Sunset sprinted past the range and took the steps up to the ground floor two at a time. She did pause at the top to catch her breath a moment, before marveling a little at how quickly she got it back. Six months ago just getting up and down was an ordeal and now she was up in seconds and only slightly winded. She was actually a little proud right now.

Self congratulations could wait though and she was late enough to respond as it was. She continued at a hurried pace, though not quite sprinting as before. Other than a few glances and chuckles, no one she passed begrudged her rushed pace. She all but burst through the door of her destination, feeling a massive weight beginning to lift at just the sight within.

“Hey! There she is!” The colorfully haired woman beamed at the sight of the redhead “And here I thought my savior would care enough to be the first to show up.”

“S-sorry I was-”

“Sleeping, yeah. Relax Sunny, I’m just screw'n with ya.” Rainbow grinned before popping a few fries from the notable pile of fast food on the tray in front of her “Not gonna complain about ya actually managing some sleep after the shit storm that landed me in this bed. Even if I’ve had more than enough of it myself at this point.”

The awakened let out a relieved sigh. It worked. It worked and Dash woke up still Dash. She moved over to one of the seats on the side of the bed opposite the one Fluttershy was seated, returning the nurse's own relieved smile.

“How’re you feeling?” Sunset asked tentatively.

“Well like I told everyone earlier, it’s kinda hard to tell what might be my new mitos squirming around or what might just be me high off all the meds Twi’s got me on” Dash rambled off, looking at her flexing hand “But pretty good, all things considered!”

“Already got your appetite back I see” the redhead smirked at the pile of burgers and small stack of pizza slices that the mechanic had apparently already put a good dent in. She then had to swallow however, blinking rapidly as she tried to contain herself “I’m so glad it worked…”

“Hey, stop that. I got enough water works from Rares and Shy already, so don’t you start now too” Dash gave playfully as she leaned over to nudge the redhead with her arm. Sunset saw Fluttershy look away bashfully with a slight blush, now noticing the nurse’s eyes did look a little red and puffy. “Seriously, I’m fine. You saw to that yourselves, so cheer up will ya?”

While she felt Rainbow may have been taking this too lightly, she straightened up and did her best to wipe away the tears before smiling back. Like Cadence said, it would catch up with her at whatever pace she took in confronting it. They just had to be ready for it. Fluttershy seemed to have already been doing the same, and was now looking to Sunset curiously.

“Did you eat already?” she asked to change the subject. Sunset shook her head, prompting the medic to tilt her own “And you still didn’t grab anything from the break room?”

“There’s food in the break room?” the redhead asked, earning a loud scoff from Dash.

“Yeah, a whole mountain of it from what I’m told” she chuckled “Twi sent Pinkie out with her card and told her get to enough for the whole station and then some. You didn’t see?”

“I uh… Kind of ran right past, being late and all.” Sunset winced with a blush of her own this time, earning a louder laugh from the mechanic.

“Well there’s plenty here if you don’t wanna head back down. With how I’m putting it away though you still might have to before long” she warned in good humor, though massaged at her jaw as she did “Guess I can’t really tease you guys about how much you all eat anymore, huh? Gotten a new appreciation for that part of the downsides already.”

“Does Twilight have a better idea what to expect now that you’re awake?” Sunset asked Dash, though notably looked to Fluttershy as well before taking one of the burgers.

“Some but not much.” the nurse answered calmly, “For now it’s just keeping an eye out for any of the known warning signs and being prepared.”

“Yeah, we gotta carry pens on us for a while” Rainbow shrugged with a somewhat dejected tone “And I’m gonna be stuck here for a while until she figures out my dosage. Told her if I’m still gonna be back up for you guys then it’d be better to not be on them-”

“All infected start on suppressants Rainbow, you know that.” Fluttershy gently interrupted. “It’s more important to make sure you’re stabilized first, especially if you’re going to be allowed to develop any abilities.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. Still a bummer. Now I know what you were going through” Dash nudged the redhead again “Although speaking of; what d’ya think my element will be?”

“There’s no way to tell until the practical tests” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Well sure, but everyone still sorta fits theirs. You got water to help heal our dumb asses better” she grinned as Shy rolled her eyes “Jackie got stable ol’ earth. Rares got airy wind and Sunny here practically screamed fire with her attitude, let alone that hair.”

“You better not hope it’s based on hair” the aforementioned fiery haired girl quipped “Else you’ll end up with some crazy collage.”

“Yeah, that could be a bit chaotic, huh?” Dash giggled “Well I might be fire. I do got a buncha you in me now, even if it happened in not nearly as fun a way as that makes it sound.”

Another eyeroll found the pair on either side of the mechanic, though Sunset still failed to suppress a snort in response to the woman’s dirty mind. She did have a point though; everyone’s inclination did seem to correlate to their personality, if not a matter of actual causation. She wondered if Twilight had considered the possibility, even with her typical dismissal of such… sentimental concepts when it came to her science.

“I can see you as wind” she finally offered “Though as Aya put it, wind is sort of all over the place so I suppose it could fit most anyone.”

“Hey I wouldn’t mind throwing around some lightning bolts” the bed bound woman shrugged before grabbing another pinch of fries, or before they promptly slipped from her grasp at least “Stupid pecked up hands… I thought I was already supposed to be healing fast like you guys.”

“You are already healing faster,” Fluttershy assured her, picking the fries back up for her surrogate sister “It’s why you’re able to use your hands at all this early. You… your arms took a pretty bad hit Rainbow, even for one us…”

“Hmmm” was all Rainbow gave in response, looking over her hand again.

From there the conversation had turned more casual, and then they found themselves watching videos on Dash’s tablet, which Sunset had the forethought to bring with, along with some of the mechanic’s other effects. The redhead did have a small laugh when Rainbow kept saying it felt like she watched them already and she realized some of them were what she played for her while asleep. Quickly enough though, the food ran out and Fluttershy rose to get some more.

“Would you like some?” she glanced over to the infirmary’s other guest, almost seeming to surprise their newest Awakened. Sunset had frankly forgotten Adagio was there, as she had been simply sitting there, reading quietly the whole time. The short haired woman considered a moment before responding.

“Yes,” she answered simply, “I could use another meal.”

It wasn’t rude, it was delivered quite politely in fact, but Sunset didn’t fail to notice there wasn’t a genuine note of gratitude behind the words, let alone an actual thank you. If Fluttershy noticed though, she took it in stride and merely nodded before exiting, leaving the three alone. She continued studying the woman until Dash scooting in closer drew her attention back.

“Hey, so uh…” she started hesitantly in a hushed whisper. Clearly she had been waiting until Shy left to ask whatever was coming. Sunset secretly hoped she wasn’t about to thank her, well aware of the irony considering what she was just thinking. “Do I have magic now?”

The former pony blinked; that wasn’t what she was expecting. Though after the brief moment of surprise, she supposed she probably should have. She opened her mouth to tell the mechanic that magical implantation normally took a good deal more intent but then hesitated herself. Normally it would, but her magic hadn’t been exactly normal since the change. Before she could stall further however, the third voice in the room interrupted.

“She knows.” Adagio stated confidently, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. “That’s why you were so concerned it was her that was hurt. She’s the one that knows what our ‘Extra Layer’ really is, isn't she?”

“Wait, ‘our’?” Rainbow caught and gawked at the Siren. Her head shot back and forth between her and Sunset, who was currently cursing that she forgot about Adagio’s hearing “You’re from Equestria?!”

“Equestria!” Adagio repeated triumphantly as her smile grew wider. Turning her grin to Sunset, she squinted teasingly “So you are a pony.”

“She’s from Equis. We haven’t had the opportunity to talk even that far yet though.” Sunset said quietly, her tone low as she stared back at the woman with a subtle scowl “And that’s not why I was worried. She’s my friend; that’s all the reason I need.”

“Ah yes, you ponies and your ‘Friendship’” Adagio retorted dismissively, even making air quotes “Honestly, it’s like your whole race is made of nothing but sugar.”

“I’m guessing you’re not a pony then?” Rainbow asked, her own tone a little concerned as she realized she may have screwed up somehow.

“No.” Sunset actually answered, narrowing her eyes at the short haired woman “A pony wouldn’t need a focus like that necklace to even just access their magic.”

It was a subtle reaction; Adagio had a fair poker face, but the corner of her lips gave a twitch and brought a smirk to Sunset’s own.

‘Engarde Ms. Dazzle’

“With a keen enough sense to tell that, even with the… limitations of these human forms,” Adagio recovered quickly and mused “That would narrow it down to a unicorn then, yes?”

“Or an alicorn” Sunset deliberately smiled more triumphantly, despite the obvious bluff.

“Please. You’re not that powerful, bacon hair” She scoffed, a scoff quickly turned to a nefarious chortle when the girl notably bristled at the comment “Come now, you can’t say you never noticed.”

The former pony sneered at the woman. Her hair wasn’t bacon! It was fire! The glorious flame of the setting sun fighting against the end of its glory until the morn! She risked a glance to Dash…

Who could only press her lips tight and look away with a small blush.

‘...Touché, Ms. Dazzle’ she arched a brow at the apparently rival magic user, based on this attitude. She hadn’t refuted the bluff technically but threw the unicorn off all the same, with a simple quip no less. Still, she could keep pushing, maybe still get some actual slips.

“You said it yourself; This form can be awfully limiting.”

“Not that much. Your two new brats would still shine like a forest fire, even in this world.” Adagio stared at her flatly “You’re bright Shimmer, I won’t deny. But you’re still no beacon in the night.”

‘Two new brats?’ she wasn’t sure what knowledge Ms. Dazzle would unwittingly divulge at the push, but Sunset hadn’t expected it to actually confuse her further. The fact she knew of alicorns by their name and not just ‘one of those ponies with both’ meant she was at least that familiar with her species. If she had mentioned Celestia then she at least was cursory aware of their leadership. If she mentioned Cadence, the Princess one that is, then she'd actually be very familiar, as most outside Equestria didn’t care to learn there was a new Alicorn save perhaps dignitaries and the like.

But 'two new brats'? Sure, Princess Cadenza could easily fall into the realm of brat but there was still just one of her ('Thankfully'). Celestia certainly couldn’t be considered a brat though; Not unless this Adagio was much, much older than she appeared.

…

‘This Adagio could be much, much older than she appears…’ Sunset felt a chill run up her spine at the thought. For one of the few times she could remember, she sincerely hoped she was wrong.

Any further sparring was cut short by the return of Fluttershy with their food. While walking in with a pleasant smile, she didn’t fail to notice the tension that had developed between the two beds.

“Is everything alright?” She asked as she set the majority of the food down on the previously emptied tray before walking toward her other patient with the rest of it.

“Just letting Miss Dazzle know it’s impolite to eavesdrop” Sunset said evenly. “Exceptional hearing or not.”

“And then learning what you meant by ‘politely uncooperative’” Dash grumbled, still giving the woman the side eye.

“Oh good!” Adagio returned cheerfully, smiling at the nurse handing her her food “That’s what I was going for.”

Not entirely sure how to respond to that, Fluttershy simply set the food down and returned to the others. Sunset’s and Rainbow’s eyes lingered on Miss Dazzle a moment longer but if she noticed, she didn’t care and simply returned to her book without a second glance.

Another hour went by peacefully before Fluttershy’s shift was over. While they had all originally been given the week off after the Ark, with all of them coming in anyway, Rupert decided to offer some of them light duty shifts to stay busy. Sunset took the time off herself but wasn’t surprised Shy took the offer. With a little cajoling from the now awake Dash though, they managed to convince her it was okay to finally go home. Rainbow asked Sunset to go too to keep her company, saying she’d be fine on her own even if none of the others came back around, though they doubted that'd be the case. Then, as if too prove that very point:

“HAPPY HUGS!” The pair were just stepping out the door when Pinkie suddenly engulfed them in an embrace. The bubbly rangemaster however then gasped even more excited by the redhead’s response “You’re hugging back!”

“Well it’s a good day, right?” Sunset laughed as she squeezed the women in return, earning amused giggles from both.

“Yes indeedy!” The bouncy Pie let them go and recollected a half empty tray of cupcakes from a nearby table before holding it out to them. Knowing better than to turn down one of the woman’s legendary confectionaries, they each took a baked good and let her pass into the infirmary. She did give one last smile to the nurse as she did though “Sleep tight!”

And with just a brief mission of gathering all the things the medic had collected at the station over the past four days, Sunset escorted the tired Fluttershy home.

A few more days went by and Sunset was headed back to the station again, only now for her first working shift since the shelter mission. She was honestly up to coming back as soon as Dash woke up but wasn’t going to miss the chance at extra time off that wouldn’t cost her any vacation days. Being her first official shift back it was still light duty, meaning mostly catching up on paperwork and such, and she figured some range time wasn’t a bad idea either.

After clocking in at the currently empty break room computer, she soon heard that she may not even have to wait for the range to be set up. As she then closed on the turn to the range window, she could also hear the muted murmurs of a small group between the muffled pops. She rounded the corner and had a brief episode of dejavu, spotting pretty much a mirror image of those that had gathered outside the same window during the first test of her own mitochondrial abilities. The only difference was Dash was still in her patient gown and Applejack was with them instead of with her on the range.

“Shimmer, you clocked in?” Rupert asked as she spotted her. He continued at her nod “Good, we’ll need you in a bit. Twilight wants you to be the third comparison.”

“Okay…” she simply returned before finally getting a look at who was in the range. Aya stood with Adagio, who was currently popping away at a target with a small pistol Sunset didn’t recognize. She sucked at her cheek as she broke away to deposit what she needed to in the locker room. On one hand, it felt wrong to be testing her at all considering she was basically black mailing them for a position. It’d be difficult to trust anyone to watch your back in a life and death situation when they wouldn’t have even been humored otherwise.

Yet on the other hand, Sunset couldn’t deny her curiosity. Another Equestrian on Earth, even if they weren’t a pony, was a marvel all its own, but another that was an NMH too might just mean Sunset wouldn’t have to figure everything out the hard way after all. She had also learned that unlike herself, Adagio had an identity more than half a year old; Almost a decade if the records were to be believed. Though that in itself brought back those concerns again.

Ultimately though it wasn’t her call and she trusted Rupert and the rest of the leads, whatever their decision. She rejoined the group, still watching the woman firing at now moving targets. She was a pretty good shot but Sunset noticed she seemed rather irritated as she went about the test.

“You figured she’d be a little happier about us finally humoring her. I mean, I was.” the redhead admitted, earning some subtle chuckles. Even Rupert gave a small, but still amused hum.

“Nah, she’s been in a twist ‘bout wanting to leave” AJ answered “We figured maybe she’d give it a rest fer a while if we indulged her with at least this.”

“She spends all this time trying to blackmail us into giving her a job just to complain about us not letting her leave a week later?” Sunset gave incredulously.

“Not leave leave,” Twilight answered, her tone showing a bit of irritation itself. Based on the flat stare she was giving Adagio on the other side of the glass, Sunset felt Ms. Dazzle had been complaining a lot “Just leave the station, get outside for a bit.”

“Completely disregarding how big a target she’d be” Rupert grumbled next, though his gaze also didn’t leave the tests before them “And that we can’t spare her an escort every time she’s craving some fresh air.”

“Um, actually boss…” Rainbow spoke up with a hint of hope in her voice “I was thinking maybe me and Sunny could take her out. Like just to the park or something.”

“Rainbow-” Twilight began with an exasperated sigh, not making it any further before the mechanic kept talking.

“Yeah Doc, I know; Observation and all that” Dash returned begrudgingly and failing to hide her eyes rolling “But come on, I’m getting pretty stir crazy myself here. It’s just some baby-sitting duty, hardly stressful and it’s not like we won’t have pens on us.”

“The suppressants already failed once…” Fluttershy mumbled somberly.

“And that’s why I said me and Sunny! Her mitos are still listening to her so she can rally them again IF things really go that bad, which you said yourself isn’t likely.” the colorfully haired girl argued “Plus she’s on light duty and it’s Literally ‘a walk in the park’! Doesn’t get much lighter than that.”

Another sigh escaped the scientist before she looked almost pleadingly to Rupert.

“It’s your call if she’s up for any work Doctor” he answered simply “I have no problem with them getting her out of our hair for a little while personally.”

The rest of the girls shared looks of poorly suppressed amusement. Rupert was an extremely composed man but it was always fun to see that even he still had his limits, and it was certainly no secret Ms. Dazzle had been testing them more than most could since she woke up.

“Let’s see how the tests go first, okay?” Twilight relented in compromise. Though even without a clear yes, Sunset and Dash shared a quick knowing look; Unless something came way out of left field during the tests, they were as good as gone already.

Said tests turned out to be fairly mundane themselves. At least as mundane as using super powers could be that is. Twilight didn’t even have them test her ability to use her ‘extra layer’, only wanting Sunset as a similar point of reference for more basic abilities.

That’s not to say there were no surprises. While Adagio claimed to be inclined toward the ‘Water' branch of energies, she actually possessed a notably broad set of seemingly very specific skills. While she did have more control and power behind her water abilities, including a claim of being capable of the rather advanced ‘life-drain’ technique, she was also capable of Necrosis, Energy Shot and even a low level Energy Ball. It wasn’t as powerful as Aya’s and she could only summon one sphere at a time but even AJ hadn’t reached the point of being able to use the ability yet. To confuse the matter even further, she seemed only capable of those and a few other very specific abilities in those areas, as if Ark Shadow simply decided they were the most useful and drilled them into her head.

And the more Sunset thought about it, the more she feared that might was more than likely the case. Add to that the depths they had no problem sinking to, that last part could have been very literal itself. Whatever they might think about Ms. Dazzle’s personality, they still wouldn’t think she deserved anything like that, no matter how obnoxious.

With that uncomfortable thought now weighing on her mind, she found herself waiting with Dash in the breakroom as Twilight finished up Adagio’s after exams. It was just the two of them at the moment so the former pony felt safe enough to at least risk a little exposure.

“Thanks” the former pony gave.

“Hey I know it’s probably not anywhere near as much as you, but I’d still like some answers myself about this chick.” The mechanic replied with a shrug “That and I really am kind of losing my mind stuck in the station like this. All this empty downtime got me think’n about all the shit I try not to. It ain’t fun.”

Sunset gave a small scoff, though mostly just to humor Dash trying to make light of things. Like Aya said at the school; Avoidance was Rainbow’s primary coping mechanism and it wasn’t hard to see, even before the veteran hunter told her so. Sunset didn’t necessarily approve but hardly had a better alternative to offer, so she just gave her friend’s shoulder a gentle squeeze for lack of a better option.

After just a small wait and quick last minute exam for Rainbow though, Twilight tentatively approved the back-up hunter to light duty and they were on the road. Adagio lounged in the backseat of Sunset’s jeep as the former pony drove toward the city’s biggest park, casting frequent glances at the still quite mysterious woman seated in her rearview mirror. Dash however, was far less inclined to stay subtle.

“So we got you out. Start talking.” She delivered bluntly. Ms. Dazzle for her part merely stretched out on the seat with a suggestive hum, smug satisfaction radiating from her every pore.

“I’m hungry.” she announced happily, rightly earning the sneer Rainbow was now giving her. Sunset even glanced away from the road to shoot her a nasty look over her shoulder herself “Oh come now, I know you’re just as fed up with fast food and frozen meals as I am; Even with the soft one bringing you leftovers too.”

Dash was clearly about to give the woman a piece of her mind but was unfortunately betrayed by her own stomach, a loud growl filling the vehicle before she could get a word out. A blush crept onto her cheeks as she worked her jaw.

“Some real food does sound pretty good Sunny…” she admitted quietly.

“Not a lot of ‘real’ food in the park and I really doubt this’ll be a conversation we want to have without some privacy.” Sunset pointed out.

“Oh please, you can’t be THAT new here, pony girl.” Adagio shot back “Even most nice restaurants still allow some kind of to-go menu. Especially these days.”

Forced to relent at not only that logic but also Dash’s own pleading looks, they stopped on their way to the park. It was a chain restaurant but a still fairly nice one, enough to satisfy Rainbow at least. Adagio seemed to be hoping for more but Sunset would be damned if she was gonna break the bank for this snob. Ms. Dazzle did have the courtesy to not complain further at least.

“So,” the redhead began as they found a relatively secluded set of dining tables in the oh so cleverly named Canterlot Park. She did take a moment to zip up her jacket before continuing, not only to better hide her sidearm but also because it had simply been getting a lot colder lately. They were already well past the solstice and closing in on winter. “You got your real food, we’re outside and you know Dash knows. So start talking.”

Adagio shifted in her seat, studying the former pony girl as she took a bite of her steak.

“First year?” she asked with an arched brow.

“What?” Sunset blinked at the unexpected question.

“Your jacket’s a little light for this time of year, and far too light for the winter that's coming.” the orange haired woman pointed out “I know you lot like to change the seasons yourselves, and all at once at that. Not foreseeing the need for a medium coat tells me you hadn’t considered the time in-between. Vis-à-vis; First Year?”

“You guys can control your seasons?” Dash whispered at the Equestrian’s side, earning a pleading look from the girl “Er, right. Your questions now. Mine later.”

“The cold doesn’t seem to bother you” Sunset returned her attention to the artificially awakened.

“And what does that tell you Ms. Unicorn?” Adagio leaned forward, smile growing smug “Even without knowing for sure, I’m sure you've had to have come up with some ideas.”

“None of them particularly comforting…” she grumbled, lightly sucking on her check. Her fellow magic user didn’t seem put off by the statement, if anything she seemed all the more intrigued. That wasn’t particularly comforting either. “Not minding the cold might suggest one of the northern races. Possibly a griffon, or even a Yak.”

“A Yak?” the woman’s face fell to disgusted disbelief “Really?”

“No, not really.” Sunset returned eyes narrowing “While they’ve been known to dabble in magical artifacts, they rarely develop foci, considering they can’t access their unique magics with one like yours anyway. That's also not considering my own doubts of their ability to create one as… potent as yours.”

“Well at least you can recognize quality. Though to even consider I could be one of those mongrels…” Adagio leaned back in her chair, and returned to her meal less amused than before “You come dangerously close to insulting me pony.”

“And with an arrogance like that I could definitely see you being a dragon” Sunset continued unabashed “Yes, while they prefer the heat, they carry more than enough within them to ignore the cold. They’re also no strangers to the more overt magics of Equis; The Dragon Lord’s scepter is made with a bloodstone of notable potency itself, which could explain your gem… But Twilight didn't find anything odd about your temperature and, well…”

“And you’d be hard pressed to find a dragon that could hold onto such a precious gemstone for so long without Eating it” Ms. Dazzle's self-satisfaction returned. She even continued on at the sight of a confused Dash next to the former unicorn “Yes, Dragons eat gemstones. Though admittedly gems far more commonplace back home than they are here.”

“Which means…” Sunset let go with a heavy sigh.

“Which means?” Adagio leaned in again, a pompous smile growing almost malicious as they neared the truth.

“Which means either you could be a dark magic user of any race” she started, though based on the woman’s lack of reaction she grimaced and continued “Or you’re a Siren.”

“Ding Ding little unicorn” the Siren woman practically purred.

“Like the chicks that would make sailors sink their ships?” Rainbow arched her brow.

“Shall I sing you a few bars?” Adagio offered sensuously.

“They’re a little different from Earth’s myth,” Sunset explained, her stern but still concerned look leveled at the siren “For your reference they’d look like giant, draconic seahorses. Though to us they always looked kind of like Kelp-”

“If you value any future cooperation pony, then you will not finish that thought” The siren’s entire mannerism shifted to utter contempt in an instant.

“Still a touchy subject I see” the redhead regained a subtle smirk of her own “Though I suppose that means you’d be glad to hear no one’s heard from their kind in quite a while. Then again I could say the same thing about your kind too.”

“I suppose they may have felt less secure without my sisters and I around anymore and retreated to the lower depths” she took the news in surprising stride, literally waving off the disappearance of her entire species like it was expected “Still, with the ruckus we made, I would have expected us to be your first answer.”

“It’s been a while since any ruckus of particular note.” Sunset frowned, brow furrowing at the other awakened. Said NMH however just gave an indignant *TCH*.

“Figures that bell wearing jackass would try to hide our accomplishments.” She looked away with a sneer “Doesn’t want everyone to know he couldn’t beat us in a straight fight and had to banish us as a last resort. Pathetic.”

“...Bell wearin-!” Realization shot through the young hunter like a bolt of lightning. Eyes wide in a mix of shock and horror, it took a moment to just find her voice. Even then, it was little more than a quiet fumbling “You’re not just a siren. You’re one of THE Sirens. You, you’re… Dazzle… You're one of the Dazzlings.”

“Oh There it is!” The Dazzling turned human straightened, her malicious grin returning as she puffed herself up “Guess even Starswirl doesn’t have enough influence to hide our glory.”

“How have you survived this long?!” the redhead suddenly snapped, catching the Siren off guard.

“This long?” She parroted, perplexed “What do mean? It’s only been a decade.”

“You’ve only been here a decade…” she repeated in a whisper, further lost. At least until the far worse implication struck home “A Decade?! You're SURE?!”

“Y-Yes!” the Dazzling returned, well and full off balance by the pony’s sudden desperation.

“A decade, but then… for her a decade but for us…” Sunset began to hyperventilate, bringing her shaking hands to her head “That big a discrepancy, even just a few months… even just…”

“Sunset?” Dash's voice echoed amongst the swirling chaos now engulfing the redhead's mind, the concerned mechanic's hand landing on her back only barely felt.

'...Sweet Celestia, how long have I been gone?'

“THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT PONY?!” Adagio’s abrupt shout cut through panic, though only barely. Sunset looked up to the siren now looming over her, propped against the table scowling down “WHAT DISCREPANCY?!”

“You…” Sunset tried, though failed before closing her eyes with a hard swallow “You’re one of the Dazzlings; the Sirens banished by Starswirl the bearded for trying to undermine the unification of the pony tribes.”

“Yes, And?!” Adagio snarled as she closed the distance more, promoting Dash to straighten herself and get in the Siren’s face.

“Hey back off Seahorse! Shit’s obviously bigger than just you anymore!” she stared down the Dazzling now glaring daggers back her way. Meanwhile it was all Sunset could do to just keep herself vertical, teetering in her seat as she tried to come to terms with just the mere possibility this news suggested.

“That was over twelve hundred years ago…” she gave in barely more than a breath.

“WHAT?!” Both women’s heads snapped to the distressed hunter.

“Bullshit!” Adagio spat a moment later “BULLSHIT!”

“I said back off.” Dash growled back, taking Sunset protectively into her arms “It's not bullshit. Why would she even lie about something like that?”

“To fuck with me?!” the siren proposed, turning away with an angry flourish “To gain the advantage in this little sparring match?!”

“Oh yeah, because this is us TOTALLY having the upper hand here!” Rainbow snarked with just the slightest bit of sarcasm as she held her friend now only barely keeping herself straight.

“So... What?!” the Dazzling yelled “Starswirl just hurled us into the future to make us someone else's problem even if we did find a way back?!”

“Harmony I hope so…” Sunset whispered desperately.

“You HOPE so?!” the Siren glared at her indignantly “You HOPE my sisters and I have been thrown so far into the future our home isn’t even remotely the same one that was stolen from us?!”

“The alternative…” Sunset droned out, eyes beginning to water “The alternative is that the temporal dilation between our worlds… The different rates at which time passes in each… is at least a factor of one to over a hundred…”

“Wait so…” Dash crouched down to better look at her friend “Every year here could be-”

“Over a hundred years in Equestria…” Sunset gave before the dam finally broke, falling fully into Rainbow’s grip as the tears began to flow. As cruel as it may have been to Ms. Dazzle, Sunset desperately hoped Starswirl was just far more of a dick than history portrayed and did indeed just launch them into the distant future. The idea that even just the few months she’d been on Earth, let alone the years before the portal reopened, IF it reopened…

“And either way we’re still fucked…” the siren interrupted the grim thought, tone no longer so smug or confident. She didn’t break into tears but did fall to the ground, sitting along the edge of the browning grass with her head in her hand “Fucking hell Starswirl, it’s not like we were eating you guys or something… mother fucker…”

And there they sat; lost, dejected and now quiet as a funeral in their small corner of the park. Their sudden outbursts hadn’t gone unnoticed though, as a pair of uniformed officers approached them after the multiple reports of shouting reached them. Dash was thankfully able to smooth it over quickly enough however, helped by the fact one of the cops actually recognized her even before she showed them her MIST badge. Granted it was technically only her hair they recognized but they weren’t about to argue against the small blessing, especially right now.

The event did manage to bring them back to the moment though, and prompt them to make their way back to the car. None of them said anything, both the Equis immigrants still too lost in the possible revelations and Dash knowing better than to even try talking with them in that state. Eventually though, when the sun began to shift a little bit further above them than they planned, she felt they couldn’t delay anymore.

“Alright so I get that was a pretty major thing for both of you, but we stall any longer and they’re gonna start getting worried back at the station” she laid it out simply but steadfast “And we can’t get back there with you two looking like you just learned what you just learned, not if you have any intention of keeping your masquerade up as long as you can.”

“Yeah, right…” Sunset responded first, wiping at her face and sniffling as she tried to regather herself. “Right. Outing ourselves would only make things that much more complicated. Right?”

The last was directed at the woman staring off into the voids in the back seat, failing to respond.

“Right, Adagio?” Sunset added an edge this time.

“Calm down pony. I’m a still Siren, manipulation is our… Was our forte” she returned in a tired monotone “It won’t be me blowing our cover anytime soon. Not when I still need MIST’s help.”

Seeing that was all the answer they were going to get, they just hoped it would be enough. Dash started the engine and drove the way back to the station as Sunset busied herself in the drop down visor’s mirror trying to fix her face. Unconcerned with her appearance Adagio continued to stare blankly out the window, not even seeing the passing scenery. Even if it seemed so much more pointless to bother keeping it up, she wouldn’t let this show. No, she wouldn’t, couldn’t risk losing MIST’s help in finding her sisters, not now.

‘Not when each other is apparently all we have left anymore…’

Author's Note

So pretty glad I managed to get this out relatively close to originally planned despite my recent difficulties. Super short version for those that missed the blog: I've been sick for the past couple weeks and am now also dealing with withdrawals from getting off my head meds on top of it. So yeah, while I still tried my best I do apologize if this chapter wasn't quite up to snuff compared to the others, but hopefully I still pulled it off well enough.

I may come back to this chapter before the next if I'm feeling better but any changes will probably just be for grammar and clarity and the like so don't feel pressured to keep track of it if you've already read it.

But enough of my excuses. For now, as always: Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!