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?

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 I might need some help.

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

-Midday Giggle