“So… Magic?”

The question echoed through Sunset’s mind as a spike of fear cut right through her exhaustion. She tried to hide it, knowing it probably wasn’t at all convincing, but she had to try.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Don’t fuck with me Sunset,” Dash returned exasperated, squinting and rubbing her forehead. She then stared at the young hunter with a stern gaze that fell just past the line into a glare “You’ve been lying to us, we know that. But I need to know right fucking now just what your deal is because, don’t get me wrong Sunny, I like you but I’m not about to risk all the rest of my friends for you. I know what I saw and I need to understand it; or I start remembering the rest of what I saw next time I talk to Twi and Rup’.”

“...What did you see?” she asked quietly.

“I saw you using powers only an EVE has been known to use. I saw you covered in fire shaped like a horse. I saw you with a fucking horn of light sticking right out of your damn forehead!” Rainbow jabbed a finger at her own head and leaned forward. When Sunset's brow wrinkled at the answer, Dash rolled her eyes and fell back. Her voice then took on a note of impersonation, one of Sunset herself “Truth is, I don’t have amnesia!”

'Oh fuck me' The former pony’s stomach dropped.

“I’m a Pony! A Unicorn Pony from the magic land of Equestrius or whatever!” Dash continued before her face fell back to an irritated glare “Yeah, I remember. Didn’t at first but then it hit me while we were waiting for you to wake up. Now I know compared to the likes of Twi or even just Aya, I’m pretty much a dumbass, but I’m not that stupid. I like to think I’m actually pretty good at catching shit like this and putting it together. And don’t you fucking daretry to tell me you were just joking, not after the shit that went down tonight.”

Sunset had shrunk into her seat as much as she could, trying to disappear under the mechanic’s accusation. It wasn’t working of course and the stare continued to bore into her intensely. A moment of silence passed before Dash took a breath and quietly asked:

“So… was that magic?”

“…”

“…”

“...Yes.”

Another moment passed.

“Can you prove that?” Dash asked next, tone unchanged. Sunset blinked at her, earning another sigh “Sunny you used powers only EVEs can. I need to know that's not what I’m talking to right now. Granted if it is, then I’m still right proper fucked. I know that but… well, can you prove it?”

Trying to think of how she could, her eyes grew distant and began darting about. At least, until they landed on the fruit bowl between them. She reached forward and plucked a small tangerine from the pile before pushing the bowl aside. Rainbow frowned, but didn’t act against whatever was happening.

Her magic protested. Her reserves had barely recovered enough for a simple light spell, let alone what she was about to do, but it was the best she could think of. Hands cupped over the citrus, obscuring the fruit, she closed her eyes and concentrated. It… wasn’t easy. Especially with how little life was left in her target to work with, but she gradually corralled enough to begin the shift. A glow flared under her palms, shimmering brightly if a bit unevenly. The light lingered a few moments before fading.

She lifted her hands, revealing a small and slightly sickly looking finch. It was alive though and it hopped to its feet, cocking its head curiously between the pair.

“Pretty sure even EVEs can’t do that.” Sunset panted, well and truly spent now. She just hoped it’d be enough.

“That…” Rainbow stared at the tiny bird.

“That’s…”

“...”

“THAT’S SO FUCKING COOL!”

The redhead jumped as the Dash leapt to her feet with the exclamation, scaring the finch into the pony girl’s lap. She stared at the now beaming mechanic, fumbling for a response.

“…Is it?”

“What do you mean ‘Is it’?” Rainbow shot back, still grinning ear to ear “It’s fucking magic! Real magic! You have Real Fucking Magic! Yes, that’s cool!”

“You’re not mad?” Sunset asked cautiously.

“No… No Sunset, I’m not mad” the mechanic finally returned to her seat with a chuckle “I’m actually really glad you’re not an EVE. I just…”

She gave a huff, eye searching the distance for a moment as the tension steadily ebbed away and Sunset felt she might have cause for some optimism again.

“I just… had to be sure.” Rainbow began to explain, far warmer than before “Sunny I’m sure you caught on, but EVEs are Real fucking bad news. The ‘Half a city is dead in less than a week’ kind of bad news. And well, like I said, everything just kind of clicked.”

“So you didn’t tell them everything you saw?” the younger woman queried.

“I thought… I hoped I could give you a chance. After coming back to us after your freakout, after not killing me even when all manifested, I hoped that meant you might have just been telling the truth; that you hadn’t just gone all EVE on us. That it really was magic.” she returned with a tired shug “If your little ‘joke’ hadn’t come back to me, then you bet your ass I would have told them about the horse and the horn and the telekinesis. I’m not gonna risk my friends against a fucking EVE…”

“But?” Sunset asked timidly after a moment too long past by.

“BUT… you’re my friend too. So when I saw the chance, when it just made sense when considering everything else with you, well… I don’t like hanging a friend out to dry. I didn’t bail on the others when all this shit fell on them, and I wasn’t about to just bail on you.” Rainbow answered candidly, no sense of doubt in her voice or eyes. Sunset felt another blush creep up.

“...I don’t deserve that kind of loyalty.”

“Oh shut up” Rainbow returned annoyed, leveling a flat look her way. Her face then broke into a cheeky grin “You’re not that bad.”

“I’ve been lying to you, to everyone.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like you’re a mole from fucking Ark Shadow or something” the mechanic shot back, though her expression tightened as a thought occurred to her “Unless you’re spying on us for… Equestius or whatever, are you?”

“No!” She answered quickly “No, no it’s nothing like that. It’s… well, I actually didn’t even know where I was going to end up, I was… just trying to leave.”

“So you are a runaway?” Dash asked and the redhead’s face fell into her arms with a tired sigh.

“It was so stupid” she mumbled into her sleeves “I was stupid and arrogant and trying to prove I was worthy…”

“Worthy of what?”

“Of becoming an Alicorn,” Sunset dropped her arms, sighing with an exhausted melancholy “Of becoming… something more.”

“Alicorn… So you reallyused to be a horse?”

“Pony” Sunset corrected “We differentiate the terms, unlike here. We’re actually pretty different from this world’s horses. There are similarities but… well, calling us horses is like saying Humans are just apes.”

“Well we really kinda are… But you’re not actually human? You’re a… Unicorn?” Sunset nodded “Is everyone in…?”

“Equestria. And no, there are also Pegasi and, funnily enough, Earth Ponies. Also quite a few other races most human’s think of as only myths.”

“What, like Dragons?”

“Among others.”

“Seriously? That’s awesome.”

“You’re taking all this surprisingly well,” Sunset admitted “I would have figured finding out I’m basically an alien would have been a bigger deal.”

“Like I said, right now I’m just glad you’re not an EVE” Rainbow shrugged “‘Sides, I’d like to think I’m pretty open minded. That and the fact I work with a bunch of super powered monster hunters probably helps too.”

“I suppose there is that.” A small chuckle escaped the redhead. Her sense of peace quickly faded however, as she knew she had to ask: “So what now?”

“Hmm?”

“I doubt everyone else is going to be as open minded,” she elaborated “As I understand, the FBI will be particularly interested to find out what I am.”

“Oh… yeah. I can get why you didn’t tell us. Well, other than the whole unbelievable parts and all.” the colorfully haired mechanic sucked the inside of her cheek “But, it’s not like any of them put it together.”

“But… aren’t you going to tell them?” Rainbow’s jaw shifted and she arched a bow at the question “Dash, I can’t ask you to keep this kind of secret.”

“Yeah well, you don’t have to.” the mechanic waved off “So long as you’re still you, still MIST, then that’s good enough for me.”

She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say something, but nothing seemed adequate. Dash didn’t seem to expect her to though and just stood, giving a long groan as she stretched.

“Well, as much as I would love to hear more about you being a pony and all, I’m also just wrecked, so I think it’d be best if we figure out the rest in the morning. I’m sure Rup’ will be getting us in as early as Twi and Cady will allow.” she declared and moved to help Sunset to her feet. The action however reminded them of the finch in the former pony’s lap “Oh right, you’re a mom now.”

“If it survives” she frowned at the little bird “I didn’t really have much left. Not sure I properly transmoged the life force.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that. Magic or not, Flutters isn't likely to let it just die on us” she assured. They pulled out a cage (Fluttershy had many), and made sure the miniature avian had seed and water before leaving a note for their housemate, explaining they had just found it by the street. With their new feathered friend as secured as they could manage, they headed to their rooms to finally put this day to an end. Sunset hesitated with her hand around the handle however.

“Rainbow?” she called timidly, the mechanic halting halfway through her door to lean back and arch a brow her way “I… I just… it really…”

“...”

“...Thank you.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it” she waved off again “It’s what friends do.”

Sunset smiled, a sense of true warmth filling her as Dash continued into her room. This friendship thing went a whole lot deeper than she expected. To invoke that kind of loyalty, something she thought only a princess could inspire…

‘I still have a lot to learn, don’t I?’ she sighed and turned back to her room. ‘Well, it's a good thing I’ve never been afraid of learning then, isn’t it?’

Promptly falling into bed, she was now determined to simply get whatever sleep she could. She wasn’t entirely successful and could have slept better.

But, she also could have slept a lot worse.

“You feel that?”

“Yes.”

“And this?”

“Yep.”

“And-”

“OW!”

Sunset snatched her hand away from the purple haired scientist. She stuck the now slightly bleeding finger in her mouth, glaring at Twilight and the needle in her hand.

“Sorry, we have to test your mitochondria’s response to pain too” Twilight explained, only somewhat distracted by the readout. “Looks encouragingly subtle.”

“So glad to hear it” the redhead grumbled around the bleeding obstruction between her teeth. Twilight frowned at her.

“If you knew to expect it then it would have clouded the data” she sighed before gently pulling the hand back to her, putting her own on top “And I am sorry. I wish this wasn’t necessary either, but you had a manifestation Sunset; we can’t just ignore that. Frankly, from purely scientific, medical, and security standpoints, we shouldn’t have even let you go home last night. We hoped it would help though. Did it?”

“...Some.” the young hunter admitted. “Thanks.”

“We do try.” The bespectacled woman smiled before they returned to the test. “How’d your appointment go?”

“It went.” Sunset returned somberly. A small snort came from the room’s other redhead.

“That good, huh?” Applebloom quipped as she peered around her own set of screens.

“It’s just… hard to deal with something I can’t even remember doing.” Sunset sighed. It hadn’t been a bad appointment, it actually felt good to talk about it but there was only so much to talk about. It didn’t help that she couldn’t talk about the cause for the other half of her anxiety, the fact she hadn’t really gotten to talk to Rainbow further yet. The mechanic in question was with Cadence at the moment herself, and Sunset very much doubted they’d get a proper chance until they were both back home.

“It helps to remember it’s not you who did it.” Twilight declared and brought the former pony back to the moment.

“Says you” Sunset let slip before she thought better of it.

“Yes, as one of the few others that have experienced a full manifestation, says me.” Twilight countered frostily. An uneasy air descended after the statement. It only somewhat eased when the doctor gave a sigh and set her equipment down. She regarded Sunset with a regretful frown “It was a little less than a year after I managed to make contact with MIST. We were still trying to square everything and… and I got impatient. I pushed too hard…”

“You don’t have to tell me” the hunter offered when the silence stretched a little too long, but the scientist shook her head.

“No, no I think it’s important you know” she took a deep breath and continued “I know it sometimes it seems like we’re moving at pace slower than baby steps and maybe we are but… but at least I know it won’t risk another incident.”

Twilight’s gaze drifted away from Sunset’s, panning over the lab. It settled on the recently arrived new test subjects, or more specifically, all the extra security precautions built into their confines.

“I thought I had made a breakthrough with the suppressants, but couldn’t properly test it. Back then we had yet to make Dr. Maeda’s anti-mitochondrial serum non-lethal beyond very specifically targeted formulas and doses in our attempts, as in for single individuals only and even that was subpar. I theorized my recent discovery would let us overcome just that though, and only needed to prove it for us to start using it. So, without another option and feeling it wasn’t worth the wait and frustration of wading through all the red tape to be able to actually test it, I rationalized it’d be much simpler to just test it on myself.”

“You used the lethal counter… On yourself?” Sunset gaped at the woman. Twilight nodded with a reluctant shrug.

“A now far less lethal version of it but… Well, even I’m not immune to bad ideas. Unfortunately, this was a far worse idea than I could have ever predicted. Not only did my formula fail to suppress my mitochondria, it triggered a rather… excited response. Or perhaps retaliation is a better word for it.” Twilight sighed and began blinking rapidly when her eyes began tearing up

“Twi…” Applebloom moved to stand but her mentor held up a hand, halting her as she regathered herself. She brought the hand to her chest and took a deep breath, a technique Sunset had long ago recognized as one of the many Cadance had imparted to her during their sessions. Composure reclaimed, the scientist continued.

“That was my manifestation. The last thing I remember before blacking out was Spike barking and Cadence calling my name as a bright light overwhelmed me. The next thing I knew, I was waking up a couple days later, my lab was essentially gone and I had infected both my dog and my brother's girlfriend.” She finished with a heavy breath. The room was quiet for almost a minute as Sunset took in the story, the silence only broken when she spoke up.

“I thought we were supposed to remember it wasn’t us doing it.” she gave with a half smile. Twilight looked up to her perplexed, that is until a small snort escaped her.

“I said it helps. I didn’t say it was always easy.” she smiled back. She then picked her equipment back up “It also helps to have friends to catch us when we slip. And for us to keep studying such things, so others might be spared them.”

“You really do see the light at the end of the tunnel, don’t you?” Sunset asked as Twilight returned them to their work.

“Of course. It’s not that far, even at our cautious pace.” she returned confidently, her typical cheer already returning. A cheer that was mercifully infectious, and the mood of the room quickly returned to normal, if not a little better than before. The tests were a little boring, if not plain tedious at times, but even without the revelation, Sunset understood the importance and took them in stride. The fact she was once more reminded how lucky she was to be taken in by these people helped too.

A little while later, they were preparing for the next series of tests when the door to the lab opened and a familiar mane of indigo hair walked in.

“Zap!” the redhead exclaimed and leapt to her feet. While she kept up with the cleaner’s progress and even exchanged a few messages, she hadn’t actually seen her since the hospital. She caught and calmed herself however as the woman continued into the room. “H-how are you?”

“Eh, you know; more scars, worse limp but still alive” Zap shrugged. Sunset’s chin dipped a bit.

“I’m sor-”

“Hey no. None of that.” Zap cut her off “I know ya freaked out on us but I’m not just gonna let you apologize for save’n my ass. You don’t say sorry and I won’t thank you, deal?”

The corner of Sunset’s mouth twitched before she lifted her head and nodded back.

“Deal. So what brings you to the station?” she asked, only for Twilight to answer from behind her.

“Zap’s been cleared to continue her physical therapy here with Bulk.”

“Yeah? That’s great!” the former pony beamed. Zap shrugged again.

“Sure beats the hell outta dragg’n my ass to the hospital so much. It’ll be a while before I’m back into it but it’ll be nice ta see everyone more regularly.” she admitted without too much embarrassment. Her brow furrowed as she spotted something behind Sunset however “Those Axolotls?”

“Oh, yes they are!” Twilight replied with a pleasant surprise, letting the cleaner pass to inspect the tank of curious creatures “You’re familiar with them?”

“My dad’s really into exotic fish and custom tanks” she explained “Even gave me a lavender one for my birthday once. Though these ones look like the standard lab breed.”

“Almost as common as lab rats these days” Applebloom chimed in.

“Why have both then?” Sunset asked, peering past the cleaner to study the funny looking lizards.

“They can regenerate” Zap answered this time “Even better than you lot. Even parts of their brains.”

“They’re also neotenous” Twilight continued “Though not quite the same as us. Their genome is also impressive. They’re basically perfect for testing in a wide variety of fields.”

“They infected yet?” Zap asked, a little quieter than before.

“Not yet” the scientist answered and gestured behind her to a rack of injectors in one of the lab's windowed fridges “We had everything ready but with everything that's been happening, we felt it was best to postpone until things calmed down.”

“Huh, bummer” the cleaner mumbled, eyes lingering on the cold storage for a few more seconds longer. She then shrugged and turned back to the salamanders “Well if any of them survive, let me know. Sure my dad wouldn’t mind adding a few more to his collection.”

“It would save Flutters some trouble” Applebloom smiled back “About time to feed everyone. You can help if you want.”

“Sure” Zap returned before the conversation turned to other topics. Sunset tried to just enjoy the distraction from her tests but something nagged at her; she couldn’t help notice that Zap’s gaze kept finding its way back to the fridge and the injectors within.

“You alright?” she finally asked, catching the cleaner as she was staring.

“Huh? Oh yeah! Just y’know, thinking” she laughed a little uneasily “Someday something as simple as a shot like that could actually fix me. That’s pretty cool, don’t ya think?”

“Hopefully someday soon if we’re lucky” Twilight grinned brightly and Sunset relaxed. She was worried being near the infectious mitos, even secured as they were, was giving the cleaner flashbacks. After the few she’d had herself recently, she didn’t want to leave her dwelling. Shaking off the tension, she returned to the mischief waiting for their food.

She didn’t even notice the cleaner mutter under her breath.

“Yeah… someday soon…”

Aya’s boots clicked as she stepped out of her office and into the tiled hallway, adjusting her relatively short skirt as she went. While the hunter didn’t much enjoy dwelling on the fact she had no idea how long she could actually live now, she did have to admit there were a few things she didn’t mind about being a freak. Like the fact she could get away with wearing things the average woman her age never could wasn’t something she’d begrudge.

She was in a good mood. It had been almost a week since the cultist gatherings and the investigations suggested that they may not be able to recover from the losses. There would still be others but one less group of crazies trying to make NMCs was always a good thing. Twilight had also finally determined Sunset was mostly back to normal after her manifestation, not at any more risk of complications than any of them once again.

So yeah, good vibes.

The clacking of heels soon echoed over her own steps from around the corner. As she reached the T junction outside Twilight’s lab, she came upon both Cadence and Rupert headed the same way.

“Were you summoned by my husband too?” the counselor cocked an eyebrow in amusement. “Shiny must have found something juicy.”

“Guess so” The hunter smirked back. Rupert didn’t seem nearly so enthused. Then again, Rupert was rarely so enthused about anything, even before becoming the boss. The trio reached the liaison’s office to find the agent looking… not worried, but definitely troubled. He gestured for them to take a seat, barely taking his eyes off the folder on his desk.

“I found Sunset” he started with.

“Was it at the highschool?” Aya quipped. Her smirk faltered when he failed to react “Wait, you mean like, found her found her?”

“After all this time?” Cadence piped in as Rupert sat up straighter.

“In a sense…” he returned cryptically before opening the folder and laying out its contents. It wasn’t much; a few old photographs and what looked like a short dossier. Aya picked up one of the pictures to see a girl that was maybe all of ten years old, beaming brightly at the camera. She had Sunset’s eyes and hair, the red and gold shining brilliantly, even among the picture’s faded colors. Shining lifted the papers and began reading.

“Sunset Shimmer. Born just outside Vancouver to parents Thomas Starfall and Sunrise Shimmer.”

“Sunny’s Canadian?” Cadence smiled with mild amusement “Wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“Different last names,” Rupert commented, looking over one of the photos himself “Divorced?”

“No, just never married” Shining answered “She lived happily with both until shortly after her fourteenth birthday, when they died in a car accident.”

“Oh…” the counselor's smile was gone in an instant. “I guess that might explain why they never came looking for her.”

“They don’t look particularly wealthy,” Rupert pointed out, holding another photo. The two women leaned in to see the girl’s parents holding an infant Sunset in front of a modest home, smiling over the ‘SOLD’ label on the house’s for sale sign.

“They weren’t,” Shining confirmed. “They weren’t hurting persae, but they certainly weren’t ‘literal bags of gold’ rich. And before you ask, no; Sunset wasn’t taken in by some rich uncle or loney aristocrat. She bounced around the system until she was 16.”

“She get adopted?” Cadence asked.

“No, emancipated actually.”

“Really?” Aya queried. The agent nodded, handing her a photo. A small snort escaped the blonde at the sight of a teenage Sunset holding up a stack of paperwork and flipping off the camera with her tongue out. “Tough kid.”

“Yeah, she was…” Shining sighed. The three shared uneasy and more than a little confused glances between each other. Armor didn’t fail to notice “Yeah, that’s where things get weird.”

He handed the papers to Aya, letting her flip through them as he continued.

“After getting emancipated, she got a job and saved up to live a decent, if somewhat spartan life until she finally received her inheritance at 18.”

“Why didn’t she get it before?” his wife cut in.

“Legal double talk and technicalities in the wording.” He returned. Before he could continue though, Aya interrupted herself.

“Cause of Death: Immolation?!” she stared at the words in front of her. Rupert leaned in at the declaration, taking the sheet as the blonde’s eye snapped to the agent “What the hell is this?”

“Hold onto your butts because that’s not the craziest part” he warned “It seemed with turning eighteen and finally getting her inheritance, Ms. Shimmer decided to celebrate with a Christmas vacation. She went to New York to see the sights. She even managed to score some primo tickets to one of her favorite plays…”

“No…” Cadence gasped, blinking repeatedly as she tried to comprehend.

“Shining that’s not possible” Rupert argued, firm gaze locked onto the agent’s own.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. That’s why this took so long; I double and triple checked. Even called in a few favors to make sure, but it all points to the same thing.” he returned with a frown “Sunset Shimmer was at Carnegie Hall the night EVE awoke.”

“Aya?” The clear concern in Cadence’s tone cut through the sudden tension like butter. The veteran hunter had yet to say a word and her gaze was to the floor, her eyes a million miles away.

She had just stepped out of the limo; the sidewalk in front of the theater finally cleared enough of people for them to exit comfortably. She nodded to one of the door men waiting patiently for them to enter. They waited briefly in the foyer, the throng of more prompt theater goers still making their way into the hall proper. An usher had just collected their coats when a blaze of color caught her eye. A young woman was looking about the entrance hall with a mild sense of wonder and a goofy smile painted on her face.

‘Tourists’ she rolled her eyes with amusement. Some were annoying, sure, but she wouldn’t begrudge the girl for enjoying herself. The ushers soon wrangled up the teen as another led her and Chet into the performance hall. She suppressed a giggle as she heard a muted ‘wooow’ gasped from behind them.

“She was there…” she breathed out in barely a whisper, eyes wide under a furrowed brow. “Oh god she was there. How could I not remember that?”

Her hands ran through her hair before they found their way to the back of her neck. Blue eyes stared blankly at the floor, not seeing it as her mind began to race. One leg started to bounce and a distant singing began to echo from the voids.

Fire. Fire everywhere. People screaming and running. A yell rang from above and a man ablaze fell from the rafters. All the while, singing. Singing from without and within. The haunting voice heard throughout it all.

“Aya.” the blonde’s head snapped up when a gentle hand landed on her shoulder. Her eyes locked onto the purple ones of the woman crouched before her. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

“I… I’m sorry, I don’t how I could of-” she stuttered before a finger landed on her lips. The counselor smiled at her soothingly.

“I think with everything that happened that night, let alone the rest of the week, forgetting about one random tourist can be forgiven.” She took the blonde’s hands in her own. She didn’t say anything else but a calming warmth spread through the hunter; one that, oddly enough, had nothing to do with their mitochondria.

“How are you not a Mom yet?” Aya quipped, earning a giggle from the woman. The multi-toned haired woman glanced over her shoulder to her husband.

“How indeed?” she smirked mischievously. Shiny stiffened with a fierce blush before clearing his throat, shifting uncomfortably. She gave a small chuckle before focusing on her patient again “You okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, I’m fine now.”

“You sure?” Rupert asked next “Haven’t seen that kind of reaction from you in a long time.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that just… really caught me off guard.” she assured him as Cadence returned to her seat. She tried to clear her head with a shake before looking back to the agent “How did we miss this for so long?”

“You two would know better than anyone just how much of a mess the whole blockade was.” Shining gestured between the two MIST veterans “Turns out Ms. Shimmer’s body was one of the first identified, and the coroners were more than happy to pass her off to the Canadian authorities when she was. She was processed and sent out to make way for the avalanche of casualties that followed. Between the blockade that followed, the attack on the station and just general widespread panic; the records of her being there just got lost.”

“I still wouldn’t have expected it to take this long,” Rupert commented “Even being Canadian, I’d expect the Bureau to catch it sooner.”

“Again, Ms. Shimmer didn’t have a family and while she wasn’t completely without friends, there wasn’t much of a record of her. We actually found the name relatively early on but that girl was dead.” Armor explained “It took a good bit of following up to put all this together and then double check everything.”

“Are we sure she died?” Cadence looked at the picture of ten year old Sunset sadly “We don’t age much after all.”

“No one else survived that night” Aya delivered quietly “Besides, that was a decade ago. Twilight’s checked Sunset over more times than we can count at this point. Even with Sunny’s unique mitochondria, she would have been able to determine if she was that much older than she told us.”

“Soooo…” the counselor struggled to find the words “Even though this is Sunset Shimmer, it’s not our Sunset Shimmer?”

“This is Sunset.” Rupert gestured with the photo in his hand “She has the same name, the same face, even the same hair. How is this not Shimmer?”

“Now you know what I’ve been dealing with” the agent grumbled “But I traced everything back. I went so far as learning she was buried next to her parents. I called the grounds keeper to confirm the gravestone. They even used some fancy giant ultrasound machine or something to confirm there’s a body in the casket. Short of exhuming the body for testing, I’ve got nothing.”

“I’d say stolen identity but…” Rupert began, frowning at the pictures “You don’t steal a dead girl’s face only to get so many other details wrong.”

“She’s not a spy Rupert,” Cadence argued.

“That’s what I’m saying.” he agreed “This doesn’t make any sense… Do the higher ups know about this?”

“They know I found a dead girl with the same name” Shining answered “They’re waiting on confirmation on whether or not it’s her. The photos and everything else? No one outside of this room knows more than fragments. Fragments that’ll never be followed up on if I report to the negative.”

Rupert nodded his understanding, returning to his thoughts as the room grew quiet again. Cadence stiffened as something occurred to her however.

“Could she be a clone?” she offered.

“What, like Evie?” Shining asked, “But why? I can understand why they'd clone Aya but what use would they have for a random orphan from Vancouver?”

“She’s not a clone.” Aya declared “She’s too old for that. And again, Twilight’s tests would have shown it. They show that Eve isn’t technically as old as she is developmentally, among other discrepancies. Twi definitely would have caught if she was a clone.”

“So… what?” Cadence asked “This is all just some super insane coincidence?”

“Those can happen…” Aya muttered, though not sounding entirely confident herself “As improbable as they sometimes seem.”

“Whatever the case, it seems pretty clear this isn’t our Sunset,” Rupert concluded and gave Agent Armor a meaningful look “Right?”

“That’s what it says in my report” the liaison replied simply. The director returned a small nod and the room descended back into silence.

“Do we tell her?” Aya directed toward the other woman in the room.

“No.” Cadence answered easily “If we’re right that this can’t be her, then it’ll just confuse the situation even more. And even if it were somehow her, this definitely wouldn’t be the moment to drop it on her. She’s in a fragile enough state as it is right now.”

“Well, back to the search then” Shining huffed, gathering the folder’s contents back up “After all, this still leaves the question of who our Sunset really is.”

“She’s MIST” Rupert returned “That’ll have to be enough for now.”

With the matter settled, the group left the office to return to their own duties. The sounds of Aya’s boots clicking against the tile rang out once more as she headed back to her office, though this time they fell on deaf ears. While these revelations brought up so many more questions and essentially no answers, she did know one thing for sure after remembering the other Sunset’s death.

That she’d be damned if she was going to let it happen again.

MIST’s mechanic and newest hunter sat at the counter dividing the two sections of the armory room. Jodie and Pinkie sat on the other side as a line of 5 cards sat in the open space between them. Each woman had a pair of cards and a small collection of empty pistol casings in front of them.

“And flush.” three of the women groaned as the youngest revealed her cards. The largest pile of cases grew even larger.

“You are way too good at this.” Jodie commented. The redhead smiled innocently back before chuckling.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d stand a chance with Miss 'Pinkie Sense' over here.” she admitted.

“Oh no, one does not trifle with the sense for such questionable things” the range master delivered dramatically “lest it trifle back.”

Subtle laughter found them as Dash took the deck and reshuffled. The pair had finally gotten the chance to discuss Sunset’s unique circumstances and it turned out the former pony had little to worry about. Dash seemed mostly fine keeping things to herself. She did seem a bit troubled about keeping things from Fluttershy but knew it would only load more onto the frankly already overburdened nurse’s plate. She also agreed that, at least for now, the fewer people that knew was for the better.

Beyond that, it was mostly curiosity on Dash’s part leading the questions the past few days. Although Sunset would be lying if she didn’t relish the chance to finally have some of her own questions answered. Like just what the hell was wrong with humanity in certain cases. The question hadn’t been entirely serious at the time, Sunset knew ponies were far from perfect, but Rainbow had earnestly tried to answer. At least she had after her laughing fit.

Basically no one really knew, and it was up to the good ones to keep things from going completely to shit. She took that for what it was. She certainly couldn’t argue that there weren't still good people, and at least in general more decent people than bad ones.

Other than that it was honestly just nice to finally be able to talk to someone about things with. Far more than she realized it would be. It was frankly the main thing that kept the ‘for now’ part of the not telling everyone.

She didn’t fail to notice Dash shooting her playfully suspicious glaces out the corner of her eye though. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text and a moment later, Rainbow’s pocket buzzed.

‘I don’t need magic to read you like a book’

“Oh ho ho, well then challenge accepted Shimmer!” the mechanic grinned at her like at shark after reading. More laughter erupted from the quartet, only broken by the door nearly slamming open abruptly as a pair of blondes stormed in.

“-Can’t believe you’re actually considering going back into that hell hole!” Eve’s voice followed her sister now swiping her key card to enter the armory proper. As the siblings continued into the shelves, Rupert had appeared though the still open door next.

“Jodie, Pinkie, we need Code Amber loadouts for Apple, Belle, Breeze, and these two. We’ll also need a support loadout for Twilight.” He delivered quickly and handed the quartermaster a manifest “You two give them a hand.”

“Code Amber?” Pinkie parrotted with a hint of genuine worry before Aya’s voice echoed through the shelves.

“And I need to get into locker 8!”

“Eight?!” Jodie exclaimed this time “For serious girl?”

“Ladies.” the director said firmly.

“Uh right. Here, Pinkie you go open eight for Ay’ and gather up the armor-”

“Mobility or protection?” Pinkie asked as she took the key Jodie pulled off her ring.

“A balance would be best for Amber” Jodie answered before the poufy hair girl nodded and set out on her task. The armorer turned back to the pair and handed them each a sheet from the director’s stack “Sunny, you’re on ammo. Rainbow, you grab the attachments. I’ll meet you at the benches with everyone’s primaries so we can get to work.”

During the exchange, the Brea siblings continued their ‘impassioned’ discussion.

“MIST really is the safest place for you right now Evie.”

“I’m not worried about my safety right now Ay’!” Eve shouted back “I’m worried about you! That anyone would even risk going in there! Just bomb the damn thing!”

“Hard to bomb something specifically built to resist it” Aya countered without looking away from her own gatherings.

“Not when there’s a giant damn hole already shot through it!” the younger sibling countered back “Put aside everything else fucked up in there, it’s probably not even stable enough to be safe!”

“Safe enough for whoever turned the power back on” Aya responded subtly.

“Aya-”

“YOU REALLY THINK I WANT TO GO BACK THERE?!” the older blonde abruptly snapped back, the entire space falling silent at the uncharacteristic outburst. A heavy sigh escaped the veteran hunter as she let herself fall into a lean against the shelves. She pinched the bridge of her nose “I’m sorry, that-”

“No. No, I’m sorry. It’s just…” the young woman began before her voice cracked. She tried to shake it off but her eyes began to water “That place…”

Aya pushed herself back up straight and gently warped her arms around her now crying sister.

“I know Evie, I know…” she cooed softly and tried to sooth the girl, rubbing her hand over her golden locks. Rupert subtly gestured the others back to their tasks after they hesitated a little too long.

Pinkie soon reappeared, her arms overloaded with protective gear. She deftly skirted past the embraced pair despite her embumbrance and deposited her load on the table before darting toward one of the armory’s larger lockers. She pulled out a rather large, rectangular case by a carrying handle, grunting as she hefted the weight onto a nearby counter.

“Oh holy shit” Dash whispered, craning to try and see past the range master “That what I think it is?”

“It is” Aya answered, pulling away to look at her sister “You okay?”

“No… but I will be” she sniffled, whipping away her tears. She took a deep breath and offered a forced smile “At least I know you’re taking this seriously, if you’re taking that.”

She squeezed the young woman’s shoulders before moving over to the case. She popped it open and, for a moment, just stared into its depths. Finally though, Sunset had her rather intense curiosity answered as she stepped up behind her mentor.

Her jaw fell completely slack at the contents. It took a moment to actually process what she was seeing, as the blending of two very different weapons left her more than a little shocked. Shocked and curious on just how well such a configuration could work.

“Oh fuck, this really is serious, isn’t it?” Dash practically gasped as she took in the weapon’s gleaming surface.

“Are we allowed to ask what’s happening yet?” Sunset asked hesitantly. Aya and Rupert exchanged a grim look. The director sighed.

“We just received word from Dryfield” he delivered tensely “Someone’s restored power in the Shelter.”

“The shelter?” Sunset repeated, eye widening “As in THE shelter? As in-”

“As in the Ark, yes.” Aya gave in a heavy exhale. “Get ready for some dry heat girls…”

She pulled the massive slab of metal from the case and turned, resting the literal Gunblade on her shoulder as she regarded them.

“We’re headed to the Mojave.”

Author's Note

Dun Dun Duuuuunnn

Sorry, bout the small pic of the Gunblade, but it was the best I could find of the one actually used in the game. In my defense though, it is a PS ONE game after all

But yes, word heavy chapter but I figured it'd be fine sandwiched in-between two more actiony ones

But until then as always: Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!