Twilight crawled around the statue to investigate the voice. She didn’t know who she was expecting to see, but she knew she had heard Rainbow Dash’s voice, and that alone felt like a beacon of safety following the slaughter she had just witnessed.

After rounding the corner, Twilight suddenly found herself blinded by something on the other side. A large shiny object was reflecting sunlight directly in her face. Only the form of a creature with a similar body shape to her own was visible in the bright glare, but even then they were still almost impossible to make out.

“You the banger the boss told me to pick up?”

Twilight squinted her eyes and held a hand over her brow to help shade her vision from the light. “Banger..? Were you looking for me? How did you know I was coming?”

The creature folded her arms and tilted her head. “Because the boss said you’d be here? Did she not call you ahead of time to let you know I was coming?”

Twilight blinked and pondered the similar sounding creature’s questions. “No one could have possibly known I would be here… no one except…”

Twilight’s head shot up in shock. “Do you work for Sunset Shimmer?!”

“Yo, shut yer mouth!” The creature exclaimed. “We don’t use the boss’s name in public. We’re too small a group to be letting others know who’s calling the shots. We lose our boss, we may as well disband the gang right here.”

Twilight had absolutely no idea what the creature was talking about, but if she was offering to take her directly to Sunset Shimmer, Twilight knew she couldn’t let this opportunity slip.

“Umm… yes, I’m the girl your boss told you to find. I just didn’t know you were with her at first because of the skirmish I had with these...” She briefly paused to consider terms that would make sense in this world, “...criminals.”

Twilight wasn’t certain, but she thought she could see the creature raise an eyebrow. “You talk weird, ya know that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean it’s weird to call someone a criminal when by definition you’re a criminal yourself.” The creature scratched her chin in thought. “Unless you're talking weird on purpose because you’re doing some secretive James Bond shit!”

It was Twilight’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“I see what yer doing now. You need me to prove I’m a Saint before I can drive you to the hideout, right?”

Twilight’s eyes darted left and right. “Uhhhh…”

The creature walked up to her and took her by the hand. She pulled her straight upwards until Twilight was standing up on her two new legs. Interestingly, Twilight found keeping this position was much easier than it would be in her pony form.

“Well, I got your proof right here.” The creature pulled up the shirt she was wearing, allowing Twilight to see the skin underneath. It was the same shade as Rainbow Dash’s fur, but what was far more interesting was that this creature had a marking similar to a cutie mark right above her hip.

The way it was designed reminded her of the cutie mark of Rarity’s friend, Fleur De Lis, except that it was colored a few shades of royal purple more similar to Rarity’s own mane.

Twilight looked up and almost gasped at what she saw. This creature looked almost identical to her Rainbow Dash, right down to her mane and eye color. In fact, the only obvious difference that could set them apart was the fact that they were two completely separate species.

“You believe me now?” the hairless bipedal Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight didn’t answer immediately, and instead glanced down at the strange doppelganger’s clothes, as if needing to further study her.

She was dressed in clothing that mostly shared the same color shade as the picture she had painted on her hip. Over her upper body she wore a short sleeved purple jacket and a purple collared white t-shirt underneath. Below that, she had on a purple skirt with a golden version of the picture printed on the front and a pair of skin tight, black exercise shorts covering her legs. An odd pair of shoes, a strange fusion of a tennis shoe and shin high boot, covered the majority of her legs with a pair of rainbow striped socks barely poking out from beneath them.

To Twilight, her outfit looked extremely constricting, and she wondered how well this creature would be able to move while restricted by so much clothing.

The Rainbow Dash clone didn’t say anything, but judging by the nervous expression spreading across her face, she was getting impatient while waiting for Twilight's answer. Another odd similarity that the two seemed to share.

Twilight quickly shifted back into her act. “Yep! You're a real Saint alright. No doubt about it.” She gave the Rainbow Dash clone a smile she knew looked cheesy and fake. She really wished she was better at keeping her cool in stressful situations. “Can we go see Sunset Shimmer now?”

Rainbow glared at her, but decided to let her off with a warning this time. “Don’t say the boss name, kay?” She pointed at Twilight as if threatening her, something Twilight immediately took to heart after receiving.

“Understood. I’m sorry.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and began walking back towards the shiny object. “Whatever. Just hop in fast. We don’t want to be around here when those guys’ friends show up to investigate the shooting.”

Twilight looked back at the dead bodies and felt her stomach do a flip. She wasn’t in the mood to argue. “I’m... right behind you.”

Rainbow reached into her jacket and pulled out a pair of aviator sunglasses to protect her eyes from the reflected sunlight. She then reached into a pocket on the other side of her jacket and pulled out a pair of keys. She pressed a button on them and a door suddenly opened on the shiny object. “My name’s Rainbow Dash by the way.”

Twilight wasn’t surprised. “My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

It was at this point that Twilight realized that the thing she had been staring at all this time was not just some object, but a type of vehicle. It reminded her of the Flim Flam Brothers’ cider squeezing machine, only much smaller and far more sleek in design. She decided to get a closer look, but she didn’t want to rouse Rainbow’s suspicions by doing any more unorthodox things. She briefly recalled how she had seen Rainbow, the other creatures, and to lesser extent, Lyra Heartstrings, when they all walked on two legs. She quickly memorized the movements and began attempting them herself.

She could tell her movements were clumsy, but judging by Rainbow’s bemused expression, she assumed it was enough to make her appear as an average non-pony. With enough practice, she was certain she could integrate into this culture flawlessly, that was if she needed to stay longer then just one day.

She soon reached the vehicle with only minor difficulty. Upon seeing it up close, she was surprised to find that the vehicle was completely covered in the same royal purple as Rainbow Dash’s clothes, save of course for the tires, glass, and headlights. Twilight didn’t particularly mind it, purple being her favorite color of course, but she did find it odd that this Rainbow had such a love for it, especially considering her Rainbow’s ambivalence towards the color back in her world.

She tripped, causing her to fall forward and landed on the hood of the vehicle. Placing her hand on the metal and extending her arms, she began to scooch herself over towards the other side, where she saw an empty seat next to the one Rainbow was using. Rainbow seemed weirdly perturbed by this however.

“Yo, what you think you're doing, you crazy bitch!” Rainbow shouted.

Twilight was shocked back into a stand by Rainbow’s sudden choice of language. “What did you just call me!” Twilight placed her hands on her hips as if she were scolding a child.

“You're scuffing up the hood of my car!” Rainbow continued to exclaim. “I’ll call you whatever I want!” She suddenly burst out of the car and rushed over to examine the hood. She sighed in relief when she noticed no damage had been left behind by Twilight’s hands.

She suddenly turned to Twilight and gave her a glare that bore straight through her aviators. “This is a mint condition Attrazione, the fastest car available on these streets. It took me five years to find all the parts to build this baby, and even longer to find a mechanic who could put it together.” She grabbed Twilight by her shirt and began pushing her towards the passenger side door. Without even a word, she opened the door and shoved Twilight into the seat. She pointed at her threateningly. “This car is worth more to me than most people’s lives, and on top of that, I just had it waxed. You do not fuck with my car. You do not even touch my car. Do you understand me?!”

Twilight nodded. This was the first time she’d ever been scared of Rainbow Dash before, and like almost everything else she’d experienced thus far in this world, it felt odd.

Rainbow growled and slammed the door in front of her before walking back over towards her side of the car. She sat down and placed her keys behind the wheel in front of her. The vehicle suddenly revved to life once she turned them.

“You’d better buckle up. The church isn’t far, but there’s no telling what we could run into on the way.” She grabbed her seatbelt and buckled herself in, urging Twilight to copy her and do the same. “Speaking of which, do you have a gun on ya?”

Twilight stared at her not recognizing the word, “No, I don’t.” She was afraid what reaction that answer would coax out of Rainbow Dash.

“Lost it in the fight, huh? Been there.” She suddenly reached across Twilight’s chest and opened a compartment in front of her. “Lucky for you, I always carry a spare.” Two L-shaped black boxes were sitting in front of her, and Twilight immediately recognized them as the same weapons the other creatures were using.

Rainbow grabbed them both and held them in front of Twilight’s face. “These are my 45 Shepards, the handgun of choice for any Saint. Normally these bad boys only hold 8 rounds per magazine, but I managed to get the kind that can hold 14. I named them both Johnny with different spellings of the name, and they have gotten me out of more scraps than I can count.” She placed one of the guns in Twilight’s hand, showing her how to hold it. “Now I expect you to take good care of Jonny and that you will return him to me as soon as this ride is over.” Twilight curiously and nervously looked over the weapon. “And remember, if you don’t, I’ll be putting a bullet through your head myself.”

Twilight gave a shocked expression as Rainbow carefully placed her glock in the pocket on her door. Rainbow set the car into drive and began to rush down the road. For her safety as well as Rainbow’s, Twilight copied Rainbow movements and placed her gun in her doorway pocket as well. She did not trust herself to wield a weapon she had never seen, let alone heard of, before without at least receiving some proper training first.

Fortunately, the drive from the statue to this new location was far less harrowing then Twilight’s initial introduction to this world. Unfortunately however, it still had more than its fair share of horrid sights to see. The very second Twilight decided to look out her window, her eyes were assaulted by the abysmal cityscape. There were broken windows on every building, graffiti tags coloring every wall, scantily-clad female creatures at almost every street corner, and the worst of all, at least one dead body littering most of the public roads. Eventually, it all became too much for the ex-alicorn to handle, so she decided to stare at her knees to avoid seeing any more violent or gory imagery.

Eventually they arrived at the church, and much like many of the other buildings on the way to this location, it was in an extreme state of disrepair. The church was covered in an even coating of graffiti, ranging from various curse words to depressing messages like, “God isn’t here” and “the city without saviors.” Like the rest of the buildings, its windows were also broken, leaving only small shards of colored glass to tell the story of the murals that once sat there. To Twilight, the building appeared strong since it was completely made of brick and designed similarly to old castles back in Equestria. She could see why Sunset and Rainbow would want it as their hideout with all the violence happening around them.

Rainbow exited the car first with Twilight following close behind. Rainbow led Twilight up the stairs until they were at the building's front door. A familiar looking, ivory skinned creature was waiting for them at the top. He was dressed in a pair of dirty jeans and a loose fitting, button up, purple t-shirt. He took a long drag of the joint he had in his mouth before taking Rainbow by the hand.

“It’s damn good to see you're still alive, Rainbow.” He pulled Rainbow in for a brief hug before pushing each other apart. “One of these days I’m afraid you’re just not gonna to show up.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Trust me, when the day I die comes, everybody will know about it, because that shit is gonna be fucking epic!”

The creature smiled as he shook his head. “I can see the headlines now: psychotic teenager drives gas truck into the side of a crowded mall. Millions dead. Seems about the norm for what you’d get up to.”

“If it meant I could kill most of the motherfuckers in the Hive, Empire, and Hell Raisers combined, then damn straight I would do that! A blaze of glory is the only way fitting enough for this chick to go out.”

Twilight was stunned as the creature turned his head towards her. “You must be the new recruit the boss sent for.” He extended his hand for her to shake. “The name’s Shining Armor.”

Twilight was too shocked to reply. Her brother, the captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, was a criminal in this world. Her mind immediately began to race as she began to consider what this occupation meant for his family relations. If he was her brother’s counterpart, then that made it very likely this world had its own Twilight Sparkle. She began to wonder if she was a criminal too, but then that thought led to a frightening realization. If this creature was indeed Shining Armor, then that meant introducing herself as Twilight Sparkle might make him suspicious, and with how quick Rainbow was to kill that other creature back at the portal, she didn’t like what that possibly meant for her if she made him angry.

Twilight remained silent for a solid two minutes after Shining Armor introduced himself. After a minute of keeping his arm outstretched, he decided to pull it back. “I think you broke her there, Shining,” Rainbow commented.

“Yeah I noticed,” he said with a grimace. “I’ve been told I have this kind of effect on women, but it's never happened this early in a relationship before.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Well then maybe I can answer for her? Her name is Twilight-”

“Twilight Sprinkle!” Twilight suddenly interrupted. “Daughter of Night… Drizzle and Twilight… Vaper. My family has a history of working in the weather.”

Both creatures gave her incredulous looks. “But you said back at the high school that your name was Twilight-”

“You must have misheard me,” she replied, sounding none too genuine. Her smile was wide and clearly forced, and judging by the new looks she was getting from Shining and Rainbow, they were having a hard time believing what she was saying.

“If you say so?” Rainbow said dubiously. She walked towards the door with Shining following close behind her. Once they both reached the door, they leaned in and began to whisper to each other.

“She’s clearly lying,” Rainbow stated.

“Obviously… I mean Twilight Sprinkle? She ain’t fooling anybody.”

“Think I should shoot her?”

“I think that would only piss Sunset off. She told you to pick up somebody at the school right? Well, she’s the somebody you picked up. Plus, if you return to her now with no one behind you, there’s no telling how she’ll react.”

The two looked back to make sure Twilight wasn’t listening. She was standing at least a foot away, probably as a polite gesture to avoid accidentally eavesdropping. “She kinda looks like your sister,” Rainbow commented. “You think she was trying to get in with us by posing as her?”

“Not likely,” Shining stated firmly. “My sister only wears glasses and hates the feeling of contacts. If she’s trying to pose as her, she’s gotten some very bad intel.” Shining glanced back at her without moving his head. “That being said, if it turns out I’m wrong and she is trying to pose as my Twily, I’ll shoot her myself.”

“Want me to keep and eye on her?”

“We both can, but let’s keep it on the down low. Until irrefutable evidence shows itself, she’ll just be Twilight Sprinkle, the newest member of the Canterlot Saints.”

Rainbow nodded. “Cool.”

The two pushed the door open before for leading Twilight inside. As they entered, Twilight noticed the building’s interior largely resembled its outside in terms of disrepair. The inside of the church was mostly made up of one large room where church sermons would have likely been held. The room was dilapidated in all regards, with large chunks of the ceiling lying indented and smashed on the floor and every pew missing, almost as if they had been stolen. A few old stained couches now covered the floor likely to take their place.

Shining turned back towards Twilight. “Sunset Shimmer is going to want to talk to you right away. You’ll find her in the office behind the podium at the end of the sermon hall.” He pointed towards the other end of the room, and just as he had said, there was a door on the far wall off to the left side of the room.

“Thank you. I’ll speak with her immediately.”

Shining nodded. “If you need me, I’ll be in one of the other rooms.”

Rainbow shot a finger gun at her. “I’ll probably be doing the same, so look around if you need to find me. If I’m not, then I’m probably either buying guns or kicking some Hell Raiser ass, in which case… feel free to join me!” She seemed almost too eager to have the ex-mare by her side, and Twilight feared what that may entail.

Without another word, the three separated and Twilight headed towards the office where Sunset was said to be. Twilight psyched herself up as she walked towards the office. She thought about the things she would say to her once they met personally, and about what actions she would take if Sunset decided to run or fight her instead coming quietly. She hoped it wouldn’t come to down to a fight, since Sunset had friends here who were willing to murder at her command. And to make matters worse, Twilight couldn’t connect to her magic here. In fact, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to connect to it at all in this world since she didn’t have her horn.

When she opened the door, she was met with a girl leaning on a large wooden desk with a set of blueprints rolled out in front of her. She had a head of long crimson hair with golden highlights, and she was dressed in a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt with a Saints’ symbol underneath. Like Rainbow, she was also wearing a purple skirt, but one with a single golden stripe rather than a fleur de lis. Finally, on her head was a purple beret with a silver Saints pin attached to the front. There was no doubt in Twilight's mind that this was Sunset Shimmer.

Twilight closed the door as she entered, garnering Sunset’s attention. She looked up and met Twilight’s eyes, a look of utter disbelief soon spreading across her face.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” she exclaimed with a glare. “Where’s Princess Celestia?”

Twilight folded her arms and returned Sunset’s glare. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m the only princess you’ll be dealing with today. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’ve come for the Element of Magic.”

Sunset cocked a brow at Twilight. She clearly wasn’t impressed. “I see…” Sunset reached down and opened a drawer in her desk. “Did she at least send some royal guards with you to act as back up?”

Twilight didn’t answer. She didn’t want to give Sunset any advantages in knowing that she was alone.

“I’ll take your silence as a no,” Sunset decided. She pulled a 45 Shepard from her desk and leveled its barrel with Twilight’s head. Shocked and familiar with what weapons like these could do, Twilight instinctually backed up against the wall.

Sunset’s expression turned playful. “So you already know what a gun is?” she asked quizzically. “That’s good. One less thing I’ll have to explain to you once you join the Canterlot Saints.”

Twilight was frightened and confused. “Y-You mean you’re not going to shoot me?”

Sunset shook her head. “Naw... besides it would do me no good if I did. It would still be thirty moons before any Equestrians showed up to check on you, and if they found out you were dead, they would be less likely to help me.”

Sunset placed her gun on the desk, allowing Twilight to step away from the wall. “Help you? You mean you stole my crown just to get somepony to follow you through the magic mirror?”

“Well, I couldn’t just walk up to the Princess and ask for help, right? I’m a fugitive over there, remember?”

Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for Sunset given the relationship she and Celestia used to share. “I know Princess Celestia personally. She’s become a very kind and forgiving pony in recent years. I’m certain she would have given you all the help you need if you had just asked.”

Sunset sighed. She sounded a tad forlorn in Twilight opinion. “Yeah well, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that topic.” Sunset stepped out from behind her desk and walked towards Twilight. “So, you're stuck here for thirty days without a place to stay, and you want me to give your crown back?”

Twilight nodded. “That’s right, and since my magic isn’t working, and force doesn’t appear to be an option, I’m willing to make a deal,” she said begrudgingly.

Sunset’s lips peeled back to reveal a mischievous smile. “Okay… I’ll tell you what; you can stay here at the church until you feel you're ready to go home. However, if you want your crown back, you’re gonna have to do some jobs for me. You see, I’m looking for new recruits to join my gang, the Canterlot Saints.”

She began to count off her gang’s activities on her fingers. “We deal in drug trafficking, prostitution, hyjacking, and more then our fair share of murders.” She grimaced at how sickened Twilight appeared to be. “Yes, I know it sounds bad, but trust me when I say the things we do are a necessary evil.”

Sunset walked over towards a glassless window on the left side of the office. She leaned against the sill and a much more dour sounding tone appeared in her voice. “In this world, this city, Canterlot, is ruled by three rival gangs who do nothing but extort money and terrorize the populace for their own benefit. My gang does the same, but only so we can compete with the others. My goal is to phase out the other gangs so that we are the only ruling power, save for the city government. From there we’ll be able to insure peace rather than disrupt it. We’ll be heroes rather than gangsters.”

While she was still turned off by the activities the Saints got into, Twilight couldn’t help but feel curious about Sunset's vision for the future. “But what about the city government?” Twilight asked. “Surely they have systems in play to combat these other gangs, right?”

Sunset shook her head. “Almost every business in this city is corrupt, even the police. They’ve all become accustomed to gang warfare, and they’ll milk every opportunity they get to line their own pockets like ticks on a stray dog.”

Twilight ran her hand over her opposite arm anxiously. “I suppose then I can see why such violent methods would be necessary. Even still, I don’t think I could ever take part in the…” Twilight tried to think of a less insulting word then the one she had in mind, but couldn’t come up with anything better, “...crimes your gang is involved in.”

Sunset turned back towards her. She didn’t look insulted; in fact she looked down right complaisant, like she almost agreed with Twilight’s word choice. “I understand. Just know I can’t give you the crown otherwise. I need to increase the numbers in my crew if we ever want to take on the Hive, Empire, and Hell Raisers. If I can’t have you, then I’ll just have to wait until someone with a stronger stomach shows up. Whether that be Celestia herself, a group of royal guards, or some other random pony, I’ll just have to make do with what I get.”

Twilight felt a great deal of guilt building up in her stomach. She would never be able to live with herself if somepony else were to get injured or die should they take her place in Sunset’s gang. Not to mention the increased waiting time would likely put Equestria in further danger without the Element of Magic.

Twilight ran her fingers through her hair. She hated the idea of becoming a criminal, but for the good of everypony else involved, she saw no other alternative.

Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself before making her next request. “Sunset Shimmer...” she said, causing Sunset to turn to her. “I would like to join your gang. At the very least until the Element of Magic is back in my position.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait really?” Twilight nodded her head solemnly. The gang leader scratched the back of her head in confusion. “I wasn’t really expecting you to say yes. Truth be told, I didn’t think my explanation was that convincing.”

Twilight sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to what was possibly to come in her future. “If it’s for the good of everypony…everyone else, I’ll…try to do the things you ask of me.”

Sunset gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew this was a difficult decision for Twilight to make, especially so quickly. The least she could do was offer Twilight her respect and support. She extended her arm with her fist clenched, which greatly confused the ex-alicorn.

Sunset chuckled, “It’s like a hoofbump.” She explained. Twilight eyes widened and an embarrassed smile spread across her face. She raised her fist and bumped it against Sunset’s.

“I won’t ask you to do anything more.” Sunset stated as they pulled their hands apart. Her smile grew wider, “Twilight Sparkle, even if it's only temporary, I’m proud to be the first to welcome you into the Canterlot Saints.”

Author's Note

So this probably took longer then it should have... Sorry too all of you who have been patiently waiting. But now I'm back on the horse, so to speak, and I think I know what direction I want to take this story. I can't promise the chapters will be coming out frequently, but rest assured this one has been put back on my radar.

Welcome back to the Row, everyone!