Once the other girls found out about Sunset’s return, it didn’t take long before Twilight’s lab became crowded with people and Sunset was bombarded with hugs (at least from the CHS girls). It was then that Twilight finally got the girls caught up on her theory. “So what you’re saying is our two worlds are bumping into one another and that’s causing these critters to mosey on over here?” Applejack asked.

“That’s…one way of looking at it,” Sunset said. “But Princess Twilight hadn’t heard of anything happening in the Ponyville, though we both know the Everfree Forest is always unpredictable.”

“So…they’re coming from the forest then?” Fluttershy asked.

“That can’t be right,” Sunny said. “I saw one appear in the middle of the city. How do you explain that?”

“Well…honestly I’m still trying to figure that one out,” Twilight said. “But there’s one other thing…the number of instances that we’ve had all over Canterlot aren’t quite adding up.”

“What do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Well, what I’m about to explain is a bit confusing so let me get one thing out of the way:” I believe our two worlds are connected more than we think. There are two Canterlots, two Manehattans, etc. Now, with the exception of Canterlot here and Ponyville there, I think geographically the cities line up.”

“Okay you already lost me,” Rainbow said.

Twilight sighed. “Then let me keep it simple. If there was a portal in the Everfree Forest here, then where would you end up in the other world?”

“Ooh ooh!” Pinkie said, waving her hand. “The Everfree Forest on that side!”

“I think that was supposed to be more rhetorical Pinkie…” Sunset said, facepalming.

“Okay, now I think I understand, so what’s your point?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, according to the data I’ve collected, a lot of these appearances are happening in a close proximity of one another,” Twilight explained further. “Sunset, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure most of the creatures in Equestrian don’t live in the city, nor do they live close to one another…most of them are pretty territorial and if such a thing were happening I know Princess Twilight would let me know.”

“So in other words…they can’t be coming from the other side?” Sugarcoat asked.

“More like someone may be luring them here, though I guess we can’t really prove that as of yet,” Sunset said.

“But who and why?” Sunny asked. “What’s there to be gained if this whole place erupts into chaos?”

I could think of one in particular but Twilight, and Fluttershy especially, assure me he’s changed, Sunset thought. Suddenly it hit her. The only kind of person who would do that is someone who has nothing to lose…and right now I know three that fit that description.

Sunset suddenly got up. “Listen girls, I know this is sudden but…I need to go somewhere real quick.”

“Um…where exactly?” Rarity asked.

“I just need to…get some stuff at my apartment, that’s it. I’ll be back soon!” Sunset then rushed out of the lab.

Applejack chuckled slightly. “She’s only been back for about an hour and already she takes off somewhere. Go figure.”

“So, where do we go from here anyway?” Indigo asked, leaning against the wall. “Even with a large group, it’ll be close to impossible to finding a source of all this in a city this big.”

Twilight had to admit, there wasn’t much else they could do at this point. The pieces haven’t quite fit together just yet. Sunset appeared to be onto something but didn’t wish to get the rest of them involved, which was strange, even for her. Whatever it is Sunset, I hope it yields results…

Honestly, Sunset wasn’t sure where she was going but she had a pretty good idea on where to start. It had been a few months since the Dazzlings: Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, tried taking over the school. They haven’t been seen since but everything about this sounded like a revenge plot.

There was one small flaw in her deduction: they had no magic. After their defeat, their amulets had shattered and the magic that was contained in them was lost to them forever, so being able to rip open tears in space might be next to impossible for them, although again Equestrian magic was unpredictable in this world.

But there was another reason why Sunset wanted to locate them: aside from being the only other beings from her world, the Sirens’ history went back over a thousand years, according to Princess Twilight. Even if they weren’t the culprits behind this, maybe they knew how the portal in this world came to be. Maybe then they could finally reestablish a connection between the two worlds.

The area that Sunset was going to was more or less the slums in Canterlot. Homeless were not uncommon, even in Canterlot though she admitted in Equestria’s Canterlot that never seemed to be a problem. Sunset had to admit, she was amazed how the Sirens managed to blend in for so long. Before, the Sirens would’ve been able to easily persuade their way into fancy living, but now…well she was ninety-five percent certain they were in this sort of place now.

Sunset then found a man who was sitting against a brick wall. He seemed normal but Sunset couldn’t help but feel a little tense. You had to be very careful around these parts, or just avoid them altogether. “Excuse me…I’m looking for someone…three people actually. They’re close to my age (I hope that’s still the case), and…I’m pretty sure they live together.”

“Ah, I know who you’re talking about,” the man said. “There’s an abandoned apartment complex a few blocks down, I think that’s where they are now. Be careful though, the one has a really mean punch.”

“Thank you.” Sunset then hesitated. “Listen…I…”

The man chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. You’re in high school right? You have your own future to worry about so don’t feel burdened about fixing mine. If you want to help those girls, that’s enough for me.”

Sunset nodded before heading down the alleyway. It wasn’t long before she came across the apartment complex the man had mentioned. How neither the place had been torn down nor the “tenants” haven’t been removed forcefully was a mystery to her.

Of course, finding the trio wasn’t going to be as simple, considering how big the complex was. Most of the doors were locked, but the silence within some made it difficult to tell if someone was living in there or not. It wasn’t until she got to the second floor that she found them.

The walls apparently weren’t insulated very well since their voices could be heard even before getting to the door. Sunset put her ear to the door and listened in.

“Hey Aria, can you accompany me down to the snack machine?” It took Sunset a moment to remember names but the voice belonged to Sonata.

“Nah, I’m good,” Aria replied.

“Huh? But I don’t wanna go down there by myself…”

“You’ve gone down there plenty of times…” There was a pause. “Open your purse.”

“What?”

“Open. Your. Purse.”

“N-No!”

“I knew it. You wanted me to come along so you could guilt-trip me into buying you a snack!”

“Wah! Don’t make me feel guilty!”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. That’s what you get for wasting your money on junk food. You’re always hungry Sonata.”

Sunset had a look of utter confusion on her face. It seemed like not much had changed but…after their amulets had been destroyed it seemed as if things really went went downhill for them. She did feel slightly guilty for putting them in this predicament, but on the other hand they had been manipulating people for the past thousand years so perhaps they finally got what they deserved. Either way, now was not the time for confrontation; she just hoped they wouldn’t be too hostile. Taking a deep breath, she then knocked on the door.

Everything went still inside. “Did…did someone knock on the door?” Sonata asked.

“I swear if it’s for another fucking noise complaint I’m blaming it on you,” Aria snapped. “Either that or someone’s here to murder us. You go answer it.”

“W-Why me!?”

“Because if you answer and he happens to shoot your head off, at least I can die happy knowing true peace, even if its for only a few moments.”

“Meanie…!” The sound of footsteps echoed across what Sunset assumed was a hallway inside and suddenly she could hear a latch be removed before the door opened slightly. For the briefest of moments, the two girls looked at one another before Sonata suddenly slammed the door.

“Um…Aria…? You know that girl we met way back then, that showed us around at Canterlot High? She’s right outside.”

It was still for a few moments before the door suddenly opened again and now two girls were staring at her. Both Aria and Sonata looked like they had seen better days, though it was hard to say if it was the effect of losing their magic or being in their current surroundings. Both of them were wearing hoodies and their hair appeared to be all over the place.

“What the hell do you want?” Aria suddenly snapped. “We didn’t do anything alright? Or are you here to gloat at us?”

“It seems a little late to be gloat-”

“Shut up Sonata.”

“I’m not here for a confrontation,” Sunset said, putting her hands up gently. She didn’t feel threatened since she was the only one here with magic, but she was still outnumbered three to one and Aria looked like the kind of girl you didn’t want to get into a brawl with. “I just have questions…”

“What kind of questions?” Aria asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, what kind of questions?” Sonata added. “Better yet, why should we even be talking to you? Not only did you screw up our plan, but now we’ve lost everything…and I can’t even buy tacos anymore…”

“Look, I’m not gonna waste time going over everything you did because honestly I don’t have time. Things here are deteriorating as we speak and, unfortunately, it’s an Equestrian problem which is why I’ve come to you, asking for information. So if you’re going to just slam the door in my face, just do it already so I can be on my way.”

She was expecting them to do it but surprisingly she witnessed the two girls glance at one another. “You’re talking about all those creatures showing up?” Aria asked, crossing her arms,

“Yeah…I’m assuming you’ve seen them?”

“A few. Not like we can do much against them in our current state. Luckily they’re not keen on searching buildings. But what does this have to do with us?”

“All I know about you is that a thousand years ago you got banished here by Starswirl the Bearded. Surely you have to know something about the portal you got sent through, why it connects to here and whether or not if magic has been working here longer than we thought.”

Aria suddenly shook her head as a grin crept onto her face. “Adagio’s gonna get a kick outta this…fine, come in. Hopefully she’ll be in a decent mood to talk.”

“Uh…are you sure about this?” Sonata asked.

“Don’t worry, she’s not gonna hurt us. She’s one of the good guys now, remember?” Sunset decided to ignore the barb as she let herself in.

Despite their best attempts at sprucing up the place, the apartment pretty much was in the same state as the rest of the complex. It was on the living room couch they found Adagio sitting, with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. It was quiet for a few moments before Sunset finally decided to say it. “Is she meditating?”

“Yep,” Aria said, rolling her eyes. “Thinks somehow it’ll help restore her magic. She’s been doing this for months now and no results.”

“You know I can hear you right?” Adagio said irritably before she slowly opened her eyes. She then looked at Sunset quietly. “Quite the wardrobe change…but I suppose it has been awhile since we last met.”

“You’re taking this all rather well, despite what happened in the past,” Sunset commented.

“Because that’s all it is now, the past,” Adagio said as she laid back on the couch. “Oh don’t get me wrong, we were all quite furious with you girls afterwards…but now it really doesn’t matter. We’re just going to waste away eventually anyway, as dear Starswirl intended.”

“I really don’t want to reopen old wounds but-”

“Yes, yes, you want to know about how we got here,” Adagio said quickly. “I suggest you take a seat, dear Sunset. We have much to tell.”

Author's Note

You guys know I wasn't going to keep you waiting long.