22. Equestrian Maiden Sunny
Lemon Zest finished wiping Coco's face with a wet napkin faster than she expected, if only because she wasn't wearing any make-up. At least her face wasn't covered in dripping mascara.
"I can clean myself!"
"Never said you couldn't." She chuckled and took the napkin away. "There, good as new!"
"I, uh..." Looking at their smiling faces, Coco couldn't help but feel warm in her chest.
Sour Sweet rolled her eyes. "I swear, if you're going to apologize one more time..."
"N-no, I just... th-thank you, everyone," she bowed, but only a bit, to not agitate Sour Sweet any more "for everything! I, uh... I needed that!"
Sour Sweet blushed and turned away. "I-it's nothing, really. D-don't misunderstand it, I-I was just..."
"Ah, there's tsundere Sweet again!" Lemon laughed.
SMACK!
"Oww, and there's yandere Sweet!"
Sour's eyebrow twitched. "Do I even wanna know what those words mean?"
Coco and Sugarcoat answered in unison. "Not really." Coco raised an eyebrow and exchanged confused looks with Sugarcoat, before the two shrugged and Coco giggled for the both of them.
Lemon Zest massaged her head, but didn't lose her smile. "Just remember, even after you get your Sunny back we still need to go and beat level three!"
Coco nodded. "Of course!"
"And don't forget that we still have 657 episodes left to watch!" She was met with few blank stares. "It gets even better as it goes on."
The group stopped talking and just kept nodding to each other, almost ready to leave the rooftop and proceed to the hardest part, when...
"I think that's as good a cue as I'll ever get."
The four girls turned to the entrance to the rooftop, noticing the sudden guest. A young, either slightly younger than them or same age but growing slower as he was taller only than Coco. He had an ash grey skin and his hair was short, snow white and a little messy, but not untidy. He was dressed in black suit pants with matching black vest, with a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath. He walked towards them slowly with his hands deep in his pockets, stopping just a few feet away.
"This is a private conversation, if you don't mind." Sour Sweet said.
The boy shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I waited until you were done and I heard about, oh I don't know, half of it? But don't worry, my lips are sealed."
Sour raised an eyebrow. She looked over her friends to see if any of them had a reaction more positive than herself, but they were all as confused as she was.
"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," Sour sarcasted "do you need something? I've never seen you around and this is not a Crystal Prep uniform."
"Perceptive, as expected of the top students. You're quite famous here, the three of you at least. As to what I'm here for," he pulled one hand out of the pockets and extended it towards Coco "miss Pommel, could you come with me?"
There was no immediate answer. The three Shadowbolts looked at Coco, who was the most confused of them all, stepping away in an attempt to hide behind them.
"Do you know this weirdo?" Sugarcoat asked. Coco shook her head. That was all they needed to know.
"She's not interested!" Lemon Zest said as she stepped before Coco.
"And who even are you?" Sugarcoat asked. "The least you could do is introduce yourself."
The boy blinked and shrugged, putting his hand back to the pocket. "Excuse me for no introductions." He pulled out his other hand, holding a smartphone which he started fiddling with. "I know it's rude, but you'll just have to forgive me for that. And for what happens next."
The girls looked at each other, then at the boy. All four of them felt uneasy about the stranger, but none could put a finger on it.
"What do you mean by 'what happens next'?" Sugarcoat asked.
The boy kept looking at his phone, then smiled when a notification came back to him. "Just wait for it."
Sour Sweet groaned. "Wait for what? Who the hell are yo-"
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
She didn't finish the sentence, as they all jumped when a loud, booming echo came from the school itself. It was then followed by several other short bursts of sounds, as the roof under them seemed to shake. The sounds continued in seemingly random streams, most of them as bursts of three booms.
Lemon Zest swallowed. "W-what is that?"
The boy's smile grew. "My argument, a very convincing one if I can brag. A bit theatrical, but judging from your faces it's very effective. Also, this..."
He raised his right fist so they could see it clearly. His light yellow hand suddenly started darkening, as a pitch black mist coming from his palms started enveloping it like tendrils that eventually formed into an almost perfectly round shape the size of a baseball glove. Despite the nice and sunny weather, the newly made ball of shadows seemed oblivious to laws of physics and remained perfectly pitch black, not interacting with the sunlight at all.
The four girls gasped and stepped away from the boy holding a 'magical' ball of shadows.
"Do I have your attention now?"
"What was that?" Sunny Flare asked, after the three of them heard a few series of booming echoes coming from the hallway. She walked to the doors while the other two sat on the floor, kneeling or back to the wall. The sounds themselves seemed familiar, but only Magical Girl Sunny realized why.
"NO, WAIT!" She yelled at Sunny Flare at the same moment the latter pushed the door open and peeked outside.
"EEEEEEEEK!"
Sunset jumped up the moment Sunny Flare released a high pitched scream! She saw her namesake fall on her behind and crawl backwards back to the gym, only stopping when she collided with the Magical Girl behind her. She stuttered trying to say something and pointed at the doors. Sunset walked in front of her to shield her from whatever it was that had scared her so much. She didn't wait long to find out what it was, as "it" walked inside.
At first, they thought it was some sort of wild cat. A quadrupedal creature about the size of a tiger, except made out of a black substance, reminiscent of tar but almost perfectly clear, slightly translucent even, as the other side of the room could be seen through it if you looked close enough. Other than having four legs, head and a tail, it had no distinct features on its body, except a head devoid of eyes, ears, even its mouth was just an opening with sharp looking black teeth-like shapes. It acted like a panther that had just found its prey. And despite having no eyes, they couldn't shake off the feeling that if it had, they would be dead set on Sunny. Not the one that screamed, though.
The creature had no actual throat or vocal cords, but it seemed like it was hissing at Sunset Shimmer.
The unknown white haired boy stood before the quartet of visibly scared girls, as the energy in his hand pulsated, expanding and shrinking as if it were breathing. A few tiny tendrils showed up once in a while, but quickly disappeared before they could inspect them further.
"I'll try to play nice," he stepped toward the four, who stepped back, all three Shadowbolts placing themselves on the way to Coco. "Miss Pommel, I'd like you to come with me of your own free will, if possible, while I'm still asking politely."
"What do you want with her?" Lemon Zest asked, trying to position her shaking body to block his line of sight.
"That is something between miss Pommel and myself, if you don't mind."
"A-actually, we do mind!" Sour Sweet said, with the other two nodding.
The wall of Shadowbolts protecting Coco eventually reached the rooftop fence. They had little experience with magic, but they knew enough to know that if someone this small, thin and outnumbered threatened them, he had to have a very good reason for it.
"W-who are you?" Coco asked.
"Doesn't matter. What matters right now is that I have patience that might run out if I don't get a positive response. Rest assured, I have no intention nor reason to hurt you or any of your new friends."
Coco swallowed. New friends... I don't like his choice of words. She looked around. In front of her, three Shadowbolts blocked his path, but nobody believed they were a match for the boy with a literal ball of shadows in his palm. Behind her was a four story drop into concrete parking lot. Other than jumping down, the only way to escape was through the door they all had come from, but even if she snuck past him, what awaited her could've been even worse. She didn't want to say it out loud but she recognized the sounds from before. Sunny and her studied those shortly before she officially went into the superhero business.
Gunshots. Multiple ones. He wasn't the only stranger in the school.
A moment earlier...
"And for this next problem, let's have it solved by... miss Indigo Zap?"
The classroom was completely silent. There was no sound of moving chair, panicked shriek or incomprehensible babbling of just woken up student. Professor Neighsay sighed deeply and took his eyes of the book and looked at an empty chair.
"Does anyone here have any idea where did miss Zap go to?" He asked the rest of the shrugging class. "On that note, I don't see miss Flare, nor miss Zest. I swear, if they think that they can bend the rules to their liking just for being the top students, they are sorely mista-"
SMASH!
He was interrupted by the door to the classroom suddenly getting kicked off its hinges by a big man in a full camo suit, black balaclava covering his face and an assault rifle in his hands, which he shot several burst into the ceiling with! All the students started panicking, some getting on the ground and covering their heads, others sitting where they were and covering their faces, most of them screaming as it happened. The teacher backed away into the other side of the room with his hands up. The still hot nuzzle of a rifle aimed at his head silenced any desire to speak.
"EVERYONE ON THE !@$ GROUND!" The terrorist ordered. Everyone who wasn't already doing it did as ordered, including Professor Neighsay. Echoes of similar situations could be heard coming from the hallway.
"Now, if you want to live long enough to post this on social media, you will do everything I say. And if anyone wants to play hero," he shot a three shot burst at the ceiling, shattering a few lamps, sending the shards of broken glass at the heads of crying teenagers "then be my frickin' guest!"
Sunset Shimmer didn't get much time to process the existence of the catlike creature before her when it suddenly lunged straight at her. Her first reaction would've been to dodge, but there was a problem: Sunny Flare was still sitting on the ground, right behind her. She braced herself and caught the beast by the mouth with her bare hands, having the razor sharp quasi-teeth cut into her hands. She winced from pain but didn't relent, then mustered all her physical strength and threw the beast aside. It wasn't as heavy as it looked and it flew several feet away before landing on all fours. It didn't lose a beat and tried to lunge again.
"SUNNY BLAST!"
Before it left the ground it was hit by a sudden, large explosion, making it evaporate into nothingness along with the fire. Sunset sighed deeply, then looked at the bleeding cuts on her palms. It stung, but there was no sign of saliva, so she wasn't worried about the infection. Not the normal one, at least.
"BEHIND YOU!"
Hearing Sunny Flare's warning, Sunset turned around to see yet another beast, also lunging straight at her. She didn't have time to dodge or attack at this point, so she crossed her hands and prepared for impact, when...
SMACK!
The beast would've yelped in pain if it had a voice as it was sent flying aside by none other than Indigo Zap's punch! It collided with the wall and fell on the ground, failing to land on all fours. Before it had a chance to stand back up and launch another attack, Indigo violently stomped its head, popping it out of existence. A few seconds passed after the second beast fell, Sunset and Indigo breathed hard and slow, looking intently at the doorway in case more beasts appeared. They sighed with relief when it seemed like that the coast was clear. For now, at least.
"What the hell was that thing?!" Sunny Flare asked all shaken up, having Indigo Zap help her stand up.
Sunset swallowed. "I-I don't know! I've never seen anything like this before!" She winced, as the stinging cuts pained her more, now that the immediate danger was over.
"Your hands!" Sunny Flare frowned, seeing the blood dripping from Sunset's palms. "T-there should be a first aid kit around here somewhere, I think."
"Nah, it's okay, I got this!"
She took a deep breath, raised her hands at the chest level, palms turned up, and closed her eyes. Moments later, a cyan colored mist enveloped her palms and the cuts slowly came together and the skin tissue repaired itself, leaving no scar, only a few bloodstains that she wiped on her gym shirt.
Sunny Flare's eyes widened. "Huh, I didn't know you can use healing magic!"
"After Sunset started teaching me magic, she insisted this to be one of the first spells I learn. Unfortunately, it has drawbacks."
"She has to stand still and put all her will into it," Indigo Zap explained "and it's only good for minor injuries, which is why she didn't use it during the duel." She was met with two surprised Sunnies. "That's what Sunset Shimmer told me when I asked for tips."
Sunset nodded. "Anyway, we're not safe just yet. Those sounds we heard before? I know what it was."
Sunny Flare frowned. "Please don't say it's what I think it is."
"M16A2 assault rifles. Military grade firearms."
Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare also swallowed and looked at each other to confirm that both were hearing the same thing and started sweating for the same reason.
"There is a black market for those in Canterlot," Sunset continued "I made a few enemies in their circles when I helped crash some of their operations. CPD has been tracking them down for months, but even with my help there are still a few missing shipments."
Indigo pointed at the ceiling. "I have a pretty good guess where some of it is."
"Okay, hold on!" Sunny Flare said. "Shadow monsters AND guns? In Crystal Prep?! Why?"
Sunset Shimmer opened and closed her mouth a few times, but didn't have anything to say. She didn't know what to think, let alone how to explain it.
"WE’VE GOT COMPANY!" Indigo suddenly shouted. Sunny looked at the still opened door, where three more cat-like beasts entered and started circling the trio.
No words were necessary. Sunset and Indigo assumed their fighting stances, back to back.
The ball of shadows spun like a planet in its orbit. Unlike the planets, it kept stretching around, contorting into random shapes, sometimes turning from a liquid like substance into a solid, spiky one. Between that and the boy's smug smile, the Shadowbolts were hesitant to do or say anything, knowing full well a frontal assault would end badly. Still, the same thought was shared among the three of them - whatever he wanted to do with Coco, they wouldn't allow it.
He stopped about three feet away from the quartet. "So, was that enough time to think this throu-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, when Sour Sweet jumped at him with her fist clenched, teeth grit and sweat pouring from just about every part of her body. She didn't get far, when part of the ball suddenly turned into a tendril that went straight at her legs and wrapped itself around her shins, then went further along her body and reached her hands, tightly ensnaring them to her body. The boy sidestepped as Sour Sweet, unable to keep her balance, fell face first on the ground.
"SOUR SWEET!" Lemon Zest yelled at her friend and clenched her fists as well, but didn't even get a chance to try, when two more tendrils went straight at her and Sugarcoat, wrapping their entire bodies just like it had done to Sour Sweet. The two fell on the ground, leaving Coco the last one standing, with nobody blocking the way anymore.
"LEMON ZEST! SUGARCOAT!" Coco yelled and wanted to rush at her new friends, except the boy resumed his slow walk toward her.
"I could've done this from the start," he said softly, but quickly turned more cheerful as he stopped before Coco "but to be perfectly honest, flaunting my superiority is a lot more fun! We smaller people have to use every opportunity to show off every now and then, am I right?"
Coco closed her eyes and averted her head. The fall from four stories wasn't nearly as scary anymore.
"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU FREA-MHPM!" Sour Sweet tried to shout, but the shadow tendrils extended to her mouth, the same thing happening to the other two.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Funny, I thought you would be more used to being targeted. Oh well. Here's a tip for a first time abductee," his hand reached out toward her, but landed right next to her hair, grabbing the fence right behind her "if you have the power to fight back, then by all means do it. But if not, then do as you're being asked and don't make your kidnappers angry! And before you start to act all brave and defy me, keep in mind that the best way to break a person..."
He extended his other hand at the three Shadowbolts and a shadow tendril, much bigger than before, manifested and went straight at Sour Sweet, lifting the panicking girl in the air.
"...is to break someone el-"
"I'LL GO!" Coco suddenly yelled. She swallowed and turned toward the boy, shaking as she tried to maintain the eye contact with him. "I-I'll do whatever you say, just... please, don't hurt them!" She started crying. "P-please..."
The boy looked at the resolute, yet submissive new hostage, then nodded. The tendril moved on its own and gently placed Sour Sweet back on the ground, then disappeared.
"But of course. I did make a promise, now did I?" He stepped away and extended his hand toward her. "Follow me, then."
She looked at his hand, but even after being warned to comply, she didn't take it, instead walked just beside him. That little act of rebellion was more amusing than disrespectful to him and went unpunished.
Indigo allowed herself a breather only after the last of the beasts vanished in the middle of an explosion. She wasn't ready to admit she was barely holding together, or that her hands, back and ribs were still throbbing after their duel. Not until Sunset Shimmer was going to show her signs of weakness first. Sunny Flare didn't get involved in the fight, concentrating instead on not getting in the way. She wasn't any good in a fight like this.
"H-how many more of them are there?" Sunny Flare asked.
"I'm going to find out!" Sunset replied.
A surge of light enveloped her body, blinding the two shadowbolts, so they were unable to notice how the bloodied gym clothes disappeared, then got replaced by Magical Girl Sunny's regular outfit, the same white-orange dress with a mask that she'd been wearing for the last few days. The same dress that Coco made for her before this all started. She didn't bother with ponytails though, leaving her wavy hair as it were.
"The shooting stopped after the first wave, so a bloodbath wasn't their goal," she explained "I think... I think they must've rallied whatever hostages they need by now."
Indigo looked at the Magical Girl Sunny that stood before them, so much different than the broken mess Sunset Shimmer had been just a few minutes ago. She was noticeably calmer, with her face betraying no emotions. Except neither Indigo nor Sunny Flare couldn't help but notice her slow, intense breathing, as well as a few sweat drops that hadn’t been there during the fight. They looked at her as she teleported her phone and dialed some number. And waited.
"No signal?"
The two shadowbolts raised their eyebrows. Sunny Flare pulled out her phone.
"Weird, there's usually at least a single bar down here. And school's Wifi is unavailable too. So's every other network, for that matter."
Indigo smacked her fists together. "Then I guess we need to do it the old fashion way!"
"No," Sunset said, walking slowly towards the door "not we. This is too dangerous!"
Indigo and Sunny Flare exchanged glares and nodded to each other, before following the Magical Girl.
"Uh, no, none of this 'you have no powers, so you're useless' crap," Indigo said "not after the fight we just had!"
"I hate to agree with her on this, but Indigo's right!" Sunny Flare said, as the two caught up to the door "We've been through one magical crisis once before and you need our he-"
Without warning, Sunset Shimmer turned to them to telekinetically push them further inside. The door shut closed as soon as the two Shadowbolts landed on the floor. They hesitated for a moment, before rushing toward the door. Indigo touched the doorknob and instantly pulled away, hissing as she licked her freshly burnt finger.
Sunny Flare thought twice before inspecting the melted lock and doorknob.
"Sunset, this isn't funny! Let us out!" She banged on the doors. "Sunset!"
The Magical Girl in question didn't hear her, as she was already on the stairs towards ground floor.
I'm sorry, but I can't let anyone get hurt, you two included!
Once she reached the main hall, she stopped on her tracks as she saw around a dozen or so pairs of non-existent eyes, each belonging to the shadow beasts, all centered at her. The hallway was already crawling with them and they were most definitely waiting for her, specifically.
This can't be a coincidence, the timing is too perfect.
She pulled away her hand, creating a giant ball of fire, as the cats started running toward her.
They want me, and me alone!
The beasts closed themselves and a few of them lunged at her. Right at that moment, she launched her hand forward, smacking one of the cats with the freshly made fireball, sending both the spell and monster flying towards the other beasts, knocking over a few, then ending in a firey explosion that engulfed the entire pack, as well as several lockers that were in the way. Nothing important survived the impact.
And they will have to try very hard to get me!
She waited a few seconds for the smoke to dissipate, when suddenly the fire alarm went off along with all the sprinklers, covering the area with water and soaking her hair and dress.
Her eyebrow twitched. "Great, what else can go wrong?" She said out loud through the alarm noise, taking the wet strands of her hair out of her eyes.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
She perked up and looked around, searching for the source of the slow, but loud clapping, so much that it pierced through even the alarm. Noticing nobody nearby, her eyes went to the speaker on the wall.
"Impressive, Magical Girl Sunny," a clearly young male voice from the speakers said "as expected of the world’s greatest hero. The only hero, but the best nonetheless."
Sunny's eyebrow raised. Who is this? Is he behind all this? She hesitated whether she should ask questions, seeing as the PA system didn't work both ways. Although... She looked at the security camera next to it. Do those record sound? My gut tells me no, but... only one way to find out!
"Who are you? Are you behind those shadow monsters?"
She was met with silence, now that the alarm was stopped, probably by whoever talked to her. A moment without any answers later she was about to leave and start searching the normal way, when the voice started again.
"I call them 'shadowcats'. I know it's not very creative, but after I made that name, nothing else I came up with came even close. But to answer your question, yes, those are mine. I have plenty more, if you're wondering."
Sunny swallowed. Nobody could see the sweat dripping from her head now that she was soaking wet.
"What do you want?" She yelled at the camera. "Where is everybody? And who are you?"
There was short pause. "How about we talk in person, how does that sound? I've been dying to meet you."
"Answer my question!"
"I will, eventually. When you get to me. I'm waiting at the theatre room. As to where they are, don't worry. We let most of them go free, they're far away from the school, safe and sound. And they're probably trying to contact the police, too."
Sunny swallowed. "Most?"
"And the others will be fine, unless you do something reckless. Reckless like calling the police. Or leaving the school grounds. Or exploring the classrooms before I tell you it's safe to do it. That wouldn't be a smart thing to do."
The voice stopped talking, but she could still hear the static and slow breathing coming from the speaker. The conversation wasn't over, not for him, at least. Why did he specifically said something about exploring the school? Damn, I can't just ignore him! Not until I get at least a few answers. How much does he know?. She knew what he wanted right now. She was supposed to ask. He wanted her to ask. And she was afraid she knew what the answer was.
"Or what?" She asked reluctantly.
"Or something unfortunate could happen. I gave you plenty warnings, so anything going wrong would be all on you. And it would be a shame if your actions led to someone getting hurt..."
Sunset's eyes shot wide open when a very scary thought came across her mind. N-no!
"...someone like..."
OH GOD NO! ANYTHING BUT...
"...our little friend, Miss Pommel."
Everything froze. Her legs shook and she had to grab onto the lockers nearby to support herself from collapsing on the floor under her own weight. Her worst nightmare came to be. H-how, b-but, why, he-he knows! Oh my god, HE KNOWS! THAT BASTARD KNOWS! He knows everything and... and... Coco!
"I am once again reminding you about recklessness. Miss Pommel agreed to come of her own free will and she's been quite cooperative thus far, so if anything were to happen to her, it wouldn't be her fault," he paused for a moment, expecting some sort of witty retort from the heroine, but she was still too shaken to answer. Too afraid. Just like he wanted.
"You know where to find me. Don't make me wait too long... Sunny."
Sunset stood where she was for a while, supported on the random lockers, trying to comprehend what just happened. How did that kid know about Coco? And if he knew about her, it was a dead giveaway that he knew a lot more of her secrets. He mentioned the police, so he had to know about Captain Shining Armor. And if he knew that, then was he aware of the Rainbooms and the other Sunset Shimmer? And just how much did he know about her powers? What were those gunshots about?
She shook her head. No, that's too many questions! I need to focus on what's important right now!
In fact, just because he knew about Coco didn't necessarily meant he had her. For all she knew, she was hiding somewhere safe, waiting to be found and unable to contact her because of whatever was jamming the signal inside the school. Also, Coco's phone was broken, so there's that. But even with all of that, she didn't have a choice. If he was telling the truth, then he was right about one thing - if anything were to happen to her, it would be all her fault. But no matter whose fault it was, she wasn't going to let her get hurt. Not by him, not by her, not by anyone. Never again.
She took a deep breath and composed herself as she started walking towards the theatre room.
Hang in there, Coco! I'm going to save you!
She knew it was a trap. She expected nothing else from anyone who took hostages, made demands, had magical powers of some description and acted all cheerful about it, as if he was a cartoon supervillain. With that in mind, Sunny opened the door to the theater room and entered with caution.
The theatre room lived up to its name, with a dozen or so rows of seats placed in front of a fairly big stage for a highschool. Few things were regular in Crystal Prep. She entered from the top of the room, giving her a good view on the entire hall. This was the first time she saw it being so empty, with all the chairs unoccupied and the lights completely turned off, save for the dimmed spotlight aimed at the center of the stage. It was aimed directly at him. The one white haired boy in black suit who waited for her. He held a microphone in his left hand, with the right hidden in his pocket.
"You're finally here," his voice came through the speakers "I was beginning to worry that you ran away. Oh, look at the faithless little me!" He dramatized the last sentence, before snickering. "I always wondered how it feels to perform before an actual audience. You're a natural it seems, with or without that mask. Except for a few goofs, but to be honest, they make you look even more adorable."
Sunny observed the kid, who had to be fifteen, maybe sixteen at best. She swallowed, walking along the stairs down, slowly, never once taking her eyes away from him, but still trying to be aware of her surroundings, looking for more shadowcats or other people. She knew she heard gunshots, there had to be more actual people around here, but she couldn't find anyone. The fact that he was standing on the stage, alone, while she was in the room, able to teleport right at his face and blow him to pieces... all of that made the confidence on his face all the more worrisome.
"I'm sorry if I sound a little nervous," he said, not displaying said emotion "I've been looking forward to this moment for a very, very long time."
As Sunny reached the bottom of the stage, she waited for a signal from the boy to stop moving, but he didn't say a thing. She took it as a sign that it was okay to come closer, so she climbed the stairs to the stage and continued until he held his hand forward.
"That's far enough," he said, looking her deep in the eyes, smiling smugly. She wished she could punch that face with fire, but he said it best - she wasn't allowed to be reckless. Not until she found out where Coco and the others were.
He continued talking through the microphone. "I've been dreaming about this moment for so long, I don't know where to begin! How about, let's introduce ourselves... no, wait, I already know who you are," he scratched his head "I never told you my name, though."
He shrugged, not feeling at all intimidated by the deadly lightning glare she was aiming at him, nor by her tightly closed fists that she had to forcibly stop from charging with magical fire energy.
"You can call me..."
Two of the three spotlights turned off, leaving only one, leaving only his silhouette barely visible to her. She saw the menacing, wide smile and glowing eyes, though.
"...Sombra."
Yeah, how's THAT for a chapter? I tried to insert parts of it last time, but so much happened that I couldn't fit it anywhere. Or did you expect the conflict to just end? Haha, you don't watch anime all that often, now do you 
Anime commentary will once again be held in the blog post.
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Can Sunny’s powers melt guns?
Huh, thought it was going to be Stygian.
Hope at lest one of the Crystal Prep kids is smart enough to call CHS and get Sunset and the girls over as backup.
9104491
Agreed 100%
The business with Sunset and Coco's feelings is mostly sorted out and they were almost definitely about to go talk to each other, so, yea, I guess it would be right about time for the villain to show up and make that temporarily impossible to delay their big, emotional heart-to-heart scene while simultaneously filling the Drama void.
The still hot nuzzle of a rifle aimed
blinding the two shadowbolts
The two shadowbolts raised their eyebrows
then ending in a firey explosion that
1. Muzzle.
2. Forgot to capitalise.
3. Forgot to capitalise.
4. Fiery.
We've seen enough Hentai to know where it could've gone but this is PG-13ish so...
I guess someone will have to rescue Sunset?
9104485
Theoretically possible, but simply teleporting the ammunition or firing pins away is far more efficient.
9104778 I honestly don’t want to know WHERE the ammo gets teleported to. I hope Sunset kicks Sombra in the dick. A lot. For kidnapping Coco.
9104778
9104787
She can teleport it anywhere she wants. She once teleported them into her hands just to show-off.
Well dang. Didn't see that coming.
Ah! The plot, my old nemesis, we are finally face to face again!
I've got a feeling Sunset is going to have her first failure and a third party is going to save the day. I am unsure about who though. Shinning Armor, the Shadowbolts or the Rainboom?
She does't really fit the bill for either.
Jesus, what are you watching, One Piece?
Oh boy.
Wonderful, shit's going wrong already.
Oh. That's, worse.
Mind telling us what for?
From Bad To Worse.
Jesus, One Punch Indigo much?
Smart.
Let's find out.
Of course it is.
I mean, I kinda figured it was him, what with the light grey skin.
I hate it when bad guys go "I was being perfectly reasonable, all his bad stuff happened was because of you." Like no buddy, that's not how it works. You instigated the situation, everything from that point on is on you, regardless of how 'polite' you were. The instigator is always the one at fault.
Well, this Sombra kid needs to die. No-one with that attitude deserves mercy. Sunny should tear him apart.
Hate those shadow cat demons in Devil May Cry. But they're sooooo cool. I wonder if they could be domesticated.
Pretty dramatic Sombra reveal, particularly so with the lighting setup. I was wondering for a bit if this kid was going to be a minion or sub-boss for someone more significant later on, but I'm not sure I can see Sombra being a subordinate to someone else.
Ah, there's the plot. I was wondering when that was going to show up.
9105198
I'm personally hoping for a police sniper. Nothing fucks with the dramatic buildup quite like a bullet from nowhere.
9104491
9104515
Maybe, but Sombra makes more sense since 'Crystal Prep' is essentially just 'The Crystal Empire'.
9107922
Yes, yes it is. However he isn't a student. If he had been I would have thought it was Sombra from the start. But it was someone they didn't know, from a different school who had shadow powers.
9104778
Which doesn't make sense, since teleportation spells are canonically supposed to be really difficult. Teleporting something you can't even see that's at range and in someone else's grip seems like it'd be amazingly hard if not nigh-impossible. As opposed to just superheating something someone's holding using magically-generated friction or however it works... maybe just editing the gun's thermal absorption until it slags itself. Not sure how pony magic works. But it's always seemed easier to manipulate something or even fire magic beams than to teleport.
9107922
9107923
Going by that logic, Fleur, Suri and Trenderhoof (among others) shouldn't be in Crystal Prep. Bottom line- don't think about it too much.
9110124
[Thinking about it intensifies]
Alright, will do! We'll have to see how this plays out.
I'm caught up, and mow require more. This is absolutely amazing.
9104485
They can't melt steel beams.
My biggest problem with this chapter is this sentence.
That information is superflous to the chapter (though I can't speak for the next one) and should be literally impossible to know, since the only sound that would carry through walls is the sound of the gasses expanding upon leaving the barrel. That sound is entirely dependent on caliber, powder load, and barrel length. She could not know for certain that it came from the AR-15/M16 family of rifles due to the existence of Tavores, Galils, Augs, F2000s, SG 553s, and AR-18s, as well as many others I can't think of off the top of my head. Apart from that nitpick, the chapter was solid. Well done.
9158631
Later sentence:
She doesn't know from the sound, but from the fact that they are being sold in the area. The original draft had Indigo asking if she knew from the sound and Sunny answering negatively. I admit, I could've phrased it better.
9158975
And they sound exactly the same as civilian versions of the guns. If you had made a sentence mentioning that they were firing in 3 round burst, as the A2 and A4 are capable of, and added the word "likely" to what she believed the guns were, I would have just accepted it. But like I said, that was just me nitpicking, and doesn't devalue the chapter as a whole.