Sunset's human world origin

Canterville College

Date: June 2nd, time: 12:10 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid walked out of the science building and to the cafeteria with her book bag in hand, a little after the students. She tended not to eat much during lunch because the prices were outrageous, even with the staff discount, and she could eat quickly from growing up on a farm, ya ate quickly and got back to work, so running a bit late was hardly a problem for her. Shortly after leaving the building, Brigid was approached by four men she didn’t recognize. This wasn’t too alarming. The college was large enough that you wouldn’t be able to meet everyone, no matter how hard you tried.

“Can Ah help ya with some‘hin’, gentleman?”, Brigid asked.

“Yeah, we’re looking for Dr. Brigid Katon. Where would we be able to find her?”, one of the men asked.

“No need ta look far. Y’re talkin’ ta ‘er.”, Brigid said with a smile.

The men’s faces went pale, and they looked amongst themselves. “Dude, she’s huge. How are we going to do this?”, the man in the back asked worriedly. This put Brigid on alert. That question only had a couple of applications in this context, none of them good. Brigid dropped her bag behind her and looked at the men more closely. The largest of them was about six feet tall and rather built. The smallest of them was standing in the back and was somewhere around five-six and also built, if a bit more on the runner side of built. The other two were around five-nine and also looked like they’ve been in fights. One of them wore a hoodie, but it was the other one that caught her eyes. He wore a short sleeve shirt, and a pair of distinctive blue points poked out from under his sleeve.

“STORM!”, Brigid bellowed. The four men barely had enough time to pull out their weapons before Brigid delivered an upper cut Muscles, causing a satisfying crunch of bone and him to go flying. The other three men only pulled out metal pipes. They clearly weren’t expecting such a fight. This was good because Brigid only had her red, fingerless weighted knuckle gloves, and that’s only because they don’t look obvious as weapons. Hoodie and Tats took swings at her sides, which did hurt, but Emi inherited her father’s legs and kicked much harder than that. Brigid backhanded Hoodie and sent him flying to the side. He wasn’t out for the count, but Brigid heard him groaning. Tats tried to swing at her head, at least that’s what it looked like. He was an inch shy of being a foot shorter than her, and his arm length was unimpressive. He only managed to hit her shoulder, and Brigid pulled her leg in and kicked him so hard he sounded like a squeaky toy.

Shorty was standing in the same place as when the fight began. He was shaking in his boots and clutching his pipe like it would somehow protect him. It wouldn’t. He ran away from Brigid at surprising speed for someone so short, but Brigid was faster. She only gave him a second head start before charging after him. It took her about four seconds to catch up and grab him by the back of his head. Damn, Ah’m outa shape. He wasn’t small enough that Brigid could pick him off the ground with one hand, but she didn’t need to. She pulled him around to face her and fixed him with a malicious grin. “Ya thought ya were gonna come n’ beat up some small Asian chick, didn’t ya?”

“Pl-please let me go. I’ll do anything.”, Shorty cried.

“No”, Brigid growled, then smashed his face into the concrete. There was a crunch, and a pool of blood quickly formed. Shorty rolled over and cupped his nose but didn’t get up.

Brigid turned around and saw two students watching the spectacle in aw. “Wha’ are ya doin’ jus’ standin’ around?! Call da police!”, Brigid ordered as she pointed at one of them. That shook him from his stupor, and he quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing. Brigid surveyed her surroundings, but something she expected to see was gone. Tats got away. “Shit”

Storm HQ

Date: same day, time: 1:00 pm

*Bruiser’s perspective*

Bruiser rushed into the rundown building and past the receptionist. He tried to stop him, but he rushed past him and into the boss’s office. “Mr. Storm! I have bad news!”

“I’m going ta have ta you back.”, Mr. Storm said flatly, then put down the phone. “What could be so bad you had to barge into my office like that?!”

“Sir, we failed to capture the prosecutor’s wife, and she may have killed Stryker.”

“How can four fully grown men not take down a little Asian lady?!”

“She wasn’t a little Asian lady. She was a giant barbarian of a woman.”, Bruiser said as he tried to demonstrate her size with his arms. “She was bigger than you.”

“Ha, you really think someone’s bigger than me?”, Mr. Storm said as he rose from his chair. Bruiser didn’t know his exact height, but he was over 6’ 6”. As intimidating as his height is, he didn’t have the muscle to back it up, being rather slim.

“Yes, sir. She was about the same height as you, but she had enough muscles to throw a man like a football. Here, I found a picture of her.” Bruiser pulled out his phone and pulled up the one picture he could find of her. It was a picture of the college faculty.

“Okay, which one is she?”

“The one with the red hair, sir.”

“Crap, she’s huge.”

“What should we do?”

“How the hell should I know? We lost the element of surprise. Ugh, Grubber! Is there anyone else we can kidnap? How about any kids?”

Grubber, the secretary, peeked around the doorframe. He was a squat, ugly guy and didn’t smell too great either. “Sorry, sir. We don’t have access to those kinds of records, but we do know of a father.”

“Great, we’ll try him. Surely, you’ll be able to deal with an old man.”

Katon family car

Date: same day, time: 5:05 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

“This is bad.”, Anzhong said. Brigid had just finished regaling him with the events of that day's lunch time. “They’re going to target the kids.”

“We need ta call someone.”

“Not the cops. I haven’t even gotten all of the ones on the list outed. We need Daiki.”

“Agh, Ah was hopin’ we wouldn’t need ta call ‘em.”

“I know. Thank you for accepting me in spite of my crappy high school self.”, Anzhong said while rubbing Brigid’s leg.

“Oh please, wha’ ya did was no‘hin’ compared ta ma rap sheet.”

“Debatable, but I still love you.”

“Ah love ya too.”

Sunset’s room

Date: June 3rd, time: 7:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Sunset, wake up honey.” Sunset awoke to see Brigid kneeling over her. The sun hit her eyes, and Sunset let out a hiss as she pulled her covers over her head. “Oh, come on. We need ya ta come meet someone.”

“No, it’s too early ta do anything.”

“Yeah, yeah, mornin’s are evil. Come on.” Brigid scooped up Sunset with her covers and carried her out into the living room as a human burrito.

“I hate you.”, Sunset said from within her blankets.

“Yeah, y’re ‘bout ta hate me even more.”

“Why?”, Sunset asked warily.

Brigid pulled the covers off Sunset’s head and presented her with a man in a well tailored suit with slick back, almost black, green hair, standing in the dining room. “Sunset, dis is Wakabayashi Daisuke.”

“Great, why is he here?”, Sunset said unenthusiastically.

“He is your bodyguard.”, Anzhong said. Sunset looked him over more closely. He was tall, by Japanese standards, and looked like he had some muscle, but was still slim, and mid-range by American height standards.

“What happened?”, Sunset asked in a flat tone.

“Ah was attacked yesterday, n’ we’re worried dey’ll go afte’ ya next.”

“Great, can you put me down now?” Brigid did, and Sunset approached long ass name dude with her blankets dragging behind her, looking not at all intimidating or commanding. “I take it you’re Yakuza.”

“You are correct. I’d be interested in knowing how you knew.”, long name dude said in the overly polite way Japanese people speak.

“You radiate sleaze. If you’re going to be my bodyguard, you need to dress like an American.”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

Weasel. Sunset grabbed his tie and yanked him down to her level. “No, I’m in charge here. You work for me. If I tell you to do something, you’re going to do it.”, she said in her quiet commanding voice.

“Sunset, let him go.”, Brigid ordered. Sunset looked back at Brigid then, hesitantly, let him go. “Now, she is right. Ya do stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Chm, I will find some more “American” clothing.”

“You better do it before I get out of school. I do not want to explain why I’m being picked up by a weasel. Got it, Washi?”

“Washi?”

“That’s what I’m going to call you because your name’s a mouth full.” Sunset marched back to her room to put her blankets back on the bed and get ready for school while her parents dealt with Washi.

Halls of CMS

Date: June 6th, time: 3:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset stood around the corner from where Lily was yapping with two other girls who were the closest things she had to friends. Lily didn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, and Sunset would make sure that bit her in the butt. She was fiddling on her phone so as to not look suspicious.

“What are you doing over the summer?”, one of Lily’s friends asked.

“My parents are taking us to Mexico after the Fourth of July. I won’t have to deal with this stupid town until a week before school.”, Lily answered.

You idiot. You stupid, stupid idiot. You just made my life a lot easier. With a time to strike, Sunset got out of there and headed to the ASL club. At this point, everyone was fluent enough to where the club has become more of a hang out for signers. As usual, Sunset mostly hung around Flash and Snips and Snails.

“I want set up ASL club at CHS.”, Flash signed. “But I worried nobody will join.”

Sunset nodded sympathetically. Flash and Forest were the only members of the club moving up to high school next year. The main reason this club had most of its members was Rarity. “Become popular there. Tell people ASL is cool.”

“Not broke, don’t fix?”

Sunset nodded. “Social engineering, make people do what you want.” Sunset and Flash continued talking about how he would run the high school ASL club until club time was over. Flash stayed with Sunset while the idiot twins went to their parents’ cars. Sunset and Flash headed out front in order to meet up with Washi. He couldn’t step foot onto school property because he was more strapped then a lesbian orgy. He at least now wore sneakers, jeans, a hoodie, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. Despite him being in his thirties, he could pass for a senior.

“I still can’t believe you need a bodyguard.”, Flash commented.

“Trust me, I’m working on not needing him.”

“What do you-” Before Flash could finish his question, they were interrupted by someone calling out for Sunset.

“Hey, Sunset, wait up!”

Sunset turned around and groaned when she saw it was Forest. “Agh, what do you want?”

Forest seemed to ignore Sunset’s agitation as she approached them. “Hey, so, I wanted to talk to you about,” Forest looked around for people listening in, “ethay ampirevay ingthay.”, she whispered.

“Are you having a stroke?”, Sunset asked, confusion clear on her face.

“No, I’m speaking Pig Latin.”, Forest continued to whisper.

“I think she’s having a stroke.”, Sunset told Flash.

“Pig Latin is a code language, but I don’t know what she’s saying.”, Flash said.

“Forest, you can speak English, Japanese, Gaeilge, or even French, and I will understand you, but I don’t speak that gibberish.”, Sunset said in a condescending version of a slow, clear voice.

“Okay, I want you to turn me into a vampire.”

Sunset just stood there blinking, not entirely sure on what to say. “Forest, I’m not a vampire. I can’t turn you into a vampire.”

“Of course you’re a vampire. You have fangs and red hair. Plus, you took down two upperclassmen and drank their blood.”

“I didn’t drink their blood, at least I don’t remember doing so. I’m just a weird kid with weird genetics. And my mom has red hair too, and she’s more like a werewolf than a vampire.”, Sunset protested.

“Sunset, there’s no reason to pretend around me.”

“Forest, stop! You’re a year older than me, and I’ve long since stopped playing make-believe. You’re going into high school. You need to grow up.”, Sunset said angrily, then stomped off to Washi.

“Hey, you didn’t need to be like that.”, Flash said as he caught up.

“She was annoying me. I wanted her to stop.”

“Yeah, but from what I heard, I think something may be wrong with her, and she’s using this as a form of escapism.”, Flash said in that “please calm down” voice, but Sunset wasn’t in a mood to be calm. The three of them walked back to Sunset’s place, with Washi staying in between Sunset and the road.

“Well, she can play her games with other people. I’m not having it.”

“I understand that you don’t want to be a part of it, but that doesn't give you the right to be mean to her.”, Flash said more sternly.

“I can be mean to whoever tha hell I want! And I don’t care!”

“What do you mean you don’t care?! What happened to you?! You were never friendly, but you were also never this mean!”

“I’ve lost my patience with these brats, that’s what! I’m done playing nice, and I’m done justifying myself to you!”

“Might I suggest having this argument inside. You’re drawing a lot of attention to yourself.”, Washi said. Sunset looked around, and yes, their argument was drawing the attention of other walkers and people outside their houses. Sunset turned back to where they were walking and ignored Flash.

The whole walk back, Sunset was on high alert. Brigid and Anzhong assured her that they had their home address and phone number taken out of the phone books and no one is going to be giving out their address, but it still wasn’t impossible for Storm to find them. Sunset not taking the Katon name and doesn’t wear the Katon crest and the fact it would be impossible for them to produce a red headed kid does give her some extra protection, but she still lives with them. If Storm sees her coming in or out of the house, it’s game over.

“What’s going on over there?”, Flash asked. Sunset’s head shot up in a panic, but she calmed down when she saw Flash was just talking about a demolition crew working on the old house across the street from hers.

“We’re putting up a place to give the Katons twenty-four hour protection.”, Washi said.

“Wow, you guys are really taking this seriously.”

“My dad once saved the oyabun’s life back when they were friends. The Japanese take that stuff pretty seriously.”, Sunset said.

“The oy-what?”

“The big boss of the yakuza, literally meaning ‘parent status’.”

“Oh. A law-man and a crook, sounds like a bad Lifetime movie.”

Washi escorted the two of them to the front door then walked back to his car as soon as the door was closed. Sunset locked the door, and she and Flash headed into her room. The two of them waited on Sunset’s couch for one of Flash’s parents to pick them up. Flash tried to cuddle, but Sunset pushed him away. “No, I’m still mad at you.”

“Mad at me?” Flash jumped off the couch and looked down angrily at Sunset. “For what, calling out your shitty behavior?”

Sunset jumped up as well, even angrier than Flash. “For defying me!”

“Defying you?! I’m not Snips and Snails! I’m your boyfriend! We are equals in this relationship!”

“And as my boyfriend, you’re supposed to support me!”

“I have been supporting you! I have been patient with your bad attitude, you treating other people like pawns, and your bullying. I thought that I could wait it out, and you’d go back to normal when Emi got better, but no, you’ve turned into a bitch!”

“Wow, tell me wha’ ya really think, why don’tcha?”, Sunset jokingly said. “If yu’re so disgusted by mo behavior, why don’tcha jus’ break up with me?”

“Because I know this isn’t the real you.”, Flash said with a mix of worry and sympathy.

“Oh really, if this isn’t the real me, then what is?”

“The real Sunset is kind and loving. I see it every time you interact with Emi.”

“Hate to break it to you, lover boy, but the Sunset you see at school is the real me. Those brats annoy me, so I treat them the way they deserve.”

“I know that’s not true. Please, Sunset-” Flash reached his hand out, but Sunset slapped it away.

“Drop the damn hero complex. This isn’t some crappy anime. This is real life, and in real life, humans are nothing more than chimps with delusions of grandeur, the kind that maul faces off.”

“I’d more put us as the love child of a chip and a bonobo, and as right as you are that we’re just apes, you underestimate apes as a whole. We aren’t just monkeys.”

Sunset shook her head. “Like I said, delusions of grandeur.”

Flash sighed and sat back down, and Sunset joined him. Flash tried to hug her again, but she pushed him away again. She was still mad at him.

Streets of Canterlot

Date: 26th day of the 5th month of the 1119th year, time: 9th hour ASR

*Stormy’s perspective*

Stormy flew over the crowds of ponies as she and the rest of them went about doing their shopping and other post work stuff. Normally, Stormy would’ve gone before the rush, but she was too busy trying to find a job. That task was not going well. Even with her new braces, she still couldn’t pass the minimum physical requirements for any branch of the military other than paper pushing, and things weren’t that bad. She tried retail, but rude ponies plus her temper equal fired. Despite the laws put in place, not many places aren’t willing to hire wounded veterans, especially if they’ve been involved in a conflict. Her new braces can turn invisible, but she still walks with a noticeable limp. There are also the horror stories about battle soldiers flying off the rails and attacking ponies, going crazy, shouting about how they’re surrounded, or balling up in the corner and crying. Most ponies suspect it’s a curse, but nopony actually knows.

She wished she could leave the city. She’d even be willing to go back to Sire’s Hollow and move in with her sister and put up with her boundary issues, but she needs the medical facilities that can’t be found outside of the big cities. Things aren’t as bad as they used to be now that Shadow worked full time and got a promotion and with the girls moved out, but Canterlot is still an expensive city to live in, and a lot of major repairs need to be made to the house.

“Excuse me, ma’am! Excuse me! You, flying in the sky, excuse me!”, a stallion’s voice called out. Given that there were every few ponies flying, Stormy looked around. “You with the red mane!”, the stallion said. He was wearing an altered version of the Order of Destiny robes. It was mostly the same except his was hooded whereas a normal robe isn’t, it had protective runes in addition to holy runes, and it was the wrong color. A member of the order’s robes were the colors of the god they represent, white and gold for Celestia, blue and black for Luna, pink and magenta for Cadence, and so on. His were blue and black, but it was a much darker blue than the one used for Luna, the blue from Luna’s mane. Stormy pointed a hoof at herself in a questioning manner. “Yes, you!”

She flew closer but remained wary. Cults would often use bastardized versions of the holy robes to seem more “legitimate” and lure in unsuspecting ponies. “What do you want?”, Stormy said curtly.

“I wish to talk with you. May we move out of the street?”, the stallion said while pointing to a space between two buildings.

Stormy spread her feathers and felt her magic dance between them. She had not been in a fight in nearly thirty years, but the instincts are something that never leaves you. They would still be visible from the street, but with how many ponies there were, the bystander effect could easily kick in. The stallion was a unicorn, and Stormy did raise the second most powerful and the single most stubborn unicorn to ever live. Overall, the odds are just a bit better than 50/50. If it gets fluffy, I’ll bolt. “We may speak, but you have some explaining to do.”

The stallion nodded, and the two of them went between the buildings. Stormy landed up on some crates to put herself a bit further away from the stallion. “Might I say, you are a very powerful pony.”, the stallion said.

“That is no secret, seeing as you sensed me from way up there.” Stormy motioned to the spot she previously occupied in the sky.

“I guess not, but I was talking more specifically. Could you channel some magic into this, please?” The stallion pulled out an affinity gem, a magic device designed to glow if it comes into contact with the magic it resonates with. It’s a part of every foal’s life to determine their affinities. It’s something done as soon as the foal can focus and channel their magic. It’s typical to have two, three is uncommon, and four and up are rare to damn near one of a kind. In large cities, like Canterlot, it’s just a part of school and you go on with your day, but in small towns, like Sire’s Hollow, it’s a big event with a party, especially since there’s usually only one set of gems in the town, owned by the town head.

The gem was physically like any other affinity gem, but the color was flat out wrong. There is no standard cut for these things, but the colors and magic symbols are always the same since they’re effects of the identification magic mixing with whatever magic the gem is to resonate with. A gem being the wrong color is a sign that something went wrong in the creation process and it won’t work. Stormy didn’t recognize the color or symbol. It was see-through, like stained glass, which these gems should not be. The color was a very light blue, most similar to the ice affinity gem but slightly darker. The symbol was most similar to the fire symbol, but there was only one lick of flame instead of three. It kinda looked like a tadpole. “There’s no way this is an affinity gem. They aren’t see-through.”

“This type is. It’s the nature of the magic.”, the stallion assured.

“What are you planning?”

“I am simply looking for others with this extremely rare magic affinity for my organization.”

“So, you’re looking to recruit members for your cult. I can report you to the guard for practicing a dangerous religion.”, Stormy said angrily. This cult is defiling Luna’s garb.

“Cult?” The stallion’s eyes widened as Stormy prepared to bolt. “Wait! No, no, no, no! I am a part of the clergy. I’m just a part of a clandestine sect. Have you ever heard of the Order of the Exorcist?”, the stallion said quickly.

Stormy turned back to him and fixed him with a suspicious gaze. “I have heard rumors. They deal with malevolent spirits, but I’ve never seen one. How do I know you speak the truth?”

“You have an old Air Guard sigil. You can check mine. Yours still works.”

Stormy remained suspicious, but activated her old sigil. As he said, he also had one. It looked odd, but the fact he had one was enough to alleviate her suspicion. It's not just that the princesses were the only ones that knew how to make sigils. They were the only ones that physically could, and only those they’ve given a special sigil to could implant one, making stealing one to implant into yourself impossible. Each sigil created contains a small portion of alicorn magic, not magic of all three tribes, pure alicorn magic. This not only made their guards stronger, it created an unforgeable identification system. "Okay, you are who you say you are. What now, are you going to say I'm some sort of chosen one?", Stormy joked.

“No, it’s possible you have the rarest of all affinities. I just need to check.”

Stormy gave the stallion a funny look but did as he asked. She placed her hoof onto the stone and folded some magic into it. The gem started to glow brightly, and the analytics were projected before them. This was normal and gave the test giver a comprehensive look at somepony’s magic. “So, would you mind telling me what this “rarest affinity” I have is called.”, Stormy more told rather than asked.

“It’s not something we should really discuss in public.”, the stallion said while putting away the gem. “I would like to take you to the Order of the Exorcist Corp headquarters.”

“Wow, you’re already taking me home, and I don’t even know your name.”, Stormy said while mock fanning herself.

“My name is Black Marble.”, he said bluntly, clearly not enjoying that joke.

Stormy bit her tongue in case it decided to get her into trouble again. Oh great, a noble.

“Are you coming?”, Black Marble asked.

“Yeah” Stormy took flight and followed Black through the crowd. “Hey, is this a job interview?”, Stormy asked Black.

“Yes”

Finally. Black led Stormy to the Flash Magnus district, where all the military head offices were. Stormy had many far less flattering names for it including the brass belt, the world’s biggest pile of paper, and the knock before you enter the storage room district. Black led her to the district’s shrine house where there were some ponies praying to the shrines of the various gods. Ponies would pray to Faust for guidance or inspiration, Cracken to bless their creations, Po’hahnd for somepony that had wronged them to be brought to justice, and Cueymn to send a message to their deceased loved ones. Nopony really prayed to the Sisters of Change, but pegasi and earth ponies still leave offerings as thanks for their abilities, and sailors would leave offerings for Pfpustiey in thanks for calm seas. They were also the only gods not to be alicorns. Tstuc has the form of an earth pony with plants growing from her and stone like hooves, Lahnoey has the form of a pegasus with clouds and weather constantly surrounding her body, and Pfpustiey was a water pony monster with a mane and tail made out of lava; you can tell she’s the youngest. Stormy could still see where Princess Luna’s shrine once was. Since she was back on the mortal plane and lived in the castle, she could no longer hear her worshipers’ prayers through the shrine or needed a temporary home when visiting the mortal realm. As such, it was removed.

As Stormy was led to a back room, she placed a carrot on Lahnoey’s shrine then hurried back. Black led her down a flight of stairs and into a conference room. “Welcome, Ms. Flare, to the Order of the Exorcist. We are all ponies that can use soul magic, and that includes you.”

“So, because I have soul magic, you’re going to give me a job?”

“Yes, we will train you to use your magic and fight those who chose to use their soul magic for evil and Equestria’s spiritual enemies.”, Black said in a grandiose fashion.

“Sounds great, but I can’t fight. If you check my records, you’ll see I was honorably discharged because of an injury that has left my hind legs paralyzed.”, Stormy said flatly. If she was twenty-seven-ish years younger, she’d have the same attitude as him, but her faith in the institutions meant to safeguard them was less than whole at this point.

“You seem okay.”, Black said in shock. Stormy pressed the invisibility rune on one of her braces with the tip of a feather, dispelling it. “Oh,- well,- I mean,-” Black stuttered out as he tried to figure out what to say. “Our physical requirements are flexible, and-and-and we’ll make sure to only send you on missions you feel comfortable taking.”

“This won’t affect my pay, right?”, Stormy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course not, you’ll be paid the same as the rest of us, and we actually get paid more than most other branches because of how rare our skill is. Besides, isn’t this more about protecting Equestria and surviving our gods?”

“Yeah, my parents don’t pay me to live in a mansion and look pretty at parties. I love our country, but I need money.”

“Okay, yes, you will be well paid.”

Black told her the pay, and Stormy's ears perked up when she heard the number. “So much gold. I’m in. Ah great, I sound like my ex.”

“Hehe, let’s get your orientation scheduled. Once you complete that, you can be inducted into the order.” With that, Black led Stormy to the clerical desk, and Stormy followed with what passed for a happy skip with braces on. Once the paperwork was done, Stormy flew home as quickly as her wings could carry her.

When she got home, she saw Shadow groggily nursing a cup of coffee. Their sleep schedules were opposite with Shadow sleeping while Stormy worked, and Stormy sleeping while Shadow worked. “Yawn, good evening, beautiful.”, Shadow said.

“Good morning. I may have just gotten a job.”

That got Shadow to perk up. “Really? With who?”

“Have you ever heard of the Order of the Exorcist?”

“He, yeah, knowledge of them was the unofficial mark of greatness in the intel corps. Knowing anything about them, the Order of Emotion, or the Order of the Mind meant you were the best there was. Don’t tell me you were scouted by them.”

“I was.”, Stormy said proudly.

There was a mixture of emotions on Shadow’s face. There was pride, like Stormy expected, but also worry and fear. He also had on his “I have a disturbing theory” face. “This means you have soul magic.”

“I do.”, Stormy said, interested in where he was going.

“Do you think Sunset might have inherited it?”

Oh. “Shadow, Sunset could use all forms of magic. Me having a particularly rare affinity wouldn’t affect that.”

“Sigh, what are we doing?”

“Trying to find our daughter while also trying to continue with our lives, like any parents in our situation.”

“Yeah” Shadow sat up straight in his chair and slammed his hooves onto the table, startling Stormy. “We shouldn’t be a couple of dire downers. You just got a job, and I still have a couple hours before my shift starts. We should be celebrating. I can make you something.”

“Oh, I have an idea of what you can make me.”, Stormy said while shaking her flank.

Shadow gave a goofy smile and hopped out of his chair. “I’ll grab the toys.” Shadow trotted upstairs, and Stormy hopped onto the couch. She removed her braces and placed them where they wouldn’t get damaged. It would take more than a moon to get new ones made or get these ones repaired. Shadow came back down with a variety of toys under his wings. “Do you want to be on top, or should I?”

“I’m feeling good. I’ll be on top.”

Moonshine’s bar

Date: June 7th, time: 12:00 am

*Jiraiya’s perspective*

Jiraiya sat in his seat, listening to the stories of his latest date, and she was interesting. She didn’t do much nowadays, but she used to be a pin-up girl and had all the stories about creeps and weirdos that came along with that.

“So, this guy sat outside my dressing room for over an hour, not realizing I had jumped out the window. One of my security friends told me the rest of the story. So, when they finally decided to get rid of him, he threw a completely hissy fit when he learned I was long gone. The way he described it was so comical. I couldn’t do it justice without making a scene. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last time I saw him, but he never was able to get within ten feet of me thanks to the big guys.”, Hearty said.

“Hehehe, good riddance.”, Jiraiya said.

“So, where did you grow up?”

“I grew up in a mountain village in Japan. There are just over a thousand people living there. We have a main street that isn’t paved, and everyone lives in their clan’s compound. My father was the clan head, and he died when I was nine. That left my mother and uncle to run the clan until I was old enough.”

“So, who runs the clan now?”

“My daughter, she’s been doing a pretty good job from what I heard.”

“Oh, that sounds interesting. Maybe you can take me home and teach me more about clan politics.”

Picking up on the proposition, Jiraiya paid the tab and offered a hand to Hearty. “I would love to.” Hearty took his hand, and the two strolled out of the bar and into the night.

“Hey, you!”, a gruff voice shouted. Jiraiya and Hearty spun around to see four buff, dodgy men, wearing hoodies, behind them. Calling them unfriendly looking would be apt, and they seemed to have something big in their pockets. Jiraiya pointed a questioning finger at himself. “Yes, you. Ya Jiraiya Katon?”, the lead guy said.

“I am, and you must be Storm goons.” Jiraiya turned to Hearty, who looked frightened by the men. “Run.” Hearty looked to him for some sort of assurance, but he only forcefully turned her, and the two of them booked it. He ran down the first alleyway they passed while Hearty continued straight, and as expected, the goons followed him. He ran down the alley, across the quiet street, and down another alley before making a sharp left and running down the block, his destination, the police station. Jiraiya may have been getting older, but being married to an immortal, magical entity has its benefits, and he was still rather fast. He was able to keep ahead of the younger men and reach the police station. He ran into the station and barely slowed down as he approached the counter.

“Sir, can I help you?”, the front desk officer asked. She seemed to be confused and annoyed by Jiraiya’s actions, most likely expecting him to merely be intoxicated. The other officers, working at their desks behind her, who bothered to look at them, had similar expressions.

“Four men are after me.”, Jiraiya said quickly. The officer seemed skeptical and opened her mouth to speak, presumably to assure him he was safe and take him to a holding cell, but was cut off by the doors slamming open and glass shattering. Jiraiya spun around to see the four men standing in the entryway, surrounded by the remains of the glass doors, with pale faces, seemingly just realizing where they just entered and broke the doors of. Jiraiya turned back to the stunned desk officer with a vindicated smile on his face. “That’s them.”

The men hightailed it out of there, and most of the officers chased after them, leaving only Jiraiya, the desk officer, and a handful of other officers in the station. “Sir, would you mind coming back and giving a statement?”, the desk officer asked.

“Of course, I just need to text my date.”

“Okay, follow me, sir.” The desk officer led Jiraiya to the station’s interview room while he pulled out his phone.

Hey, you okay?

Am I okay? Jiraiya, what was that? Are
you okay?

I’m fine. My son is a state prosecutor, and those

men are none too happy about his latest project.

Where are you?

I made it to a police station. I did enjoy the night.

I would like to try again soon.

Alright, maybe sometime next week.

That would be lovely. I have to go, but I'll call

you later.

Jiraiya put his phone away and faced the desk officer, who sat on the opposite side of the table from him. The officer had an incident report form, notepad, and pen in front of her. “So sir, let’s start with your name.”

“My name is Jiraiya Katon. Those men are members of the Storm gang. My son is a state prosecutor and is trying to expose those within the police force that are on Storm’s payroll. They have already made similar attacks on my son and daughter-in-law.”

“Alright, would you please write down what happened in as much detail as possible.” The desk officer handed Jiraiya the form and pen, and he put everything from that night down as well as contact information. He handed the completed form back to her, and she took it without really looking at it, just making sure it was filled out properly. “Thank you, sir. You’re free to go.” The desk officer got up and exited the interview room, leaving Jiraiya to his devices.

Jiraiya left the station, thankful to have worn his safety boots when stepping over the remains of the doors that were still being cleaned up, and decided to walk home. There were still several hours before he had to go to bed, but he didn’t want to be caught outside if they decided they really wanted him.

Katon family home

Date: June 14th, time: 9:00 am

*Brigid’s perspective*

“Do ya have y’r gun?”, Brigid asked.

“Yes Mom, I have my gun.”, Sunset said, slightly irritated.

“Do ya two have y’r guns?”

“Yes honey, we have our guns and all of our other weapons.”, Anzhong assured.

“I may not like guns, but I will do whatever I need to in order to protect my grandchildren.”, Jiraiya said.

“Do ya have y’r gun n’ permit?”

“Yes, they’re under my jacket and in my wallet. Brigid, we’ll be fine. The girls will be fine. You remember the response from the neighbors when Buck was yelling at the cop.”, Minerva said.

“Ugh, Ah know. Ah can’t help it. Maybe we should cancel.”

“Mom, effin’ go.”, Emi said. “Don’t stop this tradition just because some doofus isn’t willing to put on his big girl panties.”

“Hehe, okay, I’ll go.”

Brigid and Minerva headed out to the car and got in. Minerva pulled out her plaque and put it on the dashboard, and they got under way. This is their yearly tradition to commemorate them truly meeting, i.e. the day Minerva put down her emotional armor and gun. What exactly they did on this day wasn’t important, so long as they spent it together. Brigid drove them to the mall and headed to the disabled parking spots.

“There’s a spot we can park.”, Minerva pointed out.

“But dat’s not a disabled spot.”

“I’m not that disabled. I don’t need the loading bay.”

“Okay” Brigid pulled into the spot, and she and Minerva headed inside. “So, wha’ do ya wanna do?”

“A movie would be nice, but we should get some snacks from a store first.”

“Isn’t dat not allowed?”

“I worked there during college, and we were paid poorly. No doubt it’s only gotten worse with those damn baby boomers in office. So long as we don’t leave a mess or make it obvious, they won't care. Also, my boss used to make us dump the popcorn in trash bags, clean the popcorn maker, then put the popcorn back in the popcorn maker, and then sell it as fresh popcorn the next day.”

“Okay and ew.”

The two of them headed to the theater and began looking at the movies being shown.

“Oh, Baleful, that might be good.”, Minerva suggested.

“Ah don’t think Sunset would be too happy with us watchin’ da newest horror movie without ‘er.”

“Hm, fair.”

“Wha’ ‘bout dat one?”

“I was over there. I don’t need to see a movie about it.”

“Okay.”

“What about The Dusk Saga?”

“Sunset described da first movie as two n’ a half hours a’ ‘er life she’ll neve’ get back. Ah’m wonderin’ how it got a sequel.”

“Hehe, there are a lot of people with horrible taste out there.”

“Clearly... Oh, The Three Fools?”, Brigid asked.

“Sure, I could use a laugh. There’s a showing in twenty minutes.”

Brigid and Minerva got in line and waited their turn. It was still early, so the lines were short. Brigid paid for the tickets, and they then headed to a food store.

“So, wha’ do ya wanna eat? I’m tryin’ ta watch me weight.”

“You seem fine to me.”

“It took me four seconds ta chase afte’ dat Storm goon. Ah’m gettin’ fat.”

“I’ll take your word on it. So, what about that place? It has some good looking stuff, but I don’t know about healthy.”

“Sure.”

Brigid and Minerva entered the store and began looking around the store. Brigid grabbed some trail mix, jerky, and yogurt covered pretzels while Minerva grabbed more traditional movie snacks.

“Oh yeah, that’s real healthy.”, Minerva teased.

“Healthier dan wha’ ya got.”, Brigid teased back.

The two of them paid for their snacks, stuffed them into their pockets, and hurried to catch their movie. They made it in as the previews were playing. Due to Brigid’s size, they always tried to sit as far back as they could. It was rare for them to not be able to sit in the furthest back row as people are weird and like to sit near the front. Brigid could never understand that. Even she needed to crane her head up to see anything. Not having the answers, she just leaned back and got ready to enjoy the movie.

The movie began, and Minerva and Brigid took their snacks out. Some of the antics in the movie were funny, but a lot of them made Brigid’s mom-stincts flare up, and she could see the same was true for Minerva. They watched the film without incident and, overall, enjoyed it. They didn't stick around for the credits as neither of them really cared that much and Brigid can't read that fast. As they left the theater, Brigid noticed something. “Hey Minerva, why isn’t dere any‘hin’ keepin’ us from jus’ walkin’ inta anothe’ movie?”

“I don’t actually know, but my guess is that they aren’t losing money when someone does that, so long as they aren’t sold out. Plus, the real money’s in the concessions.”

“Ah guess dat works.”

Brigid and Minerva headed out and began looking for what to do next.

“You know, I used to love The Three Fools, but now, some of their antics, eh-”

“Ah know wha’ ya mean. Becomin’ a mum changes ya.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Katon family home

Date: same day, time: 11:00 am

*Jiraiya’s perspective*

Jiraiya sat on the window chair in one of the offices as he looked out over the street. He held one of Anzhong’s guns in his hands. He had never liked guns, even before the war. They’re so loud and too good at killing people, but now, he might need to use one to protect his family.

Knock knock knock

“Come in.”, Jiraiya said. Anzhong entered the room and walked over to where Jiraiya was sitting. “Oh, if you need me to leave, I can.”, Jiraiya said, switching to Japanese.

“No, I wanted to talk to you.”, Anzhong also said in Japanese, then took a seat on the other side of the seat. “Are you alright?”,

“Are you talking about me having to use a gun?”

“Yes, and you being attacked.”

“I am willing to do what I need to. Those men started this by attacking my kids, and we are going to finish it, one way or another. If I have to use a gun for that, I will. As far as being attacked, I wasn’t fake laughing when I told you the story.”

“That’s good. What are you doing up here?”

“Watching the street for suspicious vehicles.”

Anzhong said nothing for a while, and Jiraiya started to wonder if he had heard something before he spoke again. “Are you disappointed in my choice of carrier?”

Jiraiya took a moment to find the right way to say it before he spoke. “I do wish you chose a carrier that didn’t put you in the crosshairs of such terrible people, but I am not disappointed. I understand why you chose your path, and I am proud of you for that.”

“Thank you.” Anzhong stood up and turned to leave but stopped. “Lunch will be ready in an hour.” Anzhong headed back out, and Jiraiya resumed watching the street.

Jiraiya looked back down at the gun. A gun was an impersonal way to kill someone. You can do it without being anywhere near the person. You don’t have to look the person in the eye as you kill them. “A coward's weapon but an effective one.”

Ribbon Tailoring

Date: June 17th, time: 1:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Brigid pulled into the curb, and after Anzhong kissed her, Sunset, Anzhong, and Kiba hopped out of the car and entered the tailoring shop. Inside was Royal Ribbon, the daughter of the owners and next in line to take over the business. Due to Brigid’s size and Anzhong’s oddly shaped body, your normal store doesn’t have clothing that would fit them. Anzhong is an average height for a Japanese man at 5’ 7” and only about 135 lbs and rather slim, but he has long legs and a short torso. Even pants with extra long legs would leave almost half his calf showing if he didn’t wear boots, and most shirts are too long for him to comfortably tuck in and would make him look right at home in ancient Greece. Brigid, on the other hand, is 6’ 8” and 240 lbs with broad shoulders, even by men’s standards, and what you would call ‘child bearing hips’. She can’t find anything close to fitting in your average clothing store, even in the men’s section. Anzhong approached the front desk, and Sunset went to sit down with her game in hand.

“This is tighter than you normally ask for.”, Royal said.

“Yes, I’m going to be presenting to a rather - stringent judge. To borrow my coworkers' words, “He’s a jackass”. - No offense intended, Sunset.”

“None taken.” Sunset lifted her head to see Royal had a confused look on her face. “I’m part mule.”, Sunset clarified.

Royal still looked confused for about a second before realization dawned on her. “Haha, yeah, that tracks. By the way, you’re going to be in high school soon, and I know from my own experience that having well fitting clothing is very helpful with high school politics.”

“I got that covered.”

“Okay”

Anzhong and Royal finished the transactions, and he, Kiba, and Sunset exited the shop and began walking down the street. The Ribbons’ shop was located in the more industrial part of town, near the docks, with warehouses, fisheries, and other such establishments. An interesting aspect of this area was all the hole-in-the-wall eateries. Many of them sell fish they get straight from the harbor. Mm, fish, I’m hungry. “Dad, can we get something to eat?”

“I don’t see why not.”

The three of them turned to head to where more of the restaurants and pubs are. The closer they got to the sea, the more salt and smell of fish filled the air. Even as inland as they live, you could catch a hint of salt on a windy day. The sea air reminded her of times she would have missions near a beach and could go fishing. She would bring her bounty back to Spitfire, who rarely got to go anywhere near Equestria’s borders. Dad sure could fry a good filet, even if it doesn’t really compare to humanity’s recipes.

The three of them reached the street with most of the restaurants, and Sunset looked around for one she liked. Fishy, fishy, fishy. One of the signs in front of one of the pubs said “Husband daycare, please pick them up before dark”.

“Hehe”

“What’s so funny?”

“Just one of the signs.”

“Hm, I have a place we can go. Care to follow?”

“Alright”

Anzhong led Sunset down the streets, but as they started to turn a corner, Sunset got a bad feeling in her stomach. It could be described as a pit in her stomach, but it felt more like a piece of it just stopped existing. Sunset grabbed Anzhong’s coat and pulled him back.

“What’s wrong?”, Anzhong asked worriedly.

“We shouldn’t go that way.”

“Why not?”

“Bad feeling, very bad feeling.”

“Okay, we’ll go around.” Anzhong turned away from the corner, and the feeling in Sunset’s gut lessened but not gone away. Anzhong led them further down the street until they got to another corner. “Are we safe now?”

Sunset stepped around the corner and didn’t feel that feeling getting stronger, but it still didn’t go away. “Yeah, but we should still be careful.”

“Good, walk quickly but don’t run. We’re just normal people, taking a normal walk.” Anzhong assumed a protective posture around Sunset, and the three were underway again. Sunset kept all her scenes on the lookout for whatever caused that feeling, but all the stimuli was quickly becoming overwhelming. Anzhong noticed this, put his hand on Sunset’s shoulder, and got them to the restaurant as quickly as possible.

As soon as they were inside, Sunset reigned her senses back in. That fucking sucked. The three of them took a table away from the windows, and the waiter came with their menus soon after.

“Can I get you started off with any drinks?”, the waiter asked.

“Just some tea for me.”, Anzhong said.

“Same for me.”, Sunset said.

“Alrighty then, I’ll bring them right out.”

The waiter left them, and Sunset began looking over the menu. It wasn’t in braille, so she would have to read it for Anzhong. “This looks good. It’s grilled mackerel with rice and sauce.”

“It does. Would you like that?”

“Yes”

“Alright”

The waiter returned with their tea and placed two cups with the pot in front of them. “Are you ready to order?”

“Yes, we would both like the grilled mackerel.”

“Alright, that will be ready soon.” The waiter wrote down their order and left them again.

“Do you have any idea what caused your bad feeling?”, Anzhong asked.

“No idea, I just got this horrible feeling. I just knew we were in danger.”, Sunset answered. Anzhong got this look on his face that meant he had a theory. “You think it was Storm.”

“That’s a possibility, but it also could've been a truck for all we know.”

“But you think it was Storm.”

“That’s not important right now. Let’s just enjoy our lunch.”

Sunset glared at Anzhong but didn’t press it further. He could be just as stubborn as the rest of them, especially when it comes to divulging information.

Katon family home

Date: June 18th, time: 3:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset heard Minerva’s car coming down the street, and she headed out of her room to greet her, and she was hoping to see it. Minerva soon came in through the door, and Anura and Emi bounded down the stairs, followed by Tomiju.

“Is it finished?”, Anura asked.

“Yes, it is.”, Minerva answered.

“Can we see it?”, Sunset asked.

“They said I should keep it covered.”

“As long as ya ain’t gettin’ it dirty, it should be fine f’r a showin’.”, Brigid said, coming down the stairs.

“Alright.” Minerva removed the plastic wrap dressing, revealing her first tattoo. It was a small one on her left bicep of the moon and torches of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. It would take less time to list the spells her symbolism was not involved in, especially protection and divination spells. She’s considered the protector of those neglected or abandoned. “My pre-accident mother would’ve freaked if she saw this.”

“Ah thought ya said y’r fathe’ has a state guard tattoo.”, Brigid asked.

“My mother would’ve said it was unlady-like, but she also would’ve said having a child without a man would lead to the child being ill behaved and deviant. So, what does she know?” That got Emi to cackle like a fox, and Anura to look between Emi and her mom with a ‘ya seeing this’ look. “Precisely”, Minerva said flatly.

“When can I get my first tattoo?”, Emi asked.

“When y’re olde’. It’s a painful process. Plus, it’s not legal ta tattoo someone before dey’re at least sixteen.”, Brigid said.

“Aw, poo.”

“Now, Sunset, time ta get ready.”

Sunset groaned as she knew where they were going. “I’ll grab my shoes.” Sunset grabbed her shoes from the front door rack, and she and Brigid walked to the back door.

“Kiba, Tomiju, Ailbhe, time ta go.”, Brigid called out. Kiba and Ailbhe soon came bounding down the stairs, and Tomiju pranced over as Brigid and Sunset got their shoes on. Brigid grabbed their leashes and harnesses, and they headed to the car. The animals loaded into the back as Sunset and Brigid sat in the front. Brigid pulled out of the garage, and a look of realization and horror spread across Kiba’s face, no girls and no Dad, not good. Tomiju looked out the windows with excitement, and Ailbhe just didn’t care.

Brigid drove them to the dog groomer, and Sunset and Brigid brought the critters inside. They were none too happy but didn’t fight it. Brigid checked them in while Sunset looked at the harnesses and leads, just doing stuff to keep herself busy. They had some nice colors, but none of them were really special.

Brigid tapped Sunset on the shoulder, signaling it was time to go and for Sunset’s torture to commence. The two of them hopped back into the car, and Brigid drove them to the dentist office. Dr. Ezio Namil’s office was located in an office complex in Canterville. Sunset liked him, as far as dentists go. Not a high bar, but it was something. He would say stuff like “I became a dentist because I like to make children cry”. It appealed to Sunset’s growing sense of dark humor.

Brigid brought Sunset to his office and let her hang out in the waiting room as she signed her in. There were some younger kids playing with the toys the office provided. Sunset pulled out her phone as Brigid sat down and texted Flash.

Hey, how are things going down in yeehaw land?

Hot, things are very hot. In case you’re
wondering why some people down here are
so stupid, it’s because their brains are boiling
inside their skulls.

They teach ya to fire a gun yet?

Oh yeah, they have. Where are you?

Dentist

That sucks

Could be worse, I could be boiling inside my skull.

Touché

“Sunset Shimmer.”, one of the ladies called out. Sunset wasn’t sure what her job title was, but her regular hospital equivalent was ‘nurse’, so Sunset just called them that.

Gotta go

Sunset didn’t wait for Flash’s response and headed in. The nurse brought her back to one of the rooms where more waiting commenced. Dr. Namil wasn’t too bad, but this wasn’t always something that could be helped.

“Hello, Sunset.”, Dr. Namil said as he came in. He’s a Chilean man in his sixties that came to the US just a couple decades ago.

“Hey, Doc.”

That’s all they said to each other before Dr. Namil got to work. Sunset was there for a simple teeth cleaning, but as simple as it is, it’s not pleasant. Sunset’s eye twitched as he scratched at her teeth, but it, fortunately, didn’t take long.

“Huh, you actually do floss. Either that or I’m not doing this hard enough.”, Dr. Namil said.

“Of course, I do. Who wouldn’t?”, Sunset asked, confusedly.

“Well, most kids your age don’t.”

Sunset was confused at first but then remembered that she wasn’t a kid. “Oh, right. Am I done?”

“All done. Oh, but before you go.” Dr. Namil turned around and pulled out one of the draws of the cabinet and grabbed something from within before turning back around. “Here, take these. They won’t let me order more in less ugly colors until I get rid of these.” Dr. Namil handed Sunset a handful of toothbrushes, and they were pretty ugly colors.

“Thanks”, Sunset said purely so Brigid wouldn’t admonish her for being rude. Sunset was led back to the waiting room, and Brigid took her out to the car and drove them to the shopping center with the groomers.

Sunset hopped out of the car as soon as they parked and headed to the groomers. As she got to the doors, she looked back and realized Brigid wasn’t there. Sunset panicked, fearing that Storm had gotten her, and frantically looked around for her mother.

“Sunset!”

Sunset snapped her head in the direction of the sound and saw Brigid waving her down. Sunset ran over and practically tackled her as she hugged her.

“Woah, are ya okay?”, Brigid asked.

“You scared me.”, Sunset said, muffled by Brigid’s body.

Brigid stroked Sunset’s hair for a bit before finally speaking. “Ah’m sorry, baby.” Brigid continued comforting Sunset until she was calmed down and she pulled away from her body. Brigid crouched down to look Sunset in the eye. “Tell me what happened.”, Brigid said in a caring but commanding tone. Sunset looked away from Brigid, embarrassed how freaked out she got. “Sunset”

“I-I was worried Storm got you.”

Brigid pulled Sunset in and resumed stroking her hair. “It’s okay, Sunset. Loyalist soldiers couldn’t take me down. A bunch a’ misguided boys won’t either.”

A bunch a’ misguided boys with guns. One lucky shot and you’ll be lucky to be alive. This needs to be stopped. Crush the head of the snake. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t have her magic or her army, but she still had people to protect. She was scared. “Please, don’t do anything stupid and don’t die.”, Sunset muttered.

“Not plannin’ on it. Now, Ah was plannin’ on pickin’ up some stuff from ‘ere before we have ta drag around a bunch a’ critters. Are ya up f’r dat?”

Sunset pulled back from Brigid and looked towards the store they were in front of. They stood in front of one of those convenience drug stores with the ice cream (bribery) bar inside. “Yeah, okay, but can we get ice cream?”, Sunset asked as she turned back to Brigid.

Brigid smiled at her as she stood back up to her full height. “Okay, we need ta be quick though.” Brigid held out her hand out for Sunset, which she took. The two of them headed in, and Brigid grabbed a basket and went to get her stuff.

Sunset quickly got bored so looked around at everything else. One of the products caught Sunset’s eye. She let go of Brigid and went over to investigate. The product consisted of a couple ear plugs and a metal tube. Sunset turned it around and found the product description. It was designed to reduce the amount of noise that entered the ear without completely blocking it out.

Recommended for people with sensitive hearing. That sentence intrigued Sunset, and she grabbed three of them. She headed to where her mother was now and presented her find to her. “Hey, Mom, look at what Ah found.”

Brigid turned to Sunset and looked at what she was holding. “Wha’ are dose?”

“They’re things designed to help people with sensitive hearing by reducing the amount of sound entering the ear. I was thinking this could help Dad, Emi, and me.”, Sunset said while handing one of them to Brigid.

Brigid took it and examined the product. “Dis looks good, but Ah’ not sure y’r fathe’ would use ‘em.”

“Why?”

“He needs ta always be aware a’ his surroundin’s, n’ dat means keepin’ his ears open.”

“What about times like during the thunderstorm?”

“Hm, true. Okay, let’s ask him, when we get home.” Brigid took the rest of the packages from Sunset and placed them in her basket. “Ah’m almost done. Why don’t ya head ta da ice cream bar n’ decide on da flavors ya want.”

“Okay,” Sunset headed to the front of the store and looked at the available flavors the bar had to offer. She was familiar with all of them but only liked a few. If there were three things Equestria did better than America, they were marriage and gender equality and ice cream. Equestrian ice cream was higher quality, and the flavors were richer. Unfortunately, the amount and intensity of Equestrian sugar in Equestrian sweets would challenge even the legendary sugar fueled Pinkie Pie, if not make her out right puke. Human bodies simply can’t handle that level of sugar.

Cotton candy, bleck. Sherbet, yack. Sunset turned to the less pastel-ly colored options that taste less like a frozen 2-to-1 syrup to milk concoction. She passed over any flavor with nuts in it as eating frozen nuts was like trying to chomp down on a block of fresh ice. Should I have salted caramel with cookies n’ cream or strawberry with mango?

“Ya picked out y’r flavors yet?”, Brigid asked.

“Picking ice cream flavors is a serious decision that takes time.”

“He, okay. Here, Ah might have an easier decision f’r ya.” Brigid pulled out six wallets from her basket and placed them on the counter. “Which one do ya like?”

Sunset walked over and examined them. They were all black but different styles. “Uh, I don’t think these fit you.”

“Ah mean f’r ya. Dey have other colors, if ya want.”

“Oh,” Sunset looked at them closer and examined their features, considering what she would need and how they looked. “I like this one.”, Sunset said while holding up her chosen wallet.

“Alright,” Brigid grabbed the other wallets and placed her basket on the counter, “ya start ringin’ dese up while Ah put dese back.”

Brigid left Sunset to be the adult, and Sunset scooted the basket towards the cashier. The dead looking cashier began ringing the stuff up, and Sunset went back to choosing her flavors.

“What flavors would you like?”, the cashier asked in a dead voice.

“Yeah, I would like salted caramel and cookies n’ cream on a sugar cone.”

The cashier got the requested cone and scooped the requested flavors. The scoops were not as big compared to her as when Sunset was first treated to ice cream, but that just means she gets two scoops now. The cashier handed Sunset her ice cream as Brigid returned.

“Good, ya got y’r ice cream.” Brigid approached the register and pulled out her wallet. The cashier and Brigid finished the transaction, and she and Sunset packed up and headed to the groomers. Brigid walked up the counter, with the bag on her arm, as Sunset sat in one of the seats, and spoke to the front desk lady. “We’re here ta pick up Kiba, Ailbhe, n’ Tomiju.”

“Alright, we’ll bring them out.”

Brigid stepped away from the counter and stood as she waited. Sunset continued enjoying her ice cream as all this was going on. The critters were soon brought out on their leads. Sunset got up and joined her mother. Brigid placed Ailbhe on her shoulders and took Kiba. Despite being bigger, Kiba was easier to manage. Sunset took Tomiju, and they headed out to the car.

“Mom, would you ever like ta visit Equestria, legally?”

“Yeah, Ah would love ta see Equestria and relentlessly tease n’ remind da princess dat Ah bested ‘er.”, Brigid said proudly.

“Oh, now that would be entertaining.”

Reads family home

Date: June 20th, time: 3:00 pm

*Minerva’s perspective*

Beep beep beep

Minerva silenced her phone and began packing up and got her legs back on to pick up Anura. Once she got everything, Minerva headed out to her car and started it up, but as she did, it made an alarming, expensive sounding sound. Minerva popped the hood and got out to check the engine. She knew little about cars, but something within the engine was clearly broken. She placed her hand over her mouth, trying to figure out what to do. This wasn’t surprising, the car was old when Brigid bought it, but Minerva didn’t have a backup plan.

“Is everything okay?”

Minerva leaned over to see around the car and saw Rosie walking up to her. “Hello, Rosie, and no, my car broke. Hey, you built planes back in the day. Could you take a look?”

“Sorry, sweetie. I just bolted slabs of metal together. I didn’t touch the engines.”

“Sigh, I guess I’ll have to call a taxi. Ugh, that’s going to be a fortune, assuming it arrives.”

“Isn’t Brigid home?”

Minerva shook her head. “No, Brigid is at the hospital with Sunset and Emi, and I need to go pick up Anura.”

“Well, there will be no need for you to get a taxi. I have a car that my husband and I can no longer drive. You can have it.”

“Thank you, I’ll bring it back with a full tank.”

“No, I mean you can keep it. Neither my husband nor I can use it.”

“Thank you, I’ll grab my che-”

“Nope, no money. You just come with me and take it. You’re doing us a favor by taking it. Now, don’t dilly-dally. I’m not getting any younger.” Rosie began to turn around and walk back to her house.

Minerva was about to follow but then realized something. “I’ll be right over. I need to grab some things.”, Minerva called out. She quickly grabbed her information from her glovebox, disabled placard from her dashboard, and then headed to her trunk. She grabbed her emergency bag from the back, which contained a device she expected would be needed.

With insurance, placard, and bag in hand, Minerva headed after Rosie. Rosie’s walk was slow and methodical. Even Minerva was able to quickly catch up with her driving foot, which caused a pronounced limp.

“What’s with the funny walk?”, Rosie asked.

“I have my driving foot on. It makes it easier to drive but harder to walk.”

“What makes it different from your normal foot?”

“My driving foot has a stiff ankle. My normal foot has a hydraulic ankle to allow for more natural movement.”

“Sounds expensive.”

“Very.”

Rosie led Minerva into her house, grabbed her car keys, and then brought them out to the garage. The car was by no means pretty, but it also wasn’t ugly. It was dark green and kinda boxy but not an actual box car. Rosie got in and started up the engine, or rather tried.

“Pop the hood. This I know how to fix.”, Minerva said. Rosie complied, and Minerva pulled out her battery jump pack. It was small, but you didn’t want its load getting pumped into you. Minerva opened the garage door, hooked up the batteries, and gave it a minute. “Okay, try it now.”

Rosie tried it again, and the car started. “How’d you do that?”

Minerva unhooked the jumper pack, closed the hood, and lifted it up to show it to Rosie. It’s called a battery jump pack. You only need to be stranded in the desert once to not ever want to do that again.”, Minerva said as she walked over to Rosie then placed it back into her bag.

“I wish we had those when I was your age.” Rosie carefully rose out of the car and got out of Minerva’s way. Minerva glided in and put everything where it needed to go. “Before you go, there is one thing you could help me with.”

“Sure, anything.”

“My daughter is flying back in on the twenty-sixth and needs a ride home. Could you pick her up?”

“Of course, what time does she come in?”

“Her flight is due to come in at twenty-one hundred hours.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.” With that, Rosie stepped back and let Minerva get underway.

Okay, I need to schedule a trip to the DMV and a dealership. This car has - okay, not bad, but the age is a concern. Hm, I don’t want to push it. Okay, let’s see. How much do I have in there? I’ll need to wait until I’m on my computer for this. Minerva turned her attention fully to the road as she pulled out from the alley and onto the street.

Katon family backyard

Date: June 21st, time: 2:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset, Emi and Anura played in the backyard while Brigid gardened. Running around wasn’t much of an option for Emi anymore, so they were playing more subdued games. Brigid didn’t really care what they did, even playing video games, so long as they were in the sun. Sunset guessed it was so they don’t become vitamin D deficient vampires.

“Aah, crap!”, Brigid swore.

“You okay?”, Sunset asked.

“Yeah, Ah jus’ nearly grabbed some poison ivy.”

“What’s that?”, Emi asked. Sunset was curious too. She’d never heard of such a thing on Earth or Equoes. Anura was paying attention too.

“It’s a plant ya shouldn’t touch, but ya don’t need to worry ‘bout it. Ah jus’ need ta get da right tools ta take care of it.” Brigid got up from the ground and went into the garage.

Sunset got up as well and went over to the plant. It didn’t look special and was quite small. Sunset reached out to touch it, but Emi spoke up. “Mom said we aren’t supposed to touch that.”

Sunset scoffed. “How bad can it be if it can grow in our own backyard?”

“I’m gonna tell.”, Emi said in a sing-song voice. Sunset rolled her eyes, reached down, and rubbed a leaf between her fingers. It had this gross oil on it, and she whipped it off on her jacket. Before Brigid could return, Sunset hurried back over to their game. “You’re gonna get in trouble.”, Emi taunted. Sunset flicked Emi in the forehead. “Hey” Brigid soon came out of the garage, wearing a long-sleeve shirt and heavy duty gloves. “Mom! Sunset touched da poison Ivy!”, Emi yelled.

Brigid’s head shot up from the glove she was fiddling with. There was shock and fear in her eyes as she bolted over to Sunset and scooped her up. Brigid carried Sunset inside, not even taking off her shoes, and over to the sink. She grabbed the rubbing alcohol from under the sink and poured some on a paper towel. Sunset was thoroughly freaked out now. Am I going to die? What is this stuff?

“Sunset, where did da oil get?”, Brigid asked.

“Just on my first three fingers.”, Sunset said while holding up her right hand. “But I wiped it off on my jacket.”

Brigid wiped her hand down and removed her jacket. “Did ya touch any‘hin’ else?”

Sunset’s eyes widened in horror as she remembered. “I touched Emi.” Brigid ran back outside, and Sunset felt like she was going to throw up. She might be responsible for her and Emi’s death. Brigid came back inside carrying Emi, with Anura following them.

“Nice going.”, Emi chided. Brigid repeated what she did with Sunset’s hand to Emi’s forehead.

“Ar-are we going to die?”, Sunset asked, horror clear in her voice.

“Wha’-? Oh, no. Ya ain’t gonna die, but ya ain’t gonna have a good time.”

“Wha’? What do you mean?”

“Da symptoms a’ poison ivy are itching n’ blisters, among othe’s. Either way, y’re not gonna have a good time.”

“Oh, but I don’t feel anything.”

“Give it a couple days.”, Brigid said.

Outside Canterlot Prosecution Office

Date: same day, time: 5:10 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid pulled over next to the sidewalk, where Anzhong and Kiba were waiting for her. Brigid rolled down her window and leaned out to let him know it was her. “Need a ride?”

“Hello, Brigid.” Anzhong let Kiba into the back seat then got in himself.

Brigid pulled away and began their drive home. “Sunset’s entered ‘er rebellious phase.”, Brigid said in that semi-funny way that only exasperated parents can.

“Oh, joy. What’d she do?”

“She touched poison ivy after Ah told ‘er not to den touched Emi.”

“Great, two kids with ivy poisoning. If my childhood is anything to go by, these next few years are going to be long.”, Anzhong remarked. Brigid let out a snort and quickly returned her attention to the road. She just counted themselves lucky that they wouldn’t be raising a rebellious teen in a warzone, like her parents had to.

Later into their drive, the Amber alert sound came from their phones. A pit formed in Brigid’s stomach at the idea of a child being taken. Anything involving children just hits differently after becoming a parent. She couldn’t help but think ‘what if that was one of her girls’. Brigid couldn’t look down at her phone, but she didn’t need to. Anzhong’s phone read out the message. “Amber Alert Canterville, Maine: black SUV. Last seen driving away from Canterville Plaza.”

“Gee, could dey be any more vague? Dat’s da second most common car on da road.”

“People don’t tend to be great at remembering details under stressful situations.”

“Ah know, but even we fit dat profile. Our car is a black SUV.”

“Oh”

Katon family home

Date: June 24th, time: 12:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Ya still don’t feel any‘hin’?” Brigid held Sunset’s hand, closely examining it.

“Nothing, no rash, itching, or swelling.”, Sunset said.

“Huh, Ah guess y’re immune ta poison ivy.”

“How can I be immune to a poison that I’ve never encountered before?”

“Despite da name, it ain’t actually poisonous. It’s more of a species wide allergy. Our bodies ove’ react ta da oil da plant produces. Only fifteen percent a’ da population are immune.”

“So, maybe because I wasn’t born human, I’m immune to it.”

“Dat’s a good theory, but we’d need a bigge’ sample size.”

“Not fair, that’s not fair.”, Emi complained. Sunset looked over to Emi, who was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the dining room table with her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. She started showing symptoms two days ago and now had a red dot on her forehead. It was small but was still itchy. Brigid treated it with some sort of cream and covered it with a band aid so Emi wouldn’t scratch at it.

“Yeah, it ain’t, but dat’s where we become proactive n’ make it fair.” Brigid turned back to Sunset with a look that was way too similar to Celestia making a royal decree for someone from bumfuck nowhere. “Since y’re immune ta poison ivy, y’ll be da one responsible f’r handlin’ all poison ivy in da future.”

Sunset grumbled to herself in response to having more responsibilities but also had to concede that it was logical. “Fine, I can do that.”

“Good, because we got a patch on da side a’ da house.” Brigid got up from her seat and headed to the back door. Sunset groaned but got up to follow. Brigid took Sunset out to the garage, showed her where the black garbage bags were and where to put everything when she was done, grabbed one, some gloves, and a hand shovel, and brought Sunset out to the wall that connected her bedroom wall. “Wha’ ya need ta do is get every part a’ da pant in da bag. Dat includes da roots.”

“Yeah yeah, fine.”, Sunset said irritatedly. She took the bag and shovel, put on the gloves, and crouched over the plant.

“Make sure ta wash y’r hands well.”, Brigid said as she walked off.

“Grumble grumble grumble, Ah thought there were child labor laws in this country. I’m not even getting paid.” Sunset yanked out the ivy and dug up the roots and placed it all in the garbage bag. After putting as much of the dirt back in the hole and padding it flat, she brought the bag to the trash can, but as she lifted the lid, a thought came to her. I’m immune to this stuff, but Lily likely isn’t. Sunset grabbed a handful of ivy and entered the garage. She grabbed a plastic shopping bag and placed the ivy inside. Sunset placed the gloves and shovel in the bag Brigid instructed her to and hid the ivy bag behind some boxes. “Now, to plan my attack.”

Out front Canterlot Airport

Date: June 26th, time: 9:05 pm

*Minerva’s perspective*

Minerva pulled into the passenger loading and unloading bay and waited for the next wave of passengers to exit. A mixture of vacationers, New York business types, and a couple returning soldiers exited the airport with various types of bags trailing behind them and slung over their shoulders. People either got into taxis, shuttles, or the cars of those picking them up, thinning the crowd enough for Minerva to spot Long Shot.

All of her limbs looked to be all there, and her face was intact, say for a very notable cut on her cheek that still had its stitches in and would likely scar. She had a desert tan and looked like a feminine version of her father with her strong features and blond on blond hair that was well on its way to gray. Even her cut is in a near identical location to one of her father’s. Then again, he had so many that any cut could easily be in a similar place. From the pictures Minerva had been shown, the only visible part of her that resembled her mother was her ‘I ain’t taking no crap’, blue eyes, but she couldn’t see them now as she was wearing shades. Along with the typical bags you’d see a returning soldier carrying, she had what looked to be a camera bag.

As Long arrived, Minerva unlocked the doors with an audible click. Long threw her bags into the back seat and then joined Minerva in the front. “You must be, hold on,” Long pulled out her phone for a moment before turning back to Minerva, “right, Minerva. My mom said you’d be taking me home.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Minerva pulled out of the loading bay and started them on the way home. Minerva stole glances at Long whenever she could, who seemed to be lost in thought. Although she didn’t have much physical damage, that said nothing of her mental state. “So, what are your plans, or are you still working on that?”

“Oh, um, I plan on readjusting to civilian life with my parents for a while then move down to New York. My brother runs a photography business down there, and he offered me a job.”, Long said while shifting uncomfortably.

“That’s great. Adjusting back into civilian life isn’t easy but having friends and family and a job definitely helps.”, Minerva said with a smile.

“Were you armed forces?” Long seemed more comfortable now and perked up a bit.

“Yeah, I was a part of the initial invasion of Iraq. I started out as cyber security but then nine eleven happened. I take it you were a war photographer.”

“Yeah, I was. It wasn’t easy. You can’t really do much. I know that I was keeping everyone informed of what was going on and giving faces to the tragedy, but I could never help but feel like I should be doing more for those people.”

“I get that. So, how’d you end up with your name?”

“I’m named after one of my dad’s old friends. His name was Long Xiong, and it meant dragon bear, and yes, “Long John” was the other kids’ choice of nickname for him.”

“Well, that’s a nice name, yours, not ‘Long John’. My sister-in-law’s name also means dragon but in Japanese. Her name is Ryoko.”

“Hm, that's also a nice name.”

The rest of the ride was mostly silent with Long noting how the city has changed. Minerva pulled into the Shot’s driveway, and she and Long hopped out of the car. Long grabbed her bags, and the two of them headed to the front door. Minerva rang the doorbell, and the two waited for the door to be opened.

Rosie was the one to open the door, and when she saw Long, her smile nearly split her face in two. “Welcome home. How’s my baby girl?”

“Mom, I’m not a baby.”, Long said through gritted teeth.

“You’ll always be my little girl.”

“Ugh, is your mother like this?”, Long asked Minerva.

“Well, my mom’s a drug addict, so no.”, Minerva said matter-of-factly.

Long’s eyes widened in shock and horror. “Oh, um, I’m sorry.”, Long said sheepishly.

“Don’t be. You had no way of knowing. I would be insulted if someone just assumed my parents were druggies.”

Long smiled awkwardly, and Rosie patted her on the back. “Come on. Everyone should go home.”, Rosie said.

“Oh, yeah, bye, Minerva.”

Long and Rosie headed inside, and Minerva got back in her car and drove it back to her driveway.

Sunset’s room

Date: July 5th, time: 10:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset sat in bed with a book in hand, waiting for Meg to arrive. Even with all the other people in the club, Meg still liked to hang out with Sunset, for whatever reason. The doorbell rang, and Sunset hopped out of bed and headed to the front door. Anzhong was already coming down the stairs, so Sunset opened the door.

“Hi, Sunset.”, Meg signed.

“Hi”, Sunset signed back.

“Hello there. Mr. Katon?”, Meg’s mom asked.

“Judge Gavel.”, Anzhong said in a tone Sunset knew meant “I tolerate your existence” but that other people didn’t pick up on. Recognizing the name, Sunset had to bite her tongue to not say something that might get her dad in trouble. “Hi, Meg.”, Anzhong signed.

“Huh, I never thought I’d see a blind person sign.”, Judge Gavel said.

“Yeah, because he bothered to learn.”, Sunset grumbled before her better judgment could kick in.

“That’s great to hear. I’ve been trying to learn since we learned Meg was deaf but just could never get the hang of more than a few signs. I’ll see you both later.” Judge Gavel turned to Meg and signed “I love you”, which looks like bull horns except the thumb is out to the side instead of tucked in. Meg returned the sign, and Judge Gavel headed back to her car.

Sunset gave Meg a stinky look then pointed her to her room. Meg pretended not to notice and went to Sunset’s room. Sunset closed the door behind them, and Meg sat on her couch. Sunset sauntered over in front of Meg and looked down at her suspiciously.

“What up?”, Meg asked.

“You told me your parents never bother to learn ASL.”

“No, I told you it is common for parents to not learn ASL. Did not say anything about not bother.”

“Your parents just can not learn?”

“Yes, they tried but could not get it.”

Sunset nodded her understanding and sat down next to Meg. “What signs your mom know?”

“Yes, no, I love you, M, E, G.”

“How do you communicate then?”

“Writing, not real conversation.”

Sunset nodded and pulled out one of the board games she grabbed for them. Meg wasn’t a fan of video games. As they played, Sunset noticed Meg seemed distracted. Sunset tapped her shoulder and signed, “You ok?” Meg squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and looked between Sunset and anywhere else in the room. “Meg?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Sunset was surprised by this request but not exactly shocked. Eh, why not? Sunset leaned in and gave Meg a quick peck. The flurry of emotions on her face could best be summed up as surprise and confusion. “You like?”, Sunset asked.

“Ag-agh”, Meg said, then sorted herself out enough to sign. “Very nice, but I do not think I am gay.”

“Ok” The two of them restarted their game, and Sunset forgot about the whole thing.

A couple of hours later, Sunset was working at her desk as Meg napped. “I swear. Each year, they make these things harder and harder to repair yourself.”, Sunset mumbled to herself. She closed up the shell and leaned back in her chair. As she began to close her eyes, she caught the sound of someone saying ‘moshi moshi’. Those who say that people say ‘moshi moshi’ because they want to make sure the person on the other side isn’t a kitsune are flat out wrong. Grandma, Anzhong, Ryoko, and Emi never had any trouble saying that. Hm, Dad must be talking to Aunt Ryoko. That piqued Sunset’s interest, and she pressed her ear against the door but could only here Anzhong’s side of the conversation. Okay, sneaky time.

Sunset tried to wrangle her aura in as tightly as she could, slid out her door, and hid behind the kitchen island. Anzhong was in the kitchen and talking quietly while cooking lunch. Now, Sunset could hear both sides of the convo.

“So, when’s it do?”, Anzhong asked in Japanese. He sounded happy, by his standards.

“Doctor said seven months.”, Ryoko said.

“That’s great. Do you know the gender yet?”

Gender? Baby!

“No, not yet. The first ultrasound isn’t for another month.”

“Well, I’m very happy for you and Oda. Are you two going to get married?”

There was a long silence on the other side of the line before Ryoko responded. “I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I don’t want to get married without you all there, but I know Emi can’t travel. I was hoping to wait until she was better.”

It was now Anzhong’s turn to have a long silence, and you didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. “I pray that day comes.”, Anzhong said solemnly. “No, we should be happy. You’re going to be a mother.”, Anzhong said with commitment. “Speaking of which, would you like to talk to your niece? She’s currently hiding behind the kitchen island.” Fuck

“Haha, sure.”, Ryoko said in a mirthful tone.

Sunset heard Anzhong walk around the island, and then he presented his phone to Sunset. Sunset let out a slight nervous chuckle and took the phone. “Moshi moshi”

“You got caught?”

“Yeah”, Sunset said, defeated. “How does he do that? I have an ability to hide myself that works on this kid at school with real bonkers abilities and Minerva but never him.”, Sunset said in Japanese.

“Your grandmother taught him well. That’s why nobody wanted to play hide-and-seek with him.”

“I thought it was because everybody could tell he was a fox.”

“That too. How have things been for you?”

“Has Dad told you about Storm?”

“He has. It sounds really scary. Are you going to be okay?”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve had my life threatened.”

“That’s - not very reassuring.”

“I’ll be fine so long as I’m not shot again.”

“Ugh, there’s no keeping you out of trouble.”

“That’s a fair enough assessment. So, you’re cooking a baby.”

“I hope you can meet them soon. Oh, I got to go now. I am on the clock and have guests.”

“Alright, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Sunset hung up the phone, stood up from her hiding spot, and placed Anzhong’s phone on the counter. Anzhong had something baking in the oven which was almost done, judging by the timer. “Sunset, what does the timer say?”, Anzhong asked.

“Five minutes”

“Okay, could you go get everybody.”, Anzhong told more than asked.

“Yeah” Sunset headed back into her room and over to the sleeping Meg on the couch. Sunset shook her awake and signed ‘lunch’ to her as soon as she was awake enough then left the room and headed upstairs. “Lunch is ready!”, Sunset called down the hall.

“I said “go get everybody”! I could’ve done that!”, Anzhong called from the kitchen.

Minerva, Brigid, Emi, and Anura came out of whatever rooms they were in and followed Sunset downstairs. Meg was already sitting at the table, groggily rubbing her eyes. Anzhong had the plates and utensils on the table and was waiting by the oven. Brigid joined Anzhong in the kitchen while the rest of them joined Meg at the table. Brigid and Anzhong talked about adult stuff as Anzhong pulled the casserole out of the oven and brought it over to the table. They sat down with the rest of them, and everybody took turns serving themselves.

“Sorry you couldn’t hear it from the source, but I have some exciting news to share with you all.”, Anzhong announced, and Sunset translated for Meg.

“He no look very excited.”, Meg signed.

“He no idea what facial expressions look like and has best poker face.”, Sunset signed. Meg’s face flushed with embarrassment, and Sunset felt safe betting that she was glad Anzhong couldn’t see what she signed. Sunset looked across the table to Anura, who was vibrating in her seat and looked like she was trying to contain her excitement. “Did you hear the phone call?”

“No” was all Anura said.

“Ryoko is pregnant.”, Anzhong finished. Everyone cheered, and Meg congratulation elbowed Sunset.

“When are we going to meet the baby?!”, Emi asked as everyone quieted down.

The adults looked at each other uneasily. “It might be a while. Ya c’n’t travel safely.”, Brigid said.

“Oh” Emi sat back down and dug straight into her food like she wasn’t bothered, but Sunset could tell this saddened her.

Nothing else of note happened until seven. Meg was in Sunset’s room and packing up when the doorbell rang. Sunset went out to see who it was. Anzhong was the one to open the door this time, and a man was on the other side. “Hi, Ah’m Meg’s dad.”

“I’ll let her know you’re here. You can come in, if you’d like.” Anzhong walked over into Sunset’s room, and the man walked in. He looked fairly normal. He had tanned skin, green eyes, and two toned red hair. It was most likely a “farmer’s tan”, based on the cowboy hat. From the looks of things, Meg got her hair from her mom and everything else from her dad.

Brigid came down the stairs, and Meg’s dad gave her a friendly greeting after the typical “Wow, you’re a big one” they almost always say. Sunset just stood off to the side, not really paying attention to their conversation, until Brigid mentioned the O’Apples. “Would Ah be right in assumin' y’re an O’Apple?”

“Ya wouldn’t be wrong. Ma mom was, but Ah still help out in tha orchards.”

Meg’s an Apple? “I’m starting to think the universe likes to play jokes.”, Sunset commented.

“What does she mean?”, Meg’s dad asked.

“We’re Mac Carthaighs.”, Brigid answered.

Meg’s dad looked disbelieving at Brigid before spotting her pin and his eyes went wide. “Ah thought ya’ll were wiped out.”

“Y’re lookin’ at da only survivor, n’ da people in dis house are all dat remains.”

“Ha, Ah know some people that will be elated ta hear about you.”, he said while tipping his hat up.

It was then that Anzhong returned with Meg, and she hugged her father. The two broke the hug, and a look of confusion came across Meg’s dad’s face. He looked between Anzhong and Brigid with a surprised look on his face. “Ya got her pregnant?”, he directed at Anzhong.

“I did.”, Anzhong confirmed.

Meg’s dad looked down at himself then back at Anzhong. “I suddenly feel under equipped.”

“It runs in the family.” was all Anzhong said before going back upstairs.

Meg’s dad chuckled to himself then he and Meg were on their way. Brigid locked the door behind them, and Sunset had an internal debate about asking Brigid if Anzhong’s statements were true but decided that she didn’t want to know or even think about it.

“Ah would say “What are da odds ya inadvertently make friends with an O’Apple?”, but dis town is so lousy with ‘em, it’s arguably an inevitability.”

“I think it would be prudent to ask “How’d you end up moving to the one city in the US that’s lousy with O’Apples?””

“Ah guess da universe likes ta play jokes.”, Brigid said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Sunset just shook her head and headed back to her room.

Order of the Exorcist Corp headquarters

Date: 4th day of the 6th month of the 1119th year, time: 4th hour AMR

*Stormy’s perspective*

“Stormy Flare, by taking this oath, you are pledging your soul to the Exorcist Corp.”, the hooded unicorn stallion in front of Stormy said. He wore a white and gold version of the traditional exorcist robes, meaning he’s the big boss and was a master of all forms of soul magic. He was Head Priest Nobleblood, Prince Blueblood’s uncle. He was older and had brass hair instead of pompous blond, but the two of them looked the same otherwise. They stood in a dark room, only lit by candles, and were surrounded by a dozen other ponies in similar hooded robes of various dark colors, denoting what type of soul magic they used. All but three of them were unicorns, and unless they had their wings covered, Stormy was the only pegasus here. “This oath is for life. You can not leave the Exorcist Corp until you pass on to Elysium. You can also not share our spells or discuss missions with anypony, other than the princesses, outside of the order. You will also be tasked with more typical priest assignments. You must also adhere to the privacy rules of priesthood. You may turn back now, and your memories of the Exorcist Corp and soul magic will be wiped, and your soul magic will be sealed. Do you understand these terms and accept your responsibilities?”

“You’re the only branch that has physical requirements low enough for me to pass. I don’t have any other option.”, Stormy snarked.

“What about retail?”, one of the other clocked ponies asked.

“Tried that. Let’s just say it didn’t work.”

“Ehem”, Head Priest Nobleblood said. “We need a proper response.”, he said with disdain.

“Who shoved a zap bee up his rear?”, Stormy said under her breath. She then propped herself up as proud as she could in her sitting position. She had to take her braces off because the runes on them were the same style as the ritual runes, and they could mess with each other. “I, Stormy Flare, daughter of Nova Flare and Warm Winds, will take the oath and keep the secrets of the order.”

“Good, then repeat after me. Under the witness of Faust, Po’hahnd, and Cueymn, I take this oath.”

Stormy spread her wings high so the gods may see her, the pegasus oath pose. “Under the witness of Faust, Po’hahnd, and Cueymn, I take this oath.” The spell circle around Stormy lit up with power, but nothing moved yet. From helping Sunset with her homework, Stormy knew that the outermost ring was a simple yet powerful binding spell that would keep the magic contained during the spell’s activation and while it was in Stormy’s body. The second ring was a sigil seal. It was basically the same as her old Air Guard seal but for the order. The rest however, Stormy had no idea what they were.

“I will serve Equestria and the princesses with my soul, heart, and life and protect Equestria from that which lurks in the nightmares of the innocent.”, Head Priest Nobleblood said with grandeur.

“I will serve Equestria and the princesses with my soul, heart, and life and protect Equestria from that which lurks in the nightmares of the innocent.”, Stormy said in a more normal voice but still with some oomph.

The spell circle began shifting into position as the spell prepared to activate.

“With the oath taken, the spell is complete.”

“With-”, Stormy tried to repeat, but that was apparently not a part of the oath as the spell fully activated. The different rings lifted into the air and separated to be all at different angles and began to spin. Just like with her Air Guard induction, the rings spun and closed in on Stormy’s heart until they were wrapped around it, and she felt the magic from the sigil spread into her ley lines and body. It was not pleasant but also didn’t last long. “Ow”, Stormy said dryly.

“That “ow” you felt was a jumpstart to your training.”, Head Priest Nobleblood said.

Stormy’s eyes widened as she noticed a spirit floating next to Head Priest Nobleblood. “Um, sir.”

Head Priest Noble gave Stormy a not friendly smile at seeing her fear and confusion. “I see the sigil has worked. The power you know poses is called ‘Spirit Sight’. It would traditionally have taken moons of training to unlock it, but thanks to advancement in sigil techniques, it now only takes a few moments. The spirit beside me is named Earl.”

“Something tells me that spirit didn’t name itself ‘Earl’.”, Stormy said.

“No, it’s customary to name your spirit when you have bound it to you. Of course, this is only for ponies with soul taming magic. It would actually be a good idea for you to look into. Having a spirit may make up for the lack of a horn.”, Head Priest Nobleblood said in his signature “I’m better than you” tone.

That’s it. I’m done trying to be respectful. I don’t need a horn to shove my hoof up your ass. Stormy bit her tongue so as to not say something that would get her into trouble. She already had the title of “Stormy of the Bladed Tongue” and is why she never got an officer’s rank. Although she did agree that having a spirit by her side would likely benefit her, though not because of her lack of a horn.

Nobleblood made a gesture with his foreleg, and the ponies surrounding them closed in. Two of the unicorns magically carried a gray version of the hooded robes they were wearing, and two of the earth ponies carried Stormy’s braces. The braces now had metal plates with shock redirection and absorption runes in key places so she could kick without risking damage to the delicate contraptions. Stormy stood up so they could put her braces on while Nobleblood started wasting more air. “This robe signifies you as beginning your journey with us. It will remain gray until you learn your first form of soul magic. At that point, it will change to that type’s color.”

Once Stormy’s braces were back on and reactivated, the unicorns helped her into the robe. The robe consisted of a toga covered by a hooded cape with a fancy chest banner to close it; Stormy didn’t know what that piece was actually called, but when she was signing up, she requested that they make the toga fur tight, and it was. The cape had holes in it for her wings, so she was the only pegasus in the room. She and the other non-unicorns also had focus gems on their chest banners to help them weaponize their magic. Nobleblood went over what all the different pieces meant and signified, but Stormy already knew it all, so tuned him out until he moved on to something else. “Now then, follow me, and we will finish up the paperwork so you can be officially registered as joining.”, Nobleblood finished.

“More paperwork?”

“Don’t worry, you and I just need to sign the form saying you completed the oath.” Nobleblood turned around and headed to the door, and Stormy followed. Even though they were under the church, they weren’t entirely underground. Some sections of the building were in the rock while some were on the edge of the mountain. “So, Ms. Flare, would you happen to be the same Stormy Flare that is the mother of the one known as Sunset Shimmer?”, Nobleblood said in a voice that put Stormy on edge.

“Sunset is my daughter. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I just find it humorous that the mother of that demon child is now a priest.”

“Excuse me, did you really just call my daughter, student of Princess Celestia, a “demon child”?”, Stormy asked angrily.

“I did, because she was. I petitioned to have her undergo an exorcism multiple times as she was clearly either possessed by a demon or one herself. I’ve seen the way her eyes glow in the dark.”

Insult my tribe, insult my daughter, insult my husband’s tribe, is he trying to get me to hate him? “My daughter is a thestral. That’s why her eyes glow. It’s just evolution.”

“Thestrals are descended from demons.”

Stormy was stunned by how triblist that was. Never had she heard somepony be that openly triblist. She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done, nothing good, but she was interrupted by another member of the order. “Oh, don’t listen to him. He’s just made that, in the guard split, we were put into the Night Guard. He hates the idea of a group of exorcists working under a former demon, his words, not mine.”, the other order member said. Nobleblood merely huffed and walked off, and Stormy turned to her savior. She was a unicorn with a purple coat and black mane. Her robe was a deep crimson. All the exorcist robes, except for the head priests’, had black trimming. The head priests of each form had gold trim. Stormy wasn’t sure what all of the colors ment, but she would bet crimson had something to do with holy fire. “Hi, I’m Happy Berrymix. Don’t laugh.”

“Wha- oh, I get it now.”

“Ahuh,” Happy said with a nod. “Well, welcome to the order. It’s serious business. That’s why you can’t take it seriously. At least that’s my motto.”

“Thank you. Say, would your robe mean you deal with holy fire?”

“That’s correct. Are you saying you want to learn holy fire?”

“Correct, I already have a fire affinity. Will you be willing to teach me?”

“No problem. Come find me in the house after you're done with your paperwork. I got a wedding to officiate.” Happy trotted off, and Stormy moved to catch up Noble Pain-in-the-flank.

Sunset’s room

Date: July 18th, time: 10:30 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset got her pjs on and finished up her nightly routine, like any normal night, but this wasn’t a normal night. It was time to reacquaint Brigid with Nana. We are dreaming, but it’s also a bit more than that. No, I'm not just a figment of your imagination. That sounds good. Sunset grabbed the ring from its hiding space, stuffed it in her breast pocket, headed straight upstairs and knocked on Brigid and Anzhong’s door. Brigid quickly answered, filling up the whole door frame, and instead of its usual three braids, her hair was in one large braid.

“You look nice.”

“N’ ya look like ya should be in bed. Is some‘hin’ wrong?”

“Yeah, I’m having trouble sleeping. Can I sleep with you guys?”

Sunset could sense Brigid wanted to say ‘no’, but the small sigh Brigid let out told Sunset she lost the internal debate. “Alright, come on in.” Brigid moved out of the frame and let Sunset inside.

The walls of their room were covered with mementos ranging from pictures of family and friends to religious symbols and awards. Brigid had multiple awards for shooting that, if Sunset remembered correctly, also came with some nice money that can now be attributed with how Brigid has such a nice collection, and Anzhong had a few martial arts trophies. Though, he isn’t much one for competing. Two of the more notable ornaments were their oni masks. They were of similar design with just a couple differences. In accordance to mythology, Brigid’s was red, and Anzhong’s was blue. Oni come in two, one red, one blue. However, the horns on Anzhong’s mask were smaller than Brigid’s, only being a couple inches. This worked for them, but in mythology, female oni have smaller horns. The lack of eye-holes on Anzhong’s mask has nothing to do with mythology and is to protect his eyes.

What is that? On top of a chest of drawers was what looked like a badly dented UFO. “I knew it. You’re an alien. That’s why you’re so tall.”, Sunset whispered.

“What?”, Brigid asked confusedly, then noticed what she was talking about. “Oh, hahaha.” Brigid had to cover her mouth so as not to belly laugh. “Dats not a spacecraft. It’s called a hang. It’s an instrument Ah used ta soothe y’r siste’ when she was a baby.” Brigid picked the instrument up and hit it a couple times. It had a quiet, melodic sound.

“It’s nice.”

Brigid placed it back in its spot and gave Sunset a soft smile. “Come on. It’s time f’r bed.”

Brigid climbed into bed and tried to scoot over Kiba, Ailbhe, and an already asleep Anzhong. They had their bed custom made to accommodate Brigid’s size and Anzhong’s preference to share the bed with his dogs, but adding Sunset to that mix made it a tight fit. Sunset climbed in, snuggled up to Brigid, and closed her eyes.

The next thing Sunset knew, she was standing in the Mac Carthaigh farmhouse. It was just like last time except, now, Brigid was also here. Nana was standing off in a corner, looking at Brigid with pride and joy in her eyes.

“How did Ah get here? Am Ah dreamin’?” Brigid was looking around at her surroundings but not at Nana or Sunset.

“We are dreaming, but it’s also a bit more than that.”, Sunset said. Brigid spun around to face Sunset, confusion and surprise evident. “No, I’m not a figment of your imagination.”

“Sunset, Ah don’t understand. Wha’s goin’ on?”

“To be honest, Ah’m not entirely sure. To sum it up the best I can, we are currently in a shared dream where we are making contact with a disembodied entity.”

Brigid furrowed her eyebrows as she gave Sunset a questioning look. “Ya sayin’ we’re dream talkin’ ta a ghost?”

“That ghost, to be precise.”, Sunset said with a nod of her head.

Brigid looked to where Sunset was pointing, and her eyes widened when she saw Nana. “Mum?”

Nana smiled and approached Brigid. “It’s me.” Despite Brigid inheriting her height from her father, Nana was no dwarf. She looked to be about 6’. However, Brigid’s shoulders and musculature clearly came from her.

Brigid stood there like a deer in the headlights as she tried to process what she was seeing. “H-how?”

“Ah’m not sure. All Ah knew is one minute, Ah was in pain, n’ da next, Ah was in a void.”

“Nana’s spirit somehow ended up inside the Mac Carthaigh ring.”, Sunset clarified.

Brigid looked from Sunset to Nana and reached her hand out. Nana grabbed Brigid’s hand with both of her own. Brigid’s face fell as she came to the same realization Sunset and Nana did last time. “Ah c’n’t feel ya.”

“Yea, ya c’n’t feel in dreams. Ah wasn’t able ta comfort Sunset da last time she was ‘ere.”

“Last time? Sunset, how many times have ya been ‘ere?”

“This is only my third time here. We can only do this once a year.”, Sunset answered.

“Well den, we bette’ make dis count.”

“Unfortunately, our time is almost up. Ah don’t have enough energy ta keep ya ‘ere much longe’.”, Nana said.

“Wait, wha’?”

“Da reason Ah c’n only bring ya ‘ere once a year is because a’ how much energy it takes, but even den, Ah c’n only keep ya ‘ere f’r a short while.”

Sadness and disappointment but also resignation and acceptance flashed across Brigid’s face. “Alright, Ah will be ‘ere next year, but f’r now, Ah love ya. Ah’ve missed ya every day.”

Nana grasped Brigid’s arms and gave her a loving smile. “Ah love ya too, n’ Ah’m so happy ta know ya’ve made a good life f’r y’rself. Ah jus’ didn’t expect it ta be with a demon.”

“Sign, he’s a yokai, Mum, a spirit, not a demon.”

Nana gave a light chuckle as she and the house faded away. The next thing Sunset knew, she was waking up next to Brigid, completely exhausted.

“This is a first. I’ve never gotten up before you.”, Anzhong said to Brigid.

“Gr, yeah, why am Ah so tired? Oh, wait, were we dreaming da whole night?”

“This is normal and not quite but longer than typical.”, Sunset answered. “Plus, I think our energy is used to help construct that space.”

“What are you two talking about?”, Anzhong asked.

“My mum’s spirit is trapped within ‘er ring, n’ we jus’ spent da night with ‘er.”

“I - don’t know how to respond to that.”

“I’m going back to bed.”, Sunset said, then flopped back onto the bed.

Emi’s room

Date: July 27th, time: 1:00 pm

*Emi’s perspective*

Emi looked down at her bag and the dog toys scattered across the floor as she decided what to bring. Tomiju was treating one of her stuffed animals like a rag doll, so that was coming. Which ones should I bring? She ultimately just decided to take one of each type. After putting the toys in her bag or back in their box, she put her own toys in her bag and put it on, grabbed Tomiju, and went downstairs.

As she headed to the back door, the house phone rang. This either meant a scam caller or a telemarketer, same thing really, as that’s the number they give out to everyone that they didn’t want calling them. Emi grabbed her step stool and used it to reach and pick up the phone.

“Hello, we’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.”, the caller said. Emi inhaled and blew the longest raspberry she could into the phone. “Uh, ma’am?” Emi repeated the process, and the caller hung up half way through.

“Mmm, they never make it past the second one.” Emi hung up, put her stool away, grabbed Tomiju’s stuff, and went to the back porch. She noticed Sunset was meditating under the sakura tree. Emi put her shoes on, and Mom came outside.

“Ready ta go?”

“Ayuh” Emi hopped off the swing and hurried to the garage as Mom got her boots on. “Come on, Mom!”

“Don’t yell while your siste’s meditating.”, Mom said.

“Sorry”

Mom came over to the garage, opened it up, and unlocked the car for Emi, and Emi carried Tomiju up into the car.

“Do ya need help bucklin’ up?”

“I got it. I got it.”

“Alright” Mom closed the door and got into the car herself. “Is y’r seat belt on?”

“Ayuh”, Emi said and was confirmed with a click from the buckle.

“Good” Mom started the car, and they were finally underway.

“We’re going to the park. We’re going to the park. We’re going to the park.”, Emi sang the whole way. The park was within walking distance, but before they actually went to the park, they had to go pick up Anura. She was at some sort of funship crafting thing or some sort. All Emi remembered was that it was at the college. Mom pulled into the parking lot, and they went over to the science building. “Wow! This place is so big!”, Emi cheered.

“Emi, we’re at a school. We shouldn’t shout.”

“But it’s summer. School’s not in session.”

“It is actually. Da college offers summer classes.”

Emi’s eyes widened in shock and horror. “What? Why would anyone go to school during da summer? That’s evil.”

“Dey do it so dey can graduate faster. Ah did dat so it wouldn’t take me a decade ta finish.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea. Ah’m gonna do that.”

“Don’t get ahead a’ y’rself. Da soone’ ya graduate, da soone’ ya’ll join da work force. Ya should enjoy y’r summers. Dese people are mostly adults tryin’ da get bette’ jobs f’r deir families.”

“Oh”

Mom took them to the room Anura was in. Anura was talking with other kids, and they were all holding something, but Emi couldn’t see what.

“Anura, ya ready ta go?”, Mom called out.

Anura looked up at them with a smile and ran over to them. “Aunt Brigid, look what I made!”, Anura cheered.

“Wha’ is it?”, Mom asked.

“It’s a solar powered car.”, Anura happily said as she presented Mom with the bare bones of a car. “We had a contest, and mine was the fastest.”

“Dat’s great. How ‘bout ya show it off at da park.”

“Yeah!”

Mom patted Anura on the back and herded them back to the car.

“Hey, Emi, can I hold Tomiju’s leash?”, Anura asked.

“Sure” Emi handed Anura the leash as they exited the building. Anura skipped to the car while Emi walked with Mom. Tomiju was running around as far as her leash would let her and trying to go say hi to all the people walking by. “She’s so energetic.”, Emi said in aw.

“Dat’s poodles f’r ya.”

Mom helped Anura into the car and finally took them to the park. Mom helped them out of the car, and Emi and Anura ran towards the pavement. Anura placed the car on the pavement and let go of Tomiju’s leash, so she could turn on the motor. The car zoomed off, and Tomiju chased after it.

“Tomiju! No! Don’t break it!”, Anura shouted. She chased after Tomiju with Emi not far behind. The day was saved by Mom as she scooped Tomiju and the car up just as she was about to bite the car.

“Wow! Mom! That was awesome!”

“Wha’ did we say ‘bout holdin’ on to Tomiju’s leash?”, Mom scolded.

“Sorry, Aunt Brigid.”

“Dat goes for both a’ ya. Y’re both responsible f’r ‘er safety.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

Mom handed Anura back her car and handed Tomiju to Emi. “Both a’ ya run off now. Ah’ll be on dat bench over dere.”

“Okay”, both girls said. Emi placed Tomiju back on the ground but kept a tight grip on her leash. The girls and poodle ran off towards the playground, and Emi pulled off her backpack once they'd reached a good spot. They were near the trees and away from the other kids but well within Mom’s sight. Emi pulled out a ball, and Anura stashed her car in the bag.

The girls each took turns throwing the ball for Tomiju. Each time they threw it, Tomiju blasted off after it at speeds Olympic runners would envy. The girls were enjoying the game until it was Anura’s turn to throw the ball but hesitated. Emi was about to ask why she was waiting but then felt what Anura was undoubtedly feeling. They were in danger. Tomiju began barking, and the girls spun on their heels to face a man that was mere inches away from them. Time seemed to slow down, and Emi was able to take in more details about the man. He didn’t look scary. Instead, he looked friendly. It was only the feeling he gave off that told them the truth.

Bad man. Bad man. Emi gritted her teeth and snarled at him. All her attention was on him and every move he made. She was frozen in place.

The man continued to approach with a friendly smile. “Hello, little girl, do you want some candy?”, the man asked with a friendly sounding tone.

“Get away from me!”, Emi roared. There was something wrong with her own voice. It sounded less human, and she felt something emitting from her but was too focused on him to pay attention to that.

The man’s smile faltered, and he looked concerned or confused or scared for a moment before he dropped the act. The man grabbed Emi’s arm, and that snapped her out of her petrification. The moment he tugged, Emi launched forward and bit as hard as she could into his arm . She felt her teeth sink into his flesh and draw blood, but that didn’t stop her. She kept going until she felt her mouth close again and then reared back. Emi was sent flying and landed back first in the grass, and there was something in her mouth.

She shot back up only to see the man running away and just stood there for… How long had she been standing there? How long had that whole thing taken? Emi heard the grass being trampled behind her and turned around just in time for Mom to scoop her up.

“Oh baby, are ya okay?”, Mom asked worriedly and squeezed Emi tight enough that she almost spat whatever was in her mouth out onto her clothing.

Emi was still kinda stunned and just spat the thing out onto the grass. “What’s that?”

Mom bent down to examine the thing, and Tomiju sniffed at it. Mom picked it up before Tomiju could get any ideas and held it between two fingers. “Did ya bite him?”

“Um, oh, I did. That’s a piece of his arm!”

“Ew!”, Anura exclaimed.

“Can I keep it?”, Emi asked her mother.

“We best give it ta da cops. Unfortunately, dat means ya would be able ta keep it.”

“Aw, man.”

Katon family backyard

Date: same day, time: 1:45 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Under the sakura tree was a nice place to meditate. Even though a wooden fence was the only thing separating Sunset from the road, it was generally fairly quiet due to being within a school zone and on the edge of town. She didn’t envy those living close to the main road. Aside from the infrequent car, the birds happily chirped away as they gobbled up the cherries from the now green sakura tree. Nobody cared about the birds eating the fruit as they were far too bitter for human consumption, even for Sunset, the garbage disposal descendant of a fruit bat that could probably eat a shoe.

Sunset’s peace was broken by a feeling of dread. Her eyes shot open, and she looked around for the source but couldn’t sense anything. Sunset tried to go back to meditating but the feeling returned. This time, she focused on the feeling. It wasn’t coming from her surroundings. It was the same feeling that day near the docks, but it was coming from farther away and felt a bit like Emi. Emi’s in danger. Sunset’s eyes shot open again as the realization hit her. She sprang to her feet and ran into the garage and grabbed her bike. She didn’t even give the door time to fully open as she ducked under it. Barely remembering to close the door and buckle her helmet, Sunset peddled down the road as fast as her wheels could spin.

When Sunset got to the park, she saw Brigid cradling Emi and Anura holding on tightly to Tomiju. Sunset let her bike fall to the ground as she hopped off and ran towards her family.

“Sunset, wha’ are ya doin’ ‘ere?”, Brigid asked.

“Wheeze, huuu-ha, I knew Emi was in danger.”, Sunset said, out of breath.

“Well, you missed the whole thing. We’re just waiting on the cops. Oh, and I bit off a chunk of his flesh.”, Emi excitedly informed. Blood still covered her lips.

“Ew”

The sounds of sirens could be heard quickly approaching. “Took ‘em long enough.”, Brigid remarked.

Several police cruisers pulled up, and the police officers rushed out. “Ma’am, were you the one who called nine-one-one?”, one of the officers asked.

“Ah’m da one who needed ya.”

“I bit a chunk of flesh off a guy that tried to kidnap me. Show ‘em, Mommy.”

Brigid raised her hand that held the chunk and showed it to the cops. The cops’ reactions ranged from surprised to well hid disturbed to visibly disturbed. “Somebody bag this.”, one of the older cops said.

“It’s not fair I don’t get to keep it. Ah bit it off. It’s mine.”, Emi complained.

“You really wanna piece of meat that’s gonna rot?”, Sunset asked.

“I’d cure it, just like Dad does ta make jerky.”

The cops took the chunk, and four of the cops came over to them. Three of the cops started talking to Emi, Anura, and Brigid while the fourth walked up to Sunset. “Would you mind describing your recollection of the events?”

“I didn’t arrive until after the events had unfolded. I don’t know what happened.”

“He had white hair and was big.”, Anura said. That sounds

“So, you know nothing?” The cop looked down at Sunset with a disbelieving or disinterested look but kept it out of their tone.

“He had a fake smile and offered me candy, but I was too smart for such amateurish tricks. I tried to scare him off, but he was either very brave or very stupid. That’s when he grabbed me, and I taught him a lesson.”, Emi said proudly.

“I know my family has been targeted by Storm due to my father’s involvement in taking them down. So, this might not just be another pedo case.”, Sunset said.

That raised the cop’s interest, and they looked down at Sunset with a more serious face. “Who’s your father?”

Sunset answered the cop’s question by pulling her father’s card from her wallet. They looked it over, and realization dawned on their face.

“Ah ran ove’ as soon as Ah saw him talkin’ ta Emi. Ah jus’ knew some‘hin’ was wrong.”, Brigid explained.

“We’ll put out an APB at all the hospitals.”

The officer gave Sunset back her card and went back to their colleagues.

Sunset went over to Brigid and hugged her, and Brigid stroked Sunset’s hair. Sunset was no longer listening in on the conversations as they were done describing the events. Some of the cops got back in their cars while the rest went over to where Emi said the man ran off.

“Come on, let’s go home.”, Brigid said.

“What? No! I’m not done playing. Ah’m not going to let fear rule my life.”, Emi protested.

“Sigh, Anura?”

“I wanna keep playing too. “, Anura answered. “The guy’s scared off, so we don’t have to worry.”

“Fine, we c’n stay a bit longe’. Sunset, are ya goin’ ta stay?”

“No, I still hate parks.” Sunset let go of Brigid and turned back around to her bike as Brigid put Emi down. Sunset got back on her bike and rode back home.

Storm HQ

Date: July 28th, time: 2:30 pm

*Tempest’s perspective*

“What do you mean you failed?! I get you weren’t prepared for the wife, but this was just a little girl. How can you mess up kidnapping a seven year old?!”, Mr. Eric Storm questioned.

“I’m sorry, sir. The kid bit a chunk out of my wrist. I barely made it to a vet in time.”, Bruiser explained.

“Wait, that’s why your arm is all bandaged up. How big of a bite are we talking?”

Bruiser used the fingers of his uninjured arm to outline the bite. “The doc said it was about half a centimeter deep, sir.”

“How the hell are you still alive?”

“She only nicked the artery. That’s why.”

“It seems Mr. Katon prepared his family for this possibility.”, Tempest interjected.

“What are you suggesting?”, Mr. Storm asked.

“I want to test just how well taught his kid is.”

“Maybe you can try grabbing her. She can’t exactly rip a chunk out of your arm.”, Bruiser said while looking at Tempest’s prosthetic arm.

Tempest clenched her prosthetic fist, causing Bruiser to flinch. “I can also break your face without feeling a thing.” Tempest turned to Mr. Storm and unclenched her fist. “He is somewhat right. My plan is for me to get the kid. People, especially kids, tend to be more trusting of women.”

“Alright, but we should wait a while. No doubt they’re going to be on guard after today.”, Mr. Storm added.

“Of course, sir.”

“As for you, Bruiser, go lay low. I don’t want to see you again until you’re healed.”

“Yes, sir.”, Bruiser said with a salute, then left.

“You better not get caught. If they can pin anything on you, this ship is sunk.”, Mr. Storm said with both seriousness and concern in his voice.

“Understood, sir.”

Katon family garage

Date: Aug 1st, time: 8:45 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

There are advantages to being a civilian. Mainly, the Geneva Convention can suck balls, and biological warfare is fair game. Sunset intended to take full advantage of that. She pulled the bag of itchy vengeance from behind the boxes and added it to her bag. She headed out to the street and waited. A black sedan with heavily tinted windows rolled up next to her, and Sunset climbed in.

“You’re late.”

“I have other and better things to do than chauffeur you around.”, Washi said.

“Considering it’s your job, no, you don’t. You didn’t have to do anything on the days I didn’t call you.”

“Maybe if you called me more than ten minutes before you needed me, I’d be able to get here at a time more to your convenience.”

“Just shut up and take me to 1449 Crocker st.”

Washi didn’t say another word as he punched the address into the GPS and shifted the car into gear. Neither of them made a sound until they reached Crocker st.

“You’re gonna want to park some ways away from the address.”, Sunset said.

“Are you planning on doing something illegal?”

“Yes”

“Do you need help?”

“Are you immune to poison ivy?”

“Um, I’ve never checked.”

“Then just stay in the car.”

Washi pulled over into a shaded spot as Sunset stuffed as much of her hair as she could into her baseball cap and put on her shades. Then she hopped out and started walking to Lily’s house. It took her a while to find the place as American house numbers never seem to have any pattern to them. “There it is. Ugh, ‘Merica bullshit. Get your fucking numbers straight.”, Sunset grumbled to herself as she climbed the front stairs to Lily’s home. Lily lived on the second floor of a duplex.

It only took a few seconds for her to pick the lock and get inside. The Valley home was fairly modest. The door opens up to a small living room with a tv and couch. After that’s the kitchen and dining table. To the right of that was an entrance to a hallway with three doors. “Bathroom, master bedroom, this must be Lily and Daisy’s room.”

Sunset entered the room and saw a space that was little bigger than her loft with bunk beds, some shelves, and a closet. It didn’t look like either of the girls had a distinct space to call their own as all the toys, pictures, arts and crafts stuff, and other personal effects were mixed together. I guess this is what it’s like to be a twin. This same effect extended to their beds as they had plain, white sheets and nothing to denote whose bed was whose. They each had a quilt for a comforter, but neither were color coated nor had their symbols on them. This is a fucking nightmare. I would’ve gone insane if I had to share my space.

Sunset tried for a bit longer to figure out whose bed was whose but gave up before long. She grabbed the ivy out of her bag and rubbed it all over both pillow cases and under their covers. Once that was done and the ivy was back in her bag, Sunset went over to all the arts and crafts stuff and pulled out the glitter, beads, and every other small, organizational nightmare thing and dumped them all out over their carpeted floor. I should wash my hands. Washi can’t do his job if he’s too itchy. After cleaning up in the bathroom and wiping down the doorknobs, it was time to move onto stage three, Sunset exited their room and re-entered the living room. On the coffee table was a small basket filled with what looked to be all their remotes. After adding the four remotes to her inventory, Sunset exited, wiped off the doorknob, and headed back to Washi’s car.

Crocker street

Date: same day, time: 9:30 am

*Daisuke’s perspective*

Sunset exited the car, leaving Daisuke alone. He pulled out his phone and was minding his own business when he heard a knock on one of the windows. Daisuke looked up from his phone to see your stereotypical white, suburbia mom. He rolled down the window a crack and leaned over to better speak with the woman.

“Is there something I can help you with?”, Daisuke asked.

“What are you doing here, just sitting in the car?”, the woman asked.

“Why? I’m not doing anything illegal.”

“You don’t look like you belong here.”, the woman said with a glare.

“Yes, I’m aware that my car makes it clear I’m too wealthy for this neighborhood.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, I’m aware, but I wanted to give you a chance to leave with some of your dignity intact. I’m waiting on my cousin. She’s visiting a friend.”

“Uhuh”, the woman said skeptically.

“Yes, uhuh. Now, why don’t you take your little racist ass back inside and leave me alone. I’d be willing to bet you have some warrants out for your arrest.”, Daisuke said smugly. The woman glared at him some more before turning around and leaving. Daisuke rolled the window back up and continued waiting for Sunset.

Sunset came back not long after that and got in the car as Daisuke put his phone away.

“We’re apparently cousins now.”, Daisuke off handedly remarked.

“What do you mean?”

“One of the neighbors decided that it was her job to police the neighborhood and keep out any undesirables.”

“You mean her?”

Daisuke whipped his head around to see an almost angry face nearly smashed up against his window. “Yagh!”, Daisuke yelped in surprise but quickly regained his composure.

Sunset rolled down her window a crack took off her sunglasses. “Hello, ma’am. Can I help you?”

“You have your cousin. Now, you can leave.”, the woman said.

“Ma’am, what’s your name?”, Sunset asked.

“Why the hell would I tell you my name?”, the woman asked angrily.

“So I can text my dad where you live. My dad’s a county prosecutor. I’d bet you have a couple 'failure to appear in court’ warrants out on ya.”

“Why you skanky little mix breed.” The woman’s face was quickly turning into a tomato, and Daisuke shifted into drive in case they needed to make a getaway.

“Don’t get mad at me just because I’m gorgeous.” Sunset took off her hat and ran her hand through her hair for emphasis.

The woman just puffed up her cheeks and went back inside. Daisuke let off the break and got them out of there. “Crazy lady.”, Daisuke mumbled to himself. “Did you accomplish your mission?”

“Sure did.” Sunset opened up her bag and angled it so Daisuke could see in.

TV remotes? “You called me just so you could steal a bunch of remotes.”, Daisuke spat with venom.

“The TV remotes are just the only things I stole. I also vandalized the place.”

“Wait, did you just want to, what, inconvenience them?”

“Pretty much.”

“Why?”

“Girl stuff.”

“Girl stuff? Ugh, girls, you’re like blasted aliens.”

“Hehe, you have no idea.”

Katon family home

Date: Aug 14th, time: 7:30 am

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid got done putting the final touches on her third braid as Anzhong had his face in a sink full of water and Kiba was pretending to be a pancake on the hardwood bedroom floor. Summer really wasn’t either of their seasons. Even having shed her under coat, Kiba was still built for the snowy mountains of Japan, and so was Anzhong. Ailbhe was half asleep herself as she stomped out of her litter box. She had grown a lot, but was still a little baby.

“Practicing our breath holdin’ technique, are we?”

“I feel like I’m being cooked.”

“It’s not even noon yet.”

“I know. I’m glad summer’s almost over.”

Brigid chuckled to herself as she scooped Ailbhe up and placed her on her shoulders. She exited their room, and Kiba got up to follow. “Time ta get up, baby.” Brigid entered Emi’s room, earning a hiss from said girl as she opened the curtains. “Dat never worked f’r Sunset. It ain’t gonna work f’r ya.”

“I don’t even go ta school. Why do Ah have ta get up in the mornin’?”, Emi whined.

“Because we’re goin’ somewhere fun.”

That got Emi to perk up. “Fun?”

“Yeah, Ah’ll give ya some time ta wake up.” Brigid grabbed Tomiju and added her to the fluffy parade then led the dogs downstairs and out back. She let the dogs do their business as she headed into Sunset’s room. “Sunset, time ta get up.”, Brigid said as she approached Sunset’s bed.

“Mm, hey.”, Sunset said from within her cocoon.

“Good mornin’.”

“I can’t fit under my bed anymore.”

“Did ya have anothe’ nightmare?”

“Yeah”

“Okay, Ah’ll figure out wha’ ta do.”

“Thanks. No therapy.”

Brigid rubbed Sunset’s head and left to let the dogs back in. Anzhong was already in the kitchen, and Emi was coming downstairs. As soon as Tomiju came inside, she bee-lined for Emi. Sunset came out and slouched in her chair. Anzhong placed a bunch of plates and utensils on the table, and the rest of them passed them out. Brigid got the animals’ food out from the fridge, scooped their needed amounts into their bowls, and popped them in the microwave. Ailbhe tried to jump down and snatch her food, but Brigid wasn’t green to fur-parenthood. There was very little difference between domestic animals and human children, especially with her kids. Once all the food was heated, Brigid took their bowels to their respective eating spots, and the critters sat patiently for the go ahead.

Brigid watched all three critters to see how they behaved. She did have to stop Ailbhe from going for her food. “Okay”, Brigid said once she felt they'd waited enough. She headed to her seat at the table as Anzhong placed a stack of pancakes, eggs, and bacon on the table.

“What fun thing are we going to do?”, Emi asked.

“What?”, Sunset asked through a mouthful of bacon.

“Ah’m takin’ ya ta do some‘hin’ fun, but Ah’ll tell ya once Anura’s here.”

The four of them finished their meal as Anura entered.

“Anura’s here. Can ya tell us what fun thing we’re going to do now?”, Emi asked.

“What’s going on?”, Anura asked.

“Dere’s dis farm in da mountains dat offers horse ridin’ n’ care lessons. Dat’s wha’ we’re gonna be doin’.”

“Hhhuuu, yyyaaayyy!”, Emi and Anura cheered.

“But wait, wouldn’t that be offensive to Sunset?”, Anura asked.

“No, it’s fine. They don’t have a problem with it. Plus, I know more than a few ponies back in Equestria that would pay for that kind of service. Though, it would involve a different kind of riding.”

Anzhong nearly spat out his coffee, Brigid let out a hardy chuckle, and Emi and Anura just looked confused. “Will somebody explain the joke?! I don’t get it!”, Emi complained.

“Dis one is bette’ ta wait till y’re olde’.”

Emi huffed and crossed her arms. “Are you coming with us, Daddy?”

“I’m still allergic.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Emi got a look of realization then gave Sunset a mischievous grin.

“Yeah yeah, I get it.”, Sunset said.

“Come on, we need ta get goin’.” Dishes done, animals have wate’, Kiba has ‘er harness on, kids are wrangled, shoes are on, we’re ready ta go. The six of them got into the car and got underway. Their first stop was the prosecutor's office to drop off Anzhong and Kiba then they headed to the farm.

The farm was a small place as far as farms go. They dealt purely in horses, horse breeding, training, boarding, rehabilitation, farriering, that sort of stuff. There was the house, the barns, the various trucks and trailers, and the tracks and fields. The whole thing couldn’t be much more than twenty acres, and they rely heavily on the public horse riding trails in the surrounding mountains.

Brigid pulled into the dirt parking lot and let the kids out of the car. “Alright, before we go in, Ah need ta make sure ya all know how ta act around horses.”

“Don’t stand behind them, don’t mess with their legs, keep a hand on them when walking around them, and don’t act like a predator.”, Emi said.

“Dat’s a good summary. Anura, do ya understand wha’ all dat means?”

“Um, horses are prey animals, so we scare them.”

“Almost, horses kick when dey get scared, n’ dey scare easily, but dey can’t effectively kick out ta da side. If dey kick ya from da back, y’re goin’ ta da hospital. Dat’s why we stand ta deir side. Keepin’ a hand on ‘em lets ‘em know where we are, so dey don’t get scared when we come outa deir blind spots. Horses’ legs are powerful but also fragile. Ya c’n eithe’ hurt or scare ‘em if ya mess with deir legs.”

“Horses are giant chickens.”

That got a chuckle from Sunset, and Anura looked up at her confusedly. “Horses have that same reputation in Equestria.”, Sunset explained.

“Ya have horses in Equestria?”, Brigid asked.

“We have horses on Equoes. They’re from a country to the east.”

“Oh. Okay, we can go in now.”, Brigid said, then led them to the closest barn. Inside was a young man, brushing one of the horses. “Hello, we’re da Katons. We’re ‘ere f’r da ridin’ lessons.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll be with you in a moment. Go ahead and look at the horses, if ya like.”, the young man said.

Brigid herded the girls into the barn, the younger girls ran up to pet the horses, and Sunset just stayed close to Brigid as she looked around. There were a variety of breeds that were meant for different jobs, but they didn’t get much larger than the American Quarter Horse. None of them had any signs of previous neglect, but that didn’t rule out the possibility they’re rescues. They all seemed well behaved, and that’s what’s important. Brigid didn’t have a prejudice against rescued horses. She just knew they can be unpredictable, and adding little kids to that equation was not a good idea. That’s why Granpappy never let any of the kids near Beathra until they were old enough.

“Now, given the young age of some of your girls, they’ll need to ride with someone.”, the young man informed.

“Dey’ll be ridin’ with me n’ mo eldest.”

“Do you have any experience with horses?”

“Mo eldest n’ Ah both grew up around equine n’ know how ta handle ‘em. Ah’m a farm girl n’ want ta teach da little ones ta ride. We jus’ don’t have da horses.”

“Oh, okay, let’s find you some horses then.” The young man went over to the stables and looked to be trying to pick the right horses.

“Mommy, look, a fire truck puppy.”, Emi said excitedly.

Brigid looked where she’s pointing and saw what she was talking about. “Oh, a dalmatian, dey’re useful for keepin’ horses calm.” Despite Emi calling it a puppy, the dog was full grown.

“Should we get one to keep Sunset calm?”

“Oh, trust me, a dog will do anything but keep me calm.”, Sunset said.

“Don’t you like dogs?”, Anura asked.

“I like other people’s dogs. They need so much attention.”

“Dat’s fair.”

“What’s the puppy’s name?”, Emi asked the young man as he approached with three riding horses in hand.

“That’s Chew-chew.”

“How’d he get that name?”

“He chewed up one of my toy trains when we first got ‘im.”

“That’s funny.”

The young man smiled at Emi then brought the horses over to the saddles, and Brigid wrangled the kids over there as well. “Alright, we’ll start out by saddling the horses. Do either of you young ladies have any experience with this?”, the young man asked.

“I do. I helped my mommy saddle Niamh.”, Emi said excitedly.

“I have no idea.”, Anura said.

“Alright, Ms. Katon, would ya mind helping me demonstrate how to saddle a horse?”

“No problem.”

“I know how to saddle my own horse.”, Sunset said. Sunset grabbed one of the saddles and hoisted it onto one of the horse’s back. “Hey, Mom, want to know what I learned in French class?”

“Sure, wha’ did ya learn?”, Brigid said as she got her own horse’s saddle on.

“The word ‘bastard’ comes from the Old French word for saddle. Back when that was relevant, people would use saddles as pillows when on long trips, and that’s when most of us were made.”

“And dey taught ya dis in class?”

“No, I just noticed the similarities between the words and asked Mr. Greene about it. He’s quite knowledgeable about his favorite word.”, Sunset said with a crap-eating grin. “He’s also the hockey team’s bus driver. We’ve learned many no-no words from him.”

Brigid just shook her head and got back to helping Emi tighten the straps.

“I did it! I did it!”, Anura cheered.

“Very good. Now, go join your family.”, the young man instructed.

“Who am I riding with?”

“I wanna ride with Mom.”, Emi stated.

“Is riding with Sunset okay with ya?”, Brigid asked.

“Okay”, Anura said and skipped over to Sunset.

“What are their names?”, Sunset asked.

“This is Sir Tinkle Tootsie.”, he said, referring to his horse. “He hates having his hooves touched so much he pees himself whenever anyone tries. That’s Ivan Big Dump, self explanatory.” The young man emphasized his point by patting Brigid’s horse’s, admittedly, big rear. “And that’s Sassy Pantsy. Now, before we go, I need to check to make sure your saddles are secure. It’s not that I doubt your abilities. I just don’t want to get fired or sued.”

“Fair” Brigid and Sunset moved out of the way, and the young man checked the straps.

“Everything looks good. Alright, mount up, and let’s get going.” The young man led them out of the barn then climbed up on his horse, Sunset helped Anura up, and Brigid scooped Emi up into the saddle. “Okay, follow me.”

“Ya remember how Ah did it?”

“Yup”, Emi chirped. Brigid let go of the reins and let Emi take over. Emi followed the young man with Sunset and Anura behind them.

“You can loosen your grip. Holding it too tightly will stress out the horse.”, Sunset said.

“But I don’t want to fall off.”, Anura said.

“You won’t fall. I’ve got you.”

Brigid smiled to herself. She didn’t know if being a pony helped Sunset understand horses, but she would’ve made the rest of the family proud.

The young man led them up a low gradient trail to ease the girls into riding. Emi took to it like a fish to water, but Anura seemed to be more nervous about it. Sunset tried to help her, but this was the first time she’s ever interacted with a horse. The trail, from where they started, was only about a mile long, so it didn’t take them long to complete. When they got back to the barn, the young man showed the girls how to put away the horses.

“You both did very well. With a little more practice, you’ll be horse ridin’ pros.”, the young man said.

“That was scary.”, Anura said.

“Many new things are scary at first, but it won’t be once you get accustomed to it.”, Sunset said.

“You sound like my mom.”

“That’s no surprise, considering how much time they spend around each other.”, Emi commented.

“If you would like, you can walk around and see how we do things around here. Just stay out of the way of the people working, stay out of the pens, and just don’t be an idiot.”, the young man said.

“Thank ya. Oh, Ah neve’ got y’r name.”, Brigid said.

“Oh, My name’s Silver Zoom.”

“It’s good ta meet ya.” Brigid corralled the girls out of the barn and out of the way of the travel paths. The sound of metal banging on metal could be heard in another nearby barn, giving Brigid an idea. “Now, do ya wanna go see a farrier work?”

“I don’t know what that is.”, Anura said.

“Farriers are da people who take care a’ horses’ hooves n’ make deir shoes.”

“Mom’s a certified farrier.”, Sunset said.

“Yeah, but Ah’m probably rusty as all hell.”

“In that case, yeah, I’d love to see a fairy-eh, farrier work.”, Emi said.

“Alright, let’s go.” Brigid picked Emi up and took Anura’s hand. Sunset followed close behind as Brigid took them to the source of the sound. The inside of the barn were some stalls, but most of it was clear. An entire half of it only had a bar to attach horses to and a couple stools. Outside of the barn was a trailer filled with everything a farrier would need. The only living beings inside were two horses and a single man. The man had a cart with all the things a farrier would need next to one of the horses. He carried a hot horseshoe with a pair of tongs over to one of the horses, picked up a hoof, and placed it on the bottom. The smoke that came from that caused the three girls to gasp and cling to Brigid.

“Doesn’t that hurt the horsy?”, Emi asked.

“No, she’s fine. Her hoof absorbs most a’ da heat, so it’s jus’ warm ta ‘er.”

“That’s one thick hoof.”, Sunset said.

“Is dat not how it’s done in Equestria?”

“No, and I’ve only seen horseshoes like that as symbols.”

Odd

Once the man was happy with the fit, he dunked the shoe in a bucket of water, and began to attach it to the hoof. Sunset’s face paled when he started hammering the nails in and looked like she was ready to puke when it came out the side of the hoof.

“Sunset, are ya okay?”

“How-how can she not feel that? A nail’s coming out of her hoof.”, Sunset shakily said.

“Dere aren’t any nerves dere. It’s jus’ a lot a keratin.”

“I think Earth horses have thicker hooves than Equestrians. If someone did that to one of us, it’d be like someone driving a nail under your fingernail.”

It was Brigid’s turn to feel the need to puke. Professor Snapper had gone into too much detail and brought too many pictures in his medieval torture methods lecture back when Brigid was a student. “Ya said ponies use both deir mouths n’ hooves ta manipulate ‘hin’s around ‘em. Ah’m guessing thinne’ hooves makes dat easier.”

Sunset made her thinking face for a long moment before answering Brigid. “That is a plausible theory. We are able to squeeze the back of our hooves together in order to grab stuff. Having thicker hooves would likely make that, if not impossible, much more difficult.”

“Ya said ya have shoes. Wha’ do dey look like?”

“They’re a combination of metal or wood and fabric or pure metal. They are custom fitted to fit snuggly while not falling off.”

“Dat makes sense.”

The two of them had to cut their pony conversation short as the farrier approached. This conversation was just a bit too specific to just be shrugged off as them talking about a book or show.

“Can I help you, ladies?”, the farrier asked.

“Ah’m ‘ere ta teach mo girls ‘bout horse husbandry.”

“I get the feeling the person who came up with that term had a man-child for a husband.”, Sunset remarked.

“Dat’s a new one.”

“Well, I’ll be happy ta show ya. I just got done with Flower. You can watch me do Plunder.” The farrier walked back into the barn, and the four women followed. “Now, don’t stand behind a horse.” the farrier started to say.

“They have powerful legs, get spooked easily, and kick when they get spooked.”, Anura said.

“A kid from the side is far less powerful than a straight back kick.”, Emi finished.

“Ah grew up on a farm n’ around horses.”

“Okay, good.” The farrier brought them over to Plunder, put Plunder’s foot between his legs, and grabbed a hammer and what Brigid always called the shoe wedge. Is dat wha’ dat ‘hin’s actually called? Eh, whateve’, it’s close enough. “Now, the first thing we do is take off the old shoe.”, the farrier said, then began working the nails loose. Once he had enough room, he grabbed the clippers and used them to pull the shoe off. “Next, we clean out the sole.” He next grabbed a straight blade and used it to scrape out all the mud and gunk and what had grown in. “The way we know when to stop is when it gets slightly waxy. We don’t want to go any further than that. This next part is almost exactly the same as clipping your own nails.” The farrier grabbed the clippers again and cut away the nail. “Next, we file it flat.” He grabbed his rasp and filed it down quite nicely. “We need to make sure this is even so they walk evenly on their joints. If you do one side higher than the other, it can cause joint pain or damage.”

The farrier let go of Plunder and stood straight again. “The next step is to shape the shoe. Follow me.” The five of them headed outside to the trailer that held everything you’d need for blacksmithing. The farrier grabbed a horseshoe from a pile of four and showed it to the girls. “Back in the olden days, we had to forge shoes from scratch, but nowadays, we just bulk order these, and all we have to do is shape them to the horse’s hoof.”

“Did you have to forge horseshoes from scratch?”, Emi asked.

“Ah ain’t dat old. We got our horseshoes from a factory near Cavan. Though, dere are da remains of an old forge not far from da house, but it’s jus’ a pile a’ rocks now.”

“Are you a farrier?”, the farrier asked.

“Ah am, but Ah’m outa practice.”

“Well then, you must know what comes next.” The farrier placed the horseshoes in the furnace and waited for them to heat up. Once they were at the correct temperature, he pulled one out and laid it on the anvil. “No two hooves are the same, so we need to shape them to fit. This is going to be loud.”

Sunset and Emi covered their ears, and the farrier began the process. He was good and able to do it quickly, and he repeated the same process he did with Flower. As he dunked the shoe in the bucket, the four of them went over to see what he was doing. Even with the horse not minding, Sunset still cringed when he nailed the shoe in place. Once the nails were in, bent, clipped and filed, the farrier did some more rasping and sanding to make sure there was nothing for Plunder to catch himself on.

“There we go. All that’s left is to seal the hoof back up. When we rasp it, we remove the outermost that keeps all the healthy oils and stuff in and bad stuff out, so we have to replace it with this.” The farrier grabbed a bottle from the cart and a brush and showed it to the girls. He unscrewed the bottle, dipped the brush in, and coated the hoof. “That’s it for this hoof, and we do the same with the other three hooves. It’s the same process.”

“Thank ya f’r da lesson.”

“Thank you for teaching your girls about horses. They were a delight.”

“Much luck ta ya.” Brigid took the girls out of the barn and back to the car. “Did ya enjoy y’rselves?”

“I did.”, Emi cheered.

“Yeah”, Sunset said.

“Horses are scary.”, Anura said.

“Yeah got da right idea. Horses are four legged chickens, with powerful legs, dat will kick if dey get scared. Dat is why dey deserve respect.”

“Ponies are scarier, and Ah don’t jus’ mean that one.”, Emi said while pointing at Sunset.

“Excuse me?”, Sunset asked.

“Ponies are small. That means they have to be meaner. It’s not jus’ a human thing. It’s the same reason chihuahuas are little pieces of shit.”

“This planet is so effin’ backwards.”

“Okay, get in da car. We got more places ta be.”

Katon family livingroom

Date: Aug 19th, time: 6:15 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Ho-how did she beat me? When did she get so good?

Emi was doing her victory dance right in Sunset’s face. She was tempted to hold her upside down and shake her like a salt shaker, but Brigid and Anzhong would be back any minute. Just as predicted, they walked through the door not five minutes later.

“Wha’s got ya so excited?”

“I bested Sunset in a video game.”, Emi cheered.

Sunset grumbled to herself and resisted the urge to pummel her. She then felt that someone else was upset. She looked up and saw it was Anzhong. “Is Dad okay?”

“Someone stole his lunch.”, Brigid said.

Anzhong stomped his way in front of the girls with a serious attitude. “Alright girls, you are two of the most devious people I know. I need you to make me a lunch that will teach the thief a lesson, but it needs to meet three criteria.”

“What are the criteria?”, Sunset asked.

“The criteria are as thus, it can not contain any sort of medication or poison, you can not use excessive amounts of hot sauce or similar spices, and it must look and smell good enough to actually make it into the culprit’s mouth.”

“I get the first and third ones, but why no hot sauce?”

“I work in a law office. Someone will find a way to sue me.”

“That’s fair.” Sunset turned her attention to Emi. “You’ve been oddly quiet. Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“I have an idea of what we can do, but we’re going to need lard, whipped cream, a pie crust, and some fruit. Mom, could you go get any of the sakura cherries that are left?”

“Sure, but wha’ sort a’ pie are ya planin’ on makin’?”

“Ya’ll see.”

“Alright” Brigid went outside while Emi hopped off the couch.

“To da laboratory!”, Emi announced while pointing to the sky.

“You’ve been watching too many of those old movies.” Sunset hopped off the couch and followed Emi into the kitchen. Emi pulled out her stool while Sunset pulled out all the ingredients she mentioned, mumbling curses as she pulled out the condensed pig fat, her eternal enemy. “What are we making?”

“Cherry cheesecake with lard instead of cheesecake filling and sakura cherries instead of sweet cherries.”

“Oh, that is disgusting. Where did you learn this recipe?”, Sunset asked with both disgust and pride.

“Lunch thieves and stories of revenge on such scum are common on Readit, and that’s jus’ about mo only source a’ human contact.”

“Well, I am impressed. Let’s do this.” Sunset grabbed a pie tin, turned on the oven, and placed the pie crust in the tin.

Brigid soon came back inside and placed a handful of cherries on the island. “Is dis enough?”

“Eyup, thanks, Mom.”, Emi said as she placed the cherries next to the can of whipped cream.

Brigid surveyed their set up, and her eyes locked onto the lard and pie crust. “Ya two are nasty.”

“What are they doing?”, Anzhong asked.

“It’s a surprise.”, Emi teased.

“Is it following my criteria?”

“Yeah, y’re thief won’t be able ta sue, but Ah doubt dey’ll be able ta get a bite down.”

Brigid and Anzhong headed upstairs as Emi and Sunset waited for the oven to finish preheating. Once it was ready, Sunset placed the crust in. It only took about fifteen minutes to cook, and then it was time for the fun. They loaded the lard up until just below the edge of the crust, garnished it with the whipped cream and cherries, and stuck it in the fridge.

“This is going to be awesome.”, Sunset said.

“I’m tempted to taste it to see just how bad it is.”, Emi said, earning a weird look from Sunset. “Ah said “tempted”. I ain’t gonna.”

Prosecutors office

Date: Aug 20th, time: 11:00 pm

*Diana’s perspective*

“Ms. Zilberschlag, please take these to Ms. Neptune.”, Mr. Katon said.

“Yes, sir.” Diana took the files Mr. Katon handed her and headed to Ms. Neptune’s office. As she passed a reflective service, she noticed her curly silver and navy hair was a mess. She immediately fixed it before anyone could see. The advantages of having a blind boss. Once her hair was as close to neat as it would get, she resumed her walk. Their building was a bit nicer than your average government offices, but it was still nowhere as nice as private lawyer offices. Diana knocked on Ms. Neptune’s door and waited for an answer.

“Come in.”

Diana opened the door and looked around the office. It was filled with boxes, the shelves were empty, and it overall didn’t take a genius to figure out she was still moving in. “Hello, Ms. Neptune. I’m Diana Zilberschlag, Mr. Katon’s assistant. He wanted me to give you these.” Diana handed Ms. Neptune the files.

“Thank you. I’ll take a look at these later.”

Diana nodded and headed back to Mr. Katon’s office. On her way back, she noticed a guy in the breakroom blasting his mouth with water. She went to check on him but noticed Mr. Katon’s open lunchbox on the table with a piece of cheesecake with a bite taken out of it next to it. It was undoubtedly his as it was a gag gift and was a children’s lunchbox with ninjas on it.

“You’ve been stealing Mr. Katon’s lunch.”, Diana accused. “You work in the prosecutors’ office, and you’re committing a crime. How stupid can you be?” The culprit turned around and glared at Diana, and she recognized it was Sombra Reyes, a Wall Street broker of a lawyer. “Oh, I see, spite.”, Diana said while crossing her arms. Mr. Reyes and Mr. Katon hate each other. Mr. Katon calls Mr. Reyes “Chihuahua man” as he’s a coward, has an annoying voice, and has the integrity of one.

“You”, Mr. Reyes spat in disdain. “You better tell your boss to watch himself. I’m going to get him fired.”

“Fat chance, this is the advantage of putting the effort into making people like you, even if you don’t like them. Mr. Hooves is going to side with Mr. Katon, even if he’s not going to have you charged.”, Diana said flatly.

Mr. Reyes glared at her and stomped out but not before muttering a few more words of disdain. “Symbolless nobody.” Mr. Reyes said it just loud enough to make it clear he intended for Diana to hear it. She looked down at herself. She was in her mid twenties and still hadn’t figured out what her symbol was. “It’s not that unusual.” she said. Yeah, but how am I going to get anywhere in this world without one. Nobody worth their salt doesn’t have a symbol.

Diana shook those thoughts from her head, grabbed the lunchbox and cake, and headed back to Mr. Katon’s office. She re-entered the office and placed the items on Mr. Katon’s desk. “We know who the lunch thief was.”

“Mr. Reyes”

“Did you figure it out, or are you just guessing him because you hate him?”

“Nobody else's lunches have been stolen, so it was either him or someone really likes my cooking.”

“Uh-huh. Y’know, I’m surprised he didn’t peg that as a trap. It’s not exactly a secret that you’re lactose intolerant. He should’ve known you’d never bring in cheesecake for yourself.”

“Keep thinking like that, and you’ll be top of your class and a great lawyer.”, Mr. Katon said with a smile.

“Thank you, sir.” That’s assuming anyone would want to hire someone without a symbol. They’ll think I’m dishonest or incompetent. “What did you do to that cake?”

“This cake was the creation of my daughters, and it isn’t a cheesecake. It’s a lard cake.”, Mr. Katon said with pride.

“Man, that’s nasty.”, DA Hooves said.

Diana jumped and spun around when she heard Mr. Hooves. “Sir! You scared me.”

“Sorry. Now, Mr. Katon, I can’t see why you and Mr. Reyes can’t get along. You’re so similar.”

“I am to Mr. Reyes as oranges are to grapefruit. We will never get along so long as I have a modicum of self respect and he’s so blatant and impudent with his misdoings. Our similarities are surface level.”

Wait, is Mr. Katon more upset that Mr. Reyes is bad at being a dick than him being a dick in the first place?

“Ugh, did you do anything else to that cake, other than making it out of lard?”, Mr. Hooves asked while pinching his nose.

“Other than that and my girls using the cherries from my sakura tree, no, the crust is a standard premade crust, and the whipped cream is your regular non-dairy whipped cream that you can get at any store.”

“Okay, you didn’t actually poison him. Now, I just need to get him to stop whining. Quick question, what’s wrong with the cherries from your tree? You clumped them in with the lard.”

“These aren’t the sweet cherries you’re used to. They aren’t poisonous, but they don’t taste good. They are very bitter, to the point they aren’t considered edible by humans.”

“That’s good. I don’t want you or anyone else bringing poison into my office.”

“The strongest poison I bring is my coffee and hot sauce.”, Mr. Katon said while holding a hand up in the ‘I surrender’ possession and pulling a brown paper bag out from under his desk.

“Very funny.”, Mr. Hooves said sarcastically as he left.

Diana turned back to Mr. Katon, who dumped the lard cake in the trash and unpacked his true lunch. “Sir, do you hate Mr. Reyes because he’s bad at being a dick?”

“Yes”, Mr. Katon simply said.

“So, you wouldn’t hate him if he was good at it.”

“That is correct.”

“Why?”, Diana asked confusedly.

“I am no saint, Ms. Zilberschlag. It would be hypocritical of me to expect else of others. What I do expect is for people to be at least smart about it. Mr. Reyes is not smart.”

Diana opened her mouth to say something but then thought better and closed it. She just got back into work mode and went back to her desk.

Shots' home

Date: Aug 23rd, time: 8:00 pm

*Long’s perspective*

“Hey, sweety, I’m going next door to watch a horror movie with the neighbors. Do you want to come?”, Mom asked.

“What movie are you going to watch?”

“That hasn’t been decided yet. We usually decide all together.”

“Sure, I have nothing better to do.”

Mom gave a soft smile and picked up a box of popcorn. “Let’s get going then.”

Mom led the way to the right house. It was, quite literally, next door. Mom rang the doorbell, and it was soon answered. Long looked to where she expected to see a face but had to look up and up. The woman who answered filled the frame and made Dad look tiny in comparison.

“Hello, ya must be Long. Ah’m Brigid. It’s nice ta meet ya.” Brigid extended her hand, and Long reciprocated.

As they shook, Long noticed how strong Brigid’s hands were. Blue collar work, she has some dirt on her hands. That alone didn’t tell her much, but the stench of fertilizer filled in the gaps. A farmer, but does she do it for a living or a hobby? Long remembered a glass building in the backyard that could only be a greenhouse, and there was a hint of a long faded farmer’s tan in Brigid’s skin. She could’ve grown up on a farm and now just does it as a hobby. “It’s nice to meet you. I do have to say, I wasn’t expecting, well, you.”

“Ah get dat a lot. Come in. Sunset already has a suggestion.” Brigid moved out of the way, letting Mom and Long in.

“Minerva?”, Long asked.

“Hello, Long.”

“What movie did you choose, Sunset?”, Mom asked.

“Kairo, or Circuit, in English. It’s from two thousand one and is about ghosts being transmitted over the internet.”, a girl with red and gold hair said. She was very pretty, but there was something about her that Long couldn’t help but find odd but couldn’t quite place. It was almost familiar.

“That sounds good. Long?”

“I’m good with whatever.”

“I guess it’s decided then.”, Minerva said.

Mom popped the popcorn in the microwave while everyone else grabbed drinks and snacks. Long just sat on the couch and waited for everyone. Sunset put the DVD in, and everyone huddled around the TV. Interestingly, the volume was already turned down to a comfortable level for Long. Even as the movie played, Long kept stealing glances at Sunset. She just radiated… something. Long had to quickly avert her gaze back to the movie when Sunset looked back at her. What is up with that kid?

You’d normally expect a kid Sunset’s age to be disturbed by what she was seeing, but she could best be described as intrigued. Of course, she had the same instinctual responses as any sane person, but she's acted like someone who’s seen it all before. Maybe she’s just seen too many of these things.

As the movie finished, the lights were turned back on, causing Long to flinch at the brightness, and everyone got to cleaning up. Mom, Brigid, Minerva, and Sunset worked like a well oiled machine, and Long was pretty much just left watching. Sunset was in the kitchen, cleaning the popcorn bowl. Long got up and went into the kitchen as well. There really wasn’t much to do, gather up trash, take the DVD out, clean the dishes, and they had basically done it all. Sunset placed the popcorn bowl in the dish drainer and turned and looked up at Long. She made an odd face, and Long was worried she’d caught on.

“So, you’re going to work at your brother’s photography studio, correct?”, Sunset asked in a tone that put Long on edge.

“Um, yes.”, Long said, not sure how to defuse this situation. All the while, her mind raced to come up with answers that wouldn’t make her look like a creep to every possible question.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t do better as a PI?”

Long could now recognize Sunset’s tone as sly, rather than accusatory, and that was not a question Long even considered as slightly plausible. “Would I do better as a PI? Why do you ask?”

“There’s no reason to be nervous. I’m not judging you for being a creep.”, Sunset said quietly and with a devious smile. Well, crap. “I’m saying I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at me. It’s the same look my bio-dad makes when he’s trying to figure someone out, and I am someone to figure out. A PI is basically a photographer with an inquisitive mind. That’s you.”

Long’s mind was still trying to process what she’d just heard. She didn’t expect anything like that out of the mouth of someone still in middle school.

“Granted, you might wanna work on your stealth and subtlety skills first. A blind man would’ve known he was being watched.”

“Um, thanks. I’ll think about it.”, Long finally managed to get out and return to her mother, who was talking with Brigid and Minerva. They were talking about one of the scarier scenes in the movie. Long felt like a teenager again, just standing next to her mom until she was done talking to her friends and ready to go. No, that feeling doesn’t go away, even when you're nearly sixty.

Long was very bored by the time Mom was finally done talking and they could finally leave. Brigid and Sunset were alright, but it was nice to be out of there.

“So, how did you like them?”, Mom asked.

“They were okay.”

“That’s good.”

“Hey, what do you know about Sunset?”

“Sunset, well, she was adopted nearly four years ago. She likes scary movies. Um, that’s about it. Why do you ask?”

“She’s just… strange. She doesn’t act like a kid.”

“‘Act like a kid’ is a very broad term. You didn’t act like the other kids, and you know as well as I do that “normal” is just an act everyone puts on.”

“Yeah, okay.” Long still wasn’t happy with that answer, but that was the only one she’d get until she interacted with Sunset more.

Mr. Root’s classroom

Date: Aug 30th, time: 10:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset sat in the back row, just like last year, next to Meg. She was translating for Meg again. The only difference this year was that they were now being taught by Mr. Moody Root. The whole time during class, Mr. Root looked distracted. Sunset was confused by it but also was more focused on the material.

Mr. Root looked up at the clock and then turned back to the class. “Okay, students, today is going to be a bit different. Before we go to lunch, we’re going to attend an assembly at the high school. You can leave your bags, if you want, but start getting ready to go.”

Sunset signed Mr. Root’s instructions to Meg, and the two of them got up and joined the forming line. Once all the students were up, Mr. Root led them to the high school gym. It looked like everyone from the two schools were in there. There was a stage in the middle of the gym floor where some of the teachers stood, directing students and setting up. Sunset noticed one of them was signing and pointed it out to Meg. “She can sign.”

“I sit in front.”, Meg signed.

Sunset nodded, and the two of them sat in one of the front rows. Sunset spotted Flash and waved him over. The three of them sat together and waited for whatever this thing was about. The other students were all seated, and the teachers finished setting up. In addition to the normal stuff you’d see on a stage, there was a large picture of a girl in a CPA uniform, around middle school aged. She seemed to be happy in the photo.

A woman that Sunset recognized as Principal Celestia Faust stood on stage with Vice Principal Luna Faust to her right and Principal Winters and Vice Principal Leo to her left. Luna was very pretty. If her pony counterpart was anywhere near as pretty, Sunset understood why thestral kind was enamored with her. The two of them also had an interesting feel to them. Everybody had a feel to them that someone like Sunset could learn to distinguish by getting to know a person, but some people have a noticeably different feel. This is normally an indication of a very dangerous person, i.e. Platinum Wood, but their feel wasn’t so evil. It was strong and earthy, like a tree’s.

“Thank you all for being here.”, Principal Celestia said into the microphone, and the ASL translator signed with a camera and monitor to make seeing her hands easier. “I know you’re all wondering what this is all about. Well, the young woman, whose picture you see behind me, is named Blueberry Swirl. On June twenty-first, she was abducted off the streets and is now fighting for her life, in the hospital, after being shot. Her friends told police that a man threatened to shoot her if she did not get into his car.” Celestia lowered her head and wiped away the forming tears before continuing. “As your teachers and people that care for you, we want to take this opportunity to tell you that under absolutely no circumstances let someone that is trying to abduct you take you to a second location. Despite being in critical condition, Blueberry Swirl is considered one of the lucky ones because she is still alive. Your chances of surviving an encounter like this drop significantly if you are taken to a second location. If someone ever tries to force you into their car, scream, kick, bite, do everything you can to not let that happen, even if they have a gun. It’s better to be shot where help is only minutes away than where help may never come. Make as big of a scene as you can. Scream that the person is not your parent, fire, anything to get attention on you.”

Sunset couldn’t take her eyes away from the photo. That kid, that happy kid, was dying. Monsters, fucking monsters.

“Thank you for your attention. You are all free to head to your next period.”, Celestia finished.

The students moved at a more subdued pace now. Sunset didn’t get up right away. She was enraged by this. She had come to expect such behavior from humans, but it still pissed her off. Flash took her hand and stroked her hair to calm her down. It worked, but Sunset still didn’t feel good.

“Sunset?”, Snips asked.

“What is it?”, Sunset asked, annoyed.

“If someone tries to kidnap us, would you protect us?”, Snails asked.

“Nobody would want to kidnap you two. You’re too ugly.”

“But what if? We’re not strong. If we’re targeted, we won’t be able to defend ourselves.”, Snips said.

Sunset looked over the two boys. They weren’t wrong. “You have your teeth. It doesn’t matter how strong you are. Human bites can be devastating. Aim for the neck, eyes, scrotum. It doesn't matter how strong you are. Those areas will always be weak spots.”

“Okay, thank you, Sunset.”, Snails said and hugged Sunset.

“Yeah, yeah, go back to class.”, Sunset said as she pushed Snails away. Snips and Snails followed their orders and rejoined their class.

“What they want?”, Meg signed.

“Scared, that is all.”, Sunset answered.

“Bye, gotta go.”, Flash signed and rejoined his class.

Sunset and Meg got up to rejoin their class, and as they were walking to their class, Sunset noticed Celestia sitting on the stage with her head down. Old instincts taking over, Sunset walked over to the woman. “Principal Faust?”

“Oh, hello. Please, call me Principal Celestia. Principal Faust was my grandfather.”, Celestia said, wiping tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize you.”

“That’s because I’m still a middle schooler. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. What’s your name?”

“My name is Sunset Shimmer.” It felt weird introducing herself to Celestia again, even though she knew this was a different Celestia. It reminded her of the first time she met her, if vaguely.

*Flashback*

CSGU

Date: 999th year, time: 9th hour ASR

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset sat opposite the disciplinary head in her office. Her office looked exactly like what you’d imagine a stuffy, uptight tenured professor’s office to be. Her hooves were pristine, polished and shiny. There wasn’t even dirt embedded in her hooves. Her hooves were cleaner than a day old foal’s. Sunset wouldn’t bet against her viewing earth ponies as lesser because they spend all day in the dirt, but those types were a bit a dozen in Canterlot.

“Ms. Shimmer, are you aware of why you’re here?”, Ms. Strict asked.

“I blew up the bushes.”, Sunset said.

“That, and?”, Ms. Strict said with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh,” Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

“You challenged Jet Set to a magic duel.”

“No, he challenged me, and I accepted as demanded of the pegasus code of honor.”, Sunset said indignantly.

“Oh right, you’re one of those things. I don’t know why Princess Celestia would allow such filth into this school.”, Ms. Strict said disgustedly.

“Maybe it’s because it’s the combination of the three tribes that gives me my power. The same power that you now respect and worship.”

Ms. Strict’s head shot up with fear evident in her eyes, and Sunset turned around to see Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. “Prin-Princess Celestia, Great ruler of the sun, I-I didn’t see you there.”, Ms. Strict stammered out.

“You must be Sunset Shimmer. I’ve heard much about you in the last hour. I would like to talk to you in my study, if you please.”, Celestia said with a warm smile. Sunset just sat there, mouth gaping like a fish. “Sunset?”

“Yes, of course.” Sunset hopped off her chair and walked up to the white alicorn. “You’re shorter than I thought you’d be.”

“Ach chm, Ms. Shimmer.”, Ms. Strict choked out.

“I suppose I do give off a larger than life presence when I appear in public. And, Ms. Strict, I do not believe that you have an intimate enough relation with this child to have such brevity with your words.”, Celestia said. “Come along now, Ms. Shimmer. We have much to discuss.”

Sunset nodded and followed Celestia out and down the hall and to the front entrance. “Um, Princess, I mean, Princess Celestia, Great ruler of the sun, where are we going? I thought we were going to your office.”

“Hmhm, not my school office, we’re going to my personal study.”, Celestia said with a smile.

Sunset’s jaw dropped again. Her personal study, that’s in the castle. I’m getting to go to the castle. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be on my best behavior.”, Sunset said with a salute.

“That’s good to hear, but you don’t have to be so formal with me.”

“Sorry”, Sunset said with a sheepish smile.

“You have no need to apologize. You were simply displaying good manners, an admirable trait for someone as young as yourself.”

As they walked to the castle, ponies all around them bowed to Celestia and otherwise showed their devotion. The whole time, Celestia smiled and greeted them and was all around friendly, but there was something else to it. “Ponies rarely show what they’re really feeling, whether it’s frustration, greed, or joy. Everypony has something to hide, even the princess.” That’s what Daddy always says. What’s the princess really feeling? It’s not joy. That’s what she’s showing. Sunset watched Celestia’s expressions carefully. Every time somepony complimented her or bowed, her smile would change from natural to slightly strained, just like the pictures in Daddy’s textbooks.

“Princess, you’re, like, super powerful, right, and can teleport?”, Sunset asked quietly.

“Yes, I can teleport.”

“Then why don’t you just teleport straight to the castle if all this attention is bothering you?”

“What makes you think I’m bothered?”, Celestia asked, still in that sweet teacher voice. But she was surprised by my question.

“You have to strain to keep your smile when ponies praise you.”

Anger, no, sock, er, or maybe- Sunset noticed a glint of something in Celestia’s eye before her mask covered it back up. “You’re quite perceptive, my little pony. Tell me, how does one at your age pick up on such small details?”

“My daddy is an intelligence officer in the Royal Air Guard, and I sometimes sneak into his room and read his infiltration textbooks. There’s one all about reading faces, and… hey, this is textbook redirection. You’re trying to not answer my question.”, Sunset said with a scowl.

“Oh, no, I’m not trying to avoid your question. I’m just trying to get to know you better. The reason why I don’t teleport into the castle is because it has runes in place to prevent that. I can teleport throughout the castle and out of the castle, but allowing ponies to teleport into the castle would pose a security risk.”

“Wow, really? Wait, of course it is. It has to be the best protected place in all the world because all the most important things are kept there.”, Sunset said excitedly.

“Very astute, my little pony. You have a bright destiny before you.”

*Present Day*

I was so naïve back then. She was testing me, even from the moment we met. This Celestia, however, seems to wear her heart on her sleeve, even when she’s trying to keep her composure. Either that, or she’s far superior to Princess Celestia in manipulating people, making everyone think she’s terrible at hiding her emotion, lulling them into a false trust. But given the fact she’s barely a fraction of Princess Celestia’s age, it’s likely the former, and my intuition tells me these are her real feelings. I wish I had these powers back then.

“Are you okay, Sunset?”, Principal Celestia asked.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a bit on guard. Despite what happened to Blueberry Swirl, you don’t need to be afraid, while you’re at school. As your teachers, we will move mountains to keep you safe.”

I’ve never heard anything so sincere come out of the princess’s mouth, and I don’t sense any ulterior motives, just pure love. Either this Celestia is completely incapable of hiding her emotion, or my powers are a lot stronger than I thought. “You’re not just lying to me to make me feel better, are you?”

Principal Celestia got up from her seat and crouched down to be eye level with Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer, I mean every word. Your safety is my number one concern. It’s our job to send you out into the world as well educated, alive adults.”

“Hehe, I like you. You’re honest.” Looks like both.

“I find it best to lead by example, and that means being honest with my students. Oh, looks like you need to get back to your class.”

Sunset looked up at the clock and realized how late it was. Oh crap “Gotta go.” Sunset ran past Celestia and towards the gym doors.

“Slow down!”, Celestia called out.

“I’ll slow down when I’m not late!”