The sun shone down on the dull concrete of Canterlot High without hesitation,which was a simple thing that Twilight Sparkle had liked. Back at Crystal Prep,to her at least,it seemed like the sun was always hidden behind storm clouds,but here;sitting on the steps outside the school, the sunlight could finally reach her and feel her with the warmth that she had lacked before. She especially appreciated it now that the last thing holding her down was gone. Midnight Sparkle,the demon that sought nothing but to take control of her and all the magic in their world and Equestria on top of it all had been defeated by her and Sunset Shimmer once she was able to convince herself that she and Midnight were not the same person. In doing so,she and her best friends were able to stop Gloriosa from destroying them all and save Camp Everfree from being bought out by Filthy Rich. The look on Gloriosa’s face when she made that announcement,that was something Twilight would never forget.
“Hey Twilight!” called a familiar voice. She turned,letting the sunlight sparkle off the necklace she was wearing,which controlled the new powers she and her friends had gained while at Camp Everfree.
“Hi Rainbow! What’s up?” she responded,standing as Rainbow Dash ran up to her. Twilight chuckled. “Enjoying your super speed i see.”
“Heck yeah! It’s freaking awesome! I love moving so fast!” she laughed.
Twilight rolled her eyes,smiling. “I don’t know how you do it,to be honest. With that velocity,i’d probably run into something or get sick.”
The speedy girl shrugged. “In terms of running into stuff,you get used to sidestepping quickly,although i’ve never felt sick while running...i guess that’s why it’s my power,not yours.”
“Good point,so why’d you seek me out? There’s nothing wrong i hope?” Twilight asked,getting to the point.
Rainbow shook her head quickly. “Oh no,there’s nothing wrong. The others just wanted me to run and get ya for a sleepover. Pinkie’s hosting another one. You’re not busy are you?”
Twilight was silent for a moment. The reason she was still at school at 5:00 PM was that she often stayed after school to do extra work. She wanted to make sure her grades were the best they could be,but the other reason was that despite her confidence she didn’t really like being at home alone. The memories of her nightmares with Midnight coming out of her mirror and vaporizing her friends still upset her,but seeing as she would be with everyone else at Pinkie’s she had no problem with it. Although there was one question she had;
“Will Sunset be there?”
Rainbow cocked her head at the oddly specific question. “Of course,you know her...she’d hate to miss something like this. Why?”
Twilight sighed in relief. “No real complex reason,i simply feel safer around her. She’s the reason i was able to conquer Midnight,twice.”
Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes softened with sympathy. “I thought you were over that.”
Twilight’s face brightened up and she shook her hands in front of her,almost frantically. “I am! I am,it’s just...well...moments like that are kinda hard to forget.”
Putting on a small smile,Rainbow walked over slowly and sat down next to her on the step,signalling her to sit down too. Which she did.
“Twilight,you’re still worried about losing control...but of what? Midnight’s gone.”
She rubbed her left arm with her right. “I’m not really sure myself. It could just be that i’m used to the feeling…”
Rainbow sighed,almost in irritation. “Twilight,i may not be the smartest ball in the net,but i can at least figure out that you don’t think Midnight is truly gone,do you?”
Twilight’s eyes went wide for a second,before she blinked and brought them back to normal. “I’m not surprised you’d think that Rainbow,but that’s not it. I’m pretty sure she’s gone...i think it’s just that i’m still not entirely comfortable with magic in general.”
She looked down at the base of her neck where the ‘bling’ as Spike called it was,donning the star mark she was known for. “All of us now have this odd power coursing through our veins,but i guess i’m just worried that one day it will do something unpredictable.”
Rainbow looked her friends sullen face,then shifted her gaze to her own necklace. “I didn’t think of that...could it just...do that? Will there be a time where it’ll turn us all into demons like Sunset,Twilight,and Gloriosa? Would it bring back Demon Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle?”
Rainbow then shook her head,a determined expression flooding her face. “Well,that’s not something to worry about right this second. If something like that starts to happen,we’ll handle it. Like we always do.”
Standing up,she turned and offered her hand to her friend,to which she got a look of confusion. “Come on,Twilight. Now’s not the time to be worrying about stuff like that. The others are waiting,let’s go have some fun.”
Twilight let herself smile and took the gesture. As they started walking towards the Bus Stop,Twilight added; “Let’s stop by my place first,i need to get some things.”
An hour later,a figure covered by a black hoodie walked onto the same grounds that Twilight and Rainbow had been. The figure stepped up to the portal that had once housed a statue of a horse rearing on its back legs and studied it emotionlessly. It was about to turn away,when it heard an odd sound. Following the source,it climbed onto the portal and saw a crack at the top where something all too familiar to the figure was leaking out. Magic.
“Where is Rainbow!? She’s been gone forever!” Pinkie yelled,in her typical hyped up manor.
Sunset Shimmer,who was laying on Pinkie’s bed and playing a game on her phone rolled her eyes and looked at the excited female. “Pinkie,she’s been gone ten minutes.”
Pinkie crossed her arms in a huff. “Well it feels longer than that.”
Applejack,who was watching a movie with Fluttershy on the floor piped up. “Well,in Pinkie’s defense,ten minutes is a long time for her now that she has that super speed.”
Realizing she had a point,Sunset decided to try calling her. “Be right back,i’m gonna see if i get her on the phone.” she said,getting off the bed and stepping into the hall. Leaning against the wall,she hit the CALL button on the contact she had for Rainbow and waited.
After the fourth ring,Rainbow’s voice came through.
“Hello?”
“Hey Rainbow,it’s me Sunset. Where are you? Did you find Twilight?”
“Yeah,i did. She was outside the school. She is coming but she wanted to stop by her place first. She’s in the shower right now.”
At least there’s nothing wrong. “How long do you think you’ll be? Pinkie’s getting impatient.”
“Hold on.”
There was silence for a moment,but then Sunset could hear Rainbow yelling to Twilight in the background and she blushed when she could hear the sounds of a shower. If there was one thing Rainbow didn’t understand,it was subtlety. After another moment,she heard Rainbow moving away and then she answered. “Twilight said we’ll probably be another ten minutes.”
Although she couldn’t see it,Sunset was facepalming on the other end.
“Rainbow,when i asked how long you’d be i didn’t mean for to go into the bathroom and ask Twilight. I meant for you to make an estimation.”
“How would i know? I don’t know how long Twilight showers for.”
“Ok,ok...look just...make sure you get here. Alright?”
“Alright,bye.”
“Bye.”
With that,she hung up. “Well that was awkward…” Sunset thought,looking up the dark ceiling. After a minute or two,she made her way back into the room with all eyes on her. “And so is this…”
“So!?” Pinkie asked.
“What’s the verdict?” Applejack added,being more specific.
“She said they’d be another ten minutes,so chill out Pinkie.”
Ignoring her,Pinkie flopped dramatically onto the floor. “UGH! They’re so slow!”
Fluttershy laughed softly. “Don’t be like that Pinkie,good things come to those who wait. Think of it like a tasty cake you’re baking. You have to wait for it to bake and taste good.”
Pinkie Pie shot up into a sitting position. “Huh,never thought of it like that. Thanks Fluttershy!”
“You’re welcome.” she said,smiling at her friend and squeezing her stuffed alligator.
Within the ten minute range Rainbow had described,she had arrived with Twilight in tow. Both already wearing pajamas like the others. Rainbow’s were light blue with white clouds,Twilight’s were dark purple with pink polka dots,Sunset Shimmer’s were orange with cyan stripes,Fluttershy’s were pink with yellow birds on them,Applejack’s were a baggy brown shirt and black sweatpants. Her excuse was that she couldn’t find her normal PJs.
Scanning the room,Twilight noticed one girl was missing. “Where’s Rarity?” she asked,setting her bag down next to the bed.
“She said she an important order that needed to be done by tomorrow morning. She also said she felt awful about it and was gonna come over tomorrow after it was picked up.”
“Oh ok.”
Sunset herself noticed someone was missing,besides Rarity that is. “Hey Twilight? Where’s Spike?”
Unzipping her bag,she turned to the flame-haired girl. “Hm? Oh yeah,when i got home he was already asleep so i decided to just leave him. I left him a note that i was here,he’ll be fine.”
“Yeah,he’d probably be happier anyway. He can chase his squirrels in peace.” she joked. Both of them laughed it,knowing it to be all too true.
Then Pinkie Pie,who had just come back from the store and still wearing her pink and blue PJs dropped her supplies and tackle-hugged Rainbow Dash,both of them ending up on the floor.
“Augh! Pinkie,what the-”
“You guys took forever!” she squealed,hugging Rainbow like a stuffed animal.
Twilight and Applejack,who were picking up the dropped bags stifled laughter. “Pinkie,we only took about twenty minutes.”
“I say it was forever darnit!” she yelled in detest,finally letting go of the barely breathing racer.
“Pinkie…” she gasped. “I think you broke a rib...or two…”
Pinkie only smiled at her. “Nope,i didn’t! Trust me,i could have hugged you much harder. That was only half as hard as i can do it.”
Everyone in the room froze and gave her a look. Each of them feeling slightly afraid,but soon they all decided to just chock it all up to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.
“So,what movie are you guys watching?” Rainbow asked.
“Eh...a movie about a queen with ice powers that she thinks she can’t control. Not a big fan of it so far.”
“I...think it’s pretty good…” Fluttershy whispered mostly to herself.
Sunset looked at Rainbow and made a gagging motion with her tongue which caused her to laugh out loud.
“Say...how about after the movie’s over,you and i play some video games Twilight?” Applejack asked as she sat down next to her on the floor.
“Um...sure i guess...i’m not that good at video games though.” she replied,sheepishly.
“That’s fine. The ones Pinkie has are too easy anyway.”
“Hey!” Pinkie said in detest again,going through the bags of snacks she bought.
“What do you have there Pinkie?” Sunset asked, as she was hungry.
“Just a few things from the convenience store across the street. Here.” she said,tossing a bag of BBQ chips to her.
“Oh my gosh,i love these! Thanks Pinkie!” she said,quickly opening the bag.
“These are for you Twilight.” she said,tossing her a box of little pink coconut covered snack cakes called Sno-balls.
“Thanks Pinkie!”
She then tossed a box of Honey Buns to Fluttershy and a bag of cookies to Applejack. Finally pulling out a bag of cotton candy for herself and flopping on the edge of her bed,startling Sunset.
“No problem guys! To be honest,i’m just glad i got back in one piece.”
“Why do you say that Pinkie?” Applejack asked.
Popping some candy into her mouth,she answered. “Oh,because i think i saw a Siren in there.”
Everyone but Twilight dropped their snacks and Sunset actually started to choke on a chip.
Pinkie who was closest,smacked her on the back which allowed her to cough it up. Twilight,who was looking around at her friend’s reactions asked; “What’s a Siren?”
Sunset,who snapped open her cyan flames known as eyes threw on her jacket and dashed out the door,saying; “I’ll be right back.”
With that,Twilight repeated her question and the others looked at each other. Silently trying to decide who would explain.
Throwing open Pinkie’s front door with enough force to kill a person if they had been standing in it’s way,she ran out looking around for the store Pinkie had spoken of. The weather didn’t aid this as it had started raining.
“Fantastic…” she mumbled,as she was annoyed being that her jacket had no hood. After another minute or so of looking around,she found the store’s lit-up sign and quickly made her way inside,shaking the rainwater out of her hair as she did so.
“Alright...where…” she wondered,using the cyan flames known as her eyes which the rain had not put out to scan the place. There weren’t that many people,just the cashier and two others shopping. One of which had a hood over their head,most likely due to the rain. “I don’t see them...Adagio and her partners usually are pretty easy to pick out of a crowd...especially Adagio with that hair of hers…”
Interrupting her thoughts though was a familiar melody,the very same melody she’d heard when the Dazzlings were trying to get someone to do something. Although what confused her was that the voice was unfamiliar. It didn’t sound like the Dazzlings she knew. This voice was harder. It almost sounded...desperate.
Looking back at the cashier,she noticed that one of the two people had moved over to it,the hooded figure.Using her ears,she could tell that person was the one singing and despite her rage,she walked over slowly and noticed that the cashier seemed like he was in a trance. That was when she snapped. She grabbed the hooded figure by the shoulder and wrenched them away from the counter,causing them to lose their balance and land butt-first on the floor. This also caused the hood to be knocked off,allowing Sunset to see who was hiding under its shroud,and it was not who she was expecting. It wasn’t Adagio Dazzle,Aria Blaze,or Sonata Dusk. It was another teenage girl,about her age. Sunset noticed that she looked a bit...plain looking. Her skin and hair wasn’t what she was used to. Her hair was messy and long,below half-way down her back,but it was simply dark brown in color and her skin was peach colored. Due to her eyes being shut from the pain of being thrown to the floor,Sunset didn’t see the color of her eyes right away but when she did,she saw they were a neon green.
Said eyes looked up at her with a mix of confusion and anger,so Sunset decided to finally say something. “Who are you!? What do you think you’re doing!?”
The girl remained silent for a moment,then responded. Her voice was deep like Adagio’s,but not nearly as smooth. “Who wants to know?”
“My name is Sunset Shimmer. Your kind should be aware of that. I’m sure you’re also aware of a girl named Twilight Sparkle?”
The girl just looked at her with utter confusion. “I don’t know anyone by that name or your own...wait...what do you mean ‘My Kind’?”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “You have a pendent,don’t you?”
The girl’s breath hitched and her right hand instantly flew to a part of her neck obscured by the black hoodie. This made Sunset smirk. “I thought so. I know what you are,so tell me WHO you are!”
The girl scooted away a bit on her rear and Sunset followed. “Do i need to repeat myself?”
Suddenly,the girl leapt onto her feet and tried to make a run for it,but Sunset being as quick as she is managed to grab her arm before she got too far. What she forgot about was her new power,which triggered and her vision was instantly filled with thoughts from the girl.
The first thing she saw a first person view of what she guessed was the girl running from something or someone. At some point she tripped on something and fell. Afterwards she turned up to see that she had been chased by three grown men. All appearing as terrifying shadows in her POV. As they all raised what looked like knives,red soundwaves flew from the girl as her vicious harmony ripped through them all. They were knocked into the wall nearby and laid there unconscious. This was when the POV shot turned again and she continued running.
The next vision was of her on a bus. This one was short and only showed her looking out the window.
The final vision was of her getting off at a familiar location. Canterlot High. She walked over to the portal and placed a hand on it,revealing her purple painted fingernails. Then turned away,but a sound stopped her. She then seemed to climb on top of the portal and see a crack which was leaking what appeared to magic.
Then Sunset was brought back to reality.
Still being held by the girl unknown to her,the hidden Siren turned to her,green eyes beginning to glisten with fearful tears. “Please...let go of me…” she pleaded. Her fear was almost forgotten as she saw the white-eyed trance Sunset was coming out of. “What?”
However the fear quickly returned as the white light faded and revealed that the cyan flames had now become dull gemstones.
“What were you doing at Canterlot High?” she asked,voice still obviously filled with anger but it sounded softer now. As if fueled by curiosity more than malice.
“I-I i was curious about something! That’s all! Please let go of me!”
“Where will you go if i do?”
The girl stared with hard and fearful eyes. “My home! Where else!?”
“Oh,you mean Equestria!?” Sunset bellowed. The girl stopped and any fear she had alit her eyes with fury as well as her pendant which now had a faint glow under her clothes.
“Rub it in why don’t you!? I hate this world! Humans are stupid and cruel and you’re no exception!” she yelled,wrenching her arm out of her captor’s grip and pushing her.
Sunset didn’t fall to the floor though as she had. As the girl turned away,Sunset made a mistake. She was lucky that the other shopper had fled long ago and the cashier as well when she yelled this.
“I’m not human you idiot! I’m from Equestria too!”
The Siren stopped dead. “You...are?” she asked,tears now staining both sides of her peach-colored face.
“Why else would i know about it!? That’s not exactly common knowledge to humans!”
“But...why..” she started. “Why would ever come here? Were you banished too?”
In Sunset’s mind,the memories of the days leading up to her running away and leaving her home on her own accord just to gain power echoed. Almost like flashbacks.
Unlike most,the Siren girl noticed this as the change visible in her eyes was only seeable to her. With that,she stepped closer. “Are...you alright?”
Sunset’s head and gaze fell as her eyes clouded over and her hair shaded her face. “I...I wasn’t banished. I ran away to this world...because i wanted power and my teacher wouldn’t let me have it.”
“Is that what you think i want?”
Sunset’s eyes gained a spark again and she looked up at the girl.
“If so,you’re wrong. I don’t want power,but i need it to survive. Just because i look human doesn’t mean my body followed suit.”
Was that the reason the Dazzlings did what they did? “Is that...so...look. I’m sorry i was so rude. I just don’t have the best experience with Sirens.”
“What do you mean? There are others like me?” she asked,eyes now coated in sympathy for the girl in front of her.
“Yes...but they were cruel and tried to control a lot of innocent people to get what they wanted.”
“I can’t say i’m much different. I do control people to get what i need...but it’s not like i do it for fun.”
“I don’t believe this…” Sunset thought. “How many Sirens are there in this world? Did the Dazzlings know about her? She doesn’t seem to know them...or even act like them...where did she get this humanity that the Dazzlings don’t have?”
“Um...Sunset Shimmer was it?” she asked,breaking said girl from her thoughts.
“Oh,yes?”
“I think i’m gonna go now...alright?” she said,turning to leave.
“Wait!”
The girl turned back around.
“Can you come with me for a little while? I have some friends i think should meet you.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean…”
Sunset let herself smile to reassure her. “It’ll be fine. They’ve seen Sirens in this world before,well except one now that i think about it...but once i explain they’ll understand.”
The Siren raised an eyebrow. “How did you all meet those evil Sirens?”
“We fought them,and won.”
Sunset expected her to take offense to that line,but was surprised when she sighed and said; “Good.”
“You’re not offended by that?”
She shook her head. “No,not at all. If they were evil then they were a disgrace to my kind. I hate that you had to have the wrong idea because of them. In fact,thank you for stopping them.”
Stepping towards the door,Sunset had her hand on the handle. “So,will you come with me?”
“Yes,show me the way.”
The two walked out into the rain and without warning Sunset felt a weight on her head. She realized that the Siren had removed her hoodie and put it over her,revealing more of her appearance.
Under the hoodie was a purple tank top with what Sunset took to be her Cutie Mark of sorts,despite Sirens not having one to her knowledge. It was a black heart with a red X over it and black soundwaves escaping it. Around her neck was what she had expected. A red gem attached to a black band. It was different from the ones she’d seen though. The band was wider and covered the base of her neck and even part of her chest. The thing that disturbed her though,were the fairly large chain links hanging from the band.
Noticing Sunset’s look she responded. “Don’t mind it. I can put up with the rain,but i get the feeling it’s not your thing,miss flame hair.”
“She didn’t notice i was looking at her chains...or maybe she was changing the subject? Regardless the gesture is kind.” “Thank you.”
They finally started making their way back to Pinkie Pie’s house and threw the silence of the rainy night,the Siren spoke one last time.
“By the way,to answer your question...my name is Fate’s Voice.”