MLDC: Firestorm Crisis

by Michael_Ravencroft

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Equestria Girls, Crossover, Sex, Sunset Shimmer, Gore, Twilight Sparkle (EqG), Dazzlings, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Romance
Length: 291045

Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, total opposites, the bad girl, and the studious girl. But one fateful night will change everything for them, and quite possiblly the world.

Sunset Shimmer, the terror of Canterlot High, and former protégé of Princess Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle, a recently transferred girl who has won the hearts of the students and reunited five friends. One struggles against her loathing, while the other seeks to help, both have no idea how their lives are about to change, and how much they well come to rely on each other.

A group simply known as the Organization seeks to create an arms race, using a powerful weapon known as the Firestorm Protocols, but when Twilight and Sunset find one of the protocols, can they come together to stop the Organization's plans? Secrets are revealed, allegiances are tested, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance, the Firestorm Crisis has begun...!

Note: This takes place in an Alt. Universe after the events of the Fall Formal and a little before Rainbow Rocks. Pony!Twilight never arrived to EQG world and CHS, but Human!Twilight did.

Popular Stories: 2/03/15

Published 2015-02-03 23:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-11 02:37:01 UTC

Entry 1: Sunset Shimmer

Canterlot City, a bustling city who held the slogan “Where friendships are made!” It wasn’t an overly large city like some of the others, but it was alright for the people who wanted to live here. They had shops filled with the latest in fashion trends, some born here in the city, gaining notoriety in the fashion world. Their sports teams were nothing to laugh at either, chief among was their football team, the Nobles whose mascot was a the silhouette of a unicorn, it’s horn looking more akin to a blade than a spiral horn, the baseball team known as the Diamond Dogs, and the basketball team the Windigos, renowned for their aggressive play style.

Of course, it wasn’t all just sports, they were just as proud of their science and arts. The Canterlot Planetarium which had the latest in holographic technology to give a full rendering of space and its wonders, the Museum of Modern Arts which showcased many of the city’s prominent and up-in-coming artists, the Natural History Museum that owned quite the fossil collection, as well as some artifacts from ancient times. The Canterlot Philharmonic Symphony was widely known both outside and inside the city, as well as the brilliant cellist who was often asked to play with the group.

All in all it was a great place to live. But Sunset Shimmer could care less for this place. She lived a nice apartment near the suburbs, she was on the second story with an extended porch, granting her a nice view of the city, both in the morning and at night. It was the end of spring break, not that she cared much for it.

The clock on her wall read 7AM, meaning that she had about an hour to get ready to go back to school. Again, she didn’t care much for going to “High School”. Back in Equestria, she received the best education under Princess Celestia, not only in the magical arts, but in mathematics, science, and other subjects. So comparatively, she was way ahead of any the teenagers that went to Canterlot High. But when she went through that mirror, Sunset had no idea she’d end up in front of a school, and what’s worse, she also ran into the “human” counterpart of the very teacher she had turned her back on, Celestia. Although in this world, instead of Princess, she was a “Principal” at CHS.

Sunset couldn’t help but laugh at that. Big, powerful, Princess Celestia, ruler of all of Equestria, was nothing more than a public school principal in this world. Although, she wasn’t expecting to see that Luna woman. She remembered the stories that Celestia told her about her younger sister, the other alicorn who controlled the moon, but as the story goes, she turned into Nightmare Moon and was imprisoned in the moon itself.

Huh, wonder what the equivalent of that is here, thought Sunset Shimmer. Probably developing a crazy alter ego and being sent to the loony bin.

Sunset sat on her couch, flipping through channels before settling on the news. She sat there crossed legged in her purple pajama bottoms and matching shirt, her cutie mark emblazoned on the chest area. It was a real shocker to find out that the mark of her destiny was not in its prescribed location, even on human body she thought it might be on her hip, even on posterior, but no mark. Luckily the clothes she had on had her mark, but anything else here definitely wouldn’t have it. To compensate she went and got some of her additional clothes embroidered with it, she couldn’t very well just let that go away, it was part of her, and it was the pride and joy of every Equestrian.

The news was reporting on some freak nuclear explosion out in the middle of some barren place or whatever. It was raising quite the stink from what she could tell, different countries blaming each other for the explosion and accusing of nuclear attacks. That was one thing that Sunset Shimmer noticed different about this world, humans liked to fight, a lot. When they weren’t fighting for land, they were fighting over ideals, if not ideals, then religion, if not religion then money, race, who was right and who was wrong, the list went on.

That’s not to say that Equestria hadn’t seen its fair share of struggle, wars, poverty, and disputes. But when you had a thousand-year-old, immortal sun goddess as your ruler, you tended to do as she said more often than not.

But the one thing that she probably hated the most about this world, other than having to get used to walking upright on two legs, and learning how to use her hands, was that there was no magic. It was there, but it was so faint, so miniscule, that it might as well not be there at all. Several times Sunset Shimmer tried to connect to the magic of this world, even going so far as to study up on this world’s different methods. She made sure to stay away from anything involving blood, demons, or anything that involved selling one’s soul.

Sadly, nothing worked. Sunset clicked one of buttons on her remote control, bringing up the time which read “7:30”.

“Guess I better make an appearance.”

Of all the things that mimicked the sensation of running like her pony self, riding a motorcycle was the closest. A car felt too stifling and confined, she liked being able to go fast, but still feel the world around her. Plus, a motorcycle was easier to buy than a car for her situation. Her black and red striped speed machine zipped and weaved in and out of traffic, the engine whining loudly into the air as she popped a wheelie. It took a while for her to learn the rules of the road, but she was a quick study, one of the things that made her a good protégé for the Princess.

Sunset clicked her tongue in agitation when she thought of that mare. She revved the engine and sped away even faster. The school wasn’t too far away, a short ten minutes via her bike, fifteen by foot. When she arrived at CHS Sunset could tell that the students were already getting together and talking about their great spring breaks. She quickly drove into the parking lot and parked it with the other motorcycles. With her backpack slung over her shoulder, and her helmet cradled under her right arm, Sunset made her way into the building.

Many of the students parted for her, not wanting to be near her. She had gained quite the reputation in Canterlot High, setting out to rule the school with an iron fist of fear and intimidation, and sometimes with her actual fist. She gained the reputation of the resident “bad girl”, “bully”, and “Queen of the Bitches” title. The girl who gave her that last title was no longer able to eat solid food.

That was…until she showed up. Sunset could already hear the faint giggles and laughter of the six girls in this school she could not stand the most coming from near the horse statue.

Applejack, a girl from the country that apparently has a long line of family members stretching back to the founding of this city, as well as being “heiress” to the Sweet Apple Acres farm. Rainbow Dash, the captain of every sports team CHS had to offer, she was a tomboy much like Applejack, not afraid to get rough and put up a fight. Fluttershy, she was as her name says, painfully shy, a frequent volunteer at the Animal Shelter, and the resident pushover.

I swear, sometimes it was too easy it wasn’t even worth it some days.

The girl next to the shy girl was Rarity, the school’s diva and fashionista. Always worried about fashion trends and how to make others look “fabulous”. She aspires to be a world renowned fashion designer, she had the talent and she did make nice outfits for her friends that are annoyingly still being talked about by the girls in school. Another annoyance and walking headache, was Pinkie Pie. Sunset swore she was in a perpetual sugar high from the day she was born.

And then there was that girl...Twilight Sparkle. She just transfers into the school out of the blue one day and all of a sudden everything that Sunset Shimmer had created for herself was completely undone. Sunset had split up those five girls and made them resent each other, she saw their friendship as a potential stopper in her domination of the school, dividing the student body and isolating the different cliques was part of it all. However, Twilight Sparkle came traipsing in and talking about how happy she was to be there, and how wonderful everything was. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she was a genius!

Sunset’s eyes locked onto Twilight as she stood there at the steps to the front entrance. It was as if the universe had sent her polar opposite to this place just to further spite her. Now she was rendered to nothing more than the bully and bad girl of CHS, still something to be feared and not dared crossed, but not on the higher level as it once was. As the studious girl talked and listened to her friends, Sunset noticed that Twilight glanced in her direction. Their eyes met, holding each other there.

The fiery haired girl’s heart raced, her jaw clenching as Twilight held her gaze. She sheepishly waved to her, surprising Sunset. Her only response was narrowing her eyes to slits and storming into the building. When she arrived at her locker, Sunset threw her helmet in along with her backpack, her first period was gym and she didn’t feel like lugging the heavy thing around with her. Sunset was about to round the corner to get to the gymnasium but ran into someone, making her fall on her rear. Sunset groaned from the impact and shot a glare at whoever it was that she bumped into.

“Okay who’s the dumb… ass…?”

Sunset paused when she saw who it was she had bumped into was none other than Twilight Sparkle. The violet haired girl had also landed on her rear, her backpack having not aided in her descent.

“Ouch…That really hurt,” said Twilight, “Oh my gosh! Sunset Shimmer are you alright?!”

She was caught off guard by the concern from Twilight. “Um…yeah, I guess. Also how long are you planning on flashing me?”

Twilight looked at Sunset confused, but quickly realized that her legs were open and she quickly closed them, pulling at the hem of her skirt to try and cover what was left of her dignity.

“S-Sorry…”

Sunset Shimmer smirked, this girl was cute when she was embarrassed, a thought she quickly pushed aside as she rose back up and resumed her glare.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re going Sparkle?! I’m not in a nice mood in the mornings and thankfully for you I’m too groggy to do anything! Next time, you won’t get off easy.”

“I-I got it.”

“Good.”

Sunset walked away from the lavender skinned girl but stopped halfway as she glanced over her shoulder, watching Twilight as she picked up some of the books she was carrying in her arms and some others that had spilled out of her backpack. Sunset noticed that one of those books was by her feet, she looked back and forth between the book and Twilight before sighing and picking up the surprisingly heavy text.

“Hey Sparkle!” Sunset called out.

Before Twilight could speak she was beaten to the punch by another.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash had run down the hallway and got between Twilight and Sunset, glaring daggers at the other girl. “You okay Twi?”

“Yes, I’m okay Rainbow.”

“Sunset what the hell did you do?! Now you’re going after Twilight when we’re not around?! If you’re going to mess with her than you mess with all of us!”

“What’d you say to me Rainbow Crash?!” Sunset shot back.

“Why you –!”

“Rainbow Dash stop!” Twilight yelled, making both girls go still. “It’s my fault, I had my nose in one of my books and I…well…I wasn’t looking where I was going and I accidentally ran into Sunset! Honest!”

Rainbow Dash seemed skeptical of that explanation, but knowing Twilight, it was highly likely that did happen. Sunset was slightly taken aback, Twilight was carrying her books not reading one, and, although she wasn’t going to admit it, it was her clearly Sunset’s fault. Twilight gave Sunset a reassuring nod, the former Equestrian’s gaze was downcast. Sunset then threw the heavy book across the way, landing with a loud thud and sliding till it rested at Rainbow Dash’s feet. She then turned around and walked away, leaving Rainbow and Twilight where they stood.

“Jeez, what crawled up her ass and died? Still, you sure you’re okay Twi? Sunset didn’t hurt you or anything right?”

“I’m fine Rainbow Dash, I really am. Although my tailbone is going to be sore for a bit after that hard landing. Linoleum floors are not very forgiving,” said Twilight as she bent down to pick the book Sunset had tossed their way.

“Well, don’t worry Twi, Sunset’s been looking down for a bit. Probably because she lost the Princess title at the Fall Formal to you! Now that was a good night.” Rainbow commented.

Twilight dusted off the book and placed it into the backpack with the others. She then followed Rainbow Dash to their class, glancing over her shoulder in the direction that Sunset Shimmer disappeared down. Unknown to Twilight, Sunset Shimmer was leaning up against the lockers around the corner, taking a glance of her own before heading to the gym.

The empty locker room echoed with the sound of rushing water. From the direction of the showers, a small layer of steam crept along the floor as the shower head continued to release hot soothing water. Underneath this deluge was Sunset Shimmer, sitting with her back against the wall, letting the water cascade over her body. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, colored white and bearing her cutie mark on a smaller size near her right hip. She sighed heavily as she rested her head against the wall, watching the water continue to fall and splash against the floor.

The solitude of the locker room helped her to think, since she had a free period after gym, Sunset just entered the showers as is and let the rest of the girls depart till she was the only one left. She felt defeated, like nothing mattered in this world. Her plans to rule this world and Equestria were done and gone, all because of one stupid mistake, and Twilight Sparkle.

There I go again, thinking about her.

She had been doing a lot of that lately, since her plans were all for not, there were only two things that occupied her mind from time to time. Who was Twilight Sparkle? Of course she spied in her home dimension long enough to know that the pony Twilight Sparkle was Celestia’s newest protégé, and apparently most successful one, ascending to an alicorn and becoming a Princess of Equestria. Not only that, but she was also one of six wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Magic was the strongest of these, and she had planned to steal that crown and replace it with the one for the Fall Formal, but fate decided to intervene.

No, more like your stupid pride and ego messed everything up!

Sunset pounded the floor with her right fist, splashing some water. But now that all her plans were ruined, she had nothing else to do. Going back to Equestria was an option, and so was trying again. But the portal would not open for roughly another year or two, and by then Equestria might’ve changed, the Elements guarded more closely, and there was no guarantee that the mirror would be close to pony Twilight Sparkle for her to try anything.

All this led her to wonder what made that Twilight so special? What made Twilight better than her? Well, she’d never know, the only Twilight Sparkle around was the new girl who was the exact counterpart to the pony version. This Twilight’s presence felt different, Sunset didn’t know what to make of it, but it simply was. She wondered if it was fate that human Twilight did what her pony-self did. Sunset undid the friendships of five girls back during her freshman year, and here in their sophomore year, Twilight had reunited them. She even became a princess on top of that!

It did bother her that in the two years she had spent in this world, she had not once run into her double, the Sunset Shimmer of this world. Sunset did try and locate her, through the web, phone book, even stopping by the various other high schools to see if anyone recognized her. But nothing, no one knew about her or had seen her before, which meant she didn’t exist here.

Wonder if that means my being alive at all is a fluke…I didn’t belong in Equestria, and here, the same…I’m an anomaly…not meant to be in any world…

Sunset shook the depressing thoughts out of her head, trying to focus on something else. Twilight was still an enigma to her, and really, she didn’t so much hate as dislike her, to the point where she almost couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her. But Sunset knew that most of that resentment was directed at pony Twilight, this one had nothing to do with her, her crime was just looking, sounding, acting, and having the same name as the pony she resented, but that didn’t mean they were the same. Even now, what Twilight did back in the hallway surprised her. She covered for her, defusing the situation before it ended up in a messy fist fight with Rainbow Dash. And she always gave her this adorkably cute, friendly smile whenever she was around.

Ugh…maybe I should get to know the girl or something? Fat chance of that happening, the princess’ Knights of the Friendship Table would more than likely keep me away…

“EEP!”

Sunset looked up, hearing a strange noise. She quickly got up to her feet, balling her fists and entering an aggressive stance.

“Okay come out you pervert and I promise I won’t put you in the emergency room!” Sunset warned.

From behind the wall arose the very girl she was pondering about just moments ago. She had a towel wrapped around her body, with a bar of soap and shampoo cradled in her left arm, while the other held firm to her towel.

“H-Hi Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset face palmed herself. “What the hell, are you stalking me or something?!”

“NO, NO, NO! I swear I’m not doing that! My gym class let out a bit ago and I came to…uh…shower.”

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Well what are you waiting for, there are plenty of open spaces?”

“Well…I was kind of waiting for everyone to leave.”

“What, don’t tell me you’re embarrassed to be in the showers?” Sunset asked incredulously.

Twilight nodded with blushing face.

“I swear you’re a damn nerd cliché,” said Sunset under her breath. “Then just shower in your swimsuit like I am then.”

“Well you see, my class was doing outdoor activities, so I…I’m…you know.”

“Naked?”

Twilight blushed harder, why was she getting so embarrassed? And why was Sunset feeling weird too?

“Just take the shower, we’re both girls Sparkle, not like you have something I don’t.” Twilight still seemed hesitant to enter, and Sunset wasn’t in the mood to budge for Twilight either. “Fine, I’ll turn my back or close my eyes or something! Just hurry up!”

Twilight nodded tentatively. She moved to one of the shower heads in the corner, making it easier for Sunset to turn away. Sunset turned around sitting on the wet floor and leaning on the wall. She heard the sound of the shower going off behind her, letting out a sigh of indignation. But that’s when it hit her.

I’m alone…with Twilight…and there’s no one around…!

This was her chance, her best opportunity! Twilight was behind her, oblivious, naked, and vulnerable, and literally backed into a corner. If she acted now, Sunset could do whatever she wanted with Twilight and no one would be able to come to help, not a teacher or her little group of friends. A myriad of scenarios rushed through her mind, all of them ranging from PG, R, and X rated acts. Verbal assault? Too easy, she could do that any day of the week. Actual assault? Possibly, rough her up a bit to finally establish who the boss was. Sexual Assault…that one was not exactly on her top ten, but it was an option…and for some reason it stuck out in her mind.

The thought of forcing herself on Twilight, pinning her against the wall as she made the egghead scream her name throughout the locker room. The mixture of pain, pleasure, and anguish on her face as she made Twilight’s body experience sensations she never imagined! Making her a little obedient slave to her whims!

Where did that come from?! Sunset thought. What the hell is wrong with me?! I’m no damn rapist!

Sunset felt her cheeks heat up as her dark thoughts changed from less assault driven scenarios, and turning them into just plain making out in the showers. Sunset slapped herself across the face, now she was having fantasies about her!

“That’s it, I’m out!”

“Out of what?!” Twilight cried with surprise.

“Out of here! I just…! I can’t stand to be here – around you!” Sunset shouted.

“Sunset wait!” Twilight cried out as she hurriedly wrapped her towel around her body.

Sunset was at the lockers when Twilight reached out and grabbed her wrist, making the yellow skinned girl flinch and tense up.

“Sunset, I’m sorry…I never meant to hurt you with the Fall Formal…It just happened! I wasn’t plotting some great take over, or trying to turn everyone against you! Deep down I know you’re not like what everyone says you are, I can tell you’re better than that!”

Sunset’s eyes grew wide, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her body began to shake, making Twilight release Sunset and look upon her with worry.

“Sunset…?”

“What do you know…?”

“What…?”

“I said…WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!!!”

Sunset Shimmer grabbed Twilight and threw against the lockers, knocking the air out of her lungs. She then thrust both of her hands on either side of Twilight’s head, slamming them into the behind her, pinning Twilight against the metal of the locker. Twilight was scared, but not as much as one would think. Mostly because of the look Sunset had in her eyes. There was fury there, but at the same time, maybe even more so, there was sadness.

“You don’t know anything Sparkle! I’m not like you, I’m not like anyone in this damn school! I have no home to go to! I’ve burned bridges to get what I want – what I deserved! And in the end, it meant nothing! I’m nothing!” Sunset roared, her eyes stinging with the beginnings of tears.

Sunset saw Twilight’s body go lax, as if the tension of the situation had worn off for her. She kept her gaze lowered, her long bangs covering her eyes as she spoke.

“I know…I know how you feel, Sunset…because I’m nothing too.”

Sunset pulled back, not really sure what to make of that answer.

“But because I am nothing, I want to be something. A good friend, a good student, a good sister, all of those and more. Being nothing doesn’t make you nothing, it just means you haven’t figured out the thing you want to be yet.”

“What…I…” Sunset was at a loss for words.

How did Twilight know how she was feeling, it may’ve not been everything, but it was a part of the problem?! Sunset couldn’t stop shaking, either with fury or shock was a mystery to her. Sunset then felt a hand gently wrap itself around her left.

“Sunset…I just want –”

Sunset quickly and violently wrenched her hand free of Twilight’s, rubbing it as if it had been burned.

“Just leave me alone Sparkle…”

Sunset walked over to her locker, grabbed her clothes and walked off to another part of the maze like room. Twilight released a breath she didn’t know she was holding, hugging herself as she realized just how bad that could’ve turned out, but at the same time, a glimmer of hope sparked in her chest. Sunset could’ve done something to her, she had the chance, more than once actually. But just now, Twilight thought, for a moment, that Sunset would hurt her, but the sadness in those aquamarine eyes told a different story. It was a sadness that Twilight knew well, yet Sunset’s sadness seemed different in some way.

Sunset was a torrent of emotions the rest of the day, although, you couldn’t tell by just looking at her. She kept silent most of the day, not even once yelling or doing anything mean spirited to anyone. She had this deep in thought look on her face, the only time you could tell that whatever it was she was thinking of was bothering her, was if Sunset let out a grunt or a frustrated sigh. No matter what, Sunset just couldn’t get what Twilight said out of her mind. It was like, for that moment, she and her were the same. The same doubt and fear in Twilight’s voice was the same as hers when she was at her lowest, alone in her apartment.

She had touched upon a fear in her heart that even Sunset was loathed – and frightened – to admit to herself. But it was the way Twilight spoke, she was…gentle, kindly, and empathetic, not trying to understand her, but it was as if she did. And that scared Sunset, at the same time, it made another emotion spring up inside her that she wasn’t sure of. Fondness? Longing? Attraction?! Sunset didn’t want to admit – no, more like she couldn’t.

It wasn’t an odd thing for a mare in Equestria to be attracted to another mare. The stallion to mare ratio was oddly skewed for some reason, and Sunset will admit, a mare or two did catch her eye when she was Celestia’s student, but it never went anywhere, she was concentrating on her studies and to become the best protégé the Princess ever had. Now that she was in this world? The male to female ratio was evened out, she dated Flash Sentry, the oaf. She found him physically attractive but other than that, she could care less.

Not so say there weren’t some girls around the school that weren’t easy on the eyes, her new body seemed to make the transition of species attraction fairly easily. Trixie could’ve made for some fun, but her mind was less occupied on that and more occupied with how to acquire magic to take over both worlds. Now, with her plans completely ruined, her mind had nothing else to distract it from those thoughts. And of all the people in the school, it had to be Twilight Sparkle!

Sunset barely noticed the last bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day. She got up from her desk and headed for the main entrance, wanting to just go home and sulk, not much else she could do. As she walked through the halls she spotted the six girls she loathed the most, all laughing, giggling, smiles on their faces, the best of friends. Sunset kept on walking, feeling her stomach churn from seeing them, but she spared them one more glance over her shoulder and noticed Twilight looking at her again. The violet eyes of the egghead still carried with them the same sympathy and genuine concern as earlier.

Sunset felt her heart thump in her chest and tore her gaze away from Twilight, changing her brisk walk into a storming stomp, making the other students get out of her way. She was glad when she finally got outside, away from them and her. Sunset was about to head to her bike but instead walked to the statue. It became a little ritual at the end of the day, placing her hand on the statue’s smooth and cool marble surface, seeing if the portal had opened up at all.

She sighed dejectedly, yet again, it was the same result. Sunset knew the portal would not open for a long while, but that didn’t mean that it would any time before then. If there was one thing she knew about magic, is that it was often times unpredictable, and just because a spell had rules placed upon it, doesn’t mean it had to abide by them one-hundred percent of the time. The older the spell or enchantment, the more likely the magic has become less rigid, allowing it to be flexible with how it operates.

Just gotta keep checking. Maybe I’ll get lucky and finally get the hay – hell – out of here!

Just as Sunset Shimmer was about to leave she heard a familiar sound approaching the school. It was the sound of a powerful engine, roaring towards the school, along with the squealing of tires. Sunset balled up her fists, she could never forget the sound of that muscle car. Sunset stepped from behind the statue and saw a black Pontiac firebird screech to a stop right in front of the sidewalk. The driver’s side door opened up and revealed a girl, somewhat older than Sunset. She wore a brown jacket, with white feathers around the collar, torn khaki pants, and a black tank top shirt. Her hair was short and white, but with purple colored edges. Her tan skin made her intense yellow eyes almost sheen like a bird of prey.

“Gilda,” said Sunset in a monotone voice.

“Sunny, what’s up?!” Gilda asked.

“Nothing, goodbye.”

Sunset turned around and made her way for the parking lot.

“Ah, don’t be like Sunny!”

Sunset stopped and glanced back at the car, watching the passenger side door open and close. Another girl was with Gilda as she leaned up against the car, much to Gilda’s annoyance. Her hair was a dark gold, with a spikey edge, flowing down a little past her shoulders. Turquoise skin standing out against her blue jacket, white shirt with a lightning bolt symbol on it, and blue jean pants.

“Lightning Dust,” said Sunset in the same tone.

“Jeez, did it drop a few degrees around her G?” Lightning asked.

“I think so, almost subzero,” replied Gilda.

“What the hell do you guys want?!” Sunset demanded turning to both of them.

Gilda put up her hands in a friendly gesture. “Whoa, easy Sunny, we’re all friends remember?”

Sunset couldn’t call these girls friends, not after they cost her the one opportunity to go to Equestria and steal the Element of Magic!

“‘Friends’?! ‘Friends’?! You both got me thrown in juvie for two damn days!” Sunset shouted, throwing her backpack and helmet onto the ground.

“Hey, sorry you didn’t get to win the whole ‘Princess’ title, but you won like, what, three times now?” Lightning Dust pointed out.

“That’s not the point you – UGH!” Sunset couldn’t really tell them the reason why she was angry at them, if she said she was planning to take over the world with the help of a powerful magical item from a world inhabited by intelligent, talking ponies, they’d look at her like she was crazy.

“And if I recall, Sunny, you came and hung out with us! We didn’t make you, but c’mon, up until that part it was a lot of fun,” said Gilda.

“So can you get over it so we can hang out again?” Lightning asked.

“No, I’m done with both of you! Now kindly drive off a cliff!”

Gilda walked around from the car and draped one arm over her shoulders, giving the fiery haired girl a wicked smile.

“Let’s cut the crap Sunny, we both know why you’re really angry, and it ain’t because of me or Dusty,” said Gilda.

“What are you talking about?” Sunset asked, feeling a bit uneasy at the close contact.

Lightning Dust walked towards them, crossing her arms and giving a knowing smile towards Gilda.

“What G means is that you’re really angry at the mousy little bookworm girl, what’s her name…oh right, Twilight Sparkle.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed at the mention of that name, a reaction that did not go unnoticed by either Lightning Dust or Gilda.

“Listen, if you want, we can help you get a little payback on dweeb,” said Gilda.

“We can just find her when she’s alone and call you up later, and…well, I think we can all have a little ‘fun’ with the lame-o.” Lightning suggested. “And speak of the devil, there she is now…with Dash…”

Gilda, Sunset, and Lightning all looked towards the entrance, noticing that Twilight and her friends were walking out of the school, still as happy as can be. Sunset knew Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust had grown up with her and stayed like that till freshman year of Canterlot High. All three were close friends, but apparently Rainbow Dash saw her sports career and her other friends as more important than them. So when they heard of Rainbow’s break up with her friends, they found out that it was Sunset Shimmer who orchestrated it all. All three becoming friends soon after, until that night, two days before the formal.

“Maybe we can get Dash too, she likes to play the white knight more than she lets on, so if the bookworm’s in trouble, she’ll come runnin’,” said Gilda.

Lightning chuckled. “So what do you say, Sunny? Do you mind a twofer?”

Something snapped in Sunset Shimmer at that moment, hearing both girls talk about hurting Twilight made so many scenarios rush through her head. The same ones that she herself had thought of earlier, but with Gilda and Lightning Dust, they weren’t afraid of pushing the envelope, the words “holding back” were not in their vocabulary. Sunset ducted under and out of Gilda’s arm, she then cocked back her left fist and pushed her across the face, sending the older girl sprawling to the ground.

“What the hell Sunset?!” Lightning shouted.

“You’re not going to lay a finger on Sparkle! You hear me?!” Sunset roared.

Gilda got back up, spitting out some blood from her mouth. “You little bitch, don’t tell me you actually give a damn about her?!”

Sunset hesitated for a moment. Lightning took advantage of this hesitation and got her arms underneath Sunset’s armpits, wrenching upwards and immobilizing her arms and her body at the same time. Sunset struggled against Lightning Dust’s hold on her, but she didn’t get to try before Gilda’s yellow gloved fist punched her right in the stomach. The other students all stopped when they saw this, gasping and murmuring to each other about what they was going on.

Gilda cocked back her fist and punched Sunset across the face, and then gave another to the other side, and one more to her stomach to knock out any air she may’ve inhaled. Sunset hadn’t been in many fights, but she did know how to fight, and part of fighting was knowing the right moment to strike! She let herself slump in Lightning Dust’s grip, feeling the girl behind her loosen her grip. But once she did, Sunset shot back up, head-butting Lightning with the back of her head. Lightning let go immediately, cursing and grunting in pain from the blow. The back of Sunset’s head throbbed from the impact, but she couldn’t let that get to her right now!

Gilda thrust out her fist but Sunset brought up her left arm, using her forearm to deflect the blow, following it with a right hook to Gilda’s ribs, and an uppercut to her jaw, sending Gilda stumbling backwards disoriented. Sunset brought up her fists, entering a defensive stance in preparation for another attack from Gilda, but she was aware that Lightning Dust wouldn’t be preoccupied with the pain radiating from her face for too long before she came to back up Gilda.

“STOP THIS NOW!!!”

Gilda, Sunset, and Lightning Dust snapped their gazes towards the entrance, watching as Vice Principal Luna and some of the other faculty began running towards them. Gilda and Lightning Dust glanced at each other and nodded, afterwards bolting for the car. Both girls gave Sunset a death glare that pretty much translated into “This isn’t over!” to which Sunset gave one of her own that replied “Anytime!” With that, Lightning Dust and Gilda peeled away down the road.

Now with both threats gone, Sunset allowed herself to collapse onto the ground, falling to one knee as she held her stomach with one arm. She hated showing weakness in front of all the students, but Gilda’s punches really hurt. It wasn’t long before Sunset felt two gentle hands rest on her back, her first instinct was to elbow the idiot dumb enough to get close to her while she was still on edge, but it was the voice that came from that person that made her stop.

“Sunset Shimer…?”

The battered girl, reluctantly, glanced over her shoulder, seeing the visage of her former mentor’s human double. Her long, tricolored hair brushed against Sunset’s shoulder, gentle magenta eyes looking down on her with two parts worry and anger, she wore a khaki colored jacket, with a white and purple striped shirt underneath it. On the lapel was a broach, made in the image of the sun. This was the very woman who was in charge of this school, the very woman whom Sunset couldn’t stand and yet couldn’t deny enjoying her presence.

“Principal Celestia…” Sunset groaned.

“Are you alright?!”

Sunset looked away from the older woman, feeling the old shame from leaving her pony counterpart resurface. Principal Celestia decided to keep the questions for later, at least until Sunset was looked after.

“Luna, please go inside and see if the nurse is still here! Tell her I’m bringing Sunset Shimmer to her now, and that she’s injured!”

The blue skinned woman, the younger sister to Celestia, nodded and hurried back inside. The other faculty cleared a path for Celestia as she helped Sunset into the school. Sunset felt humiliated, being half carried into the school, beaten, in front of every kid she terrorized and bullied over the years. She noticed that some were surprised but none had any sympathy. And why should they? She who showed them no kindness or showed any remorse for her actions, as far as they were concerned, she got what she deserved.

But there were six girls who had different looks. Rainbow Dash looked furious, whether it was because of Gilda and Lightning showing up or because she missed an opportunity to join in on the fight was up in the air. Fluttershy, the ever kind girl that she was, had her hands clasped over her mouth in worry as she saw Sunset being helped up the stairs. Pinkie Pie seemed like she wanted to go and help, but wasn’t completely sure if she should. Rarity was busy calming down Applejack, even if Sunset was a bitch to them, Applejack’s code of honor saw the two on one as unfair odds, angry that she didn’t step in sooner.

One expression caught her attention out of all six of them, and it was Twilight’s. Her eyes had tears in them, as if she was crying for her, but that couldn’t be right?

Why are you crying over me getting my ass kicked…? Why…I don’t get it?

The thumping in her chest returned, but she ignored it, as the pain in her gut, face, and arms was more prominent.

Entry 2: Work Together

Twilight looked out the window of her brother’s car, she had been silent for most of the car ride home and that was a little unusual for her. Shining Armor could tell when something was up with his little sister, and right now there was definitely something eating at her.

“Twily what’s up, you’re usually not this quiet?” Shining Armor asked.

Twilight let out a sigh. “There was a fight today at school.”

“Seriously?!”

Twilight nodded. “It was between Sunset Shimmer and a couple of other girls I haven’t seen around school.”

Shining Armor narrowed his gaze at hearing that name. Twilight had spoken of Sunset Shimmer before, the majority of his information about the girl having come from her friends during the times they came over. From what he gathered Sunset Shimmer was a bully and quite possibly dangerous, Shining Armor more than once offered to have a “talk” with the girl in question, but Twilight insisted that she could handle it on her own.

“Well I’m sorry you saw that, was she hurt badly?”

“I don’t know, Principal Celestia took her back inside the school to see the nurse…I just can’t believe that that happened to her, in broad daylight! Why would they do that?!”

“Who knows, maybe she got mixed up with some bad people and this was their payback?”

“But it was unfair! One of them was holding her while the other one was hitting her like a punching bag! And worst of all, no one came to help her! Half the student body was outside and not a one came to help!”

Shining Armor stopped the car at a red light and glanced over to his little sister. “Not to seem cruel or anything Twi, but from what your friends – and you personally – have told me, I’m not surprised. Maybe they thought she was getting what she deserved, having bullied most of them, they just believed she was getting her comeuppance.”

Twilight blanched at what her brother said. “That’s still no excuse! No one deserves to be publically beaten! This isn’t the middle ages! And for your information, I was going to go and help her!”

Shining’s eyes went wide, almost hitting the accelerator from the response. “WHAT?! Twilight that’s insane!”

“I didn’t get to…the others held me back because they didn’t want me to get hurt…In fact, Sunset Shimmer was doing alright, and she pulled off this amazing comeback that surprised me! I mean, admittedly she is hostile, but even so, she’s still pretty good at her academics! She’s smart, I know that, in the few classes that I’ve had with her she does the bare minimum of the homework assignments, but come test day she aces it! She’s smart and strong, Sunset was about to fight those two, I think Rainbow Dash and Applejack would’ve stepped in if it gone on any longer, but like I told you, the teachers broke it up.”

The light turned green and Shining Armor resumed his driving. There was something in the way Twilight was talking about Sunset Shimmer that made him worry a little, she wasn’t always talkative, but she did talk more about her friends when the subject came up, but other than that, talking about Sunset Shimmer in the way that she was…

No, I’m overthinking it…or am I? Nah, Twily’s…she’s different, but I don’t think she’s different like that too.

Soon the two of them arrived at their house, it was slightly bigger than most of the residences, but only because of who occupied it. Their mother, Twilight Velvet, was an accomplished writer and editor, and their father, Night Light, was the head of the astronomy department at Canterlot Planetarium. Despite their accumulated income, the couple decided to live in a modest house in the suburbs rather than in some high class area, believing it better for their children to grow up around good people. Twilight disembarked from her brother’s car first, waiting for him to exit from the driver’s side before heading back in with him.

“Oh…please don’t tell Mom and Dad about what I told you, I don’t want them to worry,” said Twilight.

“No problem, what else are BBBFFs for?” Shining asked as he ruffled Twilight’s hair.

The two siblings entered their home, luckily both parents were still working and it would be another hour or two before they even got back home. Shining Armor did his usual thing whenever he got home, he plopped in front of the TV and turned it onto the news or whatever was on, and Twilight did what she usually did, she waited for Spike to come bounding towards her, picked him up and petted him, and set him back down on the floor. She then took a seat on the opposite couch, picked up a book and read something that interested her for a bit before doing her homework.

Although, Twilight was finding her concentration on the subject, “Advanced Quantum Mechanics”, to be divided right now. She just couldn’t get the image of what she saw today out of her head. Watching Sunset Shimmer fight those two girls, and then there was the locker room. Twilight felt her cheeks heat up at the embarrassing thought, normally she was skittish about showering with another person in the locker rooms, but Sunset felt different. And then there was that moment, the moment when Sunset slammed her against the locker – which her back was still sore from and purposefully neglected to tell her brother about – and stared her down with such…such a strange mixture of anger and sadness.

Nothing…is that what she really sees herself as? Granted, I was the same way…but then I met Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. But Sunset hasn’t had anyone…in fact, I don’t think the girls ever said anything about her even having one friend.

Twilight couldn’t help but feel a kindred spirit with Sunset when she said she was “nothing”. For a while Twilight had had her doubts about what drove Sunset Shimmer, all the bullying, all the violence, her sense of superiority, just where did it stem from? Twilight seriously doubted they had similar origins, there wasn’t anybody who went through what she did, but somehow their sadness and way of thinking about themselves was similar. Why was that? What happened to Sunset Shimmer? And was she willing to be different? Twilight tried different things to try and open up Sunset. A glance here and there, a sincere smile and a wave of acknowledgment, but every gesture was met with the same result. Sunset would look her way, scowling, they gazes would meet for a moment, she’d then get this contemplative look in her eyes for a brief moment before it turned into indignation and she stormed off.

That moment in the locker rooms was quite possibly the only time Sunset had talked to her at length, or even revealed that much to her. Of course Sunset probably didn’t plan on saying all that, but she did seem surprised when Twilight was able to relate to her. She looked so unsure about herself in that moment, so confused. Twilight wasn’t going to lie, for a brief moment, when Sunset had her pinned to the locker, she thought she was going to do something very inappropriate to her.

“Twi you alright?” Shining Armor asked.

“Huh…? Oh, yeah, why do ask?”

“‘Cause your cheeks are flushed.”

Twilight put one had to her cheek and felt how warm it was, she quickly brought the book up to cover her blushing face, shrinking into the couch to try and hide her embarrassment. And Shining Armor, the ever loving and caring big brother that he was, couldn’t resist the opportunity to further that embarrassment.

“Twily, are you thinking about someone?” Shining Armor asked.

“N-NO!” she stuttered.

“C’mon sis, don’t lie. Who’s my precious little sister crushing on?”

“I-I-I’m not ‘c-crushing’ on anyone!” Twilight insisted.

“Twilight, you can tell me, it’s not like I’m going to tell anyone. Well…maybe except for Cadance, and you know how she’ll get. So who is it? Is that Flash Sentry guy?”

“No! He’s a nice guy, and really friendly, but I don’t like him like that!”

Good, ‘cause I wasn’t sure about you dating some rock ‘n roll wannabe.

“So is it another guy? Maybe one of your teachers?”

“NO! Not only is that morally wrong, it’s against the law!”

Well that’s another fear off the list.

“Is it another girl?”

Twilight dropped the book she was holding, her face frozen in what could be considered a mix of shock, horror, and embarrassment. She made sounds that could be considered english and intelligible communication – from another dimension where gibberish was the national language – as she tried to work together a cohesive sentence.

Oh boy, I may’ve hit the nail on the head with this one.

“I – You – That’s not – I can’t possibly – Two girls – Shining Armor that’s…that’s…!”

That was what? “Absurd”, “disgusting”, “outrageous”, “too personal”? I don’t know, thought Twilight.

Shining Armor noticed the deep in thought look on her face, and by the knitting of her brow he could tell she was seriously thinking on it. He meant the last one as joke, but he wasn’t so sure it was. Twilight hadn’t ever shown anything close to romantic interest in others, sisterly love towards himself, familial love to their parents, and platonic love for her best friends. But romantic? That was a different story. He couldn’t deny his sister was cute from an objective standpoint, but that’s what worried him, she was different from most kids, and he didn’t want someone manipulating her with her feelings. Shining Armor knew better than anyone – even more than his own parents – that Twilight deserved to be happy.

“Hey, Twily, don’t sweat it. I was joking sis.” Shining Armor assured.

Twilight didn’t seem so convinced, but she simply nodded and picked up the book she was staring at rather than reading.

“Do you want me to call Cadance? She’s probably a better person to talk to about…certain things.”

Twilight shook her head, keeping her gaze on the book. Shining Armor started to feel like an idiot for even bringing that up.

“Thank you anyway…but I might call her myself, if that’s okay?”

Shining Armor looked over to Twilight as she glanced at him while smiling. He nodded his answer, making his little sister’s smile broaden slightly. Suddenly, Shining Armor’s cellphone went off, he pulled it out of his pocket and saw the number read “Restricted”. Shining sat up straight in the couch, his face getting a serious expression on it that was almost scary.

“Shining Armor?”

“I need to take this.”

Twilight watched as her big brother left and went upstairs to his room at a very brisk pace. The violet haired girl looked up towards the stairs, sitting hunched over, twiddling her thumbs, having abandoned the book completely. Spike seemed to sense his master’s anxiety and walked over to Twilight, giving a soft bark to convey his presence before nuzzling the side of her leg. Twilight smiled as she picked up the purple and green eared dog, holding him close as she continued to stare in the same direction.

After about five or ten minutes Shining Armor walked back downstairs, stopping about halfway and sitting on the steps. Twilight got up, carrying Spike as she made her way to where he was.

“Shining Armor…was it them?”

He nodded.

Twilight felt a pit in her stomach. “Are you…leaving?”

Shining Armor didn’t answer audibly, but he gave a sigh and a slow nod of his head as affirmation.

Spike whimpered and Twilight lowered her gaze in sadness. “Do you really have to go?”

“You know the answer to that Twilight,” said Shining Armor.

“But you barely made it out rescuing me! The first time they were caught off guard and by surprise, but they’ll be ready for you! Please Shining Armor just…just tell them you can’t, please?!” Twilight pleaded.

Shining Armor sighed heavily, he then got up and walked down the stairs to meet his sister at the bottom. The older boy wrapped his arms around Twilight, minding Spike who managed to work his way up between them and rest his head Shining’s shoulder.

“I’ll be alright Twilight, just wait for me. I promise I’ll come back. That’s a promise Twi, and since whenever has your BBBFF ever broken a promise?”

Twilight sniffled, her eyes watery with tears. But she relented, she knew she couldn’t stop him, as much as she wanted to.

“You better come back, I won’t forgive you if you don’t!”

“I will.”

THE NEXT DAY…

Sunset Shimmer, despite her fight yesterday, went back to school. She didn’t want to give the other students the satisfaction of thinking her so weak and beaten that she was afraid to show her face at school, of course, riding her motorcycle proved to be painful. The rumbling of the bike made her bruised midsection ache, and the rattling didn’t help her jaw either. When she arrived in the parking lot and removed her helmet, many of the students began to whisper amongst themselves. Sunset had a bruise on her left cheek, and a partially blacked eye, but her midsection was more bruised than her face. Gilda could punch hard, she knew that from the get-go, but she was surprised to find out that she had bruised a rib.

Guess I’ll walk for a couple of days, probably not a good idea to ride while I’m like this, she thought.

Sunset walked, although with a little labored breathing, towards the school, ignoring the looks she was getting from the other students as she entered the school. She felt like some kind of sideshow freak, but with a menacing glare she managed to reduce the amount of gawking, despite her beaten state, it was clear from the fight that Sunset could indeed fight well, and wasn’t afraid of throwing a punch or taking one.

Out of everything from that day, the one thing that she couldn’t stop asking herself was “why”. Why did she get so angry about Gilda and Lightning Dust proposing to kidnap Twilight and hurt her? Was she not just contemplating doing things to her in the locker room just a few hours prior? Granted that she wanted to take out her frustration and anger on them for that night before the Fall Formal, but she never intended to get into a fist fight with them. Even now Gilda’s words still rang in her head, there was no way she could forget them.

“Don’t tell me you actually care about her…!”

I don’t care about Sparkle! She can go jump off a cliff and die for all I care……………So then why did you punch Gilda because of what she said they were going to do then Shimmer?

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be asking myself…”

“Sunset Shimmer?!”

Sunset looked ahead and saw Twilight walking towards her, surprisingly not flanked by her personal guards. The violet eyed girls stopped and looked upon her with worry, again something she didn’t understand.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I normally have a black eye and labored breathing, I thought you knew,” said Sunset sarcastically.

“Sorry…I was just worried about you.”

Sunset averted her gaze from Twilight, not understanding why she did so. Her kindness was annoying, especially after what Twilight said to her yesterday.

“I thought I told you to leave me alone or was I not clear on that?” Sunset asked.

Twilight began to rub her left arm nervously. “I know you did, but that was that, and this is something else! You were beat up, why shouldn’t I be worried about how you’re doing?”

“Because…Because…Ugh! You know damn well why you shouldn’t so don’t – OUCH!”

Sunset dropped her helmet and hugged her chest and stomach, leaning against the wall and shutting her eyes tight from the sharp stab of pain.

Got myself worked up, damn that hurt!

“Sunset!” Twilight placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders to steady, dropping her books in the process. “Are you alright?! Do you need to go see the nurse?!”

The fiery haired girl looked to Twilight, genuine concern reflected in her eyes. But Sunset took a moment to glance around, seeing the looks that she was getting from the other students. Sunset was suddenly more aware of Twilight’s touch upon her shoulders, even through her leather jacket, it was almost as if the warmth of her hands was radiating through the layer of leather and to her bare skin, sending a pleasant tickling sensation through her body. Sunset almost let herself give in to Twilight’s kindness…almost.

Sunset righted herself and shrugged away from Twilight. “I don’t need your help! I’m fine! Just do yourself a favor Sparkle, and stay the hell away from me!”
Sunset stormed off without another word, leaving Twilight where she stood. Twilight herself noticed that her helmet was still on the ground, but before she could get the chance to tell her Sunset was already out of sight.

Neither one of the two girls noticed a certain principal watching the entire thing, nor at the same time, neither were they aware of what exactly she was thinking about doing.

LATER THAT DAY…

“I’m glad you could come and see me Ms. Shimmer,” said Principal Celestia.

Sunset was currently sitting the principal’s office, having Vice Principal Luna track her down and escort her to the taller woman’s office. Once inside, Vice Principal Luna left the two to talk in private. Now Sunset was stuck sitting in a, rather comfortable, chair and having to be in the presence of the human counterpart of her old mentor.

“Well with you siccing Vice Principal Luna to come find me, I hardly had a choice, plus I’m injured so my usual stealthy ways of moving around are inhibited for the time being.”

Celestia shrugged and grinned. “Regardless, still nice to have you here.”

Sunset let out a long sigh. “So what is it this time? You already chewed me out about what happened yesterday.”

“That I did, and I have yet to get a clear answer as to why those two girls saw fit to hurt you. But that can wait, because this may or may not be related to the subject.”

“And that is?” Sunset asked expectantly.

Celestia sat on the edge of her desk in front of Sunset Shimmer, her usual tactic when trying to seem informal when talking to the students of her school, a way of helping them to feel more comfortable and less intimidated.

“I want to discuss you, Sunset.”

“Oh boy, here we go,” groaned Sunset.

“I’m serious, I’m worried about you Sunset Shimmer. You’ve been acting strangely ever since the Fall Formal, and it’s beginning to worry me honestly,” said Celestia.

Sunset averted her gaze from Celestia, these magenta eyes, although they did not carry the wisdom that came from living numerous lifetimes, she did however have that same look whenever she was genuinely worried about another’s wellbeing. An almost motherly look that made you want to run to her and confess all that you have done so that you may be forgiven, eyes that held strength, not magical mind you, but a strength was at least somewhat similar to that of her old mentor’s.

“You don’t have to, I’m fine.”

“You’re clearly not, Sunset.”

“Why do you even care about me, huh?!” Sunset turned her gaze back to Celestia, her eyes narrowed as she stared the older woman down.

“Because Sunset Shimmer, you refuse to tell me anything about yourself! Where you’re from, who your parents were, how else do you think I should act when a girl mysteriously pops up in my school with no records and is practically homeless! If my getting you that apartment doesn’t show you the lengths I’m willing to go to see to your wellbeing –”

“I never asked you to set me up in that apartment, nor did I ever ask you for help in getting into this school!” Sunset barked.

Celestia crossed her arms and gave Sunset a stern look. “Alright, what would you do if I suddenly just cut you off? Stopped paying for your apartment just like that, what would you do then?”

“Not like there aren’t other ways for me to get money, part time jobs and all that junk. And worst case scenario, I’ll end up having to work a street corner,” said Sunset offhandedly.

Celestia slammed the palm of her hand against her desk, making Sunset jump slightly from the sudden noise.

“Don’t you ever say something like that Sunset, not even as a joke! You’re far too brilliant and talented to think of yourself that way!”

Sunset sat there in silence, for that brief moment of anger, Principal Celestia sounded very much like Princess Celestia. She was wondering if the two weren’t somehow channeling each other without the other knowing.

“S-Sorry…”

Silence filled the room, Celestia was taken aback by her own outburst, knowing it wasn’t proper to yell at a student like that. And it seemed her outburst surprised Sunset into silence as well. Celestia sighed heavily as she returned her gaze to the young girl before her.

“I mean it though. You are brilliant, if you wanted to you could very well be top in your class, I’ve seen the test scores.”

“Whoopdee-freakin’-doo, I’m smart, I knew that from the beginning, so what?” Sunset asked in annoyance.

“I want you to do something challenging, something other than instilling fear in your fellow classmates, something that will maybe change your outlook and give you new purpose.”

As much as Sunset Shimmer didn’t want to admit it, the prospect did sound intriguing. That, and she really wasn’t doing anything else of great importance, her great plan for domination of two worlds ended, so she had nothing but free time to think of “other things”, things that were better not thought of lest she find they meant something she wasn’t wholeheartedly prepared to embrace.

“Fine, what did you have in mind?” Sunset asked, sounding almost cordial.

Celestia smiled, at least Sunset was willing to hear her out. “There’s an upcoming science fair –”

Sunset Shimmer face palmed herself. “Seriously, a high school science fair?!”

“A science fair,” Celestia continued, “hosted by Canterlot University, sponsored by the city itself.”

“Okay…”

“They’ve put out a challenge to each school district, wanting the youngest of this generation to show what scientific breakthroughs or ideas they can present to the scientific community. Basically it’s a forum to show off how smart you are.”

Celestia saw the corners of Sunset’s mouth quirk up a bit, knowing that the girl before her wasn’t one to back down from a challenge nor was she able to resist the chance to show off her superiority.

“So what’re the rules, is there a prize?”

“The contest isn’t until the middle of next month, which means you have from now until then to enter. As far as rules go: you can present almost any idea or any invention, so long as said invention isn’t potentially dangerous like say explosive or something that can cause irreversible damage to someone. The top three winners will get to present their ideas at summit meeting of some of the world’s most renowned geniuses, as well as get to hobnob with them.”

Sunset was starting to like this idea, already her head was coming up with numerous different theorems and inventions to blow away the competition, figuratively and possibly literally as well.

“However…the competition requires that each school have two entries, and that both are to work together in the competition.”

Sunset quirked an eyebrow at that. “So what, the other one gets to be my helper monkey or something?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “No, not your ‘helper monkey’, your partner. Someone of similar intellect so that together you two can achieve something great.”
Sunset didn’t get it, if Celestia was putting her into the competition because she believed she was genius, which she was, then who else could possibly match her in brains. And then it hit her, like a train wreck.

“Oh no…no, nononononononononononononono! You are not saying what I think you’re about to say?!” Sunset shouted.

“I am. I want you and Twilight Sparkle to enter as a team and represent Canterlot High.”

Sunset rose quickly from the chair, which turned out to be a dumb idea since the quick action caused her bruised body to ache, causing her to catch herself on Celestia. Sunset quickly pushed away and stood back up to her full height.

“No way in hell I’m working with her!” Sunset protested.

“This isn’t up for debate or discussion Sunset Shimmer, you and Twilight Sparkle are going to work together on a project together.” Celestia said sternly.

“WHY?!”

Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “Because I think together, the two brightest and most intelligent girls I’ve ever seen attend this school would make a formidable team. Because I believe you can push each to heights you both alone didn’t think you could reach, and because I want to end this pointless hostility you have towards Twilight!”

As pointless as it is, you can’t expect me to get over it that easily…!

“I understand you’re upset about losing the title as Princess of the Fall Formal, but it was only one title out of the three you already hold! On top of that, I’ve seen how Twilight has tried to be nothing if not cordial and friendly towards you, but you seem determined to push her away.” Celetia got off her desk and stood before Sunset, she placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling the young girl flinch from her touch. “In the time since you’ve been here you haven’t made even one friend, Sunset. I don’t like seeing you alone and lonely.”

“Maybe I like it that way,” she muttered.

“Just give this a chance is all I’m asking, maybe you can even find some common ground with Twilight.”

“I know…I know how you feel, Sunset…because I’m nothing too…”

Those words again, they resounded in her mind once again. What did Twilight mean when she spoke those words? Was it some ploy to confuse Sunset and make her rethink possibly beating her up? Was she mocking her? Or did Twilight really know what she felt? Too many questions and not enough answers. Twilight Sparkle was still an enigma to her, same could be said of Sunset since not many knew anything about her, and not that she’d tell them if they asked. Still, Sunset did contemplate getting to know the girl better, and she also wanted to know why her heart would thump in her chest when thinking about her.

“Fine…I’ll do it.”

Celestia smiled, a little one since she didn’t want to show Sunset just how glad she was. “Well, I’ll let Ms. Sparkle know and you two can meet up and start brainstorming an idea.”

“Don’t you need to fill out paperwork or something to register us?” Sunset watched as Celestia rolled her eyes up and to the side. “You already registered us, didn’t you?”

Celestia nodded.

Right into her hands…god how does she keep doing that?!

“Guess I’ll go then,” said Sunset as she picked up her backpack and headed to the door.

“Oh yes, and if you’re planning on driving on that deathtrap back home, I think you’ll need this.”

Sunset turned around and watched as Celestia reached below her desk and pulled out her black helmet, placing it on the desk.

“What the – I’ve been looking for that thing for half the day!”

“Twilight brought it in, asked me to give it to you before you left school.”

Sunset grabbed the helmet and looked at it as if it were foreign to her. “Sparkle said that?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

With that confirmed Sunset cradled the helmet in the crook of her arm and left the room. Celestia sighed heavily and sat behind her desk, taking out a pen in preparation for paperwork.

One of these days Sunset, I’m going to climb over that anger wall of yours and it will be glorious.

THAT AFTERNOON, LUNCHTIME…

“Has Principal Celestia lost her cotton pickin’ mind?!” Applejack asked incredulously.

“Twi, you can’t be serious about this, has she met Sunset?!” Rainbow Dash asked with the same tone as her friend.

Twilight and her friends were sitting at their usual spot for lunch, with the studious girl relaying the message given to her by Principal Celestia that she and Sunset Shimmer were to work together in a scientific competition. Needless to say, when Twilight told the others, they reacted pretty much as she expected them to.

“Well, um, I think maybe it could be a good thing…” Fluttershy shrunk into her seat when Applejack and Rainbow gave her a glance. “Or-or not!”

“Darling, what Applejack and Rainbow are trying to get across is that they’re worried about you, and frankly dear so am I. Sunset has been nothing but a bully to every person in this school, and she nearly destroyed the friendships of myself, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack. That’s not exactly something one forgives so easily.” Rarity explained.

Twilight took a sip of her milk carton and sighed. “I know you’re all worried about me, and I get where you’re coming from Rarity, but I still think that Sunset Shimmer isn’t as bad as we may all think. I mean, granted I haven’t been here long enough for her to do anything as bad as what she did to you all, but I think it’s because of that that I think I can reach her. I’m basically a blank slate, and I’m not held down by the memories of her past transgressions.”

“Not to sound totally loco –”

“That started at day one,” muttered Rainbow.

“But I think Twilight has a point, see, we all can’t forget what she did, unless some guys in black suits come in and use some kind of flashy thing to erase our memories. Anywho, it’s hard for us to see Sunset as anything but the meanie, mean, super, mega bitch she’s been to all of us since as far back as we can remember! But since Twilight transferred here, she’s only gotten a small dose of that meanness, which also means that Sunset Shimmer may open up to her more since she isn’t from this school and doesn’t have her brain muddled with everything bad she’s done.”

The other girls just gawked at Pinkie Pie, sometimes they forgot that despite her hyperactive ways, she was very observant and could spout out the occasional nugget of wisdom once in a while.

“That’s…That’s exactly what I mean, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight astonished.

“Don’t get me wrong though, I’m still miffed at her, but everyone deserves a second chance.”

“And besides, I know for a fact that you, Rainbow and Applejack, were about to enter that fight Sunset had with those two girls the other day.” Twilight pointed out.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a glance and sat back in their chairs. Admittedly they hated Sunset’s guts, and did derive a little fun from seeing her get punched. But what happened the other day was overboard for them. Did they want to punch out Sunset Shimmer? Sure, but one from both of them, not a beat down like she was getting. Even though Sunset was able to fight back and get them off her, she was still going at them two on one.

“Sunset deserves a good punch, but that was too far,” said Applejack. “Weren’t even a fair fight.”

“Gilda and Dust aren’t exactly known for fighting fair to begin with,” said Rainbow Dash under her breath.

“I just hope she’s not in too much pain,” said Fluttershy.

“I’m actually in between annoying and slightly painful at the moment, but thank you for your concern.”

“EEP!”

Fluttershy and others turned their gazes towards the end of their table, seeing Sunset Shimmer standing there, her usual scowl still prominent. Applejack and Rainbow Dash scooted out of their chairs as if in preparation to fight.

“Really, you guys are going to attack me while I’m injured with bruised ribs?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ain’t no need to fight, don’t start nothin’ won’t be nothin’.” Applejack answered.

“But it’s good to know where to hit you if we need to.” Rainbow commented.

“I’m glad you’re glad you know where to kick an injured person.” Sunset then turned her gaze to Twilight. “Sparkle, I need to talk to you, in private.”

“Sunset Shimmer, whatever’s so dreadfully important you can discuss it with us present.” Rarity shot back.

“This is about the competition, science stuff, if I need a consultation in fashion I know who to call.”

“Now see here–!”

“Guys it’s fine!” Twilight shouted to quickly intervene. “Let’s talk Sunset.”

Sunset’s expression didn’t change, she simply started walking to a vacant table three down from where Twilight’s friends were. All five gave her looks of worry, but she managed to reassure them that she’d be fine. Besides, they were in the cafeteria, surrounded by numerous students, and added to the fact that Sunset Shimmer was hurt, Twilight doubted she’d do anything to physically harm her. Twilight sat across from Sunset, the other girl leaning on her forearms on the table, tapping her manicured nails on the table as her narrowed eyes gazed upon her. Twilight was getting a strange nostalgic feeling, and not the good kind either.

“So, we’re supposed to work together.”

“Y-Yeah, I guess we are.”

“Alright, so obviously you now know I’m smart, apparently your level of smart. Now I have two questions: What are we going to do and how are we going to do it?”

Twilight gulped. “Well, I-I actually came up with something. It’s something I’ve been tinkering with in my spare time but I wouldn’t mind putting some more time and effort to it.”

“And that is?”

“Fusion reactions, more specifically, creating a…fusion reactor…”

Sunset mulled over the idea, she had studied up on the subject of nuclear fusion, mostly because it was the closest thing to reaching the same nearly goddess like power that Princess Celestia had. Since it was the equivalent power of a sun.

“Potentially dangerous and yields a lot of power, and a bit unstable……sounds like fun!” Sunset said with a grin.

Twilight’s eyes, well, sparkled when she heard Sunset approve of their topic. “That’s great!”

“But how are we going to build a reactor, I mean we could work up a diagram and hypothesis for how we could achieve it, but to build something would take longer than five weeks.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. “I actually have enough components in my la – uh – room to possibly build a miniature reactor, it may not be on a large scale, but it’ll serve to show that it is possible. Of course it’ll take us about five weeks, we might be able to shave two or three days depending on our schedules, but that’s completely up to you!”

Sunset was starting to see a side of Twilight that was dorkishly cute, she seemed like a different person when talking about science, almost near Pinkie Pie level, almost. She noticed Twilight’s friends eyeing them from across the room, more specifically, they were eyeing her, watching for even the slightest hint that Sunset was going to try something with Twilight. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, but ignored them.

“Fine, so what time should I come over your place?”

Twilight’s happy face went to surprise. “W-What?”

“Well you have all the stuff at your place, so it makes more sense for me to come over and work there. I promise not to steal anything and be on my best behavior if that’s why you’re giving me that look.”

“What look?”

“That ‘oh my god, Sunset Shimmer is going to terrorize me in my own home’ look.”

Twilight shook her head. “No that’s not why I – It’s just, I didn’t think you’d want to!”

“Well it’s Friday and it’s the weekend, if you want we can get a head start on everything I could just crash at your place.”

Twilight’s cheeks were getting red for some reason. “O-Oh, so like a slumber –”

“Don’t say ‘slumber party’ or I’m out.”

Twilight closed her mouth quickly.

“Good, so how ‘bout it? I stay over the weekend and we work on this thing?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded approvingly. “Yes that sounds very good! But, what about your parents? I mean, mine won’t mind, but what about yours?”

Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen and paper, pushing it over to Twilight.

“Write your address down,” said Sunset, avoiding the question.

Twilight didn’t press the issue of her parents’ approval, but now as she wrote, Twilight was wondering in if Sunset Shimmer even had parents. When she was done, Twilight handed the paper and pen back and Sunset slipped it back into her jacket pocket, getting up from her seat she glanced over her shoulder.

“Guess I’ll see you later.”

With those last words Sunset walked away, heading out of the cafeteria and to who knows where. It was then that the gravity of the situation finally dawned on her. Sunset Shimmer was going to come over and stay through the weekend, in her home. There was so much to do, clean up her room, get the necessary equipment and materials for the project, check the fridge to see if they had food, and make sure that Spike doesn’t bite her when she comes in. But before all that, Twilight had to go and inform her friends. When she got up from the table and sat back down with her friends, she began explaining what they talked about and by the end the five girls let out a collective.

“WHAT THE F–?!”

Entry 3: Operation Liberation

Entry 3: Operation Liberation

Shining Armor was a lot of things, a good son, a good big brother, a wiz at sports, courageous, determined, honorable, dependable, smart, and a good boyfriend to Cadance. But of all the things he was good at, there was one thing he excelled at, being a soldier.

Shining Armor joined the military when he turned eighteen, and since then has rose pretty quickly in the ranks. His skills in close combat, and various forms of gun weaponry, eventually got him noticed by some higher ups who believed his skills were wasted in the normal ranks. So they brought him onto a team made of both seasoned vets and highly skilled young soldiers like himself. A special ops team whose missions included everything from covert protective detail, assassination, rescuing soldiers from behind enemy lines, and of course, bringing down the hammer on designated threats.

The cerulean haired young man had gotten on a secure line, informing him that his team was to immediately gather and leave for a Level 5 mission. Shining Armor long ago memorized the threat levels of missions, and fives were the highest, and it was on a level five mission that he found Twilight. Shining Armor shook his head, he couldn’t afford to lose focus, no matter how much this mission correlated with his little sister he had to remain focused and on the mark.

Currently he was in a plane suiting up. Because the Team was the best, they got the best in weaponry and protection. Shining Armor slipped on his promethean mesh suit, the weaving of the metal looking more like chainmail. He slipped on two dark blue shoulder pads, forearm bracers with three protruding spikes on their sides, and armored boots with similarly positioned spikes. He fastened a black belt around his waist, with pouches containing various devices and ammo, along with two pistols on either side of his thighs. On his back were two different weapons. The first was a rifle, fitted with a high tech scope that could switch between different visual spectrums, and despite its size, the weapon was light. The second seemed out of place, it was a broadsword, six feet in length and made of the same metal as their armor.

Many thought Shining Armor crazy for requesting such a weapon, but he more than impressed them in the field with it, showing that he was just as skilled, if not more so, with a sword. The nearly indestructible metal was treated differently, giving it an edge that never dulled no matter how many things he cut with it. Shining Armor sat down on one of the benches, his all dark blue helmet cradled in his left arm as he sat there and awaited the briefing from his CO.

“Good evening gentlemen, the reason we have been called out on our much needed, god given, day of rest, is because we’ve found ‘em.”

A chorus of murmurs and quiet chatter amongst the soldiers echoed out. Shining Armor tensed, finally he was going to be able to keep his promise he made to Twilight a long time ago. The CO stamped his boot three times to get the others’ attention. All eyes shifted to him as a display monitor descended from the ceiling of the cargo bay. Once it was down, a satellite image was shown of an area with a crater in it at least fifty miles wide.

“As you may or may not have heard, there was a recent nuclear explosion. This explosion was thought to be caused by some terrorist cell testing out a nuclear weapon. But evidence would suggest otherwise. Our boys at the lab confirmed that there was no mediator to initiate the nuclear reaction, and that somehow this explosion occurred on an organic level.”

Shining Armor and the other soldiers to each other in confusion, they may not be rocket scientists, but they knew that nuclear explosions needed some plutonium and a device to initiate the explosion, but there was nothing organic on Earth that could naturally cause a nuclear explosion.

“It wasn’t anything much so they wrote it off, but this recent one is why we’re being called out. We’ve had our satellites programmed to detect large spikes in nuclear radiation, and what we found, well see for yourself.”

The CO touched an icon on the screen and immediately the image of the crater receded, showing a layout of the west and eastern hemispheres, red dots appeared in different areas, and above those red dots were coordinates with names like “Gobi Desert”, “Grand Canyon”, “Himalaya Mountains”, and many more, but each had a corresponding element, all were nearly isolated areas, places with a scarce amount of human presence, the perfect place if you didn’t want anyone to see what you were up to.

“We can assume that our friends, the Organization, are testing out that human weapons project we got wind of. With that in mind, we’ve found a potential entrance into their base of operations.”

“How likely is this their base, Sir?” Shining Armor asked.

“We’re about 90% sure. So here’s our mission objectives. One: locate enemy base and infiltrate. Two: eliminate any hostile forces, kill on sight. Three: if possible, destroy everything they have regarding their research and weapons. Now, Captain Armor,” Shining Armor stood up at attention. “The fourth objective is yours. You are to locate and extract the scientist they captured to head their research, Professor Bill Neigh. Failing that, you are to terminate the professor should you find yourself with no other recourse.”

Shining Armor saluted his CO and gave a loud “YES SIR!”

A red light blinked on in the cargo bay, a signal to the Team that they were close to their objective. All of them donned their helmets, on the outside it looked like two narrow green eyes staring out, but on the inside was a sophisticated HUD (heads up display) screen. The helmets formed a seal around their necks to prevent outside air from getting in, but were fitted with rebreathers to filter the carbon dioxide and turn it back into breathable air, a precaution against airborne biological weapons, nerve gases, or smoke bombs. Each of the soldiers got into a small pod-like container and strapped themselves in.

Mechanical whirring sounds echoed inside the plane as they were lowered into position. Once locked in, the pods were fired from the belly of the plane, straight down to the ground. Ten pods, descending at a rapid rate in the moonlit sky, the wind whistling around the containers as they pierced through clouds. The ground was quickly coming into view and the pods still continued their fast drop. All ten pods suddenly fired retrorockets, slowing them down some. They fired off at different altitudes, steadily slowing their descent. The twelfth blast of the retros kicked in as the pods reached five-thousand feet, letting them fall the rest of the way. Ten thuds struck the earth in the time span of a just a few seconds, kicking up a dust cloud.

The pods all opened, allowing the soldiers to egress. In the darkness of the night, in the cover of the dust cloud, all anyone could see were glowing green eyes moving about. One of them was slowly walking ahead of the group, sword in one hand, held in a reverse grip as he waited for his fellow soldiers to ready themselves.

I’ll keep my promise Twi, I’ll get Professor Neigh out of there!

BACK IN CANTERLOT CITY, TWILIGHT’S HOUSE…

“Okay, okay, calm down, it’s only Sunset Shimmer, nothing to get worried about!”

Twilight was an organized girl, she liked everything in its place, especially her books. God help the poor unfortunate soul who placed her books in the incorrect order. But sometimes, when she really got into what she was doing, whether reading a book or working on some little hobby project, she would often forget to tidy up. It wasn’t because she was lazy or that she expected her mother to clean up the place, nothing like that. Sometimes she’d just fall asleep at her desk and other times she found herself waking up, only to realize that she had used a book for a pillow.

Yesterday, after Shining Armor quickly left, Twilight tinkered with this and that, trying to keep herself from worrying about her big brother. So she forgot to do a little cleaning up. Books were stacked on her desk five feet high, papers with many algebraic equations and formulas were strewn all over her bed, and let’s not forget the floor. Last night she was so worried that she didn’t even bother to pick up her clothes, everything from her skirt, blouse, socks, and underwear, were laid on display pretty much as soon as you walked in.

Twilight had face palmed herself when she saw her personally made chaos, she couldn’t let Sunset Shimmer see her room like this! This was the first time she was going to be alone with her and she didn’t want Sunset’s first impression of her room to be that of a slob! As she went to picking up her clothes and placing them on the bed, it dawned on her. Her parents had stated that they would be working late tonight, her father would be at the planetarium researching a possible earth like planet with his coworkers, and her mother had called shortly after stating that one of the authors she edits for had just brought in his work today, and that it the deadline was tomorrow morning.

So that meant Twilight was going to be alone, all night, with Sunset Shimmer, and she was staying over. Twilight didn’t understand why she was so nervous about being alone with Sunset. Yes she was a bit aggressive, more than a bit actually, and potentially a dangerous person. Twilight shook her head, she couldn’t afford to let herself think that way, this was not only about working together on a project, Twilight wanted to get to know Sunset Shimmer, maybe even find out why she was the way she is, and hopefully find out why she thought of herself as nothing.

“I can understand why I was thought of that way, but that was because of where I was and what I was taught. What did Sunset Shimmer go through that would cause her to think that way about herself, she who’s lived on the outside for longer than I have…”

Twilight put away the last of her clothes and began working on her books, which was also a quick job since she had the order memorized. By the end, Twilight had put up everything in her room, standing in the doorway to admire her work.

“Great, now that that’s done…oh, what am I going to wear?”

Twilight opened her closet door, seeing the array of clothes she had from her shopping trips with Rarity. True she was in her own home and could dress however she felt like, but since she had a guest coming over, she didn’t want to seem thoughtless.

“Okay…nothing too lackadaisical or I seem like I don’t care about her being here. Wait, if I wear something too formal then she might get angry and get the wrong idea…Maybe I can wear pajamas! But she didn’t want this to be a slumber party. Oh!”

Twilight ran her fingers through her hair frantically, not knowing what to wear for this. She then contemplated what Sunset was going to wear. If she was staying over then it was likely she’d bring her own pajamas. Twilight’s mind suddenly began running a myriad of different sleep wears Sunset Shimmer could use. Everything from nightgowns, which she doubted highly, boxers and a tank top seemed more her style, god knows Rainbow Dash did. Then there was the possibility that Sunset just slept in her underwear.

“S-She wouldn’t do that! I mean, at her place yes, but not in another person’s home, right?!”

Spike was sitting on the bed, looking at his owner with confusion.

“Sorry Spike, it’s just this is so…different. With my friends I know what to expect and can plan accordingly, but with Sunset Shimmer…I don’t know what will set her off, I just want to make a good impression on her, seeing as my first one involved me becoming Princess of the Fall Formal and all…”

*Bark*

“You’re right, I need to make a decision! I can make this partnership work, and maybe I can figure her out! Maybe even become friends!”

*Bark!*

*Bark!*

“Okay, now Spike, please leave my room so I can get changed!”

ELSEWHERE…

Shining Armor was ducking through one corridor after the other, pistols at the ready as he stopped at a corner. The hallway was dark, pitch black, a tactic that the enemy thought would slow them down, but it didn’t. Their helmets were outfitted with different visor settings, night vision, infrared, and EM detection. Shining Armor had shifted his vision settings to NV, illuminating the hallway and turning it a bright green color. His HUD immediately picked up on hostile enemy movement, five coming his way.

Shining Armor could see that they had night vision goggles on, but that wouldn’t help them. The soldier dashed out and ran down the hallway, pointing his dual pistols in front of him, Shining Armor began firing in rapid succession. Automatic gunfire blasted out from the enemy, lighting up the corridor with muzzle flashes. The clinking of shells hitting the walls and floors was muffled by the continuous fire.

Some of the bullets missed him, but the ones that did merely bounced off the armor. Shining Armor fired a couple of more shots, putting down two of them and hitting a couple of them. He holstered the pistols and quickly drew his sword, increasing his speed to a sprint. Shining Armor ducked low to avoid point blank fire from one of the enemies, slashing up left at an angle, cutting the gunman down. Shining Armor spun around, cutting both of the men’s’ guns in half, and with a swift follow through, slashed once, twice, three times, appearing behind them.

Shining Armor tapped the guard of his sword to make the blood fall off. At that moment the remaining three men had a delayed reaction to the attack, with big red gashes appearing on their bodies and making them spray blood onto the walls. Shining Armor re-sheathed his sword and headed on down the hall. He had maintained radio silence per his CO’s orders, and as part of the mission objectives he was to locate Professor Neigh and bring him out of the facility, failing that, execute the professor to prevent any more advancements in their research.

He managed to wring the location out of one the soldiers, before putting a bullet in his head that is, and it turned out that Professor Neigh was a few floors below the facility. He could’ve taken the elevators, but they could easily dismantle the thing and send him plummeting, god knows, how many feet. Still, going down the stairs was a good way to avoid most of the fighting, as good as he was at it, indulging too much can cost him precious time, and in this situation, time was against them.

After they had entered the facility, they split up. Shining Armor was to get the professor, while the others went on a rampage and drew attention away from him, destroying what they could along the way. That was ten minutes and five floors ago, now he was on the sixth floor and it was still taking too long. The soldier had said that the professor was on sublevel twenty, which meant Shining had another sixteen floors to go. Deciding to take a chance, Shining Armor waited by an elevator. The lights up above showing just how far down or up the elevator was going. He tensed when the number “SUB-6” was displayed. The doors slid open and revealed a squad of men, each fully armed. The squad headed down the hall, leaving two behind to guard the elevator.

Must be special access, probably the only working one, thought Shining Armor.

With that in mind, Shining Armor unslung his rifle, he then reached into one of the pouches of his belt and pulled out a silencer. He attached it to the barrel of the rifle and then pulled out a magazine that had the letters “GDB” on it. Shining Armor loaded his rifle and made some adjustments to his scope, linking it to his visor targeting system. The young man took a few steps back, going as far into the hallway as he could before stopping about halfway. He got down on one knee and aimed at the far end wall where the corridor split into two directions. Shining Armor took careful aim and pulled the trigger, the weapon making a barely audible “poof” sound. As soon as the bullet left the barrel, his HUD screen showed him the path of the bullet, Shining Armor leaned his rifle to the left, and the display showed the bullet curving.

Within a few seconds the display showed one of the guards, it continued forward, aimed directly at the guard’s head. It got closer and closer till the screen went black and the feed was cut. Shining Armor confirmed his target’s death when he heard the heavy “thump” of a body dropping to the floor. Wasting no time, Shining Armor fired another round, curving the bullet yet again and this time catching the second guard right between the eyes. He quickly holstered the rifle, and grabbed something from his belt as he ran towards the elevator.

Once Shining Armor rounded the corner, he threw two objects at the walls down the hall the death squad ran. The young warrior searched the guards, finding a key card in one of their pockets. He then hurried inside the elevator and swiped the card on the reader, bringing up a menu of floors. Shining Armor found the one labeled “SUB-20” and quickly pushed it. The doors slid closed fast and the elevator dropped just as fast. The numbers flew by, but up above he heard just the faintest “boom” sound, a smile arching across his face from hearing that.

The readout showed SUB-20 and Shining Armor whipped out his pistols, hugging the wall on his left. The doors slid open and Shining Armor waited for someone to investigate. Thankfully no one seemed present. He carefully peeked around the corner, and the then other. The armored soldier then jumped out, holding both pistols at arm’s length and aimed at the hallways to his right and left, and quickly bringing them both in front him. Shining Armor then ran down the hall, looking for any indication of where they were holding Professor Neigh.

Shining Armor stopped quickly, seeing some armed guards at a door. He holstered his pistols and took out a couple of round metal balls, throwing them in the guards’ direction. Once the balls hit the ground a large smoke cloud filled the hall. Shining’s visor switched to infrared, cutting through the haze and showing him the warm bodies of this two targets. With great speed, he made his way to the first guard. Pulling out a kunai knife, Shining Armor quickly slapped his hand over the man’s mouth and stabbed him multiple times center mass of his chest. Punctured lungs and a stabbed heart silenced the guard before he even had the chance to register it. Shining Armor then threw the kunai, lodging it in the other guard’s head and killing him instantly.

Okay, hopefully he’s here.

Shining Armor struck the panel, causing a short circuit and making the door open. He took one pistol and entered the room with caution, his visor already scanning the area for hostiles. Shining Armor had to admit, the room was different from what he was expecting Professor Neigh’s prison, the entire room was extremely huge, a scientist’s play land of gadgets, chemicals, and a really big supercomputer.

Soon Shining Armor’s HUD sensors picked up on something, he then aimed his pistol towards a workbench, cocking back the hammer in anticipation of a fire fight. “Come on out with your hands in the air, slowly!”

Two hands quickly shot up, along with a slowly rising older man. Shining Armor immediately recognized Professor Neigh, but he still had his weapon trained on the professor. After having been kidnapped and forced to work for them, he may’ve been brainwashed into depending on the Organization and ordered to resist being taken.
“It’s Captain Shining Armor of the O8th Team, do you remember me?” Shining Armor took one hand away from his gun and pressed a button on the side of the helmet. The faceplate whooshed and lifted up, revealing a transparent screen and allowing the professor to see his face.

“Shining Armor…? Oh thank god it’s you! How’s Twilight, is she doing alright?!” Professor Neigh asked.

Shining smiled, lowering his weapon as he did. “Yes she is, going to high school and she made a lot friends.”

Professor Neigh smiled happily upon hearing that. “Well, at least there is some justice in this world. But if we don’t do something quick then you can kiss all that goodbye!”

“What do you mean professor?”

Professor Neigh ran towards the vault on the other end of the room. He quickly punched in a code and let the large steel door open up, Shining Armor was right behind him, watching as the professor entered the chilled room. Professor Neigh went to the far end of the vault, moving aside several capsules that looked like they contained miniature suns. The older man then brought out one capsule from the back, hidden away from prying eyes.

“The Firestorm Protocol…it’s completed, I’ve completed it!”

MEANWHILE…

Sunset had spent the last hour and a half at her apartment before finally heading out. Still at war with herself over going to Twilight Sparkle’s house to do this project, even though, yes, she had nothing else to occupy herself, that still didn’t mean she had to do this particular thing with the egghead.

The irate girl had mounted her bike, taking a slow ride to Twilight’s after taking a pain reliever so that her bruised torso wouldn’t hurt as bad. Sunset still didn’t like Twilight Sparkle, but maybe this would change that. She realized the futility of holding onto a grudge on this girl, Twilight wasn’t the same pony one she saw in Equestria, but for some reason she seemed to have her own secrets. And it was those secrets that Sunset Shimmer found intriguing, like a puzzle that needed solving, a challenge she couldn’t pass up. Whether or not said secrets could be used as ammo against her later had yet to be determined.

Sunset Shimmer finally found the right street and turned onto it, she stopped in front of a house, checking the address to make sure she had the right place. After double checking she rolled her bike up the driveway and parked it out of the way as best she could. It was still light outside, the sky turning orange as the sun had begun its descent. Kids were playing in the streets, enjoying the warm twilight before night fell and the temperatures dropped. Sunset noticed a few of the neighbors giving her suspicious looks as they watched their children play.

A girl in a leather jacket, with a black eye, and riding a motorcycle appears in front of a nice house with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Probably think I’m here to either rob the place or I’m some kind of teen psychopathic slasher.

Sunset, ignoring the glances, walked up to the front door. She took a deep breath, grunting from the pain of doing so with bruised ribs, and exhaled slowly. She was about to enter the domicile of her rival and enemy, about to meet the parents of said enemy and rival, and spend the next two days and two nights with her on a project that was probably going to take a while to finish. With that in mind, Sunset Shimmer braced herself and knocked on the door. She heard a scrambling of feet and the sound of barking from the other side.

When the door opened Twilight was standing there, wearing a pair of purple pajama shorts and a blue t-shirt with an atom logo on it. Sunset also noticed that Twilight was holding a purple dog in the crook of her left arm, the dog’s green eyes fixed on her, tilting his head to the side as if not sure how to regard her. Sunset Shimmer wondered if the dog could tell that she wasn’t from this world, that she wasn’t human, her body may be, but it was originally a pony.

“Sunset Shimmer, hi!” Twilight said.

“Hey, so, can I come in?” Sunset asked.

Twilight quickly stepped aside and allowed Sunset Shimmer entry. She had to admit, the interior was very nice. Her apartment was nothing to sneeze at either, but this was on or about what she expected Twilight’s house to be. As she made her way into foyer she paused a moment, finding something off about this situation.

“Where are you parents, Sparkle?”

“O-Oh my parents are working late tonight, so it’ll just be us…is that bad?” Twilight asked sheepishly.

Admittedly yes, because it meant Sunset didn’t have to pretend to be overly cordial and that she didn’t have to censor herself too much. But at the same time, that mean streak in her couldn’t help but think of all the ways she could turn this to her advantage. Sunset had to shake her head, this wasn’t about revenge nor was this potential payback for undoing all she had sown at the CHS. This was about the science fair and possibly getting to know this girl, Twilight Sparkle, a little better. Sunset Shimmer took in another calming breath before answering Twilight.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

She heard Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Well, um, a-are you hungry? I can order us a pizza or something?”

“Pizza’s fine, so is there a spare room I can stay in?”

“Yes, it’s upstairs, third door on your right, it’s the one opposite my room.”

Sunset nodded and went upstairs, on her way up she noticed some family photos, many of them had Twilight in her grade school and middle school, a couple of vacation pictures and one of this boy who had his arm around her, hugging her as she and him smiled broadly. Sunset continued up and walked down the hall, she saw an open door and took a quick peek inside. It was somewhat messy, with posters of a rock group she didn’t recognize or care to know, a desk near the window with a computer on it. From where she was Sunset spotted a picture of the same boy, but he was standing beside a girl, her skin a smooth pink, hair of varying colors of rose, goldenrod, and violet.

“Huh, must be her brother, who knew.”

Sunset kept walking and entered the room Twilight had directed her to. She set her backpack on the bed, laying out some change of clothes for the next couple of days, and a toothbrush and some other toiletries. Sunset sat on the bed, taking off her boots and socks and placing near the dresser. She took a moment to compose herself, Sunset had resolved herself to let her bitchiness be put away for the next forty-eight hours.

“Okay Shimmer, you can do this.”

Sunset took off her leather jacket, placing it on the bed and walked back downstairs. She found Twilight in the foyer, the coffee table having been occupied with various papers and mechanical doodads, possibly the “components” Twilight had mentioned earlier. She had no idea where or how the bookworm would get parts to build such a thing, but she didn’t question it too much. Twilight picked up on her approach and turned around to see her.

“So what’s the ETA on the pizza?” Sunset asked.

“Thirty minutes or it’s free, as they stated, and they’re pretty punctual so it should be here quick,” said Twilight.

“Cool, so how far have you gotten, you said you were tinkering with this idea beforehand.”

Twilight scooted over, making room for Sunset as she sat down next to her. Sunset looked over the notes that Twilight had brought out, her mind already at work deciphering her formulas and theories, looking over the diagrams they would use to build a miniature fusion reactor.

“It’s all there, but certain parts elude me. It’s not normally my field of study, which is why I chose it. I want to try my hand at something different and a little more challenging, but if this is too much we still have time to figure something else out.”

Sunset scanned the documents again and the parts she had brought. “Not that hard to figure out, we can do it, and now that I’ve seen what you got, it might take less time than I thought it would.”

“Really?!”

Sunset nodded.

“The principal isn’t that much different from using maaaaaa – ahem – never mind, it’s doable. Let’s work out the equations first before we attempt to build anything, if this works there are three possible scenarios that could come about.”

Twilight raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Such as?”

“The thing fizzles out and does nothing and we look like a couple of idiots. The reactor actually works and we blow the competition away. Or it works too well, overloads, and takes out the university along with ten city blocks.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched at hearing the last possible scenario, a sight that Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle at.

“Relax Sparkle, I was joking…mostly.”

THE ORGANIZATION’S BASE…

Shining Armor was going against the mission objective, but Professor Neigh insisted upon this course of action. The professor informed Shining Armor that he had completed the Firestorm Protocol, and that it was ready to be used at any time. However, he could not let it fall in the Organization’s hands, even destroying it could prove disastrous. So he opted for a better solution, sending it away for retrieval later. Now Professor Neigh and Shining Armor were running through the halls of the underground base, with the professor leading Shining Armor to a location where they could send it off.

“Remind me again why we can’t simply leave it behind and blow up the facility and that thing with it?!”

“Because if we do there’s no guarantee that it’ll be destroyed! If the Organization comes back here and sifts through the rumble they could find it and then we’d be in even bigger trouble than we are now! Besides, do you know how hard it was to make this on the sly?! Trying to keep it out of sight while I did their dirty work, as much as I despised those human trials, they proved to be helpful in getting this one perfect!”

Shining Armor halted, making Professor Neigh do the same. He saw some guards down the hallway, so Shining Armor reached into his belt and pulled out a grenade, tossing it down the way and waiting. An explosion rung out, filling hall with smoke and fire. Shining Armor entered the hall, pistols drawn. His helmet scanned the area, reading no life signs, he motioned for Professor Neigh to continue on.

“Okay, it’s perfect, your master piece, but is it worth risking the lives of billions?!”

“You don’t get it, if the Organization manages to figure out the way to perfect and mass produce the Firestorm Protocols then this is the only thing that can stop them!”

“I get it, like a virus, no point in making something that can kill everyone if you yourself aren’t immune to it.”

“In manner of speaking yes, but this is far more potent, and full of so much more potential in the right hands!” Professor Neigh stopped as they came to a fork in the road. “That’s why I built a little something to get it out of here when they weren’t looking!”

Professor Neigh ran down the left hall, with Shining Armor close behind him. The old man stopped before one of the doors, he then pressed his palm against the scanner, making the door open with a “whoosh” sound. Shining Armor was the first to enter, guns at the ready in case of an enemy being present. His helmet didn’t detect anything, nor did his senses. The professor quickly ran inside, the room was large, a storehouse of some sort. Professor Neigh kept running till he made it something that looked like a missile silo.

“This is where they have supplies brought into them, I had sent a drone down here once to get the layout of the silo, and it turns out it leads right to the surface!”

“Okay, so how are we going to get it out?!” Shining Armor asked.

“Hold this!”

The professor tossed the capsule to Shining Armor, he hurriedly put his pistols back it their holsters and grabbed the capsule before it hit the ground. He let out a sigh that was one part relief and two parts irritated that he had done something so reckless. Shining Armor watched as the professor pulled out a rocket from the behind a crate, he quickly set up a launch pad, putting the rocket in place. The inside looked like it was specially made to handle the capsule, the professor pressed a few buttons on the side of the rocket a digital readout panel opened.

“Give it here Captain!” Professor Neigh shouted.

Shining Armor quickly gave him the capsule and secured it inside the rocket.

“How long to input some coordinates?!”

“Three minutes!”

Shining Armor nodded, taking out a pistol and scanning the area for any signs of the enemy. Suddenly his helmet gave off a pinging sound, showing the name of his CO. Shining Armor pressed two fingers to the side of his helmet.

“This is Captain Shining Armor, go ahead, over.”

{We’re almost done rigging this place to explode! How are things on your end, over?}

“Sir, I have Professor Neigh, but we’ve got a problem! The weapon they’ve been making is ready, it’s too volatile to destroy so we’re sending it out via rocket! Once we’ve launched it we’ll rendezvous at the check point, copy?!”

{Acknowledged, but hurry up because we’re –!}

{♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪}

“What was that?” Shining Armor asked.

{Hang on, there’s something…}

Shining Armor suddenly heard gunfire over the comms.

“What’s going, Commander do you read me, over?!”

{Sure Shot what the hell is wrong with you?!}

{Screw all of you, I’m tired of being in this stickenin’ unit!}

{Same to you, you fugly little –!}

Suddenly the comms were being filled with shouting, followed quickly with gunfire and the sounds of his fellow soldiers dying.

{♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪}

“What’s that sound, Commander?! COMMANDER?!”

{Shining Armor…}

{♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪}

{Run…}

{♪Aaaaaaaaaah~ Haaaaaaaaa~ Aaaaaaahhhh~ Aaaaaaaah~♪}

There was a single gunshot and the comms went silent. Professor Neigh looked to Shining Armor, stopping his programming as he listened to the turmoil in the young soldier’s voice.

“My boy, what’s happening?”

“…………Finish inputting the coordinates, hurry.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Shining Armor’s helmet sensors went off, tracking a single target moving towards them. He quickly pulled out his sword, holding it in his left hand in a reverse grip as he took a fighting stance.

“From the looks of it, your fellow teammates have met my personal guard. Their bet of a handful sometimes, but they are easy on the eyes.”

“Show yourself now!” Shining Armor ordered.

“Of course.”

From the shadows emerged the leader of the base, the young man known as Dusk Shine. Shining Armor lowered his pistol and sword, his eyes widening at the sight of the young man. His hair, his eyes, he didn’t understand, this man looked almost exactly like…

“Twily…? I don’t…I don’t get! Why the hell do you look like Twilight?!”

Dusk Shine looked at the soldier confusedly, but then his face had that “ah-ha” expression.

“Oh, so you know of her? Now I remember, I heard about a soldier with a sword taking her away from us. And that she and Professor Neigh were close, you treated her almost like a daughter, eh Professor Neigh?” Dusk Shine asked.

“Be careful Captain, that man is Dusk Shine, the commander of this base!” Professor Neigh warned.

Dusk Shine chuckled and slowly walked towards them. Shining Armor saw this and fired a warning shot across his face and making Dusk stop where he was.

“I see you’ve completed the Firestorm Protocol, and now you’re sending it away?”

“Away from you and this damned place, where you and your higher up won’t ever get to use it!”

Dusk Shine chuckled louder, finding amusement in Professor Neigh’s statement.

“You seem to be under the impression that you have outsmarted me. But maybe it’s the other way around?”

Dusk Shine slowly pulled his hands from behind his back, and in his right hand was a capsule, similar to the one in the rocket, and in the center was a small star-like fireball.

“What the –?!”

“Shoot him, hurry!”

“FIRESTORM.”

BACK IN CANTERLOT CITY…

Sunset was munching on her pizza, having taken to sitting on the other side of the coffee table as she scribbled some notes onto a piece of paper, referencing to Twilight’s notes as she went back and forth. Twilight was busy checking on the pieces to their potential generator, Sunset couldn’t help but notice that she had a smile on her face the whole time.

She can’t be smiling because of me, must be the project. Guess she really likes getting into the science stuff, and I guess I do too. It’s not the same as magic but it’s as close as I’m getting to it.

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

Sunset and Twilight suddenly heard something beeping. Sunset quickly pulled out her cellphone, although she had no idea who would be calling her other than Celestia, but it wasn’t going off.

“Where’s that annoying beeping sound coming from?” Sunset asked.

Twilight looked around and saw that her cellphone was going off. “Oh sorry, it’s mine!” She quickly grabbed it and inputted the passcode to unlock it. “It’s probably just my mom or dad checking up on me, I told them I was having a friend over.”

Sunset shrugged, she didn’t know about that kind of thing, back in Equestria, her parents didn’t see that much to correspond with her during her time as Princess Celestia’s protégé, apparently they didn’t want to disturb her, she could only imagine what they thought of her now.

Probably disowned me, thought Sunset.

Suddenly Sunset heard something drop, she quickly looked to the source and saw that Twilight had dropped the part she was fiddling with for the reactor. She was as still as a statue, her back to Sunset.

“Sparkle, you okay?”

No response.

“Sparkle…?”

Again, nothing.

Sunset wasn’t one for getting worried, but if something happened to Twilight while she was there, there would no end to the number of people who would blame her. Sunset got up from the other side of the coffee table and stood beside Twilight, she looked at the cellphone in her hand which had some kind of GPS tracker on it.

“What’s that about?”

“Sunset…” Twilight turned her face to Sunset, and the fiery haired girl almost gasped at the haunting look in her eyes. “I need your help…!”

Entry 4: Arrival

A few minutes had passed since the infiltration of their base, but now the threat was over. Three young girls were walking through the battle damaged halls, a few of the guards stopping to salute them as they passed by. They drew back their hoodies, the hot air from the battle wafting about and making the confines of the hoods suffocating. When the hoods were drawn back it let loose their long hair, making others wonder if those hoods had some extra pocket dimension to contain all that hair.

The lead girl had dark yellow skin, with two rose colored, calculating eyes. The majority of her hair was tied back into very puffy ponytail, colored dark amber with yellow highlights. The one on her left had light-blue skin, and a faraway look in her violet eyes. Her sky-blue, with navy highlights hair was tied back into a ponytail that made it look like she did have tail. The other on her right had a permanent scowl on her face and annoyed look in her indigo eyes. Her hair purple and turquoise highlight hair was done in pigtails that swayed all the way down to her knees.

All three were different, in appearances and personalities, but they all three had two things in common. One: the ruby jewel that hung around their necks, and two: they were not of this world.

“Wow, who knew those guys had so much negative emotions towards each other! I mean they were on the same team, but I wonder why? Do you know, ‘cause I sure don’t?”

“Ugh, maybe because they had someone like you on their team! If that’s the case then I’d understand completely.”

“Why’s that Aria?”

“Take a minute and think about it Sonata, or in your case, take the next couple of months!”

“Will you two please be quiet?! Listen…”

Aria and Sonata strained their ears, but they didn’t need to wait long. A powerful quake rocked through the base, shaking it to its very foundation and making the three girls brace themselves against the walls.

“What in the hell was that Adagio?!” Aria asked.

“I have an idea, follow me!”

The three girls rushed through the hallways and found a working elevator. They took the conveyance all the way down to sublevel twenty. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata bolted out of the elevator, following Adagio as she led her cohorts down the halls to their destination. Adagio stopped, putting up her fist as a signal to halt. Smoke was pouring out of the door to their right. Adagio looked to Aria and Sonata and nodded. They walked slowly into the room, waving their hands in front of them to clear the smoke from their vision. They noticed a violet flame burning at the epicenter of the smoke, but they weren’t sure what it was.

The flame flickered out, causing a pressure wave that blew away the remainder of the smoke. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata gasped at the sight. A giant hole was burned into the wall, molten rock and metal dripped from the giant entrance like sludge, hissing loudly like angry snakes. Where the violet flame once was, stood instead their commander, his hands balled up into fists.

“Director Dusk Shine, are you alright?” Adagio asked.

“Not in the slightest. An unexpected variable has entered the equation, and a piece of the formula has been sent away.”

“Huh?” Sonata asked.

“Professor Neigh sent a Firestorm Protocol out of the base. To where I do not know, but I want it back!” Dusk Shine turned around and faced the three girls, despite his earlier tone, he had a satisfied smile on his face. “Good news though, the mass produced Firestorm Protocols are stable and ready for further field testing.”

“That’s great news, Director! Do you want us to go after that missing Protocol?” Adagio asked.

“Belay that, follow me.”

Dusk Shine motioned for the three to follow him, they walked out of the damaged room and headed for the elevator. Once there, Dusk Shine inputted a code that activated the elevator and made it shoot up. After a minute, the elevator stopped.

“I want you three to fit yourselves with Protocols immediately. Once you have I want you to start mobilizing the base, we’re abandoning this area and moving to the secondary location. While you’re doing that, I’m going to see if I can get someone to tract that rocket. I doubt the good Professor Neigh would let it be tracked so easily, but once it lands we’ll have a better chance.”

“Yes sir,” said the three girls as they departed the elevator.

Dusk Shine nodded to them and the doors slid closed as he went off to do his business. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata began their trek to the lab where the mass produced Firestorm Protocols were stored, all the while, Aria was looking about, making sure that there was no one around before she spoke.

“Adagio, how long are we going to have listen to that guy?! We could use our powers and feed off of this base’s negativity and be back to at least half our old strength!” Aria grumbled.

“Because Aria, if we did, then we wouldn’t have the Protocols now would we? Those may not be the magic we want, but they are the power we need! If we had taken him over, then there’s little chance that he would’ve completed the Protocols.”

Sonata put a finger on her chin as she looked up in contemplation. “But how did he complete them anyway? I thought that Professor Neigh guy was the one working on them, so how did he complete them without his help?”

“Amazingly she has a point, the professor was working alone, how did he manage to complete the Protocols?!” Aria asked.

Adagio went silent. True, Dusk Shine had proven to be a very clever man, and on top of that, a genius to match Professor Neigh, and yet up till now he hadn’t figured out how to finish the Protocols. Adagio didn’t like that too much, and then there was the hole in the wall, it seemed like overkill for Dusk Shine. He usually preferred quick and efficient ways of killing his foes, and having the power of a Firestorm Protocol would more than give him the means to do so.

So why did he blow up half the room to kill the professor? A message? Not a very effective one if there was no one around to see it. Testing his powers? Possible, but not very likely.

The three girls arrived at the lab, the doors swooshing open upon their proximity. The inside had hundreds of dozens of Firestorm Protocols, each one contained in a capsule and ready to be wielded. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata each grabbed one of the capsules, holding the weighty object in their hands. It was power, not the Equestrian magic they’ve longed to have again, but it was the closest thing to it, and right now, their best bet at getting what they wanted.

“Just be patient girls, it took us this long to take hold of these. Once we’ve found out what the ‘variable’ and ‘missing piece of the formula’ are, we’ll rule this world, and make every pathetic human in it adore and obey us!”

Sonata and Aria glanced at each other, smiling wickedly at the plan their leader had in store for Dusk Shine, the Organization, and the world.

“FIRESTORM!”

“FIRESTORM!”

“FIRESTORM!”

CANTERLOT CITY, T-MINUS 60 MINUTES…

Sunset had no idea what was happening. First Twilight gets this weird look in her eyes like she just saw a ghost, and then the studious girl just goes into full-blown panic mode and runs up the stairs to her room, leaving Sunset in the foyer, alone. She looked down to Spike, who looked up at her and tilted his head in confusion, apparently as in the dark as she was about Twilight’s behavior. Sunset believed it was none of her business, but that look in Twilight’s eyes was worrying, plus she didn’t want to get blamed for something she may or may not have done. So Sunset decided to head upstairs, Spike right behind her. She made her way to Twilight’s door and opened it swiftly.

“Sparkle are you al–?”

“EEEK!”

Sunset suddenly found Twilight in the middle of changing her clothes, trying to hurriedly pull up a pair of sweatpants and accidentally causing herself to stumble back onto her rear. The yellow girl quickly slammed the door shut, feeling very embarrassed about interrupting her while changing. Being in a locker room was one thing, but this was Twilight’s house, so she was entitled to her privacy.

“Sorry, sorry! Why didn’t you just say you were going to change your clothes?! Sparkle?! Sparkle…? Hey, can you hear me?” Sunset asked.

After a few more seconds of hearing the sounds of scampering, things falling over, and panicked breathing, the door flung open. Twilight had thrown on a pair of purple sweatpants, tennis shoes, and a gray hoodie.

“Okay…are you going out for a jog or something?”

“Sunset I need your motorcycle!”

Sunset crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m letting that happen.”

“Sunset please, you don’t understand! I have to do something really, really, really important and I have to go now!” Twilight pleaded.

“Then maybe you should let me in on this oh so important thing you have to do? Because I’m not lending you my bike, and on top of that, do you even know how to ride one?”

Twilight bit her bottom lip as she rubbed her right arm nervously. “N-No I don’t! But how much different can it be from riding a bicycle?!”

“A lot different.”

“I don’t care, Sunset! Please! If you won’t give me it then…then…I’ll just take it!”

Sunset narrowed her gaze at Twilight, she closed the gap between them, getting right in the violet haired girl’s face.

“First of all: you wouldn’t even get within a hundred feet of it before I put you on the ground. Second: you couldn’t beat me if your life depended on it, and third: what’s so damn important that you need to ride my bike in the middle of the night?”

Sunset suddenly felt Twilight gripping the sides of her arms, she was about to throw her off and deck Twilight, but stopped when she felt her shaking. In fact Twilight’s whole body was shaking.

“Sunset…I’m begging you…there’s something coming to the city. Something that was made by someone who once looked after me, I know he sent it at great risk to his life which is why I have to get to it before anyone else! We only have forty minutes left, please?!”

Sunset wasn’t sure what was happening right now, Twilight was literally begging for her help to get whatever it was that was coming. There were a lot of questions in her head, and all her senses were telling her that whatever was happening was obviously something earth shattering for Twilight. The sadness and desperation in her voice was heavy, and it hurt her to hear that from this girl, whom she had regarded as her enemy for months now, sound so vulnerable and hurt. It stabbed at Sunset’s heart, more than she wanted to admit.

The fiery haired girl shrugged off Twilight’s hands. “You got a Relieve around here?”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not giving you my bike, so…wherever it is that you really have to go to, I’m taking you! And since, from the sounds of it, we’ll need to hurry, I need a pain reliever so my ribs don’t hurt as much when I’m going fast, alright?!”

Twilight wasn’t sure if she heard correctly, but from the look on Sunset Shimmer’s face, she was dead serious. Twilight hurried into the bathroom, filling a paper cup with water and taking out the pain reliever Sunset asked for. She rushed back to Sunset, who quickly popped the pill into her mouth and took a quick swig of the water, swallowing it. She went into her room and grabbed her leather jacket, zipping it up and took hold of her bike helmet. When Sunset exited she looked towards Twilight.

“Here, catch.”

Sunset tossed her helmet towards Twilight, making her hands stumble to take hold of it before finally getting a good grip on it.

“But…this is your helmet.”

“And?”

“And you need one too when we’re out!”

“It’s fine,” said Sunset.

“No it’s not, I know I need one, but I can just go and get one of my parents’ bike helmets instead! You need it more than me!” Twilight argued.

Sunset stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned to Twilight. “Tell me if this headline grips you? Local high school girl, Twilight Sparkle, lies in a hospital bed in a coma. The young girl was found with another girl, considered a troubled student of CHS, named Sunset Shimmer. Apparently both girls were riding a motorcycle in the middle of the night, getting into an accident. Sunset Shimmer has a broken leg and arm but is otherwise alright, authorities stated that it was Sunset’s helmet that prevented her head from hitting the pavement like her passenger. Get it?”

“Got it…but…”

“Look, you and I both know that everyone in the school is going to blame me if you get hurt! So just do me a favor, wear the helmet and try not to break anything!”

Sunset stomped down the stairs, leaving Twilight to rub the helmet in contemplation. She started to remember this, those words, the words of someone who thought her life was more important than theirs.

“It’s not…really…it isn’t…”

T-MINUS 20 MINUTES…

Twilight was screaming her head off, and honestly, Sunset Shimmer giggled from hearing her. The two girls were racing through the night on Sunset’s bike, weaving in and out of traffic. Twilight had stressed to Sunset how important it was that they’d get to their destination, and asked if that meant she could break the traffic laws to do so. Apparently this was important enough that Twilight, reluctantly, agreed to the breaking of said laws. Sunset tore through the streets of the city, the engine of her bike whining loudly for all to hear. The wind in her hair felt great, and with the light of street lamps, made it look like her hair had become trail of fire following her.

“How much further?!” Sunset yelled.

Twilight held Sunset’s waist in a death grip, making Sunset glad she took the medicine earlier, else this would be hurting more than it was now. Twilight reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, tapping the screen a few times to show the GPS tracker. A red dot was gradually getting closer to a large green patch, followed by a green dot that represented them.

“Head towards the Canterlot Garden Maze!” Twilight yelled.

“Got it!”

Sunset revved the engine and punched it, sailing at high speed towards the garden. The Garden Maze was one of many of Canterlot City’s attractions, it was a park filled with different varieties of flowers, and further in was a large hedge maze. Many had tried to navigate the maze, but none succeeded in doing so, not entirely sure how the architect thought it up. Sunset and Twilight drove into the park, heading down the white stone path and stopping with a loud screech of the tires.

“Well that was fun! So why are we here then, Sparkle?”

Twilight removed her helmet, taking a moment to confirm that she was still alive and almost on the edge of a heart attack.

“Professor Neigh must’ve punched in the coordinates for the city, but not a specific location. But from my calculations, taking into account the angle it’s flying at, the wind speed, humidity, and barring that it didn’t meet with a military drone, it should land somewhere around here.”

Sunset nodded, but paused to think about all that. “Wait a minute, what’s going to land here?!”

*BOOM!*

Sunset’s question was answered when a loud rumble echoed through the sky. In the distance Sunset could see something heading towards them, and it was moving fast!

“Get down!” Sunset shouted.

Twilight looked behind her and saw that the object was angling lower in her direction. Sunset ran for Twilight, diving to push her out of the way and into the grass. Both girls rolled around in the grass, stopping about five feet away from where they were. The object, which turned out to be a rocket, roared on by, angling further and further downwards till it crashed into the pavement, kicking up dirt and stone as it came to a complete stop.

Sunset rubbed her head as she propped herself up on her right hand and knees, she looked towards the direction of the crash, seeing the destruction caused in its wake. Luckily her bike was untouched, thanking Celestia for small favors.

“Uh…Sunset?”

“Yeah, I’m alive.”

“Um…thank you for saving me but…could you maybe not keep your hand there?”

“My hand – GAH!”

Sunset looked down, seeing that she had somehow ended up on top of Twilight, with her right hand pressed against her left bosom. She jerked her hand away and shot up to her feet, dusting herself off and trying to act nonchalant about it. Sunset then offered her left hand to Twilight as the other girl sat up.

“Sorry.”

Twilight took hold of the hand let Sunset help her back to her feet. “I-It was accident, but thank you for saving me.”

“Yeah, okay, so what the hell just crashed landed in the middle of the park?!” Sunset asked.

Twilight, now remembering the situation, bolted towards the crash site. The rocket had left a grove in the earth, showing where it hit all the way to where it stopped. Twilight followed the trail of destruction, stopping when she saw the rocket. Its nose was imbedded in the ground, but the rest of its body was still accessible. Twilight ran faster towards it, with Sunset Shimmer keeping pace.

Both girls stopped before the rocket, which was about the size of both of them. Twilight took a step forward towards the rocket, but quickly felt Sunset Shimmer’s hand shoot out and grab her shoulder.

“Are you crazy, don’t touch that thing Sparkle!”

“It’s fine, the rocket didn’t make a reentry, and it’s just scuffled up.”

“I’m not worried about if it’s hot, I’m worried that it’s radioactive or might blow up!”

“If it was meant to blow it would’ve on impact, and neither of us would be standing here talking. And it isn’t radioactive. I retrofitted my phone to detect high levels of lethal radiation, it would’ve gone off at the slightest detection,” explained Twilight.

Sunset didn’t get it, why was Twilight so calm about all this. A rocket just crash landed in the park, and she was not even fazed by it. Twilight gently shrugged off Sunset’s hand and went to examine the rocket. She looked it over, trying to find something. Sunset was on the lookout, watching to make sure that they were alone, but she knew that wouldn’t last long. There was no doubt in her mind that someone saw that rocket flying through the city, the boom, and then the crash shortly after. Soon the police would be there, and not too far behind was probably the military, the FBI, the CIA, DHS, and every other acronym-ed agency that could make you disappear off the face of the Earth.

“Twilight we really shouldn’t be here! The cops will be coming soon, and I don’t think we want to answer questions about why we’re here with a rocket!”

“Just give me another minute, it has to be here somewhere?! Ah-ha!”

Twilight’s hand brushed up against an uneven portion of the rocket, tapping it few times to make a panel open up, displaying a keypad and screen. Twilight quickly went to work, her fingers flying across the keypad as she punched in a number of codes. Sunset just stared in amazement at how fast she was going. It took her a while to learn how to use her hands, but once she did Sunset found that she was pretty fast on a keyboard, but Twilight’s hand was almost a blur. Her eyes darting this way and that as she looked at the numbers. Finally she punched in the right code, or hacked the thing, Sunset wasn’t sure which.

A hatch hissed open, releasing a fog that bellowed out and settled over the ground. Twilight and Sunset moved towards the opening, looking at what was inside. There was capsule within the rocket, at its center was a glowing orb that looked like a star or the sun itself had been captured within it. Twilight gently reached in, despite Sunset’s protests, and detached it from the stabilizing arms.

“Okay, now we can go.”

Entry 5: Explain!

Many things were going through Sunset’s mind right now, one of them being why a rocket suddenly crash landed in the middle of a public park?! And another being how Twilight was able to track it, and somehow open the thing, all while acting as if this was expected or something that she’d seen before. Too many questions and not a single answer coming from the one person who seemed to know. During the ride back to Twilight’s house the studious girl would not let go of the capsule, hiding it in her hoodie as Sunset Shimmer sped through the night.

By the time they arrived back at the Sparkle residence it was already turning eleven ‘o clock. Twilight practically bolted off the bike and hurriedly went to the front door, fumbling her keys as she worked to keep the capsule hidden and open the door. Sunset parked the bike out of the way like last time and went to the violet haired girl, taking the keys from her hands.

“Sunset what are you doing?!”

“You need to hold up Sparkle! I just got through driving you to a park where a rocket crash landed! A ROCKET! And you go up to the damn thing like it was just another day at school for you! On top of all that, you went and smuggled, whatever that thing is and brought it to your house like a lost puppy!”

Twilight was getting frustrated, that much Sunset could see, but there was also a pensiveness to her eyes, as if she was struggling with something within her mind.

“Sunset I promised you I’d give you an explanation but right now –”

“No, either tell me what’s up or you’re not getting back into your house. Personally speaking, I don’t think you can afford to try and get past me and hold onto that thing at the same time. You’re choice.”

Twilight could tell that Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t budge on this, and there was no way she could overpower her. Despite her slim physique, Sunset Shimmer had proven that she is a capable fighter and could just as easily force her into revealing everything she knew. That was what Twilight was finding surprising about this whole thing; Sunset didn’t have to take her to the park, she could’ve just said no and leave it at that, but instead she took Twilight to the place she had to go. Sunset even saved her life, granted she didn’t have to considering that the girl before her harbored some resentment towards her. Could Twilight show her no less trust?

With a sigh, Twilight nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know about this thing, and why it came here. Will that work for now?”

Sunset mulled that over for a bit and after a few seconds nodded her head. She then handed Twilight the keys, with the correct one sticking out. Twilight opened the door and waited for Sunset to come in, once she did she quickly locked the door behind them.

“Follow me, I need to analyze this as quickly as possible,” said Twilight.

“‘Analyze’? I don’t remember seeing anything in your room that could help us with that Sparkle.”

“I never said we were going to my room.”

Spike, after hearing the door close, bounded towards Twilight, wagging his tail happily at seeing his owner return. Twilight bent down and petted the purple dog, showing him some affection to make up for her spastic episode a couple of hours ago. When Sunset approached, Spike looked up at her and tilted his head again and gave her that look as if asking “Is Twilight alright?”

Sunset shrugged, truthfully she did not know, but Twilight was still calm about the situation. She continued to follow Twilight, she stopped at what looked like a hall closet, but when she opened it, Sunset saw that there was a staircase leading down towards a basement. The two climbed down the stairs and stopped when they reached the basement door. She did a double take at the sight of it. The whole door looked as if it was made of steel, or some kind of dense metal. The right of the door was a keypad, Twilight began typing in a sequence of numbers in rapid succession. After a couple of seconds the sounds of latches releasing and tumblers rolling echoed in the hall.

Twilight gripped the door handle and pushed it open. Sunset Shimmer gawked at what was inside. The entire basement was a laboratory, a sixty inch, high definition, computer screen took up one portion of the wall, with at least three different server towers on one side connected to it. There were shelves filled with equipment, gadgets and tools for building – Celestia knows what. At another side of the room was a lab table with beakers and test tubes filled with all sorts of chemical concoctions, there was a shelf next to it with even more vials, all marked and labeled. There was even a glass case that was marked “UNSTABLE, USE WITH CAUTION” that made Sunset gulp.

At the center of the room was a larger workbench. Twilight went to this one and flipped over a touchpad that was mounted on its edge. She typed something and the flat surface of the table opened up, setting up two stands to hold the capsule. Twilight pushed a few more buttons and the table opened up a small port, what rose up from it was a wire and a rotating wheel with many different prong attachments. Twilight looked over the capsule and found a small jack-in port, she looked upon the attachments till she found the one that would fit. Luckily, her first guess proved correct as the jack attached to the capsule.

Twilight then moved to the rolling chair near the sixty inch monitor and typed away at the keyboard that was attached to the chair. A low buzzing noise emanated from the capsule that made Sunset jump with unease, thinking the strange container and its miniature sun would explode. The monitor displayed various windows, each one running a different program as Twilight’s eyes shifted back and forth quickly. Twilight typed for a few more seconds and then she stopped. On the monitor the screen read “ANALYSIS UNDERWAY” and “BEGINNING DATA TRANSFER”.

Twilight let out a sigh and popped a few kinks in her neck. “Okay, now that that’s running we can talk. And I’m sorry about all this secret stuff, but this is too important.”
Sunset found an unoccupied chair and rolled it around to sit in it backwards. She placed her forearms on the back of the chair and rested her chin against them, giving Twilight this critical gaze as if trying to determine if she was a threat.

“So you say. Why don’t you give me an idea of just how important that thing is and why you were freaking out about it earlier?” Sunset asked, although it sounded more like a demand.

Twilight brought her fingers into a pyramid of contemplation, tapping the tips a few times as she collected her thoughts.

“Have you ever heard of a brilliant scientist by the name of Bill Neigh?” Twilight asked.

“Hmmm…a few times when I was surfing the web a long time ago. He apparently won a crap ton of Nobel Prizes and is more or less noted as the smartest person on the planet. But then he mysteriously dropped off the face of the Earth and no one’s heard from his since. They think he’s secluded himself in some secret lab somewhere working on his next big thing, or that either the government offed him or aliens abducted him.”

“Well they’re not too far off about the abducting theory.” Twilight paused a moment to let Sunset grasp that, when she saw the confused look she elaborated. “Let me start at the beginning. Professor Neigh was working a new field of study, one that he was sure would revolutionize mankind. Have you ever heard of transmutation?”

“Yeah, the concept of turning one thing into something else. Basically breaking down matter on a subatomic level and reconstructing those same atoms into a completely different object or substance. Alchemists tried to accomplish this with turning lead into gold. Didn’t exactly work out for them,” said Sunset.

Twilight grinned a little, she was really becoming impressed by how much intellect Sunset Shimmer had, and it was nice having someone she could talk to about these kinds of things. Don’t get her wrong, Twilight loved talking with her friends, but not all of them could grasp the kind of – as they put it – “sciency” stuff she could.

“Professor Neigh found a way to accomplish this very thing. But to do so he needed energy that could affect matter on that atomic scale. Unfortunately, all manner of different energies were either too extreme or too weak to cause the desired effect of transmutation. But then Professor Neigh discovered something during the course of his research, he found a kind of particle that had for years gone undetected and unseen in even the smallest creatures and objects. He found that this one particle of energy had massive potential, he dubbed the ‘Big Bang Particle’.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “‘Big Bang Particle’?”

“If you want to get religious you could refer to it as the ‘God Particle’, but essentially, it’s the leftover remnants of the Big Bang, the very power that birthed the universe into creation. Think about it Sunset, the power that formed the universe from nothing, the power that in a single moment breathed life into the vast universe, all that power and it was held in a single particle. Unfortunately, these particles only held one tenth of that power, so Professor Neigh substituted the remaining power with something else…nuclear energy.”

Sunset’s face contorted into horror. “Wait…you’re not saying that…”

“The nuclear energy served as the perfect catalyst and from it he created that, dubbing it the ‘Firestorm Protocol’. Poetic in a way, seeing as the initial explosion that created the universe must’ve been a spectacular firestorm of flames.”

Sunset shot up out of her seat and looked to Twilight incredulously. “Hold on a minute! Are you telling me that that floating fireball in the center of the capsule is nuclear?! As in Chernobyl explosion?! Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and Three-Mile-Island, kind of nuclear?!”

“Yes.”

“And you brought it to your house?! Forget crazy Sparkle, you’re insane!”

“Sunset, everything I’ve told you has all been an unproven theory set by Professor Neigh.”

Sunset’s shoulders slumped as a deadpan expression appeared.

“Really?”

“Technically…it was. Professor Neigh didn’t publish it or set out to prove it because of one factor that could be potentially dangerous. The Firestorm Protocol couldn’t be fixed to a machine, the power it wields fizzles out and destroys any apparatus that tries to use its power. But a human body can use it. The highest concentration of BBPs lie within organic life, specifically, those with higher cognitive abilities such as Homo sapiens. The human body would serve as the conduit, giving the one who held the power within them to recreate or reshape almost anything.”

“Sounds dangerous,” said Sunset as she took her seat again. “Humans seem to love killing each other and starting wars for power and other stupid stuff. Give someone this kind of power and they could rule the world.”

Twilight sighed sadly. “That’s what Professor Neigh determined, but then he was kidnapped by some very bad people who wanted the Protocol to do very bad things. He had no choice but to create it, but it required a lot of trial and error, creating a power such as that is not easy. But for Professor Neigh, despite his being taken against his will and forced to work on it, he couldn’t deny his fervor to try and make his theory a reality. And now he has apparently.”

Twilight got up from her chair and stood before Sunset.

“I know all this sounds completely made up and too fantastical to believe, but Sunset I am telling the truth!”

Sunset blinked once. “I do believe you Sparkle.”

“I know you don’t believe me but – wait what?!”

“I said I believe you.”

Twilight stared at Sunset in disbelief. “But…But…I know I’m telling the truth, but given the events that have transpired, you should at least be somewhat skeptical! I’ve presented no other evidence other than a glowing fireball in a tube, or anything that shows that this is related to Professor Neigh!”

In truth I’d be the biggest hypocrite on two worlds if I didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt. I come from a world of talking, magical equines, ruled over by an immortal sun goddess and moon goddess, and I was unicorn who was a pupil to said sun goddess. This place might have the magical power level of an ant, but that doesn’t mean that strange things don’t happen. Magical or otherwise.

“Sparkle just believe me when I say: I’ve seen and heard far more weird things in my life than I care to admit.”

Twilight was both grateful for Sunset’s understanding and at the same time, curious as to what weird things she’s seen in her sixteen years of life.

Truly, I don’t know her at all, thought Twilight.

“So what now?” Sunset asked.

“For now we wait until the computer finishes its probe. I should have the complete data by morning and by then I’ll know for sure if this is from Professor Neigh.”

“Wait you don’t even know if it’s from him?!”

“If it is then it confirms my worst case scenario. If not, then…” Twilight shook her head. “No it has to be from him! I know it!”

“On that note, how do you even know Professor Neigh?”

Twilight bit her lower lip, letting out more than she had thought. Sunset then yawned loudly and stretched her limbs out.

“Something that can wait till tomorrow. This is more excitement than I’m used to,” said Sunset.

Twilight nodded her head, looking at the digital clock that read twelve-fifteen. Twilight led Sunset through the door and up the stairs, with the latter glancing back at the metal door and beyond that to the fireball contained with the capsule.

I wonder…if it’s as powerful as she says it is, can it take me back home?

“Sunset…? Are you alright?”

“…Yeah.”

UNKNOWN LOCATION…

{Director Dusk Shine, I cannot believe the reports I’ve been getting about your base.}

{Infiltration by a government black ops unit, the death of Professor Bill Neigh, and now we learn that a Protocol was sent via rocket to a city, in a public park?! What kind of operation are you running?!}

{For such a smart and sharp young lad, you are quite disappointing.}

Dusk Shine stood before three large monitors, each one had the shadowy silhouette of a man on it. How old they were was undetermined, but judging from their voices it was of varying ages between forty and sixty.

“While I will admit to my shortcomings about the infiltration and loss of the Protocol, we have been able to create the mass produced Firestorm Protocols, each one is combat ready.”

{As great as that is, we still have the ONE MISSING PROTOCOL! If someone else gets their hands on that one they could mass produce them for themselves!}

{Calm yourself, we are the only ones who possess the equipment and resources for mass production of the Protocols, worst case scenario is someone figures it out and they can only reproduce inferior versions to the originals. We’ll still be able to turn over a good profit for it.}

“On that note Sir, I have a proposition for you.”

{Do you now?}

“Allow me to dispatch my agents to the crash site. We need information, and our people aren’t…inconspicuous enough to go unnoticed.”

{Humph, our surveillance is plenty good, we don’t need your freak, teenybopper girl band trio!}

Dusk Shine laughed at that. “Oh yes, because three high school aged girls walking amongst a crowd draws so much attention! They’ll be noticed immediately, what was I thinking?!”

{You arrogant little –!}

{That’s enough Miser, but you have to admit he got you there!}

{Very well, send your agents to the site. We’ll also need to set up a showcasing of the Firestorm Protocols to prospective buyers.}

“If I may, allow me to handle that as well,” said Dusk Shine.

{Eager to redeem himself isn’t he? Let ‘em set it up, I want to see what ‘ol Dusky can do!}

{So ordered. Director Dusk Shine, do not let us down a second time.}

Two of the three monitors cut out, but the third, the left one, stayed on. Dusk Shine eyed that monitor dubiously.

“Something you wish to say Mr. Miser?”

{Do not forget your place you little failure.}

The monitor cut out then and there, leaving Dusk Shine standing in the lone room. His violet eyes shimmered with the flame of the Firestorm energy within him. But he suppressed his anger, anger would not serve him here, no, action and a cool, clear head was needed. Dusk Shine walked towards the entrance, the door swooshing open upon sensing his presence. Waiting on the other side were his personal bodyguards, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk.

“I take it that it didn’t go so well in there, did it?” Adagio asked.

“Actually…better than anticipated. I’m sending you three on a mission.”

Aria scoffed. “‘Bout time we got out of this hole in the ground, so where you sending us?”

“Canterlot City,” said Dusk.

If Adagio and Sonata disliked the location they didn’t show it, although Aria had no problem venting her feelings on the matter.

“Canterlot City?! That place is The Worst!”

“Well what about that time we were Louisiana and got lost in the swamps?” Sonata asked.

“Okay…second worst.” Aria corrected.

“Or that time we were in Brazil and met those giant snakes, Anamandas or something?”

“Third worst.”

“Or that time in Istanbul when –?!”

“OKAY THEY ALL WERE THE WORST!” Aria shouted while flinging her arms into the air. “But Canterlot City is still The Worst.”

Dusk Shine just continued to look upon the three with a slight bit of annoyance. “I’ll bite, why do you dislike this particular city out of every other city on the planet?”

“It was the place we were banished to…where we ended up and were stuck in for a while,” said Adagio.

Dusk Shine showed, what could’ve been, the faintest amount of sympathy in his gaze. “It was not my intention to make you relive old memories. But I need eyes on the ground, and yours are ones I can trust. If you find the missing Protocol do not engage, contact me and I’ll determine the best course of action.”

All three nodded their heads.

“And while you’re there, our benefactors want a show. Take a Protocol with you.”

“But we already have one inside each us,” said Sonata.

“Oh, it won’t be for you girls.”

Entry 6: FIRESTORM!

Twilight could hardly sleep last night, but somehow managed to doze off. She never imagined Professor Neigh would send her the Firestorm Protocol. Twilight had installed that tracking system just in case the professor managed to escape, what were the odds he would use the numeric encryption code that the two of them wrote together for the rocket, and have set to ping on a frequency that only Twilight would think to look for.

Alas, the fact that she had received the Protocol meant that something bad must’ve happened. Twilight knew that Shining Armor was going on a mission to rescue the professor, she had faith in her brother to get Professor Neigh to safety, and he was the one to save her after all. But still, she couldn’t help but worry about him and Professor Neigh. Call it a sixth sense, woman’s intuition, sisterly instinct, but Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad happened. But her heart wouldn’t let her, she had to keep believing that her brother was alive, and that by some small miracle Professor Neigh was too.

Now here she was, sitting in her bed, hugging her legs and contemplating what her next move should be. She needed a plan, and a way to keep her parents safe, and Sunset Shimmer. Twilight unconsciously smiled upon saying her name. The girl who had been regarded as the menace of Canterlot High, was actually very bright and intelligent. All last night Sunset Shimmer surprised her, understanding her notes on fusion, even improving them, taking her to where she wanted to go without even knowing why, and then saving her from almost getting plowed into the earth by a rocket. Twilight’s face tinted red from the memory, remembering how Sunset ended up on top of her, and without knowing touched her chest.

“Sunset Shimmer, why do you act so aggressively and try to push others away? You’re like me, and yet my exact opposite, I want to have friends, a normal life. Which is why when I look at you, I can’t help but want to do something for you, of anyone in the school, I think you could be one of my greatest friends…” Twilight slapped herself across the face. “Not that I don’t care about the others, I love them dearly, my first real friends, but I don’t want to see you drown in loneliness…”

*♪Awesome as I wanna be! Hey! Hey! Hey!♪*

*♪Awesome as I wanna be! Hey! Hey! Hey!♪*

Twilight’s cellphone starting going off on her nightstand, Rainbow Dash’s ringtone went off, making Twilight shake her head and smile, remembering when the rainbow haired girl recorded a few songs for the fun of it with Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. She was surprised to see that her friends had quite the musical talent. Rainbow Dash insisted that that particular song be a ringtone for whenever she called them, her way of reminding them of “how awesome” she is. Twilight picked up the phone and swiped it to answer.

“Hello Rainbow Dash.”

{Thank god, you’re not tied up and gagged!}

“Rainbow Dash, really?”

{Cut me some slack Twi, we’re worried about you! Spending the whole weekend with Sunset Shimmer in your house, for all you know she could’ve gone “Friday the 13th” on you and your family! Or tied you up and forced you to do kinky ass stuff!}

“Rainbow Dash! That last one was – why would you think that stuff?!”

{Okay the “Friday the 13th” thing was overboard, but I wouldn’t have doubted my second scenario. Don’t know why, she just seems like she’d “go there”, y’know?}

Twilight faced palmed herself, her cheeks flushing from the imagining of said scenario.

“Rainbow Dash let me first assure you that I am completely, one-hundred percent, healthy, alive, and have no injuries, external or internal, major or minor, on my body. Second, Sunset Shimmer and I have been getting along pretty well.”

Twilight distanced her ear from her phone upon hearing a crashing noise in the background.

{Okay now I know I have a bad connection, you and her are getting along?!}

“She’s not as bad as everyone makes her out to be Rainbow. I know you really can’t forgive her for tricking you all into thinking and believing the worst about each other, but I really think she’s over that stuff now.”

{*sigh* What the heck makes you think that?}

A lot of things that I can’t really discuss with you if they’re intercepting and monitoring cellular phone conversations, thought Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash, I know I may come off as naive and too trusting at times, but I do know what I’m doing. If I believed everything the girls told me about you the first time we met, I’d have avoided you and none of us would’ve been able to mend your friendships.”

Silence was heard on the other end of the phone, making Twilight check to see if the call had been ended. But the timer was still going, counting the seconds into minutes, meaning that Rainbow was still on.

{I get it Twi, and I guess…it’s that part you that I both admire and like. You want to see the good in others, you have hope. Which is why it pisses me off when I see people just shrug it off or like when Sunset just looks at you like she’s imagining and planning doing bad stuff to you. I care about you Twi……….that didn’t sound too mushy did it?}

Twilight smiled. “No, not at all. And thank you Rainbow, it makes me happy hearing that.

{No problem, well, I’m headin’ back to sleep, but if something goes down don’t hesitate to call me! I’ll be there in ten seconds flat!}

“Heh-heh, will do Rainbow Dash, goodbye.”

{Later.}

Twilight pressed the “end call” button, her smile broadened by knowing her friend was looking out for her. Deciding that it was time to get up, Twilight swung her legs out over the bed and made her way to the door, she passed by her mirror and looked at herself. Her yellow pajama shirt and pants with pink hearts on them were her normal sleep attire, but for some reason Twilight was beginning to feel self-conscious.

Sunset Shimmer was in the other room, and she would see her in her silly pajamas. Twilight was starting to think twice about leaving her room, or disturbing her at all. But Sunset would probably be ticked if she didn’t at least give her a heads up that she was heading down to the lab. With a heavy sigh Twilight left her room and stood before Sunset’s door. She gave a couple of knocks against it and then gently opened the door.

“Sunset? A-Are you awake?”

She heard nothing, so Twilight opened the door a little more. Sunset was lying on her back, her breathing was light as she continued to sleep. The red and yellow haired girl was wearing a purple pajama top and pants, with a sun symbol embroidered onto the chest area, with dual colors of yellow and red in a kind of yin-yang spiral. Twilight was relieved, for some reason she thought she’d see Sunset wearing something…revealing, or nothing at all. Despite her tough girl attitude, her choice in sleep attire didn’t seem to reflect that. Twilight crept further into the room, moving closer to Sunset’s bedside.

Sunset seemed peaceful as she slept, it was quite odd. She always seemed to have this permanent scowl on her face, only letting it fall for a moment or two to show something other than the predominant anger within her. But right now, Sunset Shimmer’s face was quite cute. Twilight blushed at that random thought.

“Take a picture, it lasts longer Sparkle.”

“GAAAH!!!”

Twilight fell back on her rear from the sudden awakening of Sunset, who was now staring at the downed girl with a bit of mirth in her aquamarine eyes.

“Morning to you too,” said Sunset.

SUNDAY…

Sunset was working on their project in the basement while Twilight went over the data she got from the capsule. Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Twilight’s parents, arrived later that Friday night about the time they went to bed. The both of them were already up and enjoying breakfast and had set a spot for Sunset when she came down with Twilight. She had to admit it was nice.

She couldn’t remember the last time she sat with her parents and had breakfast together with them. Most of those memories faded and in the end it was breakfast with Princess Celestia, although she enjoyed those times, it wasn’t exactly the same. Still, this wasn’t bad.

The news had been covering the crash in the park that the both of them were at last night, and as Sunset figured, cops, and guys in black suits were all over the place. The news mentioned something about terrorist attacks and some other malarkey, but if what Twilight said was true, then these guys probably had the power to manipulate the media.

That seemed to make Twilight even more determined to find out the secrets of the Firestorm Protocol. Now here it was a day later and Twilight hadn’t pried herself away from the computer as she went over the data. Sunset just tinkered here and there with the parts, she knew what she was doing and it wouldn’t take her long to make some good headway, but she was more interested in what Twilight was doing.

The studious girl had gotten serious apparently, donning a white lab coat, square framed glasses, and tied her hair up in a bun. She looked like an actual scientist from some top secret laboratory, all except for the fact that Spike was chowing down on his kibble in the corner, occasionally scampering around and nuzzling Sunset’s and Twilight’s legs.

“Okay…”

“What’s up?” Sunset asked.

Twilight spun around to face Sunset, taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“I’ve looked over the data…turns out it is from Professor Neigh like I thought.”

“Aaaaaaannnnd that’s a good thing right?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, but this thing is complex, I’ve never encountered an atomic structure this…divided!” Twilight admitted. “Professor Neigh was the genius behind the Protocol’s creation, if I had his notes or something I could better understand what this Protocol is, but my understanding right now is limited…”

Sunset could see that Twilight was mentally wiped from all this, the arrival of the Firestorm Protocol along with whatever else she was possibly hiding was weighing on her.

“Hey Sparky,” said Sunset.

“‘Sparky?’” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, it’s starting to get annoying to say Sparkle all the time. So I’m calling you Sparky.”

Twilight blushed from the new nickname, she had gotten used to the shortened version of her name, “Twi”, whenever she was with her friends, and then there was Shining Armor’s and her’s nicknames for each other, “Shiny” and “Twily”. But this new was different, but not in bad way.

“You know you can use my first name,” said Twilight.

“Hmmmm…nope, I like ‘Sparky’ better! Anyway, let’s get out of here.”

“What, why?”

Sunset crossed her arms and gave Twilight an incredulous look. “Because you’ve been holed up in here ever since the computer got the data, you’ve been staring at the screen for hours and you need a break. Running yourself into the ground over this isn’t going to help you in the long run.”

Twilight wanted to argue the point with Sunset, but she knew she was right. Working herself into exhaustion would only hinder her in understanding the Firestorm Protocol, and figuring out what happened to her brother and Professor Neigh.

“Alright.” suddenly a low rumbling noise emanated from Twilight’s stomach, causing Spike to bark at the beast living in her belly. The violet haired girl quickly hugged her midsection, looking up at Sunset in embarrassment. “Eh, heh-heh-heh, guess I’m a little hungry…”

“You did skip breakfast this morning, which was good by the way, your mom’s a great cook.”

“It can’t have been that long since breakfast,” said Twilight in disbelief.

Sunset pointed at the time on the monitor, which she was amazed at how Twilight could overlook it since it was on a sixty-inch screen. Twilight turned around and saw that it was thirty minutes past twelve, now she was even more embarrassed for almost skipping lunch.

“I didn’t know it was that far past lunch! Sunset why didn’t you go up upstairs and get yourself something at least?!”

“‘Cause I didn’t want to find you passed out from hunger when I came back down. And really, some time away from the monitor will help you think, it always does for me,” said Sunset.

Both the girls and Spike went upstairs and found that the house was vacant again. They made their way to the kitchen and saw that there was a note on the table that read:

Dear Twilight,

Your father was called back to the Planetarium and my author decided she wanted to do some revisions to her book, I swear, Daring just doesn’t appreciate deadlines.

I left you two some money on the table so you can get something to eat, hopefully your friend, Sunset Shimmer, was able to get you out the dungeon.

I noticed that Miss Shimmer rides a motorcycle, now I don’t want you to be riding that thing without a helmet, so I had your father leave his car in the garage. I trust Miss Shimmer is licensed for both, so you two should get out and take a break from your work.

We’ll see you when we get home.

Love, Mom & Dad

“Wow, you’re parents are pretty cool. Not a lot of ‘em would trust a girl like me behind the wheel of a car, let alone take you around in one,” said Sunset.

“They’ve met my other friends, so they’re pretty much going off those assumptions…can you drive a car, I mean, I know you drive a motorcycle but…?”

Sunset smiled smugly at Twilight. “Please, I ride bikes because I like to and it’s nostalgic, in a way. I learned how to drive a car first though, and yes, my license reflects that. And on that note, go up, change out of that mad scientist get up, and let’s go!”

CANTERLOT CITY, DOWNTOWN …

Sunset had figured Mr. Night Light’s car to be some old jalopy, but instead, it was the farthest thing from it. It was a sleek, silver BMW, the latest model too. She figured her family had money, and all the little bells and whistles in the car itself confirmed it. Not wanting to abuse the trust Twilight’s parent’s put in her, since this was this first time someone older than a teen trusted her like this, she forewent her usual driving style.

The two girls made it to a little family restaurant where they got their bite to eat. Twilight practically inhaled her food, apparently not realizing how hungry she really was. Sunset had to say, watching Twilight literally make a double cheeseburger disappear in like thirty seconds was amazingly weird. Now I know what you’re thinking “Sunset’s eating meat?! Animals!” Well, after living in the human world for so many years, she found that her human body could only sustain itself for so long on the diet she had when she was just a pony. So yeah.

“Thank you, Sunset.”

“For what?” she asked.

“For getting me out of the house for a bit,” said Twilight.

Sunset shrugged.

“You really didn’t have to drive me into town for this, we could’ve had something brought to us.”

“Again, sometimes it better to step away from what’s giving you so much trouble. Although…”

“Although…?”

Sunset’s eyes traveled to the backpack that was resting against the table leg underneath them. “Did you have to bring it, along with us?”

Twilight blushed, she had brought the Firestorm Protocol with them, arguing that having it mobile was a lot safer than having it sit at her house. Luckily Twilight had swept it for any kind of tracking devices and thankfully there was none, plus the little glowing atomic fireball inside was shielded by the case, so its energy couldn’t be detected even at close range. Still, walking around with what was essentially the nuclear equivalent to a newborn star, wasn’t exactly settling.

“I know you’re still weary of it, but it’s completely stable. It survived a crash, if that’s not secure enough I don’t know what is.”

Sunset conceded to her logic, plus, if it made her feel better that it wasn’t at her home where her parents were, then she wasn’t going to argue it.

“Fine, oh and by the way, we’re going shopping after this.”

Twilight nearly spluttered her drink. “We-We are?!”

“Yeah, if we have do another late night run, you’re going to need a helmet. I know this bike shop around here that has a lot of stylized helmets, we’ll find you something there.”

The studious girl was a bit shocked to hear that Sunset was actually willing to buy her a helmet, she was really thinking about her safety. Sunset Shimmer must’ve noticed the look on Twilight’s face because the fiery haired girl’s cheeks tinted red.

“Don’t get the wrong idea Sparky! I just don’t want you whining about safety this and that, and this way I don’t have to keep lending you mine.”

Twilight just went back to sipping her drink, but a little smile did grace her lips. Sunset mentally face palmed herself, she had no idea what was wrong with herself. Here she was dining with the very girl who ended her reign within CHS and severely cut her powerful hold on the student body, and not once did she feel like snapping at her. For some reason, being around this girl, Twilight Sparkle, was strangely…calming. She was definitely different from the other kids at the school, smarter, leagues smarter than she’s cared to fully admit, and she had this mysterious air about her.

Then there were all those awkward moments, catching Twilight watching her sleep and then Sunset scaring the girl – that was funny. But then there were the other awkward things, the landing on top of her and finding her hand placed precariously on her chest. That she didn’t count as much since she was busy trying to save Twilight’s life, and they just happened to land like that after their tumble. But going further back, there was still the locker room incident. An incident that Sunset still planned on getting to the bottom of how and why Twilight said that she knew what it felt like to feel like nothing.

Where does she get the gall to say that?! She lives in a nice house, her parents are financially wealthy, but aren’t complete snobs and are actually nice to be around! She has a dog that practically followers her everywhere, and I assume her older brother is practically her best friend in the world! And she says she knows what it’s like to feel like nothing?!

Sunset was starting to feel that familiar loathing and anger towards Twilight, the same one that she was trying get over. Twilight noticed Sunset’s left hand ball up into a fist, the knuckles turning white from how tight she was clenching it. Twilight became worried and slowly placed her hand over Sunset’s fist.

“Sunset are you alright?” Twilight asked.

The yellow girl was snapped out her internal struggle and looked back at Twilight. Sunset was becoming aware of a lavender hand overlapping her clenched fist. She glanced back at Twilight who had a concerned look on her face, Sunset shook her head and relaxed her fist and gently pulled it away.

“It’s nothing Sparky, I’m fine.”

“You didn’t look fine a moment ago, you looked angry.”

“Just some issues…some I’m still learning to deal with,” said Sunset.

“Sunset –”

*RUMBLE*

Suddenly the restaurant started to shake a bit, plates rattled and silverware clanked. The lights flickered on and off for a few moments and then it stopped. Everyone in the room looked to each other as if wondering if that really happened. Just then another one happened, but this was stronger than the last, jostling people from their seats and causing waiters to fall to the floor with dishes crashing all over the place.

The rumbles got louder, but they were becoming more distinct, sounding much akin to explosions. Twilight suddenly felt a pit of dread form in her stomach, she quickly grabbed the backpack with the Protocol in it and made for the door, luckily Sunset was just as quick and was right on her heels. The two girls made it outside onto the sidewalk where many people were just standing there, listening and waiting for the next explosion to make itself known. Further up the road a public transit bus came careening towards a store, and it was on fire!

The flaming bus plowed into the front of the store and exploded, destroying the store and causing damage to the two or three floors above it. The people all screamed with terror as another flaming object came hurdling from the same street, only this time it was multiple cars that were being thrown back, all on fire or charred to a burnt crisp.

It wasn’t long before the source of the madness appeared just ahead, heralding the destruction. His arms were covered in some kind of red cloth that matched his pants, but around his wrists were silver wristbands, and on his feet silver boots. A red colored sun was on his black armored chest, along with three smaller red orbs in a V pattern around the sun, the bottom half of his face was obscured by a tattered scarf that flapped in the heat-generated winds. A red cowl covered most of his head, leaving the face untouched, his red eyes glowed with the power of an inferno, and his hair was on fire – no, it was more literal to say that his hair was made of fire!

The being looked too and fro, seeing the multitude of property that wasn’t touched by his destruction. The corner of his mouth rose slightly, he would have to correct this oversight. The fire wielder raised both his hands, atomic rings formed around them and from them a stream of plasmatic energy flames bellowed forth and struck both buildings on either side of him. The destroyer waved his arms up and down, as if scribbling on the buildings with his energy blasts. A trail of explosions followed in the wake of the blasts, sending mortar and glass-ridden debris cascading down onto the innocent people below and totaling a few cars at the same time.

Twilight and Sunset watched the destructive force continue to blow up and incinerate property, and causing harm to the people who weren’t able to get out his way in time. They couldn’t believe it, a walking inferno was just blatantly wreaking havoc, not caring who was in his way. The two girls heard the sounds of police sirens in the distance, in practically no time flat a swarm of them appeared out of different street corners, three of which were SWAT vans. The specially trained men and women flooded out of their police cars and vans, armed with police issued M4’s, shotguns, and pistols, all aimed at the being of flames.

The flaming man stopped walking, standing firm before the gathered forces of Canterlot City’s finest. The police didn’t even bother with a warning, considering the destruction he caused already, they doubted he’d show them any compliance to surrender. The small army of men and women in blue opened fire, a cacophony of gunfire rang throughout the air, everything from the powerful thudding of a shotgun round, to the rapid bursting of an automatic rifle, and the single shots coming from pistols. Shell casings clanked against the pavement, ringing like little bells as they did.

The flaming destroyer didn’t bother to dodge them, his body flared up with fire, creating a barrier of intense heat. The bullets all melted as they got close to him, turning into molten slag that gathered in a puddle at the edge of his barrier. After a minute and a half of continuous fire the police ceased their barrage. The man waited, taking a moment to see and enjoy every stunned face that was before him. The man raised his right hand, the atomic rings appearing once again. The molten slag rose into the air, still superheated and glowing an almost orangey white. With a couple of flicks of his fingers the molten puddle was dissected into hundreds of small spheres, no bigger than a marble.

Twilight saw this from their position and yelled as loud as she could. “GET DOWN!!!”

The violet haired girl quickly grabbed Sunset Shimmer and pulled them both down as low as they could go to the sidewalk. The man waved his hand and immediately after the marble sized molten metal shot off like the bullets they were made from. The police were treated to a shower of red-hot slag piercing through their cars and armored vehicles, riddling the law officers with holes that cauterized the moment they entered and exited. Even body armor was useless to defend against the molten bullets, all the police officers were either dead on the street or badly burned, some even lost a limb from the sheer speed and heat of the projectile piercing their flesh.

The shots continued onwards, going straight through cars, buildings, restaurants, and even more innocent people. Some of them heeded Twilight’s warning in time and ducked down at great haste, others either heard too late or didn’t bother to listen, and were subsequently pierced by the slag. Many fell before the two girls, it happened so fast that they didn’t even hear a scream of pain, just a short gasp before they went completely silent.

Sunset Shimmer stared with wide eyes at the death that was occurring around her, this was pure and unadulterated murder. Equestria had long since been in a time of peace, true they had little spats with the gryphons, minotaurs, and dragons from time to time, but the most that happened from those were injuries. The use of magic by some enabled the pony populace a way to defend themselves, or at the very least get them to safety. And that very same magic allowed them to heal a pony quickly from grave wounds if reached in time, but this…there was no way any of them could be saved, no way for them to defend themselves against the might and power of – whatever it that thing was! She had seen pictures, read books, and even seen movies where they depicted or spoke of death and murder, it practically littered human history. But to see it happen right before her own eyes was a completely different story.

Twilight was much in the same boat, she had to mentally recite equations and mathematical formulas just to keep her wits about her, and keep her mind thinking clearly in this stressful moment. She felt Sunset Shimmer shaking, a lot, she also saw the look of disbelief and shock that usually accompanied the reaction of seeing so much death. Twilight…wasn’t a stranger to it, but it was still horrifying to see it all the same. But it was also sobering to see that as hard as Sunset tried to be on the outside, she wasn’t so far gone that seeing this didn’t affect her. Twilight knew what this thing was, it was Professor Neigh’s miracle given form and twisted into something heinous. There was no way no one could stop that thing, at least, no one without a power equal to that. Twilight shook Sunset Shimmer, trying to gain her attention.

“Sunset!” Twilight shouted.

The red and yellow haired girl snapped her head in Twilight’s direction. “What?!”

“I need you to run as far and as fast you can! You have to get away from here and away from him! Even if you think you’re far enough, run farther! Head to Applejack’s farm, it’s in that direction if you follow the main road!”

“And just what the hell are you going –?!” Sunset stopped herself, she looked to the backpack that was secured to the bookworms back. “You’re not seriously going to –?!”

“It’s the only way to stop him! He’s using a Firestorm Protocol, if that’s the case then the only one who can stop him is another one who possesses the same power!” Twilight argued.

“Twilight you are insane! He’ll kill you! He just mass murdered a whole bunch of cops, and he’s blowing up cars and buildings for fun! And you think you can stop him?!” Sunset shouted.

Twilight looked back to the flame wielder, his fiery beams blasting about, destroying the cop cars and burning away any and all of the survivors. Twilight balled up her left fist, she couldn’t hesitate, her brother wouldn’t do any less, he’d fight to protect those who didn’t have the power to defend themselves, and Twilight had the power, she’d need only take hold of it.

“I know I have to try……I’ll see you Sunset.”

Twilight shot up and ran away, she looked back and forth until she found an alleyway and ducked into it. Sunset sat on her knees in disbelief, Twilight was actually going to use that dangerous power locked in that container and use it to fight against a pyromaniac murderer! And yet…

And yet I’m sitting here…afraid…I’m so damn scared right now…this isn’t my world, why should I care if these people die?! All I have to do is survive…survive until the portal opens up again and I can leave this place and everyone in it!

Sunset looked towards the direction Twilight ran.

But you…you don’t have to fight, you have a choice not to fight at all and just runaway! Even still, you’re willing to use that thing to give you the power to protect total strangers, they’re not even your friends…them I could see you risking your life for! Not my life, or any of theirs! Is that why the other you was chosen to be a Princess?! Because of this exact trait?!

Twilight ran down the alley as far as she could, she didn’t know what activating the Firestorm Protocol would do, obviously it would turn her into a walking inferno, but she wasn’t sure if there would be an explosion or release of power that could hurt people around her. And the last thing she wanted was to hurt Sunset Shimmer. Once Twilight was far enough into the alley she stopped, placing both hands against the brick wall as she panted from her run, she wasn’t very athletic, but neither was she out of shape, it was just that her body was used to running as fast and in such a panicked frenzy.

Once she had caught her breath, Twilight opened the backpack, tossing it to the ground and taking the container into both of her hands. This little fireball, no bigger than a basketball was the source of so much power, so much destruction, and yet it was the only thing that could stop the rogue Protocol. Twilight hesitated for a moment, the ramifications of activating it now coming to bare before her mind. What if she couldn’t control its power? What if she turned into a rampaging killer like the other? What if she couldn’t change back?

Get it together Twilight! You can’t be stuck on the what ifs, you have to stop him! But…then again, the matrix of the Protocol seemed odd…what if I’m not compatible with it, like an organ donor?! I could end up killing myself for nothing! No, don’t think like that, you have to do this! Just say the word!

“F…Fire–!”

“STOP!”

Twilight nearly dropped the container when she heard the familiar voice. Standing to her left, panting from her frantic running, was Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of her bangs, making it hard for Twilight to determine what Sunset was thinking.

“Sunset what are you doing here?! I told you to run to Applejack’s!”

The bad girl stood up straight and looked to Twilight with a serious glare. “Give me the Protocol.”

“What…?”

“You heard me!”

Sunset quickly ripped the container away from Twilight, making the other girl do a double take at her now empty hands.

“Sunset give that back!”

“Just listen to me!” Sunset shouted.

Twilight folded her arms in front of her chest, giving Sunset a stern look. “Go on.”

“Let me fight him instead.”

Twilight felt like she just got knocked upside the head by that statement. “Sunset you can’t, you don’t know what it’ll do to you!”

“And you do?!” Sunset shot back.

“Well…no, but still!”

“Exactly, better it happen to me than you!”

“And why is that?!”

Sunset gripped the container hard as the words filled her mouth. “Because nobody’s going to miss me if I do! I don’t like feeling powerless…especially against something like that! I’ve alienated, and made an enemy of practically every kid back at school, trust me when I say I won’t be missed in the slightest! But you…you have friends…and a family that loves you, a lot more people will miss you, so I’m the better choice. If something bad happens let it happen to me, at any rate, if I beat him then maybe you can figure out something to get me back to normal…worst case, I die and take him down with me.”

Sunset was suddenly slapped across her face, knocking her against the brick wall at her back. The stinging sensation was only matched by the pained yelps that were coming from Twilight as she shook her hand and caressed it from dealing the blow. Twilight then stared at Sunset Shimmer with anger in her eyes.

“Stop saying that nobody will miss you Sunset, that’s just selfish!”

“It’s the truth!”

“No it’s not! What do I count as?! You don’t think I’ll miss you?!”

“You don’t know me enough to miss me! And besides, I’ve only ever sneered, scowled, or threatened you! I’ve shown you nothing but hostility since the day you arrived at Canterlot High! So why would miss someone like me?!”

Twilight walked up to Sunset and clasped both of her hands on either side of Sunset’s shoulders.

“Because I’ve spent time with you, these past couple of days you’ve shown me a different side of yourself! A side that I’ve only just started to see, and I don’t want go the rest of my life without knowing a side of friend that I just started getting to know! So please…” Twilight started to cry a little. “Don’t say that about yourself!”

Twilight then hugged Sunset, the Firestorm Protocol pressed between them. The red and yellow haired girl was surprised by the action, and once again, Twilight had struck her silent with her words.

Just then another explosion rang out as multiple cars were detonated and blown up one after the other in a chain reaction, gaining the attention of both girls. Twilight quickly gripped the Protocol and immediately the glowing fireball reacted. The sphere of energy glowed brighter and brighter, as if reacting to both girls. Twilight looked to Sunset, and Sunset to Twilight, a similar thought passing between those aquamarine and amethyst eyes. At that moment the flame wielder approached the entrance of the alleyway. His head turned in their direction, a sinister smirk evident by the upturned corners of his mouth. He pointed his right hand down the alley, atomic rings warbling around it as he built up his power.

“Say it with me Sunset!”

“Alright!”

The killer fired a beam of plasma fire right down the alley.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The container unlocked and the fireball was unleashed! The flaming orb grew in a matter of nanoseconds into a giant sphere that encompassed both Twilight and Sunset at the same time. The flaming beam was completely dispelled by the concussive force that erupted from the activation, throwing the other Protocol user into a shop a few feet away. Within the orb a transformation was taking place, both girls were stripped of their flesh and blood bodies, replaced by the power of the Protocol. The energy became one with their cells and their atoms, making them transcend into a higher life form, one not bound by the limitations of a human body.

Sunset’s body was made of yellow flames, but an armored chest plate appeared over it, complete with a red sun surrounded with a white corona. Two white lines ran parallel to form an X and a third ran across in a horizontal bar, and within each white line was a red orb, six in total. A mesh like cloth covered her upper arms, neck, and most of her thighs down to her ankles. What appeared next where metal gauntlets, not large, just slim enough to fit over her forearms and cover her hands. A hole appeared at the top of each one, and from it bellowed forth the golden-yellow flame.

Two long pauldrons appeared on both shoulders, on her feet materialized slim metal boots that covered most of her legs below the knee. At the sides, where the outer part of the ankle was, two more circular holes appeared, allowing more of the flames to appear. The cowl around her head wrapped snugly against her, from the top, where her hair once was, were bellowing golden flames that reached down to her feet and whipped around like a tail. Her face was untouched, although it may’ve appeared a bit older by two years or so. Finally, yellow lines etched themselves into the armor gauntlets, boots, and pauldrons. Around the cowl, the lines formed a kind of corona crown, her symbol, cutie mark, flashed above her forehead for brief instant before disappearing.

Twilight’s was a bit different. Her body was made of pink flames. A dark gray cloth like material appeared around her feet, traveling up till it had covered everything put her arms, stopping around her neck. A metal belt appeared around her waist, and from it sprang out a long flowing skirt that left the front open. The chest armor appeared, violet in color, but it only covered the upper part, and upon it was the symbol of a red sun with a white corona, and six bars rose to it, three from one side, and three on the other, each bearing a red orb like Sunset’s.

Violet metal rings appeared around Twilight’s forearms, covering them completely, with a pair of violet gloves slipping over her hands. Violet boots appeared next, but these were longer, and rode up to just below her knee, not armored like Sunset’s. Violet plates appeared on either side of Twilight’s thighs, and one sculpted into abs on her midsection. Her cowl was formed next, the dark violet contrasted nicely against her lighter shade of lavender skin, her face aged two years like Sunset’s. Her hair was now the pink flames, but they gave off shimmering sparkles within the flames themselves. The final piece was that of the etched yellow lines that appeared over her boots, a thin line around her belt, and the plates. Around her cowl the lines formed the corona crown, similar to Sunset’s, above her forehead the symbol of a pink, six-pointed star flashed and then disappeared.

When both girls opened their eyes they were white as snow, filled with the power of their newly acquired forms. The sphere broke out, burning away parts of the buildings on either side of them and leaving the alleyway completely exposed to the streets before them. When the other wielder finally recovered, having blown up the shop upon his exiting of the establishment, he gawked at the two girls now standing before him with power similar to his own. He didn’t know whether to be impressed, attracted, or pissed that he lost the monopoly on being a walking inferno.

“Now it’s our turn!”

Entry 7: Firestorm Zwei vs. Blaze

Author's Note

When characters are in Firestorm form, they're text will become their dominant color. Idea inspired by the "The Bridge: A Godzilla-MLP Crossover".

Sunset Shimmer
Twilight Sparkle
Blaze

Entry 7: Firestorm Zwei vs. Blaze

“I can’t believe it, those bitches told me I was the only one with this power! Screw them, I’ll just kill ‘em later, after I’m done with you two cuties!”

“Ugh, now I really want to incinerate him,” said Sunset.

“Be careful, we don’t know how strong we are in these forms, but honestly…I feel like I can remake the world with my bare hands,” said Twilight in astonishment as she looked at her own hands.

Sunset was loving this feeling, the power coursing through her, it was more accurate to say she was the power itself! It was like the magical power she longed to have again, it was almost similar, not quite, but still, it was extremely potent stuff.

“So do you have a name?” Sunset asked.

“Call me Blaze!”

“How original.”

“Shut up! Anyway, why fight me, the three of us can set fire to this entire damn city! And later we can watch it burn! Watch as all the little people run away as fast as they can to avoid getting charbroiled!” Blaze offered.

“In addition to being a pyromaniac, and being sadistic, he’s also developed a god complex,” said Twilight.

Sunset smacked her right fist into her left palm, causing a clanking of metal to echo out. “Guess we need to knock him off his pedestal then!”

“Screw you both then, let me hear you scream!”

Blaze pointed both his hands at the girls, atomic rings formed as the particles of energy gathered at his call. Sunset saw this and mimicked the motion, she only hoped that the few lessons she taught herself in the use of offensive magic translated well into this power. Her hopes were answered when her hands gained the atomic rings as well, the energy built up faster than Blaze and in no time at all Sunset unleashed a powerful stream of plasma fire right at him. The blast hit him dead center, sending him up to the building and going higher and higher as Sunset continued to pour it on.

Twilight reached out with her own hand and concentrated, trying to conjure a fire blast to aid Sunset, but for some reason the atomic rings never formed. “Why can’t I use it too?”

“Don’t worry Sparky, I’ve got this guy!”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Blaze released burst field of power, breaking himself off from Sunset’s energy blast.

“Or at least I did.”

Blaze didn’t seem to drop back down, in fact, he was still in midair. It then occurred to both girls that Blaze could fly, something that Sunset found out the hard way. Blaze flew right at her, plowing himself into Sunset and forcing her back. He held Sunset by the neck, smashing her through one wall after the other. He then aimed at a skyscraper, glass shattered and steel was melted as a molten wake was etched into the side of the building the higher they went, and dragging her up its surface to its highest point.

Sunset had had enough of this, she cocked back her right fist, energizing it with flames and struck Blaze right in the face! The strike sent him spiraling away from Sunset as he tried to correct himself in midair. Sunset scrambled to figure out how she could remain airborne, knowing that it would only be a matter of seconds before she began falling to the pavement down below. An idea sprung into her head and she went with it. The flames that jetted out of the sides of her boots began to swirl and spun rapidly till they looked like spinning wheels floating a few inches away from her boots.

“Not exactly a chariot, but it’ll do,” said Sunset.

Blaze seemed to get his bearings again, now flying straight for Sunset. The red armored girl smirked and jetted off towards him. The two met halfway as Blaze went for a punch right at her head, but Sunset dodged it, and drove her right elbow right into Blaze’s midsection, causing a shockwave to boom outwards. The pyromaniac let out coughing gag from the blow, Sunset took advantage of this and delivered a palm uppercut to this jaw with her left. Sunset felt great, the pain from her injury during her fight with Lightning Dust and Gilda was no longer there at all, not only that, but she was faster and stronger now too. Sunset began giving Blaze a flurry of punches that moved a rapid fire pace. Sunset’s punches moved so fast that it looked as if Blaze was getting pummeled with dozens of fireballs.

The pyromaniac managed to block one punch, allowing him to deliver a powerful hook right to Sunset’s stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. In that same moment, Blaze maneuvered around so that he was behind her now. He grabbed hold of her right wrist, wrenching her arm back, causing Sunset to grunt in pain, and with his left hand he palm struck Sunset right at the elbow at the same time. The result was the sickening crunching and cracking sound of Sunset’s arm breaking at the elbow, causing the crimson warrior to cry out in pain as her eyes bulged out from the injury.

“SUNSET!!!” Twilight cried out.

Twilight’s white eyes shined as she pointed her hand at the metal antenna of one of the buildings. Her mind went to work, through the eyes of her new form she was able to see many things. For instance, the atomic and molecular structure of the antenna itself, her mind automatically registered every core metal component of the tall tower. Her right hand summoned forth the atomic rings as Twilight directed her energy right to the tower, she then raised that same hand up as if picking something up.

The antenna rose into the air, breaking off part of the roof it was on with it. With another burst of her power the antenna was blasted apart into tiny particles, her mind set to work on rearranging the atomic structure, changing the molecular density composition of the entire thing in a matter of nanoseconds! The atomic rings formed around Twilight’s left hand, and working with her right she formed the reworked item like a conductor of an orchestra. The new creation was a multitude of chain links that swirled around her, each one tipped with a sharp arrowhead. Twilight waved her hands and the chains launched themselves right for Blaze.

Blaze saw the chains coming and quickly released Sunset Shimmer from his grasp, flying at great speed to avoid them. He fired plasma flame beams at the chains, but every time he severed the chains they grew back, reconnected to the original, and continued their pursuit. Blaze tried this a few more times, trying to completely melt the chains, but the end result was the same, now instead of many, there was literal a hundreds of thousands spear tipped chains surrounding him. Like the ancient mythological hydra, when one head was cut two more grew in its place, and it was proving to be the same with these chains!

Sunset floated to Twilight, clutching at her broken right arm. “So…looks like you can fly too.”

“It’s just a simple matter of manipulating the gravitons that float within the air, but forget that! Sunset your arm!”

The crimson Firestorm looked at her arm with a growing feeling of nausea, her arm looked like a jackknifed semi, and she couldn’t even move it. But just then flames erupted around the arm, surrounding the broken area. The flames changed into the atomic rings, and within a few seconds Sunset’s arm was set back into place. Both girls were astonished by the sudden regeneration, Sunset flexed the fingers of her right hand, and then gave her arm a few light bends. There was no pain at all, her arm had been completely healed.

“How…?” Twilight gasped.

“It must be our bodies, we’re not exactly flesh and blood anymore. And because of that, we must be able to heal at a faster rate than normal,” said Sunset with an observational tone.

“Makes sense, but still, we shouldn’t be reckless with our attacks, too much damage and not even our healing abilities might able to save us.” Twilight warned.

“Okay, no head shots or getting twenty inch holes blasted through our guts. By the way, how are you still talking to me and chasing him down with those chains?!”

Twilight looked up and saw that the chains were still after Blaze, she shrugged and smiled. “I’m great at multitasking.”

The chains swirled around Blaze like a pit of vipers, each one snapping at him as he lobbed fireballs at them. The chains went stiff, readying themselves for the final strike. “I’m not going to be beaten by a couple of girls! You hear me?!!!”

The chains lashed out from every direction, it was a three-hundred and sixty degree death swarm, no matter which way he went, the chains would be there and they were closing in with each second. Blaze created a sphere of flames around his body, hardening it into a shield that kept the chains at bay, but they grinded against the sphere, tirelessly trying to pierce through it and get at their prey. Blaze built up more of his power, his flaming hair flaring up as he did so. The sphere grew more and more, expanding and pushing against the swirl of chains.

Outside the sphere, Twilight was doing her best to keep hold over the chains, her brow furrowing as she concentrated. Sunset noticed her struggling and looked to the sphere, watching as the center glowed brighter. The red Firestorm thrust out her hand, concentrating to aid in the maintenance of the chain sphere. Her eyes saw into the atomic structure of the chains, seeing Twilight’s artistry in rearranging the atoms into a stronger version of themselves. Seeing where the bonds were growing weaker, Sunset concentrated her energy on transmuting the bonds back into place. But something was wrong, the atomic rings that usually precursor the usage of their powers did not appear at all.

Twilight looked to Sunset, who was now staring at her hand. “What’s wrong?!”

“I can’t…transmutation…I can’t use it like you can!”

I can’t use fire blasts and Sunset can’t transmute?! Does that mean that the Protocol split its abilities between the two of us?!

Twilight didn’t have time to ponder this as the chains burst apart, vaporized by the heat and power of Blaze’s energy. The rogue Firestorm looked upon them with pure hate and rage burning in his eyes. Blaze shot out with a trail of flames in his wake, cocking back his left fist as he aimed right for Twilight. The lavender Firestorm’s eyes widened when she saw him careening for her. When Blaze threw his punch Sunset bolted and got right between him and Twilight. With her right hand Sunset caught the punch mid strike, sending a shockwave booming around them from the residual force and power being dispersed.

Blaze readied to blast her in the face with his other hand, but Twilight thrust out her left hand, summoning the atomic rings around her hand. A great pressure formed between Sunset and Blaze, and with a flick of the wrest Twilight unleashed the pent up force, sending a wave of pressure roughly the equivalent to being slammed with a ten-foot steel wall. The pressure wave threw Blaze some ought feet away. Sunset looked to Twilight, smirking at the egghead’s quick thinking.

“I may not be able to use fire blasts, but there are other ways for me to attack!” Twilight proclaimed.

“Then let’s slam this d-bag into the grindstone!”

Sunset took off, with Twilight right behind her. Sunset brought both of her hands together, the rings forming around them, and fired a column sized blast of plasma fire right at Blaze. The rogue Firestorm stopped his momentum, he quickly erected a barrier around himself just in time for the blast to hit it and engulf him.

Twilight used her enhanced vision, peering past the flames and barrier to see Blaze underneath. She focused her power within the bubble of energy that he protected himself with. Although not able to wield the same flames as Sunset, that didn’t mean she couldn’t use fire in another way. Twilight concentrated her power on the air molecules floating in the bubble, she manipulated them into ten condensed spheres of swirling air. Blaze was noticeably confused about what was happening around him, but he wasn’t about to let down the barrier while Sunset was still pouring on the heat.

With a snap of her fingers, Twilight made the air molecules grind against each other, causing enough friction that they caused a chain reaction. All ten ignited at once, causing a massive explosion within the confines of his barrier, which only magnified the damage and power of the detonation. Sunset’s attack blew up at the center, adding to the destructive power of the attack.

A massive smoke cloud appeared around Blaze obscuring him from sight. But Blaze was still there, glowing bright. His body was a mess from the counter attack, the flames and atomic rings already at work trying to heal his battered body. He spat out some blood, which was really plasma ichor that dissipated after a second or two.

“How in the hell are they so strong?! Fine then I’ll just blow up the entire city!”

“Not happening!”

Blaze looked up into the sky and saw a yellow star shooting down from the heavens. Then he realized that it wasn’t a star, it was the other Firestorm girl, Sunset! She came in at a blinding speed as her yellow flames ignited around her in an aura of yellow brilliance. She spun around until her legs were pointed down at Blaze, she then concentrated the flames around her right foot, making them coalesce until they engulfed her whole foot. Her bellowing mane flared up like a jet engine and propelled her at even greater speed.

Sunset delivered a powerful flying kick to Blaze’s sternum, making the chest plate dent greatly, but it didn’t stop there. The crimson Firestorm continued her attack, pushing Blaze and herself down in a straight nosedive back down to the earth below. Blaze cursed and yelled as Sunset’s attack burned at his chest, while the g-forces of their freefall kept him from doing anything to counter attack. The city was quickly coming into view, and luckily for Sunset, their landing site was big enough and wide enough that no one would get hurt.

The two of them continued to free fall straight down to the ground, striking asphalt and concrete, turning it into dust and molten rock upon impact. A powerful shockwave rattled the buildings and high-rise towers, causing some of the glass to either fracture or shatter all together. A large dust cloud was kicked up into the air, taking the form of a mushroom cloud, except without the nuclear fallout that would usually precede such an explosion.

Twilight had watched from on high, with worry gripping at her heart, she flew down to the dust cloud. Atomic rings formed around her hands as she cut through the cloud and made it disappear in the blink of an eye. To her relief, Sunset was standing, her foot firmly planted on Blaze’s chest, holding the pyromaniac in place as he struggled to regain his strength from the powerful dual beat down. She waved her hand over the area, making the heated concrete cool rapidly until it was safe to walk upon. After a moment’s struggle, Blaze finally lost consciousness, and following shortly after, his body was engulfed in flames with the atomic rings forming around him. What now laid under Sunset’s boot was a man in his early to mid-twenties, a little bruised up, but otherwise he looked unharmed.

Twilight flew down and landed beside Sunset, nodding at the other girl as she smiled. Suddenly, Twilight and Sunset’s eyes peered into the man’s body, seeing something at his core. It was a fireball wrapped in three oscillating rings, much akin to the Firestorm Protocol. Sunset looked to Twilight with a serious expression.

“You know we can’t let him go, he’ll just come back and try this all over again.”

“What do you suggest? Killing him?”

“That’s an option.”

“No Sunset! We’re not stooping to their level!”

“Well we can’t just let ‘em keep that Protocol!”

Twilight looked back at the Protocol still within the man. She bent down on one knee and placed her hand over his chest. It was a long shot, and there was no telling what it would do to the man if this worked. Still, there were no other alternatives other than ending this man’s life. Twilight concentrated her powers, reaching out to signal the other Firestorm Protocol within the man’s body. The man grunted in discomfort as Twilight raised her hand up slowly. Sunset’s enhanced vision allowed her to witness what Twilight was doing, her energy was formed into tendrils that reached into the man’s body and wrapped themselves around his Firestorm Protocol.

Like pulling out a splinter, moving ever so carefully, Twilight continued to draw out the source of the killer’s power. A sphere and rings could be seen emerging from the center of his chest, and with each passing second, a little more was drawn out of him. Twilight gave one last tug and the Firestorm Protocol was completely extracted, she looked back at the man, letting out a sigh of relief that he didn’t seem harmed by the procedure.

Twilight looked up at Sunset Shimmer and smiled victoriously. “There’s always another way.”

Sunset crossed her arms and smirked at the sparkling Firestorm girl. The Protocol that Twilight extracted suddenly floated out of her grasp, the sphere floated before them and then split apart. The sphere then shot towards them, striking the sun emblem on their chest plates and disappearing into them. Sunset and Twilight could feel their energy spike for a quick moment but then it was gone.

“Okay, what was that about?!” Sunset asked with surprise.

“I…I’m not sure…I feel normal-ish, what about you?”

“Same, I guess.” Sunset suddenly heard the sounds of police sirens. “I know that song, we better leave Sparky, the last thing we need is to explain this to the cops!”

“Agreed,” said Twilight.

With little else said, Sunset and Twilight shot off into the air, leaving Blaze to the proper authorities when they arrived.

Adagio was standing on the edge of a skyscraper roof top, she wore a mauve hoody with dark blue jeans as her amber hair bellowed in the wind. Her rose-colored eyes kept watch on the burning trails of yellow and pink as they took off away from the city. To her right was Aria and to her left was Sonata, both sitting on the edge of the roof. Aria and Sonata were wearing the same colored jeans as Adagio, but Aria’s hoody was an army green color while Sonata’s was plum colored.

Sonata was happily kicking her feet back and forth, with a bag of popcorn in one hand as she munched down on its contents. “Wow, now that was cool!”

“Feh, we could do better,” said Aria. “So, are we going to go after them?”

“After seeing that? No. Besides, we need to report to Dusk Shine, he’ll want to know that his precious Protocol was found, and that the mass production ones are very potent.”

“But Dagi, those girls took out the Protocol in his body! I didn’t know we could do that!”

“Yes, that is a strange ability…”

Adagio looked to Aria, who was now raising an eyebrow at the lead Siren. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Before Aria could get an answer, Adagio threw herself at Aria, knocking the both of them onto the flat of the rooftop. Sonata turned around and watched as the other two Sirens rolled around, still eating her popcorn. Adagio managed to get herself on top of Aria, she then placed her hand on Aria’s chest, making Aria eyes widen and her cheeks flush.

“W-What the hell are you doing?!”

“Shut it for a minute would you?!”

Adagio concentrated, calling on the power within her, Aria and Adagio stayed there, with the latter straddling the former, hand still resting where it had been placed. Sonata leaned forward in anticipation of what Adagio was doing, almost to the point of falling flat on her face. After several seconds Adagio’s serious expression faded to one of disappointment.

“Doesn’t look like we can do what they did.”

Aria blushed harder. “D-Do what?!”

“I just tried to reach in and take your Protocol, but nothing happened. Looks like Professor Neigh must’ve made theirs special. And that’s why Dusk Shine wants it so badly, but I doubt he told the higher ups.”

“Fine, fine, now would please get off me?!” Aria grumbled.

Adagio gave Aria a coyish smile, she then thrust her other hand forward, putting it right beside Aria’s head as she leaned down to the grumpy Siren. “Now who said we were through here?”

Oooh, another show! I’ll need more popcorn!

Entry 8: Our Little Secret

Entry 8: Our Little Secret

By Monday it was all anyone could talk about, the fight between the two inferno girls and the psycho inferno man. Every source imaginable, the news stations, the web, radio, everywhere, streamed crappy cellphone footage along with actual news caught video of the fight, it was the headline of every media outlet.

At Canterlot High it was the subject of debate and heated talks all day long. Despite the chaos of the past two days, the school board decided not to close the schools, it would only give credence to the strange happenings and make the students worry. A sense of normalcy was needed, so school was kept open, even though the teachers had a hell of a time keeping the attention of the teenagers. When lunch came around, six girls in particular sat at their usual table, one of which was feeling a little bit embarrassed at their attention.

“Really girls, I’m alright,” said Twilight.

“You can hardly blame us for worrying darling! You were practically alone with Sunset Shimmer for three nights and two days, and to top of it all off, you both were in the middle of the insanity that happened downtown!” Rarity blurted out.

Applejack sighed heavily. “Gave me a fright when Ah heard about it too. Funny, never thought Sunset Shimmer would actually help y’all in a crisis like that. Seems like the kinda gal to cut the rope and let ya fall.”

Twilight had to admit, that was a little irritating to hear. Maybe it was because of their shared power, or just how much the heat of battle helped them to bond a little, but Twilight didn’t like hearing that Sunset was a coward.

“Applejack, she risked her life to get me out of there! My Dad’s car is charbroiled, but Sunset was the one who helped keep me calm while all that chaos was going on!” Twilight argued.

The five girls blinked in surprise of the amount of conviction behind her words. “Alright, simmer down Twi, Ah didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Don’t get me wrong though, Ah’m glad she was able to put whatever grudge she has against ya away and help ya.”

“Um…if you don’t mind, how was it? Having Sunset Shimmer at your house?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight smiled, Fluttershy having asked a less harrowing topic. “Well, it was nice. She’s really smarter than most give her credit for.”

“I figured Principal Celestia just put you two together as some strange way to make you guys be friends, that, or her grades were so bad that she needed this project to get them up,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Nah, that’s more your shtick RD.” Applejack commented while sipping some apple juice.

“So what did you two do at night?! Did you stay up late and watch sci-fi movies or horror movies?! Did you totally pig out on pizza and ice cream?!” Pinkie Pie asked with her usual amount of enthusiasm.

Twilight giggled. “Not really…Sunset’s not into slumber parties. We just mainly talked, ate some dinner with my parents, did a little more work, and then went to bed.”

Pinkie’ expression deadpanned. “Wow, that’s uninteresting. I would’ve pictured Sunset as more of a wild thing at night, or at least someone who was into partying hard.” At that moment Pinkie’s expression changed to reflect inspiration had struck. “Oh, oh, we should totally invite her to our next Slumber Party!”

“WHAT?!!!” Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash nearly shouted.

“No way Pinks, we don’t want someone like Sunset ruining the vibe. She’d probably just brood in a corner or just be a total downer. She might not even want to come!” Rainbow thought about that for a moment. “Actually go ahead and invite her, she’ll say no anyway.”

“Well…she might if Twilight asks her,” said Fluttershy absentmindedly.

Twilight spluttered her drink and nearly choked. “*cough* Why would she come if I asked? *cough*”

“Um…I…”

“Go on Fluttershy,” said Rarity as she placed a hand on the pink haired girl’s shoulder.

“I just think…after hearing how she’s been around you, maybe she’s trying to be better? Trying to make friends?”

The rest of the group took a moment to digest that. True, Sunset Shimmer didn’t have any friends, to be honest, she had more enemies than she did friends, but that was mostly her own doing. The only ones who stuck around her were Snips and Snails, and after Sunset got locked up in Juvie some months ago, they were adamant about staying away from her. So now that just left the red and yellow haired girl alone.

“Now that Ah think about it, does anyone even know where Sunset’s from? Seen her parents or siblins’ at any of the functions at the school?” Applejack asked.

Another round of contemplation took place. Another fact that they had somehow overlooked was no staring them in the face. Did Sunset Shimmer have any parents or siblings at all? In the three or so years she was in Canterlot High, not one of them had ever seen her parents pick her up from school, always riding to and from school on her motorcycle. In fact, none of them even remember seeing her when they were in grade school or middle school.

It was as if Sunset Shimmer just appeared out of nowhere into the world, but such a thing wasn’t possible. The resident bad girl did have a place to live, and obviously she had enough money to buy a motorcycle, that or she stole it, which wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“Do you think she’s possibly an orphan?” Rarity asked.

“It would explain her antisocial tendencies, why she feels the need to have control over everything, and get respect by forceful means,” said Twilight.

“Maybe…Maybe she’s from an abusive home? She does have a lot of aggression…and tends to belittle others…a lot.” Fluttershy shuddered at the memories of Sunset cornering her and pinning her against a locker as she stood there and took her verbal abuse. But now that she put that to it, maybe it was because she was yelled at herself that she needed to yell back at someone who wouldn’t fight back.

Pinkie Pie began to sniffle a bit. “Poor Sunset…”

“‘Poor Sunset’, really?” The others looked to Rainbow Dash. “So what if she did come from a crappy home, is an orphan, or was abused. There other people who have gone through that and aren’t total assholes. Taking out your problems on other people is a coward’s way of dealing with them, instead of facing them!”

“Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity in a scolding tone.

“I’m just making a point! If she really wants my pity or sympathy, then she has to earn it!”

“Um guys, where is Sunset Shimmer anyway?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Five of the girls swiveled their heads around, scanning the cafeteria for any sign of the leather jacket and scowling visage of the girl in question. But she was nowhere to be seen, not even at her usual table that Sunset sat alone at during lunch.

“I spoke to Principal Celestia. She said Sunset’s at home right now, I guess she was more rattled by what happened than I thought and just needed some time alone,” said Twilight.

ONE DAY AGO, SUNDAY, AFTER THE BATTLE…

Sunset and Twilight had flown until they reached the outskirts of town, settling in a dense forest area known as White Tail Wood. Sunset found a flat boulder and sat on it, releasing a heavy sigh. She didn’t feel fatigued, even though that was an intense battle, just somewhat out of it mentally. Twilight was busy pacing the forest floor, going back and forth as she thought on their situation.

“Well, at least we know this Protocol thing works, and we did stop that psycho,” said Sunset.

Twilight stopped and looked up at Sunset with a smile. “Yes, thank god we did, but now what? We’re still in our Firestorm forms.”

“Yeah, about that, how do we change back?”

“I don’t know…”

Silence reigned for all of ten seconds before Sunset face palmed herself. “You gotta be kidding me?!”

“It was a likely scenario that if we merged with the Protocol, that we might not be able to change back!” Twilight shot back.

“So what?!” Sunset hopped off the rock and stood before Twilight. “We’re just supposed to stay looking like walking nuclear reactors?!”

“Sunset calm down, there has to be a way to change back! Blaze changed back!”

“Yeah, after you took out his Protocol…! Wait, maybe we can do that to ourselves?!”

Twilight shrugged. “At this point any option is on the table.”

Sunset placed her right hand over her chest at the same time as Twilight. Both girls closed their eyes as they tried to reach to the divided Protocol within them. But try as they might, the Protocol would not come to them.

“Maybe we have to do it to each other?” Twilight suggested.

Sunset reached out and placed her hand on Twilight’s breastplate. She concentrated and tried to reach into her to grab her half, but just like herself, she could not take Twilight’s Protocol.

“Nothing!” Sunset snapped. “Maybe we should head back to your home, go to your little underground lab and find a way to reverse this?”

Twilight’s white eyes went wide. “We can’t! By now our fight has gone viral all over the internet! If we go to my house like this people will see us and know it’s us!”

“You can transmute right? Just bend the light around us and make us invisible.”

“That’ll only work for so long, when my parents get home they’re going to ask if we’re alright! I texted them about us being downtown, remember!”

Sunset face palmed again. “Friggin’ brilliant. Wait a minute, what happened to our clothes when we changed?”

Twilight blushed. “Oh no…did they burn away when we changed?!”

“Better not have, my cellphone was in my jacket pocket!” Sunset took a few calming breaths when she realized her fiery mane was lashing about in agitation, it reminded her of when she had a tail. “Alright, so, we said ‘Firestorm’ when we changed, maybe if we say it again we’ll change back?”

Twilight stepped back. “FIRESTORM!”

Nothing happened.

“Scratch that off the list. Well, what if we willed ourselves back to normal…” Sunset face palmed herself for the second time. “I’m an idiot, of course.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

Sunset opened and clenched her fists, staring down at her hands as she felt the energy that made up her body. This power isn’t magic, but it’s similar in different ways. Maybe I can control it like magic.

The crimson Firestorm shut her eyes as she concentrated, after a few seconds red atomic rings formed around her body, and a sphere of yellow fire appeared at the center. When the rings and fireball dispersed, Sunset Shimmer was standing there, back in her normal form, and thankfully, none of her clothes were burned away. Sunset opened her eyes and blinked when she saw her normal human hands instead of metal-gloved gauntlets.

“It worked!”

“How did you do that?!”

“Like I said, I willed it. I concentrated on the energy returning to the source and now I’m me again!”

Twilight quieted her mind and did as Sunset said. Purple atomic rings appeared around her as Twilight’s body was engulfed in a pink fireball. In the same amount of time, Twilight’s body returned to normal, also fully clothed. The studious girl examined her body, making sure she had all ten fingers, ears, nose, and uh…those.

“You were right Sunset!

“And it looks like our clothes didn’t get burned, I guess they’re broken down into particles and stored away when we change.” When she didn’t get an answer, Sunset looked to the other girl. “Twilight?”

“FIRESTORM!”

Sunset jumped back, still on edge as she took a fighting stance, but then she noticed that Twilight hadn’t transformed.

“What was that about Sparky?”

“I think the way you changed back also has bearing on how we can change into our Firestorm forms. Think about it, the activation code word is ‘Firestorm’, but it has to be more than that. Otherwise we could just say it while we were having a conversation and change right on the spot. I think your concentration technique of willing the power in and out of the Protocol works in tandem with the word. Just willing the energy free isn’t enough, it needs be lit, ignited and given form.”

Sunset placed her hands on her hips and stared at Twilight impressively. “Wow, you figured out all that just like that?”

Twilight blushed. “Well I’m theorizing, nothing’s completely concrete yet, but it’s the best one that seems to hold up for now.”

“On that note, now we can head back to your house. I’m sure your ‘rents are going out of their minds right now.”

Twilight’s eyes bulged when she realized that they more than likely saw the news on the attack and were no doubt worrying about her right this second. She pulled her cellphone out from the pocket in her skirt and saw that there were at least a hundred to three hundred text messages from her parents, each, and about a hundred and fifty voicemails.

“OH MY GOSH!!!”

Sunset chuckled, but then she felt her phone vibrate in her jacket pocket. She pulled out the device and saw that she had two-hundred texts and one-hundred and seventy voicemails, all from Celestia.

“Oh crap…”

PRESENT…

Sunset laid on her couch, she didn’t bother getting properly dressed. Her mind was still too preoccupied with the events of the last three days. She stared at the ceiling for who knows how long, but she didn’t care. Sunset raised her left hand up to the ceiling, staring at her hand and its flexed digits. The power that coursed through her was still there, it reminded her so much of her magic.

It was awesome, terrifying, like she could reduce everything around her to rumble with a flick of her wrist. Sunset wondered if this was the kind of power that Princess Celestia wielded on a daily bases. To have so much power, to know that you could raze anything to the ground, and defeat any foe that stood before for you, the sun’s power within your hands, or hooves.

Sunset clenched her fist until it resembled a hoof, it felt strange. Three years of living in this human world and there were still some things about her human body that both fascinated her and found a tad bit annoying. She chuckled when she remembered the shocker of seeing hands instead of hooves, no muzzle, and definitely no horn. That almost gave her a heart attack.

The teenage girl glanced up, staring at the guitar that was resting up against the couch. She carefully grabbed it, and took out the pick that was secured in its frets. Sunset placed her left hand at the neck of the guitar, putting her fingers in position. With a flick of her right wrist Sunset strummed a little melody. It was an electric guitar, so it didn’t get as much sound other than a few light “tings” and “twangs”.

Sunset had gotten down the rudimentary function and use of her new appendages fairly quick when she first arrived to this world, but she knew that that wouldn’t be enough if she needed to do more complex things. So she took to learning an instrument that would require good dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Amongst all of the various ones, the guitar, more specifically the electric guitar, struck her fancy.

She loved the way it sounded, how each strum of the chords made a power sound, and with the right combination could invoke an invigorating tune. Thanks to her persistence in learning the instrument, Sunset was rewarded with not only learning better control of her digits, but also became a pretty wicked guitar player too.

Strumming the guitar chords helped her to think, to clear her mind. Plugging it into the amp would be nice, but the last thing she wanted was a noise complaint from some uppity neighbor. So she just flicked the pick against the chords, playing a song inside her mind, and mouthing the words as she closed her eyes, imagining the rest of the band playing behind her.

But as she played, something else struck her mind, throwing her off her rhythm. Images of the fallen dead, the screams of terror, and the smell of burning flesh, it all returned to her in an instant. Sunset’s eyes shot wide open, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. The red and yellow haired girl raised her guitar up to throw it in frustration, but stopped herself.

Death was a natural thing, even in Equestria. Ponies grew old and died, sometimes they’d get in horrible accidents and die, and some even got rare diseases and in the end couldn’t be cured before they expired. Such was the cycle of life. But never had Sunset seen someone blatantly murder so many in just a short amount of time, and do so without any hint of remorse.

Equestria had experienced a long time of peace, and crime such as murder was an extremely rare occasion. The last time Sunset could remember hearing about a murder was when she wasn’t even born yet. Sunset chuckled, remembering another little annoying thing about being in this world. Though she was much older back in Equestria, around twenty-one, when she arrived to this world, she was at least between the ages of thirteen to fourteen, freshman age.

“Smart enough and old enough to own her own house and earn lots of degrees, but stuck in a body that no one will take seriously.” Sunset groaned.

The former Equestrian sighed and went back to strumming her guitar, trying to clear her mind and think only of the music and song. She was getting the rhythm back, a small smile creeping onto her lips as she lost herself in the song.

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

Sunset missed her next chord and looked around, she shrugged and went back to her song.

*Knock*

*Knock*

That time she wasn’t imagining it. Sunset looked towards her front door and groaned in agitation. There weren’t a lot of people who knew where she lived, Sunset made it a point to make sure that was the case. The only ones who did know of her whereabouts were Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. And of course there was the manager of this apartment, but she knew that the rent was paid up long in advance, and there shouldn’t be anyone complaining about noise since she wasn’t playing loudly.

Sunset got up and walked towards the door, she was about a foot away and reaching out for the doorknob, but paused suddenly. What if it’s those guys that Sparky talked about…?

Twilight did mention to Sunset that there were bad people who wanted the power of the Firestorm Protocol, and even though they were careful not be seen there was always a chance that they might’ve been seen. She gulped, her hand shaking a bit. Sunset growled at herself. Since when was she such a scaredy-pony – scratch that – scaredy-cat?! She had the power to blow away the city if she wanted to, what did she have to fear from some MIB thugs?!

Sunset grabbed the doorknob and pressed herself against the door. “Who is it?”

“Um…it’s Twilight.”

Sunset’s eye twitched, that was simply wasn’t possible. Without thinking, Sunset quickly opened the door and standing right there was Twilight. Her mouth gaped open, there was no way Twilight could know where she lived! Did she LoJack her or something? Sunset was about to ask why she was there, but then Twilight did something that confused her. The studious girl’s face was bright red and she quickly closed her eyes and covered them with her left hand.

“Twilight, what’re you doing here?! How did you find out where I live?!” Sunset demanded.

“I-I’ll answer those, but could you, um, please go back inside and make yourself decent!” Twilight pleaded.

“‘Decent’? What’re you tal –?”

Sunset looked down at herself, she was wearing her sun embroidered pajama top, but going lower, she noticed that she only had on her purple striped panties and some socks on. The rebellious girl blushed hard at how she just callously opened the door without realizing that she was half-naked. Sunset quickly closed the door in Twilight’s face and scrambled about the apartment.

Twilight kept her gaze downward as she waited outside the apartment. She couldn’t believe what she just saw, more specifically, she couldn’t believe the way she felt when she saw it. Sunset was in her underwear, but that shouldn’t cause a reaction like the one she just had. Her heart was beating a little faster and her face was hot.

Twilight continued to hear scrambling inside the room, but when she saw the doorknob twist open she quickly closed her eyes. “You can look now Sparky.”

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and now saw that Sunset had donned her matching pajama bottoms, much to her relief.

“S-Sorry, I really need to stop reacting like that…”

“Yeah, kinda do. We’re both girls, wear the same kind of underwear, and I’m sure you’ve seen other girls in the locker room.” Sunset pointed out.

Twilight rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Yeah, again I apologize.” The thing is…it only happens when I’m around you…Why is that?

“Well…come in I guess.”

Twilight watched as Sunset stepped aside to allow her entry. When she got in, Twilight glanced over the area. It was a very spacious apartment. There was a coffee table in the foyer, a couch and a recliner. A flat screen TV was hanging on the wall, along with a Blu-ray player and sound bar. Further back was the kitchen area, an electric stove with over hanging vents and lights, a stainless steel fridge, and near the kitchen was a wooden table with matching chairs.

There was a patio out back, with a sliding glass doors, and from there she could see a nice view of the city. But the main thing that Twilight keyed in on was that this was a single person apartment. She confirmed it when she saw Sunset make for her bedroom door and closed it. Sunset then looked at her with a dubious glance.

“Okay, now explain to me how you knew where I lived, and why you’re here exactly?”

“Oh…well…I wanted to make sure you were alright after what happened yesterday. I also brought some of the homework from today.”

Twilight unslung her backpack and rummaged through it, placing a few papers on the coffee table. Sunset scoffed at the notion of doing any of it.

“You know I don’t do homework,” said Sunset.

“I know.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I just thought it’d be good for you to know where we’re at so you’re not lost. I know how smart you are, so I figured this would be more of a menial task than anything.”

Sunset smirked. “Looks like you understand. So, Celestia told you where I lived?”

Twilight nodded.

Typical, should’ve figured.

“Just keep this to yourself Sparky, I don’t need the whole school knowing where I live.” Sunset walked over the kitchen area and opened the fridge. “You want something to drink?”

Twilight quickly turned around. “Um…well…”

“I got beer, beer, and…beer.”

The violet girl spluttered and covered her mouth with her hands to stifle a gasp. “S-Sunset! You’re underage! You shouldn’t be –!” Sunset then took out two cans of soda. “– drinking soda… and you were kidding…I’ll be quite now.”

Sunset chuckled and walked over, tossing the can of soda at Twilight. Twilight quickly held out her hands and grabbed the soda, sighing in relief that she caught it.

“Not bad, you got fast hands,” said Sunset as she opened the can of soda. She then sat down on the recliner and began sipping from the can. “So, what really brings you here?”

Twilight sat on the couch and opened her can. “Well, honestly, I wanted to see how you were doing. After everything that happened yesterday, and the fact that you didn’t come to school, I was getting a little worried…”

Sunset sighed. “I’m fine, I just needed some time to let all this sink in.”

“That’s good.” Twilight took a sip of her drink, and took a cursory glance of the surroundings again. “So…it’s just you, alone?”

Sunset stopped in the middle of taking her drink. “Y-Yeah, just me and no one else.”

“Oh…” Twilight glanced around again. “So…do your parents pay for you to attend Canterlot High?”

“Why do you ask?”

Twilight took a sip. “Well, I just noticed that you don’t have any pictures of your family. I was just curious that you may’ve come here from out of state.”

Sunset sighed heavily and then took a long sip before talking again. “Look, I have no parents here, no siblings, it’s just me, on my own. Celestia, same as my cellphone, pays for this place and I do my own grocery shopping. Although she does stop by from time to time to drop off some stuff, that about do it for you?”

Twilight just sat there, stunned at what she heard. “I’m sorry…I didn’t know you were…parentless.”

Technically speaking I do have parents, but they’re from the world where I used to live.

“Don’t worry about it, Sparky. It’s not a big deal.”

“I know that’s a lie…” Twilight muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing, but I promise not to tell anyone, I swear!” Twilight quickly added.

That was good, the last thing that Sunset needed was a pity party from her peers, or from any of Twilight’s friends. It was bad enough that she got such a look from Celestia and Luna, if she started seeing that same look in kids her own age she was going to lose it.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And actually there was another reason why I needed to see you.”

“Hmmm?”

“Sunset, please come back to my house, I need to run some tests on you.”

Sunset gave Twilight an inquisitive look. “What kind of tests?”

Twilight turned the can around in her hands multiple times in nervous contemplation. “I need to see if the Protocol is having any adverse effects on our bodies. That much power contained inside us can’t be too good for our physical stability. Plus if anything does happen, these tests will give us a timeline from what date we used the Protocol and how we felt at the time. And I need your help with the tests as well.”

“My help?” Sunset asked.

“My lab, the workbench, has a biometric scanner that can read vitals and record different kinds of physical data. But I can’t run the computer and run the tests on myself at the same time. So I need you to do it for me. Please Sunset, I just want to make sure we’re alright.”

Sunset thought over Twilight’s proposal. True, neither of them knew what the Firestorm Protocol would do to their bodies. Sunset could feel the power inside herself and so far she had felt fine. But what if it was doing something else to her? What if it was deteriorating her body from the inside out? Such a thought made her shudder.

“I guess I will, the last thing I need is to go into meltdown in the middle of class.”

Twilight released a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sunset. If you don’t mind, could we head to my house now? I want to get this started as soon as possible.”

“Fine…wait, how did you get here? Did Celestia drive you or did your parents?” Sunset asked.

Twilight blushed. “I may or may not have transformed and bent the light particles to render me invisible during my flight over here.”

Sunset’s grin widened upon hearing this. “Couldn’t resist a little joy ride huh Sparky?”

MEANWHILE…

{This is getting out of hand! Director Dusk Shine, you blatantly sent those freak show teenyboppers to that city with a Protocol and had them give it to a psychopath?!}

“Mr. Miser, if I may? The purpose of doing that was three pronged. One: to show the power that our Firestorm Protocols had. Two: to flush out the missing Protocol, which we knew was sent to that city. And three: to confirm if the missing Protocol had bonded with someone. I believe all three objectives were achieved.”

{Well he’s got you there Miser old boy! I am a might curious, what would’ve happened if those two Firestorm gals weren’t there to stop that guy?}

“Easy, my Sirens would’ve neutralized him quickly if he got too out of hand. And for now, they’re remaining in Canterlot City for strictly surveillance until we can ascertain the precise whereabouts of the Protocol users,” said Dusk Shine.

{Hmmm, strange. You said only the one Protocol was missing. And yet we have two Firestorms.}

Dusk rubbed his chin at that. He did witness Professor Neigh put one Protocol into the rocket. So why were there two Firestorms? Could it be that they somehow shared the Protocol’s power? Or is that one more special than I first thought?

“That is a mystery, I’m afraid, even to me. But now that we know where they are, we can concentrate our efforts there.”

{Humph, with the mayhem that was caused by your “demonstration”, it won’t be easy!} Miser complained.

{Well Dusky does have those three girls there already. Like he said, no one’s gonna pay much attention to three teenage girls. They can gather the info we need on the ground. That good with you Dusk Shine?}

Dusk Shine nodded to the monitor. “It is. I’ll begin preparations for information gathering.”

{I think we may need more than that.}

{And what do you propose Miser?}

{If we send more Protocol users to try and take them, they’ll end up getting them taken away like that pyromaniac. I say we fight this fire with a different fire. We should get Project Skull ready for deployment.}

Dusk Shine clenched his jaw and tightened his fists, which were hidden behind his back. “I thought Project Skull was discontinued in favor of Project Firestorm?”

The shadowy figure on the monitor rubbed the back of their head. {We may’ve kept that goin’, not that we didn’t trust ya Dusky, it’s just that we needed a backup in case things went south.}

{But Miser does make a good point. Project Skull’s powers would not be able to be stolen by the Firestorms. We’ll have Project Skull on standby for now, but Dusk Shine, don’t drag your heels on this. Understood?}

“Yes. Understood.”

The three monitors cut off at the same time, leaving Dusk Shine standing in the conference room, alone. The lilac skinned young man exited the room and stood in the hallway. Suddenly Dusk punched the wall to his left with his right fist. Violet flames engulfed it as his strike melted through the wall. His eyes flared up with the flames of the Firestorm Protocol within him. After venting his frustration, Dusk Shine regained his composure and retracted his fist from the wall.

Just then he was gripped in a violent coughing fit. Dusk Shine covered his mouth with his left hand as he held himself up with the right. After a few seconds the coughing fit passed. When he moved his hand away from his mouth he saw bloodstains on it.

“Seems the Protocol isn’t enough…at least not this one.”

Entry 9: Heartache

The day felt like a dream to Sunset, like nothing that was going on felt real. It had been nearly two weeks since the incident in Canterlot City, and so far there were no signs of this mysterious organization that was seeking the Firestorm Protocol within Sunset and Twilight.

The fact that they hadn’t seen or heard anything didn’t really calm their nerves, it only meant that they were plotting something. At least that’s what Sunset would do if she found herself in that position, if she could play the devil’s advocate for a minute. They already demonstrated their power to the organization in taking down the rogue Firestorm, Blaze.

But all that wasn’t as important as what was going on with Twilight right now. All through the day Sunset would hear the students whispering, talking behind her back. It was nothing new, she was used to it, but it was what they said that was starting to get under her skin.

“Twilight Sparkle hasn’t been to school in the past three days.”

“Do you think Sunset Shimmer did something to her?”

“Of course she did! As much as she’s been hanging around with Twilight, she’s had more than one opportunity!”

“I wouldn’t doubt it either. Everybody knows Twilight pretty much browbeat her and won the Princess of the Fall Formal title.”

“Let’s not forget what she did to that girl who ran against her the year before Twilight came along!”

Ugh, seriously, are they going to blame me whenever something bad happens to her?!

Sunset suddenly found herself shoved against a locker, her backpack took most of the impact so it didn’t knock the wind out of her, but it still hurt her back. Sunset tensed when she saw a cyan arm fly by her and slam against the locker behind her, just inches from her head. Her aquamarine eyes followed that arm all the way back to its source, bringing her face to face with a pair angry rose-colored eyes.

“What the hell did you do to Twilight, Shimmer?!”

Apparently yes.

“Hello to you too Rainbow Dash.”

“Cut the crap Shimmer! Twilight hasn’t been to school in over three days! THREE DAYS! Twilight never misses school! She’s never tardy! So the only three explanations are she’s sick, went on a family vacation without telling anybody – which isn’t likely – or three, you did something to her and she’s scared of coming back to school because of whatever you did!”

Sunset looked to the rainbow haired girl with equal parts calm and annoyance. “Really, and what pray tell could I have done that was so bad that it would make Twilight not come to school? Especially when she’s got her own personal knight sticking by her, and no evidence to prove that I did anything to her?”
Rainbow Dash grabbed Sunset by the collar of her t-shirt, hoisting her up with her left hand while she kept her right balled up into fist. “So help me Sunset, if you did anything to her I’ll –!”

“Do nothing!” Sunset countered. “I haven’t done anything to Sparkle, and even if I did know why she’s not here, maybe she hasn’t said anything to you and your friends because maybe she wants to be alone right now!” The yellow-skinned girl quickly reached out and grabbed Rainbow’s t-shirt collar, getting her right fist ready to bury in the sports girl’s face. “So either get out of my face Dash, or I’ll make you!”

Without warning Rainbow Dash was suddenly wrenched backwards, away from Sunset. Sunset was confused for a moment, but then she recognized who it was that removed Rainbow Dash from her personal space. Applejack had grabbed hold of Rainbow by the collar of her shirt, dragging her back with her unmatched strength and making Rainbow flail around helplessly like a frisky cat trying to shake off its capturer.

“What in the Sam hill do you think you’re doin’ Rainbow?!” Applejack asked.

“What’s it look like?! She’s knows what happened to Twilight! Or worse, she did something to Twilight!”

“Rainbow, you can’t just go around accusin’ people of something without evidence! Even if it is Sunset Shimmer,” said Applejack.

Sunset brushed off her jacket and sleeves, correcting her wrinkled shirt collar before rolling her eyes at the attempt of the benefit of the doubt. “Well, at least somebody’s got a cool head.”

“I have to say, while I don’t condone Rainbow’s actions, we do however require some information.” Sunset looked to her left and saw Rarity, with Fluttershy hiding behind her and Pinkie Pie standing beside the fashionista with a worried look at seeing her friends in such an angry state. “You say you did nothing to Twilight, given recent events and Twilight’s evident growing trust in you…I at least am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I don’t doubt that you do know something.”

Sunset averted her gaze from the porcelain-skinned girl. “If I did, I wasn’t meant to. If Twilight wants you to know then she’ll tell you.”

Sunset began to walk away, making Rainbow wiggle out of her blue jacket and cut Sunset Shimmer off before she could get any further. “So you do know something! Spill it! What’s wrong?! What’s so bad that she’s willing to blow off school for three days?!”

The fiery haired girl had had enough, she so wanted to transform and scare the living daylights out of everyone there, but the last thing she wanted right now was to give Twilight something else to worry about. “HOW ABOUT HER OLDER BROTHER DYING?!! IS THAT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON FOR YOU ALL?!!” Sunset shouted loud enough to echo through the hall.

Every student froze where they stood. Fluttershy clasped her hands over her mouth, trying her best to stifle a sobbing fit. Rarity just seemed stunned, unable to speak. Pinkie Pie’s curly, poofy hair had deflated and gone completely straight. Applejack looked as if she just got sucker punched hard in the stomach, given that she too had an older brother, she must’ve felt a sort of empathetic pain, unable to fathom losing her own older brother.

Rainbow Dash looked the most shook by this news, she just stared at Sunset Shimmer with wide eyes, her fists clenched and shaking, somehow unable to decide how she should express herself in this situation.

“H-How do you know that?” Rainbow finally spoke.

“I was there, at her house, when she got the news…you happy now?”

“No…”

“Good, neither am I.”

Sunset shoved her way past Rainbow, the athletic girl barely even registering what it. Despite her best efforts to not recall it, Sunset was unable to keep the memory from flashing before her mind’s eye…

3 DAYS AGO, TWILIGHT’S HOUSE…

“Just lie down like that Twilight.”

“This is really embarrassing…”

“How many times have we done this and you’re still embarrassed?”

“I guess it’s getting a little easier, but I can’t help it.”

“Well, I promise to be gentle Sparky.”

“Do you have to say it like that?”

“Gotta make using this biometric scanner fun somehow,” said Sunset.

Twilight laid on the workbench, a panel slid back, revealing the clear glass surface of the table. Her face was bright red as she remained still, in nothing but her underwear, which was completely embarrassing. Sunset was typing away at the keyboard, watching as the monitor as a green light flashed from the opposite side of the glass Twilight rested on.

The light went up and down the length of her body, like a photocopier scanning a document. An image of Twilight’s body appeared on the screen, stripping away the layers between her muscles, nervous system, circulatory system, bone structure, organs, and finally, the Firestorm Matrix at the core of her body.

Sunset had to admit, no matter how many times she saw this, it was still amazing. This glowing ball of atomic fire was housed within their bodies, and yet it was unreachable, ethereal and yet physical at the same time. She briefly wondered if this was how a unicorn’s magic would appear inside them, and if so, would Celestia’s be brighter and bigger? The computer monitor beeped and displayed it’s readings on a separate window. Sunset spun around in the chair and faced Twilight.

“Alright, all your readings show normal. Nothing’s changed since last week Sparky.”

Twilight released a sigh of relief, she then rose up got off the table. She covered her chest with her right arm, while using the other to cover her waist and crotch area. “Thanks Sunset, I really couldn’t do this without you.”

Sunset got up from the chair, she then grabbed a purple robe that was sitting on another chair and tossed it to the embarrassed girl. “Guess it’s better than having to ask some random stranger. And you know you don’t have to be that embarrassed about being around another girl in your skives, right? You’ve changed in the locker room haven’t you?”

“Well…yes, but it’s no less embarrassing. I usually try to avert my eyes and just stare at the floor, or directly at the locker. I guess I’m not as secure about myself as you are…”

The fiery haired girl smirked. “I won’t argue with you there. I do manage to grab a few boys’ attention. But, uh, not to sound weird or anything, but you have a pretty nice figure…for a bookworm.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed at the compliment she just gave Twilight.

The violet haired girl blushed a little, and pinched the slight opening in the robe shut as she unconsciously ran her right hand through her hair. “Ahem…um…thanks…Well, shall we get started with you next?”

“Yeah, sure.” Sunset quickly answered.

Twilight walked over to her rolling command chair and set up the scanner for Sunset. The rebellious girl threw her leather jacket onto the nearby chair, having kicked off her boots earlier. Sunset went to reach for the zipper of her skirt but paused a moment, glancing back at Twilight from over her left shoulder. The studious girl was typing away, keeping her back to Sunset.

For some odd reason, Sunset didn’t know if she was insulted or relieved. Regardless, she continued undressing, pulling down the zipper and letting the skirt fall to the floor. Sunset then pulled her purple sun embroidered shirt over her head and flung it towards her jacket.

Now standing in nothing but her black bra and panties, Sunset laid herself on the table. “Fire when ready Sparky.”

Twilight activated the scanner with a few keystrokes. The scanner immediately began taking in readings of Sunset’s biometrics. Twilight never said anything, but she was worried. Worried, because whenever she did scan Sunset, she noticed that her biometrics were…off.

Everything looked normal, bone structure, nerves, organs, blood vessels, everything. But when the scanner looked into the Firestorm Matrix, it was somehow interlaced with something else…another form of energy that was melding with the Matrix. This strange energy signature wasn’t connected to the Firestorm Protocol, but somehow stemmed from her physical body.

Twilight had long suspected that Sunset Shimmer wasn’t like normal girls, it’s what originally had drawn her to the rebellious youth. Figuring that somehow she may’ve found a kindred spirit, someone who she could…hopefully…one day, reveal her inner most secrets to; secrets that she would rather take to the grave than allow her other friends to find out. The scanner beeped a few times and gave the readings on another window like Twilights did.

“You’re done Sunset, all readings are normal.”

“As always.” Sunset swung her legs out and sat on the edge of the table, a contemplative expression appeared on her face. “Quick question, why is it that we need to be in our underwear to get scanned anyway?”

“Oh, well, things like leather and cloth muffle the scanners readings. It needs as much of your epidermis touching the glass during the scan to get as accurate a reading as it can. Which is why removing excess clothing is needed.”

Sunset thought about that. “In that case, wouldn’t being totally naked get you better readings?”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her seat at that suggestion. “OH NO! Nothing like that is necessary. Things like undergarments are made of loose fitting and thin material, so it doesn’t impede the scanner in anyway, I’m able to get a 99.9% accurate scan of our biometrics just as we are.”
“But you’re saying that you’d get a one-hundred percent accurate reading if we wore nothing at all?”

Twilight deadpanned from behind the chair. “Are you just looking for an excuse to get naked or something Sunset? I’m starting to wonder if you’re some kind of secret exhibitionist.”

By that logic you can call every citizen in Equestria is an exhibitionist, thought Sunset.

“I’m not, just asking a question is all Sparky. Don’t get your panties in a twist about it.”

Twilight blushed and huffed. “My underwear is not ‘twisted’ in the least! I believe I’m reacting appropriately to your suspicious nature of nudism.”

“Whatever Sparky, also, I’ve been meaning to ask you. I was wondering when we’d get to practice?” Sunset asked.

Twilight raised a curious eyebrow. “Practice what?”

“Using our powers. That Blaze guy almost came close to beating us, and he was just some thug. If a trained soldier or some actual sociopathic, serial killer was merged with one, then we’d have been killed! All I’m saying is, we should get to know our powers better. We already know that you got the transmuting abilities, while I got the oh-so-fun, plasma fire blasting abilities.”

“You don’t sound happy about that.”

“Hmm…”

“For the time being I’m playing it by ear. There’s no telling if repeated use of our powers accelerates some unknown harmful effect or integrates our bodies with the Protocol to the point that we wouldn’t be able to change back.”

Sunset sighed. “In other words, not yet.”

“No, not yet.”

“Oh well, anyway, let’s get some food. I think your mom’s making something good, I can smell from down here.”

Twilight waited for Sunset to get dressed and then went to grab her own clothes and put them on. Once both girls were clothed they made their way upstairs, entering the living room. But when they got up to the first floor, Sunset noticed Mrs. Velvet and Mr. Night Light standing at the front door. Twilight came up behind Sunset and looked over her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Don’t know, your mom and dad have the front door open, and they’re standing right there.”

Twilight took a peek from behind Sunset. “Mom, Dad?”

The light gray woman and navy blue man turned around. Velvet had tears in her eyes, and Night Light had a pained look on his face. Sunset got out of Twilight’s way, feeling a little worried that the usually chipper looking woman was suddenly bawling. Sunset noticed two people standing at the front door, both wore military uniforms, and both wore solemn, sad expressions on their faces. Twilight broke away and moved quickly towards her parents.

“Mom, Dad, what’s wrong?!” Twilight asked.

Velvet, placed a shaky palm on her daughter’s cheek. “Oh Twilight…Shining Armor…your brother he’s…he’s gone…”

“‘Gone’…? What do you mean ‘gone’? He’s away on a mission, right? Did they lose contact with his unit or something?!” Twilight asked desperately.

Velvet shut her eyes, unable to speak the words that would make the reality hit harder. Instead she merely embraced her daughter tightly, releasing shuddering sobs.

“No…oh please no…he can’t be…Shining Armor can’t be…! No…NOOO!!!”

Twilight broke down completely, sobbing into her mother’s shoulder. Both lost the strength in their legs and slowly fell to their knees, holding each other as they sobbed together. Night Light fell to his knees as well, and hugged his daughter and wife the best he could while quietly crying, trying to remain strong for them both. The two soldiers continued to stand at the door, their stoic expressions said it all; they’ve more than likely made many of these kinds of house calls and had learned to keep their emotions in check.

Sunset felt like she needed to go to Twilight, she didn’t know how she could help her, but she felt like she needed to do something. But the reality was, she couldn’t. Sunset was a stranger, a guest in this world, and a stranger to Twilight and her family.

She was barely a good pony, and less of good person, she had no right – as far as Sunset was concerned – to offer comfort to this girl. Not when she for so long had considered her an enemy, and contemplated many ways in which to harm her or get back at her for dethroning her from the seat of power she had cultivated for herself.
So she just stood there, leaning against the wall, unable to do anything other than offer silent condolences.

PRESENT, CELESTIA & LUNA’S HOUSE…

Sunset sat on the barstool that was set up against the counter. The fair skinned and tall woman, Celestia, was wearing a simple white blouse with some goldenrod yellow slacks. It was often a jarring thing to see the Principal of CHS in casual wear, other than a suit. But then again, Sunset supposed, it wasn’t that different from the way Princess Celestia did things back in Equestria.

More often than not, the millennia old alicorn mare would remove her regalia and teach as such. Despite being a Princess, she saw it better to remove the intimidation of the crown and act more as a teacher to Sunset, appearing to her as any other schoolteacher would; wearing a tie and suit, or sometimes nothing at all as the fashion of choice back in her home dimension.

She was starting to think that the similarities between both worlds were more than just appearance, but for some reason, this Celestia was somehow more…approachable. Maybe it was because she wasn’t the leader of an entire nation, maybe it was because she didn’t have the ancient wisdom that came with living for hundreds of years?

Or maybe it was the lack of the angelic wings and long spiraling horn? Whatever the case may be, it didn’t deter the fact that Sunset had come to Celestia, just like she used to, in need of advice and guidance.

The older woman had brewed them some tea and had poured Sunset a cup. The two of them sat in silence for a while, sipping their tea. Celestia had long since mastered the art of patience, especially when dealing with troubled students, and often times rebellious troublemakers.

But right now, Sunset didn’t appear to be either one. If anything, she seemed…confused, maybe? Celestia figured that it might have something to do with Twilight Sparkle’s brother dying, even though she knew Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t admit it. It was best if Sunset brought the subject up, if Celestia did, she had no doubt that Sunset would flat out deny it and stomp out of the house.

“Are you okay, Sunset?” Celestia asked.

“I’m…I’m not sure. I’m don’t even know where to start…”

“Well take all the time you need, I’m in no rush.”

Sunset sighed at hearing that. “Seriously? I’m not keeping you from a date or some little important meeting someplace? I find it hard to believe that you really don’t have anything to do other than sit with me as we silently drink tea.”

“Sunset, when a student takes the time out of their day to come and visit me at my house, it must be for something they believe is important. And as a principal, educator, and because I have a bit of a mothering complex, I take the time to listen,” said Celestia.

“Wow, you’re freely admitting that you have a mothering complex?”

Celestia shrugged. “I see all the students as my children. I’m happy when they excel at something they thought was difficult and overcome a great challenge, and I get sad when I hear they are hurting each other or themselves. So, as I said, take all the time you need.”

Sunset let out a heavy sigh. “I just…I was there when Twilight and her family got the news. I’ve never seen anyone so sad before…so heartbroken…I felt so helpless, like I needed to do something – anything to help her, to make her…not sad anymore!”

Celestia found that intriguing. “I don’t mean to sound cynical Sunset, but a few weeks ago you barely cared at all about Twilight, in fact, you were vehemently opposed to being anywhere near her. Let alone care about her.”

“This was different! I…Okay, I may dislike a little bit less than I did a couple of weeks ago! A life or death experience can have that effect on a person! But I never…I’d have to be the most cold hearted bitch on the planet to not feel anything when I saw her mother, father, and Twilight herself break down like that! I know what everybody says about me, I know and I don’t care! But it’s not like I can’t feel sad for someone if something like that happened…the problem is…”

“The problem is you don’t think you have the right to feel sad for Twilight, or to comfort her.”

Sunset looked back to Celestia with shock at how she was able to discern her core concern. “Y-Yeah…I hated her ever since the Fall Formal, and since then I’ve only ever thought of how to get back at her! But recently, I’ll admit, she’s not as bad as I would’ve thought. A bit nerdy, bit on the shy side, and…for once…someone who didn’t give me a death glare. I’ve been wanting to get back at her, I don’t have the right to say things like ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ or ‘It’ll be alright’!”

Celestia placed a comforting hand on Sunset’s shoulder as she smiled gently at her. “Sunset, you don’t have to say anything to Twilight. Sometimes actions speak louder than words. And believe me…sometimes words aren’t enough…” Celestia took that same hand and put it over her stomach, making Sunset raise a curious eyebrow. “Do you know where my mothering complex stems from?”

“Not having a mom growing up?” Sunset asked cautiously.

Celestia chuckled. “No, no, Luna and I had a wonderful mother and father. Our Father died in an accident, and our Mother lived long enough to see Luna and I start our teaching careers. But it’s mostly because…I’m not able to have children Sunset.”

Sunset’s eyes grew wide with shock as she bolted upright out of her stool. “Wha – Wait – You mean you can’t have kids?!”

Celestia nodded her head solemnly. “I wanted to eventually meet the right person Sunset, and together raise a family. Bearing this in mind I went to my doctor to make sure I was physically able to have children…you can imagine my reaction when they said I was barren…”

Yet again, Sunset found herself in the same position as she did with Twilight’s family. Here before her was the counterpart to her teacher from Equestria, the mare who was practically a second mother to her and this human version who was the same, and she couldn’t say anything.

She turned her back on Celestia, said things in anger and left without ever saying or thinking “I’m sorry”. Maybe that’s why she kept the journal she brought back with her, as a way for her to say she was sorry, if she ever worked up the courage. But now she couldn’t say a word to this Celestia, only stand there like a statue.

“But it was Luna who helped me through that dark time in my life.” Sunset looked back to Celestia and saw her familiar smile. “We’ve been together through a lot, fought like all siblings do, picked each other up when the other was down, and defended the other whenever the situation warranted it.

I was the one who was oldest, and so it was my job to comfort my little sister when she was down, but in that moment, our roles were reversed. And just like you, Sunset, Luna wasn’t the best at saying things like ‘I’m sorry’, because she knew it was the last thing I wanted to hear her say.”

“So what did she do?” Sunset asked curiously.

“She did the only thing she could do, she kissed me.”

“Oh, a peck on the forehead kind of thing?”

Celestia giggled. “Nope, I mean on the lips.”

Silence reigned within the house for several tens of seconds, during which time Sunset’s right eye was twitching uncontrollably. She shook her head several times trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Celestia’s little sister, Luna, had actually kissed her.

“S-She was overzealous or something right? She meant it on the cheek, right?” Sunset asked, hoping she misunderstood.

“Not all, she pressed her lips against mine and held them there for several seconds. As I recall she was a little more aggressive than I would’ve liked, pushed me on my back and laid on top of me the whole time.”

“C-CELESTIA WHAT THE HELL?! You…I mean…the stories and rumors…I never believed them but now…! Oh my god I…!”

“Sunset.”

“WHAT?!”

Celestia brought her right hand before Sunset’s face and flicked her gently on the forehead, catching the fiery haired girl by surprise. Sunset then noticed that infamous “troll face” of hers as Celestia’s lips curled back into a mischievous smile.

“Gotcha!”

“You. Totally. Suck!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Sorry Sunset, but the air was getting a little too heavy, decided to lighten up a bit.”

“By lying about you and your sister making out?!”

“I find my humor where I can, but we’ll have to go over that bit about the rumors and stories about me and Luna later.”

Sunset mentally face palmed herself. There was no shortage of colts and fillies, mares and stallions that created wild theories about Princess Celestia and how she had an incestuous relationship with her younger sister, Princess Luna. They may be immortal alicorns, but just because they’ve lived many lifetimes together, doesn’t mean that that time would erode the fact that they were sisters! Or suddenly make the prospect of such a relationship enticing, right. Right?

“But honestly, Sunset, Luna held me. I fought against her, tried to slip out, but she wouldn’t let me go. Luna held onto me, firm and strong, and through that one action she made it clear that she wasn’t going to leave my side, she was there for me Sunset, and sometimes that’s all that matters.

I completely broke down right then and there and cried my eyes out. I even remember waking up in her arms, having cried myself to sleep, and Luna stayed with me that whole time. I felt so happy, knowing I had a little sister who cared about me so much, it made me realize that I wasn’t alone in this, that I could still be happy. Do you understand Sunset?”

Sunset rubbed her right arm, feeling that she did understand, she just wasn’t sure if it would be something she could do. “I do, and thanks. I’ll see you Monday at school…”

“Sunset.” The rebellious girl stopped in her tracks. “Do the best you can.”

Sunset Shimmer glanced over her right shoulder, flashing Celestia a small but quick smile before heading to the front door and leaving the household. Celestia sighed, but was confident that the spirited girl would do the right thing. Just then she heard footsteps coming down from the stairs, she turned around and saw Luna trudging her way to the bottom. She wore a black t-shirt that read “Gamer For Life” on it, matching her black underwear, and yawned loudly as her bedhead hair swished back and forth.

“Did you just now get up Luna?”

“Mmm-hmm…”

“Were you up all night playing that Advanced Battlefield or whatever?”

“‘Advanced Warfare…” She corrected. “Finally got to Four Star General rank, no thanks to some damn noobs who don’t know how to flank…or the importance of strategy, ugh!”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Really Luna, do you have to play all night through on Friday?”

“Worth it.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Celestia got up from her stool and walked over to her younger sister who had started a pot of coffee. The midnight blue woman squeaked in surprise when she felt her older sister’s arms drape around her midsection as Celestia rested her head on Luna’s left shoulder.

“Even worth not coming to see me in the middle of the night?” Celestia asked.

Luna grinned. “If you were that frisky then you should’ve showed some initiative and made me tear myself away.”

“Hmm, so you’re not opposed to a distraction?”

“If it was a good one, no.”

Celestia held onto Luna tighter, bringing the younger woman closer to her body, and nuzzling the side of Luna’s cheek as she did so. Luna’s face grew hot, but she didn’t dislike any of this.

“Sister, what’s gotten you so affectionate today?”

“Sunset Shimmer came over.”

Luna deadpanned. “Oh, was there something she needed.”

“Yes, help figuring out how to console Twilight after her brother’s death.”

Luna sighed. “Poor Twilight…and pray tell, what did you tell Sunset to help her?”

“Oh only that you made out with me, ripped my clothes off and made passionate love to me.”

Luna nearly crushed her coffee mug in her bare hand, the porcelain of the cup letting out some creaking sounds from the younger woman’s death grip. “YOU. DID. NOT! I didn’t even rip your clothes off! I just…don’t make me sound like some aggressive pervert! I…I can’t believe you even told her something like that!” Celestia had the “troll face” face again, making Luna deadpan for a second time. “You really do have a bad sense of humor, Sister.”

“Well, I’m partially lying. I did tell her you kissed me, but I played it off as a joke.”

“Still, that’s too dangerous! She could spread such a rumor around the school! We live together, and we are the Principal and Vice Principal of the school! Even a rumor such as that would make them look into us!”

Celestia put a finger to her little sister’s lips. “Luna, she wouldn’t say anything, I can tell. And besides, she reminds me a lot of yourself when you were her age.”

Luna scoffed, “Oh please, I was nothing like that she-demon.”

“Hmm, lest we forget, Nightmare?”

“Bring that up again and I’ll show you what a ‘Nightmare’ can do.”

SPARKLE RESIDENCE, SUNDAY…

Sunset had stopped a block away from Twilight’s house, her motorcycle running as she sat there, still contemplating whether or not this was a good idea. There was still some doubt in her mind, she didn’t know what she could do to help Twilight. She never lost a relative before, her grandparents had already passed away by the time she was born, and everypony in her family was fairly young in age and had no illnesses that she recalled.

“Dammit Shimmer, you’re a block away! Just go!”

The fiery haired girl flipped down her visor and drove on the rest of the way. Sunset slowed when she approached Twilight’s house, feeling more anxious the closer she moved her bike up the driveway.

She parked it against the side of the porch like the last time she was here, hung her helmet on the handlebar, and walked towards the front door. Sunset stood before the door and raised her right fist up to knock, but she was beat to it when the door swung open and revealed Twilight Velvet standing there.

“Sunset Shimmer? I thought that was you,” said Velvet.

“Oh…um…Hi Mrs. Velvet…sorry if this is a bad time.”

“Oh no dear, it isn’t, come in.”

Velvet stepped aside and let Sunset enter. The vibe in the air was completely different from the warm and welcoming atmosphere she was used to feeling when she came here. It was heavy with mourning, and sadness.

“I’m glad you’re here Sunset.”

“You are? Is something wrong?” Sunset asked.

“Well…Twilight’s taking this as hard as I expected it…she’s closed herself in her room and hasn’t come out for a while…”

Sunset looked up towards the stairs. “Have uh…Have Twilight’s friends come by?”

“Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie came by, but she didn’t come out. They stayed for a bit, but I told them to try again soon. Applejack came by as well…although, I think it’s hard for Applejack as well. From what I understand she also has a big brother, and I guess, this brings up some fears for her own family.”

“And, uh, Rainbow Dash?”

“Oh, she’s was here until a few minutes ago. She stayed for quite a while, even sat on the porch for a little while longer before heading home.”

Wow, Rainbow really is like her knight or something, probably would’ve broken down the door if she thought she could drag her out, thought Sunset.

“I guess me giving it a shot would be out of the question?” Sunset asked with trepidation.

Velvet shook her head and smiled at Sunset. “You can try dear, actually I think seeing you might help her a little.”

Sunset wasn’t sure if her being there would really do anything to help, but there was no harm in trying. Everyone at school hated her, what was one more person. Sunset felt a pain in her heart when she thought about that. With her blessing, Sunset ascended the stairs.

She stopped at the top step and looked down the hall. On her right was Shining Armor’s room, the room of the big brother she never got to meet. From what she heard from Twilight and her parents, Shining Armor was a soldier, part of a Special Ops team. From what she was able to find out, Shining Armor was deployed on a mission the day before she and Twilight worked on their project together, out on some secret Black Ops mission or another.

That sucks, they probably don’t even have a body to bury.

As Sunset took that first step down the hall, she felt something tugging at her. She recognized this as the Firestorm Protocol within her, as if it were calling out to the other half of its divided Matrix. Instead of heading to Twilight’s room, she walked towards Shining Armor’s. The door was cracked open, making Sunset weary of going in. When she didn’t hear any crying from Twilight she cautiously opened the door.

What she found was Twilight, sitting cross legged on Shining Armor’s bed and holding a picture frame. Sunset gently rapped her knuckles against door, signaling her presence. Twilight briefly acknowledged her presence and even smiled for a moment before the sadness overtook her again. Sunset rubbed her right arm, she had no idea what to say to her, or what she should do.

If she went to her, would Twilight yell at her to get out? She was essentially standing on hallowed ground, an outsider to this place. Sunset took a step forward, her boots thudding slightly against the floor. When she didn’t react, Sunset kept going. Little by little Sunset got closer to the bed until she was just a few inches from it.

Taking a calming breath, Sunset gently sat on the bed, causing the mattress to move a little from the added weight of another person. Sunset looked over to Twilight, she was wearing her pajamas, the same ones she wore when she first stayed over at their house, and the top three buttons were undone, indicating that Twilight had started to button the shirt up, but stopped halfway through. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her hair looked frazzled. Even in such a disheveled state, Twilight still had a dorkish cuteness about her.

Sunset lowered her gaze to the picture in her hands. It was of Shining Armor, she looked about twelve or so, her brother in his early to mid-twenties. The location was a theme park of some kind, Twilight had the biggest smile on her face, riding atop the shoulders of her older brother as he too smiled broadly.

“That was the first amusement park I ever went to…” Sunset stifled a gasp when she heard Twilight talk after being so quiet. “I was so scared of going out to a place with so many people…but Shiny stood by me the whole time, he held my hand, kept me safe, and pushed me into the scariest roller coaster I’ve ever been on in my life!”

Twilight had a big grin on her face as she told this story, making Sunset feel a little less awkward. “Sounds like he liked to torture you.”

“Quite the contrary, he got on with me. It was most fun experience of my life! The rest of that day was a blur, it was all fun, and just…my Mom, my Dad, me, and…my brother…”

“Twilight…”

“He saved me…he gave me a family…everything I have now…I owe it to him! And now…he’s gone!” Tears started to fall on the glass of the picture frame as they streamed down Twilight’s face. “You were the best of the best Shiny! You promised me you’d come back! You’re not supposed to break your promises to your little sister!”

Sunset couldn’t take it anymore. Without even thinking she lunged forward and embraced Twilight, bringing her into a tight hug. Twilight’s eyes went wide with surprise at the sudden contact, but at the end she couldn’t hold back.

The distraught Twilight pushed into Sunset, making them both collapse onto the bed. Sunset continued to hold her closer, allowing Twilight to cry into her chest. For several long minutes she held onto Twilight, and for the first time since this whole thing happened, she didn’t feel helpless.

Entry 10: Revelations

Sunset was worried this morning, it was Saturday, which meant it was a time to relax. After she had comforted Twilight that Sunday, the studious girl had returned to school the following day with her friends and some of the teachers offering their condolences and overall trying to be considerate of Twilight during this time.

Sunset tried not to be around her that much, but she did give the purple girl a smile and nod whenever she looked her way. All through that week, Sunset had only talked to Twilight here and there, they had exchanged cell numbers on that Sunday. Sunset doubted she’d ever text or call Twilight outright unless it was an emergency, like needing to transform into Firestorm and stop some psychos, kind of emergency.

Now, however, Sunset had received a text from Twilight, the first one since their exchange. In it was typed a simple message stating “Meet at the forest where our flames flickered. At 7:00am. ” Out of context that would’ve sounded like a cheesy setup for someone to confess their feelings. But Sunset knew its true meaning and was able to translate it thusly: “Meet me at the forest where we learned how to change back into our normal forms.”

Sunset had to make sure she wouldn’t be seen, so she woke up early that morning and took a number of buses until she was as far away from the city as she could get. Twilight had stated that the Organization might still have spies in the city, and going Firestorm and flying out of the city would attract their attention.

So, playing it smart, Sunset went to the outskirts of town, using said public transit instead of her Baby (aka her bike). Which was a good thing, since she didn’t want to leave it out in the middle of nowhere.

The fiery haired girl watched as the bus left her at the stop. It was barely sunrise, she checked her watch and noticed that she had at least ten minutes before her meeting with Twilight. Sunset looked around, making sure that there was nobody in sight. What few buildings were there were still dark and closed. Sunset nodded and concentrated on the power within the core of her being, she widened her stance and clenched her fists, pouring that power into one word.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Sunset’s body was engulfed in yellow flames as red atomic rings formed around the flames. Within a matter of seconds the flames burst apart, revealing Sunset Shimmer in her Firestorm form. Without wasting a moment, the flame wheels formed at her ankles.

The wheels spun at a rapid pace. Sunset jumped up into the air took and off for the blue. She soared higher and higher into the air until the ground and its inhabitants became specks. After getting her bearings, Sunset shot towards the woods where Twilight would be meeting her.

The ground flew by in blurred shades of color, she may’ve liked going fast on her motorcycle, but right now, at this moment, the speed, the power, the freedom of the open skies. It was all simply exhilarating! For years Sunset had always gazed at the pegasi of Equestria, watching them flap their wings and soar through the skies, defying gravity. On many occasions she had watched Princess Celestia fly, and it was the most graceful thing she had ever seen. Now that Sunset had gained the ability of flight, she could see why pegasi loved it so much.

Don’t get her wrong, she was proud to be born a unicorn, but what sentient creature didn’t dream about flying in the heavens above on their own power. If it weren’t for the fact that she might be discovered by the Organization, Sunset would’ve flown up high where no one could see her and just go wild. But that was a joy ride for another day, right now she had to meet Twilight. Sunset increased her speed and zoomed into the distance, making a beeline right for the forest.

It didn’t take her long to find the spot, and having Twilight already standing there waiting helped too. Sunset descended to the ground, and once her feet made contact with terra firma, she shifted back into her normal form. Twilight was currently leaning up against the very boulder that Sunset was sitting on a few weeks ago when they were contemplating how to change back to their human forms. She had a look on her face, one of conviction and deep thought.

“Hey Sparky,” said Sunset.

“Hi Sunset…sorry for calling you out here so early on a Saturday.”

“It’s no big deal, I didn’t really have plans today anyway other than loaf around my apartment. So what’s up?”

Twilight stood straight up and looked to Sunset. “I don’t think Shining Armor’s dead.”

Sunset’s mind came to a screeching halt. “Wait – How – Why?”

“Listen, they didn’t recover his body, and his unit never made contact about their status. If I’m right they may just be captured and kept under lock and key!” Twilight hypothesized.

Sunset inwardly cringed seeing what this was, one of the stages of grief. “Twilight…I know it’s hard but –”

“No, Sunset Shimmer, I know he’s alive! And what’s more, I know where he went!” Twilight reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a GPS device. “I’ve locked in the coordinates of where his unit was being air dropped. If we leave now, and go at top speed, we can be there in less than three and a half hours!”

Sunset raised her hands up as if to physically stop this train of thought. “Hold on Sparky, how in the heck did you even get those coordinates? That’s like Special Ops, Black Ops, Top Secret kind of mission stuff right? What did you do, hack the Pentagon or something?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“I hacked the Pentagon, and the CIA, and NORAD, and basically any military branch that had information on the matter.”

Normally, Sunset would’ve laughed off such an absurd thing, but given what she’s seen Twilight do as far as tech and computer skills, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that she could pull something like that off. And it didn’t help that she held a straight and serious face the whole time.

“ARE YOU NUTS?! You hacked the military! Do you know what’ll happen if they find out that you went traipsing around their computers?! Helicopters, men in combat gear carrying M4s, and rotting away in a federal prison!” Sunset exclaimed.

Twilight waved off Sunset’s concerns. “Please, the cyber security they use is a joke. Besides, the first time I did it I was six. Now I’m older, wiser, and smarter than. Plus I’ve rerouted the wireless signal through every server on the planet, so even if they did find out I was in their systems it would take them eighty years to sift through every last one to pinpoint my location. And by that time they won’t even care anymore.”

Sunset was becoming more and more astonished by Twilight’s intelligence the more she hung around her. Even though Sunset Shimmer was brilliant, Twilight seemed to be hiding just how smart she really was. If she had to guess, she was probably smart enough to be considered above genius level and yet she could still feel, she wasn’t all logic, she did have feelings and did care about others. Sunset shook her head, she was getting off topic.

“Okay, I’ll humor you. What do you plan on doing?” Sunset asked.

“I want to save my big brother, or at the very least…confirm that he’s gone…”

Sunset walked up to Twilight and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do you really want to do that, to put yourself through that kind of pain? We’ll basically walk right into the lion’s den, to the guys who want what’s inside us! Tell me, is it worth getting captured and killed?!”

Twilight was silent for what felt like ages to Sunset, but really it was more like a couple of minutes. The younger girl, by Sunset’s real age, raised her head and looked into Sunset’s aquamarine eyes with a strong sense of determination and an iron will to match. “It is. I wanted to ask for your help, but I know it’s not my right to force you into coming with me. Your life is important Sunset, and I won’t let you risk it unnecessarily.”

Sunset growled inwardly. Do you really think your life is unimportant?!

“Screw it, I’m going too!”

“B-But I just said –”

Sunset did an about face and crossed her arms in front of her, adopting a firm and immovable stance. “Look, I’m a part of this now, like it or not! And if getting closure is what will help you…then it’s better if I come too! Besides you won’t be able to concentrate on watching your back if you’re too busy wallowing in sadness.”

Suddenly, Sunset felt something run into her back, and just as quickly, watched as two lavender arms wrapped around her from behind. She was about to let out a protesting slew of curse words, but then she felt Twilight’s head resting against her back, and her arms held onto her tight as if hanging on for dear life. She started feeling a slight tremble coming from her, Sunset glanced over her shoulder and saw that Twilight was crying a little.

“Thank you…Sunset…”

Hearing her say that stabbed at the mean girl’s heart. She had already held Twilight in her arms and let her cry, it wasn’t like she couldn’t let her do this for a little while longer. Sunset brought her own arms to rest over Twilight’s, holding onto her to reassure the saddened girl that she was there, and would be her strength through all of this.

“It’s no biggie, Sparky. So…when do we leave?”

Twilight slowly, and albeit reluctantly, separated herself from Sunset Shimmer, allowing the older girl to turn around and face her. “Right now, actually…if that’s alright with you?”

Sunset chuckled, finding it mildly adorable how Twilight adopted Fluttershy’s mannerisms. “Then let’s hit the road.”

HOURS LATER, THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT…

Sunset had to admit, being in their Firestorm forms came with a few good perks. For one thing, fatigue wasn’t a problem, and thanks to them not having normal human bodies she didn’t feel hungry or thirsty from flying so long. If she was using magic to accomplish this, Sunset had no doubt she’d be exhausted and lying unconscious on the ground from expanding so much magical energy.

But being a walking nuclear reactor meant that she was never without power, it was practically endless. The whole trip through, Twilight had remained silent, becoming laser focused on where they were going and checking the GPS device every so often to make sure they were heading the right way.

Sunset watched as the pink-flamed Firestorm came to a halt in midair, stopping right next to her. “What’dya got Sparky?”

“Down below, this is where Shining Armor and his unit were dropped.”

After saying that, Twilight descended quickly, making Sunset play catch up with her. The two Firestorm girls eventually touched down on the surface of a desert plain. Their white eyes roved over the landscape, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

“I don’t know Sparky, if this was the place they landed shouldn’t there be some remnants, parachutes, imprints, something?”

“Not if the sand and dirt have covered it up since then, but there is another way to see if this was the spot.” Twilight bent down on one knee and placed her right hand against the sand. That same hand was wrapped in the three atomic rings, and at that moment the sands shifted, pulsating out in waves through the dunes visibly.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m using my power to get a sense of the natural minerals and ores that permeate this region. The next wave will then help me determine what’s natural and unnatural, and what is manmade and what is nature made.”

Sunset didn’t argue with Twilight, the girl had the transmutation powers, so she hoped Twilight knew what she was doing. Within a minute and a half, Twilight’s head perked up.

“Found something!”

“What?”

“Something that’s not supposed to be there, as any archeologist will tell you, nature does not make straight lines, nor does it make perfect bends and angles. There’s something manmade some odd feet below us. It’s like a maze of tunnels…but that’s all I can deduce from up here.”

Sunset shrugged. “So now what, do we look for a door?”

“We make our own door.”

Before Sunset could inquire further Twilight had already set to work. Both her hands had atomic rings spiraling around them. With a flick of her wrist the sand began to shift and swirl, a second wave had the sand cave in and part. A few more waves and the hole she created grew bigger and bigger, allowing Sunset to see all the way down.

She spotted something metal, but it was smooth and had lines that looked like interlock panels. Twilight moved her hands around again, like a symphony conductor, she manipulated the sand, sediment, and other minerals to solidify on the spot.

“Let’s go,” said Twilight.

Twilight floated up and then descended down the hole. Sunset floated up and followed right behind her. When they got to the metal tunnel looking object, Twilight used her powers yet again to create an opening for the two of them. The two Firestorm girls entered the hole and touched down on the metal floor. The light of the moon gave the interior a very horror movie-esque feel to it. Any moment Sunset expected some mutated monster or a horde of zombies to come at them from the darkness.

Twilight concentrated, making her flames burn brighter. The corridor was thin, illuminated by her pink flames, making the hallway a little less creepy. Sunset did the same, willing her flames to burn brighter, but not hotter. Soon both yellow and pink fire light lit up the hallway for a good fifty feet in both directions.

Thanks to the light, Twilight and Sunset were able to get a better look at what exactly had happened to this base. The hall looked damaged, metal was torn, circuitry wire spilled from the walls and some from the ceiling. Some of the dirt and sand got in, creating large mounds of collected sand lean up against the wall all the way to the ceiling.

“Gee…somebody really humped the bunk. What happened here?” Sunset asked.

“It looks like they trashed the interior with some explosives, there is charred residue on parts of the walls and floor. Most likely they destroyed any traces that anyone was here. But let’s see if I can’t fix that.”

Twilight placed her hand against the wall, sending a pulse wave through it. The structure was laid out before Twilight’s mind’s eye, becoming a blueprint that was detailed down to the smallest of flaws. Twilight’s eyes glowed as she concentrated her transmutation powers, the walls started to move and shift, the floor mended itself and the sand that had found its way inside had flowed back out.

To Sunset Shimmer, it was as if someone had cast a time spell, taking the facility back in time to a point where it wasn’t wrecked and dilapidated. Wires snaked back into their proper places, glass fixed itself and reattached to their former surfaces. It only took about three minutes before everything was fixed, even the hole they had entered through was gone.

The panel lights overhead lighted up the hallway, so both Sunset and Twilight dimmed their flames back to normal. Sunset could hardly believe that just a few minutes ago she was standing in a graveyard of a base, now it just looked like nobody was home. Twilight removed her hand from the wall and swayed a bit, causing Sunset to catch her partner in crime before she collapsed.

“Hey Sparky watch how much power you’re using! Did you just repair the hallway or everything in this place?!” Sunset asked.

“Everything.” Twilight answered.

“You’re crazy, fixing the whole place! You have no idea what kind of strain that would put on you!”

“It was a calculated risk, besides, it would’ve drained me more if I had to remake everything from scratch, the damage was beyond the normal means of repair, but not transmutation means.” Twilight gently stood aside from Sunset and righted herself. “C’mon, I have the blueprints of this base in my mind now, I can guide us through.”

Sunset felt uneasy about this whole thing, but followed nonetheless. It was nagging at her the whole time they were walking. Why did Twilight know so much about this place? How did she know to look underground? And why did she get the feeling that Twilight was connected to these Organization guys in a way that might be unpleasant?

Sunset shook her head, Twilight wasn’t some spy or some conniving mastermind, if she wanted to, Sunset had no doubt that Twilight could’ve ratted them both out to the Organization and be dead and done.

Twilight made a right and stopped near a door. Sunset watched curiously as the intelligent girl just stood there before the door. She could tell something was up with Twilight, even if her body didn’t show much of a sign, her flames did. They waned a little, as if burdened and losing their luster. Twilight walked towards the door and used her powers to open it.

Sunset followed her inside and looked about their new surroundings. There was medical equipment everywhere, off to the far end of the wall was a long cylindrical pod, like something she would’ve seen in a sci-fi movie. It was filled with green liquid, all ten of them were.

Off to the side Sunset spotted a monitor, it was turned off at the moment, but she had no doubts it was for keeping track of the vitals of whoever or whatever occupied them. “Sparky what are we doing in here?”

Twilight walked up to one of the pods and placed her hand gently on it, as if it were something fragile and sacred. “Sunset…I can trust you…right?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Can I trust?”

Twilight didn’t seem interested in explaining why, just a simple yes or no was what she was looking for. Sunset sighed, despite everything they’ve been through in the past few weeks, she really didn’t see a need in asking such a question. But, for Twilight’s peace of mind she supposed, Sunset decided to answer her.

“Yes, you can Sparky.”

“……………I’m not really Shining Armor’s little sister…nor am I the daughter of Twilight Velvet and Night Light.”

“Oooookay, so who are you then?” Sunset asked cautiously.

“I was made, in a facility not unlike the one we’re standing in now. I was to be one the Organizations projects. My cells…my whole body was cultivated using randomized cells, and screened to insure that my body had no birth defects or signs of hereditary disease.”

“I was grown in a vat like this one, surrounded by a liquid that fed me all the nutrients I needed and then some to make sure that my mind as well as my body would not be weak. I grew in there until I was a full-term baby and then removed from my pod.”

Sunset waited for the punch line, believing that Twilight was just trying to play off her sadness as a joke and trying to psyche her out. But every word that Twilight spoke was heavy with pain, the kind you spend years trying to keep hidden from those you care about, words that felt like you were peeling your skin off to say. Sunset shook her head, she could take believing a lot of things, she came from a land of magical talking equines, but this – this was too much.

Twilight started walking to the computer terminal and waved her hand over it. Her transmuting powers reconnected the electrical power to this terminal and through it she reconnected the computer systems. Twilight began typing away at the keyboard, sifting through the data.

“Looks like there were intruders on the upper levels, but only one account of a disturbance at the lower levels near the Research Labs and Storage, last confirmed disturbance was in Storage, we’ll head there.”

Sunset kept watching Twilight as she walked out of the room and down the hall, but she just couldn’t take it anymore. “What do you mean you were grown here?! Are you saying you’re a clone?!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, a clone is a copy of another person. My DNA is randomized and filtered from various samples. I’m literally parentless, no father and no mother to call my biological parents, just a mishmash of DNA. So you could say I was made from nothing and in a way, I am nothing…”

Sunset’s eyes widened as her mind flashed back to that day in the locker room so long ago, when Twilight referred to herself as nothing, this is what she meant. “But…why?!”

“Myself and others were created to be part of a sleeper agent project. Children who were raised and taught by the Organization, engineered to be superiorly intelligent over others and use that to gain status and secure key positions in different areas of different countries’ economic and political structures.”

“That way, the Organization would have totally obedient agents who would do anything for them. I was taught mathematics, engineering, and biology. When they saw my level of intelligence was higher than the others, they assigned me harder subjects, quantum mechanics and physics. I learned it all, because out of all the others I was born with an Eidetic Memory.”

“In other words a photographic memory, you read something once and it stays in your head. So basically you could just ace all the tests in the school and not even bother with homework, heck, you could just go to Canterlot University right now and graduate without any problems.”

“I could, but I won’t and for a simple reason: my brother and Professor Neigh,” Twilight turned a corner and kept going down the hall. “The people in the Organization decided to have me tutored by a brilliant scientist in hopes of furthering my intellect, and to see if I could help him in the creation of the Firestorm Protocol.”

“Professor Neigh was unlike any other teacher I had, the Organization tutors were harsh and punished me severely if I got something wrong. But it was Professor Neigh who taught me how science was all about gain and power, he showed me that it could be used to make people’s lives happier and my life as well.”

“I was so happy, he was my mentor and closest thing to a father I had. Together we created the formula and Matrix for the Firestorm Protocol. Until…one day…all that changed for the better…”

TEN YEARS AGO…

Alarms blared loudly within the structure, Professor Neigh kept a young Twilight Sparkle close to him. She was all of six-years-old, and yet she had the intellect of a genius. Sometimes the good Professor would forget that she was a child and treat her as more of a respected colleague than a little girl.

She seemed to like that, in fact, she was happy when he did that. But it was seeing that bright smile that reminded him that she was a little girl, and science didn’t need to be all serious business. Often times he would give fun little experiments, blowing something up, creating chemical reactions, and sometimes hacking the system to mess with the Organization bozos.

The, at the time young, Professor started to develop feelings for this young prodigy. He had devoted himself to science and the betterment of mankind, and in so doing had made many discoveries and was hailed as the most brilliant scientist on the planet.

But with such devotion came the lack of a social life, he never took the time to meet a girl or even wonder if a girl would be interested in a guy like him. And even then he wondered, if he did procreate, what kind of father would he be to his children?

Professor Neigh believed that Twilight was as close to a daughter as he would ever get, and like any father or mentor, he wanted what was best for her. And what was best was that she leave this horrible place and live her life.

But how would she do that? How could he get her to the outside world with all these Organization soldiers roaming the halls and guarding every exit? When Professor Neigh heard the alarms he took this as a sign, he wasn’t one for believing in a higher power but today was as good a time as any to pray that there was one.

Suddenly the door to the room was being banged on, Twilight huddled behind Professor Neigh’s white lab coat, clinging to it for dear life. “It’s alright my dear, we’ll be safe in here.”

“Prafessor I’m scared…!”

“I won’t let anything happen you, I promise,” said Professor Neigh.

“But…given your build, muscle size, and lack of knowledge in combat and martial skill, the probability of you being able to protect me are –”

“Now what did I tell you about probability and predictions?” Professor Neigh interrupted. “When dealing with the human spirit and a person’s will to survive, probability and mathematical statistics are thrown out the window. So if I say I’m not going to let anything happen to you, then I mean it!”

Twilight’s sniffling and teary-eyed face broke into a smile, but it didn’t last long as a strong “BOOM” sound rumbled from behind the door. The door creaked and moaned as it started to fall forward, striking the metal floor with a metallic thud.

A soldier rushed in, pointing two handguns in the Professor’s direction, the green eyes of his helmet shown bright as he stared down the gray skinned man. Professor Neigh immediately put his hands up defensively.

“Don’t shoot, please!”

“Who are you?!” The soldier barked.

“I’m Professor Bill Neigh!”

The soldier lowered his pistols, but only a little. “‘Professor Bill Neigh’, the scientist that went missing months ago?!”

Professor Neigh shook his head in an affirmative fashion.

The soldier put one pistol away, but his sword and rifle still made him look intimidating. “Professor, I’m Captain Shining Armor of the US Special Forces, Black Light Division, we’re here to take this base down, and now that I’ve found you, I’m turning this into a rescue mission. I’m getting you out of here!”

“Okay, but listen I’m not going alone.” Professor Neigh stood back a bit and revealed Twilight. “If I go, she goes with me.”

Shining Armor looked down at the young girl, who turned away in fear upon seeing his intense helmet. The young soldier pressed a button on the side and allowed the front of the helmet to lift up and reveal his true face.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright, I’m a good guy.”

Twilight looked back at the soldier, her fear lessened upon seeing there was a person behind that mask, and one that looked nice too. Shining Armor rose up and looked to Professor Neigh.

“Tell me something, were there others?”

“Yes, a few more, if we can I want to get them out too!”

Shining Armor’s face grew grim. “I’m sorry Professor…the others…are dead.”

“W-What?!”

“These bastards slaughtered them, I had just come from a room that was…littered with the bodies of boys and girls…they were all shot.”

Professor Neigh stumbled a bit, catching himself on the nearby workbench as the gravity of the situation fell on him. He then looked down to Twilight, who looked up at him with concern in her eyes. The Professor swallowed a lump in his throat and looked to Shining Armor.

“Listen to me lad, I want you to forget about me and take her instead.”

“Not an option. I’ll get you both out.” Shining Armor insisted.

“Listen to me, they won’t kill me! They still need me for their weapons and special project! But if they killed those children because you guys infiltrated this base, then they’ll kill her too! I won’t see her life extinguished in this hole in the Earth, away from the sun and those who can give her something she truly needs!”

Professor Neigh then grabbed Shining Armor by his ammo belt that was slung across his chest and brought him closer. “Captain Shining Armor, I am begging you, take this girl from this horrible place and give her a home! A true home! Do you understand me?!”

Shining Armor looked to the Professor and then to Twilight. Seeing that young girl, and imagining her shot in cold blood like the others, forced to live in this underground facility for all her days, it was just something he couldn’t stand for. So, reluctantly, Shining Armor agreed.

“Alright, I’ll take her out of here, but I promise I’ll come back and get you!” Shining Armor swore.

“I know you will lad.”

“But…Pwafessor!” Twilight whined as tears ran down her face. “I don’t want to leave you! Please don’t leave me alone!”

Professor Neigh crouched down to be at eye level with Twilight, he then patted her head and smiled gently at her. “Young one, I need you to be a strong and brave girl for me. I need you to go with big brother Shining Armor. He’ll take you out of this awful place where you can be happy.”

“B-But I am happy! I wanna be happy here with you!” Twilight rushed forward and hugged her mentor. “Pwease, don’t go away!”

Professor Neigh felt awkward at this moment, he wanted to hug her, but felt like he hadn’t the right to do so. He wasn’t her father, but he was the closest thing to that. “I’m not going away, I’ll see you again. Maybe not tomorrow, or in a year, but one day we’ll meet again. But in the meantime, I want you to see the world that I came from.”

“The world that is so full of possibilities. And my dear…science is a wonderful thing, it’s meant to help people, not to hurt them. But do something that I was never able to do when I was out there.”

“W-What…?”

“Make some friends, my dear, make some friends.”

Twilight and Sunset were now in the Storage Room. Twilight’s powers had fully reconstructed the base, but she only remade it up to the point before it was destroyed. Case in point, the giant hole that was burned into the wall within the storage room.

“I didn’t understand why Professor Neigh asked that of me. Why would I need friends? What was the point in them? It wasn’t until I was adopted by Shining Armor’s family that learned that about what it meant to be part of a family, to have a big brother there to protect you, to have a mother and father who take care of you and love you with all their hearts.”

“And the day I met my friends at Canterlot High I knew what he meant…he wanted me to have a good life, science and discoveries are hollow victories if you don’t have people with which to enjoy them with.”

“But not just for yourself, but for them as well. I cry when one of them is sad, I’m happy when they’re happy, and when one of them is hurt I hurt too. I always thought things like that were cliché and impossible, but now, with them, and…with you, Sunset, I know it’s not impossible. I hoped one day that I could show Professor Neigh all the friends I made, even you.”

Twilight’s eyes were glistening with white, liquid light as it streaked down her face in the form of tears. Sunset couldn’t believe this. Twilight was adopted, and grown by the same Organization guys who wanted the Firestorm Protocol inside them.

Despite all this, she couldn’t help that her mind latched onto one thing from that. Twilight truly considered her a friend, someone that she had hoped to introduce to the person she looked up to and who practically raised her.

“I don’t understand…why all of this. What’s the point? You, created to help them gain power, and the Protocols, to what end?” Sunset asked.

“Money.” Twilight stated bluntly. “An arms race, one that the Organization controls, the Protocol we have was created to be a strong enough one that could neutralize the others in order to protect themselves from their creation.”

“They’ll see the world burn, so long as they live and can have the money and power, they can keep a war going for generations to line their pockets. America, Russia, China, all the superpowers, and all the different terrorist groups out there, they’ll sell it to the highest bidder, and reap the profits from the destruction it will cause.”

“Those are the kind of people we’re up against Sunset…in the end, they’re motivated by greed, not some lofty or corrupt noble purpose, just greed and a lust for power.”

Sunset smashed her fist into a metal crate, the heat coming off her fist was practically melting the crate into nothing. “I can’t believe it! Just when I think this world isn’t bad enough, there are people out there who will actually cause pain and suffering to so many just so long as they…! Get…What they want…”

Twilight wiped away her glowing tears and turned around after Sunset had gone silent. At that moment Sunset began to chuckle, it was an odd chuckle that evolved into laughter. It was almost bordering on insane laughter, but at the same time, Twilight saw some of the same liquid light tears fall from Sunset’s eyes.

I’m such a damn hypocrite! It’s too funny, I…I’m no better than the people who made Twilight and these Protocols! I wanted the Element of Magic, I wanted power, I wanted everypony and everybody in both worlds to bow to me and acknowledge my superiority, even Princess Celestia!

Sunset’s laughter was still going, but then she slumped up against a stack of crates and let herself slide down until she was sitting on the ground. She rested her arms on her knees as her left hand rubbed her head in frustration. Twilight didn’t know what to make of this, she cautiously walked over to Sunset and knelt down to her level, concern heavy in her glowing white eyes.

“Sunset…?”

“I’m no better than these monsters…and those I criticize…”

Twilight looked at Sunset with confusion. “Sunset that’s not true, you’re nothing like them!”

“I AM! I…Twilight…” Sunset released a frustrated sigh. “I can’t tell you how, because if I did, despite the things you’ve shown and told me, you wouldn’t believe me. But suffice to say that I had carefully planned out a way to rule Canterlot High…no, more than that, I figured out a way to rule the whole world with a powerful item; something as strong as or stronger than the Firestorm Protocols.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Sunset…I…I don’t get it…I mean, I know of what you’ve done at the school, but I didn’t know you had ambitions like that, or a means to do it.”

“I almost had the means. And all because I wanted power and the rewards that I rightfully deserved from gaining such power! CHS was and is still a means to an end, but I messed myself up, I stumbled and tripped just five feet from the finish line and now…I lost that opportunity. I don’t deserve to be around you…or to have this power! Because I’m not any better than these warmongering, greedy bastards, I was even contemplating of ways on how to get back at you!”

Sunset looked up at Twilight, the liquid light that was her tears was still streaming from her eyes. Despite the anger and narrowed gaze she was aiming at Twilight, the pink and purple Firestorm could tell that Sunset was angrier at herself.

“I hated you! I hated that you undid everything I worked to destroy within a couple of days! And then…as if that wasn’t bad enough, you were the only one who didn’t give me a death glare! The only one who would greet me with a smile when all I did was sneer and glower back! It infuriated me, and it made me feel worse for feeling that way! At my lowest I even thought about, for a microsecond, taking up Gilda and Lightning Dust on their offer…”

“Offer?” Twilight asked. “You mean what those two girls said to you, the same ones you fought on the quad a few weeks back?”

Sunset reluctantly shook her head. “They offered to…to kidnap you and…and invite me to hurt you as payback…but something snapped in me and I fought them! I still don’t understand why I did it; even though I resented you, for some reason the thought of physically hurting you…made me feel sick!”

The crimson and yellow Firestorm flinched when she felt a hand rest atop her right. She looked up and saw Twilight smiling that same smile at her, even after everything she just said. “Sunset, the fact that you feel that way means that you’re not like them. I could tell, no, I’ve felt that you were different from everyone else at school.”

“The naïve part of me even thought that you were another artificially created human like me that escaped, but that theory died out a long time ago. But you were still a mystery, and…um…” Twilight’s cheeks tinted red a bit. “I kind of thought of you as another me, a stronger, more confident, and equally brilliant version. The kind of person I want to be.”

Sunset averted her gaze. “You don’t want to be me, I’m selfish, ambitious, cruel, violent…”

“Would a selfish girl drive me in the middle of the night to find a rocket? Would an ambitious girl have offered to sacrifice herself and take on the full power of the Firestorm Protocol without knowing what would happen to her? Would a cruel girl have even bothered to come to my house and console me?!”

“Sunset, you’re none of those things, maybe once upon time, but you’ve changed – you are changing, Sunset! Slowly, but surely you are!” Twilight rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Sunset, causing the older girl to be pushed back a bit from the sudden action. “You’re still my friend, my best friend. And nothing you say or do will make me think otherwise!”

Sunset didn’t want to keep crying, it was so uncool and pathetic of her. But she couldn’t help it, she hugged Twilight back, and that strange feeling in her stomach and heart came back. She wasn’t sure about it until now, but holding Twilight back when she was crying, and now again as Twilight hugged her, Sunset couldn’t escape the truth of what heart was telling her.

“Thank you…Twilight.” Sunset raised an eyebrow and smirked. “How come you didn’t say anything about me being violent?”

Twilight blushed and pulled away, rubbing the back of her head nervously. “Well…um…you are kind of violent and exhume a tense air about you…and you have threatened others with bodily harm. But then again that penchant for violence is what helped us during the fight with Blaze…sooooo…ahem.”

Sunset chuckled and got up. “Uh-huh, let’s just quit while you’re ahead Sparky.”

“Fair enough.”

Both Firestorm girls looked at the gaping hole in the wall. The site of where Professor Neigh and Shining Armor met their end. Twilight stood up and balled her fists as she steeled her resolve. “I don’t want to disgrace their sacrifice by dying, I will protect family, and my friends.”

Sunset gently placed an arm over Twilight’s shoulder, bringing the other girl into a half hug. “Hey, you won’t be doing it alone. I don’t think I’ll be able to make up for the shitty things I did in the past, but…maybe taking down an evil organization is a step in the right direction.”

Twilight giggled, her first genuine one since they arrived. “More than a good first step.”

The older girl released Twilight from the half hug and stretched her arms out, popping a few kinks. “Well, I’m done with sad sack routine! Time to let off some steam!” Sunset glanced to Twilight and smirked deviously. “Why don’t we leave this place the way we found it?!”

Sunset blazed through the halls, firing one long beam of plasma fire down one end and watching the magnificent explosion the followed soon after. She smashed through walls, punched, chopped, and kicked down everything that got in her way, cutting loose with her augmented strength and intense flames. She wanted to see just how much her powers could level and demolishing an evil headquarters was a good way to do it.

Twilight was a little more reserved to join in, standing at a safe distance while she watched Sunset Shimmer tear the base a new one. The crimson Firestorm appeared before Twilight with a curious look on her face. “Why aren’t you wrecking stuff?!”

“Well…what’s the point? I was just going to dissolve its molecular bonds the moment we left and destabilize it when we left.”

“The point is to let off some steam! Sometimes breaking stuff is great stress relief, and considering all the heavy emotional crap we just had, I think you could use it. So c’mon, blow something up or smash something! It’s easy, watch!”

Sunset opened her right palm, atomic rings formed and gathered glowing flames. The flames burst forth in the form of a fiery plasma beam that melted through several layers of the wall and into whatever adjacent rooms were on the other side. The wall she shot exploded, sending debris flying and smoke bellowing out in all directions.

Twilight never saw the point in doing something like that, Rainbow Dash would sometimes play sports for stress relief, Applejack would focus on working her family’s orchard, and Rarity would concentrate on her clothing designs. Twilight shrugged, deciding that using this time would serve as seeing how far her offensive transmutation abilities could go without hurting anyone. The second Firestorm threw up her hands, atomic rings forming as purple particles gathered to them.

Within a fraction of a second she fired a twin beam of energy that literally punched through everything it came into contact with. Sunset watched with wide eyes as the beam continued on, it didn’t blow anything up, acting more like two runaway trains that would plow through anything that was left on the tracts.

When Twilight ended the attack she turned to Sunset, spotting the confused look on her face. “Condensed gravitons focused into a beam. It acts as more of a high powered battering ram than anything.”

“It’s a start Sparky, now really cut loose! I got dibs on that side, you get this side!”

Sunset took off and began blasting everything with fireballs and heat rays. Twilight sighed, but chuckled at the amusement in Sunset’s voice. She set to work, heading down her assigned side of the base. Twilight used her transmutation powers to manipulate the air particles and thin them out, she then waved her hands in slashing motions, throwing out crescent shaped air blades the sliced and diced through the walls, doors, and whatever else was in their path.

Twilight calculated the formula needed to create an explosion, she then snapped her fingers as if shooting targets at different spots down the halls and around the ceiling, walls, and floor. When she stopped, Twilight waved her hand for a second time and the spots she had designated erupted into micro explosions that combined into one huge one. The flames washed over her, but she felt no heat or the force of the explosion, she was a nuclear force all her own so things like this wouldn’t faze her.

Elsewhere Sunset had found a large room, something akin to a hangar. Her body erupted into flames as her yellow fire aura wrapped around her. She took a stance and spun out in place. Her spinning grew faster and faster, the flames heating up with each second.

Then, without warning, the spiraling whirlwind of flames spat out fireballs in rapid succession in every direction. Sunset had become a literal Death Blossom as she littered the area with flaming orbs of destruction. Crates, machinery, all of it was either melted, twisted up, or blown away.

Sunset then shot up into the air, ending her spinning. She brought up both hands into the air, giant atomic rings formed as fire and energy swirled around her open palms. A massive fireball formed overhead, and with a grin, Sunset descended back down to the floor and smashed the fireball into the ground first, causing it to detonate and bathe the area in fiery hot plasma.

A few minutes passed above ground, the moon continued to shine down on the gaping hole in the dunes as smoke bellowed out from it. Suddenly two streaks busted out from the sands, one was red and yellow, while the other was pink and purple. The two streaks of fire met each other over the smoking hole, both nodding to each other.

Sunset thrust out her left hand, pointing it at the hole down below. Twilight thrust out right hand, placing it behind Sunset’s left. Atomic rings formed around both their hands as flames gathered. The flames turned a combination of yellow and pink, in this moment, their energies were synchronized and Twilight and Sunset could use the others’ powers.

“One last sendoff Sparky, you ready?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes!”

The power grew more and more until the two girls released a powerful column of yellow and pink plasma fire. The inferno roared as it shot down towards the entrance, suddenly, the ground rumbled and the dunes wavered. In a fraction of a second a massive explosion burst forth from deep below the ground, like a volcano erupting.

The base was destroyed, utterly annihilated. Twilight and Sunset watched the remnants burn for a few more seconds before they used their synchronized power to cease the burning flames and cover up what was unearthed.

The two of them separated, neither one forgetting what the feeling of the other’s hand felt like. Sunset suddenly felt something, her gaze darted to her right and, using her enhanced vision, saw something in the distance, a flicker of crimson fire that took the shape of a man for just a brief moment before disappearing, like a candle in the wind.

“Sunset, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” She turned her gaze back to her…friend. “Guess we’d better head back before your parents – and Celestia – have a cow.”

“Good idea, let’s go home.”

As the Firestorm girls sailed through the air, Sunset couldn’t help her thoughts straying to what she saw in the distance. More so, because for that brief instant, it almost felt like she sensed magical energy. Sunset shook her head, magic didn’t exist in this world, the closest power to that was inside her and Twilight now. And speaking of Twilight, how was she going to come to grips with what she was feeling now?

I…I like-like her…

Author's Note

Okay guys, I'm at a good place where I can work on these stories in between my personal work. So, while it will be slow, this story shall continue, as well as the others.

Entry 11: Win-Lose and Win-Win

A couple of weeks had passed since Twilight and Sunset had flown half across the world and infiltrated the abandoned Organization base, and utterly destroyed it. Although Twilight didn’t find any trace of her big brother, she was able to finally move past the grief and accept his passing.

Sunset on the other hand was still mulling over everything Twilight had told her about herself. The secret that Twilight was created by the Organization, along with several other children, to be brainwashed sleeper agents within governments and high-ranking positions around the world.

It made sense to Sunset why Twilight cherished her friends and those around her. She had nothing, knew nothing more than what she was taught. Twilight was easily the smartest girl on the planet, and yet she chose not to show how smart she was, wanting to have the things she didn’t have.

Well, that’s not true. Professor Neigh was like a father to Sparky, if it wasn’t for him she’d probably be more like a robot than a person.

Sunset now understood why Twilight had said that she was “nothing”, because Twilight was born from nothing more than random DNA, she had nothing, and now she had friends, a life. Sunset reflected on this for the past couple of weeks, visiting the Sparkle residence more often to work on their joint science project.

During that time Sunset had opened up to Twilight a little more, little was left of the hate she harbored for this girl, she figured she had been surrounded by more than enough of that when she was younger and she certainly didn’t need anymore from Sunset.

Once in a while that feeling would rise up again, but it would just as quickly be submerged once she see looked upon that happy smile on Twilight’s face. It was then replaced with another feeling, one that made Sunset’s heart thump in her chest and her cheeks feel warm. Sunset more than once shook off this feeling, only to have it return a moment later.

“Sunset, you alright?”

“Huh – what?!” Sunset stammered.

Twilight was sitting on the couch, going over the formulas and equations of their project to ensure that the device would not blow up. “I asked if you were alright, you looked deep in thought about something.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about it, Sparky,” said Sunset as she went back to fiddling with a piece of the fusion reactor.

The purple girl wasn’t so sure about that, but she knew better than to press Sunset on certain matters, believing that she’d tell her if she deemed it important enough.

“I can’t believe it’s almost here, this is kind of exciting!”

“More exciting than blowing up an Organization base with our own bare hands?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

Twilight chuckled. “Yes, but it feels better to make something than to destroy it.” The violet haired girl immediately regretted those words. “I-I didn’t mean it like you enjoy destroying things! I –!”

“Sparky, relax, I know what you meant. And you’re right, making something and being constructive is a nice change of pace.”

She wasn’t lying, she did like making things. Especially when it came to tuning her bike, Sunset discovered she had a gift for mechanics and engineering, just like she had a good grasp on this world’s science. Sunset continued to put the final components of their reactor together, and, theoretically speaking, the device should be able to achieve fusion without the need for radioactive material.

All the power, none of the nuclear waste, with their combined genius Sunset was sure they’d win. She really didn’t care for hobnobbing with scientists, but she did like the taste of victory and lording it over the ones she crushed.

“Might want to be careful when we’re there Sparky,” said Sunset.

“Why’s that?”

“Comparatively speaking, we’ll probably be the two hottest girls there, so watch yourself when you’re around the nerd boys.”

“‘H-Hot’, me?! Nononononononono, I-I’m not!” Twilight stammered.

Sunset gave a wave of her hand as if dismissing her statement. “Please, I wouldn’t be surprised if they drooled over me, but you, you’re not exactly unattractive, Sparky. You got that dorkish, cute librarian girl thing going for you. Guys dig that.”

Twilight’s cheeks reddened and she was finding it hard to concentrate on her work with Sunset detailing her attractiveness. “You…ahem…You’ve seemed to put a bit of thought into that description. Is that how I appear?”

Now it was Sunset’s turn to feel embarrassed. “I…well…it’s just an observation! Yeah, that’s it! I’ve just noticed these things, it’s the same with your friends. Applejack’s got that country girl thing working for her, Rarity’s like a teasing diva, and Fluttershy, well – objectively speaking – she’s cute on a ridiculous level. And the fact that she’s painfully shy makes guys want to protect or some BS like that. And Rainbow Dash…well…what can I say, she’s a tomboy. And you complete the set.”

Despite the fact that Sunset had evaluated each of her friends’ – Twilight included – specific traits that would appeal to the opposite sex, Twilight began to wonder about something.

“And what would yours be?”

Sunset put down her equipment and gave the matter some thought. “Don’t know really. I dated Flash for a little while and I honestly didn’t know what he saw attractive about me.” Sunset looked herself over, the denim jeans, and a purple tank top, cut just low enough to leave much to the imagination. “I mean, I’m sure it wasn’t my sparkling personality or lack thereof. So I can only imagine he found me hot.”

“Do you…Do you really think that that’s all he saw in you, just your looks? That sounds really shallow,” said Twilight.

“Like I said, I don’t know. Flash was a great guy and all, but I never really like-liked him. I just used him to get more popular.”

“I don’t see that, I mean, I think Flash may’ve honestly liked you? He did help me for a bit when I first started going to school here.”

Sunset scoffed. “Yeah right, the most likely reason he was nice to you was to get in your panties.”

“GET IN MY WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed in a near high-pitched voice.

“You heard me Sparky, so do you like ‘em or not?” Sunset asked.

“I…I like him as a friend, he’s been away for a while with that record deal, but he checks in when he can. He actually called a couple of days ago to see if I was alright. I guess someone told him about my brother.”

It was true, Flash Sentry and his bandmates were found by a talent agency and they saw potential in his music and the band. So they offered him a record deal and so far he was getting some traction, unfortunately he had to be away from school for a while, much to Principal Celestia’s chagrin, but she did make sure that they had a tutor to keep them up to date in their studies.

If nothing else, Sunset admired that the teenage boy did take his academic career just as seriously as his rocker career. Still, why was the fact that Flash Sentry called Twilight very irksome to her?

“Hmm.” Sunset hummed in thought.

Sunset went back to work and fiddled with the device a few moments longer. The older girl would glance at Twilight every so often, zeroing in on little details of her intellectual opposite. How Twilight would scrunch her nose whenever she was thinking, the way her bangs would swish to and fro with each slight movement, and mostly, the glow in her eyes whenever she was doing something science related.

“………We should date.”

The sound of falling papers along with some parts of the reactor wrested the fiery haired girl’s attention. Sunset looked up and saw Twilight’s stunned and blushing expression. It was then that Sunset realized that she had said that out loud and not in her head, making her mentally face palm herself for uttering those three little words.

“S-S-Sunset you…you want to date me?!”

“No that’s not what I meant! I – What meant to say was…You see…I wanted to, uh, go out with you!”

The blush on Twilight’s face brightened and Sunset was wishing she had a brick wall to smash her head against.

“I meant as friends! You know, just a couple a girls, who are friends, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s’ company! Stuff like that!”

The room got real quiet as neither girl said a word. Sunset’s heart was racing, both with fright and, oddly enough, anticipation. Part of her had hoped Twilight would buy her lies, and at the same time, she hoped Twilight picked up on the underlying feeling in those words. Twilight played with the hem of her skirt, her eyes darting back and forth from her hands to Sunset. After what felt like hours of silence, Twilight cleared her throat to break the silence.

“I…I wouldn’t mind hanging out together, just you and me. After all these things that have happened lately, we only ever get together when we’re working on the project, and even less at school,” said Twilight.

Sunset could tell that Twilight was setting her up to make the decision. Now the power was back in Sunset’s hands, either she wave it off or say she was busy and potentially put a speed bump in their growing trust. Or would she go through with it and risk these unknown and scary feelings becoming something that Sunset herself may not be prepared for? Clenching her fist, Sunset mustered up her usual air of superiority and smirked at Twilight.

“Why not, sounds like fun. And, honestly, I’ve got nothing better to do.” It wasn’t a total lie. After her plans fell through, Sunset had had lots of free time, too much.

Twilight eyes widened with mirth as a smile began to form on her lips. “That sounds great, Sunset! I-I guess we should set a date or…”

“Well, the Science Fair is the day after tomorrow. How about we just treat ourselves to something, win or lose?”

“Y-Yeah, that sounds reasonable.”

“A-Alright then, let’s get back to it,” said Sunset.

THURSDAY…

It was growing closer to spring weather in Canterlot City, not cold enough to wear a jacket, and not warm enough to wear shorts; just somewhere in between. It was during this time that Twilight, after school let out, had called up someone that she equally trusted as much as her big brother.

The lavender skinned girl waited outside the school and saw a powder blue Volkswagen Beetle come driving up next to the sidewalk. The driver emerged, revealing a taller, older woman, about mid to early twenties. Her skin was a soft fuchsia color, with tri colored hair of purple, pale yellow, and bright pink.

The woman’s amethyst eyes sparkled brightly in the sunlight, and that was just her. Her outfit was comprised of white, form fitting pants, and a sky-blue halter-top. She also had on a necklace, and resting just below her collarbone was a pendant crystal heart.

Needless to say, the appearance of this young woman caused many of the boy students heads to spin as they gawked, unashamed, at the woman approaching Twilight. Despite her beauty and grace, it didn’t prevent this woman’s kind, gentle, and loving nature to show through.

She was Twilight’s confidant, just as much as Shining Armor was, and someone she could always turn to besides her parents. Her name was Mi Amore Cadenza, but she preferred Cadance. When Cadance walked up to Twilight she crossed her arms and gave the young teenage girl a waiting look.

“Well?” Cadance asked.

“Well…?” Twilight asked back.

“Aren’t you going to start?”

“Start wha – Oh Cadance, n-not in front of the school!” Twilight pleaded.

“Ladybug, I remember us making a promise a while back about our special greeting?”

“I-I know, and I will, but just not here,” said Twilight with a pink tint to her cheeks.

Cadance’s smile turned from devious to warming as she placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, bringing the young teenager into a half hug.

“Oh alright, but you owe me one.”

Twilight smiled back and hugged Cadance. “That’s fine, and it’s good to see you Cadance.”

“Same here Twily, c’mon, let’s go somewhere and talk.”

Twilight got into the Bug and buckled up. As Cadance entered her car she noticed a few boys looking her way, she smiled and then winked at them before getting back in the car. That might as well have been cupid’s arrow, because each boy started to whoop it up and call out to Cadance as they drove away. She was a nice person, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like to tease and flirt once in a while.

After driving for a little while, Cadance pulled into a little cafe. The outside seating area wasn’t being used so much and they decided to be seated there, this way they could have the privacy they wanted. Once seated and their drinks brought to them, Cadance leaned forward onto her elbows and laced her fingers together in contemplation.

“So, Twily, what’s their name?” Cadance asked with a coy smile.

“Whose name?” Twilight asked.

“The name of the person who’s on your mind right now.”

Twilight blushed and went slacked jawed. She never disclosed why she wanted to talk with Cadance, but like always, Cadance had an uncanny ability to pick up on another person’s strong feelings. Problem was that those uncanny abilities mostly aligned towards the romantic, in other words, Cadance had a knack for being able to figure out if another person had amorous feelings for another person.

It was almost like a sixth sense with her, something that Twilight had vowed way back to one day figure out how she did it, but right now, those abilities were turned towards her and in a way it confirmed what she was feeling.

Twilight released a deep sigh. “Do you promise not to tell my Mom and Dad?”

“Twily, it’s me, Cadance, you’re old babysitter and friend! I’d never break your trust like that, so long as it’s nothing like drugs or something illegal to the point that it might land you in jail. You aren’t doing anything like that, right?”

The studious girl almost yelped, even though they weren’t doing anything illegal, the powers they had made them dangerous, but Twilight wasn’t about to reveal all of that just yet.

“No, nothing of the sort!”

“Mmm-hmm, alright. So give me a name already, I want to know who my favorite girl is crushing on!”

Steeling herself, Twilight confessed. “Cadance, I…I think I do like someone, a lot. But, I’m not sure how I should tell them, or if they even feel the same way. Plus, there’s another little snag.”

“And what snag would that be?” Cadance asked.

“You…Do you promise not to be weirded out or…”

Cadance watched as Twilight began stroking at a lock of her long hair nervously. The older woman reached out with her hand and placed it over the nervous hands of her former charge. “I swear, Twilight, nothing you say will make me think any differently of you. You’ll always be my little Ladybug, no matter what.”

You might not think that if you knew what Sunset knows about me, thought Twilight. But this is probably the lesser of those evils.

“The person I like is actually…another girl!” Twilight shut her eyes tight, bracing herself for the shocked and possibly disgusted reaction of her former babysitter. But when none came she slowly opened her eyes.

Cadance’s expression hadn’t changed much, the only thing different was a raised eyebrow. “And?”

“‘And’, that’s it? You’re not grossed out, or even a bit shocked by this?” Twilight asked.

Cadance chuckled warm-heartedly. “Oh Twilight, you’re not the first girl to like another girl, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll admit, people make a big deal about it, but ultimately it comes down to what your heart tells you. Who makes you happy in the end is what matters, be they a boy or a girl.

“I won’t lie, I’ve done my fair share of experimenting and then some with the fairer sex, but I prefer boys, and that’s how I feel. Just because I prefer them doesn’t mean I’m going to look down on girls who don’t, and that especially means you Ladybug.”

Twilight felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, well, one of many different weights, but a significant one for her. The tension in her body visibly ebbed away as she stopped ringing her lock of hair and put her hands back on the table, now smiling at Cadance more hopeful.

“Well then, I guess you’ll probably want the name of the girl, right?”

Cadance leaned back and picked up her latte. “It would help me with the dispensing of my sagely advice.”

“Okay, do you remember me telling you about a girl at my school who was a bit of a bully?”

“More like a terror from what some of my friends’ younger siblings say, the Queen Bitch of Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer, correct?” Cadance asked as she took a sip.

“Yes…ahem, her, well…I…I like her, in a romantic way, at least…I think I do.”

Cadance’s cheeks puffed out as she held in her first reaction to spit out her latte, once the initial shock died down she was able to swallow the sip she had taken and took a breath when it was down. “Y-You have a crush on Sunset Shimmer?! That mean girl?! Really?!”

Twilight nodded sheepishly.

Cadance ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply. “Geez, I figured you might go for the bad boy type – well bad girl in this case. But I never thought that it’d be her, are you sure you’re not being seduced by her at all? Maybe she picked up on your preference and is trying to worm her way into your heart to set you up for a fall later?”

Twilight vigorously shook her head in spite of that notion. “No Cadance, she’s not like that! At least…she doesn’t want to be anymore, it’s kind of complicated. We’ve been working together for a bit now, and during this time I’ve been able to see just how brilliant and, to a degree, nice she can be.”

“She’s strong, not just physically, but strong in her convictions and courageous. And while she tries to hide it, deep down I know she’s hurting, but puts up a front, like she has to make sure everyone around her doesn’t see her as weak so she doesn’t feel it inside. And, in a way, we’re both the same.”

“She’s kind too…Did you know, after we got the news about…Shining Armor…she came to my house and I talked to her for a bit and she just listened. I broke down then and there, and Sunset reached out and held me close, I cried and cried but she never let go. In her own way, even though she probably could’ve said ‘Everything will be alright’, she didn’t, she knew I didn’t need words, but just someone there to hold me while I let it all out.”

Cadance listened intently to all that Twilight had to say. This didn’t sound like the girl that she had heard rumors of through the grapevine, in some ways it sounded like the same girl and at the same time it wasn’t. But Twilight, the way she spoke about Sunset Shimmer, she could actually sense how strongly she felt for her, even if Twilight wasn’t fully aware of it herself.

Personally, Cadance wasn’t sure if Sunset Shimmer was the exact perfect match for her little Ladybug, after losing Shining Armor, the last thing she needed was to have her emotions toyed with and exploited by a psycho bitch.

“So…what do you think about Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm, I’ll reserve my judgement for when I meet this girl. You’ve painted a rather contradictory picture in my head, versus what I’ve heard of her. I trust your judgement Twilight, but for now I’ll take this with a grain of salt.”

“That’s fair, but there’s no point in how I feel if I don’t know if she likes me the same way. I don’t even know if she likes other girls?!”

Cadance winced, that was a quandary. All of this was a moot point if the girl in question wasn’t into girls herself, the other question of if Sunset Shimmer felt the same way about Twilight hinged on knowing which way she swung. Cadance glanced up and down Twilight, doing her own assessment of the younger girl.

Hmm, if I hadn’t babysat her, I’d probably date her just to see what it was like.

“That is the question, but, honestly Twily, I’d turn gay for you,” joked Cadance.

Twilight blushed profusely to the point she was muttering nonsense.

“All you can do is hope that your feelings reach her and if she’s a true friend, she’ll stick by you no matter what. By the way, was there something else weighing on your mind? I imagine it’s connected to Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight stopped her stammering and began chuckling nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. “Actually…it does…Sunset and I are going to be at the Science Fair they’re holding at Canterlot University! And I know you’ll probably be busy with schoolwork tomorrow, but I was wondering if you’d come by and see me? You don’t have to of course, my friends, my parents, and I think our Principal will be there.”

Cadance reached over and mussed up Twilight’s hair playfully. “Twily, I wouldn’t miss seeing you show up about bunch of know-it-alls for anything.”

COMPETITION DAY…

Sunset arrived at the Canterlot High School, driven by Celestia herself no less. Despite the fact that she had transportation of her own, Celestia insisted on taking her, and since she was the Principal of the school both girls attended, it was the most logical choice. It was going to be an all-day event anyway, and Celestia had already got Vice Principal Luna to take up running the school for the day.

Twilight was getting her own ride to the University via her parents, and of course, Celestia pulled some strings to get her friends to tag along as well. She knew Twilight would need at least a little bit of a cheering gallery, and even though Sunset wouldn’t admit it, she’d like it too.

As Celestia pulled up to the University she paused to take in the sight. Canterlot High School was a grandiose structure, looking more akin to a university itself, but CU was even more so. Sunset had never been to CU before, so when Celestia slowed her driving to gaze at the scenery, Sunset took the opportunity to do the same.

In some regards, this place looked almost like a mirror image – no pun intended – of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Tall spire-like towers that led to observatories, a clock tower at pretty much each cardinal direction, and each marked with a mythological oriental creature.

The clock tower they passed by marked the south entrance to Canterlot University, on top it had a statue of a red phoenix. Sunset had poured over enough of the different mythologies in this world to know that that was the guardian of the south gate, Suzaku. The Campus was expansive, each building looking like someone had taken CHS and plopped it down in this place, but each was done up in its own unique design to represent the studies that each one held.

Celestia was driving towards a building that had a lot of foot traffic, banners and the like were put up high to the viewing of all. The building had a huge atom painted on the side, it had colors of red and blue, with a little white to offset it. There was a sign on it that read: “R. Palmer Science Hall”, no doubt in recognition of the benefactor of science hall.

Celestia pulled her car into one of the parking lots and the two disembarked. It didn’t take the two of them long to find Twilight and her parents, and as Sunset predicted, the genius girl was like a kid in candy land after seeing the place.

“Sunset! Have you seen this place?! It’s beautiful!” Twilight gushed.

Sunset couldn’t help but shudder at feeling that Twilight had somehow channeled Pinkie Pie’s hyper-ness. “Uh, yeah…beautiful’s not the word I’d use for it, but it’s pretty nice, nostalgic even.”

“We have to take a tour of the campus! We’d probably have to set aside a couple of days for that, because I don’t think we’d be able to see it all in one day!”

“Easy Twilight,” said Mr. Night Light, “let’s concentrate on you two winning this thing first off, and then we’ll talk about that tour.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed. “Sorry Daddy…I got a little excited.”

Sunset crossed her arms and chuckled from watching Twilight’s embarrassment. More like you were on the verge of an org –

“There ya are!”

Sunset and Twilight turned towards the incoming band of five girls, but before each of them got to within ten feet of the two girls, Celestia stepped forward and the five paused. She then held out her hand and asked, “Permission slips, please.”

Each girl hurriedly whipped out the aforementioned slip of paper and handed it to Celestia. She scanned over each of them. Her many years of seeing phony and plagiarized sick notes and permission slips gave her an eye for spotting fakes.

If she wanted to she could be a consultant for the FBI on spotting falsified documents and handwriting, but she felt her skills were better spent on molding young minds. After an agonizing few seconds, Celestia nodded her head and stepped out of the way.

“Proceed.” She said with a smile.

The five girls headed towards Twilight, but Sunset stepped away from Twilight, putting a sizeable gap between them. This did not go unnoticed by the younger girl.

“Sunset what’re you –?”

“It’s fine Sparky,” said Sunset, quickly cutting off Twilight.

Before Twilight could respond her five best friends surrounded her, each happy and excited for their friend’s big day.

“This place looks fabulous Twilight, I never imagined CU was this massive! It’s practically its own little city!” Rarity commented.

“Seriously, if it weren’t for you giving us a heads up on the layout of the place, we’d be lost somewhere,” said Rainbow Dash as she hooked arm over Twilight’s shoulders, an action that made Sunset tense up for some reason.

“Um, Twilight, where’s yours and Sunset’s project?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, it’s inside, I brought it over in case we needed extra space, but they already had a booth set up for us. Which reminds me,” Twilight turned to the fiery haired girl, “Sunset, we need to run through some final checks on the you-know-what before the Fair starts.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll meet you inside,” said Sunset before taking off for the entrance and leaving Twilight behind.

Celestia, having spied Sunset storming off into the Science Building, ended her conversation with Velvet and Night Light and headed after her ward. When Celestia finally caught up to Sunset she found her slouched against an entryway.

Celestia stood next to Sunset and looked down into the amphitheater like layout of where the Science Fair was going to be held. A staircase descended down into an arena that had multiple booths set up, each housing a special project from the various high schools in Canterlot City.

The tall woman leaned her back against the archway as well and looked over at Sunset Shimmer. “So, do I need to ask why you suddenly ducked inside?”

“Spar – I mean, Twilight wanted me to help her with some last checks on our project.”

“Uh-huh, and where’s Twilight Sparkle now?”

“You know where she is.”

“I know that, but why haven’t you gone to the booth then?”

“‘Cause…”

“Because?” Celestia asked while waving her hand for Sunset to continue.

Sunset glanced over at Celestia and blushed. “Because…I…I don’t know where it is…”

After that little embarrassment, Sunset and Twilight set to work on their project. Sunset had done some more tweaking to the device, all the while informing Twilight of her progress. Twilight was doing the same, going over their combined notes and research and conversing with Sunset on different points in their work. Both girls were masters of multitasking, their hands either scribbling down numbers, twisting a screwdriver, or soldering some circuit boards.

It was hard work, but neither of them lost that somewhat mad scientist grin the whole time. Twilight’s friends and parents, and even Celestia, thought it best to leave the girls be, and grant them as much as space as possible. For fear of any of them getting electrocuted or somehow caught in an accidentally created black hole.

“Looks like your mom and dad are happy for you, I’m glad,” said Sunset.

“Thanks, honestly though, I think they’re just happy that I’m not as sad as I was a few weeks ago. Thanks again for that Sunset,” said Twilight with a smile.

The older girl grinned. “Any time, Sparky. So, after having looked at our competition, I’d say we’re walking out of here with first place for sure.”

“Hmm…I don’t know, there are a lot of people here, and their works seem pretty good,” said Twilight.

“Says the genius girl who hacked the Penta –”

“SHH!” Twilight quickly clasped a hand over Sunset’s mouth. “Don’t say that around here!”

Normally, the person who dared slap their hand over Sunset’s mouth would find said hand broken off and shoved up somewhere where the sun don’t shine. But given that this was Twilight, and the fact that that panicked look on her face was cute, she’d let it slide.

It was now that she caught a hint of the girl’s scent, which smelled, ironically, of lavender. Sunset could even feel how smooth Twilight’s hand was against her face, and it sent a pleasant warmth through her.

The former unicorn slapped herself mentally and cleared her throat loudly to gain the other girl’s attention. Once Twilight had realized she had kept her hand over Sunset’s mouth for longer than was necessary she immediately retracted it, and blushed a cute pink color as she did so.

It’s almost a crime how adorkable you are.

Just then Twilight’s phone buzzed in her skirt pocket and she immediately pulled it out.

“I thought they weren’t going to call or text us until the competition was over?” Sunset asked.

“It’s not them, I have my computer at home scanning the web for anyone wielding a Firestorm Protocol, and any alerts I get are rerouted to my phone!” Twilight swiped at the screen a few times until she stopped. “Take a look!” Twilight showed Sunset her phone and on it was a live feed of Manehattan.

{We bring you to our developing story. A man and woman pair are wreaking havoc on downtown Manehattan. It is unclear if they are human or extraterrestrial, but their motives are clear enough. The two have begun a series of attacks on the city itself. Local law enforcement has suffered heavy losses in their confrontation with the duo. The National Guard is in-route, but whether or not they will prove any more effective will remain to be seen.}

“Another Protocol, and there’re two of them now?!” Sunset quietly shouted.

“They’re attacking Manehattan, Sunset we can’t just let them continue like this!”

Sunset groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t that she knew they had to stop them, quite the opposite, Sunset wanted to stop them, but leaving now would mess up everything they worked for. All those days and nights tinkering and formulating, all this getting closer to Twilight and not hating her as much anymore, it would’ve felt like a total let down to just up and walk away now.

“Twilight, I’m not saying we shouldn’t, but if we just suddenly up and vanish the others are going to get suspicious, and we’ll lose!”

“It’s not ideal, believe me I wish we could, but…”

“Sounds like a dilemma.”

Sunset and Twilight both jumped in shock at the sudden new voice. Standing at their booth was a tall, pink woman. Sunset didn’t need to ask who this was to know her name. She’d recognize that pink visage, tri-colored hair, loving smile, kind eyes, and that annoyingly seductive, curvy body anywhere. In Equestria, she was the newly dubbed Princess of Love and adopted niece of Princess Celestia, Mi Amore Cadenza.

“C-C-Cady?!” Twilight stammered.

“Yep, that’s me. And I couldn’t help but overhear something about the two of you getting away for a bit, care to explain?” Cadance asked with a sly smile.

“W-W-Well, it’s just – The thing of it is – You see –!”

Sunset knew this would get them nowhere fast, and so, in possibly the second most awkward thing she had ever done, she interlocked Twilight’s right arm with her left and drew the younger girl closer to her.

Twilight let out a small “EEP” sound as her heart pounded in her chest and resonated in her eardrums, the swift pull from Sunset had brought Twilight’s head resting against Sunset’s left shoulder and their bodies pressed against each other. Sunset put on her cocky smile and looked directly at a wide-eyed Cadance.

“Look, I don’t want to cause any chaos around here, but I want to have some time to talk with Twilight privately. It’s something personal that I’d rather her friends and parents not have to deal with yet, do you understand?” Sunset asked.

Cadance gave Sunset a scrutinizing look, trying to see some deceit in Sunset’s words. The bad girl knew all too well of Cadance’s special talent for love and all things connected to it, so she hoped that playing the forbidden love angle with Twilight would convince the alicorn princess’ parallel self to let them leave for a moment without arousing suspicion.

However, the way Twilight called her “Cady” must’ve meant that the two of them already knew each other, worst-case scenario: they were friends and she would know that Twilight didn’t swing that way. Come to think of it, she didn’t even know which way Twilight swung.

After what felt like an eternity, Cadance’s gaze softened as she put on a smile. “Well then, I’ll hold down the fort for you two.”

“Crap I knew this wouldn’t – wait what?!” Sunset gaped.

“Are you serious Cady?!” Twilight asked.

“Of course, the competition isn’t going to start for another few minutes, and when it does, the judges will be going to each station one by one in order. Yours is number thirty, so between the time it will take for each station to present and show off their stuff, I figure you got at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half if someone really milks it.”

Twilight threw her arms out and hugged Cadance tightly. “Thank you, Cadance! Thank you! You have no idea how much this helps!”

“I think I do, but go on ahead before something else happens!”

Cadance shooed the two girls out of the booth, watching the retreating forms dart around a corner and away from sight. The pink woman then placed her fists on her hips as she hummed in contemplation. “Let’s see…this is a pairs competition so it’ll look weird if I’m alone…Aha!”

The college girl quickly grabbed hold of a rainbow haired girl and pulled her to Twilight and Sunset’s booth.

“Hey what’s the big…idea…!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself speechless upon seeing who it was that grabbed her. She had met this woman once before, during a sleepover at Twilight’s house. She joined their little party and was a bit of a wild card, and flirty, real flirty, and of course Rainbow Dash was her victim most of the time, just because she couldn’t stop blushing whenever she did something suggestive or told a dirty joke.

“Hey Rainbow, been a while hasn’t it?”

“Y-Yeah, I guess…um, why am I standing here with you? Isn’t this Twilight’s and – ugh – Sunset’s spot?”

“Yes it is, but something with the project came up and they needed something from one of the labs in this place. I pointed them in the right direction, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take them.”

“T-Then shouldn’t we help them?” Rainbow asked.

“No, they’re the only ones who know what exactly they need for it. Heck, if we did help and got the wrong thing, this little doohickey could blow us all up.”

The fact that Cadance said that with a straight face worried Rainbow, and made her wonder if they should be this close to the duo’s project.

“We just need to hold down the fort until they come back, no muss, no fuss.”

“Right…but shouldn’t we…”

Rainbow was suddenly cut off when Cadance turned the tomboy’s head towards her with one finger, and gazed into her rose-colored eyes. “Please Rainbow, for Twilight at least?”

Rainbow Dash gulped as she felt her cheeks heat up. “O-Okay…!”

“Great, now let’s look like we’re doing something!”

She played me, and I fell for it. Nice Rainbow, real nice.

OVER THE SKIES OF MANEHATTAN…

Streaks of pink and yellow flames flew across the sky, both aimed directly for Manehattan. Traveling to the other side of the world took almost half the day, but considering the distance wasn’t overseas it was much shorter, like under ten minutes. It wasn’t hard to find out where the rogue Firestorms were, they had left a trail of destruction a mile long, and getting longer.

Sunset flew beside Twilight and went over their game plan. “Okay, so we fly in, kick their asses in under an hour or less, and make it back in time to wow the judges with our project! Sound good to you Sparky?!”

“Well, I wouldn’t put in such simple terms, but essentially yes! That’s assuming we can beat them, this won’t be the same as Blaze, there are two of them, and they have the full power of a completed Protocol. If we hope to stand a chance we have to fight together!”

Sunset nodded and the two of them proceeded forward. When they landed they were treated to a weird sight, there were rose petals littering the streets, as if it were some tribute to the destruction. On the flipside of the destruction, metal was twisted and molded into bladed forms, jutting out of the ground or nearby buildings where long twisting vines that had roses blooming from them coiled.

Neither of the girls thought anything of them other than their aesthetic appeal, but upon closer inspection the soldiers and police officers caught near them seemed to have had a terrible allergic reaction to their pollen, and some of the thorns had turned into razor sharp tendrils that had skewered or sliced up a few of them.

Another strange sight was that of flames that were colored blue and white, but for some reason whatever they engulfed they froze. Sunset and Twilight continued to follow the trail of destruction until they found its source.

A female Firestorm stood at the center of the street, waving her hands around as if conducting an orchestra. From the ground vines burst forth and even more roses formed. Her flames were emerald green, and she had a long gown.

The second was a man, his flames were the same frosty blue they saw earlier, and all around him the air seemed to fog up as if cold. His face had a beard made of the flames, and his outfit made him look like a Viking warrior.

Sunset and Twilight readied themselves for attack, but it seemed as if the other two were already aware of their presence. The green flamed Firestorm turned around and did a little curtsy to the two young heroines.

“Look dear Prozen, we have a couple of new additions to our family.”

The Viking Firestorm looked down and landed next to the female. He crossed his arms and looked at Sunset and Twilight with a level gaze. “Hmm, we were not informed that there would be others arriving, but I suppose the more the merrier. Eh, Fire Rose?”

Twilight and Sunset landed a few feet away from them, with the former stepping forward to address the Firestorm couple. “Listen to me, those Firestorm Protocols don’t come without a price! The ones who gave them to you are only seeking to use you! You’re playing into their hands by doing this!”

“Gave them to us?!” Fire Rose began laughing haughtily. “Oh silly girl, no one ‘gave’ them to us! We paid quite a pretty penny for these, right honey?”

Prozen nodded his head as he grunted in agreement. “Indeed, and I must say, we’re getting our money’s worth.”

Sunset shook her head at that. “You paid for those Protocols! What are you two, some kind of mercenaries, terrorists, sociopathic serial killers?!”

Fire Rose placed her hand to her chest as if offended. “Oh good heavens, we’re none of the above. Just a couple who was bored of the mundane and cheap thrills wealth can provide. To be gods, now that’s something that no amount of money could buy! Well, till now of course, ha-ha!”

Sunset’s fire mane flared up in agitation as her fists ignited. “Aristocratic, arrogant, pompous, low lives…In this world or the other, you’re all still looking down on others and flaunting your wealth!”

“‘In this world’?” Twilight mouthed to herself.

Sunset began walking forward, cracking her knuckles as she did so. “I’m going to enjoy this!”

Prozen lowered his gaze and began stepping in front of Fire Rose. “I won’t allow you to harm my wife! I don’t know how little girls like you paid for such powers, but I’ll see if you are worthy of them!”

As Sunset and Prozen started to get closer to each other their auras flared up, one blue and white, and the other a golden yellow, the air becoming heavy with their warring powers. Without warning, Sunset concentrated her energy into a sphere of burning plasma, and Prozen created a sphere of white and blue plasma.

The atomic rings formed on either of their spheres and at once the two launched their beams. Sunset’s fiery energy blast struck against Prozen’s beam, a fierce hissing sound echoed out through the streets as the opposing cold flames struck against the burning flames. A concussive boom raged out as steam rolled through the streets, creating a thick fog that blanketed everything.

Sunset wasn’t one for waiting for her enemy to get the upper hand, so she ignited the flames around her feet and shot up into the sky, trying to get above the fog and hopefully take the high ground first. Unfortunately, Prozen had the same idea, as both Firestorms exited the fog bank at the same time. When they saw each other, their fists blazed. Sunset shot towards Prozen, and Prozen to Sunset. The two cocked back their fists and thrust them forward, connecting at the middle and creating a powerful shockwave.

Down below, Twilight watched as the fog was pushed away from the sheer force of their blow, leaving her and Fire Rose still on the ground. The elegant woman dusted off her gown and looked at Twilight with a predatory gaze.

“Hmm, my husband and your friend seem to have the same…aggressive tendencies. Tell me dear, are you two perchance…?” Fire Rose let the question hang in the air.

Twilight got the hint and blushed, even in Firestorm form, at the accusation. “And what business is it of yours if we were or weren’t!” Twilight had feelings for Sunset, but she wasn’t about to admit it to someone like her.

“Well I certainly don’t judge, when you have the kind of wealth we do, you tend to have done anything and everything. And because I doubt I’d see many girls with this power, I wanted to get to talk to you before I started THIS!”

Fire Rose slammed her hand on the ground, the atomic rings forming immediately as she did. The energy coursed through the ground, latching onto the atomic and cellular structure of the planets that were within the asphalt and concrete. Despite how modern a city could be, nature wasn’t one to be pushed out completely, and Fire Rose showed it.

The ground suddenly erupted with giant thorny vines that whipped around like angry vipers. At the ends of them were giant rosebuds that bloomed, but within them were giant, gnashing, dagger like teeth that dripped out an acidic ooze. Twilight took a step back, eyes wide at the gross mutation before her.

Manipulating something on an atomic level is one thing, but cellular transmutation on this scale is something else, thought Twilight.

The monster vines lashed out towards Twilight, but the purple Firestorm wasn’t about to be taken that easily. Atomic rings formed around her hands as she brought up her ring and index fingers. Twilight then slashed the air with those two fingers, causing the air molecules to thin themselves till they were as sharp as a scalpel. And in that same motion the molecules were launched, condensed air sailed towards the vine in the form of a sickle crescent that whistled and blustered.

The air blade sliced through the first rose-vine-monster like a hot knife through butter. The head, or mouth in this case, falling right off the vine and flopping around until it ceased living. Twilight continued to slash the air with her two fingers on both hands, cutting up the vines as they appeared before her. Suddenly another row of vines sprouted behind her and Twilight found herself surrounded.

“People these days sorely underestimate just how dangerous plant life can be, even something beautiful can be deadly, it is the first lesson nature bestows upon us.” One of the vine-monsters slithered up to Fire Rose as she petted it like a household pet. “And these lovely things well teach you in spades my dear!”

Twilight slammed her palms together as the rings formed around them. She then hurriedly went down on one knee and placed both hands on the ground. The asphalt and concrete began to move around, churning like a river. Fire Rose watched as the ground beneath her suddenly became thick, globby, and slushy. She quickly took to the skies and watched with a slight shriek.

The pool of concrete and asphalt rose up and began wrapping itself around the vine-monsters, practically adhering to them. “I’ll admit, I may not know much botany, but I do know enough that if you kill the roots, you kill the plant! So…”

Twilight raised her hands up, willing the concrete to completely cover the vines and even force its way into their mouths. She then slammed her palms together again, causing the concrete to solidify and constrict like a python. A chorus of squishing sounds echoed out from deep below and above as some of the vines’ acidic juices leaked and hissed.

Up above, Fire Rose clapped her hands in applause. “Very creative, and here I thought this would be no fun! Let’s really cut a rug, and maybe when this is over,” Fire Rose licked her lips, “maybe you wouldn’t mind lending me your ‘friend’.”

Fire Rose opened her hands and showed some seedlings. She clenched them in her fists as the atomic rings formed around her fists. The energy fed into the seeds and accelerated their growth within nanoseconds. The vines grew around her arms, turning them into a bouquet of rose viper monsters.

Something about that last comment flipped a switch in Twilight. Her pink flames and sparkles doubled in intensity, she held out both hands, concentrating her transmutation energy towards them. Exposed metal girders began to moan and groan as they were twisted off and brought to either side of her. Twilight manipulated the atoms, changing their form and composition. When she was done, she had created a long scythe. She waved her hand over the crescent blade, imbuing it with disrupting gravitons.

Twilight then twirled the sickle in her hands and pointed it towards Fire Rose. “Time to do some pruning!”

MEANWHILE…

“Um Cadance…?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes Rainbow Dash?”

“How long did you say Twi and what’s-her-face would be?”

Rainbow Dash and Cadance and been fiddling around with the fusion reactor, well, mock fiddling. Anyone with a trained eye could tell that they were just staring at the equations and schematics, and only taking a look under the tarp to pretend to do some work on it. For a while now, the judges had been on the far end of the arena, no doubt held up by a long-winded pair. But Rainbow was getting concerned.

“They didn’t say, they said the name of the part but to be honest I can’t pronounce it. It’s best to just leave them to it, they’ll be back in time! I know it!” Cadance assured.

Even in a place like this, Rainbow didn’t trust Sunset Shimmer as far as she could through her, which was pretty far if she said so herself. She couldn’t understand why Cadance would allow those two to be alone, yes nothing has happened, but that didn’t something wouldn’t happen. And deep inside Rainbow felt – no, needed to keep Twilight safe. But why was that?

Yes she’d worry about her other friends like this, heck, Fluttershy needed a lot of worrying. But for some reason, Twilight kept springing to the forefront of her mind. “Hey, Cadance, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot, Rainbow.”

“Um…if…well…you’re pretty close with Twilight right?”

“Of course, I did babysit her for a while and…” Cadance’s movements slowed a bit as a sad expression befell her.

Rainbow face palmed herself. “Oh crap, I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to –!”

“It’s alright Rainbow.” Cadance released a deep sigh. “I miss him, I always well. But Shining Armor wouldn’t want me to wallow in sadness forever. It doesn’t help me, and it definitely doesn’t help Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash pretended to go over the formulas. “Sorry still. But, uh, before I go on…do you have anything against…girls liking girls?”

Cadance slapped her hands against the table, causing Rainbow to jump. The pink woman then put her hand to her forehead and shook it. “I knew it, I made another one fall for me.”

“Wait, what?”

“Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry, I have no problem with that. But I’m not into dating other girls, some other things with girls, but not into romantically dating them. Besides, it wouldn’t work, I’m in college and you’re still in high school, it’d be bad for both of us.”

Rainbow Dash’s face went bright red at the insinuation that she wanted to go out with Cadance, not that the thought wasn’t provocative, especially after that last part. “I-I-I NO! I wasn’t saying it like that! I mean, not that you’re not hot, but I’m not…into you.”

Cadance released a sigh of relief. “Oh good, I don’t think Twily could handle me dating one of her friends. So, why the question?”

“It’s just…I think I may be crushing on Twilight…”

Cadance made a choked sound that she quickly played off. “Oh, well, what makes you think that?”

Rainbow thought back to the day Twilight arrived. A young, bookworm of a girl, a girl who looked like she had been sheltered all her life and was a virgin to interacting with people, but who was actually kind, sweet, and very smart. Flash Sentry helped Twilight out a bit around school, but it was Rainbow Dash who got her on her feet, Rainbow’s being an amateur rocker allowed him to ask her to help out showing Twilight around.

It was only then that she was able to hang around the violet haired girl more and more. She found out that, despite her nerdish, awkwardness, Twilight was very concerned with the way the other students were, it almost hurt her to see the student body divided like it was, even more so when she found out about Rainbow and her friends’ break up.

Somehow she saw it as her personal mission to reunite them. Rainbow was only glad that Sunset was in juvie for that period of time, otherwise she’d shudder to think of what she’d do to her for messing up all her underhanded work.

It only infuriated Rainbow when Twilight unintentionally found the commonality of the five friends’ break up, Sunset Shimmer. If Rainbow hated Sunset Shimmer before, she despised her now. She never knew a person could be so vindictive, conniving, and freakin’ cruel all at once and not bat an eyelash at it.

So when the girls proposed to put Twilight on for Princess of the Fall Formal, Rainbow had to be sure Twilight was up to the task. And the best litmus test for that was a soccer match against the rainbow haired tomboy. In the end Rainbow won hands down, but in spite of not being Rainbow’s physical equal, Twilight still showed her determination through her efforts, and that’s all that Rainbow needed to see and know.

But ever since then, even after the Fall Formal, Rainbow Dash had had a strong sense of wanting to protect Twilight. Just being around her made her feel a lot better, and gave her that annoying fluttering feeling that Fluttershy said was the feeling you get when you like-like someone.

“She’s just a really great girl – scratch that, she’s just a good person all around. And I know I’m not as smart as her, hell, even if I was immortal and had all the time in the world to understand this crap, I’d still be lost. But then again, that’s not a bad thing, she’s more the brains and I’m more on the brawn, but we still get along despite those differences. She’s also um…cute.” Rainbow blushed at saying that.

Cadance found it cute, really cute. She knew how much Rainbow Dash disliked being mushy and showing affection in public, but for these rare instances, it was a treat to see this cute blushing side of the tomboy.

“Well, if you feel that strongly about Twilight, it’s best that you tell her.”

Rainbow nearly ripped the formula sheet by accident at the suggestion. “I-I can’t tell her! For one thing: how damn cliché would it be for the jock, tomboy girl falling for the bookworm, schoolgirl?! Plus…” A shadow fell over Rainbow’s features.

“Plus what?” Cadance asked with a bit of worry.

“Plus everybody always jokes about me being gay…I hate it, because I am and if I came out it’d be like proving everybody right! It’s really freakin’ frustrating to walk around and know they’re just waiting for the moment when you say it!”

Cadance watched as Rainbow Dash’s features became agitated. She had no idea that the Captain of every sports team had such turmoil inside of her. “Oh Rainbow Dash, have you at least told your other friends this, maybe that girl, Fluttershy?”

Rainbow sighed and sat on the edge of the table. “I’ve talked to her about which way I swing, and she’s cool with it. Pinkie Pie’d probably just smile and not really care, she’s always accepting of stuff. Rarity, well…she might be okay with it, most likely on the condition that I don’t try and hit on her. AJ…well…I’d rather she’d not find out if you know what I mean.”

Cadance put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Now who’s being stereotypical?”

Rainbow brought up her hands in defense. “I know, I know, I just don’t want to take a chance. They’re all my best friends, but AJ and I are like this,” Rainbow crossed her middle finger around her index finger, “I don’t want to mess that up!”

“Fair enough, but Rainbow Dash, you have to tell her, at least let her know that you feel this way. Twilight won’t just shut you out, you know she’s not like that. Trust me, it’s better to let them know how you feel about them then go around wondering ‘what if’, y’know?”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed heavily. “I know, and I’ll think about it. But do you have even a small hint that she might…y’know, swing that way?”

Cadance smirked. “If I did, I can’t say. What’s said between Twily and I is private, and stays that way unless otherwise notified.”

Rainbow shrugged and chuckled. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy, but nothing ventured nothing gained.”

The rainbow haired girl went back to her pretend work, leaving Cadance to ponder. I know Twilight told me about how she feels towards Sunset Shimmer, and, for the most part, it looks like Sunset Shimmer feels the same way. But I don’t want Twilight getting hurt by her or make her rethink her orientation just because she had a bad experience. Rainbow might be the better candidate for Twily, but in some way, I’m willing to take a chance on that other girl, I trust Twily. I just hope Sunset Shimmer does, too.

MANEHATTAN, 50 MINUTES BEFORE JUDGING…

Sunset had been battling Prozen in the skies and across one rooftop after the other. The Viking looking Firestorm’s power over cold was making Sunset’s flame attacks less effective. It was strange, the flames he spewed were so hot that they were cold, freezing as well as burning.

A couple of times Sunset had the misfortune of having her arm or leg get hit with those attacks, and feel firsthand that strange and painful dual sensation. Thankfully not having a flesh and blood body made it easier, somewhat, to regenerate and heal up.

“You fight with great ferocity,” said Prozen.

“Only because I know what a psycho like you can do with this power!” Sunset shot back.

Prozen chuckled. “And what does that make you? You have the same power, why shouldn’t you use it?! It makes you stronger than rest, look at us!” Prozen waved his arms out and held them out stretched to either side. “We stand above the others, literally! We are like gods, the future is us, and only those worthy will have a place in it!”

Sunset grit her teeth. “You mean those with the money to buy their place in it! That’s what you really mean right?! Only those with enough wealth have the right to become gods!”

“The privileges of those who have the means and power, I’ve no doubt there will be others like my wife and I, which is why we are carving out our little slice of the kingdom for ourselves!”

Here or in Equestria, the wealthy, the nobles, they’re all the same!

Sunset’s body erupted with the golden flames of the sun as her eyes shined white, a bit of an old grudge rearing its head at this moment. Sunset focused the heat and energy floating about in the air, channeling it, condensing it, making it burn hotter and brighter. Prozen saw this and smirked, he liked the obstanence in this girl, and it showed in her power. Prozen’s flames erupted as well, the air becoming near absolute zero.

Suddenly Sunset fired off plasma fireballs in rapid succession. Prozen readied himself for the impact, but none of them hit, in fact they sailed right past him. Still, Sunset continued to fire one after the other, some even came close to grazing Prozen, but in the end they missed him. The bearded Firestorm was starting to get a little annoyed at the barrage, and a little disappointed.

“Come now, girl, surely you’re better than this,” queried Prozen.

Sunset stopped her barrage and put on her trademark cocky smirk. “Who said I was done!”

Prozen suddenly felt something approaching him, he turned around and narrowly dodged the same fireball he had just moments ago. But that wasn’t the only one, another came whizzing out nowhere, and then another, and another, and another.

Soon all the fireballs that Sunset had fired off were returning like boomerangs, all of them locked onto Prozen from every which way. The blue and white Firestorm shot back with cold plasma flames, but the fireballs just curved around his attacks and went straight for him.

Sunset fired off even more, littering the sky with glowing, fiery orbs. Prozen stopped for a moment and realized that he was completely surrounded by the orbs of fire. Before he could utter a word, Sunset commanded the fireballs to descend on Prozen all at the same time. Up, down, right, left, front, and back, it was a total three-hundred and sixty degrees of punishment from every conceivable angle. The fireballs all struck at once, creating a cacophony of explosions that rang in the air.

Prozen came hurling out the smoke cloud and crash-landed into the side of a building. With a bit of satisfaction, Sunset prepared herself to go down and remove the rogue Firestorm’s Protocol, but it was at that moment that her half of the Matrix began to warn her. She looked down to the battle that Twilight was having with Fire Rose, and she gawked at the sight.

It was as if she was looking at something from Equestria, a hydra like monster made of vines, with dripping fangs within the center of their rosebuds. Twilight was flying around the creature, slicing at it with her scythe, which was coated in a layer of graviton particles.

Sunset could see what she was thinking, graviton particles can disrupt cellular regeneration, melding it into a blade would guarantee the cells in the plants wouldn’t be easily regenerated. Sunset concentrated her energy into her right palm and fired a beam of pure plasma fire right down towards the Rose-Hydra.

The blazing beam struck the plant and set the creature ablaze, making the monster shriek in pain from the flames. Twilight looked up towards Sunset, the crimson Firestorm brought up her index finger and blew on it like a smoking gun, and then winked at her partner.

But her celebration was short lived as a beam of cold fire shot out from the place that Prozen had entered and struck Sunset in the back. She let loose a painful cry as the powerful force of cold fire sent the crimson Firestorm right towards the road a few feet away from Twilight’s position.

The beam continued to stream as it slammed Sunset into the pavement, ice began to form around her, transforming into a massive iceberg with her inside of it. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of her friend frozen within the strange fire-ice creation; Twilight watched as Fire Rose was about to counterattack, but Twilight narrowed her gaze as she pointed her left hand towards Fire Rose.

With a snap of her fingers, the air swirled and snapped violently, creating a fierce friction that ignited multiple explosions that blew up in a wall of fire right in front of Fire Rose. The power of the explosions sent Fire Rose flying backwards and made the plant creatures burn to ashes. Twilight hurriedly made her way towards the iceberg, landing just a foot away from the ice. The pink-flamed Firestorm placed her hand against the ice but quickly retracted it, yelping in pain from the odd, painful sensation.

“SUNSET!!!” Twilight cried out.

Twilight focused her energy and willed the gravitons to smash into the ice like a sledgehammer. The ice barely cracked, making Twilight continue her gravity blasts and even adding the explosion technique she used earlier, but sadly even this wasn’t enough.

“SUNSET PLEASE BE OKAY!!! PLEASE!!! I CAN’T LOSE YOU, TOO!!! SUNSET!!!”

Suddenly the sun symbol on her chest glowed bright red, at the same time, so did the symbol on Sunset’s chest. The two glowing suns resonated with each other, making Twilight step back a bit as a new sensation overtook her, she felt a heartbeat, but one that was beating right beside hers, echoing in rhythm. It didn’t take Twilight long to figure out that the second heartbeat was Sunset Shimmer’s.

The ice began to fissure, steam hissed out of the cracks and spilled out into the air. Within a few seconds the center of the ice glowed bright gold, and after another second the ice shattered as golden flames erupted into the air, with Sunset at their epicenter. The ice completely evaporated, leaving a small crater and Sunset, panting as she struggled to stay on her feet. Twilight hurried to Sunset, propping her up the best she could.

“Sunset, are you okay?!”

“I’m pissed that I got hit from behind, and my damn body can’t decide whether it’s hot or cold!” Sunset looked to her left and saw the worried expression on Twilight’s face, she then gave Twilight a small reassuring smile. “But otherwise I’m fine, thanks, Sparky.”

Twilight blushed, but her gaze on Sunset was quickly turned to the regrouping couple just some yards away. “We need to end this, now!”

“I know, we need to take out their Protocols, but how?!” Sunset remembered at that moment. “Earlier, you felt it right? We were…connected, and it made me stronger – made us stronger.”

“It might work, but I don’t know how long it’ll work for,” said Twilight.

“Long enough, are you willing to give it a try, Sparky?”

Twilight looked to Fire Rose and Prozen, and then back to Sunset. A determined and confident smile appeared on her lips. “I am!”

“Prozen, dear, I’m starting to get annoyed with these girls. It’s time to show them where their proper place is!” Fire Rose proclaimed.

The Viking Firestorm grunted his agreement as the two of them prepared to attack. Sunset and Twilight took their stances, their sun symbols glowed bright as their flames burned with greater intensity. At that moment their corona crowns shined, the mark of a yin-yang sun and six-pointed star appeared over each respective girls’ foreheads. Sunset took off with great haste, leaving behind a flaming trail that would’ve made even the fastest pegasus’ speed trail pale in comparison. Prozen prepared himself, but Sunset wasn’t after him.

Sunset Shimmer inhaled deeply and placed both fists near her mouth as if she were about to blow into something. The atomic rings formed around her hands as she put her lips to the first hand, blowing hard, and out the other end a bellowing burst stream of flames roared towards Fire Rose. The elegant Firestorm woman wasn’t prepared and was suddenly slammed with an intense inferno, sending her flying back and separating her from her husband.

“ROSE!!!” Prozen called out.

“You’re battle’s with me!”

Twilight clapped her hands together, forming the atomic rings. She then slammed her palms to the ground and manipulated the atoms within. The street erupted with dozens, upon dozens of stone fists charging straight for Prozen.

The Viking Firestorm fired out one cold-fire blast after the other, even going as far as to freeze the ground itself. But Twilight was quicker on the transmutation game, she overtook his transmutation and changed the stone fists into diamond hard, ice fists; Prozen was caught completely off guard and was struck with one uppercut after the other, along with hooks, jabs, and hammer fists.

Meanwhile Fire Rose recovered from the attack and quickly summoned more of her carnivorous plants. Sunset stopped flying, letting her feet hit the ground as she skidded towards Fire Rose. The crimson Firestorm slammed her two fists together, igniting the rings, she then fanned out her arms, the flames coalescing to them and forming a pair of dragon wings.

Sunset whipped her arms back and forth, slicing through each creation. She then jumped into the air, spinning around and whipping the flame wings with her. The crimson Firestorm then brought down both hands, slicing in an X shape and struck Fire Rose right in the chest, making her crater in the asphalt and concrete with a painful grunt. Sunset could feel her energy begin to wane slightly, letting her know their joint power up wouldn’t last much longer.

The crimson Firestorm appeared behind Fire Rose, igniting her fist with golden flames, she punched Fire Rose right in the face causing her to fly through the air. Twilight could feel the waning of the power up, and saw Sunset’s set up. Prozen took this opportunity to attack Twilight, sending a wave of cold-fire at her. Twilight masterfully countered, throwing her hands out into the air as she summoned the atomic rings.

The transmutational energy flowed through the air, creating a buffeting wall of force that created a wedge around Twilight and the frozen flames. Twilight used that wedge as a snowplow, taking off towards Prozen. Suddenly, as Twilight cocked back her fist, her own fist ignited into pink, blazing flames.

Without stopping to question how or why, Twilight thrust her fist forward, striking Prozen right between the broad man’s eyes and sending him flying as well. Prozen and Fire Rose were on a collision course, both bouncing on the pavement until they ended up in the middle, smacking against the other’s back with a powerful thud that sent a mini shockwave through the air.

Twilight focused her energy around her right hand, and at the same time, so did Sunset. Their hands had pink and gold flames spiraling around them in the form of the atomic rings. At that moment, a corona halo appeared behind them, gathering energy as the both took off towards the couple. All this happened within a matter of seconds, thought moving faster than the average person, combined with heightened reflexes and speed, all coalescing into a one movement that was synchronized to a T.

Streaks of gold and pink flames took off from either direction, both heading for the same point, and Prozen and Fire Rose were helpless to counter it. The streets were torn by the force of Twilight’s and Sunset’s burst of speed as they hurdled towards their opponents. With a mighty battle cry they thrust out their glowing hands and struck both rogue Firestorms at the same time, piercing their chests in one shot.

Prozen and Fire Rose tensed up as they felt their enemies glowing palms reach into their very beings, not piercing flesh or bone, but striking deep into their metaphysical core. With one tug, both Sunset and Twilight drew back their hands, tearing out the Firestorm Protocols that resided in the wealthy couple.

The effects were immediate. Prozen and Fire Rose’s forms shifted back to that of a normal man and woman, both of them losing consciousness and falling to the ground motionless, but very much alive. Sunset and Twilight looked to each other, both holding glowing orbs with atomics rings floating around them.

The older Firestorm girl gave her partner a thumbs up and smirked, causing the purple Firestorm to blush and smile back. At that moment the Firestorm Protocols rose up from their hands and immediately shot towards them. The glowing orbs melded into their red sun insignias, causing them to glow and feel a strong surge of power. But like before, it was brief.

“Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to,” Sunset commented.

“Agreed,” Twilight then looked to a shop that wasn’t completely destroyed, spying a digital clock that made her white eyes bulge from her skull. “OH! MY! AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Twilight scream, making her enter a combative stance out of instinct. “WHO, WHAT – WHAT’S GOING ON?!”

“WE ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO MAKE IT BACK BEFORE THEY JUDGE OUR PROJECT!!!”

Sunset deadpanned for a moment. They had just defeated a pair of – while probably not the toughest opponents they’ll ever face – strong rogue Firestorms and pulled an incredible synchronized attack maneuver, and Twilight was worried about the Science Fair?

Wait a minute…Oh hell no! No way, those two making us late is just as bad as if we lost this fight! Not happening!

“C’mon Sparky we’re kicking it into overdrive!”

Further away, some distance from the fighting, a young man stood on the edge of an eagle head statue, looking towards the battlefield with glowing eyes. The glow subsided as he blinked a few times, smirking at the end result of the battle. Behind him, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were standing, waiting for their leader, Director Dusk Shine, to speak.

Aria gave Adagio a look that easily translated into: “We can take him right now and he’d never see it coming!”

To which Adagio shot back a disapproving glare to Aria that read: “No, it’s too early, we can’t make our move until we’re ready, and until we know more!”

Aria let out a grunt of annoyance, she knew Adagio was right, didn’t mean she liked it. Dusk Shine was an enigma, suddenly appearing before them and asking the Siren Trio to escort him to Manehattan to watch the wealthy couple use their Firestorm Protocols to wreak havoc on the city.

If there was one thing she hated, it was these humans. The three had been together for many years, hundreds of years, but Sonata and Adagio were the only beings she could trust, and honestly, the only people she cared about.

These humans, she despised them, had nothing but contempt for them. The Equestrians had their faults and were not perfect, but these humans, they were naturally aggressive. They fought and bickered about everything, down to their beliefs, land, and wealth. They had not the benefit of an immortal demi-god with thousands of years of wisdom to fall back on, to guide them and set them on the right path. Hell, even the hippocampi elders were more effective leaders than this world’s leaders.

But for some reason, Aria hated Dusk Shine the most of all humans. Everything he did, every movement he made was calculated and without effort. He didn’t walk, he glided across the floor, as if he were barely making an effort. And his eyes, those eyes were cold, like staring at death.

Brilliant, and now powerful thanks to the Firestorm Protocol, Dusk Shine was not someone to mess with, even though those fat cats behind the monitors constantly look down on him. She never understood that, why would he keep letting himself be ordered by those guys when he could just as easily take over?

Probably because he thinks he can do it any time he wants, he’s just letting them think they’re running the show. Well, when Adagio starts her plan, he’ll be long gone, thought Aria.

“Penny for your thoughts, Aria?”

Aria Blaze’s eyes went wide as her body tensed up. Dusk Shine was glancing over his right shoulder, right at her.

“S-Sir?”

“You seem deep in thought, something the matter?”

“Uh, no, Director Shine, just remembering the last time I was in Manethattan! This building wasn’t here then,” Aria said while chuckling.

Dusk Shine nodded and shrugged. “Understandable, you three have been here for far longer than I have, far longer than many of the people walking about down there, too.” He then glanced towards Adagio. “Tell me, Adagio, what do you think of the human race?”

Aria and Sonata looked to Adagio, wondering what prompted this question from the young man. Regardless, Adagio was more than happy to answer. “With respect, Sir, you’re all a bunch of sociopathic, suicidal, beings. You preach peace, and yet you openly court war, you condone so many atrocities that it’s a wonder that you’re still alive now.”

Dusk Shine found it amusing. “You are right, Adagio, on all counts. But, do you think we’re capable of evolving?”

“If you mean as far as intellect Director, then comparatively you’ve come far a great deal.”

“No, no, no, I mean humanity as a species. Do you think we can evolve beyond our limitations, and achieve unity?”

“Honestly, currently, no,” Adagio said bluntly.

“Exactly.”

“Say what?” Sonata asked.

“It’s the ultimate contradiction of the Firestorm Protocols. They’re meant to evolve humanity and make us gods, but as you can see, godhood has its limits. Even if we all became gods, what’s to stop us from tearing apart the world? That’s the big question.”

Dusk Shine turned around and stood before Adagio, he walked the line of Sirens until he stopped in front of Sonata. He then reached out and lightly grasped the ruby jewel on her necklace. Aria and Adagio tensed up, their knuckles turning white as they clenched their fists and grit their teeth behind closed mouths.

Their pendants weren’t just fashion accessories, they were their connection to their magic, the source of their Equestrian powers. It was through these jewels that were once a part of their bodies that they’ve been able to live for so long.

The Sirens had learned long ago to protect these jewels from harm, even though they doubted anything in this world could shatter them. Sonata was getting antsy, the normally ditzy, and fun loving Siren was now nervous and a bit scared to have Dusk Shine examine her ruby. Despite knowing that it couldn’t easily shatter, it still didn’t take away the fear of it happening, it was a personal thing, part of them, and right now he was holding it gingerly and scrutinizing it.

“Whenever you girls use your abilities these trinkets glow, is this part of that ‘magic’ you spoke of?” Dusk Shine asked.

“Yes Sir, it is.” Adagio answered with a level gaze.

“Magic, something that was the thing of fairy tales, and yet, it crops up in so many legends, myths, and folklore all around the world. Not unique to any one culture, but almost as if it were a fact of life that it existed, and here you girls are, centuries old, using a form of that power to prolong your lives and make yourselves stronger. Fascinating…I wonder…”

Dusk Shine released the ruby and walked back towards the eagle head parapet.

“I’m going to do more research on Professor Neigh’s work. Something tells me he was onto something, something he conveniently left out. Continue to monitor their movements, do not engage unless otherwise engaged yourselves, ta-ta.”

Dusk Shine took one step forward and off the parapet to the thousand plus foot drop below.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

A streak of violet took off from some feet below, heading towards the horizon and out of sight. When he was gone, Sonata dropped to her knees and clutched at her ruby, nearly hyperventilating out of the pent up anxiety of having her precious pendant in the hands of that man. Aria knelt down and brought Sonata close to her, resting the young Siren’s head against her chest as she rubbed her head and made soft shushing sounds.

Adagio’s eyes glowed with the power of her Firestorm Protocol. They may bicker, they may argue and yell, and get annoyed or even angry at each other from time to time. But in the end, none of them would dare let the other be hurt, hundreds of years of exile had strengthened their bond beyond the norm.

Friends, lovers, comrades, family, that is what they were to each other, for there were no others in this world like them, they only had each other in the end, and nothing would change that. Adagio had seen these girls as her sisters and more for a long time, and what Dusk Shine did was equivalent to having molested Sonata, and it brought out the protective side of her.

The older Siren knelt down before Sonata, placing a hand on her cheek and wiping a stray tear away. “I’m sorry Sonata, I promise he’ll never do that again. I’ll make sure of it.” Sonata smiled a little and leaned into Adagio’s hand, keeping Aria close the whole time.

IN THE SKIES ABOVE CANTERLOT CITY…

Twilight and Sunset had broken the sound barrier to get this far, but it was worth the sonic boom to make up for the time they lost fighting Prozen and Fire Rose. They had worked so hard on their project, despite the things that have happened, they got it done, and it was a testament to how well the two girls worked together, a symbol of their hard work and genius.

Saving lives from rogue Firestorms was most likely going to be their mission until they figured out how to stop the Organization for good, but for now, small victories counted, and small victories outside of saving the world mattered too.

Twilight had been keeping watch on the sun, noting its position in correspondence to the shifting time zones. Their burst of speed had shaved a minute and some seconds off their flight time, but they were still going to cut it close.

Their fears were lifted slightly when the CU campus came into view. Twilight had cloaked them, bending the light away to render the duo invisible, and with any luck, they could slip in undetected the same way.

“We’re going to make it Sparky!”

“I know I can’t wait to –!”

Suddenly a giant blast of sound shot up through the ceiling of R. Palmer Hall. The beam was colored blue and warbled at a rhythm that reminded Sunset of dub step music. Twilight could see it through her spectrum vision, the blast was comprised of dense sound particles that took on a blue hue. When the blast ended the two Firestorm girls’ hearts raced. They knew it couldn’t have been their reactor, the building wouldn’t be there if it were.

Part of them feared that they’re secret had been found out, and an attack had been made on the Science Fair in hopes of coaxing them out. Regardless, they needed to go down there and help. Still cloaked, Sunset and Twilight descended through the hole in the roof, landing on the outer edge of the epicenter of the blast.

From what they could tell, nobody was killed. Confused, disoriented, and possibly, temporarily deaf, but otherwise everyone was alright. There was no sign of scorching, making Twilight’s theory of a sound weapon more plausible.

Thinking it safe, Twilight and Sunset deactivated their powers, returning them to normal. They ran towards their booth and found quite the sight. Cadance was laying sprawled on her back, semi-unconscious, while Rainbow Dash had landed on top of the older woman, head buried in Cadance’s cleavage and with a knee precariously pushing up said woman’s skirt.

Twilight blushed furiously and quickly covered her eyes to hide her embarrassed, blushing face. As for Sunset, she merely grinned wide enough to mimic the Grinch, pulled out her phone, and snapped three to four pictures of this scene.

The two girls groaned as they came to, Rainbow propped herself up on her hands, shaking her head a little to clear the ringing sound. Cadance was stirring as well, propping herself on her forearms and groaning a little. Both girls heard the sound of a digital camera shutter and turned towards it. Standing a foot away was Twilight and Sunset, the former still covering her face, and the latter snapping away photos.

“Shimmer, what the hell are you doing?” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“Oh, just wondering if I want this as my wallpaper or screensaver. I’m thinking of naming it, ‘Jock does the Naughty Babysitter’, Sparky, any comments?”

“Why would you ask me something like that, and why would you name it that?!”

Rainbow blinked. “What the hell are you –?” Rainbow repositioned her hand and suddenly found it resting atop of something firm yet soft. “The hell is this?” she asked as she gave an experimental squeeze.

A sensual moan was released the moment Rainbow squeezed. It was then that Rainbow figured out what she was holding as she whipped her head forward and was almost nose-to-nose with Cadance.

*Click*

“Uh…Uh…Uh,” Rainbow stammered.

“Rainbow Dash, if you wanted to fool around, doing it in public isn’t my thing.”

*Click*

Cadance looked behind Rainbow. “Oh Twilight, Sunset, you’re back!”

“Cadance look at your position and reevaluate your priorities!” Twilight begged.

The fuchsia woman looked down at herself, seeing Rainbow nearly straddle her, the position of the tomboy’s knee, the hand that was somehow still on her left bosom, and of course the redder than a tomato, apple, and strawberry put together, face of said girl. In the end Cadance shrugged and smiled back at Twilight.

“Oh Twily, you’re more than welcome to join us down here, no need to be jealous,” Cadance teased.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s keen intellect and quick thinking was fast enough to stop a lewd image from appearing in her mind, causing her to freeze up and have this expression on her face that looked as if she had spaced out, although the glowing redness of her face had increased.

“I think you broke Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash.

*Click*

In the end, the official cause of the explosion was due to an entry that someone had dubbed “The Bass Cannon” and fired it off in the building. The acoustics of the arena amplified the power and made it twice as strong when it was turned on, exploding the roof and sending all projects and people flying everywhere.

Minor bumps, bruises, and above mentioned temporary deafness, but otherwise everyone was alright. Unfortunately most of the projects were destroyed thanks to the sound waves that penetrated through the different projects and broke them apart from the inside out, but thankfully, Sunset and Twilight were still able to show off their project.

It survived with minor damage thanks to Sunset’s idea to use metals that had better resonance with vibrational energy. They hooked it up and had it power the lights in the arena, allowing R. Palmer Hall to continue operating.

So they didn’t win the contest, no one did really, but they did get to impress everyone with their project and help people in the process, so not a total loss. As Twilight and Sunset were busy with the cleanup help, they were finally able to get some real alone time as they swept the debris from a more secluded part of the building. During this time, Sunset couldn’t help but ask.

“So, you couldn’t lose me too, huh?”

“What?”

“Earlier, when I was frozen in the glacier, you said you couldn’t lose me too. You sounded really desperate Sparky, sorry for worrying you,” Sunset said with sincerity.

“I was worried, really worried. I thought I was going to lose you. It scared me, it scared me more than anything!” Twilight’s grip tightened around the broom handle. “Sunset…seeing that happen, it made me think about all the things I didn’t get to say to you – wanted to say you! And now, if this keeps happening, if more and more rogue Firestorms appear, we’ll be in constant battles that’ll put our lives on the line.”

Sunset walked up to Twilight and clasped her shoulder gently. “Hey, as long as we got each other’s back we’ll be fine, Sparky. It’s dangerous, yes, but the two us can handle it I know it!”

“It’s not that, Sunset. I just…Sunset…” Twilight turned to Sunset Shimmer and looked her directly in the eye. “I…I like you!!”

Sunset took a step back, dropping her broom, her face plastered with a stunned expression. Her heart raced a million miles an hour, threatening to burst out of her chest at any moment. The feeling she had been working to suppress was surging forward in full force, but was this what she wanted.

“I…Sparky – Twilight, why?!” Sunset asked desperately.

“Why what?” Twilight asked back.

“Why would say that to me?! I…I’m not someone you should…GAH!” Sunset ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “Why would you like me?! I’m not someone who’s good for you! I’m barely a decent friend to you, what makes you think me being your gi…gir…girlfriend will be any better?!”

Twilight was blushing again, but her determined look didn’t falter. “Because I-I know you’re a good person Sunset, everything that I’ve seen of you these past few weeks and months have made more sure of that than ever! And because, I don’t know what a normal relationship is, my mother and father, my friends, I know where I stand with them.”

“I know how I feel. But with you, it feels stronger, so much so I can’t call it friendship! I’m also scared, scared because I don’t want to mess up what we have now, or that I might mess up us being together.”

Sunset was still reeling from the confession. Her inner demons were yelling at her to not accept this confession, to better yet stomp all over it, and crush Twilight now that she had exposed her heart to Sunset. It would be so simple now, she could trample all over Twilight’s heart, rip her apart from the inside out and make her a pathetic mess from this one confession alone. Her vengeance would be satiated, and she’d be able to reclaim her power as the head of CHS.

But somehow, those thoughts weren’t as appealing anymore, in fact, the mere thought of doing that to Twilight made Sunset feel physically ill. This girl before her, who had been through so much, lost loved ones, and almost denied a future, was something else, an outcast like Sunset.

Twilight was born into this world, and yet she would forever be different from everyone else. Sunset was from another world, morphed into a human form, and yet she would always feel like a stranger in this world where everybody felt a part of it.

Twilight was more than an intellectual equal, she was a kindred spirit, her opposite, and yet they were the same. Where Sunset chose to isolate herself from the world she had shunned, Twilight chose to embrace the world she never knew. The long silence seemed to weigh on Twilight, as her gaze became downcast.

“I’m sorry, I said all that without even considering if you even were into same-sex relationships…Sunset, you don’t have to say anything from here on, I just needed you to know how I felt, before I regretted ever not telling you. I’ll just…”

Twilight began to turn away from Sunset, but suddenly she found her wrist pulled into the shaky, yet firm grip of Sunset. When she glanced towards Sunset, Twilight saw the same blushing face like her own.

“I…I’m not just into girls, alright, at least I don’t think so, but…I think I like you too, Sparky.”

“Sunset…”

“I’ve been wanting to get revenge on you for the longest time now!” Twilight’s expression became neutral as she listened. “I’ve thought of dozens of ways that I wanted to tear you down, leave you a mess in front of the whole school, humiliate you, and even hurt you!”

Sunset clenched her unoccupied left fist. “But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t! I thought I hated you, and then I thought I just disliked you! And now, after everything we’ve been through, I’ve started to like you, and somehow I developed some stupid schoolgirl crush on you! I needed you to know that Twilight, I needed you to know what kind of person I am! Do you still even like me, knowing that?!”

Twilight stood before Sunset, she took the same hand that was clasped around hers and gently and held it. “I’m not perfect Sunset, you know that, do you honestly expect me to put you on a pedestal like that? If I didn’t like you for you, then what I’m feeling would be meaningless!”

Sunset could feel the gentle warmth radiating from Twilight’s hand, it was soothing, ebbing away her worry. “Well, guess, we could try this out…see where it goes, that alright, Sparky?”

Twilight nodded happily. “Of course.”

“So, do we tell your friends or…?”

Twilight thought about that. “I think we should wait and break it to them slowly. But we can tell Cadance, and my parents.”

“You want to come out to your parents, and announce you have a girlfriend right off the bat?” Sunset asked.

“Cadance can keep a secret, and this is something I don’t want to keep from them, well, other than the other thing.”

Sunset chuckled, as did Twilight. With little warning, Twilight moved forward and embraced Sunset, resting her head against the older girl’s chest. Sunset was stunned again, but only for a moment. This felt nice, being hugged like she was, Sunset figured that Twilight probably wasn’t up for a kiss, so this was a safe alternative.

The fiery haired girl returned the embrace, nuzzling the top of Twilight’s head with her cheek, reminiscent of how she saw Equestrian couples act when together. Secretly she had always hoped to find a special somepony, but a special somebody worked too, even if it was this adorkable girl in her arms.

Little did either of them realize at the time, there was a third broom on the floor next to the entrance, a small water drop on the floor, and the fading of rainbow hair as it moved further down the hallway.

Entry 13: Dusk Shine

So close, I’m so close to understanding the truth!

Dusk Shine was in his personal lab. The formula for the Firestorm Matrix was displayed for him via holographic projections. Through this he was able to see the many detailed intricacies of the Matrix as a whole.

Dusk was able to save many of Professor Neigh’s research, despite the good Professor’s efforts to keep his notes secret, Dusk Shine was secretly mirror copying all his data. There were so many mysteries about the Firestorm Matrix, and one of them was the two girls. Dusk Shine waved his hands about, making the hologram projector display the two Firestorm girls who had been thwarting their Firestorms.

He looked upon them both, studying them, scrutinizing them. He needed more information about these two, somehow they held the key to the Firestorm Matrix.

All the other Protocols are imperfect, even the one inside me. They’re all missing something, something that lies within these two! And then there was…that thing…Professor Neigh, knowing you, it’s not as simple as a single key.

Suddenly, the hologram projector brought up a display, showing that he was being called by the Big 3. Dusk Shine grunted his annoyance, he needed those impatient louts, but he was getting closer and closer to just finding them and roasting them alive.

They knew not the importance of what he was doing here, how important it was to him to bring the Firestorm Matrix to completion. With a grunt, Dusk Shine waved his hands about, closing out the holograms and leaving for the conference room.

The young man strode through the hallway, Organization soldiers stopping to salute him as he walked by, and waiting until he left to go about their business. He had power, the intellect, and yes, the killing instinct to achieve his ultimate goal, so he had to do what needed to be done, smile and wave, “yes sir”, “no sir”, and “as you wish sir”, all a mask, the persona of a smart yet loyal creation.

The only thing that kept him from being killed by the Big 3 was that only someone like Dusk Shine could understand the Firestorm Protocols, now that Professor Neigh was gone. And two: he was able to lead.

Dusk Shine entered the conference room and waited for the monitors to display the three men, veiled in shadows as to hide their real identities. Not like it mattered to him, he knew who each of them were, long before he first talked to them. Soon the monitors each came to life, showing the shadow silhouette of the three.

Miser, a name befitting of a man who’s only ambition was money. He made his money through both legitimate and illegal business practices, using the legal ones to mask his true money line. Weapons were his thing, his company, the biggest supplier of arms to the military, also sold weapons in the Black Market to terrorists, and the enemies of different nations who were at war.

He made his money from destruction and bloodshed, and if there was one thing that remained constant in this world, it was that there would always be conflict, and always someone in need of a bigger gun.

To Dusk’s right was Money Bags. He probably despised this man the most. This man made his money right where Miser left off. Only, instead of weapons, he dealt in something worth just as much as a big gun, a living person. Not many would admit it, not in the criminal underworld, but Money Bags had a hand in every human trafficking ring in the world, young boys and girls, ripped from their families, taken off the streets, or made to believe that they had no other choice but to sell themselves, he did it all.

He was basically a modern day slave owner and trader, his southern accent, it was all a ruse just to sound like he was a nice guy, but underneath that, it was a fake accent and a deceiving smile, hiding that he was every bit a monster as those they worked on in the facilities on the lower levels.

The last of them, occupying the center monitor, was a man simply called Foresight. Out of the three of them, he was the visionary, bringing them together to form the Organization. All of this was due to his leadership and equal wealth, he saw the world differently, and he believed the Organization could make it come true. There were some things about him that were clouded in mystery, but Dusk Shine wasn’t worried about it.

{Not once, not twice, but six, six times, Dusk Shine! Six times that these girl Firestorms have defeated our other Protocol recipients!} Miser shouted.

“Honestly, and with all due respect sir, those you have been selling to aren’t exactly trained soldiers or assassins, just those who have been able to pay your exorbitant prices. And, while we’re on the subject, how did an artist and a surfer get ahold of one our Protocols?” Dusk asked.

{Ah wouldn’t mind knowin’ that myself, how exactly did that happen?}

{Who cares how they got it, a deal was made, money was transferred, and somehow those two got it! We’re not responsible for whoever so happens to wrist it from someone else before they transform with it! Why haven’t you had your little teenybopper squad kill them yet?! I would think that freaky trio would have the necessary training to get the job done!}

“Again, the Sirens are only there to observe. What they have reported is that the two unknown Firestorms seem to originate from Canterlot City, USA. Their first appearance in that city could’ve been attributed to coincidence, there was no guarantee that they lived there.”

“But when the battle in Manehattan happened, they reported seeing two streaks of fire shoot through the sky. They followed them to the city and witnessed them engage a couple of our clients.”

{I cannot believe you simply allowed them to just watch and not render aid! Our clients would still have their Protocols if they had fought alongside them, the problem would’ve been over then and there!}

“That’s where you’re wrong, sir.” Dusk Shine waved his hand, making the hologram projector in the room activate. He then brought up footage of the battle, and showed the moment when both of them glowed. “See here? Their sun emblems glowed at the same time, and continued glowing for a set amount time, and during that time period their fighting capabilities doubled, allowing them to overpower the clients.”

Dusk Shine brought up the image of both girls.

“There is much we still don’t understand about their powers. We know they can remove Protocols, and absorb them into their bodies after the fact. I have observed the footage and deduced that, for whatever reason, the Protocol was split between them, one gaining some abilities and the other gaining another portion.”

“I believe that it is because of their incomplete halves that the Matrix within them is trying to compensate by pulling in other Protocols and absorbing their Matrices. In the process it seems to make them stronger, possibly giving them additional abilities that are still unknown to us. Until we know more, we can’t just blindly attack them, and risk losing more than we would gain.”

{All the more reason, to use Project Skull!}

Dusk Shine clenched his fists. “Project Skull was a failed experiment. The bonding of atomic energy to a living organism, it had adverse effects on the body. Need I remind you, gentlemen, why it was named Project ‘Skull’ in the first place?”

{We’re well aware, Dusk Shine. But unfortunately, every Firestorm we send against them is defeated for the very reason that they have Protocols inside them. Project Skull’s powers are derived from an alternative source of atomic energy, so the two girl Firestorms won’t be able to steal his power. On top of that, the specimen is a trained soldier, and has years of experience in combat. These girls will be no match for him.}

Dusk Shine raised an eyebrow at that. “Wait…you’re not saying you’re going to kill them, are you?!”

{What do you think, boy?!} Miser snapped.

“Sirs! You can’t, there’s still too much we can gleam from studying their Protocols! Professor Neigh obviously engineered that one to be different from the others! It could be the key to making the Firestorm Protocols perfect! Possibly even more powerful than they are now!” Dusk Shine pleaded.

{Sorry ol’ top, we can’t let this go on. The Protocols are plenty strong as they are right now, shoot, don’t rightfully know if makin’ ‘em stronger than they are now is a good thing, could end up blowin’ up the Earth. And no world means no more money and business.}

{It’s unanimous, Atomic Skull will be prepped and sent out immediately to Canterlot City. Inform your operatives and our other associates of the coming danger. Dusk Shine, have your Sirens remain on standby, should Skull prove to be noncompliant in ceasing further action, then we’ll need a way to subdue him. And the special skills of your operatives will help with that. Dismissed.}

Two of the three monitors turned off, all but Miser’s. Dusk Shine could tell that the man behind the screen was giving him a cocky smile and a withering glare to boot.

{Looks like you’re not as special as we were hoping.}

The monitor cut out just then, leaving Dusk Shine alone within the meeting room.

“You…I was not asked to be made…!”

7 YEARS AGO, ORGANIZATION BASE DELTA…

Dusk Shine was a smart lad, by most accounts he was a prodigy. He was able to grasp the basics of walking, talking, and everything else at an astonishing rate. And he was only one year old when he learned it all.

It was something that he could never grasp, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He learned about the normal rate of human growth, but somehow he was getting older within a few short years. He should’ve been at least three or five years old, but he was already ten going on eleven, and his mind was growing sharper with each passage of time.

He felt more like a teenager trapped in a child’s body most of the time, but then again, the scientists and doctors always said he was a “special boy”. Now he knew they didn’t mean it to be derogatory, but Dusk couldn’t help but feel there was an underlying meaning to it.

Until, one day, the young boy decided to find out about his origins. Hacking the Organization’s computers was a breeze, their cyber security was a complete joke. Dusk Shine typed away at the keyboard, his eyes roving over the many windows of information that popped up. His eyes caught sight of something strange and he stopped. Dusk moved a few windows around and found the one that popped out to him.

He gasped and nearly fell backwards on his chair as he bolted to his feet. On the screen was a girl, she had the same violet hair with a pink streak in it, the same lilac skin color, and purple eyes as him, but she was a girl, and yet she looked like him, but younger, at least six-years-old. Dusk Shine placed his hand against the image of the girl, she could’ve been his little sister.

“Who are you?” Dusk asked to no one.

The boy brought up information on this girl, his eyes widening with each passage he read.

Subject: #333108

Sex: Female

Age: 6

Entry 500: #333108 has displayed intelligence above the standards of the other subjects. Orders were given to have her education furthered with Professor Bill Neigh. Reasons behind this decision suggest that #333108 can help the Professor further along his research and progress in the creation of Project Firestorm.

“Huh…just like me. Why didn’t the Professor say anything about this?” Dusk Shine wondered aloud.

Entry 789: #333108 has displayed further advances in her intellect, contact with Professor Neigh has yielded a positive response to her growing knowledge. Despite Professor Neigh’s reluctance to take on a young assistant, the good Professor has started to change his tune a little.

The rest of the children are showing progress as well, but subject #333108 continues to excel more than the others. A simple sleeper agent may not be the best fit for her. Plans will be made to grant her a place within the Organization, provided with a simple reprogramming.

Dusk Shine continued sifting through the data and found a new entry.

Subject: #333108-02

Sex: Male

Age: 7 (months)

Entry 01: The raid on Epsilon Base was unfortunate, we lost subject #333108. According to Professor Neigh the soldiers who attacked us killed her and stole her body, most likely to decipher how we created the girl and the other subjects. It is a great loss, but not unsalvageable.

We were able to save some of the cells from #333108 and grew a new specimen. However, the higher ups have deemed it necessary to accelerate the development of the new specimen in order to make up for the loss of the subject three years ago.

Experimental growth enhancers were added to the culture in order to ensure that subject #333108-02 would reach maturity much quicker than #333108.

Dusk Shine paused for a moment, he then raised his hand and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time. He knew he was different, but not in the way he believed. So…this girl is my sister, but more like an older sister really…I guess that’s alright. Too bad she’s dead, would’ve been nice to meet her.

Entry 07: I did a test on #333108-02’s DNA, and the results aren’t good. As I feared, the growth enhancers have caused defects in his cellular structure. His telomeres are low, and getting lower. He’s already 5 years old and it’s only been two years since he was extracted.

His intelligence, as expected, increases exponentially in response to his rapid aging, the enhancers were only meant to get him to the age that the previous specimen was, after which he was to grow up at a normal rate. However, recent evidence points to the opposite.

#333108-02’s aging will continue to accelerate as time moves on, he could jump from anywhere up to two to three years, per year. At this rate his cellular structure will soon experience total failure, while he’ll look young, his cells will become older, and he’ll die, and by the looks of it not a swift death either.

I have informed the higher ups of this, and they have decided to continue with his courses. They wish to get as much out of him as they can before he expires. If we had the cells of the original we could clone a new and better specimen, and with the data gathered from #333108-02, we’ll know when the right time is to introduce the enhancers in order to avoid another failure like this.

Dusk Shine’s eyes widened, his heart thumping in his chest, body trembling in fear at what he just read. It couldn’t be true, he was going to die? He was aging too fast, and he was going to die within a few years? That just wasn’t possible, he couldn’t believe that.

The boy ran out of the room and headed straight for Professor Neigh’s lab. Some of the Organization troops paid him no mind, he was one of their creations, and he was a child, so therefore he posed no threat.

Once he reached the lab, Dusk Shine forced the door open and found Professor Neigh working on the Firestorm Matrix, two of them to be exact. For a brief moment, Dusk wondered what the other was. The first one had an orange nucleus, with white rings hovering around it, and small red orbs following the rings like electrons. The other had a crimson nucleus, the same white rings, but the orbs seemed to glow with a kind of aurora, rainbow color.

“Dusk, what are you doing here? It’s not time for our scheduled sessions,” said Professor Neigh.

“Is it true?!”

“Is what true my boy?”

“Is it true you taught a girl who looked like me three years ago?!” Dusk Shine clarified.

Professor Neigh’s eyes widened at that moment, his body became stiff as a board. “Who told you this?”

“I saw it! I knew I was different, I always did, but I never knew why! So I looked up some things in the database and found a file on a girl called #333108! You taught her, and she got killed by soldiers! Then they grew me to replace her, but they screwed up and my telomeres are defective! I’m aging too fast, and I’ll die within a few years!”

Professor Neigh grimaced at this as he averted his eyes, it was at this time that Dusk Shine’s eyes narrowed as his suspicions were confirmed.

“You knew, didn’t you?! You knew about my condition!”

Professor Neigh sighed heavily. “Yes my boy, I did know. They told me about their debacle, and I warned them against it when they attempted it!”

Dusk clenched his fists. “So why haven’t you been finding a way to stop this?! There has to be a way to fix me!”

“Dusk…”

“Did they just give me to you as a pet because you lost her?! Did you name me because of what’s going to happen to me?! Because I’m going to die!”

Professor Neigh walked up to the young boy, who looked up at him with anger. The Professor then lowered to one knee and brought Dusk Shine into a hug, surprising him. “I named you Dusk Shine, because, although your life is short, I know you will shine brilliantly!”

“I know it’s not fair Dusk, I know. Fate it seems is cruel to you and those like your older sister, maybe it’s the punishment of a higher power, for tampering within the realm of creation, a place that was once thought to be only God’s domain.”

“So what…it’s God’s fault I’m going to die in a few years?! My life, my fate, is all His fault?!”

“No, this is the fault of greed and power lust, of impatience and ignorance, man’s folly.”

Dusk Shine wanted to believe the Professor’s words, he had been a great mentor, a decent person compared to those who forced him to work, and those who created Dusk. The young boy’s teary eyes fell upon the two Firestorm Matrices, something clicked in his mind as he continued to gaze upon them.

“Professor…can the Firestorm Protocols save me?”

Professor Neigh separated himself from Dusk Shine and looked at the boy seriously. “I do not know, Dusk. It may be unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.”

“But the power it produces, theoretically, it can prolong the user’s lifespan and heal cellular damage upon transformation!”

“‘In theory’ are the key words here Dusk. Neither you nor I know what will happen once someone takes hold of these.”

Dusk Shine growled with frustration. “Then use me! I’m not going to live long anyway! At least if you use it on me we can tell if it works! Dying now or later, it’s all the same! At least for the time I do have the Matrix, I’ll be powerful enough to…to –!”

“To do what, Dusk Shine, to kill those who made you?! And then what?!” Professor Neigh asked as he stood to his full height. “Do you really wish for your life to end so quickly, if you want to cling to life then don’t go seeking ways to shorten it!”

“If I’m to die later then why not burn the whole world with myself! At least everybody then would suffer the same fate and I wouldn’t have to die alone!” Dusk yelled out.

Professor Neigh brought up his hand and slapped the boy across the face, hard. Dusk Shine recoiled at the blow, stumbling backwards as he held his throbbing cheek, staring at Professor Neigh with wide eyes.

“I don’t want to hear such talk from you! The purpose of science, of this thing they want me to make, is not to kill! In the right hands it can be more than just a weapon, and you, Dusk Shine, can be more than what they want you to be!”

Dusk Shine let those words sink in, they unlocked something within the boy, a part of him he did know he had. His mind was suddenly on fire with ideas, ways to prevent his fate, ways to exact vengeance on those who had created him and made him their puppet.

But most importantly, a way to use the Firestorm Protocols that would make even Professor Neigh proud of him, whether or not the good Professor was alive to see it in the end was another matter. But even in death he would do him proud.

Professor Neigh watched as the boy’s shocked expression turned into something else, something that made his blood run cold. A smile formed on Dusk’s lips, a smile that verged on maniacal and sinister. When he looked back up at the Professor, he flinched. Dusk’s eyes no longer held that childish wonder and curiosity, now they were cold, calculating, as if he was piercing through to his soul.

The young boy righted himself, standing up straight as he continued to smile at Professor Neigh. “I understand Professor, I think I know how to fix this, everything. Let’s continue to work on the Firestorm Protocols, and its Matrix, together.”

After that day, Dusk Shine was forbidden to work on the Firestorm Protocols, per Professor Neigh’s insistence. The higher ups didn’t mind, they saw the Professor making progress even without the additional help of Dusk. However, Dusk Shine wasn’t one to be left out of the loop. No, through the years he had been secretly spying on Professor Neigh’s progress, learning all he could about the Matrix and Protocols. All while playing the part of a good subordinate to the Organization.

Through his efforts, in seven short years, he had climbed the ranks to director and commander of their Science Division, becoming not only a rival genius to Professor Neigh, but also becoming a deadly individual. He had honed not only his mind, but his body as well, training with the soldiers in order to become more efficient in the art of killing and combat. He quickly mastered the use of firearms and martial arts. Even close combat weapons, such as the sword, knife, and almost all manner of medieval weaponry.

He even became their chief interrogator. Learning the ways to pry information from a human being by means of psycho manipulation, torture of the mind and body, and other methods that would be considered crimes against humanity. Dusk Shine was happy that he inherited his Eidetic Memory from his “big sister”, it cut down on a lot of repetitive lessons and allowed him to hone them on his own later.

The raid on Gamma Base and Professor Neigh’s sending away of the Matrix was an unforeseen event, but thankfully he was able to finish the Firestorm Protocols. But Dusk Shine wasn’t satisfied with that, no, he knew the Professor had something else up his sleeve, a perfect Firestorm Matrix, one more powerful than the others. A possible way to undo the future damage caused by the Organization, or so Dusk Shine believed, however…he was unprepared for what happened in Storage, and ever since then it’s been eating away at him.

The young man had hoped to find answers within Professor’s Neigh’s research, thinking there was something he missed. Now, unfortunately, time was not on his side, the story of his life really. He couldn’t turn on the Organization yet, he still needed their resources, but at the same time, he couldn’t risk his operatives, the Sirens, being caught in the crossfire. They were invaluable assists to him, and may prove to be useful later when he made his move.

Dusk Shine was trapped in a corner, his research into the Firestorm Matrix wasn’t yet complete, and there was still some key elements that he needed, elements that could make all the difference! But now, now the Atomic Skull would be sent out, and he would no doubt kill the two Firestorm girls.

All he could do now was pray that the Matrix the two girls possessed was powerful enough, and that the girls themselves were skilled enough to use its power. Beating Atomic Skull was not what he hoped for, at this rate, he only had hope that they would survive.

Dusk Shine strode out of the meeting room and down the hallway. He took out a comm. device from his pocket, placed it in his ear, and pressed a button on its side.

“Contact: Adagio.”

Entry 14: The Sirens

Adagio still hated this city, but she had to admit, it had its perks. Like the lavish, marvelous penthouse suite. The former sea seductress laid comfortably within the large bed, on either side of her lay her fellow Sirens.

For all her gripes and complaints about Aria and Sonata, she really did adore them. Even now, the two of them had unconsciously snuggled closer to her, and Adagio all too eagerly welcomed their closeness, opening her arms to cradle them to her body.

The lead Siren scanned their living arrangements, having used their Siren Song to manipulate the owner of the high-rise to give them this place. It was furnished with rather expensive decor, the sheets of the bed were made of silk, and the bed itself was ridiculously big.

Either the owner had a fear of falling out of the bed, or some rather saucy activities were performed in here and the need for extra sleeping space was a required must. Either way, Adagio could care less, for she and the girls had been lost in the feeling of the bed. The soft silk caressed their skin gently, reminding them of the soothing waters from whence they came.

The three of them, well, let us just say that many articles of clothing were strewn about the room, including undergarments. Hundreds of years together had done away with any awkwardness, shame, or shyness when they were intimate, heck, intimacy was something they had come to relish.

In this cruel world where they had to scrounge on the vestiges of the humans’ negativity, only to barely satiate their hunger and sustain their life force, their togetherness is what saved them from giving up.

Oh yes, they fought like cats and dogs sometimes, and sometimes they did say something hurtful or spiteful at the other. But in the end, it was forgiven. In the undersea world, it was eat or be eaten, and the hippocampi people were very strict and hard headed about their ways.

Friends though they became, they realized they had something more, and in so doing, abandoned their people in order to find a place to call their own, whether it was their own little slice of the ocean or on the surface, either way, so long as they were together, and stood above those who would seek to dissolve their band, that’s all that mattered.

Adagio had been the one to keep the girls calm when they were first thrown into this world, she remembered it like it was yesterday…

HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO…

A massive portal had been punched in space-time as three beings came tumbling through the tunnel of light. Their forms were that of the mythical hippocampus, half horse, half fish creatures that only existed in legend. However, as those legendary creatures began to get closer to the exit of the portal, a change was occurring.

Their bodies began to shrink in size, their mermaid like tails transformed into long slender legs, with feet and toes. Their upper halves weren’t spared either.

The bones in their forelegs shifted about, changing into human arms. Hardened hooves, hooves that had become solid as rock from years of striking coral and hardened sediment on the ocean floor, were now small hands with nimble fingers.

Their massive and beastly chests had changed as well, matching that of a female human’s body. Their ruby jewels that had been imbedded into their bodies since the days of their births, had now dislodged itself from their bodies and floated before them.

Their long necks were gone, along with their muzzles as their faces became flat. Soon the scales and fins that covered their bodies were gone, replaced by soft and supple skin, and long hair.

The Sirens didn’t know what was happening to them, but the moment they saw their jewels float away from them, they, out of pure instinct, reached out and caught their gemstones, clasping them in both hands and keeping them close to their bodies as they continued to be hurled through the portal.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the three hippocampi had exited the portal, falling straight into water. The three of them spiraled about in the abyss of the water for a few moments before they managed to figure out which way was up. All three watched as the portal shut behind them with a great “BOOM” as if to tell them that they were never to come back, and that this was their final destination.

The panic didn’t set in right away, they were in their element, water. Although, it was different, it tasted nothing of the sea, if they had to guess it was more along the lines of fresh water, a possible river or lake, but that wasn’t a problem since hippocampi were able to survive in either salt or fresh water.

However, what did make them start panicking was that they were finding it extremely hard to breathe. The moment they inhaled to take in the oxygen that was in the water, the three girls began to choke. This was a new experience for them, since they had never known what it felt like to be choking to breathe.

Adagio had to keep her wits about her, so she immediately held her breath. Her head darted back and forth, she then looked up, spotting the pale moonlight that shined up above. Adagio began swimming to her friends, but suddenly she realized that her flipper and tail were gone. Her heart began to race even faster as she stared at these two…things. Her brain tried to process how to work them, only ever used to moving the lower part of her body in fluid undulations, now she had two legs, and not even equine legs either.

The yellow Siren hurriedly looked to her fellow changed hippocampi, her vision was not as good underwater, and it was dulled slightly, which was starting to scare her since she could always see clearly underwater or above it.

Star Swirl didn’t banish us, he merely sent us to a place to kill us slowly! I’m not going to give him the satisfaction!

Using her anger and willpower, Adagio managed to get her two new appendages to start kicking. It took but mere seconds to figure out that she needed to kick one leg and then the other in order to propel herself forward.

Quick as she could, Adagio managed to reach Aria. She was still clutching her gemstone, but other than that, working the new digits was something that was alien and an activity she had not the time to figure out. So Adagio hooked her arm around Aria, pantomiming to her not to breathe in the water anymore.

Once that was established, Aria and Adagio kicked in unison, doubling their speed and reaching Sonata. The panicked Siren couldn’t really recognize her friends, but their colors matched that of Adagio and Aria, and once Adagio hooked her arm around her own, a familiar and comforting feeling overtook Sonata, pushing away the panic. Together, the three of them kicked for dear life, heading straight up for the one source of light, the moon.

The moon was their beacon, it was the way to the surface. Harder and faster the three of them kicked, frantically swimming to reach someplace they could breathe. Their lungs burned and their new leg muscles ached, but the constant tugging from Adagio spurred Aria and Sonata onward.

With one final push the three girls breached the surface, the upper half of their bodies breaking the water’s calm as they took in a deep gasping breath. When they settled, only their heads were sticking up as they treaded water. Adagio blinked a few times, her vision becoming clearer now. She looked up to the sky, noticing that it was indeed night, and that the full moon was above them.

Their breaths were labored after being deprived of oxygen, and a few coughs could be heard, mostly hacking up the water they had swallowed when they tried to breathe underwater. Adagio didn’t waste time, she scanned the area for any visible land, and thankfully shore wasn’t far away.

“Girls, listen to me! There’s a beach just ahead, we need to swim there now!” Adagio ordered.

“Hold on Adagio! What the kelp happened to us?! Where’s my frickin’ tail?!” Aria cried out in shock.

“A-And my scales?! And my fins, too?! And how come we couldn’t breathe underwater?!” Sonata asked worriedly.

Adagio, managing some control of her free arm, splashed both girls a few times to make them concentrate on their current situation. “That’s enough! We can panic about what we are when we’re on land, but so help me, if you two don’t get a grip I’ll dunk your heads back in the water and keep you there until the bubbles stop! Do you understand?!”

Sonata gulped and quickly shook her head in compliance, Aria wasn’t one to scare easily, but considering their situation, along with the amount of authoritarian fury that dripped from Adagio’s words, it was hard not to feel a little scared. With that settled, the three of them kicked towards land.

It took several minutes but they made it, thankfully there was a dock, and just some ways away, a cabin. It should be noted that all three of them had entered this world as much like a newborn baby would, with nothing. So, when they exited the water, and the adrenaline of their near death experience was over, the heat in their bodies felt as if someone had stolen it away, leaving them to look like three shivering, drowned rats.

Luckily for them, there was a cabin. The Sirens, awkwardly, made their way to the cabin, stumbling and falling many times as they did. It was just getting better by the minute for them, not only were they not hippocampi anymore, but they couldn’t levitate either. At one point they just crawled along the sand and dirt until they made it to the front porch.

Staggering to their feet, and with a little worry, they looked inside. There was no light on inside, but it appeared that no one was home. Most likely the occupants had kept this cabin as a rustic retreat and did not visit often. Bearing that in mind, Adagio got Aria and Sonata to help her break the door down. After a few hits the door gave and swung wide open, the Sirens rubbed their throbbing shoulders and entered the cabin.

The slight chill in the air made Aria close the door behind them, she found what appeared to be a cabinet and got the others to help her move it in front of the door, both to keep it shut, and as a precaution should the owners, or something else, find them.

After a couple of hours figuring out how to work a fireplace and how to light a match, the three Sirens found themselves huddling in front of the glowing flame. Adagio had found a large and thick blanket, she then draped it over their bare bodies, bringing her sister Sirens in close. Huddled together under the blanket and in front of the fire chased away the chill that had numbed their bodies.

Only now that the numbness gone did the aches and pains of the long swim and crawling on the ground make themselves known. Their arms, stomachs, and legs were covered in small scratches from the shells and rocks, some an angry red, others were bleeding slightly, and a few bruises made themselves known as well. The added pain just made them huddle closer to each other for comfort. It was only after some time had passed did one of them find the strength speak again.

“What…What are we?” Aria asked.

Adagio held out her…well, it wasn’t a hoof anymore. She flexed the digits, curling them into a fist and then relaxed them. They appeared similar to what minotaurs had, and if she remembered correctly they were called “hands”.

But they weren’t minotaurs, neither of them had horns, and their lower extremities weren’t furry nor did they have hooves. Adagio ran her hand over her body, feeling smooth, tender skin, with just a faint feeling of hair along her arms. Her head, on the other hand, that was a different story.

During the time they were getting warm, Adagio’s hair became puffy and curly. It was a strange feeling to have something that voluminous on her head, hair only served to cause unnecessary drag underwater, so hippocampi never had manes or fine haired tails like the land dwelling equines.

“I’m not sure…As best as I can figure we’re something close to minotaurs, but then again, we’re not…”

“Well whatever we are, I don’t like it! I want my tail back! And my scales!”

“Why couldn’t we breathe underwater Dagi? We were born in the water, so – OH MY GOSH! Your gills are gone!” Sonata gasped.

Adagio and Aria quickly felt their necks, and indeed it was true, they no longer had gills. Each of them checked the other, making sure that their gills weren’t just simply relocated to a different part of their new bodies, but sadly it seemed, they were gone.

“That certainly explains why we were suffocating underwater, whatever we are now requires constant oxygen. If we plan on going into the water again, we’ll need to hold our breaths,” said Adagio.

“Yeah, not happening anytime soon, that water was too damn cold! It’s like it chilled me all the way to my core! I’ve never felt that before!”

Another true fact, hippocampi scales kept them quite insulated against extreme temperatures. It allowed them to get close to lava vents without being burned, and what allowed them to brave icy waters with no fear of hypothermia. On the surface they were either hot or cold to the touch, but internally, their temperature was regulated to the optimal setting of their current environment. However, that wasn’t the case now. They had bare skin like a pony without its fur coat, leaving them exposed to the elements of nature.

“I wanna go home Dagi!”

Adagio had a sullen look on her face, she wrapped her left arm around Sonata and held her close. “We can’t go back, Sona, we can never go back…”

“That’s bullshit! That portal that Star Swirl used, we can just –!”

“It closed when it dumped us here, Aria, we saw it! And you know as well as I do, we don’t have the kind of magic to do things like that!”

“How do you know unless we try?! I don’t want to be this…thing! I want to be me again, where this was still a part of me!” Aria vented as she showed her ruby gemstone.

Adagio watched as Aria was about to slam the jewel into her chest in a desperate attempt at trying to fuse it back to her body. The yellow Siren quickly grabbed Aria’s hand and held it tight.

“Don’t do that! You don’t know how fragile this body is! Our gemstones are as strong as diamonds, if these bodies are anything like pony bodies, then slamming that into your chest will break your bones! You’ll only hurt yourself!”

“My own jewel won’t hurt me! It was part of my body and now I’m frickin’ holding it in my ‘hand’! I just want…! I just want…” Aria clutched the jewel with both hands as she curled in on herself, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to make her break down into a crying fit.

Adagio knew her girls well. Aria was the toughest female Siren she knew, to feel so powerless and weak, to feel this helpless, it was overwhelming. Sonata was always a sensitive one as well, even if she was ditzy, the blue Siren often displayed instances of intelligence that could be considered downright scary.

And herself, she felt like Aria and Sonata did, weak, longing for home, and trapped in a body that neither of them new anything about. The yellow Siren looked across Sonata, to her clenched hand. She opened it and saw her own jewel, glimmering slightly. There was power still in it, and she knew the others could feel it too. Their magic hadn’t completely left them, but it was weak, barely half of what they had in Equestria.

“I’m sorry…” Adagio admitted.

“What?” Sonata asked.

“This…This is all my fault…If I hadn’t met you, either of you, then you’d still be back home! I should’ve known that messing around with the surface would call down the wrath of somepony, but I thought we were strong enough to ensure that we could defeat anything that came at us! In my arrogance we challenged Star Swirl instead of retreating…I’ll understand if you girls never want to speak to me again…I’d even allow you to exact your penance on me.”

Aria suddenly figured out how to use her knew hands for violent means, giving Adagio a swift slap across her face, causing Sonata to gasp in shock while Adagio just looked at the purple Siren in stunned silence.

“Don’t you dare pull that ‘Oh whoa was me, I’m a horrible leader,’ bullcrap on us now! I chose to fight Star Swirl with you! You didn’t force me! I chose to…to…to be with you, Adagio! So don’t go saying you want us to kill you for a mistake, that’s what they did in the army guard back home! Or did you forget that that’s how my father died!”

Adagio’s eyes grew wide with realization. Aria’s father was a border guard for the hippocampi, it was his job to defend that sliver of the border, to which he did valiantly. But in the end, he was overrun and a school of sharks barreled through and killed seven hippocampi in a surprise attack.

The penalty was death, despite his efforts to keep them out and his numerous scars from the fight. Their reasoning was, “You failed because you are alive, if you truly fought them to the death, then both you and the sharks would be dead”.

“I’m sorry, Aria, I didn’t mean to –!”

“Save it!” Suddenly Aria embraced Adagio, making the yellow Siren let out a small gasp in surprise. “You’re still alive, we all are! Sonata and I panicked down there, if you weren’t there we would’ve drowned and we’d both be dead! You pulled us together, and you got us to shore! Don’t you get it…?” Adagio felt warm tears on her shoulder. “I need you…!”

Adagio suddenly felt another body embrace her, causing the three of them to fall backwards. When she looked down herself, she saw Sonata hugging her too. “It’s the same for me! Everyone thought I was just an idiot! They didn’t care about me, they left me to be shark bait! But you and Ari came to me, and gave me a place to belong! I need you too, Dagi!”

The yellow Siren was starting to feel a lump form in her throat, she managed to wrench her arms free and hug the two girls before her the best she could. “I promise you, I won’t ever leave you two! We’ll find a way to get back home!”

Sonata lifted her head a bit and looked up at Adagio. “But, Dagi, what if we never find a way to get back to Equestria?”

A long silence fell over them, but in the end, Adagio’s face solidified into a serious and yet sinister grin. “Then we’ll make this world ours. Star Swirl may’ve banished us from Equestria to keep us from causing trouble there, but who says that that was a good thing. You two can still feel it can’t you? The power in our gems is still there.”

Aria and Sonata concentrated on the rubies in their clutches, indeed the magic was still there. Faint, but it was noticeable. The feeling of their magic gave Sonata and Aria a glimmer of hope that they weren’t completely screwed.

“If we can’t go back home, if there is no way back, then we’ll make this world ours!”

From that point onward, that’s all they tried to do. Luckily the cabin belonged to a doctor and was littered with medical dictionaries and textbooks, allowing them to quickly study up on their new bodies. The Sirens learned how to read Equish a long time ago, and surprisingly enough, this “English” was very similar to Equish, so they caught a lucky break.

Of course, during their study of their new anatomy, Aria apparently studied up on where all the naughty bits were. Being transformed into a “human” didn’t do her libido any favors, her quick study of the erogenous zones of the human female’s body allowed her to torture her fellow Sirens.

At least until Adagio and Sonata learned about them as well, and paid Aria back in spades.

Once knowledge of their bodies was down, they figured out how to use what power they had. Their voices still had their hypnotic, yet beautiful tone. Sonata had found a book on mythological creatures, and found out that there were once creatures that went by the same name in this world, however, instead of half equine they were half-human, obviously. They were called “mermaids”, often associated with Sirens, laying seductively on rocks at sea, luring sailors to crash their ships against the rocks.

It seemed a bit extreme, they weren’t sure what the purpose was for those mythological Sirens, but the concept was similar to their own tactics. They tested their powers on a passing by boat, a man who had a handlebar mustache. They laid on the pier dock in seductive poses, in their birthday suits, and used their voices to call him over. It worked, and they found out that they could control him. Thanks to him they secured clothing and currency and went on exploring this new world.

They quickly found out that magic was scarce in this world. It was there, but it was so faint and weak it might as well have been nonexistent, as opposed to Equestria, where magic practically oozed out of every blade of grass and drop of water. The Sirens had become nomads for a bit, moving around where sources of negativity and strife were abundant.

It took energy to cause trouble and feed from it, so it negated the purpose to induce the negativity and then feed, because it would only bring them back to square one, but often times they had to, getting back a little was better than nothing.

As the months turned into years, the Sirens realized that time was not against them. Despite the many years that flew by, they never aged. On the outside, they looked like your average teenage girls, but that wasn’t the case on the inside. They had lived for many years, since hippocampi lifespans were very long, the girls were in their mid-twenties when they were banished, but mid-twenties to a Siren was like a hundred plus years of living.

They were basically adults trapped in the bodies of teenage girls. But that was fine, they found out that no one suspected them of wrongdoing, and that it was easier to go unnoticed.

Of course, there wasn’t any shortage of men who sought to court them, and sleep with them. Even if they were interested in males, they certainly weren’t about to start procreating with this world’s inhabitants. Neither of them wanted to spawn a creature that was half Siren and half human, no telling what kind of monstrosity that would be.

Still, charming the unsuspecting men was easy enough, and with their hypnotic melodies, they had total control of every situation. Disease never touched them thanks to their magic, so even when the worst cases of viral outbreak occurred, they merely walked through it, untouched and unfazed.

Ages past, wars fought, tragedies befalling nations and peoples, innovations in technology and medicine, the Sirens witnessed it all. At one point they got bored and decided to pretend to be a normal trio of girls, attending various high schools across the board, creating drama amongst the students and turning the heads of many boys, and secretly, some of the girls as well.

Their love for each other was always strong, and only got stronger over the years. All they had was each other, everyone around them would wither and die in some years, but they wouldn’t.

Their bond evolved from sisterhood into romantic love for each other, but that was nothing new, they had that back in Equestria, but here, it was all they had. As was said before, things like shame, shyness, and awkwardness about their physical forms was long gone after the first fifty years or so. So intimacy was never lacking.

It was after some time that they were found out by Dusk Shine, at first they thought about controlling the young man, but he promised to offer them something that he knew they wanted, power. And so they joined him, watching the brilliant, and yet dangerous young man as he worked for the Organization, fulfilling various missions for him.

In the end he kept his promise, the three of them had Firestorm Protocols, even now, as Adagio lied there in bed, she could feel it inside of herself, a mass of power, swirling at the very core of her being. The power of the Protocol had served to keep the girls’ hunger satiated, but still, it could be stronger, and when they fed from negativity, the power they had as Firestorms was only made stronger thanks to their magic.

Adagio looked to her two girls, watching their sleeping faces nuzzle against her body. She used her right hand to brush Aria’s cheek, and with her left, she moved a lock of obstructing hair from Sonata’s face. Both girls smiled contently, even deep in sleep, they knew the touch of their friend and lover.

I made a promise to you two, and I intend to keep it, one way or another, thought Adagio.

Suddenly Aria began to stir, yawning as she blinked her eyes into adjusting. When she looked up at Adagio she gave her usual cocky smile. “Mornin’, Adagio.”

“Mmm, good morning Aria, it seems Sona is still tuckered out.”

Aria glanced over to a still sleeping Sonata and smirked. “After what we did last night, I’m not surprised.”

Adagio and Aria had decided to show Sonata some extra affection and attention during their night activities, helping to cleanse her of the bad feeling of having her ruby held by Dusk Shine. Adagio thanked whatever deities this world had that Dusk Shine let go when he did, another second longer and she was about to transform and punch him off the ledge before Aria got the chance.

Speaking of Sonata, it seemed as the blue Siren was starting to wake. That happy-go-lucky grin appeared as she snuggled closer into Adagio, staring up at her with blushing cheeks.

“Morning, Dagi!”

“And good morning to you too, my little Sona.”

*Beep, beep*

*Beep, beep*

*Beep, beep*

Adagio looked over towards the nightstand on her right. Aria, reluctantly, rolled away from Adagio and checked the Caller ID. She grimaced when she saw the name. “It’s Dusk Shine.”

“Ugh, not him,” whined Sonata.

“Give it here, Aria,” said Adagio.

“Ah screw ‘em, let ‘em leave a voicemail! Besides, I’m kind of in the mood again,” said Aria as she gave Adagio a half-lidded glance.

“Aaaaaand, I wouldn’t mind ‘breakfast’ in bed~” said Sonata wiggling her eyebrow.

Adagio chuckled as she shook her head. “I swear, you girls are going to run me ragged.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Oh good heavens, no. But I need to take the call, if it’s something to do with his research then we might be able to start on our own plans.”

Aria rolled back towards Adagio, cellphone in hand. She then handed it to Adagio and added, “Tell him he needs to get laid while you’re at it.”

Adagio playfully rolled her eyes and swiped the “answer” icon, she then lifted her arm enough for Aria to snuggle back up to her before speaking. “This is Adagio Dazzle.”

Aria and Sonata seemed to be having a silent conversation between them, eyeing Adagio’s body as if deciding where to strike first the moment she got off the phone. Suddenly, Adagio went stark still, she then bolted upright with her back to the two Sirens.

“You can’t be serious?! When? That soon! Understood…” Adagio ended the call and then whispered, “Those bastards…!”

Entry 15: The Atomic Skull Cometh

Author's Note

A change in wardrobe will occur from this point forward.

Sunset's Outfit.

Twilight's Outfit. (See panels 5, 8, 9, 10, & 11)

Entry 15: The Atomic Skull Cometh

Sunset Shimmer was standing before a full bodied mirror in her room, upon her bed was a myriad of clothes, ranging anywhere from denim jeans, t-shirts, skirts, crop tops, halter tops, and everything else she could grab from her closet. She mixed in matched many different outfits, still keeping her trademark leather jacket as a must. Finding something that went with it was a little hard, but she had grown accustomed to the garb so she wasn’t about to leave it out of her wardrobe choices.

Today wasn’t just any ordinary day, oh no, today was in fact special. After a few weeks of fighting rogue Firestorms, and dealing with Rainbow Dash’s less than pleased attitude for the last few days, Sunset had decided that she and Twilight needed to relax and take a day for themselves, and what better way than to have an official date.

Sure, the brief time they spent in Moscow and Paris was great and all, but that was after a stressful battle. Today, Sunset just wanted it to be about the two of them. No fighting crazed Firestorms, no evil Organization, and no moody friends, just her and Twilight. Plus, they needed an official date, seeing as how they’ve been busy.

Sunset brought up a black leather skirt, placing it over her lower half, and a spaghetti string halter-top, silver in color. The former unicorn frowned upon looking at her herself in the mirror, although the halter-top was cropped enough to allow her bare midriff to show, Sunset shook her head as she sighed.

“No, makes me look too butch, or like a dominatrix,” she said to herself in the mirror.

Sunset tossed her skirt and top into a haphazardly created “reject pile”. She looked down at her choices again, humming in contemplation as she held her chin. It took her a while to figure out the kind of underwear she wanted to wear, black lace bra and panties, although she was pretty sure that Twilight wasn’t going to ask her to do…that, Sunset thought that that was no excuse not to go the extra mile.

You never know, Sparky may be bolder than she lets on, thought Sunset.

It was beginning to get frustrating, which was also annoying since she never had this kind of problem before, she never even thought this could be a problem. It should’ve been easy to pick something to wear, she did it all the time whenever she went to visit Twilight at home. But this wasn’t just a normal visit to her house, this was a date, and despite how close they were, she didn’t want to come off as not caring. It was quite the opposite, she did care. The older girl grunted in frustration and sat on the edge of her bed, running her hands through her hair.

“Ugh, why is this so hard?!”

Because you’re trying to show Twilight that you don’t think this isn’t a special night.

“I know that! That’s why I’m wracking my brains trying to figure out what to wear!”

Jeez, you never had this kind of problem before. You’re really starting to lose your edge, huh, Shimmer?

“Please, if anything I’m sharper than ever thanks to all this Firestorm business.”

Oh really? Then I guess you didn’t forget the bluntly obvious fact that you aren’t even human?

Sunset paused for a moment. “S-So what?! Twilight’s…well…she is human, just…‘modified’ I guess is the right word.”

Uh-huh, Sunset, you don’t belong here. Hell, you never did! And didn’t you decide, not too long ago I might add, to leave this place once the portal opened up again!

The former Equestrian snapped to attention. She did forget, she forgot all about her declaration after her plans had fallen through. She swore that when the time arrived, she was going to go back to Equestria and leave this place forever. Sunset knew that by the time she did return that things would have changed, and most likely, everypony who knew her or remembered her would either be gone or moved on with their lives.

Princess Celestia wouldn’t bother looking for her when she returned, with any luck the mirror was someplace less guarded than it used to be and she could slip back without arousing suspicion. She never cared about Earth, never cared about the people here. They were all just stepping-stones on her quest for power, as was her right, or so she believed.

Now though, with everything that has happened, with the power she possesses now, if she were to cross over Sunset had no doubt that she’d be a powerful adversary to Princess Celestia, combining the powers of magic and the Firestorm Protocol together.

Sunset shook her head violently, trying to dislodge those thoughts. She wasn’t a monster, she wasn’t going to be like the ones who created Twilight and the Protocols. If that was the kind of misery she was going to bring through her ambitions then she might as well have nothing.

The fiery haired girl released a bewildered sigh. “Honestly, if I did go back I’d have nothing and no one waiting for me really. At least here…with her, I’ll have some place to belong.”

Sunset was suddenly wristed from her thinking when she heard a knock at her front door. She looked to her digital clock, remembering that it was Sunset who was going to pick up Twilight, and not the other way around. So that only left one other person she knew who would drop by unannounced, suddenly she heard the door open and her eyes went wide.

“Sunset, you home?” Celestia cried.

Sunset quickly donned a robe and hurried out her bedroom, closing it behind herself as she entered the foyer. “Celestia, what you doing here?!”

The tall woman held out her arms, displaying her grocery bags. “It’s about that time to restock your supplies.”

“I don’t need you to do that, I can shop for my own stuff.”

“Yes, well, luckily for you, I was doing my own shopping for Luna and myself.” Celestia strode into the kitchen and began placing the bags on the countertop. “I went to the supermarket after work, and since I was still in the neighborhood, I decided to do a little shopping for you as well. I didn’t know exactly what you needed, but I got a few essentials just in case.”

Celestia opened the cupboards and frowned, seeing the lack of foodstuffs inside. She then made her way to the fridge and her frown deepened upon seeing that both the refrigerator and icebox were more or less devoid of food. The only things inside was a couple of apples, a six pack of sodas, and a bottle of water. Celestia rose up and gave the teen a disappointed look, causing Sunset to blush and rub the back of her head.

“W-What, I’ve been busy?!” Sunset said defensively. Which wasn’t a total lie, she and Twilight have been busy with defending the world from an evil group of people wanting to plunge the world into war.

“Please tell me you haven’t been eating those instant ramen noodles again?” Celestia asked.

“No! I-I haven’t…I…I’ve had dinner with Twilight and her folks for a few weeks now…”

Celestia stopped mid restock and turned to face the robed teen girl. “You’ve been dining with Twilight Sparkle, and her parents?”

“Well…yeah, I mean, we were working on the project every day, so Mrs. Velvet just said that I should stay for dinner. I told her she didn’t have to, but she kept insisting that I do. I think she just misses cooking for four instead of three, plus I’m not going to say no to her after she went through all that trouble and – why are you looking at me like that?”

Celestia had a stunned expression on her face, she then shook her head, regaining her composure. “Oh, just, a little surprised to be honest. I figured that might be the case when you were working on the project, but I didn’t know you still were going over to see them.” She took a moment to scan her young wards’ form, taking note of the bathrobe she was wearing. “Did I catch you in the middle of a shower? You can go ahead and take it, I won’t be long.”

“No, no, it’s fine! I was just uh…uh…just hanging around in my underwear!” Sunset mentally face palmed herself. Seriously Sunset?! You couldn’t have thought of something less embarrassing?!

Celestia blinked. “Oh, okay, well, far be it from me to question how you go about your home. Guess I should’ve called first, didn’t mean to panic you when I came in.”

“Okay fine, whatever, just hurry up and finish so you can go, I’m sure Vice Principal Luna’s waiting for you.”

The fair-skinned woman looked upon Sunset, her mind already at work trying to decipher what it was that was going on here. Normally Sunset would just get annoyed, sit on the couch, and watch television until she left. Now though, Sunset was in quite a hurry to get her out. A myriad of possibilities ran through her head, she then spotted the closed bedroom door, which was normally left open, even when she was present.

Celestia tensed, her mind jumping to a worst-case scenario. “Sunset, is there something you need to tell me?”

The girl in question tensed up, making a choking sound as a result. Celestia’s suspicions were only made worse. No, she couldn’t…! Sunset may be a wild child and a troublemaker from time to time, but she wouldn’t…! Her mind briefly flashed back to the conversation the two of them had in her office not too long ago. A talk about what if Celestia cut her off and how Sunset would procure money.

“Sunset Shimmer, what are you hiding in your room?!” Celestia demanded.

“What?! Nothing, no one!” Dammit!

Celestia stormed towards Sunset and looked her straight in the eye. Sunset gulped, that withering gaze, even though this Celestia wasn’t the demi-goddess alicorn from Equestria, she still had the eyes of one who could bring forth divine punishment. Celestia moved towards the bedroom door, hell-bent on throwing out whoever it was inside the room. But when she opened the door, all that was there was a pile of clothes on the floor next to her mirror, and a few sets of clothes on the bed. Celestia turned around and looked at Sunset with confusion.

“What is this about?”

Sunset’s face was a bright crimson, too embarrassed to speak.

Celestia took in more of the room’s details. The clothes on the bed weren’t just thrown on there, no, they were arranged into different outfits, or at least in an attempt to find one. A pile of clothes still on their hangers that rested next to the mirror, meaning that Sunset had been checking herself in the mirror with the different clothes as if –!

A coy smile split Celestia’s face as she turned back to her ward, now understanding her embarrassed reaction. “Sunset Shimmer, do you have a date tonight?”
Sunset mumbled incoherently under her breath as she gave an involuntary nod.

Celestia giggled happily like a schoolgirl at the confirmation. “Oh Sunset I’m so happy for you! What’s his name, is he nice? He better not be too much older than you young lady.”

It’s a she, and technically, I’m way older than Twilight. Wait, how does that even work? Why was I put into a teen body when I’m in my twenties for Faust’s sake? Oh whatever, deal with the problem at hand Shimmer.

Sunset couldn’t believe this was happening, the gods of the various religions in this world must have it out for her. There was no other explanation for how her life could be this mortifying and crazy. In the end, Sunset knew she was going to have to tell Celestia at some point, and she also knew that the woman wouldn’t let it go until Sunset told her. Lying now would only complicate things later, and she had enough complicated things going on as it is.

“Okay, just calm down! I’ll tell you who it is, but you have to promise that you won’t freak out, and keep in mind who I decide to date and be with is my own choice.”
Celestia backed away a little, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded her affirmation.

Sunset took a calming breath before she spoke the identity of her lover. “It’s not a he it’s a she, and that ‘she’ is Twilight Sparkle…we’re involved…romantically. I mean, we like each other that way. She like-likes me and I feel the same way about her. I know it may not be the most conventional thing or that you believe me when I say I do care about her, but –!”

Suddenly Sunset found herself embraced by Celestia, catching the young girl completely off guard. At this distance, she couldn’t help but take in Celestia’s scent, smelling of a summer’s day, with hint of lilac. She remembered this scent well, for the times that Princess Celestia would hug her when she felt down or scared, this scent was both comforting and nostalgic.

“Sunset, I’m happy, and proud of you.”

“Y-You’re not angry, or even a little weirded out that I’m dating a girl? More specifically, a girl whom I was hell-bent on hating and getting back at?”

Celestia parted a bit and looked at Sunset directly. “I will admit, Twilight Sparkle wasn’t who I thought you’d end up with, at best I was just hoping that maybe one day you might find someone who could make you happy. Boy or girl, it really didn’t matter to me.”

Sunset smirked. “Uh-huh, so you’re saying that you have no problems with me and bestiality?”

Celestia frowned. “Sunset, we’re having a moment, don’t make it gross.”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

“Alright, seeing as how you’re going on a date with Twilight, I believe I should help with your outfit dilemma.”

Sunset blanched. “I don’t need your help picking out an outfit for my date!”

Celestia merely pointed towards the large “reject” pile sitting by the mirror. Sunset groaned loudly, she then waved her hand in a fashion that read “proceed”. Celestia nodded and perused Sunset’s clothing, after a couple of minutes, Celestia let out a loud “Ah-ha!”, picking up two articles of clothing and holding them next to each other. Sunset had shut her eyes, but peeked upon hearing Celestia’s little “ah-ha” just now.

“That’s…That’s actually not half bad.”

TWILIGHT’S HOUSE, A FEW MINUTES LATER…

Twilight paced back and forth in her room, a nervous look upon her face as she checked herself for what felt like the billionth time. Cadance was lying on her bed, with Spike resting next to her as she scratched the pup behind the ears. The fuchsia woman couldn’t help but giggle at seeing her young friend nearly wear a groove into the floor.

“Twilight relax, you look great,” said Cadance.

The violet haired girl checked herself again. She wore a yellow tank top, a rose-colored sleeveless hoody, and matching skirt. Twilight, at Cadance’s behest, forewent the long socks that came up below the knee, and the loafers. Instead, she had her wear a pair of slim fitting boots that stopped just below her knee, and to top it all off, Cadance helped get Twilight’s hair into a ponytail.

All in all, Cadance had to marvel at her work, Twilight didn’t only look hot, but adorably cute with that nervous look and blush on her face. Despite how much Twilight kept insisting that the outfit was too easy going and revealing, she found herself not minding it. It was a stark contrast to her normal blue blouse and ascot, and it felt freer too.

“I’m just a little nervous –”

“‘A little’?”

“Okay I’m really nervous! I’ve never been on a date before, with a boy or a girl! What do I say? What do I do?! Is it alright to hold hands? Do I kiss her or wait until she kisses me first?! A-And do I let her…um…you know…go there?!”

Spike quirked his head at that last statement, not really understanding what “there” meant. But Cadance, on the other hand, seemed to understand all too well.

“Twilight, just do what feels right, you don’t have to plan out every little thing.” God I don’t even want to start having to talk her out of making a list, again! “And as far as, that, is concerned…well…two girls together can’t get pregnant so just have fun with it!”

“CADANCE!”

The shameless woman chuckled. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but in all honesty. You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. Boy or girl, you have the right to say ‘no’ if you don’t want her do something that you’re not comfortable with. And kissing, just do what you guys did the first time.”

Twilight began twiddling her thumbs, avoiding Cadance’s gaze. The young woman propped herself up on her forearms as her expression turned into one of incredulity. Surely this couldn’t be the case, not after all this time, it was impossible.

“Twilight…are you saying that neither you nor Sunset have had your first kiss?!”

The egghead girl nodded her affirmation as her face turned bright red.

Cadance shot up onto her feet, making the bed, and Spike, bounce from her swift movement. “You two have been together at least…what, maybe six weeks, a month and a half at best?! And neither of you have kissed?!”

“Yes, we haven’t kissed…” Spike, who had landed on the floor, walked up to Twilight and nuzzled her leg. Twilight bent down and brought the purple dog into her arms as she petted him on the head. “It’s not like I don’t want to, in fact, sometimes I find myself staring at her lips and imagining pressing mine to hers…we more or less just started giving this relationship a try, I don’t want to rush anything.”

Cadance walked off the edge of the bed and landed on her feet with the grace of a cat. She then stood before her young friend and looked her square in the eye. “Twilight, the first kiss in any relationship sets the tone for how you guys proceed from that point on! It’s a special moment when the both you get to express your feelings through action rather than words! It’s more than just making out, it’s a dialogue of the souls!”

Twilight stared with wide eyes at her former babysitter, hearing her passionate words was a little overwhelming and exciting as well. Cadance calmed herself down, she had to right this travesty.

“Okay, then your mission on this first ‘official’ date, is to kiss Sunset Shimmer!” Cadance announced while pointing dramatically at Twilight.

“Kiss her?!”

“Or get her to kiss you, either way works with me!”

At this point Twilight’s red blush had gone to a bright pink, and steam seemed to be wafting out of her ears.

“Cadance I –!”

*Ding-Dong*

“Oh shoot, she’s here! I was hoping to go over proper technique, but all I can say is go with your instincts and with whatever feels right,” said Cadance sagely.

Spike and Twilight just stared at her blankly for a few moments before Twilight put Spike down and the two of them walked downstairs. The whole trip down Twilight felt her heart beating twice – no, three times its normal rate. This was her first real date, ever, in her entire life. So many things could go wrong, and Twilight’s analytic mind had already calculated about a dozen or more possible ways that she could bungle this whole thing.

Maybe this was mistake? Maybe I should just cancel the date?! Oh no, I can’t do that, not with Sunset waiting outside! I would’ve made her come out here for nothing and wasted her time! She took the time to actually set aside any plans she might’ve had to have a date with me! I can’t just back out of it!

Before Twilight realized it, she was already at the front door. Time seemed to grind to a standstill as she gazed upon that eggshell white door. She slowly reached out to grab the doorknob, but paused when her fears gripped her again.

*Bark!*

Twilight looked down and saw Spike, nudging his head towards the door and giving her a look as if saying “C’mon Twilight, open the door and say hi to Sunset!”

“Spike…I don’t know about this, what if something goes wrong? What if I mess up?”

*Bark!*

“I know I’m being paranoid, but can you blame me?! This is whole world of firsts happening within a single night!”

*Bark!*

“I can’t just say I’m sick, I was perfectly healthy today at school! Plus, my biometric scan showed no viruses or infections, she won’t buy that I came down with something in just a couple of hours!”

Spike shrugged. *Bark!*

“I am not a coward!”

*Bark!*

“Am not!”

*Bark!*

“Fine, I’ll prove it!”

Spike grinned and walked away triumphantly. Twilight face palmed herself, realizing that she just had a conversation with her dog, argued with said dog, and then lost that argument. Remembering to schedule a psych evaluation later, Twilight took a deep breath and grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and opened the door. When she opened it fully her eyes opened just as wide.

Sunset was wearing a pair of light-blue jeans, gray boots with a yellow embroidery and a silver clasp. She had a turquoise blouse on, the hem of which faded into a see through fabric that gave the illusion of a skirt, and it matched Sunset’s eyes perfectly. Her trademark leather jacket was on, but this one seemed different. It lacked the metal studs that the other one had, and looked smoother. There was a yellow line that started at the bicep of the sleeves, becoming a pointed arrow in the middle before continuing the loop.

Twilight looked upon Sunset’s face, she didn’t wear any makeup, but that was no surprise. Sunset, Twilight noted, had a natural beauty all her own, and somehow this change in wardrobe brought that out.

Sunset found herself staring at Twilight now, her eyes traveling up and down her form, she couldn’t help but blush at just how cute and good Twilight looked right now. Sunset mentally slapped herself back to reality and cleared her throat to give both of them a minute to compose themselves.

“Y-You look good, Sparky,” said Sunset.

“T-Thanks, you look beautiful as well –” Twilight gasped upon saying that. “I-I meant nice, you-you look nice, too!”

The fiery haired girl blushed noticeably. “Ahem, uh, I brought you a present. Sorry I don’t have a car, but do you think you’ll be okay riding my bike?”

Twilight shook her head, taking a breath. “No, I don’t mind. I’m wearing spandex shorts underneath my skirt just in case.”

“Good, didn’t want you flashing any guys while we rode. So, here’s your present!” Sunset held out a helmet.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, thinking that it was Sunset’s again, but upon closer inspection Twilight saw that it wasn’t. The helmet was colored purple, with two streaks of dark violet and a single pink streak running down the middle of the helmet itself. On the side of the helmet was a six-pointed pink star, the symbol that Twilight had grown attached to for a long while, and just like it, there were five smaller stars around it. Twilight threw out her arms and hugged Sunset tight.

“Thank you, Sunny! This is great!”

“Whoa Sparky, it’s not like it’s a diamond ring or anything,” said Sunset.

“I know, but it’s a present from you, and it shows you care enough about my safety.”

“Considering, but with one word, you can transform into an invincible walking nuclear reactor.”

“It’s the thought that counts!” Twilight separated herself from Sunset. “And I do like it, I mean it.”

Sunset looked over Twilight noticing that the house seemed vacant. “Um are your ‘rents not home, and is Cadance here? I thought I saw her car parked out front.”

“She’s here, oh that reminds me!”

Cadance started sauntering down the stairs, her purse looped around her shoulder as she made her way towards the front door. “Don’t mind me girls, just go out and have a good time.” The fuchsia woman then looked directly at Sunset. “But not too good a time, understand?” As she passed Sunset she then whispered quietly, “If that’s how it ends up, be gentle with her.”

Sunset’s face went from a sun-yellow to a full on shade of crimson as the lewdest of thoughts shot through her mind at that last bit. Cadance giggled at the reaction and bid farewell to her young friend and her blushing girlfriend.

Cadance entered her car and pulled away, smiling like a kid who just got away with a prank. Just then her headset went off. Cadance pressed the button and answered “Hello?”

{Cadance, it’s me, Celestia!}

“Aunty Tia? What’s up?”

{You wouldn’t happen to know anything about Ms. Sparkle and Sunset, would you?}

The tone in her aunt’s voice already told Cadance more than enough about her knowledge pertaining to Sunset and Twilight.

“As a matter of fact I do.”

{So, how did they seem to you?}

Cadance snuck a glance in her rearview mirror, watching as Sunset and Twilight mounted the speed bike and pulled out of the driveway, with Twilight wearing the helmet that Sunset bought for her.

“I think they’ll be alright, Aunt Tia. I really do.”

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER…

Sunset and Twilight had started their date off with a traditional movie and dinner. It just so happens that a movie was showing that both Sunset and Twilight were enamored with. “Daring Do: The Hunt for Excalibur” was playing at the theatre, and, unbeknownst to Twilight until a few weeks ago, Sunset happened to be a huge fan of the action heroine.

The whole movie was an action packed thrill ride, making the audience grip their seats with anticipation, and burst into cheers whenever Daring Do pulled off an incredible win. Sunset and Twilight ended up joining them, such was the magic of the theatre, something you couldn’t experience at home. And Sunset would know, she had been to a few plays when she was under Princess Celestia’s tutelage.

The couple had found seats at the top rows, giving them privacy throughout the movie. Sunset had accidentally placed her hand over Twilight’s armrest, making her jerk away in embarrassment. Twilight smiled and gently grabbed hold of Sunset’s arm, bringing it over to her and leaning her head against it. Sunset’s heart raced at feeling Twilight hug her arm and rest her head on her shoulder. This didn’t help when the action slowed for a bit and Daring Do had a small love scene with one of the male actors. Both girls blushed.

Sunset didn’t know if it was right to kiss her now, she wanted to, but the situation didn’t feel right. She didn’t want to kiss her just because their favorite action hero was swapping spit with someone on the Big Screen. In the end the love scene passed and so did the nervousness for both parties.

The rest of the time was good, could’ve been better, but good. When Twilight and Sunset walked around the Plaza area, they really couldn’t hold each other’s hands. Twilight had made several failed attempts at initiating the contact, only to succumb to nerves and fear that someone might see them. Sunset had tried on her own a few times as well, but whenever she heard the giggling or laughing of someone near them she froze and retracted her hand.

It was stupid, they came all the way to this side of town where they were least likely to be seen by the other CHS students and yet they still felt like someone was going to find out. Both let out a sigh of lament, but just then both of them spotted something, more like someone.

Both girls ducked behind some potted plants, using the large leaves to hide themselves with. It was there they spotted two girls from their school. One was mint green with silvery hair, the other was vanilla skinned and had curly long hair of pink and blueberry colors. Sunset knew them as Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops, otherwise known as BonBon.

Sunset and Twilight didn’t want to be noticed, but what they couldn’t help looking at was the fact that both girls were listening to a man playing a piano, along with other people, keeping their eyes closed as they listened to his elegant melody. But what really caught the young couple’s attention was the fact that Lyra and BonBon were holding hands, fingers interlocked with each other, and BonBon was leaning her head against Lyra’s shoulder.

The two girls blushed, they had heard rumors going around about Lyra and BonBon but they never paid it much credence. Now though, now they knew that they weren’t just rumors. What was probably the most awe inspiring thing to Sunset and Twilight was how open they were about how they felt about each other, not caring what others said about them, even though they did notice a couple of people giving Lyra and BonBon weird looks about how close they were.

Towards the latter part of the evening, Twilight and Sunset had sat down at a restaurant that wasn’t overly romantic, but still nice enough to dine at with friends, family, or your significant other. After placing their orders in, Twilight and Sunset were left alone now, and it was here that Sunset felt it necessary to tell Twilight about what happened earlier this afternoon.

“So…Celestia, kinda, maybe, definitely, knows that we’re together,” said Sunset.

Twilight nearly spit out her glass of tea at that statement. “P-Principal Celestia knows?! You told her?!”

“No way! It was a complete accident! She came by earlier to drop off some groceries for me, and she caught me in the middle of changing. I came out of my bedroom in a bathrobe and all of sudden she starts assuming I have someone in there I’m sleeping with! But when she looked inside she saw what I was really doing, I really couldn’t deny it in the end! I’m sorry, Sparky, I know we said we’d tell them together and all…”

Twilight calmed herself before speaking. “It’s alright, I’m assuming Principal Celestia doesn’t have any problems with us since she let you come out on this date. She did say it was alright, right?”

Sunset leaned on her forearms and grinned at Twilight. “Well, if she didn’t, I am a bad girl, a troublemaker. So by default, even if she said no, I would’ve snuck out and came to you anyway.”

The younger girl blushed, hearing that her girlfriend would directly disobey her guardian without a second thought to come and see her made Twilight a little giddy inside. “I’m glad that she approves, I think it’s a good thing in our relationship that our parents, or guardian in your case, are at least somewhat supportive.”

Sunset shrugged. “That is good a thing, don’t really feel in the mood to deal with all that drama. But if all else fails, we could elope.”

Twilight and Sunset chuckled at their false plans, allowing the mirth of the thought flow through until they stopped their laughter.

“So, Sunny, I was wondering could I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Um…I wanted to learn more about you, that is, I don’t know that much about you. Other than you live alone, Principal Celestia is your legal guardian, and that’s about it.”

Sunset tensed slightly. “Sparky…I…”

“Please Sunny,” Twilight reached out with her right hand and placed it over Sunset’s right, “I want you to be able to tell me anything, just like you trust me to tell you what’s bothering me.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you…it’s just…the truth about me isn’t something easy to tell. Comparatively, yours is possible, while mine is implausible. Where I come from, the things I did, the bridges I burned…I don’t know if want to recall or talk about. Because, this, this right here, is something I care about, the here and now.”

Twilight was only a little disappointed. She sincerely wanted to know more about the girl she loved, after all this time Sunset’s origins were still clouded in shadows, a cipher that Twilight was desperate to crack. Somehow, she believed, that once Sunset told her about her origins, as well as the demons that she was carrying inside herself, then maybe she could truly move forward, but, as Fluttershy had told her once, “baby steps”.

*Beep, Beep*

*Beep, Beep*

*Beep, Beep*

“Oh no, not now.” Sunset groaned.

Twilight pulled out her phone, the screen immediately flashing the warning signal that something was happening, something bad. Twilight looked to Sunset with great disappointment, the night was still young, but now they had to put their date on hold. Twilight fumed on the inside, whatever rogue Firestorm was out there was going to have hell to pay for interrupting her first date. The violet haired girl swiped the icon and brought up the information on the attack.

“This…This can’t be right?”

“What’s up, Sparky?”

“The attack, it’s…it’s here in the city!”

Suddenly the Firestorm Matrix within the two girls blared out a warning, sensing a dangerous spike in radiation levels. Just then a strange warbling sound grew in intensity with each passing second, and in the blink of an eye a giant emerald explosion ripped apart the front entryway of the restaurant.

Debris was blown everywhere, and people were thrown from their setting areas. Everything happened in slow motion for the girls, the concussive wave crashed into them like a monstrous tidal wave, knocking the air out of their lungs and nearly putting them into a state of unconsciousness. Then the fiery, emerald colored explosion came roaring their way. Sunset and Twilight had time to utter only one word to save their lives before that green inferno swallowed them up and prematurely ended their lives.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The green inferno washed over them, obscuring them from sight. At that moment the green flames were blasted away by the combined pink and golden flames, overpowering the opposing force and drowning it out until there was nothing left. Twilight and Sunset panted in shock, they were very nearly killed had they not transformed. Their bodies were already healing from the minor damage the concussive wave did earlier, giving them enough time to survey the damage.

Their eyes widened with horror, bodies laid strewn all over the place, burned to the bone, not an ounce of flesh on them. The green flames still clung to the bones of the deceased, already starting to turn the skeletons into ash. Another dangerous element they sensed was the high amounts of radiation being poured into the air, as if someone had dropped a nuclear bomb. Sunset and Twilight looked to each other, both seeming to have arrived at the same theory of such an attack happening.

“I-It can’t be that! This whole building would’ve been vaporized if that was the case!” Sunset yelled.

“Not if it was dropped just a bit further away, the shockwave would’ve reached us first before the actual nuclear pyroclastic cloud. If that’s the case then we need to hurry, we’re the only ones who can stop Canterlot City from getting hit harder than it is now!”

Both girls zoomed out of the destroyed restaurant, taking to the skies. Once above the city they were surprised to find that there was no mushroom cloud, and the city wasn’t damaged. Well, it was damaged, but not on a nuclear explosion scale. With their enhanced vision they searched the area, scanning for the source of the radiation and the destruction. Sunset’s eyes caught sight of something in the distance, her eyes switched to a different visual spectrum, allowing her to see the huge heat source.

“Twilight, nine o’clock, a heat spike!”

The pink-flamed Firestorm turned in the same direction, gazing through infrared vision to see the heat plume. She switched over to another spectrum, allowing her to see the growing levels of radiation being emitted from that heat source.

“Whatever it is we need to stop it now, that amount of radiation could kill everyone in the city and further if it keeps rising like it is!”

Wasting little time, both Firestorms roared towards the cause of the destruction. They passed over many buildings that were scorched with green flames, some showing evidence of a concentrated blast barreling through dozens of establishments. They followed the line and deduced that the beam was the one that hit the restaurant, from over a city block away.

Luckily for them, their powers were able to cancel out the harmful effects of the radiation in the air, their bodies practically comprised of nuclear energy. However, the same could not be said for everyone else. What people that weren’t killed by the flames were dead or dying on the streets, signs of radiation poisoning evident from the condition of their bodies. Humans, birds, dogs, and cats were all dead on the ground, welts all over their bodies, and each face frozen in a state of pain upon death.

When Sunset and Twilight arrived at the sight they gasped in horror at the cause of this disaster.

His body was covered in dark green armor, with lines etched into it that facilitated the flow of energy that its occupant emitted. He stood over six feet tall, and judging from the heavy build of the armor, there was little doubt that this being had immense physical strength. His forearms were visible, glowing bright green, but within that light was the black outline of his skeletal bones, as if the green energy was his skin. The armor quickly encased his forearms, concealing them behind metal gauntlets.

But the most striking feature of this being was perhaps his head. A skull, a black skull was moving about normally as if it were alive. Green flames engulfed the skull, bellowing much like the flame manes of Twilight and Sunset’s. He turned towards them, the eye sockets narrowing as if he was glaring at them. The bony jaw curled up into a horrifyingly evil smile.

“Ah man, I was hoping it was going to take a little more than this to get your attention. Damn!” The being cursed.

“Who are you – what are you?!” Sunset demanded.

“Oh, yeah, back at the Organization they called me ‘Project Skull’, short for Atomic Skull.”

“The Organization sent you?! I’ve never even heard of you!”

“Yeah, I was put into ‘cold storage’, literally, the stuck me in a refrigerator for years! Apparently my power is too dangerous to keep around living people, but it was comfy, I mean, I’m a walking nuclear meltdown so the room was always an even temp, especially when they were pumping in that liquid nitrogen stuff.”

Atomic Skull put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the city.

“Gotta tell ya, it’s been awhile since I last saw the starry sky, or the moon, with my own two eyes and through a monitor…Damn it feels great to be outside and finally stretch my legs!” Atomic Skull shouted.

“Enough! Did the Organization send you to get our Protocols?!” Sunset demanded yet again.

Atomic Skull frowned. “No, no, apparently you two have pissed them off real bad, enough get me out here! Nice going by the way. But no, that’s not why I’m here. The truth is…” His smile turned wicked and evil as he stared directly at the two girls. “…I’m here to kill you two.”

The white eyes of Sunset and Twilight widened with fear, their blood ran colder than ice at that statement. Despite the casual way he said it – no, it was because of how casual he said it was why it scared them. Sunset felt her right hand tremble, she looked down at it and contorted her face in anger, clenching that same hand into a fist to cease the shaking. She glanced over to Twilight, seeing that her hands were doing the same thing.

“Calm down, Sparky! We can take him, we’re a hell of a lot stronger than we were months ago!”

Twilight’s fear was lessened from hearing the confident words of her girlfriend, but something told her that this guy wasn’t to be taken lightly.

“Truthfully, they dug me up just to kill you, so once you’re dead it’s back in the frig for me. So do me a favor, girls, try to stay alive as long as possible. I want to enjoy the outside for as long as I can!”

Atomic Skull opened his mouth and roared out a huge inferno blast of nuclear flames. The green fire roared towards the two Firestorms as it tore up the street in its wake. Sunset stepped forward, thrusting both of her opened palms towards the incoming attack. Atomic rings formed around her hands as fire and plasma rushed to her call. Within a nanosecond a column of golden flames roared out towards Atomic Skulls flames. The two intense flames slammed against each other, creating a shockwave of force and intense heat.

Sunset dug her feet into the asphalt, gritting her teeth as she poured her power into the attack to overpower him. Suddenly she felt something push against her flames, before Sunset could determine what it was the answer came barreling towards her. From the golden fire blast Atomic Skull burst out of the stream right before Sunset’s eyes. The stunned expression on her face made Atomic Skull smile, apparently no one had ever run through the flames before, and he was happy to be the first.

Taking advantage of her shock, Atomic Skull cocked back his right fist. The armor encasing his forearm and hand retracted in that instant as he thrust his glowing fist forward, making contact with Sunset’s face and sending the Firestorm girl flying down the street, skipping like a stone on water before she slammed, back first, into an SUV.

Twilight was about counterattack with a transmutation, but Atomic Skull was quick, quicker than Twilight anticipated. Without a wasted moment, Atomic Skull leaped into the air and performed a spinning roundhouse kick, catching Twilight in her left side and sending her straight into a little Mom & Pop store. Atomic Skull’s left forearm armor retracted as he pointed his glowing fist at the store. His fist lit up as he fired a beam of emerald light straight at the store. The beam struck and detonated the building, causing a massive explosion that burned a twenty-foot hole in it.

“DAMN YOU!!!”

Atomic Skull brought his attention forward, hearing the battle cry of Sunset as her flames bellowed like a raging inferno, propelling her towards her target. She ignited her fists and began unleashing a flurry of punches at the skeletal maniac. Much to her surprise, Atomic Skull blocked the punches, fending them off expertly, blocking or deflecting them with ease.

Sunset concentrated her flames to deliver a roundhouse kick with the speed of jet engine. But Skull brought up his guard, taking the full impact of the kick with his right forearm. The flames kept firing, helping Sunset to drive the kick forward. Skull grinned as he kept his feet planted, making the asphalt crack as a result of his resilience.

Deciding to cut this short, Skull used his left hand to grab hold of Sunset’s flaming left leg. His unsheathed fist burned her, even through her armored boots. Atomic Skull then pivoted on his left foot, bringing Sunset into a spin as he threw her clear into the side of a building, the added jet fire of Sunset’s attack only adding to her speed when she was flung.

“Wow, from what they were saying about you two, I was expecting more of a challenge.” Atomic Skull mocked.

Suddenly the ground around Atomic Skull shook violently. Within a matter of seconds chains lashed out at him, binding his arms, legs, and even wrapping around his neck to anchor him to that spot. Atomic Skull laughed, as if some chains could hold him down. He unsheathed his glowing forearms, channeling his intense radiation to burn through the chains. But somehow, the chains would not melt.

“What, what the hell are these?!”

“Molybdenum chains!”

Atomic Skull whipped his head forward. Twilight was standing a few feet away, her hands glowing with atomic rings floating around them as she concentrated her transmutation energy.

“Molybdenum can withstand extreme high heat temperatures, and thanks to a little modification from me, they can take even nuclear heat!”

Atomic Skull struggled the chains as he stared down Twilight. “And what, do you expect me to just give up?”

“No, just to hold still!”

Skull snuck a quick glance behind him, spotting Sunset with her flaming right hand. She then thrust that hand forward and made contact with Skull’s back. But something was wrong, Sunset kept pushing, but her right hand wasn’t passing through his body like the other Firestorms.

“I…I don’t get it, why can’t I get your Protocol?!” Sunset cried.

“Because, girly, I DON’T HAVE A FIRESTORM PROTOCOL!”

Suddenly, Atomic Skull’s armor opened up a bit, allowing the full force of his nuclear might to be unleashed. Sunset was sent flying to the other end of the road, while Twilight’s Molybdenum chains vaporized under Skull’s power. The armor encased Skull’s body again, shutting out the bright green light and his extreme nuclear power.

“I was created by melding nuclear energy to living cells, transforming my body into a never ending source of raw nuclear power! Problem was that it turned me into this scary as hell thing. So the eggheads built me this armor to keep most of my power in check so I don’t vaporize everything around me. Those Firestorm Protocols were supposed to replace me, the failed experiment, but it seems they can’t get their crap together, and now I’ve gotta clean it up.”

“Listen to me! You don’t have to be what they tell you! I’m sure there’s a way to reverse what they’ve done to you!”

Skull blinked, his lower jaw then opened wide as loud laughter echoed throughout the streets. He even bent forward, holding his sides as if Twilight had told him the funniest joke in the world. Without warning Atomic Skull launched himself towards Twilight, closing the gap within mere seconds and wrapping his unarmored right hand around her throat. He then hoisted her into the air, clenching his fist to constrict her airway, watching as she squirmed and struggled to release herself from his grasp.

“Why would I give up this power?! I was a soldier, a damn good one at that. Until the dear old Uncle Sam said: ‘Sorry kid, we just don’t need killers in this man’s army no more!’ It was fine, there were too many regulations,” Atomic Skull then slammed Twilight into the ground with tremendous force, creating a body sized crater from the impact, “too many things that could get ya court martialed and thrown in jail. That’s when I went into the private contracting gig –”

“LET HER GO!!!” Sunset roared.

Her fist was a raging inferno as she thrust it forward, but Skull caught that punch with his left hand, holding onto Sunset’s fist tightly. He then sent a surge of nuclear power through his arm and through Sunset, the contrasting, violent energy caused Sunset to wail in pain as she was brought to her knees from the intense pain that coursed through her body.

“I got a lot of jobs, apparently there’s no shortage of people hiring guys like me to off someone. Cartels, corporations, mafia bosses, left wing extremists, hey you have the money I’ll slit their throats for ya. Until one day some guys from the Organization came to me and asked if I wanted to be a lab rat, the end result would be me getting this power and the first to be able to cut loose on some country that needed nuking!”

Atomic Skull drew Sunset in and slammed his forehead into hers, head butting her hard. The blow sent Sunset’s head reeling with pain, disorienting her to the point where her vision faded in and out. Skull drew Twilight back up and released her, but only to set her up for a violent knee strike to the midsection. The purple Firestorm gasped in pain as she felt her internal organs rupture and her bones break from the single impact. Twilight then fell to her knees, clutching at her midsection as she puked out the glowing liquid-light ichor.

Skull turned his attention back to Sunset. He rushed towards her and wrapped his large hand around her face, squeezing down as he put her skull into a vice. Sunset cried out from the sheer pain that was being inflicted on her already hurting head. Atomic Skull balled his right fist and punched Sunset several times in the stomach, creating powerful shockwaves with each blow.

Once he saw her coughing liquid-light, he smirked and threw Sunset right at Twilight. The two girls crashed into each other and sailed across the street and through several buildings. Atomic Skull blinked and rubbed the back of his head.

“Damn, forgot how strong I was, didn’t mean to throw them that far. Wait for me girls!”

Atomic Skull channeled his nuclear energy into his feet and shot up into the sky, leaping over several yards in the direction that Sunset and Twilight went.

Entry 16: The Wrath of Hel

Author's Note

And no, that's not a misspelling or typo in the title. You'll see~:trollestia:

Entry 16: The Wrath of Hel

The citizens of Canterlot City were being warned to stay away from the downtown area. Problem was that this was a Friday night, and many people, young and old, were out and about during the nighttime as much as they were during the day. So progress with evacuation was painfully slow. Unfortunately, not as painful as what Sunset and Twilight were going through. Atomic Skull had thrown them clear across town, and right into a populated area.

Sunset and Twilight’s healing ability was already in full effect, working quickly to heal their damaged bodies. Sunset groaned painfully as she coughed up more of her glowing ichor before it finally stopped, along with the throbbing in her head. Twilight’s broken ribcage mended itself, and her ruptured organs had regenerated without much incident. The people were gathering around them, recognizing the duo from the day they saved the city from Blaze, and of course from the various news reports done on them about their worldwide heroics in beating the rogue Firestorms.

“We are so screwed,” said Sunset. “That guy’s a trained mercenary, and he’s psycho on top of that!”

“We can’t give up, he has to have a weakness! Someway of stopping him!” Twilight insisted.

“There’s only one way we can stop him…and you know what that is,” said Sunset with dread.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “NO! I will not take another person’s life!”

“What choice do we have at this point?! He just beat the living crap out of us, and he’s coming back for round two! I’m sorry, but there’s no Protocol to take out, and no reasoning with a killer!”

Twilight clenched her fists at the thought of taking someone’s life, she cherished life, and the lives of others. Even though her own brother’s work involved him going to places to kill people who would otherwise kill millions; that was his job as a soldier. But the two of them, they weren’t soldiers, killing someone would just make them killers too, no matter the reason.

Their discussion didn’t last long as the crowd screamed in terror when something landed on the ground a couple of yards away from the Firestorm duo. Atomic Skull had returned, only this time his armor had formed a helmet around his flaming skull, keeping the radiation contained as he slowly made his way through the crowd and towards his prey. Sunset and Twilight rose to their feet, assuming defensive stances.

“EVERYBODY RUN NOW!!!” Sunset shouted.

“GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS POSSIBLE!!!” Twilight ordered.

The crowd began to disperse, although not as quickly as they wanted, what with so many people. But that didn’t seem to bother Atomic Skull. He raised his right hand and pointed his fist towards Twilight and Sunset, the armor retracted in preparation for his attack. Atomic Skull launched a beam of green energy, not caring who was in his line of fire as the beam scorched through one innocent civilian after another as it traveled towards its intended targets.

Twilight slammed her palms together, atomic rings formed around her hands as she channeled that power into the air, manipulating the gravitons and magnetic energy in it. Suddenly the beam shot upwards into the night sky, avoiding hitting them and anyone else for that matter. Sunset saw this as her chance, glancing over to Twilight for a moment to silently confirm her course of action. With a heavy heart, Twilight nodded to Sunset.

Sunset and Twilight’s sun emblems shined as their powers synched. The corona halo formed behind them as a sun symbol flashed over Sunset’s forehead, and the six-pointed star above Twilight’s. Sunset shot forward, channeling her fire plasma and focusing it. From both hands shot forth two swords of fire, outlined in yellow plasma energy. The crimson Firestorm raised both swords up for an overhead strike.

Atomic Skull’s unarmored hands shot forward and caught both blades in his bare hands, the sheer amount of power caused their auras to flare up as both struggled for supremacy.

Suddenly Sunset disengaged from Atomic Skull as she back flipped away, just as she left Skull’s vision he spotted Twilight. Ion, electric, and graviton energy coalesced into a sphere of pure power that floated within Twilight’s right hand. She launched the sphere, flying towards Atomic Skull like a cannonball. The irradiated warrior stood ready, but at the last second the sphere shot upwards confusing him.

Unbeknownst to him, Twilight had full control of the sphere, the tips of her index and middle finger glowed with the same energy as the atomic rings circled around them. Twilight swiped down and the sphere followed, heading back to Atomic Skull, but Twilight swiped to the left and made the sphere miss him at the last second.

Atomic Skull was getting a little annoyed and prepared to attack, but Twilight changed the direction of the sphere at the last second yet again and had the sphere strike Skull in the back of the head, but the sphere didn’t explode, in fact, it felt as if he was hit with a wrecking ball that weighed ten tons. Thankfully, for himself, Atomic Skull was able to regain his footing, but it didn’t last as the sphere doubled back and struck him in the side, taking him off balance again.

Twilight kept striking him with the high-speed energy sphere, hitting the mercenary from multiple angles as she directed it. With a flick of the wrist Twilight brought the sphere on a collision course with Atomic Skull, he brought up both arms to defend against the attack, but at the last second the sphere dove down, and angled it itself to shoot upwards towards Skull’s midsection. The speed, force, and power behind the sphere carried Atomic Skull upward, with the sphere still pushing on him.

He rose higher and higher into the sky as Twilight directed. When he reached the desired height, Twilight willed the sphere to detonate. The explosion engulfed Atomic Skull, buffeting him with enough concussive force to render him unconscious. This was proven fact as his body fell limply from the sky.

Sunset knew this was her chance to end this once and for all! Her corona halo burst with power, propelling her forward at great speed, Sunset united the two swords together into one flaming weapon, preparing to deliver the killing blow. As she got closer and closer to the deranged powerhouse she got her sword into ready position, within a few seconds she was on top of him. Sunset raised up her sword and brought it down with swift and decisive action. But, suddenly, her blade stopped just mere inches from him.

What’s wrong with me?! Why can’t I finish him! He’s unconscious, he’s vulnerable; this is your chance to kill him!

“I…I can’t do it…!”

At that moment Atomic Skull awoke, he thrust out his right hand grabbed hold of Sunset’s left arm. Channeling his power into his hand, the armor retracted and allowed him to release that power. Sunset screamed out in pain as the raw nuclear energy burned her arm. Skull clenched his fist into a literal vice grip, and with added heat from his power, he not only crushed Sunset’s forearm but severed it.

Sunset lost her concentration as her sword and the power up faded away, the pain shooting through her left arm wiped away all thought as she cried out into the night. Atomic Skull’s boots used his energy to stabilize him in midair, he then spun around and delivered an ax kick to Sunset, sending her shooting back down to the earth like a rocket.

She impacted hard into the unforgiving concrete, creating a large crater. Twilight was still in a state of shock from what she saw, so much so, that it took her brain half a second too long to notice that Atomic Skull and landed before her. Skull raised both arms up, flattening his palms. He then brought both hands down into a double karate chop right on top of Twilight’s collarbone. Pain erupted through her body as her bones snapped and shattered, leaving her arms to go as limp as a strand spaghetti.

When Twilight went limp Atomic Skull grabbed her by the collar of her outfit. He then dragged her towards the crater where Sunset lied, clutching at her half-severed arm. Liquid-light ichor flowed out onto the ground, the atomic rings quickly formed around the damaged area, signs of her arm regenerating could be seen, but the raw nuclear energy of Atomic Skull made the process go much slower. He then tossed Twilight, unceremoniously, into the crater. She rolled like a rag doll until she stopped beside Sunset, a little of her ichor dripping from the corner of her mouth.

“T-Twilight…!” Sunset cried out weakly.

Atomic Skull dropped to one knee as he looked upon the broken girls lying in the crater, chuckling at how this all turned out.

“You had me, if you had just followed through, you might’ve killed me. At the very least, you might have wounded me bad enough to retreat and rethink how to come back after you two, but you didn’t. That’s the problem with people who think they’re all big bad asses, when it comes down to it, they ain’t got the balls to finish the job!”

Skull rose up and looked down on them with murderous glee.“If you want to become stronger, you have to stop thinking about your opponent as being a person. Once you do that, you’ll find that you’re capable of things you never even dreamed about. For instance…”

Atomic Skull stepped away from the crater, his eyes catching sight of a couple of girls. One was trapped under some debris, her skin a vanilla color, while her hair was colored blueberry with a pink streak in it. The other one who was helping her was a girl with mint green skin, and silvery hair. The behemoth casually walked towards them, relishing the fearful look in the green one’s eyes as he approached.

Sunset, with some effort, brought herself into a seating position, her white eyes bulged from her skull when she saw Atomic Skull walking towards Lyra and BonBon. “NO!!!”
Twilight heard her girlfriend’s cry, painfully she dragged herself up into the same sitting position as Sunset, and was treated to the same sight.

Atomic Skull stood before Lyra and BonBon, his armor still encasing his body. Lyra assumed a fighting stance, the best she could muster, ready to protect her love or die trying. As if to shatter any delusions of her having a chance, Atomic Skull swiftly reached out and grabbed Lyra by the neck, he hoisted her up as easily one would a doll. He then turned around to face Sunset and Twilight as he held Lyra before him.

“You see, when I turned into this, well, let’s just say I had to find my kicks elsewhere.”

Skull used his free hand to grab Lyra’s right arm, forcing her to hold it outstretched. “I knew I really liked killing people, but not just that, I loved the pain they were in right before they died. And from then on, whenever I got the chance, I like to ‘play’, I especially like the screams from girls like this and kids, they make this chilling high pitched squealing scream that’s just awesome!”

“DAMN YOU SKULL! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!” Sunset demanded.

“SHE’S NOT INVOLVED IN THIS, IT’S US YOU WANT!!! FIGHT US!!!” Twilight screamed.

Atomic Skull looked between the beaten Firestorms and the helpless girl in his hands. “Hmm, nah, I’d rather play first.”

The armor around his left forearm retracted, exposing Lyra’s skin to his harsh radioactive power. She screamed out in horrible pain as she felt her flesh burning under his grip.

“You see I can control my radiation, so no worries about poisoning, and I can control how hot my power can get. Right now her flesh is experiencing the joy of slowly cooking like a piece of hamburger meat on a grill.”

Skull’s arm glowed a little brighter and Lyra screamed out even more. Sunset shot to her feet, unwisely, and staggered about. She still clutched at her injury, body too weak to fight despite her fervent desire to.

“YOU BASTARD, LET HER GO AND FIGHT US!!! YOU WANT TO KILL US, SO JUST DO IT AND STOP!!!”

Atomic Skull retracted his helmet and allowed his flaming skull head to show, making Lyra scream even louder from seeing his monstrous appearance. With a wicked smile, he wrenched downward, snapping Lyra’s arm clean off, the bones and flesh having become unstable and brittle from the nuclear energy. The pain was so excruciating that Lyra screamed out all the air in her lungs until she fell unconscious from the overload of pain.

Twilight and Sunset could only stare wide eyed at what he had done, stomachs threatening to spill out what little content was in them. Sunset gritted her teeth, releasing her left arm as she clenched her right hand into a fist.

“You see, I don’t even care. When you’re this strong, everyone’s your plaything, even you two.”

Skull shook Lyra a bit, but it was clear she had gone comatose. He then chucked Lyra to the side as she rolled to a stop. “Alright, now for the other one, I just thought of something I could do with these two that would be perfect!”

“NO!!!”

Atomic Skull froze in his tracks, what he heard sounded primal. He turned around and saw that both Twilight and Sunset were standing side-by-side. Their fire auras raged like newly awakened volcanos, but something else was going on, the air around them was fierce and vengeful.

“You won’t hurt anyone else!!!” Twilight proclaimed.

“Even if it takes everything we have!!!” Sunset yelled.

“WE’LL DESTROY YOU!!!”

Suddenly something snapped. The mystic energies within Sunset latched onto her half of the Matrix and caused the flames of its power to erupt. The sun emblems on both girls’ chests shined with greater intensity. Their flames engulfed their bodies until they were nothing but pink and yellow flames. The flames, however, took on a much darker color, changing from the pink and yellow, into a dark scarlet, aquamarine, indigo, and black. A whirlwind was kicked up, releasing intense forces and heat as it drifted through the area.

Atomic Skull watched this all transpire, feeling a strange sense of dread in the air. When the column of flames ended, Sunset and Twilight were no longer there, but something else was.

Demonic bat wings unfurled before him, the outside of the wings was made of onyx colored flames while the inside was blood red colored flames. Her long arms were made of pure crimson plasma, and each finger was a razor sharp talon, despite being made of energy, the plasma was so smooth and with little to no distortions that it appeared as skin. Her feet were covered in slim, black armored boots that covered up to her knees.

Her chest was covered in a cloth-like metal that had a red sun at the center, with six violet lines running coming out of it, and with six red orbs in each line. Within the center emblem was Sunset’s cutie mark, but it was black as night. In the top two orbs were another pair of black symbols. The one on her right had the image of an arcane magic circle, with rune symbols neatly arranged within it. The one on the left had the outline of the atomic rings.

She wore no cowl, but around her head was the corona crown, glowing a bright yellow as it hovered around her forehead, with Twilight’s star symbol glowing at its center, also black as night. Her ears were pointed, flames of red, orange, and yellow comprised her hair, as well as a tail that whipped back and forth made of the same flames.

The new being had its eyes closed, but once opened they were no longer the white color that they normally were with all Firestorms, they were dark, with aquamarine irises that pierced your very soul. The new being scanned her form, running her talons over her slender arms and legs, and even feeling her waist, hips, body, and wings. She gave a wicked, toothy grin, pleased with her new form. She looked as if she were a demon from hell, but one made to look seductive in order to devour the souls of men foolish enough to come close to her.

“What…What are you?!” Atomic Skull demanded.

When the new Firestorm spoke, her voice was like silk, but hummed with deadly power. “I am vengeance! I am rage and anger! I…am…FIRESTORM HEL!!!”

Dark violet and red flames erupted around Hel as she fanned out her wings, she then crouched low getting into attack position as she flexed her talons, the action sounding like swords clanging together.

“Now, Skull, it’s time for us to play!”

He hurt Lyra…

He’ll kill everyone…

He has to be stopped…!

He’s a monster…!

Kill him…!

Kill him!

KILLHIM!!!

Firestorm Hel flexed her claws, her power was coursing through every facet and molecule of her constructed body. The voices in her head, the voices of those who spawned her, they cried out for this monstrosity’s death, and she was all too happy to grant it to him. Atomic Skull –remembering the name – looked upon her with confusion, she didn’t blame him, even she couldn’t wrap her mind fully around what she was, but she was alive, that much she knew to be a fact.

“Okay, this wasn’t in the report, looks like Intel isn’t as intelligent as they claim. Oh well, this just makes it easier to kill you both at the same time,” said Atomic Skull as he popped the kinks in his neck.

Firestorm Hel gave the irradiated man a toothy grin, showing her pearly fanged teeth. “Oh, you think so? Truthfully I’m curious to see how powerful I am, so by all means give me everything you got.” She punctuated her offer with a devilish wink.

If Skull was into succubus looking fiery demon girls, he’d be drooling, but he wasn’t. Atomic Skull reared his head back and lurched forward, opening his mouth to release a burst stream of radioactive fire. The emerald flames roared towards Hel as she stood there, not even bothering to dodge the attack. The flames washed over Hel’s body, her form completely obscured by the hot-as-the-sun flames. Atomic Skull shut his mouth, ending the attack and waited to see what remained – if anything – of his target.

His eye sockets widened at what he saw. Firestorm Hel was still standing, she looked unimpressed. Some of the green flames clung to her body, but did not burn her. Hel used her clawed hands to brush the flames off as one would brush off some dust on their clothes. “Is that all? I do hope that was a warm up.”

“The hell…? That should’ve burned you to nothing, at the very least thrown you like a rag doll!”Atomic Skull clenched his fists. “Alright, up close and personal!”

The nuclear soldier dashed straight for Hel. His right fist’s armor retracted, exposing his bare glowing forearm. Atomic Skull thrust his fist forward and struck Hel right in her face, burying it in her left cheek. But for some reason, Hel didn’t budge, her head moved but only a couple of inches. Unfazed, she slowly pushed against the fist until she was staring Atomic Skull in the face. She brought up her right claw and ran a finger from his neck area and traced his jawline with it.

“Poor baby, not as strong as you thought? ” Hel asked in a mocking tone.

Skull grit his teeth and growled as he drew back his fist, his other forearm was exposed as well, and from there he began unleashing a barrage of punches to the amalgamation. His blows struck her chest, stomach, shoulders, and face in rapid succession. The speed of the attack and the force generated by each blow caused mini shockwaves to erupt through the air from where they stood. During this whole beat down, Hel stood firm, still unimpressed by his show of strength, evidenced by how her tail just swishing back and forth leisurely.

Atomic Skull halted his assault, stepping back to see what damage, if any, he was able to inflict on Hel. Unsurprisingly, the demoness Firestorm was unaffected by any of his blows. Hel looked back and forth, waving her hand in a circle as if saying “keep going”. But she soon realized that Atomic Skull wasn’t going to attack, in fact, he seemed stunned at her undamaged form.

“Oh, are you done? Good, my turn!”

“WHA –?!!”

In the blink of an eye, Hel was upon Atomic Skull. She delivered a swift punch to his armored abdomen, striking a hard blow against his armor. Even through the layers of thick armor plating, Skull still felt the force of the blow pierce through and hit him. The blow resonated through the air like a sonic boom, shaking the ground and air at the same time. In the same swift motion, Firestorm Hel drew back until she was three feet away. The demoness spun in midair and struck Atomic Skull with a roundhouse kick.

The irradiated soldier sailed across the way until he made contact with a concrete wall. Atomic Skull coughed and groaned, but was otherwise alive. He couldn’t believe he just got kicked like a soccer ball, with some effort and a pissed off demeanor, Atomic Skull wristed himself from the indention he made in the wall, breaking the concrete apart as he did so.

Firestorm Hel smirked happily, glad that Skull was still alive and ready to fight, she spread her wings and zoomed off into the sky. Once high enough she brought both her claws close together. Atomic rings of purple and red formed, aquamarine and black energy began to gather between Hel’s claws, building with each passing second.

Skull looked up and saw the glow coming from Hel. The walking meltdown inhaled deeply, at the same time radioactive energy swirled around both of this hands. Atomic Skull exhaled, bellowing his emerald radiation flames. From his hands, in the same moment, he fired out two beams of pure nuclear energy. The flames and beams combined together into a powerful, column-sized blast that soared towards Hel.

Firestorm Hel raised her hands up and then brought them down, thrusting them forward as she released her pent up energy. A beam of equal size erupted from her claws, its color was a menacing mix of aquamarine and black, roaring with as much intensity as Skull’s attack. The two beams slammed against each other with resounding force, shattering all the glass from the stores, cars, and skyscrapers nearby.

Atomic Skull continued his onslaught, trying to overpower Hel with everything he had. But Hel wasn’t even trying. Suddenly, black clouds formed overhead, thunder roared as lightning arced from one cloud to the other. The center of the storm clouds opened up, and within it was a red sky, shining down upon the ground. The clouds acted as a ring, bellowing out and covering the night sky in darkness.

Skull didn’t know what was happening, but the backdrop of the black sky and red center, made Hel look like the goddess she was named after; Hel, Norse goddess and the Queen of the Underworld. Her eyes shined with aquamarine light as Hel gave a slight push with her power, causing the beam to triple in size and bathe over Atomic Skull’s attack.

Before the soldier knew it, he was struck with a great power that echoed out into a huge explosion. Hel ceased her attack and surveyed her work. A giant hole had appeared where Skull once was, taking a large chunk of the road, sidewalk, and the building he was next to. Metal and stone turned into molten slag as the air hissed from the intense heat that was generated from the explosion. But, despite seeing the destruction, Hel could sense that her opponent was not dead, no, somehow she could feel his energy.

She turned her gaze skyward, seeing that Skull had focused his power to his feet, propelling him like a rocket to safety. Hel smirked, he was tenacious, she’d give him that. “You’re making an ugly habit of staying alive when I’m trying to kill you!”

“Screw you, you homicidal demon bitch!”Skull cried out.

Hel feigned hurt as she clutched at her heart. “Oh Skull, you wound me! How can you say such terrible things! Oh well. ”

With the same unnatural speed as before, Firestorm Hel appeared before Atomic Skull, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a fanged, sinister smile. She punched the irradiated soldier in the face, causing him to fly in the opposite direction. Hel spread her wings as she took off after him. Skull righted himself and watched as Hel made a beeline right for him.

Atomic Skull focused his power into his feet, launching himself like a rocket. Hel pursued Skull, both appearing as fiery streaks in the black and red sky above. Hel and Skull continued their cat and mouse chase, zipping through the tall skyscrapers and weaving around smaller buildings, but no matter what Atomic Skull did, he could not escape Hel.

Hel had decided that the thrill of the chase bored her. She paused in midair, bringing her right hand up as she pointed it in Atomic Skull’s direction. Atomic rings formed around her hand as she channeled the powers of the, now whole again, Firestorm Matrix and the newly added power of magic. The black star symbol in the middle of her corona crown shined as well, focusing the magical and physical energies all at once. She snapped her fingers and waited.

Up ahead, Atomic Skull kept flying, he was aware that Hel had halted her pursuit, but he didn’t care why. He needed a moment to reassess the situation, new variables had been introduced into the battle and Skull needed a moment to factor them into his attack plans. But his moment to think didn’t last long.

Suddenly, all around him were orbs of glowing, fiery light. They each appeared as twinkling specks, it was beautiful really. Just then, the sound of snapping fingers echoed through the air. The specks reacted to the sound and each one exploded with the strength of a scud missile. Dozens upon dozens of specks each ignited around him, blossoming into detonations that lit up the sky and ground below. Each one sounded like the cannon fire of an old battleship, “God’s thunder” as one would describe it.

The black, six-pointed star symbol glowed again and in an instant, Hel disappeared. In the blink of an eye she reappeared holding Atomic Skull by the neck in her left claw. There were visible cracks in his armor, radiation leaking out from them as he struggled to get loose from her steely grip.

“Y-You can’t kill me…!”Skull warned.

“Oh, and why not?” Hel asked.

“My suit, it’s the only thing keeping my power from completely charbroiling this city and everyone in it! If you break it, you risk exposing everyone to radiation poisoning! Not only that, but there’s the added bonus that I might go into meltdown upon my death, if that happens then everything within a hundred mile radius will be eradicated! And what doesn’t die from the explosion will die from nuclear fallout!”

Hel brought her right index claw to her chin, her face scrunching in contemplation. “True, stripping you of that armor and killing you could do more harm than good with all that radiation…quite the dilemma.”

“See, so why don’t you just put me down and I’ll be on my merry way?!”

“Hmm, I could do that…or, I could just take away all the bad stuff and kill you then.”

“WHAT?!!”

Hel placed her right claw on Skull’s head. Her eyes shined with aquamarine light as she called upon her dual powers. Up above, something began to form in the red sky. Black symbols appeared, one was the magic circle, and the other an atom. At the center was Sunset’s cutie mark symbol, within the sun mark was Twilight’s six-pointed star, etched in red. Skull’s eye sockets widened upon feeling something strange.

Firestorm Hel drew her right hand back slowly, and as she did, the green nuclear energy of Atomic Skull followed. It condensed into a spherical orb and grew in size with each passing second. The irradiated soldier could feel his power waning. The powerful sensation he felt from his powers was slipping away, and no matter how hard he tried to hold onto it, the power would slip out of his grasp. It was like he was trying to hold onto water.

Within a few more seconds Hel was holding a green glowing orb of nuclear energy. Skull’s emerald flames dimmed considerably, and the harsh glow of his skin was also fading. All that was dangerous about him was now condensed into a tiny orb of light. Hel looked upon this ball of energy and smirked. She tightened her grip, atomic rings forming around her hand. Hel clenched her fist, crushing the orb of light in a single motion, using her power to wipe away the energy.

“That’s…That’s not possible…!”

“I can make the impossible, possible. I am like nothing that has ever existed, I am raw emotion!” Hel lashed out, digging her claws into his chest armor. “I am hatred, vengeance, and power all rolled into one!” She then ripped off the armor, sending shards of metal cascading through the air. “But right now, I’m your executioner!”

???

“Oh…my head,” groaned Sunset.

“Your head…my head feels like it’s going to split in two.” Twilight retorted.

Sunset rubbed her head in soothing motions as she opened her eyes slowly. She gasped when she saw that her hand was not made of flesh, but of golden-yellow light. Sunset quickly sprang to her feet, noticing that her clothes were gone, all but her head, neck, and hair were made of pure gold-yellow light. She flexed her fingers, and patted herself down. It felt like she was touching bare skin, but that couldn’t be.

“Twilight something’s happened I –!”

Sunset paused when she saw that Twilight’s condition was the same as hers. All except for her hair, head, and neck, the rest of her body down was made of purple light. But Sunset noticed something else that she was too panicked to notice earlier. When Twilight rose up, in the middle of her chest, was the six-pointed pink star. Sunset looked back down on herself and saw that her cutie mark yin-yang sun was on her chest, too.

Twilight, from what Sunset could tell, was having the same panicked reaction she was at the sight of their bodies. “S-Sunset, what’s happening?! Why…Why are our bodies like this?!”

“I don’t know!” Sunset looked back at her left forearm, remembering what happened. “Atomic Skull…we were fighting him…he cut part of my arm off, but it’s healed?”

Twilight slowly took hold of that once severed arm, holding it gingerly to make sure that it wasn’t an illusion. She then brought Sunset’s hand up to her cheek, nuzzling against it and sighing with relief.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” said Twilight with a shaky voice.

Sunset’s heart grew heavy. She then rubbed Twilight’s cheek with that same hand, wiping away a tear with her thumb. “It’s alright Sparky, I’m not going anywhere. But it would be nice to know where ‘here’ is…oh crap.”

Twilight followed Sunset’s gaze, looking up and laying eyes on a ball of fire. Atomic rings made of aquamarine light hovered around it as three crimson orbs followed the rings to orbit the nucleus. One had a magic circle, another an atom symbol, and the third had their combined marks. The surface they were standing on appeared to be the sky, filled with stars. But everything was in a powerful orange and yellow hue, it was as if they were in another universe.

“Where are we?” Sunset asked in astonishment.

“I…I don’t know! But…I don’t think we’re dead either,” said Twilight.

The more aware that Twilight and Sunset became, the more their senses opened to the world around them. They felt something inside of them, a faint thumping sound that echoed their beating hearts. It was a warm feeling, powerful, but, wild.

Just then, Twilight caught sight of something. “Sunset look!”

Sunset turned her gaze in the direction Twilight pointed. What they saw was shocking to say the least. Two large holes were opened in space, but they were oddly shaped like eyes. The holes acted as windows, allowing Twilight and Sunset to see the world they left behind.

What they saw was the Atomic Skull, his body was battered, bloody, and bruised. The intense glow of his nuclear power was gone, looking more like a dim lightbulb. He tried desperately to fire off a radiation blast, but to no avail, his power was gone, reduced to having only enough power to kick-start a car battery.

“What on Earth happened to him?!” Twilight asked horrified.

“Whatever happened, it looks like it beat the crap out of him! This is a good thing, Sparky, you know that right?”

“The level of injuries he’s sustained would kill anybody ten times over! Whatever happened to him isn’t fighting him, it’s torturing him!”

“So what?! Did you forget what he did to Lyra, to those people at the restaurant?! And the people and animals lying dead in the streets?!”

Twilight narrowed her gaze at Sunset. “I don’t condone what he’s done, I hate him for it! But there’s no point in defeating him if we end up becoming the same monster that we’re fighting against!”

The unknown universe began to shift to an angry red color, as if sensing the emotions of both girls. Sunset and Twilight noticed the change, and for some reason, they felt stronger. Both looked back through the proverbial “looking glass” and watched as Atomic Skull was taken up by the throat and slammed into the ground, causing dirt and concrete to blast up from the impact. The view changed, the window portals now gazing at an unbroken shop window.

The being both girls saw was the definition of a demon of folklore, Sunset tensed up at seeing this monster, wondering what it was doing beating up Atomic Skull, not that she was complaining. But just then, the creature turned enough to show its front, allowing the girls to see the black symbols. Twilight and Sunset looked back up at the giant Firestorm Matrix overhead, seeing the exact same symbols. It was then that the realization dawned on them.

“Twilight…we’re…we’re…”

“Inside the Firestorm Matrix…” Twilight spoke in a daze. “The two halves of the Matrix combined together to become whole once again.”

“But…then that means…that thing is us?! We fused together to form that she-demon?!” Sunset cried out.

Twilight grabbed hold of her head as she tried to make sense of all this. “I don’t understand…I had thought it possible for the Matrix to combine again, but I never thought it would combine while we were still bonded to it! It fused us together, in order to become whole, it fused us! That’s not even biologically possible!”

“Twilight, think, when we’re in our Firestorm forms, we’re not flesh and blood. We’re made up of energy, pure power given physical form. So fusing our bodies isn’t too far of a stretch.” Sunset looked around the Firestorm Matrix Universe, trying to find something that would give them a better explanation on what was happening. At that moment, Sunset noticed a familiar glow of power. “That can’t be…”

Twilight turned around and saw glowing atomic rings, they seemed to hum with a power of their own, somehow making the Firestorm Matrix that much stronger. “I’ve never seen that before, those symbols, that energy, is this what the original Matrix was supposed to be?”

Just then the two of them heard pained grunting sounds emanating from behind them.

Firestorm Hel was enjoying this, it was so exciting how easy this felt, the power, the thrill of being vastly more powerful than her opponent, and tearing them down bit by bit, it was more than exhilarating.

Hel dragged Atomic Skull through the streets, cutting a groove into the pavement as she plowed him through the asphalt. She then tossed him up and delivered an uppercut straight to his jaw, sending him spiraling backwards. Hel used her magi-transmutation powers to summon a wall, making the earth rise up in an instant. With a flick of the wrist, Hel changed it atomic structure to that of steel.

Atomic Skull slammed against the metal surface, getting the wind knocked out of him in the process. Hel waved her clawed hand and dissolved the wall into nothing, she then thrust out her right claw, atomic rings formed and from the center a dozen fiery chains spewed forth. The chains snaked around, moving like cobras on the hunt. The flame chains quickly wrapped themselves around Skull’s arms and legs.

The demoness pulled, bringing Skull along for the ride. She then whipped him across, making him impact into a building. Hel never lost her momentum, continuing to pull and drag Skull through the structure.

“It’s so much fun, isn’t it?! I can see how you can get a kick out of this! It’s greatly addicting!” Hel shouted with wicked glee.

The demoness dropped Skull, unceremoniously, back to the ground, releasing him from the chains. The irradiated soldier rose to his feet, hacking up blood that was colored black. His glowing skin allowed a good x-ray look at his bones, showing the multiple fractures and broken parts clearly. Still, Atomic Skull wasn’t one to die easily, the soldier in him wouldn’t allow him to roll over and die.

With another blink, Hel teleported in front of Skull once again, glaring and smiling at him. “Are you afraid? If not, you should be, because you’re going to die here on the street, like a mangy dog.”

“You…frickin’ monster…”Skull managed to get out.

Hel’s eyes narrowed at that word, with a wave of her hand she summoned her power. Atomic rings formed as she willed the gravitons in the air to wrap around Skull’s arms and hoist him up. She then pulled the arms outwards so they were outstretched.

“‘Monster’ he says, like you have any right to call me that, you who kill with no reason, other than for fun! You hurt a girl just because you can, and actually liked it! Well, let’s see how you like it when you’re on the opposite side!”

Without really noticing, Sunset and Twilight had appeared in the form of astral projects beside Hel, watching as she performed her next act of cruelty. With another wave of her claw, Hel willed the gravitons to converge on his forearms, and with a simple slashing motion, the gravitons condensed all at once.

Atomic Skull’s forearms were then crushed as if caught between two anvils. Skull released a loud and painful scream as the bones and glowing flesh were flattened and crushed. Hel smirked as she released the vice, showing his now two mangled forearms, traces of bone and flesh could still be seen, but the amount of ebony blood kept most of the damage obscured.

“STOP IT!”Twilight pleaded.

“No,” answered Hel.

“Look I hate this douchebag, too! But that’s enough, you’re torturing him!”Sunset argued.

“Like he tortured Lyra in front of BonBon? They did nothing wrong, he deserves this in spades!”

Hel brought up her index and middle claw, energy gathered to the two claws, coalescing into a small ball of light. She slashed the air downwards, and then upwards in one fluid V motion. As if by delayed reaction, streaks of orange light passed over Atomic Skull’s arms just below the shoulder. After a second had passed, Skull fell from the air as his arms still remained floating in midair. His severed arms gushed black blood all over the streets as he howled and wailed in the most excruciating pain he had ever felt.

Twilight put her hands over her mouth, threatening to vomit at the sight. Sunset hugged herself as she witnessed the extreme act of violence. Hel, however, was unfazed, only grinning in satisfaction at her triumph over this killer. Skull had dropped to his knees, trying to maintain balance without his arms as he continued to bleed out and scream.
The demoness stepped forward and raised her right hand, sticking her index finger out and her thumb up, mimicking a gun. She then placed her index claw against his head, resting it right at his forehead. Skull had gone stiff upon the contact, shuddering helplessly before the demoness.

“STOP, JUST PLEASE STOP!!! WE DON’T WANT ANY OF THIS!!!”Twilight pleaded again.

“IT’S OVER, WHATEVER YOU ARE, IT’S OVER! HE CAN’T EVEN FIGHT BACK ANYMORE!!!”Sunset yelled.

“You’re lying.”

Both the Sunset and Twilight astral projections looked upon Hel incredulously.

“I am what you’ve made me. I am your wrath given physical form. Deny it all you want, but you girls summoned me, you wished for me, you made me! Deep in your hearts you despise this man, you want him dead. I know because I can feel your desires, they make up my very being, and now, my creators, I will exact your unspoken will!”

Hel spread her wings wide, energy flowed to her index claw, forming an orb of aquamarine and black light. Turquoise wisps flowed from the corners of Hel’s eyes as her aquamarine irises shimmered sinisterly. Twilight and Sunset reached out, grabbing onto Hel’s arm in an effort to stop it, but in spite of the fact that they could touch her, it did nothing. She was as unmovable as a mountain. Sunset even struck Hel in the face with a punch, but the blow did nothing, for Hel was them, and they were Hel, so nothing they did could hurt the other.

Atomic Skull’s jaw trembled as he looked up at Hel in horror, knowing that he was helpless to prevent his fate. Flashing her fanged, sinister grin, Firestorm Hel spoke only one word.

“Bang.”

The energy released itself in a focused blast, shooting right through Atomic Skull’s head. The x-ray view of the damage showed how the top half of his skull was blown off, sending black blood and bone fragments spilling onto the street. The body of Atomic Skull went limp as it fell back with a dull thud.

Twilight began to shed tears as she choked back her sobs, Sunset just stared in wide-eyed horror at the fact that this creation of theirs killed someone without a second thought.

“I want out…I WANT OUT NOW!!!”Twilight shouted.

Suddenly Hel held her body as if it were in pain, the red sky and black symbols overhead began to waver as if in response to her pain.

“Stop it, don’t you get it?! I’m what you two need! I am your power and feelings given form! Together, the Organization, all of the beings who wish to cause us harm will feel our wrath!” Hel proclaimed.

“SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP, AND LET US OUT NOW!!!!”

“Twilight, wait, we don’t know what’ll happen if we split up right now!!”

“I DON’T CARE, I DON’T WANT TO BE THIS THING ANYMORE!!!”

Sunset frantically looked to and fro, trying to think of something. She felt something familiar, something she hadn’t felt for a very long time, a power that Sunset had thought lost to her upon entering this world. But after everything that happened, she was positive about what it was.

“If you’re really an extension of us, then get us out of here!”

Hel complied, begrudgingly. Focusing her magi-transmutation and disappearing in the blink of an eye. But unbeknownst to them, three teenage girls and one young man were watching the entire fight with a mixture of astonishment, fear, and excitement.

Entry 17: Rift

Hel reappeared in the same clearing that both girls had discovered upon their first transformation, now it seemed it was to be the sight of a new dilemma. Hel thrashed around, holding her head as if it threatened to split apart. The red sky and dark clouds had disappeared altogether, leaving the clear, starry night sky to be viewed in its entirety. The amalgamated Firestorm fell to her knees as she cried out with a demon like shrieking roar that pierced the night. Flames erupted from her body, engulfing her form.

Suddenly, the flames parted, becoming pink and gold. Within a few seconds the flames were parted, thrown across from each other as their fusion came to an end. Sunset groaned as she rubbed her head, feeling as if someone had dropped the moon on her head, twice. She stopped rubbing her head for a moment, bringing her right hand up to eye level. It couldn’t be true, it was too fantastic of a thing to have happen to her. Sunset concentrated, drawing upon old techniques for tapping into her magic.

Her right hand began to glow with the color of her magical aura, Sunset’s eyes widened with glee and happiness. For so long she had been cut off from her magical powers, forcing her to adapt and learn new skills here in this human world, but now, she had it back, her magic had returned. It was weak, but Sunset could feel it returning to its normal power level. In spite of everything that had happened, this was the one good thing that came out of that mess. A piece of herself had been returned.

“Sparky…Sparky I –!”

Sunset cringed when she heard the sounds of retching. She quickly turned around and saw Twilight on her hands and knees, her body heaving as she threw up the contents of her stomach onto the grass before her. Sunset quickly rushed to Twilight’s side, kneeling down to help her.

“Easy Twilight, slow your breathing down,” said Sunset as went to place her hand on Twilight.

But before she got the chance, Twilight swatted Sunset’s hand away from her, rather harshly at that. Sunset looked back at Twilight, now seeing her panicked and angered expression, which made Sunset feel hurt for some reason.

“Sparky why did –?”

“Don’t touch me, please just-just don’t touch me!”

Twilight used the collar of her shirt to wipe her face, afterwards she slowly crawled over to the large rock and sat next to it, placing her back against its surface as she hugged her legs. Sunset wanted to go to her, but each shuffling of grass made Twilight flinch as if expecting to be attacked or hurt.

“Twilight…what’s wrong, please tell me?”

“We…I…killed someone…by my hands…a life was ended…!”

Sunset’s gaze turned downcast, despite her joy that her magic was back, that was a fact that could not be overlooked. “Yes, Twilight, we – Hel – whatever – killed Atomic Skull. But, Sparky, he was going to kill BonBon, and he already maimed Lyra! If we hadn’t done that then more innocent people were going to die!”

Twilight looked at Sunset, her eyes narrowed in anger as tears ran down her cheeks. “The fight was over the moment Hel took away his powers and armor! After that, he was harmless! She – we – IT – just continued to fight him, knowing that he couldn’t fight back, it wasn’t even a fight – it was MURDER, pure and simple!”

Twilight ran a hand through her bangs as she continued. “I don’t understand…this can’t be the true form of the Firestorm Matrix, this can’t be what Professor Neigh wanted!”

“Twilight…I…” Sunset was torn, revealing her magical powers would answer the question as to why they became Hel, but in so doing she risked telling Twilight of her own secret origins. But, looking upon the confused and hurt Twilight only made Sunset’s heart grow heavier with guilt. “I think it was because of me, Twilight.”

The purple girl looked back at Sunset incredulously. “What on Earth are you talking about?!”

With a deep sigh, Sunset brought forth her right hand. In mere moments her hand was glowing with her aquamarine magical aura, a sight that made Twilight’s eyes nearly bulge from her skull.

“This…This is magic, Twilight…My magic.”

“‘Magic’…” Twilight spoke the word in disbelief.

“Magic can sometimes be influenced by a po – I mean a person’s emotional state. The strongest of these emotions, anger, hate, hope, and love, can severely alter what magic is capable of and more often than not, can make some of the most impossible things possible. I think…all my anger and hate for Atomic Skull, somehow awakened my magic and it latched onto my half of the Matrix. It may’ve jump started the Matrix into wanting to become whole again, and the result was us being dragged into the fusing process.”

Twilight shook her head, trying to process all of this. “For a moment, let’s just say I believe such a thing. You’re saying that your ‘magic’ caused that to happen?”

“Sparky, not just me. I felt it, same as you. You hated him too, you were just as angry as I was. Even if I was that pissed off, the changes probably wouldn’t have been that severe, but since we both were, my magic helped to reflect that anger and hate into…Hel, combining it with the power of the Firestorm Matrix to fuel the transformation and sustainability of its form.”

“That’s just…just…absurd!” Twilight yelled as she shot to her feet. “‘Magic’, you expect me to believe that this was the work of magic?! That you somehow have magical powers?!”

Sunset sighed, she knew someone as scientific as Twilight wouldn’t accept the notion or even the idea that magic existed. “I know it’s hard to understand, Sparky, but I’m not lying. I can tell this is different from the Firestorm powers, it’s something I haven’t been able to feel for so long!”

Twilight kept running her hands through her hair, trying to understand but failing miserably. Her mind just couldn’t wrap around what Sunset was saying, and it sounded like she was happy about it!

“Sunset, even if – if – I condoned the theory that it was somehow ‘magic’, are you telling me that you’ve always had that kind of power?!”

Sunset made a pensive expression as she stayed kneeled down, unable to look Twilight in the eye. She knew telling Twilight more would result in telling her of her origins as a unicorn. That Sunset Shimmer was in fact from another world populated by magical talking ponies, and that its leader was an omni-powerful demi-goddess who could move the sun with but a thought. How was she to explain all of that? Any rational thinking person would consider Sunset insane, or at the very least had an overactive imagination.

The lavender girl became increasingly infuriated, her logical world was being torn asunder by what they had become earlier and she needed answers, she needed something concrete to make sense of this whole thing. Sunset knew something, she knew and she wasn’t saying a word. Why was that? Why did she look so hesitant? Could they not confide in one another? What was the point in being in a relationship if you weren’t honest with the one you cared about?

“Look at me Sunset?! Have you always had this power?! Have you always been able to use this ‘magic’?!” Twilight was met with silence, causing her to growl loudly. “Why won’t you say anything?!”

“Because you wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you, Twilight!” Sunset yelled back, bolting to her feet as she stood before her girlfriend. “If I told you the truth, you’d think I was crazy or you wouldn’t believe me! Worse, you’d never…you’d never want to be with me, or even look at me the same way…!”

Twilight took a step back, not really knowing how to respond to that. What could be crazier than what she told Sunset? Being grown in a test tube, groomed to be a sleeper agent, having an intellect that far surpasses the collective knowledge of the world’s brilliant minds put together, as if that wasn’t unbelievable enough as it is, they have the power to manipulate the atoms of anything and shoot beams of fiery plasma from their hands. If Twilight wasn’t living this life, she’d think this was some crazy TV show! So what could Sunset say now that wasn’t any less crazy than their lives were already?

“The truth, Sunset, I don’t care how it sounds, just tell me the truth.” Twilight spoke her words sternly and without room for argument.

Sunset bit her lower lip, she didn’t want to reveal it like this, in fact, Sunset hoped to never tell Twilight about what she really was. Maybe, if she could perchance to dream, she would’ve told her when they were together longer, long enough so that things like this wouldn’t matter, only the feelings they shared. But, like most things in her life, Sunset couldn’t have it her way. With a defeated sigh, Sunset lowered herself until she was sitting on the grass.

“You want the truth, Twilight? Then you’d better sit down, it’s a long story.”

Twilight was skeptical, but from what she could tell, Sunset was sincere in her actions. The studious girl gently sat down on the grass as well and awaited Sunset’s tale.

“This…This is less about my magic, and more about where I came from. Because where I came from is filled with magic, it’s a part of everyday life, but the place I was born both is and isn’t this city…but the one thing you need know above all is this…I’m not human, I never was.”

YEARS AGO…

I’m from a world called Equestria, a land where its main populace is comprised of ponies. And these aren’t your everyday, run of the mill equines. No, these ponies are intelligent, sentient beings, with families, friends, and lovers. Each pony is divided up by its tribe, unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi – like the mythical horse in Greek mythology – and each has their own customs, traditions, and history.

Earth ponies are easy enough to understand, they have magic that’s derived from nature. If you want to quantify it, their magic is directed mainly to their strength and ability to make plants grow bigger, stronger, and healthier. Some are better at it than others, but that’s something you’ll encounter in either world.

Pegasi are, well, winged equines. Their magic is concentrated into flight, allowing them to go at speeds that defy logic. But the other use for that magic allows them to manipulate and control the weather, basically pegasi run all the weather for the entire land of Equestria, everything from snowstorms, rainstorms, tornadoes, and thunderstorms, all of it is coordinated by the pegasi.

Unicorns, well, magic is more versatile for us. Through our horns we can cast spells and perform great feats of magical prowess. And like the others, some have a stronger affinity for the magical arts than others. Which is where I fell into.

When I was younger, a filly really, which would’ve been when I was eight years old. I lived in Canterlot, it wasn’t the same as this place, far from it. Canterlot is the capital of Equestria, and in it, a mare whose magic far exceeds any other in the world rules us. She’s an alicorn, which is a pony who represents all three tribes, having both wings and a horn. Her magic is so powerful she can raise and lower the sun, as well as the moon.

*Wait a minute, you’re telling me that one pony has enough power to make the sun and moon rise and fall at will?!* Twilight asked.

*Yes, she can. And no, it’s not that she exerts her magic to rotate the planet, she literally moves the sun and moon. Unicorns could do it a long time ago, but it took a large group of them to do so, and the power required to do it drained them considerably so it was always tasked between more than one village to raise and lower the celestial bodies.*

Anyway, I was a unicorn filly and my family wasn’t exactly the richest of ponies. Canterlot in my world was a city founded by unicorns and it’s also the wealthiest of all the others. So you had the lesser nobility and the true noblesse, and at the bottom are the ponies who have to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to survive in such a city. My family fell on the third tier of those three.

My mother was a maid who worked in the Princess’ castle and my father worked as a butler there as well. Because of our situation, service staff members who had children were allowed to live in the servant’s quarters. As much as my parents kept smiling and telling me “We’ll be alright”, in the end, I knew it was just something they told me so that I wouldn’t have to worry about how bad off we were.

My family didn’t have much in the way of money, so servitude was the only thing they could do to make ends meet. In my spare time I studied magic, I went to school and checked out every book they had on magic, and over time I poured myself into them. I wanted to find a way to make our lives better, and I found it.

Princess Celestia –

*Hold on! ‘Princess Celestia?! As in our Principal, your legal guardian, Celestia?! She’s a princess?!*

*Yes, she’s the ruler of all the ponies in Equestria, she’s lived for a thousand years, and probably longer than that.*

*A single ruler who’s lived for a thousand plus years, and powerful enough to move the sun and moon; okay, sorry, I have to draw the line –!*

*Look do you want me to explain this or not?! You were the one who said you wanted to know more about me, well then, I’m telling you everything! So just hold your questions until I’m done.*

*……Sorry, please continue.*

Anyway, I knew the best way to make a better life for myself and my parents was to make it into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. If I could impress the teachers then maybe I could get us out of that rut. Problem was, it was hard to just get into the entrance exams, and you had to know somepony – sorry – someone in order to get a hoof in the door.

Of course, even with being a maid and butler, my parents were in no position to ask favors of anyone. Hell, if they did, I don’t doubt someone would’ve held it over their heads later on down the road. I didn’t want to have them begging someone to let me in, so I did what I had to do.

*Which was…?*

Well, when the day of the entrance exams started, I hovered near the room where the fillies and colts were going into to take their exams. I needed to show them, I had to prove even though I wasn’t fortunate enough to be born into a family with wealth, and even though I came from an impoverished home that it had no bearing whatsoever on the kind of magical skill I possessed.

I waited and waited, and finally, I had my opportunity. I saw them getting the next examination test ready, and at the last second I rushed in and stole the spot from another foal. I used my magic to seal the door shut, it wouldn’t have taken much to break it, but I had figured that it was good enough to keep others out long enough for me to show them what I had to offer.

“Young filly, what is the meaning of this?”

“Please, ma’ams, sirs, I just want a chance to show you what I can do! My name is Sunset Shimmer and I really, really, really want to go to this school!”

I saw one of the proctors checking a clipboard and he gave me a really harsh glare. “You’re not on our list of candidates, Ms. Shimmer, and if you’re not on the list we will have to ask you to leave.”

I couldn’t just leave, not after making a fool of myself by crashing another foal’s exam! If I didn’t prove myself then my parents and I would get punished for what I did, just for trying to help us live a better life. I saw what the test was, a lump of metal that had the instructions: “Mold this”.

Now, even though magic is powerful, it’s still based upon how strong a connection that pony has to it. It also takes concentration, being able to speak many incantations mentally while focusing your magic on an object as unyielding as iron.

I focused my magic on the lump of metal, channeling my mana into my horn and through it to the lump of iron. It glowed, rattling a bit. The proctors were watching me with mild interest, at best I was going to prove some entertainment for them, and when I failed they would call the Guards and throw me out.

I kept focusing, trying to make the metal change shape and form. I needed to do this, I needed to show them all that we weren’t nothing because we weren’t as wealthy or connected as the others. All of that worry, all of those raw emotions, it all just came to a boil until finally, I erupted. I don’t remember too much of what happened, only what others told me.

Apparently my magic surged, wrapping my tiny body in an intense magical aura. My eyes had shined with white light, and then, out of nowhere, that energy made my mane and tail bellow like fire, wings of fire shot out from my back as my horn continued to radiate intense power. My spell finally took hold and the iron superheated until it was white hot. Apparently I molded it into the shape of sword, which was kinda cool.

But, even so, I felt trapped. There was so much power flowing through me, I was scared, it felt like it was going to swallow me. But before I knew it, it was over. I found myself looking upon a white alicorn mare, mane shimmering in different hues of the day sky, and gentle magenta eyes. I knew who this mare was, I knew all too well. Princess Celestia was standing before me, looking down at me with a neutral gaze.

I snapped out of whatever trance I was in and noticed how much damage my magic did. The sword was stuck in the wall behind the proctors, and most of the wall where the other foals and parents were was completely gone. There were scorch marks all over the place, except for a clear ring where I was standing. I knew why Celestia was there now, she was going to punish me for entering the exams without permission and for nearly hurting everypony there!

I curled up into a ball, shivering and crying, afraid for what she was going to do to me and my family. I sniffled and shook, I was so afraid that I made the Princess mad at me. I thought she was going to throw my family and me in a dungeon or banish us to some other dimension, or send us to Tartarus! The very pony who watched over us and protected us from harm, I made her mad and now she was going to punish me for what I did.

But…when I saw the shadow of her foreleg reach out to me, she laid that hoof gently onto my head and began stroking my mane soothingly, like my mother would in order to comfort me. I was shocked, I didn’t know if this was just a trick to make me face her, or if she was genuinely trying to comfort me.

I knew it was the latter when she crouched low, practically lying on her belly, trying to come down to my level. I dared to look at her and I felt a lump form in my throat, she wasn’t looking at me with a scolding or withering gaze, but in her eyes, on her very visage, I saw nothing but the love and kindness that my own mother would show me whenever I was scared.

“Please little filly, do not worry, you’re alright. You’re safe.”

At first I couldn’t believe she said that, Celestia must’ve noticed my disbelief because she lowered her head and nuzzled my cheek, gently. I was shocked, for the second time, because my tear stained face was messing up the Princess’ flawless white coat, but she didn’t care in the slightest, she only cared about making sure I felt safe. She pulled back after a little bit and smiled at me again, and I couldn’t help but smile a little in return.

“Are you feeling a little better, my little pony?”

“I…I am…thank you, Princess. Um, w-what happened?”

“You experienced quite the magical surge, I haven’t seen such raw magical potential in quite some years. Tell me, what is your name?”

“S-Sunset, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Well, Sunset Shimmer, if it is alright with your parents and you of course, I would like for you to attend my school.”

I was so happy, my heart swelled to the point I thought it would burst out my chest! But then…

“Princess! We can’t let this filly attend your school! For one thing she was not on the list of candidates, nor is there any sign of her parents or guardians! In fact, she cut in line of another candidate and used a binding spell to lock the door and bar any other potential students from entering! And after that display, Princess, with all due respect, that filly is too dangerous to be around other foals with that much power!”

I curled back up into ball out of pure instinct, hearing that proctors harsh words scared me. Worse, I was scared they might actually convince Princess Celestia to not let me attend her school and punish me severely instead. She turned back to me and gave me that neutral expression she had earlier.

“Ms. Shimmer, is this true?”

I couldn’t lie, not to her. “It is true…your majesty. I-I cut in line and crashed the exam of another foal, I locked the door with a spell to keep anypony else from getting inside…I…I just wanted to show them that I was good at magic, too! I…I’m sorry…!”

I felt the sting of my tears return, but I dared not turn away from the Princess. If nothing else, I could say with pride that I faced my punishment from our benevolent ruler with grace and dignity. I watched as Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow, looking from me, back at the proctors, and to the ponies still gathered outside watching us. After what felt like hours of waiting, the Princess made her decision.

“You are right, she does have a lot of magical power, and if left unchecked it could put a lot of ponies in danger, even those closest to Ms. Shimmer.”

I felt dread start to creep into my heart, and it was only made worse by those sadistic looks the proctors were giving me. It was as if they were saying “You don’t belong among our noble elite, and now you’ll be punished for it.” I wanted to run, but my stubborn pride wouldn’t let me, I didn’t want to be seen as a weak and cowardly commoner, I wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction.

Princess Celestia turned back to me, and what she said next made me so incredibly happy. “Since this is the case, I have no choice but to take Ms. Sunset Shimmer on as my personal student.”

I swear, everypony’s jaw dropped at that moment.

“You have a great amount of magical talent Sunset, you can do great things with that power, if honed through study and practice. Do you wish to be my student?”

I couldn’t help myself, I launched myself onto her foreleg and hugged for dear life. “THANK YOU, PRINCESS! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

I felt like an idiot for acting like that, but the opportunity to be taught by Princess Celestia, the greatest magic wielder and source of near infinite wisdom, how could I not act like a foal. And then there was those guys again.

“PRINCESS!!! You can’t possibly bestow such an honor to a mere common filly! We have many candidates, and all of them have just as much, if not more potential than this filly! At least wait until you’ve seen the other potential students!”

“I have made my decision and it is final.” Despite the seriousness in her voice, I wasn’t afraid, mostly because I knew it wasn’t me she was directing that voice to. “Sunset Shimmer will study at my side, and, she will also attend the school as well to further her education. You all may move to the secondary examination room and continue exams there.”

From then on, my family and I lived better – no – WAY better than we used to! We were actually given a house in the wealthier district of Canterlot, and I was given a small fortune for myself and my mother and father. I stayed in the castle so I could be closer to the school and so I could be ready to receive my private lessons from Princess Celestia.

My life had finally turned around, I learned so much about magic, how powerful it was, how it could help others, defend oneself and those you care for, and how to use it to strike down those who would cause you harm. The lessons were more along the lines of the former than the latter, she stressed more defensive and constructive magical uses, only ever dipping into offensive uses when necessary.

I aced all my tests, became the most popular mare on campus, I had everything I ever wanted. Everything my family and I deserved! I –!

Sunset stopped her tale, a painful expression befalling her visage at that moment.

“Go on, what else?” Twilight asked.

“That’s it.”

“That can’t be it, because…if…if any of this was even the slightest bit possible, then that doesn’t explain how or why you’re in this world and not back in your home dimension!”

Sunset rose to her feet and clenched her fists as she turned her back on her girlfriend. “Well it’s all you’re getting, Twilight. I explained where I came from, and why I can use magic. I’m not human, I was originally a magical unicorn from a parallel world. But when I came here, I thought I lost my magic as a result. I felt that there was magic in this world, but it was faint, like grasping air, you know it’s there but you can’t hold it no matter what you do. But now it’s back, and…I’m happy!”

Twilight stood as well as she looked upon Sunset incredulously. “You’re happy about what your magic turned us into?!”

“NO!” Sunset shouted as she turned to face Twilight. “I’m happy because a part of me that I thought was lost is finally back! My magic was – is – a part of me! You have no idea how it felt when I lost it! It’s like losing a piece of your soul! Like something punched a gaping hole in your chest and nothing could fill that void! I don’t like that we became Hel, but having my magic back gives us an edge over the Organization now!”

Twilight rubbed her temples, all this talk about magic, talking ponies, pony demigods, and parallel dimensions was starting to give her a migraine of epic proportions. “This makes some sense, now. Every time I did a biometric scan of you, there was always some kind of anomaly within your internal bioenergy flow. I thought the Firestorm Matrix was the cause of it, but now…Oh Einstein’s ghost, I don’t know anymore!”

Sunset walked towards Twilight, as annoyed as she was that Twilight couldn’t wrap her head around the concept of magic, she still wanted to comfort her. When she reached towards Twilight and placed her hand on her left arm, the lavender girl flinched away from Sunset’s touch, a look of fear and panic on her face. A stabbing pain shot through Sunset’s heart at seeing that expression, and Twilight noticed too late the damage it did.

“I get it…I guess you don’t want to be touched by a pony pretending to be a human…”

“No…Sunset that’s not why –!”

“It’s fine, after what happened it’s probably best we don’t touch each other. We could become Hel again…”

Twilight’s words caught in her throat, she hadn’t thought of that. Now that Sunset’s magic was activated, merely coming into contact with each other could trigger the fusion yet again. Twilight shuddered at the thought of becoming that she-demon again. The worst part of it all was that she could almost feel Hel, as if she were a part of her now.

“I…I think we should head back to my house, I need to run tests on us. To see how the introduction of your…magic…has changed the Matrix.”

“Let’s just…hold off on that…for now.”

“But, Sunset –”

“JEEZ, ONE DAY ISN’T GOING TO KILL US TWILIGHT, SO JUST GIVE ME THAT MUCH, PLEASE?!!” Sunset yelled with fury.

Twilight jumped at the harshness in her voice, Sunset’s bangs created shadows over her eyes, keeping whatever intense glare she had hidden. But then, Twilight saw a stray tear fall down her cheek and sadness gripped her heart.

“A-Alright, I’ll head home and we’ll meet up sometime…”

“Yeah…”

Neither of the girls could really look at each other, and a sizeable gap was left between them. They walked to the nearest bus stop and took it back to the city. Of course progress was slow, what with the recent battle that just took place.

Fire and rescue, police, and even some National Guard troops were all over the battlefield that had become downtown Canterlot. Men in hazmat suits with Geiger Counters came out to inspect for radiation, finding spikes here and there. Twilight made a mental note to visit these sites and neutralize the radiation before it got worse.

During the whole bus ride, Sunset kept her gaze away from Twilight. Both girls didn’t really look at each other, silence had become their only comfort right now after what they went through. Despite not wanting to go to her house, Sunset felt it would be worrisome to her parents of the brainiac girl returned home alone. Eventually Sunset was able to get Twilight back home.

Velvet and Night Light were worried when they couldn’t reach them, but thankfully the radiation near where they were was wreaking havoc with cellular phone signals as well as radio signals, so there was no way for them to communicate their wellbeing during the crisis. Sunset groaned when she remembered that her bike was probably going to be impounded and quarantined because it was near the fallout area. No doubt the thing was irradiated after all the nuclear power Atomic Skull let out.

“Sunset, dear, do you want to stay with us for the night?” Velvet asked.

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s alright, I’ll just walk from here. I’m good, really.” Sunset insisted.

“We figure you can take care of yourself, but after everything that’s happened tonight, it’s better that you stay indoors. Police and the soldiers are probably going to be out all over the place after that, looking for anyone who’s thinking about starting trouble. And, no offense, but they’ll most likely go after teens out late at night, and alone,” said Night Light.

Sunset really couldn’t beat Mr. Night Light’s logic, in the mood she was in, Sunset was most likely to get herself arrested. It was sweet of the two to think of her safety, despite not knowing that she was way more powerful and far more dangerous than anyone or anything out the streets right now.

Reluctantly, Sunset gave in to Velvet and Night Light, she was tired and she knew neither of them would budge. Plus, she really didn’t feel like calling Celestia to pick her up right now. With that settled, Sunset took residence in their guest room and headed to bed immediately, barely saying so much as a “goodnight” to her secret lover.

Both Twilight and Sunset couldn’t sleep, whenever they did they tossed and turned. Memories of the battle were still fresh in their minds, the feelings, the sensations, all of it was replayed over and over again, the image of Hel standing before Atomic Skull, and blowing his head away execution style.

Even though it wasn’t by their hands, Hel was their creation, their bodies and power melded together into a monstrous form, acting upon their feelings of hate and anger towards him, and in keeping with that unspoken will, killed him.

Twilight knew Sunset was right, killing Atomic Skull was the only way to save everyone. Skull wasn’t a Protocol user, he was a killer pure and simple, and he would’ve hurt many more before killing the both of them.

That was probably the most frightening thing to Twilight, he was going to kill them both. They were close to death. Yes, she knew facing the other Firestorms was risky and life threatening, but at least with Sunset at her side, and the ability to render them powerless, their chances of survival were moderate, and with each victory their chances for survival only got higher.

But when they faced Skull, he was the real deal. He wasn’t someone driven by greed and wealth, he was a soldier, a trained professional in the art of killing and combat. None of the other Firestorms gave off the same murderous intent as he did, Twilight could now tell the difference. As strong as some of them were, none were as bloodthirsty and sadistic as Atomic Skull was. It only brought on more fear for Twilight now that she thought about it.

We just took out someone who was supposedly going to kill us. They knew we wouldn’t live, but we did. Now they’ll have to rethink their strategy if they want to come at us again. But…does that mean they’ll resort to more extreme measures? What else do they have that predated the Firestorm Project? And is it even worse than Atomic Skull?!

Twilight bolted upright in her bed as she struck the mattress in frustration.

Idiot, you knew this would happen! The stronger we get the worse things they’ll send to try and stop us! We just assumed they wanted the Firestorm Matrix inside of the both us, but I never took into account that they might just resort to outright killing us! Cutting their losses makes sense but…

Twilight fell back on her pillow, rubbing her eyes as she tried to piece this together. Her tired eyes drifted to the wall behind her, more accurately, to who lied on the other side of it. Part of Twilight wanted to go see Sunset, to reassure her that everything was okay. Which was strange because it was usually the other way around. But whenever she motioned to do so, her body froze. Sunset had revealed to Twilight part of her origins, that she was not human but was in fact a…a pony. A magical, talking pony from a parallel world, now turned human.

She…She had to be making that up. Magic talking ponies, parallel dimensions! Okay, the parallel dimensions is a viable theory, but a world inhabited by equines that can talk and use magic to control practically every facet of nature?!

That’s just…completely…utterly……untrue, right? Sunset spoke about that world so passionately, so strongly and with so much emotion, as if she really did go through all that. She wasn’t speaking as if telling a fantastic tale. It was more like one recalling past memories.

Do I dare believe her? Believe in some world called “Equestria”, where there are sentient ponies, ruled over by a thousand-year-old goddess pony? Truthfully, compared to what we’ve been through, it’s not unreasonable to think of such things. But…Sunset said, when she came here, she thought her magic was lost to her, gone.

I guess it makes sense, if she had that kind of power she wouldn’t have need for the Protocol, and I doubt the trouble she caused at CHS would’ve been as…relatively minor as compared to what she could’ve done with magic.

To believe or not to believe, that was Twilight’s dilemma. She wanted to believe Sunset, the irrational part of her, the part that loved Sunset, told Twilight that her words were true and held no deceit. But the rational part of Twilight begged her to reconsider what she was told.

Sunset Shimmer had been secretive about herself, even during all this time they were growing closer, she never fully opened up to her. Even though Twilight revealed to Sunset all the secrets of her origins, how she was made, why she was made, and what her life now means to her, Twilight practically bared her soul to Sunset and in the end she accepted her.

Maybe it’s because of where she says she’s from is the reason Sunset can accept what I am. Compared to a land filled with magical beings, a human being grown in a test tube isn’t very farfetched. It would also validate why she’s living alone, but, if she did have parents in this parallel world, why didn’t they all come here together? Was it by accident? Did she – Oh stop it Twilight! You’re being absurd! You can’t…this goes against everything you were taught by Professor Neigh!

To believe her old teacher or to believe her new love, such was Twilight’s decision.

Sunset awoke early, real early. The sun had barely rose into the sky, and as far as she could tell, everyone in the house was still fast asleep. The fiery haired girl let out a long sigh. Telling Twilight even that much about her past was painful, as happy as those portions of her memories were, they were still painful because it reminded her of what she lost, and it reminded her of greatest regret.

“No point in sulking about it now. What’s done is done, this world…this world…”

Don’t tell me you’re going to say “this is my home”? That’s just so…cliché!

Sunset glanced over her right shoulder and saw the ghostly image of Hel looming behind her. The rebel girl always had a part of her that still held onto the anger, past and present, and now that part of her had been given a face and body. Hel smiled her fanged smile at Sunset, making the yellow girl turn away from her.

Oh don’t be like that, Sunny.

“Don’t you dare call me that! You have no right to!” Sunset spat.

Well, in a way, I do. Hel floated closer to Sunset, placing her clawed hands on Sunset’s shoulders. I’m not just part of you, Sunny, I’m also a part of Sparky as well. I’m both of you, in one. So, in a way, I do have the right.

Oddly, Sunset could feel Hel’s claws on her shoulders. Yet, despite her demonic form, Hel took care in how she placed those claws, she made no threatening gestures nor did she seem to want to harm her. Sunset stiffened when she felt Hel dip lower, bringing her arms to hang over Sunset’s shoulders as her head came to a rest on her left, nuzzling her cheek.

“Stop that,” she hissed.

C’mon, even I know you need a little affection. Why don’t we go see Sparky, I’m sure she’s probably feeling a little frisky, battle usually brings that more primal part out of someone.

“You just want us to fuse together again so you can come out and kill someone again!” Sunset accused.

Well, if by “fuse” you mean making Sparky scream your name in ecstasy then that’s another story. Hey, if you want, you and Sparky can consider me your love child!

Sunset blushed furiously at how casual a remark that was for Hel.

But seriously, I don’t need to come out. I’m only here to vanquish your enemies, and yes, that means kill them. I was only doing what neither of you alone had the nerve to do. You had the intent, but not the guts to pull the trigger. That’s where I came in.

“Even so, Twilight was right, you could’ve just ended it then and there. You took his powers away, he was defenseless and weak, and you could’ve just…”

Hel brought her claws up, hugging Sunset closer to her ethereal body. Sunny, you and I know that this isn’t the first time we’ve kept kicking someone when they were down. Fluttershy is the perfect example of defenseless and weak, and yet you just couldn’t help but want to verbally abuse her until she was a shivering, whimpering little speck of the weak thing you knew her to be.

“Shut up! I…I never hurt her, physically! Not like what you did to Skull!”

Hmm, true, you’re right. But you came close a number of times. Knocking her fliers out of her hands, slamming your hand against the locker, just inches away from her head; you’re no saint Sunny, and we both know that words can wound someone deeper than any blade or bullet, enough to where it can even be felt physically.

Sunset shivered as she clenched her fists. “Why are you doing this?”

I just want you to keep all this in mind. You love Sparky, and she’s yours now. You may want to change, but in the end I’ll still be here. Because, really, you need me, you need my power if more things like Atomic Skull come around. And come on, you can’t say having your magic back isn’t a great plus.

“That’s…That’s true, I guess…”

You want to keep Sparky safe, and live a happy life? I’m the answer. With me, nothing on this planet can touch either of you, we could burn the Organization to the ground!

The thought was appealing, very appealing. Sunset shook her head and wriggled herself free of Hel’s grasp. The ghostly demoness looked shocked for a moment, but not hurt in the slightest. She saw their relationship as love-hate.

It’s fine, Sunny. Eventually, you’ll understand that I’m only here to protect you two. I mean it, I’ll kill and destroy whatever threatens your lives, that’s a promise I intend to keep.

“Yeah, because if we die then you die, too!” Sunset shot back.

Hel shrugged.Admittedly yes, ceasing to exist would royally suck. So with that in mind, I’ll just give you some alone time.

With that said, Hel vanished from Sunset’s sight. It wasn’t enough that she was dealing with her demons, now she had an actual demon lurking as close as her shadow. With a sigh, Sunset opened the door to her bedroom with the full intent of leaving, but when she did she gasped. Twilight was standing there, hand just a few inches away from where the doorknob was a moment ago. Twilight backed up, seeing Sunset’s sudden opening of the door.

“M-Morning, Sunset.”

Sunset averted her gaze and walked past Twilight, heading for the stairs without saying anything. Confused, Twilight went after Sunset, she was already at the door and about to open it when Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs and called out to her.

“Sunset, wait, where are you going?!”

“Back to my apartment.”

“B-But, weren’t we going to do some tests? I need to see –”

“Twilight, I…I think it’s best that we don’t stay near each other. Not with what’s happened to us.”

Twilight felt her heart pang from hearing that. “Sunset…what are you saying?”

“ ………”

“Are you…Are we breaking up?” Twilight asked with dread.

Sunset’s eyes flew wide open as she turned on her heels and embraced Twilight. The lavender girl struggled against the hug, wanting a proper answer. But she couldn’t help it, feeling Sunset’s arms wrapped around her brought Twilight comfort. Unfortunately, Sunset pulled away, letting out a shocked gasp. The former bad girl shook her head, trying to regain her composure.

“No, Twilight, no we’re not breaking up! In fact, that’s the last thing I want to do!”

“Then…why did you say all of that?!”

“Just…It’s for our own safety, and…I need to sort things out for myself, I’m sorry!”

Sunset quickly opened the front door and bolted, running out to the sidewalk and continuing down at great speed. Twilight ran outside as well, making it to the sidewalk as she watched Sunset’s retreating form. She wanted to call out to her, she wanted to chase after her, but Twilight felt that somehow that would just make things worse. So she stood there, watching Sunset run until she was gone.

Entry 18: Plan(s) in Motion

Entry 18: Plan(s) in Motion

Warning: Contains my poor attempt at writing a Siren song. You have been warned.

YEARS AGO...

It was a bright sunny day at the Junior Speedsters Track Camp. Many boys and girls who wanted to become future track and field stars came from all around Canterlot City, and some of the neighboring towns as well. The JSTC was renowned for its training regimen, as well as its ability to make such things fun for the kids. For one girl, it was a different story.

A young girl, all of eight or nine years of age, walked through the gates of JSTC, nervously clutching at her duffle bag full of clothes and essentials for her stay. She wore a good pair of running shoes, black mesh shorts, and a white t-shirt that had the JSTC logo on it. Her short, white feathery hair with light-purple edges on her bangs rustled in the wind. Her bronze skin glowed beautifully in the sun, and her eyes were a sharp yellow, but they were filled with such nervousness, like a kitten that had lost its way.

Unfortunately, this timid girl didn’t go unnoticed, despite how much she wished to have been. Three young boys spotted her, each of them had two stripes on the sleeves of their shirts, indicating the number of years they’ve been to the camp.

“Hey, lookie here boys, new meat! Hey new meat, what’s your name?”

The young girl put her duffle bag down and looked to each boy with the same timid expression. “M-My name is G-Gilda, and I’m new.”

“No duh,” interjected another boy.

“I-I was wondering where the counselors office was? I n-need to get assigned a bunk,” said Gilda.

“Tch, shows what you know. We assign the newbies a bunk! We’re the best and fastest of everyone here, so if you want to last long here, the first thing you need to do is learn that when we say jump, you ask how high.”

“Yeah, jump,” said another.

Gilda looked as if she was on the verge of breaking into a crying fit, not that that fazed either of the three boys in the slightest.

“HEY!”

Suddenly, a cyan girl came skidding across the concrete, her sneakers making a squeaking sound as she came to a stop, forcing the three boys to back away from Gilda. The girl, with rainbow colored hair, stood up and put herself between Gilda and the jerky boys.

“Dumbbell, you going around messing with the new guys, again?!”

“Stay out of it, Rainbow Crash, this ain’t none of your business,” warned Dumbbell.

“First: it’s Rainbow Dash, and second: it is my business when you pick on a girl. C’mon, three guys to scare one girl, jeez, look at the big tough Dumbbell and his gang. Why don’t you try and scare that guy instead!”

Rainbow pointed to another new kid, standing far bigger, and muscular than the others. He flexed his muscles for a few of the girls who took notice and gave a loud “YEAAAAH!” as he did so. Dumbbell and his two friends gulped, going as pale as the large boy, there was no way that that guy was the same age as the rest of them. Rainbow crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave them a cocky smirk.

“What’s the matter? Do need me to introduce you?” Rainbow turned to the muscled boy in the distance. “Hey, Bulk Biceps!”

“YEAAAAAH?”

“Ah screw this! Next time Dash!” Dumbbell warned.

The three jerky boys dashed away as fast as they could, causing Rainbow to laugh like crazy. “Never mind Bulk, sorry.”

“YEAAAAH.” Bulk replied.

Rainbow turned around and looked to Gilda. “Sorry about those guys. Dumbbell and his halfwits think they run the place ‘cause they think they’re faster than everyone else. They didn’t hurt you did they?”

Gilda blushed and shook her head. “N-No they didn’t, thank you.”

“No sweat.” Rainbow Dash held out her hand and smiled at Gilda. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, future track star and sports star of everything.”

Gilda gingerly reached out and shook Rainbow’s hand, taking note of her firm grip, which somehow chased away the nervousness she was feeling. “My name is Gilda, I’m from Griffon Stone, originally.”

“Oh yeah, I know that place, somewhere out near the mountains right? Man, you must have crazy good endurance and lungs from being around that place.”

Gild scratched the back of her head, feeling the blush on her face intensify from the insinuation. “I did a little mountain climbing with my folks and cousins, so yeah I guess.”

“Hey, did you learn the JSTC chant yet?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, yes I did.”

Rainbow smirked again and took a step back, Gilda understood where this was going and did the same the same.

“Junior Speedsters is our lives, running fast, and jumping high! Junior Speedsters it’s our quest, to someday be the very best!”

“Hey, G? G!”

“Huh, what?!”

Gilda snapped out of her reminiscing, bringing her back to the bar the two of them were at. It was nighttime, and the two bad girls were out having a good time as per usual. Gilda was sitting at their usual table, along with Lightning Dust. Both of them were listening to a band that was playing up on stage, belting out rock music and lyrics that barely made sense.

“You spaced out, again, what’s up with you?” Lightning asked.

“Nothing’s ‘up’, just thinking about stuff,” said Gilda.

“What kind of stuff?”

“Just. Stuff. Lightning, now drop it.” Gilda huffed.

Lightning took a swig of her mug and smiled coyly at Gilda. “Hmm, could that stuff happen to be related to a certain girl with rainbow hair?”

“Lightning I swear to god if you mention her name –”

Lightning raised her hand up defensively. “Cool your jets, G. I know you’re still hung up on her.”

“Like you’re not either.”

Lightning shrugged, she didn’t deny it; she hated Rainbow Dash, even more than she did Sunset Shimmer. “At least I’m not the one banging me in order to, in some vicarious way, screw Dash.” Gilda shot Lightning a dangerous glare. “Not that I mind, really. It’s not like I’m in love with you or anything.”

Gilda rolled her eyes, Lightning’s crass and dirty way of talking when in places like this took some getting used to, walking a fine line between pissing Gilda off and just plain annoying. Still, she was a rowdy girl, and she liked having someone around who understood her. Being friends with benefits was just a plus.

“Anyway, yeah, I was thinking about Dash. About the first time I met her really.” Gilda admitted.

“Guessing that was a better time, considering you weren’t brooding when you were spacing.”

Gilda cracked a small smile. “Yeah, it was back when we were snot nosed kids. I was really different, a wimp, a loser. I met Dash, and then everything changed. I guess she rubbed off on me.”

“More like she rubbed on you.” Lightning commented.

“Ugh, does everything have to be a sexual innuendo with you?!”

“The whole world is one big sexual innuendo, if you want to get all Freudian about it.”

Gilda took a swig of her own drink and let out a sigh. “Tell me again why you dropped out of that Sports Program? ‘Cause I’m starting to think it was because of sexual harassment rather than what you told me.”

“Hah, I wish, at least then I could’ve said the other trainees were good at something. But no, Dash, as always, manages to screw up another life. Just because I like to push myself to the limit and make the rest of those wimps look pathetic, doesn’t mean it’s ‘dangerous’. Sheesh, damn little goodie-two-shoes.”

The music stopped and the band that was onstage bowed and left. Gilda sighed heavily. “Finally, maybe the next ones will sound better.”

“Or sing a song that actually makes sense.”

Suddenly the stage lights blacked out, causing the other patrons to murmur and groan in annoyance at the darker than usual setting. But before any tiffs were started the lights sprang back to life, illuminating the stage. Upon it stood three girls, each of them no older than Gilda and Lightning.

“Hello everyone, we’re so glad you get to be our audience tonight. I’m Adagio Dazzle, the bubbly thing to my left is Sonata Dusk, and the grumpy one to my right is Aria Blaze. My girls and I would like to dedicate this song to two special ladies in the house tonight. We hope you enjoy it,” said the curly haired girl in the middle.

She then winked in Gilda and Lightning’s direction, making both girls look at each other in confusion.

“Did that chick just wink at us? And make a song declaration to us, too?” Gilda asked.

“Nah, gotta be some other girls in here. But, I gotta say, I’m digging the hips on that one,” said Lightning with a lascivious smile.

“You really need to get your head out of the gutter.”

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

The moment their voices echoed out the attention of every person in the room was trained on the trio, yet, for some reason, Gilda and Lightning didn’t seem as attentive, but they did notice the haunting melody. Adagio took center stage as Sonata and Aria sang backup, swaying rhythmically to their song.

“♪ Listen to our voices, the echo of our song~ ♪”

“♪ You’ll never be alone~ ♪”

“♪ Bonds once forged are now long gone~ ♪”

“♪ Fickle be the heart~ ♪”

“♪ Bred in love, raised with care, but yoooou must…beware~ ♪”

“♪ Betrayal, deception, and despair~ ♪”

“♪ Take care, take heed, of those around you~
Their turncoat deeds will confound you~
Pretty words are not enough~
Now it’s time, let’s get rough~ ♪”

Suddenly, the entire room was swaying to the song, as if caught in some hypnotic trance, but Gilda and Lightning were a different story. Their minds started to replay memories of their past, more specifically, ones pertaining to Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer. Gilda grabbed her head, feeling the rush of memories bombard her mind, the warm feelings of the past memories with Rainbow Dash had left, leaving only hate and bitterness.

Old wounds were reopened as Lightning Dust recalled, in vivid detail, her disgrace at Rainbow’s hands, getting thrown out because she was the best and went to limits that the others weren’t willing to. Rainbow came in and did that, she was weak, so she sided with the other weaklings. They could’ve been the best of the best of everything, but in the end she chose the weaklings over her.

And Sunset Shimmer, the girl who they thought was their friend, joined in a mutual wanting of power and strength, in the end she too betrayed them. Throwing them away like a disposable paper cup, and for a nerd at that; a nerd who cost Sunset the thing she wanted, and offered to get back at for her. And what does Sunset Shimmer do? She fights them, all to protect the very person she said she despised.

Ungrateful, uncaring, two faced, they spurned their friendships, they toyed with their emotions. No more, they had it. At that moment, their concentration was broken as they heard approaching footsteps. Both Gilda and Lightning looked up and saw Adagio coming towards them. She sauntered, swaying her hips seductively as she got closer and closer to the two girls. Looking into her violet eyes entranced them.

Sonata and Aria kept the melody going, dancing with each other. Aria, used one arm and brought Sonata close to her, their hips pressed together firmly. Sonata never lost the tone or rhythm of the melody, having grown used to Aria getting handsy while they sang, and honestly she liked it.

Aria then brought Sonata closer, their eyes locking with the others’. Aria then dipped Sonata, while Sonata curled one of her legs in, prompting Aria to use the other hand to hold said leg with it. Sonata brought the mike she was using between them, making sure their melody kept booming through the speakers.

Adagio was sitting on the edge of the table, with her back to Gilda and Lightning. She glanced over her shoulder to both girls, giving them a smoldering smile. “Do you two want to get back at those who have hurt you? ”

“W-What?” Lightning asked, suddenly flustered.

“The two girls who hurt you, emotionally and physically, they tugged at your heartstrings, and made false promises, and in the end you believed their lies, allowing them stomp on your friendships and any chance at something more,” said Adagio, her voice still carrying its powerful, soothing, and hypnotic tone.

“Y-Yes, them…they…wait…” Gilda shook her head a bit, feeling like her mind was in a dense fog.

Adagio smiled, impressed that someone could at this point make an attempt at breaking their spell with willpower alone. But, willpower could only count for so much. Adagio got up from the table and stood next to Gilda, she ran a finger up from her neck, following the jawline until her finger rested gently on Gilda’s lips, silencing her protests.

“♪ Hear me girl, it’s power you desire~
And I have that which you require~ ♪”

“♪ Forged in fiiiiiirrrrrre~ ♪”

Without knowing, two capsules containing fireballs appeared on the table. Lightning gazed upon the one before her, eyes transfixed on the orb of power. Gilda’s eyes briefly broke contact with Adagio’s to see the capsule, but with a gentle push her gaze was brought back to the girl in front of her.

“♪ Now my dear, do not fear
Unlock the tempest deep inside~ ♪”

“♪ A raging stooooorm~ ♪”

“♪ Now listen closely, this word I will confide… ♪” Adagio leaned forward and kissed the finger she still had pressed against Gilda’s lips, making it into an indirect kiss. She then leaned forward and to Gilda’s left ear. “♪ …… Firestorm~ ♪”

Adagio’s word echoed, but only Gilda and Lightning could hear it. Unconsciously, Gilda placed her hand on the capsule, and so too did Lightning Dust. The orbs within glowed brighter as if responding to their touch. Adagio left Gilda and made her way back to Sonata and Aria who had separated happily upon seeing their leader return. Once joined on the stage, Sonata and Aria slid down, wrapping the arm opposite the one holding the mike around each of Adagio’s slender legs.

The two Sirens posed there, keeping their eyes now locked with Gilda and Lightning Dust. Adagio reached out a hand as if beckoning them to her, and at that moment the ruby necklaces of the three Sirens thrummed with power.

“♪ Say the word~ ♪”

“♪ Say it loud~ ♪”

The orbs glowed brighter and brighter, Gilda and Lightning’s lips trembled as they uttered the word.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

LATER…

The Sirens had left their newest toys to figure out their powers after they left the bar, thankfully they knew it wouldn’t take Gilda and Lightning Dust long to understand how to use them, considering the spell also imbued them with the knowledge of how to use the Firestorm powers.

It had taken some time for the three of them to find out who she was, this Sunset Shimmer. A girl who somehow appeared out of thin air one day and attended a local high school, by all accounts and purposes that was odd. They also found out that she was quite the little hell raiser at her school, practically ruling it with an iron fist. Negative energy hung in the air around her, despite its outwardly positive nature. It didn’t take long for them to find those two girls, Gilda and Lightning Dust.

Their combined dislike of Sunset Shimmer and another girl lead Sirens right to them, and from there, they concocted a little plan to see if this Sunset Shimmer was indeed a denizen of their world.

Currently, Aria was doing a little pacing back and forth in the middle of the penthouse living room, while Adagio sat down and Sonata rested her head on the lead Siren’s lap as she watched.

“Do you really think this’ll beat them?” Aria asked.

“Honestly, no, but after what we saw, I think we may’ve found what we’ve been looking for.”

“Yeah, that was totally Equestrian magic back there when they turned into that wicked hot she-devil! I still don’t get it, I thought we were the only hippocampi banished by Star Swirl?”

Adagio began petting the blue Siren on the head, causing Sonata to coo with enjoyment. “As far as we knew, no others of our kind attempted what we did. And besides, that magic didn’t feel like ours does. No, if I had to compare it, I’d say it was closer to that of Star Swirl, unicorn Equestrian magic.”

Aria plopped herself on the adjacent couch across from Adagio and Sonata. “If that’s true then how long has she been here?! She looks as old as we are!”

“Careful Aria, we may look the same in age, but we are hundreds of years old. For all we know the magical spell or portal she used to come here might’ve changed her into…this,” Adagio gestured to her body, “ the same way it did us, and if that is indeed the case, then she may indeed be older than she lets on. Although, I don’t think she’s as old as us.”

“Well, we could always ask her,” said Sonata.

“Oh sure, that’ll go over well. Hi Sunset Shimmer, we’re a trio of hippocampi sirens who wreaked havoc and wrought chaos on your land and people a long time ago, and banished here because of it. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know a way back to Equestria? We’re homesick and would really love to go back! Pfft, as if.”

Sonata crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks in a pouty face. “It was just a suggestion.”

“It’s not a terribly bad idea.” Adagio noted. “We’ll need to gauge that girl’s power, this Sunset Shimmer, if she’s the real deal and not some human that somehow tapped into Equestrian magic, then we’ll make our move. Our new ‘friend’s’ actions will help in that department.”

“Do you think Dusky will get angry when he finds out what we did with those Protocols?” Sonata asked in a playful tone.

“If he does, there ain’t no one who can tell him otherwise, and to be honest eff him,” said Aria with a cocky smirk.

Adagio giggled, she could tell this latest development for them was raising their spirits. At long last they had a chance to regain true Equestrian magical power, and a chance go back home. And with the power they wielded now, there was no doubt that nopony, not even Star Swirl the Bearded, who could stop them. Dare she say it, they could even take on the sisters of the sun and moon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Such possibilities burned in Adagio’s head, sending her heart aflutter with everything they could do. It was then that Adagio slammed the breaks, she needed to reign that enthusiasm and ambition in, after all, it was because of those two that caused her oversight and underestimating of a single unicorn’s magical power. But now she was really excited after thinking about all of it.

“Aaaah~” Sonata squeaked.

Adagio looked down and saw that her hand had snaked somewhere close to the border. Sonata looked up at her with a blushing expression. Aria was blushing as well, her knee tapping up and down as if trying to stave off her more primal urges.

“In the bedroom, NOW!” Adagio ordered.

A FEW DAYS AGO…

The Sirens and Dusk Shine couldn’t believe what they had witnessed, even less what they saw afterwards. The Sirens sensed the power of magic at work, and the intense negative emotional energy that was laced within it. The Sirens were able to track them, even after teleportation, and under Dusk Shine’s orders, brought them to where they were to appear.

The four of them arrived just a couple of seconds after the fused Firestorm did. They watched as the creature wailed and shrieked, making even Dusk Shine’s blood run cold from the inhuman sounds coming from the demoness. The four witnessed something else, the demoness Firestorm was suddenly engulfed in flames. The flames became two different colored flames and then split apart.

Dusk Shine and the Sirens saw this as an opportunity, soon they’d be able to take the two halves of the Firestorm Matrix and all their plans would be set in motion. But, the moment the flames separated, they died out and revealed the bearers of the Matrix.

The Sirens eyes widened, watching as the girl with fiery hair hand glowed. It wasn’t the normal glow of the Firestorm atomic power, it was something greatly familiar to them and deeply nostalgic. They weren’t sure before, but now they were, it was magic. It was Equestrian magical energy, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata trembled with happiness, this was something they had long awaited to feel again, and now it was right there before them.

However, something else was of more concern to Dusk Shine. His eyes were squarely fixed on the second girl, the color of her skin and hair, and this strange sensation within the core of his being, something similar to familiarity. Dusk Shine’s eyes widened when he saw the face of the girl, making him take a step back in shock.

“Sir, we-we should –!”

“Fallback!” Dusk Shine interrupted, cutting off Adagio.

“Sir, you can’t be serious?!” Adagio asked.

Dusk Shine turned to the lead Siren, eyes narrowed in a glare that could make Death itself tremble in fear. “I said: fallback!”

The Sirens felt a chill run up their spines from that glare, but nonetheless they obeyed his command. The four of them retreated some distance away, finding their own clearing far from where their quarry was. Dusk Shine was pacing back and forth, and the Sirens were growing anxious. Their possible ticket back home was just a few yards away from them, and they were just standing here waiting for the order of this human. Although, to be fair, this particular human seemed a little…on edge, and by a “little” I mean a lot.

“She’s alive, I don’t…She’s alive!” Dusk Shine ranted.

“Um, Sir, not that I’m saying you don’t have a good reason to have us pullback, but why exactly –?” Suddenly, Dusk Shine moved with a speed that was so swift that it took Sonata and Aria five seconds too long to fully grasp the movement.

Dusk was now holding Adagio by the collar of her shirt, clenching his fists around it tightly as he brought the lead Siren close to him. “What was that they just used?! It was magic wasn’t it?! And that girl, those two girls, what does she have to do with this?!”

“D-Director Dusk Shine…! Control yourself…!” Adagio urged with a strained voice.

“Dagi!!!” Sonata cried.

“Let her go!!!” Aria warned as she readied to fight.

Dusk Shine turned to Aria, shooting her that same glare from before, and making the purple Siren’s resolve waver. He turned and gave Sonata the same glare, making doubly sure not to forget the seemingly airheaded member of their trio. Once assured that Sonata and Aria wouldn’t make a move he turned his attention back to Adagio.

“It…It was magic, I’d know it anywhere…! But, Director, I don’t know who either of them are…!” Adagio answered.

Dusk Shine hoisted Adagio into the air, keeping her suspended three feet off the ground as his knuckles dug into her throat, pressing against her airway. “I don’t get it, not at all! She should be dead! And the appearance of magic in the Matrix was never a part of Neigh’s research!”

“D-Director,” begged Adagio.

Dusk Shine snapped out of his rage and dropped Adagio, unceremoniously, back to the ground. She plopped onto her rear, Adagio took in deep gasping breathes as she coughed from nearly being choked to death. Sonata and Aria quickly made their way to Adagio, kneeling on either side of her to offer her what comfort they could. Dusk Shine’s gaze turned towards the direction his originator was at, fixing it with a steely glare as he did so.

“None of you are to speak a word of what you saw here tonight, as far as anyone knows, you lost track of it, the situation was too unknown to risk engagement or surveillance. Understood?!”

Sonata and Aria had angered looks on their faces, ready to strike Dusk Shine now that his back was turned, but Adagio placed her hands on either Siren’s shoulder, prompting them to stand down.

“Understood, Director Shine.”

ORGANIZATION BASE GAMMA…

Dusk Shine was in his personal laboratory. On a wall were pictures of the girl from whose genes he was spawned from. Dusk had hacked numerous databases, using the image of his “older sister” to verify what he saw that night.

Now, he found out who she was. Through some cross-referencing, computer aging software, and a procurement of some digital birth and adoption records, Dusk concluded that this girl, “Twilight Sparkle”, was in fact the same. Dusk had to sit down as he took this all in. Professor Neigh lied to him, she wasn’t dead. She was alive! Alive and attending a school called Canterlot High School, a straight A student at that! And she was living with an adopted mother and father, along with an adopted older brother.

“Why…Why do you look just like Twilight?!”

“Dammit!” Dusk cursed. “I thought that soldier was just confused upon seeing me. But now, now I understand. He was surprised to see me, someone who looked like…like her! Damn you Neigh, you lied to me! T…Twilight…my sister…she could hold the key to saving my life! You knew where she was this whole time you bastard!”

Dusk Shine rose up and began smashing his fists against the wall where the pictures and reports were all tacked on.

“You knew, you knew, you knew, you knew!!! You were just going to let me die! What makes her so special! Huh?! Tell me what makes her so frickin’ special that her life’s worth protecting over mine?!!!”

Dusk Shine stopped his strikes. The skin around his knuckles was torn and bled from the repeated strikes, but within seconds atomic rings formed around his hands. The flesh mended and the bleeding stopped, along with the pain, leaving Dusk Shine’s hand undamaged. He had to calm down, to suppress the thoughts and desires to hunt down Twilight Sparkle, and torture her in ways that would make even the most brutal terrorist retch in disgust. But he wouldn’t, he couldn’t, because the simple fact remained.

“I need her.”

Yes, he needed Twilight alive, alive to harvest her genes and find a way to stop his deteriorating telomeres, alive to extract the Firestorm Matrix within her and the other girl, alive so that he could discern the mystery behind their fusion. Despite what Dusk Shine was taught, he knew what he saw. The power they wielded was both the Firestorm Matrix and magic. He knew it the moment the jewels on the Sirens’ necklaces glowed without them wielding their power.

“Could it be…?” Dusk Shine went to his computer, looking back on old data concerning the Firestorm Matrix. “That day, I knew I wasn’t mistaken, there was two of them! That means…” Dusk looked back to the wall and grinned. “Oh now this, this is interesting.”

Dusk Shine waved his hands, giving the cameras a simple command to turn off. Once they did, Dusk moved towards a more secluded part of his lab. There was a chamber before him with a keypad, he pressed a few buttons on the pad a small opening appeared. Light poured out from the chamber, making him smile wickedly.

“Looks like I’ll have to accelerate my time table.”

Author's Note

The Dazzlings vector was created by: PrensesMelodiAhenk

Entry 19: Fire in the Sky

The last couple of weeks had been strange, and Twilight’s five friends noticed. It wasn’t because of the attack that occurred two weeks ago, nothing like that. It had more to do with Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer. Before, Twilight was now starting to have Sunset come to their table and have lunch with them, although she talked little, she did offer her opinion from time to time, and she didn’t seem to have that mean streak anymore, well, she kind of still did but it was more in check.

Rarity overall noticed the change in both girls’ wardrobe, apparently both sticking to the outfits they wore on their first date. Out of the five, Rainbow Dash was digging Twilight’s new look, she was way cuter now and hotter. But now, things have changed. Sunset avoided them, more accurately, she avoided Twilight, and it seemed the same held true for Twilight. She seemed both agitated and skittish at the same time.

It had gotten to the point that Rarity and Applejack approached both girls, separately, wanting to know why neither of them were speaking to each other when they had become closer friends. Twilight’s response was that they just had an argument and were giving each other space, Sunset’s was more along the lines of “That’s my business, not yours.” Rarity was starting to become frustrated, but with nothing else to go on she left it at that.

However, Applejack knew better. Thanks to Rainbow Dash, Applejack knew of Sunset and Twilight’s secret relationship. It didn’t take her long to figure that whatever was wrong with them was undoubtedly connected to that. Question is: what exactly happened? In the end, Applejack went to the only other person she could talk to about this, Rainbow Dash.

The teenage apple farmer had her big brother give her a lift to Rainbow’s house, having called the tomboy ahead of time. When she got there she found her friend up in her room, strumming at her guitar while writing down a few song ideas and lyrics in her journal.

“S’up AJ, so what did you need to talk about that you needed my Dad to be out of the house first? And are you sure you’re okay with being alone with me?”

Applejack rolled her eyes, discovering that Rainbow Dash was into girls was a bit of a shocker, but nothing she couldn’t brush off. Now Rainbow joked about it, like she did now. “As long as ya ain’t planin’ on strippin’ and fondlin’ me, then the answer’s no, and the reason I needed to see ya is serious.”

Rainbow Dash closed her journal and leaned her guitar against the wall. “Okay, what’s up?”

“It’s about Twi and Sunset.”

Rainbow’s face deadpanned at the mention of that. “What about ‘em?”

“Haven’t ya noticed that’ve been actin’ weird lately?” Applejack asked.

“Well…Twi’s been a little down, but Sunset…meh.”

“Rainbow, seriously, Ah need ya to just think about Twi and Sunset for a sec here. They’re actin’ like they’re strangers or somethin’! One time Ah saw them bump into each other in the hallway, and they both jumped back as if the other was going to blow up!”

Rainbow Dash thought about that for a moment, Twilight did seem to go out of her way to avoid physical contact with Sunset Shimmer. “You don’t think she…that she forced Twilight to…you know, do you?”

Applejack cringed. “Ah really hope not Dash, Ah’m really hopin’ that’s not the case here.”

“If it is I swear I’m going to make Sunset Shimmer wish she was never born!” Rainbow Dash punctuated her threat by slamming her right fist into the palm of her left hand.

“Easy there sugarcube, we don’t know what’s goin’ on. Part of the problem might be they don’t have nobody to talk to about what they’re feelin’, and sometimes a parent – especially if they’re not open minded – ain’t always easy to talk to.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms in front of her chest, she could already see where this was going. “You want us to talk to them, lend them an ear?”
Applejack nodded.

Rainbow Dash shrugged smirking. “Alright, sounds good to me. You take the she-demon and I’ll talk to Twi.”

Applejack thrusted out left hand in a stopping gesture. “Hold on, that ain’t how this works. The idea is to help ‘em, not convince one to break up with the other.”

“Hang on, you’re not saying you’d think I’d try and convince Twilight to dump Sunset Shimmer and go out with me instead!” Rainbow asked.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow at that, causing Rainbow Dash to rub the back of her head.

“Okay, maybe I’d drop a hint or two, but c’mon! If things aren’t working out, then shouldn’t she be with someone who actually gives a damn about her?!”

Applejack sighed. “Ah understand Dashie, but drivin’ a wedge between ‘em will only hurt Twilight more, and you too. So, Ah’ll talk to Twilight and you talk to Sunset.”

“But – You – I –!”

“Dash, Ah ain’t budgin’ on this one. If ya really need incentive, then think about Twilight! Do ya really like seein’ her mopin’ and lookin’ like she’s heartbroken?!” Applejack asked.

Rainbow tried several times to say something in protest, but each time the words never left her mouth. She disliked Twilight being with Sunset, but deep down she cared more about Twilight than her hate for Sunset. With reluctance, Rainbow nodded her head.

“Good, now I’ll make up some excuse to get Twi alone, maybe get her to come to my place where we can talk in private. You should find a place to talk to Sunset, public, with lots of people.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Jeez, I can take care of myself, I don’t need a crowd to feel safe.”

“It ain’t for your sake Dashie, it’s for both of ya. Less likely chance for either of you actin’ the fool,” said Applejack in a matter-of-fact tone.

SATURDAY

“Bonnie I’m fine, I can get on my own,” said Lyra.

“Look, the doctors said you were cleared to walk around on your own, but you can’t overexert yourself!” BonBon argued.

Sunset was sitting at a table in the mall’s food court. She needed some time alone and decided to just hang about the temple of all things teen. By sheer coincidence Lyra and BonBon were there, she breathed a sigh of relief, she had heard that Lyra had survived what Atomic Skull had done to her, and walked away without any radiation poisoning.

However, nothing could be done for her damaged arm. Having been burned and then snapped off like a twig at the hands of a madman. Sunset clenched her jaw, feeling responsible for what happened to Lyra. Had she not hesitated, the silvery haired girl wouldn’t have had to suffer as she did, or lose her arm as a result.

From what she has seen, BonBon’s been keeping by her side the whole time. Although Lyra fussed over how BonBon was being too helpful, she never stopped smiling, appreciative in her lover’s wanting to take care of her. Sunset couldn’t help but release a wistful sigh, she and Twilight could be goofy like that if the attack hadn’t happened. Now though, it was hard to be in the same room with her. Not only were they afraid of turning into Hel, but Sunset felt that Twilight might still not accept the fact that she was magic, and a pony from a parallel world.

Sunset looked at her right hand, she concentrated for a second, allowing the aquamarine color of her magical aura encompass said hand for a minute. She levitated a few sugar packets on the table, making them hover in a circle just for the heck of it, and doing so brought her a small amount of joy.

Ever since that night, her magical powers had been slowly returning to her, from what she was able to gauge she was at a minor level of power, something close to what a unicorn high school student would have, an average amount. Still, in this world, even an average amount of magical power far surpassed anything the humans had. If she even had a fraction of this there was no telling what kind of things she could’ve done at CHS.

The aura faded and the packets fell back to the table as she shook her head to dislodge those thoughts. Why do I keep going back to that? I don’t have a reason to want to go through with that plan anymore!

Because you can’t escape what you are, Sunny.

The world around her seemed to blur as the sounds of the mall and its patrons became muted, all but for the voice of the demoness sitting across from her.

And what am I, exactly?

Simple, you’re the best. Why not have everything lain before you? You’ve certainly earned it.

Have I? Have really earned everything like you’ve said?! Or have I just been taking it by force?!

Jeez, you can’t see the glass half-full, can ya?

Why are you even here right now?! Two weeks I’ve gone without hearing and seeing you, and now you come out?!

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny, you just need to chill out I – oh great, bitch alert.

What the hell are you –?

“Sunset.”

The girl in question turned around and frowned noticeably. Rainbow Dash was standing behind her, arms crossed as she returned a frown of equal proportion.

“What do you want? If you’re here to pick a fight then don’t. I’m not in the mood and I really just don’t want to,” said Sunset in annoyed tone.

Rainbow Dash walked around and took a seat in the chair across from Sunset. “Much as I’d like to kick your ass up and down this mall, I’m not here for that, yet.”

“Then why are you here?!”

“Twilight.”

Sunset froze and went silent.

“You and Twilight have been acting weird lately. So I’m going to ask you straight forward. Did you do anything to Twilight?!” Rainbow asked.

“No…well, it’s complicated…” Sunset couldn’t deny that much.

“So you did do something?” Rainbow pressed on.

“Ugh, like I said it’s complicated! Stuff…happened, alright. We were caught in the middle of that craziness downtown and we barely made it out before the real hel – crazy stuff went down.”

Rainbow Dash sighed in frustration, she knew Sunset Shimmer was going to dance around the real reason because they were trying to keep the relationship a secret. But if Dash was going to get anywhere she needed to remove the obstacle that was secrecy, which meant only one thing. Rainbow Dash leaned forward, propping herself on her forearms as she gave Sunset Shimmer a serious look.

“Look, let’s just cut the BS, I know you and Twilight are dating.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide with panic, her whole body tensed up as if it couldn’t decide between fight or flight. “Y-You’re wrong, why-why would Sparky – Twilight – Twilight – and I be dating?! I-I don’t even like girls that way! I love boys, I love the –!”

“Oh give it a rest!” Rainbow interrupted. “I know you and Twilight are into each other, and I know you’ve been together for like a month and a half now! I…That day, at the Science Fair, I overheard you guys talking. I saw and heard Twilight confess to you…and how you confessed to her. So drop the ‘I’m not a lesbo act’ and quit embarrassing yourself!”

Sunset was still tense, keeping a level gaze with Rainbow Dash. “……Fine…yes, Twilight and I are a thing…so now what? Are you going to belt it out to the entire school? The Queen Bitch of CHS is actually a lesbian and is dating the girl who dethroned her?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed as she leaned in her seat. “If it was just to take you down, then yeah, I’d plaster the school with leaflets, put up a blog about it on the school site, and just generally spread it around by word of mouth. I would, if the only one going down was just you, but Twilight would get dragged through the mud along with you, so for that reason alone I’m not saying anything.”

Sunset didn’t know whether to be insulted, relieved, or just laugh at how messed up her situation was. Out of all the people who hate her in CHS, the girl who most hates her and was actually brave enough to go toe to toe with her, knew about her secret relationship with Twilight, and right now it was Twilight alone who was keeping the little of her rep from going down the crapper.

“So, what, you going to blackmail me instead?” Sunset asked.

“A good idea, I might later, but right now this isn’t so much about you as it is about what the hell you did to Twilight.”

Hel happened, that’s what.

“So out with it, did you force yourself on Twilight? Touch her somewhere? Make her do something she wasn’t ready for?”

Sunset’s face went red at the accusations, both from anger and embarrassment. “N-NO! What the –! Jeez, is the only reason you can up with for why I’m dating her is that I can rape her at some point?!”

“Oh no, not your style. First you’d convince her you liked her, then worm your way into her home, earn her trust, and then you’d stomp on all that, breaking her heart, and then you’d rape her.”

Sunset’s eye twitched, the fact that Rainbow Dash said all that so easily and as if it were a matter of fact, she was once again conflicted. She was angry, no doubts about that, but at the same time she felt something else, a stab of pain in her heart. Sunset Shimmer slumped in her seat, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she averted her gaze from Rainbow Dash.

“Listen, I’ll admit that I’m no saint, far from it. I’ve done shitty things to people who didn’t deserve it, I know that and I admit it. But I’d never do that to her! I’d never take advantage of Twilight like that, I’d sooner kill myself! And for the record, I’m no damn rapist! I do have, somewhat of, a moral code!”

Rainbow Dash straightened up in her seat and clapped her hands mockingly. “Great, you’re a bitch with a code of honor, better than nothing I guess.”

Sunset sighed heavily, her expression morphed after that, taking on one that looked pensive and hurt. “Do…Do you really see me as someone capable of such horrible things like that? Does everyone?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and gave Sunset an incredulous look. “Are you kidding me?! You singlehandedly destroyed a friendship that me and the girls developed since we were little kids, you divided the student body and made it so barely anyone acknowledged the other, you tormented not just my friends, but everyone in the school! Blackmailed, schemed, lied, bullied, you got a rap sheet longer than football field and you’re dirty as the day is long!”

The cyan girl leaned forward, putting her hands on the table as she stared down at the still slumped Sunset. “As far as I’m concerned, you could commit murder and it wouldn’t surprise me. You’ve acted as if the world owed you something, as if you deserved everything it had to offer, and even then, it was like you hated everything here! I don’t know what messed up life you’ve had Sunset Shimmer, and honestly, I have no pity if you did! Plenty of people have had bad things happen to them, and they’re still better people than you!”

Sunset felt like punching Rainbow Dash, repeatedly, in the face, to scream and shout at her how none of that was true about her. But each word she spoke, cut her deep inside, and it hurt more than she wanted to admit. Sunset knew she had burned bridges and done some awful things in her time here, but to her it didn’t matter, because the end game was for her to rule this world and then rule her home world, Equestria. To her, everyone in the school were just chess pieces, objects to be used and thrown away like a broken sword.

Now though, with her plans shattered, trapped in this world for another thirty moons, Sunset had to deal with the fallout of everything she had done. Twilight had united the school, unintentionally turning everyone into a united group to stand up to Sunset, for she was one and they were many and it finally sunk in. Sunset never took the time to look back on everything she had done, all the pain she had caused, all the people she hurt, all for a goal that in the end was never obtained.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Rainbow Dash was sitting across from her, she’d actually cry. The cyan girl plopped back down in her seat, having gotten nothing but silence in response to her triad. She could feel the air around Sunset had changed, for some reason she seemed vulnerable, fragile. Rainbow shook her head, she couldn’t feel sympathy or pity for this girl, not after everything she did.

“Let me ask you something. Do you love Twilight?” Rainbow asked.

“W-What?”

“I didn’t stutter, Do. You. Love. Twilight?!”

Sunset took a shallow breath and sat up in her seat, in spite of all that had happened, even with what was going on, that was something Sunset could feel inside her was the one good and honest thing she was certain of. “Yes, I love her.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Alright then, guess it’s only fair. I love Twilight, too. And I mean more than just a friendship kind of love, more like I want to make out with her behind the bleachers kind of love.”

Sunset nearly jumped out of her seat, but gripped the table, hard, for stability. It all made sense now, the acting like a personal knight, defending her to the point of stupidity, and even the slight blushes and way she backed down whenever Twilight asked her to. She was in love with Twilight, all this time she was in love with Twilight long before Sunset herself realized it. Now she was scared, for the first time, since fighting Atomic Skull and the first day she became a Firestorm, she was scared.

“Why are you telling me this?” Sunset asked cautiously.

“It’s because I love Twilight like that, that I’m here trying to help her. And one of the ways you could do that, is by not being with her anymore.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not serious?!”

Rainbow Dash stood up and slammed her hands on the table. “I am, do you honestly think for a second that you’re good for her?! I can tell that girl’s going to be some big shot scientist inventing this and that, and probably teaching at some fancy ass school for rich kids! Do you honestly think you’re the kind of girl she needs in her life?! As a friend and more importantly, as girlfriend?!”

Sunset slammed her hands on the table as she stood up, staring Rainbow Dash in the eye. “I am! Because I know things about Twilight that you could never understand, things that would more than likely make you all shun her! You have no idea what she’s been through, what she’s endured and how much she cherishes you guys and the people around her, life itself! And do you honestly think you’re any better of a match for her than I am?!”

“At least I’m not a frigin’ psycho bitch, like you! I’ve been getting scholarship offers up to my neck from several colleges who want me for their sports teams! I’m going to be the best athlete there ever was, second only to being the best rocker ever! What the hell do you plan to do with your life! Huh?!”

Sunset opened her mouth to counter but froze. Realization struck Sunset like a ton of bricks, what did she plan to do with her life? After high school, what was left, college, university, some mundane, dead-end job? For so long Sunset knew she was destined to be great and have everything she deserved. In Equestria, her future was assured. She was the apprentice to Princess Celestia, her future was anything she wanted there, hell she was already in her twenties, wealthy, living in a palace, and being taught by the proverbial “Goddess of the Sun”.

And she threw it all away to come to this world, with nothing but a half-baked plan for domination and the clothes, that somehow mysteriously were given to her upon passing through the portal, on her back. She was a teenager in this world, with no magic – well now she had her magic back – and no idea of what do afterwards.

“I…I…”

“Aww look, it’s our two favorite girls having a lovers spat.”

Sunset and Rainbow Dash turned their heads in the same direction, spotting two girls they wished neither of them had met. Lightning Dust was grinning at them, hands stuffed in the pockets of her bomber jacket, and her braided ponytail hanging over her left shoulder. Gilda was standing next her, arms crossed, giving both girls a sinister glare and a creepy smile.

“Gilda,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Lightning Dust,” said Sunset.

“That’s us, and it looks like the gang’s back together, eh Dashie?” Gilda mocked.

“Look, whatever your beef is with me or bacon hair over here –”

Sunset cocked her head to the side. “‘Bacon hair’ what the f–”

“– can it wait until tomorrow, we’re in the middle of something important?!”

Lightning and Gilda chuckled as if Rainbow Dash had told a mildly funny joke. Gilda walked forward and placed her hand on Dash’s left shoulder. “Sorry, no can do. I’ve been itchin’ for some real payback from you.” Gilda tightened her grip on Rainbow’s shoulder, causing the cyan girl to wince. “And I now I’m going to get it.”

Lightning walked up next, casually draping her left arm over Sunset’s shoulders. “Diggin’ the new look Sunny, it’s cute. But anyway, yeah, more or less what G said. Course, you could always decide to make up to us another way. Hmm? I know I’ve always wanted to get a look ‘under the hood’.” Lightning ran the index finger of her right hand up Sunset’s thigh and traced a line upwards.

Sunset could feel something, and it wasn’t the slightly ticklish nature of Lightning’s finger going up her side. No, something was different about them. They were dangerous, more so now than before. In fact, she could sense a faint yet familiar power emanating from them. Something was definitely wrong about this whole thing.

Rainbow Dash swatted Gilda’s hand away, glaring at the girl with anger. “You wanna go, Gilda?! Fine, let’s go, you and me, outside! After I make you eat asphalt I’m going to kick your ass again for interrupting something important!”

Gilda took a few steps back and nodded to Lightning Dust. The turquoise girl took a few steps back as well, joining her companion’s side. Sunset could feel the dangerous aura building now, she quickly went to Rainbow Dash’s side and put herself between them, causing the rainbow haired girl to raise an eyebrow at her actions. The people in the food court were now staring at the scene, some moving away in anticipation of a fight breaking loose, some even leaving to fetch Mall Security.

“Heh, why go all the way outside? Kicking your ass inside or outside won’t change the fact that you’re going to be dead meat!” Gilda proclaimed.

“Oh yeah, well –!”

“Shut up!” Sunset hissed.

“You’re not the boss of –!”

“Rainbow Dash, seriously, shut the hell up! Something’s wrong here, they’re way too relaxed about this, and…the air around them, it’s wrong, it’s all wrong…!” Sunset glanced at Rainbow Dash from over her right shoulder. “You need to get out of here, right now!”

Rainbow shoved her way past Sunset and stood in front of her with her back turned. “Look, I don’t take orders from you, I don’t like you, and personally you can crawl into a ditch somewhere and die for all I care! So back off, shut up, and let me deal with these two!”

Gilda and Lightning glanced to each other, breaking out into hysterical laughter at the show of bravado Rainbow Dash put on. “Oh G, I never get tired of that stupid knight-in-shining-armor crap she does, it’s freakin’ hilarious!”

“I know right, guess we outta knock her down from her high horse,” said Gilda.

Both bad girls widened their stances as they readied themselves. Sunset suddenly felt that same familiar energy buildup yet again, her mind finally clicked as to where she had sensed that kind of power before.

“RAINBOW DASH RUN!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Gilda and Lightning Dust were suddenly engulfed in flames colored silver and goldenrod. The force wave generated from the dual transformation knocked tables and chairs away, along with their occupants. Sunset quickly took Rainbow Dash by the arm and pulled her back until she was tossed behind her. Sunset thrusted her right hand forward, now glowing with aquamarine light. Out of pure instinct Sunset threw up a magical barrier, it expanded into a giant wall of magical light that protected the people on the other side of it.

Sunset struggled, using her left hand to stabilize her right, so long without magic had proven not to be a problem, but since it wasn’t at full strength just yet she had to concentrate to keep the barrier from shattering.

Rainbow Dash had fallen on her rear and was preparing to slug Sunset for tossing her like that, that is, until she saw what Sunset was doing. The other patrons in the food court were frozen, stunned at the sight of what was happening. Suddenly the flames died down and the force wave cancelled out, despite this, Sunset still kept the barrier up knowing that what was coming was going to be bad.

Gilda was the first to appear from the dying flames. Her forearms were covered in golden metallic rings, and her hands covered in a metal glove that had clawed fingers. From below her knee there were also rings, and her feet were wrapped in metal shoes that had three long talons coming from them. On her back were metallic brown wings that made a sound like swords unsheathing from their scabbards. Black, tightly woven chainmail wrapped around her upper arms, thighs, and neck.

Her chest area was armored, made of a bronze-like metal that sheened brilliantly. Her red sun symbol was at the center of her chest, with two orbs near her shoulders and the third on her stomach in the shape of an upside down triangle. A golden metal mask covered Gilda’s face, the eye slits had purple paint around them in sharp angles to make her white eyes pop. Her silver-flamed hair was short, and almost feathery looking.

Lightning Dust emerged next, from below her knee to her feet was all made of goldenrod colored, hardened plasma, the same was true of her forearms and hands. She wore no armor, but instead wore a violet mesh suit that clung tightly to her body, covering her biceps, thighs, chest, and neck. Yellow lightning streaks could be seen detailed on her thighs and biceps, and one long one around her waist to simulate a belt.

A cowl covered most of her face, but allowed her mouth to be seen, her hair was now goldenrod colored flames that appeared jagged to mimic her spikey hair. On top of that, turquoise colored electricity arced around her body, and created large wings made of the same colored lightning. Finally the red sun emblem on her chest, on red orb was just a few inches above the emblem, while two others were at the bottom forming a triangle.

Sunset narrowed her gaze at both girls. “You…You two got Firestorm Protocols?!”

“Yeah, don’t really remember how we got these things, kind of a blur really,” said Lightning.

“But really who cares, this power’s a real rush! Now we’re like those two fire girls! Difference being, we’re not here to save the day,” said Gilda.

“Seriously, all that power, and the only thing you two can think of to use it for is to beat up on us?!” Sunset shouted.

“We’re here to get revenge on you, simple as that.”

“We’re here to get revenge on you, simple as that.”

Sunset suddenly felt a spike in magical energy, she noticed a brief glimmer of green light in both their eyes at that moment. She didn’t know why, it was magic, but this magic felt…negative, manipulative. It was clear that another magic user was involved in this, and one that was on the side of the Organization was even more bad news for Twilight and herself.

“Shimmer…what…what the hell is going on?!” Rainbow Dash cried out.

“You’re still here?! I told you run!”

“Screw that, why did Gilda and Lightning just turn into that?! And why can you suddenly create a shield of light?!”

Dammit, I swear there’s someone out there who enjoys screwing with my life! It’s bad enough I just revealed my magic to a whole bunch of people, but now I gotta deal with two rogue Firestorms girls who are hell-bent on putting me and Rainbow Dash six feet under?!

Sunset glanced over her shoulder, the majority of the people had ducked behind the various food partitions and had possibly left out the back doors. The only ones left from what she could tell were Rainbow Dash, typical, a few kids who had been separated from their parents, and…

Lyra and BonBon?!

Lyra seemed out of it, slumped up against a wall with BonBon trying to do all she could to get her girlfriend up and away from danger. Sunset Shimmer gritted her teeth, she didn’t care, she wasn’t about to let somebody else get hurt because of her hesitation, especially not the same person twice.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Sunset was suddenly engulfed in golden-yellow flames, her light shield seemed to shine brighter in response to the added power. When the flames died out, Sunset was in full Firestorm form, and with the added bonus of her magical power receiving a boost from the Matrix. Gilda and Lightning Dust blinked in surprise at what they saw.

“Whoa, Sunny’s that red fire girl from the news?! Huh, guess using these things wasn’t going to be overkill after all,” said Lightning Dust.

“Definitely, now that you’re like us, we don’t have to hold back, and we can go all out!” Gilda announced with glee.

“Bring it you two, I’m stronger and I’ve done this a lot longer than you two!”

Lightning Dust slammed her fists together and held her fists like that, knuckle to knuckle. Turquoise lightning surged from her forearms and to her fists, causing atomic rings to form at the center. Suddenly, Lightning Dust reared her fists back and thrust them forward, firing a powerful lightning bolt straight for Sunset’s magical barrier. The bolt struck against Sunset’s barrier with resounding force, making Sunset grunt from the effort to keep the barrier up.

Sunset grinned as an idea popped into her head. Sunset expanded her magical power, making the wall curve towards Gilda and Lightning Dust. The daredevil Firestorm halted her lightning attack, watching as the barrier swallowed both her and Gilda, changing into a bubble of magical light. Sunset used her left hand to shoot a stream of fiery plasma at the bubble, and used her magic to keep it wrapped around the barrier as added insurance that they wouldn’t break it easily.

“See?! I don’t know how long you’ve had those things, but I have experience and my magic back, taking on a couple of rookies like you is nothing,” said Sunset in triumph.

“You think so, huh?!”

Gilda’s clawed hands were suddenly wrapped in atomic rings. The floor began to rumble around her, Sunset quickly shot up into the air but not before metal rebar rods shot out. The tips of each one was shaped like an arrowhead, and moved as if they were angry snakes. One of the rebar spears shot straight through Sunset’s left leg, liquid-light ichor splashed all over her outfit and the ground below. A second one angled itself and found its home right through her right shoulder, and a third through her left forearm.

The pain caused Sunset to lose control of her barrier, allowing Gilda and Lightning Dust to fly free. Lightning Dust fired an electrical bolt straight at the metal bars. Sunset cried out in pain as ten-thousand plus volts of electrical energy coursed through her body.

“Yeah, I got a thing for metal work, and since we’re in a city, there ain’t no shortage of that,” said Gilda.

“And since metal conducts electricity, I can make the pain that much worse! We’re not a duo you should ever take on Sunny, and we’ll prove it right here and now!”

Sunset clenched her fists. Her flame aura kicked up and burst forth, surrounding her in an orb of plasma fire. The rebar quickly burned into slag, and the slag into nothing, freeing Sunset from her metallic binds and the electrocution. Sunset burst forth from her fireball, atomic rings already working to close the wounds caused by the last attack.

The crimson armored Firestorm looked behind her, seeing the civilians still frozen with fear. Sunset knew she couldn’t fight them here, too many innocent people would be caught in the crossfire. Without warning, Sunset bolted for both Gilda and Lightning Dust. She held out her arms and caught the two bad girls in a double lariat to the neck. With another burst of speed, Sunset shot up and through the roof, taking her two passengers with her.

The three of them went higher and higher, until Sunset was sure that they were high enough and away from people. She quickly stopped and let momentum carry Gilda and Lightning the rest of the way up. Atomic rings formed around both her hands, gathering heat and plasma energy. Taking careful aim, Sunset fired two plasma fire beams straight at Gilda and Lightning. The two bad girls were hit simultaneously, exploding high above Sunset.

The crimson Firestorm grinned at her quick thinking, but that joy didn’t last long. All of a sudden four missiles shot out from the dust cloud where Gilda was. Sunset’s eyes bulged from her skull at that sight of the projectiles, of all things to come out of there she was not expecting something like that! Sunset made the flame wheels near her feet bellow like jet engines, shooting her in the opposite direction.

The missiles hounded Sunset all the way, even after making quick turns, barrel rolls, and zigzags. Sunset grunted in frustration and decided enough was enough. She turned around, channeling her plasma fire into her hands and from there to the tips of her index fingers. Sunset quickly began firing quick shots from her fingers, turning them into makeshift guns as pinpoint beams of plasma sailed towards the missiles.

The missiles acted as if they had a mind of their own, actually dodging each of her shots. Just then, Sunset heard more of them, looking to her right left and confirming that five more were coming. Turning to the left, Sunset saw six more, and now somehow the ones pursuing her doubled in number. It was then she realized she was surrounded.

Sunset wasn’t one to be caught off guard that easily. She stopped in midair, with a quick spin, Sunset summoned a fire tornado all around her. The tornado spun faster and faster, growing smaller in size until it was rounded and became a spinning ball of fire. Within the sphere, Sunset took note of all that was around her, noting the distance of each missile. With a powerful burst of energy, Sunset’s sphere fired off multiple fireballs in every direction, utilizing a Death Blossom scatter shot pattern.

The missiles that were converging on Sunset started to initiate evasive maneuvers, but there was nowhere to move that wasn’t in the path of a fireball. Each one made contact, causing the air to erupt with multiple detonations all around, lighting up the sky like fireworks. Sunset quickly stopped her attack, going so far as to extinguish the fireballs that were still flying out.

“Gotcha!”

Sunset glanced over her left shoulder, spotting Gilda with a huge metal battle-axe. The silver-flamed Firestorm brought down the cleaving weapon, ready to rend Sunset in two. At the last second, Sunset created a sword of fire, making it appear in her left hand. She then extended the blade, turning it into a double-edged sword, allowing the lower fire blade to intercept Gilda’s axe. The two weapons rang out in the air, the impact creating a shockwave.

“Damn, you’re faster than I thought!”

“Please, I’ve fought against a Firestorm in Japan who was way faster than you, and had more skill in his pinkie than you do! You’re ten years too young to be facing me with a blade!”

“Then I guess that means I gotta play dirty, don’t it?!” Gilda shot back.

Sunset sensed an energy buildup. A streak of lightning came surging towards her, Sunset quickly used her magic to create a barrier wall in front of her. The bolt struck the shield, keeping her safe from the attack. But in that same moment the part of the lightning broke off and reappeared next to Sunset.

“You’re fighting two on one, gotta keep track of your surroundings, Sunny!”

Lightning Dust thrusted her fist forward, punching Sunset right in the face with an electrified blow. Gilda disengaged to allow Sunset to spiral away from them, but then she fanned out her wings and gave them a swift flap in Sunset’s direction. The metal panel feathers shot out like throwing knives, whistling as they cut through the air.

Sunset used her flames to stabilize herself, but at the last second the panels were upon her, two of them embedding themselves in her stomach and a third stabbed her in the left shoulder. Sunset coughed up some of her liquid-light ichor, gritting her teeth and doing her hardest to shut out the pain. Even though having her arm taken off was probably the worst pain she’d ever felt, these panels in her gut still hurt a lot, but it wasn’t enough to completely immobilize her.

The crimson Firestorm ripped out the panels, but before her power could start the healing process, a flash of lightning appeared and struck Sunset in the same area the panels were. The blow sent a shockwave rippling through Sunset and out from behind her. Ichor came splashing out of her mouth and wounds, knocking the wind out of her, while at same time amplifying the pain with electrical surges.

The lightning bolt shot away, but rounded back and struck Sunset in the back with the same amount of force. The blows kept coming from every direction, from the outside, it looked as if an actual lightning bolt was buzzing around her like an angry wasp, assaulting Sunset. But in fact, it was Lightning Dust, having transformed herself into living lightning. She’d strike Sunset, becoming her solid form for a nanosecond before changing back and zipping around for another attack.

Gilda watched from afar, a smirk forming behind her mask. But this wasn’t all, there was still one more that needed schooling. Fanning out her wings again, Gilda shot back down, aiming directly for their last location.

Sunset’s one of those fire girls…she protected me – everyone…even the city…

Rainbow Dash was still coming to grips with what she had seen, Sunset Shimmer had saved her life, and the lives of everyone who didn’t get away in time before Gilda and Lightning Dust changed. Even more than that, Sunset had been fighting and putting her life on the line to defeat other guys like Gilda and Lightning Dust.

Now that I think about it, the fire girls were the ones responsible for beating the green skull monster guy who hurt Lyra and killed all those people…Sunset’s been helping others…saving lives…

The sports girl’s worldview of Sunset Shimmer had been thoroughly rocked. Rainbow Dash believed, with every fiber of her being, that Sunset Shimmer was an evil, scheming, psycho girl who only cared about herself and was willing to throw others under the bus and step on them if it meant getting what she wanted. All this time Rainbow Dash thought she had her figured out, but now…now she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Just then a loud whistling sound echoed from the hole in the roof. The whistling got louder and louder until finally something broke through the roof again, landing on the floor with a great BOOM! Rainbow Dash watched as Gilda rose from her landing site, metallic wings spread as her silver fire hair wafted back and forth. Rainbow could tell Gilda was heading straight for her, and despite knowing this, she didn’t run. It was pointless, as Gilda was now, chasing Rainbow Dash down would’ve been as easy as blinking an eye.

“Hey Dash, long time no see,” said Gilda.

“G…why are you doing this?” Rainbow asked.

“Have you really forgotten…?”

“Forgotten what?”

Gilda lashed out, grabbing Rainbow by the collar and hoisting the girl up into the air. “How dare you! I can’t believe you forgot what you did to me all those years ago!”

“What?! What did I do, I swear I don’t remember!”

Gilda’s silver flames grew in intensity in response to her anger. “Junior Speedsters Track Team…six years ago…you’re telling me you don’t remember that?!”

“Gilda I don’t – wait…you don’t mean… ”

Memories of old flashed in the white eyes of Gilda’s new form, replaying for her the moment things went south for them. Rainbow Dash felt a pang of guilt form in her hurt, stabbing at her like a rusty knife.

“Gilda…Back then…!”

“What?! ‘Back then’ what?!” Gilda roared.

“I was confused…I didn’t know what to say to you,” said Rainbow Dash as she averted her gaze from Gilda.

The silver-flamed Firestorm brought the girl in her grasp closer. “Well I wasn’t confused, I was sure, but you just avoided me the rest of the summer after that! And the next time I saw you, you pretended like it never happened! I thought if I got those lame-o friends of yours to leave you alone I could…could…”

Rainbow eyebrow raised when she saw some liquid light fall to the ground below her. She looked back at Gilda and saw that it was coming from her eyes, the liquid light falling from the corners of her eyes as if she were crying. Gilda loosened her grip on Rainbow, allowing her feet to touch the ground again. Rainbow Dash, tentatively held out a hand, reaching to place it on her old friend.

“G…I…I’m sorry…I didn’t know I hurt you so much.” Rainbow made contact with Gilda’s golden mask. She flinched for a moment, but seemed to allow Rainbow to rest her hand against it. “It…It was stupid and crappy thing for me to do, pretending to forget, but I thought you moved past it.”

Gilda lightly shook her head. “I couldn’t…you, you were the only one who actually gave a damn about me, Dash. You looked out for me, became my best friend in a town where I didn’t know anyone! That’s why I…”

“G, you don’t have to do this…I’m sorry about what I did…I…Look, just stop this whole thing and let’s talk! If you really want to be my friend again, then let me go and stop Lightning Dust before people get really hurt!” Rainbow pleaded.

Gilda smiled beneath her mask, she could see that Rainbow Dash meant it. It may not be what she really wanted from the tomboy, but it was a start at the very least. The silver-flamed Firestorm shook her head in affirmation, releasing Rainbow Dash from her steely grip.

“I’m sorry, Dash…Don’t worry, I’ll stop Lightning too! I just – AAAAAH!!!” Gilda suddenly gripped her head, stumbling backwards and going down on one knee as her wings fluttered about in an agitated state.

Rainbow Dash tried to get closer to help her, but each attempt almost got her head or arms cut off by the flailing metal wings. “Gilda, what’s wrong?! Talk to me, G, c’mon!!!”

After several seconds Gilda’s head shot up, staring directly at Rainbow Dash. A green light flashed in her eyes for a moment before Gilda stood up and walked towards Rainbow. Moving swiftly, Gilda reached out and grabbed Rainbow by the wrists and hoisted her upwards.

“No friggin’ way am I forgiving you,” said Gilda with a menacing voice.

“Gilda let me the hell go! What’s with you?!” Rainbow yelled.

With little much else said, Gilda shot up into the sky through the hole in the roof, taking Rainbow Dash with her.

Dammit Sunny, we need to get Sparky out here! You need my help!

“Shut up…I don’t need your friggin’ help…!”

They’re going to kill you, just like Skull almost did! You’re magic may be back, but it’s still not back at full power! Get away now, track down Sparky, and let me go to town on these bitches!

“I told you before, Hel, you’re not coming out! Twilight and I are never going to fuse again, so long as I keep my distance from her, that’ll never happen…I refuse to have you make her suffer the pain of killing someone, again!”

You stupid…what if I promise not to kill?! I’ll just mess ‘em up really bad, and they’ll still be alive!

“No way…they’re not like Atomic Skull, they have Protocols, which means they’re powers can be taken away like the others! I just need…an opening – AAAAAHHHH!!!”

Sunset was suddenly hit with a powerful surge of electricity, causing her to nearly lose consciousness. “What’s the matter Sunny? Talkin’ to yourself? Wow, didn’t think I messed you up that bad.”

“Dammit, Lightning, just stop…! You have no idea what you two of gotten yourselves into! Whatever the Organization promised you, I’m telling you, it’s not worth what they’re planning on doing to the world! You’re nothing but a pawn to them!”

Lightning Dust tugged on her electric chains and brought Sunset closer to her, glaring through narrowed eyes. “I don’t know what this ‘Organization’ is, and I don’t give a shit! This is about payback! You left me and Gilda high and dry, you came with us that night to party, and we were having fun until we got caught by the cops! You sold me and G out, playing the innocent girl act to the cops and getting a reduced sentence! You got a few days in Juvie, and we spent weeks in there!”

Sunset turned her gaze downcast, her flaming mane losing some of its luster. “I did…I’m sorry…there’s no excuse for what I did, I was so focused on my plans and how it was going to get messed up! In the end it didn’t matter, my plans were ruined the moment they said I’d been in there for days, everything was ruined…Look, if you want to take it out on me, then do it.”

Lightning Dust frowned. “Geez, way to take the fun out this, Sunny. I mean, don’t get me wrong, messing you up will be fun, but it’d be better if you tried to fight back a little.” Lightning took a look below and smiled. “Well, she might be more fun than you.”

Sunset raised her head and watched as Gilda appeared behind Lightning Dust, with Rainbow Dash in hand. The silver-flamed Firestorm held Rainbow by both wrists, holding tight as the cyan girl thrashed about. Lightning Dust turned her attention back to Sunset, smiling wickedly as she did so.

“You ain’t the only one who’s betrayed us, Sunny! Rainbow over there practically stomped on G’s heart and even turned her back on her later on! And me? Well, she got me kicked out of the Sports Program that was going to train serious athletes!”

Lightning flew over to where Rainbow and Gilda were, extending the electric chain to keep Sunset tethered. She grabbed Rainbow’s chin, forcing her to look into her white eyes. “But you just had to go and ruin it for me – for both of us! We were the best, we had everyone beat! But then you go on and tell the coaches that you were ‘concerned about the way I competed’!”

Rainbow Dash, despite being scared shitless on the inside, kept her defiant glare on Lightning Dust. “Pushing yourself is one thing Dust, but putting others in danger, using your teammates like cheap tools, that’s not good sportsmanship and definitely not the sign of a good captain! If I didn’t say anything you’d have hurt the others, or worse, yourself and then what?!”

Lightning narrowed her gaze as electrical sparks flew from the corners of her eyes. “That wasn’t your decision, Dash! I never treated you like that! I respected you, you were the only person there who could keep up with me! We could’ve pushed each other into being the best of the best! Until you betrayed me…you’re no better than Sunset!”

Rainbow Dash felt a pang of guilt in her heart, Gilda was one thing, she was confused and added to the way she treated her other best friends, Gilda left her no choice. Lightning Dust, she honestly believed that Lightning was a good athlete, but after seeing what she did to herself and those around her, Rainbow couldn’t remain silent.

“Now you’re both going to get what you deserve, and afterwards, we’ll pay that nerd a visit,” said Gilda.

Both Rainbow and Sunset snapped to attention at the mention of Twilight.

“Yeah, I think we’ll keep her as our plaything. For a nerd, she’s got a cute ass, of course we’ll have to ‘break her in’,” said Lightning with pervy grin.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH TWILIGHT!!!” Sunset and Rainbow shouted at the same time.

Lightning hovered away from Rainbow Dash until she there was a good distance of space between the two. The goldenrod flamed Firestorm pointed her right finger at Rainbow and released a small bolt of lightning that crackled as it traveled towards its target, and at the same time, a surge of electrical energy shot through the chain that kept Sunset hostage. Both girls were struck at the same time, both screaming from the pain that sparked through their nerves.

Gilda held on tight, having transmuted the metal around her right and left arms into a nonconductive element, watching as Rainbow Dash writhed in agony from her electrocution. For a brief moment, something made Gilda’s heart hurt, something that made her resolve waver. But a flash of green light went off in her eyes again, as if snapping her back into her vengeance driven mindset.

Lightning Dust ended her torture, watching as Rainbow Dash went limp. Sunset panted, painfully, trying to keep herself conscious. Her eyes went wide when she saw Rainbow Dash completely still.

“Huh, you’re kidding, did I kill her already?” Lightning asked.

Gilda brought Rainbow Dash up, pressing her ear to the girl’s chest and hearing a faint heartbeat. “Nah, she’s still kicking, I think you just knocked her out.”

“Pfft, I thought she’d last a little longer than that. Oh well, toss her, the rush might wake her up, or not.”

“NO!!!” Sunset shouted.

Gilda released Rainbow Dash, letting the cyan girl fall limply from two-thousand feet in the air. Sunset couldn’t take it anymore, she tapped into the reserves of magical energy and atomic power. Her eyes shined aquamarine as her yellow flames ignited around her body. Lightning Dust turned to try and stop her, but she was too late. Sunset unleashed her pent up power, releasing a burst wave of energy that sent Gilda and Lightning Dust spinning backwards.

Taking this opportunity, Sunset dove down after Rainbow Dash. The wind whistled and flames roared, every second costing Sunset precious feet before Rainbow went splat on the unforgiving earth below.

Rainbow was barely aware of what was happening, her vision blacked in and out, offering her brief images of the sky. She wondered if she was flying, as often times she found herself dreaming of such a thing, growing wings and soaring high above the clouds at speeds that would make a jet fighter pilot green with envy. Her body felt numb, but tingled, like when your arm fell asleep and it was waking up.

She never imagined this was how it was going to end for herself, never telling Twilight how she felt, never making it to the halls of sports history, or busting out her first single in the rock ‘n roll music world. Never going to a university and partying, and never seeing her friends again, to grow up with them and see each of them fulfill their dreams and have families of their own. Rainbow saw water droplets rising up, and she realized it was from her eyes. She was crying.

Dammit…why can’t I at least go out like a badass…crying isn’t cool…

“RAINBOW DASH!!!”

The cyan girl’s eyes snapped open, hearing a familiar voice. In the distance, a golden flame grew brighter and brighter, and closer with each passing second. At the center of the flames was a girl, clad in crimson armor, a panicked look on her face as she rushed towards Rainbow. Realization hit Rainbow Dash, remembering who this person was, Sunset Shimmer. She was racing towards her, coming to save her.

Sunset was nearly upon Rainbow Dash, she canceled the flames around herself and concentrated their propulsion power towards her feet and flame mane. The crimson Firestorm reached out with her right hand, trying to close the distance between them. Sunset was just a couple of feet away from Rainbow Dash, but at the rate they were going, ground impact wouldn’t be long.

“RAINBOW, GRAB MY HAND!!!”

Rainbow Dash was still in disbelief, but her drive to live was quicker to respond. Using her willpower, Rainbow forced her right arm to reach out towards Sunset’s. A few seconds were left before they hit the ground. Sunset made her flames burst for a second time, giving her the last few inches she needed to grab onto Rainbow’s hand and grip it tightly. She pulled Rainbow Dash close to her, embracing her tightly. Sunset rolled around till her back was facing the ground, and with all her might she focused her flames to roar like rocket ship’s engines.

The flames became a giant column as they worked to slow their descent, firing off in spurts to ease the g–forces on their bodies. With one last firing, Sunset rolled around until her back was facing the ground, keeping Rainbow Dash away from the point of impact.

They crashed onto the roof of the mall, skidding to a halt just before hitting the edge. Sunset breathed heavily, panting from the effort and relief that she was able to save Rainbow Dash in time, but her body ached like crazy, and the constant electrocutions from Lightning Dust had taken their toll now that she was exhausted.

Rainbow, after regaining some feeling in her limbs, pushed herself up from Sunset. She looked down at the crimson Firestorm, still stunned by the whole situation. “You…You saved me…?”

“Yeah…I did…What of it?” Sunset asked in between pants.

“Why…I’ve given you nothing but grief, got in your face, and after what I said earlier…”

Sunset sighed as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. “Because…Because Sparky would never forgive me if I let someone she cares about die. You love her, fine, but Twilight told me how much she cares about each of you, she’d fight to protect you guys and she has. And me…I fight to protect her, but just as much, I’m through with being the person I once was…”

The crimson Firestorm leaned up, letting Rainbow sit beside her. “The people who gave Gilda and Lightning those powers are just using them, they’re the kind of thing I never want to become, and I realized that the way I was going, I was slowly becoming like them. I promised Twilight and myself that I would never be like that. So, I can’t blame you for thinking that way about me.” Sunset stood up, on shaky legs, getting ready for her two nemeses to arrive.

Rainbow Dash felt another pang of guilt in her, Sunset was really trying to be a better person, and showing it by fighting to protect total strangers and people back at school who’d sooner see her run over by a bus. Suddenly, the crackling of electricity caught Rainbow’s attention. She looked up and watched as metal spears, wrapped in raging lightning, came raining down from the sky. One of them was about to hit Sunset, and out of pure instinct, Rainbow Dash went to push Sunset out of the way.

“RAINBOW!!!”

The moment Rainbow Dash made contact with Sunset, something happened. Golden flames erupted around Sunset and Rainbow Dash, completely obscuring their forms. The electrified spears were pushed away from the force and power the flames produced. The flames started to change, taking on an aurora, rainbow look.

Gilda and Lightning Dust flew down to see what was happening, but halted in midair when they witnessed something impossible happen. The rainbow flames spun around, rising high up into the air to meet the two rogue Firestorms. Most of the flames dispersed, solidifying into plasma light energy that glowed with rainbow colors.

The being that stood before them was no longer Rainbow Dash or Sunset Shimmer, but something more. Her armor was a bright scarlet, with pauldrons and gauntlets, a chest plate that covered the upper portion of her torso, and metal greaves that wrapped around the lower half of her legs. White chainmail like mesh covered her biceps, neck, and her midriff down to her thighs. On the chest plate was a sun emblem and six orbs, but the bands were colored yellow.

The center sun emblem had Sunset’s mark, and a lightning bolt etched in red inside the first mark. On the right upper orb was a magic circle, but on the left upper orb was a pair of wings. The head of this new being was not masked in a cowl, her head was made of solid, azure plasma energy, her hair bellowed and wisped, made of fire that draped down to her lower back. A headband of yellow light lay hidden underneath her flaming bangs, signifying the corona crown.

Hovering inches from her back were six rays of light, each of them glowed with shifting aurora colors, moving up, down, back, and forth, as if testing their stability. The new creation opened her eyes, which were white as snow, but held within them great power. The tall woman flexed her digits and rotated her arms, getting accustomed to her new form. Gilda and Lightning Dust didn’t know what it was they were seeing, but that didn’t diminish their need to destroy it.

“Hey, who the hell are you?!” Lightning asked.

“And where are Sunset and Rainbow?!” Gilda demanded.

The new being turned her attention to the two rogue Firestorms and nodded towards them, smiling. “Forgive me, I was lost in thought. The beings you call Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash, I am them, and at the same time, they are me. I was summoned to protect them.” The amalgamation gave a light bow to the two rogues. “Born from loyalty, and bound by honor, I am she who pierces the darkness with light. My name is Firestorm Iris!”

Author's Note

This is as close to a visual that I can give you for what Iris' wings look like.

Entry 20: The Grace of Iris

???

Sunset felt a familiar headache, she groaned as she rose up, rubbing her throbbing head. When she opened her eyes Sunset gasped in shock. “Oh no, oh hell no! Not again!” Sunset bolted to her feet, surveying her surroundings.

The starry universe around her, the seemingly solid invisible surface she stood upon, and just above her, the swirling mass that was the Firestorm Matrix. But Sunset paused, noting the key differences in this world. Instead of an orangey color, everything was colored in a cool blue hue, even the Matrix looked different. Half of it was red, the other half was blue, aquamarine light bands swirled around it, and three orbs were in orbit around it. She caught sight of them, noticing that even the symbols within them were different.

There was no doubt that somehow, Sunset had become Hel again, and without Twilight nearby! Which meant all that keeping away from her to protect her was all for nothing, much to her displeasure. But for some reason, this didn’t feel the same way as Hel did, it wasn’t angry or wrathful. It was peaceful, free, and calm.

So how did I get back here?

“Oh man…someone get the number of that Semi that ran me over? ‘Cause I got a headache like a mother – Sunset, what hell happened to you now?!”

Sunset turned in the direction of the voice, seeing Rainbow Dash on her rear. Her body from the neck down was composed of pure azure light, and for some reason, a red lightning bolt symbol was in the middle of her chest. Sunset recognized this energy form, somehow Rainbow Dash had been pulled into the transformation.

“Rainbow Dash, calm down and try not to freak out too much, but we’re not exactly in Kansas anymore,” said Sunset.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow carefully stood on her feet, weary of the groundless surface she somehow was standing on. “Where are we?!”

“As far as I can figure, we’re in the Firestorm Matrix, but that can’t be right.”

“And why not?!”

“Because the last time this happened Twilight was with me, we fused together into a…a monster.”

Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Wait a minute, how – are you saying that you and Twilight were here before?!”

“Not ‘here’ exactly, but things are different for some reason,” said Sunset as she kept looking around for something.

“So is this weird place why I’m naked and glowing the same as you?!” A stray thought crossed Rainbow Dash’s mind, causing her to hug herself and turn her body away from Sunset.

“What?” Sunset asked.

“This isn’t some freaky way for you to…do me, right?” Rainbow asked with dread.

Sunset face palmed herself, groaning as she dragged her hand down her face in frustration. “Okay, Rainbow, let’s get something straight. I may be attracted to girls, I’m mainly attracted to Sparky, so don’t start thinking I’m trying to get into your panties or some weird crap like that alright!” Sunset crossed her arms and huffed as she turned away from Rainbow. “‘Sides, Sparky’s hotter than you, flat chest.”

Rainbow came out of her defensive covering, stomped her way towards Sunset, and gave her a glare. “Excuse me?! I’m not ‘flat chested’! I’m at least a B!”

“Please I’m a C and – Wait a minute, why am I even having this kind of conversation with you?! HEL! You have five seconds to let us go before I force us apart!” Sunset warned.

‘I am sorry, but right now would not be a very safe time to do so. And, if I may, my name is not ‘Hel’.’

Rainbow Dash looked around, hearing the disembodied voice echo out from every direction. Sunset noticed that the voice didn’t sound like Hel at all, it was nicer, and more elegant.

“Who are you then?” Sunset asked.

‘My name is Iris, born from loyalty, and bound by honor. Allow me to shed light upon our situation.’

Suddenly, the space before Sunset and Rainbow opened up like a pair of eyes, revealing the outside world. Gilda and Lightning were in a standoff with Iris, neither of them seemed to have made a move, yet.

‘Currently the two foes we face seem confused about what transpired, and are taking a wait and see approach. I suggest we strike while they are still contemplating what I am.’

“You’re hearing this right? The voice of this Iris chick?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes I do, it’s hard to explain right now Rainbow, but suffice to say, we stand a better chance of beating Gilda and Lightning with Iris’ help. So, bear with me a little longer in this body, alright?”

Rainbow Dash looked to Sunset and then back through the eyes of Iris. Gilda and Lightning were still a threat to everyone, and if fighting as one with Sunset was the best way to beat them, then she was willing to bite the bullet. Rainbow Dash brought up her right hand smirking at Sunset.

“Partners?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset mirrored Rainbow’s smirk and grasped the offered right hand with her own. “Partners!”

“The hell with this, I’m shooting her!” Lightning yelled.

The lightning winged Firestorm raised both hands, calling upon her plasma and electron energy, atomic rings formed as the power coalesced into both her hands. Lighting thrusted her arms forward, firing a dual beam of electrified plasma at Iris. The united form entered and a combative stance, her light wings gave a swift flap downwards, propelling her high above their foes. A wake of rainbow sparkles appeared behind her, showing where she once was.

Gilda looked up watching the swift speed of Iris as she practically danced through the skies. With increasing anger, Gilda shot up after Iris. The silver-flamed Firestorm flapped her wings, getting a good boost of speed from it. Gilda got Iris in her sights, she focused her energy, making atomic rings form around her metallic wings. Feather panels flew off in rapid succession, acting like Vulcan cannon gunfire.

But Iris was not one to be easily shot down, she sped up, dodging each round as it flew at her; barrel rolling and zigzagging with perfect rhythm, never losing momentum for even a second. Gilda was becoming increasingly annoyed by Iris’ flying, she transmuted two lumps of metal before her and shot them ahead of Iris’ flight path.

The metal orbs appeared ahead of Iris and quickly metamorphed into metal copies of Gilda. Both copies’ arms transformed into razor sharp blades, readying themselves to strike Iris, the rainbow winged Firestorm grinned, thrusting out her right hand. Atomic rings formed around it, but at the same time, a magic circle appeared within the rings. Faster than the normal human eye could see, Iris fired two precision rainbow mana blasts. The beams struck the chests of the Gilda copies and blew them away into nothing.

Gilda stopped, dumbfounded at how her copies were so easily destroyed. That moment allowed Iris to do a quick turn and make a beeline straight for Gilda. Iris cocked back her left fist, now blazing with rainbow flames. But just as she was about to close the gap, the sound of rolling thunder echoed through the sky. Iris pulled back, performing a short-range teleport just in time to miss getting hit by Lightning Dust’s fist.

Iris reappeared a few feet away from her foes, taking a defensive stance as she prepared to make her next move. Sunset and Rainbow appeared on either side of Iris in astral form, watching the battle transpire.

“How the heck are we supposed to beat them?! If we attack Gilda, Lightning Dust comes in, if we go for Dust, Gilda does the same!”

“We just need to remove the Protocols from one of them and the battle will go in our favor. Do you understand Iris? We don’t need to kill them, just incapacitate them,”said Sunset in a firm voice.

“No worries, I will not end their lives, as long as that is what you both wish,” said Iris.

Sunset looked to Rainbow Dash, seeing the pensive expression upon her face. “Rainbow, you alright?”

“This is my fault, part of it is. I thought I did the right thing when I told the coaches about Lightning and how she acted. I didn’t do it because I wanted to be the best, I did it because I didn’t want her to end up hurting herself and those around her! She’s a great athlete and I respect her for it, just…I just wish she did things differently,” said Rainbow Dash with a bit sadness.

“And Gilda? Why does she not like you either?” Sunset asked.

“………When we were kids, Gilda…Gilda confessed to me. She even kissed me, I…I pushed her away. The stupid thing is…I liked it, but it scared me because I liked it and I didn’t know what to make of it. I kind of avoided her for a bit, but then she shows up again and it’s nice and – whoa, three ‘o clock!”

Iris looked to her right and saw an electro-missile flying right for her. Gathering her magi-transmutation energy, Iris commanded the winds to bluster and blow. Rainbow particles appeared within the wind, showing how the currents bended to her will. The missile was caught in the wind and thrown away from her, another came from her left, but Iris used the Rainbow Winds to redirect the attack.

Gilda and Lightning Dust were becoming agitated with each missed attack. The duo decided to blitz Iris, Lightning flew around and fired of multiple thunderbolts, while Gilda transmuted and launched several razor sharp discs, javelins, and even created a few more missiles. It was a total aerial onslaught. But Iris did not falter, her hands glowed with increased intensity, kicking up a whirlwind made of rainbow particles.

Iris began swaying her hands to and fro, moving with fluidity and grace. Each movement caused the Rainbow Wind to lash out and strike against the oncoming attacks. The particles would gather and solidify into a barrier to defend against Lightning Dust’s electrical blasts, while also redirecting Gilda’s attacks, making some of them crash into Lighting’s thunderbolts in order to destroy them.

“You were saying, Rainbow Dash,” said Iris.

“Oh, yeah, well…when we met again, she didn’t seem to be mad at me or if she was she just hid it well. But it was fun, having my best friend back, but then I started to see how she was acting like a jerk to my friends, I couldn’t stand that, it was as if she saw them as an obstacle or something! I told her that if she couldn’t be nice around my new friends, then she had no business being my friend, especially when she was being an asshole to Pinkie and Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy!”

Sunset nodded. “I get it, but, I don’t think that’s all that’s at work here.”

“What?”

“I agree with Sunset. I sense strong magical energies within them, somehow it is manipulating their thoughts.”

Sunset’s eyes went wide with awe. “Y-You can sense it, too?! I knew it! The Organization did mess with them!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Wait a minute, ‘magic’, ‘Organization’, just what the hell is going on?!”

“Explanations later, we definitely have to help them now!”

“Um, Rainbow, Sunset, I think we might have a problem with that.”

Both girls watched as flame auras of both Gilda and Lightning Dust doubled in size, becoming raging infernos. Lightning Dust channeled her atomic energy and fired a column-sized thunderbolt straight at Iris. The rainbow winged Firestorm quickly countered with her Rainbow Wind, the thunderbolt striking with a powerful “BOOM” sound that shook the very air. Iris winced from the impact but held her position.

Gilda summoned her plasma fire, building it up and unleashing it in a powerful blast to match Lightning Dust’s. Iris quickly created a tornado of Rainbow Wind, using it as a barrier to stave off the dual attack. Gilda’s beam struck with as much force as Lightning’s, only Gilda’s flames were laced with shrapnel that were as hard as diamonds and sharper than a scalpel blade. The twin beams didn’t show any signs of letting up, forcing Iris to conjure more of her power. Her six wings of light shined brighter as she drew in more energy particles from the air around them.

Suddenly, Gilda and Lightning got another power boost, causing their attacks to triple in size. Iris sensed the additional power and refocused her power, enveloping herself in light and disappearing from sight. The thunderbolt and shrapnel plasma flames struck each other, causing a massive explosion that rumbled for miles. Iris reappeared, having put some distance between them.

“What the heck was that?!”Rainbow asked.

“It would seem they achieved an additional boost of power from their Protocols,” said Iris.

Sunset didn’t like this, their auras were like wildfire, and their eyes were focused with rage and anger. “Iris, see into their bodies, show us their Protocols!”

Iris did as commanded, blinking her eyes once to activate her spectral vision. Her eyes pierced the physical layers of Gilda and Lightning Dust, allowing her to see the metaphysical beyond it. Within both girls was a Firestorm Protocol, but for some reason the swirling mass of power seemed unstable, and growing stronger with each second.

“Do you see it,” asked Iris.

“I do, unfortunately.”

“Would one of you clue me in here?!”

“Their Protocols, that swirling energy mass at the center of their beings! It’s going into meltdown and amping up their powers in the process!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened with fear, not for herself, but for Gilda and Lightning Dust. Were they jerks? Yes. Were they dangerous to a degree? Oh yeah. But they didn’t deserve this, to be used as unwitting suicide bombers! Rainbow clenched her fists, narrowing her gaze at the Protocols within them. The universe around Sunset and Rainbow shifted, an aurora borealis was formed above them. Sunset could feel it, this was anger, but not the kind that was with Hel. This was a righteous fury, one born from a wanting to right an injustice.

“Sunset, let’s save them!”

The fiery haired girl smirked at the level of confidence in Rainbow’s voice. “Obviously we are.”

Sunset’s sun mark and Rainbow’s lightning bolt shined brighter, and the Firestorm Universe responded.

“IRIS!!!”

Iris’ body erupted with rainbow light, swirling around like a raging inferno. Her wings of light glowed brighter, her azure fire hair bellowed, and her eyes shifted into a bright orange glow. Halo rings of light appeared around the rainbow flames, but dispersed within a few seconds, revealing Iris, ready for battle. A halo of sparkling golden light appeared behind Iris as she entered a runner’s stance. Suddenly the ring burst and Iris took off at blinding speeds.

Gilda and Lightning Dust initiated pursuit, dogging Iris. Both of them shot at her with silver plasma flames and lightning strikes, trying to shoot her down. But Iris was too nimble, too agile, and definitely too fast for them; Iris flash-teleported away, getting behind both Gilda and Lightning Dust in an instant.

Iris used her magi-transmutation powers, focusing them into creation. From the ground below a large chunk of rock shot up like a bullet to Iris. Once the lump of earth was before her, she used her powers to shape it, reforming its atomic structure. After a few seconds the entire chunk of dirt and rock was transformed into a giant prism.

“Sunset, Rainbow, I will need your help to coordinate this counteroffensive!”

“Got it!”They said in unison.

Iris shot towards the giant prism, turning herself into pure white light. The moment she passed through the prism a rainbow formed. Each color strand of the rainbow took form, becoming Iris, shaded in the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The red, orange, and yellow Iris’ shot off towards the right, while the green, indigo, and violet Iris’ sped off to the left. The Blue Iris blazed straight down the middle, heading right for Gilda and Lightning Dust.

Lightning unleashed a maelstrom of thunderbolts, but each time they came close to hitting one of the Iris’ one of the multicolored doubles would come in and deflect it away. Gilda brandished a battle-axe and a mace, taking off after the Yellow Iris in hopes of getting up close and personal. Gilda brought up her battle-axe and swung down with an overhead strike. But the Yellow Iris countered, summoning a blade of light that caught the axe blade before it hit its mark. From behind Gilda, the Orange Iris appeared, dual wielding blades of light.

The copy brought down the blades, but Gilda’s metallic wings intercepted, meeting the blades. Both copies pressed forward, holding Gilda where she was. Unbeknownst to her, the Red Iris was high above, gathering light particles into both her hands. She brought both palms together and fired a powerful beam of red energy down towards Gilda. The Yellow and Orange Iris’ saw the attack coming and ducked out at the last possible second, leaving Gilda to get bathed in red light energy before it all exploded and sent her flying the other way.

Lightning Dust wasn’t faring any better, no matter how many lightning blasts she lobbed at the copies, each one managed to deflect or dodge them with ease. The lightning winged Firestorm had had enough, gathering all the electrical energy she could generate and pull in from the surrounding area. Massive and fearsome crackling sounds went off around her as she prepared to unleash a power surge strong enough to fry every living thing in the Pacific Ocean.

The Green, Indigo, and Violet Iris’ nodded to each other. The Indigo and Violet Iris’ took their positions, entering a ready stance as if preparing to take on the surge. The Green Iris flew high above them, preparing for what was to come. Lightning Dust unleashed her power surge, creating a massive field electrified of air that grew bigger and bigger by the second. Indigo and Violet struck out with two palm-heel strikes, slamming the flat of their palms against the sphere.

Indigo and Violet then used their opposite hand, channeling the electrical energy through them and into their arms. The two released the energy, shooting it straight up to Green. The Green Iris used both her hands to absorb the lightning changing its form to that of an opposite charge. Green fired the lightning right back at Lightning Dust, piercing through the shell of electric energy, and hitting Lightning Dust at the center. The opposite charge caused the energy to feedback, and in the next second detonate with violent power.

The seven Iris’ went back towards the prism, combining back into one body. Iris flew higher into the sky until everything on the ground was unrecognizable. She summoned all the power she had, drawing from the particles in the atmosphere, atomic energy, and magical power from all around her as well. Iris pushed all that power and formed two spheres of swirling light and fire, glowing in the colors of a rainbow.

Lightning Dust and Gilda saw the star forming above them and growled with anger, they combined their attacks, unleashing silver flamed lightning bolt that roared towards their target high above them. Iris melded the two spheres into one, bringing it into her right hand. Iris shot down with an even greater burst of speed than before, a Mach cone formed before her, becoming thinner and thinner with each passing nanosecond, until, finally, she broke through the barrier.

A loud “BOOM” raged through sky, creating a rainbow halo as a rainbow appeared in her wake. Iris met the beam head on, thrusting her right hand forward smashing it with the sphere of aurora light. The sphere grew to five times its size, what was once the size of a baseball was now as big around as a football stadium. Iris’ eyes blazed with fury as her wings of light shined brighter than before. Her battle cry was a mixture of Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer’s voices in one, belting out their resolve for all to hear.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!”

Their rainbow streak ignited, blasting Iris forward as she plowed through the beam with the swirling mass of aurora energy. Lightning Dust and Gilda tried to counter, pouring more and more of their power into the attack. But it wasn’t enough, despite their tampered Protocols, the power that Firestorm Iris wielded was on a whole other level.

Iris kept pushing through the beam, getting closer and closer to Gilda and Lightning Dust. The two rogue Firestorms couldn’t hold the attack any longer, the beam broke apart, allowing Iris to split the sphere into two smaller ones in each hand. With the same great speed she slammed both spheres into the chests of Gilda and Lightning Dust. The buffeting power and force ran into them several times over the course of nanoseconds, effectively stopping them.

Firestorm Iris phased her body through Gilda and Lightning Dust, grabbing their Protocols at the last second before passing through them and appearing behind them. Both Protocols were glowing and about to blow, there was no need to absorb such things. Iris sped off back into the sky, going higher and higher until she reached the edge of the atmosphere. Like a skilled baseball player, Iris threw each Protocol far into the darkness of space. After a few seconds two bright, soundless explosions went off in the distance, but there wasn’t much time to recoup just yet.

Iris hurried back down to where Gilda and Lightning were at. Their bodies were engulfed in flames, transforming them back into their civilian forms, and thanks to that the two of them were now in freefall. Iris swooped in and caught both Gilda and Lightning Dust, keeping them close to her in the crooks of her arms. Iris slowed her descent, finding a landing zone on the roof of the mall where this whole thing started. She laid both girls onto the ground carefully, hearing them release achy groans.

“Are they…?”Rainbow asked.

Iris waved her hand over their bodies, aquamarine light covered them, layering over Gilda and Lightning Dust. The rainbow Firestorm smiled as she breathed a sigh of relief. “They are unharmed, the Protocols don’t appear to have caused any physical harm to them. But a quick healing spell wouldn’t hurt to make sure. If that is alright with you, Sunset?”

The astral form of Sunset shook her head. “No, that’s fine. They’ve been through a lot, we don’t need to let them live with whatever harm the Protocols may’ve caused them.”

Iris rose to her feet and pointed her left hand at the two girls. A magic circle appeared beneath them, allowing magical energy to flow through them and heal what injuries there were to heal. Gilda and Lightning’s pained groans subsided, giving way to relieved sighs of content.

“I didn’t know you could do bio transmutation.”

“It is not so much transmuting, as it is a spell. You’re knowledge of such things helps in discerning the best kind to use, and with the added power of the Matrix, I can heal almost any injury.”

Rainbow crossed her arms and grinned. “Wow, you’re more awesome than I thought, Iris.”

The rainbow Firestorm blushed. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

Sunset Shimmer looked towards the hole they busted out of when the fight began, a thought kept popping up to the forefront of her mind; wondering if it was indeed possible for Iris’ power to heal any injury.

“Iris, I need to ask you a favor.”

Paramedics and police had been called in, all flooding into the mall to help those who were in the food court when the battle started. Among them, Lyra was sitting up against a pillar, with BonBon kneeling next to her.

“You overexerted yourself, just breathe nice and easy Lyra,” said BonBon.

“H-Hey, don’t worry about me…I’m tougher than I look,” said Lyra with a weak voice.

BonBon sat beside Lyra, bringing her love to rest her head against her shoulder, BonBon held onto Lyra. The paramedics had rushed to everyone as quick as they could, and BonBon feared that the stitches around her wound may’ve been blown, her fears only worsened when she saw a small amount of blood in the sling. BonBon needed to get her to the paramedics, but she was in no condition to move, and she feared to leave her alone.

“What am I going to do, I’m sorry Lyra…I’m so sorry…”

A chorus of gasps were heard all around them, BonBon snapped to attention, spotting a tall woman with blue fire hair, crimson armor, and wings of light come floating down from the hole in the roof. BonBon’s eyes went wide with shock, the last time she saw a being like that was the green skulled monster, and the demon woman who fought him. She remembered, BonBon remembered seeing the transformation.

How Sunset Shimmer protected them, and how she transformed into one of the fire girls who fought the green skull monster. But she also remembered that it was her and the other fire girl who transformed into the demoness. Yet this woman was not demonic in appearance, and the calming air she had about her wasn’t the same as the harsh, terrifying pressure the other had.

Lyra’s eyes caught sight of the tall woman, causing her body to tremble with the traumatic memories of the one who took away her arm. The mint-green girl made whimpering sounds as she tried to curl into a ball, BonBon noticed and held Lyra tighter, trying to keep her safe and reassured.

The blue fire woman began walking towards them, she then knelt down before BonBon and Lyra, looking into BonBon’s eyes with her white eyes. “You know that Sunset Shimmer resides within me, correct?”

BonBon made no sounds, but reluctantly she nodded an affirmative.

“I see. She asks me to tell you that she would greatly appreciate your not saying anything about what you saw. And that she is sorry to you, Lyra Heartstrings.”

Lyra opened her eyes, seeing now the sorrowful expression Iris had. “S-Sunset says that…? Why?”

“It was because of her (my) hesitation, that she (I) was unable to stop Atomic Skull, that monster, from hurting you Lyra. She (I) know(s) you can’t forgive her (me), not for the things she (I) did at your (our) school, and not for what has happened to you. But, she (I) hope this would be a good first step.”

Iris held out her right hand. “May I?”

Lyra looked hesitantly to BonBon, the vanilla skinned girl then looked to Iris. Somehow, she could tell that unlike the demoness, this thing had no desire to harm or destroy. She sincerely wanted to show her how sorry she was with a gesture, what that gesture was on the other hand was another guess entirely. Lyra saw the small amount of confidence in BonBon’s eyes, allowing her own to receive a boost.

“O-Okay…” Lyra made to grab Iris’ hand with her right, but Iris shook her head.

“No, the other one.”

Lyra looked to BonBon in confusion, who was just as stumped as she was. With a little reluctance, Lyra managed to work her stub of an arm out of the sling and pointed it towards Iris. The rainbow Firestorm noticed the small amount of blood that had appeared, no doubt a result from the rapid movement from when Gilda and Lightning Dust appeared. Iris gently placed both of her hands over the severed area and closed her eyes.

A magic circle made of aquamarine light appeared beneath them, causing both girls to panic slightly. But Lyra went still when she started feeling something strange. Iris began drawing back her hands, but as she did a ray of light appeared, connected to the severed portion of Lyra’s arm. Iris kept pulling back and then released the ray of light, allowing the end of it to take the form of a hand.

Lyra suddenly felt a warm, tingling feeling running through her upper arm and flowing down into the light arm. Bandages burned away, showing the point at where the light connected to Lyra’s arm. Within seconds the light peeled away, changing into sparkling particles. With each little bit that peeled away, Lyra could see something underneath the light. Iris tapped the arm with her right index finger, causing the final pieces of light to break away, unveiling Lyra’s regrown arm.

BonBon clasped her hands around her mouth, tears of happiness running down her face. Lyra gave an experimental clenching of the hand, making a fist, and then flexing each individual finger. She then began to bend her elbow and move her arm around, thankful it had not been that long since she lost her arm and the feeling of how to move it was still fresh in her mind. Lyra’s expression of disbelief morphed quickly into one of sheer joy.

Lyra held onto her newly regenerated arm with her right hand, clenching it tightly as if fearing it would disappear as part of a cruel joke, but it was real. BonBon hugged Lyra, her tears of joy still falling from down her cheeks as she smiled widely. Lyra looked up at Iris, who smiled back at her.

“Thank you,” said Lyra, it was all she could think to say, for how could mere words express how happy she was for this miracle.

Iris nodded and stood up, she then took a few steps back and shot up back through the hole in the roof, climbing to a safe altitude from which to watch over the city. Sunset and Rainbow appeared next to Iris in astral form, with Sunset crying a little as she looked to Iris.

“Thank you for doing that,”said Sunset.

Iris nodded towards Sunset.

“That was pretty neat, Sunset, I guess…you’re not a total bitch.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, knowing that was probably as good a compliment as she was getting out of Rainbow Dash.

“So, how are we supposed to, you know, split apart?”Rainbow asked.

“We’ll need to see Twilight, she needs to know that –”

Suddenly a column of orange and purple light erupted in the distance, grabbing the attention of Sunset, Rainbow Dash, and Iris.

“That came from AJ’s farm!”

“How the heck would you know that?!”Sunset asked.

“Trust me, Iris double time it towards that light!”

“ At once!”

Iris’ wings glowed as she shot off like a rocket towards the light, neither of them knowing what exactly they were going to find when they arrived.

During the whole battle, the Sirens had kept a close eye on Sunset and how she fought against their pawns. There was no doubt left in their minds, the energy that the new fusion gave off was most assuredly Equestrian magic.

“I can’t believe it, it’s the real thing,” said Aria in awe.

“Does this mean…what I think it means?!” Sonata asked with hope in her voice.

“Yes, it means we may’ve finally found our way back home after all these centuries.” Adagio clenched at her ruby necklace, feeling the leftover magical residue of Sunset’s magical energy. “And from what I can tell, her magic very potent.”

Sonata wiped a tears from her eye, feeling more happiness than she ever felt. Aria was ecstatic, on the inside, still keeping her cool “I don’t care” demeanor prominent, but that didn’t stop her from standing next to Sonata and giving her a little half hug.

“So, how do take her?” Aria asked.

“Not now, it seems something else is happening, another source of magical energy. For some reason, it’s a slightly different signature than Sunset Shimmer’s,” said Adagio.

The three Sirens looked into the direction of the column of orange and purple light, and spotting how the amalgamated Firestorm flew towards it. Adagio had only planned for the use of Gilda and Lightning Dust, there were no other surprises after that.

So what could that be?

“Should we got after her? See what that light was about?” Sonata asked.

Adagio thought for a moment, but in the shook her head in protest. “No, for now we will leave them to their devices. And as for Sunset, we’ll need to have a talk with her soon.”

Aria grunted in annoyance at the idea of negotiation. “Do really need to talk to her?! The three of us together could just take her magic!”

Adagio walked up to Sonata and Aria, and clasped both of them on the shoulder. “I understand how badly you want to go back, but we need to approach this carefully. If it turns out that she’s the only one who knows how to cross between this world and Equestria, then we’ll need her to keep her magic for the time being. That doesn’t mean we can’t convince her to show us.”

The yellow Siren’s gaze narrowed as a sinister smile appeared. “And if it so happens that she has no means to get us back home, well, we’ll just go with plan B.”

Sonata and Aria really hoped that there was a way to go back home, so too did Adagio, but they had made bided their time this long, a little more patience wouldn’t kill them. Besides, their fallback plan wasn’t so bad. Adagio released both Sonata and Aria and made her way to the mall.

“Come girls, we need to make sure that that girls little secret, stays secret. If the rest of the Organization knows about this then our opportunity will be blown out of the water.”

“Alright!” Sonata agreed.

“Let’s do it,” said Aria.

All three Sirens stood before the entrance to the mall, which was swarming with EMTs and police. They began walking forward, their necklaces glowing brighter as they absorbed the leftover magical energies in the air. Their eyes glowed red for a moment and as one they began to sing.

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

“♪ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Haaaaah~ Haaaaa~ Aaaaaha~ Aaaaaah~ ♪”

Entry 21: Orchard Brawl

EARLIER THAT SAME DAY…

Twilight had spent hours combing over her data on the Firestorm Matrix. Every little note, scan, and everything in between, but no matter what, she still couldn’t find the answers she needed. No, the answers were right there in front of her eyes, she just didn’t – couldn’t accept what it was, magic.

Just thinking the word left a bad taste in her mouth, it’s not like she wasn’t open minded about a lot of things, if she wasn’t, Twilight doubted she’d be dating Sunset Shimmer or any girl for that matter. Heck, she’d go so far as to say that she’d doubt any of this Firestorm business was real, but it was, because it was her life, and magic, apparently, was part of Sunset’s life, her whole life if it can be believed.

Twilight sat on her rolling chair, Spike was resting in her lap as she petted her loyal canine friend softy. Parallel worlds had always been a popular theory among the scientific community, as well as an endless resource for comic book and television show writers. Dimensions within dimensions, worlds where a single choice lead to a different outcome, or a world populated by a sentient race that wasn’t human but certainly acted like it; although there wasn’t any concrete evidence to back up such theories, it remained only that, a theory.

Sunset, however, was the proof. Twilight’s girlfriend was living proof that another world, possibly many others, existed alongside their own. A world where magic was the norm and science was secondary to its mystical teachings and power. A world filled with…equines, ponies who talked, were intelligent, had families, and even were ruled by a wise and gentle demigoddess. Such a thing sounded like something straight out a girl’s TV show.

Unfortunately it wasn’t, Sunset had shown her that magic was real, and it was part of who she was. Still there was something that Sunset had said before they arrived back at Twilight’s home, Sunset believed that she wouldn’t accept her because she wasn’t human.

Not like I’m that much human myself, thought Twilight a she raised her left hand, examining it carefully. But, then again, I was born a human being. Sunset was born a pony and forced to adapt to an alien body and live in a world that was both familiar and yet completely foreign. No wonder she didn’t have any friends and kept people at a distance.

Twilight sighed heavily, going deeper into thought. What would that say about me then? She’s human by a biological standpoint, but essentially, she was a pony. Does that count as bestiality? Ugh, what am I thinking?!

Spike perked his ears up and glanced up at his master. Twilight noticed Spike’s look and sighed yet again. “I know Spike, it shouldn’t matter what Sunset is, I have no right to judge considering what I am…still, this whole thing with her magic, it’s…unpredictable. How can you control something like that? How can you understand something so mysterious?”

Spike gave her another look that said: “Well, you fell for Sunset Shimmer didn’t you? She’s about as unpredictable and mysterious as they get.”

“I know that, I just…it’s just so hard to comprehend this and –” Twilight stopped and deadpanned. “And I’m talking to you as if you understand me.”

*Bark*

Twilight raised an eyebrow, if equines were sentient in Sunset’s world. Did that mean that…?

“Spike…bark three times if you understand me.”

Spike opened his mouth but suddenly the doorbell rang, making Twilight squeal in fright and jump up from her chair. Spike was unfortunately sent airborne from the quick movement, Twilight scrambled to her furry companion and quickly caught him before he landed on the basement floor.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, but then worried, going still when she thought that it might be Sunset at the door. Twilight quickly put Spike down on the floor, removed her lab coat, and rushed to the door.

Spike let out a sigh as he shook his head at this owner. “Sometimes you’re a little too high strung, Twi.”

Twilight made it upstairs, her father was at the kitchen table, scrolling through a digital tablet for the latest in astrological, science, and world news, sipping at a cup of coffee. Night Light gave a wave to his daughter and smiled at her. Twilight returned the gesture quickly and made her way to the front door, but apparently her mother beat her to it, now standing in the middle of the doorway, obscuring the visitor from view.

Velvet must’ve sensed her daughter’s presence, having glanced over her shoulder and spotting Twilight. She moved out from the doorway and revealed that the visitor was not Sunset, but was in fact Applejack. Twilight’s enthusiasm dropped low at that moment, but she perked up enough so that her mother and friend wouldn’t get worried.

“Morning Applejack.” Twilight greeted as she made her way to the door.

“Mornin’ to you too, and you, Mrs. Velvet,” replied Applejack.

Velvet sighed a little. “Applejack, honey, I told you and Twilight’s friends that you can just call me Velvet, you don’t have to say Mrs. all the time.”

Applejack tipped her hat to Velvet. “Sorry, no can do, Granny raised me to respect my elders, and it wouldn’t be right of me to call ya Velvet without the Mrs.”

Twilight chuckled as she joined her mother and friend. “You better let this one go, Mom. Applejack’s not going to budge on that.”

Velvet sighed in defeat. “Oh well, I tried. So, what can we do for you Applejack?”

“Actually, Ma’am, Ah was hopin’ Ah could borrow Twi for the day?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, did we have something planned for today?! I’m sorry Applejack, I didn’t know!” Twilight apologized.

“Nah, we never planned for anythin’, Ah just dropped by to see if you wanted to spend some time out by the farm. A little time away on the farm can sometimes help ya think, especially if there are…problems ya can’t solve at home,” said Applejack.

Twilight wasn’t sure where this was going, Applejack wasn’t one to beat around the bush, and yet it was as if she was purposefully trying to avoid talking about the real reason she was here. Whether if it was for Twilight’s sake or because her mother was here was up in the air. Unfortunately, as much as she didn’t want to turn down AJ, Twilight needed to get back to the lab and figure out the Firestorm Matrix, magic, Sunset, everything.

“Oh, well, Applejack I –”

“She’d love to go!” Velvet interrupted.

“What?!”

“Honey, you’ve been spending too much time in that basement laboratory of yours. Sometimes getting some fresh air amongst the simplicity of nature can really help,” she explained.

“But…But…Hey!” Twilight suddenly felt Spike nudging her leg with his head, telling her to go. It was two against one, and Twilight could tell that this was already out of her hands. “Alright, Applejack, I’ll go with you.”

“Great, don’t bother dressin’ up, what ‘cha got on is plenty good!”

Applejack quickly grabbed hold of Twilight and pulled her out of the house, manhandling her all the way to her big brother’s car before she could offer any protests or change her mind. Velvet stood on the porch and waved goodbye to her young daughter as the Apples whisked Twilight away to their farm. Once they were out of sight, Velvet let a melancholy expression befall her.

She walked back inside, closing the door, and headed to the kitchen. Velvet pulled out a chair and sat across from her husband, sighing again. Night Light noticed his wife’s mood and put down the tablet to see what was wrong.

“Dear, you sound a little sad, what’s wrong?” Night Light asked.

“It’s Twilight, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she seems a little depressed lately.”

Night Light nodded. “Yes, I have noticed. Don’t know why though, I assumed it may’ve been layover from Shining Armor’s passing, or because of the recent attack.”

Velvet propped herself up on her elbows, placing her chin in both palms of her hands. “I think it has something more to do with Sunset Shimmer, but I assume those are part of it as well.” The light-gray women took a deep breath and calmed herself before speaking. “I think Sunset and Twilight may be…together, as in dating…possibly.”

Night Light nearly choked on his sip of coffee, choking the remnants down and taking in gasping breaths of air. “O-Our Twilight, dating?! And it’s Sunset?!”

“Now, honey, we talked about this a long time ago that if we ever had children and they turned out to swing that way,” warned Velvet.

“I know, I know, we’d love them no matter what, and I do! Just, still, it’s a little shocking…and honestly I never saw Twilight finding someone to be in a relationship with.”

Velvet raised an eyebrow at that. “What? She’s cute, and if I might say so, a knockout with the right clothes. Why wouldn’t she be in a relationship with someone?”

Night Light shook his head. “No, no, I’m not saying she’s unattractive. I’m just saying she’s quite focused when it comes to her studies and friends, I just assumed she didn’t want to be in one because she preferred her independence.”

Velvet crossed her arms. “Well, she is a girl, a teenage girl at that. Eventually, the heart wants more.”

Night Light did understand, he never did see himself finding the right girl when he was younger. Being labeled a “nerd” kind of killed most if not all his dating options, so he just decided to pour himself into his studies and passions. Eventually he met Velvet in college, who was quite the aspiring author and editor. The two of them found each other and, as they say, the rest is history.

“Still, Sunset Shimmer, she does have that…bad girl thing going for her.” Night Light commented.

“Well, bad boy or bad girl, the thrill would be the same I guess. But, I don’t know, I think what they have is a bit more…cute, and dare I say, beautiful?” Velvet pondered.

Night Light smiled, Velvet was always into the romance stories, that and fantasy, she loved editing those kinds just as much. Just then a thought bolted to the forefront of Night Light’s mind, making his eyes widen with realization.

“Oh crap!”

“What, what’s wrong?!” Velvet asked.

“We left them alone in Twilight’s room sooo many times…you…you don’t think they were…?” Night Light’s face went red at the thought.

Velvet deadpanned, sighed, and then face palmed herself, dragging her hand down her face. “Unbelievable, why is it that men always think that whenever girls are behind closed doors, we’re either comparing boob sizes or making out with each other?”

Now it was Night Light’s turn to deadpan and cross his arms. “Says the woman who was in a very compromising position with Violet and Cupcake.”

Velvet’s face went bright red as she slammed her hands on the table. “T-T-That was just us playing Twister!”

Night Light raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Uh-huh, ‘Twister’. Tell me, what version of Twister requires you to be completely naked? Better yet! What version of Twister doesn’t have a mat or a spinner?”

Velvet stumbled over her words, trying to explain the situation. The married woman let her head droop down in defeat and then raised her hand up with her index finger pointed upwards. “Okay, okay, we were hammered shitless, we were having fun, things were said, and curiosities needed to be satiated! But that was only back in college, and that was the only time that happened!”

Night Light raised his hands up defensively. “Alright, Dear, alright.”

The light-gray woman slumped back into her chair while her husband went back to reading his tablet, still smirking the whole time. “Hey, how come you didn’t get angry when you saw that? As I recall, we were dating when that happened.”

“Hmm, I did get a little angry, but considering the splendid eye candy you gave me that night, I just burned the image into my brain and let it slide.”

Velvet scoffed, and yet she grinned. “You’re such a perv Night.”

“Maybe, but so are you.”

“Touché.”

SWEET APPLE ACRES…

Twilight hadn’t said anything the whole way to the Apple Family’s farm. Applejack road in the backseat with Twilight, watching the scenery move by as the car continued to drive to its destination. During the ride, Twilight wanted to ask AJ why she suddenly decided she wanted her to come to the farm, and every response was:

“We’ll talk when we get there.”

Eventually, they made it to the farm. Big Macintosh let Applejack and Twilight disembark before he pulled into the garage. After saying hi to Granny Smith, Applejack had Twilight follow her into the orchard. The air was clean and fresh, the scents of springtime apples was in the air, making the walk delightfully pleasant.

Twilight started to get worried, she noted by the position of the sun and the time of their arrival to the farm, that the two of them had been walking for at least twenty minutes. Another thing she noticed was that Applejack was making a lot of turns, left, right, left, left, right, left, right, right, and so on and so forth.

It was as if she was intentionally trying to make it hard for anyone to follow them, Twilight wasn’t too worried though. Applejack was her friend, and the most levelheaded member of their group of friends, she wouldn’t have led her out into the deeper portions of the orchard without a reason, right?

Finally, after about twenty minutes, plus, of walking, Applejack settled on a clearing in the orchard. There was a rock jutting out from the ground, acting almost like a nature made bench to sit on. Applejack walked over to the rock and sat down, patting the space next to her. Twilight walked to the rock and sat down beside Applejack.

“Okay Applejack, why did you bring me all the way out here?” Twilight asked.

“Ah needed a place that was quiet and private, someplace far enough in the orchard where no one would hear us.”

“Here what?” Twilight asked.

Suddenly, Applejack shot out her left arm and brought Twilight close to her, making the purple girl ‘“EEEP” in surprise. The farm girl looked down at Twilight, the slight few inches of extra height on Applejack made her feel a little intimidating. Applejack looked into Twilight’s amethyst eyes with her own emerald eyes and giving Twilight a half-lidded gaze.

“Twi, Ah love ya,” said Applejack.

Twilight’s entire body went stiff as the world ceased to exist within her mind, her face growing redder than the apples that surrounded them.

“Wha – Whu – WHAT?!!”

“And the reason Ah led ya out here, was so that no one could hear us when Ah…”

“Applejack, please wait! Y-You can’t – I-I can’t – I…I…I.”

Twilight’s face scrunched when she saw Applejack’s trademark “liar face” appear. The farm girl quickly let go and began laughing heartedly into the open air. Twilight’s face was still red, but mostly from anger and embarrassment.

“AJ! That wasn’t funny!” Twilight scolded.

“Ah-Ah’m sorry, Twi, it’s just that you looked all worried and stiff!” Applejack watched as Twilight huffed and turned away from her. “Aww now, don’t be like that Twi, Ah was only foolin’ around.”

Twilight glanced from over her left shoulder, seeing the apologetic, yet good-hearted smile of her friend. In the end she sighed and turned to face her friend. “Sorry AJ, I’m just a little frustrated lately, I didn’t mean to snap.”

Applejack clasped Twilight on her right shoulder and nodded to her. “Sorry, Ah’m not as good a jokester like Pinkie and Rainbow, so sorry if that made ya feel awkward. But in truth, Ah wanted to see what it felt like to say that to another gal, you know? Anyway, sorry.”

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, are you going to tell me the real reason we’re out here?” Twilight asked.

The farm girl sighed as she adjusted her Stetson hat. “Ah wanted to talk to ya about what’s goin’ on between you and Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight’s body tensed. “Wha-What about Sunset?”

“The two of ya were gettin’ along great like, but all of a sudden you two stop talkin to each other, and avoid each other in the hallways at school. Twilight, what happened?” Applejack asked.

The purple girl knew this was probably the issue, her friends had been getting increasingly worried about how she and Sunset were starting to drift away. In truth, Twilight did not want this to happen, but until the mystery of how they were able to fuse, she couldn’t risk them accidentally setting off the fusion and becoming Hel once again. Twilight shuddered at the mere thought of being inside that demoness, an action that caught Applejack’s attention.

“Sugarcube, you alright?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Like I said, we’re just in a rough patch with our friendship, we just need to work it out ourselves.”

Applejack slowly nodded. “Uh-huh, now are ya sure it’s your friendship and not your relationship?”

Twilight became nervous. “What do you mean?”

“Twi, Ah know you and Sunset have been seenin’ each other, like girlfriends.”

Twilight shot to her feet, eyes wide with worry and panic. “Nononono, we’re not like that – I’m not like that! I don’t hold any affection other than platonic or sisterly love for other girls!”

“Twi, Twi, sugarcube, relax, ya don’t have to put up a front or pretend. That’s why we’re out here, so ya don’t have to. Ah already know about which way ya swing, and who ya love,” said Applejack in her most convincing tone.

Twilight felt like the world was coming to an end, and it might be literally, but that was another worry for later. Applejack knew about her orientation and about Sunset, she had planned to tell her friends at some point down the line, it was obviously going to become a topic they needed to discuss amongst them, and how they would accept Sunset into their group of friends and possibly work towards forgiving the former bully.

Out of the group, Twilight was most concerned with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity’s reactions to this news. Pinkie Pie, she knew, would just accept it and say how happy she was for them, she’d might even throw a party for them. Who was she kidding? Pinkie would throw them a party. Fluttershy, well, she figured there’d be some fear from her. After all, Fluttershy did take the worst of the abuse that Sunset used to dish out to the student body. But Twilight hoped that if Sunset could show the gentler and apologetic side of herself, then maybe there was a chance for acceptance.

Rarity was a bit trickier to pin down, the fashionista certainly didn’t show, or let slip, that she condoned or was inclined towards female relationships. Best-case scenario was that Rarity, while not really into such things, would still accept the two of them as friends. Worst-case scenario, she’d have nothing to do with them.

Rainbow Dash, Twilight knew for a fact that the tension between them would either end up with Sunset and Rainbow beating each other up, or ignoring each other. Twilight held hope, but she knew Rainbow Dash was on a mission to protect her friends from Sunset.

Applejack, before this, she’d had concocted a scenario in which Applejack would completely disassociate herself with Twilight, maybe even go so far as to outright protest their relationship. Twilight hated thinking of Applejack like that, she knew AJ was a levelheaded and reasonable girl. There was no need to buy into such stereotyping.

Twilight felt like bolting right then and there, maybe even transforming and flying away. But she felt no danger from Applejack, in fact, Applejack just continued to hold her understanding smile, and waiting patiently.

“You know…and yet, you’re alright with this?” Twilight asked in tentative tone.

“Sugarcube, Ah’m not angry, not repulsed, or anythin’ else you might be thinkin’ right now. Ah’m okay with it, now just sit down and let’s talk.” Applejack patted the empty spot next to her for emphasis, again.

Twilight wanted to trust her friend, and so she did, carefully sitting herself down on the empty spot. She kept her gaze downwards, staring at the grass before them, hands coiled into fists and resting on her knees.

“So…you know Sunset and I are…together. How…How did you find out?”

“Believe or not it was Rainbow who told me,” said Applejack.

Twilight whipped her head around and stared at the country girl with wide eyes. “Rainbow knows, too?! H-How did she find out?!”

Applejack sighed. “Back durin’ that Science Fair thing, she was talin’ you and Sunset. Mostly because she still doesn’t trust her, and because she cares about ya.”

Twilight blushed a little, she knew Rainbow Dash was protective of her, almost like an older sibling would be, but she didn’t think she’d go that far. It was sweet, funny, and a little stalker-ish, but still cute.

“She…uh…she overheard you confessin’ to Sunset and all…and then let it slip – accidentally mind you – when Ah went to check on her that day she stormed out of the cafeteria. So, for now, only me and Rainbow know about what you and Sunset have, and it’s also why Ah’m here talkin’ to ya.” Applejack placed her left hand over Twilight’s clenched right hand. “So tell me, Twi, what’s goin’ on?”

Twilight felt a great weight come off her shoulders. Knowing that at least two of her friends knew about her relationship with Sunset and weren’t at all repulsed or protesting of it helped ease her nerves. However, the same could not be said about this situation. Twilight couldn’t tell Applejack the reason – the real reason – why she and Sunset seemed to be avoiding each other lately.

“Well…it’s just as I said earlier, we’ve hit a bit of a rough patch and we’re giving each other space.” She lied. “I understand you wanting to help me, Applejack, and believe me, I’m truly grateful that you took time out the day to bring me here so we could talk privately. But for now, it’s something that Sunset and I have to work out ourselves.”

Applejack sighed heavily, the country girl herself wasn’t that great a liar, honesty ran strong in the Apple Family, it’s what built up their business and their respect among their fellow neighboring farms, family friends, and business partners. But such honesty also came with learning how to spot a liar as well, and AJ could see it in Twilight’s eyes and body language that she was holding something back.

“Twi, you should know, you ain’t the only one gettin’ a talkin’ to right now.”

Twilight turned to Applejack with a curious look. “What do you mean?”

Applejack stood up and stretched a little as she spoke, “Right about now, Rainbow Dash is havin’ a little chat with Sunset Shimmer. Ah figured we had a fifty-fifty shot of findin’ out what’s eatin’ at the two of you.” That’s if Rainbow doesn’t start gettin’ into a fistfight with Sunset, or sabotages what they have, first.

“Y-You did?! Rainbow’s talking to Sunset, right now?!” Twilight asked in a surprised tone.

“Eeyup. So, sooner you tell me what’s up, the sooner we can hopefully put this mess behind the both of us. And hopefully we can find out soon, Ah don’t rightly feel comfortable leavin’ those two alone, in a crowded area or private one,” said Applejack with a bit of dread.

Twilight wasn’t worried, Sunset wouldn’t say anything about the Firestorms, or Hel. “AJ it’s just too complicated and…really, too personal to go into…” Twilight began hugging herself, memories of her time as Hel flashed in her mind. “Too painful to want to remember…”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that, glancing over her shoulder. “Twi…did…did Sunset…did she, uh…hurt you? Physically?”

The intelligent girl gazed at Applejack with incredulity. “Did Sunset – NO! Applejack she did nothing to me!”

“Twilight, Ah know that talkin’ about stuff like that is hard, but it won’t do ya any good keepin’ it bottled up. We’re alone out here, you can tell me anythin’ sugarcube,” said Applejack in a consoling voice.

Hearing Applejack talk like that, as if she were her older sibling, it hurt. It hurt because she knew Applejack only cared about her wellbeing and looked out for everyone, she was ready to be her rock if need be, but the secrets Applejack thought Twilight was keeping from her were a far cry from the reality.

“Applejack…I want to tell you, everyone…but the truth will only get you all hurt!” Twilight cried.

{Oh that is a much truer statement than you know.}

Applejack and Twilight snapped to attention, hearing an unfamiliar voice speak from out of nowhere. The farm girl clenched her fists, tensing her body in preparation for an impending brawl.

“Who’s there?! Show yerself!” Applejack demanded.

{Be silent Calamity Jane, I’m not here for you, but I am however here for you, Twilight.}

Twilight jumped off the rock, eyes narrowed as she looked to and fro for the enemy she knew was there. “You’re from the Organization, aren’t you?”

{Correct, I am indeed. It pains me that we can’t meet in person, but I’m afraid if I did, I’m not quite sure what I’d do to you. And I’d rather not kill you so soon before getting to speak with you at length.}

Twilight connected to the Firestorm Matrix within her, trying to sense out where her opponent was, but she couldn’t find any trace of Protocol energy.

{If you’re trying to sense me, don’t bother, I’m not really there.}

“Then how are you talking to us?!” Twilight asked.

A rustling from the tree line caught their attention. Two beings stepped out of the shadows of the trees, but not one of them was human. They were machines, with metal plates that acted as the location of the major muscles along the arms, legs, and chest areas. Their faces were a generic mold cast, sculpted in no particular likeness. One was colored a cobalt blue, and the second was silver colored.

“What…What are those?!” Applejack shouted.

The silver automaton opened its mouth. {I think you’ll appreciate these machines.}

The cobalt one opened its mouth as the silver closed his. {They’re a little gift from an associate, Professor Ivo. He’s a brilliant scientist, and I convinced him to let me test drive his latest creations.}

The silver opened its mouth next as the cobalt machine closed its mouth. {Bear in mind that they may have some bugs to work out, so try to last as long as you can Twilight. He’s a stickler for making sure his creations are flawless.}

“Who are you, and how do you know my name?!” Twilight demanded.

{I am the director of the Science Division of the Organization. But that’s all you get for now, don’t want to spoil the big surprise. Oh, and you can forget about calling on
Sunset Shimmer. By now she’s neck deep in trouble.}

“WHAT??!!”

Twilight’s cellphone went off at that moment, blaring the alarm signal for Firestorm activity, not only that, but her half of the Matrix was blaring at her that there was danger to the other half of the Matrix.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Twilight’s body was engulfed in pink flames, surprising Applejack to the point where she fell on her rear. She watched as the flames died out and revealed Twilight in Firestorm form, pink flames whipping from her arms and head.

“I’m going to turn these things into tin cans!” Twilight thrust her right arm, opening her hand as the atomic rings formed around it.

Silver and Cobalt’s eyes glowed red, indicating that the androids had entered battle mode. Within their mechanical brains their processors analyzed every bit of Twilight’s transmutational energy.

[Analyzed: Firestorm 02. Countermanding.] Silver spoke in a monotone robotic voice.

Silver thrust out its right hand, and atomic rings formed around it. Plasma began gathering to his hand as the automaton fired a beam of fiery plasma right for Twilight. The purple Firestorm switched her transmutation from offense to defense, making light particles form before her and harden into a shield.

The plasma beam struck the light shield, but just as that attack happened, Cobalt’s hands glowed with the same atomic energy. With a wave of his hands Cobalt summoned made the earth beneath Twilight turn into quicksand.

“Wh-What in the world?!”

Suddenly, Silver dashed for Twilight, concentrating its plasma energy into its fist. With a single punch Silver broke through her light shield and struck Twilight in the face, sending her flying to the other end of the clearing. At the last second Twilight summoned a gravity burst, halting her flight and bringing her to a dead stop before she plowed through the apple trees.

Twilight rubbed the corner of her mouth, wiping away a bit of the liquid-light ichor. How is this possible?! They aren’t human, so how can they use transmutation and atomic energy like a Protocol user?!

If there was anything Twilight couldn’t stand it was unsolvable puzzle. Twilight focused, using her spectral vision to peer into the inner workings of the androids on a microscopic level. It was here she could see it, the atoms, they weren’t static at all. No, they were in motion. It was then that Twilight understood what these things were, they were made of nanomachines.

“Oh my god…I didn’t think…I thought that technology was too far from coming into creation!”

Cobalt opened his mouth. {So I see you understand, Twilight.}

Silver opened his mouth next. {Yes, Professor Ivo’s greatest advancement in robotics technology, adaptoids. Androids made of nanobots, and given a computer brain that nearly reaches the level of a quantum computer.}

Cobalt spoke next. {Combining the two together yields a machine that can not only mimic their opponent’s powers, but also think three moves ahead of their opponent as well.}

Silver dashed again and balled up its fist. Twilight flew for Silver, gathering graviton particles to wrap around her right fist. The two met at the center, punching at the same time and meeting at the middle. The impact sent out a shockwave the nearly threw Applejack into the air. {As smart as you are, Twilight, you’re still human, to a degree.}

Suddenly, Cobalt appeared behind Twilight. {And the drawback of the human brain, it’s a little slower to process information, no lag time with a demi-quantum computer.}

Cobalt spun, performing a roundhouse kick that struck Twilight in her left ribs and propelled her to the rock that she and Applejack had sat on earlier. Unfortunately, Twilight was unable to stop herself as she impacted against it, making an indentation of herself and sending bits of the rock flying in every direction.

“TWILIGHT?!” Applejack called out.

Twilight opened her eyes and saw Applejack now looking down at her. “Applejack, get out of here! They’ll kill you if stay here?!”

“Ah ain’t leavin’ ya alone?! Ah don’t know what’s goin’ on, but Ah ain’t abandonin’ ya!”

The pink-flamed Firestorm tore herself from the rock, getting to her, now shaky, feet. “Applejack, if there were ever a time for you to put your stubbornness and pride aside, now would be the most opportune time!”

Cobalt summoned his atomic energy again, condensing the air and kicking up a whirlwind. Twilight turned just as the android fired a blast of highly pressurized air straight at them! Without a moment to spare, Twilight did the only thing she could do. She stood in front of AJ and covered her front with her forearms, willing light particles and gravitons to layer in front of her. Multiple sheets of light and gravity energy formed in front of her, creating walls of protection all the way to Twilight’s position.

Silver joined in and released a double helix blast of plasma fire, the dual beams swirled around the air stream and doubled its power. The stream of pressurized air took on a sharp point, making it look like a spear of air and fire. The stream pierced through the first shield layers, shattering them like fragile glass, but with each destruction of a layer, the androids found that their attack was slowing.

Twilight’s quick thinking paid off, by layering the barriers and progressively increasing their density, she was able to slow the beam and reduce the amount of force and power it generated. Some of her stronger layers were shattering, but the rate of their breakage wasn’t as alarming when they reached the third wall layers.

“I’ve had enough of this!”

Twilight gathered gravitons to her left hand, and ion particles to her right. With a thrust of her left hand she fired a massive gravity beam that tore through her own shield layering, absorbing them to gather even more power. The two androids saw this coming and quickly dodged the attack as the gravity beam struck where they once were. Twilight concentrated the ion energy into the ring and index fingers of her right hand, both fingers crackled with charged ion particles as she pointed in the direction of Silver.

The android fired a plasma flame beam to strike the ion lightning, both colliding in the middle, the main body of the lightning released two divergent arcs. Both arcs struck Silver, electrifying him. Cobalt saw this and prepared to counterattack, but Twilight quickly snapped her fingers in his direction. She willed the air molecules around Cobalt to grind against each other, creating super-heated friction which she doubled and condensed. The result was an explosion of flames in front of Cobalt, throwing him backwards.

Twilight transmuted the gravitons around Cobalt, creating a dense sphere of purple colored gravity energy. The sphere swallowed Cobalt, and began shrinking as Twilight closed her hand as if squeezing a stress ball. With the chain lightning wrapped around Silver, and the slowly shrinking gravity sphere containing Cobalt, Twilight was sure she could prevail, at the very least she could damage the androids enough to get Applejack away from the battle.

Just then, Twilight sensed something, a shift in power that made her lose control of her hold on both Cobalt and Silver’s bindings. Twilight dropped to one knee, clutching at her chest as the Matrix within her reacted. She turned her gaze skywards and suddenly beheld an aurora borealis.

What’s…What’s happening?! Why do I feel as if something just happened to Sunset?! Oh no, did she – was she –?!

Applejack rushed towards her friend, being mindful of the pink flames. “Twilight, what’s wrong, talk to me?!”

“I…I can sense something happening to Sunset, I can’t explain it in full to you, but trust me, something is definitely happening to her!”

The farm girl’s eyes went wide, now looking at the aurora borealis. She remembered that Rainbow Dash was supposed to be talking with Sunset Shimmer, and if what Twilight said was true, then Rainbow Dash was also caught in whatever crossfire was going on near Sunset.

Cobalt shattered the gravity sphere, its hands glowing with atomic rings, and Silver burst apart the ion lightning with an aura of plasma fire. Both androids’ eyes glowed red, locking onto Twilight. Cobalt and Silver moved as one, floating off the ground and jetting straight for their target.

Twilight noticed the incoming attack and pushed Applejack away with a force wave, throwing her back ten feet. The purple Firestorm gathered photon energy, shaping it into a staff-sword. Twilight twirled the weapon around and slashed at androids, but Cobalt countered with a magnetic shield, causing the light particles to bend and repel. When the blade struck, it rebounded and sent Twilight stumbling back, Silver took this chance and moved in, with inhuman speed the android delivered a volley of plasma power infused punches.

Twilight lost her hold on the spear as blows came at her from every direction, with some effort, she willed her flames to explode outward, forcing Silver back. Cobalt countered, transmuting the air into nitrogen and firing it in the form of a frosty wind. Twilight’s flames were smothered and the heat of her flames was robbed.

Silver decided to help with that, jumping into the air and spinning around as he descended. When he was close enough, Silver extended his right leg, wrapping it in flames, and struck Twilight with an axe kick to her right shoulder. The blow creating a powerful explosion that kicked up a dust cloud and muffled Twilight’s pained cry.

Cobalt entered the dust cloud, his optic sensors easily allowed him to pierce through the dust and find his target with ease. The android cocked back its fists and then thrust them forward, striking Twilight in the chest with a double palm-heel strike! Cobalt channeled his atomic energy, and used it to quadruple the kinetic force behind the blow.

To Twilight, it was not a single blow, but multiple blows at once, feeling as if a wall made of titanium was constantly smashing against her body before throwing her into the distance. She bounced on the ground like a stone skipping water, rolling to a stop and slamming against a thick apple tree that groaned in protest of the impact.

Cobalt and Silver stood side-by-side, not one of them showing much signs of damage thanks to their nanomachines, repairing their bodies and systems with each passing second. Twilight felt like every bone in her body was about to snap at once, she even coughed up some liquid-light ichor from her mouth. Her breathing was labored as she tried to rise, but failed in each attempt. Upon the fifth she felt someone move under her for support.

Twilight’s white eyes widened at the sight of Applejack, maneuvering herself under Twilight’s left arm as she used her right arm to hold Twilight close for support. “Ah got ‘cha Twi.”

“Applejack…how many ways can I say run away before you actually run away?! Nigemasu! Huir! Weglaufen! Fuyez! Aufugerit! Tréxte makriá! Táopǎo! Scappa! Ubegat'! Bhāga jā'ō!”

“Don’t start usin’ fancy words on me, Twi! Ah don’t run from nothin’, not now, not ever!”

Twilight grunted in annoyance, which only hurt. “You have got to be the most stubborn girl I have ever met, AJ! I’m trying to protect you, to keep you safe, why won’t you do what I say and just let me save you?!”

“BECAUSE AH WON’T LET SOMEONE ELSE DIE BECAUSE OF ME!”

Twilight paused, hearing the pain behind Applejack’s voice. “What…What do you mean?”

The farm girl lowered her gaze, her hat shrouding her face in shadows. “Ah was young…Ah wandered into the orchard alone…tryin’ to prove that Ah was as tough as Big Mac, and that Ah didn’t need to be fussed over. Ah wandered too far in, and Ah got lost…”

Cobalt and Silver slowly made their way towards Twilight and Applejack, their footsteps thudding against the dirt.

“Ah caught the attention of some lone wolf, Ah ran from it but it cornered me. My parents finally found me, my Pa told Ma to get me outta there and she did, leavin’ ‘em behind to take on the wolf. After a bit, Ma could tell that Pa didn’t make it, she put me down and told me to run straight ahead to a search party. Ah did what she told me…and in the end, both of ‘em died…because Ah wanted to prove somethin’…”

“Applejack…they sacrificed themselves because they loved you,” said Twilight.

“It still don’t make it right! Because of me, Apple Bloom won’t ever hear Ma sing her a lullaby, or have Pa give her a ride on his shoulders…Ah took away Granny’s child… Ah promised never to let that happen again, not with my friends, or my family!” Applejack stood higher, planting her feet in the earth. “So don’t you tell me to run, if Ah’m runnin’ we both run! If you fight, then Ah will too!”

Something clicked within Twilight, a surge of power erupted from the core of her being, but it felt different than the Matrix’s energy, but at same time very familiar. Pink flames raged and surrounded Twilight and Applejack, causing the androids to halt their advance. The flames churned around in the form of an orb, but quickly changed color. Particles of green light seeped from the earth beneath the flames and flowed into the sphere, changing the color of the flames to a bright emerald with some highlights of purple and orange.

The sphere grew in size, until, the flames transformed into a giant lotus that bloomed. The emerald flame petals disappeared into particles, revealing the occupant within who was neither Twilight nor Applejack. She was kneeling, but once the flames disappeared she rose to her full height. She stood at an impressive seven feet, practically looking down at the androids.

Her upper body was covered in a metallic, dark navy, mesh-like fiber, the hem of the cloth stopping short, exposing her midriff. Her skin was made of glowing emerald plasma, but solidified to a degree that it almost looked like human skin. From her shoulders down to her hands, her entire right and left arm was covered in a bronze armor, with grooves that outlined muscles and glowed with orange light. It almost looked as if she had molten lava running through them, and the metal was the crust.

Her flame hair was short, coming down to shoulder length, made of the same emerald flames. Upon her chest was the sun emblem, within it was a black six-pointed star, and within that was an apple outlined in red. Six purple bands stretched out from the emblem, but the red orbs were not there, but they were somewhere else. Behind the giant woman was a golden halo ring, each red orb was embedded within the ring, with the top two bearing the image of an atom, and the other a tree with many roots shooting downwards.

Her lower half was covered in baggy pants made of the same material, the overall color was a dark navy blue that had orange flame details on it. Towards the legs, metal bronze colored greaves wrapped around her shins, but her feet were left completely exposed.

The giant woman wasn’t overtly muscular or defined, bearing Twilight’s svelte body type, but much like Applejack, she was lean with a strength that was unparalleled. She opened her eyes, which were glowing white as she raised her right and left hands, clenching them into fists.

[Error: New target not in database.] Cobalt spoke.

[Demand: What is your designation?] Silver said.

The giant woman crossed her arms and smirked at the two automatons. “‘My designation’? Hmph, listen well tin cans, this is the name of the badass who’s going to turn you into freakin’ scrap metal!” Green flames erupted around her, the purple bands and orange flame detailing glowed bright to match, along with the red orbs in the halo ring, and the sun emblem.

“Born of honesty, and bound by courage! The innocent cheer my name, and the wicked tremble before it! I’m Firestorm Gaia!” Gaia thrust her left arm forward and pointed at the androids with a cocky grin on her face. “And your asses are grass!”

Author's Note

♪ A giant woman! A giant woman ~ ♪

Entry 22: The Strength of Gaia

Entry 22: The Strength of Gaia

???

“Twilight, sugarcube, wake up!”

Twilight groaned, her skull throbbing with a familiar headache, albeit somewhat less painful. The teenage girl realized she was lying on her back, so she slowly sat up, feeling gentle hands guide her upright to a sitting position. Twilight slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to adjust them into focus, but once she did, they went as wide as saucers.

The world around them was a starry universe, hued in an emerald green color. Twilight looked down and saw that she was sitting on an invisible surface, it wasn’t too surprising, after all Twilight had been to this place once before, but what was really startling was that Sunset was nowhere around to make this happen. Her heart pounded within her chest, breaths coming in and out in a hyperventilating fashion. Twilight was on the verge of a panic attack, because she knew, she knew that being in this place could only mean one thing.

“We’re inside Hel! No, not again! I don’t want to be here!” Twilight shouted.

“TWI!”

Twilight was briefly snapped out of the attack, hearing a voice that wasn’t Sunset’s. She turned to her right and saw that Sunset was not beside her, but instead it was Applejack. Her body from the neck down was glowing in a soft orange color, with a red apple symbol pulsating on her chest, much in the same way Twilight appeared.

“Applejack…?”

“Ah’m right here Twi, just breathe a moment and calm down. Else Ah’m liable to start panickin’ myself, and it won’t do any good for the both us to start screamin’ and gettin’ scared,” said Applejack, keeping her voice strong and yet gentle, trying to reassure Twilight, and herself.

Twilight closed her eyes and placed her right hand to her chest, she then inhaled, and then extended that same hand forward as she exhaled. It was Cadance’s calming technique, having taught Twilight when she used to get all panicky about the new things she was experiencing.

She never thought such a simple method would actually work to calm her nerves, but time and again the technique had proven itself to be effective one-hundred percent of the time. Twilight did this a couple of more times, feeling her anxiety flow out with each breath, until finally she felt calm enough to think clearly.

“Thank you, Applejack,” said Twilight with a smile.

“Didn’t do nothin’, just makin’ sure ya stay with me.” Applejack rose to her feet and then offered her hand to the purple glowing girl. “Can ya stand? Ah mean, technically Ah don’t even know how the heck we’re even standin’ on anythin’ when there’s nothin’ beneath us, but…”

Twilight nodded and grabbed hold of Applejack’s hand, helping her up. “Believe me I understand, but what I don’t understand is why we’re here. Sunset wasn’t anywhere near me to initiate the fusion process! I mean…I felt something, felt her, but that couldn’t have been the reason why!”

Twilight began looking around, she quickly turned her gaze upwards, prompting AJ to do the same. And just as she suspected, the Firestorm Matrix was floating above them, but like the world around them, there were differences to it. Half of the orb was colored red, while the other half was the same soft orange color like Applejack. The bands that wrapped around the orb were a rosy color, and the orbs were different as well. The color was the same, but the symbols weren’t like the ones that were there when she and Sunset became Hel.

“The Firestorm Matrix, it’s…it’s changed, I don’t understand,” said Twilight aloud, but to no one in particular.

“Twi, Ah’m usually the calm and steady one in most situations, but honestly, if somethin’ doesn’t get explained soon, Ah’m probably goin’ to freak out.”

Twilight shook her head to regain her senses. “Sorry, but there is no real simple answer.” Twilight sighed, knowing that the cat was outta the bag at this point. “Applejack…Sunset Shimmer and I we’re…we’re those two fire girls who you’ve no doubt seen on the news.”

Applejack looked to Twilight with wide eyes. “You and Sunset?! Both of ya’ve been fightin’ those other fire people all this time?!” Twilight nodded. “Well…shoot…Ah…Ah guess it makes sense, in a way. Why you and Sunset seem to be around each other a lot, and boltin’ off like ya do, and…hold on, was this partly the reason why the both of ya became a thing?”

Twilight blushed, rubbing the back of her head in slight embarrassment. “Well…it helped us to bond, and to get closer to each other without really knowing it.” The purple girl’s bashfulness ended there, her face growing serious. “Do you remember the news report, about the battle that took place in the middle of downtown a couple of weeks ago?”

Applejack crossed her arms and sighed. “Sure do, gave us all a fright when we saw the sky turnin’ red and the black clouds thunderin’. The news said somethin’ about a demon and a green flamed skeleton fightin’, which they assumed was the cause. Ya shoulda seen Granny Smith, she was prayin’ and holdin’ a cross in her hands like it was the End of Days or somethin’. Not goin’ to lie, it looked like it too.”

“That phenomenon was caused by Sunset and me, we…we fused into a single being called Firestorm Hel. She was…IS…a monster, born from the rage and hate that Sunset and I felt for Atomic Skull for what he did to Lyra!”

“Ya mean…you were there when it happened?!”

“Yes! He beat us into the ground, literally! He was too strong, we couldn’t do anything to stop him! Applejack, he was sent there to kill Sunset and me, and Lyra, and a lot of people were hurt or killed because of us!” Twilight shouted, clenching her fists as the memories resurfaced.

The Firestorm Universe seemed to waver in response to Twilight’s distress, a low groan like a structure giving way could be heard echoing within the expanse, and it made Applejack uneasy.

“Twi, Ah think you should –”

“Hel fought him, she fought against him and was so much more powerful than him! He was a mercenary, a killer, a trained soldier, we had no chance without her power! But even so, she didn’t have to do all that!” Tears ran down her cheeks as Twilight fell to her knees, hugging herself as the memories became more vivid. “She took away his powers, made him helpless and weak! And despite that, she didn’t let up, she just continued to attack him and enjoyed every moment he was in pain! Sunset and I we…we begged her to stop, pleaded with her!”

A low rumble could be felt through the invisible ground, nearly knocking Applejack off her feet. The apple farmer didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t take a genius to see that Twilight’s emotional state was having an effect on the world around them, and Applejack didn’t know what would happen if this world crumbled around them.

“Twilight, calm down!” Applejack pleaded.

“She killed him! Shot him in the head with a burst of energy, it was a literal execution! Hel did the killing, but we were Hel, and our bodies were one! With my own hands a life was taken! I’m a murderer, he was one too, but that was no excuse for what we – what I –!”

Applejack quickly rushed forward and brought Twilight into a tight embrace. The sudden contact made Twilight gasp, and then she blushed when she realized that they were essentially bare, even though their bodies were made of light.

“Uh…Applejack…?”

“Twi, stop it. You did what ya had to do. Ah won’t pretend that Ah know what you went through when you were like that, but Ah do understand the feelin’ of havin’ blood on yer hands. It’s the same with me, ya don’t think Ah felt the same way when my parents died?!” Applejack broke the hug, putting a little space between them, but still keeping her arms around Twilight. “For the longest time, Ah kept blamin’ myself, thinkin’ Ah was a murderer!”

Twilight shook her head, resting her right hand gently against Applejack’s left cheek. “AJ, no, that’s not the same thing! It was an accident! You had no control over it!”

“The same way you didn’t have control over that Hel demon?” Applejack shot back.

Twilight winced.

“Ya see, there are things that are out of our control sometimes Twi, and sometimes ya can’t always stop bad things from happenin’. But, what matters is that you don’t let it stop you from doin’ all you can to make it right when it’s over. To pick yerself up and keep movin’ forward!”

Applejack smiled gently at Twilight and brought one of her hands to wipe away the tears on her face. “Now, no more of this blamin’ yerself and callin’ yerself a ‘murderer’. Else Ah’ll have to knock some sense into ya.”

Twilight felt her heart swell up, without realizing it, these were the words she needed to hear. The purple girl threw her arms out and brought Applejack into a hug of equal intensity, catching the country girl off guard for a moment before she returned the gesture. The Firestorm Universe around them stopped groaning and settled, the starry universe calmed itself and was solid once again, and even the invisible ground was still once again.

‘Geez, finally! Thought that was going to drag on forever! And, uh, not that I mind, but how long do you two plan on huggin’ each other? You both are essentially naked.’

Twilight and Applejack’s eyes flew open as they were struck with the realization. Both girls parted and stood to their feet, clearing their throats and wearing blushes on their faces. It was then that Twilight noticed that the voice didn’t have the sultry, yet ominous tone that Hel’s did. If anything it sounded gravelly, but had sass and attitude behind it.

“Twi, Ah’m Ah hearin’ things or did someone just talk to us?!” Applejack asked.

‘Someone did talk to you, ME! Firestorm Gaia, the being you both are currently inside of! ’

Twilight shook her head in confusion. “Wait, ‘Firestorm Gaia’, not ‘Hel’?!”

‘Oh please, don’t even compare me to that succubus sadist!’

“I don’t understand, how was it that this happened? Applejack doesn’t have a Firestorm Protocol, so there’s no way she should’ve been able to fuse with me!” Twilight retorted.

‘Look, you can hammer out the whys and hows later, right now, I need you two focused.’

Two portals opened before Applejack and Twilight, they appeared in the shape of eyes, granting them a window into the outside world. Before them stood the androids Cobalt and Silver, having entered defense mode as they tried to understand what Gaia was.

‘Right now they’re kinda locked up, trying to figure out what I am. Which is impossible, because, there’s no way they can comprehend this much awesomeness.’

Applejack crossed her arms in front of her and wore a deadpan expression.

“And yer so modest to boot.”

‘Hey, I’m just bein’ honest, kinda my thing.’

“Gaia…?” Twilight asked tentatively.

‘Look, you don’t have to be afraid of me. So speak up.’

Twilight sighed and steeled her nerves. “I need to know, will you do as we say?”

‘I am what I am, so long as you don’t want to kill I won’t. But I’m not going to let us all die, that fair?’

Twilight nodded, and Applejack joined.

‘Good, and besides, these are robots, no need to hold back! So let’s go!’

The earth trembled beneath Gaia’s feet, she stomped her left foot forward, widening her stance. She lowered her upper body, and clenched her fists as she summoned forth her power. An emerald aura of flames raged around her, causing the androids to enter attack mode.

[Statement: New target power levels are rising at a critical rate.] Cobalt spoke.

[Conclusion: Target poses immediate threat. Elimination of threat is required.] Silver added.

Both androids’ eyes went red as they took off for Gaia. Silver lashed out with a fiery left hook, but Gaia’s glowing eyes caught the swift movement, with her left hand she reached across herself and caught the punch in the palm of her left armored hand. Cobalt came at her with a spinning roundhouse kick, channeling his energies into it to double its kinetic force. Gaia smirked in bemusement that the androids thought a two pronged attack would work on her. She quickly reached across herself with the right hand and caught Cobalt’s kick at the angle, causing the built up kinetic force to dissipate on impact.

[Error.] Cobalt and Silver spoke.

“My turn!”

Gaia pulled back, dragging both androids to the opposite sides and throwing them like rag dolls. The two automatons smashed into one apple tree after the other, cutting a groove in the earth as two dust trails were kicked up in their wake before they came to an explosive stop, kicking up even more dirt and rock into the air.

The astral form of Applejack appeared beside Gaia, she groaned loudly and face palmed herself, dragging it down her face. ‘Ah geez…all our apple trees are goin’ to be destroyed at this rate…!’

“Oh don’t whine about that right now! This is combat, stay focused!” Gaia snapped.

‘Gaia!’Twilight scolded.

“Well it is!”

Suddenly Cobalt and Silver burst out of the dust clouds, flipping in the air and landing a couple of yards away from Gaia, mirroring the other as they landed on one knee while their fist struck the ground. Both androids’ heads shot up and locked onto Gaia, and the giant woman readied herself.

Silver funneled his atomic energy into his hands and released it into a blazing double helix, plasma flame blast. The dual winding beams roared towards Gaia, she quickly stamped the earth with her foot, causing a chunk of it to rise up like a wall. She then struck it with her fist, sending transmutational energy surging through it, transforming it into a titanium wall that took the full force of the blast. Gaia then flattened her hands, taking a stance, she struck the titanium wall before her with a series of high speed spear hand thrusts.

On the other side of the wall, shrapnel shards of metal were launched at rapid speed, like a Gatling gun. Cobalt and Silver rolled to the left and right. Gaia backed up, she then delivered a spinning thrust kick to the top half of the wall, sending it flying towards Cobalt, and with a punt kick from her right foot she set the bottom half hurdling along with the other.

Cobalt saw the chunks of metal flying at him, with quick and decisive action Cobalt used his power to transmute the metal into sand just before it hit him. But what Cobalt didn’t see was that Gaia had sped towards him at the same time as the metal chunks. She blasted through the sand, right fist cocked back in preparation to deliver a killing blow to the machine.

Suddenly, a beam of fiery plasma shot towards them. Gaia pulled back at the last second, narrowly missing the beam as it divided her from Cobalt. Her gaze turned to Silver, emerald flames wrapped around her left fist as she punched in Silver’s direction, lobbing a green fireball at him.

Silver countered by striking with his left fist, engulfed in his plasma fire. The two attacks struck, causing an explosion to burst out, throwing the automation to the ground. His left arm was damaged, most of the forearm was gone, exposing the circuitry and having spurts of nano facilitating fluids pour out like blood. The wound was already repairing itself, but Gaia wasn’t about to let it go that far. She dashed for Silver, bringing both hands together to bring down in a double handed hammer fist.

Just as she was about to deliver the fatal blow, Cobalt stepped in and caught Gaia’s hammer fist as she brought it down. Using his atomic energy, Cobalt redirected the kinetic force of the blow be thrown off to sides, resulting in dirt and trees being blown away by the sheer force of the attack. Cobalt held onto the hammer fist tightly, using it to swing back and strike Gaia in the stomach with a double thrust kick.

The blow sent Gaia skidding backwards, grunting from the blow and causing her to narrow her glowing eyes in anger. But the attack wasn’t over, Silver had reformed his arm and now both androids were on the attack. A flurry of punches and kicks were thrown at Gaia, with the giant woman throwing some back as well. The whole area echoed with thunderous, concussive “BOOMS” with each blocked strike and full on blows.

Gaia managed to hit Silver with a knee strike to the stomach, an elbow strike to the neck, and three solid punches to the head. Cobalt was dealt three kicks, two palm-heel strikes, and one knife-hand to the collarbone or where a person’s collarbone would be. Unfortunately, this was two on one, and despite Gaia’s strength and speed, she was only one being. Cobalt and Silver were quickly demonstrating how their superior demi-quantum computer brains could quickly outthink Gaia, and how their strength was not held back by the pitiful limitations of the human mind.

Cobalt and Silver struck Gaia in the ribs, simultaneously with a roundhouse kick from the right and left. Gaia paused from the sudden pain of the impact. Cobalt and Silver moved forward and struck her with a palm-heel to the chest, sending a blazing kinetic impact force straight through her and sent the green warrior flying. In perfect mirror synchronicity, the androids flew out to the sides, reappearing where Gaia was heading. Both of them hit Gaia in the center of her back with a full on knee strike.

Gaia coughed as she felt her body go numb for a brief moment, but a moment was all the androids needed. Both androids grabbed hold of Gaia’s arms and pulled, dragging her until she slammed, back first, into the ground. Cobalt and Silver quickly pressed their right and left foot onto her throat, pinning the giant woman there and constricting her airway.

[Statement: You are an anomaly, too dangerous to allow to live.] said Cobalt.

[Conclusion: Elimination is authorized.] said Silver.

‘There has to be a way for us to stop them!’

‘How?! They’re AIs are too advanced, they’ll think three moves ahead of us!’

“You’re right, they can think three moves ahead of us, but can they keep up with three different conscience at once””

The astral forms of Twilight and Applejack understood what Gaia was getting at, and it caused them to grin. Gaia’s body began to glow with emerald flames, Cobalt and Silver quickly jumped off of the giant woman and landed a yard away, ready to fight.

Gaia got to her feet, atomic rings hovered over the damaged areas and quickly healed them. The corona crown formed around Gaia’s forehead, her short wavy flame hair began to rise up as the amalgamation widened her stance. The flames erupted into an inferno, her wavy hair taking on a more spiky appearance. Atomic energy concentrated at Gaia’s back, until, four flame jets erupted from her back. Within ten seconds the flames died out, showing that Gaia had added four new arms to herself. The orange energy that flowed through the grooves of the metal arms resembled molten magma, bubbling beneath the earth’s crust as Gaia flexed all six of her arms.

Cobalt and Silver’s computer brains tried to analyze Gaia’s power, but for some reason their processors couldn’t figure out the energy signature. Their nanomachine bodies tried to copy the power and form of their opponent, but it was as if the energy being put out by the six-armed giant woman was not computing.

[Error. Energy source unknown.] Silver spoke.

[Unable to analyze.] Cobalt said.

Gaia crossed her middle arms in front of her chest, while the lower arms clenched into fists. Her upper left arm pointed at the androids as she gave them a cocky smirk. “Now I’m going to show you what a real badass can do! You two are so screwed right now you don’t even realize it, yet!”

The green warrior dashed forth, with even greater speed than before. Her middle right arm cocked back in preparation for a punch. But Silver worked his way around Gaia, and appeared right in her blind spot. The android readied to launch a fire blast, but Gaia’s upper right arm turned in his direction, her open palm generated an emerald fireball that she fired right at Silver’s face. The surprise attack worked, hitting the android in the face and exploded, sending the machine flying backwards.

Gaia continued forward and punched Cobalt in the jaw. An audible crunching of metal could be heard as she continued to drive her fist into his face, at last something gave, and Cobalt was shot forward. The automation bounced on the ground for a league before he was able to stop himself. Once he stepped foot on the ground, however, that’s when things changed. The earth erupted with several, thick, sturdy vines. The vines lashed out at Cobalt like angry vipers, smashing themselves against Cobalt from all sides.

Cobalt released photon, ion, and even condensed air blades at the vines, but no matter how many times he cut them down, the stump would sprout out ten more.

Further away, Gaia had her middle hands placed together as if in prayer, her upper arms and lower arms’ hands made signs. Atomic rings floated around the prayer positioned hands as Gaia channeled her power into the earth to command the vines to attack Cobalt from a distance. Within the Firestorm Universe, Twilight was calculating and aiding in the manipulation of the vines. Although, this wasn’t all just her. Twilight never tried her hand at bio-transmutation, but with AJ’s knowledge of the trees she was able to use that to understand the workings of the molecular, biological, and atomic structure of the surrounding plant life.

‘I’m glad I had that fight with Fire Rose, she made it clear how to use plants as an attack method,’said Twilight.

‘Gotta say, feels a little weird havin’ you inside my head right now. Ah mean, Ah can actually feel my memories of the land and the trees flowin’ through you and me!’

Twilight chuckled bashfully. ‘Yeah, it’s a little…invasive, but I promise I’m not trying to read your mind like that!’

‘Nah, its fine, because…’Applejack flexed her right and left arms, she then glanced over her left shoulder and saw Silver coming towards them. ‘‘Cause with your power, and my strength, we can do things like this!’

Gaia broke the stance and whipped her upper left arm in a backhanded hammer fist. The blow caught Silver in the side of his left forearm as he blocked the blow, but the attack wasn’t done yet. Gaia shrugged off her blocked attack, flowing through with a triple right hook with all three of her right arms. The three fists struck against Silver’s guard, breaking it as it sent him into a spin from the force of the blows. Gaia moved in and struck Silver once again, this time hitting him under the chin with all three left fists in a joint uppercut.

The triple attack sent him flying into the air, upon which Gaia super jumped high into the air, using the flames to keep her aloft. Just then Gaia saw her vines burst apart as Cobalt came speeding for her. The blue android wasted little time in engaging the six-armed warrior in combat. Silver regained his senses and quickly joined in the flurry of punches and kicks.

This fight was quickly proving different from their earlier bout. The amount of blows being landed on Gaia was less than zero, thanks to Twilight and Applejack, they were able to block and strike for when Gaia couldn’t. Using the six arms to their advantage. Twilight was starting to see the appeal in fighting with one’s bare hands, despite her battles up till now, she had been using energy attacks, constructed weapons, or transmutations, only ever striking with her fists as a last result. Now though, she was liking how powerful she felt, striking out with her own physical power.

For Applejack, it as a real rush. She was blessed with near herculean strength, it ran in the Apple Family blood. Her brother had it, her little sister, when she got a little older, would get it as well, and Granny Smith had it too. Mind you she was old now and using such strength would hurt her, but it seemed to trade off with having an intimidating aura when scoldings and spankings were needed. In this case, Applejack felt so much stronger, so much more powerful than ever, she literally felt as if she could hold the world on her shoulders and not sweat.

AJ could also feel that Twilight’s knowledge was vast, that much she was always true, being the brainiac of their group, but it stretched beyond that of a high school student’s education. From just the little Applejack dared tap into, she could tell that her intelligence and knowledge was light-years ahead of the whole student body, heck, maybe even further than some of the scientists on the Science Channel. Applejack knew Twilight was smart, but now it made sense.

She could just leave at any time, she could graduate high school, college, and university if she wanted to and it’d probably wouldn’t take her a year to do it! But she chooses to stay with us, close to her friends.

Applejack had heard that people with that much brain power usually didn’t care for socializing, or friends, choosing to forgo normal emotions. It was as if they traded those emotions in at an early age in exchange for greater knowledge. AJ never saw the appeal in being that smart, if being that smart meant she was going to be no better than a robot, than she felt better off with what she was learning in school and on the farm. But Twilight wasn’t like that, she had her emotions, cried, laughed, got embarrassed, got angry, and even fell in love.

‘Yer really somethin’ ya know that?’

‘What was that AJ?’

‘You could be livin’ it up somewhere with how smart you are, how powerful you are, and yet you decide to stay close to us. Not a lot of folks would do that sort of thing.’

Twilight sighed and smiled. ‘I learned a long time ago, that all life is precious, a treasure we need to hold onto and cherish. Friendship, and even love, both aren’t meaningless emotions, they are essential to what makes us human, and what makes me, me. Which is why I will never allow you, my parents, or anyone I love be hurt by the Organization – EVER!’

“Then let’s give ‘em a big FU by breaking their toys!”

Gaia yelled loudly, her voice a mixture of both Applejack and Twilight’s voices in unison. Suddenly, her back sprouted an ever multiplying amount of arms. The androids looked upon this, trying to calculate and discern what to block, but their computer brains couldn’t keep up with the ever increasing amount.

[Error. Unable to process power levels. Attack patterns too erratic.] Silver spoke.

[Exclamation: Unbelievable.] Cobalt uttered.

Both Cobalt and Silver were knocked away from Gaia by a two-hundred fisted punch. The emerald woman entered a meditative state, bringing all two-hundred arms in line. Gaia’s original arms swayed up and the multitudes behind her mimicked the action. When she swayed them downward the copies began melding into each other one after the other, until, all of them united with the original arms of Gaia the moment her arms pointed down.

With an explosion of power, Gaia’s right and left arms were thrust out before her. Atomic rings formed around them as a transformation took place. The armor around the forearms grew to three times their normal size, while Gaia’s armored biceps increased in size and muscle to handle the weight. Her fingers became clawed, and a protrusion shot out from the forearms, making them look like giant gauntlets. The orange energy grooves formed ornate patterns on the metal, giving it an ancient mystical vibe. Gaia’s halo ring changed as well. Wing patterns formed on the ring, and the ring itself became more jagged, mimicking the appearance of fire.

Gaia struck both fists together, knuckle to knuckle, and roared out with the great power that had been unleashed. She pointed her right claw hand at the ground below Cobalt and made a sharp upward swing.

Below Cobalt the earth shook violently, until, the rock and dirt exploded up, knocking the android into the air. The column of dirt and rock started to change shape, magma veins appeared all over the column, allowing it to undulate, and at the top of the column it formed a head with glowing fiery eyes. The creation grew arms with long claws, and a mouth with rock teeth. The creature roared into the air, bellowing molten fire as it did. Gaia had just created an Earth Dragon, and it was hungry.

The Earth Dragon saw Cobalt and lunged for him. The android was about to use his transmutation power to reform the massive creation, but every time it tried to change it, the Dragon would not shift in form. Unbeknownst to him, Gaia’s power was flowing through the Earth Dragon, keeping it locked in that form and counteracting any changes to its atomic structure.

Cobalt took off trying to avoid the Earth Dragon, but the dirt serpent just opened its mouth, spewing lava flames right at the automaton. Cobalt narrowly dodged it but part of its body got splashed with lava. The superheated substance ate away at the nanomachines, turning them into molten slag.

Without warning, another Earth Dragon appeared, sprouting out from the first. The second Earth Dragon caught the android’s lower body. Its diamond hard teeth and magma saliva allowed it rip the machine in half, leaving the upper half to free fall. But the first Earth Dragon swooped in from below and snatched the last half of Cobalt, swallowing it and melting it down within its magma infused body.

“And then there was one!” Gaia proclaimed.

Silver shot up into the air, aiming for Gaia and funneling all its power into its hands to fire a super charged blast of plasma. Gaia didn’t even give the android a chance. Both gauntlets ignited like rocket engines, propelling Gaia forward. To her right hand, purple energy lapped off of it, and to her left hand she formed a sphere of orange light. Gaia spun around and struck Silver in the chest with her left fist, putting the sphere forward and making contact with it.

The sphere buffeted Silver with immobilizing force and threw the android into a free fall. Gaia took off after him, firing both jets to add momentum and power into her final attack. With a powerful battle cry, Gaia smashed her right fist into the sphere. The purple energy and orange sphere reacted, detonating and sending a column of purple and orange light into the air. Gaia continued to drive her fist forward, pushing Silver all the way down to the ground. Silver’s body broke down, atom by atom the nanomachines were destroyed.

[Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Error. Err–]

The automaton’s voice was silenced as they made ground impact, sending chunks of earth and rock jutting into the air as the column of dual light continued to shine, and as Silver’s last bits dissolved into nothingness.

When the dust settled, jutting pieces of rock and earth spiked outwards from the center of where Gaia stood. Her arms flared up with green flames as well as the atomic rings, when the flames disappeared her arms were back to normal. The corona crown around her head faded away, her hair returned to its short wavy style, and the halo ring became a perfect circle. Gaia stood tall and at attention. She then wrapped her left hand over her right fist and gave a slight bow.

Once that was done though, she fist pumped and jumped around flamboyantly. “Oh hell yeah! That’s what I’m talklin’ about! I’m so damn cool! Who’s your daddy, androids, who’s your daddy?!”

Applejack and Twilight appeared next to Gaia, with Applejack still giving her a deadpan expression. ‘Simmer down now Gaia, no need to get all overexcited like.’

“Oh lighten up AJ,” said Gaia as she placed her fists against her hips, “ we just beat two crazy strong super robots and proved that living things are better than machines!”

Twilight cleared her throat to chime in. ‘Well, yes, it is exciting to have won this battle. But…there is extensive collateral damage…’

Applejack, Gaia, and Twilight took this time to take note of the massive amount of collateral damage they had done to the orchard. The country girl groaned in dismay at seeing her beloved family orchard utterly decimated. Gaia looked to her astral half and sighed.

“Take a breather AJ or you’re going to give yourself a cardiac infarction,” said Gaia.

‘What the hell is that?!’

“It’s like a brain-heart attack or somethin’, anyway, I can fix this up.”

Gaia got down on one knee, she then placed her hand on the ground. The earth reacted immediately as the energies within it radiated outwards like roots. Further and further the green glowing light traveled, encompassing the entire battlefield and the damaged areas within. With a pulse of her atomic energy, Gaia set to work on fixing the damage. Trees mended themselves, the upturned soil returned to its undisturbed state, even the rock Twilight and Applejack sat on was put back together.

Twilight and Applejack watched in awe as everything was put back to the way it was, as if Gaia was rewinding time rather than fixing things. Green particles of light rose up, rejuvenating the plant life and everything around it. Within a minute the entire area was back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. Gaia rose up and exhaled slowly as if the expenditure of her energy for such a task exhausted her.

‘Are you alright, Gaia?’Twilight asked.

Gaia gave Twilight a thumbs up. “Ha, totally fine! Told ya, I’m awesome and badass. So don’t say I never did nothin’ for ya.”

The giant woman felt a hand clasp on her left shoulder. When she looked she saw Applejack, with a grateful smile on her face. ‘Thank ya, sugarcube.’

Gaia blushed a little and crossed her arms in a huff, looking away from AJ. “I-I just did it because I didn’t want either of you complainin’ about it later! Not l-like I care!”

‘Awww, she’s blushin’ Twi,’teased Applejack.

“Am not!”

Twilight enjoyed this strangely heartwarming scene, but that didn’t take away from the fact that their troubles had just reached a new level. Someone in the Organization knew who Twilight and Sunset were, and what’s worse, they knew who they hung out with and were not at all caring if it was a blatant and open attack.

‘Gaia, I think Sunset and Rainbow are in trouble. If what that person said is true, then both of them are in danger!’

Applejack’s expression grew serious. ‘That’s right, we need to get to them! Do ya mind stayin’ like this a bit longer?’

“I don’t think we have to worry about them. Look.”

Gaia pointed towards the sky. Applejack and Twilight followed the direction she pointed and gasped at what was descending towards them. Wings made of rainbow light, long flaming azure hair, and the symbol of Sunset’s mark on the chest plate of this winged woman. The blue flamed Firestorm landed with grace and delicacy, not breaking eye contact as she walked towards Gaia. The second Firestorm stood at least three feet away from her, the winged one only coming up to Gaia’s chest, making her have to look up to her.

The taller of the two crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave the smaller Firestorm an appraising look. “Guessin’ you’re the other half then?”

The winged Firestorm nodded. “Yes I am, my name is Iris, nice to meet you uh…”

“Gaia. Hmm, for some reason I thought you’d be taller.”

At that moment the astral projections of Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer appeared on either side of Iris, and at the same time, Applejack and Twilight appeared on either side of Gaia. All four gave each other looks of shock and awe.

‘Rainbow?!’

‘AJ?!’

‘Sunset?!’

‘Twilight?!’

‘What the heck happened toyou?!’ They all asked in unison.

“Oh no…” Gaia groaned as her body shimmered.

“Well it was fun meeting you,” said Iris as her body glowed as well.

The two Firestorm fusions were engulfed in flames, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were thrown out of the flames and onto the ground. While the flames surrounding Twilight and Sunset changed back to their respective colors. When the flames died out, both girls were on the ground panting from the expenditure of energy from the fusions. Sunset looked to Twilight, and Twilight looked to Sunset. There was definitely more to this fusion ability than either of them first thought, and now they had to deal with disclosing some pertinent details with Rainbow and Applejack. Both girls, at that moment, had the same thought as they rubbed their heads.

I need an aspirin.

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update. :twilightblush:

Entry 23: You Can Do Magic

It was one long, tiring day for the four girls, but night had finally fallen and the commotion of the dual battles had come to an end. Twilight and Sunset, along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, adjourned to the barn where the girls could talk in private. Both Sunset and Twilight had glasses of fizzing water next to them, both glasses half emptied. The mental strain of maintaining their fusions was giving them a headache, oddly enough, they didn’t recall feeling this when they had fused into Hel.

Twilight deduced that, because Rainbow and AJ did not have Firestorm Matrices, the majority of the mental energy strain was put onto Twilight and Sunset in order to maintain their forms. Which explained why when they all met up, the surprise of seeing each other like that made them lose focus and forced them into de-fusing from each other.

For the past five and a half hours Sunset and Twilight had been explaining what the Firestorm Protocols were, the Organization, the battles they fought, and their dual origins. Amidst the gasps, looks of shock and horror, confusion, and at times disbelief, neither Applejack nor Rainbow Dash had run from the room, or given them looks of disgust. Guess a little fusion went a long way towards understanding each other, at least a little.

By the end of their tales, Twilight and Sunset were slumped up against a bale of hay, rubbing their temples from their long story and explanation of the events up till now. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, surprisingly, were taking it pretty well.

“I feel like I just stepped into some freaky manga story,” said Rainbow Dash as she plopped onto her rear on the floor.

“And my head feels more stuffed than Granny’s turkey on Thanksgiving Day,” said Applejack as she held her right hand to her head and leaned against a support beam.

“Welcome to our world.” Sunset chimed in.

Long drawn out sighs echoed in the barn, followed by a few moments of silence as each girl took a moment to digest everything. Finally Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“So, there’s absolutely no way to stop these guys from coming after you two?”

“Not unless we find their headquarters and blow them to kingdom come,” said Sunset.

Twilight shot her a glare but declined to comment on that. “For now though, we need to monitor news sites and stations, find out what – if anything – the press knows about what happened. And, I hate to ask this of you Applejack, but can Sunset and I hide out here? I don’t want to put your family in danger, but as it stands –”

“Twi, you can both stay as long as need be.”

Sunset and Twilight stared at Applejack with shocked expressions.

“Way Ah figure, those Organization guys know about meh family’s farm, and they know who ya are. If they attack again, at least the fightin’ will be far enough away from the city, and honestly, Ah feel safer knowin’ that the two of ya are here rather than not,” said Applejack with a kind and sincere tone of voice.

“T-Thanks, AJ,” said Sunset still shocked.

“I wish we didn’t have to ask this of you, but really, thank you,” said Twilight.

Applejack nodded her head towards the couple, tipping her hat to them in the same motion. Rainbow Dash sighed and rose up to stand, brushing off the straw that was on her shorts. “Well, guess I’d better call my Dad and tell ‘em I’m staying over the night.”

“What?!” Twilight gasped.

“You really didn’t think that I was going to ditch you guys after all that mess! And I’d sleep better knowing the two of you were close by and alright,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset smirked, running her hand through her red and yellow hair, Rainbow Dash had included Sunset herself in that concern, even though they both had feelings for the same girl.

“Well, best we get some sleepin’ bags and spare clothes for the two of ya. Rainbow, wanna give me a hand?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow nodded and walked with Applejack out of the barn. Both girls kept their pace calm and slow, breathing in the cool night air and breathing the fire of battle out of their lungs. Even though it had been hours since the battles ended, both AJ and Rainbow could still feel the fervor, the flame of invigorating power and strength flowing their bodies. A likely side-effect of the fusion, something they were sure would pass.

Applejack kept her gaze downward, arms crossed across her chest as she thought over the events of today. Rainbow Dash had put her hands behind her head, tilting her gaze skywards to view the unpolluted starry sky.

“So, did ya tell her? Sunset Ah mean.”

“Yeah, I did. I told her I loved Twilight.”

“Guessin’ she didn’t take that too well?”

“Nope, not in the least.”

Applejack sighed. “Ya both seem…a little different around each other. Ya kinda look lighter.”

Rainbow smirked at AJ. “That your way of saying I was fat before?”

The cowgirl bumped against Rainbow Dash, earning a chuckle from the athlete. “Ah’m serious, and no that’s not what Ah meant! What Ah mean is, ya seemed to be holdin’ a lot of tension towards Sunset, and Ah’m guessin’ it also had to do with how ya feel for Twilight. But now, ya look like all that weight’s gone.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s gone…completely.” Rainbow Dash sighed heavily, gazing towards heaven again. “I always saw Sunset as a monster, a black hearted bitch that wanted to make everyone bow to her or make them miserable if they didn’t. A tyrant in the works, ya know?”

As much as Applejack didn’t want to admit it, she had a point, Sunset was like that and she did exhibit some those traits.

“But, after finding out she’s been fighting alongside Twilight, protecting her, protecting everyone from those Rogue Firestorms, putting her life in danger for complete strangers and the people who hated her…I couldn’t bring myself to stay mad at her. She saved me, and after fusing with her, I feel…connected, in a way.” Rainbow shivered a bit. “Feels creepy.”

“Ah kinda know where yer comin’ from, Ah feel it too with Twilight. Even from this far away it feels like she’s close by,” said Applejack.

“So, yeah, I don’t think that about her anymore. That may’ve been Sunset a year and some months ago, but that girl in the barn isn’t that same Sunset. If that makes any sense?” AJ nodded an affirmative to the question. “And since I went and told her, I guess I don’t feel as…jealous…now that she knows. Still wish I took a shot though, at least one date with Twi…”

Applejack saw her friend’s features droop a little. She reached out and patted Rainbow on the shoulder, giving her a supportive gaze. “Hey, don’t get all down in the dumps. They need us now more than ever, and we’ll need to be on our toes with this Organization knowin’ about us, too. We’re all in this together.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded to Applejack.

“‘Sides, maybe now that ya understand Sunset better now, y’all can ask her to join the band? The Rainbooms could use another member, or two.” Applejack added.

Rainbow Dash halted in her tracks. “Oh please, what can she do for the band? Twilight I get, she may not play, but she does have an awesome voice! I wouldn’t mind her doing vocals, but Sunset?”

“Ah don’t know, from what Ah gleaned from Twi’s mind, Sunset is pretty damn good with a guitar.” Applejack said as she kept walking.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open. “Wait, how good is she?”

“Not tellin’.”

“Better than me?!”

“Nnnnnn – Maybe.”

“‘MAYBE’?! Applejack!”

Applejack broke into a sprint for her house, making Rainbow Dash growl in frustration as she gave chase, yelling and demanding that her friend disclose such crucial information to her.

In the barn, Twilight had taken to hugging her legs to her chest, staring at the straw covered floor, her mind feverishly working to understand what was happening to Sunset and herself. Fusion had taken place without either one of them present, and with two people who had no Firestorm anythings inside them. It defied reason and logic.

On that note, how was Twilight able to fuse? Sunset was the one with the magic, her magic acted as the catalyst to initiate the fusion. Rainbow was, somewhat, understandable, but her and Applejack?

“Penny for your thoughts, Sparky?”

Twilight was snapped out of her inner machinations, glancing over to her girlfriend. Sitting there, left up as she draped her left arm over it, staring at the nothing with a bewildered expression. Twilight sighed, knowing that there was no way to avoid this.

“I just don’t understand, fusion without Protocols, and now the Organization knows who we are and that we live in the city. On top of that, two of our friends are now involved in this chaos, everything I’ve been trying to do to keep them away from this has failed, and now they may be targeted! They’ll be killed, and it’ll be all my fault!”

“Twilight, stop and think for a minute! It’s bad, but I don’t think it’s that bad, not yet anyway,” said Sunset.

The purple girl quirked an eyebrow at Sunset. “What do mean that?”

“Think about it, if they knew where to hit us, don’t you think we’d be swarmed with Firestorms by now?”

Twilight opened her mouth to rebut that statement, but after thinking it over, Sunset was right. Why haven’t they been swarmed with Firestorms or the stereotypical Men in Black?

“The fight with Gilda and Lightning Dust, they were manipulated by magic. And not the usual kind I use. Equestrian? Yes. But the type was different, manipulative, controlling, and malevolent. And then those androids, I don’t think these attacks were planned to happen at the same time, rather, one just happened to be taking place at the same time as the other. The guy you spoke to sounded like that’s what was happening.”

Twilight bit her lower lip as she rubbed her chin, pondering the notion. “It’s one theory, but a theory that’s a good as any. So you think that our identities are being kept from the Organization as a whole, and a rogue faction is watching us? Yes, that would make sense.” The genius girl sighed heavily once again, stumped by everything at this point. “Still doesn’t explain the reason why I fused.”

Sunset finally looked at Twilight, she moved her right hand closer to Twilight’s left, slowly, yet carefully, laying hers atop Twilight’s. Twilight flinched a little, afraid of initiating fusion, but Sunset held her hand firmly. Both girls locked eyes with each other, Sunset’s eyes gave a confident and yet pleading look, while Twilight’s were filled with both uncertainty and longing. She wanted Sunset’s touch, to feel her holding her again, but fear kept her from doing so. But, at the very least, this small amount of contact would be good enough.

Twilight relaxed, allowing Sunset’s fingers to interlace with hers. Sunset smiled happily, and so too did Twilight. At that moment, something happened, a warm glow encompassed their hands, but it did not feel like the power of the Firestorm Matrix, but it did feel familiar. Sunset and Twilight both looked to their joined hands and gasped at the sight.

Aquamarine light swirled with rosy-violet light. Twilight recognized this color, it was the same as the bands of energy that ringed around the Matrix in the Firestorm Universe when she was Gaia. She knew that the other color was that of Sunset’s magical energy, but why was this other color mixed in with it? Twilight looked to her lover and saw an awestruck expression adorn her face, mixed with elation.

Sunset slowly raised both of their hands up, Twilight still feeling a little uneasy about the twin glow. “Relax, it’s alright Sparky.”

The fiery haired girl slowly released Twilight’s hand, and as she did the aquamarine magical light was being drawn away from the rosy-violet light, following its point of origin. When their hands were at least five inches apart, the mystery of the new color was made clear. Twilight’s hand was now covered in the rosy-violet light, she could feel its warmth, its power, wrapped around her digits and flowing down her arm, following some unknown pathway to the core of her being.

“What…What’s happening?!” Twilight asked in a panicked tone.

“Twilight…you…you have magic!” Sunset blurted out.

“WHAT?! NONONONONONO, I DO NOT HAVE MAGICAL POWERS!”

“Apparently you do now, Sparky.”

“Be serious, Sunset! I’m not from your world! And you yourself said that the amount of magic in this world was small compared your home!” Twilight countered.

Sunset had to admit, she had a point. Theoretically, every person had the potential to wield magic, it just lied dormant in them, without any instruction in the mystic arts, and the low amount in the world it was no wonder the humans hadn’t learned how to harness it to better their world. But in spite of Twilight’s panic, Sunset couldn’t help a giddy smile from splitting her face at the fact that Twilight now had access to her magical power!

“Twilight this isn’t a bad thing, this is a good thing! This explains part of the fusion!”

“Okay…Okay…” Twilight employed Cadance’s calming technique to reign in her nerves. Once calmed down, she spoke. “Yes, it kind of does, but how in the world did we pull AJ and Rainbow into fusing with us?! They don’t have magical powers!”

Sunset thought hard again, a metaphorical lightbulb clicked on and she smacked her forehead. “Elements of Harmony, parallel worlds, of course!”

“Sunset, mind sharing what your big ‘ah-ha’ revelation is?!” Twilight asked in annoyed tone.

“Ugh, I should’ve made the connection a long time ago, but I never thought it would affect this world, too!” Sunset waved her hand in front of her, summoning her magical power.

A screen made of aquamarine magic light appeared before them, slightly startling Twilight. Sunset got up and walked towards it. Using her finger, she drew six crystal objects on the light-screen and pointed them.

“In my world, there are ancient artifacts that hold power beyond that of our ‘demi-goddess’ ruler, in fact, you could go so far as to say that it’s these very artifacts – rather the power they possess – that governs the balance of good and evil in my world. They’re called the Elements of Harmony. Each one corresponds to a particular trait: Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, and finally, Magic.”

Sunset wrote out the names of each Element on the light-screen, creating interconnecting lines to show how each one was part of a whole.

“When used together, they can use a magic so powerful, that you could say they can perform actual miracles. They can purify the wicked who repent their actions, and banish evil from the realm. Once, a long time ago, my Celestia wielded these magical items alongside her sister, Princess Luna.”

Another image formed on the light-screen, displaying Celestia and Luna, Twilight’s Principal and Vice Principal, as tall, equines with a long horn and wings. Despite the oddity of this whole thing, Twilight had to admit, they looked rather majestic and regal.

“According to history and legend, they used the Elements of Harmony to defeat a being known as Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. Later on though, Celestia had use these Elements on her own…”

Twilight noticed the sorrowful tone in Sunset’s voice. “Why’s that? I thought Luna and Celestia were needed to make them work?”

The light-screen shifted, showing Celestia and Luna. Luna was then covered up by a swirling mass, transforming her into a taller – if not more menacing – version of herself.

“Luna became jealous and envious of Celestia as they ruled, ponies shunned her beautiful nights and basked in Celestia’s warm days. It all became too much for her, and that jealousy and envy boiled over, making her turn to dark magic and letting it consume her. Luna was changed into a creature known to the terror of all foals as Nightmare Moon. Celestia used the Elements of Harmony, being the only one she was not strong enough to purify her, so the Elements did the next best thing…They banished her, sealing her in the moon itself.”

The image of Celestia wielding the Elements of Harmony appeared, blasting forth a beam that struck Nightmare Moon and threw her all the way to the moon, imprinting the lunar surface with the image of a unicorn. Twilight felt sadness overtake her heart, seeing the Celestia on the light-screen look so sad and alone, not even Sunset was immune to her former mentor’s plight. Even to this day, Sunset could not fathom the kind of heartbreak and guilt she felt at having sealed her own little sister in the moon for a thousand years.

“Of course, that was way before I was born, before my mother and father, and even my grandparents were born. The Elements went dormant after that, the connection severed from Celestia and Luna.”

“I don’t get it, how does this tie into what’s happening to me?”

“Because the Elements of Harmony found new bearers.” Sunset drew the horse statue in front of Canterlot High School. “The statue was how I got here. It opens once every thirty moons, and stays open for three days. There’s still a long time before the portal opens, but in the meantime, it acts like a window, only allowing those with a connection to the other world to view into it. It was thanks to that that I was able to learn that the Elements found new bearers for each one.”

The light-screen erased the drawings and made the Element jewels reappear, except now they were in the shape of a balloon, diamond, lightning bolt, butterfly, and a six-pointed star. Twilight’s eyes bulged at seeing the sixth drawing, the very six-pointed star she had been unconsciously drawn to and loved, having it in some shape or form on her clothing. Pictures of each of Twilight’s friends appeared to the corresponding gemstone, human and pony.

“This world is a parallel world, Twilight. So it stands to reason that there are counterparts. Just as there is a Celestia and Luna in my world, so is there in this one. Which stands to reason that each of your friends has a pony counterpart, and those pony versions of themselves are the current Element Bearers.”

The images shifted, lining them up in a row.

“Rainbow Dash represents Loyalty, Applejack represents Honesty, Pinkie is Laughter, Fluttershy is Kindness, Rarity is Generosity, and…” The sixth image appeared, showing Twilight and her equine counterpart standing next to her. “You represent the Element of Magic, the lynch pin of power that connects the other five together.”

Twilight looked upon this image, the image of her pony self and the pony versions of her friends. Each had an uncanny likeness to her current friends, albeit they were a little cuter being in the form of ponies. She wondered what Rainbow would think about her pony self, it sported wings, which if she remembered correctly was a “pegasus”.

Flying free through the clouds at great speeds, pushing herself to the limit. Yep, sounds like Rainbow would enjoy being that kind of creature, thought Twilight.
It was then that Twilight noticed something different about her pony form. “Sunset, why does mine have wings and a horn? I thought that represented a princess or something?”

Sunset released a heavy sigh. “That’s because you are a Princess in my world, don’t ask me how, but you apparently did something so spectacular that Celestia deemed your pony self worthy of Ascension, granting you wings and the strength of the Earth ponies, completing you as an alicorn.”

The images shifted, separating the pony forms from their human forms. The human forms occupied the right side of the screen, and the ponies the left. The Element of Harmony gems remained at the center as lines connected to their representative on both sides.

“I believe that the magical energies of the Elements, despite being in another world, somehow connect both the human and the equine parallels. Even you, Twilight.”

The genius girl was still having a hard time wrapping her head around all this, still, the evidence was right at her fingertips, tingling like little electrical sparks dancing around her digits. Magic existed, and she – apparently – represented the very essence of this power. At least her pony self did.

“Okay, granted that theory is sound, but if that’s true why now? Why did I start having magic now and not earlier?” Twilight’s mind snapped back to the incident long ago, when they were Hel and they stood within the Firestorm Universe. “HEL!”

“What about her?” Sunset asked with trepidation.

“When we fused the first time, your magic initiated the fusion. At that moment, the Matrix was whole and we were one! What if your magic acted as a catalyst to jump start my magical abilities?!”

Sunset’s eyes went wide with realization. She cleared the screen and started jotting down notes on it, Twilight watched as numbers, equations, and even rune and sigil markings appeared on the board. All of it seemed like a random assortment, but Twilight could see there was a rhythm, Sunset was a woman possessed. When she was done, Sunset had written down an equation that strung together both scientific and magical theory. Seeing Sunset so focused, so intense in her work, it kinda made Twilight’s face heat up.

“Of course, it’s so simple, my magic was the key to connecting the magicks on this side of the gateway! My magic reacted to Rainbow Dash’s loyalty, which fed into the Matrix and created Iris. For you, it was Applejack’s steadfastness and honesty, resulting in the creation of Gaia! I can’t believe it!” Sunset exclaimed while pushing back her bangs.

“Well, I’m glad we’ve figured out some of this, but now what? I don’t want to pull Pinkie Pie, Rarity, or Fluttershy into this – especially Fluttershy!”

Sunset had to agree there, combat did not suite that girl and she could only imagine the fusion Firestorm that would be produced. “Yeah, let’s just make sure that any combat is done away from the others. But…”

“But what?”

“Look, we already fused with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and we were each pretty powerful. Why not do that as an alternative to becoming Hel?”

Twilight gawked at Sunset as if she had grown two extra heads. “Sunset we are NOT putting them in danger like that!”

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “Twi, I don’t want to put them danger, that’s the last thing I want! But at this rate, if this rogue faction comes at us again, we’ll need an ace in the hole. And since I’m not keen on becoming a demon again, let’s just agree to keep this on the backburner. Besides, I need to make sure you can at least control that magic power before something happens.”

10 MINUTES LATER…

“Ya think we gave ‘em enough time to talk it out?” Applejack asked as she hauled some sleeping bags.

“I guess…dammit, I want them to make up, and then there’s that part of me that hopes that they’ll break up and I can show Twilight that I can treat her better…” Rainbow Dash stopped in the tracks, staring at the ground in dismay. “Am…Does that make me a horrible person? To wish that whatever potential happiness they might have die out so I can swoop in?”

Applejack stopped as well, taking a moment to think over Rainbow’s question. “Honestly, Ah don’t think it makes ya any worse than any other person. People can be jealous, especially when it comes to someone we really care about. ‘Member when that Trenderhoof fella followed me around like a lost puppy and Rarity tried to make him notice her?”

Rainbow Dash gagged. “Yeah, she acted so melodramatic and kept trying to show that guy that she was as much country as you. Still, I’ll never forget her famous line: I LOVE BEING COVERED IN MUD! HA-AHA-HA! And she actually jumped into a mud wallow! Oh my god that was freakin’ hilarious!”

Applejack couldn’t help but grin, remembering that little incident with a small amount of sadistic glee from seeing the normally posh and proper girl actually dive headfirst into mud. But then she shuttered when she remembered having to dress up in a fancy dress and become “Apple Jewel” to snap her out of it.

“Yeah, well, Ah just hope you don’t do anythin’ like that.”

“What? Dive head first into mud? I’ve done that like a hundred times on the soccer field.”

“No, Ah mean try to be someone yer not to try and get Twilight to like ya, or just generally resortin’ to somethin’ drastic.”

Rainbow started walking, with Applejack following close beside her. “I’m not going to do that, I wouldn’t. If I want Twilight to like me, she’ll like me for me, and not because I act like Sunset or do something outrageous.” The prismatic girl sighed as she smiled at her friend. “Geez, why couldn’t your barn door swing my way? You’d make a nice girlfriend.”

Applejack blushed at the compliment. “Well…thanks Rainbow. And, Ah’m sorry Ah don’t feel that way towards gals like you do, but at the very least Ah’ll be a better friend now that Ah know a little more about ya.”

“Thanks AJ.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and grinned deviously at that moment. “You sure you’re not even a little curious how good a kisser I am?”

Applejack’s freckled face went red at hearing that. “R-Rainbow Dash! N-NO!”

“Aw c’mon, if you’re secure in yourself, just a kiss isn’t going to kill you. Heck, straight girls have been known to mess around with other girls, just to know what it’s like.”

The cowgirl’s face was becoming even redder as she could not stop her unconscious mind from creating lewd images of her and Rainbow entangled in each other’s arms and legs on a bed of hay. Applejack shook her head fiercely and gave Rainbow a death glare.

“RD, Ah don’t bat fer that team! Ah get hot and bothered when Ah see a guy, and Ah’ve…!” Applejack clamped her mouth shut.

“You’ve what? Got off to naked guys?” The spluttering sounds and subsequent steam rolling out of AJ’s ears was enough to confirm it. “Relax Applejack, not like you’re the only girl in the world who does.”

“Just…Just, shut up.”

Rainbow Dash’s grin widened, feeling a little giddy that her normally stoic best friend could get flustered and blush like any other schoolgirl. Still, Rainbow had to admit one thing though.

“Y’know, you do look cute when you’re embarrassed like that. The freckles just make it even hotter.”

“Ah’m seriously goin’ to kick yer ass into the next county if ya don’t let up with the teasin’.”

“Wasn’t teasing that time.”

Applejack looked upon Rainbow Dash, seeing a sincere smile. Applejack lowered the tip of her hat, trying to hide her face from Rainbow. “Thanks…”

Soon the duo arrived at the barn door and were about to open when…

“Just like that Twilight, flex your fingers and let it flow through and over them.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack went slacked jawed.

“Sunset, it’s starting to tingle a little, is that good?”

“Yep, don’t be afraid of it.”

“But-But I…”

“Let me help you.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked to each other and then to the door. Both girls dropped what they were carrying and quickly pressed their ears to the barn door, listening in on the goings on inside.

“They are seriously not doing what I think they’re doing in there?!” Rainbow hissed in hushed whispered.

“Dashie, Ah know Sunset’s a little…forward at times, but there ain’t no way Twilight’s goin’ to be doin’…that!” Applejack retorted.

“You have to feel it here –”

“Aaah~”

“ – and let it drift through your body and then –”

“That’s it! Ain’t no way Ah’m havin’ any foolin’ around on my farm!”

Rainbow Dash gave Applejack a deadpan expression. “Really? No fooling around, at all?”

“W-Well, Ah, well…Ah hell, ya know what Ah mean! Ah just don’t need Big Mac – God forbid Apple Bloom – and heaven have mercy on our pitiful souls if Granny Smith winds up seen this – walkin’ in accidentally and seein’ that!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, but she did concede the point to Applejack. “Still, you sure you don’t want to wait maybe a couple of more minutes?”

“Ah ain’t runnin’ no peep show here Dash!”

With that said Applejack quickly opened the doors, threw Rainbow Dash in along with the stuff they had carried over there, and just as quickly shut the door behind her. Applejack shut her eyes and put her right hand over her eyes for double assurance that she would not see anything.

“Okay, Ah know the two of y’all are close and are a couple, but Ah can’t have ya doin’ this kinda of thing here in my barn! What if my family sees ya?! How am Ah goin’ to explain this?!”

“Um, AJ, you might want to look. Trust me, it’s not that.”

Deciding to trust her friend, and preparing to throw her through the wall if she was wrong, Applejack slowly opened her eyes and parted her fingers to peek at what was before her. There stood Twilight and Sunset, with the latter standing behind the former. Sunset had her right hand over the center of Twilight’s chest, and her left extended to the length of Twilight’s, keeping her left hand placed atop it.

Swirling light could be seen wrapped around their left hands in dual colors, making AJ drop her hand and stare at the sight with wide saucer sized eyes.

“Um…Hi girls…I, uh, I apparently can use magic now and Sunset was helping me learn to control it a little.”

“So…all them weird noises…sugarcube, we heard ya…um…”

“We heard you squeal a little, Twi, and it was kinda sexy,” said Rainbow Dash, not at all ashamed of how that sounded.

Twilight’s face went bright red as Sunset’s just tinted red, remembering the embarrassing sound Twilight released when she placed her hand on the center of her chest, inadvertently touching her breasts. Applejack face palmed herself and dragged said hand down her face as she groaned loudly.

“This is definitely gonna take some gettin’ used to,” said Applejack.

“What exactly did you two think we were doing?” Sunset asked with a questioning lift of the eyebrow.

“Each other,” said Rainbow Dash as she grinned like a Cheshire cat.

And just like that, Twilight went limp, her mind shut down due to an overload of images that she couldn’t process all at once. Sunset, luckily, was able to catch her deadweight and lower her to the barn floor, using her own lap as a makeshift pillow. She spared a glance to Rainbow Dash who was blushing and a little annoyed at the scene.

“Jealous?”

“Yes.”

“Just checking.”

During the night at Sweet Apple Acres the four girls slept inside the barn, under the guise of a sleepover. The sleeping bags were comfortable and roomy enough to move around in, which helped because Twilight couldn’t sleep a wink.

She had just learned that she could access magic, a power she slightly feared as an unknown was now residing within her body. Twilight needed some air, so she quietly made her way out the barn and went outside. She found a wooden bench and sat upon it, looking up to the crescent moon and starry sky.

The things she knew about this world, what she was taught and what she observed, all were conflicting within her mind. Yes, the Firestorm Protocols were very much out of the realm of ordinary science, possibly higher than super-science, but they at least worked within a feasible realm of probability, using the atomic and nuclear energies that resided within every object around her.

But this magic, it was born from myth and legend, a power as old as the Earth itself and every bit as mysterious. Such a power was unpredictable, and possibly unstable, well, no more than a living nuclear reactor that was inside her and Sunset.

“What am I going to do…?”

‘Not much one can do, except embrace it, Twilight.’

Twilight jumped to her feet, hearing a voice ring out from every direction. “Who’s there?!”

‘Calm down love, I’m not here to hurt you.’

Suddenly, the air in front of Twilight became distorted, the world around her felt as if it was slowing down as if time was being manipulated. She watched the air take shape, forming bat-like wings and a tall female figure. The distortion took full form, revealing Firestorm Hel in an astral form. Twilight’s breath hitched as she unconsciously began backing up away from the demoness.

‘Sparky, come on, I’m not that scary.’

“Keep away from me you monster! How is this possible?!”

‘You should ask Sunny, she’s been able to see and talk to me ever since that night. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to talk to you, but now that you have magic I can connect to you! Hopefully you’ll be better company, Sunny’s a bit of a tightwad.’

Twilight kept backing up until her back smacked against the barn wall. She was keeping her breathes calm and steady, she needed to keep some of her wits about her, she couldn’t afford to let herself fly into a full on panic attack in front Hel.

“W-Why are you here?! What do you want?!”

Hel stretched her arms and cracked her neck, working out the kinks. ‘I want to talk, silly. I haven’t been able to converse with anyone else, and I need to scold the both of you for cheating on me!’

“C-Cheating?!” Twilight croaked.

‘Yes, cheating. You two go and fuse with those two hussies and create those bastards Gaia and Iris! I thought I was your child, the true manifestation of your powers!’

Twilight clutched at her heart with her right hand, trying to keep strong. “It wasn’t something we planned on happening, the fusions were just on accident! And really, at least Iris and Gaia didn’t fly off the handle!”

Hel groaned as she ran her talons through her fire hair. ‘For the last time, I was protecting you! I did what you two could not!’

“You took a life! He was a murderer, yes, but he didn’t deserve to be executed in such a manner!”

Hel approached Twilight, making the purple girl stiffen and press herself against the wall. ‘And what would you know about what he ‘deserved’? Did know of his past before the fight? Seen the atrocities he’d no doubt committed? There was no trace of remorse or even forgiveness for what he had done to Lyra and the people who got caught in the crossfire. Atomic Skull was a killer, and I put him down like a rabid dog.’

The demoness pressed her right hand against the barn wall, leaning down to look Twilight in the eye as she loomed over her. ‘Or would you rather have died and let hundreds of thousands of innocent people die as well?’

“I’m not a killer, I’m not!” Twilight insisted.

‘I know, neither you nor Sunset is, despite her badass flare and tomboy attitude. And that’s fine, because I’ll get my hands dirty, I’ll stain them with the blood of our enemies for you both!’

Hel’s right claw crept up towards Twilight, the tip of the index claw catching her skirt and lifting it up slowly. Twilight held her breath, hoping beyond hope that Hel wasn’t about to…

The demoness drew back her claw, letting the skirt fall back to its original position. Twilight sighed in relief, but only for a moment before feeling that same claw press against her stomach and slowly drag upwards.

‘I care about you and Sunny, because I am both you, and both of you are me. I feel your love, you strength, your knowledge…’Hel leaned forward and nuzzled Twilight’s cheek, her right claw then stopped right between the cleavage of Twilight’s breasts. ‘Your lust for each other…’

“Stop it!” Twilight demanded.

Hel smiled and withdrew. ‘It’s alright, I would never hurt you or Sunny.’The demoness chuckled as she began to walk away. ‘This was fun, Sparky, maybe we’ll talk again soon. But for now you’d better rest up, no telling what tomorrow might bring.’

With that, Hel disappeared into nothingness and the world around Twilight seemed to resume its normal pace. Twilight felt as if she was going to have a heart attack from seeing the demon she feared to become again, manifest itself before her and actually touch her. Her legs felt like jelly, making her collapse to her rear on the ground. Twilight looked at her hands, now trembling in fear. She held them close to her as she curled in on herself.

“What am I going to do…?”

Entry 24: Truth

The girls had expected to see a lot things come the following morning, but they weren’t prepared to see nothing. When they awoke from their long day of fighting, the four girls watched the news and news sites as Twilight suggested, but in every report about the mall battle, no one mentioned Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, or Gilda. In fact, it was being blamed on a broken gas pipe that combusted and caused the damage in the mall.

This confounded the girls, they knew none of that was imaginary, it did happen. Twilight even tried to levitate a cup, and it worked for a few seconds before she lost concentration. But the point was made, she had magic now, and because of that, everything that happened yesterday did in fact happen. Twilight had told the others about the resources the Organization had at its disposal, but even they couldn’t cover up fiery beings throwing down in the skies or in the city. Something else covered this up, something powerful.

The rest of the weekend ended with Sunset giving Twilight pointers on how to control her newly awakened magic powers. Simple levitation was basic, so Sunset started there. It was a little hard for the bright young genius, being more used to thinking about something wanting to happen rather than feeling it. Thinking was only half of magic, the other half was feeling it out and learning to move that energy through the body.

Thankfully, Twilight was at least able to gain a modicum of control, enough so that she didn’t have to worry about turning someone into a toad at school.

Oh school, Sunset dreaded that. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had waited for Sunset and Twilight to arrive, both girls keeping sentry and watching for any suspicious happenings after their battles. Sunset pulled up in her bike, now having been cleared from quarantine after the Atomic Skull incident, and Twilight was dropped off by her mother.

Sunset noticed that Velvet had given her an especially warmhearted smile. Why that was? She had no clue, but Sunset returned the smile with one of her own. After that, Twilight’s mother left, leaving Sunset still perplexed, still, Velvet was nice, she reminded Sunset of her own mother. The former bully shook her head, dislodging those thoughts of home.

It’s been years since I’ve seen Mom or Dad…I doubt any of them want to see me…

“Sunset? Sunset are you alright?” Twilight asked.

Sunset was snapped out of her memories and focused on the present. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” Both girls headed towards Rainbow and Applejack, stopping when they reached the horse statue. “So what’s the word? Any news on us?”

“Not that we’ve heard, but Lyra and Bonbon seem to be doing alright. Take a look,” said Rainbow Dash as she pointed a thumb in the couple’s direction.

Lyra and Bonbon were being their old selves again, with Lyra smiling happily. Her healed left arm was hooked around Bonbon’s right, bringing her lover close enough to rub cheeks. Bonbon struggled in vain to release herself from her lover’s grip.

“C’mon, ya know you want to nuzzle me,” whined Lyra.

“S-Stop it, Lyra! I don’t mind that, but we’re in front of everyone!” Bonbon argued.

“Tough tinkies, you’re my girlfriend, I’ll nuzzle you anytime I want…Like now!”

The mint green girl pressed her cheek against Bonbon’s, rubbing them together. Bonbon groaned and blushed at the display of affection, but that didn’t stop her from smiling or pushing Lyra away.

“Geez, what is your deal with nuzzling like an animal?”

“Not just any animal, I’m nuzzling you like a pony!”

Bonbon sighed. “You’re still hung up on that?”

Lyra unhooked herself from Bonbon and gave her girlfriend a defiant look. “You’re damn skippy I am! There are tons of other worlds out there Bonnie! TONS! The Multiverse is vast, who says ours is the only universe out there! What if there were other versions of this world, ones that don’t have humans on them, but instead have creatures who are the same as us?!”

“Seriously Lyra, some people have a thing about aliens, others Bigfoot and Loch Ness, you have this multi – whatever.”

“Verse, Multiverse!” Lyra crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed. “It’s a theory that’s even been supported by the scientific community.” Lyra saw Bonbon about to counter. “Legitimate scientists, not the so called ‘nut cases’!”

Bonbon rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, but why ponies? Why not dragons or those anthro animals you see in those kids shows.”

“Because, ponies are cute and cool! I mean, can you imagine me as a pony?!”

Bonbon raised an eyebrow as she contemplated that thought. She was sure that the kind of ponies Lyra was talking about were not the same kind Bonbon was thinking of. “Sorta…I guess.”

A devious grin appeared on Lyra’s face as she sidled next to Bonbon. “Well, if I was, I’d give you a ‘good, long ride’.”

Bonbon’s face blushed crimson as Lyra said those words. She face palmed herself and kept her hand there to hide her face. “You’re such a pervert sometimes, you know that?!”

“Yeah, but you know you like that about me~” Lyra proclaimed in sing-songy voice.

Sunset, couldn’t help but smile at the display, and at the same time cringe in worry about how Lyra even had the slightest inkling that there might be a parallel world populated by ponies.

“Honestly, it’s too early in the morning for such antics,” Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, having spotted their other friends, walked towards them as they took note of Lyra’s show. “But I suppose it’s warranted, seeing how she has fully recovered.”

“I’m happy for them,” said Fluttershy.

“Is anyone else going ask why Lyra’s arm has grown back when it was burned off by a Ghost Rider knock off?” Pinkie asked.

“D-Don’t sweat it Pinks, miracles happen!” To this Rainbow winked at Sunset, making the fiery haired girl grin.

Pinkie Pie gasped loudly. “You and Sunny are totally friends now aren’t you?!”

Sunset and Rainbow blushed. “NO WE’RE NOT!”

“You totally are~ You even said that at the same time! Miracles do happen!” Pinkie Pie testified.

Rarity quietly made her way to Applejack and spoke in a hushed whisper. “Can I take it by the fact that Twilight and Sunset are occupying the same space like this that your plan worked?”

Applejack tipped her and nodded. “Eeyup.”

Rarity sighed. “Oh what a relief, so…what was the reason?” She was met with silence, to which she gave the apple farmer a deadpan expression. “You’re not going to say a word of how, are you?”

“Nnope.”

The fashionista released a frustrated growl, details were important in such matters, and something told Rarity that she was missing out on some very juicy details. Heck, even Rainbow and Sunset appeared to be a little closer, she wasn’t even giving Sunset death glares or snapping at her.

“Fine, I guess it is alright seeing as how things turned out.”

“As long as ya understand Rares,” said Applejack.

The bell started ring, making the assortment of students begin their treks to their homerooms. The group of girls did the same, with Sunset trailing behind. As she neared the steps, she froze in place. Sunset felt something, a familiar energy presence. Cautiously she turned her head to glance over her shoulder. What she saw confused her.

Standing near the horse statue were three girls, no older than herself she’d wager. The purple girl looked like some kind of punk rocker, the blue girl was just smiling and giddy, like a kid about to head into an amusement park. The third, she was…striking. All three of them were, objectively speaking, cute and hot in their own way. But the third, the one standing in the middle, it was as if she had an aura of authority, radiating her presence wherever she went.

Her eyes were a piercing rose color, and her smile, it was sultry, seductive, and yet, intimidating all at once. “Um, can I help you guys? I don’t remember seeing you, are you new?”

“Oh no, we don’t attend CHS, but we are thinking about it. It looks like a very entertaining place,” said the yellow girl.

“Well…maybe I could talk to the Principal, see if she could give you tour or call your folks about one or something?” Sunset offered.

The purple girl scoffed. “Please, did the high school thing like a hundred times over.”

“Aria!” The middle girl hissed.

“Well we have!” Aria shot back.

“Ari, you really need to loosen up sometimes, I mean, it’s great that you do in the sack, but you carry too much tension if you do that every day,” said the blue girl.

“SONATA! Shut up about that crap!”

“Oopsie, sorry, just forget I mentioned it.” Sonata apologized.

Sunset could already tell that this girl was possibly the Pinkie Pie of their group, but more airheaded. And ignoring the fact that she just openly admitted to bedding Aria, Sunset decided to address the middle girl.

“Soooo…um, Aria, and Sonata, I didn’t catch your name,” said Sunset.

“Adagio, dear, but we’ll talk a little later, your friends seem to be calling to you,” said Adagio.

Sunset turned back towards the main entrance and saw that the girls were waiting up for her. “Oh crap, yeah, classes are going to start – wait! ‘Later’? What do –?”

When Sunset turned to address the trio, all three were gone, making Sunset do a double take. She looked back and forth, scanning the whole quad for any trace that the three girls were there. Sunset knew she didn’t imagine them, at least she hoped not, what with Hel lurking as close as her shadow. For all she knew, they were manifestations of her Firestorm and magic powers.

“Sonata, Aria, and Adagio…” Sunset turned to the entrance, spared one more glance behind her, and then continued on inside.

PHYS ED. CLASS…

“NO! Absolutely not!” Twilight protested.

“Twi, Ah understand how yer tryin’ to protect us and all, but this ain’t somethin’ we can keep to just ourselves,” said Applejack. “We need to tell the others.”

Applejack and Twilight were busy in the gym, doing some exercises on their own as warm-ups before they got ready to do some exercises. Twilight was holding onto Applejack’s ankles as she performed sit ups, making Twilight express amazement at the ease and swiftness at which Applejack moved up and down with little effort. During this time, the apple farmer was trying to convince Twilight that the information about the Firestorms and Organization needed to be shared amongst the rest of their friends.

“We don’t need to tell them anything, it’s bad enough you and Rainbow Dash know about…me, and all Sunset and I have done,” said Twilight with remorse.

Applejack came up and held herself there as she looked at Twilight. “Sugarcube, Ah realize how you wanted to keep us from danger, but the fact of the matter is, danger’s already here.”

Twilight’s features drooped, she didn’t want to admit it, but Applejack was right. Danger was here, and it had found its way to her best friends. It had already claimed her big brother, robbing Cadance of her lover, it had killed so many, and maimed Lyra. As much as Twilight had been trying, she was only deluding herself into thinking that the danger was kept at bay, that she was shielding them from harm. Twilight was suddenly snapped out of her depression when she felt Applejack’s hand rest upon her shoulder, shooting her a confident smile.

“Twi, at times like this is when you really need yer friends, and when ya really need to trust ‘em. If them Organization guys show up at Fluttershy’s, Rarity’s, or Pinkie Pie’s place, how will they know to call you or Sunset as a first thought? Ah mean, if that happened, y’all two are on my speed dial. But fer them, they wouldn’t know to do that, they’d just call the cops and by then it’d be too late.”

Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “I understand, it’s better to be informed than left in the dark. I’m just afraid of what they’ll think of me…I can barely understand why you or Rainbow are okay with being near me, knowing that I’m not even a normal human being…”

“Hush up about that, it don’t matter if yer not ‘normal’. Twi, to be honest, the definition of what’s ‘normal’ nowadays is skewed, so it ain’t like you’re off by much.”

“But I was grown from nothing more than random bits of DNA! I have no idea who my real parents are, I’m smarter than a supercomputer, and a walking nuclear reactor, and let’s not forget, I’m apparently a Magical Girl?!” Twilight whispered harshly as she threw her arms into the air.

“Twi, if Rainbow and Ah can accept you for you, than why is it so hard to think that the others won’t?” Applejack asked.

“It’s just…I don’t know…”

“Trust me Twi, tellin’ ‘em now will be easier then tellin’ them when all hell breaks loose and it’s too late to do anythin’ about it.”

Well, Twilight couldn’t deny the logic in that. Reluctantly, she nodded her affirmative to telling the others.

“Good, how about we get ‘em all together after school and meet up at your place, and while we’re at it, tell ‘em you and Sunset are together?” Applejack asked.

“Sure, I’ll just call my Mom and Dad later to tell them you all will be coming over………Wait, what about me and Sunset?! ”

Suddenly the coach’s whistle blew, signaling the students to stop their warm ups and huddle up. Twilight and Applejack rose up and joined them. Twilight was now starting to feel differently about this whole thing.

LUNCH TIME…

Sunset’s class had let out a little early, so she got a head start on getting to the lunch room. Rainbow had informed her, a period and a half ago, that Applejack convinced Twilight to have them both tell Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity about what’s been going on, and apparently about their relationship. The former bad girl let out a long sigh as she made the trek to the lunch area. She understood the reasoning, but she was still a little edgy about telling the others that she and Twilight were together.

Really though, are we still together, after the way we’ve been avoiding each other? And now she has magic. I was actually happy she has magic, now it’s just something else I can share with her, besides both us being geniuses, I could teach her all I learned about magic! Problem is though…she’s scared of it because of Hel…and now the double fusions, I can’t catch a break…

“Pfft.”

Sunset stopped walking, hearing what sounded like someone blowing a raspberry. She turned to her left and jumped when she suddenly noticed that someone was there. The flash of pink hair she saw made her stop before she completely went up the wall, remembering Pinkie had a penchant for appearing out of random places. But as Sunset prepared to scold her…friend? Acquaintance? Whatever, she was about to scold her but she stopped upon seeing that it wasn’t Pinkie.

The girl standing beside her, looking completely oblivious to everything in existence, had the same pink hair as the party planner, but it was straight and shaggy looking. She wore a white sweater with a pink heart on it, she had pink fuzzy leg warmers on, and pink fuzzy forearm muffs.

“Um…may I help you?”

The pink girl slowly began sticking out her tongue, making Sunset feel a little weirded out.“Pfft.”

“Ooookay…I’m just uh…yeah.”

Sunset started walking down the hall towards the lunch room again, she spared a glance over her shoulder to see that the pink girl was still standing in the middle of the hall. She didn’t know what to do so she just hoped the girl wouldn’t hurt herself, but as Sunset turned her gaze forward, the pink girl was there.

“Pfft.”

“GAAAH!!!” Sunset shrieked.

This time Sunset did jump into the air and land about three feet from where she was standing. Sunset looked back behind her, seeing that the girl was no longer there but now in front of her, which was impossible since it was a linear hallway and there were no other ways to get in front of her unless she ran all the way around to the other end of the hall in less than a nanosecond.

“What the hell?! How did you –?!”

“Pfft.”

Sunset blinked and suddenly the girl was now holding a piece of paper in her mouth. Cautiously, Sunset read what was scribbled on the piece a paper. It was a drawing a girl, blue-green hair, piercing green eyes, and black all over. The drawing itself looked as if a grade-schooler did it, but never the less, Sunset read the words underneath that stated: “Have you seen my Chrissy?”

“Uh…n-no…” Sunset answered, cautiously.

The pink girl’s features drooped for a moment, but then, just as suddenly as she was in front of Sunset, the girl was now standing next to her, staring at her intently. Sunset was about two seconds away from going Firestorm, just to feel some sense of safety at this point. The girl was now but a hair’s breath away, then her gaze focused on a lock of Sunset’s hair that was sticking out and she began pawing at it like a cat.

*Gasp!*

Sunset slowly started walking forward, but the girl kept pace, still pawing at her hair. Eventually she just released a grunt of irritation and just left the weirder-than-hell pink girl do as she pleased. Hoping that as soon as she reached the lunch room that the thought of an audience would make her stop.

It didn’t.

As soon as Sunset entered the lunch room and got into the food serving line, the pink girl continued to paw at her hair. Sunset growled and was about to lay into the pink girl, but then she saw that the pink girl was eyeing the food, scanning it carefully. She then looked to the poster behind her that said “Meatball Monday”.

The lunch lady, Granny Smith, saw the pink girl. Sunset watched as the elder apple gave a warmhearted smile as the pink girl appeared at the tray line. Granny Smith went into the back of the kitchen and after about a minute and a half, she came back with a plate of tacos.

*Gasp!* the pink girl exclaimed.

Sunset looked upon this with utter confusion. It was clearly Meatball Monday, and Taco Tuesday wasn’t until tomorrow, and somehow there was a fresh plate of tacos already made for this, stranger-than-hell girl. She accepted the tasty Mexican cuisine, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared. Sunset’s eye twitched when she blinked again, seeing a box left on the tray line. Granny Smith took the box, unafraid, and opened it. Inside was the money for the entree, plus a bottle of cider that Granny Smith liked.

The former unicorn just shook her head, she was getting used to Pinkie’s level of weirdness and randomness, but this other pink menace, was another beast altogether. Sunset made her way to the register and paid for her food and went to sit at the table where the girls would eventually gather. But as soon she rounded the corner, there was the pink girl again. Like she was waiting for Sunset to appear. The pink girl slid next to Sunset, it was as if she didn’t move but the world did around her as she now stood next to Sunset.

Sunset was trying to be nice in order to make the pink girl go away. Clearly she was childlike and as strange as Pinkie Pie, if not more. So, in as nice a way she could, to try and avoid getting in trouble by making the girl cry, Sunset tried tell her to go away.

“L-Look, whoever you are, I’m not really sure why you’re following me. But I can guarantee I’m not the kind of girl you should be hanging around, and my level of patience is…how shall we say…has yet to become a virtue of mine.”

“Pfft. Pfffft. Pft. Pffft. Pfft-Pfft.”

Suddenly, again, the girl produced the same paper, with the same question.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who or where this ‘Chrissy’ is!” Sunset said through gritted teeth.

“Puffy? There you are.”

*Gasp!*

Sunset turned to look behind her, and lo and behold, there stood the girl who the drawing resembled. Now that Sunset looked at her, she seemed a lot more intimidating in person. Sunset blinked again, and just as quickly, the pink girl appeared next to “Chrissy”, smiling and still sticking out her tongue.

“Um…do you know her?” Sunset asked.

“Sorry, Fluffle Puff gets a little anxious when I’m not around. And she tends to latch onto the nearest girl who resembles me, or, my attitude, I guess.” The black skinned girl offered Sunset her hand. “Name’s Chrysalis.”

Sunset wearily took Chrysalis’ hand and shook it. “Sunset Shimmer.”

“I know, you’re pretty infamous around here.”

Sunset sighed. “Unfortunately, but I got no one to blame for it but me. Had it coming.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “Maybe, but you seem to have mellowed out recently.”

“I have?” Sunset asked curiously.

Chrysalis began walking towards a table, with Fluffle Puff already at the table awaiting Chrysalis like a puppy would her owner. Sunset walked along with them, seeing as Chrysalis had more to say.

“Yes, last year and up until a few months ago, you were a total queen bee bitch,” said Chrysalis bluntly.

Well, Sunset was never one for beating around the bush, but still, she disliked being reminded of that.

“But now?”

“Now, you’re…mellow’s the right word, but there’s probably another word for it.” Chrysalis took a bite of her meatball and then looked to Fluffle Puff who was somehow ingesting the tacos in one bite, almost as if she were swallowing them. “You got someone?”

“‘Got someone’?”

“Y’know, a boy? Maybe a girl?” Chrysalis asked with a devious grin.

Sunset blushed a little. “I…I…What the hell makes you think that all of all things?!”

“‘Cause we’re not that different, I was a real terror before you came to this school. Then this bundle of pinkness comes up to me and just annoying the crap out me. There were soooo many times I wanted to just punch her and throw out a window. But, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.”

Chrysalis patted Fluffle Puff’s head, making the pink one squeal in delight. “Especially when she was the only person who stuck around me, and actually gave a damn about me. In her own weirder than hell way. So, am I wrong?”

Sunset rubbed her right arm, casting glances at the odd couple and to whatever else was in the room. “No, you’re not. Okay, I do have someone! At least…ugh…” Sunset sat on the table, placing her food tray to the side. “I’m just not sure if I’m right for her…”

“Mmm-hmm, so what’s the hang up? Your ‘rents not into you being a lesbi?” Chrysalis asked.

“No, it’s more me than anything. I know I like her, more than like her, and I know she feels the same way. But lately, some crap’s been happening and it’s…keeping us at arm's length.”

Sunset looked to Chrysalis and Fluffle, the latter was currently chewing on some paper, which made Sunset look to Chrysalis as if expecting her to make the pink girl stop, but apparently Chrysalis was aware and did nothing to stop her. So Sunset did the same, but made sure to keep an eye on Fluffle Puff in case she choked.

“Well, if we’re being honest, I never saw myself ever getting with someone. I was fine with a little casual hook up from some girls I knew, but I never saw myself settling for a single person, or for that matter, being with someone like Fuffle here. She’s weird as the day is long, and I’m not exactly someone I’d call ‘nice’. But, this pink fluff ball grew on me, and before you know it, I’m living with her.”

Sunset did a double take at hearing that. “You’re living with her?!”

“I used to live in a dump of a shack, but then Fluffle Puff follows me home and offers to have me live with her. I was being evicted, so I really didn’t have much choice.” Chrysalis took a swig of her soda before continuing. “But, yeah, I’ve changed. And, also, after one night with Fluffle, well, let’s just say that if anything is wrong with this relationship, it’s not going to be bedroom related, that’s for sure.”

Sunset blushed, now looking at the, seemingly, innocent Fluffle Puff with a little more respect.

“Just give it time, you’ll find your groove with your girl. And, don’t worry, changing…it’s not all that bad, really.” Chrysalis glanced over Sunset’s shoulder and saw the well-known six girls of Canterlot High sit at their usual table. “Looks like your friends are here. Nice talkin’ to ya Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset rose up and grabbed her tray. “Thanks, this helped a little.”

As Sunset turned to walk towards the girls, Fluffle Puff appeared before her, holding a piece of paper. The paper was chewed into the shape of a heart and on it was scribbled some words and a drawing of Sunset holding hands with Chrysalis and Fuffle Puff.

Thanks for keeping me company until Chrissy found me! You’re really nice, let’s be friends!

– Fluffle Puff

P.S.: They won’t let me use scissors.

There was something cute, and yet worrisome about that last part, but Fluffle kept smiling, her tongue stuck out.

“Thanks Fluffle,” said Sunset.

Fluffle Puff’s eyes went walleyed, Sunset playfully bopped the girl on the head, making her eyes come back into alignment. Fluffle smiled and then…teleported? Flash Stepped? Instant Transmissioned? Whatever, she was sitting with Chrysalis again.

AFTER SCHOOL, AT TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S RESIDENCE…

Twilight had led the group down to the basement, stopping before a large metal door that separated the house from her basement laboratory. Of course, this was going to be the first time that she was going to show this to them. Till now, Sunset and Shining Armor, and Spike, had been the only ones permitted to venture into this lab, but now, she was about to show this to them, and reveal to rest of the girls what was going on.

Sunset bumped Twilight’s shoulder, grinning confidently at her girlfriend to give her strength. Twilight took a deep breath and punched in the alphanumerical code to the door. There was a hiss then a shudder as the door opened up to the group of girls. Twilight and Sunset entered first, followed by Spike.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack entered next, who were gawking at the miniature laboratory with amazement. Rarity and Fluttershy followed up behind them, sporting awestruck expressions. Pinkie Pie came in last, with her mind already at work at what kind of parties they could hold down here, and what all everything did.

The door to the lab shut itself tight, with a thud, somewhat startling Fluttershy and Rarity. Twilight took her seat in her specialized chair, while Sunset stood next to her. The others stood in a circle around the futuristic looking workbench.

“Twilight, Darling, I never knew you had such an extraordinary work space!” Rarity marveled.

“Seriously, it looks like you could build a doomsday weapon in here!” Rainbow commented.

The lavender girl blushed at the compliments her lab was getting, Sunset smirked as she nudged Twilight, and giving her a silent “I told you they’d like it”. So far they had taken to the lab, now came the hard part.

“Um, everyone, there’s something I need to tell…well…something that we need to tell you,” said Twilight.

“It’s going to sound impossible, and at times terrifying, but you need to know this before something happens,” said Sunset.

Both Sunset and Twilight spared a glance to each other, took a deep breath and –

“You and Sunset merged with an orb of super sciency nuclear power, that allows you both to transform into super powered beings and fight against other super powered beings who want to flood the world with others like them in a kind of super powered arms race, and that it was because of this whole thing that you and Sunny are really close and are girlfriends now, and that Twilight is actually a genetically generated human and Sunset is from another dimension, and that you two became one and turned into some horrifyingly homicidal she-demon, while later on Rainbow Dash and Applejack fused with each of you individually to become two totally different fusions in order to fight off two of Rainbow Dash’s friends/frenemies, along with two killer super adapting androids!”

Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and even Spike, all went slack jawed, eyes wide as saucers, completely dumbfounded, mortified, confused, and…and…every other word in the dictionary that could possibly or even attempt to describe what they all felt when Pinkie practically unraveled the entire reason they called this meeting, and deduced the intricacies of the last few months.

“Pinkie Pie, darling, as entertaining as all that sounds, it was rather rude of you to interrupt them when they were clearly getting ready to tell us something important.” Rarity scolded.

Sunset shook her head to snap her out of the daze Pinkie put her into. “Actually she’s pretty spot on.”

“Say what dear?”

“Pinkie Pie’s tellin’ the truth,” said Applejack.

“Um, I-I don’t understand, which part exactly?” Fluttershy asked.

“All of it. Every. Single. Thing!” Rainbow affirmed.

Rarity looked to Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow with great skepticism. “Girls, please, I know we were called here to discuss something greatly important. Forgive me – even knowing how Pinkie Pie is sometimes – if I find all that hard to believe. Now if…by some chance…the part about Sunset and Twilight being a couple was the reason for this privacy and talk, then I could believe that.” Rarity turned to her gaze to the girls in question. “Are you?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head nervously, blushing a little as she spoke. “Well…we-we are…Sunset and I, we’re together…”

Rarity released a sigh and Fluttershy smiled happily at hearing the news. “See, there was no need to build up a story like that to bring us to this revelation. Even if it is obvious you two are smitten for each other.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow at that. “Wait, you’re saying you knew?!”

Rarity put on a coy smile as she addressed Sunset. “Darling, when you’re in the fashion business, details are key. Not just for the designs but for people, too. Body language, changes in pitches or tones, subtle changes that indicate whether or not someone likes what you’ve done. Reading others is part of the business, and I read you two like a book. Although, I will admit, part of me didn’t believe it at first, not after our…ahem…past discrepancies with you, Sunset. No offense.”

“None taken. But the other stuff’s true, too.”

Rarity sighed in annoyance. “Darlings I just said that Pinkie’s elaborate tale is unnecessary, you needn’t hide behind it. Or at the very least, if you’re going to insist that it’s true, offer us some proof.”

Sunset glanced towards Twilight, the genius girl sighed remorsefully, knowing that this was an unavoidable thing that needed to be done.

“Alright, we’ll show you proof,” said Twilight as she rose from her chair.
Rarity crossed her arms, waiting to see where this was going, but then she noticed Applejack and Rainbow Dash backing away. “What are you two doing?”

“Trust us Rares, you want to take a few steps back.”

Rainbow Dash had already taken hold of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s wrists, pulling them back to where she stood. Rarity rolled her eyes and decided to play along with the act, if to prove and/or please Sunset and Twilight’s ruse.

Once they were a good distance away, Sunset and Twilight tapped into the Firestorm Matrix within.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Gold and pink flames engulfed Sunset and Twilight, making Rarity shriek with surprise at seeing the pyrotechnic display. Fluttershy “EEPed” loudly and hid behind Rainbow Dash, while Pinkie Pie just stood there and watched with wide eyed amazement. When the flames died down, both Sunset and Twilight were in full Firestorm form, their flame hair wisping to and fro.

“Whelp, this proof enough for you?” Sunset asked smugly.

Rarity slowly approached her two friends. Twilight stepped forward and offered her hand to the fashionista. Despite Twilight’s fear of fusion, there was no danger like the instances with Rainbow and Applejack, so the thought that just mere contact with a person initiated it was discarded.

The violet haired girl carefully placed her fingertips onto the surface of Twilight’s hand. It was warm, but a different kind of warmth, like the sun. But the feel of Twilight’s hand felt akin to a glove worn around it.

“Twilight…this…a-a-and Sunset…you both are the ‘Fire Girls’?!”

“Indeed, we are,” said Twilight confirmed.

“Ha! Told you so! And this is so COOL!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Yeah, but trust me, it’s more fun when you fuse, now that is cool.” Rainbow commented. The prismatic girl glanced over her shoulder and looked to a still frightful Fluttershy. “It’s okay Flutters, it’s still Twilight and Sunset. Just…super powered.”

No, it was more than that, and Sunset knew it. She wasn’t frightful of Twilight’s transformation, she was a dear friend. It was Sunset she was afraid of, and Sunset knew it. Her bully just revealed that she has super powers, turning her into a fiery super being that can cause the sort of destructive damage the news footage had shown they could wield. Any right minded person would be afraid, it’s their worst nightmare coming true. The person who tormented them had the power to literally kill them in an instant.

And it probably doesn’t help that we’re in a confined space, thought Sunset.

But, like a timid woodland creature, Fluttershy slowly came out from behind Rainbow Dash. The girls went silent when she started approaching Sunset Shimmer, a myriad of scenarios running through their heads as to how this could end. If Sunset could sweat bullets in her Firestorm form, she would. Sunset was determined to make herself into a better person, and not the monster that she had become before. Fluttershy stopped in front of Sunset, looked up to her and into her white eyes.

“Um, I just want to say, that, well, it was scary having you sit with us at our table. And…every other time I saw you…I was afraid that you’d start yelling at me or…do worse…”

Sunset visibly cringed, feeling her stomach tie into knots. Fluttershy was, unfortunately, the one girl who she directed the brunt of her abuse towards. She figured it’d take a very long time to even gain a modicum of trust from her.

“But…after seeing this…I realized that I really don’t know you, Sunset. So…I-I’m willing to, and maybe, we could start over?” Fluttershy asked meekly.

Sunset’s eyes widened, she knew Fluttershy was a kind soul, sometimes too kind for her own good. But, she never thought she’d be as forgiving to Sunset like she was, or willing to put the past behind them. It was more than likely that neither of them would forget about the past, memories would linger, and paranoia about the other would still be there. But, still, a fresh start was nice. Sunset was already feeling better about Rainbow Dash, despite knowing of her being in love with Twilight, she still felt like the sports girl had her back.

Loyalty…Kindness…truly, the Elements did choose their bearers well. “Of course it is, Fluttershy. I…I’d like that.”

The girls released a breath they didn’t know they were holding, relieved to see that Fluttershy and Sunset were on good footing now, or at least starting on the path towards such. It was then that Fluttershy made an odd request.

“Um, if you don’t mind, is it possible to touch your flames? Or is it your hair?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset willed her flaming mane to drape over right shoulder. “Kinda both, but the flames don’t hurt anybody so long I want them to.”

Fluttershy, gingerly, reached out towards Sunset’s yellow flames, her hand brushed against the fire. She then ran her hand through it as if combing her own locks of hair, feeling the plasmatic flames flow around her fingers like warm silk. When Fluttershy reached back, some of the flames came with her in embers, but the embers left her hand, returning to Sunset’s flame mane. Both girls smiled.

Rarity smiled and then turned to Twilight. “I guess, now would be the time for a little more detail.”

“Yeah,” agreed Twilight.

Entry 25: The Offer

Sunset was feeling pretty good and she rode through the night on her bike. She and Twilight revealed just about everything having to do with the Firestorm Protocols, the magic, and the Organization. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity promised to be careful in their daily activities, and to call Sunset or Twilight should any kind of trouble arise. And the tidbit about the two of them dating as well, thankfully they were more than understanding of their relationship.

Guess we worried for nothing, they’re all pretty chill about the whole evil organization and Firestorms and magic stuff. Even about what’s between Sparky and me…So those are the kind of friends Celestia kept asking me to make…

The motorbike slowed a little as Sunset Shimmer reminisced about her past for a moment, remembering a time when she was even more arrogant than she was a few months ago. During her ride she reflected on herself for a moment, remembering why she so desperately wanted to become the best unicorn mage.

It was to show the nobility that your status didn’t determine your magical talent, and to make a better life for my parents and us…I achieved all that…and even more horizons were opened to me when I became Celestia’s protégé…how did I let myself get that way?

Sunset shook her head and revved the bike. It didn’t matter, what did matter was the here and now. She couldn’t fix her mistakes back in Equestria, and by the time the portal opened again, there wouldn’t be anypony left to even care. But here, she made many mistakes, and the cost for them was much higher here if she did nothing to right them. Fluttershy was a good first step to that goal, fighting as a Firestorm to stop the Organization was one way to atone, but Sunset felt that she made a genuine first step today.

She pulled into her apartment complex, parking her “baby” in its usual spot. Sunset ascended the stairs to her apartment and went to open the door, but paused. She then looked to the window, seeing the lights on.

I didn’t leave any lights on when I left this morning…and Celestia usually leaves a text message when she drops by the apartment when I’m not in…

There was another factor for her edginess, there was a presence in her apartment, a magical one. Sunset’s hands glowed with her aquamarine aura, channeling her magic in preparation to launch a magic bolt or throw up a shield if need be. Cautiously, Sunset turned the knob and opened the door.

The former unicorn raised her left hand and thrusted it out in front of her, like a makeshift gun she took aim as she fully opened the door. “Alright, whoever’s got the balls to break into my place, prepare to have them blown off!”

“A good threat, but we have none to blow off.”

Sunset blinked, she was expecting to find a thief, or a pervert looking to score a teenage girl’s panties. Hell, she even expected some Organization goon, but not this. Sitting on the loveseat was Aria, although, she was more laying on it than sitting in it. Her head on the armrest while her feet dangled off the other end. Her gaze shifted to the kitchen, seeing the blue girl, Sonata, currently…cooking, in her kitchen. And Adagio was sitting on the couch, looking at Sunset with a smirk.

“You can put that away, dear. We’re not here to hurt you.”

Sunset remembered that her hand was still glowing, she quickly canceled her spell and cursed herself for revealing her magic to total strangers. But on that note.

“Why are you three in my home?! How the hell did you get in here?!” Sunset demanded.

“Oh, we just ‘talked’ to the landlady, she gave us a spare key and we waltzed in. You weren’t home so we waited,” said Adagio.

“And I decided to cook us up something to eat! I was getting kinda hungry, and I know Ari gets grumpy when she’s hungry, and I didn’t know if you’d be hungry when you got back, so I decided to make enough for all four us,” said Sonata in a chipper tone.

Sunset’s eye twitched. These girls just somehow tricked the landlady into giving them the key to her apartment, and now these same three girls were acting as if they lived here. And the girl named Sonata was cooking for them as if they were all already roommates! Sunset was about to lay down the law on these three, that is until her stomach released an unearthly growl of hunger loud enough for the three girls to hear. Despite trying to keep her intimidating stance, Sunset couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment.

“Just cool your jets and have some food, Sonata’s a genius in the kitchen and I don’t feel like wasting the food,” said Aria in a warning tone.

Sunset growled in annoyance and dragged her hand down her face for emphasis. “Fine!”

30 MINUTES LATER…

After consuming the incredibly delicious meal that Sonata made, Sunset and the girls remained at the dining table. She eyed them each critically, looking for any sign of danger. Sunset could still feel the presence of magic, and it was coming from each of them.

“Alright, we ate. Now is someone going to explain why you broke into my apartment? Or do we just skip to the part where I throw you out?” Sunset asked.

“Pssh, you can damn well try,” retorted Aria.

“Down, Aria, we’re not here to pick a fight, remember?” Adagio asked.

Aria reluctantly nodded, while Sonata giggled at seeing her friend get scolded.

“Well, for one thing, introductions are in order. My name is Adagio Dazzle, the grumpy one is Aria Blaze, and our little chef is Sonata Dusk. And the reason why we’ve ‘broken’ into your apartment is because we want to talk to you.”

Sunset huffed in annoyance. “You couldn’t talk to me any other way?”

“Not unless you want everyone to know about your little unicorn magic.”

Sunset bolted out of her seat, knocking the chair down from her quick movement. “What did you just say?!”

“Unicorn magic, Sunset Shimmer. The very kind you were ready to blast us with when you entered your home.” Adagio could still see the rigidity in Sunset’s features. “Oh relax, you have nothing to fear from us.”

“Tch, yeah she kinda does.” Aria argued, turning her head to look at Sunset. “The three of us are from the Organization.”

Sunset was about to shout the command phrase, but Adagio quickly snapped her fingers.

“ --------------!!!” Sunset clasped her hands around her throat. “ --------------!!!” Again, the word never left her mouth. “-------- ----------- --- ----!!!”

Sunset was starting to panic, she couldn’t speak at all. She could feel herself saying the words, but the sound would not come out. She then looked to Adagio, who was grinning in amusement. Sunset slammed her hands on the table, glaring at Adagio. It didn’t need to be said to wonder what Sunset was thinking.

“I just temporarily muted all sound coming from your mouth, Sunset Shimmer. I didn’t do anything to your body. You can’t afford to go Firestorm here, and really, we just want to talk.” Adagio explained.

Sunset still held her glare of disbelief.

Adagio sighed frustratingly. “Okay, let me be clear. We’re not here to fight, the Organization doesn’t even know we’re here or who you are for that matter! Otherwise don’t you think this place would be swarming with people with guns or some other abominations they’ve created?! So please, just sit down, and I’ll cancel out the dampening.”

Sunset didn’t like this, although, it was three against one, even with her magic, Sunset didn’t stand a chance without being in Firestorm form. And she didn’t know if these girls had Firestorm Protocols either, or if they did, they were being concealed well. With little recourse, Sunset picked up her chair and sat back down at the table. Adagio snapped her fingers again and nodded to Sunset.

“Wh-What do you want to talk about?” Sunset asked, relieved to hear her voice again.

Adagio put her elbows onto the table and interlaced her fingers into a pyramid of contemplation. “It’s simple really, we Equestrians have to stick together.”
Sunset’s heart nearly skipped a beat. “Y-You’re Equestrian?! Wait, you’re from Equestria?! Of course, that’s how you knew it was unicorn magic I was using! But…that’s not possible!”

“It is, although, we’ve been here for much longer than you. At least, that’s what I suspect anyway,” said Adagio.

“We’ve been here for yeeaaaaars, centuries really,” said Sonata.

Sunset had to take a minute to absorb that. She had been in this world for at least a couple of years now, and yes, the portal seemed to play around with her age, changing her from a mare in her twenties to a girl in her mid-teens. But these girls, if they were indeed centuries old, they’d be old. There was no such thing as immortality in this world, not like the demi-deities and spirits that lived in Equestria.

“I don’t understand, even if that’s true, you should be ancient, not even ancient, you should be dead in the ground! A human’s lifespan is not long, a hundred if they’re lucky, seventy to eighty at best!” Sunset argued.

“Well, that would be true if we were ‘normal’ humans, but we’re not,” said Aria.

“We’re something much more ancient. Tell me, Sunset Shimmer, what do you know of the Hippocampi?” Adagio asked.

Sunset thought back to her days of tutelage under Princess Celestia, reading up on not just magic, but also magical creatures. One such stuck out to her the most, because it related back to one of her favorite unicorn mages, Star Swirl the Bearded.

“They were a race of half-fish, half-equines that lived in the seas and large bodied waters of Equestria. Some accounts showed that they are still around, of course, most of that information is dated since nopony actually did any follow up research. Apparently three of the Hippocampi used their magic to create strife on the mainland and as a result were banished by Star Swirl to another di…men…sion…”

The three girls saw the light bulb click on in Sunset’s head. “Correct, we are in fact the three Hippocampi that were banished from Equestria centuries ago. The Sirens, they called us, due to our hypnotic melody. You see, we feed off of the energy of negative emotions, it makes us stronger and prolongs our life as well. Over the course of time, we’ve gravitated to places of great strife throughout history, and even caused a bit of commotion here and there that exploded into other things we’re not too proud of.”

Sonata rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Sorry…how was I supposed to know that was going to cause World War II?! Adolf was such a nice boy, too.”

“Yeah, until the whole, you know, Holocaust thing and world domination shtick,” said Aria.

Now it made sense to Sunset why these girls said they lived for so long, even though Star Swirl banished them, they still retained their magic powers.

“Unfortunately, our magic wasn’t strong here, and the magic in this world is piss poor compared to home,” said Aria.

“No argument here,” replied Sunset.

“Which is why we’ve only been able to merely survive this world, never gaining anything close to what we once had. We’d long since given up on finding a way home, and judging from the way you spoke of our dealings with Star Swirl, I suspect he’s also long since dead?” Adagio asked.

“Yeah, that was years ago, before my parents and their parents were born.”

“Figures.” Ha-ha! I’m still alive motherbucker, and you’re worm chow! “So I assume you’re from a more modern time in Equestria?”

Sunset rested her forearms on the table and sighed. “As modern as it was when I was there.”

“Tell us, Sunset Shimmer, for what crime were you banished? Or did you simply stumble upon this dimension by mistake?” Adagio asked.

Sonata and Aria listened closely, for this was information they wanted to hear.

“Self-banished, nopony did it, I did it to myself. I ran through a portal in Canterlot Castle and ended up here, and I’ve stayed here ever since.” Sunset explained.

“WHAT?!” Aria rose up and slammed her hands on the table. “You actually chose to stay here in the miserable armpit of a world?!”

Sunset sneered at the agitated Siren. “Look, I don’t have to explain my reasons for doing what I did to you, alright!”

Adagio shot Aria a glance, making the purple Siren back down. Once that was done, Adagio returned her attention to Sunset. “How did you manage to get here, Sunset? Did you use a spell of some sort?”

Sunset briefly considered keeping that information to herself. If legend was to be believed, these three were dangerous creatures, capable of throwing Equestria into war and conflict. But then again, the Elements of Harmony have reawakened, there was a fourth alicorn Princess too. Should these three prove to be that much of a threat, Sunset had no doubts that “Princess Twilight Sparkle” and her friends could use the Elements to fight against the Sirens. Bearing that in mind, Sunset let them know.

“That statue in the middle of the quad at CHS. It’s the gateway to Equestria. On the other side is a mirror that acts like the portal, apparently Star Swirl made it, for what reason I have no idea? Anyway, I ran through it and ended up tumbling out looking like this.” Sunset gestured to her body.

Sonata, Adagio, and even Aria nodded in empathy, knowing how difficult their human bodies were to get used to.

“It must’ve been humiliating when you arrived here. I can only imagine what people thought about seeing a naked girl in front of school,” said Adagio in a sympathetic tone.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean ‘naked’? I wasn’t naked.”

“You weren’t???” The Sirens asked in unison.

“Uh, no, I came out of the portal fully clothed. It was a different outfit from this, of course, but yeah.”

Aria gritted her teeth and face palmed herself. “Are you kidding me?! She gets thrown onto dry land and fully clothed, and we nearly became naked corpses floating in a lake! What kind of bullshit is that?!”

“Aria calm down,” warned Adagio.

Sunset gave the irate Siren a scowl. “Hey look, I don’t pretend know everything about magic. But maybe the spell Star Swirl used to send you three here was a last minute casting, it was probably unrefined and done at random. Magic like that needs an anchor on the other side of wherever it ends up. Star Swirl connected the mirror to the statue, allowing him to refine the spell so that anypony passing through it was made to look like this world’s inhabitants, which means clothed. Besides, I still had a hard time learning how to move this body!”

Aria released a dry chuckle. “Oh poor thing. You were a pony, which means you had four legs! We had forelegs, but from the waist down we had fish tails! Do you have any idea how humiliating and scary it was to almost die in the place you called home?! To crawl onto dry land bare and exposed to the world?! Only to find out that you’re as far away from home as anypony can get?!”

Sunset kept silent, she never had anything like that happen. Flash Sentry helped her out, and so too did this world’s Celestia. Compared to them, she had it easy.

“I’m sorry…”

Aria grunted and sat back down, her eyes stinging with tears. Sonata scooted closer to comfort Aria, while Adagio released a heavy sigh. “As you can see, we’re desperately home sick. We want to return home, and yes we’re fully aware that all those we knew back before our banishment are most likely long since dead. But, we long for the oceans, and our true forms. To feel the water, smell the ocean air, and swim freely. Surely, Sunset Shimmer, we have paid for our mistakes long enough? As the only other Equestrian here, you are probably the only one who’s qualified to pass such judgement.”

Sunset put her hands up as if to stop Adagio. “Whoa, look, I’m not going to judge you! I’m the last person who should be allowed to pass that kind of judgement. Anyway, the portal is closed.”

Adagio, Sonata, and Aria looked to Sunset as if she had just punched them in the face.

Sunset saw this reaction and quickly added, “B-B-But it’ll open up again! The portal opens once every thirty moons, and stays open for three days, and only until midnight of the third day.”

Sonata’s face brightened as she smiled widely. “That’s awesome! How much longer until then?!”

Sunset poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table and took a sip before answering. “Sorry we all missed our chance a few months ago, it’s closed until another thirty moons.”

“But you’re a unicorn, and you have magic! Can’t you just force it open?! Or punch a hole in space like Star Swirl did?!” Aria asked.

Sunset could understand why they wanted back, part of her kind of wanted to see her home world again. Whether or not she’d stay was another matter, but to be a pony again for just a couple of days and enjoy life like it once was, was something precious. Sunset’s hand flared up with aquamarine light, she then waved it in front of her and two hologram spheres appeared.

“Think of it this way. Say there’s a sort of drawbridge that connects this world, Universe A, and our world, Universe B.”

From the spheres emerged the image of two bridges, both fell down and joined together, connecting both worlds.

“When the drawbridges are down, like say, when the thirty moon period has come. The bridge between the worlds is open for the three days. But, when the three days are up,” Sunset waved her hand again, and the drawbridges went up, separating the two spheres from each other. “The connection is severed and neither denizens can cross. However, say we did ‘punch a hole in space’...”

Sunset’s A sphere let its bridge fall down, and a small figure appeared on it.

“Without an anchoring point, you could be shot anywhere in Equestria. Like Star Swirl did to you, he forced a gateway open and threw you into it, not knowing where you’d end up. You guys ended up here.”

The blip of a figure was then launched at the B sphere and disappeared once it made contact. Then another appeared.

“But, basically, this is what you were being thrown through.”

Sunset waved her hand again, making the distance between the A and B sphere grow. At that moment dozens of tiny holographic spheres appeared around the A and B spheres, each labeled with a different letter. The blip that was the figure was shown hurdling through a vastness, passing by several worlds.

“If I were to do something like that from here, with the low amount of magical energy this place has, whatever temporary connection I could establish could break, and send us spiraling to any of these infinite worlds. Hell, there may be another world worse than this one, or I might actually send us to Hell, who knows.” Sunset explained, shrugging at the last part.

Aria’s fervor seemed to die down, now seeing the scale of which their goal to return was. It also put into perspective just how much worse their situation could’ve been. Being trapped in this parallel human world with the barest amount magical energy in the world itself, was probably the lesser of the evils that could’ve awaited them on the other possible worlds.

“Besides…” Sunset waved her hand and the holograms disappeared. “My magic has only returned recently, there’s no way I’m strong enough to punch a hole like that in space-time.”

Aria huffed in frustration. “Great, so we got the runt of the magical unicorn litter.”

Sunset shot Aria a death glare. “Hey! I was taught by Princess Celestia herself! I was her protégé, and I outshined a lot of uppity rich fillies and colts who thought they were hot stuff! But I showed them, I had more magical power and talent than any of them combined! So don’t you dare say that about me, I’ve earned that much!”

Aria put her hand up. “Geez, put your fangs away.”

The former unicorn huffed in slight anger, but calmed enough to address Adagio. “Anyway, that’s the situation as it is. You’ll just have to wait another thirty moons, but given that you’re immortal, I don’t think that’ll be too bad of a wait for you.”

Adagio mulled over the information Sunset provided. In thirty moons from a few months ago, the portal would reopen and they could leave this miserable world behind. It was possible to return home, but then again, there was another concern. Time.

“Unfortunately, Sunset Shimmer, while we do possess the ability to live longer, the same cannot be said of certain things.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, not liking the foreboding tone in Adagio’s voice.

“Dagi means that even if we live for a long time and don’t age, that doesn’t mean things around us don’t. I mean, there’s no real guarantee that the statue will still be standing there come thirty moons. The school could commission a new one be built and that one destroyed. The school could lose all its money and the statue and the school could be tore down, and…well…with the way things are going with the Organization and the Firestorms, there’s a likelihood that things are going to be blown up during the battles in the future,” said Sonata with amazing insight.

Sunset’s stomach tied itself into a knot, she had not thought about that happening at all! The possibility that the statue could get demolished by a random accident or because of some unforeseen financial trouble with the school had never crossed her mind until now. That statue was her only way back home, even though there were things she’d have to answer for back home as far as Princess Celestia was concerned, she still didn’t like the thought that her only way back could be destroyed. Whether or not she’d go back was irrelevant, but having the ability to do so gave her some comfort.

Her mind flashed back to the times when she and Twilight did battle in the city, how close Atomic Skull could’ve gotten to having fired a stray blast that could’ve hit the school, or how Blaze could’ve done the same in their first battle. A sense of dread came over Sunset, how could she have overlooked something so crucial and important to her? Sunset slammed her head onto the table, groaning in frustration at her lack of foresight. Not only had she not planned on what she might do in this world as a future, but she also neglected to insure the safety of the only gateway back to Equestria.

I was so damn focused on my plan back then, getting the Element of Magic, gaining its power, and turning this world’s inhabitants into my slave army…granted they don’t look like much, but once in the other world, in pony form, they could use their natural gifts to be of more use! I had blinders on the entire time, not even planning for what would happen if something went wrong!

Sunset had never considered the possibility of failing, when she planned to hijack the Entrance Exam back in Equestria, she bet everything on that one gambit to impress the instructors. She knew then that failure meant punishment for herself and her mother and father, so failure wasn’t an option. It was the same for her in this world, she had planned for success, there was no other recourse but to succeed, however…her overconfidence proved to be her downfall. And now, all these worries and fears were coming to light, left with nowhere to run.

“Sunset, are you still with us?” Adagio asked.

With a quick shake of her head, Sunset snapped herself out of her revere. “Uh…yes, sorry. I zoned out there for a minute…”

Adagio leaned forward, placing her hand over Sunset’s and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Sunset, I want to make a proposition if you will allow?”

Sunset nodded.

“The four of us have lived here long enough – us three more than enough – to know how this world is a festering cesspool of self-destruction. We’ve seen the atrocities humanity has committed to their world and to each other. Killed one another over the stupidest, if not smallest, of things. Land, religion, money, allegiances, race, skin color, trivial things. Perhaps, it is time for a regimen change?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, having an inkling of where this was going.

“The Organization isn’t any better, pretty much the epitome of the worst of this world. So, why don’t we do something about it? Obviously you’re a woman of exceptional intellect, and with a magical talent that far surpasses the mass collective of this planet. Combined with our experience and abilities, we could make this world our own.”

Aria smiled at the thought. “We did plan on going home, or failing that, our other option was to just rule these idiots.”

“It’d be soooo easy, especially with our Firestorm powers and magic!” Sonata added.

“Think about it Sunset, better to rule on Earth than serve on Equestria, hmm?”

Adagio’s words were like honey, sweet and oh so tempting, and it really didn’t help that her hand was still atop Sunset’s. Her heart began to thump in her chest the more Sunset stared at this Siren. Adagio’s body gave off an aura of lustful temptation, wanting to draw you in and never let go. It was then that her eyes fell to Sonata and Aria, and now, they too were giving off the same aura. Looking past the gruff and punk exterior of Aria, and the airheaded and ditzy behavior of Sonata, Sunset could feel that they too had similar physical allure.

Sunset’s body became a little heated, something felt off, but at the same time enticing. Images flashed in her head, illusionary shadows of herself and the Sirens. She and the three girls, bare before each other, surrounding her with their lust and love, caressing her, and sharing in a pleasure that only they as fellow Equestrians could enjoy and appreciate. All this, while they stood atop a conquered world, under their rule with no equals. Sunset almost willingly gave into it, but, at the last second…

‘DON’T YOU DARE!!! SNAP OUT OF IT SUNSET!!!’

Hel appeared in her vision, her flame hair and wings flaring wildly and wrenching Sunset from the delusion. She bolted out of her chair so fast that it flew back and fell to the floor. Sunset stood about a couple of feet from the table, panting as sweat dripped down her face. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, pupils the size of pinpricks. Sunset looked to and fro, but only saw the apartment and Sirens still sitting at the table, looking at her with a bit of confusion.

Sunset held her head, feeling a headache starting for some reason. Adagio looked to her fellow Sirens and nodded to each of them.

“Sunset, obviously this is a lot to take in, why don’t you take some time to mull over our offer. You needn’t make such a life altering decision without first thinking it through,” said Adagio in a caring voice.

“Y-Yeah…thanks…”

“We’ll show ourselves out.”

Adagio bid her sister Sirens to rise and they followed. Aria reached into her pocket and threw something at Sunset. Even with the headache, Sunset was able to catch the object out of the air swiftly. She opened her hand and saw it was the spare key to the apartment.

“Next time we’ll knock,” said Aria before heading to the door.

“I hear there’s a dance of some sort coming up at your school, why don’t you take the time to enjoy that and think it over. We’ll come back after,” said Adagio.

As the door began to close a thought shot through Sunset’s pained skull. “Wait!” Adagio stopped and looked back. “The incident at the mall, Gilda and Lightning Dust having faulty Protocols. That was you wasn’t it? You’re magic feels the same, you did that to them, why?!”

Adagio grinned, wondering when she’d figure it out. “Simple, we needed to make sure you weren’t just some anomaly of this world, or if you were in fact from Equestria. We figured using them to bring out and show us your magical power would prove it. Your subsequent fusing with someone without a Protocol did surprise us.”

“W-Why…Why them?”

“We feed on malice and strife, dear, and we could see the depths of their hate for you. Which is why – if we had to – we could’ve stepped in to save you. But as I said, your fusing made that a moot point.”

“And you’re also responsible for people not remembering that I was one of the Firestorms, and that Dash and I fought them, right?”

Adagio giggled and nodded an affirmative, she then closed the door behind her, leaving Sunset alone in her apartment. All three Sirens descended the stairs, breathing in the cool night air.

“So, do you think she’ll actually go for it?” Aria asked.

“If not, then we’ll just have to take her half of the Matrix. Still, part of me does hope she does say yes, would be a shame to have to kill someone as…”

“Sexy?” Sonata asked.

“I was going to say cunning and strong, but that too.”

Aria rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her. “What, we’re not enough?”

Adagio stopped and turned to face Aria. The lead Siren thrusted her right arm out, and pulled Aria forward by the waist, making the punk Siren yelp in surprise. Adagio leaned in and kissed Aria upon her lips, making Aria’s eyes go wide for a moment before they slowly closed and she melted into the kiss, throwing her arms around Adagio’s neck.

Sonata watched the display, smiling at how Aria did not protest and gave into Adagio’s passion, and a little annoyed that she didn’t receive any smooches. After a minute, Adagio ended their makeout session, releasing Aria who seemed as if she were in a daze. The lead Siren then made a grab for Sonata, making the airheaded girl squeal in delight as she too was given a passionate kiss. She made sure it lasted as long as Aria’s, she loved her girls and wanted make sure they were both shown affection.

Adagio parted from Sonata and looked to both Sonata and Aria in kind. “Trust me, you both are enough, but I think poor Sunny could benefit from our closeness. You can’t say the prospect of a fourth hasn’t been on your mind,” said Adagio.

Sonata made it clear she didn’t mind, the bubbly little songstress was more than happy to add Sunset into their little group. Aria, on the other hand, while she admitted to herself that she had thought about it, she somehow saw that the two of them would be at each other’s throats just because how close they were in attitude and personality.

“Well, food for thought. We’d better report to Dusk before he starts to wonder.”

Sunset decided to turn in early, putting away the dishes in the sink for washing later. She turned off all the lights in the living room and went into her bedroom. She quickly disrobed and put on a tank top and some pajama shorts before slipping into her sheets and resting her aching head onto the soft pillow.

She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been out, but something roused her from her slumber. A feeling washed over the dark room, a feeling of not being alone. Sunset carefully scanned over the area, her eyes having adjusted to the darkness to make out objects in her room. Despite not seeing any silhouettes out of place, Sunset couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was staring at her from the darkness.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t blast them when you had the chance!’

Sunset’s vision caught sight of a distortion in the air. The piercing aquamarine eyes of Hel stared directly at Sunset, causing her to scramble back until she met the wall behind her bed. The demoness walked slowly towards the edge of the bed, her form becoming more detailed as she got closer.

“I didn’t know who they were, and it’s like I can explain how I splattered three girls with magic without looking insane!” Sunset shot back.

Hel scoffed. ‘I still don’t like those three, they’re nothing but seductive whores! I could feel it, they aren’t right.’

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

Hel’s body disappeared, and like swift wind, reappeared on the left side of Sunset’s bed, making the former Equestrian shrink from her presence. ‘And what was with that look you were giving them?! You looked like you wanted to be the meat in their threeway sandwich!’

Sunset’s cheeks burned as she stood on her bed to gain some height over her inner demon. “That was just…I was…! I mean…! It didn’t mean anything!”

Hel crossed her arms and gave Sunset a deadpan expression. ‘Right, you’re so horny you’d imagine yourself in the middle of a fourway with those three, who – if you recall – work for the same people who are trying to kill you and Sparky!’

Sunset growled in indignation, sitting herself back on bed as she stared at the sheets. “Why the hell do you even care?!”

‘How many times do I have to tell you both before it sinks in?!’Hel asked as she threw her clawed hands into the air. ‘I’m here to protect you and Sparky! Call me whatever you want, hate me, I don’t care, I won’t say I’m sorry for killing a killer. And I definitely won’t apologize for any others who threaten you two! I will do what you two cannot. Plus, I had to keep you from cheating on Sparky.’

Sunset glared up at Hel. “I would never cheat on her!”

‘Please, had I not snapped you out of it, you’d have ended up in bed with all three of them tonight!’Hel roared.

Sunset wanted to retort, but guilt struck her heart. For that instance, for those few moments, Sunset had felt like she wanted to do that with the Sirens. She ran a hand through her fiery hair, not believing that she even contemplated letting that happen.

“Oh Celestia…what’s wrong with me…?”

Sunset stiffened when she felt Hel’s clawed hand stroke her hair with care, it was beyond weird. Her inner demon was actually trying to comfort her.

‘I’ll be there to snap you out of it again, but don’t make me have to. This is the last thing you or Sparky need.’

With that, Hel disappeared into the darkness, and the presence Sunset felt was gone. She was alone again, with nothing but her thoughts about her actions, and the things she learned about herself and the Sirens.

Entry 26: No more doubts

Entry 26: No more doubts

Rarity’s parents had seen their daughter’s passion for fashion flare up into something more than a hobby, watching how she toiled away. Whether it was scribbling down a new design in her various sketchbooks so fast they thought the paper would catch fire, or her incredible eye for detail in the minutest of things.

Magnum, Rarity’s father, was a well-paid private eye detective, mostly handling cases with missing persons, domestic abuse allegations, embezzlement cases, and often times was asked to consult on high profile police cases. Violet, Rarity’s mother, was a top notch real estate agent. She knew how to work the market and sell houses to practically anyone. So between the two of them, money was never an issue, affording them to give their daughters the best of whatever they needed in their lives.

When they saw their daughter’s potential talent for the fashion industry, they decided to buy her a shop that was but a five minute drive to them, ten on foot. Needless to say, Rarity was ecstatic about it, and as a bonus she was given the responsibility of staying in the shop, in the upstairs living area. So she was practically living alone in her own home. Her shop saw its share of business on the weekends and on holidays and long breaks, given that she was still in high school.

But that didn’t seem to deter patrons from waiting for the young fashionista to open her doors and show them her works. Yes, Rarity was proud of her boutique, a medium step forward into her future as a fashion designer and mogul. But for now, friends, schoolwork, and evil organizations bent on world domination took up her concentration.

Today, Rarity had called her friends over, specifically, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Rarity was working on getting the living room ready to receive her guests when she heard the doorbell ring. Rarity made her way downstairs, stepping into the business area of her shop. She passed by several of her works, both new and old, taking but a millisecond to admire her work before going towards the shop doors.

Crossbar shutters were down, acting as a barrier between the window display and the interior of the boutique. Despite being in a safe neighborhood, Rarity’s father insisted on getting such things placed in her shop. A young teenage girl living on her own in such a place was practically rape bait for the lowlifes out there who’d love to take advantage of a girl in Rarity’s situation. Thankfully that was never the case.

Rarity arrived at the door, seeing her friends wave at her from behind the metal and glass door. She unlocked the shutters and pulled them back, unlocking the front door after. “Darlings, thank you all for coming! Please come in!”

The four friends waltzed inside, making their way upstairs. They had been to Rarity’s house more than once, so they knew where everything was. AJ stayed behind to watch Rarity as she closed the door, locked it, and then brought the shutter into its secured position before locking it next. Rarity turned and smiled, seeing her friend stand sentry at the upstairs entryway.

“Really, Applejack, you don’t always have to stand guard for me when I’m locking it up,” said Rarity.

“It just gives me peace of mind knowin’ that Ah saw ya lock up and that ya get up to us alright. With everythin’ that’s been happenin’ lately, can’t be too careful,” said Applejack.

Rarity sighed in dismay. Yes, things weren’t as safe as they used to be. With the recent attacks on the city, added to the popping up of these “Rogue Firestorms”, things weren’t as safe as they used to be at all. Rarity, the girls really, were now privy to a shadow world that only a handful of people knew about, and were still alive to talk about it. Now they had to be extra careful, not to the degree of paranoia else they tip off their possible watchers, but just enough to make sure not be caught completely off guard.

I’m now glad that Daddy forced me into all those martial arts lessons, still wish they would use a different color other than black for such a high rank, thought Rarity.

Rarity walked over to AJ, taking a step up on the staircase before turning her head to the apple farmer. “Well, thank you Applejack, for being my gallant knight.” She punctuated her complement with a coy wink before ascending the rest of the way.

Applejack’s face turned a shade a red, and her cheeks felt oddly warm. Ah don’t swing that way! Ah don’t swing that way!

‘It’s not like it’s a bad thing, straight girls sometimes mess around with other girls just to see what it’s like.’

“Dammit Rainbow!” Applejack cursed before heading up.

By the time Applejack reached the top of the stairs the girls were already seated. Rarity patted the space next to her on the couch, indicating Applejack to come and sit. Applejack groaned inwardly and, with a small amount of reluctance, sat next to the very girl who caused the earlier reaction. Before anyone could inquire about why AJ’s face was a little red, she quickly spoke.

“So what’s so important that ya needed us to keep this little meetin’ a secret from Twi and Sunset?”

Rarity took a sip of her tea before answering. “Yes. The reason I have called you all here is because this gathering is specifically about them.”

Rainbow Dash, who was sitting backwards in a chair with her arms resting on the back of the chair, shot Rarity an inquisitive look. “What about ‘em? You’re not scared of them or something because of this whole Firestorm thing, right?”

Rarity shook her head. “Heavens no, Rainbow Dash, this isn’t about a fear or lack thereof. It’s about their relationship.”

Applejack sighed heavily, and Rainbow smacked her head against the chair to add to the frustration. It was no secret to anyone that Rarity was a girl who loved gossip, and more often than not, liked to weigh in her opinion on other people’s relationships, specifically romantic ones.

“Rarity, no offense, but I don’t think we need butt in on this one,” said Rainbow Dash, a little annoyed.

“Rainbow Dash, I did not call this meeting just to simply gossip about their relationship. What I want to do is find some way of helping the poor dears.”

“What do mean? Sunny and Twi looked pretty okay when they told us about all that stuff!” Pinkie chimed in.

The fashionista nodded. “Yes, but look to the past few days since the reveal. Sure, Sunset and Twilight are occupying the same space again, but they barely speak to each other outside of conversations with us. And I don’t know if you all have noticed, but Sunset seems a little more on edge than she usually does, as if she feels guilty about something.”

“You…You don’t think that she may’ve cheated on Twilight, do you?” Fluttershy asked. All eyes turned to shy girl who immediately hid behind her long pink hair. “I’m sorry, please forget what I said!”

A period of silence fell over the five friends, some with awkward looks, some with disbelief, and one other who looked about ready to snap the chair she was sitting on in half. Pinkie decided to break the silence, silence creeped her out.

“C’mon everybody, you know Sunny’s not that much of a grumpy, meanie pants to do something like that to Twilight! She’s changed!” Pinkie defended.

A round of nods was seen, despite some past grievances, the five girls were all in agreement that the former bad girl bully was not the same person they know now. Even though she could slip into bouts of irate behavior, it was never like the full fits of rage she did way back when.

“So what do y’all suggest? Ah don’t know about Sunset, but Ah’m sure Twilight’s still panicky on the inside with this whole ‘magic’ thing,” said Applejack as she crossed her arms and reclined back.

“Sunset’s the only one who knows anything about magic, and she’s all moody and distant right now. I’ve even tried to just jam with her to as an excuse to see if she’s alright, but no dice. I know that girl’s hung up about something, I can feel it,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Still connected to Sunny?” Pinkie asked.

Rainbow blushed and looked off into space, trying in vain to hide the shade of crimson on her face. Pinkie Pie giggled and AJ rolled her eyes as a smirk crossed her lips.

“Anyway, those two need to work this out, and not just for the sake of their relationship, but for their sanity. Obviously these powers they possess are troubling them to a degree, if only they had someone to help them, guide them if you will.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Yeah, good luck with that. Unless Gandalf or Dumbledore or Merlin are living close by, I’d say the chances of finding a magic teacher are less than zero.”

“Hold on now, after all we’ve seen, Ah don’t think we should outright think that there’s nobody at all who can teach ‘em.” Applejack rebutted.

“Yeah, there might be an actual magician or sorcerer living in Canterlot City! Or a witch, but one of the good ones,” said Pinkie.

“Um…girls?”

Rarity put her teacup down and looked to Pinkie. “Well, assuming that there was one, how would we go about asking them to help them? It’s not very practical to put a want ad for a sorcerer in the papers or on the internet. Heaven knows we’ll get swamped with street performers and all kinds of things.”

“Girls?” Fluttershy asked again.

“Oh, oh, maybe we could hold a Magician Party!” Pinkie suggested as she jumped up from her chair. “We could host a big party for serious magicians only, and then, have Sunset judge it! If she can sense real magic coming from them then we’ll know who ask!”

“Girls??”

Rainbow, Rarity, and AJ hummed in contemplation.

“Not a bad idea Pinks, but, who’s to say, if she does sense something, that they’ll be master worthy? Kinda like asking a Padawan instead of an actual Jedi to teach you,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “For a gal who don’t like readin’ very much, ya seem to be referencin’ quite a few fantasy movies and books there. Egghead stuff if Ah remember the wordin’.”

Rainbow Dash blushed again tripping over her words as she stammered to respond. “I-I-I just know about them! It’s n-not like I actually went out and saw those movies or something!”

“I knew it! Dashie’s a secret closet nerd!” Pinkie proclaimed in joy.

“I AM NOT!”

“Are too~”

“AM NOT!”

“GIRLS!!!!!” Fluttershy roared loudly.

Pinkie and Rainbow went silent, Applejack and Rarity went wide eyed, and all at hearing the shyest and quietest of their group speak with such volume and command. When their eyes were on Fluttershy, the shy girl began to regret her outburst.

“I-I’m sorry, I just…”

“No, no, no, darling, don’t be! It was rude of us not to listen. Please, go on ahead,” said Rarity in a comforting voice.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie put on comforting smiles as they awaited Fluttershy to speak her peace. The pink haired girl took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then looked to each of her friends in kind.

“I think…I may know about someone who could help them, both with their magic and, maybe, their relationship,” said Fluttershy.

The four girls stared at Fluttershy with stunned expressions as they tried to fathom how Fluttershy of all people knew someone like that.

“Shy, you…you actually know a master sorcerer?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well…she’s not a ‘sorcerer’, or a witch. She’s just…very in tune with the energy flowing through the Earth, that’s the best way I can explain it. If it’s anything close to how Twilight and Sunset’s magic work, then this could help them. She’s also very intuitive when it comes to other people’s feelings.”

“If ya don’t mind my askin’, who is this gal? Do we know her?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, you all haven’t met her. I actually met her one day at the animal shelter, it was back when we were not really speaking to each other. She was in town because of a convention for animal welfare and we talked for a bit, she even took me the convention and I learned so much. She even invited me to go with her to join People for the Preservation of Wild and Exotic Creatures!” Fluttershy stopped when she realized she was gushing about her friend. “Sorry…”

“It’s fine Fluttershy! It’s great that you met another good friend, even though we all weren’t acting like good friends back then,” said Pinkie feeling a little remorseful.

They all did felt it, the guilt never left them. How they more or less severed all ties with each other after what happened to them. Phone calls going unanswered, parties and good memories missed, and the shunning of each other in school. Of all, Pinkie, Rainbow, AJ, and Rarity felt even guiltier. Fluttershy was always the kind and caring girl she was back when they were younger, and unfortunately, she had the tendency to be a doormat more often than not.

When they split up, it left Fluttershy vulnerable to those who would take advantage of her. People like Sunset, even though they knew of the berating verbal abuse, none of them did or said anything. Nothing they said or did could make up for what Fluttershy had to endure without her friends there to keep her safe and to give her the courage and strength she needed.

Fluttershy looked to each of her friends, seeing a solemn look befall their features. “Girls, it’s alright. You don’t have to blame yourselves, or beat yourselves up because of us splitting up.”

“Yes…but, darling, you were put through so much by Sunset and others back then…”

“And all we did was sit on the sidelines and just let it happen, pretendin’ we saw nothin’...”

“We were crappy friends…no, worse, we were shitty friends! Letting something like what Sunset pulled split us apart and assuming the worst of each other without talking it out! That’s not what friends do to each other, at the very least we should’ve talked it out!”

“We…we don’t deserve your kindness Fluttershy…not after that…”

Fluttershy sighed, but then smiled to them. “Maybe you’re right, but it’s my decision whether or not I forgive you all. And I do. Holding onto all that anger and loathing is so draining, and really, I’m just as much to blame. When we split up, I was so afraid, I never even stopped to ask why everything happened the way it did! I was angry too, and by the time I realized it, I was alone…”

The shy girl heard footsteps from her right, seeing a cyan hand rest on her shoulder. Fluttershy placed her left hand over Rainbow’s and felt her confidence strengthen.

“But I knew that someday I wouldn’t have all of you around me anymore, which only made me more aware of how alone I was going to be. But I didn’t let it swallow me, I had hope that we’d move past this one day, and till then, I stayed strong the best I could. And now look at us, back together, friends like before. Only now, I know I can be on my own if I had to be. So, while I didn’t like going through all that, it made me a little stronger. Which is why I promised myself that we’d move forward from all of that, it’s in the past, what matters is what we do now.”

Applejack looked upon the shy girl with newfound respect, she didn’t know that Fluttershy had felt about everything, everybody was just so happy to be friends again that they never took the time to really find out how much their separation impacted each of them individually. Applejack knew Rarity hadn’t suffered much, and Rainbow was still the sports star of the school. Pinkie was always going to be the number one party planner and master of all school ceremonies. AJ herself would always have her farm, and plus, she was a tough girl, it usually took more than what happened to bring her down.

But Fluttershy, wow. She grew so much, and now they saw it. And here Applejack thought she was the levelheaded one of them all. Pinkie had big watery eyes, she then rushed over to Fluttershy and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug as she sobbed loudly. Fluttershy, after getting her breath back, simply patted her friend on the head.

Rarity quietly dabbed her eyes before speaking. “So, Fluttershy, if your friend can indeed help them, would she be willing to?”

“Of course, she’s very caring about others, I’ll just need to send her a message and that should take care of it.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Not all of it. Still need to convince those two that they need to go see her.”

Applejack stood up and looked all in attendance. “Whelp, who wants to call Sunset?”

MEANWHILE…

“You have got to be kidding me?” Sunset asked with incredulity.

{No I’m not! Fluttershy says she knows someone who can help you guys with…whatever it is that’s going on with you two!} Rainbow replied.

Sunset was currently on her bike, her helmet mounted Bluetooth had received a call from Rainbow Dash, so Sunset answered it. She had assumed it was going to be about something to do with getting together to rock out with their guitars, which was an appealing alternative to what she was about to do. Sadly, that was not the case. Rainbow had called because the others got together and decided to butt in on her and Twilight’s relationship. It was sweet and yet annoying how much effort they put into trying to help them like that.

Now Rainbow was going on about how Fluttershy supposedly knew of someone who could help not only herself, but Twilight as well, with their magic. The fact that anyone in this world knew magic or could even wield it was farfetched. The exceptions being herself, Twilight, their friends to a degree, and the Sirens. Well, less their friends, since they could not manifest it like the two of them could.

“Still, Sparky’s been more reluctant about the whole magic thing. I’ve been offering to teach her so she could better control it, but every time I bring up the subject she shuts me down or diverts the conversation to something else!”

{Could you at least give it a shot?! I mean, what do you really have to lose from just seeing if this person’s legit?! The worst thing happening is that you just wasted some time out of the day, big whoop. C’mon, you owe it to Twi to try!}

Sunset pulled back on the throttle as she approached a stop sign. “It’s not that simple, she won’t go for it. She’s barely comprehending this whole other dimension and magic thing, I’m afraid of what she’ll do when she realizes her view of the world isn’t as she originally thought…Besides…I don’t think I can convince her…”

Sunset heard heavy sighing on the other line and a few seconds of silence before she heard Rainbow’s voice again. {Look, I’ll talk to her. I gotta go do something first, but after I’m going to go see her and talk to her. Sunset, promise me something.}

“What?”

{Don’t drag this out with Twi. Either fight for her or just end it already, help her understand! You’re still all secretive and crap, maybe that’s why she’s still not completely onboard with you teaching her!}

Sunset didn’t know if Rainbow was trying to piss her off or trying to help, probably both. “Look, it’s complicated, alright! I know how much you want to dry hump Twilight, but I’m not giving up! I just…I just need to think about something…talk it out!”

{I’m going to ignore that ‘dry hump’ part for now, and I thought we were talking?!}

“Sorry, Dash,” Sunset revved her bike and continued on down the road, “There’s only one person I can get some advice from. And it’s about time I came clear with a couple of things while I’m at it. Call me if you manage to convince Sparky.”

{I will, and Sunset, remember…}

“I know…just be there for her if this doesn’t work…”

Sunset hit a button on the side of her helmet, ending the call. She revved her bike, making the speed machine roar loudly into the air as she peeled down the road to her destination. Things were getting confusing, Sunset was doubting herself and she had no one to act as her guide. All this time she had been going it alone, using her best judgement in the situations she’s faced. However, her meeting with the Sirens, and their offer of partnership to rule the world had not left her mind.

A part of her, the old part that had been suppressed and practically locked away in a dungeon, still yearned for domination. That part, the power hungry, proud, arrogant, and conniving part of herself wanted a second chance at ruling this world. A high school was one thing, but the entire world? She’d have a whole planet’s worth of soldiers to take back to Equestria and conquer it for her own, showing Celestia once and for all why she shouldn’t have –!

Stop it! Sunset thought. Stop it…I don’t want to be that way…not like those Organization bastards…or like Atomic Skull!

Sunset slowed down, seeing her destination grow close. Her bike came to a stop before a quaint, yet large two story house. In the driveway was the golden Suburban that Celestia drove, and next to it was a black Charger. Sunset groaned, she knew Celestia and Luna were living together, but she had hoped that Vice Principal Luna was out doing something today.

Even now, after all this time, Sunset couldn’t escape the fact that she looked to Princess Celestia for guidance and advice. Princess Celestia may not be able to give me her sagely advice, but Human Celestia might have something to say…ugh, I’m really grasping at straws at this point.

Sunset parked her bike in the driveway next to Celestia’s car. She then made her way to the door, reaching into her pants pocket to pull out her key. She fumbled a little, keeping a firm hold of her helmet in the crook of her left arm while she unlocked the door. The shades were drawn, so Sunset assumed the two sisters might be out with some friends, which meant she’d have wait a bit for them to return.

“Guess I’ll just send Celestia a text that I’m here.”

The door unlocked and Sunset entered, closing it behind her and locking it back up. Once she was inside Sunset put the key away and placed her helmet on the desk near the front door. She quickly took out her phone, looking down the whole time as she made her way to the living room, typing away at the touch screen keyboard. By the time she was done with the text, Sunset was under the arch entrance to the living room, but paused when she looked up.

The former unicorn’s eyes went as wide as saucer plates, eyes the size of pinpricks, and jaw almost literally falling to the floor. Across from her, atop the large couch, were Celestia and Luna. However this wasn’t the surprise, no, the real surprise is how she found them.

The elder sister, dressed in white silk robe, was lying on the couch. The robe was quite loose near the chest area, allowing for a somewhat clear view of her “assists”. The robe’s belt was nearly undone, threatening to come loose at any second to reveal everything. On top of Celestia, was the younger sister, she was contrarily clad in nothing but a black pair of panties, and a baggy t-shirt that read “Gamer 4 Life” on it. It was clear to Sunset that Luna was not wearing a bra under that shirt, and clear that Celestia had no underwear on underneath that robe either.

Celestia’s right hand was rested on Luna’s back, while her left was precariously placed upon Luna’s midnight blue rump. Luna was using her left hand to balance herself, while her right had grabbed ahold of Celestia’s toned left thigh, hoisting it up just a bit, but now it was lowering.

Both sisters were so red in the face they could’ve been used as traffic lights. Oops, now we have three. Sunset’s face was burning red, her mind working feverishly to understand the scene before her. Luna and Celestia seemed to be having trouble comprehending everything right now as well, both parties didn’t know whether to scream, yell, or anything!

Finally, after a long, awkward, and painful silence, Sunset had found her voice. “I…I…uh…I’m a…going into the kitchen…yeah…”

Sunset walked as if she was in a trance, as if her mind was still locked up and her body was trying to get her some space to figure it out. The former bad girl made her way into the kitchen, she started opening the cabinets one by one, looking for something specific. During her rummaging, she could hear the voices of Celestia and Luna coming from living room. If they were trying to speak quietly then they were doing a horrible job of it.

“What the hell is she doing here?! How did she even get into this house, Tia?!”

“I…I may’ve given her a spare key a while back…”

“YOU WHAT?! WHY?!”

“I gave it to her because if she ever needed to come see me or needed help then she’d have a way inside! If we weren’t home she could call me and tell me she was here, and at least then I’d know she was safe!”

“Are you kidding me?! This whole time she – Tia she could’ve walked in – oh god…!”

“C-Calm down Lulu, just please be calm.”

“‘BE CALM’?! ‘BE CALM’ SHE SAYS?! TIA, SHE SAW US! Sunset Shimmer saw US! Do you know what she could do to us?! The Board of Education, the police, not to mention everyone we know! She’s going to use this against us! ”

Gee Luna, not like I can hear you or anything like that, thought Sunset.

“Luna, please, she’s still in the house! If that’s all she wanted she’d just as soon as have left!”

“Oh god! She’s in the kitchen! Did she take a picture?! I can’t remember! We can’t let her leave! Tia I…I can’t…I don’t want to lose you! We have to…to…!”

Sunset started to hear sobbing coming from the other room, she stopped her search, feeling her heart ache at hearing the grown woman cry with such sorrow. She truly believed that Sunset was going to utterly destroy them with this information, and truthfully, she could.

For years Sunset had been trying to figure out a way to get some leverage over Celestia and Luna, it would’ve made her conquest of the school oh so much easier if she didn’t have to tiptoe around them. And now, fate has handed her the best piece of leverage she could’ve ever asked for, and neither of them had the power to stop her.

“Lulu, it’ll be alright, believe me it well. Shhh…”

The former unicorn was hit once again in her feels, hearing that voice reminded Sunset of how her Celestia would speak to her when she was sad or scared. Sunset smacked her head against the kitchen counter, of all the times for this to happen to her.

“Sunset…?”

The fiery haired girl raised her head and turned around. Celestia was standing in the entryway to the kitchen, her white silk robe fully closed and the belt knotted tightly. Sunset groaned and continued her search. Celestia looked at the young girl, confused as to what she was doing.

“Sunset…what are you looking for?” Celestia asked with a little worry.

“I’m looking for some alcohol! Beer, wine, anything! I…I need it, bad!”

Celestia strode from the entryway and went to a cabinet that Sunset had not ransacked. She quickly took out a bottle of red wine and popped the cork off in one swift motion. The older woman then took a large sip from the bottle, sighing heavily as she put the bottle down on the counter.

“I don’t care what you saw, you’re not using it as an excuse to drink in my house, Sunset!”

“I need something after seeing that?!” Sunset began running her hands through her hair. “I mean, I thought you were joking before! But you were telling the truth! You and Luna, you’re lovers?! Your own little sister?!”

Celestia took another swig of the wine. “I don’t expect you to understand, Sunset. But I love Luna – no, I’m in love with her. And she with me. There is no abuse, or one manipulating the other, we feel strongly for each other. I don’t care if you think it’s wrong.”

Sunset growled as she continued to run her hands through her hair, finally, she dragged said hands down her face and leaned up against the counter. “So…you and Vice Principal Luna…how long?”

“......We’re coming on five years now…” Celestia confessed.

“I see…” Sunset sighed. “Look, you can tell Luna that she doesn’t have to worry, neither of you do.”

“I wish I could feel reassured…I want to trust you Sunset, but this…I hoped, I prayed that you’d never learn of this! About me…or Luna…” Tears began to form in Celestia’s eyes as she looked away from the girl she regarded as a daughter. “You must think I’m disgusting…”

Sunset decided to do something that she’d never thought she’d get the chance to do since coming here. She stood to her full height and walked over to Celestia, the older woman flinched with each small thud of her boots against the tile floor. When she was but a foot away, Celestia dared to look upon Sunset, expecting to receive a slap, a verbal beat down, but she wasn’t prepared for what Sunset did next.

Celestia suddenly felt herself become embraced by Sunset, causing her to gasp in surprise. The teenage girl squeezed her tighter as she continued to hug Celestia, resting her head against her chest. Celestia didn’t know how to react, but two words from Sunset made her heart nearly break.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”

“What…Why…What do you have to be sorry for, Sunset?”

“Everything…Everything I’ve done since I got to CHS, everything I’ve done to the people I’ve hurt…belittled…and for constantly showing you nothing but anger and hate when all you’ve done since meeting me help! Making it so you can barely even trust me!”

Celestia felt Sunset tremble, this was not just some ploy or trick. Gingerly, Celestia brought her arms close to Sunset, hesitating for a moment, wondering if doing so would make Sunset remover herself. The older woman shook that thought from her head and brought her arms around Sunset, returning the hug. She then began rubbing Sunset’s head, stroking her long hair while making soft shushing sounds. Celestia glanced from the corner of her eye, seeing Luna peek from behind the doorway. She was apparently still clad in what clothing she was wearing earlier, but her eyes were a little red and puffy from her short crying bout.

The fear and panic was gone from Luna’s eyes, instead, she saw concern, not really for them, but for Sunset. Seeing the normally tough as nails girl tremble and whimper as she was, made her forget that she saw them together.

It took a few hours for Celestia and Luna to properly explain themselves to Sunset, they believed they owed her that much of an explanation. Sunset sat across from the two Principals of her school, Luna had been sitting the same position she did when behind her desk back at the school, authoritative, with a soul piercing look in her eyes, like some grand inquisitor about to pass judgement.

But her current attire made whatever intimidating visage she had dull, apparently Luna ordained it necessary to remain in her baggy t-shirt and black panties. Sunset really had no problem with it, this was their house after all, and Sunset herself had more than once walked around her apartment in less clothing. Celestia didn’t seem to be of the same mind though, but she knew arguing that point was moot in light of their current situation.

“Well, that’s about the long and short of it, Sunset,” said Celestia.

“We make no apologies, nor do we ask for your forgiveness. We care for each other, and that is a fact.” Luna stated.

It wasn’t so much that Sunset disapproved of it, she really had no right to. They were two grown adults, what they did and who they had relationships with were none of her business. The shock of it all just hit her hard, making her think back to Princess Celestia, wondering if those old rumors were really just rumors. To think that her teacher, her idol, may’ve been having elicit incestual relations with her own sister…Well, after centuries of living together, being the only two immortal beings, Sunset supposed curiosity and a need for something different was probably needed. Plus, maybe it was safer? Neither one would have never needed to worry that their lover would expire before them, they were both immortal.

This however, was something different. These two weren’t immortal, they had normal human lifespans, so, despite having heard their explanation, and how a relationship could flourish between them in such a short amount of time baffled. Sunset rubbed her temples as she laid back on the couch, groaning in slight discomfort.

“I need an aspirin…”

“Join the club,” replied Luna.

“We know it’s a lot to take in, Sunset. But…”

“Look, I’m not angry or disgusted with you. It’s just a little much to take in…I was coming here for something else and…this just added to my mental stress…sorry if I looked more freaked out than I thought.”

Luna sighed heavily, it seemed that Sunset had no intention of dwelling on her and her sister’s incest relationship, to her relief, but now that raised another question. “Tia, we are going to have a long talk about you not telling me pertinent things such as Sunset Shimmer possessing a house key to our home! But for now…what was it that brought you to our home in the first place?”

Celestia was glad she had gotten a stay of execution for the time being, but she did want to know as well.

“Where do I start…? Well…not sure how this will go over but…”

“You and Twilight are having problems with your relationship, aren’t you?” Celestia asked.

Luna spluttered her can of beer all over the coffee table, while Sunset had swiftly erected a magical barrier to block the splash damage, leaving her untouched, bringing it down within seconds as to not be noticed by Celestia or Luna.

“W-What?! The two of them?! She’s – and you – and – what?!”

“How the hell do you even know I was with her in the first place?!” Sunset asked, her face red as a tomato.

“Sunset, despite what you may think, your feelings for Twilight are…less conspicuous than you might like.”

The teenage girl’s mouth hung open at hearing that.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it Sunset Shimmer, my sister has an uncanny eye for spotting such things. You can be sure that others don’t see it as clearly as she does.”

Sunset breathed a sigh of relief, one reveal at a time. She took a minute to collect her thoughts, thinking of a way to best transcribe her current dilemma. Oh, some girls who turned out to be Hippocampi from the world I hail from asked me to join their evil trio and conquer the world with them! And some small part of me wants to! And to top that all off, Sparky and I seem be caught in some kind of limbo in our relationship! All while still upholding our duties to defend the world against the Organization who plans to flood the world with Firestorm Protocols and start an arms race for super powered soldiers that could possibly tear the whole stinkin’ world in two! Yeah…

“A couple of problems actually, one of those is the one you just said. And…well…”

Celestia leaned forward. “Sunset, you can talk to us, we won’t judge you. In fact, after this we really don’t have the right to. So you can be open with us.”

Sunset glanced to Luna, who nodded in agreement with Celestia. “I’ve…I’ve met some girls…they’re like me, in a way. We’re both kind of outcasts, in a place where we don’t belong…they kind of broke into my apartment to talk to me, because they somehow could tell I was the same as them.”

Luna had to clasp Celestia on the shoulder, reigning in her elder sister before she started to barrage Sunset with a million questions as to who the girls were, how did they break into the apartment, and why Sunset had not called the police on them? But she let Luna keep her from going on the tangent and instead listened to the rest.

“They want me to join them…and…well…”

“Well, what?” Celestia asked.

Sunset put her face into the hands as she recalled that night. “I…felt something, a kind of physical attraction…for all three of them! Like I wanted them to surround me and do things with me…and then, they were talking about doing something, something big that would make us like Queens of Canterlot City or something! And the worst part is…part me actually wanted go with them!”

Celestia and Luna had to calm themselves, they couldn’t just look at this from the perspective of an educator. In this moment, really, for a while now, they were more or less Sunset’s appointed guardians. As such, they were the closest thing to parents that she had as far as they knew. Although, it was clear that she came to them for help in sorting this information.

“And…did you want to…join these girls?” Luna asked.

“I don’t…no…but I felt like I wanted to, and that’s the problem! I don’t want to be that same bitch who did all those terrible things to the students at school! I don’t want to be the same monster who schemed and planned the downfalls of those who crossed her! I…I’ve seen what that kind of ambition can bring about…and now I never want to be that or even start on that path…!”

Sunset hugged herself, remembering the revelations Twilight told her about the genius girl’s origins and about the Organization, who cared not about the many lives they would end or bring to ruin to further their goals, much like she once did.

“I hate myself for feeling that way…! I was going to betray Sparky, for power!” At this point there was no need to hide the whole pet name thing.

Celestia got up from her seat and sat herself next to Sunset. She brought the teenage girl close to her, throwing an arm over her in a half hug. “You’re not that kind of person, Sunset, I never believed you ever were.”

Sunset glared up at Celestia. “How can you say that?! Knowing I’ve made other people’s lives a living hell! I don’t doubt there’s a large number of kids back at CHS who probably want me gone from the school!”

“I can attest to that. I’ve received many request for your expulsion from the students, and the grounds for some of their requests are not without precedent,” said Luna.

“Be that as it may, I knew different. Sunset, I can tell you were meant to do great things with your life, you just seemed…misguided…consumed in your pride and rage. I knew that if you could get past that, then the true you could finally be set free and you’d begin to change. And from what I’ve seen of you recently, you’ve been doing so well. I don’t know if it’s just because of Twilight, or because of your new friends, but I’m proud of you, Sunset.”

Sunset’s heart swelled up, for so long she had wanted to hear those words again from Celestia, but as she grew more arrogant and prideful, those praises were becoming rare more often than not. It eventually got to the point where Princess Celestia, while acknowledging her strides in magic, stopped giving her such praise, seeing the true reason behind her excelling. Now though, it was not from the Princess she had grown up with all her life, but from her human counterpart that those words were said again. Unfortunately, Sunset’s guilt would not let those words completely uplift her.

“If you knew what I’ve done before meeting me, how I acted, you wouldn’t say that to me…”

Suddenly, Sunset felt a shift in weight next to her. With a glance to her left, she saw that Luna was now occupying the vacant spot next to her.

“That may be true, but your past does not define you.” Luna placed her hand atop Sunset’s head, stroking her hair gently. “Reflect on your past, but don’t let it be all that you are. If you keep focusing on your regrets, they’ll consume you here in the present, and blacken your future. Learn from your mistakes, and use them to become someone better than you used to be.”

“‘Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is a gift, Sunset. That’s why it’s called the present,” said Celestia.

Sunset became silent as she mulled over the words of the two women beside her. Could it be that she was really hanging onto too much of that emotional baggage? Was it really possible to become the filly she used to be? Bright eyed, full of hope, and wanting to help others like herself? Somehow she lost sight of the true reason she wanted to learn magic and help her family, she lost it, and needed to find it again.

“Thank you, both of you,” said Sunset as she gently rose up from between the two women.

“Sunset?” Celestia asked.

“I think I know what to do now, or at least, to take a step in the right direction. And to do that, I need to ask you both a favor.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “What is the nature of the favor?”

“I need you two to excuse Twilight and myself from school for the next week, possibly,” said Sunset as she rubbed the back of her head.

“What?!” Celestia and Luna asked in unison.

“It’s hard to explain and after today, not worth the headache and grief it’ll bring both of us. Just trust me that I need to work things out with Twilight. And part of that is going to see someone that could help us both, so…please? This will honestly be only big thing I’ll ever ask you both!”

Celestia glanced to Luna, and Luna to Celestia. It was within their power, technically speaking they were her guardians so Sunset was safe, but Twilight’s parents would need to go along with such a request. Given that they’ve lost one child already, they no doubt wanted to keep their only living child safe from potential danger. However…

“Very well, if Twilight’s parents agree to this,” said Celestia.

“Tia?!” Luna exclaimed.

“Lulu, really, what choice do we have?” Celestia reclined back as she grinned. “She knows about us, remember? I do believe Sunset has leverage to ask such a thing, don’t you agree?” The tall woman added a wink at the end of her sentence.

Luna’s features relaxed as she sighed, and then mirrored her elder sister’s grin. “Indeed, she does have such leverage, how shameful of you, Sunset, to blackmail us in such a way.”

Sunset looked to Luna, who stuck her tongue out at her and gave her a wink. She smiled, feeling grateful for the two sisters’ understanding. “Thank you!”

“Don’t thank us yet, you’ll both be required to make up all your missed homework and lessons when you get back,” said Celestia in sinister tone.

“Every lesson,” added Luna.

Sunset groaned, she figured there was a price to this. “No big deal, between Sparky and me, we’ll get it all done within a day or two.”

Both Celestia and Luna walked Sunset to the door, before Sunset grabbed her helmet she turned on her heel and hugged Celestia again. This time the older woman wasn’t caught off guard, responding by returning the hug. Sunset released Celestia, and then glanced at Luna. There was a moment of hesitation, but with a sigh and a grin, Luna opened her arms. Sunset gave Luna a hug as well, and Celestia found the scene quite heartwarming.

With that settled, Sunset took her helmet into the crook of her left arm and spared the sisters one last glance before leaving the through the front door. The short walk to her bike felt longer as her mind went over everything she learned today. The secret relationship between them, and the decision that Sunset had come to in regards to her own situation with Twilight.

“My past does not define me…”

Sunset mounted her bike and pressed the button on the side of helmet.

“Call: Rainbow Dash.”

SPARKLE RESIDENCE…

Twilight found herself lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She raised her right hand, pointing it up until it was in her line of sight. With a calm breath, Twilight focused, feeling the strange energy surge through her body and down her arm. Her fingers crackled with sparks of rosy-violet light, until her whole hand was wrapped in a shimmering ethereal aura. It was scary how easy it was getting to summon her magic, as if it was always a part of her.

“This power…it’s mine…Not something born of the Firestorm Matrix, just…me.”

The connection was severed as she released the energy, watching the glow fade away into nothingness. Sunset had offered to teach her all she knew about magic from her home world, Twilight couldn’t help but remember the sheer look of joy on Sunset’s face at the prospect of teaching magic, imparting all her wisdom and knowledge onto Twilight. But…

“I can’t…I don’t deserve this power…”

When Twilight made her decision to use the Matrix to fight against the Organization, it was a choice made to ensure that the world would not suffer at their hands. Yes, there was a possibility that the Firestorm Matrixes could not be removed from their bodies once merged, but it was something that Twilight had mentally prepared herself for. The Firestorm powers worked on a scientific level, using atomic energy to transmute matter and energy into something else. All was within a certain realm of possibility, a form of super science! But magic, magic was unknown.

Magic was older, more powerful, and sometimes, if the fairytales were to be believed, unpredictable. With science, through a series of algorithms, formulas, and equations, an outcome was predictable, magic had no such thing. Although, when Sunset scribbled on her light-screen magic board, she had somehow combined the two together into some kind of magic equation, formula thing.

Besides that, she felt unworthy of such a gift. The Matrix was a creation of the Organization, well to be more specific, it was a creation of Professor Neigh. Twilight herself was the creation of the Organization, but primarily, both were meant to be used in some way to bring misery, death, and destruction unto multitudes of innocent people. So it was only fitting that she use the Firestorm power to bring down the very people who spawned them for such purposes.

Magic, it was awakened in her, it was part of the world. Twilight was not a part of this world, not in the way that Sunset was, but as a human being. She was not born, she was made. Any biological parents she might have could be anyone in the world. Her DNA was random, made of others that were stripped down and recombined until something new was made. She was like a modern day Frankenstein, only difference was, she was made from different people’s DNA and not body parts.

Outwardly, she looked like any normal teenage girl, inside, she was not. Her mind was as powerful as any supercomputer on the planet, a steel trap that could hold in any and all memory and actions, and her reflexes were heightened to keep up with her enhanced mental synapses. Although she wouldn’t be on the same level of strength and speed as Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow Dash, she wasn’t slow either. She didn’t belong, this normal life that Professor Neigh wanted for her so badly could never truly be obtained.

What would happen to her if she were to procreate? Would the child she bared become some hideous mutation? Hell, was she even capable of bearing children at all? Twilight growled loudly as she ran her hands through her long hair, never had she have to think about things like that. And besides, her inclination towards the female gender would more than likely assure that worrying about pregnancy and having children would be a moot point. Twilight’s cheeks felt warm, a rather lewd thought passed in her mind’s eye concerning herself and Sunset.

Twilight shot up into a seated position, trying to dispel the thoughts. “Get a grip on yourself, Twilight! You shouldn’t be thinking of those kinds of things with everything else that’s going on!” With low groan Twilight began to draw circles on her bedsheets. “What kind of girl am I to think about doing…that, with Sunset at time like this?!”

“The kind of girl who’s probably a little horny and needs some attention to relieve stress.”

“EEP!” Twilight squeaked as she turned towards the doorway with a start. “Rainbow Dash?!”

Indeed, the prismatic girl was standing in Twilight’s doorway, leaning up against it as she smirked like a Cheshire cat at the poor girl. “Relax Twi.”

“H-How much of that did you just overhear?”

“The part about you fantasizing about nailing Sunset? Nope, didn’t hear it,” said Rainbow, obviously lying.

“Lies!” Twilight accused as she pointed an accusing finger and threw a pillow in her friend’s direction. “You did hear me!”

Rainbow easily caught the pillow and threw it back at Twilight, nailing her in the face as she huffed at her friend.

“Alright, alright, I did. So what? Not like it’s crime y’know. Girlfriends usually think about that kind of stuff about each other, I mean, as much as I hate to admit. Sunset’s hot, I mean, a one-night-stand wouldn’t be too bad, I could deal with that if I was offered,” said Rainbow.

Twilight’s cheeks turned a cute shade of red as she gazed at her bed sheets. “As crass as ever. And I would prefer it if you didn’t talk about Sunset like that. You do know we’re involved, I think we made that clear.”

Rainbow Dash entered Twilight’s room and stood before her. “Really? When? Because lately it looks like you two are trying to avoid each other for different reasons.”

“I told you why, we can’t risk Hel appearing again,” said Twilight, still looking down.

“You know that’s bullshit, you said it yourself. The fusion thing won’t happen unless you’re both in Firestorm form, and without that ‘emotional trigger’ thing, you’re pretty much safe. So stop using that as an excuse, you’re better than that Twi.”

Twilight gripped the sheets in front of her. “I’m not…I’m really not. I’m afraid of everything we are…especially this magic thing.”

Rainbow released a tired sigh, she then sat herself on the edge of Twilight’s bed and glanced in her direction. “You got the text right? About how Fluttershy’s friend might be able to help with everything?”

Twilight nodded.

“And?”

“I don’t know…”

“Ugh, Twilight, you can at least try this out. What else can you do?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s not just the magic, Rainbow! It’s part of the problem but not the whole thing!” Twilight took a deep breath. “I’ve thought about it…I don’t think I should be with her, or anyone…”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and turned to face Twilight fully, giving her an incredulous look. “You’re joking right? That’s got to be a joke.”

“I’m not joking around Rainbow! I’ve thought about it this whole time, I’m not a normal human, I’m barely a human! I’m just…a creation…something made, not given birth to! I don’t need to drag Sunset into something long term with me, she’s more normal than I am, and she’s from another world!” Twilight argued.

“And that’s why you don’t want to try and salvage what’s left your relationship?! Twilight, for being the smartest girl I’ve ever known, that is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Rainbow shouted.

Twilight looked up to meet Rainbow’s gaze, narrowing her eyes in anger. “It’s true Rainbow Dash! I’m not a human being! I’m just the byproduct of several strands of DNA mashed together! I could’ve been born a boy or something barely even resembling a human! Besides…who was I kidding…Sunset’s everything I’m not…she’s strong, proud, she’s practically a warrior or something…all I am is…nothing…and you can’t love nothing .”

“Dammit Twilight…you aren’t nothing! You’re a somebody, you are Twilight Sparkle! You’re my friend, and the girl I’m in love with!!!”

Twilight’s eyes widened at hearing that last part. “What…What did you say?”

Rainbow Dash’s gaze went downcast, her bangs and long rainbow hair obscuring her face. “I…I didn’t stutter…I’m in love with you…before the Firestorm stuff…and before the magic.”

Twilight tried to wrap her head around it, but then remembered that this happened to her once before. “Nice try Rainbow, but Applejack already pulled that joke on me. Honestly, I’m not in mood for these kinds of pranks…”

“I’M NOT JOKING AROUND TWILIGHT!” Rainbow shouted. “I’m really…really…in love with you.” She turned her head to Twilight, revealing the crimson blush that had overtaken her cyan face. “Always have been.”

The shock that had worn off returned as she realized that Rainbow was not kidding around. Twilight’s head began to spin from this new information, Rainbow Dash was in love with her, she loved her before she developed her crush on Sunset, this whole time she wanted to be more than friends.

“R-Rainbow I…I…”

“I don’t care what you are, I just care about who you are. You’re nerdy, super smart, a bookworm, an egghead, and you can be so damn adorkable sometimes that it’s painfully cute to watch! And then…I’ve seen how honestly care about others, trying to find solutions to problems whether they’re yours or someone else’s, and how you try to stay positive about whatever situation you’re in…”

It all made sense now, why Rainbow was so overprotective when it came to her. Why she acted the way she did, Rainbow was secretly in love with her this whole time. Twilight felt a stab of guilt pierce her heart. “I’m sorry Rainbow…I…I never knew…”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s on me. I should’ve gotten the guts to tell you a long time ago. But I was too damn afraid, afraid I’d ruin our friendship, afraid of being labeled and mocked throughout the school, that’s all on me! You just transferred to our school, and you barely knew anyone. I didn’t want to pressure you into that, besides, I didn’t really know which way you swung.”

Twilight blushed. “Well, that’s something we both didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I liked girls that way or not. But, the more I thought about it, the more it felt right to me.”

“At least you’re honest with yourself. Me? I just pretended that I wasn’t, and in the process, I hurt someone’s feelings, and it ended up making them hate me…”

Silence filled the room for a little bit, neither girl budging from where they were. Rainbow’s feelings were made known to Twilight, and now she didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation.

“Sunset knows, I told her about how I feel about you.”

Twilight looked up at Rainbow. “S-She does?! W-What did she say?”

Rainbow chuckled. “I asked her if she loves you, and she said yes. Too which I replied the same, then we had a bit of an argument, and then we ended fusing into Iris. I was jealous of her, which was why I was acting more hostile than normal. But after the whole Iris thing, I guess you could say we’re okay with it…” The sports girl kicked off her shoes and brought herself into a position of setting on her knees. “Twi, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Rainbow fidgeted with the hem of her skirt until she finally asked. “If things didn’t work out with Sunset, could you…could we give it a try?”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “R-Rainbow!”

“I’m serious Twilight, I don’t care if you’re not normal!” Rainbow started to crawl towards Twilight. “None of that matters to me, alright?”

Twilight backed up a bit, slowly, as Rainbow advanced. “Rainbow I…Being with me isn’t good, for either of us…even if I said yes!”

Rainbow crawled up faster, making Twilight hit the wall with her back. “How do you know?! How do you know it won’t work out with Sunset? Or with me?!” She reached out with her left hand and cupped Twilight’s cheek. “I love you, Twi…”

Twilight could feel the warmth of her friend’s hand seeping into her cheek, the anxiety and fear seemed to ebb away from this one action alone. Without realizing it, Twilight was sliding until she was lying back down on the bed. When she did, she noticed that Rainbow Dash was now above her, looking down at her with those rose colored eyes. She never realized just how pretty her eyes were.

Rainbow lowered herself, making Twilight aware that Rainbow was straddling her. Her heart pounded as she continued to feel Rainbow’s weight press against her body, coming to rest atop her. Their faces were just inches apart, neither one breaking eye contact. Just one more inch, one tiny nudge forward and their lips would meet. Twilight’s heart drummed in her chest at a faster rate, drowning out all other sound. She felt safe, this felt okay, this…

‘Sparky…’

Twilight quickly turned away from Rainbow, her eyes shut tight as guilt wrapped itself around her heart like a thorny vine. Rainbow looked a little disappointed, but only for a moment.

“Tell me something.”

Twilight gulped. “Y-Yes?”

“If I kissed you, would it be your first?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight nodded, her face felt like it was on fire.

Rainbow sighed heavily as she lowered her body down, confusing Twilight. She rested her head against Twilight’s chest, more or less cuddling with Twilight as she listened to her crush’s quickening heartbeat. “Your heart’s pounding as loud as Pinkie’s drumming.”

“O-Okay…”

“I can’t do it…I can’t kiss you, not like this.” Rainbow confessed. “You and Sunset haven’t kissed at all, have you?”

Twilight whimpered but found her voice. “We’ve…We’ve mostly cuddled, held each other, talked…but no, we haven’t kissed.”

Rainbow sighed yet again, she then propped herself up on her forearms, putting them on either side of Twilight’s body. “Well, then it wouldn’t be fair to Sunset or to you. You thought about her just now, that’s why you turned away, right?”

Twilight nodded.

“Then that’s proof enough that you should try to fix this. Go see Fluttershy’s friend, the both you. Find out if she can help, and if not, well…at least you can say you tried,” said Rainbow.

Twilight stayed silent.

Rainbow reached up and stroked the top of Twilight’s scalp, causing the purple girl to relax a little. “I won’t stop loving you Twi, even if it works out between you two. But if doesn’t, I don’t want to come after you with you having regrets about it. I don’t want to make you feel guilty or like you’re cheating on Sunset, I want you to be happy. I won’t lie, I wish you were happy with me, but…as long you’re happy with someone who loves you, then that’s fine with me.”

Twilight knew Rainbow Dash was right. What point was there in giving up when not every solution was used to make it work? Ending things now would just hurt the both of them. I wanted to be with Sunset, I chose her, I have to fight for her, just like she’s willing to for me.

“Thanks Rainbow,” said Twilight.

“No prob…Can I ask you a favor Twi?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Just for a little longer, can we stay like this…?”

Twilight’s answer came in the form of her arms wrapping around Rainbow Dash, holding her friend close to her. Rainbow tried to hide it, but she couldn’t stop some of her tears from coming out. She never knew a person could feel both happy and sad at the same time, but it was possible. Twilight felt some of those tears soaking into her blouse and on her skin, her heart grew heavy, but she knew this was all she could offer Rainbow.

A whole hour passed before Rainbow Dash left the Sparkle house. She trudged down the steps to the street, keeping her eyes glued to the concrete as she descended each step.

“Looks like you finally came out.” Rainbow raised her head and saw Gilda standing up against her car, arms crossed, wearing her bomber jacket. “You were up there so long I thought you were doing her.”

“Shut up, G…I’m not in the mood…”

“If you go up there, maybe you can convince to have a one-night-stand?” Gilda speculated.

“Do you seriously want me to kick your ass? I’m not above putting you back in the hospital!” Rainbow threatened.

Gilda raised her hands defensively. “Chill Dash, just messin’ with ya.”

“Whatever…just…take me home.”

Gilda said no more, moving aside to return to the driver seat as Rainbow got into the passenger seat. The car headed off down the road, making a couple of turns to head in the direction of Rainbow’s house.

Since the incident with the Protocols, Gilda and Lightning Dust were admitted to the hospital. Even though they were healed by Iris’ power, it didn’t hurt to make sure that they had nothing else wrong them. Since then, Rainbow Dash went to visit them. Gilda looked more ashamed than angry at Rainbow, she couldn’t believe she let her rage get to that point. As bad as she was, she’d never actually killed anyone. Hurt them bad, yes. But never killed.

Whatever spell she was under had faded away, but the feelings it brought up hadn’t. Gilda remembered how she originally felt about Rainbow Dash, which only made everything she had thought about doing to her as revenge make her feel disgusted and sick about herself. And it didn’t help that Rainbow Dash apologized to her, even though it was Gilda herself who caused the damage to the mall and nearly killed her and Sunset.

Thankfully, Gilda agreed to keep the secret, that, and apparently nobody remembered that it was the four of them who really busted up the mall, and it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. Plus, after hearing about the Organization, Gilda was less inclined to mention anything.

“How’s Lightning doing?” Rainbow asked.

“Same, I guess, but I think she’s mellowing a little,” said Gilda.

Lightning seemed to be of a somewhat different mindset. While she did remember their brief period of friendship, she still held her grudge against Rainbow. She too agreed to keep everything secret, Lightning wasn’t a fan of getting shot or spirited away like in some conspiracy movie.

“That’s good.”

Gilda came to a stop when the traffic lights turned red. The two girls sat there in silence for a while, with Rainbow glancing at Gilda every once and awhile. The older girl sighed heavily as she kept her eyes forward.

“If you’re gonna ask me something, do it. If you’re going to stare at me, at least wait until I can get out of my clothes first.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Jeez, when did you become a pervert?”

“Blame Lightning.”

“Noted.” There was another moment of silence before Rainbow Dash spoke. “Did it hurt this much when I…you know…?”

The light turned green and Gilda drove on. “Probably more…you did kind of push me away, literally, and avoided me like the plague after…But it looks like Miss Egghead was gentler.”

Rainbow dragged her hand over her face. “I want to help them…but part of can’t stop wanting to see it fail…so I can have my shot…” She face palmed herself. “Oh crap, I’m telling you all this and you…ugh, stupid!”

“Don’t beat yourself up Dash, you’ll deny me the pleasure otherwise,” said Gilda with a playful grin. Rainbow smiled a little from the attempted bad joke. “Besides, I lost my shot at you a long time ago.”

“Well…really, you didn’t.” Gilda glanced at Rainbow. “Can’t really lose a shot if you were never given one. I panicked and did something stupid, that’s not fair to you. You at least deserve that much from me. But…right now, maybe not with all that’s going on. I wouldn’t mind being gal pals again.” Rainbow offered.

Gilda thought it over for a moment before answering. “Hmm, I wouldn’t mind that, but can it be gal pals with benefits?”

“Why not. Working your way up, huh?” Rainbow asked.

“I was thinking down, but yeah.”

Rainbow punched Gilda in the arm, causing Gilda to laugh, and in the end making Rainbow laugh as well. The car slowed down until it stopped before Rainbow’s house. The sports girl opened the passenger door and got out, she turned towards her house, seeing the dark windows and feeling something creep over her.

“G…? Why don’t you spend the night, it’s pretty late and I don’t want you dozin’ off on the road,” said Rainbow.

“Heh, thanks, but I’m a night owl, I’ve been up longer than this, I barely feel it.”

“Well…um…it doesn’t look like my Dad’s home from work, probably pulling a late shift. You can stay over? Cash in on that ‘benefits’ part,” said Rainbow while wiggling her eyebrow.

Gilda groaned in dismay. “As tempting as that is Dash…and that’s really tempting…I don’t think it’s good for you or me after what you talked about with her tonight. Thanks though…”

“G…please…”

Gilda looked towards Rainbow, noticing the trembling of her body. “I…I don’t want to be alone right now…I don’t care if I sound like a total wimp right now, please just…just stay with me…”

Gilda had never heard Rainbow’s voice tremble like that, she was always so confident, headstrong, determined, and fierce. That anything could bring her to sound like this was really heartbreaking.

“Gilda…c’mon…I don’t care if you want to do it all night, that’s fine! Just…” Rainbow leaned up against the car, turning around away from Gilda as she stared up into the starry sky, which was distorted through her tears. “I just don’t want to be alone…please…?”

“Get off my car, Dash.”

“G?”

“I can’t pull into the driveway with you leanin’ on it.”

Rainbow Dash turned around, expecting to see an expression that would tell her she was joking. But, for the first time in a long time, Rainbow saw a look of compassion and caring on Gilda’s face. Rainbow stepped back and watched as Gilda backed up and parked her car in the driveway. She then walked over to Rainbow Dash, standing just a couple of inches taller than her. Gilda then drew Rainbow Dash in for a hug, to which the cyan girl didn’t resist.

“I’ll sleep next you, I won’t leave you.” Gilda felt Rainbow’s head nod. “But I’ll take a raincheck on a full night of debauchery, which I expect to cash in sometime this week.”

“You really know how to ruin the moment.”

“It’s what I do.”

Author's Note

Whoo-whee, that was a long one! And all that drama, yikes! Okay, wow, I never thought this story would go into 26 (27 if you count the prologue) chapters when I first started writing this! I mean, what happened? Yesh. Anywho, look forward to more, 'cause this emotional, action packed, ecchi, funny, rollercoaster ride ain't over yet!

Entry 27: Blessings

Entry 27: Blessings

The air was crisp and clean, but then again, such was the case when far from the city. The birds chirped and tweeted, the critters scurried about and grazed upon the fertile land, and the majestic mountain range painted a magnificent backdrop on the whole scene. Yes, this would be quite the beauteous sight, if not for the black asphalt road that cut through it. This stretch of road led from the city to the depths of Whitetail Wood, which, a little further beyond, was a part of the forest that remained untouched and free from human interference.

Some say it was part of an EPA bylaw, others say it was to preserve the natural beauty for the city, and yet others claim that it was dangerous to try. Legend spoke of it, the native people to this area had called that forbidden part of the forest, the Everfree. But thankfully our focus is not on this portion of the woods, no, our focus is on the loud noise coming down the road.

Sunset’s bike whirred, echoing through the quiet wood of the forest. Behind her was Twilight, holding onto Sunset’s waist as the two of them sped down the road. The two of them agreed to meet Fluttershy’s friend, and thankfully said friend was more than happy to help them. Apparently this friend lived off the beaten path, within the woods themselves. Sunset and Twilight didn’t know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, but hopefully things would make sense once they arrived.

They had contemplated going Firestorm and flying to the location, but decided against it should the Organization, or the Sirens, be watching and waiting. So Sunset decided on heading to the location via her bike, making it a bit of a road trip for the both of them. Sunset wasn’t going to lie, she was rather enjoying this feeling of closeness with Twilight, and it had been a long time since they just held each other. Even if it was just for support to keep her from falling off, it still felt nice.
As they rode on, Twilight remembered the conversation she had with her parents not too before Sunset arrived, that was a bit emotional…

4 HOURS EARLIER…

Twilight was ready to get underway, her mind was made up, and this needed to be done. Whether it was for nothing or something, Twilight was determined to see if this mysterious friend could provide both her and Sunset with help. Right now, Twilight wasn’t sure which she feared more, the fact that there might be someone on this planet unconnected to Sunset’s home world and the Firestorm powers that could wield magic, or if this person was simply a fraud pretending to be connected to magic.

Twilight placed some spare clothes and whatever else she thought they may need, they were going into the woods so survival equipment was essential. It was weird, today was a Monday, and yet she wasn’t getting ready for school, but for a possible week long magic training session. Twilight sighed, when Sunset told her of how Celestia managed to allow them a temporary leave of absence. The closest person Sunset knew to a mother figure had accepted them, and was willing to help them, even if she didn’t exactly know about the whole fight-to-save-the-world thing.

*Bark*

The purple girl looked down and saw her faithful companion stare up at her, blinking curiously. No doubt the pup knew his master was about to leave and was no doubt wanting to accompany her. Twilight smiled warmly at Spike and crouched down to pet him on the head.

“Sorry Spike, but this is something I need to do on my own. Well…something that Sunset and I have to do.” She placed her hands on either side of Spike’s muzzle, gently rubbing the pup’s slightly chubby cheeks. “I don’t want to lose her, I know that for a fact, and I don’t want to lose control of this magic and our powers. If this works then…maybe we can stop acting as if we’re so far apart…”

Suddenly, Twilight heard knocking at her bedroom door.

“Come in.”

The door slowly opened, revealing Velvet, looking upon her daughter with concern. “Sweetie, it’s well past eight, are you not feeling okay or…” Velvet took a moment, spying the various supplies and the change in Twilight’s attire.

Twilight was wearing cargo shorts, each pocket containing a variety of survival gear, and a tank top that revealed much of her shoulders, arms, neck and collar. She even had her hair tied into a ponytail.

“Um…T-Twilight, why does it look like you’re preparing to go out on a camping trip?” Velvet asked cautiously.

Twilight sighed, she knew her parents, as nice and easy going as they were, weren’t going to take the news that she and Sunset were planning on taking a “couples retreat” into the wilderness. A weekend excursion like that probably wouldn’t raise too many warning bells, since Twilight wasn’t exactly the outdoorsy type, but going off for a week, during school, now that was a red flag. Which was why she planned on just telling them the moment Sunset arrived to leave as little time for arguments as possible.

“I’m feeling fine, Mom, I…I…”

Velvet sighed. “Finish whatever you’re doing and come into the foyer, we need to talk.”

Twilight gulped, and so did Spike. When Velvet left the room she quickly put the remaining items into her backpack and took a deep breath, as if preparing to jump off a cliff. “Well…wish me luck Spike.”

Twilight opened her door and walked down the stairs. Spike released his own sigh as he made his way to the top of the stairs and sat there, knowing that his owner and her parents needed some private time.

“Good luck, Twilight.”

When Twilight arrived downstairs she saw her mother and father waiting for her in the foyer. Twilight felt like running out of the house and transforming, just so she could quickly fly away from whatever conversation that was going to take place. Sadly though, the situation was already precarious, and the last thing she needed was to get Sunset or herself in major trouble before leaving.

Twilight walked into the foyer and sat down across from her parents, placing her backpack by her feet. “So…Mom, Dad…what did you want to talk about?”

“For one thing, the fact that you haven’t completely gone insane because your tar -”

Velvet quickly placed her hand over her husband’s mouth. “We don’t use the ‘T’ word around her. Remember?”

Night Light looked at Twilight, seeing signs that she was about to snap at the mere mention of the word “tardy”. “Ahem, well, you know what I mean. And the fact that you seem to be packing and dressing as if you’re about to go on some safari.”

“Honey, I don’t know what’s going on, but you’ve seemed a little down lately, and a little more on edge. It’s like you’re expecting something bad to happen.” Velvet speculated.

Twilight groaned inwardly, her mother didn’t know how right she was. She was expecting bad things to happen, a lot of bad things. The only problem was, she didn’t know whether to list it to them in chronological or alphabetical order. Her silence seemed to make both parents a little more concerned and suspicious, Twilight knew if she didn’t say anything that the repercussions would only worsen down the road.

“I…I want to tell you, but I can’t…”

“And why not?” Night Light asked.

“It’s not a good time, and because I’m still trying to figure some things out that are going on in my life…”

“‘In your life’? Twilight, aren’t we a part of your life too?” Velvet asked, feeling a little hurt.

Twilight shook her head. “No it’s not like that! It’s because you two are a part of my life is why I can’t tell you!”

Night Light’s expression became serious, despite being the nerdy person that he was, he could look pretty intimidating when the occasion called for it. “Twilight what isgoing on? Are you in trouble at school? Are you being bullied or something?”

“Nothing like that, I’ve never been bullied!” Twilight argued.

Velvet and Night Light shared a glance, as if deciding to come clean with something. “Twilight, we did a little digging, and we found out more about Sunset Shimmer, and how she acted at school,” said Velvet.

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “You what?! Why?!”

Night Light rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Just come clean, Twilight. You and Sunset Shimmer are dating, aren’t you? And I don’t mean dating like how you and your other friends just hangout.”

“I…we…!” Twilight stammered as she tried to explain, but the words kept getting bunched up in her mouth, she hadn’t expected them to figure it out already. Well, given that Principal Celestia had figured them out, it was a given at this point.

“Twilight, we know that Sunset wasn’t exactly the most…well-meaning of students. It honestly made me worried knowing that she had such animosity towards you…”

Velvet had a bit of a shocked look on her face, as if finding out about Sunset’s past discrepancies had thrown her for a loop. The girl who used to come over and have dinner with them, the very same girl who worked tirelessly on their science project, was completely different from what she found out. It almost made her think that there might be another Sunset, but unfortunately, it was the same girl.

“So, we have to ask, is she making you skip classes today?” Night Light asked.

“NO!” Twilight yelled, surprising her parents. She realized how loudly she said that and calmed herself before speaking again. “No, she isn’t. And please, Mom, Dad, don’t talk about her as if she’s some monster. I won’t deny that Sunset has done some pretty bad things before I came to Canterlot High, and a few afterwards too. And I will admit that she did…hate me.”

“She hated you?!” Night Light asked. “Why?”

“That part I’m still vague on…at least a little. But suffice to say, Sunset’s no longer like that. She’s been trying hard to better herself and not be like she was. No, I can say without a doubt she is definitely a much better person than she used to be now!”

Night Light and Velvet could tell that Twilight’s convection in her words was strong, and what they have seen recently of Sunset did confirm it. It was just hard for them to see Sunset as the girl that they know now, as opposed to what she was before. They believed in giving people the benefit of the doubt, but when your daughter is dating someone who said they hated her, it kind of raises some red flags.

“Sunset aside for now; if she isn’t the reason you’re not attending school and dressed like this, then why are you?” Velvet asked.

“It’s related to Sunset and myself…we’re…we’re not in good place in our relationship…and some other things have turned up that need my attention,” said Twilight.

“And for that you’re not going to school today?” Night Light asked, raising an eyebrow.

“………I’m not going to school for the rest of this week, Dad.”

If either of them had something to drink, this would be the point where they’d spit it out. One day was one thing, but a whole week of not going to school? Now that was cause for alarm, especially considering that Twilight loved going to her school, learning, and meeting with her friends.

“Okay Twilight, now you really need to tell us what’s going!” Velvet demanded.

“I can’t…”

Night Light shook his head. “No, you can, you just won’t. And why that is I have no idea, just like your mother and I didn’t even know you were dating someone!”

Twilight’s expression became serious to match her father and mother’s. “Because I was afraid how you’d react to finding out that I like girls! I know how understanding you two are, but even the most understanding of people have a line, and I was afraid I’d cross it with Sunset!”

Velvet put a hand to her head and shook her head back and forth. “Twilight, you could be dating all your friends and planning to marry them all for we care!”

“MOM!”

“VELVET!”

“But that doesn’t mean we’d love you any less! I might not have given birth to you, and I don’t know from what god forsaken place Shining rescued you from, the fact is, adopted or born, you will always be our daughter, and we’ll always love you no matter what happens!” Velvet’s fervor lessened as she features drooped.

Twilight looked down at her knees, her heart felt like it was aching from hearing those word and relieved. Whether she was aware of it or not, Twilight was always afraid that her adopted parents would one day forsake her should she make a monumental decision like being with Sunset, or telling them about her origins.

“The whole ‘dating and marrying your friends’ aside, your Mother’s right. We do love you, Twilight, we always well. Don’t think because you’re not related to us that we don’t,” said Night Light.

“Or…do you not see us as your real parents…”

“OF COURSE I DO!” Twilight yelled as tears streaked down her cheeks. “But it’s because you are that I can’t! The more you know, the more danger you’ll be in! I’ve tried…I’ve tried so hard to keep you and my friends from danger…hoping, praying, and doing everything I think I can to shield you all from it! But I was fooling myself, you’re all already are in danger! And if I don’t do this…I can’t protect you all…I…”

Velvet sighed sadly. “This is connected to Shining Armor’s last mission, isn’t it?”

Twilight nodded.

“And to the place where he found you?”

Another nod.

Both parents were told by Shining Armor that he found Twilight while on a mission, he never said what she had been through, or why he agreed to take her in, but the moment that Velvet hugged that little girl, she knew that they couldn’t leave her to some orphanage or some other family. Everything they did together was as if Twilight was experiencing these things for the first time in her life, and it touched both Night Light and Velvet to see that adorable smile of hers.

“Does the Principal know of your absence? Or Sunset’s, as I assume you both are going to…wherever it is you’re going to?” Night asked.

“Yes. Principal Celestia gave us permission.”

“Alright then, go.” Velvet watched as her daughter’s head snapped up to them, her eyes watery and full of surprise. “I can see that this is something that you both need to do, for whatever reasons. Just promise us that you’ll come back, and…maybe reintroduce Sunset as your, ahem, your girlfriend?”

Twilight got up from her seat and rushed to hug both her parents, who graciously returned the hug, feeling warmth and security in their family ties.

NOW…

Sunset’s bike came to a stop right before a lightly unbeaten dirt road. She turned off her bike and removed her helmet to better survey the area, seeing nothing but tall trees and the smell of nature in the air.

“Reminds me of home…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Sparky. Is this the place where we hoof it?” Sunset asked.

Twilight reached into her pocket, pulling out a GPS handheld, which she modified to keep their location secret while still providing them with coordinates.

“According to the directions Fluttershy gave us, this is where we need to start walking. But…”

“But what?”

“What about your bike? I don’t think it can make it down that road, and it’s going to be exhausting pushing it all that way,” said Twilight.

“Oh, no big, I actually remembered how to use a certain type of spell exactly for this situation.”

Sunset dismounted her bike, followed by Twilight. After removing their backpacks from the storage bins Sunset went to work. With her right hand she summoned her magic, coating her bike in a telekinetic aura. With her left, she pointed to the space behind the bike. A portal of aquamarine light opened up to the size of the bike, shimmering and glowing brilliantly. Sunset waved her right hand, willing the bike into the portal. Once the bike was in, Sunset closed it, making the bike disappear.

The fiery haired girl released a tired sigh, feeling the slight drain on her mana from the spells. Twilight was just standing there, awestruck that she just made her bike disappear into thin air so easily.

“It’s a pocket dimension spell. Basically a storage locker between dimensions that can hold anything and everything you put in it, and can be summoned from any place, any time.” Sunset explained.

“I…I heard about the concept of such a thing…but to actually see it!” Twilight grabbed Sunset’s hands as she made a slightly manic face. “You’ve got to show me how to use that spell! I’d never have to worry about shelf space again!”

“Um, a-alright, if we have time after this thing, I will.”

Twilight released Sunset and began hopping around her girlfriend in a circle repeating “yes” over and over. Sunset groaned, Twilight was such a dork, but she was her dork, her adorably cute, and sexy dork. Sunset then immediately slapped herself across her face.

“Alright, Sparky, let’s start moving.”

Twilight stopped her hopping, regaining her composure. Both girls then set off down the path. Sunset used her magic to clear the way, releasing small bursts of magic to slice away at the brush and branches that blocked their path. Twilight felt bad that her girlfriend was the only one doing the clearing, and so she had Sunset show her how to do what she was doing. With a little fine tuning, Twilight was now able to help Sunset in her bushwhacking.

Sunset felt happy, even though they hadn’t gotten to this mysterious friend yet, Twilight was already asking her to help learn some spells. They were useful spells, so she figured Twilight wanted to take advantage of them. Still, the fact that Twilight was eager for her to teach them was uplifting in and of itself.

They passed by several creeks, got bitten by mosquitos more than once, and saw a deer. They even witnessed some bear cubs and their momma bear walking around. Thankfully the bears avoided them, so long as Sunset and Twilight kept their distance.

After a couple of hours hiking through the woods, Sunset and Twilight had to stop for a moment. Sunset glanced to Twilight, noticing that she seemed a little out breath. “You okay Sparky?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, just not used to long treks…or any trekking!” Twilight confessed. “H-How are you…not tired out?!”

“When you’re a pony, you tend to walk and run to most places. Or take a train or carriage if you could afford it. I may’ve been unicorn, but I didn’t slack in my physical development. Just having strong magic doesn’t equal good physical health, not always, and magic does put some strain on your body if you overuse it or aren’t physically capable of casting a spell. So I worked out my body, trained with some of the Royal Guards, jogged around the palace, and even hiked up Canterlot Mountain.”

“W-Wow…”

Sunset leaned back against the tree she was sitting next to. “Yeah, of course, when I came here, I realized quick that my physical strength and my intellect needed to be twice as sharp to make up for the loss of my magic. So, yeah, I’m not that winded.”

Twilight felt embarrassed, Sunset wasn’t just smart, she was athletic as well. And she made some good points, what good was mental development if your body suffered and couldn’t keep up. Her Firestorm form allotted her great physical enhancement in strength, stamina, and durability, while her normal body wasn’t as strong. Fast, but not strong like Sunset was.

It was as if Twilight was finding out something new about Sunset every moment she spent with her. Now that she noticed, Sunset did have lean muscles, and with the turquoise tank top she was wearing, Twilight could see her arm muscles flexing slightly. The trickling of sweat that beaded off her brow and down her face, the slow and calm expansion and depression of her chest with each breath…

Twilight tore her eyes away from Sunset, feeling a warmth grow upon her cheeks. Sunset was beautiful, and…admittedly, hotter in this environment. Don’t think dirty thoughts! Don’t think dirty thoughts! Don’t think dirty thoughts!

“Hey Sparky -”

“I WASN’T IMAGINING YOU NAKED IN THE WOODS!” Twilight blurted out.

Sunset’s mouth dropped and her left eye twitched. Twilight wanted to die now, she so wanted to go pick a fight with that momma bear just to get mauled to death.

After letting that sink in, Sunset’s face went a little red. “Um…Uh…Wow…”

When the embarrassment of that little episode died down, Sunset and Twilight resumed their hike. Only now, Sunset kept a little ahead of Twilight, deciding to give her girlfriend a nice view of her rear as they walked. Apparently Twilight understood what Sunset was doing, and tried to ignore her teasing.

“It’s not like it’s a crime to stare, Sparky. We’re together, so you kinda have license to stare at my ass, or anything else for that matter,” said Sunset.

“B-Be that as it may, it’s still not polite…especially what I said earlier…”

“Eh, not like I don’t want to be naked in the woods.”

“WHAT?!” Twilight shouted.

“Well, I was once a pony, which meant I had no clothes. Honestly, I find these things stifling sometimes and just wish I could be back in the buff again! But now, call it an adopted mannerism or whatever, I would feel embarrassed if I happened to wind up naked in public.”

Twilight sighed in frustration, she still had to wrap her mind around that concept that Sunset was from a world populated by sentient ponies, and that Sunset was in fact one of those sentient ponies. So some customs and social norms were bound to be somewhat different than their worlds’.

“If it makes you feel any better, I stare at your chest and your rump whenever I can.”

Twilight was changing from lavender to crimson. “No it doesn’t…!”

“You like it, admit.”

“I won’t!”

“So you do?”

“I do NOT!”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive!” Twilight declared as she crossed her arms.

Sunset smirked. “Only fools are positive. Are you a fool?”

“NO!”

“You sure?”

“Im posi -!” Twilight stopped when she realized what was happening. “You suck, Sunset.”

“That’s not all I do,” she replied with a pervy grin.

“Stop that!”

“Shh.” Sunset put her hand up.

“Don’t you shush me! I -!”

“SHHH!”

Sunset put her hand over Twilight’s mouth, and pointed towards a clearing up ahead. When all was silent, Twilight was able to hear a faint strumming sound. It was light, but it was definitely a stringed instrument. Sunset and Twilight quietly headed towards the sound, gently pushing aside the brush and branches. When they got to the edge they carefully stepped into the clearing, and Sunset deadpanned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

There was a large shanti shack made of tightly woven vines and tree branches, off to the side was another structure that was dome shaped and looked like it was grown from the earth. To their right was a clothes line that had many an assortment of garments, apparently no underwear, or none that they could spot, and some tie dyed stuff that looked ripped straight from the seventies. But the strangest site was yet to come.

Sitting on a log near the fire pit was a girl. She seemed a bit older than them, maybe seventeen or eighteen. She had tanned skin, orange hair that was done up in dreadlocks, with a wreath of daisies on her head. Her attire was made up of a green shirt with baggy sleeves, the hem of which only came to a little below her bust, exposing her midriff, the collar was cut low, exposing most of her neck and just a tiny bit of her cleavage. She had a light-green fabric coat, and a necklace with a blue gemstone connected to it.

This girl was playing a long guitar looking thing, a sitar if they were correct. The hippie girl seemed to be lost in the music she was making, possibly meditating.

“Is…Is this the friend that Fluttershy was talking about?” Twilight asked.

“She can’t be…I mean…even for Fluttershy, there’s no way this is the person…”

Twilight and Sunset slowly walked into the clearing, heading towards the girl strumming at the sitar. When both girls got close enough, she stopped playing, causing Sunset and Twilight to freeze. Lazily the girl opened her eyes, keeping them at a half-lidded position, as if completely laid back. Her magenta eyes gazed upon her two newcomers, she then put her sitar down and stood to her full height, which was just a couple of inches higher than Sunset and Twilight. She then placed her hands into a prayer position and bowed to them.

“Hello, my name is Tree Hugger. Blessings,” greeted Tree Hugger as she waved to them.

“Um…yeah…blessings…Um, we might be lost, we were looking for someone,” said Sunset.

“Oh, we’re all searching for something, but never take the time to see the journey to that something.”

Sunset blinked. “What?”

“Um, Miss Tree Hugger -”

“Just Tree Hugger, Miss is, like, totally what my Mom used go by…Actually, she didn’t like to be called ‘Miss’ either. Weird coincidence.”

Sunset slapped her forehead and groaned inwardly.

“Okay, Tree Hugger, we’re looking for a friend of a friend. Do you know a girl named Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

Tree Hugger tapped her chin a couple of times. “Fluttershy! Oh, I totally remember her, sweet, kind, and cute. Oh right, Shy-Shy sent me a message! Where did I put it?”

Sunset and Twilight watched as Tree Hugger searched her coat and then up her sleeves. Sunset leaned close to Twilight and whispered. “‘Shy-Shy’?”

“A nickname?” Twilight suggested.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Maybe a pet name, Sparky.”

Twilight glanced back to Tree Hugger, who still looked clueless and was still searching. “Fluttershy and…her? Well…granted she does seem a little…unorthodox, but she looks a little older than Fluttershy.”

“You do remember that Fluttershy’s a little older than most of you, right?”

“Hang on, most? You don’t count?”

Sunset deadpanned again. “Twilight, if I was the same age I was in Equestria, I’d be twenty-five by now.”

Twilight tried run the numbers in her head, but her current physical age conflicted with those numbers. Although, Sunset had displayed adult like authority from time to time.

“Don’t think about too hard, I still can’t understand why I’m a teenage girl!”

“Oh, now I remember!” Tree Hugger put her fingers to her mouth and gave a loud whistle.

Within a couple of minutes a large bird flew down from one of the trees, landing on Tree Hugger’s extended left forearm. It appeared to be a falcon, and on its back was a tube. Tree Hugger removed the tube, and then then harness, allowing the falcon to fly more comfortably. She then opened the tube and took out a rolled up piece of paper. Tree Hugger read over the contents for a minute and then put it back.

“Right, right, Shy-Shy’s friends. Sorry.”

“It’s fine, really. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and she’s Sunset Shimmer.”

“Hey,” said Sunset.

“Twilight and Sunset, I really like those names, they go well together. Take a seat my sisters, and tell me what brings you to this little slice of natural paradise,” said Tree Hugger.

Sunset and Twilight shrugged and then sat on the log across from Tree Hugger, the hippie girl returned to her own seat kept her gaze upon them as she listened.

“Well…you’re going to think this is crazy…but, Sunset and I can use…magic.” Twilight shut her eyes, waiting to hear the ridiculing laughter, but none came.

“Real? So glad to know that there are others who are able to tune into the life energies of the planet,” said Tree Hugger.

“Wait, you believe me?” Twilight asked with an incredulous expression.

“Oh, were you joking? It’s okay if you were.”

“She wasn’t joking, she just can’t believe that you believe her. But I have to ask,” Sunset leaned forward, narrowing her gaze, “can you really use magic?”

Tree Hugger took a moment to think about that. “Well…I don’t ‘use’ it per se. I merely ask the Earth’s life energy for assistance, and it answers.”

“So that’s a yes?” Sunset asked again.

“In a sense.”

Sunset groaned again. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I just can’t believe that you can use magic too! I mean, I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a high hippie.”

“Sunset!” Twilight scolded.

“Oh no, she’s right, I am high.”

Twilight looked to Tree Hugger in disbelief.

“High on life, on all the life forces that surround me here every day.”

Sunset fell backwards on the log, and Twilight nearly fell forward at that answer. The fiery haired girl stood upon and glared down at Tree Hugger. “Okay, we’re testing this out before we even go any further! You! Me! Magic duel!”

“Sunset, you can’t be serious?!”

“Wow, total harsh vibe you’re giving off.” Tree Hugger could see that Sunset wasn’t going to take anything less than a yes to her challenge. The hippie girl got up and walked to a space in the clearing that was free from any debris or objects. “Just to warn you, I don’t believe in conflict or violence.”

Sunset smirked as she cracked her knuckles, walking to meet Tree Hugger. “Well, I do. ‘Cause sometimes the only way to get your point across is with a little grit.”

Tree Hugger and Sunset stood off against each other, the former had her hands in a prayer position, while the latter’s hands were glowing with aquamarine light.

A small magic bolt should do it, strong enough to knock her on her ass, but not strong enough to hurt her, thought Sunset.

Without warning, Sunset fired a bolt of magical energy straight for Tree Hugger. With one hand forward, Tree Hugger’s open right palm met the bolt. A green, iridescent light shimmered into existence and then the bolt canceled out, leaving Sunset with a dumbfounded expression.

“What…the…hell?!”

“That happened…” Twilight commented in the same dumbfounded state.

Tree Hugger still had her laid back gaze fixed on Sunset, waiting for the girl’s next move. Sunset growled and thrusted her left hand forward. Her hand became engulfed in her aura as she launched multiple volleys of magic bolts at Tree Hugger. Tree Hugger’s bare feet swept over the soft dirt, the ground seemed to release particles of green light from the movement. The hippie girl then began to move with great fluidity, waving her hands to and fro in a seemingly uncoordinated pattern.

But in reality, with each wave of her hand a streak of green light would appear in its wake. The light cancelled out the magic bolts upon impact, and each fluid movement allowed Tree Hugger to dodge just as many as she blocked without any wasted movement. With greater frustration, Sunset decided to make this up close and personal. She crouched low, channeling her magic to her feet. She then used that power to give herself a boost, jumping into the air.

Sunset’s right fist glowed with built up magical power, ready to deliver a powerful haymaker to the hippie girl. Tree Hugger, however, proved that she was just as fast. As soon as Sunset was in range, Tree Hugger extended the middle and index fingers of both her hands. She then struck Sunset, once at either shoulder, and once on either thigh, each strike sent ripples of green energy that were visible on Sunset’s body.

Suddenly, Sunset’s glowing fist fizzled out, what’s more, she couldn’t control her body. Before she could find herself kissing the dirt, she was caught by Tree Hugger. Her face landing directly into the hippie girl’s bust. Twilight’s face went red from seeing this, and a little redder when Sunset hadn’t pulled away yet.

“S-Sunset would you please get your face out of her breasts!” Twilight demanded.

“Yeah, she’s going to have a little trouble with that.” Tree Hugger repositioned Sunset hoisting her up until she was slung over her shoulder. “She’s a limp as a wet noodle.”

“I don’t know how you did it, but can you please give me back control of my arms and legs?!”

Tree Hugger patted Sunset on the back. “Shh, shh, easy there. You’re aura’s all fiery, give it time to cool and simmer down a skooch. I know! Let’s have some calming herbal tea! Come inside!”

Tree Hugger made her way towards her hut, all while still carrying a very limp Sunset. Twilight would’ve found the whole thing hilarious if it wasn’t for the fact that her girlfriend was now paralyzed.

When they entered the hut, Twilight saw the large carpet that covered the floor, sewn with a mandala at the center. The carpet seemed to be made of organic materials, but felt soft to the touch. To right of the hut was a sleeping mat, and to the left was a makeshift kitchen counter. A rack hung above it, lined up with bottles containing different herbs and spices. There was kettle and some spare cups, and a place to light a fire to cook and boil the water.

Tree Hugger laid Sunset down on the outer ring of the mandala and quickly performed a few quick jabs with her fingers at key points on her body. Green light rippled over Sunset’s body again, but this time Sunset was granted back full movement in her arms and legs as she bolted upright.

Twilight was able to calm Sunset before she started round two with Tree Hugger, but at this point, Tree Hugger’s relaxed state belayed how aware of her surroundings she was. Sunset feared a surprise attack now would just end up with her back on the floor, with Twilight giving her sips from her cup from a straw.

Tree Hugger brewed them all some tea, with Sunset making sure that she hadn’t slipped anything in there to make them all trip out. Afterward taking a few test sips, the girls waited for Tree Hugger to sit as they told their story. Hours felt like they flew by, but in the end Twilight and Sunset had explained the situation to Tree Hugger. Despite looking like she was spacing out, Tree Hugger’s expression seemed to morph as the story went on, becoming a frown.

“Wow…that’s heavy,” said Tree Hugger.

“Tell us about it.” Sunset replied while taking a sip of her tea.

“So as you can see, we…we really need your help…in more ways than one. It’s dangerous, if you decide to help us, the Organization could come after you. So we’ll respect your decision should you wish to not associate yourself with us,” said Twilight.

There was a long period of silence as Tree Hugger thought over everything the two girls told her. Tree Hugger then clapped her hands together, catching the attention of Sunset and Twilight.

“Alright, so when do you want to start?”

“Seriously?!” Sunset asked amazed.

“You’ll…You’ll help us?!”

Tree Hugger nodded as if it were a matter of fact. “We’re all children of the Earth’s spirit. And those of us who are more deeply attuned to that spirit need to lend each other a helping hand, whether you’re from this world,” Tree Hugger gestured to Sunset, “or whether you believe you don’t deserve to be a part of it,” with her other hand she gestured to Twilight, “we’re all one.”

“Thank you so much,” said Twilight, genuinely happy.

“Yeah, thanks.” Sunset added with a grin.

“Okay then, please remove all articles of clothing.”

“………EXCUSE ME?!”

“………ARE YOU HIGH?!”

“Huh, why does everyone seem to ask me that question? Oh well, strippy strip!”

1 HOUR LATER…

“AH!”

“Easy Sunset, just try to relax,” said Tree Hugger.

“I…I’m trying, but it’s a little intense…!”

“It’ll pass, I’m going to put my hand here, and you might feel a little -”

“AHHH~”

“Oh, that was different.”

“SUNSET!” Twilight admonished.

“I can’t help it! She’s tweaking with my magic circuits!”

Sunset was sitting at the center of the mandala, wearing only her sports bra and matching underwear. Her magical aura had layered itself over her body, giving her an ethereal, aquamarine glow. Tree Hugger’s hands glowed, matching the color of Sunset’s light. Her left hand’s middle and index finger were resting on a spot just few inches above Sunset’s tailbone, while her right hand’s two fingers were pressed against her pelvis, in perfect alignment with her the other side.

“Not exactly your ‘circuits’, but the channels of chi, or mana, whichever you’d like to call it,” said Tree Hugger.

“Well be more careful! Where you touching, whatever you’re doing, it’s making me feel…weird, tingly, THINGS I DON’T NEED TO FEEL DOWN THERE, GET IT?!” Sunset yelled, her face completely red as a tomato.

Tree Hugger chuckled at the reaction. “Relax, Sister Sun, no need for embarrassment. We’re all girls, so just let the sensations flow and don’t fight them.” Tree Hugger moved up both hands at the same time, resting them on her stomach and a section of her spine.

She continued doing this all the way up to the crown of Sunset’s head. She then traced her fingers along Sunset’s arms, legs, and body, which may or may not have excited Sunset a little. When she was done, Tree Hugger waved her hands over Sunset, dismissing her aura and letting it dissipate back into her body. Sunset sat upright, feeling a little warm all over.

“So?” Sunset asked.

“You’re aura’s in major conflict with the other power in you. Along with the Earth’s mana, which is why you haven’t been able to use magic up until now. Maybe it thinks you’re a stranger?” Tree Hugger hypothesized.

“Yeah, I’m from another dimension, a parallel dimension.”

“Even so, nature should accept nature, and since you were a pony, you should have a better connection to it…hmm…Well, next, Sister Twilight.”

Twilight cringed after seeing Sunset, she was already in her undergarments, but wasn’t so sure she was willing to have Tree Hugger touch her if she was going to be making those weird sounds. But before Twilight could say otherwise, Sunset had grabbed her and plopped her down on the center of the mandala.

“I do this, you do this, no way am I the only one feeling like this!”

The purple girl groaned, but remained still. Tree Hugger clapped her hands together, summoning the Earth’s energy. Twilight’s aura became visible, layering atop her in its rosy-violet hue. Tree Hugger began the process over again, placing her two fingers on either side of Twilight’s front and back, moving into tracing the channels of mana that flowed through her body. Twilight made some embarrassing squeaks, squeals, and yelps with each prickling of energy that ebbed and flowed in her body from Tree Hugger’s touch, and Sunset couldn’t help enjoying the cute sounds.

By the end, Twilight was also feeling a warmth within her body, but said nothing of it. She glanced to Tree Hugger, waiting for her prognosis.

“Your aura’s in tune with the Earth mana, but also in conflict with the power inside you. You also seem to be harboring a lot of tension that’s suffocating your mana, not all that good.”

Twilight sighed in dismay and went to join Sunset. Tree Hugger pulled out some simple robes from a chest near her sleeping mat, both were brown colored and looked like short robes.

“For the time you’re here, wear these. I wove them from the fibers of the trees and with the help of the silk of spiders. Earth mana in sewn within it, so wearing these will help your auras feel more familiar with the Earth’s spirit. You can put your clothes and stuff in the corner.”

Twilight and Sunset shrugged, placing the robes on and tying them up. Tree Hugger thought about how to best help them. She thought and thought, but paused when her eyes rested upon a wall scroll with a human silhouette in a meditation position. Inside the silhouette were seven spheres that followed the path of the spine. That’s when it hit her.

“Righteous.”

Author's Note

Tree Hugger's design is Kilala97's drawing.

Entry 28: Face your fears

Sweat rolled down Sunset’s forehead, arms, legs, and body, practically from every pour. Her breathing was steady, but not labored, and her long hair clung to her back, now wet with sweat. Personally, Sunset thought Tree Hugger’s idea of how to fix everything was absurd, but at this point, what options did they really have? So, here she was, in a sweat lodge, in her underwear, sweating out all the “impurities” before they started. Although, she couldn’t complain too much, not with the nice view she had.

Across from Sunset was Twilight, it was apparent that this was taking a little bit more of a toll on her than it was on Sunset, but she seemed to hang in there. Her own undergarments clung to her sweat drenched body, almost making everything see through. Sunset had no doubts that she was in the same situation, and was more than happy to allow Twilight a nice view, but right now, the thought of posing and teasing her girlfriend was being drowned out by the hot and stinky mess she was, any extra movement just made this more uncomfortable.

“Alright, time’s up, you may both exit,” said Tree Hugger from outside the lodge.

“Finally!” Sunset groaned.

“At last,” said Twilight in relief.

Both girls exited the sweat lodge, luckily it was cool, but not too cold outside that they’d might catch a cold. Tree Hugger awaited them, holding a pitcher of water and some towels. Twilight and Sunset both graciously accepted the towels, and chugged the water from the pitcher, emptying it between them.

“Alright, now that you’ve purified your bodies, the amount of negative energy within your auras has gone down a lot. It’ll make this a lot easier, trust me,” said Tree Hugger.

“I hope so, otherwise I really need a shower,” said Twilight.

“Ditto.”

“Alright, follow me inside.”

Twilight and Sunset followed Tree Hugger back inside her shanti shack, the tall girl then motioned for them to sit on the cushions she placed in a triangle around the mandala. Both girls assumed a meditative sitting position, figuring that this was what Tree Hugger was going to have them do next.

Tree Hugger had rummaged through a trunk, releasing a quick “Ah-ha!” upon stopping. The hippie girl returned to the center of the mandala and produced two crystals, one was red and round in shape, and about the size of a softball. The second was triangular, yellow in color.

“Okay, Sister Sun, Sister Twilight, I shall explain what we will be doing. The best way I’ve figured to align your energies and rid you two of the negative karma that’s blocking you from fully accepting one another and your magic, and that’s by opening each of your chakras.”

Twilight looked to Tree Hugger in confusion. “‘Chakras’?”

“It’s a kind Indian philosophy. The concept being that there are seven points of energy that follow the length the human spinal cord. Each one deals with a specific trait or feeling of life, and it’s said that opening each one releases positive energy into the body, or something like that,” explained Sunset.

“Very good. Yes, we’re going to open each of your chakras. In doing this, we’ll be able to get to the root of each your problems, and if the universe wills it, correct them. Our goal is to open each one, and once we start, we’re in it all the way.”

Tree Hugger’s face became serious, making Twilight and Sunset worry a little. “I’m not gonna lie girls, this is going to be intense, rough, and probably tear inducing stuff. Once we start opening them, you’re going to start feeling things that you might’ve been holding back, truths you kept from others, including yourself.”

Sunset looked to Twilight, and Twilight to Sunset. This was sounding a little scary, they were already on the edge with how things were, if what Tree Hugger said was true, then this might push them over that edge. Tree Hugger’s expression softened as she glanced to either girl.

“But so long as you continue to love each other, as long as you hold onto that, then everything will be alright, totally serene.”
Sunset and Twilight gave each other one final look, waiting to see if either of them held any last minute regrets. The serious look in their eyes confirmed that they were ready, nodding to Tree Hugger at the same time.

“Okay, Sunset, Twilight, I want you to focus on the red crystal for now. Feel your magical energies flow out and to the crystal, focus on it. This crystal will allow us to tap into the first of the seven, the Root Chakra, it’s name is Muladhara.”

Tree Hugger took in a deep breath, prompting Sunset and Twilight to do the same. The two magical girls focused their energy, letting it flow towards the crystal. It glowed a bright red, making Sunset’s aquamarine aura, and Twilight’s rosy-violet aura visible.

“Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…” Tree Hugger chanted.

Despite the weird chanting, somehow the mantra was working. The girls closed their eyes, letting them slip into a meditative state of slumber. Even though their eyes were closed, they could still see the red crystal, and one another. Suddenly, both girls felt a surge of energy, like getting struck with a lightning bolt.

Twilight and Sunset suddenly found themselves in astral form again, glowing in their respective colors of purple and yellow. A green orb of light appeared before them, even without form, they could sense that this was Tree Hugger.

“This chakra’s element is Earth, because it represents our ability to stand firm and resolute. This chakra deals with survival, our ability to stand up for ourselves, and is blocked by our fears. You two must conquer your fears, both of you are strong, but you need to show that you can stand on your own.”

Suddenly the orb of red light shot out a dividing wall of light, separating Twilight and Sunset from each other. Twilight panicked as she flew towards the wall, beating at it with her fists.

“SUNSET, SUNSET?!!!” Twilight shouted.

“See your fears, Sister Twilight…”

Twilight gasped, she had blinked her eyes just once and she suddenly found herself back at her house in Canterlot City. She was no longer just in her undergarments, but was wearing her blue blouse, with her violet skirt. She didn’t understand, they were just in Whitetail Woods.

“How did I get back here?”

Twilight looked about, it was definitely her room. She quickly made her way out the bedroom door and headed downstairs, but when she arrived, she gasped in horror. Her mother and father were lying dead on the floor, both having been shot execution style in the head. Twilight bounded down each step landing on the bottom step hard and kept on running to the bodies of her parents.

“MOM, DAD, NO!!!” Twilight cried. “WHO DID THIS, I’LL KILL YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE!!!”

“Then you don’t need to look far.”

Twilight did an about face, ready to transform and crush the infidel who dared to slay her beloved mother and father. But all her fury died when she saw the assailant, and saw herself. This other her was dressed in a black, form fitting suit. Her hair was done up in a spiky style, and strapped to her thighs were a pair of handguns. Ammo packs, a combat knife, and a little wrist mounted terminal computer, it all made this version of Twilight look like a secret agent assassin.

“What…Who…?”

“Don’t you see, you’re nothing but a weapon created by the Organization. All your genius and skills, all of it was just to make you into a perfect killer,” said Assassin Twilight.

“NO! I’m not just a weapon! I’m a person!”

Assassin Twilight scoffed. “Please, you don’t know anything about what they did to you. For all you know, you have commands implanted in your mind. Hypnotic suggestions set to activate to center stimuli. You’re a walking sleeper agent, a danger to everyone, and now that the Organization knows you’re alive, you might as accept the reality that someday soon, they’ll trigger whatever’s in that little naive mind of yours and then…”

The scene shifted, and Twilight was no longer in her house, but this time at Sweet Apple Acres.

“Why…Twilight…?”

The purple girl turned around, hearing the familiar voice of her friend, Applejack. Her eyes went wide when she saw that Applejack’s house was on fire. Suddenly, orchard was ablaze, every apple tree, burning to ashes around them. Even Applejack's home and her family barn was not spared.

Applejack held in her arms the body of her beloved little sister, Apple Bloom. Twilight’s eyes grew wide and began watering with tears.

“A-Applejack…!” Twilight moved closer and reached out towards Applejack, but paused when she saw a gun in her right hand. “W-What is this?!”

“Why did you do this, Twi?! My whole family…my home…how could ya take everythin’ away from me?!” Applejack cried out.

Twilight looked down at herself, seeing the same combat attire her other-self had one on was now on her. “I…I didn’t…I couldn’t!”

“‘You couldn’t’? That’s a complete load!”

Twilight turned around and saw her assassin-self standing before Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked at herself, seeing that the combat gear was gone. The Assassin Twilight had her boot against Rainbow’s throat, and a pistol aimed at her head.

“DON’T, STOP!!!” Twilight shouted.

Assassin Twilight pressed her boot harder against Rainbow’s throat, making the sports girl release strained breathing and gacking sounds. Rainbow reached up to Assassin Twilight, with this pleading, betrayed look on her face as if asking for mercy.

Assassin Twilight leaned down and looked at the tomboy and grinned sinisterly. “You wanted me, right Rainbow? Does this feel good? Maybe if you beg I’ll give you something good to look at before I blow your brains out.”

Twilight ran as fast as she could towards Assassin Twilight and cocked back her fist in preparation to punch her other-self. But the moment she made contact, Twilight passed through them as if they were made of air. She stumbled for a few steps before stopping. Twilight stiffened when she heard the sound of a gunshot.

“Looks like she didn’t beg hard enough.”

“NOOOOO!!!”

Sunset blinked, she looked around and saw that she was back in Canterlot City, or what was left of it. The city was in ruins, the sky turned blood red by some unknown phenomenon, and the quiet roar of distant flames drifted upon the winds. Sunset began breathing heavily, a part of her frightened at the sight of the city in such a state, but she had to keep her cool, it was just some mind game, she just had to keep telling herself that. Sunset decided to walk, heading down the familiar road, towards the place she had practically called home for the past couple of years, Canterlot High.

The school was definitely different, there were sentries placed at it, some of the boys of the school. One them she recognized as Flash Sentry, the other Big Mac. Both were donned in armor, and hefting automatic rifles and on their waists, swords. Sunset walked up to the rocker, cautiously, standing just a couple of feet from him, just enough to give her fighting room if need be.

“Flash…?” Sunset called out. “I-It’s me, Sunset Shimmer.”

No response.

Sunset turned her head towards the eldest Apple sibling. “Big Macintosh, you recognize me right? Sunset? Hello!”

Again, no response.

“What is with you two?! I’m standing right in front of you, why are you acting like a couple of Royal…Guards…”

Sunset took a moment to examine their armor, noticing that the emblem upon their breastplates was that of her own cutie mark. The former bad girl took a few steps back, shaking her head in disbelief of what she was seeing before her, her eyes locked with Flashes, and she gasped. Flash Sentry, as well as Big Mac’s eyes, were blank, with a faint ethereal glow to them. This was mind control magic.

“No but this…this is the plan I had originally…”

Sunset ran passed the two guards, either they did see her and paid her no mind, or if she was just a ghost to them was not really known, but she didn’t care, Sunset had to see the inside. Sunset had ran through the gate, seeing the Wondercolt Statue still present in the center of the quad, the front of the school appeared to have been blasted off and then remodeled into a wide doorway.

With a little fear in her heart, Sunset pressed on. She continued to walk through the halls, which had been adorned with pictures, memorializing her dark triumph. When Sunset reached the auditorium, she went pale.

Sitting atop a throne made of obsidian, was Hel, but her body seemed different. Her skin wasn’t made of plasma, there was no Firestorm insignia marks, and she seemed younger. But that wasn’t the worst part, neither was the fact that Hel was wearing the Element of Magic crown, no, what made her even sicker was what was around her.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were strung up by their wrists, their clothes in tatters, splotches of blood here and there, and looking half dead. Around their necks were plaques that read “The price of resistance is PAIN.” At the bottom of the stage where Rarity and Fluttershy, both adorned in some sort of skimpy slave girl outfits. Rarity had this completely blissed out, dazed look in her eyes, and Fluttershy’s looked as if she were anywhere but here. Both of them had plaques around their necks, Rarity’s said “Serve and obey, and receive pleasure”, and Fluttershy’s read “The perfect slave, quiet and attractive”.

“Like what I’ve done with the place? It’s everything I could’ve hoped for, well, if I were living in a dystopian novel, but you take what you can get.”

Sunset glared daggers at Hel and balled her fists in anger. “Damn you Hel! I knew you were sick and twisted, but I never thought --!”

“‘Hel’? Oh right, that imitation me. Funny story, I’m actually you.” The demoness interrupted.

“W-What?!”

“I’m you, no Firestorm anything or that Sparkle bitch, just me, my magic, and the Element of Magic! I am the true you, or really the true us, Sunset!”

Sunset shook her head in disbelief, this wasn’t what she wanted, how could this be? “I don’t…The Element of Magic should’ve just given me power, not turned me into…into…a monster!”

Demon Sunset chuckled haughtily and rose from her throne, her bat-like wings flapped and made her hover over to where Sunset was standing. The demoness landed softly onto the floor, looking down on her former self with piercing aquamarine eyes.

“Yeah, turns out the Element of Magic does give you power, but it also amplifies the feelings you have when you wear it. So pride, jealousy, and aggression turn into greed, envy, and wrath! I have conquered this world, and Equestria!” Demon Sunset proclaimed.

“NO! CELESTIA, THE OTHER ELEMENTS, THEY WOULD’VE STOPPED YOU!” Sunset shouted.

“Not if I had some help, turns out an alliance with the Sirens was more beneficial than I thought, they control Equestria, and I get to rule over this world. Sucking up its mana, making slaves of these pathetic humans, and torturing those who seem to rather die than serve me willingly.”

Sunset ran her hands through her hair, grunting frustratingly as she heard all this. This was the outcome of her ambitions, the pain she would cause, the mayhem that would ensue.

“Besides, this world is not without its perks.” Demon Sunset snapped her clawed fingers, suddenly two pillars of turquoise fire shot up from either side of her. “Where else can I have both the mare who was my mentor, and the bitch who replaced me, in the same place.”

The pillars fizzled out, revealing Celestia and Twilight. Both had the hypnotic gleam in their eyes, a collar around their necks, and sultry smiles. Celestia was wearing a skimpy white slave girl outfit, with cloth that barely covered her bust and a long skirt that only covered the front and back. Twilight was wearing the same thing, except hers was a darker violet. Demon Sunset hooked her long arms around the waists of both her captives, bringing them close to her.

Sunset watched with utter sickness how both her mentor and her girlfriend were now clinging onto her demon-self without a care.

“This is everything we ever wanted. We’re now the absolute rulers, nopony and no one is above us! Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight are just as much slutty mare slaves to the Sirens, my gift to them, while I get to have these two. This is what we want Sunset, and if you start now, there’s time to make all this come true,” the Demon offered.

“NEVER!!! All of this…This is not what I wanted, I’m not a monster!” Sunset insisted.

“You are, every time you belittled, every time you threw a punch, every time you contemplated ravaging this little smartass until she screamed your name in defeat and bliss,” Demon Sunset pulled at Twilight’s hair, yanking her head back and making her yelp in pain, “all of that was the true you!”

Sunset fell onto her rear, she couldn’t take all this, her heart and mind were tearing themselves apart. Demon Sunset looked upon her former self with pity.

“Oh, looks like you need a little taste of what conquest can bring. Ladies, show Sunset how good you can make her feel.”

“Yes Mistress,” said Celestia.

“Of course, Mistress,” replied Twilight.

Sunset snapped to her senses, watching as Celestia and Twilight slowly made their way towards her. She couldn’t take this, she couldn’t see this anymore. Sunset bolted for the auditorium doors, kicking them open and running as far away as she could from this nightmare.

“Run, run, little former me, but you can’t escape what you really are…!”

Twilight felt as if her heart was about die, she had witnessed so many atrocities by her hands. Even seen her Assassin-self kill people in droves with her magical powers and Firestorm powers combined. Now, now she stood helplessly atop Canterlot High’s roof, watching as Assassin Twilight held the last person left whom she loved by the throat, over the edge of the roof.

Assassin Twilight was glowing with rosy-violet light, a cold look in her eyes as she stared into Sunset’s eyes. Sunset was desperately trying to free herself, although, she seemed conflicted in trying any harder, seeing as how freedom would result in a three story fall straight to the ground.

“T-Twilight…Please…whatever they’ve done to you…snap out of it…! Y-You’re more than what they made you to be…!” Sunset pleaded.

“That is where you are wrong, do you honestly believe I could have feelings for such a blackhearted witch like you?!”

“I do have feelings for her…and she’s not blackhearted…”

“I-I’m sorry…Twilight, I was sorry for all of it! I…I thought you…you loved me…I loved you!”

Assassin Twilight brought Sunset closer to where the tips of her toes were touching the roof, she then leaned forward and kissed Sunset on the lips. Twilight gritted her teeth and turned away, watching her killer-self make out with the girl she loved made her want to retch. Assassin Twilight felt Sunset's struggle lessen, and eventually, she gave into the kiss. Both pulled away, with Assassin Twilight loosening her grip a little, allowing Sunset’s eyes to fill with hope.

“T-Twilight…?”

“Sunset…”

*Schlick!*

*Gasp*

Sunset looked down and saw a knife had been thrust into her heart, a magical aura had surrounded the weapon, making its entry flawless and soundless.

“……you’re so naive, must be that pony part of you. Do you honestly think, if I had such feelings, that I’d fall in love with someone who’s not even human?”

Sunset made a strained, coughing sound as the knife dug further into her. Assassin Twilight released her grip, and removed the knife with a flick of her wrist, allowing Sunset’s body to fall backwards off the edge.

“No…”

It was like watching everything in slow motion, each moment Sunset’s body fell a little more.

“No…”

Assassin Twilight turned around and slowly began making her way towards her.

“This is all we will ever be, another weapon, and this power…” Assassin Twilight’s body began to glow with magical power, raging like a tempest.

“No…!”

Suddenly, Twilight’s body began to glow as well, becoming as intense and as powerful as Assassin Twilight’s aura. But it seemed tamer and focused than the assassin’s. Suddenly, Twilight vanished from Assassin Twilight’s sight, she quickly turned around and saw her other self, holding Sunset in her arms, floating just a few inches off the ground.

“I can’t deny what I feel. Yes, I know that I might be a weapon, in fact, I’ve suspected subconscious programming for a long time. But…” Twilight’s rosy aura flowed into the wound on Sunset’s heart, closing it. “I will not, nor will I ever, be an instrument of this world’s destruction!”

Assassin Twilight gave her other self a steely glare. “How can you be sure? You’re nothing but a danger to all who are around you, in the end, you will be the death of them all.”

Twilight shook her head. “You’re wrong…I made the mistake of thinking that it’s all on me, that I could protect them from all the evil that created me, and would no doubt hunt me down. But now, I’ve realized that I can’t continue trying! I can’t keep the truth from them, but I can do my best to be a shield to defend them!”

Assassin Twilight fired a beam of rosy magical energy, but Twilight threw up a shield in the form of a six-pointed star which blocked the beam, making it wash over her like a stone in the river. The assassin ceased her attack and continued to glare at her.

“And if you become that which will kill them, what then?”

“I’ll just have to believe,” said Twilight.

“Believe in what?!”

Twilight looked to Sunset, seeing her face regain its color as she groaned with life. She then smiled and looked at her Assassin-self with confidence. “In friendship…and in love!”

Assassin Twilight shook her head and turned her back to Twilight. “You’re unbearably naive…but,” Assassin Twilight glanced over her shoulder and gave a small grin, “stranger things have happened.”

Suddenly, Twilight heard something like the chiming of a bell, and felt a surge of power flow from deep within her.

“Well done Sister Twilight, well done.”

Sunset ran through the streets, ending up at the center of Canterlot City, where the damage was just as extensive. She had fallen to her knees, out of breath, and shaking in despair and sadness at what her actions wrought. Demon Sunset appeared, along with her two concubines, Celestia and Twilight. An army of mind controlled citizens had surrounded Sunset from every street, cutting off any and all exits.

Demon Sunset flew overhead, smiling wickedly at her weak self. “Just stop running, and embrace what we really are! A monster, yes, but a monster with power!”
Celestia knelt down beside Sunset, cupping her cheek and leading her to look at the older woman. “It’s really not so bad, Sunset, you do treat us very well.”

Twilight took her left side and cupped the other cheek, bringing Sunset’s eyes to her girlfriend. “It’s true, I’ve never felt so loved, and so free. You’ve become a great lover, and one that I would never betray, we both feel that way.”

“Just give in, Sunset.

“Just give in, my love.”

Demon Sunset began to descend, she then wrapped her arms around Sunset’s neck and cooed into her ear. “Just let me in…and we will take this world for ourselves…!”
Sunset’s eyes were watering, she couldn’t believe how sickeningly sweet their words were, like honey from the purest source was being poured into her ears. She could feel it, her primal urges, her thirst for power, the need to make these two women hers along with the whole world.

‘You’re past does not define who you are…’

Something clicked in Sunset, something freeing that drowned out all the pain and sadness.

“Power…was all I desired…”

“What are you doing…?”

“But all that grew inside me…Was the darkness I acquired…!”

Sunset’s body began to flicker with golden flames, Demon Sunset backed away, feeling the flames prick at her skin like burning needles.

“When I began to fall…And I lost the path ahead…”

The flames grew bigger and bigger, surrounding herself, Twilight, and Celestia. Their eyes lost the glimmer of the mind control magic, bringing them back to their senses.

“That’s when your friendship guided me, and it lifted me instead~!”

Sunset rose to her feet and turned to face her demon-self, which was now giving an unearthly growl of anger.

“Like the phoenix burning bright, in the sky! I’ll show there’s another side of me
You can’t deny!”

Demon Sunset brought up both her hands, summoning turquoise flames until they were the size of a cannon ball. She thrust both arms forward, firing a bellowing inferno that threatened to engulf her former self, along with Celestia and Twilight. Sunset slapped both hands together and spread her arms out in a wide arc. The golden flames morphed into the shape of her cutie mark, just in time for the turquoise flames to crash into it.

“I may not know what the future holds
But hear me when I say!”

The golden flames became more intense, making the shield expand to twice the size of the turquoise inferno.

“That my past does not define me!
‘Cause my past is not today!”

Sunset waved her right hand in front of her, causing the shield to fire back at the turquoise inferno, causing the flames to cancel each other out. Demon Sunset roared out in hate as she took to the skies.

“Think about what you’re doing?! Are you really going to give up everything?! All that planning, all that time and patience, and you’re just going to give it up f-for what?! Friendship?! Love?!”

Sunset’s gaze turned downcast for a moment, but then Twilight appeared next to her, placing her hand on Sunset’s right shoulder and flashing her a confident, adorable smile. And to her left was Celestia, smiling proudly at her…daughter? Foster child? In this world, this Celestia had acted as just as much a mother to Sunset as her real one. The golden flames returned, wrapping around Twilight and Celestia, adorning them in their regular attire, rather than the degrading outfits her demon self forced them into.

“Ambition, is what I believed, would be the only way

To set me free…”

“GRRRRR, ENOUGH!!!” Demon Sunset charged for Sunset, baring her razor sharp claws for the kill.

“But when it disappeared…”

Sunset took a few steps forward.

“And I found myself alone…”

Suddenly, six golden pillars of fire appeared behind Celestia and Twilight. The pillars dispersed, revealing Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Luna.

“That’s when you came and got me…!
And it felt like I was home~!”

Sunset balled her right fist, now blazing with golden fire. She then dashed for her demon-self and struck her in the face. A concussive shockwave rang out as Demon Sunset was propelled into a building. Demon Sunset quickly pulled herself free and saw that her former self was now hovering above her in the air, looking down on her with both pity and defiance.

“Like a phoenix burning bright in the sky! I’ll show there’s another side to me
You can’t deny~!”

Demon Sunset watched as Sunset rose higher and higher into the air. The sky changed from its red hue to night, but that was not to last. The sun crested upon the horizon, chasing away the darkness of the night. Demon Sunset blazed with black and turquoise flames as she flew towards Sunset, roaring an unholy roar, full of malice and murder.

“I may not know what the future holds
But hear me when I say!”

The flames swirled around Sunset, but they quickly took form.

“That my past does not define me
‘Cause my past is not today~!!!”

The flames took the form of two golden feathered wings, along with a flaming tail. Sunset’s body was glowing with a bright aura as her red and yellow locks flowed in the ethereal winds that was her power. At that moment the sun fully rose and bathed the sky in morning hues, intensifying the radiant light that emanated from Sunset Shimmer. Demon Sunset’s flames were overpowered, leaving her bare before the radiant light of Sunset’s awakening.

With a flick of her right hand, Sunset released a beam of golden light that struck Demon Sunset, hurling her into the street below. The dark influence on the citizens was released, many looking to the sky, watching the radiant fire angel descending down to the Earth. Sunset landed with a soft pat of her boots against the pavement. She carefully walked over to the crater where her demon-self was thrown and looked down at what was left.

It was herself, clothed in the same attire she received upon entering the human world, only now she was beaten and dirtied. Sunset knelt down at the edge of the crater, hearing the soft sobbing of her dark side. Alter Sunset looked up and saw the flaming angel that was now her stronger, turning away from her gaze.

“Don’t look at me!” Alter Sunset spat.

“Why not?”

“Because…I’m nothing now…I was nothing before…I won’t go back to that! I’ve worked too hard to not get everything that I deserved!”

Sunset felt her heart ache, this was her fear, the true embodiment of where her ambition and pride originated from. “We did work hard, we got everything we hoped to achieve…and yet, it wasn’t enough, was it?”

Alter Sunset rubbed her face, trying to wipe away the tears, but they wouldn’t stop. “No…I wanted others to recognize my power, my abilities! Princess Celestia did that…she acknowledged my raw power and talent…and yet…”

“I understand…” Sunset floated down into the crater, now kneeling before her Altar as she continued to refuse eye contact. “Princess Celestia knew about this, she saw this part me. The part that was still a scared little filly, who was afraid of losing everything she gained for her family, but in so doing, I became prideful and greedy, wanting more praise and more power, to ensure nothing and no one could take away what I had thought I earned, I even tried to take more of Princess Celestia’s acknowledgement…”

“She gave us a chance…I just wanted to make her proud,” said Altar Sunset.

“I think she’d be proud now.”

“That human version doesn’t count!” Altar Sunset shot back.

“I don’t know, this Celestia’s nice, and if she still believed in the goodness in me, then, why not the Princess?” Sunset speculated.

Altar Sunset sniffled. “Maybe…”

Sunset offered her hand to Altar Sunset. “We don’t have to be afraid anymore, we have friends now.”

Both looked up and saw Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing at the edge of the crater. Celestia and Luna came up next, both arm in arm and smiling down at the Sunsets. And finally, Twilight, kneeling down at the edge of the crater and giving both girls a loving smile.

“And not to mention a hot, nerdy girlfriend. So what do you say?”

Altar Sunset hesitantly extended her right hand towards Sunset’s, with a final push she placed her hand in the others. Altar Sunset transformed into particles of aquamarine light, flowing up Sunset’s arm and into her body.

“Congratulations, Sister Sun.”

Tree Hugger brought both her hands into a prayer position and they glowed with green light. The four petaled ruby gem ceased its glow, releasing the auras of both Sunset and Twilight. Both girls released a content sigh, and opened their eyes. When they did, they were surprised to see that the other had tear streaks on their faces.

“Were…Were we crying?” Sunset asked.

Tree Hugger nodded. “Do not be embarrassed, or discouraged. It’s not always easy to face what we fear, which is why this chakra is the first on the path to the others, and why it’s the Root Chakra. It gives us stability, a grounding point. The fact that you both have opened this chakra means you do have what it takes to get through this. Namaste.” Tree Hugger bowed to them.

Sunset and Twilight turned to Tree Hugger and bowed back. “Namaste.”

Tree Hugger rose to her feet and made the ruby float to her hand. “Well, Sisters, I think that’s a righteous start on our journey.”

Twilight stood, on shaky legs, but Sunset hurried to her side and helped steady her. The purple girl smiled at her girlfriend, and addressed Tree Hugger. “I think we can keep going…wouldn’t it be better to continue?”

Tree Hugger eyed both girls and then shook her head. “I don’t like to stifle your ‘can-do’ attitude, but after going through all that, your bodies are drained, mentally and physically. ‘Sides, you need some time for the chakra’s energy to flow through your body and get acclimated. Plus, the next one’s going to be a little…intense…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean, ‘intense’?”

“Heh, heh…that’d be telling. Anyway, just hit the hay for now.”

Twilight and Sunset wanted to continue with the openings, but at this point they were starting to feel the toll that the ordeal took on them. In the end they decided to sleep, with Sunset helping Twilight out the door.

Tree Hugger had used her magic to construct another living space for them, a shanti shack of their own. Sunset helped Twilight lie down on her mat, and then rolled onto hers. Twilight and Sunset were lying on their backs, staring up at the ceiling as their minds went over everything they went through.

“Sunset?”

“Yeah, Sparky?”

“Did you see some things…?”

Sunset clenched her hand around the blanket. “Horrible…things. And you?”

Twilight mimicked her action. “Terrible things…”

“Guess we both have demons, in my case…literally…”

“Want to talk about it?” Twilight asked.

Sunset turned to Twilight, seeing that she had turned to face her as well. “Only if you want to, I don’t want to make you have to relive it.”

Twilight’s smile was faint, but it was there. “I actually feel like talking to you about it, Sunny. My fears…if you want to.”

The Equestrian smiled and extended her arm towards Twilight, placing her hand over Twilight’s left. “Only if you don’t mind hearing my sad sack story…”

“I’m all ears.”

Entry 29: Forgiveness

Last night proved to be an eye opener for both Sunset and Twilight, learning of the other’s true fears. Twilight seemed a little dubious about the “slave girl” part of that vision she had, accusing Sunset of having some underlining fantasy about her that somehow made its way into the vision. Sunset’s reaction to this was blushing up to her ears and mumbling incoherently. Despite this, today was a new day, and they needed to get going.

Sunset and Twilight headed back to Tree Hugger’s shack, where the hippie girl was already ready for them. At the center of the mandala was an orange jasper like crystal, carved into the shape of six petaled lotus. Tree Hugger made a gesture for them to set, and the two girls took their positions yet again. There was some slight hesitance in their movements, even though they were able to get over their underlying fears, they were shown visions of horrible things, and that was just the first chakra!

“Sisters Sun and Twilight, are you two ready?” Tree Hugger asked.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” said Sunset.

“Whatever we need to do, let’s do it,” replied Twilight.

Tree Hugger nodded.

“Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…Oooooommmm…Neeeeeiiiiiigggghh…”

Sunset and Twilight focused their magical energies and let them flow into the crystal. The crystal reacted instantly, latching onto their auras and drawing them in. Within several seconds the two girls were transported into the crystalline structure, surrounded by the orange hue of the focusing crystal. The sensation felt different from that of the root chakra, but somehow similar.

“The second is the Sacral Chakra, its name is Svadisthana. This one’s element is water, it controls, creativity, pleasure, and joy, and it’s blocked by our guilt. In life we feel guilt, whether it is for something small or for something big, but if not dealt with it will consume you, and drown you in self-loathing and disgust. You must learn to forgive yourselves, or be crushed by your guilt and shame.”

Once again and dividing wall of light shot up between Sunset and Twilight, it didn’t scare them as bad this time, they figured this would happen again. But what they were worried about was what kind of vision the crystal would create to bring their guilt to light.

Sunset saw darkness, yet her body stood out, bright and glowing against the black backdrop. Suddenly a window of light opened up, it was big enough that it looked like a sixty inch TV. The window glowed and shifted, showing her a scene from her past.

It was Sunset as she was back in Equestria, Celestia - Princess Celestia - was standing before her, looking down at her with sadness.

“Sunset, why do you continue to act this way? I’ve been hearing some very unsettling things about the way you’ve been acting towards you fellow classmates at my school,” said Celestia.

Pony Sunset rolled her eyes. “Sorry if a bunch of rich, preppy ponies can’t compete with my abilities, it’s not my fault I’m better than them!”

“But flaunting it and shaming the other students? Why?”

Pony Sunset’s face scrunched in anger. “Because they deserved it! All my young life I had to deal with hearing how I wasn’t as good as them, how my parents had to work for the parents of rich foals, and hearing them use that against me whenever I walked these halls, or tried to talk to them!”

“Now the horseshoe is on the other hoof! Not only have I proven that I’m the best, I make sure and remind them of that each and every day! All that money and lineage,and yet not a one can hold a candle to me! Why shouldn’t I show them that they’ll never surpass me or even come to within a tenth of an inch of my talent?!”

Sunset hugged herself as she watched all this transpire, from this side, she could hear all the malice and misguided pride in her own voice. Did she really sound like that? Was she really so arrogant and prideful?

Multiple windows appeared around her, showing the deeds she had committed. One showed Sunset conjuring a dragon made of fire, snuffing out the flame spells of all the other unicorn students, and giving a mighty roar to scare them as she chuckled with glee.

Another showed a unicorn mare talking to her, she was smiling, and looked cheerful. Sunset remembered her, she was from a noble family and was known around the school as pretty much the nicest and friendliest mare you’ll ever meet. In a lot of ways she reminded her of Fluttershy, of course the pink mane and richer shade of yellow didn’t help the association.

Sunset remembered, the mare only wanted to be friends, if anything, she was probably the one genuine pony in the school who didn’t care about her own family’s wealth, but valued others. But Pony Sunset didn’t care, she had no interest in friends, and if she did, she never wanted them to be nobles, not the very same ones who looked down on her.

Besides, they weren’t to be trusted, the politics of such a class was always to backstab and ride the coattails of others for greater influence. Pony Sunset showed what she thought of this mare, violently using her magic to throw her against the wall and made it a point to be loud about how she didn’t care about anyone, and that they were all beneath her.

Sunset dug her nails into her arms, nearly breaking the skin as the pain of this scene struck her heart. Then the other part of this scene played out, remembering that that mare was wearing a particularly nice dress, upon which Sunset summoned a telekinetic gust of wind that slashed the dress to ribbons, exposing her. If that were done in this human world the ramifications would be greater, but that didn’t lessen the severity of the act nor the tearful eyes of that mare.

The window with her pony-self and Princess Celestia appeared again, while the others continued to play out her worst moments in silence.

“Sunset, please, I don’t like you acting this way. Why do you insist on doing these things, especially given how you’ve been given so many great opportunities to make friends?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Friends, friends, friends! That’s all you ever talk about! I don’t need friends! If I want to get stronger and better I need to learn more, push my magic further! And besides that’ll be a moot point once the Elements choose me,” said Pony Sunset.

Princess Celestia’s eyes widened. “Sunset…”

“I know about the legend, Princess Celestia, I know that one day, Nightmare Moon will return! That’s why you chose me, right?! You chose me because I’m stronger and more capable to help you in the coming battle with Nightmare Moon! The only thing that can defeat her are the Elements of Harmony, and since your sister, the former Princess Luna went mad, it left you to carry the burden of using them alone, but not anymore!”

Pony Sunset walked up to Princess Celestia, who had fallen back on her haunches in a state of dumbfounded shock.

“I can be an alicorn too! I know the Rite of Ascension lies with you! We can do it together, it’s what you’ve been grooming me for, to be a Princess and destroy Nightmare Moon!”

“Stop it…”

“Princess…?”

“I don’t want to hear such talk from you Sunset Shimmer!” Princess Celestia spoke in a harsh whisper. “I didn’t choose you because of that, I shouldn’t be so surprised, you are a bright young mare, it was only a matter of time before you pieced together the prophecy that so many have forgotten…But do not presume that is all I have planned for you, my hopes for you are bigger than that! Is that all you really seek?! To just rule?!” Princess Celestia asked.

Pony Sunset scoffed. “It wasn’t hard to put together once I figured it out, but it is the most logical outcome. I mean, c’mon, who else is better to be a Princess and rule by your side?”

“Then you miss the true nature of the Elements of Harmony, they are not a weapon of destruction, but salvation! Otherwise they would’ve just destroyed Nightmare Moon - Luna - all those years ago! So do not presume so much, and as far as I have seen, Sunset Shimmer, you have not done a single thing worthy of Ascension.”

Sunset remembered those words, they cut her deeper than any blade, and then that blade was twisted again and again. She remembered snapping at that moment, and saying things she’d regret for the rest of her life.

Pony Sunset went quiet as she backed away from Princess Celestia. “I see…and that Mi Amore Cadenza has?”

“What are you talking about,” asked Celestia.

“I know for a fact that she is not related to you by any royal blood! And yet you adopted her and called her niece because she’s an alicorn!”

Pony Sunset pointed an accusatory hoof at Princess Celestia. “So what did she do to become alicorn princess?! What ‘worthy’ deed did she commit that was so valiant and so great that it was worthy of such an honor?! Her magic seems to be centered around love from what I’ve seen, is that how she got it?! Did she have to thrill you in bed?! If that’s all that was needed then we could’ve gotten to that years ago!”

“Sunset!”

“Or maybe the rumors were true, and you were secretly screwing your own little sister!” Pony Sunset spat with venom. “So you ascended this slut of a mare and adopted her, just so you could recapture a bit of that thrill from the old -!”

Pony Sunset suddenly felt a strong strike against her left cheek, and the intense stinging sensation that followed that made her eyes water. Sunset looked to her assaulter, Princess Celestia, who had this great glare beaming down on Pony Sunset with tears in those narrowed eyes. Yet Pony Sunset did not flinch, shooting back with her own glare.

“Heh, you know what, Princess? You know what’s really sad? That this is your legacy.”

Princess Celestia’s glare broke for a moment.

“You drove your own little sister into becoming a monster because you wouldn’t give her the one thing she wanted most! To be seen as an equal, to be respected, and adored like you are! And here we are again, another blunder, the faithful student who became a total tyrant under our high and mighty Princess’ snout! Behold your second failure, Princess!”

Pony Sunset turned around and made her way to the throne room doors. Celestia was stunned, tears falling from her eyes as she quickly rose to stop Pony Sunset.

“Sunset, please wait -!”

“You know, if you want to stop me from becoming a monster, you should bust out the Elements now. It took a lot for you to just banish Nightmare Moon, can you imagine if I became a Nightmare too? So go ahead, we’ll make it a public thing, you can tell my parents why their daughter is going to be banished to another realm! Maybe the Sun since the Moon is occupied, it’d be poetic, no?”

With that, Pony Sunset continued forward, leaving the room and a crying Celestia.

“Please…I’m sorry…” Sunset whispered as she reached towards the window, trying to go to her crying mentor. “I’m so sorry…”

Suddenly the windows multiplied even more, showing Sunset in her human form. All the wicked, and near criminal acts she committed against her fellow classmates. The threats, the verbal abuse, the physical abuse, and everything in between. Another of her greatest mistakes showed itself, showing her as she singlehandedly ruined the friendships of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity.

Sending texts and watching the mayhem unfold, chuckling like a sinister villain as each of the five friends became enemies and further divided the school. Sunset felt all the strength in her legs give out, making her fall to her knees, crying in shame of all she had done to everyone and everypony around her.

Suddenly the windows started to turn into streams of light that shout out towards the distance. The light turned into the people and ponies she had wronged, all walking towards her like an army ready to slay the terrible beast that had plagued their land.

“I deserve this…”

The people turned into water, which then melded with each other. Before long they became a raging tsunami that was hundreds of feet high. Sunset could feel it, all the guilt, all the anger, all of it would wash over her and crush her under its might, and she knew this was what she deserved for hurting so many.

“Do you really believe that?”

Sunset opened her eyes, scanning the darkness. In a flash of fire and light, a being appeared before her, and it was herself, in Firestorm form no less.

“What…What did you say?” Sunset asked.

“I didn’t stutter, I asked you: do you really believe that? That you deserve all this?” Firestorm Sunset pointed towards the raging wall of water that was getting closer.

“Of course I do! I’ve done nothing but hurt everyone around me! I don’t deserve what I have…they have every right to take it all away…”

“If that’s the case, why do you fight?”

Sunset bit her lip.

“You saw what the Organization has done, and you realized that it was what you would eventually become if you continued. You’ve changed since then, now you are on the path to redemption,” said Firestorm Sunset.

“Fighting the Organization’s not enough…it’s not enough to atone for everything I’ve done…”

“Have you forgotten that Fluttershy forgives you? That Rainbow Dash has seen past her jealousy and hate of you and seen the hero within? And how Celestia, this world’s Celestia, loves you like a daughter? She never stopped believing in the good in you!”

Sunset’s mind flashed back to those moments, Fluttershy’s forgiveness, Rainbow’s understanding and friendship, and Celestia’s love.

“Others will follow in due time, but all that will mean nothing, if you can’t forgive yourself. Let go of it, for both our sakes,” said Firestorm Sunset.

The tsunami wall was almost upon them and soon to smother them under the pressure of hundreds of tons of guilt made manifest. But then…

Sunset took a deep breath, centering herself. She then looked up to the wall of water, shifting with the various forms of all the ponies and people she had wronged, and spoke with all the sincerity and honesty in her heart.

“I’m sorry.”

The wall of water froze in place, as if time stood still. The wave then shrunk to the size of a marple and splashed on Sunset’s face, yet, when it did, a great sense of relief and weight had been lifted from her shoulders, a weight that she didn’t know she was carrying. Firestorm Sunset smiled down at Sunset and nodded her approval.

“Well done.”

“No…don’t!”

Hel was standing before Atomic Skull, her index and ring claw pointed at his forehead like a gun. Twilight tried to tear her eyes away from the sight, but it was no use, as if some unseen force glued her eyes to the scene. Black and aquamarine energy flowed through Hel’s arm and into her fingers, and within a second, the energy released.

Atomic Skull fell backwards as the bolt of energy shot through his head and ended his life then and there. Twilight cried, holding herself as the guilt welled up inside her and rose to the surface. The scene shifted and showed Twilight, Cadance, her mother, and her father standing at the burial of her big brother, Shining Armor.

“It’s all my fault…if he never took me in…if we never met, Shining Armor would still be alive if it weren’t for me…”

The scene shifted again, showing Twilight and Sunset the night they became Hel. Twilight watched herself, seeing the reactions on Sunset’s face when she pulled away, the hurt look on her face. Twilight knew she hurt Sunset, more than just because of the Hel incident, but because she made her think that her being from another world, not being human, disgusted her.

“I didn’t mean it like that…Sunset…I was just scared and…and…”

Twilight fell to her knees, feeling the guilt and pain grasp at her heart. She hurt those close to her, and soon, the evil that created her would fall upon her friends and their families. The darkness began to encroach upon Twilight, running up her legs, and threatening to cover her in its inky darkness.

“Do you honestly think that you are beyond redemption?” Twilight opened her eyes and gasped upon seeing herself in Firestorm form. “If you truly believed that, then you would’ve stopped fighting long ago.”

“How can you say that…? I…I…”

“Twilight, has Sunset, even once, said she hated you? That she wanted nothing to do with you?” Firestorm Twilight asked.

Twilight paused, searching through her memories as she played the last few weeks that had them apart from each other. There was pain in those aquamarine eyes, but there was no sign of hatred, no resentment, just loneliness, and wanting to be with the person she cared about.

“No…she didn’t.”

The darkness stopped its movement.

“And did Shining Armor ever once regret taking you in? Did Velvet and Night Light blame you for their son’s death?”

Once again, the answer was no. They all cried and mourned for the loss of Shining Armor, there was no blame, no hate, just crying, and comforting.

The darkness seemed to retreat from Twilight, but there was still something that weighed in her heart that kept the remaining inky blackness from releasing her. Firestorm Twilight knelt down before her human self and cupped the crying Twilight’s cheek gently.

“You still won’t forgive yourself for killing Atomic Skull?”

“I…I…”

“Shh,” Firestorm Twilight brought her other self into a gentle hug, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her, “I know it was painful, and I know Hel was out of control. But you must realize, despite her actions, however brutal, it prevented the lives of many more from being taken. You know how she is now, you know what to do when the time comes for Hel to come out again. And you won’t be alone, you’ll have Sunset.”

Twilight looked up at Firestorm Twilight, seeing the sincere smile upon her face. She was right, Sunset would be there, and this guilt about keeping herself distant from Sunset because of the rampage of Hel, it was only hurting them.

“Just let go, Twilight, forgive yourself.”

Twilight took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, feeling the pain and the guilt that had wrapped around her heart like a thorny vine release. The darkness dispersed, giving way to a brighter world, and vision of Sunset.

Tree Hugger smiled, sensing the opening of their both girls’ chakras at the same time. Using her magic yet again, Tree Hugger released both girls from the crystal’s hold and allowed them to return to the physical world.

Sunset held her head as she tried to regain some semblance of where she was. When she saw Twilight sitting across from her and Tree Hugger to her left who bowed to her and Twilight respectively. She felt lighter, like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, Sunset looked to Twilight again and before she could say anything, the purple girl quickly moved to her girlfriend and embraced her tightly. Sunset was taken off-guard by the sudden show of affection, but considering what they were shown, this was probably in response to the vision.

Tree Hugger watched as Sunset returned the embrace, swiftly calling back the jasper lotus crystal to her hands with the use of her magic.

“It’s not easy to forgive one’s self, but it is a necessary thing to move forward into the future, as well as into one’s relationship,” said Tree Hugger with a smile.

Embarrassed blushes colored both girls’ cheeks, but neither one broke their embrace. Such was the guilt that they harbored towards many things in their young lives was released, and now another step had been taken forward into making things right in their lives and their power. Twilight and Sunset separated from each other and turned to bow to Tree Hugger.

“Namaste,” they spoke in unison.

“Namaste my sisters. Do you want to try for the third or just call it a day? Totally cool if you want to, no need to rush.”

Twilight and Sunset looked to each other again, both could see the determination in the other’s eyes. They both nodded to Tree Hugger in affirmation that they did want to continue in opening the next chakra.

“Righteous, let’s take a break first, a little tea to calm the nerves and put a fire in the belly, ‘cause that’s the next one,” said Tree Hugger.

The hippie girl rose to her feet and began brewing a kettle of some herbal tea, Sunset and Twilight sat and watched, talking to each other about their experiences within their visions. But as they talked, a question popped into Sunset’s head, one that had been nagging at her ever since they came to their “guru’s” home.

“Tree Hugger, are you and Fluttershy…y’know, together?” Sunset asked.

“Sunset!” Twilight scolded. “That’s not our business!”

“It’s just a question, Sparky.”

Tree Hugger chuckled as she watched the tea begin to bubble. “Actually, in a way, Shy-Shy and I are together.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “‘In a way?’ How exactly?”

Tree Hugger levitated a couple of cups to her and poured the tea into them before passing the cups to Sunset and Twilight. “I met Shy-Shy while at a convention for preserving endangered wildlife. She was like a wide-eyed puppy, scampering around, curious and energetic about being around likeminded people. I was my role to help newcomers, and I was partnered with Shy-Shy. Now I’ve met a lot of people, but Shy-Shy, she had this aura that just radiated it’s own kind of magic, and whenever we got around animals, even those that would probably bite your hand off, she just went up to them and petted them, and they practically rolled over for her.”

“Not surprising, Fluttershy was always sneaking in animals into the school, and oddly enough she had pretty good control of them, like they couldn’t help but not listen to her,” said Sunset.

“Well, it’s documented that animals sense emotions of other creatures, humans especially. Fluttershy’s innate kindness must act as a pacifying presence that calms more aggressive tendencies in animals and just makes them feel safe listening to her. Might be more of an emotional language than vocal - OW!” Twilight shouted as she felt Sunset suddenly bop her on the head. “What was that for?!”

Sunset smirked as she answered, “You were going into Nerd Mode again, Sparky.”

Twilight puffed out her cheeks and went back to sipping her tea.

Tree Hugger couldn’t help but giggle at their antics, remembering how she and Fluttershy acted around each other. “Well, anyway, I do have feelings for Shy-Shy, I even kissed her.”

Sunset and Twilight just balked at Tree Hugger.

“You mean on the cheek?” Sunset asked.

“Nuh-uh.”

“On the forehead?” Twilight tried.

“Nope.”

Tree Hugger took her left finger and placed it gently on her own lips.

“ON THE LIPS?!” Twilight and Sunset cried.

The fact that Fluttershy would allow anyone to do that must’ve meant that she either really, really, really trusted Tree Hugger, or she truly had feelings for this hippie girl. But just as quickly as Tree Hugger’s happy smile appeared, it diminished slightly.

“Yeah…but I can never be with Shy-Shy, not like am.”

“Okay, what are you talking about?” Sunset asked.

“Since I was a little girl, I’ve always had a connection to the Earth’s spirit. It’s mana practically danced with me and was always by my side. But…whenever I entered a city, surrounded by steel, concrete, and lifelessness, it was like being choked…” Tree Hugger gently rested her right hand over her throat, as if remembering a phantom pain. “When I’m around Shy-Shy, I don’t feel suffocated, like Mother Earth herself resided in Shy-Shy. But whenever I was apart from her, I was like that again.”

Twilight looked dismayed at this news. “Well…the convention you mentioned, was that not in the city?”

Tree Hugger shook her head. “It was at a preserve in the next state over, surrounded by wilderness. Heh, that was a fun two weeks with Shy-Shy.”

“So you’ve stayed in contact, and she visits?” Sunset inquired.

“She does, and we do. But as far as being her life partner…that’s not good for Shy-Shy.” Tree Hugger put up a hand, seeing how both girls were about to speak. “I know what you’re going to say, but Shy-Shy doesn’t need to be weighed down by me. I am a tree, and Shy-Shy’s a bird, I’ll always be here, but she was meant to fly. To help others, animals, people, whatever she wants.”

“But…But what if Fluttershy wanted to you now! If what you feel for her is real, and what she feels is the same then -!”

“Again, I’ll always be here. If Shy-Shy wants to come and be with me, that’ll be her choice, but only after she’s done all she’s wanted. But if she finds happiness with another person…well…I’ll always be her soulmate, and she mine.”

Twilight and Sunset glanced at each other, hearing this about Fluttershy and Tree Hugger, it made them realize just how lucky they were to be this close, when those two couldn’t.

ORGANIZATION RESEARCH BASE DELTA…

[Tell me again oh Dusk Shine, why was it that my two prototypes were so thoroughly destroyed and yet you neglected to tell me?!]

Dusk Shine, wearing a visor over his eyes, worked with a 3D model of the Firestorm Matrix, piecing together things he had learned from the data he had collected on his “big sister’s” latest evolution in power. However, Professor Ivo had been constantly pestering him about the androids.

“For the last time, Ivo, your androids were lost in a battle against a Firestorm user that the Organization has been tracking down for some time now,” said Dusk.

[Curious though, I didn’t really bat an eye when you wanted to borrow both of them. One would be more than sufficient to deal with your ‘Firestorm’, but two was overkill. Still, considering the nature of your party’s business, I could see the need for it. But given the Firestorm Protocols’ abilities, I’m still at a loss as to how both my creations could be annihilated so easily. Perhaps if you shared the data…]

Dusk Shine glanced at his holographic monitor and smirked. “Now, now, Professor Ivo, you can’t expect me to just give you the data and reveal some trade secrets, do you? Besides…” With a flick of his wrist, Dusk Shine sent a small file icon to the monitor. “I have redacted the parts pertaining to the Firestorm Protocols, and left you with the necessary data for Project Amazo. Though, considering what the Firestorm Protocols can do, it may make your ‘super android’ obsolete.”

Professor Ivo chuckled. [We’ll see, Dusk Shine, it is the inevitable truth that machines will someday surpass, humanity, we’ve gone as far as we can with our evolution, it’s time for regime change.]

“Coming from a fellow human being, I find it hard to believe you want to advance the destruction of your own race. Or do you seek to be the master of these future robotic overlords? Honestly between you and T. O. Morrow, it’s like you’re trying to see who can create the better robot,” Dusk Shine queried.

Professor Ivo chuckled yet again. [And what of you? Do you believe these Protocols will truly advance human evolution? Make us ‘gods’? The Organization is only interested in war, money, and the perpetuation of both. ‘Gods’ though we could become, do you think there will be anything left when a war of gods ignites and engulfs the world? Have you ever heard of Ragnarok?]

Dusk Shine maneuvered another piece of the atomic puzzle into place, completing half of another Matrix. “Yes, but as you well know, Ivo, a new world was brought out from the ashes of the old world. Fire renews the Earth, and makes way for the strong and worthy to rise up.”

Entry 30: What is Revealed

Entry 30: What is Revealed

Spike yelped and barked as he ran around the dog park, occasionally chasing a squirrel or two, or just playing with a group of dogs. Of course, Spike wasn’t alone, he was brought here by the only other human he actually trusted, Fluttershy. She was busy setting at a bench, keeping him in her field of vision at all times. Once in awhile a human guy would show up and try to hit on the shy girl, but Spike was quick to come to her aid and get between them.

The young dog knew Fluttershy well enough to know when she was feeling uncomfortable around people, even if they liked animals or had one of their own. Just as much human males, sometimes a lot of dogs would crowd her, and Spike once again came to her aid, doing crowd control. She didn’t mind it, but even Spike knew that being at the bottom of a dog pile wasn’t fun.

He knew she couldn’t help it, Fluttershy just had this aura, this feeling of safety and kindness that just drew you to her, and made you want to protect her. Spike had witnessed, multiple times, how the shy girl would stroll up to the meanest, biggest dogs or animal in general and speak to it calmly and nicely without any fear. And it never ceased to amaze him how said animal would just willingly release its anger and negative emotions in her presence, and more often than not ended up protecting Fluttershy from other meaner things.

Still, even though Spike liked being around Fluttershy, he was still missing Twilight. She had been gone with Sunset for three days straight now and no word from her. Even as he ran around the park, Spike was mentally kicking himself or not speaking up when he had the chance.

But then again, how the heck am I supposed to explain to Twilight that I can talk now?

Truthfully, Spike was unsure of why he was able to speak, but he knew it started to happen some time ago, after she started having those strange powers. Slowly, but surely, he was able to think differently, comprehend things that for the longest time eluded him. Like, why humans don’t like to sniff other humans’ butts in order to get to know them better? Or why they don’t see the mailman as the most evil being on the planet?

Of course, these answers came in time with each passing day, until one day Spike was able to speak, literally, forming full sentences. The words humans spoke to him were always garbled, a bit, catching every other word spoken. Unless, of course, it was someone he truly trusted and cared about, then Spike made the extra effort to listen to them and heed their words. Now though, he was able to understand their language and in time use it.

Spike wanted to tell Twilight, to just leap into her lap and just say “Twilight, I can talk! Isn’t that great?!” Twilight often talked to him as if he could understand her, and to a degree he did, but she knew he didn’t understand, but Spike was always willing to listen, and listening really seemed to help Twilight. It became more apparent in the recent weeks, with Twilight acting sad and distant towards that Sunset girl. She was always a strange thing to him, who surprisingly smelled like a human and a…horse?

Whatever the case was, Spike saw how Twilight was taking most of it, and he wasn’t sure she could take the fact that her dog could now talk back to her. So Spike kept his mouth shut, hoping that Twilight would calm enough to where he could one day speak to her and say all the things he wanted to say to her.

Like how happy he was with her. How he’ll always be there by her side. And how he’ll never be able to thank her enough for saving him from the pound when he was just a little pup. For now though, time would tell when the moment was right, till then, Spike was content with the situation. Besides, it was uncanny how truthful humans could be when they thought their dogs couldn’t understand a word they were saying, you could learn some interesting things.

Like now for example, Spike spotted a familiar face walking towards Fluttershy. It the blue girl with the different colored hair, Rainbow Dash he remembered. Spike ran over to Fluttershy and quickly ran around Rainbow’s legs, showing how excited he was to see her.

“Geez Spike, aren’t you spunky today,” said Rainbow as she crouched down and gave Spike a good scratch behind the ears.

Oh yeah, Rainbow, Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy, the only four human girls I know who know just where to scratch, thought Spike.

Rainbow looked up and smiled at Fluttershy, rather awkwardly as it seemed. “Hey Shy.”

“Rainbow? What’s wrong?”

“Heh, heh…well…um…d-do you mind if I set down with you?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not at all.”

The pink haired girl patted the seat next to her and Rainbow graciously accepted the offer. Spike leaped onto Fluttershy’s lap, circling a bit before just lying down. Fluttershy ran her hand over his back smoothly, petting him gently as he rested from his head and simply listened to the two human girls talk.

“Okay…um…first off: Have you heard anything about Twilight and Sunset?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy gave a small nod. “Mmm-hmm, my friend says they’re doing well. They apparently had a few more troubles and things on their minds that they themselves didn’t know they were carrying.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened slightly as she turned to face Fluttershy. “R-Really?! Are they okay? Do we -?”

“It’s alright Rainbow, Tree Hugger’s already helped them come to terms with them. She thinks they should be okay before the end of the week, at least, that’s what’s she hoping for anyway.”

Rainbow Dash released a sigh of relief, at the same time Spike did as well. The sports girl reclined on the bench, feeling relieved to hear this news, and yet she still seemed pensive about something.

“Twilight and Sunset aren’t the only things on your mind?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash chuckled at that. “Never could hide anything from you.”

Fluttershy smiled and added an “Uh-uh”.

The prismatic girl released a heavy sigh and moved forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

“Shy…you know that…well…you know that I bat for the other team.”

“Yes, you told me a while back.”

“Yeah…ya see, I think…I think I might be crushing, again.”

Fluttershy went red in the face. “U-U-Um R-R-Rainbow, I’m flattered, but I haven’t changed my mind about just wanting to stay friends since you asked me out Freshman year!”

Rainbow’s left eye twitched as she blushed hard. She quickly shook her head and made an X symbol with her hands. “Nonononononono! I-I wasn’t talking about you, I swear Shy! I know you want to stay friends, and I’m still totally cool with that!”

Silence hung in the air as both girls waited for the awkwardness to dissipate between them, old memories of their Freshman year coming back to them.

“Sorry for assuming…”

“No, no…and given the way things have been going for me, I don’t blame you for thinking that.”

“No problem, well then, if not me, then who?” Fluttershy inquired.

“That’s the thing…it’s not just a…a single ‘who’,” Rainbow confessed.

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow, now having her full attention to this. “You mean…you like two different girls?! Oh my…are…do I know them?”

“Eh…yes…the first one is…” Rainbow inhaled and exhaled as she struggled to get the first name out. “Twilight.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Oh Twilight, I knew about that.”

Rainbow’s eyes bugged out of her skull at the same time her jaw dropped. She then quickly got in Fluttershy’s face, red from embarrassment and confusion. “WHO TOLD YOU?!”

To this, Fluttershy had a deadpan expression. “Rainbow, we’ve been friends since we were little. Out of all of us, who do you think would’ve noticed your crush on Twilight?”

“Oh…” Rainbow’s embarrassed fury snuffed itself out. “You knew this whole time…sorry.”

Fluttershy smiled and patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “It’s alright. So who’s this other girl? Is it Applejack, or maybe Rarity?”

If Rainbow was drinking something, this would be where she would’ve spat it out.

“APPLEJACK!? ………Okay, I could see that. But Rarity?”

“Well, opposites attract.”

Rainbow took a moment to think about that. She had to admit, despite her high-class and girly-girl ways from time to time, Rarity could be strong and steadfast when she needed to be. And, well, Rarity did have a nice figure, model curves, and that voice…Rainbow quickly shook her head, dislodging those thoughts.

Okay, no, I don’t need another fantasy, thought Rainbow.

“It’s not either them…and before you ask, no, not Sunset.” Rainbow took in another breath before revealing the name. “It’s…Gilda.”

Fluttershy froze up, feeling her blood run cold at the mention of that name. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you said ‘Gilda’.”

“I did…”

“Didn’t she want to hurt you?”

“Used to.”

“She beat up Sunset.”

“I know.”

“And didn’t she fight you and Sunset at the mall when you two were a…” Fluttershy looked around her before saying the next word. “…Firestorm?”

“Yes, yes, and yes…But that last one wasn’t completely her and Lightning Dust’s fault, there was some evil magic and stuff messing with their heads…and honestly, most of why she hated me is really my fault…”

Fluttershy raised her eyebrow in disbelief, but the pained expression on her face told her otherwise. Her encounter with Gilda was less than friendly, and ever since then the mere mention of her name made Fluttershy cringe, but then again she did the same thing when it came to Sunset Shimmer. Although to be fair, Fluttershy felt something off about Sunset even during her rage fueled tirade, something painful.

“Okay,” Fluttershy took a breath and calmed herself, “so you like Gilda and Twilight? Do either of them know?”

“Twilight knows I like her, I told her before she left. Gilda…she’s still trying to forgive herself…and, I’m trying to figure out how to feel about her…”

“But you said you liked her, right…?” Fluttershy asked.

“I know, I know! That’s just it! I do, but I like Twilight too!” Rainbow got up and started pacing back and forth in front of Fluttershy, causing Spike to follow her movements, getting sense of nostalgia from watching Twilight.

“I mean, I told Twilight that - no matter what happened - there would be someone there who cares about her! And I do! But then…I asked Gilda to spend the night with me at my house -” Rainbow saw the look on Fluttershy’s face, and that her body had changed to a red color. “NOT LIKE THAT! Well…maybe we did it…a little…mostly out of comfort…ugh!”

Rainbow face-palmed herself, dragging the same hand down her face.

“I just don’t want to make her feel, if - when - Twilight and Sunset figure things out, like second prize or something…y’know?”

Fluttershy could see the dilemma, but then again, it didn’t sound like that was all of it. “You feel responsible for how Gilda became how she is, don’t you?”

Rainbow collapsed onto her rear as she stared at the grass. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. She was actually just as shy and scared as you were when we were little. The only difference was that after I started being friends with her, she started to become a lot more confident, and started to give those jerks back at the Camp a good ass kicking. But then…she confessed that she liked me, really liked me, and kissed me…first kiss really. I pushed her away and avoided her like the plague after that, instead of talking to her about it…”

Fluttershy picked up Spike a moved to sit on the grass with Rainbow. “But that shouldn’t be the only reason you want to try and be with Gilda. Especially if she feels bad like she does.”

Rainbow put the heel of her palms against her forehead, groaning in dismay over how her life had suddenly turned into some romance-drama sitcom.

“Suddenly I feel like all the evil societies and superpowered psychos are the easier thing to deal with,” said Rainbow.

Fluttershy gave a small smile and patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “Whatever happens I’ll be there with you, and so will the rest of us. Believe me, I know what it feels like to want to be with someone, but can’t…”

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Wait, you like someone? Who?”

“A-choo!” Tree Hugger sneezed.

“You okay TH?” Sunset asked.

Tree Hugger wiped her nose and sniffled. “Oh don’t worry, everything’s copacetic. Although I get sense someone just talked about me. Hmm…oh well, time for your next opening.”

Tree Hugger began walking to her hut but stopped when she didn’t feel the presence of her wayward students. Sunset and Twilight still stood in the middle of the camp, looking a little apprehensive at going back in for another chakra opening.

“No offense Tree Hugger, these things have been a little intense, and while we’ve been able to deal with things that we probably never would bring up, I’m still having trouble seeing how this will affect our magic development or our Firestorm powers,” said Twilight as she rubbed the back of her head.

“I’m with Sparky on this one, don’t get us wrong, working through this personal stuff has helped, but…not exactly seeing how it’s helping,” added Sunset.

Tree Hugger smiled her usual laid back smile. “Well, why don’t you try?” Twilight and Sunset glanced at each other, a look of apprehension plain on their faces. “Chill Sisters, no one will find you here in in this little sanctuary.”

With a reluctant sigh from both girls they shouted as one.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Twilight and Sunset were immediately engulfed in their respective flames, a few short seconds later, emerged in their Firestorm forms. But something was definitely different. The flames seemed richer, stronger, and the emblems on their chests glowed with a sort of resonance.

“Sister Twilight, use your magic,” said Tree Hugger.

Twilight looked about and focused on a log in the distance. She channeled the magic within her, deciding to use the telekinesis spell that Sunset had shown her a while back. The log suddenly lifted off the ground with little effort, Twilight then beckoned the log to float towards her, and with a flick of her wrist the log stopped a foot away from her. Staying there was if awaiting her order.

“I…I can actually control it!” Twilight proclaimed with glee.

Tree Hugger nodded and then looked towards Sunset. “Sister Sun?”

Sunset focused on her magic casting various spells at once, levitation, gravity, she even turned an apple into an orange. It was done with little to no effort, like she once was able to do back in Equestria.

“I don’t believe it!” Sunset yelled.

“Believe, Sisters, this is only the beginning we still have much to go.”

ELSEWHERE…

“Honestly Rares, Ah don’t know how ya keep talkin’ me inta doin’ this!”

Applejack stood upon a platform in Carousel Boutique, her arms held out to the sides, and her face scrunched into an annoyed frown. She was wearing a rather lovely dress, as astonishing as it sounded. There three mirrors around the platform, each angled to give the perfect view of the one standing on the platform, and allowing Rarity to see her creation from all angles.

Her face was scrunched up as she scrutinized her work, eyes narrowed behind her red framed glasses. Rarity needed a model for her latest creation in the works, it was meant to be a dress that could be suit even the most tomboy of girls, originally, she had thought of Sunset Shimmer when making this dress. The former Queen Bee and bully of CHS, despite her edginess, had a wonderful figure. She exhumed physical strength, and Rarity had to admit, Sunset was beautiful.

Rarity felt it was a shame that the reforming girl didn’t have a proper dress of her own, she had made all the girls dresses for the Fall Formal, and Sunset had always bought - so she was told - her dresses off the rack. Since Sunset has become a part of their group and was dating Twilight, she only felt it proper that she’d have her own dress to complement the change in her ways.

Unfortunately, she lacked Sunset to fit it and needed a base model. The only other girls she knew who could match Sunset’s physique were either Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and since Rainbow Dash was always vocal with her irritation, Rarity decided to go with Applejack.

Although AJ wasn’t vocal, she was more the type to quietly brood and hold a stoic expression.

“Applejack come now, this is for Sunset, and with the Spring Fling coming up, I’d like to have something smashing for them when they return. Perhaps attend the dance as the new couple that they are.” Rarity explained.

The cowgirl huffed, she understood, but it was still a bit annoying. Although, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t amazed at how Rarity worked. It wasn’t everyday that the girls got the chance to see Rarity in action when making a dress, sometimes they wanted to ask, but they respected that the fashionista needed her space to create, it never did anyone any good to crowd an artist in the midst of creation.

It was funny, Applejack lived on a farm, and ever since she was little she knew the meaning of “hard work”. Which was why she found she connected well with Rainbow Dash, both of them had a competitive streak, and both were good in athletics. But with Rarity, she never imagined seeing herself being friends with such a girl. She was prim, proper, and on occasion OCD about cleanliness. That’s not to say that Applejack was against it, but sometimes Rarity could overreact to a little dirt and grime, especially where hard work was involved.

And yet, here Rarity was, her brow was fairly sweaty, and the look in her eyes was the same whenever Rainbow, or AJ herself, were deep in concentration when working hard. It was actually kind of cute seeing Rarity like this. She also didn’t realize how gentle she was when working with a model.

Rarity’s hands lightly caressed AJ’s side, her fingers searching for any imperfection or needed modification. The feeling of her touch was…comfortably uncomfortable. It sent a tingling sensation through her body, especially when she ran her hands up her back and over her shoulders, using the tape measure and jotting down notes for later. Unfortunately, Rainbow’s words kept echoing in her head, about how it was to like another girl.

Applejack didn’t want to admit it, but it had been on her mind maybe once or twice, but recently, with the reveal of Rainbow’s orientation, and Sunset and Twilight’s relationship, it was becoming something that she couldn’t ignore. She knew she liked boys, but her curiosity kept getting the better of her. What would it be like?

“Applejack? Applejack?!” Rarity shouted.

The blonde girl shook her head, snapping herself out of her reverie.

“Huh, what?!”

“Applejack, I was asking your permission to get your more…ahem, private measurements. Also, I’d like to ask you permission to check the bust while you’re in it, and it would require me to touch your chest, are you alright with that? Feel free to decline, dear, I’ll respect your boundaries.”

Applejack gulped, up until now Rarity had avoided the more problematic areas, but now she was asking for permission to do so. Uncertainty crept into her mind, would it be okay? Rarity was one of her best friends, and it wasn’t like either haven’t seen each other in their underwear when they changed in the locker room, so it should be okay…right?

“S-Sure, Rares…”

Rarity arched an eyebrow at that response. “Are you positive? It’s quite alright if you don’t want me to, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

Applejack took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Ah’m sure, we’re both girls. Not like Ah don’t got anythin’ you don’t.”

Rarity still looked skeptical, but proceeded. “Very well, just tell me if you want me to stop at any time you feel uncomfortable, promise?”

“Promise.”

With the conditions stated, Rarity began to measure Applejack, gently bringing the measuring tape around her hips and tightening it until she was able to get an accurate number. She jotted it down and moved onto her waist, neither of those were too uncomfortable for Applejack, not much unlike how Granny Smith measured her for something she made. Although, when Rarity brought the tape measure around her bust, she couldn’t help but feel a little more nervous, especially since the fashionista was right in front of her.

Rarity settled the tape measure and arched an eyebrow at Applejack, while giving her a coy grin.

“My, my, my, Applejack, I didn’t know you had such impressive ‘assists’.”

“Rarity just do what ya need to,” grumbled Applejack.

“Just making an observation, darling.”

Rarity put the tape measure on the platform and began fiddling with the chest area of the dress, checking to see if it was too tight or too loose. All while Applejack tried to maintain her composure, trying to keep any stray thoughts from lingering on the sensation of Rarity’s hands on her stomach and her chest.

“How does it feel around the middle, does it need to be a little looser?” Rarity asked.

“N-No, it’s fine, I-I can breathe!”

“Excellent! Now, in the bust area? Mind you I’ve left a little room so that it can be worn with, or without, a bra. Does it, and pardon my choice of word - feel as if they might slip out?”

Well if Ah wasn’t thinkin’ about that happenin’ earlier, Ah am thinkin’ about now!

“No, doesn’t feel too loose,” said Applejack.

Rarity removed her hands from Applejack, allowing the farmgirl to release a sigh of relief.

“Very good, I’ll have to compare your measurements to Sunsets to see which is more accurate a number to use, at least until she and Twilight return. Now let me help you remove that.”

Applejack stood silently as Rarity walked up behind her, she gulped upon hearing the zipper zip down, and the slight tightness of the dress begin to loosen. She knew Rarity was going to help her out of the dress, she helped her get into it, and didn’t want the new creation to get accidentally torn or scuffed. Once it was down to her ankles, Rarity helped Applejack step out of it and onto the floor. Rarity checked her newly created dress and sighed, relieved that all the handling hadn’t seemed to damage it.

Unfortunately, this left Applejack in nothing but her panties and bra. Despite the fact that both of them have seen each other in such affairs in the locker room, it was a different setting, and a different situation, and Applejack wasn’t dealing with these strange and provocative feelings before.

“I put your clothes over there on my bed, Applejack, you can get dressed if you wish,” said Rarity as she brought the dress over to her work table.

“Uh, y-yeah, sorry! Ah’ll borrow your restroom and change.”

“Oh don’t be silly, just change right there, darling.”

Applejack groaned inwardly, but complied. She sat on the edge of Rarity’s bed, slipping her shirt on and buttoning it up, all the while her emerald eyes couldn’t stop staring at Rarity. It frustrated Applejack, Rainbow’s words. Applejack knew she wasn’t like that, so why was she so damn curious about it? Was being with another girl, thinking of another girl in that way, really alright?

Honestly, Applejack never really cared about that sort of stuff, who people chose to spend their lives with was their business. So long as no one’s getting hurt, and they both love each other, girl-girl or boy-boy or girl-boy, it was the feelings that mattered in the end.

Right now though, Applejack’s feelings were in conflict. She couldn’t deny that Rarity was beautiful, every boy in school would attest to that, even some of the girls. Rarity was everything Applejack wasn’t, poised, graceful, refined, a real lady. There was that time that Trenderhoof guy tried to hit on her, but he was more in love with the farm life that Applejack could provide him rather than loving her directly, forcing Rarity to act country to attract him, and forcing AJ herself to act like a high society lady to snap her friend back to normal.

Although, she will admit, Rarity did look cute in some overalls and a straw hat.

“Applejack, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“Huh, y-yeah, why'dya ask?”

“Well, because you seem to be staring either at me or into space, and you’re only halfway dressed.”

Applejack looked down at herself, noticing that she still hadn’t buttoned up her shirt or put on her denim skirt yet. The farmgirl blushed and quickly closed the shirt and sat down, bringing her legs together.

“S-Sorry Rares! Ah just got distracted for a minute!”

The fashionista raised an eyebrow, she spun in her swivel chair till she was facing Applejack’s direction, and then removed her pointed glasses.

“Applejack, if there’s something on your mind you can ask me. I may have a thing for gossip, but I’m not one to divulge the secrets of my friends. So if there’s anything you wish to talk about, know that it will be held in the strictest of confidence,” assured Rarity.

Was it alright to talk about this, with Rarity? She was okay with Sunset and Twilight, and technically this was along the same lines but not exact, so maybe it was okay. Right? At the very least she needed to say something, secrets weren’t her thing, and eventually, she needed to tell someone before she burst.

“Just…Just promise me that you won’t breathe a word of this to the girls, or to Sweetie, Ah don’t want her talkin’ to Apple Bloom about this,” said Applejack in a serious tone.

Rarity nodded firmly. “You have my word, Applejack.”

The farmgirl released a heavy sigh, gathering her nerves before speaking what was on her mind.

“Lately…after findin’ out about Twilight and Sunset, and then…well…ugh!” Applejack ran her hand through her golden locks in frustration. “Ah just…Look, Rarity, same rule applies here for what about to tell ya, because it won’t make much sense unless Ah do!”

Again, Rarity nodded.

“Okay…Rainbow Dash, she’s…she’s like Twi and Sunset, she like girls.”

Rarity blinked. “Oh my…I, well, I heard the occasional rumor, but I never gave it much credit. Girls like Rainbow Dash are usually the target of such rumors, but, to hear that they’re actually true…it makes sense that she’d keep her orientation secret, not wanting to prove the masses right.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda what Ah gathered from her. Anyway, it was after the whole fight at my farm when Ah had Sunset and Twi stay at my place to lay low. Dash and Ah got to talkin’ about the whole thing, and the topic came up about how she wished Ah swung that way so we could date.”

Applejack chuckled. “Even said Ah’d make an ‘awesome girlfriend’.”

“Oh my,” exclaimed Rarity in a scandalous tone, “now I have to admit, you two would compliment each other well.”

“Yeah, and then she goes teasin’ about askin’ me to kiss her! Then she goes and says that even girls who don’t swing that way sometimes mess around other girls just to…to know! And…”

The blonde girl sprang to her feet and began pacing as the emotions and thoughts came up in her mind.

“And then she goes and says that my freckles are cute!”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, speaking objectively, your freckles are quite cute.”

“Not helpin’!”

“Sorry, darling, go ahead.”

“It’s just, after all that Ah’ve been havin’ random ass thoughts about other girls…! Ah know Ah like boys, Ah still get hot and bothered by ‘em! But now…!”

Rarity rose from her chair and intercepted Applejack in her pacing path, making the farmgirl cease. Her ivory hands took hold of the other girl’s tanned hands gently, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“Darling, you needn’t beat yourself up over such things. It’s natural to question one's’ sexuality, it’s how we grow and learn more about ourselves. If you let it consume you, then it will drag you into some dark places, but you’ve done the right thing, talking to someone is a good first step.”

Applejack exhaled, calming down a bit. Rarity guided her friend back to the bed, where both of them sat down. The farmgirl stared down at the floor, with Rarity’s hip pressed against her, giving Applejack some comfort through contact.

“Since Ah’m bein’ honest here, Ah gotta tell ya somethin’.”

“Of course, Applejack, go ahead.”

Applejack’s eyes shifted to Rarity and back to the ground several times before she picked the floor. “Ah’ve…Ah’ve had some thoughts about…you. A couple of times, even just now when you were workin’ on the dress I felt weird when you were touchin’ me…”

“Applejack, I told you to tell me -!”

“Ah know, Ah know! Even though Ah could’ve, Ah didn’t! Ah liked it! And…”

Rarity hummed in contemplation, trying to figure out the best way to help her friend out. She hated seeing the usually steadfast and strong one of their group of friends in such a state, and wanted to help. An idea crossed her mind, she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but it certainly wasn’t bad either.

“Applejack, I have a proposal for you if you’re willing to listen?” Rarity asked.

She nodded.

“You say you’ve had some salacious thoughts of the two of us, correct?”

Applejack cringed, but nodded her yes.

“Then how about this, why don’t you spend the night here at my home, and we spend the night together.”

The emphasis she put on those three words were not lost on Applejack, evident by the growing heat in her cheeks and widening eyes.

“R-R-Rarity, do ya even know what you just asked me?!”

“Yes, I do, but I’m not pushing you into it. I’ll leave it up to you,” said Rarity.

Applejack’s mind raced, Rarity had just offered her to spend the night and have…sex…with her!

“Y-You can’t be alright with that, Ah mean, you like boys, too!”

Rarity’s cheeks blushed as she cleared her throat. “Since we’re sharing, I shall share, too. I have also wondered about such things between girls, and I have been wondering whom I could trust enough to explore such a side to myself? And it would seem that fate has offered us both a chance, because, Applejack, I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d trust with something as…intimate as this.”

Applejack’s heart was racing, her cheeks feeling unreasonably warm right now. Once again her eyes roamed over Rarity’s figure as she sat next to her, those smooth, alabaster legs, her elegant curves, and of course those piercing blue eyes, like sapphires. Was it really okay? Rarity just said it was, but then again, Applejack was still unsure. She didn’t want to make Rarity feel obligated to be an outlet, even though she says she also has those sort of thoughts as well.

Rarity could see the cogs turning in Applejack’s mind, even if the farmgirl wanted to say yes, her pride, stubbornness, and lack of confidence in this area would have her sitting there for hours before a decision was reached. So, Rarity decided to take the reins for once, for the girl who always seemed in control and exhumed a domineering presence, just this once, it was Rarity’s moment to be the immovable one.

The fashionista, in a rather daring move, sat up and faced Applejack, making the blonde girl look up at her. She then lifted her left leg and placed it on the bed next to Applejack’s thigh, knee first. Rarity did the same with her right leg until she was straddling Applejack, making her friend lean back a bit. Her arms slowly draped themselves over Applejack’s shoulders and came together in a loose hug.

If Applejack’s heart was racing before, it was practically jackhammering right now, and she was definitely sure her face was as bright red as one of her apples. She could feel Rarity’s weight on her lap, and didn’t help that she was still only wearing her shirt.

“R-R-R-Rarity, w-w-w-what are you doin’?” Applejack asked in confusion and mild shock.

“Applejack, you spend far too much time thinking and you’ll become rooted to this spot like one of your apple trees. I know you’re usually the one making the decisions, even the hard ones that some of us don’t wish to voice. But, for this one time, allow me to make the decisions for you.”

Rarity leaned forward slowly, not too fast, she didn’t want to scare AJ. With practiced poise, she placed her lips upon Applejack’s, closing her eyes and savoring the moment. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, merely a pressing of the lips. Applejack’s eyes were as wide as saucers, part of her said to pull away, that she shouldn’t be doing this, and yet, that curious part of her seemed to like this. The farmgirl slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to do as Rarity said, to allow her make the decisions.

Feeling Applejack press back, Rarity continued pushing forward, prodding Applejacks lips with her tongue as if asking for permission to enter. With a slight reluctance, Applejack parted her lips and allowed Rarity to make their kiss more passionate. Applejack continued to lean back until her back was against the mattress, and Rarity’s body was pressed against hers. For a few seconds, the sounds of kissing and passionate moans were all that filled either girl’s ears.

Rarity slowly ended the kiss, retracting slowly until she was hovering over Applejack, watching the tanned girl’s chest rise and fall as if having her breath taken away. “I really must agree with Rainbow Dash, your freckles are cute.”

Applejack didn’t think she could turn any redder if she tried at this point. “That was…was…w-why did ya stop?”

Rarity reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out her cellphone. “Because you’ll need to call your brother and tell him you’ll be spending the night.”

Author's Note

Well, now that was a bit on the saucy side, wasn't it? As per the rating, T, that's as far as it will ever go. So sorry if you were expecting it to go further, but this ain't a clop. Think of it as more ecchi anime, all the innuendos and build ups, but no deeds seen. :ajsmug:

Entry 31: Love & Hate

The chakra opening yesterday went along rather smoothly, no emotional rollercoaster ride for them after it was all over. So Tree Hugger allowed them the rest of that day to meditate and rest up. Now the new day arrived, and the early birds were already singing their songs to greet the morning.

Sunset was lying on her makeshift mattress, watching as Twilight slept peacefully across from her. Everything out in the wilderness was quiet and soft, moments like this reminded Sunset of back home in Equestria. There were no cars, bikes, or loud jets flying overhead to greet you in the morning, in fact, depending on where you lived, whether in the more rural and quaint villages or even in Canterlot, the birds would always be the first thing you’d hear, along with the gentle warmth of the sun.

For the past few days, Sunset and Twilight had been staying in the same hut, and every morning Sunset awoke a little earlier than Twilight, granting her the opportunity to gaze upon her lover’s sleeping face. With all the craziness awaiting them when they returned to civilization, to see Twilight truly at peace and relaxed like she was, and to feel the same, was really great.

Sunset reached out with her hand, wanting to brush some of Twilight’s hair from her face, but she paused, and slowly retracted her hand. She wanted to make this work with Twilight, really she did, but her past, what she had planned to do to the school way back when, and even what she had contemplated doing since there was nothing for her here.

High School is great and all…but it can only last so long…We’ll all soon graduate, and, Celestia willing we’ve brought down the Organization by then, everyone will be off doing their own thing.

It was the one thing that kept nagging at Sunset, she was able to push it back into the deep recesses of her mind, but in the end, she couldn’t overlook the overwhelming fact that she had nothing planned for the future. Everything changed that night…her schemes had fallen apart all because of one stupid mistake, and now, she had discovered that having someone to love, and having friends was actually…well, wonderful.

Celestia was covering for her as far as legal paperwork and all that, but eventually, someone would figure out that Sunset Shimmer did not exist, had no record in any country on Earth, she was the very definition of an alien. And really, what was there for her? She was good at science, since it was as close to magic as she was going to get in this world, she had strong math skills as well, evident by her helping with Twilight’s work once in awhile.

If nothing else, maybe I can be a full time superhero and Twilight can be the one bringing home the paycheck, she thought.

That was also assuming how far Sunset was really willing to go with Twilight. This whole relationship was new to her, used to she saw romance as nothing more than a distraction, aside from the casual fling with a mare or stallion back home, she never really committed to a relationship.

We haven’t even kissed yet! All this time and we haven’t, once! How lame is that?! We’ll probably be as old as Princess Celestia before we even have -!

Sunset’s face blushed, her mind having almost gone there for a moment. Despite all her teasing and ogling, Sunset was a little afraid of becoming intimate with Twilight. Not that she lacked experience, she was an adult back in Equestria, but those were mostly one-night-stands, this…this was something else. To do that with Twilight would mean she was serious…not that she’d just do it on whim…

“Ugh, why are relationships so freakin’ complicated…!”

“Mmmm…”

Twilight began to stir, prompting Sunset to turn around, not wanting Twilight to see her face right now. The brainiac slowly rose up, her hair a perfect example of bedhead. She glanced about their hut and saw Sunset still asleep, or feigning sleep. Twilight smiled, sometimes she couldn’t believe that this girl, from another world, was actually her girlfriend. At least, that’s what she hoped she was to Sunset. The truth of the matter was, Twilight still didn’t know much about Sunset still, and it nagged at Twilight that she didn’t take the time to at least try.

As much as she would’ve liked to keep watching her girlfriend sleep, today was a new day, and another chakra opening. Twilight leaned forward and placed her hand gently on Sunset’s shoulder, giving her a light shake.

“Sunset, Sunset wake up, we need to get ready,” said Twilight.

“W-What? Oh, morning,” said Sunset, faking a groggy state.

“Morning, c’mon, we need to start, I’m sure Tree Hugger’s already up.”

Sunset nodded and slowly rose up, both girls gave a yawn before pushing the door to their hut open. What greeted them was a sight they were growing used to, but still found it to be strange if not worrying.

Tree Hugger was sitting on the log they used as a bench, legs crossed in a meditative position. Her eyes were closed and her hands were held out, index fingers touching the thumbs. All around her birds gathered, some even perching on her head and arms, a few rabbits, a couple of foxes, raccoons and other woodland creatures appeared around her, as if entranced by her very aura.

This is not what surprised them, as they found this to be normal occurrence whenever she meditated, no, what was freaking them out was the fact that there was not only a bear and its cubs sitting quietly amongst the variable buffet of small animals, but also a pair of mountain lions. Sunset and Twilight’s jaws had dropped, not knowing whether to make Tree Hugger aware there were dangerous predators among her normal spectators, or if making her aware of them would somehow break whatever spell they were under.

Tree Hugger must’ve sensed their presence, judging by her slowly opening eyes and lax smile. “Sisters Twi and Sun, blessings.”

“T-Tree Hugger…I don’t want to alarm you…b-b-but there’s a bear and a couple of mountain lions here!” Twilight whispered urgently.

The hippie girl looked about, seeing that a momma bear and her cubs, along with two mountain lions, were in fact among the crowd of other animals.

“Righteous, new guests!”

Sunset smacked her hand against her forehead and dragged it down her face as she groaned loudly.

“I…I don’t know how much more of her I can take…!”

After a rather hectic time getting the animals to disperse, the three girls once again entered the main hut. Sunset and Twilight sat across from each other, while Tree Hugger went to retrieve another crystal to help them in unlocking the next chakra. When Tree Hugger returned, both girls looked upon the gemstone curiously. It looked like an emerald, carved into the shape of a heart. Tree Hugger placed this gemstone between Sunset and Twilight and sat down across from them.

“Now, today we’ll be opening the Heart Chakra, it’s name is Anahata, this particular chakra deals with love.”

At this, both Sunset and Twilight blushed furiously, their eyes fixated on a suddenly very interesting spot on the floor. Tree Hugger giggled inwardly, noting that this one was a long time coming. But then her happy expression fell a bit.

“This chakra is blocked my sadness, and grief. What you both regret the most will be laid bare, but you must let the sadness and pain be washed away, because love will see you through. Let us begin.”

With slight amount of reluctance, Twilight and Sunset focused their energy towards the crystal. Immediately it reacted to them, drawing in their magical auras and mingling them together within its structure. The girls’ minds were suddenly thrust into another realm, green in color. This time however there was no dividing wall, Sunset and Twilight freely floated towards each other, both a little confused, but also happy that maybe this trial wouldn’t have them facing whatever was going to happen alone.

“So what do you think we’re supposed to do?” Twilight asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine, Sparky, this may be magic related, but this chakra stuff has been beyond the scope of my magic teachings,” said Sunset.

Suddenly, the world shifted around them, creating scenery. Both girls found themselves in an apartment building, Sunset went wide eyed when she realized that the apartment they were standing in was her own.

“This…This is my place?!” Sunset blurted.

“A-Are you sure?”

“Yes! I mean…why are we here?”

Twilight looked around and her eyes went wide, she tapped Sunset on the shoulder, gaining her attention. The violet haired girl directed Sunset’s gaze towards the dining room table and gasped, it was her. Another Sunset was sitting there, paper strewn across the table as Sunset furiously scribbled out something.

“Alright, simple plan. It’s about that time for the worlds to be linked, tonight should mark the first night.”

The other Sunset walked up to a board she had, outlining some kind of plan. Twilight looked upon this board, wondering what it was the other Sunset was planning. But Twilight’s Sunset could tell right away what this was, this was the night, the night she came up with her plan to rule over two worlds.

“If what I could see through the statue was accurate, that little bitch of a replacement will be at the Crystal Empire soon. I’ll just sneak in, take the crown, and replace with the Fall Formal crown!”

The other Sunset picked up said crown, Twilight recognized it as the same crown she was adorned with when she won the Princess of the Fall Formal, strangely enough it matched the six-pointed star that she had grown fond of and sometimes had embroidered on her clothing or as an accessory.

“That tiara, the Element of Magic, it should rightfully be mine! I was the one destined to become an alicorn! Not that schoolfilly!” The other Sunset slammed her fist into a crudely drawn picture of a purple alicorn, practically burying it until the paper became a crumpled mess. “Twilight Sparkle…”

~~~

The real Sunset looked to her Twilight and saw confusion upon her face. “How did you know my name? We hadn’t met yet, I didn’t see you until after the Fall Formal.”

“No…Oh please don’t show her this!” Sunset pleaded.

The other Sunset picked up the fake crown and looked at it longingly, although knowing it was a fake, it would not be long before the real thing was in her hands. “I’ll finally get everything I’ve deserved, the power, the recognition, and my Ascension! The Element of Magic will be mine, and not even Celestia’s new plaything will be able to stop me! Let her come after me, she’ll be as helpless as I was when I first got here, no stronger or powerful than any other human here!”

Twilight felt an odd chill, seeing the maniacal, sinister side of her girlfriend. She wasn’t speaking to vent or just fantasizing, she was truly hatching an evil plan. Twilight knew about the bad stuff Sunset had done, so that didn’t surprise her, but here, she could see the same gleam in her eyes that some of those in the Organization had.

“Sunset…what are we seeing?” Twilight asked.

“This…This was the night that everything went bad for me…The night when all my plans fell through, and the night, that would have me direct my anger at…you…”

~~~

Sunset paced her apartment. She had to wait until the moon was at its proper alignment before the three day countdown began, the waiting was the hard part. Sunset was so close to achieving everything she wanted she could almost taste it. The campus would be empty late at night, not even the night janitor would be there by that time, so all that was needed was to sneak back to CHS, jump through the portal and steal the crown.

Finally she’d prove to Celestia, and everypony and everyone, that Sunset Shimmer was without equal, in intelligence, skill, and magical prowess. She would become stronger than Princess Celestia, and show the Equestrians who the real Princess was. And to this world, the humans could have it, honestly she would not bat an eyelash if the whole world went and blew up, Sunset had already planned on severing the connection to this once she got the crown.

Bringing back the crown to this world had its dangers, this world’s mana levels were so low it was embarrassing, but once the Element of Magic was brought here, well, who knows what would happen. The magical energies of this would could triple or quadruple? The Element could syphon all the mana from this world and give it to Sunset? Or even tear the very fabric of space-time asunder. Either way, Sunset didn’t care, she planned to only remain in this world long enough to master the Element of Magic, and once she had, she’d open the portal herself and go back home a changed mare, an alicorn.

She’d prove to Princess Celestia that it was her right all along to wield the Element of Magic, it was her destiny to defeat Nightmare Moon and become a hero. Somepony that every mare, stallion, and foal looked up to and revered as a goddess.

Soon, soon she’d have that, but soon wasn’t soon enough.

Sunset hurriedly grabbed her backpack and left her apartment, unaware that the astral projected ghosts of Twilight and Future Sunset, were watching her the entire time. She ran through the streets, taking a bus when she could. Sunset would’ve taken her bike, but it was noisy and someone would definitely spot her if she suddenly appeared on school grounds riding it. No, stealth was the name of the game, what was a bus ride and a little jog when she’d soon not have to worry about any of it.

Besides, she used to run everywhere or teleport when in a hurry back in Equestria, four strong pony legs helped.

It took Sunset almost an hour and a half before finally making it CHS. Sunset had been keeping a close eye on the moon. She had noticed that three stars in particular were brighter than most others, aligned perfectly to form a triangle. Once the moon was at the center of the triangle it would mark the countdown, once the moon reached the tip of the triangle formation, the portal would be closed.

Sunset flipped open her phone, it was only nine o'clock, a full three hours before the portal opened up. Still, no harm in seeing if it had opened already. The bad girl walked up to the statue and placed her hand upon its cool marble surface. It rippled like water, distorting for a few moments before an image appeared. It was through this method that she even learned about the Elements and their new bearers, as well as the threats that had popped up in Equestria during her absence.

A wave of sadness always passed over the flame haired girl, Equestria had changed a lot since she was last there, her mother and father, she had no idea how they were, what they were up to, hell, she wasn’t even sure if they were still together or they had another foal.

Sunset chuckled at the prospect of having a baby sibling, despite her ways, Sunset had promised herself that she would look for her parents after her affairs were settled, and if she had a baby sibling…well…she wasn’t sure how’d she feel, happy would be the first thing possibly, but also maybe a little jealousy, feeling as if she had been replaced. Not that she’d blame them, up and leaving to another world without so much as a letter or a goodbye, they were probably worried sick about her, maybe even thought she was dead.

Out of all the ponies that probably deserved an apology from her (highly doubtful she’d give ‘em one), she was most likely going to give her parents one.

The former unicorn shook her head, she had no time for depressing thoughts like that, her conquest was close at hand, or hoof depending on where you stand. Sunset pushed her hand against the rippling surface, feeling elation when her hand sunk in about an inch, but unfortunately that was as far as she was able to go. Sunset growled in frustration and pulled back, looking back up at the moon that had yet to make it into position.

“Should’ve taken the long way here or something, at least kill a little time. Still, no guarantee that the crown will be there today, if not, I’ll have to plan a little expedition into Equestria to find it.”

Suddenly, Sunset heard the squealing of tires against pavement, she quickly ducked behind the statue and kept a careful eye on the street. Roaring up the road was a pontiac firebird, Sunset groaned, knowing the distinct sound of that muscle car anywhere. She came out from behind the statue just as the car came to a screeching stop.

The windows rolled down and revealed the car's occupants, that of Lightning Dust and Gilda, both girls dressed for a bad time as per usual.

“Sunny? What the hell are you doin’ here?” Gilda asked.

“I could ask you two the same thing.”

Lightning poked her head out and grinned at Sunset. “Well, we were going to tear up the soccer field, and maybe mess with the horse statue there, but it looks like you’re already getting a head start on that.”

Gilda smirked approvingly. “Oh, nice one Sunny, finally kicking it up a notch huh?! Want a hand? I got a sledge hammer in the trunk!”

Sunset’s blood ran cold. NO! Those idiots will destroy the one connection I have back home! I-I can’t let them!

Her mind raced, trying to figure out some way to keep Gilda and Lightning from not only ruining her plan, but to also prevent them from destroying her one way back home. She really didn’t care if they smashed it while she was on the other side, but if they smashed it on this side, she’d be trapped in this magicless world for the rest of her human life.

The former Equestrian smirked back at the two girls, sauntering over to them and causing Lightning to inadvertently release a wolf whistle. “Girls, c’mon, we’re young, we’re bad, let’s just head into the city and raise some cain!”

“Hmm, wouldn’t mind that, we could always come back later. This place sure ain’t goin’ anywhere,” said Gilda.

Lightning Dust nodded. “Yeah, but uh, I’m going to need a little incentive before any cain raising is done.”

Sunset knew what she was getting at, releasing an exasperated sigh as she walked around to the driver’s side door and opened it. Lightning got out of the car and stared down Sunset, her confident grin on full display. Without warning, Sunset shot her hands forward, grabbing Lightning Dust from behind her head and hooking the other hand around her waist. Their lips crashed as Sunset began aggressively making out with Lightning Dust, practically pinning the turquoise girl up against her car as she pressed their bodies together.

~~~

Astral Sunset put her hand over her eyes, wishing she could just vanish into some deep part of the Astral Plane right now. But unfortunately, this was happening, Twilight was witnessing her girlfriend make out and fondle another girl.

Twilight had to keep reminding herself that this had already happened, and that Sunset was only doing this to keep Lightning Dust and Gilda from destroying the portal to her home world. Given the circumstances, she didn’t have many options, still…that didn’t make this scene sting any less.

~~~

Sunset separated herself from Lightning Dust, leaving the turquoise girl nearly out of breath and blush red as she panted, slumped up against the car.

“We going or what?” Sunset asked.

“Oh yeah, now that’s how you start off a night!” Lightning cheered. “Hey G, you wanna drive while Sunny and I finish up in the back?”

“Please, you want to screw each other I’ll find you a cheap motel and you can have it out there, otherwise save it for later and let’s go wild!”

Lightning Dust was disappointed, but not too much. “We’re definitely continuing that later.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and feigned a cocky grin. Great, now I’ve got to deal with a horny Lightning Dust. Dammit all! I’m going to lose valuable time! Whatever, so long as it keeps these two idiots from destroying the statue, then I guess I can bare it one night.

Unfortunately, cain is exactly what they raised, so much so that Sunset had forgotten that she was only trying to keep Lightning and Gilda occupied and away from CHS. But in the end, Sunset had decided to screw it all and have some fun, she was going to be an all powerful being soon anyway, what were the laws of the human world to her, when she became a magical goddess, the laws of the human world would mean diddly squat to her.

The trio tore through the streets, running every red light they could find and racing every other car that would accept their challenge.

~~~

Unfortunately, again, Sunset had to sit idly by and watch as Twilight saw every bit of her debauchery unfold before her eyes. Apparently Lightning and Sunset had time enough to “finish up” somewhere private, making Twilight turn away in disgust.

“Twilight she…Lightning Dust doesn’t mean anything to me! I swear on my horn and great grandmother’s grave it’s true! She was just…just some messed up girl and -!”

“Sunset, please, just…I know all of this already happened. There’s nothing you can say that will change that, just like me getting angry about it won’t change the fact that it’s in the past…”

Astral Sunset reached out with a shaky hand, but Twilight floated a little further from her.

“Please don’t, not right now…”

Sunset hugged herself and forced herself to return her gaze to the memories, and apparently, it was reaching the point where everything went south.

~~~

Sunset, Gilda, and Lightning Dust, after almost a full night of continuous teenage rampaging, were finally stopped, getting caught at a warehouse far from their car. Thankfully the car had not been found, so it would be easy, hopefully, to retrieve it. However, that wasn’t Sunset’s main concern, no, her biggest concern was how long she was going to be there for.

She asked for a phone call, and unfortunately, called the only adult she knew who could and might get her out in time to go to the portal. Sunset was in an interrogation room, it was humiliating, all of it. And now on top of it all, she had to ask the human doppelganger of her former teacher and mentor for help, Sunset didn’t think this could get any worse.

Soon the door to the interrogation room opened and Celestia entered, her expression already showed disappointment, but what was else new. She approached the young woman, seeing her cuffed to the table and sat across from her. Silence was held between them for several seconds before a sound was made, and it was the heavy sighing of Principal Celestia that broke the silence.

“Honestly, Sunset, I thought you were better than this?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, again,” retorted Sunset.

“Sunset, I want to believe in you, I know you can be a better person than this! I don’t see why you feel the need to keep lashing out at those who only want to help you?”

“Well I’m asking for it now! I don’t care what you have to do, but I need you to get me out of here, tonight!”

Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I can’t do that, Sunset. Look, at best, I can plead to them that you can maybe spend a couple of days in a juvenile detention center, but your…friends, they apparently have priors so they’ll more than likely be in lockup for a while longer.”

Sunset slammed her fists on the table and glared at Celestia, panic filling her at the prospect of staying here longer than a few hours. “‘A couple of days’?! No, I can’t stay here that long! I have to get back, I have to or else I’ll miss it!”

“‘Miss it’? Miss what?” Celestia asked.

“I’ll miss -!” Sunset shut her mouth, almost revealing the secret of the portal, not that it would’ve mattered. It wasn’t as if Celestia would’ve believed her, but she couldn’t afford even the slightest chance that someone wouldn’t try to see if Sunset was telling the truth about the portal. “I’ll…I’ll miss the…the-the Fall Formal! You know they’re going to crown me Princess! I-I don’t want to miss it!”

The Fall Formal! Sunset you F-ing idiot, is that best excuse you can come up with?! Now she’ll just think you’re being some popular bitch afraid of losing her throne, thought Sunset.

“Oh Sunset…You’ve been the Princess more than once at every Formal, I think you can afford to allow one of your fellow classmates to have the spotlight for once. And it probably wouldn’t hurt for you show some humility, I’ve heard all the rumors of the things you’ve done Sunset.”

Sunset Shimmer growled in frustration, she couldn’t believe this was happening. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! And those rumors?! So what?! I don’t care, and it’s not like you or Vice Principal Luna have done a damn thing to stop me! You just idly sit by and let me run the school that you supposedly are in charge of! If I wanted to, I could bring you and every teacher and faculty member down!”

Celestia only shook her head, she had no idea where this rage and anger stemmed from, but she hated seeing such a bright and strong young woman be consumed like this, she was on a path to self-destruction, and Celestia feared that she wouldn’t be able to stop her. The tall woman stood up and turned her back to Sunset as she made her way to the door.

“I’ll see what I can do, but at best, you’ll have to spend some time in juvie, no more than a couple of days, I promise,” said Celestia.

With that, the Principal of CHS left the room, leaving a defeated Sunset to cry alone.

~~~

Twilight had seen all this unfold, while Sunset held herself, she couldn’t bear to see all this again. To be reminded of her second greatest blunder, the first was leaving Princess Celestia in tears.

“The next day was the day I arrived at CHS for the first time…when I met Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy,” said Twilight. “I remembered many of the students being…a little happy that you weren’t there…”

“For good reason…I wasn’t a good person, Twilight,” said Sunset in saddened tone.

Twilight turned to comfort Sunset, but the scenery changed yet again, showing Sunset in her apartment again, the shades drawn and Sunset herself sitting up in her bed as she stared at something in front of her.

“What’s going on?”

Sunset remembered this scene as well, she hunched down low and held her head as she tried to shut out this memory.

~~~

Sunset sat on her bed, everything felt meaningless. The deadline for the portal was done and over, she missed her chance to get the crown, now who knows where this Princess Twilight Sparkle was now? Doubtful she’d ever come as close to the mirror as she did three days ago. Now it would be at least another two years before the portal opened again, and there’s no telling how much Equestria could change by then, Princess Twilight Sparkle might even be in a castle, surrounded by Royal Guards, and probably twice as powerful.

All her planning, scheming, every underhanded thing she did at the school, every kid she bullied, it was all for nothing. And now, she had nothing. It wouldn’t be long before she graduated from CHS and forced to go out into the world, but to do what was another story. All her ambitions were destroyed and gone, all because she let herself get carried away and act like a stupid teenager. Sunset had nothing now, her grand plan was no more, and she was forced to remain in this world a while longer. Her only option at this point was to hold out as long as she could until the portal opened up again, but then she’d be a stranger in her own home world, and most likely the only pony who would even recognize her and maybe even help her was going to be Princess Celestia, and that was a slim chance.

At best she’d be a homeless mare with no bits to her name or family to call her own, if they were even still alive. It was hell in one world or hell in another, at least back home she’d have her magic back and be in her normal body again, better than this bipedal funny looking body, for one thing it had no tail, her sense of balance was thrown off, and for some reason a pair of certain “assets” that were supposed to be closer to her to her crotch were now up top. And don’t even get her started on clothes.

But the one thing she couldn’t stand, was the one who stole her title as Princess, and somehow made the school unite against her despite all her efforts to divide them.

Out of all the people in this freakin’ world, it had to be the human double of Princess Twilight Sparkle!

Sunset stared at the picture lying on the bed in front of her, taken on the night of the Fall Formal. It showed the five girls that Sunset had tricked into ending their friendship, with Twilight Sparkle standing at the center of them. They all looked so happy, so content, and Twilight, she blushed like a schoolgirl, embarrassed, but even through the picture, anyone could see how happy and joyful she was.
It made her sick.

Her one small consolation was that she could still hold her iron grip of the school, but now Twilight Sparkle had taken that away from her.

“I hate you…” Sunset whispered. “I hate your freakin’ smile, how you look, what you’ve done!”

Sunset took hold of the picture and held it in her hand, glaring at it so intensely one could swear it was smoking.

“I’ve lost everything, and now you’ve isolated me…taken away my influence…”

Her hand slowly clenched into a fist, crumpling the picture.

“I swear, I will make you pay…I don’t know when…or how, but I will! I’ll make you wish you never existed! I’ll make you scream out my name in both agony and pleasure! I’ll turn you into nothing! I SWEAR!”

With that, Sunset clenched her fist hard, digging her nails into the picture and utterly destroying it with all the malice she had.

~~~

Sunset wished she had never said that, she was just so angry and sad, she thought she had lost everything and used Twilight as a physical manifestation of everything bad that has happened to her. But as if that wasn’t enough, windows of light appeared around the both of them, showing Sunset’s worst moments as a pony and as a human.

She fell to her knees against a nonexistent surface, feeling the full weight of her grief and sadness weigh down on her. Sunset’s shoulders trembled as she cried, her long hair obscuring her eyes from view.

“Now you know…Twilight…this is everything that I am…I’m not a good person…I’m barely even a good pony…All I’ll do is hurt you, in the end, Twilight…”

Twilight’s eyes softened, she then walked towards Sunset and sat down on her legs in front of Sunset. With a slow and steady hand, Twilight reached out and wiped some of the tears from Sunset’s cheeks, making the former Equestrian look up into the violet irises of her girlfriend.

“Thank you, Sunset, for letting me see this,” said Twilight in a gentle voice.

“Wh-What - why are you thanking me?!”

“Because, my sadness, my grief, was not knowing anything about you, and I’m guessing yours was letting me see this side of you, right?” Twilight asked.

Shamefully, Sunset nodded her head. “I’m sorry…I was just so full of anger and rage, I pegged you as the source of everything bad that happened! Then the next thing I knew, my rage and anger was going away, I still loathed you, but I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you…because the fact of the matter is…everything really was my fault…you…you should be with Rainbow, anybody else other than me…I’ll just end up hurting you Twilight…can’t you see that?!”

“No, I chose you, Sunset. You didn’t make me, I wanted to know more about you, I wanted…I want to be with you! I’ll take it all, all the bad you’ve done, and we’ll turn it into good! Together!” Twilight affirmed.

Twilight moved closer to Sunset and pressed her lips against Sunset’s. All the turmoil in her heart ceased the moment she made contact, all the sadness, it melted away as a warmth grew in her heart. The images of Sunset’s past faded away, revealing the emerald background of the mindscape. When Twilight pulled away, she smiled at Sunset, who smiled back.

“T-Twilight…”

“Show me, Sunset, show the good things you do remember.”

Immediately the two of them were surrounded with many windows, one showed Sunset with her father and mother, the pony family of three laughing and playing in one of Canterlot’s many gardens. The scenes shifted again, showing Sunset and Princess Celestia, the young filly cuddled up beside the radiant mare, or lying between her forelegs as the two of the read a book together.

More images flashed by, one showed the mare that Sunset had torn the dress off of. That mare somehow found a package gift, with the same dress that was destroyed, a brand new one at that. All while a pony Sunset watched from afar, a guilty look on her face, but a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she saw the elation in the mare it was given to.

The images started to become more recent, and many of them centered around the five girls, and most particularly, Twilight. Sunset took hold of Twilight’s hand, “I know I haven’t said it as much as I should, but…Twilight, I love you.”

The two girls embraced each other as Twilight cried, tears streaming down her face. “I love you too, Sunset.”
The emerald world chimed like the ringing of a bell, and within seconds the two of them were engulfed in light.

Sunset and Twilight awoke, sitting across from each other, with the crystal floating up and towards Tree Hugger. “That was a long one, but it seems that it was exactly what you needed.”

“A long one?” Twilight asked.

Sunset got up on unsteady legs and walked towards the door, she moved the cloth that acted as the door open. She gasped when she noticed that it was already night time. “Jeez, it took us this long to unlock the Heart chakra?!”

“Like I said, that was a long one, but it’s good that you worked that one out.”

A knowing smile appeared on Tree Huggers face, she levitated the crystal onto her stand and helped Twilight help. “Now, the both of you, head back to your hut, and get some rest!”

Sunset and Twilight were suddenly pushed out of Tree Hugger’s hut, the hippie girl flashing them a smile before closing her cloth door.

“What was that about?” Twilight asked. “Do you - mmph!”

Sunset kissed Twilight, bringing her right hand behind the purple girl’s head, and wrapping the other around her waist. It took a moment for Twilight to register what was happening, but once she did, she did not hesitate. Twilight wrapped her arms around Sunset, bringing her closer and deepening the kiss. Unlike before, whenever Twilight had thought about wanting to kiss Sunset, she had just the slightest bit of hesitation, afraid of messing things up early in their relationship. But now, it felt right, this feeling in her chest was growing, and spreading through her whole body.

Both girls pulled away, panting and gazing into each other’s eyes, this feeling of love shared between them begged to be expressed , held in for so long and kept at bay by so many things emotional and physical, now things were clearer, out here, they could express it.

“S-Sunset,” said Twilight huskily.

“Yeah, Sparky?”

“I-I want you, to be with you…right now.”

Sunset smiled and brushed Twilight’s bangs to the side. “I do too, c’mon.”

What followed next was a blur for both girls, they didn’t even know how they ended up back in their hut so quickly, but they didn’t really care. Twilight found herself on the makeshift mattress, her heart racing with adrenaline and endorphins as the prospect of what was about to happen flooded every thought in her mind. Sunset helped Twilight out of her top, revealing a black sports bra, at the same time Sunset removed her own shirt, showing her dark red sports bra.

Sunset ran her hand through Twilight’s long hair, finding the pink streak in it very cute. She straddled Twilight, lowering her body with each passing second, but she stopped, watching as Twilight had a slight worried expression.

“Twilight what’s wrong? If it’s too soon-!”

“No…It’s just…*mumble*”

“What was that?” Sunset asked.

Twilight mumbled incoherently, and blushed even harder.

“Sparky, c’mon, you can tell me.”

The genius girl swallowed hard and looked up at her lover. “I…I’m just afraid because…well…you’re a little more, ahem, experienced…and I-I’m not…”

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle at how innocent Twilight was right now, she almost broke into full on laughter. Twilight felt her entire face burn with embarrassment, wishing she hadn’t said a thing. But then, Sunset kept lowering herself until she was resting atop Twilight.

“Don’t sweat it, Sparky. We’ll go at your own pace, just enjoy the moment.”

Twilight felt Sunset hug her body, she reciprocated by hugging her back, and their lips met again. A tangle of arms and legs, a symphony of pleasured moans and whispers of sweet nothings, and feelings of comfort and love.

A dance of a phoenix and with a celestial star, two beings of eternity, forever intertwined.

Sunset lied awake, covered only in the blanket which came up over her chest. What remained of her clothes were strewn off to the side, along with Twilight’s. Speaking of which, the purple girl was lying next to her, cuddling close to the warm body of her lover as Sunset draped her right arm around the nerdy girl.

The last few hours were, as cliche as it was, and for lack of a better word, magical. Sunset had had a few intimate moments with some ponies back in Equestria, both mare and stallion, but they never meant anything. Just something to scratch that itch, same thing applied even in this human world. Of course she avoided doing anything intimate with males, unlike her pony body, her human body was able to get pregnant outside of her cycle. So she stuck to other girls, which she didn’t mind, she found human female bodies to have their perks in some ways.

But like before, they were only one-night-stands, only done for pleasure and nothing more. What she just shared with Twilight, it was more than just sex, they…made love. There was no empty feeling in this, she felt, whole, Twilight was always going to be by her side, and Sunset was going to make sure that she would always remain by hers, and never hurt her.

Sunset angled her head and kissed Twilight on the forehead, making her girlfriend smile in content.

“I love you, Twilight.”

‘Well, guess it was about time the two you finally said it. I’m glad.’

Sunset eyes widened, she scanned the hut, but it didn’t take her long before she spotted the source of the voice. At first, she thought it was Hel, it definitely sounded like her, but she looked…different.

Hel was sitting in the corner, her normal bat-like wings were gone, instead they were black feathered, raven wings. Her form was less demon like, and more like an older female, her hair was still flaming and undulating. The skin was made of violet plasma, and her eyes flickered with azure flames.

“H-Hel?”

The fire angel looked at herself, her expression looking puzzled. ‘Not sure anymore, I don’t even think Hel is what I am, or maybe I was? In any case, I am happy about what you two have become, it’s nice.’

Sunset held onto Twilight tighter, still unsure of what this new fusion monster could be. “Thanks, I guess…what do you want?”

‘I just wanted to let you know that whatever you two are doing, it’s changing me, and what I am.’ Hel stood up and looked at herself again, and then to the couple. ‘I don’t recommend fusing into me if you can help it, it might be bad for you and everyone.’

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, it sounded like genuine concern was in her voice, as opposed to the normally sadistic and evil tone in her voice.

“Why…not that I’m complaining?” Sunset asked.

Hel looked at herself, energy flickering off her fingers. ‘Because I don’t think I could control our power, and I’d rather not see you two hurt.’ The amalgamation disappeared and reappeared next to Twilight, making Sunset’s heart race with fear, however, all that vanished when she saw how gently Hel brushed her hand against Twilight’s cheek. ‘She really is cute, when she’s sleeping.’

Sunset looked down at Twilight, smiling at her as the warmth in her heart grew.

‘And you are as well, Sunset, you’re both beautiful…’

“What -!”

Sunset looked back at Hel, but she was gone. She was sure this time, not being able to sense her presence anymore. One thing was for sure, Sunset wasn’t going to be able to get what she saw out of her head, Hel was changing, because they were changing. Whether or not this would be for the better was still yet to be determined.

RESEARCH BASE DELTA…

It had been a long time since he’d been on site, and put time into a project. Project Skull was his brainchild, but it was made apparent that these Firestorm girls were becoming stronger and stronger, and that was something that this man couldn’t have.

His name was Crazy Rich, aka Miser of the Organization. His sandy colored skin, and graying hair, and eyes that could burn your very soul. Crazy Rich, or Mr. Rich as he preferred when out in the world, learned from an early age that money was power, and anyone who said otherwise was either a fool or holding a trump card.

Money had the power to command loyalty, money had the power to turn over whole nations, money had the power to buy and sell another human beings’ freedom, and it could even make the most sensible of men become your personal jester just for a chance to be rich. When he was young, Crazy Rich’s father showed him the wonders that money could bring, as well as the debaucheries he could indulge in.

His son, Filthy Rich, was a bitter disappointment. He tried to show him the proper use of money and the power it brought, but Filthy Rich didn’t want any of it, so Crazy Rich disowned him. Last he heard, Filthy Rich was doing quite well as a businessman, and was quite wealthy. Even had a child.

Miser scoffed, happy he had disowned him a long time ago. When the world is chaos, he would make sure to save all three of them, if for nothing else than to serve as his personal entertainment, and maybe some experimentation on his granddaughter, the little wretch, Diamond - whatever, could be useful due to her young age.

But now, Miser had another wretch to deal with. For months and weeks now, Dusk had barely done a thing to stop the two rogue Firestorms and now he had been hold up in the labs, working on god knows what. That was fine, Miser was working on something of his own, something that would require the use of the Firestorm Protocols.

The old man walked into the lab, many of the scientists and soldiers paused, either to greet him or to salute him as he walked by. Miser’s eyes gleamed with maniacal glee as he gazed upon the latest creation of his wealth. It was a gigantic mechanical suit, with polished onyx colored armor, along with red plates. The chest plate had four open ports, with engraved lines that seemed like circuits to channel energy through the machine.

This juggernaut of a machine was going to put Dusk Shine’s Firestorm Protocols to better use. The old man amber colored eyes looked one of the scientists, making him stiffen to attention.

“Is it ready yet?”

“A-Almost sir! We just need to the Protocols and then we can run final tests.”

“Not a problem.” Miser snapped his fingers, two soldiers walked up, each carrying a suitcase. They placed the suitcases on the tables and punched in a code to open them. The cases hissed as coolant fog seeped out of it. A glow emitted from the two cases, making all set their eyes on what laid inside. To the multitude of gasps, they beheld four of the Firestorm Protocols.

“Install them in the Titannus and begin setting it up for operation.”

The scientists nodded and began handling the Protocols, Miser was about to get his money’s worth soon.

“Well, well, well, I thought my inventory was short a few Protocols.”

Everyone in the room turned their heads at once, looking towards the entrance as Dusk Shine entered, carrying himself in his usual superior demeanor. Miser never turned, instead he smirked.

“I’m surprised you noticed anything. You’ve been so preoccupied with your pet project that you haven’t even taken care of your other one,” said Miser.

“I’m currently taking steps towards that. The fact of the matter is that there still much about the Firestorm Matrix that those girls possess that we don’t know about, something that Professor Neigh hasn’t put into his notes. But I believe I am close to figuring it out, with a little more time -”

Miser chuckled loudly. “‘Time’?! Time is one thing you don’t have my boy, both literally and figuratively, am I right?”

Dusk Shine glared at the old man, but let it go for now. “I won’t deny that, small, setback, but I can guarantee you that this apparatus will not succeed. The Firestorm Protocols on their own are a good power source, but without a human being to be merged with, their true power cannot be accessed.”

“Humph, I’m well aware of that, boy! That is why the Titannus isn’t just fueled by the Protocols, but can fuse with its pilot, channels their energy, refining it, funneling it into the pilot for a perfect blend of man-machine-atomic interface! A virtual titan, stronger than a god!”

Miser turned and grinned at Dusk Shine. “Even stronger than those two little girls and their Matrix.”

“I’m near doubtful that you can succeed in this endeavor, at best this a waste of money. Then again, you have plenty of it, so it’s probably nothing more than a drop in the bucket for you.”

Miser stamped his cane against the floor. “You don’t seem very optimistic.”

“Considering their annoying track record, I have little doubt that whomever you get to pilot that metal monstrosity will surely be torn apart, suit and all.”

Dusk Shine turned around and made his exit, all while Miser continued to bore holes into the back of the young man’s head with his glare. He truly despised that thing, that failed attempt at recreating the one good thing that could’ve been. The girl they spawned in their lab was a one of a kind, truly worthy successor to the Organization should she had been allowed mature and learn. Dusk Shine was only a pale imitation, all the brains and even a lethal, killer instinct to match, but his flaw was in his biology. Soon Dusk Shine’s body would give out, his rapid cellular degeneration would eventually claim him and he’d be no more.

So Miser only had to suffer him for a little while longer, getting every they could squeeze out of him until they were sure his usefulness was at its end, and then, whether by his cells or by a bullet, he’d die and Miser could only hope to be there and witness it. For now though, the Titannus needed his attention, the time was soon approaching when he’d put those girls in their place, once and for all.

And then, Dusk Shine, I’ll be coming for you!

Entry 33: Enter, Nu Firestorm

The new Firestorm stared down Miser, who still had his captive. Miser narrowed his gaze at the interloper and turned towards him.

“Who are you, ” he asked.

“Good question, wish I knew. I’m not like any other Firestorm you’ve ever seen. For now, just call me Nu. So why don’t you let her go and I’ll give you a real fight?!”

Miser clicked his tongue in annoyance. “As amusing as that would be, I still need to kill this –”

In the blink of an eye, Sunset was teleported away from the light construct, now at Nu Firestorm’s side. The crimson Firestorm blinked in confusion, looking between Miser and the blue flamed Firestorm now holding her princess style.

“Oh, you’re cute too,” he commented.

Sunset glared at him and delivered a swift punch to his face, making him release her. The Firestorm rubbed his cheek and chuckled at how fiery Sunset was.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“I’m fine, but who’s this joker?!”

“Call me Nu, but I’d have no qualms with either of you giving me a different name, so long as it’s cool.”

Sunset and Twilight glanced between each other, not sure how to take the appearance of this new Firestorm. Miser, on the other hand, didn’t take too kindly to the intrusion of their battle. His fiery aura raged up as his eyes glowed bright, gritting his teeth at how they were just ignoring him as if he wasn’t even a threat anymore. “YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!! ”

Nu Firestorm, Twilight, and Sunset, turned in the direction of the super powered chairman of the Organization. The cocky Firestorm glanced back to the two girls and held up a finger. “Give me one second, ladies.” Nu Firestorm walked towards Miser and pointed at him. “My friend, I’m not sure what the problem you have with them is, but from what I can tell, you’re the bad guy right? Right?”

Sunset and Twilight nodded firmly.

“Good, then I won’t have any issues beating up an old man.”

Miser’s glowing eyes widened with surprise, now he was less irritated and more concerned as to why this being knew who he was. Figuring that this person was too dangerous to let live, Miser floated off the ground and hurled himself towards Nu Firestorm. His right fist balled up, coating his fist and forearm in a sheath of dense graviton energy. Within a few seconds Miser closed in on the unknown warrior and struck at full force.

A resounding shockwave bellowed out in all directions, shattering what glass that remained and throwing the few vehicles that did remain into the buildings.

Miser grunted and growled angrily, seeing that his graviton punch did not make contact. Nu Firestorm had caught Miser’s punch with his left hand, the vermillion tribal markings glowed brighter as if in response to a growing power Nu Firestorm was mustering. His eyes glowed the same color as his markings, his blue flaming hair began to rage like a wildfire.

“Huh, the voices are telling me about all the bad things you and others like you have done, what you’re going to do with this power, can’t let that happen.” Nu Firestorm tightened his grip around Miser’s fist, making the Armored Firestorm wince in pain. “I just got here, too much to see and do to let you snuff out my flame. ”

A surge of power erupted from Nu Firestorm, causing the graviton energy around Miser’s fist to evaporate into nothingness. Now exposed, Miser was feeling the full strength of Nu Firestorm bearing down on his fist and causing him to grunt in pain from the sheer strength of this being. Miser quickly focused his atomic energy into his left hand and fired a point blank shot right at Nu Firestorm’s midsection. The sudden attack caught Nu Firestorm off guard and forced him to release Miser in that instant.

Now free, Miser speed warped as far back as he could. Miser held out his right hand and summoned fifty dozen orbs of luminescent light. With a wave of his hand, the lights shot off in streaks towards Nu Firestorm. The first wave was closing in and Miser’s grin grew, knowing that he packed enough destructive power into the orbs to level a building. Suddenly, the entire area around Nu Firestorm went up in explosions, creating a dust cloud that the rushed over his target’s position. Miser was sure that they hit their mark, but just in case he readied the next dozen to launch.

But before Miser could fire, beams of blazing blue light shot out from the smoke cloud. Miser’s enhanced mental processing allowed him a brief moment to witness thirty beams strike thirty orbs around him, and detonate them in less than a second. Miser flew up into the air, readying to fire again. But another wave of energy blasts shot through the cloud of smoke, shooting out each of the orbs of light that Miser had set up to fire.

A pressure wave erupted from Nu Firestorm’s position. The azure Firestorm was carrying something in both hands. They looked like pistols, but were cylindrical, with markings all about it. Nu Firestorm’s vermillion cape flapped in the crossbreeze generated by his power, eyes glowing a bright white was he locked onto Miser.

Enraged, Miser summoned more orbs of light. Dozens upon dozens of orbs formed around Nu Firestorm, even getting Twilight and Sunset in attack range.

“You two might want to hit the pavement,” warned Nu Firestorm.

Twilight and Sunset didn’t argue and quickly dropped flat against the ground. Immediately afterwards, the orbs discharged, firing directly for Nu Firestorm from all directions. But the blue flamed Firestorm showed no fear, his cocky smirk never leaving for even a moment. In the next moment, Nu Firestorm began firing at rapid speed, each blast hitting the incoming beams with deadly accuracy. His rate of fire became quicker and quicker, spiraling around and shooting with inhuman accuracy and precision, it almost appeared as if he fired a second shot with the first pull of the trigger. Faster and faster, an afterimage appearing from where he last shot, and was going to shoot, no one could tell which was the real Nu Firestorm.

Twilight dared to look up and sneak a peek at the fight, her eyes widened at what she saw, but for more than one reason.

“That shooting style…”

“What?! What did you say?” Sunset asked.

Before Twilight could reply, a symphony of explosions raged around them as the beams hit their marks and destroyed every orb at the same time. Miser floated there, dumbfounded by what he just witnessed, but his astonishment didn’t last long. Nu Firestorm turned both guns on Miser, the barrels charged up with pent up, fiery atomic energy. With a pull of the trigger, both barrels unleashed twin column sized beams of blue and vermillion light, Miser had only a brief moment to erect a barrier around himself, but it wasn’t strong enough to repel the beam, but just enough to shield him.

However, the twin beams pushed him, higher and higher into the air, it took most of his strength just to maintain the barrier much less fight against the beam. Miser continued to rise higher into the sky, Miser used the last remaining resistance of the barrier to angle himself away from the beam, allowing it to fly off into the sky and further beyond. The Armored Firestorm panted and heaved, not understanding how this new Firestorm managed to overpower him so easily.

Suddenly, a flash of azure light went off a few feet ahead of him, and in that instant, Nu Firestorm appeared. “Probably wondering why I’m way stronger than you, huh? I’d tell you, but you’re not going to believe it.”

“THE HELL IF I CARE!!!” Miser shouted. “I am a titan! A god! I am beyond humanity!”

Nu Firestorm tsked and wagged his finger back and forth. “Careful old man, you’ll raise your blood pressure or pop a blood vessel if you keep that up.”

Miser roared in fury, calling on his atomic might. Without warning, his entire body erupted into flames, the flames grew bigger and bigger, making Nu Firestorm actually look upon Miser with seriousness. The flames continued to grow until it appeared as if there were a raging inferno in the sky. The flames began to take shape, growing arms and legs, and a head, within the flames was a bright glowing skeleton, and around the chest cavity, four glowing stars. Titannus glowered down at the tiny speck of a nuisance, grinning wickedly with its skeletal face.

“Well, bigger isn’t always better, and with that size you’ll be way slow--”

Before Nu Firestorm could finish his sentence, Titannus struck him with a swift punch sending the blue warrior spiralling downward until he flew into the side of building, creating a giant hole. Within the hole, Nu Firestorm had a surprised look on his face, a piece of rubble fell and hit his head, making him growl in annoyance.

“Ooookay, so you’re stupid fast even with that size, probably manipulating the gravitons to decrease the amount of weight you have, while still keeping your strength,” said Nu Firestorm.

Nu Firestorm rose from the rubble, but before he knew it, Twilight and Sunset arrived in the hole with worried looks on his face.

“Are you alright?!” Twilight asked.

Nu Firestorm dusted himself off, his smug expression still prevalent. “Don’t worry, I’m tougher than I look.”

“Better be, as big as you talk,” said Sunset.

Twilight looked up at the giant of fire monster, trying to figure out a way of countering him. But Nu Firestorm strode passed Twilight, patting her shoulder confidently. “Don’t sweat it, Twily, I got this.”

“What did you call me?!”

No answer was given as Nu Firestorm teleported away from them, reappearing before Titannus once again. “Guess who’s back, big guy!”

Titannus leered at him and began throwing punches at the little Firestorm, Nu began dodging them with as much ease as he thought. The huge fist would whizz passed him, creating a slight whirlwind effect around them, Nu’s vermillion cape flapped in the cross breeze, it then wrapped around him, becoming a tornado of orange flames and began weaving around the punches, going all the way up the behemoth’s arm and landing on Miser’s shoulder.

The blue Firestorm created its constructs pistols, blasting away at the face of the monster. Titannus shrugged his shoulders, shaking off Nu. The blue Firestorm growled, finding it hard to believe he hadn’t felled the monster yet. Titannus opened its mouth and bellowed out a roaring inferno of atomic power. Nu was enveloped in those flames completely, being washed out like a pebble in a river, but the flames suddenly parted down the middle. When the flames died out, within Nu’s hand was a claymore sword, constructed out of unknown materials.

“Well this might be a little more difficult than I previously thought,” said Nu.

“HEY!” Sunset shouted.

Sunset and Twilight flew up to Nu, flanking him on either side. Nu smirked and chuckled as he saw both girls stand beside him.

“I knew it, you guys want me,” said Nu.

“Shut up before we regret helping you,” said Sunset.

“Look to Titannus’ chest, the Firestorm Protocols are there! This is the first time they’ve been this exposed! If Sunset and I can get to those, then we can take away his power and he’ll be nothing,” said Twilight.

“Gonna be hard to do, we can’t get close to him the way he is now.”

Nu narrowed his gaze. “Let me worry about that. When I give the signal, move in, got it?”

“Care to let us in on the plan?” Sunset asked.

“Nope!”

Nu Firestorm flew up high into the sky grinning with confidence, the blue Firestorm threw off his vermillion cape, and twirled his sword around, taking a fighting stance, Nu air dashed for Titannus. The giant of fire clapped its hands together, creating a giant shockwave of the rocked the entire city. Nu Firestorm decided that this was going to end, otherwise the entire city would be wiped off the face of the Earth. Nu’s tribal markings glowed brighter, his eyes becoming pools of glowing white light as his atomic power surged forth, making even the giant Titannus feel uneasy.

“THIS IS IT BIG GUY!!!”

The blue Firestorm channeled that energy into his sword and fired a raging tornado of fire and energy that roared towards Titannus. The giant Firestorm unleashed another hellfire stream at the tornado, with a mirthful glint in his eyes, Nu poured more power into the tornado, making it slam up against the hellfire stream. Suddenly, the atomic flames began to swirl into the tornado, increasing its size and strength. Titannus poured more power into his stream in a vain attempt to overpower Nu.

However, this proved to be a futile effort as the tornado continued to roar towards him, and eventually, engulf the giant in towering tornado of intense power. Nu flew up to the top with great haste, appearing over the mouth of the tornado and twirled his sword around. The blue Firestorm then nose dived into the mouth, the energy of the tornado was absorbed by the blade the further down he went, causing it to burn white hot.

Nu then brought down his sword on the flaming giant, cutting it right across its chest. A wave of energy surged along the path of the cut, exploding outwards and creating a huge gash in the giant’s energy layer. “NOW!!!”

Sunset and Twilight jetted straight for Titannus and entered the gaping wound. Sunset quickly took position of two of the Protocols and Twilight gathered up the remaining two, Twilight took Sunset’s and immediately teleported them out of Titannus’ construct body, reappearing outside of the tornado.

The tornado was cancelled out and, unfortunately, the giant was still standing, but not by much. “Y-You think this will stop me?! The nanomachines and my body have absorbed enough the Firestorm Protocols! You have n-no chance of beating me!”

Nu Firestorm deconstructed his sword and rematerialized it into a drill bit. “Don’t you know, nothing is impossible, not for me!”

The blue Firestorm rushed towards Titannus, the drill continued to spin faster and faster until Nu’s body was completely engulfed in blue flames, recreating the drill as a giant blue fire construct. The drill struck the chest of Titannus, and in one powerful burst, blasted through Titannus’ chest and out the other side. The giant Firestorm’s body began to destabilize, Titannus looked over his shoulder at Nu, his expression looked as if he was in pain.

Nu glance back and released the construct drill. “You’re done.”

The energy of the strike surged through the body of the giant, spiraling at the center and sucking him up until he was utterly, and completely sucked into oblivion. Nu sighed, “You brought that on yourself, old man.”

Sunset looked to Twilight, she had a bit of a pained expression on her face. “Are you going to be okay, Sparky?”

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s fine, I won’t let this hold me down. I’ve learned, remember.”

Sunset smiled at her girlfriend, suddenly the Firestorm Protocols they were holding rose up. Two zoomed straight into Sunset’s sun emblem, while the other two went into Twilight’s emblem. Nu still held his cocky grin and chuckled. “Well ladies I’d call that a big time win, high fives!”

Nu was suddenly surrounded by a transmuted metal cage, and with Sunset pointing her right hand at Nu, which was now brimming with aquamarine magical light. “You’re coming with us.”

In an instant, all three were gone.

MILES AWAY…

Twilight and Sunset reappeared in a forest, far from the city of Baltimare, with Nu Firestorm in tow. The blue Firestorm had sat down in the makeshift cage, cross legged, and looking a little annoyed. “Girls we just beat a baddie, and I helped you. This isn’t a real good way to show gratitude.”

Twilight waved her hand and dismissed the cage, changing into sand. She then strode towards Nu, despite Sunset’s warnings not to get too close, and got right in Nu’s face, making him feel really tense by the glare in her eyes, and the raging inferno of her pink fire hair. “Earlier, you called me ‘Twily’! You called me ‘TWILY’! Only my big brother ever called me that! How do you know that?! Why do you know that?!”

Nu looked a little nervous, glancing about as if looking for help. “Well…um…that is…”

“Twilight…” Sunset whispered.

Twilight’s glowing eyes began to cry tears of liquid light as she continued to glare at him. “I need to know, are you…are you my brother? Are you Shining Armor?!”

Sunset hovered over to her lover and rested her hands on her shoulders. “Twilight, don’t do this to yourself, please.”

Nu rubbed the back of his head, growling in frustration he walked away and stood alone for a second. “Ugh, I can’t stand to see girls cry……I know that would make her feel better, but what guarantee do I have?!……Okay, alright, but you get thirty minutes…….Fine, two hours, but then you bring me back!”

Sunset and Twilight looked to each other in confusion, Nu turned around and sighed. Without warning Nu Firestorm released a brilliant cerulean and orange flash, both girls had to close their eyes from the intensity of the light, but once it faded, Twilight’s eyes bulged, her irises becoming the size of pinpricks, and instinctively making her revert to her normal form.

Standing before her now were the two people she’d thought she’d never see again. Professor Bill Neigh, still rocking his tan sweater vest, and Shining Armor, still wearing his combat gear and weapons. Sunset shook her head in disbelief, Twilight however ran towards her big brother and tackle hugged him to the ground. Tears of joy ran down her cheeks as she sobbed into his armored chest.

“Shiny, you’re here, you’re alive!” Twilight cried.

Shining Armor, after getting over the initial shock of getting tackled, smiled and stroked Twilight’s hair in comforting fashion. “We’re back Twily, we’re back.”

Author's Note

Guess what......this story ain't dead! Ha!

Entry 34: The Second Protocol

Entry 34: The Second Protocol

It had taken a full thirty minutes before Twilight calmed down enough to allow both her big brother, and her mentor/first father, to speak about their experience. However, before any of that, Sunset had the unfortunate luck to be grilled by Shining Armor and Bill Neigh. Apparently once Twilight told them they were dating it had sparked Shining Armor’s “Big Brother Mode” and immediately started giving Sunset that particular glare that most older siblings give the person their younger sibling is dating.

“So…Sunset Shimmer, you and Twily are really a thing?” Shining Armor asked.

“Well…yeah, we are, I-I promise I’ve been doing my best as her girlfriend!” Sunset admitted.

Shining Armor’s eyes glowered her, analyzing her, looking for a flaw or hint that she was lying, it didn’t help that he was in full combat gear. Although they’ve faced some pretty scary enemies, and despite fact that Sunset had her magic back on top of her Firestorm powers, Shining Armor had to be the scariest opponent thus far. But that was only half of the intimidation, as Bill Neigh was also giving her a steely eyed glare from his sitting position on the rock a few feet away.

“I…I hope you’re not disappointed in me?” Twilight asked.

Professor Neigh glanced to his former ward with confusion. “In you, never my Dear. Why would you think that?”

“Because…well…I know a relationship with another female isn’t exactly…practical, or what you had in mind when you wanted me to have a normal life.”

Professor Neigh chuckled at Twilight and rubbed the top of her head. “‘Normal’ is relative my young Twilight. I only hoped that you would have friends and live life, to find out that you have not only friends, but are in a romantic relationship, is beyond what I expected. I am very proud of you.”

Twilight blushed and smiled happily from the praise of her former teacher. The nerdy girl then took a look back at Shining Armor and deadpanned. “Shiny, leave Sunny alone. Besides you need to tell us what happened! I thought you two were dead for so long!”

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh both glanced to the other, releasing a synced sigh they relented to tell them what occurred that night.

“Well, the mission was going well, for a bit. Then the whole thing went south and became a cluster. The rest of my squad was killed off, I don’t know by what but there was a strange music sound coming from the comms,” said Shining Armor.

Sunset tensed upon hearing this. Strange music…? The Sirens were at that base when Shining Armor was?! Don’t know why I’m surprised, they didn’t hide the fact that they worked for the Organization, at least they didn’t get him.

“The Captain and I were in a cargo loading bay, from there I sent you the rocket with the Matrix, but…”

MONTHS AGO, DELTA BASE…

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh stood in shock at what they saw. Dusk Shine, after uttering the activation word, had transformed into a Firestorm. His suit was a dark violet, with a dimly colored red sun, with six smaller red orbs surrounding it. Around his hands and forearms were gauntlets made of a shiny amethyst metal, the same material that acted as his boots. The cloth around his arms and legs was a dark gray, while his head of fire hair, unlike other Firestorms, was not restrained by a helmet or cowl, it flowed freely. A brilliant purple flame with a flicker of pink in it, short yet still bellowing with all due power.

Dusk Shine narrowed his eyes and smiled in wicked glee as he looked upon his transformed self, flexing his digits and rolling his shoulders as he adjusted to his new form. “I must say, Professor, I never imagined how much power these would give, it’s almost overwhelming.”

Professor Neigh shook his head in disbelief, it was utterly impossible. “How were you able to recreate it?!”

The violet Firestorm chuckled superiorly at that question. “I made it my business to know everything about the Firestorm Protocol, it’s a work of art! However, your Matrix is by far the better, I can only imitate your work, creating these Protocols. But unlike yours, which requires two hosts to contain its power, mine only need one.”

“The Protocols will not bring you the salvation you seek Dusk! You have the chance to be better, I can find a way to save you, come with us!” Professor Neigh pleaded.

Dusk Shine narrowed his eyes. “No, I realized relying on others is a wasted effort. In the end all you can trust is yourself, everyone else is either an enemy or someone to control. Now Professor, I still find you a useful asset and I’d rather not kill you outright. Surrender now and we’ll chalk this up to cooperation under duress.”

Shining Armor pointed his pistol at Dusk Shine, firing two rounds. The bullets flew towards Dusk, but before they even reached him they melted into molten slag before turning into ash. Dusk Shine sighed as he looked to the soldier.

“Alright you get three strikes, I’ll give you that one, you have three left,” said Dusk.

Shining Armor wasted no time, holstering this pistols and unsheathing this sword at the same time. He dashed towards Dusk Shine and brought down his sword in an overhead strike, as the blade came down it made contact with the left side of Dusk’s neck. When Shining Armor pushed forward the metal bent and curved, the marine jumped back and looked upon his weapon, which was now looking like a piece of scrap metal now.

“That’s one,” said Dusk.

Shining Armor reached for his belt and detached two grenades, he then hit the buttons on each one and tossed them right at Dusk Shine. Once the grenades got to within an inch of him, they exploded, creating a cloud of fire and smoke that shrouded him.

“That’s not going to work, Captain!” Professor Neigh shouted.

“Then what else are we going to do?!” Shining Armor asked.

Professor Neigh looked about, relenting, he hurried back to the rocket, accessing another compartment to the rocket and pulled out an orb of red light. Shining Armor’s eyes widened when he saw this, it was similar to the Firestorm Protocol that was in the rocket, but it was different. It had an ethereal glow to it, almost as if the energies that comprised this were otherworldly.

“Professor?”

“I had hoped to complete this one with the other, but right now if we don’t make it out then the world will plunge into a fiery nightmare!”

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh heard rumbling sounds coming from the cloud of smoke. The old professor looked to the young captain, an understanding passed through them at that moment, prompting Shining Armor to place his hand on the glowing orb. The crimson sphere glowed brighter as if responding to their wills, the dust cloud was suddenly blown away by a thunderous force that also extinguished the flames surrounding him.

“That’s two marine, make the next one coun – WHAT IS THAT?!” Dusk Shine shouted.

“Fighting fire with fire,” said Shining Armor.

“Together, Captain!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The crimson orb exploded in a blinding ray of fiery light. The hue of the light began to change rapidly, becoming a cool azure blue. The blue flames then recollected themselves, forming a body made of plasma fire. Orange, almost tribal markings appeared on his body, black pants formed, followed by a vermillion cape made of fiery orange-red plasma that wafted in the ethereal winds generated by his power.

“I am, born Nu,” said the Firestorm as he opened his white glowing eyes.

Dusk Shine took a step back, not understanding what he witnessed. He could feel a strange power coming off this being, it was definitely more powerful, but was it due to the fact that it was comprised of two beings or was it the properties of the Firestorm Protocol?

“Very tricky Professor!” Dusk Shine declared as he raised his right hand, preparing to fire a plasma fire beam.

Just then, Nu Firestorm teleported right in front of Dusk Shine, making the violet atomic warrior’s eyes widen with surprise. Nu tsked and wagged his finger back and forth in a disapproving fashion. “I still have one more strike, Dusk.”

Swift as lightning, Nu Firestorm placed his right palm against Dusk’s chest. In an instant a bright blue light formed at the point of contact, and after a second a pulse was fired, sending Dusk Shine soaring to the other end of the room until he slammed against the side of the wall. Nu Firestorm teleported again, appearing next to the rocket and inputted the coordinates. With the push of a button the rocket was fired and sent up the shoot, Nu nodded knowing the other Protocol would not fall into Dusk’s hands.

Suddenly, Dusk Shine erupted from the wall, and landed back at his original spot with a thunderous BOOM. His eyes blazed with fury as he looked upon the new being before thrusting both hands forward and unleashing an infernal torrent of plasma fire upon Nu Firestorm. The blue warrior waved his left hand in front of him, erecting a barrier to block the onslaught.

“I’m bored with this,” said Nu Firestorm as he teleported away and allowed the flames to engulf everything else.

PRESENT…

“Little did we know that Nu had a mind of his own,” said Professor Neigh.

“We tried to unfuse, but that wasn’t happening, we realized that we were now trapped inside of him,” said Shining Armor.

Twilight and Sunset had listened to all of this, drinking it in. The giant burned hole in the cargo area now made sense, however, the way that Nu fought, it made Sunset skeptical about the properties of the Firestorm Matrix inside them. However, there was a the weird thing about this lookalike.

“This ‘Dusk Shine’, you said he looks like Twilight, who is he?” Sunset asked.

Professor Neigh sighed. “After the Captain and his team raided the other base some years back, they attempted to recreate Twilight with what little genetic code they had left over. They decided to make this version male so that he’d be more obedient and loyal, and ruthless.”

“However, in rushing to recreate her, they incidentally – for lack of a better term – screwed up his genes. His telomere levels are low, and because of it, his body ages faster than most, he’s slowly dying, but I fear it won’t be long before he goes,” said Professor Neigh.

Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing, the voice coming from the androids she had fought in Applejack’s orchard, was her gender swapped clone. “You’re saying I have a little brother?!”

“Of sorts.”

“Professor, besides the fact that there’s a homicidal male version of Sparky here,” said Sunset. “If I’m understanding the Firestorm Matrixes. What you’re telling me is that you created not one, but two unique Matrixes. What exactly makes yours different, because honestly, it feels…different. The atomic energy structure of Nu is different from Twilight’s and mine when we go Firestorm.”

The corner of Professor Neigh’s mouth curled into a smile. “Very observant Ms. Shimmer, and astute. I see why you have taken a liking to her, Twilight.”

Twilight blushed noticeably, making Sunset bump her lover with her shoulder teasingly.

“Yes, Nu is a different kind of existence. While researching the ‘god particle’ I found a different energy source that seemed to move with it. It was tangible yet intangible, powerful and with a life of its own. It…It was hard to describe, if I had to wager a guess I’d have to call it –”

“Magic,” said Sunset. “You found a way to create a magic based Firestorm Matrix?!”

Professor Neigh raised an eyebrow at that notion. “Ms. Shimmer, please, magic is but a simplified explanation for early man make sense of forces that they were otherwise unable to explain.”

Twilight timidly raised her hand, with a pensive look on her face. “I…I hate to disagree with you, Professor. But I have witnessed this magic, at first I was skeptical, but after recent events I’ve found that there are forces that cannot be explained by science alone. Especially when those forces are a part of you.”

Shining Armor also looked skeptical, although he has seen his fair share of weird and strange in his years of military service, the existence of magic was still a hard pill to swallow without proof. “Well, Twily, how do you know?”

“Because I’m from another dimension populated by sapient ponies, I was a unicorn so I was pretty much born to use magic. In my dimension there’s a double of Twilight who’s a princess and pretty powerful magic user as well, as well as we have a an ruler who’s an alicorn – a pony with wings and a horn – who can move the sun and moon.”

Professor Neigh and Shining Armor stared at Sunset dumbfounded. Both looked to Twilight to see if there was a punchline at the end of the joke, but Twilight didn’t snicker or snort, absolutely no signs that this was some joke, and Sunset wasn’t any different, saying all that with a straight face and not even once cracking a smile.

“Well…Ms. Shimmer, as any good scientist will tell ask, do you have proof of this?”

Sunset snapped her fingers and immediately she disappeared in a flash of aquamarine light. She then reappeared standing behind Shining Armor and Professor Neigh, startling them both. Sunset teleported again, appearing on a tree branch overhead. She then jumped off the branch plummeting several feet in just a few short seconds, but right before she hit the ground, Sunset stopped. Her body was enveloped in the same colored magical aura, which then slowly raised her up and repositioned her so that she was standing on her feet. “Enough proof, Professor?”

“Um…Well…I…” Professor Neigh stuttered.

“Ha, I stumped the teacher, do I get any brownie points for that Sparky?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled back at her lover. “Well, maybe a few, but I’ll have to dock some off. He’s still my first father.”

“Ouch, harsh,”

Shining Armor was still trying get used to the fact not only did his adopted little sister have a girlfriend, but said girlfriend was the very same girl who was regarded as a terror of the school she attended. Still, Shining Armor had to admit, he definitely noticed a glow about her, a familiar glow. One that he had seen that he and Cadence…Oh sweet Christmas they didn’t?!

“Anyway, it sounds like we have a similar problem. During a fight Sunset and I fused into……a creature called Hel. She acted on her own will, and killed the enemy we were fighting, but she was highly sadistic, and demonic in look,” said Twilight with a shudder.

Professor Neigh nodded to this. “That would explain those odd spikes in energy that Nu sensed from halfway across the world, we also sensed two more spikes in power, which was what drew him here initially.”

Sunset raised her hand. “Yeah, that would be us too. Somehow our magic interacted with the Matrix inside us and we were able to pull two of our friends into a fusion and became two different Firestorms, one was Iris and the other was Gaia. Neither of our friends even had Protocols.”

Sunset and Twilight could see the gears turning in Professor Neigh’s head, an excited grin started to form as his love of science and understanding began to take over, finding it fascinating how his Matrix had evolved in such a short of amount of time.

“Anyway, it looks like you two are okay with it, have you fused any other times after that?” Shining Armor asked.

“NO!” Twilight answered, albeit a bit louder than she had wanted. The nerdy girl took note of her brother’s reaction and quickly backpedaled. “I mean, no, we haven’t. We’ve tried to avoid fusing like that again, I honestly don’t want to become Hel again, she was…”

Sunset sighed, despite their unlocking and accepting of the chakras, the memories of Hel still left scars on them both. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience, to say the least.”

Shining Armor wanted to probe further, but decided to drop it, seeing as how the last thing he wanted was to see his little sister break down. “Fair enough, but how about we switch topics to something a little more on the light side. How long have you two been dating?”

Twilight blushed at that question. “A couple of months now, but if you want to get technical we were hanging out a little before that.”

“Huh, alright, so right around the time of that science fair project,” said Shining Armor as he nodded. “How’d that go by the way?”

“We would’ve won, but someone set off a sound wave cannon and blew the roof off the expo, literally. But we managed to woo them a little with our mini-reactor, they used it to power the auditorium while repairs were being made and people were cleaning up,” said Sunset as she started to blush. “And I guess that’s when we started to make it official.”

Shining Armor nodded again, watching the reactions of both girls closely, checking for signs that either one was lying. Twilight was a terrible liar so he wasn’t worried, but he took extra precaution when reading Sunset, the girl looked like she had a lot of practice had keeping a poker face, but she did seem more relaxed and loose around Twilight.

“Twilight, can I talk to you for a minute? In private?” Shining Armor asked.

Twilight blinked in confusion but otherwise nodded and followed her big brother until they were a yard or two away, close enough to see but far enough that their words were barely above a whisper.

Sunset and Professor Neigh watched as the two exchanged dialogue. Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head as if asking something embarrassing. Twilight then reacted with a gasp and had said loudly “SHINY!” which was then followed by a shove. Sunset raised an eyebrow when she saw Twilight blush profusely as her big brother seemed to be asking her forgiveness.

Twilight then stomped her way back to Sunset and sat with her arms crossed and her lips forming a pouty face. Shining Armor returned to his sitting position next to Professor Neigh, looking a bit defeated in that moment.

Sunset looked between the two siblings and sighed. “I give up, what happened?”

“He asked if we’ve slept together,” said Twilight in a huff.

“Ooookay,” Sunset looked over to Shining Armor and shot him a devious smile. “Well, I can see why you’d ask, she’s cute, hot, and quite the animal in bed.”

Twilight thought it was impossible for her face to get any redder, but she was proven wrong. “SUNSET SHIMMER!!!”

“Yeah, it was kind of like that when she – MMMPH!”

Twilight quickly placed her hands over Sunset’s both to stifle any more embarrassing details to be told about their night together. She looked across to Shining Armor and Professor Neigh, her big brother looked a bit uncomfortable now having heard all that. However, the Professor seemed more intrigued than anything.

“Huh, fascinating, I was unsure if you would even be able to have such relations with another person, but clearly you have even the basic of needs as any other person. I’m glad the fact that you were artificially generated hasn’t stymied your sexual development either,” said Professor Neigh in professional tone.

Sunset moved Twilight’s hands and looked to the Professor curiously. “Wait, you weren’t sure if she’d be interested in sex?”

“Well no, I believe that drive to procreate is hardwired into our psyche one way or another, but I am unsure if she can bear children, to be honest I’m not one-hundred percent sure of what the Organization did as far as her biology,” said Professor Neigh.

Twilight groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in her hands as she listened to her girlfriend and her first father figure discuss her biological ability to have children or to even – If there is a higher power, please make this conversation end now!

As if by divine providence, a light began to blink at the center of both Professor Neigh and Shining Armor’s chests. A light that made both Twilight and Sunset spring to their heels.

“What’s happening,” asked Sunset.

“It looks like our time’s up, Nu wants to come back,” said Shining with a disappointed sigh.

“At least we got to stretch our legs a bit,” said Professor Neigh.

“Wait, we can stop this, if Sunset and I transform we can remove the Protocol inside you!” Twilight insisted.

The Professor shook his head. “It would not work, Twilight. Nu is sapient, aware. He will not go so easily, I fear his consciousness may affect your own Matrix should you absorb it.”

“No…’ Twilight whispered in dismay, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Shining Armor walked up to Twilight and wiped away the tears she shed with his right thumb. “Hey, don’t worry, Nu’s not all that bad, and we’re still alive, remember that. With my skill and the Prof’s brains, none of the Organization cronies can touch us.”

“I just got you both back…there has to be way,” said Twilight.

Professor Neigh walked up to Twilight, and patted her on the head. “Now, now, no more tears, we’re alive, and that’s what counts. We’ll still be watching over you, it’ll just be as a new entity. Alright?’

Twilight sniffled a little more, but in the end smiled and nodded. Shining Armor then turned to Sunset Shimmer and gave her a serious look. “You’ll look after her right, you’ll protect her?”

“Of course I will,” said Sunset.

“Remember this as well, Dusk Shine is more dangerous than the Organization as a whole. He’s gained a disdain for life, and I can only imagine what he has planned.” The Professor warned.

Sunset and Twilight took this information to heart, remembering their recent bouts.

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh took a few steps back and clasped their hands together, and yelled as one. “FIRESTORM!!!”

Blue and orange flames erupted around Shining Armor and Professor Neigh, the flames then took shape, forming a single person. Nu returned with his vermillion plasma cape flapping in the wind generated by his summoning. Nu turned around and saw the saddened expression on Twilight’s face, sending a pang of guilt in his heart.

“Look…I’m not bad guy, and I’m not oblivious to what’s going on. But can you understand that I want to live? I’m my own person, I can think and feel, and I’d like to see this world and the people in it,” said Nu.

Nu began to rise up, floating in the air and looking down at Twilight and Sunset.

“If you guys ever need my help, just call me with your magic, and I’ll come running!”

Sunset rolled her eyes but allowed herself a small grin. Twilight smiled back at Nu, although there were some tears still in her eyes. With that, Nu zoomed off into the blue sky, creating a sonic boom from the sudden acceleration. Sunset looked to her girlfriend and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“You gonna be alright, Sparky?” Sunset asked with genuine concern.

“I-I think so. Nu doesn’t seem to be a bad fusion, and besides, my brother and the Professor are alive! They’re alive!” Twilight proclaimed happily as she enveloped Sunset in a hug.

Sunset chuckled and kissed the top of Twilight’s forehead. “C’mon, let’s head home. I’m sure the girls no doubt saw that go down are probably tearing their hair out with worry.”

“Yeah, well, that, and we have a lot of homework to make up.”

Sunset groaned. “You just had to remind me of that!”

Author's Note

So to answer your questions as to what Nu is, he's basically the Elemental Firestorm. He's his own being, with his own consciousness.

Entry 35: Back Home

Adagio was sitting around the lavish penthouse that she and her Siren sisters had “borrowed”, dressed only her bathrobe after having another wild romp with Sonata and Aria. Earlier today Adagio had gotten a call from Dusk Shine about Miser taking the Protocols and transforming himself into a behemoth monster of a Firestorm. Adagio had been watching the events unfold from the news reports, those few humans who were either brazen enough, or stupid enough to stick close enough to the city to capture footage of the fight.

From what she was able to see, Sunset Shimmer’s magic had seemed to have grown more powerful within the recent week, add to the fact that they somehow lost track of her for that period of time, but apparently whatever she was doing had increased her magical power. However, it was unknown just how much stronger she could be from just what she saw on television.

“Interesting, may have to pay her a visit soon,” said Adagio.

The alpha Siren turned her head when she heard yawning coming from behind her. There she saw Aria and Sonata groggily walking out of the bedroom. Adagio chuckled when she saw that Aria was wearing her bra and panties, knowing her she just grabbed the first pair closest to her or as some kinky way of arousing their alpha. Sonata had managed to get her robe on, but left it loosely open, typical of the airheaded girl.

“You’re up already? I would’ve thought you two would still be asleep until noon.”

“Couldn’t sleep…” Aria answered.

“No Dagi to snuggle…I want to snuggle Dagi,” said Sonata, half asleep.

Adagio couldn’t help but chuckle at her lovers, she motioned for them to join her and join her they did. Sonata to Adagio’s right, already curling up next to the puffy haired immortal and resting her head on Adagio’s shoulder. Aria plopped down next to her as well, arms crossed as she simply leaned up against Adagio. The lead Siren draped an arm around both girls, which brought a noticeable smile to their faces. Yes, they would bicker and insult each other from time to time, but it was all words at the end of the day, for all they had was each other and that bond could not be broken.

“So what’s going on?” Aria asked.

“Miser engaged in some rather dangerous gambit in using the Firestorm Protocols, Dusk Shine alerted me and told me to be wary and prepared to take action should he be coming for us all,” said Adagio.

At first Aria was about to spring to her feet and start yelling about why they hadn’t left, hidden, or even gone after the old man. But when she saw that Adagio wasn’t panicked, she halted those thoughts. “Is he dead then?”

“Yep, more than likely he’s been dispatched, but, I’ve felt a strong surge in magical power lately. Whether that’s from our little Sunny is a different story, but I believe she may have an idea as to what the surge was,” said Adagio.

Aria looked upon Adagio with curiosity. “You still think she can get us back home?”

“I do, she’s the only ray of hope we’ve had in a long time, and recent events have gotten me thinking we need to be more proactive,” said Adagio.

“‘Proactive’?”

“Dagi means that with all the craziness going on, we may be better off protecting her from Dusk Shine and the Organization,” said Sonata.

Aria looked to the youngest Siren in shock at what she had just said, Adagio on the other hand smiled and petted Sonata on the head, earning a smile from the blue Siren. “Oh Sona, what a sharp mind you have, it’s quite sexy.”

Sonata giggled and nuzzled closer to Adagio.

“Seriously, you want to protect her?!” Aria asked.

“She gave us the knowledge of the statue, the portal back. But from her explanation she doesn’t have the power necessary to make it open and connect it back to Equestria. However, if she has gotten stronger, then it may not be out of the question to push her along to tap into more of that power, but that won’t happen if Dusk or those Organization fogeys kill her,” said Adagio.

Aria grumbled and pouted. “I can’t believe you trust her to help us.”

“I don’t.” Adagio cupped Aria’s chin and brought her face to face, making the magenta Siren blush from the intimidating look in Adagio’s eyes. “I doubt she will fully cooperate with us, and if that’s the case, we’ll simply drain her of all her magical power. With that much power, along with our Firestorm powers, we should have more than enough to punch a hole straight into Equestria, and then we’ll have more than enough to take over.”

Aria’s smile widened. “I love it when you backstab like that.”

Adagio smiled and kissed Aria on the lips, parting for a moment to look at her eyes lustfully. “I think we need another round.”

“I’m game,” said Sonata.

CANTERLOT CITY, ONE DAY LATER…

Sunset and Twilight finally arrived back home after deciding to take a day off to collect their thoughts and take in everything that was revealed to them, with Twilight inadvertently crashing at Sunset’s apartment since it was pretty much a hidden location from Twilight’s parents as well their friends.

Once they had rested, they called up the girls and arranged a meeting at Rarity’s shop to go over what had happened during their “quest for enlightenment” and the subsequent battle that occurred in Baltimare.

They had all gathered in Rarity’s workroom, standing in a semicircle as Twilight and Sunset regaled them with the emotional journey of the chakras and their battle with Titannus. The pair did get a round of gasps when they told them of Nu Firestorm and that Shining Armor and Professor Neigh were, for lack of a better term, trapped inside of him.

“So, are you going to tell Cadance at least?” Rainbow asked.

“Not yet, because telling her that would mean telling her about…well…this.” Twilight created a sphere of condensed magical energy, she quickly closed her hand and snuffed the orb out.

“And the whole, you know, Twilight was made by an evil group of people hell bent on causing as much war and strife to line their pockets, thing,” added Sunset.

The group of girls frowned a little.

“Well, that would be a hard pill to swallow, but otherwise, if I may say, it looks as if you two are much better,” said Rarity.

Twilight and Sunset glanced to each other and blushed a little, causing the fashionista to giggle excitedly that the couple had made amends. After coming to accept Sunset Shimmer as part of their group, and after the announcement of their being an item, she found their relationship, in her words, “simply adorable”. So hearing that the two of them were now in a better place made her even happier.

Rainbow Dash came up beside Sunset and padded her on the shoulder, and brought up her right fist. Sunset smirked and fist bumped her rival in love, happy to see that they were able to make up. For Rainbow, Twilight being happy was what she wanted, despite the fact that she wished it was her who had made her happy, Sunset wasn’t that bad a choice.

The prismatic girl then playfully elbowed Sunset in the rips and jokingly asked, “So, did you two get it on in the woods?”

Applejack smacked her forehead and groaned, Fluttershy “eeped” and blushed, Rarity balked, and Pinkie Pie had this strange Cheshire cat grin going on.

“Rainbow Dash! Honestly, that’s not only crude, but also quite rude!” Rarity chided.

“What, I was just joking around,” said Rainbow Dash in her defense.

“Actually, yeah, we did,” said Sunset.

“Did what?” Rainbow asked.

“Twilight, in the woods.”

The silence was so prominent that one could hear a pin drop, or even the wingbeat of a butterfly. Sunset was blushing despite having admitted that, and Twilight was no better, her face red as a tomato. Normally she’d be a little peeved that her girlfriend just outed about their first time, but at this point she expected such things from Sunset, after all, this was her Sunset.

“S-S-Seriously?!” Rainbow asked in utter shock.

Twilight nodded sheepishly, but managed to punch Sunset in the arm, earning a light chuckle from the crass girl.

“Um…uh…well, Ah’ll be damned,” said Applejack, dumbfounded.

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy, her face almost as red as Twilight’s.

Pinkie Pie on the other hand quickly rushed forward and enveloped both girls in a near bone crushing hug. Even though they have suffered worse at the hands of other Firestorms, in human form, it was very effective at nearly crushing them. “I knew it! I knew it, I knew it!”

“Pardon?” Rarity asked.

“Well, a couple of days ago my Pinkie Sense went off and it was a doozy! I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was something really important and was connected to Sunset and Twilight, and strangely something intimately cute! And I was right, oooh! I totally have to throw you a ‘We Lost Our V-Cards” party!”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow at that. “‘V-card’?”

Applejack face palmed herself, along with Sunset and Rainbow Dash, Rarity just shook her head in dismay.

“Ya don’t know what a ‘V-Card’ is?” Applejack asked.

Twilight shook her head, but apparently she wasn’t alone.

Fluttershy raised her hand and gently spoke, “Um, I-I don’t know what that means, either.”

Sunset and Rainbow Dash looked to each other and sighed.

“C’mere Twi,” said Sunset.

“Shy, let’s talk,” said Rainbow Dash.

Both went with their respective girls and whispered into their ears, their voices going through various tones of “Oh” and ending with both Twilight and Fluttershy even redder than before.

“Okay, so anyone else get it on while we were away?” Sunset asked with a chuckle.

To the surprise of most in the room, Applejack’s hand rose up.

“I swear I was kidding!” Sunset added.

“Wow…um…wow…Who’s the lucky guy?” Rainbow asked.

“Weren’t a guy,” answered Applejack.

“What?” Rainbow asked.

“Don’t start that again, Dash!” Sunset warned.

There was a pensive look on Applejack’s face, her hands were gripping the hem of her denim skirt, hard. Honesty was a part of her personal code, and her moral fiber. Something like this was personal, but it wasn’t her truth to tell, especially when it involved another friend. Applejack managed to glance at Rarity, the fashionista glanced back, noticing how tense AJ was. With a sigh, Rarity placed her hand over Applejack’s left, making the farm girl relax a bit.

The look in Rarity’s eyes was one of seeking permission, and with a slight amount of reluctance, Applejack nodded.

“Applejack and I spent the night together a couple of days ago, and not very much in the platonic sense,” said Rarity.

The silence returned again.

Twilight had to sit down, along with Sunset and Fluttershy at hearing this news. They never took Applejack as being one to make a fuss about someone swinging the other way, but they didn’t think she’d swing that way.

“What the hell!? How long has this been going on?!” Rainbow asked, partly peeved that one of her best friends was the same as her.

“Not very long, it’s just, with Sunset and Twilight, and then findin’ out about you Dash, it just got me thinkin’ some thoughts. Thoughts that weren’t lettin’ go until Ah knew…until Ah knew what it was like!” Applejack tensed again. “Call me whatever ya like, but Ah was just curious and then…”

“And then I asked if Applejack wanted to explore this side of herself with me. It was mostly coincidence that it happened when we she came over, nothing was planned.” Rarity interjected.

Rainbow Dash was running her hands through her hair as she tried to make sense of this, questioning her own gay-dar at this point. “So…you two are dating now?! I thought you both liked boys?!”

“We do,” said both girls in unison.

“Don’t misunderstand, I fully intend on finding my prince charming. However, I’m not unopposed to seeking a potential romantic relationship with someone I trust, and Applejack is one I trust wholeheartedly.”

“Fer me, Ah guess Ah’m explorin’ – if that’s the right word? Fer right now we agreed to just see where this goes, nothin’ big to do about it, we agreed to still stay friends,” said Applejack confidently.

Pinkie Pie leaned in close to Sunset and whispered. “Friends with benefits~”

This caused Sunset to snort with contained laughter.

Twilight stood up and approached Applejack, smiling at her kindly. “Believe me, I understand, I was wrestling with these thoughts myself. But don’t let them consume you, otherwise, you may lose out on something potentially wonderful. Besides, there’s no law saying you can’t like both boys and girls.”

“Thanks, Twi,” said Applejack.

Quick as lightning, Rainbow Dash gently removed Twilight from her standing position and moved her to the left and put herself in front of AJ. The rainbow haired girl gave the farm girl a stern look, making Applejack gulp. “You, and me, we’re going to have a long talk at my place.” She then looked to Rarity. “Do you mind if I borrow her for one night?”

Rarity, reflexively, coiled her arms around Applejack’s left arm. “Sorry Rainbow Dash, I’d rather not make Applejack a toy that we can pass back and forth.” In a rather unexpected maneuver, Rarity reached out with her left hand placed a finger under Rainbow’s chin. “However, if you ask, maybe we may allow for a one time exception for all three of us.”

Sunset cleared her throat and pulled at the collar of her shirt, suddenly feeling a little hot at the moment. Twilight gave Sunset a little jab in the ribs with her elbow, blushing in a bit of jealousy that her girlfriend was actually looking hot under the collar.

“And with that established, we must prepare, even if this Organization is after us all, that’s no excuse to keep us all from living our lives. Most particularly, the Spring Fling!” Rarity gushed. “Now, Sunset, I will need you to stay a little while so that I might get more accurate measurements. Applejack has been a good stand in but I’d rather be sure.”

Sunset sighed. “I thought you were a genius with fashion, plus, I thought you had all of our measurements already.”

Rarity released Applejack and strode over to her work table, already gathering her equipment and supplies. “I do, but you, not so much Darling. This will be the first dress I’ve ever made you, and I won’t have you in anything but my best.”

Sunset hesitated. “But…”

“No buts!” Rarity said with finality.

The fiery haired girl ran her hand through her long hair and sighed in defeat. “Guess I’ll be awhile, Sparky, you might want to head on home.”

“It’s fine, I’ll wait, outside,” said Twilight with a smile.

“Ugh, I gotta go home, my brain hurts after hearing all this,” said Rainbow Dash as she trudged through the door.

“Same here, I need to go apple buck just to get relaxed,” added Applejack she left as well.

“I’m totally going to get to work on that “‘We Lost Our V-Cards’ party! Bye!” Pinkie Pie then zoomed out of the room and past AJ and Rainbow, with the dreading notion that she was one-hundred percent serious about that party.

“Um, Twilight, can I talk to you privately? Outside?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure.”

“Feel free to make yourselves at home Darlings. Now then…Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset looked back at Rarity, who was now donned in her signature red pointed glasses, and holding measuring tape in both hands. She then pulled it taut, making it snap like a whip, which echoed loudly for some odd reason, and made Sunset flinch.

“Do please strip down, I need to be very accurate.”

“Oh buck me…”

Fluttershy led Twilight to one of Rarity’s spare rooms, having had spent time over at her shop, she was well aware of each room and what was in them. She closed the door behind her and motioned for Twilight to sit down on the bed.

“You can come out now,” said Fluttershy.

Suddenly the room was filled with barking as Spike sped out from under the bed, slightly startling Twilight, but once she saw the familiar purple fur, she sat back down and held out her arms. Spike jumped up and into Twilight’s arms, licking her face in joy at seeing her again.

“O-Okay, Spike, I missed you too!” Twilight giggled.

“Spike, I think it’s time you told her.”

Spike stopped licking Twilight’s face and looked back at Fluttershy with uncertainty. Twilight for her part was confused. “Is there something wrong with Spike, Fluttershy?”

“Not exactly, but I think it’s better if he told you,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight looked to Spike, for a moment the puppy dog didn’t make eye contact her, but after a few more seconds, Spike gave a light sigh and looked up to Twilight. “I can talk, Twilight.”

For a moment, Twilight’s brain shut down, and then rebooted. “Okay, clearly my recent ordeals have taken their toll on me, as I am now hearing and seeing Spike, my dog, talk.”

“It’s not your head Twi, I can really talk,” said Spike.

3…2…1.

“AAAAAHH!” Twilight screamed as she accidentally tossed Spike into the air.

Fluttershy held out her arms, expecting that to happen, and caught Spike before he could hit the ground. Twilight disappeared in a flash of rosy-violet and reappeared in a far corner of the room.

“Okay, that’s – I mean – how – WHAT?!” Twilight babbled. She then looked to Fluttershy. “H-H-How long have you known?!”

“Um, well I just recently found out while you asked me to take care of him,” said Fluttershy in a calm and kind tone.

“B-B-But how come you’re not freaking out?!”

Fluttershy blushed. “Um, well, I’ve always wished I could understand animals, not just emotionally, but also hear them voice their concerns and what they’re thinking. So when Spike spoke for the first time, I was startled, but I was more excited than anything!”

Of course, an animal lover like Fluttershy would take something like this in stride! After all, my dog talks now! This is my life, my weird, magical life, thought Twilight.

“Twilight…do you, do you hate me?” Spike asked.

After getting over the initial shock, Twilight took a moment to really look at Spike. His eyes were watery, and his ears dropped, even his tail ceased to wag. It dawned on Twilight how her reaction made him feel, and after shoving aside the uneasiness of the situation, she walked up to Fluttershy and held out her arms.

Fluttershy gently gave Spike to Twilight and hugged him close to her. “Never, I could never hate you, Spike! I love you, and you’ve helped me so many ways through my life, you talking will never change that! I’m…I’m sorry about how I reacted earlier.”

Spike smiled and nuzzled Twilight’s with his own. “It’s alright, I’m just happy you’re back.”

“But why can you talk? I mean, it isn’t really a bad thing, but how?”

“Don’t know really, I just sorta started to pick up on how you and the girls talk, I guess it really started around that day when you weren’t with Sunset as much. You remember, when you were really sad and some bad things happened?”

Twilight wracked her brain as she recalled the last weeks, which had been quite hectic. But then it clicked. “Hel, after Sunset and I fused into Hel, it unlocked my own magical abilities, and somehow it caused you to be able to talk just by being near me?!”

Spike shrugged.

“Does…Does that mean the girls and I are going to change too?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight ran a hand through her hair, struggling to comprehend this new development. “Ugh, I don’t know! I didn’t exactly have handle on my magic, despite not using it, I may have been leaking out an excess amount of magical energy because of my inexperience in its use! Sunset was born in a world filled with it, I’ll have to talk to her later about this…Oh I’m so sorry…I keep trying not put you all in harm’s way, and here I am passively harming you without even knowing!”

Fluttershy walked up to Twilight and placed her hand over Twilight’s left. “It’s not your fault Twilight, all of this happening is not something you wished for, but if there's one thing I know, it’s that something as wonderful as the power you and Sunset have can’t be harmful, I can feel it.”

Twilight smiled warmly at Fluttershy, she was always amazed at how kind this girl was. Some may see it as a weakness, but honestly, after all the pain and destruction the Organization has caused, a bit of kindness could heal that if the world was willing. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

“No problem, Twilight.” At this point, Fluttershy began to blush a little. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how’s Treesy doing?”

“C’mon, I’ll tell you, and you little mister, we have a lot to talk about too.”

“Cool! Does this mean I can eat the table now?!” Spike asked.

“Uh…We’ll have to break the news of a talking dog to my parents first.”

Entry 36: The Lines are Drawn

Sunset and Twilight were currently taking a leisurely walk back to Sunset’s apartment, with the latter of the girls sporting a blush. Twilight giggled at her girlfriend’s flustered appearance, earning a small growl of annoyance from Sunset.

“It’s not funny,” said Sunset.

“I’m sorry, but you have to admit it is a little funny? Rarity practically taking every measurement she could,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, the words ‘personal space’ were not in her vocab today. I feel molested, and I think she even had an evil grin the whole time!” Sunset argued.

“Sure that wasn’t some little fantasy of yours? Sounded less like shrieks of distress and more like squeals of delight.”

Sunset smacked her face with her palm and groaned, making Twilight snort-laugh, for once having the upperhand on her pervy and crass girlfriend. Spike walked alongside them the whole way, with Sunset occasionally glancing at the pooch. She found out from Twilight about why her dog can suddenly talk, which earned Twilight a look of shock from Sunset.

“I still can’t believe you find me talking weird, pony girl,” said Spike.

“Even in my world, dogs don’t talk. Anypony would react the same way!” Sunset shot back.

“Eh, I think it’s fun, talking feels great!”

“Now, Spike, remember what I told you about…ahem…any and all secrets I may or may not have told you when I thought you couldn’t understand me, or talk,” said Twilight with a blush.

Spike nodded confidently, he would never betray his owner’s confidence.

“Oh, now I’m curious, what has Twilight said about me when I’m not around?” Sunset asked with a devious grin.

“Sorry, no can do. It’s part of the Dog’s Honor Code! Never reveal your owner’s secrets, we are there so that they can unburden themselves, to lend an ear, and what is told between them is always kept sacred,” said Spike with earnest pride.

Sunset had to admit, she liked Spike, I mean she did like him before, he is a cute little dog. But hearing him say that just made her wonder a little if the Twilight Sparkle of Equestria had a dog named Spike to. Yeah right, if she does, it’s probably something else. Ha, if it’s a dragon I’ll shave my mane!

“So, exactly why do you want to spend another night at my place, and not head home right away?” Sunset asked.

“I just wanted to spend more time with you is all,” said Twilight sincerely.

“Uh-huh, and it’s definitely not your way of trying to jump me when I’m asleep.”

Twilight groaned. “You’re such a perv, Sunset!”

“Guilty, but I’m your perv.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but nonetheless smiled.

As the two of them approached the apartment, Spike stopped. The little dog’s fur rose up on end, his tail raised into attack position as he widened his stance, bared his teeth, and growled threateningly. Twilight and Sunset looked to the little dog, quite surprised by his change in demeanor.

“Spike, what’s wrong?!” Twilight asked.

“There’s something not good behind that door,” said Spike.

Sunset glanced to Twilight, and Twilight to Sunset, both nodded. Sunset’s right hand collected magical energy, forming a sphere of pure energy ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. Twilight’s hands were glowing as well, however, she was ready to defend, the air already becoming distorted from the energy that prepared to form. Sunset used her left hand to concentrate her magic on the doorknob, muting any sound of it unlocking. However, before Sunset could fully open the door of her own volition, the door unlocked itself and was swung open. Sunset raised her right hand and pointed her magic bolt forward, at the same time Twilight formed a magical barrier protecting Spike and herself.

“Honestly, is pointing attack spells at me going to be a part of our normal greetings?” Adagio asked.

Sunset blinked for a moment, realizing who was standing before her. The Siren, Adagio Dazzle, had apparently made herself comfortable in Sunset’s home, foregoing any sense of modesty and just appearing just a bathrobe, that was loosely tied and allowing a decent view of her cleavage. Sunset dismissed her spell, and quickly averted her eyes.

“Adagio?! What the hell are you doing in my apartment, again?!” Sunset asked.

“Oh I’m not alone, Aria and Sonata are here too.”

Adagio moved away and allowed both girls and unobstructed view inside. Aria was vegging out on Sunset’s couch, while Sonata was happily cooking something in Sunset’s kitchen. Twilight released her shield and quickly stood beside her girlfriend, looking very confused and a bit peeved at the moment.

“Sunset, who are these girls?” Twilight asked.

“They are… well…” Sunset sighed. “They’re from Equestria, same as me.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at this revelation. At the same time, Adagio became quite intrigued by Twilight. “Well don’t just stand there you two, come in, this is your home Sunset after all.”

Sunset took Twilight’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, she led them both into the apartment. Their nostrils were assailed with a heavenly aroma of spices and herbs, something good was cooking and it smelt delicious. Spike, who was still on edge, completely lowered his guard when he smelled the cooking going on in the kitchen. Adagio closed the door and sauntered over to the couple.

“Well now, let’s all have a seat and enjoy Sonata’s food, shall we?” Adagio insisted. Sunset and Twilight slowly took a seat in the dining area, with Adagio sitting across from them and giving them a curious look. “Hmm, Sunset, it seems your magical aura has gotten stronger since the last time we all spoke.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Y-Yeah, kind of.”

“Oh don’t be modest, it is.” Adagio glanced to Twilight and smiled. “And it seems your girlfriend here is also sporting powerful magic as well.”

At this Sunset narrowed her gaze. “Want do you want Adagio?”

The puffy haired Siren held up a finger. “Now, now, we’re here to talk again, nothing more. No fighting, especially not after Sona made a nice meal for us all. Plus, I’d rather not get into a confrontation in nothing but my robe, I’ll go and change, be right back.”

“Hold on, why the hell are you in a robe anyway? Did you use my shower?!” Sunset asked incredulously.

“She kind of had to after how we worked her out before coming here,” said Sonata absentmindedly.

“Shut up about that, Sonata!” Aria barked from the couch.

Sunset’s eye twitched at hearing this, basically being told that Adagio cleaned herself in her own shower after…after…

Adagio noticed the look on Sunset’s face and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not inconsiderate, I cleaned the tub once I was done.”

“Dagi’s also a monster when it comes to cleaning!” Sonata added.

Adagio shrugged, not denying that fact. She then walked away, swaying her hips quite suggestively, giving everyone behind her a show before disappearing into Sunset’s bedroom. Sunset gulped, feeling a strange heat in her cheeks, she glanced over to Twilight, prepared to see a perturbed, and quite frankly furious look on her girlfriend’s face for ogling Adagio’s rear. However, much to her surprise, Twilight’s face was blushing too, her eyes fixated straight ahead. Sunset cleared her throat and managed to make Twilight yelp.

“Um…I…” Twilight stuttered.

“I’m guilty too,” said Sunset with an apologizing smirk.

“You can look, but hands off!” Aria warned.

“I second that!” said Sonata in a carefree and cheery tone.

About an hour or so passed by with little in the way of some pleasantries. Adagio had returned fully dressed and joined the others at the table, just in time for Sonata to be done with her cooking and spreading it on the table for all to enjoy. If there was one thing you could say about the blue Siren, she could put some high class chefs to shame. Sunset enjoyed Twilight’s reactions to Sonata’s cooking, which were reminiscent of how she herself felt when first eating it.

Once dinner was concluded, it was time for business. With Adagio knitting her fingers together into a pyramid of contemplation. “I’m sure you have questions, Twilight Sparkle, is it?”

“If I understand it right, you three are from where Sunset used to live, the other world called ‘Equestria’, and that you’ve been on Earth for three centuries. Am I right?” Twilight asked.

“Exactly, we had approached Miss Shimmer with an offer a few weeks ago, but we came back given the recent developments that have occurred to propose again,” said Adagio.

Spike growled with suspicion at the scheming Siren. “I don’t trust her, she doesn’t smell right.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, the talking dog is just freakin’ freaky,” said Aria.

“I think it’s cute, but it’s definitely not normal,” said Sonata.

“Told ya, even in Equestria, a talking dog isn’t normal, and these three are from way before I was born,” said Sunset. “Now about that offer, which one?”

Adagio swirled the water in her glass, took a sip, and then looked to Sunset. “As I stated earlier, your magical power has grown significantly since the last time we all spoke. I know you said that you couldn’t open the portal back home, but now with your magic intensified, and the magic of your little girlfriend added, perhaps we may all be able to go back to Equestria?”

Twilight looked to Sunset, she didn’t know what to say in this situation, she was surrounded by beings from another world, speaking on powers that she only recently came into possession of. Now there was talks about heading back to their homeworld. A sudden fear gripped Twilight’s heart, she had never contemplated that there would be a way for Sunset to return home, or what Sunset would do if she did. True, she loved her, and Sunset loved her back, all the hardships and battles that they have been through have shown how deep their feelings for each other were. However, Twilight never contemplated the fact that Sunset may want to return home.

Of course Sunset would want to go back home, so many years away, she probably has family and…

“And like I told you before, it’s not possible. There are too many variables to consider, as knowledgeable as I am, and as much as you give me credit for. I don’t know the spell that Starswirl used to get you three here, I doubt he knew himself. Plus, if I go around picking at the magical spell structure of that portal, I could end up destroying it. So as much as you guys don’t like it, you’ll have to wait.”

Aria scoffed, flipping her ponytail in indignation.

Adagio hummed in understanding, but her contemplating gaze was still affixed to the both of them. “Fair enough, but given the recent events with the Organization, you can’t expect that statue to remain there much longer. The only reason the rest of the Organization hasn’t come down on you both is due to our secrecy, and for some unknown reason, that of our Director.”

“Dusk Shine?” Twilight asked with a flat tone.

This made all three Sirens noticeably flinch at the mention of his name. Aria now trained her eyes on Twilight, suspicion apparent in them. “How the hell do you know that name?”

“Let’s just say we have our ways,” said Twilight.

Sonata got up from the table and walked around to Twilight, Sunset’s fingertips sparked with magical energy, preparing to protect her lover should the ditzy Siren show any hostile signs. However, Sonata only looked at Twilight intensely for a few moments before turning to her fellow Sirens. “You know what? She kinda looks like Dusk Shine, like the genderswapped version of him, and not totally scary psycho evil.”

Upon mention of this, Adagio and Aria looked more closely at Twilight, and agreed that Sonata was right. Besides the gender, the color of her eyes, hair, skin tone, and even the dual streaks of pink and purple, they all matched.

“Are you actually related to that guy?” Aria asked as he fists tightened.

Twilight sighed in dismay. “In a way, yes. He’s a clone of me, but unfortunately flawed genetically to the point that he’s aging fast.”

That tidbit of information will be useful, thought Adagio. “Hmm, in that case, I see why he hasn’t told anyone of your identities yet. He may be seeking to further his own ends, much like we three. This plays to our advantage mind you.”

Sunset leaned in close. “How?”

“If there’s anyone at the Organization to be worried about, it’s Dusk Shine. He’s smarter than the higher ups know, twice as cunning, and ruthless in his execution. It’s hard to understand what he’s doing, it’s as if he generates an aura of mystery to keep those around him guessing until it’s too late.” Adagio rose from the table “I’ll be blunt, whether we want the portal to remain intact, or take over this world, the biggest threat his him. The rest can be dealt with swiftly.”

The alpha Siren walked around the table, signalling Sonata to return to her seat as she made her way to both girls. Adagio stopped behind them, and gently placed a hand on either girl's’ shoulder. “This world is rotting from within, with our magic and Firestorm powers combined we could rule over them. The two of you, with your genius, could construct marvelous things that would put anything I’ve seen in centuries to shame. Magic and Science together, tell me that does not sound like an amazing venture? And all we would have to do is topple the Organization, and Dusk Shine, from there, the world will be ours.”

Adagio looked to Twilight, her eyes transfixed on the alpha Sirens’ eyes. “You were a product of greedy men and their whims, you didn’t ask to be created but you were. You fear that this world won’t accept you for what you are, and that the happiness you have will be taken from you because of it.” Adagio switched to Sunset. “And you, you’re the same as us, in a world we don’t belong, stuck in forms unfamiliar to us. We have power, power this world can’t understand and has no way to defend against. If Equestria would not yield its bounty then we shall take it from this world. What do you say? Join us? Turn our trio into a quintet?”

The Siren’s words were sweet, like honey poured into Sunset and Twilight’s ears, so enticing and exciting to think about and make happen. In such a world they could do whatever they want, create whatever they wanted, and delve deeper into their relationship without fear of it ever being torn apart by outside forces. It all sounded so good, too good.

“Stop it!” Spike barked.

Adagio looked down at the little dog, who was now growling at her as he eyed her glowing ruby gemstone. Spike’s voice cut through the fog that was slowly coiling around Twilight and Sunset’s minds, making both girls spring to their heels and away from Adagio. The alpha Siren sneered at the little dog, and pursed her lips as she looked to both girls.

“Were you really trying to mind control us just then?!” Sunset asked.

“Only a little, just enough to get the ball rolling as it were.” Adagio admitted.

“You guys it be totally cool if you joined us, twice the much fun in bed,” said Sonata with a cheery tone.

Aria smacked her forehead. “Ugh, whatever. Listen, that’s how it is. It’s either you’re joining us or you’re going against us!” The irritable Siren slammed her palm against the table. “Real simple ladies, that’s it, no more or no less!”

Adagio groaned at Aria’s bluntness. “Honestly Aria, you could use a lesson in the word ‘tact’. Although the point is made, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, will you side with us? We can create a world that’s all ours, pleasure, power, and advances of both the magical and scientifical, surely you cannot think of a better world than that?”

Twilight chuckled. “It does sound like a good world, but when I stop to think about all the people who would most likely die in pursuit of such a world, I’d rather offer my head to the guillotine.”

“Not gonna lie, I like the idea too. But I’ve recently seen the kind of crappy pony I used to be, and the person I was. I will not become a demon, not now or ever!” Sunset declared.

At this, unbeknownst to either Sunset or Twilight, Adagio could sense magical energy building up around them. So much so, that it manifested before Adagio’s eyes. A winged figure appeared, made of rosy-violet flames, her wings were made of crimson fire, and at the center of her chest was the Firestorm insignia. The insignia was different though, the six orbs that surrounded the sun were actually six pointed stars. The sun symbol also bared a strong resemblance to Sunset’s former cutie mark.

Adagio felt an air of power from this being, and intimidation, warning her to not even try her mind manipulation magic again. The alpha Siren sneered at the apparition releasing a little of her own magical energy to establish her dominance, and in response the being’s eyes flashed, and flared its wings, releasing a pressure wave of such intensity that it made even the thousand plus year old girl take a cautious step back. Adagio regarded the two girls once again, she already knew of their combined monstrosity fusion form, which was strong enough to take down the Atomic Skull, if they weren’t careful, then they too could meet a similar fate.

The alpha Siren straightened up, adopting a professional manner. “It would seem we are at an impasse. Very well, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, it would seem that our paths won’t merge to the same goal. It’s too bad, I would’ve liked to have you as an ally, being the only other Equestrian here.”

Sunset and Twilight had magical energy dancing at the ends of their fingertips, feeling a tension brewing in the air.

“Oh don’t bother, girls, we’ll leave. Today was just for talking, the day will come when we will exchange fire, but not tonight,” said Adagio as she motioned for Sonata and Aria to follow her.

All three Sirens walked towards Sunset’s front door, and all three turned to look upon Sunset, Twilight, and Spike.

“We won’t go easy on you!” Sonata proclaimed in her chipper tone.

“Better watch your backs,” added Aria.

Adagio opened the door and allowed Sonata and Aria to leave, before she closed the door, the alpha Siren gave her new enemies a wicked grin and narrowed eyed glance from over her shoulder. “Ta, ta, Sunset, Twilight.”

The door closed slowly, until there was a click of the lock. The moment that happened, all three occupants of the apartment sigh heavily, releasing a breath they didn’t know they were holding. Sunset and Twilight walked to the couch and plopped down on it, with Spike following behind them, hopped onto the couch, and flopped down on Twilight’s lap.

“I need an explanation about those three, but later,” said Twilight.

“I will,” replied Sunset.

Entry 37: Let's Dance

It was a bright and sunny Sunday at the Sparkle house, however, despite the relaxed nature of the day, the occupants inside the house were less than relaxed. Sunset and Twilight were currently sitting on the couch across from Night Light and Twilight Velvet, both of whom were looking upon the girls with a level of scrutiny that made the superheroines cringe. It was to be expected after all, taking a week off from school and spending it away, pretty much off the grid, was not something that parents would normally allow any kid to do.

But they trusted Twilight, and they trusted Sunset Shimmer, to a degree. So when the two teenage girls returned after their long time away, they expected that trust to be paid back in kind with an explanation. However, not a word had been spoken for little over three minutes and it was making both girls hold their breaths.

“So,” Velvet spoke, “Sunset Shimmer, you and my daughter are seeing each other romantically, correct?”

“Y-Yes ma’am.” Sunset answered nervously.

“About how long have you two been dating?”

“A-Almost a couple of months now…I guess.”

Velvet glanced to her husband, to which he leaned forward, knitting his fingers together into a pyramid of contemplation, and somehow the light from the window caught on his glasses in such a way that it obscured his eyes from view.

“Sunset Shimmer, I’ll be clear here, we never really put too much emphasis on whether Twilight dated a boy or a girl, what mattered to us is that the person she was with made her happy. However, that’s not to say that we’d just not look into whoever Twilight dated,” said Night Light with a serious tone.

Sunset knew this was coming, there was no way around it. Eventually she’d have to face up her past sins and eventually Twilight’s parents would catch wind of it. As cool and understanding as they were, Sunset knew that hearing of the things she once did might be more than they were willing to put up with, especially if they thought it would put Twilight in danger.

“Sunset, I’ve heard that you less than model student some time ago. Your grades were impeccable, outstanding even. However, we have learned that you have a bit of a ‘reputation’ at school. I figured the ‘bad girl’ look was just your personal style, but it seems it was also once your attitude as well,” said Night Light.

Sunset clenched her fists and sighed heavily. “It’s true, I wasn’t a nice person. In fact, I was pretty much the worst. I lied and schemed, manipulated and intimidated, coerced and blackmailed, pretty much all the students of CHS. I ruled the school like my own personal kingdom, and everyone was afraid of me. I even…” The former mean girl hesitated for a moment, but it had to be said, Twilight knew the truth about her and accepted her, she owed her parents no less the same. “I even broke apart the five girls who are Twilight’s friends. It was purely tactical…they were each different and unique and got along, I thought breaking apart their friendship would further divide the school, and it did.”

Night Light hummed as he digested this information, his eyes still obscured by the glare of the sunlight on his glasses. “From a tactical standpoint that does make sense, but that does not entirely bode well for your character, Miss Shimmer.”

“I-I know…I was a horrible person…Until Twilight came to CHS, everyone was pretty much divided and she united them without even trying, she undid in days what took me more than a year to accomplish…”

Velvet seemed to recall that night when her daughter was crowned “Princess of the Fall Formal”, in fact she still had the crown resting in a special place since it was the first thing her daughter won that wasn’t science related. “I can guess you didn’t take that well, most people in that situation don’t.”

“I won’t lie, ma’am, I hated Twilight, I really hated her!” Sunset stated.

Velvet and Night Light raised their eyebrows at that.

“You hated her? Forgive us dear, but that’s not exactly a comforting thing to hear from the person who’s dating our daughter,” said Velvet.

“Plus, I’ve also come into some knowledge that you were in a fight with two other students in front of your school, Miss Shimmer, is this true?” Night Light asked.

“No, I get it, and I did, but….” Twilight noticed Sunset’s nervousness, and placed her left hand over Sunset’s fist, smiling at her to relief that nervous tension, which seemed to work as Sunset’s clenched fist unraveled. “I understand why you feel like that, and it’s true that I did feel that way. But despite that, I couldn’t hate her to the degree I thought I did. The fight you’re talking about was with two girls whom weren’t exactly a good crowd to be around. They had threatened to hurt Twilight, as some twisted surrogate revenge on my behalf, which led to me punching one of them and led to the brawl.”

Velvet hummed at this. “So you defended her honor, as it were?”

Sunset and Twilight nodded.

“I see,” said Night Light. “So, when on about did this start?”

“About the time of the science fair.” Twilight answered. “We just sort of confessed to each other at the end of it.”

“And this week long sabbatical you two took?” Velvet asked.

Twilight and Sunset glanced to each other, sighed and confidently looked to both adults.

“We had hit a bit of a rough patch in our relationship,” said Twilight.

“It was significant enough that we didn’t want it to be the reason to end what we had,” said Sunset.

“So…I guess you could say we saw a kind of councilor, but they were out of the way,” said Twilight.

“And did you both come to an understanding?” Velvet asked.

For this, Twilight and Sunset took each other’s hand and interlocked their fingers as they smiled at the two adults.

Velvet glanced to Night Light, and Night Light to Velvet. A quiet conversation was taking place between them, as if they were using telepathy. Finally, after a tense minute and a half, Velvet stood up from the couch and walked over to Sunset, who promptly and quickly stood at attention.

“Sunset Shimmer…Welcome to the family!” Velvet cheered as she quickly enveloped the teenage girl in strong hug.

Sunset for her part was taken aback by the sudden hug. “Uh…I…thank you – wait, ‘welcome to the family’?”

“Well of course dear, the only people who go through that much trouble to save their relationship are those who are truly committed to each other! Oooooh, I knew you two were cute together!” Velvet gushed as she subsequently nuzzled Sunset’s cheek affectionately.

Sunset was still trying to process all this, but mostly she was trying to get her own hormones in check. Especially with Velvet nuzzling her, reminding her of her pony displays of affection, combined with the feel of the older woman’s ample assets pressed against her own. Sunset gulped, despite this being Twilight’s own mother, she had to admit, the woman was quite beautiful in a mature way. Twilight must’ve noticed her girlfriend’s reaction as well since Sunset noticed her cheeks tinting red with both embarrassment and a bit of agitation.

“Twilight,” said Night Light.

The studious girl turned to her father, who was now giving her a thumbs up. “You got yourself a cute one there, better slap a ring on that.”

“DAD!” Twilight shouted.

Velvet pulled away, to the disappointment of Sunset, and stared the girl down. “I do expect see a ring on that as well,” Velvet pointed to Twilight for emphasis.

Now Sunset blushed harder. “W-W-Well I…I mean, isn’t that a little too far into the future?”

Velvet sighed. “Alright, but I do expect some grandchildren.”

“MOM!” Twilight shouted again.

“Honey, you know that’s not possible,” said Night Light.

Velvet’s lips curled into a devilish grin. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve heard of some ways that can be done, and if there’s anyone here who could figure it out, it’d be our Twily.”

Twilight’s face became bright red as her brilliant mind went to work concocting several different methods for what her mother suggested, listing everything from chemical, mechanical, and even forms of temporary mutation. Twilight groaned, picking up a nearby throw pillow and smacking her head with it in a vain attempt to make those thoughts disappear, it didn’t work.

Sunset glanced to Velvet, a grin forming. “You said that on purpose to make her do that, didn’t you?”

Velvet merely smiled and winked her eye.

I think I like her more already, thought Sunset.

“Also, if you girls plan on becoming, ahem, intimate while you’re here, please put a sock on the door knob.” Night Light suggested.

Twilight’s eye twitched, it was if her parents were going out of their way to embarrass her. The genius girl groaned loudly and buried her head under some more throw pillows, trying to make herself not exist at this moment.

“Honey, really?” Velvet asked.

“What, we discussed this,” said Night Light.

Sunset for her part just tried to stifle any laughter that was about to come out at this moment. It was a lot more fun to watch someone get embarrassed by their parents, especially Twilight’s parents, and her girlfriend’s reactions were just too much.

“Ugh…that was just too embarrassing!” Twilight declared. “And why did my Dad have to go and say that?! ‘Put a sock on the doorknob’, what kind of thing is that to say to your daughter?!”

Sunset sat at the edge of Twilight’s bed as she watched the purple girl pace around after their conversation. “Well, considering that we’re both girls, and seeing as your parents trust me, I guess they don’t mind us snogging while their here.”

To this, Sunset laid back, adopting a suggestive and sexy pose, and shooting Twilight a “come hither” look. Twilight, spotting what Sunset was doing, gulped, and averted her eyes. “I am not doing it with you while my parents are just downstairs!”

“Well shoot.”

“And what was that with my Mom?! Why were you looking so flustered?!” Twilight asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Dunno, your mom’s hot. Why, you jelly, Twi? ‘Fraid I’ll go for the cougar?”

Twilight puffed her cheeks and stomped over to Sunset, only for said girlfriend to shoot out with her left hand and grab Twilight by the wrist. She pulled back and brought the nerdy girl down on top of her, quickly rolling around until Sunset was on top of Twilight, staring down with her teal eyes into Twilight’s amethyst colored eyes.

“Don’t worry Sparky, you’re the only one I want,” said Sunset in a tender tone.

Twilight blushed and kissed Sunset on the tip of her nose. “I know, it’s just a little weird hearing you say that about her.”

Sunset smirked. “Well, maybe I should show you how much I want you, which one’s your sock drawer again?”

“If you two are going to mate can I leave the room first?”

Sunset and Twilight turned their heads towards the head of the bed, where Spike laid and had a deadpan expression on his face. Both girls quickly sprang to their feet, smoothing out the wrinkles from their clothes.

“Yeah, still getting used to that,” said Sunset.

TWO DAYS LATER…

It had been a grueling two days, but somehow Sunset and Twilight managed to eliminate all the homework they had missed during the week they were gone. Normally they’d have been exhausted, however, in a probable abuse of their powers, Twilight and Sunset went Firestorm in Twilight’s lab, allowing their bodies to be fueled by their nuclear energy based physiology so that they would not get tired or require that much food during that period of time.

Thankfully their gambit paid off and in just a couple of days of pulling all-nighters in Firestorm mode, both girls were able to finish all homework, lessons missed, and then some.

Thankfully the group had a free period and so they used this to go to the one of the music rooms, and inside, Sunset and Twilight were privy to a showcase of their friends’ band, the Rainbooms. Applejack was strumming her bass, Rarity on her keytar, Fluttershy was tapping her tambourine, Pinkie was drumming like a madwoman, and Rainbow, as usual, was shredding on her electric guitar. All the while Twilight and Sunset tapped their feet and moved to the rhythm of the song.

“♪We are all together

(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)

Now it's better than ever

(Ah, ah, oh-oh-oh-oh)

Now that we are back on track

Yes, I'm so glad that we're better

Better than ever!♪”

“♪Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Oh yeah, we're better than ever

Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Oh yeah, we're better than ever

Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Oh yeah, we're better than ever!♪”

Twilight and Sunset clapped their hands at that the performance of their friends. Sunset especially was impressed, she knew the girls were talented in their individual ways, but she never thought they had the cohesion and coordination to become a band, let alone sing and play that well.

“Oh yeah, we totally got it that time!” Rainbow declared.

“I’ll admit, when you asked us to be a rock band I was skeptical, but this is quite fun,” said Rarity.

“Really fun, I say we take this show on the road after we graduate!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

Applejack walked over to a stool and leaned her bass against a unused drum set. “That would be nice and all, but Ah gotta stay at the farm, can’t let Mac run the whole farm by himself, and if anythin’ Ah want Apple Bloom to not have to worry about that for a bit.”

“Well, you guys could always have concerts here, start small and work your way up,” said Sunset.

Rainbow seemed to like that idea, she wanted to be a star athlete, the best of the best, but being a rock star was a close second considering her “mad guitar skills”. Of course she couldn’t speak for the others, she knew Rarity wanted to be a big fashion designer, most likely wanting to go to France or some high class school for fashion. Fluttershy had told Rainbow that she was going to become a veterinarian, not surprising considering her love of animals. Pinkie Pie was most likely going to college when high school was over, but she more than likely would join Rainbow.

“What about you two?” Rainbow asked. “Sunset, I know you can shred, and Twilight would be good as well!”

Twilight blushed a little at the offer. “I’m flattered, but I don’t’ really play an instrument.”

“I figured, but you can sing,” said Rainbow knowingly.

Twilight blushed harder.

Sunset however raised an eyebrow. “Wait, Sparky can sing?”

The other girls looked at Sunset in shock. “Darling, you really didn’t know?” Rarity asked.

Sunset shook her head.

“Oh yeah, you gotta see this, it’s kinda how she help unite the school,” said Rainbow as she scrolled through her phone to find said evidence.

Twilight quickly sped over to Rainbow and grabbed her by the wrists. “N-Now, now, we d-don’t need to show her that!”

“Here you go,” said Pinkie.

Twilight turned around and watched as Pinkie Pie brought up her cellphone to Sunset which was now playing said video.

“Pinkie no –!”

[♪I'm gonna be myself

No matter what I do

And if we're different yeah

I want you to be true to you♪]

[♪If you follow me

We'll put our differences aside

We'll stick together and

Start working on that school pride!♪]

Sunset shut off the video and smirked at her girlfriend. “Nice work hitting that high note.”

Twilight groaned as she hid her face behind her hands, wishing she had Fluttershy’s long hair to hide her blushing face. “That was really embarrassing now that I look back on it…”

“Oh Twilight, you were fantastic! How many people can say they had the confidence to do something like that and pull it off so well,” said Rarity as she padded Twilight on the back.

Sunset continued to look at the video, having muted it and just simply watching it, afterwards she sighed. “Well, I can see how you overthrew me so easily. And that also explains that amazing voice when we’re –”

“DON’T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Twilight warned.

Rainbow Dash whistled wolfishly while Applejack chuckled a little.

“Anyway, so why not? You just do vocals, and maybe be the mascot?” Rainbow Dash suggested with a wiggle of the brow.

Sunset did not let that go unnoticed, although the idea was tempting.

“While I do enjoy this talk about the future, I would like to remind everyone that the Spring Fling will be tomorrow night and we absolutely must go in style, darlings!” Rarity pulled out her cellphone and showed the image of a limousine. “As per the Fall Formal, I requisitioned a limo for our transportation. I suggest we all meet up at my boutique for last fittings and to get ready.”

Twilight felt giddy inside at the prospect of going to this dance, not that she wasn’t excited from the Fall Formal, but because this time she would be going with her girlfriend. They already had a passionate night under the stars, but this was something else, it would a public display of their relationship, dancing to slow songs and frantic songs, just being teenagers and not worrying about the Organization, the Sirens, or Dusk Shine.

However, when Twilight glanced to Sunset, instead of seeing an excited expression upon her girlfriend’s face, there was instead apprehension. “Sunset, are you alright?”

Sunset looked to Twilight and nodded her head. “I’m fine Sparky, don’t worry. But I think we better head out, don’t want to be late to the next class.”

The other glanced at the clock and noted that it was getting close to their next class periods. Sunset and Twilight left first, saying their goodbyes as they walked down the halls. The bell rang and soon enough the halls were flooded with their fellow classmates heading for their next class. All the while, Sunset and Twilight kept a small gap between them. At the behest of Sunset, they decided to keep their relationship secret until it was the right time.

Twilight at first agreed to this, seeing as how they were both still new to it all. But considering their little sessions with Treehugger, she had assumed that they could be more public about it, like holding hands or, maybe, Sunset wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her close as they walked side by side. Twilight decided to be a little daring and reached with her right hand to try and intertwine their hands. However, Sunset noticed this and widened the gap a little.

“Sunset?”

“I told you Twilight, we can’t, not in front of all of them,” said Sunset.

“I don’t care if they know now, Sunset, we’re together now, we’re allowed to show how we feel about each like Lyra and Bonbon.” Twilight argued.

“Lyra and Bonbon aren’t known for being a ruthless, scheming bitch, remember?” Sunset asked rhetorically.

Twilight sighed, she knew Sunset was still carrying that baggage. The air between them may have been cleared, but the students at CHS still looked at her with contempt and a bit of fear from time to time. Even now as the two of them walked together, she could tell some of them were giving Sunset a dirty look. Contrarily, Twilight was receiving nothing but warm smiles and waves, it was awkward but Twilight would wave and smile back, but it did make her a tad bit angry that Sunset was still regarded the way she was.

“Sunset this isn’t right, you can’t let them continue to see you as some wicked person,” said Twilight.

“I know, but it’s what’s keeping the school together, you the Great Uniter, and me the Great Divider. I knocked them down, you brought them up. That’s what they see, and that’s fine, I only need you.” Sunset punctuated this with a kind and loving smile.

Twilight frowned in disappointment. “It’s still not right.”

“We can protect the world, Sparky. But we can’t change their minds that easily, not after all I’ve done,” said Sunset.

Twilight still did not like it, she needed – wanted others to see the new Sunset Shimmer. But short of someone attacking the school and forcing herself and Sunset to transform, there was little she could do in that department.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT…

Finally, the night was here, the Spring Fling. Every student in Canterlot High School flooded the gymnasium, dressed in their finest tuxes and dresses, and some even coming hand in hand. Vinyl was pumping out her signature jams, with her “friend” Octavia having convinced her to leave a certain item at home lest the school’s roof be literally blown off.

As it was last time, the Canterlot Six – the impromptu nickname the six friends at CHS were given – arrived in the limo that Rarity had ordered and as usual her dresses were stunning. Rainbow Dash, by her request, sporting a semi-short skirt, the theme of her dress was ancient Rome, making Rainbow Dash look beautiful as well as fierce. Fluttershy sported a more flowery gown, reminiscent of her love of nature and animals. Pinkie Pie’s was fluffy and sported some comical top hat. Rarity herself was dressed in a more Victorian style dress, with her hair done in curls. Applejack went with a more rugged look, despite it being a dress she still had the air of strength about her, an air that Rarity couldn’t help but be drawn to as she stuck close by to the cowgirl, making her blush.

Of course they were practically celebrities, being the ones who helped to dethrone Sunset Shimmer and make the school a happier place since. The festivities were in full swing and almost everybody was paired with someone, the wallflowers were often times left to their own devices, with Fluttershy standing with them despite the fact that so many boys were asking her to dance. Thankfully Rainbow Dash didn’t need to step in too often, most left her alone if she declined. Although, if one boy seemed to get too handsy, some the other male students would come to her defense.

Girl just oozes that ‘defend her honor’ feel, thought Rainbow Dash.

It was then that Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight, standing at the punch bowl, alone. Curious, she strode on over, Twilight seemed to be staring at her cellphone intently, so much so that Rainbow Dash managed to sneak up on her and whisper into her ear. “Let’s make out.”

“WHA!” Twilight yelped as she jumped back, and almost teleported away before realizing it was Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow?! That wasn’t funny!”

The sports girl chuckled. “It was a little funny, but now that you’re here, why aren’t you dancing or in general not looking like you’re not enjoying this?”

Twilight looked back to her phone and sighed. “I haven’t heard from Sunset for a bit.”

It was strange, Sunset hadn’t met up with them at Rarity’s shop, the last correspondence she remembered Twilight getting was that Sunset would text her when she was on her way. Of course that was hours ago and still no Sunset. “Do you know how she was going to get here?”

“I doubt she’d risk riding her bike in Rarity’s dress, the only other ways would be for her to fly here in Firestorm form, or teleport with magic,” said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “That’s convenient, being able to teleport to wherever you wanna go. Why don’t you go and teleport to her and find out what’s up?”

“I’ve only been able to do so when I go Firestorm, like I am, I can only do it on instinct like when I get startled or…during this one time when she was teaching me, I sneezed and ended up on the roof of her apartment.”

Rainbow had to stifle a laugh, imagining Twilight’s cute sneeze and actually finding herself on a random roof somewhere. “Well don’t sweat it, she’s probably going to make some kind of grand entrance or something.”

Twilight smiled a little. “I hope so, it’d actually would be just like her to just appear when I least expect it.”

The prismatic girl draped an arm over Twilight’s shoulders and gave her a flirting smile. “If ya want, I can be your stand in for the rest of the night, totally don’t mind.”

“Rainbow,” said Twilight in a warning tone.

“Just messing with you.”

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash felt her phone vibrate, she took it out and noticed that the message was from Sunset. “I’ll be right back Twi.” Rainbow removed herself from Twilight and left to go read the message.

{Rainbow Dash, I really hate to have you do this, and you can call me a gutless coward, but tell Sparky I’m not coming…}

Rainbow Dash did a double take at that, prompting her to quickly text back. {Why the hell not?! She’s waiting for you here you idiot!} Send.

A few seconds later she got a response. {Look, if I go there then it’s going to get bad. You know people still haven’t forgiven me for what I did! If I show up it’ll just kill the mood, for everybody. So, take this as an opportunity to have a date with Twilight. Just make sure she has good time……NOT TOO GOOD, GOT IT!?}

Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead and groaned loudly. “I’m not doing this, we’re not having another break down like last time.” She then brought up her contacts and scrolled through until she found the right number, after a minute she heard someone pick up. “G, it’s Dash, I need a favor, come pick me up at CHS, ASAP!”

APARTMENT OF SUNSET SHIMMER…

Sunset sat on her couch, strumming her guitar. She wanted to take out the amp in her closet and start rocking some sad songs to go with her mood, but then she’d get noise complaints. “A screw it, I’ll just use a sound damping spell.”

As she got off the couch to go and bring out said amp, Sunset heard knocking at her front door. She raised a curious eyebrow since she wasn’t expecting anyone to come by. Maybe it’s Sparky…?

“Sunset open this door right now!” Rainbow shouted.

“Or maybe not,” she drowned. “Go back to the dance Dash, I meant what I said!”

Suddenly, the door clicked open, revealing not just Rainbow Dash, but Gilda, sporting a cocky grin and some assorted tools in her left hand.

“Did you just pick the lock?!” Sunset asked.

“I got skills, Sunny, don’t forget that,” said Gilda.

“Okay,” Rainbow marched into the room, “you’re going to go into that room, right now, and get dressed! We’re going to school and you’re going to hang out with your girlfriend!”

Sunset sighed tiredly and sat back on the couch. “My mind’s made up, if she’s seen with me like that then the whole school will look at her suspiciously, it’s better if they still think I’m the bad guy and she’s the good guy, let’s not mess up that dynamic since it’s working to keep the school together.”

“Ugh,” Rainbow groaned in frustration, “I think we’ve established that maintaining the status quo is what was bad before, lookin’ at you Shimmer.”

Sunset saluted her while flipping her off.

“So doing that exact same crap is not going to fly here! Things are changing, and it’s a good change! So if one of those is showing that you’re not a royal bitch anymore, then why not?!” Rainbow asked.

“I……” Sunset tried to think of an argument.

Gilda strode next to Rainbow Dash and crossed her arms. “Real simple, Sunny, either you get in there and get dressed, or me and Dash here will throw in there, strip you, and then take you to that dinky school dance.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “You both know even if I didn’t have both magic and super powers, I could still kick your asses.”

“Wanna bet, Shimmer?” Rainbow asked as she took off her earrings and other jewelry.

“We goin’ there?” Sunset asked.

“Looks like.” Gilda confirmed as she took off her leather jacket.

Sunset stood up from the couch, she waved her hand over the area and formed a barrier around walls and floor. She then pointed to the furniture and moved them into the same pocket dimension she used to store her bike, leaving the entire living room empty and free from foreign objects that could hurt them.

“Sound dampening spell so no one will hear you two squeal for mercy, and an illusion spell so no can see in and watch me humiliate you both,” said Sunset with a cocky attitude.

Gilda slammed her right fist into her left palm and grinned. “Fine, but you better not use any of that mess from here on out, put your money where your mouth his Sun – what the hell are you doing Dash?!”

Gild blushed when she spotted her friend now stripped down to her sports underwear. “Hey, before we start, mind throwing this in the same place you put that other stuff?”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why?” Gilda asked in confusion.

“If there’s one thing I don’t want, it’s a pissed off Rarity if she sees I ruined this thing,” said Rainbow with a shudder.

Sunset shuddered as well and did the other girl a favor by opening up a portal to throw them into.

“Heh, maybe we should strip down too? And maybe put up a camera?” Gilda suggested.

“Oh just bring it already!”

Sunset rushed for Gilda, tackling the bad girl to the floor, straddling her, and punching her in the face. Rainbow came up from behind Sunset, looping her arms under Sunset’s pits and hoisting her up off of Gilda. She then threw Sunset back until she hit the floor and rolled, stopping herself quickly to regain her senses.

However, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t allow that, tackling Sunset back to the floor, and delivering a swift punch to the girl’s face. Rainbow winded up for another punch, but Sunset quickly lashed out, punching the rainbow haired girl right in her left bosom, making Rainbow grunt from the pain and halt her attack for a half second. Which was all Sunset needed as she bucked her hips up, throwing Rainbow off her.

Sunset rolled back, springing to her feet and entering a defensive stance. Rainbow Dash got up and hissed in pain as she cupped her injured area. “Seriously, a boob punch?!”

“Worked didn’t it?”

Gilda came in swinging, throwing a right and left hook, feinting with a left jab only to deliver another right hook to Sunset’s ribs. The flame haired girl grunted in pain from the blow, but pushed through as she swiftly threw an uppercut while Gilda was so close, followed by a left hook, and a double palm heel strike to her chest, sending Gilda flying to the until she hit the floor.

Rainbow growled, now bouncing on her tiptoes back and forth, keeping her guard up along with her fists. Sunset looked to her frenemy with interest. “Is that Muay Thai?”

“Yeah, learned it awhile back in case I ever had to teach you a lesson,” said Rainbow.

“Heh, well, you’re twenty years too young to take me on, Dash,” said Sunset as she entered a martial arts fighting stance. “I used take some pretty good combat courses back in Equestria, and learned a little more here. Let’s see who’s better!”

Rainbow and Sunset charged for each other, Sunset threw a kick, but Rainbow ducked under it. Sunset saw this and used the momentum to shift her center of gravity, carrying her leg downward in one fluid motion to hit Rainbow with a sweeping kick. Once again Rainbow saw this and jumped up just in time to dodge it.

Once her feet hit the floor, Rainbow shot forward with her left elbow, striking Sunset in her right bosom, making Sunset grit her teeth from the sharp pain. Rainbow went into a series of quick jabs to Sunset’s face, followed by some more blows to her gut and a swift kick to Sunset’s thigh.

Rainbow came in with a haymaker, but Sunset caught the blow in her right hand, she used that same momentum to throw Rainbow Dash forward, and from there she charged in. Sunset spun and hit Rainbow in her stomach with a spinning elbow strike, following up with a roundhouse kick to the left side.

Gilda, while sporting no fancy moves other than her skills as a street fighter, intervened and blocked another blow for Rainbow Dash, slugging Sunset in the face, grabbing her head, and then smashing her head against her own for a headbutt. An action that was regretted on both sides. No one wins in a headbutt.

The blow served its purpose though, making Sunset dizzy and unable to balance. Which allowed Gilda to quickly grab hold of Sunset’s arm, and getting one of her own around Susnet’s neck. Rainbow Dash saw this and readied make Sunset a punching bag. However, before Rainbow could do so, Sunset, in a surprising move, elbowed Gilda in the gut and bit down on her arm. Causing the bad girl to release her, allowing Sunset to slide down and trip Rainbow Dash before she could get close enough.

Sunset whirled around and kicked Gilda right between her legs, making her stumble backwards from the pain that radiated from that area. “Oh c’mon!”

“Hey, two on one, dirty pool isn’t off the table!” Sunset replied.

Their fight went on for another twenty minutes, all of which saw all three girls having been thrown to the floor, against the wall and over the kitchen counter. Punches and kicks were traded back and forth, savage biting and even hair pulling. At the near end of the confrontation, all three girls were looking tattered and worn.

Gilda’s tank top was torn, threatening to come lose and reveal more of herself than she’d want. Rainbow was in the same situation, her face had bruises that matched the rest of her body, scratch marks, bite marks, and there was even a trickle of blood coming from her lip. Sunset was just as bad off, all of them were. Panting and tired from their exhaustive bout, all three lasting longer than they had previously thought.

All three girls gritted their teeth and mustered up enough strength to make one last charge, the three girls raising their fists in preparation to deliver their final blows. However, at the last second their strength gave out and all three collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.

“Okay, I’m out,” said Rainbow.

“Same,” replied Sunset.

“Ditto,” answered Gilda.

The three managed to roll onto their backs, groaning from the action.

“So, what did that prove, again?” Sunset asked.

“That all three of us are stubborn and hardheaded as hell,” said Gilda.

Sunset and Rainbow nodded to that.

“Really, are you okay with not going?” Rainbow asked from her position on the floor.

“No…but I don’t want to turn it into a fiasco, I doubt anyone will want me there.”

Gilda grunted in annoyance. “Listen to yourself, you keep talking about what everyone else will think, but what should really matter is what the nerd thinks! If she wants you there then go! Don’t let the rest of those assholes over there dictate what you do!”

Rainbow and Sunset glanced to Gilda, admitting that that was actually some decent advice.

“What G said, the best thing you can do right now to make her happy is to be there. Twilight doesn’t care what the others think. If she did, I’d be the one making out with her in the girls bathroom right now,” said Rainbow with a chuckle.

“Classy Dash, real classy.”

“Hey, how did you know about my secret fantasy?” Gilda asked.

The three tough girls all managed to laugh, despite the pain radiating through their bodies. After a minute, Sunset, with some effort, managed to crawl over to them both and rested her hands on them. She concentrated and immediately a teal magical aura wrapped around all three of them.

“I’ll heal us up and we’ll go, can’t show up looking bruised and battered.”

ONE HOUR LATER…

Sunset, having gotten dressed and driven to the dance, all while feeling anxious. She was not there for the Fall Formal, and now she was going to the Spring Fling, compared to the battles thus far, Sunset dreaded this more for some reason.

High school’s a bitch, thought Sunset.

“We’re here,” said Gilda.

Once the car was parked, Gilda and Rainbow Dash accompanied Sunset Shimmer to the gymnasium as stealthily as possible, and to make sure she didn’t run away. Even though they both knew she could magic herself away at any point. It wasn’t long before they made it to the doors to the gym and Sunset just stood there, as if regarding the doors as the gateway to Tartarus itself.

“Go on already, she’s waiting,” said Rainbow.

Sunset took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. The muffled music came at her like a whirlwind, assaulting her eardrums with its pulsing beat and her eyes with the strobe lights. Sunset continued onward, keeping her head held high and her stride strong, putting on false bravado of confidence, when really she was a bit scared on the inside.

Soon enough, she could pick up on the whispers of the other students, all whom watched her with suspicion in their eyes and angered that she even showed up. No doubt they believed she was here to ruin the fun, or try to pull a prank on Twilight Sparkle for her loss of the Fall Formal Princess title, many had not forgotten what happened to the last girl who tried to run against her.

Sunset tried to push all of that out of her mind, what mattered right now was not the masses, it was Twilight, she had to focus on Twilight and this would be much easier. She started scanning the room for any sign of her adorkable girlfriend, it didn’t take long before she spotted her talking to Fluttershy, and Sunset was about to make a beeline for her when…

“What the heck are you doing here?” A girl called out.

Sunset turned around and spotted one of the fashionista girls giving her a dirty look. The former bad girl wanted to tell her off, but she wanted to avoid any confrontation. “I’m just here to enjoy the dance, same as you, that’s all.”

“That I highly doubt,” said one of the jock boys. “The only reason you’re here is to ruin everyone’s fun, or did you really think you’d get voted as Princess again?”

“No, of course I didn’t –!”

“You can’t lie your way out of anything Shimmer, we’re not afraid of you,” said another student.

Without Sunset realizing it, a crowd was forming around her, a deafening cacophony of muttering and antagonized rants about all she had done. This was what she was afraid of, she knew the students of CHS hadn’t forgiven her, and why should they? She made school life a living hell for them, some more than others, but just her mere presence was to unease or intimidate others in the past.

“L-Look, honestly, I’m just here for the party, to hang out,” said Sunset in all sincerity.

“Seriously, do you think we’ll buy that?”

“We don’t want you here, Sunset Shimmer!”

“You should leave now!”

“Yeah!”

A part of Sunset’s darker side wanted to creep back up. She had magic again, she didn’t have to take this crap from them. With a wave of her hand she could make them all get on their hands and knees and bow to her. Suddenly, a flash of her version came back to her, the vision of She-Demon, a throne, and her friends and principal made into slaves. Sunset shook her head, hugging herself, she did not want to be that monster, not ever.

The pressure rushing down on her from all sides was enough to make her feel helpless, she wanted to break down then and then, but then a light came to her, or rather called out to her. “SUNSET!”

The former pony quickly snapped her head in the direction of the familiar voice. The crowd parted slightly, revealing Twilight with a surprised, yet happy expression. She quickly excused herself from Fluttershy and walked at a hurried pace to Sunset, who gave her a small wave and equally small smile.

As Twilight made her way to Sunset, she started to notice the dense crowd around Sunset, and the cliché open circle that she’d seen in TV sitcoms that normally occurs when a kid is fighting a bully, or getting ridiculed. Twilight also began hearing the whispers of confusion that accompanied her travel to her.

It soon became clear to Twilight what they were doing the moment she reached Sunset, making her turn to the crowd with a bit of anger in her eyes. But before she could speak, Sunset reached out and gently grabbed Twilight’s wrist, shaking her head slightly, telling her that it wasn’t worth it.

However, Twilight felt it necessary. She didn’t want Sunset to have to live under their scrutiny, they all expected the worst of her, and that wasn’t the Sunset Shimmer who was here tonight. It was Sunset Shimmer, the hero. Sunset Shimmer, the crass pervert. Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle’s girlfriend.

Twilight became less rigid, prompting Sunset to release her, but just as quickly, Twilight took Sunset’s hand into her own and smiled at her, ignoring the gasping of the crowd. “You owe me some dances, Miss Shimmer.”

“T-Twilight, we – you –!”

“Oh hush up about that, I want to dance with my girlfriend, and that’s final,” said Twilight with a much of a serious face as she could muster.

There was another collective gasp from the crowd, making the students’ murmuring even more prominent. But Twilight had tuned them out a while ago, only focusing on the music and Sunset. With a reassuring squeeze, Twilight began leading Sunset towards the dance floor, cutting through the crowd as they parted like the Red Sea. At the end of the crowd they spotted both Lyra and Bonbon.

Sunset gulped a little, trying to maintain whatever tough girl façade she had left. Lyra looked to Sunset Shimmer, and then to Twilight Sparkle, finally her gaze rested on their intertwined hands before looking back up at both girls. “So, you two are a thing then?”

Twilight glanced to Sunset, making her flinch a little. Sunset knew what Twilight was doing, she had taken the first step, openly admitting her orientation and that she liked Sunset. Now it was her turn, Twilight had shown her courage, could she show no less?

With a reaffirming squeeze of the hand, Sunset stood tall and spoke, “Yes, we are. I love Twilight Sparkle, and-and I’ll be damned if anyone doesn’t like that!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, she just couldn’t say “yes” like a normal person, but then again, that’s why she loved her.

“Huh, alright then.” The mint green girl strode beside Sunset and draped an arm over her shoulders smiling like a madwomen. “Damn you two are cute, I’ve been shipping you two since Twilight got here! Bonnie! You owe me, I told you not bet against my shipper sense!”

Bonbon groaned, both in annoyance and in defeat. “I’ll never understand how you do that.”

“Sunset, we should totally go on a group date! What’s your cell number, we can make it for this weekend or for Spring Break or –!”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up, I never agreed to any group da –!” Sunset tried to interject.

“Oh c’mon it’ll be fun! Just the four of us having a good time,” Lyra blushed and then whispered into Sunset’s ear, “and maybe we can have a good time together after the date.”

Sunset’s cheeks blushed profusely as the implications of what Lyra suggested began to take root. At first her face contorted into anger that Lyra would even suggest such a thing, but after a moment, the idea began to settle in. Sunset coughed as she composed herself and said, “Well…um…I guess we’ll talk about it.”

“Yes,” cheered Lyra.

Bonbon stepped next to Twilight said, “I’m sorry, Lyra can be a pervert from time to time.

Twilight glanced to Sunset and then back to Bonbon. “Believe me, I know exactly what you mean.”

“What?” Sunset and Lyra asked in unison.

The rest of the dance saw little in the way of drama after that. By now the rumor mill had spread the word that Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer were girlfriends, and was no doubt going to be a subject of discussion long past the weekend. But it didn’t matter, both of them felt a huge weight lifted off their shoulders. No more secrecy, now they could be a couple in the open instead of just when in private.

The music had gone to a slow dance, allowing many of the students to bring their romantic partners onto the dance floor. Lyra and Bonbon were one of said couples, and with a bit of prodding, Rarity managed to get Applejack out there as well. For them many believed it was just friends just dancing, Sunset and Twilight knew that it would probably take a bit longer before Applejack could muster the courage to be open about their relationship, she was still coming to grips with her feeling.

Despite the many couples, Sunset and Twilight stood out the most. If one looked close enough, one could spot a mischievous, curly pink haired girl working the lights in just the right way to keep a spotlight on them. It was uncanny how well they complimented each other, the sunset and the twilight, forever living at the same moment in time, and never apart. The fiery girl and starry dreamer, both locked hand in hand as the music lifted them, drowning out the world around them.

Worries about the Organization, about the Sirens, about Dusk Shine. None of that mattered right now, all that mattered was this moment and the two of them. Sunset spun Twilight around gracefully and brought her back in gently, continuing in perfect sync to the rhythm. For a moment her eyes roved over the crowd, Sunset spotted two familiar faces watching them from the sidelines.

Chrysalis, in a dark green dress, waved to her as her own girlfriend, Fluffle Puff, smiled and chewed on Chrysalis’ long hair. In her Fluffle style, she wore a dress that was made of a pink furry material, Sunset hoped Rarity would not see that, only knowing just how she’d react to that.

-NF-

Up in the rafters, hidden from sight, a being sat down and looked over the crowd of students, his white eyes only locked on one couple in particular, that of Sunset and Twilight. A smile graced his lips as he watched them dance, noting the smile on both their faces.

“If you want, I could let you two out for a little bit,” said Nu.

‘Nah, the view’s good from here. We don’t need to interrupt,’ said Shining Armor.

‘Indeed, this is their moment, let’s allow them this. There are more than likely tough days ahead, let them be just teenagers for one night,’ said Professor Neigh.

‘Thanks, Nu, for doing this.’

Nu shrugged and smirked. “Hey a school full of babes to look at, and a touching scene to end the night on. I’m not complaining guys.”

-DZ-

From the gym entrance, stood the Sirens, all three watching as Sunset and Twilight practically stole the show. Aria snorted and Sonata would say the occasional “awwww” as she watched the couple dance.

Adagio, despite paying attention to them, also paid attention to the music. It was one of her favorites, especially when they toured Russia for a while and attended some of the grander balls held by the royalty. Before the whole Rasputin thing made it go south.

“You sense it too right? There’s some hate out there for Sunset, maybe we should use that now while they're not expecting us?” Aria suggested.

“Aw, seriously? This is like a super cute moment!” Sonata argued.

“Who cares?! We can take ‘em out and before they knew what hit ‘em, right Adagio?!” There was no immediate response from the alpha Siren. “Adagio, you with us?”

Before Aria knew what was happening, Adagio took hold of Aria’s hands and began dancing, making Sonata squeal with feels. Aria was blushing bright red, not sure what to do other than dance with Adagio, but not really knowing where this was stemming from.

“Um, D-Dagi, what’re you doing?” Aria asked.

“I’m dancing with one of my lovers to a beautiful song, is that a problem,” asked Adagio.

Aria cleared her throat and laid her head against Adagio’s chest. “No, it’s not.”

The crass Siren noticed Sonata watching and smiled as she tapped Adagio’s shoulder. With a knowing nod, Adagio spun Aria, allowing the purple girl to tag in Sonata and just as elegant and fluid as the ocean, she entered into the dance with Adagio, not even missing the beat or single step.

They continued like that, switching out partners, with Adagio taking the lead and giving both of her loves her affection as she did. For a moment, she looked out to Sunset and Twilight, and smiled.

For now, enjoy each other. Soon, you’ll know our power…

Author's Note

For those of you wondering what the song is they're dancing to: Once Upon a December

No idea why this song popped into my head, it just fit.

Entry 38: Welcome to the Show (Part 1)

Adagio hadn’t been slacking during this whole time she and her fellow Sirens were in Canterlot City, she was scheming, planning for a greater gambit. The power of the Firestorm Protocols gave her and her Siren lovers the power that they needed, but not the power they wanted. So the portal to Equestria would not be open for long time, it didn’t matter, they would take this world now before the Organization or Dusk Shine had their way with it. The city was a powderkeg, and it was just itching to blow up, but not yet, first she needed these two to bow first.

The alpha Siren stood outside of Sunset’s apartment, smiling wickedly, she channeled her Firestorm powers and soon her body became ghostly, vibrating at a frequency that erased her presence and allowed her to phase through objects. Adagio walked up the stairs and stood before Sunset’s front door, the alpha Siren strode through as if it wasn’t even there, arriving inside the same living room that all three Sirens had occupied twice.

Knowing where to go, Adagio sauntered into Sunset’s room, and there she saw them. Sunset was dressed in an oversized tank top, and boxers, while Twilight, her little nerdy lover, was sleeping next to her. Her pajama shirt was pushed up slightly, giving a peek of her midriff, Twilight was lying in the crook of Sunset’s left arm, curled up next to her as she slept in content. It was a truly lovely thing to see, it reminded her much of the time when she had caught Aria and Sonata sleeping in the same manner after a private romp between them.

Adagio walked up on Sunset’s side of the bed, leaning down as she looked at the former Equestrian. She wasn’t sure what or why, but Adagio would be lying if she didn’t feel some sort of attraction to this girl. Perhaps it was because she too was a displaced Equestrian, or perhaps it was due to their natures? They both had an air of authority and intimidation about them, if Adagio was so bold, Sunset was probably the only other person she’d have to worry about taking her spot as alpha of the Sirens. The thought of them struggling for dominance sent chills through Adagio’s body, delightful chills.

“Alas, I can’t have either of you interfering, I need you both helpless for a while,” said Adagio, her voice muted so that no one else could hear her.

Adagio allowed her hands to become solid, just enough that she could touch and not be noticed. The alpha Siren gently turned Sunset’s head until she was looking up, she then made her lips become solid and slowly she lowered her head. Adagio then kissed Sunset Shimmer, but this was not an ordinary kiss, a light shined in Sunset’s throat, a light that rose up as Adagio did, an ethereal stream of light rose from Sunset’s mouth and into Adagio’s mouth. After a couple a seconds a ball of fiery light came out of Sunset’s mouth, Adagio licked her lips as she gently took the orb into her right hand, after clenching it, the orb transformed into an orange crystal bead.

With Sunset done, it was Twilight’s turn. It was a tad bit more difficult given Twilight’s sleeping position, but with some careful maneuvering and gentle prodding, she was able to get Twilight to lay flat on her back. The alpha Siren climbed atop the bed and over Twilight, lowering her lips to the nerdy girl as an orb of light rose from Twilight’s throat, and just like Sunset, that same orb escape Twilight’s mouth and clutched in her hand, transforming into a violet crystal bead.

Adagio looked upon both girls, given her abilities and the position she was in after having done what she did, playing with both of them would be so much fun. However, that will have to wait, when you both are on your hands and knees, pledging your life to me.

The alpha Siren got off the bed and spared one last glance at both of them, smiling her wicked smile, knowing what was in store for them coming morning’s light.

The morning rays of the sun bled through Sunset’s blinds, resting upon Sunset Shimmer’s face. The former bad girl groaned a little, rubbing her eyes in annoyance, it was the weekend, a time to sleep in and relax. Sunset turned away from the light, her eyes resting upon the sleeping form of her girlfriend, she smiled warmly at her as she watched Twilight sleep. The gentle rising and falling of her chest, the warmth of her body next to her’s, and the natural scent of lavender Twilight seemed to give off.

After the dance at school, passions were high between them, but unfortunately they couldn’t do much about it since it was still a school night. However, when Friday night rolled around, let’s just say that much fun was had, to say the least. Sunset moved a strand of hair that was obstructing her view of Twilight’s adorable face, even in such cutesy pajamas she wanted nothing more than to take this girl right now. Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

Sunset placed her hand on Twilight’s cheek, stirring her from sleep. The genius girl slowly placed her hand atop Sunset’s, smiling back and already noticing the hungry look in her lover’s eyes. Sunset quickly pounced on Twilight, straddling her as she looked down on her “prey”. Despite this, Twilight smiled, more than willing to allow Sunset to have her way.

“……” Sunset paused in her actions. “…………” Sunset quickly sat up looking a little panicked as no sound was coming out of her mouth. “………………!” Sunset tried to shout, but there was still nothing. Sunset pointed at her throat in a panic to Twilight.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, wondering this was some sort of weird bedroom she didn’t get. “……” Suddenly, Twilight grasped at her throat, sitting up quickly as she tried to talk. “…………………………!!!”

Both girls made panicked gestures to each other, realizing that somehow they had lost their voices. Thinking quickly, Twilight reached for her cellphone and began typing in it. When she was done she showed Sunset. [I can’t talk, I-I literally can’t feel my throat vibrate to make any sounds!]

Sunset got off of Twilight and reached her phone, furiously typing in it and showing it to Twilight. [Same with me! I don’t know what happened!]

[Normally I’d say it was laryngitis, but I don’t think either of us showed any symptoms beforehand.] Twilight texted.

[We need to figure out what’s happening, if we can’t talk then we can’t activate our Firestorm powers!]

Both girls hurriedly rushed out of bed and began changing. Sunset gave a quick flick of the wrist to see if her magic was still working, and thankfully it was. The spells normally never needed vocal commands, most unicorn magic needed only concentration, the spells cast from within the mind of the the caster. Sunset made Twilight aware of this and sighed in relief, but this did not listen the seriousness of the situation, without the ability to speak neither of them could speak the activation word, which would make it impossible for them to transform into their Firestorm forms. This was a priority that needed to be addressed.

Twilight typed on her phone. [Isn’t there a spell you can use to get our voices back?]

To which Sunset replied. [Spells like that weren’t exactly on my list of useful spells to know! Unicorn spells are unspoken, all concentration! So there was no real fear of not being able to cast magic if you lost your voice! Plus, there were always enchanted items one could use a substitutes, and yes there are spells for healing that kind of thing, but I never learned it because I never thought it was relevant!]

Twilight winced. [Sorry…I just thought…]

Sunset stopped midway through her changing and sighed, well, motioned like she did, not even a sigh could be heard from her mouth. She walked over to Twilight and draped her arms around her lover, hugging her closer. Sunset took Twilight’s phone and typed the words. [No, I’m sorry. I’m just a little freaked out right now. Truth is most of the spells I know I remember from my years of studying, some I made note of the second I could write –]

At that moment, Sunset released Twilight and dashed for her closet. Twilight looked on in confusion as to what her girlfriend was doing as she ransacked the innards of her closet. Finally, after about a minute of rummaging, Sunset pulled out a cardboard box. She carefully took out two things, one was a leather bound book with Sunset’s symbol on it, which Twilight learned later was called a “cutie mark”. That was placed on the floor, but gently done, Sunset even stared at the book for a moment longer before going back into the box. The fiery haired girl then sprang to her feet and brought what she found to the bed.

Sunset spread out sheet after sheet of papers, she used her magic to levitate them into the air, looking over each one carefully before moving on to the next sheet. Twilight managed to catch one of the sheets and glanced over it, on the surface it looked like a mathematical formula, but it was written in Equestrian, with rune markings and diagrams of magic circles. For some reason, despite not being able to read Equestrian, the more Twilight looked at them, the more her mind was able to work them out.

Suddenly the papers all fell from their floating positions, Sunset had one sheet in her hand and began reading over it. After a few seconds she put the paper down and turned to Twilight, curious, Sunset saw the piece of paper in her hand. She motioned for Twilight to give to her, once Twilight did, Sunset read over the sheet and blushed furiously, throwing it over her left shoulder.

Shaking off that distraction, Sunset’s face became serious. The former unicorn clapped her hands together, aquamarine light surged from her hands and made her hair float up from the excess energy. Sunset separated her hands with one orb of light on both of Sunset’s index fingers.

She placed her left finger to the middle of her forehead, and with her right finger, she touched Twilight’s. A mini-burst of light went off, which made Twilight’s mind tingle a little.

“What…what was that?!”

“Ha it worked!”

“What worked – wait, I can hear you, I can talk I – !” Twilight noticed that Sunset, throughout their speaking, never actually opened her mouth. “Wait, what’s happening?”

“What’s happening is I just used a telepathy spell, it’ll allow us to hear the other’s thoughts. Unfortunately it’ll only last twenty-four hours before I need to reapply it, but at least this way we don’t have to keep doing that texting thing,” said Sunset.

Twilight was getting excited now. “Telepathy, the ability to read minds! This is uncanny, that spell must’ve accessed a part my cerebral cortex to –!”

“Sparky, I know you can nerd out, but right now this is an open line, and anything you think I can hear, and the stronger the thought the louder it is in my head,” said Sunset as she rubbed her head.

Twilight bit her bottom lip. “Sorry, I’m sorry! I-I’ll try to keep my thoughts under control. But in any case this is only a temporary solution, let’s head back to my house so I can use the lab, we need to rule out that this is biological before we start looking into other things.”

Sunset nodded and two resumed their changing. As they did, Twilight heard a stray thought from Sunset, “You have a cute ass, Sparky.”

Twilight blushed as she glanced over her shoulder to Sunset. “Sunset, you know I heard that right?”

“What’s your point?”

“You’re a perv.”

“Yes, but I’m your perv.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, the whole reading minds thing was going to allow Twilight to hear every little perverted thought in Sunset’s head for sure. “By the way, what was that piece of paper you took from me?”

Now it was Sunset’s turn to blush. “Um, let’s just say that it’s best used for when we’re…ahem, ‘further along’ in our relationship.”

Once Sunset and Twilight got outside, things weren’t quite right. Everybody seemed on edge, with a perma-scowl on their faces as if just waiting for the next person to look at them the wrong way to start something.

After putting on their helmets, Sunset and Twilight drove off down the street, with Sunset making a beeline for her house. Traffic was even worse than the people they saw on the street, drivers were cutting off other drivers like nobody’s business. Other motorcyclists were weaving in and out of traffic at dangerous speeds, one even came close to clipping Twilight’s arm.

With a bit of luck they were able to make it to Twilight’s neighborhood, but the edge was not gone, even the residents in the quaint little suburban area seemed angry at each other. Which was a stark contrast from how the place usually was.

Twilight and Sunset quickly made their way to the door, but paused when they saw Spike at the window, motioning with his paw to not come in. Before they could even figure out why he would warn them, the door swung wide open, and behind it was Velvet, her normally cheery smile was replaced with an authoritative, narrowed eyed glare at both girls.

“How much longer were you planning on staying at her place, Twilight!?” Velvet asked sternly.

Twilight found herself in an awkward position, she could not speak, at all, and her mother was looking quite perturbed for some reason.

“Nothing to say for yourself? No doubt this hussy is becoming a bad influence on you!”

“Hussy?!” Sunset thought, feeling a bit of stabbing pain in her heart at hearing those words.

Velvet pulled Twilight in by her arm, and then glared back at Sunset. “I knew I didn’t like you, I thought you were genuinely in love with my daughter! But it seems you’re still on your vendetta, trying to corrupt her with debaucheries and violating her late into the night! No more, I forbid you from ever seeing her! Now go or I’ll call the police!”

Without another word spoken by Velvet, she backed up and slammed the door in Sunset’s face. The former Equestrian’s inner thoughts were racing. Velvet hated her, Twilight’s parents hated her? No, something was wrong, Sunset knew Velvet had a maternal mama bear side to her, having seen it with Night Light and Velvet during their interrogation/interview after they returned. But that?

“That was nothing but spite, and hatred. Something’s wrong,” thought Sunset.

“Get off of me you mangy mutt!” Velvet shouted.

“SPIKE!” Twilight’s thoughts rang out.

There was a whimpering sound that came right after a thud. Sunset’s eyes grew wide with fear as she heard the sounds coming inside. Foregoing any sense of right and wrong, Sunset focused her magic on the door and made it burst off its hinges. She then rushed in, seeing Spike slumped against the wall, and Velvet keeping a tight grip on her daughter’s wrist to the point that she was on her knees in pain.

“So you actually trained your dog to attack your own mother?! You ungrateful child, I knew Shining Armor should never have brought you into this house!” Velvet yelled as she prepared to backhand Twilight across her face.

Sunset narrowed her gaze and thrust her hand forward, releasing a wave of magical telekinetic energy that wrapped around Velvet, freezing her in place as a field of aquamarine light coated her body. Sunset made gesture with that same hand, forcing Velvet to release Twilight’s wrist.

“Are you alright?” Sunset asked.

“I-I don’t – Spike!” Twilight rushed to her little dog, carefully scooping him into her arms. She so badly wanted to call out to him, but she had no voice, tears came down her eyes as she realized this. “Please, Spike, be okay…please…”

Sunset rushed over to Twilight, she gently placed her hand on his side and felt his chest moving. “He’s still breathing Twi, but we’d better get him to a Vet to be sure, that thud I heard sounded bad.”

“I knew you were just some punk kid!”

Both Twilight and Sunset turned around and to the front door and saw Night Light, his face contorted in anger as he saw his wife frozen in place, his daughter holding her dog, and Sunset Shimmer. The normally calm man rushed forward, his fist raised and ready to strike, but another quick burst from Sunset’s magic froze Night Light in place. Both girls panted from the uncertainty of what was happening, both of Twilight’s parents were being completely violent. Twilight had seen her parents angry, but this was just straight up violent and frenzied.

“Sunset, something is going on here, my Mom and Dad would never act like this!”

“Trust me Sparky, after the time I’ve spent with them, even I know they’re acting out of character, but right now we need to get Spike to a Vet and then we can figure out what’s happening,” said Sunset.

“The animal shelter has a vet, let’s head there now! But…we can’t use your bike, it might make Spike worse and I can’t hold him properly…”

Sunset looked around and saw Night Light’s keys in his other hand. With a swift motion of her hand, Sunset made the older man drop the keys to the ground. Promising herself to explain this later, Sunset and Twilight entered Night Light’s car and drove off down the road.

It was just as bad outside as it was in the house. People were arguing, some were in full on fist fights, and some others were chasing down people with their vehicles, it was pure madness.

Spike, who had been lying in Twilight’s lap, groaned a little as he muttered, “Weird singing…they…they don’t hear it…they’re…”

“Hold on Spike, just hold on,” thought Twilight as she gently stroked his head.

Sunset Shimmer normally obeyed the street laws, when in a car, but right now, the laws be damned. The fiery headed girl kicked the car into third gear and sped up, weaving around cars and bumping into a few on the way to the shelter. Promising Twilight that they could always transmute the car back to normal later.

Unfortunately, upon their arrival to the shelter, it was not any better. People were arguing and engaging in fists fights outside and inside the building, but right now they had no other choice. Sunset and Twilight got out of the car and rushed inside, both were treated to a slew of curses every time they asked for help.

Twilight was starting to get worried for Spike, but then they heard a familiar voice. “TWILIGHT, SUNSET, OVER HERE!”

Both girls glanced down the hall and noticed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, without a second thought they dashed down the hall, weaving around the quarreling people and dodging a random person swinging a pole as if to hit someone. When Sunset and Twilight made it into the room, Rainbow Dash closed the door behind them and put the heavy file cabinet down as a barricade.

“Okay, it’s starting to get really crazy out there! Why are you guys here?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight showed Spike, immediately, Fluttershy rushed to the small canine and gently scooped him up. Thankfully they managed to barricade themselves in an exam room.

“Oh my goodness, what happened to him?!” Fluttershy asked as she placed him on the table.

“…………!” Twilight opened her mouth, but remembered she couldn’t talk. She quickly took out her cellphone and typed furiously on it. [Sunset and I can’t talk, our voices are gone! We went to my house to use my lab, but my Mom…Dad…they were violent, they almost struck myself and Sunset! Spike protected me from my Mom, but she kicked him and…]

Twilight couldn’t finish the rest, her tears were making it hard for her to see the screen. Sunset walked up to her and hugged Twilight close to her for comfort. Rainbow Dash read over the message and looked to Sunset. “You both really can’t talk, like, at all?!”

Sunset nodded.

“Jeez, this is getting messed up, first everybody loses their freakin’ minds, and now you two can’t talk?! I mean for you, Sunset, it’s an improvement, but…”

Sunset snorted, but refrained from going after that comment, knowing that it was only a joke.

“How’s Spike,” asked Rainbow.

Fluttershy had remained quiet through the whole conversation, keeping her focus on Spike as she examined him. She touched the area that was sensitive, earning a flinch of pain from Spike. “Spike, sweetie, I need you to tell me where it hurts.”

“Fluttershy, he’s a dog he can’t –”

“J-Just around there…it’s sore,” said Spike.

“HOLY HELL THE DOG JUST TALKED!!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she jumped back, almost climbing the wall.

“Okay, it looks like you may have bruised the ribs, at worst there’s a crack,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight typed away. [We can x-ray him! I know how to operate one!]

There was some banging on the other side of the door. Rainbow Dash and Sunset rushed to the door and braced it. “We won’t have time for that Sparky, it’ll take too long!”

“I can bandage him up as best I can, but we’ll have to be careful from here on out so that it doesn’t become worse!”

Fluttershy went to work getting Spike bandaged up, the little purple dog whimpered from the pain, but Fluttershy assured him it was to make sure that it wouldn’t get worse.

“I think we need to go, they’re getting rowdy out there! Please tell me you guys have a car?!” Rainbow asked.

Sunset nodded.

“Great, so how are we going to get to it?!” Rainbow asked.

Sunset glanced about the room and then looked to Twilight. Rainbow could see varying expressions forming on their faces, as if they were having a conversation without words. After a minute of silent arguing, Sunset jumped back and channeled her magical energy, Twilight grabbed Sunset’s hand and added her own magical energy to the mix. Both girls reached out to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and with no other recourse, took their hands. In the next moment, all five disappeared in a flash of aquamarine and rosy-violet light, just in time for the door to be slammed open and with a dozen or so angry people filing in looking about confused.

The girls were on the road now, trying to avoid busy highways and freeways. While on the road, Rainbow Dash had sent out an emergency text to their friends, warning them that their family and people around them may be going crazy. Not a moment later was she receiving responses from Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity stating that their families were acting violently, even the younger sibling were affected.

In the end they decided to meet back at Rarity’s Boutique, with its secure walls and doors it would be hard for someone to get in. With the plan set, Sunset changed their direction and drove, all the while she was trying to make sense of all this.

“The organization must be behind this, but I don’t get how they stole our voices!

“It might be Dusk Shine, Professor Neigh did warn us he was cunning in his methods,” thought Twilight.

“The city wide hostility yes, but then why aren’t our friends affected? On that note, if he could steal our voices that easily, why didn’t he do that earlier?”

A moment passed as both brilliant girls put their minds to work as to who could’ve been behind this. Rainbow Dash could smell the burning gray matter coming from both of them, a little frustrated as to how both girls could seem as if they were talking to each other without really opening their mouths. So, Rainbow decided to turn on the radio to see if there was any news on what was going on, but paused when a song was playing.

“Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

You didn't know that you fell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh –”

Sunset and Twilight’s eyes grew wide, they recognized those voices, but it couldn’t be, could it?

“Now that you're under our spell –!”

Sunset shut off the radio and growled in annoyance. “Adagio, it was her!”

“B-But how?! How can they have turned the entire city crazy and steal our voices?!”

“They’re Sirens. They feed off of negative energy according to the legends, their songs, while beautiful, can control a pony’s mind and make them do things they normally never do, and it can also incite negative, angry feelings inside their victims!”

“B-But then why aren’t we affected, or the girls?”

Sunset growled and struck the steering wheel. “Damn her, I knew she was a scheming witch the moment I saw her, but I didn’t think she’d go this far!”

Twilight reached over and placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “What do we do?”

“We regroup and figure out our next move, we can’t use our Firestorm powers, and they can, plus they have the whole city in an uproar, and their magic is no doubt getting stronger from the turmoil.”

After about a twenty minute drive, they arrived at Carousel Boutique. The metal shutters were already down, making the lower half of the building secure. A quick text to Rarity had Applejack downstairs and ushering everyone in. From the second floor they had a good view of chaos that was going on outside, Rarity closed the blinds to make sure no one could see in and then turned to the others. AJ, Pinkie, and Rarity had been given the lowdown on why they could not talk, and what happened to Spike, whom Fluttershy was still tending to on Rarity’s lavish bed.

Sunset was furiously typing on her phone and the displayed it to everyone. [There’s a lot to explain and not enough space on this phone to do it. So line up in front of me so I can make it easier for us all to talk.]

With little hesitation, all five girls lined up single file before Sunset. The former unicorn recast the spell for each girl, and once she was done, she spoke to them, “Can you hear me?”

All five jumped at the sudden voice their heads.

“Sunset, you’re talkin’ in my head?” Applejack asked.

“I heard it too,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Sunset, did you just make us all telepathic?” Rarity asked.

“Yes, except you can only receive, Sparky and I are the only ones who can send and receive since we can’t talk at all,” said Sunset.

“Now that Sunset’s set up the link we need to talk,” said Twilight.

For the next ten minutes, Sunset and Twilight explained who it was behind the city going mad and why they could not speak. Many of the girls seemed a bit uneasy when Sunset explained that they were creatures banished from Equestria a long time before she was even born, before anyone standing in the room was born. Immortal magical girls who had roamed the Earth for decades, who were now imbued with Firestorm powers, it was not a good combination.

“Do you think this is part of some grand scheme of the Organization?” Rarity asked.

“Can’t be, if you go by what they’ve done before, sending a baddie or two like that skull guy, or other Firestorm people is better, keeps their hands out of it! But if I had to guess, I’d say they were doing this on their own,” said Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy quirked her head. “What makes you think that?”

“For one thing, if they could steal their voices, then why didn’t they just kill Twilight and Sunset when they were asleep?”

The girls were about to respond to that, but then thought it over. Pinkie Pie raised a good point, if they could so easily slip into Sunset’s apartment and steal their voices, they could’ve done much worse than that. Meaning…

“Adagio is calling us out,” thought Twilight.

“Seems like it, she wants to prove that they’re able to take control of this world, and that they can do so without us,” thought Sunset.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well, it just goes to show how afraid of you two she is. You two are pretty powerful, she wants to make you two helpless so that you can crawl to her and get your voices back.”

A round of nods went all around.

“But then why aren’t we goin’ stir crazy? Everyone else is, and Ah figured Twi and Sunset’s magic is keepin’ them safe, but what about us?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy chimed in. “Maybe it’s the same principle as to what happened to Spike? He’s spent a lot of time around Twilight when she first got her magic, and now he can talk.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie looked confused at that.

“Yeah, the dog talks now, at this point I’d just accept it,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Plus, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you both have fused together with Sunset and Twilight before as well.” Fluttershy added.

It did make sense from that point of view. Their magic may have granted Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity a sort of magical immunization from the mind control magic due to them being around Sunset and Twilight, and subsequently around Rainbow, AJ, and Spike.

Suddenly, all the girls’ cellphones rang, showing a strange logo of three ruby gemstones. The logo disappeared and revealed Adagio Dazzle.

[Hello Canterlot City, nice day for a little mayhem, is it not? Now I don’t mean to interrupt you all while you’re enjoying your free-for-all melee fest, but I must ask you all to do me a favor.]

A picture of Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer appeared on their phones.

[I need you all to find these two girls and bring them to me immediately. Unharmed would be preferable, but do not hesitate to be rough with them up a bit. However, if they are killed, I will personally wipe this entire pathetic city off the map.]

The screen shifted and showed Adagio again, looking quite smug as she held two jewel beads in her hand.

[And to my two soon-to-be friends. If you are as smart as I know you are, you would’ve figured out by now that it was I who stole your voices, in fact they're right here in my hand. Without your voices, you cannot use your Firestorm powers, and are limited to your magic. It should be fairly obvious what your choice should be, but just in case, I’ll give you both twenty-four hours to give yourselves up. I know you can’t say anything, but text me at this number and I’ll have the hordes leave you alone so that you may come to me unobstructed.]

[Failure to comply will result in many deaths, I think you know how I feel about these humans, so I have no problem offing them. If you don’t show up after the time limit, I will kill one human every minute that you’re not here. And there are half a million plus humans here, and I am counting the little children. See you both soon.]

The feed cut off and a new message was sent via text, Adagio’s phone number and the address where Twilight and Sunset were to be delivered or where they would willingly surrender.

Rainbow Dash growled at the demands that were given. “She’s basically holding the whole city hostage, that’s ballsy and totally unfair!”

“Surrender or be hunted down…” Sunset thought. “Sparky, what do you think?”

“Without our powers we don’t stand a chance. I’m too new at magic, and even if we decide to face them, it’ll be three against two…if we could take away their power source, then we might have a somewhat even playing field but…”

Fluttershy began to cough a little, gaining the attention of the room. She quickly regretted it and hid behind her hair. “U-Um…I-I have a dumb idea…on how we could stop them – no never mind!”

“At this point, all we got are crazy and dumb, what do ya got Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy peeked from behind her hair and spoke, “Well…if the Sirens are using song and music to control people, can’t we do the same? I mean, to break the spell.”

There was silence for a long moment, making Fluttershy whimper in belief that her idea was beyond dumb and crazy.

“Maybe…Maybe if we channel Sparky’s magic, and my magic together, with the right formula, we could do it, it’s a long shot but it’s better than nothing,” thought Sunset.

Rainbow Dash had an excited grin at her face upon hearing this plan. “So you’re telling me, the Rainbooms, my band, is going to save the city?!”

“OUR BAND!” Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy shot back.

Rainbow Dash flinched at the sudden shout and nervously chuckled. “R-Right, sorry. So what song do you think we should use?”

“I don’t think the song matters so much as the playing and singing, so long as the magic is in the words, the spell might be broken. That’s my understanding at least,” thought Twilight.

Rainbow Dash thought about that for a moment and then looked to Fluttershy. “Well then, I guess it’s about as good a time as any for us to play that one song you have in reserve.”

Fluttershy smiled, now excited by the prospect of saving the city with a song she wrote.

“That’s a mighty tall order, we don’t even have our instruments,” said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie hummed for a minute and pulled out her cellphone. The girls looked at her as she carried on a conversation with someone, and after a couple of minutes Pinkie hung up the phone and smiled. “Don’t worry about the instruments girls, we just need a location.”

“Alright, Fluttershy, write down those song lyrics so you guys can start practicing. Twi, you and I will start to work on how to lace our magic into the music,” thought Sunset.

“Um, darling, how are we supposed to practice the playing part of the song without our instruments?” Rarity asked.

Sunset hummed in contemplation for a moment, she then placed her palms together and concentrated on her magical energy. A ball of aquamarine light formed between the palms of Sunset’s hands before she smashed them together and shattered the sphere.

The remnants of light shot forth towards each girl, and before them formed light constructs of each of their individual instruments. Rainbow Dash carefully took hold of the guitar of light, feeling its warmth, but it did not burn. She saw blue strings of light running down the middle, on instinct, she gave a light flick of the chords and was immediately rewarded with a light toned sound.

“No way, this is so awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“They won’t last long, so make the most of them while they’re here, now I’ll just put up a sound dampener spell so you can practice.”

“Sunset, let me.” Twilight interjected.

With a flick of her wrist, Twilight cast the spell, layering it over the inner walls of the entire building to cancel out any sounds coming from inside Rarity’s shop. Sunset nodded, impressed by her girlfriend’s casting.

“You’ve been taking the lead with your magic a lot, I thought it better that I started contributing so that you don’t exhaust yourself,” thought Twilight.

Sunset smiled and slid up close to Twilight to nuzzle her cheek, a habit from her previous life as a pony, and one that would not be broken any time soon. This earned a round of “awwwws” from the girls.

“Get a room,” said Rainbow Dash jokingly.

“We don’t mind an audience.”

“SUNSET SHIMMER!”

Hours passed by in the blink of an eye, it was already night time and the girls were still hard at work learning the lyrics and playing their instruments. Twilight and Sunset had toiled for the same amount time to figure out a good way to channel their magic into their friends’ song to counter the Sirens’ hypnotic song, but so far most of their joint efforts weren’t looking good.

Weaving magic into sound was not simple, too many moving parts were involved, pitch, tone, environmental conditions, acoustics, and then there was the issue of how much power they needed to put into it. Too little and it wouldn’t work, too much and they could end up overloading their friends and equipment to the point where they all blow up.

Sunset sat on Rarity’s couch, with a spiral and pencil in hand she twirled it around as she went over her notes. Twilight sat across from her, her eyes narrowed in intense concentration as she too worked on a method. Once in awhile they’d cast a spell in the middle of the living room to test their formulas, but each one failed. There was something that they weren’t understanding, or missing. The answer was there, but they could not grasp it.

“Ugh…there has to be a way for this to work!” Sunset growled.

“Calm down, Sunny, we can do this, we just need to look at it from a different angle,” thought Twilight.

“How many more angles can there be?! Sound, mana infusion, instrument integrity, physical condition, there are too many variables!” Sunset sprawled herself on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “The only other way is to get our voices back from Adagio.”

“You and I both know she won’t let that happen, if anything she’ll keep those jewels very close to her to stop us from getting them……Maybe we should contact Nu?”

Sunset thought that over for a moment, Adagio didn’t seem to mention anything about Nu when they fought Titannus, if she was deliberately leaving him out of the conversation it could have meant that Adagio already knew about him and were wanting them to do just that. “He has magic powers too, but against those three, we can’t risk them taking his magic away, we’ll be even more screwed then.”

Twilight rubbed her eyes and yawned, Sunset glanced over at the clock and noticed how late it was. “You should get some sleep Sparky, I’ll work on it a little longer.”

“No…we should keep going, the girls are still practicing we should –”

Sunset stood up from the couch and snatched Twilight’s spiral from her hands. “We both need to sleep. I’ll work the formulas over again, but I’ll head to bed soon. Go see Spike, I’m sure he’d like it if you were next to him.”

Twilight couldn’t argue with that, she did want to check on Spike. “Okay, but come to bed soon, it does neither of us any good if we’re both too tired to fight.”

That being said, Twilight got up from the couch, kissed Sunset on the lips and left the room to go to Spike. Once she left the room, Sunset glanced over both of their works and sighed, musical based magic was not her forte, and the Sirens were experts at that, heck, it was part of who they were, it was as simple to them as breathing.

Sunset went over battle plans in her head, Twilight was still fairly new to magic, combat wise it wasn’t feasible to have her fight outside of Firestorm form using magic, Sunset on the other hand still had a slew of spells tucked in her back pocket that she had always wanted to use when she was still acting like the queen of CHS, but never had the power to use. Now, those spells could be put to good use, however, it would require a bit of subterfuge.

The fiery haired girl took out her cellphone and typed the words, [Adagio, I’m giving myself up. Call off the people, I want to talk to you. 8:00am, do you accept?]

Sunset sent the text and waited a couple of minutes, and just like that there was a response.

[Oh Sunny, I’m glad you wish to talk. I will call off the search, and grant you safe passage, but if your cute little ass isn’t here by that time then Canterlot City’s going to see a sharp decline in its population.]

Sunset then texted back. [That protection goes for Twilight too, no hostile actions at all!]

[Oh very well, I will have all the citizens of the city cease and desist all hostile activity, but you better be ready to show the three of us some appreciation for this. Goodnight, Sunny, see you in the morning. XOXO.]

Entry 39: Welcome to the Show (Part 2)

Spike whimpered a little in his sleep, his breathing hurt a little, but Fluttershy was able to give him some painkillers she took from the animal shelter before their escape. Despite the drugs in his system, it did not numb him to the feeling that Twilight was lying beside him, curled in protection around him. Despite the injuries, Spike was not unaware of their situation, having been listening as much as he could to their conversations.

He remembered clearly, Twilight’s mother had been acting just as she normally did in the morning, pouring food into his bowl and filling his water tray. Twilight’s mother’s mate had left earlier that day and it was just the two of them, what with Twilight spending the night with her mate.

Spike had wanted to tell her thank you, but remembered that Twilight wanted to break the news of the talking dog to her personally, and with everything that was going on, Spike didn’t want to add to the stress.

As he was chowing down on the food, Twilight’s mother had turned on the box with moving pictures and sound, for the life of him Spike could never get any of the dogs he saw in that thing to talk back to him no matter how many times he barked.

However, it was at that time while she was drinking the strong smelling liquid that things changed. Three girls appeared on the moving picture box and began to sing, Spike had recognized them immediately from the night at Sunset’s. Spike stopped his munching and growled at the moving picture box.

“Oh Spike it’s just a music show,” said Velvet. “Although those dance moves are a bit on the suggestive side…”

Suddenly, Spike began to see a change in Twilight’s mother. She was unconsciously swaying to the melody of the song, her eyes transfixed as they continued to sing.

Spike’s sensitive ears could hear something, something under the singing, and a tone that was making his animal instincts blare out that this was something wrong and dangerous. After a minute of the song, Twilight’s mother wore as scowl and looked down at him with disgust, storming out of the kitchen and going upstairs.

It was at that time that Spike heard Sunset’s two wheeled machine and ran to the window, and the rest was history.

Spike stirred again in his sleep, his keen eyes picking up on movement in the dark, he made ready to attack despite his injury but quickly paused when he picked up on the familiar scent of Sunset. When she got closer, Sunset petted his head for a moment, and then began stroking Twilight’s hair for another moment.

Sunset took something out of her jacket and then placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. Spike weakly raised his head and called out, “S-Sunset…?”

The fiery haired girl placed her index finger to her lips, signifying silence, and then shook her head. Spike knew she and Twilight could talk, something to do with their minds or something. Unfortunately, Spike couldn’t quite read human writing, yet. Twilight had promised the canine that she would teach him to read, so even if she wanted to say something with her electronic box, there was no way for him to understand what the weird shapes and lines meant.

Sunset gave a small, sad smile as she left the room. The painkillers were still making him drowsy, despite his wanting to go after Sunset, something told him this was wrong, he could sense it, see it in her eyes. But the medicine was strong, and before he knew it, Spike was back asleep, muttering the words, “Sunset…don’t go…”

FROSTHAY SPIRE HOTEL, DAWN…

Sunset managed to hotwire a car and drove to the address that Adagio has sent her. All along the way she watched as the citizens of Canterlot City stood in a perfect row, as if showing her the way, blocking off streets so that she would not make a wayward turn, or if she did it would cost her the lives of the people she had to plow through in order to do so.

The fiery haired girl pulled up to the expensive looking hotel, where a valet was already waiting for her and opened the door for her. Two door attendants opened the door for Sunset and she was brought into the main foyer of the Frosthay Hotel. It was definitely a lavish hotel, for the rich and wealthy to stay and enjoy the finer things of life. Some of the windows in the lobby were actually stained glass, depicting mythical images from stories that Sunset had perused when she first arrived on Earth.

Sunset strode up to the front desk, where a man was standing at attention, she then took out her phone and typed the words, [I’m here to see Adagio Dazzle.]

The man nodded and picked up the phone. “Madam, your guest has arrived.” The man nodded and few before hanging up the phone. “Mistress Adagio is awaiting for you in the penthouse suite, top floor.”

Of course, she thought.

A bellhop showed Sunset to the elevator, the elevator itself was glass, most likely reinforced, in order to allow an unobstructed view of the city. The sun began to crest over the horizon, bathing the sky in hues of orange and red, chasing the darkness of night away. Sunset still couldn’t get over it, how the sun and moon moved in this world without the aid of a powerful magical being to do so. After reading a slew of science books, she learned that it was due to the gravity the sun generated, having caught planets to swirl around it in orbits.

Science explained a lot, but not everything. The more she delved into it, the more she found that there were some aspects of the world and universe that could not be explained, case in point the Firestorm Protocols, created to explore the power of the so called “god particle”, the source of creation. But Sunset supposed that went hand-in-hand, not even magic could explain a lot of things back in Equestria, and science was still a fledgling field of study that it produced some simple things that later became necessity.

Sunset’s pondering stopped when the elevator halted at the top floor. The bellhop ushered Sunset off and lead her to a pair of double doors, he then knocked on the door and announced, “Mistress Adagio, you have a visitor.”

The door opened immediately, Sunset cast her gaze, well, anywhere but on Adagio. The alpha Siren had apparently not cared to fully dress, having answered the door in her bathrobe, again, and leaving the top notoriously loose to display her assets.

“Sunny, so glad you could come. That’ll be all,” said Adagio as she waved off the bellhop. “Well come in, make yourself at home. The least I can do since we kind of do that at your place.”

Sunset, reluctantly, entered the posh living space. It seemed that Adagio’s fellow Siren sisters were of a similar lax dress code. Aria was lounging on the couch, wearing a baggy t-shirt and black underwear. While Sonata was busy cooking breakfast in the large kitchen, which pretty much put Sunset’s dinky apartment to shame. She was wearing a cliché “Kiss the Cook” apron, and if Sunset didn’t know any better she swore that the blue Siren wasn’t wearing anything underneath that apron.

The former unicorn just had to keep reminding herself what she was here for, and not think about how attractive each of them were. Sparky in a bathrobe, Sparky in a bathrobe, Sparky in a bathrobe!

Adagio chuckled as she noticed the flustered expression on Sunset’s face. “Now Sunset, it’s alright to enjoy the view, no need to keep your head looking down at the floor or up to the ceiling.”

Sunset took out her cellphone, typed, and then showed it to Adagio. [Is this some sort of psychological tactic of yours?! Walking around in skimpy clothing, if for nothing at all then to try and seduce me to your side?!]

Adagio chuckled heartedly at that. “Oh Sunny, this is our home, this is how we dress when we’re here. If it makes you feel any better, you can change out of that outfit, I can have another robe brought up or if you, or if you prefer, you can go around in nothing at all.”

Sunset’s face was becoming redder than a tomato, she then typed furiously and showed the message. [Can we please just get to business already?!]

“Uh-uh, you know the rules, Sunny, Sonata’s cooking is not to be wasted, to the table.” Adagio then glanced towards the couch. “You too, Aria, she’s nearly done.”

The grumpy Siren sighed and got up from her comfortable position on the couch. Sunset walked towards the table, she waited and watched were Aria was going to sit, seeing that there were four chairs and did not know the seating arrangements of the Sirens.

After Aria took her seat, and Adagio, Sunset took the seat across from the alpha Siren. Sonata, having completed her cooking, brought a variety of breakfast dishes, French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, orange juice, regular toast, and sausage. One of the stacks had chocolate chips and whipped cream on it, Sunset figured it was for Sonata, but saw a blush on Aria’s face when the stack was placed in front of her.

“Ari loves my chocolate chip pancakes!” Sonata commented. “I thought I’d make them, since it was a special occasion.”

Aria looked embarrassed by her specially made pancake order, earning a smirk from Sunset. Sonata came up beside Sunset, putting down a couple of plates with just a simple spread of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and toast. While she was doing this, Sunset glanced to her left a little and quickly put her gaze forward, realizing that Sonata’s apron was the only clothing she had on.

“I didn’t know exactly what you eat in the morning, so I just fixed the standard, do you drink coffee or do you like OJ?” Sonata asked cheerfully.

Sunset typed on her phone, [orange juice is fine.]

Sonata happily reached over and grabbed the pitcher and poured Sunset a glass of OJ. The whole time this was happening, Sunset felt weird. Here she was, in the proverbial lion’s den, with three dangerous creatures from her home world that the greatest unicorn sorcerer who ever lived banished.

These three who overnight took over the city, where just sitting here, enjoying breakfast as if they were just normal roommates. Well, normal would be a stretch, roommates wouldn’t quite define their relationship, if anything, Sunset would have to call them all girlfriends, lovers. With Adagio being the obvious alpha of the group, such a thing didn’t bother Sunset, herd relationships were not uncommon in Equestria. Although you didn’t see much of them in Canterlot, that wasn’t to say it wasn’t still practiced.

“Aria, would you please hand me Sunny’s gem?” Adagio asked.

The purple Siren looked to Adagio incredulous. “Seriously?! She’s going to go Firestorm the moment you give her voice back!”

Adagio eyed Sunset, regarding her for a moment before she gave a thoughtful hum. “No, I don’t think she will. You remember my etiquette in regards to wasting Sonata’s cooking, right?”

Sunset nodded.

Aria glanced to Sunset, narrowing her eyes as she huffed. Sunset didn’t notice since Aria was wearing her ruby jewel necklace, but there was another necklace, with a thin golden chain hanging around her neck. Aria reached into her shirt and pulled out the other end of the necklace, which had the very orange gemstone that Sunset saw in the video yesterday.

“Don’t you have all this food Sona made go to waste, got it?!” Aria warned.

Sunset leveled her gaze with Aria, she then gave a slow but firm nod.

With that understood, Aria took the gemstone into her hand, and crushed it. A small light was emitting from inside her closed fist, Aria then opened her hand and blew an orb of orange light towards Sunset. The orb floated along the breath of air until it gently settled against Sunset’s throat, melting in until it disappeared.

Sunset coughed for a few moments, but then, “W-What was – I-I can talk?!”

“You’re welcome,” said Aria in a sour tone.

“Such is our power, Sunny, a little hidden power that many don’t know about. The ability to steal another’s voice.” Adagio explained.

Sunset rubbed the spot where the light of her voice returned. For a brief moment she contemplated uttering the command word to transform and attack them all while they were still off guard. However, when she turned to the blue Siren, Sonata, that resolve melted away as she watched her butter a slice of toast and offer it to her.

The fiery haired girl reached out and took the offered toast, she then smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Sonata smiled back and began eating her meal.

“Well then, let’s enjoy.”

CAROUSEL BOUTIQUE…

The girls took to sleeping in one room, what with the hordes of people looking for them, it was better to have everyone together. Pinkie Pie was sleeping on the floor in her designated sleeping bag, her rear in the air as she slept in an undignified manner.

Fluttershy slept next to Rainbow Dash, despite the two not being a couple, it didn’t stop the pink haired girl from curling up next to her best friend, feeling safer when close to Rainbow. Of course, Rainbow didn’t mind, having draped an arm over the shy girl and keeping her close.

Rarity and Applejack slept in the same bed, with the fashionista nestled close to the farm girl, both with content smiles amidst the chaos. Applejack learned early on after the start of their relationship that Rarity liked to be…handsy in her sleep. By which Rarity would somehow find a way to fondle Applejack in their sleep, either on here rear, chest, or…ahem…let’s just say it made for some awkward sleeping.

“SUNSET’S GONE!!!”

All five girls sprang to attention, covering their ears as they felt the psychic shout of Twilight ring through their heads. There was loud thumping coming from down the hall, the door to the bedroom swung open, showing a distraught Twilight.

“Have any of you seen Sunset?!” Twilight asked.

The girls rubbed their heads, trying to shake off the headache that they had just been given. Once their senses returned they were able to process what Twilight asked.

“What do ya mean, Surgarcube? She ain’t with ya?” Applejack asked.

“No, I woke up and she wasn’t there! I checked all over but she’s not in here! DO YOU THINK SHE WAS TAKEN?! THE SIRENS MUST’VE COME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND –!”

“TWILIGHT!” The girls shouted.

Twilight snapped out of her worry and noticed that all five girls were holding their heads and scrunching their faces in pain. It dawned on Twilight that her thoughts were literally screaming in their heads, her worry amplifying those thoughts in her friends’ skulls. Twilight took a moment to calm down.

“I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to I…sorry.”

Pinkie Pie managed to get up and walk over to Twilight, she then began hugging the genius girl and stroking her hair. “It’s alright, you’re just worried about your girlfriend, completely normal behavior in crazy, apocalyptic stuff like this!”

“Think back, Twi, was she acting weird? Mind controlled?” Rainbow asked.

“No…she was fine, she told me to head to bed and see to Spike. I completely knocked out last night I don’t remember seeing her, but she wouldn’t have just left, right?”

Rarity bit her bottom lip, afraid to put this out there, but in a way it had to be said. “You don’t suppose she may have gone to confront the Sirens on her own…do you?”

Applejack smacked her forehead. “Somethin’ tells me she would, they are from her world after all. She may feel like she’s gotta take care of this business herself.”

“No…Sunset wouldn’t, s-she couldn’t…”

“Twilight…”

All eyes turned to the hallway, the girls rushed out and saw Spike leaning up against the wall, the little dog panted hard as a piece of paper laid in front of him.

“Spike!” Fluttershy gasped as she rushed towards him. “You shouldn’t be moving around!”

“T-The…The paper, Sunset left it…last night,” said Spike in a ragged tone.

Twilight quickly took the piece of paper, her mind reading the note aloud to the others.

Dear Twilight

I’ve worked the formulas of the spell out, but it won’t work. We need more power than what you and I have in our current state to overcome the Sirens’ spell. We can’t involve Nu, I’m afraid that they’ll syphon his magic and become too strong for the both us.

So…I’m going to get our voices back. I don’t think they’ll kill me, if that’s all they wanted then they would’ve done so already, but they need me – well they need us to be exact. So I might be able to use that to my advantage, and if I’m lucky I can get both of our voices, at the least get yours back.

The counter spell may work with you and the girls adding their voices to yours to amplify the energy, but you’ll need something loud to make sure it rings out through the city.

I don’t plan on dying today Sparky, and I don’t plan on this world being taken over or destroyed so soon after actually finding somepony somebody that I love, sorry old habits. And…because I know you all are reading this too…you all annoy me on some level, but…you guys are also the only ones I’ve ever been able to call friends.

See you soon girls, and you too Sparky.

Love

Sunset Shimmer

Twilight’s eyes teared up after reading the letter, but when she looked to her friends, she saw that they too were crying a little, Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to hide the fact that there were tears coming down, maintaining a stoic expression, but it was clear that the letter had hit them in the heart.

“That stupid idiot,” said Rainbow as she rubbed the tears from her eyes. “Now she’s got me all sappy.”

“Shoot…Sunset ya really know how hit where it hurts,” said Applejack as she quickly sniffed.

Pinkie was uncharacteristically silent for a few moments before whipping out her cellphone from her puffy, curly hair. She hit the speed dial and waited a moment before shouting, “WE NEED YOU HERE, ASAP! WE’RE GOIN’ TO WAR!” She then turned to her friends who looked at her in shock after hearing the tone of voice she used. “What, we’re not letting Sunset fight evil by herself! We need to move out!”

After a few seconds the sound of tires screeching to a halt and a car horn sounding drew their attention. Most of the girls, with the exception of Fluttershy, rushed to one of the window and saw a white Volkswagen bug car, albeit modified, sitting outside Rarity’s shop. A girl with neon blue hair, rosy-purple tinted sunglasses, and headphones, the girl nodded to the beat of the music she was listening to, she then looked up and waved to the girls.

“W-Wait moment, is…is that Vinyl Scratch?” Rarity asked.

“Yep!” Pinkie replied.

“How is she not being controlled by the Sirens?” Rainbow asked.

Pinkie Pie pointed to the girls headphones. “She never takes them off.”

“I’m not really sure how that works, but she does have all your instruments! Fluttershy, do what you can to help Spike, we’re leaving as quickly as possible!” Twilight ordered.

“But Twilight, I-I don’t think we should leave him,” said Fluttershy.

“The best and fastest way to help Spike is to beat the Sirens and get him to a Vet who isn’t mind controlled,” said Twilight.

“T-Twilight…!”

“Please just do as I ask, Fluttershy!”

The shy girl began to narrow her gaze at Twilight. She knew she wanted to help Sunset, but it would be a waste all around if Spike ended up dying because of her rash call to action. But, before the animal lover could lay into Twilight, she noticed tears coming down from her eyes as she glanced to Spike. It dawned on Fluttershy that Twilight’s words were true, as the city was now, there was zero chance of Spike getting proper help. The faster they defeated the Sirens and got the city back to normal, the faster they could get Spike proper medical attention.

Spike raised his head, seeing the concerned looks he was given. “I’ll be fine, Twi. Go, help Sunset, and beat those monsters…”

Twilight walked over to Fluttershy and Spike and knelt down before them, she petted the small dog’s head and looked to Fluttershy and nodded. “Twilight says ‘We won’t be gone long, we’ll defeat them quickly and get you help, but please be strong Spike’.”

Spike’s expression grew more confident. “I’ve never doubted you, ever. I won’t start now.”

Twilight nodded with a confident smile of her own. Her hands began to glow as her magical aura raged. “Let’s go, we have a city and a friend to save.”

After breakfast was done, Adagio made her way to the large window wall that overlooked the city below. In her right hand she swirled around a glass of OJ Sonata had poured for her, sipping it and savoring the taste.

Sunset walked up beside the alpha Siren, peering out into the distance as well. “You ever afraid someone’s peeping on you guys when you dress like that?”

Adagio chuckled. “From up here? If they are then I’d have to applaud their efforts to try and sneak a peek, I might even give them something to look at. Unfortunately for them, the windows are tinted, and are one-way. We can look out, but no one can look in, the luxuries of the rich.”

Sunset sighed. “Look, I get your point. You, all three of you, are powerful and could take over everything without no sweat.”

“Obviously.”

“So release them, I know you get your power from negative emotions, and I don’t doubt that you’ve drunken in more than enough to extend your lives and make you all powerful,” said Sunset.

Adagio took another sip before speaking. “Say I do release them, then what? They go back to their miserable little lives, trifling about, committing crimes and the like, and living in squalour. Under our control they will be useful and have purpose. At least we can avoid the world imploding on itself. Besides, with you, Twilight, and the three of us together, there’s not a force on this planet that can stop us. Not the Organization, not even Dusk Shine.”

Sunset turned to the alpha Siren and narrowed her gaze. “I don’t get it, why do you want us to join you so bad?! I already told you that the portal will open up in a couple of years, less than that now, so why?!”

Adagio downed the last of her orange juice and chucked the glass over her shoulder, she then turned to Sunset, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she stared back. “Because, to be honest, you remind me of myself, and yet, you’re so much different. You strive for greater ambitions, and aren’t afraid to do what is necessary in order to see those ambitions made true, and at the same time you’ve not forgotten the one you love.”

Sunset growled at Adagio. “I am nothing like you! I am--was a scheming, lying, manipulative, aggressive bitch before! But that’s not me, I won’t become some kind of monster! I’ve seen what that will lead to……and I want no part of it!”

Adagio smirked and sauntered over to Sunset, she then delicately placed her hand underneath her chin and stared into those aquamarine eyes. “You fear your own power and greatness, you fear the monster within. You fear you can’t temper it, but that’s because you were alone before, Sunset. My lovers and I have learned to unleash that monster within, and tame it. Yet, we haven’t lost sight of what and who we are.”

The alpha Siren slowly turned Sunset’s head in Sonata’s direction. “Sonata was cast aside by our people as a worthless urchin, overlooking the brilliance she possessed. She may seem ditzy, but she is quite observant, and sweet.”

Adagio then moved out of the way and allowed an unobstructed view of Aria back on the couch again. “Aria’s father was killed because he was deemed a coward, despite the fact that he fought hoof and fang to protect the border and stop a horde of sharks coming to our hippocampus city. Aria’s fierce, and gruff exterior belies her kindness and loyalty.”

Sunset was now becoming keenly aware of how Adagio was pressing up against her back.

“And me? I was nothing but a youngling, same as them, my only role was being a glorified concubine to our king. But I escaped, and I found them, together we formed our bond of friendship, and later love. We stormed the shores of Equestria, seeking to carve out our own slice of paradise for ourselves! Until…well, let’s not open up old wounds.”

Sunset then noticed that somehow her leather jacket had slipped off, and that Adagio was gently hugging her from behind.

“You too are misunderstood, your wanting for greater things is not a sin, but part of who you are. Striving for greatness is not a crime, but it does need tempering, take it from somehow who tried to reach for more too quickly,” said Adagio. “You and Twilight are the same, you who don’t belong in this world, and she, one who had no choice but to bear the burden of being used for notorious deeds. You both found each other, and found us, be a part of our family.”

Sunset watched as Adagio caressed her, she hated to admit it, but she liked it, and she liked what Adagio was saying. Both have been handed crap in their lives, Sunset and her folks were in poverty and when she rose like a phoenix from it, she was denied her destiny. Twilight was born to be used as a weapon, to further the agendas of greedy humans and to cause death to others. In some ways, they were not dissimilar from the Sirens.

“It does sound good, and we could all five rule this world without breaking a sweat,” said Sunset.

“Of course.”

“But I’ll decline.” Suddenly, the body of Sunset that Adagio was caressing evaporated and in a flash and reappeared behind Adagio. She then grabbed ahold of her, locking Adagio’s arm at her back and placing her hand over the alpha’s mouth. “I have a family of my own in this world, and I really rather not seem them hurt.”

Aria sprang off the couch, dashing towards them and coming to a halt a couple of feet before Adagio and Sunset. Sonata saw what was going on, and her expression changed from sweet and innocent, to fierce and angered.

“Whoa now you two, don’t get ahead of yourselves,” warned Sunset.

“Let Dagi go, now,” growled Sonata.

“You two faced little – you were playing us the whole time!” Aria accused.

“Not the whole time, I wanted to hear what you guys out and I did come here to get mine and Twilight’s voices back, which reminds me. If Aria had my voice,” Sunset’s gaze turned to Sonata. “I’m guessing Sonata has Twilight’s.”

Sonata flinched and Sunset knew she was right.

“I like you guys, but I love Twilight. And just like you, Dagi, I’ll do whatever I can to protect my lover. So, Sonata, give me Twilight’s voice, and I’ll let Adagio go.”

Aria scoffed at the demand. “You forget, there’s one of you and two of us.”

“Yeah, I didn’t forget.” Suddenly, Sunset’s body began to glow with aquamarine light, the light steadily growing brighter and brighter with each passing second. “I had learned a spell in the forbidden section of Princess Celestia’s library. It’s called Final Atonement in old Equish, basically having the caster channel all their reserves of magical energy, and even their very life force into one powerful explosion of magic. The size and destructive force of the blast is determined by the power of the caster. Weak magic users will have a small detonation, enough to demolish a room this size. But considering it’s me, well, this building’s going to lose ten plus floors.”

Sonata and Aria glanced to each other in a bit of shock, they knew Sunset Shimmer was a schemer, but they never thought she’d reduce herself to a living bomb to just take them out.

What you three don’t know is that this is nothing but a bright as hell illumination spell, but hopefully I can get out of this before Adagio realizes it, those two on the other hand…

“You two can probably escape the blast zone if you leave now, but then, Adagio and I will be meeting the All Mother Faust together.”

Sonata and Aria wanted to attack Sunset, she could see it in their eyes. They truly loved Adagio, so much so that it was practical torture to make them feel this helpless.

“Ari…?” Sonata asked.

Aria growled in frustration. “We give you the gemstone, and you let her go, promise me!”

Adagio glanced to her Siren lovers and then to Sunset. The fiery haired girl nodded slowly. “I will let her go, but only after you give me the stone, and you better hurry.” The glow became even brighter, with flares of magical energy shooting off from her body. It was all show, something she learned from Trixie, but it made them jump in fear. “You’d better hurry, the longer you take the harder it will be for me to stop the chain reaction.”

Sonata hurriedly reached down her apron and pulled out the gemstone, snapping the chain off and presenting it to Sunset. “Here take it, just leave Dagi alone!”

Sunset nodded to the gemstone, wrapping it in a telekinetic aura and made it float to her. “Thank you ladies, now I have only one word for you……“FIRESTORM!!!”

The glass windows shattered as an immense spike in power erupted from the top of the Frosthay Spire Hotel. Sunset, in Firestorm form, flew out of the penthouse suite and positioned herself high above the hotel. She then raised her hands into the air, and above her formed a giant sphere of plasma fire, one that was growing bigger by the second. No doubt that the Sirens were probably disoriented from her transformation, and with one good blast she’d be able end the threat once and for all.

Then again there are the innocent people no doubt still inside…but if I don’t they’ll still be killed…The sphere began shrink. Collateral damage…justify it that way…it’s justifiable right?!

The sphere grew again, crackling with even more power. Just as she was about to end the threat, something else popped into her mind, Sonata’s smile as she handed her the toast, the content look on Aria’s face as she enjoyed the pancakes that were made for her, and the loving smile that Adagio would send both of her lovers when she thought Sunset wasn’t looking. As she thought on this, the sphere grew smaller and smaller. Were they really the evil creatures that Starswirl the Bearded banished? Can evil creatures like them really feel that kind of deep love for each other? Were they truly that irredeemable?

“You’ll regret that, Sunny,” said Adagio.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The entire penthouse went up as three separate lights shined in the rubble. Storm clouds began to gather, covering the sky darkness. The light shifted, transforming into an ominous green from within the dust cloud. With an intense burst of power, the dust cloud was pushed away, revealing the Sirens.

Sonata’s body was covered in a kind of coral armor, it ran up both her arms and legs, with a breastplate that covered most of her upper body, and everything below the waist, but left her midriff exposed. Below the armor, her body was made of blue plasma, blue as the sky. Two pointed shells covered her ears, as shell ring held Sonata’s azure blue fire hair into its ponytail form. On the left side of Sonata’s chest plate was the symbol of the red sun, but at the center sun was a symbol of a heart with an electric eighth note in front of it, and off to the right side were two other red orbs.

Aria appeared next. The silver armor around her forearms had a sharp dorsal fin, like a shark, with the tips of each finger clawed. Her leg armor only came up to her knee, with the front of both lined up with spikes that looked like shark teeth.Her shoulder pauldrons were shaped to resemble that of a shark's head, while her chest armor covered her torso, much akin to that of a one piece bathing suit. Upon her head was a sharp adornment that was shaped like an M, her body was made of purple plasma, while her flaming hair was violet, held together by spiked rings. The red sun symbol was on her right side, and in the sun was a two-toned star combined with a forte symbol.

And finally Adagio. her outfit was less armor, and more of a velvety cloth. Her chest was covered up by the that very same cloth, allowing for some suggestive cleavage to show. Around her waist was the skirt, the edges trimmed in gold. She wore no boots, but rather sandals akin to that of the ancient greeks, colored gold along with bracelets on her wrists. Her body was made of yellow plasma, and her hair of golden flames. Her sun symbol was like a tattoo on her body, with the red sun on her stomach, within the symbol was another, a gem with a G-clef behind it.

All three had two things that were the same from their transformations, their ruby gemstones had become imbedded into their bodies like their originals forms from long ago, each bore translucent, sparkling wings that looked a lot like fish fins, and lastly and, their eyes were glowing blood red.

“Looks like we’ll have to discipline her, huh, Dagi?” Aria asked.

“Indeed Aria, little Sunny will have to be punished for showing such poor manners,” replied Adagio.

“Oh, oh, are we doing the fun kinky kind of punishment or the regular kind?” Sonata asked.

Aria smacked her forehead. “Go back to sleep Sonata.”

All three drew in breath, and in a single voice they sang.

“♪Ahh, ah-ah, ahh♪
♪Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ahh, ah-ah, ah, ah-ah♪
♪Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah~♪”

Sunset watched from her perch in the sky, sensing the build up of magical energy. With her enhanced vision, and the return of her magical senses, she was able to see how a green sparkling mist began to rise from the city itself and swirl around the hotel. The rubies on the girls’ chest glowed brighter and brighter. The mist began to seep into their gemstones, making their very auras shine, and their eyes blaze.

“♪Welcome to the show.♪”

“♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah~ ♪”

“♪We're here to let you know.♪”

“♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah~ ♪”

“♪Our time is now. ♪”

“♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah~ ♪”

“♪Your time is running out. ♪”

“♪Ah, ah, ah~♪”

“♪Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah♪
♪Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah~♪”

Sunset wasted little time and began heading back towards her friends to give Twilight’s voice back. As Sunset flew, she felt a spike in magical energy, and it was heading right for her. When Sunset looked behind her, she saw nothing. “What the…?”

“Hey, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sonata Dusk had appeared on Sunset’s left, and with a graceful pirouette, brought down her right foot in a ax kick right in the middle of Sunset’s back. The blow was so strong that it created a thundering boom that rang out through the city. Sunset barely had any time to register blow before she was into a sharp freefall to the pavement down below. A dust cloud column shot up from the point of impact. In the crater down below.

Sunset groaned as she dragged herself out of the crater she had made. Her legs felt numb, no doubt the blow having struck a part of her spine that controlled the legs, thankfully her rapid healing was already in effect and repairing the internal damage. Sunset concentrated and floated up into the air, her legs dangling useless underneath her for the moment. When she looked up, she saw a smiling Sonata Dusk hovering over her.

“Yeah, I’m like really fast,” Sonata placed her hands together and immediately sparks of lightning began to arc from them, “like really fast.”

Sonata fired down a cerulean lightning bolt, Sunset was about to speed away, but noticed that there were still civilians in the area. Normally the people would’ve ran away by now, but since they were mind controlled drones they couldn’t. Sunset gritted her teeth as she summoned a magic shield overhead, with her left hand she pointed towards the road, atomic rings formed as she began to channel her nuclear energy. With a fierce cry, Sunset fired a beam of atomic plasma energy straight up through her barrier, clashing with Sonata’s lightning bolt.

It was already apparent to her how strong the Siren was, the boost of negative energy was making her stronger. However, before Sunset could contemplate another strategy she was struck across the face by an armored fist. The crimson Firestorm was sent flying until she struck the side of the building, smashing through several walls before stopping on the other side and landing against a catering van.

Sunset’s healing factor had finally worked to repair her damaged nerves to her legs, allowing her to stand, now it had to work on the rest of her as she tore herself out from the fiberglass. From the hole she was punched through she saw her attacker, Aria Blaze.

With a flash of her red eyes, the dorsal fins on her gauntlets had atomic rings form on them, and in the next second the fins extended into crescent blades. She then took a fighting stance and shot off after Sunset. The purple Siren spun in the air for a moment before coming down with her right blade, Sunset fired a burst of heat from her left hand, using it as a jet to dodge the attack. The blade slashed through the remainder of the truck, but the force generated by the cut even cut a groove into the sidewalk pavement behind it.

Sunset quickly placed the bead with Twilight’s voice into a pocket dimension, freeing up her right hand. Into both hands Sunset summoned one sword made of aquamarine light and one of pure plasma fire. Sunset took a stance, and so too did Aria, both girls squaring off as they awaited the other’s first move.

A piece of rubble from the building fell to the ground and immediately the two dashed to each other, Aria came in with her left blade, while Sunset attack with her right sword. The two blades clashed, sending a shockwave that shattered the glass around them and forced the two of them back. Aria didn’t waste time and came in again, spinning and slashing with her blades, Sunset countered her attacks with both swords, but was finding it increasingly difficult to land a blow.

Aria’s movements weren’t erratic, but graceful, she was just as much dancing as she was fighting, her fluid movements and flexibility working to her advantage as she flipped around Sunset’s attacks, added with the Firestorm power to release most of the limits the human body has, and Aria was a practical tornado of slashing death.

Sunset slashed horizontally with her left blade, but Aria arched her back, bending her knees and yet keeping herself balanced the whole time. Sunset used the moment of her swing to bring down her right blade, Aria, however, dropped to the ground and caught the blade in both hands. The metal and light blade grinded against each other, causing sparks to fly everywhere. Sunset released the magi-saber, throwing Aria’s balance off, she then opened her right palm and fired a plasma fire beam that completely engulfed the Siren.

Sunset noticed that after the attack, Aria was gone, somehow boring into the street and disappearing. The crimson Firestorm jumped back and reformed her blade, preparing to strike again. But then, a blade stuck up from the pavement and began cutting through it like a shark heading straight for its prey. Sunset flew up to avoid the blade, but was unprepared for four weighted chains to pop up from the street, two managed to get Sunset by the ankles went taut the moment she reached a certain height.

Aria appeared from below, and reeled in Sunset with amazing strength. Once in position, Aria jumped up and performed a spinning roundhouse kick in midair, hitting Sunset in the rips. The crimson Firestorm would’ve hit the building, but Aria reeled her back in like a fish on a hook, and kicked her again, but just like last time, she pulled Sunset back in. Five times more Aria did this, like a yo-yo of punishment before slamming Sunset back into the street. Aria jumped into the air and landed over Sunset, with her feet planted on either side of Sunset’s torso. The grumpy Siren plopped down, hard on Sunset’s stomach, making her cough violently from the pain.

Aria grabbed Sunset by the throat and raised her right dorsal blade. “Heh, nice to see you actually can fight. My Dad was a soldier, so I learned some things from him, and some from here in this world, these humans really can come up with a lot of interesting fighting styles,” said Aria.

“Y-Yeah, I know, like how to fight even while pinned!” Sunset grunted.

Sunset focused her magic below her, making it burst and sent both of them up for a split second, but that second was all Sunset needed. She bucked Aria up even more, creating a gap between them. She managed to grab Aria by the neck and toss her to the street, Sunset landed on top of her, pinning her right thigh with her knee, with telekinetic magic, she forced Aria’s arm down, and put her elbow to the uppity Siren’s throat.

Aria struggled underneath Sunset, trying to fight back, but Sunset released more of her power, trying to use her aura to force down Aria’s aura until she passed out. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

A focused, concussive blast struck Sunset in the face, sending her skipping down the street like a pebble on a lake. Another concussive blast hit her again, forcing Sunset back into the street to eat asphalt. The crimson Firestorm rose up, panting hard as liquid light ichor began to seep from the corner of her mouth, she couldn’t see where that had come from, but she knew it had to be Adagio.

“Can’t find me, Sunny? Let me make it easier.” Adagio appeared a few feet in front of Sunset, her body seemingly vibrating for some reason. “I have excellent control over sound, I’m able to vibrate my molecules to render me invisible and phase through objects. I can also generate concussive waves of thunderous sound. But also, I can do this with it…HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Adagio belted out a high pitched Siren Call and blasted Sunset with a powerful wave of magic laced sound. The blast didn’t so much as blow Sunset away, as it did make every atom of her body scream out in pain as if threatening to tear itself apart. The lesser objects around her were already turning into dust, their atoms becoming destabilized by the power of Adagio’s voice.

Aria appeared a few feet away from Sunset’s right, atomic rings formed around her forearms as she slashed forward again and again, a stream of cutting wind slammed into Sunset, slashing at her body and armor. Sonata appeared on the left of Sunset, her hands sparking as she unleashed the fury of the sky, blasting Sunset with a lightning bolt.

The trinity attack, after a full minute, ceased, leaving Sunset to fall to her knees, bleeding light ichor, and one eye open as she gritted her teeth against the pain, trying to maintain consciousness.

“You can’t win, Sunny, not with the power we possess…”

Adagio snapped her fingers, her body began to glow as the air became energized with sound, a beat began to start, music filling the air from every direction. The Sirens’ rubies glowed bright as they rose into the air, all three raised their hands into the air as a wave of crimson light that reverberated heavily.

“♪Feel the wave of sound…! ♪”

With a swift flick of their wrists, they brought down the wave of light.

“♪As it crashes down!♪”

Sunset was then struck with three waves of the crimson energy. Each wave was stronger than the last and at the last wave, the blast was strong enough to send Sunset hurdling into the air.

“♪ You can't turn away~ ♪”

“♪We'll make you wanna sta-a-a-ay~!♪”

“♪We will be adored!♪”

Sonata turned into pure lightning and chased after Sunset, thunder roared as Sonata struck Sunset from each angle, and in Sunset’s weakened state, she was completely unable to defend herself.

“♪Tell us that you want us!♪”

Aria entered the fray, causing a tornado to rise up, slashing winds assaulted Sunset again, making her cry out in pain. Sunset managed to fire off one blast after another, but was unable to dispel the tornado. Aria came in and slashed Sunset across the chest, causing a spray of light ichor to flow out.

“♪We won't be ignored~!♪”

Adagio flew in and took Sunset by the throat, she then hurled the both of them to the rooftop of a skyscraper and slammed her against it. Adagio pushed her knee against the bleeding wound, causing Sunset to cry out in pain.

“♪It's time for our reward~!♪”

The alpha Siren leaned down and quickly captured Sunset’s lips. Too stunned and in too much pain to react, Sunset watched as Adagio drew back and brought out the same orb of fiery light, her voice.

“♪Now you need us…! ♪”

Adagio released Sunset as all three Sirens hovered over her. The alpha Siren held the energized voice aloft and then crushed it in her hand before Sunset.

“♪Come and heed us~!♪”

“♪Nothing can stop us now~!♪”

Tires screeched and squealed as Vinyl Scratch’s car tore through the streets of Canterlot City. The girls were holding on for dear life this whole time, both to their instruments and to anything that would prevent them from being thrown out of the car. Thanks to the fact that the city was mind controlled, things like speed limits and cops doing traffic stops were not an issue, and given the urgency of their situation, speeding was warranted.

Vinyl had told the girls she had scouted out a perfect location for them to play and have it echo through the city. A parking garage almost as tall as the actual building it was for. Vinyl sped up, making tight turns as she climbed one level after another. The bug car made it to the final ramp and flew up and slammed on the ground, coming to a screeching halt. Vinyl repositioned the car to point outwards towards the city, and wiped her brow.

“Whew, made it! Hey, you guys alright?” Vinyl asked as she pulled down her shades.

Rarity was gripping the head rest so hard her manicured nails had dug in and created claw marks. Fluttershy was passed out, Rainbow Dash had braced herself and somehow had yet to realize that the car had stopped moving, Applejack was trying to remain stoic, but the death grip she had on Twilight’s wrist was making it turn blue. Pinkie Pie on other hand had a big excited grin on her face.

“Whoo-hoo! That was fun! We should totally drive off the side of this garage all Rapid & Angry style!”

“NO!” The others shouted.

“We need to set up, q-quickly!” Twilight instructed.

As the girls exited the car, they kept a close eye on the sky, watching as the battle raged. Explosions rang out through the city, lightning and wind, and even thunderous sounds were erupting, along with beams of plasma and aquamarine light. Singing could be heard coming from the city, ringing out in all directions simultaneously.

“Ah don’t like the sound of that,” said Applejack.

“So how exactly are we going to play over that?!” Rainbow asked.

Vinyl cleared her throat, gaining the group’s attention. With a press of the button, Vinyl’s car began to, well, transform. Bass speakers extended out to both sides, the back extended, the front panel turned into sound mixing turntable, and the front of the car had sound bars with undulating columns.

The girls, except for Pinkie Pie, jaws dropped as they saw the DJ’s car change into a literal sound system before their eyes. Before a word could be asked about how she managed to create such a thing, a portal opened up before Twilight and a jewel bead fell out, Twilight quickly caught it and recognized.

“It’s my voice, Sunset got it back!” Twilight turned back to the battle going on. “Sunset…”

The girls got into position, readying their instruments for the song and spell. Problem is, how was Twilight going to return her voice? Another explosion got their attention, watching as the Sirens hovered over a roof, Twilight cloud sense it, Sunset was up there, outnumbered and overpowered. Desperately, Twilight tried to call out to her, but was unable to do so. Twilight clutched at the jewel in her hands as tears streamed down her face, she wanted call out to Sunset, she wanted to speak, she…

Suddenly, a blue glow was emitted from around Twilight’s throat, a glow that made the bead respond in kind. The bead rose up from her hands and hovered in the air for a few seconds, but then, a flash from the light at her throat shattered the bead and revealed the glowing orb that was her voice. Twilight closed her eyes, she could feel it inside, this was similar to when they were with Tree Hugger; this was the next chakra.

The blue light became a small vortex, drawing in the orb until it disappeared into that light. The girls looked on in worry and fascination as they wondered if this meant what it meant. Twilight turned to her friends and spoke one word, “FIRESTORM.”

A sphere of pink flames engulfed her, and in the next moment, Twilight emerged in full Firestorm form. She nodded to her friends, they took the cue and all at once struck the chord, making the sound system blare out as they sang.

“♪Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh♪

♪I've got the music in me♪

♪Oh-oh, oh-wh oa-oh~!♪”

Twilight formed a microphone out some of the cars nearby, and with those same powers amplified the sound coming from the speakers. Her magical flowed out from her body, surrounding them all in its glow

“♪Don't need to hear a crowd♪

♪Cheering out my name♪

♪I didn't come here seeking♪

♪Infamy or fame~!♪”

The aura of Twilight’s magic flowed to each of the girls, energizing and invigorating them.

“♪The one and only thing♪

♪That I am here to bring♪

♪Is music, is the music♪

♪Is the music in my soul~!♪”

The magical energies flowed, igniting on each girl as mini transformations occurred. Each girl was adorned in a Firestorm uniform, with red sun symbols that had their personal marks at the center of that sun, and their hair elongated, becoming bellowing flames.

“♪Gonna break out! (Out!)♪

♪Set myself free, yeah♪

♪Let it all go! (Go!)♪

♪Just let it be, yeah♪

♪Find the music in your heart♪

♪Let the music make you start♪

♪To set yourself apart~!♪”

The final part of their transformation, strangely enough, consisted of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sprouting blue and yellow flame wings, and what appeared to be pony ears. Pinkie Pie and Applejack grew flaming pony ears as well, but Rarity grew a flaming horn and ears. Twilight, however, grew both wings and a horn, she did not know why, but this power, it felt right, it felt good, this was the power they needed to beat the Sirens.

Down below, the music of the Rainbooms’ song echoed throughout the city, awakening the people, and releasing them from the prisons that were the minds. The people could remember what they had done, and what was being done, all eyes turned to the sky as dueling lights showed in the now cloud filled sky. Rainbow lights on one side, and red light on the other.

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata turned towards the music and sudden spike in magical energy. The alpha Siren floated down to a still recovering Sunset Shimmer and placed her hand on her cheek.

“Sounds like your friends and girlfriend want to have a little battle of the bands.” Adagio chuckled in both a seductive and sinister manner. “Well then, we’ll have a little chat with them.”

Adagio flew back up to her Siren lovers and all three flew towards the Rainbooms, hovering a few yards away from them as they squared off.

“What have you done with Sunset you witches?!” Twilight demanded.

Aria chuckled. “We just gave her the ass whooping of the century, we left her back there.” The purple Siren pointed her thumb towards the building they were just at.

“Yeah, we’re going to make her into our fourth, or a really fun play pal,” said Sonata in an innocent tone.

“The same could be done to you, or you can take up our offer. Join us now, Twilight Sparkle, and I’ll forgive you and Sunset your trespasses against us. Or, we’ll just fight, break you all, and make you all our little playthings.” Adagio narrowed her eyes as she grinned wickedly. “Your answer?”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack answered her with a quick strum of their bass and guitar. Rainbow lightning and apple shaped energy grenades were blasted from their instruments and aimed directly at the Sirens.

Adagio quickly erected a barrier of dense sound, the attacks struck her shield and caused all three Sirens to be pushed back.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and gave Adagio the bird. “That’s her answer you glorified succubus!”

Twilight grinned and nodded to Applejack and Rainbow. To which both winked back.

Adagio growled in indignation. “Fine then…you want to battle? Then let’s battle.”

“♪What we have in store (ah-ah)♪

♪All we want and more (ah-ah)♪

♪We will break on through (ah-ah)♪

♪Now it's time to finish you~!♪”

The ruby gemstones on their chests glowed brighter, a line of energy shot to Sonata and Aria from Adagio’s gem, and then back to Adagio, amplifying their powers. All three girls raised their hands into the air, releasing that very same pent up energy.

Above them formed three figures, large, and beastly. Their bodies were made of yellow, purple, and blue light and flames, their eyes burning scarlet. These construct creatures were equine the top up, and had fish tails. These were the true forms of the Sirens, the forms they were stripped of upon arriving on Earth, these were the hippocampi of the undersea world of Equestria. Now, their snarling white fangs were turned on the Rainbooms.

The hippocampi constructs circled the seven girls, snarling and glaring at them, like sharks preparing to go in for the kill.

“U-Um…what do we do?!” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight glanced to the constructs, and then to the Sirens. “We fight!”

Sonata’s construct broke from the circle of death and aimed itself straight for Rarity. The fashionista, after seeing what Applejack and Rainbow Dash did, played a few notes on her keytar and was immediately rewarded with a shower of energized diamond shards.

The construct released lightning bolts to counter her diamond shard attack, causing multiple explosions to go off in the air. Rarity strummed her instrument once again, and formed a large diamond shard and launched it at the construct. The lightning rolled off the smooth surface of the shard and struck the construct, exploding and showering it in a wave of shards.

Aria’s construct came in fierce, swiping at Fluttershy and trying to grab a bite of her, wanting to separate the shy girl from the group. But Fluttershy wasn’t scared, well, yes she was, but then she remembered that Spike was still lying injured at Rarity’s home, and that the longer this fight continued, the worse Spike might be getting.

The timid girl’s face contorted into a scowl, a cute scowl, but a scowl nonetheless. Fluttershy spun around with her tambourine, in its wake formed dozens of pink energy construct butterflies. Once she finished her spin, Fluttershy waved her instrument and pointed it at the construct.

The swarm of butterflies assailed the construct, fluttering around it and exploding on impact. The construct fired back a gale force wind blast, shredding the constructs of pink light. Fluttershy upped the ante, swirling her tambourine overhead as more of the pink energy collected. With a flick of the instrument, the energy formed into a pack of wolves. The constructs howled and charged for Aria’s construct. The pack dashed about, with two or three getting skewered by Aria’s long spines.

But eventually, a majority of the wolf pack managed to sink their fangs into the construct, and upon doing so, glowed brighter and brighter until they detonated all over the construct, throwing it back.

Twilight had taken to the skies, blasting the Adagio construct with concentrated magical and graviton energy rays. The Adagio construct would counter with dense soundwave barriers and supersonic sickles that whizzed through the air. The purple Firestorm managed to deflect and dodge most of them, but her focus was on what lied behind the Sirens.

The heroine flew towards the Sirens, preparing to strike, but, at the last second, she disappeared in a flash of rosy-violet light. Twilight reappeared some ways away, hovering over Sunset and gasping at how banged up she was.

Twilight knelt down to her lover and gently shook her. “Sunset, it’s Twilight! Can you hear me?!”

Sunset weakly turned her head to her, but when she talked no sound came out.

“You’re voice…?” Twilight asked.

The crimson Firestorm managed to create a sphere of fiery energy and mimicked Adagio crushing it. Twilight understood what she meant, her white eyes burned with rage at what they had done, taking her love’s voice away was unforgivable. Twilight kept her hand on Sunset in a blink, both were teleported away, back to the others.

Adagio’s construct saw the injured Sunset and grinned. It dove right for Twilight and Sunset, planning on attacking the weakest of the group.

Twilight whirled around and joined the others, she then rose into the air and held the microphone close to her mouth as she sang aloud.

“♪WHOA-OH-WHOA-OOOOOOOOOOOH!♪”

Rosy-violet stars made of atomic and magical energy formed around her, creating a mini star field. The stars then launched themselves, like comets zipping across the universe they aimed right for the construct. The construct was taken off guard and was swept up in the exploding shooting stars.

Twilight inhaled deeply and belted out the finishing note. But at the last second, a powerful wave of light and sound burst forth from her last attack.

“♪AAAAAAAAAAAAH~!♪” The Adagio construct sang, sending out a beam of energized sound and magic that blasted against Twilight’s attack.

The beam continued forward and slammed against Twilight, sending her spiraling back until she hit the ground, skidding to a halt as she glared up at the alpha Siren.

The construct hippocampi of Aria and Sonata floated beside Adagio’s and as one they focused their magic and sang in one unified voice.

“♪AAAAAAAAAAAAHA~!♪
♪AAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAH~!♪
♪AAAAAAAAAAAAH~!♪
♪AAAAAAAAAAAAHA~!♪”

The energy and power of the song was doubled as a wave of sound and energy came straight towards them, Twilight formed a barrier with her magic and transmutation powers, but the barrier shattered like fragile glass and threw the six girls to the ground from the buffeting force.

Twilight’s mike flipped into the air and fell to the ground, Vinyl had taken cover below her sound system, peeking up to see the devastation that had occurred.

Sunset, despite her semi-conscious state, was able hear everything that happened, she even felt that things weren’t going good at the moment. When she turned her head, Sunset noticed the mike that Twilight was holding earlier. Sunset grunted as she reached for the mike and took it into her hands. Summoning the remainder of her power she focused it into healing herself enough to stand. Atomic rings formed around her body, mending the damage as quickly as it could.

With a painful grunt, Sunset used a nearby car to prop herself up, panting from the effort and pain. Sunset caught a second wind rose to her feet, slowly, she began to walk towards her friends. This however did not go unnoticed by the Sirens’ constructs who were now glaring at her. Sunset continued to walk until she stood at the front of the group, still clutching the mike in her hands as she looked up at her three foes.

Adagio grinned at the sight of the beaten Equestrian. “I do admire your tenacity, Sunset Shimmer. I’ll give you one last chance, I know you can’t speak so I’ll make this simple. Get on your hands and knees and bow to us. If you do, I’ll spare you and Twilight Sparkle, but that’s all. There is price to pay for defiance for the others. What is your answer?”

Sunset glanced over her shoulder to her friends, and then to Twilight. The purple Firestorm raised her hand to Sunset and spoke, “Sunset…go…while you still can!”

The crimson Firestorm looked to the others, despite the look of fear on their faces, there was still determination and defiance in their eyes, burning like the atomic flames that made up their hair and the Matrix within both herself and Twilight. Sunset’s brow furrowed, she knew what she needed to do. Vinyl looked to the crimson Firestorm, who nodded in her direction, the DJ understood her request without her even uttering it and flipped a few switches, pressed some buttons, and pushed the volume dial up.

The vertical bars began to undulate to a drum beat, making the constructs’ heads quirk in confusion. Sunset held the mike with both hands, she needed to help them, her friends, her love, this world was not her own, but it was now her home, a home where her new life was going to begin, with the girl that she loved.

A blue light shined at Sunset’s throat, warm and soothing, chasing the pain of her body away. The crimson Firestorm looked up to construct Sirens, and inhaled.

“♪You're never gonna bring me down♪

♪You're never gonna break this part of me♪

♪My friends are here to bring me 'round♪

♪Not singing just for popularity~!♪”

The Sirens were stunned when they heard Sunset speak, let alone sing. Adagio had crushed her voice, there was no possible way she could be even uttering a note.

Twilight began to smile, hearing her love’s voice had returned, and hearing how beautiful it was. The purple Firestorm saw that the crimson Firestorm offered her hand to her, and without hesitation she took it and helped her up. Sunset offered the mike, but Twilight shook her head, instead grabbing the mike below Sunset’s grip. This was something they were going to do together.

“♪We're here to let you know♪

♪That we won’t let it go!♪”

The Rainbooms, Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy, rose up together, feeling another rush of power coming from Twilight and Sunset. Pinkie took up the beat of the drum, Applejack and Rainbow began to strum, Fluttershy struck her tambourine to the beat, and Rarity played her keys, adding their voices to their friends’.

“♪Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow~!♪”

The Sirens couldn’t believe what was happening, their power was growing stronger; the magical energies were becoming more and more visible. This would not stand. They had worked too hard, played the parts of obedient agents, too long to let six teenage girls and one former unicorn derail their plans to make this world their own.

The three hippocampi constructs roared and charged for the group, their direct targets being that of Sunset and Twilight, prepared to rip them apart.

“♪And you cantry to fight♪

♪But we have got the light of♪

♪Friendship on our side!♪

♪Got the music in our hearts♪

♪We're here to blow this thing apart♪

♪And together, we will never♪

♪Be afraid of the dark~!♪”

Sunset and Twilight united their right and left hands, together from their union formed a shockwave of fiery rainbow light that slammed against the constructs, bathing over them like a tsunami and throwing them back to their creators. The wave continued to spread as it eventually hit Adagio, Sonata, and Aria, buffeting them with tremendous force and severing their mind control magic. The wave continued out over the city, wiping away the negative energies of the Sirens and filling them with the positive forces of Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, and Magic.

“♪Here to sing our song out loud♪

♪Get you dancing with the crowd♪

♪As the music of our friendship♪

♪Survives, survives~!♪”

Sunset looked to Twilight, and Twilight to Sunset, their magic had grown stronger, their bond had grown more powerful. It was in this moment that both of them knew, they would fight by each other’s side, and be there for each other from now, until the end of all things. This realization, brought forth understanding, and a purple light shined in the middle of their foreheads.

This new light unlocked something within them, the sixth chakra. The release brought forth something from Sunset, the flames of her Firestorm form glowed brighter, in tune with Twilight’s. A golden flame horn formed on her forehead, as well as growing fiery pony ears.

Their feelings and positive energy flowed through them and into the girls, and from there it spread out through the entire city, the words to the song in their hearts and in their minds. And as one they all sang.

“♪Got the music in our hearts♪

♪We're here to blow this thing apart♪

♪And together, we will never♪

♪Be afraid of the dark~!♪”

Sunset, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy raised their hands towards the sky, and immediately, seven flaming beams of light shot forth and combined into one overhead. The fire beams swirled about, forming a sphere of rainbow light that grew bigger and bigger, until, two large flaming wings burst forth from the sphere.

“♪Here to sing our song out loud♪

♪Get you dancing with the crowd♪

♪As the music of our friendship♪

♪Survives, survives, SURVIVES~!♪”

Adagio looked about the city, hearing the people sing along with her enemies, she could not understand how these girls could summon such power on this magnitude, was it truly just the Firestorm Matrixes or was the magic inside them even more powerful than even those girls realized. Adagio’s quandary did not last long, Sonata and Aria tapped Adagio and directed her gaze to the sky.

The clouds began to part as a light shined from within them. This light was in fact the power of their united magicks as one, the form of a giant alicorn. The beast took a thundering step forward, its hoof hitting the sky as if stomping on something solid. Its mane, wings, tail, and horn were made of rainbow flames, while its body was made of orange flames, with tints of gold and purple in it.

The giant alicorn flapped its wings and soared into the sky, flying around and clearing away the dark clouds. The fire alicorn then positioned itself right over the Sirens, its horn building up with immense power. The Sirens would not fall, not like this, not ever. The three girls focused all their atomic and magical energy into one final blast, and shot forth a column of red light that roared into the sky, bathing the city below in a scarlet glow, at the head of the blast their construct bodies became one with the beam, roaring at the alicorn ahead of them..

The fire alicorn’s white eyes blazed as it released its power, firing a rainbow beam that shined down to meet the Sirens’ attack. The two beams clashed in the skies above Canterlot City, sending another thundering shockwave that made the very sky tremble. The two beams vied for dominance over the other, but eventually, the aurora beam tripled in size and pushed down the crimson beam of the Sirens. The three could only look on in horror as they were completely bathed in a radiant rainbow light that struck the ground with resounding force and creating an explosion of white light.

The alicorn cut off the beam and flew down to the Rainbooms, looking upon each of them in kind. Twilight and Sunset looked upon this alicorn, feeling a connection to it, familiar and yet somehow different. The fire alicorn nodded to them and released itself, becoming pure energy that returned to those who gave it form.

For a moment there was silence, but then it finally hit them, they won.

“We… We did right? We beat them?” Rainbow asked.

“I…I think we did,” said Rarity.

Applejack began to chuckle, and collapsed onto her rear. “Whoa…Heh, we beat ‘em! And Ah got fire hair, woo-wee, this has been a crazy day.”

Sunset looked to Twilight, but before a word could be spoken Twilight captured Sunset’s lips in a passionate kiss, only parting for a moment to say, “Don’t you ever go off like that again!”

“I won’t,” said Sunset as she returned the kiss with equal fervor.

“Get a room you guys!” Pinkie Pie teased.

Sunset parted and looked to Pinkie. “You offering to lend us one?”

Pinkie Pie then gave the thumbs up.

However, the jubilation of the victory could not be felt for too long, they needed to make sure that the Sirens were beat, and extract their Protocols before they could fight again.

“Vinyl, you okay with staying behind? The girls and us can take it from here,” said Sunset.

The DJ saluted the crimson Firestorm and flipped a switch, transforming her sound system back into a car. “Let me know if you guys ever want to party like this again, this was the best fun I’ve had in awhile!”

With that Vinyl drove down the ramp to the lower levels of the parking garage. Now that it was just the seven of them, Twilight and Sunset combined their magic and enveloped all of them in a bubble of their magic, and in a flash teleported away.

The seven girls reappeared down below, right where the explosion of light went off. Many people had cleared the area, allowing them to get closer to the scene. There they found the beaten Sirens, their armor scuffed, cracked, and chipped, and clothing burned or tattered. Their eyes were no longer glowing red, but white, their negative energy boost having faded away, however, their ruby gemstones still pulsated with magic.

Adagio glared at Sunset and Twilight with malice as she growled. “This…This is not over! We can still…still fight!”

Sunset snorted in annoyance. “It’s over Adagio, you can’t win against us. We’ve shown you how powerful we are, the magic inside us is stronger than your negative power, Firestorm powers included you stand no chance.”

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata rose up, their legs shaky from the amount of damage they withstood.

“You know nothing, we can’t lose! Trapped her for centuries and watching this world fester, immortal by feeding from what scraps we can find, coming close to death and causing strife just to feed on it. That is not living, that is survival, now we have the means to live and make this world ours in place of a place used to call home that shunned us!”

Aria and Sonata had the same fire in their eyes as Adagio, standing beside her as she vented.

“We’ll take this world, and then return to Equestria, and unleash hell on the kingdom that saw fit to cast us aside!” Adagio declared.

“Oh, so that’s what your grand plan was?”

The Sirens, and even the Rainbooms went silent upon hearing the new voice. It was eventually Rarity who spotted where the voice was coming from, another Firestorm who was hovering in the sky and slowly descending towards them. The Sirens became even more on edge at the sight of this person, taking a cautious step back.

Once the Firestorm was on the ground, he changed into his human form, revealing himself.

“Uh…Twilight…I know you said Shining Armor’s your brother…but is that…?” Rainbow asked, afraid to finish her question.

Twilight stepped forward, changing back to her human form and looking upon the person before her. She knew this person, without ever seeing him, as if her very cells knew it.

“Hello, big sister Twilight.”

“Dusk Shine.”

Author's Note

Whew...okay, the coding...on this thing...was ridiculous...I'm taking a break for a day. How the heck has this story gotten this long?!

Entry 40: RISE of the Storm

The battle for the city’s sanity had been decided, the Rainbooms had defeated the Sirens. Now, all that was left for Sunset and Twilight to do was to remove the Firestorm Protocols from the three Equestrian denizens, however, things were not that simple.

Dusk Shine, the Science Division Director of the Organization, had finally made his appearance before Twilight, his twin older sister. Now that both were standing, just a couple of yards away, it was easy to see the similarities between them. Their eyes, hair, color, the thin yet lean physique, but not everything was the same. There was a look in their eyes, in Twilight’s there was hope, love, and a desire to protect those close to her. While Dusk, all that was in his eyes was cold darkness, a void that threatened to swallow all before it, and now those very same eyes were staring them down.

“Big sister, so good to finally meet you face to face, sorry if our first meeting was through robotic assassins,” said Dusk.

“I wish I could say the feeling is mutual, but it’s not,” replied Twilight.

Dusk feigned hurt. “Oh, your words cut me deep dear sister. But regardless, I assume that the Professor told you about me, what I am?”

Twilight narrowed her gaze and tightened her fists. “You’re a clone of me, one that the Organization rushed into creation, and as a result you’re dying. I can only assume you’ve come for me to correct your genetic defect.”

Dusk Shine smiled and applauded. “Bravo, just as I assumed, you are my intellectual equal…to a degree. Firestorm.” Dusk Shine’s body was engulfed in violet flames, returning to his previous Firestorm form. “You see my original plan, upon discovering your existence, was to capture you both, extract the Matrix, kill that girl, preserve you, and do what you just said earlier. However, I discovered another route thanks to them.”

At this Dusk pointed to the Siren, all three of whom were looking confused by this revelation.

“As well as the two of you.”

He then pointed to Sunset and Twilight.

“When you both fused into that demonic creature, I saw phenomenon that were not the work of just the Firestorm Matrix, no, it was more, this power called ‘magic’! It prolonged their lives, and granted you abilities that pushed my knowing of this world beyond what I thought possible. And then, there was the second Matrix, with the Professor and the Soldier.”

Dusk paced about the street as he spoke, his right hand now brought up and glowing with violet flames. “I know I’m dying, I’ve known for a long time, and I’ve done everything I can think of to prolong my life and escape this fate. I thought I did when I merged with the Protocol, but that only bought me extra time. But when you’re as close to Death’s door like I am, your mind begins to reach out for answers, and sometimes, the answers come from the darkest of places in your mind and soul.”

The flames of Dusk Shine’s right hand began to change color, turning black as night.

“I now know what I need to finish my ultimate Matrix, the power to embrace death and all its power. And it begins…” Dusk Shine then turned his gaze to Adagio. “…With you!”

In a flash, Dusk Shine appeared before a weakened Adagio and thrust his right hand forward. The black flames burned at Adagio’s chest as she screamed in pain. She tried to fight back, but Dusk dug his fingers in deeper into her form’s chest, gripping the ruby gemstone. The gemstone reacted violently, throwing off crimson lightning at the nearby buildings and vehicles, causing destructive explosions that made the others duck to avoid getting hit. Sonata and Aria watched in horror as their alpha continued her screams of pain, but then the unthinkable happened.

Dusk slowly pulled back, the ruby gemstone being torn from her body, hanging on to its original owner by a few strands of crimson light. But it wasn’t enough as with one final tug, Dusk Shine pulled back, rending the ruby from Adagio’s body. The atomic energy of the Protocol flowed from Adagio and into the gemstone, making it glow bright in Dusk Shine’s grip. Everyone assembled just stared in horror, mouths agape at what they just witnessed.

“You linked your Protocol to your magic source? Very impressive, and foolish.” Dusk Shine taunted.

Sonata’s eyes watered with tears, shaking her head as she saw her lover, their alpha, the one who saved her, fall onto her back, now in her human form and without her gemstone, the last thing that reminded them of what they once were, the very source of their longevity.

“How dare you…How dare you…!” Lightning arced from Sonata’s body, her fists bawled up and her flaming hair raged like a wildfire. “HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO DAGI!!!!!!!”

The only thing anyone saw was a streak of lightning dashing for Dusk Shine. The violet Firestorm blinked for one moment and was instantly greeted with the incoming, lightning laced fist of Sonata Dusk. “Oh…that’s unexpected.”

Sonata struck Dusk Shine with the strength thunder itself, sending him flying. The blue Siren shot off after him, appearing as a streak of lightning crackling in the sky as she chased after the man who hurt her lover. Sonata found that very man and delivered an ax kick to his collarbone, the blow sent him into a sharp descent, but he didn’t manage to hit the ground before Sonata met him halfway and drove her knee into his abdomen, sending Dusk Shine to fly up once again.

The blue Siren thrusted her hand forward, atomic rings forming as she created a cage made of lightning to surround Dusk Shine. The cage fired off one lightning bolt after the other, keeping him in the center as he was electrocuted from all sides. Sonata appeared above the cage, atomic rings formed once again as she formed a lightning blade around her forearm, the vengeful girl, with eyes burning red, zoomed towards her enemy and cried out as she drove the blade right through his chest.

“That was for Dagi!” Sonata growled.

“Valiant effort, and a bit unexpected coming from you, I’ll remember not to judge someone’s ferocity by only their seemingly lack of intelligence,” said Dusk.

The cage of lightning disappeared, and so too did the body of Dusk Shine. Sonata looked about, confused as to how that happened. However she did not get the chance to ponder this any further as she was subsequently punched in the gut, making the girl cough up light ichor from her mouth. She blinked her eyes and watched Dusk Shine reappeared before her eyes, as if the world was stripping away a veil and allowing him to be seen.

“A little bending of the light for invisibility, and a bit of matter and energy manipulation to recreate that double, very convincing, no?”

Dusk Shine followed through with the punch and drove it full force into Sonata, sending the quirky Siren sailing across the sky. Dusk Shine took off after her as a trail of fire was left in his wake. Atomic rings formed in his right hand as he transmuted something in the distance.

Right in Sonata’s path, a wall of dense lead formed and hovered in the air. The blue Siren found herself meeting this wall, back first, knocking the air from her lungs and nearly making her lose consciousness. But she would soon be rudely awakened as Dusk Shine caught up with her and reached out once again with his black fire hand.

Sonata screamed as tears ran down her cheeks, feeling her gemstone being ripped from her body. She tried to force his arm away, even releasing a field ultra-charged lightning at him. But nothing would deter Dusk from his plan, and besides, the more he pulled on the gem the less powerful the lightning became. With another swift pull, Dusk Shine removed Sonata’s gemstone as she gave a piercing scream.

The Siren’s body went limp, Dusk Shine released her and let her fall, her Firestorm powers were quickly absorbed by the gemstone, leaving Sonata to return to her civilian form where the impact from a thousand feet in the air would surely kill her.

Sunset couldn’t stand it anymore, the crimson Firestorm pointed her right hand at the falling Sonata, and immediately she was surrounded in an aura of aquamarine light, utterly stopping her descent. Sunset focused her magic yet again and teleported Sonata from where she was in the air, and next to Adagio and Aria.

Aria looked to Sunset in shock, not understanding why she just helped Sonata, but at the same time not really caring since she was safe. But now Dusk Shine had his eyes on her, and Aria was not going to take this lying down. With a fierce battle cry, Aria’s hands flared with atomic rings, taking in the matter around her and creating two chainsaw swords. The blades revved to life and spun around, cutting the air as she twirled them around.

Dusk held both Adagio and Sonata’s gems in his left hand, smiling wickedly at the remaining Siren’s defiance of her fate. “Really, Aria, why don’t you just stand down and let me take your gem, it won’t be as painful if you resist.”

“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to them! I’ll cut off every part of your body and leave your head so you can watch! And when I knock you out of Firestorm form I’ll do it all over again until you DIE!!!” Aria declared.

Dusk sighed heavily, knowing full well that Aria’s stubborn hotheadedness would not be quelled with words, but with action. To his right hand, atomic rings formed, the same black flames extended out and solidified into a sword made of dark plasma.

Aria roared as her eyes shined red, taking off after Dusk Shine and slashing with her chainsaw sword. The two blades clashed, sending sparks flying everywhere as the chain blades grinded against the dark plasma. Aria brought up her left sword and thrusted forward, Dusk Shine parried the blade and blocked the second with the same sword. Aria broke the clash and pressed the attack, slashing wildly at the psycho Firestorm.

Dusk Shine effortlessly blocked each blow, causing one shockwave after the other to ring out through the city from the impact. Dusk flew up into the air to get some breathing room, however, the wind began to churn about, causing a tornado to descend right on top of him. Dusk brought his arms up as he guarded against the cutting wind, feeling it slash at him from every conceivable angle.

Aria burst through the wind wall and slashed at Dusk’s exposed back, the sword and armor screeching as she tried to cleave him in half. Dusk grunted from the impact, and reached back with the same sword to slash her. But Aria was quick, flipping over the violet Firestorm and coming down on him with an X slash across his chest. The attack worked, causing liquid light ichor to flow from the gash.

The purple Siren twirled her blades around and prepared to deliver the killing blow. She flew up for a few feet and then came down, spinning to build momentum for the double slash she had planned to perform. At the last second, before her blades made contact Aria caught a glimpse of the two ruby gemstones right in the path of her blades.

Aria quickly halted her attack, leaving herself wide open. This was something that Dusk Shine took advantage of as he ran the Siren through with his dark plasma sword, causing Aria to lose her concentration and drop the blades. The sword burned inside her, the flames and power it was made of was unlike any dark energy she had felt before, it was not the same atomic energy, it was laced into it, but there was something more.

In that moment of pain, Dusk Shine grabbed Aria’s gemstone. Painful wails echoed through the city along with tears of light fell from her eyes, she couldn’t let this happen, this was the last thing that reminded her of what she her hippocampi sisters once were, not these two legged creatures, but true dwellers of the sea.

None of that mattered to Dusk Shine, he had a mission, and he had come to fulfill it. The sword was then ripped from Aria’s body, and at the same time, her gemstone. Dusk Shine let the girl fall, her wound still fresh and unable to be healed thanks to the loss of both her magic and Firestorm powers. Like before, Sunset caught the grumpy Siren with her magic and teleported her back to her lovers.

The others looked on as Dusk Shine hovered in the sky above Canterlot City. He held the gemstones in his left hand, which were now spiraling around each other. The violet Firestorm waved his hand towards the distance as atomic rings formed around that hand. Something flew towards him, a container. The container, at its center, held within it a Firestorm Protocol, but this one was different. The burning energy at the nucleus was as dark as the abyss, with red atomic rings hovering around it.

“Now it will be complete, that which Professor Bill Neigh could not do, I will! Magic and science, together, and the results shall be unlike anything this world will ever see.”

Dusk Shine took all three gemstones into his left hand thrust them into the dark nucleus of the Firestorm Matrix. The Matrix reacted immediately, screeching with an unholy sound that made all around cringe in fear. The nucleus fed on the residual negative energy that the gemstones had consumed, shattering within it and becoming one with it on an atomic level. Dusk Shine took that very same Dark Matrix and held it in both hands. He then looked down, directly at Twilight and smirked sinisterly.

“No…DUSK SHINE NO –!”

“FIRESTORM!”

Black flames erupted all around Dusk Shine, the sky and earth shook as if trembling in fear of what was created. Blue atomic rings formed around the flames, as if tempering the flames and power within. After a few seconds, the flames were absorbed and the rings vanished. What stood at the center of the flames was no longer just Dusk Shine.

His suit was completely black as night, with silver gauntlets that were claw tipped, silver boots, and sharp pauldrons on his shoulders. White, ethereal glowing lines appeared on his uniform, wrapping around his thighs and rising up to form a six pointed star on his stomach. Where the sun symbol normally was, now was a circle, and within that circle was the symbol of a black upside down triangle with five vertical bars sprouting from it.

This new beings face was no longer human, but that of a decayed skull with a cowl over its head, a corona crown was etched around it, forming the same symbol as on his chest. The creature’s eyes burned blue, with blue flames lapping out the corners, and its hair, a mixture of azure and black flames that bellowed like the fires of hell itself.

“Heh, heh, heh, ahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! YES!!!”

The group had no words for what they were looking upon. This thing was not human, it was like the grim reaper himself had become a Firestorm.

Dusk Shine looked to a nearby building. He pointed his left hand at it, making blue and black atomic rings form. In the next instant, a beam of pure dark energy burst forth and struck the building, annihilating it, the beam continued onward, burning a path of pure destruction. The dark Firestorm seemed caught off guard by the power he was using and angled it up into the sky, where it disappeared and continued on into infinity.

“Whoa now, power output has been greatly increased, I’ll have to be more aware,” Dusk Shine then looked down at his sister and gestured towards himself. “What do you think big sister, I have transcended my death sentence, and have become death itself! No longer a ‘Firestorm’, I am Deathstorm!”

Twilight narrowed her gaze at her “little brother” and spoke aloud. “FIRESTORM!”

Twilight transformed, now standing side by side with her lover. Deathstorm chuckled at this show of defiance, they were not strong enough to stop him. “Oh big sister, you’re funny, allow me a chance to test my new power, will you?”

Deathstorm pointed the same left hand at the group down below. The very same beam of pure destructive power was unleashed upon them, prompting Sunset and Twilight to focus their magical and atomic power. A shield made of both a six pointed star and a yin-yang sun was formed before them. The beam struck the shield and bathed over them like a raging river. Inside the barrier, the girls all fell to the ground, even through the shield they could feel the overwhelming force it generated. Sunset looked behind her, making sure the shield had encompassed the Sirens as well, and it seemed as though Twilight’s portion of the shield did the same.

But after a few seconds, cracks began to form in the shield, letting in the heat of the attack. The effects could already be seen on their friends, even in their pseudo-Firestorm forms, it still wasn’t enough to protecting them against the scorching heat of it all. More cracks began to spider web around the shield, after their battle, their reserves were low, it was only a matter of seconds before they would be vaporized.

However, just before the barrier collapsed, a figure of azure and crimson flames shot forth and landed before them. With one swift motion, the being transmuted a sword and performed a quick-draw slash, pouring his own power into the attack. The countering force made Deathstorm’s beam angle upwards harmlessly into the wild blue yonder.

Deathstorm cancelled his attack and grinned at the appearance of the new guest. “Well, well, well, I wondered when you two would appear, or should I say just you?”

Sunset and Twilight finally caught a glimpse of the figure, relieved to see that it had been Nu who had intervened in the attack. The azure Firestorm looked over his shoulder and grinned confidently. “Nice to see you girls again, and the cuties too.”

Sunset and Twilight rolled their eyes.

“But seriously, we need to get out while we can and regroup,” said Nu. “I honestly don’t think I can take him alone, not with how low on power you two are.”

Sunset teleported to the Sirens, placed her hands on them, and then teleported them closer to the group. “LET’S GO!”

With that signal, Nu twirled his sword around and struck the ground, surrounding the group in azure flames and once the flames died out, they were all gone without a trace. Deathstorm glared at the spot where they once were, but shrugged.

“No matter, plenty of things to do in the meantime. They’ll come to me, no need to rush. However…I do have other business to attend to.”

With that said, Deathstorm vanished, teleporting away in a flash of black light. Leaving the devastated city with a dread that this may very well be the beginning of the end.

Author's Note

Okay, now I'm taking a couple of days off, decided to make it an even 40.

Entry 41: The Calm Before The Storm

Aria Blaze awoke with a start, shooting up to a seated position, but immediately regretted such action when a sharp pain erupted from her abdomen.

“Hey take it easy, you’re wound just closed an hour ago.”

Aria recognized that voice, she looked towards her right and saw Sunset Shimmer, sitting on a chair and watching her. Anger boiled in her heart, remembering their defeat by her and the teeny bopper girl rock band wannabes. “It’s your fault! If it wasn’t for you we –!”

“Shh,” said Sunset as she brought her finger to her lips.

“Did you just shush me? Seriously?! I’ll –!”

“SHH!” Sunset gave a serious look and then used the same finger to point to something on the other side of Aria.

The perturbed Siren glanced in that direction, and saw that Adagio and Sonata were lying next to her, both sleeping. Aria’s eyes widened, she carefully reached out to them but stayed her hand.

“How…How are they?” Aria asked.

Sunset rose from her seat and stood at Aria’s bedside. “They’re alive, exhausted and beaten, but they’ll live. We were more worried about you though, since you were stabbed in the gut before being forced to change back. Thankfully, whatever magic you still have was working to heal you, and it worked faster with all three of you in the same room, so we shacked you guys up in here.”

Aria took a moment to look around, it was a spacious room now that she took the time to take in her surroundings, and the bed was quite large, enough to accommodate all three of them. Space wasn’t that much of an issue for them, they liked being close to each other.

“Where are we?” Aria asked, her eyes never leaving her lovers.

“We’re in Twilight’s house, in the spare bedroom. We kind of had to transmute the bed so that it could hold all three of you,” said Sunset.

“What, you want me to thank you or something?”

“No, really wasn’t expecting one.”

Aria scoffed, her gaze now redirected at Sunset, narrowed in anger. “Yeah, and you never will! You took our powers away! You could’ve been one of us! Adagio would’ve treated you and that nerd right! But instead you did all that to us, and because of it, Dusk Shine took our gemstones! The one thing that made us who we are, the only reminder of what we once were, are now gone and crushed! They’re a part of that darkness he created! Part of us is part of that darkness now, thanks to you all!”

The purple Siren rose up from her seated position and grabbed Sunset by the collar bringing their faces close together as she glared at her. “Why did you even save us?! We might as well be dead now! Without our gems, we’re no different than these humans! Our voices, our singing, is gone forever, and now we’ll die without them!”

Sunset wanted to push Aria away, but it wasn’t just anger in her eyes. Her fists were trembling, and she was crying, Sunset recognized this despair. In a shocking move, Sunset brought the Siren close to her, hugging her. Aria’s breath hitched, not knowing what to do or how to react to this.

“I know what you’re going through, believe me, I know. When I came here, I lost everything that made me who I am. I lost my pride as a unicorn, my horn and magic, and even worse than that, I lost my cutie mark,” said Sunset.

Aria sniffed. “Big deal, you lost your butt tattoo…”

“It’s more than that, it’s a symbol of our destiny, what and who we are, it defines us, and what we did to realize our purpose in this life! Losing that…losing that is like having your soul ripped out, be at least thankful that you kept something as precious as that for centuries,” said Sunset.

“Says the girl who got her magic back…”

Sunset rolled her eyes, she figured there was no winning with Aria, but despite this, the purple Siren never pushed her away. After a minute longer, Aria pulled away, gently, and stared ahead for a moment. “So, why did you save us? We were willing to kill everyone in the city, and even do some…things with you and the nerd for going against us so…why?!”

The former unicorn rubbed the back of her head as she thought on the answer. “Honestly, it’s what Adagio said to me. How I’m like her, and the rest of you. So if that’s true, then there’s hope for you guys, you all have and love each other, I saw that love when I was having breakfast with you guys.”

Aria managed to crack a smile. “Dagi always said that eating at the table was something that she missed back in the 1940s, she said that society pretty much plummeted after that, so she kept it with us. Same thing about the no fighting during meals, especially when Sonata goes through the trouble of making it.”

Sunset nodded to that, the quirky blue Siren was a great chef.

“I can’t really see taking us in went over well with your girlfriend and your crew, surprised they didn’t shackle us to the bed,” said Aria.

Sunset crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked. “Why, you have some kinky fantasy you were hoping to fulfill? ‘Cause that can be arranged.”

Aria suddenly hugged her body and glared at Sunset. “I swear if you guys even think about trying anything with them or me – powers or no – I will rip you apart!”

Sunset chuckled and put up her hand in a stopping motion. “Chill, Aria, no one here is going to hurt you, not after what you guys just endured from Dusk Shine.”

Aria gritted her teeth at the mention of his name. “So, what’s he doing now? Do you guys have a plan?”

“Right now we’re all just taking some time to recover, we still don’t know his endgame yet, but we’ll see. Get some rest, I’ll see if I can get something for you to eat.”

Aria laid back down, but refused to close her eyes. “I’m going to watch them, so you don’t have to sit there in the corner like a creeper.”

Sunset rolled her eyes again, but smiled and nodded before getting up and exiting the room. When she closed the door, Sunset saw that Twilight was in full Firestorm form, apparently ready to jump in and defend Sunset at a moment’s notice.

“You can power down, Sparky, they’re still too weak to do anything right now,” said Sunset.

Twilight nodded and returned to her normal form. “Sorry…I just…I came close to losing you yesterday, I don’t want to take any chances, with them at least.”

Sunset reached out and brought Twilight into a hug, nuzzling the purple girl’s left cheek with her right. “Trust me, Twilight, I’ll never leave you like that. As long as we fight together, we can win.”

Twilight blushed from the contact, still finding this nuzzling business a little awkward, but something she could grow to enjoy, she couldn’t deny Sunset something that reminded her of her pony side, and truth be told Twilight liked how soft Sunset’s skin was.

Sunset pulled away and sighed. “So, can we look forward to another intense interrogation from your parents?”

Twilight face palmed. “Yes…although, you may not like who else will be joining in on that.”

The fiery haired girl gulped. “Celestia…?”

Twilight nodded.

“Oh ponyfeathers…”

Dusk Shine sat on the porch of a quaint farmhouse, it was two story, with a veranda, and kept up quite nicely. Sitting across the table from Dusk was an older woman, her hands were quite shaky. Her long red hair was undone from its normal style, she was also adorned in her bath robe, and some silk pajama pants.

“You have a very lovely orchard, Ms. Jubilee,” said Dusk Shine.

“W-Why thank you kindly, Dusk,” replied Cherry Jubilee.

“Oh come now, what happened to ‘Dusky’? I had grown rather fond of it.” Dusk took a drink of the cherry juice he had been offered by his gracious host, savoring it as he sighed in content. “My, that is tasty. But honestly, though, who would’ve thought that Cherry Jubilee, the very woman whose name is associated with companies the world ‘round, is synonymous with human trafficking and weapons smuggling.”

Jubilee took a sip of her own drink, her hands still shaky even as she brought the cup to her lips. “W-Well Ah wouldn’t say I’m that big a deal…Dusky.”

Dusk Shine wagged his finger before the scarlet haired woman. “Oh no my dear, how else would the Organization have had enough test subjects, and besides who would ever think a humble cherry farming corporation could ever be behind such heinous crimes?! It’s pure genius I must say! Although, when you grow up in as abusive a home as you did, you have to be, don’t you?”

Cherry Jubilee’s hands stopped shaking, and now she set her narrowed gaze on former Science Director. “Oh Dusky, whatever could you mean?”

Dusk Shine lifted an eyebrow, noticing the reaction he had gotten from Cherry Jubilee. “Oh just that there were some notable police reports about a young girl from a respected farming family, who incurred some physical abuse from her father, and two older brothers. A little sister who was practically the - pardon the expression - apple of her parent’s eyes, and a mother who had no qualms with emotional abuse.”

There was a distinct sound of glass threatening to break. “Now, now, not every family is perfect, but I loved my kin.”

“Oh yes, no doubt, I’m sure your dear papa and brothers showed you that love for quite some time did they not?” Dusk remarked. “Then again, we won’t know since they all died. A fire, all on this very land that you built your new house on.”

Jubilee stood straight up, slamming her hands on the table. “What are you accusin’ me of?! Ah would never do such a thing!”

“Oh no, you did something far worse. As I learned, you systematically killed each of your family members. I believe you strangled your little sister, and watched as the life drained from her and as she begged for mercy.” A black flame flickered on Dusk’s finger tip, creating a silhouette of a young girl. “Then there was your brothers, luring one to away and practically castrating him. But then you came and slashed the last one’s throat before he even knew what happened.”

Dusk raised two more fingers, both showing the silhouettes of two young men.

“And just for kicks, you took your father’s shotgun and pointed it at his head. Luckily for you that your parents were in the same bed, because with one perfect shot, you killed them both. But you were a crafty little thing weren’t you, knowing that they’d find you as the main suspect. So what do you do? You burn the entire thing down. In this remote area, at the time, it took hours for the firemen and police to get here, and by that time, any evidence to the contrary was gone. Bodies too badly burned to determine any other cause of death.”

At this, Dusk Shine raised his last two fingers, showing an older man and woman. Cherry Jubilee became enraged, but had perfected the art of keeping a stoic expression through it all. “So, are ya here to bribe me or somethin’ Dusky? ‘Cause you know how deep the influence of the Organization goes, right?” Jubilee then got in close. “So now tell me, exactly who told ya?”

Dusk Shine snuffed out the flames on his fingers and took another sip of his drink. “I can’t reveal my sources yet.”

“Pitty, Dusky, Ah was plannin’ on buryin’ ya with some company.”

Suddenly, a gunshot went off in the distance and before Dusk Shine knew it he was thrown back by the sheer power and force of the impact as the bullet found its home right in his heart. The body flew off the chair and impacted against the wall, with crimson blood painting the otherwise eggshell white wall.

Cherry Jubilee touched the earring on her left lobe and began speaking, “Good work there boys, cuttin’ it a little close but otherwise nice shootin’. Ah need to have a little chat with -”

“Well that was otherwise unpleasant.”

Jubilee turned to where Dusk Shine’s body had slumped, but realized quickly that he was standing as blue and black atomic rings oscillated around his body.

“Is this really how you treat your guests, Ms. Jubilee? What about southern hospitality? Or is shooting someone with a sniper rifle a part of it?” Dusk Shine strode to the edge of the porch and began sensing malice and killing intent coming towards them. “FIRESTORM.”

In a flash of black and blue flames, Dusk Shine transformed into Deathstorm, now more clearly able to see the life signs of the bodyguards for Cherry Jubilee. The Embodiment of Death glanced to Jubilee, who was now on the floor, cowering at the sight of Deathstorm. Dusk gave a toothy, sinister smile as he looked out towards the cherry trees and the men and women with guns hiding behind them.

Deathstorm stepped off the porch and knelt to the ground. He then placed his right hand to the dirt and immediately a wave of darkness pulsed through the earth. The trees around area began an accelerated rate of decay, to the point that they turned black, festering and bubbling until…A scream could be heard as a loud pop sound went off, the bodyguards watched as one of the trees popped like a bubble and released an inky, black sludge that coated a nearby man. The sludge hissed at his skin, eating away at his flesh and bone, but worse than this, the sludge actually began to creep up its victim’s body, searching for any orifice, any opening to get inside and continue its decaying of the healthy subject.

Several more pops went off and more screaming sounded, Deathstorm could sense the sniper further away from his decay bombs, so he had something special for him. Deathstorm raised his hand, atomic rings formed as matter was pulled before him, transmuted into a black metal sniper bullet. Deathstorm then made a gesture as if his hand was a gun. He then pointed it at the bullet and spoke one word, “Bang.”

The bullet fired off, sailing through the air as it eventually found its mark, passing through the sniper scope and exploding, engulfing the area in pitch black flames. Deathstorm turned to Jubilee, who now stared at him in fear at the sight of what he had become, and even more so power he now wielded.

“Amazing, isn’t it? The power of death unleashed, it’s allowed me to do a lot of things. For instance, allowing the dead to speak to me. They whispered in my ear, Jubilee, and they told me all the naughty things you did, and what they did to you.”

Jubilee’s eyes went wider with horror as she watched Deathstorm approach her. “D-Dusky, please, Ah’m sorry Ah had them do that! You were scarin’ the dickens out of me and then you…if you’re lookin’ to take control of the Organization then I’ll back ya, one-hundred percent!”

Deathstorm wagged his finger in disappointment. “No, I have gotten all I needed from the Organization. I just thought I’d get some things done on my wishlist before the main finale. For instance, getting rid of you - Charity - ironic name. And The Mastermind, as he so likes to call himself, will be next. But as you said, I won’t let you die without some company.”

Five columns of black flames appeared before Cherry Jubilee, and in a matter of seconds, those black flames became construct recreations of her dead family. Their eyes were burning white, with some of the details of their forms outlined in gray. Cherry Jubilee shook her head as she looked upon each of her long since dead family members. The two brother constructs rushed to her grabbing Jubilee by the arms and forcing her to the ground, their grip burned at her flesh, making her scream in pain.

The mother and father constructs held down her legs, effectively pinning her to the floor. Jubilee’s breath hitched as she saw the little sister construct crawl towards her, and sit on her stomach. The burning pain came back again, but was replaced with something else once the construct reached out and grabbed Jubilee by the throat and began squeezing. It was tight, enough to cause a great amount of pain but not enough to kill. Deathstorm walked over and squatted down to look Jubilee in the eye.

“Oh don’t look at me like that, you should be happy, I’m reuniting you with your family. Get used to this Ms. Jubilee, I imagine my flames will be a cool winter breeze compared to where you’re going, and I’m sure your real family won’t be as kind when they see you.”

Deathstorm rose from his squat and began walking off the porch, as he did, the black flame constructs exploded, setting the entire area ablaze in black flames, the rot and decay continued to spread out until it encompassed all of the estate and farmland, the black flames then washed over it all after, making the land barren, infertile, practically unsuitable for anything to live in or on the ground. Deathstorm watched all this from his perch in the sky, already planning his move to kill The Mastermind.

CANTERLOT CITY…

While Twilight was getting her own third degree from her parents, however, Sunset was getting it from Celestia, but she wasn’t alone. Oh no, both Celestia and Luna were there, so the scolding was doubled. At the end of the whole explanation, both sisters were massaging their temples as they tried to process all this info she had laid out to them. Being a secret superhero, magic, life or death battles to protect people, and if that wasn’t enough, since she was already six feet under, Sunset went ahead and explained that she was in fact not a human, but a unicorn from another world who ran away from her original home world.

“Okay…Okay, so, this explains a few things. Why there aren’t any records of you in any archive in the city. Why you looked like you were so lost when it came to normal everyday stuff, especially with having to use the bathroom!” Celestia stated.

Sunset blushed, remembering the mishaps she had had while trying to figure out how relieve herself in her new body.

Luna then hummed as she thought about it more. “That also explains why you seemed so fascinated with your breasts, you would continuously stare at them, as well as Tia’s and my own. I personally thought you were some kind of deviant, but I guess breasts would be strange for a pony.”

Sunset’s face was even more crimson than earlier. “I-I-It’s not that we don’t have them! It’s just that they aren’t normally as big as…well…these, and they weren’t exactly on my chest.”

Luna quirked an eyebrow at that. “Then where would they normally be?”

“Google it, that’s as far as I’m discussing this,” said Sunset.

“So…Um…Sunset, I have to be honest, the pony thing, I can somehow grasp my head around. But to know that you’ve been fighting those horrible people, against this ‘Organization’! You could’ve been killed and neither of us would have ever known about it! Do have any idea how I worry about you, Sunset?!” Celestia exclaimed as she stood to her full, intimidating, height.

Celestia began pacing back and forth, Sunset knew this would happen if - and that’s a big IF - she ever told this Celestia about her true origins, but she never counted on adding in the whole Firestorm thing into the mix, which more or less made this all the harder to tell.

“Well…now I understand why you were always defensive and abrasive with me. This other me, you hated her,” said Celestia.

Sunset stood up and shook her head. “NO! I mean…it’s complicated…I knew you weren’t the same, but you do have some similarities that made it hard for me to keep the two separated in my head…which is why I was mostly acting like a bitch towards you.”

Luna rose up from the couch and walked to Sunset Shimmer, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry Sunset, my sister often used to vex me to the point of bitchiness, still does actually. So it seems that’s a trait that crosses dimensions, that’s quite sad, Tia.”

At this, the older woman blushed and then furrowed her brow. “Thank you for your support, Luna.”

“I do what I can.”

Sunset looked to the younger sister and said, “You seem to be taking this probably too well, Vice Prin –”

“Just Luna, Sunset, it’ll get be a mouthful if that’s our normal greeting every time,” interrupted Luna.

“Oh, sorry, um, Luna. You seem to be taking this – like I said – a little too well.”

Luna shrugged. “I realized long ago that there are just some things about this world that will always baffle us, some are confusing, wondrous, and sometimes frightening. Forces that try to destroy the world and others that try to protect it, either way, it is foolhardy to think that everything has a rational explanation, because if you’re not flexible in accepting something completely out there, then you can accept what’s to come from it.”

Luna looked back at Sunset.

“When Tia first told me she was going to be guardian to you, a girl who appeared out of nowhere and had no information in any records in the city or otherwise, I was completely against it. What would happen to us? What would people say about taking care of some girl who practically didn’t exist. And then there was all the trouble you caused at school.”

Sunset winced at that, but stood firm nonetheless, it was always going to stick with her, her past, her misdeeds, and of course it would sting every time someone brought it up. However, she had moved past it, she was a better person now. Sunset just had to keep reminding herself of that.

“However, I am not blind. I have seen a difference in you, although part of me didn’t want to believe it seeing as how much trouble you caused, but now……” Luna sighed and swiftly brought Sunset into a hug, surprising the former unicorn. “I must apologize to you, you have done so much to protect everyone, lost in a world that is not your own. I can only imagine how hard it was for you.”

Sunset didn’t know what to say, but honestly she had no words, she hugged Luna back, finding comfort in her arms. It wasn’t long before Celestia joined in on the hug. It was definitely strange, Sunset didn’t know if her mother and father were still alive on the other side of the portal, heck, for all she knew they got a divorce or had another foal. But, right now, that same love they had for her, she felt it from these two women, one whom she already saw as a mother figure, and another whom – and would deny if asked – she respected.

“So…does this mean you two are, like, my moms now?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

Both women blushed at being called “mom”, especially since it also implicated their own…less than normal romantic relationship.

“Well if that’s how it is, you definitely get that sass and smart-alecky attitude from her,” said Celestia.

Luna shook her head. “Oh please, Tia, you were just as much a wild child as I was growing up!”

“Oh boy. Do you two need the room? I can step out for a minute?” Sunset suggested with a wiggle of her brow.

Luna blushed. “Oh no, now I know she’s mostly yours! That deviant, predatory look in her eyes says it all.”

A moment passed in silence as Celestia seemed to contemplate that accusation. “Hmm, eh, guilty as charged there.”

Luna rolled her eyes and Sunset chuckled. “Think you mind having a pervert for a mother, Sunset?”

“I am not a –!”

“Hey, I’m not judging, you don’t even want to know the stuff Sparky I got into after the Spring Fling.”

If for nothing else, Sunset had found a weird family on this side of the portal, and it was one that she would not trade for anything.

[Twilight, the veterinarian said that Spike will be okay! Like I thought, it was just some bruised ribs, but for now they’re keeping him here for observation overnight.]

“Thank you, Fluttershy, I really wish I could’ve gone with you,” said Twilight in disappointment.

[Don’t worry, Spike understands, and so do I. Besides, it’s probably better that both of you are there since the Sirens are too. I’ll see you later Twilight.]

“Alright, and again, thank you Fluttershy.”

With that Twilight ended the call, sighing in relief that Spike was going to be okay. After some of the craziness died down, Twilight and Sunset explained the course of events that took place the day before yesterday and all day yesterday. Velvet had tears in her eyes when she learned what she almost did to Twilight, and had done to Spike. Despite the fact that she was mind controlled, it didn’t make the fact that she did do that any less bad. The same held true for Night Light, after hearing that he nearly assaulted Sunset Shimmer in their home.

After much counseling and explanation by both girls, and the rest of the group, Velvet and Night Light were able to get a better grasp of the situation, of course that led into another interrogation in regards to, well, everything.

Twilight knew she’d eventually have to tell them about her true origins. Shining Armor had told them that she was rescued while one of his missions, which wasn’t a total lie, and thanks to Shining Armor’s job as a special ops agent, he was sworn to secrecy, national security and all that.

However, after all this, it was time to know. So, she told them everything, what she was made to do, what Shining Armor did to liberate her, the man who was her first father, the reason why she was as smart as she was. Not to mention the Firestorm business and the Organization influence in the world. All this was told while Nu stood in the back, arms crossed as she watched all this unfold.

After an hour and a half of explaining it all, Velvet and Night Light slumped on the couch looking a bit bewildered. After a minute passed they glanced towards Nu.

“So…Shining Armor is you, but you’re not him, you’re yourself?” Night Light asked.

“Yep, I’m my own being, he’s inside me, and so is the Professor, but they’re alright,” said Nu.

“I…I understand what Twilight’s told us about you, and what you are. But…please…can you let us see our son for a little bit?” Velvet asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

Nu smiled and then sighed. “Can’t say no to a pretty lady, but only for a bit.”

Nu’s body erupted into blue and red flames, the flames then separated becoming two entities, the first was Professor Bill Neigh, who adjusted his glasses and gave a slight bow to both parents. The other flame at last revealed Shining Armor, still clad in his combat gear.

Velvet and Night Light’s eyes were crying tears of joy as they sprang from their seats and rushed towards their son. Both mother and father held onto Shining Armor, hugging him fiercely as they cried, happy to see their son back.

Twilight stood up and walked to Professor Neigh. The old man smiled and ruffled his former ward’s hair. It was then that Twilight noticed that both Velvet and Night Light were motioning for her to join them.

Twilight looked to the Professor, who then stated, “Go, join your family my little one.”

The genius girl smiled and hugged her mentor and father figure. She then went over to her other father, mother, and big brother, joining in on the family hug. Tears were shed, but tears of joy, for the family had been reunited once again.

MEANWHILE…

Several explosions went off as wave upon wave of soldiers fired their weapons at Deathstorm, all of which harmlessly exploded around him, having formed a barrier of dense gravitons. The Embodiment of Death fired off black fire atomic beams that devastated the area, turning even the ashes into nothingness.

Dusk Shine had gone on a worldwide rampage against the Organization, taking out repressed rage and anger over how he was made out on every single person he came across. Every scientist, every soldier, maintenance worker, no one was spared his wrath.

He was also searching for The Mastermind, the last of the Big Three who ruled and controlled the Organization. He was eventually able to find The Mastermind’s little hideaway in the Himalayan mountains.

So Dusk Shine decided to attack the proverbial anthill. As expected, his entrance was met with resistance, but it was fun watching them attack in futility, believing that they could possibly even hurt him. How funny.

Deathstorm raised his right hand, pointed it at the many soldiers and vehicles that were littered before him. With a snap of his fingers, several orbs of black fire appeared in front of each of them and in that same moment exploded. A cacophony of explosions rang out through the mountain, shaking it violently to the point that one thought it would fall apart. But that was of little concern to him.

The Embodiment of Death appeared before a couple of large metal doors. They were reinforced titanium, ten feet thick, and laced with a defensive barrier, all and all it was meant to keep anything and everyone out, and the person inside absolutely safe.

Deathstorm shrugged and placed his hands on the door. Atomic rings formed and immediately the door began to groan and moan, within seconds the bright silvery color of the metal door began to turn orange and brown. Deathstorm had begun the process of rusting, a process which would take many years for this kind of metal, now taking place in a matter of nanoseconds. The door began to wither away, becoming dust particles as every bit of it rusted into nothing. The barrier wall was after that, but again, nothing he couldn’t handle.

Dusk Shine transmuted a black fire plasma sword, charging the particles of energy with the opposite charge of the barrier. With a swift slash, the wall of energy parted the contrasting energies eventually made the entire wall disperse, allowing Dusk Shine to waltz right into the, rather large and spacious room.

There wasn’t much light inside, save for the light he generated. A large machine was built at the other end of the wall. It looked as if it were a giant ring, suddenly, the ring activated, lights flickered on around it, illuminating what appeared to be runic markings on it.

The center of the ring exploded out, releasing distorted graviton and light particles that resembled water. However, after a moment the explosion became an implosion as the distorted space was sucked back, and at the center, now was a tunnel.

“Not possible…that’s –!”

“A dimensional gateway.”

Dusk Shine turned his head towards the new feminine voice. A red flame could be seen walking from behind the gateway, eyes burning red as the figure stepped into the light of the tunnel. Dusk Shine had to squint his eyes to even see who it was, but there was no doubt it was a Firestorm, and definitely a female if the hourglass silhouette was any indication.

“So, has The Mastermind fled, and has he left you to try and stop me?” Dusk Shine asked.

The red Firestorm released a hearty, if somewhat maniacal, laugh at the suggestion. “Oh Dusk Shine, you’re looking at her. I am ‘The Mastermind’ behind the Organization, it was a little thing, but it appears it’s run its course. I’ve gotten all I need from the advancement of the Firestorm Protocols in this world.”

Dusk Shine raised his brow at those words. “What do you ‘this world’? Who are you?!”

The red flames of the Firestorm burned brighter, illuminating her features a bit more. Dusk’s eyes grew wider as he saw that the female Firestorm had a skull face the same as his, but her outfit was black and red, however, the symbol on her chest was notoriously kept hidden by scarlet red flames.

“Dusk Shine, you naughty boy, staring at a woman’s chest is considered quite rude, you know,” said the red Firestorm.

“Who…what are you?! Why do look similar to me?!” Dusk Shine demanded.

“Isn’t obvious, Deathstorm. I’m Deathstorm!”

Dusk Shine growled, he then pointed his right hand at the imposter and fired a beam of black and blue atomic flames at her. At the same time, the doppelganger pointed her right hand towards Dusk Shine, unleashing a torrent of black and scarlet flames at his beam.

The two beams clashed at the center of the room, causing a shockwave to erupt in all directions, shaking the very mountain. Dusk Shine poured more of his power into the attack, making the beam grow in size, however, the other Deathstorm smirked and in less than a second, the beam quadrupled in size, washing over Dusk Shine’s flames like they were nothing. An explosion erupted from the center, throwing Dusk Shine some feet out of the room, but a quick burst of gravity energy allowed him to slow his flight and allowed him to correct himself in midair.

Dusk Shine flew through the smoke that was kicked up and found that the other Deathstorm was shaking her head. “You do have potential, but you’re still lacking in some areas. But then again you just got your powers, so I can’t really blame you for not having accessed everything.”

“You’re obviously skilled, but how is it possible that you are like me?” Dusk Shine asked, deciding to interrogate rather than fight.

“Dusk Shine, there are other worlds out there, ones that diverge and split into different scenarios, some were good triumphs, and some were evil just reigns supreme. However, good always seems to want to win over everything, so annoying.”

Suddenly, a rumble came from the other end of the tunnel of light, making the other Deathstorm glance in its direction.

“Guess I’ve worn out my welcome. Good luck Dusk Shine, I kinda hope you survive, would be nice to have another Deathstorm in the crew, especially an adorkable one like you.”

With that said, the other Deathstorm walked through the tunnel of light, closing behind her and then finally collapsing. Dusk Shine walked up to the machine, it was definitely unique, its properties a mixture of science and magic.

A million questions ran through Dusk Shine’s head, another Deathstorm, a female, who was the head of the entire Organization, the main one of the Big Three.

“Other worlds…?” Deathstorm looked over the contraption, a thought popping into his head. The darkness within him stirred, speaking to him, telling him how to make his idea reality. “Yes…there are other worlds aren’t there? It’s time to see them, all of them!”

ELSEWHERE…

Twilight and Sunset were laying sprawled out on Twilight’s bed, exhausted from the entire day and yesterday. After all the explanations, and emotional rollercoasters, it was all out there in the open. Their parents and proverbial guardians knew about their secret superhero double life, and the magic, and the fact that Sunset was from another world filled with sapient ponies.

“We live a weird life, huh Sparky?” Sunset asked.

“Definitely…” Twilight glanced to her girlfriend. “Would you change anything?”

Sunset chuckled. “As weird as it sounds, no. I guess…I guess we needed this to happen, it’s allowed us to see the real us, in each other. I don’t ever want to become the kind of evil the Organization, or Dusk Shine are. And, without it, I wouldn’t have realized how much I…how much I love you.”

Twilight smiled and gently took Sunset’s hand into her own. “Weird comes with the territory, it’s the same for me. I don’t think I would’ve explored this part of myself, of my emotions, without you and all this craziness.”

Both girls scooted a little closer together, with Twilight resting her head on Sunset’s shoulder, and Sunset wrapping an arm around her lover. They closed their eyes for a moment, enjoying the peace of the moment, and the others presence.

“Sunset?”

“Hmm?”

“I…I may be getting ahead of myself…maybe too far ahead…but, do you…would you ever consider…in the future, being with me?” Twilight asked.

Sunset chuckled. “Sparky, if you’re asking me to marry you, then just say it you dork.”

Twilight’s face became crimson red as she buried her face in Sunset’s shoulder. “I-I-It’s not…I mean…I know that’s a lot to ask, but maybe we can try cohabitation? Living together in the same place…?”

The former unicorn hummed as she thought that over. “So, you want to shack up with me? You do realize that I’m a directionless, undocumented extraterrestrial pony girl from another world. No records exist of me, and I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

As she said this, Twilight could feel Sunset’s grip tighten on her shoulder. “Sunset…?”

The former bad girl sighed. “I never…I never had any kind of contingency plan if my original plan failed, I was so dead set on going to Equestria, grabbing the crown, and forming my army. In fact, the only other fallback plan for me was to just go back to Equestria and either live my life as a drifter or plead for forgiveness from Princess Celestia when the portal opened again. Now I want to stay here, with you, and I have no idea what I can do for you…I’d just be a waste of space.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed as she brought a hand to Sunset’s face, making her turn to face the purple girl. “Listen to me, you’re practically as smart as I am, you’re tough, and you’re a hero. I don’t need you to be something big and important, I fell in love with Sunset Shimmer, all of you. Not just your brains, brawn, or that annoying perverted side of you.”

“Awww, I thought you liked my pervy side?” Sunset asked.

“Not when it comes out at inappropriate times!” Twilight argued, recounting in her mind the number of times it had. “The point is…we’ll find something, heck, you can even be my partner in all my future science endeavors!”

“I don’t know Sparky, you have a real shot at Ivy League stuff, my grades are good but not good enough to get me there,” said Sunset.

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’ve just been lazy about it, you can match mine if you actually tried, unless of course you don’t think you can match wits with me?” Twilight asked in a smart-alecky tone.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Are you seriously trying to say that I can’t be beat you academically?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Oh that’s it!” Sunset rolled onto Twilight, causing the genius girl to yelp in surprise as Sunset mounted her, staring at her with sultry, narrowed eyes. “I’m going to make you take that back.”

Twilight gulped, knowing that she just issued a challenge that she wasn’t prepared to back up at that moment. Sunset reached down and began to pull at the hem of Twilight’s blouse, going all the way up until she exposed –

“SUNSET, TWILIGHT YOU NEED TO COME THERE’S – Oh…”

Both girls turned their heads and saw Shining Armor in the doorway, Sunset and Twilight blinked, and Shining Armor blinked twice. Their brains were working to process the information before anyone spoke.

“Um…Uh…I…you two are…um…okay…s-should I come back later…or…?”

Twilight’s face was blazing red as she yelled at the top of her lungs. “SHINING FRANCIS ARMOR, GET OUT OF MY ROOM NOW!!!”

Shining quickly retreated out of the room, saying “sorry” repeatedly as he did so. Sunset looked down to Twilight who was embarrassed as all hell. She then smirked. “You know, I don’t mind your brother watching.”

“See, that right there, that’s exactly what I was talking about!”

After that initial embarrassment, Sunset and Twilight managed to get downstairs to see what was so urgent. Celestia, Luna, Velvet, Night Light, Professor Neigh, and Shining Armor had gathered in the living room, eyes glued to the screen as they watched something intently. Both girls got around the adults and watched as the TV displayed their enemy.

[Hello, citizens of the world. I am Deathstorm, the harbinger of the end of times. I was a being that was created to be used for nefarious purposes, and to which I have done many a terrible deed across this world. But even then, I was cursed with limited time, and now I have curbed fate and embraced the power that is Death itself!]

The camera panned out further and further away, and once it was far enough, everyone in the room gasped. It was a giant ring, etched with runic markings and floating high in the sky, each rune was glowing as it drew in energy from some unknown source, groaning as each individual piece moved into its designated position.

[Witness the instrument of your destruction, and my salvation. In twenty-four hours, this ring will be fully aligned, and once it is, it will start an energy vacuum that will drain all energy sources from the face of the Earth, even life itself.]

“He…He can’t do that, right, he seriously can’t do something like that, right?!” Luna asked.

“Unfortunately, with the power he has, he can,” said Sunset with dread.

[However, in that twenty-four time span, I invite those individuals with the power to try and stop me. I would use this time to go out and do all the things you could never do, or say your last goodbyes, come noon tomorrow, the world ends. See you soon.]

With that, the signal cut out and what was left the original news station, which was already scrambling to make sense of what they had just heard.

Sunset and Twilight sat down on the couch, taking in this information and coming to a unified conclusion.

“We’re ending this,” said Sunset.

“At dawn, we’ll head out,” added Twilight.

The respective parents and guardians of the girls stared at them in disbelief.

“Twilight Sparkle, you are not seriously considering going to fight that…that…monster?!” Night Light asked.

“I am,” said Twilight.

“Sunset…that thing, you both said you couldn’t beat him!” Celestia added.

“We used up a lot of our magic and power when we fought those girls upstairs, so we were pretty drained by the time he showed up. If we rest a little more we should be able to beat him,” said Sunset.

“No you cannot,” said Professor Neigh, causing the others to look at him in shock.

“Not without some backup. If there’s even a chance to beat Deathstorm, it’ll be with the four of us working together,” said Shining Armor.

Velvet was pacing the room, along with Night Light. The fact that they had just gotten their whole family back, and now their daughter and son were going to head out to do battle with some Skeletor wannabe?

“Mr. Light and Mrs. Velvet, I understand your hesitance in condoning this, speaking as someone who helped raised Twilight, I understand the feelings of a parent well. However, we cannot let those fears outweigh the facts, and the facts are thus. Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Nu are probably the only beings on this planet who even stand a chance of defeating Dusk Shine. Military forces will try and fight him, but it will be an exercise in futility. Lives will be lost unless we act. That goes also for you as well, Ms. Celestia and Ms. Luna.”

The adults looked to the two girls, they had already tuned them out and were intently watching the news as the world nations were already declaring this and that, planning armed responses to Deathstorm’s threat. As much as they did not want to admit it, the Professor was right, the only ones with the power to stop Deathstorm the four people assembled in room.

HOURS LATER

Sunset made a trip up to the Sirens’ room, she knocked gently at the door, waiting for Aria to usher her in. However, the voice that called out was not Aria’s, but someone else.

“Come in.”

Sunset opened the door and saw as Adagio Dazzle sat up in the bed, the TV in their room was on mute as she watched the former unicorn walk in, closing the door behind her. Sonata and Aria were curled up next to Adagio, sleeping peacefully and with happy grins on their faces. Sunset had carried with her a tray of food that Mrs. Velvet had made, setting it on the chair as she got closer to the bed.

“Aria told me what you two discussed, and I see that Dusk Shine is wasting little time in using that newfound power of his,” said Adagio. “I assume you’re both going to fight him.”

Sunset nodded.

“Hmm…”

Sunset sat on the edge of the bed looking at Adagio, there was a lackluster tone in her voice, she sounded depressed, and hurt. “Adagio…I’m sorry for what he did to you and the girls, you didn’t deserve that.”

Adagio chuckled a little. “You were going to remove the Protocols from our bodies, I don’t see why you would’ve allowed us to keep our gems considering what we could do with them without Firestorm powers.”

Sunset clenched some of the covers in her hands, Adagio had a point, considering how dangerous they were with just the gemstones, there was no way they could allow them to keep them. They’d either have to shatter them or lock them away so the Sirens would never be able to use them.

“Don’t overthink it Sunny, one way or the other, our gems would’ve been taken away from us. This was the end result one way or the other,” said Adagio forlornly.

“So that’s it? You’re giving up?” Sunset asked.

“What else is there? We’re just as mortal as you are now. Our voices are gone…I…I can’t even sing to them…I would often sing to Aria and Sonata as they slept…and now I can’t even do that…all I can do is be here.”

Sunset couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart, even though they were evil, they were still in love with each other, and cared about the other. At the end of the day, Adagio was still looking out for her lovers, and now, for the first time in their immortal lives, she felt powerless.

“You don’t get to be like that, Dazzle. Those two will need you more than ever now!” Sunset shot back.

Adagio chuckled at that. “Shimmer, I don’t need advice from a brat like you. I’ve been alive far longer than you, and have done things with these two that you and that little nerd can only dream of.”

Sunset turned to fully face Adagio. “First: call her a ‘nerd’ again and I’ll slap you, second: you’re still alive, you can still live a life together!”

“You know, it probably wouldn’t be so bad if we could still sing, Sunny, but we can’t! If nothing else, other than our gemstones, a Siren’s pride is her voice! Now…we’ve lost that.”

Sunset growled as she stood up. “Ugh, if you weren’t in that bed I’d shake you! You’re giving up before you’ve even tried! Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me that you’re lives are over?! You owe it to them, and yourself, to make this life you have now meaningful!”

Adagio smiled a little as she watched Sunset fume over her. “You really care about us, don’t you? After everything we did?”

Sunset stopped her pacing and took a calming breath. “Maybe it’s because we’re both from Equestria and I’m trying to help my fellow Equestrian, maybe it’s because I think what you three have – despite that evil streak – is beautiful, or maybe it’s because I’ve just gone crazy! Point is, I won’t see you three just crawl off somewhere and die. That’s not me, and, maybe, I might know about someone who could help you.”

Adagio’s brow raised at that. “Who?”

“The same person who helped Sparky and me figure out what was wrong with us, and got our magic to be more focused. Maybe she can show you a different way?” Sunset asked.

Adagio looked hesitant at that.

“If it means getting your singing voices back, don’t you think it’s worth a shot?”

The alpha Siren looked to her sleeping lovers, and as much as she hated to admit it, Sunset was right. She did owe it to Aria and Sonata to try and at least get something of their former lives back.

“You do realize that all this will be a moot point if the world ends tomorrow, right?” Adagio asked.

Sunset chuckled. “I don’t plan on dying tomorrow, or the world for that matter. I just got a hot, adorkable girlfriend, my magic, and pair of great guardians, and some actual friends. Not something I’m willing to see go without a fight.” Sunset grabbed a glass of water from the tray and brought it to Adagio. “I know we’re not really friends now, but…?”

Adagio took the glass of water and swished it around. “Friends would be a stretch, but we’ll see how your friend works out with our voices. For now, close acquaintances would be fitting.”

“It’s a start. I’ll go and get some more, make sure they’re up so I can spread out the meal.”

As Sunset walked off, Adagio quickly spoke, “Sunset Shimmer!”

The fiery haired girl turned around to glance at Adagio.

“You beat us, and that is no small feat. So you had better not lose to that man tomorrow and disgrace us both, understood?!” Adagio remarked.

Sunset firmly nodded, there was no they would lose. No way.

Entry 42: The Final Flame

Deathstorm floated above the Atlantic Ocean, with the giant Ring of Death slowly clicking into place as the mechanisms attached and reattached to different segments. One by one the runes on this ring would begin to glow, some were dim to start, but after a while they were glowing brighter, an indication of the power it was drawing in.

That other Deathstorm…she was different from me. Where did you go? From what world did you hail from? The theory of the Multiverse, something that has been played around with for years and yet, now, I’ve seen proof of it. A whole new world for me to explore – no – worlds!

Dusk Shine’s ears picked up a distinct whistling sound. The Embodiment of Death looked about until the sound got louder and was more able to determine its exact location. He turned his eyes towards the sky and watched as a dozen plus missiles were heading towards him. A deadpan expression befell his face.

“Really? Missiles?”

Dozens of explosions went off around Deathstorm as one missile after another rained down on his location. In the distance, Destroyer class battleships were approaching, each one bearing the flag of a different nation.

Fighter jets swarmed the skies, all of which began their attack on the ring, raining rockets and missiles on the construct to bring it down. All this while the Destroyers began unleashing their ordinance on the ring and on Deathstorm’s location, showering it in bullets, cannon fire, and all manner of high powered projectiles.

After about a minute or two of constant barraging, the ships ceased fire, allowing the smoke cloud to clear to see just how much damage they were able to inflict, or at the very least see if they killed Deathstorm. Needless to say, the outcome wasn’t what they had hoped.

Deathstorm was still floating in the same spot as when the barrage began, looking quite unimpressed by the efforts of the world’s military.

“Really, I’m a flaming, undead looking, superhuman, who created a giant death machine that’s floating in the middle of the ocean, and you honestly thought some bullets and missiles would stop me?”

As if to answer him, further in the distance, Deathstorm spotted several missile launches that went straight up into the sky. These missiles continued to go higher and higher into the sky, practically scraping at the atmosphere. After a few moments the missiles aimed themselves downward, towards the Ring of Death.

Deathstorm cupped his chin and nodded. “Hmm, well, now you’re going to the nuclear option. At least you’re actually trying now.”

The Embodiment of Death flew towards the center of his construct and stared up into the sky, watching as twenty nuclear missiles were coming down straight for him and his machine. With a wicked grin, Deathstorm flew up towards the nukes. Just a few mere miles from the actual mark, the sky erupted as nuclear explosions went off. The shockwaves from twenty nukes going off made the waters rough, throwing up waves and pushing the battleships back, some even capsized.

Luckily some of the fighter jets managed to blaze away to a safe distance and maintained a holding pattern outside the blast radius. As the nuclear energies of the nukes began to warp the sky and its colors, something else occurred. That very energy began to recede, the waters began to calm and the shockwaves ended.

All the energy of the nukes was being drawn to a single point, and condensed into an orb of pure nuclear power held within Deathstorm’s hand. The crews of the battleships couldn’t believe their eyes, the most powerful weapons on the planet, megatons worth of destructive force, and it all was reduced to nothing, no, not nothing, it was being condensed into an orb no bigger than a baseball.

Once the energies of the nukes had been absorbed, Deathstorm augmented it. Infusing it with his own dark atomic and magical power. Atomic rings formed around the orb, and, in an instant, the orb shot up and broke apart into several smaller versions of itself. The smaller orbs of light looked like snow was trapped in midair, floating suspended by Deathstorm’s power.

With a flick of the wrist, the small orbs shot off in all directions. The first one hit the side of a ship, and detonated with devastating power, eating away at the ship. More of the specks fell upon the ships, eating away at the hulls until they looked like Swiss cheese.

Deathstorm looked in the distance, sensing the submarines that were hidden underwater and ready to fire another round of nukes. Deathstorm raised his hands towards some of the scrap metals of the ships, atomic rings formed as he began the transmutation process, recreating them into torpedoes and infusing them with his own dark atomic power.

Dusk Shine then launched the torpedoes into the water, watching as they sought out their individual targets, and then, explosions went off in the distance, big, black and blue fiery explosions that sent columns of flames rushing into the air.

“Well at least that was entertaining, for the moment.” Deathstorm turned his gaze onto the horizon, even from this distance he could sense her. “Come big sister, come and do battle with me! Let us see which of us is truly the superior creation, and as a farewell to this world, I will anoint this Ring of Death with your blood!”

CANTERLOT CITY…

Sunset and Twilight had felt so restless the other day after Deathstorm’s announcement that they didn’t even think they could sleep, but somehow they managed to knock out. Both girls slept in Twilight’s bed, curled up next to each other as they softly breathed in and out, the presence of the other granting them peace in their slumber.

From the door, Shining Armor watched them, the dawn was coming, and he knew that it was time for them to chow down and move out. But part of him refused to go in and wake them, after all that had gone on, and what was to come, this moment of peaceful sleep was probably the one good thing this day would bring.

“Hesitant, Mr. Armor?”

Shining turned to see Professor Neigh walking up behind him, the soldier shrugged and returned his gaze to his adopted sister and her lover. “It’s just…how did things end up like this? How did the world get so crazy?”

The Professor chuckled. “My boy, the world, the universe, has always been crazy, we just try to make as much sense of it as we can, and leave the rest to the orderly disorder of the universe.”

Shining Armor smirked. “Not very scientific of you, Professor.”

“After spending time as a fused entity, and witnessed what we have, I’d be a fool to remain blind to such things,” replied Professor Neigh.

The old man placed his hand on Shining’s shoulder, knowing what the young man was feeling due to their Firestorm connection with Nu.

“We’ll protect them as best we can, we’ll fight alongside them to the bitter end, at the very least, my boy, they deserve a future together. So too, do you.”

“Thanks, but a soldier’s life is fighting to protect his homeland and family. Cadance thinks I’m dead so we’ll just have to leave it at that for now,” said Shining Armor.

Professor Neigh let out a hearty chuckle. “My boy, if there’s one regret I have in life, it’s not asking Marigold to our Senior Prom back in my day. Things may have turned out quite differently.”

Suddenly, an alarm went off in Twilight’s room, an annoying buzzer that Twilight instinctively hit to quiet it. But soon another one went off across the room, and the second was even more annoying than the first. Twilight and Sunset groaned as they listened and couldn’t take it anymore. At that moment, both girls raised their hands in perfect sync and released a bolt of magical energy in the direction of the buzzer. The twin bolts’ aim was true as both struck the annoying buzzer across the room with amazing precision.

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh watched this with both intrigue and a twinge of intimidation from the fact that they had done that all while still drowsy and semi-awake. Both men slowly crept away, deciding to let the girls awake of their own accord.

When the door closed, Twilight was the first to stir from her slumber. She rose up into a seated position and stretched her limbs, Twilight looked down to a still sleeping Sunset. Smiling, Twilight leaned down and kissed her girlfriend upon the cheek, serving as the catalyst to finally bring Sunset out of her deep slumber and looking up at Twilight.

“Morning,” said Sunset.

“Good morning,” replied Twilight.

“Guess it’s that time, huh?”

“Yes.”

Sunset rose up from the bed in the same seated position as Twilight. The genius girl leaned to her left, resting her head against Sunset’s shoulder. Sunset slowly took hold of Twilight’s hand and gave it a light squeeze, to which Twilight reciprocated.

“Then let’s go and win.”

The girls, along with Professor Neigh and Shining Armor, had discussed eating a meal and leaving via the backyard to head off to fight Deathstorm. Celestia and Luna had stayed overnight, not wanting to leave Sunset alone, so it was a nice big family meal.

Once the time came to leave, they had an unexpected visit. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, who was carefully cradling Spike the whole time, came over. The girls had figured that Sunset and Twilight would be heading off to fight Deathstorm, and were planning on being here to see them off.

The group entered the backyard, with lots of hugs, words of luck, prayers, and promises of victory were spoken amongst everyone. Night Light and Velvet hugged their two children fiercely, fear was building that they would never see them again, but they had to hope that they would be victorious and return to them.

Sunset looked behind the crowd, with Ms. Velvet and Celestia following her gaze. At the entrance to the backyard stood the three Sirens, all three were still weak, helping the other to get even as far as they did. The rest of the girls glanced in that direction and nodded.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie walked over to the Sirens. The three former hippocampi were wary of their presence, not sure if they were about to be yelled at, assaulted, or something.

However, none of that happened, instead, Rainbow helped Aria to walk to towards the crowd, along with Rarity helping Adagio, and Pinkie Pie helping Sonata. The Sirens were confused at this, they had threatened the lives of these girls, fought them, and even made promises to make them into playthings, and yet…they were being helped.

“Why…? After everything we’ve done, after everything we were going to do?” Adagio asked.

“Darling, that doesn’t matter now. One way or the other we’re all in this together,” said Rarity.

“But…we were going to hurt you guys, everyone in the city,” said Sonata.

“Yeah, you three were going total supervillain, but after what that meanie, Dusk, did…no one really deserves that. So smile, everything’s fine,” said Pinkie Pie.

Aria scoffed and then sighed. “You people are nuts, we were your enemies! Even without magic, we’re still dangerous!”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. But, it’s not like we don’t know that, and this ain’t pity. Helping someone’s just our thing,” said Rainbow Dash.

With the Sirens now joined with the other’s, they regarded the two girls. Despite everything that they had done, Sunset knew where it stemmed from, and so too did Twilight. Adagio did everything for her loves, and they in turn did everything for her. Their lives back in Equestria were full of hardship, and with their power they lashed out at the world. They were then sent to a world they did not know, in bodies that were alien to them. They had to adept and learn, anything to survive this unknown world, living for centuries before finally coming to find a way to make everything better for themselves, but to only have it all torn away. Now they couldn’t even return home, for there was no telling what would happen if they did in their current state.

“Sunset Shimmer…Twilight Sparkle…” Adagio spoke. “I…I can’t apologize for my actions, I did it for us…and…”

In a rather shocking move, Sunset reached out and hugged Adagio close to her. The alpha Siren feebly tried to push against her, but Sunset only held her tighter, until, the dam broke in Adagio. Centuries worth of grief and sadness came crashing down and she cried into the former unicorn’s chest. The strength in Adagio’s legs gave as she slowly fell to the ground with Sunset keeping hold of her as they did.

Aria and Sonata tried to choke back their own sobs, but found that they couldn’t. They collapsed to the ground and crying beside their alpha. Twilight lowered herself to the ground as well, and took both Sonata’s and Aria’s hands into her own and showed them a kind smile. The two Siren’s proceeded to cry into the other’s chest as well, releasing all their pent up emotions about, well everything.

After a couple of minutes, the crying stopped and Adagio was able to look Sunset and Twilight in the eyes. “I’ve said this already, but don’t you dare lose.”

Sunset and Twilight rose up and nodded to them.

Celestia and Luna came up behind the Sirens and helped them to their feet. “We’ll look after them, you four go and save the world,” said Luna.

Professor Neigh, Shining Armor, Sunset Shimmer, and Twilight Sparkle all walked a few paces away from their friends and family. The four looked to each other, and nodded. This was the final battle.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

“FIRESTORM!!!”

Red and blue flames engulfed Shining Armor and Professor Neigh, pink flames wrapped around Twilight, and golden-yellow flames around Sunset. When the flame sphere’s vanished, what stood before them were three Firestorms, flames blazing as the dawn sun rose behind them.

“You girls ready?” Nu asked.

“Ready,” said Twilight.

“It’ll take too long to get there flying, so we’ll just drop in on him. Twilight, Nu, link hands with me,” said Sunset.

Nu and Twilight did as instructed, holding Sunset’s hand and then each other’s, forming a triangle. Sunset linked her magical energies to that of Nu and Twilight, their flames grew brighter as the dirt around them rose up from the distortion in gravity and energy. Aquamarine, rosy-violet, and blue light swirled about the trio, until, in the blink of an eye, they vanished.

Deathstorm continued to float in midair, watching the ocean reflect the light of the sun, it was such a serene view that it almost made Deathstorm sad he was going to end the world, almost. Just then, the Embodiment of Death sensed a buildup of magical energy and turned in the direction it was coming from.

A bright flash of tri-colored light erupted a few yards away from him, and to his delight, they had arrived.

Nu, Twilight, and Sunset released their hands, now floating over the ocean. Their eyes all focused on their target, floating slowly towards them with little care.

“I’m happy you’ve finally arrived, big sister. This wasn’t going to be much of a departure if I didn’t see you first,” said Deathstorm.

“Dusk…what are you doing?! I’m sorry for what the Organization did to you, but it can be stopped, if you give me some time I can change this!” Twilight pleaded.

Deathstorm released a hearty, if not insane, chuckle at his big sister’s offer. “Oh Twilight, you don’t have to worry about that. Thanks to this transformation, I have become one with the power of Death itself. As for the Organization? Well, they’re no longer a problem, for anyone. I killed them all! Every! Single! Person!”

At this, Nu, Sunset, and Twilight’s eyes widened with shock.

“I’ve been busy in the last day and half, even took out one of the Big Three! However……One of them was not from this world. She disappeared into something similar to the ring, another Deathstorm from another world!”

Sunset’s heart nearly stopped at hearing that, there was another Deathstorm, and she disappeared into a portal. There was someone else in this world from a different world that wasn’t Equestria. The Multiverse theory was still viable, parallel worlds sure, but one that had another Deathstorm, were there were other Firestorm Protocols? Sunset took another look at the giant metal ring, it was hard to make out, but it was starting to make sense exactly what it was for.

“This isn’t just a doomsday device, is it, Dusk Shine?! It’s a portal, a gateway!” Sunset declared.

Deathstorm clapped his hands. “Bravo Ms. Shimmer, you truly are bright mind, like my sister. Yes, it will consume all energy on this planet, enough to allow me to venture beyond this world and to a whole new one!”

“And exactly what do you plan on doing in this ‘new world’?! Are you just going to destroy that one too?!” Nu asked.

“Heh, on a new world I can be anything! I can be the hero, I can be the villain, or maybe I’ll just grow bored and play the role of a humble high school student? The possibilities, like the universe, are infinite! Especially with the power I have! Screw this world, it’s done nothing for me, and now I will leave only nothingness in my wake as I depart! I will continue this with each world, when I’ve had my fill and grown bored I will end it, and move onto the next one, until I find a perfect world, one without end!”

“We won’t let you do that!” Sunset shouted as she ignited her hands with golden flames.

Twilight’s hands sparked with lightning and gravity energy.

Nu drew out his fire sword, taking a stance and readying himself for the attack.

Deathstorm chuckled and raised his hand to the sky. “Well then…allow me to set the stage.” With a flick of the rest, atomic rings formed. The sky began to darken as black storm clouds covered everything for miles, the sea below began to churn, undulating as the wind picked up. “Now big sister, entertain me will you!!!”

Lightning flashed across the sky and all four charged.

Deathstorm released a hellfire torrent of black flames that roared towards the three incoming Firestorms. All three diverged and went in three separate directions, allowing the black fire torrent to strike the ocean waters and hiss violently, sending a cloud of intense steam to shoot upwards. Deathstorm ceased the attack and began tracking his opponents.

Twilight came up from the right, collecting her magical energy, she loosed a magic bolt straight for Dusk Shine. The energy sphere barely made it halfway before Deathstorm fired a beam of dark energy that detonated the orb before it reached him, however, Twilight wasn’t finished. Loosing several more magic bolts from her hands until the portion of the sky she was in was littered with them.

Deathstorm smirked at the action, pointing his right index finger in the direction of the incoming attack. Portals of darkness opened around Deathstorm, and from them shot several dark beams that sailed to meet the bolts head on.

Just as expected, the bolts exploded upon contact, however, Twilight had another surprise. With a wave of her hand, she launched her hidden second attack. Having bent the light around them, and revealing several lightning spears that were hidden in the background of the initial volley.

Deathstorm reacted quickly, raising a shield just in time to block all the incoming attacks. The spears, however, did not explode on impact, but instead pierced the shell shield that Deathstorm created. Inside the sphere, Deathstorm saw several of the points of the spears inside the barrier wall and was about to destroy them.

But at the last second, a snap was heard, all the spears that had imbedded themselves in the shell exploded at once, cracking the shield and throwing Dusk Shine back a few yards. The Embodiment of Death corrected himself, and growled in frustration at such a cheap trick.

The time to stew over the trick was not had as Nu appeared behind him, brandishing his flaming sword and bringing it down for an overhead strike. Deathstorm noticed the attack, and spun around to meet the attack with a half constructed sword weapon. The two weapons clashed, grinding against each other as sparks and shockwaves of power erupted from their struggle.

“The Firestorm that makes believe he’s a living thing, do you really think you’ll be allowed to live a life after you defeat me?!” Deathstorm taunted.

“If you’re still here there won’t be a point in discussing this is there?! ‘Cause the world and everyone on it will be dead!” Nu shot back.

“Not if you come with me! Who says you can’t join me in my journey for a new world?!”

Nu contemplated that for moment before shaking his head. “Nah, I’d rather stick with this world! There are a lot of cute girls I’ve yet to meet here!”

Deathstorm growled as he pushed back against him. But then, in an unexpected move, Nu somehow jumped out of his body, and repositioned himself, forming two Desert Eagle type pistols into both of his hands. Deathstorm looked up from the construct he was holding back, and the other Nu who had two hard-light pistols in his hands.

Nu began firing one shot after the other in rapid succession, the impact of each blast hit Deathstorm with the force of a megaton explosion, sending him flying backwards and coughing up black ichor with each shot. Nu continued his shooting, with amazing precision, not missing even once. Nu channeled his energy, making atomic rings form around his two pistols, he then brought them together and formed a long cannon barrel. The barrel charged up and fired a beam of pure azure light that roared across the sky and right for Deathstorm.

Dusk Shine regained control, and threw out both of his hands, slamming them against the beam as a shockwave of power erupted from all sides. Deathstorm grunted as he tried to push back against the beam, building up power in preparation for a counterattack.

But further up, Sunset was preparing herself. A halo of red and yellow light formed behind her as she drew in both her atomic energy and magic energy into her hands. A sphere of power formed before her, and at the front it was a crest emblazoned in the form of a horse head with a horn, and one wing on the left and right side.

Sunset Shimmer then launched the sphere of light, the light sailed towards Deathstorm, but halfway, the sphere broke out, and transformed into the upper half of an alicorn, which neighed fiercely, pointing its horn in Deathtorm’s direction.

Deathstorm noticed too late as Nu’s beam stopped, and the fiery alicorn came down and struck him dead center in the chest with its horn, taking him all the way until both slammed against the wide surface of the Ring of Death and exploded. Nu redirected his beam attack and had it strike the same spot.

Twilight waved her hands about, concentrating on the area Deathstorm fell. Rings formed, laced with intricate patterns, five in total. At the top was a ball of light, with a wave of Twilight’s hand, that ball of light crashed down through all five rings, becoming bigger and bigger until it made contact. A large explosion of pink fire, and strangely enough, rosy-violet stars, erupted all over, making the Ring of Death tilt ever so slightly.

Nu, and Sunset headed down to the ring, with Twilight already ahead of them. All three landed on the surface of the gigantic structure. The mechanisms within the ring could be heard as one gear interlocked with the other, pistons going off, and energy humming through the structure. All three Firestorms slowly approached the smoldering area where Deathstorm was, their senses on full alert as they got closer.

“Any chance it’s that easy?” Nu asked.

“Considering our string of luck? Not even,” said Sunset.

“Could be one of those rare times?” Twilight suggested.

The smoke and flames from where Deathstorm had impacted was blown away by an intense wave of power and pressure, making the three Firestorms dig their heels into the metal surface to keep themselves from being thrown off completely. Deathstorm rose up from the small crater, he then waved his hand over the damage and repaired it almost instantly.

“Well that was brutal, did you plan that or did you just come up with that last second?” Deathstorm asked.

“Why, can’t believe we’re that good?” Nu asked.

“Amusing. But so is this!”

Atomic rings formed on Deathstorm’s hands as he slammed them to the surface of the ring. Three constructs formed from metal and lightning. The first construct had a reinforced gauntlet left arm, the second had a large shield, and the last had a bow, with the bowstring made of blue energy.

“Meet Eins, Zwei, and Drei, my friends. Now, let’s play!”

Eins took off with great speed, aiming directly for Sunset Shimmer. Sunset brought up her arms into guard position just in time for Eins to strike, forcing Sunset back as she skidded across the surface. Eins did not let up as he pursued her, Sunset lowered her guard and entered into an attack stance, Sunset jetted off towards Eins and lashed out with her right fist. Eins did the same, both fists connecting at the same time and creating as shockwave that resonated in every direction.

Meanwhile, Drei drew back and began unleashing arrows in rapid fire succession. Twilight raised a shield and prepared to fire, however, Zwei came in and bashed through her barrier with his shield. Zwei arched his back, allowing for the arrows of Drei to fly over him and strike Twilight repeatedly, exploding on impact. Twilight was thrown from her original position, tumbling across the surface until she was able to correct herself.

Nu was about to intercept, but Deathstorm intervened, coming down on Nu with a black flame empowered chop. Nu blocked the blow with his right forearm, grunting from the slight pain he felt from the hit, and trying to keep his footing. His flame cape flapped in the crosswinds as he generated his own counter force, trying to push back against Deathstorm.

“Oh my puppets will keep them busy, it’s just you and me, or should I say, me and you two?!”

“Spare me you Nightmare Night reject!”

Nu jumped into the air, forcing Deathstorm back. The azure Firestorm did a swift teleport away from Deathstorm and reappeared behind him, from there, Nu delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Deathstorm’s left side, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Nu gave chase and reformed his construct pistols, firing one round after the other.

Deathstorm formed a his pistols and began firing back, each energy bullet either striking the opposite and blowing up in midair, or whizzing by their targets only to explode around them. Deathstorm changed direction and sailed to meet Nu head on.

Both Firestorms met in the middle and began their attack. Nu fired his left pistol, but Deathstorm weaved around the shot and got in close for a point black shot, but Nu fired his left pistol, making the one Deathstorm was holding point upwards as he fired the round high into the sky. Both broke away and began attacking again, a strange combination of kicking, shooting, elbow strikes, and backhand strikes were thrown as one round after the other was loosed in a strange new form of gun martial art.

Sunset was exchanging blows with Eins, the construct proving to be just as fast and as strong as her. Sunset threw a right hook, but Eins blocked it and moved in for an uppercut. The blow caught Sunset in the jaw, sending her stumbling back a few steps. Eins took this advantage and quickly got low to the ground and swept Sunset’s legs from under her. Using the momentum, Eins, brought both legs around, and as soon as she was low, Eins donkey kicked her in the chest, sending Sunset flying across the ring and going over the edge. Eins got his footing back and pursued her, jumping off the edge and diving for her.

The crimson Firestorm coughed up light ichor, regaining enough of her senses to watch Eins approach her. The construct repositioned himself, pointing his feet straight below as he came down like a pile driver right in the same spot he had kicked Sunset. The added speed and momentum carried the both of them all way down, slamming into the ocean waters below with a huge splash.

Sunset had unfortunately coughed, allowing water to enter her mouth. She tried to ascend but Eins was not having it, he broke off from Sunset and propelled himself through the water with unnatural speed. Eins came around Sunset’s left and struck her in the face, making her open her mouth to allow more water in. The construct then unleashed a rapid fire flurry of punches at the Firestorm girl, striking her from every direction before finishing with an empowered double chop to her collarbone, breaking a few bones and making Sunset’s arms go limp.

Eins thrusted both hands forward, wrapping it’s metal grip around her throat and making Sunset’s white eyes widen with fear. The construct continued to choke her airway as she continued to drag her down to the depths of the ocean, the flames of her hair were dimming with each passing second, the white glow of hers becoming more dull at the same time.

NO!

Suddenly, Sunset’s eyes burned bright as a fire built inside her mouth. Eins was completely unprepared when Sunset bellowed out a stream of atomic fire from her mouth, the flames struck his face and made the construct recoil off her. Sunset took this opportunity to form a sphere around herself, creating an air bubble. Sunset coughed for a few moments as she sucked in wind to help herself recover.

“Yeah, note to self, never do firebreath again!” Sunset’s burning eyes locked onto Eins and narrowed in fury. “My turn!”

Sunset focused her magical and atomic powers, willing the ocean waters around her to obey her commands. The waters churned into three orbs, and from those orbs formed three hippocampi made of densely packed water molecules. The construct creatures roared out as they began their attack, dashing through the waters with incredible speed. The first construct kicked Eins in the head with its hooves, the second came up from behind and tail whipped Eins, sending him flying through the waters. The third construct came up in the path and bit down on Eins’ torso, thrashing it about in its jaws before tossing it upwards.

Sunset’s hands had atomic rings around them as she concentrated her plasma energy into forming a trident. The crimson Firestorm then propelled herself upwards and thrust the trident right into Eins’ midsection, but Sunset didn’t stop as she continued going higher and higher. After what felt like several minutes, both Sunset and Eins breached the surface, Sunset then hurled the trident into the sky and fired a twin atomic energy blast at Eins. The beams truck the puppet and exploded on impact.

However, it was far from over as Eins broke out from the smoke cloud and went after Sunset. The crimson Firestorm took her stance, as if standing on a solid surface, and cocked back her right fist. Flames danced around her as magical energy was laced into her fist, Sunset glared up at her incoming foe, ready to attack. Eins saw her preparation and decided it would not come to pass, charging all the energy in its body to its center energy core, Eins fired a beam of dark energy towards Sunset.

The crimson Firestorm let out a battle cry as her feet glowed with aquamarine light. Sunset crouched low and jumped, propelled by her magic and Firestorm power, right before the beam hit, Sunset raised her right fist into the air for an uppercut, meeting the blast head on with her fist. The dueling energies clashed in midair as Sunset drove her fist straight into the blast, parting the beam as she continued to sail upwards. Eins didn’t have time to stop the beam attack before Sunset drove her fist, and the rest of herself right through the construct’s gut.

Behind Sunset, a trail of her magical energy, and atomic fire plasma came shooting up behind her, washing over the remains of Eins and incinerating them. Sunset looked behind herself, smiling at her victory.

Twilight was currently trying to get the better of Zwei and Drei, but it was almost impossible. Zwei’s shield was like the almighty Aegis, all defending and unbreakable, and Drei was deadly accurate with its arrows. Both of them together were proving to be the ultimate tag team. But then again, Twilight already had experience dealing with a tag team like this. Twilight placed her hands together, and assumed a defensive stance, awaiting the attack of the two puppets.

Drei notched a light arrow and fired it straight for Twilight. Just then, Twilight’s hands glowed with rosy-violet light, and with a fluid motion she sidestepped the arrow. Drei was confused, but no less launched another arrow, Twilight again dodged the arrow, turning her head ever so slightly, showing no wasted energy in her movements. Zwei decided to engage in order to knock her off balance, but when Zwei swung its shield, Twilight bent backwards, allowing the shield miss her entirely.

Twilight quickly recovered and re-entered her stance. Zwei used the momentum of his last swing to come around with another swing, at the last moment before Zwei’s shield made contact, Twilight covered her body in a layer of light. Once the shield made contact, all momentum ceased then and there, the layered barrier Twilight had created rippled like water for a moment, but then that power was forwarded to her hands. Twilight pushed against Zwei and struck the puppet in the middle of the chest, the power surged from her hands and blasted through the other side of Zwei.

Drei tilted its head in confusion at what it just witnessed, but the puppet didn’t have time to fully comprehend Twilight’s method as she went to work, transmuting something.

The purple Firestorm called down the lightning from the sky. A bolt shot down right on Twilight’s position, with her left hand she forged the lightning into a bow, and with that same energy, she created an arrow. Twilight drew back and fired the arrow which whizzed towards Drei, but flew right by its head. Drei wasted little time and fired three arrows simultaneously, all three sailed until they were upon Twilight, but at the last second, the arrow she shot broke out and Twilight herself appeared from behind it. Having used the arrow as a fixed point to teleport herself behind Drei.

The puppet realized too late what she had done, and by the time it did, Twilight lodged multiple arrows into its chest. Twilight took the lightning bow, and infused her magical energy into it, and fired it as a beam of pure lightning and magical energy that roared across the ring, blasting the puppet into nothingness.

“Now then, Deathstorm.”

Nu and Deathstorm had long broken their dual gun fight and were now trading blows, striking with thunderous resonation that the very air trembled from each blow. Deathstorm charged up his right fist with black flames and delivered a powerful haymaker to Nu’s face. The azure Firestorm planted his feet and gritted his teeth, rearing back and headbutting Deathstorm, full force, in the face. The Embodiment of Death recoiled from the blow, making him stumble a few moments.

Deathstorm caught himself and growled, jetting forward and unleashing a point blank atomic energy blast right to Nu’s chest, sending him skidding across the surface of the ring. The dark energy of the beam took a toll on Nu’s body, allowing Deathstorm to prepare and fire a second blast. Before the second beam hit, Twilight appeared before Nu and summoned a barrier that protected them both.

From the sky, Sunset came down with a flaming plasma sword. Deathstorm jumped back, allowing the blade to strike where he once was, he then dashed forward, spun around once to build up momentum, and back fist Sunset away from him. As she sailed away, Twilight flew overhead, Sunset tossed her the plasma sword, to which she caught and formed a second rosy-violet light sword into her left hand.

Twilight twirled in midair, swinging her dual swords like a buzzsaw of death. Deathstorm brandished a dark claymore-like plasma sword and met her blades head on. The rosy-violet blade met with the dark blade, causing sparks of darkness and rosy light to fly off from the point of contact.

Deathstorm slapped her left sword away and came in for a thrust, but Twilight managed to parry the incoming blow with her right sword, and coming down with another slash from her left sword. Deathstorm released a force wave to propel himself backwards and away from the attack, but Twilight was not done. She chased after him, both swords clashing as they continued their sword duel while on the move.

A fierce battle cry echoed out as Deathstorm caught sight of a golden fireball heading for him. The fireball broke apart and revealed Sunset, wielding another plasma sword, but the blade was in the pattern of a flamberge. The crimson Firestorm slashed horizontally, Deathstorm formed a short sword in his left hand and blocked the attack before it managed to hit. The recoil made Sunset bounce back, but she quickly recovered and engaged Deathstorm again.

From the right, Nu appeared, brandishing a red, fiery katana. Nu managed to slash Deathstorm across the back, leaving a red glowing gash. Deathstorm growled and spun in place, forcing the other three Firestorms to back away from him. Deathstorm’s eyes and flame hair blazed with greater intensity, from his back, Deathstorm sprouted four more arms, each one wielding a dark plasma sword.

With a renewed vigor, Deathstorm jumped right back into the the fight. A flurry of sword slashes were unleashed as Nu, Twilight, and Sunset parried and blocked as many as they could, even trying to help the other to open Deathstorm up for a direct attack. However, the six-armed Firestorm was making it impossible to attack him directly or find a gap in his defense.

“I just thought of a wonderful parting gift from me to you, big sister,” said Dusk Shine.

Twilight came down with a double blade strike, only to be blocked by two of the six arms of Deathstorm.

“Shall I give you despair?”

Two flashes of black light rushed upwards on Twilight’s arms, Twilight’s eye sent wide as the flashes severed both her arms. Light ichor gushed from the wounded areas, making Twilight scream out in pain. Sunset saw this and rushed towards Deathstorm, her eyes blazing with fury at what he had done. However, Deathstorm anticipated this, repositioning one of his sword blades and making it jet out like a spear. The black blade struck Sunset square in the chest, making her cough up light ichor. The blade retracted and released Sunset, but Deathstorm quickly teleported behind Sunset and grabbed her by the head, applying pressure to it despite the burning of her flame hair.

Deathstorm drew back one of its left arms and thrust the blade, precisely into the vertebrae that controlled her legs, making them go limp. Deathstorm tossed Sunset towards the unarmed Twilight. Nu saw all this, his flame cape raged like an inferno as his eyes blazed bright white.

“YOU BASTARD! I’M GONNA -!”

Just then, Deathstorm held up an index finger. “So sorry, but I’m afraid time’s up.”

Suddenly, the last gear of the Ring of Death fell into place, and every single rune mark glowed at once. A great, thundering rumble shook the air, Nu looked back and saw as Sunset crawled her way towards Twilight who had passed out momentarily from losing so much of her light ichor, but it appeared as though her body was already reconstructing her arms, and Sunset’s body was starting to heal as well.

“What do you mean?! It can’t be done already!”

“I never said noon Canterlot City time, did I? Noon is relative to location, and where we are, noon is now.”

Nu could sense it, energy was being drawn from all over, heat, electrical, and magical, what there was of it, was being pulled out from all sources. The center of the ring began to glow, taking in that very energy and transforming it. The center began to ripple like water, with various images showing each time it settled. One image showed a land of ponies, the second showed a living tree, a demon, and a sorceress fighting something, another ripple showed a streak of lightning zipping across a city street, and one last ripple showed a ship of some sort.

The air was starting to grow cold, making the four Firestorms the only source of heat in the area. “The absorption will start here, all the marine life will be sucked dry, and then it will radiate outwards, until everything on this planet has been drained of its energy.”

Nu could tell that that was happening, down below, he could sense the fishes and other aquatic creatures dying the longer this continued. Not only that, but the waters around the Ring of Death began to freeze, becoming solid ice.

‘At this rate, the draining will spread and hit the mainland, but even so, if this isn’t stopped, it’ll cause irreversible damage to the world’s climate and ecosystems,’ said Professor Neigh.

‘Well what can we do?!’ Shining Armor asked.

“Nothing…” The Professor and Shining Armor both went silent at hearing Nu say that. The azure Firestorm then released his flaming sword and glared at the portal. “You two can’t do anything, but I can!”

Nu ignited and shot towards the center of the portal, causing Sunset, Twilight, and even Deathstorm to look on in confusion as to what he was doing. Nu positioned himself right above the portal opening, seeing dozens of other images flashing in the rippled time space distortion. The azure Firestorm concentrated, focusing his power on the Matrix within himself.

‘Nu what are you doing?!’ Shining Armor shouted.

“I’m going to overload, the combined atomic and magical energies within me will be strong enough to disrupt the Ring’s absorbing power, maybe long enough for the girls to counter.”

Shining Armor and Professor Neigh went silent for a moment before nodding to themselves in agreement.

‘Well…we had good run, Professor. I’ll see ya on the other side.’

‘Verily, as I you.’

“Sorry guys, but you’re sitting this one out.”Suddenly, two orbs of fire jettisoned themselves from Nu’s body, at the center of the orbs were Professor Neigh and Shining Armor. “Twilight lost her brother and first father once, I’m not about to take that away. I was just created, but you two have lived and have families waiting for you.”

“NU, NO WAIT!” Shining Armor pleaded.

“THERE’S ANOTHER WAY, WE NEED BUT JUST A MOMENT!” Professor Neigh shouted.

“Sorry, but this is how it’s going to be.”

With a wave of his hand, Nu made the two orbs fire off across the sky, traveling to the safe place he had designated beforehand.

Deathstorm growled, seeing what Nu was about to do and fired a beam of pure dark energy at Nu. But the distortion at the center of the portal caused the beam to skew off and away from Nu, hitting a chunk of ice below. Deathstorm continued to fire again and again, but the beams would just continue to stray, finally having enough, Deathstorm charged for the center. But, the moment he did, a wave of time space energy rushed upwards, pushing the Embodiment of Death away. Nu only smirked, knowing that Deathstorm could do nothing to stop this from happening.

Sunset managed to make her way to Twilight, the feeling was slowly returning to her legs as her Firestorm powers worked to repair the damage. Sunset managed to cradle Twilight’s head as she sat next to her, watching as the ghostly light of her atomic energy worked to regrow her severed arms.

Twilight finally stirred, her eyes blinking as the image of Sunset came into view. “S-Sunset?”

“Just hold a minute, you’re still healing,” said Sunset.

“W-What about Deathstorm? Where’s Nu?!”

“Twilight, Sunset.” Both girls turned to Nu, who was now glowing with a bright intensity as a red orb glowed at the center of his chest. “Shining Armor and Professor Neigh were sent back to your house, they’ll be safe.”

“‘Be safe’…? What are you saying…?”

“He’s going to overload, and stop the Ring from taking any more energy from the world,” said Sunset.

“No…but, Nu you’ll – you have stop!” Twilight pleaded.

Nu shook his head. “No, this is the way it has to be. I kinda always knew what my real purpose was, I just wanted to live a little, but thanks to being with you guys, and having those two inside me, I feel like I know all I need to know that this world is worth protecting, and that you all are worth this.”

The crimson cape evaporated from Nu as the flames of his dual power erupted, sending out a shockwave that nearly threw the three occupants off the edge. The freezing effect was growing larger by the second, and Nu knew that it was time.

“I’ll always be a part of you guys, remember that!” Nu shouted with a smile and a wink.

With a loud cry, Nu’s core shined as bright as the sun. A column of blue and red fire shot up from the center of the ring, heading into the sky and down to the ocean below. The ring’s rune lights began to dim quickly, and the ocean below was quickly warming up, melting the ice and returning life to the animals that dwelled below.

The column of dual colored fire began to thin out, until nothing but a small orb of crimson light was left. Deathstorm couldn’t believe this, but despite Nu’s sacrifice, it did not deter him.

“All that, and he couldn’t even destroy my Ring, he merely just bought you all some time, nothing more, the fool!” Deathstorm proclaimed.

“You’re wrong!”

Twilight’s arms had fully regenerated, and with them she helped Sunset to her still weak legs, both girls staring down the enemy of all life on Earth.

“He gave his life, to give us a fighting chance!” Sunset shouted.

Deathstorm laughed, manically, at the two. “‘Gave his life’? That thing was barely even alive, just a construct believing itself to be free. It had no life, it was nothing! Just like you and me, big sister! We are nothing, and it were relegated to becoming disposable tools when all was said and done!”

“You’re right…I believed that, but no more! I’m more than that!” Twilight countered.

“Same for me, I was filled with hatred and pride, so much so that I failed to see what was right in front of me! So yeah, I’m more than that too!” Sunset added.

“WE ARE MORE!”

Suddenly, the crimson Matrix flew to Sunset and Twilight and floated before them. The Matrix split in half and shot to both girls’ Firestorm insignia’s. A rush of power flowed into them like never before, their flames burned brighter and with a luster that they had never before possessed. Sunset looked to Twilight, and Twilight to Sunset. It was time.

I am ready.

Both girls held the other’s hand and raised them to the sky, shouting in one unified voice to the heavens above.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

A column of gold, red, purple, pink, and blue flames rose into the sky, along with the magical auras of aquamarine and rosy-violet. Sunset’s and Twilight’s bodies merged, becoming one being. Purple gauntlets formed on both of her forearms, and purple metal boots. A white mail-mesh suit formed over her bright yellow plasma body, on the suit blazed Sunset’s sun cutie mark on the left side of the chest, and across from it, were three six-pointed stars, Twilight’s mark. Red, circuit-like lines formed on the suit, as if facilitating the flow of power.

A golden tiara adorned her head, with the glowing crystal horn at the center that changed colors like an aurora. Her hair was made of rainbow flames that bellowed and undulated with sparkling energy. Upon her back were wings of pure white light, with each flap a feather made of light would be loosed and gently fall before changing into particles of light.

When the column broke, and revealed this new being, the clouds in the sky were blasted away, allowing the full rays of the shining sun to fall upon the ocean, giving this new Firestorm an angelic brilliance.

“So…you’ve become that demon again, you must be that desperate to defeat me!” Deathstorm taunted.

“No, I am not Hel, I have transcended beyond the being I once was and have been reborn anew!” The winged Firestorm unfurled her wings to the fullest, releasing a wave of power that buffeted Deathstorm. “Born from Harmony and Love, I am she who banishes the darkness and brings light to all! I am the true self, I – We – are Nova.”

Entry 43: The Light of Nova!

Sunset and Twilight awakened to a familiar space, yet completely different. Their bodies had retained their original light forms from the neck down, but the surface they stood upon was like a starry universe, and the sky above them white, filled with an aurora of colors that swirled and drifted in every which way.

“Sunset…this is different, isn’t it?” Twilight asked.

“Totally…not just the space, but the feeling,” said Sunset.

“I am glad to have finally been brought back to you both.”

Both girls looked up, hearing the voice of the new Firestorm Fusion.

“You’re not Hel, or were you Hel?” Sunset asked.

“At a time, I was. I had appeared before you once, telling you not to fuse into me. I was undergoing a transformation – a metamorphosis if you will. One that was still unstable, it was not until Nu sacrificed his being was I able to finally finish my change.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow at that. “Why was Nu sacrificing himself necessary for that?!”

“The Matrix that he possessed, and the one that you two possess, are two parts of a whole. With the other half returned, you were complete, and so was I. When you first summoned me, it was out of hatred and vengeance, I latched onto that raw emotion and was set free. Now, I draw upon your true power, that of your love, of your magic, and your wanting to protect the lives of those dear to you. I am Nova.”

Sunset and Twilight looked to each other, this being, was the true manifestation of their power, their love for each other and others. Gone were the fears of becoming a monster, now they could focus on what truly mattered, and what laid before them.

“Well Nova, hope you’re ready ‘cause it looks like Dusk Shine doesn’t like what just happened,” said Sunset.

Twilight had pensive look on her face. “I don’t want to kill him, Dusk Shine never asked to be made, same as me. Yet, he didn’t know any of the things I learned amongst others.”

Sunset placed her hand on her lover’s shoulder. “Sparky, I understand what you mean, but it might come down to…”

“I know, I won’t risk the lives of every person on this Earth. Given no other choice, we’ll finish this, better by my hands then someone from the Organization,” said Twilight with conviction.

Deathstorm looked upon Nova, her angelic appearance contrasting against his demonic, undead form. He could feel the opposite powers of light and harmony coming off from her, radiating in all directions. Sparks of electricity went off in the air around them, no doubt caused by his own aura of destruction and darkness clashing in an unseen battle between them.

“I see, you’ve decided to go all in, haven’t you big sister?” Deathstorm asked.

“Deathstorm – no – Dusk Shine – this has to stop! If you wish to continue to endanger all life, then I will be forced to stop you, here and now!” Nova proclaimed.

“Try as you may…” Deathstorm’s hands began to glow with dark atomic energy. “You can never stop DEATH!!!”

Deathstorm charged for Nova and fired a beam of dark energy towards her. Nova narrowed her eyes and thrust her right hand forward, hitting the beam with the flat of her palm head on. The beam stopped, trying in vain to overtake her.

Nova curled her fingers in until she clenched them into a fist, sending a shockwave of light energy that shattered the beam entirely. Undeterred, Deathstorm kept up the charge, balling up his right fist and striking with a haymaker.

The angelic Firestorm raised her left arm, just in time to intercept the attack, a thunderous BOOM erupted in all directions as the kinetic energy was dispersed. Nova retaliated by jumping back, and performing a spinning roundhouse kick with her right leg. The blow caught Deathstorm in the ribs and sent him sailing across the ring.

Nova unfurled her light wings and teleported into the distance. In the blink of an eye she reappeared right in the path that Deathstorm was going and reached out with her left hand, catching the Bringer of Death by the face. She then tossed him upwards, and teleported again.

Deathstorm was then assailed by multiple punches and kicks that came from, seemingly, everywhere. Nova was performing rapid teleportation, appearing and reappearing after each hit, making it almost impossible for Deathstorm to counterattack. The Embodiment of Death grew angered and frustrated, resulting in Deathstorm unleashing a sphere of pure dark flames that spread out for at least five hundred yards in all directions, granting him some breathing room from Nova’s attacks.

Once he was able to collect his thoughts, Deathstorm zeroed in on Nova’s location and charged for her, teleporting just before landing the blow, and reappearing behind her to land a kick square in the middle of her back.

Nova grunted from the blow, but managed to teleport away, reappearing in front of Deathstorm and delivering an uppercut to the skeleton’s jaw. Black ichor was spat out from Deathstorm before teleporting and hitting the Firestorm Fusion in the gut, sending her flying.

Deathstorm teleported again, gathering his energy into both hands, her fired a beam of black fire at Nova. The angelic Firestorm prepared to counter, but at the last second the flames disappeared before her. Without warning, those same flames washed over her from down below, bellowing flames in a huge column.

Nova gritted her teeth and concentrated, white and golden flames gathered to her hands as she fired an atomic ray down to the flames below, causing an explosion that allowed Nova to escape the attack. The Firestorm Fusion glared at Deathstorm and charged for him yet again, however, her body began to glow with aurora light, and within a matter of seconds, four other Novas split from her.

Deathstorm watched as the center Nova, lashed out with the left straight punch. Dusk Shine blocked the attack by bringing both his forearms in front of him to form an X. Unfortunately while blocking this attack, the next Nova came in and kicked Deathstorm in the head, sending him flying again. A third Nova waited to intercept and once he was in range, and punt kicked Deathstorm into the air where the fourth Nova readied a surprise for him.

Dozens of glowing orbs of light surrounded him, and with a snap of the fingers, the orbs detonated with resounding power and force, making Deathstorm bounce about from the explosions like a super bouncy ball.

Deathstorm released a burst wave of dark power, allowing him to escape the aerial trap and zoom off. He watched as the fifth Nova pursued him, but Deathstorm wasn’t about to let her get the best of him. Deathstorm placed his right index and finger against his right eye, which flashed for a moment. He then turned around and stopped, atomic rings formed around his body as a layer of sparkling dark energy overlapped his body, obscuring his form for a moment before disappearing and revealing him again.

The Embodiment of Death charged for the fifth Nova, who unleashed a barrage of light spears at the flaming undead creature. But, when the spears touched Deathstorm, they merely rippled against his body and vanished without a trace.

Before this Nova could figure out the reason, Deathstorm descended upon her, coming down with a spear-hand thrust right through Nova, slicing her in half as she was made of wet tissue paper. Deathstorm turned around and kicked the fifth Nova in the head, a blow which practically erased her head entirely.

‘What the hell was that?!’ Sunset asked.

‘It’s as if he…erased her form, destroyed her matter, but not just matter, even energy,’ said Twilight.

Deathstorm chuckled and proceeded to the next Nova. The fourth Nova’s horn sparked with electricity, creating a static energy field with lightning that would lash out and strike against Deathstorm. However, just like before, the energy was absorbed, or rather erased by his body. Deathstorm spun out, turning his entire body into a drill as he headed straight for the fourth Nova and went right through her, erasing her whole body from the moment of impact.

‘Energy is erased, matter is erased! It doesn’t make sense unless –!’

‘A barrier, that’s what that stuff was that he coated his body in before he attacked! It absorbs and draws in matter, even light!’ Sunset pointed out.

‘A barrier like that must be absolute, if nothing gets in then that means nothing gets out, so how is he able to see?’ Twilight pondered.

The second and third Novas’ went to intercept, both had atomic rings upon their hands as they transmuted the area within a one kilometer radius to freeze, creating an entropy field that made all molecular motion impossible and literally freeze on an atomic level. However, despite the ultimate freeze zone, it did not seem to hinder Deathstorm too much, the original Nova did notice a delay in his movements.

“He can see, but whatever he is using for sight is being hindered by that blizzard.” Nova stated.

‘Of course, he must’ve set something up to act as a remote camera for himself, but where out here could he do such a thing?’ Twilight asked.

‘Let’s find out. Nova, you thinking what I’m thinking?’

“Naturally.”

The original Nova slammed her palms together as she floated in place, closing her eyes. In the unseen world of their mind’s eye, ripples of magical energy were sent out in all directions. Objects were becoming defined, the Ring of Death, the ocean, the creatures in the ocean, the empty sky –

“There!”

The waves of magical energy bounced off something in the sky, something round that was looking down on the battlefield.

‘Is…Is that his eye?! Eww!’ Twilight said in disgust.

‘Gives a new meaning to the term ‘bird’s eye view’,’ said Sunset.

“Well then, let’s blind him, shall we?”

Nova pointed her right index finger in the direction the eye was hovering, mimicking a gun. Rainbow light and golden flames wrapped around the finger and condensed into a sphere of power. The sphere broke out, firing a beam of pinpoint light that soared into the sky. The beam then struck a floating blue fireball in the sky, exploding upon being pierced by the beam.

Deathstorm grunted in pain as he clutched at his right eye and realized he couldn’t see anymore. Taking a risk, Deathstorm created a gap in the barrier around his eyes, but was soon to regret it as Nova appeared before him and used a light sword to slash at his eyes. The Embodiment of Death howled in pain as he stumbled backwards with black ichor dripping from the wounded area.

The eraser barrier fell, having lost concentration due to the pain in his eyes. Atomic rings formed around his head, already working to repair the damage.

But Nova wasn’t going to allow him time to recover. Nova’s eyes shined as she brought her hands together, a sword of light appeared before her, taking it into both hands, Nova raised the saber overhead. With a mighty cry, the sword blade tripled in size and length, piercing the sky. Nova brought it down with both hands in one swing, bringing the giant blade down upon Deathstorm. The blade struck him, taking Deathstorm all the way down into the ocean below.

For several seconds, there was nothing as the blade continued to cut down on the dark Firestorm. But soon, the ocean waters began to bubble. A low rumbling could be heard as the sword shattered in Nova’s hands. Before she could ponder what Deathstorm had done, the answer came to her.

The ocean erupted as a giant skeleton burst from the ocean, the “muscle” of the skeleton was made of black plasma, while the bones were blue. The black sun insignia burned bright in the center of Deathstorm’s chest, on top of that, his face became even more demonic. The skull had grown fangs for teeth, and bony horns, the eyes were two orbs of white light narrowed in anger at the small angelic Firestorm below.

“Like I said, you can’t stop death! I embraced it, and now I have been granted power beyond anything this world can imagine! I have transcended my own death sentence, and become part of its ominous power! What do you hope to accomplish, against me?! You’re just like me big sister, and that girl is no better! Filled with pride and hate, a terror in her own right!”

Deathstorm raised his skyscraper sized fist and brought it down on Nova’s position, but at that moment, a beam of rainbow light shot up from her position, growing bigger and bigger until a hand reached out and grabbed Deathstorm’s wrist.

The light shattered apart, revealing a giant Nova. She was garbed in a crimson robe, her body made of white light plasma, with the golden sun cutie mark on her chest, surrounded by six, six-pointed stars. Golden flames formed forearm guards, and her golden crown had morphed into a battle helmet. The crystal horn had grown as well, her hair was comprised of dual red and purple flames, while her wings, which had tripled to six, were made of aurora light.

“You are wrong Deathstorm!” Nova declared.

Nova released Deathstorm’s wrist, throwing it one direction and coming with a left hook to the skeleton behemoth. The blow was powerful enough that it sent shockwaves that made the ocean around them push away, revealing the ocean floor below where they’re feet touched. The energy from their blow was refocused, creating an arena that pushed the water away for several miles.

Despite their huge size, weight had no bearing on them, evidenced by Deathstorm’s quick counterattack by giving a front kick to Nova’s gut, making her skid backwards on her heels as she dug in and tried to slow herself. Nova unfurled her wings and stopped herself before she got any farther.

Nova dashed forwards, throwing a kick which Deathstorm blocked, using that same momentum, Nova, spun around and delivered another kick with her left leg. The blow was thunderous as it pushed Deathstorm back a little, but the dark Firestorm was able to recover, bringing both hands together into a double hammer fist down on the goddess Firestorm. A thick dust cloud formed from the impact of Nova hitting the ground below, but Deathstorm wasn’t done.

Deathstorm jumped into the air and came careening down on Nova, feet first, onto her stomach. A mini-earthquake went off, no doubt alerting several seismographs, if they weren’t already.

Light ichor flew from Nova’s mouth from blow, but again, Deathstorm didn’t stop. The titan of darkness transmuted a collar and chain, making it wrap around Nova’s neck. Deathstorm took off into the sky, dragging Nova with him.

Deathstorm spun Nova around and then slammed back down to the ocean floor, he then reeled her back in and punched her across the face. With another tug of the chain punched her again, sending her flying high up.

Nova had had enough, her eyes shined with light as her hands gripped the chain and broke it apart. Deathstorm glared up at Nova, and transmuted an enormous, dual edged scythe and launched himself up towards his opponent.

The goddess Firestorm transmuted her own weapon, a staff sword made of gold, with a blade forged of pure light. In the stratosphere the duel continued, the ringing clash of blade against blade resounded throughout the world. People turned towards the sky as they watched two lights streak all through the night and daytime skies, hearing the continuous sounds of battle with each strike.

Nova and Deathstorm came to a standoff on the outer atmosphere of the planet, panting, yet not really tired from the battle.

“As much as I dislike the notion, it seems we are somehow evenly matched, I could do this for all eternity!” Deathstorm proclaimed.

“Agreed.”

‘We can’t let this be a draw, even prolonged fighting will damage the world,’ said Sunset.

‘The only way to end this is by removing the Matrix inside him, and destroying it,’ said Twilight.

Inside the Matrix Zone, Sunset placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. ‘You know that the Corrupted Matrix is more than likely keeping him alive, so to speak. If…’

‘I understand…but we cannot ignore the threat that he poses to the world, to all worlds…Nova, do you understand?’

“I hear you, Twilight, Sunset. We grant him a mercy.”

Nova released her sword staff, and powered up for one last attack. Deathstorm chuckled at this, knowing that eventually, he would get the upper hand in this battle, he was unending, and soon, that end would come for the both of them. Deathstorm released his scythe and powered up as well.

“It’ll all be over, here and now!!!”

Both titans’ right fists flared with their death and harmony powers respectively, and charged for the other. The moment they punched, both fists connected, sending a massive explosion that erupted in the outer atmosphere, but that wasn’t all.

From the sun symbol at the center of Nova’s chest, burst forth a rather large version of Firestorm Gaia, sporting all six of her fighting arms. Deathstorm recognized this Firestorm, and was surprised to see her again, but the Bringer of Death merely sneered and fired a black spike right for her.

The spike imbedded itself in her gut, but not before her own sun symbol glowed and released yet another past form, Firestorm Iris. She moved with even greater speed, soaring through space as she got even closer than Gaia.

Deathstorm began to panic as he fired off multiple dark energy blasts, showering the path that Iris was taking. The nimble Firestorm dodged all of them, leaving a rainbow trail behind as she did so. Deathstorm transmuted the black chains again, and sent them through makeshift pocket dimensions. The portals opened around Iris, and latched onto her arms and legs, even bounding her light wings.

However, Iris smiled as her symbol glowed too. From her came an old form, Firestorm Hel. The demon Firestorm channeled her power and fired a beam straight at the titanic form of Deathstorm, striking him at the chest and making him recoil from the blow. But Deathstorm would not take this, opening his mouth and unleashing a torrent of black atomic flames that washed over Hel, despite the damage, she continued on, her center sun symbol glowing.

“Don’t mess this up…!”

Finally, Nu burst forth, much to the surprise of Deathstorm, brandishing his crimson katana. With one powerful slash, a wave of crimson fire blazed across space and struck the black sun symbol on Deathstorm, causing him to roar out in pain as the energy tore up a large gash, with a glowing, dark Firestorm Matrix behind it.

“Sunset, Twilight – GOOOOOOOO!!!”

From Nu, Sunset and Twilight burst forth as streaks of gold and pink fire. Twilight reached out with her right hand, and Sunset with her left. Both streaks entered the gash and slammed their hands against the Dark Matrix. Deathstorm roared out in pain as their harmonious magic and light was burning at him from the inside out, purifying his Matrix.

Deathstorm tried to rip at his own construct chest in attempt to tear out both girls. But the process was already underway, halos of rainbow light appeared behind Sunset and Twilight as the glowing circuit lines on their suits shined with the same aurora light. Beams of light shot out from the titan’s body as a white energy began to overtake the darkness that made it up.

The light crept upwards, until his arms and legs were taken, and then moved to his chest where a swirling mass of aurora, rainbow light formed, and finally, it moved up his neck and encompassed his head, with eyes shooting out beams of aurora light into space.

Finally, with one last motion, Twilight and Sunset clenched their hands into fists, shattering the Dark Matrix and in the process, creating a massive explosion that was brighter than the sun. Down below, the Ring of Death deconstructed itself, the pieces falling apart and disintegrating into nothingness.

In the outer atmosphere, once the light faded, all that was left standing was Nova, but her hands were cradled as Dusk Shine’s body laid in her giant hands. The goddess Firestorm teleported from space and reappeared down below on Earth. Nova had reappeared in a grassy meadow, with the clear blue sky above them. Gently, she laid the body of Dusk Shine on the ground and released her gigantic form to her previous form, but soon that faded and Sunset and Twilight were once again separate beings.

Twilight carefully walked over to her, well little brother, and knelt at his side. She could see it, his body was severely weak, like they had predicted, the degeneration process was accelerated now that the Dark Matrix was gone, and with no Firestorm Protocol to slow it, Dusk Shine was dying.

The genius girl looked to her lover asking an unspoken question. Sunset looked to Dusk Shine, a pensive look appeared as she furrowed her brow in contemplation. She then sighed and nodded to Twilight.

“Don’t…bother…”

Both girls looked to Dusk Shine.

“I’m tired, sister…so tired…”

Twilight’s eyes welled up with tears as she moved Dusk Shine’s head to lay in her lap, slowly stroking his short hair gently. “There can still be a way…Dusk.”

Dusk Shine slowly shook his head. “No…I am what I am, I chose the path of death. I was so transfixed with preventing my fate, and in the end, I only hastened the process, becoming a monster beyond even what I could imagine.”

Twilight took Dusk’s lift hand into her own, gently squeezing as reassurance that she was here.

“It’s not fair…you deserved a life just as much I did…to have a family, friends, to find love…! Dusk Shine, please let us help you, with the power we have now surely –!”

Dusk Shine chuckled. “And that’s why we’ll always be different. You had the chance to live that life, everything has been my choice. Professor Neigh wanted to try and do right by me, and try to instill the same values he did in you, big sister. When I found out the truth, I rejected it all. This was the outcome of that choice, of that path.”

Sunset walked around and sat at Dusk’s right side, her own eyes were a little watery, but she still maintained a stoic expression through it all.

“Sunset…Shimmer. The girl who rose like a phoenix, you did something I was not able to. You were steeped in darkness, and rose to find the light.”

“Not without help,” said Sunset as she looked to Twilight. “We can help you if you’re willing?”

“Heh, still trying to save me. No, I’ve done too much, the sins I bear can never be atoned for.”

Suddenly, Dusk Shine’s feet began to disintegrate into particles of violet embers that slowly ran up his legs. Twilight squeezed her little brother’s hand harder, despite all he had done, she was still his sister, his family.

“Dusk…?” Twilight whispered.

“Sunset Shimmer, allow me this one request, not as your enemy, but as a brother to Twilight?” Dusk asked as the flames reached his waist.

Sunset nodded.

“Keep my sister safe, no matter what. There are things out there…other dangers that are…possibly…far worse than me…” Dusk Shine warned.

Sunset and Twilight glanced to each other, knowing what it was he spoke of.

“The other Deathstorm, right?” Sunset asked.

Dusk Shine nodded. “Be wary, both of you.”

“Dusk…please…”

The flames continued until they overtook him arms and with one last conscious act, Dusk Shine turned to his big sister and smiled, a genuine smile, no hint of the maniacal, sociopathic bringer of death, only that of the boy who was at one time still innocent, breaking through for the first time in years. With that, the flames enveloped his head, and the violet embers rose into the air, breaking down into particles of violet light before finally disappearing into the ether.

Twilight looked at her hands, the hands that not just a moment ago were holding her little brother, she began to sob loudly, crying for the unfairness that was dealt to Dusk Shine, crying for the happiness he was denied, and crying because she had lost a true blood brother, clone or not, he was still her family.

Sunset moved closer and brought Twilight into a hug as she continued to cry into Sunset’s chest. The former Equestrian cried too, feeling the sadness of whole situation.

In the end, they were able to conquer their fear, became something beautiful and stopped the end of the world. Yet, as happy as the rest of the world would be for the victory, there would still be some who would see this as bittersweet.

Entry 44: From now until forever

The morning light drifted into Sunset’s bedroom, the rays hitting her eyes and making her groan in annoyance that the sun had chosen such an annoying way to wake her from sleep. She turned around, away from the window and the annoying rays of the sun, only to find something a lot more pleasant to look at.

Twilight was asleep next to her, breathing softly, and her eyes giving away the faintest show of a twitch. Dreaming, huh Sparky?

Sunset brushed some of her lover’s hair over her ear, allowing her to see more of her beautiful, sleeping face. It was still hard for Sunset to believe that everything had calmed down after only three months.

After the entire thing went down, in what was being peddled as the “Firestorm Crisis”, the world was taking a deeper look into the creation of the Firestorms, and the ones responsible, finding paper trails that led to some very influential and wealthy individuals who were backing the Organization. Apparently there were some who managed to escape Dusk Shine’s wrath, but it seemed like the law was catching up to each of the stragglers.

It also put into perspective the existence of beings with great power, especially those who used them for both the defense of the populace, and the destruction of the world.

So far, no one had tried to fill the power vacuum that the Organization left behind, and personally, Sunset was glad. These last three months were probably the best they had in a while.

Twilight moaned as her eyes fluttered open, her lips curled into a smile as she looked upon her girlfriend. “Hey.”

“Hey, did I wake you?” Sunset asked.

“No, but I guess we should get up,” said Twilight.

A sultry smile appeared on Sunset’s lips as she moved closer to her lover, wrapping a hand around her waist. “Or, we could just stay in bed, and play all day. Although, we will have to do something about these pesky pajama pants.”

Twilight shivered in delight at the feeling of Sunset’s hand slowly making its way towards her rear, but sighed and stopped her. “As fun as that sounds, we do have that double date with Lyra and Bonbon later today, and that other thing as well.”

Sunset snorted. “How the heck did we get roped into doing double date, couple things with them?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Gee, I don’t know? Maybe it had do with that last date we went on. You know, the one with the movies, the late night dinner, the inappropriate touching during the ride home, and the inevitable foursome that took place in your living room!”

Sunset blushed as she remembered that night. “Heh, heh…yeah, that was a fun night though, right?”

“I couldn’t stand for half the day,” said Twilight in a deadpan tone.

“Sooooo…you really had fun?”

“You’re going to be the monkey in the middle if it devolves that far.”

Sunset gulped, the idea was tantalizing, and at the same time terrifying. With that established, both girls decided to get up and shower, together.

After some light messing around in said shower. Sunset went into her kitchen and began cooking up some breakfast for them, with a flick of her wrist she began to take out the ingredients, humming a happy tune as she used her magic to help in the cooking process.

Twilight waved her hand over the TV, turning it on to the news as she logged onto her laptop that she kept at Sunset’s.

The news was still going on about the Firestorm Crisis, noting the appearance of a couple of crimson and purple Firestorms who were stopping the ones who were threatening the people of the planet. Thankfully their identities were never found out, so they were both able to live a life of peace, for the most part.

“So, find anything interesting?” Sunset asked.

“No, despite all the info that was leaked onto the Net from when Dusk destroyed most of the Organization, there’s still nothing on this ‘Mastermind’.”

Ever since Dusk Shine had revealed what the identity of the Organization leader to be a Firestorm, but more than that, a Deathstorm from another dimension. The rest of the Organization Big Three were revealed.

Crazy Rich and Rich Industries, his son Filthy Rich was scandalized, along with their daughter, Diamond Tiara. Sunset felt bad for them, especially Diamond Tiara, she had no part in what the Organization did, but because of it, she would be stigmatized for it for a long time. Thankfully though, the youngest sisters of their friends were more than happy to be there for her, and soon a friendship formed between them.

The other was Cherry Jubilee, the woman was apparently a distant friend of the apple family, and Applejack had even worked on her orchard for a bit as part of getting some extra money for the family. Reports still came in on how the land where Jubilee’s orchard and family were located was completely uninhabitable, nothing living or dead could survive there and the entire area was sectioned off as a hazardous zone.

“Well, this other Deathstorm isn’t here, at least that’s what Dusk told us,” said Sunset.

“Yes, but there’s still the chance that that Deathstorm could come back, and what’s worse, what world could she have come from to be just as powerful as Dusk Shine?” Twilight pondered.

Sunset walked over to her lover and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Let’s not worry too much about the ‘what ifs’, for now we have some semblance of peace, and some friends to see. So let’s eat up and head out.”

RESIDENCE OF RAINBOW DASH…

“G…let me go, I need to get ready…” Rainbow groaned.

Rainbow Dash was currently in bed, having realized that she was going to be late for the event if she didn’t get up soon, however, it was a bit of a trick to get out of the vice grip of her girlfriend’s arms.

Gilda was lying behind Rainbow, in nothing but a tank top and boxers, while Rainbow…was wearing less than that under the covers.

They had had quite the wild night, despite knowing what they were going to be doing Saturday, but still, a little fun couldn’t have hurt.

Rainbow sighed as she looked back at the girl who was once her friend, then enemy, and now girlfriend. It took some time, but eventually, both Gilda and Rainbow Dash realized what they felt for each other was real and decided to give it a shot. So far, neither had regretted it.

After some prodding with her elbow, Rainbow Dash managed to make Gilda release her, unfortunately she hadn’t realized how close she was to the edge of the bed, so when she rolled out she rolled right off the edge and onto the floor, taking the sheets with her.

Gilda finally awoke with a start as she looked around and saw that Dash wasn’t around. She followed the groans to the left side of the bed and watched as her girlfriend tried to squirm her way out of the sheets that wrapped up her body.

“Well, it’s not the sexiest look you’ve come up with Dash, but I don’t mind unwrapping my toys,” said Gilda with a pervy grin.

“Ha, ha, would help me get out of this, I don’t want to be late!” Rainbow shot back.

Gilda chuckled. “Alright, alright, don’t get your panties in a wad.” She then stopped and looked over to the corner of the room, noticing said undergarments were in a wad next to her other clothes. “Well, too late for that huh?”

“I’m seriously going to drop kick you.”

The former delinquent dropped to the floor, straddling the wrapped up Rainbow Dash as she leaned down. “I don’t mind, you know I like it rough, Dashie.”

“Gilda…c’mon,” said Rainbow.

Gilda sighed, smiled and kissed Rainbow on the lips. “You owe me a good time later tonight.”

“Might be sooner if it goes well today.”

Gilda grinned and got off her girlfriend, tugging at a loose part of the sheets, allowing it to unravel a little so that Rainbow could finally move. The prismatic girl got the sheet, using them to cover herself and making it look like she had a makeshift white dress on.

“Damn, you actually look hotter like that,” said Gilda.

Rainbow smirked. “Hurry and get in there so I can shower too.”

“Fine, fine.”

The former punk walked into Rainbow’s bathroom and shut the door. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she looked upon her life and how it turned out thus far. Gilda was really all she wanted in a girlfriend, she was as brash as herself, and just as daring. Crass, perverted to the same level as she was, and despite the gruff exterior, Gilda did have a soft and caring side, it was as if little by little Rainbow Dash was reaching out to that shy little girl she remembered back at the Junior Speedsters camp.

A pang of guilt hit Rainbow’s heart as she sat there on the edge of bed, remembering that it was her own actions that forced Gilda to build up a wall of aggression and pride around her heart, shutting in that girl from long ago to try and show Rainbow that she was strong and not the weak little girl she remembered.

Actually…you were way stronger than me G. You had enough courage to tell me that you liked me, and that you liked other girls, and you definitely had more guts than me when you kissed me, thought Rainbow.

“Of course, I acted like a scared little girl. I felt different like that, but I was afraid to show it…”

“Would you stop with the guilt trip?” Gilda called out from the doorway. “We both messed up, we were young, and too emotional to understand to how to deal with it. You pretended to not be into girls, and I…well…I became an asshole. So neither of us is perfect, but we can at least start over, we’re both willing to.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, Gilda was right. If anything this past year had taught them, is that things were changing, and change was painful, but through it something better can come about.

“Thanks, G.”

“No problem. So, are you going to just sit there, or are you going to join me in here?”

Rainbow Dash smirked, stood up, and released the sheets she was using to cover herself.

Gilda went a little wide eyed and smirked. “So, that a yes?”

CANTERLOT CENTRAL PARK…

Summer vacation was about to get underway in a week for most of the schools in the city, and to celebrate, a music festival was being held at the center of the city. Famous singers like Sapphire Shores, and even the Queen of Pop herself, Countess Coloratura had come.

But more than that, it was also going to serve as a venue for newer, local bands to showcase their talent to the city. So of course, Rainbow Dash had gotten the Rainbooms entered, believing it a perfect opportunity to display how “awesome” they were to the whole city.

Although one may argue that they had already established that awesomeness by saving the entire city from a trio of super powered monster girls from another world, but most of that event was kept quiet, a lot of the footage that contained them in it was mysteriously wiped from the net.

But people who knew, knew. It wasn’t broadcasted to everyone, it was seen in the subtle nod, thumbs up, or wink to the girls who helped save the city. Kind of an unspoken rule among the citizens to not let on to anyone who could hurt their saviors.

A motorcycle whizzed into the parking lot, carrying Twilight and Sunset, both dismounted the bike and proceeded into the festival, currently, a band by the name of Flash Drive was currently playing to the crowd, the lead guitarist was shredding away at his instrument, belting out the lyrics of his song as the crowd cheered for him.

Among the crowd, the lead singer/guitarist, Flash Sentry, spotted someone familiar, Sunset Shimmer. At first he was a little apprehensive, but then saw her with someone, a girl with dark purple hair and pink and violet streak running through it. Sunset was smiling, a real genuine smile, and so was the girl next to her.

It had been a long time since he’d seen that smile on his ex-girlfriend’s face, and it made him happy. She used to be closed off, prideful, and – as much as he didn’t like to say it – a royal bitch.

However, the girl he was looking at was different, especially since she waved to him and shouted out with the crowd. Flash smiled and struck a loud chord, making the crowd even more excited. Sunset seemed to catch the meaning behind it threw Flash a thumbs up.

“So that was your…ahem…ex-boyfriend, huh?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Yeah, Flash Sentry, he was alright.”

“Oh…um…he seems really successful in his music…” Twilight murmured.

Sunset threw her arm over Twilight’s shoulder, bringing the nerd girl close to her. “Hey, I’m not leaving you for anyone, alright? I want to be with you, at this point Flash’s a friend…well…I think, I’ll have to have a real talk with him about who I was when we met. But otherwise, you’re my girlfriend Sparky.”

The former unicorn punctuated this with a nuzzle to Twilight’s cheek, making the purple girl giggle in response, she was starting to like this Equestrian show of affection.

“Please spare us the cutesy displays.”

Sunset and Twilight turned to see a familiar trio.

“Adagio, Sonata, Aria, you guys came!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Of course we did, Sunny, wherever there is music, you can bet the Sirens would make an appearance,” said Adagio.

The alpha Siren slid up next to Sunset, leaning on the other girl’s shoulder and practically invading her personal space. While Sunset didn’t mind, having chalked it up to Adagio’s flirty demeanor, Twilight’s face was turning a bit red from the display.

Apparently Adagio had not backed down from her earlier stated attraction to Sunset, and was not subtle in her flirting and overall means of seduction.

Twilight glanced to the other two Sirens, Sonata and Aria, who were currently locked arm and arm as Sonata rested her head against the gruff Siren’s shoulder.

“And you two don’t find this a little infuriating?” Twilight asked.

“Nope.” Aria answered.

“Why?!”

“Because Dagi’s always going to love us, no matter what! So even if she flirts and stuff, it’s not like she can’t still love us, too,” said Sonata.

“Yeah, I mean, not like we can’t expand our little love circle. I was actually getting used to the idea of having her in the group,” said Aria.

Twilight’s eye twitched, they were truly Equestrian if what Sunset had told her about polyamorous relationships was true. Despite knowing that Sunset would be true to her, it was still unsettling to watch Adagio practically glob onto Sunset, and – Oh my goddess is she actually putting Sunset’s arm in-between her cleavage!?

Sure enough Adagio had somehow gotten Sunset’s right arm precariously placed right between her assets, the blush on Sunset’s face was more than enough evidence to show that she was aware of this. Twilight then moved closer to Sunset and managed to get Sunset’s left arm between her own cleavage, making Sunset blush even harder.

“Adagio Dazzle, I would very much appreciate it if you wouldn’t cling to my girlfriend,” said Twilight.

Adagio giggled in her seductive, yet taunting tone. “Oh Twily, I don’t see a ring on this finger yet, so fair game sweetie.”

“I’m working on it – eep!” Twilight shut her mouth, realizing what she had said.

Adagio raised an eyebrow and smirked at the declaration.

“Sunset and Twilight sitting in a tree, K, I, S, S, I, N, G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage!” Sonata sang.

“Sonata, it’s not possible for two girls to have a child, other than adoption,” said Twilight in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Um…Twi, you remember that sheet of paper with that spell that I said was to be used a lot later in our lives? Well…” Sunset leaned closer to her lover and whispered into Twilight’s ear.

Twilight turned completely red and finally fell over, steam practically wafting out of her ears as the implications of what Sunset said were setting into her brain.

As they looked upon the downed girl, Adagio nodded. “Well, I never said we couldn’t share.”

“Seriously?! You know Countess Coloratura?!” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash yelled in unison.

Applejack shook her head from the near deafening double whammy yell into her ear. “Ow, and yeah, Ah do know her. But she definitely didn’t call herself ‘Countess’, Rara was way different from what she is now.”

Rarity picked up on that. “Excuse me, darling, but ‘Rara’?”

“Yeah, Rara was more of a down to Earth kind of gal, she even thought her whole name was a mouthful, so Ah shortened it, takin’ Colo-RA-tu-RA, and callin’ her Rara.” Applejack explained.

Pinkie and Rainbow were just standing there with their mouths hanging open, Applejack had known the Queen of Pop since childhood, and apparently that same Queen of Pop recognized her enough to actually run up to her earlier that day and give her a hug.

Of course, the look of jealousy on both the party girl and sports girl was not lost on anyone, and neither was it lost on Rarity, but everyone believed her jealousy didn’t stem from the same place as Pinkie and Rainbow.

“Well…I-I’m glad you got to see your famous…talented…beautiful…well endowed, childhood friend,” said Rarity, putting on a smile as her right eye twitched.

Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow were definitely not buying that.

“Aww, c’mon sugarcube, Rara’s an old friend…and ‘sides…yer meh girlfriend so, y’know,” said Applejack as she blushed.

Rarity took of her keytar and went over to hug the farm girl and place a kiss on her freckled cheek. “I do now, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten jealous like that.”

“Ugh, all this lovey dovey stuff’s going to give me diabetes, we need to get ready, where’s Twilight and Sunset?!” Rainbow asked.

“Over here!”

The rest of the girls watched as Sunset and Twilight walked backstage, following behind them were Sirens.

“Sorry, got a little sidetracked,” said Sunset.

Pinkie appeared before Sonata, and the two girls fist bumped and went to some crazy greeting routine.

“Hey Sona, you guys here for the showcase?’ Pinkie asked.

“Yeah, we’re in it too!” Sonata replied.

“You are?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, as The Dazzlings,” said Adagio.

Shocker, thought Rainbow. “C’mon, let’s go set up.”

The girls set to work getting the stage ready for their turn in the showcase, while doing so the newly named Dazzlings helped out. The trio explained how they went to see this girl named Tree Hugger, who showed them how to achieve their singing voices again, but instead of drawing on the negative energy, she taught them how to bring about positive feelings from those they sang to and draw energy from that. The change actually helped them, making their bodies feel more rejuvenated. The Sirens doubted it would grant them immortality, but it prolong their lives a little more beyond the norm of some humans. While they continued to set up, Twilight managed to peek behind the curtain and looked into the crowd.

There she saw her mother and father, a bit of nervousness entered her stomach, she had never sang in front of her parents before. At least not on this grand a scale.

A couple of feet from them were Shining Armor and Cadance. Twilight remembered the long explanation she and Shining Armor had to give to Cadance about what happened to him, as well as what Twilight was. At first she thought Cadance was going to leave and never speak to them again. But then she embraced them both, holding both brother and sister tight as she cried, saying how they had been through so much and that she wished she had known.

In the end, everything turned out fine. They were able to reverse Shining Armor’s death into something along the lines of witness protection due to his connection to the military, saying they had to fake his death until it was safe. Of course the government went along with this as giving the full explanation would mean revealing the full truth about the Firestorm Crisis. Now the two were even closer than ever, and there was the promise of wedding bells in the near future.

Twilight spotted a couple more familiar faces and motioned for Sunset to come to her. Sunset walked over and looked through the gap in the curtain.

It was there she spotted Celestia and Luna, both wearing casual, comfortable clothes. There were some nervous looks from some of the teenagers who went to the school, wondering if they had done something wrong to warrant their principals to come to a music showcase like this.

True to their word, both women had officially adopted Sunset, with Celestia, on paper, being her adopted mother, and Luna being a co-guardian, but really acting like the second mother.

Celestia and Luna had offered Sunset a room at their house, to be more like a family, with the promise of restricting their more private activities to the bedroom, and only when she was gone.

As much as Sunset enjoyed the offer, she had gotten used to the apartment and living on her own, plus she knew how much in love with each other they were, and didn’t want them to have to retrain themselves from showing it to each other because she was around. Besides, it made things less awkward when Sunset had Twilight over, no worrying about her two “moms” walking in on them.

However, she was still feeling nervous about this. Sunset had never sung in front of anyone, ever, aside from during that battle with the super powered Sirens.

“Nervous?” Twilight asked.

“A little…you too?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah.”

“We’ve faced life or death situations that put this all to shame, and yet we can still feel this way over just performing?” Sunset chuckled.

Twilight smiled. “I think it’s good that we can still feel nervous about small things like this, because no matter what crazy things come our way, we can still return to a life like this, with our friends and families.”

“Speaking of which…Twilight…about that thing I wanted to do when the time comes…?”

Twilight placed her index finger on Sunset’s lips and gave a soft “shh”. “We can talk about that later, but right now, let’s make some music with our friends.”

The Rainbooms stood upon the stage, with the Dazzlings giving them the thumbs up from the side. The curtain rose up and instantly a roaring cheer assaulted them.

Sunset and Twilight glanced about, looking upon everything. They still couldn’t believe where they were now, one who was made to aid in the world’s destruction, and another who forsake her home world and plotted to take it over. Both never thought that their lives would become more than what they were allotted, love certainly never came to mind.

Yet here they were, about to play for hundreds of people, surrounded by friends and family, heroes to the world, and both having found a special connection to each other, their lives forever intertwined.

“♪And the sound that we hear in our hearts♪

♪Makes a crescendo~♪

♪And the light that ignites in the dark♪

♪It makes us all glow~♪

♪And shine like rainbows~♪

♪We shine like rainbows~♪

♪Shine like rainbows~♪

♪We shine like rainbows~♪”

Author's Note

THE END...?

Epilogue

“Twilight I don’t know about this…?”

“Sunset, you said you were ready, and as nervous as I feel, I know we need to do this. You need to do this.”

“I know…but…I’m kind of scared.”

“So am I, this is a big leap for both us! But it’s one we have to do together.”

Sunset sighed. “I understand, I just don’t know if I’m ready to face Princess Celestia.”

A few months had passed since the Firestorm Crisis and now the stars and moon had aligned perfectly to allow the portal to Equestria open again.

Sunset had decided long ago that before she could move on with her life as a human in this world, and build a life with Twilight, she needed to make peace with her mentor, Princess Celestia. Sunset had made this decision, she needed to make amends and face whatever punishment she deserved, plus, if luck permitted, she needed to see if her parents were still around and if possible introduce them to her very special somepony.

With that in mind, Sunset had taken the old journal she brought with her to this world. She wrote the words that she never thought she’d ever right for the rest of her life.

Dear Princess Celestia

It’s been some years since I’ve contacted you after I exiled myself from Equestria.

You probably already know, but this is Sunset Shimmer.

First: let me say that I am alive and well. I…I wanted to let you know how sorry I am for what I did back in Equestria, for spitting on all you strived to teach me and endow with me with.

I acted like a petty, selfish child and lashed out at you and others when all you tried to do is help me see the light.

Because of that, I strayed far. So far in fact, that I plotted to take over our home by stealing the Element of Magic. But as you can see that plan went awry.

A lot of things happened here, too much to put down in this one journal. So…I’m asking for your permission to return to Equestria. I want to see you again, and apologize for everything in person. I know you probably have little reason to trust me, if you want, you can even have the Royal Guard there to escort me in shackles.

But I want to come back, to make amends. I have a special somepony here in this world, and I want to make a life with her, but if I don’t clear up my past, I can’t move forward into the future, and I don’t want this dark cloud hanging over my head the rest of my life wondering if we’re alright.

You mean so much to me, you brought me up when my parents and I were living in squalor, and that’s something I can never repay. So…Princess Celestia, I ask you. May I have an audience with you?

Your faithful once faithful student

Sunset Shimmer

Sunset remembered watching the journal for a long time, wondering if Princess Celestia had even remembered the journal, or had stored it away somewhere. Chances were she threw away anything having to do with her failure of a student, it only made sense.

However, as she looked at the journal, she noticed that there were water stains on it. Sunset wiped her eyes, but somehow the tears weren’t coming from her. Just then, light shined on the journal page next to the water stains.

Dear Sunset Shimmer

I’ve missed you so much! I-I can’t believe this – I thought I would never see you again!

It fills my heart with joy to finally see these words written from you!

I-I’m sorry I’m…I’m a bit emotional.

But, truly, I am so very happy to see that you are alive and well, and of course you can return, I had originally moved the mirror to the Crystal Empire for safe keeping, but now I will see to it that it is quickly returned to Canterlot for your arrival.

My little pony, I cannot wait to see you again. I would also like meet this “very special somepony” who has stolen my student’s heart.

I hope to see you soon, please inform me of the date of your arrival.

Love

Princess Celestia

Sunset remembered how happy she felt when she read that, she had burst into tears and smiled big enough to rival Pinkie Pie. Thankfully Twilight was there to share in her mirth.

It didn’t take much prodding on Sunset’s part to make Twilight want to come with her, after hearing about the world she was from, Twilight eagerly wanted to visit Equestria and see what Sunset looked like as a pony, as well as speak to these other sapient ponies where magic was the law of the land.

But just like a child about to perform on stage for the first time, Sunset was beginning to have second thoughts about going through it.

The surface of the marble statue began to ripple like water, the dimensional bridge connecting both worlds had been opened, and would remain open for the next three days until another two years.

“Sunset, you’ve waited so long, it’s time to make amends.”

The former unicorn inhaled and exhaled slowly, gathering her courage and steeling her nerves. She needed to do this, for the both of them, for their future.

“You’re right, let’s go.”

“Sorry Miss Shimmer, Miss Sparkle, but I’m afraid there’s going to be a bit of a delay in your reunion.”

Both Twilight and Sunset turned around, watching as a tall man in a trench coat came walking towards them. The girls assumed aggressive stances, prepared to fight this stranger, but before they could utter the activation word, the man pulled out an object from his coat.

A bright flash went off that blinded Sunset and Twilight. Their minds began to get fuzzy and the feeling in their legs was starting to go. Both tried to fight against it, but whatever the device did was muddling their thoughts too much for them to think clearly.

After another moment, both girls fell to the ground, unconscious. The moonlight illuminated the man’s features a bit. He had slicked back spiky brown hair, with tan colored skin, blue eyes, and a twin tail scarf around his neck. The man crouched down and looked to Sunset with a bewildered expression.

“Sorry my dear, we’ll have to put a slight pause on your reunion for the time being. I need you – both of you.”

[Captain Turner, I’m currently overhead, ready for extraction.]

“Thank you Gideon, on that note have you located our other potential recruit?” Time Turner asked.

[Yes Captain, dimension scanners have found a possible candidate in Equestria 45. As you requested she is a bearer of the light of the Emotional Spectrum.]

Turner looked to his wristband and went over the information and nodded. “Very good, Gideon, prepare to leave after this. We have a meeting with a Miss Starburst.”

Author's Note

IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING

Entry 0: If at first you don't succeed...

Test tubes and beakers filled with unknown concoctions, supercomputers calculating a near infinite amount formulas, diagrams and notes scattered about a metal work desk, of this was just par for the course when one was a scientist. Within the state-of-the-art lab, one man by the name of Bill Neigh toils away to unlock the secrets of the universe, as a scientist, he believed his duty was to help mankind achieve greater heights of not only technology, but also understanding. To that end he poured his life into his research, gaining grants left and right, achieving Nobel prizes for what he dubbed “minor” innovations and discoveries. They would all pale in comparison to his real work. But…like all great works for the betterment of mankind, there was always someone willing to turn that hope, indeed the possible salvation of all, into a weapon of death and damnation.

Take now for example, being held against his well in a laboratory that was the envy of every physicist on the planet, equipped with tech and various other knickknacks that could make any scientist’s day at the lab heaven. But it was all for one purpose, to create human weapons, beings that were near that of a god. Of course, Professor Neigh knew of the dangers of his project, and what it was capable of, but really, every new discovery was a double-edged sword. But these fools actually wanted him to mesh it with a human body.

Fools, he thought, the lot of them.

Such power could not be held by one human being, but he had no choice. The “Organization” wanted a super weapon, one that rendered all military weaponry, even possible otherworldly powers, useless. He never understood why they had mentioned that portion specifically. To Professor Neigh, it seemed these people were fighting a war, but it didn’t appear to be war fought on only just one front, if he had to wager, they were possibly cells, communicating with others and from what the Professor was able to gather, these guys were up and running.

Something must’ve happened to one of their other cells, making this one in particular pick up the slack, he hypothesized.

Professor Neigh was allowed very few privileges, they fed him well, allowed him sleep although the good doctor hardly did much of that. But recently they’ve wanted more results, probably because they as a cell have been activated. They’ve been rushing human trials, forcing him to conduct experiments on human test subjects, all in order to finish his work. They could never understand.

How could they…They’re only concern is power, not knowledge or understanding, without those, power is just meaningless, nothing but pure destruction. Only one person understood…only one…

Professor Neigh remembered back long ago, meeting a young girl no more than six years of age, and yet she possessed an intellect that was so pure and innocent, he hardly believed she was just a girl. She was only interested in the benefits of what science could do for others, though she was a bit of a shy thing.

If there was anyone at all that could understand what my work is truly meant to do, it’s her…

“Professor Neigh.”

The lights in the lab flicked on, dousing the area in illumination. Professor Bill Neigh stood at his work desk in his dark tan sweater vest overlapping his white shirt and brown tie, a pair of large framed, brown colored glasses resting on his nose. His white hair was disheveled, which was the case most of the time. His light-gray skin did little to hide the bags under his azure eyes, showing just how much sleep he had lost over the course of his work.

The man who addressed him stepped forward, he was a youngster compared to the forty-year-old, couldn’t be more than twenty-three, twenty-four tops. His uniform was all black, except for the white gloves that covered his hands. He carried himself with great authority and decor, his violet eyes gazing over the messy lab. The light caught his smooth purple skin, and his well-groomed violet hair, with a pink and purple streak going through it. Indeed, this was the fabled “pretty boy” of every girls dream, at least that what it was back in Professor Neigh’s high school days.

Flanking him were three of his personal protection detail, they were women, of that much he was certain of. They were smaller than him, and the pretty boy was certainly tall, coming up to just below his shoulders. They worse hoodies of all things, keeping their faces away from the light so that the shadows concealed their identities. They wore no signs of ranking, but during Professor Neigh’s time in this place, he was certain they had a high rank, probably to the point that just seeing them was enough of a validation.

“Commander Shine,” greeted Professor Neigh.

“Professor, I told you, when it’s just us in the lab, you can call me Dusk.”

“Well Commander to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine day?”

“It’s actually night time.” Dusk Shine corrected.

“Oh, really wouldn’t know, since I never see the outside anyway,” he retorted.

One of the girls looked as if she were about to go and strike the Professor, but the girl in the middle raised her hand in front of the other, a simple command gesture to halt the other’s aggression. The girl stopped and let out a huff as she crossed her arms in front of her. The middle one kept both hands on her hips, while the left one just kept her hands behind her back, tilting her head back and forth as she listened to Dusk Shine and the Professor.

“Yes well, were I to give you that privilege would you even step foot away from your work?” Dusk Shine queried.

Professor Neigh rolled his eyes in annoyance, knowing the answer. “Not really, no.”

“Well, if you ever want to, I could always arrange for an escort to bring you out and get some fresh air. Lord knows your brain cells might benefit from some.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Whether he knew it or not, Dusk Shine was giving the Professor good Intel about his prison, little by little he would get small tidbits of information like this, like a jigsaw puzzle. “So again, why have you come here?”

“We have another suitable candidate for trails, all we need is you and your work to start.”

Professor Neigh snorted and walked over to the vault near the back. Dusk Shine and his protection detail followed the professor and watched as he punched in the code to open the large steel door that kept his works safe. A light shone from inside as cold air whooshed through the room. Dozens upon dozens of large, five foot long by three feet wide capsules lined up the shelves within the vault. Inside the glass and metal container was a swirling ball of fiery light, almost as if the sun itself had been captured and stored within it. Professor Neigh took one of the capsules and left the vault as it automatically closed behind him.

Dusk Shine led the professor to their usual testing facility. It was just a quick elevator ride up some stories. Professor Neigh already guessed long ago that they were underground somewhere, but whenever they brought him to the testing facility up top, it was always different. One time was in a mountainous region, another time was in the desert, the time after that an island in the middle of nowhere, and so on and so on. All of them were remote locations, and for good reason too.

Professor Neigh, Dusk Shine, and the three girls arrived in the control room. Various other scientists were there as well, but they were all working for the Organization, not forced to like he was. Dusk Shine took the capsule from the professor and gave to one the other scientists. Once in hand, he placed it in a tube that closed and shot the capsule through a long tube, like the drive-thru of a bank. There was a glass window that gave everybody a good view of the outside, up above it were monitors that had cameras trained on the test subject. It was a man, fairly muscular, he didn’t seem at all afraid of what was going to happen to him.

How could he, I doubt they even told him the risks. Professor Neigh glanced to Dusk Shine. That boy is dangerously smart and manipulative, I doubt there isn’t a poor sap he couldn’t doop.

Professor Neigh briefly wondered if that’s how he got these three young ladies to follow him. Although, having them as bodyguards was something else. If they were deadly and strong enough to protect him, then it only meant he was even more dangerous. From the window, all they saw was nothing. But on the monitors they watched as the capsule arrived to the test subject.

“Vitals?” Professor Neigh asked.

“Normal BP.”

“Heart rate is steady.

“All nano-doctors show no change in the subject’s metabolism.”

“All organ functions are nominal.”

“We’re ready to commence the test.”

Neigh gave a reluctant sigh. “Give the test subject the go ahead.”

On the monitors, the red light on the pole changed to green, indicating that it was time. The man held the capsule tight as he spoke aloud the word.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The capsule broke and the small sun expanded, engulfing the man. A bright light was emitted from the release of the power, at the center of it all, the man stood strong, roaring out as his body was infused with the power of a blazing sun. Inside the control room, the other doctors were recording the data of what kind of changes were occurring to the man as the power was absorbed into his body. After about thirty seconds the light dissipated, and what stood was not man, but something else.

His body had crimson red armor on, but instead of a flesh and blood body, it appeared as if the flames had woven themselves together to form a body for him. The man’s skin replaced with plasma fire, his eyes blazed red as his head had flames lapping off it. He was surprised at first, but with the surge of power coursing through him, he was more excited than scared really.

“Report,” ordered Dusk Shine.

“Energy levels are holding at 100.05%.”

“Molecular stability is confirmed.”

“Radiation emission is zero.”

“All subject vitals and condition is green, no abnormalities.”

“Except the turning into a walking fireball, but, you know, that’s normal.” Professor Neigh joked sarcastically.

“Think of it as the next step in human evolution Professor,” said Dusk Shine. “And be happy, you’ve finally –”

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

“What is going one?!” Dusk Shine demanded.

“Sir, energy levels are building! Two-hundred, two-fifty, five-eighty, 1,000 and still going!”

“Vitals are erratic! BP is spiking! Heart rate elevated!”

On the monitors the man was holding his head as he screamed at the top his lungs, the plasmatic flames of his body lashed out in every direction, scorching the ground around him. The man flailed his arms out and fell to the ground, rolling around and continuing to scream. His body glowed brighter and brighter, his red eyes shining brilliantly at the same time. Beneath him, the ground was turning into molten rock, literally burning a hole in the earth.

“Radiation levels are at critical!”

“RAISE THE BLAST SHIELDS!” Dusk Shine shouted.

Thick titanium barriers slammed down over the viewing glass, their only means of seeing what was happening was the monitors and they weren’t going to last much longer.

“Oh my god! 9,000 and still rising! He’s going into meltdown!”

At that moment a powerful white light shined from the monitors and then static. There was an eerie quiet that settled over everything, but that was not to last. A powerful “BOOM” roared out in every direction, the shockwave from the explosion rattled the observation bunker, making everyone inside hang on for dear life. The rumbling of the ground and roaring of the explosion seemed to go on forever, but after a minute or two, it all subsided. Dusk Shine had fallen to the ground and was given a hand up by his subordinates. Once back on his feet, he dusted himself off and looked to the doctors.

“Status report.”

“Vitals are all flat lined.”

“Energy levels zero.”

“Radiation fallout is high, but containable sir.”

“Firestorm Protocol #561 is a failure, sir.”

“No, there are no ‘failures’ we just learned how to not repeat ourselves next time. Remember, failures can teach us ways to avoid worse ones down the road and bring us closer to a success. Now run the data and send it to Professor Neigh’s station.”

The other doctors nodded and went to work.

“Funny, with your higher ups wanting this project done quickly, you don’t seem to be bothered by things like this,” said Professor Neigh.

“Well, any true artisan knows it takes patience and work to take inspiration and turn it into reality. Some of my ‘higher ups’ don’t have much patience I’m afraid.” Dusk Shine raised his right hand and stared at it intensely as he made a fist. “But those fools have all the time in world…as where I…” The young man unclenched his fist and looked directly at Professor Neigh. “It’s as the old saying goes Professor Neigh, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’.”

Author's Note

The battle of nuclear might commences...

Entry 12: Busy Days, Nicknames, and Confessions

Russia was beautiful this time of year, the slight chill in the air, the people were walking about minding their own business, oh yeah, and let’s not forget the fiery inferno now descending upon Moscow.

The citizens all screamed in terror as a man, clad in red and white, his flames burning the same colors, walked through the city, proclaiming his displeasure with the country, and how he was here to make Russia great again, but that required that Mother Russia to be like the phoenix. Needing to be burned and rise from the ashes.

Of course the government thought that he was crazy and had already sent in troops to take down the rogue Firestorm. But as was always the case, normal means of fighting were ineffective against the power of a Firestorm Protocol.

Just as the Russian forces thought their time was nigh, two fiery comets streak through the skies above. One was a golden in color, and the other pink. The Russian Firestorm saw the new additions coming, looking upon them dubiously. The two streaks of fire stopped in midair and burst apart, revealing Sunset and Twilight, poised for battle.

The Russian Firestorm narrowed his gaze, pointed towards them, and started saying something in Russian.

“Uh, do you have any idea what it is he’s saying?” Sunset asked.

“He’s asking who we are and what we’re doing here,” said Twilight.

“Since when do you speak Russian, Sparky?”

“Um…well…one of the things the Organization drilled into our minds was learning multiple languages…”

Sunset smirked impressively at her new girlfriend. “Wow, how many?”

“I can speak Russian, Japanese, Hindi, French, Spanish, Swedish, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Latin, a few African dialects, Swahili, Cuban, Arabic and –”

“Okay, okay, okay, you’re a walking universal translator!”

The Russian Firestorm had a vein pop out, being ignored by the two new Firestorms was not something he liked. He then spouted something else in Russian, pointing at Sunset now. Twilight’s face turned red as her white eyes narrowed. She then brought her hands together, the atomic rings forming around them. Twilight then fired a beam of pure graviton energy right at the Russian Firestorm. The beam washed over him like a tidal wave as it slammed him an abandoned building below.

Sunset blinked, she didn’t know what the Russian Firestorm said, but whatever it was it made Twilight’s face redden with anger.

“Um, Sparky, you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine!”

“Ooookaaaayy, so what did he say to get you pissy?” Sunset asked.

Twilight rubbed her right arm as she looked away embarrassed. “He…um…said he didn’t like being ignored and…”

“And…?” Sunset asked again, waving her hand to signal Twilight to continue.

“And he called you a w-w-wh, ahem, a prostitute…it didn’t translate well.”

Sunset had a feeling that “prostitute” was Twilight’s mild way of saying what he really said. “And you got angry because he called me that? The guy was just talking trash, not like I care.”

“Well I do care when he’s talking about m-my girlfriend! EEP!” Twilight covered her mouth, a fierce crimson blush overtaking her face.

Sunset’s own face reddened at how Twilight was defending her honor, not that she asked her to, but it was still nice. “T-Thanks…”

The abandoned building erupted into flames as the Russian Firestorm burst forth from the wreckage and zoomed straight towards them. He fired a massive blast of plasma flames at the two of them, to which the two were ready. Both girls had serious expressions upon their faces as they moved into position.

Sunset summoned her flames into both her hands, the atomic rings spun around her clenched fists, making the flames shoot upwards, forming into twin fire blades. She then brought both blades together, forming into a fire claymore sword.

Twilight worked her magic as her particle vision pierced the simplistic workings of the Russian Firestorm’s flames. They were basic, and primal. Unlike Sunset’s flames, which glowed and burned with such complexity that even Twilight couldn’t pinpoint how their atomic structure worked.

Twilight then thrust her hands forward, creating a force of energy that struck against the column of plasma fire. The impact surged through the flames and broke down the attack on an atomic level, extinguishing the flames of the Russian Firestorm. But that wasn’t the end of it, in his confused state, Sunset had charged straight for him. Her hair bellowed like a jet engine, propelling her at double the speed. Sunset cried out she raised her sword and slashed the Russian Firestorm diagonally across.

She reappeared behind him, taking advantage of his stunned state, the cut was powerful and blunt, but shallow, its objective only to momentarily stun the opponent. Sunset released the fire sword, her right hand glowed bright red and yellow as she hurled herself back towards the Russian Firestorm. Sunset performed a spear-hand thrust right to the middle of the man’s back, piercing through him as her arm disappeared into his core.

The Russian Firestorm gasped at the sudden impact, but then began feeling his power slip away. Sunset wrenched her hand back, removing the floating atomic fireball that was the Firestorm Protocol. Twilight quickly used her power to create a bubble of hard light, and used a steel girder that was sticking out to fashion a pair of handcuffs, restraining the now cursing Russian man.

When he was safely lowered down to some awaiting soldiers, the Firestorm Protocol rose from Sunset’s hand and split itself in half. One half went into Twilight’s sun emblem, and the other into Sunset’s, giving them a brief surge of power before it dissipated.

Sunset looked up at Twilight, smiling down on her as she held her hands behind her back. “Want to grab some lunch, Sunset?”

PARIS, ONE WEEK LATER…

The Eiffel Tower was a complete mess. Its monolithic structure now twisted into something that could only be described as some form of modern art. The people of Paris didn’t know whether to be horrified that their iconic tower had been changed by a single fiery person, or angry that it had no artistic merit whatsoever.

Above the structure, hands wrapped by atomic rings, was a female Firestorm, who looked all of twenty something. Her flames were a standard orange, but her outfit was off-white, with red sleeves and leggings. She gave a haughty huff at the people below, looking upon them through narrowed eyes.

“Cretins, how dare you mock my art! This is the form of my tortured soul!”

“Then you really need to see a shrink!”

The rogue Firestorm turned around just in time to get belted by Sunset’s fiery fist, sending her spiraling away from her. She didn’t spin out long as she used her power to stop herself, she then turned towards Sunset and shot her an indignant gaze.

“How dare you, you…you…oh my.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift in the other Firestorm’s tone. “What is it?!”

She began floating towards Sunset, not threateningly, but at the same time it made Sunset worry. She was not but a foot away from Sunset, placing her hand to her chin as she looked Sunset up and down. She then circled around Sunset, taking in her curves and lean muscle tone.

“Magnificent, such a mixture of feminine and masculine beauty, and wielding such power as well,” The rogue Firestorm began to blush, she then quickly clasped her hands on Sunset shoulders as she looked into her eyes. “I must sculpt you my Sprite! You have ignited the fires of passion and inspiration within me!”

Sunset blanched at what was happening. She just punched this girl out earlier, and now she was asking her to model for her, and the way this girl said it. There was no deceit in her words, only the honest passion of an artist, and something else that made Sunset get hot and bothered.

“Um, uh, why, what?!”

“Of course,” The female Firestorm brought their bodies closer, pushing her impressive bust against Sunset’s and making the crimson Firestorm squeak, “I will require that at least one of the sculptures be of you nude.”

“N-N-Nude?!”

“But of course. Do not fret though, if you are willing, I can show you the same passion and care I will use to sculpt your likeness on you, Mon Cherie.”

The French Firestorm’s words dripped with lust and passion, she was not shy and had no shame whatsoever, and Sunset would be lying if she said she didn’t find her words to be a little arousing. Just then a great force of power developed between them, and within seconds, both Firestorms were ripped away from each other, putting them at least five yards apart from each other.

“What in the – GAK?!”

Suddenly the French Firestorm stiffened up, the air in front of her distorted for a few moments before it settled, revealing Twilight. Who currently now had half her forearm in the other girl’s chest. Twilight drew back her arm and removed the Firestorm Protocol, making the French girl change back to normal. A bubble of hard light appeared around her and whisked her down to the proper authorities.

“Nice work, Sparky.”

“Humph.” Twilight grunted.

“What’s up with you?” Sunset asked.

“Did you have to look so hot and bothered by what she was saying?” Twilight asked with an annoyed tone.

Sunset shook her head. “What, you mean all that crap she was talking back there?” Sunset was suddenly struck with realization as a cocky grin appeared. “Oh Sparky, were you jealous?”

Twilight blushed furiously. “N-N-No I wasn’t jealous! Why would I be jealous?!”

“‘Cause she was talking about sculpting me nude and then something about taking a more hands on approach.” Sunset made a point to wiggle her eyebrows to get the point across.

“I…I…I…”

“You jelly, Sparky?”

“I…UGH…I’m going to go fix the Eiffel Tower! Excuse me!”

Twilight flew past Sunset and began working on restoring the Eiffel Tower to its former glory. The whole time this was happening, Sunset couldn’t get over how funny it was getting Twilight riled up, and how adorably cute she was when she was jealous.

OFF THE COAST OF AUSTRALIA, TWO WEEKS LATER…

A massive tidal wave was approaching an oilrig and at least three tankers. At the head of the wave was a young man, his flames burned a bright aquamarine as he rode the wave on a transmuted surfboard made of obsidian from the volcanic rock deep below the ocean.

“Whoo-hoo! You blokes ain’t goin’ to keep polluting the waters around here anymore! These waters were meant for everybody, and the planet and the sea creatures below don’t need any corporate greedy bastards killing the waves!”

Ahead of the wave appeared two flickering flames. Twilight slapped her hands together as the atomic rings formed, she then touched the water’s surface and willed the water to crest into a tsunami to match the incoming one. The giant walls of water roared as they headed on a collision course. The surfing Firestorm looked up at the wave with wide eyes.

“Outrageous…!”

The two waves then crashed against each other, sending a spray of ocean water blasting in every direction. The force and power of Twilight’s wave was equal to that of the opposing wave, allowing her to cancel the wave out and keep any damage to the oilrig, tankers, and sea life below to a minimum.

Sunset and Twilight scanned the area of the surfing Firestorm, but there was no trace of him. That is until they heard the sounds of excited yelling coming from above them. The aquamarine Firestorm was now surfing through the air, his obsidian board riding the flames on which he transmuted, keeping him aloft as he performed a number of stunts in the air. The aquamarine Firestorm finally settled and hovered a few feet away as he looked upon them with his arms crossed across his chest.

“S’up, the name’s Surge. Now what’s a couple of fine looking sheilas like yourselves doin’ out here? Ya killed my wave!”

“You were going to kill those people over on that rig and on those boats!” Sunset yelled out.

Surge blew a raspberry as he waved off the concern. “Hey, it ain’t my fault. They chose this line of work, and with all the muck ya get the yuck along with it! So, if they don’t care what they’re doin’ to the ocean, then I’ll just have to show ‘em what the ocean can do to them!”

Twilight flew ahead of Sunset a little as she gave Surge a scolding gaze. “Those people have family, wives, daughters, and sons! They take on dangerous work like this to feed them and keep a roof over their heads! Sure, does this kind of work create hazardous waste to the ocean and the sea life? Yes!”

“But they’re risking their lives doing this work as well, bad accidents can happen on these kinds of places that can end up with someone getting killed! I understand your concern, but there’s no need to bring death to people who are just trying to make a living!”

Surge was a little stunned by the heartfelt speech. The aquamarine Firestorm hovered closer to Twilight as he gave her a scrutinizing look. That look then softened into a roguish smile, flashing his pearly whites at Twilight.

“You know, you can melt a man’s resolve with that kind of talk girly. Alright, what say I leave these guys alone, and instead you and I go on a date back in Sydney? I know this great restaurant, best drinks and food in Australia.”

Twilight blushed as the offer as she fiddled with her flame hair. “Well, ahem, t-thank you for the offer. But, I-I’m currently in a relationship…”

“Oh really, so who’s the bloke I gotta one up to get ya to trade up?” Surge asked with a cocky grin.

“First off: that ‘bloke’ would be this sheila next you. Second…”

“Wha –?!”

Before Surge could get out another word, Sunset punched the man with a flaming fist, sending him flying off his obsidian board and bouncing on the water like a stone skipping in the pond. Sunset then created a fire lasso and threw it towards Surge, with great accuracy and looped around his left leg. Sunset drew back on the lasso, making Surge return to them like a yo-yo. The crimson Firestorm then held out her right hand as it glowed with atomic energy.

When Surge returned, Sunset buried her hand in his chest, making Surge release a grunting “oomph” sound upon impact. She then drew back her hand, extracting the Firestorm Protocol within him. Surge’s body shifted back to the form of a young man with tribal tattoos and necklace with a shark’s tooth on it.

Twilight quickly created a bubble of hard light around him as he fell into unconsciousness. The Protocol rose up, split apart, and then zoomed into both girls’ sun emblems. Twilight crossed her arms as she gave Sunset a knowing smile. Sunset looked away, her face blushing the whole time.

“So…Sunset, you jelly?”

“Shut up…”

TOKYO, THREE WEEKS LATER…

Sunset Shimmer stood in the middle of the busy street of Tokyo, Japan. It was nighttime, the only light was provided by the bright, full moon above, and the many electronic signs and building lights that surrounded them.

Across from them, about a yard away, stood another Firestorm, Twilight had translated his alter ego’s name as Kasai. This Firestorm was garbed in some modern day version of samurai armor. His flames were pale cherry blossom pink as they wafted back and forth.

Apparently, the man was a radicalist who threatened a summit meeting between Japan and South Korea. This man saw affiliation with foreigners of any kind as pollution upon the ancient ways of Japan and its people, and he was here to restore honor to their great nation.

Twilight and Sunset had appeared to stop Kasai, but to Twilight’s surprise, Sunset was the one who made the ultimatum with Kasai.

The wager was, if Sunset beat him in sword combat, that he would willingly surrender his Protocol and give up his vendetta. Of course, Kasai laughed at this, thinking the offer was absurd. But then she spoke aloud.

“Watashi wa seishiki ni anata ni chōsen, anata ga ukeiremasu ka?! (I formally challenge you, do you accept?!)” Sunset spoke aloud in Japanese.

Both Twilight and Kasai’s jaws dropped. Twilight didn’t know Sunset knew Japanese. Kasai regarded Sunset differently, and after a long bout of silence, Kasai agreed to fight Sunset, blade to blade. Luckily the citizens had long since cleared out of the downtown area, so it was only Sunset, Kasai, Twilight, and some of the local Tokyo PD and the SDF (Self Defense Force) watching cautiously on the outer edge of the city.

Twilight had used her transmutation abilities to forge Sunset a sword. She had no doubt that Sunset would channel her power through the sword itself, so she reworked its atomic structure to withstand prolonged exposure to her flames, as well as gave it a razor’s edge that not even a laser or the finest swordsmiths could make. With sword in hand, and a worried Twilight watching, Sunset strode out toward Kasai.

The samurai Firestorm was sitting on his knees in the seiza position, with his sword on the ground in front of him as he waited for his opponent. Sunset stopped a few meters away, giving her new sword a few practice swings to make sure the weight and balance were satisfactory. The crimson Firestorm glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Twilight.

It’s perfect Sparky, not that I expected any less, thought Sunset.

Kasai opened his white eyes as he looked upon Sunset, he then grabbed his sword with his left hand and rose to a standing position. He took hold of the hilt in his right and drew the blade from its sheath.

Once the blade was fully drawn, Kasai slammed the butt of the sheath into the asphalt, staking it there. He then gripped the sword with both hands and entered a ready stance. Sunset did the same, gripping her sword with both hands and taking her own stance.

The air was still, the streets eerily quiet as if the world was holding its breath. Something sparked between the two Firestorms and the two of them dashed for each other. Sunset’s blade ignited with golden flames, and Kasai’s with the cherry blossom pink flames. The two warriors raised their swords and brought them down.

The two flaming blades clashed, sending a concussive shockwave and a loud ringing sound. They broke their blade lock and began attacking again, a symphony of rings echoed out through the city, it was beautiful and terrifying at the same time, as if the swords were singing a song known only to those who have ever crossed blades with another.

Kasai slashed horizontally, making Sunset bend backwards at the knees. She watched with a spiking heart rate as the blade passed over her, nearly missing her chest plate and face by a mere couple of inches. It was at this time that Sunset was glad her bust size wasn’t any bigger, or else those two inches would’ve hurt.

Once the blade passed over her, Kasai quickly countered with an overhead strike, attempting to cut Sunset down the middle. Sunset quickly held out her sword, bringing the blade to a horizontal angle and holding it up with the flat of her palm against the blunt edge. The two blades made contact once again, but this time Sunset was struggling to keep herself from falling back as Kasai pushed down.

Sunset felt the muscles in her legs burn and scream out in protest at keeping up this position. With a primal grunt, Sunset willed her flaming mane to roar out like a jet engine. The golden-yellow flames shot downward, propelling Sunset forward.

The added momentum pushed Kasai back as Sunset whipped her sword to the right. Kasai skidded a few feet away before coming to a halt. His white eyes shined as they narrowed, finding out that this girl was not pretending to be a swordsman, she knew how wield a blade, and fairly well too.

“Watashi wa misu o okashimashita, (I made a mistake)” Kasai spoke, “Watashi wa senshi to shite anata o chiryō sa rete iru hitsuyō ga aru toki, watashi wa, josei to shite anata o atsukawa! Anata jishin o junbi! (I treated you as a woman, when I should have been treating you as a warrior! Prepare yourself!)”

Sunset smirked, entering her own personal fighting stance. Legs apart, sword held back in the right hand, left hand forward, and body tilted forward slightly. “Watashitachi wa atatakai appu o teishi shitai toki, watashi wa omotte imashita! (I was wondering when we’d stop the warm up!)”

The cherry blossom pink flames erupted from Kasai as he roared into the air, at the same time, Sunset’s golden-yellow flames swirled around her like a raging inferno as she too released a primal roar. Two streaks of fire zoomed towards each other at breakneck speed.

Sunset slashed at Kasai, who expertly blocked the blade and swung around for a slash of his own. The crimson Firestorm shot up, and over Kasai, landing behind him and dodging his attack. Sunset balanced on her left hand and twirled around for a roundhouse kick to Kasai’s head.

The kick connected against the side of Kasai’s helm as he was sent flying into a Manga Café. Shredded bits of paper flew up, turning into burning embers in Kasai’s flames. The samurai Firestorm burst forth from the destroyed cafe and slashed the air with his sword, sending out a crescent wave of cherry blossom pink flames sailing towards Sunset. The female Firestorm flipped to the right, dodging the attack. Kasai then unleashed a flurry of crescent waves at Sunset.

Sunset slashed at one crescent after the other, either deflecting the flame attack or outright dodging it. At that moment, Kasai appeared behind her, ready to slash her down the middle, but Sunset was aware of his position. She then reversed her grip on the sword and thrust backwards, stabbing Kasai in the chest.

But at the moment her blade ran Kasai through, his form vanished in the form of the same flames. The flames transformed into sakura petals made of fire, the ember petals danced around Sunset for a moment before another Kasai appeared.

Keeping the sword in its reverse grip position, Sunset sprinted forward, spinning about as she slashed Kasai across the chest. But just like before, Kasai’s body burst apart into ember petals. Suddenly a flaming whirlwind was kicked up, buffeting Sunset and putting her on guard. She looked up and saw that Kasai was combining his transmutation and plasma flames at the same time, the flames then transformed into more ember sakura petals that nearly covered the whole area.

“Surasshu! Ken no Ame! (Slash! Rain of Swords!)”

Some of the petals within the whirlwind took on the form of a sword, and pointed themselves straight at Sunset. The swords launched themselves from every direction possible, Sunset quickly dodged the first ten and deflected seven more, but even she was not able to defend herself in a three-hundred and sixty degree attack.

One of the blades slashed across Sunset’s left arm, causing her liquid-light ichor to flow out. The atomic rings formed around the damaged area and went to heal the damage, but then another one struck Sunset’s right thigh, making her yelp in pain.

Despite all this, she continued to fight on, dodging and deflecting even while injured. Kasai smirked beneath his helm, his respect for this girl’s skill and tenacity were growing as the battle raged on.

“Anata wa yoku yattaga, ima kore o shūryō suru jikandesu shite imasu! Anata no meiyode wa, watashi wa anata ni jinsokuna shi o ataemasu! (You have done well, but now is the time to end this! In your honor, I grant you a quick death!)”

The petals all became swords, each one aimed directly at Sunset as they continued to swirl about in a merry-go-round of death. Sunset wasn’t about to die here, she stole a glance towards Twilight, seeing the worried expression her face.

You won’t lose me, Sparky, I promise! Guess it’s time for that!

Sunset willed her flames to spiral around, creating a tornado of fire that continued to spin rapidly. Kasai gave the order to his swords to attack. A shower of blades rained down upon Sunset Shimmer, her spiral fire went against the spin direction of the blade storm, allowing the attack constructs to be deflected or blocked entirely, but Kasai knew she could not keep that up forever.

Suddenly, the flames grew bigger and bigger, pushing the swords back. With a mighty roar the spiraling flames exploded upwards, smothering the remaining blades and effectively destroying them. Kasai formed a barrier around himself to protect against the force wave, but gasped at what he saw.

Sunset was now holding a second sword in her left hand, the sword was unlike anything he had seen. It was outlined in plasma energy, given form and substance by the fire. Sunset stood at the epicenter, the sword in her right hand rested against her right shoulder, blazing with the same intense fire, while the other was kept at the ready.

The crimson Firestorm looked up at Kasai’s stunned expression and grinned gleefully. Sunset got into a ready stance and shot up into the sky.

Kasai reared back as Sunset shot past him, she then made a sharp turn and aimed directly for Kasai. The samurai Firestorm yelled as he flew out to meet her. Sunset brought down her fire sword first, striking Kasai’s blade with resounding force.

Kasai was caught off guard by how powerful the attack was and was pushed back because of it. Sunset jetted forward, bringing her right sword to slash across. Kasai dodged it, but quickly blocked another strike from the fire sword.

The two traded blows, with Kasai losing ground with each attack. Sunset moved in for the final attack, bellowing her battle cry as she blazed towards Kasai. She swung upwards with her fire sword, the blow hitting Kasai’s sword at an angle and causing it fling up and away from him.

Sunset brought up her right sword at an angle, slashing towards the sky as a flame trail streaked across Kasai’s right shoulder to his left side. Sunset’s second blow came down from the left with her fire sword, slashing him from the left shoulder to his right side.

Yelling at the top of her lungs, Sunset began slashing at Kasai with rapid succession, the blades streaked with such speed that they appeared like shooting stars. Kasai was helpless to against the barrage as he was forced down to the ground below, with Sunset striking him the entire way.

She then combined the two swords together, giving it new form and substance. The Great Blade was swung down, the blade roaring like a dragon as it slammed against Kasai. The samurai Firestorm tried in vain to counter attack, wasting his energy as he was sent hurdling to terra firma.

Kasai hit the ground, creating a large crater that the beam of fiery plasma light smashed him into. When it was over, Kasai was lying on the ground, his body was scuffed and cut up as liquid-light ichor flowed from his wounds. Atomic rings formed around the wounds, trying to heal the damage, but Kasai knew it was over when he opened his eyes.

Sunset hovered over him, her Great Sword pointed right at him. She panted hard from the battle, but the grin of victory never left her visage. The eyes of both Firestorms met for a moment, and it was decided. Sunset removed the power up from the original sword, returning it to its normal state. Kasai, with some difficulty, was able to maneuver himself into the seiza position.

“Anata wa rippana aite no tame ni, rippana kettō o kakutoku shite imasu. (You have won, an honorable duel for an honorable opponent.)” Kasai then bowed his head.

Sunset stuck the sword in the ground and bowed to Kasai. “Demo, kono seiki ni, furui yarikata o sonchō suru koto ga dekite iru hito ga arimasu. Ken wa, sore ga watashitachi no subete ni zokushite iru gijutsudearu, nani no kyōkai o shitte imasu. Kono Kasai o oboete oite kudasai. (Even in this century, there are those who are still able to respect the old ways. The sword knows no boundaries, it is an art that belongs to us all. Remember this Kasai.)”

“Hijō ni kenmeina kotoba wa, watashi ga kokoro ni sorera ga kakarimasu, (Very wise words, I will take them to heart,)” said Kasai.

Sunset looked over Kasai, seeing that the damage had been repaired. “Junbi wa dekimashita ka? (Are you ready?)”

“Hai.”

Sunset knelt down and placed her hand against his chest. Like a ghost, her hand phased through him as she grasped the Firestorm Protocol within. She then gently took it out and watched as Kasai morphed back into his original form, that of an old man. Sunset watched as the old swordsman fell unconscious and moved to grab him before he hit the unforgiving ground.

Twilight flew down to Sunset, having watched what transpired between her and Kasai. She then formed an energy bubble around him, and bent the light particles away from them so that they may become invisible. Sunset and Twilight took off out of the crater and dropped off Kasai at the closest hospital before heading back home.

“Sunset, how in the world did you know how to fight with a sword?! And for that matter, how did you know how to speak Japanese?!” Twilight asked.

“Oh…um…I had a tutor when I was younger. He taught me Japanese and the way of the sword, it was part of my curriculum to become a more rounded ma –” Sunset bit her tongue before she spilled too much.

“More rounded what?” Twilight asked, now curious.

“A…A…A more rounded person! Y-Yeah, that’s it!”

Twilight was skeptical about the whole thing, but decided to leave it at that for today.

CANTERLOT CITY, SOME TIME LATER…

Sunset plopped herself onto Twilight’s bed, letting out a long drawn out sigh as she laid there, tired from the battles they had been fighting lately. Twilight sat on the edge opposite Sunset, releasing the same worn out sigh that her girlfriend did.

“Russia, Australia, France, and Japan! And all within a few weeks of each other!” Sunset groaned indignantly. “It’s like they’re trying to piss us off! Or wear us out! ”

“They’re probably trying to drum up buyers for the Firestorm Protocols by selling them to these radicals or wealthy people, the more fear they induce into the citizenry, the more likely it will be that their respective governments will pay just as much or more to have Firestorm Protocols of their own. If not for domestic peace keeping, it’ll probably be for national defense.”

“Great, that always solves the problem, Mutually Assured Destruction, if I go down I’ll take the whole damn world with me!” Sunset rubbed her temples, trying to stave off a growing headache. Frustrating over the suicidal tendencies of humans brought them on sometimes. “At least they’ve seemed to stop, they’re appearing less and less.”

“Thanks to us. We’re pushing them into a corner with every rogue Firestorm we take down. If we keep up the pressure we can make it so that no one will want the Protocols so long as we’re around. Not much point in having a weapon if someone can just reach in and take it from them,” said Twilight.

Sunset agreed, eventually the Organization would realize the futility in selling the Firestorm Protocols and just shift their focus onto them. In a way that made Sunset worry, yes they wanted that to happen, in doing so would allow them to find out where they’re hiding, and more importantly, who was heading the Organization and how deep into worldwide governments this went. Sunset chuckled inwardly, finding it strange how things turned out in this world for her.

When she stepped through that mirror and stumbled into this world, she never imagined she’d be fighting an evil syndicate bent on worldwide domination, gaining superpowers, and…falling for a girl who at one point she considered to be her eternal rival and sworn enemy.

Just falling for someone at all was a huge deal to Sunset as a whole, she never thought about falling in love with someone, or dating anyone here. Heck, she figured, once she’d taken over both worlds, that her pickings of potential mates would be abundant. Why just settle for one, when you ruled two worlds, you can have as many lovers as you wanted, sire heirs with one and then another.

At least that’s how the Unicorn Kings of old did it, didn’t work out so well. But since Sunset’s plan had involved mind control and the possession of untold power, she doubted she’d meet a similar fate.

But now, all that ambition, all that pride, it was – well it wasn’t gone per se. Just tucked away, Sunset would always have her pride as a former Equestrian and top student, and that air of superiority wouldn’t leave her anytime soon. But it was tucked away, not as prominent as it used to be.

And it was mostly thanks to Twilight, this girl whom she was ready to go to desperate means to get payback, was the cause of this change, and feelings within her. Sunset shot up and threw her arms out at Twilight. She hooked around the violet haired girl’s neck and dragged her down to the bed with a surprised yelp.

Twilight found her head resting on Sunset’s chest, her arms locked around her and keeping her there. Her cheeks became flushed as she felt her heart race, both from the sudden pull and being this close to Sunset. She then felt the older girl’s hand gently stroke her hair, it soothed Twilight, making her nuzzle closer to the fiery haired girl.

Little moments of intimacy were welcome, mostly because it felt both strange and delightful to both. Sunset had never really been with anypony or anyone. Even while dating Flash for a little bit, she never really cuddled like this with him nor did she allow him to do anything of the sort. But with Twilight, it felt right, doing this, comforting and holding her, it was right.

For Twilight it was the same, she had only known the love and bond of siblings and parents. Shining would sometimes let her sleep in his bed whenever she had a nightmare of the Organization’s base or about what fate befell Professor Neigh.

She remembered curling up next to him, feeling safe next to his large frame. Whenever Shining Armor wasn’t around, Twilight would turn to her adopted parents, Night Light and Velvet. She had never known the love and caring of real parents, Professor Neigh was as close to a father as she’d ever had.

And while Night Light wasn’t exactly as genius level as Professor Neigh, he was still pretty smart, but also very caring and protective of his new daughter. Velvet was everything Twilight could ask for in a mother, understanding, compassionate, smart, and strong.

And Cadance, well, they may’ve not been sisters, but Twilight assumed Cadance was as close to a big sister as she was going to get. It was like she was surrounded by those who loved her, but she never experienced romantic love, Twilight even feared she’d wouldn’t be able to love someone in that way.

She was engineered, she was like a robot for most of her life until learning from Professor Neigh. So how would she know what romance was? It was something that haunted her sometimes, wondering if she had mistaken these strong feelings for Sunset as nothing more than a great admiration for her, or if she really did love her.

But it was moments like this, when Sunset brought her close that those thoughts would vanish. This felt real to her, there was nothing else other than to call this romantic love, that’s what her heart told her.

Even though the heart is an organ and doesn’t have anything to do with emotions or feelings of love, she thought.

Sunset then bopped Twilight on the head.

“Ow, what was that for?” Twilight whined.

“Because I can hear you thinking, and you said something bop worthy,” said Sunset.

“Meanie.”

“Dork.”

Both girls chuckled at the end of their little banter, settling back down and letting the silence overtake the room for a bit.

“Y’know, I’m surprised your mom and dad haven’t checked on us,” said Sunset.

“Why would they?”

“Well, we’re girlfriends now, and usually parents who know their teen kids are in relationships, and have said person in their kid’s room, usually they demand that the door be left open just in case, well you know.”

Twilight blushed, she may not be totally well versed in all aspects of romantic relationships, but she had seen enough teen movies to know what the significance of keeping the door open meant, and what Sunset was implying. Twilight suddenly curled up close to Sunset, making the older girl look at her curiously, it didn’t take long for Sunset to deduce why she was acting like that.

“You haven’t told them yet, have you?”

“…………No, I-I haven’t yet. I just…I just don’t know how to tell them, or how they’d react to the news. Are you mad that I haven’t told them?” Twilight asked with worry.

Sunset shook her head and shrugged. “Nah, not really. I haven’t even told Celestia, so I have no right to criticize or judge.”

“I do want to tell them, and my friends, at some point soon.”

Sunset wasn’t sure if she was ready for that, Twilight’s parents she was okay with telling, Celestia as well, but her friends, now there was the rub. They stayed apart at school, not wanting their friends to know about their relationship, which kind of soured some of the days at school, not being able to be near someone you love.

Sunset groaned inwardly, now realizing how those characters in those cheesy teen romance movies felt. But unfortunately, this wasn’t so simple as girl in love with boy, more like girl in love with another girl, who just so happened to be the queen bitch of the school and its terror.

She could already imagine the disapproving glares of those five, the incredulous look in their eyes at the fact that Twilight and Sunset were together. The mere thought of that made Sunset’s stomach knot in anger.

After missing her chance to take over both worlds, and being stuck in this world, when she finds the one thing, well that someone, who makes her happy, who were they to say she couldn’t be happy? Who were they to disapprove of her being with Twilight? Admittedly she did plan on getting back at her, but that was then, and this is now.

“I’ll leave it you, Sparky. Just make sure you give me a heads up when you decide we’re coming out of the closet.”

“I will, don’t worry, Sunny.”

“‘Sunny’?”

“You call me Sparky all the time! Why can’t I have a nickname for you, too?!”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want one, it was that when Twilight said it, it made her feel funny inside, good funny. “F-Fine, just don’t call me that when we’re around other people.”

“Well that’s not fair, you call me Sparky when we’re in public. What’s different with yours?” Twilight asked.

“Fine…just, maybe when we’re together, and not around people we know.”

Twilight smiled and hugged herself closer to Sunset. “It’s a deal, Sunny.”

“Don’t make me regret that deal, Sparky.”

THE NEXT DAY, MONDAY…

The two of them sat in the lunchroom, having beaten the rest of Twilight’s friends to the table, Sunset couldn’t help but feel nervous about this whole thing as she tapped her perfectly manicured nails against the table, the food on her tray showing signs of small bites here and there.

Twilight had made a valid point that when they announced that they were a couple, it was going to cause a bit of a ripple through her group of friends. Quite frankly Sunset couldn’t care less, but Twilight’s friends were important to her, and she respected that. Well, she did now, after finding out her true origins.

“Are you sure about this, Sparky?” Sunset asked.

“I am Sunny, this will serve two purposes. One: if my friends see that you’re positively turning over a new leaf, it might make a dent in their approval of our relationship,” said Twilight.

“And the other?”

“Expanding your circle of friends and possibly giving an apology to the others,” said Twilight.

Sunset sighed heavily. “Sparky, you know your friends hate my frickin’ guts! I was the one who broke them apart, remember? Set them against each other and practically ruined their friendships, don’t think they’re quite in the mood to sit and eat with me at the same table.”

“Trust me, you won’t know until you actually talk with them.”

“And, honestly, if they said they don’t approve of us being together, will that really make a difference in how we keep going?” Sunset asked, somewhat afraid of the answer.

“Of course it won’t! I want to be with you Sunny! I just would like it if there wasn’t so much hostility towards you all.” Twilight began to twiddle her thumbs as she blushed a little. “You know, in the future, I’d like to stay in touch with them, keep us all connected. And I’d really love it if they at least didn’t hate you or you them.”

Sunset sighed. “I don’t really ‘hate’ them, I guess. Hate had nothing to do with what I did. I am – was – probably still am – a horrible person when I first got here, dividing and conquering was a strategy that worked so well, what with all the differing cliques and social circles, it wasn’t that hard.

“Those five were like the prime of example of how five different kinds of people can be friends, despite their various differences and interests. So, naturally, I had to split them apart. ‘Cause if they could get along, then there was no reason others couldn’t as well.”

Twilight had to admit, as devious as that was, it was actually tactically brilliant. “So…if you didn’t hate them then, why can’t you try to like them now? If I can convince them to at least give you a chance, would you at least try?”

Sunset saw that pleading look in her eyes, that innocent, bookish, pouty look that made her crumble on the inside. In the end Sunset threw her arms into the air and surrendered to the inevitable.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stay and take my lumps! But I won’t like it.”

Just then Sunset and Twilight saw the familiar group of girls coming their way with trays of their selected foods. Their cheerful smiles morphed into various expressions upon getting closer to the table and spying who it was that was sitting across from Twilight.

Pinkie Pie still had her smile, a default expression Sunset figured, but the others were more telling. Applejack’s face was neutral, she had played the voice of reason more than once when it came to Rainbow Dash or someone starting something, Sunset figured she was getting into the mindset in case things went south.

Rarity was somewhat subtle, she held her air of sophistication, and her expression was of one deciphering a work of art, attempting to see the hidden meaning. The hidden meaning being why was Sunset Shimmer sitting at their table, and what she was up to. Fluttershy was, well, what everybody probably expected.

The timid girl’s head hidden behind her long hair the best she could, trying to make her presence as small as possible, even going so far as to duck behind Applejack. Sunset couldn’t really blame her, considering all the verbal abuse she had bestowed upon the pink haired girl, having your bully sitting at the same table was most likely making her a nervous wreck inside.

And then there was Rainbow Dash, her expression was exactly what Sunset expected from the multicolored teenager, one of indignation, anger, and incredulity. The sports girl strode up to the table and put her tray down at the front of it, she then smacked her right hand on the table and leaned down, getting close to Sunset as she narrowed her gaze.

“And what exactly is she doing here?” Rainbow asked with a tempered voice.

“It’s a free country and cafeteria, I can sit and eat wherever I want.” Sunset responded.

“Anywhere but here.”

“Rainbow,” Twilight spoke up, gently resting her right hand against Rainbow’s shoulder, “I asked Sunset to sit with us.”

Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight with shock. “What?! Why?!”

“Because Rainbow, she’s my friend, same as you. Sunset’s also promised to be on her best behavior,” Twilight then glanced at the girl in question, “isn’t that right, Sunset?”

You cheeky little…“Yes.”

There was a moment of silence as Sunset and Twilight awaited the others to come to a consensus.

“Alright,” said Applejack breaking the silence.

“‘Alright’?! That’s all?!” Rainbow asked with an incredulous tone.

“If’n Sunset’s willin’ to be cordial to us, it’s only fair we be cordial to her. Again, don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’. Right Rainbow Dash?” Applejack gave the sports girl a look that pretty made it clear that there was only one right answer to give.

“Fine,” grumbled Rainbow Dash.

The prismatic girl took her spot right next to Twilight, making Sunset flinch a little at how close she was. But then she reminded herself she was going to be nice for Twilight’s sake. Applejack took the seat next to Rainbow, just to make sure that the hothead of a girl didn’t do something stupid and make this go south.

While at the same time she had a good view of Sunset in case the fiery haired girl tried something herself. Pinkie Pie took a seat next to Sunset, her smile still as prominent as ever, even while next to her. Rarity took the seat next to AJ, and finally, Fluttershy sat next to Pinkie.

The group commenced with the eating of their food, waiting for them to have a good amount in before starting a conversation.

“So sorry about the Science Fair again, you two, it’s a shame you didn’t at least get a special commendation for powering the whole building while repairs were made,” said Rarity.

“It’s no big deal, we showed that it worked and that’s that. Not the crushing victory that I wanted, but…” Sunset’s eyes drifted to Twilight for just a brief moment before looking back at Rarity. “It wasn’t all that bad.”

“Soooooo, Sunset, I heard you were snapping naughty pictures of Dashie and Cady back at the Fair,” said Pinkie as she wiggled her eyebrow lecherously.

Rainbow Dash, who was drinking from her bottle of AJ’s family Apple Juice, spat out the contents and coughed as she tried to suck wind. “P-Pinkie Pie! Who in the hell told you that?!”

“Well, you did Dashie, just now. I was totally kidding, but after seeing that…just, wow!”

Fluttershy’s face went red as she hid behind her hair, Twilight groaned loudly as she shook her head, trying to dislodge that image from her memory, but having an Eidetic Memory meant that you couldn’t forget anything, which meant Twilight was doing all she could to keep said memory from reappearing. AJ and Rarity were just staring at Rainbow Dash with wide eyes, not knowing how to respond to that.

“So, how was it?! Was Cady gentle, or was she more like hardcore – right to the action – kind of gal? Did you two cuddle first or did you just get straight to it? ‘Cause personally speaking, I don’t mind a buildup, but sometimes it’s just fun to get right into the good stuff, y’know?”

“We most certainly do not know!” Rarity affirmed, blanching in embarrassment.

“Not trying to pry, Pinks, but are you speaking from personal experience or just what you’ve imagined and thought about?” Sunset asked with curiosity, if for nothing than to watch her girlfriend and Rainbow cringe.

Pinkie Pie blushed, but she still didn’t seem embarrassed at all about talking about it. “Well, some I’ve imagined, and others, that’s a bit of a secret.” Pinkie put extra emphasis on the “secret” part of that sentence, lowering her voice to a strained whisper.

Sunset smirked at this, she had heard rumors about some of Pinkie Pie’s parties sometimes becoming more…physically intimate, but she didn’t care. Now though, Sunset couldn’t help but smirk at the curly haired pink girl next to her. She then held up her fist and pointed it at Pinkie.

“Remind me to call you if I ever need a ‘playful’ party,” said Sunset, giving her a wink.

Pinkie Pie picked up on the meaning and bumped fists with Sunset. “Seriously, though, you did take pics right?”

“Want a couple? I can probably Photoshop them to look a little more,” Sunset looked towards Twilight and Rainbow, “risqué.”

“Okay, well then, I think we’ve been on this subject for too long, moving on!” Rarity said with finality.

Sunset and Pinkie sighed in defeat, but then Sunset whispered, “I’ll e-mail ‘em to you.”

Pinkie Pie winked and giggled like crazy.

“Speakin’ of Cadance, how she holdin’ up Twi?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, she’s alright. Cadance probably won’t be dating for a while after…you know. But, I think she’ll find someone to love again, if there’s anything I’m sure about with Cadance, it’s that she really believes in the healing power of love, so I know she’ll be alright.”

“That’s good to hear,” said Fluttershy.

“Anywho!” Rainbow Dash chimed in. “Didn’t know if you knew, but the Spring Fling is coming up soon, and of course, there’s going to be another running for the Princess title.”

“Rainbow,” said Applejack in a warning tone.

“And?” Sunset asked.

“And I was thinking Twilight should run again, seeing as how she won by a landslide last time.”

Sunset looked to Twilight who was doing her best to try and shrink in her seat. It was cute to see her embarrassed like that, but she wasn’t going to let her suffer long. “If she wants to that’s fine with me.”

“Ah-ha, I knew you – Wait what?”

“If she wants to that’s fine.”

“What??”

“Do you speak English?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow shook her head as she tried to grasp what Sunset had said. “What???”

“English, Rainbow Dash, do you speak it?!”

“What???!!!”

“Say it again! Say ‘what’ again one more time, I dare you – no – I double dare you! Say ‘what’ one more damn time!”

Applejack snapped her fingers in front of Rainbow Dash’s face, but she seemed to be unresponsive. “Ah don’t think she’s doin’ this on purpose, in fact, Ah think she’s broken.”

After a couple of moments Rainbow Dash was finally able to snap out of her stupor and catch up to what was happening. “Y-You’re seriously not going to run for Princess?!”

Sunset released a frustrated growl, “Yes, for the umpteenth time, I’m not running nor do I care about who runs for it! If Sparky here wants to do it again that’s fine with me!”

The older girl blushed, catching herself too late before she uttered Twilight’s pet/nickname. The girls all stared at Sunset, not really believing that they just heard Sunset say that.

“‘Sparky’?” Applejack asked.

“As in, Sparkle, Twilight’s last name?” Rarity asked as well.

“Aaaaaw, you have a pet name for her! That’s cute!” Pinkie squeaked.

Sunset’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as she looked to Twilight for help, but the lavender skinned girl just smirked as she left her girlfriend to stew in this muck for a bit.

“I…I…It’s not a pet name!” Sunset cried.

“Uh, yeah, it totally is~” Pinkie practically sang. “And it’s really cute too! ‘Sparky’, I like it! Shoot, wish I thought of it first!”

Rarity was starting to slip into that little niche where she began to enter interrogation mode, leaning on her elbows as she leaned forward. The look on her face reminded Sunset of a cat that had cornered its prey and was thinking of what kind of delightful ways she could play with her food before pouncing for the kill.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stood up, “I’m done. Twi, I’ll see you in Chem. Class after lunch, later.”

Everybody looked at Rainbow Dash with confusion as she strode away without another word.

“I can’t believe she has the nerve to call her that while I’m sitting right there! UGH!” Rainbow punched her locker, growling from the pain of the impact and her anger. “Why haven’t they said anything yet?!”

“Why hasn’t who said anythin’ yet?”

Rainbow Dash turned around and saw Applejack leaning against hallway entrance to the cafeteria. The rainbow haired girl ignored the cowgirl as she went back to beating her locker.

“Rainbow, Ah’m talkin’ to you!”

“Well maybe I don’t want to talk right now! So why don’t you go back to dining with the enemy!” Rainbow Dash spat with venom.

Applejack shook her head in frustration. “Dash, c’mon now, Sunset ain’t hurtin’ no one, at the moment. She’s tryin’ to at least be friendly like, the least we can do is give her a chance.”

Rainbow Dash rounded on Applejack. “‘A chance’, ‘a chance’?! Did you guys forget that this is the same girl who tore us all apart?! Who ruined what we all had growing up together! Well I haven’t! I can’t believe you’re so willing to forgive and forget about what she’s done to us – to everybody in this school!”

Applejack furrowed her brow as she stood tall and firm. “Now hold on there, no one said we forgot what she did, but holdin’ onto a grudge don’t do nothin’ but waste energy and eat you up inside until there’s nothin’ left but the anger and hate! If anythin’, the five of us are the best example of that!”

“Excuse me?!”

“Think about it, Dash! We all stopped talkin’ to each other because we each thought that the other did somethin’ that they never did! We stopped talkin’ to each other, visitin’, we barely acknowledged each other in the hallway! Shoot, if Twilight hadn’t come along, we’d still be holdin’ onto that stupid grudge of ours all the way to graduation and then some.”

Rainbow ran a hand through her long hair as she tried to make Applejack see reason. “Okay, but that was different! None of us actually did anything wrong to each other, it was all Sunset Shimmer’s fault! She did that stuff, so we have a legitimate reason to not like her or want her around!”

Applejack crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a stern look. “Ah’m startin’ to think that it’s you who don’t want Sunset Shimmer with us, more specifically, around Twilight.”

The tomboy flinched as her mask of indignation cracked slightly. “I…It’s just…”

“Come to think of it, even after the Fall Formal, Sunset hasn’t done nothin’ more than just yell and give Twi the Evil Eye, she hasn’t ever physically hurt her.”

“Y-Yeah, well, she’s done other crappy stuff to everyone in the school! She verbally abused Fluttershy on a regular basis for god’s sake!” Rainbow argued.

“And Ah know you’re ate up about that, not bein’ able to protect her from all that. But Sugarcube, you can’t blame yourself for that either,” said Applejack in a consoling voice.

“I’ve been trying to make up for all of that, by protecting you guys from her! And now, we have her sitting at our table, and now she and Twilight are together!”

“‘Together’?”

Oh shit!

“What do ya mean, ‘together’?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash began to panic. “I didn’t say ‘together’, I don’t know what I said!”

“Out with it Dash, you know somethin’, and it’s that somethin’ that’s really got yer panties in knot!” Applejack demanded.

“It’s nothing!”

“Rainbow!”

“I mean it!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Dammit all, they’re girlfriends! Alright, there, you happy now?! Twilight Sparkle and Sunset – freakin’ – Shimmer are girlfriends! And I don’t mean gal pals, or ‘girl’ and ‘friends’, I mean they’re swapping spit, cuddling, and whatever the hell else they do in private!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t fully realize what she had done, not until she saw Applejack’s stunned expression. Her eyes were wide as her mouth hung open a bit, the cowgirl stumbled until her back hit the lockers. The rainbow haired girl felt like dirt at that moment, she didn’t mean to out either of them like that, Sunset she could care less about, but Twilight.

It wasn’t her place to have said all that when neither of them haven’t said anything to anyone yet. Rainbow was trembling, she couldn’t play that off as a joke, not with how serious she sounded, and even now she could see the gears turning in AJ’s head.

“Ya know…that kinda explains a bit…why Sunset’s been less, well, less like herself recently. Ah mean, Ah just thought that it was Twi’s natural way of gettin’ ya to be nice, but…together, as girlfriends, that’s somethin’ Ah didn’t see comin’,” said Applejack in a daze.

“Applejack you can’t tell anyone! I wasn’t even supposed to know!” Rainbow pleaded.

“Well…w-were they always like this? Were they a thing before the whole Science Fair thing?”

Rainbow went silent as she clutched at her right arm. “I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t think either of them knew until after the Science Fair. I…I overheard them talking, mostly because I was keeping an eye on Shimmer, but then…I heard Twilight and Sunset talking about something, and how Twi was afraid to lose her. After that she confessed to Sunset, and Sunset confessed how she felt about Twi, it was stupid luck that I was there and heard all of it.”

Applejack took off her Stetson hat and ran a hand through her golden locks as she tried to process all this. “Ah see…”

“AJ, I don’t know where you stand about these kinds of things, but I don’t want you hating Twilight because she’s…she’s…”

“A lesbian?”

“Yeah! Look, she’s the same Twilight we care about! Our friend, and it’s not like she ever made a pass at you or nothing!” Rainbow defended.

Applejack held up her hands. “Whoa, put on the brakes Dashie. Ah don’t got nothin’ against that kind of thing.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide with shock. “Y-You don’t?!”

“Despite what ya may think or what people think, Ah don’t have any right to say what they have is or isn’t love. Let’s just say that, when it comes to unorthodox relationships, Ah’m the person who has no room to criticize or judge someone else. No, more like Ah don’t have the right to, and let’s just leave it at that for now.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t know why, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she nodded her head in affirmation. Applejack nodded back and placed her hat back on her head before standing on her feet again.

“Ah won’t say anythin’ about them, if they want to tell the rest of us, then that’s their business. But it might bring ‘em some relief to know that they have someone to talk to, just in case.” Applejack began walking back to the cafeteria, but paused as she glanced back at Rainbow Dash. “Tell me somethin’ Dash.”

“What?”

“You like Twi the same way she likes Sunset Shimmer, and vice versa, don’t you?”

Rainbow bit her lower lip as she gripped her right arm hard, unable to meet Applejack’s gaze. For the blonde, that was all the confirmation she needed, Rainbow Dash always had tells, and AJ knew them well.

“Ah know it hurts, Rainbow, but at least be happy for Twi, for her sake.”

With that, Applejack left Rainbow alone. That’s just it AJ…I want Twi to be happy…just not with her…

Entry 32: The Threat of Titannus!

Miser looked upon his newest creation with glee, it was time to bring out the big guns. The Firestorm Protocols had been successfully installed, and filled the suit with unmatched power, bringing it to life. The Titannus, the weapon that would grant the power to topple a god, or so he would sell it as.

Currently, the old man was in the process of making himself ready, he had relied on miscreants and so-called “loyal” soldiers to eliminate the two rogue Firestorms long enough, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Miser had been fitted with a mesh suit that had blue circuitry lines on it, he sat on one of the scientists’ table, his right arm stretched towards the scientist that was approaching him. In the doctor’s right hand was a syringe, filled with some strange liquid and glowing small particles. The doctor took Miser’s right arm, inserting the needle in the port over the crook of his arm.

The old man winced as he felt the needle pierce his skin and into the vein. The doctor carefully injected the substance into the old man, watching as the blue liquid emptied from the syringe. Miser could feel the substance enter his arm and work its way into his bloodstream. Was this possibly foolish? Yes, but no risk no reward.

The door to the room slid open, revealing an all too familiar face. Dusk Shine walked inside, surveying the multitude of workers and casting a small smile towards Miser once he spotted the elderly man.

“I see you’re getting your physical Director Miser, maybe I should come back later,” said Dusk in a joking manner.

To his surprise, Miser did not chide him, in fact, he actually chuckled. “Enjoy your little jokes while you can, you won’t be getting another chance after today.”

Dusk Shine arched his eyebrow curiously. “Forgive me, but is that meant to be a threat, Sir?”

“Not at all my boy, just giving you a heads up, because I’ll no longer be the subject of such jokes.”

The doctor removed the syringe and stood back. Every scientist in the room cautiously watched Miser, making Dusk Shine wonder what it was that was happening here. Suddenly, Miser’s eyes shot wide open as he released a loud cry that made everyone in the room take a step back. The old man jumped off of the table and began to writhe on the floor, kicking and flailing about like a madman. Dusk Shine found the greedy old man’s pain amusing, however, his humor evaporated upon witnessing what happened next.

The wrinkles upon the old man’s face were rapidly fading, his skin regaining its former youthful luster. His hair, which was grayer than anything, was becoming a sleek blonde color. His boney frame started to generate lean muscles, filling the gaps in his mesh suit. The suit’s circuitry lines glowed in response to the changes, as if regulating the changes as they occurred. Soon Miser’s painful cries morphed into laughter. Slowly, but surely, the man rose, first on one knee, and then standing to his full height.

No longer was Miser an old man, but a young, healthy, and fit young man. Dusk Shine’s mouth fell open just a tad at seeing this, as best he could put it, Miser had to be at least his age, maybe even a year younger.

“It’s good being young again!”

“How is this possible…?”

Miser stretched his limbs and popped the kinks out of his neck and shoulders, he then took in a deep breath and opened his now piercing blue eyes. “To answer your question, Dusky, the miracle that is nanotechnology. That injection was filled with hundreds of thousands of nanobots, each designed to self-replicate and rejuvenate the human body on a cellular level, back to a point when I was in prime condition. The nanobots remain in my system, and will die out in 72 hours and then I’ll be back to my old decrepit self.”

Dusk Shine relaxed a little, but was still on edge. “Hmm, for all it does, three days hardly seems worth it.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I figured out a little secret to fixing that problem.” Miser turned his back on Dusk Shine and began walking towards the Titannus. “Watch closely Dusk, you might learn something.”

Miser raised his left forearm up to chest level, he then pressed a few buttons on the terminal attached to the suit. Immediately the Titannus whirred to life, taking one giant step forward and kneeling before Miser. The giant mecha suit extended its right arm forward, while simultaneously opening its top half. Miser jumped onto the machine’s right arm and walked up to its shoulder. He then hopped into the cockpit, and Titannus rose to its full height, closing the hatch.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

The behemoth machine’s eyes glowed bright yellow, all four Firestorm Protocols glowed upon its chest, feeding the machine even more power. Titannus was engulfed in flames, making everybody run to the far end of the lab, but Dusk Shine stood his ground, using his own Firestorm powers to create a heat barrier, but even just maintaining that was an effort under the immense power the Titannus was emitting.

A primal roar mixed in with the roar of the flames, and all that was visible through the fire were four glowing orbs and two white eyes. Soon the fires dispersed, snuffed out into nothingness. What stood before them was a different machine than what they had created.

The armor was now a bright golden-yellow, shimmering in the lighting. The top of its head was now on fire, giving it a flaming fire tail. The machine’s back had six port holes that released jets of flames that mimicked spikes. The circuitry glowed red, showing the flow of energy throughout. The strange thing was, the seems that showed the connections in the joints and bolts had melted away, making the machine appear as an actual living giant.

The metal giant raised its hands up, flexing them, rotating its arms, and lifting its legs to ensure it had mobility. “Now this is power!”

“What…What have you done?!” Dusk Shine asked.

The Titannus looked at Dusk Shine, and the young man swore it smirked at him. “I have become the ultimate being now, the nanobots in my body, along with the Titannus, and my Reg. Suit, harmonize the energies of the Firestorm Protocols, I have made this machine, and the nanobots within my body a part of me, I will no longer require food or sleep, I am a TITAN! I am, FIRESTORM TITANNUS!!! And thanks to the nanobots and Titannus, I can easily regulate the four Protocols within me now! My youth is eternal!”

The Titannus, no, Firestorm Titannus, stomped over to Dusk Shine, leaning down and looking the young man dead in the eyes. “I would pray, Dusk Shine, because when I’m done smashing those two problematic girls, I’m coming for those trio of witches, and finally, it’ll be you.”

Firestorm Titannus walked back to where it originally was, but up above it, a hatch opened, big enough to fit the massive being. Firestorm Titannus glowed with flaming power and crouched low. The mechanoid Firestorm jumped up and took off like a rocket through the opening in the ceiling.

Dusk Shine’s face maintained its normally stoic expression, but his fists were balled up tight, with a slight violet glow about them. He was worried.

WHITETAIL WOODS, DAWN

Sunset sat up on the mattress, staring at Twilight’s sleeping form still wrapped in the blanket. She couldn’t believe what they did last night, but for Sunset, she had no regrets. It was true, she was in love with Twilight, and Twilight with her. It was cliché, sitting there in nothing but her underwear and a t-shirt she slipped on, like some cheesy teen romance movie. But so it was, and strangely enough, she was happy with it.

“Hmm…Sunset…” Twilight whispered dreamily.

The former Equestrian grinned happily, placing her hand atop Twilight’s head and gently stroking her deep violet hair. Twilight responded with a content hum and snuggled closer to the gentle touch unconsciously.

Twilight had seen the worst of her, the plans she had to take over the world, two worlds, and all the bitterness she held towards her and her group of friends. But even then, she didn’t yield, just as Sunset comforted her through the sadness she held for the loss of her big brother, and the only other person she could consider a father figure besides her current adopted father.

Sunset slowly removed her hand and quietly exited the hut, the air, despite the spring season, was surprisingly warm, she didn’t even bother wearing her boots or socks, the earth beneath her was soft, reminding her of her days when she was a pony.

Like usual, Tree Hugger was sitting on the log near the fire pit, strumming her sitar and releasing quiet notes that melted into the air. Sunset actually walked over to the hippie and sat down next to her. Tree Hugger glanced at Sunset and smiled as she continued to strum her sitar.

“I take it, you and Sister Twilight are…reconciled?”

Sunset smirked at the hippie girl, knowing exactly what she was getting at.

“If you mean did we do it last night? Yes. It was a night of firsts,” said Sunset in a rather proud manner.

“Oh? From what you’ve said before, this wouldn’t seem like your ‘first’,” said Tree Hugger.

“My first time with a human, and my first time with someone I really love.”

Tree Hugger saw the corners of Sunset’s mouth curl into smile, she was genuinely happy for Sunset and Twilight, seeing through the crystal all the hardships and tough decisions they’ve made in their young lives, and the burden that they carry now, it made Tree Hugger cherish that she was able to at least give them a haven where they can search through their feelings and understand each other.

“I see, very righteous Sister Sun.”

“Yeah…” Sunset rubbed the back of her head, feeling a little ashamed, “Listen, sorry for all the grief and stuff I’ve given you since we’ve been here. You really weren’t obligated to help us, and yet you’ve let us stay in your little sanctuary and helped us learn to control our magic…so, sorry.”

Tree Hugger slowly shook her head and clasped Sunset on her left shoulder as she smiled at her. “Peace, no need for apologies, and I liked helping you two, you’re both so cute together.”

Sunset’s cheeks flushed, but she returned the smile. “It feels unfair, that Twilight and I can be together like this when you and Fluttershy can’t even…”

“Chill, Shy-Shy and I will find a way, the flow of the universe is ever changing, and our fates may someday intertwine. For now, Shy-Shy needs to spread her wings and soar as far and as high as she can.”

Sunset had to admit, she was liking this hippie, even if her “high on life” attitude did annoy the living hell out of her from time to time.

*Beep-Beep-Beep*

*Beep-Beep-Beep*

*Beep-Beep-Beep*

“Sister Sun, am I hearing things again or do you hear a beeping sound?” Tree Hugger asked.

“No I hear it too but that could – wait again?!”

Suddenly Twilight came rushing out of the hut with panic in her eyes as she searched for Sunset. “SUNSET! We have an alert, a Firestorm just popped up and -!”

“Um Twi, not that I mind, but you realize your blanket is falling off.”

Twilight froze, now feeling the fabric that was wrapped around her finally plop down around her ankles, the purple girl quickly shot down into a squatting position, hugging her legs to her chest as she blushed bright red.

“So cute.” Tree Hugger commented.

EN ROUTE TO BALTIMARE

Sunset and Twilight soared high above, appearing as twin blazing trails of yellow and pink fire streaking through the sky. A sonic boom erupted from both of them at the same time, their speed doubling and closing the distance to their destination.

Their training in gaining control of their magic and Firestorm powers was even more effective than they had realized, if their increased flying speed was any indication. Twilight and Sunset hated to leave Tree Hugger and their training incomplete, but they needed to stop this new Firestorm before any innocent lives were taken.

“Don’t worry, though you leave, your training continues. From here on out, the opening of your remaining chakras will be done in the world beyond this forest…”

“What do you think she was talking about?” Twilight asked.

“In her own cryptic way, I think it means: Time to leave the nest and figure the rest out on your own,” said Sunset. “But it’s fine, when it comes to magic, some things are better learned on your own, sorta getting your hands dirty type thing!”

“Alright, I guess we can cut our impromptu vacation short, besides, I’ve no doubt that we have a mountain of homework waiting for us,” said Twilight.

Sunset smacked her palm against her forehead. “Geez, and here I almost pushed that all the way to the back of my mind! Now I have that to look forward to after this!”

Twilight giggled but then set her enhanced vision forward, focusing on the approaching skyline of Baltimare. “We’re almost there!”

“Then let’s not keep ‘em waitin’!”

Sunset and Twilight burst forth, making the world around them blur as they sped towards their opponent. The city of Baltimare finally came into view, both fire trails zooming into the confines of the metropolis. The twin Firestorms could sense their opponent now that they were in range and quickly redirected themselves towards it.

As they flew, both girls watched as hundreds of Baltimare’s citizens were either fleeing or foolishly sticking around to catch cellphone videos of the impending brawl. The civilian people and vehicles eventually changed, showing vehicles belonging to law enforcement and some were military.

It seemed as if they were taking this Firestorm threat more seriously in lieu of the recent confrontations both locally and around the world.

Their flight was taking them to the center of the city, where the majority of police and military units were deployed, Twilight noticed a few news helicopters hovering just outside, what they presumed, was a safe distance. Soon they reached the center of the city, and both their eyes widened at the sight.

A giant Firestorm stood before all, arms crossed in front of its chest as its dim white eyes were narrowed into slits, as if resting and waiting. Sunset and Twilight slowly floated towards the behemoth, with Sunset carefully eyeing the police and soldiers as their weapons suddenly pointed towards them.

As much as she would’ve loved to chide them for it, considering both of them were the ones responsible for dealing with each of these rogue Firestorms, but she couldn’t fully blame them. They were scared, and rightly so.

The giant Firestorm tilted its head up, the dim white eyes glowing brighter as if signifying its awakening. Twilight and Sunset maintained a good distance between themselves and the juggernaut before them.

“Good of you two to finally show up, I’ve been waiting,” said the giant.

“Well, sorry to keep you waiting,” said Sunset in sarcastic tone. “So, are you another lackey of the Organization? ‘Cause I’ll save you some grief and pain, the guys before you haven’t fared so well.”

The giant Firestorm chuckled, its massive shoulders rising and falling from the action. “Humph, arrogance, fitting. You may call me Firestorm Titannus, but in the Organization, I am known as Miser.”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. “Miser…y-you’re one of three chairmen of the Organization!”

Firestorm Titannus glanced towards Twilight, arching its brow. “You know of my position in the Organization? The plot thickens around you both, regardless, I have come to make you both an offer.”

Sunset crossed her arms and glared at Titannus. “And that is?”

“Simple enough options. One: give up your Protocols and you’ll be pardoned of your transgressions against us. Two: become my subordinates and you might have a place in the new future of the world. Or three: you die here in this miserable city.”

Sunset glanced to Twilight, the violet Firestorm narrowing her eyes and giving a subtle nod to her girlfriend.

“WE CHOOSE NEITHER, ASSHOLE!”

Sunset thrusted her right hand forward, releasing a powerful, column sized atomic fire ray at Titannus. The beam smashed into the behemoth, washing over him like a tsunami and obscuring his form from view. The police and soldiers backed away from the onslaught, no longer pointing their weapons at Titannus or Sunset and Twilight.
The crimson Firestorm ceased her attack and her mouth gaped. Standing amongst the smoldering, molten concrete was Titannus, his body shined in the glow of the searing hot crater, arms still crossed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?!”

“You get three strikes, that was one,” said Titannus.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled through the sky, Sunset looked to her right and saw Twilight’s hands pointed up. Dark clouds began to swirl over the city, blotting out the sun and creating an ominous atmosphere. Lightning arced from one cloud to the other, crackling as their electrical energy charged up.

The lightning gathered at the center of the storm cloud, changing from its bluish-white into an angry red once it reached the center. More and more arcs of lightning united with the cluster, growing bigger and brighter with each passing second.

Twilight’s eyes flashed as she brought down her hands, causing the churning mass of electrical power to unleash its heavenly fury upon Titannus. The lightning was blood red, shooting off into different streaks of lightning before coming together into a massive column of crimson, crackling might upon the juggernaut Firestorm.

Sunset used her magic to create a turquoise colored barrier behind them, protecting the soldiers and police from the discharges that shot off from the main attack. Titannus’ form completely vanished in the crimson lightning sprite, disintegrating what was left of the ground and structure around him. The electrical discharges would shoot off from the main column and towards the bystanders, but thanks to Sunset’s shield not one of them was hit.

With a wave of her hand, Twilight ended the storm, dispersing the storm clouds and ending the lightning attack. Unfortunately, the result was the same. Firestorm Titannus was still standing, his body giving off sparks of the red lightning that hit him, but not a scratch was seen on him.

“Strike two, one left, make it count.”

“This smug son of a – alright no holding back!” Sunset declared.

“We’ll make this quick, before he can harm anyone!” Twilight added.

Both Firestorm girls erupted in their respective pink and yellow flame auras. Their Firestorm insignia’s glowed bright red as a halo of light appeared behind them. Sunset and Twilight shot off towards Titannus and in the blink of an eye vanished in a flash of rosy-violet and aquamarine.

Titannus was confused at this, he was sure that they didn’t execute some sort of high-speed maneuver. Just then the behemoth Firestorm felt a double impact straight to his midsection, he looked down and watched as Sunset and Twilight drove their flaming fists into his stomach. The force generated by the twin blows created a powerful shockwave that roared out behind Titannus and demolished what was left the structure behind him.

The twin Firestorms cried out as one as they lifted up the giant with great effort, surprising Titannus as his white eyes widened. A sphere of burning atomic energy formed at the point of contact, pushing him up a few inches. Twilight’s right hand had atomic rings spiraling around it, at the same time, Sunset’s left hand had spiraling atomic rings as well.

The sphere of power exploded, blasting Titannus high into the air. Sunset and Twilight simultaneously thrusted their right and left hands in Titannus’ direction, their power manifested into the form of two giant hands made of rosy-violet energy and pink flames, and another made of aquamarine energy and golden flames.

The right and left hands slammed over Titannus, capturing him in their dual grasp. Sunset and Twilight released a fierce battle cry as they clenched their fists, causing the two construct hands to crush Titannus and detonate magnificently above the city, causing an explosion that rang out through the entire city.

The halos on their backs faded away, the glow of their insignias dimming at the same time. The two girls took in a deep breath, regaining their composure after the brief power up. They scanned the giant dust cloud that formed in the wake of the explosion, trying to see if there was any sign of Titannus, they were hoping the amount of power they used was enough to render him unconscious or at the very least immobilize him. He was a Firestorm, and since he was, Titannus’ Protocols could be extracted, so there was no need to kill him outright.

However, their estimations of damage were off, enormously. A shockwave rushed out, blowing away the dust cloud and revealing Firestorm Titannus, a barrier bubble made of energy surrounding him.

“I’ll admit, you might have had me there for a second. You’re little instant teleportation and blitz attack was inspired, but alas, that was your third strike…” Titannus balled up its fists, atomic rings spiraling around them both. “Time to take! You! OUT!”

Titannus pointed his right hand downwards, suddenly, a violent tremor surged through the pavement, causing the windows of nearby buildings to shatter and shower the innocent bystanders in sharp shards. Twilight and Sunset hovered off the ground to avoid the disorientation. The violet Firestorm summoned her transmutation powers, concentrating them on the glass that was falling on the people and changing its atomic structure into harmless confetti.

Fissures started to open in the ground, swallowing tanks, armored assault vehicles, cop cars, as well as the soldiers and cops. Sunset tapped into her wellspring of mana, focusing her magic and releasing a kinetic wave throughout the area. The police and military personnel all began to float up off the ground, many looked confused and panicked, others breathed sighs of relief, not caring how, but glad to be off the shaking ground.

Sunset grinned, her magic was back to its former strength, even stronger actually, seeing as how she was able to maintain her telekinetic hold on so many people at once. She looked to her right and watched as Twilight made quick work of safeguarding the citizens from the glass, making it look like there was a parade celebration rather than a disaster.

Titannus noted the girls’ valiant efforts to protect the people, but now it was time to get serious. With his left hand, Titannus sent out a pulse of energy, which struck the still shaking ground.

Twilight used her microscopic vision, giving her a glimpse as to what Titannus was up to. The molecules and atoms were shifting, changing, and becoming more viscous. They also started to take on a plasmatic glow about them, Twilight’s eyes went wide as she realized what Titannus was about to do.

“GET THEM OUT OF HERE!!!” Twilight shouted.

Sunset didn’t argue, focusing her next spell on the multitude of people in her telekinetic grip and teleporting them as far as she could to the outskirts of the city.

At that moment, the ground below them transmuted into pure molten lava. The superheated liquid rose up like a tidal wave and splashed outwards. Titannus had set himself up at the center of the city on purpose, generating a tidal wave of lava from this position that would ensure it spread out and engulfed the city, hitting it at the most densely populated spot.

The lava wave smashed and melted its way through the steel and concrete structures around, it weakening their foundations and causing the skyscrapers to wobble like a tower of dominos. One of the skyscrapers’ foundation melted and buckled under the intense heat and fell forward, crashing into another building and snapping in two. Both halves hit the lava pool, causing a splash that made the lava ripple out yet again.

“We’ve got to stop the lava before it completely wipes Baltimare off the map!” Sunset shouted.

“I think I can stop it, but I’ll need you to stop it from spreading out and stay still for a few seconds,” said Twilight.

“Leave that to me, Sparky!”

Sunset flew off, while Twilight prepared to act.

The crimson Firestorm channeled her magical power into her right hand, the corners of her eyes flickering with aquamarine embers of magical power. Sunset dove down to the streets and slammed her right palm against the pavement. Fissures of aquamarine light surged through the asphalt and charged straight for the incoming lava wave.

The fissures stopped and quickly shot out to the right and left, like lightning the aquamarine fissures streaked, angling themselves ever so slightly; the fissures met on the other side of the wave, connecting to form a large circle. Sunset sent a pulse through the channels of energy, causing the circular fissure to erupt.

A wall made of shimmering aquamarine light rose from the circular fissure, piercing the ground below as well. The ten block wide wall domed itself underground, trapping the lava and cutting it off from the rest of the city, while the high walls prevented it from splashing onto anything else.

Titannus watched the spectacle, curiously studying how the two worked in tandem. He noted that the crimson Firestorm girl was more of an attacker, throwing her power around with seemingly wild, but calculated attacks. The violet Firestorm girl on the other hand…

Twilight smiled, impressed by Sunset’s quick thinking, and a little enamored at that same time. But now it was her turn, she didn’t want to fall behind her girlfriend after all. Atomic rings formed over Twilight’s hands as she began waving them about as maestro would conduct an orchestra.

Water molecules gathered as the winds howled and swirled about her. The temperature began to drop dramatically, a few degrees every second. In front of her, a swirling mass of water with a bright blue glow at the center formed as she condensed more and more water and air into it. The sphere became tightly packed and condensed until it was the size of a pebble.

With a flick of the rest, Twilight threw the single drop towards the center of the lava. After a few seconds, nothing happened, but within a minute, a great explosion of wintery cold shot up in a column, creating snow that cascaded down onto the city. Twilight smirked, watching as the lava quickly transformed into solid rock within nanoseconds. The cracking shifting of stone echoed in the quiet of the city, alerting all that the mini-volcano had ceased.

Titannus hummed in contemplation. He could see why others have had problems with these two, the violet Firestorm seemed to have a better grasp of the Firestorm Protocols’ transmutation powers, using it with a skill that Miser would dare to call masterful. She was quick witted too, having created a densely packed form of liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the lava and cool it down to its core. One was swift and strong, and other was smart and keen of mind, both on their own would be a handful for anyone, but together, they were force to be reckoned with.

The juggernaut Firestorm descended from the sky, hovering at a thousand feet as he glared at the two Firestorm girls. “You two have excellent teamwork, I’ll have to be very aware of my surroundings.”

Twilight scoffed. “Glad you’re impressed, although, I’m surprised a member of the ruling chairmen of the Organization would actually stoop so low as to get his hands dirty.”

“Yes, well, circumstances and certain incompetent parties have made it necessary for me to step down from my lofty ‘throne’. Now…” Titannus assumed a runner’s stance and with great force, took off for Sunset and Twilight, the street getting torn apart in the wake of his take off.

Sunset and Twilight focused their magic into a combined defense, forming a barrier wall of pure atomic and magical power. Titannus cocked back its metallic fist and thrust it forward, slamming it into the shield.

The result was an intense shockwave that shattered glass and caused the very ground beneath them to cave in on itself. If it weren’t for their flying capabilities they would’ve lost their footing, but thankfully they were able to hold their metaphorical ground as Titannus tried to bury his huge fist further into their shield.

It was only now that Titannus was close to them was Twilight able to spot something weird about his form. Seeing four glowing atomic orbs integrated into his metal body. Twilight’s eyes widened at the impossibility that one being could handle four Firestorm Protocols at once.

Titannus raised his left hand, gathering particles of atomic energy with each passing second. Atomic rings formed around his left hand as intense nuclear fire blazed to life.

“BRACE YOURSELF!” Sunset shouted.

Titannus thrusted his left hand forward, unleashing a roaring, column sized blast of atomic fire right at them. The force of the blast carried Sunset and Twilight down the street, their barrier keeping them as safe as possible and making it look as if they were traveling down a tunnel of fire. Within a few seconds the barrier bubble struck up against the side of a building, sending concrete and mortar flying in every direction.

Sunset and Twilight released the barrier, gasping at the scorching trail of destruction left it the wake of Titannus’ attack.

Titannus cancelled the flames still lingering around his left hand and prepared to attack them, but Sunset and Twilight weren’t going to give him that chance.

Twilight’s hands were surrounded with atomic rings, focusing her energy on the gravitons around Titannus. She made a motion with her hands as if dropping something, and in an instant, Titannus felt his entire body weigh five-thousand tons. The ground around him buckled, becoming a flattened surface due to the intense gravity field being thrust upon him.

“C-Clever girl…! Manipulating the gravitons to increase my weight to bone shattering levels, were I a normal human I’d have been pulverized,” said Titannus.

“A good thing you’re not then!” Sunset yelled.

Titannus realized too late the voice had come from below him, the juggernaut looked down and saw Sunset, both her hands cupped behind her as a glowing sphere of atomic fury burned brightly. He glanced back up, swearing he saw the crimson Firestorm standing next to the violet one not a moment ago.

It was a moot point once Sunset thrusted both her hands forward and fired a pure, atomic plasma beam at point blank range. The beam completely engulfed Titannus in red and yellow energy that continued onwards into the sky. After a few seconds, Sunset cancelled her attack to see what remained of their enemy, but was shocked to see the mechanoid still standing.

Titannus’ eyes shined brightly as he channeled the atomic energy of his four Protocols, using their power overwrite Twilight’s gravity vice, shaking it off like it was nothing. The metal monstrosity raised both arms up for a double hammer fist, but at the last second, Sunset disappeared in a flash of aquamarine light, leaving Titannus to strike nothing but asphalt, sending a plume of dust into the air.

The mecha Firestorm waved its hand through the dust, watching as Sunset reappeared next to Twilight. “Instantaneous movement? Teleportation? I see the Matrix is evolving.”

“More like we got an upgrade!”

Sunset summoned forth two blazing swords made of pure plasma energy, while Twilight formed a rapier sword, fashioned from hard-light and graviton particles. Twilight took the lead, disappearing in a flash of rosy-violet light.

Titannus readied himself for an attack, an attack that could appear from any angle. But while waiting for Twilight to reappear, the juggernaut once again was distracted from Sunset’s teleportation, bringing her within striking range of the titan’s head. Sunset swung her left sword, bringing it down for a helm splitting strike.

The brutish Firestorm sensed the attack at the last second, and blocked the attack with its right forearm, the auras of Titannus and Sunset clashed as the crimson Firestorm tried to cut through the arm to the her main target. But Titannus roared out, creating a buffeting force wave that threw Sunset back. As he reached out to grab her, Titannus suddenly found himself barraged with several strikes to his back in less than a second.

Titannus swung its left arm in a sweeping motion behind him, which only ended up hitting air. When he came to a stop, a flash of rosy-violet light caught his attention, Titannus glanced to his right just in time to receive a high speed strike right to his side. The juggernaut glanced down long enough to see what hit him.

It was Twilight, thrusting her rapier with such grace and precision that the flames of her being danced around her, making even her deadly attack seem beautiful.

The hulking Firestorm was thrown down the street, bouncing like a stone skipping the water. Titannus dug its hands into the ground, tearing up the street as he came to a halt. Not wanting to be caught off-guard again, Titannus used his transmutation powers, converting the matter around him into viable weapons.

On his left forearm he created a shield, and to his right hand he formed a double-edged battle ax. Sunset reappeared before the titan and assumed a combative stance with her dual swords.

“I should warn you, I have studied medieval combat,” said Titannus.

“Yeah, well I’ve studied under a hardass sword master, let’s see who's better trained!” Sunset barked.

Titannus swung his mighty ax down in an overhead strike, Sunset used her two blades, forming a X and catching the blow at the blades’ crossing. Sunset grunted as the impact rang through her body, nearly making her knees buckle. Sunset persisted, growling ferociously as she pushed back on the huge battle ax, breaking their lock.

Sunset came in swinging with her right sword, which was blocked by Titannus’ shield. Using the recoiling force of the blocked blow, Sunset spun around to deliver a slash with her left sword. With swift, savage grace, Sunset’s plasma sword cut into Titannus’ stomach region, causing the behemoth to growl in pain.

Titannus roared out, generating a shockwave that pushed Sunset as away from him. The glowing wound on the giant metal monster miraculously began to seal itself shut, until all traces of damage were gone. With that settled, Titannus slashed his battle ax, releasing a crescent wave of atomic energy.

Sunset had dug her twin blades into the asphalt to slow herself, which left her minimal time to dodge or block the incoming wave. Suddenly, Twilight flashed into existence before her. The violet Firestorm gave a sharp, but quick slash upward. In the wake of the slash were tiny orbs of fire, but once the crescent made contact, the fireballs ignited into a chain-explosion, combating the power of the atomic crescent.

Twilight glanced behind her and winked to her lover, with Sunset shooting back with a cocky smirk.

Just then, a giant metal hand thrust itself through the explosion and grabbed Twilight by the head. Sunset’s eyes went wide with horror as the giant hand retracted and pulled Twilight with it, the crimson Firestorm cried out with fury as she waved her hand and snuffed out the explosion flames.

Sunset watched as Twilight struggled against the metal hand, but atomic rings were swirling about, somehow keeping Twilight from transmuting.

“You both have only half of a whole Matrix, I have four whole Firestorm Protocols!”

Titannus raised Twilight up and thrust her down into the ground. The street shattered as Twilight left a body sized hole in the earth, but Titannus wasn’t done there. The metal giant transmuted the molecules of the asphalt to turn to instant tar. The black ooze opened like a great maw and swallowed an unconscious Twilight.

With a flick of the wrist, the tar hardened in an instant, and Twilight was buried alive.

“BASTARD!!!” Sunset roared.

The crimson Firestorm’s fiery mane roared out as she brought her two swords together, forming a giant claymore sword, lifting the giant weapon with ease as she brought it down like the judging blade of Damocles.

Titannus braced itself, using its shield to intercept the blow. A pressure wave blew through the area upon impact, throwing cars and parking meters into the sides of nearby building. Titannus dug its heels into the asphalt as it was pushed back by Sunset’s wrathful sword. The juggernaut prepared to counterattack, but was thwarted when a steel snake sprang out of the ground.

The metal serpent hissed and wrapped itself around Titannus’ right arm, constricting it to the point of nearly severing it off. Miser couldn’t understand this, he had buried the girl in tar, she should’ve ingested at least a little in her unconscious state to render her dead when it solidified.

At that moment, two more serpents sprouted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the metal monster’s legs, and sinking their sharp fangs into its metallic hide to anchor themselves. Titannus growled in frustration, now realizing why these two girls were such nuisances to their plans. Their tag-team style of fighting was truly well synchronized, as if they could tell what the other was doing without even needing to ask.

“I must admit, I did underestimate you, Dusk Shine spoke so annoyingly highly of you two that I thought he was full of hot air! Now I see you two are truly a threat to the Organization,” spoke Titannus.

“Believe me, we are!” Twilight phased through the street, appearing behind Titannus as her left and right hands glowed with atomic rings. “This power we have, we will use every ounce of it crush your ambitions and rid the world of your evil!”

“Same goes for me! I may not have wanted to be in this world, but it’s the world I live in now! And the last thing I’ll see happen is have it thrown into chaos because of douchebags like you?!”

Titannus closed its eyes. “I see…then I guess I should take this more seriously, and not hold back! Initiate Overdrive!”

[OVERDRIVE ENGAGED]

All four Firestorm Protocols shined brightly upon Titnnaus’ chest, a field of energy formed around him, making Sunset fallback and take a defensive stance, Twilight teleported to Sunset’s side, and brought up her hands in preparation to defend or counter.

“Witness the true state of man, machine, and atomic power as one!”

The battle-suit glowed and detached, showing a glowing man at the center. The four Protocols rearranged themselves into a diamond formation on the glowing man’s chest and released electrical energy that latched onto the metal parts.

The armor shrunk and became sleek in design, melding onto the glowing man as circuitry connected to the four Protocols. Within a few seconds the field disappeared, revealing somethng new. The suit had transformed into a form of bio-tech armor, fueled by the Firestorm Protocols, and regulating the energy through every facet of his being. A metallic helm covered Miser’s head, revealing most of his mouth and both of his eyes. Flames continued to bellow from the six holes in his back, but they became more energy based than fire.

“The Firestorm Protocols are truly a work of art and source of unimaginable power, however, they are still limited by the human body.”

Miser touched down on the ground with the lightness of a feather, he then put his arms behind his back leisurely, as if not even regarding the two girls as a threat.

“A single human can only hold within them one Protocol, because the strain of carrying more than one would literally tear apart the host at the atomic level. So the question became: how do you bypass the weakness of the human body, while maximizing its potential? Answer: You augment the human body.”

Suddenly, Miser vanished, surprising both Sunset and Twilight.

“Through the use of nanomachines, I have taken my old and decrepit body, and used them to restore my body to its peak physical condition, and instead of using my body to house the Protocols, I used the Titannus as my surrogate host, allowing me to access all the power of the Protocols and feed them into my body, allowing me to further modify the armor through its transmutational powers!”

Sunset and Twilight turned around, seeing that Miser had somehow reappeared behind them.

“How did –?!”

Suddenly, Sunset’s face erupted with pain as Miser appeared in front of her and backhanded her in the face, sending the crimson Firestorm rocketing down the street and slamming into the side of a car.

“The suit is a part of me, the Firestorm Protocols are a part of me, the perfect utilization of the power of the Protocols, without the wear and tear on the human body! I am basically a GOD!”

Before Twilight could counter, Miser was right in front her, his hand hovering a few inches from her midsection. Atomic energy quickly gathered to the palm of his hand and ignited, engulfing Twilight in a blast of raging hellfire.

But thankfully, Twilight teleported at the last second, barely escaping the blast. She called on her transmutation powers, along with her newly minted magical powers, channeling them into a sphere of swirling electron, graviton, and mana energy, figuring Miser wouldn’t able to counter the magic infused attack too easily.

“You’re fast,” said Miser, now hovering over Twilight, his hand flat and ready to strike. “But I’m faster!”

Miser slashed in a wide arch, but as soon as his hand made contact with Twilight, he passed through her, like hitting air. He then noticed that Twilight was a couple of feet ahead of him, he used his new powers to analyze the area around him, noting a distortion in the light particles and air molecules.

Little bitch, she created an illusion by transmuting a perfect mirror image mirage!

Twilight focused the condensed energy into a crackling sphere of energy at the tip of her index and ring fingers of her right hand. She pointed those two fingers at Miser and fired a linear beam with a spiraling aura around it. The beam cut through the air with great speed, making Miser’s eyes widen.

The beam struck the center of Miser’s chest, making the Organization leader grunt from the unusual energy lacing the attack. Before he could counter, Miser sensed a buildup of power behind him.

Sunset had pried herself from the car, a blazing halo of light was behind her, and a sphere of white hot plasma and magical energy was cupped in both of her hands. With a loud battle cry, Sunset fired the sphere of power, the sheer force of it tearing up the street in its wake.

The sphere crashed against Miser’s back, making the super powered being grunt loudly in pain from the twin attacks. Twilight focused more of her magic into the attack, at the same time, Sunset funneled in just as much magic, trying to break through Miser’s armor and cause him at least some damage.

Miser held his ground, balling up his fists and gnashing his teeth as he braced against the dual attacks. His white eyes flashed as he two streaks of light escaped his body, solidifying into full bodied constructs of himself. The first construct blindsided Twilight with an elbow to her face, and the second construct delivered an ax kick to Sunset’s right shoulder, forcing her to one knee.

Both their attacks had cancelled out, allowing the Organization leader glared at Sunset and appeared in front of the crimson Firestorm in but a moment. The light construct put her into a chokehold, keeping her subdued as the original stared her down. He glanced back behind him, watching his other construct subdue the violet Firestorm, noting that intense fury in the crimson’s eyes.

“I see you care for your partner, a great deal I’m wagering?” Miser asked knowingly.

“I swear to you, whatever you’re thinking about doing to her, I’m going to unleash it back on you one-hundred times worse!” Sunset threatened.

Miser chuckled at her defiance. “I would love to see you do that. But you both still have the options I gave you earlier. I know money means nothing to both you, obviously, but power and life are very compelling reasons to side with the Organization. In all honesty, I am thinking about doing a major re-staffing, and we could use a couple of sharp minds and even sharper combat skills. What say you?”

Sunset’s answer was elegant and very becoming of a young lady, she spat in Miser’s face.

The armored Firestorm narrowed his eyes as he carefully wiped her spit off of his helm. “Very well, then watch as your comrade dies slowly for all to see.”

Miser snapped his fingers and Sunset watched as Twilight was thrown into the side of a building, and dragged up its side by the construct. The being of light unleashed a flurry of punches that became a literal blur as Twilight was made to ascend the building.

The construct quickly grabbed ahold of Twilight, tossing her in the air. Twilight generated a burst of energy that halted her ascent and quickly fired a barrage of lightning bolts. The construct dodged each of them, not losing any momentum in its blitz attack.

The creation of light shot through the hail of electrical fury, only to grab Twilight by the throat and turn her own electrical attack against her, sending a painful surge of electricity through her body. The violet Firestorm went limp, and the construct whipped her back to down to terra firma, sending a huge dust cloud shooting into the air. The construct of light reformed its right hand into a blade of light, poised to deliver the killing the blow.

“Do it.”

“NOOO!!!”

The construct zoomed down with great speed, while Twilight was just barely getting back to her feet. The dust cloud was blown away in the wake of the approaching enemy as it thrust its blade are forward, the tip just inches from -

“Hey, that’s no way to treat a lady.”

Suddenly a flash of vermillion and blue flames flashed before Twilight and the construct. The construct was sent flying back, skidding to a halt as it eyed the one responsible for keeping it from its target.

A Firestorm, his body colored a light azure, with glowing vermillion tribal markings, stood before Twilight. His hair was a deep navy, made of fire, bearing a cape made of the same vermillion flames. He wore no uniform like what a normal Firestorm would produce, but he did have on pants and cerulean metal boots. He gave the construct a cocksure smile, and then glanced behind him at Twilight.

“Wow, you’re cuter than what I imagined,” he said.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the construct sprinted forward and delivered a spinning kick to the unknown Firestorm’s neck. A resounding shockwave rang out, but much to the surprise of Twilight, and most likely the construct, the unknown Firestorm didn’t even flinch. In fact, he turned his head towards the construct, shooting it a pointed glare. The construct backed away, assuming a defensive stance.

“Now you’re becoming annoying, buddy.” The Firestorm disappeared in a flash of vermillion and azure flames. The construct looked around, but could not find him, not until the Firestorm reappeared in front of it. “Disappear.”

The Firestorm thrust its hand into the construct’s body, releasing pulse that surged through its body and broke it down into tiny particles of light. Twilight looked upon the Firestorm with astonishment, however, there was something about this Firestorm that was…familiar.

“Now then, let’s get outta of this hole.” The Firestorm disappeared, and reappeared behind Twilight, picking her up princess style with a swiftness that caught Twilight completely off guard. “Hang on.”

Before Twilight could say a word, both of them were now back on street level, with Miser and Sunset gawking at the new Firestorm who was carrying Twilight. The unknown savior set Twilight back on her feet and smiled confidently at her.

“I…um…thank you?”

“Ah, no problem, I like saving cute girls. Alright then…” The Firestorm’s gaze narrowed as he glanced towards Miser. “Time to put you in the grave, old man!”

Author's Note

And now, mares and gentlecolts, this is the end of the five chapters I have wrote out ahead of time. Now I shall begin the uploading of SHAZAM! :yay:

So I'll leave you with this little cliffhanger. :pinkiecrazy: