After their encounter with The Hoof ninjas, Monochrome and Gilda had made their way back to Monochrome's hideout inside an abandoned house just outside Baltimare's industrial district.

Gilda slides the metal mask off of her face, adjusts her eye patch and checks her body for injuries. She steps over to a grimy window and looks out at the smokestacks of a factory that processes raw iron ore into steel things, ranging from wagon axles, wheel spokes and rims, to I beams and rivets used in building construction.

The griffon clacks her beak in thought. She, like every other mercenary in the business knew there were three groups, unless you were working for them, you stayed away from their dealings. The royal guards, the shadow guard and The Hoof. She had interfered in The Hoof's business in a big way and once their higher ups got word, which would be very soon, she'd have death squads hunting her and there would be no crook, cranny, crack or hole deep enough or dark enough that they wouldn't eventually find her. As she looked out the window, she crooked her good eye towards the sepia tone gray-coated unicorn, the darker gray mane and tail, her gaze was drawn to his cutie mark, which to any other creature, would have appeared as a darker gray smudge, but to her sharp eyes, could tell was an unrolled parchment and quill.

Monochrome, who had shed his fedora and damaged trench coat, was currently bandaging up the injuries he had acquired in his fight with the Hoof ninjas. While casting a few rudimentary healing spells, he cast a glance up at Gilda. "It seems you know who those clowns in red were. So I'll come out and ask, no dodging the question or any back and forth banter, or I'll just leave your sorry carcass on the police's doorstep, trussed up like a traditional Hearth's Warming Eve dinner. You know who they are?"

Gilda sighed as she turned to face Monochrome. Her mind wandered for a moment on whether or not she should take him down for good, it would be easy enough to do, she could be on top of him before he could act, then a swipe of her talons across his throat and he'd be no more. Of course that would be suicide, she knew from her contacts that he was the princesses thief-taker general and if she killed him, the entirety of the royal guard and shadow guard would come crashing down on her. They would try and taker her in alive, at least guard would, she had never heard of the shadow guard killing somecreature, of course if they did, there wouldn't be wouldn't anyone, pony or otherwise who would have been able to tell the tale. She blew the air in her lungs out in a sigh. "Yes."

"What are they called?"

"The Hoof."

Monochrome cocked his head slightly. "But they're little more than a Neighponese myth. Something that mares and stallions tell their foals to make them behave or 'the bogeyponies will come out of the dark and snatch them away'."

Gilda let the corners of her beak turn up slightly. "There are many things out there that myths. The Pony of Shadows, Seaquestria, ponies and a city made of crystals, the Mi Amore family, fairy ponies, bushwoolies, the furless biped with a blonde mane that wielded a necklace containing a rainbow, Dream Valley, a magic eating demon centaur, a mad god who could warp reality at will. Just because something's a myth doesn't mean it isn't true. Nightmare moon, Luna and the Elements of Harmony were just myths for Tartarus' sake, but here we are in the second year of the reign of the sisters reunited. Think about what stories in our time that are starting to circulate. Two of the Element Bearers murdered, one in her own library. A third bearer savagely attacked, disfigured and left in a coma. A unicorn dressed as the specter of death, carrying boxes that spit fire and thunder, which leaves her victims dead with strange puncture wounds and weird brass tubes on the ground. A clown-themed mass murderer. In a thousand years don't you think those stories will become myths?"

"True enough.", Monochrome replied with a sigh. "Did you ever work for them?"

"Nothing I could ever prove." Gilda blew out a sigh.

As Monochrome went to ask another question, the sound of hooves clip-clopping outside the door drew both his and Gilda's attention.

"Expecting company?", Gilda asked as she slipped her metal mask over her face and drew her sword.

Monochrome tied his dark bandanna over his snout and readied his hoof crossbow. "No. I chose this place because of it's proximity to the industrial and warehouse districts. Pizza places won't even deliver out here."

Gilda and Monochrome readied themselves as the sound of hooves stopped. They readied themselves as the shadow of hooves could be seen under the edge of the door shuffling. Monochrome crouched low as he aimed the hoof crossbow about where the shoulder and wither of a pony should be as Gilda crept to the side of the door and tentatively reached out a talon to the handle.

As Monochrome wrapped a fetlock through the hoof guard of the crossbow, Gilda wrapped her talons around the handle. A blue flash of light momentarily blinded them. Monochrome loosed the crossbow bolt in where he hoped he hit he was aiming as Gilda swung her sword in a downward arc. Gilda snarled a curse as she felt her sword deflect off of something, quickly recovering, she swung the blade horizontally, only for the weapon to stop as something powerful grabbed it. Still disoriented from the flash, Monochrome quickly went to reload his hoof crossbow, only to have the weapon snatched from his grasp. Firing off a few blasts of magic at the blurry blob in his vision, he sprinted across the room towards his trench coat where he knew the weighted horse shoe lay in one of the pockets. A tingle of magic surrounded his body, freezing him place. This is it! This is where I die! He quickly wondered if the spirits diamond dogs he killed in the war would be waiting for him in the afterlife.

Once Gilda's and Monochrome's vision cleared, they were stunned to see Luna standing there, the griffon's sword and the stallion's body caught in dark blue auras. The night princess wore a small, smug grin. "What dost we have here? Mine thief-taker general cavorting with a known sell sword and both attack We upon entry?"

Luna released her magic on Gilda's sword and Monochrome's body. Almost immediately Gilda tensed up. "Relax young griffon. If We had desired thou deceased, thou wouldst have never been given the chance to prove thyself."

Monochrome knelt before Luna. "Princess, to what honor do we owe your presence here?"

Luna turned to the door and opened it with her magic. "Thou two, come along with much haste. An ancient enemy once thought long destroyed hast revealed its head again."

Monochrome quickly gathered up his things as Gilda, with an elaborate flourish, returned her sword to its scabbard on her back. Both followed Luna out of the house to where a pegasus chariot was waiting in a nearby alley.

After the three made their way onto the awaiting chariot, Luna gave a nod to the two pegasi clad in black lacquered armor. Luna lit her horn and black clouds, heavy with rain quickly manifested over the city of Baltimare. Within moments sheets of heavy rain fell over the city. All three occupants of the chariot and the two pegasi guards pulling it would have been soaked if it weren't the barely visible shimmering sphere surrounding them.

***

Stygian, still disguised as Fleur dis Lis, walked into cavern deep under Canterlot. The walls were covered with multicolored gem formations. Sitting around the walls of the cavern were dozens of creatures wearing red robes, strange esoteric symbols were painted across their bodies in dark ink. Low throaty chanting echoed off the walls.

Dropping the disguise, Stygian walked over to a small table that held a hoof mirror and a small shard of another mirror. Picking up the mirror in one hoof, he picked the the shard in the other. Repeatedly chanting words in a long dead language that seemed to rob the very air of its warmth, he forced the shard into the hoof mirror. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen, then the shadows started to lengthen as all visible light in the cavern drained into the mirror the cavern was filled with unnatural darkness.

Stygian released the mirror from his grasped and calmly watched as it levitated in the air. Light flashed and shimmered across the surface of the mirror. Three women appeared in the mirror, the first had golden blonde hair in spooling curls, the second had straight jet back hair in a short bobbed cut, the third had rusty red hair pulled back in a pony tail, all three women had tannish-pink skin.

"Hiya boss!", the second woman said in a bubbly tone as she waved, "Long time no see!" The first woman gave her a hard jab with her elbow.

"Aria, Sonata, Adagio, drop those ridiculous disguises. There's no need to conceal yourselves in my presence.", Stygian said.

Adagio, Aria and Sonata glanced at each other, then across their shoulders. "We...uh...have a senator who we're in the process of...manipulating into starting another world war.", Adagio said.

Stygian sighed and grumbled under his breath. "Are they restrained?"

Adagio, Aria and Sonata nodded.

"Then drop your disguises and after we are done here, dispose of them."

The image shimmered as Adagio, Aria and Sonata transformed into their siren forms.

"For what reassssson did you contact ussss, masssster?", Adagio hissed around her fangs.

"First let me apologize to you, my loyal sirens. It was not my intentions to leave you stranded stranded in that universe for nearly fifteen centuries. I would have brought you back sooner if both Starswirl and Clover had not taken their secrets to their graves.", Stygian said, "But fear not, I finally found you. In a fortnight the barriers between our universes will be the weakest they've been for thirty moons. Though a mysterious pony may have smashed the mirror that served as the portal entrance on our side, the entrance on your side should still be intact. Be there when the confluence happens and I can guarantee you can have your vengeance not only against Equestria, but also against those who drove you from your home. Long live the Hoof!"

"Long live the Hoof!", the three sirens replied as the image of Stygian faded from the mirror on their side. They looked over their shoulders to the senator was lying on the bed, naked, arms and legs tied to the four bedposts and a ball gag shoved in his mouth who was staring wide-eyed at them. The three siren sisters swam-flew across the room beside the bed.

Garbled and muffled noises came from around the ball gag. Adagio gently ran her hoof-fin across his face and under his chin. "I know you won't ssssssay anything.", she gently hissed. Grabbing the half-empty bottle of wine from the night stand by the neck, she shattered it and jammed the broken end into his neck. "But I need ssssssome assssssuranssssssssessssss that you'll be ssssssssssilent." She drug the broken neck of the bottle through the neck of the senator with wet squelching sounds, withdrew it and tossed the broken glass on the bed by his body. "Sssssonata! Get some full bottles of whisssskey."

"Oooo! Goodie goodie goodie!" Sonata clapped her fin-hooves together quickly and swim-flew across the room quickly towards the door.

"Not to drink, only to burn the body."

"Aw!" Sonata stopped at the door and looked over at her sister, giving her the sad puppy eyes.

Adagio rolled her eyes. "Fine! You can get three bottlessss of wine, one for each of usssss."

Sonata squeed as she swam-flew out of the door.

Adagio shook her head and grumbled under her breath, "I ssssswear I sssspoil her too much." She looked over to Aria and said, "Get a pack of ssssssigarettessssss and a box of matchesssss."

Adagio, Aria and Sonata stood in a clump trees, once again in their human disguises, watching as black smoke poured up from the upstairs windows of Senator Blackman's mansion as they swilled expensive wine straight from the bottle. Adagio downed the last few swallows of win and tossed the empty bottle over her shoulder. "Come on girls, we need to get to Canter in fourteen days." Aria and Sonata tossed their bottles away and followed their sister.

Sonata pulled out a phone from her pocket and started playing flappy bird.

"You idiot!", Adagio snarled as she snatched the phone from her sister. "I told you to throw your phone on the bed with the body! They can track this!", she barked as she tapped Sonata on the forehead with the phone and then tossed it into a nearby creek.

"Do you know how hard it was to find a phone that still had flappy bird on it?", Sonata asked with a sniffle, "You're mean Addy."

Adagio growled in annoyance.

"Cheer up Sonata.", Aria said pulling out a was of cash, "I'll get you some tacos from the next truck we come across."

"Whee! Tacoooooooos!", Sonata cheered as she skipped alongside her sisters.

Adagio covered her face with both hands and grumbled to herself, "I swear if you two keep this up, when we get back to Equestria, I'm going to turn the both of you into fish sticks."

***

Hailey Gordon moved through the back streets of Canter, followed by a team of men wearing heavy body armor, carrying sub-machine guns and shotguns, as she followed the readings on a small device held in her palm. Stopping at the entrance of an alleyway, she made sure the various charms for protection were secured around her neck, wrists and ankles. Giving a grunt of satisfaction, she reached inside her jacket with her right hand and pulled out a taser, reaching in the jacket pocket with her left, she pulled out her black medallion, wrapped the cord around her fingers a few times and checked the black quartz crystal.

Hailey cued up the lapel mic on her radio and whispered into it, "Alright, make sure you're loaded with rubber bullets and beanbags. We probably have a civvie with an artifact that they don't realize how dangerous it is. Stay behind me and don't get itchy on those triggers. I want to be in and out in before the locals have a chance to rubberneck, I don't want a repeat of what happened in Windsor three years ago."

Hailey stepped into the alleyway, the heavily armored team following behind her closely. Sitting on the ground against dumpster was a young woman, filthy, ratty clothes clung to her thin frame, dark brown hair, filthy and matted, hung over her unwashed face, in her hands, she ran thin fingers over an egg-shaped stone, the size of a softball, that had odd swirling patterns carved into it.

Hailey cleared her throat. "Ma'am, you're in possession of a dangerous artifact. I need you to lay it on the ground and step away from it."

The woman sprang up to her feet, eyes full of regret, fear and a twinge of madness. "S-s-st-stay-stay back! I-I don't want to hurt anyone. J-just leave me alone."

Hailey sighed, she had seen it too many times, someone finds a magical artifact, figures how to use, but doesn't realize how dangerous it can be without the proper training until it's too late and it has driven them into madness. She raised the black medallion in her left hand and said, "Ma'am, I can assure you that no one will be harmed. Just put the rock on the ground and step away from it."

A crazed look came across the young woman's face and she raised the rock in her hand. "N-no! You want it for yourself! Y-you've come here to steal it! It came to me!" A greenish light erupted from the rock. Hailey felt the pressure against the various charms that warded her and her team from magical attacks, the medallion in her hand lit up, countering the magic from the rock.

After the greenish light faded, the young woman stared with a frightened look on her face and started stepping backwards. She yelped in shock and pain as two metal prongs sunk into the meat of her stomach. Her body went stiff as ten thousand volts of electricity coursed through her body and fell onto the ground, dropping the rock.

The heavily armored and armed team rushed over to secure the downed young woman as one of them kicked the rock over to Hailey, who stopped it with the bottom of her shoe. As the young woman was cuffed and gagged, a retrieval team hurried into the alley to photograph the rock and transfer it into a silver-lined cylinder. A black windowless van pulled up and the doors on the back were thrown open. Both teams, the cuffed and gagged young woman and the now contained rock were quickly ushered into the van.

That night Hailey sat in the mobile command going over the paperwork involving the young woman from earlier today. A quick facial recognition and fingerprint scan had revealed that her name was Shannon Kent, back in high school she showed a promising future, high grades, a wunderkind when it came to plants, definitely a future as either a florist or a botanist. Nothing out of the ordinary, except she always seemed to miss picture day. That was until she went missing her junior year. Apparently that was when she found the artifact. Though none of the locals seemed to have any memories of her, cursory checks of local security cameras from the past few days had shown she had stolen food from stores and vendors. A physical examination had shown she had contracted a couple of STIs, nothing that a round of strong antibiotics couldn't handle, it was evidence that she probably sold her body on occasion for a warm place to sleep or for some money.

The young woman had shown signs of severe psychological degradation from obviously using the artifact for too long and had quickly become agitated and aggressive, and had to be sedated. Fortunately one of the side effects of the drugs was mild amnesia, so the last twenty-four hours would be little more than a foggy blur, unfortunately there was no quick cure for the long term mental damage the artifact had done. A local local psychic was called in to further muddle her memories. Hailey had remembered her from her days when she still lived across town and attended the local preparatory academy. The young woman, who had stayed on the CIA's list of potential assets, had inherited a small fortune when her parents died and had used the money to open an animal sanctuary.

After Shannon had her memories muddled with, a couple of agents disguised as police rushed her to a hospital several towns to the north, claiming that she was the victim of a human trafficking ring. It was simple enough to forge the paperwork and ensure that a couple of low lives no one would miss were tossed in the. Any blood, pelvic and psychological examinations conducted by the hospital staff would help with the cover story, they might even prove mental trauma if she started ranting about a magical stone. In a couple of days the state police would contact her family here to tell them of their long lost daughter.

Hailey sighed. Another dangerous magical artifact was sealed away. Though there was nothing that could be done about countries that wanted to take people who had natural abilities and affinities for magic, there had been several clandestine meetings over the last century between the world powers to not openly use talented individuals, lest there would be a new arms race to abduct various gifted individuals and turn them into living, breathing nuclear bombs.

Hailey chuckled to herself at that last thought as she brushed her fingers across the violet streak in her hair. She turned her attention to the black medallion and slipped on a jeweler's monocle to ensure it hadn't suffered any damage in the recent encounter. The teletype going off caught her attention. Looking up, she pulled the jeweler's monocle off and took the paper from the machine. It contained the images of three woman, along with the list of crimes they were wanted for and the header which read 'capture or kill'. This can't be right. Some of these charges are over a hundred years old.

Hailey reached over to her laptop and opened it. She clicked on the video chat program. A small window popped up holding a blurry, shadowed silhouette.

"Good evening age--"

"Cut the crap!", Hailey interrupted, waving the paper in front of the camera, "Is this some kind of a joke?! Did we get hacked?! There's no way these three women could be responsible for all of this! Some of these accusations are over a hundred years old, for fuck's sake!" She quailed slightly as she could suddenly feel her superior's glare.

Hailey's eyes went wide as several windows popped containing images containing the same three women, their hair colors, hair styles, skin color and styles of clothes were different in each. Some of the images were color photos, others were black and white, others were paintings. The last one made her pause, those three women were depicted in an ancient woodcutting with three horse-fish hybrids floating above them.

"I assure agent that this is very serious. These three women are highly dangerous, immortal magical creatures. We've been tracking them since the cold war, but every time we get close to capturing or killing them, they manage give us the slip, often times killing or maiming agents. This afternoon while you were in Canter tracking down that artifact, they were involved in the assassination of a senator.", the silhouetted figure said, "Our sensors had detected a massive inter-dimensional magical surge and witnesses placed them in the area shortly after the reports of Senator Blackman's house was burned."

Another window popped up showing the charred remains of the senator.

Hailey felt sick at the sight of the charred body. She quickly turned her gaze back to the paper containing the three women along with the long laundry list of charges. Two names near the bottom caught her attention, 'Archduke Franz Ferdinand' and 'Tzar Nicolas Romanov II'. How old are these three? She turned her attention back to the computer screen.

"That was halfway across the country in rural California. Surely they're still in the state.", Hailey replied.

"Unfortunately no. An hour after they killed the senator, they were spotted on a security camera boarding a bus that was headed for Houston. Forty minutes after the bus left the station, the GPS tracking system was disabled. The passengers and driver were found dropped off in the Utah desert."

"So what does this have to do with me and Canter?"

"The same massive surge of inter-dimensional magic that was detected in California had the same signature that is detected every thirty months in Canter."

"Which means they're trying to get home. Don't worry director, I'll catch 'em. Agent Gordon out."

At an undisclosed location a woman with silvery-grey hair that had a few blonde streaks, sat behind a desk. "Good luck and godspeed Agent Gordon." She closed the chat on her computer. Flipping on the lamp on her desk, the light illuminated the room. On her cheek was a pair of old fang scars. She absentmindedly thumbed a gold heart-shaped locket that hung from a gold chain around her neck, on her desk as she looked over the files about the sirens. "Don't worry my little ponies. Though it has been a long time since I've seen you, I'm still looking out for you all." Her memories went back to her childhood friends, Majesty, Firefly and Gusty.

***

Gilda was sitting in a guest room in Canterlot Castle when Celestia walked in carrying a stack of files.

Celestia placed the files on a nearby table, gestured to a chair on the other side for Gilda to sit, sat down herself and opened the files. "These are all the known times you have violated the treaties between Equestria and Griffonia."

Gilda looked down at the opened files. "Honestly, I thought they would be a lot thicker. I'm guessing that you're going to inform me that I can expect a Griffonian extradition force is right outside waiting to drag me off in chains."

"No.", Celestia said, which caused Gilda to quirk and eyebrow. "I'm asking you to work for the Equestrian crown to help take down a threat to both of our countries." She slid a smaller file across the table and opened it, revealing the picture of a young griffon chick. "Our intelligence knows that you've been sending most of the bits you've been making to your younger brother. My sister and brothers can move him to any part of Equestria that you so choose."

Gilda thought on the offer. On the one talon Griffonstone was the capitol of Griffonia and currently Gruff, one of the last surviving members of King Guto's court, refusing any title other than Grandpa, but he was aging and it was unclear how much longer he'd live, given his advance age and decaying health. Outside the kingdom, most creatures believed what brought Griffonia down was the attack of the Arimaspi. In reality the kingdom had been in decline for at least two hundred years, plagued by incompetent leaders and duchies and lords seceding from the council of nobles and turning the once powerful nation into a mishmash of paranoid city-states constantly on the verge of civil war, and when the nightmare creature attacked, it was the final nail in the coffin for the power that was Griffonia. Now instead of the griffon nation being a military and political powerhouse, exceeded only by Equestria, the other nations called Griffonia the plucked eagle.

Celestia sat in silence as Gilda thought out her choices. "Very well.", Gilda finally spoke up, "You can move Gallus here to Equestria. I want him to live in Cloudsdale in the Griffon District. But if I find out you're using him as a hostage to make me play nice, it will your neck that will taste the edge of my sword and I will put to the test the beliefs of alicorn endurance and immortality."

Celestia allowed a neutral smile spread on her lips, but internally she scowled at the threat. There had been a time many centuries past when she, her sister and her brothers, during the unification wars, when they would have put entire swaths of a city-state or even the countryside to the blade and torch for less, but this was not those long centuries ago and she had learned that the carrot had more value that the stick in most situations. "Agreed. By the end of the moon, we shall have him moved to the Griffon District of Cloudsdale. And worry not, he shall have all the rights and privileges of any other citizen of Equestria." She gathered up the files, stood up and turned to the door. "I bid you good day and feel free to partake in any of the services of the castle staff."

Just like any other citizen? Feh! Gilda had seen firsttalon how xenophobic the ponies of Equestria could be. The pegasi of Cloudsdale would view Gallus as a second-class citizen, even if the laws set down by the princesses and the elected officials of each of the allied pony city-states forbade discrimination against non-ponies from seeking jobs, an education or even their own places to live. Of course if something happened to her, she knew that Gallus wouldn't be shoved into a forced labor camp for the debts he would accrue just to survive, or have to join a gang that sold salts that kept many of their fellow griffons chained in a cycle of addiction.

Celstia closed the door to Gilda's room and walked down the hallway towards the room Sunset Shimmer was staying in. Gilda has responded as well as she thought and was glad the hen had agreed to a more amenable. But dealing with Sunset would be much more difficult. Her former student was just as stubborn now as she was all those years ago. Though she was loath to admit it, Sunset was as stubborn and headstrong as she is, even all of her students were stubborn and headstrong, Twilight included. Since her returning, had shown herself to be a soldier who felt more at home fighting a war and didn't know how to turn off. She guessed that whatever countries on the other side of the portal had wanted brutal killers to fight their wars, then tossed them away when they were no longer of any use. Part of her burned at that thought.

Celestia mused on how she would convince Sunset to work for the crown. 'Celestia always has a plan and at least a dozen backup plans.', her political rivals and allies always said. If they knew how many times she had managed to slip by on the skin of her dock, or how many times she lucked out by having the solution fall right in her hooves, or allowed the fact that alicorns aren't touched by the ravages of age and disease to let the natural procession of time to rob those who would oppose her of their senses, something she had done to that old ram, whom had proclaimed himself the emperor of Equestria, or had it been still called, the Kingdoms of Dream Valley and Tamberlon, thousands of years ago. Of course she, Bulwark, Luna and Midnight had gotten lucky back then too. A champion had arrived, one now that none other than herself, her sister and her brothers remember the exact details of and her name. Of course they had been young at that time, barely adolescences even by normal pony standards.

Celestia took a breath, held it for a second, then slowly let it out. She was letting her mind wander off-topic. She paused outside of Sunset's door. She heard her former student grunting in exertion, but these were not the sounds of sexual ministrations, they were sounds she had heard from many times from the training grounds when Shining Armor had put those under his command through in the exercise yards. Her High-Captain was a skilled, competent and compassionate leader who knew how to get the best out of all under him. As were all members of the Twilight family were, going back to their clan founder, Twilight Twinkle, and every mare bore the name Twilight as the family surname as part of their name to this very day. Maybe it was those qualities that drew him to marry Twilight Aurora, though she was never a very comely mare.

Celestia mentally chided herself. Midnight didn't choose whom he married in the same manner as she did, he valued compassion, joy and inner-beauty. Matters that spoke to him about the condition of a pony's soul and heart, everything else to him was secondary conditions...at best. Bulwark chose those who had qualities of leadership, strength and moral fiber, much like she did. Luna had always been drawn to those who wore their hearts on their foreleg, those who sought beauty in all things, those who were intrigued in all life's mysteries. And if Celestia was honest with herself, she had always been jealous of Luna for that, something that she shouldn't have been, something that she allowed to force the wedge between herself and her siblings, something that in her own pride and vanity had allowed to erode a chasm, and it had been her own damned pride and foolish vanity that blinded her to her own sister's struggles with her inner demons.

Celestia forced her mind back on-topic. It did neither herself nor anypony any good to wallow in the past, she needed to focus on the topic at hoof. Sunset would be tough to bend to her will, but she didn't want some loyal lapdog who would leap on command, she had plenty of nobles that could play that role. Many of the news papers and broadcasts had painted Sunset, or as she referred to herself in her alternate persona, Bacon-head, as a mad dog killer, but all of those who had been held as hostages or taken as a prisoner and abused had publicly stated that she had saved their lives and thanked her. It was true, Sunset had never caused harm to those who had been held against their will and the one time she didn't was because some mobster had rigged a bunch of bystanders with magical explosive devices and set them off. Speaking of which, Sunset had retrieved one of them when she hit that mobster's house. Something that Celestia wished Fluttershy hadn't gotten mixed up in, but it was too late now.

But Fluttershy was a different topic, especially her odd outfit that made her look like a thestral. That would create for her a political headache, considering that the thestrals were shy and standoffish concerning their other pony cousins. But she was mused that she would have been the same if she had been openly persecuted for centuries, being accused for two hundred years for allying with Nightmare Moon. True, only a hooffull had allied with the nightmare, ponies were quick to turn a blind eye that nearly half of the unicorn guards had turned traitor, it reminded her that ponies, who were supposed to be more evolved and intelligent, when scared and angry, would quickly revert back to to the old cavepony instincts. She wondered how the thestrals would respond to a pegasus masquerading as one of their number would respond. Would they demand justice? Would they remain sequestered in their settlements in the mountains and deep forests? She was letting her mind get off-topic again. Sunset was the primary focus right now.

Celestia reached a hoof towards the doorknob as she mused on what to do. Offer a letter of marquis? Sunset wasn't a bounty hunter, she only went after the worst of the worst, meeting out punishment with lethal results, all the while wearing a disguise that made her look like death himself was coming for their souls. Blackmail wouldn't work on Sunset, in fact it would probably make her go rogue. Maybe the stick and the carrot would work. But should she use more stick or more carrot. As her political opponents always said, 'Celestia always has a plan and at least a dozen backup plans.', but she didn't have a plan, but she would do what she would always do, improvise...and scrape by, on the skin of her dock.

Opening the door, Celestia trotted in, taking not of Sunset doing three-legged push-ups in the middle of the floor. "Good morning, Sunset.", she said in her best faux-cheerful tone.

Sunset, without looking up from the floor, grunted a half-greeting, without breaking her reps.

Celestia walked over to a chair at the end of a small table and watched her former student doing her workout routine. "Sunset, how much do you work out each day?"

"Three sets of one hundred one-armed...uh...three-legged push-ups on each foreleg. Six sets of fifty diamond cutter push-ups. Six sets of fifty sit-ups, two sets of one hundred and fifty crunches and a five mile run in twenty minutes, when I can."

"Why keep up such an intensive work-out routine?"

"When folks are tryin' to kill you, it doesn't matter if you're soft and plushy, or fit and trim. Plus, it helps to keep you endurance up. Maybe you should try it some time to burn off some of that cake you like so much."

Celestia scowled. "I don't eat that much cake and I'll have you know that I eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables."

Sunset paused her push-ups long enough to switch forelegs and glace over at the solar princess with a malicious grin. "Chocolate doesn't count as a salad."

Damn! Her tongue is a sharp now as it was all those years ago. Maybe sharper. Celestia tittered at the verbal jab and poked at her belly a bit. "I may eat more sweets than I should, but I can guarantee that I have more muscle than you."

"Yeah, but your mouth and foreleg you use to eat doesn't count."

"Okay, I'll admit I walked right into that one. But when you are more than twice as tall as nearly all of your subjects and weigh three times as much as the heaviest earth pony, it takes a lot of food to keep your body running."

"Fair enough."

Celestia taped a hoof to her chin. "Did you learn that workout routine from those...what were they called? Ah, yes! Marines?"

"Mhm. Other than the war, my time in the corps was the best time of my life. They gave me a purpose, gave me discipline, gave me the tools I needed."

"But don't they discard other marines when they have no more use for them?"

Sunset stopped her push-ups, rose to all four hooves and turned to face Celestia. "It's not quite that simple. They have plenty of programs to help veterans, but too many times a politician has a pet project and they don't want to raise taxes, so they divert funds away from other things, like the VA."

"VA?"

"Veteran's affairs. It was a program set up over a hundred years ago to help veterans, both wartime and peace-time, to get the medical care, housing and other things they need."

"So they divert the funds away from the veteran's affairs, among other things and they leave the ones most vulnerable to rot?"

A quick sad expression passed across Sunset's face. "Pretty much. There are too many people, whether they served in the military or are just civilians, who get hung out to dry."

"I see. So the country you lived in, was it one of the poorest countries?"

Sunset fetched a towel in her magic to wipe her face. "No, in fact it was one of the richest countries, if not the richest country."

"But isn't it the duty of all wealthy countries to ensure that all of their citizens have everything they need? Jobs, education, security, safety, freedom, healthcare? And if said citizens fall on hard times, welfare and food programs, work programs, shelters where they can at least sleep in safety? If a government allows even one foal to go hungry when they have the power to do so, it deserves to fall."

Sunset tossed the now filthy towel into a nearby hamper. "Every time someone brings even one of that argument, most of the politicians and their talking head pundits all shout 'socialism', 'communism', or some other ism buzz word and accuse them of being un-American."

"A-mare-ican?"

"America was the name of the country I was in."

"Couldn't the people appeal to their princess or prince for help? Or do they have a king or queen?"

Sunset laughed at that. "The Unites States of America don't have any kind of nobility. In fact nearly one hundred and fifty years ago they threw off rule of the British crown in a big war. They have elections every four years to determine who is president, members of congress and governors, all the way down to the local leaders."

"Sounds like pure chaos."

"Did somepony say chaos?", the disembodied voice of Discord said in Celestia's head.

Celestia gave an annoyed grumble. "Not now you old draconequss."

"It is a controlled chaos.", Sunset replied.

"Aw poo!", the disembodied voice of Discord replied, "If it's not real chaos, I'm out."

Celestia was glad that Discord directed his mind to wander elsewhere, but she knew he'd be back eventually when he got bored. "So every four years they have an election to choose their leaders. So can any creature sit in leadership as long as they're elected? Doesn't that mean they could wind up being an elected king or queen?"

"Presidents can only serve two terms max, members of congress can serve as long as the can get reelected and members of the supreme court are appointed to their seat and can serve for life, or until they step down. Depending of the state, county and/or city, governors, mayors and council members can only serve a few terms." Sunset took a seat across from Celestia. "But you didn't come here to talk about politics. So what do you want of me?"

"With your return and those weapons you've brought or made, it's obvious that this world is about to change very quickly and I'd like to ensure that our nation has what it needs to defend my little ponies. It's not a matter of if, but when others figure out how to make the.", Celestia said. When Sunset opened her mouth to reply, the solar princess interjected, "I know that I helped you to make those weapons. The genie's out of the lamp on that one and it can never be put back.", she shook her head and gave a weary sigh, "Just another pile of sins on top of the mountain I have already accrued that I shall have to answer for one day."

"So what exactly do you want from me?"

"Train myself, Luna, and a select members of the royal guard and the military how to properly use them. You can reject me if you want, but that means that I can no longer turn a blind eye to your actions and will have to take you into custody. And I can ensure you that not only will you be charged with multiple accounts of terrorism and mass murder, and you hang for it. However...do as I ask and then I'll allow you to continue on your one mare war on the worst that society. There is an ancient threat that has reared its head once again and I'm concerned that certain pony long thought dead might still be alive. If he is, then our troubles are just beginning."

Sunset thought it over for a moment. "How fucked is everything?"

Celestia scowled at Sunset's casual vulgarity. Had her former student always had this fowl of a mouth, or had her time in the other world colored her language? "Very. Open warfare in the streets, cities burning, mass cullings, and not just here in Equestria, but in every neighboring country and even ones far away."

"So we're talking end of the world. Rivers running red with blood. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.", Sunset replied, "And my only options are a noose or a leash around my neck?" She rubbed her chin. "Fuck it. I'm probably destined to die in a war whether it's among ponies or humans. Maybe I can take a few of the bastards with me. I train you, your sister and a group of your elite soldiers...with one condition."

"Name it."

"I fight this war on my own terms, no orders from your crippled student or any of your general, captains or spies, only relevant information on the targets, names, locations straight from you. And no fancy titles."

"Deal." Celestia held out a hoof and Sunset clopped it. "Though that's technically two conditions."

Sunset glared at Celestia, who in turn only gave back a neutral smile. "I bid you adieu, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset watched as the solar princess and her former teacher walked out the door, then blew out a sigh.

Celestia walked through the hallway as she pondered Fluttershy. She decided to allow Luna to handle it, since the pegasus had decided to disguise herself as a thestral and they responded better to Luna than herself.

***

Over the next fourteen days an amber unicorn trained the two princesses, a lavender unicorn, and several members of the royal guard and Equestrian military on how to use various firearms and the tactics to maximize their effectiveness with them.

An orange unicorn stallion worked feverishly to create enough new firearms and ammunition to upgrade the royal guards and Equestrian military.

A young woman with a purple stripe in her dark hair constantly debriefed fellow agents and operatives under her command about the upcoming threat.

Three sirens disguised as young women traveled across the country towards the city of Canter, sometimes hitchhiking, sometimes stealing cars that still had the key in their ignition.

An ancient enemy watched from the shadows, awaiting the confluence between universes.

In the far north, an ancient unicorn stallion that slumbered within a glacier stirred, sensing that his time of return was nearing.

***

THE DAY OF THE CONFLUENCE

In the early morning hours as the sky to the east just started turning pink, indicating that the sun was just below the horizon awaiting to show itself to the world, Stygian, alongside dozens of his hoof mystics, prepared a complex ritual, along with a shard of the mirror portal, to force open for a moment a rift between two universes.

As the morning sun blazed overhead, Celestia stepped up on a podium in a field at the base of the Canterhorn. Behind her stood two dozen royal guards and soldiers, each armed with new rifles mounted onto rigs on their bodies. Hundreds of cameras, microphones and tape recorders were aimed at her. "Good morning to all my little ponies across Equestria and to all creatures beyond." The gathered reporters started to murmur among themselves and she held up a hoof to silence them. "Please hold all questions and comments until after the demonstration." She slipped on a pair of noise cancelling ear protectors. "Please use the hearing protection that is passed out to or stand behind the sound suppressing shields as these new weapons can be loud." The gathered reporters either placed the protection that was passed out to them on their ears or stood behind shimmering transparent shields.

Ponies placed simple hay targets in the field as the ponies armed with rifles stepped up to a marked line. Shing Armor gave the order to aim and fire. The gathered reporters flinched and ducked as up and down the line fired single shots at the hay targets until their magazines were empty. Shining gave the order to reload and after they had replaced the magazines in their rifles, he gave the order for them to switch to full auto. After the order to fire was given, two seconds later all the freshly reloaded magazines were empty and all the hay targets were shredded. Many reporters hyperventilated, screamed in fright, or fainted at the sight and sound of two dozen rifles firing down range.

After the reporters had calmed down and the semblance of order had been restored, Celestia stepped back up to the podium. "I will now take a few questions. I implore you to be civil and understand that there is still much about these weapons that are classified."

A reporter from The Manehattan Times raised a hoof and the princess acknowledged him. "I have two questions your majesty. One: How long have these new weapons been in development? And, Two: Why showcase them now?"

"Those are some very good questions. These weapons have been in development for nearly a decade, we were forced to up our timetable after the terrorist killed hundred of my little ponies with a toxic gas attack last year in Manehattan. As for your second question, this is show of force and a message to those that want to cause my little ponies harm.", the princess looked straight into the cameras and gave a hard stare, "Because of the increase of both terrorist activities and criminals stealing military weapons, I have created a dozen new specialized regiments who are specially trained in the rapid pacification and resolution of similar violent events, along with a hooffull of specialists who are trained to work in groups of one or two. I intend to have by the end of the year twenty more specially trained and equipped regiments."

A visible shiver ran through the gathered reporters as the whispered among themselves.

A heifer from the District of Cowlumbia raised a hoof. "It has been reported that the vigilante known as Bacon-head was using similar weapons. Does this mean that this particular pony has been working secretly for the crown?"

"I can assure you all here that said individual does not work for the Equestrian crown in an manner known to myself or my sister. Reports from agents in the field has said that Bacon-head figured out how to create their weapons on their own and after an intense internal investigation, no leaks were found. Though I can assure that agents are watching in every city for any signs of Bacon-head, all reports so far is that his vigilante only targets the worst in our society. And before anypony asks, I have had my best criminologists and psychologists profiling him or her and it turns out that this pony was subjected to some level of extreme violence and now seeks to punish those who inflict severe harm on innocent bystanders."

An aide came up and whispered in Celestia's ear. "I only have time for one more question." She pointed to the reporter from the Appleoosa Telegraph.

"Thank ya kindly yer majesty. Now these here new fancy weapons have been shown off, will they b'come available tuh the gen'ral public?"

"At this time no. Once we have perfected the current designs, the crown may allow manufacturers to acquire the blueprints for a semiautomatic variant with a smaller magazine. Thank you all for coming. Any further questions may be sent to the press office at the castle and myself or Luna shall reply to them in a timely manner." Celestia stepped down from the podium and walked to her pegasus awaiting chariot. The gathered royal guards and soldiers made their way to their respective awaiting chariots as ponies quickly cleaned up the field. The gathered reporters quickly started shouting question as they attempted to surge forward.

Sunset switched off the radio where she had been listening to the broadcast as she inspected the new hoof grenades that Sunburst had made from her descriptions and rough sketches. Though he wasn't able to make blasting caps or TNT, he was able to compensate by using a magically charged crystal chip at then end of a small iron rod. She unscrewed the pin housing from the body of the grenade to inspect it. The body was a hollow smooth iron ball, the pin was a simple tin ring and post, the spoon was made from a...well spoon. She chuckled to herself as she screwed the pin housing back on. She then turned her attention to the bizarre grenade next to it. Though she had both described and quickly scribbled a rough sketch of a pineapple grenade, his design was exactly that, a iron statuette of a pineapple the size of her hoof, only with a little pin and the spoon made from a spoon. She hoisted the pineapple pineapple in her hoof and laughed.

***

The shadows started growing longer over Canter as Hailey pulled her heavy bulletproof vest over her torso. Clipping the lapel mic to the neck of the body armor, shoved in the earpiece and strapped the gun belt with the pistol in its holster and several spare magazines to her waist. She attached the various silver protection charms to her wrists, ankles and armor, slipped the black medallion around her neck and finally slipper her I.D. in a pouch in her body armor. Giving everything a once over to ensure that everything was secured and in place, then stepped outside the mobile command.

That morning local police had reported that a red convertible Porsche was reported stolen from Des Moines was found abandoned a couple of miles out of town. This was it, zero-hour. Those monsters were in the area and it would be a matter of time before they showed. Hailey hoped that their preparations were enough.

Around the horse statue outside Canter high school there were four tall silver posts being erected, for blocks around there were concrete barricades the were erected. A phony bomb threat was enough to convince the local police to evacuate all homes and businesses for twelve blocks around, so they could work unimpeded. Hailey eyed the silver posts, they were to serve as a last line of defense in the event the three made their way past the barricades. She looked at the horse statue, it was called TJ and was the mascot of the Canter high school football team, the colts. Looking at the statue, she felt a small swell of pride that they had never beaten her old school, Equis county preparatory high in thirty years. And she intended for that streak to stay in place, she may have not held any ill will towards the kids or even the football team of Canter high, but her old high school couldn't keep up its streak if three magical beasts wrecked up the place.

Adagio and Aria were putting the last touches on the welds that attached the bulldozer blade to the propane truck they had stolen shortly after entering into town, ripped the GPS tracker out and charmed the owners into a sleep. Once the last of the welds were were finished, Sonata hooked up a hose to the tank and made sure it was topped off. The three climbed into the cab, with Adagio behind the wheel.

Adagio turned the key and revved the engine a few times. Sonata pulled a Cilantro cassingle out of her pocket and put it into the tape deck. Adagio glared at her sister.

"What?!", Sonata shrugged, "It'll be funny when we ride up on them playing this song about the Devil's cheese."

"I think it'll be hilarious.", Aria agreed, "They'll be expecting us to roll up blasting some Five Finger Death Punch or DMX, not a silly Mexican folk song."

"I swear that you two are the dumbest fucking idiots ever.", Adagio grumbled as she put the truck in gear and pressed the gas pedal down.

Hailey, along with several agents and operatives walked back and forth behind the barricades. "Contact west!", a voice shouted over the radio.

Hailey Gordon, along with the other agents turned to face where the report had called from. A propane truck with a bulldozer blade welded to the front was barreling towards the blockades as a silly song played. The agents opened fire with assault rifles, sub-machine guns and shotguns.

The three sirens ducked low in the cab as the bullets flew and dropped their disguises. Adagio placed a brick a brick on the gas pedal.

Aria looked in the passenger side rear view mirror. "Addy! We sssssprung a leak!"

"Jusssst another couple of blockssss!", Adagio replied.

"A lot of good that will do if we get blown up firsssst!", Aria snapped.

"Jusssst keep your headssss down and jump when I tell you to!", Adagio snarled back.

The truck lurched as it crashed through barricade after barricade. The three sirens ducked and flinched as bullets and buckshot perforated the cab of the truck.

The truck crashed through several more barricades. "Jump!", Adagio shouted. The doors on the cab flew open and the three sirens swim-flew out, narrowly weaving around bullets and clusters of buckshot. The propane truck careened forward for a dozen feet before to drifting to the right, towards the front doors of Canter high. Agents shouted warning as the scrambled out of the way of the out of control truck. It crashed through the front wall, into the main entrance of the school and barreled through for twenty feet before coming to a stop. A moment later the propane leaking out of the main tank ignited and the truck vanished in a fireball. The front of the school collapsed into flaming wreckage. Chunks of concrete and metal sailed through the air. The blast wave knocked most of the agents off their feet and two of the silver posts over.

As Adagio, Aria and Sonata floated to the ground, a dozen agents laid on the ground in broken heaps as blood pooled around their bodies. Several dozen more lay on the ground screaming in pain as shrapnel stuck out of their bodies. The three sirens felt Equestria magic fill their bodies, as agents flooded towards the, they prepared to sing a song of mind control.

The agents were immediately mesmerized by the three singing and gyrating sirens. The gathered agents eyes glazed over as the spell-song took hold. They turned their weapons on their comrades or themselves and opened fire.

Hailey groaned as she rose from the ground and shook the cobwebs off. She froze for a split second as she heard singing and then felt the weight of a spell push against her protective charms. The black medallion around her neck glowed as it countered the spell that was trying to enter her mind. Gunshot rang out as agents shot each other and themselves. She could stare in shocked horror as agents died by each other gun or by their own hands. In a matter of minutes it was over, the singing stopped, out of one hundred and fifty agents, she was the only left standing.

The three sirens locked eyes with the lone agents. Anger welled up in Hailey that quickly morphed into pure rage. Most of these agents had husbands, wives and kids back at home, families that would never see their loved ones again. She rushed for was she pulled the pistol from its holster. The sirens each scattered in a different direction. Agent Gordon fond herself in a running, twisting gunfight as she snapped off shots that the sirens. The slide locked back as the magazine run dry. She rolled to avoid a swooping siren as she hit the magazine release. Slamming the fresh magazine home, she hit the slide release and started firing again.

One by one Hailey burned through her magazines until she was on her last one. Aria and Sonata attacker her from both sides, grabbing her arms in their hoof-fins. The wrestled the pistol from her hands and stretch both arms between them. Adagio floated down in front of her and gave her a fang-filled grin as she inspected the black medallion around Hailey's neck.

"That'ssss a fine piece of Equessssstrian magic you have there human.", Adagio hissed.

Hailey spat in the face of the floating pony-fish in front of her. "Fuck you!", she snarled.

Adagio flicked the gob of spit from her face with a hoof-fin and gave a malicious smile. "No, I think you'l fuck yoursssself...right after I take thisssss.", she said with a half-cackle, "Maybe I'll have you tell Williamssss that sssshe failed again right before you blow your brainsssss out in her offisssssse." She reached a hoof-fin out for the black medallion. "Gah!", she yelped in pain as an arc of energy leapt off of it, making her recoil her hoof-fin as a small coil of smoke rose of it.

"Loos like it doesn't like you very much, sea horse.", Hailey snapped back.

Adagio slammed her hoof-fin into Hailey's cheek hard. "An I don't like you very much, ssssshaved ape!"

All light seemed to bleed away as a rift opened at the base of the statue.

"That'ssss the expresssss train out of her.", Adagio said with a hiss.

Sonata and Aria threw Hailey down to the ground and all three of them swim-flew to the rift. Adagio paused to look over her shoulder at Hailey, winked and blew a kiss, then slapped her hoof-fin to her flank. The rift closed with a fizzle and crackle as it closed.

Hailey drug herself to her feet, snatched the pistol up and returned it to its holster. "Is there anyone there?", she called into the lapel mic. No response, just static. "Sound off! Is anyone alive!" Again nothing. "If you can hear me, but can't respond, chirp your mic twice or fire a shot!" Still nothing. She quickly switched the radio's frequency over to the emergency channel. "Code Adam Black! Code Adam Black! I say again, Code Adam Black!" No response. She switched over to the police band and panicked shouts flooded through her earpiece. "I need help! Shots fired! Multiple agents down!" Over the earpiece panicked shouts flooded through. "Can somebody help me?", she whimpered, looking around at the carnage. Orange lights from fires glowed from around Canter as sirens of emergency vehicles echoed across the town.

Hailey felt a strange pressure from behind her, it was pulling instead of pushing. A brilliant rainbow-colored light exploded to life behind her. On instinct she drew the pistol from its holster and spun around. She froze in place, the whole base of the statue was glowing in bright, swirling rainbow light. Suddenly the pulling force became strong. Digging in her heels, she shielded her eyes from the light with a hand. The pulling force became overwhelming and she found herself being drug forward. She tried to move away, but her feet wouldn't move. As the unseen force drug her into the rainbow light, she turned her upper body back towards the town, reached out with her left hand and screamed, "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

***

Twilight stood in the small kitchenette in the castle as the bright noon sun shown through the windows, her hind legs locked in a pair of wheeled braces. In the foal seat sat her son, Dusk Shine. She was trying to feed him, but he was being fussy and uncooperative. She scooped some peas in a spoon and held it in front of his mouth.

Dusk turned his snout up. "No!"

"Dusk, you need to eat her peas." Twilight moved the spoon in front of his mouth again and again.

Dusk simply moved his his head, side to side, up and down, avoiding the spoon like it was filled with poison, each time shouting in his squeaky voice "No!"

Twilight tried to shove the spoon into Dusk's mouth, prompting the colt to slap it away. She picked up the spoon off the floor, tossed it into the sink and fetched a fresh one. "Dusk. You need to eat your peas."

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Three bites for mommy?"

"No!"

"Two bites?"

"No!"

"One bite!"

"No!"

"I can make you something else. What would you like?"

Dusk reached his hooves toward the counter. "Cookie."

Dammit Cadance! This is why I ask you to not feed him so much sugar. "No Dusk. You can't have a cookie right now. Maybe after you eat you lunch."

"Cookie now!"

"No Dusk. First you eat your lunch, then you can get a cookie."

"COOKIE NOW! COOKIE NOW! COOKIE NOW!"

Twilight put her hoof on Dusk's cheek and made him look her in the eyes. "No! Cookies are for good colts.You're being a bad colt. Bad colts don't get cookies."

"WANT! COOKIE! NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!" Dusk started putting in the crocodile tears as he threw a tantrum.

Twilight felt several hairs in her mane spring out of place. She took the tantrum-throwing colt in her magic. "You don't get a cookie for sure. In fact I think you need some time in the naughty stool." As she lifted her son out of the foal seat and started to carry him out of the kitchen. He lit his horn.

*pop*

The colt vanished in a tiny flash of light.

Twilight turned around to see the colt standing on the counter next to the cookie jar. "Dusk Shine! You get down now!" She stomped towards her son.

Dusk knocked the lid off the cookie jar. "No! Cookie!"

Before Twilight could grab Dusk in her magic, the colt vanished in tiny flash of light, along with the cookie jar. More hairs sprung out of place in her mane and tail. "Oh no you don't!"

In the halls of the castle, guards and servants stepped to the side and watched as mamma unicorn stampeded after her baby unicorn, who was stampeding as just as fast, while levitating a lidless jar of cookies in his magic and simultaneously cramming one cookie after another into his mouth.

"Get back here!"

"No!"

The wheels on Twilight's back legs rattled loudly on the hard floor as she ran after her son. She glared out of the side of her eyes as she ran past the various guards and servants in a look of 'really?!'.

*pop* Dusk vanished in a tiny flash of light again, along with the jar of cookies, leaving a half-eaten one on the floor.

A growl of righteous fury rumbled in Twilight's through, that became a roar of frustration. All four legs and two wheels came off the floor as she was literally hopping mad. Her mane and tail erupted in flames. A servant quickly grabbed a flower vase and dumped its contents on her.

Twilight blew the flower off her nose and brushed the dripping bangs out of her eyes. She gave the servant a death glare that would have given a cockatrice a run for its money and growled, "Thanks." In a flash of light, she disappeared to continue searching for her misbehaving son.

Celestia was walking through the throne room. She thought about what to have for lunch. Day court had been delayed as an elementary school from Las Maregeles was having a field trip and she never missed a chance to meet young foals, much to the chagrin of the nobles, not that it bothered her. If they didn't like it, they could always take it to night court, or reschedule, maybe she could pen them in for next year. She felt a surge of magic and reached out with hers to snag it.

Dusk Shine appeared in a tiny flash of light on the solar princess's back, along with a partially eaten jar of cookies. The colt was defiantly shoving the sweet disks into him mouth. Or maybe it was victory feast? Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at the little yearling colt, who was the spiriting image of his mother, even if he was just a shade darker.

"Can I have one of those?"

The colt reached a hoof into the cookie jar and passed one to Celestia, who took in in her magic and happily munched it down.

Twilight appeared in a flash of light. Dusk nestled down and hid in Celestia's flowing mane.

"Twilight, what brings you here?"

Twilight was practically snorting steam. "Have you seen Dusk? He's been acting the fool, showing his little plot."

Celestia shook her head in an exaggerated manner, making her flowing mane flip back and forth, intentionally exposing the colt hiding within. "No, I'm sorry. I don't think I have."

A wicked thought entered Twilight's mind as she saw her son trying to hide in Celestia's mane. "Aw well. That's too bad. I guess I'm gonna have to find somepony else to take to grandma's house then."

Dusk jumped up from his hiding spot excited, cookie jar in tow. "Gamma!"

"Aha! Gotcha you, little sneak!" Twilight snagged her son in her magic while simultaneously casting a spell to counter his magic.

The cookie jar plummeted to the floor and would have shattered in a thousand pieces if a golden aura didn't catch it. Celestia levitated the cookie jar up, took another one out and ate it, the teleported the jar away, much to the displeasure of Dusk.

"I should beat your plot until it is three shades darker purple.", Twilight said levitating her son face-to-face with her.

Dusk gave his mother the whipped puppy dog stare that made her heart melt.

Twilight nuzzled Dusk's cookie crumb-covered snout in a manner that made the solar princess squee. "I can't stay mad at you." She levitated her son onto her back.

"I wuv oo mam--*bleh!*"

Twilight froze in horror and disgust as partially digested cookies splattered against her mane. Before she a chance to fully process what had just happened, a glowing ball of rainbow-colored light appeared on the floor, instantly triggering mamma bear instinct. She immediately moved Dusk behind her to the floor and took an aggressive stance, ready to fight to the death whatever threat to her foal was about to appear.

Celestia quickly flicked a wing in a signal to the guards that were in hidden alcoves and quickly interposed herself between the glowing ball of light and the mare who ready to fight to the death to protect her foal. "Get Dusk out of here."

Twilight, the puked-up cookies in her mane forgotten, snatched up her son and scrambled out of the throne room as the first squads of guards filtered in.

Hailey screamed in fright and pain as she swirled through the chaotic, confusing swirl of rainbow colors and shapes. She felt her bones forcibly realign into unfamiliar positions. In a blinding flash of light, she felt something solid and cold beneath her. Her clothes and armor suddenly felt too big and ill-fitting. The glasses fell from her face. The pistol fell from her grip and she scrambled for it, trying to grab it with hands that that wouldn't respond. Her vision swam as disorientation threatened to overwhelm her.

Celestia stared in surprise as a unicorn mare that looked exactly like her former student and mother of her adopted grand-nephew. Ill-fitting clothes were draped around the mare and body armor that looked similar to what Sunset wore. As the glasses fell from the mare's face, she scrabbled clumsily for a pistol that fell from her grim. Lighting her horn, she tried to pull the pistol away from the mare, only to feel something familiar cancel her magic. She kicked the pistol away with a gold shod hoof.

Hailey froze when she saw a blurry white and gold thing kick the pistol away. Looking up, she squinted to focus her eyes. She stared up at an out of focus massive white unicorn...with wings.

At that moments Hailey's conscious mind decided to 'nope!' out.

Author's Note

It's been a hot minute since I've came back to this story.

I've been having problems with getting any ideas written down since my parent's house burned down nearly two months ago.

I tried to interject some comedy in this chapter as most of my stories tend to be dark.

Thank you all for reading and hope you all enjoy.

Like the story? Hate the story? Spot any typos or misspellings? Have any questions? Wanna throw shade or pure bane? Leave it in the comments.

Also if there's enough comments for it, I might do a non-canon chapter having the princesses responding to the various questions the media sends in to them. If you want to participate in it, leave a question in the manner that a reporter would write in.