I will die here. Twilight was not really someone who just curled into a ball and gave up. But she was exhausted, trapped, and honest enough to acknowledge this and thusly resign herself to her fate. I will die in this house.

She was cornered in, what atleast looked like, a training area.

Getting inside was difficult but not nearly as much as she would have thought. If it had been, she might have just given up. That would have been for the better.

But alas, a window at the back, right next to the back door had been leaned open. Just enough for her to bring in her slender arm and an improvised tool to assist in grabbing the handle. Painfully it had been to twist and stretch, but the glass door had finally opened for her.

“I rang three times already, so no one should be home. Besides, this is just a little peak.” She reassured herself. It felt wrong but curiosity had her firmly gripped.

Stepping inside, clutching the beeping sensor, she carefully pressed on. Walking from what appeared to be a living room to the lobby with the front door, Twilight was more and more lost in the old and rich enviroment. All the paintings, all the assorted and displayed items, so much information! Still, she was focused enough to follow her device, going into the direction where the energy readings were increasing. She was, however, not focused enough to see that she was not alone anymore.

She shrieked as a knife had buried itself right next to her head, missing her only by a couple of inches. The shock made her lose her own footing, making her feet trip over eachother and sending her to the floor. Luckily, her glasses stayed more or less on her nose, leaving her able to orient herself. As well as looking at her assailant.

She wished she had lost them.

It was like in a horror story. The two eyes, unholy and bloodthirsty, staring themselves from the way she had come into her head with pure contempt.

The slender, nimble fingers held another knife, which they manipulated with terrifying ease. The feet were bare, making no sound on the floor as the woman advanced, looming over Twilight.

Scared and with adrenaline pumping through her body, the girl left everything she had carried where it had fallen and scrambled to her own feet. She did not know where to go, but in her panicked mind she tried to dart towards the main door.

Yet just as she reached out for the handle, more blades digged themselves into the thick wood. One just barely cut her hand that had meant to open her escape path before stabbing into the door.

Whirling around, she could see the hunter down the entry room, her hands holding about half a dozen more of lethal metal to throw. And Twilight knew that her aim was good. Until now she had survived out of sheer luck.

She also knew that the front was a dead end. She would never been able to get out in time.

The young scientist had somehow managed to dodge by her assailant and run deeper into the building. If she had to guess, only because the hunter wanted to play with her. Or she did not want to kill right where people would enter, out of convinience. Probably both.

The ensuing hunt had been short and fruitlessly. Now that she did not have to run, Twilight was cursing herself. She had been practically guided down here. Thrown blades had always succeeded in dissuading her from taking a path that the owner did not want her to take.

And thus, she was here: In the basement, far away from any escape. No one would hear her scream from down here. Nobody even knew she was here in the first place.

Here she was, a dead girl. And there was the hunter. Blocking the only exit. At some point Twilight had lost her glasses and so the figure was blurry and unrecognizable.

Her mind, usually so genius and creative, was only able to imagine all the terrible things that would happen to her down here.

“ARIA, DON’T!” The scream suddenly echoed through the house as both could hear footsteps approaching, hunter and prey almost equally surprised by this sudden intervention though for different reasons.

Barreling down the stairs came a young woman clad in a weirdly childish-looking pyjama. Her hair moved like flames, though it was also heavily frazzled as if she had woken up but five minutes ago.

Even though her incoming had potentially saved Twilight’s live, for the moment, it did nothing to ease the tension in her body. Her brain was too high on adrenaline to even ponder the meanings of this new development, as her temporary savior struggled to get her breath at the bottom of the stairs.

“This… this is not this world’s… Twilight!” She brought out between laboured huffs, her eyes pleadingly locking with the crimson orbs of the hunter.

Aria just plainly stared back at her friend. “…Well, duh! Rather obvious.”

“W… What?!” was all that Dawn could bring out.

“I mean, come on!” Aria fully turned towards her. “Would Miss Princess even try and enter through the back like a thief? If this’d be her, she would stand at our front door ahead of her oh so precious friend brigade. This one didn’t even recognize me, never said one word!”

“Well… you threw knives at her! I thought you would…” Dawn countered. Then, however, she had to pause herself as her mind actually started to work out all the facts. “Though… Princess Twilight should… maybe be able to use her magic?”

Aria just smirked. “See? This is definitely not the Princess.”

“Yes… Wait, no, that is not the point!” Dawn shouted. “You’re still trying to kill someone!”

“Oh relax, I’m just…” Turning around, knive-hand already preparing for the throw, both girls were completely thrown off as the subject of their argument barreled past them. The purple-skinned amatur-intruder tried to shove Aria to the ground as she sprinted past her, though that did nothing more than making the Siren take a step back. Dawn herself instinctively jumped out of the way, letting Twilight take the stairs upwards.

It was already too late for another throw, so Aria let her knife down again.

“Huh. Not bad for a nerd.” Then she started to follow her. Slowly, making a gentle walk instead of the mad dash her prey was doing.

Upstairs, Twilight was desperately trying to find a way out, which proved difficult without her glasses. She had tried to flee out of the back door, which had proven nigh impossible as she quickly realized that she couldn’t find the back with her current eye-capability.

Next, she was running through rooms, seeking a window big enough for her to squeeze through. Adrenaline was still flooding her veins. Her heart was pounding like drums in her ears, making it extremely difficult to listen for her pursuers’ footsteps. If they even made those. They were able to follow her with little to no sound, like a vengeful ghost stalking her.

Twilight wasn’t even sure that her pursuer was still behind her, she would have to look to check. Though, no new knives had flown past her since she ran from the basement again.

Her heart jumped inside her as she finally came beside a window large enough for her to use. Erratically, her fingers pried at the handle to open it, Twilight’s adrenaline-pumped body working against her as she could not hold her fingers still for long enough to make her escape quick and coordinated.

Too much time was lost by clumsily opening the glassen barrier. Behind her, unbeknownst to the scientist-turned-intruder, the Siren of the house approached.

Aria for her part just took in the sight before her. It was amusing, just as the entire hunt had been, atleast for her. This was rather easy. Some would even consider it unfair. Mayhaps it was.

Not that she cared for that, a girl had her needs and her’s had been satisfied by the thrill of hunting this student. Now it was time to end the game. Even still, out of pure wickedness she set her foot loudly on the floor to announce her presence. The effect was just to her liking.

Twilight immediately snapped her head back, her eyes staring wide and scared into the crimson orbs only a few feet away. Scrambling to get away, she yanked open the window and tried to climb out of it.

But it was… sad really, and pathetic. Aria could simply stroll right up to the girl, only now halfway towards safety and freedom but seemingly stuck on something. Her breathing was fast and erratic, mixed with whimpers and pleas.

Then, an arm looped around Twilights belly and pulled. The girl shrieked, trying her best yet failing to resist the force dragging her away. A hand came on her right shoulder tightly, attempting to help dislodge her from her escape.

Now, only her hands were holding on, the fingers stretching and hurting but holding on, fueled by her survival instincts. She yelped and whimpered, not managing any words with all the exertion in the last few minutes.

Aria for her part was also getting tired and not just with the girl’s resistance, her arms were starting to lose their strength again. Hurling knives around had been a welcomed exercise, but even that had slowly become strenious. Luckily for her, this Twilight was absolutely a weak nerd.

Amidst this struggle, the third girl hesitently stepped besides them. Dawn was looking down at the girl that had entered her home. In her mind, memories of the other Twilight came to the forefront again, of all the things that she had to be thankful for. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed.

“I am sorry. But I cannot let this happen.” Her cardinal red hands reached out to Twilight’s purple ones. Her fingers wrapped over the ones still holding onto the window opening.

Slowly, the first digit was pried off. Then a second. A third. As the right arm was finally dislodged, Aria turned and stemmed herself in the opposite position of Twilight while hoisting her body upon her own shoulder, just as Dawn went to work on the last fingers of the left hand.

The added height only made it more difficult for the fleeing girl to hold on to the only route towards safety. Her legs strampled wildly, her right arm restrained by the one holding and pulling her away from the window, making her unable to give a shred of resistance.

Only three fingers were left. Then only one finger that, straining against overwhelming strength, could not hold anymore and slipped off the window sill.

To add insult to injury, Twilight had to see the accomplice of her assailant quickly close and lock the glassen barrier as she was carried away back into the depths of the house. Too weak to fight in any meaningful way, her breath too laboured to even scream.

This was it for her. They would kill her now.

It was then that, surprising all three of them, Twilight suddenly hit the floor. Twilight, naturally, yelped in pain as she hit the hard stone tiles. Dawn also yelped as she tripped over the sudden purple obstacle in her path, also landing on the floor harshly. Aria for her part had dropped her prey so suddenly since her muscles had started to burn, the pain catching her off guard.

In the confusion, Twilight was the first to recover. Scrambling out from under the red form that had fallen over her, she started running again to where she thought the front door was. She didn’t look back at all, simply praying that she could make it outside.

And it seemed promising. Just as she rounded a corner, like a great prize she saw the front door of the house before her. She bolted for the proverbial finish line, ignoring her dropped and scattered equipement as she ran past it.

Thud!

Her only warning was the sudden sensation of touch around her ankles. Then her feet didn’t move, and she almost flew down to the ground, only saving her face any pain by instinctually raising her arms.

Shaking the short daze away and looking behind, Twilight’s blood froze. Her hunter had tackled her legs and brought her to fall. And right now, she was moving up her body like a giant spider.

Almost immediately she was right in her face, transfixing the girl with glowing crimson eyes. Then, she wrapped her arms around Twilight’s neck and chest and rolled to the side, bringing her trapped victim on top of herself and restraining her.

The nerdy student was bruised and exhausted and still she strained against her hold. But then she felt a hot breath by her ear. Followed by a voice so soft and clear and promising.

“Don’t struggle. Just relax!”

A deep sound, like an engine or a big purring animal filled Twilight’s ears and then her brain. It drowned out all her thoughts, the panic, and her instinct to fight and flee. She could feel her body finally relaxing, still shaking from the adrenaline but stopping its useless flailing.

Twilight’s genius mind slowly melted like a pack of cheese. Her body fell limb, her eyes closed, her breath became steady, and finally, her consciousness went dark.

Aria held on for an additional minute before letting the limb body carefully roll off her and unto the floor. It took her even longer to completely catch her breath and sit up, rubbing her strained and burning muscles.

“Wasn’t as good as I thought I could be. Maybe I could do with another few more hours of sleep.”

Dawn didn’t respond to her. She had already caught up with her friend and witnessed the end of the struggle. Right now, though, she was kneeling before the intruder’s dropped things. “We have a problem.”

“Do we?” The tired purple siren asked.

“I mean, look at her.” Aria gestured to the still body on the ground. “On her own, how big of a problem is she gonna be, now that we got her?”

As an answer, Dawn simply fiddled with the device that the intruder had carried in her hands and held it to Aria. The siren could immediately see some sort of screen displaying wavelengths as well as multiple lights blinking ridicously fast. There was also a second, circular screen that reminded her of a radar. A radar that showed two very bright spots sandwiching the middle, a.k.a. the device itself. It should really not take a genius, and Aria was very familiar with these types of technology to understand what this thing was likely doing.

“This is not good.”

Dawn just sighed and let her hands drop beside her, as both now stared at the girl who had somehow managed to accomplish the impossible.

“I mean… I really, really wish that this is not what we suspect it is.” She mumbled somberly.

“Girl, this is exactly that.” Aria replied. There was a sort of resignation underneath her annoyance. “I witnessed too many ‘coincidences’ in the last months for this to not mean what we think.”

“It would make sense. In our world, Twilight discovered the Element of Magic, along all the others, and became its bearer. And here, Twilight discovers magic itself. For all the differences, this dimension is still a parallel to Equestria.”

“Mhm, does make sense. Well.”

Cracking her neck, Aria bent down to pick up the unconscious girl, however Dawn held her back. The pointed look in her azure eyes was clear enough to bring the siren to back off, as the red girl carefully, and a bit clumsily, picked up Twilight in a bridle-carry and began walking upstairs.

“Sorry, Aria, but I don’t really trust you right now, not in Twilight’s vicinity.” She stated.

“Ugh,” The purple girl scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Also, you should know that you are not in any shape to carry her anywhere. Not without risking dropping her. Again!” Dawn continued on, making her way up the stairs. Her friend continued to grumble but followed her. It was probably for the best; her arms did still burn slightly.

Instead, she took some of the stuff that had been dropped when she had surprised the intruder. While following Dawn into her own room, she held this weird tracking device in her hand, turning and moving it closer then farther from herself.

Carefully, Dawn laid the knocked out would-be scientist onto the bed, placing her in a stable sideways position. The fuchsia houselady had already sat down on the edge of the enormous piece of furniture and was staring at their captured intruder through narrowed eyes. Dawn joined her.

“Now, what?” She asked her friend. “Are you planning to do something with her?”

“And what exactly do you mean with that?” Aria asked back, her eyes never leaving Twilight.

“Revenge?”

“Certainly, an idea.” The siren mused. “Only thing is that she hasn’t done a lot of wrong against me, or you. Aside from breaking in.”

“So, you are not going to kill her?” Dawn turned her gaze upon the lying girl as well.

“Of course.”

Dawn looked back at Aria. Her eyebrows rose upwards.

Her friend took a moment to realize her mistake before rolling her eyes dramatically. “I meant ‘Of course will I not kill her!’ Come on, what do you think I am, a psychopath?”

“You are a siren.” Dawn mumbled. “And this worlds Twilight has just found out about the existence of magic. And with extension that means she will find out about us and our world next.”

Placing her chin on her palm, Aria appeared to be deep in thought. “Well, tou-fucking-chée. Dunno how to handle that problem.”

Dawn sighed. It was a bit ironic, Sunset would have been happy to find this version of the one who saved her. She, and Sunset’s friends, would have immediately tried to befriend her. This whole problem could have been resolved so much easier.

“I think… maybe we should just let her wake up and then talk with her. This is not optimal but I believe we can turn this around. Going to be difficult though, you chasing her with knives didn’t really make for a good first impression.” Aria nodded thoughtfully.

“That does remind me of something that I wanted to ask you!” She suddenly spoke out, underlining her words by jabbing a finger against Dawn’s collarbone.

“And that cannot wait until after we solved this problem, the one we have right here?” The red girl replied. Though truth to be told, she was curious what sort of thing Aria was going to bring up now.

The answer, though not unexpected, was still somewhat troubling. “What do you want to do with your former friends? Afterall, they are partially responsible for your unfortunate circumstance, you said so yourself. Not mentioning that they have treated you not really well the few days before that.”

“So, you’re talking ‘bout revenge.” Dawn said. It was more a statement than a question.

“Aye.” Aria replied, smiling with anticipation. “We’re talking ‘bout revenge.”

Author's Note

Is it even fair to tell Twilight 'What did you expect to happen?' I mean yes, she broke into the house but who expects thrown knives and a horror-chase?
Still not an escuse for the whole breaking-in thing though.
Next up: Consequences of your actions, always fun

Hope you enjoyed this sudden chase (and the chapter as a whole).
If you find any mistakes, please let me know as always.

The world is still a crazy place, so be safe out there. Until next time.