Hell & High Water

by Uria the Sacred Beast

Rating: teen
Tags: Dazzlings, Dark, Alternate Universe, Shadowbolts (EqG), Romance, Original Character, Equestria Girls, Violence, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity
Length: 104883

Sunset's life takes a turn when Anon-a-Miss appears on MyStable, slandering her name, and spiraling her life down a road she never could have expected. Are all her attempts at changing for naught, or will one spark of hope keep the fire burning?

The holidays are fast approaching for the city of Canterlot. Snow is on the ground, carols fill the air, and the students of Canterlot High await release for winter vacation. However, its never peaceful in Canterlot for long. Right when things are looking calm, secrets start spilling around the school. With more being revealed each day, all eyes turn to Sunset Shimmer, the former bully of CHS. With the school turning against her and no clues to follow, can she possibly figure out the culprit and clear her name?

Of course she can. You know this story. At least, I assume you do. You're probably here because you want to see an alternate take on the event after all. A timeline can be altered drastically with nothing more than a single decision, just one choice, at the right place and time. So the proper question is: Can Sunset make it to her happy ending...and will the choice even be hers to start with?

TvTropes Page: Here

Co-writer: SunnyDays

So I'd like to give two quick shout-outs.
First one goes to Dainn for his wonderful tale, 'Anon-a-Miss'. It was the base inspiration for this little drabble of mine.
Second one to cerealkiller78 for her branching story, 'Silent Night', for more or less creating a sub-genre of a sub-genre and for the Dark tag on this story.

Featured: 3/21/17, 3/26/17, 4/23/17, 5/13/17, 6/2/17, 7/11/17, 8/6/17, 9/16/17, 12/2/17, 12/20/17, 2/25/18, 6/3/18

Published 2017-03-08 06:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-02-25 03:17:56 UTC

1 - Light the World Up for Just One Day

“Please. C’mon. You’ve humiliated me enough already, right?” Rainbow Dash pleaded, pupils small as she looked to the other.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Dash. Really, I am.” Sunset Shimmer shook her head.

“Sunset, please! Even after all we’ve been through together?!” The prismatic teen nearly begged, “It shouldn’t have to end like this!”

“Might I remind you that you are in fact the one that chose this path?” The fiery-haired girl grinned wickedly, rolling her neck out as she prepared to deliver the blow.

“Sunset, no!”

But it was too late. Far too late. Sunset proceeded to input the combo on the controller, her avatar in the game delivering a devastating finishing combo on Rainbow’s character, decapitating him with extreme prejudice.

“Player 1 wins!” The game boomed ceremoniously as the words appeared on screen to congratulate her.

“Noooooooo!” Dash declared dramatically, falling on her back with her hands grasping at her hair. She didn’t stay this way for that long whoever, quickly breaking down into entertained snickers.

Sunset quickly followed her friend, solemn expression melting away from her face, “Looks like I win again, Rainbow.”

“Dammit, Sunset! Ya know, I never have this kinda trouble with AJ!” She sat back up, attempting to defend her pride, and wrecked winning streak.

“That right? That why you accidentally knock the console whenever she starts to win?” Shimmer shot back with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash only crossed her arms, looking away in some attempt to hide her crooked smile. “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about!”

Sunset rolled her eyes in amusement, “Right, right.” She shook her head, “Anyway. Thanks again for letting me stay over.” Glancing outside, she could see the sun peeking over the horizon. The snow glowed gently under the growing sunlight, illuminating the neighborhood in a gentle glow. No matter how many times she saw it, Sunset couldn’t help but be rather amazed by how humans managed to get along without controlling the weather. Especially given the sudden snow storm last night.

“No worries.” Dash replied with a grin, “Wasn’t about to let ya leave after that storm hit. I mean, your place is like...uh, how far away did you say your house is again?”

“Couple miles.” She lied with ease, “And my bike wouldn’t really do too well on the icy roads.”

“Then yeah, letting you stay was a no brainer. Besides, my dad thinks keeping you around might get me better grades or somethin’.” Dash snickered.

“What, do you want me to tutor you or something?” Sunset stood, checking the clock. 7:00. School was in an hour.

“Pssh, I know everything I need to know. It's just the ‘curriculum’ demands me learning more! Its bull!” Dash pouted.

“...science?”

“Science.”

“Yeah, that’s not my strongest subject either.” Sunset attempted to make Dash feel a bit better.

“You have the excuse of being from another world, and it's still an ‘A’ for you.” She responded, deadpan.

Sunset blushed a bit, “Well...okay, yeah.”

“I know where I stand, what I’m good at.” Dash shrugged, “Even still, not the kinda stuff I’d wanna be known for.”

“I guess I’d know all about that.” Sunset joked. Pinkie did say jokes were the best way to get over an awkward subject.

“No-I mean, that’s not where I was gonna take that.” Dash doubled back on herself. Sunset had made a point to talk to them about the ‘no offense’ thing they had been tossing around during the Battle of the Bands. Needless to say, they were being more careful about what they said.

Sunset shrugged, chuckling, “I know. I did. I’m no element of laughter, but I can try to be funny.”

Dash sent a sideways grin, “Well, could you try harder then?”

Sunset shoved her back to the floor, the blue girl cackling at her friend’s pout.

“Dash! Sunset! Are you two ready?” A voice called from another room in the house, “School’s soon! You two better not be asleep!”

Rainbow laughed, “We’re cool, dad!”

“We’ll be out the door in a moment, Mr. Blaze!” Sunset added, stretching, “Probably shoulda slept more and gamed less.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rainbow shrugged, waving it off, “Had fun, got the science project done, we good.”

Sunset nodded, changing back into her regular attire that she had brought in her bag. “Yeah, glad we did too. Told you we shouldn’t have put it off so much. Would’ve saved us some much needed stress.”

“Noted for next time. For now, we should probably get out of here before we’re late.” Dash tugged her t-shirt over her head, “Don’t need another tardy detention.”

Sunset just shook her head, “C’mon, we need to head out. No way we’re driving on roads like that.”

“You’d think they’d close school for a day or two.” Rainbow snorted.

“Blame CISD for that. They may as well be the post office when it comes to operation.” Sunset rolled her eyes, pushing open the door into the main hallway.

Rainbow lived in a fairly sized house in the Cloudsdale district in the northern area of Canterlot. Single floor, three bedrooms, two baths. Quite a bit more plain than she would’ve expected from Rainbow Dash of all people. Despite feeling a bit awkward about, Sunset did eventually ask about it.

‘Eh, my dad’s the type that doesn’t spend more than he needs to.’ Dash had explained, ‘Besides, the folks like it up here. S’cozy, I guess.’

Rainbow Blaze came across as a pretty easy going guy, especially given Sunset’s experiences with Dash from before the Fall Formal. He was a retired sports star in his mid-forties and frankly, it wasn’t hard to see where Dash had gotten her athleticism from. However, given his rather relaxed nature, Sunset could only assume her friend’s temperament came from her mother...whoever she was.

Dash scarcely mentioned her mom and never by name. It almost seemed cryptic at times. All Rainbow had ever really said was that she traveled a lot and her line of work could be a bit perilous at times. When pushed further, Rainbow would just chuckle and reinforce the fact that she was “really cool”.

As the two exited into the foyer, Rainbow Blaze called from the kitchen, “Dashie! Don’t forget your lunch!”

“Daaaaad! Not while my friend’s over!” Dash blushed violently, pouting heavily as she swiped the brown sack.

Blaze chuckled, tousling her hair, “Lunch is important, Dashie.” Sunset had the decency to hide her laugh as Rainbow practically dragged her out the front door.

“Goodbye, Mr. Blaze, thanks for letting me stay over!” Sunset called behind her.

“Anytime, Sunset! Now try not to be late, you two!” He smiled after the two, going back to his cooking after the door shut.

Rainbow groaned, “Ugh, dad, why?”

“It seems like he means well.” She shrugged back.

“He does, it's just...ya know. Parents.” Dash rolled her eyes.

“...no.” Sunset admitted with a frown, “I wouldn’t know.”

“Oh, uh...right.” Dash reprimanded herself. It was times like this she wished she could be as eloquent as Rarity, or at least remember not to say things like that.

“Its...it's alright.” Sunset smiled, “It doesn’t really bother me that much.”

“Right...but, you had...someone in that role, right?”

“I suppose that would be Princess Celestia.” She admitted, “Before we started fighting that is.”

Dash rubbed the back of her neck. On the bright side, it suddenly felt a whole less cold outside. Sunset seemed to notice her discomfort.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It was a few years ago. I’m not really...over it, but you shouldn’t feel bad for bringing it up. You’re only making conversation.” She smiled disarmingly.

Dash felt herself sigh in relief. She was never exactly the most socially skilled person in CHS, and she had a bit of track record for pissing people off in just a few sentences. In retrospect, maybe it wasn’t so unbelievable that Sunset had managed to split the five of them up with just a few fake texts.

“Even so…” Sunset sighed, glancing up at the snowy landscape. “It almost makes me miss Canterlot, my Canterlot. I haven’t been home for the holidays in a...long time.”

“Almost?” Dash asked, confused.

“Even if Twilight says I’ve been forgiven…” She scrunched her eyes closed, shaking her head, “The things I said to the Princess before I left, the things I did since then. I’m just not ready. Besides, I’d hate to put a damper on her holiday spirit.”

“Oh c’mon Sunset. Damper, you?” Dash wrapped an arm around her shoulder, chuckling, “You’re the life of the party! Remember that party Pinkie held before Thanksgiving?”

Now Sunset blushed, rubbing her arm and looking away, “How could I forget…?” She had been sure to double check from that point on to see if Pinkie had decided to make the refreshments more ‘fun’.

Rainbow laughed, “Relax! It's not like you were alone, but damn! Had no idea you could dance like that!”

“Didn’t know you were such a lightweight.” She fought back with a matching laugh. Pinkie Pie may have been the Element of Laughter, as Twilight had fully explained, but Dash still usually had a way of getting you to laugh with her.

“Hey! She didn’t say it was 192 proof! I enjoy it, I never said I was a drunkard like AJ!” Rainbow defended with a huff. “...don’t tell her I said that. Don’t wanna start shit this close to her annual party.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, Apple family Christmas party…” She nodded.

“Yeah, been awhile since I’ve gone.” She shrugged, “Lookin’ forward to it.”

“I may pass.”

“What? Why?” Rainbow asked in utter bewilderment, “We’re all friends, we’ve had parties, sleepovers, and crap before.”

“Well, this is beyond just friends.” Sunset frowned, “Its family.”

“And what? Do you think you’re not family to all us?”

This gave Sunset pause, glancing across Dash with a look of utter bewilderment. “I...what?”

Rainbow laughed, “You are family to all of us, Sunset. A close enough friend is family.”

Sunset smiled, if not a little haphazardly. “You think of me that way?”

“I think I speak for all the Rainbooms when I say, ‘hell yeah’!” Dash grinned, “Sure we had a rocky start, but that’s behind all of us. You mean the world to us, Sunset.”

Sunset smiled, nothing big, but something plenty honest and happy, “That...that means a lot, Rainbow Dash...thank you.”

Dash’s phone buzzed in her jacket pocket, “No worries, it's true. Hey, hang on a sec.” She nodded, pulling her phone out and checking the text. Something from Applejack. Friendship something, secret meeting, library, don't tell Sunset… Rainbow shoved the phone back in her pocket.

“One of the girls?”

“AJ sent a group text. Wanted to know if anyone had the English 4 homework.”

“I didn’t get anything."

"That’s ‘cause you’re an egghead in AP English.” Dash stuck out her tongue.

She rolled her eyes in response as they neared the school’s front entrance. “Not my fault the normal class is so easy.”

An orange freshman stood by the stairs leading up to the front doors. “...Rainbow Dash! Hey, hey, Rainbow Dash!”

“‘Sup, squirt?” Dash looked up, smiling at the freshman.

“I’ve been practising this new trick on my scooter! It even works in the snow! Can I show you?!” Scootaloo bounced.

“Maybe later, I gotta do some stuff right now.” Dash shrugged apologetically.

“Oh, okay, maybe after practice then?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll catch ya later.” She nodded with a grin that the freshman returned. As Rainbow walked in and Scootaloo caught sight of Sunset waving a hello to her, the smile melted into a light frown, turning and walking away.

Sunset sighed, shaking her head. Even after defeating the Sirens, she still had an issue or two. Nearly everyone in her grade no longer seemed to have issues with her, same went for most below her. However, there were still a few harsh glares sent her way, the odd passive-aggressiveness earned from the other students, the younger ones especially. Not that Sunset blamed them of course. She had terrorised the school for nearly four years, and the freshmen had seen her at her apex. It wasn’t too surprising that they held a bit more animosity than the rest.

Entering the school, her gaze shot to the trophy wall. Dead center was the trophy case for the school. Band, sports, the odd spelling bee, they had at least one for every subject. Sadly they were mostly 2nd place, but that was the ire of the rest of the school rather than her's. To the right was the pictures of each graduating class, photos going back years. To the left however… Sunset groaned in annoyance.

“Again?” Dash noticed too. Four pictures hung on the left side of the cabinet. Each was dedicated to the winner of a newer CHS tradition, the Fall Formal. Three of these pictures however had been taken down five times now by Sunset herself.

“I swear when I find however keeps putting those back up…” Sunset ground her teeth. A few nearby students made their berth around her a bit wider. Reformed or not, a mad Sunset was still on the top 5 list for the scariest things to experience at Canterlot High, right above finding ash marks on the desks of Professor Discord’s 2nd class for the day.

“Eh, don’t let it get to you. They'll win that way.” Rainbow shrugged, “It's not a big deal anyways.”

“No.” Sunset sighed, giving the fourth image a passing glance, “I guess it's not.”

“That's the spirit, sort of. Anyways, gonna go tease AJ over not getting her work done for once.” Dash grinned, “Catch ya at lunch?”

Sunset nodded, “See you then.” With the final goodbye, the girls parted ways. Sunset to her locker, Dash taking a detour to the library.

“Hey! Girls! Over here!” Pinkie Pie called, waving enthusiastically.

“So what’s this big friendship emergency, AJ?” Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, was talking with Sunset on the way here from my place. She seemed fine...maybe a bit put out, but-”

“That’s exactly what’s wrong Rainbow.” Applejack nodded, tipping her hat back, “I was talkin’ to her jus’ the other day about the holidays an’ it got me to thinkin’. She’s been here on Earth for several years an’ she’s never gotten to spend this time of the year with friends or family!”

“That’s...an excellent point, Applejack.” Rarity raised a hand to her chin in thought, “Given her, well, situation in the past, she wouldn’t have anyone to spend it with! How awful!”

“So what’s your plan, AJ?!” Pinkie bounced in her seat.

“Well, she has us now, right? Of course we’re all gonna be celebratin’ Christmas at mah place, but what if we spent each night leadin’ up to the break at each other’s?”

Pinkie gasped, “Consecutive. Sleepovers!?”

“Why, that’s a lovely idea!” Rarity agreed, clasping her hands in delight.

“Oh, I’d love to!” Fluttershy agreed in her usual reserved demeanor.

“Yeah! That sounds like a great way to deal with some homesickness!” Dash pounded a fist into her palm, “...ya know...I don’t think I’ve ever been over to your place, ‘Shy.”

Fluttershy’s expression suddenly turned dour, “There’s...reason for that. Let me just check if he hasn’t come back yet.” She muttered to herself, texting her parents. An image of a certain blond art student flirting with her friends popped into her head. A second image of the same man passed out on the floor patterned with bruises came to mind. Fluttershy sighed.

None of the other four noticed this however, as Pinkie had jumped in before Fluttershy had finished her first sentence. “OOH! OOH OOH OOOOH! ME FIRST!” She bounced excitedly, “You girls all know parties are my LIFE! I should start us off!”

“Uh-sounds good to me, Pinkie!” AJ blinked, momentarily wondering why the bubblegum colored girl never jumped that high when in gym class.

“GREAT! I’ll tell Sunset!”

“You may wanna wait til-” A pink blur zipped by Rainbow, out the door. “Passing period...She does know that class is in 5 minutes, right?”

The others just shrugged in confusion.

Sunset sighed as she tossed her backpack into the locker with a metallic clang. She grabbed the rightmost book from the locker’s shelf and shut it with another clang.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” The pink one behind the green door had her fists raised, body vibrating in time with the high pitched noise. She looked ready to explode.

Sunset’s face remained passive. ‘Don't engage, Sunset. Don’t engage.’

Author's Note

So, figured I'd try to toss my hat into this chaotic little ring. Hope you can all enjoy my little ramblings with these characters. Each of the chapter titles will be a song reference of some sort. If its too much of a stretch, oops. First one to call it right gets a shoutout in the next chapter. :rainbowkiss:
More characters, a few OCs, and the odd twist in the road ahead. All I have to say for now, see you next time.

2 - Will You Rail Against the Dying Day?

‘Something feels off.’ Sunset thought to herself as she stumbled into school the next morning with her friends. They’d all stayed at Pinkie’s house last night for a wonderful sleepover. To say they all had a good time would be an understatement. Pinkie and Maud had ordered pizza, Fluttershy had been lured into a video game challenge by Dash to which she had fought with shocking vigor, and Applejack had even caved to Rarity and let her paint her nails. Truly it would be a night remembered for a week at most until the next assigned reading paper pushed all other thoughts out of their heads.

Despite the good feelings though, Sunset couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. The air in the school felt tense, as if something was waiting to drop and crush the good feelings.

“BWWURP!” Or it could just be Dash’s indigestion.

“Really, darling?” Rarity gave Dash a flat look, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

“I never wanna see another slice of pizza ever again!” Dash groaned, holding her stomach.

Pinkie yawned, “Dashie, say it ain’t so!” She exclaimed halfheartedly.

“Ya kinda asked fer it when ya scarfed down two whole boxes.” Applejack replied with a light scoff.

Rainbow’s following moan of remorse was drowned out by another voice, “Hey, piggly wiggly!”

Applejack whipped around so fast that she nearly slapped Pinkie in the face with her ponytail, “What the-!”

The others had flinched too at hearing the name, glancing across the crowd of students. No one was looking their way, not that they could tell at least.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. There it was. During the sleepover last night, Applejack had received a call from her little sister. Apple Bloom had been kind enough to end the conversation by calling her ‘Piggly Wiggly’, an embarrassing childhood nickname.

Applejack scratched her head, “That was weird...Did someone just-”

“Sis! Sis!” Apple Bloom ran up to the group, stumbling slightly, arms waving “You gotta see this!” The younger Apple sibling held up her phone, a look of over-the-top horror plastered on her face. “LOOK!” She said, possibly a bit louder than necessary.

Applejack read the MyStable post, “...WHAT?!” Applejack flinched, swiping the phone and reading it again, as if the one holding the screen would change the post’s content. Someone under the screen name of Anon-a-Miss had posted Applejack’s childhood nickname for all to see. At the moment, about 69 different people had already liked the post, with 25 comments tagged directly on it.

Sunset glanced over AJ’s shoulder, examining the post with both disgust and idle curiosity. The account’s avatar was a simple red and yellow silhouette, much like the normal anonymous accounts of other websites. The realization of the pun made Sunset wrinkle her nose slightly. That was just bad. On top of the secret itself, the post had an ‘OMG!’ inserted along with calling Applejack a pig directly. ‘This is made to kick up dust.’ Sunset rationalized with a frown, ‘But why attack AJ?’

“How the-what the-?”

“It got posted a couple hours ago!” The younger Apple exclaimed.

“Who’s this ‘Anon-a-Miss’?” Applejack asked, her voice cracking slightly, expression downcast.

“Her profile was created the same time as th’ posts - No clue who she is!”

“What makes you sure she’s a she?” Pinkie leaned over her, looking at the phone.

Apple Bloom blinked, “...her avatar! It's a girl’s shadow, so ‘she’, right?”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Pinkie nodded, looking rather worried for her southern friend.

“She posted on your page, my page, all of you guys pages!” Apple Bloom explained, still looking panicked. “The whole school probably knows about it by now!”

“We can just block her then, right?” Sunset suggested, “Problem solved, right?”

“There’s still everyone else in school, Sunset!” Apple Bloom echoed.

“What about reporting her?” She insisted.

“She isn’t breaching any site rules. Ah already checked to see if ah could!” Apple Bloom frowned.

“Why’d you come running up to show her this instead of calling her about it, if it was posted hours ago?” Something wasn’t sitting right, Sunset was certain about that.

“Ah just saw it a few minutes ago! Ah panicked!” Apple Bloom defended, getting agitated, “You tryin’ to say somethin’ Sunset?”

That made her backtrack, “No, no, I’m just trying to figure a way to stop this before it becomes a problem.”

Applejack wasn’t listening. She had now taken notice of the students brushing past the group. Some making oinking noises or whispering the name under their breath.

“AJ?” Her sister tried to get her attention.

“I-it don’t matter! Ah can handle a lil’ teasin’!” Applejack took a breath, puffing up a bit as she handed the phone back.

“Well...ugh…” Dash fought down another sick belch, “What about Anon-a-whatever? How’d she know about this?”

“And why post it online? Th-that’s so cruel!” Fluttershy shook her head. The five minute bell rang. Class would be starting soon.

Applejack sighed, “I dunno, but any more questions will have to wait until after school.”

“...let us know if we can do anything to help, Applejack.” Sunset offered, hand on the farmer’s shoulder to give her pause.

“Sure thing, Sunset. Ah appreciate it.” The group split up, Apples heading one way, the rest of the girls heading the opposite, minds on anything but school.

“...”

“...so...this ‘Anon-a-Miss’...” Apple Bloom started.

Applejack sighed, “What about her?”

“Well...the only ones that knew the nickname was us an’ your friends...you sure you never told anyone else?”

“Positive. I only ever told someone when I had to. What’re ya gettin’ at sis?”

“Well...like you said, only when you had too. The other girls learned it your freshman year during the Christmas party. The only one who learned it recently was Sunset, the other night, and the MyStable page does have her color-”

“Apple Bloom! Sunset’s mah friend!”

“Okay, okay! Just a thought!” She defended, hands raised, “I’ll see ya after school.” Apple Bloom split off from her, making her way to her first class of the day.

It hadn’t let up.

The entire day, it had been oinks, snorts, and that name repeated enough that Applejack was more than ready to never hear it again. She now stood across from the school waiting for her ride, as promised by-

“Darling!”

Rarity. Applejack smiled, opening her eyes, at least this would offer some respite from the day.

Her purple-haired friend sat in the driver’s seat of her mother’s mini-van, calling over to her, “Ready to go, Applejack?”

“Yeah, thanks for the ride, Rares.” Applejack opened the door, hopping in the passenger seat.

“Oh, not a problem dear! I’m just glad you were able to come!...how’s the day been?”

“Rough. It's been rough. Nothin’ ah can’t handle, but it’ll be nice to relax.”

“They’re still making fun of you?”

“Whole day. Oinking, non-stop. It's gettin’ old real darn fast!” AJ sighed, burned out for the day, “But hey, just a name, doesn’t bother me. Lets just get our party on.”

Rarity smiled, “Sounds good to me!” Turning onto her street, she noticed two more cars parked in the driveway, “And it looks like Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are already here.”

“Surprised Rainbow Blaze let Dash borrow the car after what happened last time.” AJ chuckled, hopping out of the car as Rarity pulled in.

“Either way, nice to see Rainbow will be joining us given this morning’s discomforts.” Rarity nodded, shutting off the car and walking in with her. “Hello girls!”

“Hey!” Dash waved, feeling much better from this morning.

Rarity was ready to retort when she zeroed in on a familiar face relaxing on her bed.

“We were just chatting with Sweetie Belle.” Fluttershy smiled, “She was letting us know about everything that’s been going on with her friends lately.”

Sweetie blinked, smiling widely and as innocently as she could. Rarity had made it rather clear beforehand that the sleepover was for her friends and her specifically.

“Yes, well! I’m sure you’re company has just been lovely, Sweetie, but isn’t it almost your bedtime?” Rarity began scooting the girl out the room.

“What? Its like 4 o’clock! No it's not!” Her younger sister protested as she was shoved out of the room, door closing behind her and cutting off her, “I can be cool!”

“O-kay!” Who’s ready for the spooky stories!” Pinkie popped up, holding a candle and dressed in a ratty brown robe.

“Wahhh!” Rarity flinched, hopping backwards.

“Let’s not give Rarity a heart attack, Pinkie.” Sunset chuckled, pushing the door open. “And if you’re looking for some weird stories, look no further.” She gestured to herself, “Interdimensional unicorn.”

“I’m sure you have quite a few interesting stories to tell.” Fluttershy smiled.

“How I became Celestia’s student, how Equestria came to be, even the story of how the measure of the calendar's start date has some interest to it.” Sunset nodded.

“Maybe some other time!” Pinkie jumped up on Rarity’s bed, holding a hairbrush like a microphone, “Cause we got something to say!” Rainbow and Fluttershy quickly got into the act, grabbing a toothbrush and another hairbrush to join in the singing with their hyperactive friend.

“Are you recording them?” Rarity chuckled, glancing up at Sunset, who was now doing so on her cell phone.

“Call it capturing memories. This isn’t something I want to forget.” Sunset giggled.

“STAGE DIVE!”

“PINKIEWAIT!” Dash yelped, diving out of the way.

CRASH

With all the grace of a falling aircraft, Pinkie landed against a door. The thin purple wood quickly gave way to the Ponkest of Pies, shattering into pieces and leaving Pinkie hanging out of the bottom half.

Sunset helped the dizzy girl up, “Owie…” Pinkie rubbed her head.

“I think this maybe the sixth door you’ve broken by dancing, Pinkie.” Fluttershy giggled.

“Twelfth.” Sunset corrected with a shake of the head, “Not counting all the other ways you’ve done it. You might be more destructive than Professor Discord.”

“That sounds like an experiment! Why couldn’t that be our science project?!” Dash laughed.

“Hey, Rarity! What is all this?” Pinkie pulled off the top hat that had fallen on her after tumbling through the door.

Rarity sighed dramatically, “The closet of shame.”

Dash scoffed, “The what?”

“Its where I put all the outfits that I make or buy that wind up looking...subpar.”

Rainbow held up a black outfit with underarm red bat wings, “You’ve bought some odd stuff.”

“Indeed...bought, yes.” Rarity eyed that particular mistake.

Before her prismatic friend could catch on and tease her relentlessly, Rarity continued, “I clean it out and donate it occasionally. I think it's high time I do so again.”

“Are you kidding?!” Pinkie bounced up, “This stuff is great!” Pinkie had somehow swapped from her nightie to the blue suit and top hat, “IT'S PERFECT FOR CRAZY SELFIES!” She grabbed Rarity, pulling her into a one armed hug and snapping the picture, capturing the shocked-scared look on Rarity’s face.

“These clothes are...certainly something else?” Sunset inspected some sort of collared dress covered in blue straps.

“Rawr, check me out!” Dash wobbled on the spiked boots.

Rarity collected a fuzzy pink scarf from the floor, “Well...I suppose there’s nothing wrong with trying them on, girls.”

“DRESS-UP MONTAGE!” Pinkie declared with excitement. The next hour or two passed by in flurry of outfits and photos courtesy of Sunset. It wasn’t long until everyone was conked out, laying in there sleeping bags scattered all over the floor. All except for Sunset, propped up against her pillow, scribbling in her journal.

‘Dear Twilight,

So I just reached the end of the second slumber party with the girls. What can I say? This is really doing wonders for me. I’ve never felt so close to anyone before. It feels like family. It really does.’ Sunset smiled to herself, glancing across the rooms. It was hard to believe that no more than a few weeks ago, she- No. Don’t think about that. It didn’t matter anymore. ‘Thank you so much for the support. Sadly, we both know where’d I be otherwise. Anyway, school’s still tomorrow. I need to get some sleep, lest I repeat this morning. I’ll write you again soon.'

Sunset Shimmer

Feeling content with the message, and not getting a response at the moment, Sunset placed the book under her pillow for safe keeping and laid down, letting herself drift out of consciousness.

“TWILIGHT!” Spike shouted down the crystalline corridor, “We’re gonna be late!”

“Coming! Coming!” Twilight Sparkle was dashing back and forth around her main reading room...or was it her second reading room...or was it-this castle had too many rooms. “I don’t want to forget anything!”

“You didn’t make a checklist?” The baby dragon blinked.

“Somepony said I relied too much on them. Said that it was ridiculous!” Twilight pouted.

“Wow. Didn’t think you’d be as easy to bait as Rainbow Dash.” Spike blinked again, rather shocked.

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes. Ha ha. Its very funny.”

“Well I hope you’re packed. The girls are all waiting at the train station. The train leaves in a few minutes.”

“WHAT?!” She freaked, “No no no! I was certain it would be delayed because of the snow like last year!”

“Well last year there wasn’t a Princess riding.” Spike deadpanned, “Ponies kinda throw themselves at the crown.”

A strand of Twilight’s mane popped up, the mare getting that look in her eye, “I forgot to account for the Princess factor! How could I have been so careless?!”

“Can you stress about it on the ride up to Canterlot? I’m looking forwards to reprising my role as narrator in the Hearth’s Warming play!” Spike smiled, “Maybe Thorax will get to visit!”

“Don't you write him everyday?” Twilight asked, taking a breath as she pulled her saddlebags over her back. She glared back at them. Still uncomfortable due to her wings.

“Writing someone isn’t the same is seeing them in person, Twilight.” Spike defended.

Writing someone… “That’s right!” Twilight declared, trotting over to a podium and retrieving something.

“What?”

“This!” She held up a scroll. “Princess Celestia wanted me to bring this. She had it sent over here by accident with the last load of books.”

“Great, can we go?”

“Way ahead of you, Spike!” Twilight galloped past him, heading to the main entrance. Spike made to follow.

BZZZT BZZT

“Huh?” Spike glanced at one of the other book podiums in the room. A weathered journal sat on it, glowing and vibrating repeatedly. The young drake blinked at it, “I’m sure we can deal with that later.” He waved, running out after Twilight. Canterlot awaited!

Sunset had left before most of the other girls were up. Only Rainbow and Rarity had been awake, both having met her in the kitchen. Rarity was busy keeping her younger sister away from the stove and Rainbow was drowning herself in bowl of cereal. She had managed to withhold her laughter from the scene long enough to say goodbye and get out the door.

The snow, while still coating the ground, had been dealt with on most of the streets. While another storm was warned for hitting that night, the clearing had allowed Sunset to ride her bike to Rarity’s home. Sunset’s motorcycle was, in a word, junk. Literally. She had rescued it from a scrapyard and spent every free moment restoring it, ever since she came to Earth from Equestria. A Ducati 996, her pride and joy. It was also without a doubt the most expensive thing she owned. Granted, owned was an unfair term, as she had either stolen or traded unfairly for every part on it.

‘Maybe I should get a job and come clean with everyone.’ She thought for the hundredth time, climbing onto the bike. Of course, she wouldn’t. It was next to impossible to get a job without a social security number, or a license, or any real proof of her existence. Of course, no job meant money was an iffy thing to come by. Most normal people wouldn’t have been able to survive in such a situation, let alone own a motorcycle and cell phone. Thankfully, Sunset Shimmer was anything but normal. She had walked in from another world and made CHS hers in a few weeks. ‘Still don’t know how to feel about that...’ She sighed, kicking up the stand and taking off. On one hand, doing so in the first place was no small feat and rather impressive, means aside. On the other, there was the guilt. The world had held no pity for her, so she didn’t do any favors for anyone else, but now she had friends...family.

As per usual, Shimmer just put it out of her head. Now wasn’t the time for such dark thoughts. She smiled, speeding off to a local coffee shop to grab a small pick me up for class. Nothing got you going in the morning like a good espresso.

Sunset took a good swig of her drink. Starbits may have been a bit of a cliche stop for high schoolers, but she wasn’t about to complain about good coffee. “Hey girls.” She smiled, finding her friends all waiting by her locker.

“...” The wave of tension from yesterday suddenly hit Sunset full force as she noticed the looks she was receiving.

“...is something the matter?”

Applejack cleared her throat, “Sunset, did you…” She paused, considering her words, “Have you lost your phone recently?”

“What, since last night?” She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket, “It's right here.”

“Then how ‘bout you get to explain’ this!?” Applejack scowled, displaying her own phone.

OMG... what a bunch of dorks! Hahaha

Sunset blinked, not entirely processing what she was looking at, “...wait. Those are our pictures! WHAT?!”

“They’re not our pictures, Sunset.” Applejack growled, “They’re yours, you took ‘em!”

“Wait, but-I’ve had my phone the entire time! How could she have-”

“Yeah! How could she?” Applejack cut her off, clearly speaking for the group now. “How did she know bout mah nickname! How’d she get the pictures from your phone?” The country girl took an angry step forward. “Simple! It's you! You’re Anon-a-Miss!”

Sunset’s mind ground to a halt. Wait...what?

Pinkie was glaring through angry tears, “We trusted you, Sunset!”

“We thought you were our friend darling.” Rarity closed her eyes, shaking her head.

“And after everything we’ve been through?” Fluttershy squeaked, sniffling.

Rainbow had her eyes on the floor, fingers rubbing against her thumb. Her face was completely blank, refusing to look at the fiery-haired girl.

“Wait, wait. No...no, guys, come on. I didn’t do this. I wouldn’t do this.” The sudden onslaught of accusations was leaving Sunset lightheaded. She reached out with her free hand, “I couldn't hurt any of you!”

To her shock, Pinkie shoved her back, “BUT YOU DID!” The coffee was knocked out of her hand, splashing out onto the floor. “You were just pretending to be our friend!” That cut far deeper than Sunset wanted it to, eyes dilating in what may have been fear as her back hit the locker behind her. “You-you secret stealer!”

“No. No! Stop it!” Sunset’s body had started to shake. This couldn’t be happening. “”It wasn’t me! I don’t know how it happened, but it wasn’t! That’s not who I am! Please, just calm down and lets figu-”

“NO!” Fluttershy nearly screamed, tears coming fresh again, “We won’t let you talk circles around us again!”

“...Fluttershy?” Sunset asked in a tone more befitting the one now yelling at her.

“You are not the person we thought you were! The person Princess Twilight told us you could be! You are not! Our! Friend!”

Why was her face wet?

“No...I...I am. I swear. Please.”

“We’re done, Shimmer.” Applejack glared, “Fool us once, shame on us, but we ain’t even lettin’ you get to twice!”

“You did this to yourself, darling.” Rarity said coldly, “Say whatever you want.”

“But we don’t have to listen.” AJ finished, storming off with the others, each member of the group following.

Sunset’s mind screamed at her to follow. This couldn’t be it, it was a mistake, it could be fixed!

...When had she fallen on the floor?

Sunset was heaving, tears falling from her face, a small puddle forming under her on the blue tile.

“It’ll be okay, Fluttershy.” pinkie soothed the butter colored girl, who had dissolved into sniffles after her bout of bravery, “You did good. Finally stood up to her.”

Thanks again for letting me stay over.

Rainbow paused mid-stride. The terror of CHS didn’t thank people.

Yeah, that’s not my strongest subject either.

The school bully didn’t sympathize with people.

The things I said to the Princess before I left, the things I did since then.

Sunset Shimmer didn’t feel regret.

Rainbow blinked, glancing back behind her. Sunset was still on her knees, unable to hold back her sobs at this point. Rover had stopped to snap a picture on his phone and laugh. Sunset didn’t even notice.

“Dash, what’re ya doin’?” Applejack noticed her friend’s pause, causing the other four to stop as well, “You want a picture too or somethin’?”

Her whole family calls her ‘Piggly Wiggly’ cause she loves them so much! What a PIG!

What a bunch of dorks!

Sunset...Sunset didn’t operate like this. Even then. Sunset...Her friend wouldn’t do this…

‘That’s cause she’s not your friend!’ Her mind snapped at her instantly, almost getting her feet back into motion.

“Maybe if you stopped for a cotton-pickin’ minute and looked past your bruised ego and jock anger, you’d see that ah’m tellin’ the truth!” Applejack snarled, turning on a heel and stomping away.

Dash still remembered that day very clearly. Halfway through sophomore year. The fights, the arguments. That was when Sunset had really come to be in charge of the school. When she had split them all up with no more than a text. If they had just been willing to listen to each other...

Rainbow Dash clenched her fists and sighed, “No...just remembering a few words of wisdom.” She kept moving...the other direction, back towards Sunset. Applejack and the girls blinked in confusion.

“Um, what is she doing?” Rarity asked.

“Oh no, is she gonna hit her?! She’ll get detention for that!” Fluttershy gasped.

Rainbow walked up to Sunset, staring down at her uncertainly. ‘This is a mistake. I’m making a dumb, rash decision.’

“Hey.” Rainbow spoke.

Sunset tilted her head up, looking at Rainbow with wide, teary eyes. The rational side of her mind had been especially worried about this. With the other girls, when they had been enemies, all it took to keep them at bay was a few words. Rainbow Dash was different. Now, Dash wasn’t stupid, but she never had a care for the verbal joust, and was known for her hair trigger temper. This had led a couple fights over the years between the two, some were even referred to by students with actual names. ‘The Bleachers Incident’, ‘The Locker Room Brawl’, ‘That Thing with the Weather Vane’, the list went on.

'At least that's what I'm known for.' Dash’s arm moved. Sunset flinched and shut her eyes. The sound of fist impacting face never came. The only thing she heard was four gasps of varying levels of shock.

With hesitation, she looked back at Rainbow. She was...holding out her hand. “...wh-what?”

“...is this gesture alien in Equestria? I’m helping you up.” Rainbow smiled.

“I...what?” Sunset asked again.

Rainbow sighed, holding back the chuckle for the moment, and pulled Sunset up.

“You...you’re helping me...you believe me?!” Hope reignited in Sunset’s eyes.

“Yeah. I do...I’m not making a mistake, am I?” Dash nodded, keeping the smile in place.

Sunset answered the only way she could at the moment. By latching onto Dash’s midsection, “No! Oh Lumencia, no you’re not!”

“Lu-what?” Dash laughed now, both relieved and confused.

“I-I’ll explain l-later!” Sunset heaved in breaths.

Applejack glowered at the back of Rainbow’s head, “C’mon girls. If she wants to get hurt again, let her.” She tilted her hat lower and stormed off, the others following in her wake, feeling both betrayed and confused. “So much for loyalty.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

In the darkness of a nearby classroom, three pairs of eyes peering out the door narrowed.

Author's Note

*Clicks tongue*
Another chapter done. Hope you all enjoy. I'd like you all to give a hand to my lovely Beta, Miss SunnyDays!
As no one has taken a guess at the song reference yet, I'll just stack it with this one for the next. To be clear, to get the shout out in chapter three, you have to get the song title and artist of one of the chapter names correct. Good luck!
All I have to say for now, see you next time.

3 - You Can Give Your Broken Heart to Me

“What was that?!”

“Calm down, Scoots!” Apple Bloom frowned.

“Calm down? Calm down!?” The orange skinned freshman frowned, “Why?! The plan didn’t work! Rainbow’s still with Sunset!”

“Technically, the plan was to get all of them away from her, so four out of five isn’t that bad.” Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“The plan was to get our sisters back from the she-demon!”

“Still two out of three…” Sweetie mumbled.

Scootaloo turned to glare at her.

“Cut it out you two!” Apple Bloom regained their attention, sitting on a desk and typing away at her phone. “We jus’ gotta keep this train a rollin’. All it’s gonna take is a push in Rainbow’s direction and she’ll be offa Shimmer like a muddy shirt!”

“Well, we don’t have much of Dash on this.” Sweetie Belle held up a flash drive, “...except, well...the big one.”

“...” Scootaloo shook her head, “Nah, Rainbow’s great, but she’s got a short fuse. One more small secret’s all it's gonna take.”

“Where we gonna find one?” Apple Bloom glanced up.

“Heard her complaining about her last science paper before she went to Pinkie’s last sleepover. Considering how rarely she cleans out her backpack, I bet it's still in there. Toss it up on the account, pass it around, I’m sure it’ll do the job.”

Apple Bloom grinned, “How soon can you get it?”

Scootaloo just smirked.

“Good...hey Sweetie Belle, what else is on there?” The young southerner’s eyes gleamed darkly as she stared at the flash drive.

“Feeling better?” Rainbow asked softly.

“...no.” Came the glum response, the speaker still bent over the sink. “For all intents and purposes, you’re now my only friend.” Sunset splashed another handful of water in her face. She was feeling rather embarrassed on top of the sorrow that she had begun drowning in. Spending ten minutes in the hall sobbing into your friend’s shirt did that to you.

Friends.

Sunset felt like she was gonna start all over again. How could they all just walk out on her like that? Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the sink.

“Don’t break it, that won’t help anything.” Dash sighed.

“How are you not ranting about what just happened?” She meant to put more force into her words, but just couldn’t muster the energy to do so.

“Because it won’t change anything...and you probably understand plenty.” Dash just shrugged, “I mean...yeah, it hurts, but…” She shrugged again, shaking her head.

“But what?” Sunset asked, turning to look at her friend, “What...what if I am Anon-a-Miss?” Her mind screamed at her, she was about to throw away her only advocate for a simple ‘why’.

Dash looked up, “What?”

“You just walked away from a friendship you’ve had for years! I don’t understand…”

“Are you Anon-a-Miss?”

“No!” Sunset denied earnestly.

“There you go then.” Rainbow nodded, gesturing as if Sunset had answered her own question. “It's...hard to choose one friend over another, but...you’re being blamed in place of someone who’s clearly setting you up. Red and yellow background. Seriously? Weak.”

Sunset rubbed her eyes.

“Are you gonna start crying again? I can get a tissue this time. I’d rather not spend another five minutes under the hand dryer.” Dash thumbed at the machine on the wall.

Sunset laughed. Her brain was frazzled and emotional state crippled. Dash cracking jokes right now...it was rather welcome actually. “No...I think I’m fresh out of tears for now. So, what next?”

“Go to class?” Rainbow shrugged, “Don’t exactly plan for stuff like this...or anything really.”

“Class?” Sunset gulped. She had several classes with each of her fri-...ex-friends. She only shared science with Rainbow, and that was after lunch.

“...how about you just skip?” She shrugged.

“Skip?” Sunset Shimmer was by no means a Twilight Sparkle when it came to punctuality, but the idea of just skipping classes rubbed her the wrong way.

“Oh come on. You’re seriously freaked out. Take an unexcused absence and chill with me until lunch.” Rainbow insisted.

Sunset hung her head, sighing, “Alright, okay.”

“We both need some time to chill out. Come hang with me on the field for a bit and let's just clear our heads.” She smiled, “Kick the ball around a bit.”

“I’m not exactly an athlete.” Sunset reminded. “And isn’t it cold outside? Snow on the ground?”

“I know. No competition, we’ll just hang. Trust me, you’ll be sweating in no time. The lawn care guys put this stuff on the field that doesn’t let snow stick, melts it before it can settle.” Rainbow assured, “Now c’mon, little fresh air does the body good.”

“I suppose that’s better than whatever’s waiting for me in class.” She nodded in hesitant agreement, “Yeah, okay.”

“Awesome. Lets hit the pitch. I could use some open space too.” Dash sighed in minor relief, waving for Sunset to follow her.

A considerable weight still hanging on her shoulders, she did, hoping the day couldn’t get any worse.

The buzzing of Rainbow’s phone was the first sign that something had indeed made the day worse.

“Notification?” Sunset asked, “Someone text you?”

“No.” Dash groaned, “The girls and I were talking before you showed up. Decided to keep an eye on Anon-a-Miss after she hit Applejack. We all followed her on MyStable in case she pulled anything else.” Retrieving her phone from her jacket, she checked the app, “...looks like she’s targeting others now.” She tossed Sunset her phone.

“Why?” She examined the post. Diamond Tiara, Lightning Dust, and Flash Sentry. Three posts. Three targets. “Oh no.”

“Figure something out?”

“No. Well...sort of. I recognize these secrets.” Sunset grimaced.

“...what do you mean?”

“I had dirt on everyone in the school. Had to keep track of it somehow. I think…” She sighed, “Whoever Anon-a-Miss is must’ve found one of my caches.”

Rainbow set an analyzing gaze on Sunset, “Caches…?”

“...” Sunset blinked, trying to figure out what the look meant, “...oh! No!” She shook her head rapidly, “I wasn’t going to use any of it, I swear! I had multiple copies, digital and physical, she must’ve found one of the ones I missed in getting rid of!”

Dash nodded, “Okay, that makes sense...how much did you have?”

“Had something on everyone in school.” Sunset sagged, “I was...thorough. Lumen...I really was awful.”

Rainbow decided to change the direction of the conversation, “What’s a Lumen? You mentioned that twice now.”

“Oh, you know how most people here say ‘by God’ and whatever?”

“What, the pony god’s called Lumen?” Rainbow scratched her head.

“Lumencia. The Scribe. She’s the creator of my world, so yes, basically.”

“You mean, supposedly, right?”

“...no, its...kinda just known fact. She is the creator.”

The other girl gawked, “How can you know that?”

“Her daughters are Equestria’s rulers. The first two alicorns are descendents of the Goddess.” Sunset shrugged, “I mean...it is more complex than that, but it's a bit of a story.”

“Maybe...some other time.” Rainbow blinked, feeling it a bit odd to know that a portal away, there was physical proof of at least one omnipotent deity. “That’s a...revelation. Why haven’t we asked more about Equestria?” She mused.

“I dunno. I’m not hiding anything about it.” They pushed open one of the side doors, leading out onto the soccer field, “So be honest. How many classes have you skipped to be out here?” The two dumped their bags on the bleachers. “Kinda chilly out here.” As promised, the field itself was clear of all snow, the white blanket outlining the whole pitch.

“No one needs to know.” She winked. “And told ya it would be. Team’s gotta practice. Wood-floored gym doesn’t get it done right.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Okay so Mr. Cranky doesn’t care how long you’re ‘in the bathroom’ for.” Dash amended, “As long as he gets to teach the class in silence.”

“How very west coast of you.” Sunset snarked.

“Oi!” Dash laughed, “Do I look the type to get pass out, drugged up on the beach?”

“...”

“Don’t answer that.” Dash pouted. The two cracked up, laughing a moment later. “Here, lemme swipe a ball from the gym.” The rainbow teen jogged over to the other entrance, peeking inside and stepping in. She was just about to grab a ball when she heard a voice.

“Skipping out on class again, Dash?” A Canterhorn accent spoke from behind her.

“Maybe a little?” Dash chuckled, glancing back, “Hey Mist.”

“Hi there, cap.” She hopped down from the indoor bleachers where she had been sitting earlier. “I know the field’s tempting, but I can’t imagine these little escapades are helping your studies. ...How’s physics treating you, again?” She teased.

Dash frowned, “Don’t mention that. Last thing I want is for MyStable to pick up on it.”

Misty’s expression dropped, crossing her arms, “As much as I hate to see all of this spread, I also hate how much everyone just plays right into it.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, “I just...it's frustrating—not having any clues, that is.”

“So then… you don’t think it’s Sunset Shimmer?” Misty asked, expression staying neutral.

“No, I don’t. In fact I know she’s innocent.” Dash responded, face mirroring hers.

“Hmm?” Misty looked genuinely curious, “How so?”

“Because I trust her. This just isn’t the kind of thing she’d do.” Rainbow knew the lack of evidence wasn’t going to be very convincing, but she stood by it nonetheless.

“You seem pretty firm in that belief.” Misty noted.

“I am. Am I going out on a limb assuming that you aren't?”

“I’m not against believing that the largest bully in Canterlot High has changed, but… You know that I can’t say anything. The last thing this team needs is to be publically mowed down by the other students again.” Misty sighed, “And, well, not everyone in this school has healed so quickly from what she did before and during the Fall Formal. Some still hold grudges.”

“Even after she helped us save the school? Hell, the whole world probably?!” Dash asked, gesturing wildly to make her point.

“I didn’t say it was me, cap. I know what she did at the Battle of the Bands, and I think it was a good start. Others, though, need more convincing: four years worth it at this point, probably.” She shook her head.

“...are we talking about Flatfoot?” Dash sneered. This was the last thing she needed right now.

“I’m not naming names.” Misty said before leaning into her and coughing, “HUH-yes-UGH.”

“Is she gonna cause a problem?” She asked. Fleet had never been one to pick fights, but she ran her mouth as well as Rainbow could.

“I don’t believe so.” Misty said simply, “But she might run her big mouth if we publically stand with you both. ...I’d rather we stay quiet.” She paused, “Still… You’re free to come to us if you need anything, and punt me if you ever see me ridiculing another in the halls like the rest. Can you promise me that?”

“I promise to give you a good flogging if you step outta line. Promise to give Fleet a bit more.” She nodded, “And...I guess I understand. Not happy about it, but I understand.”

“It’s a few stupid rumors, Dash, it should blow over soon. The rest of the team and I will swear not to discuss it at all. Besides…” She gave a tired smile, “All my secrets have been used up over the years, there’s nothing more Anon-A-Miss can put out there.”

“If you say so, Mist.” She sighed, “And yeah, sorry I wasn’t able to help much back then.”

Misty just shrugged, “Live and learn.”

Dash bounced the soccer ball a few times, reflecting on the memories. “Guess so...where’s Surprise on all this?”

“Probably in the locker room, bathing in hand sanitizer.” Misty joked.

Dash chuckled, “What happened this time?”

“It’s just the constant state of being Surprise, she doesn’t need a reason.”

“That family is...something else. Hey, if she wants to yell at Pinkie, I can allow that.” A sour expression crossed Dash’s face.

“Good luck convincing her to do so. She and her cousin actually don’t talk all that much.” Misty said, “Who knows why?”

She nodded, “Yeah...so what’s the bottom line? Not with me or against me?”

“In public… Yes. But if you ever need a place to hide out, we’ll have your back.” Misty pat Dash on the shoulder, “We are your team after all.”

“Better than nothing, and miles more than what my ‘friends’ are doing.” Dash sighed, “Thanks, Misty. Can you try to keep Fleet from doing anything stupid?”

“I can try, for sure.” Misty said with a grin, “Not everyone can control Fleetfloot.”

“Let us pray that one day we can find someone powerful enough.” Dash joked, laughing.

“I will eat my shoe when that day comes.” Misty pressed her fists to her hips, smirking.

“Just be sure someone’s there to record that.” Dash nodded, bouncing the ball again, “Well, I should get back to Sunset. I’ll catch ya later, Misty.”

“See ya, Dash.”

Dash waved again, walking back outside with the ball now in her possession. Sunset had taken a spot up on the bleachers, laying down and staring at the sky. “Tanning?” She called, chuckling.

Sunset stretched, sitting up, “Waiting for you. What took you?”

“Ran into Misty. Chatted for a bit.”

“Misty Fly?” Sunset winced, knowing that the yellow soccer player wasn’t exactly her biggest advocate.

“She basically said my team’s there if we need them, but they won’t be supporting us publicly.”

“Because of me.”

It was Dash’s turn to wince, adding on a shrug.

“Can’t say I’m too surprised. Just had make an example out of Misty in freshman year.” Sunset sighed, making her way down to Rainbow. During Sunset’s little rise to power, her weapon of choice was the blackmail she would lord over other students. However, it was only inevitable that simple threats would stop working. That situation was Misty Fly. The girl had stood up to Sunset when she had attempted to spread her control over the soccer team. While it had indeed deflected Sunset away more or less, it wasn’t without damage. Resulting in the release of Misty’s relation to the Northstars, a family of powerful politicians, to the school.

Dash shrugged, “Yeah, I mean, Misty wasn’t exactly holding her head high for a while, but she’s gotten over it. Said she doesn’t have any big secrets left.”

“Let's...not focus on this right now.” Sunset rubbed her arm, “You got the ball?”

Dash bounced it, spinning it on her finger, “Let’s play!”

She brightened a bit. It’d be nice to just relax after everything that had just happened.

Time passed faster than Sunset could’ve expected. Both she and Dash had ditched their respective jackets despite the chilly weather as the simple pattern of kicking the ball back and forth turned into a full one on one game. Sunset had said so herself: she was no athlete, but she was nimble and stubborn to a fault. Even if that wasn’t enough to stop Dash from scoring five points to Sunset’s two, she had made the brightly hued girl work for it.

Two bells later, lunch had finally come around, “I’m gonna assume you don’t want to go eat in the lunchroom?”

“Where everyone else is? Including the girls?” Sunset shook her head, “Think we could just...eat in the gym or something?” She pulled her jacket back on, the warmth of their sports rush fading away and the winter chill creeping back in.

“Sure thing. How about I go grab whatever grub they’re serving up and meet you back there?” Dash nodded, “Mind takin’ my backpack in there?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sunset nodded, shouldering her own pack and retrieving Rainbow’s by the grip. The two walked back into the gym, taking a spot on the now vacant bleachers.

“Alright, be right back!” Rainbow nodded with a grin, jogging out of the gym, hoping to grab some food before the lunch rush. While not at its full capacity, the lunchroom was teeming with her peers as per usual. Beyond that, given the rather loud arguments being shouted across tables, Dash could only assume Anon-a-Miss had struck again.

Unknown to her, three pairs of eyes followed her as she stepped into line for a meal.

“Now, upload it now!” Sweetie Belle urged quietly.

“I’m typin’ it up!” Scootaloo responded tersely, hammering away on the touch screen. “And...upload!” She grinned.

“...”

“...uh, where’s the ‘bing’?” Apple Bloom tilted her head.

Scootaloo looked back at the phone, “Damn it! This is why we use a computer or a hotspot! It's the cafeteria wifi! It's still uploading!” The upload meter read at 45 percent.

Dash meanwhile had received her two lunches and was heading back, making a point to not look over at the familiar lunch table on the far side of the room as she left.

The bar inched further to 68 percent.

“Its...it’ll be fine.” Scootaloo assured. “It’ll go up while she’s away from Sunset, and that will be the end of that.” She set the phone back down with a lazy grin.

82 percent.

Rainbow made her way back down the hall, tray in each hand, unaware that she was racing against the clock. ‘Man, this is really starting to spread out. How are we gonna deal with all this?’ She winced. This was getting complex fast. Sunset was already looking guilty, and if Anon-a-Miss really had this master flash drive, that wouldn’t exactly clear the air.

97 percent.

“Hey, Sunset! I got the-”

BING

“...” Sunset and Dash met each other's gazes. “Did...was that-”

“Anon-a-Miss.” Dash nodded, “She just uploaded…”

“While you were looking right at me.” Sunset’s flat expression grew into a grin.

Dash set the trays down on the bench before clapping, “Haha! I knew it! I knew it wasn’t you!”

Sunset hopped up, latching onto Rainbow again, “Yes!”

She laughed, “Heh, you’re really huggy today.”

“It's been a really emotional day.” She sighed, falling back onto the seat, her friend taking a spot next to her as they began nibbling on their school-approved gruel.

“So...now what?” Dash asked.

“Well, what was the post?”

“Oh yeah!” She chuckled, “Almost forgot.” She paused as soon as she saw what was on the site. ‘What a dunce!’ The text read, published right alongside the photo of Rainbow Dash’s last science paper, large ‘F’ and all. “...”

“...Dash?”

Rainbow grabbed her backpack, digging through it rapidly and ripping out the same science paper, “...how...how’d she do that?!”

“Your paper?” Sunset tried again.

“She uploaded my Buoyancy paper!” Dash shot back up, teeth grinding.

“Dash, easy, it's gonna be fine.” She stood after her, not wanting her to storm off or do something potentially regrettable, setting a hand on her shoulder. “This is actually a good clue!”

“How?” Rainbow sagged, rage draining just as quickly.

“Anon-a-Miss went out of her way to sneak a picture of your paper and post it online. She targeted you specifically. This wasn’t some secret that I had access to at any point. Why would she do that?”

“She’s framing you, I’m siding with you…” Dash rubbed her chin, “Do you think she wants you alone?”

“Could be. Too early to pass anything as being impossible.” She nodded, the bell for lunch signalling the end.

“Lunch is feeling shorter and shorter.”

“Anticipation for break. C’mon. Let's get to class and get out of here. We can regroup at your place and see if we can’t put something together.” Sunset nodded with a renewed energy.

“Yeah...yeah, that’s something of a plan.” She sighed, crumpling up her paper and stuffing it in her pocket, “Let’s...get out of here.”

The two walked out of the gym, passing by several groups of people all settling their glares on them. Despite this, with Rainbow by her side, Sunset felt as though she could hold her head high. They would find the perpetrator, and they would put an end to this.

Down the hall, a purple-haired freshman tossed a flash drive up and down in her hand with a frown on her face. She could feel her eye twitching every few seconds. ‘Fine then, Sunset. That how we’re gonna play? Okay. What happens next is on you.’ She stuffed her hands in her cargo pants, heading towards the library. Now there was no going back.

Author's Note

A shout out to Dainn for pegging chapter 2's title from the song Sleep On The Floor by The Lumineers! Nice job, man.
Chapter 3 has landed and Anon-a-Miss is gaining traction. CHS is really becoming a madhouse now. Admittedly, I wasn't sure about the soccer scene out in the cold, but then I remembered how in both Middle School and High School, the football team would be practising no matter what the temperature, and some of the guys in track had their shirts off no matter what. So I'm going with plausible.

4 - Who's Gonna Question What Goes On In the Middle of the Night?

“So why haven't we ever stayed over at your place?”

Uh oh.

Sunset quickly searched for an answer, “Place is a mess. Cramped. Can’t exactly afford something that nice.” She shrugged it off, “It's just a little one room apartment downtown.”

Dash nodded in understanding, “Ahh, I see. My dad told me a few stories from when he was my age. Hardly any cash, dead end job, yadda yadda.”

Shimmer laughed, glad to have the topic gone, “Yeah, can’t wait for college, right?”

“Totally. Nothing like being broke and stressed.” Dash sighed, ignoring as her phone buzzed for the third time since they had left school, “Guess I’ve never considered where you lived.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sunset waved it off, “Don’t like having people fuss over me. Happened too often in Canterlot Castle.”

“You didn’t like being served hand and foot?” Dash asked with a hint of incredulity.

“Was nice at first. Got annoying real fast.” An annoyed expression crossed her face, “Never had a moment to myself. Not to mention they never seemed to take a hint. Wouldn’t start leaving me be til I started telling them off.” Sunset chuckled with a bit of cynicism, “I guess that’s when ‘the bitch’ started emerging.”

“I can see that.” Dash nodded, phone buzzing again.

“Anon-a-Miss is really letting loose.” Sunset grunted.

“Not her. Last three have been texts. Whatever was thrown up, Gilda’s threatening death over it.” Dash scoffed.

“Gilda? You still have her as a contact?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. Gilda had been top dog in the school before Sunset had showed up and dethroned her. It had been surprisingly easily in all honestly. Growing up on the Canterlot streets had taught her a few things. In this case, she could see that Gilda was the type who lived and died on support. Lightning Dust was Gilda’s number 2. All it took was a right hook to the white-haired girl’s nose to send Dust scurrying away in fear. Any and all of Gilda’s influence had vanished after that. It wasn’t unknown that Gilda was always looking for a way back up, but with no support, it was hopeless.

“Always hoped she’d come around.” Rainbow sighed, “We used to be real tight in Elementary.”

“So you’ve explained.” Shimmer nodded. Gilda had moved back to her hometown during the course of Middle School. When they had met again in freshman year, it hadn’t taken long to see she had changed in the worst kind of way. Rainbow had dumped her unceremoniously after seeing her knock Fluttershy to the floor with a rather unforgiving shove.

“Yeah, guess some friendships just don’t work out…” She looked down, kicking a mound of snow from the grass.

“...” Sunset’s mouth drew into a line as she let that sink in.

“...I mean!” Rainbow jumped back in, realizing that implication. “I bet the girls will come around! It's not like they haven’t come back from something like this before.”

Sunset winced, “Yeah…”

Dash paused in her stride, realizing what that had meant. She slapped herself in the forehead, ‘Stupid! STUPID! STUPID!’ She streaked out ahead, sliding in front of Shimmer, “L-look, I’m sorry. I’m...I’m not good at the emotional comfort thing. ‘Specially while I’m kinda torn up about the same thing.” Sunset gave Dash a sad look, feeling a bit selfish now. Dash was in the a similar position of alienation, yet she was comforting her. “But I’m trying my best. I...ugh, I’m sorry that I can’t give some uplifting compliment or hope spot without dredging up the past. I’m doing the best I can…”

Sunset smiled, “It's okay, Rainbow. I understand. I just can’t seem to move on. Don’t blame yourself for bringing it up if that’s honestly not what you meant to do.”

Dash visibly relaxed, bending over slightly as relief flooded her, “Thanks Sunset. That’s a huge relief.” She was only brought out of this as she heard the thumping of feet. “...what the-?” She looked up just in time to see a white and brown shape bowl into the back of Sunset and then consequently, her.

“AHH!” Shimmer yelped in surprise and then pain as she and Dash both hit concrete. Rainbow’s own grunt of pain was muffled as Sunset landed on top of her.

“You rotten little shits!” The unmistakable scratch of Gilda’s voice blared at them. Rainbow shook off the dizziness first, climbing out from under Sunset and standing in front of her defensively.

“Okay, what the hell?” Dash growled out, fists raised.

“You swore never to speak of it!” The attacker shouted back at Dash.

“Anon-a-Miss leak one of your petty secrets?”

“You leaked our secret!” She screeched back.

“Wha...what secret?” Dash’s angry annoyance masked the growing pit of dread grew in her stomach as Sunset pulled herself up, nursing the bruise on her right elbow.

“Like you don’t know.” Gilda sneered venomously, digging for her phone and showing the MyStable app. Dash and Sunset both froze. In the image, two hooded figures sat in a parking lot sandwiched between two cars, obviously doing their best to hide. The photographer was leaning out from behind another car to spy them. The two wouldn’t have noticed anyway, given that they were currently locked in what seemed to be a rather awkward kiss.

‘Who woulda thought? My my my~’

“You go and leak this and have the audacity to deny it?!”

“What makes you think I’m Anon-a-Miss!?” Dash swatted her arm away with a growl.

“You and Shimmer! You’re the only one who’s defending her and now you’re taking some heat to get back at me! The whole school knows it! Do you know how many people from Griffonstone have been texting me? I’m a laughing stock, dammit!”

“In case you didn’t notice, Gilda. I’m in that picture too.” Dash clenched her teeth tightly. The teasing from the paper and outfits had been one thing, but this...this was going to rain down Hell for her. “I’m not Anon-a-Miss. Neither is Sunset. Now listen he-”

“No! You listen! You get one chance to stop this shit! Now. Delete the page and we move on from this, pal.” Gilda’s glare could slice steel.

“We aren’t Anon-a-Miss!” Sunset was really starting to reach her boiling point. Being accused by her friends had been incredibly damaging, being left by that even more so, but now being threatened over it by just another big mouth she had put down on her first day at CHS? That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “I have no reason to leak any of this! I don’t want the school against me, you dumbass! Why would I-?!” She was cut off as Gilda’s already red face practically went nuclear, advancing on her with intention to pummel.

Rainbow cut her off, delivering a punch to her jaw, making Gilda stumble backwards. “Back off!”

Gilda held her jaw, glaring darkly, “You better watch your back, Rainbow Dyke. You never know what might be waiting for you.” She stomped off from the direction she came, ignoring the evil glare Rainbow was returning.

“...damn hypocrite.” Rainbow muttered.

“Rainbow?” Sunset asked quietly.

“Let’s go.” Rainbow spun on a heel, walking past her.

“Rainbow.” Sunset repeated, “Are you okay?”

“...no.” Rainbow turned on a corner and onto her street.

“Want to talk?”

“N...yes, inside.” She pushed the door to her house open, storming passed the kitchen and into her room.

“Uhh, hello Sunset. What’s going on?” Blaze asked from the living room, setting the table.

“High School drama.” She assured, attempting a honest smile, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna talk about it.” Sunset followed her friend into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Rainbow was laying on her bed, face down in the pillow, backpack strewn aside haphazardly. “...Dash?”

“Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Came the muffled cry from through the pillowcase.

“Rainbow. Talk to me.”

“Is it one of yours?” Dash leaned up, eyes already red. Her voice was fairly calm despite the quickly forming tears. Sunset suddenly regretted the request.

“One of mine?” She blinked.

“The photo. Me and Gilda.” Dash continued, “Was it from your blackmail?”

She could lie. Say Anon-a-Miss took it. “...yes.” Sunset looked down, “I ordered a freshman to follow you and find some dirt. Wasn’t expecting that.”

A hundred responses ran through Dash’s mind. Angry retorts, exclamations of rage, and a few incomprehensible sobs of despair. Eventually, she landed on confusion, “...we...we had so many fights. I got in your face so many times. Why didn’t you ever use it?”

Sunset rubbed her arm, the pain of the bruise feeling deeper than it did earlier. “Well...I guess it’s like I said to Princess Twilight. I’m not a monster. I knew what that would do to you at school. That was going to far.” She nodded, sighing.

“That was going to far?” A laugh escaped her throat, “And the teenage army wasn-?”

“At the time it was a perfectly flawless plan and the one who concocted it was equally flawless.” Sunset joked weakly. The pain was lessened, but talking about it still hurt.

“Yeah, sure she was.” Dash shook her head, wiping her eyes, “Thanks...for not letting that out. I mean, lotta good that does me now.” She fell on her back, staring at the ceiling blankly.

“I...you’re welcome?” Sunset tilted her head, deciding to shift the conversation for now. “...we still going to talk plans?”

“...yeah. Let’s get on it. Suspects first?” Dash sighed, deciding that putting the hurt on whoever did this to her was a better distraction than moping over getting her sophomore confusion outed.

It was about an hour later that a text would come through Sunset’s phone. “Huh?” Shimmer looked down, retrieving it.

“Someone text you?” Dash stood, “Did one of the girls come around?”

Her phone told her it was Fluttershy ‘We need to talk. Meet me in the gym room at school tonight at around 7. The back door will be unlocked. AJ and the others will be here too. It’s an emergency!’ Her eyes couldn’t believe it though.

“Yes!” Rainbow cheered, hopping up, “I knew ‘Shy would come around!”

Sunset was a bit more hesitant, typing a reply. ‘Fluttershy? I wasn’t expecting a text from you. What’s this about an emergency? Is someone hurt? Why meet up at school that late? Why not Sugarcube Corner?’

The reply came a few moments later. ‘Just trust us on this. We really need to talk. See you at 7.’ Sunset stared at the screen with a puzzled expression, Dash taking a look for herself.

“So...we go, right? Flutters is probably taking a huge social risk by wanting to talk to us. Gilda said it herself, nearly the whole school thinks we’re Anon-a-Miss now.” Dash frowned.

“Yeah.” Sunset nodded, looking up at the clock. 6:00, “We do.”

“Here, let’s grab some food and head out. This could be a turning point for us.” Dash smiled, “It’ll be over in no time.”

“Maybe.” She muttered as Dash ran out, Sunset following after a minute.

“-suppose you can do that, but I want an explanation of what all this is when you two get back. Okay?” Blaze told his daughter, a bit more serious than usual.

“Of course, dad. We’ll be back soon enough.” Rainbow promised, grabbing a chicken wing from the table.

Sunset scanned the table, not finding any vegetarian options, “...um, I’ll grab some food when we get back. That okay?” She chuckled weakly.

“Hmm? Oh no problem Sunset. I’ll wrap the food in foil and toss it in the fridge.” Blaze waved, “You girls go save the day or whatever you're doing at CHS these days!”

“Thanks, dad!”

“We will, Mr. Blaze!” Sunset followed Rainbow out the door, ready to have this finished with.

The trek back to CHS passed in relative silence as the sky darkened past sundown and through twilight. “So what do you think’s the emergency?” Dash asked.

“Probably just wants to talk to us as soon as possible.”

“Think she’ll apologize about the hallway?”

“At the very least I hope she’ll at least hear us out.” Sunset sighed, “That takes precedence over anything else right now.”

Dash nodded, “Yeah. If she listens to us, maybe she’ll believe it.” They came to the school parking lot, passing through it to find the front door of the school propped open by a textbook. “Huh.” Rainbow snickered, looking around and noticing cars still parked in the lot, “...huh.”

Sunset didn’t notice, already inside and heading towards the gym. “Dark.” SHe commented.

“Ever been in a school after hours?” Dash asked, chuckling.

“Yeah.” Sunset answered, not fully listening. What was she gonna say, where to start?

“Wait, you have?” Rainbow paused, “Seriously?”

“Oh, uh, I meant Canterlot University, back home.” She backpedaled, focusing in on Rainbow’s words now.

“Ah, right.” Dash nodded in the darkness. Granted, now she was doubting the yellow girl’s words. That time it hadn’t been as convincing. The situation wasn’t any better once they reached the gym. Despite being there earlier that day, the room just seemed creepier with all the lights shut off. Most things tended to be, as Sunset would attest to.

Even so, peering through the darkness, the two were able to make out four shapes sitting over by the bleachers. All of them were decked out in some form of winter wear, they seemed to be given the hoods at least. Noticing the two of them enter, one of the figures, AJ it seemed, motioned them closer.

Dash shot Sunset a look, barely perceptible in the dark. She brushed her hand up against Sunset’s motioning her feeling to her, ‘Something's seriously wrong.’

“...girls?” Despite the oddness of the situation, Sunset had taken a few shaky steps forwards, “Listen, I know we shouldn’t be complaining, but this is kinda off putting.”

“Good of you to notice.”

Not the girls. Not the girls! Not the girls!

Rainbow reacted on instinct. She grabbed Sunset by the hand and dragged her around, darting back to the doors.

Blocked.

At least three figures stood in front of them, one jerking forwards and nailing her in the stomach with a foot. Soccer player. Ouch. Both of them stumbled back, Dash dragging Sunset, wind knocked out of the prismatic teen.

All the lights in the gym cut on, causing Dash and Sunset to shield their eyes from the change in light levels. More figures began to file in from out of sight. The entire thing had been a setup.

No. A setup was just a trick, a scheme to deceive. This was a trap.

“Didn’t I tell you to watch your backs?” The lead of the hooded figures stepped forwards. Gilda, not Applejack. Easy mistake, except not at all. Dash mentally reprimanded herself.

“Gilda...hey. What a surprise seeing you here...and you brought friends.” Dash took a sweeping glance of the room. She was able to identify the one who had kicked her as Lightning Dust.

Sunset was panicking inside. Gilda meant serious business. A whole herd of students, nearly 20 at that, most looking pissed beyond belief. The few that didn’t...Sunset didn’t like those grins. She tried taking a breath and assessing the situation. Gilda was ahead of her, playing ringleader. At her side were Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score, three of the ‘future dropouts’ as they were continuously called, only making it past each grade with pity and pleas. Behind her with Dust were Violet Burr and Pixel Pizzaz. How they had wandered from Photo Finish’s side, she’d never know. Floating around the room with distasteful glares were also the ‘Diamond Dogs’ and Trixie’s bandmates. Sunset had never bothered to learn their names, deciding them unimportant or ineffectual. She was starting to really regret that now. A few more faces stood around, but Sunset was dragged back to the situation by Gilda’s voice.

“You know, I really didn't expect this to work.” Gilda snickered, “Figured that you were too smart for it, Sunset that is.”

Dash growled, keeping her attention on Dust and company. “Where’s Fluttershy?... Or did you take her phone?”

“Okay, so maybe you’re not rock stupid, ey Dash?” Gilda sneered, tossing a butter-yellow phone up and down in her palm. “Or maybe you are, with what you’ve been posting on MyStable.”

Sunset had been relying on Dash for the info on Anon-a-Miss since earlier that day. She had deleted the app and her account, sick of it already. Rainbow hadn’t been far behind, as she hadn’t checked the site since they left school. Given everyone’s furious expressions, they could only assume more secrets had come forth since then.

“But hey, that doesn’t matter anymore.” Gilda pocketed the phone, cracking her neck with a sick smile, “You two have crossed the line. We ain’t gonna be your little toys anymore, Shitter. Twilight showed us that.”

“I don’t think the Princess would approve this at all!” Dash fired back.

“And since you’ve brought my old friend to your twisted side, we’ll just have to play hero this time.” Her grin was one of pure anticipation. Sunset felt woozy as she slid into a more protective stance. “It's time we played with you a bit.”

The entire room began advancing towards them, slowly beginning to encompass the two in a circle. Their lack of a reasonable escape route was quickly becoming no escape route at all. This was a no-win, hopeless situation.

Until Rainbow decided to shift the odds.

In a blink, she had ripped her jacket off, rolling it into a spiral and whipping it at Gilda. The motion had produced a cracking sound as she landed a blow below Gilda’s left eye. The girl screeched, topping backwards and holding her face. She had received no chance to avoid the blow and was now trying to climb back to her feet, shouting Rainbow’s name in tandem with every profanity she could imagine. Everyone stumbled back, not expecting their leader to be felled with the surprise blow.

Taking full advantage of the situation, Sunset ducked her head, crossed her arms over her face, and charged at the two photography girls. The two went tumbling to the ground like paper mache, Pizzaz groaning loudly as Rainbow stepped on her to get over. Both Rainbow and Sunset had experiences with the odd fight in the past, especially with each other, but those were all one on one. 15 or so on 2 however gave them little hope to fight back at all. Escape was the only choice.

Dash had decided that going back to her dad’s house was a no go. Gilda’s entourage had cars and knew where she lived. Plan forming in her mind, she’d grab Sunset’s arm, take point and drag her through the mirror portal. She’d never been to Equestria, but it was probably nice this time of year, void of ravenous teenagers for sure. Even if a few of them were dumb enough to follow, they’d be as clueless on four legs as her, Sunset was a unicorn, and she was pretty sure the portal emptied in Twilight’s castle. The plan was perfect, all they needed was to get to the doors!

It all derailed as soon as Rainbow moved to grab Sunset. A green-blue blur crashed into them from the side, knocking them to the ground in a heap. “I got ‘em!” Dust called out, “Hurry!”

“Sunset!” Dash yelped, seeing the rest of the attacker’s bearing down on them.

Given that Dust was out of arm’s reach, Sunset did the next best thing and slammed her boot down in her direction. She didn’t see it, but she heard and felt something crack. That was then followed by the two being released and Dust screaming in pain. She had made it back to her knees when she saw Rainbow go down next to her. A split second later, a foot to the spine made her follow suite.

What came next was a few attempts from both girls to stand back up. The first few seconds of each attempt cut off quickly and without mercy. After the fourth (or was it the fifth?) try, Rainbow had curled into a ball, trying to protect any part of the body she could. Sunset had noticed and defaulted to a similar position, realizing they were now stuck.

The kicks, stomps, and odd punches didn’t stop. The defensive poses only seemed to bring on more. It hurt. It hurt so very much. However, after the first few minutes, the two had lost the energy to cry out with each hit, wrenching their eyes and mouth shut in hopes of reaching the end soon.

End it did. Hoping to grab a foot, or arm, or something, Dash had lashed out with an arm. Face unprotected, it was quickly met with a black boot. In a single second that seemed to span an eternity, Rainbow managed to think, ‘Huh, never knew Gilda wore steel-toed boots.’ The next second, searing pain erupted across her face. In the next, blackness.

“Rainbow!” Sunset had tried springing into action, desperate to get to her friend she had just seen drop like a rock. This left her vulnerable too. GIlda swung around, delivering a right hook to Sunset’s temple, sending her sprawling to the floor. Her vision swam as black creeped into her vision. The attacks were still there, but she had stopped feeling them, her body giving rough jerks to signify when each landed.

‘I...I...why...Twilight, you said...you said…’

She felt herself leave the floor, then she was dropped back at a different angle. The side of her head felt warm. A colorful blur lay across from her. Dash? What was happening? It had gotten dark. Did they turn off the lights? Were they alone again?

‘R-Rainbow...’ Not able to take anymore, Sunset’s consciousness faded away, causing her body to go limp.

Gilda smirked victoriously, rubbing her cheek in minor annoyance. One little whip would be easy payment for finally knocking Sunset Shimmer to the ground.

But...why stop here?

“Alright everyone, gather round!” Gilda shouted, breaking them from their cheers, “Here’s what happens next!”

Author's Note

So...welcome. Seeing you down here can only mean you just read through that. Take your breath now because its not about to get any easier, no no no. Things are always their darkest before they go totally black. Meanwhile, I need to research what I can get away with in the 'T' rating for chapter 5.
NightFuryStriker gets the shoutout for this chapter. Loyalty - MandoPony. Appropriate, I'd say.
Now then, time to crack the can of worms.

Edit: Okay, since this has come up and I didn't make it clear enough in the description, I understand that this feels familiar, but that is more or less the point. This is meant to share a timeline with Dainn's and Cerealkiller's stories and split off into a new timeline when the opportunity arises in the next chapter.
You need to Read 'Anon-a-Miss' in order to understand 'Silent Night'. Both are good stories and I highly recommend them, but I didn't want that as a prerequisite for this story, especially given that backstories and details would differ.

5 - I'll Spread My Wings So Take My Heart

Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure when she had come to. All that she could focus on was the pain. Everything hurt and the frigid floor beneath her wasn’t helping to calm the flared agony all over her body. With a few breaths, she managed to open her eyes. The cracked tile before her spread out into the darkness.

Tile? This wasn’t the gym.

“Wakey wakey!” Pain exploded in her side as she was forcefully rolled over by a foot. “Welcome back to the world of the living, Dash.” Gilda smiled down at her.

“Wh-where...?” Rainbow found it hard to talk. Everything felt floaty, half real, like she was trapped in some terrible nightmare.

“Are you? Or are you looking for your partner in crime?” Gilda snorted, “Relax. She’s over there.” She nodded her head off in a direction that Rainbow couldn’t see from her position on the floor. “As for the where, welcome to Chateau D’if.”

“Chateau…” Dash gulped. She knew where that was, all of CHS did. Filthy Rich had attempted to build a new hotel south of the city before Canterlot’s economy had been hit by a slight market crash. Diamond Tiara had gone from non-stop boasting to utter silence overnight. It probably didn’t help the project that his plan for an exotic name happened to mirror that of a Prench prison. Forcing her head up, Dash could make out the interior of what had been a lobby. Canterlot wasn’t Detrot, but that hadn’t stopped every self-proclaimed looter and graffiti artist from descending on the place. The interior of the building was a wreck, flooring ripped up, windows smashed, and furniture long since stolen.

“Hope you like it. You’ll be staying for awhile.” Gilda moved to walk away.

“Sunset...Wha-what’d you do to her!?” Dash forced the question through, finding her voice as she maneuvered onto her belly, despite her body’s protest. It was lighter than it had been in the gym, despite it being much later in the night. The smashed windows above a second floor balcony allowed moonlight to filter in and lightly illuminate the room. The pale lighting set everything in a balance between serene and unnerving.

Gilda smirked, nodding back behind her. Dash looked, finally noticing the thrashing protests going on across the lobby. Half the attackers were no longer present, but those that were happened to all be standing around whom she presumed to be Sunset. “Gotta give you two credit. Managed to break Dust’s nose. Shame she didn’t get to come.”

Rainbow struggled to her knees, panic setting in again, “What are you doing?!”

“Didn’t wanna make a mess in the gym.” Gilda pointed her finger at Dash, “I’d stay down if I were you.”

Dash ignored her, stumbling onto her feet as adrenaline began pumping. Then she took another look at Gilda. She wasn’t pointing her finger, that was a switchblade. “...G, come on, let's not do something rash...more rash.”

“I think we’re past that.” She responded with a frown.

“Just...let us go, you’ve made your point.”

Gilda found the choice of words amusing, “No, I don’t think I have.” She swiped at Dash, not giving her time to react as the blade caught Rainbow’s shoulder, tearing into her jacket and earning a panicked cry of pain. Dash fell backwards. Gilda was on top of her in an instant, knife still brandished at her. Rainbow was screaming now, doing everything she could to fight her off, but the strength just wasn’t there. Another few cuts caught her along the collarbone, two more near the lower torso.

“STOP! PLEASE!” Tears were flowing now and it was clear to Gilda that the pleading response had hurt to utter.

“Delete the account.” She ordered.

“We’re...we’re not Anon-a-Miss!” Dash screeched, throat burning.

Gilda swiped at her again, slicing Dash right across the mouth. “TAKE IT DOWN!”

“AHHHHHH!” Dash spasmed, clutching her face as she rolled onto her side. Her clothes had noticeable blood stains growing across them at this point. “IT'S NOT US, YOU FUCK!”

Gilda shook her head, winding up again after Rainbow had left her face open to scream at her. Another cut, parallel to the first.

“AGGHHHHH!” Rainbow’s scream was mixed with a violent sob, “Stop...p-please.” She begged.

“Delete. It.” Gilda pressed.

At her wits end, Dash collapsed. “Okay...okay, we will. Just stop.” That’s when the agony hit its apex. Rainbow registered something piercing her skin near her abdomen.

Gilda ignored the next round of violent cries, letting go of the blade and leaving it there. “That’s for lying. There won’t be anymore Anon-a-Miss posts, loser.” Gilda stood, heading back over to where Sunset was now echoing her friend in high pitched wails of terror. ‘Looks like she admitted too.’ The white-haired girl grinned.

Her victim had chosen not to respond, caught up in the pain and gross sobbing. Rainbow held herself, daring not to look at the blade now impaled in her. She wanted it gone, to reach down and yank it out, but she knew better.

‘So you’ve been stabbed before, mom?’ A younger Rainbow had gasped in shock, seeing the scar across her mother’s left side.

‘My line of work’s dangerous, Dashie. It's a risk I’ve gotten used to.’

‘So you just yanked it out? That’s...awesome!’

‘No no no! Never pull out a blade unless you have an immediate way of dealing with the wound. You risk bleeding out otherwise.’

Don’t touch the blade. Leave it. Rainbow felt sick. Leave it be. The sound of metal clattering against the floor drew her attention back towards where Sunset was. Something had been tossed away from the group. Sunset was still screaming. Had they stabbed her too?!

Another thought suddenly rushed over her. ‘Are we going to die?’ The idea made her freeze in place. No, no, Gilda wouldn’t go that far, right?

“Come on guys, our work here’s done!” Gilda announced. Rainbow felt her stomach drop.

“We just leavin’ ‘em?” Dumbbell asked.

“Where we gonna take them in this shape? They’d rat us out if we took ‘em anywhere.” Gilda delivered a sharp kick to Sunset, who had devolved into whimpers. “Lets just cut our losses and bail. Problem solved.”

“Later, Anon-a-Miss!” Hoops gave a dumb laugh, following Gilda outside, along with the other few. Soon enough, they were alone again in the cold.

“...Sunset?” No answer. “Sunset!” Dash croaked out again, louder this time. She received a pained cry in response. Gritting her teeth, she moved herself onto her side, and began the long trek over to Sunset’s position. The going was slow, and painful. The floor was littered with trash, broken glass, and forgotten screws. The place had been abandoned mid-construction.

“D-Dash…” Getting closer, Rainbow could see Sunset was sitting up, arms behind her back. A pole or pipe of some sort rose out of the ground and above from behind her. It appeared as though they had used it as a means to hold her in place. “S-so...cold...so h-hot.” Sunset stuttered.

“What?” Dash blinked, glancing around. She spied the metal rod that had been tossed aside earlier. It looked like it had been made in a garage by someone who had no idea what they were doing or were in a huge rush. The pole ended in a roughly soldered together sun shape, probably meant to resemble the one on Sunset’s journal based on the attempted shape...oh. Ohhh. Rainbow’s eyes widened, hurrying closer to Sunset.

“Holy crap!” They both managed to shout with varying levels of volume.

“Sunset, your face!” Dash breathed, seeing the bloody burn mark staining her cheek.

“Y-your face!” Sunset’s eyes widened, seeing the bloody marks across Rainbow’s lips. Looking down more, she locked her gaze on her friend’s midsection, “...Dash...holy shit.” Her already raspy voice quieted to a whisper.

“H-hey, don’t worry about it.” Dash winced, scooting a bit closer, “I’ll be fine.”

“Will you? Will either of us?” Sunset looked around. “No one knows we’re here. We won’t make it to morning…”

Dash winced. Her toes had started to go numb already, and neither of them were really going anywhere. “L-look, lets just think about the now.” She inched closer to Sunset, pulling herself into a sitting position, groaning the whole way, and leaned into her, “We’ll manage longer if we can stay warm, right?”

“...right.” Sunset responded, hope draining from her voice. “Dash, what if-”

“No what ifs. Let’s just, nng, stay warm, stay awake.” Dash nodded, “Anything, let's just keep each other up. Ask me a question. Anything.”

“Okay...the photo with Gilda. Were you two...a thing?”

Rainbow sighed, “No. I was just...curious. It was the one time, we swore never to speak of it again. Cut pretty much all contact after.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t delete all of them.”

“...it’s not your fault that you didn’t get them all.” Dash sighed, “Your intent was to delete it all and...I can appreciate that. I don’t know how I’m gonna show my face at school again.”

“What’s with that?” Sunset changed the topic, trying to move her mouth without aggravating her cheek. “Sexuality was never a problem in Equestria.”

“Well, this ain’t Equestria.” Rainbow sighed, “I don’t even know if that is the case with me! I was just curious!” Her outburst made her grab her side, “Agh...right, stay still…”

“This world seems like it's out for blood on some days.”

“...”

“What?”

“Was that a joke? Cause I oughta punch you for that.”

Sunset laughed, “What a way to spend the night.”

“Two days til break too...this...this doesn’t feel real.” Dash ran a hand through her ragged hair, “...hey...where’s-AGH!” Her hand brushed a spot that felt particularly sensitive, “I-I think they pulled hair out!”

Sunset winced, “I...think they may have done the same to me. The pain was coming from all directions, it was hard to keep track.”

“I swear when I get my hands on Gilda…” Dash started pulling her jacket off.

“What are you doing?” Sunset watched her nervously.

“Blade. Can’t keep it there much longer, no doctor.” She explained, getting a grip on it and wincing, “Gonna have to put some sort of pressure on it. 1...2…” Dash ripped the knife out of her, “AGGHH-!” She bit her tongue, pulling her jacket around her waist by the sleeves and tying it over the wound.

Sunset winced, “Will that...hold?”

Dash smiled, “It’ll do.” She nodded. It wouldn’t, not without pressure and even then, not for very long. Infection was possibly out of the way, but this left a possibility for bleeding out now. ‘Just...got to keep it tight.’ Dash gulped, pulling at the sleeves again. “So how about you? Uh, what are you gonna do after we make it out of this?”

Sunset sighed, deciding not to go pessimist again, “Dropping out of CHS. I’m not going back there. I just...no…” She yawned.

“Stay with me, Sunset.” Dash snapped, rubbing her hands together afterwards. Using her jacket as a bandage made it much colder.

“I’m...I’m, I’m fine.” She nodded back, Dash scooting closer to her. ‘...we’re not seeing the next Sunrise…’ Sunset shuddered.

“Alright...uh, so next question.” Dash nodded.

“C’mon ‘Shade! This place is perfect!” A lavender girl with a slicked back head of pink and white hair, styled to a curled point, grinned up at the building.

“You sure, Skies?” Another girl, this one a pale blue with a darker mop of navy hair, asked skeptically, “Place looks like a dump. There might be hobos living in there.”

“If there are, can we do the documentary on them instead?!” The third and final member of the party grinned, pointing her video camera at them. She bounced in place, having dressed lighter and wanting to keep warm in the colder-than-expected temperature.

“Hold the camera still, Blitz!” Shade reprimanded, “We can’t use the footage if it's all a big blur!” Blitz was a far darker shade of blue, hair a similar shade in a jagged, bolt-like shape.

“Its coooooold!” She pouted, pulling her purple, gray, and yellow hoodie closer to herself. “And hey, why are you complaining? I’m the only one who can work this thing and would show up at 3 AM!”

“Would you two cut it out?” Starry Skies cut them off, “Are we going to get started or what?”

Nightshade lifted the bolt cutters, “I got the keys.”

“Uh, the door’s open…” Blueball Blitz noticed.

“What?” Nightshade darted to the door, pushing at it with her hand, watching as it drifted open.

“I...maybe we should go?” Starry suddenly reconsidered, looking light on her feet.

“Yeah...what if this is where the-”

Blitz charged forwards, nearly kicking the door down. “YAHHHHH! STAND AND DELIVER BITCHES!”

“Blitz! NO WAIT!” Starry and Nightshade tumbled in after her, worried for their friend’s safety. They had found her a few yards in, frozen in place now. “Blue?”

“Girls…” Blitz was shaking, looking around, “Is that...blood?”

“Is what bl-” That was when a gust blew through the room and the stench hit them. “...lights. Now!” All three girls pulled out their phones, activating the flashlights, and jerking them around the room.

“AGH!” Nightshade jumped, spying the source. “OH MY GOD!” Two figures sat against a wall to the left, beaten and bloodied. “CALL THE COPS! NOW!”

Starry fumbled with her phone, dialing 911 and making Nightshade toss the bolt cutters behind a desk. Blitz ran up to the two, trying to see if they were breathing.

“?!” That’s when the rainbow haired one jerked her head up, eyes wide.

“YEEEEH!” She screeched, hopping back.

“No!...p-please. Help us!” Dash reached out weakly, breathing equally so.

“W-we’ll help you!” Blitz nodded, eyes wide as saucers, “There should have an ambulance out here soon!”

“What happened to you two?!” Starry kneeled down next to Sunset, checking her pulse after the fiery haired girl hadn’t moved.

Dash looked ready to tear up again. “She f-fell asleep a while ago. I d-don’t know how long...I’ve been f-fighting it myself…”

“Names, let's hear your names.” Starry insisted.

“R-Rainbow Dash...this is Sun...Sunset Shimmer.”

“Nightshade! Wait outside for the ambulance!” Starry called, the bluenette nodding and running back outside. She shrugged off her jacket, holding it over Dash.

“N-no! Put on her...she needs it more.” Dash requested, trying to brush her hand aside.

She bit her lip, eyeing her for a moment before laying the Shadowbolt hoodie over Sunset instead. “It’s...it's going to be okay, Rainbow. You’re both going to be fine…”

“I...I gotta...oh God.” Blitz stumbled away, covering her eyes.

“Outta the way!” A new voice came, a group of paramedics rushing into the building with two stretchers. Skies jumped back with Blitz. “I suggest you two get outside, the police would like a statement.”

“Y-yes sir, right away.” She grabbed Blitz by the arm, dragging her back into the snowy night, both feeling drained. A few feet way, Nightshade was already talking with an officer.

“-came out here to do some urban exploring. We found them inside when we pushed the door open.”

“Are you three aware that this property is off limits to the public?” The man managed to ask in response without eating his comically large mustache.

“No sir.” Starry lied with ease, “We knew there was a few old buildings that ringed Canterlot, and this one seemed ideal for our project.”

“Hmm, well it seems whoever came here first pulled up the trespassing signs, so that’s fair enough.” He mumbled, “Miss Nightshade here states that no one else was here when you found these two, correct?”

Starry nodded, the cold air bringing her back to her senses, “We found both of them inside after we noticed the smell of blood around the place. Whoever put them there were long gone.”

“...are they gonna be alright, sir?” Blitz gulped.

The officer sighed, “I dunno, kid. That’s gonna come down to the folks at Canterlot General.” He tipped his hat at them, “You kids get home. This ain’t a pretty sight, and you should all be asleep at this hour. If I recall correctly, Crystal Prep doesn’t let out for winter vacation yet.”

Blitz tugged at her jacket again, growing nervous as she glanced back at the building, seeing the two teens being pulled out on stretchers. Sunset still had the jacket over her. “...okay, yes sir. Let's get going, girls. I think that’s enough exploring for one night.”

They headed back to what may have been a parking lot if the building had never been given up on, and piled into Starry’s car, said girl speaking up after a moment of silence. “So...is it just me or did they look familiar?”

“Rainbow Dash.” Nightshade nodded, “She’s a Wondercolt. Bumped into her a few times at the Friendship Games.”

“Wondercolt? What’s she doing out here?” Blitz hugged herself in the backseat.

“Dunno, and that’s pretty worrying.” Nightshade sent Starry a nervous glance, “...you don’t think it was...them?”

“We can’t be sure, but it's best we call the others and let them know.” Starry put the car into drive, “Lets get going. We have a bit more to worry about now, and I’d like to get some sleep before we head to the Hospital in the morning.”

Rainbow Dash was hardly conscious at this point. Her vision was fading in and out with every breath. She didn’t know by what power she was still awake, but she was grasping onto it with ever fiber of her being. Above her, she could see the outline of other people dressed in white coats and scrubs as well as the repeating pattern of ceiling tiles. “...sun...set…” She’d lost sight of her companion when they had been pulled into separate ambulances.

A nurse leaned in, “Don’t worry about your friend, my dear.” She said, stroking Dash’s hand comfortingly, “Now, I want you to stay with me, okay? What’s your name?”

“R-Rainbow Dash…” She groaned, “I’ll...try. Wh-where is she? I promised to stay...by her.”

“She’s right next to you, and she’ll be fine. I’m Nurse Tenderheart, and I want you to tell me about your family. Where do you live?” The nurse swabbed Rainbow’s wrists before inserting the IV into them, keeping her distracted while the painkiller was being inserted. It needed time to take its effect.

“Cl-cloudsdale...district. With my dad…” Dash shut her eyes for a moment. The light had started to hurt. “...no, no, I need get back to Sunset...I-I promised!”

Nurse Tenderheart gently pressed Rainbow down onto the bed as the nurses delivered the duo to a room, both cots separated by a heavy green curtain. She was careful not to disturb the bandages already wrapped around the prismatic teen’s torso. “She’s in the cot next to us, dear, it’s alright. I need you to keep talking. Don’t get up.” She said, nodding to the other nurse in the room, “It’s bloodloss. We need to get her stable, now.” She pressed her hand into Rainbow’s again, “Alright, sweetheart, tell me more about your dad.”

“My...my dad? Rainbow Blaze. He’s a retired...soccer player.” Dash coughed, hacking up a bit of blood, “...where are we?”

“Canterlot General. You and Sunset are in the safest hands in the city, and I want you to focus on staying awake for now.” Tenderheart continued, “So, I wanted to let you know that your Dad is on the way over here.” Dash was starting to feel her body going numb from the medication, the wound in her torso suddenly less noticeable.

“He’s coming?” She asked, eyelids drooping, “Gotta...awake...Sunset…”

“Rainbow, is your throat dry?” The other nurse asked, offering Dash a cup of water.

“Everything’s cold…” Dash shivered, “Can’t...feel anything...when did the ceiling change?”

“Alright, here, I want you to swallow this…” The other nurse tipped the cup gently into Dash’s mouth.

Meanwhile, Tenderheart leaned over behind the curtain, where Doctor Horse scribbled notes hastily onto a clipboard, stethoscope still hanging from his ears. “Any better over here?” She whispered to him, looking over at the fiery-haired girl in the second cot, covered in bandages nearly from head-to-toe.

He shook his head, “No papers, no birth certificate, no medical records…” He trailed off into thoughtful mutters for a moment, “I won’t know what she’ll react to or if she has any underlying genome conditions. The frostbite’s so severe, I don’t know that I’ll be able to do much, and her heartbeat is so faint… I doubt she’ll make it to sunrise.”

Tenderheart frowned, shaking her head, “This is insane. I’ve never seen something like this in a city as peaceful as Canterlot. To have two high schoolers mauled, an attempted murder case...” Trailing off, she glanced back at Dash, “I’ll make sure the grief specialist comes in tomorrow.” She sighed.

Doctor Horse nodded, “It’s for the best.” He closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair. “Even if she does make it, somehow, she’ll be paralyzed for the rest of her life. The tissues in her arms and legs have been completely killed by the frostbite.”

Dash was making some attempt to climb back up onto her elbows, looking around, “Sunset…?”

Tenderheart went back over, pushing Dash down again, “Stay down, dear. You need to let your body rest and heal now.”

“At least we know the pain medication’s working.” The other nurse commented.

“No...I need to...I need to find her. I’m all...she has!” Dash insisted, looking around.

“She’s fine, and listen. Now I need you to rest. You’ll be fine, and so will she. Just relax. Your Dad’s coming to see you soon.”

“Rest?...no, can’t...have to stay awake…”

“Yes, you need to rest, so that I can help them focus on helping Sunset. Can you do that for me?” Tenderheart asked.

“I...o-okay.” Dash’s head lolled from side to side as her eyelids began to droop again.

“Alright, good girl.” Tenderheart squeezed her hand again. “We’ll be right here.”

“...just...help her.” Rainbow’s eyes slid closed, finally falling into a peaceful slumber.

As soon as she was sure the girl was asleep, Tenderheart motioned to the other nurse, “She’s stable, at least, but keep an eye on her.” She said before heading back over towards the other nurses swarming around Shimmer. “How soon can we manage to get her stable?” She asked the group.

“Hopefully it won’t be long, we just need to hope the medications we used aren’t going to have adverse effects. We don’t exactly have anything to run off of.” Another nurse reported quickly.

“Well, it’ll have to do for now.” Tenderheart looked over at the Sunset, who had all of her limbs in slings and was pale as freshly fallen snow.

“Okay. Her breathing’s normal.” One of the nurses called out softly, “It’s a waiting game now.”

“...” Sunset suddenly began to wheeze, body convulsing with what little energy she had left. Large red welts had started appearing on her skin.

“She’s having a reaction!” The nurses scrambled. “Get me an Epinephrine injection, stat!”

The shaking didn’t last long, the wheezing slowing as Sunset stopped moving entirely. By the time the injection was given, it was already too late.

Several people rushed into the room, and immediately they began to pound Sunset’s chest, attempting to get any sign of recovery. An oxygen mask was placed over her face for the grueling forty minutes as they tried to restart her heart.

“...Time of Death, 5:17 am.”

Sunset opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor, staring up into a white nothingness. It took her a moment to come to her senses, pulling herself to her feet. “...where...am I?”

“Sunset Shimmer.” A female voice spoke out from the infinite white, “Never thought I’d get the opportunity to meet you.”

“Who’s there!? Where am I?!” Sunset spun on a heel, searching for the source of the voice.

Out from the mist came the form of an older woman. She had long locks of emerald green hair and glittering gold eyes. Her skin was a creamy alabaster and was cloaked in royal robes, a golden crown shone on her head. Above all else however, Sunset’s eyes were drawn to the wings on her back. The golden webby wings extended with a poised grace that only added to her breathtaking appearance. It also could only mean one thing.

“Siren.” Sunset gulped.

“Greetings, Sunset Shimmer. I am Crescendo Avanti, Queen of the Sirens.” She introduced herself, “You and I have much to discuss.”

Sunset took a breath and smothered her fear, shifting her stance, “Where are we?”

“A small little plane of existence off to the side. Rented space, if you will, to talk.” Crescendo smiled simply.

“Rented?” Sunset made a face, looking around, “From who?”

“Who else?” Crescendo’s expression fell for a moment, looking at Sunset sadly.

“...but, that would mean.” Everything suddenly came flooding back. The trap, the kidnapping, everything from Chateau D’if.

“I’m sorry, Sunset Shimmer, but you’ve passed.”

“...” Sunset stared at the siren. “I...no. It-it can’t have just ended like this!”

“You’re right. It can’t, or at least it shouldn’t.”

“Shouldn’t?” Sunset took a step back, the reality of the situation settling on her, “What do you mean?”

“What if I told you that it didn’t have to end here, Sunset?”

“...I’d ask what you were talking about.” Sunset gave her a weary look, “And why you want to talk to me. This isn’t some sort of revenge for what the Rainbooms did to the Dazzlings, is it?”

“Revenge? Oh no, that battle was one of unfortunate circumstances. You did what you had to, and so did the ‘Dazzlings’.” Crescendo said, “I don’t condone what those three did, but I understand that they did what they could to survive.”

“I suppose that’s-survive?” Sunset took a hard right turn as the word registered, “What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is what I said. Those three needed the strife to power their magic, which in turn keeps them alive.” Crescendo said simply.

Sunset subconsciously recognized that as a kind of dark cycle, “Why would your powers work that way?”

“I suppose the best way to tell you why, is to give you the full story of our species. Would you mind?”

Sunset looked around glumly, “Not like I’m in a rush to be anywhere, am I?”

“Alright then,” She nodded, “It began some time ago in Equestria, before the Tree of Harmony, and before much of written history. At that time, only dark magic existed in the land. An Earth Pony, her name now lost to time, tried using said dark magic on herself, and was transformed into the first siren, redubbing herself Marea Opus.”

“Wait wait wait!” Sunset gestured, rubbing her forehead from the info rush, “Sirens used to be normal ponies? The species is that old?!”

Crescendo nodded, “Sadly the knowledge of our kind has nearly been wiped from the minds of many in Equestria.”

“Why? How come there isn’t any information aside from the clash between these three and Starswirl? The book made it sound like there were only three sirens!” Sunset pressed, curiosity begging for more information now.

“Because, nearly all of us died out long before those three.” Crescendo said sadly, “They’re all that’s left.”

“How many were there? How can there only be three?!” She gaped at the prospect of such a major level of extinction. “D-did it happen over time or…?”

“About twenty-six thousand, I believe, at our highest. It happened very gruesomely over a very short time.” Her mouth pressed into a thin line, “Our decline started when the tree was planted, and light magic was introduced into the world. All of us lost our natural power of song because of dark magic’s weakened influence.”

“The Tree of Harmony…” Sunset rubbed her chin. The legend stated that the creation of Terra’s leylines had brought balance between dark and light. The details, like so many others, of that statement had been lost due to the lack of a worldwide magic community 2000 years ago. “So you didn’t have the amulets yet?”

“Those ‘amulets’ are our Hearts, Sunset Shimmer.” Crescendo said with an amused tone.

Sunset blinked in response, “Hearts?” She looked at the gem around Crescendo’s neck, “...is that literal?”

“It may as well be.” She chuckled dryly, “We can’t survive for long without them.”

“...you can’t?” Sunset froze, “Wh-why not?”

“That’s best explained by what the Hearts truly are. At first, they were a gift presented to me by Scorpan, who we welcomed into my kingdom with the highest honors. Inspired by the Crystal Heart and moved by our plight when dark magic was weakened, Scorpan had devised these gems to give us our powers back by channeling omnimagic…” Crescendo’s face twisted slightly, as if pained.

“But something went wrong?” She asked, having a good feeling of what it was. Wherever Scorpan went, he inevitably followed.

“Tirek.” Crescendo nearly spat out the demon’s name, “He came to me under the guise of peace, and began to speak to me of exactly what ‘omnimagic’ is. It is a mixture of dark, light, and chaos magic. He pointed out that no one understood chaos magic, and that light magic had been exactly what had ripped our powers from us originally. He gave me the means to question his brother’s gift, and offered me an easy out to this frightening omnimagic: rearranging the amulets to channel only pure dark magic. ...And I foolishly accepted.” Crescendo’s face fell.

“What did he do?” Sunset asked, feeling her own heart sink from the Queen’s tale.

“He cursed us.” Crescendo growled. “Locked us in the cycle that you saw in Adagio, Aria, and Sonata: We must use our power to create strife, which makes us stronger so that we may create more strife. If we refused to go along with this, refused to use our power to create discord when we had once created happiness… We would die for it. Starve.”

Sunset gasped, “St-starvation?!...ho-how long does it take to starve this way?” She thought back to the Dazzlings, realizing now what taking their powers may have truly done.

“Roughly two months.” Crescendo said simply with a sigh, looking over at Sunset and understanding exactly what she was worrying about, “They’ve lived one already.”

“We...we never intended to...we thought they- We didn’t know!” Sunset stumbled over her own words, feeling sick again. She had never exactly pitied the Dazzlings for what had happened after the final battle. Them losing their powers and disappearing into the night, off stage. They had all assumed they had just become normal humans, but knowing that they may have accidently doomed three girls…

“I know you didn’t, though unfortunately it will still happen. ...But here, right now is where you can help make amends for that.” The woman reached out her hand, a glowing “Heart” floating in her palm, “Sunset Shimmer, I would like you to live on. Take my place, and succeed my throne. You will be given a second chance at life, and give my last three subjects one as well. If you choose, that is.”

The rollercoaster of emotions just wasn’t ending, “You want...wait, what?!” This had to be some sort of cosmic joke. Celestia always had said her mother had a sense of humor.

“This Heart has been healed of Tirek’s curse by Lumencia herself, the only direct interference she has allowed for this, and with it you would be able to create others. ...Please, Sunset, save my species. Live again, and live for them.” The Queen quietly pleaded. “As I did once before you.”

“I...I’m just a high school student! A runaway from Terra!” Sunset shook her head, eyes wide as she stared at the Heart, “How can you possibly think I have the ability to do any of that?”

Crescendo smiled softly, reminded so much of a similar young pegasus faced with an impossible request, so many centuries ago. “I have seen your capabilities. I've actually had my eye on you for some time. A leader, who could call her friends to action when their usual leader was at her lowest point; a mage skilled in both dark and light magic; and most importantly, a virtuoso.” The siren queen winked at the girl with a small grin at that last one.

Sunset blushed, both from the praise and the implications some of that had, “I...well…” She shook her head again, “But a Queen? How could I deserve a role like that? I’m nothing but a thief and a…” She trailed off, a picture of a disappointed white alicorn in her mind. Failure.

“No, you’re not. Look how far you’ve come, Sunset, and how hard you’ve tried to make up for everything. And to have it thrown away like this?” Crescendo motioned around them, “Do you really want that?”

“Of course not…” She sighed, shutting her eyes, “No one would want to just throw their life away, not really.”

“Then understand that I believe in you to take care of my species.”

Sunset took a breath, “Are there any other caveats to know about?”

“Outside of returning a heart to Aria, Sonata, and Adagio; I will heal your body. But dark magic healing can only go so far… I can make no promises about what you’ll look like when you awaken.”

Sunset nodded, “I’m already returning from...the dead. I suppose asking for more would just be selfish.” She managed to crack somewhat of a smile, “Very well...I accept.”

“Excellent!” Crescendo smiled, “Now… There’s one thing that queens traditionally do that isn’t required, but I wanted to make you aware of: usually after…’evolving’ to a siren queen, we give ourselves a new name, following in Opus’s hoofsteps.”

“A new name?” Sunset blinked, the idea not being foreign, but outside of her experience. It wasn’t rare for a pony to change their name to match their occupation or cutie mark, but she never had a reason to change hers.

“It’s up to you, really.” She said, “But it’s usually a musical name of some sort that follows the siren pattern.”

The thought had never really occurred to her. What was really in a name? Crescendo never said she had to change all of it. “...Stanza.” She spoke after a moment, “Sunset Stanza.” With the declaration of the name, she took the Heart, slipping it over her head. In an instant, she felt a tingle fire down her spine as a wave of energy washed through her. Suddenly, it no longer felt as though the two were alone.

All around them, she saw ponies watching with grins and excited expressions. Each one with similar webbed wings as Crescendo’s, some larger than others, some with horns, many without. It seemed nearly all of her subjects had turned up for the imporomptu coronation.

“Good luck to you then, Queen Sunset Stanza. Bring back the knowledge and pride of our species to the Equestrian people, as well as the rest of Terra. And, please… Use your powers for a noble cause.” Crescendo gave Sunset one last, brighter smile, “I know you will, my successor.”

“I won’t waste this chance, your highness.” Sunset smiled, feeling oddly proud.

Sunset was passed the shimmering gold crown, “Not your highness, not anymore.”

Her last interaction with a crown miles from the forefront of her mind, Sunset tenderly took it from her, “Thank you...Crescendo.” In a moment in which she swore time had stopped, she set the crown upon her head.

The crowd around them cheered enthusiastically, and Crescendo backed away from Sunset, nodding her last goodbye before passing into the crowd.

Slowly, the crowd’s cheering seemed to distort, before it began to visually disappear as well.

Sunset opened her eyes.

Author's Note

Gonna assume some of you guys aren't fans of the Everett Interpretation. 'Kay. Well we're now officially past the initial setup. The real fun begins now.
Update speed is going to decrease a bit from here on out. Spring Break is officially over and college is resuming. My target is at least one update a week, but I'll aim to just update as often as time permits.

Long live the Queen.

6 - You're Gonna Sing the Words Wrong

Sunset blinked, staring up at the ceiling in mild confusion. Her mind was still fuzzy from the last few hours and being thrust back into the realm of the living so suddenly wasn’t exactly helping her situation. Blinking off the light dizziness, she looked around the room.

One of the nurses was frozen in place, staring at her with her mouth wide as she backed up against the wall, “Y-You… What was that?!”

“I’m...sorry?” Sunset pulled herself up into a sitting position, “What’s wrong?”

“You… You were dead! Your heart stopped!” The nurse backed away, “This isn’t possible!”

“My heart…?” Sunset’s hand gravitated to her chest, feeling the organ pumping rhythmically within. A few inches up, she felt something tink against her hand. It didn’t take her much thought to determine what it was. “Ma’am? Is there a mirror nearby?”

“...Yes.” She said, wearily, after a moment, “Let me go get it for you…” She backed out of the room.

Sunset looked down at herself. Aside from the green hospital gown that had replaced her normal clothing, the cuts and bruises on her arms had gone entirely, though she was starting to see what Crescendo had meant. Her skin had lost its golden hue, now appearing as a sandy color, more...washed out. She needed that mirror.

Instead, her doctor and the other nurses flooded into the room.

“Amazing…” Doctor Horse’s eyes widened at the girl who had somehow brought herself back from death, but now looked vastly different.

“I’m telling you, she was glowing! And that amulet thing just appeared around her neck!” The nurse said.

Tenderheart brushed her off. “You said you wanted a mirror?” She brought in a wheelchair, “There’s one in the bathroom, if we can get you out of bed.”

“If you can take the IV out and get my limbs down, I’d like to stand.” She responded, suddenly feeling nervous as everyone crowded around her. This was bad. Magic was on the verge of leaking out in a considerably noticeable way. She needed a plan.

“Oh no, with that frostbite of yours, there’s no way you’d be able to use your legs.” Doctor Horse said. He looked at the nurses, “Go ahead and get her into the bathroom.”

Sunset was hit with another wave of dizziness, realizing how seriously screwed up she had been, “It was...that bad?” She curled her hands into fists as well as she could with the wrappings, feeling herself shake.

“Keep the IV.” Tenderheart said, getting the other nurses to help Sunset with her bandaged limbs. Together, they hoisted her gently onto the wheelchair and rolled her into the bathroom, turning on the lights.

“Ugh, these bandages make me feel stiff.” She complained, “Are you sure I can’t-?” Sunset stopped when she noticed her reflection.

That...wasn’t her.

Her head of red and yellow hair had shortened, recovered from whatever ordeal the students had put it through, from mid back to now being just neck length. All traces of red had disappeared from her hair entirely, now a light slate blue, the yellow having paled a few shades as well. The skin along her body had indeed lightened considerably. In the many times Sunset had visited Canterlot Castle’s forbidden section of the library, she knew this wasn’t that shocking. Dark magic was never meant to be used for defensive skills, such as shielding or healing spells. It could be, in fact it proved to be more powerful than its light magic counterpart in ancient documents, but it tended to have strange side effects on the target. Beyond that, no healing spell was perfect, so extensive damage would sometimes not heal fully. Sunset leaned forwards in the chair, tilting her head to the right as she saw the scar on her left cheek more clearly. It was hidden well thanks to the change in skin tone, but under close examination she could see the lines forming the shape of a jagged sun.

“...” Sunset started to shake again, tears pooling in her eyes. She had come back, but...this was so much to take in already. Her eyes fell to the red amulet around her neck. The entire reason she had managed to come back. Finally given the chance and so overwhelmed, Sunset broke, head ducking as the tears began to fall. She attempted to hide her face in her hands, but her bandaged arms restricted such movement.

The staff stood outside the door, listening to the girl sob quietly and shuffling on their feet.

Tenderheart knocked on the door, “...Tell us when you’re ready to get back into bed, my dear.”

“I can’t stay here! Confined like this.” The claustrophobia began to set in. She could hardly move her arms at all, only movable from the shoulder thanks to the thick bandaging. She attempted to stand, legs having less restriction. It was awkward and heavy, but she found that her legs were just as strong as they were before. “I’m...I’m checking out today.” Sunset called, managing to rest her arms on the sink while trying to find a less awkward footing.

“Well… We’ll see what we can do for you, but I can make no promises.” Dr. Horse said doubtfully from the other side of the door.

“I’m gonna be leaving with my friend! That’s all there is to it!” Sunset glared into the mirror, feeling anger begin to bubble up in her chest. Gilda was going to pay for this. Her cronies were going to pay. The girls were going to pay. Anon-a-Miss was going to suffer. Sunset shook her head. ‘Priorities, Sunset. Priorities.’

“You nor your friend are in any shape to be leaving tonight.” Tenderheart said, “I know that you’re both eager to see your families, and we’ll contact them if you’d like. But you’ll be spending the night so we can get you accustomed to everything.”

“I don’t need to get accustomed to anything. Where are my clothes?” Sunset asked, brushing it off.

“Listen, I know that you’re having trouble with the prospects of your new life, but we have plenty of professionals to help you, alright?” Tenderheart sighed, “As for your clothes, they were disposed of. Both yours and Ms. Dash’s clothes were heavily bloodied.”

Sunset chuckled, muttering to herself, “I doubt this is the kind of thing you can help me with.” She looked at her amulet, wondering, “...ahhh.” It came out more as a released breath than a musical note and only left her feeling like an idiot rather than having any desired affect.

“Are you ready to get back into bed?” Tenderheart asked.

“I don’t want to get back in the bed!” Sunset slammed her arms down on the sink, the casts making a loud bang on the porcelain.

The group flinched, waiting for a shout of pain to erupt from the bathroom. It never came.

Tenderheart opened the door nonetheless, and paused when she saw Sunset standing up with little problems. “...Oh my God…” Her eyes widened.

“More and more miracles.” Dr. Horse muttered to himself, “This needs to be studied and shared.”

Sunset winced, panic flaring, “No! This has to stay quiet!” Her tone had shifted, voice coming out more melodious as her eyes began to glow.

The eyes of the doctor and nurses glowed green in response, “...Yes. We need to keep this under wraps.” Tenderheart nodded to the rest, “This never happened.”

Sunset blinked, realizing what she had done, “How about getting these casts off?”

“Those wraps are for your own safety.” Tenderheart responded, shaking off the zombified look as her Heart stopped glowing.

Another blink, glancing back at her new accessory. ‘How in the world do I work this thing?’ Sunset shook her head, “When can I get out of here? I’m the picture of health...and where’s Rainbow Dash?”

“After I do a few blood tests, and we’re sure that your body can handle the outside world again. If it makes you feel better, we’ll take off the leg wraps and see how your skin’s doing.” Dr. Horse answered.

“And Dash is asleep, don’t bother her.” Another nurse warned.

That annoyed her, “I’d like the bandages off, yes. Free movement is nice.”

“Let’s get you back in bed, then.” Tender motioned, offering her weight to support Sunset.

The pale girl sighed. Getting out of here wouldn’t be a one step solution, but it at least gave her time to figure things out. She allowed herself to lean on Tenderheart, making it far easier to maneuver with another guiding her. “How is Dash doing?”

“She’s stable.” The nurse smiled gently at her, “And resting. Her body’s fighting a small infection, but she’s handling it well.”

“So she’ll be fine?” Sunset asked again. Rainbow had looked pretty bad from what she had seen back at the hotel. Though to be fair, she hadn’t been looking too hot herself.

“The only thing that… Possibly might be damaged is her mind. She lost a lot of blood, and it’s possible that she may suffer some mental shortcomings for it, not to mention her own frostbite. ...She’ll survive, though.”

“How bad is the frost? ...Mental shortcomings?” Sunset’s eyes widened slightly.

“Not the worst case we’ve ever seen, but still pretty severe.” Tenderheart got to work on unwrapping her legs gently.

“Mental shortcomings, what does that mean?” Sunset asked again, more urgently. The idea of her friend being brain damaged from the ordeal only rattled her further, tears threatening to reemerge.

“The damage to her mind may cause some seizure episodes, and it appears Rainbow Dash may have lost her arms to the cold.” Tenderheart explained.

“W-what!?” Sunset gasped, standing up from the bed to move the curtain aside.

“No, my dear. It’s not good for you to see this…” Tenderheart grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.

“I saw her with a knife in her stomach. I can take it.” Sunset brushed her off, shoving the curtain aside. Rainbow had been dressed in a similar manner to her, a green tunic covering her. Her arms were lifted into the air, wrapped in similar layers of gauze. More bandages could be seen on her face and Sunset had a feeling that she’d find more under the gown if she checked. “...Dash.”

A wave of guilt washed forwards. ‘She’s here because of you.’

“...Let’s get you back into bed.” Tenderheart suggested again, pulling Sunset away softly.

Sunset’s attention was diverted to a table next to Dash’s bed, “What’s that?” An old leather bound book sat on the surface, a crest of some sort decorated the cover.

“...Hmm. I don’t know what that is. I don’t think her father was allowed in here yet, either.”

Sunset grabbed the book, flipping through a few pages, eyes widening, “...I’ll return to my bed now. This is mine. I simply mistook it for something else.”

“Alright then.” The nurse shrugged, helping Sunset to her bed. “Now, I’m going to be at the nurses’ station down the hall. If you need anything, just press this button.” She pointed to the button on the bed that simply read, ‘nurse’.

“Of course.” Sunset nodded, cracking open the book and began to read a foreword that had been scribbled onto the first page.

‘Greetings, Stanza. Sadly we simply did not have the time to talk at length, and there are so many things to speak of as well:’ Sunset could only assume this was Crescendo. ‘The full history of our people, our culture, abilities, and many more subjects that I have filled this book with. I have been searching for a proper successor for what feels like an eternity now. I’m very happy to have finally found one in you. Before you delve into this journal any further, I’m sure you’re worried about your friend. Worry not, page 394 contains one of our more advanced healing spells that you should be able to perform with relative ease. Outside of this, I recommend letting your new powers settle for some time. Your shift in arcane physiology may affect you otherwise. I wish you luck.’

Sunset smiled softly, appreciating the note and skipped forwards to the page in question. She scanned over it for a few minutes, feeling her heart sink a little. Knowing the pendent was a compound of multiple types of magic was one thing, but the spell on the page was one of the dark magic variety. One very similar to what brought her back it seemed. She frowned, remembering the last time she had wielded dark magic. The power. The pain. She shuddered at the memory, but glancing at Dash again…

Seizures. Lost her arms. Brain damage.

There was no debating. Sunset moved herself from the bed once more, walking over to Dash’s cot and took a deep breath. She held out her arms and gently set her hands over Dash’s midsection. She searched for the magic.

Nothing.

Sunset shut her eyes, growling. Where was it?

Something sparked inside her. Short, fleeting, but red hot.

Sunset thought back to another trip to the forbidden wing. “Light magic. Chaos magic. Dark magic.” She breathed, “Mind. Will. Emotion.” She dug into her memories, grabbing the first one that surfaced.

“No. You aren’t ready.”

Even after all this time, that still struck a chord in her. The spark ignited, flaring out through her as her hands illuminated in dark magic. Sunset pressed her hands down onto Rainbow, gritting her teeth, and weaving the spell across her form as the injuries began to heal.

It took a few more minutes before Sunset cut the spell. She felt drained again, emotionally and physically. The spell had taken a lot out of her and focusing on a particularly bitter memory wasn’t helping that much. Pulling back from the side of the bed, Sunset sighed, looking Dash over. Her breath suddenly hitched.

Nearly the same spell that had...shit.

Dash’s skin wasn’t regaining its hue from the frost. As a matter of fact, she began to pale. Sunset stared in morbid fascination as the blue skin began losing its color. Fascination turned to panic as it spread to her hair, the rainbow scheme washing out as the torn patches regrew - shorter now. The colors were getting harder to tell apart. Red and orange were hardly distinguishable between each other, green and purple both looked like varied shades of gray. The only clear colors still recognizable were blue and yellow, even then, still faded.

Sunset stumbled back, collapsing back on the bed, “...oh...Dash.” She winced. On one hand, the spell would save her from whatever was out of the hospital’s league to prevent and then some, but now they were both in the same boat.

With a resigned sigh, she looked away, not needing anymore guilt at the moment. She pulled herself back into a resting position and returned her attention to the book, “May as well start from the beginning.” She paused a few moments in however, glancing back at her right hand. “...” For a brief second, it began to glow that blue and black once more, the power returning to her senses. After the glow faded away, she returned her attention to the pages, however hesitantly.

Rainbow Dash awoke feeling light headed. Granted this wasn’t the first time she’d woke up in a bed feeling sick, but given how quickly the previous hours returned to her, it was particularly powerful. She shot up in her bed, “Sunset!”

“Easy, Rainbow!” The familiar voice came from her left.

Dash jerked her head to the left, eyes wide, “SUN-!” And her face managed to twist in both confusion and horror. First in seeing a girl that was not Sunset that sounded so similar, and second in seeing another one of those amulets. “AH!”

“No, no, Dash! Its me!” Still sounded like Sunset.

“...sunset?” She asked quietly. “What...happened?”

“A lot.” She rubbed her forehead, setting down the book she had been reading. “We’re gonna have a bit to discuss when we get out of here.”

Rainbow nodded, “Are you okay?”

Sunset blanked in response, “You wake up in a hospital bed and your first reaction is to ask if I’m okay?”

Dash shook her head, giving her a sad smile, “That’s how friendship works, Sun.”

She smiled, sending a thankful gaze over at her, “Thank you, really, and I am.”

Rainbow grinned, giving a thumbs up, freezing when she saw her own hand, “Wahhhh!”

“Yeah...there were...side effects.” Sunset sighed, “The nurse said that you were going to lose most of your arms to the frostbite, lost enough blood to threaten brain damage. I...found a healing spell and did what I could.”

Dash looked down at herself and examined her shortened hair to the best of her ability, “...this...how do I look?” She asked nervously.

Sunset offered a calm smile, “Still awesome.”

Any tension in Dash’s muscles relaxed as she laughed, “Well, thanks for fixing me. Brain damage would kinda suck.”

“I can imagine, and it's the least I could do after everything you’ve done for me. Again, sorry I wasn’t able to avoid this part.” She gestured to Dash.

“Better than losing arms.” Dash scoffed, “And I don’t look that bad really, not from what I can see...so, can we leave?”

Sunset closed her book, “Was waiting for you to wake up. Think I’ve managed to figure out how to work this thing.” She rubbed the gem with her thumb.

“Yeah, you gonna explain that part?” She shifted in place, pulling her covers down and sliding over to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Oh...right. I’m kind of a siren now.” She answered hesitantly.

“What?”

“Yeah, uh, let’s talk about this further at your house, okay?” Sunset sighed, “It's complicated.”

“When isn’t it?” She responded with another sigh. “So...we just gonna walk outta here?”

“Call a nurse, have us dismissed, get your dad to drive us back to your place I’m thinking.” Sunset pressed the call button.

“How are you going to do that?”

Sunset pat the book with a smile, “I’ve got us covered.”

It didn’t take long for a nurse to come in, “Can I help you? …” She paused, eyes widening as she looked over at Dash, “O-Oh my. Miss Dash, you’re awake!”

As soon as the words had left her mouth, her senses were met with what was easily the most beautiful tune she had ever heard. Things seemed to cloud around her, focusing in on the music intently.

She began to sway a little, her eyes glowing green.

“I’m going to need you to get Doctor Horse, and do forget what you saw in here.” The source of the singing requested.

Rainbow stared on, eyes wide.

“Yes, yes, I think it’s time that I got the doctor to see you.” The nurse nodded, turning around and heading out the door.

“Yeah...you’re gonna fucking explain that.” Dash blinked.

Sunset smiled a bit, admiring the pendant again, “I could get used to this.”

Dash sent Sunset an odd look, but smothered the feeling, deciding it wasn’t an issue.

Sunset relaxed on her cot, ready to start once more as soon as the doctor arrived.

“Nurse Snowheart was telling me that you needed to ask me something?” Dr. Horse asked as he walked through the door to their room, “And Dash, I see you’re awake.” He nodded, before doing a double-take, “Wait… What happened here?!” He asked.

“Now now Doctor Horse, no need to be worried. Everything is fine now.” Sunset smiled, music filling the room once more, “I just wished to make a few simple requests. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

“...Right.” He nodded, his movements forced and zombie-like, “What kind of requests?”

“Three simple little things. Firstly, alongside myself, you and your fellow staff will not speak about what happened here with Rainbow Dash. Secondly, I want any records of us being here today wiped from your records. Finally, we’ll be checking out now. Alright?”

Dash watched in fascination as the familiar look appeared in Horse’s eyes again. This wasn’t like the subtle push the Dazzlings had pulled in the lunchroom, this was more like at the finale. This was a siren at full power.

She couldn’t help herself, seeing Sunset with a mind control spell again. Dash shivered.

He nodded, “Yes. This will be forgotten entirely. There will be no need for paperwork for clearance, have a good night, ladies.” And with that, the doctor headed out of the room.

Sunset clapped her hands, “And that’s that.”

“What about clothes?” Dash asked.

“...I...uh, I only had the one pair…” Sunset muttered.

“...” Dash stared at Sunset for a moment before shrugging, “I’ll let you borrow some of mine. My dad probably brought some after all. He’s had his own hospital experiences in the past.” She nodded, getting up.

“Thanks.” She sighed in response, glad that she wouldn’t be stuck in the hospital gown, ‘Shame...I liked that jacket.’ They exited the room, making their way through the corridors of the hospital until they finally found their way to the nurse station.

“Dad!” Dash called when they got to the waiting room.

Blaze stood up rapidly from where he was sitting, nearly pushing the large suitcase next to him to the floor, “DASHIE?!” His eyes widened, looking between her and Sunset. “What the hell is going on?! You, you both just disappear, then I’m told you’re both dying, and you two just show up like nothing’s happened?!” His body was shaking, his expression somewhere between anger and fear.

Dash ran up to him, wrapping him in a hug. Sunset hung back, letting them have their moment, “I’m really sorry! We didn’t know what we were getting into!”

He held her tightly against him, “You two… You two really have some explaining to do!” He said more to Dash than to Sunset, “Where’s your doctor?”

“Uhh...dunno?” Dash grinned worriedly.

He sighed, “Is this some of that magic stuff you were telling me about?” Blaze asked. “And are you going to tell me why you look like this?”

“Yeah, but can we get some clothes first?” Dash chuckled nervously, “Things are a bit too breezy at the moment.”

Blaze blinked for a moment before letting go of her, “Ah! Right.” He wheeled the suitcase over to her, “Half of the clothes are yours, half are mine… Just, go get dressed, and I’ll meet you in the car.”

Dash grabbed two of her standard outfits and tossed a pair of clothes to Sunset, “See ya in a sec!” They both darted into the restroom, ditching their gowns and slipping out the front door, now dressed identically.

Blaze had pulled the car around to the front, waiting for them. “Thanks, Mr. Blaze.” Sunset sighed, collapsing inside the car, feeling, well, dead.

“...It’s nothing, I just wish I understood what’s going on.” He sighed, looking back at the two through the rearview mirror, “Let me drive you home, Sunset.”

“Actually dad, can she stay with us for a bit?” Dash interjected, “Her parents have been out of town for awhile on a trip and I don’t want her alone right now.”

Sunset flinched, unsure of implications that Dash making that up on the fly meant to her.

Blaze nodded, “I’m sure that’ll be fine. ...But I’d be out of the way when your mom gets here. Let me calm her down before she sees… the, uh, changes.” He sighed, “She’s going to be freaked out enough as it is.”

“Mom’s coming?” She blinked, hearing the news for the first time.

“Of course she is!” Blaze smiled softly at her, “You were in the hospital, I called her on the way over and she’s on a flight here as we speak.”

Dash smiled, “It’ll be great to see her again! ...you know, after the blustering anger of course.”

“So I guess we owe you that explanation, right?” Sunset glanced over at their driver.

“Yes, yes you do.” Blaze said, glancing at Sunset momentarily, “And I have a few questions.”

“What would you prefer first? Questions or explanation?”

“Explanation.” He said simply, “You might answer some questions on the way.”

Sunset nodded, “It started a few days ago…” She proceeded to give a rundown of the past few days. Anon-a-Miss, her friends leaving her sans Rainbow, Dash being pulled into the line of fire because of such, the incident in the gym, and what had happened at the hospital. “And that allowed me to...well, come back.” Sunset finished as Blaze parked in the driveway.

Blaze was silent for awhile, before turning off the car and pressing his face into his hands. “...I’m just glad you two are safe.” He said simply after a long pause, trying to process everything. “Well…” He sighed, “So the changes are from this dark magic spell thing, right?” He asked.

“That’s correct.” Sunset nodded, “It allowed me to heal Dash further than the nurses predicted she’d be able to on her own.”

“...Can you name everyone that attacked you?” Blaze frowned, looking over at the two.

Dash nodded, “I can...can we get them put away just based on our word? A-and what about the physical changes we went through?” Dash asked worriedly.

“I...I can’t get involved with Earth’s legal system.” Sunset shook her head.

“We should have plenty of information just based on Dash’s injuries and police record.” Blaze scowled, “They need to be punished for this.”

“So you can do this all with just Rainbow?” Sunset double checked.

“Yes, I’m not your legal guardian, so I can’t put your name out there.” Blaze said.

“Question.” Dash raised her hand, “What injuries? Sunset healed me so my brain wouldn’t be all messed up.”

“The ones you were admitted into the hospital for?” He half-asked, “That should be proof enough that they were there, as well as the police report.”

“The ones that were wiped from records so magic wouldn’t leak to the medical community?” Dash asked further.

“...” Blaze sighed, “Well, so much for suing their asses. That’ll only bring up questions.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, “Sorry. I...don’t really have any records.”

“What if we piggybacked off of human Sunset’s records?”

“No, Dash, I mean, there are no records. At all.” Sunset clarified. “I checked a few months back. According to legal documents, Sunset Shimmer doesn’t exist.”

Dash blinked, eyes wide.

“You don’t have parents here then, do you Sunset?” Blaze asked.

Sunset winced. She’d finally been pushed into a corner on the subject. Dash glanced over at her, having figured it out earlier, but wanting to cover for her until they were alone. Sunset looked down.

“No. I don’t.”

“Then, you don’t have a home either, do you?” Blaze continued.

“No.”

Dash exploded, “What the hell, Sunset?! How come you never told us?!” The idea that her friend had been homeless for all this time made her feel queasy.

“Because I made your lives hell for like three years?!” Sunset held herself, looking down out of guilt, “Because I didn’t want you worrying about me!”

“We...I would’ve let you stay here!” Dash laid a hand on her shoulder, “Right dad?”

“Yeah, we have an extra bedroom.” Blaze agreed.

Sunset held herself a little tighter.

“...dad, can you head inside? We...need to talk for a sec.” Dash sent him a pleading look.

“Alright.” He nodded, “I’ll… I’ll be on the couch, if you need me.” He got out of the car, heading into the house.

“...Sunset?”

“...”

“This is a pride thing, isn’t it?”

“I ran away from Equestria without so much as a goodbye.” Sunset muttered, “I thought I was ready to stand on my own, take on the world.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t accept a little help, Sunset.” Dash said softly.

“I antagonized you for over three years! I more or less ruined your life during that time, and the Fall Formal-”

“Was in the past!” Dash interrupted, “The past doesn’t matter! I don’t care who you were! It's who you are. Here, now.” She smiled, pulling Sunset into a hug, “And that’s my friend. My best friend.”

“...” Sunset shivered for a moment, feeling a few tears leak out as everything started to catch up with her.

“Come on. Let's get some rest and talk in the morning...uh, well morning morning.” Dash chuckled, it being almost 7:00.

Sunset sniffled, “Y-yeah. Let’s.”

Dash opened the door of the car, and gestured Sunset to follow. “...so, Gilda’s not gonna get away with this shit is she?”

Instantly, Sunset’s watery eyes turned to ones of fiery determination, “Like hell she will. We’re gonna find a way to take her and everyone else down. By any means necessary.”

“Awesome.”

Author's Note

Congratulations to Architect Ironturtle for getting the last chapter. Constellations - Aviators.

Page 394, Paragraph 1

Our people have managed to twist magic in many ways it has never meant to turn. In the past, we have seen magic used for very few purposes other than offense. However, we have found ways, while not perfect, to use healing spells. We never would have expected that this magic of darkness could be used in such wonderful ways. We may be able to save so many of our kin with this and variations made to with it. Our future shines brighter with each passing day! I've recorded the spell bellow for quick reference in the case that a medic is not nearby. Though I hope it won't be needed often.

So, gonna be trying something new from this point onwards. Each A/N will now contain an excerpt from Crescendo's journal. Hopefully this will serve as a tiny window into a deeper lore that I hope to build here and there.

7 - Sometimes I Give Myself The Creeps

Rainbow laughed as Applejack cracked another joke about ‘that darn chemistry teacher’. Sunset lifted her head up. She was sitting in the CHS lunch room, cafeteria slop in front of her and the other girls.

“What?” She muttered in confusion.

“Ya okay there, Sunset?” Applejack asked, glancing over, “Ya nodded off.”

“Huh? Oh...I guess so.” Sunset muttered, staring back in surprise. “Think I was daydreaming.”

“Well try and stay focused, could ya? We gotta be ready for the Battle!” Dash pounded a fist into her palm.

“The Battle?” Sunset paused. This was feeling too familiar now.

“Yeah! The Battle of the Bands! The sirens!” Dash made a face.

Sunset’s eyes widened, shaking her head, and standing with a start. Her head whipped around, searching for something to read, a clock. The one on the fair right read as 1:30. She looked away and glanced back. 7:49. “Dream.” She sighed, in both relief and regret, shaking off the feeling. Just a dream.

“Or nightmare.” Another voice countered, Sunset face planting into concrete as the dreamscape shifted around her. “Pick your poison.”

With a groan, she pulled herself back to her knees. Her heart sank as she realized where she now was. In front of her stood the girls, led by Princess Twilight, all of them staring defiantly up at something behind her, decked out in dresses.

‘Don't look. It doesn't exist in the dream if you don't look.’

“It? That's just mean.” The echoing voice responded, “And no way to think of yourself.”

That made Sunset frown, a surge of confidence flowing over her, “You're not m-!” And that confidence quickly faded as she spun on a heel, faltering under the burning gaze of the red-skinned monster.

“What a cliche response.” The demon laughed with a lazy smirk, hovering in the air weightlessly.

“What do you want?” Sunset asked, trying to muster up that courage once more. She glanced back at the girls, or rather their mental projections. They seemed to be frozen in time, still as death.

“Relax, they’re not going to interrupt us.” The demon responded. “Come on, why the questions? I was hoping you’d be happy to see me again.” The smirk widened into a full toothy grin and laugh.

“Why in Tartarus would I be happy to see you!?” Sunset turned back, anger replacing the fear. At least that she could work with.

“Easy with the self-hate, Shimmy.” She held up her claws in mock offense, “Or is it Stanza now?” Another laugh, “Queen. Oh please, you couldn’t lead a band let alone a species.”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Sunset snapped back, face flushing as she realized she had agreed to the insult as well as the observation.

“Well, duh, I said it.” She responded, tauntingly.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Another cliche response.” A roll of soulless black eyes followed that, “I know you aren’t afraid. What was it? ‘I’m in a much better place now?’ So much better.” She deadpanned.

“You’re not real!” Sunset fired again, “You’re just my guilt!”

The figure tapped a finger to her chin, “Guilt? Well that’s certainly a possibility, but I think there’s more to it than just that. You’re thinking too narrowly.”

“What do you want?” She curled her hands into fists, clenching her teeth as she stared herself down.

The demon smiled, as if she were a teacher whose student had just asked the right question. “You tell me.”

“If I knew, why would I ask you?” Sunset was rapidly losing patience with the being.

“Why would I exist if you didn’t create me? Give me purpo-”

“The crown created you!” Sunset shifted gears into annoyance as the monster devolved into a fit of laughter, seeming to honestly find that funny.

“Oh Sunset, Sunset, Sunset.” She shook her head, “You and I, or rather you and you, know that’s anything but the truth. A magical artifact cannot create sentience from nothing. You already said it, I’m not real, right?”

“...” Sunset paused now, going over the facts and trying to figure this out. If she wanted to hurt her, she’d have down so by now, right?

“That’s right.” She smirked, as if answering her mental question. “Oh, I am. In your head, remember?”

Sunset blanched further, “...oh. Comforting.”

“I don’t appreciate that you constantly refer to me as ‘monster’ by the by. That’s unhealthy.”

“Is that a threat from someone that isn’t real?” She accused, glaring.

“No, not really. Just wondering why you keep insulting yourself.” The demon leaned back, examining her claws, trying to look innocent.

“Mysel-what?! You’re not m-”

“I heard you earlier. Blah blah blah, you’re not me, denial, thee art thou, stupid looking boss.” She waved, “Look, as cute as it is to watch you constantly deny it, put the puzzle together already.” She landed on the ground, walking up to Sunset, who promptly took several steps back. “We’re in your head. I am not a separate entity. We’re having an eloquent conversation.” She leaned down, getting eye to eye with the shorter girl, “Meaning?”

“...” Sunset froze, “You’re a manifestation of more than just my guilt. Y-you’re-”

“Less a projection of simple guilt, and more of a compilation of all your self-defined ‘worst qualities’.” She nodded, “The manipulation, the severance, the thievery, the lies, everything. A kind of ‘Sunset Shimmer’s Greatest Hits’.” She leaned back up, growling, “But you changed, didn’t you? Not just now physically, but as a person.” This was said more mockingly.

“I-I did! I’m past all that!”

“No you aren’t! You’ve just turned a blind eye towards yourself and used me as a canvas for it all! You’re distancing yourself from your own actions, running away again.” The sneer deepened.

“That’s...not true.” Sunset shook her head weakly, hardly able to even sound convincing.

“You and I are one and the same. You understand that, you just won’t admit it.”

Sunset didn’t respond, shaking slightly.

The streak of red in the her double’s flaming hair flickered, marginalising and becoming mostly blue. “...” She looked up at it, “Well, I suppose that’s a start.”

“I never said anything!” Sunset defended manically.

“No, but your mind shifted its stance. You can’t hide anything from yourself. Not in here.” She shook her head, pausing, “...you’re still afraid of it. Even after it saved the life of both you and Rainbow Dash.”

“...dark magic.” Sunset winced, “It resulted in you after all.”

“Because you didn’t understand how to use it.”

“I won’t let it take control of me again!” Sunset earned a bop on the head for that. She blinked dumbly, staring back at the figure.

Demonset stared back boredly, “Because you didn’t understand how to use it. Learn...and seriously? ‘Demonset’?”

“What do you want me to call you?!” Sunset snapped, angered and stressed.

Now laughter. She definitely swapped emotions as fast as a Sunset. “It's just cheesy. Though considering where we’re from, I suppose that’s a given.”

The two stood in awkward silence for a moment.

“So...you don’t want to...take over or something?” Sunset asked, wanting to be absolutely sure.

“I’m. Not. Real.” She repeated slowly. “Any actions that were out of your control after you put on the crown was you losing your shit from being overwhelmed by the new, volatile type of magic. You weren’t ready for it and lost control of your emotions, and by extension powers, when Sparkle started giving her little friendship speech.”

“Yeah. Not ready.” Sunset grumbled in response.

“Oh shut up. This isn’t the time to pout.” Demonset flicked her on the nose.

“!” Sunset frowned back, swatting the arm away, “So what...don’t be afraid of you?”

“Oh no, you should definitely be afraid of me! The idea of me at the very least.” She grinned, “Use dark magic to this extent without any training and you’ll lose control again at the slightest provocation!” Demonset laughed, “Who knows what you’ll do without the girls to stop you?”

Sunset deflated as the thought struck her. Dash laying on the ground, body cooked to a crisp. She wobbled on her feet, looking sick.

“Unless, of course, you read through Crescendo’s big book of magic and learn a bit about it? Practice, learn, and maybe work your way back up to all this.” She shrugged nonchalantly, gesturing to herself much like how one would present a fine piece of clothing, “Otherwise you can just live your life in fear of losing control one day and killing everyone around you.”

“What an option.” Sunset sneered heavily.

“Hey, not exactly what I want either. Granted what you put on me says I do want that. Not sure what’s true.” She laughed, hovering again. “Now wake up and get your ass to work. Dash is gonna have questions for you!”

The world quaked around her, a sure sign that the dream was ending.

“So learning this power will get rid of you?” Sunset raised an eyebrow, swallowing the nausea.

“The fear of me maybe.” She shrugged, “The guilt and shame? Well, that’s gonna take a bit more work. Though if you’d like my advice-”

“Not really.”

“-Keep in mind that four of the assholes behind you didn’t even want to hear your side of the story a few days ago~” With a wink, the world faded out.

Sunset stretched, sitting up in the bed. She glanced around, eyelids hanging low. Across the room, Rainbow Dash lay passed out on a couch, snoring loudly. That proved as a nice counterbalance to what she had just gone through in her dreams. With a sigh, Sunset swung her legs out and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her face.

With a snort and a slight cough, Rainbow shook herself awake, “Wha-huh? Oh, Sunset! You’re awake!” She hopped up, shaking off any remains of her sleep. “How’d you sleep?”

“Uh...could be better, but all things considered? Not bad.” She sighed.

“Okay, good. Now could you explain what happened last night?!” Sunset had to flinch back from the exclamation, it came so hard and fast.

“Well...I think I died, Rainbow…” Sunset bit her lip, taking a moment to really think over everything.

Dash slunk back in her seat, looking at her friend with a dead look, “...but you’re right here. I-I’m talking to you.”

“Yeah. I was resuscitated.” She clasped her hands together, “I met someone up there.”

“Up there?...as in like heaven? The afterlife?” The dead stare deepened.

“Not quite. It was an...in between of sorts. She called it ‘rented space’. Queen Crescendo.” She stated the name to avoid having to play the pronoun game, “She made me a deal to come back.”

Dash ran a hand through her hair, looking beyond nervous, “So the deal was to make you a siren?!”

“Queen.” She added, “The deal was to be her successor.”

“...what does that mean?”

“The Dazzlings are dying.” Came the blunt response.

“...” Dash sunk back in the couch to the point that Sunset worried she may disappear into the cushions, “D-dying? I...I thought all we did was break their pendants! Stop their evil plan!”

“I did too. Until I met Crescendo that is. Apparently those pendants, their ‘Hearts’, do more than absorb negative energy. They were keeping them alive all this time.” Sunset tensed a bit, squeezing her hands together.

“That thing isn’t keeping you alive is it?” Dash asked quietly, a tense silence beginning to descend on them.

“No, no. Crescendo brought me back through other means. This Heart is purified from the original curse it would seem, so I won’t be feeding off of any strife with it. In fact, the book says that it won’t even cause discord unless I so desire.” She glanced back at the bedside table.

“What book?” Dash followed her gaze. The leather book sat perched near the bed, page folded where Sunset had paused in reading last night.

“It was in the hospital room when I woke up. Crescendo sent it with me to help me understand anything I needed to.” She nodded. “I think it was her old journa-....JOURNAL!” Sunset shot up, scanning the room in a panic before she spotted the book over on Rainbow’s dresser. She shot over to it and began scribbling in it furiously with a nearby pen.

“Your book?” Dash glanced over, flinching lightly from Sunset’s flailing.

“Twilight! We can get Twilight involved!” Sunset exclaimed, “All I have to let her know is that we got injured and she’ll be over in no time!”

“How can Twilight help with all this?” Dash frowned, unsure.

“I don’t know, but hell, wouldn’t you want one more by our side during this?” Sunset looked over, a hint of desperation in her eyes, “We can’t go after them legally because not only did I wipe the records of our visit, good job me, but there’s no record of a Sunset Shimmer anywhere.”

“...why is that?”

“I don’t know...perhaps something to look into later?”

“Yeah, but Gilda and them don’t know that!” Dash shot back, “What if...I dunno. Pull a ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’?”

“A what?” Sunset blanked.

“You know what? Scratch that, bad analogy.” Dash backtracked, realizing Sunset wouldn’t get the joke. After all, if she had been homeless all this time, what were the chances she’d seen a cruddy horror movie from 1997? “My point is, what if we sent her an unsigned note? ‘We know what you did’ or something?”

“I…” Sunset pursed her lips, looking down at the book. Nothing yet. Twilight just needed time, it was still early.

“We could...hmm.” Dash hummed.

“It needs to wait.”

“What?!” Dash shot up again, “What do you mean it needs to wait! She killed us! You! Ugh!”

“Part of my promise to come back was to save the other sirens. To give them Hearts like the one I was given.” Sunset looked down, brushing a thumb over her gem.

“Wait. You’re gonna give them their powers back?” Dash’s eyes dilated.

“I can’t let them die, Rainbow. Even with that they were trying to do along with surviving, they don’t deserve death.” Sunset looked back up, finality in her eyes.

“...well...yeah.” Dash bit her lip, looking away. “It's just...after everything they di-...” She clenched her fists, “If they promise to stop, I can give them the benefit of the doubt.” She looked back up, nodding solidly.

Sunset smiled, seeing the change of emotions on Rainbow’s face. “Almost called you out for being a hypocrite.” She joked.

“Hey. I’m learning, aren't I?” Dash grinned broadly, “Though seriously. If they still plan to do whatever after you fix them…”

“Right. Then let’s hope they’re reasonable.” Sunset sighed, “...where are we even going to start looking?”

“Well, let’s narrow down some ideas.” Dash shrugged. “Would they have left Canterlot?”

“Without a way to bum a ride or place to stay off someone? No. Without their powers, they’d probably still be hiding out somewhere.” Sunset shook her head.

“So familiar territory for you then?”

Sunset’s eyes lit up, “I have an idea! They need a way to eat, literal food that is, so where would they need to go for free food?”

“Soup kitchen!” Rainbow realized, “Isn’t there one in North Canterlot?”

“Used to hang around there during freshman year.” Sunset admitted with a light blush.

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan then!” Dash clapped her hands together with a grin.

“I think we should stop by a clothing store first. Grab something else. Even if everyone’ll be in school for a bit longer…” Sunset winced, “Maybe it’d be best that we didn’t stand out?”

Dash tilted her head in consideration, “Yeah, guess so. Sucks. I liked these clothes. Besides, you don’t look half bad!” She teased.

“Didn’t say you had to burn them or something.” Sunset waved, “We just need to blend into the crowd. Don’t need attention on ourselves yet.”

“So is that what that name thing was about then?” Rainbow asked.

“Huh?” Sunset blinked.

“Stanza. You mentioned it in the car.” She thumbed over her shoulder, as if pointing at it.

“Oh, that. I forget how different Earth’s customs are at times.” Sunset laughed, scratching the back of her head.

“To echo you...huh?”

“Ponies are born with given names, however given the naming conventions of Equestria, it's very common for one to change part or all of their name after getting their cutie marks. In some cases it's not necessary because the name may be general enough. Like...Rainbow Dash?” She smirked.

Dash blinked, hand raising to her hair, “I see your point there.”

“Equestrian names don’t hold the same meaning or gravity as they do here on Earth, right?” She tilted her head.

“Well, yeah. People do change their names now and again, but it's pretty rare. You gotta go to the mayor, pay a fee, do a buncha paperwork.” Dash rolled her eyes, “Though since you don’t have papers anyways, you’d be free to do whatever with your identity.”

“...maybe you should consider something similar.”

“What, changing my name?” Rainbow scoffed, “I kinda like being Rainbow Dash.”

“Right. I didn’t mean full on changing your name, but an alias might help.” Sunset shrugged.

“An alias?” Dash blinked in confusion, “If I look different, why would I-”

“That’s why you should. Yeah, no one will recognize you, but if they hear me call you Rainbow Dash?” She shrugged, “Kinda out the window.”

“...yeaahhhh.” She winced, “I guess I’ll...think of something. So I guess that means I’m calling you Stanza in public? That’ll take some getting used to.” Dash scratched the back of her head, “Hell, all of this will.”

“Tell me about it. For now though, we just have to work through it.” She nodded towards the door, “C’mon.”

The two were stopped by Rainbow Blaze in the living room, “You two aren’t going back to the school, are you?” He looked tired. Tired and beyond worried.

“We need to go looking for someone in North Canterlot. Can we take the car?” Dash asked, shuffling on her feet.

Blaze sighed, fishing a cell phone from his pocket, “Take my cell too. Keep it on you until we can get you a new one. Please. Be safe.” He gave her a sad look and pulled her into a hug.

Dash gladly returned it, “We’re on guard now. Promise, dad. We’ll be back in no time.”

“You better. Or your mother will kill both of us.” He chuckled lightly. “Be back in…”

Dash glanced at Sunset, “3 hours?”

Sunset nodded, “That’ll work. We’ll be back in three hours, Mr. Blaze.”

He let Rainbow go, “Okay. Try not to scare me again, okay?”

Dash nodded, rubbing her arm, “Promise.”

“Okay, then you two get going. Just take care of yourselves.”

“We will. I have no intention to let Dash get hurt again.” Sunset nodded with certainty.

“And I won’t let Sunset get hurt either!” Dash pounded a fist to her palm, “...though we won’t go looking for trouble.” She clarified before heading out the door with Sunset, keys in hand.

“What do you mean they’re not here!?” A blue fist pounded the office desk. The nurse behind it flinched at the anger.

“I’m sorry, Miss Shade, but no one under those names were ever admitted here. No files at all.” Snowheart frowned, shaking her head.

“Impossible. We were there last night. We made the call to the police. We saw them!” Starry Skies insisted. Blitz stood back, keeping an eye out for familiar faces. They’d all cut class and preferred to not get caught. Now seeing that they may have come here for nothing, nerves were fraying.

“Look. I’d like to help you, dears, really I would. However, we have nothing on a Sunset Shimmer or Rainbow Dash in the system. I see that you’re worried, but maybe they were taken to another hospital?”

“The officer said they were going here!” Nightshade insisted.

Blitz bounced on her heels, starting to get nervous, “C’mon girls. Let’s….let’s just leave. We’re not getting anywhere.”

“Ze...Blitz, are you crazy?” Nightshade turned to glare, “We need to make sure they’re okay!”

“And they might not be here! Let’s go get the other girls or something and see if we can’t find something as a group.” The lightning haired girl insisted.

Starry snapped her fingers, “They were Wondercolts, right? Nightshade, maybe your brother knew them!”

Shade blinked, eyes widening, “Starry, you’re a genius!” Whipping out her keys, the bluenette grabbed Starry by the wrist and pulled her out the door, Blitz following.

“Woo! Maybe my BFF will be there!” She skipped after them.

“So this is the place?” Dash asked, climbing out of the car. The stop at the strip mall had been easy and uneventful. Dash had traded in her clothes for a dark red t-shirt, flat purple hoodie, a pair of jeans, and some dark hi-tops. She had been sending Sunset a bit of a stink eye after leaving though. Taking the clothes for free on the count of siren powers didn’t really sit well with her.

Sunset pulled herself out of the car, stretching. “Yep, I’d know that potato soup anywhere.” She snickered. With her signature leather jacket ensemble long bloodied and gone, Sunset’s new look consisted of a licensed Shadowbolt hoodie (that had gotten a look from Rainbow), yellow tee with some sort of jagged pattern stamped across the front that resembled a face, a black skirt with fire nipping at the bottom corner, and a pair of boots that looked just a little too familiar for Rainbow’s taste. All in all, she was looking rather happy with herself.

“So do we just expect to find them chilling out in there?” Dash asked, a little disbelievingly.

“As idyllic as that would be, unlikely.” Sunset nodded, “What I’m hoping for is that we can catch wind of someone that may recognize them.” She scanned the room as she walked in the front door. All things considered, the place had a cheery atmosphere, and wasn’t that heavily populated at the moment. Between it still being school hours and Canterlot’s below average poverty level, this wasn’t too surprising.

“Excuse me?” Dash strolled up to one of the women behind the counter, “Can you help us? We’re looking for someone.”

The woman cast a doubtful glance at her, observing her well kept appearance (for Rainbow Dash at least). “That right?”

“I’m sorry, miss, but it's very important that we know if you’ve seen any of them.” Stanza made her way up with her.

“And who might you two be?” She crossed her arms, “Some Crystal Prep kids playing hooky?”

Rainbow didn’t get a chance to utter her angry retort thanks to Sunset’s hand, “My name is Stanza.”

Her blank stare clearly meant she wanted to know Dash too.

“Marred!” Dash exclaimed, throwing her hand away, “Marred, uh...Spectrum!” She smiled innocently.

“I’m not buying it. If you kids wanna stir up trouble, try it with the more fortunate.”

Sunset frowned, “Miss-”

“Do I need to call the cops?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Rainbow shivered as she watched another person fall under the siren’s song. “Just let me ask you a question. Have you seen any of these three girls? Purple, blue, or yellow. Pig tails, pony tail, or…”

“Fluffy.” Dash supplied.

“Fluffy. Have you seen anything like that?”

“There’s a few girls that come and go, no blue or yellow besides you two, but there’s a purple girl that comes in every few days. Aria.” She said flatly, eyes unfocused.

“Aria?” Dash tilted her head.

Stanza grinned, nodding, “Thank you.” The red glow ceased and the woman shook her head, setting a hand to her temple. “Now we just need to find-”

A clatter came from behind them. Dash was the first one to spin on a heel. Behind them stood a lilac girl with long purple hair streaked with aquamarine. The three stared for a few tense moments.

Aria blinked, glancing down at the tray on the floor, up to Rainbow, over to Sunset, back to the server, and landing on the red pendent around Stanza’s neck. She blinked again.

“...Aria?” Stanza asked carefully.

“How?” Came the croaky reply. Getting a good look at her now, Sunset could see that the ex-siren was in bad shape. Her eyes were sunken back, black crescents circling underneath them, and body looking pale and lithe.

“What?” Dash replied first, blinking dumbly at the awful shape the girl was in. Her clothes were hanging loosely off her torso, almost as if she hadn’t been eati-yikes.

“How...how can there…” Aria took a shaky step forwards, now looking at Stanza like she was a ghost, a pillar of sand threatening to blow away in the wind. She tripped over herself, hands landing on her shoulders and hanging off her weakly. “Another...another siren?”

Aria hadn’t left much of an impression on Sunset during the Battle of the Bands. She had stuck to the back and mostly told the blue one, Sonata, to shut up and the like. She hadn’t even heard the girl’s name til just now. Even still, the attitude she was showing now was vastly different from what she did recall. Hesitantly, she laid her hands on Aria’s arms, helping to keep somewhat upright, “Yes, another siren.”

“Hey...where are the other two of you guys?” Dash spoke up.

Aria blinked from her awed stare, looking over at the other, as if just realizing she was there, “...they...Adagio can’t leave the apartment. Too weak. Sonata won’t come out of her room. Keeps crying.”

Stanza froze. She had already noticed the all too familiar look of desperation plastered across the girl's face, the faint glimmer of hope. Hearing this made her feel sick, a wall of guilt coming down on her. Yes the Dazzlings had attempted to hypnotize the entire school, but...but so had she. “Where are they? I ca-I can help!”

The urgency and promise of assistance seemed to snap Aria out of her daze, “Yes. Yes! C’mon, follow me!” Adrenaline now rushing through her, the thin girl took off in a sprint out the door, Rainbow and Sunset in hot pursuit.

The two steeled themselves, unsure of whatever they’d find at this apartment, but it sounded like there was still time. All they needed now was a little magic...this was going to be a fun explanation.

Author's Note

Today's shoutout goes to NebulaNyx for Vance Joy's Riptide.

Page 987, Paragraphs 2 & 3

Sadly that is not all that occurred today. I witnessed something awful. Something I know i will come to witness again and again and again now. Operetta died today. I have heard of other starving already, those that have already wasted away, but I had hoped that maybe returning to corporeal foods was helping some, but it seems that all it has done is prolonged the suffering, dragging a month into two. Of course, we'll all do so, all that have some level of hope in surviving peacefully. No creature on Terra would simply allow themselves to die if any hopes of prolonging their lives sat before them.

We will not falter under Tirek's curse, we will not be his master's toys in this immortal game between gods. My people are stronger than that. Even so, some have fallen, left in search of this negative energy. I cannot blame them though. As I said, hopes of prolonging their lives. I hope they're okay.

Yo everyone. Dash here, or Marred as I'll now be known to the public. Uria's a bit beat from finishing the rest of the chapter at 6 in the mornin', so that's why I'm here!

And I'm here to keep you in line.

Oi. Anyways, thanks for dropping by to read, everyone! We'll be seeing you in the next chapter!

Or sooner if we highjack his account again. Hmm hmm.

8 - You Make Your Mistakes But Its Never Too Late

The walk, well more of a run, to the Dazzling’s apartment was a lot quieter than expected. For as bad a condition she was in, that hope spot for Aria must’ve had some serious adrenaline in it. The girl could run.

Stanza was keeping up well enough, a serious expression plastered across her face. She was intent on righting this today.

Marred on the other hand looked nervous, eyes darting around in worry. North Canterlot was the more built-up, city-like area, so the kind of apartment that the Dazzlings could afford to live at wasn’t much to look at. In fact, she was wondering if whether or not this was the place where that meth dealer had been arrested the year previous.

The building wasn’t derelict per se, Canterlot was not Detrot, but the red bricked building wasn’t in the best condition. Aria led them up the front steps and into the building proper, jogging down a dimly lit hallway and to a door at the end of it.

“This is it.” Aria nodded, fumbling with a key.

“You guys are living here?” Marred looked around, still feeling nervous. This wasn’t the kind of place the average teenage girl felt very comfortable in.

“We don’t really have an income right now.” Aria croaked, “And without our Hearts, we can’t get anything nicer. Only reason we have this is because the landlady took pity on how pathetic we are right now.”

“That sounds...pretty bad.” She muttered in response. ‘Great, now I’m feeling guilt. Not what I needed today.’

“Some high school pricks broke them.” Aria frowned as she turned the lock, though pausing under Stanza’s searching gaze, “Though, we may have gotten a little carried away in gathering energy. B-but!” She was quick to defend the three of them, “After having nothing for so long, can you really blame us?”

“No. I suppose not.” Stanza shook her head, “Trust me, I know what it's like to have nothing.”

“Well, I’m sure. I doubt Crescendo chose someone innocent as her successor.” Aria pushed the door open, motioning the other two inside.

Stanza stammered lightly at that before collecting herself and entering the room. The room was dark, curtains drawn. The door down the short hall to what must’ve been the bedroom was shut tight. A television could faintly be heard inside.

Marred shrugged, following her friend in, sending Aria a curious glance, “Whaddya mean by that?”

“Can’t have someone who doesn’t know how to play hard ball running the sirens. We’re a cursed species that feeds off hate and sadness.” Aria said simply.

“Well trust me, Stanza knows ‘the game’ better than anyone.” She nodded after a moment, “I think I’ve been picking it up a little over the past few days too.”

“I’m guessing you know about all this magic shit too, then?” Aria asked Marred.

As the two chatted, Stanza saw Adagio pull herself up from where she was bundled on the couch, looking at the three drearily.

Stanza looked the poofy girl over. The image of the smug, bitchy leader of the Dazzlings seemed so distant now. Adagio looked, in a word? Pathetic, not unlike someone that had lost days of sleep while having the flu. Her eyes were sunken in, much like Aria’s with dark circles under each and a pale, clammy complexion. She wasn’t quite sure what to say as Aria shut the door behind them.

Adagio blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the dreariness she felt. “...Aria?” She asked, catching the other girl’s attention.

“Hey, I got us some help, don’t worry.” Aria said, kneeling over by the couch.

“Some...help?” Adagio asked, giving the purple siren a dubious look.

“Adagio...right?” Stanza stepped back into view, closer to the couch. Technically she did know Adagio’s name, but had only heard it in passing and had never addressed any of the three by name during the previous debacle.

“Yes… Who-” Adagio’s eyes locked onto the amulet around the other girl’s neck, widening in anticipation. With a weak smile, she reached up and squeezed Aria’s shoulder, “Good job.”

Aria nodded, “Yeah, well. Let’s get you your Heart back.”

Adagio flinched, “No, no, I think one of you two should-”

“Listen. Sonata and I can still leave, but if you can’t even get your ass off of that couch, you need to be helped first.”

Stanza nodded, “I’ll be able to make amulets for all of you, but it’ll take a bit of time. This first one will drain me a bit. Adagio first then?”

“Yes.” Aria said immediately, “She’s the worst off. Sonata and I can hold on for now.”

She nodded, clasping her hands and closing her eyes. Marred looked over as her friend’s hands began to glow that dark cyan again, the hard red crystal of an amulet beginning to form between her fingers. Aria seemed to relax as she watched the Heart beginning to take shape in Stanza’s hands. Beads of sweat had visibly formed on her forehead by the time she was done, leaning against the couch for support. Marred hopped over, making sure she was okay.

“Wow...so that’s how much magic one of these has.” She breathed in slight awe, her own gem glowing in harmony around her neck.

“...You really are our new queen.” Aria nodded to herself, looking over at Stanza with relief flooding her expression, “Though, that doesn’t change the fact we’re still kinda stuck here on Earth.”

“What’s keeping you here?” Spectrum asked, “Just run through the portal and hope Sparkle’s not in her...lab or whatever.” Stanza handed the gem off to Adagio, smiling a bit.

“No way.” Aria said quickly. “We’re weak enough as it is right now, but there’s not just one princess guarding that portal. Those CHS pricks were the ones who broke our amulets in the first place.”

“Mmm, yeah, CHS, what assholes, right?” Marred frowned heavily.

Stanza took a few breaths, righting herself, “Then if anything, take time to reacquaint yourselves.” She looked to Adagio, “After all, I’m not here to return a burden.”

“Then… You can lift the curse?” Adagio asked, incredulous. Stanza simply gestured to the Heart that Adagio was currently holding.

Adagio eagerly clasped the Heart around her neck, already starting to feel the power rushing back to her just by having it close. She took a sigh of relief when it was finally back in place, the dark magic rejuvenating her strength. The knaw of panging hunger dissipated from her very core, a heavy weight resending from her shoulders.

“So how do ya feel?” Marred tilted her head.

“Back to how things were.” Adagio smirked and lifted herself from the couch, her usual confident gait returned as she put a hand on her hip, “And cured, of course.”

While Adagio was having her little celebratory brag, Aria called into the hallway, “Sonata! The queen’s here to have tea and crumpets!”

There was a long pause.

“...What?” Sonata poked her head out of the room with her eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not in the mood, Aria!” From what could be seen from the cracked door and into the darkened room, Sonata’s hair was a bird’s nest and her eyes were bloodshot, face reddened slightly.

“No, seriously. Get out here, I’ve found some help.” Aria said, motioning to the now radiant Adagio.

“Help with what?” Came the equally annoyed response.

“Our Hearts, Sonata.” Aria said, “I found our new siren queen.”

“...you’re motioning to Adagio, I know she acts like it all the time, but-ADAGIO’S UP!” She shot out of the room and over to the fluffle, looking worried, “Are you okay!? You shouldn’t be moving around so much! Are you cold?!”

Stanza and Marred shared a look, collectively glancing at Aria, who sighed in annoyance.

“Look, Sonata.” Adagio took over, holding up her Heart for Sonata to see. “I’m more than just fine.”

“...h-how?” Sonata stared, “B-but the pieces were...our Hearts...how did…” The girl was clearly tongue tied to the highest degree.

Aria pointed a thumb at Stanza, “I told you, Sonata, I found our new queen. ...Or rather, she found me.”

“Hi there, I’m Stanza.” She waved, right before being glomped by Sonata.

“OH MY GOSH YOU’RE THE NEW QUEEN YOU HELPED ADAGIO CAN YOU HELP ALL OF US THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!”

“Oookay, come here!” Aria growled, grabbing Sonata and yanking her off of Stanza.

Stanza laughed awkwardly, “Heh heh, thanks.”

“So, Stanza, was it?” Adagio asked, hips swaying as she stepped towards her, “Where are you from?”

Spectrum made a noise, cutting Stanza off, “Really, you’re doing this now?”

Adagio blinked, “Doing what?”

She gestured to Adagio, “That! What, you putting the moves on her?”

Stanza blushed brightly, “Marred!”

“...You gestured to all of me.” Adagio responded flatly.

“Yeah. All of you, but the swinging gait especially!”

“Marred.” Stanza dragged a hand down her face.

“That’s how I walk!” Adagio defended, frowning.

Sonata giggled, “Yeah! Even without our Hearts Adagio has been able to have some guys ‘under her spell’!”

Spectrum’s face lit up.

Adagio smirked, “Well, it’s what I do.” She paused, before realizing something, “...But, still, where are you two from?”

“Yeah, like, no offense, but I doubt Crescendo would choose just some human to take her place.” Aria crossed her arms, steadying herself against the wall.

“Oh, none taken.” Stanza’s eye twitched lightly.

“So what’s your story? Where you from? What’s with the scar?” Sonata hopped forwards again.

“Uhh...hey! Who wants pizza?” Spectrum grinned, “Our treat.” Several stomachs growled in time.

“Rainbow Dash wasn’t in class today.” Fluttershy got right to the point once the final bell had rung. All four of them had gathered around the statue, their usual meeting point. “And the team had practice this morning.”

“Beyond that. Sunset wasn’t anywhere on campus either.” Rarity muttered in suspicion.

“Anon-ah-Miss hasn’ posted today, either.” AJ nodded, “So… Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Maybe they’re out gathering dirt!” Rarity accused.

“But Rainbow has never missed practice before…” Fluttershy pointed out, tapping her fingers together.

“Actually… Yeah, that is weird… But hey, she’s probably spending it with Sunset, so whatever.” Pinkie sighed.

“Girls, what if something’s wrong? Rainbow doesn’t miss sports practice.”

Applejack scoffed, “So what? She prob’ly figures missin one practice won’t kill ‘er.”

Fluttershy sighed, ducking her head as AJ seemingly would not be swayed.

“She’ll be back tomorrah, Fluttershy.” AJ assured, leaning back on the statue.

Fluttershy sighed, “Yeah...maybe…”

Meanwhile, inside CHS’s library, three certain freshmen were gathered around the school’s computers. “Rainbow Dash didn’t show up for practice today.” Scootaloo frowned, “Either of you seen her?”

“Not me.” Sweetie shook her head.

“I don’ really pay attention to Rainbow that much, Scoots.” Apple Bloom shrugged.

“Yeah, me neither, why?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“She’s never missed practice. Period.” Scootaloo sighed, crossing her arms.

“Sunset didn’ show up either. Was hopin’ she jus took the hint.” Apple Bloom added, “Ya don’t think Dash went with her...wherever she went, do ya?”

“No, no, Rainbow woulda dropped her by now.” Scootaloo brushed it off.

“You… You sure, Scoots?” Sweetie frowned, tapping her cheek with a finger.

“They’re just avoiding school. They know we’ll just slam Sunset again.” Scoots shrugged, “Now, what did you want to talk about AB?”

“We got sent some dirt by ‘nother user.” Her southern friend hummed, “Someone sent us info on Fleetfoot.”

“What’s the rub then? Put it up.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes, sitting back.

“Alright then. Honestly, this one’s kinda funny.” Applebloom chuckled, typing up the new message.

Scootaloo grinned, “No kidding?” She leaned over, looking at the screen, “Pfft, seriously?”

Sweetie Belle looked around the empty library, before reading the secret aloud. “‘Fleetfoot doesn’t really bind her chest, she really is that flat-chested’?!” The three burst out laughing.

“So much for that boasting about all those dates too!” Scootaloo snickered, “Guess her record is the only thing flatter than her chest!”

“Ah guess that nickname has two meanin’s then!” Apple Bloom added.

Sweetie giggled, “Yeah, really!” The girls continued to laugh while Applebloom finished the post, publishing it.

“You’re not gonna find anything.” The poofy haired blonde giggled at her friend crawling around behind the counter.

“Shuddup, Surprise, you don’t know that!” Came the response from the floor.

“You are wasting your time, Fleet.” Another girl called from the couches, “He knows you keep looking for it.”

“I will find that booze if it’s the last thing I do!” Fleetfoot responded angrily.

“Nooooot happenin’ kiddo!” A blue man grinned as he popped his head out from the back room, wide, teasing grin plastered on his face, “My beer stash is 100 percent Fleet-proof!”

“Bleh!” Fleetfoot complained. “You're the worst, Soarin!”

“Spitfire tells me as much every other week!” He responded with that same smile.

“He’s right. ‘Course he knows it's only because I care.” An orange, fiery woman followed Soarin out, “Get off the floor, Flatfoot. You look more ridiculous than usual.”

“Hey, I’m more than capable of finding that booze stash while looking my normal level of ridiculous, thanks.”

Soarin laughed, “If you say soooo~”

The doors exploded open, a newcomer kicking the doors in, “Soarin!”

“IZZY!” Soarin threw his hands in the air, nearly squeeing, “Hi sis!”

“Oh no…” Spitfire groaned quietly.

“Soarin!” Nightshade ran in with Starry, “We need your help!...oh, hi Spitfire.”

Spitfire crossed her arms, "Blightshade." Came the return sneer of disapproval.

Soarin ignored the two's spat, “You need my help, Izzy?”

“We all do. We-” Starry started.

“SPITFIRRRRRE!” A high-pitched voice screeched as a blue blur shot into the guitar store.

“SHI-” Spitfire was struck hard by Blitz pouncing on her, toppling over in a Blitz and Spitfire heap.

“What happened?” Soarin asked, almost panicked, not paying any mind to the tumble his girlfriend had just taken.

Blitz shot up, looking more serious now, “Do you guys know a girl named Rainbow Dash? Or Sunset Shimmer?”

“Dash?” Spitfire sat up as well, “What about her?”

“Yeah, she wasn’t at practice today!” Fleet poked her head over the counter, “That isn’t like her!”

“It’s true.” Misty said, standing up from the sofa, “In the three years she’s been captain, Dash hasn’t missed a day of practice without a warning in advance.”

“Sometimes after we had to tell her to go home!” Surprise piped in, “Oh! Oh! Remember that one time she came to practice with the Flu?” She giggled, “She gave it to like the whole team!”

“When’s the last time you saw her?” Nightshade asked.

“And Sunset too!” Blitz asked.

“I saw Dash and Sunset in the gym yesterday.” Misty said. “But after that… Nothing.”

“Well yeah, we found both of ‘em injured in Chateau D’if last night!” Blitz nodded, wide-eyed.

“That old failed hotel?” Soarin asked.

“Why would th-injured?!” Fleet exclaimed, “Who the-what the-they were just at school yesterday!”

“Well what could have made something devolve so quickly?” Starry asked, “Because the smell of blood leaves a very strong impression.”

“I don’t know! I haven’t even heard of them getting injured!” Fleet said.

“Well it was bad!” Blitz rocked on her heels, “We called the police and got them to a hospital, said we’d check back in the morning, but they weren’t there. I even got up at 3 AM to help film their project!”

“Not the point, Blitz!” Nightshade reminded.

“They weren’t there?!” Misty blinked, “What do you mean?”

“Chill. You were probably told the wrong hospital.” Spitfire said.

“We saw the ambulance, Spitfire.” Nightshade assured, “Talked to a cop too.”

“I mean, he still could’ve been wrong.” Spitfire offered.

“Explain the hospital’s logo then, Spits.” Soarin responded.

“...Okay.” Spitfire sighed, “Let me just see if I can get in touch with Dash.” She pulled out her phone, dialing Dash’s number.

The call went directly to voicemail, ‘Hey, this is Rainbow Dash. Bit busy training with my team right now, but if I can fit ya into my schedule, I might get back to ya if you’re cool enough.’

Spitfire would’ve chuckled at the voicemail if this had been any other time. “I didn’t get her.”

“...Maybe try Blaze’s number?” Soarin suggested.

Spitfire scrolled down the list of names on her phone, landing on Rainbow Blaze’s number and dialing.

It rung once. Twice.

“Uhhh?” Marred looked down at the phone.

“Gonna answer that?” Stanza asked after a moment.

“I don’t know the number.” She shrugged, “What if it’s one of my dad’s friends?” She hit the ‘Decline Call’ button.

Stanza shrugged, returning her attention to the other three at the table, all happily gnawing at their supreme pizzas.

No answer. Voicemail again.

“...Okay, this time at least it rang. So either no one was around to answer, or someone chose to hang up.” Spitfire said.

“Call again, Spits!” Fleet urged.

“Think you’ll get anything?” Starry crossed her arms, leaning against the counter, “Because I’m not seeing results.”

“Try texting. I wouldn’t answer an unknown number.” Nightshade suggested.

“Good point.” Spits nodded, ‘Hey, this is Spitfire. Heard about Dash, and I’m worried. Please pick up.’

The number called her back almost immediately. “Spitfire?”

“Dash? Hey! You piece of shit, you scared the Hell out of me!” Spitfire exclaimed, “Where are you?! What are you doing?!”

“Scared the-what are you talking about?” She sounded nervous, “I’m fine! Uhh...what’s up?”

“Soarin’s little sister and her friends are over here saying they found you and Sunset nearly dead in an abandoned hotel last night, and were shipped off to a hospital that has no records of either of you ever existing.” She put her hand on her hip with a frown.

“Uhhhhhh?” The guilt in her voice was obvious, “I...uh, don’t know-”

“This is serious, Dash. There’s some weird shit going on in this town, and we need to make sure you and Sunset are safe.” Spits said.

“Shh! Yeah, yeah, we’re fine now.”

“How come you couldn’t be found at the hospital, then?!”

“We...left?” Came the ever intelligent response.

“You’d still have records if you just left, Dash!”

“Uhhhh?” Spitfire heard a muffled voice from Dash’s side, “They...had a virus, records were wiped.”

“Even still, they’d have written records too.” Spitfire argued, “...Something’s off here.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Look...things are fine. We can meet up later if you want, but I’m real busy right now.”

“Dash, why didn’t you tell me that from the start?” Spitfire asked.

“I did! I’m fine!” The pout was audible. “Come on Spits, listen. I’m fine. Hanging out with my friends and-yeah, I suppose we are now, yes.” Rainbow said to someone away from the phone.

“Alright, well, what even happened with you two? How’d you end up bleeding out in an abandoned hotel anyways?”

“You can thank Gilda and her cronies for that.” The tone shifted, becoming violently bitter. “Apparently we’re both Anon-a-Miss.”

“...Do we need to go beat in some faces?” Spitfire asked her.

“Only if you wanna get hauled off for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy to see them get their shit kicked in, but we don’t exactly have incriminating evidence at the moment.” Dash sighed, “...keep quiet about us near anyone from CHS, seriously. All of ya.”

Spitfire sighed, closing her eyes, “I think we can do that. Just get over to Clipper’s whenever you can.”

A long pause came from her side. Spitfire could hear her discussing something with who she could only assume was Sunset, “Sure. I’ll be there when I can. Though I might be coming alone. Stanza’s got her hands full. We’ll see.” Dash accented the name with a familiar tone of voice. Spitfire knew that as the ‘please don’t out our lie’ voice.

“...Right. I guess we’ll see you soon, then.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Later.” Dash hung up the call, leaving Spitfire’s phone to beep twice, signifying so.

“...so?” Nightshade gestured.

“They need us to keep quiet about what you saw.” Spits told her. “Dash will be here in a few hours to clear things up.”

“Quiet!?” Starry spluttered, “We stumbled on what may have been a murder scene and they want us to keep quiet!? How are they even close to okay? They looked like death on ice!”

“I don’t know, Dash wouldn’t tell me, but she said she’d be here after she got done with some buisness, and I believe her.”

“What kind of business does the nearly deceased have?” Blitz wondered aloud, curiously.

“I have no idea, but she sounded fine. ...Who you found in that hotel was definitely them, though. Dash admitted that.”

“Christ, this is nerve wracking.” Nightshade helped herself to Fleetfoot’s spot on the couch. “So we know it's not them behind all this, right?”

“She said this was Gilda and her goons. Don’t think they’re a part of this, do you?” Spits asked.

Fleet’s eye twitched, “Gilda! That prick nearly killed Dash?!”

“Seems like, but there’s no evidence against them. ...Sit down, Fleet!”

“Gilda’s a bitch, but I doubt she’s apart of something like this.” Shade shook her head. “But what was the motivation then?” She blinked as an uncomfortable look drifted across the faces of each Wondercolt.

“She thought Dash and Sunset were Anon-A-Miss.” Spitfire said simply.

Misty’s eyes widened, “SHIT.” The quiet young woman’s outburst made the group jump.

“Have something to share with the class?” Blitz asked with an aside glance.

“Well, yeah.” Misty hugged herself, “I feel like a dick. Rainbow came to me asking for our team to support them, and because of the variety of opinions on that matter,” She sent a very pointed look to Fleetfoot, “I told them that we couldn’t vouch for her.”

“So Dash only had this Sunset chick, who was being blamed for whatever this Anon-a-Miss thing is anyway?” Starry asked.

“So you guys don’t trust your own captain? Wow.” Nightshade sniffed.

“Shove off, preppy.” Fleet hissed, “It wasn’t Dash, it was Sunset! You have no idea what she was like Freshman year!”

Nightshade hopped up, leaning into Fleet’s face, “You certainly sound like you hate her. Well maybe you’ll be happy to hear that she got some sort of brand shoved in her face? Huh? Whatever she did, does that make up for it, Fleetfoot?”

“WHAT?!” Fleet yelped, stumbling back, “H-Hey! Cool it!” Her brow furrowed, “I don’t think she’s Anon-a-Miss now!”

“Is that what your spiel was all about then?” Nightshade looked on, unimpressed, “I thought you were just going on about how awful she was.”

“Yeah, yeah! Was.” Fleet said, “And even if she is Anon-a-Miss or whatever, no one deserves that shit!”

“Then who gives a shit about what she did?!”

“Alright you two! Cool it!” Starry snapped.

“Seriously.” Soarin’s voice was firm. “We need to be ready for when Dash gets here. She probably won’t look well, but we have to stay supportive.”

“What do you think she’ll look like?” Blitz had really defaulted back to her more cheery side given that Dash’s health had more or less been cleared, “Bandaged like a mummy? Scars all over her body?!”

Nightshade rolled her eyes, rejoining Starry where she stood, “Either way, we’re waitin’ for her too. We need to be sure she’s okay.”

“We never said you couldn’t.” Fleet glared.

“Wow! You’re really stressed!” Blitz giggled, “Have you ever tried tai chi?”

“...This isn’t the time for that, Fleet.” Misty said.

Fleet let out a breath, huffing stubbornly. This was going to be a long wait.

Spectrum flopped back in her chair as she hung up the phone call, “Urk, that was stressful.”

Stanza sent her a pointed look, “I can imagine. Thanks for keeping things quiet for now.”

“And… Who was that?” Adagio asked.

“Friends of mine. Good people.” Marred nodded. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” Stanza echoed flatly.

“Well, some of them are ‘difficult’.”

“I know the feeling.” Adagio said simply.

Aria and Sonata both turned to look at Adagio with equally flat stares. “Save it for when we’re back on your level, Dazzle.”

Adagio chuckled at them, “You’ll never quite make that.” She teased.

Aria rolled her eyes, holding back a smirk.

Sonata didn’t bother trying to hide her more jovial attitude, giggling, “It's good to have you back, Dagi!”

“It’ll be better once you two are back as well. ...It’s amazing to be at full power again.” She smirked.

Marred blinked, “Like...when you absorb some magic with those things?”

“No, our Queen chose to put me back at full power.” Adagio said, totally not batting her eyelashes at said Queen. Stanza shifted in her seat slightly. The title drop and not at all sultry look made her rather uncomfortable.

“Wait, what?” Marred stared, eyes wide as saucers, “Uh, as a human, should I be worried?”

“Mmm. It depends.” Adagio changed targets with a grin, approaching Marred instead, tracing her own hips with her fingers. “Should you be?”

“Adagio, don’t do this right now.” Aria sighed.

“Wow, Adagio really is back to her old self!” Sonata giggled.

Stanza blinked, watching as Adagio materialized at Marred’s side, “I’d appreciate you not flustering my friend like that, Adagio.”

Aria cleared her throat a bit more forcefully at Adagio.

“...Oh, fine.” Adagio chuckled, “You people are no fun.”

“I’m plenty fun! This just ain’t my kinda fun.” The pale blue girl pouted at the fluffy siren.

“Riiight. Well, anyways, you two never told us about yourselves. Clearly you have some history at CHS, so you’d know who we are.”

Stanza and Marred shared a worried glance, “...yeah, we know you guys.” Marred nodded. “Battle of the Bands and all that.”

“Well then, what’s your story?” Adagio asked, crossing her arms, “I’m dying to know.”

Another uncomfortable look, “Maybe we should delay talks of the past a bit longer?” Stanza suggested, “Until Aria and Sonata have their Hearts as well.”

“Well, how long is that going to take?” Aria asked, patient but still eager.

“I’m gonna need some rest to recharge. That took a lot outta me. I should be able to make another Heart...tomorrow?” Stanza smiled.

“Alright then, you’ll just have to tell us about yourselves now.” Aria said, smirking.

“We’re not that interesting?” Marred tried, a little half heartedly.

“...You’re the new Queen of the sirens and the friend of said queen, both of which was apparently kicked the shit out of, got out of the hospital without any records of yourselves being there, and apparently don’t have incriminating evidence for your aggressors.” Aria repeated the earlier conversation, or at least half of it.

“Yes, so uninteresting.” Adagio nodded, smirking.

“Oh, heh, you heard that…” Spectrum winced.

“We used to be Wondercolts.” Stanza admitted, “But it's been made pretty clear we aren’t welcome there anymore.” She sighed, taking a moment to collect her thoughts, “You were right, we weren’t nearly as ‘tight’ as I thought we were.”

Marred glanced around, confused at the statement, but Adagio made a much clearer connection.

“...Son of a bitch.” Adagio whispered quietly to herself, looking Stanza right in the eyes, and only found her theory confirmed. Eyes narrowed, she scanned Marred over as well. “...You two have quite the bit of nerve, don’t you?” She asked, suddenly less impressed.

“I woulda said the same to Crescendo if I wasn’t as...dead.” Sunset responded, voice flatter than ever. “Sirens weren’t really the first thing I wanted to see in the afterlife.”

“Wait, what?” Sonata blinked, “What just happened?”

“...It’s Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash.” Dazzle said to the other two, “Look at their eyes!”

“...And?” Aria raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, ironic, but so what?”

Sonata blinked, tilting her head and squinting her eyes, “...oh yeah! I see it now.”

“Hello again you three. I see we’ve all been through Hell recently.” Sunset nodded.

“Well, this is going okay.” Dash chuckled lightly.

“Don’t test your luck, Dashie.” Aria responded.

“Yes, it appears we have.” Adagio agreed, “I see Crescendo gave you a makeover to go with the lifestyle change.”

“An unavoidable side effect.” She nodded, “Nothing I can’t live with I’m sure.”

Rainbow sent Aria a frown, “Are you cool or not?”

“With your friend here, she’s one of us. You’re still up in the air. So watch it.” Aria snorted, giving a light scowl.

“Uh, guys?” Sonata piped up, “We still kinda need our Hearts back, so could we not fight?”

“I’m not picking anything.” Aria shrugged.

“Same.” Dash glanced away.

“And I’m clearly not either.” Sunset added to the agreement.

“Well then, let’s talk about what we’re gonna do from here, because clearly we’re kinda stuck together.” Sonata said, looking at the other two, “Because we’re not gonna just dump our one chance for survival, are we?”

“Look, here’s my bottom line. I didn’t know what I had done by shattering your Hearts during the battle. Neither of us did. We want to fix this.” Sunset laid her cards on the table.

Dash nodded, “The idea of you three being at full power is...kinda freaky, but your deaths being on our heads is way worse. So yeah, I’m behind Stanz on this 100 percent.” That had earned a slightly surprised expression from Sunset, but it quickly melted into relief and thanks.

“Well...you’re already starting to, and if you’re really restoring us to how things were before banishment, before Tirek, and everything…” Aria nodded a few times, “Water under the bridge.”

Sonata nodded rapidly, “I was super sad and everything, but if we’re getting back to normal, then what’s there to be sad about?” She beamed. Both of them looked to Adagio.

“If you only meant half of that, you wouldn’t have returned my Heart to full power, so… I’m inclined to forgive you as well.” Adagio said simply, hand on her hip. “But don’t go thinking this makes us friends.”

Sunset gave an inkling of a smile, sighing in relief, “I made a promise to Crescendo. I intend to keep it. Wherever you girls want to go after this-”

“Where are you going?” Aria asked.

“Huh?”

“Are you going somewhere?” Aria repeated.

“Not really. Da-err, Marred and I still have business to deal with in Canterlot.” Stanza frowned.

“I guess I’ll hang around too then.” The purple girl nodded with purpose.

“What? Why?” Dash blinked at her in confusion.

“How about you fill us in on what the heck happened to you and we tell you a bit about us?” Sonata offered.

“Yes, seriously this time. I’d say it’d be best if we all got a little… closer.” Adagio smirked.

Sunset felt a headache coming on. Adagio was going to be a rather interesting person to know. ‘And here I was hoping that was all part of the siren act.’ She chuckled “Alright, then get comfortable. This is one helluva story.”

Author's Note

Today's shoutout goes to Ze1a7in for Green Day's Basket Case.

Page 89, Paragraph 4

However, the source of our power had to change. After the Tree of Harmony's creation and the introduction of the ley lines, our inert dark magic was disrupted. The solution was simply out of our own reach. Other types of magic...dare we try such a tactic? With all our dependence on dark magic, since the start, the very prospect was intimidating. I suppose it was only fitting that the solution then had to be external. Scorpan. He came to us, discovering our plight, and offered a solution. He created a magical gemstone, one that resonated with all three types of magic,, one that allowed the creation of more, all beating in time as a heart would. These alien magics scared many, but we craved our powers, we needed them back, all of us. Our species prided themselves on our enchanting voices and power of song. I'd have been a fool to turn him down. He delivered on his promise expertly. I find the idea of needing these gems to sing odd, quaint even, but I'm not one to question such a saving throw of a gift. Time will only tell in how this all pans out

Hey guys, if anyone likes the Wonderbolts, or the Shadowbolts (ponies), or Soarin, or is just interested in a new story to follow, check out Embracing the Fog by my lovely editor and beta reader, SunnyDays!

9 - There Ain't A Cloud In Sight

Each of the other sirens stared with varying levels of shock, disgust, and downright rage. Sunset had just finished her story of everything that had led up to the current moment, from the start of Anon-a-Miss up to Crescendo’s deal with her.

“I always knew Canterlot High was a bit of a madhouse-” Adagio started with a sneer.

“But that crosses every damn line there is.” Aria finished, looking about ready to explode.

Sonata had snaked around for another hug, “Even if it was just to save yourself and Da-uhh-Marred...thank you!” She sniffed a bit, “You saved us...or are in the process of saving us.” Dusk added with a chuckle.

Sunset gave a tired smile, a wave of relief coming over her after having to retell the story. Maybe Rainbow could take over for the next telling? This was getting stressful.

Adagio turned to her fellow sirens with a raised eyebrow, “Σκέψεις?” This earned thinking looks from the other two.

Dash and Sunset paused, both looking at each other then the Dazzlings, “Come again?”

“One moment, if you could?” Adagio requested, “Thoughts?” She repeated in the foreign language.

“You can already guess my stance.” Aria nodded.

“Argonaut til the end, huh Aria?” Adagio chuckled, casting a smile at the other.

Aria smirked, nodding, “Besides, Crescendo did pass the crown to her. She’s the queen now and it’d probably be a good idea to stick by her.”

“Certainly didn’t expect Crescendo to pass it to Sunset of all people.” Sonata giggled, returning to her seat after the lengthy hug. “But yeah, if Ari’s sticking around, I will too!”

“Well I never expected her to pass it to anyone at the rate things were going.” Adagio rolled her eyes with a huff, “Well, I can’t really leave you two on your lonesome, now can I?”

“You’re just mad because you liked to think you were the queen.” Aria sniped back, a small grin on her face.

“Aren’t I though?” She chuckled, smirking at Aria with a casual flip of her bangs.

“...no, she’s over there!” Sonata pointed at Sunset, earning a surprised and wide-eyed look from the girl in question.

“Wait, what? What I do?” Deer in the headlights, thy name was Sunset Stanza.

“Don’t worry about it.” Adagio confirmed, casting almost a pouting glance at Sonata.

“For starters though, Adagio should get us out of this crappy apartment and somewhere more accessible. Pity only gets us so far. Especially when we’ll be getting ‘better' soon.” Aria hummed, drumming her fingers on the table, “Especially if we’re going to be sticking with these two to any degree.”

“We can spend some time looking around for a new place after we adjourn here.” Adagio reasoned.

“We finally get to leave that shithole?!” Sonata grinned, earning surprised looks from the other two, “What?”

“Hearing you swearing just...sounds wrong.” Aria shrugged.

“Language, Sonata.” Adagio added with a shake of her head.

“I’m almost as old as you guys!” Sonata shouted, pouting at them.

“And that rarely shows.” Aria snickered, banter at full strength.

“Uh, how old are you guys anyways?” Marred asked after a moment, coming out of the daze of hearing the incomprehensible gibberish.

“Tsk, tsk Spectrum!” Adagio huffed, “Don’t you know never to ask a lady her age?”

“Well I wouldn’t know, I’m not a lady.” Dash paused, “As in I’m a girl! There’s a difference between the two!” She went about as red as Sunset’s hair once was after Adagio started guffawing.

“Nah, she’s right.” Aria nodded, “And let’s be honest, Adagio’s no lady either.”

Sonata giggled, “Well, we’re all over a thousand. Ari’s the oldest, Dagi follows by two years, and I’m back another twenty.”

“Wait, what?!” Dash gaped, “You’re over a thousand?! That-you’re pulling my leg!”

“Nope!” Sonata grinned.

“No, no, we are indeed that old. Of course we’re still looking great for it.” Adagio hand waved, nodding.

“Well, most of us.” Aria snarked.

“Oh, hush.” Adagio rolled her eyes in return.

“So, wait, if you’re all like thousands of years old and stuff… How the hell did we manage to beat you three?” Marred asked, wide-eyed. “Shouldn’t you be experienced and stuff?”

“Luck, clearly.” Aria scoffed.

“The magic of friendship.” Sunset deadpanned, “That’s all Sparkle could provide as an answer. I can hardly remember what we actually did.”

“There was a lot of singing and rainbows.” Marred supplied, “Kind of a standard performance for my band.”

“Actually it was kinda cringey.” Sonata said honestly.

Dash hung her head, “It...kinda sucked.”

Sunset raised her eyebrows, noting that it had been Fluttershy’s song. “Even so, The Rainbooms don’t really exist anymore.”

“Right. I imagine they wouldn't after everything you told us.” Aria nodded.

“You know, you seem pretty on board with all this, Aria.” Dash noted.

“Indeed, given your demeanor during the Battle, I figured you’d be a lot more against this.” Sunset mused aloud, leaning back.

“Well, yeah, I was an Argonaut. Loyalty to the queen was always our number one.” Aria placed a fist on her shoulder, arm across her chest in a salute of sorts. “‘Sides, have a lot less to be miffed about now.”

“Oh yes, put us on a nice show, Aria.” Adagio replied.

Sonata bumped her gently, “C’mon, Dagi.”

“What’s an Argonaut?” Rainbow blinked, “Sounds kinda cool.”

“The royal guards of Maretonia. Some were lucky enough to become the personal guards of the Queen herself, but I was just an average soldier.” Aria explained.

Sunset supplied an answer to the unasked question, “Maretonia is their home island on Terra.”

“And to be honest, it’s nice to see this side of her come out again.” Adagio admitted with what might’ve been a smile.

Aria fought at the proud smirk coming to her lips, but overall failed.

“So you were willing to drop any hostility because of me being the new queen?” Sunset blinked, rather surprised.

“Well, you also promised to help us out and not let us die, so there’s that too.” Aria deadpanned as the smirk locked in place, “So we’re kinda grateful for that.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head, “Really, you don’t need to keep thanking me for this. Had we known you all were going to die because of what happened at the Battle, we would’ve found something else to stop you.”

Dash nodded, “Yeah, we wanted to stop you and all, but we never intended to actually do all this crap. Twilight never mentioned anything about the things keeping you alive.”

“Her book had hardly anything on your-our kind.” Sunset nodded, correcting herself at the technical slip up.

“I wouldn’t expect it to. Equestria has always been a xenophobic country. They hardly want to learn about griffons, let alone mind-afflicting sea dragons.” Aria deadpanned once more, rolling her eyes.

“Come on, it's the land of friendship and harmony. It can’t be that bad.” Dash chuckled.

Sunset looked away, whistling innocuously.

“Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but pretty pony friendship land isn’t as hunky-dory as you’d think. They’re even afraid of their own ruler. Just ask her.” Aria snorted, nodding to Sunset.

Sunset sniffed angrily, “I am not afraid of Celestia, I assure you.” That came out a lot more bitter than she had initially intended.

“Pfft, I hope not! We may have to go back and talk to her and stuff!” Sonata said.

“What? Why?” Dash blinked, “What does Celestia have to do with any of this?”

“She’s the Princess of Equestria. Or at least one of them. If we ever decide to go back and try to rebuild or something, we’re gonna need her help.” Sonata nodded.

“Why would we need her help?” Sunset frowned, eyelids lowering in annoyance.

Anyone with a single brain cell could sense the bad blood soaked across the history books here, so Adagio wisely changed the subject, “That’s a far off point.” She shook her head, “And a considerable one when we bring up how many enemies we have near the portal, on both sides.”

“Not to mention we still need two more amulets.” Aria nodded.

“I’m willing to try to make another.” Sunset supplied, glancing between Aria and Sonata, relieved to have the subject shifted away. Celestia was not a topic she wanted to discuss right now.

Sonata looked at Aria, “Uhh… Maybe you should...?” She half-asked.

Aria shook her head, “You need it more than me. Go ahead, ‘Nata.” Aria waved, smiling a bit as she leaned back in her chair.

“You sure?” She asked, concerned.

“I’ve lasted the best out of us so far. Besides, if those tears over the last month have told me anything, you could use it.” She nodded, assuring Sonata it would be fine.

“Alright…” Sonata nodded to Sunset, “Go ahead.”

Sunset nodded, taking a breath and bringing her hands together in a light glow. A look of pained concentration crossed her face as another amulet began to form, the brilliant Heart dropping into her palm as she doubled over into Rainbow, “!” She panted, “Okay, yeah, too soon. Shoulda waited longer…”

Marred grabbed hold of her shoulders, helping her up and leaning in to support her friend. “Easy, Stanz, easy.”

Despite still being as thin as a bean pole, Aria was at Sunset’s side immediately as well.

“Oh my goodness, be careful!” Sonata slapped her hands over her mouth.

“I’m alright, I’m alright.” Sunset breathed, holding up the gem to inspect it, “No more magic for today.” Despite the nearness in time to the last one being made, it looked flawless.

“Probably a wise idea.” Adagio frowned, finding herself concerned as well.

“You should rest for now. We’ll be okay on our own.” Aria suggested, standing from her crouch.

Marred nodded, “We need to meet up with the soccer team anyways.” She pulled out her dad’s phone, “One sec, gotta let my dad know about that.”

Sunset held herself steady on the table, “I suppose you three will be looking for a new place to stay after this?” She held out her palm, offering the gem to Sonata.

“Eeeeee! Thank you thank you thank you!” Sonata grinned, snatching up the gem eagerly and stringing it around her neck, “Ah~ Ahhhhh!~”

“Along with other things.” Adagio nodded, an amused smile crossing her face at Sonata’s excitement, “But we shouldn’t be too hard to find. We’ll get ourselves some cell phones and such so it’ll be easier to keep in touch.”

“Here.” Sunset grabbed one of the napkins, scribbling an address on it, “This is where I’m staying right now. If you need anything feel free to drop by for a visit.” She nodded, with a smile, “Hope to...uh, see you three again soon.” Sunset could only hope her smile didn’t look as awkward as it felt.

“Oh.” Dazzle smirked, “You will.”

“Wonderful.” Sunset nodded, standing up. Yeah, Adagio would be a very interesting person for her social circle.

‘...I mean, yeah.’ Blaze said into Dash’s ear, ‘That’s fine. Spitfire and Soarin, they’re, uh… Spitfire’s responsible. Just be sure to be here before dinner; I’m about to go pick up your mom from the airport.’

“A’ight dad, we’ll be home soon. Let mom know I’m okay, don’t want her upturning the city before dinner.” Dash responded, now walking down the sidewalk with Sunset, the Dazzlings having gone their own way.

‘I’ll do my best. Be safe, Dashie.’

“I will. See you soon, daddo.” She smiled, ending the call. “Sooooo, how are we gonna explain this to my team?”

“I don’t know; they’re your team.” Sunset said with a small hint of amusement. “Though, didn’t they turn their backs on us too?” That amusement drained away as quickly as it appeared.

“They...didn’t technically. They stayed neutral.” Dash sighed, “Kinda still a dick move and I’m gonna flog Fleet for it.” She ground her teeth a little, “But Misty still said that we could go to them for help, so...let’s stay optimistic?”

“...Right.” Sunset sighed as well, “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

“All things considered, not unreasonable.” She shrugged, “But come on, Soarin is like the most easy going guy in the world.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Sunset shrugged, “Never really cared to learn about the seniors in our freshman year.”

“Well, then you’re gonna now. He’s a great guy, I promise.” Rainbow assured, giving a wide smile.

Rainbow’s enthusiasm was almost contagious, a hint of a smile forming on Sunset’s face, “And Spitfire?”

“Well, she’s not gonna be mad today.” Dash chuckled, “She’s kinda a dick, but the lovable kind, you know. It's a sign that she likes you.”

Sunset chuckled, “Kinda like me?”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself!” She laughed, punching her shoulder, “You’re too much of a kitten to be a dickhead.”

“A kitten, really?” Sunset almost scoffed, “I thought I was a raging she-demon.”

“Here I thought you hated that nickname?” Dash raised an eyebrow as they turned the corner, Clipper’s sitting at the end of the plaza.

“I’ll admit, it’s growing on me.” Sunset giggled.

“Really? The self imposed insult is growing on you?” Dash laughed, “Shouldn’t that be a sign of insanity or something?”

“Hey, if insanity is accepting that I have a bit of dark magic still, bring it on.” Sunset smirked.

“Well yeah, that Hear-wait...still?” She tilted her head.

“What, you thought my demon form was made from light magic?”

“Th-that’s still there?” Marred blinked, certainly not expecting that, “But I thought you were a siren now?”

“Magic is like all matter, Mar. Can’t be destroyed or created. Once you get dark magic flowing through you like I did, it never really leaves.” She sighed, kicking a stray rock down the street, “Theoretically, I can still use it. It's just...I doubt I’ll have very good control over that much all at once. Like during the Formal.”

Mar rubbed her shoulder, “Yeah, I guess that makes sense… Doesn’t make me any less nervous though.”

Sunset nodded, “If I’ve kept it in line this long with no trouble, I should be able to do so for longer...until I can start training it.” She added quietly.

Marred stopped outside the front door of the guitar shop, turning around to face Sunset, “You can do that?” She asked. “Are...you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, it took some weird magic from Twilight just to put it away last time.”

“What happens if I don’t?” She shrugged, “Lose control one day and slaughter someone in a fit of fury? I need to learn how to control it properly. That’ll at least mitigate some risk.”

Dash let out a breath, forming a smoky cloud of heat, “If you’re sure, I’ll be ready and willing to help if you need me to.”

“Thanks Marred. I can always count on ya, can’t I?” Sunset let out a sigh of relief, smiling at her best friend.

“You know it!” Dash grinned back. “And now… We gotta deal with these, uh…”

“Dorks?”

“Hey!” Dash laughed, “They’re still my team!”

“Exactly.” Sunset smirked.

“Well, Soarin is inside, so I guess that’s fair. C’mon. Let’s see what awaits us.” She pushed open the doors, full of vigor and ready to deal with whatever was inside!

The room was dead silent, all eyes on her.

“...wassup?” Dash said smoothly, nearly falling over as she tried to lean against a guitar rack. Sunset face palmed.

“...Yep, that’s Dash alright.” Fleet smiled weakly.

“Oh, okay!” Surprise nodded, clearing her throat, “...HOLY SHIT!”

“Ugh, hey Surprise. Yep, thanks for helping me up.” She said, climbing to her feet.

“Hey, I couldn’t have gotten there in time if I wanted to get my ‘holy shit’ out of the way.” Surprise said.

Frowning heavily, Misty went up to her captain, her whole body shaking.

Dash dusted herself off, “H-hey, Mist...uh, what’s up?” She tried smiling.

She was pulled into a tight hug, “OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY!” Dash’s co-captain shivered.

“WAHH!” Dash exclaimed, Sunset flinching back from the sudden grab as well.

Fleet followed Misty over, scratching the back of her head, “H-Hey cap…” She smiled nervously after Misty let go.

Dash instantly shifted from a sad smile to a fierce glare, “Hey.”

“...I fucked up, I know.” Fleet slumped over, sighing.

“Yeah, no shit, Flatfoot.” Marred growled out, “I oughta break a guitar over your head!” Her eye twitched, and to some degree, even Dash herself was surprised with how angry she was getting.

“The point is.” Spitfire got directly in between them, defending both her boyfriend’s livelihood and her friend’s cranium, “You and Sunset are okay.” The fiery-haired woman motioned Sunset inside more. “At least, I’m guessing you’re Sunset.”

“Sunset Stanza, at your service.” She gave a light courtesy, eyeing Spitfire over, trying to get a feel for the newcomer.

“...Why do you two look so different?” Misty asked, almost immediately biting her lip after.

“That’d be some magic bullshit. Healing spell had side effects.” Dash took point, being the one to explain this time around. She looked around the room, taking track of each person there. It looked like only the main members of the team, and ex-members, were there. Spitfire, Surprise, Misty, and Flatfoot...wait, where was Soarin?

“Hey! Who’s here?” A voice from the back room spoke up, three figures running out. “What the?” Nightshade blinked at the two.

Soarin followed from behind them, carrying a platter of hot drinks, “I could’ve sworn I heard Dash’s voi-” He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two high schoolers, nearly spilling the drinks.

Nightshade looked between the two, “Is that…?”

“Hey! You’re the three that found us, right?” Dash found herself and Sunset swarmed instantly.

“Holy shit, what happened?!” Nightshade gasped, looking her over.

Starry looked particularly worried, “This doesn’t match the pattern, it can’t be them…” She muttered to herself.

“No.” Spitfire shook her head, “They already told us who’s fault this was.” The fiery headed woman explained the situation.

“Whew!” Blitz wiped her forehead, “That’s a relief. So what are you two gonna do now?”

“We’re...dropping out of CHS.” Dash nodded, looking away.

“What?!” The current members of the team gasped, “Cap, are you serious?” Misty shook her head, staring.

“Where are you gonna go? You need to finish high-” Spitfire glanced at Nightshade, both blinking at each other, “You guys can’t be serious.”

“It's the only other high school in the area.” Sunset shrugged, “And it's not full of people that hate our guts.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when we’d run you out, cap.” Fleet said remorsefully, “But it’s probably for the best.”

Dash sighed at that, wilting slightly, “It's not you guys’ fault. Staying in the same school as those nutjobs though? That’s a death sentence for us. Who knows what Gilda might try, what she might incite the rest of the school to do?”

“For our own safety, it's best we leave as soon as possible.” Sunset nodded, “I think it’d be best to make it so with Principal Celestia tomorrow.”

“Well, welcome to Crystal Prep then.” Starry offered a hand, “Hope you enjoy the tail end of your senior year.”

Sunset took it with a tired smile, “Hoping to ride it out in peace.”

Nightshade winced, “Yeah, ‘bout that. Mind coming to visit us and our other friends in the rec room when you get the chance? We’ve got some stuff to talk about.”

Sunset drew her mouth into the line of a confused frown, “I suppose so, yeah. Something wrong?”

“Little bit.” Soarin nodded, “But it's probably best if Izzy and her friends explain it to you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, just take care of my little sis while you’re there.” Fleet nodded, “She needed to transfer there as well after ...well that’s not important.” She waved, “Just be good to her, or I’ll sock you in the teeth.” Floot smiled a bit.

“We’ll keep an eye out.” Marred nodded, not entirely sure why Fleetfoot was as on edge about this as how she came off. Fleet hardly talked about her sister when they hung out. It always seemed like a rather private matter.

“And Izzy too, of course.” Soarin smiled.

“Soarin! I can take care of myself.” The pale blue girl crossed her arms, pouting.

“I love you Izzy!~” Soarin chuckled, ruffling her hair.

“And I’m sure my girlfriend will be around to help as well.” Misty said, nodding, “All in all, we’ll all keep in touch. We have… connections.”

“Right. Gonna try and get a new phone tomorrow too. So I’ll be sure to give you guys our new numbers once that gets all filled out and stuff.” Rainbow nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Beyond that, sounds like we have a plan. Get new phones in the morning, transfer to CP and meet up with you three then?” Sunset nodded to herself, looking over at Starry.

“Six. There’s six of us.” She nodded, “We’re looking forwards to getting to know you two, and are beyond relieved that you’re alright now.”

“Thanks.” Sunset smiled, “I wasn’t expecting much of a warm reception, honestly. It’s a lot different from what I’m used to.”

“Well, we’ll be sure to change that!” Blitz bounced over, jamming out to the pink headphones on her ears. Sunset hadn’t bothered to notice them earlier, but now with the girl in her face and the music blaring from them, it was harder to ignore, “Early introduction! I’m Blueball Blitz! But I used-”

Nightshade stepped in, covering her friend’s mouth, “We’ll get to that tomorrow, BB. They need their rest.”

“Huh? Okay! I can wait!” She nodded, pulling back and smiling at Sunset.

Sunset just nodded, giving the girls a curious look. Whatever was coming tomorrow was bound to be something important.

“Well, I guess that’s it then?” Marred asked, looking between the gathered crowd.

“Seems like.” Spitfire nodded, “You should probably get home. Can’t imagine your dad being too happy about you guys being out for very long after what happened.”

“No, neither can I.” Dash chuckled weakly, “Alright, Stanz, let’s go.”

“Right behind you.” Sunset nodded, “See you all later.”

“Good luck, you two.” Spitfire smiled genuinely at Dash, “And keep in touch.”

“I will.” Dash smiled back. “Promise.”

The walk back was shorter in this direction, and the car sitting in the driveway showed that Rainbow Blaze was home, “Looks like he’s back from picking up your mom.” Sunset noted.

“Oh, sweet!” Dash’s mood lightened at the thought; having to leave her teammates hanging still stuck in the back of her mind, internally bringing her down during the walk.

“...Don’t you think your Mom’s going to be upset?” Sunset asked.

“Weeeeell, yeah, but she’ll see that I’m okay.” Dash put simply. “It’s just gonna be great to have her home.”

“Can’t believe I finally get to meet this enigma. She really away that often?” Sunset raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, she does a lot of trips all over the world, so she isn’t home often.” Dash said, shrugging a bit.

“Sounds pretty cool.” She admitted, “Guess I’m about to meet her then? Heh, wish the circumstances were better.”

“Yeah, me too. But hey, considering everything, it was going to happen.” Dash sighed softly, preparing herself as she put a hand on the door leading from the garage into the house. Softly, she cracked open the door, hearing the voices pouring out from inside.

“You let them go out again?! Blaze, do you know how dangerous that could be for them out on the streets?!” A feminine voice exclaimed from Dash’s living room.

“What, do you want them to be prisoners?!” Rainbow Blaze refuted weakly. “Besides, this was by high school students, not by one of your enemies!”

“That doesn’t matter, Blaze!” Dash motioned Sunset inside, quietly, slipping through the kitchen. “They could still get hurt again, or some more of that magic shit could happen, or-”

“H-Hey, Mom.” Dash said weakly to the tan skinned, grayscale-haired woman in front of her.

Daring Do spun around, dropped her bags to the ground, and immediately embraced her daughter, “Oh my God, Dash!” She said breathlessly, tears already flowing from her eyes, “You had me so worried!”

Sunset stood off to the side, feeling a bit awkward as she watched the two embrace.

Dash hugged back, “Sorry, mom. Things got so nuts outta nowhere.”

“I know, I know, I-” She wiped a tear away, taking a steadying breath, “When I heard you were in the hospital, I thought…” She bit her lip, pausing to calm herself. “I thought it was because of me.”

“No, no, it wasn’t you. I got myself in trouble.” She forced out a laugh, “As per usual.”

Daring pulled away a little, looking Dash over, “Some big trouble, it looks like.”

She winced, “Yeah. Kind of a long story, but hey! I look a bit more like you now.”

Sunset stepped forwards before Dash’s awful joke could land, “I’m sorry. This is my fault. Rainbow got herself mixed up in an issue of mine and got hurt for it.”

Rainbow shook her head, “No way. This was just as much my issue. This isn’t your fault, Stanz.”

“...Are you Sunset Shimmer?” Daring asked her, a calculating frown on her face.

Sunset held her stance. She always knew a confrontation like this would come. After everything, she had always been surprised it hadn’t come from Blaze, “Yes, ma’am, though I’d prefer Sunset Stanza if you use a last name.”

“You changed too?” She half-asked, looking at Blaze for confirmation. Daring’s husband nodded with a patient - if not forced - smile. With that confirmed, she looked over Sunset a bit harder, before silently coming to her conclusion and nodding to herself. “Well, our guest room is open to you any time, Miss Stanza.”

And it appeared that it wouldn’t come from Rainbow’s mom either, “Thank you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She breathed a sigh of relief. Rainbow felt a little more relaxed as well.

“Call me Daring.” She nodded pleasantly, “And it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

“Right, hello Ms. Daring.” Sunset smiled.

“Right.” Dash nodded, “Now that you’ve finally met her, I can saY THAT MY MOM IS THE COOLEST MOM EVER!” Rainbow exploded.

Daring laughed, and Blaze came over, pulling her close. “I told you they’d be okay.”

“You did, and you were right.” Daring pecked him on the cheek.

Sunset chuckled at Rainbow’s outburst, “I can only imagine how much you resisted telling me about her before.”

“Aww man, it was hard enough not to tell Fluttershy until she met her! You have no idea!” Dash wilted almost immediately after uttering the name, “So...yeah…”

“Well, late as it is, how about we all settle in for some dinner?” Blaze asked them, knowing now would be a good distraction time.

“Maybe I should head to the bedroom. I’m sure you’ve got some catching up to do and-” Even Sunset knew she had no hope of finishing that sentence.

“-What?! No!” Dash jumped in quickly, “Come on, Stanz! You’re a part of the family now too, right?” She looked back at her parents.

“Yeah, of course.” Blaze nodded.

Daring merely smiled in response.

Family. There was that word again.

Sunset blinked. Dash had used it back before Anon-a-Miss had shown up. Said she and the Rainbooms were family to her. Now look where she was… She blinked again. Still with Dash. That was where. Stanza looked up, turquoise eyes locking with rose red.

Maybe it was worth the chance.

Author's Note

Shout out to Ze1a7in for Sleeping With Sirens' 'Gold'

First secondary shout out to River Road for giving my story a wonderful shout out and a THEME SONG!

Not to mention a third shout out to Sleepythymetea as well for this awesome fan art of our leads!
What's going on? Fan art and music? You guys are killing me! :pinkiehappy:

Page 138, Paragraph 1, 2, & 3

The Argonauts are our military, our navy, and our air force. They defend our home from all possible attacks and threats. They've existed since the time of Marea Opus. I've yet to see a force that can out fight them, be them Changeling Swarm, Dragon Pack, or Griffon Squadron. Only the greatest siren warriors may join and once they do, they serve the kingdom for life. Όσο η σελήνη ακολουθεί την πορεία της. As long as the moon follows its course.

The Argonaut Elite serve as personal guards to the queen herself. These soldiers do everything they can to defend her, serving not only as soldiers but also as close friends and confidants. All Elites rank equally, having command over subordinates in an emergency and are only outranked by the queen.

No species belongs in the ocean more than us. The tides are our will, the maelstroms our fury, and the sea our domain. We do not wish to conquer, but we shall show no mercy to those that mean to do us harm. My soldiers will be sure of that.

10 - Now You Can't Tell The False From The Real

“Even now, several months later, experts are still baffled by the mysterious flash fire that took hold of the Everfree Forest.” A newscaster read from behind her desk, looking into the camera with an ever stony expression, “Today, nearly 4 square miles of untouched forest lays caked in ash. Specialists have ruled out arson, finding no accelerant or single point of ignition. As a matter of fact, debates are currently raging over two points in a 100 foot area that could be named as the point of ignition. No one was found on the scene, and no casualties have been reported. Truly, this is a mystery for the ages. Currently, experts from other nations are being flown in to survey the damage. Hopefully, they can-”

“Unbelievable.” Daring shook her head, reclining in a comforter, as she watched the TV. The sun was peaking over the horizon after a tumultuous night. No one in the house had slept perfectly that night, all with good reason as to why. “It's been nearly 6 months. How can they not know the cause of a fire that enormous?”

“Who knows?” Blaze sighed, “Despite what they said, it's probably some crazy kids that don’t want to be caught. Given recent events, not too surprising. “Speaking of covering things up…” He glanced back at the clock, reading it as 7 in the morning; and then at the two teens sitting up at the bar, both chowing down on their breakfast of eggs and bacon. Dash was at least.

“Come on, Sunster, just try it. It's not sentient here and the body needs the protein!” Rainbow Dash encouraged.

“C’mon Dash, we’ve talked about this before…” Sunset shifted in her seat uncomfortably, “I don’t do meat.”

“Oh come on, you died and were reincarnated as a mystic fish person. One bite of meat won’t make your life any worse.” She responded.

“You’d make a great public speaker.” Sunset deadpanned.

“Look, just take a bite and I’ll stop pestering you.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Permanently?”

“Eat the damn meat, Stanz.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and leaned forwards and snapped the bacon from the fork and chewed on it disgruntledly, “...”

“So? It’s good, riiight?” Dash waved her on.

“Well I’m not hacking it up.” She admitted, still frowning, “But eating it still feels beyond weird.”

“Well then cross it off your bucket list and move on.” She teased back, “Welcome to the Omnivores.”

“Om-Nom-nivores.” Blaze nodded.

“...I feel like I’m missing something here.” Daring said, raising an eyebrow.

“Just dad being dad.” Dash snickered at her parents.

Blaze looked over at Dash, “Right. And… what are we going to do about you two? Clearly we can’t have you going back to CHS.”

Sunset and Dash shared a look, nodding, “Well...yeah, after all that?”

“But we still kinda have to go to school.” Dash frowned, “Eugh, can't believe I said that, but it is kinda the law, and as much as we’re gonna love having you here-”

“I’m not gonna have you hiding under the bed while Dash is going to class.” Blaze chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee.

Sunset nodded, “That’s fair...the only other high school in the district is Crystal Prep. We talked to a few Shadowbolts at Clipper’s yesterday. Sounds like they’re already rolling out the welcome wagon.”

“I don’t imagine Spits took that kindly.” Blaze guessed.

“She understands, all the team does. What we don't know how to deal with is...us.” Dash articulated weakly.

“We can't just show up.” Sunset sighed, leaning back. Stress in the mind and bacon on the tastebuds was no way for a unicorn to think. “Yet we still need to transfer. Maybe if I use my powers, I can-”

“Don't.” Dash cut her off, “Please. You've been using those a lot and,” she paused, “I dunno if that's a good thing. Besides didn't Crescendo say to take it easy with the magic or something?”

“Not in so many words, but I guess.” She frowned back at Dash. Even if she was feeling a little drained from yesterday still, what was the harm? She wasn't doing anything that bad with her powers.

“Transferring you both should be no trouble.” Daring said. “...Leave Celestia to me.” Her eyes darkened.

“Woah, woah mom!” Dash blinked, holding out her arms, “Celestia’s super nice, this isn't her fault.”

“Still, me showing up at your school instead of just you sends an entirely different message, Dash. Trust me.”

“So we don't need to show up at all?” Dash grinned.

“No, you still need to be there.” Daring said, “But still, it should be the last time you two ever set foot in that school again.”

Sunset shifted uncomfortably, “I dunno. Don't wanna go anywhere near, but won't we need to be there for a transfer?”

“I may not be able to get around having you two sign something, but even if I don’t, I’ll have to bring you both to Crystal Prep immediately.” Daring said.

The two shared another look, “We do have some people over there we have to talk to anyways.” Dash admitted, “Alright then.”

“That settles it. Let’s get on the road.” Daring stood up, “Get your stuff.”

Dash chuckled, standing up after quickly scarfing down the remainders of her food, “You make it sound like we’re going on some long trip.”

“You know me, Dashie.” Daring grinned, “Long trips sneak up on me. Always best to be prepared.”

“Well, I have everything I really own on me already.” Sunset joked weakly, standing with Dash.

“...Really?” Daring asked. “Well, we’ll just have to fix that.”

“It seems Rainbow and Mr. Blaze have been doing so already.” Sunset blushed a little as Rainbow pulled her into a side hug.

“Totally! She was crashing in my room last night ‘cause after everything...sheesh, we all felt loaded down, but it sounds like we’ll be setting up the guest room soon!” Dash nodded.

Daring looked over at Blaze with an amused smile, “You didn’t clean out that workout equipment yet? Typical.”

“Hey, retired and living off of your treasure hunts or not, I still stay in shape!” He defended, “I need more of a hobby than polishing trophies.”

“Treasure hunts? I thought you called it grave robbing.” Dash teased.

“Dashie!”

“It’s not grave robbing if you stop the grave robbers. ...And sell the treasure to a museum. For a fair price.” She snickered.

“It's just extortion at that point.” Blaze smiled, “And it pays the bills.”

“Pretty much. And, you know, book revenue. That too.” Daring added.

“Top seller in the young-adult class. Can’t wait for the terrible film adaptation.” Dash smiled.

“Just watch, it’s going to be animated.” Blaze teased.

Sunset was starting to feel out of the loop now, “So, we ready to go?”

“Yep.” Daring twirled her keys around her finger, “Let’s go.”

The two nodded, following Daring Do out the front door after Dash gave Blaze a quick hug, and hopped in the sedan’s back seats, “So what’s the process here? I’ve never exactly needed to transfer outta my own school.”

“Not too sure myself.” Daring said as she pulled herself into the driver’s seat, “I have a bad feeling it’s long-winded and riddled with paperwork, though.”

“Oh. Great.” Sunset groaned, looking out the window, “Sounds like this is gonna be stressful and fun.”

“Well, hopefully my being here will tell Principal Celestia that we mean business.” Daring said. “And speed up the process.”

“I’d like to hope so. Having Daring Do show up for paperwork must make for a pretty surreal day.” Dash snickered.

Sunset’s eyes widened as she peered out the window, “I think one’s already going down.” Several police cars were parked at the school, a couple officers standing around and vigilantly eyeing the area.

“Oh lord.” Daring groaned slightly. “Getting in there is going to be a treat.”

Sunset frowned, hand grasping her amulet nervously. “Well, we can get past one way or another, but I doubt we’ll face any trouble from them, right guys?”

“Right.” Daring nodded, “I’m no criminal.”

“Not by the standard definition at least, right mom?” Dash snickered. “Either way, let's just get this over.”

“No kidding.” Daring pulled her ID out of her pocket, getting out of the car.

Sunset and Dash climbed out as well, getting behind Daring and following her up to the front, keeping their eyes peeled for anything that looked relatively hostile. The cops noticed them approach and stepped in their path, “Sorry ma’am, but can I ask you what you’re doing here?” An orange-skinned officer with red and white hair asked.

“Daring Do.” She flashed the cop her ID, “These two are students here, and we have an appointment with Principal Celestia.”

The officer, badge reading as Lightspeed Barrage, nodded, “Alright, just don’t cause any trouble. We got this place on high alert, so we don’t need anything else going wrong.” She eyed the other two, “Got it?”

“Crystal clear.” Dash deadpanned, having no intention of dragging the cop after them. Sunset simply nodded in understanding.

“Ma’am.” Daring nodded, walking past her. “We’ll be in and out.”

“Yeah, totally.” Dash agreed with a smile.

That didn’t put the officer anymore at rest, “Come on, Chicken Wings.”

“Please don’t call me that.” Her partner sighed.

The halls were near bare, only the janitors wandering the halls in the early morning. Down the hall, they could hear the chaotic, faint squeaks and squawks of the school band warming up for early practice. Dash and Sunset feeling a bit more secure in not being spotted, the group made their way to the Principal’s office, Daring knocking on the door.

A long sigh came from within, “Come on in, I’m ready to continue.”

Daring opened the door, “I imagine you’re expecting someone else then, eh Celestia?”

Celestia looked up from her computer, “Daring Do? Yes, I sure wasn’t expecting to see you. Welcome back.” She nodded, “How’s Dash doing?”

“I could be doing better.” Dash stepped out from behind her mother, “But I’ll take what I can get.”

Celestia jumped, not having seen her there, “D-Dash?!” She looked between mother and daughter before seeing Sunset finally. “Wh-what?” She sputtered out.

“Things have gotten...strange.” Sunset supplemented.

“But that’s not why I’m here, Ms. Soleanna.” Daring reigned in the conversation, “I’m here to discuss transferring Rainbow and Sunset out of CHS.”

“I… understand.” Celestia let out a breath, “Normally, the transferring process takes at least a month, and with Sunset, it’s an even stranger case. For obvious reasons.” She smiled sadly at Sunset, still eyeing the girl up as if trying to get used to her new look.

Sunset nodded with a frown, “I take it you figured out those forged documents then, huh?”

“Yes.” Celestia said, “You’re documented under my name officially. It was the only way I could get around everything for you.”

“...thank you, especially with everything I did during that time.” She nodded, smiling, “But, why?”

“Even with everything, you were still willing to learn, and it was clear you had nowhere else to go.” Celestia said, “Even if you didn’t want my help back then; it’s been a pleasure having you here.”

“Well, it's nice to know someone else enjoyed having me around.” Sunset smiled warmly, Dash putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I presume the transfer papers would be for Crystal Prep, yes?” Daring shifted topics.

“I can make Crystal Prep the transfer school, yes.” Celestia said, quickly typing up a few things on her computer. The printer whirred into motion in the background. “We’ll just have to go through some legal processes; there’s a specific emergency transfer form that I can use in cases of harassment and bullying that can speed up the process tremendously. Clearly, the police case being built outside will be more than a good reason for this to be counted as an emergency.” Her keys clicked away, and another form was printed. Each had district information, as well as Sunset and Rainbow’s full names. “Sign and date here, put your home information here.” Celestia walked Daring through the signing as she did the same for Sunset’s papers.

Daring nodded, scribbing quickly and nodding along as she read along the papers, “How soon can I get in contact with Ms. Cinch about this?”

“How soon do you need to be there?” Celestia asked.

“This being the last day before break? In time for a day of class.”

Dash groaned unhappily at that, uncrossing her arms and leaning into the wall a little, “Yeah…”

“In that case…” Celestia typed on her computer again, printing out what appeared to be a letter, signing it, tucking it into an envelope, and handing it to Daring. “...Give this to her, and she’ll know exactly what to do.”

“Is Cinch really just gonna let us in?” Dash blinked, “She never really seemed like an advocate of ours during the games.”

“Even Cinch has a heart.” Celestia said, “I explained your problem in my letter, and if there’s anything Cinch loves more than her reputation-” She smirked, “-it’s taking away from CHS.”

“Playing to their strengths.” Sunset nodded with a light chuckle, “There’s a sound logic there I suppose. Hope it's enough to get us in without a hassle.”

“I hope so too, girls.” Celestia’s gaze saddened again as she collected the papers. “I’m so sorry this happened to you both. ...At least it doesn’t seem like the injuries were too severe.”

The two shared a look with each other, “Yeah, totally.” Sunset nodded, “Nothing we couldn’t bounce back from.”

Daring took the papers as they were passed to her, “Thank you, Ms. Soleanna. Good luck with this mess.”

“You as well. I’ll be making the announcement when everyone gets back from the break.” Celestia said.

“We should be able to unmask Anon-a-Miss by then.” Sunset nodded.

Dash kicked the floor with a sigh, “Damn, I’m gonna have to wait to tell Scoots about all this. Can’t risk her getting attacked.” Her gaze darkened, looking up at Celestia, “By the way, I know we can’t provide physical proof past our own words, but keep an eye on GIlda and company. Maybe see if the cops can bring them in for questioning at the least. This is all their fault!”

“They attacked you?” Celestia scowled, “It was them?”

Sunset scowled, “They did. Lured us to the gym after hours, pretending to be Fluttershy. We should’ve suspected, but…”

Dash picked up where Sunset trailed off, “We just wanted to someone else to believe us.”

“They pretended to be Fluttershy?” Celestia echoed, “So… She’s not involved, right?”

“As far as we can tell, but she wasn’t present when we were jumped.” Sunset answered.

“Well, it seems she wouldn’t be. ...Well!” Celestia huffed, “Either way, I’ll tip off the cops towards Gilda.”

“Appreciated, but at most we can expect is a questioning...with 15 or so alibis backing her up.” Sunset sneered, “Dammit.”

“Something to work on.” Dash suggested, “We’ll focus on finding Anon-a-Miss first.”

“I would focus on continuing to heal more.” Celestia said, “Including mentally.”

“Mentally?” Sunset frowned, “We’re fine mentally.”

Seeing the minefield, Dash decided not to comment on that.

“Emotionally, specifically.” Celestia amended, “Your physical wounds might be healed, but I’m sure you’re still a little emotionally scarred by all this.”

Sunset’s frown stayed in place, “We’ll be fine.”

Daring cast a glance over, but knew the dangers of a minefield even better than her daughter.

Finally getting the hint, Celestia just frowned back in worry, “...I hope so, Sunset.”

Sunset nodded, “Thank you for the help, Principal Celestia, but please, call me Stanza now.”

“Alright then, Stanza.” Celestia said, “I wish you luck at Crystal Prep.”

“Thanks.” Dash nodded with a smile, “Good luck here. Give the squirt my best if you get the chance. I’ll see if I can’t get in contact her once this all dies down. She’s probably worried about me by now and my old phone got stolen and probably destroyed.”

“I will.” Celestia smiled, “And thank you.”

Daring nodded, “Right, we better get going then. You have my best, and thank you again.”

Dash and Sunset both nodded as well, “Thanks for these past few years.”

“You’re quite welcome. I’m sorry it had to end this way.” Celestia said with a sigh, “But I hope the students at Crystal Prep will treat you better.”

“Well…” Dash snickered, “As a whole, we’ll have to see. You know how the Shadowbolts are.”

“However it seems we’ve already made nice with a few of them. Soarin’s little sister, Nightshade is one of the three that found us.”

“Nightshade… Is that her new nickname?” Celestia asked.

“Nickname?” Sunset blinked, “Not as far as I know. That’s what the others called her.”

Dash tilted her head , scratching her neck in thought.

“Oh, well nevermind. She’s a nice kid. Just like her brother.” Celestia waved it off, “I’m glad you two are already starting off on the right foot. Just… Be careful.”

“After what’s already happened, we’ll keep alert.” Sunset agreed.

Daring chuckled, setting a hand on each of their shoulders, “Oh don’t worry, Blaze and I will be making sure they keep themselves out of trouble.”

“Moooooom.” Dash complained, laughing lightly.

“That should be everything we need. ...Would you like me to walk you all out?” Celestia offered.

“We certainly wouldn’t mind.” Daring nodded, “Even if it's still early in the morning, it’d be best to take the fastest route out.”

Sunset glanced up at the clock with a frown. School had officially started a few minutes ago. There’d be people in the halls now.

“It’s probably for the best. The students will be filing to classes about now, but they’ll clear the hall for me.” Celestia got up, opening the door and shutting it behind them when everyone went out. As she said, students steered clear of her whenever she went down the hall, though they gave Dash and Sunset strange glances. Not once did they hear either of their names through the whispers.

Sunset kept her gaze ahead, though her expression was stony, noting the presence of several people that had been less than kind since her attempt to turn it all around. ‘Attempt being the word.’ She snorted.

Dash kept her gaze jumping around, thankfully not noting any of the group that had jumped them in the gym. It was pretty clear that Daring was doing the same, just as on guard.

“Thank you for walking us out.” Daring nodded to Celestia as they passed through the front door.

“It’s not a problem. I suppose this will be the last I see of you three, and Blaze of course, so I wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any more trouble on your hands.” Celestia said.

Dash gave a sad smile, “Sounds like. Try and have a good break, Principal.”

“Miss Soleanna?” The officer from earlier walked over, “May we continue our talks?”

“Yes, we may.” With a final nod to the group, Celestia led the officer inside, and Daring put a hand on Dash’s back supportingly.

“To Crystal Prep then?” Sunset offered, wanting to get moving before they ran into anyone else.

“That’s the next stop.” Daring nodded, getting into the car and throwing the documents in the passenger’s seat.

Dash and Sunset climbed in the back, “So Cinch’s next huh? Fun. She’s always been great at The Games.”

“Yep, total ray of sunshine.” Sunset agreed, settling in her seat and shutting the car door.

Daring started the car, pulling out of CHS, “Well, we’ll figure something out if Crystal Prep doesn’t work out. No worries there.”

“It’ll be fiiiine.” Dash waved off, “Let’s just get there and past Cinch. We’ve got some guys waiting on us.”

“What about your papers?” Daring asked, “Should I handle that?”

“I don’t really know what we’re suppose to do, so I’d like it, yeah.” Dash chuckled at her, nodding.

“Alright then, just don’t cause any trouble.” Daring smirked. The drive to Crystal Prep was quiet, and didn’t take nearly as long as expected. Soon enough, they were on the front steps. “Okay, go find your friends. I’ll have these papers transferred.” Daring said, and the two groups went their separate ways.

Dash and Sunset both nodded, about to head down the hall to their left, but were quickly stopped by a security guard. “Hold up, where are you two going?” He asked in a gruff voice, crossing his arms across his chest.

“We...we were gonna go find our friends?” Dash asked.

“You don't look familiar, kid.”

“What, do you know what every single student in this entire school looks like?” Sunset responded with an annoyed frown.

“Yes.”

“It’s alright, Stratus, let me handle this.” A polite woman came up behind Sunset and Dash. “Can I help you two?” The pink woman asked.

Dash pointed behind her with her thumb, “My mom went to help with the papers. We’re transfers from CHS. You're the Dean, right? Saw you with the principals during The Games.”

“Oh, I see.” She nodded, “Yes, I’m Dean Cadence. Nice to meet you.” She offered them her hand with a polite smile.

Sunset took it, smiling back a bit , “I'm Stanza, this is my best friend, Marred. It's great to meet you too.”

“Well, since you two are new, how about a tour of our school?” Cadence asked.

“I don’t suppose you can show us to a girl named Nightshade?” Dash asked, interrupting for a moment, “She said she had something really important to talk to us about.”

Cadence paused, “...What kind of important?”

“She just said it was important. Soarin agreed. We had some problems at CHS, it's why we’re transferring here, and they were worried about it.” She summarized, trying to keep it simple.

“I’m sure it's nothing serious.” Sunset assured, “Blitz and all probably just wanted to give us a proper introduction.”

“Oh, yes, well I’m sure it is.” Cadence nodded, “I’ll show you to where they’d be right now.” She brought them down a hallway that was tucked away without too many doors. “This used to be an old classroom that we tried converting to a recreational room. That didn’t work out, so now it’s the free room for Starry’s… extracurriculars.” Dean Cadence explained, “They should be in here.” She knocked on the heavy door.

“Extra...what?” Dash blinked.

The door cracked open, “Password!”

“What?” Sunset blinked now.

“Password!” Blitz asked again, a large pink eye peering through the crack.

“Swordfish.” Cadence replied.

“EH!” She denied, shutting the door with a clang!

Cadence sighed loudly, knocking on the door again.

“No solicitors!” The high pitched voice called from within.

“Swordfish! The password is always swordfish!” Cadence called.

“Why didn’t you say so?!” The door was flung open by the girl, now adorned in the standard Crystal Prep uniform. “Hiya, Dean Cadence!”

“Hello Blitz, these two ladies wanted to talk to you all about something.” Cadence replied patiently, putting a hand on both Rainbow and Sunset’s shoulders.

“Oooh! Hey there! Come on in, we were in the middle of a game!” Blitz nodded, bouncing back a little. Cadence nodded to herself before walking off.

“A game?” Sunset blinked, looking over to the others. Alongside Nightshade and Starry, there were two other girls neither of them recognized. One was a gray girl with a dull green fauxhawk that leaned to one side and had a pair of sunglasses on over her eyes. The other was a dark blue girl with hair so white, she could only be a member of the Foot family...that’s the family name, right?

“You cross into the underworld and have encountered Anubis. You give him your heart to weigh.” Starry announced, sitting at the head of the table, which they could now see had a little diorama built across it.

“Are they playing DnD?” Dash chuckled.

“Yeppers!” Blitz nodded, “It's Starry’s favorite game!”

“I roll to bluff.” Nightshade responded, kicking back in her chair.

“You want to bluff Anubis?” Starry looked up from her Dungeon Master booklet, leveling a stare at her pale friend, “You can’t bluff Anubis, he’s a god, he has godly Sense Motive check.” She deadpanned.

Nightshade let out a long sigh, “I...bluff the scales.”

“You want. To bluff. The scales?” Starry’s stare could get no flatter, her voice no less unimpressed.

“Yeah.”

“...you know what? Fine, I’ll allow it.” The pink girl rolled her eyes, allowing Nightshade to roll.

The d20 rolled across the table before coming to rest, “HA! Nat 20!”

“The scales, for some god forsaken reason, think your blackened heart is lighter than the feather. Anubis is pretty sure you’re bullshitting him, but you know what? Anubis is the god of the Afterlife, Anubis has had a long day, and Anubis is not gonna question the scales.” Starry rested her forehead against the booklet in defeat, “You’re in.”

The sunglass-clad girl nudged Nightshade, “Dude, double or nothing.”

“I roll to pickpocket Anubis.”

Starry stood, slamming the booklet on the table with a loud THWAP!, “NO!”

The other girls around the table all erupted into laughter, “That was amazing!” The Footed one declared with a grin.

“Hey!” Blitz called, running over, “Sunset and Dash are here!”

“Hey! You can’t call us that!” Dash shook her head in a slight panic, wincing as Blitz blinked, nodding an apology.

“Then… You must be Marred and Stanza.” The Foot stood up, “Hey, I’m Night Glider.”

“Fleet’s sister, right?” Dash nodded, “She mentioned we might run into you.”

“...Fleet mentioned me?” Night Glider asked, “Well… Isn’t that a first.” She scoffed.

“She mentions you from time to time. Gets a little flighty when pressed for details though.” Dash shrugged, “Yeah, I’m Marred. Nice to meetchya.”

“You can call me Courier.” The other nodded with a grin, “You’re from CHS then? You know Misty?” She smiled wider.

“You the mysterious girlfriend?” Sunset asked.

“Can’t confirm or deny, but I might have brought her over to the dark side.” She snickered.

Sunset chuckled, “Glad to get a chance to meet you all. I hate to skip to business, but why did you wanna see us, Nightshade?”

“I doubt this was just a meet ‘n greet. You seemed pretty panicked for us yesterday.” Rainbow added with a nod, attention shifting to her.

Nightshade sighed, standing up, “Yeah, it’s kinda more than that. There’s some seriously bad shit going down, and since you guys clearly know about magic, we could use your help.”

“M-magic?” Dash stuttered in surprise.

“What, thought CHS was the only school to have arcane encounters?” Starry tittered, recovering from her DM sperg out and standing as well, “You honestly think Celestia’s press releases were going to convince my mother?”

“M-mother?!”

Blitz giggled, “Yeah, Cinchy and Sunny are way more observative than that!” She waved it off.

“Wait, I thought your name was Starry.” Sunset blinked in confusion.

“S-Sunny?” Dash stuttered. "Wait, like Sunny Flare?!"

Starry waved, "Good to see you again, too."

“Dash.” Nightshade smirked, pulling Dash's attention away from Sunny/Starry, “It’s been awhile since the last Friendship Games. Ever get that seawater smell out of your uniform?”

“...INDIGO?!”

“Why else would Soarin call me Izzy?” Nightshade/Indigo laughed.

Back at CHS, things weren’t going great.

“Remember when the last day before break was fun?...and not filled with police?” Pinkie asked nervously as she walked through the halls with her three friends.

Fluttershy was dead silent, head down and eyes locked solely on the floor.

“Why are they here?” Rarity wondered, “It’s surely something serious.”

“Ah don’t like it, whatever it is.” AJ agreed with Pinkie.

“You think they’re here to look into Anon-a-Miss? I mean...cyberbullying and stuff?” Pinkie asked almost hopefully.

“Do they… normally do that?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, yeah I think so.” AJ nodded, “If Celestia finally got smart and called ‘em here for that, that is.”

“Ahem.” Celestia gave her an unappreciative look as they neared where she stood at the end of the hall. “No, that’s not why they are here. But I want to see you four in my office, now.”

“Wa-what?” Pinkie gasped, “Why? We haven’t done anything!”

“You’re not in trouble. I just need to have a private conversation with you all.” Celestia responded.

The group shared a look before giving a variety between nods and shrugs, “Very well, Principal.” Rarity nodded, “What do you need?” She asked as they all filed past her into the office.

Celestia closed the door, taking a deep breath. “Did you all know that Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash were assaulted the other night?”

“WHAT?!” Fluttershy’s head shot up as she squeaked out in terror.

“Woah-woah, whaddya mean assaulted?” AJ blinked in shock, shaking her head.

“Dash and Sunset were lured into the gym, beaten senseless by a group of students, and then dragged out into an abandoned part of Canterlot and left there in the cold until the authorities arrived. Sunset was barely breathing, and Rainbow Dash was found with a stab wound in her midsection. Both were rushed to the hospital.”

Fluttershy had fallen into a chair, face in her hands as she started to weep at the news.

“St-stab...w-wound…?” Pinkie’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks, hair straight as a board.

Rarity looked sick, propping herself up against Celestia’s desk so she wouldn’t fall over.

Applejack simply stared off into space, “No...that...that can’t be right…”

“And, understandably, they’ve both dropped out of CHS and transferred to another school.” Celestia said, “They… wanted me to tell you all this.”

Rarity had gone from sick to downcast, “Are...they alright? I mean...they must be to transfer, right?”

“It seems they made enough of a recovery for me to see them this morning before school. But I don’t think modern medicine could’ve helped them this quickly.” She hinted with a sigh.

“Magic…” Applejack gasped, “They survived with magic.”

Fluttershy had curled into the fetal position in that chair now, the possibilities of what had happened circulating through her mind.

“They may have leaked our secrets…” Pinkie sniffled, “But they don’t deserve that!”

“Well, I hope you girls were serious about not being their friends.” Celestia stood from her seat, “Because you four may never see them again.”

“N-now hold it right there.” AJ shook her head, “I...What happened is awful. In every sense of the word, but they stabbed us right ‘n the back. Dumpin’ all our secrets on the web like that.”

“Is that worth a human life?”

“Ah jus’ said what happened was terrible!” Applejack held back a snarl, “That’s puttin’ words in my mouth! They didn’t deserve anything that bad, but we meant what we said in the hall!”

Rarity nodded, lacking the angry conviction, but agreeing, “Even Sunset Shimmer during the Fall Formal would not deserve such a beating, however she betrayed our trust and managed to pull Rainbow Dash into it as well.”

“I’m not here to accuse you all of anything.” Celestia said, “I’m simply saying you got your wish. None of you will be able to talk to Rainbow Dash or Sunset Shimmer again.”

“Well, you’re making it sound like we’re the ones in the wrong.” Rarity frowned, “We were the ones slighted by Anon-a-Miss!”

Celestia sighed, shaking her head and putting a hand on Fluttershy’s back. “Get to class, you three. I have another meeting with Officer Lightspeed.” She looked down at the sobbing girl, “And let’s get you to the counselor's office, sweetheart.” She said softly, urging her on.

She nodded slowly as the others awkwardly shuffled out, a wide range of negative emotions shuffled between them all. They had an odd feeling that this was going to be the worst day yet.

“Whaddya mean Dash isn’t here?!” Scootaloo exclaimed, staring up at Misty Fly, “S-she never misses practice! And now she's missed twice!”

Misty kneeled down, putting a hand on the freshman’s shoulder, “Oh, Scootaloo… I’m surprised no one’s told you yet. Dash isn’t coming back to CHS. I’m the new Captain of the team, now.”

“...w-what?” She blinked, staring blankly at her.

“She transferred schools, Scoots. But, hey, it’s alright.” Misty attempted to playfully shove Scootaloo’s shoulder, “You can just come hang out at Clipper’s with us all to see her.”

“Tr-transferred?!” She squeaked, “Wh-why?”

“Well… Because everyone thought she was Anon-A-Miss, she, uh.” Misty flinched, before sighing. “You’re not a little kid. The truth is, Dash and Sunset got jumped by some other students. ...They were in the hospital for a while, and they can’t come back.”

Scootaloo froze, going absolutely still as the sentence caught up with her. “No…” Tears quickly appeared around her eyes as her legs gave out, causing her to come crashing down onto her knees, “NO! Nononononononono!” She ran her hands through her hair, panicked sobs racking her body with each passing ‘no’. “This is wrong! This shouldn’t have happened!”

Misty dropped to the grass with her, pulling the freshman into a hug, “What?” Misty asked her, “What do you mean? What shouldn’t have happened?”

“W-we just wanted to get back at Sunset! We didn-NO NO NO!” From there, Scootaloo failed to form coherent words, slipping into complete gibberish as she sobbed.

Misty nearly went limp herself, “...Y-you’re Anon-a-Miss?!”

Author's Note

It's been awhile, huh guys? Sorry about that. Life got in the way, but here;s another chapter for you all. Hope you enjoy.

...
"Huh...this page was torn out?...that's odd."

11 - I'll Be Your Ghost, Your Game, Your Stadium

There’s many a things a student of CHS would come to expect to see in the halls of their school, even more so on the day before break, surrounded by police. Even so, many students were surprised to watch the second-in-command of the soccer team dragging a screaming and sobbing freshman down the halls in an iron clad grip and a look of absolute fury.

“Shut up.” Misty growled between clenched teeth, “With all you put this damn school through - what you put Sunset and Dash through - you have absolutely no right to be putting up this much of a fight with me!”

The tears continued to stream down the young girl’s reddened face as the other students began to whisper around them, words of confusion, doubt, and anger starting to spread down the halls with them at the implication of those words. “N-no! You don’t understand! I-I didn’t-!”

“-Shut up!” The usually more composed girl snapped with an angry sneer. “I understand perfectly! You and your friends decided to ruin Dash and Sunset’s lives for no damn reason!”

“We had a reason!” Scootaloo shouted back, throat feeling like hot coals by this point.

“Yeah?! Well explain it to Celestia!” Misty snarled, the door to said woman’s office looming on the opposite end of the hallway like the gates of Hell themselves.

Scootaloo’s eyes dilated as she started to struggle again, “N-no! Please! N-not while cops are still here!”

“Do you think I care?!” Misty scoffed down at her, her voice rapidly raising, “You and your friends nearly got two students killed! You deserve to face whatever punishment is coming your way!” She nearly kicked down Celestia’s door, making the Principal jump.

“Misty Fly. How can I help-?” She was cut off mid-sentence as Misty nearly threw Scootaloo into the chair across from Celestia. That only made the Principal more confused.

“We have a confession.” Misty scowled, shutting the door behind her. She put her back against the door, crossing her arms and blocking it like a bouncer guarding the entrance to a club. Scootaloo wished it was just that.

The orange freshman was still red-eyed from all the crying, hair frazzled, and terrified from Hurricane Misty behind her, “Uhh I-I…”

“What kind of confession?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at the Freshman.

Scootaloo could try saying ‘nothing’, the classic defense against suspicious adults, however she had an odd feeling that it would be futile here, “Applebloom’s Anon-a-Miss!” It had just come out, no hesitation. She slapped a hand over her mouth a moment later.

Misty’s eyes widened in shock at the betrayal.

“...What?!” Celestia reeled back in shock, “How would you know that, Scootaloo?”

“I saw her make it. I stayed quiet since she has dirt on me!” The tears came anew, “I don’t know whether or not Sweetie Belle’s involved, but I swear it was Apple Bloom's idea!”

Misty grabbed the back of Scootaloo’s short hair and yanked, hard. “You dirty, rotten liar!” She spat. Scootaloo cried out in pain

“Miss Fly!” Celestia stood up with a frown.

“Tell her the truth.” Misty ignored Celestia entirely, not willing to see this lie run its course.

“Applebloom made it, that is the truth!”

“But you were apart of it too! Tell her.”

“She blackmailed me!” Scootaloo cried out, sticking close to her words.

“One of your best friends, blackmailing you?” Misty sneered, “I’d expect Diamond Tiara to do that, not someone like Apple Bloom.” Her grip tightened.

“Miss Fly!” Celestia repeated, “Release her, or I will send you to detention.”

Misty frowned, releasing her, though her hands still shook.

Scootaloo shook equally in her chair, “Y-yeah, well you wouldn’t expect Anon-a-Miss to come out of her either!...I was worried she had blackmail on me! I had to stay quiet!”

Misty frowned, “Well then, why don’t we just bring in Sweetie Belle, and see just how badly blackmailed you were?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, simply listening to the debate. She sat in her chair again, knowing that the senior athlete wouldn’t have dragged Scootaloo into her office unannounced just for drama’s sake.

“Th-that’s not your call! You’re just gonna drag her across the floor too!?” She accused with a tearful sneer.

Misty narrowed her eyes, “Some teammate you turned out to be.”

“I can assure you, I will see to it that Sweetie Belle isn’t dragged here.” Celestia said disarmingly.

“C-can I go then, I have class…” Scootaloo shifted in her seat nervously, feeling the back of her neck light up like an inferno.

“Misty Fly, you need to get to class.” Celestia said pointedly before setting her eyes on Scootaloo, “You and I still have business to attend to.”

Teeth clenched, Misty nodded sharply before heading out the door, still glaring at the back of Scootaloo’s head. The orange girl ducked her head as the door slammed behind them, slowly looking back up at Celestia with a nervous look.

Celestia took a long, hard glare down at the freshman, “You’re lucky she didn’t take you to an officer. You would’ve had to explain to the detective of an assault case why you were being dragged around.”

Scootaloo ducked her head, “Y-yeah...I just recently...heard about all of that.”

“I take it Misty was the one to tell you that, then?” Celestia asked.

She nodded silently, wiping her eyes and sniffling again.

“I see.” Celestia nodded, “Well, Scootaloo. I want you to tell me everything, and to start from the beginning.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth, “Is Rainbow okay?” Scootaloo asked instead.

“Don’t change the subject.” Celestia said.

“She wouldn’t tell me! All she said was that she was in the hospital and hurt!” Scootaloo pleaded to the principal.

“Rainbow Dash is fine.” Celestia said simply, “I saw her today.”

“She was here?!” She gaped back, “And she didn’t-?”

“-They came in before school started, and left quickly. I wouldn’t blame them, with all things considered.” She then tried pressing again, “Now, the story?”

Scootaloo paused, getting her thoughts in order, “Apple Bloom...approached me about starting this thing to get Sunset away from the girls, but I didn’t want any part of it!” She added on quickly, eyes widening.

Celestia nodded, “Why did she want to ‘get Sunset away’?”

“No offense, but...do you really need to ask that?” She tilted her head, “Talk to any student in the school and half the staff. They’ll give you a reason.”

“Of course…” Celestia nodded, “Because of her first three and a half years. Alright, continue.”

“It...sounded tempting, if not a bit harsh…” She tilted her head, “I signed on for the first one, for Applejack, but I figured that’d be fine. Her sister and all. I bailed as soon as it started spreading!” She tacked on once more, eyes going wide and innocent.

“Then, you have absolutely no access to the account?” Celestia asked.

“No. Its Apple Bloom’s account.” She had a cold, dead weight in her stomach and could practically see the words imprinted on the wall behind Celestia. You’re going to regret that.

“Well then, I suppose for now I see no reason for you to be here. I will have a chat with Miss Fly about her behavior, and you may return to class.”

“Uh, thanks Principal…” She nodded, darting out as fast as she physically could, bumping into the door once for good measure.

Celestia was silent for a moment, before holding down a button on her office phone. “Raven. Send in Sweetie Belle, and let Cherilee know it’s urgent.”

“Indigo?” Dash stared, blinking at the pale blue girl across from her.

“Yeah, yo, hi, hola. You’ve said my name like...5 times already. Can you stop?” Nightshade gave her a flat look, “That’s the exact opposite of when somebody does the ‘that’s my name, don’t wear it out’ routine.”

“And you go by Nightshade now.” Sunset confirmed, “Why? ...And do we know the rest of you from somewhere?”

“Except for you.” Dash motioned to Night Glider, “I know your sister and all that junk.”

Glider shrugged, mixed feelings of her dear sibling splayed across her face.

“Yes, as I was saying a moment ago,” Starry Skies smiled, sitting upright in her chair, “You know me previously as Sunny Flare.”

“Yeah, she’s Principal Bitch’s daughter.” ‘Courier’ snickered to herself, leaning her chair back on two legs. Starry hissed and kicked it over, standing and leaning over her. “YIPE!”

“I’m SORRY?!”

“NOTHING!” The glasses clad girl squeaked in terror.

Night Glider shook her head, “And the chick over here who zoned out for her music-” She gestured to ‘Blueball Blitz’, now focusing on the dented headphones covering her ears, “Is...was, whatever, Lemon Zest. Yeah, shit’s complicated now.”

“U-uh, no kidding.” Dash stared, Sunset looking around in mild confusion. CHS was her domain, this was all alien and rather meaningless to her.

“So...why did you all change your names?” Sunset raised an eyebrow, giving the group an odd look of curiosity and worry. She had an odd feeling that she knew what came next.

“Well do you want the long version or the short version?” NG asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” Dash waved, “Just explain.”

“‘Kay. CHS isn’t the only madhouse in town to have some spooky magic run-ins.”

“...I...great, what’s the long version?” Rainbow frowned.

“That was the long version. Short version is: Canterlot’s boned!” NG nodded solemnly.

“Uhhh… Can we have a long, long version, please?” Dash asked.

“The long long version is that there are crazy people in dark hoods running around, kidnapping kids, and we don’t know why!” Starry looked away from her terrified schoolmate, crossing her arms and sighing, “All we do know is that they look different when they show back up, have weird changes, and some of them start developing...powers.”

“P-powers?” Sunset stuttered, “Like...magic?”

“Depends. Does this count as magic?” Courier stood, grabbing the table Blitz was perched on by one of its legs and lifting it up with no trouble. “‘Cause I don’t really work out.”

“GIMME DOWN!” Blitz shouted, snapping back to reality. The girl floundered for a moment, falling off the table as a dark blue pair of wings sprouted from her back, buzzing angrily to pause her descent back to the ground, “COURIRER!”

“My name has two ‘R’s, thank you.” She rolled her eyes. “I was Sugarcoat by the way. Thanks for asking.”

“W-Wait, what?!” Dash yelped, “I never would’ve been able to tell! From any of you!”

“Kinda the point, I guess. Dunno really. We have no clue what these bozos are doing.” Courier dropped the table, knocking all the DnD pieces over and earning another scathing glare from Starry.

Sunset massaged her forehead. She didn’t need this before she was even officially enrolled here, “So wait, Cinch is your mom, Starry...so she knows about all this then?”

“Well, of course.” Starry nodded, “You expect her not to notice when I come home from my ‘vacation’ looking completely different? I mean, I know she’s focused on her job and all, but she’s not a bad mother.”

Sunset held up her hands, shaking her head, “No, no, I didn’t mean that. Sorry. It's just...this is pretty crazy to get pulled into already.”

Courier shrugged, “We heard CHS has had some odd incidents passed off as ‘special effects’ and the like, but we knew you guys had some sort of experience with magic.”

“And when we came across you guys,” Nightshade continued, “We figured you’d be able to help us figure all this out.”

Dash went over, plopping into a chair dramatically, “Really?! Ugh! We just had all this shit happen to us, and now we need to deal with this?!” She threw up her hands, “We have our own problems to deal with!”

Sunset set a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Easy Marred, it’ll be fine. Getting away from CHS is a huge step in dealing with those problems, and hey, magic shenanigans are more our forte than crazy students, right? Home turf.” She forced a weak smile, joking a bit.

Marred scowled, crossing her arms and looking away from her, her sclera flashing darkly for only a split second before she looked back over to Sunset. “...Right.”

She gently squeezed her shoulder, smile growing a bit sad, “They saved our lives. The least we can do is try and pay that out.”

Marred let out a breath, slouching over and calming down, “Yeah… I guess so.” She sighed, “Damn it…”

“Let's take the time to figure this out, chill out and such. Right? Then we can get knee deep in it.” Sunset’s smile grew slightly.

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds better.” Dash replied, running her hands through her hair, attempting to calm herself down.

Nightshade cast a worried look, “Well...they've been quiet for a good while, ever since Glider showed up again, so I doubt we're on any sort of schedule for this.”

“Oh, that reminds me. You said your appearances changed… Why does Night Glider look the same, then? Or… Did you look different before?” Dash asked, leaning back with a somewhat indifferent look, trying to play it cool.

“It seems that with each dissapearance, our appearances changed less in their variation.” Starry mused, “Courier was first as far as we know; she changed the most. Night Glider, being the most recent, looks the same. She joined our little group about two weeks ago.”

Courier frowned, “I miss my old hair.”

“Misty seems to like the faux hawk.” Nightshade snickered.

“Shut up, Blightshade.” She received a quick jab in the stomach for that. “Oof!”

“Well, uh, at least you look more like your brother now, Indigo.” Dash attempted to help.

“And you, your mom.” She replied, “And please, its Nightshade now, Dash.”

“Yeah, I already made that joke to her. She didn’t really seem that happy about it.” Dash shrugged. “Alright Nightshade, if you call me Marred.”

“Fine by me.” Nightshade nodded in turn. “Heh, I can kinda see why. So, that out of the way and the threat of cultists hanging over our heads-”

“-WELCOME TO CRYSTAL PREP!” Blitz cheered. There was a knock that sounded on the door. “Oh right, PASSWORD!” She darted back over to the door, peering through.

“I’m Dash’s mom, let me in.” Daring said flatly. Dash got up, moving to open the door before Blitz could ask for the password again.

“Woah! No pushing!” The electric girl complained.

“Hey Dash, just got done with Cinch.” Daring reported, “Looks like you’re all set up to start school after the break.”

“Do we have to wear the uniforms?” Dash asked.

“Yes, everyone does.” Daring said with a small smirk.

“No. Not happenin’. Nuh-uh.”

The group behind her blinked at the conversation, Starry snickering, “ Rainbow, everyone has to.”

“Cinch said that we can order some over the break.” Daring said simply.

“Moooooom!” Dash complained, “Come on, those things probably itch!”

“Actually they’re quite comforta-” Courier was cut off as Dash threw a piece of the DnD board at her.

“No!” Dash pouted, “Suuuunseeet, can we talk?”

“Uh...sure?” She looked around, “I mean, we’re all kinda mid-conversation.”

“In priiivate!” Dash insisted.

Sunset sighed, figuring she knew what this was gonna be, “Fine. One second guys.” The next moment she found herself dragged outside by Dash.

“...so...are you actually Daring Do?” Starry glanced over.

“...Oh boy, here we go.” Daring gave a small smile, rolling her eyes.

“Can we just… not do the uniforms?” Dash asked, both of them now back in the darkened hallway, “You know, convince Cinch that we don’t need them?”

Sunset raised her eyebrow, leaning against an old locker, “And by ‘convince’, I can only assume you mean…?”

“...I’ll make an exception for the siren thing just this once.” Dash said simply. “Please?”

“What happened to not using my siren powers like this? I thought you were having cold feet about it all? Playing the moral compass not fit?” Sunset frowned, “Dash, you can't just change your moral code to fit minute exceptions like this.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Look. It'll be, what? January to June? Sixth months of a uniform and then we’re done with high school period. I think you'll live.”

“...So you want to dress in that itchy-ass thing?” Rainbow asked, crossing her arms with a frown.

“Well first off, I heard Courier trying to-”

“-Courier doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about! She’s just used to it!”

“Secondly, my wardrobe is this.” She gestured down to herself, “I’d like a second set of clothing I wouldn’t have to steal or borrow directly from your closet.”

“Well, my family will just buy you clothing with the money we would’ve used to pay for your uniforms anyways!”

“And third, what will the rest of the students think if they see just us walking around without them? I’m not using my powers once to get out of this, and I’m certainly not gonna have to do that daily.” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Why are you so up in arms about this?”

“Then we say screw the uniforms! Let’s get everyone outta wearing them!” Dash smirked. “...Because uniforms suck, that’s why! They’re so stupid. I mean, this is the modern era, not the 50s.”

“It’s also a private school, so…” She continued massaging that spot on her face before a devious idea took root in her mind, “Okay, so those three reasons aren’t enough for you?”

“Well, yeah.” Dash scoffed.

Sunset suddenly leaned in close, “What if I told you you’d look cute in it?”

Dash physically stumbled back, eyes wide, “Wh-wh-what?!” Her cheeks were flushed bright as Sunset’s hair had once been.

“Is that an ‘okay’ on your part?~” She smiled, eyelids low.

“...y-yeah?” Dash looked away, rubbing her shoulder, “f-fine.”

Sunset’s eyes widened for a split second before wiping the surprise from her expression, ‘Well that worked far better than I could’ve hoped for.’ She smiled, leaning back, “Okay then, shall we get back in there and finish things up for today? We can head home and play some video games?” She knew well that if one embarrassed the Dash, one must balance it out by playing to her desires.

Dash still had her back to Sunset, “Yeah. Sounds great.” Voice was strained too.

‘Welp...I can only hope I haven’t made things too awkward.’ She sighed, heading back inside with Rainbow, ignoring the light blush dusting her own face. There were other things to focus on now.

Celestia was typing away as Sweetie Belle came into her office. “Take a seat.”

“Um...okay.” The young girl nodded, shutting the door behind her and sitting down in the chair in front of the desk. Sweetie Belle hadn’t seen Scootaloo all day and had been getting worried. Now here she was in Celestia’s office. “Can I ask why I’m here?”

“I got a confession from Scootaloo saying that the three of you were involved in the Anon-a-Miss incident-” Celestia said.

“WHAT?!” Sweetie exclaimed, stopping Celestia from going any further, “Wh-why-what-how?!”

“...I simply wanted to hear the story.” Celestia said, “Keep in mind that the punishment will be less if you’re honest with me.”

“We didn’t want to hurt anyone! We just wanted Sunset away from our sisters!” She basically broke like a dam, “The cops and the attack, we never wanted any of this!”

“So then you’ve heard of the attack on Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash?”

The girl curled up somewhat in the chair, nodding, “I didn’t know what to do. We never thought something like this would happen! It was an accident!”

“Well, now you all will be held accountable for what your actions caused.” Celestia said, “But in order to determine how severe your punishment will be, I need your side of the story, Sweetie Belle.”

“Apple Bloom got an idea to leak a secret of her sister’s and make it look like Sunset did it. She asked if I and Scootaloo had anything. I was able to swipe some stuff off of Sunset’s phone at their second sleepover at Rarity’s and Scoots was able to steal something from Dash’s backpack. I found a stash of old secrets on a flashdrive that was hidden on campus. It looked like one of Sunset’s old blackmail folders.” She spewed, “After that people started sending the account stuff. Scootaloo said it didn’t matter and was only helping us so we started posting that too.” She had started to cry by this point, pulling up her legs and hugging her knees.

Celestia softened only a little, realizing that Sweetie was being truthful, “And it spiraled into this mess. Sweetie, the three of you nearly caused the death of two students, even if it was indirect. You must understand how serious that is. ...Nevertheless, I thank you for your honesty. I want you to wait outside while I question Applebloom. ...Please leave your phone with me.”

Sweetie Belle nodded silently, setting her phone down on the desk and walking out, holding herself. She raised her gaze to the red-haired girl that had just walked in, “...it's over.” She whimpered.

“Alright.” Tia nodded to herself, “We’re getting somewhere.” She pressed the button, “Now send in Apple Bloom, Raven.”

Apple Bloom walked in with a blank expression, “Ya wanted to see me, ma’am?”

“Yes. I need you to tell me about Anon-a-Miss.” Celestia said. “I’ve been told that you were the one to create the account.”

Apple Bloom’s face stayed blank, thinking for a moment, “Ah made the account awhile back. Lost the password. Someone probably hacked it.”

“That’s not what I was told. Twice.” Celestia said.

“Well ah don’t know what ya were told, but the account was made by me, so ah would know.”

Celestia looked at her pointedly, “Alright then, who would hack into a newly opened account? What would they want with it, and why couldn’t they have made one themselves?”

“How would ah know? Ah’m no hacker.”

“Then, how is it that your sister just happened to be targeted first, when I was told that you specifically targeted her?”

“Why would ah wanna hurt my own sister!?” She frowned, “AJ gettin’ targeted was just ‘cause my house was the site of the first sleep over. She told Sunset the secret and she spilled it. What happened to her and Dash was awful, but even still.”

“Then maybe I should pull your sister in here as well. Perhaps there’s some context she can shine some light on.” Celestia said, crossing her arms.

Apple Bloom frowned further, “What context is there? Sounds like someone snapped under the pressure of cops running around and fibbed to get out of an interrogation.”

Celestia pressed the button on her office phone, “Raven, send for Applejack, please. Urgently.”

Apple Bloom hid her wince. At this point, this was going to be inevitable. Might as well face it while she still had some plea of innocence available.

It didn’t take long for Applejack to come into the office, “Ya wanted ta see-” She paused in her tracks, “Apple Bloom…” Already, her voice sounded as if she was about to scold her younger sister. This was all too familiar.

“Thank you for coming, Applejack.” Celestia smiled, “I assure you that you’re not the one about to face consequences, I simply need to ask you a few quick questions.”

“Yes Ma'am, I’ll answer whatever ya need me to.” Applejack nodded back politely.

“Excellent. As you know, I’m looking into the Anon-a-Miss incident. And since you were the first one targeted, I need to understand: Who would’ve known about your nickname before it was leaked?” Celestia asked.

“Family ‘n close friends. Why?” She frowned, not enjoying a repeat of this song and dance, “Ah thought everyone already agreed it was Dash and Sunset?”

“Your sister just admitted to me that she created the account.” Celestia replied.

“...” The turning of Applejack’s head was practically accompanied by the sound of a rusty iron gate.

“Now hold on! Ah lost access to it a while ago!” Apple Bloom defended, sticking with her lie. “Before this mess started!”

“Alright then, who could possibly have hacked into your account, and have known a family secret about your sister? And also, why are two others claiming that you posted the secrets?” Celestia asked, frown deepening.

“Ah dunno, ah’m not them!” Apple Bloom threw up her hands, “Ah’m not sure what y’all want me to say!”

“I want you to tell the truth, Apple Bloom.” Celestia said.

“...Ah know a great way to tell if she’s lyin’ or not.” Applejack held out her hand, “Cell phone, Apple Bloom, now.”

The girl froze, “Ah don’ have it.” She said instantly.

“...Apple Bloom.” Applejack scowled. “Do ah have to look through yur backpack myself?”

“Ah left it at home, Winona ate it!” She started to sweat, eyes dilating slightly.

Applejack grabbed Apple Bloom’s backpack and began to dig through it. The phone was easily found buried underneath the jacket inside.

Her sister gasped, only held back from leaping at her by Celestia’s glare, “AJ!”

Applejack got into Apple Bloom’s phone, opening up the MyStable App, and her hands began to shake as she came to the account’s home page. “Ah… Ah can’t believe ya’ll would do this to me, Apple Bloom. Yur own family!”

Apple Bloom clenched her teeth, looking down, there wasn’t much to say at this point. The silence quickly became deafening.

Celestia looked between the two sisters, deciding that would be proof enough to her. “Raven.” Once again, she had pressed the button, “Send in Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.”

The two girls were sent in, Sweetie Belle right away and Scootaloo a few minutes later. A single look around the room was all it took to see what was going on. Applejack’s dark glare was enough to tell that.

“We need to discuss punishment for the three of you.” Celestia said, “Sweetie Belle, yours will be the lightest for being honest with me earlier. Scootaloo, I am heavily disappointed in you for blaming the entire incident on your friend. And Apple Bloom, I’m sure your sister will take care of you beyond what I can do here.”

“Wait, what?!” Sweetie squeaked, glaring at Scootaloo, “YOU DID WHAT?!”

“Y’all threw me under the bus?!” Apple Bloom glared venomously.

Scootaloo flinched back, saying nothing as she frowned, glaring at Apple Bloom, “Well it was her idea!”

“The two of you went with it, no matter whose idea it was originally. The three of you together are Anon-a-Miss in the end, and I give you 8 days of suspension before I bring this up to the school board to discuss a more permanent punishment.” Celestia said, scowling. “And I cannot promise that they can protect your families from any lawsuits.”

“Lawsuits?!” Applejack’s eyes widened, “Mah family can’t afford anythin’ like that!”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened as well, wringing her hands nervously. After all, it hadn’t been too long since they had nearly lost the farm to the Flim-Flam brothers. That would’ve been bad enough, but an actual lawsuit...the thought terrified her.

“Well then, the first punishment I’ll hand down, is that I want you three to write up a formal apology to all of your classmates, post it on Anon-a-Miss’s page, shut down the page, and post a printed version all around the halls.” Celestia said, “Yourselves. By hand.”

“What’s the apology have to say?” Sweetie Belle winced.

Scootaloo started bouncing her leg nervously. ‘This...doesn’t sound too bad…’

“You have to say that it was the three of you specifically, not Sunset, and why. You also have to apologise to the school for bringing them all into this, and that the posts will stop coming.”

“Who’s to say they’ll believe us?” Scootaloo asked.

“And what if someone comes after us like they did with Sunset and Dash?!” Sweetie Belle gulped, curling back into a ball.

“It doesn’t matter if they believe it or not. Both of them are long gone. And, unlike Sunset and Dash, I’ll be able to monitor your protection during school hours, and I could possibly have the police monitor your homes.” Celestia said, “If your parents and guardians decide that’s what they want.”

“Rarity’s gonna kill me…” Sweetie wrung her hands, gulping. “Oh man.”

“Good. Then ah won’t be the only one.” Applejack growled, “Y’all get what’s comin’ to ya.” She paused for a moment, ‘And… Ah have a couple friends to apologise to.’ Her expression only became more firm as her gaze set on her sister.

Apple Bloom ducked her head under the fiery gaze. She had a strong feeling that things had just gone from bad to worse for them.

‘...Wh-what got into Sunset back there?’ Dash asked herself as she pressed her face into the car window, attempting to cool down her hot cheeks. At the moment, Daring was driving them both to the nearest tech shop to pick up a new pair of phones for them.

“Soo… Did your meeting go well?” Daring asked.

“Seemed so, have a group to hang out with over break, other than the group from Clipper’s, of course.” Sunset explained, “Not bad for such a short time there.”

“And you’ll be able to hang with them or whatever after the break too?” Daring asked.

“Sounds like. Found some classmates that we can get along with, right Dash?”

“Yesh.” Dash replied, muffled. Daring shot Sunset a questioning look.

Sunset shrugged in response, “You, uh, feeling okay, Dash?”

“Uh’m fiiine. Gimme a minute.”

“You don’t have a minute. We’re here.” As Daring pulled up to the tech shop, Sunset and Dash noticed three familiar faces standing outside.

“Grrreeeat.” Dash murmured, blush returning despite the chilled glass as the three sirens snickered at her unflattering position.

Sunset blinked, “Hmm, thanks for the ride Mrs. Do. Excuse me, I won’t be long.” She stepped out of the car as it ground to a halt, and Daring followed them out. “Adagio, Aria, Sonata. How are you three today? We weren’t expecting you.”

“Well, yesterday you said you were getting phones.” Aria said, “This is really the only joint close to CHS or that other school.”

Meanwhile, Adagio had a different approach, “Looking flustered there, Dashie. Something the matter?~”

“No.” Dash brushed past her and into the store, waiting for Sunset. Somewhat confused, Daring followed her in as well.

“I may have tried something,” Sunset paused, “Different, to get her to agree to something and she’s acting a little bashful, I suppose. Could you not mess with her today?” She nodded to Aria, “So Heart, right? I did promise after all.”

“Alright, I’ll back off of Marred.” Adagio said, flashing Sunset a smile.

“And I’d appreciate it. It’d be great to not feel so tired all the time.” Aria gave a ghost of a smile.

“Yeah! We need Ari at full power too!” Sonata nodded eagerly.

Sunset nodded, gesturing them over into a side road, bringing her hands together and slowly drawing up the power of a third heart. It felt far easier this time, between the light familiarity and the lack of exhaustion from yesterday. ‘Even so, probably best to not stress myself for the rest of the day.’ She thought to herself, holding up the new gem to inspect it. The sun shined down, light refracting through it onto the slick concrete below them, painting the slush ruby red.

Aria gave a tired smile, taking it and holding it close to her for a few moments, “Heh...didn’t think I’d be getting this back.” After clipping it back around her neck, she wrapped Sunset into a quick hug, fast enough that it seemed like it hadn’t even happened, “Don’t expect many of those.”

Sunset let out a quick laugh, “I’ll hold you to that.” She smiled at the three. “...Have you just been waiting for us here all day?”

“Well there’s a cafe right there, so it's not like we’ve been bored.” Adagio gestured to the coffee shop sitting on the other street corner. “The barista is just...adorable.” Aria rolled her eyes.

“Better than just sitting here, I guess.” Sunset said, ready to follow Dash in for her phone now.

Dash came bursting out of the tech shop, new phone pressed to her ear and mumbling several things under her breath, angrily.

“Das- Da- MARRED!” Daring followed after her, a small rectangular box in her hands, “Talk to me!”

“Marred, hey, hey!” Sunset stumbled out in front of her, “What’s going on? Speak English!”

Marred let out a loud growl, raising her gaze to stare at Sunset with a fiery hate in her eyes, “SCOOTALOO.”

Author's Note

Hmm, no shout out his chapter? Maybe next one. For the record, if a chapter hasn't been claimed, you can always go back and figure it out.

Page 38, Paragraph 1

I recall my first encounter with an Equestrian. Surreal, but certainly worthwhile. It took all of two minutes to be deemed a monster for casual use of dark magic. Curious. I still don't know how to feel. Angry? Offended? I'm not sure. What's wrong with it? It's just magic, magic older than their precious light. Does us knowing how to use it now make us villains? I still fail to understand. Nothing is stopping one of their storybook heroes from using a dark magic spell to save the day or a life. It's not our fault that they simply don't know how to use it properly.

12 - Trouble Will Surround You, Start Taking Some Control

Beyond the material plains of Earth and Terra, there exists an enclosed realm reserved only for the most dangerous of all villains. It had gone by many names over the countless millenia. The Inferno, the Netherworld, the Abyss, Hell. However, in modern times, most of Equestria and her neighbors refer to it simply as Tartarus.

As with its many names, the Realm of the Forgotten also has been theorized to appear rather differently to any who discuss it. A realm of fire and lakes of lava, barren plains where the inhabitants are hunted by waves of monstrous creatures, and even nothingness itself.

In reality, Tartarus was none of those things. It was….underwhelming, really. Cold, a damp feeling to the air that made one’s skin crawl, the ground always moist, squishing under one’s hooves with the occasional rock that would trip up the endless pacing of your jail cell. Indeed, that’s all Tartarus was in the end. A prison. An eternally boring one at that.

One of the realm’s most infamous denizens knew it well. The frail cloven hooves of a ragged centaur echoed around the massive plateau as he completed another circle in his cage. Defeated once again. Not even by a fellow demon this time, but by a miniscule purple princess...of friendship. How degrading.

Tirek stared out across the plains, not expecting anything out of place. Things were always the same down here. Change was alien to the subterranean world. There was no sense of time passing, no change of light, not even erosion of the cave around him for how long he’d been here, and for how long he’d surely be here again.

Tirek growled. Kicking a front hoof into a bar on his small cage, “Only after the briefest taste of freedom am I returned here.” His tone held an edge that hinted of great power and pride, but it escaped from his throat as a wheeze of a tired old man. “So close to finally winning, only to be defeated by another brightly colored weapon of Lumencia’s gelding.” He snorted, truly hoping that by some magic that the divines would hear his insult, if only to offend more. “If I must wait another thousand years to try once more, then so be it.” However, his third monologue in the past few hours was halted as a strange feeling crept over him. The crushing sense of isolation vanished, replaced by the grim paranoia of being watched, the atmosphere now hanging down on him heavily.

“Hello, Tirek.” An unfortunately familiar voice rumbled through his mind, shaking him to his core.

“M-master!” He nearly collapsed on the spot from the force of his presence and the shock of being contacted after all this time. “I-I am humbled by your presence to-”

“You have failed me, Tirek.” He cut off the shriveled husk of a demon with little care for groveling.

“What? M-master, time is of little concern! I will escape again and-”

“Silence.” That single word brought Tirek to a screeching halt, nodding to this nothingness. “I have no care for your galavanting in Equestria. I speak of the sirens.”

It took a moment for Tirek to process what he had just heard, “Master, my curse was thorough. The sirens starved to death, every last one of them! Those who didn’t were attacked by their own pr-”

“Inaccurate! Three survived, on another world, cast out by the mage, Starswirl.”

Tirek stared into the darkness. Survived? But how? They would’ve had to land in a world thriving with strife to survive his curse. “How do you know this?” He dared to ask.

“Lumencia has allowed Crescendo to pass on her crown. She thinks she has found a loophole in not intervening directly. This is not the case, as she has sent one of her worshippers to intervene…”

“You may as well,” Tirek finished the thought, catching onto the plan, “Master, I am honored that you would-”

“My right hoof will be in contact. I said I had no care for your galavanting, I never stated that your defeat wasn’t pathetic, my servant.” The dark tone grew icy and Tirek shivered. Without his power, Tirek found himself feeling that much more powerless against the force surrounding him. “Complete the task this time, Tirek. If not, you’ll be answering to me.”

Tirek summoned his courage, nodding in understanding, “Yes, Lord Grogar. I await this contact.” He bowed his head, frowning internally. Whoever this new siren queen was, she’d suffer just as the last one had.

“Is she okay?” Sonata blinked, poking the cheek of Rainbow Dash. The dull prismatic girl had just collapsed on a nearby bench, lower eyelid twitching uncontrollably as her face was frozen in a contorted sneer.

“That...is a good question.” Sunset responded, looking over her friend in surprise. She had just rushed out of the storefront, shouted the name of a close friend of hers and then proceeded to collapse after what might have counted as a dramatic pause. Sunset drew her mouth into a line and glanced over at Daring Do. She could probably assume what the shout of fury and the broken expression on her friend’s face meant on it's own, but it’d best to hear it from the source.

“She made a weird noise after getting a text, and then ran out shouting about Scootaloo.” Daring shrugged. Clearly, the books didn’t do her analysis skills justice.

Truly a reliable source. Sunset sighed, swiping the phone from Rainbow’s vibrating hand and searching through the new set of messages from the soccer team. Scrolling down, she saw who the most recently read messages were from: Misty Fly. The small chat that started was simple enough, Dash texting her just to be sure Misty had the new number when…

‘The Crusaders are Anon-a-Miss.’ The message was more than clear on the phone’s screen, ‘Scootaloo admitted it to me, and I brought her to Celestia. Dash, the team and I are so sorry for ever doubting you. I hope we can make it up to you and Sunset somehow.’

Sunset stared at the screen for a good while. She wasn’t entirely sure at what point she had started spacing out, but having Sonata start poking her cheek was a good indicator that it was long enough. “Huh?”

“Oh! Sorry, just making sure you’re not gonna go nutso like Marred over here.” She backed away as her fellow siren came to, eyes snapping around in surprise, “Are you okay?”

“...I don’t know.” She looked down. Sunset honestly didn’t know how to feel over this revelation. The fact that the it was the Crusaders of all people that had set her up brought feelings of anger, embarrassment, a mountain of vindication, but… surprisingly, a lot of apathy to it all. Anon-a-Miss had hardly crossed her mind since returning from death. That tended to take priority over a lot of things.

“Yeah? Well I do!” Sunset flinched as she found the phone ripped out of her hands, Dash now on her feet and fuming, “I’m pissed! Those three were behind all this?! When i get my hands on them, I’m gonna fuc-!” Dash descended into mumbles as Sunset clapped a hand over her mouth, slightly bug-eyed. Rainbow had always been a hot head, that was undoubtable. She was also known for starting a brawl or two, but that outburst had been a bit unexpected, especially with how public it had been.

“Marred, chill.” Sunset said through clenched teeth, feeling her friend still trying to yell behind her hand.

“Marred.” Daring came over, kneeling down at their sides. “Don’t make a scene. You can rant to your father as much as you want when we get home.” She handed Sunset her own phone.

Stanza nodded a thank you, pocketing the phone as Dash seemed to calm down. “Right, later. ‘Kay.” There was still a clear edge of poison to her words. Sunset had a feeling she’d be hearing a long rant later if they didn’t both just collapse at home.

“Stanza, are you okay?” Sonata asked again, “It sounds like you knew these guys?”

“Sorta...They were two of my friends-erm-ex-friends’ siblings, Scootaloo just kind of being...there.” She shrugged, “I didn’t know them. They were just three more students that hated me.”

The three Dazzlings cast a look between them, “Well, that’s the past, right?” Adagio raised an eyebrow, “This is today, and today has you among not-enemies.”

“Not enemies?” Sunset looked back up, face deadpan as she noted a reminder to throw a certain bit of sheet music out when she got back.

“I did say we weren’t friends quite yet.” Adagio reminded with a teasing smirk, “But as also stated, you are one of us now and removed that blasted curse.”

“Hey, speak for yourself!” Sonata responded, slipping over to Sunset’s side, “If you wanna wait, you can. If Zaza needs a friend, then I’m happy to oblige!”

“...Zaza?” Stanza deadpanned harder.

“Expect a lot of nicknames from her, especially bad ones.” Aria chuckled, “It's one of her hobbies.”

“You know it, Ari-Dari!”

“And one of my pet peeves.” The chuckle quickly melted into a slight scowl.

Sunset chuckled awkwardly, “Heh, yeah. Thanks...I’m kinda worried about Marred though. I’ve never seen her act like this before.”

“What? Loud and angry? Seems par for the course based on what we saw at CHS.” Adagio responded with a simple shrug.

“To be fair, Dagi, we were the cause of the loudness and angrynesses.” Sonata pointed out, grinning at her complete understanding of the English language.

“No, no, Dash isn’t anywhere near this bad.” Sunset mused, watching Rainbow get shuffled towards the car by a rather confused looking Daring Do. “She started acting off ever since we got back from the hospital. All I used on her was a healing spell, dark magic or not, so that shouldn’t have a bad affect on her, right?”

“Can’t say.” Aria shook her head apologetically, “None of us are that versed in healing magic, and we’re not a species that’s alien to all magic, let alone dark. Maybe this is a side effect? Maybe she’s mad about someone she knew betraying her?”

“Twilight did mention her pony self was the wielder of Loyalty…” Sunset admitted with a nod.

“Then she’s being pissy over a knife in the back.” Adagio shrugged, “To put it bluntly at least. Let her calm down, it should be fine.”

“I doubt it’ll be so simple...just ‘cause it never is, but we’ll see.” Sunset sighed, crossing her arms as she stared off in thought.

“You seem to be taking it well.” She pointed out.

“I dunno. I don’t know how to take it. Like...what do I say to that, after all this?” Sunset questioned, wrenching her eyes shut. “I mean, I honestly wanted to change, fighting you three finally showed me that, but-”

“Fighting us?” Adagio noted with interest, “I thought you were trying to change before we showed up?”

Sunset paused, recollecting herself, “I, um…”

“Stanza! Are you coming back now or are your friends bringing you? I have to get Marred home!” Daring called from the driver’s side of the car, looking back at the four.

“I gotta go. Catch you later?” Sunset smiled awkwardly. She seemed to have mastered that expression in recent weeks. She was met with a slip of paper from Adagio, three phone number scratched onto it with pencil.

“Do keep in touch, your majesty~” Adagio gave an alluring smile, earning a light blush from Sunset, turning on a heel and leading the group away. Aria hesitated for a moment, whispering back.

“Step one is not letting her get to you, otherwise the sirens may have two rulers in the next few years.” With an even hotter blush coating Sunset’s face, Aria was off too.

“...thanks?” She tilted her head, watching them go and sighing. ‘There’s too much shit going on right now. Just...focus on one issue at a time.’ Sunset strolled back over to the car, putting the Crusaders out of her mind for now. Dash’s breakdown was more important. She’d have time to worry about the fallout of Anon-a-Miss later.

Sunset saw Rainbow splayed out in the back as she took her seat. Daring glanced aside to her, “So… Any idea what’s up? I know I’m not around much and all but… Dash doesn’t act like this. At all. Usually she just steams over this kinda stuff for a few hours at the most, and then it’s done. But recently she’s been unusually aggressive.”

“I’ve noticed. She tried to convince me to use my powers to get out of the CP uniforms earlier. This is after saying that I should watch using this power at all.”

“You know I’m not asleep, right?” Dash asked from the back seat, frown evident in her tone.

“Yes, Dash.” Daring said simply. “I’m glad you heard it. What’s up?”

“I’m just pissed, okay?! Scoots was like a little sis to me, and she goes around and starts doing this shit? Not just leaking the secrets, but then framing the both of us?!” She snarled, “Ugh, I can’t believe that little brat!”

“I get that, Dashie, but you’re not usually that brash with it. You made a huge scene back there.” Daring looked at Dash through the rearview mirror. “I’m just worried, alright?”

“Yeah? Well, sorry. Never been backstabbed by a friend like this.” She muttered bitterly, turning over on the seat.

“Do you know for a fact that it’s Scootaloo?” Daring asked, eyebrow raised as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Wh-yeah! I just got a text from Misty and the other soccer players! Anon-a-Miss just got outed!”

“Well then don’t you think Celestia is handling it?”

“W-well yeah, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be involved!”

“How?” Sunset glanced back. “And be charged for assaulting a group of freshmen? Dash, if we’re gonna focus on anyone right now, how about Gilda and them? The ones that framed us versus the ones that nearly killed us?”

Rainbow sputtered, “B-but none of this woulda happened if they hadn’t made the account!”

“Indeed, but they did, things happened, and we were nearly killed! Beyond that, we now have a group at Crystal Prep that desperately needs our help! So can we please focus on some priorities?” She asked, turning to look at Dash with pleading expression. It was clear Sunset didn’t want to discuss the Crusaders at all right now.

Dash sighed, “Ugh, so we’re just going to let them get away?!”

“Let them get away?” Sunset tilted her head, “Dash, they’re undoubtedly getting in mountains of trouble with Celestia. What I’m saying is that we have bigger things to focus on!” She felt her own annoyance start to rise at Dash’s insistence. What would they even do? The case had been closed with them. Gilda was the bigger worry now. If she just wanted to yell at them, that could wait.

“Alright, alright, fine.” Dash put up her hands with an annoyed huff. “I’ll stop worrying about getting backstabbed so much.”

Sunset frowned a bit at her, giving Dash a worried look, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No.” Dash groaned into her hands, “I’m really, really not. There’s just been so much shit, you know?!”

“I do, I’m a part of it too.” She nodded, “But getting this upset over it won’t get us anywhere.”

Dash sighed again, shaking her head, “I’m sorry! I just can’t help it! I knew Scootaloo for years.”

“Maybe we should just relax. We got our stuff, school’s out for winter...let’s just go watch TV or something.”

“Relax. Yeah, that sounds good, maybe collapse and nap.” Dash looked over at Sunset, “I’d just love to feel normal again.”

“You and me? Normal?” Sunset offered a weak smile.

“Well, we can dream.” Dash replied with a tired chuckle.

Sunset’s body drooped, feeling relieved. Maybe Adagio was right, Dash just needed time to decompress. There was so much going on already, maybe things would calm down a little now.

“Alright, Gilda, what’s going on?” Pixel Pizzaz asked in a huff, “I’m missing a good photo shoot for this, so it better be important.” The pigtailed girl demanded as the offending group of several nights previous gathered behind CHS. “Last one before I head to So-Peg with the folks, so come on.”

“Oh, yeah, it's real good.” Gilda replied back in a humorless tone, showing them all Fluttershy’s stolen phone, MyStable up with a certain trio that was being put on blast by the website as a whole. ‘Anon-a-Miss revealed!’

A freezing wave washed over the group of students, unrelated to the weather, “We...no, no, don’t tell me Dash was innocent.” Dumbbell flinched back, gritting his teeth.

“It means Dash and Shimmer were innocent.” Lavender Lace gulped, the blonde holding herself as she shook nervously. A silence descended on the party, glancing around. There weren’t any cops present, not here at the least.

“...what do we do?” Hoops asked eventually.

“I’d advise keeping away from the Chateau.” Gilda grunted, “I think it's safe to assume that those two were found, given all the pigs around. You all need to lay low.” She dropped the phone on the ground, stomping on it with her boot, “One less loose end. I’m gonna go pick up Lightning Dust. She should be getting outta the hospital soon. Keep quiet and play it close to the vest.” She was met with nervous glances from around her and hesitant nods, “Remember, if one of us squeals, we all go down.” Her gaze drifted across the group again, steely and cold. The affirmations from them were a lot stronger this time.

“Alright, see you later then, Gilda.” Violet Burr nodded, strolling off with her fellow photographer. The rest of the group would follow suite soon enough, Gilda heading to the parking lot and hopping in her truck, peeling out much to the ire of a few nearby students.

The ride was silent, Gilda mulling over recent events. It would take some effort, but burying this all and moving on wouldn’t be too hard. As for Sunset and Dash? Well, wherever they were, they couldn’t prove anything. Innocence to the situation didn’t matter, only that of saving your own skin.

She pulled up outside the hospital’s entrance a little bit later just in time to catch sight of Dust walking out, a bandage over her swollen nose. It almost looked comical...and kinda crooked at that. “Yo, runt!” She called out.

“Gilda? What are you doing here?” Dust looked over in surprise, expecting to walk home from here. ‘Grandad didn’t send her, did he?’ She thought for a moment, ‘Nah, he doesn’t even know her.’

“Hey Dust. Good to see you’re alright.” Gilda greeted, shifting a little.

“Well, it was just my nose. No worries. Little stitches, wanted to keep me for a bit. I’m fine now. What’s up?” She approached, not getting in just yet.

“I wanted to talk. Y’know, about that night. We got some news.” She said, motioning her in, “Get in, I’ve got a shitty story to tell.”

“The best kind. Did someone get caught?” Dust raised an eyebrow, climbing in and shutting the door, “Don’t have my phone with me.”

“No. We didn’t. But that isn’t the problem.” Gilda leaned back in her seat, furrowing her eyebrows. “We got the wrong chicks.”

Dust felt herself grow cold, “What are you talking about?” She asked with trepidation, feeling the answer coming and dreading it heavily.

“Dash and Sunset aren’t Anon-a-Miss. The Crusaders are, the little shits.” Gilda cursed, struggling to get the engine started on her scrap heap.

“Dash was...innocent?” She stared, “Damn it.” Dust sagged, rubbing her forehead, “She’s gonna kick my ass and now I deserve it too.”

“Well, you’re pretty safe from her for awhile.” Gilda said, “I don’t think she’ll be coming back to CHS any time soon.” She finally got the car started, and heat blasted in the two girls’ faces.

“Why do you say that?” She glanced over, frowning, “Don’t think we hit ‘em that hard.”

“Yeah,” Gilda looked all around her as she backed up the truck, “You didn’t. While you were out, some of us bailed and the rest took it a bit too far.”

“Define too far. Oh God, you didn’t throw them in a lake or something did you?!” She sat up, looking scared.

“Heh, no.” Gilda leaned back, “We just beat ‘em senseless and left them at the Chateau D’If. It escalated too far, and I kinda stabbed Dash, and uh, the others branded Sunset’s cheek with a branding iron. A homemade branding iron.” Man, this was sounding worse and worse the more Gilda said it out loud.

Dust stared, “What. The actual Hell?”

“That’s the big thing. We’re in deep shit, all of us.” Gilda said, gripping the wheel. “We’ve gotta play it cool for a while, or we’re all going to the shithouse.”

Dust nodded slowly, “Yeah, sounds like...Just drop me off at my place. I’ll keep clear of the cops.”

“They’re swarming all over the school, and I suggest you keep away from the D’If, too.” Gilda urged.

“No intentions to ever go there. Place gives me the creeps.” She shuddered, biting her lip, “Yeah, I think I’ll be staying in for the break.”

“Good.” Gilda pulled up to Dust’s house. “Have a good break, Dust. See ya at school.”

“Yeah. You too.” She forced a smile, hopping out and walking up the path to her grandfather’s house. She pushed open the door, looking for him.

“Dust.” Wind Rider got up from his recliner, going over to her. “Hey sweetheart, how’s the nose?” He asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“Recovering.” She responded, letting her expression drop to one of slight terror, “Gramps, I...I did something bad. I screwed up big time!” Dust collapsed onto the couch and rubbed her face, wincing as she disturbed the bandages, “Dash and Sunset. T-they went way too far and-” Dust started to stutter off into incomplete words, taking several rapid breaths and starting to panic.

He went over, sitting down on the couch next to her, “I know you got in a fight, but did something happen?”

“I need you to call the cops. There was an incident just outside town. I...I know what happened. G-gilda and them, they took it too far.” Dust sniffled, emotions crashing down on her. They were just supposed to rough them up, and that was under suspicion of being guilty, but with all this? Dust broke down entirely. It was all just too much.

“Call the cops?” Wind Rider asked in surprise, “Dust, what’s going on?!”

“Sunset and Dash! Gilda set them up to be jumped at the school!” She gasped a breath, forcing it out, “I joined in for what I thought they exposed - Anon-a-Miss!” Rider recalled the day well, one of the few other times he had seen Dust in tears like this, “Dash headbutted me in the nose when I grabbed her. Got driven to the hospital and made up a story about a street fight.” She sniffled, rubbing her face again, “Gilda just told me what they did. It's...oh dear God, they tried to kill them!”

Rider pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, “Oh, damn it, Lightning Dust.” He breathed, shaking his head. He glanced down at the phone, “And you didn’t try to kill them?”

“No! I had no idea they were going to try that!” She shook her head rapidly, face flush and eyes brimming with tears.

“Alright.” Rider seemed more firm as he put the phone to his ear, dialing the number of the local police. “Yessir. I need to report a crime.” He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, “It’s about my granddaughter, apparently she was apart of an ongoing investigation…”

“Dash, Sunset! Get up!” The call from the other room jerked both girls up in the bed, jumping from the voice of Daring Do. The shock quickly wore off as the two noticed their closeness.

“Dash?”

“...uh...hey. What’s up?” Rainbow was blushing brightly.

“Did you fall asleep here? In the bed?”

Dash shot to the side, now standing next to said bed and looking sheepish, “Nope! I mean, I don’t think so, I mean that was weird! Hey, let’s go see what my mom wants!” Her panicked response led her out the door.

Sunset blinked, watching the pale girl dart out. She was already getting a feeling that this was going to be a strange day.

Daring and Blaze were watching the local news, Blaze sitting on the couch inhaling a waffle, and Daring standing up behind the couch with a coffee. She glanced behind her at the girls coming down the hall, and nudged her husband.

“Alright, Daring, rewind it.” Blaze said.

“...But it’s live.” Daring replied.

“Yes, and?”

“You can rewind live TV?” Daring frowned down at the remote.

“Mom.” Dash had recovered from her embarrassment in time to witness the conversation before her.

“Uh, yeah? Why do you think we paused the broadcast?” Blaze asked.

Daring began to rewind the news, “Well, I wouldn’t know, would I?! I’m in tombs all the time, babe, do you think I’m watching television in there?”

“Yep!” Blaze snickered.

“I’m playing ball all the time, ball is life and all that.” Dash snarked, “I have time for TV.” She stretched, yawning, “Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

“We’ve been asleep since like 7 last night.” Sunset pointed out, “What did you want to show us, Mr. Blaze?”

“This.” Daring hit play on the remote.

“They were asking me!” Blaze pouted.

“It seems the mysteries just keep piling on us, folks. Not even several months after the Everfree Fire and now a new inexplicable phenomenon has occured. Last night, two homes were struck by lightning, starting minor fires across their respective roofs. Sweet Apple Acres, home to the prominent Apple family was the first, reports of the strike occurring around midnight. Not even five minutes later were calls received of a mirrored event taking place at the Burr household a few miles away. Strikes like this are rare enough, but happening on a cloudless night should be impossible. We’ll have further updates for you after the break.”

Sunset stared, “Obvious statement, but that’s...not normal.” She shook her head, “Two consecutive lighting strikes with no turbulent weather?”

“Yeeaah,” Rainbow Blaze drew out the word, “I don’t know about you ladies, but that sounds like magic to me.”

“Well it couldn’t have happened to a nicer set of people.” Dash snorted, walking over to the kitchen to search for her own cup of coffee.

Daring and Blaze grimaced, looking at each other in confusion. Then, Daring looked over to Sunset.

“What I think she means is: After everything that’s happened, one more magical mystery is all we need.” Sunset smiled awkwardly, begging for the tension to disperse. Yeah, this was gonna be another long day.

Author's Note

Page 61, Paragraph 2

Tirek may be a demon of near purposeless destruction, but he did seem to have reason for targeting us so brutally. Grogar, his master, demanded as such. The idea that Grogar himself wants us dead is enough to make my scales crawl, shakes me to my core. Though I can not say I'm surprised. Dark magic users that are not loyal to him will inevitably be targeted. It only surprises me that this didn't happen sooner.

Granted, the true origin of my predecessor's demise is not clear, so perhaps there's more to it there? Undeniably, a siren queen is a priority target and will be run down if given the chance. It's not easy for a queen to watch her back while trying to protecting her people, its safe to say I failed in such as a matter of fact. I can only hope that you do better than I did.

Shoutout to Ze1a7in for OneRepublic's Love Runs Out and Imagine Dragon's Gold from the previous.

So, yeah, I've been gone longer than expected. Thanks to Hurricane Harvey more than anything, that and work getting really busy with the relief efforts. Sorry about that. Sunny's trying to get me to stick to a more concrete schedule, so we'll see if that helps out a little in update speed. I'm not exactly satisfied with just once a month.

13 - No Squealing, Remember That It's All In Your Head

“So.” Officer Lightspeed Barrage sat across from her newest suspect, “I was told you have a confession for the assault case.”

Lightning Dust shifted in the uncomfortable steel chair. On one hand, the interrogation room at the local police department wasn’t the dark room with a shockingly bright lamp like she had imagined it was. Though, on the other, here she was about to admit to being a part of an assault case and having a connection to an attempted homicide. Oh, and of course then there was the amazon of an officer that was questioning her. That was a little intimidating too.

Barrage leaned back in her chair, steely gaze locked on the highschooler. “And?”

“W-well, yeah.” She nodded hesitantly, “I was...there, at the gym.”

“Okay, well, give me the rundown, kiddo.” The officer sighed.

“Where would you like me to start?”

“Start with that night. Who was there, and where were you?”

“Gilda gathered a bunch of us the day before, after class and stuff. Said it was about time someone got back at Sunset for everything she’d put us through before this. A lot of us agreed.” Dust began, “So Gilda said she’d lure Sunset and Dash to the school after hours and we’d rough them up a bit. Didn’t sound too extreme. The sports teams rough each other up now and again, yeah this was outta anger, but still…”

“Okay, so this was a different group.”

“Bigger group, more people but still the same general people.”

“Alright then, continue.” Barrage nodded.

“So Gilda gets her hands on Fluttershy’s phone and texts Dash, I think. Her or Sunset. Says something about wanting to talk and they showed up not too long later. We shut the door behind them and, uh...jumped ‘em…”

“So she stole that phone and used it. I see.” The cop looked down, scribbling that into her notes. “Okay, so this was at the gym, then. How did you end up at the D’If?”

“I wasn’t at the D’If.”

“You weren’t? Why not?”

“Well… When we jumped them at the gym, Sunset kinda cracked me on the nose and knocked me out for the count.” Dust scratched the back of her head, “Someone dropped me off at the hospital later. Things are still kinda fuzzy. I don’t remember who or exactly when.”

Barrage looked down at the clipboard in her hands before nodding to herself. “Alright, so do you know anything about the D’If?”

“I know the basics. Gilda kinda gave me the rundown when she picked me up from the hospital.” Dust sighed, rubbing her brow roughly, “Listen, Rainbow Dash can be an asshole, but she’s still my Captain. ...She didn’t deserve what happened at that place.”

The police chief sighed, “Keep focused, kid. I’m glad you’re being straight with us, and I’ll be sure to write a good word in for your judge.”

Dust continued, “Okay… For what I know, the group at the gym split off, and only a few were left over, Gilda still at the head. After they knocked the girls out at the gym, they drove them both to the D’If, and tied them up - if they weren’t already.” She flinched as she said the words, “Th-then they continued to beat them, Gilda st-stabbed Dash with her knife, and S-Sunset was branded with a h-hot iron.”

The officer stared at her notes in silence, mouth in a tight line. “It all matches up…” She muttered, eyes narrowing at the clipboard.

Dust nodded, “It should...is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, actually. I got Gilda, but are there any other names you know of?”

“There’s this group that calls themselves the Diamond Dogs. Rover, Spot, and Fido.” She started, “On top of that there are these three, Hoops, Dumbbell, and Score. Hoops and the other two have always had a thing against Dash, so I have no doubt they were there for the whole thing.” Dust nodded to herself in thought, “And the Diamonds are just known for being a little...rough.” She shifted uncomfortably.

“Mmmm…” The officer didn’t mention, but some of those names seemed familiar. “Right. Well, is that all you have left to say?”

Dust was quick to list off the names she remembered beyond that. “That’s as much as I remember, but if one of them thinks someone’s squealed already, the rest might collapse.”

“We’ll be sure to keep your identity from being released.” She nodded, “Your name will be completely anonymous.”

“Thanks...I don’t wanna end up like them. I just want this to end.”

“I understand.” Officer Barrage nodded, “Coming clean with us will help your battery charge, kid, I promise. That being said, though… You’re over 18, you’ll still be charged as an adult.”

“I understand, and I accept that. Just...I never knew this was going to go this far. It needs to stop. CHS has been hell for the last few days without all this.”

“Alright.” Barrage stood, “I understand. Now… Hands where I can see ‘em, please.”

Dust stood, holding her hands before her, wrists together, “Yes, ma’am...can I ask a small favor though?”

“Depends. What’s that?” She asked, slipping the cuffs onto Dust’s wrists.

“The rest of my team, they tend to hang out at this guitar shop called Clipper’s. It's a couple blocks from the school. Can you pass all this along to them? I don’t want them to think I helped in this, not in the way Gilda and them did. I’m guilty, but I don’t want to be seen like Gilda. I screwed up, but I came clean. I regret all this.” She responded, a pained look on her face. “Gilda will just regret being caught.”

“...This group at the guitar shop. They’re friends of the victims’ and yours?” She asked.

“Yeah, they were my teammates for the school soccer team. I dunno where I stand with them friend wise, but I don’t want this. I just…” She brought her hands up to her face, breathing growing shallow as she devolved into sobs, “I n-never wanted this!”

The officer simply shook her head, putting her hand on Dust’s shoulder and pushing her out of the interrogation room. “Alright, kid. I’ll tell ‘em myself.”

Dust nodded among the sobs, letting the officer lead her. She was out of words for now.

The remnants of the Rainbooms sat in a side booth of Sugarcube corner. Silence hung heavily over the group. Rarity rung her hands anxiously as she glanced between her friends. Applejack leaned back as her hat cast a shadow over her face, eyes downcast on her half empty drink. Fluttershy simply lay slumped over, head down and buried in her arms.

Pinkie walked over to the table carrying a platter of drinks for the girls, “Ooooh!” Pinkie pressed her lips in a frown and stomped her foot, “I hate all this moping! Come on, girls! We all know why we’re here!”

Rarity’s glance landed on her, looking a little miffed, “Darling, of course we’re all feeling down! We stabbed Sunset and Dash in the back without a second thought, assured we were right...and it was the Crusaders the entire time.” She clenched her teeth, pressing her face back into her hands.

“Yeeeaaah!” Pinkie threw her hands in the air, “This is exactly why we should do something! Why sit around here and mope when we can do or at least say something?!”

“Like what?” Applejack looked up, the sour thought of her sister still on the mind.

“Well, I dunno! But doing annnything is better than just sitting here!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Well.” Applejack paused, rubbing her chin in thought, “Ah guess we should lay out a few things then? Mah sister is gonna be punished ta Hell and back a course. M’sure Sweetie Belle will be too, right?” She glanced over at Rarity.

“Oh, definitely.” Rarity huffed, pointing her nose up at the reminder.

“Then the matter is back to Dash an’ Sunset. Even after those three gettin’ exposed, they haven’t come back. Even with this whole cop thing, ya’d think with how hot headed Dash is, she’d come to gloat or yell.”

“Mayhaps she’s so mad, she won’t even yell at us…” Rarity sighed, lowering her nose to normal levels. “We all know how Dash is.”

“So that’s why I say we throw a big, We’re-Sorry-We-Abandoned-You-in-the-Middle-of the-Hallway party! Or Wswayitmothp for short!” Pinkie cheered, throwing up her arms and smiling at the total sense she had just made.

“...Wasawayit- what?!” AJ blinked.

Fluttershy chose this instance to look up, eyes widening as she stared out the frosted shop window and into the morning flurry. Without a second word, she was up and out of the booth, making her way towards the door in a rush, “I’ll talk to all later. I have to go!”

“Ya sure, Flutters?” Applejack asked, rising from her seat.

“Yes, I just had a bit of an epiphany. I’ll see you later, girls.” She pushed the door open, the bell dinging above her as she stepped into the snow, marching herself down the sidewalk with renewed drive.

“Well that was...a little awkward, Marred.” Sunset frowned lightly at her friend as she sat in the passenger’s seat of the family sedan once more. She and Dash had acquired it that afternoon to meet up with the group at Crystal Prep. It seemed that even during break, they were allowed to meet there due to the current circumstances as well as for practicing their new powers. Something that'd certainly be welcome to them as well.

“Really? I thought it went fine.” Dash shrugged, at the wheel. She kept her eyes on the road, cold shoulder from earlier still emanating off of her. “So what? A bunch of assholes we hate got their houses struck by lightning. Big whoop. Not every freak thing of nature is magic. Canterlot’s always just been weird.”

“Perhaps, but even so.” She sighed, “I’m not over it all either, but if you keep letting this hang off of you, you’re just going to stay miserable.”

“I guess you’re right, Sunset.” Dash sighed, “It’s just a lot of stress on me. I haven’t really been sleeping well, either. Y’know, since this whole thing happened…”

“Dash, lets just try to not think about it right now. Please? We’ve got more important things to do.” Sunset winced.

“Right, right.” Dash’s mouth drew into a hard line, staring at the road in front of her, “We’re dealing with this magic shit instead.”

Sunset sunk into her seat a bit, letting out a long sigh, “Yeah.” She muttered, backing off.

Dash ran her hand down her face quickly, before letting out a sigh of her own. “Sorry. I’m being a jerk, aren’t I?”

“I’m just worried about you, Dash. I know you’re pissed and all, and I am too, trust me, but...you’re really glued to all this. We’ll take care of it soon, I promise, but if we do it in our current state, we’ll-” Sunset rubbed her face, sighing in frustration, “I don’t want us to be so emotionally charged when we confront the girls. We have to be in the right state of mind. Exploding won’t solve anything.”

“...Maybe a little distance is a good idea.” Dash agreed with a nod.

“Yeah, just until things start to cool off. I think this is one time where we shouldn’t strike while the iron’s hot.” Sunset added thoughtfully, running a hand through her hair.

“Alright, well, I’ll try to keep myself from obsessing over it.” Dash said, putting on her blinker to turn into Crystal Prep’s parking lot. “Let’s talk about what we actually have to deal with today.”

“All we have on the list is talk to this group, let's just call them ‘The Shadowbolts’ for ease, and get a rundown of what’s been going on. Planning and such. Everything else we take as it comes.” Sunset clasped her hand. Planning to make a plan was still a plan.

“Right, and I get to call them unflattering nicknames.” Dash nodded to herself, quickly deciding that was how she’d amuse herself through this.

“We’re Shadowbolts too now. Don’t make enemies.”

“Oh come on, it’ll only be Zap!” Dash snickered, clearly feeling a little better.

“...that I can allow.” She smiled back, “Given, well, let’s call it the Soarin clause.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that Soarin would kick my ass if I got too mean.” Dash put the car in park, having chosen a spot close to the entrance.

“Sister and all. How does he say it? ‘IZZY’!” Sunset grinned.

Dash held her sides, “Y-Yeah, that’s it! That dork.” She shook her head with a grin. “But trust me when I say… He’s scary when he wants to be. Seriously.”

“I’ll take your word for it. For now though, let's focus here.” Sunset opened the car door, pulling herself out and stretching.

Dash piled out as well, wrapping herself in her jacket, “Alright. Let’s get this party started!”

Sunset smiled, glad to see Dash in better spirits for the moment. She was always more fun to be around without a storm cloud over her head, “Yeah, let’s.” She lead the charge forwards, walking up the front steps of Crystal Prep and pushing the doors experimentally. To her surprise, they opened. “Guess we’re expected.”

“Guess so.” Dash walked in with her, and the two made their way down the halls. “Yeesh, empty hallways are almost kinda creepy, ya know?”

“Maybe that’s because it's giving us flashbacks.” Sunset rubbed her arm, starting to grow uneasy.

“Maybe.” Dash agreed, gluing herself to Sunset’s side. “Never fear, I’ll save you from the bad memories!”

Sunset eased up, “Oh? Do I have one of my own Argonauts already? Protecting the queen, Mar?” She joked, smiling appreciatively.

Dash rubbed her chin with a sly smirk, “Well I’m the tough one, and I don’t intend to let anything bad happen to you, so yeah, maybe I am!” She blew a petulant raspberry.

“Excuse me? Am I not tough?” Sunset laughed, “C’mon.” She gave a gentle shove, “The joke was a one-off, don’t keep it rolling.”

“Well you’re no sports star. What, is it that awful an idea?” Dash elbowed her, smirk still plastered over her face.

“I never said ‘awful’, I just assumed you were joking.” She shrugged simply, not meaning to offend, “I mean, you’re a guitarist and a soccer player, not a soldier.”

“Well, yeah, but anyone can join the military.” Dash said, “I can learn.”

“True, but that’s not exactly a small decision! Besides, you know this isn’t just a military, Dash. Aria’s from my world. You know? Giant monsters, killer animals everywhere, and psychotic she-demons?” Sunset chuckled, “I mean that’s the kinda stuff these Argonauts were probably up against on a daily basis. It's what Equestria is up against on a weekly basis.”

“Which makes it even more awesome!” Dash’s smirk spread from ear to ear as she spoke of all the danger and monsters. Dash took it one way: ‘Sounds like I’m gonna be like my mom!’

Sunset grinned widely with a huge laugh, “You’re the best, you know that?”

“Oi! Just ’cause the school’s not packed, doesn’t mean you should go ‘round shoutin’.” A voice surprised them as they turned a corner. A man with a mop over his shoulder and a scraggy head of brown hair frowned at them. He eyed the duo distrustingly, “You two not lookin’ to cause trouble, are ya? Bad enough the principal’s keepin’ the doors open over break for them kids in the back.” His heavy accent almost made Dash snort in amusement. The sharp look from the janitor kept it down though.

“Err, no. We’re just looking for friends of ours.” Sunset assured. “We’ve been given the okay to come in by Principal Cinch.”

A flash of recognition passed through his eyes, “Ah, so ya are part of their lil’ gamer group then? Assumin’ you’re not with that Sour girl? Hope not. Tch. Anyway, name’s Bray. I clean up after you kids. Try not to make my job more difficult than it is already, and we won’ have a problem!” He nodded at them, moving past them with his mop swaying behind.

“That was...odd.” Sunset glanced behind her with a blink. “Who’s Sour?”

“Talk about, weird guy, and dunno.” Dash agreed, grabbing Sunset’s arm and pulling it towards the rec room.

“Woah! Hey!” She stumbled slightly, catching her footing and keeping up with Dash, “Impatient much, Spec?”

“Sorry, I just don’t like running into adult men in a creepy darkened school after hours!” Dash said, looking behind her to where Bray was a moment ago. “That’s just about asking for a horror movie!”

“Or an ambush?” Sunset raised an eyebrow, looking ahead, “Watch out!”

“Oh Sunset, come on, I won’t get jumped twice in a- WAHHH!” Dash plowed right into another figure lurking the halls.

Sunset watched as Dash crashed headlong into another girl that had just locked the door to a side room crammed in between a pair of lockers, “!” Was as much of her reaction could be heard coherently before Dash face planted into her. Sunset was released from her friend's grip as Dash and the newcomer went spiraling to the ground.

Dash pulled herself up in a hurry, face heavily red for some reason that Sunset couldn’t understand. At least, not for that moment.

The other girl, now more clearly seen as being pale yellow and dusted in freckles, pulled herself up off the floor. She dusted herself off with an almost strained certainty to her movements. Her purple eyes raised up to Dash, glaring darkly, waiting.

“S-Sorr-” Dash started.

Rainbow was stopped in her tracks as a fist connected to her stomach. She pulled back as Dash keeled forwards, wind knocked out of her. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING YA FUCK TRUMPET!”

Sunset stumbled back, first from the sudden blow, then from the explosion of noise from the girl’s mouth, ‘Oh...dear.’

“Wh-What the… H-Hell?! It was an accident!” Dash stressed as Sunset helped her back up.

“Accident or not, it happened.” She sneered, “I’ve never seen you two around.” Her guard seemed to shoot up at this realization, “Who are you two and why are you here on the first day of winter break?!”

Dash crossed her arms, “Cinch herself invited us here, in fact.” She sneered, “We’re here to hang with Starry and all, and if you don’t mind, we’ll be heading there now.”

Sunset raised her eyebrow as the other made no attempt to move, “And who are you?”

“If we’re gonna play that game, fine. My name’s Sour Sweet.” Her glare seemed to strengthen as it moved to Sunset, “Oh, you’re those two CHS transfers, aren’t you? Stanza and Spectrum?”

Dash narrowed her eyes, “Waaait, how do you know us already?”

“I know about everything that goes on in this school. It is my castle and I am its queen.”

Sunset felt herself shiver. This girl bothered her, something about her was just off. “We better get going. Sorry about the crash. See you around?” She smiled weakly, pulling Dash around Sour.

“...I hope not.” With a final poisonous sneer, she shouldered her backpack, walking off.

“Obvious statement, but that could’ve gone better.”

“Yeah, no kidding!” Dash wiped her mouth with a sleeve.

“What do you think she was doing h-what are you doing?” Sunset cut herself off, raising an eyebrow.

Dash groaned, “Ugh! We kissed!” She wiped her mouth on her sleeve more aggressively, “And not even the fun kissing! It’s was like-” Dash saw Sunset’s face, “-I’m gonna stop talking now.”

Sunset’s expression had swapped between far too many faces in the last few seconds to be considered healthy, quickly landing on blank right after, “...oh, well that explains the punch at least. Does this mean you’re now staring in a cliche romcom?”

“Pah!” Dash doubled over like she had been punched again, “N-No! Sunset! Why?”

Sunset chuckled despite the oddly hollow feeling in her stomach, “Anyways, let’s get there before you manage to kiss someone else, eh Spec?”

“Y-Yeah! Oh geez, this place is like kiss-brainwashing or something. Let’s get out before I fall to it again!” She grabbed Sunset’s arm once more.

“Oh...so you know then?”

“Know?” Dash paused, “Know what?”

“Oh? You don’t?” She tilted her head, pulling her arm out of her grasp and smirking, “Because I was told that...you didn’t know that you fell~” She sang teasingly, heading on down the hall.

Dash paused, “...I just got Dazzled.” She realized with wide-eyes and a shiver. “Stanza! Get your ass back over here!” She ran after.

Sunset just laughed in response, picking up the pace into a run as well, neither stopping until the reached the familiar door at the end of the far hall. “Aren't you supposed to be fast?”

Dash scoffed with a smirk, “I am fast, you just got a head start! Oh yeah, and I just got punched!”

“Excuses, excuses.” She snickered, giving several quick knocks on the door.

“What’s the password?!” The familiar call rang out from within.

“Swordfish. The password is always swordfish.” Sunset answered, remembering Dean Cadence’s answer from the other day.

“Actually the password has been changed, but valiant effort!” Blitz giggled, opening the door nonetheless, “But no one else is really gonna be here and we were expecting you!”

“Cool.” Dash walked in, “What’s up, Shadowdolts?”

“Well there’s you insulting yourself for starters.” Nightshade responded, kicking back on an old couch. Each of the girls had discarded the standard school uniform, now each dressed more casually. A mound of jackets lay discarded over on the table.

“Oh, excuse me, fellow Shadowdolts.” Dash grinned.

“You’re gonna do fine here.” Shade smirked, nodding to herself.

“Glad you two could make it, given the circumstances.” Starry smiled over at them, playing with a DnD piece between her fingers. “Nightshade was able to fill us in with Soarin’s help over this little incident at CHS.”

Soarin, who had been casually reclining on another old couch, waved at them, “Hello!” He greeted with a grin. “I’ll be your adult supervision for the afternoon.”

Dash snorted, “You count as an adult?”

“I know right?! Joke’s on Cinch!” Soarin’s beam widened even further.

“Soarin, don’t be rude to my mother.” Starry responded in much the same way one would ask for ‘paper or plastic’. “Besides, we can take care of ourselves by this point.” She gave a prideful smirk, extending her other arm as a small glowing purple knife appeared floating above her hand.

“What better defense than magic, I suppose?” Sunset chuckled, “You’ve all had time to practice your powers?”

“Some of us more than others.” Nightshade nodded towards Night Glider, who was calmly sitting at the table.

“I have everything under control.” NG replied.

“Her powers are still coming in.” Blitz answered for her, “It's spotty still, but she’s past the wacky emotional stuff!” She grinned.

“Emotional stuff? What does that mean?” Sunset glanced back to Starry. She seemed to more or less be the group’s leader.

“She means these powers come with emotional instability.” Starry explained, “The magic we’ve been gaining comes with heightened emotions. Even the smallest thing can set you off when you’re just starting out. ...Until you learn to deal with it of course.”

“Is that right?” Sunset asked, thoughts growing distant for a moment as a hypothesis grew in her mind. Blitz brought her back to reality, however.

“Yep, but we’ve all gotten past the mopey crud and got ourselves in line! Sounds like you have too.” The lightning haired girl beamed.

“I’m...sorry?”

“Well, you use dark magic too, right?” Courier asked.

“I did, do...technically, yes.” Sunset stumbled over her words in response, flashes of her dream from the other night surfacing in her mind.

“After using dark magic for awhile, you learn to chill your heightened emotions or whatever.” Courier put her feet on the table, “Blitz was saying that it seems like you’re at that point.”

“Ah, I see.” Sunset nodded back in thought. ‘Must’ve been the...girls.’ She looked down, a stabbing pain rising in her chest. Her hand tightened into a fist and she shook the image away, “I suppose since a good bit of nothing happened in between the Formal and the Battle of the Bands; I gave it time to just disperse without me ever noticing.”

“Sounds plausible.” Starry nodded, “You never had any moments of being pissed off or anything in between though?”

“Of course I did.” She sighed, “I was the most hated person in all of CHS even before that night. My erm, ‘episode’ at the Fall Formal just finally brought it all to the surface. All kinds of abuse was hurled at me. I just...I guess that surge of dark magic just scared me so much, I shut down entirely on that front.” Sunset reasoned, holding herself as she looked down. It had been scary, terrifying even, and here she was ready to try again. She wasn’t quite sure if that in itself was scary or grimly amusing.

She felt two hands on her shoulders. Obviously, one was Dash. The other, though, was Soarin, who was smiling soothingly at her.

“So… can you help them deal with whoever’s causing this?” Soarin asked, crouching down a bit to see eye to eye with her, “You seem like you know more about this than any of us do.” Sunset glanced over at Nightshade momentarily. Nightshade was giving her brother a bittersweet smile, even though he wasn’t looking at her.

“I wouldn’t say dark magic is my primary expertise, but...it's still magic, and I know magic.” She nodded, a stronger resolve behind her. “It sounds like you’ve got a good start on things though. Starry seems to be doing well as acting leader of the group, and her mother as well in keeping things contained.” The fuschia girl sat a little straighter, smiling proudly at the praise. “It's just a matter of tracking down this cult, right?”

“Indeed.” Starry confirmed, “None of us have solid memories of our short times in captivity. Just bits and pieces, enough to line things up. None of us can recall a location, just that we always woke up on the edge of the Everfree, to the west.”

“And this has been going on for how long? A few months?”

“Around seven. Give or take a few weeks, disappearances interspaced on when someone would ‘go on vacation’.” Starry added, a small sneer to her lips.

“Right.” Sunset put her hand to her chin in thought.

“Hey, not to drag things off topic a little, but do we have suspects to the members of this cult?” Dash asked, “Like, if they’re matching these kidnappings up to when people go on vay-cay, wouldn’t they need someone inside the school to tell them?”

“Yes, but we’re not sure who.” Starry agreed. “There’s plenty of staff members here, and it could be any of them. It could even be one of our outsourced teachers, we just have no incriminating evidence or even reason to suspect.”

“What about that Sour Sweet girl?” Dash crossed her arms with a frown, “She seems like a raging ass. What is she even doing here on break?”

“Well, yes, Sweet’s an ass but what is she doing here?” NG looked at Starry.

“I didn’t even know she was still hanging around… I suppose I’ll have to take this up with my mother.” Starry said with a frown.

“Sour, eh? She did transfer in around seven or so months ago, but we already looked into it. She’s no cultist.” Courier got up from her seat, walking over to the two. “So, since you two are new and all, I feel like I should give ya a fair warning.” She put her hands on her hips, “Sour Sweet is a total bitch, and she honestly believes that she runs this school. I say she’s up her own ass and around the corner.”

“To be fair though, she has good reason for thinking it.” Blitz frowned, “She’s got a lotta dirt on a lotta people. Including people from outside CP. So, uh, be careful around her, lest you wind up with your neck under her foot.” She shifted uncomfortably.

Sunset suddenly looked a lot more nervous, “I’ll...keep that in mind.”

“Good, but I think she’ll be not too subtly booted off her throne soon.” Courier said, crossing her arms.

“Have another scheme to out all her blackmail?” Night Glider deadpanned over at her.

“It’s gonna work this time!” Courier insisted.

Sunset just turned to look at Dash. Dash stared back, an equally flat look on her face. “So...avoid Sour?”

Dash gave pause before responding, “Totally.” Soarin raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing.

“Right. Maybe Courier too.” NG snickered.

That was when Soarin’s phone buzzed, and he looked down, “...Hmm?” He put it to his ear, “Hello?” There was a pause, and all eyes went to Soarin as he spoke a one-sided conversation. “Okay. Right. Mmm. That’s actually kinda nice to hear. I’ll tell them.” He nodded, glancing over at Dash and Sunset. “Yeah, yeah, I’m standing in the same room as them. Okay Spits, bye.” He hung up, pausing for a moment. “...Hey, uh, girls? Figured you’d want to hear this. Someone confessed to the police about your case.”

“Confessed?” Dash blinked, “One of those assholes turned themselves in?”

“Not just any asshole, our asshole.” Soarin amended, “Lightning Dust.”

“...Dust came clean?” She blinked again, tilting her head in confusion. That couldn’t be right. Lightning Dust had helped in the attack. Why the change of heart? “She...she probably got caught in a lie and was forced to come clean.”

“Nope. Her grandfather called into the station saying that she was going to confess and be a witness.” Soarin said, pocketing his phone, “No getting caught required, she turned herself into the cops. That call was from Spits at the shop, apparently a few detectives came in to ask our group about your case, and mentioned that Dust wanted them to talk to us about her. Something about ‘not wanting to be seen like them’.”

“Well, she wasn’t at the hotel.” Sunset admitted.

“She might’ve been if you hadn’t busted her nose!” Dash pointed out, spitefully.

“Well, I can’t say anything other than that, that’s all Spitfire gave me. But apparently they have Dust in custody, and they’re going after the rest.”

Dash looked down, seeming to think for awhile, “Think they’ll let us talk to her?”

“I doubt it.” Sunset said. “We can try, though.”

“Tomorrow.” She waved with a snort, “She still attacked us, so she can take a night in the slammer.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Sunset said simply, before looking around the room, “So… Where do we start?”

“Sounds like you need as much training in dark magic as NG.” Nightshade pointed out. “Why not meet us at the old storage facility just outside South Everfree tomorrow? It's out of the way enough of most locals and it's plenty far from where we all woke up. It's worked out well enough so far.”

Sunset nodded a bit, “I am still new to my dark magic, and I’ve yet to use it extensively. That’d be for the best, yeah.”

“Well then, I suppose we’ll be seeing you both tomorrow.” Starry nodded, “I take it you’ll be trying to get into the police station beforehand, though?”

“More than likely.” Sunset nodded, “Don’t worry though. I doubt I’ll have any trouble getting in just to talk to her.”

“Well good luck to you nonetheless.” Starry threw the bag she had with her over her shoulder, “But yes, everyone, have a good night.” With the meeting called off, everyone packed up their things, and Dash walked out of the room with Sunset in tow. Dash was somewhat lost in thought for once, keeping her pace up as they walked out.

The meeting had lasted longer than expected, sun now cresting the skyline. The down side of Dash living a good distance from Crystal Prep, “So, I think that went okay.” Sunset offered her friend a smile.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I think that went good. You’ll get a grip on this dark magic stuff like this.” Dash agreed, seemingly a little distracted.

“Thinking about Dust?” Sunset asked as they climbed back into the car.

“Yeah. I… I almost don’t think I can believe it. Do you really think she regrets everything?” Dash asked.

“I don’t know. For one reason or another, it seems that she blew the lid off of everything. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow?”

“Guess so.” Dash nodded, starting up the car and pulling out of Crystal Prep. “Man, what a ride today’s been.”

“Hey, we’ve had worse.” She smiled at her, leaning back in the passenger seat, “Nothing we can’t handle, right?”

“Yeah! We can handle anything!” Dash smirked, “I mean, we handled enough shit already.”

Sunset laughed, “Hey, if we can survive Gilda and friends...well I’m not going to jinx anything just yet.” She hesitated with a yawn.

“Heh, yeah, probably for the best. Sounds like where you need to focus now is on getting to bed.” Dash joked, looking for her turn.

“Sounds like.” Sunset agreed. Tomorrow would be a big day.

Dash pulled up in the driveway, parking the car in the garage. “Go on in. I’ll probably have to talk to the folks about my day before I can shower and all that.”

“Alright, I’ll take the shower first then. Warm water’s all mine.” She teased playfully, stepping up to the door and pushing it open. “Mr. Blaze? Mrs. Daring? We’re ba-” Sunset froze as her gaze locked with a pair of cyan eyes across the room.

Fluttershy sat huddled on the couch, a glass of juice in her hands, staring across the room at Sunset. Her eyes were wide, locked on Sunset with an almost frightened shock.

“Warned ya, kid.” Daring sighed, sitting on a side chair.

“Sunset?”

“Sunset, what’s the hold up, I-?” Dash froze at the door as well, now caught in the magnetic stare. Thankfully, she wasn’t nearly as tongue tied, “Fluttershy?”

“She stopped by a few hours ago.” Blaze nodded, “Insisted that she had to say something.”

That made Fluttershy stand, weakly stepping over to the open door, visibly shaking as tears pooled in her eyes. She glanced them over several times. ‘This can’t be right. They...they look so…’

Neither of the two had been ready for Fluttershy’s appearance. They hadn’t been ready for any of the girls to seek them out given their talk about keeping their distance earlier that day. Sunset steeled herself, ready to take a hard edge against one of the people that so harshly stabbed them in the-

“I’M SO SORRY!” The dam burst as Fluttershy collapsed into tears, falling into the two girls, weakly attempting to hug them both. “I-I made a mistake! A huge m-mistake! I sh-should’ve listened-believed you and I d-didn't!” Her fists clenched weakly as she shook with the sobs, “We promised we had learned from the last t-time and I didn’t!”

Any sort of response the two hard for her died in their throats, the thought of shouting the girl down for the events of the other day mostly melting away. “Fluttershy.”

“W-what good is our word if we couldn’t keep it?” She continued to sob into Sunset’s shirt.

“Fluttershy.” Sunset tried again.

Instead of another raspy cry, a loud and wheezing squeak came from Fluttershy.

Dash took a breath and pushed her back by the shoulders, keeping hold and looking her in the eyes. “Ease up, ‘Shy.” The tears made no effort to stop, nor did the heavy breathing. However, she opened her eyes to meet Rainbow’s gaze. “We’re...not mad.” Dash forced out, “We’ll…”

Sunset took over, hearing her friend’s hesitance, “We’re all tired. Clearly. Dash and I have had a long day, and it looks like you need some time to calm down. I know this must be a shock and all.” She gestured between herself and Rainbow. “So how about this? Let’s just talk in the morning. We’ll let you say your piece and we go from there?”

Fluttershy nodded meekly, pulling herself back into the hug, shivering a little less. Sunset wasn’t ecstatic to see Fluttershy at the moment, especially so unexpectedly. However, she seemed sincere, downright broken over the situation, and she was also the only one here.

Dash gave a terse nod of agreement, “Yeah...sounds like a...a plan.” She looked over at her parents, “Is she-?’

“We’ve offered her the guest bedroom for tonight.” Blaze stood, smiling awkwardly, happy things hadn’t exploded. “Hope you don’t mind, Sunset?”

“It’ll be fine.” Sunset waved it off, “I’ll be fine with Dash for one more night.”

A silence quickly enveloped the room.

“So who wants shepard’s pie?!” Blaze laughed, somehow feeling even more awkward.

Dinner would come and go without incident, though not without the continuous uncomfortable air, the topic of both Dust and tomorrow’s plans came up with thoughtful nods coming from both Daring and Blaze. Fluttershy was silent through it all, sitting over by Dash’s parents. Beyond that, all five would retire to their beds as the sun set for the day, heavy thoughts of the next day weighing on them all. They would all wake up the next day, hesitant to confront it.

Except they wouldn’t. Sunset found herself awoken from her sleep, the sound of plastic squeaking against wood sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly jerked up in bed, “...Dash?” She asked in a hushed whisper, glancing around in the darkness. Rainbow was neither in the recliner she had fallen asleep in nor the bed that Sunset had all but claimed.

A flutter of movement caught her eye from the left. Glancing over, the dark blue curtains fluttered in the cold breeze from outside. The window was wide open and Dash nowhere to be seen.

“Rainbow?” Sunset blinked, wide awake now and out of the bed.

In the distance, a bolt of lightning lit up the cloudless sky for a few brief moments, a crash of thunder following soon after. Something was dreadfully wrong.

Author's Note

???

SUNSET?!
Sunset, what's wrong?!
I'M SO SORRY!
I WAS AWAY, BUT I'M BACK!
PLEASE ANSWER ASAP!
PLEASE!

Shoutout to imgonaeatarat for Muse's Panic Station.
Happy Friday the 13th, everyone. The last few minutes of it by my count at the least.

14 - Howling Ghosts They Reappear in Mountains That Are Stacked With Fear

“Damn it, Dash.” Daring Do muttered as she slung a bag into the backseat, having it unintentionally land on Fluttershy’s lap with a muffled thump. The buttercream colored girl yelped in response, but it fell on deaf ears. Daring Do’s face was now only a few lines pressed tightly together in a scowl. “Please be okay…”

“We don’t know that’s what it is, dear.” Rainbow Blaze tried to comfort her from the passenger’s seat. “It's probably not one of your enemies.”

“But what if it is?!” She snapped at him. “If Caballeron or one of his goons has her, I will never forgive myself for it.”

“A possibility it may be, I doubt it has anything to do with your work, Daring.” Sunset hummed nervously, looking out the window as the car backed out of the driveway in a rather reckless manner. “Given that lightning…” She grit her teeth, “We need to get over there as fast as we can.”

“Next obvious question!” Blaze yelped as he clung to one of the handles on the inside of the car. “Sh-shouldn’t we report her missing to the cops?”

“...no. If I’m right, this could very well be a magical incident. One that would be my fault.” A more pained look came across Sunset’s expression as they turned down another neighborhood. A fire engine was sitting outside of the house several doors down from where they sat, an older man rapidly conversing with what seemed to be the chief.

Daring glanced back at the worried girl silently, not saying anything for the moment.

“Shit. That’s Wind Rider.” Blaze bit his lip with a frown, motioning to the older man.

“Do we stop?” The roof was still smoking, charred from both the strike and fire that had started to spread from it. The lowering ladder from the truck showed that they had just finished dealing with it.

“Depends.” Blaze said, “See anything?”

“Just an older guy that looks beyond stressed and the remains of another weird lightning strike.” Sunset shrugged. ‘Targeting someone who Dash and I are pissed at as well.’

“Then… Now what?” Fluttershy asked quietly from under Daring’s bag of ‘supplies’.

“I-” Sunset’s response was cut off by a flash of violet light to the right, another bolt coming down with a crash of sound following rather quickly after, “Wasn’t that the power station?!”

Daring slammed on the accelerator, all heads turning to them as Daring’s car squealed out of the neighborhood. Captain Lightspeed Barrage turned just in time to see the car rip around the corner, clenching her teeth at having to deal with even more than what was already going on.

“Captain?” Her partner glanced at her, “I don’t think a speeding car this late at night clocks very high on the list of To-Dos.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She massaged her forehead, looking over at the distance. “But purple lightning does.” Barrage scowled, eyeing her partner with a silent command.

“...I’ll, uh, I’ll pull the cruiser around.” He coughed.

Sunset, meanwhile, was holding onto the armrest for dear life, “Does she always drive like this?!” She asked Blaze in a yelp.

“Only when stressed!” Blaze was thrown from side to side, eyes wide. Thankfully, though, they were at the plant in no time at all. Daring’s driving assured that much, “So...yeah!”

“Ok...you two should probably stay here.” Sunset was already pulling herself out the door. “It's going to be incredibly dangerous, and not the kind you’re probably used to.”

“No.” Daring said simply. That, and Fluttershy was already out of the door.

“We’re talking incredibly volatile magic here.” Sunset reiterated, glancing at Fluttershy as well, “Fall Formal kind of stuff.”

“I have dealt with magic before. Maybe not the active kind that we might see tonight, but this is my daughter we’re talking about.” Daring said, grabbing her bag from Fluttershy, “Thanks for holding that, Fluttershy.”

Blaze rolled down the window of the car. “I’ll, um, I’ll keep lookout from here!”

“Just listen to your tunes, dear!” Do called back.

Sunset sighed, “I’m not talking Daring Do down, am I?” A glance to Fluttershy gave a similar feeling, “You coming too?”

“Of course I am.” She said, wringing hands betraying her brave face, “I can’t just sit around again. I’ve learned as much. Believe me or not, I learned. Let me show that.”

“On my end, I’m afraid Dash got her stubbornness from me.” Daring chuckled, reaching into her bag and pulling the signature helmet onto her head.

Sunset doubted that would help from electrocution or magic, but if she wasn’t going to talk Daring Do out of risking her life, she doubted she’d talk her out of her sense of style, “Just...stay safe then. I can’t say for certain what we’re to expect inside.” With a running start, Sunset latched onto the fence and began to climb. The odd spark of lightning shot up from inside, and from this close, there was no denying that there was a magic aura to it.

“Ohhh, it’s at times like this that I wish I knew how to just summon those neat wings without the band.” Fluttershy whimpered quietly. Daring seemed to be taking this just fine, focusing on making sure the two younger women in front of her weren’t going to fall.

Sunset made it over well enough, three and a half years of breaking and entering behind her. Those fast food joints never knew what hit them. “Try and stay quiet.” The ambient noise of the pylons and machinery’s humming would mask most things, but she didn’t want to risk it if the situation was more dire than she hoped.

The two nodded, Daring ducking her head, just in case. Fluttershy glanced around the area, jumping but drowning her squeak of terror whenever the closer machinery would suddenly crackle to life.

Daring surveyed the dark building in the distance, large, towering smokestacks shadowed them like giants in the dim moonlight as they spewed billowing smog up into the air. A figure could be vaguely spotted on the rooftop, their own strange shadow lurking about in unrecognizable shapes that shifted and blurred in their sight. Their every footstep crunched into the gravel that made up the ground around the factory. Whenever the shadow twitched, the group would pause for a moment, keeping still before continuing after a moment’s breath.

Sunset paused in her stride, staring at the blurred shape before it disappeared. She rubbed her eyes, unsure if she had seen that correctly. It had appeared as if a lone figure had split into two before fusing back and vanishing. Reminding herself of the situation, she darted back after the others, a heavy feeling in her gut growing.

They came up to a door that would probably lead them into the station, shut entirely for the night thanks to a particularly nasty lock. Daring dropped her bag, louder than she expected, and began to softly and cautiously dig for her lock picking set.

Another jump from Fluttershy as she glanced around the site, watching the ticking, blinking lights of the generators around her, locked behind steel cages and a deadlock. She wrung her hands a little tighter.

Sunset jumped as well when another crackle of power shot up from the left, followed by a sharp scream of fury. The roar was almost unearthly, distorted and shifting in pitch violently. The lights around them flickered for several moments, dimming and powering on again as the shouting and zapping ceased. “Well that’s foreboding.”

Fluttershy whimpered, but didn’t cower away this time. Daring looked around rapidly, looking for the source of the screaming, “Think that it’s Dash?”

“As much as I hate to guess?...probably.” She nodded, brushing a hand across her forehead, flicking the sweat away. Why did all this machinery have to be so warm? Another boom of thunder accompanied the bright flash from inside the building, the two events neck and neck in timing. “Think we could, uh, speed up the lock picking process?” Sunset started to move in place a little, nerves starting to fray from it all.

“Can’t rush these things.” Daring grunted, working on the lock now, “If I rush it, the alarm I know they have in here will go off.”

Sunset bit back the heavier sarcasm, bouncing on her heels now, “Well we’re kinda under pressure, so some tomb-raiding-tier breaking and entering would be highly appreciated.”

“Life isn’t a video game, Sunset.” Daring muttered, focusing on the lock again. It popped open a moment later. “Alright, quietly.” She led the way into the inky blackness, completely disappearing from their sight.

“Yeah, not like people grow wings and shoot magic outta their hands around here or something.” Sunset muttered with a light scowl, following Daring inside. Fluttershy scooted after with wide, terrified eyes. It was dark for a good while, nearly impossible to see where they were. Sunset was about to risk asking where her companions were when another furious shriek tore through the room, echoing around her as the room lit up in a sharp violet flash, machines sparking and the generator across the room whining angrily. It was too bright above them, the sudden contrast to the dark and intensity of the light forced her eyes shut on instinct. Either way, their target was but just a few feet away from them now.

Tense as the situation already was, Sunset realized how actively dangerous things were when the atmosphere seemed to grow charged, more so than it had been already. She heard Daring shout and next thing she knew, she and Fluttershy were on the ground, Daring in the same position behind them. The area behind them lit up in something reminiscent of an explosion, a sizzling filling her ears in place of the expected flying shrapnel or the heat of a fireball.

Sunset looked up, the dizzying brightness of the sudden light feeling less painful now, and gaped. She hadn’t been sure what to expect when they arrived, but anything would have been better than the figure that now floated before them.

A familiar pair of red eyes stared down at her, surrounded by pools of inky blackness, dark magic wisping out from her black sclera. Her skin was a deep blue, far darker than the pale sky color Sunset had grown accustomed to. It made the scars across her mouth all the more prominent. Her hair sparked upwards in a pale pattern of chromatic hues, the pointed tip of the shifting follicles dancing around much like an actual bolt of lightning. A pair of jagged bat-like wings jutted out from her back, unmoving but poised to send the demonic figure hurtling forwards at any moment.

“D-Dash?” Sunset found her voice, coming to regret that as the figure responded with a particularly feral growl. The rush of memories of her own experiences were enough to give her pause, but now facing the active danger of another demon left her mind racing for ideas on how to deal with the situation.

A spark of lightning leapt from the creature's wings to strike the ground in front of her, making her flinch and almost take a panicked step back. Instead, she stayed rooted on the spot, staring up at the demon and shaking slightly. It felt like staring down a feral animal, one that would pounce upon her the moment she moved. Sunset found herself thinking back to Fluttershy's earlier wish for her wings; somehow she didn't think singing at her friend in this state would do anything more than rile her up further, and her untrained siren powers were no match for such an uncontrolled mass of dark magic, if those earlier bursts of energy were anything to go by.

'Last time Canterlot had to deal with anything like this, it took five people and an alicorn princess to defeat it… what am I even trying to do here?’ Sunset slumped a bit in resignation, wishing dearly that she had a group of friends that would be able to back her up and face the danger arm in arm. Of course, the only one Sunset felt she could truly trust was right there in front of her and the very danger to confront.

“Rainbow Dash, I…” Sunset trailed off, having trouble looking up at her corrupted friend again. Rainbow was the one person who had stood by her side when everyone else abandoned her. Even Princess Twilight hadn’t answered her plea for help. When they'd been led into Gilda's trap, instead of selling out Sunset for her own safety, Dash had fought for her despite the overwhelming odds. After even the events at the old hotel and coming within inches of death, rather than blaming Sunset for having dragged her into the whole situation and finally dropping her, Dash had only seemed to latch on tighter, more resolved to help. She even put a roof over her head with no hesitance.

Sunset slowly let herself relax, feeling a strange calm wash over her. Throughout the past few days, Rainbow had shown complete and unconditional loyalty to her, had nearly died for her and now here she was, unable to even look her friend in the eye when she needed help.

She took a deep breath and raised her head, staring right at the demon – no, at Marred, Rainbow Dash, her best friend – and reaffirming her stance. In response, the other actually flinched away for a brief moment before letting out a feral screech and rising further into the air with a strong few flaps of the leathery wings. Electricity began to course down from her hair and over her entire body, focusing especially along her outstretched arms and wings. Stray bolts began to jump off aimlessly and striking at anything and everything in her immediate vicinity.

Daring stepped in front of Fluttershy as the long haired girl flinched back with a dry squawk of terror. “Sunset.” Daring warned, assessing the situation rapidly.

Sunset didn't flinch though. She didn't even blink from the sporadic bolts, and simply kept staring back at her, daring to take a slow step forwards. Rainbow let out another screech and backed away an equal distance, the lightning coming more rapidly and striking out nearer to Sunset. Sunset could feel them whipping past her head and a few striking around her feet. She could feel the greasy charge in the air and the metallic taste it all left in her mouth. She heard Daring swear loudly and Fluttershy squeak in fear as the overhead lights began to brighten again, the high-pitched whine of the tortured generator returning. The duo took cover behind one of the few machines that was bare of scorch marks, but Sunset ignored them, keeping her attention only on her friend as she took another confident step towards her.

Another shriek came from Marred, this one sounding more dissonant than before, like several voices at once and filled with anger, fear and pain in equal measures. Her form seemed to flicker somewhat, almost appearing as though her head had attempted to split into two mirrored faces for the briefest second before reforming as though it hadn’t happened at all. As her hands clasped together for a moment, a surge of violet bolts ran down her arms, pulling apart to reveal a ball of electricity growing between them, not unlike the fireball Sunset had once thrown at Rainbow Dash and her friends so long ago. The irony certainly wasn’t lost on her. Sunset paused her approach, but didn't back down, simply steeling herself and watching passively as the attack burst out into a single beam of jagged purple lightning nearly a foot wide, shooting right toward her.

“SUNSET!” A voice cried out from behind her. Be it Daring or Fluttershy, she couldn't determine. The buzzing had all but overtaken her hearing.

Sunset tensed and blinked against the approaching bright light, more feeling than seeing the beam split apart and curve around her, actively bending out of her way before fusing together again behind her and taking a large chunk out of a machine further back in the room and the wall behind it. She felt a rush of air as the bolt of energy ceased and quickly blinked the spots out of her eyes, her vision slowly coming back into focus.

Rainbow was right in front of her now, quickly establishing her enhanced height, with her wings curled forward slightly in a tellingly aggressive posture. Sunset’s eyes shifted from the snarling face to the arm reaching out for her, sharp claws merely inches from her neck. While the light show had died down once more, small purple sparks still occasionally raced over her arm. What surprised Sunset though was how shaky the poise seemed. Despite her helplessness, Rainbow made no further move to grab her.

Sunset glanced back up, looking passed the angered snarl splashed across Rainbow’s face and straight into her eyes. She raised a hand, moving slowly enough to not elicit anything more than a twitchy glance from the other, and set it carefully on her friend’s outstretched wrist. Colorful sparks of magic jumped between the two on contact, cerulean and violet swirling around her claws and spreading back up her arm, leaving a soft glow and sky colored skin for a moment before it began to dim back down to the pale slate hue of Marred Spectrum.

The flowing tendrils reversed from her eyes, dark glow fading in strength as some level of clarity formed in them, “Sun...set?” Her voice was croaky, a faint echo still present, but the heavy dissonance from the height of her freakout now absent.

A smile formed on Sunset’s face at this, almost allowing herself to relax as the pale blue continued crawling up Rainbow’s arms to replace the darkened saturation, “Y-yeah, it's me, Dash...oh damn it, I'm sorry. This is all my fault.” She shut her eyes with a shuddering breath, weight of the situation suddenly crashing down on her.

In healing Rainbow, she had also managed to curse her.

Before this could lead to an inevitable onslaught of sobs, Sunset felt a hand free itself from her grip and migrate to her shoulder, “Hey, don't get all weepy on me, you know I'm not good with that stuff.” Came the far more familiar, croaky reply.

“S-sorry.” Sunset coughed out a laugh, rubbing at her face with a sleeve as she forced her eyes back open. Rainbow was back at her original height, just an inch or two below Sunset again, and tiredly smiling up at her. “You've been making me worry lately.”

“Literally the exact opposite of what I want to do.” Dash gave a dumb smile as her hair flopped down from it's arcanely assisted styling with as much grace as anyone could expect from the athlete, bangs now hiding her eyes entirely. Her wings were already pulling behind her back, looking ready to dissipate as well, “...well, shit.” Was all Rainbow seemed to be able to get out for the moment.

“Shit’s right… You have a form like I did.” Sunset agreed, rubbing her arm and wincing apologetically at her, “I’m sorry, Dash. This is all my fault.” She repeated. “All that dark magic I used to heal you with… It did this to you.”

“You’re saying that like you shouldn’t have healed me.” Dash gave a tired, sideways grin, “I mean, I don’t know much about magic, but I think dealing with this would be easier than working through limb loss and brain damage, right?”

That at least had Sunset meeting eye contact again, “Well, yeah but-”

“Then don’t apologize. I traded a huge problem for a smaller one.” Dash brushed it off, wiping her forehead, “Still. A problem is a problem, so can we go home now?” The pale girl slumped somewhat, reminding Sunset that it was still roughly four in the morning.

“Well…” Daring was on her feet now, advancing over, “The car’s outside. Let’s get out of here. Then we can all get an explanation. Deal?” She glanced between the two teenagers.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here...where is here?” Dash blinked, looking around now.

“You may have led us to the local power plant?” Sunset chuckled lightly at the surprised expression at Dash’s face, “Seems you’ve developed some serious power over electricity.”

Rainbow looked around the room, the char marks still illuminated by the slowly dimming lights. They were all over the place, alongside overloaded machines and a distant hole in the wall, “Uhhh…”

“Maybe we should, um, go?” Fluttershy suggested, wide-eyed and tapping her fingers together.

“I’m with Fluttershy.” Daring nodded, already motioning for them to get outside, “We could have spectators coming to check out the flashes soon.”

“Crap, she’s right.” Sunset clenched her teeth, “Think you’ll be able to run, Dash?”

“Uh, may need a little help there.” Rainbow responded, “Really...sleepy.” A yawn escaped from her as her eyelids drooped for a few moments.

Daring ran over, throwing Dash over her shoulder. “Now we’re good. Run, and get straight into the car, we’re going to be booking it out of here.” With that, Daring broke out into a sprint with precision out the door.

Sunset flinched as Daring ran over and grabbed Dash, nodding to Fluttershy and making to chase after the fleeing duo with haste. ‘Daring Do’s right, we need to get out of here before anyone takes notice of all this. Who knows what kind of attention we could’ve attracted with all that!’

It didn’t take much for Sunset to notice the police cruiser that was parked next to the family’s sedan, nor the bulky female cop questioning Rainbow Blaze intensely. From the nervous expression on his face and how he was pressing himself up against the side of the car, things weren’t going well. Daring quickly slid behind an outdoor generator that was still intact, buzzing away.

Sunset quickly mirrored the action, pushing Fluttershy to the side and out of direct line of sight, ‘Oh please tell me she just got here!’ She shot a panicked glance across the area to Daring, trying to get a read from her.

Daring was stone-faced, her eyes searching the scene. Two men went into the power plant, hands on their guns. Daring followed them with her eyes and a grimace. It wasn’t until the cop pulled back, slapping her hand on Blaze’s shoulder and letting out a laugh that could be heard from where the four huddled, that Blaze relaxed his posture.

Daring walked out from behind the generator, “I think we’ll be alright. Just be ready to ‘explain’ whatever Blaze told the cop.” She motioned to a section of the fence covered in darkness some distance from the car. To say the least, hauling her daughter’s sleeping body over said fence while also making sure she herself didn’t fall was difficult, but it wasn’t impossible.

Sunset grimaced nonetheless, nodding to the shaking girl at her left and followed Daring out of hiding, ‘Here we go…’ The two followed Daring down to the section of fence before attempting to scale it again, moving slow to keep the rattling to a minimum.

They approached the two, and Daring blinked at Blaze. “Is something wrong, dear?” She played it off naturally. Sunset and Fluttershy stayed close behind her, keeping silent for the moment.

“Captain Barrage here was-”

“-I was asking what you all were doing here.” Lightspeed Barrage cut in, “This is private property. And don’t think I didn’t see you all climbing the fence.” Fluttershy flinched, and the movement wasn’t lost on the young woman.

Sunset tensed from that. It was clear that they had underestimated her even with that simple maneuver, and Sunset was having trouble forming a coherent reason for why they were here without telling Barrage all about Dash’s little breakdown.

Sunset looked up at Captain Barrage, who was smiling smugly at Daring Do. “And why do you have a teenager slung over your shoulder?”

“This is my daughter.” Daring said simply, “He and I’s.” Her hand motioned to Blaze.

Barrage’s eyebrow raised, “That’s a ‘who’ not a ‘why’. You both have two daughters?” Blaze’s eyes went wide as he realized that Daring was about to possibly get caught in a lie.

“We-” He started, but the towering officer put out a hand to silence him.

“-All I wanna know is why you all were in there.” She said. “Folks, I’ve had a long day, and several bolts of magical freaky lightning have suddenly hit our town. Also, the father of one of the two victims of another, magically disappearing case shows up to one of the crash sites.” She gave Blaze a hard look, setting her hands on her hips. He grinned nervously.

“...magic?” Sunset gave a scoffing laugh, “Don’t tell me you believe in some hocus pocus, do you officer?” Fluttershy gave her an alarmed look, but Sunset held her gaze up at Lightspeed.

Officer Barrage stared at Sunset for a moment. “There’s more magic in this world then you’d ever believe, kid.”

“Try me.” Sunset responded with the remnants of a smirk. “I’m willing to believe quite a bit.”

“Don’t go spreadin’ this, but there’s been magic happenings going on all over the town. But don’t worry, we’ve been handling it.”

“You mean you’ve been helping keep it quiet.” Sunset corrected, “The one helping to handle both situations is currently residing in another dimension.” She held back any vitriol in her voice for the moment. Now wasn’t the time to get snide over another Princess.

“Well, we can’t do anything if it’s been taken care of before we’re even alerted to it… so yeah.” Barrage scowled down at the girl.

“Well magic’s unpredictable. You never know when it might flare up out of nowhere and result in something potentially catastrophic.” As if to emphasis her point, a sudden whine came from the building behind them, followed by all of the lights in sight shutting off in an instant, “...welcome to my world.”

“...honestly surprised the power grid didn't give out earlier.” Daring coughed.

Luckily, the light from the car and cruiser was enough. “Of course.” Barrage ran a hand down her face. “Well, so can I have statements, please? What happened here? What do you know about magic?” The last question was now pointed at Sunset.

Sunset sighed, nodding, “My name is Sunset Stanza, previously Shimmer. I hope I can trust you to keep that part underwraps as much as you do me, to continue keeping the arcane quiet?” Earning a sharp nod from Barrage, she continued, “We had an uncontrolled flare of internal magic from my friend, Rainbow Dash.” Sunset gestured to the snoozing girl, “Or Marred Spectrum as it currently stands. The incident was that similar to the one back in August at CHS, assuming you assisted in silencing the reality of that one as well?”

She nodded, “That’s correct. And the one in November. Now that was an interesting report. Not every day a high schooler calls in about three giant dragon-creatures that isn’t high off their ass.” Daring held back a loud snort of amusement.

“This isn’t Los Pegasus.” Blaze snorted, only to be shushed by Daring.

“Those three are...recuperating.” Sunset nodded, “And don’t plan on putting on quite a show again. Sorry for that one.”

“So you’ve handled that one too.” Barrage nodded, but clearly had recognition splashed all across her face.

“I was the one that stopped it.” She addressed directly, “I’m from the world where this all originates. Again, sorry about all our messes.”

“That. Explains a lot more than you think.” Barrage mused. “I imagine all the records under ‘Sunset Shimmer’ suddenly disappearing was your work as well?”

“Actually...no.” Sunset frowned, “I looked into that myself awhile back, but I was never able to find anything on my human counterpart. That’s saying quite a lot too.” She crossed her arms, looking down in thought, “I’m rather skilled in pulling up information that people try to hide from me. The fact that there’s just nothing there makes no sense.”

“Well, we tried everything to pull up any records on you that we could find, but there wasn’t anything. So your Principal just told us she’d handle you.”

“Well, she certainly did so.” Sunset nodded with a weak smile, “More so than I deserved certainly. Does that cover a statement?”

“I don’t really need a statement. My partner and I will come up with an excuse and leave it at that.” Barrage said, “Just get home and keep your heads down for awhile while this thing blows over.”

“We intend to. Thanks.” Sunset nodded, looking to Blaze. He happily slipped back behind the wheel of the car, Daring busy with their daughter.

“Thank you, Captain Barrage. I imagine this’ll all go under wraps entirely?” Daring asked.

“In its entirety, yes. Just have a safe night, and for God’s sake, Mrs. Do, I will totally chase you down and write you a ticket next time. Slow the hell down.”

Daring gave an innocent smile as she scooped Dash into her arms and put her in the back seat, before slinking into her own seat, “Heh, night!” The car drove off, and the rest of the officers joined Barrage at the front of the plant.

“Let’s get some damn coffee.”

Dash had been awoken at arrival to their home, Sunset taking care to guide her back to their shared room after Daring and Blaze pulled the full story of their hospital visit out of her again. To say the least, Daring found it bemusing that a healing spell had given her daughter a demonic form. Fluttershy had settled back to the couch, sticking to the agreement of speaking when the morning actually started.

“I suppose that makes one more of us.” Sunset sighed, sitting herself down on the bed where Dash had collapsed first.

“I’ll keep saying it. Magic’s weird.” Dash groaned, “So now you’re a siren and I’m the she-demon...well that’s one way to start the holidays.”

“Incredibly.” She nodded in turn, “Even to Equestria, it can be boggling.”

“No kidding. Just glad you didn’t have to blast me with a rainbow to get me back to normal too. The irony may have killed me on the spot.” Dash deadpanned with a sideways grin.

Sunset was silent for a moment, “You mean a lot to me, you know?”

Rainbow sat up some what, surprised by the statement, “W-well, uh, thanks, Sunster.”

“Really. You’re the only one that stood by me from the start. No faltering, no doubt. You didn’t even have any solid proof until the day was nearly up. You just-” She paused, “-trusted me.”

“Well, yeah. You’re my friend.” Rainbow nodded slowly, trying to understand where this was coming from all of a sudden, “I know you were scared for me and all, I was too, but there’s no need to get all sentimental now. I know how you feel.”

“That’s...not entirely my intention.” Sunset hesitated, biting her lip. This was a bad idea. She could probably live out her entire life and never speak this secret. It wouldn’t hurt a soul to never learn this. However, Dash had the right to. Anyone willing to die on someone else’s behalf deserved as much. “I’ve been hiding something, from everyone, ever since the Fall Formal.”

“Yeah?” Dash pulled herself up just enough to face Sunset, now leaning on her elbow to keep herself up. “What’s that?”

“I lied to you.” She clenched her hands into fists, keeping her gaze down and away from Dash as she spoke.

“About what?” Dash didn’t look angry or startled, just confused. “I mean, it can’t be anything too Earth-shattering, can it?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure, but you deserve to know about it.” Sunset nodded a little, sounding as she was convincing herself as much as telling Dash, “What I said, when I crawled out of that crater at the Fall Formal? It was a lie.”

“So, you weren’t sorry?” Dash blinked, “Uh, but you were crying.”

“Did you know I minored in theater back at Canterlot University?” She spoke dryly, “If I stood up and showed anything but utter remorse, I have no doubt Twilight would’ve dragged me back through the portal and brought me right before Celestia to be judged for my crimes. Couldn’t really let that happen, now could I?”

“So…You flubbed it?” Dash asked, only adding more confusion to her expression. “But, uh, what about the Battle?”

“That’s what changed things.” Sunset continued, “I’ve always been a vindictive person, getting blasted into a crater tends to stir things in someone, especially when they already have a temper. I spent a good majority of the time leading up to the Battle of the Bands trying to think of some manner of revenge.” She tensed, finally airing the truth in full. It was rather liberating really, if not incredibly terrifying.

“And then you changed your mind?” Dash asked.

“I had an epiphany. Spent so much time trying to think up some petty way of bringing you five down, that I didn’t realize something staring me in the face. I was having fun. I enjoyed spending time around you all. You had managed to become my friends without me realizing it, and all that planning just became an excuse. I was trying to tell myself that nothing had changed. I was still the cold pony that had abandoned her mentor and claimed dominion over a high school from another reality.” Sunset shook her head, sighing deeply, “I didn’t want to believe in friendship because I was scared it would change me...and it did.”

“Then… Why would you build that up to be this big secret?” Dash asked, placing a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, the sandy girl now glancing back in surprise, “We knew all that resentment wouldn’t just go away overnight. That’s not how people work, Sunset. Hell, look at me! I’m like the biggest ball of resentment! I mean, I think the best case of that would be to look at how much Applejack and I fought - even without you egging us on back then. The point was to show you all this friendship stuff, and help you realize why it was so important to us. Even though the girls did a shit job afterwards, the plan was to let you come about this at your own pace. And you did! That’s what matters.”

Sunset blinked in surprise, not having expected that as a reaction. Anger, maybe, sadness and a bit of resentment that would pass by morning if she was lucky. She trusted Dash more than enough to hope that she’d be able to move past it, but to brush it all aside in an instant and give a small speech about it was enough to render her silent for a short while, “I… I never really thought of it like that.”

“Well, that’s how I think about it.” Dash nodded with a tired smile, “When I bother to think about things at all that is. So hey! Don’t worry. You mean a lot to me, too.”

“...thanks, Dash.” Sunset did her best to hide her sniffle, “Been saying that a lot recently.”

“Hey, for you?” Dash yawned, “Always. Now… After all the demon stuff and things… I’m really tired.”

“Perhaps we should try going back to bed then?” Sunset suggested with a chuckle. Dash seemed to agree, lying back down in response and yawning. Sunset smiled, shaking her head and pulling the covers up for her friend. After leaning in for a moment, Sunset stood up and made her way over to the recliner to pass out as well, for a more peaceful rest this time.

For a split moment before grogginess overtook Dash for the night, her mind registered, ‘Huh...Sunset just… kissed me.’

Losing power to the house was certainly a frustrating thing to deal with in the middle of the night. Guiding your way down the hall by candlelight was no way to live in the 21st century, but Applejack had dealt with worse in her time living on the family farm. She only hoped that wouldn’t be compounded by the current banging coming from the front porch.

The stairs creaked lightly beneath her as she stepped her way down to the living room. “Ah’m comin’, ah’m comin’.” She muttered, not speaking loud enough to wake her family, if they weren’t already that was. Applejack had tried to ignore the banging at first, but after so long of continuous noise and incomprehensible calls from outside, it being past four in the morning stopped mattering. With an annoyed grunt, she pulled the door open to glare at whoever was out and about this late.

“APPLEJACK!” The screeching girl before her was manic, hair on-end and pointed at every different direction. Twilight’s face was so creased with worry that Applejack doubted Rarity’s mountain of de-wrinkle cream would even scratch the surface of it. “WHERE. IS SHE?! WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON?!”

“WHAT IN TARN-Twilight?!” AJ had jumped back from the visage, nearly dropping the candle in the process, “What’re you doin’ here!?”

“WHERE IS SUNSET?! WHY ISN’T SHE ANSWERING MY MESSAGES?! I LEFT HER HERE WITH YOU ALL TO HELP HER!” She grabbed Applejack by the front of her pajamas, shaking her roughly. Twilight herself was shaking like mad, her pupils small.

Applejack could practically feel her brain rattling around in her head, “Twilight! Stop shakin’ me! Ah don’ know where she is! Sunset and Rainbow are gone!”

Twilight paused. “Gone? What do you mean, gone?” All at once, it stopped. Twilight’s shaking and her shaking of Applejack just froze in place, but Twilight’s insanity remained. “She can’t be gone. No no no, I left her here with you all!”

“No, Twilight, ah mean they left! We haven’t seen them in a few days, but Principal Celestia told us they transferred schools.” She sighed, rubbing her face, heavy circles clear under her eyes, “And it's our fault, the girls an’ ah.”

“...Tell me everything. What happened?” Twilight demanded.

AJ sighed, gesturing past her, “Come on in. It's cold out, and it's a bit of a story…” It was going to be a very long night. She could feel it.

Author's Note

Well I've been gone for way too long. Sorry about that all. I'll try to stop it from happening again. Either way, here's this one, so I hope you all enjoy!

Double shout out here. solusjbj for accurately getting Gorillaz' Clint Eastwood in the comments and to Dainn for getting it in the Discord chat not long after the chapter's posting.

Page 239, Paragraph 1

Species from beyond our island nation have a clear distaste for dark magic. Beyond negative stigma it seems to hold, very few seem to be able to control it. It overcomes them, its power to wild too reign in. Whether this is due to their own biology or lack of training is unknown and we are unable to study it further. As Sirens have had dark magic since the species' inception, it nearly comes natural to us. Most sirens are able to hit the ground running with it young. Even I, once a pegasus, was able to gain familiarity with it in a short span of time. I can only imagine the levels of power I would wield if I had been a unicorn before accepting my new role, or even simply had previous experience with the craft.

15 - Hello Again Friend of A Friend

“So?” Twilight crossed her arms, sitting down on the Apple family couch while Applejack got the fireplace running to heat up the cold, dark room. “What happened?”

“Well, it started a few days ago.” Applejack sighed, face in her hands as she sat across from the princess, “Feels like months at this point. We have this website called MyStable. We use it to keep in touch, share photos and the like, whole school does. Ya see, outta nowhere one mornin’, an embarrassing family secret of mine had gotten posted and made me a school laughin’ stock.” She continued to explain, keeping her eyes down on the floor.

Twilight nodded in understanding, leaning forward to listen with her nestled hands pressed tightly against her mouth. Her face showed no expression, simply absorbing what the cowgirl had to say.

“Ah...held mah head high and tried to ignore it, hard as it was, and made it t’ the end of the day. Girls an’ ah had another sleepover at Rare’s and Sunset took some dumb photos of us all on her phone.” AJ grit her teeth, “Next mornin’ all those pictures were up as well.”

“So you blamed her?” Twilight asked, bringing her mouth from her hands for a moment to speak.

“...we did, yes.” She nodded, “We confronted her about it and she denied it. Only recently was the real culprit revealed.” Applejack sat back, rubbing her face and groaning, “We were so sure of ourselves too. The whole school was. Nearly, at least. Nearly the whole school.”

“ ...Nearly?” Twilight asked, before pausing. “Rainbow.”

“Rainbow.” AJ sighed, “She stayed with her from the start, and it seems that landed her in a whole mess a trouble. Couple students stole Fluttershy’s phone and decided to deal with things themselves. Tricked them over to CHS after hours to ‘teach them a lesson’.”

Twilight flinched, biting her lip as she listened. When Applejack went silent again, she frowned, “So… They ran off for safety reasons.”

“Ah wanted to hope the same.” She ran a hand through her messy head of hair, looking a lot more tired all of a sudden, “We don’t know the details, and frankly? Ah don’ wanna. Principal Celestia told us that the beatdown left ‘em both in the hospital after it migrated off school property.”

“Then… Did Rainbow’s family move away as well?” Twilight asked.

“No, Rainbow Blaze is still where he’s always been.” She shook her head with a wave of the hand, “Again...dunno the details, but there seems to be magic involved at this point. Pinkie, Rarity, and I have been brainstormin’ some way to apologize, b-but we’re kinda stumped. Ah mean…” The farmer buried her head in her hands, starting to shake as she continued, “W-we never coulda seen this comin’, right? C-come on, ah mean we screwed up. Massively! But w-we couldn’t know this would happen!”

“What about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

Applejack did her best to pull herself together, not falling off the deep end quite yet. With a wipe of her eyes, she continued on, “Ah dunno...she ran outta the meetin’ we had yesterday. Said she had somethin’ to do an was jus’ gone.”

“So none of you have tried to actually approach them, then?” Twilight asked, “To talk to them? To apologise?” Her hands were shaking, but her face stayed neutral.

“We...well how’re we supposed to?” She grasped aimlessly, “Twi, we’re a group a people that refused to talk over some faked texts. Now we purposefully turned our heads away and it nearly got two of our friends killed!” AJ gasped out, visible tears falling now as she went back to burying her face in her hands. If she wasn’t so focused on the topic at hand, she might’ve heard the sound of retreating feet up the stairs.

Twilight sighed, standing and pulling AJ over to the couch, “Come on, sit down. Listen, I’m going to try and help you all make up with Sunset and Dash, okay? Is that everything you know?”

“It's all I can remember for certain…” She nodded, being led with no resistance, “R-really? Yer gonna help?”

“Yes.” Twilight said curtly, “I’m going to help right this mistake you girls have made. You’re all going to face her, and you’re all going to apologise.” Her face was beginning to melt into one of stern determination, like a disappointed teacher staring down at her student.

AJ leaned back a little, Twilight’s expression one that was sadly familiar to her from a few of her younger years, “R-right. We wanna, we jus’ dunno how.” She assured, “...d’ya need a place to stay fer the night?”

“Yes, I do need one. And, tomorrow, you’re going to call the girls here. We clearly all need to have a chat.” She said, crossing her arms.

“‘Course.” She nodded, still looking sheepish, “We screwed up. We know that. We want to fix it. Try at the least.”

“Well, I can’t assure you it’ll work. No one can assure you of that. I’m going to do my best, but it sounds like it comes down to Sunset in the end. ...We’ll see how that goes.”

“Ah understand that. Ah mean...our friendship was demolished over a misunderstandin’ once already. Wouldn’t be too surprised to get half the responses ah expect.” She sighed, flopping onto her back and staring up at the ceiling, “...ah really can’t believe this happened again. So soon too.” She was silent for a few more seconds, “We can't be this stupid, can we?”

Twilight put a hand to her temple, massaging it for a moment. “No. No, you’re not stupid. But clearly, only Dash learned from the last time.” She looked up, “How many times will it take, Applejack? Two? Three? When do you finally decide that putting your faith in your friends is worth your individual risk?”

“...I don’ know.” She said quietly, closing her eyes.

“Well, you’ll have to figure that out soon.” Twilight stood from the couch, “Now, where am I staying for the night?”

“Ya can take mah room if ya like, Twi. Ah’m havin’ trouble sleepin’ at this point anyways.” AJ yawned, seeming content on the couch now. “Make yerself at home. Ah’ll be up’n the mornin’ to explain everything to Granny n’ Big Mac.”

“Thank you. We’ll talk about this more in the morning.” She nodded back at her fr-...at Applejack as she headed up the stairs, doubtful that a restful sleep awaited her.

Dash leapt up into the air, swinging her leg forwards in a hard kick to send the soccer ball back to its source, “Don’t think so!” The chromatic girl grinned, seeing it spiral over her competitor’s head.

“Dammit, Dash!” Sunset frowned, “We’re just hanging out, this isn’t a championship!”

“Either way, I’d be the winner.” Dash teased back, sticking her tongue out. Around her, a light snow began to fall over the grassy field. “Huh? Where’d those clouds come from? There wasn’t anything about snowfall today...was there?”

“Nevermind the snow, Dash. What are we going to do about you?” Sunset asked, suddenly standing next to her.

Rainbow flinched, hopping back in fright as the girl appeared like that, pale skin seeming to radiate cold. “S-sunset?! What happened to your-oh…” She put a hand to her head, surprise dropping to a sad realization, “Stanza, duh. I’m...dreaming, aren’t I?”

Everything seemed to come into focus, the area becoming sharp and colorful despite the darkened hues splashed around thanks to the clouds high above. The dream Stanza nodded, “Indeed you are. Glad you noticed. Makes this all the easier to-STOP THAT!”

Rainbow had quickly lost focus, turning away and swinging her arms like an opera conductor, the ground before her undulating and molding itself to her whim. “Why? Not often I have a lucid dream! Lemme play God for a few hours!”

Sunset snapped her fingers impatiently, “Dash! This is serious, pay attention. ...Then you can play God as long as you like.”

“Oh come on, Stanz. I just went through Hell. Let me relax!” She pouted, watching pieces of the sky liquify and sprinkle down on the blonde-bluenette.

“I just said you can relax in a second! Stay on target, then you can do whatever. I’ll just be, like, a few minutes.”

“Ugh, fine.” She rolled her eyes, freezing the transformed scenery in place and letting her attention drift back over, crossing her arms and staring at the other, “So...you’re not really Sunset, obviously. So...what the heck are ya?”

“I’m you, obviously. I just took up Sunset’s form because we listen to her more than anyone else.” ‘Sunset’ snickered.

“H-hey! Sunset’s smart and my friend, a course I listen to her!”

“Then listen to this: How in the heck do we figure out how to deal with dark magicky demon stuff?”

“...yep, you’re still me.” Dash deadpanned, looking down at herself. Her skin had paled and the blank red shirt had returned as well. She sighed, “So it's how we see ourselv-myself?” She shook her head, “I dunno. Just...roll with it? Hope Sunset knows? I just-I barely know how the music stuff works! We played a song and then we shot lasers from a giant blue horse!”

“Well, we gotta figure out something! This isn’t a game. Not just some ‘play a guitar and somehow win by a long shot’ shit. We need to figure this out, and from what the Shadowbolts were saying, it had something to do with our insides or whatever.”

“Dude, seriously?” Dash twisted her face, frowning at her, “Don’t be weird.”

“I know, gross right? ...We’re getting off topic! Point is, we gotta control ourselves or everything will go wacko. So let’s suck up some shit.”

“...wait what?” Dash blinked, “I don’t-wait what?”

“-Get our mind out of the gutter! We have some emotional problems to solve.”

“You first!...me first?” She shook her head again, “I don’t have any emotional problems! ...I’m just mad!”

“Dude, you know that’s totally emotional problems right?”

“Just cause I’m a bit grumpy about getting abandoned and nearly killed, doesn’t mean I’m screwed up!” Dash defended with a frown, turning away a bit as if that drove the point home further.

“We’re not screwed up, dude, we just need to stop lashing out with our anger!”

“When did I lash out?!...not counting the demon thing, that wasn’t...really me.” She coughed into her fist.

“Uh, yeah, it was. It was totally us, just subconsciously.”

“But you’re supposed to be that, right?” She blinked, “So doesn’t that mean you did all that?!”

“I’m still you, Egghead!”

“I’MNOTANEGGHEAD!”

“YOU’RE BEING ONE!”

“I’m not talking the weird psycho-analyst crap and using the weird magicky terms!”

“YOU’RE TALKING TO YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!”

“I-you-SHUTUP!” Dash waved her arms, eye twitching heavily as she ground her teeth. Dash quickly realized that she was only proving her own point...to herself. This was getting confusing.

“Point is, this anger is just dragging us down. We need to figure out how we can let go of it. ...Like, is there a cliff we could throw it off of, maybe?”

“...if I throw a physical manifestation of anger off an imaginary cliff, will that work?” She blinked, actually considering it.

“I dunno. Worth a shot.” ‘Sunset’ shrugged in reply.

“...if you die in the game, you die in real life.”

“We’re drifting again.”

“Should I be saying ‘you’, ‘me’, or ‘we’?” She rubbed her head, confusion not going anywhere. The fact that she was technically confusing herself didn't help.

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER RIGHT NOW! ...Just use ‘we’, it’s a lot better. BUT IT STILL DOESN’T MATTER!”

“Okay! Jeez, chill.” She snorted, a shit-eating grin cracking through not long after. The snow continued to fall around the two.

“Ha. Now are we gonna throw anger off a cliff and make a dumb grunting noise or what?”

“I dunno, sounds kinda dumb after saying it aloud again and five seconds of thought.” Dash shrugged back, “That and even with all the crazy shiz goin’ down, I really doubt it’d be that easy to control a literal demon living inside of us.” She slapped a hand to her head, “No, wait, it's still us. That’s not another chick. God, this is weird. Is this an Equestrian magic thing in general? Does Sunset have dreams like this?”

“You look at me like I know any of those answers. I know I look like Sunset, but I’m not. If I were Sunset, I’d probably have a big, complex explanation of magic we’d only half-get and kinda zone out of midway through and stare at her-”

Dash awoke in her bed with her face on fire. Without even a word to the drowsy Sunset waking up in the recliner, she darted past into the bathroom. Sunset recognized the sound of the shower not long after.

“...Dash?”

“I SWEAR WE WERE GONNA SAY FACE!”

Sunset blinked blankly, staring at the shut door in utter confusion. She had days where she’d wake up and feel whether it’d be a good day or bad day based on the first few moments, but this felt like neither. More like an incredibly strange day, a strange week by this point. Sunset let out a long sigh, hopping up and heading to use the shower down the hall.

Thankfully, Dash seemed to be much more collected by the time they had arrived at the police station. Even so, she still was adamant about not saying a word in relation to what had actually happened that morning. “You sure you’re okay? I know I keep asking, but still. All things considered, we can’t have you going off in here.” The two had their hoods up just in case anyone else was out and about. Given the adults they could see pacing around both outside and within the doors of the station, the two got a good feeling that the officers had been busy for the past few hours at the least.

“Yeah, I think that whole electricity thing last night is the last time you’ll see me outta control like that.” Dash nodded, watching the cops as they scurried around. “But what do we tell Dust?”

“What do we tell her?” Sunset tilted her head, “Well let’s hear her out first. Considering she just outed everyone for us?” She whispered, making sure no one was paying the duo any real attention, “I think it's the least we can do for her.”

“Well, cool, I can do that.” Dash nodded, “We can see if I still need to pound her in a few inches.”

“No, Marred.” She sent her a sharp look, “Joke or not, no. Seriously.”

“Yeah, that was a bit far. Sorry.” Dash backed off, rubbing the back of her head, “We hear her out, then we let her out, right?”

“We maybe do so.” Sunset nodded, biting the corner of her lip in thought, “No need to siren her free anymore, if she’s really regretful and all that. Made a deal with Barrage. Let’s just see what goes down.” With that, she stepped up to the main desk and lost her whisper, “Excuse me, we’re looking for Lightspeed Barrage.”

“The chief’s in her office at the moment.” The man behind the desk said, raising an eyebrow, “Is she expecting you?”

“Not necessarily, but she knows us. Can you pass on the names Stanza and Marred?” She requested, “That should be enough.”

“Alright, hold on for a second.” The man put his walkie to his face, asking Barrage if she knew these two.

“Send them in.” Grumbled the woman over the radio.

“You two are free to go in.” He nodded at the two teens, pointing out the door.

The two nodded, scurrying out of the way and through the door in question, “Captain Barrage.” Sunset greeted as Dash shut the door behind them, “Nice to see you again. Sorry about last night. Hope that wasn’t too much of a hassle to deal with.”

“I shouldn’t be saying ‘Oh, it’s normal at this point’, but here we are.” She downed another sip of coffee, “So. You wanted to chat with your friend?”

“I wouldn’t really call her a friend. I hardly know her myself.” Sunset shook her head.

“I do know her, but I still second the ‘not my friend’ comment.” Dash added with a frown.

“But we would like to speak with her, yes.” Sunset confirmed, “I don’t suppose we’d be able to do so?”

“Eh, I already promised I’d let her out if you’re not pressing charges, so sure.” Barrage rose, pulling a few keys from her pocket. “Follow me.” The two trailed behind as the police chief brought them to a side room where another officer looked over three cells. Dust was in the corner of the nearest cell to the door, face buried in her arms.

Sunset raised an eyebrow in amusement, following after her. Thankfully, if the other perpetrators of the attack were indeed here, they were being kept elsewhere in the building. Dust’s cell was isolated, the others of her block currently empty.

“Up ‘n at’em, Lightning Rod.” Dash whistled, catching sight of her.

It seemed that was all that was needed, Dust on her feet in a matter of seconds, staring out of the bars in shock, “Wh-what?...Dash, is that you?”

“No. I’m her cousin, Rainbow Clash.” Dash smirked, “Who’s somehow just as good looking and also knows your nickname.”

“I’m here too by the way.” Sunset deadpanned, “Skipping past the warm welcome though, we wanted to hear if you had anything to say. You turned everyone in after all. So at the very least, and as annoying as it is to have to say this, thank you. The hoops we’d have to jump through to deal with this ourselves, and legally, would’ve been something out of Cirque de Sorei.”

“I don’t think it's called that.” Barrage coughed.

“Whatever. Other than the appreciation, we wanted to hear you out.” Dash leaned back, “So make it good, Dusty.”

“Well…” Lightning shifted her stance, “Look, I was in on the beatdown and thought you were both guilty. I’ll raise my hands and admit to that no problem, and if you actually had been guilty, I wouldn’t feel much remorse for a few punches and kicks. Especially for how Sunset introduced herself back in freshman year.”

“Great start.” Sunset crossed her arms with a tight frown. One of the few days she hadn’t come to regret. True she had made Fluttershy her own verbal punching bag a few days later, but getting Gilda and Dust off her back had to have been a relief for her. Sunset snorted, wiping the memory from her mind.

“BUT!” Dust waved, shaking her head, “Gilda took things way too far, by miles! I had no idea she had something like that planned, for all I know it was last second or something. Even if you were guilty of Anon-a-Miss, or worse, that was screwed up! Of course I squealed on ‘em. It was...well it was just wrong.” She gestured, failing to find a more inventive word.

Dash looked over to Sunset, a questioning expression across her face.

“And you feel remorse?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” She sighed, leaning her head against the bars and staring down at the concrete floor, “At first it was just ‘cause we got the wrong guys. Thought I woulda happily beat down on the real culprit, but…” Dust’s face twisted, “No. Revenge-” She paused, running her tongue across her teeth, “It just doesn’t sit right with me. Nothing gained and just more guilt to stain your hands later. Just part of the bullshit cycle.”

Sunset glanced back at Dash, an eyebrow raised and a similar expression. Though she seemed a little more assured now.

“Would you have stood up for us even if Sunset hadn’t knocked you out for the count?” Dash asked, “Had Gilda and her goons started to drag us away, would you have stood up to them?”

“I woulda slipped out and called the cops. I ain’t stupid enough to pull out the soap box in front of like 20 bloodthirsty teenagers.” Dust replied adamantly, “I’m hot-headed, impulsive, and I make bad decisions, but I still have my own set of morals.”

“...Eh, I think that’s good enough for me.” Dash shrugged, looking at Sunset again, “What about you?”

“I believe her.” Sunset nodded, “She put herself at risk in the first place and she clearly doesn’t gain anything personally from this.”

Dust nodded, “I want the same thing now that I did when I agreed to jump you two in the gym. Some form of justice. Taking it into our own hands was stupid for more reasons than what wound up happening.” She sighed, shaking her head, “I just want this all to be over, Anon-a-Miss and everything that came of it.”

“Welp, guess today’s just your lucky day, isn’t it?” Dash nodded towards the officer before standing aside. “We happen to have put in a good word for you.”

“Wait, what?” Dust looked back up, confusion etched in her eyes.

“They agreed to let you go if we didn’t press charges, which we don't plan on.” Sunset nodded, “Though we’d appreciate something in return.”

“...what?” Dust leaned back a bit as the cell block guard opened up her’s.

“We’re meeting a few other Crystal Prep students today. Ones that are in a…’unique’ position.” Sunset nodded, hand glowing for a brief moment to get her point across. “I think I’d prefer to keep a bit of an eye on you for now.”

“That and if any of the others slip through the law for one reason or another and catch wind of who turned them in, you wanna be running around by yourself?” Dash asked, hands on her hips.

“Fair point.” Dust sighed, “Tradin’ one warden for another?”

“No.” Sunset shook her head, “More of a chance to prove it. You wanna apologize for what happened? Good step one. Show us that you want to follow through with it.”

“Alright. Thanks for the second chance.” She nodded, sighing and nearly collapsing in relief as the bars passed by her, cell door open.

Sunset nodded, “I’m familiar with them myself. I just hope I’m not mistaken in giving one for once.”

“Right there with you.” Dash agreed, eyeing Dust a little more hesitantly, but not objecting to the decision, “We just gotta do one thing first.”

“What’s that?” Lightning blinked in turn.

Rainbow ran a hand down her face, “We gotta hear another plea today. C’mon, let’s get back to my place. She’ll probably be ready by the time we get there. Thanks, Lightspeed.” She gave a wave behind them as the group filed out.

“Yeah, yeah. Thank me by not causing more fourth dimension bullshit or whatever you kids get up to these days.” Barrage rolled her eyes.

Sunset and Dash took a collective breath, heading back to the car with their third compatriot donning her own hood. They suspected that an apology from an ex-friend wouldn’t be as easy as hearing out someone like Lightning Dust. Either way, what was to follow probably wouldn't be very fun.

“I imagine you girls know why you’re here.”

The three high schoolers across from Twilight shuffled in place, each of them standing on Applejack’s front porch. Granny Smith had known what kind of talk was coming the moment she had seen Twilight’s expression that morning, kindly asking her to ‘tear into ‘em’ outside. Apple Bloom’s door had remained firmly locked that morning. The reasoning had taken no time at all to come forth.

AJ had settled into a nervous lean against the wall. Rarity had yet to meet the princess’ gaze, looking far more ragged than any of the others were used to.

Pinkie on the other hand was looking strangely hopeful, “You’re here to...help us find Sunset and Dashie so we can throw them a ‘We’re-super-duper-sorry-for-leaving-you-in-the-hall’ party?”

“Yes and no.” Twilight said with a scowl, “This isn’t something just throwing a party can fix, Pinkie. You three have just lost two friends. That’s not a small fix. No apology alone will mend this.”

“B-but we can get them back!” Pinkie tried, leaning forwards and her hopeful expression shifting to that of pleading, “Parties are what I do, they’re a gesture, more than just words!”

“Pinkie, you throw parties for literally everything else!” Twilight snapped.

“Because it's fun! It makes things better!” Pinkie raised her voice as well, a weak sob audibly held in afterwards, “I just want to make it better, Twilight...”

“I know, but doing something that you seem to do for literally everyone else isn’t the answer to this!” Twilight said, “You three need to apologise, and you need to do it in a way that means something to them. Something that you go out of your way to do, something that takes some time and effort, and possibly makes you all uncomfortable. Then they might believe you.”

“So what, you think we should just do something that’s weird or uncomfortable to us while they’re around?” Pinkie blinked, wiping a few tears away.

“Self-inflicted punishment seems a bit pointless, Twilight. Sounds like it would come across more awkward than anything else.” Rarity suggested, frowning as she finally met her eyes.

“Not a punishment.” Twilight shook her head, “But still something that you’d have to be truly motivated to do. Don’t maim yourselves.”

“But what does that mean, Twi?” AJ gestured with a sigh, “All ah’ve really ever had with apologies was mah word, an’ that’s kinda useless now. Ah get that we can’t jus’ follow a script, but we’re jus’ as lost now as we were before ya showed up.”

“I think this’ll be the hardest for you, Applejack.” Twilight paced in front of the three as if she were a drill sergeant, scowl permanently plastered onto her face, “Each of you will have to think about this, because I can’t give you the answer. Putting effort into your apologies will mean something different for all of you, and I don’t think throwing a party, baking something, or making a dress will do. No matter what you do: Listen. To. Your. Friends. You girls never seem to learn that! So when you go to apologise, shut your mouths and listen to them. They might swear at you, they might insult you, and they have every right to do it. So for Celestia’s sake, let them finish yelling before you say anything. Acknowledge that you’ve heard their piece. Then when they want to leave, let them go.”

Silence reigned for a few moments after, each of them seeming to absorb the short speech. “We’ll...give it a go, Twilight,” Applejack nodded slowly, “We screwed up, an’ we’ll do everything we can to make up for it.”

“Even if that means backing off entirely.” Rarity nodded, “If Sunset wants to end all ties, that’s her choice and I can accept that.” She wrung her hands tightly while speaking, tears coming fresh while doing so. At least there was no makeup to ruin this time around.

“And we’re sorry.” Pinkie nodded, seeming more somber now from Twilight’s verbal lashing, “You trusted us to stand with her, and we failed the three of you. We let you down as much as we screwed up with Sunset and Dashie.”

Twilight sighed, crossing her arms, “I’m still incredibly upset at you three, and I probably will be until all of this is over… But I forgive you.” When the three seemed to perk up more, Twilight added, “I also no longer trust you three, though, and I’m still steamed that Fluttershy isn’t here. Have any of you gotten in touch with her?”

“I haven’t seen her since the meeting at Sugarcube Corner the other day.” Rarity shook her head. “I tried texting her earlier, but she just told me that she was busy and to leave her be. Calls went straight to voicemail. Fairly certain she turned off her phone.”

“Probably holing herself up.” Twilight rolled her eyes with a huff, “I should’ve known.” She stopped in her incessant pacing, shaking her head, “Just like my girls… I should’ve seen this sort of thing coming.”

“Dare I ask?” Rarity winced. Their Equestrian counterparts weren’t mentioned often, if ever, to them, but they all got a good feeling they were about to get another earful.

“Oh, just the occasion where your counterparts from my world have left me for one reason or another when we were all younger…” Under her breath, she muttered, “Of course it was Dash that stayed…” She shook her head, hiding a small, distant smile.

The others were silent, unsure of what to make of that. The idea of their counterparts being so similar in such a negative way was disturbing, assuming this was almost preordained. The thought of destiny was thrown away quickly, marking it as a sad coincidence and bad decision making.

“I…” Rarity bit her lip, “I’m not quite sure what to say. We make mistakes. Some larger than others, but we try to make it right in the end, even when we can’t.”

“The last question is just ‘when’, ah guess.” AJ sighed, “When should we go find Sunset? Do we give her space or do we head after her?”

“Well, when do you think? You can’t come to me for all the answers, and Sunset won’t appreciate it if you do. Be your own people, decide when things are right for you.” Twilight said.

Applejack blushed at that, “Y-yeah, yer right. Jus’...yeah, gotcha, Twi.” She nodded, pulling her hat down over her face.

“Well I have one more question of my own.” Rarity frowned, “Since we’re on the topic of forgiveness and everything. I’m rather lost on the topic of someone who is seeking my forgiveness. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, but I-”

“-You can tell Sweetie Belle and Applebloom that it isn’t your forgiveness they should be seeking.” Twilight cut her off, going back to her angry pacing, “That they will only get your forgiveness once they get Sunset and Dash’s.”

“I just don’t feel like I can let this go. I’m being selfish, I know, but even in the event of Sunset miraculously forgiving us, I don’t think I can let go of this.” Rarity broke line now, beginning to pace herself.

“You’re really sending her back home then?” Pinkie blinked, watching her.

“All I can say is that compared to Sunset and Dash, they didn’t do anything to you three in the long-run.” Twilight said, “Remember that.”

Rarity held herself at that, thinking back to what Principal Celestia had told them before break, “You’re right. You’re right.” She nodded with a sigh, “If that will be all, I need to head back to the Boutique. Do you need a ride anywhere, Twilight?”

“Actually, yes. Bring me to wherever Dash lives. It’s time for my own set of apologies.” Twilight sighed, finally dropping her anger.

Rarity nodded, “Cloudsdale district it is.” The two set off towards Rarity’s minivan, parked up the dirt path. She was grateful that the drive wasn’t too far. The less awkward silence she had to deal with today, the better.

“Don’t worry about hangin’ around for a bit.” Dash shrugged at Dust as they got out of the car. “This probably won’t be too long. Just grab something from the fridge, we’ll let her say her piece and we’ll head down to the ‘training fields’ as it were.”

Sunset hummed in slight agreement, opening the front door to the shared house and stepping inside, glancing around for the pink-haired guest. “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy poked her head around the corner from the living room, “Yes? O-Oh, is it time for the talk now?” She asked.

“You came all the way here for it, didn’t you?” She asked as Dash followed her inside. Dust did as well, taking a single glance at Fluttershy before walking past her and into the kitchen as advised. There was no glare or sign of ill will from her, just a simple acknowledgement.

“Lightning Dust?” Fluttershy asked, looking back at Dash. “But, yes, th-that’s why I’m here.”

“Don’t worry about her.” Dash waved, “Right now we’re talking about us. Right?” Sunset stayed silent, kicking the door shut behind her and watching Fluttershy expectantly.

“Right.” She nodded, “Well, honestly, I wasn’t really sure how else to do this.” She admitted with a sigh, “I couldn’t just run away from it, not that the girls are, but… I’m so sorry, Sunset. I should’ve spoken up when I realized the other girls and I were wrong.” She rubbed her arm, looking down at the ground, “I was nothing but your punching bag for three years, you know that. I wanted to think you had changed, but on the other hand it was so easy to blame you for this.” Tears burned the edges of her eyes, “It also made me realize that I had never fully forgiven you for those years. I’m so sorry I let that blind me.” Her breath hitched, and she swallowed hard. “After Dash sided with you, I… I realized we were wrong, but I let the other girls p-pressure me into st-staying quiet.” Her voice trailed into hiccuping sobs at this point, tears flowing freely, “Then my phone went missing, and y-you both went missing… I’m such an awful, awful friend!” And with that, she finally broke. Forcing herself to sit on the couch once again, she sobbed quietly into her lap.

Rainbow looked torn, knuckles white in clenched fists as she looked away, a small frown on her face. It was clear that she was trying rather hard to appear mad.

Sunset gave a sigh and sat down next to her, “...I was a bit of a raging ass to you for a long while, wasn’t I? Before I upgraded to demon that is.” She tried, hoping to at least pull the girl out of her sobs.

Fluttershy softened up a bit, pulling herself up and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, hugging Sunset to her. “...I’m so sorry.” Tears continued to come nonetheless.

“I know…” She nodded, hesitantly setting a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “I know.”

“...” Dash stared at them from across the coffee table.

“Seriously?” Dust muttered from behind her, earning a jump, “She was your best friend, cap. You’re still mad?”

“It stings.” Dash muttered stubbornly.

“Yeah? So did getting the status of my family getting plastered all over the internet. So did getting crushed by Sunset in a fight three years ago. So did getting my nose broken a few nights ago. Ya know what? Revenge sucks. Holing up all that anger in your chest and sitting on it until it burns your ass.” She frowned, biting into the sandwich she had managed to make from her ransacking of the fridge and pantry, “You sit on that anger you got pointed towards a childhood friend of all people? You’re just gonna be another Gilda one day.”

Dash flinched back from that, not expecting a verbal slap of that quality.

“But what do I know? I’m just some rookie that flunked off the team and wound up as her lackie for a year.” She took a poignant bite of her BLT, chewing with a bemused expression.

“Hate you.” Dash scowled. Dust made a kissing noise back at her, prompting Dash to sit somewhere less infuriating, “...hey, Shy.”

“D-Dash…” Fluttershy sniffled, looking over at Rainbow with big, watery eyes.

Rainbow winced, “C-come on, Shy. Don’t do that with your eyes...how do you do that? It's like they inflate.” She tried to joke, totally not looking teary-eyed at all.

Sunset chuckled, “Should I translate, or do you speak Rainbow as well as I’ve learned to?”

Fluttershy turned to hug Dash now instead, “I’m sorry to you t-too, Dash!” She hiccuped, squeezing her best friend.

Dash resisted for a moment, “H-hey, come on. I don’t-” A condescending glance from the blonde chewing on her slab of meat and bread quickly shut her down again, “...it's okay, Flutters. At least, it will be okay. It's not your fault.” Rainbow stumbled through her own acceptance, trying not to sound too mushy in her mind.

“S-So, d-do you both forgive me?” Fluttershy asked, looking between the two through the drying tears.

“I’m...willing to try.” Dash nodded slowly, “You know me. It's hard to let go of a lot of shit, but...I don’t want to see what happens if I just stay angry.”

“Same with me. I spent the last several years in a perpetual state of anger towards someone.” Sunset blew out a breath, “I wouldn’t exactly say I’m handing out olive branches to everyone at CHS, but I think at the very least you’re okay.” A bit of a smile graced her face after that.

“Adorable.” Dust chuckled. Rainbow’s angry reply was cut off by a rapid knock on the front door, a muffled voice following it.

“Huh?” Dash scaled the back of the couch, opening the door to another strange sight in the week’s parade of oddness.

“H-help!” One Twilight Sparkle squeaked, dangling in the iron grip of an annoyed siren.

“Hey, I found some litter on your lawn. Know who it belongs to?” Aria deadpanned, eyeing the princess coldly.

“...oh. Wonderful.” Sunset groaned.

Author's Note

Today's shoutout goes to Ze1a7in for last chapter's King and Lion Heart by Of Monsters and Men.

As of today I've been a member of this crazy little site for six years. Crazy. Seriously hard to believe the fandom is that old already. That aside, here's a little gift for the occasion. Another sizable chapter that didn't take a solid month+ to write. Hope you all enjoy!

Page 301, Paragraph 2

I don't like the Pony Tribe's Equestria's new leader. One of them at least. The white one. I haven't bothered to jot down her name yet. Calling her Sunshine Smiles for now. She seems to just be perpetually upbeat. No one that happy should be trusted. The happier someone is, the more things they have to be sad about. That aside, I doubt our countries will ever successfully intermingle with their view of dark magic. Between the recent incident in the northern lands, the felines, and the perpetual acts of that damn goat and his followers, the stigma will always be negative. Dark magic was recently outlawed entirely. By their law, my sirens are all criminals simply for living. Though why would that matter? Equestria is safe from one more threat now. Preemptively saving the day by judging others. Wonderful work, Princess.

'Note to self. No more drinking coffee and reading this thing. Don't risk ruining a book delivered to you from Elysium.'

16 - I'm Just as Real as, I'm Just as Dangerous as You, So Know You'll Find

“Twilight. Sparkle.” Sunset dragged the name out with purpose, staring at the purple girl that was hanging by the collar of her shirt. She was currently held aloft by another purple girl, though the two couldn’t have had more differences, “I was honestly starting to believe I was never going to hear from you.” She stood, strolling around the couch with a relaxed gait to stare at her boredly, “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything too life threatening to get you here.”

Dust took a solitary step back, dissociating from this conversation for the given moment. Sassing Rainbow was one thing, a solid pastime she’d say, but the absolute frigidness that emanated off of Sunset at the current moment was easily enough to make her decide against another jab about holding grudges.

Twilight glanced around the room in shock, frazzled state of mind spelled out as much on her face, “S-Sunset?!” She gasped, gaze now drifting over to Dash and Fluttershy, “...that’s why you weren’t with the girls.”

“H-hi, Twilight.” Fluttershy ducked her head a bit behind the couch, trying to use Rainbow as a barrier between herself and the new company.

Dash frowned, clapping a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder and standing, “What are you doing here?” She stared at Twilight with an expression mixed between surprised and annoyed, “We’re already dealing with shit, we don’t need more crap.”

“...Was it a healing spell?!” Twilight blurted out without thinking.

“Excellent tact as always, Twilight.” Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose, “Aria, come on in. Set her down somewhere. Best shut the door before Dash’s parents complain that we’re letting the heat out.”

“You sure?” Aria scowled at the princess in her grip as she kicked the door behind her closed, “Wouldn’t want the sludge to ruin the carpets.”

“P-Please let me down?” Twilight smiled up at Aria nervously. She was stressed as is, and being held at the mercy of an enemy wasn’t helping that. The siren rolled her eyes and let her drop. Twilight, with all the grace and poise of a proper princess, landed flat on her face, not even having the respect to comically bounce on impact.

“Well she’ll certainly do so if she’s face down in them.” Dash deadpanned with a sigh.

“It’ll be fine.” Sunset nodded, “Just, yeah, let her in.”

“Hey, princess.” Lighting waved, figuring Twilight needed at least one non-hostile greeting.

Twilight pulled herself up, giving a brief greeting nod to Lightning, “I’m just… stunned. The girls said things were bad, but I didn’t know how bad!”

“Why?” Aria got in Twilight’s face, “Because we’re here, or because they don’t need you anymore?”

“Aria, easy.” Sunset shook her head, holding up a hand, “I think you’ve rattled her enough for the moment. No need to be so intense.” She sighed, looking back at Twilight again. Not quite glaring, but looking considerably unhappy, “Though I do want to know. Where have you been?”

Twilight sighed, wilting with noticeable guilt, “Canterlot, for the Hearth’s Warming pageant. I forgot my journal at the castle. I came rushing over here as soon as I saw your messages.”

There was a long silence that followed.

“Oh. Is that it?” Dash leaned over, smiling in a manner that was just a tad too friendly, “Hear that, Sunset? No big deal. She forgot the journal. That makes everything alright.”

Sarcasm befitting both of them, the other was able to hit the ground running, “Mm. Indeed, I can feel my scars healing as we speak. Amazing.”

“...” Lightning Dust rubbed her face in annoyance, eyeing the two.

Twilight shook her head with a frown, “I wish I had something better, I really do, but that’s just what happened. I’d much rather tell you that we were fighting a pack of Timberwolves or the latest bad guy from the Princess’s past was here to conquer slash destroy us, but...I’m not here to stare you both down and just come up with something to save face. I made a mistake at a terrible time that I couldn’t have possibly seen coming and because of that, I contributed to a larger problem that spiraled out of control. I understand if you’re both angry at me, really I do, but I’m only one pon- ehh, person. I just can’t be everywhere at once.”

“No kidding, you can't be everywhere at once.” Rainbow replied with an exhausted expression, “Even I can’t do that, but, you know...we figured that if we needed help, you’d be there.”
“I know...I’m sorry.” Twilight nodded smally, eyes dropping to the floor, “I sh-should’ve been here sooner.”

Her slow descent into a sob was silenced as Sunset sighed, stepping forwards and pulling her into a half-hug, “But you’re still here. Like Fluttershy is. Like the others aren’t.” The siren gave another frustrated sigh, “Damn it, why can’t this just be simple?”

“It's called being human.” Dash grinned ruefully, “Or pony too, I guess. Can’t ever just be pissed at someone for screwing up, not like this, I guess.”

“Unless they’re unrepentant asses though.” Dust added with a shrug.

“Weren’t you just hammering me about forgiveness a few minutes ago?” Dash deadpanned, leaning over from around the two.

Dust shrugged, “You should always forgive...when it's earned.”

Aria looked back and forth from the various members of the group, shrugging, “Apologies aren’t about thinking how to put it. You go to the person you screwed over as soon as you can and you admit you screwed up and do whatever you can to make things right. Just be genuine, it's not hard.” This earned her several stares of surprise, “What? So I’m a little abrasive. I’ve been around for over a thousand years, you think I’ve never screwed up with someone?”

“Uh...right.” Rainbow nodded smartly, blinking several times.

Sunset laughed, “Oh, stars...needed that.” She shook her head, smiling at Twilight, “It is good to see you. Friendly faces are kinda in demand right now. Sorry about the cold greeting.”

“No, no. I understand. I probably would’ve reacted the same way if I was in the exact same position as you. Worse probably. The stress of all that…” She shook her head as Sunset started to frown lightly, “But let’s not go there.” Twilight raised her hands, shaking her head as she shot a glance at Aria, “So, um, not to sound too, well-”

“You wanna know why I’m here.” Aria deadpanned, staring at her flatly.

“Well.” Twilight paused with a nervous grimace, nodding timidly, “Y-yes.”

“Well, right now, Adagio and Sonata are moving us out of the gutter we were stuck in and into a new place that’s less of a hole in the ground. Though as for why I’m here, it was to meet up with Sunset because she and ‘Marred’ here are helping us out after you all blew our Hearts to atoms and marked us for death.” She blew out a breath, “I’m Aria by the way, thanks for asking.”

“Can we not freak out the person offering to help us?” Lightning shrugged, “Just, y’know, putting that out there?”

“Ma-wait!” Twilight had nearly sunk into the cushions of the seat next to Fluttershy after that, “D-death?!” She squeaked out, at the very least looking regretful now.

“Aria…” Sunset sighed, giving her a look.

Aria frowned a bit, looking away, but said no more on the subject.

“The amulets.” Sunset continued, gesturing to her own, “They’re what kept them alive up until recently thanks to a curse. Note, they no longer do so, but us having destroyed them guaranteed that they wouldn’t have made it past the second week of January, give or take a week otherwise.”

“Thankfully though, Sunset here was happy to provide curse-free replacements, provided that we didn’t try and pull another risky stunt like that. Frankly, I have no problem there. It was a last ditch effort to force our way home anyway.” Aria waved it off.

“What? You’re a siren now?!” Twilight snapped her gaze over to Sunset, now fully noticing her amulet, “And you saved… Aria,” She stumbled over the name of the siren she’d technically just met, “And the other two from dying? Oh, Lumen…” Twilight bit her lip. “We...we didn’t know anything about…”

“Yeah, I did.” Sunset nodded, “During Dash and I’s hospital jaunt, the spirit of Crescendo, the previous Queen, visited me… even by Equestrian standards that’s a strange sentence.” She stared distantly for a moment, returning her focus to the matter at hand, “She made me a deal. I prevent her race from going extinct, and she’d make sure I didn’t die. In turn, that meant taking up her role.” She gestured to herself, “I think my answer was obvious.”

“So...so you’re a siren queen, then.” Twilight rubbed her forehead thoughtfully, “I’m not really sure what to say, at this point. I don’t think I would’ve been able to see any of this coming.” She leaned forward in her seat.
“To be honest, we couldn’t either.” Dash sighed, “But hopefully this’ll be the last surprise for awhile.”

“...” Dust looked between them suspiciously, “...by the time it hits you?” Aria’s snort of amusement went mostly unnoticed as Twilight and Dash just stared at Lightning in confusion, “Nevermind.” She mumbled into her sandwich.

“Anyway... What I was going to say originally was that I shouldn’t have left you with the girls, Dash being the clear exception.” Twilight gave a smile to the girl in question, earning an equally tired nod in turn, “However… I don’t think I can say that now. It seems that a lot of good came out of this, in the end. I just wish it didn’t come at such an awful price, though.” Her face scrunched up as she went over it all in her head again.

“Well...we’re out of CHS now, so there’s that.” Sunset nodded, “We’ve both transferred to Crystal Prep Academy and will be officially attending after break, but…”

“Crystal?” Twilight smiled, eyes brightening for a moment.

“Now there’s more magic disasters coming at us.” Dash groaned, “It sounds like there’s some kinda shady group hiding in the background and messing with people using dark magic.” She waved it off, “Oh, and important note, I’m going by Marred Spectrum now, in public at least. We kinda don’t want to be recognized if we’re seen in a crowd.”

“...Damaged Rainbow?” Twilight giggled softly.

“Panicked. Play on my real name was the best I could come up with.” Dash shrugged, “Kinda liking it so far, but I’m still Dash everywhere else. I’m not one of you ponies that changes their name like it's nothing.”

“Speaking of.” Sunset nodded, “Sunset Stanza. Not an alias. That’ll be permanent now.”

Twilight nodded at the duo, “Alright then, Marred and Stanza it is. Secret identities.” She chuckled, earning a slight smile, “But anyways, dark magic’s never really a good thing en masse like this. At the very least, as I’ve experienced it.” She added, looking to Aria.

“I’m aware what you ponies are like around it.” Aria shrugged it off without much worry.

“I suppose you intend on helping them out then?” Twilight asked, turning back to Sunset now.

“Considering that we seem to be dealing with cultists?” Sunset raised an eyebrow, “Yeah. Between everything that’s happened up until now, this is at least somewhat common ground to take on.”

Dash frowned with a shrug, “Annoying to happen at all, but she’s not wrong.”

Sunset hummed, “We were just dropping by to talk to Fluttershy. After this, we needed to go meet up with Starry and the rest of this group to talk about everyone’s powers. Training and the like… but given the change in situation, maybe it’d be better if you came with us.”

“Wait, her too?” Dash looked over, realizing that both Dust and Sparkle might be tagging along with them now.

“Cool, I’m coming too.” Aria volunteered herself to chaperone. “...what? You saved our lives and I was an Argonaut before the kingdom fell! You know, a soldier? Like it or not, you just earned yourself what sounds like a strongly needed bodyguard.”

Sunset stared, slightly at a loss over the fact that an ex-enemy she hardly knew the name of last week was now more or less swearing to save her life sometime in the future.

“Well, I’d ask to come too, but…” Fluttershy stood, “I need to be heading home now. My parents will start to worry, especially given the power plant incident and lightning strikes should be on the news by now.”

“Alright. We can meet up another time. ‘Shy, just…” Sunset tilted her head, frowning a little, “Stay safe? There’s weird things going on and...I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“You too.” Fluttershy smiled, “If you need any help with all this, I’ll be there in an instant.” She nodded again, assuring them she could make it home before walking out the front door, calling one final goodbye to everyone.

“...WAIT!” Twilight gasped, looking over to Sunset and Rainbow, “What incident?!”

Tirek was unsure for how long he waited in silence. A promise of freedom from Tartarus, from the Lord of Tambelon no less, was not a gift one easily sat on. If anything it made eternity seem to drag on for even longer. Most would say such a thing were impossible, but then again most hadn't gained the ire of Grogar himself.

Tirek blew out an impatient sigh, pacing around his limited space. Any wandering past the plateau boundaries would result in a variety of punishments from the internal keepers of Tartarus. Not to even say what wait on the outside of the entrance of the prison proper.

“Ey! T-wrec! Been a lon’ time, an’t it?” A voice called out across the plateau, shouting the name of the powerful demon before him across it. Soon enough, the dreaded form of a donkey in a jester’s hat came into view.

“...I knew Lord Grogar was upset with me.” He muttered in annoyance, “But I was unaware he seeked to punish me further for my failings.” Tirek turned, glaring from under his hood to eye the approaching donkey contemptuously. Of course only now he heard the ringing of the bells on that ridiculous hat.

The donkey clearly hadn’t heard his grumblings. “Well! An’t you just the luckiest one to be rescued by Grogar’s right hoof. Hangin’ with the big shots now!”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Bray, I’m one of Lord Grogar’s originals. Are you implying that I am not a ‘big shot’?”

“Nah, you’re definitely a big shot a’ight. Down in one great big rainbow-y shot.”

“I was wondering how long this conversation would go on before I had to state how much I despise you.” The demon deadpanned down at the donkey.

“Oh really? That’s gonna be a new world record! Now c’mmon, the boss has orders for us.”

“Please tell me they don’t involve you.” Tirek shook his head, grunting in near pain.

“Lucky guess there ma’friend, we’re going to a place you’ve prob’ly never seen.”

“Do not call me of all demons your friend, and how do you intend to get me out of this pit?” He raised an eyebrow, “Is it just you? I suppose a breakout is off the list.”

“Oi!” The donkey barked out, lifting his head, “I an’t just some brute who’s comin’ around faffin’ about! How ‘n this bloody rift do ya think I got myself in ‘ere?”

“Is it too much to assume that the bat finally tossed you in this hole?” A mocking smile crossed Tirek’s lips, knowing full well that would hit a sore spot.

Bray’s large ears rose, and his eyes narrowed, “If Grogar wad’nt expectin’ ya to do ya job, I’d leave ya flat on ya flank fur that. Lumensia’s consort ain’t got nothin’ to do with dis!” A rift opened up behind the donkey as he looked upon the horribly weakened centaur with a pedantic expression. “Now ya comin’ or wha’?”

Tirek snorted in mild amusement, “Well it's about time I was offered my way out. What am I to expect of this world?” He cast a glance back at Bray, “And what more do you have to offer to me in terms of assistance, you coming with me and all?”

“I already live in the place. It’s… ah, definitely not whatcha’d expect. They livun’ two legs there.” Bray said, “And someove’m are dumb as a pile ah rocks.”

“So aside from being bipeds, no different from Equestria.” Tirek scoffed in arrogance, “Will I have magic to scavenge? I’m going to need my strength back...again.”

“Act’ully. There an’t any o’ that Goddess’s ley lines, as far as I can tell. But I’ve gathered a group ah followers ta… prepare for ya.” A smile crawled across his face, expression slithering into a thin grin.

“Going back to cults, are we?” The centaur chuckled, stretching as he cracked his knuckles, “Excellent! Well then, let’s get started. I’m as eager as our master is to wipe out these remaining blemishes.” Giving a final glance around the tundra, he stepped forwards into the rift, Bray following not long after.

It was a slow day in South Canterlot. With Winter Break now starting, most Crystal Prep students were heading out of town on vacation, if not gone already. Most Canterlot High students, on the other hand, were either on varying levels of lockdown by their families or literally on lockdown by local law enforcement. The few that fell out of the circles of protection, lockdown, or vacation mostly mingled in this area of the city, the strip malls and relaxed air giving a peaceful contrast to North Canterlot’s constant bustle and towering skyline.

“Wha-you can't pay?!” The serenity of the December afternoon was shattered as a loud voice echoed out of one of the many small diners that peppered the area. A few heads turned towards the doors, briefly wondering who had just tried to cheat the owner out of a meal before moving onwards with their day. “Even with the discount I offered from last week?! You came in here with no cash and still ordered, you brat?!”

“I've had a stressful week, alright? Lay off.” The snide voice spoke back, “Look, I know a great way to handle this.” The annoyance melted a way, a kind smile painting itself in its place.

“It better involve payment.” The man sneered down at the mulberry-haired teen.

Sour Sweet smiled, waving with a calming gesture, reaching into her bag to retrieve something, “Not to worry. I have this.”

“What in the world is-do you intend to pay me with a rock?! Why you insolent-” The man was cut off as the room suddenly flashed in a distorted aqua, a sudden migraine slamming into him right before a sense of vertigo nearly dropped him to the floor. Everything suddenly felt distant and blurry.

Sour was at his side before he tumbled, tool hidden away again as she put on a face of worry. “Are you alright, sir? I understand you're upset, but even so. No need to lose your footing like that.” A quick sleight of hand acquired something more for the charade.

“I was...upset?” He responded in confusion, eyes clearing as a reel of energy whisked from his head, vanishing behind Sour Sweet.

“Someone tried to come in and snag free food from your establishment. Unfortunately they got away after I called them out on it. Was able to stop them from making off with your wallet though.” Sour’s predatory grin looked far more innocent to the jumbled proprietor as she held out the leather bound item for him.

“I don't remember...oh! Thank you so much, little one.” He sighed in relief, taking it from her, flipping through it to check the contents, and smiling as he spotted all the cash and his family photos still present. “I suppose I owe you then, don't I? Tell you what? Next time you stop by, how about I give you 50 percent off whatever you order?”

“How could I turn down an offer like that?” Sour answered wryly, shaking his hand as she made her leave, slate clean once more, ‘Never gets old.’ She snorted as the door closed behind her, ‘Least I've put this thing to better use than what's-her-face ever did.’

Feeling like the day was taking a turn for the better, the Shadowbolt unlocked the dirt bike she had chained up outside the building, before riding out into the street. Not her first choice for transport, but if it had two wheels and a motor, she'd take it. Especially given the recent circumstances with- “AHH!” Sour was dragged out of her thoughts as a sedan sped around a blind corner, narrowly missing her as it's brakes squealed.

The car skidded to a stop, shouts of surprise being heard from within. Sour took more of a spill as she slid, tumbling off her bike and sliding into a snowdrift across the street. “...ugh.” Sour Sweet groaned pitifully, anger flaring up in her at the last voice she wanted to hear.

“Ohmygoodness! Ohmygoodness! Ohmygoodness!” Twilight slammed the door behind her as she darted out of the car, primal fear sketched into her face.

“Nice going, Spectrum!” Aria barked as she leapt from the car as well, darting over to Sour’s prone figure. It was around now that said girl recalled that she was laying face down in the snow and probably should stand up. Aria had barely reached her side before Sour was already climbing back to her feet, devilish glare burned across her face. “Wh-what?!” The siren stumbled back, seeing the girl rise with nary a scratch on her.

“What in God’s name is wrong with you?!” Sour shrieked, pupils microscopic as she screamed at the group, now fully out of the car and all looking sheepish at best. “You total maniac! Were you even watching for traffic?! Which one of you was driving. It-” Dash looked away on instinct, causing Sour to dart right up to her, grabbing her roughly, and forming a fist, “You crazy bitch! You nearly killed me!”

Sheepish to terrified in no time, Rainbow wilted under the fiery glare. “I-I’m sorry!” She squeaked out, eyes dilating as Sour wound up a punch. “I’m really sorry?!”

“Alright, not happening!” Sunset shouted, pushing the two a part with a cold glare, “Sour, we’re sorry about Marred’s shit driving, but I’m not letting you hurt her!”

Sour Sweet snarled, pulling back and staring at the other venomously, eyeing her in what almost seemed to be fear, “It's Stanza, right? You’re those new girls…” Her eyes darted over to Twilight, “And you’re already hanging out with that loser, Sparkle? Seriously?”

Twilight glanced first at Sunset, then at Sour Sweet. “Huh?” She asked, before realizing, “O-Oh! I’m not the Twilight from this world. Sorry.”

“Twilight!” Marred threw up her hands in shock, “You don’t just say that to random people!”

Sour’s eyes narrowed in an instant, “...you’re another one of those freaks, aren’t you?” She spoke lowly, a burning hiss in her voice, “You get the Hell away from me!” Sunset had little time to react as she was shoved roughly, the girl righting her bike and zipping off just in time for Aria to miss her jacket, grabbing at air instead.

“Shit.” The siren blushed in angered embarrassment, “Sorry, off practice.”

“Ugh, it's alright…” Sunset groaned as Dash helped her up, sending Twilight an unimpressed look, “I know you were in a tight spot back during the Fall Formal, and magic kinda got out of hand then, but you don’t confess to every stranger you meet that you’re an alien, Twilight.”

“W-Well what else was I going to say?! You seemed like you knew her!” Twilight said, blushing brightly, “I panicked a little!”

Dash sighed, “Something was off with that chick. More than just the anger spike we saw back at CP.” She bit her lip, thinking to herself, “Another one what? She knows Twilight?”

“Pretty sure Nightshade and friends said the same thing.” Sunset agreed, “And Twilight, next time, just...do anything other than admitting to being an extraterrestrial?”

“Got it. Sorry.” She nodded, shifting from foot to foot.

“Well, whatever that was, I’m going after her.” Marred punched a fist into her palm.

“We don't need to get distracted again, Marred. The girls are waiting for us.” Sunset shook her head, “She’s just some angry alpha bitch. It's nothing.”

“All due respect, Stanza?”

“Am I not gonna like this?”

“Last time there was an angry alpha bitch attending a school that involved magic-?”

“Point made.” Sunset nodded in hesitant agreement, “Just don’t make me patch you up again. You’re mom’s actually in town to kill someone this time.”

“Thanks. Besides, they’re waiting for you. After all, you’re the magic genius here, you and Twilight now that she’s here too.” Dash grinned with a nod, “You’ve got Aria with you too in case you need to hide a body, so I’ll take the car to counterbalance safety.”

“This plan is terrible.” Lightning spoke up, earning several looks as they noticed she was still in the car. “...what? There’s been way too many magical things going down for me to take this in stride. For all I knew she was gonna stand up and her mask would’ve torn off to show a monster from They Live.”

“...You can take Lightning with you.” Aria suggested, not having denied the previous statement from Dash, “Groups and phones. Safer, sans your driving that is.”

“Dammit!”

“Sounds good.” Rainbow agreed. “Based on the street signs, looks like the meetup isn’t too far from here. Dust and I will go find what’s up with Sweetie there, and then we’ll meet up after!” Not waiting for a response, the grayscale girl hopped back into the borrowed sedan, and took off after the other, Lightning shouting about speed.

“...Sweetie?” Sunset deadpanned, “I’ve heard more creative nicknames.” With a nod, she led the reduced group down the sidewalk from there.

Aria raised an eyebrow at her, shooting a knowing, crooked smile at Twilight.

“...What?” Twilight asked, the look going right over the book princess’s head.

Dash, in the meantime, hadn’t had nearly as much trouble finding Sour Sweet again, “There she is.”

“I know, I’m in the car with you.” Lightning deadpanned, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Shut up.” Rainbow frowned, “Let’s just see where she’s going.”

“I can see you’ve been missing me dearly, Cap.” Dust gave a sidelong grin, “Looks like she’s heading back to your new school.”

“Yeah, hugs and kisses, Lightning Rod.” Came the deadpan reply, roll of the eyes thrown in for good measure, “Prep? Why would she head there on break?” Dash pulled the car to a stop, pulling into a spot down the road from the school in between two other cars still covered in snow.

“Yeah, that’s pretty weird.” Dust nodded as they watched the girl ride around back of the school. They followed after about five minutes later. Peeking around the back corner, they spotted her bike chained to one of the soccer field lights. More importantly however, they found the back door propped open with a brick. “And that’s more along the lines of ‘worrisome’.”

“Yeah.” Dash hopped up the steps and peered inside, “No one I can see, come on.” She gestured, slipping inside. “Let’s see if we can find out where she we-” The sound of a door slamming shut led to the end of that statement.

“Found her.” Dust chuckled, picking up a light jog to the end of the corridor, leaning around it as the noise came again, followed by an angry grunt.

An unmarked door swung ajar from between a set of lockers. “Dammit!” Sour hissed furiously, mumbling angrily as she stormed the other way. Something about a sledgehammer mixed in with various profanities.

Disappearing from sight down another hall, the two nodded to each other. A better chance wouldn’t present itself. They scampered around the corner and down to the ajar door, slipping in, Dust sticking near the door itself to keep some level of watch.

“...holy shit.” Dash muttered as she looked around the dim room. The space was set up as a makeshift bedroom. To one corner sat an old couch, a blanket thrown across the cushions, with an uncovered pillow laying on the floor nearby. To another corner was a rickety desk with an old cathode computer monitor providing a gentle glow and buzzing for the odd atmosphere.

“Does she...live here?” Lightning blinked, looking around in muted shock. “I thought this was the rich kid school. This is...like, Griffonstone levels of ghetto.”

Rainbow fell out of her stupor for a moment, giving her companion a look, “Because I totally exude wealth.”

“You’re an exception. All things considered.” She shrugged back, looking around in curiosity, “She’s got good taste at least.” Lightning shrugged, gesturing to a bass guitar laying in a makeshift stand.

“God, look at that thing. Does it even play?” Rainbow gawked. The dull red bass had duct tape holding it together in several places and most of the strings clearly needed replacing to say the least, “It looks like it was fished out of a dumpster.”

“If someone’s actually living out of their school, then it's a pretty likely possibility.” The other nodded with a shrug, “So what are we looking for?”

“A connection. To the cult or something else.” Dash replied, moving over to a box that was poking out from behind the couch, “Aha, this might be something!” She grinned impishly, unfolding the flaps and peering inside, “!...”

“What?” Dust flinched, not expecting the sudden surprise from Rainbow, “Cap, you find something?” She leaned over, catching sight of Rainbow shoving a pink t-shirt back into the box.

“We need to go. Now!” She stood, moving to the door.

“Oh, leaving so soon?”

Dust and Rainbow both froze, looking over to the doorway. Having failed her lookout duty, Lightning Dust now had Sour Sweet glaring over her shoulder. “YIPE!” The teal girl fell on her ass, scooting back into the couch, “How’d you do that?!”

“I don’t think you have any authority to be asking questions right now.” While her face was blank, her eyes were burning in rage, her purp-turquoise eyes narrowed at Dash specifically.

“...shit.” Dash winced, standing, “Shit.” Another nervous glance at the box didn’t go unnoticed by Sour Sweet.

“Of course you find that.” She sneered, hefting the sledgehammer in her arms menacingly. Not a swing had been taken yet and Rainbow was already feeling deja vu.

“Lightning, remember what you said a minute ago, about the whole living thing?” Dash chuckled nervously, backing up somewhat.

“Living out of the school?” Dust’s response caused Sour’s eyes to snap over to her, gaze hardening.

“Yeah...this, uh, this is starting to fall in place for me.” Rainbow stared at the approaching girl, “The others all look different because of the dark magic. Nightshade and all of them, Indigo Zap and pals.”

“They look different?” Dust asked, moving to the left and hoping Sour wasn’t actively gunning for her. “Haven’t really seen them yet.”

“Well, yeah but, you’d know them by their old looks, you’ve seen them at the Games and all. That and whenever we ran across each other.” Dash got a nod in response, starting to pick up the pace in talking now, “Well, if they showed up looking different, skin color and everything, that’d be noticed pretty easily. So, for the girl that claims to be ‘the queen of her castle’ and knows everything that goes on here, you’d think we’d have seen her at some point, right?”

“...” Dust nodded again, giving Sour a strange look, eyes darting over her again. “...you actually gonna hit us with that thing?”

Sour sneered, lowering the hammer, “Ugh, no. I’m not a monster. Besides, that’d make a mess in my room. However, you went sticking your noses where they don’t belong. On one hand I could deal with this easily and not give you a second thought afterwards.” Her eye twitched dangerously as black spiderwebs starting shooting across her sclera, mouth pulling back into a fanged grin, “But frankly, I’m still pretty pissed off. Not just at you, but in general, and you’ll make excellent stress dolls!” She laughed as her hair billowed upwards into a plume of red and yellow fire, skin rapidly reddening before them.

Lightning Dust’s jaw dropped, a weak squeaking sound escaping her throat.

“Well...dammit.” Was the best Dash could come up with at the moment, biting her lip as she held up her hands, “L-look, let’s talk about this! You’ve got magic just like her! We can help you!”

“I have no interest in talking to anyone affiliated with that body snatcher!” Sunset Shimmer shouted, red wings fanning out behind her. Dash had time to scream and leap back before she was on them.

Author's Note

Let's see...uh, one-hundred gets multiplied by three and the power is reduced by one, so then that's three-hundred x to the power of two. The other one-hundred just becomes zero-

Oookay, Uria's still doing Calculus, so I guess I'll take care of the Author's Note this time. Super sorry about the deadness of our story for the last few days...months...yeesh. Calc 1 is murderous. I've got no idea what half the stuff on his paper even says.
That aside though! Eclipse Brightwing gets today's shoutout for catching Metric's Black Sheep. Nice song.
Anyways, really hope this all doesn't happen again, but who knows with all the crazy crap life's throwing our way? At the very least, we'll try to avoid a content gap like this again!

-So the derivative of Velocity is Position, but then the second derivative of Position is also Acceleration-

Would you knock it off already?!

Page 217, Paragraph 1

Whispers of passing boatcolts speak of a dark presence on the mainland. Our scouts have been worried recently. One even reported on seeing a donkey. I've alerted the barracks. Even the trainees are gearing up to defend the border if the reports are accurate. If its truly him, then we may need serious assistance. I would happily take any other threat over him.

16.5 - Sorry Not Sorry (April Fools’ Outtakes)

“Just be careful, alright?”

“Have some faith, Dash. I’ve done this before.”

“Well, it’s kinda my first time, Sunset...I’m...nervous.”

“Rainbow Dash? Nervous?”

“Yeah, real funny. Come on, my dad’s home. What if he sees?”

“He won’t. Now come on, are we doing this or not? I went through a lot of trouble to get this all set up.”

“...alright, fine, but no promises on what happens.”

“It’s bound to be an enjoyable experience for all parties involved~”

The door to the bedroom opened, Lightning Dust leaning in and looking down at them, face beat red, “W-what are you two-?”

“Do you happen to know...about those glorious days?”

“...I hate you two.”

“It’s not what it looks like!” Dash waved wildly.

“Whatever, c’mon. You two are wanted on set. Time for you to break my nose.” Dust frowned heavily.

“Sweet! C’mon, Sunset! Let’s get this show on the road.” Dash grinned, hopping to her feet.

“Fine, but after we finish the hospital scene, you will play volleyball game with me.” Sunset snickered threateningly, following the two out.

“Dash, what’re ya doin’?” Applejack noticed her friend’s pause, causing the other four to stop as well, “You want a picture too or somethin’?”

Without warning, the girl spun on her feet, charging, and landing a blow to Applejack’s right cheek. The other three jumped back, yelping in surprise as they watched their friend fall flailing to the ground.

“HEY!” Applejack picked herself up, quickly rising to her feet with her fists clenched, “That wasn’t parta the script!” She growled, and the three behind her quickly held her back.

“Oh, it wasn’t?” Dash flashed her an innocent grin, “Whoops, sorry!”

“Skipping out on class again, Dash?” A Canterhorn accent spoke from behind her.

“Maybe a little?” Dash chuckled, glancing back, “Hey Mist.”

“Hi there, cap.” She hopped down from the indoor bleachers where she had been sitting earlier. “I know the field’s tempting, but I can’t imagine these little escapades are helping your studies. ...How’s physics treating you, again?” She teased.

Dash frowned, “Don’t mention that. Last thing I want is to get another long lecture on jiggle physics. Plus, how embarrassing would that be on MyStable?”

Misty’s expression dropped, crossing her arms, “As much as I hate to see all of this spread around; I also hate how much Anon-a-Miss seems to be milking this.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, “I just...it’s frustrating—not having any clues, that is. If we had any more grasp to what’s going on, I’d feel ten times better.”

“So then… you don’t think it’s Sunset Shimmer?” Misty asked, expression staying neutral. “She’s been laden with guilt in the past.”

“No, I don’t. In fact I know she’s innocent.” Dash responded, face mirroring her’s. “Let me get that off my chest from the get go.”

“Hmm?” Misty looked genuinely curious, “How so?”

“Because I trust her. This just isn’t the kind of thing she’d do.” Rainbow knew the lack of evidence wasn’t going to be very convincing, but she stood by it nonetheless.

“You seem pretty hard-set in that belief.” Misty noted.

“I am. Am I going out on a limb assuming that you don’t ?”

“I’m not against believing that the the most ample bully in Canterlot High has changed, but… You know that I can’t say anything. The last thing this team needs is to be publically ground over by the other students again.” Misty sighed, “And, well, not everyone in this school has healed so quickly from what she did before and during the Fall Formal. Some still are firmly grasping their grudges.”

“CUT!” Misty and Dash shared a grin as the director yelped, red in the face, “KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!”

“Like you don’t know.” Gilda sneered venomously, digging for her phone and showing them her open screen. Dash and Sunset both froze.

Then, they burst out laughing.

“...huh?” Gilda fell out of character for the moment, violently confused.

“Whooa, Gilda, never knew you were into that.” Dash smirked cheekily, “TMI, dude.” Sunset wheezed alongside her, attempting to laugh into her fist to slow down her giggles.

“Wh-what are you-?!” She looked at her phone in a panic, eyes wide. She quickly looked at what she had shown the two before whirling around toward the gathered group. “Alright, which of you smartasses pulled up 4chan on the prop phone?!”

Lightning Dust beamed brightly as she watched everyone else around her grasp something as they laughed at Gilda’s misery.

“DUST!” Gilda roared.

“Cut…”

“I won’t waste this chance, your highness.” Sunset smiled, feeling oddly proud.

Sunset was passed the shimmering gold crown, “Not your highness, not anymore.”

Her last interaction with a crown miles from the forefront of her mind, Sunset tenderly took it from her, “Thank you...Crescendo.” In a moment in which she swore time had stopped, she set the crown upon her head.

The crowd around them cheered enthusiastically, and Crescendo backed away from Sunset, nodding her last goodbye before passing into it.

“Deep inside of a Parallel Universe~” A Red Hot Chili Peppers song cut through the crowd suddenly, a cell phone’s buzz interrupting the festivities. All eyes set on the siren in the back of the group.

“Cut!”

“Not again, Vibrato!” Another siren groaned.

“Sorry! Sorry!” The green siren quickly silenced his phone with an innocent grin. “It was from my girlfriend.”

“You have a girlfriend?”

“You know people?!”

“Be nice!” Crescendo rubbed her muzzle with her hoof, “Go outside while we finish the scene, Alto…”

“Okay, okay, sorry!”

“Just...let us go, you’ve made your point.”

Gilda found the choice of words amusing, “No, I don’t think I have.” She swiped at Dash, not giving her time to react as the blade caught Rainbow’s shoulder, tearing into her jacket and earning a panicked cry of pain. Dash fell backwards. Gilda was on top of her in an instant, knife still brandished at her. Rainbow was screaming now, doing everything she could to fight her off, but the strength just wasn’t there. Another few cuts caught her along the collarbone, two more near the lower torso. “You had it comin’, You had it comin’, you only had yourself to blaaame.” She burst into song.

The others joined in a melodic chant, “You had it comin’! You had it comin’!”

Dash’s expression of pain melted away into confusion and amusement, “Wh...what are you doing?” Sunset was chortling from where she was.

Gilda stopped, “What do you mean, what are we doing? This is the villain song! Like Dust said!”

“That’s Chicago!” Sunset laughed.

Dash stared back at her deadpanned, “Who told you?”

“Dus- That little shit.” Gilda realized suddenly. “She did it again!”

“No, my dear. It’s not good for you to see this…” Tenderheart grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.

“I saw her with a knife in her stomach. I can take it.” Sunset brushed her off, shoving the curtain aside. Instead of what she expected to see, though, she saw a small blue pegasus covered in all sorts of casts and bandages.

“Wha-?” The rainbow-maned pegasus blinked at her, “You’re not Soarin!”

Stanza blinked in turn, “Wha…”

“Though you’re not bad looking either, for a human.”

“WHAT?”

“Cut!”

With a groan, she pulled herself back to her knees. Her heart sank as she realized where she now was. In front of her stood the girls, led by Princess Twilight, all of them staring defiantly up at something behind her, decked out in dresses.

‘Don’t look. It doesn’t exist in the dream if you don’t look.’

As she turned around, she noticed three figures floating above CHS on a poker table. Demon Marred looked down at her, “Oh great, you brought a fourth?”

“Royal Flush!” The pegasus-ish pony, Evil Pie-hater Dash, grinned widely. “Beat that.”

“What the-WHAT THE HELL?!” Sunset yelped, “What are you idiots doing?!”

“Poker. Uh-duh.” Pie-Hater stuck out her tongue, “Get in line Sunny Bunny.”

“Dash! Tell your Equestrian self to stop being a dick!” Sunset threw a rock. The director had already called cut, rubbing his face.

“Hey! Laser-face! Quit being a dick!” Dash called from backstage.

“Heheheheheheh.” Pie-hater cackled, grinning up at Demonset, “Did I do good?”

“No. Also, you lose.” Demonset showed her hand, taking the chips for herself.

“Damn it!”

“Cut!

The Dazzlings waited for their next scene in their apartment set, crowding around the TV.

“Sonata, go set up for your next scene.” Aria said as she walked in.

“But you’re gonna change the channel if I do thaat.” Sonata whined.

“No, I’ll change the channel.” Adagio smirked. She leaned in to get the remote, but instead came face-to-face with the barrel of a gun.

Silence enveloped the room for a moment.

Aria was stock still, “...Sonata, where did you get that...?”

“...”

“...”

“Shoo be doo, motherfucker.” Sonata replied pleasantly with a wide grin still plastered on her face.

They stayed like this for a moment before there was a jingling tone from outside the studio.

Sonata looked up, “ICECREAM!” And with that, she was gone.

Aria and Adagio stared at each other for awhile. “So...who tells the gun-toting siren that the set next door is filming an ice cream scene?”

“Not me, but I also don’t think we should be here when she realizes there is no ice cream.”

“Fleet! Lock up the set for us, alright?” Soarin called back over his shoulder, heading out to lunch with Spitfire and Misty.

Fleetfoot nodded, eyes slowly sliding over to the fresh beer left unattended on the counter. With a cheshire grin, the floofy haired girl lept for it, grabbing it in her hands...only for the condensation covering the outside to make it fire out of her hands like a rocket, bouncing off the ceiling and hitting the floor, breaking open with a loud POP.

“...NOOOOOOOO!”

The halls were near bare, only the janitors wandering the halls in the early morning. Down the hall, they could hear the chaotic, faint squeaks and squawks of the school band warming up for early practice. Dash and Sunset feeling a bit more secure in not being spotted, the group made their way to the Principal’s office, Daring knocking on the door.

Dash, meanwhile, stormed right past the office and into CHS’s hallways.

“Uhhh, Marred?” Sunset called after her, “Where are you going?!”

Just as Applejack closed her locker to start the school day, a fist found its way across her cheek again.

“CONFOUND IT, DASH!” AJ screamed, “AH’M NOT EVEN IN THIS SCENE! WHAT IN THE FLYIN’ ‘ELL?!”

“Ugh, CUT!”

“GIMME DOWN!” Blitz shouted, snapping back to reality. The girl floundered for a moment, falling off the table as a dark blue pair of wings sprouted from her back, buzzing angrily to pause her descent back to the ground, “COURIRER!”

“My name has two ‘R’s, thank you.” She rolled her eyes. “I was Sugarcoat by the way. Thanks for asking.” She did a sarcastic, flourishing bow. Unfortunately, said bow also made her mohawk wig slip right off of her head, leaving only the bald cap on. “...shit. Well, now I miss both of my hairstyles.” Her arms went from folded to hanging, defeated.

“Hah, God, alright, cut, break for 10 everyone!”

Adagio smirked as she handed Sunset her number, “...Report to the ship as soon as possible. We’ll bang, okay?”

A violent blush grew across Sunset’s face as Aria started to break down in manic laughter. “Wh-what the Hell, Dazzle?!”

“Cut! Adagio, stop flirting! This scene doesn’t need 37 takes!”

As they were setting up for the scene in Crystal Prep, Soarin looked over his lines with a few rapid blinks. “Umm, Mr. Dragon Director? How do I portray ‘getting all the mares’? ...And why am I getting female horses? Are we horseback riding in this scene?”

“I-wha? Lemme see that!” The director snatched the script from Soarin, reading it over, “For the love of f-DUST! Soarin is the pure and innocent one, stop messing with his script!”

Soarin looked left and right, grabbing his phone and putting it to his ear, “Spitfire? Apparently I’m supposed to be the pure and innocent one here, so can you get rid of all the BDSM stuff for me?”

“Aw damn it, that’s the scene I was looking forward to.” Spitfire grumbled in his ear.

Sunset looked up, the dizzying brightness of the sudden light feeling less painful now, and gaped. She hadn’t been sure what to expect when they arrived, but anything would have been better than the figure that now floated before them.

A familiar pair of red eyes stared down at her, surrounded by pools of inky blackness, dark magic wisping out from her black sclera. Her skin was a deep blue, far darker than the pale sky color Sunset had grown accustomed to. It made the scars across her mouth all the more prominent. Her hair sparked upwards in a pale pattern of chromatic hues, the pointed tip of the shifting follicles dancing around much like an actual bolt of lightning. A pair of jagged bat-like wings jutted out from her back, unmoving but poised to send the demonic figure hurtling forwards at any moment.

“NYHAHAHAHAHAH!” The figure let out a high-pitched, snorting laugh, “FIIIINALLY!” She then let out a hacking cough, clearing her throat, “Oh shit. This isn’t going to work, guys, seriously. Can I just be intimidating and silent in this scene because, really, my throat is killing me here.” She beat her fist against her chest, “Uhhggghhh, can someone get me some water? Ugh. I wanna talk to my agent! These cords are chafing like shit!”

Sunset facepalmed with Daring.

“CUT! And get Dash some water!”

“You two are free to go in.” He nodded at the two teens, pointing out the door.

The two nodded, scurrying out of the way and through the door in question, “Captain Barrage.” Sunset greeted as Dash shut the door behind them, “Nice to see you again. Sorry about last night. Hope that wasn’t too much of a hassle to deal with.”

While Sunset spoke with Barrage, Dash’s eyes focused on the peculiar nameplace on the captain’s desk, “I’m the fuc-”

“DASH, NO! CUT!” The director cut her off quickly. “We already had Sonata do that earlier today, let’s not have another! You got your PG-13 approved bomb already!”

“Twilight. Spar-” Before Sunset could even finish saying the girl’s name, Aria had chucked her out of the house.

She slammed the door, dusting her hands, “Trash taken out. You’re welcome.” With a satisfied smirk, Aria headed into the kitchen. “Now then, Dusty, help me whip up one of those BLTs!”

“Well...that’s one plot point dealt with.” Sunset admitted as Twilight meekly knocked on the door.

“Going back to cults, are we?” The centaur chuckled, stretching as he cracked his knuckles, “Excellent! Well then, let’s get started. I’m as eager as our master is to wipe out these remaining blemishes.” Giving a final glance around the tundra, he stepped forwards into the rift, Bray following not long after.

Bray walked off the scene, “Alrigh’ then! Where’s th’ ‘Ulu shows I was promised? Oi! You! Get ov’r ‘ere! Bring ‘hose bites into my tra’lah, you ‘ere me?”

“I say, he’s really an uncouth one, isn’t he?” Tirek scoffed as he watched Bray go by, firing off all these demands. “Shameful, really.” He took a delicate sip of his Earl Grey Tea.

“He really is the same off stage as he is on.” Crescendo muttered into her coffee, “How’s the Taur-suit working out for you? Four legs working well?”

Bray shouted something about a ‘T’vo’ in the distance.

The ground bulged suddenly, glowing red as it exploded upwards in flame, two figured shooting up through it. Dust flopped down to the side, landing on her desired spot as practiced, “Dash!”

THUNK

“OW! SHIT!” Dash rasped out angrily as missed the mattress by a country mile, hitting the hard tile of the second floor. “Sour! What the shit, you missed!”

Sour Sweet, poked her head over the edge of the hole, mo-cap suit making her look only slightly ridiculous, “Oh...uh...sorry? Try landing better next time?”

“Try-whAT!?”

“CUT!”

“CUT!” The director shouted a final time, rubbing his face with a scowl, “Rainbow Dash, I know this is amusing to you and all, but if you screw up this scene again just so you get another kiss, the scene gets written out!” The red-haired man shouted through the plastic megaphone.

“Oh no, you’ve seen through my clever ruse!” The prismatic girl snickered, slipping off the stage.

Sunset rolled her eyes, chuckling awkwardly as Dash darted away, “Maybe we should call lunch? Decompress and refresh for some new takes?”

“Very well. Lunch break, be back in an hour.”

As the cast and crew all scattered, two others stepped up behind the chair, looking amused at his annoyance. “Actors being difficult?”

He didn’t respond.

“Lotta takes?” The blond tried again.

“...” Still nothing.

“Not as easy as you’d hoped, little brother?” He added with a shit-eating grin.

“Shut up, Hamon.” He finally conceded, glaring at the other, the third member of the trio just sighing, rolling his eyes at the other two’s squabbles.

Author's Note

April Fools dudes, hope that got a chuckle or two.
Real chapter 17 coming soon.

imgonaeatarat and Yoshikage Kira get today's shoutouts for chapter 16's Life Will Change.

Page Something, Paragraph Whatever
Something something magic. Rant rant Equestria. Siren siren siren. Don't flirt with the fluffy one.

17 - Here Comes This Rising Tide

The tiled floor bulged suddenly, a loud rumbling forming from beneath it. The ground began to glow a dull red before it exploded upwards in fire and smoke, two figures following through it, one after the other. Rainbow Dash bounced off the ceiling, knocking down the classroom’s ceiling projector in the process and landing between two rows of desks with a loud groan.

Lightning Dust screamed in terror as she was flung from below not long after, jacket smoldering from the earlier blast and grabbing onto what was left of the projector’s mounting in a panic. “How’re we not dead?!...Holy shit, we’re gonna die!”

Dash pulled herself into a standing position, rubbing her head in pain, and quickly looking for an exit. “Dust, get down from there and help me!” Adrenaline was flowing and she was pretty certain she may have lost a bit of eyebrow from that blast. Losing hair twice in a few days was more than a little annoying and having another Sunset demon bearing down on them was just the icing on the shit cake that was this entire week. “We have to move.”

“Some good it’ll do you.” Sour, or rather human Sunset, rose from the hole, cyan magic glowing in her hands, “You’re a lot more durable than I remember, Rainbow Dash, but you’re only human!” She pulled back a fist, magic swelling around it and threw forth another blast of flame.

Dash yelped in fear and tumbled backwards, the flame dissipating on the floor between her legs, an ashen spot where she once stood, “Wait a tick, you’re actually trying to kill us?! What’s wrong with you?!”

“More than a few things, I’ll admit.” She deadpanned back at her, “I mean...look at me. I’m a demon, that doesn’t happen without going through some truly freaky shit.” A crooked grin grew on Sour’s face, “Not that it matters to you of course.” Fire reignited in her palms.

“Whoa whoa whoa! W-we’ve gone through some freaky shit too!” Rainbow held up her hands, taking a few jumpy steps back, “Listen, w-we can talk about this, work it out.”

She seemed to consider it for a moment before raising her hands again, “I think I’d rather just blast you and be done with it.” As she charged up a beam however, Dust fell from her perch, landing roughly on the demon and rolling off to the side, “Ugh! You pest!” Turning to look at her instead, Dust had quite the terrified look splayed across her face, seeing the crosshairs on her now.

Now given a moment to plan, Dash responded to the situation in the most calculative manner she could come up with. She grabbed one of the desks sitting alongside her, hefted it over her head with a grunt and flung it at Sour Sweet with a shout.

“What the-OOF!” Rainbow had a good feeling that despite the noise of the impact, it probably wouldn’t do much for them in the long run. As Sour went sailing into the teacher’s podium at the front of the room, shattering it with the loud cracking of wood, Rainbow darted for the door. She grabbed Dust by the arm and pulled her alongside, pushing through and out into the empty hallway.

Picking a direction at random, Rainbow took off down the halls of Crystal Prep. Lightning’s brain seemed to catch up with the situation a few seconds later and she pulled her arm free, running alongside, adrenaline pumping through both of them. “Holy crap, are we gonna die?!”

“Stop saying that!” Dash glared over, hooking a right as she heard a scream of rage from the classroom now several rooms behind them, “We just gotta get out of the school. There’s no way she’ll chase us into the town itself!”

“Wait, haven’t you dealt with this before?” She asked, glancing over with an almost hopeful look, “The Fall Formal?”

Rainbow laughed, “Heh, yeah, with five others and a buncha magic artifacts! You think I can take on a demon mano a mano?!”

“W-well…” Dust glanced off, nodding, “Okay, fair point. So what was the plan? Get outta the building?” Rainbow nodded sharply. “Okay, how do we manage that?” Dust was back to the panicked look on her face, looking far more so than Dash did at the moment.

‘Oh God, I’m starting to normalize this sorta thing.’ She thought with an almost bitter deadpan, “Find some stairs. We’re on the second floor.”

“Oh yeah! That reminds me! You got blown through the ceiling by a magic blast! How are you not dead?!”

“I dunno! Magic bullcrap?!” Rainbow gestured wildly at her in turn, not wanting to explain the full demon situation right now, “Adrenaline? Maybe I’m just more durable now? I honestly don’t know, but whatever it is, let’s question it after we’re out of this place!”

“Y-yeah, fair enough.” Dust took a turn in picking a direction, taking a small left at a three way intersection ahead, “God, why is this place such a maze?”

“Because we’re panicking and you’ve never been here before?” Dash suggested, taking another brief moment to acknowledge something, ‘Lightning has no powers. If Sour gets her hands on her, that’s it.’ Her expression hardened, glaring behind her. Sour would probably be on them any second now.

They were brought to a halt when Dust shouted in alarm, skidding to a stop. Dash looked back ahead, crashing into a familiar red and yellow shape. “Ow-!” She hardly had time to voice her complaint before being hefted up in a claw by her throat. “Ack!”

Sour was glaring at her furiously, dark energy wisping from her sclera in sharp snapping motions. She even had that slight eye twitch Sunset had developed when Twilight had started giving her big friendship speech. Given that Sunset had tried to nuke them with a fireball the size of a small meteorite by that point, Rainbow didn’t feel as though this was a good sign. That and she was being choked, that wasn’t much of a good thing either.

“You annoying little vermin!” Her hair flared violently, glaring a hole straight through Rainbow’s face. Dust took a shaky step back, freezing once Sour raised her free hand at her threateningly, “And don’t you go anywhere either!” Lightning whimpered as she listened to her rival gasp for breath.

Dash grit her teeth, legs kicking uselessly in the air. She managed to swing her legs enough to deliver a kick to Sour’s stomach, finding herself dropped to the floor in response. For a brief moment, she felt victorious. That ended quickly when she found Sour staring down at her, chuckling, “What, you wanna fight?” She cooed, finding that almost adorable. That earned a snarl from Dash, forcing herself back up to stand. “Cute or maybe a little pathetic. More pathetic honestly. You really think you stand a chance against me in a fight? You can’t even keep your memory intact around me!” She taunted.

“Cap?” Dust glanced over at Rainbow worriedly. She had started to shake as Sour’s taunting continued, fists clenched to the point where Lightning could see her nails digging into her palms. “Cap.” They were trapped now. If Sour could teleport, they wouldn’t get far.

“Though neither can the rest of Canterlot High.” She continued, “You losers have always been a bunch of wild animals, but now…” Sour scoffed, “One too many knocks to the head and you just lose it.”

Rainbow stopped shaking, looking up at her with a mostly blank expression, eyes widening ever so little, “...what?”

Sour seemed willing to humor her, “Think about it, genius. Friendship Games are every year. I’m the smartest student here and frankly, I haven't exactly looked like this for the past 4 years. Neither have those other girls you made friends with.” She sneered tightly, “What happened at the last Friendship Games?”

“...” Dust looked down, eyes widening. She could hardly remember.

“...we...lost.” Dash muttered bitterly.

“No kidding?” Was the deadpan response from the demon, grabbing her shoulder tightly in a claw. “What else?”

“Ah! AH!” She yelped, caving slightly as she felt flesh pierce. “I...I don’t know! It's all a blur, things happened, but I can’t think of any details!”

Lightning glanced up, “It's like an old dream...it happened, but I can’t recall much of anything.” A rush of bravery filled her for a brief moment, taking a step forwards. “What did you do?”

One more thing she seemed to find amusing, “It doesn’t really matter, but it's nothing more than what I’ve been doing for the last 4 years or so.”

“Y-you’ve been...screwing with our heads all this t-time?!” Dash glared up at her, fists clenched again.

“Here and there.” She grinned coldly, “Gotta cover my tracks. Sometimes that means making a few kids forget a thing or two, keep the Shadowbolts and Wondercolts at odds. We’ve always been such bitter rivals after all. Just like that mess at CHS recently is exactly the type of thing my doppelganger would pull~”

Dust flinched back in surprise as the pin dropped.

“What did you do?” A fist collided with Sour’s stomach, earning a satisfying cough of surprise, “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“How did you-?” Sour was cut off by the very distracting force of being electrocuted by a screaming high schooler.

Lightning yelped in terror, falling back on her rump as she stared up at the two. Similar jagged, leathery wings fanned out from Rainbow’s back as violet electricity sparked to life around her. She hissed coldly, sending a blindingly fast punch into the other, knocking Sour back a fair bit. “Oh God, what?!”

Sour’s eyebrows shot up as she collected herself, looking over Rainbow in a new light. Her skin has darkened drastically and she now had similar black mist leaking from her eyes, hair sparking up in a flickering mess of colored lightning. “This is all YOUR fault!” Rainbow darted forwards, pinning Sour against a wall of lockers, “I thought my classmates were just idiots! You messed with them!”

Sour Sweet gasped in faux shock, “What? Me? Never!” The false surprise was quickly replaced by a cold smile, “Gotta practice my tricks somehow. Edging suspicion over your friend’s little ‘reformation’, gotta say, I think I’m getting pretty damn good at being precise with it.”

Rainbow screamed, grabbing hold of her by the neck and hurling her at a nearby window as hard as she could manage. The window stood no chance, it and parts of the wall giving way as Sour flew out the back of the school, landing with a WHUMP in a large mound of snow that had built up recently.

“Dash, we-!” Lightning started, only to cut herself off as the other demon flared her wings and shot out of the hole after her. “Oh dammit…” She groaned, sitting back against the wall. A skittering sound caught her attention as her hand bumped something. Turning to look, her eyes brightened. It seemed that Rainbow had dropped her phone at some point during the scuffle. She grabbed it eagerly and thanked several higher powers that it was already open to the contacts page. It seemed Rainbow had been waiting to call Sunset if things went south. Rapidly scrolling through the contact list, she found the number she needed. One ring was all it took.

“Dash? What’s going on over there? Did you find something out?”

“Uh, yeah, Sunset?”

“Wh-Lightning? Where’s Rainbow?”

Dust let out a long sigh, rubbing her face. Thunder rumbled outside, sky beginning to darken. “Yeah, you’re gonna want to get to Crystal Prep as soon as you can. We have a...small problem. Two small problems. We need some help over here.”

An errant bolt shot past Sour and shattered the glass of a nearby streetlight. Sour threw a ball of flame back, melting the snow covering a tree and igniting it’s branches.

“...bring those Shadowbolt girls you went to meet with you too. I think we could use a few more magic wielders.” Dust pursed her lips, hearing plenty of movement and background noise on the other side.

“Alright, we’re on our way. Now, talk to me.” Sunset finally got back to her, screeching tires echoing out from nearby.

A heavy weight sat on Sunset’s shoulders, wearing a grim expression as she listened to Dust’s explanation, her frown deepening with every passing second. “I see…” She blew out a slow breath, leaning back in the passenger seat with a resigned sigh, “Okay, just…stay out of danger until we get there. Yeah, I know there are demons involved. We’ll be there soon.” She clenched a hold of her armrest as she hung up, Aria taking a sweeping dive to the inside lane, a large black sedan not far behind them.

“Surprised that your friend can keep up with us.” Aria remarked, watching it follow the maneuver through light traffic.

“Starry’s got some unexpected talents.” Nightshade commented with a frown, currently riding in the back seat with Twilight, the Princess looking terrified for a number of reasons. “Just don’t dent my bro’s car. He’s not the type to get on me about it, but Shitflyer will. But yeah, so what’s going down at CP?”

“Demons? Again?!” Twilight squeaked, wide-eyed stare locked on Sunset.

“Yeah...Sour Sweet-”

“Oh Jesus Christ, really?” Nightshade groaned, facepalming, “She’s been some evil monster all this time? I knew it! Anyone that struts around a high school like that-”

“Before you go on and probably insult me by accident, per tradition, I’d like to point out that it sounds that she’s a victim of this cult as well.” Stanza cut in sharply. “Given the manner that most of you have changed identities against your will.”

There was an awkward silence until Twilight spoke up, “Insult y-Wait, she’s...?” Her face fell, realization dawning, “...another one?”

“Afraid so.” Sunset’s frown deepened, “Lightning’s rambling was hard to make out, but I was able to get that Sour Sweet is my mysterious human counterpart and that Dash is currently fighting her.”

“I always knew Wondercolts were weird.” Nightshade muttered under her breath.

“Wait, WHAT?!” Twilight gasped, “How can Rainbow single handedly fight a dark magic charged monster?!”

And here came the admission, “Well...you see, she was kinda dying at the time and I only was able to access one type of magic that could heal her and-” Sunset mused idly, tilting her head to the side as she looked out the window.

“She has a demon form too, doesn’t she?” Twilight responded lowly.

“Occasionally. If she’s transformed again, that would make this the second time it's happened. The first time, that power plant thing we mentioned earlier, she was pretty feral. She didn’t talk, and acted like some cornered animal. Only thing was, she wouldn’t hurt me.” She sighed, “Even her magic attack curved around me.”

“So even subconsciously she doesn’t want to see you hurt.” Twilight calmed down, smiling just a little. “I just wish you had explained the plant thing in full when I asked earl-“

“Okay, one sec?” Aria butt in, “This is all cutesy and all and the noble demon vying for Stanza’s love is great, but-” Sunset blushed hard, giving Aria a tight frown, “When did this happen? And why wasn’t I told?”

“Uh, what?” Sunset gave her a look., “Why would you need to be told? Nothing of serious consequence went down and the situation had been handled.” The reply came off a bit colder than she had intended, but it was nothing she would take back without reason.

“Look, I know you’re new to this and all.” Aria jerked the car into the middle lane, earning another pair of surprised cries from the backseat. “That and I didn’t really go into detail while at your friend’s place, but your safety kinda matters to me. I know you don’t fully trust me, crazy monsters trying to take over the world once upon a time and all, but the simple fact is you’re one of us now. That means you matter to us, that means we have your back as long as you have ours. There’s four of us now, one more than there had been for a millenia. You also saved our lives already and that kinda debt is a huge deal in our culture.”

Twilight leaned forwards, the prospect of knowledge almost enough to make her forget they were driving towards impending, fiery doom. “Is that anything like the dragon code?”

Aria rolled her eyes, “Not really. Their crap is a bit more official and almost like taking a servant. There are similarities, but amongst sirens, it's more a measure of your character in how you uphold your debts and gratitude.” She glanced back at Sunset, “And given I’m an Argonaut, I have a duty to the crown even without you saving our lives.”

Sunset stared at her, silent for a moment, “Thank you.” She managed, nodding, “I’ll be sure to keep all that in mind... and I won’t let you down.”

“We’ll do the same in turn.” Aria nodded, attention returning to the road in full. It wasn’t nearly as prevalent as Rainbow liked to show, but Sunset thought she could see a familiar thin veneer of fervor under the layers of abrasiveness.

“A two way streak, in a way?” Twilight spoke up again when she was certain Aria and Sunset had lapsed into silence.

The elder siren chuckled, “Curious, aren’t ya? Yeah, something like that. You scratch my back, I scratch yours, but don’t abuse the honor of me doing a favor in turn.”

Twilight blushed, assuming that was necessarily a bad thing, “Well...there isn’t much information on the sirens, and this is a huge opportunity to change that.”

“Have we all forgotten we’re still driving towards certain death?” Nightshade piped up.

“We’ll be fine, Nightshade.” Sunset assured, “It doesn’t sound like anything we can’t handle.” She glanced up at the street signs as they pulled back onto a two lane road, entering a more northern area of town.

“Fine?” Twilight looked over now, “Sunset, we needed the Elements of Harmony the last time something like this was about!” She reminded with a scared look, “And now we have two of them brawling!”

“Yes, well one is on our side, and we also have two sirens present.” Sunset reminded, pulling her phone back out, “Which reminds me.” She rapidly started typing out a text.

“I mean yes, but what if we need to stop Dash from rampaging too, once we stop the other Sunset?” Twilight asked, biting her bottom lip before being thrown back to her seat as Aria swerved into the parking lot.

Nightshade spoke up, “And, yeah, let’s talk about how we need to continue to have the magic thing on the down low? Great as the Canterlot PD is, they can’t cover up everything.”

“I can take care of anything Dash causes.” Sunset nodded with an air of confidence, “As for the aftermath? Well, we better make sure things stay confined then.” She smiled, stepping out of the car. Immediately, there was a tenseness in the air, and the sounds of grunting and angered shouts didn’t hide the source very well.

As they pulled in, Lightning Dust had run up to them, having escaped the building through a side door. “They’re...behind the….school.” She panted out.

“We figured as much.” Aria deadpanned, climbing out and tossing the keys over to Nightshade. “Now then, time to go to work.” She grinned darkly, only to be stopped when Sunset put her arm out, “What?”

“No full siren form.” Sunset ordered quickly, “Feel free to bring out your wings, but this can still be hidden easily enough. A giant purple dragon might be a bit too much for Captain Barrage to cover for us though. Not to mention, any sort of attack that wouldn’t easily hit a smaller target will probably leave more damage than they’d do alone.”

Aria mulled it over, nodding in resigned agreement a few moments later, “Fair point…” Honestly, she was rather disappointed. None of the three sirens had accessed their full draconic forms since getting their new Hearts yet, and missing a perfect opportunity to give it a good stretch was a little unfortunate. However, it was also a full invitation to still give her full powers a welcome back.

A flash emanated from her amulet and a red energy quickly spread over her, fading fast as it culminated on her back. Translucent, webbed, purple wings grew from between her shoulder blades, lifting her a few inches from the ground with no more than a flitter. Soon after, an equally purple scaled and webbed tail grew from the small of her back, swishing idly. Aria’s eyes opened, faded to a pure red. “Oh hoooo~ That feels good.” She grinned.

Nightshade’s eyes widened slightly as she watched. “Damn…”

“Uh...Stanza?” Twilight blinked in realization, turning to the other, “How much of their power did you restore again?”

Sunset just smirked in reply, taking a calming breath and mimicking the actions she had read in the journal. A moment later, she was at Aria’s eye level, floating mid-air. It felt odd to have that weight on her back after last time, as well as the moving weight of a tail as well. Glancing back at them, she was easily able to note their brilliant red color. Beyond that, they were a fair bit larger than Aria’s own.

Aria eyed them in what seemed like approval, giving a smirking nod and slightly exaggerated bow. “Your highness.”

“Could you two do this after you stop the bad guy!?” Dust gestured angrily.

Sunset chuckled, glancing to Twilight and Nightshade, “You two get to cover. Update the others when they pull in. We’ll deal with the situation.” Her voice was slightly altered. It didn’t echo quite like during her Fall Formal fun, but it carried an almost melodious undertone. It was oddly soothing.

The two gave a curt nod, Nightshade wasting no time to get to cover. Twilight, though, hung around for a moment, “Be safe, alright? I’ll let the other sirens know where you are and keep them from using their draconic forms.” With that, she dragged Dust along to where Nightshade was taking cover, thinking that she’d be keeping the humans safe.

Sunset could hear the sedan pull in right as she and Aria flew off, around the side of the building, intent on staying low. The scene she found was more or less what she was expecting. A very familiar red shape currently had Rainbow pinned to the ground, foot planted firmly on the side of her head, “Why won’t you stay down?!”

Rainbow responded with a piercing scream of anger, enough to even make the two sirens flinch. The same strange effect from the previous night started again as Dash’s head seemed to almost...split. She had started to shake at first, before her head violently split into two parallel duplicates, all four eyes glaring at Sour with furious intent and energy sparking between them.

“WHa-?!” Of course, this meant that Sour was no longer standing on her previous footrest, leg falling the missing few inches of Rainbow’s face and sinking into the snow between the two heads.

Dash grinned evilly and grabbed the leg, pushing her back in an impressive show of strength and pulling herself into the air with her wings, dangling the red demon in her grip, “Screw you, that’s why!” Her voice was even more layered with two heads, which soon reformed into a single one. With a heave, Dash swung her over her shoulder in a inverted pendulum, sending her face first into the ground. It very nearly left a snow angel in her place, earning a manic, amused snicker from Rainbow.

Sour’s eye twitched as she pulled herself out of the rapidly melting snowbank. Her hair flared upwards into an active inferno. Aria and Sunset decided to get involved when she grabbed hold of a streetlight, hefting it like bat.

“Alright, break it up, kids!” Aria called, making herself known first. Both girls looked over at her, Sour looking no less furious and Dash looking minorly annoyed. “Alright, which one of you is gettin’ grounded?”

“Screw off, Aria! I’m busy!” Rainbow spat venomously, hurling a javelin of lightning at Sour, her giant metal bat working as a wonderful conductor until the spasming demon dropped it. This earned another round of amused laughter from Dash and another angry shout from Sour.

“Damn, touchy.” Aria deadpanned in turn, glancing at Sunset. “Well? You said she’s not the type to take a shot at you.”

Sunset shook her head, descending and hovering next to Dash, looking at her oddly. Seeing it all this close was surreal, not as much as seeing the screaming child that was her human self down below, but a solid second.

Dash’s gaze whipped over to her, but the scowl melted away instantly upon seeing her, ‘Sunset.” She spoke, missing the guttural growl now.

“Hey, Rainbow.” She smiled, offering a nod to her, “Need a hand with her?”

“It's her fault.” And the snarl was back, “She caused all this. She did something to CHS. Magic, something with memories.”

“Calm down.” Sunset set a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “We’ll deal with that later, but we need to get her de-powered before we can manage anything else, okay? Just let us help with that.”

Dash snorted, eyeing Aria for a moment before nodding, “Alright, but I don’t want those three getting in the way.”

Sunset furrowed her eyebrows, “Thre-?”

“Sorry we’re late~” Adagio purred from behind them, “Flying and staying out of sight slows you down a bit.” Sunset glanced back, noticing Sonata had arrived too, both in a similar form to herself and Aria. Sonata looked over the moon despite the demons and Adagio just had that usual smirk on her face. “I’ve wondered for awhile now how a fight like this would’ve turned out.”

It was around then that Sour wanted to let them know how annoyed she had become at being ignored, charging up at the group, screaming bloody murder. Her hands outstretched, she shot off several balls of flame.

“Girls!” Adagio called, a surprisingly serious attitude now present from the woman. The other two sirens lined up either side of her, harmonizing to let out a wall of pounding sound waves. Sour was hit dead center, slowing to a crawl as she winced heavily, eyes screwing shut tightly.

Sunset responded justly, flying up behind and above the two, and joining in with the song. That itself was a bit of an experience. Externally, it didn't look like much more, but it felt much like being invited to come sit around a campfire with a group of friends after shivering in the cold. Welcoming, to put it simply.

A fourth voice was too much for the other to take, halting in her progression and desperately trying to block out the noise, screaming in frustration and pain. A perfect opportunity for the finishing blow. Dash happily took it, aiming a shot straight down the middle of the four, a bolt of lightning firing out and striking Sour dead center.

That final fifth strike was too much for the demon to take, shooting back down to the ground with more force than before. Sunset stopped singing as she hit, making an annoyed face as the dust and snow flurry cleared, leaving a small crater in its place.

The five came in for a gentle landing on the ground, Adagio and Sonata falling back to give an ‘all clear’ to the others. Stanza grabbed Marred’s shoulder before she could take another step towards the edge of the moderately sized hole in the ground. “Marred...not until you calm down.”

“I am calm…” She frowned, fangs poking out in a manner that Sunset may have teased over if the situation wasn’t as complex as it happened to be.

“Marred, demon form too.” She repeated, letting her own magic start to deplete, red fading away and turquoise irises returning. Sunset gazed up at her with a hard look, “Please, just take a breath and let the dark magic creep back. Just let the anger go for now.”

By now, the others had started peering around the edge of the school building, watching the scene between the two play out. Twilight was watching in studious awe, noting every action between the two. Despite her lack of natural magic as a human, she could still sense the dark magic flowing off the girl in waves.

Adagio on the other hand watched with a Cheshire smirk at the way the Sunset was approaching the situation, acting calm and almost soothing to her friend.

“...”

“Sun’s gettin’ real low…” Lightning Dust muttered.

“I understood that reference.” Sonata gasped quietly with a grin. Adagio took the liberty to smack them both.

“For me.” Sunset pleaded a final time.

That seemed to get more of a reaction out of the girl, lowering her head and sighing in resignation. Her sparking mess of hair returned to a limp ponytail, skin lightening again, and returning to her normal height. “...sorry.” Dash glanced away, feeling a little sheepish the past few minutes.

“You did what you had to do. Thanks for keeping Dust out of harm’s way, that and not getting yourself too banged up.” Sunset hugged her, a weight falling from her shoulders that she had forgotten was even there. “I’m just glad things are okay.”

Dash felt a bit of annoyance flare up again, not due to the hug, but the heat she felt rise to her cheeks during the hug, “Yeah, well, I ain’t afraid of some angry chick.” She coughed lamely.

“Well, from what I heard over the phone, this isn’t just any chick.” She pulled away, leaning over the edge of the crater and peering down. Sour Sweet was back in her human form, as expected, groaning slightly as she stared back, a empty frown forming on her face. “Hello, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Hello, bitch.” She echoed crudely.

“That’s not nice.” Sunset had the gall to deadpan back.

“I’m not nice!” She sneered, forcing herself up as if to leap out and scorch her. However, the sudden movement only resulted in her falling forwards onto her knees and crying out in pain. Sunset frowned, but wasn’t surprised. Getting thrown into the ground by the Elements of Harmony had roughed her up plenty, so it only made sense that taking a blast from five powerful beings of dark magic would be quite painful as well.

“You’re also hurt.” Sunset pointed out with a frown. Dash was looking progressively less angry as this went on, frowning blankly now.

“So what?” She snapped, “I’ve hurt before, nothing new here.” Sour forced herself back to her feet, wobbling precariously and falling again as soon as she tried to set a foot on the steep embankment. “Agh…”

“Stop that.” Dash frowned, “You’re just hurting yourself more.”

“Oh why would you give a crap? I just tried to incinerate you.” She rolled her eyes as she attempted it again. Sour frowned when another retort never came, but the clear sound of sliding dirt and rocks did. She looked over in time to see Dash hit the bottom of the slope, calmly walking over to her. “Oh, gonna kick me when I’m down, huh?” She sneered, “Well I’m not-”

“Shut up and come here.” Dash rolled her eyes, grabbing hold of her carefully and suddenly swinging her over her shoulder.

“HOW. DARE-”

“Just shut up and let me help you out of here.” Rainbow rolled her eyes again, making sure she wasn’t about to get raked across the back and dug her foot into the ground, taking a few advancing steps up before letting Aria and Sunset help the two all the way up. From there, she dumped Sour from her shoulder, letting her lay in the snow.

The scuffed up girl glared as the three stared down at her. “How do you feel?” Sunset asked.

“Cold. Pissed off.” She responded flatly, stewing angrily. If she tried summoning her demon form again, while she might be able to pull the energy to the ready, she’d certainly get stomped back down by the five once more. “So, you figured it out, huh bodysnatcher?”

“I’m not a movie monster from the 50s.” Sunset deadpanned at her, crossing her arms with a passive expression, “I’m every bit you as you are, just from-”

“Another dimension, yeah, I know.” Sour rolled her eyes, “You may be a Sunset, but you are not me. You don’t know a damn thing I’ve been through.”

“Maybe not the same, but I think I know a thing or two about you.” She shot back, cocking an eyebrow daringly.

“Oh yeah, like what?” She forced herself to sit up.

“We’re asking the questions here.” Aria glared, stepping forwards threateningly. Given the situation, Sour was furious to realize she had flinched back.

“Or at the very least we’re asking first. How do you know about Equestria?” Sunset cut in.

Sour Sweet snorted in amusement, “Because you and those idiot bandmate friends of yours told me. Not my fault you don’t remember~” She smirked knowingly. Noticing another angry flash on Dash’s face, her smile widened, “Oh, that’s right, you guys aren’t friends anymore.”

Even so, Rainbow held herself back, “You’re going to explain all of that. All of it.” She demanded, voice shaking.

“Oh yeah? Says who?!” She shouted back, scowling furiously.

Sunset sighed, nodding to herself. ‘She really is me. No one else I know would shout back at an enemy so vehemently after getting so thoroughly trounced.’ She cleared her throat, taking the floor once more, “Sour, look...you and Dash did a lot of damage in your little scuffle. I know I can clear her even without magic. You on the other hand…”

“Are you threatening to send me to jail?” She asked in bemusement, “Yes, jail the she-demon. That will work perfectly. Try sealing me in stone while you’re at it! I heard that’s got a great track record of working out back home with you guys!”

Sunset’s fists clenched for a moment, ‘How much does she know?’

“If I may?” A meek voice spoke up, Twilight poking into the conversation haphazardly, “W-well...it probably wouldn’t be too hard to imbue a pair of cuffs with an anti-magic charm. Especially given we have several magic users here in the city now. At the very least, her powers would be inaccessible from there.”

Sour’s eyes narrowed as she glared through Twilight. Sunset had no intention of sending Sour off to Lightspeed Barrage. At least, not at the moment. Given the larger, looming threat, she was an asset in information if anything. However, the idea was worth it just to see the angry look on her face. “Sparkle.” She sneered.

“Trotter.” Dust mimed as the rest of the group approached, eyeing her with a mixture of disgust and suspicion.

“Ohhhh, if it isn’t the whole peanut gallery!” Sour smiled mockingly, “Come to stand around some more and play DnD while the rest of us actually learn our powers?” Came the inevitable dark followup.

“Pleasant.” Starry frowned harshly, “Sour, my mother is going to have quite a few words for you once she sees what you’ve done. What you are.”

“Dean Cadence too.” Blitz nodded with a sad look.

Twilight was very nearly distracted by the happily familiar name, but was able to keep on topic for the moment, “So what’s it going to be, Sour Sweet? Explain things to us, or go to jail?” She frowned as well, feeling echoes of disappointment. She didn’t like the way such an ultimatum sounded, coming from her. ‘This is how Sunset could’ve turned out.’ Twilight mentally mused, ‘She didn’t, but this is just another possible path.’

Sour was silent for several seconds longer, “...ffffine. If it gets you assh-holes off my b-back.” She stuttered, cold really starting to catch up on her now.

Dash sighed, “You had another set of clothes inside. C’mon, let’s go get those and then we can really talk in full.” She nodded when Sour didn’t reply, picking her up again, bridal style this time, careful to avoid causing discomfort.

Dust blew out a long sigh, the group collectively following. “Well let’s look on the brightside.” Several gazes shot towards her, “After all this? How much worse can things really get?”

A sudden loud shattering sound echoed out, a shard of window falling from the second floor hole in the wall, making near everyone jump. Blitz screeched in terror, jumping into Starry’s arms and knocking them both over.

“...S-SORRY!” A voice from above called nervously.

“Oh no.” Twilight muttered, glancing up with all the others to see a frazzled, frightened girl peering down at them with wide eyes framed with thick rimmed glasses. A purple and green dog ran up to her side, growling and barking down at the group.

The two parties just stared at each other for a long time.

THWACK

“OW!” Dust shouted in alarm, hitting the snow from Aria’s fist.

Author's Note

Job: Acquired
Training: Commencing
Chapter: Somehow completed, finally.
Apology for wait: Immense.
Joke: Gone on long enough.

I really shouldn’t be making you guys wait this long, but ugh, real life really does suck at times. Either way, I’ve managed to pick myself up a new job and my summer Trig class starts tomorrow. I’d like to hold myself to a schedule one day, but for now I’m gonna just keep this going at a rate of ‘ready when ready’, just hopefully more often. Thanks everyone for all your patience. And many thanks to Cojo5536 for starting up the TvTropes page for this little story. You rock, dude.

In other news, there seems to be some sort of worry that the site is gonna get screwed over by some sorta EU ruling come June 20th. If that is the case, you may want to download my stuff, and any other stories, while you can. Worse comes to worse, I can pack up and move to another site, but we'll see what happens come that time.

Data Log #221
It would seem that the magic anomalies are now happening all over the city, no longer confined to just Crystal Prep Academy or Canterlot High School. However, since the last event detected from CHS during their 'Battle of the Bands' event, not a single anomaly more has spiked on my radar.
However, I've started detecting a pattern further south. Every few days I detect energy there, sometimes from an area out in Everfree Forest. Sadly, such a location is outside my scanner's range and I can't risk traveling there alone. Last thing I need is a snake encounter! Until then, I will continue researching this phenomena and hopefully track down a source more close to home. I have a feeling secrets will be revealing themselves soon enough.

-Twilight Sparkle

18 - And These Little Things Define You Forever

There was a heavy weight in the air. The tension was palpable as the two girls stared each other down, each sat either side of one of the room’s many tables, a glare of fire and ice meeting each other in the middle.

“Wow. I don’t think there’s been such a stare down in the Library since last month’s chess club.” Twilight Sparkle bit her lip. The rest of the group gave her and her dog a sidelong look, still rather put off by the double’s appearance. “Though, um...could someone please explain the tension...and the second me?”

“It's a, a-heh, long story.” Princess Twilight grinned awkwardly, tapping her fingers together. “A really long story to be honest.”

“At the rate things have been going, this little downward spiral is going to become the next great epic.” Adagio deadpanned, staring at the two with a flat look, “To make this as basic as I believe I can, the girl on our side is Sunset Stanza, and the girl you seem to know as ‘Sour Sweet’ is her counterpart from your world.”

“That implies that Sunset isn’t from this world.” Twilight gaped in response.

“Look, I said I’d try and make this the simple version. That involves skipping a few extraneous details.” Adagio waved off with a simple wave of her hand.

This of course led to Twilight grabbing two chunks of her hair and giving a confused shriek, “That’s an extraneous detail?!”

“I’m trying to avoid tangents here! That’s an entire other conversation!” Adagio brushed aside once more, “My point is they’re the same person from two worlds, our’s just happening to be tied to yours. There, you’re up to speed.”

“That is not up to speed!” Twilight only tugged at larger clumps of hair.

“And who said you even deserve to be here?!” A shout echoed suddenly from the table. Sour Sweet had smashed her fists down on the table, shouting over at the girls. “Having her here is one thing!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Sunset, causing the siren to stand as well, “Having two of you damn nerds just pisses me off!”

“Ease off, Sour Sweet. Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.” Stanza glared, keeping her voice level as the burning gaze swapped back to her, “Explain how you’re connected to everything that’s been going on recently. If you try to skirt an answer or deflect, I’m more than happy to let Aria do this instead of me, and I promise you she’ll be far less patient with you than I will.”

“Oh even better, I’m more than happy to lock her in a room with Sonata and we can just see what happens.” Aria stared unblinkingly at Sour, watching her try and smother the uncomfortable feeling of being painfully outnumbered.

Four sirens and a demon had been enough to out power Sour by brute strength alone, and she knew that there was no way she could’ve bested them. The huge crowd of eyes around her, however, only enhanced that feeling. Even if the two Sparkles were worthless, and the rest of her ‘classmates’ were minor nuisances in comparison to her, Sour just couldn’t bring herself to try fighting back. The risk was simply too great.

“Oh dear, I’m so scared.” She replied with narrowed eyes. The edge in her voice suddenly dropped, as did her hostile expression. The change clearly caught Stanza off-guard, and only lessened a little as Sour explained her story in a sickly-sweet voice, so cutesy that it had to be faked.

There was a bustle of excitement as the Crystal Prep bus pulled into the CHS parking lot, and a freshman Sunset Shimmer looked out of the bus in mute glumness. The games were annoying and worthless, and with test scores as high as her own, she had an odd feeling that she’d be traveling to them every year. She wasn’t sure if that was supposed to reflect her fellow students’ notice of her superior intellect, or pure stupidity of thinking this would appease her in some way.

As she looked out of the bus window, her mouth half-curled into a snarl at the very thought of a day consisting of mindlessly crushing her school’s rivals, another teenager managed to catch her attention. Originally, it was the red and yellow hairstyle that had first caught Sunset’s attention. It wasn’t unknown for someone to have a similar coloring, or even wear it in the same style, but the similarities were unmistakable. Sunset was almost immediately ready to mark that in the ‘weird coincidences’ category. But then she noticed her jacket. Her jacket. Six years ago, she had stolen it from some poor sap and worn it at all times, even now whenever she was off the clock for Crystal Prep. Of course, it wore down naturally over time, and it was far more run-down than it had once been. Yet, there was that exact jacket. Leather as if it were brand new. Her breath hitched in shock as the jacket’s owner turned around. Like looking in a mirror, the other Sunset stood in the middle of the Wondercolt crowd, her lips drawn back in an unvoiced snarl. The Shadowbolt’s hands shook, and she began to quickly run over all the reasons why what she was staring at from within the bus was simply impossible.

But a different thought struck her, instead. A thought that was oddly soothing, in some bizarre way: she didn’t really care how it was possible. Another Sunset, another her, was a wonderful thing. Who would know her better than herself? She could only imagine how thrilling it would be to have someone at her side for once, someone she could actually trust. She would have another pair of eyes to watch her back.

It would be easy to explain away, too, Sunset reasoned with a crooked grin. Her past was already so mysterious to the rest of Crystal Prep; what was another layer to the mystery? An identical twin that she had been separated from at birth, both taken from their mother and her criminal ways, and unaware of more than each others’ existence. Finally to be ‘reunited’ in a twist of fate.

Of course, that said, she would be certain to get an actual explanation come time to talk one on one.

As the bus hissed, brakes locking in place, she noticed the looks she was now getting from her fellow Shadowbolts. The odd glance and whispered drop of her name, the tight frown on a few faces and more than one panicked expression sinking behind a bus seat. The others had noticed too, and much like herself, they hadn’t asked why or how. All they cared about was how quickly the excitement of another year of trouncing the Wondercolts had suddenly spiraled into overshadowing fear of the school alpha multiplying.

Shadowbolt Sunset made her way off of the bus target locked on her Wonderbolt counterpart. It didn’t take more than a passing glance to see that the girl was as in control of CHS as Sunset was of Crystal Prep. The cheers of another year of the Friendship Games were soon muted as the Wondercolts got a good look of their newest competitor. The Wondercolt Sunset, too, seemed absolutely speechless and slack jawed at the arrival of the Shadowbolt before her.

The two Sunsets met face to face as the Shadowbolt approached, offering a hand to the flabbergasted Wonderbolt.

“Hey there, Sis.” Shadowbolt Sunset smirked with narrowed eyes, a clear indication to her partner that she was spouting nonsense and to simply play along. “Good to finally see you again, after all these years.”

Instead of the greeting she expected, however, all that the Wondercolt responded with was an annoyed frown. She gripped Sunset’s hand so tightly that she was certain it would leave an impression upon release. “What a pleasure.” She growled. Sunset wasn’t expecting anything too warm from the other, who she started to refer to mentally note as ‘Shimmer’, but she did expect something more than the harsh glare that she was given. “I think we should take this reunion somewhere else…” Shimmer muttered, motioning to the side of the school with the point of her chin.

Sunset wasn’t taken all that much with surprise. It was disappointing that the Wondercolt didn’t seem to be as enthused as her about this finding, but she waved it off as a knee-jerk response to the shock of the two of them being together.

They rounded the corner.

“Alright. What the hell do you want me to do in order to get you out of my hair?” Shimmer growled at her.

“Out of your hair?” The Shadowbolt laughed, “Why would I do that when I can offer you the best I can possibly give?”

“Spit it out, then.” Sunset frowned at the biting snarl from the other, but let it roll off of her shoulders.

“Don’t you see it? There’s two of us! We could wreck so much havoc on the schools, hell, we could run the town together!” Sunset chuckled, “If we team up, I don’t think there’s anyone who could stop us. I have so many plans to get out of this shit hole, and up to bigger and better things-”

“-Do you think I’m an idiot?” Sunset was cut off by Shimmer, who rolled her eyes, “I don’t want to ‘team up’ with anyone, idiot. Teaming up means that we share the power, and I’m not the kind of person who likes sharing my limelight. Especially to someone who can’t see the big picture. Unless you’d like to play second banana and be ground under my boot in the end, stay out of my way.” Shimmer didn’t wait for a response, turning on a heel and letting her hair whip the Shadowbolt across the face.

Sunset stumbled back in surprise, staring with mouth slightly agape as she was left standing there alone. Silence continued for a few minutes longer as she heard both schools funneling inside for the orientation party that Cinch would cut short as per usual after some awkward milling around.

Coming to her senses, Sunset yelled out in frustration as the other’s refusal of her help came down on her. Loneliness was once something Sunset wore like a badge, something that was useful and made her feel confident in her own ability. Now it gaped like a widening sinkhole in her chest, ready to pull her in and swallow her. If she couldn’t trust herself, who could she trust, really?

She ducked her head and weaved between parking lot’s cars, considering whether or not she even wanted to show her face in front of either school after all that. Skipping town would be easier than going back and dealing with her own damaged pride. She could only imagine how this would rattle her freshly established hold on Crystal Prep.

As she was trying to recall the local bus timetable, a conversation reached her from a few yards over. Annoyed beyond belief and looking to take her frustrations out on the nearest undeserving individuals, she glanced over to go find the two, only to catch sight of a flash from around the corner. Darting over to the edge of the school, Sunset glanced around to catch sight of what she could only describe as a glowing movie reel shoot from the forehead of Lemon Zest, and disappear into an odd glowing rock held by one of the CHS students.

The Wondercolt was blushing heavily, a panicked look on her face. Without another word, she turned away from Zest and bolted inside.

“...what the Hell is going on at this school?” Sunset muttered to herself, going over to the other freshman. “Zest, who the Hell was that girl, and what’d she do to you?”

Lemon Zest stared head blankly for a moment before she shook her head, readjusted her headphones and replied, “What girl?” She asked, cheerful as ever.

Sunset stared through her, “The one you were just talking to.”

“I wasn’t talking to anyone. I was just looking for Indigo.” Zest replied.

Sunset put her hands on her hips, “Don’t be stupid.” She glared darkly, narrowing her eyes.

“I’m not!” Zest backed up against the car behind her, shivering at the looming figure of Sunset. The girl was a force to be reckoned with, as proven against the recently named Indigo and other students.

The reaction was genuine, and Sunset could tell. She glared over to where the Wondercolt had fled, and backed away from her classmate, “Just go make yourself useful.” She growled, running after the retreating figure. She was sure of it now. Something about that stone had erased Lemon Zest’s memory. She didn’t know how. By all means it should’ve been impossible, but she knew what she had seen and there was only one way to be certain. Besides, it could be a very powerful tool, one that Sunset wanted in her hands and far away from her double’s.

‘There’s some freaky shit going on in this school. First a doppelganger, now some kinda weird magic stone that wipes out memories.’ She thought to herself, spying the girl in question catching her breath in an empty hallway. It was out of the way of the main classrooms, lights clearly in need of replacing.

“Hey, wait up!” Sunset called out, her hard tone replaced with a much sweeter one, “I wanted to talk to you about something!”

The Wondercolt whipped around, staring at Sunset with wide eyes, “U-Um, hey.” She smiled awkwardly, “You wanted to talk to… me?”

“Yeah! You look nice,” Sunset gave her the best false smile she could manage, swinging her arms from side to side, “I just needed a tour of CHS, if you don’t mind giving me one.”

“You… look like Sunset Shimmer.” She said, narrowing her eyes a little.

“Oh, yeah, Sunset and I are sisters and all.” Her smile strained as she clenched her teeth in rage. Her run in with Shimmer flashed through her mind again, and she couldn’t help but stew over the flippant attitude of her double.

“...You hate her too?” The Wondercolt asked.

The admission of their similar dislike flashed in Sunset’s mind, and suddenly the girl became all the more useful to her, “Yes. And I hear that you’re her biggest enemy too.” She had thrown it out there to see if it resonated.

“Who told you that?”

Sunset responded flippantly, waving her hand this way and that, as if to brush off the sentiment, “That’s just the rumor flying around, really. You must’ve done something she didn’t like very much.”

The green girl paused for a moment, gripping tightly to the straps on her backpack, “Not that she remembers.” She muttered softly.

“What was that?”

The Wondercolt looked up at Sunset with determination, “You want to take down your sister?”

“Yes, of course.” Sunset’s grin widened.

The green girl spun on her heel, heading in the opposite direction of where they had come, “Come on. Just promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”

As they rounded the corner of the hallway, Sunset followed her, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll never remember anything after I’m done with them…”

They both disappeared around the corner.

A few minutes later, Sunset freely tossed the rock of forgetfulness or whatever Green Grass had called it up and down in her hands. The shy girl had been more than eager to explain it after Sunset had clarified that she wasn’t the Wondercolt she knew and probably feared and-or resented. All she had to do was offer the same though far less serious offer of friendship she had extended to said other Sunset.

However, she had no specific plan on her mind at the moment, not really. That annoyed her, this rock thing would make for a good tool for her… once she figured out how to use it and what for. The power over memory was powerful indeed, and that was without really considering how she would use it.

“Hey, Shimmer numero dos!” A voice called out from behind her. It didn’t take much to deduce it was a Wondercolt, and looking only confirmed it to be the current head of the soccer team and head jock of the senior class, Spitfire.

Sunset smiled, letting them approach, “My name doesn’t have a number in it, thank you.”

Spitfire frowned at the girl, a rainbow-haired freshman standing at her side, attempting to look intimidating. At her other shoulder stood a wide-shouldered sports kid as well, the older brother of one of her own classmates, she’d recall. “What’s the deal?” Spitfire crossed her arms, pulling off the imposing tough girl act better than her lackey.

“Deal? Are you offering me favors, soccer girl?” She asked back, shrugging with a smile.

“Don’t play dumb, I don’t have the patience for it. Why’s there two of you?” Spits frowned harshly, “Chop chop, we’re missing the party to do this.”

“Because standing around in your gym holding lukewarm punch while we all glare at each other is exactly how we’d rather spend our time.” She rolled her eyes, “Didn’t you hear me out there talking to her? She’s my sister, Wonderdolt.”

“We don’t buy it!” Dash sneered, glaring across at the girl with a burning hatred that Sunset recognized. Looks like someone had a bit of a rivalry.

She hummed, “Well what else do you want me to say?” Sunset tossed her new rock up and down in thought, catching it and smirking, “By the way, this look like a weird rock or what?” She held it up for them to see. Much to her delight, it began to glow, and as the three’s faces blanched in surprise, all three of them were zapped by the weird energy it exuded. Reels of what seemed like multicolored film poured out of their foreheads, only to be absorbed by the stone.

“Wh-huh?” Spitfire stumbled, glancing around for a moment in dazed confusion.

“How’d we get here?” Soarin asked, tiredly, “Weren't we just in the gym?”

Sunset grinned, strolling off while they were still distracted by their own missing memories and slight sense of vertigo. ‘Oh I have a great idea now~’

“You blasted both schools?!” Rainbow exploded, slamming her hands down on the table with a shout of fury.

Sour Sweet stood, matching her glare and baring her teeth, “Yeah, what of it?!”

“You maniac! WHY?!” Sunset was on her feet now too, holding Dash back with a frown.

“I wasn’t about to bring the cops, government or whatever other group down on me just because she was too stupid to go looking for me when she ran away to our world!” Sour hissed, “If it wasn’t for her, those idiots in robes would’ve never grabbed me!”

“The cult...took you too.” Starry realized, stepping into the conversation. The group behind her were listening with rapt attention. Except for the second Twilight, who was scribbling notes into her journal with equal attention to the page.

“No shit, sweetheart!” Sour’s tone had switched again to her sickly-sweet voice. “I looked like my doppelganger over there before. How could I have suddenly swapped my skin and hair colors? Wishing on a star?”

Starry’s frown turned harsh, “We went through the same thing. We could’ve helped you.”

“Oh go shove it!” Sour snarled, “You and I both know how you all feel about me and how I feel about you. Just because we both suffered similarly does not make us all buddy buddy all of a sudden. Shit doesn’t work like that!”

“Enough!” Sunset stepped in between them all, gesturing for Starry and Dash to back away, “Here’s the bottom line, Sunset. We have a common enemy and they’re threatening the city, the people, and us. We want to stop them, if I know you to any degree, might I assume you want revenge?”

Sour’s face flushed with anger, “Don’t you dare assume you know how I thi-”

“Answer the question!” Sunset shouted back, eyes alight with magic, “Look, I’m sorry for what I said, but that was four years ago now. I’ve changed my outlook since then and you shouldn’t be dwelling on it.” She frowned, “You and I have plenty to sort out personally, and I’m more than happy to do so after there’s not some weird evil cult looming over Canterlot.”

“Your outlook doesn’t change anything you’ve done to me.” Sour replied with a snarl, “You think I wanted this, Shimmer? Any of this bullshit? You think I wanted no one to know my name? To have these freaky powers? To live in your shadow while you’re so desperately loved?” Her eyes narrowed, “No. But I have to live with your actions. You didn’t physically do this to me, sure, but not thinking ahead enough to notice that you had a double in this world. That did this to me. It’s your fault that I became their target. So I made you and your friends my targets! Fitting that they’d start forgetting the good times!”

Sunset sighed angrily, tilting her head back and counted to ten, “Like I said, we have plenty to deal with after this is over. You have a lot to say to me, I’m sure. I have a lot to say too, but again,can we please work together against the common enemy and then start shooting at each other again after that?” She offered again, ‘God above, is this what I was like with Celestia? No wonder…’

Sour glowered at her, “You ruined my life, what little there was to destroy…”

Sunset responded by offering her hand, “...?”

Sour made an irate noise from the back of her throat, “Fine, but after-” She took Sunset’s hand, shaking it roughly, trying to dig her nails into the other’s skin. Sunset look unimpressed, “We’ll talk then.”

“Looking forwards to it.” Came the deadpan.

“Yeah, given you wiped both schools several times over and probably are the cause of our ex-friends just kinda up and leaving us?” Dash grit her teeth with a piercing glare, “I’d say you have, a lot to talk about.”

“That all said.” Aria took her moment to cut in, leaning over Sour with her own threatening sneer, “Hand it over. The stone.” She held out her hand, leaving the overall silent warning hanging between them.

Sour was hesitant at first, freezing up at the demand, but with another few seconds of silence and a further sneer from Aria and Sour dug into her pocket and yanked out the stone in question, tossing at Aria with a snarl, “Here.”

Aria snatched it without question, looking over it and storing it away, crossing her arms and stepping back, “Be lucky we’re not using it on you.”

“Oh, I’m honored.” Sour muttered under her breath.

“Good, we’re settled on that then.” Sunset nodded, “Sour, you willing to share anything with the class about what you know now?”

“Ffffine.” She rolled her eyes, “I guess we can work together for now, but after this is over, I swear to God, I-”

“You, what, Miss Sweet? Destroy more of the school?” An older voice cut through the conversation as the doors opened, two figures strutting into the library.

“Mother?” Starry turned, smiling while the others froze in worry.

Abacus Cinch looked beyond furious. Unsurprising given the damage to the school that Marred and Sour Sweet had spent the last few minutes spreading around the back of the building. “I hope you all have quite the defense for what’s happened here today!”

Dean Cadence had arrived with her, looking more than a little concerned as well for the destruction she had noticed on the way in. Cinch had called her after Cinch herself had received a call from ‘a concerned parent’ it had seemed, and this was beyond anything she had expected to find.

After a moment of tense silence, eight or so different voices spoke up, all trying to nervously explain the situation at once. “Stop!” Cadence raised her hands, frowning at them, “One at a time!” She sighed as the room quieted down again, “Alright, again, Starry only this time. What happened?”

“Well, it's a bit of a long story.” Starry winced apologetically.

Sour groaned, rubbing her face as she slid back in her chair, forced to listen to this again. She only stopped to glare at Rainbow Dash when she noticed the other half-demon doing the same thing. ‘Why does today have to feel like months of time...just to lead to this?’

Author's Note

Happy New years guys.

So, I uh, wanted this to be longer, and be ready two weeks ago, but uh, not happening right now, sorry to say. I think what's needed right now is a fresh start of paper with the next chapter and another overview of the road map for the rest of this story to make sure everything's still on track. I edited the draft of this while pretty damn tired, so if you catch any mistakes, please let me know. The next one will have more progression. This was just overdue. Is the writer's block over? I dunno. I'll see in the coming weeks. Stress at least has fallen away.

Page 23, Paragraph 1

The mind is truly a finicky thing. Its difficult to deal with on an average day and an utter nightmare to explore on any other. However, how our powers affect the mind in turn is very simple. If a being desires something, we can make them desire it more. The stronger a siren is, the smaller the desire we can amplify to the forefront of consciousness. If pushed, we can even create new desires from scratch. This however is forbidden by our laws. It has been since before I took power. No siren is to be allowed to use this power on another being and the punishment for this action if found guilty is death.

With that noted, its worth considering the magic used to affect the mind in other ways. Those equine mages continue to astound me. One of the mainland's mad sorceresses managed to go and make an artifact that can control the emotions of others. Tis a worrying concept. I can only hope those fledgling rulers of that nation keep a close eye on those magics. Its only a matter of time before they start experimenting with memories and free will."

19 - So Hard to Find This Place, so Hard to Catch That Flame

Crystal Prep was the next hit by the incidents. They’d been happening seemingly all week, and Captain Lightspeed Barrage had a hunch that she knew exactly who had been behind it.

“Can’t those damn kids go through one day without something short of a possible citywide disaster going down around them?” she growled, “Just drown me in coffee now.” She had her foot planted to the gas as her cruiser squealed into the parking lot of Crystal Prep. She stopped nearly on a dime, and Barrage noted the shiny sedan of the school’s principal. “...And I’ll have to deal with the curmudgeon bitch again, too. Just my day.” She pulled herself from the driver’s side and slammed the door behind her.

The scene she walked into was possibly more strange than the one at the power plant only a night ago. A gaggle of high schoolers filled the room, and one girl sitting in the middle looked as if she had been in an explosion and then dragged into her current position. In the crowd, Barrage spotted the group she was more or less expecting to see. Sunset Stanza. Rainbow Dash. Of course. What came as more of a shock to her was that she recognized some of the others in the group as the victims of the cult. That led to more questions.

At the head of all of the rabble were Principal Cinch and Dean Cadenza, looking understandably pissed as Cinch’s daughter explained something about a demon fight that had happened through the hallways of the school and had escalated out through the back wall as well.

“Was this the cult’s doing?” Barrage wasted no time. Her arms were crossed as she stepped into the room. Her previous detainee, Lightning Dust, as she recalled, visibly shuffled as Barrage’s voice cut through the squabbling.

“No!” Cinch growled as her piercing anger set its sights on the officer. “And it’s a wonderful thing that you’re here, officer. Arrest this delinquent for attacking my students and tearing up my school!” Cinch’s perfectly manicured nail shot straight to the beat up student sitting in the middle.

The girl smiled, and in a sickly-sweet voice, said, “Oh, please, officer. Try to take me away. See how that turns out for you.” She fluttered her eyelashes. Barrage’s eyes almost immediately set on the dean.

Cadenza was more collected in the current moment than Cinch. “She also has some sort of supernatural power, it seems. Just like the girls.” She waved a hand over the victims of the cult.

“Then it seems that I can’t do much to detain her.” Barrage said simply.

“You must be able to do something!” Cinch spun on Barrage, hissing.

“I can cover up the incident. That’s my job.” Barrage responded, “And if I can find a good explanation for this, insurance might cover the damage.”

“And what about Miss Sweet?! We’re going to just let her go off on her own?!” Cinch fumed.

“That’s more your job than mine,” Barrage replied, waving a hand, “punishments are in order, but I can’t hand them down without collateral.”

“If I could…” Sunset Stanza spoke up, “We have a plan for what to do with her.”

“That plan better include doing something about Miss Sweet’s behavior!” Cinch shouted, “Because I’m three steps away from throwing her out of Crystal Prep for good!”

“Actually, we plan to do something more extracurricular. Sour here could very easily assist me in training up the rest of the team on how to control their magic.” Sunset left out the details about the part of the plan in which they take down the cult themselves because she knew that Captain Barrage wouldn’t take it very well. They were a bunch of minors, after all.

Sour rolled her eyes, “Yeah, like I actually give two shits about teaching you anything about anything. What makes you think that I’d go along with the horse alien doppleganger’s stupid plan?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll lock you out of the school faster than you can say ‘au revoir’.” Cinch pointed a finger at Sour threateningly.

“Ugh, fine. I have stuff that’s still in the school. I actually give a shit about my stuff.”

“Good. That’s settled then.” Cinch nodded curtly. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you.” She turned to Rainbow and Sunset as well, “And the two of you, as well. Keep your butting into magic business away from my school. I let you both into it as a courtesy.”

“That’s clear,” Sunset responded with a nod.

“Good. Come now, Cadenza, we need to assess the damage with Barrage.” Cinch snapped her fingers before turning and leaving.

“Yes ma'am.” Cadence sighed.

“Now! We can actually get to training, finally! Only took two years!” Dash groaned, running her hand down her face.

“WOO!” Blitz hopped up with a grin.

Aria looked over at the human Twilight. She and Adagio locked gazes, and Aria had a feeling that they had the same thing on their minds. There was no point dragging another human into the mix, and this kid was more probably unstable than the princess of anxiety that was currently standing next to Sunset.

She put a hand on Sci-Twi’s shoulder, “You guys go on, I’ll make sure that this kid gets home safely.”

Sci-Twi was rightfully a bit afraid of her, and she flinched as Aria’s hand lingered on her shoulder. “Will you explain what’s going on, at least?” She asked hopefully.

“Yeah, I’ll give you the rundown,” Aria said, leading her away from the group.

Something about that didn’t add up, but Sunset already had too much on her mind to really notice. Besides, she’d already learned to trust Aria’s judgment somewhat. Whatever happened from here, it was probably for the best.

As the group finally made their way to the abandoned warehouse and began to prepare for training, Sunset grabbed Twilight, Adagio, Sonata, Starry, and Dash.

“Anyways, while they’re all warming up to their powers, we should really get down a game plan for this whole cult assault thing,” Sunset said to the gathered crowd, “Any suggestions before I continue?”

“Can we train in pairs, maybe? I think that’d be easier than having to go around to each person individually.” Dash said, “Or, at least, a group?”

“While that’s a good idea, I mean more along the lines of what to do about the cultists themselves. I have no idea how long we’ll need to train for, and I worry that there won’t be much time left until the cult strikes again.”

“Well, I imagine we’ll have to start with scouting out their camp.” Aria piped in as she finally joined them all, “And I’m the only real soldier here. I can get in and out without a problem…” She glared over at Sour, “But that one is going to need to come with me.”

“What?! Why me?!” Sour bit back.

“Because you know about the camp better than the rest of these girls. If you want your skin to stay on your body, I’d suggest you try not to sabotage the mission while we’re at it.”

Sour scoffed, “Oh, don’t worry. I hate those bastards more than I do that one.” She pointed a thumb casually at Sunset, “Which is really saying something. I won’t be getting in your way any time soon.”

“I should come too.” Night Glider was the next one to pop into the conversation, quite literally considering that she appeared from nowhere. “With my ability to turn invisible, I’ll be able to go closer to the camp than those two can, if need be. Plus… I’ve been waiting for an excuse to use these awesome powers.” She beamed brightly.

“Sounds like reason enough to me.” Aria shrugged.

“Alright, so that’s the short term plan.” Sunset looked around at the rest of the group. “What about for the long term? There’s a lot of us, but not enough to just go barreling into the cult full-frontal.”

“Then depending on the shape and location of the camp, we should probably try to box them in. In teams, that’ll be a lot easier to coordinate.” Aria said, “And I say that they should be built around the three of us.” She gestured to herself, Adagio, and Sonata. “Being the seniority when it comes to using our magic, that is. And I’m going to have you at my side.” Aria insisted, “There’s no way our species’ one chance of survival is going down without me going down first.” She glanced over at Sunset, “Assuming that you’re joining the fight, that as. As much as I’d rather that you didn’t.”

“Sorry Aria, my mind’s made up. I’m definitely going to fight this thing.” Sunset replied. “However, the sentiment is appreciated.”

Aria sighed, “Yeah. I figured that would be your response. But if that’s the case, you’ll be training with me until we have you fighting ready. That’ll mean no less than two weeks out here with me, preparing for the worst.”

“Lumen, do we even have two weeks?” Sunset asked, “What if they strike in that time?”

“We’ll just have to work with whatever time we have, and hope that we’ll have two weeks to prepare.”

“Of course.” Sunset nodded. “Whatever you think is best for this to work out.”

“We’ll do this in batches of three days. Then you’ll have a rest day. Then back to training.” Aria said, “It’s for the best that we get as ready as we possibly can, but rushing into it isn’t the way to go about things. On that first day of rest, we’ll go out for our scouting mission. So be prepared.” She told Sour and Night Glider. “In the meantime, it’s probably best that we train together in our teams.” She looked pointedly at Princess Twilight, “You’re with us, princess. I’d rather not have the weakest link carry down any of the other teams. And Sonata, you’re taking Marred.”

“Why’s that?” Sonata asked.

“Because you’re both annoying as hell. It’ll be the perfect match-up.” Aria grunted.

“Oh, okay!” Sonata responded in kind.

“Wh-What did I do?!” Rainbow pouted, crossing her arms.

“You’re the only Rainboom that I can still be mad at who’s also currently present.” Aria replied simply.

“Wha-! EX-Rainboom, excuse you!” She seethed, “I’m basically an Argonaut like you now!”

Aria gave her a flat look in response, “Not with that temper, you aren’t. And experience. And training. Just being buddies with the Queen and having power doesn’t make you an Argonaut. For the rest of you, figure out what you’ll be doing with yourselves,” Aria said, shooing off the group. Dash stomped off with Blitz bouncing along in tow. Twilight, Sunset, and Sour Sweet lingered. Twilight was strangely quiet, giving Aria a few wary glances. “Sour, what did I just say? Get to helping everyone train!”

“No way in hell; not until you three start. I’m not putting any more effort into this charade than I have to, and helping our your little friends isn’t some enjoyable pastime of mine. Besides! I can tell from a mile away that you’re about to go talking, and I want to be involved with it!”

“We’re not talking about you! But fine. If you’re that paranoid, you can listen in until we’re done.” Sunset rolled her eyes. ‘Is this what I used to be like?’

“Ah… heh heh… Now that… that’s over. Hey, uhh… Aria? Can I… ask you something?” Twilight scooted closer to Aria slowly, taking the chance to get her say in.

“I could tell you wanted to talk.” Aria grunted. “What?”

“Um… What did you do to that girl? The human me?” Twilight asked Aria.

Aria responded in kind, “I walked her home, as I said. I explained everything that she asked questions about. And then I erased her memories of this morning when we got to the doorstep.”

Twilight flinched. Sunset’s brows furrowed in concern, “Aria, don’t you think that was a bit harsh?”

“Yeah, real dick move there.” Sour butted in.

Sunset scoffed openly toward Sour, “Like you care about her!”

Sour began to cackle loudly. “No, no! You’re right! That’s probably the smartest decision you idiots have ever made!”

Sunset felt a blood vessel in her brain start to pulse erratically, ‘More specifically, was this what I was like from Dash’s perspective?’ She groaned, resisting the urge to deck Sour on the spot.

Aria shook her head, “Not really, seemed like a perfectly rational decision to me. She had no reason to need to remember what went on tonight, and she had no reason to stay wrapped up in all of this mess. Instead of making her a target of the cult or throwing her into any future battles, I figured that’d be the kindest thing I could do for her. Just stay out of her sights for now.”

Sour grinned, nodding, “Besides, she’d be nothing but a liability. She’s just a human with no powers whatsoever. All she’d do for two weeks is ask increasingly grating questions while getting in our way like the damn nerd she is!” She sneered, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

“You bully her, don’t you?” Sunset asked dryly.

“Gave her a goodbye swirly before winter break started.” Sour grinned, quickly switching to a near animalistic growl, “She got away before I was done, though.”

Sunset started to consider strangling herself now.

“Wait, people still do that? It's been, like, 30 years since the 80s.” Aria blinked in mild surprise.

Twilight was staring at the ground, mouth drawn into a dangerously thin line, ‘Why is she like this? Is it just because Sunset was mean to her in Freshman year? Is it because she doesn’t have any friends?’ She looked up and over to Aria again, “I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with how that was handled…”

Aria shrugged, “Would you rather have her be pulled into this against her will? Even with how coarsely she put it, Sour has a point about the kid. She’s not gonna understand what’s going on and if she has no powers, that puts her at risk. We’re gonna have enough trouble trying to cover everyone when this fight happens.”

Twilight wilted slightly, hugging herself and looking to the side, “I...guess you have a point there, Aria.”

“Then trust me, it was in her best interest. Now, let’s get to work.” Aria motioned for Sunset and Twilight to follow as she headed out onto the newly designated ‘training field’.

Twilight walked off to the side. There, Nightshade was sitting down against one of the old, rusting shipping containers. Her eyes followed Dash and Blitz as they hopped along the top of the other containers, throwing stray electricity at one another and laughing uproariously. Twilight smiled and said something wordlessly to the girl before the two of them walked out of Sunset’s view.

Sour, meanwhile, had brushed shoulders with Starry Skies. “Come on, Starry, you’re the one I can stand the most of your little friends. Be flattered.”

“Oh, lovely,” Starry responded dryly, “Fire versus knives. Let me count my lucky stars.” She followed nevertheless.

Sour snarked back, “Maybe Mommy will be proud of you for being a tough little girl, or some shit.”

“If you burn me, my mother will take you down herself.”

“Hey, you won’t get burnt if you dodge!” Sour responded sweetly, “Isn’t that the point?”

“I hate you.”

Sunset followed Aria away from their section of the training grounds, but her eyes lingered on Twilight as she settled in. Seeing her jump right into helping Nightshade without a problem made Sunset feel a bit more at ease with the whole situation. Not to mention that Blitz and Dash’s electricity-ball fight was pretty entertaining from where she was standing.

The duo walked in silence for a moment, getting clear of the others to work on their own training, or rather Sunset’s training specifically, “Listen, Aria…” She started with a frown, taking position across from her, watching the siren stretch, “We need to talk about what you did with Twilight back there. Uh, human Twilight that is. I hate to admit it, but that probably was the right call to make. However, making that call all on your own shouldn’t have been how you went about it.”

Aria got into position to spar as Sunset spoke, flexing her hands and fingers. When she was finally into a ready position, she considered what Sunset was saying. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. When you didn’t speak up about me heading out, I figured it was more or less a quiet agreement. That’s Adagio and I’s usual song and dance. I used to do a lot of cleaning up either on my own judgement or on Adagio’s behest. Guess it was just kinda routine of me. But, you know, things have changed and all. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m…” Sunset blinked, staring at the other girl, readying herself for a spar as well, “Honestly surprised you took it that easy. I suppose I was just expecting an argument, for you to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about and it needed to be done.” She crouched, eyeing the siren and waiting for her to make the first move.

Aria smiled, lunging forward to start off her attack. “Well, that’s sorta our roles now, you know? I’m the soldier, you’re my boss. I know where I stand.”

“Really? Just like that?” Sunset slid to the left, bringing up a block in case of a thrown punch following her and sticking out a leg to try and trip the incoming siren, “I never really took you as the agreeable type. Every time I saw you at CHS, you looked like you wanted to be just about anywhere else but there.” She chuckled.

Aria avoided the rather obvious attempt to get her off of her feet, and swerved around Sunset’s defenses, getting a solid hit on the side of one of her arms. It wasn’t enough to bruise, but Sunset could feel it. “It was definitely a different story when it was just the three of us. Charging right into CHS was Adagio’s idea, and I thought it was stupid from the start. Then again, she and I were always squabbling over who the leader should’ve been. Sounds stupid, but I figured that my experience as a soldier definately outclassed her being a bartender.” She let out a quick chuckle as she ducked one of Sunset’s punches.

Sunset winced as Aria decked her in the arm, but figured she should probably expect a lot more, “I guess that’s a fair argument to make. Sounds like Sonata’s the one that’s always been content with her spot then, huh?” She snickered as she tossed another low punch, trying to force Aria’s guard physically lower so she could cleanly clock her in the face, “And what’s this about Adagio and a bar?”

Aria hopped backwards, but did keep her guard low in case Sunset could still connect her punch. “Yeah, Sonata’s always been the clown. Like being annoying will break up our disputes or something.” Aria circled Sunset, still keeping her distance for the moment. “Oh, excuse me, Adagio owned a club with a bar in it.”

Sunset frowned, ‘Can’t get her from there…’ She continued to circle with her, looking for some kind of opening with the siren, “Wait, you guys had clubs? A thousand years ago and you guys had clubs outfitted with bars?”

“What, just because you ponies didn’t have something means that no one else in the world can either? You really are an Equestrian aren’t you, Sunset Stanza?” She smirked accusingly.

“W-wait, no! That’s not what I-!” The next thing Sunset knew, her face hurt, she was laying on her stomach and Aria had her down on the ground, hands held tightly behind her. She could feel Aria’s boot pressing into the center of her back, “...ow.”

“Can’t let yourself get distracted by a little banter there, queenie, that’s how you get killed...amongst other ways.” Aria chuckled, letting her go. Sunset righted herself easily enough, taking the hand Aria offered to pull her back to her feet.

“Yeah, that was...that was my fault.” Sunset nodded, wincing as she popped a few joints, “Goddess, that wasn’t pleasant.” She winced, brushing herself off.

“That’s why you stretch beforehand.” Aria snarked back with a shrug, moving back to give Sunset some distance before they started another brawl. “Come on, don’t look at this like a high school hall brawl. Actually fight me. You’re not trying to embarass me here, you need to win. Pin me to the ground, bind my arms with something, try to actually incapacitate me!”

“Well… Alright then.” Sunset focused, and her gem began to glow like it had when she was taking down Sour Sweet at the school.

“WAIT!” Aria held out her hands, “Maybe not try to take me down that much.”

Sunset’s brows furrowed, “Hold on… Can I at least practice controlling my projection?”

“Are you sure?” Aria frowned slightly, “You could very well overtax yourself if you draw on too much of it. The last time it was all instinct and adrenaline, but premeditated might not grant as much control as you think.” She mused before pausing and chuckling, “Y’know what? Go ahead. Learn by doing right?”

“I don’t like that response.” Sunset muttered to herself before focusing again. Her wings appeared on her back easily enough, the thin red wings fluttering in the sunlight. However, that seemed to be all she had summoned. She just bobbed lightly as she floated a foot off of the ground. It wasn’t exactly impressive.

Aria threw a small rock at the siren queen, watching it bounce off her forehead, earning a flinch and a pout, “I’ll at least say this, I’m surprised you were able to do this much. Though I’d say that has to do with your dark magic experience being what it is. Sparky up there might be able to do it too with a little effort.” She glanced up as Dash hopped from one container to another, misjudging the distance and vanishing behind the steel box with a scream. ‘Yeah, real Argonaut material right there.’

Sunset finally opened her eyes and set back down on her concrete as her wings dissipated. “So… Guess that’s something we need to work on then, huh?”

“That and your girlfriend’s possible concussion.” Aria snarked with a grin, “But yeah, your siren projection certainly needs work. It’ll probably just be practice though, you seem to have more than enough power to manifest it easily. Especially considering you were able to do it alongside us earlier. You might be drained for the day is all.”

Sunset’s eyes drifted over to where the screaming was coming from, “Right. Gotcha. Um, I should go check on that. Marred, that is.” She backed towards the containers that Dash had slipped between, “But we’re not dating, Aria!” She backed up a few more steps before shouting, “DON’T GIVE ME THAT SMIRK, WE’RE NOT DATING!” With that, she then rounded the corner in a quick retreat.

Aria continued to smirk unabated by Sunset’s threats, “What do you think, Adagio?” She asked, practically sensing the walking mass of hair that was her sister approaching from behind, “Think they make a cute couple? Oh sorry, I mean they would since they totally don’t have the hots for each other.” She glanced back, snickering to her fellow siren.

"Now Aria, that is no way to talk about your Queen. You should respect her choices and decisions on the matter." She smirked as she gently rubbed the gem around her neck. "Even if she is a blind idiot who can't see the truth two inches from her face."

Aria just laughed, “Let the kids figure things out on their own and break open a bottle of wine for them when they do.” She chuckled, heading after Stanza, “I’m gonna go make sure my fellow ‘knight’ didn’t splatter on the pavement. Try and get some actual training done, Adagio, would you? You are the actual mage here after all.”

Adagio waved her off, “Yes, yes, I’ll get to it in a moment. I just want to get a good idea of this place before I take one of them under my wings. Besides, they’ve got their powers down pretty well already.” She strode off, and Aria knew that she was just trying to avoid doing any hard work.

Sour was watching the groups from her own spot, training with Starry, “Your dodging is sloppy as hell.” She called, lobbing another fireball at her.

“Yeah, well at least I’m avoiding them!” Starry snapped back, annoyed at being stuck with the she-demon. She leapt to the right, avoiding another one by just a few inches.

“Stop acting like a ballerina and dodge the damn fireballs!” Sour shouted back.

“I AM!”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU ON FIRE?!” Sour stopped throwing for a moment to point out Starry’s smoking jacket instead.

Starry let out a piercing screech as she fell to the concrete without hesitation. She rolled back and forth until the flames only left a noticeable burn mark on her jacket.

Sour ran a hand down her face. “We’re all gonna die...”

Author's Note

I suppose that answers whether or not the writer's block had passed. Sorry about that. Thanks to SunnyDays and SamRose for getting me out of that dip and being a huge help in finishing this up. Couldn't do it without you two :heart:

Page 200, Paragraphs 1-7

The sirens have never officially declared war or have been involved in any form of international conflict with another nation. While our existence has at times put us on hostile terms with some port cities that enjoy sending galleons over our waters, there has never been a true war and I would die happy knowing it stayed that way. We've never been a species of bloodshed. However, that doesn't stop natural rivalries and grudges from hovering at the edge of one's vision at all times.

That brings up the subject of the kelpies.

Kelpies are a carnivorous species of pony that split off from the core three alongside our species long ago. They live in reefs off the coast of Equestria, putting them outside of our direct reach but ever so near. Much like the sphinx, kelpies have little care for what they eat, be it small animals, or sentient creatures. More than a few ponies have met their fates in wandering too close to a kelpie habitat.

Due to their similar water-bound nature and the power of word of mouth, our two species get clumped together often and we are often accused of eating ponies as well. This is unfounded, and as much as it is possible for a siren to eat a pony, it is forbidden at the risk of provoking a true conflict. Due to these comparisons and associations, sirens and kelpies are rather bitter towards to each other. The last three encounters in neutral water has led to multiple fatalities on both sides.

Even more regrettably, its led to one of my subjects to try and take matters into his own hooves. Used The Song on his own sister to try and use her as a weapon against them.

How disgusting.

He'll be dealt with accordingly.

20 - Constant Reminders of What Got Me Here

As soon as they sat down at the corner booth, Sour immediately put her feet up right in the middle of the table. Sunset gave her a flat stare in return.

“Really?” Sunset sighed.

“What else did you expect?!” Sour’s laughter was guttural and mocking. “I’m not going to pay for any of this, by the way. So don’t ask me.”

Sunny Flare glared at Sour from across the table while Night Glider wrapped one of Sunny’s hands with bandages. “You should be paying for my meal after this.”

Sour pointed the toe of her boot in Sunny’s direction. “Hey, it’s not my fault that you’re the daughter of the iciest bitch of a principal that ‘Prep has ever seen. Guess you’re just weak to fire. And don’t be such a pussy about it; you’ll be getting a whole hell of a lot worse when we’re out there fighting those assholes. At the end of this whole shindig, you’ll be begging to only have a second degree burn.”

“You say that like it wasn’t on purpose!” Sunny bit back.

“Well, I thought that the instructions were clear. I told you to dodge. You were shitty at dodging. Not my fault.” Sour spun the laminated menu under her finger like a spinning top. “But I can’t deny that I enjoyed watching you roll around in the snow. It’s a good look for you.”

“All right, that’s enough.” Aria sliced into the conversation with a growl pointed specifically at Sour. “Need I remind you why you’re here, Sour Sweet?”

Sour bit back, “It sure as hell isn’t because you people are my friends or anything. So I don’t know why you’re expecting me to play nice and roll over to this posh little princess.” She flailed her arms in the air.

“That’s no excuse to act like a toddler,” Sunset added, crossing her arms, “You’re throwing a temper tantrum because we won’t let you bail after attacking us, and that’s ridiculous.”

“Because I get what you’re doing!” Sour sat up properly now, glaring at the gathered group around the table. “You’re trying to get me to feeeeel for all of these losers because we all have to work together! It’s humiliating to be seen in public with them!”

“No!” Sunny slammed her unbandaged hand down onto the table, “What we’re doing is trying to get your useless ass to work with us so we can deal with the much more pressing matter at hand! I bet that Stanza and Marred here would be more than happy to rip you apart and try and fix the trouble you caused for them with your dumb rock, but they recognize the cult’s the bigger issue. You, though, you just wanna sit here, mock us, and complain despite the fact that we’re all on the same side!” She hissed venomously, “We don’t give a shit if you feel for us or wanna be your friend, we just want to deal with this! No one cares about you, Sour! No one ever has! The only reason the cult even took you was because you were mistaken for someone that MATTERED!” She screamed, chest heaving as she finally blew her top at her peer.

The others stared in surprise. While the other Shadowbolts knew she had a temper buried under the polite venere, they had never seen an explosion like that.

Sour Sweet stared for a moment, glaring rather demonically as Sunny picked her apart. As soon as the other was done ranting, Sour pulled her bag onto her back and stood. “Well I think this was a great session today!” She said in her incredibly fake chipper tone before switching to a low growl, “I’ll just be leaving then!” She turned on a heel, heading out the door again.

“She’s… going to be difficult to win over.” Twilight flinched as the door to the diner was slammed shut.

“That’s an understatement,” Sunset deadpanned with an aside glance, “I doubt we could get her to like any of us with all the time in the world. Though I’d be lying if I said I wanted her as a friend.” She sighed, “Though we do still need her help.” Sunset glanced across the table at her partner in crime.

Dash stood up, sighing in preparation. “I’ll go talk to her. Maybe I’ll get lucky.” She jogged out of the diner in an attempt to catch up with Sour.

Sunset sighed as Dash jogged out, turning over her attention as she massaged her temple with her fingers. “Starry… I’m sorry about this.”

“I’m not. It was a long time coming, and it felt good to say,” Sunny replied. She was still trying to steady her breathing, but satisfaction was plastered all over her face.

“Yep. The bitch deserved it,” Sugar Coat said. “She’s always been like this, and from what we’ve learned about you, even a crater couldn’t turn her around.”

Sunset coughed awkwardly, nodding, figuring that it was best she not mention it took more than a slam dunk into the concrete to turn her around either. “Right, I suppose it was a little overdue for you then. Do you feel any better, having said that?” She looked at Sunny again.

“Yeah, I do. I hope it finally gets past her thick head that shit like that comes back to bite you,” Sunny replied, “I was a particularly favorite punching bag of hers thanks to my relation to Mother.”

“You seem to have a lot of bad history.” Twilight said.

“Only years of aired dirty laundry, a few manipulated friendships, and a backstab or two. No big deal, really.” Sunny rolled her eyes. “Not to mention the fact that she’s apparently been wiping our memories on the regular. What kind of person does that?”

“The kind that’d be in a cult.” Sugar Coat replied.

Lemon Zest yelped and dove behind Indigo Zap, glancing around, “D-Do you really think that she is?!”

“No.” Sugar Coat said.

“Given what happened to her and just how angry she is?” Aria cocked an eyebrow, “Yeah, I think it's safe to say she hates those guys more than any of you.”

“How can you tell how angry she is?” Zap questioned, “I always figured it was always just on and off with her.”

“Sirens can sense the emotional state of a person as well as their output.” Aria shrugged, “If we were still feeding on negative emotions, we probably could use that girl as a portable battery for a few years with no issue. She’s the most unstable person I’ve met in the last few centuries.”

“A battery?” Zap blinked. “Feeding on negative emotions? Wait, what’s your power again?” She looked at Aria with heavy confusion.

Aria stretched, leaning back on one of the counters around the table as she started to harmonize, looking at Zap with dimly glowing eyes. She figured a short, harmless demonstration would be easier than any long-winded explanation.

Zap’s eyes glowed green as she was lulled with Aria’s song, swaying softly.

The other Shadowbolts around the table flinched as if Aria had just hit her.

“Wh-what’re you doing?!” Sunny Flare’s body leaned as far from Indigo Zap as she could without getting up from her chair.

As quickly as it started, it stopped, Aria finished the short solo and Zap shook her head, eyes returning to normal just like that.

“The Siren Song.” Aria shrugged. “Figured an example would be easier than giving a short speech about it. It's sorta like hypnosis just with a few differences steeped in the desires of the target.”

“And you can just use it on anyone?” Sunny asked, frantically looking Zap over. Zap seemed more confused than harmed.

“Even us?!” Lemon Zest exclaimed.

“That’s screwed up.” Sugar Coat said.

“It's part of our species. I don’t judge you humans for walking on two legs and eating cows.” Aria rolled her eyes. “Besides, it's not like we can just hum a tune and make you do anything we want. The song only amplifies desires. For example, all of you want this problem to go away, so I was able to make Zap space out for a second. Not thinking about the issue is a way that can be construed after all.” She explained with a shrug, figuring some things were going to have to be talked out either way.

“Beyond that, they have no intention of just using it because they’re bored. Right, Aria?” Sunset glanced over, nodding.

Aria nodded, giving her a lazy thumbs up again. “We don’t need to charm folks as much as we used to with our music, so yeah, basically.”

“And we can just trust your word that you won’t use it?” Sugar Coat pressed, “Not even to save your own hides? Why do you three even care about fighting the cult, anyway?” Her question was pointed directly at the Dazzlings.

Aria tilted her head before nodding to Sunset, “She saved our asses from dying. We’re with her. If she wants to help you, we’ll follow. As for trust, well, that’s your call. You’ve seen what the song can do now though. If we wanted to manipulate or mind control you or whatever, we’d have done it by now.”

“So. You’re just doing this to pay Sunset back.” Sunny repeated slowly.

“Yeppers!” Sonata nodded, reflecting the question back onto the Shadowbolts cheerily. “Why’re you fighting the cult?”

Sunny paused for a moment, as if debating that herself.

“Because I think we’re the only ones who can.” She replied, her voice firm. “I don’t think the regular police can handle the cult. They won’t admit it, but without magic they’re completely outclassed. With training, I think the girls and I have a better chance to handle them. That’s why I reached out to Sunset as soon as I could.”

“I just want to kick their asses for messing up my hair.” Sugar Coat cut in.

“Misty seems to like it.” Zap gave her a sideways grin, never missing a chance to bring up Sugar’s girlfriend.

“Shut up, Zap.”

Aria chuckled at the group. “A range of heroics and revenge. Well, there are worse reasons for wanting to take someone down.”

“Especially when it's an evil forest dwelling demon cult…” Adagio added with a mutter, rolling her eyes.

“Right, well. I think there’s only one question for right now: Are we going to get out of paying?” Indigo Zap grinned knowingly at the Dazzlings.

Sunny bopped her on the head with one of the menus on the table, “No! We are not doing that!”

Zap rubbed her head, “Aw come on, it wouldn’t hurt anything.”

“But it’s wrong!” Sunny insisted.

“Look, I don’t think any of us want to get into a deep conversation about the morality of our natural powers.” Adagio sighed, breaking back into the conversation, “So for all of our sakes how about we simply agree that the three of us will only use it when necessary?”

“Besides, we can’t exactly make people do stuff they don’t want to anyway.” Sonata added.

“So no free meal?” Zap pouted.

“You’re going to pay for it if you don’t stop talking, Zap.” Sugar Coat responded.

“Fiiine.”

Twilight hadn’t been listening to the conversation, staring out the window into the light snowfall of the afternoon.

“You look lost in thought.” Sunset drew her attention from the squabbling to her friend, nudging Twilight gently, “Need a map back down to Terra?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I’m just hoping that Marred can get through to Sour Sweet.” Twilight said, “I can’t see them out there.”

Sunset frowned, glancing out with her, “Let’s hope that means more than Marred finding a good place to kick her shit in again. Lightspeed doesn't need to clean that up.” She’d be lying if she said she was in a rather forgiving mood given the actions and general disposition of her human double.

By the time that Dash had pushed her way out of the diner, she could see Sour Sweet’s tracks leading out into the distance. She could tell that they were Sour’s because of the way the footprints had melted through the thin blanket of snowfall, leaving a small, rapidly freezing puddle in the outline of a shoe.

Dash huffed, sending a cloud of warm air dispearsing ahead of her, ‘Someone’s feeling pissy.’ She noted, following the tracks at a brisk jog, wanting to catch up right away but still not wanting to fall on her ass. ‘Don’t have time for this crap, where are you?’

Sour was walking at an even pace, slower than Dash was expecting. She had her hands tucked into her pockets and a scowl plastered on her face. When she saw Dash coming, she only walked a little faster, avoiding eye contact.

“You got out of there pretty quickly.” Dash commented, not exactly intent on letting her get away, “Suppose the atmosphere wasn’t exactly cheery, but-”

“-Well excuse me for not wanting to sit there and let you all shit on me.” Sour snapped, “I didn’t ask for this bullshit.”

“Well to be fair you’ve kinda been screwing with us for awhile now.” Dash fired back, “I’m not gonna stand here and say what Suns-my Sunset did to you was fair, but come on. Like you’ve been the nicest person in turn. With all you’ve dished out in the last four years, can you honestly say some of that wasn’t deserved? Everyone’s stressed to hell and pissed off.”

“And you say that like she didn’t do exactly the same things. The only difference between us is that she’s the bodysnatcher, and I was snatched up by a cult, tested on, and given… Given this!” Demon wings formed on her back, and fire raged between her fingertips.

Dash didn’t flinch, holding her ground against her, “Yeah, you didn’t deserve this, no one does. But here’s the thing; Sunset made strides to try and change. To make up for the crap she put me and everyone else through. What have you ever done except tear people down and probably steal Twilight’s lunch money?” She challenged.

“Oh! That one was a definitely, not a probably.” She replied sweetly. “And why would I try to change?! I’ve stayed alive like this, and the one time I did try to rely on someone else - someone who’d definitely understand me - she shit all over that attempt. So, why bother?” Her voice had swapped between the growl and the sweeter tone several times now, fluctuating so heavily that it almost seemed distorted.

“Because maybe that little scene back in the diner wouldn’t have happened.” She snapped, “We have the same enemy, remember? But if you keep shitting on them, they’ll keep doing it to you!” Dash gestured, “I can understand your beef with Sunset at least, by why the rest of them?!”

“Well for some of them, our first meeting was being screamed at in the face. The others are idiots I’ve known for years. They’ll probably get themselves killed trying to fight this cult. Not that I care,” She spat. “I don’t know if us going in there would do anything. I’d rather not be a part of it at all. It’s a suicide mission, and I value my own skin.”

“So what, you’re backing out all of a sudden? You just want to leave the cult to do whatever they want?” She sputtered, “What happened to revenge?!”

“What good is revenge if I’m dead in the process?!” Sour replied, “You saw those idiots today! They’re not going to be ready in two weeks, they might not even be ready in two months!”

“They could be fast learners! It was the first day!” Dash growled, “I never took a Sunset to be such a coward!”

Sour lifted up her lip in a snarl, “I’m logical, not a coward! And I should beat your face into the ground for that!” Her hair started to stand up on end and wave as if being carried by the heat she was putting off.

“Is that what happened the last time?” She scoffed, crossing her arms, her own anger peaking as Sour taunted her.

“Only because those idiots were there to get between us!” Sour’s skin became a more maroon color as she grew angrier. “Face it, I’ve had this form longer. You would’ve been trounced without Staaanza getting in the way!”

“Tch, whatever you say, Sweetie.” She crossed her arms, “We’ll take them down on our own and we’ll fix the other girls while we’re at it!”

Sour quirked an eyebrow, her hair dropping back down to her shoulders, “Fix?”

“Yeah? Uh, duh. All of you got screwed up and your brains got blended by the cult. What, did you just think we weren’t gonna try and fix that?” She blinked, “Well, them now I guess. You clearly wanna be on your own.” She held up her hands, starting to turn away.

“You think they can fix this?” Sour asked again, her voice the most level Dash had ever heard. “And if I help your stupid friends, and somehow we survive from this… I could be me again?”

“Dunno. Guess you’ll never know though.” Dash shrugged with a very insincere sigh of remorse. “Oh well. Farewell, Sour, I hardly know ye.” Her acting was atrocious, but it got a very clear point across to the other girl.

Sour let out a very loud and very forced sigh. “ALRIGHT! I’ll try to voice my opinions less. And I’ll help your stupid friends.” She crossed her arms with a huff, “But only because it undoes what Stanza took from me.”

Dash grinned victoriously, forcing it down and turning back to her, “That right? Well, I suppose we could still use your help.” She nodded, offering her a hand.

Sour scowled down at Dash’s hand, “Is that necessary?”

“It's a handshake, I’m not asking you to be my BFF, asshole.” Dash gestured with the outstretched hand, “It's us making a deal. You help us til the cult’s dealt with and then we split and you’re free to do whatever. Besides, you don’t seem like the kinda girl to give me a high five.” She deadpanned.

“Deal.” Sour shook Dash’s hand with an impish grin.

Dash smirked right back, squeezing her hand, testing her resolve as the two demons stared each other down.

Not losing her grin, Sour tightened her grip on Dash’s hand. As Dash tightened back, Sour did as well. Eventually their hands were turning white from the pressure of the handshake. When they finally pulled away, Sour’s hand was tingling with numbness and Dash had indents of nails sinking into her skin.

Dash tried not to laugh. This wasn’t a friend after all. “Not bad.” She nodded, “Great to have you on the team then, Sour.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sour responded, shaking her hand awake, “You losers couldn’t do it without me anyways. Maybe I’ll actually tolerate it this time.”

Dash chuckled. In a bizarre way, the cutting back sass of a much darker, meaner Sunset was almost reassuring. It trivialized things. Made them seem so much simpler. “Either way, can’t imagine you’re ready to run back there, huh?”

“Not if I’m going to uphold any ounce of my dignity, no.” Sour shook her head. “I think I’ll take a walk.”

“Where to? It's not exactly a great idea for any of us to be alone right now, and unless I mistook Cinch’s words, she kinda kicked you out.” Dash pointed out, hoping that wasn’t coming off as concern.

“Curmudgeon bitch.” Sour grumbled. “Well, I guess snagging my shit and finding a place to camp out is the next plan. ...Not that you care about that.”

“I care more about making sure you don’t get yoinked by the cult again or point attention towards us.” She shrugged, “If that’s where you’re headed, I’ll go with. Don’t care how tough of a demon you are or whatever, none of us should be heading anywhere alone.”

“Works for me, you can carry some of my shit. Just don’t get your… sweaty jock-ness on it.” She scowled, leading the way back towards Crystal Prep.

“That the best you got?” She scoffed with a smirk, chasing after her with a snort. She’d send a text to Stanza once they’d walked to the school, but for now... “Come on, I expect better from you!”

“Oh, you want worse? I can do worse, you cu-”

Two hours later, the group had dispersed for the night.

“I’ll be staying here?!” Sour gaped at the fancy gated apartment complex Dash had led her to.

“Yeah, well. Aria said she wanted you under lockdown and this is where she and her sisters are staying, so…” Dash seemed kind of annoyed that Sour moved up in the world because of this arrangement, which only made Sour giddier.

“Aria or whatever can have me on lockdown for however long she wants!” Sour beamed, “This sure beats the streets!”

“Never seen someone so eager to be under ‘house arrest’, though given where you’re coming from, I guess I can kinda understand.” Dash hummed with a small frown.

“At least I’m assured a bed, food, and warmth. And I don’t have to pay for any of it!” She laughed out, “I guess working with the losers does have a perk or two.”

“Guess so.” Dash nodded, waving down the pigtailed siren as she saw her approach from inside, “Evening, Aria.” She nodded, regarding the siren with an even glance. It wasn’t hard in a group, but Aria had been her enemy just a month or two ago. Meeting one on one was a little more unnerving.

Aria nodded back, “Good evening. I see you’ve got the jailbug, and that she’s chirping quite the happy tune.” Aria chuckled as Sour’s cheery disposition sunk back into a scowl as she was mocked.

“Well given where you guys have bunked up, I can’t really blame her. These are some pretty nice digs. I bet you rented a room totally legally - without using any magical means whatsoever - right?” Dash gave Aria a rather amused look. Unlike Sunny and some of the other Shadowbolts, a few minor uses of the song, just to get a few minor things of course, didn’t bother her all that much. A nice room in a fancy apartment after weeks upon weeks of fading away in some random hole in the ground was almost a need rather than a want.

“Oh yeah, completely legally with a receipt and paperwork to go with it.” Aria crossed her arms. “Anyway, Stanza’s been waiting on you. She felt it’d be weird to head to your place without you, so she’s chilling with us.”

Dash nodded, “Makes sense. That’s what she texted me anyway. Adagio didn’t absorb her into the giant orange blob on her head, did she?” She chuckled slightly, at least trying to keep up the friend;y atmosphere. “Sorry we took so long, “Sour had a lot of shit for us to grab.” She pointed to the bags they’d dragged in.

“Well drag them in a little further. We have a guest room she can’t wiggle herself out of without me knowing.” Aria said, picking up two herself rather effortlessly. “And no, Adagio’s not even here. She’s grabbing supplies for tonight.”

As the group came in, Dash locked eyes with Sunset, who was sitting on the Dazzlings’ couch.

Sonata giggled as they stepped in, clearly just missing the punchline to a joke, “Wow! She really said that?”

“In front of everyone. I really don’t know what goes through Trixie’s head most days. Outside of her own ego getting circulated around.” Sunset snickered, standing when she saw them enter, “Oh, Dash, hey!” She smiled, souring slightly when she saw who was at the back of the group, “Sour Sweet.” She nodded a little more neutrally.

“Bodysnatcher. Always pleasant to be in the room with you.” She replied, fluttering her eyelashes, “Just a treat.”

“Alright you two, cut that out.” Aria grumbled, “I’m not going to sit here and be the mom. Sour, just get in your room.”

“What was that about not being a mom?” Sonata giggled.

“Sonata, I swear to Crescendo.”

Sour smirked, “Shouldn’t you swear to your bodysnatcher overlord now? Freaks.”

Aria didn’t say a word. She simply snatched Sour up by the back of her jacket, and dragged her into the spare bedroom.

“Ack-!” Sour yelped as she was dragged away.

Sonata giggled, hopping up and dragging the supplies they brought from the school into the room after her.

Dash just sighed, shaking her head and flopping down on the couch next to Sunset, “...hey.” She smiled weakly.

“Hey.” Sunset smiled back, “Seems like things went pretty well for the first day. Everything considered.”

“Think they’ll stay that way? I mean, the cult could strike at us at any time, right? They could be watching…” Dash frowned, swallowing nervously, fingers digging into the couch.

“I mean, they could, but there’s not really any use focusing on that right now,” Sunset said, putting her hand on Dash’s in an attempt to calm her down, “All focusing on it will do is make us all too paranoid to think clearly. We can only hope that things will run this smoothly from here on out, and plan for the worst. Right?”

Despite her intention, the moment Sunset’s hand touched Dash’s she felt her heart rate spike considerably, a light sweat dust her brow. “Y-yah...I can see what you mean.” She swallowed, “There’s probably other things we could be focusing on and just...hope for the best, right?” She glanced over at her.

“Dash, you’re blushing.” Sunset chuckled softly.

“NO I’M NOT!” She replied calmly.

Sonata poked her head back in the room, “Everything okay in here?” She asked, just in time to see Rainbow disappear into the bathroom.

Sunset chuckled knowingly, rolling her eyes. “We’re fine, Sonata. Apparently Dash and I need to do some more private talking, though.”

Night fell over Canterlot as human Twilight Sparkle wandered around Crystal Prep.

“Since when has this place been shut down?” She asked herself, ducking and weaving around the police tape. As she slipped through large chunks of wall and floor that had been tossed around, she became more and more anxious. “I hope my lab didn’t get torn up!” She quickened her pace, heading into the main atrium of the school.

A man was standing there in a black suit. If he’d heard her footsteps and mumbles, he hadn’t called out to her.

“Um, officer?” Twilight assumed, seeing as he was dressed in a uniform of some kind. It was hard to see much more than his outline in the dark. “I’m sorry to barge in, but I needed some supplies for my independent study project that I left here! Can I please get them before you throw me out?”

Silence reigned for a moment as the man seemingly considered her words. Twilight shifted from foot to foot as she waited for his judgement call.

Then, he spread his arms in a shrug.

“Oh, um, thank you! I’ll just be a moment!” Twilight ducked into her lab, which was entirely not the downstairs broom closet she’d taken over. When she looked for the box of supplies that was supposed to be sitting on her desk, though, they were already gone. “Wait. I- I left these here over the break, I swear! They were right here! Right?” She looked around frantically for the supply box, only to notice that the man was now standing at the doorway to her lab.

His hands were still spread in the same way, but a honey-gold orb with a blood red outline had formed between them.

“Wh-what?” Twilight swallowed, backing away, “What’s that?!”

The man let out a dark chuckle, “Oh, so you don’t recognize me. Perfect.” The orb in his hands shot off a line of red magic, completely encasing Twilight in it. “Now then, Pri-...no, no that’s not right. You’re undoubtedly Twilight Sparkle, but certainly not the one who defeated me. Even still, this will be so very cathartic…” He stroked his white beard with a thuggish grin, as he pulled Twilight along with him in his magic. “You’ll be a fitting sacrifice for Bray’s little plan.”

“S-sacri-Help! HELP!” Twilight yelled out as she squirmed feebly against the aura holding her afloat.

Tirek chuckled as he watched her squirm defenselessly. “Now we can’t have that, can we now?” His magic rippled with a darkened effect, and Twilight’s eyes began to droop closed. “You’re definitely not the princess who took me down. Even so, human or not, if you have half the potential as your counterpart you’ll make do for the perfect magic battery.” He set off with Twilight levitating behind him in tow, savoring the moment that he’d taken her down so easily. Twilights were Twilights, crown or not. Revenge was a sweet dish, even when served to the wrong table.

Author's Note

So yeah what even are deadlines? I feel like I owe an apology every other update at this rate. Sorry again for the late update, but here it is at least, the continued calm before the storm.

Thanks again to Sunny and Sam for helping proof read.

Page 201, Paragraphs 1-3

This case is proving to be a troubling one.

The siblings are opposed on their word. One speaking of camaraderie and equal hatred of the kelpies, the other claiming they had nothing to do with this crime at all. Even so, the kelpies are demanding a response to this. If this isn't handled in short order, this side of the ocean may be engulfed in a bloody struggle.

Speaking plainly, I don't know what to do. Opus' reign had been peaceful. She never wrote about an incident like this, and the elders don't recall anything of this sort in our history. Out of the eyes of my sirens, I don't know if I can get us through this intact. If I declare one of the perpetrators innocent, what sort of precedent might that set on the siren song? On us as a species. There will be another hearing later today. Whatever is said, I hope this Dazzle has a good case to make for themselves. The time to make a decision is quickly drawing near.