Sunset Shimmer was racing to Canterlot High School because of a message Rainbow Dash sent her and the other Rainbooms in the late afternoon. Apparently, it was an emergency and everyone was needed right away. "I got your text, Rainbow Dash," Sunset said as she stopped in front of the stairs to the school and saw her friend kneeling down to open her guitar case. "Did something come through the portal? Is Equestrian magic on the loose? Did Twilight come back with a problem that only we can solve?!"

"Has a giant cake monster covered all the cakes in the world in cake," Pinkie Pie excitedly asked before shoving two cupcakes into her mouth.

"Um, not exactly," Rainbow Dash said as she picked up her guitar.

"I don't understand," Sunset said in confusion before Applejack explained what the 'emergency' was.

"Well, Sunset, I was just telling Rainbow Dash here that a broken guitar string doesn't really qualify as an emergency," Applejack said as she fiddled around the broken string on Rainbow's guitar. "Why don't you have some spares of your own with you?"

"This does count as an emergency," Rainbow Dash stated as she held her guitar close.

"Really, Rainbow Dash! I was in the middle of sewing a very complex appliqué on my latest frock," Rarity complained. She was wearing red glasses, had a pincushion on her left wrist, and a measuring tape was hanging on her neck and shoulders.

Fluttershy stepped forward, petting her rabbit in her arms. "And I was just about to tuck everyone in for the night at the shelter. Now, we'll have to start the stories all over again."

"Why would you send all of us an emergency text for a guitar string," Sunset asked in slight annoyance. "Shouldn't you have spares with you like AJ said?"

"Well, I was going to pony up and show our fans some awesome guitar licks, but I kinda need all six strings to do it," Rainbow Dash explained as she gestured to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle (collectively known as the Crusaders or CMC), who were all sitting on the stairs. "And I forgot my spares at home. Got any extra?"

As the other Rainbooms groaned in annoyance, Sunset reached into her bag to pull out a spare guitar string for Rainbow Dash. "Here. But, everyone finished practicing for the day. I'm pretty sure all the music rooms are locked," Sunset mentioned.

After Rainbow Dash fixed her guitar, she spoke to the others. "No problem. The acoustics in the hallway are perfect for power chords," she said before playing a chord to prove her point. "C'mon! Let's go," she exclaimed before a flash of rainbow-colored light appeared just by the Canterlot Wondercolt Statue.

"Well, we're back," a voice called out. "And it seems that our hair still changes whenever we show up here."

"Blaze? Is that you," Sunset Shimmer asked as she and the Rainbooms turned to the statue.

"No. It's the Princess of Pony Land," Rua sarcastically said with a smile as she stepped forward. "And I'm here to give you a knighthood," she continued before laughing. "Nice to see you guys again."

The rest of Fragment Hunter stepped into view and Pinkie was the first one to start a massive group hug when she tackled Rua into Slate, Silver, and Vinyl. "It's so good to see you all," she nearly shouted. "Why are you visiting today?"

"We wanted to show this place off to a few new visitors," Layla said as Azalea and Sunset Blaze stepped into view.

Everyone saw Azalea's new outfit and were speechless at what she looked like. After a long silence, Rarity was the first to snap out of the trance and took note of Azalea's clothes. "Azalea, this is gorgeous! You look amazing, Darling," she exclaimed as she complimented the Faunus' new 'punk warrior' attire.

"Thanks, Rarity. I feel like a whole new girl when I wear this," Azalea said.

"Well, I hope that you aren't somebody else," a deep voice said as they stepped out from behind the statue. "I'd hate to find out that I've been raising someone who wasn't my daughter for the past 18 years." The Rainbooms and the CMC got a good look at the enormous muscular man with horns and dozens of scars in front of them. "Allow me to introduce myself, girls. My name is Terracotta Gaia," he said with a gentle smile.

Everyone was still in shock as they saw the Bull Faunus in front of them. Pinkie was the first to speak as she zipped up next to Terracotta. "Wow! You are bigger in person than we thought," she said as she kept looking at Terra's scars. "Then again, we only did see you in a picture Azalea showed us."

"Did she happen to show a picture of me," a second voice asked as she stepped out into view. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw a woman that looked just like an older version of Azalea if she were a supermodel or a goddess. "Ivy Dahlia Holstein. I'm Azalea's mother. Glad to meet some of the locals," she introduced herself.

The girls were all stunned by how beautiful Ivy looked and regained their senses to greet Azalea's parents and introduce themselves. "Howdy, Mrs. Holstein. I'm Applejack and these are my friends. Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie," AJ said before turning to the Crusaders. "Oh, and that's my little sister, Apple Bloom and her friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister."

"A pleasure to meet you all," Ivy said with a smile.

"You're even in more beautiful in person," Rarity complimented. "I can see where Azalea gets her looks."

"Would that mean she gets her strength from her dad," Scootaloo asked.

"Eeyup," Terracotta and Azalea both replied.

"Anyways, we still have two others that came with us," Sunset Blaze said as two more women walked into sight. The first woman had flowing pink hair with a white dress and the other had black hair with azure highlights and a black dress. "Allow me to introduce my teachers from Garrison Academy. This is Aurora Celeste and her younger sister, Nocturne Celeste."

"Hello there, children," Aurora greeted with a smile.

"Greetings, young ones! We are looking forward to learning about your world for the first time," Nocturne dramatically exclaimed.

"Please forgive my sister," Aurora said. "She can be a bit of a ham."

"And you can be a trickster whenever the opportunity calls," Nocturne retorted with a smirk.

"How about we continue this talk inside while we practice," Rainbow Dash suggested as she entered the doorway of the school.

"Right behind you," Pinkie said as she skipped through the open door.

As most of Fragment Hunter, the visiting adults, and the Rainbooms entered with the CMC, Sunset Shimmer stayed behind with Azalea, Rua, and Rebecca. "You coming, Sunset," Applejack asked.

"I'll catch up in a bit. I want to write to Princess Twilight first," Shimmer said to her friend. As Applejack went inside, Sunset Shimmer pulled out the magic journal she used to write letters to her friend between different dimensions. Clicking a pen, she started to write in the journal.

'Dear Princess Twilight,

How's life treating you in Equestria? Any cool new magic spells? It's been pretty quiet here at CHS since the Battle of the Bands. We still pony up when we play music, which Rainbow Dash just loves to show off. But I still can't quite grasp what it's all about. Fragment Hunter also just stopped by with some friends and family to show them around. I'm sure you would like to meet them in person, too. I would love to hear what you think about it when you get a sec.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.'

While Sunset was writing and Azalea was talking with Rua and Rebecca, a bus stopped by the school and left somebody off. They were wearing sweats and a hoodie, so their identity was hidden from anyone who tried to get a good look at them. However, you could still see a pair of glasses even while they wore the hood up. The mysterious figure pulled out a device of sorts and began to scan the area for something. As they approached the CHS campus, the scanner seemed to pick up more intense readings from the Wondercolt Statue and the stranger circled around to the portal in the base of the statue.

Azalea, Rua, and Rebecca saw the newcomer and quietly observed as they seemed engrossed with the device. As the figure placed a hand on the surface of the portal, it began to ripple under their touch. Looking up, Sunset saw the stranger near the portal to Equestria and called out to them. "Hey! What are you doing," she exclaimed as the stranger turned around to see Sunset Shimmer. The stranger ran off and the other girls chased after them. "Wait! Stop," Sunset called out.

"We'll get 'em," Rua exclaimed as she, Rebecca, and Azalea split off from each other to help Sunset Shimmer catch the figure. As Rua and Shimmer came close to the road, a car sped by them and the latter had to stop for her own safety. With great athletic skill, Rua jumped onto the car and leapt off of the vehicle to continue chasing the stranger. The mystery person ran past a lamp post and grabbed onto it so that they could swing into the open doors of the bus that just arrived. Just as they got on, the bus sped away and Sunset wasn't able to catch the stranger. Rua managed to jump onto the roof of the bus and just before she could use her arm blades to cut open the bus, she saw that she was speeding toward a lamp post. "Ah, Grimm paste," Rua muttered before crashing into the post and fell to the ground.

Sunset Shimmer helped Rua to her feet before they saw the bus head into the city. "Good thing you have that Aura of yours. Otherwise you would've been in worse condition," Sunset mentioned to Rua. Looking in the direction where the bus was heading, Sunset only had one question at the moment. "Who was that?"

On the bus, the mysterious stranger sat down in the back of the vehicle and removed her hood as she sighed. Her hair was up in a bun and was three different shades of purple while she had a purple-colored skin tone. Unknown to her, Azalea and Rebecca managed to sneak onto the bus and saw that she resembled their friend, Twilight Sparkle. Using their Scrolls, they quietly messaged the others about seeing someone near the portal and that they were tailing them. "Let's see who this girl is," Azalea whispered to Rebecca.

As the bus stopped, Azalea used her Semblance to hide herself and Rebecca from the second Twilight's view and silently followed her when she got off. Seeing a large school building, the two Huntresses were quick to see that unlike CHS, this school wasn't designed like a castle. Instead, the exterior seemed to be lined with crystals and seemed more like a prep school they would find in Atlas. The purple girl walked through the doors and began her way through the halls of the building. Azalea and Rebecca were able to follow her without getting noticed by anyone and eventually managed to sneak into a private room that the Twilight doppelganger entered.

Staying out of sight with Azalea's Semblance, Rebecca managed to take a few pictures of a board covered in notes, pictures, and red string. Several of the notes focused on rainbows appearing in the dead of night and some photos were from the Battle of the Bands. Rebecca recognized the image of Azalea and Sunset Blaze flying at the Dazzlings for a super powerful strike and turned back to Twilight's double. "What are you researching," Rebecca thought to herself before Azalea tapped the ninja on the shoulder to get her attention. Two strings were pinned to a calendar that had a note attached to it that read 'Friendship Games'.

After seeing the note, the Huntresses turned back to the girl and saw that she was taking apart her device. They saw that she was turning it into a new object that looked like a purple pocket watch or a high-tech amulet. Seeing that she was focused on her work, Rebecca and Azalea snuck back out without the Twilight lookalike noticing them become visible again. Just as she was closing the door, Azalea saw a purple and green dog eyeing her in curiosity. Azalea just placed a finger to her lips to signal him to be quiet.

"We need to figure out who this doppelganger of Twilight is," Rebecca said to Azalea as they walked through the halls. "Maybe she's this world's Twilight Sparkle like what the Princess told us about herself and Equestria?"

"That sounds like the most likely thing, Rebecca. But, I'm wondering about that 'Friendship Games' note," Azalea stated. "We should get back to the others and tell them what we found out."

Author's Note

And this begins my idea for Fragment Hunter's involvement in the Friendship Games. Next chapter will have the characters from Remnant talking with Principal Celestia about joining the event as competitors. Hope you enjoy reading this one because there are going to be plenty of action scenes in this fic!