“Dark Sun, there you are.”

Flash Sentry looked up from his phone and spotted Autumn Breeze rushing over, a tablet in her hands. She flipped it around so that Flash could see the screen. On it was a red arrow, starting low and then moving up in a zig zag motion.

“After your team up with The Shallow, your publicity has gone up and the people are looking forward to seeing you more in public, so Director Still Well has a plan to parade you down the streets of Canterlot to show off our newest member of The Septet, so the public can see you for themselves.”

“Parade?” Flash raised one eyebrow high. “We’re superheroes. We should be out there saving lives, not showing people how great we look.”

“Well, we like to raise your publicity with the people. It doesn’t hurt that they like you more before you go save lives.”

“But I don't need a parade. Just send me out there to fight some bad guys. It does the same thing, yeah?”

Autumn shook her head. “No can do, Dark Sun. Vogel wants you to do this parade. You have to do as you are told, okay?”

Flash raised a hand as the manager’s assistant left and wondered to himself just what a parade was for. He wasn’t going to just stand there and wave as they moved him around town. That was just ridiculous. He wasn’t some float to show off to people. He was a hero, and he was supposed to be out there saving lives instead of all this.

White Blanche sat across from him, just watching him. She wasn’t doing anything else.

“Is this really what it’s like?” Flash asked her. “Public image instead of going out there to do what’s right?”

Blanche said nothing and continued to stare at him.

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” Flash leaned back in his seat and exhaled.

This was not at all what he hoped to do, but he remembered his talk with Sunset Shimmer and he knew he couldn’t give up again. He could do good here, and he had to keep going to do just that.

“Just wait, dad. I’ll be the superhero we planned for me to be. Just hold on for a little while longer. I’ll make you proud.”

Sunset Shimmer picked out a new shirt from the store they had gone to visit. The sun had already come up by the time she managed to clean herself up and get some rest.

Milly Mulcher had been very impressed with what she had done, telling her how awesome it was that they had offed one of The Septet. Sunset knew it herself. It was no easy task to eliminate one of the most powerful superheroes in the world. She had been very pleased that she had done something to avenge Pine, but after getting some sleep, she wasn’t so sure if she had done the right thing anymore. She had killed someone. Brutally. She didn’t know what to think, so she tried to push it out of her mind and live in the present.

She picked out a grey Discourse shirt, a pair of black elastic sports pants and a pale green jacket to ward off the cold.

“All set, petite Sunny?” Prenchie returned from the other side of the store. She had on a beige fedora. “Thinking of buying this. It suits me, non?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Once she purchased her items and changed out of the loose clothes that Prenchie had loaned her, they were soon out of the store, where Mulcher was waiting for them by the van.

“Here’s our hero.” She chuckled and slapped Sunset on the back. “Now, we’ve got someone else to pick up before we plan our next move. We’re gonna need the input.”

Prenchie’s eyes widened as Mulcher threw the van’s sliding door open. “No, no, no, Milly, not her. We’re not going to her.”

“Prench, we need ‘er. Now get in the farmin’ van. Let’s not waste more time.”

She wanted to protest more, but she just shrugged and got in the van. Sunset didn’t know who this was, but she figured she was going to find out soon.

“She’s not going to be happy to see me, Milly.”

“Yeah, well, we gotta make do, Prenchie.”

The van moved silently down the streets and away from Canterlot’s city. Soon, the tall corporate buildings began to vanish behind them and they were now out on more open roads. Mulcher eventually pulled them up to a short one storey building along the road. There was a fence around it and there were guards standing at the entrance.

“Visitin’ an old friend,” Mulcher told a guard in the gatehouse. “Starlight Glimmer. She works here.”

“Name?”

The guard handed Mulcher a clipboard and she began to fill out her particulars, then handed it back to the man. He gave it one look over, then cleared them through and opened the gates. According to him, only Mulcher was allowed entry, so Sunset and Prenchie had to wait in the van.

“What is this place?” Sunset asked as she eyed the guns in the guards’ holsters.

“Juvie center, Sunny. For all ‘em naughty children.”

“Oh. And your friend’s in here?”

“Yeah. Well, I won’t be long now. Just sit tight.” Mulcher headed out of the driver’s seat and approached the building.

Inside, she had to fill in more forms, which she hated, before receiving a pass to allow her into the premises. A guard led her down the fenced corridors, eventually arriving at a large sports hall with an office next to it.

There were kids of all shapes and sizes playing Basketball and among them was a familiar flow of purple and aquamarine hair from a pale purple woman, dressed in a tank top and black shorts.

“Ma’am!” the guard beside Mulcher called out as she passed the ball to one of the kids, who began driving towards the hoop. “You have a visitor.”

The woman pushed stray hair from her face and turned around, instantly locking eyes with Mulcher.

“Oh, hay no. Not you.” She walked over and shook her head. “No, you’re not welcomed here, Mulcher. I’m busy.”

“Good to see ya too, FC,” Mulcher replied. “But come on, I came all this way to talk to you.”

She grumbled to herself, but then motioned with her head to the nearby office. “We’ll talk in there.”

Mulcher walked on after her with her hands in her coat pocket, checking out the room. It was a minimalistic room, with no decor set up except for a photo of Starlight and her family and another photo of her and her legendary coffee machine. Everything was arranged neatly and there was not an item out of place, even the two chairs in front of her desk, which were aligned with the sides perfectly.

Mulcher still remembered the stories of how Starlight had even earned the nickname of Father’s Coffee. She used to make so much coffee for them that they didn’t even know what to do about it. They sent a lot to her father, but even the beast of a man couldn’t finish it all. She just had a thing for making coffee. She couldn’t go a day without it and it always had to be done in a certain method.

“So how’s life been, FC?” Mulcher pulled up one of the chairs and sat down. “Great, I hope?”

“Yeah, of course.” Father’s Coffee sat opposite her and looked at her photos. “Sunburst and I have a daughter now. We named her Lumina. We’ve a nice house, a nice job, why I’ve even been sleeping nights.”

“That’s real nice. Real nice indeed.” The black haired woman nodded.

“You’ve come to get me away from all that, didn’t you?” Father’s Coffee put the photo back down. “You need something from me?”

“No light way to put this.” Mulcher pursed her lips. “We need your help in takin’ down the supes, FC.”

“I knew it. Come on, Mulcher, those days are long gone. We’re done. We can’t go back now.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” The woman planted one leg up on the table, much to Father’s Coffee’s annoyance. “I found this kid, ya see. Sunset Shimmer. She’s the one who lost her boyfriend to that supe cock, Z-Truck.”

“Oh, gosh. I saw that on the news… That was messed up.”

“Got that right. That bloke deserves what’s comin’. They all do. How’d you like to help us take the rest of ‘em down?”

“Take them down?” Coffee laughed. “We’ve tried for years. The closest we got was Poolfreezer, but then that Prench witch just had to mess it all up.”

“Look, it’s not her fault, FC.”

The purple skinned woman looked at her. “What, really?”

Mulcher squinted one eye and nodded. “Well, it was her fault. But we’ve already made progress. We got Refraction, FC. She’s dead.”

“You… you what?” She sat back in her chair. “You offed one of The Septet?”

“Yeah, wee Sunny Shimmer did it.” Mulcher chuckled darkly. “Blew her up with C4 right up the twat. I got rid of her body, which The Septet are bound to find eventually. Left them a little present.”

Coffee put a hand to her head, her eyes wide. “I don’t believe it. You actually got one of them.”

“And it’s only a matter o’ time before we get the rest and make our way up to Protectorate Sod.” Mulcher clenched her fists and leaned closer. “We got a lead to Soarmaster. Z-Truck was in a hurry the day he pulverized Sunset’s boyfriend into a plate of meat. We can find out what the rush was about. Might lead us somewhere, but we need your help, FC. We can’t do this without you.”

The other woman breathed in deeply, then let it out all through her nose. “Listen, Mulcher. I can’t. I have a family now. I can’t do this to them.”

“FC. We can do it. We can take down The Septet and Vogel International.” Mulcher tapped the table with a finger. “You don’t have to do it for me or for yourself. Remember what these cocks did to your mum. You can’t give up on her now, not after what we’ve been able to do. We could use your help. Do it for her.”

Father’s Coffee wore a conflicted face and she grimaced. Mulcher sat there and waited. Of all of them, Starlight probably had the most beef with Vogel International itself, instead of the supes.

“Alright. You got me there, Mulcher.” Coffee raised her hands and nodded. “I’ll help you take down Vogel.”

“Atta girl.” She smirked and got up. “Then come on, we got a plan to come up with.”

“Let me just let the kids know what’s up and get changed.” Coffee grabbed her coat and pushed her chair in, then shifted the one Mulcher had been in so that it aligned with the desk corner.

“Same old Father’s Coffee.” Mulcher watched her return to the court and explain what she had to do. Most of them seemed upset, but they let her go eventually.

Father’s Coffee changed out into a black shirt and tattered jeans, then placed her signature pink beanie atop her head. She followed Mulcher out into the cold outdoors and immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw who was in the van.

“No. Not Prenchie. Not that daughter of a witch. Uh uh.” She shook her head. “Mulcher, I’ll help you, but you know all she’ll do is mess up my plans! You can’t expect me to help you out with her around.”

“Nice to see you too, mon amie.” Prenchie sat at the sliding door’s opening, a cigarette between her lips. “You put on some weight.”

“Don’t you get started with me,” Coffee snapped at her. “We can’t work with her, Mulcher. She’ll just ruin everything and I might as well not even be here if she’s here.”

“You two, we’ll work it out. But we need to work as a team. Oh, and this one’s Sunset.” Mulcher reached in and pulled the fiery haired girl from around the neck. “Sunset, Father’s Coffee.”

“Wait, that’s not really your name, right?” The younger girl asked.

“No. Just a nickname, cause I like to brew coffee.” She stuck out her hand. “Real name’s Starlight Glimmer.”

“Sunset Shimmer.” She accepted the handshake.

“Well, great, now that we’re all done tickling each other’s clits, how about decide what we’re gonna do next?” Mulcher leaned against the van door. “Our lead points us to Soarmaster. We know Z-Truck was in a rush from her place before runnin’ into Sunset’s boyfriend. We need to get what information we can from that supe. Perhaps we’ll find a little something to incriminate The Septet.”

“Well, you know where he stays?” Prenchie blew out a puff of smoke.

“He’s a supe. How hard is it to find out?” Mulcher reached into the van and pulled out a huge yellow phonebook. “Besides, we have this. Won’t be hard to find out, ‘innit?”

“Umm, so what are we going to do? Once we find him?” Sunset asked from inside the van. “How can we get him to talk?”

Mulcher held up her red shoehorn. “I’ve got this.”

“You don’t expect to go into a supe’s house and beat information out of him?” Coffee eyed the other woman and scratched at her beanie. “No, we need to be more discreet about this. If we could find a way to hack into his electronic devices, perhaps we could listen in on him. Catch him saying something secretive?”

“Oh, hey, you know, I actually know how to do that…” Sunset rubbed the back of her head.

And it was true. Besides her degree, she had a lot of practice back in school. She figured if she could blackmail others, she would hold power over them, and it had been useful in removing popularity from other people above her in her quest for the top. She didn’t think this skill would ever come in handy again.

“See why we meed ya, FC?” Mulcher gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Ain’t it great? The Girls are all back together. Just like ‘em Salty Boys.”

“You still talking about those guys?” Prenchie laughed and flicked her cigarette away.

The black haired woman stretched her arms to the side. “What can I say? They’re a farmin’ good band. I tell you what I hate, what I really really hate. Great song.”

“Yeah, okay. Guess The Girls really are back in town.”

Sunset looked at them, confused as to what they were all talking about.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to mention, our team was called The Girls.” Mulcher grinned and threw the driver's door open. “Good thing you’re a girl, eh, Sunny?”

“I, uh, I suppose so.”

Sunset shuffled in further into the van as Prenchie pulled her legs back up and shut the door. They had a plan now and perhaps once they find out what they can from Soarmaster, she would be one step closer to finding out what really happened that day.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long pause. I took an extended break for the holidays and I've been wrapped up metaphorically at work, so I haven't had all that much time. I do hope this chapter still pleases and entertains after such a long time. Cheers, all. And continue to stay safe.

PS, I don't know what's up with that one sentence up top that got stretched so far, but I hope it didn't put anyone off. It kinda ticks.