7:32
I kept in a crouch as my little crew stalked Sunset Shimmer. Even she wouldn't expect any backlash from her little trick the first day let alone the same hour. I let out a little curse when she turned a corner. That would be a problem.

"I got this," Beth said while pulling out a small make-up mirror. Very slowly she edged to the end of the hallway and peeked around.

"All clear," Beth said. Moments later the rest of us walked around the corner. And that's what we did for for several minutes. Each time Sunset Shimmer turned a corner Beth would check if she was looking around before we followed her. Sunset Shimmer herself was wearing a leather jacket over a purple shirt and orange skirt. On her feet were long black boots. And i had to admit that she was pretty hot. A second later I snapped myself out of my little daydream. In her right hand was a magenta binder with a red and yellow shimmering Sun on the cover. At the moment she was angrily talking to a girl with pale light grayish opal hair with a pink and purple shirt over a blue skirt. The girl I later learned was Lyra Heartstrings. At the moment though I was just observing.

"So what's the-" Andrew began before Ben clamped a hand over his mouth. Sunset Shimmer tensed up and turned towards us, but we were already hidden in the Shadows. After starring in our general direction for around a minute she went back to putting down Lyra Heartstrings. And that's what interested me. She was like Midnight, always putting people down. Not even Solstice and Corvis were half as cruel as he was. The difference between them was that Sunset Shimmer did t directly. Midnight did it indirectly while tricking them into putting their guard down before destroying them. I think he did it for fun. After a minute the fiery girl walked into a classroom.

"Mmmmmmm mmmm mmmmm," Andrew mumbled from underneath Ben's hand. I motioned for him to let him go. Ben let out a grin before spreading his fingers.

"Thank you, So what's the plan?" The smaller boy asked.

"Hold on," I said while grabbing Beth's mirror. I began to crouch walk towards the door behind me I heard Claire whisper for the others to stay and she crouch walked after me. When we got to the room I held up mirror to look inside. The classroom was only half lit with many good shadows to hide in. It was a computer class with those rolly chairs.

"Any ideas?" Claire asked me.

"Something to her chair." I answered.

"I have two needles," Claire offered.

"Not that, if we just cat we her pain we might make her a mytr. And I don't know how many people at this school likes her or-.
Wait did you just say two needles?" I asked.

"Yup," Claire said a little too happily.

"Can I ask why?" I said.

"Two needles. The first one she sits on, the second is a little more in the back. After she sits on the first one she will be angry and not think about the chance of a second hidden needle. And then she will sit on the second one just after the first." Claire said while grinning. I returned the grin.

"If were not doing this, what's your big plan?" Claire asked me.

Now I let out a even bigger grin. "This," I said while pulling out a air horn. Claire frowned.

"What's that supposed to do?" She asked. I let out a little groan of annoyance.

"You see those chairs they sit on? See how they go down a little bit. Well when she leaves we duck tape this under her chair. So then when she sits down," I said while grinning. Claire let out a evil chuckle.

"Now we wait for her to leave," I said while examining my air horn.

"We don't have to wait very long," Claire said.

"What? Why?" I asked while looking at Beth's mirror. Sunset Shimmer was already halfway to the door. Her binder was still sitting at her desk.

"Hide, I hissed while jumping on top of the lockers. Due to the dim lighting there was plenty of shadows to hide me. Claire was gone and down the hall I saw Beth, Ben, and Andrew all disappearing into the shadows. I let out a breath of relief when we were all hidden by the time Mrs. Biker queen walked out of the hall. Sunset Shimmer tensed up and looked around. While she gazed at the hallway I willed myself to shrink more. After fifteen eternal seconds she walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

As soon as she was gone I crept out from on top of the lockers.

"Oh, so that's where you were," Ben said while creeping out of a shadow with Claire.

"Here, give a cat call when she comes back." I said to Ben while tossing Beth her mirror. Without another word Claire and I crept into the classroom. The room was two thirds full and I let out a little curse when I saw it was 7:50.

"Here I said while handing Claire the air horn. She grabbed a roll of duck tape and went to work. We stuck to the shadows and kept out of most people's sight. Part of the reason why I brought her in with me was. Cause she was small enough to rig the chair without being seen. I however was to big and could avoid being seem, but this kind of stuff was beyond me.

Every second that ticked by made me a little more sketched. I was so tense that I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard. "Pheonix?"

Claire and I both tensed uo when we heard that small voice. I slowly turned and saw Claire doing the same. Her eyes had slight fear in them and I knew mine were doing the same. When I turned all the way around I felt a thousand pounds lift off my shoulders when I saw it was Fluttershy.

"Keep working, I got this," I whispered to Claire.

Claire frowned, but kept on rigging the chair. I turned and faced Fluttershy.

"Hello Fluttershy," I said.

"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked.

"Settling a score," I replied.

"You shouldn't bring yourself down to her level," Fluttershy mumbled.

"I'm not, it's actually a step better than plan A," I replied. Fluttershy threw me a questioning look.

"Horse needles. Plan A was to use them. Plan B is to scare her instead of hurting her." I explained. J

"You shouldn't fight fire with fire," Fluttershy mumbled to me.

"We're not," I assured. "We're just fighting fire with ice." I said grinning. Fluttershy didn't return my smile.

"Done," Claire whispered while slowly creeping away.

"Listen Fluttershy, were not hurting her or anything. And in our defense she did give us donuts as a friend only for us to find out it was filled with Mayo." I explained.

"Gross," Fluttershy mumbled. Outside I heard a cat call. Instead of dipping I was determined to convince Fluttershy of my cause. "Besides, when she sits down she's gonna look like a cat just after being dropped into water." I said. Fluttershy out on a small smile.

"I guess that would be funny," She said.

I openedmy mouth to say more, but that's when Sunset Shimmer walked in. Without another word I disappeared into the shadows. Half a second later I was out into the hallway holding the mirror. Claire was staring at the mirror intently while the rest of the crew gazed at it. I grinned when I remembered that they had no clue what we did.

"Watch this," I said while Sunset Shimmer sat down.

BBRRRRRMMMMMM 'Scream'

I almost bursted out in laughter, but Ben clamped a hand over my mouth. When I saw him about to laugh Claire put a hand over his mouth. Beth covered her mouth, Andrew her mouth, and me covering his. With my slate hand I positioned it to look at Sunset Shimmer and saw her examining the chair. I would have enjoyed it, but the warning bell sounded. Seconds later we were all running down the hall towards the gym howling with laughter.

Lunch time

I walked into the lunchroom alone. While I had first period with my crew I didn't have them in my second. In fact I didn't even have Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy in my second period. Instead I had Sunset Shimmer. We shared that science class.

Throughout that class I tried keeping my from grinning. However Sunset Shimmer kept shooting daggers at me in anger. I wondered if she knew it was us, but thought nothing of it.

Now in the lunchroom I found a empty table with twelve seats. It was all good. My crew needed elbow room. This was a good score, but why didn't anyone else take it? Taking a suspicious looked around I noticed the two wierd kids named snips and Snails were struggling to hide smiles. Frowning I put down my tray and sat down on my chair.

BBRRRRRMMMMMM 'Scream'

I jumped up like the cat out of hell. While I was doing that I noticed Snips and Snails running out of the lunchroom. And I was pretty sure they took a picture. And now the whole lunchroom was laughing hardcore.

Half a minute later Ben and Claire walked into the lunchroom. After them came Andrew tailing along. What suprised me was when Beth walked in flanked by Rarity and Fluttershy. After those three was Rainbow Dash kicking along a soccer ball.

"What happened to you?" Claire asked when she and Ben got close enough.

"She has the upper hand," I choked out.

"Who?" Ben asked while taking my old seat. My eyes opened wide and I clamped my hands over my ears and screamed at him to not sit down, but-

BBRRRRRMMMMMM 'Scream'

"Oh, her," Claire mumbled in annoyance.

The rest of my crew and the rainbow girls ran towards us after the air horn.

"Check of others," I ordered Ben and Beth, the crews muscle.

After a shirt minute of watching the two changlings poke around the finally gave the all clear on the rest of the table. We all sat down, but I noticed Ben sitting opposite of Rarity.

"She is good," I said while twisting the air horn from under my seat between my fingers.

"Is that the same one we used on her?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"That's Sunset Shimmer for you. What ever you do to her she responds almost instantly." Rainbow Dash said.

"Like how?" Andrew asked.

"Like don't oppose her grip on the school. I did by running against her in the spring fling and She ruined me," Rarity said while cringing. Beth gasped in suprise while the rest of us looked at her in pity.

"So now we have to settle the score," Ben said. Rainbow Dash choked on her drink while Fluttershy paled. The rest if us were giving each other knowing grins.

"Oh please, don't stoop below her level. And you don't have to do this for me," Rarity pleaded. Ben looked disappointed, but I was handing Beth a can of pledge.

"As you wish, but were not stooping below her level, were just stooping to her level." Claire said as a matter of factly.

"And we have to get even for ourselves," I added while motioning towards the now empty air horn.

"Andrew, you know about Snips and Snails?" I asked the freshman.

"Who?" He asked.

"One's really talk and scrawny while the other is short and stocky," I said.

Andrews eyes brightened with realization. "Yeah I know them," He replied.

"Go keep an eye on them. I'm around 97% Sure they're the ones who tipped Sunset Shimmer off about our little suprise." I explained. Andrew saluted me and took off. Next I turned to Claire and Ben.

"Stay here and make it look like the rest of us are still nearby," I told them. Claire shrugged her shoulders while Ben to my suprise paled. A quick glance of his eyes made me realize he was scared of being alone with Rarity. Now that I was able to understand. Rarity was freaking gorgeous and was a fashion queen. Now I gave him a two finger salute which made Claire realize the situation.

"Come on Beth," I said being barely able to hide my smirk.

The two of us ran through the walls. This time taking every precaution not to be seen by anybody. Soon they stood in front of a locker with a shimmering sun sticker on it. "Okay, start wiping," I said while pulling out a few pledge wipes.

"We're going to clean her locker?" Beth asked. I kneeled down and began wiping the floor.

"Not exactly," I replied. By the time we finished. The lunch bell rang. Beth and I looked at each other with dread. We forgot to eat lunch. Neither she or I could do anything about it. Seconds later the hallway filled with students. I let out a whistle while turning towards Beth. She gave me a nod and disappeared into the crowd and I did the same.

Two hours later.

"So did you guys do it?" Rainbow Dash asked me at the end of the day.

"Yup, but I'm not sure if it worked or not," I replied.

"Why not?" Rainbow Dash asked. Wow her voice was scratchy. We walked towards my locker. Ben, Beth, and Claire had their lockers next to mine, but Andrew had his in the freshman wing.

While I walked to my locker I noticed that the floor was extra shiny. Before he realized what it was he wal already crashing into the ground. Rainbow Dash stood as stiff as a statue with realization dawning on her face. While I groaned in pain, Ben and Beth walked into the hallway.

"No wait!" Rainbow Dash called, but they were already groaning in pain next to me. While I tried to stand up Andrew came walking towards us. When he saw Ben and Beth on the ground in pain he ran towards up despite Rainbow Dash's and my calls for him to stop. He crashed into me which made us both go down. Now before anybody could do anything Claire walked around the corner and slipped.

"She has the upper hand," I said while trying to stand up again. I only made it halfway before slipping again.

"Of course I do," a voice said. All six of us turned to the direction it came from. Out of the shadowy hallway stepped out Sunset Shimmer along with Snips and Snails. The two lackeys were chuckling, but paled in fear when Ben, Beth, and I growled at them. Sunset Shimmer's side had a few bruises. Beth and I smirked at each other.

"I don't know if you guys have balls this big," Sunset Shimmer said while extending her fingers. "Or are just stupid,"

"Let me show you," Claire said while she and Beth stood up and began to advanced on her. They both made it one step before slamming down on the slippery floor.

"Stupid," Snips said which made all three of them laugh in glee. Andrew glared at them and began to pull himself towards them with his arms.

"Little freshmen wants to fight," Snails sneered. Sunset Shimmer walked away with a grin on her face.

"Let's waste him," Snips suggested. Snails nodded in agreement, but blanched when he saw Ben and I doing the same thing just a few feet behind Andrew. They both turned and took off down the hall.

"P****s," Beth called after them.

"Now we have to do something," I said while slowly pulling Rainbow Dash, Beth, and Claire from the pledged floor. "Okay, but in going to admit that it looked a little funny," Rainbow Dash said. Andrew opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes opened in dread.

Around the corner came Rarity and Fluttershy. I was unfortunately on the other side of the slipper floor and couldn't do anything. Ben however jumped over the thing and grabbed Rarity.

"Don't walk on there!" We all shouted at ounce.

"What? Why?" Rarity asked from Ben's arms.

"Sunset Shimmer," Rainbow Dash said while I slid across it like I was ice skating. Now that I was ready, I made it across.

"You can let her go now," I said to Ben who was still embracing Rarity.

"Unless of course, you want to keep holding me like this," Rarity said with a cat smile. Ben instantly let her go with his face blushing. I thought I saw a flash of disappointment cross her face for just a moment.

"You guys are famous," Fluttershy mumbled.

"What?" Claire asked from across the hall.

Your all everyone's talking about," Rarity exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Not many would dare stand up to Sunset Shimmer, and even fewer would take it as far as you guys do," Rarity explained.

"All we did was repay her with the eye for a eye concept," Andrew said.

"Changlings," Fluttershy mumbled with half a smile.

"Yes darling, but Sunset Shimmer is the queen bee if CHS," Rarity replied.

"And we just kicked the hornets nest," Andrew said with a sliver of fear in his eyes.

"Don't worry about her, if Claire and I handled a team of Umbrum then he shouldn't be a problem," I said while slapping his back. The rest of my crew turned towards us with suprised looks on their faces. "Long story and I don't want to tell it," I said while waving a hand dismissively.

'Wait did I just quote Midnight?'

The next several weeks were the hardest of my life. The first lesson I learned, Sunset Shimmer was more cunning than any Umbrum. As we walked the other students would veer away from us like we were opposites if a magnet. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy would tell us what people said of us. Not that we didn't hear their whispers ourselves. It was either someone praising us or being brave or someone calling us suicidal or stupid. Sometimes both.

Our little feud with the fiery queen was a very hard one. She was always striking first, strikin last, and making her move the moment we let our guard down. Most days she came out on top while we won only a handful of times. Not that is made us want to stop or anything. In fact, it just made me more aggressive. I kept in touch with Rarity and them. Most of the time i did most of the talking since Claire was full on changling hostile, Andrew was too immature, Beth to sullen, and Ben couldn't stop studdering each time Rarity so much as waved to him. It was amusing, but i did the talking to save on time.

And so much for my vow. I was doing alright in school, but my grades were B's and C's. And my deal about being not evil slowly faded away with each new day. Sometimes I would put someone down for walking too slow, others because I was just in a pissed off mood, and even a few for the fun of it.

"Now well get her," I said while grinning at Sunset Shimmers red camero. I wasn't sure how she afforded thay, but I didn't care. She could be using magic for all I knew. With that hought I shuddered at the thought of Sunset Shimmer raising a demon.

Andrew, Claire, Ben, and Beth all circled the car and looked at me expectantly. "Wrap it," I uttered. Without a second to lose they pulled out clear plastic wrap and began to wrap the thing. Within minutes we finished it and disappeared into the woods next to the school. We didn't go very far, in fact we were at the edges with binoculars poised towards her car. Just like we planned we had the look of disbelief when she saw her car. Se llhe swerved her head around and began to look or us. After a couple of minutes she gave up and let out a whistle. Snips and Snails ran up to her. She pointed at her can and they began to work. The got half a foot off before Snails scratched her car. Sunset Shimmer flew into a rage and sent them away. Now she had to go through the processes of keying her own car to get it out. While I watched the sight of her struggle warmed my heart.

"Did you register us yet?" Claire asked suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"Did you register us?" She asked again. She made an groan of annoyance when she saw my blank face. "We're the Canderlot branch of he changlings. And the hive likes to keep tabs on their branches." Claire explained.

"So I just tell them that were the Canderlot branch and that's it?" I asked.

"The Queen will also give us a salary," Claire said. When she did the rest of us peeked our heads up.

"How do they do that?" I asked. Claire shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't know, only the higher branches know, the rest of us just do our job and follow orders." Claire explained.

"Wonder who the higher ranked branched are?" Ben asked.

"All I know is that Alaric is one of them while the others a guy named Midnight," Claire shrugged. I nearly dropped my binoculars.

"Midnight's a high ranked Changling?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's on par with Alaric. And he's just as loyal to the queen as he is his siblings," Beth said.

"If he's as loyal to the queen as he is to us, then why isn't he part of the royal guard?" I asked.

"Same reason Alaric isnt, he likes the freedom of being a drifter brings and what did you just say?" Claire asked me.

"Yeah, I'm the youngest of the siblings," I said. The rest of my crew all stared at me with looks of utter shock on their faces. "What did I say?" I asked.

"Your one of Midnights brothers and your jus leading a small outfit in a distant city from the hive," Andrew asked astonished. I mumbled in agreement.

"Which one are you? The silent ninja, the classy one, or the one who has the angle of death?" Ben asked me.

"Neither, I'm the really strong one," I replied. Ben's face slowly dawned realization.

"Oh so your the one who kept on staying home, Alaric wanted to meet you, but you never drifted far enough to get to the hive right," Ben asked.

"He almost did with me," Claire said. The other three turned to her. "Its a long and tragic story that deals with Umbrum. Long story short we ended up running for days until we came across Midnight." Claire said while waving her arm dismissively.

After that we all stood in silence as Sunset Shimmer keyed her car. The silence was next to unbearable until Beth finally broke it. "So are any of you guys going to the fall formal?" Beth asked. We all turned to her slightly amused. The fall formal was just a few weeks away, but she was the first one out of all of us to bring it up.

"Sorry I would, but I'm a freshman," Andrew said as a matter of factly.

"My boyfriend is in Manhattan at the moment," Claire said while shrugging.

"Think Rarity might want to go with me?" Ben asked.

"She might," Beth said. Ben's crush on Rarity was a open secret among us. Each time one of us would bring it up. We would talk about it in Changling tounge. A language we all knew as much as the common tounge.

"What about you Phoenix?" Claire asked me.

"No one to go with," I confessed. They all nodded in understatement. While they begannto discuss how Ben should ask Rarity my gaze drifted over Sunset Shimmer. For half a second I imagined myself with the fiery queen. A second later I came back to reality just as Claire asked Beth who she wanted to go with.

"Flash Sentry," Beth answered in Changling tounge. She was immediately answered with a series of chuckles.

"Why him?" Ben asked.

"Why not him?" Beth asked.

"Just because he's cuter than you doesn't mean you have to hate," Claire spat. Andrew and I boy burst out laughing while walking away. We figured it would be better to let them go at it. While we walked away I heard Ben arguing with Beh and Claire. If they came to blows it would be a pretty even fight since Ben was stronger than Beth and Claire would even things up a bit.

While we ran away from the small brawl that was about to go down. And neither Andrew nor I wanted to get in the middle of it. "So Ben and Beth are fighting again.

"Don't worry about it. Claire is there to referee," I assured him. Andrew let out a fanged smile. In the distance I saw thre familiar husky guys walking towards us.

"So who do you think would win?" Andrew asked me.

"Ben," I answered immediately. Andrew let out a laugh. "Do you think otherwise?" I asked him.

"Ben's pretty tough, but Beth can pack a punch," Andrew said.

"So can Ben," I replied. Now the diamond dogs were in ear distance. I felt myself tense up when I saw their faces. Reluctant determination. "S'sup Rover how's it going man?" I called to them.

"Sorry boss I don't want too, but I have no choice," Rover said in a sad voice.

"Do what?" I asked now on edge.

"This," Rover said while giving me a right hook. I heard Andrew shout while my eyes filled with red. Now I was f****** pissed. That hit should have dropped me, but I answered with a right hook of my own. Rover let out a groan of pain. A second later I went under his guard and slammed him the way Midnight slammed me. In a swift motion I was on top of him with my knee on his chest and my fist raised. Rivers nose was already broken. I would have started rearranging his face, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Fido and Spot closing in on me.

Grunting in annoyance I stood up and jumped back only to seespot the only one meeting me. Fido was massive, but Andrew was still a lot faster. Andrew had kicked Fido's shin and was busy darting in and out of the big guys reach. Letting out a smile full of pride, I turned back to Spot and my rage burned again. Weren't these guys my friends?

Rover had recovered, he spit out blood, but then stood back up and glared at me. It wasn't a glare of hate, bt his eyes were full of sorrow. "I'm sorry Phoenix," Rover said.

"Yeah keep saying that!" I roared. Now I though, what would Midnight do? I already knew the answer to that. Here was a reason he carried a tanto and glock. The tanto to win, the glock to prove a point. I however left my second in command as well as my crews muscle behind. Rover and Spot both edged towards me while Fido was getting more and more angry at not being able to catch Andrew who just rammed his elbow into his hip.

Turning back to Rover and Spot I gave them the death stare. Roaring I charged towards them. Rover met me, but I wasn't going for Rover. Dodging Rover I lashed out at Spot who was completely caught off guard. Taking aim for his lower ribs I rammed my elbow in and heard a snap. Spot let out a cry of pain and doubled over.

My plan with Spot worked, but Rover was on my. This time he was ready for me. And he next couple of minutes we traded blows. He was about my height, but he had weight on me. I was more cat like and more agile. After a couple of minutes of hammering each other I ended it with a left uppercut and a right powerpunch yo his chin. Rover let out a cry of pain and fell down half awake. "Why did you have to do it?" I asked while taking slow steps towards him.

"She made us. Didn't you ever have anybody force you to do anything? No the top person, but someone you just couldn't refuse?" Rover slurred out.

"Theres my queen, but she's the top dog. And she never makes us do anything since we would do it just to please her. Other than that I'm a Changling. And, (speaking into a low voice) no one makes us do anything," Without another word I rammed my foot into his face knocking him out. From behind me Inheard a thunk followed by the angriest roars humanly possible.

'S***'

Turning I just managed to see Andrew laying unconscious while Fido's massive form tackling me. And I'll admit that I was completely caught off guard. I managed to elbow him in the face as well as knee him in he shoulder, but he looked like he barely felt it and bag an to hammer fist me. After three hits I saw an opening and slammed my head into his.

'Pain'

My head but worked, but we were both dased. Fido rolled off of me, but no was powerless to take advantage of it. I was already tired from my fight with Rover and Fido's attack didn't help. Fido was already standing while I was still trying to stand up. He was swaying from side to side, but he was up. It might have gone different, but I heard two angry roars from behind me. Fido's eyes opened wide in suprise as Beth and Ben attacked him. They looked like they just went twelve rounds, but they were still fresh. It wasn't much of a fight. Fido was already tired from chasing down Andrew and holding me down. So I watched Ben and Beth beat he ever living S*** out of him while I regained my balance

After my crew's muscle finished their work, I walked up to each of the d
Unconscious diamond dogs feeling betrayed. Seeing the silver coins that I gave them pinned on their chests didn't make things any better.

"Were these the ones you told us about?" Claire asked me from behind. I nodded. "What do you want us to do with them?" She asked again. I didn't say anything, but I keeled down and took off the silver coins from Rivers chest. M crew minus Andrew all watched in silence as I repeated the process to each of the diamond dogs.

"Take anything worth selling," I said in a commanding voice. The rest of my crew all began to cheer while looting the unconscious boys.

A few weeks later.

Now we stalked our prey. "Just take the shot while it's alone," I whispered to Ben. Ahead of us Rarity walked on the sidewalk alone. At the moment Beth and I were holding fireworks while Claire was brandishing a trumpet and Andrew a sign that read 'Will you go to the fall formal with me?' It was late at night and Rarity went for a early morning run. Her designer workout clothes were actually nice, but come on? Designer gym socks?

"Alright," Ben said while standing up only to be pulled back down by Claire. "What?" Ben asked suprised.

"Not yet," Claire said while waving towards a fiery girl who was walking towards the schools statue. In her hand was the fall formal crown and her face was set with determination.

"Sunset Shimmer? Couldn't this wait?" I asked Claire.

"We've been planning this for weeks," Ben added.

"See what's in her hand though," Claire shot back. After taking another look we all gave each other knowing looks. Even Ben agreed that they could ask Rarity the next morning. Stashing our stuff we all crept after Sunset Shimmer to the statue.

"Where did she go?" Beth asked while looking around the empty field.

"She was just here," Andrew shouted from the otherside.

"Find her," I ordered them. With that being said we all sprawled out and began looking across the school. Eventually the sky began to turn blue and we were all exhausted. "Well that's that," I said. A second later I heard a zap followed by something hitting me I the back of the head that I flew forward about ten feet.

"Phoenix!" My crew shouted while huddling around me like a football team would a downed player.

"What happened?" I groaned out. Looking around I saw that many CHS students were passing by. Out ofnthe corner of my eye I saw Fluttershy picking up something shiny.

"A crown came out of nowhere and hit you in the head," Beth answered

"Wait, where did that crown go? It looked real," Andrew said while standing up straight.

"Fluttershy has it," I grumbled. Another zap.

"What are you doing here?" Sunset Shimmer angrily asked from behind her.

We all turned to her and pointed at our watches. Then went back to me. "How could such a small thing hurt so much?" I asked. They all shrugged.

"What small thing?" Sunset Shimmer asked.

"Still here? Well it was a magical flying crown that came and knocked my a** out," I said while standing up.

"Where is it?" Sunset Shimmer asked excitedly. We all pointed towards a disappearing Fluttershy then began walking towards the school. Sunset Shimmer disappeared after the naturist.

Several hours later. We all sat in the library books in hand. Or at least Claire and Andrew sat with me. Beth and Ben both went to the weight room. Beth was determined to catch up to Ben and Ben was determined to catch up with me.

"Check this out," I said while watching a girl with purple highlights trying and failing at using the computer. We all chuckles and continued to watch. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Snips and Snails taking videos. Laughing at myself I knew what was coming soon for this girl. While watching I cringed harder than when Pinkie Pie bit into her icecream. His girl was carrying books in her mouth like she never used her hands before. Eventually the sky began to darken. Claire said that she got a email that had a video of the girl known as Twilight messing around in the library.

Several hours later we all stood over Twilight sleeping on a bed made of books. "Poor her, her life at CHS is over the first day." Andrew wailed.

"We can still reverse this by hacking into everyone's email and removing them," Claire offered. I shook my head.

"That would take all night, and we don't owe her nothing," I said while nudging her book bed. We all nodded in agreement and disappeared into the shadows.

The next morning we all stood in position. This time when Rarity ran around the corner Ben jumped out of his hiding spot which suprised her. "Oh my, you suprised me," Rarity said with a laugh.

The rest of us came out of the woods with our stuff just as Rarity looked at her phone. "Will you go to the fall formal with me?" Ben asked. Rarity was already running back to her home. "Something I said?" Ben asked no one in particular.

"Don't think she heard you," I said while slapping him on the back. "Well ask her later," I assured him while laying on a tree branch, we had probably two hours to kill before school started.

Several hours later we all stood next to Ben. This time we planned it perfectly. This time Rarity will not escape the big question so easily. This time when Rarity walked around the corner we all surrounded her. I immediately knew she wasnt all the way there because of her bag full of costumes.

"Rarity! Would you do me the honor of going to the fall formal with me?" Ben asked.

"Not now darling, I have to be somewhere," Rarity said which cut off Claire's trumpet solo

"Yeah I guess so," Ben said while taking off in a sprint. Rarity must have realized Ben asked something important because she snapped out of her daze. Her face went to horror when she saw the rest of us. Beth and I traded our fireworks for confetti due to the fact that we couldn't light fireworks inside anyways.

"Oh my, I didn't realize-" Rarity started, but was cut off when Claire slammed the door of a nearby locker shut when she stored her trumpet inside. Beth and Andrew began muscling the confetti into the garbage. I ripped the sign into little bits while Rarity's face pinged with regret with each and every tear. The rest of the crew left without a word, but I said to Rarity in a low voice.

"Its alright, none of us thought you would say yes anyways," I felt a guilty satisfaction when I saw her flinch. I never directed my anger towards them, ever.

Later when we sat at our table I was unsurprised to see that Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were missing. "Wonder why she said no?" Ben asked.

"Because she's a beauty queen," Claire offered.

"And she's a fashionist and you dress in the plainest clothes," Andrew added while Ben looked at his black hoodie with artic blue flames going up his left side.

"Your acne problem," I added. Ben was currently breaking out and was barely keeping it under control.

"That fact your all all brawn and no brains," Beth added.

"Okay just shut up," Ben said going into deep thought. The rest of us laughed sadisticly.

We would have continued, but then I heard singing. "What the H*** is that?" I asked.

"Its the book worm," Ben said while pointing at the girl with purple highlights. She was singing with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. What suprised me was that Applejack and Pinkie Pie were with them.

"I thought they hated each other," Andrew said.

"They do," I said flatly. I narrowed my eyes at them. We're they just lying to us this whole time? Or did they patch things up. Either way I was put on edge with them. At the moment they were rallying the students to their cause. Whatever that was, and they're now a threat to me. "Lets go," I said flatly while standing up. Ounce we left the cafeteria I was only half surprised to see Sunset Shimmer standing outside.

"Hello Phoenix," she said a little too happily.

"What do you want?" I asked still thinking about what in going to do with Raritys new clique.

"Listen we hate each other no secret about that," She said.

"Details," I said. Sunset Shimmer tensed up and gave a grin. Boy did she look good doing that.

"I need your help," she finally said. I stepped back as if she rocked me. Turning I realized that my crew were still inside the lunchroom doing recon on Twilight.

"You want what?" I asked slowly.

"Your help, and you need mine. I know enough about changlings to know that you guys don't like threats. And me being the only one had you pretty busy. Twilight however is something else entirely." Sunset Shimmer said.

"I can take care of some girl who eats books," I said calmly.

"And what about her friends?" Sunset Shimmer asked. I opened my mouth, but Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy flashed through my head. "That's what I thought," Sunset Shimmer said.

"And how do I know that you just won't backstab us when your done," I asked dryly. Sunset Shimmer let out a laugh.

"Because I will reward you," Sunset said while drawing a line on the ground with her boot.

"Reward me how?" I asked now a little fidelity.

"I'll make you-" Sunset said while trailing off to Fluttershy quiet.

"Make me what?" I asked while leaning in.

"Make you my PRINCE," Sunset Shimmer half shouted. I took a couple of steps back.

"How you gonna do that?" I asked.

"Sorry, but that's a secret," Sunset said while waving a finger.

"Okay I'll bite, but I have some conditions," I said dryly. Sunset raised a eyebrow.

"Such as?" She asked.

"I want a cape and a fluffy hat," I said. Sunset was silent for a second before laughing.

"I'll do better than that, I'll give you a crown," Sunset said.

"Better be shiny, but I still want my cape," I replied. Sunset grinned before leaning in until her mouth was next to my ear.

"That's a promise," She said. When she started to move away she kissed my cheek on the way out. I was actually shocked.

"Now were going to have to deal with weirdo in there," I said while motioning with my thumb.

"Don't worry about her, I have a plan to deal with her," Sunset said while walking away.

After she left the rest of my crew walked out of the lunchroom just as Twilight's song was ending. Claire, Ben, and Beth all had annoyed looks on their faces. I was about to ask why when Andrew came out humming a tune while wearing, pony ears? He was also humming a tune. "Well, were friends with Sunset now," I said much to their shock .

"What?" Beth asked.

"Why," Ben asked.

"How?" Andrew asked.

Only Claire didn't seem suprised. In fact it looked like she was expecting it. After telling them I turned to Andrew. "What are those on your head?" I asked astonished. Andrew took the ears off and examined it.

"There pony ears," Andrew said cheerfully.

"Remove them from my presence." I said while waving my hand.

"What? Why?" Andrew asked suprised.

"We're changlings, and changlings do not wear pony ears," I said much to the others amusement.

"fine," Andrew said grumpily. He chucked the obominations away. "So what's going on with you and Sunset?" Andrew asked. The rest besides Claire looked towards me.

"If we help her I'll get a shiny crown and a cape," I said flatly. After that I turned away and walked to my next class leaving my crew with confused looks and a laughing Claire

Several hours later we all stood outside vice principal Luna's office. The girl Twilight just wrecked the fall formal. I knew it was Snips and Snails, but hey I was just rolling with it. "What's she saying?" I asked Andrew who was eavesdropping on them from atop Ben's and my shoulders.

"It sounds like she's getting into trouble," Andrew called down.

"No S*** give us details," Beth hissed.

"Looks like Twilight won't be running for fall formal after all," Andrew called down.

"Keep going, hi Flash," Claire said.

All our of us spun on our heels to face Flash Sentry. Andrew let out a yell as he fell off our shoulders. We didn't need Andrew to eavesdrop for us anymore because Flash barged into Luna's office. Leaving the door wide open.

We all crowded around the door as Flash Sentry proved Twilight's innocence. And I was impressed. If this guy was a changling I would take him into my gang, but just half a whiff of his scent marked him as a regular person. My train of thought was interrupted by Twilight hugging Flash.

"You can still run for fall formal queen tomorrow night," Vice Principal Luna said.

"So does this mean you'll go to the fall formal with me?" Flash Sentry asked.

"No no no no no!" Twilight shouted while running out. We were all staring after her with confused looks. Slowly everyone turned towards me including Flash.

"Um try again? Or at least try for one dance," I said while walking away.

As soon as I left the room Sunset Shimmer grabbed me. "What's up?" I asked her.

"I need your help fixing the fall formal," Sunset Shimmer said.

"Wait, I thought you were the one who trashed it," I said while the rest of my crew walked out.

"I did, but those two idiots messed it up and I need the dance to go on tonight," she said. I let out a whistle which made Ben and Beth look at each other and shrug their shoulders before walking off towards the gym.

"Andrew, we should have some gear coming in from the hive today, go collect it. And Claire, I think it's time we upgraded our wardrobe, don't you agree?"

"Long overdue," Claire said in a grin.

'Roughly twelve minutes later'

"I fail to see why we had to run," I gasped between breaths. The two of us stood outside the mall.

"We're gonna help Sunset Shimmer right?" She gasped between breaths.

"Yeah,"

"Well this is the best way to do it, since none of us are really going to the fall formal we don't have to dress formally. However we still have to look good and we don't have a lot of time," Claire said. I shrugged, I just wanted to upgrade. How we did it was up to her.

As soon as we stepped inside Twilight came crashing through us. "SORRY!" Twilight called back to us. Claire and I picked ourselves up from the ground.

"You will be, you broke my nails your purple haired b****," Claire growled. I'm not sure if Twilight even heard her, but it didn't stop us from chasing after her. The girl was fast, really fast. I wasn't sure if Twilight even knew we were chasing after her or not, but she disappeared into a store who's owner I knew. "She ran into the Carousel Boutique," Claire said.

"Well go after her if its empty," I promised. The two of us walked up to the window of the store and peeked inside. "Full house," I said. Inside were Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Still not sure why they weren't coming to blows.

"Some other time then," Claire said walking away. I stood at the window hidden by the shadows. Rarity was wearing a blue dress and looked pretty hot. Ben would love it. Now my mind flashed back to Ben's little ritual on asking her to the dance. My eyes slowly glided over Twilight who had to ruin the thing.

"That's a promise," I growled while following Claire.

For the next couple of hours I was Claire's personal model. And She made me try on eveeything. From t-shirtss, pants, jackets, shoes, gym clothes, and even socks. She kept us towards the darker colors changlings normally wear. The difference was that it was no longer hardcore punk. It was changling In he end I got five la its of jeans which were either black or dark gray, four t-shirts with a artic blue scorpion on the shoulder, five long sleeve black shirts, and a black military field jacket.

Claire's outfit was similar. Instead of dark jeans she was wearing skinny jeans. And instead of t-shirts she wore silky shirts. Although we had matching military field jackets. Alone with our outfits we bought Andrew, Ben and Beth a jacket each. We didn't match clothes though.

"Okay so now that web of our nice outfits what do we do?' Claire asked when we finished. I pulled out my phone and read a text from Beth.

"They finished cleaning the gym, but we have a problem " I said.

"Really? What happened now?" Claireasked.

"Twilight came with half the school to clean. Took Ben and Beth's credit and now they're voting for her to be princess." I answered. I knew she wasn't lying. Ben and Beth wouldnhave fixed that place, but Twilight was either a very lucky girl or she was a criminal mastermind.

"Holy S***, how much pain and misery do we owe her now?" Claire asked astonished.

"Lets make a list. First she ate and ruined my favorite book series, then she ruined Ben's chance at asking Rarity out in which he finally found the courage, next she stole our lunch table, convinced Andrew to wear those obominational pony ears, next she grew us into the wall breaking your nails, and now she took the credit about the fall formal which Beth was already half done," I said while counting with my fingers.

"Wow she somehow pissed us all off within twenty four hours," Claire said.

"Impressive," I muttered while walking away.

'Some time later'

"Did you get the stuff?" I asked Andrew. My three other changlings all loved the new jackets, but they couldn't rock the look the way Claire and I did.

"Got in touch with the delivery man, said he should be here soon," Andrew said while flexing in his jacket.

"Keep a eye out," I said while the rest of us began walking to the gym doors. Andrew was on lookout duty since he couldn't actually to to the fall formal. When we got inside someone asked us to vote for formal queen. It took me half a second to check next to Sunset Shimmers name and drop the thing into the box. After I finished I looked around and saw that my crew was seriously underdressed. Claireand I were good, but Ben and Beth still had on worn t-shirts and jeans.

"Keep an ear out for my signal, other than that have fun," I said to my crew. Within seconds we spread out with me blending into the shadows looking for Sunset Shimmer. Now would be a good time to ask her o dance, but after a couple of minutes I realized she wasn't here.

"Pssst, Phoenix. Over here," A voice called quietly. I turned and saw Snips hiding behind a corner. Groaning in annoyance I walked over to him.

"Whadya want?" I asked flatly.

"Don't give me away!" Snips said loudly. I turned and saw a few students turn towards us before returning to their dance.

"You suck at blending in, and we can all see you anyways," I said coldly. Snips seethed, but couldn't do much other than that.

"Sunset needs your help," Snips said. I turned and looked around for her. "She's outside," Snips added.

"Tell her I'll be there in just a moment," I said while looking for my crew. I found Claire by the fruit punch and she was harshly rejecting a boy who wanted to dance with her.

"I have a boyfriend," she said.

"Really? I don't see him," the boy said.

"And trust me when I say you don't want to," I said while walking up to them. The boy turned to me wide eyed. I looked pretty formidable being tall and lean.

"Sorry bro, I didn't know she was your girl," he pleaded. In cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"She's not, but she does have a boyfriend and Alaric is thre big strong jealous type," I said with a clock of my head. The boy left after that.

"Thanks, and was I right?" Claire asked me. I nodded. She grinned "alright then, let's go," she said. After that we looked for Beth. I found her dancing with a boy who looked suprised that someone like Beth was dancing with someone like him. When she saw me motioning for her to come she ditched him without a word. Ben was a little harder because Rarity got to him around twelve seconds before we did. We all glanced at each other before walking again.

"Ben, I wanted to apologize for ignoring you earlier," Rarity began. Ben cut her off a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, it only took me weeksto plan. And don't worry about it. I didn't expect you to say yes anyways," Ben replied.

"And why not?" Rarity asked. Her question suprised Ben who straightened up. The rest of us all stopped walking.

"Because your a beauty queen and I'm me," Ben said while motioning to himself.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Rarity said.

"Explains why you ignored me, it's alright though." Ben answered. We all started walking again.

"That's not fair," Rarity cried. "Look Ben I actually really li-"

"Ben lets go!" I said while walking past surprising them both.

"But Rarity was about to say somethi-" Ben began. I cut him off with a sharp whistle. Beth and Claire each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him after me. "But, but never mind I'll talkto her later," Ben said shrugging off his captors.

When we all left the gym I pulled Claire aside. "Keep a lookout with Andrew, I don't trust Sunset Shimmer to double cross us," I muttered. Claire nodded them disappeared into the shadows.

The rest of us walked up to Sunset Shimmer who was standing next to the school statue with a sledgehammer. "Where'sthe rest of your guy's?" She asked.

"You needed muscle for whatever your gonna do and this is my crews muscle," I answered. Sunset Shimmer nodded acceptably. "So what's up?" I asked.

"I need your help getting the element of harmony," Sunset Shimmer said.

"The what?" I asked.

"Fall formal crown," Sunset Shimmer answered.

"There's a problem with that, the fall formalcrown is under lock and key. And when it's not, it will be on Twilight's head," Beth stated.

"I have a plan for that," Sunset Shimmer said.

"And that plan is?" I asked.

"Coming right now," Sunset Shimmer said with a grin. Her two lackeys Snips and Snails rushed out carrying a strange looking dog. After her Twilight and her little gang quickly followed. On her head was the fall formal crown. Slowly they ran up to us with them looking at me and my crew astonished.

"Give me the crown or I'll break the portal," Sunset Shimmer said while raising the sledgehammer.

"DON'T DO IT TWILIGHT!" The dog shouted. I nearly jum)lllll

"That dog just talked!" Beth screamed.

"How's that possible! Did they summon discord or something?" Ben asked.

"They don't seem the type to summon demons," I answered.

"I don't know, Pinkie Pie seems to know more than she should sometimes," Ben stated. We all turned to Pinkie Pie who began to smile nervously.

"Ben! Are you really going to do this?" Rarity asked snapping us back to attention. I decided to sneak a glance at Ben and saw his expression emotionless.

"Yes, I am," Ben answered.

"Your Phoenix right? Please don't do this, you don't know what she's capable of," Twilight pleaded while looking straight at me.

"I had a petty good idea before this demon spawn spoke, so now I just gotta roll with it." I replied. Snips had the demon dog while I motioned for Snails to circle around.

"I won't let you turn the magic to chaos." Twilight announced to Sunset Shimmer.

"Let's rid this world of the dog then," I said while walking towards Snips. Snails was almost into position.

"Don't you date hurt that dog Phoenix!" Rarity and to everyone's suprise, Fluttershy snapped.

"Then give up the f****** crown already," I answered annoyed. Rarity turned back to Ben.

"You don't have to listen to everything he says," Rarity pleaded. Ben looked at the sleeve of his militarygrade jacket.

"Yes, I do." Ben replied sadly just as Snails got into position.

"NOW!" Sunset Shimmer screamed. Snails tackled Twilight causing the crown to fall off. I immediately rushed to where it fell, but Applejack was just as fast. And that girl was strong. With one arm she grabbed the crown and with the other she slammed me into the ground. Applejack may be strong, but I was stronger AND I knew how to fight. In a single motion I jumped up while sweeping my legs underneath hers. She let out a grunt while the crown flew into my hands. Grinning I turned to Sunset Shimmer, but was tackled by Pinkie Pie.

"You b****!" I spat while Pinkie Pie grabbed the crown faster than the eye could follow. Pinkie didn't have the crown for long because Beth sucker punched her in the face while swiping the crown only to be tackled by Fluttershy. The crown flew into Snips hands who was immediately tackled by Rarity. I took a spare second to examine the scene. Twilight got free of Snails, Pinkie Pie was stumbling around, Applejack was getting up with a pissed off look on her face, Beth was tearing into Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash was making a beeline for them, Ben was circling around while Snips and Rarity were wrestling for the crown, and Sunset Shimmer was circling close behind Ben.

While Rarity and Snails wrestled the crown flew into Twilight's hands so fast that she fell down. Seeing his chance Ben rushed her only for Twilight to scream and kick him in the b***s with the sound of something being crushed.. We all stopped what we were doing to wince in pain. Except for Twilight who looked like she didn't know what she did.

Ben's eyes rolled to the back of his head while he fell to his side with his hands between his legs in with his mouth wide open letting out a wierd sounding "aaaaaawwwwwww,"

"That had to hurt," Beth said angrily.

"I don't think she meant to do that," Fluttershy mumbled.

"Well why else did she kick him there?" Snails asked.

"Hope he can still have kids," I added.

"Listen partner I know you might now know this, but you don't kick a man down there like that unless he's trying to hurt you," Applejack said.

"But I though he was," Twilight pleaded.

"You'll have to excuse her, her world in equestria is different than it is here," Pinkie Pie said. What the h*** did she say?

"He was trying to get the crown," Sunset Shimmer said.

"Hey lay off, she said she thought he was coming after her," Rainbow Dash said.

"So? If I think this is a fight to the death changling style which it could due to his balls being flattened does that mean I can use that sledgehammer?" I asked. They all looked at me with a hint if fear in their eyes.

"You'll have to excuse him, he had a really tough childhood and witnessed the death of someone firsthandin self defense," Pinkie Pie stated.

I looked at her astonished. "I know Claire didn't tell you that so how the h*** did-" I started.

"Just a hunch," Pinkie Pie answered. The rest of them were now looking at me with Pity except Beth who was glaring at Twilight.

"Ok this got to deep," I said while running towards Twilight faster than Ben did. She didn't have time to even scream in suprise when I football kicked the crown into Sunset Shimmers hands.

Sunset Shimmer was all fiddity now. Only when I saw their expressions did I realize something was wrong. "You have no idea how many hoops I had to jump rough tonight to get this crown. I even made peace with my rival's just so we wouldn't be on the opposite sides tonight. And don't worry, I don't forget my friends," Sunset Shimmer said while the last part was directed at me with a wink. She then held the crown over her head, but I was thinking F.E.A.R. F*** everything and run.

"Okay I'm gonna stick to the safe side here. Beth, time to go," I said while already running with Ben slung across my shoulders.

From Claire's and Andrews hiding spot, we saw it all. From the demon transformation, to the zombies, and finally the lasers. All five of us leaned in closer and let out a sigh of relief when Sunset Shimmer survived. I alsofelt sadness that suprised me. I didn't care about her, did I? And then the anger. Andrew disappeared and came back with a brown box. "The stuff is here," he grinned. We opened it to find long knives, throwing knives, short swords, and a few ninja stars. We immediately equipped them and I stood and turned to where Twilight was standing.

"Its a eye for an eye," I growled.

"Let's go over the list," Claire said. Ben stood up. He was good now. But he was f****** pissed.

"Trashing all our favorite books, and getting Andrew to wear those obominational pony ears," he growled.

"Hey," Andrew protested.

"Taking the credit about my cleaning the gym by coming in last minute," Beth added.

"Essentially stealing our friends," Andrew said.

"Kicking my balls into my brain," Ben snarled.

"Breaking my nails and throwing us into the walls," Claire said.

"And ruining Ben's plan to ask Rarity out after all that annoying planning," Andrew finished.

"Don't forget about her ruining Sunset Shimmer's life, she's not one of s, by she was our ally and well just add that to the list." I said.

"So a life for a life?" Claire asked.

"I never killed someone before," Ben said.

"Now's a good time to learn," Claire said evily. All three of them blanched.

"Don't worry about her, it's my job to deal with her," I said casually. In truth I was as scared as they were. I never killed someone before, but now I had no choice. It was the changling way.

Finding Twilight alone was harder than we thought because of all the people crowding around her. Lucky for us nobody noticed us lurking in the shadows. My chance finally came when she stood in front of the statue talking to her friends. our friends. Angrily I poised my ninja star ready to throw, but something stopped me. With a sense of dread I realized that I couldn't do it.

"Take the throw and go to the hive," Midnight said quietly in my ear. My heart started pounding and I slowly began to turn my hear. "Don't lose focus, take your aim and throw," Midnight said. From the corner of my eye I saw him. As beautiful as a angle, but he was just out of sight. When I saw the rest of my crew not even turn I knew he was just in my head, but that didn't make it any better. "Right for the throat so you'll know she's dead, but after that go to the hive. Once she's dead you'll have to live like the rest of us changlings do," Midnight whispered. Twilight turned to the statue. "THROW IT" Midnight roared in my head.

I threw.

Author's Note

Feedback is welcome..and comment I enjoy reading them.