‘I hate flying.’

Sunset lamented once more as she waited in front of the noisy carousel, trying to peek past people too discourteous enough to stand further away so everyone could see. Finally spotting her bag on the line, she squeezed through the throng of less considerate passengers to claim it.

They had already collected their more ‘sensitive’ luggage from security and Aya and Adagio's bags had already dropped, so hers had been the last thing they were waiting for. She understood that traveling with firearms rarely needed the extra precautions they went through so long as they were declared when they were checked and both states’ laws were followed. However with the ‘extra features’ their weapons were equipped with, there was a little more of a process involved. Thankfully it was nothing more than the couple extra steps of airport security ensuring they were never lost track of and then went to the right people. That part went surprisingly smoothly.

‘All the normal stuff though…’ Sunset grumbled internally as she pushed back through the crowd. Yes, the flight itself had been a bit better than the rushed one they got to the Mojave but the ordeal of just dealing with the airport itself wasn’t a good trade. Even being treated as ‘federal agents’ and getting to skip parts of the process, it was still just a tedious pain. She did take solace that they weren’t jumping right into a helicopter this time at least ‘Celestia do I hope Dash and Scootaloo find something more comfortable than those other copters were. Or at least less painful.’

“AYA!” a voice called out as they walked out into the loading zone. Sunset followed the shout to a woman waving them down with a bright smile. She was of fairly average height and built slim but clearly quite fit. Her blue eyes sparkled as the blonde ponytail threaded through the back of her simple blue cap weaved back and forth with her wave.

“Hey Jill” the elder awakened returned as she met the woman with a brief hug. “How’ve you been?”

“Still surviving” she shrugged before turning her attention to the other out of towners “I’d ask if these are the new hunters but that ‘extra layer’ is hard to miss. So, let me guess… You’re Sunset and You’re Adagio?”

“Was it the hair?” Sunset quipped at the successful deduction, earning a smirk. She then offered her hand “But yes, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Jill Valentine” the blonde smiled back as they shook.

“Dazzle” Was all the notably less enthusiastic siren gave, though she did still shake the woman’s hand. If Ms. Valentine felt slighted, she didn’t show it.

“So the layer’s the same?” Aya queried after the introductions.

“It’s not exactly the same. This is a lot less… messy than what we feel in the worms, but it’s hard to think we’re not dealing with the same thing.” she gave with a mild pout. She then brightened back up however with another shrug “But Becca will hopefully be able to tell us for sure. We probably shouldn’t keep her waiting any more than needed.”

They loaded their bags and gear into the back of a spacious minivan. It was a nice if fairly basic ride, but it gave them plenty of room for their luggage and to stretch out if nothing else. Still, it wasn't something she would have expected from the woman even after just the brief introduction.

“It’s a company car” the local MIST agent offered. Sunset apparently hadn’t been very subtle with her appraising looks “I may not be like Aya here with her classics or Chris and Claire with their bikes but I’m still not quiet ‘soccer mom’ boring.”

“How is Chris?” Aya prompted “Still ever swelling?”

“Actually, we think he’s finally begun to plateau!”

“Really?”

“Yeah and he’s absolutely crushed about it too!” Jill laughed with her fellow blonde “He was really hoping to outpace Bulk someday.”

“Yeah well, Biceps it more than just a name for Bulk” the older awakened rolled her eyes. Sunset sat in the back, just listening to the pair catch up when a question was suddenly shot to the back seat.

“So you’re the one they found in the Shelter right?” Adagio straightened at the query “That was actually living down there?”

“That’s right,” she gave evenly.

“It takes some guts to stay in a place like that, even if the ceiling wasn’t threatening to come down any moment” the local shook her head with a grimace “We were called in to help finish with the cleanup after you guys pulled out and yeah, those were some nasty vibes down there. I thought the mansion was bad.”

“That was your team that stumbled upon that?” the Dazzling arched a brow toward the driver, who just nodded subtly.

“Mansion?” Sunset parroted, seeming to be the only one not in the know.

“Right, sorry. You’ll notice pretty quickly a lot of us at this branch are from the same… ‘special team’ from our old precinct, for lack of a better word. Anyway we were called in to investigate the mounting reports of strange activity around an abandoned mansion in the city’s forest; strange persons, animal attacks, gunshots outside of hunting season, stuff like that. Nothing too damning on their own but all together warranted our team.” she explained as she navigated traffic “Ended up being a damn NMC breeding facility. It was no underground super lab like the Shelter but, in hindsight, there was no mistaking it for anything but an Ark Shadow compound. Not that we knew that at the time of course; the Shelter incident had only just happened and we only knew as much about it as the rest of the world.”

“Were you able to shut it down?” the youngest hunter continued.

“Unfortunately not in the way you're asking. The mansion's gone but we only barely made it out of there alive ourselves. Most of us… But a few of us ended up infected, myself included. By the time I got out of recovery, Ark had already maneuvered what was left of their influence to dissolve not only our team but the whole station, discrediting everyone involved so no one would believe us” she let out a somber sigh, staying quiet for a long moment. She then rallied and brought her smile back “No one except the pair of doctors doing everything they could to keep us from turning that is.”

“Twilight and Maeda?” Sunset guessed, confident it couldn’t have been anyone else that far back.

“That’s right, the Original Genius of the blockade himself and your very own Sparkling prodigy opposite Becca. If it weren’t for those two I probably wouldn’t be here, in more ways than one.” Ms. Valentine smirked “With Sparkle and Becca going way back, and her and Rupert just getting the whole independent MIST thing off the ground, we were offered the chance to keep up the fight and stick it to the bastards that tried to ruin our lives. So, simple as that, what was left of STARS became MIST.”

“Most of you anyway” Aya bantered. Her smile grew a little at the curious glance shot her way “Marini’s strike team was who helped us with that cult fiasco a couple months ago.”

“Is that right?” an earnest grin broke across Jill’s lips “Don’t suppose Vickers is still tagging along with him, is he?”

“If that’s the same Vickers that stuck his foot in his mouth less than 5 minutes into the briefing then yeah” Brea grumbled a bit annoyed.

“That unfortunately does sounds like Brad…” she gave a heavy sigh “What’d he do?”

“He got a little too general and referred to us all as freaks,” Aya informed a bit flatly. “I’m sure he didn’t mean any offense but it wasn’t exactly the courteous thing to say in a room full of NMHs.”

“Ugh… well, in case he didn’t, I’ll say sorry on his behalf” Ms. Valentine gave with a strong wince “Brad’s not a bad guy, really. He just… really doesn’t belong in this line of work.”

From there the conversation managed to turn casual again and the rest of the trip went by quickly enough. It was still a decent drive but it wasn’t too much longer before they reached the LA branch’s headquarters.

They were greeted at the entrance by Jill’s partner Chris and the branch’s head, one Barry Burton. The former was a heavily muscled man with simply gigantic arms and a friendly grin. Though even he didn’t seem quite so big next to the living wall that was his boss. Sunset did notice age may have been starting to diminish the older man’s physique, but she doubted he couldn’t still launch any one of them clear across the street if he wanted to. For as physically imposing as the men were however, their warm personalities erased any tension their imposing forms may have caused.

It didn’t stop Sunset from still marveling at how just one of their biceps may have possibly been bigger than her whole head, but she was at least not intimidated about it… not much.

“I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again Al;” Aya called out to a man standing just inside the entrance. He was dressed in what looked more like police tactical gear than what Sunset was used to, inspecting a very well put together pistol before raising his head at the Awaken’s call “THAT is still one beautiful piece.”

“Ah yes, Mr. Kendo does do some fine work, doesn’t he?” The man returned in a calm, though almost bored tone as he gave a more appreciating look over the weapon himself. He holstered the sidearm and adjusted the sunglasses beneath his swept back platinum hair before offering his hand “A pleasure to see you again Ms. Brea. I trust you’ve been well?”

“Well enough,” Aya shrugged back during the handshake. His head then turned his attention to the other two new arrivals.

“If my senses aren’t failing me, it would seem Rebecca requesting these two was the correct call.” he adjusted his shades again before offering the two of them his hand as well “Albert Wesker.”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

“Dazzle.”

“A pleasure” he gave simply before straightening “I’m afraid I can’t stay for pleasantries; Sheva is already waiting to start our patrol. Ms. Brea. Jill, Chris, Barry.”

“Captain.” The latter three returned to the overly formal farewell. Sunset tried not to furrow her brow too much at his exit but the man left her perplexed. His manner was extremely disciplined but the tone of his voice made it almost come off like he was talking down to them. Yet he also seemed perfectly polite and she wasn’t really picking up on any actual condescension. After growing up among the Canterlot nobles, she felt she was pretty good at spotting it too.

‘Maybe he’s just weird’ she reasoned.

“Don’t mind the full sized flag poll up the Captain’s butt,” Chris gave reassuringly. “He’s really not so bad when you get to know him.”

“Why do you call him Captain?” she asked, looking to Mr. Burton “I thought you were in charge.”

“I am. We’re just used to calling him that from when he led the old team” the towering man returned “He was offered the lead here too, but didn’t feel like he deserved it after what happened at the mansion.”

“It wasn’t his fault” Chris murmured with arms crossed.

“No but that doesn’t stop him…” Barry sighed before rolling his shoulders “But let's leave the past where it is; we’ve got some sand worms to figure out right now.”

He continued leading the way until they reached the headquarters' lab after Jill and Chris broke away to their own duties. They arrived to find it wasn’t quite so impressive, let alone expensive, as Twilight’s lab but it was nothing to sneeze at either. Sunset did have to suppress a tiny shiver at the sight of what very much looked like a stack of morgue drawers against one wall however. She knew Twilight’s lab had a couple such drawers, and that there were more in the station’s basement, but their own prodigy had gone out of her way to at least try to hide them some. Before she could dwell on it though, a familiar bob of brown hair popped up from behind an examining table.

“There you are!” Dr. Chamber’s beamed at her guests, lifting up the wide safety glasses on her face before spreading out her rubber bound arms above the colorful, hole-ridden NMC corpse on the table. “And here we are! Did the others-”

“It’s the same” Barry answered before she even finished “Not exactly, but Jill said there’s no mistaking it. Al also seemed to imply the same.”

“Can you not sense it yourself?” Sunset tilted her head.

“I’m not an NMH.” the doctor tilted her head in kind. “Did no one ever tell you that?”

“Oh uh, no. I’m sorry, I just thought… with your age-”

“Oh yeah, that. Baby face, I know.” she gestured to her face with a half frown before it faded back into a more friendly contourance “But no. Like Dr. Maeda, I fear I have to rely on others for those kinds of readings. And since I’m not about to drag Zecora right back in here after an eleven hour shift, I have to trust you three to have picked up enough of Sparky’s lingo to make this work for the day.”

“We’ll try our best Doc” Aya returned in good humor. They approached the table at the scientist’s gesture, taking in the tubular NMC. They frowned at the hole ridden worm, the rough tears in its form still not enough to hide the random assortment of jagged stripes of green and purple. The tendrils that further set it apart from its kind laid limp from the dead, slack maw at its head. Sunset reached out but hesitated a few inches from its surface and looked up to the scientist questioningly.

“Oh yes, go ahead. Please in fact!” Rebecca quickly confirmed, leaning to her side to quickly grab a handful of rubber gloves. “Just be mindful of the tendrils. Even dead, this thing’s venom isn't pleasant.”

Keeping the warning in mind, the unicorn girl gently placed her hand upon the surprisingly dense surface. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Since the NMC was dead, they couldn’t sense anything without direct contact. She learned that much when they recovered the chaser. She was able to find the signature of the dormant mitochondria… and the twisted magic bound to it.

‘Damnit’ she managed to keep her worry as moderated as she could.

“Looks like they got a lot further with their experiments on us since I left…” Adagio gave darkly. Her face twisted in barely contained fury as she bowed her head and braced against the table, eyes burning into the corpse with utter loathing. Her gaze dropped further and she gave a long, shuddering breath.

"What's wrong?"

“It’s Sonata’s signature…” she answered in little more than a whisper. The other women stared wide eyed at the statement. Sunset did a double take between the worm and the siren.

“T-this isn’t-”

“No.” she let out in a huff. While her anger barely ebbed, she did seem to relax slightly as she straightened, loosely crossing her arms and studied the worm again “It's not her. It’s not even her mitochondria but the… extra layer is hers. I’d never mistake that.”

“Okay that makes a little more sense…” Dr. Chambers let her own tension go with a breath “None of the genetic testing showed any commonalities between any of the specimens and your samples. Not that this thing was ever human in the first place of course. You’re saying the layer can not only be isolated but transferred as well?”

“It would appear so” Adagio murmured. Rebecca frowned, looking over the worm with a newfound distress.

“Nothing we’ve been able to learn about yours and Sunset’s… uniqueness suggested that as a possibility. Inherited with the mitochondria, sure; it’s why we’re paying so much attention to Ms. Dash’s progress but this?” she sucked the inside of her cheek before finally giving another heavy sigh “I guess we should get to those direct comparisons right away then. The sooner we get a grip on this, the better.”

She went about collecting blood samples and then setting up some familiar looking observation equipment. Cutting a series of small pieces from the worm, she began having them feed pulses of their bio-electricity into them. They all began to immediately melt after each shock, their reactivated mitochondria self-cannibalizing as most NMC’s did. It was when Dr. Chambers asked Sunset to amplify the next pulse with her extra layer that the former pony grew nervous. Without any option to reasonably object though, she suppressed a gulp and fed it the absolutely most minimal amount of magic she could.

“Ooohhh” Rebecca cooed at the sight. While the small slice melted like the others all the same and the readout didn’t look to have varied much, not to Sunset’s eye at least, it did still warrant the greater interest. Just before it began to melt, the neon green coloring of its outer skin glowed brightly for just a moment. “A reactive luminescence even post mortem. Very curious. I wonder… Will you step over here, Sunset?”

She led the young hunter to a counter holding a trio of small beakers. Each was filled with the noxious looking purple venom she witnessed dripping from the NMCs tendrils in the body cam footage. One had several rods of varying materials connected to a computer tower by cables. The second was not as full as the other two, probably used as samples for other tests. The third was a mirror of the first and the one the scientist put her in front of.

“Do you think you could feed another pulse like that through the beaker’s glass without breaking it?” she asked as she saddled in behind the connected computer’s monitor.

“Uh, yeah maybe…” she grimaced “But isn’t it a little risky, it being venom and all?”

“The actual venomous properties of it are fairly benign. If it gets into your bloodstream then it’ll make you feel like crap for a couple days sure,” she shrugged as she typed away at her keyboard “But it’s not even as potent as a scorpion sting.”

“NMC scorpion venom can melt through a car door if left long enough Becca” Aya pointed out behind Sunset.

“NORMAL scorpion stings. Adult ones at that.” The scientist clarified “The venom isn’t meant to kill or even disable the target. Its main purpose seems to be drastically lowering the victims resistance to Neo-mitochondrial infection.”

“This stuff’s infectious?” Adagio was actually the one to express the concern, stepping forward to scowl at the beakers.

“Technically no; there’s not any neo-mitochondria present within it on its own. The worm’s mitochondria also aren’t as infectious as some of the worst strains we’ve encountered. The problem is…” she hesitated with a grim frown “If even a drop of this stuff gets in the body, then the already low chances of stabilization become practically nil, even with suppressants. One of you directly intervening still might not be enough.”

The true horror of the venom sunk in. Most living things already had a poor chance of stabilizing. Dash needed Sunset to directly dominate her infection, which she later learned was fairly middle of the road in potency. When Sunset thought what could have happened if she had been affected by this venom, what this meant as far as all their efforts for vaccines…

“So just a pulse through the liquid?” she tried to steel herself.

“Yes, through the side though if possible. It may not be lethal but I’d hate to lay you out for days, especially when you just got here.” Rebecca instructed. Her eyes darted between the beaker and her readouts, as if she couldn’t decide which result she wasn’t to observe directly. Sunset took a deep breath and fed a pulse into the beaker. The effect was immediate; like the tissue sample before, it glowed.

However that glow dispersed into a scattering of arcing sparks through the venom, which then faded to a dull, clouded grey.

“That’s… huh.” the doctor stared curiously at the container before rapidly typing and looking over the results “Well that’s something…”

“Don’t go all Twilight on us Becca” Aya interrupted coyly “What’s something?”

“Well I can’t be sure without reviewing and further testing but it’s seemed fo have been rendered completely inert.” She gave befuddled “It’s little more than a cup of really gross water now. Can still make you sick if these readouts are right, but not in any venomous way.”

“So, we can still fight it?” Sunset asked hopefully “If we use our mitos maybe.”

“Well I won’t jump the gun with those kinds of assumptions. I AM a scientist” she gave in a rather familiar way, she did then give a slightly relenting shrug “But this is certainly encouraging as far as something like that being possible.”

“It would be an even more limited supply than Awakened Neo-Mitochondria though.” Aya muttered. She pushed a loose bang from her face and continued “Is there any indication on how long it’s potent for on it’s own?”

“If you're worried about cultists farming the stuff, I wouldn’t be.” The doctor returned, still studying her screens intensely “These samples are already starting to expire sitting here and they were only extracted from the remains just a few hours ago. Typical means of preserving venom also doesn’t seem to have much effect. I know a lot can happen in a few hours but it thankfully also seems skin contact and ingestion, while certainly unpleasant, don’t infer the same effect. Direct injection appears to be required, so I don’t think we have to worry too much about that kind of threat from the cults just yet.”

“Unless they keep the NMCs alive that is.” Adagio pointed out “Ark’s already proven they have no trouble using the cults to their own ends.”

“Yes… unfortunately, them using the actual NMCs themselves is still a concern. We’ve already encountered a few instances of them managing to keep small numbers of strangers and the like in captivity on our side of the country here. Meanwhile We still have a hard time keeping anything alive just one at a time… It’s one of the reasons Sparky and I fought so hard to have the few Divers still in the Ark left alone for study.” Rebecca gave a bit frumpily before shaking it off “But while Ark Shadow seems open to sharing some of their secrets, there’s also the possibility these three are unique.”

“It’s also a lot harder to trap worms than strangers.” Aya offered herself, though sigh gave a heavy sigh “This is still pretty awful news, but at least we stumbled upon this glint of hope in combating it.”

“And hopefully more!” Rebecca beamed in a way also quite familiar to the trio.

“I’ve still got plenty more tests to run!”

“Sooooo… that Wesker guy’s kind of weird, huh?”

Sunset was climbing out of the same van they were picked up in. Barry had lent it to them to be able to get around. The ride had been quiet on the way to the hotel, the implications of all the tests weighing on all of them. Clearly not ready to talk about those, she offered the random bit just to finally break the silence. Aya thankfully gave a small smile at the quip.

“He’s pretty stiff yeah, but like Chris said; he’s really not so bad once you get to know him” she said “He’s also one of the best people to have by your side in a fight. He can easily use some physical techniques even I have trouble with.”

“He’s just below you at the top of Ark’s list of potential, individual threats,” Adagio informed “And from what I’ve seen of the recordings, it's not hard to guess why.”

“That’s… good to know. Sort of.” the blonde murmured with a resigned frown. They picked up their keys from the front and made it to their rooms. They weren’t anything special but it was a lot better than some of the places they could have ended up stuck in.

“At least the bed isn’t coin operated” Adagio muttered, setting her luggage down.

“Just one though…” Sunset observed, sucking the inside of her cheek.

“Yes, looks like we’ll just have to share” the siren smirked mischievously and purred “Lucky You~”

The unicorn girl rolled her eyes just before a knock came from the room's adjoining door. She quickly strode over to open it for the pair's lead waiting on the other side. She took a quick glance to the bed herself before pressing her lips together.

“Sorry, we requested a pair of twins for you but you know how hotels can sometimes be.”

“It’s fine” Sunset quickly waved off “Won’t be the first time I’ve shared a bed.”

“Ohh-hohoho, really now~?” the Dazzling cooed “Is our Wittle Sunny Bunny more worldly than I gave her credit for?”

The youngest hunter rolled her eyes even harder as she turned away from the siren... Mostly to hide the slight blush that crept up to her cheeks. She wasn’t very 'worldly', but she wasn’t about to let her know that. Aya didn’t miss the blush but had the courtesy to just give her an understanding and thankfully not betraying smile before clearing her throat.

“Well I’m going to head back out to grab us some food and snacks so we don’t bankrupt ourselves with the minibar” the veteran hunter relayed “Our part of the investigation doesn’t start until tomorrow so feel free to let yourselves relax all the way tonight.”

“Oooo~ You hear that Shimmer?” the siren swooned dramatically as she fell onto the mattress and spread out across the sheets “She wants us to go all the way!~”

“Good luck…” Aya offered her protégé under her breath before leaving. Sunset let out a small huff before turning back around to the siren still smirking at her.

“You’ve certainly managed to turn your earlier mood around.”

“Because she’s here, Shimmer” Sunset blinked as Agadio’s playful manner turned more intense as she abruptly sat up “Sonata has to be close by.”

“You’re sure?” Sunset stepped closer. “Not to kill the hope, seriously this is great but… you said it yourself that 23’s armor was enhanced with yours and your sister’s magic. They could have just brought them here from somewhere else.”

“It was less than three days old!” the Dazzling confirmed “I know that’d normally be too hard to tell, especially handicapped like we are here, but she’s my sister; I know how her magic works.”

“Then again, that’s great!” Sunset returned “But if you could tell that, then why didn’t you tell the rest? If the magic was that fresh-”

“Then it’d bring up more questions of how I’m so very familiar with our ‘extra layer’.” she gave the last mockingly, losing all sense of her former levity “Do you really think that once they find out what we really are they’ll just go along with it like it’s nothing? That they’ll just shrug, say ‘that’s neat’ and let us keep searching? No, they lock us up at best, though I’m guessing they’ll will pick up right were Ark left off-”

“MIST wouldn’t do that to us-”

“Who said anything about MIST, Pony? Even if your new friends really are as noble as you believe, they still answer to an agency as corrupt as any other.” she sneered “Why do you think I have no intention of my sisters and I sticking around once we're back together? They won’t be able to protect you Shimmer, let alone me. They’ll put it all together eventually, but I'm not going to help them reach that point any sooner then they would on their own. For your own stake, I’d suggest you do the same.”

“...You’re wrong.” Sunset returned with a determined scowl “Maybe not about the government but MIST wouldn’t just give us up without a fight. Me OR you. They’re better than that.”

“That’s not a fight they can win, Shimmer.” The siren met her gaze right back “For your sake I hope you realize that before it’s too late. You don’t want to be on the wrong end of those kinds of experiments…”

The tension hung silently as the two stared each other down. It was Adagio that broke the stalemate, rolling her eyes.

“This is pointless. You’re already indoctrinated” she grumbled and pushed herself off the bed “I’m going to take a shower.”

“We’ll find your sisters, even if they find out.” Sunset gave quietly as the siren stepped past her. “Can't say I know how but... I promise.”

The Dazzling paused and simply stared at her again. She only gave a small hum before continuing toward her shower without further comment.

The next couple days went by fairly uneventfully. Adagio fell back into her typical distant behavior, though Sunset couldn’t help but feel the tension hadn’t entirely dropped. Dr. Chamber’s occupied most of their time with tests but they did get to stay up to date with trying to track the source of the worms. That seemed to be the only thing keeping Adagio as cooperative as she was. Rebecca’s tests had begun to get a little tedious, not to mention a little draining with all the blood samples. Aya’s greater involvement in the effort also seemed to calm the siren some, but the fact her patience was wearing thinner was becoming more evident.

So when the word came they would be moving on a facility in the southern desert, the Dazzling was already geared and at the door, glaring at them to hurry up. They had to endure another helicopter ride to a smaller town where they loaded up into a small convoy of vehicles. They weren’t taking any chances; including the trio, they had a total of ten hunters headed toward the isolated compound.

It was a small airfield in the middle of nowhere. While previously overlooked, the investigation uncovered possible ties to a shell company suspected to be one of Ark Shadow’s many fronts. Satellite images then confirmed a lot of activity for such an isolated runway. They showed an awful lot of heavy equipment being transported to the trio of hangers along the landing strip over the past several months and, perhaps most suspicious of all, not a single craft coming or going despite the massive boom in ‘business’.

They had just climbed out of the van when Mr. Burton called out.

“Al! You and Sheva take our Canterlot girls through the middle! The rest of you, with me!” He instructed, hefting a revolver that made even Rupert’s seem like a pop gun in comparison “Ready? Move!”

Sunset broke into a sprint with the others, breaking from the cover of the vehicles and pounding across the hot asphalt of the dilapidated runway as they closed on the hangers. No alarm klaxons blared as their little convoy approached and no resistance met their charge but Sunset kept her rifle ready all the same. She already had enough surprises in less than a year as a hunter to know better than to let her guard down.

It was thankfully a very brief run, as the runway was only a couple lanes wide. They would have driven straight up to the hanger doors if the various railing and fences of the airfield hadn’t prevented it. They just vaulted the last of such railing and lined up along the hanger’s door, the one for people and not planes that is. She saw Jill and Chris shoot their group a nod before following their branch lead into the other hanger. Mr. Wesker kicked open their own a moment later himself.

They were almost immediately met with a maze of tall, fabricated walls.

“Hmmm” Albert gave an with a touch of annoyance. “This complicates the search. Do any of you sense anything?”

“No. Girls?” Aya shot back, frowning at both shaking their heads.

“Are we thinking that means there’s nothing, or that you guys are getting that ‘chaff’ effect from the reports?” Ms. Alomar’s distinct accent came from Sunset’s side as the darker skinned woman stepped up next to the young hunter. Sheva was only one in the five of them that wasn’t an NMH. While perhaps at a disadvantage by comparison, Sunset very much didn’t mind having someone that would still be able to function in case this place had any of those horrible speakers as a defense.

“I don’t feel any kind of field…” Aya answered, inspecting one of the walls as Mr. Wesker kept his weapon on the corner of the improvised hallway. “But it’s probably too much to hope we won’t run into anything.”

“Is it possible we just got it wrong and this isn’t an Ark Shadow compound?”

Before Sunset could get her answer, a loud buzzing filled the hall. The image of Fluttershy being lifted into the air by a silhouette if twisted air flashed through the redhead’s mind before she snapped her aim up and searched the cramped space frantically.

Yet despite that readied reaction, she could only gawk as the platinum blonde man burst forward in a blur, leaving small wisps of electricity in his wake. The Golem at the opposite end of the hall had only just materialized when the man’s knee met its face, crumpling its gas mask and all but decapitating the towering cyborg.

“Holy shit…” Sunset murmured, still gaping as the golem dropped like a rock. She only snapped out of it when Adagio gave her a rough shoulder check, prompting her to join the rest. They quickly spread into as much of a formation as they could, moving forward at a fast pace.

More buzzing came as Sunset was sweeping an alcove to their side, opening fire at the golem now leaping at her. Heavier shots joined hers, Adagio’s shotgun helping stumble the uncloaking threat long enough for the others to help finish it off. The disappearing golems couldn't take as much of a beating as the Rooks in the Shelter, but they didn’t leave nearly as much time to react to them either.

The group stumbled as the man leading point abruptly halted. He gave a restrained grunt, stomping a foot down into a wide stance as his palm thrust out so fast Sunset could have sworn it disappeared a moment. Another golem’s cloak immediately failed as its ribcage collapsed and it was sent rocketing through a door ahead.

No others made themselves known.

“And I though AJ was strong…” Sunset breathed out while they took a moment before advancing on through the now missing door.

“It’s a matter of focusing the force into more singular points and bursts” the former captain gave calmly, pushing his shades back up “Though Miss Apple’s methods are not without their own merits as well.”

Recollected, they breached the door into an open portion of the hanger. The walls were lined with cages, one stacked atop another in a variety of different designs as they ran the remaining length of the large building. Nothing jumped out to attack them, letting them close for a better look.

A couple NMC corpses lay dead within the cages' confines; they looked like they had starved to death, though Sunset had been amazed they had been contained in this way at all. Yes, it was known Ark Shadow had somehow devised methods of confining their experiments without them expiring, but they hadn’t expected they were capable of it in these amounts. And for these to actually be corpses and not goop left after death within said confinement too... the implications just kept getting worse.

“How is this possible?” Sheva echoed her thoughts “NMCs can’t survive in confinement, not like this!”

“Clearly most of them didn’t” Albert returned, examining a trails of dried goo that had dripped from most of the cages, the ones that were still closed at least. He then gestured to the next set of pens, they were of a considerably different design than the simple metal bars they were in front of “The implants suggest they were of the same sample variety as these. Perhaps they were experimenting on containment methods.”

“Looks like the containment part wasn’t any more consistent than the preservation” Aya observed, pointing out the puddles further into the center of the space. None seem to have strayed too far from those cages whose restraints had failed though. “Seeing as this place had obviously been abandoned, the golems were probably here to take care of any surviving subjects. We should regroup with the others to make sure they haven’t run into the same kind of trouble.”

They moved to the back of the hanger, exiting back into the setting sun when the muffled pops of gunfire reached them from the other hanger. It wasn’t just a smattering either, but the constant stream of a rarely interrupted rattle. They sprinted toward the the source when almost the entirety of the hanger’s rear wall exploded out.

A worm so massive it shouldn’t have even been be possible shot out among the falling debris. As big around a subway train, the wall of purple and green flesh dove into the ground, forcing the squad to stumble as the sudden tremors shook the entire area. Erupting back out into the light, it refocused on the partially collapsed building. More shots rang out, the other team's small arms doing nothing to the monstrous NMC rearing back for another lunge.

Sunset’s body lit up with a shimmering aura of amber, matching those of Aya and Adagio’s as they, and the pair of local hunters, opened fire as well. While hardly more effective than the other squad's, it was enough to get the mutation’s attention, drawing it away from the trapped team.

“Scatter!” Aya shouted as it dove at them, its maw wide enough to swallow any of them whole. Sunset ran as best she could along a ground vibrating beneath her feet, the dirt shaking and shifting from the worm swimming through the earth below them. It emerged between the two hangers in pursuit of the former captain that was once more running in a blur. The burst seemed to run out after he was forced to dive to the side and the worm's thrashing response sent him through the nearest wall.

Once more ignoring the rounds continuously peppering its form, it turned its mindless hunger back to the other team extracting themselves from the ruined building. Despite the collective efforts beginning to make it bleed, it showed no signs of stopping yet. Still in no position to run, Sunset knew Barry’s squad couldn’t avoid the next attack. She ignited her arm and forced it to the highest tipping point she knew. Aya wasn’t close enough for a repeat of the beam that worked against the golem, but she felt she could at least make the giant nightcrawler take notice.

A thought that was rendered moot the very instant she began to form the amplification matrix, when the worm’s head snapped toward the spark of magic. She could barely manage a step back before it was already slithering her way. She did everything she could to finish the spell when its multiple jaws snapped open between the quartet of pitch black eyes now locked onto her flames. She felt she just might pull it off before a crushing grip wrapped around her.

A trio of impossibly long tendrils had erupted from the thing’s depths, immediately spanning the distance to snatch the young awakened in their unbreakable bounds.

“SUNSET!”

Aya screamed as the girl disappeared into the tooth filled cavern, her cry cut short when its jaws snapped shut. She sprinted straight at the NMC, unleashing a torrent of noxious green bolts its way. She didn’t dare open fire with Sunset still inside the thing but even switching to the countless bolts of paralyzing lightning didn’t nothing to slow the beast.

She kept running with her panic growing every instant the redhead remained within its gut. Every instant without air, with the monster's acids beginning their work. She kept running without any plan of how to save her. She kept running because she couldn’t let her die. She couldn’t just let it happen again. She couldn’t let the mounting singing building in her very cells scare her into being so helpless again.

So she let go.

A blinding light and incomprehensible heat engulfed her. Every cell tingled and sang as they twisted and synchronized and the world grew quiet at her arrival.

The massive trunk of neon flesh lunged toward her before freezing in place before a simple raised hand. It trembled in the extended grip of her thoughts, its impossible mass struggling fruitlessly against the overwhelming force.

Her other hand rose and another flash shot out. The flesh of the NMC was blackened in an instant. No flames blazed, no smoke bellowed. The only sign of the flash burn was the embers escaping the slowly spreading cracks in its charred hide.

The blackened mass scattered as she snapped her arms to her sides, dispersing the ashes and allowing their captive to drop to the dirt below.

Sunset gave a hacking cough as she began rolling off her back, She had just lifted her self up to sit before gasping at the being floating just before her. She stared wide eyed at the levitating, feminine form of luminescent blue. The long golden locks upon its head and long flin-like appendages hanging from its arms wove without wind as it gazed down upon her with a serene, yet unsettling calm.

The vision lasted only a moment before a blazing light forced her to turn away. She turned back at the sound of something heavy landing in front of her. The shape of her mentor met her, pitched forward on her hands and knees, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. She fell back onto her heels, letting the former pony see her skin now very pink and clammy. The blonde stared horrified upon her badly trembling hands before slowly clenching them into fists and curling in upon herself, screwing her face shut tight.

She looked as if she was about to weep.

“Are you okay?” the veteran hunter croaked, opening her eyes toward her self-assigned protégé. The redhead nodded numbly. She honestly felt like absolute shit; the insides of the worm had been crushingly tight and suffocating, and its stomach acids were painfully itching at her even now. But she was alive. That was enough for her to try to put the distressed woman at whatever ease she could offer.

The hunters slowly regathered, all deathly silent beyond the simple communications of treating the injured and ensuring everyone else was alright. Eventually, with the sun having already set and their back up on its way, they steeled themselves and tentatively made their way to the entrance of the last hanger. Sunset hung at the back of the group with the still shell shocked Aya while Barry led the team in. They followed at the all clear.

She stepped in and wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell of burned electronics. The entire hanger seemed to be filled with a faint haze. A heavy switch was thrown to her side and the hanger lights flipped on, revealing rows upon rows of melted computer equipment. Heavy cables ran along the ground to a singular chair bolted to the floor in the center of the large open space.

“SONATA!” Sunset jumped at the siren’s crying out as she rushed forward. Scanning all around the dilapidated remains as she closed on the seat, she called again “SONATA!”

The chair was empty. All that lay within was the ends of the various cables draped over the back.. Adagio stumbled, shaking her head at the sight. Sunset stepped up behind her, now seeing the rust colored, cracked coating along the ends of the cables’ various plugs and needles.

Blood.

An anguished scream ripped though the still air as the siren gripped the chair. Glowing with an aura of red and gold, she tore it from its base and hurled it into the already ruined equipment before falling to her knees. Tears streamed from her eyes as she openly began to weep.

She didn’t even fight it when Sunset crouched next to her, placing a hand on her back for the lack of anything else to do.

The former pony gave Dash a small wave as the pilot pulled back out of the driveway. She had just dropped the pair off at home but still had the rest of her shift. With all that had happened, the three were brought back home despite the investigation still not being completely over.

No trace of where those that had been running the abandoned airfield had yet to be found but Sunset hoped it was just because they had only a day to actually comb the facility. Rebecca was able to confirm that there wasn’t nearly enough blood to assume the Dazzling’s sister was dead from the whatever was done to her in that chair. While that was certainly not bad news, it still gave no indication to where they may have taken her.

While not sure how, the LA team suspected their request for the satellite images may have tipped Ark Shadow off to their coming. That troublingly suggested Ark still very much had someone the bureau informed enough to keep them alerted. Sunset remembered that branch was forced to work much more closely with the FBI than the Canterlot station, but to think someone that was supposed to be on their side was the reason they missed Sonata by possibly only hours… Her mitochondria weren't the only heat inside of her boiling at the thought.

She looked to the siren shuffling toward the hall ahead of her, her eyes still red and puffy. She dragged her bag along the carpet behind her, bumping it against the corner as she passed. The redhead skirted past gently as the siren fumbled with the knob. She just reached her own door when a strained voice found her.

“Sunset.” She wheeled around to the fellow magic user. Did Adagio just call her what she think she called her? “Before we left, I… I know you were freaked out about letting me drive. I hadn't gotten the chance since before we… I know you didn’t have to, so…”

“...Thanks.”

Sunset stared back perplexed. That’s what she wanted to say right now? After all that happened, of all the things she could have thrown her way-

'That's not what she's actually thanking you for dumbass.'

“I made you a promise Dag,” she returned as strongly as she could at the moment “We won't miss our chance next time. We’ll get her back.”

The siren didn’t seem convinced. Her gaze fell back to the floor before she shuffled into her room, closing the door behind her. Sunset retreated to her own room, falling into the bed before rolling over to stare unseeing at the ceiling. Beyond the siren’s pain, she also couldn’t get the image of Aya almost breaking down into tears out of her head.

A few days earlier she would have been ecstatic about her mentor once more ascending. But after seeing that liberated from in all its terrifying glory, and the veteran hunter's reaction to having accomplished it; she wished she never had.

‘Now I have no choice but to figure out how to do it myself…’ she gave a heavy sigh.

‘If only so she never has to again.’

Author's Note

Sooo... been working on something. It's another story. I go into far too much more detail in the blog post link there so if you could find time to give it a scan and let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it.

But on to this story's notes! Sorry to pull a fast one on you with that title, lovelies. But I figured the assumption of this being a sillier chapter would make the heavy stuff hit that much harder. But try not to let the weight be too much of a burden. There just might be a bit of heartwarming things just around the corner.

As always: Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next one! Have a good one!