"I don't think I'll ever get used to this teleporting business." Norman said while checking his body for wounds, but not finding any.

TIME TO SHARE THE POINTS
00:00:00

TWEEDLEDUM
16 PTS / TOTAL 22 PTS
ONLY 78 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

MISS MIDNA
40 PTS / TOTAL 40 PTS
ONLY 60 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

"Good." Midna said. "But not great. I think I'm still a little rusty."

CAMPER
16 PTS / TOTAL 65 PTS
ONLY 35 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

SAINTS BRO
16 PTS / TOTAL 16 PTS
ONLY 84 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

"'Saints Bro'?" Sunset asked. "What does that mean?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it." Nolan looked away with a hint of pink on his cheeks.

"It's his childhood nickname!" Norman said with a huge grin. "He always got pissed when people called him that."

BACKGROUND BOY
8 PTS / TOTAL 8 PTS
ONLY 92 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

"And what's that about?" she asked.

"It's his current nickname!" Nolan gave emphasis to the word current, looking at Norman with a smug smile. "Because people think he's so boring that he just fades in the background."

Normal Norman flipped the Black Ball off.

ROCKSTAR WANNABE
24 PTS / TOTAL 31 PTS
ONLY 69 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

"Ha! Sixty-nine." Norman backed down when he realized no one else in the room found that entertaining. "It's... It's funny..." he muttered.

PIPSQUEAK
8 PTS / TOTAL 32 PTS
ONLY 68 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

MERBITCH
48 PTS / TOTAL 48 PTS
ONLY 52 MORE AND YOU'RE DONE

"Ho! Ly! Shit!" Treble said. "This girl is AWESOME!" he felt his blood run cold when he heard his girlfriend clean her throat behind him. "Uh... Uh... I mean..."

"You did great, Adagio." Sunset praised. "And on your first time!"

"Yes. I am awesome." she said with a cocky smirk.

MOMMA SUNNY
32 PTS / TOTAL 102 PTS
PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE 100 POINTS MENU

Midna whistled.

"What does that mean, what does that mean, what does that mean?" Norman inquired.

100 POINTS MENU
1. YOU WILL BE FREED ALONG WITH YOUR MEMORIES ERASED
2. YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL WEAPON
3. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REVIVE A HUMAN BEING FROM THE MEMORY

Sunset Shimmer stared in awe and disbelief at the screen. She could almost swear it was all a dream, but everything looked and felt too real. She touched the Black Ball and it was indeed there, offering her the three options every participant desires.

Hope held her hand and smiled at her friend. "You can go home now, Sunset. Isn't that wonderful?"

Sunset Shimmer looked around; Pearl, Roll, Nolan and Norman were looking at her expectantly. Treble and Midna were whispering something only they could hear - though the content of the conversation wasn't hard to guess since the girl looked absolutely livid and the boy looked desperate. Adagio had her eyes closed and her arms crossed. Hope looked up at her with a smile. Sunset Shimmer wanted to leave, but...

"I can't!" she said.

Hope's smile was replaced by a look of confusion. "Why?"

The little girl would probably blame herself if Sunset told she didn't want to abadon her, so she decided to omit that fact. Besides, she already had something else in mind.

"I want to use those points for something else."

"Oh? Are you choosing a new gun? Please, tell me you're choosing a new gun!" Roll said with a sparkle in his eye.

"BB, can you show me the human beings in the memory?"

The text was replaced by a wall of pictures of people. Norman and Nolan stared at it in awe.

"Her." Sunset Shimmer pointed at the Sunset Shimmer nicknamed Killer Queen by the Black Ball. "I can't stop thinking about her. If I don't figure out who she is, I'm going to lose my mind."

"Seriously?" Midna asked. "You're using your 100 points to revive someone you don't even know? Psh..."

"BB, please revive this Killer Queen girl."

Her red and yellow hair was the first thing to appear, followed by a pair of cyan eyes. She scowled before the bottom half of her face was even visible. When her mouth finally appeared, she said her first words:

"Who the fuck are you?"

"We are--" Treble started to talk.

"FUCK!" she yelled, interrupting him. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUUUUUCK!"

The finally realized why she was so mad: her score was being displayed on the screen.

KILLER QUEEN
0 PTS / TOTAL 0 PTS

"I was so close! 92 points. Ninety-fucking-two! I died, didn't I? Why did I had to die? WHY?!"

"C-Calm down, we--" Sunset Shimmer tried to speak.

"Bitch, don't tell me what to do!" she was about to punch Sunset Shimmer, when she finally realized what the girl she was about to hit looked like. "Wh... What the fuck?"

"So, regretting your decision already?" Midna asked the original Sunset Shimmer.

"Equestria!" Sunset Shimmer suddenly said. "You know what that means?"

"The fuck is Equestria? The fuck are you? Why am I talking to myself?"

"If you don't know Equestria, then that means we're not the same person."

"Seriously, what the fuck is going on here?"

"Yeah, if you look closely, they look different." Adagio said, inspecting the new girl. "This one looks more... Mature!"

Now that the entire body of the newcomer had been brought back, they could take a good look at her; she looked exactly like the girl who revived her, except that she was a few centimeters taller, her hair was a couple of inches longer, her facial features were more mature and her breasts were at least two cup sizes bigger.

"I am not some zoo critter being exposed for your entertainment, stop looking at me like a bunch of hungry animals."

"Well, no other explanation left." Sunset Shimmer said. "Princess Twilight says our friends are counterparts of ponies she knows back in Equestria, so you must be my own counterpart." Sunset Shimmer immediately held her hands. "And direct contact isn't destroying our particles, so we are allowed to coexist in the same dimension. My theory was correct after all!"

"Lay off the drugs." she said while pulling her hands back and away from Sunset Shimmer.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just really excited to finally meet my own human counterpart."

"If you creep me out any further I'm going to have to punch you in the mouth."

"Anyway, welcome to the team." Sunset offered her hand to her counterpart. "I hope we can get along and receive lots of points together."

Instead of shaking the hand, the other Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms and looked around. The original Sunset used that hand to scratch her head.

"You don't really look that big a deal, just a bunch of kids." she said with a shrug. "But you did bring me back to life, so I owe you one. How can I repay my debt? I don't like owing anything to anyone."

"You look like a veteran. Maybe you can teach us what you know?" Norman suggested.

"Good thinking. I agree!" Sunset Shimmer said.

"Uh, hello?" Treble called. "You already have a veteran. Two, actually."

"As soon as the mission started, you just left everyone behind." Nolan pointed out. "Sunset Shimmer was the only one who tried to show us the ropes. We need veterans who will at least try to teach us something, not just leave us to fend for ourselves in such harsh environment."

"Well, and guess who taught Sunset Shimmer all she knows?"

"Wait, your name is Sunset Shimmer too?" Sunset Shimmer number two asked. "Fuck, this is getting confusing."

"I'll just call you Sunset..." Norman said, pointing at the younger Sunset Shimmer, then pointed at the more mature one. "...And you'll be Shimmer."

"Works for me." Adagio said.

"We're not on first name basis anyway." Shimmer said. "Fine, I'll teach you a thing or two."

"I don't think there's anything left for us to learn." Midna said.

"Really? Let's test that. First question: do you know how to ride the bike?"

"And knowing how to ride a bike is proof of being a veteran because...?"

Shimmer raised an eyebrow, but then burst into laughter. "No way. No fucking way! You're serious? Oh my fucking God, this is priceless!"

"I missed the joke."

"You are the joke! You call yourselves veterans, but you're just a couple of dweebs trying to act like cool kids in front of the newbies." Shimmer wiped her face with the palm of her hand - she laughed so hard that tears were appearing on the corner of her eyes. "Oh, my sides!"

"You're playing with fire here, you bitch." Midna threatened.

Still chuckling, Shimmer placed her hand on Midna's shoulder. "Kid, you're lucky you're hilarious, otherwise I would have kicked your ass before you even knew what happened." she suddenly grabbed Midna's face and pulled her closer, locking eyes with her and giving her an icy glare. "I don't know how things worked here, but now that I'm back, I'm the one calling the shots. You're just a worthless freshman, so learn your fucking place. Disrespect me like that again and I'll squash your head like a rotten apple. Understood?"

Midna was a tough girl, but Shimmer gave her a taste of what terror is like. Unable to speak due to the hand covering her mouth, she just nodded. Shimmer place her foot behind Midna's legs and pushed her as she let go of her face, tripping the violet-haired girl up, who fell on her rump.

"Are you ok, pumpkin?" Treble asked while helping her up.

"H-Her eyes..." she stuttered while shaking a little and clinging to Treble. "Sh-She has the eyes of... Of a killer..."

"What date is today?" the new girl asked while turning her head to look at the rest of the group.

"November 9, 2014." Pearl answered.

"What?! Shiiiiiiit..." Shimmer facepalmed. "I was dead for a long time, they probably already declared me dead by now."

"So, what are you going to do?" Sunset asked.

~ ~ ~

"You said you're a high schooler?" Shimmer asked as she sat on the couch and crossed her legs. "Since when can high schoolers afford a place this nice?"

"Well, I--" Sunset started, but was soon interrupted.

"Whatever, I don't care. Where's the shower?"

"That way." Shimmer followed her instructions, leaving Sunset and Hope alone in the living room.

"Why is she living with us? She's mean..." Hope whispered.

"I was the one who brought her back, Hope." Sunset explained. "So, until she can get back on track, she's my responsibility."

"Sunset, where do you keep the conditioner?" Shimmer yelled from the bathroom. "Nevermind, found it!"

"Might take a while..."

"You're so nice, Sunset!"

"Sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing..."

"Do you have shaving gel?" she yelled again. "Nevermind, found it!"

* * *

Shimmer was slightly taller than Sunset, but some of her clothes had the perfect size, and since Shimmer wasn't very fond of the idea of wearing her black suit 24/7, she accepted the outfit Sunset offered her, even though it wasn't her style; Shimmer now wore a very short aquamarine dress with a semitransparent yellow hem, a pair of jeans that was a little tight, but not enough to be painful or uncomfortable, a short black leather jacket with a golden stripe on each sleeve and a pair of black boots with similar stripes.

A knock on Sunset's door. Since it wasn't a school day, she knew exactly who it was; as soon as she opened the door she welcomed Nolan North, Normal Norman, Controller Roller and Black Pearl; the fact that Treble and Midna weren't there did not surprised her at all, but the lack of a certain orange-haired girl on her doorstep saddened her a little. She was about to close the door when a purple high heel boot stopped her from doing so. Her eyes slowly climbed the leg of the person blocking the door, soon discovering that it belonged to her former rival.

"Closing the door on me? That's not a nice thing to do." Adagio said with her hands on her hips.

"I-I'm sorry, Adagio. I thought you--" Sunset said.

"Thought I wasn't coming, huh?" Adagio forced the door open, an easy task considering that Sunset wasn't trying to close it anymore. She walked in and went straight to the living room, where all the others had gethered.

Sunset sat on the couch, where Hope and Shimmer were waiting for her. She had placed some chairs in the living room, but since she only had four, Adagio had to stand - Pearl offered her seat, but the Siren refused.

"Alright, let's start the Q&A." Shimmer said while crossing her legs. "What do you want from me?"

"Information." Nolan said.

"Fair enough."

"Do you know what that black ball is? Or anything about the game in general? Or even why we were chosen?"

She chuckled. "Cutting to the chase from the start? I like you, kid." she took a deep breath and looked at Sunset. "You have anything with internet access?"

Sunset nodded and got up, running straight to her bedroom where she kept her laptop. When she returned, she saw that Adagio had taken her spot on the sofa and was smirking at her. Thinking nothing of it, she passed the laptop to Shimmer and sat on the wooden floor.

"Care to tell why you need internet to answer my question?" Nolan inquired.

"Patience, kid." Shimmer started typing without even looking at the keyboard, opting to look at the group instead. "Now, tell me: how many of you know anything about the Deep Web?" everyone except Pearl and Hope raised their hands.

"What's a Deep Web?" Hope asked.

"To put it simply, it's another part of the internet." Sunset explained. "But no one knows who's who, so people do lots of shady stuff in there."

"But to be fair, there's also lots of cool stuff, too!" Norman added. "An online friend of mine from the Middle East uses it to read books forbidden in his country."

"The only relevant parts about the Deep Web that I want to lampshade right now are two:" Shimmer raised one finger. "Anonymity..." she raised another finger. "...and untraceability. And those two are what allow this to exist."

Shimmer turned the laptop around, releaving the screen to the others. The website she was showing looked like a regular forum with a simple black background and white letters; the title of the page was The Dark Sphere.

"Is... Is this...?" Roll asked.

Shimmer nodded. "A forum used by people like us, summoned by the Black Ball."

"You mean there's more?" Adagio asked.

"One apartment for almost every city in the entire world, as far as I can tell. Forget what movies keep telling you, America isn't so special that it's the only place aliens try to invade. This forum is mainly used to share information, tips and new discoveries, but most people use it to share Selfies they take on top of dead Big Bosses or tell stories about how some newcomer fucked up really bad. We can do or say basically any fucking thing we want, because technically we're not revealing the Black Ball's secrets, but we're not allowed to reveal our real names or where we're from, since some nosy reporter might track us down, and then everything would go to shit."

"What kind of information do they have?" Nolan asked.

"It's not really much, but we have a list of alien species, trivia, and even a blacklist."

"A blacklist?" Pearl asked. "What's that for?"

"You are a very chill group, but you must remember one thing: the Black Ball does not 'choose' the participants, it just randomly picks people who died, which means that sometimes you may come across some people who are not iterested in anything but killing." an image of Goldielocks flashed in Sunset's mind. "And not only aliens, but normal people outside the missions and even other Hunters. So that blacklist was created to post profiles of people who are not only endangering other players, but the secrecy of our job, because until the Sphere responsible for the person decides that enough is enough, it might be too late. The profiles contain as much information as possible, though it's rarely more than a picture of the target, the nickname given by the Sphere and city of origin."

"Wow, everything is actually more organized than I thought." Sunset pointed out.

"Yes, but the existance of this website is not exactly common knowledge." Shimmer explained as she turned the laptop back to her. "We haven't even reached the 500,000 users milestone yet. And I doubt your 'veterans' know about it either." she used air quotes when saying the word veterans.

"What about the trivia you mentioned earlier?" Adagio asked.

Shimmer smirked. "Well, it's not a very developed section of the website, but..." Shimmer clicked on a link, then turned the screen around again, making the Hunters gasp; the link led to a single picture of the inside of a huge factory with extensive assembly lines, all of which were assembling black spheres exactly like the one they already knew so well. "...did you know that the Black Ball that summons us and all that alien-hunting game is man-made?"

Author's Note

THE PLOT CHICKENS! I mean...
Anyway, what happens next? Even I'm curious to know, and I wrote the damn script! It's just that I wrote this earlier parts so long ago that I nearly forgot most of the things I planned for TBBR.

And we from the LDS Crew would like to wish you a happy, happy Halloween! (Silver Shamrock)

Easter Egg: November 9, 2014 was the date Rainbow Rocks was released in my country. Good times!