ever wanted and then some. But then why did they go on an’ spread the secrets of everyone else in school? What... what was the plan?”

Mac stepped over to the fridge, and pulled out a cider. He popped the cap with his boot and took a sip. “You gotta keep everything in perspective here if you're gonna go up here n have a talk with her yourself. I already talked to her last night. I laid out her punishment already. She has her phone- for homework, emergencies, and for communicatin’ with her friends to convince ‘em to come clean. Or to rat ‘em out on MyStable.”

“Alright, that's fair. I was gonna say... and I ain't ever gonna understand how you can open bottles like that.”

“Years o’ practice. Anyway, this mess is bigger than either of us. Bigger than those three. It's even bigger than Sunset Shimmer. But, at the end of the day, Sunset Shimmer is the one who’s hurt the most. And until those girls tell the truth about who Anon a Miss really was, it's gonna stay that way. I know she’s better, n’ she’s with Rainbow right now. But she... she tried to kill herself. I'm sure it's cuz of the isolation n’ bein’ ostracized by everyone. It don't matter much why they did what they did to everyone but her, cuz it's just silly rumors. Except maybe Miss Rarity but that's a special case. I'm just thinkin’ that it ain't over just because Anon a Miss won't be so anonymous no more once those three come clean. But that's later talk. Now talk is waitin’ for ya upstairs.”

“Yeah, yeah...” Applejack lurched her way out of the kitchen and into the dining room, pausing at the foot of the stairs to the second story. “Guess I been waitin’ long enough.”

“I'll be down here.”

Applejack lets out a long slow exasperated exhale the entire time she clunks her way up the stairs. When she reaches the top, Applebloom’s bedroom door opens. After a moment, her face shows in the crack.

“Sis?” She asks, quietly.

“Can I come in?”

/x/x/x/

Fluttershy’s phone rings. She reaches across her bed for the device and checks the caller ID before setting it back down. After a moment, she reaches back and answers it.

“Rarity.”

“Hello Fluttershy... I respect your request that our friendship is put on hiatus. However I hope you can make an exception here, as this call is one I would make with any acquaintance.”

“What do you want, Rarity? I'm... currently occupied.”

“Don't worry, this won't take very long. You can get back to your... herbal medicine soon. I just want to know something.”

“Mm?”

“I... um.” She sighs.” How do you typically handle interactions with your younger sibling when you believe he may have wronged you?”

Fluttershy slowly leans up from her bed, her movements sluggish and subdued. “Zephyr? Is a selfish entitled inconsiderate jerk. All the time. How I handle interactions with him when he wrongs me is all the time. I just talk to him normal.”

“Yes, I know, but... surely there was a point in time where you two were close.”

“Yeah, a long time ago, I guess. Why? What are you trying to do here, start a conversation? I already told you-”

“I'm looking for advice on how to get to the heart of the truth of this whole sordid MyStable affair. If Sweetie Belle truly did spread my photographs, and Sunset really is innocent- notice I said if- then I need to know the best way to broach the subject. And to do that, I want to have a full deck. I have not had the misfortune of being unable to fully get along with my sister, and thus I have not the skills to-”

“Just talk to her,” Fluttershy interrupts, her voice flat. “If you can call me after I told you I don't want to talk to you, then you can talk to your sister. Sit her down one on one and have this talk with her your own way. Your relationship with her and my relationship with Zephyr are too different.”

“Ah...” Rarity sighs. “That's essentially what Pinkie Pie said when I called and asked about her with her sisters... I’m sure it's what Applejack will say about her and hers. Thank you for your input.”

“You're welcome... I...”

“Yes?”

“...I hope that your talk goes well.”

“As do I.”

An awkward silence reigns for several long moments.

“What brought this on, Rarity?” Fluttershy asks.

“I spoke with Micro Chips earlier. I... I hurt him. I asked him about IP addresses and what he said made it seem like everyone is telling the truth. So I lashed out and hurt him. And I am now having a harder and harder time believing that Sunset is a devious mastermind on levels higher than my own comprehension, but... but she has to be. Because the alternative...”

“What do you mean you hurt him?”

“I... I used his attraction to me as a weapon. I'm... I’m turning into a monster. I’m becoming what Sunset was.”

Fluttershy makes as if to respond a few times but ultimately says nothing.

“Fluttershy?”

“I'm still here.”

“I just want to make absolutely sure of every detail of what I believe to be true before I continue on my investigation. I... I reread one of my old Shadow Spade novels. I'd forgotten just how mature the subject matter could be, despite being geared towards younger kids. And I’d forgotten just how accurate to actual detective work it was. And I’d forgotten that in complicated situations like this, one can't let implicit bias get in the way of logic.”

“Okay.”

“... I’ll talk to Sweetie Belle now.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Another awkward silence passes.

Fluttershy is the one to break it this time.

“Be sure to let her know that you trust her, and you just want concrete proof that she didn't hurt you. And that no matter what happens you'll still love her. Because she's your sister and nothing will ever change that. You've been through too much together to lose it all now over a simple little misunderstanding. No matter how emotionally damaging it's been to the people around us. No matter how rough the hardships, and no matter what bad blood or negativity came between you right now, you still love her. You're still family.”

“Yes, I... I understand. We are still family. And I still love... her.”

“I'm glad you do.”

“Do you... does she still love me?”

“Yes. Of course. You just need to... talk to your sister, and get everything cleared up. And then you can talk to her again. And she really wants you to. I... really want you to.”

“And I want to as well...” Rarity lets out a short melancholic sigh. “I suppose I'll hang up now.”

“Sounds good. Goodbye Rarity.”

“So long...” a single click is all that remains of the conversation.

Fluttershy tosses her phone down onto the covers near her feet, and puts her fingers underneath her moist eyes, wiping away the tears that had welled up during the conversation.

/x/x/x/

As Sunset polishes off her third bowl of soup, Rainbow pops one last dumpling into her mouth. The two adults at the table share an awestruck look.

“I have never seen someone eat more than me,” Bow murmured. “Ever.”

Sunset looks up from her bowl, tapping her napkin to her mouth. “Oh, I didn't...” she sets down the fabric. “I didn't mean to-”

“Oh, you're fine, dear,” Windy interrupts, reaching over to set a comforting hand on her shoulder. “He just means that usually he's the one with the biggest appetite at the table. Unless, of course, I make my pasta potato sourdough sandwiches. But I made plenty of soup, so eat as much as you like. If anything, I’m flattered that you want so much of it.”

“Oh, well, it’s delicious- wait.” Sunset furrows her brow, comprehending what she just heard. “Pasta and potato... sandwich?”

“On sourdough,” Rainbow chimes, in between chugging from an electric green plastic bottle. “It's the best.”

“That sounds like a lot of carbs,” Sunset remarks. “For a human. For a pony... uh...”

“It's a lot for even a cow,” Bow says. “And I don't just mean my ex wife! Ah? Ah?”

“Dad. You don't have an ex wife.”

He crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. “I could have... you don't know... maybe I married my high school sweetheart in secret, absconding before college, only for it to fall tragically apart before my stint in the military before I met your mom.”

Rainbow rolls her eyes. “High school relationships don't last into adulthood, everyone knows that. And besides, did you even know any girls back then?”

“He was popular with the ladies back then,” Windy answers, her voice less jealous than matter of fact. “What was her name, Lily Blossom?”

“Yeap, that's her. Went to prom together. She had a kid a while back, real similar name. Rainbow, I think she was in the Wondercolts, you ever know a Blossom?”

Sunset was the only one to notice the slight reddening of Rainbow’s face as she answered.

“Yeah, Blossomforth, I knew her. We were friends for a while, but she graduated. Haven't really kept up on her...” she takes a brief moment to drain the rest of her soda. “I'm gonna go get more.”

With that she moves rather quickly from the table and into the adjoining kitchen, leaving Sunset alone with the adults for a moment.

“So...” she says, filling the silent void left behind. “You met each other in the military?”

“Mmhmm,” Bow says, nodding. “I was an analytics engineer for the air force, mostly cross referencing weather with the vehicles to figure what would be the most fuel efficient way to travel, and when. One day one of the planes exploded right next to me, and the next thing I knew your mom, a medic, was tending to my wounds. Naturally I was fu- um, a little delirious from the morphine, and I said. Uh. Hon, what did I say?”

“You asked if you died and went to heaven because I looked like an angel.”

“Yeah, I remember now. And afterwards I kept faking illnesses just to get an excuse to come see you, and eventually you told me I didn't have to do that if I wanted to spend some time with you. And we kept in contact even after our tours were over, and one day, we... consummated.”

“And that's how I was made,” Rainbow chimes in, sitting down with a second bottle, this one brown.

“Then we got married and that's that.”

Sunset chuckles to herself. “So, Rainbow, you were a guest at your parents’ wedding?”

“Yeah yeah,” she says, “I’m a bastard, laugh it up.”

“There's nothing wrong with children born out of wedlock,” Windy sternly- yet gently- chides. “You were Faust’s gift to me, not a burden.”

“Yeah mom, I know,” Rainbow appeases, rolling her eyes. “I'm the greatest birthday present ever.”

“Birthday present?” Sunset asks.

“Oh yeah. I was born on mom’s birthday.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. It was real close too, it was almost the day after but, eh, I was too fast for that.”

“You were an easy birth,” Windy remarks. “It's like you couldn't wait to get out of me. I probably could have done it myself if your father wasn't so dead set on driving me to the hospital. Faster than the speed limit, mind you.”

“Cop followed me the entire second half of the drive there,” Bow adds. “When he saw me turning into the hospital parking lot he turned his lights and siren off and just kept going. Guess he figured out what was going on.”

“Imagine spending my birthday giving birth in a jail cell,” Windy laughed. “Wouldn't that be something right out of a movie?”

“Oh hey,” Rainbow says. “That reminds me. Suns, for when we watch the movie tonight, what do you usually do, popcorn? Wait. Do they have popcorn back where you're from?”

“Yes Rainbow, Equestria has popcorn. And it really doesn't matter, as long as it's not breadsticks. I'd rather not die.”

Rainbow immediately stands up. “FLUTTERSHY HAS ALL MY LEFTOVER BREADSTICKS!”

“Please don't shout at the table, dear.”

“Sorry mom.”

“Where’s Equestria?” Bow asks.

Sunset and Rainbow share a brief look and have a silent conversation for a moment before Rainbow shrugs and sits back down.

“It’s a magical portal dimension of unicorns and pegasi,” Sunset replies. “It wouldn't be on any map.”

A stunned silence rings across the table for a few moments until it is broken by Bow.

“Well, weirder things have happened. Were you a pegasus or were you a unicorn?”

Sunset’s jaw drops. “You are taking this... remarkably well.”

Bow shrugs. “Hey, all the weird electromagnetic anomalies in the local atmosphere has gotta have an explanation somehow.”

“I was banking on aliens,” Windy adds. “I can't say I’m disappointed that it's horses instead, as that definitely explains a lot of our religion’s origins. But... aliens would have been cooler, no offense. Anyway, you haven't answered the question. Unicorn or Pegasus?”

“I... I was a unicorn.”

Bow nods. “You strike me as a unicorn. In fact I had a theory that's.. well, it's not similar, but it's a lot closer to unicorns than to aliens. I was camp fairy.”

“Here we go again,” Windy playfully teases.

“Hey, fairies are a lot more likely to exist than aliens!”

“There is definitive proof that aliens exist, there isn't any for fairies outside of folklore and some drunk rednecks who saw barn owls and thought they were goblins.”

“We literally have a unicorn right at our kitchen table, is that not enough evidence that mythical creatures can and do exist? Just imagine the possibilities. Vampires, dragons, mermaids!”

“Actually...” Sunset interjects. “Dragons are also real.”

“See!?”

“Okay, okay,” Windy appeases. “Alright, fine. I’ll concede that in the wake of evidence that unicorns and dragons are real, fairies are... plausible. But I still think aliens exist too!”

“You mean like little green guys,” Sunset asks. “Or do you mean like the xenomorphs?”

“Oh don't even get me started on those movies,” Windy begins to gush. “HR Giara is an artistic visionary, and the entire science fiction genre wouldn't be nearly the same without him.”

“We just watched the first one last night.”

“Oh, it's such a good film! Uh.” Realization sets in on Windy’s face. “Oh. Wait, you let Fluttershy watch that movie???”

“In my defense, I’m pretty desensitized to horror since way scarier exists back home. And, well, she said she liked some of it, just not the scary parts.”

“I can imagine why, the cinematography is just breathtaking, and the sound design is-

“You're all nerds!” Rainbow cries, picking up her and Sunset’s dishes. “I'm making popcorn!”

As she leaves, sheepish grins are exchanged across the table. In the settling silence, the adults get back to their meals as Sunset compulsively glances down at her wrists. The gauze is still fastened securely, still cleared of red. She looks back up at the table, at these two random people who didn't even know anything about her having taken her in, sheltered her, supplied her, fed her. Her eyes begin to mist over, and she tries to wipe it away with the backs of her hands, without much success.

“Are you okay, dear?” Windy asks, voice gentle.

Sunset nods. “Yeah, I’m... I’m okay. I'm just not really that used to acts of kindness from strangers. These past several weeks have just been... cold and lonely. So I want to thank you both for your hospitality.”

“Hey,” Bow says, mouth full. “You're friends with Rainbow, and that makes you family.” He then swallows at a look from his wife. “We’re both glad to offer a safe space for anyone who needs it, and from what she told us, you need it.”

Sunset nods again. “Well I appreciate that a lot. I had kind of given up hope that I'd ever be happy again...” she grimaces. “Oh man, that sounded angsty.”

Windy presses her forefinger and thumb together. “Well, maybe a little bit. But considering the hell you went through, I think you're entitled to a little bit of angst. I know of a certain other person who went through... I won't say worse, because no tragedy is quantifiable against another, but an also traumatic ordeal, who went quite a bit more off the angsty scale than you seem to be. To a degree that's, well, it...” she sighs. “It doesn't matter right now, I shouldn't even be talking about her right now considering she's the reason behind your current suffering.”

Sunset’s brow furrows. “Are you talking about Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, or Scootaloo? Because none of them struck me as the angsty type.”

“It's... one of them...

Bow sets his fork down. “Scootaloo’s mother died a few years back, and it affected her. She really took after our daughter. There was one day she ended up in our front yard wanting to do some research paper on one of her heroes, and she wanted to hear some stories about Rainbow when she was a kid. Of course, it was four in the damn morning, but I recognized her as the kid from the accident, so I obliged and let her in. She was a good kid, despite appearances and music taste. I honestly don't know what compelled her to take part in that blogging fiasco.”

“Well,” Sunset cedes, “I was kind of bad back in the day.”

“We know. Rainbow told us. You essentially broke her up with her best friend at the time. And we did resent you for hurting our baby girl. But what those girls did to you in return...” Bow shakes his head, and glares intensely at his plate. “It’s utterly deplorable. There's no excuse for it, even if she did see her mom die. You didn't deserve that.” He slowly and deliberately sets his fist on the table. “You were a bully, don't get me wrong. But nothing you did couldn't be fixed. Canterlot High has never had a suicide, never a shooting, never a scandal. Just a megalomaniacal queen. But from what I heard, it was because you never knew friendship. And when you did get a taste of it, in no small part thanks to Rainbow, you became quite a delightful person. And now I've seen it firsthand. You are a good person. And you will be happy again.”

Windy nods in agreement. “What you did before, that was yesterday. What you do from now on is tomorrow. Who you are now is all that matters. Your past does not define you, because your past is not today.”

Sunset nods, letting her eyes spill over. “Thank you both.”

Windy comes over and hugs her. “Of course, dear. We all have dark spots in our lives. And we need to be there for each other during them.”

“Well I appreciate that you two are here for mine.”

An affectionate moment passes, and Windy returns to her seat. After what suspiciously seems like the exact amount of time before anyone gets bored passes, Rainbow comes back into the dining room, a large bowl of popcorn in one hand and her phone to her ear in the other.

“Hey Shy, hold up a second, ok? Hey Suns, test this and see if it needs more butter or salt.”

Sunset complies and pops a kernel into her mouth.

“It's perfect,” she says. “Is that Fluttershy?”

“Okay, good. Yeah, it is. One sec, ok? Hey Shy, I’m back. No, it's fine, I just needed to see if she’d like the popcorn. Because we’re watching a movie. Well, technically two movies. Yeah, that one. Look, that doesn't matter right now, are you okay? She... wants to believe her?” Rainbow glances at Sunset. “Well... yeah, that is good. I guess we’ll just have to see how their talk goes. Uh-huh. Yes, I’ll swing by tomorrow to pick it up. All right. Oh, come on, I-” she sighs. “I... loveyoutoobye.”

“Aaawww,” Sunset mocks.

“Don't you start, she gets very affectionate when she's high.” Rainbow glances at her parents. “Per. Focusing. On... her knitting.”

Bow sighs. “Rain, she can only use the, oh sorry I smell like a skunk because I work at the animal shelter, excuse so many times. You kids act like we’ve never smoked weed ourselves.”

Windy smacks his arm.

Bow clears his throat. “You kids act like I've never smoked it myself.”

“Wait, dad, you knew?”

“For Faust’s sake Rainbow, she listens to Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, and Sublime. Did you not know?”

“I... found out when I went over yesterday.”

Bow puts his face in his hands as Windy pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Wow Rainbow, even your parents think you're a square,” Sunset teases.

“Ah, shut up and come watch the movie,” she mutters as she turns and walks down the hall.

Sunset stands up and follows after her, pausing to thank the adults once more for the meal, and steps into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.”

/x/x/x/

“So... you got any siblings?” Flash innocuously asks, dipping a fry in ketchup.

“I got a sister,” Shining responds in between sips of his shake. “Twilight Sparkle. If you’re really attuned to science journals, you'd probably see her name here and there. She did the math behind the zero point energy field manipulator matrix tech breakthrough. She and, uh, what's his face, was it... Freemare?”

“Yeah... cool...” Flash tries really hard to hide his disinterest. “So uh. Where's she go to school?”

Shining slowly turns to look at him. “She and her girlfriend go to Crystal Prep.”

“Oh!” He replies, trying really hard to stifle his shock. “That's... cool. Good for them. Go LGBT!”

“Did you invite me to lunch just so you could try to fuck my sister?”

“No!”

A look from Shining defeated the remnants of his resolve.

“...maybe.”

“You're not the first. You won't be the last.” He finishes the last of his shake. “You're a good kid. Spearhead’s said some good things about you. And the care and respect you took to get here should be applauded. But you should give up on pursuing Twiley. She's way out of your league.”

Flash bites his tongue to keep from responding.

“Look. I don't say this to disparage you,” Shining continues. “I've seen your band play a couple times. You're clearly talented. And you seem like a nice respectful sort. And, speaking frankly, you are handsome and attractive. I'm sure plenty of girls out there would be lucky to have you. But... my sister is a special case. She has scholarships out the wazoo. She has an entire wing of the school dedicated to her various experiments. The actual president has corresponded with her before on a matter of national security, twice. And you? You deliver pizzas. She's lactose intolerant and only orders Chineighse. You're from two completely different worlds, and it will never work out.”

Flash sighs. “Yeah. I get it. Big brother instinct.”

“Buddy. This is to spare you rejection. Us being related has nothing to do with it. You've been with Sunset Shimmer, the biggest and most famous bitch queen in the entire tri state area’s history. You're an accomplished player. Don't get your heart broken going for the highest branch when there's plenty of good fruit dropping low.”

Flash takes a depressed bite of his sandwich as Shining’s watch beeps.

“Well,” he says, standing up. “This has been fun. We should do it again some time. Chatting with you on my lunch break has actually been really enlightening. Genuinely.” He pats Flash on the shoulder before grabbing up his tray and trash. “C’est la vie, dude. Peace out.”

As he leaves, Flash sets his burger down and forces himself to swallow. He leans back and ponders on the new information he's gathered, trying frantically to piece together the enigmatic puzzle that was the lavender-skinned girl he fell in love with.

After a few minutes his phone buzzes. He checks it and sees that it's from Rarity. He opens it and reads.

“Would you mind doing some detective work for me?” She asks.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Sunset Shimmer is most likely staying overnight at Pinkie Pie’s house. Rainbow Dash was violent towards her before the heel face turn, Fluttershy couldn't handle two overnight stays in a row, and Sunset most likely couldn't stay in the same house as Applebloom. Therefore it's the best assumption that she is out of town. If you could monitor three- my, my sister’s, and Anon-a-Miss’- MyStable profiles overnight and report on your findings in the morning, that would be much appreciated.”

“You got a plan to ensnare the bitch queen?”

“I have the makings of one. It just needs a little tact and subtlety on my end. Two attributes that have been sorely lacking in my department recently. So to remedy that, I told Fluttershy that I was going to entertain the notion that Sweetie Belle really was Anon. Surely she will tell Rainbow who will then tell Applejack and Pinkie, and lull Sunset into a false sense of security. She’ll grow complacent. Then when you have record of the blog’s activity, you can ask Micro Chips to trace it.

“Why do I have to talk to the nerd?”

“I used his crush on me to hurt him, and accused him of letting Sunset bribe him with my nudes. He is surely desperate to make amends with me, and that means it will be easy for someone else he idolizes to butter him up and get information from a lot easier, without him going on paragraphs and paragraphs of tangents that nobody cares about.”

“I'd say harsh but JFC that guy goes on and on.”

“Exactly. So, if and when Anon updates next, and there is hard evidence that Sweetie and I are both offline and inactive- as she and I will spend a day together- and we can indeed find out what wifi the update was sent through. Sunset won't have any leg to stand on. We are in control right now, and we will bring her crimes to light. This will work, with your help.”

“Devious. Don't worry Rarity, I’m in.”

“Thank you very much Flash. If things go well enough, I’m sure a substantial reward will be coming your way ;)”

“Only reward I need is Sunset facing justice.”

“Delightful. I'll keep in touch.”

“Ditto.”

Flash pockets his phone and leans back in his chair, a gentle grin on his face.

“You're going down, horse.”

/x/x/x/

Scootaloo twists the doorknob to no avail.

“Oh well...” she mutters to herself, pulling out a small metal tool. She glances to either side and begins fiddling with the lock. After a few minutes broken up by more paranoid glances up and down the empty hallway, she finally hears a click.

“Heck yeah,” she murmurs, before pushing her way into the room. And then immediately stepping back out, coughing and pulling the collar of her shirt over her nose.

“It smells like a fart died in here. What is that, spoiled milk and BO? And... copper. Eugh.”

She steps in, shutting the door behind her and encasing the room in near-darkness, illuminated only by the pale cloudlight from the windows. She pulls out her phone and activates the flashlight, bringing sight to the darker corners of the room.

“Okay, outlets. Outlets. Here's one, nothing. Here's one. Here's one. Dang girl, your apartment’s got more outlets than my entire dad’s house. Oh, shit!” She yelps, tripping over a pile of empty ice cream pints, sending a mass of flies buzzing away.

“There's the dairy. God. What a freaking slob. It's too hard to line a trash can, huh? Pig. Whatever. Oh, is that... is this dirty laundry? What the hell is wrong with you? Jeez. No wonder I can't find your phone, this place is a mess.”

She starts shining the light at her feet as well.

“Alright, is it-”

A buzz brings her attention to the center of the room, and the futon. She steps over and finds what she's looking for.

“Sweet, that was easy. Let's see. Do you use a pear charger or a cyborg charger? Cyborg it is. Perfect.” She slips the device into her pocket. A knock at the door grabs her attention, and the opening of the door freezes her heart in place.

“Oi, Shimmer!” A loud Fillydelphia accent shouts. “Where’s ma fawkin rent?”

“Sunset’s not here right now,” Scootaloo says, the hamster wheel in her brain rolling faster than the human eye could see. “She's at a friend’s house right now, and asked me to come pick up her phone because she forgot it. Did she forget to pay rent this month?”

“This month? HA! She ain't paid me a fawkin bit this month or last month. You tell her when you see her next that if I don't get three months worth by next week, her ass is outta here, you get me? Takin’ all her shit n’ I’m burnin it in the furnace.”

“You got it sir,” Scootaloo says, stepping back into the light. “I'll deliver the message, along with the phone.”

“Ah, das real good. You're a good kid there. Here, I’ll get that lock for ya. Wait... how'd you get in here again?”

“Door wasn't even locked.”

“Door wasn't even fawkin locked. I don't believe this. Can you believe this? Unbelievable. It's like she wants to get robbed. And in dis part o town? Fawkin unbelievable. Well. Go on, kid, go deliver dat shit. Can't believe she's got good kids like you doin’ all her dirty work. Can't believe it.”

Scootaloo wastes no time getting out of there, pulse pounding in her ears. She can't help but grin as she steps back outside into the sidewalk, despite the cold.

“I did it,” she whispers, pumping her fists in victory. “I got the phone! Oh, ten percent battery? It's fine. I'll charge it when I get home. Oh. Oh, Sunset. You're so going down. Once and for all.

/x/x/x/