Sunset pressed her face into Twilight’s hair, breathing in honeysuckle and trying to manage the jittery feeling of too much adrenaline combined with a sudden lack of enemies. She felt Twilight lean against her, her exhaled sigh shaky. “…I’ve got you, Sparky. Just breathe for me, okay? It's over.”

—Well. Mostly. We still gotta do damage control and clean-up, horn-head.—

That was a much lesser problem than evil teachers and demon kings.

“Sunset!”

Pink filled her vision as she looked up, Pinkie Pie skidding to a comical halt in front of her, bouncing on her toes. “I know now is not the best time for hugs, but I reeeeeeally want to hug you both right now!” She bounced on her toes. “Also, hi, Twilight! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’m super glad that you're okay and I’m super excited to be one of your new friends!”

Twilight gave Pinkie a wan smile and a tired nod. Sunset rubbed her shoulder gently and took on the task of talking for them both. “Thanks for understanding, Pinkie. Today has been…a lot.”

She nodded, and her response was surprisingly solemn. “I know. I’m used to it with Marble. I just wanted you to know how happy I am that you're okay.” One hand touched Sunset’s arm, squeezing in lieu of a hug. “You scared us, Sunshim. Don't do that anymore, okay?”

“Not planning to—I should have that part…sorted. Mostly.”

“That sounds rather ominous, darling. Still…I am glad that we do not have to stage a second rescue—I am quite done in, and we still have damage control to do before the inevitable authorities arrive.” Rarity had hobbled over, leaning on Flash’s offered arm and keeping weight off one of her ankles.

Rainbow Dash collapsed nearby on the stairs, her body trembling violently. “Pinks, please tell me you have something to eat. Or some Bites. I feel like shit.”

While Pinkie was fishing into her hair and passing out the Sun Bites to the girls, Sunset spotted the principals, Cadence, and Shining Armor heading their way. She waved with her free hand.

There wasn't time for much else before Cadence had both her and Twilight in a hug, and Shining followed suit. Twilight made a whining, distressed sound, but it was Sunset who cried out in pain as the contact pressed on the wounds where she was fairly certain she still had large chunks of wood embedded in her back from shoulders to knees. Pain on top of exhaustion almost did her in, and it was only the timely efforts of Twilight on one side and Fluttershy on the other that kept her from kissing concrete.

Both adults pulled back in alarm, and Cadence who realized she had blood on her hands and arms now. “Sunset! You’re bleeding!”

She made a weak sound as her pony features faded out. “…probably. I woke up like this in the storage room of the gym.” Blue-green eyes looked at her friends. “What exactly happened after the binding spell? I didn't feel this rough after the formal, and I literally got friendship lasered into a crater then.”

“…he threw you into the bleachers,” Fluttershy offered softly.

Her mind did the mental math. “Oh. Yeah…that…that would explain it.” Looks like you saved us from broken bones again.

—Happy to help. Let's…avoid the need next time, okay?—

“You need to be looked at!” Cady fussed. “You could have internal injuries.”

Sunset shook her head. “Time for that after we do what we need here.” Her gaze fell on Shining. “If you're here, how long until the CCPD is at our door?”

He checked his watch. “I have twenty minutes before I miss my check in. If that happens, the Captain is sending SWAT.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The feds might also be involved. We got a delivery of an anonymous info packet that had some pretty incriminating evidence about Cinch, and then this school and everyone in it was unreachable.”

The redheaded teen sighed. “Right. Okay. Damage control.” She looked around then raised her voice. “Bon-Bon! Lyra! Trixie!”

They practically materialized. “What’s going on?” Lyra asked, a battered trash can lid on her arm.

“Damage control time. We’ve got fifteen minutes to hide the implications of magic and spread a cover story.”

Bon-Bon waved a hand. “On it. Lyra?”

“Hmmm…what do we know and what will the police already know?” Lyra questioned. After listening to Shining’s explanation she pondered for a minute or so, then snapped her fingers. “Okay, Cinch and the CPA teachers and the Games team did something freaky. At the kickoff, they attacked Sunset and tried to take hostages. Say…a taser instead of a spell? Principal Celestia and the girls put up a fight, everyone else runs for safety, because we don't know what is going on. Is it a school shooting? A terrorist attack? Something worse?”

“And the injuries?” Bon-Bon questioned.

“We fought back when they tried to capture us. We drove them off. Someone raided the sports equipment, and they got baseball bats and hockey sticks to the face instead of a bunch of unarmed kids. Maybe all the ones that vaporized…they’re the kids that got grabbed, and the missing adults cut their losses?” She put on her biggest wide eyed, innocent expression. “We don't know what they were after, officer, honest! They just tried to attack us and take prisoners, so we hid the little kids away and defended ourselves however we could!”

Sunset nodded. “Okay, then we need to clean up the weapons and equipment that isn't standard. Store it in like…the trunks of people’s cars and stuff the cops won't search. CHS folks are the victims here, but they're going to want to search the school.” She eyed Trixie. “Trixie, do you think you have enough power to put an illusion on the magic room door? Make it a section of blank wall or another row of lockers or something?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is excellent at concealing magic! They shall never know it is anything but a dusty locked storeroom!”

Miss Luna cleared her throat. “We can probably get away with the super soakers,” she offered. “Celestia and I had been planning a bit of a field day before the start of Spring Break to let the students let off steam after the Friendship Games. Bright, neon colored water guns that could never be mistaken for anything else are permissible on school grounds under special dispensation.” Her eyes shifted to the left. “Which…conveniently…I filed for over a month ago and got approval from the city.“

“Okay,” Sunset said, rubbing her temples. “Then get moving. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and not a lot of time.”

The three girls left, immediately calling out for the various teams, and the exhausted but exuberant students of Canterlot High once more rose to the challenge.

Shining had stepped away a few minutes prior to contact the precinct, and Sunset had taken the time to rest while standing—the prospect of sitting down with her backside full of wood slivers was not a fun one, but like any pony, she knew how to doze while standing. It was harder as a human, but she managed well enough, Twilight still pressed to her side and refusing to move.

At least until Curly and Teddy called her name urgently. “Sunset! We have a problem!”

She jerked upright and looked their way to find them with a figure being escorted between them. He…looked like Cinch and her ilk, that same withered, elfin appearance that was unsettling to see. This one had one sleeve hanging empty, and his clothing—Oh.

It was the same being she and Dash had bested in the hallway. The one who had been removed to the buses…Mr. Silverthorn.

“…basilisk butt hairs,” she cursed, before pulling herself upright and getting the attention of the girls. If this got ugly, she wanted backup. “Bring him here, guys.”

They did, warily, both looking extremely unhappy. He did not resist their handling, and stopped several yards away, his eyes taking in the area for a moment. Sunset looked him over, studying in his withered state, the weak, faint pulse of struggling magic inside him that was threatening to go out, and the defeated way he took in his surroundings while refusing to look at her.

“Silverthorn was your name, wasn't it?”

“I answer to it,” was the wheezy, dry voiced response.

—Tread carefully. They take oaths seriously, and they bind us.—

Sunset filed that away. “You…your leaders are gone. Sombra fled, forfeiting the Challenge between us.”

Silverthorn bowed his head. “This is true. I witnessed the destruction he wrought upon the last of my kin, and your judgment to Itheadair-Anam. I live because the once-Master and the Lord both broke their oaths, giving grounds to sever my ties.”

Rarity made a soft sound of dismay. “Oh my…you…you're an endling, aren't you?”

His eyes went to her. “As you say, Lady. I am what remains of a once mighty people.”

And he was dying. Sunset could feel the whisper of his magic, dark and twisted as it was, guttering like a nearly spent candle, struggling to keep itself alight. It was painful to her, because she understood—ponies feared this state because it was death of the worst sort, as the body shut down painfully from lack of life sustaining thaumic energy.

“Why all of this?” she asked. “If your people were dying out, why throw yourselves into…this? Why die for a demon’s cause?”

“Magic, Lady. Magic has fled the world these past sixteen centuries, and starved its dreams and children both. The Once-Master gave us what we needed in exchange for allegiance.” His expression darkened. “And in the end, it bought us time, but doomed us all. Now only I remain, and we will be forgotten.”

“Because you are dying.”

Once more Silverthorn inclined his head. “It is as you say…but I will pass on my terms, not bound to another’s madness.” He straightened his back and met her eyes at last. “I…only wished to offer…my appreciation for my freedom, and to pay the debt I owe you for the boon you granted, despite the violation to what was your domain. I have little time…but…I wish to pass beyond unbound.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Twilight, and Sunset glanced down. Purple eyes met hers and she could read the emotion in them, the uncertainty and the sadness mingled with a faint hopefulness?

—Are we seriously thinking this?—

Sunset didn't answer the voice, but looked over at her friends, each of them clearly already thinking the same thing. Pinkie was beaming, Rarity was contemplative, Applejack looked pensive, Dash just gave her a nod, and Fluttershy’s smile was both proud and encouraging.

—Guess we are. The princess is really rubbing off on us. Or Sparky is. Hard to tell sometimes.—

Hush. We like it when it's Sparky.

—Back to being Queen of Understatements, we are. We’re going to sleep for a week after this, you know.—

It was a small price to pay if this worked. Sunset drew on her magic, feeling it respond sluggishly as she Ponied-Up one more time. Around her, the girls did the same, and the ambient tingle of energy gave her a bit of a pick-me-up. “I understand the desire to pay back a debt, Silverthorn…I have some I’m still paying myself.” She sighed. “I…have a counter offer. Not one of servitude or slavery, and not a demand upon the dying.” One hand extended. “A choice…to walk a better path before you pass from the world. A chance to change, to grow, and to make something of your freedom, no matter how long or short it is.”

Her eyes held his steadily. “If you choose not to, then I will ask for information instead…but…I really hope you’ll let us show you that there is a better way.”

There was silence, before Silverthorn extended his one remaining hand and clasped hers. Her magic hummed in approval, and this time, it didn't tear through him. Instead, it drew from her friends, from the hope they all shared and their relief at having all survived together, and it fed into the withered being before her in a steady flow. Sunset could feel the darkness that lingered being burned away, purged by Harmony, even as it sought to repair the damage done by ages of neglect, thaumic starvation, and dark magic.

The transformation was a thing of beauty to behold, as the gnarled, overlong fingers with their ragged nails shifted and cracked, flesh filling in and rendering it smooth, with nails Rarity would have been proud of capping the fingers. Likewise, the rest of him changed, gaunt, inhuman features reshaping to be ethereal, otherworldly, and yet…whole. Stringy, brittle hair that had been chopped short grew into silken strands that touched his shoulders like spun silver, and the angry red of his skin softened to a shade more like dark rose.

Shaken, Silverthorn pulled his hand free of hers and stared at it. “What…what have you done?” he rasped, voice stronger but barely more than a whisper.

Sunset could feel the magic in him, singing and bright and whole, more self-sustaining in the way an Equestrian native’s would be, rather than a parasitic state like before. “Offered you the same choice someone once gave to me,” she told him gently. “Harmony does not destroy. It heals the things that are broken…but you have to want to heal. To change. This is your second chance, Silverthorn. I’m hoping you embrace it the way I did.”

He touched his face, felt his hair, and stared at her in disbelief. “You…you offered this chance to each of us,” he said. “You…gave the choice…to the others?”

“We all did,” Applejack interjected. “Even Twilight tried. Yer the only one ta listen.”

His eyes closed briefly, and then he knelt before Sunset. “I would offer my oath to you and your court, Great Lady. You have done for a foe, what my former Lord once promised their court, and framed it as a debt repaid to satisfy my honor.”

Wincing, the unicorn shook her head. “I…don't want slaves or servants, Silverthorn. I would rather have friends and allies.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I will not bind you to me the way Sombra did—it's wrong.”

“Then permit me an ally’s oath, Lady, to learn this different path you offer, in return for what knowledge I possess of my former Master and the things lost to time.”

—It's not a bad thought…he could be useful, and at this point, we may need what he knows for when Sombra comes back. We haven't seen the last of that particular demon. Send him to Chrys…she’s not likely to fall for any doublespeak.—

Sunset considered it, then hummed. “On two conditions.”

“State them.”

“One…should you wish to sever this…tie…you talk to me. I will not bind anyone against their will, Silverthorn. It's wrong. Two, regardless of anything else that occurs, I want your oath that you will never again seek to bring harm to my friends and family.”

He blinked in surprise. “I can agree with both of these, Lady. I swear upon the magic within me and the dreams that made me that I shall never again seek harm for your family and friends. I declare before those of your court that I am your ally, and my knowledge is yours, given freely, in exchange for learning a better way.” There was a pulse of power that touched them both, and Sunset felt it settle into her skin.

“Then…it's just Sunset, Silverthorn. Part of being friends…is being equals.”

He chuckled as he rose to his feet. “As you wish, Sunset Shimmer…though I am not certain I know much of the concept. It is…a human one.”

The former unicorn laughed. “You pick it up quickly, trust me. I had no idea either until about six months ago, but…these humans happen to be particularly persistent. Now, with that in mind, we need to make you disappear for a while. Magic cannot fall into the hands of the government, as I’m sure you already know…so I’m sending you to…another ally, who can make that happen and also teach you a few things to help you…on the start of your journey. She helped me when I first came here.” She held out a hand to Pinkie, and got a notepad and a pen immediately.

Scribbling a note quickly, she signed it, and placed it into an envelope that Pinkie had on offer—it was best not to ask how, and just go with it as being part of Pinkie's weird magic. “Here. There's an old coffee shop on Twenty-First, near the corner where it meets Curb. Go to the counter, and tell the manager you have a letter for his mother. Give him that, and he’ll take you where you need to go.”

Long, slim fingers took it, and Silverthorn stood for a moment, the expression on his not-quite-human face one of contemplation and introspection. “…It is strange…” he murmured. “…I feel…gratitude…without also being beholden.”

Rarity offered a response, “Part of friendship, Mister Silverthorn, is generosity of spirit—giving freely what a friend needs without considering a marker due. It goes in both directions, and is considered a strength, not a weakness.”

Frowning, he mulled that over. “It seems I have a great deal to learn indeed…for I believe this magic has…wrought changes upon me.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “It's possible. The Elements of Harmony seek to heal, and if my friend who researches them is to be believed, their magic repairs both damage and corruption…and they tried to fix your magic to be more self-sustaining than before…more like my people and the beings of magic where I am from. It's…possible it changed other things as well, to help you better grow and survive.”

Dash spoke up, “Maybe we oughta send some Bites with him? So he can top off when he needs to.”

“Already on it!” Pinkie chirped, offering the man a plastic bag full of the wax squares. “For when you get the magic munchies!”

He took them, looking a bit stunned and overwhelmed. Sunset could empathize—she had felt the same way herself in the beginning. “You’ll get used to it,” she told him. “Do you have enough magic to disguise yourself now so no one sees an elf walking down Main Street?”

“Sunset Shimmer, I have more magic now than I have had in twelve hundred years. A glamour is of no consequence.” He bowed to them all. “I take my leave, ladies. Call upon me when you would speak with me.”

A haze warped him, and left behind a nondescript gentleman of middle age with brown skin, and he turned to pass through the gap in the crowd of students that watched him go. Flash was among them, and as the man headed down the street, the young man looked over. “You girls are something else. You make that look easy.”

The former tyrant of Canterlot High shook her mane out. “To be honest with you, Flash…it really is that easy. He has to do the hard part, just like I did. All we did was give him the chance. What he makes of it is up to him.”

“And…I really hope he succeeds.”

Twilight made a noise in her throat as one of the men in black suits approached, and Sunset tightened her grip. She swallowed the faint tremor of fear—she was deliberately trying to avoid notice by the black suited government types for one huge reason and this really wasn't helping that.

“Miss Sunset Shimmer?” the agent asked.

Sunset exhaled a slow breath, her back throbbing as a nice distraction. “Yes, sir.” She paused, then added, “I’m a legally emancipated minor and I speak for myself, so if it's alright with you, I’d like to get the questions out of the way now so I can give into the urgings of certain people to get my flank over to the paramedics to get these splinters out of my back.”

He nodded. “I’m Agent Snow. We just have a few questions for you, to clarify your part in this and what you know about Abacus Cinch and her…cohorts.” His gaze was sympathetic. “I understand you and your friend were her primary targets.”

“…I think Twilight was the one they wanted—I was just too nosy and protective for them. I…might have been the one to start pointing out to Twilight's family that something felt off about it all.” She hesitated. “I…used to attend a school not unlike Crystal Prep, and I’m familiar with the type of environment, so it allowed me to see red flags when Twilight confided in me about stuff at school. I…convinced her to start telling her parents.” Her eyes glanced away. “I think I got on their radar after I had to get my Vice Principal to drive me there for an emergency—Twilight’s stuff was vandalized, and someone stole her anxiety medication. I had a dose in my bike for when she and I were out—in case of emergencies, you know? At the time, Mrs. Velvet, Mr. Night, Cadence and Shining were over an hour away looking at wedding venues, so I was the one close enough and the only one her friend Indigo could call.”

“And they took notice of this?”

Her expression grew hard. “That's an understatement. I had to bully my way past the nurse, who was threatening Indigo and also threatened me. I gave Twilight her medication and stayed with her until her parents arrived. After that, Cinch spent the next three weeks desperate to find out who I was. She tried to get my name herself, but I didn't want to give it to her, so then she started having students try and spy on us here, and follow me home, and even started harassing Principal Celestia for the information. It…was creepy, and I told Twilight’s parents, because I thought maybe their lawyers could use it.” She winced when she moved wrong and it pulled at the wounds on her back. “I think that's why they tried to eliminate me—whatever they were up to, I think they maybe thought I knew more than I did? Lucky for me, I’m a lot tougher than I look.”

The man wrote something in his notebook. “Do you remember much of what happened today?”

“Bits and pieces, sir. Twilight wasn't supposed to be here, but…she was, and they were holding her against her will…she’s got bruises, Agent Snow, and Indigo has a black eye from fighting them. I tried to get to her, but there was an incident with a CPA teacher and then Principal Cinch was there… and we had to go on stage. I…went to shake the other Captain’s hand, and…” A shudder wracked her. “I don't know what she hit me with—a taser maybe? I think it was broken, cuz it burned her. She…caught fire? I think? I blacked out after that. Woke up a mess in a closet, and then went to find my friends. I…don't remember what happened to win me these splinters, or anything else that happened when I blacked out. I just know that I missed pretty much most of what happened, and I’m glad all my friends are safe.”

Agent Snow nodded, and asked for her personal details: full name, address, phone number, before holding out his card. “Thank you for being so helpful and honest with me, young lady. If you think of anything else, please contact me, and if we have any follow up questions, we’ll be contacting you.” He pointed her towards the line of ambulances already seeing to various injuries. “I agree with your friends though—you need to get looked at. If you were tazed, especially by a faulty device, you need medical attention to rule out long term damage.”

“That's the plan,” she said tiredly. “Good luck, Agent…if I remember anything else, I’ll call.” She nudged her new attachment. “C’mon, Sparky. Let’s go see them about pulling the splinters out of my butt so I can sit down.”

So far, Operation Damage Control was going smoothly.

Author's Note

Not much to say here. Sorry about the delay. I've got the flu, and its thrown my whole week. Happy birthday to me, eh?

The remaining chapters will be going up in the next few days, as a Christmas present, provided I'm less dead.