Taken

“We need to talk,” Sunset said earnestly. The sky grew darker on that Friday afternoon, and a gust of wind blew through their hair. The girls had met up on the Canterlot steps after school upon Sunset’s request, their faces as gloomy as the weather.

“I already know what you’re going to say,” Fluttershy sighed.

Rainbow Dash slammed her backpack on the concrete and crossed her arms. “Where was she today? If she was just sick or couldn’t make it to school she would’ve texted or called any of us. And she would’ve called the Vice Principal too! Since when is Pinkie truant?”

“This is pretty strange,” Twilight said slowly. “I’ve only known her for two months, but I’m pretty familiar with her habits. I don't mean to sound dramatic but...something isn’t right.”

Applejack started pacing nervously. “She’s supposed to come over to my house for our movie night. She would've texted me if she could come or not right about now.” She took off her Stetson and fiddled with it between her fingers as she looked up. “I’m worried, y’all.”

“I’m sure this is just all a misunderstanding,” Rarity assured. “She's probably too ill to contact anyone. This is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about.” Her eyes lowered as she cleared her throat. “Perhaps we should...pay her a visit?”

Sunset nodded. “I hope she isn’t too sick.” She started to stand up when her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen, her face lighting up. “It’s Pinkie!”

The girls sighed collectively as Sunset put it on speaker. “Hey, Pinkie, where were you today?”

A low chuckle answered her, sending chills up their spines. “Why...that’s an excellent question, Sunset Shimmer. Just where was dear Pinkie today?”

Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth with her hands while Applejack's eyes widened.

Sunset’s lower lip trembled slightly as she struggled to reply. “What...what did you do?”

“Why, Sunset...haven’t you figured it out yet? And here I thought you were smart.”

Something in Rainbow Dash snapped. She gripped Sunset’s pale wrist and screamed at the phone. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO PINKIE!?”

Adagio seemed unfazed by Rainbow’s outburst. “Hmm, so the gang’s all here then? Even better. Listen up, all of you. We know what the Canterlot Statue really holds.”

The girls regarded each other in shock. Rarity’s head whipped from side to side, afraid they were being watched.

“The only problem is, we can’t get through it. Your magic protects the entrance.” Adagio chuckled. “You know where this is headed. Take down the barrier and we’ll let your little friend go.”

“How dare you!” Rarity seethed. “Why..I just--I ought to--”

"B-But her parents!" Twilight exclaimed. "Her family, they--"

"Think that their daughter is over at Sunset's house for a week long sleepover," Adagio finished smugly. "Don't worry. I already texted Mommy and Daddy on Pinkie's phone. They don't have to know a thing. After all, you've had one of those sleepovers before, haven't you, girls?"

A heavy weight settled over the group. They hadn't had that kind of sleepover since last Christmas. We've been watched, Rarity mouthed.

“And what will you do with Equestria?” Sunset said darkly. “And all who live there? What’s going to happen to them?”

“What we do doesn’t concern you,” Adagio growled.

“It’s my home!” Sunset snapped. “It does concern me! Canterlot, Baltimore, Manehattan; they’d be under your ruling. Even after 1,000 years, you still haven’t had enough.”

“You already stripped us of what little magical abilities we had,” Adagio said a matter of factly. “The least you could do is help send three harmless little teenagers back home...now does that sound so bad? Isn’t it what good guys do?”

“We want proof,” Rainbow cut in. “If you want us to listen to you, you give us proof that she’s okay!”

“...Very well,” the Siren said after a brief pause. Some rustling could be heard in the background. “You get one minute.”

A short gasp cut the air, followed by a small and shaky, “Hello?”

Everyone crowded around the phone, voices overlapping in concern. “Girls?” Pinkie asked hopefully. “I-Is that you?”

“Oh, Pinkie…” Fluttershy stopped briefly and blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“No, no I’m okay. It’s just...it’s really good to hear your voices.” Sunset and the others deflated at the strained happiness in Pinkie’s voice. It didn’t feel real, hearing her sound so tired and frightened.

“Don’t you fret now, Sugarcube,” Applejack soothed, breaking her silence. “Everything’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna do everything in our power to get you back home--you have my word. Alright?”

“We love you, Pinkie,” Rarity smiled. Her eyes started to sting and she turned away. “So much.”

“You're gonna be Okay.  You're tougher than anyone else thinks. We’re gonna find you,” Rainbow said firmly. “We won’t stop until we do. Okay, Pinkie?”

“...Okay Dashie,” Pinkie said, her voice gaining a bit of confidence.

“Fifteen seconds,” they heard Aria say roughly.

“I love you guys too,”  Pinkie said hurriedly. “And--and give my sisters a big hug for me, okay? And..and…” She drew in a sharp breath, as if it pained her. “Don’t do it! Don’t take it down! Don't let them--!”

A slapping sound followed by a cry of pain shook them to the core. Yells and threats exploded from Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity in pure unadulterated rage. Twilight shook her head slowly, taking a step back. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut tight and shook her fists loosely as if she were about to punch someone, but covered her face instead.

Sunset was outside of herself. She didn’t feel...there. It was if she were watching them from above rather being right in the middle of it all. Adagio’s frustrated voice floated back into her ears, bringing her back to reality. “Do we have a deal or not?”

Rainbow cursed at her while Sunset shook her head. “We..we can’t just take it down whenever we want! We...had the help from Twilight and she’s--”

“Now, now, Sunset. I didn’t say you had to do it over night. Tell you what. Since we’re so generous, we’ll give you until next Friday at 4:30. But until then, we do require some things…” They heard the rustling of paper before Adagio cleared her throat. “Thick blankets, cold medicine, soap, jackets and coat, socks, warm food, and...oh yeah. We want our pendants back.”

“What!?” Sunset squeaked. “That’s impossible, we can’t--”

“I didn’t say all at once. Each day, we’ll give you a different location to drop off the items. You do something nice for us, we’ll do something nice for Pinkie. Sound fair?”

Looking around at her friends, Sunset knew that no one was satisfied with the idea at all. But they had no choice. “Yes…”

“Good!”

“I swear, Adagio,” Applejack said lowly. “If you hurt a hair on my cousin’s head...your life’s gonna be cut short.”

“Fair enough,” Adagio replied. “Keep your phones close, ladies. Be expecting a call tomorrow.”

And just like that, the line went dead.

Fluttershy slowly sat down on the steps and brought her knees to her chest. Rainbow’s mind spiraled, imagining what it must have felt like when Pinkie got taken away--the Dazzlings stalking her, watching her--then dragging her friend away, kicking and screaming--or maybe they slithered like snakes in the dark of night and snatched her out of bed…

Rainbow shook her head and ran a hand through her bushy hair. “How did this happen?”

Applejack’s hands shook. “I...I shoulda went with her. I shoulda walked her home...but I left her….left her all by herself…”

Rarity gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is not your fault,” she said firmly. “You couldn’t have possibly known. the only ones to blame here are the Dazzlings.”

“We’ve got to take it down,” Fluttershy said mournfully. “We haven’t got a choice!”

Sunset looked up apprehensively. “Wait. We should at least stop and think for a second--”

“What’s there to think about?” Rainbow interrupted. “They're gonna hurt Pinkie if we don’t take it down!”

“But the only reason it worked was because we had help from Princess Twilight. The spell book is only available from her world, and she may not even be--”

“Look, we’ve got a whole week!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Sunset. “The other Twilight wouldn’t think twice about helping us, I know it! It’s like you don’t even care about what happens to Pinkie!”

Sunset’s eyes flashed as she stormed down the steps. “Of course I care what happens to Pinkie! That’s the problem! The Sirens knew we care so much about her! They watched us, they listened to our conversations…” She started to tremble. “They saw an opportunity and they took it--and now...now we can’t say no…”

The reformed student rubbed at her temples. “And Equestria will fall because of it. I care about Pinkie, but...I care about my home too.”

The others shared sad looks before Twilight came up and rubbed her back. “I’m so sorry, Sunset. We’ll...figure this out. Right now, the only thing we can do is start gathering the items The Dazzlings are asking for. For Pinkie’s sake.”

Rarity sighed tiredly and started walking in the direction of her house. “Leave the blankets, sweaters and socks to me.”

Applejack replaced her stetson on top of her head and shoved her hands in her pockets. “I’ll take care of the food...chances are they’ll give some of it to Pinkie...Sakes. I hope she’s eatin’ well.”

"Don't worry, A.J.," Rainbow said. "If they try anything funny, I'll kill them myself."

One by one, the group dispersed with heavy hearts and busy minds. Sunset pushed her hair back and exhaled briefly. “I have to talk to Twilight.”