Origins: Rebirth (EDITED)
Snow drifted gently down from the dark clouds above Canterlot City. It signaled the previous year's death and the beginning of a new one. Yet, when Sunset looked out of her window, the only thing she could think of was how bleak the year was looking already. Winter break was about to end in a couple of days, and the semester was about to begin with her ostracized by the entire school.
Sunset Shimmer got up from her desk and patted down her clothes as Ray lounged on her desk under the lamp, enjoying the heat. She looked upon the surface at all the documents, photos, and recordings that she had gathered from Anon-A-Miss. She had taken everything the account posted and used it as evidence to slowly pinpoint who the user could be, but to no avail. Whoever was using the account was too slippery, too cunning for her to catch.
That was to be expected since it all started after the battle of the bands. It started off simply by posting photos of her friends at the slumber party, revealing all their embarrassing secrets. They then, of course, immediately assumed it was her and assumed that she was the one who was trying to embarrass them.
If that was not bad enough, Anon-A-Miss began to systematically tear her social life apart. First, it started by posting other students' secrets and photos, things that many did not want to be revealed. She started to be despised and harassed by other students, who all thought it to be her posting it, that she had reverted back to her old ways yet again. But there were some who were not yet convinced that she was the culprit, especially since it didn’t match what she would have done back in her queen bitch days.
Anon-A-Miss must have realized this because then they started to blackmail others. Blackmail them to do Sunset favors she never asked for or to sabotage other students around and close to her. Force a kid to trip a girl who spat at her, force a student to sabotage another one's homework, or embarrass a kid who picked on her. Whoever this person was, they were an expert at framing others, and they had her in their crosshairs, and this was enough to convince nearly all that Sunset had returned to her manipulative ways.
The positive side to this was that she stopped being tripped, beaten up, or bruised. Instead, everyone avoided her like the plague, scared of her yet again, or in the worst cases, hated her.
Sunset grabbed a photo from her desk and over towards the wall where she hung a board. There she organized all her evidence and tried to connect them to see if she could get a coherent picture on who the culprit was. However, the more she looked into it, the more messy it became. She pinned the photo onto the board and connected it to the area near SugarCube Corner.
The area had become a hotspot for incidents from Anon-A-Miss, but also the most recent strings of murders. Nobody knew who the murderers were, how many there was, or how they were committing their crimes.
She took out her phone and opened up MyStable to the top post being about the most recent murder which happened in the warehouse district, the body being mutilated to the point where the police refused to comment about the state of the body, leaving it to imagination. However, that didn’t stop internet sleuths to dig up what happened.
The post read that the body looked like it had been fried from the inside out, but the rest of the body looked untouched. There was burnt tissue found in the flesh of the victim that seemed to show that they were electrified from the inside out. The photo the person found showed the corpse which sat on the ground, staring up into the air, lifeless.
The police called cases like these ‘The Mystery Murders’, and now another victim had been added to the pile. It had been going after the fall formal, and it had slowly ramped up. At first, it was thought to be one murderer, but as more started to appear, doubts began to sink in, with the most recent being the most puzzling. People were dying in stranger ways, with the remains becoming more mutilated.
The intake in strange deaths had been going on for a couple of weeks now, and Sunset made sure to be careful whenever she walked outside. She always stayed with the crowd, or near crowded places, and ensured she always took a good look around before heading into shady areas. Her investigation or Anon-A-Miss started to bring her to areas that run down, or falling apart, so she had to take extra caution.
Before adding the murder to her board, she scrolled down to the most recent post from Anon-A-Miss. The entire comment section had her name mentioned directly or in passing. Telling her to leave school, cussing her out, or outright threats. Though which ones were from her school and who weren’t was worrying since Anon-A-Miss thought that screwing over a school wasn’t enough.
She clicked the Anon-A-Miss profile picture, which was a silhouette of her on a red and yellow background. It wasn’t very subtle, it was basically declaring to the world that she was in fact Anon-A-Miss. Sunset scrolled down to the most recent posting and compared it to the previous postings.
She narrowed her eyes and noticed that each one had something similar about them, a pattern. Some of them had SugarCubeCorner in the background, or what looked to be a silhouette of it there. She was suspicious that the poster hung around the area, but she couldn’t pinpoint the time and place of the photo or video. The most recent posting had the store clearly in the backdrop, but there was a small detail.
Her five friends, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, RainbowDash, and Fluttershy, were all there. They were looking glum, and not touching their strawberry ice cream smoothie. She remembered walking past that store the day before and seeing them there. She remembered looking at them through the window and reaching out towards them with shaky hands, and tears in her eyes.
Her heart and her mind pushed her to go towards them, to beg with them once more, to tell them that she was not Anon-A-Miss, to do it on her knees if she had to. But she knew deep inside that it would not work. So she turned around and left, failing to repress tears of a friendship she once enjoyed.
However, that meant the post and the photo was recent, which meant that she had a lead on the user. Sunset felt her heart race with excitement and hope filled her body for it was the first lead in weeks. She analyzed the post and saw that it was about Octavia who was exiting the store with a huge ice cream cone.
‘Wow what a distinguished lady, stuffing her face like a slob. What would mother say?’ Was the caption.
Sunset quickly rushed over toward her drawer and took out her winter clothes, putting them on as quickly as possible. A thick blue sweater, and a pair of white earmuffs was enough for her, but she took a red and gold scarf just in case. She was about to leave but remembered her small lizard. She walked back and took Ray off the desk much to its annoyance, and placed him into his terrarium.
“Sorry Ray, but I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Sunset reassured the small lizard before taking out his small jar of food. She filled her lizard's food bowl and gave Ray a small kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be safe.”
Sunset then headed out of her front door and stepped into the frigid air outside, feeling prepared for whatever the world was going to throw at her.
Witchblade
Sunset stood in front of the diner, looking into it. It wasn’t the food that she was interested in, but she was hoping she could catch sight of her friends there. She just wanted to see them, even if she couldn’t sit there amongst them. Today, however, she had no such luck, only catching sight of Pinkie Pie, who worked in the bakery.
She wondered if she should walk in and buy something just to cheer up her old friend. However, Pinkie Pie was looking down in the dumps, her head hung low, accompanied by a sad frown. However, her hair always remained poofy, and Sunset noticed that whenever a customer walked in, Pinkie would change expression quickly.
“Secret Stealer!”
Sunset took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes as she tried to erase that memory. Despite every muscle in her body pushing her to be enraged at her five former friends, to lash out, to curse their every muscle.
But her heart reminded her of what she did before Twilight Sparkle came into the world. How she tormented the entire school, how she threatened them all, and made their lives a living hell. How could she blame them for holding a grudge, for having it in their hearts, festering like a disease.
However, sometimes, anger would overtake her, and she would imagine, and indulge herself in dark fantasies. Shoving them down, scolding them, inflicting every humiliation, every pain she had endured during Anon-A-Miss before cutting them out forever. Yet, on the other hand, she understood why they did what they did. They were young, they were brash, and she had wronged them before. It tore her apart, and it was painful, and sometimes she would fall asleep in a mix of sorrow and rage.
“Scones for sale! Anyone?! Come on!” A familiar voice caught Sunset’s ears. She turned around and saw none other than Gilda. The girl was selling scones at the side of the road at a food stand, with many people passing by her, ignoring her.
Sunset got off her motorcycle and walked up to the scone stand to look up at the bully standing over her. Gilda was wearing a thick brown jacket with white frills in the interior which paired well with her copper-coloured trousers and gold gloves. Unfortunately, it was soured by the scowl that was always on the girl's face.
“Oh, it’s you. What do you want, dweeb?” Gilda sneered as she flicked a bottle containing maple syrup.
“Never thought the big bad bully of Canterlot High would be here selling scones,” Sunset smirked.
“Yeah yeah, put it on Anon-A-Miss. See if I care.” Gilda scowled.
Sunset clenched her teeth at that accusation. No matter how many times she heard that same accusation, it never failed to get under her skin. The sheer injustice of the entire situation caused her muscles and veins to tighten as she tried suppress snapping at the rough girl.
“I was just making an observation,” Sunset said curtly.
“Well are you going to stare or are you going to buy a scone?” Gilda leered. “Because if you aren’t buying fuck off.”
“Matter of fact I will buy one.” Sunset took out her wallet and procured a ten dollar bill. “How much?”
“Usually it’s five dollars,” Gilda smirked. “For you it’s ten.”
“Go fuck yourself. You’re lucky I am hungry.” Sunset handed her bill over, and Gilda served a scone in response.
“Why don’t you go to SugarCube Corner like everyone else?” Gilda raised an eyebrow.
Sunset looked over her shoulder and saw Pinkie Pie at the counter, serving a customer. The man had light green skin covered by a stiff black jacket with the initials ‘Q.C.’ written on it. His hair had spikes down the middle and a long one at his forehead, which was somehow adorable, probably due to how tiny it was. Pinke gave a big smile, but Sunset could tell that it was much smaller, and had less energy behind it. The last thing Pinkie probably wanted was to see Sunset again, after the entire Anon-A-Miss debacle.
“Word of advice. Get better friends.” Gilda remarked out of nowhere. Sunset looked back at the bully, stunned at the sudden comment. Gilda was looking down at the snow, scratching her white hair. “Friends should be there through thick and thin. They should help you when you are at your lowest …” Gilda looked off at the distance, her head supported by her hands. “Through thick and thin until the end of time.”
Sunset looked down at her scone, and closed her eyes. She considered the girl’s advice, and a part of her told her to follow it. To ditch the five girls she had once called family, to move on, and become a loner. Maybe she could transfer schools, and find another group to call family. But the other side told her that she wouldn’t be a good friend then because they stuck together, even when things went bad, because if they were friends, they would eventually reconcile.
“I can’t give up on them.” Sunset looked up at Gilda, and saw the girl look up in surprise. “They did abandon me, but …if I abandon them …then I am no better am I.”
“Were you ever friends in the first place?” Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Because you were quite a piece of work in the past. If that Twilight Sparkle didn’t help you, they would never have gotten close to you.”
Sunset felt tear start to form in her eyes. Her chest started to get heavy. She didn’t want to believe it, but the words weighed heavily on her. She couldn’t blame Gilda, anyone with two eyes could make the same assumption, but she just didn’t want to believe it.
“I’ll think about it.” Sunset turned around. “I’m not Anon-A-Miss Gilda. I’ll find them, and bring them to justice.” She started to walk off. “Good luck with your sales.”
Sunset walked away from the scone stand and over towards a small alleyway. She took a quick look around her surroundings to make sure nobody was looking before walking in. She walked in carefully and scanne the environment to ensure nobody was hiding in the shadows, a skill she unfortunately had to learn during her time on the streets. When she confirmed the cost was clear, she approached a dumpster, and parted some trash to the side.
In the walls of the building she currently stood in between, had a lot of cracks in it. Cracks big enough to slip a small hidden camera within it. It had enough batter to last a couple of days, and she last changed it two days ago.
Sunset took a bite of her scone, nearly spitting it out since it tasted so stale and bland. However, she was hungry and soldiered through it, trying her best to think of grass and hay. She took the hidden camera out of its little hiding hole and shakily removed the chip. She plugged an adaptor into her phone before inserting the chip.
She watched as her phone started to download its contents, letting out a sigh of relief when the ‘complete’ sign appeared. Sunset then scrolled through her downloads and located the video before looking through it.
The first few hours of recording was completely useless. It was just snow and random people. However, she knew the timeframe when her fri …former friends was in SugarCube Corner. She fastforwarded the video to that time frame and watched closely for Octavia. She passed by the time when she walked by SugarCube Corner and a bit more until the gray skinned girl finally came into view.
“There you are,” Sunset muttered before fastforwarding the video when Octavia was leaving the store. “Now who could be close enough, and be at that angle to take that damn photo.” Sunset scowled.
She slowly fast forwarded the video until Octavia was relatively in position of when the photo was taken. She zoomed in at the surroundings, looking for anything out of place. She squinted, trying to get any detail of where the person could be.
‘Okay Sunset. Angles, we are looking for the right angle.’ Sunset muttered to herself.
She moved the focus to where the person taking the photo could reasonably be. However, it focused on where Gilda’s stand was. That couldn’t be right though, since even though Gilda was a bully, she was like a bull. She sees red and charges into it, destroying everything without much thought or reason.
Sunset squinted a bit more and noticed that there was a man leaning against the stand, who looked to be talking with Gilda. She leaned forwards and noticed that his hand was placed at an odd angle. A place where someone could potentially be hiding a camera. It wasn’t much but it was a lead, and it didn’t help the mans face was obscured, and blurred. So the only way she could identify him was to …
“Who is this man?!” Sunset shoved her phone up to Gilda’s face.
Gilda was not amused, and stared bluntly at Sunset. “I wish I could tell, but his face is so smudged that he resembles more of a pixel than anything else.” She looked back at the camera. “Probably still looks better than you.”
“A man came and talked with you yesterday. Two P.M.” Sunset pointed at the camera. “Who is he?” She demanded.
“I can’t keep track of all the customers that come here.” Gilda scoffed.
Sunset than rewinded the video, and fast forwarded, revealing that the man was the only one to come buy anything from the girl in the entire three days. “I’m sure you can jog your memory based on the fact that he was the only one who bought your shitty scones.” Sunset took another bite of the scone she bought and forced it down her throat.
“For a shitty scone, you look to be fine with it.”
“I’m fine with it because I have to.” Sunset pointed at the video again. “Tell me who he is!”
“Or what?” Gilda leaned forwards. “Post something on Anon-A-Miss?”
“I’m not fucking ANON-A-MISS?!” Sunset roared, getting the attention of the crowd. She took in deep breaths before taking out her wallet and ruffling through her cash. She took twenty dollars and placed it on the counter. “How much?”
“For what?”
“To tell me who this man is?” Sunset scowled as she took another bite of the scone.
Gilda grimaced and pushed the money back towards Sunset. “It’s nobody.”
“Thirty dollars.”
“It’s just some random person. Why are you so obsessed with him?” Gilda scoffed.
“Fifty dollars.”
“I’m sure you can find someone in your life. You’re pretty, plenty of boys would like you.” Gilda smirked, but Sunset could see that it was half-hearted.
“One hundred dollars.”
“Do you even have a hundred dollars?”
“What do you want?!” Sunset finally exclaimed before taking a deep breath. She breathed in and out multiple times, the exercise Princess Celestia had taught her to do when she was feeling exasperated. “Listen. I really need to know who this man it …please.” She begged.
Gilda rolled her eyes. “Why do you even want to know who this guy is?”
“Because he is my only lead to finding out who Anon-A-Miss is.”
Gilda paused as if processing what Sunset was saying. “Why do you think so?”
“Because he was here when the last post from Anon-A-Miss was taken,” Sunset explained. “Please Gilda …I am not Anon-A-Miss.” She covered her face with her hands before parting her hair.
Gilda scoffed but finally let out a heavy sigh. “Listen. The man is one of the only friends I have in this city okay? He likes his privacy, is very shy, and is a good dude.” She finally explained. “I promised him I won’t give him trouble, and he is really good at listening to others.”
Sunset pushed herself off the scone stand. “I just want to ask him a few questions. I won’t shake him down.” She promised.
“You just missed him. He passed by you, and you didn’t even notice.” Gilda finally mumbled.
“What?” Sunset looked around. “But how?”
“He is really good at blending into the crowds. He always comes with a group.” Gilda smirked as she walked over towards SugarCube Corner. “Best I introduce you to him, so he doesn’t bolt. He’s real skittish.” The girl explained.
“I’ll be sure to be careful,” Sunset assured as she followed closely behind Gilda.
“Why did you make Anon-A-Miss?” Gilda stopped at the front of SugarCube Corner. Sunset did a double-take as Gilda turned around to take a good look at the girl. “It’s only bringing you pain and misery, why not just stop?”
“I am not Anon-A-Miss. Those days are past me. In fact, I am trying to hunt them down.” Sunset scowled, feeling a bit insulted. She spent months trying her best to claw her way to become a better person only for it to be thrown in her face. “Why do you people keep on insisting it’s me?”
“Because the whole blackmail and making an example of others was something you did before.” Gilda shrugged her shoulders. “It just seemed to fit your style.”
Sunset clenched her teeth. “I promise you, I wouldn’t make my profile picture a silhouette of myself with my colour scheme.” She scoffed. “I wouldn’t make it so obvious, and I’d be more subtle with my blackmail.”
This caused the other girl to rub her chin, to ponder Sunset’s words. She considered it before, but when the blackmail started it seemed to validate all suspicions against Sunset, however even that seemed a bit to blatant and obvious. “That is true …” Was all Gilda managed to say.
“I am curious about one thing though …” Sunset muttered as she looked to the side.
“About what?” Gilda raised an eyebrow.
“When I was being beaten up before the blackmail incident …why didn’t you join in.” Sunset looked up at Gilda, staring the girl in the eyes. “Why did you hold back?”
Gilda let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the door of SugarCube Corner. “I’m trying to work an honest job. I’m reaching adulthood, I can’t make any more mistakes.” The girl closed her eyes. “I’m already on probation, any wrong move and I have a one-way ticket to jail. That is why I am selling Scones.”
The girl then looked into the cafe in front of the two, but her focus was somewhere else. “I made a promise …to try to straighten my life …and it’ll be a cold day in hell when I break it.” Gilda said softly before her expression turned somber. “If I somehow met him again, I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if I broke my promise.”
“Oh …I didn’t know.” Sunset mumbled.
“Also I may have gotten some inspiration from you.” Gilda muttered sheepishly. Sunset raised an eyebrow and Gilda caught it. “We were two of the worst of the school back then weren’t we …?” The girl continued.
Sunset nodded and gave a small smile. “Yeah …” She whispered. “We sure were.”
“But then you turned your life and attitude around.” Gilda explained before snapping her fingers. “Just like that …you just shifted gears …” The girl shook her head. “I may have been the worst but you were a demon back then.” Gilda chuckled.
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Wow …thanks.” She said in monotone.
Gilda shrugged. “It was true.” Her stance than shifted, her mouth opening as she tried to figure out how she was feeling and how to place it into words. “But you were able to change …and I still had that promise to the kid so I thought …fuck it.”
Gilda let out a small sigh. “I was inspired a bit.” She let out a small chuckle. “So was Diamond Tiara …” She closed her eyes. “Why did you throw it away? You changing your way had inspired a lot of people and now so much has been cast into doubt.”
“I’m not Anon-A-Miss.” Sunset wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I keep on telling everyone.”
“I hope so.” Gilda nodded before she turned towards Sunset.
“Word of advice …” Gilda sighed. “Stop Anon-A-Miss.” She raised a hand up, stopping Sunset before she could get a word out. “Whether or not you are or not her …put an end to it.”
Sunset took in a deep breath and looked Gilda in the eyes. “I promise.” She raised an eyebrow. “Princesses honor. Is that sufficient?”
Gilda let out a sharp huff and bobbed her head a bit. “Yeah. Yeah I guess it is.” She gave Sunset a small pat on the back. “I’m going to be honest though, liked you a bit better in your queen bitch phase before Anon-A-Miss and its underhandedness. Made you look badass.”
“Really?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure it isn’t just stockholm syndrome?”
“I don’t know what that means, but yeah sure.” Gilda shrugged before she opened the door to the cafe.
Gilda and Sunset walked in causing Pinkie Pie to jump in front of the counter with a small bounce. Sunset paused as she took a good look at Pinkie Pie. She was wearing her usual purple skirt which had balloons sewn on it, blue shoes, and a blue shirt with a big heart in the middle. Seeing her so happy made her smile a bit, but the memory of her being a ‘secret stealer’ weighed on her mind. It made her grimace, and caused her chest to grow heavy, as she held back her emotions to the best she could. She was going to solve this, but if she did, she would have to keep her cool.
“Evening Pinkie.” Gilda greeted.
“Hey there Gilda? What can I get y-?” Pinkie Pie paused as she finally noticed Sunset. “Sunset?” Pinkie’s smile disappear, only to be replaced by a sad frown. She looked close to tears which broke Sunset’s heart.
“I’ll be here only for a minute Pinkie.” Sunset looked down at the ground. “Then I will be out of your hair.”
Sunset turned to walk into the corner of the store where the tables were, but felt a hand grasp her by the shoulder. “Sunset wait.” Sunset turned to see Pinkie behind her, with a sorrowful expression, eyes full of regret. “I’m …c-can we talk?” She asked.
Sunset stood there, not sure what to say before her mouth decided for her. “Yeah sure …but I’m in a bit of a hurry here.” She looked at Gilda who just shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the counter. She took some candy out of the dispenser and started munching on it.
There was a second of silence. “I-I am not …you see …I d-don’t want to stay …mad at you.” Pinkie finally admitted, her shoulder sagging. Sunset held back tears and tried to force her face from falling and letting out weeks of sadness onto the girl.
“I know that …there is no excuse …” Pinkie looked to the side. “I should have been there for you …we all should have.”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.
“Friends …support each other. They also stop each other from making mistakes, from taking the wrong path …and to pull each other from dark places.” Pinkie muttered as she rubbed her neck. “I just …wish I was there for you.”
Sunset shook her head. “I don’t blame you.” Thought that part was kind of a lie. After saving everyone at the battle of the bands, she hoped that the students …that her friends would trust her from then on. However, after Anon-A-Miss, they threw her to the wolves.
“All the evidence pointed to me.” Sunset shrugged. “And I had a history of doing such things.” She looked down at the ground, noticing the nice tilework of the store. “Humans desire simple answers to simple problems …” Before she could finish, Pinkie grasped her hands and squeezed it.
“But we’re your friends!” Pinkie sobbed. “We should have been better.”
The pink skinned girl wiped her eyes. “I was so angry at you …like everyone else. I wanted someone to blame, someone easy because …because we needed a culprit …a villain.” Pinkie Pie’s face continued to fall as tears streamed from her eyes, faster than she could wipe them. “But after a while, I couldn’t bear it anymore …living in constant rage and anger …I began to think.”
“You’re only eighteen.” Sunset smiled. “It’s part of the deal.” She pat Pinkie on the shoulder.
“But I should have been better. I’m the element of laughter for crying out loud!” Pinkie grasped Sunset’s sleeves. “I should have noticed how miserable you were earlier …how you took all of their hate …and just accepted it.” The girl scrunched up her face. “I should have been better.”
“It’s okay.” Sunset tried to use an upbeat tone, but her voice betrayed her true feelings as it trembled. Her eyes began to water and fill with tears of relief and joy that someone finally was speaking to her in a non-accusatory tone.
“It’s not!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Anon-A-Miss has made your life hell and what the other kids do to you …” She began, pausing in the middle.
The graffiti, the fights, the jeering and the accusations …she remembered them all. She remembered stewing in her rage, and in her anger, while at the same time feeling as if the entire world was crushing her. She wanted anyone to believe she wasn’t Anon-A-Miss, and though Gilda was the first, she would have preferred her closest friends to be the ones backing her. She could take anything the world threw at her, as long as her friends had her back, but without them, she felt like reeds in a tornado.
“I believe you.” Pinkie finally muttered. “You aren’t Anon-A-Miss.”
“But what about the blackmail, the sabotage? They all benefited me.”
“Benefits you never wanted. Sabotage you never would have done to others, and harm you never would have wished upon others.” Pinkie sobbed. “I thought about it, and I am sure. I know you, and you aren’t that person.”
Sunset felt close to tears, finally hearing that one of five finally believed her. Weeks of chasing leads, looking for clues to Anon-A-Miss didn’t matter compared to hearing Pinkie declare her trust of Sunset. She hugged Pinkie, causing the girl to recoil in surprise, but after a second, she returned the gesture. Sunset let out a sob as tears finally began to fall, pressure falling off her shoulders and chests.
They were like that for a good minute before Gilda approached them, and pried them apart. “I like that all the feelings are out …but we are on a schedule.” She reminded as Pinkie wiped her tears.
Sunset did the same and nodded. “Yes. The lead.”
“I don’t think Thor is Anon-A-Miss; he is too skittish.” Gilda explained. Sunset nodded again in affirmation. “I am not saying that I believe you, but if he is then …” Gilda paused and pat Sunset on her shoulder. “Listen, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt ….”
Sunset did a small double-take. “Why?”
Gilda rubbed the back of her head. “Well, you just sounded so genuine …and you didn’t try to blackmail me to help… and after what Pinkie said …” She let out a small raspberry. “Okay …I may be a bit dense …but it made sense.” She put a finger up in front of her. “One chance though.”
“Thank you Gilda. I won’t waste it.” Sunset hugged Gilda, though the tall girl pushed Sunset off.
“I don’t do emotions very well.” Gilda blushed. “Let’s just question Thor and get it over with.” She remarked.
“Thor? Is he your lead?” Pinkie asked Sunset as they both followed Gilda to a table in the back of the cafe.
“Yes. The closest I have had these past few week.” Sunset admitted. “I have been tracking every post, placed cameras all over the city in hotspots.” She let out a heavy sigh. “They were very careful to not stuck around in an area for too long. Guess they got sloppy.”
Gilda, Sunset, and Pinkie stopped in front of a table which sat a lime skinned man with a black jacket. The initals ‘Q.C.’ was engraved on the back of the man’s very stiff jacket.
“Can I help you?” The man asked before he noticed Gilda. “Gilda? What is this about?” He asked.
“These two have some questions for you.” Gilda put her hands out before the man could get a word of protest out. “They won’t harm you. I trust them. I know you want to stay out of trouble, and you will, I promise.” The burly girl reassured. She gestured at the man. “Thor is all yours.”
Sunset nodded and sat in front of Thor. The man was visibly sweating, and his eyes were shaking, jittering as it moved from one location to another. He shakily grabbed his fork and took a bite out from his cup of mint ice cream. His feet were tapping, Sunset could hear his heart pounding from the other side of the table, and she could swear he could even be hyperventilating.
“Thor. I have some questions for you.” Sunset put on her most serious face, and glared at the man.
“I don’t have to answer anything!” Thor quickly declared. “I want my rights! I plead the fifth.” The man looked away towards another table.
“This isn’t a court. I just want answers.” Sunset put a stern face on before she pushed her phone towards the man. She moved the screen to the Anon-A-Miss profile and pointed at the post. “You recognize anything?”
Thor simply averted his eyes, finding the floor to suddenly be of great interest to him. “No. I recognize nothing.”
Gilda looked over at Sunset’s phone at the post being pointed at. “Hold on. That’s Octavia.” She muttered before grabbing Sunset’s phone. She looked out the window at her scone stand and pointed at it. “At that angle …” Gilda started.
“The angle is from your scone stand.” Sunset glared at Thor. “And was at that exact time.”
“It could be Gilda!” Thor suddenly exclaimed. Gilda had an expression of shock and betrayal before slamming Sunset’s phone on the table.
“Are you serious?” She whispered dangerously. Thor whimpered as he cowered and slunk deeper into his seat.
“Answers …now. And the truth!” Sunset shouted.
“Yeah! What she said!” Pinkie huffed before crossing her arms.
Thor was now hyperventilating as his entire body shook. “Okay, okay …I’ll tell you everything just …” He looked around the cafe. Everyone else followed and noticed that the scene they were causing was getting the attention of the other patrons. "I just take the photos; who Anon-A-Miss is, you'll have to find out by yourself."
Sunset followed his gaze and noticed that one of the patrons had a huge tub of ice cream sitting in front of him. If that wasn’t strange enough, the woman’s attire consisted of a thick brown coat over an orange sweater which did little to hide her massive belly. Thick black sunglasses covered her eyes which she adjusted constantly as if they were uncomfortable.
What was even stranger were the other patrons of the diner. Sunset realized that some of them had the same attire as Thor. Black jackets and lime-colored skin accompanied by spiky haircuts, and they were all staring at her.
Thor leaned forward and put his mouth close to Sunset’s ear. “Listen, miss …”
“Shimmer.” Sunset felt a chill up her spine as one of the black jacket patrons got up from their table. They made their way to another table with a thick wad of cash. They dumped the cash onto the table of a couple who were also eating and started speaking. She couldn’t tell what the man was saying, but his look-alikes started to get up as well and walk towards other tables.
“Shimmer. Listen. Some things are bigger than you.” Thor explained. “Just drop this case, and walk away.” The man gave a half-hearted smile.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Gilda muttered as she also started to notice what was happening around them.
Sunset turned back to Thor and clenched her teeth. “Just tell me what is your connection with Anon-A-Miss.”
Thor let out a sigh. “Listen …I’m sorry but …” The man was suddenly interrupted as an orange sweater woman shoved Pinkie and Gilda to the side. The patron grabbed Thor and tossed him aside before taking his place in the seat.
“Apologies for that.” The orange-sweetened woman said, brushing and wiping her hands on her jacket. Sunset noticed that the other patrons of the cafe were being led out by the other back-jacketed individuals. They all looked to be part of a gang, a very strange one, but one nonetheless.
“Now. To business.” The woman wiped her mouth. “I hear you are looking into Anon-A-Miss.” She took in a sharp inhale of air. “Impressive you got this far. Most people give up at this point.”
“Most people?” Sunset raised an eyebrow as she saw Gilda and Pinkie shifting uncomfortably as they were slowly surrounded by the strange woman’s friends. One of them had flipped the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ on the shop door and had cut the lights.
“After Anon-A-Miss started to spread to encompass the entire city’s residents …it got the attention of some reporters.” The woman let out a small chuckle. “Brave bastards as well …like you.”
Gilda and Pinkie were looking around the cafe, probably for a place to escape. The severity of the situation was not lost on them. It was seven against the three of them, they had little chance of getting out of this unscathed.
“What do you want?” Sunset growled as she glared at the woman.
The woman gestured for one of her men to come up. She was handed a briefcase which looked to be very heavy. She placed the briefcase onto the table and opened it up revealing it to be filled to the brim with cash. “I’ll give you ten million dollars to forget about Anon-A-Miss and leave it all behind.” The woman raised an eyebrow. “Pretty good deal is it not?” She asked.
Sunset sat there, as she looked at the pile of cash in front of her. The woman closed the briefcase and pushed it towards her. When she first came to this world, she didn’t have much money to her name, and this amount of money was almost unthinkable. To raise enough money to live in the human world, she had to work all sorts of odd jobs, get in touch with many shady people, and claw her way up.
Ten million dollars was a luxury when she lived in an abandoned warehouse, forced to siphon off electricity from the main power grid. She tidied up the area pretty well and actually started to call it home until it was bought by a company called ChangeData. Then she had to move because people started to poke around.
She grasped the briefcase and flipped it up on its side. There was a logo etched on it which read ‘ChangeData’ with a green symbol right next to it.
“Sunset …” Pinkie started. Sunset turned to face the girl, and saw an expression of concern and fear upon her face. “I don’t know what is going on …I never have with all this magic stuff …but I trust you.” Pinkie shook.
“Also don’t think about going back on the promise.” The woman in front of Sunset chuckled. “We will know, and if you do, you’ll wish you were dead.” She sneered.
Sunset closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She felt fear and doubt about what she was about to do. She was surrounded and given a way out with a hefty reward, it was tempting, and that amount of money could make her life a bit more bearable even with all the ostracization at school.
“ChangeData huh?” Sunset finally asked.
“Yeah? What about it?”
“You work together?” She questioned.
“So what?” The woman took Thor’s ice cream and started to take bites from it. “You have beef with them or something?”
“The same ChangeData who owns the warehouse where the murders happened near?” Sunset asked. “You know, the one from today.”
The woman seemed to freeze right there in her seat. “It’s a very popular company.” She sneered. “What about it?”
Sunset shrugged. “Well that is true. But you basically confirmed you work for Anon-A-Miss and that you silence reporters.” She narrowed her eyes. “Also I have my phone perpetually on record any time I leave the house.” She raised an eyebrow. “I think that’ll be enough for the cops.”
In hindsight, suddenly piecing things together right in front of the person who may be the culprit didn’t seem to be a good idea. She looked to the side and saw every one of the men surrounding them tense up, all with scowl’s on their faces.
“Pity …” The woman started, getting up from her seat. Unfortunately she didn’t get to finish that sentence before Sunset beat her over the head with the very heavy briefcase. It was heavy enough to put a dent in her head, causing blood and bone to erupt from the wound. The woman howled in pain as Gilda turned around and punched one of the men behind her.
One of the men grappled Pinkie, but Sunset jumped to the rescue and punched him in the face with a loud crack. His face broke open causing him to recoil in pain, letting Pinkie go.
“Sunset! Behind you!” Pinkie exclaimed as one of the men came at Sunset with a knife.
She ducked under the knife strike before grabbing the arm and twisting it around. Gilda kicked another goon in the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground. Thor had bolted out of the cafe and down the street as far from the cafe as possible.
“Thorax you piece of shit!” One of the men shouted. “Come back here and help-” Was all the man got out before Pinkie grabbed a tray and broke it over his head.
“Useless pieces of garbage!” Sunset heard the orange sweatered woman roar. She looked over to see her sitting back up, the wound on her head slowly beginning to regrow. “Kill them!” She roared as she started to shift. Her clothing ripped off, revealing her light purple skin which extended out like a warm, her large stomach opening up to reveal a large maw in the middle. The woman’s face became warped, with a single hateful eye in the middle, and a mouth with sharp teeth, which dripped green liquid, like the maw in his stomach.
“Everyone run!” Sunset shouted as she got the knife out from the other man’s grip before stabbing him in the knee. The two last men stood there, seemingly unsure what to do as before Sunset tossed the briefcase into one of them. The last man just stood there, his jaw agape as Sunset, Gilda, and Pinkie ran out of the cafe.
“Gilda, do you have a car?!” Sunset asked.
“Yes, why?”
“Can you draw some of them away? Also get the cops!” Sunset snapped.
“No need to tell me twice!” Gilda ran off towards a parking lot down the sidewalk.
“Pinkie, do you have a ride?!”
“No …my siblings are too busy, and my parents are probably asleep by now.” Pinkie explained quickly as the black-jacket men stumbled out of the cafe.
“Then quickly, get on the back of my bike!” Sunset ran towards her orange bike, her heart pounding. It was parked in a nearby parking lot which wasn’t far, but far enough that it was a length run. She looked over her shoulder to see the very angry men chasing after them, excluding the orange-sweatered woman, which meant she either gave up, or was chasing after Gilda.
Sunset got to her bike and quickly started it up as Pinkie got onto the back. “Hold on tight!” She warned before starting up the engine. They drove off, just before the group could catch up to them.
They drove off in the night and away from the parking lot as quickly as possible until the lot was nothing but a speck behind them. Pinkie was holding onto her tight enough to the point Sunset felt as if she was going to snap in half.
“Are they gone?!” Sunset asked through the roar of the engines as they sped down the road, making different turns to lose them if they had vehicles. This was to potentially confuse their chasers and eventually make them lose sight, and potentially even give up. However, this brought them to the rough area of town, where many of the recent murders occurred. It also didn’t help that there were many abandoned buildings and businesses surrounding the area.
“I don’t see them …!” Pinkie shouted.
Sunset let out a sigh of relief, but it was interrupted as loud buzzing got closer from above. She looked up to see black specks in the sky, and they looked to be following them, closely behind.
“What the hell?” Sunset muttered before one of the specks dove down suddenly.
“Shit!” She exclaimed as she swerved out of the way. The speck slammed into the street, and for a brief second she saw what it was. It was in the shape of a large bug with multiple legs, a black carapace, and with green glowing eyes. That was all she could discern from its face planted position in the half a second she saw it.
“What was that?!” Pinkie cried out as they drove down the road. Sunset replied by pushing her bike to go much faster, and though they went clear over the speed limit, whatever was chasing them was more dangerous than road safety.
Another bug suddenly dove from the sky and grasped onto the bike with its claws. It hissed at Sunset as it grappled with her, its jaws clicking as it tried to bite her head off. Sunset tried to push it off with one hand while steering with the other, causing the bike to begin swerving.
“What the hell is going on?!” Sunset exclaimed as she started to make sharper turns around corners to hopefully shake some of them off. It didn’t seem to work since they would just fly over the buildings and then catch up to them. She finally got the creature off her bike by slamming it into a wall, splattering green blood all over her and Pinkie.
“What are we going to do?!” Pinkie cried out.
“I have an idea! But it’s risky!” Sunset shouted as she made a sharp turn towards the warehouse district. Her heart pounded nearly as fast as Pinkie’s as adrenaline pumped through her veins as she tried not to imagine what the creatures above them was planning. She drove further, the buildings around them becoming more decrepit the further they went.
“Where are we going?” Pinkie asked as they weaved through the small roads. Sunset could hear the girl’s desperation and fear causing guilt to creep up her spine. She didn’t mean for Pinkie to get involved in her investigation, but it seemed as if she found trouble wherever she went.
“An old maneuver I learned!” Sunset shouted. “Hold on!”
“What?” Pinkie cried out with clear confusion before Sunset swerved into a small alleyway.
“Hold on!” Was all Sunset could respond with as she slowly weaved her bike through the narrow passageways. Pinkie let out a cry of fear as she hugged Sunset’s chest tighter, making it much harder for her to breathe. She burst out of the alleyway and drove straight towards a construction site.
Pinkie screamed as the bike burst through the gate. Sunset quickly jerked the bike to the side, and hit the brakes, causing it to screech and come to a stop right in front of a metal beam. She could feel the girl behind her breathe heavily and sob, which made her feel guilty, since after this, Pinkie would probably never want to ride a motorcycle ever again.
“Did we lose them?” Pinkie asked right before there was a loud clang right above them. A black insect-like creature fell to the ground, collapsing into a heap. It let out a groan right before another one fell right next to it.
Sunset immediately jumped onto them, kicking one and knocking it unconscious, and grappling the other. The creature let out a cough and a shriek as she lifted it up off the ground, finding it surprisingly light.
“Who are you creatures and what do you want?!” She roared.
“We’re changeling!” The creature gasped. “I don’t know anything, I just work for them.” It continued to struggle, but Sunset just clenched her jaw, a feeling of determination washed over her along with confidence now that she had the upper hand.
“Why are you working for that thing?!”
“I don’t know!” The creature grasped her arm. “We are just contracted out as guards from ChangeData. We are mercenaries …we have no allegiance except to our queen!” It explained.
Sunset sneered. “So you know nothing?”
“I’m just a drone …we are expendable and know nothing …even if we did we wouldn’t be able to tell you!” The creature gasped. Sunset rolled her eyes, demoralized that the moment she had someone to interrogate, they either run off, or know absolutely nothing.
She dropped the creature before kicking it in the skull, knocking it out. Sunset rubbed her head before muttering, “At least I know ChangeData has something to do with this …for some reason.”
“At least we’re safe now.” Pinkie sighed. Sunset was about to return the sentiment until she heard static coming from the creature. She leaned forwards and found that it was coming from an earpiece. She lifted it up and listened in on the conversation being had there.
[Useless morons!]
[Hey, we’re just here as backup!]
[What’s the point if you can’t even catch two girls! Whatever. Irons is calling a meeting for all the wendigos in the warehouse district. Her bodyguard will meet us there]
[What about the reporter?]
[We’ll deal with her later. I remember her face. I’ll go ask Zelus to find her for me. Besides, we have one of her friends. I think this is the one, she is feisty.]
“Gilda.” She muttered.
“What was that Sunset?” Pinkie asked, approaching her from behind.
Sunset turned around, fear and guilt gripping her heart. Gilda was caught, probably by diverting the others away from her and Pinkie. She had dragged the girl into this mess, and now she was captured, and from what it sounded like, the captors had plans for her.
“Gilda was captured.” Sunset turned to face Pinkie. “She’s been taken into the warehouse district.”
Pinkie covered her mouth. “We have to call the police.”
“I agree.” Sunset muttered. She walked over towards her bike. “I’ll go get her, you call the police.” She said before getting onto the vehicle.
“What?! No!” Pinkie protested, her face becoming determined and stern. “I’m not letting you go out there and put yourself in danger, not alone at least.” She argued.
“Pinkie. I don’t have time to argue with you here.” Sunset clenched her teeth. “I am from a world which is familiar with magic, if you come, you’ll be putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“I’m not afraid.” Pinkie declared, despite her shaking limbs and trembling voice. Sunset could see she was trying to put on a brave front, trying to pretend she wasn’t fazed. “Friends are there for each other. We went through the sirens together, we can go through this as well.”
Sunset let out a sigh. She knew Pinkie could be stubborn, but also didn’t want to put the girl in any more danger. So, taking in the entire situation, she finally came to a decision. “Okay. But first we need to get to the police station and inform them what is occurring. That way we don’t get into any more danger ourselves. ”
“Okay. I’m fine with that.” Pinkie said excitedly as she hopped onto the back of the bike. “What about these two?” She asked, pointing at the two unconscious bug creatures on the ground.
“I was able to take them down with a punch. They’re not a threat.” Sunset muttered before she started up the bike again. She drove out of the construction site and onto the road towards the police station.
The entire ride, her mind was on the entire week leading up to this event. She had been looking into the Anon-A-Miss the entire time, trying to determine who it could be. She had a list of suspects, of people who it could be, but she was never able to pin it down. One of the three suspects she had originally pinned down was the Canterlot Movie Club, but she remembered phones could be hacked via wifi. Anon-A-Miss also acted too smart for the three, planning ahead, and making a decent frame job.
They arrived at the police station shortly, and Sunset stopped her bike on the curb. She took off her helmet and gestured at the building. “Quickly, go.” She ordered Pinkie. The girl nodded and hopped off the bike and into the station.
“Sorry about this Pinkie.” Sunset muttered as she started up the bike again. “But there isn’t enough time. I’m sure you’ll forgive me.”
“Hey Sunset. What do I …?” Pinkie turned around and started only to see Sunset driving off. “Sunset!” The girl cried out, fear suddenly gripping her as she ran out after Sunset. She couldn’t catch up and could only watch as the bike drove off into the distance towards the warehouse district. “Sunset, why?” Pinkie sobbed before turning around and quickly running into the station.
Sunset sped up as she ignored all traffic safety laws to get as fast to the warehouse district as possible. She sped past all the cars, getting many to honk as her, but right now, her mind was focused on getting to Gilda as fast as possible. She didn’t have any time to spare, and every second wasted could be a crucial one. She was going to save the girl …even if the cost was her own life.
Witchblade
She only began to slow down when the warehouse district and the canal around it came into view. She remembered reading on the news which ones were bought by ChangeData. It was a big thing for a company to buy some rundown buildings out of nowhere. It meant more business for the area, but it was also strange enough to warrant some suspicion.
As she drove down the road, she came into view of the ChangeData warehouses, and noticed that one of them had their lights on. That, and she saw Gilda’s car parked there. The same one Gilda had run towards when they were being chased. It was very hard to miss, and the decay of the vehicle made it very distinguishable from the rest.
Quietly as possible, Sunset got off her bike and made her way around the warehouse. She looked around and noticed a pipe leading to an open window. Taking in a deep breath, she climbed up the pipe, trying to make as little noise as possible. The closer she got to the window however, the louder certain voices got.
When she made it to the window and through it onto a platform, the voices became more distinguished. She recognized one of the voices, since it came from the man with the orange sweater, whatever creature he was.
“ …witchblade this witchblade that.” She heard the man grumble. Sunset walked over towards one of the railings and looked down to see what looked to be a halloween party. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the entire group below her in case she made it out of the warehouse alive.
On the ground floor stood four individuals in front of a masked woman. The four consisted of a woman whose skin looked to be that of porcelain. Her armor was shaped to look like a suit which had what looked to be medals adorned upon them. She stood up tall, towering over everyone, with rainbow irises which glared at everyone, as if daring anyone to oppose her.
The second was a woman whose face was in a permanent scowl. She wore a dress which had many belts, laces, and gems, making her look like a Victorian era lady who decided to put on anything that seemed to be remotely fashionable upon her clothing. Her skin was green and looked oily, her eyes were red and was filled with anger and contempt.
The third was slumped forwards with a stoic expression upon her face. She was dressed modestly, her clothes being a plain gray and consisted of a simple shirt, and a pair of gray sweatpants. Her skin was the color of ash, and seemed to sag under its own weight. She looked forwards, staring off into nothing, looking more of a statue than anything else.
The fourth was of course the woman Sunset met at the cafe. She was now back to a more humanoid looking figure. She was an overweight, light purple coloured woman whose face bulged out like drawing, obscuring it. Her jacket and sweater stretched to compensate for her large mass as she lumbered around the room.
“Where are the other three?” The masked woman asked. Her purple hair flowed out from behind, covering the shoulders of her jade coloured vest. She wore purple leggings with knee pads with a sword on her back, and a pistol attached to her waist.
“Midas is off scamming another hapless fellow. Khan is probably killing another puppy to satiate his massive childish grudge against anything that breathes oxygen. Ishtar is probably trying to be as depraved as possible. It is only us four today.” The porcelain man explained.
“Why have you called us here today?” The stoic woman asked. “What is so important to demand a meeting here?”
“Queen Chrysalis is getting impatient. She asked me and my sisters why her cousins were …and I quote … ‘faffing about and getting nothing done’ and wished for a report.”
“It’s going fine.” The oily skinned woman sneered. “What does she know? Does she think she’s better than us?!” The woman roared, her expression suddenly turning wrathful.
“This is why nobody likes you Zelus. You are always bitter.” The ash skinned woman said without a hint of emotion in her voice.
“Shut the hell up Hypnos.”
“Whatever.”
“I require a full report by the end of the day, otherwise Chrysalis pulls out of this little alliance and does the project on her own, and you know how she is.” The masked woman explained curtly. Her voice was stern and had a bit of swing to it. It sounded familiar, but different enough that Sunset couldn’t pin down who it belonged to. “For now …I heard Ninkasi ran into some issues.”
The overweight woman grumbled as he stepped forward. “A reporter is onto us. She knows about Anon-A-Miss.” She let out a growl. “Couldn’t pay her off, and now she knows ChangeData is part of this.”
“This is unfortunate Ninkasi.” The masked woman shook her head. “Another mess I have to clean up. What is this girl’s name?”
“Didn’t catch her name if it was mentioned.” Ninkasi mumbled. “If the drones weren’t so useless we would’ve had her.”
“Probably because you were drunk out of your mind.” Hypnos said bluntly. “I can smell the alcohol radiating off you.”
“I also heard that you didn’t fare much well either. Your head was cracked by a briefcase. One made by ChangeData, but a briefcase nonetheless.” The masked woman shook her head. “You have indulged yourself too much. You have grown too fat, too lethargic. You can barely fight anymore.”
“Hey. At least I have something!” Ninkasi snapped her fingers. Two drones appeared from the background with a girl in their arms. Sunset leaned forwards and saw that it was Gilda, with a defiant expression on her face, but she could see the girl was shaking a bit.
Sunset made her way towards a staircase and slowly made her way down and weaved her way through the warehouse. Her legs shook as she tried to think of a way to bust Gilda out of the situation they were both in. From what she saw, they were outnumbered and outmatched.
“Is this the host for the witchblade you said over the radio?” The woman questioned.
“Yes. This is the one. I am sure of it.” Ninkasi laughed. “I sensed a large magic presence around her. She must be the one.”
“Are you sure it came from her or just around her?” The woman asked.
Ninkasi recoiled back and rubbed the back of her head. “There was a magical presence.”
“Come follow me.” The woman growled.
Sunset looked over the crates and boxes and saw the group walking off. She slowly tailed behind them, following them all the way into a backroom. She slowly approached the backroom, looking around the area to ensure nobody would see her before inching her way towards the door. She peeked through and saw that it looked to be some sort of office. A very large, fancy office which looked more like a throne room.
What was most notable was a silver gauntlet with gems adorned on it. There was a red gem on top of it with a smaller yellowstone next to it at where the knuckles were. A third blue gem was all the way in the back near the top of the gauntlet. The masked woman and the four creatures stood there as the drones pushed Gilda forward.
“Go on. Touch the gauntlet.” The purple haired woman gestured towards the pedestal.
“And if I tell you to get fucked?” Gilda sneered.
The orange haired woman snapped her finger, and the purple haired woman pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Gilda.
Gilda shivered but stuck her hand out towards the gauntlet and placed it near before stopping. She looked up at the masked woman before asking, “What does it do?”
“If it accepts you, you will gain unfathomable power.” The woman simply answered.
“And if not?”
“Best to not think about it.” She gestured towards the gauntlet. “Please.”
Gilda scoffed. “Not that I have much of a choice.” Sunset watched as Gilda stuck her arm into the gauntlet. In a split second, the gauntlet began to glow, with sparks of energy sparking off it. The girl let out a cry of pain as her blood shot out of her hand before a large blast of energy launched her from the gauntlet and into the wall near Sunset.
Sunset watched in horror at Gilda’s smoldering arm as the four monsters and the masked women looked at it without any regard for the girl. Sunset’s fear was replaced with rage as she felt power suddenly well within her.
She could feel energy coursing through her veins causing a brigh horn to appear on her forehead as her hair started to rise up into the air. An amber hue enveloped her, her hair turned amber and crimson along with two small golden wings which emerged from her back. The area around her eyes, nose, and her upper lip became a ruby colour which made it look as if she was wearing a mask.
“Usually it takes the arm off completely.” The purple haired woman muttered. “Still unfortunate.” She pulled out her pistol. “Bad luck kid.”
The purple haired woman aimed her gun at Gilda, finger at the trigger. It was at this moment Sunset chose to act. “No!” She shouted before unleashing a large magical kinetic blast into the room. Everyone in the room barely had any time to react before four of them was knocked out through the window of the office and into the canal behind the warehouse. There was a loud splash and loud cries of anger as the four tried escape the deep canal. When the dust cleared, the only one left was the purple haired woman who was sprawled on the ground.
Sunset rushed over to Gilda and helped the girl up off the ground. “Gilda, are you okay?” Sunset quickly asked as she checked the girl and her arm. Gilda’s arm had dark blue cracks from the fingers to the elbow with blood leaking from them. Other than that, the girl seemed fine.
“Sunset?” Gilda whispered coarsely.
“Duh.” Sunset looked at her appearance and noticed that she was now wearing a white dress and pink dress along with amber shoes. “This is new.” She muttered.
“You shouldn’t have come dweeb. We’ll both die here.” Gilda groaned. “And you’ll die looking like a magical princess.”
“You’re welcome.” Sunset rolled her eyes.
“I won’t lie, I’m kind of glad for the company.” Gilda scoffed. Sunset noticed the purple haired woman raising a pistol up, and it was aimed right at Gilda. Thinking quickly, Sunset pushed Gilda to the side just as a loud crack echoed in the air.
Three bullet ripped through Sunsets arm and stomach, causing her to fall to the ground. She reached out with her magic and threw the gun from the woman's hand out the window. The woman reached behind her and took out a sword, but Sunset summoned a blinding light from her hand. The masked woman covered her face with her arm, so Sunset took this opportunity to fire a kinetic blast. The woman was knocked back into a display case which then fell over her in a loud crash.
“Gilda. You need to run!” Sunset groaned as she tried to push herself up.
“Hell no. I am not leaving you.” Gilda said, grabbing Sunset, but she pushed her off.
“No. I can distract them. I have magic, I can keep them at bay.” Sunset coughed up blood and shook as the pain started to make her head spin. “Besides, this was what I was looking for this entire time.” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry that I dragged you into this.”
Gilda hesitated. There was very few times in her life she felt completely helpless, and every one of those times, someone always got hurt while she stood there powerless. It was the reason why she was so obsessed with strength sometimes, so she would never be in another situation where she was at the end of her rope, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to start again.
“Tell Pinkie …” Sunset started but Gilda covered her mouth.
“Tell her yourself.” Gilda shook her head. “I don’t know what is going on, but if you think you can take them on just because you have some pony magic then you are dead wrong.” Gilda shuddered. “Listen …we got Anon-A-Miss. We …we can’t go before we clear your name.”
Sunset smiled as she placed a hand upon the brown-skinned girl’s cheek. “You and Pinkie know the truth ….and that is enough for me.” She whispered.
“It is not enough for me.” Gilda cried out in a panic. She gripped Sunset with tears in her eyes, trying her best to get some control of the situation, to stabilize it a bit. “Just …just let me do something good …do some good for someone else …for once …”
Sunset looked at the girl with pity. She understood the feeling of helplessness, of being alone. But she also understood that sacrifices sometimes had to be made, to save innocent lives, and those she cared about. Every part of her wanted to run, but she was done running, and was going to face everything head on.
Before she could tell Gilda to leave, and impart some last words, there was a dull squelch before a splash of red covered Gilda’s face. The girl wiped some of it off her face and looked down at her fingers. Her pupils shook as she realized it was red with blood before then forcing herself to look down at Sunset’s chest.
A blade had pierced through Sunset’s heart. Blood dripped from the wound, covering Sunset and Gilda in blood as the two of them tried to process what just happened. It happened so suddenly, neither of them were able to move until Sunset was thrown to the side like a ragdoll into the display where the gauntlet was.
“Brave! But foolish.” The masked woman remarked as she looked down at Sunset. “A valiant effort …shame it was wasted.” She pointed her blade, which was now covered in blood, at Gilda, ignoring Sunset who was now bleeding out on the floor.
Sunset saw Gilda standing there, grasping her injured arm, backed up to the wall. Her uninjured fist was clenched and stared the masked woman directly and looked prepared to strike the woman in front of her. Sunset knew Gilda stood no chance, especially due to her injury.
“Gilda …” Sunset gasped weakly as she concentrated magic into her left hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Before we die. For what it’s worth …I’m sorry for thinking you were Anon-A-Miss.” Gilda scowled as the masked woman stood there, as if listening to their last words. “At least I die standing.”
“Valiant last words.” The masked woman remarked before she raised her blade up to strike Gilda. “I respect a fellow warrior.”
“No …” Sunset gasped. “I’m sorry for this.”
“What do you …” Gilda’s eyes widened as Sunset lifted her hands towards the girl. “Sunset wait!” Was all Gilda could get out before a red aura enveloped her. She lunged towards Sunset, as if trying to save her, but never got the chance before she blipped away. Right after, the masked woman swung downwards which would have cut Gilda in half.
“No!” The masked woman roared as she turned towards Sunset. In a rage, she cut Sunset’s left arm off before kicking the girl down. Sunset didn’t even have time to register in the pain before crashing hard into the wall behind her. Her magical form dissipated returning her back to her normal clothes and form as the horn on her forehead slowly dissolved.
“What the hell?” The masked woman snarled as she walked over towards where Gilda disappeared. “Where did she go?!”
“It’s over Anon-A-Miss.” Sunset gasped …unaware of the tendril coming out of the gauntlet that was slowly inching its way towards her. “I’ve won …”
“You’ve won nothing!” The masked woman snapped.
Sunset smirked as she felt her mind began to drift away. She never thought this was the way she would die, but in a way she was kind of glad. Weeks of fighting made her tired, and she went out her own way, saving others, and uncovering secrets.
“Can I …at least know …who you are …before I die?” Sunset coughed as blood started to pool around her. Her pony ears and tail faded away, now all the magic concentrated within her chest, trying to keep her alive as long as possible. She had a good minute before bleeding out, even with the last remnants of her magic keeping her on life support.
The woman paused and lifted her blade up. “I am Nottingham.”
Sunset closed her eyes and prepared for the strike, but it never came. Instead, she heard a loud crack followed by a loud crash. Something cold then enveloped her right hand and moved up her arm before the entire limb was covered. Energy suddenly flowed through the girl as a sudden burst of power coursed through her veins, pulling her from the grasp of death.
The Blade of Iron got up from the ground, tired of being hit by magic that flung her around to see a red light shine from the flame haired girl that was bleeding out on the floor. However, the girl was now standing up, radiating with power. Her body radiated with power as it rushed in; it was exhilarating, it was pure ecstasy.
The Blade of Iron looked down at her chest and saw that the blast had dented her armor and burned part of it completely off. The masked woman looked up just as Sunset opened her eyes, the whites replaced with black as her turquoise irises glowed.
A voice spoke to the girl as she and the Blade stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Sirens were heard in the distance as it got closer to the warehouse, red and blue lights flaring in the distance.
}}}Kill her…!{{{
The sounds of clashing blades, the crackling of fire, and the heat of a sudden explosion erupted that night. The battle cry of a soldier, and the maniacal laughter of a monster mixed together, indiscernible from each other.
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While I loved Michael's story, I do hope you won't do some of the... Unique stuff sweet home Alabama it did, I hope I'm gonna like the story as it goes.
I hope your Sunset will be much more spiteful toward her 'friends' and the true anon-a-miss too btw, because the fact she forgave them so easily in the other story is an issue I have.
"Long sought by the greed of men since the dawn of human kind, but only bestowed upon the women whose fate it forever scars... The Witchblade. Is it the righteous sword of God, or hand of the Devil himself? Now a new bearer has been chosen. And she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin."
I'm only partway through and I noticed this glaring error. You meant to say "Sunset" right?
As I was looking for my place I also noticed this error. Not to sound phobic of any kind, but keep your pronouns straight when talking about this patron.
Well being a witchblade story ot should be mature.but not a fan of not being the cmc.