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!

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

(Beware! The Soarindash!)

I hope you liked this chapter and this arc!

Until next time!

-Midday Giggle