The Seven Myths of Equestria

Chapters

Prologue
Super Team? (Part 1)
Super Team? (Part 2)
Super Team? (Part 3)
Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 1)
Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 2)
Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 3)
Turn Up the Volume (Part 1)
Turn Up the Volume (Part 2)
Teamwork? (Part 1)
Teamwork? (Part 2)
Teamwork? (Part 3)
Teamwork? (Part 4)
The Amulets (Part 1)
The Amulets (Part 2)

Prologue

"So today," Principal Celestia said from the podium. "with a bittersweet taste, we are letting one of our most remarkable classes go and face the world beyond the walls of our beloved school. In these halls, all of you have left a mark, as you have left it on our hearts."

All eyes were fixed on the woman upstage... or almost all the eyes. From her seat in the front row, Sunset felt uneasy, like being watched. As Principal Celestia made a pause, she subtly looked all around her.

No one was looking her way.

Sunset returned her attention to Celestia as she began to speak again. "Together, you have proven to all the world that united we are stronger, that our differences don't make us less, but special," she shoot a look at the first row of seats, were the Rainbooms proudly (more proudly in some cases than others) sat with navy blue caps and gowns. Principal Celestia smiled. "and that friendship truly is magic."

There was a general laugh coming from the students. Behind her sister, Vice-Principal Luna chuckled.

Sunset smiled. Indeed, so much happened in those unforgettable years. Herself, her friends, and the whole school with them had grown so much that now she realized that all along, all she had really needed, was a friend. Even back then in Equestria, when she was a boasting little filly thinking the world revolved around her, had she accepted someone into her heart and took her nose out of her ego for a minute... maybe she would have never made the mistakes thanks to which she hurt so many.

Sometimes, she ended up beating herself down for those times. What would have been of her hadn't her friends forgiven her? She was hopeless without them...

A tissue appeared in her field of vision. She looked to her right, where Twilight held it out for her.

"You wouldn't want to ruin your make up, right?" she whispered. Behind her, the rest of her friends sent her meaningful looks.

Sunset gladly took it and dried off the tears forming in her eyes before they could fall off. She shook her head. No. She had to stop feeling self-pity. Her friends forgave her long ago, why dwelling on it any longer?

She gave her friends a bright smile before turning her attention back to Celestia.

"... that's why I'd like you to get your hands together for our newest graduates, Class 50 of CHS!" Celestia finished her speech, and the whole field erupted in applause and cheers. Celestia and Luna stood together on the stage, proud smiles on their faces. Congratulations, guys. You deserve it.

As Sunset stood up to fetch her diploma, once again, she felt observed. And once again, when she eyed the crowd once on top of the stage, there was no one she didn't know looking at her.

Maybe it was her imagination. The mind was a powerful thing, and she could play nasty tricks sometimes.

Night had fallen in the beautiful city of Canterlot, but the party was still on. From her spot in the hills behind the building, a young woman admired the school as the beat of music reached her, heavily contrasting with the quietness of the rest of the city.

"Seems like party is always on in here."

The young woman looked behind her. A woman stood behind her, right under the shadow of a tree. She could only make out her silhouette framed by the moonlight, and some hues of her dress.

"With someone like Pinkie Pie in charge of organizing the parties, I'm not surprised there's always laughter and music."

The eldest woman smiled. The youngest looked at the school once again.

"What are you going to do now? About them, I mean. Will you recruit them immediately?"

Although she couldn't see her, she could almost feel her shaking her head behind her and leaving the shadows of the tree, only to join her on admiring the school.

"No." she answered. "Not now. We'll leave them alone for a few years, so they can face the world, study a career. I wouldn't want to take their dreams from them. Then we'll take them with us."

"What if they refuse?"

"They won't."

"But, what if they do?"

"They won't." the woman repeated, firm, but keeping the softness and kindness of her voice. "Maybe they'll doubt it in the beginning, but they all will accept in the end. I know them."

The young woman stood still as the woman turned around and went back to her shadow.

"Do you think they'll be safe and sound until then?"

The soft footsteps stopped.

"That's why we'll keep an eye on them. We'll make sure they have their good deal of risk, but nothing too extreme."

"Who will watch them?"

"You will." the young woman flinched. "Then, you'll bring them to me. I need them one piece, and no one will suspect of you. They haven't until now. Also, you are very discreet."

The young woman arranged her hair. "I'm anxious for them to join us."

It was complete silence for a minute and, then, with a tone that left behind hints of a smile, the woman replied:

"Me too."

Her footsteps went on.

When the young woman turned around, the woman had already disappeared.

Author's Note

So yeah! This is where my first multichapter story in this site begins... I'm so excited and nervous, I hope you all like this story. I've been working for almost a year now on it, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it :twilightsmile:

Super Team? (Part 1)

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Twilight repeated under breath as she made her way down the hallway. "Damn it, damn it, damn it," the elevator's door opened and the old lady who lived next door came out, just back from walking her hound. Twilight almost collided with her. "Sorry!" she mumbled apologetically, and ashamed.

The old lady laughed and walked away. Twilight went back to freaking out. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" she pressed the button to the lobby. She flinched as the sound of a ringing cellphone resounded on the empty elevator, before noticing it was hers. She fished the device from the bottom of her purse and picked up the moment the doors opened.

"Yeah, I know, I know, I'm late!"

A chuckle resounded. "Seems we exchanged roles today. I arrived first thing in the morning, Twi."

"Well, that's good. Let's see if punctuality rubs herself on you."

"Don't get your hopes up."

Twilight made frantic signs to a taxi. "You have superspeed, for heaven's sake!" she half-scream, half-whispered. "Your unpunctuality makes no sense, Dash!"

"Timing never really was my thing."

Twilight groaned and jumped into the back seat of the taxi. The driver shot her a weird look as she rubbed her eyes.

"See you in a bit, Rainbow Dash."

"See ya."

She hung up and looked over to the driver.

"To Canterlot High, now!"

"You're late, slowpoke."

Twilight shot a glare to a very smug Rainbow Dash and ran to the paper sheet where she was supposed to write down her arriving time. Only her name had already a time written down. She turned to Dash.

"I've been watching your back since we talked." she shrugged. "Your perfect record is safe. You're welcome."

She still found herself crushed between the arms of Twilight, who, very thankful, almost turned Dash deaf from her screams.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squeezed her once more before letting her go. "You have no idea how much it means to me."

"Believe me, I know."

Twilight went to her locker, way calmer. "Did Celestia come in here?"

"Just once." Dash left her empty mug in the counter. "Told her you were on the bathroom." the bell rang. "Well, that's our cue." she picked up her sports bag. "I have a class with the Freshmen, what about you?"

"Math with the Seniors." Twilight chuckled as both walked out of the staffroom.

"Oh, yeah, the best way to start a Monday."

Both laughed and parted to their respective classes.

Applejack parked the red car in the alley just behind Sugar Cube Corner. The once small bakery had turned into a popular, big bakery when, after finishing her four-years long career on Event Planning, Pinkie Pie associated with the Cakes to create one huge business. This is why the Bakery had widened, the second floor becoming the Cakes' apartment and Pinkie's office. A third floor was added, which was completely occupied by an event hall.

The place had gained a lot of popularity thanks to this, and Pinkie Pie had formed herself a name in the Planning field.

Applejack checked the time on her wristwatch. Just in time to deliver the apples. Big Mac, who for once couldn't do the deliveries because of a cold, would be very proud.

"Applejack, dear!"

Said girl turned to see Mrs. Cake standing at the back door of the place, a wide smile plastered on her middle-aged face. Applejack tipped her hat as a hello and grabbed a box of apples before approaching the woman.

"Hi there, Mrs. Cake! How has it been going?"

"Just great, dear. Allow me to help you with those. I'll call Carrot too."

"Don't worry, Mrs." Applejack chuckled, stopping the woman from taking the box out of her hands. "I can handle it just fine. There's no need to bother Mr. Cake. You can go back to the bakery and I'll bring these boxes to the storage room, alright?"

"With my help!" Applejack turned to the voice. Pinkie Pie had just crossed the kitchen's door and approached both with a wide smile.

Mrs. Cake looked at her weirdly. "Weren't you talking with a bride just now, Pinkie?"

"Yup! But I'm done with her. She's a nervous wreck! Go back in there, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie pushed Mrs. Cake back to the kitchen. "I'll help Jackie."

"You really don't have to..."

"Pshh, like that'll stop me!"

Applejack laughed, grabbed two more apple boxes and waited as Pinkie Pie grabbed one of the boxes before they went on their way to the storage room.

"Let me tell you something, Jackie," Pinkie Pie suddenly started. "this bride I'm helping right now is, like, an epitome of 'paranoid'. She finds buts and what ifs on everything!"

"Really now?"

"Really! We've been through the aisle walk eight times! And she wants something original and fun... I'm really sorry for sending her to Rarity for her wedding dress."

"I can only imagine how that'll go..."

"Right?! But I know this kind. They're actually pretty common. A total perfectionist... We'll eventually find something that suits her, so I stay patient! Ah, I think these are the last ones."

"It'll always be a mystery to me how you can keep your cool with such and stressin' job."

"Because I love what I do, silly!" Pinkie left the last box of apples where it belonged and poked Applejack's belly. "Just like you love the farm."

Applejack chuckled. "Yeah, must be that..."

"There's nothing wrong with Opal, Rarity." Fluttershy took off her surgical gloves and softly stroke the cat's white fur. "Her lack of movement is probably just because of her age. She's just getting old."

"I'm not going to question you on that one, darling." Rarity scratched Opal's ear with her perfect purple nails. The cat purred. "But since you said that I should be wary of her getting too inactive... I got worried."

"And you've done right." Fluttershy picked up Opal and placed her back in her cage. The cat didn't even put up a fight. "But you can rest assured. Opal is in perfect health, so maybe you could try playing a bit with her. Otherwise, just keep doing what you've been doing up until now, and don't forget to bring her to her monthly check-up."

"I won't, darling." Rarity picked up the cage with Opal inside. The cat hissed a bit for the sudden movement and Rarity laughed. "Well, there's the Opalescence I know! Thank you, Fluttershy. I should probably get going. I'm a bit behind schedule with the next collection, and I need to meet up with a perfectionist bride at four." she paused and chuckled. "That'll only go well..."

"Oh, good luck with that..." Fluttershy followed Rarity to the exit of the office and to the lobby of the veterinary clinic. Plenty of patients waited in there, and Rarity turned to Fluttershy.

"It seems like you have a busy day. I'll see you later, darling." she kissed Fluttershy's cheek and left with a last 'goodbye'.

Fluttershy watched her go before turning to the rest of the people waiting.

"Next patient, please..."

Sunset bid her goodbyes to the receptionist and took the stairs on her way home. Outside, the weather was nice for the small walk she had to take. The street was oddly empty for a Monday afternoon.

Sunset sighed. There were some repairs being done on the road just a few blocks away from the doctor's office, so no cars (and, especially, no cabs) crossed. She would have to walk those few blocks to take a cab back home.

At least, she thought. I don't have classes tonight. She would invest the free time in reading a good book or watching a series.

Something sounded behind her. Sunset turned around immediately, her hand reaching for her pocket where she left her pepper spray.

But behind her, no one stood. The last alley was way behind her to represent a threat.

Unwillingly, Sunset resumed walking, her pace a little faster.

Funny, this uneasy feeling was... oddly familiar.

Sunset cringed when something stung her neck. She reached for the spot and pulled out the item.

A dart winked at her.

Her vision blurred suddenly and Sunset stumbled. She reached for the nearest pole. Her head spun, making her dizzy and her tongue felt heavy when she tried to call out for help.

Slowly, she let herself slide to the floor and sat against the pole.

The sound of steps approaching topped the ringing of her ears. With the little strength she had left, Sunset raised her head to try to look at her attacker.

But all she could see was a pair of black boots that stopped in front of her, right before falling into unconsciousness.

Author's Note

My, my :ajsmug:

Super Team? (Part 2)

Only once on her life, she had gotten drunk to that point where you couldn't remember a single thing that happened last night, woke up a mess and with the worst hangover ever, swearing you would never ever do it again. Most people did not keep that promise. But being a medical student, she had unwillingly kept that promise because between classes at night and work in the morning to pay her student fees, she didn't have a lot of time to get drunk.

However, as she slowly regained her senses, Sunset's first thought was that this headache was worse than any hangover imaginable. That mixed with the fact she still was feeling like in cartoons when little birds went around a character's head after a colliding with a wall and leaving a perfect outline of their body on it.

Sunset opened her eyes and regretted it. Fluorescent lights shone right above her and burnt her retina, so she closed her eyes again and rolled to the side.

Where was she? Why was she feeling like a horse had kicked her in the head?

Alarm slowly crept onto her and replaced confusion. This couldn't be good. Was she kidnapped? Why?

A groan that wasn't hers reached her ears. Sunset opened her eyes again and noticed she wasn't alone.

Applejack was there, lying in a bed next to the bed she was lying in herself, also looking like in the middle of getting her brain squeezed out of her ears.

And not only her. Next to Applejack was Fluttershy, and then Pinkie Pie. Sunset turned around and noticed Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight.

What in the name of Princess Celestia was going on?

"Girls?!" she blurted out, and all of them winced.

"Not so loud, please..." Dash demanded.

"Is this what a hangover feels like?"

"Nope, Fluttershy. This ain't like a hangover at all."

"What's happening?"

"Yeah! Where are we?"

"I..." Twilight swallowed, looking around the room, now fully sitting on the bed. "I have no idea."

Sunset sat in the bed too, and soon the rest of the girls followed suit.

There was no telling where they were. The room was pitch dark save from the fluorescent lights above Sunset, Rainbow, and Fluttershy. It seemed to extend a few yards into the darkness. There was a door, and a table half swallowed by the dark, and their stuff was sitting on top of the table. Sunset recognized her purse next to Fluttershy's. Her head wobbled and she cringed again.

"We apologize deeply for the aftereffects."

Sunset's mind went blank at the new voice.

No, it wasn't so new...

"That voice!" Dash cried.

Twilight looked like a fish in the needing water. "Could it be...?"

"Yes, indeed, Twilight Sparkle..."

Sunset felt her eyes pop out of her face.

The sound of heels approaching invaded the room, coming out of the darkness. Two silhouettes appeared: two women.

And these women...

"It's been a while since we saw all of you together."

Were Celestia and Luna themselves.

Flash sighed on his way out of The Tasty Treat. Missing a date like that did not sound like Twilight at all, considering her flawless scheduling and punctuality. Was she mad at him? He didn't remember doing something wrong at all. And she didn't sound mad when he called her earlier that day, right before his shift, to confirm their date. She was actually pretty cheerful.

He waited for two hours. Two whole, freaking hours. He couldn't decide between being mad or worried.

Her phone was off, so no calls. Texting was a no-no, for the messages never reached her. And he was reluctant on going to check her apartment. Maybe she fell asleep? She usually arrived home exhausted (dealing with teenagers all day could tire people out) and still had to check homework and exams. And prepare for class. And research for classes in her private library (her biggest pride, the result of a lifetime of books).

Did those kids know how hard she worked for them each day?

Flash tried calling her again. And just like the other times, the same message repeated itself: You've contacted with Twilight Sparkle. If I haven't picked up, I'm probably busy. You can leave a message and I'll contact you as soon as I can.

Beep. End of message.

He really was starting to worry.

Flash checked his wristwatch. 11:37 p.m. Should he check her apartment?

He got the idea of calling one of her friends and pressed the first name that he found: Applejack.

No luck. Hers was off too.

Don't worry, Flash. It's pretty late and she goes to bed early. Maybe I should try Rainbow Dash. They see each other every day, right?

He looked for her number too and called, hoping she would pick up. Please, pick up.

Rainbow Dash here. I-

"Damn it!" he hung up. Now he was really worried.

Standing on the side of an empty street, Flash massaged his brow. It's cool, Flash. It's just your paranoic cop side... I hope. She's alright. She's probably asleep. Yeah, it must be that.

But as he went over to his car, he swore to himself that if Twilight didn't pick up her phone by tomorrow morning, he would turn the whole town upside down.

Sunset swallowed a gulp of water to pass the aspirin offered to her. Her Doctor mind told her this wasn't going to be enough to calm the migraine, but it was what was offered to all of them in the meantime. Her eyes still hated the light, but there was nothing to do about it other than suck it up so she could listen to the explanation on why they were kidnapped by their ex-Principals (Twilight's and Dash's bosses, no less).

Said Principals, in fact, were patiently waiting for all of them sitting in chairs right in front of Sunset's bed. The rest of the girls had made themselves comfortable on Sunset's bed.

"Alright, mind tellin' us why are we in here?!" Applejack demanded to know. "What is goin' on?!"

"How did we get here in the first place?" asked Pinkie Pie. She looked all over the place. "Last thing I remember, I was leaving Sugarcube Corner to go home. I don't remember ever being here before."

"You were sedated with horse tranquilizer," Luna replied. Sunset lifted an eyebrow. Luna made a gesture with her hand. "Do not worry, it was a small dose. The headache should be gone by tomorrow."

"You darted us?!"

"No, we didn't, Rainbow Dash," Celestia replied, making a gesture with her pointer finger. "She did."

All girls turned to see the dark again and gasped when a third woman came out. She was actually way younger, and it took them while before linking her face with a name.

"Bon Bon?!" Fluttershy blurted. The girl smirked and took off her dark glasses.

"Not quite." Bon Bon replied, adjusting her long, leather black coat. She approached Celestia and Luna and stood behind them.

"My real name is Sweetie Drops. Sorry for the deception all these years."

"But... We haven't seen each other since High School..." Sunset stated.

"You haven't seen her," Luna claimed, and Sweetie Drops proudly smirked behind her. "But she's seen you. She's the best at stealth and spying."

Dash raised a hand like some policeman. "Hold the bus, SPYING?!"

"This is getting weirder every minute..." Twilight mumbled.

"Why, yes." Celestia nodded. "This is what happens here, girls." she extended her arms outwards. "Welcome to the headquarters of the of Abnormal Threat Investigation and Defense Agency."

"But we go by ATIDA." Sweetie Drops shrugged. "It's shorter."

Silence fell upon them. Sunset was incredibly skeptical of this whole situation. Spys? It was ridiculous! And yet here they were, in some room with a headache caused by horse tranquilizer (dear god, horse tranquilizer!) with three women in front of them. Sunset carefully examined Celestia and Luna. She could no longer know who they were. Of course, they weren't the Principals that figured in their yearbooks, so if they weren't those women, who were they?

"This is a prank." Dash decided, looking around the room. "There must be hidden cameras somewhere. We'll appear at some Haytube channel and we'll laugh about this tomorrow."

"This is no prank, Rainbow Dash." Luna declared.

"Then it must be a dream!" Rarity claimed. "It must be that. I'm dreaming and tomorrow morning I'll wake up and- Auch! Applejack! Why would you do that?!"

"This ain't no dream." Applejack corrected, her eyes glued to Celestia and Luna. "This is darn real."

"Indeed." Celestia smiled. "And now that you know how you got here, I think you're quite interested in knowing why you are here."

"If you could explain it already," Twilight pipped in. "We would be more than grateful."

"Very well." Celestia stood up and walked back to the darkness. She disappeared for a few seconds, and suddenly, the light on that side of the room was on. Next thing she knew, Sunset was looking a giant board filled to the brim with pictures, graphics, and such. Celestia stood next to it, a pointer on her hand, looking like a teacher about to give a class.

"Girls," she started. "We've brought you here because of this." she made a gesture to the board. "There's plenty of this world that you don't know about. And Equestrian Magic is one of the matters you're partly ignorant about."

"Pff-please." Dash snorted. "We know everything there is to know about Equestrian magic."

"Like that it has been around this world for almost three-thousand years?" Luna asked.

Sunset's mind went blank. "What? No! It came to this world when I brought Princess Twilight's crown!"

"Please, you barely brought a portion of it here," Celestia claimed. Luna now stood on the other side of the board. Celestia pointed to a picture of some runes. "This here is the oldest evidence of Equestrian magic. It dates back to around three-thousand years. It depicts the usage of a bow that never missed its target, glowing red every time it was shot, used by an unnamed soldier whose appearance changed every time he used the bow." Celestia arched an eyebrow. "Sounds pretty magical, don't you think?"

"There's plenty of evidence of the matter." Luna looked over to the board. "Writings, drawing, rocks. And stuff that shouldn't be there..."

"Pretty much like these." Celestia raised her hand and showed the girls...

Their geodes.

"HEY!" Sunset stood up. "Give that back!"

"We will." Celestia put the geodes back on her coat's pocket. "But after we're done."

"We couldn't risk speedy here running off." Sweetie Drops, who had sat down on the bed Applejack previously was, claimed.

"WHAT did you just call me?!"

"As we were saying," Luna went on, ignoring the exchange. "It's no mystery for us the existence of magic in our world. We've been dealing with it since forever."

"As heads of ATIDA, however," Celestia said. "we couldn't ignore your powers. As soon as we knew you were bearers of such powerful magic..."

"We knew you had to be part of our Agency."

As the words sank in, silence fell upon them again. Sunset exchanged odd looks with the rest of the girls.

"Join?" Sunset asked, pointing to herself. "US?"

"Yes, you," Luna replied.

"You seven have within you a power like no other. A great force that could be used to defend the world from future threats just like you did with The Dazzlings, to mention one incident."

"But it's been forever since last time we defeated a villain with our magic..." Twilight pointed. "We haven't used our transformation at all since High School!"

"Which is weird!" Pinkie Pie claimed. "And that's me saying that!"

"That's because we've kept threats away from you." All turned to see at Sweetie Drops. "We couldn't risk you being attacked when you no longer were together, all the time, at the same place."

"But no major threat has come yet, I assure you." Celestia shrugged. "Otherwise, we would have called you sooner."

"Why now, then?" Sunset crossed her arms. "Why's it so important right now and not before?"

Celestia and Luna exchanged nervous glances. This didn't go unnoticed by the girls, who feared the worst.

"There's... there's something wrong, isn't it?" Fluttershy asked, completely terrified.

"Let's say... The Agency has worked really hard lately. Danger seems to increase by the day." Sweetie Drops said. "We also deal with big, more common threats, and everything has been restless lately. Cartels and mercenary organizations have been acting a lot more than usual."

"That's why we were obliged to do this." Luna declared. "We can't let this go unnoticed. We need you to be ready to face whatever is in store, and we can't just expect you to go, transform and deal with it. It doesn't work that way. Not anymore."

"Your abilities could be greatly used on our lines of defense. We need you" Celestia pointed to all of them. "to be our newest, top tier special agents."

Sunset rested against the headboard. This was too much to take in all at once. Danger? Real danger? This was beyond what they did until then. How could people expect them to become top tier spies? What really was going on here?

She took a look at Celestia and Luna. They seemed calm and collected, waiting for them to give their answers. But as Sunset looked at their eyes, she noticed something else: an eagerness, like wishing they just agreed and go along with it when they knew nothing about this.

Hell, now she knew nothing about them!

"This is just a load of bullsh*t!"

All of them looked at Applejack, surprised. She had stood up and hardened her expression.

"You expect us to just leave our lives, our jobs and responsibilities to go play superhero?!"

"We never said that," Celestia replied, calm as a river. "Whether or not you decided to keep your current jobs, it's up to you. You could always organize your time. The job around here is mostly done at night. That leaves you with a great deal of broad daylight to go about your lives normally."

"We aren't expecting you to drop everything." Luna continued. "That would attract way too much attention. But we are asking for a commitment to this cause. It's important. The fate of the world is what we're dealing with here."

This seemed to calm down Applejack. The farm girl sat down again and kept quiet.

"Be indulgent," Sweetie Drops pleaded. "You seven have a power no one else in the whole Agency has. Your abilities are pretty much needed. We are simple humans against the threat of magic we don't fully comprehend. If we'd even out the odds a bit, it would be awesome for us."

The room itself seemed to hold its breath.

But no one said a word.

And as the silence and pondering seemed to extend to infinity, someone had to say something. Anything.

And that someone was Twilight.

"I think..." Twilight said in a hushed tone. "I think we need some time to think about it."

It was barely noticeable, so much that Sunset thought she had imagined it, but she noticed Celestia let go a tiny, relieved sigh.

"That's good enough," Celestia said. "You can take all the time you need to think it through. But please consider it. Sweetie Drops, would you mind taking them home?"

"Not at all, ma'am."

As the girls slowly retrieved their bags, coats, and geodes, Celestia turned to them one last time before Sweetie Drops guided them out of the room.

"Please, girls, think about it. We could really use your help around here. You've been given a gift like any other, and I think you should make good use of it."

Author's Note

And so it goes! :pinkiegasp:
Quite a lot of surprises, right? It seems like the two women at the Prologue were no other than Sweetie Drops and Celestia. Bet you didn't saw that one coming :ajsmug:

Yes, I like Flashlight. Deal with it.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a Romance story. TSMOE Is an Action, Adventure, and Drama story. If Romance ever does appear, it'll only be as a subplot. Actually, Flash himself appears barely a few times in the story. The same thing goes for any other romance.

With that settled, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for any more to come.

Until next time!
~Midday Giggle

Super Team? (Part 3)

Twilight massaged her head, feeling, for the first time ever, the desperate sensation of wanting to leave school early. And she was the teacher.

In front of her, Rainbow Dash looked at her with a pitiful expression behind her dark sunglasses. "See? Everyone hates homework."

Twilight groaned. Great life Rainbow Dash's, who didn't have to check homework. Well, instead, she had to make sure her students didn't kill themselves or others in practice, and handle all the female sports clubs. But she was free of homework!

After coming home last night, she had collapsed in the couch for a few minutes. Spike blasted her with endless questions on where the hell she was, and his barking only made Twilight's migraine worse. So she ignored the dog and went for an aspirin. She had contemplated Celestia and Luna's offer for a long while. It wasn't a decision to take lightly. They were right when they said that, if a real threat to the world's security really came to occur, they needed to be ready to face it. If they didn't, who would?

But teaching took a lot of her time. And being a special agent would too. She decided to pursue a career in education in the beginning because she wanted to spread knowledge to the younger ones in a way they would actually enjoy it, while also pursuing her dreams on becoming an astrophysicist.

ATIDA was never in her plans, to begin with.

Joining ATIDA didn't necessarily mean leaving her dreams behind. She could keep studying astrophysics. She just had to organize herself (and she was very good at organizing).

Twilight groaned again. It was such a difficult decision. She couldn't take it lightly.

And she didn't have the time to think it through. She still had work to get done. To think that, for the first time ever as a teacher, she had given her students the first period free so she could grade homework!

She could have done this the night before. But after her thoughts on her eventful evening guided her think on asking Shinning Armor if he knew anything about this ATIDA thing, she remembered that she had missed her date with Flash Sentry. Spike informed her that he had been calling all night to the landline. They already had a hard time making their schedules work so they could see each other at least weekly for her to miss any dates. Especially without a warning. Thinking he would be blowing a fuss on his one-person apartment, Twilight hurried to dig her phone out of her belongings and called him as soon as she could.

Luckily, he wasn't mad but worried. This behavior was nothing like her, he said, so he was worried that something bad could have happened to her. And besides this damned headache, nothing bad had happened to her.

Despite the fact that she told him she was okay, he insisted on knowing what happened. In the beginning, she was reluctant in telling him about this, but in the end, Sweetie Drops just told them to be careful with who they told about ATIDA. And Flash was of her complete trust.

And she killed two birds with a single stone, for Spike also got the explanation he was demanding.

Sadly, when she asked, Flash knew nothing about this agency.

In the end, she spent so much time explaining her evening to Flash and Spike (and apologizing) that, when she finally hung up, she was exhausted. More than she was when she arrived. And it was pretty late, so she ended up falling asleep fully dressed without taking a glance to the homework.

And that brought her to be in the staffroom at lunchtime, doing her best to swallow the pain on her head and just finish grading this homework.

Twilight glanced at Rainbow Dash between two sheets. She was sipping on yet another cup of coffee.

"Aren't five cups of coffee too many, Rainbow Dash? Are you sure you can handle the caffeine?"

"I'm feeling like with the worst hangover ever, let me be."

"Alright..."

Twilight went back to her work. And five minutes after, she raised her head again.

"Have you decided anything about... last night?"

"Yes." Dash nodded. "I'll do it."

"Really?"

"Really. Celestia's right. We were given a gift like no other, and are we really gonna let it go to waste?" she shook her head. "I refuse to stand back and watch as the world burns when I could be doing something about it." she looked at Twilight over her dark shades. "But, I'll do it only if you all do it too."

Twilight was speechless, Rainbow Dash had talked with maturity she didn't know her friend had. It was breathtaking.

And she was completely right.

Just like that, she had her answer.

"I think we should give the girls a call."

Unlike most of the occasions they reunited, this time, the girls made themselves comfortable in Sunset's apartment. They wanted to go to Sugarcube Corner, but it ended up being a bad idea, for anyone could overhear their conversation there. And if no one became suspicious of it, they might as well think they had gone nuts.

While six of them sat on the couches, Twilight stood before them, chalk on her hand, writing in a blackboard. She had divided the board with a white line and written 'Pros' and 'Cons' on each side.

"Are we really going over the Pros and Cons, Twilight?" Dash groaned.

Twilight shoot her a glare. "Yes. This is a very important decision. We all have to come to an agreement."

Dash didn't fight back.

"So," Twilight turned to her friends. "Pros. Anyone?"

Rainbow Dash raised her hand. "We get to make actual use of our powers."

"Training that'll come in handy if we face any meanies!" Pinkie Pie claimed with a wide smile.

Twilight wrote in the board 'Usage of Geodes' and 'Training'. "I think we should add the wider knowledge of Equestrian magic." She wrote 'Knowledge'.

"We might even learn new things we can do with our Magic," Sunset suggested.

"That's a good one." Twilight wrote it down. "Anyone else?"

"We become heroes." Rarity said.

"We get to do something for our people." Applejack nodded.

Fluttershy whispered: "We, uh, get to work together."

"Alright!" Twilight wrote them all down. "Any Cons?"

"I don't get to help around the farm anymore!"

"It's scary..."

"Takes a lot of time that I'll need for the boutique. And greasy hair!"

"One of us could get killed."

"Or seriously injured!"

"Paperwork would be so boring."

Twilight wrote them all down and added 'Little Free time' to the list.

"There!" Fluttershy said suddenly, surprising the rest. "There are more Cons than Pros! Problem solved!"

"Not quite, Fluttershy," Sunset said. Fluttershy 'eeped'. "Twilight is right. This a very serious matter. And instead of focusing on Pros and Cons, no offense Twilight, I think we should focus on what's best... for everyone. Not just for us. How would our decision affect the whole world?"

"If we are going to look things that way," Rarity said. "I must admit that Celestia does has a point. Would we rather stand by and let things go downhill, or do something? I myself wouldn't want the world to fall into a pit of darkness, especially considering this is the world Sweetie Belle is also living in."

"Rarity's right." Applejack admitted. "I wouldn't feel good with myself knowin' I could be makin' a better world for AppleBloom."

"And what if this is destiny?" Pinkie Pie asked, touching her geode. "What if we were given these... powers so we could make a better world?"

"Many people daily do what they can to make future brighter." Rainbow Dash added. "And most people get frustrated because they don't have the means. We do have them. Why not making use of it?" she shook her head. "I'll do it. But I'm only doing it if my best friends do it with me."

"Me too." Sunset stood up with Rainbow Dash.

"Wasn't really in my plans." Twilight took a step forwards. "But if we can help people, so be it."

Applejack chuckled and got up. "As long as I get to help in the farm..."

"Count me in!" Pinkie Pie cheered, standing with a single jump. "It's gonna be fun!"

"And me." Rarity also stood up.

All six turned to Fluttershy, still sitting, eyes filled with fear.

"We're not doing this without you, Fluttershy," said Sunset. "It's all of us or none of us."

Fluttershy gulped down some tears and stood up, nodding vigorously. "I'll do it! I refuse to let fear overpower me. I'll be brave too!"

"Now that's the attitude!" Applejack laughed.

All the girls laughed and joined hands in the middle.

"Rainbooms, go!"

The next day, Sunset, with all the girls in tow, opened the door of Principal Celestia's office. Much to their short-lived surprised, both her and Luna were there.

And the surprise faded when it occurred to them that, from now on, they wouldn't be caught by surprise at all.

Celestia raised her gaze. "What can we help you with, girls?"

Sunset noticed it. A Gleam. A gleam on her eyes, quite difficult to describe, but it also shone on Luna's eyes. Confidence.

Sunset took a deep breath. "We'll do it." were her only words.

A smirk cracked on Celestia's face. The gleam intensified. It was almost like she knew this moment was coming, like she was completely certain that they wouldn't refuse. Of course, she knew they would agree. She knew them.

Celestia stood up. Behind her, Luna smiled too.

A hand was extended to Sunset Shimmer. Celestia looked at her in the eye.

"Welcome to ATIDA, girls."

Sunset shook hands with Celestia.

And with that, a pact was sealed, and a whole new future expanded before their very eyes.

Author's Note

And that concludes the last chapter of this arc. But what's in store for the girls from now on? Only time will tell...

From the next chapter on, the frequency in the publication of the chapters will vary. These parts were ready, so that's why they've been updated weekly, but from here they get a lot longer, so it will take more time to write (and translate, since I also publish this story in Spanish too).

Also, things will get more... interesting from now on :ajsmug: I think it's pretty clear that these first chapters were to get the story rolling.

That's all for today, folks.

Until next time!

~ Midday Giggle

Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 1)

She had always liked classical music. It could either be soft and calming, or loud and powerful, but still being breathtaking and beautiful. And it helped her concentrate. The soothing music of The Waltz of Snowflakes cradled the reduced space on the van, loud enough for it to be nice background music, but not too loud so it would break her friends' focus.

Twilight's eyes jumped from one screen to the other. A maze of alleys and hallways and coding was present on each of them, and six screens were black on top of the others. All of it surrounded her completely, except at the back, where the door was. Her useful, long desk and wheeled chair made her job of keeping an eye on everyone a breeze.

On one of the screens, there was a 3D map of an abandoned steel factory. And on different floors and rooms of the building, seven blinking dots moved, some a little faster than others. One dot was red, one orange, purple, pink, green, yellow and blue.

On the screen next to it, there was a similar map of the building, but there were infrared signatures all over it, indicating a person per mark. However, the six dots were replaced by female outlines of their respective colors.

And the orangish marks were awfully close to the blue one.

"Dash, they're approaching your position! Repeat! They're approaching you!"

The building was pitch black, especially where there were no windows. And there weren't a lot of windows around. So the group of men advanced guided with a light attached to their heavy machine guns. With no signs on the walls to tell them where was what, they walked aimlessly through the corridors. This made the leader feel slightly pathetic. Walking blindly meant walking right into a death trap.

"Let's split up here." He decided on the go, and his men split into three groups of four that went down different corridors. He and his three mates took the one right in front of them. A variety of doors leading to offices aligned in the walls, swallowed by the half-darkness.

His heart stuck on his throat, he advanced, slowly, in order to keep his steps as silent as possible. Who knows what (or who) may be lurking in the shadows.

"ARGH!" he heard suddenly. He turned around completely, but soon he noticed his three companions were all standing and turning as well. The sound could only have come from their earpieces.

"UGH!" they heard a second voice. "WE'RE BEING ATTAC-!"

Multiple sounds of hits and cries of pain followed.

Without a single word, all four of them got moving. However, they didn't advance half the distance they had already come through before a blur suddenly came out of the darkness and hit directly into the one standing at the rear of the team. It slammed him against the door of one of the offices before disappearing into the darkness again, before anyone had a chance to take a look at the attacker. The impact on the door was so strong he broke the door from its hinges and fell inside the office. The moonlight bathed its unconscious body, coming from a wide window.

The blur came back and hit the second man. His mates lighted him the moment the blur stopped.

They could only have a glimpse of a female body before it zoomed off again. The hit the woman had given him had not been enough to knock him out, so he quickly composed himself and pointed his machine gun to the direction the woman had left with insane speed.

"ARGH!" the third one cried, and the leader managed to turn and fire at the woman. However, she zipped out of the way, as if expecting it, and the bullet hit the wall behind her.

Before he could notice it, the leader found himself staring at a pair of female magenta eyes. The young woman kneed him in the gut and he doubled in pain. Before she could leave, he raised a hand and grabbed her blue hair, yanking her down. She groaned as she was dragged to her knees. He pulled so hard, though, it all came out.

All.

He stared for half a second to the hair on his grip before realizing it was a wig. It got snatched off his hand by a blurry hand and the woman slammed it over her head, covering loops of real hair arranged tight over the skull. Behind her, the second man approached her stealthy, but not so much for she gave him a kick at the side of his head that finally knocked him out.

She dashed off again as the two remaining men started firing their guns to her. She dodged the bullets like it was a walk in the park.

They kept firing and firing to where she disappeared, but soon they ran out of bullets. Before they could recharge, she came directly at them, punching his mate and elbowing the leader with one swift motion. The leader's head violently drew back and he lost his balance. Once on the floor, he raised his dizzy vision to see the woman knocking out his last mate.

He tried reaching for his gun, but she stepped on his hand. Hard. The leader let out a cry of pain as his fingers got crushed.

He raised his head to see the woman. She was looking at him with cold eyes, standing with an arrogant air. Her dark blue wig surrounded her face with a short bob, and her uniform was one he easily recognized. The ATIDA's special agents' uniform, with leather boots, tight pants and a bulletproof vest over a form-fitting grey shirt. Only her shirt was of a greyish sky blue.

However, one could hardly tell this girl had taken down four grown men (eight, if she hadn't already dealt with the third team). She was petite, but her tight shirt let show a toned physique. She definitely was a trained agent.

And on the left side of her vest, a single word stood out:

M.Y.T.H.S

ATIDA was known for giving flashy names to its squads.

She cracked a smirk and looked with disdain at his machine gun.

"Tch. Thought you stood a chance with that?" she asked. He was too focused on wondering how the hell that little girl could have beaten him to try to free himself. She shook her head. "You should know better than me that size doesn't matter."

And she gave him a swift kick in the head that knocked him out.

"Hey, Urania, how's that tracking going? Sounds like Calliope already was discovered."

"What tipped you off?!" Dash replied.

"The gunshots."

Twilight didn't take her eyes off what she was doing and just pressed the 'on' button of her mic.

"I'm working on that, Sunset. But there are a lot of men in the building, it's hard to locate the exact point."

"I'm not trying to tell you how to do you work, Darling," Rarity said. "but we would be more than grateful if you could hurry up. I can hear footsteps approaching."

Fluttershy finally made herself heard: "Me too."

"Me three!" Pinkie Pie was obviously way too chipper for the moment, but that's Pinkie Pie for you. At least she's mostly keeping it down, thought Twilight.

"I'm working on that, girls. Just hold up a second."

"That's easy for you to say!" Applejack sounded a bit miffed. "It is already the third time I have been this close to bein' caught."

"And that lets me know that your zone is the most protected one, so it's where I'm searching the most." Twilight chuckled. "Thank you, Applejack, for narrowing the whole building to a single floor."

"Ah, horseapples!" Applejack whispered suddenly. "They saw me!"

A flurry of bullets was shot in Applejack's direction. She hid behind a wall just in time before ending like a strainer. Taking out her own gun, which was tiny compared to the stuff these men carried, she waited until the bullets stopped and the men were obliged to recharge.

This is when she came out of her safe spot and shot two of the five men. One in the leg, one in the shoulder. These weren't lethal shots, but sure as hell would keep them down.

Applejack dodged a punch, ducked, and made her first adversary lose his balance with a swift motion of her leg. She was up in a second and delivered three hits to the second one, using her superstrength to make them as effective as possible. The man tried to fight back, but Applejack dodged or blocked each of his attacks. He managed to land a single hit, that little did against Applejack's strength. In the course of this quick fight, the other men tried attacking her but were quickly defeated with a kick.

She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the dread that showed itself on the man's eyes before she punched him and knocked him out.

One of the men tried to choke her from behind, but she grabbed his arm before he could get a firm grip and threw him over her back. He hit directly on this teammate and both fell in a heap to the floor, blacked out.

Applejack huffed. "Darn mercenaries..."

"That was quick." Dash commented after Applejack said she was all clear.

"That's 'cause I don't play peacock."

"Oh, shush, you."

Twilight laughed. "Once you both finish your fight, if you wouldn't mind, please head down to the first floor. I think I got it, girls. I need you all with Applejack..."

"Come on, Spike..." Fluttershy whispered and they both rushed to the next corridor. The group of men didn't notice them walking behind them, and they let out a silent sigh of relief. However, they didn't stop. They walked with quick, light steps along the corridor towards the next intersection. If they turned right there they would come to see a mezzanine and a set of stairs that would take them to the first floor. However, as they were about to turn right, Spike stopped abruptly and pushed Fluttershy back. Knowing what this meant, Fluttershy hid behind a pillar, Spike next to her.

Right on time too, because soon a group of men came from the other corridor and installed themselves on the mezzanine.

"Darn it." Spike huffed, moving his ears in anger. "Darn Ra-I mean, Calliope for letting herself getting discovered and making everyone look for us. Now they're securing the stairs."

Fluttershy perked up. "Not all the stairs..."

Spike looked at her for a second and then his canine eyes perked up with understanding. They moved quickly and crossed the intersection when the men weren't looking their way. It took them a few minutes before they found any sign of what they were looking for: the emergency stairs. Spike sniffed the door to check for anyone inside already before Fluttershy opened the door...

... And it creaked loudly.

Fluttershy and Spike both jumped and exchanged looks of alarm. The sound of quickly-approaching, heavy steps made them react and both jumped inside and slammed the door closed. Girl and dog rushed down the stairs, praying no one would figure out they were in there.

Their prayers weren't heard, for a single man opened the door and caught a glimpse of Fluttershy's long ponytail.

"STOP!!!" his yell only made Spike and Fluttershy go faster. Behind her, bullets hit the wall loudly. Fluttershy shrieked, praying she wouldn't have to use her own gun. She had been taught how to use it and she was perfectly capable of defending herself, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Fluttershy let out a scream of pain as the man grabbed a hold of her hair, just as she had reached the third floor. Spike turned around and growled at the man, quickly jumping into action and bitting down his leg, hard. The man groaned but didn't let go of Fluttershy hair, sending piercing pain on her skull.

Fluttershy elbowed the man on the chin and he stumbled back, letting her go. Spike let the man's leg go and instead bit down his hand, making the man cry out.

Under his confused eyes, Fluttershy let out a sharp cry.

He stared at her for a few seconds, seeing no point in her scream, before flinching as loud noises came from the vent behind him. Before he could realize what was going on, dozens of mice burst out of the vent and jumped on him, and more kept coming as he struggled with the rodents. He screamed as he got bit by the mice and Fluttershy and Spike ran downstairs, completely sure the mice would do a great job restraining him.

"What was that, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, just calling some friends..."

Rarity summoned another diamond shield to protect herself from the million blisters that exploded through the air the moment her adversary crashed on top of a wooden box. She swiftly swung her arm around to guide the shield and slam it right into another man who was trying to attack her. With one out of three down, Rarity used her three shields to defend herself.

As the man she had hit with the shield stood up, Rarity was just in time to stop the bullets that the second was trying to harm her with. She used her protection to advance to the man and dropped it when she was just within range to punch him. Before her fist connected with his face, he raised his hands and grabbed her hand, trying to throw her to the floor, but Rarity summoned a large base to stop her fall. It wasn't a soft landing, but this gave her the opportunity to pull the man by the arm and slam his forehead hard against the transparent surface.

He was immediately knocked out.

"ACK!" Rarity cried out when the last man pulled the back of her vest, causing it to collide with her throat and choke her. She got dragged backward over her own platform and almost fell off the edge before she managed to elbow the man in the gut three times, which forced him to let her be. Rarity quickly twisted and materialized a diamond hammer. She hit the man on the side of the head, hard, with the hammer. His head turned awkwardly before he fell to the floor.

Rarity tried to catch her breath, still laying in the levitating diamond platform. Knowing well had she little to no time, she climbed down dusting her clothes at the same time she made the platform disappear.

A mirror materialized before her with a simple movement of her mind.

She sighed when she noticed her messy hair, her forehead pearled with a thin layer of sweat, and the pinkish mark that was starting to form on her neck.

"I would complain if I wasn't saving the world..."

Twilight cheered. "Girls, I got it! They're on the first floor, at the main entrance of the production room! Everyone, gather around Applejack. Fluttershy, just keep going forward. It's a clear way and you'll intersect with Applejack at the end of the corridor."

"I'm on my way!" Dash sounded busy. Twilight cringed at the sound of hits and punches coming from her speaker. They were faint but clear as rain.

"Spike and I had some trouble on our way..." Fluttershy's voice announced. "So we should expect some company. Sorry..."

"Taking into account all the attention Calliope dragged to us, it's not your fault at all Euterpe." one could hear the smirk on Sunset's voice.

"Hey!!! That was a mistake, alright?! I said I'm sorry!"

Twilight flinched at the sudden noise of an explosion coming from Pinkie Pie's speaker. On the main staircase leading from the third to the second floor, a small burst of heat caught her attention on the infrared map.

Twilight sighed. "Damn it! I knew Pinkie Pie was too quiet!"

The group of five ducked as the sprinkles exploded above them. Too flabbergasted at the ridiculous display, none of them tried hitting the woman with the pink glowing hands, too scared of being turn into a bomb too.

Pinkie Pie, however, wore an innocent smile that matched perfectly with her fuchsia curls. Her hands stopped glowing, and then approached the stair the men were blocking.

"Now would you be so kind of letting me through?" she asked, but just as she was finishing her question, the man ducked the closest to her jumped up and tried to attack her.

But he punched the air. Pinkie Pie suddenly was gone, and the man blinked as he stumbled forward.

WHAP!

The world suddenly was white. At least for him, for Pinkie Pie had just smashed a paper plate of whipped cream on his face.

The other men looked at her quizzically. "Where did she...?" one muttered but didn't have the time to finish as he noticed, much to his mate's dismay that the paper plate was glowing a faint pink too.

Pinkie Pie was out of the picture in another blink. The plate exploded on the man's face, leaving him disoriented, losing his balance and falling down the stairs until he came to a stop on the second floor, completely unconscious. His teammates stared at him with wide eyes behind their ski masks, clutching to their machine guns like they were lifesavers.

One of them threw his gun to the step he was standing in and fleed the place.

Pinkie had to hold back laughter. It was always amusing how she somehow ended up with the rookies or with the ones who got easily scared. She loved taunting them a bit and they would easily give up, too scared to turn into a living bomb but clueless at the fact that cold-blooded murder was not of Pinkie's game.

"Sorry about this, guys!" she exclaimed. Before any of them had time to react, Pinkie threw the two grenades she had on her hands to them, free of the secure, and they clinked down the steps until they landed beneath their feet. All three of them looked down to them and tried to flee as they saw they were also glowing pink. The grenades exploded with much more force that they usually had, and the three men fell off the remaining steps. All of them landed roughly, groaning, and remained motionless on the floor.

Pinkie Pie climbed down the stairs with calm steps and stopped when she reached her defeated adversaries. She smirked as one of them looked up to her, dread in his eyes.

"Thank you for moving aside, that was so nice of you."

And she went on her way, a wide smile present on her face.

"Sometimes you really scare me, darling..."

"You should have seen the looks on their faces!" Pinkie paused a moment, for her teasing with the five men had attacked a lot of attention to her. She was defending herself quite good, but there were many, so multiple explosions were heard. "Hey, girls, a little bit of help here, please! Oh, hi Dashie!"

"Don't use real- Oh, forget it..." Twilight sighed. Indeed, the trackers on both Pinkie and Dash signaled that both were together, near the stairs to the first floor, and a lot of adversaries have surrounded them. However, Pinkie and Dash made a marvelous team and they could easily handle them alone. Fluttershy (and Spike), Applejack and Rarity were also together, waiting patiently for Pinkie and Dash to join them on the first floor, moving from one corridor to the other to avoid any foes.

Sunset was taking her sweet time to get to the others, so Twilight decided to ask while looking at the red dot on her screen.

"Hey, Sunset, what's taking so long? I know you were on the last floor, but it's not such a long way."

"I'm trying to be sneaky..." Sunset whispered back. "There are some groups up here and I really don't want to get myself caught in a confrontation so close to my destination. Give me some more minutes and I'll be right there."

"Seems like Pinkie and Dash have attracted a lot of attention." Twilight observed as a lot of the adversaries moved towards where Pinkie and Dash were located, a good distance away from the rest, who were slowly beginning to be in the clear. Twilight had an idea. "Let's do this! Sunset, use the emergency stairs to reunite with the other. It'll be a shorter way then and you'll see no one there."

"Understood!"

"You may want to be careful with those doors..." Fluttershy said. "They make a lot of noise."

"Thanks for that, Euterpe, I'll keep it in mind."

"Pinkie, Dash, keep up with what you're doing currently. Once Sunset's with the rest, pick up Pinkie and run to them, Rainbow. Then we'll go on with the plan."

"Okie Dokie!"

"Got it!"

"Let's do this quickly, girls..." Twilight looked back at the spot where a dozen infrared signatures were standing perfectly still, right on the main entrance of the production room. "They won't be there for much longer..."

Sunset pushed the door open with her shoulder. She came out of the emergency stairs and into the first floor indeed, surprised the moment she heard the clicking of three guns unlocking and a dog growl. She turned to see that Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had loaded their guns and were pointing them at her, before realizing it was Sunset and lowering their arms.

"Sorry..." Fluttershy whispered, in a hushed tone.

"We thought it was an enemy." Applejack confessed.

"No problem, let's go."

The group got moving towards the production room. Indeed, just as Twilight had predicted, they didn't come across anyone, all of their problems currently occupied by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who, according to Twilight were holding up just fine. And if there was something clear, it was that Dash's super speed was quite useful at tossing and moving Pinkie's bombs from one place to another without getting hurt at all.

When they finally reached the corridor of the main entrance, the group came to a halt right before turning the corner, for thanks to Spike they had detected on time two men guarding the doors. The group stood still and let Sunset handle the situation.

Crunching down so what she was about to do wouldn't affect her friends, Sunset emptied her mind and let her magic flow. Countless hours of training with her magic had led her to discover a lot of useful tricks she could do with it. She just had to focus...

Sweet, sweet, sweet dreams.

As expected, her fuchsia magic made itself present on the form of smoke, smoke which crawled low on the floor towards the guards. She had to be very careful when guiding it. She had to focus hard on it and only on it to guide her snake of magic and be careful not to breathe, or her trick could turn against her.

The smoke reached the feet of the guards. Sunset quickly lifted her hand to her head level and the magic obeyed to her order, raising as well. The guards jumped out of surprise when they found themselves completely wrapped on a fuchsia cloud, but before they had any time to react, the smoke made them dizzy and they fell to the ground, sound asleep.

Sunset opened wide her hands and pulled them away from each other, and the smoke dissipated in a few seconds.

"All done, Urania," she said, a satisfied smile on her lips as she stood up.

"You heard that, girls."

"Coming!" Dash announced. A few more hits were heard before the communication was cut. Seconds later, the girls got their hairs on their face as Dash left a blast of wind on her wake. She halted right next to Sunset Shimmer, dropping Pinkie Pie, who she was carrying on her arms bridal-style. The bubbly girl giggled as she was put back down on the floor.

"It's always so much fun!"

"Alright girls, let's get serious." Sunset faced the rest of the team. As usual, she acted as the leader, and none of them actually complained about that. Sunset really was fit for the role. She pointed to the door. "I don't need to repeat the plan, do I?"

"No, ma'am!"

"Then let's do this, Myths!"

The Myths and Spike walked to the doors in front of which the two guards were unconscious. Applejack carried them without a problem and rested them against the wall, their necks bending in awkward positions due to gravity.

The group braced themselves as Pinkie touched the hinges of the doors, making them glow pink. The hinges exploded and sent the doors flying inside the production room, allowing them to enter, and also hitting two men standing a bit to close to them. Armed men reacted to their sudden apparition and the two suited men, carrying suitcases, flinched hard.

Then all hell broke loose.

The men with suitcases ran out of the picture, a bodyguard following each. That left another eight men behind, already approaching the Myths, trying to hold them back from their target. Before any of them had the chance to fire their bullets to the girls and Spike, Dash ran after one of the men fleeing and its bodyguard. As soon as she was out of range, Pinkie threw a grenade to the enemies at the same time Rarity popped up a wall of her shields to protect them from the explosions. The eight men tried to run away, but the explosion made them stumble and fall to the floor a few steps away from it.

As soon as Rarity's shield was down, Applejack gave chase to the other man and his bodyguard.

Sunset, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy engaged the eight men on the floor. Spike leaped at one of the men and bit down his leg, making the man cry out in pain. He bent over and grabbed Spike's snout, hitting him on the nose. Spike whimpered and let go.

Fluttershy snapped.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" she boomed, startling the other seven men as they tried to get back on their feet. The one who had hit Spike actually looked terrified. He scooted backward with dread on his eyes, trying to get away from the fuming girl who was actually much shorter than he was and looked way weaker than him.

Pinkie Pie blinked twice. "Do you think we should help?"

Sunset snorted. "Nah, Euterpe will handle it."

"I didn't mean her, I meant the man. Do you think we should help him?"

"We have bigger problems right now, darling..." Rarity claimed. Indeed, the remaining seven turned to them and fired a flurry of bullets towards the girls. Rarity acted instantly and put up a shield and all three of them ran towards them as the men tried to no avail to break through solid diamond with their bullets. Sunset grabbed Pinkie's shoulders and Pinkie put her hands as support for Sunset's foot. Rarity dropped the shield the moment they recharged.

Sunset used Pinkie as support and her flawless agility to jump high and wrap her legs around the neck of one of the men. Rarity rammed her shoulder into the chest of another, making him stumble, and Pinkie kicked a third on the gut.

Sunset grabbed hold of the man's head and her fingertips glowed fuchsia. The man collapsed as she forced him into magic-induced sleep, and Sunset got off him right before he slammed to the floor, landing perfectly in front of the knocked out man. Another one tried to punch her, but Sunset ducked and delivered a punch to his stomach. The man grunted and tried to knee her, but Sunset moved just in time and pulled his leg to make him fall. However, he grabbed her arm and brought her down with him. They struggled on the floor, exchanging punches and hits before Sunset had an opening and sent him to sleep too.

Meanwhile, Rarity had dealt with the first man she had attacked but was struggling with a second, bigger and stronger than the first. He had grabbed her hair and was pulling her along the floor as she winced and whimpered because of the pain on her skull. Seeing no other option, Rarity freed a hand and materialized a dagger of diamonds, stabbing him right on the hamstring. She struck the right nerve, so he suddenly found himself falling to one knee. Rarity freed herself and stood up immediately, making an American fist appear on her knuckles and punched him three times. She topped it with an uppercut and the giant fell with a loud thud.

As long as Pinkie was concerned, she always had a... pretty interesting fighting style. Especially since she like distracting her opponents with pranks and whipped cream to the face, before knocking them out. In fact, she had used her trick of the explosive plate of whipped cream already, thus knocking out two out three. The third, however, proved to be a resilient and forward-thinking opponent, for when she tried the same thing with him, he grabbed the plate and threw it back at Pinkie. She yelped and ducked as her own weapon was used against her, the plate exploding right over her crunched form, where her face previously was.

"Well, you're no fun!" Pinkie pouted, stood up and engaged in a fight with him.

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration and kicked the suitcase away. Hundreds of Equestrian dollars flew out of it, swirling all around her. She was frustrated because she had pursued, fought the bodyguard, and struggled the suitcase out of the hands of the man only to find it was full of money.

Which obviously wasn't what the team was looking for.

The production room looked like a maze of machines. The other two men and Applejack could be anywhere right now. In fact, combing down the place would probably take her seconds, but looking for something on the move was always harder.

But she didn't have to look for something whose location she didn't know. She just had to look for her teammate.

With a quick glance at her screen, she saw Applejack's tracker, a bit farther from her.

Before Rainbow Dash had a chance to run to Applejack, a gunshot was heard, and a searing pain located on her arm. Dash grunted and fell to her knees, looking at her left arm. A bullet had grazed her arm. It hadn't logged itself there, but it sure as hell hurt.

The suited man approached and pointed the gun to her head.

"Rainbow Dash!?" Twilight's voice asked with worry. She must have heard the gunshot and the grunt and put two and two together.

"I thought you were out cold," Dash told her attacker, not acknowledging Twilight at all. He scoffed.

"You little b*tch. You'll pay for my money,"

"I highly doubt it." Dash raised her bloody hand and grabbed the man's wrist to guide the gun to his own foot right at the moment he pulled the trigger. He screamed in pain and grabbed his injured foot, the gun falling down to the floor. Dash ran away but didn't use her super speed not to risk her arm. The man tried to grab the gun from the canon but burnt himself with the searing iron.

Rooky.

Once around the corner, Dash leaned against the machine behind her and examined her injury. It wasn't that bad, so she just wrapped it with gauze she kept on her belt. Once done, she secured the bandage and speed off to Applejack.

"Rainbow Dash, are you alright?!" Dash cringed when she heard Twilight.

"I'm fine. It was just a graze, no big deal."

"Oh, thank goodness..."

"Got it!" Applejack's voice pipped in. Das slowed down and found herself in front of Applejack, who held the other suitcase open and staring at its contents. She acknowledged Dash and went back to talking to Twilight. "I got the objective. Calliope is with me. We'll be goin' back with the others."

"Then I'll send the police right away to take our friends away. Good job girls."

"As always!" Pinkie squeaked.

Dash looked around Applejack. Both the bodyguard and the suited man were on the floor, twitching in pain. Dash noticed the bodyguard had a huge bruise on his face, one that already was turning all shades of purple.

"I bet they were nice," Dash smirked. Applejack chuckled.

"They came in my way. However, look at this:" She turned the suitcase and showed it to Rainbow Dash. Dash noticed a glass case, inside of which a grey stone with pretty familiar runes was cautiously placed.

"Why would they even need a piece of the Memory Stone?" Dash scoffed. "It's useless."

"They need all the pieces for it not to be useless anymore."

"Like we'll let them get them. And why such a big suitcase? Like, really, One could have carried it on the pocket." Dash grabbed the glass case and Applejack threw the suitcase. Applejack took the glass case and put it inside the bag that hung from her back. "Anyway, let's get back with the others." Dash bent down and waited for Applejack to climb to her back. After thirty seconds of silence, Dash turned to see Applejack standing still. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Ya are darn crazy if ya think I'll climb to yer back. I'd rather walk."

"Pfft, whatever."

Twilight flinched as she heard someone trying to open her door. Tensed up, she reached for the gun under the table, and pointed it at the door, her heart beating a mile per hour. She tried to open the slide that had the camera out of the car, but she couldn't reach the key with her right hand.

The door opened, and Twilight relaxed when she saw it only was her friends.

Pinkie frowned. "Gee, calm down, Twilie."

" Sorry, guys..." Twilight apologized, putting the gun back where it belonged. "Thought it was the bad guys."

"Nah, they're all out cold in there," Dash claimed and climbed into the van and sat down on one of the four seats in there. "And if any of them are conscious, I doubt they'll make it out in time."

Fluttershy jumped into the van last, right after Spike, who nestled himself at Twilight's feet. Twilight crouched down to pet his head. He no longer was a puppy, but a big labrador that came in handy for Fluttershy as her K-9 agent.

Pinkie put Applejack's bag in the middle as Rarity closed the door behind them.

"And Jackie got us a goodie!" Pinkie took out the glass case of the part of the Memory Stone.

"That ain't a goodie, Pinkie." Applejack spoke from the tiny window connecting with the pilot cabin. Sunset had just climbed in the passenger seat. "And sit down, yall. We're leaving'."

Rarity obeyed and strapped on her seat belt. Fluttershy was already sitting next to Dash, and Pinkie took a seat next to Rarity. Twilight attached her wheeled chair to the wall between Rarity's seat and the table. Twilight eyed the bruise on Rarity's neck. It was starting to shade slightly purple. She looked back at Rainbow Dash as the car got moving. She was resting her head against her seat. The bandage on her arm, slightly tinted red was what caught Twilight's attention.

"How's your arm, Dash?" Twilight asked. Dash opened her eyes and looked at her arm.

"Hurts a bit, but it's not big deal. I'll probably need a few stitches, though." she shrugged. "I'm still alive and kicking, right?"

"And braggin'!" Applejack replied from the front. Dash huffed but didn't reply.

Twilight laughed and looked back at Rarity. "What about you, Rarity?"

"Well..." Her voice sounded slightly rasp, instead of her usual proper voice. "It hurts, and it'll surely hurt more tomorrow." Rarity smiled. "But it's part of the job, Darling."

Part of the job.

Twilight lowered her gaze.

Yeah, part of the job. Getting hurt and risking their lives was part of the job. A very important job, but also a risky one. They hadn't suffered big injuries yet, but how long would their good luck last?

She was terrified of losing her life. But she was even more terrified of losing any of her friends. Sure, they had a job to get done, a job no one else could do, but still...

Twilight sighed.

Sure, part of the job...

Author's Note

Took a long time :twilightsheepish: But it's finally here, and I hope you've liked it!

Yes, the girls' squad is called Myths. I hope the title has a bit more sense now? It is inspired by the Muses of Greek Mythology, who also are who the girls are code-named after.

CODE NAMES:
- Sunset Shimmer: Clio, Greek Muse of History.
-Twilight Sparkle: Urania, Greek Muse of Astronomy.
-Rainbow Dash: Calliope, Greek Muse of Epic Poetry.
-Fluttershy: Euterpe, Greek Muse of Music, Song and Lyric Poetry.
-Rarity: Erato, Greek Muse of Love Poetry.
-Applejack: Polyhymnia, Greek Muse of Hymns (also referred to as an agricultural goddess).
-Pinkie Pie: Thalia, Greek Muse of Comedy.
(Yeah, I'm very aware there are Nine Muses, but there are only seven girls)

Until next time!
~Midday Giggle

Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 2)

The ride was filled with quiet whispers and winces as Twilight checked Dash's wound. She secured the bandage tightly around Dash's bicep to stop any bleeding, but shortly after she decided to replace the bandage, for the first one was too dirty for her liking, raising the risk of infections. Twilight retrieved a new roll of bandages and replaced it in quick motions.

She had gotten quite used to treat minor injuries.

When they finally arrived at the headquarters, the girls disembarked the van with tired gestures. By now they were used to sleeping late, some nights not sleeping at all, but their line of the job was physically exhausting. And mentally too, sometimes, for Sunset. Also, the rides were long, since the ATIDA headquarters was literally stationed right in the middle of the forest.

They had offices back in the town, sure, but they had to bring the Memory Stone's fragment to the headquarters. It was there where they spent most of the time anyway. They had to meet Celestia and Luna before they were done for the night.

Twilight made sure all the devices of the van were off before following her friends. When she reached them, Twilight noticed Fluttershy was trying to guide a groggy Spike to the Headquarter before them. However, Spike was now far from being a puppy, and since he had fallen asleep on the ride, he was barely conscious of where he was going. That's the reason Fluttershy had to hook him to a leash, but on her tired and fragile body, he was too heavy.

"I'll deal with this, Fluttershy," Twilight told her friend, taking the leash out of her hands. Fluttershy shot her a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Twilight..." she whispered. "What would we do without you?"

"A lot of things, but that's beside the point." Twilight chuckled, tugging Spike's leash to guide him. Spike obeyed, dragging his paws.

"I'm so tired..." Spike complained.

"Stop whining. At least you don't have to work at mornin'." Applejack huffed.

"Heh, fair point..."

"Do you think this still works?" pondered Sunset, holding between her hands the glass case where the fragment of the Memory Stone was. "It's such a tiny piece..."

"This is magic we're talking about, it can't just... disappear into thin air. It has to go somewhere or be store by something, or it's highly unstable. These fragments probably still contain the magic within them, but since it's been cracked apart, on their own they're probably useless. That's probably why the fragments have been commercialized."

"The real question is how these foes got their filthy hands on the Memory Stone." Rarity said. "I mean, I thought we got rid of it." she turned to Pinkie Pie. "Just where did you left it, Darling?"

"Oh, I buried it back where Wallflower found it." Pinkie gave her a bashful smile. "I... thought that was a better idea than the trashcan."

"That explains a lot," Dash commented. "Do you think we should give her a call so she can see if this stone still works?"

"I don't think that's necessary." Twilight took the glass case. "I'll just borrow it for a few days and examine it before Celestia and Luna take it to the Vault."

In the course of their conversation, they had already reached their destination. The Headquarter was a huge building, all painted black so it blends with the trees. It actually had only three visible floors, the top one being dorms and barracks. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg, quite literally, for the building extended further down. It had seven basements, which were three times the size of the visible floors. Plus an underground parking lot, plus the one they were in. The Headquarter was surrounded mostly by tall trees, save for the back part, which faced the Everfree lake.

The first time Twilight had been told how massive the building was, almost two years ago, she stared with her mouth agape for a good thirty seconds before Pinkie's excited squeals broke her from her stupor.

All seven girls and dog climbed into an elevator to get to the second floor. Their squad had been assigned a portion of it, mainly because it was located the closest to the Heads' office. Their section had everything they needed to go about their stuff at the Headquarters, including training facilities and their own private gunroom. It included a lounge with an elevator connecting directly to the third floor. More specifically, to the corridor of their private dorms.

The girls climbed out of the elevator and walked towards their section. The main entrance led directly to their lounge, from which one could get to all the facilities. The girls got through the door that led them to their conference room.

Sitting at the head of the table was Celestia, as expected, and Luna sat to her right. Both were focused on their laptops when the girls entered. Celestia held up a finger. It was her way of saying 'Hold up' when she was busy. The girls made themselves comfortable on their chairs while they waited for the two sisters. Luna finished up first, closing her laptop and addressing the girls with a smile.

After a good minute, Celestia finally closed her laptop as well and looked up.

"I apologize for the wait, girls, I had to get that done."

"Was that from ATIDA? Or from CHS?" Sunset asked out sheer curiosity.

"I do most of the CHS work," Luna chuckled.

"We're going to have to swap one of these days, sister." Celestia chuckled. "I'm afraid I'll grow gray hairs at this rate..."

"You wish, sister..." Luna jokingly scoffed.

Celestia stood up and looked at the girls with a charming grin. "So? How was your night, girls?" she asked as she was a mother asking her daughter how her night out with friends went instead of a Head asking her best Squad how their life-or-death mission went.

Well, she always talked like a mother. It was something that hadn't changed since High School.

None of the girls gave any verbal response. They all just stared directly at Celestia, waiting for anyone to make a move. And since she was the one who carried the very result of their effort, it was Twilight who did. Under the attentive eyes of Celestia and Luna, she took out the glass case and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Celestia. Being a bit too far away for Celestia to reach without looking ridiculous, Luna took it and handed it over to her older sister.

Celestia took it with a nod dedicated to Luna and examined the case. Cautiously, she lifted the lid and took the piece between her fingers. It was so tiny she could grasp it with her thumb and pointer finger, looking the size of a walnut.

"How much were they asking for this piece, again?" Luna asked, still observing the rock between Celestia's white fingers.

Twilight humphed. She remembered clearly when she hacked her way into the program of this one Black Market merchants, product of the excruciating attention she used to follow the hints spread through the web, scattered like bread crumbs, until she found the source of these negotiations. The transaction was coded in entirety, however, Twilight managed to decode it and find out just what she needed right then: an address, a meeting time...

And a value.

"A million Equestrian Dollars," Twilight replied.

"For a darn piece of useless rock?" Applejack questioned.

"It's not just a rock, it's a felsic-intrusive igneous!" Pinkie Pie commented, cheerfully as she could.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that makes any sense to us,"

"I've actually heard that one a long time ago," Sunset chuckled, diverting her eyes to the ceiling, like recalling some fainted memory. "Back in High School..."

"And who..." Celestia grasped it into her fist. "Said it was useless?"

In the nearly two years they'd been working for Celestia and Luna, they had discovered quite a lot of things about the two women. They had revealed a side of themselves none of the girls knew, a side that imposed respect from the people around them, daring anyone to say they were less than their male counterparts. They proved to be of magnificent strength, will, and intelligence. At the same time, they were regal and formal, always looking like two Queens right out of history books.

They proved to be powerful in all senses.

That included magic.

They couldn't manifest magic the way the Myths could. Their magic was sealed deep within them, not able to break free for a showcase of power like the girls did when they "ponyfied". Instead, their magic was of great use for detecting other magic, and like the one from the girls, it had been asleep for most of their lives until they contacted with a direct source of Magic: the Element of Magic, Princess Twilight's crown, back in CHS' Fall Formal. And though back then they had decided to let it go back to its world, they perfectioned their technique.

Celestia's fist glowed a faint gold. The girls watched, amazed, as Celestia examined the rock.

Then she let out a sigh and the magic dissipated.

Celestia raised her gaze. She showed the Memory Stone's fragment.

"There's magic here." Celestia put it back on its case. "Very faint. It's not a lot of magic. But there's some. merely a fraction of the Stone's real power. If someone were to grab a hold of all the fragments and put them back together, they would surely bring the Memory Stone back. Let's not let that happen." Celestia took the case and turned to Twilight. "I suppose you must be more than eager to run some test on it."

"You read my mind." Twilight smiled. "Am I allowed?"

"I'll give you two days. Then it's going to the Vault." Celestia passed the case back to Luna, who gave it to Twilight. Twilight accepted it gladly, a different gleam shining on her eyes. A gleam that only showed when she was about to do the science stuff she loved: the eagerness of a researcher. Celestia smiled at this and went back to the other girls. "You all can go get some rest. As usual, a job well done. We'll see you around."

And so, the meeting was dismissed. However, before she left, Rarity had one last question.

"Will we ever know the location of this Vault?"

"No." Celestia and Luna replied at the same time, sending the girls a grin before disappearing through the door.

Fluttershy blinked. Then she giggled softly. "Now, that was a flat one."

All her friends were in their dorms, resting from the pretty restless night. Well, it always seemed to be restless. Twilight envied how they were still able to get up the next day to go about their lives like they weren't risking it every other night. She especially admired Applejack, who worked all afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres before coming back to the Headquarters... Sunset still was studying medicine. Fluttershy still worked at the Veterinary Clinic.

Rarity kept designing, however, she couldn't invest half the time she did to the Boutique. However, she had found Sassy Saddles to run it for her, and Coco Pommel for the Manehattan Boutique. They both agreed and lived by Rarity's ideology and stayed true to her essence despite the constant absence of Rarity. The fashionista, however, still designed everything displayed in the racks and sewed most of the time too.

Pinkie Pie went in a similar fashion. She still went back to Sugarcube Corner, Bakery and Event Planning, everyday afternoon; however, she managed the interviews and such. That way, Cheese Sandwich (her assistant, co-worker, and romantic interest) could handle the Event itself. She still got a lot of help from the Cakes too.

The only ones who had left their jobs were Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Being a teacher was a job that extended until very late, and one couldn't stay until sunset at a school to train teams, grade homework in the heat of battle, go to sleep at three a.m and wake up at six, and still plan your classes for the next day. Teaching or saving the world. It was a difficult choice to make, but they had to do it.

She could still remember the look on the eyes of their students. The CMC, sophomores at the time, looked crushed.

Twilight smiled. How she liked being a teacher! There was no gift as great as knowledge, and that was a gift she wanted to pass on to the next generation. For a long time, she thought that was the only way to save the world. And though it was very important, there was also the way she was helping with now.

Yes, she missed being a teacher, but she didn't regret her decision.

Sitting on her stool, Twilight stretched her arms. In order to keep as discreet as possible, she had turned off all the lights of her lab but one, right above her. However, sitting in the same bent position for so long could get you nasty backaches. Examining a magic rock without risking its integrity (or the integrity of the whole Headquarter) required a lot of meticulous work. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of the whole thing exploding.

Twilight looked over to the clock on her right. 3:47 a.m. Maybe she should call it a night already. Sure, she didn't have to do anything in the morning, but her internal clock was already messed up enough for her to test her luck anymore. Her body would make her pay the lack of actual sleep.

...

But she was almost done with this part. She could stay up for another half an hour.

Twilight went back to the extraction of a part of the Memory Stone. It was too much of a delicate process to allow a machine to do. She grabbed back the tweezers and kept working.

"Awake this late again, Twilight?"

The voice cut the silence like a pair of scissors, startling Twilight. She yelped and let go of the tweezers, which fell to the floor with a clang that echoed in the quiet room. A light turned on, right by the open door, and it illuminated Sunset Shimmer, her hair messy and pajamas wrinkled. She looked at Twilight questioning eyes.

The girl with the hair of flames motioned to the ceiling. "Not turning on the lights so we wouldn't suspect? Really, Twilight?"

Twilight shrunk out of shame. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I could ask the same thing." Sunset arched an eyebrow. "You know better than I do that we have to catch up the lost sleep in the nights."

Twilight picked up the tweezers. "Well, I don't have anywhere to be in the morning. Unlike you. You should really go back to sleep, you have classes at midday, right?"

Sunset approached the table Twilight was in. On her way, she took another stool and placed it next to Twilight, who still focused more on her work than Sunset's actions, before intertwining her fingers next to Twilight's tools.

Twilight glanced at her. "Oh, no, we're not having midnight ta-"

"What's troubling you?" Sunset bit.

Twilight sighed. "Nothing."

"You don't expect me to buy that, do you?"

"I didn't." Twilight left the tweezers aside.

"Then, tell me..." Sunset put her chin on her hand. "Because we've all noticed there's something wrong with you. You seem troubled. What is it?"

Twilight puffed her cheeks. "It's silly, really..."

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Don't make me try to guess it."

"I'd like to see you try."

Sunset pondered for a moment. "Is it... that someone's sick?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not at all."

"Oh, thank goodness, I was worried." Sunset sighed and went back to pondering. "Is it... Problems with Flash? If it's that I swear I'll kill him."

Twilight laughed. "Not even close! Everything's great between Flash and me."

"I see..." Sunset shot her a smug look, to which Twilight laughed. Then Sunset turned serious. "Is it that you feel useless in the squad just because you don't go to the field with us and feel like you should've never accepted in the first place if you weren't going to use all the stuff they taught you at the Academy?"

Twilight froze.

Sunset arched an eyebrow. "So? Did I guess?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Did you sneak into my room while I was sleeping to pry stuff from my mind?"

"That happened once, let it go." Sunset scoffed. "I don't need to read your mind to tell that. You talk yourself down without noticing it."

"I do?" Twilight remembered her brief encounter with Fluttershy right after arriving at the Headquarters. "Now that you mention it, I... do."

"The girls and I talked about it." Sunset put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "You do know we don't think of you as useless to the team, don't you?"

"However, that's how I feel." Twilight sighed. "I just stay safe and sound in the van while you girls risk your lives outside. You all fight against the bad guys and all I do is... look at computers. Even Fluttershy goes out! Fluttershy! I mean, she was the first one to refuse when it was offered to us, and she was the one who always apologized in combat practice. The instructors scolded her so much for going soft on her adversaries. If Fluttershy can, I should too! I was given the same training, do you understand?" she looked at Sunset in the eye. "I can't go out there because I'm afraid and I still pity myself because I don't do more. It's so ridiculous..."

"You know, there's one thing I like to remember myself: It's not ridiculous if it's bothering you." Twilight looked at Sunset. She wore a look so full of empathy, how did she do it? Sunset smiled. "And can I tell you a little secret?" Twilight chuckled and nodded. Sunset looked around them as if trying to check no one was eavesdropping despite the fact she knew very well they were the only ones in the room. Then she leaned into Twilight's ear and whispered: "We're ALL afraid out there too."

Twilight knew this. She was far from dumb. Bravery did not mean the absence of fear, but the will of overcoming it. The brave person conquers their fears. She knew this. And that was exactly the problem: she didn't feel she was able to conquer her fears.

That was what killed her inside-out.

"Yeah, even Rainbow Dash is afraid, even if she wants us to believe otherwise." Sunset chuckled and Twilight couldn't help a smile. "The point is, Twilight, that your fears should be even more of a reason to try to go out there. You're capable as all of us. Don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise. After all, 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment...'"

"'That something is more important than fear.'" Twilight finished.

"Exactly."

Twilight sighed. "Thank you..."

"Hey, that's what friends are for." Sunset patted Twilight's head. "Actually, it was something we wanted to approach sooner or later. Having you watching our backs from the internet is great, but we could really use your help sometimes. We all think it would be great if you could join us out there."

"Really?"

"Really." Sunset stood up. "But we're not pushing you. That's your choice to make. Now let that Memory Stone in a safe place and go to sleep. I'll drink some water and if when I come back you're not in your bed yet, I'll drag you there, got it?"

"Got it!" Twilight laughed. "Thank you, Sunset."

"I already said it." she smiled as she left the lab. "That's what friends are for."

"Good morning, girls!"

Six out of seven groaned in response. Celestia, who was just making her way into the Myths' lounge kitchen, stopped dead in her tracks at the six girls slumped over the kitchen's table. They all seemed to be too exhausted to even look up, all except for Pinkie Pie, who visibly waved with a wide smile at her from behind the marble counter, wearing a frilly apron.

Celestia eyed the girls who didn't seem to have eaten a thousand bags of sugar.

"That good of a morning, am I right?" Celestia checked her wristwatch. "It's not even that early..."

"How are you so fresh in the morning?!" Dash complained, finally looking up. Celestia suppressed a cringe at the ugly bags under her magenta eyes. The messy hair was not a weird occurrence, but it looked even messier that particular morning. It actually looked like she didn't bother looking in the mirror.

Yet she usually never complained about waking up early.

Celestia decided not to pour salt in the wound and make her reply refreshing. She tossed her long hair with a swift movement of her hand a replied with the other hand on her hips: "That's a trade secret."

"A trade secret I'm meaning to pry from you, darling, because it'll soon come the day I can't hide these dark circles anymore." Rarity commented, looking up as well, but revealing a tiny mirror she had in her hand. She examined her eyes, and indeed, there were dark circles heavily contrasting with her perfect white skin.

"I'll give you some makeup," Celestia promised while making her way to the coffee maker. Rarity piped up.

"Really?! That's so nice, thank you! If you could get me the brand that you use for having such beautiful skin, I would be very grateful." Rarity smiled.

Celestia laughed as she poured coffee. There were already seven cups in the table, so she just had to fill them up. All the girls perked up at the scent of coffee and grabbed their cups to drink it down. At the same time, Pinkie finally finished breakfast and placed dishes filled with waffles and fruit in front of each girl. Then she turned to Celestia.

"Do you want a waffle too? I've got more!"

"No, thanks. I already had breakfast."

Pinkie shrugged and sat down next to Applejack to eat her breakfast. Twilight yawned and opened the laptop that was sitting next to her. She had brushed her hair thoroughly and tied it up in a high ponytail, and she was even all dressed up and ready to go about. It contrasted with the other girls, who still wore their pajamas. Celestia narrowed her eyes from her seat.

"Did you stay up until late again, Twilight?"

The girl herself flinched and opened her tired eyes wide. Sitting in front of her, Sunset chuckled.

"Told you she would notice."

Twilight laughed nervously. "I just wanted to run some tests on the Memory Stone, I didn't stay up until that late."

"I know you're all used to sleeping late by now, but you really should appreciate the scarce nighttime you have to catch some sleep. You know the body doesn't rest as well at day than it does at night." She couldn't remember how many times she had repeated those words to these girls, but they sometimes just didn't seem to get it. Especially Twilight, if you gave her something to keep her scientist mind occupied.

"Yes, mom, we've heard that before." Rainbow Dash grumbled, her mouth full, grossing out Rarity, who sitting next to her. "Do we have anything scheduled today?"

"I believe we don't," Fluttershy replied. Dash sighed.

"Great. Then after breakfast, I'm heading back to bed,"

"Wise thing to do, but Ah got to go the farm." Applejack took one long gulp of coffee. "I'm gonna need more of this."

"Gotcha!" Pinkie filled her cup to brim with a bright smile.

"That's not right..."

Everyone turned to look at Twilight, who stared confused at her screen behind her glasses.

"What's not right?" worry was clear in Sunset's voice. Twilight's tipping increased in pace.

"Hold up a second, I'm trying to figure it out."

A ball of panic started to grow in the women present as Twilight mumbled to herself and typed very quickly in her laptop. Her eyes darted from one point to another of the screen, growing more nervous with each passing minute.

"Twilight, what is it?" Celestia asked. Her voice was serious.

Twilight suddenly looked up with a panicked look.

"I've got to get to Systems, right now!"

Everyone the nearest to the entry door got their hairs thrown everywhere thanks to a sudden gust of wind. Indoors. They turned to see the door, finding no other than Twilight Sparkle, being carried by Rainbow Dash. Twilight climbed down Dash's arms and ran to the closest computer without stumbling a single time in her high heels.

"How's it going!?"

"We're doing everything we can but it's spreading too fast!" a worker replied, standing up from his chair to allow Twilight to take a seat in the computer. She was sitting and typing in two seconds.

"How could this happen!? There're at least a hundred walls to break down to even get into our wifi connection! How could you let this happen without detecting it!?"

"Hey! They're good, alright!?"

Twilight glared at him.

"You're supposed to be the best of the best!"

"Stop yelling! That won't solve a thing! Of whatever is happening here!" Dash looked at the screen, but she understood very little of informatic lingo. "What is happening anyway?"

"There's been a security breach on our system!" a girl announced from her desk, also typing really quickly. Dash turned to her.

"What?! That shouldn't be possible!"

"It is, apparently." Twilight did not take her eyes off the screen for a second. "To put it in a way you can get, our whole system has been infected by a virtual virus that is quickly-"

The systems staff screamed when the lights turned off and, instead, the alarm lights started shinning. Everyone looked around as the red lights traced circles in the walls and faces of the present people. Color drained from Twilight's face.

"Spreading." she finished and went back to her computer.

"What is there to do?" asked Rainbow Dash, still inclined towards the screen.

"Give me a... minute..." Twilight kept working faster than Rainbow Dash could move before taking a pen drive from her pocket, connecting it to the computer and downloading something in it. Rainbow Dash had no time to figure out what it was for it was transferred fast. Before she knew what was going on, Twilight had shoved the pen drive in Dash's shoulder. Rainbow Dash took it and looked at her friend, who glanced at her without stopping working.

"Listen, I need you to go to the central computer and put this in there. Its content is a program I designed for cases like these. It'll protect our files."

"As in files you mean-"

"EVERYTHING!" Twilight yelled. "Every single agent and his family, every operation, every squad, the whole story of ATIDA and every bit of information we could possess. It'll protect all of it. It's safe to say that whoever is behind this is definitely trying to obtain information about us." she glanced at her friend again. "We can't let them get that information. Just get that to the main computer and give it to Systems' Director and he'll know what to do with it."

"Consider it done!" and off she went, zipping in a blur between desks.

"How did you know something like this was gonna happen?" the guy asked. Twilight shook her head.

"I didn't," she claimed. "I just prevented it. It's not perfectioned, but it should work just fine."

In that very moment, the doors opened again, and in came Sunset Shimmer followed suit by Celestia and Luna. The girl of the fiery hair carried Twilight's laptop.

"What is going on?!" Sunset ran to Twilight's side. "The emergency lights freaked everyone out, and it's not even ten in the morning!"

"Director Celestia, Director Luna!" a girl cried from behind. "Come over, please!"

"There's been a breach in our system, Sunset, help me to hold it back before it grows even bigger."

She didn't need to be asked twice. As soon as Sunset heard 'breach' she was taking a seat next to Twilight and opening the laptop. She connected it to Twilight's computer and they both got to work, focused on what was on their screens instead of the cacophony of the technicians as all of them worked together as one single element to get rid of the threat looming over them... and over their families.

An hour went by. A very stressing hour. After the files had been secured, Twilight and Sunset and the whole team of Virtual Security spent the time getting rid of the threat itself. And while everyone else focused on the symptoms, Twilight went right at the sickness. What ensued was quite a tiring process.

Whoever was doing this, they were really good indeed. The whole time she spent looking for the traces they left behind, and that's where the problem lay: there were little to no traces left behind, and if there were any, they were encrypted. It had been, indeed, a battle of wills against an unknown person as she chased after its tail and got rid of everything wrong she came across. She tried tracking it down, but she ended up twice in the middle of the Sahara Desert, and in the Great Canyon.

But even if they were good, Twilight still bested them. She finally caught whoever was behind this and she found herself with an exact location... that disappeared as quick as it appeared. All she got to save was that it was within the limits of the east part of the city. Shortly after, the emergency lights turned off and the room went back to normal. The infiltration stopped, and all that was left was what was already in. After they triple checked to make sure they didn't miss a thing, Twilight worked on saving anything she got from her internet chase and copy it to her laptop.

When they went back to the lounge, they were greeted by the girls who fired a thousand questions about what was going on. All they knew was what Rainbow Dash had told them, and that was very limited too.

Twilight left Sunset to explain to the girls what happened and went to her private dorm. Once in the security of her personal place, Twilight kept working. In the end, she had nothing to do other than this.

She'd be lying if she denied that this had a bit of exhilarating. Few were the occasions she had to involve in the missions directly, more than just being the security eagle. Though she didn't think it to be a good thing, considering her situation right now, it sure came in handy to shake her off a bit and get her head a bit off her problems.

Twilight went over all the clues she had. They were good indeed. They managed to infiltrate a Top Secret Agency, plant a virus, and leave without leaving a lot of traces behind. As she worked on trying to get the location of the origin, she wondered how long had they planned this. This wasn't the result of some random hacker. It had to be done by an expert, and it had to involve a lot of planning behind it; it couldn't be any other way.

However, you underestimated who you were messing with.

Twilight was so focused she didn't realize the hours going by, just stopping at all to stretch. In fact, she was so focused, she didn't even notice that she was plunged in darkness until she could no longer see a thing out of her computer screen. When this happened, she raised her gaze and noticed that the sun had set and the moonglow was bathing the waters of the river just outside her window.

Twilight looked at the time on her phone. Six and a half. And it proved to be, for she heard noise coming from outside her door. The girls who worked seemed to have just arrived. Twilight heard a set of heavy steps and the door across hers opened and closed in slow gestures. That sounded like one tired Applejack going to lay down for a bit. Twilight guessed she was back from the farm because of the, ahem, incident of the morning; all of them probably would stay tonight at the Compound.

A set of knocks resounded. Twilight thought she had mistaken it, but she noticed someone was knocking on her door.

"Twilight? Are you asleep?"

"Her light is off, she probably is..."

"But it's six and a half! Not even she sleeps this early!"

Twilight chuckled and got up. "I'm awake! Coming!"

She made sure to turn on the lights (which was something her eyes did not thank her for) before sliding her key card over the panel to open the door.

Standing outside were Sunset, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Twilight stepped aside to let them in, trying to hide her constant blinking to get used to the new light. Her visitors made themselves comfortable on the couches she had in her room. Fluttershy's attentive eyes were glued to her laptop screen.

"Twilight... have you been working on that all day?"

Twilight smiled sheepishly. "Maybe?"

"Twilight!" Sunset scolded her.

"I swear I didn't mean to, I lost track of time." Twilight took her laptop. "But I almost got it... It points me in all kinds of weird directions. I've been in the Great Wall and the Sahara Desert today. Virtually, at least. It's frustrating, but.. they're good." Twilight sighed and closed the laptop, putting it back on her desk. "I spent more time trying to make out heads or tails of it than anything. And I almost got it, but I didn't," she walked over to her board-map of Canterlot, grabbed a red marker, and circled a certain area of the eastern part of the city. "And now all I can give you is this area. The signal came from somewhere around here, but I can't give you an exact location." she sighed. "Sorry I couldn't do more."

"Are you kidding me?!" Twilight flinched at Dash's disbelief. The rainbow-haired woman got up and waved both arms at the board. "Are you really saying you haven't done a thing?! You just reduced our searching place from a huge country to a single neighborhood!"

"But we're not sure whoever did this is still there..."

"Um, would they?" Fluttershy asked, turned to see the board too.

Sunset hummed. "What's your reasoning, Twilight? You're smarter than anyone in here. Do you think they're still there?"

Twilight looked at her friends. Then she turned to the board. And her laptop. And at the board again. And she repeated this again and again as she thought as she was told to.

She turned to her laptop again. "Whoever did this... they definitely had good technology. A regular laptop wouldn't do for such a task. So it had to be the good stuff, and that is anything but cheap. All this must have taken a lot of time to set up, for it to work so perfectly that we still have our best technicians securing our net. So if we're talking about a single person, which I doubt..." Twilight hummed. "I doubt they could move within a few hours."

"There!" Dash smirked. "See? You're a great help in this team! We wouldn't be even close to catching whoever did this if it weren't for you."

Twilight smiled fondly. Sure thing Rainbow Dash knew how much those words meant for her at that moment.

"I'll go tell Celestia and Luna." Sunset got up, smiling. "I'm sure they'll be pleased to hear this."

"But wait," Twilight stopped her. Sunset fell back down in the couch. Twilight bit lower lip. "There's something that worries me."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight glanced at her laptop again. "We're not completely sure how long this person was in our net before being detected. What if they managed to grab a hold of some of our files before they were secured? I wouldn't take that risk."

"We can destroy their computer." Dash shrugged. "A few gunshots would do."

Twilight shook her head. "That won't be enough. You see, everything that goes through the internet stays there forever. Our network was private itself, so there's no risk coming from us, but we can't be sure that whoever did this has such security. Our data could as well be thrown into the deep web with a single click."

"What do you suggest to stop that from happening?" Sunset asked.

"I think I can develop a program that'll extract all the data they have." Twilight bit her lip. "However, I'll need someone to execute it. It won't work without someone making sure it won't take anything that'll compromise us. Do you think you can handle it, Sunset? You'll have to use a tablet, though."

"I could try, but..." Sunset looked over at the map. "We have some ground to cover. I doubt I can do it quickly enough to get in and out and still look for it myself."

Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash. Said girl arched an eyebrow. "I took the Systems course, but you know it was my worst grade. No can do. I can barely keep up with what you both are saying."

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, who frowned.

"Um, I assure you that if Dashie, who took the course, can't, I can't either, for I didn't even have that class once."

"Sorry to break to you, Twi." Rainbow crossed her arms. "But it seems it'll have to be you who gets this done."

Twilight swallowed.

'Get this done'? As in... going into the streets and actually fighting her way over to the main computer of whoever did this, connecting herself to their system, and hacking them in the go while also watching her back in order not to get killed? Was that really what Rainbow Dash was implying?

She had no experience in the actual field! All her work, no kidding, was done behind a screen. She always stayed at the van with her computers. She watched the girls' backs and guided them using infrared lectures and satellites, and security cameras. She knew how to fight and she knew how to use a gun, but she had never used those skills outside of their weekly squad-training sessions.

But... was there a choice? Sunset was right. Maybe she did narrow it down to a neighborhood, but they were still only six to comb down the whole place. They could take other squads, sure, and Sweetie Drops was always available if they needed her, but that was unwise. They would attract a lot of unwanted attention.

No, they were right. This was something she had to get done herself. Her insecurities and fears could wrap themselves a tiny ball and throw themselves to the garbage.

She had to get this done.

This was her job as a Myth.

That didn't mean it had to be an easy thing to do...

Author's Note

Soooooo sorry for the long wait. These past few months have been... utterly crazy. I've barely been able to catch a break at all.

Anyways, looks like things for Twilight are about to turn around... I wonder if she can handle the field? :ajsmug:

Thank you for your patience, you really are the best. I promise chapters will be coming more regularly. Expect a blog post of me talking about that soon :twilightsmile: I might need some help.

Well, that's it for today! See you next time!

-Midday Giggle

Out of the Comfort Zone (Part 3)

"Alright, that's it. Twilight, what's going on?"

Twilight raized her gaze. The pale sunlight of late Winter bathed the left side of Flash's face, making his deep blue eyes stand out against the pale light. The police uniform was partially hidden by a scarf tied around his neck, for even inside Sugarcube Corner it was kinda chilly.

They both had busy days ahead of them. Today, Twilight and the girls had the operative to catch their virtual intruder, and Flash had a long shift at the police station. Neither of them was sure if they were going to meet afterward, so they decided to have breakfast together instead of dinner. They had managed to make their relationship work even in the time Twilight spent attending the ATIDA's Academy, and they enjoyed being an item, but both of them were aware that their lines of work weren't the safest. They never knew which goodbye, which date, which kiss or hug was the last.

No one really knew, but it was especially true for them.

Twilight had tried to keep focused on their date. She tried hard, she really did. But it was hard to ignore the fact that she was about to put her life out there, in danger, and that it could be the last time she saw those eyes and that uniform fitting that particular shape. How could one focus like that?

He had no idea. Twilight hadn't told him because she didn't want him to worry. He had a demanding job as such, why make it harder?

But Flash was one perceptive guy. He knew something was troubling her, and it was no use denying it, for he would give her one of the 'You're lying' looks and she would spill it anyway.

Damn, she wasn't good lying.

"It's just... Today's a dangerous day."

"Aren't all days dangerous?" Flash took his cup of coffee between his hands. "I'm a cop, you're a special agent," he whispered. "We're risking our lives all the time, what makes today different, hm?"

Damn it, he's good!

Twilight looked at her own cup. "I... Today I'm doing..." she leaned over the table a bit. Flash turned his head a bit to listen. Twilight whispered: "Today I'm doing fieldwork."

"Oh, that's great!"

Twilight frowned. "Great!? Did you really just said that?!"

Flash nodded. "I mean... It's your first time, right? It's great that you're finally breaking through your fears."

Hold up. "My fears?"

Flash chuckled.

"Sometimes you're a little too transparent, Twilight. Also, it's my job to notice fear."

Twilight stared at him for ten seconds straight, then huffed and leaned back in the cushion. "You should be a Detective, you know?"

"I take that as a compliment. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't seem too thrilled about this. Could it be that you're afraid of messing up your mission?"

Twilight gaped. "First Sunset, then you. Are you sure you're not using magic on me? Are you not reading my mind?"

"No magic, we're just people who care about you." Flash smiled. "You know, there's no reason for you to be afraid of messing up. Sure, you lack experience, but you're smart and clever, and just as capable as all your friends. And you're a scientist: you must know better than me that mistakes aren't a bad thing."

Twilight groaned. "I know! I'm just... scared. Not only of messing up but also... scared of getting hurt. Or worse." Twilight raized her gaze at him. "Has it ever... crossed your mind?"

Flash dedicated her a sad smile. He extended his arm and grabbed her hand. His fingers were warm of holding his cup, and they quickly warmed Twilight's cold hand... and her heart.

"All the time," he admitted in a whisper. "And I admit sometimes I can't focus just on thinking something could go wrong..."

"Exact-"

"Could being the keyword." Flash cut her off. His grip around her hand tighten. "I like to believe that the less I think about, the less it's likely to happen. I trust you. All of you. I know that you'll always do your best to get back home. Accidents are bound to happen when you live such a dangerous life, and wounds are inevitable. But Twilight," he grabbed both her hands. "I know that you are capable of getting through this. You're stronger than you want to let yourself believe."

Twilight stared at him for a while, not sure of what to say. Before she could say anything, though, FLash winked at her.

"Also, you have a little trick up your sleeve... Or more exactly, under your blouse." he poked Twilight's geode with his finger. Twilight laughed.

"Thank you, Flash."

"That's what I'm here for."

Twilight leaned over the table and softly kissed him. He gladly returned it.

It wasn't like she didn't appreciate Sunset's words. She did. And her words still circled her head, but sometimes you need to hear something twice to get it. Simple teaching concept.

Also, it never killed anyone to be told they were useful.

When they were done with the kiss, she smiled at his blissed look.

"You're right, it could happen. And I'll make sure not to let it happen."

Twilight breathed in and out for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. The tactic Cadence had shown her, long ago, seemed to really work under the pressure of the situation. And the pressure was high. She had been so stressed that she had put on the vest the wrong way, and Rarity, noticing this, decided the poor girl needed a hand and was currently helping her to put it back on.

She felt slightly stupid, but at least she remained mostly composed.

"You're doing an amazing job keeping yourself calm, Darling." Rarity tried to reassure her, but Twilight shoot her an unamused look. Rarity smiled while securing the last straps at her side. "Just remember you won't be alone out there. We'll be by your side. There, this is done."

"Worst case scenario, you have this." Rainbow Dash put a gun on Twilight's hands, who put it on the holster hanging at the side of her belt.

She felt weird wearing the uniform her friends proudly wore. It felt slightly wrong. In the locker room, she had watched the girls put on their uniforms with ease, knowing the procedure to the heart. When she had taken one of her uniforms from her rack, she stared at it for a long moment. She remembered getting her measures taken for these, so the spandex would suit her perfectly; however, the spandex shirt, of a greyish purple, the black spandex pants, and the military boots had been abandoned in her closet before they had a chance to be worn.

Instead of feeling like a representative of her position, the uniform felt like a disguise. A disguise to hide her fears and insecurities. All the other girls wore the uniform with confidence in their strides (especially Dash), while she couldn't stop rubbing her hands in her tighs to dry the sweat.

Rainbow Dash tapped two fingers on Twilight's forehead. She winced. Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow. "Listen to me when I'm talking to you. Remember to never put the gun back on the holster immediately after shooting, alright? Let it cool a bit first. And careful with the secure. Oh, and another thing: never shoot blindly, understood?"

Twilight nodded, a bit amused. "You know I know how to use a gun, right? We were in the same shooting practice, like, all the time."

Dash chuckled. She crossed her arms with a smirk. "It's been so long since last time you've needed it, I'm just worried."

"Don't worry, Dashie. She won't shoot herself," Pinkie giggled. She was sitting in the flor of the van, securing grenades to her belt. "She's smarter than that!"

"If you ask me, I think we should give her rubber bullets, just in case."

"Now, Spike, that's not very nice of you to say. If I can handle it, Twilight can handle it too."

Twilight let out an amused sigh. "Unlike you, Spike, I can hold a gun. I have thumbs and I'm perfectly capable of aiming and pulling a trigger."

"But remember to stand right," said Applejack from the front. Sitting next to her, Sunset turned to look at the group through the window.

"Applejack's right. You have to stand correctly to shoot, or else you'll end up in the floor."

"I know, Sunset, stop worrying so much. All of you. I may not even need to use it in the first place." Twilight sat down. "After all, I'm just going to retrieve some data."

The girls on the back looked between each other. In the front, Applejack and Sunset exchanged looks Twilight couldn't read. The only girl with glasses there arched an eyebrow at their friend's sudden awkward demeanor. She opened her mouth to ask about it but decided against it at the last minute. They already had enough to worry about.

"Anyway, enough chit-chatting. We're here."

Those simple words from Applejack made the rest of the girls hang onto something as the van came to a stop. One of Pinkie grenades rolled along the floor and hit the doors, startling Fluttershy before Pinkie reassured her that it was locked. She hoped.

Twilight's heart started racing as she purring of the engine died.

Then she obliged her heart to calm down. They had no time to waste. Fear and insecurities could wait right now.

Earlier on the day, a scout team had combed down the place instead of the girls, under Celestia's clear instructions. Disguised as homeless people, street vendors, and random passersby. It took them a while to find anything on such a busy street, that got only busier at night, but they finally managed to find something: a motel, but one that wasn't renting rooms, and had a suspiciously high level of security. They didn't get past the front door.

They used a drone to spy inside the windows, but all the shades were down. However, they could see that there were armed guards walking around the corridors when they spied between the shades. Quick research had led them to discover that the motel's owner, an old man with no family, had disappeared under suspicious circumstances months ago. No one knew how the business was "still running". It was suspicious from anywhere you looked.

So, that was where the team was going. Applejack pulled a block away, but in the back of a closed Chinese restaurant. The girls on the back of the van readied themselves in front of the doors. Even from inside they could hear the noise from the outside. Somewhere out there, other squads were undercover, pretending to be people having dinner at the nearby restaurants and bars, ready and alert to act if the things got out of hand for the Myths.

Which didn't happen too often, but one never was too cautious.

The doors swung open, and the girls climbed down with Applejack and Sunset. All seven girls had just finished putting on their commlinks. They had agreed that, once their commlinks were on, they would try to use them only if needed and only with their code names. Twilight's suggestions. It might have sounded like paranoia, but since Twilight wouldn't be on a computer and they would be within reach of a hacker, one never was too cautious. They weren't taking any risks.

The van had parked on a narrow alley, filled to the brim of trashcans and bags. Rarity furrowed her nose at the odor but said nothing. Instead, she gave a long coat to Sunset and another to Applejack and kept a third for herself. The three girls put on their coats, and Sunset turned to the other girls as Rainbow Dash arranged a few locks of her grey wig.

"Do you have everything?" Sunset asked, and while Twilight checked her bag to make sure, the other girls nodded. Twilight blushed at the awkward silence that followed until she finished and also nodded to Sunset, who had a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Alright then," she checked her wrist screen. "the satellites say that there are no guards near the back door, so you should be in the clear while we do our part."

"You know, we know how to do our job, Clio," Dash claimed, but there was a hint of humor in her voice. Sunset shot her funny look.

"Well then, Myths, let's get moving. Make it quick, and good luck!" and she left, followed close behind by Rarity and Applejack. Twilight gulped down.

This was it. It was starting. Now she had to do her part, and, heavens above, was she determined to do it right.

Twilight turned around and followed Rainbow Dash through the alley.

Applejack led the group up to the front of the building. She quickly spotted the other squads. She was familiar with them, so they were noticeable for her, but perfect strangers for everyone else. The leaders of each group acknowledged them in subtle ways, with a tip of the head or a quick movement of the hand. One even cracked a smirk.

The guards on the doors looked weirdly at the four young women approaching the door of the motel. Before the girls had the chance to say anything, one spat with harsh words:

"Turn around, ladies. No rooms available."

Rarity blinked with faked bewilderment. "Oh, my. Are you certain? It's been a long day, we'd loved to lay down. Can't you get us a room?"

"We said no. Now leave before we make you."

"Well, so aggressive!" Applejack huffed.

Sunset took a step forwards. The men tensed. "Now, there's no need to-ah!" she tripped and stumbled right into one of the guards. The rest of the girls faked a jolt at Sunset's 'sudden fall'. She gripped the man's shirt right at her forehead level. The mand tried to get her off with one hand pulling her coat.

"Oh heavens! I'm so sorry!" she tapped her finger to the man's forehead. It glowed fuchsia for a fraction of second before the glow dissipated and seemed to be absorbed by the man's skin. The man's yellow eyes suddenly sparkled fuchsia and Sunset 'regained her balance'. She dusted her coat and smiled at the man. "Now, would you help us get through?"

The man nodded with a blank stare.

His companion gaped. "Are you nuts? We have-!"

Sunset, in a single swift motion, tapped the other man's forehead with her middle finger. The process occurred in him as it had on his teammate, and soon both guards had blank stares aimed directly on the front. With a movement of her mind, she had the two opening the front door, leading to a dark lobby with no one sitting at the front desk.

Applejack grinned in satisfaction. Behind her, Rarity flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Sunset smirked at her friends and pressed her commlink. "Girls, we're in."

Pinkie's bombs proved to be too loud, no matter how much she tried to silence them or how much time she spent in the stealth practice. The bubbly girl just wasn't made for long-period stealth. So while the explosion of the hinges was useful when they almost had the situation in the bag, they couldn't risk alerting anyone right now.

Dash's attempt to kick the door opened wasn't better either, so Twilight went for the Science option.

Out of her pocket, she took a disk she pressed next to the knob of the door. The disk glued there and glowed a faint blue before they heard a click. Fluttershy turned the knob, and the door opened.

Twilight retrieved the tiny disk and put it back in her pocket as the girls and dog entered. Once she was inside, the door closed behind them and they were swallowed by the darkness. Dash lifted her gun and turned on the light in it, and Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie did the same. The girls heard rustling and soon, Spike's collar started to glow too.

Twilight breathed in a sigh of relief when she realized they were on an empty kitchen, the only light coming from their flashlights and the one coming from under the door on their back... and the door a few feet in front of them. Seeing this, Twilight perked up and hit Dash's arm. She glared at Twilight, turning to look at her, but Twilight pointed at the light before Dash could protest. The young woman nodded at Twilight and mouthed 'nice catch'.

Dash guided the team towards the said door, dodging anything that could possibly make noise and they stood at both sides of the door as Spike pressed his paw and sniffed the door. He remained in this position for a few moments, moments during which Twilight's heart pounded in her chest of out sheer anxiety before the dog finally said something.

"All clear,"

On cue, Dash opened the door and held it open until everyone was out. She closed the door making absolutely no noise before she turned to the team.

"Alright, this is it. Let's split up. Remember, try to keep it down and attract no attention. That one's for you, Thalia."

"Okie Dokie!"

"Cool, now let's go."

Twilight simply obeyed Dash's instructions. As the team split up in the next corridor, she went through the plan in her head. They were supposed to remain silent and move within the shadows to look for whoever was responsible for infiltrating their system. Sunset was using her mind-control magic to get the guards in the front to guide them there. Of course, with so much security giving Twilight heart attacks every two minutes it was bound to happen soon, but if by some sort of highly-improvable miracle they managed to find the source without being caught they would take what they came for, leave and arrest all the fellas in about an hour after that. Easy as pie.

Too lost in her thoughts, she yelped when Dash pushed her back by the shoulders and slammed her into one of the walls. Twilight cringed but bit her tongue as she saw a guard pass in front of them without noticing them.

Dash sent Twilight a glare.

"Sorry..."

"Awareness is a cue for survival, Urania," she whispered. "I know you can do that."

She could do that. She would. And until they got Sunset Shimmer's instructions, she had to.

Rarity closed the door of the tiny office. When she turned around, Applejack was tying the two men to two chairs in the middle of the room, Sunset patiently waiting against a wall. Rarity walked to her side.

"Are you certain they won't escape?"

"With Polyhymnia's knots? Absolutely."

Applejack quickly checked the men for anything that might help their case. She retrieved two pocket knives, a lighter, and a pair of walkie talkies.

"Who uses this thing nowadays?" Applejack wondered as she put everything in one of the pockets of her bag.

"People who'd rather stay out of the internet," Sunset claimed as she left the wall and stood in front of the first man. She stretched out her hands and pressed two fingers to his forehead. The blank stare left with the same spark that it had appeared, and the man blinked repeatedly. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before Sunset pressed her whole palm to his forehead. Both his and her eyes glowed white.

Rarity and Applejack waited patiently for a few seconds as the white eyes stopped, and he was unconscious thanks to Sunset's magic the second after. Then she repeated the process with the other man. When she was done with both of them, Sunset put back on her gloves on her way back to her companions.

"Anythin'?" Applejack asked.

"Not much, just the hacker's general location," Sunset shrugged, and her friends smirked. The second after, Sunset also smirked and they laughed, making their way out of the room.

But when they opened the door, there were two men walking right outside of it. The girls tensed as they made visual contact with them.

"F*ck,"

"Darn it."

"Dear God..."

Twilight jolted at Sunset's sudden cry through the commlink.

"Shoot! Girls, we got caught!"

The moment after, the communication was cut. Rainbow and Twilight exchanged looks of alarm. Twilight jolted for a second time as she heard a few shots, awfully close, and her heart began racing. Out of all the possible outcomes, this was the worst-case scenario. The worst truly.

Dash and herself stepped back into the shadows of an open door when a set of heavy footsteps approached. A group of men came running by, hollering about a commotion in the front of the building, and shouting orders to look for police.

After a while, in which Twilight was worried her heartbeat might betray her, she finally heard someone speak up. It was Applejack.

"They found us, gals, time to run!"

"Second floor, everybody! Quick, quick, quick!" Sunset's voice was no longer hushed. Her breath was heavy, she sounded like running. Twilight understood the message, and, without question, followed Dash ut of their hiding spot and towards the closest stairs.

Everything seemed to happen in a rush. Twilight had a million mixed emotions boiling inside her: fear, anxiety, and behind that.... a hint of excitement. Maybe it didn't sound right, maybe she was out of her mind. But the adrenaline... it was exhilarating in a way, in a very alarming way; it also felt a bit like flying. Maybe that was what Dash felt with every mission. Maybe that was the reason she liked the field so much and trained all the time to get better at it.

"Do you find it fun?" Twilight turned to look at Dash, who ran with a smirk on her face.

Twilight puffed her cheeks, making her way upstairs with Rainbow Dash. "N-No!"

"Sure not." Dash swiftly turned in one of the top steps, took out her gun and shoot. Twilight yelped, and when she reached the step just behind her teammate. Rainbow Dash had shot a guard in the leg, and he fell down on one knee while crying in pain.

Twilight just acted. The moment she saw him trying to reach for his own gun, she activated her magic and wrapped him in it, throwing him against the wall. He hit his head against it, resulting in him falling unconscious.

"Good one." Dash congratulated her. Twilight puffed her chest with pride. Both girls reached the top of the stairs but stopped when they heard footsteps behind them. They turned, Dash aiming her gun, but stopped when they noticed it was their friends. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy also stopped dead in their tracks, with Spike being the only one to keep running, before also stopping when he noticed his companions had stopped.

"C' mon, we don't have time!"

"Well, warn them it's us in the stairs!" Rainbow Dash claimed, and the other girls ran upstairs. The team met on the second floor, and Twilight was surprised no one had looked for them yet. In a few seconds, Dash had instructed the other team to look for the hacker's location. Twilight ran behind Rainbow Dash, occasionally glancing back. Dash was kicking doors open, glancing into empty rooms. Twilight was doing the same thing, only she just opened them, despite the fact that it took her longer than desired to open each door. She couldn't kick open a door anyway.

Twilight turned to see the very moment two men came around the corner, apparently startled at the sound of kicking and doors opening. Since she had just opened a door, and upon seeing them taking out their guns, Twilight jumped inside the room. She heard a swishing sound. Rainbow Dash exchanged some punches with them, and Twilight heard some painfully familiar grunts of pain.

Peeking over the threshold, Twilight saw the exact moment Dash was punched in the gut.

Once again, she didn't think it thoroughly. She just acted.

In a flash, she seemed to remember everything she learned at the Academy. She remembered the shooting practices, hours and hours in a training room alongside her closest friends, each picking up the ability at their own pace. Twilight took the issue like math. She calculated the distance and angle, and the wind trajectory when she was practicing outside. Thanks to this quick calculations, she had one of the beast aims of the team, right after Sunset's and Rainbow's.

That was the reason, despite the slight delay she had to ready her gun, she was able to shoot the man that had just punched Dash.

The bullet hit him in the back of the knee, and he fell to his knees. Dash saw the opportunity and punched him hard. The man fell unconscious. She elbowed the other man in the face, and he stepped back holding a bloody nose before Dash kicked him in the gut and he fell to the ground.

Twilight ran to her friend, placing a hand on her back when she heard Dash coughing. "Are you alright?"

Dash nodded, pressing a hand in the spot where she had been hit. "Nice shot. But next time, try to shot when I'm not close. What if you failed?"

"Me? Fail? Do you really trust me so little?" Twilight helped Dash to stand upright. "My calculations have a failure probability of zero."

Dash chuckled and patted her friend's arm. "C'mon, let's go after our friend."

"But we haven't checked all the rooms..."

"And we don't need to. If these guys weren't here, it was for a reason."

Dash's eyes widened. "They were protecting the hacker!"

"Exactly. Now, move, he or she must be around this corner."

Twilight pressed her commlink, following close Dash. "Girls, we got it!"

"On our way!" claimed Pinkie.

"I'm afraid we're quite busy down here, darlings," replied Rarity. "You're on your own right now!"

"Thalia, Euterpe, meet up with us here. Urania and I will get a head start."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!"

Around the corner was only another long corridor, and a single door at the end. Twilight and Dash speed to it. The corridor widened a bit there, looking like a tiny lobby, and Twilight stood at the side of the door while Dash kicked the door open.

When they entered, they met with a gloomy room, which looked a bit like a not-very wide living room that was turned into a bedroom. There was a cot on a corner, with a bedside table with a single lamp there and an empty cup. Besides that, in the room there only was a dresser a wooden table with a chair, with a stack of disposable plates; no trace of a hacker. Twilight and Dash walked inside and approached a corridor. There were only two doors and the first one was a tiny bathroom.

"Look at that, Urania," Dash whispered, elbowing her friend. Twilight looked away from the disgusting sight of a filthy bathroom and to the other door (likely what was meant to be a bedroom). Under the door, she saw a dim blue light.

Twilight and Dash approached the door. Dash took the handle and turned it...

Twilight heard a click coming from inside the room.

Dash opened the door...

And a gunshot was heard.

White dots appeared in Twilight's vision and she let out a sharp cry. Dash, from the floor, looked in alarm at her friend. The back of Twilight's shoulder was bleeding, and the girl with glasses was holding a hand above her wound, tears of pain squeaking out of her eyes and falling to the wooden floor.

"Twi!" Dash slipped up but didn't care. Twilight had never, ever received a gunshot. It was the worst experience to have on her first day in the field.

"I-I'm okay" she wasn't okay. She was in pain, big pain, and felt like just crying until she died out of dehydration. But she couldn't. She had a job to get done.

On the other side, she couldn't believe she had dared to do such a thing. In fact, next time she better thought it twice, because damn, this hurt. She had never thought she would have the guts to push Dash away and take the bullet herself, but she had and she found herself feeling pretty relieved. It was almost like she knew the bullet wouldn't kill her. It was only causing her an immense amount of pain. At least I'm left-handed.

Twilight wiped away a few tears threatening to escape.

Both girls perked up when they heard sobbing. It wasn't coming from Twilight. Both turned to the room.

It was a woman. A young woman, probably just out of her teen years, with long burgundy hair and tan skin. She was sitting on a chair, surrounded by computers. Between her trembling hands, she was holding a gun. Rivers ran down her cheeks, wiping away subtle traces of sweat in them; her messy, greasy hair hiding part of her face and the dark circles under her eyes, and her clothes screamed they needed a good wash. Twilight was alarmed of detecting stains of blood in some part of her sweater.

She was even more alarmed when she noticed in the screen of the computers behind her, a loading bar was shown with a text above: Files transferring 63%.

Twilight was up and running before Dash had a chance to react.

The girl yelped. "D-Don't get any closer! I-I'll shoot you again!"

Twilight felt a rush of wind by her side, and the next thing she saw was the girl tied to the chair, and the gun she was previously holding between Dash's fingers. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Spike appeared on the threshold. Dash looked at the girl with contempt.

"First of all, trembling so much, you're only gonna end up hurting yourself. Second, how old even are you?"

The girl replied with wails.

Twilight bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming, her whole body tensing and her fingers squeezing the edge of the training table she was sitting in.

Sunset shot her a look. "Told you it was going to hurt. Are you sure you don't want anesthesia?"

"Very. If Applejack and Dash can do it, so can I." Twilight puffed her cheeks and relaxed her body.

In front of her, her friends burst out laughing. All seven girls were grouped together in their private infirmary, that despite not being big was as useful and equipped for Sunset to heal any wounds that didn't need a hospital. Many times Twilight had witnessed one of her friends being treated here. She knew Applejack and Dash were quite capable of giving themselves stitches, and doing so without any anesthesia, and that was what kept Twilight from asking for it.

But Sunset had just given her two stitches and Twilight stopped her before she could get started with the third.

"Alright! Alright! I've put on a brave face enough for tonight!" Twilight gasped.

The girls burst out laughing again before Sunset reached to the counter and took out a bottle of local anesthesia. As the young doctor, in the future pediatrician, got back to work, Twilight turned to see her friends.

"So? How did it go with that girl?" she asked. Rarity, sitting in the table in front of her, was the one to speak first.

"She refused to talk whatsoever... She was terrified! The poor thing was devasted and claimed over and over she couldn't say a thing." Rarity sighed. "They had her threatened... She said the men who kidnapped her had threatened to kill her family if she ever dared to accuse them... It was only after we told her her family would be safe that she spoke,"

"She said they told her to hack her way into some computers, with nothing out of the ordinary," Dash explained. "If she tried to refuse, they would hit her."

"Oh, dear. Poor thing... And she's only twenty." Fluttershy sighed, sitting on the floor with Spike resting his head on her knees.

"Then she was asked to hack ATIDA... Before she knew, she was spendin' 'hole nights plannin' her move."

"She didn't sleep for five days!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Heavens! That explains those horrid dark circles!"

"Did she know anything that might help us?" asked Twilight. "Maybe what they were looking for?"

"She did," Applejack nodded. "They told her to look for somethin' called The Vault."

Twilight gasped. The Vault was barely mentioned by anyone else than Celestia and Luna. It was almost a myth itself, but the girls were aware it existed. It was where ATIDA kept all the magical artifacts they retrieved, such as the fragments of the Memory Stone they already had; it was also where they kept most f the evidence they retrieved that the police did not need. Not even the Myths had visited it. It was a mystery to Twilight and the rest as it was for the rest of ATIDA.

"The Vault? Why would they want to know about the Vault?"

"She said she heard some of them talk over the phone... They said something about ancient magic." Rarity said. "Of course she thought they were nuts, but she was told to do something or else her family would die. It didn't matter if she thought it was ridiculous. She had to do as she was told, and since they told her to find the Vault, she did just that."

"She found it?"

"Of course she didn't." all girls turned to see Celestia approaching them. The woman was just crossing through the door. "Any information that may exist about the Vault's location is, certainly, not in our system. In fact, there are barely any files about it on paper. Its location is one of ATIDA'S best-hidden secrets. So I'm afraid if they wanted to know the Vault's location, she was just wasting her time."

"What will happen to her?" asked Pinkie.

"She's committed some heavy crimes and will be indicted because of it, but since she willingly confessed and gave us information, her sentence will be reduced a few years." Celestia relaxed and smiled at Twilight. "How's your shoulder?"

"I actually can't feel a thing right now," Twilight chuckled. She shrugged with her good shoulder. "Better? I hope. At least it isn't infected. It really hurt when I was extracting the files from their computers, though."

"That's because the bullet struck the muscle. You probably will have to stop using this arm for a while." Sunset reassured her. Twilight didn't turn to look at her friend since she knew the moment she turned she would notice the wound and panic once again. She was feeling surprisingly calm at the moment, so she wasn't taking any risks.

After exchanging a few more words with the girls, Celestia exited the room, which was soon filled with chattering as the girls entertained Twilight while Sunset worked. Even Sunset talked every now and then. Not once her smile left Twilight's lips, despite the fact she knew she was wounded or how cold she was feeling for not wearing a top. Even after such a grueling night, filled with boiling emotions and danger, they were by her side, supporting her...

What had she done to deserve such amazing friends? They were truly the best... Yes, their life was dangerous, but it had been since the first time they met anyway. Standing next to this amazing group of people, she knew there was no darkness in which she wouldn't find a light, and no hardship they couldn't overcome together.

With them by her side, Twilight knew she would always be brave.

"And done!" Twilight heard a snip of scissors and Sunset put herself in front of Twilight, her surgical gloves stained with blood. Sunset took them off and threw them into a tray. "Everything's fixed now. I'm gonna cover it with a dressing. Movement is going to hurt for a while, but as soon as you don't move it too abruptly, it should be fine." she placed the dressing and secured it with tape. "It's gonna leave a scar, though."

"Her very first scar!" Dash exclaimed, mocking a mother talking about the first steps of her baby. She placed a hand over her heart. "They grow up so fast!"

Applejack hit her in the back of her head, sending some strands of her real hair to her face. Dash laughed.

Twilight smirked while putting on her shirt. "I hope this shoulder gets better soon. I need quick movement in the field, after all."

Silence fell upon the before-chuckling group. Twilight buttoned her shirt a few seconds before noticing the silence and looking at her friends, who stared at her with astonished expressions. Twilight arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Did you just say what we think you said?!" a smile was slowly creeping into Pinkie's face, and it soon started to grow into her other friends again. twilight thought back on her words and realized what her statement implied.

"Oh. Well, yes..."Twilight finished buttoning her shirt. "I mean, it was scary as hell, there's no doubt in that. But it felt... good to leave my comfort zone. I'd like to keep doing it." she smiled. "And if I can do it with my best friends, then it's even better. I admit it's going to be hard at first. I definitely need to start practicing for real, since I'm very rusty with my close combat techniques, but otherwise... I think it's a good idea. Don't you think so?"

She looked at her friend with hopeful eyes. And the girls were smiling like Pinkie Pie did all the time. Said girl was squealing in delight before literally jumping to Twilight to give her a bear hug. Twilight squeaked when the pressure made her shoulder hurt a bit, but she smiled and hugged her friend back despite the pain.

"Of course it's a great idea!" Pinkie screamed. "It's the most wonderful of ideas in the history of wonderful ideas!"

Applejack chuckled. "We're proud of ya', Twi."

"And I promise to help you train!" Dash puffed her chest. "You'll be an expert in no time! We'll begin as soon as that shoulder's healed."

"And it'll be healed even sooner if Pinkie Pie would let Twilight go..." Rarity gently pressed Pinkie shoulder's to get her oof Twilight. "Darling, you're going to rip the stitches if you keep hugging her like that."

"Sorry!" I'm just so excited!" Pinkie giggled.

Twilight laughed. Indeed a weird group, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She loved these girls.

In the back of her mind, she was still thinking about the breach in the security and the fact that the girl had been looking for the Vault. What did they want from the Vault? Who knows. Some sort of magic, surely, but what exactly? Somewhere deep inside of her, she knew this was just the tip of the iceberg, Somewhere deep inside of her, she knew things were only just beginning. A whole new deal of things awaited them just around the corner, and she knew better now than ever that they needed to be ready for it.

And heavens above would they be ready.

Author's Note

Hey! So this closes this arc! How was it? Did you like it? I sure enjoyed writing it! I really liked exploring Twilight's character a little more, and you can be sure this is gonna happen with all the girls. I like to combine each girl with the arc. And yes, the story's plot has already advanced a bit here, can you tell? Well, it's gonna be clearer in future chapters!

Until next time!

~Midday Giggle

Turn Up the Volume (Part 1)

When she crossed the front door of the house, the first thing Applejack noticed was a strange sound coming from upstairs. She walked to the kitchen to leave the bags of groceries, greeting Granny Smith on her way, who was baking some pies. The sound came again. Applejack thought it sounded like a rooster being strangled mid-cry.

"What in tarnation is that, Granny?"

"I got no idea, youngling." replied the old woman.

The sound came a little louder, and Applejack cringed. She still couldn't figure out what it was, but it sounded awful.

"I'm gonna check."

Applejack left Granny Smith to her business in the kitchen and went to the wooden stairs. The sound increased, but it still was hard to figure out. It sounded familiar. Applejack climbed up the stairs and noticed, much to her short-lived surprise, that the sound was coming from AppleBloom's room. That girl.

Applejack approached the door and stopped when she realized something. The sound was familiar because it sounded like a way off-key bass.

Applejack burst through the door. Sitting on her bed, AppleBloom flinched and turned to look at her older sister with a terrified expression on her eyes. The oldest sister set her eyes on the bass sitting on AppleBloom's lap. Applejack's bass.

"Whoa, there nelly!" Applejack was in front of AppleBloom in two seconds, and she took her bass from her sister's hands. "What do ya' think yer doin' with my bass?"

AppleBloom pouted, not happy at all of being caught. "I was just tryin' to play! For the Musical Showcase!"

"Really now? Well, let me tell ya somethin'." Applejack sat next to AppleBloom and gave her a playful noogie. The teenager grunted but chuckled. "Don't ever touch mah things again, ya hear?!"

"But ya never use that bass anymore!" AppleBloom pleaded. "Can't I have it? I promise I'll take good care of him!"

"No can do, 'Bloom. This bass is important to me." Applejack caressed the chords of her beloved instrument. "Brings back happy memories."

AppleBloom snorted, crossing her arms. Applejack frowned.

"Now, don't ya be like that..."

"Can't you at least show me?"

"Anytime, little one," Applejack ruffled her sister's hair. "But I'm afraid you can't learn an instrument in a week. Also, wasn't Sweetie Belle performin' on her own for the Showcase?"

"Yeah, but she said that maybe the CMC should make a group..." AppleBloom crossed her arms. "I thought that was a good idea."

Applejack pondered for a bit. After the fiasco of the Talent Show years ago, and the Battle of the Bands... It probably wasn't the best idea to allow those three to plan the performance on their own. Sweetie was the singer of the group, and while Scootaloo and AppleBloom had a pretty voice, none of them played any instruments. She knew Sweetie played the piano and was probably thinking to perform with that.

Yeah, definitely not a good idea.

Applejack put her bass to her side on the bed and turned to be face to face to AppleBloom. "Do ya know if Sweetie's already decided what her performance's gonna be?"

"She said somethin' about a love song... I'm not sure what she's gonna sing, though. I do know she had Rarity sew her a dress and has done a few sound checks in the gym."

"Mhmm, and you really what to make her start her plans all over? Especially when Scootaloo and ya weren't as excited as she was from the beginnin'?"

"Well, no... But how are we gonna help her then?"

Applejack chuckled. "I'm sure Sweetie will be glad to have her own fan club on the front row, don't ya think?"

AppleBloom thought about it, then she perked up and smiled. "Yeah! I'll tell Scootaloo about it! You're right, we're not as good musicians as Sweetie is, but we sure are goin' to support her!"

The teenager got up with a jump and ran over to her desk, where her cellphone was charging. The girl sat at her chair and started chatting with her friend, and Applejack left with her bass, glad of having stopped a disaster from happening.

Twilight grunted when her back hit the padded floor. The back of her head hit the pad a bit roughly, but it wasn't enough to harm her anyway. Her sensitive shoulder, however, did not take the fall kindly.

Das appeared above Twilight, clad in lycra high-waisted, black pants and white shirt, and clicked her tongue.

"You still let your guard down too often."

Twilight moaned, feeling at the same time frustrated and ashamed of her frequent mistake.

"I know, I know... I'm sorry," Twilight said as she started to get up.

"Don't be sorry. Correct it." Rainbow Dash offered Twilight her hand and helped her stand back on her feet. Something Twilight had noticed ever since the first day Dash had been training her was that when Dash meant business, she meant business And she didn't take training lightly. She claimed that 'it takes hard work to be the best of the best', and while she was absolutely right, Twilight's muscles certainly weren't fond of Dash's training sessions. Or workouts. In fact, they weren't fond of Dash at all.

Dash untied her ponytail, allowing wild locks of color to rest on her slightly-sweaty, bare shoulders. "We're done for today," she instructed, shaking her head. Twilight admitted that she looked gorgeous with that unkempt look and messy hair. Instead, Twilight assumed she wasn't in her best appearance, sweating more than a sinner in a church and panting like a thirsty dog.

That was a pretty obvious thing to happen, of course. Twilight didn't have yet half the stamina Dash had, and the training sessions tired her out way quicker. This probably was barely warming up for Dash.

No wonder she practices with Applejack.

Both girls turned to the door the moment it opened. Like reading her thoughts, Applejack appeared in the threshold, carrying a sports bag and dressed in a training suit similar to Rainbow's. She was followed close behind by Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy.

"Where's Rarity? And Pinkie?" Dash asked.

"Rarity's doing a fitting for a wedding dress, and Pinkie had to go over some events with Cheese Sandwich and the Cakes. A book launch, I believe." Sunset set her bag on a bench. "They said they would come over as soon as they could."

Dash huffed. She had never liked it when anyone skipped practice, which was the reason she got so pissed with Twilight pretty often in the past. However, she knew there was nothing to do. The whole group wouldn't leave their jobs behind, especially since some of them had worked hard for it since Middle School.

Twilight picked up her stuff and started walking to the exit. A few tuts stopped her.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Dash asked her. Twilight was confused.

"Um, you said we were done for today?"

"Yeah, we, like in you and I. You still have to train with the others."

Twilight dared to groan in discontent, prompting a raised eyebrow from her mentor.

"What was that? I think someone was asking for some burpees,"

Twilight squeaked. Burpees were the worst, ever since High School, she cursed whoever dared to invent such torture. Dash was aware of this and seemed to enjoy to make her do endless burpees if she ever dared to show the slightest bit of discontent to her exercises.

"So, what do ya say Twi?" Applejack laughed. "Burpees or fighting Fluttershy?"

Twilight reluctantly positioned herself in the mat, in front of Fluttershy as the girl stretched, her long hair braided to her skull. Sunset, on the other hand, sat at the side with the sports bag, judging the matches and waiting for her turn.

Twilight was amazed at the ability shown in the match by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They were both going at it, delivering and dodging punches without losing their balance. Even when one of them scored a hit, the other didn't falter or stayed dizzy for long before going back to the fight, and it went on even after Twilight was beaten by Fluttershy and was replaced in the mat by Sunset. Twilight observed her two friends. Each girl had their advantages and disadvantages. Applejack was bigger, taller and stronger even without her geode (which were prohibited in the training sessions), but because of her size, she was slower. Dash, on the other hand, was much smaller and thus faster and agile, which made her harder to catch; but she lacked the immense strength Applejack had even though she was strong herself.

In the end, force prevailed over speed and Applejack won the match when she pinned Dash to the mat, effectively holding her captive. Dash groaned. "Seriously, you've got to help me with my strength training."

"More than twenty years of farmwork, sugarcube. That's the key." Applejack let go of Dash.

Twilight took a long gulp of water at the exact moment Sunset caught Fluttershy in a headlock. Knowing that meant she was up next, Twilight stood up.

"Nope!" Applejack grabbed Twilight by the shoulder and pushed her to her mat Twilight stood there confused. Applejack grinned. "Now yer fighting me, Twi."

Twilight's pupils shrank to tiny dots.

"Oh, damn it..."

AppleBloom stopped dead on her tracks on her way back from the dance practice. In front of Principal Celestia's door, she could have sworn she heard sobbing coming from the inside. The door was slightly ajar. AppleBloom, burying the guilt forming at her stomach, leaned closer and peeked into the office.

Celestia sat at her chair, with Luna behind her, both looking pretty concerned. Sitting in front of them were Filthy Rich and Spoiled Rich, Diamond Tiara's parents. The sobs were coming from Spoiled Rich, who cried into her hands. Celestia handed her a box of tissues from the drawer with a sympathetic look.

"There, Mrs. Rich. Please calm down and tell us again. What do you mean Diamond Tiara has disappeared?"

AppleBloom's eyes went wide. Disappeared? So that was why the girl had been skipping classes. She thought she had just been sick, but Tiara never replied to her texts. Although they didn't get along very well at the beginning, the CMC had befriended Tiara and Silver Spoon after the elections which Tiara had lost to Pipsqueak. They weren't the best of friends but sure cared about the others' well-being.

Spoiled Rich wailed. "S-She was kidnapped!" the woman cried. "We don't know by who or why, but she was taken away when she was on her way back from her French lessons. The police have been trying to find her, but it's been almost a week since that and they haven't found anything!"

"How are you sure she was kidnapped?" Luna wondered. "Couldn't she just have... ran away?"

Filthy Rich scowled. "Our daughter would never do such a thing! We aren't the best parents, sure, but we love her and she knows that." AppleBloom noticed the man was fidgeting with his cufflinks, a thin layer of sweat on his nape. He seemed nervous.

"The police went through all her stuff. They didn't find anything out of the ordinary. And around the time she disappeared, som people say they heard screaming near their houses. Oh, but it was late at night... She always comes home late..." Spoiled Rich went back to sobbing. "M-My daughter is gone..."

"She's not gone, Mrs. I'm sure they will find her soon." Celestia tried to comfort the woman.

Luna nodded. "Trust the authorities. They are sure to find something soon."

"AppleBloom!" the mentioned flinched hard. She had to bit her tongue to stop a scream of surprise. Turning around, she saw Tender Taps approaching her with a confused smile. AppleBloom shushed him and hurried to approach him before getting caught. She grabbed Tender Taps' arm and dragged him with her to the closest locker row.

"What were you doing?" Taps asked, amused. AppleBloom puffed her cheeks.

"N-Nothin'. It's nothin'. What did you want?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go grab something to eat? A snack after practice sure sounds great, don't you think?"

AppleBloom pondered the offer. She wanted badly to go back home and ask Applejack if she could find out anything about Tiara, but... well, she liked to spend time with Tender Taps. Thanks to him she had discovered she could dance well enough to join the dance club. It took her just a bit of practice.

"Sure thin'!" AppleBloom smiled. "Let me warn my Granny real quick, alright?"

"Alright!"

AppleBloom stepped aside to make her call. In her mind still wandered the subject of Diamond Tiara. Was she kidnapped for real? Tiara didn't look like the girl to run away from home, even if her bond with her mother wasn't the best there could be. She wondered if there was anything she could do to help her.

AppleBloom sighed. She would ask Applejack later. Surely her sister could tell her a bit more since she couldn't' hear the whole details of the incident.

Hopefully, this was nothing to worry about. Hopefully.

"I hate to ask ya for this, fella." Applejack said as she followed Shining Armor to his office. Around her, the Police station was buzzing with activity. People were going everywhere, answering calls and carrying files. Applejack stopped when an officer dragged a thief in front of her.

Shining Armor shot her a smile. "What are you saying, Applejack? It's my pleasure to help. Come on in."

Applejack entered the office and sat at the chair in front of the desk. Shining went to the one behind it and turned to the computer. "Now, what was the girl's name?"

"Diamond Tiara. AppleBloom says she disappeared around a week ago."

"Ah, yes! I remember that case. I went to investigate it myself,"

Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Isn't that the Detective's work? It sure doesn't sound like somethin' a Captain would do."

Shining Armor smirked, typing on his computer. "The office can get a tad boring sometimes. I need some excitement too." He frowned. "But I'm afraid to tell you there isn't a lot about this one. If it was indeed a kidnapping, it was very well done. The area had no cameras and there are no visual witnesses,"

"Have ya talked to the parents?"

"I have. The mother's devasted. The father, however, was a lot more composed. He seemed tired." Shining Armor narrowed his blue eyes. "He seemed pretty worried that the case may go public."

"Do you think he's hidin' somethin'?"

"Maybe. That, or he's just trying to keep appearances. You know how those people are, always keeping appearances. Which one seems the most likely to you, Applejack?"

"Both. But no kidnappin' happens without a reason. If she really was kidnapped, then there's probably some shady business behind this."

Shining nodded. "Well thought. We're working on investigating the parents. It probably has more to do with the father than the mother."

"What makes ya say that?"

"Let's just say a bear hibernation is more eventful than that woman's life," Shining rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna print this for you. Maybe that'll calm down AppleBloom a bit about her friend. Are they close?"

"Not that much, ah think. But AppleBloom wouldn't tell me how she found out about this. She wanted me to ask around ATIDA, but since this isn't the kind of stuff we deal with I assumed ya would be the closest help." Applejack sighed. "Sorry, ya must be busy. I'm takin' a lot of yer time."

"A friend of Twilight's my friend too. And my friends never rob me of my time," Shining laughed. The printing ended and he handed Applejack a sheet about the case. Applejack checked it. There really isn't a lot to see about it. "If there's anything else that comes up, then I'll tell you immediately."

On her way out of the police station, Applejack read the report about the disappearance of that girl. Diamond Tiara. There was a picture of her attached to the document. She was looking to the camera, a bright smile on her face and with a spark on her sky blue eyes. It looked like a selfie, probably from social media. Next to that one was another picture, black and white, this time of her and her parents, probably taken on a studio. She was looking to one side, her expression cold and distant, looking a bit like one of those old pictures Granny Smith kept in her photo albums; her parents were sitting behind her, her father with one hand in her shoulder and her mother holding the patriarch's arm. None was looking at the camera.

Applejack looked closely at both pictures. The teenager of the picture on the left was nothing like the one in the picture of the right. The one in the right looked stiff and serious. The one on the left was happy, smiling like she was having the time of her life.

Applejack shook her head. There was no way that that girl had ran away from her house. AppleBloom said she loved CHS. She wouldn't abandon that.

There was something else going on here. And AppleBloom seemed determined to find out what. That meant Applejack would also follow this to the end, until that girl was back at her house, safe and sound with her parents.

When AppleBloom went to class the next morning, there was still no trace of Diamond Tiara. She breathed a sigh of disappointment. She shouldn't be disappointed: after all, they couldn't have found her with so little proofs in one afternoon, but she was hoping anyway she would see her today, sitting next to Silver Spoon.

Who, by the way, looked like her head was elsewhere. She looked at her desk with a vacant expression, her arms crossed tight to her chest. AppleBloom hadn't stopped to consider how she must have been feeling. Tiara and Silver were best friends after, that coming even from back when they were the biggest meanies (a title which, by the way, was given to them when freshmen). She must be devasted, thought AppleBloom.

Behind her were sitting Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who waved at AppleBloom with wide smiles. She hadn't told them yet. It was too personal for the Rich family, it wasn't her secret to tell. But it was obvious Silver Spoon knew, one way or another. Maybe Mr. and Mrs, Rich told her? She was their daughter's best friend, after all, they couldn't keep her in the dark for too long.

AppleBloom walked over to the seat next to Silver Spoon, usually occupied by Diamond Tiara, and sat down there. Silver Spoon didn't notice. 'Bloom turned and looked at her two friends, who looked back at her with puzzled expressions. AppleBloom mouthed 'Complicated' for them before turning to look at Silver Spoon.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Spoon looked at her, perplexed at first, but realization soon glowed in her eyes. She frowned and AppleBloom noticed with a bit of panic that her eyes were misty.

"You know?" she replied in a hush. AppleBloom nodded.

"I'm really sorry,"

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault, actually," Spoon lowered her head and rested her chin against her arms. "How did you find out?"

AppleBloom blushed. "Uhh, I, hm, kind of... eavesdropped..." She coughed. "How about you?"

Spoon didn't seem mad at this revelation. Maybe she's not surprised? We are known for bein' nosy. "Her mother told me when I went to give her my notes the day after." Spoon sniffled. Oh, shoot, she's gonna cry. "I can't believe it's been a week..."

"I know... I heard Shining Armor's in charge of the investigation?"

"It's actually some other Detective. Shining Armor's just supervising." Spoon sighed. "I hope they can find her."

"You and I, both." AppleBloom glanced at her friends, who were chatting silently, but glancing at the two girls in front of them. AppleBloom looked at Spoon again, but she heard the door open before she could say anything.

Ms. Cheerilee came into the room, greeting the class with a sad smile. Behind her, Vice-Principal Luna was coming in with a solemn expression. Everyone who was standing or talking immediately went back to place at the presence of the teacher and the Vice-Principal.

"Good morning, students." Luna's greeting was met with multiple replies at once. "I shall be brief. As you may have probably noticed, your classmate Diamond Tiara has been absent for a while now. I'm here to inform you that she's not coming to class for a while."

Silver Spoon whimpered.

"Because of that and other delicate issues, the Musical Showcase will be delayed." a few protests were heard. Luna sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. You can continue with your preparations, but you'll be informed of the next date as soon as we solve this. We promise it won't be long before it resumes." Luna nodded. "That'd be all. I'll leave now so you can continue with your schedule."

"Why's Diamond Tiara skipping class?" some guy at the back yelled.

"That's not your business!" Pipsqueak, to everyone's surprise, yelled back from the front row.

"Indeed, it's a delicate matter and we are not in place in to divulge that information." Luna started walking to the door. "Have a good day, class!"

AppleBloom heard Sweetie Belle huffing behind her. "What a bummer! I was really looking forward to the Showcase,"

"AppleBloom, do you know anything about this?" Scootaloo asked. AppleBloom exchanged a look with Silver Spoon, who nodded in response to her unspoken question.

"I'll tell you later, alright?"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded. Sweetie looked at Silver Spoon. "Would you like to join us today in the clubhouse, Silver Spoon?"

The girl was surprised at this suggestion. "Why's that?"

"Well, uh, you seem like you need it."

Always so perceptive, Sweetie. Good one.

"Yeah! You can join us today!" Scootaloo smiled.

"Girls, please pay attention to the class," Ms. Cheerilee warned them All four girls apologized, and Silver Spoon replied in a whisper with a small smile.

"Thanks a lot for the offer, I appreciate it, but I've got ballet today. Maybe some other day. AppleBloom will fill you up on what's going on."

The conversation ended there, but AppleBloom could hardly concentrate on what Ms. Cheerilee was explaining. In her mind, she prayed that, wherever Diamond Tiara was, she was alright.

"What do ya' mean 'shady business'?!"

Applejack stared dumbfounded at the wall of the training room. Behind her, she heard the matches end abruptly, and she didn't need to turn around to know her friends were looking at her. Perhaps she said that a bit too loud. Oops.

On the other side of the line, Shining Armor's voice replied: "We've been investigating the father... there are things that raise some suspicions. His assistant told us he got really nervous when he got a call from unknown numbers. There are some mysterious numbers on his log..."

"What's so mysterious about those calls?"

"They appeared out of sudden, called him practically every day, multiple times a day. Untrackable."

"What's going on, Applejack?" Fluttershy's worried voice startled Applejack.

A pang of guilt hit Applejack right in the heart. It had been days since she had involved herself in this case, frequently contacting Shining Armor to know if there was anything new, under AppleBloom's constant request, and not once had she confided in her friends about it. There really was nothing any of them could do. They were focused on bigger stuff and kidnapped children were not their field of work. That's what the police existed for.

I really need to stop keepin' mah problems to myself.

She quickly filled in the girls about the situation and put Shining Armor on speaker so all could hear what he had to say.

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, poor thing! Wherever she is, she must be terrified!"

"I'm glad you've been helping Applejack, Shining."

"Who do you think you're talking to, Twily? Of course, I'd help her!"

"Sweetie hasn't told me a thing about this..."

"That's probably 'cause the family is not sharing it yet. I still don't know how AppleBloom found out."

"Girls, can we get back on topic? I have an appointment in an hour,"

"Sorry, Shinin'" Applejack scratched her head. "You were sayin' somethin' 'bout some numbers."

"Ah, yes. Well, add to that some big money withdrawals lately... Sounds like a shady business, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Rainbow Dash nodded but stopped mid-gesture when she remembered Shining Armor couldn't see her. Pinkie stifled a laugh. Dash shot her a dirty look before going on. "A kidnapped girl, mysterious numbers, money withdrawals, and the family refuses to let the case go public... Sounds pretty much like something illegal to me, don't you think?"

"Careful, Dash," Sunset warned. "Let's not jump to conclusions just yet,"

"That's my theory too, though." Shining Armor said. "Actually, my appointment is with Filthy Rich. I was about to expose these proofs to him and see if we pry any reaction from him,"

"Sounds fun! Can I tag along?"

"Pinkie!"

"Whaaat? I was just saying!"

"She's got a point, though," Sunset claimed. "Maybe I could go too. If Mr. Rich won't give in, all I need is a simple touch on a fraction of skin."

To emphasize her point, she played with her geode. All the girls smirked knowingly.

"Haha! No," Shining Armor replied to Sunset. "Let's not commit crimes while we're trying to solve one, alright?"

"It's not a crime!" Pinkie scoffed. "It's just... a shortcut!"

"I'll go too." Applejack checked the clock. A quarter past two. "Let's take a quick shower and meet there. Where is the appointment, fella?"

'The appointment' happened to be in one of the most luxurious corporative buildings of the whole city. Rarity almost fainted on the spot when Shining Armor told them and dashed faster than anyone thought she could to her wardrobe while Sunset and Applejack showered. She came back with two of her 'casual-formal' dresses. Sunset and Applejack had no other choice than to wear them, no matter how much they refused.

Neither of them was exactly Rarity's size. Applejack was taller than her. However, thanks to their friend, they looked pretty decent wearing those.

Which was kind of embarrassing when Shining Armor showed up with his uniform.

In the waiting area, Shining Armor was going through a file. Applejack noticed the file had Diamond Tiara's name on the cover and that, much to her relief, it appeared to be full of more information than before. AppleBloom would be thrilled to know about her friend's case tonight. Sitting next to her, Sunset was smoothing her skirt with a thoughtful look.

Applejack reclined a bit to her. "Thanks for comin', Sunset,"

Sunset smiled at her. "Hey, it's no problem. Whatever to help a friend, remember?"

Applejack smiled back, sheepishly. "I know sometimes ah can be a bit... reserved."

"Don't you say?!" Sunset laughed.

"But it's not like ah don't trust yall, honest!" Applejack added. "It just... passed me by..."

"We know, Applejack, don't beat yourself over that. I'm glad you told us in the end, though. That's great progress already,"

"Not enough progress for my likin'...."

"But it's progress anyway! Though maybe next time you're looking for a kidnapped girl, you could tell us right away," Sunset laughed.

Applejack replied with laughter. "I'll keep it in mind,"

In that very instant, a young girl with a pencil skirt and glasses approached them. It was the same girl that had told them to wait there in the first place. She stood before the three adults and cleared her throat to draw their attention.

"Mr. Rich will see you now. Please, follow me,"

All three complied and followed the girl to the double door that awaited them. Shining Armor led the march inside the office, followed close by Applejack and then Sunset. And though Applejack was really tall, she couldn't see past Shining Armor's head as she walked.

"It's such a pleasure to see you once again, Mr. Rich,"

Applejack came around Shining Armor and took, for the first time, a good look at Filthy Rich. Despite his daughter and her sister studied at the same class, she had yet to meet the man, but somehow Applejack could figure out what he looked like even before looking at him. Not very tall, with a dull look on his eyes, almost cold, and with a fancy (and expensive, important to note) suit hugging his figure. A laid back hair, already turning gray in some spots, elegant stubble and a few wrinkles around his eyes and cheeks; those appeared to be more of stress than age. He couldn't be that old. There were also bags under his eyes, just barely starting to pop up. Lack of sleep? Because of his daughter's absence, perhaps?

He seemed surprised when he saw the Captain wasn't alone. His eyes widened when he saw Shining's two companions, moved by curiosity, but replied to the greeting the policeman had uttered upon entering.

"Good Afternoon, Captain Armor. I hope this meeting brings us both some relief about our respective concerns. Can I assume you've found something new about the disappearance of my beloved Diamond Tiara?"

"That depends on you, Mr. Rich," Shining Armor claimed, never losing his smile. The door closed behind them and Mr. Rich arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, really? Please, tell me more. Have a seat."

They did as told, and Applejack fixated her eyes on the man before her. He seemed calm. Almost completely calm, in fact, if it weren't for the way he grabbed his cufflinks. Shining Armor, if he noticed it, did not mention it

"Tell me, how can I help with my daughter's search? You know well, Captain, I'm willing to everything to find my sweetheart."

Applejack narrowed her eyes. He sounded way too calm for being a man on this position. Any other father would be eager to hear what the police's got to say about his daughter's kidnapping, though. Maybe there is something fishy about this man.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Shining Armor crossed his fingers in front of his face, his smile never faltering.

We're about to find out.

"I've got pretty solid proof to know you may have something to do with your daughter's disappearance. Kidnapping? We're yet to set that down,"

"My daughter was kidnapped!"

"Why are you so sure?" Sunset arched an eyebrow to the man.

"Exactly," Applejack nodded. "There were no witnesses, no records, no traces... What makes ya so sure she's kidnapped and not, let's say, dead maybe?"

Alright, that was blunt. But it seemed to do the trick.

Filthy Rich, who had jumped to his feet when he spoke, was beginning to show cracks on his armor. A nervous frown wrinkled his brow. "I... I... My daughter's...! She's not dead! I... I don't know where she is!"

Call it instinct, call it magic, or maybe her Element had some influence, but Applejack knew that was a half-lie.

"Mr. Rich." Shining's face went serious and he stood up to tower over Filthy Rich, even with the desk in-between. Filthy Rich's strange demeanor increased by the second. "Your case is serious. You could as well be arrested for justice obstruction if we indeed prove you have something to do with it. If you really care about your daughter's well-being and want her back, you should tell us everything you know. Even the slightest bit of information helps."

"I... I can't..."

"Why is-?"

"Because they'll kill her if I talk!"

His sudden outburst seemed to be just what Shining was expecting. However, this revelation, although expected for the Captain, was slightly shocking for the two women with him. Applejack gaped at him, indignant. How could he hide information about his daughter's kidnapping?

Was he being threatened?

"Why don't you have a seat, Mr. Rich?" Shining instructed.

Filthy Rich fell into his chair like the revelation had drained him of his energy.

AppleBloom had tears squeaking out of her eyes. She shook her head, in denial, her eyes wide out of sheer terror. "How... How can that be? How can someone do such a thing!?"

Applejack frowned, sitting in front of her, and grabbed her sister's hand. "Sometimes people make mistakes... when they're scared, they make mistakes,"

"He must have been terrified then," AppleBloom shook her head. She hugged a pillow to her chest, burrowing her face in the soft fabric. "How can someone hide information about their daughter's well-bein'?"

Applejack bit her lip. She had been just as indignant when she knew, but after all, she wasn't in a position to judge him. And after what she had heard that afternoon? It surely wasn't her place to criticize him. She doubted she would've acted any different if it was AppleBloom the one in danger.

AppleBloom took no notice of Applejack's silence. Instead, she lifted her head and asked: "Why did these... people try to harm Diamond Tiara? What does Mr. Rich have to do with them? Wasn't he an importer or somethin'?"

"Yes, he is an importer. That's the problem..."

"... In one of his cargoes, these foes had sneaked in arms." Sunset explained to the girls, in their conference room. Celestia and Luna were also present, listening with close attention. "Lots of arms. Filthy Rich has every shipment checked, so when this was found, he was about to denunciate it to the police. Of course, until they decided to show up and threaten him. Turns out they had been keeping an eye on him, and threatened to hurt his family if he didn't collaborate with them. As a warranty, they took his daughter."

Dash scowled and let out a growl, "Threatening a girl..."

Rarity huffed, indignant. "Those pigs!"

"How are you so sure of this?" Celestia wondered.

Sunset cleared her throat. "I may have had a quick glance at his memories. Just a tiny one..."

AppleBloom snorted. "Sunset sure is somethin'"

"That's right, girl," Applejack shook her head. "She sure is. Anyway, that's where this ordeal led us. Diamond Tiara is bein' held hostage by some really bad people who want to take advantage of Mr. Rich, asking him for money and to let them use his importer as a facade for their shady business."

"That'd explain why he doesn't want the case to go public. He's thinking of his daughter's safety..." Fluttershy, who was hugging her knees to her chest, stated.

"That also explains the money withdrawals," Twilight rubbed her chin. "I assume Shining Armor is already aware of all this?"

"You can't even begin to image the death stare he gave me when I shook his hand!" Sunset snickered. "He was so mad!"

"Shining Armor is like that," Twilight laughed. "He doesn't like one bit breaking the law to apply justice,"

"Must've been so much fun explaining to him your job, Twilight!" Pinkie laughed.

"Stop, little squirrels, you're going through the branches," Celestia shook her head with a smirk.

Sunset sent a look filled with hope to Celestia. "Do you think there's something we can do?"

"There's nothin' ATIDA can do,"

"Aw, shucks!" AppleBloom pouted. "Why not?"

"Because ATIDA doesn't mingle with that business, Kidnapped girls is not our thing, that's the police's job,"

AppleBloom pouted, visibly miffed by this. However, she was aware of this since the beginning, when Applejack sat her whole family in the table, the night the girls and she had accepted the proposal given by Celestia and Luna. After the initial shock passed, AppleBloom had tons of questions. Tons. Applejack let out a chuckle at the memory. AppleBloom arched an eyebrow at this but said nothing.

Both sisters' sat there for a moment, in contemplation. Just when Applejack was thinking of leaving, AppleBloom gasped so loudly it startled Applejack.

"I KNOW!" AppleBloom looked at Applejack, who stared back with wide eyes and a dumbfounded expression. "I know how you can go after her!"

Applejack sighed. "AppleBloom, ah told ya it's not ATIDA's-"

"Not ATIDA's job, I get it. But kidnapped girls aren't. Criminal organizations are!"

Applejack stared at her for a second. Then two. Then three. Then, she smiled and grabbed AppleBloom on a headlock, giving her a rough noogie while laughing.

"'Bloom, you're a genius!"

"Agh! Lemme go!"

Author's Note

Someone kidnapped Diamond Tiara? But what does that even have to do with the Myths?

Well, stay tuned to find out! :raritywink: I hope you enjoyed this first part of the arc! Actually, this arc is a little shorter, but it's just as important as all the others! Soon you'll see it!

Until next time!

~Midday Giggle

Turn Up the Volume (Part 2)

Turns out ATIDA already had an investigation going about this organization. They went by the name Umbrum. Celestia claimed they were chasing its tail for months, but they were sneaky and always escaped from their clutches. Celestia was starting to lose her patience with them, for they had gotten away with way too many crimes to her liking, many of which included murder, much to Applejack's rage and Fluttershy's horror. Now they could add to their file kidnapping. If they didn't have it in there already, which Applejack didn't know, for she wasn't one to ask many questions.

It was early in the morning when Shining Armor was informed on the new turn of events. As Captain of the Police Department, he was told about many of ATIDA's operations. ATIDA and the police pretty often worked together. That way, ATIDA was easily kept in the shadows, keeping it as a Top Secret Agency at all times.

Well, at least to the common public. It was no mystery that the name already rang a bell in some criminal minds.

A few days later (the day her disappearance turned two-weeks), Filthy Rich and his wife were brought to the Police Station under the excuse of another interrogation regarding their daughter's disappearance. Once inside the interrogation room, Shining Armor himself explained the situation to Filthy Rich while his wife was fake-interrogated in another room. Of course, the man was more than glad to help as much as he could, but the married couple would be kept in the interrogation room under the surveillance of a police officer.

Applejack watched from behind the mirror the scene unfold. Filthy Rich was hugging Shining Armor tightly, tears slipping from his eyes while the Captain patted the man's back. A tiny smile stretched into Applejack's freckled face. Maybe, in the end, this experience could help bring the family closer and make the home life of Diamond Tiara a little easier. AppleBloom had told her her parents had her very pressured.

The farm girl perked up when Shining Armor scaped the embrace and left the room. He was greeted by Applejack with a single nod of the head.

"How was it?"

Shining nodded back. "Good," he checked his wristwatch. "We'll be leaving in two hours, I better put on my uniform right now. Are you going with your uniforms or do you need us to lend you some?"

"I don't know. I gotta check that with Twilight..."

Shining Armor motioned for Applejack to follow him out of the corridor. While they walked, a question bloomed on Shining's head. As he pondered, Applejack noticed, his eyes squinted suspiciously and one of his eyebrows arched slowly.

"How did you find out about that headquarter, though?"

Applejack cursed inside her mind. Just like her, Shining Armor was a man of very firm ideas and morals, who didn't like breaking the law. Tarnation, that's one of the reasons he became a police officer in the first place. She knew he wasn't one to blow a fuss, but he surely would be annoyed with Twilight if he knew she had taken a look on Rich's laptop and his log to find the way to the headquarter the calls were made from with some fancy digital stuff whose name she didn't know. Sadly, she couldn't lie either. And he knew that, damned smartass.

Applejack looked away. "Um... we kinda... looked on Mr. Rich's stuff?"

She didn't see it, but she could sense his frowning.

A sigh filled the corridor. "Of course you did..."

Applejack awkwardly looked back at the Captain, who, indeed, was frowning with an annoyed expression. "See, Shinin', I've learned the hard way not everythin' is black or white. So, maybe, you could try to open up to other ideas...?"

Shining Armor sighed. "I know... It's just, you know, I kinda have trouble looking at the world in different shades. And you are no one to talk, missie! You need to work in opening up to people too. I know for a fact you're worse than I am!"

Applejack sighed. "I sure am..."

At her sudden change of attitude, Shining glanced at her. Arms crossed and shoulders slumped, she walked in silence through the main room of the Police department, where everything was as hasty as ever. A pang of guilt stung at his stomach. He had always viewed Twilight's friends like sisters, and once doesn't just make feel bad a sister and lets it be. So he lifted a hand and let it rest on the top of her head, a gesture he used to do to Twilight when she was a little girl. Just like Twilight used to do, Applejack glanced up.

Shining Armor smiled at her. "See, Applejack, I know you had some trust issues. And I know it's not easy to be as open as you'd like to people, even to your friends. But I know you can achieve it if you try hard enough. We both can. So what about a deal? If you promise to work on opening up more to your friends, I promise to try to understand the other faces of justice!"

Applejack chuckled. "That'd be nice, fella..."

"This one here! And this one here! Aaaaand this one-"

"Pinkie!" Dash groaned, a few paces away from Pinkie Pie, while she cleaned her gun. "Can you not say that every time you place a bomb in your belt? Also, why don't you ever sit down on a bench or something when you do that? Do you have to sit on the floor?"

The Myths had stopped flinching every time Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared before their eyes long ago, thanks to training on awareness, but Dash did blink and met the girl's eyes at least. She was showing a radiant smile. Well, like she always did, actually; that wasn't anything new. She did notice her curls were bouncing despite standing still.

Pinkie Pie booped her friend's nose. "Because everyone would expect me to do that! Boop!" she stood back upright, looking down on Rainbow. " 'Sides! No one ever questions your pre-mission routine. You clean your gun every time!"

Dash huffed. "Fair point."

Pinkie giggled and went back to her task. As she placed her explosives in her belt, making sure to make less noise this time, she watched the rest of her friends getting ready. She liked the floor because it was nice to admire people from down there. She felt like a little girl again. Rarity was just changing because she had arrived shortly ago, for she had been busy with some clients of the boutique, hurriedly putting on her shirt and adjusting it around areas. Sunset was sitting against the wall, listening to music, softly banging her head to the rhythm. She wondered what she was listening to. Continuing with her inspection of the room, she noticed Fluttershy braiding her hair, and next to her, Twilight was biting on a pen while looking at her computer screen.

It was when her eyes landed on Applejack that she stopped for good. Usually, the country girl would be stretching by the side, making sure her long, built body was loose before they had to jump into action. This time, though, she was sitting on a bench, back against the wall. Pinkie got up and walked over to her friend. She looked blue, and she hated seeing her friends blue.

"What's wrong, Jackie?" she asked, making sure not to attract the other girls' attention. Applejack looked at Pinkie for a second, opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think it through and decided against it. She said something three heartbeats later.

"I am just a little worried. You 'now, with this mission. The girl... If she's not there, she might get hurt if we don't rescue her, don't ya think?"

Pinkie sat next to Applejack, pondering before replying. "It's possible... after all, this gang may think it was Mr. Rich who told on them. Which kinda he did and didn't at the time, you know, with telling Shining Armor what happened but he didn't say where they were so-"

"It ain't no gang, Pinkie," Applejack chuckled. "And yeah, I get what ya mean. That's what worries me."

"Well, do not fret!" Pinkie put a hand on Applejack's shoulder. "I might not be able to tell you if she'll be there or not, but I can promise we won't stop looking! Even if we have to do it without ATIDA! But don't tell Twilight that..."

"I heard that, Pinkie."

Applejack burst out laughing.

Applejack gasped in need of dear air. The man was pressing his arms so tightly against her throat she felt within seconds the desperation of suffocation. His other arm was wrapped around her waist, restraining her arms to her sides and keeping her from reaching out to her geode to activate her super-strength. He had effectively restrained her from movement.

She tried to cry out for help, but she had no air to muster a word. As the icing of the cake, he was so tall he had her lifted multiple inches from the ground, so she had nowhere to set her feet.

Her heart pounded furiously. There was no way for her to escape this situation. He was bigger, stronger and taller, and he had her in a very well-thought lock. Memories of her family and friends flickered before her eyes. Once again she tried to free her arms, but it was to no avail.

The world was beginning to blur. The walls of the inside of the building in which they had located the calls, yet another factory turned into HQ, were beginning to look like grey blurs.

Diamond Tiara. Where was she? She had yet to find the girl...

"Polyhymnia, darling, are you there?" asked Rarity through the commlink.

She couldn't reply.

The man tightened his vice-like grip on her. Had her ears not been ringing, maybe she would have heard something in her body crack.

Her eyes flickered closed.

Just then, the man was rocketed forwards and he released Applejack who, with no strength left, fell to the dusty floor. Her body hurt for the impact and she tried to guard her head in case the man fell on top of her. Which never happened. Applejack took deep breaths and coughed, massaging her sore throat in an attempt to relieve the pain. She laid motionless as she regained her senses little by little.

She raised her gaze when a soothing hand grabbed her shoulders.

There was Fluttershy, casting her a worried look. She was talking, but Applejack couldn't quite figure what she was saying. But she was repeating her name, that's for sure.

"... you ... ight?..." her senses came back. Fluttershy repeated herself. "Polyhymnia, are you alright?! Answer me, please!"

Applejack coughed. "I'm..." she coughed again. "Fine, I guess..." her voice was raspy.

Both girls turned at the sound of a gunshot. Sunset had just shot Applejack's captor in the hip, which sent him to the ground. Sunset kicked his head twice and that knocked him out cold. Judging for her furrowed brow and her huffing, she was mad. But Sunset was a mature woman, and she quickly regained her composure. Once her enemy defeated, Sunset hurried to get to her friends' side, kneeling just like Fluttershy. Applejack had just managed to sit up.

"Are you alright, Polyhymnia?"

Ever since the incident with the security breach, they had decided to use their code names all the time while on their missions.

Applejack tried to utter a response, but she was caught by a sudden attack of coughs. Fluttershy rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. Once she had calmed down, Sunset grabbed her face and lifted it to take a look at her friend's neck. Fluttershy cringed, but Sunset gave no visual reaction. She was (almost) a doctor, after all. She examined Applejack's neck for a handful of seconds before retreating.

"No kidding, that was a bad one. Don't strain your vocal cords, unless you want to end up mute for a while. Actually, try not to talk at all for now." Sunset helped Applejack back to her feet. "That's one nasty bruise there, though. Are you feeling alright?"

Applejack nodded.

The three girls were about to run off when they were stopped abruptly by a set of pretty familiar barks. All three turned around and saw Spike approaching in large strides, barking to catch their attention.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Fluttershy asked when the labrador reached them. Spike took a second to catch his breath before replying.

"I have good news! I found her! I found the girl!"

Applejack perked up at this.

"Where is she?" Fluttershy asked. Spike made a gesture with his head.

"This way, it's two floors up! Tell the others quickly," he started to run, followed suit by the girls. "I would've told them myself if I had a comlink, though..."

"Discuss that with Urania."

"Girls! Spike found Tiara, can any of you please come with us?"

Applejack could hear the replies, though she was a bit surprised to hear Shining Armor first. She had nearly forgotten the police were here as well. Talk about luck. Also, it was convenient, for this place was huge and there were a lot of criminals around, especially on the lower floors.

"You girls go after her!" was Shining Armor's response. "We'll handle the rest."

When Applejack, Sunset, and Fluttershy finally arrived where Spike was leading them, they engaged in a dogfight against guards on the floor Spike had told them. Spike claimed they weren't there when he left to look for them. There were about a dozen men there, all of which were surprisingly skilled in combat. It worried Applejack. Most criminals weren't very well-trained in the art of close combat, as Dash liked to call it. She had met with opponents that had the strength and loomed over her, things which proved to be of ventage for them, and some others had brains and the tactical mind their tutors had rooted in the Myths.

But these men... and the men she had encountered before... They knew what they were doing. She almost felt like she was fighting against ATIDA agents, only, of course, none of these faces were familiar to her. It would be extremely alarming if they were.

Thank goodness, the other girls arrived one by one, which gave them the upper hand in the fight. When they were grouped they all followed Spike along a hallway. Applejack felt her pulse pounding in her ears. Was it excitement? Maybe. A tad of adrenaline as well. This fight had become a bit personal for her. She was eager to witness the moment this girl returned to her parents' arms, to see them embrace her, kiss her and promise to never let her go.

Of course, they had to rescue her first.

Applejack held back a gasp.

Diamond Tiara was there, in the middle of the hallway...

But...

But a man was keeping her hostage.

The Myths skidded to a halt after Spike. The atmosphere appeared to be overwhelmed by a deadly silence, but Applejack spotted the distant sound of gunshots, far, far away. No footsteps were approaching, and no sound echoed in the hallway. the only sound was the wails of Diamond Tiara who, terrified, trembled while glancing at the hand with which the man had firmly gripped her frail arm. She was skinny and dirty, covered in the sweat of many days and her hair greasy, distinct from what Applejack had seen in the pictures of her polished and elegant usual look. Had they even allowed her to take a shower?

But her looks, though pitiful (as Rarity would say), weren't the most disturbing thing of the picture. No.

It was the fact that the man was aiming a gun to her temple.

The Myths didn't dare to move an inch. His finger was placed on the trigger, and the gun was unlocked. A false movement could easily mean the end of the young girl who whimpered, trying her hardest not to look at the arm pointed at her head. It was proving to be fruitless.

As for the man, he was tall and built, with a skin of ash and hair of coal. Sideburns framed blood-red eyes, but which felt icy-cold and malicious. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants and was covered by a coat that matched his eyes. A wicked grin adorned his face as he watched the girls (and dog) stare at him with expectation, and his grin widened as he pressed the gun to her temple. Diamond Tiara whimpered.

"Are you looking for her?" his voice echoed in the hallway, yet he hadn't talked that loud. Tiara sobbed. Only then Applejack noticed her wrists were tied together, tightly. There were red marks around the rope. Tiara squealed when he moved the gun barely an inch. She was too frightened.

"So? By all means, tell me!" he said, his grin cracking open. "Are you looking for this girl? Did Filthy Rich send you?"

"We're here after you," Sunset replied with a firm voice, positioned in the center of the group. From her left, Applejack hardened her gaze and she could sense the rest of the girls doing so as well. That was a half-lie, but oh well...

A low snicker escaped his throat.

"Oh? And do you happen to know who are you messing with?"

Some criminal with an inflated ego, that's for sure.

"Doesn't matter. We'll take you down. Like everyone else before you," Dash glared.

This time, the man burst out laughing. What was so funny for him? No time to think. In his motion to laugh, he had retired the gun from direct aim to Diamond Tiara, and it pointed now at the ceiling. It was the exact window of opportunity they had been waiting for, for this was the moment Dash dashed towards him to take the girl from him.

It all happened so fast Applejack almost missed it.

Applejack saw Dash grab Diamond Tiara and carry her, but the man glanced at them despite the superspeed. Then something strange happened: his eyes changed. The white of the eye turned green and his pupils glowed red, and from the corner of his eyes, a purple smoke squeaked out. From the corners of the poorly-lit hallway, shadows crawled along the floor and grabbed Dash's foot. The woman tripped and fell a couple of feet from him, and being smaller than Diamond Tiara, she ended up trapped underneath the girl. She winced, a graze appearing quickly in her left cheek.

The other girls gaped when the man, a smirk on his face, was surrounded by shadows and swirling winds that mane his hair wave. Diamond Tiara rolled off Dash, but the woman's foot was still held by shadows. Dash began struggling with the tentacle of shadow as it began pulling her towards the man. She kicked and tried to crawl towards her friends, but it simply wouldn't let her go. The Myths rushed towards her, Pinkie being the one who got the closest to her trapped friend.

As she reached for Dash, though, the man spoke again.

"I'm going to ask this again..." his blinks made shadows squeak between his lids. Applejack noticed fangs peeking out of his lips. His eyes turned into a sharp glare. "Do you know who you're messing with?"

The shadows rushed forwards and exploded.

Applejack's first instinct was to cover Diamond Tiara, who still was terrified and hadn't moved from the floor. Applejack positioned her built body before Tiara's frail figure, effectively covering her. Unluckily, that meant Applejack and Tiara, as well as Dash and Pinkie, were out of range of the shield Rarity summoned last-minute. Which meant they took all the force of the explosion.

The four of them were thrown back by the force of the explosion. Dash and Pinkie were rocketed several yards back, which incited a frightened cry from Fluttershy. As for Applejack and Tiara, being a little farther, they were thrown back but not as much as Dash and Pinkie, who laid motionless in the cold ground. Her ears ringing, Applejack tried to get up. Not being able to do so, Rarity assisted her, while Sunset and Fluttershy rushed to Dash and Pinkie, still out-cold. Twilight checked Tiara. Thanks to Applejack, the young girl had received little to no damage. She was frozen in shock, covered in bruises.

The Myths who were conscious turned to see the place where the man was.

He was gone.

Where he previously stood, shadows floated and wrote in the air two words:

King Sombra.

Diamond Tiara was taken to the hospital, to check her wounds, her health and so the doctors could help her recover from the shock. An ATIDA agent had accompanied her, to make sure she didn't say anything that she shouldn't. As for Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack, it was the ATIDA's physicians and Sunset who took care of them. Dash and Pinkie woke up from their slumber a couple of hours after the mission, late at night, and had demanded to be allowed to leave their infirmary to attend the meeting with the Heads (postponed due to their absence). In the end, Sunset allowed them to leave the infirmary so they could wrap up the night.

As for Applejack, she only had a few cuts and bruises, a product of the collision. The worst was the terrible bruise in her throat and the pain on it. She could barely swallow anything.

All seven girls were seated in the comfy chair of the conference room when Celestia and Luna appeared, frowning. Although they weren't told all the details, they were indeed told about the girls' encounter with this man and what seemed to be magic. Dark Magic, perhaps? She wasn't sure.

"First of all, how are you two feeling?" asked Celestia, addressing Dash and Pinkie. Both girls shrugged in response.

"We're as good as we can be after a concussion," replied Dash.

"Sunny said it was a mild one, so..."

"You'll be alright in a couple of days of rest." sentenced Sunset Shimmer.

Luna sighed. "That's good news."

"Now..." Celestia placed her laptop on the table. "Onto more pressing matters... We have news, and they aren't exactly good news."

She pressed a key and the TV of the room turned on. A file displayed on the screen, topped with the label 'Umbrum'. Applejack didn't read the whole thing, but she did catch on some words that left her with a restless feeling. Also, a long list of names, but there was one name that really caught her attention, on the very top of the list.

"Sombra." Celestia pointed to the name. "Alias: King Sombra. Gave himself the nickname. He's like a ghost: no relatives, no acquaintances, no criminal record, no RECORD as if. There's not even a picture. We have his name, and that's pretty much everything. We aren't sure just how old is he."

"'Pretty much'?" repeated Rarity. "That means you do have something else."

"We do," Luna nodded. "We know he's the Head of the Umbrum organization."

A heavy silence fell upon the room.

"The... leader?" Fluttershy exhaled.

"We knew him by name," Celestia confirmed. "But until now, we knew nothing of his... abilities..."

"We do have a record on the kind of magic you described. It's not pretty, though..."

"Wait, the King Sombra?" Sunset stood up. "I didn't know he had a counterpart here!"

"You know him?" Celestia asked. Sunset shook her head.

"I don't know him, he's dead in Equestria! Twilight told me about him. He was a tyrant, ruled the Crystal Empire after taking down Princess Amore. Before being banished by Princess Celestia and Luna, he placed a curse on the place that would make it disappear for over a thousand years. Twilight says he used dark magic." she slapped her forehead. "God, why didn't I realize at the moment?! His Dark magic is terribly dangerous there."

"The kind of magic he uses in this world, I fear," Celestia changed the image showed on the screen. Now, Applejack saw something that seemed like parchment with a drawing depicting a man that looked like a wizard holding what seemed like a black flame and surrounded by writings in a language Applejack couldn't understand. Celestia explained: "The legend says a sorcerer once found a ring with a shining black diamond, and he took it to his home to examine it. However, when he put it on, he was surrounded by a black mass that got sucked into his body and gave him control of all the shadows. He could turn into shadows."

"The townspeople were terrified of him," Luna continued. Applejack couldn't tear her eyes off the image on the screen, and only then she noticed the ring on the man's raised hand. And she also noticed he had some resemblance with King Sombra...

"The legend says he inflicted nightmares in everyone around him if they didn't comply with his wishes, mostly regarding money or women," Luna went on, before being interrupted.

"Pig."

"Dash, let her finish."

"Thank you, Twilight," Luna casually replied. Applejack had to hold back a chuckle. She surely was used to that kind of interruptions by now. "As I was saying... He had complete control over the townspeople, and some say he even was trying to bring down the King... Until other sorcerers confronted him. The legend says the Evil Sorcerer escaped and no one heard about him ever again."

"Do you think this King Sombra maybe has the ring?" Fluttershy asked.

"Perhaps," Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash. "Did he have it?"

To any outsider, this may have been a weird question to make to the young woman. But to them, this was no mystery, for they knew well about Rainbow Dash's photographic memory, which had proven to be quite useful many times before. As long as she had taken a look at something, she would be able to recall it. And so, Dash closed her eyes despite her headache and recalled the memory, as the others waited eagerly for her response.

She opened her eyes a few heartbeats after.

"He did have a ring, I remember." Dash nodded.

"Well, there it is!" Pinkie pipped in. "All we have to do now is take it away! Easy peasy!"

"Not so 'easy peasy', Darling. If ATIDA had no records of him, do you believe he'll appear so easily? Especially now he knows we know about him."

"Rarity's right," Sunset bit her thumbnail. "It's unlikely he'll appear so out of nowhere now we've seen him. Actually, I would dare to say he won't pop out in a long while."

"That's a good assumption, yes," Celestia nodded. "However, we gotta be alert if he does appear. After all, Equestrian Magic is your field of expertise."

In CHS, her class greeted Diamond Tiara with a banner welcoming her back, orchestrated by the CMC and Silver Spoon. It was painted in a beautifully chaotic way, with big fuchsia lettering and signed by her whole class and with tons of adorable drawings all over the blank spaces. Diamond Tiara, who was accompanied by her two parents, burst out crying. Only this time it wasn't because of nightmares (a current occurrence for her after her rescue) or because of fright (a familiar feeling during her kidnapping). This time it was joy.

Her parents had misty eyes and kissed their daughter goodbye before heading off to their meeting with the Principals. Miss Cheerilee hugged Diamond Tiara tightly, whispering comforting words in her ear, before her classmates grouped around her. They had prepared her a kind of welcoming party with cake and snacks. So the first three periods were Tiara's party.

The preparations for the Musical Showcase were resumed soon after Tiara's return to the school. Although she wasn't performing, she was glad to help in all the preparations, especially regarding Sweetie's performance, along with Silver Spoon. She seemed to appreciate her life and her freedom even more after being secluded for so long. AppleBloom would even go as far as daring to say she looked happier.

For the Myths things went back to normal, or as normal as they were. Missions went on, wounds healed. Soon Applejack could talk normally, and that was great because Dash had taken advantage of her lack of verbal retorts to pick on her all the time. Now, with Sunset's approbation, she was all good to have her friendly banters with the rainbow-haired woman.

But despite the good news, worry was still lingering in the back of their minds. None of them could shake off the sight of King Sombra (Applejack refused to say that name out loud) from their minds, who could do so? They hadn't faced an enemy that controlled magic since... Well, since High School. They always retrieved magical objects or stuff like that, but a real magic bearer...

The Myths were reunited in their lounge. They had taken for the first time in a long while a day with no training to relax a bit and just enjoy each others' presence. Rarity was enjoying a face mask while Fluttershy brushed her royal purple hair, and Pinkie played with Fluttershy's long pink mane. Applejack and Dash were playing videogames. Spike was napping in one of the couches, snoring loudly. Twilight was reading, sitting barefoot on the white couch, with Sunset next to her writing to Princess Twilight. She had been asking the Pony Princess all about King Sombra from her world in case they needed that information for later.

Dash had just defeated Applejack in a match when Celestia and Luna came in. They were smiling widely. Their smiles relaxed the girls, who assumed that meant good news.

"You won't believe how satisfying it was to see Diamond Tiara reintegrated to the School today," Celestia announced in a chipper voice. "Today was the first rehearsal for the Showcase and you should've seen her in the audience, first row, cheering for her friends."

"I almost wish I had recorded it," affirmed Luna, laughing.

"That's wonderful to hear, darling!" Rarity sighed contently from her reclined position on the couch. "That poor girl should be taken to a spa after that trauma."

"I assure you, Rarity, that a therapist works better for PTSD than the spa." Twilight laughed, and Sunset nodded knowingly.

Rarity shook her pointer finger in the air. "Don't underestimate the power of a good spa, darling!"

"Anyway," Celestia cut in before they lost track of the conversation. "There's a little something we wanted to talk about with you."

"You're gonna scare them, sister," Luna laughed. Then she smiled at the girls. "It's more like this: There's a favor we'd like to ask of you."

"Welcome to the Annual Musical Showcase of CHS!" the crowd cheered at Principal Celestia's words. Celestia smiled at all the people that had attended the show. This would help greatly for the funds of CHS' clubs. She continued: "Tonight we're here to listen to all the talented students who will be putting on a show for us to enjoy."

"But first," Luna continued. "we'll present to you seven faces you might recognize, and if you don't then we assure you you won't forget them from now on. Graduated from this very High School..."

"CHS pride and joy!"

"The Rainbooms!" Celestia and Luna chanted together and then dashed out of the stage as it went dark.

The crowd cheered. Among the audience were also some old students who knew the Rainbooms, and the Seniors, of course, knew them. They were popular in the halls even after all those years.

In the dark of the stage, they heard the first notes of a song they all knew too well. The crowd cheered again.

Rainbooms: We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose

Spotlights began illuminating each of the girls, one by one, revealing them standing with their instruments in their recently-designed clothes (by Rarity, of course). At the sight of the seven girls, the crowd cheered again. For now, the music was barely Rainbow Dash strumming a few notes in the same guitar she played since High School. For now.

Rainbooms: Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do

The beat increased, and the crowd stood up. Not a single person was left sitting on the bleachers. After all those years, Celestia proudly noticed, the Rainbooms still had that stage charisma. They played confidently and smiled at the people watching them, having the time of their lives. And they were barely starting the song.

And here she thought they would be making CHS a favor by performing.

Rainbooms: We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!

The lights flickered and ignited just in time. Celestia glanced at the side and smiled at the boy that was handling the lightning of the stage.

Rainbooms: Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail

As they sang, the girls began to jump in their spot, from side to side, following the beat of the music. Twilight. being the only one whose hands weren't occupied by an instrument, invited the audience to sing with them moving them up and down. The smiles not once left their faces.

Rainbooms: Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Celestia and Luna, like about all the audience, couldn't help but join.

All: Shake your tail, shake your tail

Celestia had to wipe melancholic tears from the corners of her eyes.

Twilight: So what you didn't get it right the first time

Twilight took a step forward, holding the microphone in her hand, in a gesture like she was directly talking with you. Celestia glanced behind and searched until he found Flash Sentry, in the first row as expected, cheering on his girlfriend and her friends.

Pinkie Pie: Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime

Rarity: Do your thing, you know you're an original

Applejack: Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal

Rainbooms: Ohhh-ahh!

Each and every girl performed with their own gestures, with movements that were all their own, but somehow harmonized all together. Why these girls hadn't pursued a musical career, she had no idea. Honestly, it would have been so easy for them to succeed, they were so good! Celestia laughed when the thought of how they would have recruited them to ATIDA had they done that.

The presentation went on, and Celestia confirmed Luna's idea: The crowd was ecstasy with the seven girls. This was definitely the best way to start up the show. Maybe they could get the girls to play every year for the Showcase...

Celestia only ripped her eyes from the stage when she heard her phone ringing. Her ATIDA phone ringing. She quickly took it from her pocket as she made her way to the women's bathroom, taking a brief glance at the number on the screen. She smiled when she recognized it. She quickly checked if she was on her own before picking up.

"Good evening, Captain!" she said to the phone, staring at her reflection. "It's good to have news from you so soon, I know you're pretty busy."

The voice of a woman replied. "Well, a message from the Head cannot be ignored, after all."

"Have you thought about what I asked you?"

"I have, and I say it seems you have a delicate situation going on. I thought you said the only magic bearers there were, were your young girls. Where did this 'King Sombra' come from?"

"You know, they're around your age too. And yes, they were supposed to be the only bearers of active magic, but I've seen other people use magic before, through magic objects," the incident of Juniper Montage, and the Wallflower Blush incident came to her mind. "That's what 'my girls' are after most of the time."

"And you say you want us to help catch this King Sombra? Wouldn't your girls be enough for the task, ma'am?"

Celestia opened the door a bit and took a look at the stage, where the Rainbooms were playing another song. She smiled.

"I assure you, Captain, they're pretty capable of doing things on their own. However, this is more than they can chew, and I'd like them to have some of the best help them next time they face this King Sombra. Which, as you know, will be pretty soon."

"I know. I checked our agenda and we'll be available all week. Things are pretty calm here in Cloudsdale for the last few days. Unlike Caterlot. So yeah, I'll leave someone in charge of supervising the rest of the Squads and us three will be there... Tomorrow, at midday, if there's no problem with the train. And we'd be leaving next Friday, is that good?"

"That is perfect, Captain. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Then I'll call those two and we'll take the train early in the morning. See you tomorrow, Head."

"See you, Captain. Don't overwork yourself."

"I won't make any promises."

"Do any of you have any idea what Celestia and Luna called us here for?" Pinkie, who was currently using a chair in the total opposite way it should be used, asked. Fluttershy was worrying, saying to her friend if she stayed like that she would be dizzy.

Dash huffed. "I better hope it's something important, They interrupted training, for once that we manage to be all together."

"I'm sure Celestia wouldn't interrupt yer precious training if it weren't for something important." Applejack claimed. Indeed, the Myths were sitting around the table of the conference room, waiting for Celestia and Luna to arrive. Dash was standing, for some reason, instead of sitting in her chair.

It wasn't weird all girls were present that day, it was Sunday after all. None of them worked on Sundays. Sometimes Pinkie would have an event or Rarity an appointment with a client, but most of the time it was all of them reunited in their lounge, training together or separately, whichever they felt like that day.

Finally, Celestia and Luna appeared through their door. They once again carried a laptop.

"Good day, girls," Luna greeted them. "We have excellent news for you."

"Are we getting a holiday?" asked Pinkie, snickering.

"Top Agents don't get holidays often, Pinkie," Sunset laughed.

"It's actually a new mission we have for you."

"I don't want to rude, darling, but that's not quite something new."

"Does it has anything to do with King Sombra? If you don't mind me asking..." asked Fluttershy.

"It does, actually." continued Celestia. At this, the girls perked up. "We have a pretty good idea of where he'll be soon."

"Where?" Twilight asked.

"We're not quite there yet, Twilight," Luna laughed. "We first have to tell you the excellent news."

"Wait, so the possibility of catchin' that rascal wasn't the excellent news?" Applejack arched an eyebrow to this.

"We know you seven are pretty capable of doing things on your own, however, taking into account what happened last time you faced him-"

"The only time we faced him," corrected Dash.

Luna went through the doors again and disappeared from view. Celestia laughed. "The only time you faced him, then. Well, taking into account that encounter, we've taken the liberty to call some help for you girls. Luna, bring them in!"

Luna came in, but...

The Myths' eyes widened.

She was being followed by three persons: two women and a man. What Applejack noticed first about each was that the man was very tall, one of the women looked pretty strong, and the third woman, though small compared to her companions (she probably was a tad taller than Rainbow Dash), she had an agile-looking figure. She also noticed how the three of them had similar haircuts, blown back like blown by the wind at all times. Applejack stared at them, a bit confused, for she had no idea who these people were.

Celestia quickly made the introductions.

"Myths, we'd like to introduce you to Captain Spitfire Flare, Second-Commander Soarin Skies, and Commander Fleetfoot. They're the Lead Squad from the Cloudsdale Elite Agency: The Wonderbolts!"

Author's Note

Yes, the next arc is gonna pick up right where we left it! :twilightsmile:

Shorter arc, I know, but it is important as you have noticed... Yes, we've finally met our main antagonist. I honestly think Sombra is one of the best villains from MLP as a whole, I love working with his character and giving him my personal twists. However, that doesn't mean we won't see anything of the other villains... we've still got more secrets to uncover :ajsmug:

(Beware! The Soarindash!)

I hope you liked this chapter and this arc!

Until next time!

-Midday Giggle

Teamwork? (Part 1)

She remembered the praises the tutors would give her. From her fighting style to her shooting accuracy, she was showered with compliments all the time during the Academy. It was nice. She loved the praises because it meant her hard work was showing, and that made it worth it. She was boastful, sure, but she never bragged of something she couldn't do, and everyone knew this, which was the reason she didn't get a lot of enemies during her training. Actually, she got along pretty well with the other recruits. And the tutors. Overall, a lot of people liked her in the Academy.

She remembered that one time... She was halfway through their year in the Academy, and as always Dash was taking extra lessons with the Close Combat tutor. Both women were engaged in a match that ended when, with a clever movement, Dash pinned the tutor to the mat. The elder woman laughed.

"Girl, you've improved!" they parted. "I feel like soon you won't need my help at all."

"Pff, of course, I've improved, I'm the best!" Dash boasted, proud of beating the invincible tutor in her game.

The tutor laughed and grabbed her water bottle. "If you didn't have a spot secured at Celestia's special unit, I would've sent a recommendation letter to Spitfire ages ago!"

The name did not ring a bell in Dash's brain at the time. "Spitfire?"

The tutor stopped mid-sip, her eyes wide. "You don't know who Spitfire is?"

"Uh... no?"

"You haven't even... heard about her?"

"Never."

"Girl, where have you been all this time?!" the tutor was shocked that her star pupil did not know about this mysterious woman. "She's a legend around here, along with her two teammates. They were inseparable, the best of the Academy until you girls came and stole the title. Made their way up the ranks in no time, now they're the Elite Lead Squad of the Wonderbolts at the young age of 24! Do you know who the Wonderbolts are?"

"I think I've heard the name? Right after the phrase 'Man! How I would like to join'."

"Well, duh." the tutor put her bottle down. "Any recruit with raw talent would kill to be a Wonderbolt. Especially the daredevils, like you. However, the Wonderbolts are more... military than ATIDA. Although they're technically part of ATIDA. Anyway," she went back to the mat. "Enough small-talk, girl, come back here so I can kick your ass!"

After that talk, she had overheard conversations about the Wonderbolts and, she remembered, a girl from her class had been recruited in her seventh month in the Academy. Although she never had time to actually investigate them, she heard constantly Spitfire's name, often accompanied by two other names: Soarin and Fleetfoot. These names were even used to praise her and the other girls in some occasions. Once, the shooting instructor in charge of the Myths said that Dash's, Sunset's, and Twilight's shooting accuracy was something he hadn't seen since Soarin had graduated. Apparently, an amazing shooter. As for Fleetfoot, some instructors had compared Dash's speed and agility to this woman's abilities. Fleetfoot also had a reputation for being a prankster, and sometimes tutors would recall any of her pranks during breaks and laugh at the memory.

So was Dash surprised when these three legends appeared in the Myths' conference room? A bit.

She stared for a couple of heartbeats, taking in their appearance, for no one had bothered to show her a picture of these three legends. She instantly noticed the impressive musculature in Soarin and Spitfire. Fleetfoot had muscle too, but not as much as her teammates, for her figure was more aerodynamic and flexible. She was short, though surely she was a few inches taller than Dash. She also noticed both girls were really pretty, Spitfire's features sharp, while Fleetfoot's beauty was fresher with her wide smile.

As for the man, well... Dash had to admit he was pretty handsome too, and that eyes of that shade of green weren't common.

"Wonderbolts?" Fluttershy asked out loud, breaking the short-lived silence. Only then noticed Dash had been staring all the time. She cleared her throat. As much as she liked the idea of working with such legends, she couldn't help but feeling a bit childishly offended.

"They're a special Agency from Cloudsdale, am I right?"

"You are," confirmed Fleetfoot, shooting Dash a silly wink. "Got a good one!"

"Oh, so you have heard of them!" Celestia smiled. "I can't believe I had forgotten to introduce you all before."

"I highly doubt that would have been possible, considering our schedule," Spitfire claimed, then smiled. Her smile wasn't as wide as Fleetfoot's, but it would do. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Celestia has told us marvels about all of you."

"And about your special capabilities," added Soarin, at last saying something. Dash made a mental note that he was the quietest of the triad.

"Well, you've been talking a lot about us!" Pinkie said to the sisters and burst out laughing immediately.

Luna chuckled. "Don't look at me, I handle the School... Mostly. She's the one bragging about you seven all around." she made a gesture with her head to her sister.

"It's nice to hear about your pride towards us, Luna," Sunset playfully arched an eyebrow.

Dash noticed Soarin and Spitfire glanced at each other, and Soarin mouthed the word 'Luna' with a questioning look at his Captain. Spitfire subtly shrugged in response and they both turned back to the other people. Dash tried to think of a reason for this weird exchange between them, but she didn't have to think it too long. Formalities. These three people were trained differently than the Myths were, although they went the first half-year to the Academy. As she had been told before, the Wonderbolts acted more like the military. They were soldiers. Soldiers that, undoubtedly, addressed their superiors formally.

So seeing the Myths address the Heads so informally surely wasn't acceptable in their eyes.

This miffed Dash a bit.

It also miffed her a bit when, as he was turning back to looking forward, her eyes crossed with Soarin's. She mentally cursed for being caught looking their way and diverted her attention back to the girls talking.

"Why don't you have a seat so we can discuss the mission?" Celestia invited the Wonderbolts to sit down. They sat down in the three spare seats Dash had noticed when she stepped in. Dash sat down as well when Fluttershy, next to her, tugged at her shirt.

She had something in her mind before Celestia started, though.

"I understand you three are here to help us," Dash said, glancing at the Wonderbolts. All three turned to her at on her. Green, amber and magenta eyes stared at her. "But I don't think it's a good idea to involve people who don't know about magic in a magic-related mission. No offense."

"None taken," Fleetfoot replied, her smile never faltering. However, Spitfire and Soarin frowned slightly.

"Rainbow Dash! Don't be rude!" Rarity scolded her. Dash raised both palms innocently.

"No, don't worry, her concerns are legit," Spitfire claimed.

"Magic may be your field of expertise, but we've got years of experience," was Soarin's response.

Dash felt a rush of anger.

"Yeah, well, we have years of experience with magic too, you know? A decade, actually."

"Dash..." Applejack warned her. "Slow down..."

"I'm not having anyone judging us from our short experience, no matter how Elite of a leader they are," Dash replied, lowering her voice. However, in the silence of the room, she was absolutely sure the Wonderbolts still heard her, judging by the eyebrow Soarin raised.

"That's not at all what he meant, Rainbow Dash," Twilight shot her a dirty look. Dash huffed. "Stop acting like a child."

Dash leaned back and shut up, and seeing the chance to talk Celestia clapped twice, turning the focus of the room to her. Her smile was still on but looked kinda forced. This was definitely not how she was expecting this meeting to go, so she laughed with a hint of awkwardness. She quickly clicked around her laptop to connect it to the screen.

"Alright, gir- Uh, I mean, everyone..." she glanced at Soarin with an apologetic look. Soarin replied with a tiny smile. "Sorry, it's the force of habit. Anyway. Turns out Sombra has decided to step out of the shadows even before we expected it," in the screen, some kind of invite appeared. "This is an invite to the Pyrite Gala, an exclusive event meant for the top business people from the country. Have you all heard of it?"

"I went a couple of times!" Fleetfoot proudly claimed. "My parents are loaded, so I was kinda dragged into that kind of stuff. That was so long ago though, and for a ten-years-old, they can be so boring. Especially when your favorite cousin would never go..." she shot a look to her male companion, who stifled a laugh.

"Fancy Pants goes there every year, and I have a few clients here and there that buy my designs for this Gala as well."

Luna blinked twice. "You do?"

"Oh! Are you a designer?!" Fleetfoot squealed. "Girl, I've been killing to get my hands on a couple of new dresses, preferably something designed especially for me, you know what I mean? What's your boutique's name? Maybe I can-"

"Fleetfoot, focus," Spitfire ordered, and Fleetfoot immediately shut her mouth, but not before she whispered:

"You are no fun!"

Dash decided she liked Fleetfoot. She seemed like lots of fun, compared to her teammates, she was bubbly and smiling all the time. She reminded her of some other bubbly girl she knew.

"Well, we have the certainty King Sombra will be there this year," Celestia claimed.

Twilight's eyes widened. "How? I haven't heard anything about that."

"We had the other hackers after him," Luna claimed. "But worry not: no one can compare with you, Twilight."

"Well, thank you!"

"There's going to be a business meeting, and they're using the Gala as a facade," Celestia continued with the explanations. "Apparently, they're going to deal with the arms they brought through Filthy Rich's Importer, and sell it to the best bidder. And this bidder is pretty picky and demanded King Sombra's presence. We'll take advantage of that."

"So it is an undercover mission?" Dash confirmed. " That's nothing we haven't done before, I mean, no offense once again to the Wonderbolts here, but I can't really see the reason why they're here, we're pretty capable of handling this ourselves."

"Well... If Celestia called us here it's for a reason, right?"

This majestic comment, which sent a chill down the spines of the rest of the people in the room, was blurted out by Soarin. Immediately, the man's eyes widened, realizing just how bad-versed his words were.

"Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

Dash stood up in a jump, slamming both hands on the table and glaring daggers at the man sitting across the table. The other Myths looked at their friend, surprised at her outburst. As for the four remaining women, they here hiding their faces behind hands and binders. Ill Omen.

"Shut. The F*ck. Up." Soarin did as told. Dash was trembling with held-back rage, and the man shrunk even smaller with each passing second, not looking anymore as an imposing man but as a frightened child.

Before things could get out of hand, Applejack grabbed Dash's arm and pulled her back, for she looked ready to pounce on the man. Dash didn't fight her but neither parted her eyes away from Soarin. Applejack forced her friend to look at her in the eye.

"Calm down, Dash."

Dash pressed her lips together. She was furious, offended at the comment this man that barely knew them had made. He could say he was sorry all he wanted, that was an insult for her and her friends and all their hard work as Myths. She was boiling of anger. And though she wanted to hold back, she highly doubted she would be able to accomplish such feat.

So she took a deep breath and escaped Applejack's arms. However, deep breaths failed to calm her, so she just sat down and shut her mouth.

"It seems like we're all a bit on edge right now," said Spitfire, standing up while sending one last glare at Soarin, who shrunk even deeper in his seat. She turned at Celestia. "Do you mind if we leave this meeting for some other time, Head? Maybe after we've gotten a good rest we'll discuss the Pyrite Gala properly, hopefully with no bickering, ma'am."

"I think that's a good idea, Captain. You already know where your chambers are, please rest and excuse us for this lack of... hospitality."

"I'm the one who is sorry ma'am, for Soarin's behavior. He usually has more tact." Spitfire mumbled. The comment was clearly not targeted at Celestia but at her right-hand man.

"Everyone, you're excused," Luna said to the room.

Dash wasted no time and stood back up and left the room. She knew her friends, and probably the Wonderbolts as well, followed her with their eyes, but she couldn't care less at the moment if her reaction was childish. She just wanted to lock up in her room until her anger faded. Or maybe vent with a punching bag. Whichever worked, thankfully her bedroom provided both options.

Soarin had never felt so stupid. He had his dumb moments, sure, but that one was probably the dumbest one yet; he knew he messed up. And Spitfire looked pissed as well. As soon as Rainbow Dash had abandoned the room, she had turned to him glaring daggers and wordlessly obliged him to stand up and dragged him out of the room. Fleetfoot gave chase to her friends.

"Guys, hold up!" she begged to her two best friends. Soarin only took sporadic glances at her, and she was wearing an ashamed expression which made him turn right back again. "Spits, please, Soarin has already embarrassed us enough!"

"Hey!"

"Don't 'hey!' Soarin!" Spitfire barked back. "You have no right to 'hey!' after the one you pulled back there!"

That... was true. So Soarin shut up and allowed his best friend to drag him through the corridor of the bedrooms. Spitfire halted in front of hers and pulled out the card that Celestia had previously given her to open the door, slid the card over the panel and shoved Soarin into the room. Fleetfoot flinched when Spitfire gave her a deadly stare.

"What did I do?!" Fleetfoot pouted. Spitfire's only response was her glare, and Fleetfoot added no other word before sneaking into the room. Spitfire walked in behind her and closed the door. Soarin watched the show of which he was the protagonist from his sitting position on the couch of the bedroom. Fleetfoot approached him and sat down next to him.

Spitfire approached both cousins and stood before them, arms crossed, towering over them with a harsh glare. Soarin couldn't meet her eyes out of shame. As for Fleetfoot, she was puffing her cheeks, still not understanding what she did wrong, which was actually nothing in Soarin's eyes. But neither of them dared to confront Spitfire.

"Alright..." Spitfire sighed. "It's pretty obvious that went bad. No, it was terrible. Guys, we can't have arguments like that with the other squads, especially not with Celestia's and Luna's favorite pupils. Soarin," Soarin flinched, glancing at his fiery Captain before adverting his eyes again. Spitfire glared harder. "What happened back there?"

Soarin muttered his response. "I... I'm sorry, Spitfire. I seriously didn't mean it to come out that way..."

"Of course you didn't! You're physically incapable of connecting your brain to your mouth!" Spitfire spat, eyes looking at the ceiling with exasperation.

Fleetfoot flinched. "Spits... Calm down. I know this past few days have been pretty hard for you, but you'll give yourself an ulcer if you keep this up."

"Guys, I love you two like siblings, but you're not making it easier for me!" Spitfire claimed. She fell into the sofa behind her, massaging her temples. Soarin and Fleetfoot got up and approached her, each bent down at each side of her rubbing her arms.

"I'm sorry..." Soarin muttered first. "I'm sorry for that slip-up-"

"Slip up!?" Fleetfoot laughed. "Dude, you f*cked it up back there!"

"Fleetfoot!" this time this yell came from both Spitfire and Soarin.

"Geez, I'm sorry, but it's true."

"Yeah, I messed up, I know!" Soarin sighed. "But I really didn't mean it. We've been stressed as well and I think it's catching up to me... I promise that I'll make things right, alright?"

Spitfire couldn't answer, for three quick knocks interrupted their conversation. Seeing Spitfire too stressed to answer and knowing Fleetfoot could say more than intended, Soarin went to open the door himself.

Which proved not to be a wise decision when the person at the door was the cause of the problem. Sort of.

Rainbow Dash was in the hall, and the face she made when she saw him was clear as water of her emotions involving him. Soarin didn't blame her. He would be pretty pissed as well if the roles were reversed. He wondered if she would be as ashamed of those tactless words.

Dash breathed a frustrated sigh. "Could you three please lower your voices? The walls are thin."

Soarin felt the heat on his face increase. He tried to put on a smile, but it ended up being an awkward one. A very awkward one.

All he dared to reply was: "Uh... Sure..."

Dash nodded at the time she humped and turned around. Soarin took a quick glance back at his friends, who urged him to apologize right away, so he turned back to the quickly-walking-away young woman.

"Um... Rainbow Dash! I..."

But she ignored him and entered into the third door from Spitfire's, leaving him with his apologies halfway out of his mouth. Soarin ended up leaning forwards and had to catch himself from falling to the floor. He sighed, hanging his head. From behind him, Fleetfoot let out tuts.

"That's a stubborn one..."

Soarin banged the head against the door frame. So much for making things right.

"Here you go, sister..." Luna set a cup of Celestia's favorite green tea in front of her. Her elder sister had her face buried into her arms. She raised her head at her sister's words and the scent of fresh tea, drawing a weak smile on her face.

"Luna, you're the best, how come you always know what I need?"

"It's the mystic powers of a little sister, Tia," Luna smiled and sat down in front of Celestia's desk, whose owner took the cup between her hands. Celestia allowed the steam from the tea to bath her face for a couple of seconds before taking a sip. The sisters drank tea quietly for a handful of heartbeats before Luna broke the silence.

"What are we going to do about the Wonderbolts and the Myths?"

"The Wonderbolts and the Myths..." Celestia shook her head. "Let's be honest, the problem specifically is Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Their personalities are too different, so it's natural for them to clash. However, they also really complement each other, they just need to find the right wavelength," Luna noticed the mischevious spark that ignited in her sister's eyes. "And I might have just the perfect way to make them get along."

Luna chuckled. "Careful, sister... You might end up raising even more trouble among them "

"Or I could make them besties, let fate decide!" Celestia took another sip of her tea. "Tomorrow we'll pick up the meeting where we left it. But I'll make them sit as apart from each other as possible-" Celestia blinked. "Gosh, sometimes it looks like I'm still dealing with a bunch of kids."

As far as he was concerned, legends were nothing but twisted stories of the past. Tales of extraordinary characters accomplishing extraordinary feats under extraordinary circumstances. Characters that, most of the time, were meant to induce fear of the unknown and to the curious or the daredevils, those who would go as far as facing the odds of reason to prove the things wrong or right behind them. Many cultures had rooted legends among them. How many customs were based on them?

Despite all that, most people just saw them like that: legends.

But for him, The Dreaded Black Sorcerer was never a legend.

He was his ancestor.

It had been his mother who informed him of their past, and who handed him the ring that had been handed down to her by her father before. She had told him this ring would destine him to greatness. As long as he had the ring with him, the world would be at his mercy, if not for respect, then for fear. Everyone would bow down to him. In their home, she was always kneeling down to his feet to show him he was the King. The one true King.

"My King?"

A smirk outlined his face.

"Yes?"

"My King, you've gotten another call to confirm your meeting at the Pyrite Gala, Your Highness."

Sombra frowned, irritated at this level of insistence. He didn't like the man, and he was seriously testing his patience. He had been hella insistent of his presence in the trade, and he had given in just because the walls of his palace could drive mad anyone after a while.

But this man was really asking to have his neck snapped.

Sombra turned around to find one of his soldiers bent down, in on knee, with his fist pressed to his heart and his head lowered in a sign of respect. Once again, a smirk cracked through. It was short-lived, though, for he remembered then the reason for the presence of this man on his chambers.

"Tell him that I don't want one more call from him to 'confirm' my assistance to the trade. I'm a man of my word, and if he calls one more time, he won't live to make another call."

As expected, the man gave no reaction to this threat. He simply nodded.

"As you were, My King."

"Alright, go on then."

The man got up and with one last bow of his head, he left the room, leaving Sombra alone once again. He turned around to look at his reflection, and as usual, the first thing that caught his attention was the silver ring on his right hand.

Power.

Twilight knocked at Dash's door early in the morning as she was dressing up for her solo training. The friends had already gotten used to seeing each other half-dressed, and that day Twilight caught her favorite tomboy shirtless, but neither of them cared about it. Twilight didn't care Dash didn't meet her eyes either. She just informed her that the meeting with the Heads and the Wonderbolts would be taking place once again at midday, and Celestia requested Dash to sit down in the closest seat to the door. Dash knew this was about her little, well, misunderstanding of the prior day.

"Little?!" Twilight burst out laughing. "You'll get roasted there."

Dash could only let out a nervous laugh. She was right.

Dash left not too long after her egghead friend left, even crossing paths with Twilight in the hall, who was just coming out of Pinkie's room, probably delivering the same message she had just given her. Dash held her breath when she walked past the three doors that belonged to their guests. What was Celestia thinking when giving them the three bedrooms in their corridor? Alright, it was destined for their specific guests, but it just wasn't a good idea. Well... she couldn't have guessed her dispute with Soarin, but still...

She relaxed when she climbed into the elevator. She was alone. Letting out a sigh, she rubbed her neck to ease some tension. This whole ordeal was giving her too much stress to her liking. She could relieve some of it with some yoga before the gym, and she could top it with a session with the punching bag. That was sure to do the trick.

The elevator doors opened and Dash walked down the corridor to their gym, passing by the gunroom and the showers on her way there. She was about to get in when something stopped her dead in her tracks.

Some sound was coming from the inside... It sounded like someone was bench pressing, judging from the metallic clangs. Dash frowned at this. None of the other girls lifted weight this early. Some didn't even lift at all.

She opened the door a bit and groaned at what she found inside.

So much for relaxing. Soarin was in there, effectively, bench pressing in the far corner of the gym, and the metallic clangs came from the plates at the end of the bar, clashing against each other every time they were hoisted up or brought back down. He lifted them with ease, making the bar go up and down like it weighed nothing. Dash squinted her eyes to try to figure out how much he was lifting.

Holy sh*t! Two-hundred-thirty pounds?!

She could barely get to a hundred-twenty! Applejack could lift a hundred-fifty, but a two-hundred-thirty?!

Then she told herself not to be surprised. This, for starters, was a man. Second, he was a military that favored strength and accuracy over agility and speed (also, why would he need to be fast with such freaking long legs? He could probably walk across the gym in a couple of strides). Third, she didn't even like him, so she had no reason to be paying any attention to what he was doing. So, trying to be a mature woman, Dash stepped back, took a deep breath and came into the room with her head high and her sports bag firmly hanging from her shoulder.

... And felt slightly pathetic went she noticed he was wearing earphones and was in an angle in which he couldn't notice her.

Better for me, I don't have the need to ignore you.

So she went directly to the mats and began her yoga session in the quiet of the gym, something which in fact actually helped her relax and loosen up before going to the treadmill for her endurance course. As she relaxed while the yoga, she began planning in her mind what she would do after the treadmill. Her plan was some strength training after the treadmill, and some push-ups and squats.

She was done with her yoga and walked over to the treadmill. She started the machine and, then, out of the silence, a voice spoke up:

"Um... Excuse me?"

Dash tensed even before turning. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Soarin standing a few paces from the machine, hands fidgeting with his earbuds. Her brow flattened.

"What?" she bluntly asked.

His response was stuttering: "I... I'm sorry..."

Dash turned off the treadmill. She had decided she would start off with the punching bag.

"Don't bother," she replied, taking her bag and walking away towards the bags. She hoped he wouldn't insist on this exchange, but he seemingly had other plans and just followed her to the other side of the gym. Dash was trying her best to keep her cool. She was, really. But she was getting so ticked off for no reason lately around this guy. She was beginning to wonder what it was all about... He seemed sincere enough with his apologies.

He was still following her when she reached the punching bags. She set her sports bag aside and started wrapping her fists in compression bandages, and he stood at a reasonable distance from her. Good, at least he isn't stepping into my personal space.

"I'm being sincere here... I'm sorry for what happened yesterday in the meeting with the Heads. I wasn't implying that."

"Fine, thank you. Now leave me alone."

Dash shot him a quick glare and noticed his bewilderment at this crude statement. Gosh, this is really the Second Commander of the Wonderbolts? He's like a child!

"You don't seem convinced..." Soarin stated. Dash secured the bandage around her hand with an abrupt pull. Soarin yelped. "Don't do it like that, it's only gonna-"

"I know how to do my bandages, unlike what you seem to believe," Dash interrupted him, sending him another fierce glare. "Look, if what you want to hear is 'apology accepted', then: Apology accepted. Alright? Are you satisfied now? Is your conscience at ease? Now you can go on and leave me alone."

And she turned her back on him once again, finishing her bandages in quick motions. For a moment, she thought he would finally mind his own business and leave her alone, and thanked the heavens for this, but she cursed mentally when Soarin added one more statement:

"I just... want to make things right. Can we properly talk like mature adults?"

Something snapped in Dash's mind.

She turned around and, in a display of superspeed, approached him. She gripped his tank top and pulled him closer to her, putting their faces inches apart and sneering at him with all the anger she could muster. He didn't react at this but froze on the spot. Surely his soldier instincts were telling her to push her away, but he was frozen on the spot, not reacting.

"Hear me out, pretty boy," she whispered dangerously. "That's the LAST offense you make to me or my team, you hear? The last one. We work in way too different ways, that's pretty clear. If the sisters brought you three here there clearly must be a reason behind that and I respect that, but let's stay out of each other's way, alright? We'll do our job and walk away from each other total strangers just as before, can we do that?"

She had no time to hear his response, immediately after she finished talking, the door opened and in came Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Both women stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the pair. Dash stared at them and Soarin did the same, but aside from their heads, they didn't move an inch from the menacing position Dash held him in. Fleetfoot's eyes jumped from one to the other. She was observing the situation, taking note of all the details, and finally, she was the one who broke the awkward silence:

"Just what bullsh*t did you say now, Soarin?!" she let out an exasperated groan. "Seriously! I'm beginning to wonder how you've survived up until now! How come no girl has ever kicked you in the ba-"

"Fleetfoot!" Spitfire and Soarin both yelled at her, and she flinched before huffing.

"What?! I mean, he got one of Celestia's favorites against us in a record time of two seconds."

"I am not against you," Dash retorted. "I know how to keep my personal relationships and my job apart. Also, is there a reason for me to be mad at you two?"

"Not at all, Agent Dash, however..." Spitfire pointed at Soarin. "Can you please let my Second-Commander go? He might get a backache bent over like that."

Dash looked back at the man she was still holding by the tank top. How did he survive being that tall? She wondered if he needed to crouch to avoid hitting his head on stuff. Like doorframes. Boy, that would be hilarious to witness. She had to hold back a chuckled which ended up being a low noise with her throat which made him arch an eyebrow. So she just let him go. He went back to being a tower while fixing his shirt.

Dash crossed her arms before addressing Soarin. "So? Do we have a deal, buddy?"

Soarin apologetically nodded. "Fine..."

"Good," Dash grabbed her sports bag. She better punched the bag in her room. "I'll be leaving. Have fun."

Soarin saw the world spinning while being shaken like a tree by Spitfire.

"Stop messing up everything!" she complained, dragging her words. "Why are you like thiiiis?"

"I swear this time it was all her fault!" Soarin tried to defend himself. "I promise none of what I said was any kind of offense! She just took it that way! I'm not her favorite person in this world, you know."

Fleetfoot decided to stop Soarin's shaking by supporting her weight in Spitfire's back. She was shorter, but it worked. Spitfire let go of her best friend. Soarin took two steps backward to avoid any more harassing from the two women. Spitfire massaged her forehead. "Alright, what did you tell her this time?"

Soarin proceded to tell his encounter with the young woman to his two best friends, who listened to every detail trying to find just where Soarin failed to have tact. He began by telling them how, when he finished his lifting, he noticed her just finishing a session of yoga. He had stood there, doubting whether to approach her or not before he finally decided to do it when she was approaching the treadmills. He told them her unwillingness to talk with him and her cold, short-lived responses to his apologies, before reciting word by word the mouthful she gave him after he had, somehow in her point of view, told her she was immature which totally wasn't what he was trying to say.

Fleetfoot hummed. "Well, it seems this time our 'pretty boy' really wasn't at fault."

"She's a girl with a temper for sure," Spitfire stated. "Also, it seems, her pride is something not to hurt at all. In fact, I think her animosity to you is nothing else but a matter of pride at this point. What do you think, Fleet?"

"I think the sexual tension in the air is too thick, I could cut it with a knife," claimed Fleetfoot, keeping a straight face like she hadn't said anything wrong at all. Soarin chocked and Spitfire threw Fleetfoot out of her back with a blow to the ribs. Fleetfoot yelped and fell over, landing on the floor with a rough hit.

"Damnit, Fleetfoot! Out of all the things you could've said!"

"Blame me!" Fleetfoot shot back at Spitfire. "This whole situation is like a bad YA novel cliché! Anytime they'll jump to each other and savagely make out..."

"Dear goodness," Soarin hid his face behind his hands.

"Oh, don't do that, you long-legged walking tomato!" Fleetfoot pointed him with an accusatory look. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me she isn't smoking hot, I dare you!"

"That's so besides the point, Fleet!" Soarin hollered back, feeling the embarrassment crawling all over him.

Fleetfoot smirked. "Oh, come on, it's been so long since you've had a good-"

"Alright, that's enough," Spitfire shut Fleetfoot with a glare.

"Whaaaat? I was gonna say a good relationship, you pervs."

"You're making him blush."

"It's not my fault he's a shy schoolgirl."

"Stop it, really," Spitfire sighed. "I don't get paid enough to bear with you two..."

"You dealt with us since we were kids, you never got paid enough," Fleetfoot chuckled. "Am I right, Soarin? Soar?"

Soarin wasn't really listening to the conversation anymore. He was staring at his shoes with a vacant expression, thinking back at his encounter with the Myth. She sure was something. What else could he say about her? As Spitfire had said, she was hot-headed and prideful, but Soarin thought about this last statement. She was confident. Not prideful or cocky, she was confident of her abilities. Because of that, it was logical she would burst if anyone dared to question her abilities which she defended with her life. Had she reasons to be like this? A little bit. After all, who, if they didn't want to get better at things, would wake up this early to hit the gym? He did so because he had the desire to be the best version of himself, professionally talking. Also, Celestia had a lot to say about the seven girls and their incredible abilities. He had never seen Rainbow Dash in person or even in a picture, but he knew well she was probably the best out of her squad, if not the best in the whole HQ. He had also been informed she had beaten Fleetfoot's speed record, Spitfire's combat record, and his own shooting accuracy record.

So he could see the problem here. Were her reactions childish? A little bit. But he couldn't blame her, he doubted he would be any less offended if someone implied his hard-work wasn't enough or whatever she thought he meant.

We'll do our job and walk away from each other total strangers just as before, can we do that?

Total strangers, huh? I don't think so.

Maybe he wouldn't become her best friend, or her friend even. But he was determined to at least leave in good terms with her. He knew for a fact the rest of the Myths didn't hold a grudge to him, so she was the one with who he had to make amends. He had promised to stay out of her way, but that didn't mean he couldn't at least try to be nice. He just had to figure out how to get on her good side.

Soarin chuckled to himself. Boy did he know her bad side. She was small, tiny even; he towered over her for a good deal. But she imposed her presence with amazing willpower and strength, and confidence. She had an aura of dominance that –if intimidating for most– it came out as pretty... charming for him. He froze in the spot as if those bright magenta eyes had turned him into stone. And since he was going to her appearance, how the hell could someone have such colorful hair? He had never seen anything like that, it was amazing. No, beautiful. She was petite and nicely built, almost as daring anyone to pick a fight with her so she could kick their *ss.

She was truly something...

"Soarin!" Soarin snapped back to reality at Fleetfoot's cry, who had positioned herself in front of him and was shaking her hand in front of his eyes. "Geez, welcome back to Earth. Where the hell did you go just now?" she frowned. "Oh, come on, you can stop blushing now. I'm not picking on you anymore."

Author's Note

Pyrite: Mineral thought to attract money, good businesses and prosperity.

Aaaand we're back at it! :twilightsmile: Sorry for the slight delay, I couldn't find a single moment to edit the chapter and publish it :fluttershyouch: But here it is! I hope you liked it!

See, the Wonderbolts have always been one of my favorite group of characters, and I love working with these three specifically. I love the dynamic they have. As you can notice, I have pretty solid personalities set for each of them... Even if the show wouldn't let us know a lot about them :twilightsmile:

In short, Fleetfoot is the 'girls just wanna have fun', Spitfire is serious and down-to-the-earth, and Soarin is the lovable dork.

Behold! The Soarindash!

So this arc will be a lot about Dash's character growth, but as always, important stuff will happen here. Very important stuff. So watch out, we already have a tiny bit of backstory in this part :raritywink:

That's about it, thank you for reading!

Until next time!
-Midday Giggle

Teamwork? (Part 2)

The girls had managed to have her and Soarin sit as apart as possible from each other. Great. She was content with that, it came in handy. It didn't mean they couldn't yell at each other from the other side of the room, but it was better than nothing. Sunset was having a conversation with Spitfire, while Fleetfoot and Pinki Pie were most likely up to some mischief regarding her, judging from the glances and giggles they shot in her direction, to which Dash responded with arching eyebrows. As for Soarin, he was reading a file. Dash glanced at the file in front of her, file which Twilight was reading as well, A similar file was set in front of each person present.

She decided against reading it. She had already looked up the Umbrum, so she doubted there would be anything in there she didn't already know. Instead, she observed the room and patiently waited for the Heads to arrive.

Celestia and Luna arrived shortly after. After setting their stuff in the table and greeting everyone, they sat down and smiled at the ten younger agents in the room. Luna turned to her right, where the Wonderbolts were positioned.

"Have you had a good night's rest, Wonderbolts?" she politely asked them. Of course, the meeting had been postponed so the Wonderbolts could 'rest'. Something which Dash highly doubted was really necessary, judging from the pretty attentive look they had when they arrived. Of course, that wasn't the reason for the postponed meeting.

"We have, ma'am. Our rooms were just perfect, thank you," replied Spitfire.

"That's good to hear, you deserved a nice place to say after the trip you had to endure."

"You're saying like that was some kind of torture," Fleetfoot laughed. "Our train was pretty comfy!"

"Though we do appreciate the concern," Soarin quickly added to his teammate's statement.

"Luna is just worrying too much, and that's usually my job to do," Celestia said lightheartedly, trying her best to keep the mood up. "What about you all?" she asked the Myths next.

A series of fines and just greats followed Celestia's question. The only one who didn't reply was Rainbow Dash who, too ashamed of knowing these awkward questions were partly her fault, just sunk in her seat. After Celestia was satisfied with the girls' responses she began the meeting just where they had left it the day before.

"Alright, everyone, Pyrite Gala," the invite appeared once again at Celestia's words. "We were there. One of you mentioned this as a mere undercover mission, but I'm afraid it is deeper than that. As it is an exclusive event for business people, it is pretty obvious the people who attend already know each other. Which means a group of ten would attract too much attention."

"How many of us will be going then?" asked Fluttershy.

"Two of you," replied Luna. "We'll be sending a man and a woman. And seeing the obvious difference in quantities, I think it's pretty obvious who the man will be."

Everyone turned at Soarin, who nodded.

"I don't have a problem with that."

"We trust you'll do great with this, we know you're great at the undercover missions and can keep your cool under stress," Celestia claimed.

Spitfire nodded. "He can. As calm as a river."

"Then it is going to be Soarin and Rarity, right?" Sunset claimed. "I mean, out of us, Rarity is the best actress."

"That's a nice way to say 'drama queen'!" Pinkie laughed. Rarity shot her a dirty look but said nothing against it.

"She would the obvious choice," Luna said. "But I'm afraid she won't go."

"What? Why?" Applejack asked.

"At the beginning that was the plan," Celestia claimed. "But Rarity herself said something yesterday that erased her from the options. Can you guess what it is, Rarity?"

Rarity thought for a second before gasping. "Of course! I know a few people that assist the Gala yearly!"

"Aaand the logic says no one who knows people at the event should attend as an undercover," added Dash.

"Exactly," nodded Celestia.

"Then who will be going with Soarin?" wondered Fleetfoot.

"Well, you won't, Commander," Luna stated. "You're good at undercover missions as well, but I'm afraid they'll be going as a married couple and I'm sure you don't want to fake that with your cousin. Plus you're loud."

"Gross!" Fleetfoot stuck out her tongue.

Dash arched an eyebrow. Right, those two were cousins. She wondered about Spitfire... Were they related too?

Celestia went on: "As for you, Captain, I'm afraid you're not a safe bet for the mission. Your face is too well known."

Spitfire nodded. "That, and undercover is not something I'm the best at, though I could do it."

Luna turned to the Myths. "Rarity is already out. Applejack is incapable of lying, which means she's a big no. Pinkie Pie is the exact opposite of subtle, which makes her an even bigger no."

Pinkie nodded. "Fair point."

"Eyup."

Celestia laughed. "Twilight is a terrible liar, and we'd rather use her as the eagle watching over you. Fluttershy-"

"NO!" Fluttershy squeaked.

"There it is, she hates undercovers. Plus she stutters too much." Celestia breathed in. "That leaves only two options..."

Rainbow Dash held her breath. Damnit. It was down to her and Sunset.

"Though I'm afraid what would happen if we send you two..." Celestia went on, eyeing Dash. "Rainbow Dash, you're the second-best at undercovers, close behind Rarity. You also have superspeed, something which will come in handy if faced to the enemy unexpectedly. You're as well a great actress and a fast thinker, and though we know you despise Galas and formal events as a whole, we trust you to be the one to properly work this one out. Now..." Celestia's gaze hardened. "Do you think you'll able to behave and act with maturity considering your companion?"

Dash slowly let out her breath. Damnit, Damnit, Damnit! She knew what happened the day before wasn't going to get overlooked by the two sisters. She glanced at Soarin, who was staring at her as well. So much for staying out of each other's way.

"Roasted.." Fleetfoot muttered, and Spitfire shut her up with a jab to the ribs.

Dash then thought back at a particular part of the mission: Married Couple. Heavens, why are you like this?

But what could she do? She had to be a grown woman and do as she had been told, plus... This was her job, and her job could not get mixed with her relationships.

"Yes... Ma'am." Dash replied to Celestia's questions, addressing her formally because she knew they were a tiny bit mad at her. "I'll do it."

"Great," Luna smiled. Celestia's hardened gaze disappeared like it was never there. "Then we can go on. Soarin and Rainbow Dash will be attending as a rich couple coming from Cloudsdale. You both come from there, so that wouldn't be too hard to fake. You'll be Publicists, a common business of the city, as you may know. Try not to dwell too much on the details, and keep your interactions with the other people to the minimum."

Celestia turned to Rarity. "Rarity, do you think you could prepare their outfits and Dash's wig?"

"Of course, darling, it'll be my pleasure."

"Maybe something that matches," Fleetfoot sang. "EEK! Hey! What was that for?!"

Spitfire had stepped into her foot. The icy glare that was sent her way clashed with her fiery appearance so much it was hilarious... in a certain way.

Celestia had to hold back a laugh before going on. "Alright... so, Twilight, I need the comlinks for them, the subtlest ones possible, hopefully, something matching their skin tones..."

"We also should craft a strategy to follow," Spitfire suggested.

"And a backup plan if things go south..." Sunset added.

"Maybe a couple of backup plans. We're speaking about Sombra here, one can never be too cautious, especially with a magic bearer."

"A couple are more than needed, Twilight. Maybe just two," Applejack hummed. "I'll need to prepare the van for all of us, and maybe I can look over the buildin' prints for escape routes."

"I highly doubt there'll be mice around there," Fluttershy stated. "I'm guessing this will take place in some fancy ballroom, so maybe I should tag along with some K-9 dogs. Or I could talk to a couple of birds..."

"Birds?" Fleetfoot whispered, blinking twice.

"Birds will do, the dogs would be too noisy," Pinkie giggled. "And I know noisy! Oooohhhh, should I get grenades for this one as well?"

Dash arched her eyebrow. "You always carry grenades..."

Pinkie appeared before Dash's eye in a blink. "That's true!"

"Though grenades could be a little too much for a ballroom," Soarin said. Pinkie appeared by his side, squeezing his cheeks with her hands, pressing her forehead to his.

"You're right! Sprinkles will do then,"

"You should be stationed somewhere you can't be seen and where you can quickly go into the ballroom," Luna said, showing the prints on the TV screen. There was a building that looked like a fancy old house, and the main ballroom was highlighted by the walls with red color. There were two stories, the second one consisting of mostly smaller rooms. Luna claimed that one of these was possibly where the meeting would take place. "There's the kitchen and these are the service halls, so maybe we could find a service door somewhere in the back. Somewhere around... here, maybe..." Luna pointed at the back of the building, near where the kitchens were."

"Maybe we should go to take a look before the Gala," Applejack suggested. "Comb down the place to know where these two will be goin'."

"That's a good idea, but you won't, I have something I want you to do instead," Celestia claimed. Then she hummed. "It's private property with great surveillance, but we could work something out."

"I can deal with the cameras," Twilight suggested.

"I could draw up the routes as well," Sunset added.

"Do we, um, know who the other person is?"

"A contrabandist that isn't that important in this story," Celestia brushed it off with a gesture of her hand.

"But you get a gold star if you catch him," Luna winked.

The room laughed, but it was the Myths who got this joke to a deeper emotional level. No matter how long they remained their Heads, somewhere within them the sisters would always be their High School Principals. And that was good. It felt good.

When the meeting ended, it was already past lunchtime, and Dash saw how all her friends but Twilight dashed out of the room to go to their respective jobs, promising to be back by night. Celestia and Luna left after that, leaving behind the Wonderbolts and two out of seven of the Myths. Twilight stood up.

"Wait, you're not leaving as well, right?!" Dash whispered to her friend, restraining her by the sleeve. Twilight sent her an apologetic look.

"Flash is out of his shift in half an hour and we're meeting to have lunch together, sorry."

Dash felt like dying inside. "No, it's okay, I guess... Ugh, I'll be alone with these three here... I can't cook to save my life."

Twilight bit her lip. "Maybe you can tag along with us, I'm sure Flash won't mind..."

"Absolutely not," her plans for the afternoon surely weren't along the lines of third-wheeling. She would rather just skip lunch. "You go enjoy your time with your bae. I'll be alright."

Twilight blushed but bid her goodbyes and left the room as well. Dash sat still for a couple of seconds in the silence of the room, silence only cut by the whispers coming from the three Wonderbolts. Dash sighed and stood up, trying to figure out what she would do for lunch. Maybe she could improvise something for herself in the kitchen. Hopefully without burning the place down. She picked up her stuff in silence and turned around...

Only to meet face to face with Fleetfoot, who was widely smiling at her.

Dash had long ago gotten used to sudden appearances, so she just blurted out: "Stealthy, I see,"

"Despite what my babbling says, it's one of my talents!" Fleetfoot chipperly replied. Dash let out a chuckle. "Ah, she laughs! I was beginning to think you didn't like me!"

"I have nothing against you," Dash reassured her. Fleetfoot squealed and hugged Dash's shoulders.

"Great! Then do you happen to know somewhere where we can eat? Our treat!"

Absolutely not. She didn't mind eating with Spitfire and Fleetfoot, but Soarin was a no-no.

"Ah, don't worry, I'll solve this for myself," Dash rejected the offer. "Let me show you on your phone some places where you can go to."

"Only if you come with us!" Fleetfoot insisted, her smile not faltering for a second. Behind her, still sitting, Soarin was trying his best not to look at the pair, while Spitfire just waited for the exchange to be over. Not gonna stop her, huh? Maybe she's more like Pinkie than I thought.

"No, really, I wouldn't want to intrude..."

"Come on..."

"Fleet," Soarin muttered. "She's not interested."

"Oh, come on! I just want to try to make friends! I wouldn't be that bad to be my friend, right?" Fleetfoot snickered. "Just ask these two! They've dealt with me since forever."

"It's not like it's been easy, you know," Spitfire smirked. Fleetfoot stuck out her tongue to her while Soarin chuckled.

Dash tapped her fingers in the binder between her hands. Alright, so they seemed in a better mood. And she wasn't feeling so mad like in the morning. So maybe if she could evade any unnecessary interaction with Soarin, she could have a good time with them, right? It didn't hurt to try to make new friends... Well, or at least be in good terms with these people. They had to work together after all, and animosity wasn't a luxury if she were to trust them to guard her back. Also, she had to go to the mission with Soarin.

"Fine," the three Wonderbolts turned and looked at her, surprised. She smiled at them. "I'll go. Just let me get changed."

Maybe it was her idea, she couldn't tell. But for a moment she thought Soarin's eyes shimmered in a way she had yet to know. That, along with the soft pink of his cheeks, highlighted the intense green of his eyes. She had never met eyes of that shade of emerald green.

The three women and the man walked the streets of Canterlot. Dash had Fleetfoot linked to her arm while she chatted her ears off and Dash nodded and sneaked comments in-between two phrases of the length of a paragraph. She had long ago learned to maintain a conversation with chatterboxes. Behind them, Spitfire and Soarin calmly held a conversation Dash wasn't listening to too much. Fleetfoot was rambling about Korean barbeque and how much she liked it. Dash admitted she had never tried it before and Fleetfoot freaked out about that, claiming she was missing on something great and that she had to come along with them to try it out before they left back to Cloudsdale. Dash absentmindedly agreed.

They arrived at The Tasty Treat, which was the only savory place Dash could think of for some reason. Spitfire looked at the sign, glanced at Soarin, and snickered. The man averted his eyes and blushed. Dash arched an eyebrow, wondering what was wrong here and why Spitfire, a very serious woman, was suddenly poking fun at the giant.

"Hindi!?" Fleetfoot excitedly blurted.

"Uh... Yes? A friend of mine owns the place with her father, and the food is really good. Is it a problem? You don't like Hindi?"

"Oh, no, we love Hindi," Spitfire replied, smirking.

"This is gonna be fun!" Fleetfoot giggled, stepped back and linked her arms with both of her friends. "Let's go in! Come on, Dashie!"

Dash stifled a laugh. Dashie? When did she allow that? No, she was awfully similar to Pinkie, only less random. She was more... playful. It would be practically impossible to stop her from calling her that. Dash followed the trio inside the restaurant. The trio was observing in almost childish awe the traditional decoration of the place, especially Fleetfoot who was too close to begin dancing on her spot.

Dash stood next to Fleetfoot and looked around until she spotted Saffron Masala, who was picking up dirty dishes. Saffron looked at her and smiled widely. She put the dishes in the counter for her father to pick up before approaching the group.

"Rainbow Dash!" Saffron warmly greeted her friend with a hug and her thick accent. "It's been so long since last time I've seen you. Where have you been? You've got to come more often."

"I've been working my *ss off, Saffron," Dash smiled. "But I'm here, right?"

"And you brought friends over!" Saffron smiled at the three Wonderbolts. "Who are you? I can't remember seeing you three before."

"Workmates," Dash replied simply.

"Pleasure," the three said at the time. Saffron smiled.

"Well, welcome to The Tasty Treat! Come in, come in! Sit down! I'll be with you in a moment."

The four of them sat down in a nice table under the warmth of a paper lantern. Fleetfoot and Spitfire began talking about the drapes, which meant Dash was left with Soarin as the only chatting option. She glanced at him, sitting to her left. He was fidgeting with his sleeves. Dash arched an eyebrow.

"Are you.. alright?" she asked. He glanced at her and brushed it off with a hand gesture.

"Oh, no, no. It's all fine."

"Are you sure? You don't seem comfortable," Come on, buddy, I'm trying to be nice here. Help me out. "Do you... not like Hindi food?"

"Oh, I can't really say I don't like anything..." Soarin replied. "I have some preferences, but definitely I don't dislike anything I've tried yet."

"Same thing... I really like spicy food, though."

Soarin puffed his cheeks. "Yeah... that's... great..."

"Alright!" Saffron arrived at their table with a notepad. "Today we have Spicy Butter Chicken and Tandoori Chicken, and stuffed Samosas as an appetizer."

"What are the samosas stuffed with?" Soarin asked, an awkward smile plastered to his faces. Dash arched an eyebrow.

"Spicy potatoes, peas, and ground beef!" Saffron chirped as a response. "So? What do I serve you?"

"You went extra spicy today, Saffron, right?" Dash laughed. "I'll have the Tandoori!"

"Oooh, brave!" Fleetfoot snickered. "I'll have the same!"

"Make that three, this is gonna be good," Spitfire snickered.

"What will you have, Soariiin?" Fleetfoot smirked at him. Soarin shot her a look.

"You are the worst," Soarin said before turning back to Saffron. "Butter chicken for me."

"And bring over a plate of Samosas before the main dish," Spitfire asked.

"Got it!" Saffron smiled. "I'll be back soon then."

The chef left, leaving the group on their own once again. Dash heard her phone ringing and picked it up, opening the new message she got, from Twilight. She was asking if she had already found a solution to today's lunch. Dash quickly wrote back she had, indeed, and that she was currently at The Tasty Treat with the three Wonderbolts.

Twilight's response was immediate: WITH THEM?! Didn't you hate them?

"Why does everyone-" Dash huffed before she was done blurting that out. Soarin turned at her.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." She groaned and wrote a reply to Twilight.

I don't hate them, f*ck. I'm just in bad terms with Soarin. Anyway, I'll text you later.

"Is everything alright?" Soarin asked. Dash nodded.

"It was... Twilight, my friend, asking me if I had already found somewhere to eat."

"Oh, it's nice of her to worry," Soarin toyed with a napkin holder. "You most likely had no desire to have a meal at the same table as me."

Dash clicked her tongue. Touché. This was a perceptive one. He doesn't seem to hold a grudge though? I was kinda rude to him in the morning. Above anything, he seemed embarrassed of his acts, and now that she had a cool head, she kinda felt embarrassed as well. Kinda. She was still mad at his careless comments. But maybe her reaction was a tad over the top. Dash tried to push these thoughts to the back of her mind and have a good time to at least enjoy her food, even if the company was not one she would've picked anytime.

How to reply without worsening the situation? "It's... not that bad."

F*ck.

Soarin glanced at her and pressed his lips together, the corners of his mouth twitching. Was he holding back laughter? Why would he be holding back laughter? He hid his face behind a hand for a couple of seconds while shaking in restrained laughter. Dash stared at him in confusion.

"What.... is so funny?"

Soarin turned at her, an amused smile outlined on his face. "'Not that bad'?" he snickered.

Dash made a face. "Well, what were you expecting? It's not like we started off in good terms. It's not like we currently are in good terms."

"It seems you think we could never be in good terms," Soarin laughed, although Dash detected a hint of nervousness.

Dash tilted her head from side to side. "We're technically forced to, so..."

"Ah, yeah, the mission..."

"Stuffed Samosas!" Saffron arrived at the table with a bowl of samosas that she placed in front of them. "My father's special recipe. He sends his greeting, Rainbow Dash."

"Is he stuck in the stove?" Dash laughed. Saffron shot back laughter.

"He is! Our Tandoori is pretty popular these days and we're already running out."

"You're making me even more eager," Fleetfoot chirped happily. Dash had forgotten they were talking right by her side. "How long have you had this place?"

Saffron smiled at the girl. Dash knew from the very beginning Fleetfoot was a very sociable girl, and she knew she was the one she liked the most from the trio. She was energetic and a prankster, a girl with an amazing sense of humor and charisma with everyone. Also... Insistent. And loud.

And... She was definitely a saner version of Pinkie Pie.

Saffron told her story to the three Wonderbolt in very brief moments, even going as far as telling them a bit of how the Myths met her and her father. After that, she left them to go on about her duties. Spitfire was the first one to take a samosa out of the bowl.

"Well, these look deliciously spicy," Spitfire commented, a smirk back at her face.

Soarin fell silent again, but Dash didn't pay much attention to him this time. She happily bit into one of the samosas, moaning at the incredible flavor they had. They were warm on the inside. She sighed out of satisfaction and looked around. To her right, Fleetfoot was munching down the samosa like someone was trying to steal it from her, while Spitfire ate slowly and surely the spicy appetizer.

The only one who hadn't touched the samosas... was Soarin.

"Aren't you taking any, Soar?" Fleetfoot snickered. "They're so good!"

"I don't doubt that, but I'll pass," Soarin shot back. "I'll just wait for my Butter Chicken."

"Spicy Butter Chicken," Spitfire snickered.

"Spicy Butter Chicken, then," Soarin stuck his tongue to her.

"I feel like I'm ignoring something here?"

Her question was answered when Saffron brought the dishes and the hot red chicken was placed in front of her. To her left, Soarin tensed. And when Saffron placed his Butter Chicken in front of him, he smiled nervously. Saffron arched an eyebrow.

"Are you alright, friend?"

"Um..." Soarin whispered something on her ear. Saffron nodded to his words, listening...

And then she burst out laughing.

"Ah, friend! You're not the first one here!" Saffron patted his shoulder twice. "Good luck!"

Spitfire and Fleetfoot burst out laughing. Dash arched an eyebrow, but when the two women finally got themselves together, they turned to Soarin, who sighed, muttering something about how he was already doomed. All three women observed him as he bit into one piece of chicken...

And immediately turned bright red.

Spitfire and Fleetfoot burst out laughing once again. By now all the other costumers were staring at them, some of them stifling laughs at the situation this tall, bulky man had gotten himself into. Dash stared, realization finally washing over her. Was he...

"You see, Rainbow Dash," Fleetfoot said, trying her best to stop laughing and failing miserably. "Our very dear Soarin... is pretty sensitive to spicy food!"

Dash blinked twice. Soarin was red as a beet and Dash was beginning to wonder if it was just for the spicy food or also out of embarrassment. Either way, he was redder than an apple. Dash took a piece out of his dish to try this spicy Butter Chicken. She had yet to touch her Tandoori, but the moment she swallowed the Butter Chicken, she couldn't help but also burst out laughing.

"It isn't even that spicy!" she hollered. This comment only made Fleetfoot and Spitfire laugh harder, Fleetfoot having to dry off tiny tears that were threatening to squeak out of her eyes. Dash was guffawing while Soarin just sat there, embarrassed, with his face turning redder every second. Every time they thought they finally had stopped laughing, one glance at Soarin's face was enough to let loose the madness. To top it off, Dash almost fell off her seat when Saffron walked by and set a glass of milk next to Soarin's dish. Soarin hid his eyes behind a hand, glanced at his companions, and began laughing himself.

The first one to compose herself was Spitfire, while Fleetfoot and herself had it hard to control their mirth. When they finally managed to calm themselves, releasing a chuckle here and there, Dash began eating her own Tandoori Chicken. However, she couldn't help but occasionally glance at the man eating on her left. He was red in the face but was brushing it off while talking with his friends, a smile on his face. He was acting like a nice guy. Dash chuckled when she thought about his face when he ate the first bite of Butter Chicken, wondering how this man had indeed survived up until now. Dash smiled.

Dork.

Dash sighed. Alright, she had had a good time earlier that day. She really had. It was nice to spend some time with other people than her friends for a change, for she hadn't made a lot of social life outside of them since ATIDA, but...

She really wasn't feeling like doing character studies with Soarin right now. Especially since this was a situation she couldn't escape from, nor one in which she could sneak in people without making it obvious that she was avoiding being alone with him. There was simply no escape from this one. They had to work this out together to make their stories match, look over the profiles the Intelligence team had planned for them, and try to make all this without bickering...

Heavens, why me?

It was already getting dark when she knocked on Soarin's door, the files between her hands. She waited as she heard his voice claiming he was on his way and heard his steps approaching the door. The door opened and revealed Soarin, tank top and sweat pants, looking fresh out of the shower judging from the towel around his neck and the half-dried hair. He seemed surprised at her presence on his doorstep.

"Good night? Can I help you with anything?"

Dash showed him the files, one for each of them. "I just got this. Thought it would do us some good to make a character study if you're not busy. Better have this settled as soon as possible, don't you think?"

"Oh, sure, um..." Soarin glanced back at his room. "I was just taking a shower..."

"I figured."

"Do you want to go to the Conference room or...?"

"No need," Dash shrugged. "A sofa will do, can I come in?"

"Uh, sure... If it doesn't bother you..."

Dash came in and was nicely surprised at the tidiness in the room. She was expecting the place to be a mess. She had a misconceived idea of boys' rooms. Instead, the bed was done, the floor was clean, and the dirty clothes were stuffed inside the dirty clothes basket. The place smelled of the same scent that came from Soarin's hair: some kind of herbal scent. It was nice. Actually, hers was messier, although she couldn't say it was a disaster.

Dash shook her head. You're not here to evaluate the room, gosh, that's something Twilight would do.

Soarin took from one of his bags a hoodie and put it on without zipping it closed. Dash walked over to the couch and sat down, waiting for Soarin. "Would you like something to drink? I can go pick something from the kitchen real quick," he offered.

"No, thank you, I'm not thirsty. But if you want something, go ahead. I'll wait."

Soarin nodded. "I'll be quick, then."

Dash had to bit her tongue to avoid making a comment of his long legs and how they surely carried him anywhere in two seconds. She just nodded as he left. Alone in that room, she clicked her tongue, sighed, hid her face in her armpit, raised it, and groaned. She got up. Waiting like this was not her thing. She walked around the room, not looking for anything in particular. The room itself was pretty plain, without decoration in particular for it was intended for people to stay a night or two. She did notice something out of place in the room: in the bedside table, a book was resting, wide open. She glanced at the pages and was surprised at the familiarity of the content, so she took it between her hands and took a look at the cover.

Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.

Dash laughed. This still was her favorite series, even though she had read them way back in High School. The book looked like a newer edition than the one she had. Making sure the bookmark was situated where it was meant to be, she flipped through the pages, just enjoying the feeling of the book between her hands. She stopped at her favorite passages and read some paragraphs to kill some time.

"Oh, you're reading the books too?"

Dash flinched, closed the book and turned towards the door. There was Soarin, a jar of iced tea and two glasses balanced on a tray, which he settled on a coffee table in front of the couch. Dash stood from her position in the bed, clearing her throat and leaving the book back where it belonged.

"I, um, read them when I was in High School," she admitted. "And kind of read it a couple of times again after that."

"A fan?" Soarin asked.

"Very, I went to conventions and everything," Dash clicked her tongue again. "And I don't know why I said that out loud..."

Soarin laughed. "Come on, we've all had something we're obsessed with as teenagers."

Dash laughed. "I guess that's true... Ready to get to work?"

In the following couple of hours, they sat down next to each other on the couch, reading the files and deciding about their characters for the imminent mission. Their fake names were Periwinkle and Ash Mist respectively, information sent to Rarity who was currently working in their disguises which included clothing and wigs.

"She asked me to tell you to go to her workshop to get your measurements, by the way," Dash informed him. "It's on the first floor of the lounge, two doors from the gunroom."

Periwinkle and Ash Mist were a couple of Publicists, as claimed by Luna, a business that was incredibly abundant in the beautiful Cloudsadle. That would effectively give a good cover, for there were a lot of publicists in the city. The place was well-known for being the birthplace of many sports celebrities, and it was covered in billboards showing off the celebrities born there. The place was proud of them.

"We specialize in young stars, apparently," Soarin chuckled. "Ah, I remember when I wished to appear in one of those billboards!"

They worked out a cover for their operation nicely, actually. Thank goodness they did not engage in any discussion nor got in any sort of argument. They both seemed to care more about doing their job right than doing or saying something stupid. something Dash respected highly, for she had worked hard in this job and would never let anyone get in the way of it. Or judge it. In the hours they spent there, sipping tea and taking notes, they decided the important details of their 'relationship'.

"So... physical contact?" Soarin politely asked.

"To the minimum."

"Got it."

It was already way past nine when Dash got up from Soarin's couch, not feeling at all stressed as she picked up her things. Just like earlier, she had found the moment not to be unpleasant. In her mind, the thoughts about the mission taking place in two days were still present, but she tried to, for once, focus on her companion. She subtly glanced at him as he pilled up his stuff. She noticed just then the bags under his eyes. Did he have trouble sleeping? Or maybe they were that busy? It was not mistery for Dash herself that sometimes paperwork could take a lot of time. He was a Second Commander after all...

So you stay up late, huh... That means your job must be highly important for you... Guess we're not so different after all...

She finished picking up her stuff and tried her best to smile kindly at the man, but since kindness was Fluttershy's thing, she had no idea if she was successful.

"I'll be leaving now," she claimed, trying to erase any trace of hostility from her voice. He glanced up at her with a surprised expression.

"I'll take you to the door," Soarin replied, getting up himself. Dash held back a laugh.

"Yeah, 'cause it is really far away."

Soarin chuckled but followed her anyway to the door. He held it open for her as she left. Dash stopped midway out of the room, pondered for a second in her frozen position, then turned around to face Soarin again.

She smiled once again. "Good night,"

Soarin stared at her for two heartbeats with a surprised expression Dash couldn't completely read. Then he smiled back at her.

"Thanks. Good night as well."

Dash nodded and left, walking right over to her room. She thought back on the crazy two days that she had had in the couple of yards that separated her from her door. They had been restless, to put it lightly. She had gotten into a one-sided argument with a guy twice her height and yelled at him... twice. She had also befriended (sort of?) said guy's best friends after some peculiar incidents involving spicy food and milk, and she had lately cooled down around this guy and had even come to (kind of?) enjoy his company. He was a nice guy. She still had mixed feelings about him but was starting to loosen up a bit.

Since when do I get so worked up over one person?

Next time, she told herself, she would think twice before forming an opinion about people. First impressions can be tricky. Most of the time, they aren't even accurate.

Boy did she know about that!

Thursday. Day of the Pyrite Gala.

Celestia took a deep breath. Heavens, let this go smoothly. She prayed as she made her way through the corridors of the girls' lounge. She glanced inside the gunroom, where she had expected to find Rainbow Dash cleaning her gun but found Applejack instead, picking up some of the smallest guns they had. She was wearing a catering suit. The farmer heard her come in and turned to the door to greet the Head.

"Mornin'," Applejack greeted, hiding the gun inside her apron.

"Good morning, Applejack. How are you doing?" Celestia asked her, walking inside the gunroom. "How's your part of the mission?"

"Good, Head, I'm actually goin' out now to get there on time. I was just gettin' some backup for me and Pinkie if ya know what I mean..." Applejack patted her apron, designed by Rarity to effectively hide a gun. Celestia nodded.

"Alright, go ahead. Good luck. Do you happen to know where the others are?"

"Dash and Soarin are bein' held hostage by Rarity in the workshop. Ah believe Sunset's got the others in the Conference room goin' over the plans again."

"I see... Well, I'll check on Dash and Soarin and then go to the others. See you, Applejack."

"See ya."

And with that, the farmer left, sending her boss one last smirk. Celestia watched her disappear before walking up two doors to get to the workshop. That corridor had doors leading to the gunroom, Rarity's workshop, a shower room, an equipment storage room and a training room with padded floor and walls. The other facilities in the Myths' lounge were across other corridors and doors.

She stopped before the workshop's door, breathed another prayer, and knocked three times, announcing herself to the occupants inside.

"Come in, Darling!"

So she obeyed and walked in. The room was probably the most sophisticated of all the lounge, along with Rarity's own room, with pearl white walls and royal purple moldings. the fashion designer had a couple of racks filled with dresses of every possible shade existent, shelves with accessories and shoes of all kinds. There was a sewing machine, and a shelf of cloths and other sewing supplements. A white dressing table was arranged with all kinds of makeup and other implements. Of course, she also had two beautiful white couches and two changing rooms, both occupied at the moment. Rarity was busy at a table with some jewelry and a pair of dancing shoes. Those had become the kind of heels Dash wore every time she was obliged to wear fancy shoes, for they were comfortable enough to run in them, and Rarity had designed these shoes so the heel would come off with a kick in the back. That way, in a couple of seconds Dash could be left with a pair of beautiful sandals in which she could run without a problem.

Dash and Soarin were absent, Celestia deduced they were inside the changing rooms.

"How's it going, Rarity?"

"Quite well, darling. Our actors are in there getting changed. Dash did the loops in her head all on her own, don't you think that's great? She's really getting the hang of it! Anyway, we're just missing the wig and makeup and she would be ready to go. As for Soarin, I have to do his hair and wig. I'm doubting whether to apply any makeup on him..."

"I don't see that as quite necessary," Celestia claimed.

Rarity shrugged. "Well, we'll see that after he comes out."

At that moment, Dash came out of the changing room and Celestia turned to her. She was surprised at what her eyes met.

The dress Rarity had chosen for Dash was strapless, skin-tight and with a long skirt that stopped just at her ankle. The dress was of a lovely lavender that matched her skin perfectly. The icing of the cake? The huge slit that climbed all the way up to her right thigh. Dash was desperately trying to pull both ends together with an ashamed expression.

"Was this really necessary, Rarity?"

Rarity sighed. "Darling, in an event like this one you couldn't possibly wear a short skirt. A flared skirt would give you too much trouble moving around, and an A-line would get tangled with your feet. This was the best solution I could find so you could move freely without tripping all over yourself. I know it's not your favorite style, but that's the best I had for you to the Gala."

"We don't have any time to change it now, Dash," Celestia warned her. Dash huffed.

"I know, but... I just don't feel comfortable."

"Darling, you've had it worst," Rarity took her hand and sat her in front of the dressing table. She began working in putting Dash's wig on. This time she had chosen one to fit her character's name: periwinkle, slightly wavy and cut short. Rarity sighed when she noticed Dash fidgeting with the slit. "Plus, what's the matter dear? It's not the first time you've had to wear something revealing."

"Yeah, but it's the first time I will in the company of a man," she pouted. Rarity stopped placing bobby pin for a second to respond:

"Huh, good point. We aren't usually blessed with the presence of handsome men in our missions."

"Careful there, you're talking about her husband," Celestia chuckled, approaching the two. Dash shot her a look. Celestia shrugged. "Well, her fake husband, but her husband anyway. Though I do admit the boy is quite a sight. You're one lucky woman."

"Ha. Ha. Hilarious,"

Rarity giggled while doing two braids to decorate Dash's wig. "You must admit he's pretty good-looking."

"Guys, he's literally right the-"

"I'm done!" the women flinched at the man's voice coming from the dressing room. The next second, he came out wearing a grey suit with a white shirt underneath. He was holding a black-tie on his hand. "However, I need some help with the tie. I could never get it right."

"Oh, Darling, you look stunning!" Rarity complimented him. Soarin glanced down at his clothing. The suit hugged his figure in a very charming way, making his broad shoulders and strong physique stand out. The dull color of the suit made the emerald of his eyes stand out.

"Err, thank you?"

"She's right, it looks really good in you," Celestia added, letting out a chuckle. "Ah, young people these days!"

"Darling, you're talking like you're a century old."

"Well, I feel like I was next to you all."

"Done, darling," Rarity patted Dash's shoulders and turned her a bit to the right so she could get started on her makeup.

"Can you... not exaggerate it?"

Rarity sighed. "You're exhausting, darling."

Soarin was starting to get bored. Sitting in Rarity's extra fancy white couch, Soarin fidgeted with his tie to keep his mind busy, for there wasn't anything else he could do in there. Rarity told him to feel free to look around the workshop, but he wasn't feeling like poking around women's clothing hung in silver racks. So he sat there, not watching either the procedure Rarity was doing with Rainbow Dash's make-up. He doubted she would like him staring. Plus, he felt kind weird looking at her when she had that wig... it didn't feel like he was looking at the real Rainbow Dash. However, she was going to act in a different character.

My wife.

Soarin clicked his tongue. Just about great. Although their meeting on Monday went along pretty smoothly, he was still reluctant about her feelings regarding him. He doubted this ordeal would make it any better. Maybe he was overthinking it. It surely wouldn't be the first time he did that. Especially regarding women, something Fleetfoot loved to remind him every time he couldn't recover from some kind of embarrassment. Her favorite mocking nickname was "shy schoolgirl".

"There!" Rarity squealed. "Darling, you look stunning!"

Soarin finally raised his head. Why is my heart beating so fast? He wondered as he looked over to where both women were (Celestia had left a while back), curiosity making him stare at the back of the woman that would be his spouse. Honestly, earlier he hadn't noticed Dash's outfit because she was sitting in an angle that kept him from noticing. However, now Dash was standing up and he only then noticed her snug lavender dress which hugged her figure in an enchanting way, if he were to be completely honest. The slit. Heavens above, the slit. He adverted his eyes not to appear to be rude. Instead, he tried to focus on her hair and makeup.

The hair, periwinkle (he guessed), had two thin braids along the side of the head, making the rest of the hair slightly puff out with subtle curls. The makeup Rarity had done in her was amazing, with glittery purple eyeshadow at the ends which turned into a not-glittery darker hue in the middle, with black eyeliner giving her eyes a deep intensity that, as awkward as he felt thinking about it, made her gaze stunningly alluring. To complement it, Rarity had added a light pink lipstick that went amazing with the darker colors of the eyes. She had also managed Dash's features to look sharper.

His heart was pounding. She was wearing a wig that hid her awesome colorful hair, and the makeup subtly changed her features, but behind that disguise, she was still there. She was still Rainbow Dash.

A Rainbow Dash that noticed him staring and held his gaze, intimidating. Soarin adverted his eyes.

"Do you have anything I can cover myself with, Rarity?"

Rarity huffed. "Seriously, Darling, you look stunning. This is going to work perfectly."

"Please?" Dash insisted. Rarity turned around, looked over the racks, and turned back at her friend with a black fur coat.

"Here, put this on for now."

Dash gladly took it, and after Rarity's instruction, she switched places with Soarin, who sat down in front of the mirror. He noticed in the reflection Dash was grumbling to herself on her spot on the sofa, her cheeks tinted of a slight pink. She glanced his way and stared at him for a couple of heartbeats before turning right back again. Soarin held back a tiny smile.

She was cute.

"Alright, dear," Rarity drew his attention to him. "You look so handsome like this, I'm going to put on your wig, alright?"

"Sure."

Rarity turned him slightly on the chair and grabbed a wig that was resting in a bust mannequin close to her. She turned and observed his face.

"I don't think you need any makeup. You have very pale skin, but that pinkish tint in your cheeks really complements you well, darling."

Author's Note

And the second part is done! This arc is taking a bit more time than I like, but sadly I have been awfully busy :ajsleepy: Hopefully I'll have the next chapter ready on time. We'll see.

(Yeah, I know, I know, there's a bit of a lot of Soarindash focus here, but can you blame me? They're my faves, bite me.)

So usually the missions are in the second part, but I guess it just didn't quite fit here without breaking the flow (I already have a part of it written down), so it's gonna be in the next part. Hopefully, the third part won't be a monster.

Anyway, I'd love to know what you think about the story so far! Your opinions are important to me! And as I've said, every arc is important and this one is as important as the past ones and the upcoming ones! You'll see! You'll see!

(Yes, the story is already completely outlined)

Anyway, that'd be it.

Until next time!
-Midday Giggle

Teamwork? (Part 3)

"Rainbow Dash, take it off!!!"

"Ugh! Alright! I got it!"

The van jumped and Dash felt herself jump with it. She almost slipped and fell to the ground, if it weren't for Soarin swiftly grabbing her arm to steady her and for her planting a foot in front of her in time. Dash muttered gratitude and obeyed Rarity's command to take off the coat she had been given in the workshop. The rest of the girls observed her outfit.

"Oh! It's so pretty!" Fluttershy claimed.

"I don't see what the big fuss is all about," Fleetfoot claimed.

Well, yeah, you're not the one who's exposing all her leg to the public eye!

Although she surely wouldn't mind. She didn't seem to find anything embarrassing.

They were already on their way to the Pyrite Gala. In the back of the van, all the other girls, clad in their uniform (to their luck), were huddled around Dash and Soarin. Twilight was hovering around the pair connecting the mics and everything they needed to keep in touch with the rest of the group. Applejack and Pinkie were absent, for they were already at the place, and Sunset was driving the vehicle while the group got ready in the back.

The plan basically consisted of sneaking inside the private parts of the building and finding the correct room where the meeting was supposed to happen. Twilight said they would be arriving thirty minutes earlier so they could have a window of opportunity to settle the plan. Of course, there was so much more to it, for it would be naive to assume it would just straight up be that easy to get to them, but they had already settled that days ago and had gone over that uncountable times.

They just needed to arrive.

A couple of blocks away from the place, the car stopped and Dash and Soarin climbed down in a rush to enter the car waiting for them. Before the van's doors closed, they heard a cry from Spitfire: "Good luck!"

The short traject in the car was silent. Dash and Soarin, sitting each at opposite ends of the car, didn't really bother to talk to each other. Dash was, however, glancing occasionally at her companion. Rarity had hidden his navy blue hair under a dark grey wig. She liked better his real hair color. This one made him look kinda boring.

The driver, an ATIDA agent in disguise, parked the car in front of the place were the Gala would be taking place. Dash gawked at the building. She had seen pictures, but it was beautiful! And that wasn't a word she used a lot. But the pillars, the details, and the runes were really quite a sight.

Dash waited for Soarin to exit the car. Rarity had scolded her for fifteen minutes straight about allowing the man to be a gentleman and how she should 'act like a lady', something which seemed to really worry Rarity in this particular Gala. Dash had to constantly remind her she wouldn't be in there for too long. Rarity kept insisting, anyway, about her mannerism during the Gala. In the end, she was kinda right. They wouldn't be there for long, sure, but they couldn't risk anything to get them discovered. In the end, Rarity was the expert on Undercover Missions. There was a reason she did most of them.

So Dash reluctantly accepted the hand Soarin offered her to exit the car and tried her best to relax and put on a smile that didn't look forced. Surprisingly, she managed. Dash linked her arm to Soarin's and both looked over to the place were this Gala would be taking place, watching the other couples and families arriving fashionably late. Dash muttered mentally. With this dress and when they were barely getting out of the winter, she was freaking cold!

"We're going in," Dash whispered to the commlink, trying to ignore the weather. In response, she heard Twilight's voice.

"Be careful," Twilight kindly reminded them as the pair walked over to the entrance.

They went in without much trouble after presenting their fake invites. Seriously? These guys could do so much better with the security of this place. She thought but remained speechless, smiling by her supposed husband's side. She had been warned to try and remain as speechless as possible. Apparently, this place was supposed to be filled with businessmen who tagged their wives along only to: a) boast of the beauty of them, or b) avoid any kind of conflict with the said wife. She liked to think there were exceptions, but since this meant she didn't have to interact with pish-posh people then she was all into it.

The place was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside, with the decor to match the vintage appearance of the building. As they followed the way to the main ballroom, Dash noticed the huge marble staircase leading to the second floor. She exchanged a glance with Soarin before the butler told them to head to their left to the gala.

Inside, the place was warmer and the ballroom was elegantly decorated with silvers. The place was packed with people elegantly dressed, from the youngest to the oldest they wore the lastest trends, black being a predominant color among them. However, Dash noticed bolder colors among the youngest and felt relieved at noticing she wasn't the only one wearing a pale color, nor the only one with a huge slit on her skirt. She actually felt much more at ease when she noticed her dress wasn't revealing at all compared to the tiny slices of fabric some women were wearing and didn't seem to mind.

Much more relaxed, Dash claimed: "I think we should avoid any unwanted interaction with people, don't you think?"

"We should."

"So we should focus on figuring a way to the second floor, right?"

"You're right. Though I suppose the main staircase will do just fine."

"Can ah offer ya a drink?" the pair turned to the familiar voice. Wearing a catering uniform, Applejack was standing less than a yard from them balancing a tray with a couple of champagne cups. She turned it to them. "Here, these two are fizzy apple juice. But you won't fit in without a glass."

"Yeah, she's right!" they heard Pinkie's voice. "Their conversations are so boring you need to be buzzy to bear it!"

"They are high-end class people, Thalia," Fleetfoot giggled. "They can be so boring sometimes."

Applejack, Dash and Soarin had to hold back a snicker. Applejack offered them the tray. "We found a way to the second floor in case the main plan fails. It's just by the door over there," Applejack made a subtle gesture to a door leading to the service hall. "When the time comes, we'll tell you."

"Alright, thanks, Poli," Soarin bowed with his head, hiding his lips behind his cup of juice. Applejack bowed back and smirked at Dash.

"Nice dress, by the way."

"F*ck you, Poli."

Applejack snorted and walked away with her tray of champagne. Dash took a sip of her juice, sulking.

"She's just poking fun at you," Soarin tried to reassure her, with a smile. "You look nice."

Dash puffed her cheeks and unlinked her arm from his. "I'll be back," she muttered before walking away. Seeing no other place where to excuse herself, she made her way to the banquet positioned at the side of the ballroom. She got closer and took a small slice of a hot appetizer without being able to shake away the feeling that her cheeks were even warmer.

In the van, parked in an alley behind the building, where there were some catering trucks as well, the rest of the Myths and Wonderbolts were huddled around the computers. Sunset had made her way to the back with Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, Fleetfoot and Spitfire. Twilight and Sunset were busy making sure their connection with the people inside was secure, Rarity and Fluttershy were each stationed at a different screen with the place's cameras, while Spitfire and Fleetfoot were watching Dash's, Soarin's, Applejack's and Pinkie's chest cameras. Spike was waiting by Fluttershy's feet. Simply listening to what the rest was saying.

Spitfire spoke up. "Fluttershy, Rarity, how's it going? Anything yet?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Nothing out of place yet."

"Indeed, it's been all too calm. It's starting to give me an Ill Omen."

"Don't say that, Rarity!" Sunset shot back.

"The information we were given was that they would be arriving at two and a half," Twilight claimed, glancing at the clock. It said it was barely past two o'clock. "They'll have to stay in there for another good twenty minutes before we spring back into action."

"So they get to hang around for twenty minutes? Lucky..." Rarity commented. Fleetfoot snorted.

"I assure you you're not missing anything else than good food and liquor. Those meetings are all about money, connections, and hypocritical people trying to get some benefit from the situation."

Rarity sighed. "Yeah, I know people in this kind of event often are just looking for personal benefit, but I'm a businesswoman and that means I need to mingle with that kind of people to get my business to grow. It's how it is."

"That's true," Spitfire claimed.

"ANYWAY," Fleetfoot said. "Are we gonna talk about how Soarin and Dash bicker like an old couple? I swear Soarin's a nice guy."

"Fleetfoot, I don't think this is the place to talk about this. And we shouldn't talk about people who aren't present," Spitfire claimed. "Your comment about the sexual tension was enough."

"Pardon me?" Rarity splurted. "Sexual tension?"

"Yup, don't you agree?" Fleetfoot. "Those two obviously like each other but won't admit it."

"I admit I thought about that too," Twilight laughed. She got a weird look from Sunset.

"You?! Out of all people, I would've expected that from Pinkie Pie either than you."

"They would make a lovely couple..." Fluttershy muttered. "Their colors match."

"Rainbow Dash's colors probably match with anyone," Spike laughed.

"If they could get over their differences," Spitfire shook her head. "But that's not our place to intervene, so we better let them be. I'm looking at you, Fleetfoot."

"But there's no fun in that!" Fleetfoot pouted before turning back at her screen. "Plus it seems they're fighting again, they parted ways."

"They WHAT?" Sunset looked over at the screen. "What in the world is going on now?" she turned on the mic to Dash's commlink. "Dash, what's happening now? Why aren't you with Soarin?"

"I'll be there in just a moment, alright? I just... I needed to walk away for a second."

"But what-?"

"Sunset, really, I'm fine. I'm going back in no time, seriously. When have I messed up a mission, uh?"

"We trust you, Darling, we're just worried," Rarity claimed, glancing at the speaker. "Whatever happened in there?"

"Nothing! It's nothing serious. I swear, it's cool, just chill. I'm going back now, alright?"

"Alright... Let us know if something's wrong," Twilight told her before the communication was cut.

Fleetfoot clicked her tongue. "Well, maybe sitting back and watching might end up being more fun than I thought. Let's see what they are capable of."

Sombra arranged the neck of his jacket in front of his mirror, making sure his reflection was spotless like a king's. Satisfied at his appearance, he turned around and walked over at his desk, retrieving any stuff he would need for his meeting. He had managed to threaten the planner of the event to allow him and his men easy access to the second floor, and the cameras would all be turned off by then so they could go on about their business easily. It was hilariously easy to force a man to do whatever he wanted. The poor thing was on his knees begging in two seconds.

Sombra furrowed his brow. He was kind of ticked off because he had done all that effort to please his client, but he pacified himself telling himself it was worth it. Or so he hoped. If it wasn't the case, that man was getting a bullet to the head. If it was, then he would have his arms and Sombra would have his little treasure. Fair deal.

From one of his drawers, he took out a gun, which he slid inside one of the pockets of his coat. Just in case. A man must be prepared for any kind of situation. After the encounter he had had with those little girls that time with the daughter of that Filthy traitor, he doubted things would be as easy for him and his negotiations. He wasn't about to underestimate them. They seemed like stubborn beings. They were surely already after his track, all the dogs following him through a wood of secrets.

He smirked to himself.

Oh, those girls don't know what they're getting themselves into.

Sweethearts, decide wisely the path you'll follow, or you could seriously regret it.

Dash walked back to Soarin after she had effectively had everyone questioning her about being away from him, so she tried to navigate through the crowd without drawing any attention to her persona, for she wasn't interested in engaging in any conversation with these people. Especially since, being on her own, she was forced to talk. At least next to Soarin, she could fake being a submissive young wife who spoke only if told to do so.

She held back a gag at that thought.

I thought we were past that way of thinking already?!

Sighing, Dash excused herself between two tall women to make her way to where she had left her 'husband'. She found him there, indeed.

Only he wasn't alone.

A couple was talking with him. A man, probably in his early thirties, and a woman of great beauty were positioned before him, the woman linked to her companion's arm. Soarin showed no reaction to them, as he was smiling and calmly talking to them. He looked like he knew these people all his life. Dash took note of the white skin of both characters; the long pink hair of the woman and the short blue hair of the man.

Dash cursed under her breath when she recognized them. Fancy Pants, Rarity's friend, and his wife, Fleur de Lis. Just great, the exact two people Rarity had advised them to avoid at the event, for she assured them that 'Fancy Pants is a smart man' that knew Dash's face and could blow their cover.

Let's see how good your disguises are, Rarity.

She tried to relax and put on the best smile she could muster as she walked back to her mate. Soarin noticed her and smiled widely at the people with him.

"Ah, there she comes!" he extended his arm towards her and Dash took his hand with a smile, this time aimed at the pair in front of them. Soarin draped his arms behind her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Dash played along hugging his waist with one arm. "This is my wife: Periwinkle. Darling, let me introduce you to Mr. Fancy Pants and his wife, Mrs. Fleur de Lis."

"What?!" she heard Rarity's voice through the commlink. "I told you to stay away from them!"

Soarin must have activated his mic. "It's such a pleasure to meet you two!" Not really. Go away.

Fancy Pants did not read her mind and just shot back the smile. "My! The pleasure is ours. I admit I don't recall seeing you two before. Your husband was telling us this was your first Pyrite Gala, right?"

"You're quite right," And the last, I hope. "We've been blessed with an invitation this year."

"Well, I must admit it's nice seeing some new faces," Fleur commented, giggling. "When you've been attending this same Gala each year with the same people, it can get a bit monotonous."

That's one fancy way of saying boring.

"Oh, really?" Soarin replied. "We've actually been expecting the Gala since we got the invitation."

Following the script, I see. Good.

"Try to make them go away!" Dash heard Fleetfoot through the commlink.

"Just be discreet!" Rarity shot too.

But Dash couldn't see any way to make them go away. She hoped Soarin had a plan because this was beginning to be a little awkward for her, and only then she noticed she was gripping Soarin's side with all her strength and he wasn't reacting at all. What is he made of, bricks?

Also, he was an incredibly good liar? Maybe it was because she didn't know him, but he was pretty good at concealing all the typical body signs of lying. His shoulders were relaxed, he was looking at them in the eye, not diverting his gaze to either side, making gestures with the hand that wasn't placed on her bare shoulder, nor was he stuttering as she expected him to nor toying with his clothing. He was holding a normal conversation with them. The pretty boy seemed to have been practicing his skills.

Fancy Pants seemed particularly interested in her. Dash tried to convince herself it was due to her outfit, something which made her feel even more exposed, but soon had to face the facts: he wasn't interested at all in how revealing her skirt was nor in her exposed shoulders or her subtle cleavage. He was examining her features, like trying to solve a puzzle. A puzzle she did not want him to solve anytime soon.

He was good at hiding his examination, for he was maintaining his conversation with Soarin quite smoothly. Dash hoped he noticed too and they could think of a way out.

During the conversation between the two men, the women barely participated, even though both men were constantly trying to include them. It seemed neither of them wanted to be part of it. Unluckily for Dash, Fleur decided she'd rather skip husband time to bond with another female, and so unlinked her arm from her husband's and instead approached Rainbow Dash. Dash tried to smile. She didn't dare to move from the protection of Soarin's arm.

"So, Periwinkle, right?" Fleur smiled kindly at her. "Do you work with Ash Mist in your agency?"

Ah, we settled that one.

"Yes, but I manage the shoots and any public kind of event," she replied. "However, Ash is the President of the Company."

"Oh, that's great! So you're a manager? I'm a model! I know a thing or two about shoots," she giggled.

"See?! I told you to evade them!" Rarity scolded Dash.

"You're so pretty, though!" Fleur went on, taking a good look at Dash. "You would make a lovely model! Have you ever considered modeling?"

"I don't think that's something we're comfortable with," she glanced at Soarin. "Right, darling?"

Soarin nodded. "Despite what it might look like, she's not very interested in pictures. I do agree she's beautiful."

"Well, the beauty of a woman should never be denied!" Fancy added. Dash tried to conceal the blush creeping into her face.

"I think that was a bit unneeded, Darling," she muttered to Soarin, pinching his side. Soarin pressed his lips.

"Oh, let him compliment you!" Fleur giggled. "You make a lovely couple. Don't they, Fancy?"

"Indeed," Fancy agreed.

Soarin and Dash exchanged a glance before looking right back at the couple. At that very moment, the music filling the room and to which some people were dancing changed from classy to tango. Couples started flooding the dancefloor. Fleur and Fancy exchanged smiles. Fleur, smiling widely, took in each hand a hand of Dash and a hand of Soarin and giddily said:

"Join us in the dancefloor, please? We love this tango!"

F*ck no!

Dash let out a nervous laugh. "We, um..." she tried to think of an excuse but could find none. So she just blurted out: "We don't quite feel like it."

"Yeah, I'm not quite a dancer!" Soarin laughed.

"Nonsense!" Fleur insisted. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Uh..." Soarin freed his hand and Dash did the same. "Um, alright! Alright! We're right behind you!"

Fleur giggled and took her husband's arm. "Great!"

Not great!

Dash held back a deadly glare until the real married couple dashed away. When they were gone, with the promise they were right behind them, Dash glared at him over her shoulder despite having their arms linked. "Why?!"

"I didn't know your point of view in this one, we never discussed that one!"

"You didn't?" Spitfire sighed. "Well, now go on, we don't want that loud model to make a fuss! You've got time for dancing the song and figure a way to sneak away! They'll be here in less than ten minutes!"

"My King," Sombra heard the voice of his soldier from the front of the vehicle. The copilot was the on speaking. "I'm afraid, my King, that there's been a disturbance in the Gala. We may think it has to do with ATIDA, your Highness."

"What kind of disturbance??"

"Two unknown characters have appeared at the Gala, my King," the man informed him. "I'm afraid we have yet to locate them among the invitations, but our guards think they could be ATIDA agents."

"What do they look like? Perhaps it's those girls I met at the factory."

"Our informers tell us it was a man and a woman, my King. A man of grey hair and whitish skin, and a woman of cyan skin and periwinkle hair."

Sombra furrowed his brow. Those descriptions did not match any of the girls he met that day, and it was only women, so where did this man come from? He guessed this could be some other agents, but he wasn't about to assume he had seen the last of these girls. If not, he would be greatly disappointed in the oh so great special agents of ATIDA.

"Let's keep an eye on them. With some luck for them, they'd be just a rich couple."

"Understood, My King."

"I warn you, Caliope, he can't dance to save his life!"

"Fleetfoot!" Soarin whispered to the mic as he and Dash positioned themselves. Dash held back a laugh.

"You really can't?" she wondered. Soarin blushed.

"I..." he huffed. "Yeah, I can't."

"So you can't lead a tango?"

"I can't lead my tongue, much less you in a tango."

Dash snorted and tried to hide her laughter behind a hand. Seeing so success in this, she pressed her face to his chest and let out as quietly as she could the laughter, her shoulders shaking as Soarin patiently waited for her to compose herself. When she emerged from her laughter, she glanced back up at Soarin, whose cheeks remained of a slight hue of pink. She smiled. "I'll show you how to lead, alright? Then you can take over the dance."

Soarin stared at her for a couple of heartbeats that thumped in Dash's chest. She found herself captivated by the brightness of his eyes. Now that she thought about it, they seemed to have the brightness of a child, the innocence of a toddler and the peace of a newborn. Yet he was tall, built and strong. How could such a combination occur in a single being? He didn't sound like something logical.

As far as Soarin was concerned, however, she was a bundle of energy and stubbornness. She was such a tiny woman, he doubted she was taller than 5' 3", and yet she imposed the presence of a warrior. She was a warrior. A warrior that smirked like a devil and moved like a cat, something which she showed off she stretched to reach his shoulders. She wrapped an arm around them, pressing her body to his and holding his other hand. Soarin applied the little knowledge he had of tango and place his free hand across her back. As promised, she was the one to lead the dance at first.

Her dance... she danced with such confidence in each other movements. She whispered instructions to him so he could follow her. She was... mesmerizing... He could notice the muscles of her back shifting under her silky skin. He could sense each twist of her waist against his torso. She held his gaze with a look he had yet to know from her. A look that was simply and utterly sultry.

When she wrapped her exposed right leg around his calf, he felt his face burning. He gripped her small body. Dash noticed the reaction he provoked from him, but despite what he felt was wiser to do, she didn't mind nor she changed the position of her leg.

He finally could take control of the dance. He was the one leading know. His movements weren't as refined or elegant as hers, but she had the skill to make any of his mistakes go unnoticed. His mind forgot where he was and what he was doing there; the image of this girl had bewitched him...

And if he was completely honest, he didn't mind.

"Now there!" Rarity giggled, watching attentively the camera in which she could see Dash and Soarin dancing. "Out of all the dances of the world, they had to dance the most intimate one possible."

Fleetfooot and Spitfire had moved to Rarity's and Fluttershy's screens, for they had nothing to actually see in their cameras other than the occasional glance of the color of the pair's clothing. Spitfire was honestly watching the cameras looking for something, but she was glancing now and then to the pair as well, a smirk on her face. Instead, Fletfoot was not watching over the cameras. She was spying, simple as that, and was sassy enough not to try to hide it.

"They look so good!" Fleetfoot giggled. "Now, kiss!"

"Oh, my," Fluttershy whispered, embarrassed.

"You better be recording that so we can blackmail her later!" Sunset laughed from her spot. Twilight burst out laughing.

"We can't have them making out right now, Sombra should be arriving anytime now," Spitfire claimed.

Twilight nodded. "It's true, they will be arriving anytime-"

"Now!"

The girls all jumped to Fluttershy's shriek, which made Spike, who had fallen asleep, wake up with a yelp. The group who was the nearest to Fluttershy's screen looked at what Fluttershy was pointing. It was one of the cameras in front of the building. They also had the streets' cameras, but to everyone's surprise, they had turned off a heartbeat ago. Actually, what the girls could see was a man coming out of the copilot seat of a black car and opening the door of the backseat before everything turned black. Fluttershy glanced back at the group.

Spitfire was gripping the back of Rarity's seat. "Sh*t."

Soarin was trying his hardest to focus on his surroundings subtly. He was glancing at the sides while keeping his head pointing towards Rainbow Dash, and Dash did the same thing. Now and then, they would glance back at each other before adverting their eyes, neither knowing the exact reason for that.

Then Soarin noticed something: two men, at the end of the ballroom, staring at them. They were stationed near the tall windows, their features somber. Soarin glance over Dash's head. A third one, near the staff kitchens, dangerously close to where Pinkie was stationed observing them.

"We're being watched."

He was surprised at this statement. Not because he had said it, but because Rainbow Dash had said it along with him. Their smiles never faltering, they met each other's gaze to discuss it.

"There're two at my three o'clock watching us," Dash claimed. Soarin had yet to noticed those two.

"Two at your nine o'clock," Soarin claimed. "One at your seven o'clock."

"So there's five of them, huh..." Dash made a swift movement of her hips before going on. "What makes people uncomfortable or look away?"

"That's an easy one. First month of the Academy," Soarin claimed. He began his list: "Public displays of affection, violence, blood, embarrass-"

He couldn't finish his sentence. Dash stretched her body, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

"OH! MY! GOD!" Rarity screeched. "They kissed!"

"They WHAT?!" Sunset glanced at the screens, gaping. She then shook her head. "No! We don't have time for this!"

"I'm losing the cameras!" Twilight announced, typing furiously her keyboard. "Someone is interfering with the cameras!"

"Sir, I don't understand why you're asking me to-"

"Silence!" the poor technician shrunk at the command of the manager. He felt terrible about doing so, but the terrifying threat of a mysterious man erased any guilt, replacing it with panic that made his heart pound. He tensed his shoulders. "Just... Do as I say. Turn them on in an hour. That'd be all."

The technician stared at him, confused, but gulped and nodded. "Alright, sir..."

Soarin's blood ran all to his face. He was a good actor. He could keep his cool under stress and considered himself a pretty decent liar, although that didn't mean he liked lying. Duty was duty. His job was above anything else he did, and he was determined to do it correctly. But this? This was too much for him.

She was kissing him! And worst of all... He was liking it! He felt terrible about enjoying it, but he really was.

Play along, Soarin, dammit! You're gonna blow our cover!

So he did. He wrapped his arms around her back and returned her kiss. Around them, people kept dancing to the beat of the new tango playing, but he was more focused on the tango his and Dash's lips were dancing. It felt... A little out of duty... Maybe a little more than needed, but he wasn't complaining. Dash pulled away an extra second later, or sooner, he couldn't decide. He didn't know if he wanted the kiss to end or to keep going. His head was a mess, and even when she had pulled away, he couldn't manage to open his eyes.

"They're not looking anymore..."

Soarin opened his eyes to catch hers. She wasn't looking his way, but her head slightly tilted to the side, glancing at her surroundings to where the mysterious guys were. Indeed they weren't looking their way anymore, but Soarin paid little attention to that. He was more interested in what Dash's reaction to the kiss was. Even in that angle, Dash couldn't conceal the pink of her cheeks or the soft bite she was applying to her lower lip, her eyes a little hazy. Soarin wanted to say something. Anything. But he couldn't, and he didn't have any chance anymore.

"Guys! It's time! Time to go on, go go!" they heard Spitfire's voice. At the same time, Soarin saw Pinkie disappear through the door of the ballroom. Neither showing any reaction nor anything alike, Dash linked her arm to Soarin's and they walked towards the door. They waited for a couple of seconds before Pinkie came back, dragging along two butlers.

"I'm telling you, she's wasted and I can't move her an inch. Everyone else is busy, you're the only ones I could think about."

They waited a minute after Pinkie left with the butlers before sneaking their way through the door. Seeing Applejack's built and tall shape, he was sure those poor butlers would have a hard time trying to move her to the back as the plan stated. Outside, the hallway was empty. Dash halted for a second to kick off the heels of her shoes, and Soarin abandoned his jacket and tie at a nearby table. Dash left the heels there. Pinkie Pie would later come to pick their stuff up. Rainbow Dash and Soarin ran towards the main staircase, making sure to check the hall before. Empty.

They ran up the stairs.

Twilight and Sunset were working hard on their screens. Spitfire, who had some knowledge in computers but not even half the skill the pair had, was helping them the best she could. Fluttershy had taken over the screens of Soarin's and Dash's cameras, while Fleetfoot and Rarity were jumping from camera to camera, following Dash and Soarin.

Twilight was turning off the right cameras at the right time and turning them back on so there wouldn't be any recording of Rainbow Dash and Soarin. After a few seconds, she had recovered the cameras that had turned off on their own, but she had decided to remain on her spot even if they had to go back up Soarin and Dash.

The doors of the pilot and co-pilot seats of the van opened. Twilight glanced just enough time to see Applejack and Pinkie climbing in the leather seats.

"How's it going?" Pinkie asked, putting on her belt. Rarity began clasping the chairs to the floor or walls in case they needed to move the van.

Fleetfoot was the one who answered Pinkie's questions: "They are already on the second floor, making their way to the smaller meeting rooms."

"Girls, where to?!" they heard Dash's voice through the speaker.

"Hold on just a minute, guys," Sunset said, not tearing her eyes from the screen. "The thing is the cameras have been intercepted and we haven't been able to recover all of them."

"Which means?" it was Soarin this time. In the cameras, they had stopped running and were stationed in the middle of a hall.

"Which means we have no idea where Sombra is," Fluttershy lamented. Spike whined and placed his snout on her thigh.

Sombra walked into the meeting room. Thankfully, the man was already there. He looked just like he remembered him: black hair, stubble, and brownish skin. He was wearing a simple beige shirt with brown dress pants, an outfit of which slightly insulted Sombra and how much effort he put into his clothing. Anyway, not everyone could have a sense of fashion.

Sombra approached the man, who was sitting in one of the vintage chairs in the middle of the room. He had brought over his own group of protection, consisting of men who shared a similar appearance as him. The man stood up and offered him a handshake.

"Well, if it isn't the fearsome King Sombra!" the man claimed, showing a grin.

"Pay your respects to the King, peasant," one of his soldiers instructed from Sombra's left. Sombra lifted one gloved hand and gave him a sign to make him understand it was alright. Sombra approached the man and shook his hand once.

"Mr. Caballeron, am I right?"

"Dr. Caballeron, but it's alright," the man replied. "I see your mates are pretty picky."

"They're my soldiers, they're loyal to me," Sombra didn't take a seat. "What you call 'picky', I call loyalty."

"Figures," Dr. Caballeron sat down, like inviting him to do the same. Sombra didn't accept the subtle invitation.

"I shall be brief. I'm afraid I have some business I need to deal with and I cannot stay for too long. Please, show it to me."

Caballeron shrugged and stood up. He took a suitcase one of his men carried and placed it in a coffee table separating him from the King. He opened it.

Inside a glass case, a tiny hourglass with a gold string that was meant to use as a wrist ornament sat. It was one beautiful piece, ornamented with gold and precious gems. Caballeron slid it closer to Sombra.

"I don't quite understand what the big fuss is about this tiny hourglass."

Sombra had to hold back a smirk. You have no idea the power you've been carrying in this tiny hourglass, fool.

"That's not of your interest," Sombra pompously claimed. One of his soldiers walked over to the table and tried to catch the glass case, but Caballeron closed the suitcase before he could.

"Not so fast, my friend. Where's my part?" Caballeron wondered. Sombra held back a sigh of frustration. This man was really beginning to make him lose his patience.

"Were you expecting me to walk into a place occupied by hundreds of people with a dozen arms? One of my men is waiting for you outside in a truck that will follow you to wherever you desire."

Caballeron made a face of dissatisfaction. "What assures me you're not lying to me?"

"Are you insulting the King, fool?" the soldier growled again. Sombra made him calm down once again.

"As I've said a million times before, I am a man of my word. I can accompany you to the truck so you can rest assured."

Caballeron was reluctant, eyeing him suspiciously. Sombra just held his gaze with his own inexpressive gaze, trying his very best to not let any of the irritation he was feeling show. After a few minutes like this, Caballeron retired his hand from the suitcase.

"Alright. Take it."

He tried not to show his eagerness to get the suitcase. His soldier waited for Caballeron to open it right back and take the glass case, giving it to the King with a bow of his head. Sombra took the case and examined the hourglass. Perfect.

"It's a deal, Dr. Caballeron. If you could follow me to-"

Sombra got interrupted by a gunshot. He didn't show any reaction to it, merely even a surprised glance at the door. A voice told him not to be surprised. He was expecting them to show up after all! He was glad they did, if not he would've been highly disappointed. They were officially actively chasing his tail.

His soldiers calmly turned around and pointed their guns to the door, waiting. Sombra turned as well, making sure to keep his glass case on his hand. Behind him, Caballeron was beginning to freak out.

"What was that?!"

His question was answered when something hit the wooden door. The white door, beautifully ornamented with flower runes, slightly cracked at the impact of said thing. He heard a thump at the impact on the floor.

He heard steps coming closer to the door. The guns of all soldiers unlocked all at the same time, but Sombra stopped them before they could try anything.

"Allow me to have some fun, alright?" he smirked. The door opened, and Sombra noticed first the soldier he had left stationed outside completely blacked out in front of the door. Then he noticed the pair. A man and a woman. The man was tall and intimidating, with defined features and slightly almond-shaped emerald eyes, while the woman was shorter but built for someone of her height, holding the small gun his soldier had previously carried, her eyes ice-cold. An interesting pair.

The man walked over the man laying on the ground and proceeded to offer his hand for the woman to walk over him. She took it. They walked in together, not intimidated at all by the obvious difference in quantities. Sombra thought it was almost arrogant of them to think they could best more than a dozen armed men. Sombra smirked.

"Foolish children, whatever do you think you're doing?" he wondered, facing the pair.

"Stopping this, of course," the man replied.

"You're not running away a second time," claimed the woman. Sombra raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, so you are one of the girls from that time. Good. I can't quite recall your hair, but you do look familiar up-close."

"Make this easier for us, alright, buddy?" the woman raised the gun. "Give up."

Sombra chuckled. "You honestly think I would?"

She shrugged. "I had to try."

Sombra stepped closer to her. They didn't move from their spots, but he could sense the alert of the man as he got closer to his companion. He took another step, expecting more reaction, but got none this time. He went on: "Little girl, listen closely. You haven't seen the end of me, and most surely you won't see me give up so easily. Let's get that in your brain, alright?"

The woman shrugged. "Very well, as you wish."

Sombra chuckled. "Seems like I'll have to teach you a lesson."

Before his eyes, he witnessed yet again an amazing phenomenon: when his shadows rushed forwards, the woman zipped out of the way, not before grabbing her companion's arm to drag him out of the way. He chuckled. So it was that girl. Why the wig, then? Did the other wear wigs as well? And what about the man? He wasn't with them last time... Well, last time there were seven of them, so maybe they weren't a specific squad.

I've got to think that through with my pillow, later.

The woman halted, closer to the armed men accompanying him, and shoved the gun she had taken from his men outside into the man's chest. He didn't show any effect to the super speed. One of his soldiers fired his gun at her, but in yet another display of amazing speed, she moved out of the way. This time, she stopped in front of his soldier and kicked him in the gut, and he wheezed while bending over to grab his stomach. The man fell to one of his knees with a groan.

A flurry of bullets was fired. Time stopped. In front of his eyes, thanks to his magic, Sombra witnessed how the woman caught every single bullet between her fingers and dropped them on the floor. Her only injury? A slight graze on her thumb that looked like a paper cut.

He had to admit, that was impressive.

The doors burst open. In came three women: one he recognized, the one with the long pink hair, and two he had no idea where they came from. Probably from the same hole than the man. Behind them came a green dog that would be adorable if it weren't from that menacing growl. The group was now of five (he doubted whether to count the dog or not), a much more reasonable quantity against the dozen of men he had with him. A bit of a daredevil quantity, but at least they now had some chance.

Sombra glanced towards the camera, on the corner of the room. He glared when he noticed it was on. With a simple movement of his mind, he rushed forwards a tentacle of magic with crushed it. Caballeron and his men flinched. They had tried to approach the door as cautiously as possible but failed to escape the room. Bits and pieces of the camera flew all across the room, one of them landing straight into the eye of one of his own men.

"My apologies," he muttered, and his man brushed it off with a gesture of his hand.

It was a matter of seconds before the whole room minus the three cowards that were trying to sneak away was engaged in a fight. Gunshots were fired, but miraculously, none was wounded because of them. Other kinds of wounds did rise, like bruises, cuts, scrapes, and concussions, but no bullet wounds. One of his men got a nosebleed after being punched. Sombra watched with a certain alarm that his men were slowly reducing in quantity, and judged this to be a wise moment to retreat. Sombra swatted away the woman with the orange hair with a tentacle of shadows before summoning every bit of shadows in the room.

That was partly the problem with his magic. Although powerful, it had established limits during the day, for he couldn't summon half the shadows he could summon at night. The night was his natural habitat. The day was harder to tame, but he had practiced restlessly to achieve it. He had learned to find the darkness in the most unpredictable places. He had learned to seek the energy from the shadows of insects, as well as some other quite useful abilities his dark magic offered to play with.

His eyes flickered to his right.

The woman with the periwinkle hair was approaching using her superspeed. Time seemed to stop once again. Dark magic was quite useful to combat this kind of unnatural skills. He had to admit, if it weren't because his shadows helped him, he probably wouldn't notice her approaching, even if it only happened for a moment. That was enough. Instead of tackling him as she had likely planned to, she ran into a wall of shadows that imprisoned her, wrapping around her frame and gripping her arms tight to her body almost reaching the ceiling. He guided a tentacle to wrap around her like a cobra.

He heard the gunshot just in time. He barely dodged the bullet that zipped past where his head previously was. He lost his focus on his shadows. The woman, gasping for air, fell. The man dropped the gun he had just fired to catch her. She was standing the next second. He noticed how the trio he had just made business with ran off, but the woman with the white hair quickly gave chase.

Sombra got up and arranged his clothes. "You know what? I've had enough fun for today."

And he disappeared behind a cloud of shadows. Before he vanished away, however, he saw the frustration growing into the pair's eyes.

Author's Note

It's finally here!

I apologize deeply for the long wait. As I've told you on this blog post, I've suffered the loss of my father on the 14th of December. Finding my inspiration and will to write again has been quite a process as you can guess, but here we are!

One more part to go for this arc and we're done. I wanted to end it here but the mission ended up taking longer than I planned, so I cut the last couple of scenes off into the next part, which I guess is going to bit shorter.

I hope you've enjoyed this arc so far! I really want to know what you think about the story so far, so don't be afraid to leave a comment. I love to read your opinions.

Anyway, that'd be all for today!

Until next time!

-Midday Giggle

Teamwork? (Part 4)

Rainbow Dash was miffed. He wasn't an expert on her or anything alike, but he had learned to read people and every single detail in her body language indicated that she was mad. She was trying to hide it, but he was sure she wasn't fooling anyone in the van. If she couldn't hide it from him, much less would she be able to hide it from her friends.

The ride back to the HQ was wordless. He could sense the frustration in every single one of the women in there. He didn't blame them: he was frustrated as well. They had been so close. They had been right in front of him, everyone who was in that room had tried to attack him, but the huge bruise growing on Spitfire's cheek was a proof of how hard it had been to be anywhere near him. The one who had gotten the closest was Rainbow Dash, who had been captured and almost suffocated withing the dark magic of the King Sombra. Maybe he didn't know her too well, but he'd bet his left arm she was pissed because of that. And the fact that it was he who rescued her.

Yup, she must be boiling inside.

When they arrived at the Headquarter, he hadn't heard anything from anyone there. Not even Pinkie Pie dared to say a word, or crack a joke, not even a pun. She knew it wasn't the moment. He wondered if a joke from her (of course, for he wasn't about to say something that could get him in trouble. He learned his lesson) could've released some tension from the air. He decided that he better trusted Pinkie's judgment on the matter.

The sun was beginning to set when they entered the lounge. The gigantic window offered a dazzling view of the Everfree lake bathed in the orange light, shimmering as if the surface was covered by diamonds. It would have been a majestic view if it weren't for the mood in the room. Sunset took Spitfire with her to the infirmary to apply some ice to that bruise. Spike glanced up to Twilight before escaping towards the rooms. Soarin wished he could escape the scene as easily as the dog could, but unluckily, the others had to face the Heads on this... failure.

Soarin sighed, the first sound emitted from the group. Fleetfoot glanced back at him. She was probably thinking about the same things he was thinking about. This meeting with the Heads was sure to be a disappointment for them.

Feeling utterly defeated, Soarin walked behind the Myths. Twilight was on the lead, so she glanced back at her team before pushing the doors of the Conference room open. As expected, Celestia and Luna stood at the end of the room with huge smiles plastered all over their faces, looking restless and like they hadn't been capable of waiting on their chairs. However, their eagerness faded away. It only took them to see the look on the team's faces to know that their mission was far from being a success. Luna dropped her expression and sat down. Celestia sighed, acknowledging the group.

"Report?"

The mood was just as dense when the Myths and the Wonderbolts (Spitfire and Sunset had met them in the Conference room briefly after the meeting begun) left, dividing into three groups: the ones who went directly to their bedrooms, the ones who went to the kitchen to grab a snack, and those who went to the Infirmary to heal any of their minor wounds.

Soarin was part of the second group, along with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. He didn't have any other wounds than a couple of cuts and bruises, and he could tend to those with the first-aid kit he had in his room. He was feeling a bit blue, so he rummaged in the cupboards until he found a pack of cereal bars. He took three with him and left Pinkie and Rarity to their ice cream.

Eager to reach his room to have some rest after the quite eventful day he had had, he rushed upstairs before realizing he didn't know what to do with his outfit. Rarity had given him and Dash wet wipes to erase their make-up and had silently retrieved the wigs, but he was still wearing the shirt and trousers and had no idea what to do with them. Maybe he should head back downstairs and ask Rarity? But she seemed stressed, and he didn't want to interrupt her talk with Pinkie Pie over chocolate ice cream. Maybe he just needed to go to her workshop and change back into the clothes he had worn that morning. Hopefully, they were still there, in the changing room... But then he would be intruding into one of Rarity's personal spaces...

Darn it, I'll just hand them off to her later, he thought to himself. Maybe after a nice warm shower. It's been a hell of a day.

What a day, indeed, had it been. Soarin went back to walking and rushed to enter his room. Inside, the quietness was interrupted only by the occasional sounds coming from the other side of the walls (Spitfire most surely), which he didn't mind much. He just wanted to lay down a bit. Undoing the suffocating buttons of his shirt, he let himself fall into the mattress and absent-mindedly munched the bars as he thought about the events of the day.

Restless. Absolutely restless. Not only because of the mission, but also because of a lot of incidents within the mission itself, and a lot of noise on his head throughout all the day. Confusion. A couple approaching him. Hesitance. A small hand linked to his arm. A dance. A very intimate dance. Embarrassment. A kiss...

Soarin shot upright. The hand that had held the bar, which ended on the blanket, was placed before his eyes. A shower. He needed a cold shower. Maybe that way he could cool off the redness of his face. Yeah, that was bound to make him feel better.

At least this way, he didn't need to think about his absolute failure.

Caballeron pressed his back to the cold brick wall of the alley. His panting was a proof of for how long he had been running. In fact, the sun had set already and the twilight was slowly fading away, getting the sky darker and darker each passing minute. Huffing, he let himself fall to the ground. He knew well that, long ago, he wasn't being chased anymore, but he wasn't willing to risk anything. He had made his way downtown and now he just needed to find a way to go back to his shack. The problem was that he was nowhere near the Everfree Forest. Much less it's outer edges. And his car wasn't a choice, and he had no idea where those fools he called partners were. At least he knew they were not caught and would eventually call him to regroup.

A sigh. He just needed to breathe a bit the cold air of the early night.

A shiver. It wasn't out of the cold. He opened his eyes, startled, and gasped when he noticed a dark mass in front of him. He tried to crawl back, but he was already trapped with the wall behind him. He had nowhere to go. When the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the mass transformed into...

"Sombra?"

Indeed, the man was standing now before him, the last bits of his dark hair transforming from shadows to his body. Caballeron blinked twice to confirm this was real. The man arched an eyebrow at him.

"King Sombra. Takes you longer, but you risk fewer things."

"Right, right, get it. What the hell wasthat? And what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to make you a proposition."

He avoided my first question. What an *ss.

Caballeron smirked. "I'm sorry, I like women."

Sombra glared at him, and that was enough to dissuade Caballeron from making any further jokes. Caballeron raised his hands in a sign of peace, praying the self-proclaimed King wouldn't lash out on him.

"Chill, chill... I just wanted to lighten the mood," Caballeron smiled. "What is it you wanted to say?"

Sombra's cold eyes spoke along with his words. "I want you to work for me. Or rather, with me, if you prefer me to verse it that way."

Caballeron scratched his ear. "What for?"

Sombra dug his hand in the pocket of his coat. When he took it out, he had wrapped his fingers around an object. He showed it to Caballeron. It was the tiny hourglass he had given him.

"Ah, that thing," Caballeron humphed. "By the way, I wasn't paid for that."

"I'm giving it back to you."

Caballeron arched an eyebrow. "No refunds, buddy. I want my weapons. Pow pow, you get it?"

"I assure you this is the only weapon you will be needing."

He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. He finally stood up and pointed at the hourglass.

"That tiny thing?" he snickered. "I'm sorry, but no one could harm anyone with that sh*t."

"Dr. Caballeron, no one has to necessarily be harmed for a weapon to effective," Sombra claimed all seriousness.

"I disagree."

"Just watch for yourself," Sombra claimed. His other hand covered the tiny hourglass. His hand glowed a bright green, and Caballeron jumped back, once again startled at this weird occurrence.

"How-?!"

"Quiet," Sombra's voice boomed in his mind. Caballeron obeyed. The man had closed his eyes and they had purple streaks escaping between his eyelids. His hands continued to glow for a couple of seconds before it all dissipated. He opened his eyes to face Caballeron's shocked expression.

His hands revealed the tiny hourglass.

It was no longer an hourglass. It had been replaced by a modern and elegant wristwatch, black with a leather belt and golden details. The numbers of the clock were made of pure gold.

"What..."

Sombra's stoic expression broke and transformed into one of pride. Slight, but it was there.

"Dr. Caballeron, I present you the Watch of Sloth," his blood eyes shimmered. "Are you interested in it now?"

Celestia sighed when Luna placed her hands on her shoulders. The younger sister looked at her senior with intense worry, rubbing her delicate fingers on her tense shoulders.

"Don't you worry, dear sister. We'll catch him."

Celestia massaged her temples. "Will we really, sister? We brought over three of the best, along with our very best girls, and they couldn't catch him."

Luna lowered her head to look into her sister's eyes. "They will catch him. We're barely starting this war. He has no idea what or who he's going against."

"And we do?" Celestia arched an eyebrow. Luna nodded triumphally.

"Unlike him, we have much more information about his magic and his capacities than he does of ours. Or, well, the girls'. Do you understand, sister? It's only a matter of time before he falls."

Celestia smiled at Luna. "It's usually my job to be positive."

Luna snickered. "You deserve to have some work off your shoulders right now."

Rarity had told him he could keep the clothes she had given him, and even gave him back the jacket and the tie. He had tried to convince her to take them back, but she refused to do so and insisted on him to keep it as a token of their gratitude for his and his partners' help. He soon learned there was no way of refusing a gift from Rarity and excused himself back to his room. Once back into his temporary private place, he let himself fall into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

He woke up at the break of dawn. Feeling much better than the day before, he got up and changed into workout clothes. Clad in cargo pants and a tank top, he took his sports bags and left the bedroom to head to the gym. In the corridor, he saw Applejack, who was just coming out of her room with a backpack.

She saw him as well and smiled at him.

"Hiya, fella! How's it goin'? On your way to the gym?"

Soarin chuckled. "That's right. What about you? Are you leaving?"

"As my brother would say, yup!" Applejack nodded. "I'll be going to my family's farm. That's where I work on the weekdays. You know darn well where am I on the weeknights." she snickered.

"That's true," Soarin chuckled.

"Well, have a good workout. Gotta maintain your muscles, right?"

"Exactly. It takes hard work, after all."

"Well, then, I'll be goin'. See ya later fella."

"See you."

Applejack left and disappeared from his view. He left soon after that as well, going downstairs to the gym. It had probably been the first facility he asked Celestia about when he arrived, and she had gladly indicated him the way there without even questioning. She did already know he was dedicated to his workout. And he had visited it like it was the Wonderbolts'.

After all, one had to work hard to be their best.

He stopped halfway through the corridor when he heard some noises coming from inside a door to his left. He turned to look at it and quickly realized it was a training room Celestia had mentioned, but he hadn't entered before. Curiosity killed the cat and he approached to look through the small window on the door.

He snickered. Talking about being the best.

It was Rainbow Dash. She was battling against a punching bag. Her movements, he quickly realized, were movements of kickboxing, and she seemed to be really into it. She was focused on her movements like she was battling a real opponent instead of a leather bag. Something was mesmerizing about it if he had to admit it. He was realizing that her temper was, in reality, one of her charms.

One of her many charms. Like that perseverance, that wit, that hair and those eyes, and that amazing frame that her crop top and her yoga pants showed off.

He didn't think about it. He just opened the door and walked in. Dash caught the bag when it swung her way before looking back at him, with locks of her colorful hair glued to her cheeks thanks to sweat. She arched an eyebrow when she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Soarin dropped his bag next to hers.

"I was on my way to my morning workout when I heard you. Thought it would be nice to see what you were up to."

"Were you spying me?"

"No."

"Liar."

Soarin laughed. "Alright, maybe I was. Do you kickbox often?"

Dash nodded, approaching him. Soarin felt his heart race up when she appeared in front of him, and she stared at him for a few seconds before bending down to retrieve her bottle water from her bag.

"I do," Dash replied finally, a droplet of water running down her throat. Soarin followed it's trajectory until it wasn't proper to. "It helps me relax after rough days."

"I guess you're talking about yesterday."

"Where's your crystal ball, mate?" Dash blurted. Soarin chuckled and happily noticed she was smirking at him. She placed her bottle back on her bag. Fists pressed to her hips, Dash said: "Alright, pretty boy. Are you up to a duel against me?"

"Pretty boy? I'm having a Deja vú," Soarin claimed. Dash, who was walking towards the mats, glanced over her shoulder to him, the smirk still present.

"I'm not gripping your tank top this time. Not yet," her ponytail danced behind her. Soarin followed.

"What are we doing?"

"MMA, up to it?" Dash stood in the middle of the mat. Soarin took off his shoes and stood a couple of strides in front of her. Soarin stretched to let loose his body.

"Up to it. Rules?"

"No superpowers, no harming the opponent. The first one to effectively restrain the other wins the match."

"Well," Soarin shrugged. "I don't have any superpowers, and I wasn't planning on hurting you, so..."

"Good, then we're ready to go."

The duel began seconds after. Dash was the first one to attack. Soarin dodged a punch to the kidneys and he tried a lock. She escaped rolling and kicked his knee, making him fall to that knee. She got up and tried to restrain him, but he grabbed her arms and threw her over his head. They were back on their feet the next second. Soarin tried to punch her, but she took it into the forearms like a champ and replied with her own punch.

Soarin caught her fist and twisted her arm, not too far in order not to hurt her but enough to incapacitate the arm. He didn't saw it coming. In an amazing display of natural speed, Dash grabbed with her other hand his shirt and pulled him towards her. To throw him to the floor, she kicked his gut and made him fall on his back. Before he could get up, she was sitting on his chest, with a menacing punch ready and her hand pressing her shoulder. Soarin could feel the pressure of her body.

She frowned. "Stop going easy on me. I ain't no sissy."

Soarin chuckled. "What do you mean 'easy'? How could you know that? We've never spared before."

"I saw you fight. You're not giving it your all, I hate it," she glared at him.

Soarin chuckled. "Alright then..."

His knee hit her back, making her lose her breath. Soarin took her arms with both hands and threw her to his left, proceeding to restrain her before she could recover. His legs pressed against hers with ease, effectively keeping them from moving. One of his hands held her wrists above her head and the other kept him in balance, firmly placed to a side of her head.

Soarin smirked down at her. "It seems you're trapped."

Dash cursed. Soarin laughed at her pout, without being able to shake off the feeling that it was incredibly cute. MMA spars usually weren't very long, but it required a lot of quick thinking and reflexes. Seeing her ability, it was obvious he would break a slight sweat. Dash, however, was slightly panting because of her previous exercise. Her hot breath was clashing against his chin.

"Alright, you win," Dash admitted. "You can let me go now."

"Hmm, you know what? Maybe not."

"What?"

"I'd like to ask you something."

Dash's eyebrows shot up, intrigued. "What is it?"

Soarin looked at her, and her expression became even more intrigued when she noticed his serious face. He breathed in, sighed, and said:

"Why did you kiss me?"

Dash was expecting all sorts of things. All sorts of questions. This one? This one definitely wasn't one of those. It caught her off-guard, and she hated being caught off-guard.

"So?"

Dash tried to free her wrists. It was hopeless, his grip was firm like concrete, she couldn't budge them from their positions. Even so, he was being gentle, and his grip wasn't hurting her. Her legs were just as trapped as her arms, and she was in no position to even hit him for he was hovering too far from her. The only possible way out was answering that question.

Soarin arched an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I'm not comfortable on this position, can I sit up?" she was lying. It wasn't that she wasn't comfortable like that, she just wanted to have more time to think her answer without having to look him in the eye. "Please?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. He chuckled. "Only because you asked nicely."

Dash pressed her lips. Indeed, I haven't had a record of being nice to him.

Soarin let her wrists go. He lifted himself and sat on his heels. Dash sat up as well but felt that the weight being applied on her calves had not given in. Soarin still had her legs trapped. Dash glanced up to look him in the eye. She didn't need to utter a word for he already knew what her question was, so he just shrugged and replied:

"You're fast."

Dash decided to take it as a compliment.

Trapped. Like a mouse who fell between the paws of an agile cat.

She sighed, covering her eyes with her hand. She prayed to whoever could hear her that, if that heat on her cheeks was what she thought it was, he couldn't notice it. She prayed it was only due to the exercise. She begged it was that. But she wasn't a fool and knew damn well that was a blush because his question brought back to her mind thoughts she had thought to burry in the deepness of her mind that day.

Because when she observed his smile as he laughed off his own misfortunes, she felt the urge to kiss him. She wondered what that would feel like. Would his lips be as soft as they looked? There was cloth between their bodies when they danced and yet she felt every touch like it was made directly to her skin. It distracted her, but not enough to keep her from noticing that they were being watched by random dudes on the ballroom. And when her mind raced to think the best way to make them look somewhere, she found the reply to her answer. Yes, they were as soft as they looked. On his lips, the flavor of the apple juice lingered and she gladly took in every second of it. Yes, it was way out of duty. Yes, she had purposely made it last longer than it was needed in those circumstances, even if it had only been by a couple of seconds. Even though she had accomplished what she wanted, she knew it wasn't necessary. And when she parted she thought she had left all her confusion in that instant. She refocused on the task at hand and thought everything had died there. The frustration of the failure had contributed to that illusion.

But now... Now she noticed she was wrong. Very, very wrong.

But she had to think carefully her words. She had to see how things would turn out without missing the flow of the conversation.

Her pondering could've lasted half a second or half a life, she wasn't sure. But she lifted her gaze once again, met his eyes, and put on her best poker face.

"Well, we were being watched and we had-"

"Liar," Dash bit her cheek. Now the cards had flipped. Soarin narrowed his eyes for a second. "That's not it."

Dash arched her eyebrows. "Really? What makes you so sure about that?"

"You're blushing."

F*ck!

Soarin tilted his head to the side. "So this is what I think: Yeah, it could be true that you kissed me because you wanted to divert attention from us. Actually, that wouldn't be the first time I've had to go through with that. However, usually, a five-seconds kiss would succeed to accomplish that and let me tell you, that wasn't five seconds. So I think..." he met her eyes again. "That you did that not only because it was what we needed... But because somewhere, anywhere inside yourself... You knew you wanted to do it."

Dash reclined backward. Soarin followed by reclining forwards. She arched one of her eyebrows. "So what if you're right?"

He approached a little more. She didn't recline anymore. A lock of his blue hair which had fallen during one of the struggles in their spar tickled her cheek. Their noses almost touched. Green eyes wandered up and down her face, from her eyes to her lips and back up again. Hesitance.

"Then... Then that would mean there might be a chance you'd want to do that again?"

A little closer. Dash moistened her lips. Soarin observed each movement in detail.

"So what if I do?"

Soarin reclined a little bit more. Almost there, she thought. By now he had placed both hands on the mat, by her sides, and she was holding herself from falling with her wrists. He was still holding her legs down. It was incredible how despite their little session of heavy flirting (she wasn't naive), he still had her trapped. This boy was different from the one she had seen on the first day. Dash deduced he just needed to be around people for a little bit to loosen up and allow himself to be his own self. A dork, somewhat clumsy, a bit timid, a pinch of awkwardness. But he was confident of his abilities and pretty aware of his own faults. He was strong of will, mind, and body. Dedicated to his job. Eager to apologize.

She wondered how long it would take to get to know him for real. Days? Weeks? Years? She would have to ask Spitfire and Fleetfoot that.

A space of silence. He was hesitating. Dash considered it would be a shame to make all his efforts go to waste.

So she took the initiative, closed her eyes, and kissed him. Shortly. Softly. A single time.

Soarin seemed to melt. Without a previous warning, he leaned forward and kissed her back. Dash did not waste a single second before returning it.

This one wasn't out of duty. Okay, maybe it was, but not in the same way than the one in the Pyrite Gala. This time, they weren't pretending to be a happy marriage, nor were they dancing the tango to hide from their enemies. They were themselves. On this kiss, they were Rainbow Dash and Soarin, a simple woman and man, an ATIDA agent and a Wonderbolt, reunited in the HQ by this mission. They weren't wearing uncomfortable clothing, but workout outfits. They were in their zone, in an area they felt comfortable and familiar with. They were sharing something that was part of both of their lives.

That made this kiss way better than the last one.

Dash had her arms wrapped around Soarin, clinging to him not to fall on her back, when they parted, slightly hazed. Her heart beating furiously under the exposed skin of her chest. Dash felt Soarin's chest muscles shifting to support himself with a single arm while the other raised to part some hair that was stuck to her slightly sweaty skin. Dash followed with her gaze the movement of his long fingers.

He opened his mouth to say something but was cut short. Some cleared their throats. It was neither of them, which surprised both. They turned at once to the door.

Spitfire was standing there, fists on her hips, a sassy smirk on her face. She faked to be considering something:

"Well then, I guess we can postpone our leave to tomorrow early. Fleetfoot was eager to eat that Korean barbeque..." Spitfire turned right around. "Don't mind me! Do go on! I'm just gonna tell Fleetfoot we are staying the night after all!"

"Wait! Spitfire!"

She escaped in a cloud of laughter. Soarin had lifted one arm and reached out to her. However, since Dash was still clinging to him, her weight plus him not being properly balanced on his other arm made them fall back into the mat with a grunt. Dash found herself stuck under Soarin's chest, her face buried into his neck. Dash yelped and pressed her hands to Soarin's side to try and move him, but in the end, she had to wait for him to get off her because she couldn't even budge him.

Finally did Soarin moved from above her and sat on the mat by her side, his face bright red. Dash sat up, her legs finally freed, and turned at Soarin. She burst out laughing at the defeated look on the man's face.

"Buddy, calm down! It's not like you were caught committing a crime."

Soarin hid his blushing face behind his hands. "I'm never gonna hear the end of it..."

Dash's crystalline laughter made Soarin free his face. She was laughing soundly and he couldn't help but join in. They gasped for air in between laughs, not sure what got them in that state, but Soarin finally sighed and began the motions to stand up.

"Oh, Fleetfoot's gonna mess with me forever," he offered her his hand. She accepted the help, for once since he remembered.

"Would that be a problem for you?" she asked, looking at him with a smug expression. She hadn't released his hand.

Soarin smiled. "Maybe not. I don't think so. Would that bother you?"

"What would bother me?"

"I don't know... This? We didn't start off with the right foot."

Dash feigned ignorance. "Oh, really? I think I forgot, I can't recall," Soarin snorted. She smirked. "As to answer your question... I'd have to see how it goes first. Then I can tell you if it bothers me. Would you fancy some breakfast? I know this place where they serve a really good breakfast... And no spicy food! Promise!"

Soarin laughed, feeling the embarrassment creep inside of him when recalling that shameful moment. "Since you put it that way... Alright! Just let me go get a quick shower and a new set of clothes."

"Same thing. Meet you in the lounge?"

Soarin stared at her. She was smiling at him. At him. That smile was exclusively dedicated to him, and it was a smile that would enchant any man. He smiled right back.

"Sure thing. See you there."

She was the first one to leave the room, her colorful ponytail following her in flashes of a real rainbow. However, if he had to describe her, he would rather use a storm. She was as lively, loud and electric as one...

And he loved it.

Spitfire felt in a good mood. Maybe it wasn't the best moment to feel joyous about something quite silly compared to their current problems, but that was also the reason it was the best time to feel joyous about something silly. They had a handful of problems. And the main one was this annoying King Sombra. She had only begun her pursuit of him with her team, but she was already annoyed as heck of the pseudo monarch. You big-

She breathed in and recovered her smile. After all, it wasn't every day that you caught your best friend making out with the girl he liked. Alright, he hadn't admitted to her face that he liked her, but she had known Soarin practically since they were in diapers, and she knew all of his mannerisms and the complex ways he came to terms with his own emotions. In her best opinion, he had probably liked her since they first met, but had been too focused on other problems to deal with it. Now that their part here was partly over, he had time to face his emotions. Easy as pie.

After successfully informing Fleetfoot of her earlier encounter with the pair, she left to meet with Celestia, while Fleetfoot ran off in a giggling mess to find them so she could tease them. Spitfire left the lounge and walked out of the HQ. One of the guards in the parking lot gave her the keys of a car so she could drive herself back to the city.

On the way there, Spitfire observed the city of Canterlot. Such a vibrant, active city, full of stores, cars, and people of all kinds. She had been here a few times before. Her mother had business in the capital quite often, and she would take her daughters on a few of her business trips more than once. In fact, Spitfire herself had lived in Canterlot on her months in the Academy, before moving back again to Cloudsdale to finish her training as a Wonderbolt. Truth be told, she hadn't invested as much time as Fleetfoot on getting to know the city (for she and Soarin often preferred to actually rest on the weekends), but the place felt familiar anyway.

And with just a tiny help from the GPS, she managed to find her way to one of the most prestigious schools in the city: Canterlot High School.

When she crossed the glass doors, she found empty halls in which her steps echoed. Awed at the sight of the polished tiles, the unpolluted paint, and the perfectly clean glass which protected trophies and other kinds of awards. Spitfire halted a second to observe them. Sports, academics, arts, music... this place had won a lot of competitions. Next to each prize, there was a picture of the students who won it. Not surprisingly, the faces of the Myths appeared constantly.

Spitfire reached Celestia's office just in time. The bell rang right before she knocked and the students packed the halls as she went in to meet Celestia, who was sitting behind her desk calmly filling out some sheets. Spitfire sat in front of her.

"You've got quite the successful school here, Ma'am" Spitfire praised. Celestia smiled, setting aside her paperwork.

"Well, education was always one of my passions. Plus I needed a plan for when it would be time to retire from ATIDA."

At this statement, Spitfire stared at her. The woman was older than her, that was for sure. However, her exact age and her sister's was a mystery for everyone. She most likely was somewhere in her thirties. How long would she keep running ATIDA? Neither of the sisters showed any apparent sing of aging. Celestia's and Luna's skins were the envy of all women in ATIDA and beyond. But perfect skins aside, Spitfire wondered how much time seeing these women as her superiors she had left...

Celestia did not realize her silence. "Well, Captain, I've got a lot to thank you for. I'm so happy you three could find a spot in your agendas to come and help my girls out."

"As I said before, everything back in Cloudsdale has been alarmingly peaceful. However, seeing what's happening here, I'll guess it won't remain that way for long. I expect to go back home to loads of work for us."

Celestia blinked twice. "You're a workaholic."

Spitfire chuckled. "I know, ma'am."

"Please don't turn Soarin and Fleetfoot into one, I have enough with you."

Spitfire burst out laughing. "I'll try, ma'am!"

Celestia joined into her laughter before speaking again. "All jokes aside, should a problem arise in Cloudsdale, I'm certain the girls will be more than glad to lend a helping hand."

"Thank you, ma'am," Spitfire fell silent again. After a couple of heartbeats, she sighed and raised her head to meet Celestia's gaze. "I'd like to apologize."

Celestia arched an eyebrow. "What for?"

"For not being able to help you catch King Sombra. We failed in the very mission you requested us here and I'm deeply sorry for that. I'm sure I speak for my team as well when I say this."

Celestia sighed and stood up. "You haven't failed me," she smiled at the Captain. "Actually, I realized it was naive of me to assume we could get this done in a single mission. I've been remembered there's still a lot we don't know about Sombra, but that we also know much more than he does about us. And that's good. I'm not disappointed about your work, you three actually were great in there. I'm glad to know your abilities have only increased. I'm sure the girls learned a lot of you three."

There was a space of silence in which Celestia stared into infinity, like recalling some old memory that occurred a lifetime ago. She closed her eyes and smiled. "We're not done yet, we have to go on. If we give up now, then we won't get a thing, and what we've done will be worth nothing."

Spitfire stared at the Head. She seemed really convinced that they would eventually succeed in this. No wonder those girls love to work with her, she's so encouraging. Spitfire smiled. "I guess that's true."

Celestia turned towards her and asked: "When will you three be leaving?"

Spitfire remembered why she was feeling in a good mood. Her smile widened just thinking about it.

"I'm delaying our leave until tomorrow morning. I think there's a couple of things Soarin wants to do here."

Author's Note

Alright! So I had a bit too much fun with this arc :twilightblush: ... Well, you can't blame me, I just couldn't resist it!

Anyway, you have a hunch of what's really happening here in this chapter... Did you catch it? Well, you have until next arc to figure it out!

This arc turned out to be longer than I expected, I legit thought it would be a three-parts arc :twilightsheepish: Oh well, the more the merrier, right?

I'm feeling a little better, as you can guess, and I'm slowly regaining my motivation. Plus, I just got off school and I'm finally on vacation! So I have two and a half months before next school year to write like crazy (I'll be going to the American equivalent of a Junior. Two years left until graduation!)

(Plus, I'm officially sixteen! I turned sixteen on January)

That'd be all, people. Tell me what you're thinking of the story so far, it really helps to my motivation right now :twilightsmile: Next arc is coming along smoothly, hopefully it'll be done in time?

Until next time!
-Midday Giggle

The Amulets (Part 1)

Rarity yelped when one of Pinkie Pie's sprinkle bombs exploded dangerously close to her. Pinkie was sending her controlled, tiny explosion than most likely wouldn't harm her in any way; however, she still felt threatened when one got too close. She was practicing reflexes with her diamond shields (Applejack's suggestion) and though her abilities were improving, she was still missing the occasional object.

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Sorry for that one, I really thought you would catch it!"

Rarity huffed in response. Applejack, who was sitting by the side while sipping water, chuckled and told Pinkie:

"Ah think you should let 'er rest for a while."

"YES! Yes, thank you..."

Pinkie shrugged. "No prob for me! But I warn you, if Rainbow Dash catches you resting, I ain't taking any of the fault! Just because she has a bae now I don't think she'll soften in training."

"She ain't even in the HQ today, so it should be fine."

Rarity fell next to Applejack and mimicked her friend on drinking water. Truth be told, she hadn't dedicated too much time lately to her training. She usually relied on the group training, and the fact that Rainbow Dash was now too busy trying to get Twilight in proper shape was also helpful on her sneaking away. I've got to get back to my old customs...

However, she had been at it for at least two hours by now, and her mind was beginning to feel tired as well of so much magic handling. Rarity took her geode and stored it inside her sports bag, feeling immediately the unlinking of the magic to her body. She still had her magic, sure, but the center of her powers was inside that necklace. Without it, she couldn't transform at her whim and had to find unorthodox, complicated ways to transform. And no diamond shields. Just pony ears.

Without the link to her magic, she felt instantly a weight lifted from her mind. Her brain now feeling like resting for real, she took out her towel and wiped the sweat from her brow. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were engaged in a discussion about Rarity's training to which she wasn't paying too much attention. In fact, she wasn't even in the HQ anymore. Her body was, but in her mind she was wandering the rooms of her boutique, looking through the racks and thinking of the meetings she had to attend later that day. And the fittings of these young girls. And her mind moved forward to the end of the month, and she wondered-

"Pinkie Pie, we're NOT usin' real bullets to train Rarity!"

Rarity flinched. Her hand clenched her water bottle and the cold water jumped out, soaking her already sweaty workout clothes. Rarity tried not to screech at the icy droplets. Applejack and Pinkie stared at her for a good ten seconds as she had just grown a second head. Rarity fanned her wet shirt while dedicating to her friends the most awkward smile in the world.

"My apologies, did you say bullets for training?"

Pinkie huffed: "Pfft, it didn't even need to be real bullets. Rubber bullets would do!"

Rarity let out an awkward laugh. "I don't think that'd be necessary..."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Well, maybe that way you'd be a little more focused!"

Applejack glared at her. "Pinkie..."

Pinkie sighed. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but we're worried. You've been a little out of it lately, and not in a good out of it way! You could get yourself hurt..."

Rarity took in the comment like a lady. She listened, she thought about it, she responded. Yes, that was very true. She had been pretty absent-minded lately on her missions regarding ATIDA. If she had to be honest, ATIDA seemed like a side-job to the boutique, and she hadn't even noticed that it had turned into such a thing. ATIDA was important. She knew that. ATIDA was a huge part of her daily life by now, and she had committed to the cause when she had accepted the job two years ago. However, that eagerness to help, that spirit...

Had faded away. Maybe not completely, but it had.

She was going to missions with all the will to help, but sometimes she found herself in the most unfavorable positions just because her mind had wandered off to other places. And she hadn't admitted that to herself up until now. Was that right? No. And she had to work on that, or else, as Pinkie had said, she could get herself seriously injured one of these days. Or worse, one of her friends.

In the end, hers wasn't the only life that was in the line.

The quietness of the museum was something Cobalt had gotten used to long ago. Canterlot Museum was well-known all over the country because of its wide variety of topics and the relics displayed in there. Being the curator of the museum for eleven years now he had learned to know the place better than himself, and ever since he took the position he would walk around the whole museums and check on all of its exhibits at least twice every day.

When he got that day to the Reinassance Exhibit on his round, he noticed that a class was being led around by a middle-aged woman with pink hair, who excitedly explained to the children with her (who probably were no older than thirteen) about the different paintings and the artifacts she found around. It was not an irregular occurrence. Middle Schools came all the time on school trips. These children were probably studying the Renaissance at school, for he knew as a fact that studying this way made learning way easier. And entertaining.

When he approached the group, the teacher was giving a detailed explanation to the children to some jewelry inside a case that displayed the clothing of people of that time.

"As you can see, wealthy people, especially wealthy women, loved to have their gowns embroidered with gold and silver thread. Clothes shouted about people's status. Another thing people of this time loved was jewelry. And very expensive jewelry."

"Those who could afford it, of course," Cobalt stepped in. More than a dozen pairs of eyes moved from the teacher to the curator, and even the teacher herself was surprised at the intervention of the man. Cobalt went on: "Pearls and sapphires were fan-favorites of the time, but most people could not afford them."

"Curator Cobalt!" the teacher finally remembered his name. "So nice of you to join us today. Guys, say hello to the curator!"

A thousand his and hellos followed. He even caught a 'sup and chuckled at it. One girl on the back of the group asked:

"What is a curator?"

"A curator is like a manager, but they mainly manage cultural things like paintings, sculptures, or historic items," the teacher replied without missing a beat.

"So are you like a guard of culture?" a boy asked. Cobalt laughed and nodded.

"Basically, yes."

"I was explaining to the children about the Renaissance's clothing. Any questions, guys?"

A girl in the front line raised her hand.

"Yes, Ophelia?"

"If people liked fancy things, then what about that ring?" she pointed to the case in which several rings were being exhibited. In fact, there was one ring that was very different from the others, for it, as starters, lacked any kind of precious jewel. It was a simple gold ring. It had some very particular runes, but that was about it. Cobalt made a gesture to the teacher and decided to reply to the question himself.

"You see, Ophelia, this might seem like a normal ring, but it's actually a very newer addition to our museum. We are still working on its individual display, but let me tell you all a little story. People of the Renaissance believed this to be a magic ring. They said people who wore it would become smarter and stronger, allowing them to learn several languages and defeat any enemy they came across. It was said to belong to a very important knight. Sadly, the ring was stolen and was lost track of, but it was finally found recently. And that's how he got here, to Canterlot Museum."

The pre-teenagers awed at the legend he had told them. That was very true. He had made a deep investigation on the ring upon getting it and had decided to give the ring his own case. People loved a good legend.

Something strange happened.

A green flash.

For a blink, time seemed... to stop. The next moment, he was staring yet again at the children. He tried to brush it off his mind, convincing himself that it was probably his tired mind playing tricks on him.

However, he couldn't help but noticed everyone around him had similar expressions. A bit disorientated, he looked around. Not only the class and him, but everyone in the room seemed to be quite confused. He caught a glimpse of his hand. He had a cut on it which was bleeding slowly. It wasn't anything serious, but it stung. When had he injured himself?

A gasp. Then more than a dozen more gasps. He looked back at the children and the teacher, alarmed. On his spot, he almost fainted at what he saw.

The glass case of the exhibit of clothing was shattered to pieces all over the ground by his and the teacher's feet.

And the jewelry... It was all gone.

Rarity swatted away locks of her wet hair which were sticking to her blouse. During her rigorous training with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, she lost track of time and only realized how late she was for her appointed fittings when she sat down to catch a break. As a result, she showered off the sweat and filthiness as quickly as she could, changed into her other working clothes and rushed off back to the city. She got to the boutique just in time to rush inside and ask Sassy Saddles if her appointment of two o'clock was there already.

"Not yet, Darling, but they should be here anytime now!" Sassy tilted her head to the side. "Whatever happened to you, Darling?"

"Long story," Rarity sighed. "I'm going to finish drying off in my dressing room, alright? Please do warn me when they get here."

"Of course, Miss Rarity."

Rarity disappeared into one of the dressings rooms meant for her emergencies, equipped with a dressing table and everything she would need. In fact, it wouldn't be the first time she had to work on herself in there. ATIDA had effectively put her in tight situations more than once regarding her appearance. Rarity dropped her purse in the table and gasped at her reflection. Her blouse was wet and beginning to become transparent at spots. Thanks to her long hair, most of the back of her blouse was damp, forcing her to rush over to the small closet she had set up there as prevention. Inside she found a couple of shirts, blouses, skirts and a blue dress. Seeing the pitiful state of her clothes, she quickly changed into the blue dress and rushed over to the dressing table to use the hair drier. She had managed to dry off completely and brush her purple locks when Sassy knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Sassy did as told. "Miss Rarity, the Prom Girls have arrived."

Prom Girls was the name they had given to a trio of friends that were about to graduate and had decided to have their dresses custom made by Rarity. The girls were still about three months away from prom, but they had decided to get their dresses before, in their words, "the prizes escalated and you have enough work to make a new collection".

What these girls did not know was that work was already coming in thanks to graduations. And that a lot of people loved late Winter weddings.

"I'll meet them in a minute, please watch over the store for me until I'm done," Rarity claimed, fixing her hair.

"Sure thing, darling," Sassy Saddles disappeared. Rarity went out of her room and walked down the hallway to the fitting room where the girls were waiting. She only had three of those, and Sassy always occupied the same one each time someone came in.

The three girls, all three of them natural beauties, were sitting on the white couch in the side of the room, chatting their mouths off like little birdies. They turned to Rarity when they heard her coming in, surprisingly, over their noise.

"Good afternoon, misses!" Rarity greeted them, sitting on the white chair meant for her.

"Hello!" the three replied with wide smiles.

"We're the biggest fans of your work!" Toola Roola claimed.

"We've followed your work since, like, forever!" Coconut Cream added.

"It's such an honor such a great designer as you would design especially for us," with Aquamarine's statement finished, Rarity giggled.

"Flattery will get you places, girls, listen to my advice," the girls giggled. "Now, I believe you've each got your own ideas of what you want of your dresses. Am I right, Darlings?"

"Yes!"

"Now, which one of you wants to go first?"

Toola Roola jumped on her seat. "Oh, me! So, what I was thinking..."

The longest problem in all of this was probably getting what exactly were the clients expecting. It wouldn't be the first time she had people tell her they wanted something that would make them look flashy but simple. She had learned to find the balance in their contradictory statements. These girls weren't too complicated. They each had pretty good ideas of what they wanted and weren't expecting Rarity to read their minds. They gave their ideas, preferences, and continued. Each accepted Rarity's suggestions with respect, like when she told Coconut Cream that a shorter skirt would do better for her so she would flatter her beautiful legs, or when she told Toola Roola a mermaid dress wouldn't flatter her figure. Aquamarine wanted a dress to match her hair, but Rarity managed to dissuade her from that idea and to rather go with a pastel blue, maybe a cerulean, so her dress and pinkish skin would contrast.

When all the girls were satisfied, Rarity went to the next part: getting their measurements. It was here that the girls went back to what they were previously chirping about, to which Rarity listened to in silence. She actually really liked hearing her costumers talk over the tea and cookies Sassy had left for them, whether it was relevant talks or simply gossiping. She usually only participated if she was invited to, and honestly most of the time she wasn't, but that was alright.

These girls, however, did invite her to participate in the conversation from time to time, asking her opinion about what they were saying. Rarity answered without stopping with her work on the constantly squirming girls. She had finished measuring Toola Roola and was half-way Aquamarine when Coconut Cream said something of real interest for her.

"Hey, did you hear about the theft in the Canterlot Museum?"

Rarity perked up at this. Theft?

Aquamarine looked back at her. "Theft? What theft?"

"I think I saw something on the internet but didn't really pay any attention," Toola Roola said. "It only happened earlier today, in fact."

"My sister was there when it happened, she told me the whole thing," Coconut Cream put her tea on the side table. "She said that they were going through the Renaissance area and that the curator of the museum approached them to talk to them about a jewelry exhibit. Out of the blue, there was like a green flash and, next thing she knew, everything from the exhibit was gone!"

"Just like that?" asked Aquamarine.

"Just like that!" Coconut Cream made an explosion motion with her hands. "Poof! It was all gone! The glass case was broken into pieces and everything. The curator went nuts and was still hyperventilating when the cops got there."

Rarity scribbled down the measures of Aquamarine's waist while thinking about what she had just heard. A theft on the Canterlot Museum in the blink of an eye? How could no one notice the thief or thieves when that happened? How could someone steal from an art exhibit without a whole group of students, a teacher, dozens of people (surely), and the curator?

The reply came to her in a moment of inspiration.

"Magic!" She exclaimed, then covered her mouth after noticing she had said that out loud. The three girls looked at her.

"Magic?" Toola Roola arched an eyebrow. Rarity let out an awkward chuckle.

"I was, um, thinking about your dresses. I thought about how it would feel magical to wear such beautiful gowns to your prom."

The girls smiled and resumed their talk. Nice excuse, Rarity, she congratulated herself, continuing on with her work. She would have to tell the girls that later that night.

Sombra looked up when Caballeron and his men came in. Each one of them pushed loading carts on which they carried big wooden boxes, one each of the men. Sombra got up from his chair and approached the group, who had stopped next to the big marble table he had in the middle of the room.

Caballeron wiped his brow. "Phew! Man, these things are heavy!"

Sombra's left eye twitched. Each time they encountered, Caballeron failed to address him respectfully. His men had loads more of brains than him and called him Sir at least, skeptical of how serious he was about the royal title. Caballeron addressed him as he was a friend. Which he wasn't. Thanks to this, his patience was beginning to grow thin with the man.

"Mister Caballeron, have you achieved your goal?"

Caballeron huffed. "Really, you have to relax a bit, man. Like, buddy, when was the last time you went out to have fun?"

He felt like a vein on his forehead was about to pop off.

"Mister Caballeron, I believe I've made it clear how I desire to be addressed."

Caballeron shrugged. Behind him, his mates were looking uncomfortable at their boss' "I dunno, the whole 'Majesty' thing... It doesn't suit me well. Do you know what century we live o-"

How many times would he have to support his insolence? For how much longer? In a reflection of his frustration, his shadows rushed forwards and wrapped around the man's neck. His men jumped back and put as much distance as they could without leaving the room. Caballeron gasped for air. His hands tried to grab onto something, but his arms passed by the shadows as if they weren't there. His extremities flailed around in desperation.

"Du... De..."

Sombra summoned more shadows and raised to tower even more over Caballeron. "Listen closely, Sir... I won't tolerate your insolence anymore. From now on, you will address me properly, or you'll face the consequences. Have I made myself clear?"

Caballeron nodded as he could.

The shadows released him. Caballeron fell to his knees while grabbing his throat. He shook with coughs and his men, who were all the way against the wall, were indecisive whether to approach or not. Sombra shot a glance at them.

"I hope that was clear for you as well..."

The three men nodded vigorously. Caballeron got up the best he could and held for dear life to the cart he had been pushing. Trying to gather the pieces of his dignity, he cleared his throat and knocked on the wooden boxes.

"We have what you asked for, Your Majesty-ty"

Sombra approached him as Caballeron's henchmen began opening the boxes. "Did you follow my instructions?"

Caballeron coughed. "Y-Yup. I mean, Yes, Sir. We did just like you told us and retrieved everything from that case. I think it was a very well-done job if I do say so myself... Your Majesty."

"Where are the rings?"

Caballeron blinked twice. "Um? Pardon?"

Sombra arched an eyebrow. "The rings. They were in a case. Please tell me you did not forget them."

"Oh! Those rings. They're here... Somewhere. Not quite sure in which one of these boxes though. Sir."

Sombra held back a frustrated sigh. "Please, do find them."

With each passing second, Sombra's anticipation grew. He knew the ring was there. He could sense it. But it took the three men (Caballeron just stood to the side, massaging his sore throat) quite a while to find the infamous box. They had actually followed all his instructions: the gowns and other jewelry had been cautiously folded and arranged inside plastic cases to preserve them, but there was so much clothing and so many pieces of jewelry that they had to use up four big boxes to transport them safely and discreetly.

Finally, the henchman who went by the name of Rogue finally emerged with the box. He gave it to Caballeron, who then gave it to Sombra with a quick bow of his head.

Sombra took the box and opened it. In front of his eyes, a dozen rings glimmered with precious jewels and perfectly polished metals of all shades of beautiful colors. From pearls to diamonds and sapphires, this box alone would make a man rich in an instant. However, it wasn't money that drove him. No. Money was nothing but paper with a predetermined value determined by the governments. No, he was after something much more important than that.

He was after power... and respect.

Out of all the options in there, he took out a single ring: the simplest one of them, the gold was even worn out. However, this little ring had powers beyond the imagination of anyone who had carried it. The legends around this piece of gold were true, but not complete due to time.

He observed the ring and slid it inside his pocket. He gave the box back to Caballeron, who stared at him with the confusion of sweet ignorance.

"Half of all this is for you and your men. Give the rest to my people. I believe this could be of use for us later."

Caballeron's mouth cracked open. "Half of...?"

Sombra shot him a discreetly smug look. "I told you: this business would greatly benefit both of us. Now give your men their payment and rest until I give you further instructions. You've got a great deal of work before you."

Rarity rushed inside the lounge. Almost slamming the door behind her, she asked for anyone who would hear her:

"Darlings! Are you in here?" her voice echoed back at her before hearing a response.

"Conference room!" it was Pinkie.

Rarity smiled and went over to the told room. She was feeling quite excited to tell the girls about what she had discovered that morning. Although it was almost sunset, she knew the event wasn't known for the media yet, for she had checked on her free moments the day's premises on her tablet and nothing about the robbery in Canterlot Museum popped up. So most likely, no one knew about this incident.

She opened the doors to the Conference room with a smile. "Girls! I've got something that might be of- Oh, hello Captain Armor."

Shining Armor was indeed there. Standing next to the head of the table, where Celestia was on her usual seat. In fact, they weren't the only ones there. All of the Myths were present, all but Rarity. Luna was there was well. The group was seated around the table, save from Shining Armor, who was showing Celestia something on a paper she had between her hands. Rarity stood there, surprised at the presence of everyone in the room.

Sunset sighed and stood up. "Rarity... Where were you?"

Rarity glanced back and then to Sunset, having this terrible feeling of being scolded. "I was... working, darling."

"Working," Dash repeated. Her tone was one of slight frustration. Her hands were crossed in front of her face, pressing her lips. "And you didn't even pick up a single one of our calls?"

"Or messages," added Applejack.

"We were so worried," Fluttershy claimed. "So we called Sassy and she told us you were out of the boutique."

"Something like an interview or something," Pinkie arched an eyebrow.

"I don't get it," Rarity took her phone out of her purse. "I didn't get- Oh, look at all those calls..."

"And messages," Applejack repeated her previous statement.

Indeed, she had a lot of missed calls and unread messages all of them being of her friends. Each one of them had tried to call her from their individual phones. When she opened the group chat, she found a lot of messages talking about an urgent meeting in the Headquarters. Shining Armor was mentioned a couple of times, and everyone asked the same question at least once:

'Where is Rarity?'

Only then Rarity remembered she had silenced her phone before her fittings with the Prom Girls and had been so busy afterward that she had forgotten to... well, un-silence it. Utterly ashamed, Rarity lowered her phone and met the eyes of her friends in there. No one added another word, and the air was packed of awkward silence until Celestia spoke:

"Rarity, please have a seat."

Rarity gave a quick nod and rushed to her seat. Her chair neighbors glanced at her briefly, but soon after Celestia regained the attention of the room.

"So tell us, Rarity, what was that that you had to share?"

"Oh!" Rarity remembered the reason for her eagerness to get to the HQ. She began explaining: "Today I had a fitting with these girls... They were talking about something strange that happened earlier today. It was a-"

"Theft in the Canterlot Museum?" Dash interrupted her. Rarity bit her tongue.

"Yes... Yes, that's right. I... Thought since there haven't been any reports about it yet..."

"That's exactly why Captain Armor is here," Luna claimed, pointing to Shining Armor, who had remained speechless during the whole exchange. "In fact, it was the Canterlot's Police Department doing for this not to go public. Considering the weird circumstances of the burglary, the case has been assigned to ATIDA. And since it seems this involves some kind of dark magic, we have assigned it to you, Myths."

"Captain Armor brought in this security footage from the burglary. Watch closely, Rarity," Celestia played a video from her laptop, and it reproduced on the big screen.

Rarity did as ordered. The video was from one of the cameras on the Renaissance exhibit. Specifically, the clothing exhibit. Rarity had visited that exhibit many times before when studying Fashion History. A group of Middle Schoolers was standing in front of it, and a teacher was talking to them. A man approached the group, and soon after she recognized Curator Cobalt. She had designed a couple of times for his wife. The curator told the schoolers something, and then the video froze. Or at least that was what it seemed like. Celestia fast-forwarded the footage a couple of minutes, and then a group of four men entered the scene. One of them had a laptop, and after they exchanged some words, a second one took a huge mallet out of a bag he had. The other three stepped back and the man with the mallet shattered the case in a single stroke. Rarity gasped when pieces of glass flew everywhere, but thankfully, the children were far enough not to be harmed. However, the teacher and the curator did get a few of the pieces cut them. The video went on as the men robbed the place, taking out of the mannequins the expensive dresses and store the jewelry in huge wooden boxes. The men carted away and the cameras followed them to a back door. They loaded the boxes inside a van and drove away.

About an hour after everything froze, the world resumed moving. Everyone had perplexed expressions and then turned to horror and panic when they noticed the empty case.

The recording ended there. Rarity turned back to Celestia, but it was Shining Armor who spoke this time.

"We have interrogated the teacher and the curator. They both said they did not see those men at any time. The curator had only stepped into the room minutes before the burglary. They both described the situation the same: a green flash, and in a blink, everything had disappeared and the case was shattered. We didn't interrogate the children, you know that's complicated without a permit from the tutors, but we managed to keep the incident under wraps in the time being," Shining handed Rarity a file she eyed attentively. "At the police department, we were hoping you all would take the case. When it comes to robberies and trespassing we can handle it perfectly on our own. However, I'm afraid we're not capacitated to deal with magical issues. That's your field."

"And we thank you greatly for your trust in us," Celestia smiled. "Is there anything else you would like to share?"

"I think I already exposed to you the whole thing. If anything arises along the way be sure I'll inform you myself," without stopping talking or packing his things inside his suitcase, Shining Armor checked the time. "I should get going if I want to make it for dinner. Cadence must be waiting for me already."

"Send our greetings to your wife," Celestia shook Shining's hand, act mirrored by Luna.

"Will do. Goodbye, girls!" Everyone replied. He stopped behind Twilight and kissed his sister's cheek. "Bye Twily."

"Goodbye, Shining."

Moments after the Captain left Celestia stood up and addressed everyone. "Well, I believe that ends our meeting. You are free to leave. Have some rest, girls."

Everyone stood up and left the room. Rarity hesitated before picking her file.

"Rarity," she froze at Celestia's voice. Rarity turned to her boss. Everyone had halted on their way out and glanced back like they had been the ones called by the Head. Celestia didn't meet Rarity's eyes. "Please stay. Luna and I'd like to have a little talk with you."

Rarity swallowed. "Sure... Ma'am..."

The rest of the Myths glanced back and forth before making their way out. Applejack closed the door behind everyone and the room was in the deepest of silences for a few seconds that to Rarity felt like complete lifetimes.

Roots had begun to grow in Rarity's feet when Celestia looked up.

"Rarity, in ATIDA we do not ask our employees to leave behind anything.... As long as it won't interfere with their work here."

That stung Rarity right in the heart. Of course, she knew where this was going. She wasn't naive. And because they were right, she wasn't about to say anything against the scolding she was about to get. She felt like a teenager getting scolded from her parents for taking the car without permission.

"Rarity... I can imagine your answer, but I'll ask anyway: Where were you?"

Rarity stared at her heels.

"I was... working, ma'am," was her reply. Celestia sighed at her declaration.

"I'm worried, Rarity," Celestia claimed. "I think we all are. You've been kind of distracted lately, and you've been in the middle of danger too much. In fact, if we look back to the last couple of missions, you've always been the one who got hurt the most" That was true. "You've been less present during your group training," That was also true. "Your personal sessions of training have practically disappeared, and you've lost a lot of stamina according to Rainbow Dash," Yup, so true.

Rarity lowered her head even more. "I'm deeply sorry. I promise I'll make things right. I promise I'll open up more my schedule for our activities here."

"That's the problem, Rarity," Luna added. "You've been pushing ATIDA to the back and viewing it as a secondary part of your life. We don't want you to be stuck here all the time, but we are worried about your commitment."

"If you need to step back from ATIDA for a while-"

"No!" Rarity stopped Celestia from finishing that statement. "No... Sorry... You know what? You're right, I have been pushing back ATIDA, and I feel terrible for doing that. I know that what we are doing here is important. Too important. But I don't need to step back at all, I swear. I'll make things right. I promise."

Celestia nodded. "I know you will. You can go now. Go have some rest and you can ask the girls around about what happened today. I think it might be important."

Author's Note

This chapter got slightly delayed due to stuff :rainbowlaugh: But it's finally here!

I think I'll stop promising regular updates, it's clear I won't be able to do that for now :twilightsheepish: Until we get there, I'll try to keep up a good pace.

So yeah! I hope you've liked this chapter. I think Rarity's dilemma here has been evident in previous arcs, or so I hope. You can catch glimpses of it here and there. You just need to pay some extra attention.

Until next time!
-Midday Giggle

The Amulets (Part 2)

At the dawn of the day after the theft in the museum, Rarity was already up when the sun began to rise. She had contacted Sassy the night before to inform her that she would be taking the day off. Celestia and Luna had left her with a lot to think about, and she wanted to take the day off to organize her life a bit. Perhaps that was not something she could get done in a single day, but she could at least put some thoughts into perspective.

However, she would organize her life later that day, for she was dedicating the dawn to reading through all the data about the theft she had recollected the day before. She had asked Twilight, who gave it to her without a question. In the meeting the night before she had been the only one who didn't ask her any questions, so she guessed she would be a nice gray area amidst the rest of the Myths. She knew they were upset. They had every right to be, and Rarity wasn't about to neglect them that. For what she had read in the messages, the meeting had been constantly delayed due to her absence, and it cost Shining Armor and the girls lots of useful time in trying to locate her, which explained why they were finishing up as she finally arrived at the Headquarters.

So yeah, she wasn't about to complain for their... anger? Frustration? She wasn't quite sure. All she knew was that they were upset, so Rarity tried not to make the situation worst.

Twilight proved to her that despite that, no one held a grudge against her. She gladly invited Rarity inside her chambers and gave her all she would need to inform herself of what was going on. She gave a brief summary of the meeting and Rarity left. Twilight seemed tired.

Rarity played a copy of the recording she had been given. They had yet to identify whoever was under the masks of the thieves, and quite peculiar masks they were. In the black and white video, the men wore dark masks that covered all of their face and part of the neck, looking a bit like tentacles from Rarity's perspective. She paused the video. Each of the four men had halted at different angles that had allowed Rarity to check out the mask from all the sides. She looked over the shaped. They ended in spirals, looking weirdly disturbing for a reason she couldn't point out.

Hold up.

She leaned closer to her laptop screen. There was something in the back of the head of one of the thieves. It looked like a strap that attached the masks to their heads, but...

There was something in the strap.

She screenshot the panel and zoomed closer to the strap. It was blurry, but little by little, she could make out a word. A single word. And that lone word was enough to send a chill down her spine.

"Umbrum."

King Sombra. He was behind all of this. Of course, he was behind all of this! They knew he wouldn't stay put after they sabotaged his last plan, and he was meant to strike again soon. It had only been but a few weeks. She was surprised he had bitten back so soon. It now occurred to Rarity that the masks looked like shadows.

She checked the time. Almost seven. The girls must all be awake by now. Without wasting a single second, Rarity closed the laptop and ran off her room with the laptop tightly secured under her arm. Once in the hall, she knocked in the closest door she found.

Oops.

It was Rainbow Dash's, who didn't look too pleased with her sudden apparition. Rarity glanced into the room and noticed her laptop was open on her bed, and she seemed to be in the middle of a video call with no other than Soarin. Terrible timing.

"What's wrong, Rares?" Dash asked, sliding to block Rarity's view of her room. Rarity held back a smile.

Focused, Rarity.

"I found something in the video of the theft!"

Dash arched an eyebrow. "This early in the morning? You're still in pajamas,"

Rarity glanced down. She was right. That wasn't really a problem, for the only boy that lived around this area was Spike and, well... She doubted a dog counted. She had gotten straight to work after waking up and hadn't bothered to change into nicer clothes.

"Um, I had a... A lot to catch up to. You know, after my delay yesterday..."

Smooth, Rarity. Real smart of you to mention that once again.

Dash switched the arched eyebrow. "You sure had... Well, tell the other girls. Let's meet in the kitchen and talk about it over breakfast, alright?"

Rarity nodded. "Sure."

"Great. See you in a bit then, I have to finish this up..." and she closed the door with a slightly embarrassed expression Rarity couldn't help but giggle at. It had been weeks since she had started dating the Wonderbolt (well she never claimed they were dating but everyone knew they were) and her friend still was too embarrassed to admit the confident strong Rainbow Dash had a boyfriend. It was in her nature. Rainbow Dash hated being seen as vulnerable, but Rarity still couldn't understand why she thought relationships would make her so.

Shushing her giggles, Rarity rushed over to the next door and told everyone what was going on. Well, everyone but Pinkie Pie, who was already in the kitchen serving breakfast. She had woken up only Fluttershy. All the others were already awake or half-awake and she thanked God it had been sweet Fluttershy the one she startled with the knocking.

After making sure everyone knew, Rarity went back to her bedroom and cleaned herself up, dressed up, and even put on a little makeup. After making sure she looked about as fabulous as always, though in a much more comfortable outfit to get to work, she walked out of her room with all her material balanced atop her laptop. It seemed all the girls had already left. In fact, this thought was quickly confirmed when she met the whole gang in the kitchen, talking over stacks of pancakes Pinkie somehow made land perfectly in their plates directly from the pan. Pinkie was going about her usual cooking business, and Applejack had joined her to slice up fruits for them to eat. Everyone had washed and gotten dressed properly.

Smiling as wide as she could in her still-embarrassed-over-last-night state, Rarity chirped:

"Good morning to all!"

Everyone glanced at her. Pinkie was the first to respond with one of her characteristically wide smiles. "Good morning, Rares!"

"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked. "Excited about what you have to tell us?"

"Well, yes!" Rarity beamed and placed all her stuff next to her stack of pancakes. "I am very proud of my discovery, in fact."

"It oughtta be good to wake us up this early," Rainbow Dash commented, her tone half-joking, half-serious. "If not you'll have the workout of your life."

"Save you threats, Darling!" Rarity giggled. "For I will blow your mind! And you were already awake."

"Rainbow Dash? Awake this early? Willingly?" Applejack snorted while cutting apples into little cubes. "What got you awake so soon?"

"None of your business!" Rainbow Dash shot back, sticking her tongue to the cowgirl.

"Defensive that fast?" Applejack arched an eyebrow. "I'm guessin' Soarin."

"It was definitely Soarin," Sunset smirked.

"Was not!" Dash fought back with a slightly embarrassed blush.

"Oh, it sure was." Twilight chuckled.

"You guys are the worst!"

Fluttershy giggled.

Rarity sat quietly enjoying the argument, deciding not to tease Rainbow Dash anymore claiming she had actually seen him on her laptop screen. Let her have her privacy. Pinkie Pie and Applejack, however, were more than willing to poke fun at their colorful friend, mimicking a couple dancing the tango while Dash yelled at them and the rest of the girls laughed at different levels. It felt nice to share moments like these with them.

"Oh my god, you guys, stop it!" Dash groaned, to which Applejack and Pinkie replied bursting out laughing.

"Why don't we let Dash breathe and have breakfast?" Sunset suggested when Pinkie Pie finished throwing pancakes across the room.

"Yes! Thank you, Sunset."

"We could also listen to what Rarity wanted to share with us while we eat," Fluttershy suggested.

Everyone as down and chose their favorite topping for the pancakes from the bowls in the middle of the table. Rarity had chosen a scoop of blueberries when she noticed the prying eyes staring at her. Everyone was waiting for her to start talking. Rarity cleared her throat before opening her laptop and, god, hopefully, they would find her discovery as relevant a she thought it was.

"I was looking through the recording of the theft. At first, I did not find anything out of place, but when I was looking at the masks they wore... Look at that," she turned the laptop to her friend so they could see the image she had. The picture was a little blurry, but one could still make out the word. Everyone squinted at the screen to make out what was written there, but Fluttershy, sitting the closest to her, was the first one to decipher it with a shiver.

"Umbrum!" she yelped.

"King Sombra!" Sunset said, bringing her hands to her eyes in frustration. "Of course! How did we not see this coming? We knew he would strike sooner or later."

"The real question is: What's he looking for?" Pinkie wondered, tapping a finger to her chin. "Why make such a display of magic only for some jewelry? Expensive jewelry, sure, but..."

"He was making a deal of a butt-ton of guns all for a tiny wrist hourglass," Dash mumbled. "If he was doing that, that hourglass must've been important."

"Maybe the same thing applies here," Twilight suggested. "Maybe he was only looking for one object. By stealing the whole exhibit-"

"He makes it harder to figure out what exactly he was lookin' for!"

Twilight nodded at Applejack. "Exactly."

"We'd need to get a full list of the stolen objects," Rarity suggested. "We won't get straight up the answer, but we could cross out any wrong options with a little research."

Dash groaned. "I already smell the paperwork coming."

"I wouldn't mind the research," Twilight happily stated. Pinkie rolled her eyes with a chuckle, her cheek resting on her hand.

"Of course you wouldn't."

"But how do we get the list of the stolen objects?" Fluttershy wondered.

"Easy: Twi can ask her big brother to give it to her," Applejack stated, but Twilight shook her head.

"I'm afraid I already asked Shining Armor. He doesn't have it. The museum staff was going to work on it and give it to the CPD today."

"It's barely eight in the morning," Sunset claimed, glancing at her wristwatch. "The museum is not open to the public yet."

Rarity pondered for a while. They had a lead on the situation. The more time they allowed to pass by the lesser chances they had to find Sombra with whatever it was he was looking for. They didn't know what exactly he was after, and there was no easy way for them to get that list anytime soon, for if not even the Curator had that list ready, then-

Rarity perked up. Maybe Shining Armor didn't have the list yet, but...

"I know Curator Cobalt!" she yelled, breaking the girls from their debate over how to proceed. Pinkie stopped mid-chew to look at her along with the other girls. Rarity blushed at her outburst but continued. "I know Curator Cobalt," she repeated, calmer. "I have designed for him and his wife for quite a handful of occasions. Maybe I could go to him and see what I can get from him."

"That's genius!" Fluttershy squeaked.

"It is!" Sunset approved.

"I'll go to his office as soon as I can, I'm sure he'll have me."

"Yeah, but first maybe you should think of finishing those pancakes before they get cold," Pinkie pointed her fork at her stack of Pancakes. Rarity laughed.

The team was back on track.

"Cobalt! I heard about what happened," Rarity entered the office of the middle-aged man with a warm, sympathetic smile. "I brought my favorite mint tea and some biscuits. Do tell me all about it, Darling."

Cobalt seemed puzzled. "Miss Rarity, it always is a pleasure to have you." He stood up to receive the kisses on his cheek. "But how did you found out about it? I thought it wouldn't be of public knowledge to at least that's what the Captain of the CPD told me."

Without missing a beat, Rarity took a seat in front of Cobalt. "I've got my connections, Darling. Connections are everything. I just so happen to know the Captain and I'm pretty close with his younger sister."

"It really is like you knew the whole city, dear," Cobalt smiled at her. Pouring the hot tea on her little plastic cups, meant for travel Rarity smirked at Cobalt.

"I know more than what it seems, Darling," Rarity offered him a cup which he gladly accepted.

"Thanks. And I believe you."

Rarity glanced at his hand. His palm was wrapped in a white bandage tied at his wrist, partly concealed by the sleeves of his jacket. She politely pointed it out.

"Were you harmed? Were they violent?" Rarity asked in a worried tone, already knowing the answers to those questions but trying to see how much he would let slip. Cobalt glanced at his hand and flexed his fingers.

"No, they weren't. In fact, it is quite a weird story. See, I was..."

Rarity listened closely to Cobalt's story trying to pick up any details they didn't know yet, but for the time being, their conversation was but a retelling of what she knew already. She put real effort into trying to calm Cobalt's nerves: he loved the museum and the situation had him close to collapsing. However, the tea was already over but she had yet to learn anything actually useful for the case other than the name of the middle school.

"Whatever could be on interest for them in there, after all?" Rarity tried, pushing the subtlety line a little.

"You mean besides the incredibly costly jewelry and Reinassance suits?" Cobalt arched an eyebrow.

Rarity made a gesture with her hands. "I mean, it's clear they did something to confuse you, didn't they? I mean, they must have drugged you or something. Maybe they were interested in something in particular of the whole set?"

Cobalt seemed to think it through. "Something more interesting, hmm..." Cobalt made a perplexed face. "No, it couldn't be... Could it?"

"What's up, Darling?" Rarity asked, eager to hear whatever he had recalled.

"There was this piece... This ring. It was a ring from a legend... The Mighty Knight. Told the story of a knight who had a magic ring that made him faster, braver, and stronger. He was invincible and a loyal man to the King. He accomplished many incredible feats," Cobalt had printed a sheet for her which he had given her. Eagerly, Rarity read it. It was the story, much more detailed, Cobalt was telling her. "However, his ring got stolen an eventually lost from history. It's a child's tale though... Who would believe such things as magical rings?"

More people than you think, dear Cobalt.

This must have been it. King Sombra must've known about this legend and believed what it said, and honestly, after all the things she had seen in her life, she believed it as well. Maybe that was what attracted the leader of the Umbrums. What led him to steal the whole display so a single ring would go unnoticed by anyone.

"It may be a child's tale, Cobalt," Rarity said. "But I do think you should tell the police. Who knows, maybe they can track down this folklore enthusiast."

Cobalt nodded. "I'll do that."

Rarity showed him the paper. "Can I keep this? The story seems captivating."

"Of course, Rarity, you can keep it. I think I'll call the detective now..."

"Then that's my cue to leave," Rarity smiled at him, standing up. "I'm glad we could spend some time. You should come over to my place with your wife, so we can mingle a little more. I'd love to see her again."

"That sounds delightful, Rarity," Cobalt smiled. "I'll see you soon."

When Rarity left the office she walked out of the hall and into the corridor of the administration area of the museum, making sure she was on her own, she sent a voice note to her friends.

"Girls, I think I found it. I'll be right back. Wait for me at the Headquarters."

"You're from ATIDA, aren't you?"

Rarity almost screamed. She looked in the direction of the voice a hand placed over her mouth with the other still holding her phone. Behind her, a woman that looked a couple years older than her stood in cargo pants and a dirty-green colored shirt. Under her adventurer hat flowed a long, messy hair going from black to light grey. Rarity thought she knew her from somewhere but wasn't completely sure. For now, she wanted to play it off. Had this woman really mentioned ATIDA?

"I'm sorry, ma'am, whatever are you talking about?"

The woman chuckled. "There is no need for you to play the fool, Rarity. I know well who you are. Or shall I say what you are?"

Rarity shivered, unexpectedly uncomfortable at the presence of this woman. She seemed like an archeologist of some kind. Her outfit was a little cliché, but at least it seemed to transmit just the right message to the viewer. Rarity couldn't help but wondering that was intentional or not.

But... What was she even thinking about? This woman seemed to know her and her secrets, which was much more worrying if her outfit was or wasn't cliché. Get your priorities straight Rarity.

Cautious, Rarity took a step back trying to get her phone back into her purse as quickly as possible without it looking like she was getting ready to run away. She was skilled enough to run in heels. But in those boots, this woman could probably catch up with her in mere seconds. Her powers were out of the question and of course, she didn't want to make a scene. All her pondering came to an abrupt halt when the woman laughed, sincere, sounding actually amused at her tension.

"Relax, miss. Your secret is safe with me," She pointed to a door just behind Rarity. "If you follow me, I think I could have some information that might help you."

Rarity doubted. She seemed sincere enough, but Rarity knew better than to trust just like that anyone. She was a woman. However, she couldn't erase the feeling that she had already seen her face, but her memories refused to reveal the secret behind her identity, putting her in a more vulnerable position when this woman seemed to know about her. Still, too curious to what this woman was referring to when she mentioned information. She just had to be extra cautious. If anything weird happened, she was confident enough to confront her and run to safety.

"Alright..." Rarity replied. The woman smiled, looking genuinely amused at her discomfort, and walked past Rarity, opening the door and walking inside before she had the chance to utter another word. Rarity followed suit.

The office had bookshelves along two parallel walls, filled to the brim with thick books. The desk, which looked more like a table than a desk, was sitting in the middle with a stack of equally thick books, sepia parchments, and all kinds of interesting trinkets lying around a laptop. Behind the desk, the windows were covered by heavy curtains matching the earthy colors of the rest of the room, curtains that allowed little light inside. It seemed to add up to the old-fashioned charm of the place.

Rarity ran a finger over a standing globe, caressing Asia where there were multiple marks over the pristine golden surface. This confirmed her suspicions. The woman was most likely an archeologist or a professional of a similar area, for it seemed she traveled a lot. In fact, those little marks were all over the globe, like signaling the places she had visited. Rarity glanced up at the woman, and only then noticed her hat had a lot of holes in one side.

The woman met her eyes. "Why don't you come closer?" she was looking through the stack of books. "I believe you are familiar with The Mighty Knight already..."

"Were you listening to my conversation with Curator Cobalt?" Rarity approached as told, distracting herself by examining the gadgets all over the desk. "It's not very polite to spy."

"I wasn't spying, I just happened to be in the right place- Ah! here it is," she took a book from the stack, and Rarity flinched when the books threatened to fall off. The woman caught them just in time before they fell on Rarity with a funny, apologetic look. "Oops. Anyway, you've got a good lead with that child tale, but I have something better that will save you a lot of time. Here, look at the cover."

Rarity obeyed, curious about the book the woman held for her to see. The scripture was not one she understood, it appeared to be written in old English in a complicated gothic-like calligraphy, but just bellow the foreign title there were seven smaller drawings of different objects: a bow, a locket, a pair of spectacles, a flask, a sac, an hourglass, and a ring. Rarity blinked and looked over the last two again. They seemed oddly familiar. What was this about? Rarity raised her head, meeting the patiently waiting woman's eyes.

"What is this?"

"The Amulets' Book," she replied, opening it and searching through the pages for something in particular. "I found it a while back among the remains of a destroyed library dating over four centuries back. It's a study of seven objects people called The Amulets, hence the name," She finally seemed to find what she was looking for and showed it to Rarity. It was a page-sized drawing of the same objects in the cover but they looked much more detailed. Rarity identified the ring. The woman pointed at each one. "The Bow of Wrath, the Locket of Lust, the Spectacles of Envy, the Flask of Gluttony, the Sac of Greed, the Hourglass of Sloth, and the one I think you're currently familiar with... The Ring of Pride."

"The deadly sins?"

"Named after them for the powers these magical objects give the bearer," the woman allowed Rarity, now sitting in a chair in front of the desk, to take the book and look closely at the image. "Their origin is unknown, but the date back to hundreds of hundreds of years. Take the Ring of Pride for example. It enhances the bearer's memory, strength, flexibility, and resilience, as well as their confidence. This allows faster learning of knowledge and skills. It is this same ring the one that appears in the legend you have in your purse, the one that turned the knight into what he was. As the legend says, the ring was lost and we lost its trace until I found it."

"You found it?" Rarity asked. "Are you an Archeologist?"

"I am," she smiled, her chin resting in the back of her hands. "Though people rather call me a Treasure Hunter in my books. Of course, most people see me as well as fiction."

That was the comment that finally tied things together in Rarity's mind.

"Daring Do! You're Daring Do, aren't you?" It had been a long time since she had seen any copy of the books or the movies. Twilight and Rainbow usually kept it between themselves, for they didn't want to bother the ones who weren't interested.

The woman, Daring Do, nodded. "My real name is Yearling, but yeah, I am. And just like you, Rarity... I work for ATIDA."

Rarity was surprised. No one had told hear about that. Did the other girls know? Did Dash and Twilight know? If she knew, Rainbow Dash must've gone crazy knowing the adventures of her favorite book series were real. Were they? She had too many questions that would be left unanswered because there was one that actually (kinda) related to the situation Rarity had to ask:

"Are you an agent as well?"

"No, I'm not," Daring Do (A. K. Yearling? She wasn't sure which one was correct) shook her head. "I'm an outside worker for the research and investigation department. Do you think all those magical runes and cool artifacts just happen to appear within ATIDA's reach? With my abilities as Archeologist and my pseudonym of Daring Do, I investigate everything ATIDA ever needs to know and bring in the information to the Department. All of this while still maintaining a normal life as your average novelist," she smiled, apparently proud of her speech. Rarity was speechless. She really had to ask the others about this and if they didn't know then inform them of everything. However, for now, there were more pressing matters.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, two of my friends and squadmates are fan of your works," Yearling smiled fondly, pleased at this comment. "You were talking about seven amulets... Perhaps do you have any idea where the others might be?"

"All of them, no, I don't know," She started flipping through the book again. "They all disappeared at different periods, either after being stolen, lost, or their bearer banished under suspicious circumstances. This book has a magnific recount of every apparition of each Amulet all over history. A passionate work. Ah!" she finally found what she had been looking for and showed Rarity the page. It was the hourglass, awfully familiar for Rarity now that she saw a bigger, more detailed picture. She had seen the hourglass. The recordings of the cameras at the Pyrite Gala had been deleted before Twilight could recover much, but they did get a clear shot of the object King Sombra was making a deal for. It was that hourglass. "I believe you've seen this before..."

Rarity lifted her gaze to meet Yearling's. "The Pyrite Gala. King Sombra left with it and we couldn't retrieve it. Are you telling me King Sombra has the Hourglass of... Sloth?"

"Not him, but someone who works for him," she nodded. "Hear this:" she began reciting struggling to verse the words in the paper. "The Hourglass of Sloth dates back to the 9th century, and first belonged to a baker in a small town in a far corner in Ireland. The Hourglass of Sloth allowed it's bearer to freeze time for a whole hour, thus allowing the bearer to ensure the unfulfillment duties or fulfill them seemingly faster. An incredibly useful tool for later bearers like thieves, and overall criminals. Usually, they froze the world for an hour, without people noticing."

"Was the whole world frozen?"

"It's not specified, really, but don't you think this modus operandi sounds awfully familiar?" Yearling arched an eyebrow.

Rarity nodded. "The theft at the bank. They froze the place for a whole hour and left without a trace."

"And even better, without unnecessary harm to bystanders."

"They risked over a dozen little children when they shattered the case and didn't seem to care," Rarity grumbled.

"The thing is they avoided any other unnecessary damage and confrontation, which makes for an effective method," Yearling leaned back. "Believe me, I would kill to have no confrontation on my adventures."

"Do you happen to cross a lot of trouble?"

"Let's say wild cats are the least of my problems."

"Of course..." Rarity kept scanning the book. "Does it say anything about who gets frozen? The four men were totally capable of moving about, and I doubt all of them could've held the Hourglass at the time."

"It does, in fact," Yearling looked over another page. "it is absurdly wordy, but it says that the Hourglass ONLY spares the bearer. However, as stated by later owners, if a person was touching the bearer at the time of the time-freeze, neither of them got frozen. So, as long as you're touching the bearer, you should be spared."

As long as you're touching the bearer, you should be spared.

"The hardest part of this whole business, however," Yearling sighed. "Is that these Amulets can be inflicted with magic and change shape. These are only their original forms. The last register of the Bow of Wrath says that it was actually a crossbow. The bearer can select a shape for the Amulet with just a little trick of magic, and so, these Amulets could easily be lost track of," she absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of the ancient book. "Somewhere here it says that if the Amulet wasn't used after a long period of time it regained its original form, but I couldn't be able to tell you what shape they've adopted now."

"Oh, do not worry, dear. This information is more than helpful. It's a true blessing."

It was. Meeting Daring Do in the flesh had been quite an interesting encounter to have, but it meant her investigation had progressed at a rate she hadn't thought it will, and so the encounter was not unappreciated at all. If anything, Rarity was glad she had encountered the novelist. Adventurer. Archeologist. Rarity wasn't sure which was the correct term to refer to the woman and she still doubted whether to address her Yearling or as Daring Do. If anything, both names surely were part of her. Just like with Rarity herself. She was Rarity and Erato, a fashion designer and a Myth agent; a regular citizen but a heroine at the same time.

She sighed.

What a shame she had forgotten that for a moment.

Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted. If anything, Rarity knew she had caught her friend by surprise this time as she stared at her, eyes wide as saucers, and jaw hanging enough to let into her mouth a tennis ball.

"Are you f*cking kidding me."

Twilight glared disapprovingly at her crude selection of words but decided against pointing it out, shocked herself. It isn't every day you find out your fictional hero is not really that fictional, nor that the author of your favorite book saga is in fact said hero, neither that said author-hero works in the same place you do. Quite a shocker, dare she say.

"I am not," said Rarity, from her seat. "I saw her with my very eyes and she confirmed it. A.K Yearling is Daring Do and she works for ATIDA."

"It is great and all, but can we focus on the actually important part of this whole business?" Sunset pleads from her seat. "I have class in like two hours."

"I am offended, this is important," Rainbow Dash huffed. "Do you know how long I've been a fan of Daring Do?"

Applejack jabbed Dash in the gut with just enough force to try and knock some sense on her. Dash huffed.

"Oh, alright, sure I GET your point Sunset," Dash rolled her eyes and focused back on her job. "You've found the lead about the robbery?"

"Hourglass of Sloth..." Fluttershy muttered. "Now that's something you don't hear every day."

"As if we didn't have enough magic trinkets to worry about already," Applejack grumbled, taking a look at the images Rarity was displaying on the screen from her laptop. Yearling had given her a virtual copy of the Amulets book's passages. "Now we have seven more we don't even know where to find."

"And they took the Ring of Pride as well," Sunset sighed. "This only seems to get more complicated with each passing second."

"But it is a good enough place to start, don't you think, darlings?" Rarity said in hopes of bringing up the mood. They were being quite gloomy, had something happened while she was out? "Is something the matter? I thought you'd be more excited."

"It is great news, Rarity," Twilight replied, trying her best to put on a smile. "We've all just had restless days. We're just tired."

Oh, of course. Now she remembered that just before leaving she had seen Rainbow Dash and Twilight heading for some extra training. She took a quick detour from her explanation to ask her friends what had happened. Applejack had had an argument with Granny Smith over something regarding the farm, Sunset had spent her whole day bent over a desk trying to finish all her delayed schoolwork, and Fluttershy had to leave work early which earnt her a scolding from her boss. As for Pinkie, who had been suspiciously quiet the whole time, she was staring intensively at her laptop screen playing over and over again the video of the robbery. She had yet to comment on anything.

Rarity felt a lump on her throat.

Her friends were all just as busy as she was, trying to balance their normal lives with their job at ATIDA, and after so long, it could really put a tool on people. And yet, Rarity had failed to realize this. And had even gone to the extent of shielding behind her career. Way to go, Rares...

They continued the meeting and Rarity relayed all her information for them, but stopped there.

"But how about you think about it with the pillow? We can pick up where we left tomorrow," Rarity suggested and no one refused. Slowly, everyone stood up and walked out of the conference room, Sunset complaining about how she could only take a short nap before heading to night classes.

"Why don't you just call in sick?" Twilight suggested, and Sunset looked at her weirdly.

"Who are you and what have you done to Twilight Sparkle?"

Rarity giggled at the exchange, but quite soon found herself alone in the conference room. She perked up when she noticed she wasn't actually so alone. Pinkie Pie had failed to leave the room, still staring at her screen.

"Darling, whatever are you doing with that video?"

For the first time in the night, Pinkie Pie tore her eyes off the screen. She turned to Rarity and pointed to the screen. "Come take a look."

Rarity obeyed and slid with calculated precision closer to Pinkie Pie sitting in the spot to her right. Her bubbly friend, strangely serious, showed her a shot of the four men where the front of their shirts were widely visible. They were light of color in the black-and-white recording, and the sleeves had been recklessly rolled up. That wasn't much what had caught Pinkie attention. It was the fact that the one that seemed to be the leader, judging by the way he spoke to his three companions, wore a pitch-black wristwatch with shiny details that Rarity guessed were made of solid gold.

"Quite a flashy watch for a thief, don't you think?" Pinkie hummed, tapping a flashy purple glitter pen on pouty lips.

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Indeed. The details seem to be gold," she arched an eyebrow. "But what does that even have to do with the matter at hand. Darling?"

Pinkie leaned back on her chair, pondering, her pen now taping her chin. "Well, didn't you mention something about the Amulets changing form?"

Rarity let out a small gasp. "Pinkie, you're genius!"

"I've been told so!"

Rarity hugged her friend and Pinkie gladly returned it. She had no idea the warmth that single gesture shot through Rarity's chest. Maybe Twilight was right all along and it only took a while for her friends to forgive her. So she melted into the embrace, smiling widely against Pinkie's shoulder, and her friend didn't question it for a second, a hugger herself that would take any chance to jump into a hug with anyone she appreciated.

It felt good to be back on track with her favorite girls in the whole world.

Rarity and Pinkie spent a little longer in the Conference Room discussing this new discovery come cappuccino Pinkie whipped from the kitchen real quick. They went through the virtual book in Rarity's tablet for a long time reading everything there was regarding the Hourglass of Sloth.

"WATCH OF SLOTH!" Pinkie had yelled. "Thou have been baptized as the Watch of Sloth from this day on!"

And so they wrote down notes about the Watch of Sloth, breaking into little debates about its abilities and whatnot, trying to advance as much work as they could over the course of a couple hours. At one point, Rarity perked up with the idea of checking the few recording they could obtain from the Pyrite Gala infiltration and after giggling over the recording of Rainbow Dash's and Soarin's dance, they found a clip of the men with which King Sombra had been making a deal. Four men. And when they compared them with the ones from the theft, they found out that these four men had surprisingly identical body shapes and hair colors to the ones from the museum.

"Caballeron," Rarity read after a quick trip over their files on the past mission. "A low profile contrabandist that has amazing luck to evade justice. He was the one who was selling the Hourglass to King Sombra that day."

"It seems our shady friend decided to make some friends as well," Pinkie hummed and Rarity chuckled at her choice of words. Shady was an understatement for this wretched man. And she doubted they were 'friends'.

"Look! Miss Yearling has some history with him. His name appears on multiple of her reports."

Pinkie gasped. "WAIT. What name did you say?!"

Rarity arched an eyebrow. "Uh. Caballeron, darling."

Without a warning, Pinkie sprung to her feet, spilling leftover cappuccino over the table, staining some of her notes. She took Rarity's hand and dragged her out of the Conference Room, ignoring her pleas and pulling her towards the elevator that connected the lounge to their rooms. Rarity had a couple seconds of the way up to recover before Pinkie pulled her out of the elevator and dragged her to the third door on the right. Twilight's door. Before Rarity could do anything to stop her, Pinkie knocked furiously on the door, startling the light daylights out of Rarity.

"Pinkie! Twilight was exhausted just now, you shouldn't be doing this to her this late!"

Pinkie ignored her and continued knocking.

"Pinkie Pie!"

The door burst open. A groggy looking Twilight Sparkle was clumsily putting on her glasses as she stared at her friends like they had grown a second head each.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, her voice showing only the slightest of irritation. "Pinkie, if this is one of your midnight baking contests against yourself and you're trying to drag Rarity and I to judge for you, I swear to god-"

"Why must I always be the one to be at fault?!" Pinkie asked, jokingly offended. Twilight shot her a look and she giggled. "Yeah, I guess you do have a point. But no. This is far more important!"

"What is it?"

"I need to take a look at your Daring Do books!"

Rarity tilted her head in the same direction than Twilight, but before either of them could question her, Pinkie began to explain.

"Rares and I were looking over the case some more. One thing came to the other, and... Well, does the name Caballeron ring a bell to you?"

Twilight sighed. "Pinkie, all of this over a fictional character?"

Rarity was even more confused now.

"He isn't fictional!" Pinkie exclaimed, making her way uninvited inside Twilight's room. reluctantly, Rarity followed. "Just like Daring Do wasn't! He was the one King Sombra was making a deal with a the Pyrite Gala! The one with the stubble."

"Rarity, what did she drink?" Twilight wondered, and Rarity found herself jumping to Pinkie's defense, who pouted at Twilight. In the far corner of the room, Spike was soundly asleep, apparently too deep in slumber to be woken by Pinkie Pie's antics.

"She did not drink anything but cappuccino, darling," Rarity shrugged. "I am afraid she is telling the truth."

"See?!"

Twilight rubbed her temples. "You know what? I am not even surprised at this point. What, tomorrow I'll wake up and Spike will be Cerberus, really, so if anything I am just curious... What does he have to do with the case?"

"I was just getting there!"

Dash appeared on the threshold of Twilight's door, clad in shorts and a tank top, fuming. "Could you three lower your voices?! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"But it is related to the theft at Canterlot Museum!"

"We agreed to continue that tomorrow, I am too damn tired right now!" Dash groaned. "If you'll be discussing this on your own, then at least shut it!"

Pinkie frowned and pouted. "You are no fun! Did you fight with your hubby or what?"

"Now you-"

"Hey!" Rarity cut in the discussion before it could escalate. The door across from Twilight's opened and a very disheveled and hat-less Applejack stepped out, staring at the scene with half-awake eyes. Rarity awkwardly chuckled. "Now, Pinkie, dear, Rainbow Dash is merely sleep-deprived and in a bad mood because of that. Let's try to lower our voices and let her rest for the walls are pretty thin. Deepest apologies, Rainbow Dash."

"Thank you, Rares," Dash flashed a fleeting smile before walking back to her room, yelling: "Off I go! 'NIGHT!"

Pinkie continued pouting. "I think she needs a vacation."

"Don't we all?" Applejack arched an eyebrow, before yawning. "Y'all found a lead on the theft?"

"Wanna join us?" Pinkie switched her pout for a wide smile. Applejack shook her head.

"I am too tired as well, so I'll just catch up with yer investigation tomorrow. See ya," she yawned again before retreating back into her room. Now left alone, Twilight and Rarity stared back at Pinkie, who dedicated them the widest of smiles. Twilight closed the door of her room and sat down on her couch.

"Now, take a breath and tell me what you found."

Pinkie giggled, apparently amused at the ruckus she had caused between the girls, before plopping down on the couch to begin her explanation. As she made her way to the couch as well, Rarity couldn't hold in a giggle. God how she missed this.

Author's Note

NOW. I know this took over three months to come out and I am sorry :ajsleepy:

I had... A little writer's block. I guess the situation caught up to me. So I had to push through this chapter painfully, but in the end, here we are!

Let me know what you think of this chapter and the story, it really does motivate me a lot! :heart:

THE BIGGEST PART OF THE PLOT HAS BEEN REVEALED. Well, what do you think? We already knew a thing called "The Watch of Sloth", mentioned by Sombra in the previous arc. And, oh, are there seven?! And they stole the Ring of Pride? But what will happen now? I wonder :ajsmug:

Do tell me your theories! Things are beginning to get even more complicated. Rarity herself seems to be struggling with a dilemma, all while they're trying to comprehend their actual situation.

Until next time!

-Midday Giggle