Sunset reached up and accepted the offered limb, letting the veteran hunter help her back to her feet. The teen searched for something to say but just found herself staring dumbly at her savior.

“Sorry about knocking you down too like that, but I figured you’d prefer a sore butt over that thing’s horns” she offered. She waited a beat for the girl to respond before arching a brow “Still a little shell shocked there?”

“You’re Aya” Sunset kicked herself mentally for the obvious statement. Aya, to her credit, just suppressed a snort and smiled.

“I am, but trust me, I don’t live up to the hype.” she quipped before another blonde spoke up from behind her.

“Woo-WEE do y’all have some good time’n!” Applejack exclaimed, fanning herself with her hat “That second bugger sure got the drop on us. Thanks fer the save.”

“No problem AJ” Aya smirked back.

“Rares with ya?”

“Right here, Darling!” Another voice called out happily and a well dressed woman strode out from the trees with a heavy looking rifle slung across her back. She had an exceptionally well-coiffed mane of purple hair cascading past her shoulders and a pair of styligh shooting glasses perched on a delicate nose. Her long sleeved, silk blouse was tucked into a crisp pair of black slacks with a pair of heeled boots poking out from beneath. She adjusted a pair of dark shooting gloves as she made her way toward the trio. It was hardly the most practical outfit for traipsing through the woods but Sunset couldn’t deny; the woman wore it very well.

The cowgirl met the woman with a hug. She then lifted her up in the embrace, earning a sharp and rather loud laugh of surprise. ‘Rares’ playfully swatted at the blonde as she set her down before turning to the redhead.

“And you would be Sunset. Wonderful to finally make your acquaintance. I’m Rarity, Rarity Belle.” she offered her hand with a sweet smile.

“Uh yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you” the teen returned without too much awkwardness. Aya meanwhile had moved to check the fallen NMCs, looking back after the introduction.

“We clear?” she called back to Rarity.

“There’s a Stalker scuttling about the branches over there, but yes, that would be all of them” she returned before making her way toward the trees she pointed to, pulling a revolver as large as Rupert’s from her holster “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Sunset watched the stylish hunter make her way into the trees, noting the complete lack of worry on her partner’s face. Shrugging mentaly, she tried to take a step towards her fellow awakened when her leg gave out and a sharp pain lanced up her side. Applejack managed to catch her before she hit the ground, thankfully.

“Whoa, Sunny ya shoulda said you were hurt” she supported the girl as they looked down to a large gash across her leg. The arm around her also made her aware of her now rather tender ribs.

“I… I didn’t even notice.” she panted. She then squinted and almost stumbled out of the cowgirl’s grip when a severe migraine flared into existence. She forced her eyes open when a hand was set upon on her chest, seeing the veteran hunter now only the arm’s length away. “What are you-”

“Shush shush” Aya gave softly, eyes closed. She looked almost serene as a subtle glow flared around her. Sunset gasped as the woman’s mitochondria called out to her own. While not terribly different in sensation to when Applejack’s had, the sheer presence of Aya’s left her astonished. A moment later, a burst of blue, shimmering light washed over them and, while not gone completely, the pain had been all but washed away.

She stepped away from Applejack, looking down to the tear in her jeans. The wound had stopped bleeding and completely scabbed over. She’d still be stuck with it a while but Aya had not only just let her move on her own again, but probably just cut her recovery time in half too. Granted she had seen Fluttershy use some similar abilities, but nothing so rapid in effect.

“Whoa…”

“Pretty cool, huh?” the awakened shot with an easy grin. She then shook her head with a wrinkled brow, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly “Still, after all that I could use a soda.”

“We got some back at the truck.” AJ chuckled.

“That’s good” Sunset tried not to teetter in place, feeling completely drained after the fight and what she assumed even more demand on her mitochondria from the healing “Actually feeling pretty light headed myself.”

A loud bang echoed from the tree line, drawing her from her stupor some.

“Goooot iiiiiit~” they heard Rarity literally sing a second later. The freckled woman’s regular partner rejoined them and asked “Did I hear something about refreshments?”

“Yeah, and some dry mop fer all these buggers too” she answered, prompting a pout from the woman.

“Oh… yes… the clean up, lovely” the well coiffed woman said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Despite the cleaners usually handling the aftermath, it was usually too difficult for them to get their equipment out so far into the wilds and the dirt and natural debris made a complete clean near impossible. So instead the hunters would use a specialized dry mop to render the slime inert and dispose of the majority as best they could. Usually by burying it.

AJ chuckled again and gestured for her returned partner to take the lead. From what Sunset had gathered, Rarity’s senses extended beyond simply detecting mitochondria, making her the logical choice to find their way back.

“...You doing alright there Darling?”

“Huh?” Sunset’s head shot up. She blinked absently before processing the question “Oh. Yeah, yeah I’m fine just kind of…”

“Spent?” Aya finished for her “Those were some pretty big flares we were feeling from you. I’m not surprised you’re a little out of it.”

“Yeah, my powers still… aren’t that efficient yet.” She mumbled with a blush.

“Yer doing fine Sunny,” AJ countered consolingly “Yer a might further along than any of us expected of ya. And now with Aya back, yer prolly gonna race righ’ past us before ya know it.”

“I’ll do what I can…” the ranking hunter mumbled before shrugging out of her black leather jacket and slinging it over her shoulder. With the action, Sunset realized that it had gotten a good bit warmer since they set out and followed suit.

“Ah, here we are.” the most well coiffed gave just a few moments later. That hadn’t taken nearly as long as Sunset had expected, even traveling in a straight line.

‘I suppose we did end up sort of circling back, didn’t we?’ she reasoned. AJ popped the bed’s cover and slid a cooler to the hatch, passing cans of sugary goodness around before anything else. Sunset took a long, slow sip of the cold syrup water and could feel her mitochondria dance almost happily in response.

“Love the jacket by the way” the ranking hunter shot with a small smirk as she settled in next to her against the vehicle.

“Of course you would think so,” Rarity teased playfully “Although yes, it certainly suits you dear.”

“Thanks” the former pony gave “I’ve had it as long as I can remember.”

“Still no luck with the whole memory thing then?” Aya asked with a sympathetic frown. Sunset returned a shrug.

“Nope. But it’s not as bad as everyone seems to think. There’s always the consolation that I don’t know what I’m missing” she returned with a practiced casualness. She had actually been a little proud of herself when she thought of the notion while contemplating ways of keeping up the cover.

“At least you’re comfortable enough to joke about it, I suppose” Rarity commented with just a touch of dourness. “I’m not sure I would have jumped right into wanting to be a hunter under the same circumstances, but I won’t look the gift horse of another stable NMH in the mouth.”

The three found themselves jostled lightly as the truck shifted. They looked back to see AJ hefting some sacks to the end of the bed.

“Oh, let us at least finish our cans Jacqueline” Rarity protested gently.

“Ah’m just gett’n ready. Ah know better than ta get between angry mitos an’ their soda.” Applejack defended before shooting the hunter a smirk “Ah remember a time soda was only one o’ yer cheat day treats, wut with ya always fuss’n over yer figure.”

“Oh I still fuss over my figure; it just has different maintenance requirements now” Rarity countered slyly. A few minutes later the group had stowed their gear and were heading back to the clearing with a sack each. Sunset lagged toward the back of the group to just listen to the chatter, mostly led by the excitable former designer. She did note Aya seemed just as content to do the same, following with only the occasional small comment and a subtle smile.

Rarity’s anecdote tailed off as they reached the clearing however. Sunset looked around at the lack of obvious cause, only seeing the already mostly melted puddles of the NMCs. She then spotted what prompted the hesitation: The still very solid corpse of one of the Chasers lying along the tree line.

There was a sudden heavy thump as the sack Aya was carrying hit the dirt, the veteran hunter striding quickly up to the fallen NMC with a focused scowl. The remaining trio approached as Aya continued to keep her weapon trained on the creature. No one spoke as they studied the corpse, though other than the dried blood at its shedded ankle and the sizable hole in its side from Rarity’s rifle, it was indeed very much not liquid. Aya relaxed her stance.

“Shouldn’t it be at least somewhat melted?” Sunset spoke the shared concern.

“Hmmm” Aya hummed and tapped her pistol lightly against her thigh. Sunset jumped as the blonde suddenly fired a burst into the fallen creature’s head with surprising casualness. Other than a slight flinch caused by the shots, the body didn’t react. Another couple more seconds passed before the veteran hunter gave it a swift kick and stepped back “It’s definitely dead, so yeah; it should be melting…”

“Maybe ‘cause it’s an artificial?” Applejack offered.

“The other one’s melted,” Sunset gestured to a puddle in the clearing with the creature's implants floating within before offering “Twilight told me there are the occasional few that don’t melt, not right away at least.”

“Yeah, but they’re rare.” Aya argued, head tilted as she continued to frown at the body.

“Well there’s no denying that it seems to be the case here,” Rarity concluded before shooting the fiery haired girl to her side a smirk “First a stabilization after a full transformation and now an actual specimen for Twilight? I’m starting to think our newest hunter just might have come with a hint of luck.”

“Ah certainly wouldn’ be against that bein’ true.” the former farmgirl admitted “Little extra luck ain’t ever a bad thing, especially in this business.”

“Either way we don’t have to clean up now, not with all the sampling Twilight will want to take when collecting our ugly friend here” Rarity chirped brightly “That’s good enough luck for me!”

“Yes but it also means some of us will have to stay out here,” Aya pointed out and frowned sympathetically at the stylish woman “I’d hate to make you wait out here after we just got back but with Sunset hurt-”

“Oh now, none of that Darling. I had my vacation, a working one or not; I think I can handle a small bit of babysitting.” Rarity tutted before giving her own partner a side hug and even an affectionate nuzzle “It’ll give Jackie and I time to catch up. Besides, I’m certain Rupert will want to talk with you more after this anyway.”

“Need anythin’ from the truck?” Applejack asked the teen, who shook her head.

“Not that I can’t grab later” she shrugged.

“Well then off you go you two. The sooner you get Twilight out here, the fewer bugs we’ll have to endure.” the stylish woman shooed them off playfully. Aya rolled her eyes with a smile and gestured for the rookie to follow. Rarity called just as they reached the edge of the clearing “And it was lovely meeting you Sunset!”

“Would never know I have seniority over her, would you?” the veteran hunter quipped as they left the pair behind. Sunset returned an amused scoff, not knowing the women well enough to gauge any attempt of her own at ribbing “Not that MIST really has ranks anymore.”

“We do seem pretty casual” Sunset acknowledged “Though I thought the OC were the only partner partners.”

“Hm?” the blonde blinked and stared at her a moment. The moment passed when a chuckle found the woman “Right, the nuzzles and stuff. No, that’s just Rarity. You’ll learn pretty quickly she’s the affectionate type.”

“She doesn’t pop out of fridges does she?” that earned a more earnest laugh from the veteran hunter.

“No, and she eases into it with new people. Don’t worry; there’s still just one Pinkie to get used to.” she assured her with a grin.

The pair swiftly arrived back at the lot. While she noticed the vehicle before, she now studied the yellow ‘muscle car’ as she understood it to be called. For the way Rainbow praised Aya’s car, it looked rather simple, even a little boxy to the former pony. Still, she wasn’t going to mention that out loud.

“So this is… ‘Claire’ is it?” she resisted the urge to smirk as the blonde shot her another surprised look “Dash really likes your car.”

“Ah, yes she does. We put a lot of work into restoring her, even more than I put into Carrie...” she ran her finger tips along the hood affectionately before climbing behind the wheel. She noted the teen’s questioning look as she climbed in the passenger seat “My old car, before those damn gremlins got to her.”

“Gremlins?” the redhead blinked. Gremlins were a rather obscure race in Equestria, most ponies weren’t even sure if there were any left in modern times. They tried to start a ‘war’ after the invention of airships somehow left them slighted. It was a small and frankly pathetic effort that didn’t end well for them.

“Scavengers, the little two legged ones with big ears and bigger mouths. I think they look like gremlins, but the data from the Ark called them Scavengers, so we use that for consistency's sake in case we ever run across any more of their files.” the hunter explained as she typed out a text on her phone, most likely to Rupert.

“Oh, so that was at Dryfield then?” Sunset followed up as the car rumbled to life.

“You do like studying up, don’t you?” Aya muttered and started their way back to town.

“What I’m able to,” the teen shrugged. “Knowledge is power, but there’s some irritatingly vague information about the events, even discounting the sheer amount of redactions in the reports. Particularly the Blockade and Neo-Ark.”

“Well there’s some pretty good reasons for some of that” Aya returned tightly. Tightly enough to Sunset to pick up on the dramatic shift in the veteran hunter’s demeanor this time. The teen struggled internally; Aya was there first hand for the events, playing a key role in both, and could easily provide the best insight into the mysteries but she clearly bucked at the topic. A vibrating from her pocket saved the teen from either choice.

“It’s Rupert” she frowned at the ID. The director rarely called her, usually relaying messages through whoever she was working with that had seniority. She thumbed the accept and unconsciously sat up straighter “Yes Sir?”

“At ease Shimmer” she heard a light scoff from the other side “I assume Aya’s driving, so I called you. How’re your injuries?”

“Oh um, I’m alright Sir. Nothing to worry about.” She answered as convincingly as she could while trying to ignore the soreness in her side and the throbbing from her leg. The man on the other end gave a non-committal hum.

“I still want you in the clinic as soon as you're back. Your report can wait” he returned in a firm tone “For now though; Aya’s text says we have an actual corpse?”

“Yes Sir-” an excited squeal rang from the other end before she even finished the second word, followed by the sound of a slamming door and what sounded like Cadence laughing in the background.

“Twilight’s already on her way” Rupert sighed, though not without a hint of affection “Belle and Apple are waiting for her?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Good. Tell Aya to come to my office as soon as you get back. Fluttershy will be in by the time you return.” He finished and ended the call without another word.

“Rupert said-”

“To see him right away. I heard” she finished for the girl, a slight amusement dancing behind her eyes. “You really don’t have to be so formal with him.”

“It doesn’t seem to hurt” the redhead shrugged. “He seems to appreciate a professional distance.”

“Too much sometimes...” Aya muttered somberly. Sunset fought off a wince as she managed to bring her future mentor’s mood down twice in as many moments. While she hadn’t put much stock in some of Celestia’s ‘friendship proddings’, she understood the importance of having a positive rapport with one’s teacher.

At least until they began to stand in the way.

“Soooo,” she began casually “Rainbow helped you restore this?”

“Not only that, she’s the one who found her. After Carrie I didn’t have much hope of finding another like her. Not one I could afford at least” Aya’s mood flipped like a light switch “Count your stars there, Shimmer. Your first car may not be the Charger, but that girl won’t quit until she finds you something as dependable as her. No idea how she does it, but she has a magic touch for finding cars.”

“The Charger?” Sunset repeated with an incredulous smirk “You mean that heap she keeps in the garage?”

“That heap, Miss Shimmer, is a work of art.” the blonde began very matter-of-factly “One that just needs us to help break it out of its cocoon…”

While it certainly wasn’t the first lesson from the younger awakened would have asked for, the teen found she didn’t mind spending the rest of the ride back listening to the veteran hunter sharing with her the finer points of classic muscle cars.

Sunset was sitting on a bed in the clinic as Fluttershy gently massaged her leg with a subtle blue glow emitting from her hands. It was in fact the same basic technique Aya had used to heal her more rapidly a few days before, just more tailored toward treatment than triage. Sunset’s brow furrowed at the thought.

“That didn’t hurt, did it?” the nurse quickly asked at the expression.

“No. No sorry,” the teen apologized before letting go of a small huff “Just… thinking.”

“You’ll get to learn from Aya soon enough Sunset” Fluttershy returned soothingly. The teen hadn’t been exactly subtle about having to wait while Twilight continued her studies of the Chaser’s corpse. Even if Aya hadn’t been given her first few days back off, they would have had to wait to avoid the unavoidable fluctuations of their mitochondria possibly affecting the remains.

“They learn anything yet?” Sunset asked.

“They've learned a lot. I don’t understand most of it but Twilight seems very excited.” Fluttershy answered, a tickled smile finding her at Sunset’s amused snort “Applebloom assures me it’ll help.”

“Cool,” The teen returned idly before the nurse had her lay down and began work on her side. Turns out the hit she took from the Chaser not only bruised a couple of her ribs but actually cracked one. “You’d think it was her first one with how excited she’s stayed.”

“It’s the first one we’ve seen in a couple years.” the quiet woman explained “The last one was only a mangled stranger too. We haven’t gotten lucky enough to have anything like a Chaser stick around before, let alone anything artificial.”

“It’s our first artificial?” Sunset hadn’t picked up on that “That would explain the excitement then.”

She thought about the implication as Fluttershy continued on her side, though it made it a little hard to focus. Not because of any pain, but the mixture of the healing’s soothing effects while also having her mitochondria stimulated left her a little disoriented. The nurse paused briefly at a message on her phone, informing the teen Twilight wanted her to swing by the lab when they were done. Before long she found herself knocking on the door, blinds being closed and all.

“Ah Sunset, excellent.” Twilight greeted her with a genuine if notably melancholy smile before stepping aside to let her in. The teen immediately found the cause of the somber tone on the lab’s large operation table.

The clearly half melted remains of the recovered Chaser.

“Aw damn…” she gave in a low breath. Applebloom sighed and nodded in agreement to the quiet curse.

“Yeah, started right after we removed the implants” she frowned. Though she did brighten a little with a shrug “We Did manage to get ‘em off without any of them self-destruct'n though!”

“Self-destruct?” Sunset parroted “The implants blow up?”

A small chuckle escaped pair in lab coats. Twilight stepped up to her side.

“Not like that. At least not in so grandiose a phrase. No, they just brick themselves with small thermite safeties melting the most vital and informative components.” the elder awakened explained “Since the Chaser hadn’t melted though, it didn’t trigger the safety.”

“Seems like it might have been the other way around too, if it melted as soon as they were removed.” the teen concluded.

“Yes that’s what we expected as well…” Twilight started at the slowly melting remains with a thoughtful look. It still wasn’t nearly as rapid as the typical NMC’s reaction to death, but it was quick enough to see in real time “But we do have one small hope that’s not the case, given the other still decayed at a predictable rate despite what we’re theorizing were identical implants.”

“That’s why yer here!” Applebloom gave cheerfully from behind her fellow redhead.

“Me?”

“Your unique signature,” Twilight smirked at her “That ‘extra layer’ we’ve yet to identify. There’s a chance it may have been a key variable in the cadaver’s longevity.”

‘My magic?’ Sunset thankfully internalized. She had been conscious to maintain a separation between her mitochondrial abilities and her arcane energies until she had a much better understanding of the former. Considering what she turned into when first awakened, right after exhausting her magic… To say it left her with concerns when it came to mixing them yet would be an understatement. ‘Someday, but not until I have equal control over both…’

“Don’t worry” Twilight smiled soothingly at the teen’s concerned frown “All we need is for you to feed it a pulse of your bioelectricity. No guiding or anything you haven’t done before.”

“Okay, if you think it will help…” the fiery haired girl’s frown remained. She didn’t dare feed this thing a pulse of magic, but she could at least give it a burst from her mitochondria. ‘Who knows? Maybe it’ll still work. I hadn’t used any magic in the clearing, so maybe this really was it in the first place.’

…

‘I could have used my magic in the clearing...’ the realization irked her. The fact she hadn’t even considered it against the mutated buck was worrisome. Honestly, she would have expected it to be her instinctual response. ‘I guess I’ve been a little too vigilant in suppressing it. In fact I should work on my magic more. I can’t afford to let it atrophy, especially in this body.’

“Here ya go,” Applebloom snapped her out of her thoughts by handing her a bundle of something. She’d have to work on getting so easily distracted too. She looked down to the pile, seeing a face shield sitting atop a pair of long rubber gloves and an apron. She glanced up to see the pair donning their own sets of protective gear.

“We expecting this thing to pop?” she asked nervously. A chuckle from the youngest Apple answered her as she saddled behind a monitor.

“Expect’n? Naw, but it can happen!” she beamed mischievously at the hunter. Twilight shot her an amused but assuring smile.

“It’s very unlikely. But just in case.” She guided the now geared teen to stand in front of the now half slime NMC and maneuvered her gloved hand a couple millimeters into the goo. “Unpleasant, I know. I do assure you though, it’s perfectly safe. Especially for you.”

She stepped away behind a clear plastic screen and stood over a console connected to various monitoring pieces around and throughout the remains. She looked to her intern, receiving a nod before giving one of her own to Sunset. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and forced on her mitochondria. Mindful not to summon any accidental flames, she channeled a pulse of raw bio-electric energy into the remains.

Which immediately began to rapidly dissolve.

“Oh shit! I didn’t mean-” She began before Twilight threw up a halting hand.

“Don’t worry Sunset. Frankly, that’s what we were expecting most to happen.” she sighed as she frowned down at her console’s monitor, fingers typing swiftly “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was a long shot anyway.”

“Still sucks” Sunset offered, earning a nodding shrug from the scientists “Fluttershy said you still managed to learn a lot though, right?”

“Oh, we’ve got a ton of new data!” Applebloom exclaimed “Not sure how useful it’ll all be yet but even if we can only actually use like, 10% of it, it’ll still be a pretty decent step forward!”

“Yes, this was quite the stroke of good fortune and the data will undoubtedly keep us busy for some time.” Twilight relented, cocking her head as she watched the goop drain into a collection basin beneath the table “And I suppose if nothing else we can now focus on the implants as well. If our luck continues, we might even pull a lead on Ark Shadow. While it may be a bit ethically sketchy to use data from their live experiments, we could at least make sure the victims' suffering wasn’t in vain by using Ark’s own knowledge to undo the damage they caused…”

The doctor blinked repeatedly before chuckling with a blush.

“Oh I’m sorry! Afraid I’m getting quite ahead of myself again, aren’t I?” she scratched the back of her head. Bloom returned a warm smile.

“Nice sentiment though.”

“Yeah…” Sunset added absently, mind focused on the next question though. “Though not to change the topic or downplay the loss of the Chaser but-”

“Yes Sunset~” Twilight giggled out the interruption “You can finally train with Aya now.”

“YES!” The teen literally pumped her fist and the lab filled with laughter.

“Hmmmm” Aya hummed after the small explosion erupted against the target opposite the pair. She had her hand on Sunset’s shoulder, eyes closed as she tried to follow the internal processes of the teen’s mitochondria.

“That a good Hmmm or a bad hmmm?” The redhead asked, looking back over said shoulder. The blonde opened her eyes and looked ahead to the burning cutout with a furrowed brow and contemplative frown.

“You’re overthinking it.” She stated plainly, moving her hands to her hips as she continued studying the dwindling flames at the other end of the range “I think your focus is misplaced too.”

“Can you be a little more specific?” Sunset returned a frown of her own, trying to keep any frustration out of her voice.

“You’re trying to shape the fire yourself instead of having your Mitochondria do it” Aya elaborated before gesturing to the dying embers “You’re too preoccupied with making the results you want over telling your mitochondria how to produce them.”

“Sooo…” she processed for a moment “Don’t think about the fire, think about how… it’s being made?”

“Er, not exactly. You still have to think about the fire, or it will get away from you… Hmmm,” The veteran hunter repeated with a hand to her chin “It feels like you’re just using your mitochondria as a battery, when you should be making them do most of the work as you guide it. These aren’t some kind of magic spells; there’s no rituals involved. It’s more like making a blueprint than...”

“Actually building a campfire?” Sunset offered with a sly smirk.

“Yeah, I guess that wasn’t the best metaphor to start with.” Aya admitted “Your mitochondria build the fire, you control it.”

“You make it sound like they’re more than instinct,” the redhead started “Which I thought was a bad thing.”

“You can have more than instinct without reaching Sapience” her instructor countered “They can be trained, even taught to a degree. And they’re also a part of you, so it’s a matter of balancing both and making sure they’re doing their own parts.”

“I’m the brains and they’re the brawn?”

“Sort of, yeah.” Aya returned before gesturing to the next target “Here, we’ll do it again while I’ll guide your mitochondria. I warn you, it’ll be pretty weird, and your mitochondria will buck at the intrusion. Don’t try to give over control as much as just try to keep them calm. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Okaaaay…” Sunset returned hesitantly.

“Don’t worry,” Aya gave her a small smile “You’ll catch on what I mean pretty quick.”

The pair shifted to regard the next target as Aya’s hand returned to the teen’s shoulder. The familiar sensation of their energies making a connection soon found them again. Sunset stiffened as she felt Aya push further this time. True to the elder hunter’s word, Sunset felt her mitochondria heat up with the intrusion. Aya’s presence was winning out but it was an uncomfortable ordeal to say the least. Sweat began to bead on her forehead.

“Pyrrha mention those visualization tricks of hers?” the blonde’s voice came out a bit strained.

“Oh, yeah. Hang on.” Sunset refocused. Half of Pyrrha’s techniques had bordered on meditation and reflection rather than actual use of her abilities. She tried to calm her mind and relax, adding in a simple breathing technique she learned under Celestia. It took a moment but the heat slowly ebbed and her mitochondria grew less agitated. They were still notably active, as if wary of the stronger NMH, but didn’t feel quite so… threatened as she calmed down. “They follow my lead…”

“There you go, that’s a better way of thinking of it” Aya confirmed “They might be holding the power, but you have to be the one in charge. Even if that means letting me be in charge.”

‘More leader, less ruler’ she concluded. A frown found her at the notion that it wasn’t entirely her power, that she may not have the complete control she hoped to achieve over the new magic. ‘Magic… Well maybe that’s the answer after all.’

“Focus Shimmer” Aya’s firm tone ordered. Sunset shook the distraction off and repeated the visualization. “Good, now let’s start.”

The heat flared but with a more comfortable familiarity; Directed and with purpose. She raised her hand with the flow, letting the far more experienced Awakened lay the blueprint as she put it. A smile found her lips as she fed the energy they’d need into the mix. She tried not to react as she felt more than half of it pushed back down to disperse before her mitochondria seized upon the rest. She felt a small surge from the hunter behind her.

A blaze of fire rocketed straight from her palm, taking shape instantly as it soared free. More flare than ball, the wild flames crashed into the target and almost tore it apart more than it burned. It was less ‘pretty’ than her spheres of wound up flames, but she couldn’t deny the increased effectiveness.

“See?” Aya returned encouragingly, giving the held shoulder a slight squeeze.

“Quick and dirty, huh?” Sunset grinned back “I really was overthinking it.”

“If it hurts, it works.” Aya threw her arms up in an amused shrug “Not that your kind of focus isn’t useful sometimes: Slow healing like Fluttershy’s abilities or more precise senses like Rares can make use of it, but-”

“But I’m starting with fire.” Sunset finished for her “Transferable skills come with practice.”

“Exactly,” the blonde returned her smirk “Now…”

A playful sparkle reached her eyes.

“You wanna learn how to shoot more than one?”

Author's Note

Sorry about the longer wait for this one lovelies, it's been a distracting few weeks. Hopefully it was worth the wait.

Some will undoubtedly notice Aya seems rather more "Chill" than she did in the games, so I'll remind you this story does take place the better part of a decade after them- one where she had a new, adorable little sister to help her emotionally. That's not the only reasons for her progress, but we'll get to those. All in good time.