Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Equestria Girls, Science Fiction, Adagio Dazzle, Main 7 (EqG), Violence, Slice of Life, Sonata Dusk, Death, Human, Original Character, Aria Blaze, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 256716

The Sirens devote themselves to protecting Canterlot City and each other as they come to understand human holidays and traditions.

The Human World is seen as the dumping grounds for Equestrian threats that are too much to handle. The biggest, most notable example of which was the Sirens who are now regular human girls trying to get by.

Thankfully, it wasn't that difficult.

After becoming more friendly with the other humans of this world, the Sirens are starting to comprehend strange new human traditions and values such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, as Equestria's magic starts to corrupt parts of the city, they have to weigh dealing with their own lives alongside defending against these threats.

Including anything else that just so happens to get left over from Equestrian conflict...

Landed on the Featured Tab on 3/7/2022, 3/17/2022, and 11/2/2022! Thanks everyone!

Published 2021-11-03 21:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-17 22:18:34 UTC

Arc I Episode II: New Problems

The school day would resume like normal. Wendy, pulling off the shy-girl persona, was easily able to keep everyone at an arm’s reach while focusing on her objective: Keeping tabs on Adagio and making sure she took no detours. “Now where are you…”

Her search wouldn’t take her very long. The three former sirens could be seen eating at their own lunch table across the room…

“How was history class, A-dawg?” Aria asked while biting into a sandwich.

“It was...interesting,” the eldest sister responded, “The history of the settlers and natives that used to live in what is now this city is fascinating. What about you two? You both took shop class, yeah?”

“Auuuugh…” Sonata groaned towards the ceiling, “It wasn’t about shopping at all. It was about chopping up wood and other stuff. Phooey,” she pouted as she shoved a taco into her mouth.

Aria couldn’t help but scoff. “Well now, at least one of us is having fun. Though, I’ve been meaning to ask,” she looked at Adagio, “A-dawg. Are you feeling okay?”

“...What do you mean?” Adagio wasn’t following. She was more focused on the salad in front of her.

“Yesterday you didn’t make it to the game until the very end…” her eyes turned somber, quivering ever so slightly from concern, “...Is there something going on at work?”

“Well there’s…” Adagio hesitated at first. But she knew that hiding it would only make things worse in the long run. “I have to be honest...they’re my sisters after all.” With that in mind, she chose to speak...in a decidedly low voice. “Well...you know who my boss is, right?”

Sonata, having eaten half of a taco by this point, tried to answer the question in her casual tone of voice, “Oh. You work for Blue--”

Aria quickly turned and, “Shhhh!” shushed her, “Don’t say his name out loud.” She focused her attention back on her eldest sibling, whispering, “...Blueblood, right? Principal Celestia’s nephew?”

“Yes...him…” Adagio replied just as quietly, “He’s so...ugh! I’m afraid to say anything, honestly…”

“...Why? Don’t you like your job?” Sonata leaned forward with a worried expression. Aria joined in, looking at her sister expectantly.

“I do, it’s just...he’s kind of...overbearing…” Adagio admitted with a defeated sigh. “I love working in a store where I’m surrounded by beautiful musical instruments but he’s a bit...yeah…”

“I see…” Aria racked her brain for an answer, “Well, pummeling him is outta the question. That would just give us a bunch of problems here at school.”

Sonata glanced at Aria with a worried gaze. “Erm...maybe we shouldn’t resort to that yet. Just talk to him, big sis,” she suggested to Adagio, “I’m sure he’ll listen. Especially if you’re his best worker--which I’m totes sure you are!”

Adagio listened to her little sister’s words, and they resonated with her. Sonata was right. Someone like Blueblood should be willing to listen to her so long as she was reasonable. “You’re right...thanks for the idea. I’ll be sure to open up to him about how I feel.”

“Let’s talk about that more when we get home,” Aria spoke up, and changed the subject, “For now, there’s something important you need to look at.” She pulled out her phone. “I had Twilight send me the screenshots from her radar. Gimme a sec.”

“...Radar?” the yellow girl tilted her head in confusion.

Aria turned her phone to her sister and explained the situation. “...basically, these are more than likely summoning runes for demons. We don’t know why they’re here, but...yeah. We’re probably in danger.”

“Uggh…” Adagio grit her teeth, “...Starswirl dumping more of his trash into this place as if it’s some crass prison grounds...how devious.”

“Like, doubly so for us,” Sonata moaned, “We don’t have any power to fight off monsters anymore like the Rainbooms do. We’re doomed!”

But for some reason, Aria wasn’t as concerned as her fellow sisters. She casually finished her sandwich, and used a toothpick to pry bits of lettuce from her teeth. “You guys worry too much. I have a feeling that we’ll be able’ta take on whatever comes our way. We don’t wanna see this world destroyed do we?”

“I...no,” Sonata replied with an empty tone of voice.

“...Not at all,” Adagio added with an equally surprised state of hesitation, “...huh. Never thought you’d be the one motivating us. You’re growing up so fast, Blazey,” she teased.

“Yeah well...whatever…” Aria hid her blushing cheeks behind clumps of her hair, “Just...don’t lose your cool, alright?”

Across the room…

Alone at her table, Wendy kept a close eye on the sisters from afar, and continued to stare them down even as Twilight appeared at their lunch table. “Good. There she is. I’ll make sure Master Blueblood’s worker shows up right on time with no delays.”

“Hello there,” a calm, angelic female voice said from behind Wendy.

“Hm?” Wendy quickly turned around, and looked up. She was faced with a yellow girl with soft pink hair. “O-oh...hello…” she said, quickly turning on her facade.

“I’m Fluttershy,” she said with a smile and pointed to the empty table Wendy was sitting at, “Is this seat taken?”

The blue-haired girl shivered in her seat. “W-why…?”

“I was hoping to sit with you--Sunset said you were new here so I wanted to come by and say hi. If that’s alright with you…” she offered in a quiet tone.

“Agh. She’ll ruin everything. I can’t let her interfere.” Wendy silently shook her head, denying Fluttershy’s offer. “...N-no thank you.”

“Oh, that’s no problem at all,” she replied with an amicable nod, “You take your time and get used to everything here. There’s no rush. See you later, maybe?” With that, she turned and left towards a lunch table where Sunset and Rainbow Dash were sitting.

“Whew...close. Keep walking, tree-hugger. Oh wait, that’s someone else…bleh. No matter.”

Fluttershy sat down next to Sunset at their usual table. “Well that was new...she didn’t even want to speak with me.”

“...Wow,” Sunset replied with a blank expression, “Never thought I’d meet someone shyer than you, Fluttershy.”

“Me neither,” she agreed, “That’s the weird part. What do you think we can do to help her feel welcome?” She looked across the table in Dash’s direction, “Rainbow?”

Dash was hyper-focused upon her phone. “Ugh. Fluttershy, can you please tell your brother to stop texting me?”

“He still hasn’t gotten the hint?” Fluttershy asked with narrowed, annoyed eyes, “What is he saying now?”

“Something about a weird ferret creature near a rock--it’s pointless to try and explain it. Just talk to him for me, okay?” She turned and got up from the table, “I need to be able to practice in peace without worrying about being stalked by some weirdo.”

As Rainbow Dash left, Fluttershy couldn’t even argue against what she said. She knew her brother was an odd one. “Agh...imagine being related to him and having to endure Thanksgiving with his lazy rump…” she said under her breath.

“...Is everything okay?” Sunset tilted her head.

“Hm?” Fluttershy reacted swiftly with a nod. “O-oh yes. I’m fine. Don’t worry…”

“If you say so…”

Once the final bell rang, everyone started to flood out of the school and head to either the bus stop or their cars to catch rides home.

The Sirens in particular started to walk towards their home, but Adagio prepared to cross the first intersection.

“Alright, I’ll be working a bit later today, girls. Make sure you thaw out the spaghetti before you try to reheat it, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Aria muttered while looking at a homework document. The topic on the page was: Things To Be Thankful For. “Just gotta figure this out…”

“It’s not complicated, Ari!” Sonata skipped up to her while holding a copy of the same document, “You just gotta write some stuff down about what you’re thankful for. Simple!”

Adagio giggled at the sight of her youngest sister explaining the nature of a simple writing prompt, and got ready to cross the street. But before she could…

“GIRLS!” someone shouted from the direction of the school, causing the trio to look up. It was Twilight who ran up to them, and came to a screeching halt with her glasses nearly falling off her face. “Whew...I...I have...we have a problem.”

“...What kinda problem?” Aria asked with her sisters looking on curiously.

After a few more deep breaths, Twilight cleared her throat and held up her tablet. “Alright. Long story short: The runes are becoming unstable and I have a feeling something is going to happen in the middle of the city within the next hour. I’d appreciate your help if you’d be willing.”

“...Damn, already?” Aria commented with a smirk on her face, “Didn’t think they’d show their faces.”

“Aria, take this seriously,” Adagio commanded with a nudge of her shoulder, and looked at Twilight with a determined gaze, “Where are they attacking? Lead the way.”

Meanwhile, from a nearby bush…

“What is she doing?! She needs to head to Master Bluebood’s store! Ooh, she's going to get reprimanded for not following his rules! What could be more important than serving him?!”

Arc I Episode III: Demons!

Twilight led the Sirens through the city near the downtown area. It got to a point where even they could feel the hefty weight of magic bog down the atmosphere around them.

“Eugh…” Aria shuddered as they crossed the street into the metropolitan area of the city, “I can feel things becoming more and more...off-putting if that makes sense. What about you guys?”

Twilight shook her head while focusing hard upon her tablet screen. “I can’t feel a thing. But the fact that you guys can shows me that this must be an Equestrian threat.”

“I don’t get it,” Sonata blurted out, “Why not have Sunset Shimmer figure this out? Isn’t she more experienced with this world and its weirdo shenanigans?” she asked while wiggling her fingers in a spooky manner.

Of course Twilight knew that her close friend would have all the answers to a problem like this. Unfortunately, there were only so many of them to tackle an issue head on. “Yes...but she and the others are off dealing with some of the runes that are located near the edge of town,” she explained while adjusting her glasses, “From what I can gather, it seems as if these ones aren’t going to be as deadly or threatening, so we should be able to handle these just fine.”

“Fair enough,” Adagio replied, “So long as we finally get some action, I could care less what it is. I’m curious as to what sort of magical abilities we still may have…”

“That’s what I’m looking to find out also,” Twilight added, “If it’s possible that you all, as Equestrians, still have some magic within you even after becoming powerless, then you can use that magic for the benefit of others. Isn’t that exciting?” she glanced at Aria with a wide grin on her face.

Aria simply rolled her eyes. “Meh. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m just looking to wreck some shit in the face. Though…” she looked at her older sister. “A-dawg, isn’t your boss gonna be miffed that you’re not at work on time?”

“Hmph,” Adagio scoffed and waved her hand dismissively, “I can always negotiate with him if necessary. But allowing rogue magic to bring harm to innocent people would be...problematic. It’s not something I want on my conscience.”

“Awwww,” Sonata teased while clutching her hands together in a lovey-dovey fashion, “Adagio cares about the mortal scum!”

“Of course I do,” she muttered with a pouting sort of face, “They make great music...and fast food--anyway, Twilight. Does your little...glass magical detector sense anything yet?”

Twilight watched as the runes on the device started to glow brighter and brighter. Their position on the map was marked with blue arrows pointed in the direction of the runes. “One-hundred meters!” she said while pointing towards an upcoming intersection. “This way!”

Meanwhile, from a nearby alley…

A certain someone had their back to the wall, carefully observing the sirens as they approached the crossing. “This is the exact opposite direction of where she’s supposed to go!” Wendy proceeded to dial her phone, and call for Blueblood.

“Hello? Gwendolyn? What’s the situation?”

“Adagio, sir,” she spoke while keeping her eyes focused on the group from afar, “She’s off doing something with her friends instead of coming in to work.”

There was a brief, almost deafening pause over the phone as Blueblood processed what he was just told. “Mm-hm. I see. Keep your eyes on her. I’ll deal with her the next time she shows her face in my store. Failing to follow orders is punishable and she knows this.”

Wendy had a devilish grin on her face, “Oh yes...I love dealing out punishments to those who don’t follow the rules, sir.”

“And that’s why you’re my favorite,” he replied with a chuckle, “Now keep watching. I’ll speak with you later. Bye for now.”

She hung her phone up, and continued to follow the girls with narrowed, suspicious eyes. “You’ll pay for your disobedience…”

With the girls…

The intersection was clear of any vehicular activity due to it mainly being utilized by people who were walking back and forth to get to other parts of the city. Almost like a scramble crossing of sorts--a road area dedicated for people to walk around.

This enabled Twilight and the Sirens to freely walk towards the middle of the street.

“Hm...I’m picking something up,” said the purple scientist, “But I’m not sure what it is?”

“Aren’t we here?” Aria droned, “Shouldn’t the demon monster thingy be right in front of us?”

Sonata stared at the device Twilight was holding. “Are you sure it’s working right? Maybe it’s busted?”

“Uch--excuse me?” Twilight scoffed as she pushed her glasses up, “I’ll have you know that my technology is state of the art, 100% personally developed, and 92% accurate.”

That’s when Adagio felt the air change even more. Where she could almost feel a thick sensation of fog. But as it got closer, it felt more like the hot breath of an animal. “Erm...Twilight…? I think it’s here.”

“...It is? But we can’t see it--”

SWISH!

With a flick of what sounded like a wet tongue, Aria was suddenly snatched up by something that coiled around her body.

“What the--?!”

The creature revealed itself. A blue and green chameleon demon the size of a school bus! And it was actively trying to consume the struggling Aria. “Need some help here!”

“That’s why we couldn’t see it!” Twilight shouted, “It was making use of its crypsis coloration in order to fade into the colors of reality!”

“Science lesson later!” Adagio yelled as she ran towards the creature, “Let her go, you cretin!” She leapt off the ground and got ready to throw a punch, but suddenly…

SHING!

Her entire forearm was coated in what appeared to be a blade made out of water. With a single slash, it was enough to cut through the chameleon’s skin and damage it.

“EEEE!”

With a shrill cry, it was forced to drop Aria who landed bottom-first on the pavement. “Ow! Friggin’ dick!”

Nearby, a few people noticed what had happened. Some of them began to record the scene on their phones while others ran away as quickly as possible out of fear.

Twilight however, was carefully observing. “Let’s see what you three are capable of.”

With the water blade gone, Adagio flexed her arm. “...Huh. Water? That’s...not what I was expecting at all.”

But in the mere second she took to think about what had just happened, the chameleon monster lunged its claws at the grounded Aria.

“Ah!” she gasped and held her hand out, “Back off!”

FWOOSH!

Just as the chameleon tried to attack her, Aria repelled its force with a shield made of air, blowing it backwards and sending it careening against the road for a few feet until it came to a stop.

“Woah...I just…” Aria muttered as she stood up, staring at her hand, and then up at the monster she had defended herself against, “I just blew it away with like a wind-dome...thing.”

“Impressive…” Adagio said in response to her sister’s efforts.

And then came Sonata who ran into the situation blindly. “Ooh! My turn, my turn!”

Just as the chameleon started to recover and stand upright, Sonata charged in...and tripped.

“Ah--oof!” As soon as she hit the ground, bolts of electricity flew out of her hands and shocked the chameleon, stunning it briefly.

Adagio ran up to her, offering a hand to help her off the ground. “Are you alright, sis?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Sonata replied as she took her sister’s hand and stood up. “But...did I just shock that thing?” She stared down at her hands which crackled with small bolts of yellow lightning, “Ooh yeah! I think I could get used to this!”

“Ahem,” Aria cleared her throat as she stared at the chameleon demon, “We can figure out what these powers are later. Right now, we need to destroy this thing.”

“Cut through its heart!” Twilight shouted from nearby, while looking at her tablet, “That’s where its magic is stored!”

“With a hide that thick, it’ll take a while to cut through,” Adagio muttered.

Sonata then came up with an idea. “...What if we use our powers together all at once? Then we should take it down no problem!”

“Ah!” Aria dodged another lash from its long, wet tongue. “So long as I don’t have to get violated again, I’m up. Let’s do it!”

Arc I Episode IV: Time To Fight!

With newfound motivation, the trio started to come up with a plan.

“My water blade...things can cut it,” Adagio mused, “But we need to keep it paralyzed long enough for me to break it open.”

“But I can’t paralyze it unless it’s toppled over!” Sonata groaned, “How are we gonna do that?!”

Which left it up to Aria. The pale-purple girl suddenly came up with a plan on the fly. “That’s it! You two--keep it distracted. I’m gonna knock its crap into next week!”

SPLAT!

“AH!” Sonata leapt backwards to avoid the lizard’s tongue. It struck the ground where she was previously standing. But to keep its attention, she would have to do a bit more than that. “Over here, ya big dummy!” she stuck her tongue out at it while running counterclockwise in the middle of the crossing.

“Its eyes can look in two different directions!” Twilight shouted from the sidelines, “Grab its attention by running opposite of her, Adagio!”

“Got it!” With her youngest sister on its right side, Adagio kept its left eye focused entirely on her. “No--over here, big guy! You clearly wanna eat me instead!”

“Seriously?” Aria rolled her eyes from her sister’s antics, then started to focus. “Alright...I can control wind and stuff. Let me see if I can blow it away.” She took a few steps backwards to the southern side of the crossing. A crowd had formed on both sides that stopped to watch what was happening. “Just like in baseball. Just like in baseball.”

Among the crowd, Wendy was still there. She took it upon herself to record the situation on her phone. “Irrefutable evidence that you’re shirking your job…”

Moments after preparing herself mentally, Aria took off in a fierce sprint until she built up enough speed to let the wind carry her the rest of the way. “...Now!” And then….

“HYAH!”

She performed a leaping kick with her leg surrounded by a dull-green, tornado-like aura.

BWOOSH!

And it landed--squarely upon the chameleon’s body. The kick was so powerful that the lizard was knocked back even further than before, sending it clear onto the other side of the intersection and slamming into the side of a brick wall of a building. It attempted to change its scales to a red and white brick-like pattern, but that did little to help its case...

With an elegant flip, Aria landed perfectly on her feet, and glanced up at Sonata. “Your turn, sis! Give him a shock!”

“Oh yeah!” Sonata ran towards the toppled lizard and put her hands in the air, “Take this!” But nothing happened at first, leaving the blue girl confused for a second. “Huh? Am I doing something wrong?”

Adagio was sprinting after her, ready to follow up. “It comes from your hands!”

“Oh, okay then…” Sonata threw a punch against the air which released a bolt of electricity just like before. It successfully shocked the lizard, and kept it from moving. “Aha! Got it!” She kept moving her hands back and forth, causing more lightning to sprout forth. “Come on, sis! Keep it going!”

Soon enough, the lizard was shocked into submission, leaving it wide open to be attacked once more. But this time it would be different.

Adagio kept running forward with the water blade flowing even more fiercely with serrated edges akin to that of a chainsaw. “Disgusting thing...this is what you get for putting your tongue on my sister! AAAAH!”

SLICE!

With a clean, horizontal cut, the chameleon demon would split in two and explode into a magical dust that slowly disintegrated over time…

It was over.

“Whew…did we...did we win?” Adagio looked up at the various particles that dissipated into nothingness.

Sonata walked up next to her with Aria close behind. The former spoke first. “That was totes awesome! Aria was all wooooosh! And I was all zap-zap-zap! And then you were all splash-slice-smash!” she said while wiggling her hands to represent the different abilities they had acquired.

Aria chuckled in response to her sister’s physically descriptive nature of the situation. “Heh...gotta admit, that was hella fun. Hopefully we get to do this more often.”

“Hm, yeah,” Adagio replied, “I could get used to this. Er, where’s Twilight?”

“I’m here!” she shouted with a loss of breath as she caught up to them. “Whew...wew...I am not a runner. Anyway...that was amazing! You all were amazin--”

“Wait a second,” Aria interjected with a suspicious glare at the nerd, “You didn’t fight at all when you’re easily the most magically inclined out of all of us….was this some kind of a test?”

And wouldn’t you know it? Aria’s prediction was 100% correct as evidenced by how Twilight blushed and stammered in response. “Well, I-I--I had to find out what you three were capable of. I knew that you all still had magic in you. But nothing like that!”

“Hm...I have to admit,” Adagio spoke up while looking at her oddly dry hands, “It was certainly an experience.”

“Plus, I would’ve bailed you out if I knew you three couldn’t handle it,” the nerd said with a triumphant armfold, “But I suppose you didn’t need my help at all, did you?”

That was something they hadn’t considered. After all, Twilight herself was the element of magic--no matter how incapable she looked to the untrained eye, she would always be there to make sure things went smoothly. With that in mind, the sisters murmured about what they had just experienced to each other--each sounding rather positive about being able to fight again.

Sonata in particular was already thinking ahead of herself--as per usual. “If this was a lesser demon, I can’t even imagine what a greater one is like!”

“Er, you’ll...get there soon, hehe…” Twilight replied sheepishly, already knowing the dangers that her friends usually faced. “But since today’s Friday and I’ve got nothing going on, I’d be happy to help you three understand your powers at my place.”

But then, a painful realization struck Adagio. “Son of a--my boss is gonna kill me!” She turned and started to run down the street, “We’ll meet up with you tomorrow, Twilight!”

“Oh…” Twilight looked at the remaining Sirens. “...Did she have a prior engagement?”

“Long story,” Aria sighed, “Long ass story.”

About 20 minutes later…

Adagio finally arrived at the vintage music shoppe, and quickly entered. She stormed through to the store where Blueblood’s office was located.

“Blueblood? Sir? I’m sorry that I’m late. But something came up, and--”

“Sit,” the young man interrupted her, and gestured his hand towards the chair in front of his desk.

Adagio fell silent and took a seat, her teeth chattering from her anxiety. “Please don’t fire me. I really need this job…”

Blueblood took out his phone and showed her a video of what recently happened. How her and her sisters fought off a lizard demon from seemingly nowhere. “I saw everything. There’s nothing for you to say.”

“Don’t be rude...try to be earnest.” “Please, sir!” she pleaded, “It was an honest...lapse of time. It won’t happen again!”

“...I’m sure it won’t,” he said with a small smile creeping onto his face, “Don’t worry. I won’t be putting this on your record...this time.”

The yellow girl let out a sigh of relief. “...Thank you, sir.”

But the friendly smile on his face soon faded. “But I don’t expect any more interruptions. We missed out on three high-paying customers from your absence.” He took out a clipboard, and started to flip through its pages. “Prestigious band players, instrumental managers, funeral drafters--these are important clients that can’t wait around on us forever.”

Adagio’s eyes shot open. The fact that she missed out on earning extra business for the store was something that part of her felt a pang of guilt over. “...Ouch. I...I understand, sir.”

“Good. Surely your sisters and your new friends can handle these threats themselves?” he said with that ever-so-friendly smile again, “At least when you’re working, that is.”

“...Right. That’s reasonable,” she nodded in agreement with his proposition, “Should I get started on my shift.”

Blueblood nodded in return. “You may. You’re dismissed, Adagio.”

With a relieved sigh, Adagio got up from the desk, and went to put on her apron and start her shift at the register in the front of the music store.

And as soon as she left, Wendy would appear from a different door that led into his office. “No punishments, sir?”

“I’m...trying to kindle a positive relationship between her and myself. That’s why I was lenient on her this time.”

Normally, Wendy wasn’t the type to question her master’s orders. She followed everything Blueblood asked of her without question. But in this instance...curiosity got the better of her. “If I may be so bold...what exact reason do you have for me spying on her and keeping her on her schedule?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Blueblood then pulled out a file from his desk. It was a printed article from a website about Sirens. “You know who they are. They sing to charm the hearts of those that hear their voice. But what happens when the charmer…” he tapped his forehead with his index finger, “...becomes the charmed?”

It took her a minute to figure out, but Wendy soon understood. “I get it...the longer she stays around you, the more likely she is to fall for you. Then her power will be yours.”

He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “That’s right. I knew you’d get it. For now, you need to return to your position and act normal. She won’t be the wiser.”

Wendy stood at attention and bowed. “Understood, Master Blueblood. Your wish is my command.”

As she left the room, Blueblood chuckled to himself. “...And they said that demon summoning was for Equestrians only.”

Arc II Episode I: Power Malfunctions

Later that evening, at the Dazzling’s home…

Everything was winding down for the evening. Adagio was busy showering, Aria was busy drying her hair, and Sonata was making toast down in the kitchen. Things seemed to be going well--a usual night at their place, right?

Well…

As the eldest Siren put shampoo in her hair, she started to think over what happened on that day. “I can’t afford to lose this job. Not after I’ve done so much to make sure I could have a steady income source for my sisters. They deserve to live normal lives...even if we have to fight the odd magical monster every now and again. But just what are these new abilities we’ve obtained…?”

It had taken a bit of a toll on her body and mind. At this point, all she wanted to do was relax and prepare for her weekend away from both school and work.

In Aria’s room…

Having recently finished showering herself and put on her pajamas, the middle sister of the sirens was using a blow dryer on her hair while looking in the mirror to make sure not a single lock was missed. But as she did so, she started to wonder….

“So Twilight was testing us, huh. Classic nerd. But I wonder what this means now that we’ve unlocked new magic? Are our singing voices gonna return? I don’t wanna go through that crap again...I’ve just gotten used to human food.”

In the kitchen…

Sonata was humming a tune to herself while grabbing some bread from the counter’s bread box, and skipping over to the toaster. “We totes killed it out there today! I knew becoming friends with the mortals would be better than trying to suck their essence out. Now we just gotta make sure we stay friends with them and continue to keep ‘em safe. This’ll be super fun!”

The girls were casually going about their business...when suddenly…

SPLASH!

FWOOSH!

BLAM!

Out of nowhere, the shower suddenly filled to the brim with water, trapping Adagio and nearly drowning her. “MMMMMM!!” She banged her fist on the shower door with her eyes darting in every direction in a panicky state.

When Aria increased the intensity of the blow dryer, it caused a gale force so hard that she was nearly blown out of the nearest window! “A-A-A-AHHH….H-HEEELLP!” With her left hand holding desperately onto the wall to keep herself held down, she could barely hold onto the dryer with her right, but she had to move her fingers to turn it off.

And with Sonata, the toaster endured an electrical charge so powerful that the toaster blew up in her face, covering her with soot and grains of overly charred bread. She opened her eyes--the rest of her face was covered in brown bread dust and static charges. “....Owie.”

Soon enough, the excess water would disappear and Adagio would stumble out of the shower. The steam within the room kept parts of her body concealed as she reached for a towel. “What the hell was that?!”

Aria looked behind herself and realized that she would go flying out of the window, into the yard, and onto the street if she wasn’t careful. “DA-A-A-AMM-I-I-IT!” Fed up with the force of the air being blown onto her body, she forcefully threw the blow dryer onto the floor, shattering it into multiple smaller pieces. “Ugh…” Once the wind was gone, she was able to recover, slowly slipping down and off of the windowsill into her room.

Sonata started to sweep up the dust that the toaster had combusted itself into. But even that dust was electrically charged, much to the confusion of the blue girl. “...Oh god, better put this in something before I throw it away so the garbage man won’t hurt himself…” She looked through the cupboard, and found a rubber container. “This should work. The cartoons I watched always said that rubber never conducts electricity…”

Once the trio recovered from their respective magical mishaps, Adagio stepped out to the living room with a towel wrapped around her body and her hair still went and completely straight--flowing halfway down her back. “Is everyone--ach!--alright?” she said in between a cough.

Aria walked out moments later with her hair in a straight, stiff mess and wiping oodles and oodles of dust particles from her eyes. “Ach...can’t see shit! What about the rest of you? Sonata? I heard an explosion!”

“Y-yeah, ab-b-bout that-t-t…” Sonata’s eyelids, neck, and fingers twitched uncontrollably from the electrical charges that flowed through her body. It was so bad, that she couldn’t even speak straight.

“Take a seat on the couch you two. I’ll be right back.”

She returned within seconds with eye drops for Aria and held her sister’s head back to help her apply them.

And right after, she massaged Sonata’s shoulder and neck muscles to ease the tension that her muscles had gained from the unexpected surge of energy.

“...You two feeling better?”

“Yeah,” Aria replied with a sigh, “Thanks Dagi.”

“I don’t feel tingly anymore,” Sonata answered with a nod, “So I’d say I’m good.”

“Whew…good,” Adagio gave a relieved sigh, and sat back against the couch. “So what just happened?”

“The toaster got supercharged with electricity and blew up,” Sonata replied.

“My hair dryer started blowing with the force of a jet engine or some crap,” Aria added then asked, “What about you, sis?”

Adagio looked down at herself, realizing she was still in a towel. “...Oh yeah. I...nearly drowned, actually. I know it’s an odd thing for me to say, given our background, but the entire shower just filled up with water out of nowhere.”

“Hm…” Aria looked down at her hands, “Think this could have anything to do with these new powers of ours? Something happened with me and air, you with water, and Sonata with lightning.”

“Oh yeah!” Sonata said as she recalled the day’s events, “That makes total sense. So does this mean we’re dealing with magic that we can’t control?”

“Probably,” Adagio replied with a sigh as she leaned back against the couch. “Ugh...we need help.”

Aria snapped her fingers. “Twilight said she’d be free to help us out with this new magic tomorrow. If anyone is able to figure out what our problem is, it’s her.”

“Well that’s good,” said Sonata, “The last thing I wanna do is shock the entire house.”

“Or wreck it with a tornado.”

“Or flood it,” Adagio got up from the couch, “Alright, girls. Let’s try and get some sleep. If Twilight said she’ll help us, then we’ll have to put our trust in her.”

With no debate, everyone did their best to get to sleep that night. Thankfully the next day was a Saturday so they could sleep in for as much time as they needed.

The next day, in the afternoon…

The Sirens had arrived at Twilight’s house. The violet nerd would be there waiting for them and wearing an unmistakable white lab coat. She took them up to one of her experimentation rooms, and once the sisters explained just what happened to them and their powers, Twilight started to write down everything on a blackboard behind her. Numbers, symbols, equations--all of which were undecipherable to the average joe.

“I see...I see, I see…” she mumbled while finishing out the equation on the board. She then put the chalk down, and wrote something down in her notebook with a pen.

“...So…? Adagio looked up at the scientist with a worried expression, “What does any of it mean?”

“I’m a scientist, not a magic specialist. However…” She tapped upon a small touch-screen device that was built into her desk. “It seems as if these new abilities have manifested from within you directly without the need for magical artifacts. Though, given that you three are originally from Equestria, it should be rather plain to see why.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Aria commented while looking at her arms, “But I wonder why we have these powers specifically. Wind, lightning, and water--what’s that about?”

“To explain that, I’ve brought in an expert on magic,” Twilight said as footsteps traveled through the door. “Ah, speak of the devil.”

“Wow,” Sunset rolled her eyes upon entering the room, “Not cool. You know I became a demon--not some mere ‘devil’.”

“I--wha?”

Sunset giggled at her friend’s expense, and took a seat in a chair next to the lab’s table. “It’s a joke, don’t worry. And I got your text. Sounds like these three have some strange new magic at their disposal, huh?”

The Sirens nodded and murmured in agreement about the situation.

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“Yep-yep!”

“Alright, now as I was saying.” Twilight extended a metal pointer and tapped on a certain area of the board. Their eyes were directed to a crudely drawn image of the sisters in chalk. “These powers come from directly within you. Because of that, I’ve dubbed them: Aether Skills!”

“Ae...ther?” Adagio repeated the word tentatively.

Twilight nodded with an excitable, toothy grin on her face. “Yeah! Aether! It’s basically the life force that everyone carries within them. Your aether has come with you from Equestria and has given you the ability to fight.”

“Other cultures may call it ki or chakra,” Sunset added, “I call it my own personal magic.”

“That’s right!” Sonata squealed, “You’re from Equestria too, aren’t you? Do you have something similar?”

“Eh, well I couldn’t call it that crazy,” with a smug expression, Sunset snapped her fingers and generated a small flame in her hands. “It’s fire. Back in Equestria, I used to study a lot of flame-based magic, so that could explain why my powers are linked to it.”

Twilight snickered and looked at the Sirens. “Remember when we fought that giant crab? Sunset used fire magic despite not having any method of casting it.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now,” Adagio replied as she recalled those events, “Wonder what happened to that detective and his efforts to save Cozy Glow…”

“Last I heard from Princess Twilight, she was doing just fine,” Sunset confirmed, “But let’s get back on topic. You three were wondering why you got those specific abilities, right?”

The sisters all nodded in unison.

“Well, I think I have an answer.” Sunset started an explanation, “Think about what sirens do. They’re masters of the sea and cause all kinds of storms that wreck ships. If I were to wager a guess….” She looked at Adagio. “You’ve been given Water Aether because it’s the central component of the oceans--without it, there is no sea--and no place for sirens to live.” Next, she looked at Aria. “You represent the ocean’s aggression with its powerful wind storms that blow the waves and cause extra damage to its enemies with Wind Aether.” Lastly, Sonata. “And you have Lightning Aether--a spontaneous and bubbly one that toys with its victims before shocking them.”

“...Huh,” the yellow girl replied with wide eyes, “That...makes a lot of sense actually.”

“Wooooooah…” Sonata mouthed wondrously while kicking her legs, “So cool!”

“I think I get it now,” Aria replied, “But...we need to get used to using these new powers. We don’t want another accident like last night.”

“That’s where our friends come in,” Twilight aimed her pointer in Sunset’s direction, “Let ‘em know we’re ready, ‘kay?”

“On it,” Sunset nodded, and started texting on her phone.

Adagio looked on with a nervous tilt of her head. “Erm...who are you calling exactly?”

“Some help,” said Sunset, “We’re gonna whip you girls into shape.”

Arc II Episode II: Training Begins

Twilight turned around to grab something from a nearby desk. “So, before you girls get started with your training…” she turned around again with a crazed look on her face while holding a dripping syringe, “Mind if I take a--”

“NO!” Adagio stood defensively in front of her sisters while they tensed up and shuddered behind her. “You are not about to inject me or my sisters with any of your weird...pointy objects.”

Sunset glared at the purple nerd. “Twilight, we’ve been over this. You can’t just draw blood from people who show signs of strange magic. Some people are more squeamish than you, ya know.”

“Fiiiine,” Twilight replied with an eye roll as she put the syringe away and grabbed another container. “Some sweat will do--”

“Sweat?” Aria raised a brow, “Just what kinda tests do you wanna run?”

Sunset applied her palm directly to her face.

Twilight simply carried on with her chipper explanation, “I just wanna see if any of you will have any potential discomfort from this new magic.” She then pulled out a pair of tweezers with a wide grin on her face. “How about a lock of hair--”

Sonata looked at Sunset. “...Is she always this freaky when it comes to magic and other people’s bodies?”

“Not always,” the orange girl snickered as she finished sending a text message, “You should’ve seen her when she thought demons were invading the school a few months ago. She thought Berry Punch and Treehugger were possessed when in reality they were just on a high from those fruit incense sticks they sell.”

“That could’ve been anything!” Twilight protested as the Sirens giggled. “You don’t need a spellbook to accidentally summon a goat monster from another dimension!”

“Riiiight,” she winked in Twilight’s direction, and turned her attention to the sisters, “Anyway. Remember when I said I was getting us some help?”

Adagio nodded and asked, “Yes? Who’s going to be helping us understand our abilities?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” Sunset explained as she stood up, “Go get on some workout clothes and meet me at the gym.” She was about to walk away, but was stopped when she heard Sonata ask…

“Okay! But uh, quick question: What’s a gym?”

Sunset stopped and looked at them with a blank look on her face. “...You don’t know what a gym is?”

The trio of sirens all shook their heads.

“...Do they not have gyms in Equestria?” Twilight asked, looking for an answer from Sunset.

“They do, but they aren’t really common now that I think about it,” she said whilst tapping her foot and looking up into the ceiling, “Most ponies and other creatures are born with sufficient muscle mass that they really don’t need it. But humans are completely different. We need to work out to consistently keep ourselves healthy.”

“Well that’s lame,” Aria moaned, “Is that why I’ve felt heavier after eating so much?”

“There’s way more to these bodies than I initially thought…” Adagio muttered, “But I understand. If it’s going to help us get a better handle on our abilities so we don’t go crazy, then I’m all for it. Just give us an hour to find some...gym clothes.”

Twilight leaned forward, placing her hands on her desk, “And if any of you have any excess sweat once you’re done, then--”

Plonk.

No chance. The very next time Twilight blinked, Sunset and the Sirens were already long gone with one of the chairs they were sitting in toppling over--indicating a sense of haste.

“Hmph. Later, I suppose. I guess I can get back to my research for now. And our upcoming school schedule.” She picked up a clipboard. “So...who’s our new math teacher gonna be again…?”

The Sirens went to the nearest clothing store and acquired some workout clothes. Then, Aria drove their van to the gym parking lot once Sunset had sent them directions.

“Huh, here we are, I guess,” Aria said as she stepped out of the van wearing a dark purple set of yoga pants, a matching hoodie and tennis shoes.

“I have to admit, these clothes are pretty good,” Adagio commented while looking down at herself. She too had yoga pants and shoes that were a solid gold color along with a hoodie. “Nothing like this exists in Equestria from what I recall.”

“Nor does this Gymmie place,” Sonata skipped out of the van wearing cyan yoga pants and shoes also. “But it sounds awesome! Who’s ready to learn how to control our power?!”

“What I wanna know is who’s gonna be helping us,” Aria commented as she walked towards the building, “But I guess we won’t know until we get there, huh?”

“If it means we’ll be able to fend off anyone that tries to ruin our Thanksgiving, then I’m all for it,” Adagio said as she walked, “But I’m more curious as to how this place operates…”

“Well, let’s go already!” Sonata chirped, running ahead of them.

They got inside where they could see various rooms dedicated to exercise in various forms. A yoga room, a karate room, even a room for the senior citizens to work on keeping their bones intact.

However, one room in particular caught the attention of the Sirens…

“...Oh my,” Adagio muttered as she stopped in her tracks.

Curious, Aria would question why she had stopped. “What’s the deal, A-daw….oh.”

“Whatcha lookin’ at, sis--wow!” Sonata gasped.

They were gazing into the weights room through a wide, doorless arch that led into the area. There, they could see various boys lifting weights, pumping iron, and running on treadmills. Some of which were shirtless.

“Why am I staring--why am I staring--” Aria muttered to herself as she focused on the boys.

Adagio’s eyelid twitched, and she tried to cover Sonata’s eyes with one of her hands. “...L-look away, Sonata. Nothing to see here!”

“Hey, I’m just as old as you two!” the youngest siren huffed and shoved her sister’s hand out of the way, “I’ve never seen such...strong equipment before.”

Thankfully, none of the boys noticed that they had observers. The siren’s little observation session would be interrupted by a familiar raspy chuckle.

“Ha-ha--browsing the eye-candy store, girls?” It was Rainbow Dash who was already in her workout gear--which consisted of her usual attire.

They all turned to face her, blushing a bit.

“Hm? What? No--” Adagio cleared her throat and spoke, “We were looking for Sunset. But I guess you’re going to be helping her...help us? Is that right?”

“Something like that,” Dash replied while cracking her knuckles, “Seems like you guys still have some magic according to what she said. But it’s a tad different from the singing you used to do, right?”

“Right,” Aria replied, “Twilight said it comes from someplace called the ‘Aether’,” she said with air quotes, “Whatever that means. I don’t really care where these powers came from, though. I just wanna be able to use ‘em without causing any accidents.”

“Or blowing up toasters,” Sonata said with a visible shudder, “Yeeesh...that image will forever haunt my brain.”

“Ohhhh,” Dash came to a realization, “That’s it. She called us over to help train you three. That’ll be easy. Follow me.” She started walking to another room with the sirens close behind.

And when they finally arrived in the gym room with a boxing ring, Dash called out to her friends.

“Hey guys, they’re here!”

Sunset Shimmer could be seen in one of the corners of the room, stretching her arms and wearing flame-patterned sweat-pants and a black sports bra. “Oh hey, you made it. This’ll be perfect. We can start helping you three get used to your new magic whenever you’re ready.”

“Ooh…” Sonata looked around the room, and fixated her eyes upon the boxing ring in particular. “This looks pretty fun.”

“Does, don’t it?” a deep, southern voice said from nearby. Applejack was sitting in a chair wearing apple-patterned yoga shorts and a plain white tank top. “Finally gettin’ use outta mah gym membership so this here’s a net gain fer me.”

“So all three of you are helping us?” Aria asked, “That’s...pretty nice of you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow replied as she walked past them, “Besides, any chance to get a glimpse at more magic is fine by me. Now….who wants to go first?”

“A-tut-tut--Dash, hang on a second,” Sunset walked over, “Let me go first against Adagio. I wanna see what she’s capable of.” She looked at the eldest siren. “Is that cool with you?”

She shrugged her shoulders, and removed her hoodie, leaving her with only a sports bra of her own--matching the gold color of her hotpants. “Alright then. I’ve been dying for a rematch against you anyway, Shimmer,” she said with a devious, competitive grin on her face.

Sunset returned the grin with one of her own as she stepped into the boxing ring, beckoning her with an open palm. “Oh it’s on, girlfriend. Come at me.”

Arc II Episode III: Adagio's Turn

With Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Aria, and Sonata spectating from seats nearby, the sparring session between Adagio and Sunset was set to begin.

“If this gets too hectic for you, feel free to call a timeout at any moment,” Sunset explained, with an excited set of narrowed eyes, “Not that you’ll need to since water logically beats fire.”

“I know how elemental stuff works, thank you,” Adagio replied while using scrunchies to put her hair up in a set of twintails to keep it in place, “Now let’s begin.”

Sunset interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms upwards, then outwards. “Okay. Let’s start with something simple.” She separated her hands and snapped her fingers which generated a fireball in her left hand. It was easily the size of their heads! “Let’s see how you can deal with this.” With a simple flick of her wrist, she cast the fireball off in Adagio’s direction.

And she reacted accordingly, slashing it with one of her water blades and making it disappear in an instant. “Wow...that was unexpectedly easy,” she commented with a smug expression, only for the liquid she was casting to disappear. “What the--where did it--?”

“That’s the problem with Aether,” Sunset went on, “Unlike regular magic, you need to constantly dedicate a part of your mind to keep it engaged,” she said while tapping the side of her head, “You need to focus if you want your powers to stay active--but not so active that they cause a flood. You feel?”

Adagio huffed. “Ugh...this was so much easier when we could just sing and win any battle we stepped foot into. But now we have to actually dedicate extra time to our magic? This is insane…”

“Yeah, but you’ll get used to it,” Sunset tried to comfort her, “Who knows, you may end up creating something like this…” She balled her fists and a larger pair of fists made of fire appeared over them. “For extra attack power.”

“...” Ever the spiteful one, Adagio was somewhat jealous of Sunset’s ability to master the Aether so well. “Oh she’s not going to outdo me.” With a quick crick of her neck, she readied herself once more. “Okay, my turn now.”

“Huh--ahh!” Sunset squealed like a parakeet once she realized that she was suddenly caught in a sphere of water. Almost like a prison of sorts.

“Ha! Got you!” she declared while readying another water blade.

But Sunset wasn’t going to allow that to take her down so easily. All the sudden, her hair seemingly caught fire, and she flexed her muscles. “YAH!” With a loud hisssss!, the water sphere turned to steam in an instant, “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?”

Annoyed, the yellow siren lashed out, and went on a complete offensive assault. With both of her arms shrouded in water blades, she started slashing and slicing at Sunset’s body, grunting furiously as she tried her best to land a hit.

CHING!

No dice. Sunset had prepared herself by blocking with a sword made entirely out of fire. Holding it with a reverse grip, she was able to easily and flawlessly block Adagio’s attacks with little effort on her part. Her arm was moving like something out of a samurai film--almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.

“Gggh! How are you so--?!”

Sunset glared at her opponent from behind the fiery blade with a tense grin. “You’re focusing so much into trying to beat me, that you can’t even see that you’re leaving yourself open.”

“What?!”

Before Adagio could blink, Sunset stuck her sword into the floor of the boxing ring, sprang off her feet, and kicked her opponent square in the abdomen.

SMACK!

“Oof!” Adagio landed flat on her back within the boxing ring and scowled. “...Dammit. Am I not good enough?”

The sword disappeared and Sunset walked over to help the girl onto her feet by pulling her up with her hand. “You’re letting your anger get the better of you. It’s making you weaker than you would be otherwise. I know how it feels. Trust me...I’m not exactly the most...calm person, per se.”

“That’s a total understatement,” Rainbow Dash commented from the chairs nearby, earning a glare from Sunset in the process.

“Ahem,” Sunset cleared her throat and continued, “The point is--you need to simply focus on what matters most and your magic will work out just fine. Possibly in ways you never would’ve expected.”

“Ways I never would’ve expected…” Adagio repeated what she had just heard in an attempt to process the information.

Sunset placed a hand on the yellow girl’s back, and ushered her out of the boxing ring. “Come on. Let’s you and I take a break and let one of your sisters go next.” She glanced towards the group of spectators. “Applejack, you’re up.”

“Got it,” the farm girl replied as she stood up, “You and me, Aria. Show me whatcha got.”

Aria stood up right with her and followed Applejack into the boxing ring. “Oh, I’ll show you what I can do…”

As her friends got ready to duke it out, Rainbow started impatiently tapping her foot. “Ergh--come on. I wanna get a taste of the magic too!”

“Have some patience, Rainbow,” Sunset said from the water cooler in the corner of the room as she filled her cup, “You’ll get your turn soon enough.”

The cyan girl rolled her eyes, but soon laid her eyes on the doorway that led into the room. She noticed a particularly green hand quickly moving away from the small window that led into the room they were practicing in. “What the...is that?”

In a quick blur, she rushed over to the door and opened it to find none other than… “Zephyr Breeze? What are you doing here?!”

Indeed, the young man had tried to sneak off as soon as he was spotted, but had no choice to face the music. “Oh, uh...hey Dash. I was just...looking for the yoga room and I uh...got lost?” he said, rather unconvincingly.

To which Rainbow replied with a narrow-eyed glare. “Look. I don’t care what you’re doing. Just keep away from me and my friends. I’ve already told you countless times that I’m not interested--so you just need to cut your losses and move on to someone else.”

“Aw, now that’s just mean,” Breeze said with a pouting expression as he tried to take a step towards her, “I wouldn’t dream of hurting someone as wonderful as you. Besides, Thanksgiving is coming up and I want you to--”

But Dash wasn’t having it. She stood her ground, and made herself clear--balling her fists. “Get. Away. From me.”

“Alright, alright,” he responded in a casual manner as he backed away, “But you’ll see what I have planned for us. It’ll be awesome as you say.”

“Ugh…” Dash rubbed her temples as Breeze walked away. “Can’t he ever take a hint?”

Moments later, Sonata would appear, having been looking for her for the last few minutes. “Oh, there you are. Hey, what’s wrong?”

“The usual,” Rainbow replied as she turned around, “Some weirdo can’t understand that I want nothing to do with him.”

“...How bad is he bothering you?” the siren asked with an innocent tilt of her head, “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Meh. He’s one step away from becoming a full-blown stalker,” Dash said with a scoff, “But thankfully, he hasn’t stooped to that level yet.”

Sonata looked out to the hallway with a cautious stare. “...If he bothers you again, let me know. I’ll take care of him.”

“...Thanks, Sonata. But let’s get back to the training room.” “She’s sweet, but she doesn’t seem like she’d hurt a fly.”

Little did Rainbow know...

Arc II Episode IV: Aria's Turn

“Now I’mma go easy on ya,” Applejack said to Aria while stretching her arms, “Don’t wanna hurt ya or nothin’. And we still don’t know what ya’ll are capable of just yet, so let’s--”

“Ugh, come on,” Aria groaned as she rolled her eyes, “spare me the lectures and just come at me already.”

With a determined smirk on her face, Applejack obliged. “Alright, you asked for it.”

Given that AJ’s magic primarily enhanced her physical capabilities, it led her to being more of a close-range fighter which put her at handicap against the gothic siren who could control the foundation of air itself.

Applejack leapt at her with a tae-kwon-do style kick, which Aria barely managed to dodge. She then followed this up with a sweeping kick--that Aria jumped over, and a palm strike that Aira blocked. Their entire scuffle would continue to play out like this. Every time AJ threw an attack in her direction, Aria was forced to block or dodge.

She couldn’t figure out just how or when to utilize her magic while being pressured up close.

“Gah…” the violet siren muttered as she leaned backwards to dodge another punch, “This is--I can’t--”

“Watch yer opponent’s movements,” Applejack commented as she took a step back, “A wild boar or a mean bronco is one thing, but if you ever get into a fight against another person, you gon’ hafta beat ‘em with yer mind and body.”

“Rrgh...I can barely focus in math class,” Aria muttered, “Thinking on my feet is something I’m not good at.”

“Don’t worry, sugarcube. That’s what this is for,” Applejack got into a fighting stance once more, “Now try it again, and this time try an’ make a move before I do.”

“Hmmm…” Once she understood that, things became clearer. In her first bout of quick thinking, Aria forced Applejack towards her with a strong gale force from behind.

“Woah!” she cried out as she stumbled from the sudden gust of wind.

This gave Aria the opening she needed. With another strong burst of air from her palm, she blasted Applejack onto her back in the middle of the ring. “...Holy crap--it worked.”

“Oof!” she grunted as soon as she made contact with the ring’s floor. “Not bad, sugarcube.” But she wasn’t going to stay down for long. She used her arms to spring up and off of the ring’s floor, and stand upright. Then she ran towards Aria with another flying kick.

But this time, the siren was prepared.

PLOP!

With a swift hand, Aria caught Applejack by her ankle, stopping her kick entirely. Granted, the latter was holding back since it was a mere sparring session, but despite that, she was still surprised.

“...Oh mah stars and stripes…” Applejack muttered with shrunken pupils once she realized her foot was stuck. No one had ever stopped her mid-attack before.

“...” Aria was also unable to think for a moment with her mouth agape. But she quickly regained focus when she realized she had an advantage. “Heeeyuh!” With a hefty grunt, she managed to turn Applejack’s force against her and throw her a few feet away. This was then followed up by a massive updraft of wind that force-lifted Applejack into the air.

“Gyah!” she shouted once she was flung upwards, “What in tarnation--?!”

“Got you now!” Aria boosted her jumping power with a small wind to push her into the air, and went for a mid-air roundhouse kick.

At least, that was the plan until.

SNATCH!

Applejack grabbed her leg this time, and quickly flung her back down to the boxing ring with a loud thud!

“Agh!” While she wasn’t hurt, Aria swore under her breath. “Son of a…”

AJ landed on her feet and said, “A fox don’t git in the hen house by makin’ noise, sugarcube.”

“Uch! What does that even mean?”

“I think ya know what I’m sayin’,” she said with a smug expression on her face, much to the dismay of Aria. “C’mon now. Wanna keep goin’?”

As those two continued to duke it out in the gym’s ring, Sunset and Adagio were busy spectating from the water cooler.

“Looks like Aria is still as aggro as ever, huh?” Sunset commented as she sipped her water.

“You could say something like that. She’s been like that ever since we were little mer-gals,” Adagio replied, “But you...you’ve changed since we last met, Sunset. You’re a bit more...approachable, per se. What happened in that timeframe?”

Sunset stared at the ground with a heavy, long frown. “A lot. There’s way too much to cover in one sitting. But for the moment, all you need to know is that I’ve found my place in this world,” she looked up at the yellow siren with a smile, “And I couldn’t be any happier. Though…”

“Though what?”

“...I’m still not strong enough,” Sunset looked down at her open palm, and balled it into a fist, “I may be the strongest one here, but I’m still far below that of Princess Twilight and even Starlight Glimmer. My friends are all amazing, but I can’t rely on them alone. The threats we’re facing are slowly starting to creep beyond that of what we can handle.”

That’s when Adagio started to recall another detail from the previous day. Twilight mentioned that Sunset and the other’s had gone off to fight a much more powerful creature near the edge of the city.

“...That’s right. Twilight told me about it yesterday before we took care of the chameleon. Just how strong was the demon you dealt with?”

“It was this huge, weird-looking bug-like creature,” she explained as she spread her arms apart to give a sense of scale, “Its exoskeleton was so tough that we couldn’t pierce through it. We had to combine all of our magic just to revert it back to being a fly.”

Adagio paused, then shuddered, gritting her teeth. “Yeeegh...that sounds disgusting.”

“I know, right? It was cool, but man was it a tough nut to crack,” Sunset huffed as she sat down in a nearby chair, “If this keeps up, we’re gonna be swamped with extra crap during Thanksgiving and nobody wants that. That’s why...I’d be grateful if you guys helped us.”

“Hm,” Adagio sat down next to her, crossing one leg over the other, “I don’t mind at all. You’re lucky that we’ve adapted to this world and enjoy it now. Looking back...it wasn’t very fun living in Equestria--especially once the Crusty Old Man flung us here.”

Such a strange, but apt term for Starswirl. It caused Sunset to chuckle. “Wow...I mean, you’re not wrong, but--”

With her hands behind her head, Adagio didn’t have a care in the world as she continued her spiel. “I’m serious. But this world has its perks also. Octavia in particular is a joy to hang around when she isn’t busy. So yes. It wouldn’t sit well with me if something were to happen to this world.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Sunset replied with a relieved smile, “If I can count on you guys, we may just have a chance against these things.”

The fact that Sunset wasn’t confident in herself caused Adagio’s eyes to shoot wide open. “It’s surprising to hear you say such things,” she retorted, “I figured you would be far stronger given who you worked under. After all, you learned from Celestia, and she learned things from Starswirl…”

Sunset placed her elbow on her knee, and the palm of her hand against the side of her head. “That’s just it...I didn’t learn enough from her to be anywhere near on the same level. I need the power of my friends just to have a chance. For instance--when Twilight became a corrupted version of herself, I needed to combine the power of my friends and generate a singularity just to acquire a form on par with hers.” She chuckled, then sighed. “...Ah...even then, her dog, Spike--he gave us the edge we needed when he distracted her with his voice. So needless to say, I’m still working on myself every day to make sure I get stronger too.”

“She’s got guts in her...more than I realized.” Adagio placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “...Takes a lot to admit you’re not strong enough to handle something. I respect that. That’s how I feel sometimes as well.”

“Guess we both have something in common, eh?”

“That we do, Shim. That we do…”

Arc II Episode V: Sonata's Turn

Once Aria and Applejack were done, the two of them left the boxing ring a tired, sweaty mess.

“Yeech…” the violet siren complained with a huff as she shook some of the body fluid from her hands, “Still not used to how this works. We never sweat when we were still aquatic.”

“You’ll git used to it,” Applejack commented. Despite the fact that she was also sweating, she casually exited the ring with no shortness of breath whatsoever. “Down on the farm, we work hard all year-round. No rest for the weary as Granny Smith always says.”

“...What?” Aria stumbled out of the ring after her, “That...you humans are ridiculous.”

“C’mon, let’s git ya some water…” she helped Aria up, and looked over at Rainbow Dash, “Alright. Now it’s yer turn.”

“Finally!” Dash hopped off the chair, and tossed her sweatshirt aside, leaving a rainbow-colored sports bra on her upper body. “C’mon, Sonata. You and me!”

“Ooh--this sounds exciting!” she clapped her hands, generating some static between them.

The two entered the ring, and Dash hopped back and forth on her feet, itching to start. “Alright. The simple way to deal with someone stronger than you is to pour all ya have into your attacks! Don’t let up for a second!”

Sonata grit her teeth with an ecstatic grin on her face, “I can do that no problem! Bring it--” But her excitement was short-lived. As soon as she tried to fling a bolt of electricity in Dash’s direction, there was nothing but a blur of rainbow left where she was previously standing.

SHOOM!

“Over here!” Dash called out from behind Sonata, “Can’t catch me! I’m the fastest, man!”

“Heyyyy!” Sonata pouted and turned around to try and attack her again...

SHOOM!

Only for Dash to evade again.

“Nope!” she called out from another corner of the boxing ring.

“Rrr!” Sonata growled like a lion (though it was more like a harmless kitten) as she continued her reckless assault on Rainbow Dash. Only to miss every single time.

“Nu-uh!”

“Try again!”

“Right here!”

“Oopsie!”

Soon enough, Sonata had tired herself out from overuse of her abilities. “Ah...ah….ah…” she gave heavy breaths as she held up her index finger. “One...sec…”

From the sidelines, Applejack could be seen rolling her eyes.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Dash jeered, “You gotta be faster than that if you wanna have a chance of catching me!”

Fed up with Dash’s antics, Sonata decided to go in a completely different direction. More specifically? All of them.

She raised her hairs in the air and shouted, “Stoppit, stoppit, stoppiiiiit!!”

Z-Z-ZAP!

Multiple bolts of lightning struck down from the ceiling of the room, and utilized Sonata’s body as a lightning rod. The bolts came crashing down and expanded into a massive dome of yellow bolts that swarmed around her body.

“OH CRA--” As soon as she realized there was nowhere to run, Dash squealed like a panicked banshee as she was struck with the lightning from all sides. “DRRGRGRG--!!” Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt very much by it.

“EEEYAYYY!” Sonata tackled Rainbow to the mat, putting her into a submission hold by twisting one of her legs.

“GYAH!” Dash cried out while tapping the mat with her palm, “Uncle! Uncle! I give!”

Satisfied with the outcome, Sonata stood up, and stuck out her tongue. “Nyeh!”

...Unfortunately, her sparkling effects had caused the sprinkler system in the room to activate. Water started pouring down onto everyone in an instant, to which Sunset reacted with a casual, slightly annoyed facepalm.

“Ugh. Not again…”

“Hehe...sorry,” Sonata nervously apologized with her hands behind her back.

“It’s fine,” Sunset replied as she wrung the water out of her hair, “This happens all the time when I come here to practice.”

Everyone had to leave the room--and the gym so the emergency personnel could figure out what went wrong. Thankfully, Sunset was able to explain what happened without much difficulty.

“Alright, so I’d say that was...a good start, wouldn’t you agree, guys?” Sunset looked at her friends for their input.

Applejack spoke first. “Ya’ll are pretty good, I won’t lie. Just gotta work on focusin’ more. Got anythin’ta add, Rainbow?” she looked in her direction.

Dash’s hair was still frizzled from the shocks that she had endured. “...I...I need to lie down. But that was awesome!” But as soon as she tried to take another step, she nearly stumbled. “Woah!”

Applejack managed to catch her before she hit the ground. “Don’t worry. I gotcha.” She turned to Sunset and the others. “I’mma git her back home safely, ya’ll. See ya later.” With that, she started to carry the frazzled Dash towards her car. “Don’t worry, Dash, I’ll drive.”

“I’m not officer, drunk!”

Sonata tilted her head as she watched the two walk away. “...Is she gonna be okay?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry,” Sunset said to calm her, “She always runs herself ragged after a rough training session. This isn’t new for her. So what do you three think of your new skills? Think you have a better grip on them?”

“Ehh...for the most part,” Adagio admitted. “I’m so used to swimming in water that using it on land is a bit...new for me.”

“I’ll say,” Aria added, “At first I thought controlling air would be pretty lame. But it’s actually kinda interesting. The stuff you can do with it is pretty cool.” She thought hard as she remembered the fight her sister had. “But I wonder if I can enhance it and create a weapon out of it like you do with the fire…”

“Pfft,” Sonata scoffed, “Who needs that when you can just like, shock everything? I’m gonna love using these powers. In fact, I dare any of them demons to try and hurt us now!”

While impressed with their enthusiasm, Sunset needed to keep them grounded in reality. “...Easy there, eager beaver. You’re not quite there yet. But you will be soon. If the three of your are up for it, wanna do this every week?”

The trio saw no issue with this and glanced at each other once their decision was made.

“Not at all, Shim,” Adagio confirmed, “That sounds...fun--somewhat.”

“Yes! This is great--the more hands we have on deck, the safer this world will be in the end. I appreciate you guys’ support.” But then, out of nowhere, her phone buzzed. “Hm?” She retrieved it from her pocket, and looked at the screen. “Oh, sorry. Gotta go fulfill a promise. Talk to you girls later, ‘kay?” She turned and walked towards her car while waving.

And with that, the Sirens headed towards their van.

“What do you think, girls?” Adagio asked, “Think we’ll be able to keep up with them?”

“Keep up with them? Hah--” Aria laughed sarcastically, “We’ll damn near surpass ‘em by the time we’re done. And look good while doing it.”

Sonata hopped into the back seat and gave her input, “Even if we don’t, I still wanna look cool. Never know who’s gonna be watching.”

Adagio leaned back in the front passenger seat. “Whatever the case, I just hope we can deal with all of these crazy little heathens with no issues on Thanksgiving. It’s a sacred day for the humans so I won’t let it be ruined. Understood?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m right with you,” Aria said as she flipped the key in the ignition, “Now let’s hurry up and get home. I need a shower. Hopefully you won’t flood it this time, huh sis?” she glanced at Adagio with a smug expression, causing Sonata to giggle from the back seat.

“Ugh--don’t remind me.”

As the van pulled off, a certain someone was still left behind in the bushes.

“So that’s the source of your power, huh? Master Blueblood will enjoy this…”

Arc III Episode II: My Teacher Is a Demon?

And surprisingly…

It worked.

Each and every time the class stood in a triangle, square, rectangle, or even a pentagon, they were able to solve for X each and every time with no issue. Unlike their usual geometry classes that often bored them to death (not thanks to their Cranky teacher), this class actually gave them a hands-on approach that allowed them to both visualize and understand their problems better.

To the point where even Twilight had to admit.

“...I don’t believe it. I could always solve math quickly, but only because every other teacher I’ve had has told it in an uninteresting way. This is...fun? How?”

That’s not all. When everyone sat back in their desks normally, everyone was able to answer Aidon’s examples that he put on the board with ease.

“42!” Lyra shotued.

“71!” Octavia called out.

“Negative-3!” Adagio answered.

“Perfection, class,” Aidon said as he flicked the chalk into the air and caught it in his hand. “You’re naturals.”

BRRRRRING!

The class bell rang, indicating that everyone had to get ready for lunch. To which some of the students reacted with...disappointment?

“Now now, calm down,” the professor folded his arms, “I’ll be here for the next few months. So if you all enjoyed this little class, then be sure to return.”

Various murmurs of agreement were heard in response as everyone got up and prepared to leave the room.

Aidon pushed the door open and waved as everyone exited. “See ya around, tetras.”

“That was an amazing class, sir,” Lyra said as she walked out, “Easily the most fun I’ve had in math in ages!”

“That’s the spirit, Tetra-Strings!” he replied as she left, “Keep that up as we continue!”

“Hmm…” Twilight left with a stoic, uncertain expression. She didn’t even bother with a goodbye either. “Why was he glowing...strange…or was it my imagination?”

Meanwhile, Adagio and Octavia exited the room together.

“That was more fun than I would’ve expected,” said the siren.

“Most certainly. I think I understood that better than in our regular math class.” She looked at Adagio directly. “...But remember what we discussed, alright? I don’t want you to feel pressured over your work. And I know your sisters wouldn’t either.”

Their little chat had worked wonders--Adagio was willing to comply. “Oh no, I perfectly understand. The next chance I get, I’m going to let my boss know what I think.”

Octavia responded with a smile, “That’s good. Now I need to get going. Vinyl and her friends are waiting for me at our lunch table.”

“Got it. See you later,” Adagio waved as she turned and started to walk in another direction...only to be whispered to from behind a locker.

“Psst!” a voice called to her.

“Hm?” Adagio walked over to the source of the voice and peered around the locker. “Twilight? What’s wrong?”

She held a finger over mouth and paused. Not another word was said until Twilight noticed that Aidon had gone back into the classroom. “...Okay. Did you happen to notice…”

“...A possible magical aura around Mr. Iota?” Adagio commented, “Yeah. I did.”

Twilight grabbed her tablet and started to tap upon it. “...As someone who has Equestrian magic, and you being a native Equestrian, we were the only ones in the room who could sense that aura. Which could mean…”

The siren girl looked upwards as she gave it some thought. There was only one logical conclusion for something like this. “...It’s possible that he’s from Equestria, right?”

“There’s no way to know for sure unless we--”

“Hold on a sec,” Adagio cut her off, already knowing full well where the nerd wanted to take this. “Before you say anything, do any of your little plans involve stalking him or trying to get one of his hairs?” she asked while leaning forward, “Because if so, you can count me out.”

“Um...no?” Twilight said, pushing a bag deeper into her locker with her foot.

Adagio stared at her with a flat expression, and shifted her eyes downwards. There, clear as day, were a few test tubes and plastic cases for ‘DNA’ down in that purple bag of hers. “...Uh-huh.” She stood upright. “Listen, Sparkle. We’re willing to help fight the magical demons and what have you, but only when we’re absolutely sure they’re hostile and are out to get us. Best-case scenario? It was just a lame magic trick akin to what Trixie performs.”

“Auch!” a scoff was heard from the other end of the hall, “I heard that, Dazzle!”

They both looked off in the direction of the voice, and turned back to each other.

“My point is, if you want to get involved in some crazy spy shenanigans, then do it on your own time,” Adagio said as she grabbed a pink jacket from her locker and zipped it up, “Don’t get me or my sisters wrapped up in it.”

As the siren girl left, Twilight continued to stew in her own thought process. “Hm...still very suspicious.”

That’s when Aidon walked past her with a smile on his face. “Great enthusiasm, Tetra-Twi,” he said with a friendly grin, “Knew you’d be able to solve those problems.”

“Uh...huh. Thanks. I’ll be sure to bring more enthusiasm next time too,” she said with a rather nervous smile in response.

“That’s the spirit,” he replied while walking away.

“And your spirit is not of this world. I’m sure of it.”

And nearby, in another hallway, someone else was having thoughts similar to Twilight.

“...Master Blueblood could take advantage of his magic. I need to inform him.”

Once the school day was over, everyone went their separate ways as usual.

Twilight however...was in the mood for invasion of privacy. “Alright. Time to see just how real you are, Mr. Iota.” Sneaking around and behind to the employee parking lot, the purple girl watched as the gray-skinned man went to his car--though it was more like an suv that was elevated off of the ground with large tires.

Aidon opened the door, and sat down in the driver’s seat. “Okay. How to work this thing again…” He sat the lesson plan books on the passenger seat next to him, and retrieved the owner’s manual of his vehicle from the glove compartment.

From afar, Twilight could see what he was reading with a pair of binoculars--his faint aura of dark magic was still present also. “Aha! He doesn’t even know how to drive very well. After all, nobody reads those things. He has to be from Equestria.”

While she normally caught the bus, Twilight was in full spy mode. At long last, the man managed to turn on the vehicle and back out of the parking lot with minor difficulties.

“Okay, just gotta turn the wheel in the opposite direction and…”

Once he was out on the road, he drove off at a slow, careful pace.

Just enough for our resident nerd to keep up with from afar as she walked with her tablet. “I got you now. This is gonna be good. Just need to get him when he’s standing still for a proper scan.” Yes. Apparently her tablet also had a scanning feature that could analyze the magical makeup of a being. But in order to be accurate, the subject in question needed to be perfectly still.

It would take about 20 minutes for Aidon to arrive at his house near the edge of the city on a hill. After which, he exited his vehicle, and took his supplies inside.

And outside, Twilight was hiding in a tree, wearing a brown, autumn-style military camo jacket to conceal herself against the maple leaves. “Let’s see what we can find…” After taking a few notes, Twilight utilized her binoculars once more, only to find a familiar face approaching Aidon’s door.

A pink one.

“Pinkie? What are you--?”

Pinkie Pie skipped up to the professor’s house with a pink box in her hands. She rang the doorbell, and whistled while she waited for an answer.

And soon enough, she got one. “Hello?” Aidon asked as he opened the door, and was met with a burst of confetti. “Bwah!”

POP!

“Hi Mr. Math Man! My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie! But you can call me Pinkie Pie!” she squealed, offering the box while leaning forward on her tiptoes. “You’re new at our school so I decided to bring you some Welcome Donuts to help you feel, well, welcome!” she finished her introduction with a toothy, ear-to-ear smile.

After recovering from the initial shock of being ambushed at his door, the professor cleared his throat and responded. “Oh, er...thank you, Ms. Pie.” His eyes sparked and he pointed fingerguns at her. “Or should I say, Ms. 3.1415--”

“9265359!” she finished his sentence with a giggle, “It’s Pi! That’s my favorite number in the world!”

“Wait a minute...his aura…” When reciting the digits of pi, Twilight could see his dark aura flare up once more--albeit barely. From her perspective across the street, she watched the two converse and would then witness Aidon accept the pink box before closing the door. “Curious...his magic gets stronger in mathematical scenarios? This makes no sense. But I wonder if Pinkie noticed it.”

Speaking of which, the next time Twi put her binoculars up, Pinkie suddenly disappeared--nowhere in sight at all. “What--where’d she--”

“Hey Twilight!” the pink girl suddenly poked her head into view of the binoculars--while upside-down.

“WAH!” Twilight squealed and fell backwards, landing on the ground next to the tree.

Arc III Episode III: Confirmed Suspicions

Meanwhile, at the music shop…

Adagio clocked in as usual. Thankfully, there were no crazy demons or magical mishaps that prevented her from being on time today. As she went to go manage the front desk, she watched as Wendy zipped past her and into the back room where Blueblood’s office was located.

“...What the…” she tilted her head in confusion. “What’s she in such a hurry for?”

It was something that the siren wasn’t prepared to hear, that’s for sure.

She entered Blueblood’s office and shut the door behind her. “Boss. I found something. Something that may benefit your pursuit of power.”

The blonde man stopped in the middle of sorting files, and turned to look at her from his chair. “Oh? What is it?”

“The new teacher at the school has Equestrian magic--dark magic to be precise. I can feel it. He’s from there just like me,” she explained. “What should I do? Dark magic is some of the strongest magic known to man--er, pony.”

Blueblood leaned forward on his desk. “Does he seem rather devoted to those students? Do they like him?”

“From what I can tell? Yes. Easily the most well-received math teacher they’ve gotten so far. And that’s saying something, given the general distaste for the subject.”

After carefully thinking over all possible angles, Blueblood decided on what Wendy should do. “...Go drop in and say hello. See if you can sweet-talk him into our side with those charms of yours.”

The blue-haired girl raised an eyebrow. “Blackmail, sir?”

“Exactly,” he replied.

And with that, a devious smile crept up across her face. “I like it. I’ll make it so that he can’t refuse. As a male teacher, his position is far too easy to compromise.”

“That’s right. Now get going--we’ll start on this operation tomorrow.”

“Understood, master Blueblood.”

Once they were done talking, Wendy left the office…

And behind the open door, Adagio was standing there. Having eavesdropped on the entire conversation. “That harlot...who does she think she is?” As of that moment, the ball was in Adagio’s court. Since neither of them knew that she had been listening, she could continue to work and get paid as normal while also being privy to information that could be used against others. “First Twilight, now the new girl and my boss. What does everyone have against Mr. Aidon? He hasn’t done anything remotely suspicious.”

There wasn’t much time for her to dwell upon it. Adagio had to get back to her position at the register before they noticed she was gone. She simply walked back up to the front of the store as if she had gone to the restroom. And no one was the wiser. “Gotta think of how to explain this to Aria and Sonata. Hopefully they believe me before the rumors…”

On the other side of town…

“Pinkie!” Twilight cried out in a huff as she dusted herself off, “Where did you--ugh, never mind. Give me a warning next time before you drop in on me like that.”

“Sorry! I just couldn’t help but notice you were sitting up there in a tree looking super serious with binoculars pointed at Mr. Iota’s house,” she rambled while making circles with her hands and putting them over her eyes to represent binoculars. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were spying on him like some freaky-deaky creepo. But you’re not that kinda person, right?” she said with an innocent expression as she leaned forward.

“Uhhh…” Twilight leaned backwards, and hesitated. “...Well, I wasn’t spying per se. I was just...making sure he got home safely. The city is really big so it’s easy to get turned around...hehe,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Pinkie glared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow, but soon dropped the expression in favor of her usual friendly one. “Okie-dokie-lokie! But it’s way easier to just send him an email, ya know? See ya tomorrow!” she replied while skipping off down the sidewalk.

“Whew…” the nerd breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled out her tablet. “Now if I can just get a good glimpse of him…”

Inside the house…

The man had removed his red suit and placed it in his laundry room as he thought over how his first day of teaching went. “Went much better than I expected. Suppose everything is safe at that school.”

“Don’t be so sure. I never know who could be out there waiting for me to expose yourself for who I really am. Remember what you were taught. Lesson #1: Always strike first.”

“Wait what What am I saying? This place is much more peaceful than where I came from. I don’t have to worry about any wars or persecution just for being a different shade.”

“But it’s that very shade that caused me to run from where I came in the first place. I can’t hide forever.”

“Tch! Agh!” The man rubbed the sides of his head with his fingers as he felt a sudden surge of pain throughout. “Keep it together...keep it together...you’re better than this…no one needs to know. No one…”

Later that evening, at the Dazzling’s home…

Sonata was busy playing an online game on a console in the living room, exasperated at her experience. “Ugh. Is it possible to get good teammates that don’t separate from the group?”

“That game will only lead to rage and more rage,” Aria commented from the hallway while brushing her hair in the mirror, “Better just give up if you’re expecting any semblance of direction.”

“Girls!” Adagio stormed into the house with a screech. “We have a problem.”

“Agh!” Aria shouted as she tugged upon her hair with the brush a bit harder than she meant to, “Son of a--gimme a warning next time, would ya? Good thing I finished doing my nails beforehand.”

“Oh...sorry,” Adagio closed the door behind herself, and sat on the couch. “Alright, listen up…”

Once she explained what she had overheard from her boss and one of her associates, her sisters had their own takes on the situation.

“Well that sounds pretty creepy,” Sonata commented with a shudder, “Brrr...can’t imagine what it’s like working for someone like Blueblood and calling him ‘master’ or whatever.”

Aria thought more critically. “Master...is it possible that she’s from Equestria and she’s at his control? It wasn’t uncommon for ponies and other folks who lived in that world to have familiars.”

“But a human with an Equestrian familiar?” Adagio questioned, “That doesn’t seem quite right. For one, how did he manage to acquire her. And two...why is she following him?”

Sonata scratched the side of her head. “Famili--ohhhh you mean demon servants, right?”

“Basically, yeah,” Aria said as she brushed the curls out of her hair, “Doesn’t necessarily have to be a demon. But they’re loyal as heck to their masters.”

Sonata snapped her fingers upon recalling something. “Oh yeah. I think Princess Celestia had like--a phoenix familiar or something--I totes remember now.” Her expression promptly turned blank as she tried to think of what to do next. “So uh...what now? That math teacher guy doesn’t seem suspicious, does he?”

“As far as I can tell, he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Adagio replied, “But as of this moment, we’re ahead of Blueblood and Wendy Goetia. And we need to keep it that way.”

That name had some merit in the demonic world. To the point where Aria couldn’t stop thinking, “Goetia….Goetia. So if she’s from Equestria and is a familiar...I wonder what she was before she came here.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Adagio said as she turned on the couch so her legs could dangle off the side. “Above all else, keeping you two safe is my priority. So leave everything to me.”

“...You sure that’s a good idea, sis?” Aria said with a doubtful tone, “I don’t want you burning yourself out.”

“Yeah,” Sonata added, “That’d be like, really bad…”

But the eldest siren wasn’t concerned. “Pfft,” she scoffed and waved her hand, “You worry too much. You know I can handle anything that comes our way…..ahh….” she yawned, and started to fall asleep on the couch.

Even so, Aria and Sonata exchanged an apprehensive glance with each other. Was their sister really capable of doing everything on top of preparing for the holidays?

Arc III Episode IV: Some Demons Are Nice

The next day…

Aidon got ready for his second day at work. Once he was properly dressed up--in a dull purple suit this time, he looked outside and noticed how much heavy rain was coming down. “Huh...that’s unexpected.” Naturally, he put on a raincoat in response--it was all black with a few horizontal red stripes near the middle. “Good. Let’s get going.”

“And hopefully avoid any trouble.”

Armed with an umbrella, the man hurried out of his house and briskly walked to his suv. The rain pattered down against the ground with hefty slams that sounded akin to wet bullets. Thankfully, Aidon would be safe within the confines of his vehicle on the way to work.

“Alright,” he said while closing the umbrella and shutting the car door, “Hopefully there won’t be too many other individuals going the same direction as myself.” Once he started it up, he pulled out of the driveway and was off.

His commute was rather uneventful for the most part as he listened to some music on the vehicle’s CD player. However, something caught his attention on the side of the road that caused him to pull over. “Huh?” Once he slowed down, he found what appeared to be two people looking under the hood of their vehicle. A red sedan with green stripes and apple decals on both sides.

“Hold the light steady, Applebloom, I can’t see nuthin’ in here!” a young woman wearing a yellow raincoat said as she reached her tools under the hood.

“I’m tryin’,” the younger girl huffed, wearing a raincoat of her own, “But it ain’t easy with this here rain! It’s like cats and dogs and pigs and chickens out here!”

From his car, the professor could hear their voices. “The Tetra-Apples?” he thought, “They look like they’re in trouble.”

“Or it could be a trap.”

“But that’s not likely.”

Aidon rolled down his window and called out to them. “Hey. You both alright?”

“Huh?” Applejack turned her head to the right with a wrench in hand, “Oh yeah. You must be the new professor at school. Yeah, we’re fine, but we’re in a bit of a tizzy. My car’s battery is dead and now it looks like we gotta rough it’ta school in this downpour.”

“I knew we shoulda carpooled with Big Mac,” Applebloom complained with an eyeroll. “Now we gon’ be late!”

“I can’t leave them like this.” The professor pressed a button to unlock the back doors. “Here, hop in. I’ll give you two a ride to school. Can you call a tow truck?”

“...You’d do that fer us?” AJ said with a bit of surprise in her voice, “I don’t know what’ta say.”

Applebloom had already rushed over to the jet-black hummer-like vehicle. “I do: Thank ya kindly!”

Unable to refuse the offer, Applejack called for a tow truck, and hopped into the vehicle right after. She looked down, only to realize how much water was on them both and apologized as they put on their seatbelts. “Er...sorry fer gettin’ yer seats a bit wet.”

“Ah, it’s fine,” he replied as he adjusted the rearview mirror, “I’ll dry ‘em out later. Wasn’t gonna let you two walk through the rain to get to school. You might’ve caught a cold.”

“Yeah, Applejack,” the younger sister snidely commented with a raised eyebrow, “Just ‘cuz ma, pa, and Granny Smith did it don’t mean got to.”

“Well thankfully we got lucky this time,” she said while playfully rubbing her little sister on the head, “Thank ya, Mr--uh, what was yer name again?”

“Aidon Umbros Iota,” he stated formally, then snickered, “But Professor Aidon is just fine.”

“Well thank you kindly, Mr. Ay-den,” she replied with a nod, “Hope ya stick around--could use more teachers like you. From what I’ve heard, everyone likes ya which is wild seein’ as you’re a geometry teacher.”

Applebloom scoffed, and glared at her sister. “Applejack! How rude!”

“Oh stop. You know you don’t enjoy math class,” she shot back.

“Yeah, you make a good point. I appreciate that honesty,” he replied amicably, “Math is a very unpopular subject in many a school so I’m glad I could give it better reception here.”

Once the tow truck arrived, Aidon pulled off and started driving towards the school.

But once again, a certain someone was hiding nearby. Even as it rained, her efforts were unparalleled. “Good. Got multiple photographs of them entering his vehicle. Soon, he’ll be wrapped around my finger.”

The rest of the car ride was rather uneventful. But Applebloom did try to make conversation with her sister.

“Oh. I just remembered. One of my new classmates has been actin’ weird.”

“Weird how? Is he some kinda magical bein’ from Equestria?” Applejack asked with a rhetorical snicker.

“Mm-mm,” Bloom shook her head, “But he likes’ta draw stuff like vampires in a notebook. He's always seen with bottle'uh cranberry juice. And he’s got this lil’ overbite,” she held her index fingers against the sides of her mouth to represent fangs, “Think they’re real?”

Applejack rolled her eyes with a half-hearted smile. “Applebloom. You know better than’ta judge somebody by looks alone. Take some time with yer friends and help him feel welcome, ya hear?”

“Okay…” she sat back in the car seat, but then her eyes shot open. She turned her head so she could listen in harder for the music that was playing through the stereo system. “Wait a sec. Do mah ears deceive me or is that the new Coloratura single, Mr. Ay-don?”

“Hm?” he glanced into the rearview mirror, and back to the wet road in front of him with his windshield wipers on full power. “Yeah it is. It’s called ‘Breaking Free’. Her music is pretty awesome isn’t it?”

“You listen to Rara?” Applejack asked, “Guess she’s pretty popular. But I never would’a guessed…”

“What? That a math teacher would enjoy pop music?” he said with a chuckle, “C’mon, Tetra-Jack. The power of music is just like math: It’s universal.”

Applebloom leaned forward with a giddy smile. “Turn it up, sir!”

“Ahem,” her sister glared at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean uh,” Applebloom lowered her voice and corrected herself, “Would ya mind turnin’ it up, please?”

“No problem, Tetra-Bloom,” he obliged and cranked the volume dial up so they could hear it.

And the result? The sisters reacted in their own ways.

While Applejack bobbed her head back and forth to the sound of her friend’s voice, Applebloom took to actively singing along.

“I know you wanna see me but ya messed up, man~! But you never gonna catch me--uh!--that’s the plaaaan~! I’m on my own now, doin’ my thang! So if you try’ta touch me, I’mma hitya with a bang!”

“You know Coloratura, personally?” Aidon asked, “That’s quite fortunate. I bet you all have access to her music a bit earlier than the rest of us.”

“Well…” Applejack thought back to the fact that Applebloom had piles of Coloratura’s signed CD’s in her bedroom assorted chronologically in a specific corner of her room, and watched as her sister recited the entire song. “You could say that.”

Soon enough they had all arrived at the school. Aidon stopped at the front of it to allow the two farmer girls to exit and head in the front entrance.

“Alright, here we are. See you tetragrams inside.”

Applejack and Applebloom exited and hopped down off of the large suv and waved.

“Thanks again, Professor!” the elder sister said while hurrying up to the campus grounds.

“Yeah, ‘ppreciate it!” Applebloom added and followed her sister, scurrying through the rain as fast as she could.

Aidon pulled around to the employee parking in the back of the school and sighed. “Whew...glad they got there safely. Just hope their car won’t be too banged up.”

“But at the same time, if I do too many favors for students, everyone will want them.”

“But that’s nonsense. It was ultimately the right thing to do. I don’t regret that.”

“Rrgh...c’mon, stop letting it get to you. You have a class to teach…now I just have to get that musical measuring tape...”

Arc IV Episode I: Student Pressure

Inside the school’s hallways…

“And he just gave you a ride? That’s...unexpected,” Twilight responded to Applejack’s story.

“It was just a small favor, Twi,” AJ said as she put her raincoat in her locker, “Ya make it sound as if he ain’t worth trustin’. You know better than that.”

Of course, once she was in a state of mental analytics, it was hard to get Twilight to stop. “Okay, but did you happen to see any magical aura surrounding his body? Anything at all?” She asked desperately with her hands grasping at the country gal’s shoulders.

To which she responded with a flat, deadpan expression. “You got some real issues, girl,” she said while grabbing Twilight’s hands and pulling them off of her, “Hold yer horses and chill. There ain’t no magic comin’ from yer ‘tetro-gram’ teacher,” she said with mocking air quotes.

“Excuse me,” a voice called out to them from nearby, “Twilight? Applejack? Got a minute?”

The two looked over to see Adagio, Aria, and Sonata walking up to them with concerned looks on their faces.

“What’s the matter, ya’ll?” Applejack asked.

Twilight was about to make an obvious inquiry, “Does it have to do with--”

“No.” Adagio pulled them both into a huddle along with her sisters. “Listen up. Watch your backs around the new girl in our age group.”

“Goetia?” said Applejack.

“I believe she’s been taking extra Home-Ec classes,” Twilight pointed out, noting the schedule, “But not at the same time as any of us.”

“That’s probably intentional, Twizzlers,” Aria commented, “We’ve got reason to believe that she’s a familiar from Equestria working for Blueblood. That’s why she doesn’t wanna share any classes with us. She wants to keep her distance.”

Applejack paused and raised a confused eyebrow. She was about to open her mouth and ask something but Sonata was ahead of her.

“It’s basically a demon servant,” said the blue siren, “She’s working for him--but we’re like, not exactly sure how strong she is or how he got her on his side.”

“Whatever the case, we just want you to be aware of what’s going on,” Adagio warned them, “If anyone is going to start something, it’s her.”

Twilight, being the cautious person she was, started to take notes on the situation. “Hmmm…very odd indeed. I’ll make sure Sunset and the others know of what’s going on. And then maybe, just maybe, Mr. Iota is linked to this…”

“Ugh, wouldja give it a rest, Twi?” Applejack retorted with a groan, “Ain’t nothin’ta suggest that he’s evil yet. LIke sirens just said, we gotta find more evidence before we slam anyone. Even this ‘Go-ay-sha’ gal. Whoever she is. What I wanna know, is how did ol’ Blueboy manage’ta summon a demon? Ain’t he human and ya know, not magical?”

“Guess it’s possible for humans to acquire magic too?” Aria mused, “Wonder if it’s similar to our Aether Skills? Didn’t you say it exists everywhere? Humans should have it too, right?”

“Something like that,” Twilight replied, “Humans have dormant aether--it’s their life force. Like me and my friends, we managed to activate ours by resonating with Equestrian magic. So it’s entirely plausible that he may have been exposed to it and summoned a demon to act as his familiar.”

The conversation was moving a bit fast for the farm girl. But she was just barely able to keep up as she thought about further possibilities. “Okaaaaay…but if that’s the case, what kinda demon is she? There’s hundreds--prolly thousands’a demons that exist in the netherworld or whatever.”

“You leave that to me,” Adagio asserted herself, “I work with her and she doesn’t know that we know. I’ll find out all that I can before we can get ambushed.”

“And while you do that, I’ll keep an eye on our new professor,” Twilight said, “I just have this feeling…”

Applejack took out her phone and started to compose a text message. “And I’ll let Sunset and the others know about...what all ya’ll just said.”

Everyone broke the huddle and went off in the direction of their respective classes as if nothing happened in order to remain inconspicuous.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t accounted for Wendy’s superior sneaking skills.

The milk-white girl glared at the group as they dispersed from around one of the nearby corners that led to another hallway of lockers. “They were discussing something for sure. But what? They think they’re smooth. But I’m one step ahead of them all.”

Meanwhile...

Twilight arrived at her Projective Geometry class a bit early so she could catch the professor for a few minutes to herself without interruption. “Excuse me,” she said as she entered the room, closing the door behind her, “Professor Aidon?”

The man was already putting some notes together, but stopped on a dime to listen to the purple girl. “Hm? Oh, Ms. Sparkle. What can I do for you?”

“Answer a few questions,” she stated while narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

“No, not at all,” he replied as he sat the papers aside, “What would you like to know?”

She started off simplistic with rather normal student-teacher questions first. “Are you a local professor or did you come from a university overseas?”

And he promptly answered, “Oh, yes. I do most of my work here.”

“I see. Granted, Pinkie Pie told me that you were new in town,” Twilight adjusted her glasses, “Are you from around here or…?”

“Dammit. She’s onto m--no...relax. There’s no way that she knows.” Aidon’s mind wandered for a few seconds before he responded, “Ah, uh...yes, you could say that. I only recently moved here.”

“Aha! Now to see if he really is from Equestria.” Twilight folded her arms, now even more suspicious than before, but put on a face of curiosity. “Ooh, that sounds interesting. Where are you from exactly?”

Aidon was at a loss for a moment. “Ah, damn…” There was no way he could reveal that information to a student. He had to deflect. “Erm...ahem--no offense, but what makes you ask such a thing?”

Unfortunately, Twilight had already thought up a way to play through this game of verbal chess. “Well, I’d simply like to figure out where you obtained your credentials from. I’d like to become a professor myself someday,” she said with a prideful smile as this was partially true, “So if I can find out about any prolific institutes that I could potentially learn from. So...where are you from?”

“She’s playing you. Get rid of her--approach the situation calmly.” Once he gathered his thoughts, he formed a response. “Er...the South. One city over. It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten the name of it, see…”

“San Francis City?” Twilight asked.

Aidon snapped his fingers. “That’s it--that’s the one. Yeah, I was there for a while but I only really focused on getting to and from the university to study certain subjects and not much else.”

“Hm…” While she could relate to that, she wasn’t going to drop her guard. Twilight remained vigilant and continued to keep a close eye on the man. “Alright...that makes sense. I’ll come to you if I have anymore questions, sir. Sorry if this came off as a bit...invasive.” With that, she walked away and took her seat.

“...Thank goodness,” the professor thought to himself with a mental sigh of relief, “Who knows what she and the others would think of me if they found out. It wouldn’t be pretty.”

Arc IV Episode II: Student Blackmail

While everyone was in their respective classes, Wendy had taken to hiding in one of the supply closets and contacting her boss.

“Hello? Go ahead, Wendy.”

“Master Blueblood? Good. I think they’re starting to catch on, sir. We can’t wait any longer. We need to strike as soon as possible.”

On the other end of the call, the man huffed as he weighed his options. “Hrm…” Soon enough, he came to a conclusion. “Alright. Do you still have the photographs of the new professor’s eccentric activity?”

From her pocket, Wendy grabbed the small pictures of Aidon accepting donuts from Pinkie, giving Applejack and Applebloom a ride to school, and having items such as rope and box cutters in the trunk of his vehicle. “That I do, sir. With one quick spin, these pictures are going to look extremely incriminating.”

“Good. That’ll teach him to get too friendly with the students,” Blueblood said with a snicker, “Make him an offer he can’t refuse. That way, we’ll eliminate him from being a potential threat. After that, I want you to go ahead and take Adagio’s magic by force as soon as she’s done with her shift today. I’ll make sure she’ll spend the entire time moving and stacking boxes filled with heavy instruments so that she’ll be too tired to fight back against you.”

Wendy squealed, and giggled. “Ooh! That’s genius, sir! You really know how to make a plan. Then I’ll finally be able to flex my powers and put that unsung sea demon in her place.”

“And that’s why you’re my favorite worker. Now get going before someone gets suspicious of you.”

“Of course, sir. Right away, sir.” Wendy hung up her phone, and snickered to herself as she put the pictures away. “...If that really is dark magic, I’m SO taking it for myself.”

Meanwhile, in the Pro-Geometry class…

This time around, the class had been given measuring tape that made musical flourishes depending on whether or not they had gotten their answers right. Not only did it make the class twice as fun, but the musically inclined Octavia and Adagio were both having a blast as they wrote notes each time a fanfare was played.

DING-DING-DING!

“BWAH!” Twilight yelped upon hearing the music when she measured out the distance of the triangle on the floor in the middle of the room, causing her glasses to nearly fall off her face. “Oh. It’s just the...ahem. Right.”

“That’s correct, Tetra-Sparkle,” Aidon noted from the front of the room. “Knew you’d get that one. It was easy. Alright, who’s up next?”

Twilight set the measuring tape down and handed it off to Lyra as she took her seat. “...As much as I’d like to deny it. This is both informative and entertaining. But I’m still not sure about him.” She watched as Aidon’s dark aura continued to permeate around his body in the thinnest of outlines.

“Oh this is awesome,” Adagio muttered as she wrote down numbers in her notebook, “I never even knew musical measuring tape was a thing.”

“Neither did I,” Octavia said with a giggle, “How’s that for modern? I wonder if your shop sells anything like that.”

“Nah, it’s mostly old stuff,” Adagio said with a dismissive eye roll as soon as the subject of her workplace was brought up. “You might like it though. We have loads of trinkets and relics from the past involving music such as these beautiful Greek syrinxes that were generously donated.”

“Is that right?” Octavia asked with a set of excitable eyes, “I’ve been dying to try one of those out for myself. Think I could come by and check them out?”

Adagio responded with an equally enthused expression. “Sure! I’ve been wanting you to come by anyway--so I’ll be sure to show you around. A music buff like you would be a joy to discuss these ancient devices with.”

“Stellar. I’ll try to be there before the shop closes today.”

With that established, Adagio was elated to finally be able to show one of her close friends the fruits of her passions.

Once the class was over, and everyone moved to the various rooms to get to their next lessons, Wendy took the time to slip her way into Aidon’s classroom and close the door behind herself.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Hm?” the man tilted his head as he looked at this girl--an individual who wasn’t even taking his class. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Well...I think a better question is: Can you help yourself?”

He took off his glasses, and stared at her with a more stoic expression. “Pardon?”

Wendy stepped forward and showed him the photographs she had taken. “These photos look normal enough, don’t they? But what would happen if they got leaked to the school board…” she said with a wry grin.

“What is she on about?” Genuinely confused, Aidon had no other option than to play the ignorance card. “I don’t believe I follow. All I see is pictures taken of myself with Pinkie, the Apple sisters, and items in the trunk of my vehicle.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you stalking me, miss? Because I’m sure that’s rather damning in and of itself.”

“...Wow. You’re dumber than I thought,” the girl shook her head as she chuckled, “In that case, I’ll spell it out for you: A male teacher getting along too well with his female students? Inviting them to his house? Picking them up in his car? Not to mention calling everyone by cutesy nicknames,” she said while mockingly clasping her hands together, “All while you have items such as rope and hunting knives in your trunk. What are those even for? Wait--you know what? I don’t even care. You’re still looking suspicious either way. All it takes is one claim of harassment and your life is over.”

His pupils shrank as he started to comprehend just what she was saying. “...So that’s what she’s doing. I thought those were just friendly gestures that humans performed for fellow humans. Is pony culture really that different from human culture?” But he quickly composed himself, and asked, “...What is your reasoning for doing this?”

Wendy put the pictures away in her pockets, and leaned against one of the empty desks with a smug expression. “Let’s just say I want you to stay in your place. I know what you are and you’re not about to get in our way Mr. Shadow Pony--or should I say Shadowman? Hm. Regardless, you better head straight home today, or else.”

“Dammit all. She knows what I am. If that’s the case, then she’s probably from Equestria as well.” Aidon stood up from his desk, his dark aura started to radiate off of his body. “You lay a finger on any of them, and you’ll have hell to pay, understand?”

“Mmm…I don’t think so.” she pulled out a blueberry candy stick from her pocket and started to nibble upon it. “It’s my word against yours. And here in the human world, teachers are put under far more scrutiny than in Equestria. Especially the male ones. Like I said, all it takes is one little claim that you’ve touched me. So if you want your career to be over and to be outcast a second time, just say the word. I’ll make it happen.”

“...”

‘A second time.’ Not only was Wendy aware of Aidon’s nature as a Shadow Pony, but she could also tell that he was brought into this world as an outcast from Equestria and wanted to get a fresh start. To lose something so valuable a second time…

Wendy took his silence as weakness and continued with her arrogant spiel. “That’s what I thought. Take a seat, and don’t act out of line again.” After which, she turned and left the classroom.

All Aidon could do was sit down in his seat and run his hands through his hair as he let loose a troubled exhale. “What am I going to do...I can’t let her win. Whatever she is…”

Arc IV Episode III: Demons In The Workplace

After school ended, Adagio went to work as always, but with far more apprehensiveness than usual. From her perspective, she knew she was ahead of Wendy and her plans. “If she tries anything, she’ll have something else coming beforehand. My sisters are already waiting for anything…”

But as she’d soon find out, things were a bit different on this day.

As soon as she stepped in and got ready to start her shift, Blueblood would approach her.

“Hey, Adagio. Can you do something for me?”

“Hm?” she looked around to make sure Wendy wasn’t present, and answered. “Um, sure I guess? What would you like me to do, sir?”

Blueblood led her to the storage room where loads of boxed items could be seen out of place and disorganized. “...My usual stockman had a prior engagement. Would you mind sorting these for me? No need to unpack them. Just set them up near this wall here,” he pointed to the bare wall next to the door, “so that the stockman can have an easier time when he returns. Sounds good?”

“Huh. Is that really all he wants from me? Guess it won’t be a problem if I’m being paid extra.” Since she saw no problem with this, Adagio agreed to the terms. “Alright, sir. I’ll get started right away.”

“Excellent…” Blueblood said as he left the room. As soon as he did, he chuckled to himself. “And once you’re done with all of that, you’ll be too tired to fight back once the ritual begins.”

Wendy approached him moments later with a jittery set of knees that shook from excitement. “How much longer?” she pleaded, “I’m dying to steal her--”

“Shhhh…” Blueblood placed his index finger over her lips to quiet her. “Patience, my dear. Patience.” He then patted her on the head. “You’re a lovely little loyal lady, so I’m going to ensure that you have everything you want. Just give it time…”

The gesture calmed her down, almost like a perfectly-trained animal. “Ahem...right. Yes sir. What shall I do in the meantime?”

“Man the front register,” Blueblood ordered, as he fixed his sleeves, “We’re still open so we don’t want to look oddly understaffed.”

“Sir,” she saluted and put on an apron as she walked out to the front of the store.

In the storage room…

“Rrgh!” Adagio struggled to move the first box that was full of heavy pieces of piano parts. “Yikes. This stuff is heavy. How do those stockboys manage?” She thought back to the muscular boys she saw at the gym. “Ah...that must be it. They utilize the workout facility. Humans really are strange. On the one hand, they constantly destroy themselves via war, and on the other, they constantly build themselves up. I wonder which side makes up the true face of mortality…”

After finishing up with moving the first box, Adagio ended up sneezing from the amount of dust near the corner of the storage room. “Eh-chew! Ugh...is there no such thing as a cleaning crew here? Hm?” Near one of the boxes was a shelf of old books--the source of her dust problem. She took a step towards it, and found that there were books about the supernatural and other forms of understanding the paranormal. “That’s new...wonder what this could be about.”

That’s when she realized: One book was missing from the shelf.

“Hm...I wonder if he has it. And if so, what it could be about...better keep working before he gets suspicious, though.”

And work she did. About three hours of moving and sorting heavy boxes filled to the brim with wood, glass, and metal parts until it was about 6PM and getting dark already due to fall’s shorter days. Sweat started to pour down her body from the stress combined with the poor ventilation of the storage room. It became akin to a sauna in a flash--a very dry, very painful sauna.

“Yeesh...at least I’m getting fifty an hour for this…” she said while lifting her shirt up halfway to wipe the sweat from her head.

Meanwhile…at the same time...

As Aidon drove through the city, he thought to himself about the blackmail that he had been dealt earlier that day. “I don’t get it...what exactly could she be trying to keep me away from? Gah...is it really worth risking my current life over? I only just got started…”

He pulled his vehicle into a market parking lot...across the street from the antique music shop. There, he would get out of his car and pull out a grocery list. “Alright, now what do I need here…?”

Soon enough, Adagio would be far too tired to keep going. She had to stop, and drink some water to replenish her stamina. “Yeesh...that was a lot,” she muttered while looking at all the boxes she had moved over those hours. They were now neatly piled along the wall just as Blueblood had asked of her.

From the other room, Wendy was listening in on Adagio’s tired, heavy breaths. “She’s slowly drying up, Master.”

“Alright. Allow me to fetch the spellbook from my office. This won’t take long at all,” he replied as he walked down the hall.

Soon enough, Adagio returned from the storage room with rivers of sweat rolling down the side of her face. But as soon as she returned to the much cooler front of the store, she let out a sigh of relief while shutting her eyes blissfully. “Ahhh...much better. You guys really need to install some AC back there. Either that or it was just me.”

Wendy had a devious grin on her face behind her. “Oh, it’s probably just you…”

Ding-dong…

The front door’s bell chimed, indicating that someone had entered.

“Oh my. This place is downright amazing...” Octavia muttered as she looked around at the various shelves of small musical trinkets like old guitar picks and horn valves. The glass desks near the counter housed more valuable items such as parts made of actual gold and diamonds akin to that of a jewelry store. And behind the register, on the wall were various large instruments like susaphones, French horns, and accordions. “I really wished I had come here sooner…”

“Octavia? Hey!” Adagio said with a tired wave of her hand from behind the register, having assumed her usual position as soon as she heard the door go off. “So glad you’re here. There’s this cool Indo-xylophone that I want to show you.”

But the musician could already tell what state her friend was in as she walked up to the counter. “Erm...are you alright? You look rather worse for wear…”

“Hm? Oh yes, I’m fine...just working hard as usual…”

Soon enough, Blueblood would return with the spellbook as the girls were having their casual conversation. “Hm...now this is a problem…”

Wendy looked in his direction. “What should I do, sir?”

Octavia’s presence served as a small hurdle for the man, but he didn’t allow it to topple his plans. “Alright. I’ve got it. You head out back to the alley and wait there, please.”

“On it,” Wendy replied as she went through the hallway and out of the back door.

Blueblood stepped forward and interjected their conversation. “Hey there, Ms. Melody. I see you’ve taken a liking to our merchandise.”

“Is this her boss? I wonder...” Octavia thought to herself with a cautious leer in his direction. “...Yes. I’m quite the history buff when it comes to various cultures and their music.”

“Oh, that reminds me. We just had a shipment of drums that came in from South Zebrica,” Blueblood said as he pointed to the back of the building, “If you’ll join me, I’ll gladly show them to you.”

The gray girl’s penchant for musical paraphernalia that she had not yet experienced got the better of her. “Oh, yes! Come on, Adagio! Show me, please?”

In her tired state, the yellow siren’s sense of judgement was clouded. All she could do was get up from her seat and stretch. “Huh? Sure. I probably need to bring those in anyways…”

With a satisfied smile, Blueblood led them out to the back of the music store and into the alley where trucks would normally pull in to drop off their equipment. Except today...there wasn’t one.

Octavia was quick to point this out. “Erm...where are the--? Hey! What the bloody hell--?!”

And in a flash, Blueblood suddenly put his arm around her neck, holding her to his body.

“What--Blueblood, what are you doing?!” Adagio yelled as she turned to see her friend held captive by her boss. “Let her go!”

“I will,” he said with a small chuckle, “Don’t worry. This is just an unforeseen accident.” In his free hand, he started to read from what appeared to be an old spellbook. “Ελάτε και σκορπίστε πνεύματα χάους του κρύου!”

“Rrrgh!” Octavia tried her best to struggle, but locked eyes on something else that caused her to stop on a dime. “...D-Dagio...behind you!”

Adagio turned around to see Wendy standing there. Her eyes were now solid white and shining against the darkness of the evening’s moonlight. Her human form started to fade away as a harsh, cold wind started to blow around the alley, forcing a chill down their spines.

“Your power belongs to my master now, Adagio Dazzle! I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I came to this wretched place!” Soon enough, Wendy’s human form had disappeared and she had transformed into a transparent, ghostly horse creature that was the size of a house.

A wendigo.

Arc IV Episode IV: The Wendigo's Fury

“...I should have known…” Adagio mumbled as she looked up into the sky, gritting her teeth. Her loss of stamina from all of the boxes she moved prevented her from fighting back right away. “The name should’ve given it away. But how did a wendigo from Equestria get here?!”

Blueblood casually shut the book. “I’ve picked up a thing or two. Now...give yourself up. Or your friend gets it.” He tightened his grip around Octavia’s neck, causing the girl to cry out.

“Ack! Unhand me you fool!” she screamed, “Don’t listen to him, ‘Dagio!”

SLAP!

“Silence,” Blueblood ordered as he delivered a backhand across the side of her face.

Adagio instinctively tried to leap at him, “You animal!” But her strained body prevented her from accomplishing anything. She ended up stumbling and kneeling down on one of her knees. “Grrh!”

FWOOSH!

Goetia lowered the temperature of the air, causing Octavia and Adagio’s body to shiver uncontrollably. “Relinquish your magic to me while you still have some honor left within you,” her voice boomed with a loud reverb above the alley, “And I may just spare your lives.”

With an intense grimace, Adagio gazed up at the wendigo and snarled. “A queen of the ocean submits to no one.’

Meanwhile…

Twilight had been busy writing notes at her desk with the window to her bedroom open. But she dropped her pen as soon as she was jolted by a sudden waft of unreasonably cold air.

“Brrrr…what the…” she muttered as she looked outside. “That’s odd. It’s not supposed to be this cold right now. The forecast said it would be chilly--not freezing.” But as soon as she laid eyes on the source of the sudden chill, her eyes practically shrunk into her head. “WHAT--?!”

There was no time to waste. Twilight immediately grabbed her running shoes, a hoodie, her tablet, and her geode. “I’m heading out for a walk, mom!”

It was more like a run. The purple nerd sprinted towards the marketplace downtown which eventually became a state of gliding along the ground as she utilized her magic to make herself move faster without tiring her legs out. “I have to hurry. That has to be Equestrian magic but there’s no telling what exactly it could be.” She took a look at her phone and sent out a text to her friends, letting them know where they could find the monster.

“Here’s hoping I’ll have some backup. But for now, I have to do what I can.”

With that, Twilight continued rushing towards the scene, not too far away at this point…

In the alley behind the music store…

Goetia scoffed at the siren’s bravado as the equine form of the wendigo changed to that of a centaur similar to Tirek--albeit female. “Oh that’s rich. Look at you with that feeble human skinsuit of yours! You’re just as weak as they are. The strong conquer and take over what’s laid out for them.” She folded her arms with a haughty smirk on her face. “The sooner you accept that you’re no longer as strong as you think you are, the better off you’ll be. I could grant you and your sisters all the power in the world...then you’ll finally be able to take it over as you originally intended when you first arrived! Wouldn’t you prefer that to being a weak, fleshy human?”

The air had become so cold that Adagio started to cough and dry heave against the frost. Having exhausted herself earlier, her body was slowly turning numb with parts of her face turning blue. “I…” She clutched her chest as she forced herself to stand on both of her legs--her knees shaking like unstable support beams.

Behind her, Blueblood remained unaffected since this was the work of his familiar. But Octavia had passed out completely. Her chest could be seen slowly raising and lowering with each breath she took, so she wasn’t completely out of it yet. Even so, Adagio was short on time.

Time she took full advantage of.

Since she was in no condition to fight, all she could do was try and speak out to the wendigo.

“...These humans...this world...it’s one of the only places where mortals have had free will,” the siren said in between a cough as the world around her started to become fuzzy. “...And I have only recently begun to comprehend how important such will actually is. My sisters and I love it here. But you? You wouldn’t understand because you’re under his control…”

Goetia stared down at the pitiful siren and shook her head. “Wrong answer. Everyone shall follow his will. That’s the only way to achieve true happiness!”

“...Then kill me,” Adagio challenged her with her arms spread wide, “So long as I draw breath. I won’t allow you to do as you please.”

“Do it,” Blueblood ordered, “With her out of the way, all we’ll have to worry about is her two, uch weaker, and far less competent sisters.”

“Kill her huh?” the wendigo-centaur questioned, “Hmph...I would’ve preferred to keep her alive as a toy. But if you insist…”

But that little moment of hesitation cost her.

“I don’t think so!” a voice shouted from above them.

“What the--?!” Blueblood looked into the sky, “Who said that?!”

BLAM!

“GAH!” A flash of purple light flew towards the wendigo and struck her in the back of the head. “Who dares--?!”

“I dare,” Twilight called out while floating in the air. Purple flames of magic surrounded both of her hands. “I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but you’re going to let her go right now before I make you.”

“...” Once his eyes locked on Twilight, Blueblood saw this as the perfect opportunity to bow out of the situation. Call it cowardly--but he wasn’t about to risk his neck against quite possibly the second-strongest magic user after Sunset. That was the whole reason he needed Adagio’s magic after all. “Take her down with all you have, Goetia.” He exchanged a mental message with her and slipped back into the shop before Twilight could see him.

“As you wish, master,” Goetia responded, and turned her attention to the flying mage of a girl. “This is none of your concern. Leave now.”

“This is my home,” Twilight asserted, “You made it my concern by setting foot here.” She held out one of her hands, causing cyan-colored runes to flash from it. “And now, I’m going to send you back where you came from.”

“Foolish girl…” the centaur-spirit responded quietly, then roared with all of her might, causing a mighty snowstorm, “We can’t go back where we came from!!”

Meanwhile, across the street…

Many people started to notice the severe drop in temperature and started to leave the marketplace as soon as possible. The last thing they wanted was for their cars to stall in the middle of the city.

In particular, a certain young woman with white skin and purple hair who quickly put on a regal fur coat to keep warm as she left a store with various bags in her hands. “Oh dear...was the weather always so chilly? I could’ve sworn it was twenty degrees warmer before I went in...and I wonder what that strange text from Twilight was on about...”

That’s when she laid eyes on a familiar face from the school: One of the new teachers walking out to his own vehicle that was near hers. Seeing as she didn’t actually take his class, she figured it would only be appropriate to be polite. “Always make a good first impression. The poor man doesn’t even have a coat! This will not do.”

As Aidon shivered from the sudden weather change as he placed his groceries in the back of his suv. “Celestia Almighty--what’s with the temp? The forecast didn’t say anything about a storm…”

His thoughts were interrupted by her voice. “Hello good, sir. My name is Rarity--and I couldn’t help but notice that you’re without a coat.” She looked into one of her bags, “I was going to use this for inspiration, but you look like you need it more than I do,” she took out the brown pilot’s jacket she had just purchased and offered it to him.

“...To turn something down like this would just be rude.” Aidon accepted her offer, and immediately put it on. “...Thank you, miss. Wait a second--you’re Rarity--from Twilight's friend group, aren’t you?”

“That I am. My friend Twilight attends your class so we haven’t formally met yet. What’s your name, sir?”

“Aidon Umbros Iota,” he responded as he settled into the coat. “Much better. Thank you. Weird weather conditions, huh?”

“I have to agree, yes,” Rarity replied as she put her items in the trunk of her car, “It’s almost as if it’s a work of mag….ic…” Her voice slowed down as she realized what she had said. “Oh no…”

Aidon looked at her with a worried expression. “...Is something wrong?”

BOOM!

From across the street near the music shop, an explosion could be heard.

“What the hell--?!” Aidon stared hard at the source of the explosion, only to realize… “...Magic from my home world.” He turned to Rarity and said, “You should get home as quickly as possible,” before immediately taking off across the street in a full sprint.

Rarity wasn’t going to let that danger escape her, though as she briskly took off after him--in heels. “Uch--I think not!”

Arc IV Episode V: Darkness Consumes

The battle between Twilight and the centaur had ensued at a brisk pace. Magical missiles and cold fusion laser beams were shot back and forth between the two. Neither were willing to give up so easily.

Down below, Adagio crawled over to Octavia, and held onto her. She was far too weak to actually pick her up and carry her away from the situation and the door that Blueblood had fled behind was locked. All she could do was huddle up and keep her warm with whatever body heat she had left. “...I’m sorry, friend. You didn’t deserve this.”

Up above, the fight was in full swing with Twilight managing to keep up with the centaur just enough speed from her flight. The fact that she thought ahead and had a coat on kept the cold air out for a while, but she was slowly being overtaken by the excess chilly air.

“Chu!” she paused mid-flight to sneeze, which left her open for a punch from the centaur.

CRACK!

It all happened so fast that the untrained eye wouldn’t be able to process it. As soon as the fist made contact with Twilight’s body, she had the wind knocked completely out of her with her glasses being broken completely in two. She recoiled with a horrified set of crossed eyes as she coughed up spittle and a few drops of blood by force. “AAAUGHH...!” The impact was so fierce that it sent her into a shock as she was knocked down to the ground, and sent skidding across the floor of the alley until her body came into contact with the brick wall of another building.

BLAM!

At this point, the alley’s ground had been covered in a layer of snow that somewhat cushioned Twilight’s impact, but still left her in a daze for a second.

“Urgh...how is she so strong…?” Once she came out of her fuzzy state of mind, she locked eyes onto the corner of the alley where Adagio and Octavia were buried under the snow. “...No...they’re probably in a state of hypothermic shock. They won’t last much longer…”

The giant centauress took a few, thunderously heavy steps in Twilight’s direction and roared down at her, blowing a greater amount of cold air her way. “Give yourself up now! You can’t fight back against the might of the Goetia!”

“Ach!” Twilight held up one of her hands to shield herself from the freezing winds. Her magic kept her skin layer from freezing, but she had to make a decision and fast. Continue to fight this giant equine-humanoid beast or try to save her friends as quickly as possible?

WOOSH!

Then, from out of nowhere a shadowy figure leapt out of the darkness and in front of Twilight, blocking the centaur’s magic with a black, spherical shield. His body was a black mass of billowing darkness, making him unrecognizable from his appearance alone. However, his voice was still the same…

“So tera-slow…”

“Who...who are…?” Twilight mumbled as she looked up at the shadowman.

It took a second for the wendigo-taur to realize who it was as well. “What? Who are yo--wait...you’re that sniveling teacher! I thought I told you not to get involved!”

“My students are more important than my career…” he called out to her, unafraid of displaying his true nature with his eyes a solid gray color. “If losing everything means their safety...then I’ll gladly divide you by zero.”

“P...Professor…?” Twilight tilted her head in disbelief. Was this man using dark magic and fighting for the safety of other people? “...How is this possible...dark magic is...it’s...it corrupts the user.”

“Who gives a flying frick about corruption?” he said to her from over his shoulder, “Can you still fight?”

“...Mm,” she nodded and stood upright, only for the centaur to laugh in response.

“Oh please! Spare me your sensational heroics!” But just as she got ready to attack once more…

BRRRATATATA!

“EEEK!”

From the other end of the alley, the sound of bullets firing off at a rapid pace could be heard which caused the minotaur to stop dead in her tracks. The source?

A very angry, fashionable young woman with a minigun made of her diamond construct material which shot smaller diamonds. “GET AWAY FROM THEM YOU HEATHEN!” she screamed up at her, “You mess with my friends, you mess with me!”

“Rarity?!” Twilight gasped from her end of the alley with a mix of relief and shock as she stared at the weapon her friend had created. “...Unique and off the rails. Yup. That’s Rarity alright.”

Now surrounded, the massive centaur monster had to deal with opponents from multiple directions at once. But she was more than confident. “Hmph…”

With a snap of her fingers, a giant dome of ice surrounded and blocked off both Aidon and Twilight. And immediately after, Goetia flung a massive icicle in Rarity’s direction.

While a shield may have blocked it, there was always the risk of it piercing through and still striking Rarity if it was strong enough. “Ah!” So instead, she dove out of the way, dropping her weapon in the process.

SHINK!

Sure enough, the icicle spear pierced her minigun construct and destroyed it instantly, reducing it to harmless snowflakes.

“Oh...It. Is. ON!”

With newfound determination, Rarity clenched her fists and punched them together, generating more of the transparent diamond construct around them.

To which the centaur replied with an unimpressed scoff. “You? Throw a punch? Seriously? This is the same girl that cried bloody murder when her nail polish ran out!”

But Rarity wasn’t intimidated at all. She stared up at the centaur with narrowed, focused eyes. “Try me, darling.”

Eager to send another feeble human into the pavement, Goetia gleefully obliged and threw one of her fists down in Rarity’s direction.

SNATCH!

...Only to be met with a massive open palm of the same size, made of diamonds. “Eeergh…!” she grit her teeth and struggled to keep her hand’s projection against the centaur’s. Her heels started to dig into the snow, and were slowly forced backwards towards the street. “Er...T-Twilight…? Mr. Professor? I could really use some help here!!” she cried out hysterically.

Her prayers would be answered soon enough.

With a combined blast of runic and dark magic, Twilight and the professor would both blast their way out of the icy prison that they were once trapped in.

And as soon as she laid eyes on the situation, Twilight came up with a plan on the fly. “Professor. I’m gonna get Adagio and Octavia out of here. Stall her as much as you can.” Even though he was a dark magic user and uncertain of Aidon’s intentions, the fact that he would risk himself for the safety of others… “I’ll have to trust him. Our enemy is too strong for me to fight alone.”

His mouth became visible with a confident smirk appearing against his jet-black body of miasma. “Leave the calculations to me…” With a quick flash of darkness, he raised his hands upwards, causing massive black and purple spikes to appear which impaled the hooves of the cold centaur.

“RAGH!!” she shrieked from the pain which caused her to flinch hard enough to let go of Rarity.

Twilight swooped in, and grabbed both Octavia and Adagio’s bodies through the snow. They were barely breathing at this point, but there was still time. “Rarity! Get them to a hospital! Fast! They’re likely suffering from hypothermia which is--”

“Now is not the time!” Rarity squealed while loading the girls onto a stretcher-like construct made with her magic, and immediately took off with them towards her parked car. “Stop that thing, Twilight!”

Once the innocent girls were safe, Twilight was able to focus once more. “Okay...now to finish this…” She turned around to see the centaur grunt and struggle against the dark spike rods that were jammed into her body. “...Just what is he, really?”

Unable to move, Goetia breathed a beam of icy daggers down in Aidon’s direction.

“Tera-slow once again,” he retorted while casually performing an evasive roll to escape the beam.

The dark spikes not only prevented Goetia’s movement, but also greatly reduced her accuracy. The pain she endured did a number on how well she could focus--in that she wasn’t able to. At this point, she had fully succumbed to rage and had lost sight of obtaining Adagio’s magic. Now? All she wanted to do was be rid of this pesky professor…

“DAH!” she cried out, “Why are you so stubborn?! You’re not even of this world! Why do you fight so harshly to protect it?! They’ll shun you for utilizing dark magic and place restrictions on you just for being different. Is that what you want--to live as someone else’s puppet?!”

Twilight had flown back up into the air, and charged directly at the centaur. “Magic doesn’t make the person! It’s what you do with it!” And wiith her fist charged with magic...

CRACK!

She delivered a flying superhuman punch that was hard enough to daze the centaur. “Professor! Finish her off!”

“Such simple equations...that are finally mine.”

Aidon lifted his hands, forcing the dark spike rods to travel up and through the wendigo-centaur’s body until she was covered in a series of interlocked, woven dark threads that actively suffocated and suppressed her magic.

“...” Twilight watched with a gaping mouth as she saw the true potential of what dark magic could accomplish. “This is…”

“Stand back, Tetra-Twi,” he called out to her, “I’m about to crunch her fractals…”

Arc IV Episode VI: That Which Doesn't Kill You...

Aidon started to float into the air, snickering like a mad scientist about to find his greatest discovery. “...I’m through with the concept of ethics. To solve every equation, you must break numerous cells to get there!” With a crazed look of excitement on his face, he started to slowly bring his hands together in order to clasp the dark threads around the centaur’s body more and more.

“MMMMM!!” Goetia was no longer able to speak out. All she could do was whimper a muffled, pitiful cry.

“Professor!” Twilight shouted as she flew towards him, “Don’t kill her!”

“Stand back!” the shadowman refused to listen as he brought his hands closer and closer together. “I know what I’m doing!”

PYOOO….

And as soon as he did, the bindings would fully encapsulate and consume the wendigo-centaur. Then, without warning, the entire monster was shrunken down and collapsed into a tiny singularity: A black hole the size of a golf ball.

Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. This was magic that was beyond her or even Sunset’s understanding. “Wh...you...how…?!” Her amazement was cut short once she realized the danger of such a thing. “...SIR! YOU’RE GOING TO SWALLOW THE ENTIRE WORLD IF YOU--!”

POP!

Wendy’s human form was promptly ejected out of the singularity until it was force-closed by Aidon. None of the magic utilized to create or destroy it could be detected as all hints towards such were removed the minute he closed it.

“Ouch!” the blue-haired girl cried out as soon as she landed, “No...this can’t be!”

“...Holy quasars and comets…” Twilight mouthed quietly as she tried to process what had just happened. “This is...that is impossible…none of this makes sense...how does your magic work, Professor?!”

The shadowman’s billowing miasma disappeared from his body as he floated down until he landed on one knee, breathing heavily. “Haa...whew….that was...I can’t believe it…”

“Me neither!” Twilight squealed as she landed nearby, her wings disappearing. “All this time I thought dark magic was the work of evil and always corrupted the person--or pony--that used it. But you...your aether is much different…”

“Hey…” he said in between a cough, “Don’t let...Goetia…”

But from afar, Wendy refused to submit so easily. “Oh no you don’t! While I may have lost my wendigo state, I still have enough to do this!”

POOF!

With a snap of her fingers, the girl turned into a wisp--a miniature form of a wendigo with no power. All while leaving them with some snide parting words. “...You’ll regret this, Professor Aidoneous…”

“Hey--!” Twilight called out to the spirit, only to realize. “Darn...she’s gone.”

Aidon slowly stood upright and spoke weakly. “Ghh...she’s lost most of her power. She won’t be a threat for a while. But we need to make sure those girls are okay. Which way is the hospital?”

Following Twilight’s directions from the passenger seat, the professor would drive to the hospital alongside her so that they could both ensure the safety of Adagio and Octavia. They made their way inside, and were directed to a room where both of the girls were resting in hospital beds and hooked up to IV drips.

Rarity was sitting outside of the hospital bedroom on a chair with her hands shaking and idly bounced her leg up and down. Her face was locked in coldly against the floor, unable to look anywhere else.

“...Rarity?” Twilight approached her carefully, “Is everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m not sure…” she admitted while rubbing her left hand against her right arm, “I’m far too anxious to check on them. And I don’t want to go in there and have one of my, er...meltdowns,” she looked up at them both, “Would you both mind terribly…?”

“No problem at all,” Twilight replied with a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “I’m sure this is very stressful and you’ve done all you could. We’ll take it from here.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Aidon added as he stepped towards the door, “Let’s see how they’re doing…”

The gray professor and purple girl both entered the hospital room. Octavia was out cold, but thankfully breathing.

“Urgh…” Adagio groaned from her hospital bed. Since she wasn’t trapped in the wendigo’s chill for as long, she had woken up first. “...Twilight? Professor? You both…”

“Relax…” Twilight spoke quietly as she stepped forward, “We’re just glad you’re okay. Both of you…”

“Same here,” Aidon said with a relieved sigh, “I wouldn’t forgive myself if I let harm come to my students--even off school grounds…”

Adagio looked up at them with a regretful set of tearful eyes. “...Thank you. I was foolish to think I could solve this on my own…”

Aidon wanted her to focus on the positives. “Regardless, you did what you thought was right. I can respect someone who follows their own code of ethics…”

Soon enough, two more individuals would burst through the door to the hospital.

“SIS!” Aria and Sonata shouted in horrific unison as they laid eyes on her.

Both Aidon and Twilight backed away to the other side of the room to give the sirens some space so that they may embrace their ailing sister.

“We came here as soon as we could,” Aria said while hugging Adagio’s right side.

“Please don’t die!” Sonata sobbed with a river of cartoonish tears running down both sides of her face, while holding onto Adagio’s left side, “We can’t live without you!”

Warmed by their sentiments, Adagio chuckled softly as she gently patted them both on their heads. “You silly-fillies. I’m not going anywhere. The doctor said I’d be able to leave by tomorrow…”

“Whew...that’s good,” Sonata sighed with relief as she stood upright.

But Aria was less lenient. “You should’ve told us what was going on, A-dawg,” she lectured her sister with her arms folded, “We could’ve been there to help you through this.”

Aidon was about to comment. “H--”

But Twilight held him in place with her magic, cutting him off. “Sir...let them settle this.”

The professor fell silent and Twilight released him from her grip.

“You’re right…” Adagio admitted as she looked down at herself, “But if you two were there, you may have gotten hurt also…”

“We’re past that point, Adagio,” Aria went on, “We’re sisters. We look out for each other. So from now on, we’re gonna make sure we stick by you whenever we can. And if we’re not together, give us a call. Understand?”

“...I...suppose.” Adagio was still uncertain, and couldn’t give a proper answer.

“No.” However, Aria was still firm. “No supposing. I want you to promise--”

Sonata cleared her throat and interjected. “...Ari. Sis needs time to recover. Can’t we like, discuss this later?”

“Hm….” Aria looked out of the corner of her eye, and noticed both Twilight and Aidon standing there. The last thing she wanted to do was make a scene, so she agreed to keep calm for the time being. “Yeah...okay. Sorry, big sis.”

“It’s fine…” Adagio replied, “I just...need time to think about what happened.”

Moments later, a certain DJ chick would enter the room without her glasses, storming past everyone to Octavia who was on the opposite end of it. “Tavey!” Once she reached her roomate’s bedside, she could be seen sobbing softly. “...Goddammit...I’m so glad you’re okay…speak to me as soon as you can, will ya?” She wiped her eyes of the tears, and stood up to look at the group. “Anybody know who did this? I’m gonna tear ‘em limb from limb!”

“It’s...a long story,” Twilight replied, “You might wanna sit down.”

Arc IV Episode VII: The Black Tar Overlord

One of the nurses had arrived to let everyone know that they needed to leave so that the patients could rest. So they all did. An explanation of the prior events was given to Vinyl, Aria, and Sonata by Twilight and Aidon.

“And that’s the long and short of it,” Twilight said as they walked through the hospital, “Wendy Goetia is a wendigo who was brought into Equestria somehow.”

“...Bitch,” Aria swore under her breath and continued in a normal tone, “What a lame name too. ‘Wendy Goetia’ the Wendigo? Is that supposed to be a cute play on words? Cuz it’s not even funny.”

Sonata gave the name some thought. “I dunno…we figured out that ‘Goetia’ is a pretty powerful name which means she likely came from--”

“Hell.” Aidon took all of the air out of the room, forcing everyone to pause as soon as he spoke.

“...You mean Tartarus,” Sonata asked innocently with a raised brow, “...right?”

“Tartarus is but one of many circles of hell,” the man went on as the girls listened carefully, “That’s the circle in which souls are eternally damned with no chance of escape. But somehow...she escaped.”

“Holy shit…” Vinyl muttered while balling one of her fists. “Tavey better not be corrupted or else…”

Suddenly, one of the girls stepped in front of the professor to stop him in his tracks. “Hold up. Wait a damn minute,” Aria remarked while holding up her palm, “Just how do you know so much about this?”

“Wait a second. What did Wendy call him before she left?” Twilight mental gears had also started to turn as she took notes and tapped the pen against her chin. That’s when it hit her. “...Wendy said your full name. Aidoneous, correct? That’s what Aidon is short for. But Aidoneous means...Hades...”

“...” Aidon covered his face with one of his hands. At this point, there wasn’t much he could do to hide who he really was. He had to come clean if they wanted to progress.

“Professor…” Twilight looked up at him with a pained, sympathetic expression as she asked, “Are you from Equestria? And if so...what were you?”

Silence. Aidon continued past them towards the lobby where he would eventually take a seat on one of the couches. On the opposite end of the room, Rarity could be seen stress-knitting some scarves for Octavia and Adagio.

Aria, Sonata, and Vinyl Scratch all sat down next to the professor while Twilight went to comfort Rarity.

“Well?” Aria asked, “I think it’s painfully obvious at this point. I don’t think the magic you had was native to this world.”

“Dawg--er, sir,” Vinyl pleaded, “If you know anything that can help us take down the bitch that hurt my girl, I’d hella appreciate it.”

“Same here,” Sonata added, “I’m through messing around. I want this Goetia girl to buzz off. But we need to know as much as we can…”

Twilight had managed to calm Rarity down, and the latter could be seen leaving the hospital as she thanked her friend.

Then, the purple nerd took a seat on the same lobby couch, awaiting his explanation. “...Tell us what you’re able to, professor. Don’t force yourself to bare uncomfortable details.”

“...Listen up, everyone. This may sound far-fetched, but it’s all true…”

Many were familiar with Tartarus as the location in Equestria where souls were eternally damned to eternal imprisonment for their crimes in the overworld. And while that was true, that was only one small part of what composed the entire underworld and where demons came from. In total, there were Nine Circles of Hell and Tartarus was located in the Seventh: Violence.

Enter Overlord Aidoneous. A hellborn shadowpony gained power through absorption and corruption of the mana of his enemies. Constantly gaining power throughout the Seventh Circle until he came to rule it. Why? He sought out sinners and those who were banished to hell that constantly abused other hellborns. He wanted to end the cycle of the strong trampling the weak...but he wasn’t satisfied with that alone.

“Shadow ponies or Umbrums--were constantly feared in Equestria,” he went on, “There was no one I could trust because I went mad with power and a lust for strength. I hated living among those damned corrupt and demonic souls. All the while, I never really felt…”

“Like you mattered?” Aria interjected with a question and a somber expression.

“Like nobody around you could understand why you did the things you did?” Sonata added with a dejected frown.

“...Yes. Exactly,” Aidon replied, as he wondered just what prompted such questions. Then he put two and two together. “...Oh yes. That’s right--you’re from Equestria too, aren’t you? You know what that feels like, hm?”

“Uch, duh,” Aria rolled her eyes, “Starswirl practically freakin’ nuked us outta there when we gained power.”

“...All we’ve ever had to rely on was each other,” Sonata lamented, “If I’m being honest? It wasn’t very fun. We were so afraid of everyone else that we lashed out and caused all the ponies to fight each other instead.”

“Woah…” Vinyl commented, “That sounds...kinda sad.”

Aria scoffed and went on. “Hm. No shit. But it sounds like you were suffering the same thing we did, prof. Except you were all alone.” Her eyes widened upon realizing how bluntly worded that came off. “...Er, what I mean is--”

Aidon shook his head. “No no. I understand completely…”

“Please keep going, mister,” Sonata encouraged him, “As a fellow Equestrian native, we wanna know as much as we can so we can help you. Right, sis?”

Aria didn’t respond verbally. All she did was give a slight nod.

Twilight had been busy taking notes the entire time, not saying a word either.

With that, Aidon continued. “Alright. Anyway…”

In his state of madness due to a permanent lack of satisfaction, the Overlord sought relief, and started to unearth the powers of Tartarus to bring them into the world above. The intent? Seeking a better place to take his leadership so that he could finally find peace.

But it was all for naught.

It wasn’t long before many powerful individuals caught wind of his existence and sought to remove him from their world for something beyond his control. To Starswirl and his followers, an umbrum wasn’t welcome in Equestria simply for the corruptive, unstable nature of dark magic. Nobody attempted to try and get through to him or figure out what it was he wanted.

Magic first, ask questions later.

“...And that’s the long and short of it. I don’t know if it was my dark magic or my lonesome existence, but I wound up banished here by...some unicorn. I can’t even remember if it was Starswirl or not at this point. But...Goetia is one of the demons I remember seeing in hell. A wendigo who was banished there.”

“...You poor guy...” Sonata held back her tears, “Surrounded by so many followers but still alone in the world…and then banished for simply having powers you were born with...”

Aria chose to speak up next. “...Not gonna lie, if I was on my own like that, I would’ve merked myself a long time ago. The only reason why I’m still sane is because of my sisters,” she said while pulling Sonata in close to her for a hug, “So I can empathize, sir. You have my respect.”

Even Vinyl had to comment. “...I can’t imagine being all by myself forever. I’d go crazy.”

Naturally, Twilight was still rapidly scribbling away in her notes, but she paused mid-way through to say, “...I’m sorry I made the assumption that dark magic is only utilized by evil people. It sounds like you were just...hurt. Hurt by the life you were born into and couldn’t control, and hurt by the fact that everyone turned their backs on you when it was convenient for them to do so.”

Their words eased a bit of his pain. “I appreciate it, really,” Aidon replied with a small smile, “So now, I’ve devoted my time to studying how this world works along with math so I can get a proper second chance at life. Which is exactly why I won’t let any of you get hurt in the process. Goetia will face judgement if she shows her face again.” He sighed. “...She even blackmailed me into keeping away from you all, lest she ruin my career with false accusations. Tis a sad existence…”

“...Whattabitch,” Vinyl snarled as she cracked her knuckles, “Sounds like she’s the corrupt one here. Not you. If I see her stupid face again, I’m gonna--”

“Relax yourself, Ms. Scratch,” Aidon commented as he stood up, “You all need to focus on your loved-ones. Especially at this time of year. Me? I’ll figure something out. Just watch out for each other, alright?” he started to leave the hospital, but was stopped when someone called out to him from behind.

Twilight stood up and tried to speak to him before he could leave. “...You’ll still be our professor...won’t you?”

“I won’t be giving up that easily. I’ve finally found what I want to live for,” he replied, facing away from them as he stepped out of the hospital and into the darkened evening outside. “See you around...tetragrams.”

The girls all exchanged uncertain glances with each other as Aidon left. But they could all agree on one thing:

Goetia needed to go. But how would they find her?

Arc V Episode I: Heartless Moves

Adagio had to stay home for a few days due to the small cold she had caught from the sheer amount of freezing air she had been exposed to by the wendigo.

“Chew!” she sneezed. She was resting on the couch under a heavy layer of blankets and her phone nearby in case her sisters needed to call her.

Aria and Sonata got ready for school, but stopped to check on her before they left.

“...A-dawg...how you holding up?” Aria asked from the other end of the couch.

“...Better. But not by much. I’m...so sorry that I went off on my own like that.”

Aria shook her head. “Listen, sis. What’s most important is your recovery right about now.”

“I suppose you’re right, but…”

BZZZ!

Adagio was interrupted by the vibration of her phone. Due to her lackadaisical mood, she didn’t bother checking who it was. She simply answered it. “Ugh...hello?”

And on the other end...it was a face-video call from Blueblood. “Greetings, Adagio.”

“Wh--?!” Sonata almost shrieked but was quickly shushed by Aria.

Adagio turned her phone sideways so she could properly see him. Her own camera was on as well. “What the--what do you--chew!--want? What business do you have calling me?”

Suave as ever, Blueblood continued with a casual tone of voice. “Just wanted to call and let you know that your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”

The siren lashed out in return. “Good--chu!--I wasn’t coming back there anyway you sick freak! Just wait ‘til I tell your aunt about what you’ve done!”

The young man simply chuckled. “I don’t think you’ll want to do that. See...as her nephew, I have connections to various employment bureaus across the city and even the state. I can’t imagine what would happen if you tried to find employment somewhere else...only to be denied because of bad references.”

“Oh hell naw,” Aria mumbled as she walked over--standing in view of the phone’s camera while at a safe distance from her sick sister. “Listen here asswipe, I dare you to try and--”

“Quiet!” Blueblood shouted over the call, “Say another word and I’ll make sure to get you all expelled from the school.”

“...” Aria balled her fists, seething as she grit her teeth.

“Ahem, as I was saying,” he went on, “Since you’ve foiled my plans, I’m going to have to pay you back. Starting with your resume…”

“N-no! Please--ehcu!” Adagio sneezed into her arm and looked into the camera with desperation, “I need to have a job. My sisters are expecting to have a wonderful Thanksgiving--chu! Don’t you have a heart?”

“Tch. You’re one to talk,” he scoffed and glared at her with contempt, “You and your sisters--you’re not even human. You’re monsters. Creatures that don’t belong in this world. You have no right to speak of heart or humanity when you aren’t of the same species. You could never understand what it’s like to be human.”

“Of course we do, ya big dummy!” Sonata stepped in to back her sisters up, “That’s the whole point of getting to know the humans and going to school! We wanna fit in with them!”

With another snide chuckle, he replied, “Hmph no matter how hard you try...you never will. None of you deserve a happy life here. Much less a holiday…”

Adagio started to sob, “...you...you’re the real monster…”

“Oh but you care about your wendigo familiar, don’t you? Hypocrite!” Sonata yelled.

Aria would add a simplistic, cold response. “Eat shit and die, asshole.”

“Eat shit and live, everyone,” Blueblood replied with an arrogant grin, ignoring Sonata’s point entirely, “Eat shit and live. With that, I bid you adieu.”

The phone call ended--to which Adagio placed her phone on the coffee table and turned over upon the couch, hiding under her blankets. “Ugh….I suppose cruel humans exist just as much as cruel Equestrians.”

“...Adagio…” Sonata murmured, “What are we gonna do about Thanksgiving? A-and Christmas?”

“I don’t know. I’ll...figure something out,” she poked her hand out of the blanket pile and waved, “You both should head on to school or else you’ll be late.”

Not one to refute her sister, Aria decided to go right along. “...We’ll figure something out together when we get back home. C’mon, Sona.”

Sonata sighed and followed Aria out of the door. “...See you after school, Dagi.”

And as soon as they got outside and started to walk down the street, Aria could be heard muttering loads and loads of obscenities to herself.

“...sniveling little son of a mother--ghh! I don’t know what I’ll do if I see him.”

But Sonata caught up with her, and put a hand on Aria’s shoulder as she tried to calm her down. “Ari--we need to focus on Adagio’s health. She’s done a lot for us to make sure we could live happily. So now, it’s our turn.”

Red flags immediately went off in Aria’s head. Whenever Sonata got to thinking and having ideas, they didn’t always pan out well. “...Whaddya mean, sis?” she asked hesitantly.

“We should get jobs of our own,” Sonata suggested, “That way, we can keep making money so we can afford all of the stuff we need for the holidays. Think about it--Adagio’s done most of the work as is but now that she’s sick and...caught up in some weirdness with her former employer. Maybe we could…?” she tilted her head with her eyes beaming ever so slightly.

“Huh,” Aria replied as she brought her hand to her chin, “Not a bad idea. But where do you think we could get actual work?”

“Hmm…” Sonata copied her sister’s gesture as she gave it some thought, “Well...I know Pinkie Pie works at this diner place where they wear roller skates.”

The mental image of her sister slipping and sliding on roller skates was somewhat amusing--minus the fact that she could potentially hurt herself. “Pfft. You? On roller skates?” Aria raised a brow with a smug grin, “That wouldn’t last very long.”

Sonata giggled in agreement--she had the exact same mental image of herself sliding into people. “Yeah but that’s not what I’m after. Even if I could be a simple dishwasher, that’ll help.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“Mm-hmm,” Sonata nodded, “What about you?”

“...Not sure right now,” Aria mused as she kept walking, unsure of what she’d be good at enough in order to make money. “But I’ll think of something. Come on, we don’t wanna be late.”

“Got it!” Sonata skipped after her.

After that day, Wendy suddenly stopped showing up to school. According to the records, she had formally dropped out and was aiming to transfer back to her old one. Naturally though, this didn’t exactly resonate with all of the students. Many--mainly our Equestria Girls--were rightfully suspicious.

In the meantime, Principal Celestia would have a visitor to her office the following Monday about two hours before school was set to begin.

Tap-tap-tap.

“It’s open,” said the principal.

The door opened up, and a woman walked in. A tall, curvaceous businesswoman with a dull-pink skin tone and a beauty mark on her face. She wore a blue skirt-suit that hugged her curves with slightly exposed cleavage, giving her an air of elegance alongside her professionalism in her black heels. That, along with her short, purple hair was a dead giveaway…

“Spoiled Rich...?” Celestia asked with a cautious inflection in her voice and a blank expression. The fact that the head of the entire school district had come down to her office was something so unexpected that it was downright concerning. “What brings you here? Is something wrong?”

“Somewhat. Yes,” Spoiled replied as she took a seat in front of Celestia’s desk. “I’m sure you’re aware of the new professor, yes?”

“Mr. Iota? Yes--is there something wrong with him?”

Spoiled reached into her purse and pulled out a document. “Well, some of the parents have filed a few...concerns regarding this professor and the way he interacts with the students. Particularly the females.”

“...What?”

Arc V Episode II: The Rumor Mill Churns

Spoiled Rich placed the document on the principal’s desk. On it were a few emails she had received and printed out alongside those three photographs that Wendy had taken. A final act of spite from the girl, unbeknownst to anyone in the building.

“...” Celestia picked up the documents and read over each quote from the parents.

“These photos are a little suspicious. Someone needs to check him out.”

“I don’t think he’s a weirdo, but it’s odd that everyone likes him so much.”

“He doesn’t look like that type of person, but you never know…”

“My daughter said that his lessons were fun but she’s there to learn. Not mess around.”

Celestia sighed, and put the paper down. “I see…”

Spoiled had crossed one of her legs over the other. “I’m not one to jump to conclusions, personally. But it would be in your best interest if Mr. Iota kept his...eccentric methods to himself. At least for a little while so their concerns can die down and so that the students won’t approach him as much.”

“What--you want me to tell him to stop having fun with the students?” Celestia gave a defensive retort, “He’s done nothing wrong. Their grades in all of their math classes have improved since his arrival.”

“Calm yourself, Celestia,” Spoiled responded bluntly, “He’s under your jurisdiction. Whatever you want him to do is up to you.” She grabbed up the documents and put them away. “I’m merely doing my job and reporting to you what I found. If he’s as good as you say, then I wouldn’t want to see him go anymore than you do.”

“Hm…” the principal sighed and replied, “I’ll talk to him before he starts up his next lesson today.”

With that established, Spoiled got up from her seat and got ready to take her leave. “Good. As I said--what you say to him exactly is entirely up to you. I have another important matter to deal with right now before the school opens.” She started to walk away. “Good day to you, Ms. Tia.”

As Spoiled Rich left, Celestia leaned upon her desk as she thought of a way to break this news to Aidon. “What am I going to say when he gets here? And who took those photos anyway? Is someone trying to incriminate him? I’d better get Luna’s opinion on this.”

Spoiled Rich made it back to her limousine, and gave a command to her driver. “Take me to the estates,” she quipped as she filed her nails, “There’s someone I need to have a word with.”

The limo pulled away from the school and drove towards the Rich Family Manor in the middle of the city. As one would expect, it was a large mansion with an endless amount of luscious, green lawn and other shrubs in all directions surrounded by guards with weapons on all sides. One could only imagine how much it was all worth if they needed their own security…

But that wasn’t the limo’s destination.

The chauffeur stopped at a luxurious condominium across the street from the manor. It looked like something out of a resort’s brochure with its large, wide structure. Standing at about five stories tall with a beige and pink color scheme on the walls--mimicking that of both Spoiled and Filthy’s favorite colors.

Spoiled exited the limo and spoke to the driver. “Thank you, sir. Head on home for the day. I can walk back to the manor from here.” She handed him a few folded hundred dollar bills to which he gleefully accepted before pulling off.

Now by herself, Spoiled would make her way into the condo building, and travel through the main lobby to the elevator. Then, she traveled up it and towards one of the rooms on the third floor. Pristine red leather carpeting lined the halls along with each door being made of the finest of hardwood. But Spoiled in particular was headed towards one specific door: Apartment #3R.

She gently knocked upon the door with the back of her hand and called out. “Mr. Ketsuki. Your rent is still past due and you have school in one hour. I hope you’re up and at ‘em.”

The door was swiftly opened by a teenage boy--about the same age as the other Sophomores at CHS such as Applebloom--with a dark-green complexion, short, silver hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing a set of goggles and a labcoat with red spatters of liquid all over it. And he had a slight overbite with a pair of fangs protruding from his upper lip. “Erm...yes, I’m on my way now.”

“...What is...all of that on your…?” she pointed down at his messy coat and the red liquid that had stained it.

“Oh, uh…” The boy looked down at himself, and quickly thought something up with an embarrassed poker face. “...Cranberry juice?”

“Mm-hmm…” Spoiled folded her arms, and stared down at the boy with an annoyed expression. “And what of your rent? Weren’t you working a job at the local supermarket?”

“Heh-heh. I...funny thing about that,” he gave an awkward laugh while looking up at the businesswoman, trembling from her powerful aura. “So I--ahem!--I was uh...let go, so to speak.”

Unsatisfied with such an answer, Spoiled leaned downwards, now mere inches away from his face with her hands now on her hips. “Be clear with me, boy. I can’t figure out what to do next if you don’t explain yourself.”

“...” With the curvaceous woman so close to him, his gaze wandered ever so slightly from anxiety. In his state of confusion and rattled nerves, his eyes inadvertently traveled down to Spoiled’s ample bosoms. “Err...I--uh…”

Snap.

With a snap of her fingers, she caught his attention. “My eyes are up here, son.”

“...I quit!” he blurted out with a shaky smile, “I couldn’t stand dealing with idiotic customers who bitch and whine about sale prices, expired coupons, and don’t control their annoying children!”

“Ugh…” Spoiled stood upright once more and covered her face with her hand. She shook her head in a dismissive fashion in response to the reasoning behind his current lack of a job. “Blech. I empathize with him. I know exactly what that’s like. Even so…” The woman put her hand down, folding her arms once more. “I see...so have you managed to find another job since?”

“Well...no…” the boy admitted shamefully as he broke eye contact, “...Turns out the job market is very competitive around the holidays...”

Spoiled sighed, and thought to herself. “Once again, fair enough. I suppose everything has been made more difficult...and he may be more useful than the bumbling idiots for servants at the mansion.” After a moment of consideration, she rolled her eyes and gave him a command. “Alright, Keiji. Here’s what’s about to happen.”

“Hm?” he tilted his head as he raised his goggles, “What’re you planning?”

“Starting today, you’re going to work for me,” she proclaimed with a proud expression, “I’ll make sure to pay you enough so you can work off the rent you owe and buy yourself some extra trinkets.” A sudden, stoic frown cropped up on her face, “But you’d better work hard. Understood?”

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the boy eagerly accepted this offer on bended knees. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Mrs. Rich...I-I won’t waste this chance.”

The lady rolled her eyes once more. “Get up. Quit blabbering. Your first job is going to be a bit of a unique one, so listen up.”

He rose to his feet, and got ready to listen. “I’m ready. What’ll it be?”

Arc V Episode III: Forced Change

Later, about thirty minutes before school started, Aidon would be called into Celestia’s office to speak with her.

“That’s odd,” he thought to himself as he walked through the halls, “I wonder what she could want.”

The man stepped into the office and took a seat. There, both Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were sitting behind the desk, waiting.

“Thank you for coming to see us in a timely manner,” Celestia began, “There’s...something that has come to our attention.”

“...What is it?” Aidon asked with an uncertain tone of voice.

Luna would speak next. “It’s...regarding the way you interact with the students. Apparently some of the parents have submitted some...interesting takes on the subject.”

“Oh no...did Goetia manage to submit those photographs and warp the context of the situation?!” While he panicked mentally, he did his best to keep up a relaxed, neutral expression. “...’Interesting’ how exactly?”

Celestia turned her computer towards Aidon. There he could see the email that Spoiled Rich forwarded to them so that they could see the proof and the concerned questions that the parents had in regards to the pictures.

This left Aidon troubled, gritting his teeth as he stared at the screen with widened eyes. “W-what?!”

“Don’t worry,” Luna assured him, “We’re aware that these claims are rather unfounded. We also don’t believe that you’re trying to do anything sinister.”

Celestia would add her take on the situation next. “However, we also think it’s a good idea if you...keep it less casual for a while. Keep your lessons straightforward, ease up on the terms of endearment, and try not to engage with them before and after school hours.”

“Just for a little while,” Luna spoke up again, “Just until these comments blow over. But what I’d like to know is just who took those pictures in the first place…”

While Aidon did know who was responsible, merely stating it wouldn’t look very good on its own. At the very least, he needed hard evidence to back up the fact that “Wendy Goetia” was responsible. Her sudden absence from school was also very damning, as he didn’t want that thrown back on him as well. “...I have to be smart. If I ever see her again, I’ll be sure to get her to fess up. But for the moment...I need to follow what they say so I can keep my job.”

For now, he simply agreed to their terms. “Understood. I’ll make sure to keep things under control.” And with that, he left the room.

“You know he’s innocent,” Luna said, “Don’t you, sister?”

“Yeeck. Of course I do,” Celestia replied with an annoyed roll of her eyes, “But you made a point. Those pictures are downright ridiculous attempts at incriminating an innocent man.”

While that was true, Luna was still at a loss for what they could manage on their own. “But...what can we do to help the situation? It’s not like we have free time to study photographs.”

A confident smirk appeared on the principal’s face. “We don’t...but I know who does, Luna.”

Outside of the office, in the hallways…

As school got started, Twilight and Sunset were making their way down the halls as usual.

“...and she just disappeared!” Twilight finished up her explanation, “I don’t even know what to think of it.”

“Sounds like aether,” Sunset commented, “I suppose that wendigo had her own special ‘Wendigo Aether’ or whatever that allowed her to maintain use of her powers. And the fact that she’s an actual demon from hell is something I never would’ve expected. And you said Aidon was a Demon King?”

“Overlord,” Twilight corrected her as she adjusted her glasses, “This is entirely conjecture, but I believe the distinction means he had control over all demons in his circle regardless of rank. Or it could mean an indication of power…”

“Pssh--yeah well, that ‘power’ he has is completely nonexistent in Equestria,” Sunset explained as they stopped at their lockers. “Only two ponies have ever been known to utilize it: King Sombra, and Stygian--the Pony of Shadows.”

“And it’s because dark magic has been known to corrupt the users 99.25% of the time, right?” Twilight asked.

To which Sunset replied with a slow nod. “Er...something like that. The fact that he isn’t corrupted by his dark magic and actually used it to save you is...well, it’s freakin’ legendary is what it is. Dark magic can only be countered by light magic so it’s safe to say that if we have him on our side, we’ll--”

Twilight cut her friend off with a stoic eyebrow raise. “You know he’s more than just a tool to keep us safe, right? He’s a man with his own time and his own life.”

“Oh--well of course,” Sunset fumbled over her words for a moment and quickly brought herself together. “Ahem...what I mean is, I hope that he’ll be able to have the safe and quiet life that he wants. And with Thanksgiving on the horizon, that’s the last thing I wanna be worried about.”

“Agreed. Speaking of which, I wonder where the sirens are and how Adagio is holding up…”

“Same for Octavia,” Sunset added, “You have a class with them in Aidon’s room, right? Hopefully you see them there.”

Twilight nodded. “I hope so too. Even if they’re home sick, I’d at least like to know how they’re doing…”

“Well, we’ll find out soon,” Sunset shut her locker once she had grabbed a power drill from within. “I’ve got shop class switch Vinyl so she’ll be able to tell me what’s up with Octavia. See you at lunch?”

“Indeed. Good luck, and I’ll see you then also.” Twilight grabbed her homework and a few paper airplanes from her locker. “I have to admit, I’m more used to Aidon’s style of teaching now. Can’t wait to see what he does for us today.”

Well...they were in for a shock.

As soon as Twilight arrived at her Projective Geometry class and took her seat along with everyone else, Aidon would enter the room with a stoic look on his face.

“Good morning,” he said plainly, “Turn your textbooks to page 142.”

The class started to murmur words of confusion to each other. Was this the same Aidon that usually gave fun, memorable lessons?

But he quickly stomped it out. “No talking unless you raise your hand. Please do not be disruptive.”

Everyone fell silent, but were still perplexed at the professor’s sudden change in behavior. Lyra was the first to comment on this--she raised her hand and was called upon.

“Yes, Ms. Heartstrings?”

“Sir? Is everything alright?” the green girl asked with a concerned expression, “You don’t sound like yourself.”

Once again, everyone started to mumble in agreement. Especially Twilight who gingerly put her paper airplanes away. “I don’t get it. What happened between then and now? Did...did Goetia still manage to perform her act of spite?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Aidon replied coldly, and quickly moved onto the subject at hand, “Now. As I was saying…”

“This is not normal at all,” Twilight thought to herself, “Something must have happened…”

The class resumed in traditional, boring fashion. The students were unable to focus and had to listen to Aidon drone on constantly about numbers in a way that didn’t register in their minds. All the while, the professor was mentally kicking himself for forcing himself to change so readily.

“...This isn’t fun at all. They hate this...but what can I do…”

After class was over, everyone silently left the room either hunched over or barely able to keep their eyes open. In essence, their proverbial souls had been sucked out from how monotonous the class was.

Once it was time for lunch, Twilight would approach Aria and Sonata to check on their eldest sister since she wasn’t present at all in their usual class. “Hey there, you two. How’s your sister doing?” she asked as she took a seat at the table with them.

“She’s fine,” Aria replied, “A bit of a cold and needs to stay home for a few days. Which sucks because she was planning a whole buncha stuff for Thanksgiving but probably won’t be able to do any of it…she probably feels like shit.”

“Yeah…” Sonata agreed with a dejected sigh, “I just hope my job application gets accepted in time.”

Twilight paused through opening one of her books and replied, “Oh right. She was the only one working, wasn’t she?”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Something like that. But that’s about to change. Sonata and I are gonna clock in some hard overtime so we can get the extra money we need to finish the preparations ourselves.”

“...Once I figure out how to cut up a turkey--” Sonata said with an innocent giggle, then asked, “What about you?”

“I’m gonna spend it with my family as usual,” Twilight replied, not looking up from her notes, “But the strangest thing happened in class earlier…”

Arc V Episode IV: We Know Our Teacher Is Innocent!

Once Twilight finished up her explanation, the siren sisters were...less than enthused at the revelation.

“What the f--so you mean to tell me that bitch still managed to get her shitty blackmail off?” Aria grumbled, “What a spiteful little cu--”

Sonata quickly shoved an apple slice in her sister’s mouth to cut her off. “That sounds pretty lame. And all right before Thanksgiving too? It’s like she has no heart…”

As Aria slowly nibbled away at the piece of fruit, Twilight started to think hard about the upcoming holiday. “...That’s right. He has no family. No friends. His whole life has been shrouded in darkness due to insanity from being alone and now he’s being forced to keep away from others even further. Poor guy...I can’t imagine how he must feel right now.”

Her thoughts were slowly interrupted by a rather off-hand nickname. “...izzlers? Twizzlers!”

“Huh? Wha--sorry,” she was jolted back into reality with her glasses nearly falling off of her face. She pushed them up with two fingers and said, “I was just thinking about the unfair hand he’s been dealt throughout life. Being a user of dark magic alone doesn’t make him evil…I wonder if his banishment was a fair one…”

“Well what are we sitting around and moping for?” Aria got up from the table, “Let’s confront the principal about this crap.”

“Huh?” Sonata tilted her head, “Why?”

“You think I’m gonna let the bitch who hurt my sister get away with whatever she wants?” Aria scoffed as she folded her arms, “Hell no. Besides, that professor guy came to you guys’ rescue, didn’t he?” she looked at Twilight while asking that question.

To which the nerd replied. “That he did. Which makes it all the more shocking. Dark magic users have always been rumored to be greedy, selfish, and corrupt. But…”

“So then let’s go, c’mon,” the purple siren beckoned them to follow. “Goetia’s not winning on my watch.”

Sonata and Twilight both got up from their table and followed them out to the principal’s office. At the same time, from her table, Sunset could spot them leaving the room from the corner of her eye…

But once they got to the office, the girls were met with a rather stiff roadblock.

“Are you serious?!” Aria huffed, “Some dumb photos of him doing nothing wrong caused some parents to flip their gears? That makes no sense!”

“Believe me,” Celestia replied, “We’re just as confused as you all are. But we merely made the suggestion for him to keep a lid on his more...eccentric teaching methods until things die down.”

Twilight would rebuke the claims as she adjusted her glasses. “No offense, Principal Celestia, but those ‘eccentric methods’,” she added with air quotes, “Were exactly what helped us pay attention. But today? Everyone left class looking like they had their brains ripped clean out of their bodies. As if they didn’t even want to learn.”

Luna would chime in with a take of her own. “Ugh. This is exactly why we hired him in the first place. We knew his methods would keep your young minds engaged. But we couldn’t have predicted that someone would try to incriminate him over it…”

“It was Goetia!” Sonata blurted out, “The new girl who supposedly transferred out? She's a wendigo that tried to hurt our sister and one of her friends! She’s the one who’s trying to keep the professor down.”

“...But why would she do something like that?” Celestia asked.

“Because,” Twilight continued, “She knew that Professor Iota would be a threat since he’s--” Then she stopped herself mid-sentence, unsure if it was okay to expose such a detail about him just yet.

“He’s...what?”

“...A very intelligent and capable adult who would’ve reported it first,” Twilight finished her thought quickly--as it was technically true.

“I see...well, there isn’t much we can do at the moment. But we will proceed with an investigation using the help of the local police department,” Celestia gazed at them with a smug expression, “And if you can also provide us with any extra proof you can find, we’ll be able to return him to his usual methods come next week after Thanksgiving break.”

Aria found this agreeable, and nodded. “Alright. Fair enough. That gives us time to spend back home with Adagio before then. C’mon, Sonata.”

“Huh--wrabhl!” the blue siren yelped as she was pulled out of the office by her older sister.

Twilight stared blankly at their departure, and turned to the principal. “...I’ll see what I can find. Can you forward those emails and the photographs to me?”

“Certainly,” Celestia replied as she started typing on the keyboard.

“Thank you,” Twilight prepared to leave the room. “Hope you two have a happy Thanksgiving.”

“You’re very welcome. Same to you, Twilight.”

And as soon as Twilight left the office…

“What happened--?!”

“BAH!” Twilight leapt backwards and retrieved a test tube from her backpack, prepared to use it as a weapon. That is, until she realized who it was that approached her. “Oh...it’s you. Don’t scare me like that, Sun-buns.”

“Oh, sorry…” she idly held her hands behind her back as she walked with her friend, “So...what happened in there?”

“It’s...a long story…”

After school…

Aidon made sure to quickly hustle out of the back door of the school to avoid being seen by anyone. The long frown on his face combined with the soulless look in his eyes gave away to everything that he had experienced in the classroom on that day.

“...Horrible. Terrible. I can’t believe I forced them all to sit through that. They looked like they wanted to give up on life. What am I gonna do? I can’t afford to lose this chance at life again…”

He slumped against the steering wheel for a few minutes until…

“...Uh, Mr. Professor?”

“Hm?” he looked up to see who had called out to him. It was a certain blonde girl with an unmistakable pair of crossed eyes. “...Hello?”

“Hi! I couldn’t help but notice that you were looking sad,” Derpy commented with a sympathetic look in her eyes, “Is everything okay?”

“It’s...nothing…” He chose not to divulge the information. “I don’t want to place my troubles on someone else.” Instead, he was quick to change the subject. “But I have to ask, Ms. Muffins--what are you doing back here? This is staff parking.”

“I’m a Junior Mail Carrier, sir!” she proudly proclaimed as she took her mailing license out of her pocket, “I handle all the mail that comes in and out of the school. Which makes me a part of the staff. But are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Even though her eyes were crossed, it wasn’t hard to see that she was worried for the professor. “You don’t look happy like you usually do once school is over. Nor did Lyra.”

“I suppose I have no choice. It would be rude to deny someone who wishes to listen.” With that in mind, he explained to the girl what his problems were and how difficult they would be to solve.

“...so unless someone finds a way to clear my name, I have to teach the class in a boring way to keep suspicion off of me for a while.”

The girl scratched the top of her head. “Oh…” Derpy was puzzled and unsure how to solve such a problem. “I could offer him a muffin, but that would only make things worse. I suppose talking to him wouldn’t be a bad thing, right?” Since that was out, all she could say was, “Well...I hope they figure something out soon. You deserve to have a stress-free Thanksgiving with your family.”

Aidon sighed. “...I appreciate the gesture, Ms. Muffin--but I don’t have a family to share such traditions with.”

“...Oh no...I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” Derpy looked down at the ground, under the impression she had overstepped a boundary.

He shook his head. “It’s alright. Don’t worry yourself about it. As an adult, I have to solve most of my problems myself. I can’t always rely on someone else.”

Derpy was quick to debate this. “But…Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna help each other. My mom and dad help each other…”

“That’s different when it’s adults helping other adults,” Aidon sighed again, and started his vehicle which caused Derpy to back away. “You’ll understand when you get older. Have a good day and a happy Thanksgiving, Ms. Muffins.”

Once she was at a safe enough distance, the suv pulled out of the lot, leaving a disappointed Derpy on her own as she walked towards her bicycle. “There’s a way to help him...there has to be.”

Arc VI Episode I: Turkey Time

A full week passed and at last, on the week of Thanksgiving, everyone had a break from school.

As fate would have it, Sonata landed a job at the same 1950s-style diner that Pinkie worked at. Meanwhile, Aria had managed to score a job at the local gym. With their combined efforts, they were able to make enough money to purchase all of the Thanksgiving items that Adagio was going to buy initially. After one long, arduous week of working both jobs, they had finally managed it.

On the eve of Thanksgiving--after a rushed trip to the grocery store, Sonata and Aria arrived back at their home right at 3PM.

“Hey, Ari,” Sonata asked as her sister parked the van in their driveway. “Do you think Adagio’s feeling better by now?”

“She should be--hopefully. She’s stayed home the entire week since she got sick so here’s hoping.” Aria exited the vehicle and went around to the trunk, “Alright--you’re on turkey and sweet potato pie duty. Think you can handle it?”

“Pfft,” Sonata scoffed and waved her hand downwards, “I’m so on it.”

“Good. I’ll take care of the stuffing and macaroni and cheese…”

The pair brought all of their items inside and began to sort through everything. Each girl had split off to their respective sides of the kitchen and began to prepare the dishes...to mixed results.

Aria was grating cheese for the macaroni dish, but found herself tired after grating just one block of it to shreds. “Whew...how do the people on those cooking shows do it without getting tired as shit?”

“Hm...hrrk...ghhh!” Sonata was busy trying to pull the gizzards and other giblets out of the turkey but to little effect as she wasn’t strong enough. “I have no idea. Back in Equestria, we could just devour birds whole. But you’re telling me we have to take them apart?! This is wack!”

“Hm….” Aria looked around, then snuck off to Adagio’s room. There, she found her older sister still fast asleep in her bed. Her nose and face didn’t look as puffy as before, but naturally, Aria didn’t want to ask her for help. “She needs her rest. So I suppose I have no choice…”

Their options were limited, but if Aria wanted to make this the best Thanksgiving possible, she needed to ask for help. So she washed her hands and grabbed her phone…

About one hour later…

DING-DONG!

The efforts of Aria’s text had borne fruit. As soon as the doorbell rang, the gothic siren quickly arrived at the door and opened it. And who was standing there?

“Hi, Aria! As soon as Sunset got your text, she called me up because I’m the expert on baking and cooking food and--”

Sunset put a finger over Pinkie’s mouth to quiet her for a second. “Chiiiill, Pinkie. But she’s right--as soon as I got your text, I knew exactly who to call.”

“Ugh, great…thank you…” Aria stood aside to allow them entry into their home, bashfully rubbing her left arm behind her back. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything. I know this is a time for you to be spending with your families…”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Sunset replied with a smile, “It’s cool--I’ve got plenty of time since I’ve already visited my folks back in Equestria.”

Pinkie skipped past her and added, “And my family is doing all the cooking this year! It’s actually Marble and Limestone’s turn. All I gotta do is make sure the guest list for our extended family is all checked off.” She then reached into her puffy pink head of hair and pulled out a clipboard that detailed the names of her cousins, aunts, and other family members. They were all checked off, having been contacted by the pink party girl herself. “See? All good!” she said as she stuffed the clipboard back into her hair and interlocked her fingers to stretch and crack her knuckles, preparing herself. “So what’s the hap, friends? What’re we makin’?”

As Aria shut the front door, she pointed to the kitchen. “Well…”

At her direction, Sunset and Pinkie would round the corner--and grimace while gritting their teeth.

“Oooh…”

“Holy-roly-poly-molies! What happened here?!”

The kitchen was covered in half-cooked pasta that had exploded out of a pot that was on the stove. Meanwhile, Sonata had cut herself on part of the turkey’s bone, resulting in a blood injury that rendered the entire turkey unusable. Her finger was wrapped in a bandage as she threw the contaminated bird away with a disappointed frown on her face.

“This is a disaster,” the blue siren muttered as she held her damaged thumb, “I suck at this…”

That’s when Aria stepped forward and revealed a gauze pad on the back of her hands. She had burned herself with the boiling water from the pot. “Yeah...we need help. Please?”

“You called the right pair of girls, friends. Pinkie and I will help fix this up in no time,” Sunset retorted with a confident expression and snapped her fingers.

In an instant, Pinkie was standing beside Sunset while saluting her. “Ma’am. What are my orders?”

“Find us a new turkey as fast as you can, please. Then help Sonata with it when you get back.”

“Understood,” Pinkie squinted closely at her phone with an overly serious expression as she searched up where to find turkeys at this hour, “Target acquired.” And with a devious grin, she ran out of the house to her car.

Sonata watched with a confused tilt of her head. “Erm...where and how will she be able to find another turkey on Thanksgiving Eve?”

As cool as a cucumber, Sunset waved her hand. “Relax. Pinkie has her ways. You take a break and let your finger heal until she gets back. I’ll help with the pasta.”

“...Thank you,” Aria said as she put her hands together, “I see why you’re so beloved by your friends…”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” the orange girl denied as she walked into the kitchen with a broom, “It’s just a matter of knowing how another person feels so you can help them out as much as possible. Ya feel?” She started to sweep up the various pieces of pasta that were on the floor.

“Understanding how others feel…” Aria mused to herself. “Hmm…”

“Still thinking about the professor, huh?” Sunset guessed with pinpoint accuracy.

“...How did you know?” Aria gave her a suspicious glare as she walked into the kitchen and washed her hands.

“...I’m an Equestrian. You’re Equestrians. He’s an Equestrian also. I can feel your pain as well as his. But…the principals don’t want us getting too close to him. It’s a shame, really. I wonder if he’s all by himself on Thanksgiving…”

That’s when Aria got an idea as she began to grate the cheese again. “Well since we’re on break, I suppose there’s nothing stopping us from taking him some food...after all, I haven’t properly thanked him for saving my sister’s ass.”

“You make a good point,” Sunset said as she dumped the macaroni scraps in the trash from the dustpan. “But we’ll have to be quick. If Goetia’s still out there, she’s probably expecting something like that.”

“Tch--I’d like to see her little punk ass try anything…” Aria swore under her breath, “...Blech. Sorry about that--I’m still working on controlling my temper…”

Sunset put a hand on Aria’s shoulder. “...Guess what? I know that feeling also. Sometimes, I get so ticked off at something that I just wanna take the nearest weighty object and launch it clear across the street.”

“Damn--you really get me, huh?” Aria chuckled, “I’m starting to see it now.”

“Yeah, but you know what I do?”

“What?”

Sunset had walked over to one of the cupboards and grabbed another box of pasta. “Meditation. It’s great for clearing the nerves and helps relieve the tension in the shoulders.”

“Really?” Aria asked in a dubious tone, “Does that breathing mumbo-jumbo actually work?”

“It does. Trust me,” Sunset confirmed as she poured the pasta into a new pot of water. “Try it sometime and you’ll start to feel that rage put to more productive use.”

“Hrm…”

DING-DONG!

“I got it,” Sunset called out as she walked up to the door and opened it. “Woah!”

A disheveled Pinkie was standing there with hardened eyes and her hair had flattened out completely as if she had just been through a warzone with a packaged turkey in one hand and a ham in the other. “Objective: obtained. Last-minute Thanksgiving shoppers: Outmaneuvered. Feast for the Dazzlings: Secured.” She shook her head to puff up her hair, reverting to her usual hyperactive state, “Let’s get this cooking party starteeeed!!”

Arc VI Episode II: A Thanksgiving Surprise

And what do you know? It was a success.

Sunset and Aria made the perfect textbook mac and cheese and had placed it into the oven. While that was baking, they had gotten started on something else for the professor.

“I’ve got a mean recipe for snickerdoodles,” Sunset proclaimed as she grabbed baking ingredients from the cupboard. “We’ll make them real quick and then Pinkie and Sonata can get started on the turkey while we take these to the professor’s place. Sound good?”

Aria nodded. “Heck yeah. He’s gonna love these.”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Sunset looked over in the pink girl’s direction, “Mind sending me the directions to his place?”

“One secooooond!” she sing-song’d back to Sunset while taking the turkey’s gizzards apart.

One furious baking montage later…

The mac and cheese dish was finished and so were the cookies. This left room in the oven for Pinkie and Sonata to work on the turkey.

“You guys’ll be alright here, yeah?” Aria asked as she and Sunset put on their jackets to block out the cold air.

“Mm-hmm!” Sonata beamed in return, “We aren’t gonna have any accidents here! No sir!”

“That’s right!” Pinkie shouted as she put an arm around the siren, “We’ve been working together at the diner for about a week now--so we got this. You two go on ahead!”

Sunset had placed the cookies into a container and started walking towards the door. “We’ll be back in about twenty minutes tops. C’mon, Aria.”

They both left through the front door, and Aria would ask. “So about how far is his place from here? Can we walk it?”

“According to Pinkie’s directions…” Sunset looked at her phone, “Ah. Yeah we’ll be able to get there no problem on foot. Hm…” She squinted as she tapped a pop-up with her thumb. “Breaking news...well that’s weird.”

“What’s up?” Aria asked as she walked alongside her.

“This is gonna sound insane--because it is,” Sunset stopped and turned her phone screen towards Aria so that she could see as well. “But apparently someone robbed the local blood bank located within the hospital. And they stole...blood.”

“...Blood? Yeech…” Aria revolted, nearly gagging from what she heard, “Why would anyone wanna steal blood? That’s just...gross.”

“I’m just as confused as you are, Ari. Especially when we have universal healthcare--I don’t see the reasoning behind stealing blood. Unless they plan to sell it...but where and how?”

Aria stopped to think about it for a second. Who or what would want to steal actual blood? In Equestria there was only one answer… “Okay--bare with me. This may sound kinda crazy, but think for a sec. Don’t ponies who consume blood exist where we’re from?”

“Batponies...and vamponies, yeah,” Sunset nodded. From their perspective, that was the only reasonable explanation, but there was one problem. “But they don’t exist here...do they?”

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Aria said with a shrug, “A professor at our school is a goddamn Shadowpony Demon King from Equestria’s Hell. At this point, anything is plausible.”

Sunset had to agree. They had dealt with crazier things in the past so a vampony would be nothing new. “You’re right. I wonder if we’re starting to see more bleedover from Equestria for a reason…”

"Hahaaaaa...bleedover. Good one."

Sunset stifled her laughter. "That...was not intentional."

Meanwhile, back at the Siren’s house…

Pinkie was busy showing Sonata how to make the perfect Thanksgiving turkey to...interesting results.

“Alrighty-roo,” Pinkie had split the bird down the middle and filled it with vegetables as anyone normally would, then started to explain her process to Sonata. “Ever watch cooking shows and go ‘oh my freakin’ gosh! I knew that turkey was gonna be dry before you served it to the judges!’?”

Sonata thought back to the times she had recently watched TV. The contestants on cooking shows would always make turkey dishes wrong to the point where she started to wonder if they were scripted to an extent. “Oh yeah. Like, all the time,” she scoffed while observing Pinkie’s technique, “But I dunno if that’s part of the show or if people just don’t know how to cook.”

“Whatever the case, I’mma-bout to show you how to really do a turkey right. The secret?” Pinkie walked over to the fridge and pulled out all of their… “Butter.”

“...Butter?” Sonata asked with a tilted of her head.

“But-ter.”

“...Butter.”

“Butter!”

“But--” Sonata shook her head and broke the hypnotic chain of repetition, “Okay, the more we say it the less it makes sense. But like, for real?”

“Abso-toot-ley!” Pinkie started rubbing the sticks of butter directly onto the bird, “The more better the butter! Er--the more butter the batt--you know what I mean--” She giggled with a snort while slathering the turkey in the fatty liquid gold.

The sheer amount of it threw Sonata for a loop. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she stared at the butter-coated bird. “...Woah. Isn’t that a...bit much? Like, isn’t butter super unhealthy?”

“It’s juuuuuuust healthy enough to eat once a year,” Pinkie explained while pinching her index finger and thumb together, “That’s why everyone’s New Year’s Resolution always ends up being something along the lines of losing weight!”

Sonata couldn’t help but giggle at the thought. “Human traditions are super weird. Who makes a promise that lasts an entire year?”

“Everybody does--” Pinkie said while grabbing bottles of seasoning from the cabinet, “And everybody fails at it!”

“Hahaha!” Just like that, Sonata was laughing a bit harder, stopping once she wiped a tear from her eye. “...That’s hilarious.”

Meanwhile, at Aidon’s house…

The professor had put his worries behind him since it was Thanksgiving and he wouldn’t have to think about teaching for a while. He spent his day raking the leaves in his yard and reading from a book. And of course, instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a basic white tee and a pair of shorts.

“...I think I’ve become rather accustomed to using my abilities. Don’t think I’ll be having anymore problems from here on.”

The use of his dark magic had actually cleared his mind of the stress he had been building ever since he arrived in this world. All he had to do to stay sane was be mindful of his goals and know exactly who and what he was out to protect. Primarily his students of course, followed by his own mental state.

One block away…

As Sunset and Aria made their way down the sidewalk, another pair of girls came in from the left corner.

“Hm?” Sunset looked up to see… “Vinyl? Derpy? What’s up?”

Indeed. Both Vinyl Scratch and Derpy were walking down the sidewalk towards the same destination with a similar intent. There was a metallic holiday box in Vinyl’s hands

“Yo. Just wanted to make something to thank the prof for saving my girl Tavey. But uh…” She paused and rubbed one of her hands behind her neck. “...I kinda can’t bake for shit.”

The cross-eyed girl jumped in with a gleeful chirp. “So I decided to help her!”

“Really? That’s pretty awesome,” Sunset replied with a smile, “What did you guys make?”

Aria threw in some playful sarcasm. “Lemme guess: Muffins?”

“Uch--no!” Derpy insisted as Vinyl opened the container, “It’s pull-apart peach cobbler baked in cupcake liners!”

Aria and Sunset took a look. Sure enough, while they were muffin-like in appearance, it was bubbly-hot peach cobbler that was overflowing with cinnamon and brown sugar.

“...Damn,” Aria commented as she leaned back, “That smells awesome.”

“I know, right?” Vinyl replied as she closed it, “This is actually Great-Gramophone Scratch’s recipe. But--like I said a sec ago, I can’t really bake like she could. These fingers be made for dropping beats--not beating eggs.”

“Hey, I feel that,” Aria commented as she resumed walking towards the professor’s home, “All this cooking and baking--you humans have weird ways of celebrating holidays.”

Vinyl snickered as she followed. “Pfft. Same. Cooking food is absolutely something I can’t do. But eating it? My ideal Christmas is being passed out on the floor after a long gaming sesh and eating Grandpa-Harmonico’s deep fried bacon cookies.”

Aria stopped on a dime--her heart skipping a beat as she tried to process what she had just heard. “...What did you just say?”

As the two talked, Sunset and Derpy would follow them from a few paces behind.

“Seems like they’re still close, huh?” Sunset noted.

“Uh-huh! It’s super cool!” Derpy added, “They really wanted that second chance and we gave it to ‘em. The more friends the better!”

Arc VI Episode IV: Family Time At Home

Once they had dropped off their gift to the professor, Aria and Sunset rushed back to the house.

“I don’t….think there’s much to worry about,” Sunset huffed as she tried to keep up with the more agile siren, “Pinkie...isn’t gonna burn a turkey...whew...”

“Sorry!” Aria shouted back, “I just get this very bad feeling when I’ve left Sonata at the house alone for too long!”

“Ugh…” Sunset had to stop running, and resigned herself to walking the rest of the way. There was no way she was going to keep up with her--lest she tire herself out. “Damn. Her stamina must be through the roof now.”

They finally arrived back at the house--well, Aria did first and she was relieved to see everything in one piece still. “...Thank god.”

“Oh, you’re back!” Sonata looked over to the front door, and promptly skipped over to greet her sister. “Did the professor like the cookies you guys made?”

“Yeah he did,” Aria replied as she walked past her and into the kitchen, “Now what’s--” But she fell silent as soon as she rounded the corner. Why?

“…” Pinkie Pie was standing in the middle of the kitchen on one leg with her eyes closed--dead silent.

“...What the--”

“Shhhh!” Sonata cut her sister off before she could speak and pulled her away from the kitchen--into the living room. “Pinkie’s doing this like, weird meditation thing to calculate how long it’ll take for it to cook.”

“Uhh...doesn’t it take like three hours?” Aria pointed out the absurdity of such a thing, “You mean to tell me she’s gonna stand there for that long?”

Sonata giggled and shook her head. “Hehe! No, silly! I said she’s calculating how long it’s gonna take. She’s not gonna stand there forever.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

Soon enough, Sunset would arrive and enter, slowly getting her breath back as she closed the door. “Phew...Jeez--How did you end up being so quick, Aria?”

“Landed myself a job at the gym,” she explained as she stretched her arms, “Turns out they wanted somebody who could round up missing pieces of equipment quickly.”

“Huh…interesting...” Sunset paused as she thought about it more to herself. “Could that have something to do with her magic?”

“Since the turkey won’t be done for a while,” Sonata walked over to the entertainment center below the TV, “Why don’t we play a few rounds of Super Bash Brothers?”

“Ooh, I shred at that game,” Sunset boasted with a wide grin on her face, “You’re on.”

Aria was less enthusiastic--answering with a shrug as she flopped down on the couch. “Meh. I got nothing better to do. You’re on, guys.”

After three long hours of gaming…

Soon enough, Adagio would awaken wearing her pajamas. And wouldn’t you know it? She had completely recovered from the cold she had endured through the entire last week.

“Agh…” she yawned as she stretched out her arms and back, “...Finally. That was the worst case of the sniffles I’ve ever experienced. But at least it’s over now…” She got out of bed, and walked out to the living room where she could hear the sounds of a video game being played. “Hello? What’s going--”

“Adagio!!” Aria and Sonata squealed together as soon as they laid eyes on their sister, and rushed over to throw their arms around her in a tight hug.

Sonata was the first to speak--her voice breaking from emotional overload. “Oooh! We’re so glad you’re okay!”

“Damn right,” Aria added, “I was gonna actually start crying soon. That’s how worried I was.”

“Oh you two…” Adagio pat them on the head with each of her hands, “I can always rely on you both to keep things in order even while I’m out of it. It’s just too bad that our Thanksgiving was a bust…”

“Yeah, about that…” Sonata trailed off with a hyperactive smile on her face as she bit her bottom lip.

“...” Adagio sniffed the air and caught a whiff of the food that had been made. “Wait a second. Mac and cheese...turkey...ham...you girls...did you?”

Sonata started nodding feverishly.

And Aria replied with a smile. “Well...it wasn’t just us. We had some help. Yo, Sunny D.” She pointed behind herself to the living room where Sunset could be seen sitting on the couch, furiously mashing buttons.

“I WILL DEFEAT Y--huh?” She stopped on a dime when she heard her name called and turned around. “Oh hey! Glad to see you’re awake, Adagio. Everything is all made for ya. Thanks to your sisters--they’re the ones who called us here.”

Adagio paused for a moment and repeated one of the words Sunset mentioned, “...’Us’?”

As Sunset walked over, Pinkie emerged from the kitchen with a giddy little twirl. “Ta-da!” She motioned her hands towards the perfectly baked turkey that rested on the kitchen counter. “Sonata and I made this extra-perfectly for you! Now you guys can have an awesome Thanksgiving!”

Then, Sunset would point to the steaming casserole pan filled with liquid gold. “And Aria and I made the mac and cheese.” Lastly, she pointed out the ham, “And we all kinda chipped in and threw some stuff onto that. Kinda hard to mess up a ham.”

Adagio wiped her face of tears as her lips contorted into a smile. “...I...I don’t know what to say except...thank you. Thank you both for taking the time to do such a thing for us. Especially on such short notice--Thanksgiving is tomorrow…”

“Aw, shucks!” Pinkie put her arm around the eldest siren, “No worries! I had just enough time to spend here before I have to--”

BZZZ!

Pinkie’s phone suddenly started buzzing which prompted her to take a look at it. As soon as she did, she let Adagio go with a loud, “AH! Marble and Limestone are bringing their boyfriends over! I need to set more plates of food! Gotta go!” She rushed to the door and yelled, “Enjoy your Thanksgiving, guys!” And as she left, she tapped on her phone to answer it, “Hello? Maud? We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Sunset giggled as she watched Pinkie leave. “Yup. That’s Pinkie Pie for ya. I’d better get going too.”

“W-wait…” Adagio begged as held out her hand, “I...there are a few things I’d like to say and a few other things I’d like to know before you leave.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, that’s right--you’ve been sick and don’t know all of the details on what happened with Goetia,” Sunset replied with a nod. “No problem. Ask away.”

They all sat down in the living room. Sunset, Aria, and Sonata would begin to explain and answer all of the questions Adagio had.

“First off, Blueblood is behind all of this,” she began, “He has this weird book that allows him to control familiars like Goetia. How and why he managed to summon a wendigo here--I have no idea.”

“That explains the part I’ve been missing,” Sunset said as she snapped her fingers, “There had to have been some strange magical essence afoot. But an entire spellbook? That’s something new…”

“We didn’t see that at all,” Aria mentioned, “We simply showed up to the hospital once we were called. But now it’s all starting to make sense…”

Sonata was quick to figure out a solution. “Okay we need to like, take that book away from him so he won’t have power anymore. Simple.”

“Assuming he’s still around,” Sunset added, “Apparently ‘Wendy Goetia’ has ‘dropped out’ of CHS. Blueblood must’ve done something to cover her escape. Who knows where she could be at this point or what else that book of his has.” She looked down at the floor as she made a mental note. “Where could he have gotten it from anyway…”

“Alright, and there’s one other thing,” Adagio went on, “Before I blacked out, I could’ve sworn I heard voices. Twilight, Rarity, and that new professor of ours. What happened?”

“Long story short,” Aria explained, “They helped save you from that horse-spirit bitch. That’s when we realized the professor has dark magic and is apparently a Demon King from Hell in Equestria or something.”

The yellow girl simply stared at them all with a vacant expression on her face. “...What?”

Arc VI Episode V: Thanksgiving Cheer

After a more detailed recap of the events, courtesy of Sunset, Adagio finally had things understood. Sunset also mentioned the gift they had given him a while ago.

“...That was nice of you.” Adagio looked in Aria’s direction and nudged her playfully with her elbow, “And here I thought you hated everyone equally.”

“Ugh,” the purple siren rolled her eyes, “Just shut up about it already.”

“...And Goetia’s trying to frame him as a creep? Sick witch…” Adagio balled her fist, “How utterly trashy. The one Equestrian that has tried to make this world better has been treated with scorn. By someone of the same world no less.”

With a new perspective on the situation, Sunset took a moment to think about it as she sat back in the chair. “...Yeah. It’s...that’s kinda depressing when you think about it like that. I don’t even have his class but from what I heard, he risked his neck right alongside our friends just to save you.”

“Shit hurts, doesn’t it?” Aria snarled, “Completely unfair. Now he’s being forced to make his classes boring as hell because of those accusations.”

“On top of being alone for the holidays,” Sonata added, “Poor guy must feel like the whole world is against him right about now…”

Adagio leaned forward with her fingers interlocked. “Well I’m not gonna stand for it. He’s an Equestrian just like us. He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. It’s like...you wouldn’t let one of your family members get treated this way, would you, Shim?”

“Wha? Of course not,” Sunset answered, “It’s just so...ridiculous. He was banished here by Starswirl just for his appearance and now, Goetia’s already pretty much done the same thing by turning the parents of the students in his class against him. Simply for being a somewhat zany teacher that loves his job and wants everyone to have fun with math.”

Aria grumbled. “Gah. Double-standards are so stupid. No one’s ever said anything about the principals hanging out with you guys. But I guess nobody notices since they’re ladies.”

“Or Cranky Doodle,” Sonata threw in another point, “But nobody cares since he’s kinda on the old side--in terms of human years anyway.”

Adagio looked at Sunset again. “You were a student back in Equestria. Did you ever notice anything like this happen?”

“Not at all,” Sunset shook her head, “But I think I know the root of the problem. See, things are a bit...different in the human world. And when it comes to crimes committed by teachers in the past, more often than not, it tends to be the guy ones that abuse their power and say creepy things to female students…”

The sirens stared blankly at Sunset, then squinted their eyes in confusion.

“That...makes no damn sense,” Aria commented, “Aidon hasn’t done anything like that--right, A-dawg?”

“I have to agree, honestly,” Adagio said as she rubbed the side of her head, “He’s a bit eccentric--but in the ‘interesting’ sort of way. Not the ‘creepy’ way. So we need to figure out how we’ll clear his name when we get back to school....”

It would be a difficult task. One that Sunset was not prepared to tackle at the moment. Especially after all the cooking she had gotten through with. “You’re right. For now, though--you all deserve to be happy and I’m glad I was able to help you guys get settled in for Thanksgiving. If you need anything, I’m just a phone call away.”

“Thanks, Sunset,” Aria looked up at her with a smile, “You helped make this a whole lot easier for us.”

“Totes!” Sonata chirped, “Thanks again!”

Adagio would give her a more earnest reply. “...No matter what happens. You’re part of our family now. As fellow Equestrians, we need to do all we can to keep each other safe. That includes you and our shadowpony-professor.”

Sunset thought about it for a moment. “...They consider me family, huh?” It was most certainly a new sensation. She had her family back in Equestria--mainly Princess Celestia and Starlight Glimmer, a family that she made here with her new friends, and now? Family members from Equestria that lived here.

Such a thing mentally tickled the orange girl. “If that’s the case, my family is pretty huge and crazy at this point. Wouldn’t have it any other way.” And you know what? She was perfectly fine with the idea. “You think so?”

“Mm-hmm!” Sonata sprang out of her seat and jumped over to Sunset to throw her arms around her for a tight hug. “Equestrians take care of each other. And that makes you our family too--even if we aren’t related. Right, guys?”

“Uh…” Aria hesitated, but her older sister was more than willing to join in.

“Absolutely,” Adagio replied as she walked over and put her arms around Sunset also. “If we want to keep each other--and the rest of these squishy humans--safe, then we need to stick together.” She shot a smug smile towards Aria and said, “Isn’t that right, sis?”

“Hmmmmph…” the purple siren grumbled as she got up from her seat on the couch and reluctantly approached Sunset to join in the hug. “Yeah, yeah. I’m willing to help too. But don’t push it.”

Sunset did her best to wrap her arms around them. “...It’s nice to have friends who understand your issues as a fellow Equestrian. So thank you guys. You’re great…”

After holding the embrace for a moment, they eventually let Sunset go.

“Well, I better get going,” she said as she approached the door, “Hope you girls have a good one. We’re here for you no matter what.”

“The sentiment is mutual,” Adagio replied as she opened the door for Sunset, “If anything is ever troubling you, we’re here for you also. Right, girls?”

“Mm-hm! Totes!” Sonata squealed.

“Yeah, you bet,” Aria added swiftly, “Now go on before it gets any more awkwardly mushy in here."

Sunset giggled as she walked out of the door and down the path towards the sidewalk. “See you guys back at school on Monday!”

As she left, Adagio shut the door and looked over at the hot food that was made. “Alright...now who made which dishes?”

The Sirens would spend the rest of the evening tasting and almost gorging themselves on the turkey, ham, and mac and cheese while laughing and enjoying each other’s company. For the first time in a long time, they were finally able to relax and express how thankful they were for not only the world that they had come into, but for each other as well.

This would continue into the next day on Thanksgiving Day. Everything had finally fallen into place for them…

“I’m thankful for all this amazing food and having you guys with me,” Sonata said.

Adagio was next. “I’m...thankful to have you both. You’re amazing. And this world--despite its humps--is very nice and I’m glad we’re able to live comfortably.”

Lastly, Aria. “...I’m grateful that I’m not alone. And that you two both care for me as much as I care about you. It’d...be a pain trying to navigate this world by myself. I don’t even care about Equestria anymore. So long as I have you both...that’s all that matters.”

“Good. But...part of me still feels a bit...guilty, per se,” Adagio explained, “Do you think the professor is having a good Thanksgiving?”

Aria thought back to the day before and what Derpy did for the man. “...You know what? I don’t think we’ll have to worry. He won’t be alone for the holidays.”

Arc VI Episode VI: Back To School

The following Monday when school returned…

Everyone was slowly getting adjusted back to school and preparing to discuss their Thanksgiving experiences with each other.

And as usual, Twilight was waiting for Adagio to head to Geometry with her, praying that she had recovered. Lo and behold…

The yellow siren could be seen waving to her sisters as they all split up and went to their respective classes. Adagio approached Twilight with a rather wide smile. “Twilight! There you are. I’ve missed you and your interesting ramblings.”

“Very funny,” she replied with a quick glare, “I know I tend to put people to sleep but ya don’t have to mock me for it.”

Adagio shook her head and gave an earnest reply. “N-no. I mean it. Truly--hearing you speak about the craziest things was among the highlights of my time spent here.” She looked around the halls, turning her head expectantly, “Now where is…”

Sure enough, moments later, a certain gray-skinned musician would round the corner as she split away from Vinyl. As soon as she laid eyes on the siren, she gasped, “...Dagio! You’re okay! Thank goodness…”

“Yes!” Adagio ran up to her and gave her a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’ve recovered from what happened down there. It took me a while to get over it.”

“I’ll say,” Octavia replied with a giggle, “I was a sniveling, dribbling mess for a few days. Thankfully I was able to recover in time for Thanksgiving. We invited way too many people over,” she rubbed her neck and rolled her eyes with a flat expression, “As per usual. My great uncle always demands that we put on a show for him and grandpa. I spent weeks practicing for that, let me tell you.”

Twilight spoke up from nearby. “Oh you think that’s bad?” she smugly adjusted her glasses and went on, “Try dealing with your sister-in-law and her side of the family. Flurry Heart in particular is a nasty case. Not to mention the grandparents on both sides trying to constantly out-spoil their grandkids to make themselves look better. I can’t wait to see how Christmas turns out.”

Octavia interrupted her spiel to ask a question. “Wait a minute, how old is Ms. Flurry again?”

“16-17ish. About the same age group as Applebloom and the others,” Twilight answered, “Why?”

“Oh dear…that explains a lot,” the musician girl snickered.

Which left Twilight puzzled. “Explains what exactly?”

“Hold on,” Adagio jumped in, “Does she attend your old school? Crystal...something?”

“Crystal Prep,” Twilight answered, then huffed, “ Blech. And yes. Flurry Heart does go there. Thankfully I transferred out just in time. That is a shortstack that I do not wanna see explode.”

But Octavia didn’t see it as such. She replied with a wave of her hand. “Oh come now, Twilight. She’s just a little girl. It’s not like she’s got magical powers that could potentially threaten everyone’s exist...ence…” she slowly stopped talking once she realized Adagio and Twilight were shooting her judgemental glares. “...Er--apologies! I didn’t mean to--”

The two started to laugh.

“Haha! It’s quite alright,” Adagio replied as she put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, “We’re used to it by now. Aren’t we?”

“That, I can agree on. I just hope Professor Iota is feeling better today. Those accusations against him seem like they were planned out by Goetia…”

“Oh yes, that’s right,” Octavia started to recall details of the incident. “Do you remember the book Blueblood was holding, Dagio?”

“I do--” she answered and looked in Twilight’s direction, “Did Sunset inform you about--”

“She did,” Twilight responded swiftly, “She wrote a message to Princess Twilight--wow that sounds really weird saying it aloud--anyway, she wrote a message to my...alternate universe self. Still no response yet.”

Octavia walked onwards to the classroom. “Well, whatever the case, I hope he can be culled soon. Wretched, power-hungry fools such as himself do not deserve such...power.”

“You’re right,” Twilight added as she followed, “But there’s no telling what it’s capable of. We should wait for Princess Me’s suggestion for a course of action.”

Adagio sighed as she approached the classroom door with them. “Ugh...I hate not knowing things. But at the very least, we can focus on the professor for the time being…”

BRRRRRRRRING!!

With the bell’s shrill ring, it was time for class. Everyone took their seats in the Geometry room and patiently waited for the professor to arrive.

Outside, in the hallways…

Aidon was making his way to the classroom, and passed by Derpy on his way there. “Ms. Muffins? Thank you for your generous offer. Your family was wonderful.”

The blonde girl had grabbed a hammer and some nails from her locker for her carpentry class. “Huh? Oh! No problem, Mr. Professor Sir! My mom and dad really liked to meet you and they saw that you weren’t creepy at all,” she said with a smile, “You really put away my Aunt Nervy’s deep-fried turkey!”

He cleared his throat. “Ahem--well...I tend to have an appetite since my magic draws a lot on my body. If I don’t eat enough, it’ll cause...problems.”

“Oooh…” Derpy leaned forward, her crossed eyes somehow giving off the impression of a wondrous, child-like expression, “Good thing we gave you leftovers, hm?”

“Indeed. But I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our chat short,” Aidon said as he continued walking down the hall. “That bell means I’m late for class. Have a good day, Ms. Muffins.”

“You too, Mr. Professor!” she waved as he rounded the corner and went off towards the carpentry room…

In Aidon’s classroom…

“Ugh…” Lyra groaned into her palm, “I really hope we don’t have to sit through another boring lecture.”

“I agree,” Micro Chips added, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that put me to sleep. Me. I love math!”

Adagio waited patiently, tapping the fingers of her right hand upon the desk--index to pinky--in a slow, rhythmic fashion.

Twilight was preemptively writing down notes…

And Octavia was slowly taking her books out.

Sure enough, the professor would enter the room with the exact same demeanor from last time. “Glad to see everyone is on time. That makes things easier today.”

The students exchanged worried looks with each other, dreading another boring lesson.

Aidon grabbed the chalk and started to write on the board. “Now then. Turn your books to page--”

But before the lesson could even start…

Tap-tap-tap.

There was a knock at the classroom’s door. Aidon looked over, and promptly walked up to answer it. “Yes?”

And behind the door was a detective wearing a trenchcoat. The man showed his badge, and said, “Aidon? I am Officer Pale Vestige. Step outside for a second, please.”

The curious students who had leaned over to get a look suddenly felt their jaws drop to the floor as their eyes grew twice as wide.

All Twilight could do was silently mouth the word: ‘HAH?’

Arc VI Episode VII: Working Things Out

Aidon left the classroom, and shut the door behind him to speak with the detective in the hallway…

And naturally, since everyone was as curious as a cat, all of the students grouped up against the wall so that they may try to hear what was going on. Even Twilight, despite often keeping to herself, was unable to resist the chance of listening in on why a city officer needed to speak with her teacher.

“What is going on?” she muttered.

“Shhhh!” Lyra shushed her, “Listen….”

In the hallway…

“What’s going on, officer?”

“Well,” the detective showed him the pictures, “I interviewed Ms. Applejack, her sister, and Ms. Pie to question them about the context of the situations…”

Aidon grit his teeth as a few beads of sweat ran down the side of his face. “...Y-yes? What did you find?”

“...They all agreed that they had no issues with you, nor were you trying to harm them,” said the officer, “In fact, they trust you more than the average person on the street apparently. Someone must’ve taken those pictures with the intent to place negativity on you. Criminal defamation of character is against the law. So whoever did this to you will face the consequences--don’t you worry.”

“I...already know who,” Aidon replied, “It was a student that used to go here. Her name was Wendy Goetia--she recently transferred before Thanksgiving break…”

“Hm…” The detective wrote that down on a notepad and started to scribble out more details. “Diabolical. Transfer out before the blame can be placed on her. A classic strategy used by troublemakers who want to get revenge on their teachers…” He tapped the pencil against his forehead. “Don’t worry, sir. Your name is being cleared as we speak. I still need to interview Octavia’s parents.”

The professor tilted his head. “Er...how come?”

“I spoke to your students, and they said that Octavia was involved in a situation where you saved her from some...monster, I take it?” Pale’s writing slowly came to a stop, “We’ve been through this many times where some magical demon with missiles and laser beams tries to take over the city and eventually the world. Were you involved in something like that?”

Aidon sighed. He had to be honest with the law--that was the only way to make it in this world. “...Yes. Wendy transformed into a wendigo and tried to freeze Octavia and Adagio to death. Twilight and I did our best to save them.”

“Hm,” Pale resumed writing and eventually put the notepad away, “Understood. So I take it that you’re using your magical abilities for the sake of others and not just yourself.”

“...Absolutely,” Aidon replied, “I’d never dream of repeating the same mistakes that I made in Equestri--oops. You’ve probably never heard of that place, huh?”

The detective had a small grin on his face. “I’m more used to this nonsense than you’d think.”

Inside the classroom…

Twilight had taken out some sort of device that consisted of a headset connected to what appeared to be a stethoscope-like end piece that she held against the wall.

“What do you hear?” Lyra asked.

“Is he a witness to some sort of horrible crime--like a mobster situation?” Micro Chips added shakily.

“That’s ridiculous,” Adagio rolled her eyes, “He’s probably just asking him a few questions.”

“But what exactly?” Octavia asked while nervously twirling a strand of her hair on her finger, “He hasn’t done anything wrong...has he?”

“Wouldja please be quiet?” Twilight barked at everyone, “I can’t hear anything with all of you yapping down my eardrums.” She placed the device on the wall again, and… “They’re finished talking,” she realized as her eyes went wide, “Everyone, back to your desks!”

At Twilight’s command, everyone immediately scrambled--some even tripped--as they hurried back to their seats, looking as natural as possible.

Soon enough, Aidon would enter the classroom once more, and close the door behind himself. He slowly walked over to the desk, and took a look down at his itinerary. “...Everyone…”

“...Yes sir?” Twilight answered apprehensively with a worried look in her eyes.

And much to everyone’s surprise…

“Alright, tetragrams!” the professor boldly called out to everyone, “Out of those desks so we can get back to our usual routine!”

“...”

For a moment, everyone stared with blank expressions as if they had just seen a ghost.

Nervous, Aidon repeated himself. “Erm...tetragrams? Helloooo?”

Once they realized he was serious, they all happily obliged and pushed their desks to the sides of the room. “Yes sir!” they all shouted in unison.

And class resumed as it usually did with Aidon’s fun, quirky lessons. Everyone left that class more happier than when they went in--to the point of being disappointed once it was finally over.

After school was over, she met up with her sisters in the halls.

“Hey. How was shop class, Sonata?”

“Oh it was great,” the blue siren replied as she pulled a small wooden box out of her locker--it was just big enough to fit something like a watch within. “I made this! Isn’t it cool?”

“It’s wonderful--you’re getting better every day,” Adagio replied as she affectionately put an arm around her youngest sibling. Then, she looked up at Aria. “What about you, Ari?”

“I’m rocking gym class now,” she said with a smirk as she flexed one of her arms--which was noticeably more muscularly defined, “Working at the local, public gym has helped me get stronger. Nobody can frick with me at dodgeball.”

Adagio raised a cautious brow while shooting her a knowing look. “Don’t tell me you smoked someone with a rubber ball again. Those things can hurt, you know.”

“What? No!” Aria deflected with a scoff, “I don’t throw ‘em that hard.”

Sonata spoke up to change the subject. “Oh hey, how was math class? Was the professor able to work like usual?” She tilted her head and stared closely at her sister’s face. “You look happy so I assume that everything was alright--right?”

“Er…” Adagio leaned backwards with her eyes nervously darting down to herself, “...Is there something on my face?”

“Heel, Sonata,” Aria pulled her back, “You’re starting to pick up Pinkie’s habits regarding space again.” She looked at Adagio. “But yeah, I’m curious too--how was class today?”

Once she realized her sister was merely checking for her well-being, Adagio relaxed and replied. “...Oh. Is that all? Well, you’ll be happy to know that the professor is back to his usual routine. It was crazy because he was approached by this detective officer before he got started…”

“Probably showed up to let him know that the case was bullshit,” Aria commented casually, “Good thing too. Last thing I want is for that bitch to get any satisfaction from winning...wherever she is. Anyway, I’m off to work. I’ll see you guys at home later?”

“...Oh, you’re still working?” Adagio asked, “What about you, Sona?”

Sonata nodded with a smile. “Mm-hmm! My job is totes cool! I love working with Pinkie!”

“Plus, we figured you could use the break anyway,” Aria added, “You’ve been working hard since we came here, so now it’s our turn. Go home and just relax, alright?”

“You two…” Adagio wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. “Okay. I’ll head on home right now. But I’ll be sure to have dinner ready for when you get back.” She then opened her arms wide. “Now come here.”

Sonata quickly obliged, hugging upon her sister tightly. “Awesome! If I get lucky, I’ll bring some other stuff from work!”

Aria’s eyes darted back and forth before she quickly hugged her sister and let go. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we’re gonna be late if we don’t hurry. Come on, Sonata. See you later, A-dawg.”

“See you when you get home, girls.”

And with that, the trio split off. The eldest siren headed back home while her sisters made their way to work…

Arc VII Episode I: Diner Day Job

With Sonata…

The youngest of the sisters made her way to the diner where she worked. As soon as she got there, she put on her uniform--the blue dress and roller skates that the other girls wore.

“Okay…I can do this…” she slowly stood up and started rolling on the skates. And wouldn’t you know it? Sonata was actually doing it. “Whoo! Yes--I’m getting way better at this. Wonder if I can start waiting tables soon…”

With her new found confidence, Sonata skated out to the front of the restaurant and took her place at the register. Nearby, Pinkie was busy prepping the ice cream machine.

“Ooh! You’re doing great, Sonata!” Pinkie praised her, “You might be able to wait tables soon!”

“M-maybe!” she nervously replied while rolling her feet back and forth in order to maintain her balance. “But I think I’m good behind the register for now.”

“How was your Thanksgiving?” Pinkie asked, and started to pepper her with questions, “Was the turkey good? How ‘bout the ham? The mac and cheese?? The--”

Sonata cut her off by putting a finger over her mouth. “Shhhhh. I’ll tell you if you promise to let me get a word in.”

Pinkie slowly nodded and waited for Sonata to remove her hand to say, “I’m listening.”

“It was awesome,” she went on, “My sisters and I had the best Thanksgiving ever thanks to both you and Sunset’s help. You really know how to cook, huh?”

“I dabble a bit in the culinary arts,” Pinkie replied with a smug, expression and half-lidded eyes, “Toldya that butter is better on everything.”

Sonata responded with a giggle. “Yeah you do have a point. But that’s totes not something we should be eating more than once a year. You humans have like, the weirdest types of food.”

“But that’s the best part,” Pinkie said with a sly grin, “All these different types of food is what makes life worth living!”

Sonata tilted her head. “Uh…I thought it’s because you can’t live without food.”

“Exactly!”

“...what?”

But before Pinkie could elaborate on her stance, it was time for their shifts to begin as noted by the pink girl’s beeping watch. “Oops! Gotta get going!” And with that, she rolled backwards on her skates while making fingergun gestures. “See ya, bestie!”

“Oh, uh…see ya!” “...Bestie?”

Meanwhile, outside…

A pair of teenagers were walking down the sidewalk towards the diner.

“So that’s what my mom told you to do? Just because she thinks I’m not getting out of the house enough? Dgggh! She can be so nosy sometimes.”

“This ain’t exactly my favorite pastime neither. But your ma’s paying me good money so I ain’t exactly gonna turn her down.”

“Uch--classic mom. Always throwing money at her problems.”

Diamond Tiara was walking alongside the boy who was living in one of her mother’s apartments. It would appear that this was one of the ‘jobs’ that Spoiled Rich wanted him to work on: Getting Diamond Tiara out of the house and away from her phone for at least an hour.

Instead of his labcoat, the dark green boy with silver hair was dressed in more casual clothes on this day: A neon green and black, horizontally striped T-shirt with dark, stonewashed jeans that had small tears along the knees, and a pair of brown tennis shoes. “You callin’ me a problem?” he asked while raising an eyebrow.

Tiara casually flipped her hair as she kept walking. “I’ll call you whatever I feel like calling you.”

The boy stopped for a moment, and kept walking with a fang-y grin. “You don’t screw around with your words. I can get behind that.”

“Ugh--quit smiling at me with those weirdo teeth of yours,” she glared, then rolled her eyes. “Whatever. At least we’ll be getting something good. I haven’t had a burger in forever.”

“...Burger?” the boy tilted his head, “I’ve never heard of such a delicacy.”

Tiara raised an eyebrow. “Uh, where the heck are you from again?”

“...Yeah, I’m not telling her that just yet.” He responded with the closest equivalent he could think of. “Transylvania…Romania.”

“Uch. That explains it,” she said with dismissive shake of her head, “You’re one of those high-class boys from Europa, aren’t you? Refusing to eat anything unless it fits your exact palette, hm?”

While he had no idea what she just said, he wasn’t one to back down from a challenging statement. “So what if I am?”

“Nothing’s wrong with that,” she replied as they walked up to the door of the restaurant, “I can relate.”

“Guess that’s something we have in common.” He then casually opened the door and walked in without waiting up for Tiara.

Which left the pink girl to open it again and follow in a huff. “Hey! You’re supposed to hold the door open for a lady, you dope.”

“Name-calling isn’t very ladylike,” he said with a crap-eating grin thanks to his serrated, shark-like teeth, “Surely you can set a better example than that.”

And all Tiara could do was grumble. “Dhh! Just--just find us a table,” she folded her arms and turned her head up, and away from him.

“Fine, fine. How ‘bout here?” he flopped into one of the empty booths near the middle of the establishment.

“Hmph,” she uncrossed her arms and sat across from him. “Sufficient. Anyhow--what was your name again? It keeps escaping me.”

He sat upright, and re-introduced himself. “Ketsuki, Keiji--the latter is my given name. So call me Keiji.”

“K…G?” Diamond Tiara repeated his name in an attempt to comprehend it, “What does that stand for?”

“Hm? No, it’s not initials,” he explained, and showed her his phone’s lock screen to let her see how it was spelled. “That’s my actual name.”

“Ohh…huh,” Tiara replied with a mildly interested spark in her eyes, “Sounds like something out of an anime.”

Keiji pocketed his phone and narrowed his eyes. “That’s because my mother is from the place where anime is created. Duh. Japone.” This wasn’t technically false as it perfectly fit the new narrative that Keiji had to pull to remain inconspicuous.

“Oh really?” she responded with a hint of interest, and quickly covered it up. “Er…I mean, that’s cool I guess.”

Kei sighed mentally as he picked up the menu. “Ugh. Too many mixed signals. I see why Lady Rich was willing to pay me for this.”

A few moments later, Pinkie rolled up to them on her skates to greet them. “Hey-hey! Welcome to--” and when she opened her eyes, she realized that there was a familiar face sitting there. “Oh, hey Diamond Tiara! How’s it hangin’?”

“...Fine,” she replied hesitantly, “Just fine.” She looked over at Keiji and spoke, “Order whatever you want, KK. I’m buying.”

Which is something that he was in no position to refuse, given his lack of funds in general. “Alright then…”

“Oooooh…” Pinkie leaned over, glancing at the two of them, “Are you two--”

And before she could say anything, Tiara would shut her down with a snap of her fingers. “Ahem. We’re just here as friends, thank you. Don’t make it look or sound weird, Ponk.”

“Suuuure,” Pinkie replied with a wink and stood upright. She then reached into her hair to grab a notepad and pencil, “What can I get ya? Friends?”

Tiara grabbed the bridge of her nose.

Keiji decided to order first. “I’m…interested in this burger thing you have here,” he said, pointing at the hot sandwich on the menu, “Is it possible to have this to where it’s still bleeding?”

“Rare it is!” Pinkie scribbled that down on her notepad, “What about you, DT?”

“Same thing. Make mine medium though,” she replied casually while putting one of her arms upon the back of the booth’s seat. “Just looking for something I haven’t had in a while. Oh, and to drink I want a cookies and cream milkshake.”

“Gotcha!” Pinkie leaned over the green boy’s shoulder next, “What would you like to drink, sir?”

“...?” he turned his head to look at the invasive waitress, and then turned to DT with a confused look on his face--in total silence as if to ask, ‘What’s with her?’

Tiara simply shrugged her shoulders--also without saying a word.

Keiji shook his head, and looked back down at the menu. “...What IS all of this stuff? None of these things existed in Trotsylvania.”

“Ugh, c’moooon…” Tiara groaned impatiently while turning her head up to the ceiling.

Pinkie glared at the rich girl, “Don’t rush him, woman! Let him think!” She patted the boy on his shoulder, “It’s okay. Take your time--first-timers always have trouble deciding.”

For the sake of simplicity, Keiji gave up and said, “Uhhh…gimme the same thing as her.”

“Ehehe! That’s perfect!” Pinkie thought to herself as she wrote that down. “Got it. See you guys in a biiiiit~” she rolled away from them while making the same fingergun gestures as before.

Now that she was gone, Keiji finally found room to ask Diamond Tiara, “Is she always like this?”

“Yes.”

Arc VII Episode II: Vampires Do What??

As the two sat at the table and waited for their order, Diamond Tiara decided to make some small talk with her mother’s new hire.

“So…KK,” she started off with her arms on the table, “Tell me about yourself.”

“...Me?” He was caught rather off-guard by the question, noted by his hesitation. “...How about you start first?”

Tiara scoffed and rested her chin on her palm--elbow on the table. “Blech. I hate talking about myself ad nauseam. Everyone always wants to ask about my family’s luxury cruises or the crap my dad brings back from his business trips. I’m sick of always being the one to start conversations--nobody ever asks about me. So I’d rather you go first.”

“Seems she’s exhausted all possible topics for conversation. Guess that’s what happens when you’ve already got everything,” Keiji thought about it to himself and decided to play ball. “Alright. Well if we’re talking hobbies, I like to draw and perform experiments.”

“...Experiments? Oh yeah,” she put her hand down, and looked at him while continuing, “My mom mentioned something about that. You always answer the door wearing a labcoat and goggles like you’re a mad scientist or something.”

“I…” As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t exactly refute it, given the romanticized nature of science in popular culture. “...Suppose you have a point. I’m usually performing biology experiments. I like to study what goes on inside of us--what makes us tick--why you huma--er, why we humans can get infections…”

Tiara stared at him with a blank expression. “...Huh. So…you’re trying to cure every disease or something? Or like, make it to where we can’t get sick?”

“...Something like that,” the green boy rubbed his hand against his neck, “But obviously, it’s not an easy task. It’s also not something I like to discuss with others. Talk of blood makes fellow huma--er, classmates rather skittish for some reason.”

“Well duh, you’re talking about blood and guts,” she spoke candidly, “Hardly anyone’s gonna wanna discuss that crap. But…” she paused and formulated her next point, “I think it’s pretty cool. You’re actually trying to do something that benefits others--not just yourself. Guess I had the wrong idea.”

Keiji chuckled, “Hah--well--” but then he stopped and pointed out what she had just said, “Wait a sec, ‘wrong idea’? What sort of ‘idea’ were you having about me in the first place?”

“That you were just some stuck-up pretty boy that just managed to get in my mom’s good graces just because you were cute,” she explained herself as directly as usual, “But I guess I was wrong. You must be pretty intelligent if you’re studying blood and stuff like that. Guess mom was right about something for once.”

“Eh?” Keiji sat back in his seat with his arms folded, “What’s she right about?”

“That you might be worth talking to,” Tiara went on as she rolled her eyes, “She keeps saying that I should get out of my comfort zone and hang out with people other than Silver Spoon. Not like I have a choice since Silver and her family are away on a vacation for Thanksgiving…”

“Ah. So she’s feeling a bit out of her element, huh? Guess that’s one thing Lady Rich did for both of us.” Keiji decided to keep the conversation going. “I see. Well, I guess I may as well strike up another topic: What’s your opinion of vampires?”

“Vampires?” Tiara repeated, “They’re pretty cool, I suppose. Most of them tend to be wealthy and successful--not to mention good-looking. They’re totes better than grody things like werewolves or witches.” She put a finger to the side of her face as she thought about something. “I think I actually dressed up as a vampire for halloween once or twice. Hm…”

The boy breathed a mental sigh of relief. Maybe she would accept him for who he was? “Oh? Ya like ‘em, huh? Same. Though I never bought into that whole stake to the heart crap. That’d kill anybody--know what I mean?”

“Pssh,” Tiara scoffed with a small grin on her face, “I mean, yeah. That’s a bit ridiculous. Being impaled with a wooden stick would suck.”

“Not as much as how they suck,” he said with a toothy smirk.

As soon as she pieced together the joke, Tiara’s eyes went wide as she let out an annoyed groan. “Ugggggh. That’s not funny. You know it’s not funny. Don’t try to be funny.” Despite her protests, she could be heard chuckling under her breath.

Keiji looked at her with a knowing expression. “Mm-hmmmmm.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the diner…

Pinkie had given the order to the chef, and nudged Sonata when she got near the register. “Psst. Sona.”

“Hm?” Sonata had just finished giving a customer his change, so she was able to speak.

Pinkie pointed over in the direction of the dull-pink girl and dark-green boy. “Look at ‘em. Magic waitin’ to happen.”

Sonata shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Oh, Pinkie. Not every boy and girl is destined to fall in love with each other. That’d make for a pretty awkward situation on Earth.” Once she took a closer look, she realized who was sitting there. “Wait a sec--isn’t that one of your friend’s sister’s friends? A sophomore…right?”

“Yup-yup,” Pinkie replied with a snap of her fingers and confident, half-lidded eyes, “And she’s sitting with one of the new boys. This is a perfect opportunity for--”

But before she could explain herself, she was interrupted when the chef called her from the kitchen. “Pinkie--gonna need your help filling these orders.”

“Coming, sir!” Pinkie frantically waved at the chef and rolled away from Sonata once more. “Just watch and learn, rookie. We’re all about bringing customers together~” And then she disappeared through the double-doors into the kitchen.

“Ugh…Pinkie and her silly theories…” Sonata giggled as she watched her manager take off.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen…

Pinkie had been instructed to help the head chef fulfill several orders that had come in, including the one for Tiara and Keiji.

“Hm-hm-hmmm…gonna make this one unforgettable…” she sang to herself as she grabbed a large glass specifically to serve milkshakes for couples. Yup--she was all-in with this it seemed. There was no stopping her when she was in a rhythm.

Brrrrrring!

The phone at the end of the kitchen had started to ring…

And before Pinkie could properly get started, the chef called out to her once more from the end of the kitchen where the phone on the wall was. “Pinkie! Call for you! Answer quickly then get back to work!”

“Yes, sir!” she rolled on her skates and grasped the phone from the chef who left her alone to resume cooking. “Yello? This is Sweet Snacks Cafe--Pinkie Pie speaking. Wouldja like to know our specials?”

But to her surprise, it wasn’t a customer who was looking for an expert recommendation from the best baker in the city. No--in fact, it was one of her friends.

Twilight to be precise. “Pinkie? Good. You’re there. I don’t have much time, so I’ll make this quick--”

“Twilight?! Ooh! How are you? Where are you? Why don’tcha have much--?!”

“Pinkie!” she shouted over the phone to get her attention.

The pink girl apologized as she idly twirled the phone’s cord on her free hand’s index finger. “Oops. Sorry. What is it you wanted to tell me?”

“I’m suspecting demonic activity in the area where you are,” Twilight explained, “I can’t deal with it myself because I’m stuck knitting ugly Christmas sweaters with my mom and Cadence.”

“Shh! You’re not supposed to say they’re ugly!” an older woman’s voice called out from behind Twilight.

“I agree!” Pinkie chimed in, “Christmas sweaters are always the coolest--”

“Pinkiiiiiie!” Twilight groaned over the phone.

To which, she replied sheepishly once more. “R-right. Sorry--sorry. Demon stuff, right? Any idea what it’s gonna be?”

“No…but what I do know…is that it’ll be big.”

Arc VII Episode III: Food Science

Meanwhile, out in the dining room…

Tiara and Keiji were still having casual conversation like before. The latter was speaking quite highly of a certain race of bloodsuckers…

“...If you ask me, garlic’s pungent odor is what drives them off. It’s not necessarily poisonous.”

“Uh…huh…” Tiara replied slowly, “But what about the sun? Doesn’t their skin burn off into dust?”

“Daywalkers exist,” he said casually, “They have a sliding scale of resistance to the sunlight. Some just need sunscreen--others are perfectly fine.”

“Woah…he knows a ton…” Tiara thought to herself. This boy knew a lot more about these Transylvanian creatures than she had ever cared to know about before. It intrigued her quite a bit--especially since it was a conversation with someone she didn’t know very well… “That’s amazing,” she muttered wondrously, “Sounds like they’re cooler than I thought. And they don’t need to suck out of people’s necks, do they?”

Keiji shook his head. “Nah. It doesn’t help that most folks aren’t willing--squirming, stressed-out necks are not fun to deal with. So we generally prefer to drink blood out of a pack or something.” And in his casual state of conversation, he overlooked his choice of words…

Thankfully, Diamond Tiara didn’t quite pick up on it right away. “Yeech. I can’t imagine my food wriggling around while I’m trying to eat it. Speaking of which…” She paused and looked around towards the kitchen, “Where’s our order…”

Almost as if it was on cue, Pinkie rolled out to them carrying two plates--each with a burger and fries--though one was marked with a pink toothpick to indicate that it was rare.

“Here ya go!” Pinkie chirped, much to the wide-eyed shock of the pair at the table, “Your shake will be out in juuuuust a sec--”

Keiji was about to open his mouth to say something. “Uh--”

But before he could, Pinkie had already rolled away from them.

“...Huh. Wonder what she means,” he wondered as he looked down at his plate. One look at the ‘bloody’ nature of the burger was enough to steal his attention. “But I’ve got other plans.”

Diamond Tiara grabbed the nearby silverware that was wrapped in a napkin. She placed one of them on her lap, and started to cut into the burger with a knife and fork as if it were a steak. “Hm. Smells delicious.” And she would eat elegant little bites once she had cut into it…

Keiji stared at the strange method of eating what could be described as a hot sandwich. “...Why is she using those?”

Tiara noticed the fact that he was staring and pointed it out. “Ahem. Something wrong?”

“Oh nothing it’s--” he looked up at her and continued, “I notice you’re using utensils to eat that. Is that’s how burgers are usually eaten?”

“Not usually,” she answered once she swallowed her most recent bite, “But it’s how mom’s raised me to eat certain foods.”

“...Hm…you know there’s a--” he stopped himself mid-sentence and shook his head. “Nah. Never mind. You probably won’t care.”

But to his surprise, she was interested in what he had to say. “No no,” she put the utensils down and leaned forward, “Go on. I’m listening.”

With that in mind, Keiji continued. “Oh. Alright. Well, studies have shown that certain foods tend to taste better when using your hands instead of cutlery.”

“...” Her jaw dropped. This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. “...Really? How’s that possible?”

“Long story short,” Keiji picked up the burger from his plate, and held it, “When you’re touching something, your brain’s receptors pick up what your hands come in contact with and that sends signals to your mouth to indicate that you’re about to eat something good.”

“Really…” Tiara looked down at the plate with a confused stare.

Meanwhile, Keiji had begun eating. “...Damn. This is pretty good. The humans know how to make good food. Much better than whatever the hell my parents tried to make back home.”

Tiara shifted her eyes around to make sure no one in particular was watching her. Then, once she was certain, she picked up the burger and took a bite out of it. “...Mm…”

And as fate would have it, Keiji was correct. The burger did taste better than when she was eating it with a knife and fork moments ago.

“Wow…that…it tastes even better,” she paused and put it down, looking at him once more, “How did you know that?”

Keiji came up with an answer on the spot. “I…suppose you could say that I know a lot about biology. Yeah--biology.” He put on his best grin to hide his uncertainty. “Hopefully she buys that. There’s no way in all of the nine circles of hell she’d accept the real reason.”

Luckily, Tiara was none the wiser. “Huh. Once again, I was wrong--you’re smarter than you look.”

Keiji stared in her direction with a flat expression and annoyed eyes. “What’s that supposed’ta mean?”

But before she could respond, Pinkie rolled up to their table, and placed a large sundae glass with two straws poking out of it in the middle right between them. “Here ya go! A cookies ‘n cream milkshake for the two of ya! You two enjoy yourselves and call Sonata if you need anything else!”

“...Thank you?” Keiji replied as Pinkie started to roll away.

All Diamond Tiara could do was sigh to herself. “Seriously? The couples’ shake? Was that her plan? Doesn’t she know that this isn’t a date?”

“Wow…just wow,” Keiji saw right through it also, “I’m just gonna pretend that she didn’t just do that. I barely know you--no offense.”

“None taken,” she replied with a roll of her eyes, “You still seem like a delinquent but not entirely trashy.”

“Pfft. That’s rich. Or should I say broke,” he replied with a snicker.

“Just stop,” Tiara huffed, “You suck at comebacks.”

“Well I suck at multiple things, but let’s not get into that.” He stowed his thoughts and took a sip of it. “Huh. Not bad at all.”

On the other side of the diner…

“I’m going on break, Sonata,” Pinkie called out as she rolled down the middle of the diner and through the double doors to the back of the building, “Hold down the fort for me, kay?”

“Sure!” Sonata agreed, then promptly did a double-take once she realized what she had just said, “Wait…what?!”

Outside…

Pinkie had taken off her dress-uniform as well as her skates and changed into a casual pink hoodie, jeans, and regular shoes. She then started to take a look around the parking lot. “...No demons or magic here. Better check the nearby streets and the front of the building.” While she was normally very scatterbrained, Pinkie couldn’t be stopped once she had an objective.

“Big…big…how big are we talkin’ here?”

Little did she know, a spider had been crawling after her...

Arc VII Episode IV: Along Came A Spider...

Meanwhile, on the other side of town…

A large, two-story home was located near the suburbs of the city. This is where Blueblood lived. There, he was already pondering his next move regarding Aidon and the others.

“Gah…this won’t do,” he thought to himself while looking at his notes on the kitchen counter as he sipped his coffee, “There has to be a way to…unless…It seems I have no other choice.”

With a snap of his fingers, he summoned Wendy from his book, and the girl would appear in front of him moments later.

“Yes, Master Blueblood? What do you need?” she asked as she appeared in front of him with a dutiful nod. “I’m still not at my full power yet but…”

Blueblood shook his head, “No need for that. I’ve already got the perfect thing in mind that you can do to help. Aidon is more powerful than we would’ve expected, but…” He shut the book. “If you make use of your Endbringer’s Frost, we’ll be able to freeze him to death.”

Upon hearing him say the name of that particular ability, Wendy froze--metaphorically--in place, staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. “...T-the E-endb-bringer Attack…? B-but…Master…using that would…I would…”

He got up from his seat, and put a hand on her shoulder. “I know. Trust me. It hurts me just as much as it hurts you. But the longer we wait, the stronger he’ll get. Surely you understand that we can’t wait any longer.”

Plink…plink….plink…

Frozen tears dropped and clattered to the floor. Wendy forcefully kept her eyes shut and did her best to keep from bawling--only letting out small, soft whimpers. “I-I…I understand, Master. Besides…I-I know you can just summon others like me anyway so I don’t really matter that much in the grand scheme…” she said in between a sniffle.

“Wendy…” There was a regretful look on his face even as he looked away from her. Was it possible that Blueblood genuinely had sympathy for this creature? “I…” he sighed as he tried to explain himself, “It’ll ultimately be for the greater good. I can’t beat him in my current state, so your execution of the Endbringer would be extremely beneficial.” He looked down at the floor. “And then maybe…just maybe…if I find a way to grab your essence from the Aether, I can bring you back to life once it’s over.”

Her sobbing slowly came to a stop as she opened her eyes. The girl rubbed away her tears with an open palm and muttered. “You...you promise?”

“I promise,” he replied with a nod, “You’ve been quite the loyal subject. To throw you away completely would be rather foolish…”

Wendy turned around and hugged him, burying her face against his chest. “Oh, thank you, Master!”

“You’re welcome, Wendy.” He hugged her close, and looked away with a small grin on his face. “Of course…what I want comes first.”

Meanwhile, back in the middle of the city…

Pinkie had been roaming around, looking for any shred of information she could find in regards to the ‘demons’ that Twilight had mentioned over the phone. But so far, she was having no luck.

“...Sprinkles,” she muttered under her breath as she walked casually down the street with her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, “Just what am I even looking for out here? The city is like a big, metallic jungle filled to the brim with big metal trees!” she said in reference to the tall buildings all over the place. “C’mon, Pinkie Pie…think…”

Little did she know, there was already a magical presence in the area. And it was sneaking up on her in the form of purple smoke…but it didn’t make a sound, nor did it have a scent of any kind, making it impossible to detect unless someone was looking directly at it.

“Hm…” she looked around, then down at her phone to check the time. “Let’s see. I’ve got about forty minutes before I’m back on the job. I think that gives me enough time’ta search a few blocks.”

Once again, the miasma would continue to flow in Pinkie’s direction, hiding behind bushes as it slowly crept up to her.

And at last, she was able to feel something…strange. “Eghgh…what is…” she stopped dead in her tracks, and reached behind herself in an attempt to scratch her back. Thankfully, nothing was there. “...What the…I could’ve sworn something was crawling on me just then.” She took a look around and found nothing. She was standing in front of a park where a few kids were playing to her right. And to her left, cars continued to pass by down the road like always.

“Hoo…” Pinkie took a deep breath, and continued onwards, “Alright. Maybe it was just my mind going places as usual. Focus, Pinkamena. Focus.” She grumbled to herself while rubbing her head, “You’re looking for demons. Demons. No other thoughts…gotta stay alert…” she narrowed her eyes and started to shift her head back and forth, glaring in all directions as she walked. “...Something’s up. I know it.”

She was in for a rude awakening.

Pinkie’s perceptions were perfect, though she didn’t realize that something had been following her the entire time.

Meanwhile, behind her, some of the children at the park had noticed the shadow-like figure evolve into something solid with multiple legs.

“...”

They all froze, dropped their toys and immediately scampered off into the distance without saying a word.

“Huh?” Pinkie turned around to see…nothing. No one was there and all of the children had run off. “...Freaky. What’s got them all spooked?” From the corner of her eye, she was able to see--right below her… “Eeek! A spider!” And she dove into the nearest bush…

But surprisingly, it didn’t look harmful. It was a simple yellow-sac garden spider.

“Oh…it’s just…I thought it was something deadly. Fluttershy showed me that one a while back. I guess it can’t hurt to help it out…right?”

Ever so carefully, Pinkie walked out to the spider with a large leaf in hand. “Hey…little guy. Let me help you…” she muttered quietly while a few beads of sweat ran down the side of her face. She bent over and shook the leaf in its direction…

And it obliged, crawling onto the leaf which only caused Pinkie’s hand to shake further.

“...Okay…j-just gotta get it over to the park’s grass…” Her heartbeat was thumping loud enough to be heard inside of her head as she slowly walked it over to the grass, and let it go. “...Whew…that wasn’t so bad…”

The spider turned around and looked at Pinkie with its set of eight eyes…and blinked them all at once.

“Ew-ew-ew! Gross!” she revolted and quickly backed away from the spider.

But Pinkie’s comment would prove to be her undoing…

WOOSH!

From where the spider stood, it gave off a purple miasma as its size shifted. Soon enough, it became large enough to where it was the size of a car. But instead of its usual arachnid head…

“WHAT THE GOODNESS--?!” Pinkie screamed as she watched the bug transform into something large enough to cast a shadow over her…

Back at the diner…

Diamond Tiara and Keiji had pretty much finished up their meal, and were prepared to leave.

“Mm, that was awesome,” Tiara commented as she cleaned her hands, then face with a moisturized wipe that came in a bottle she carried with her. She then handed one to Keiji. “Here, ya vagabond. You got ketchup and stuff on those weirdly sharp teeth of yours.”

“Hm?” he accepted the wipe, and licked the ketchup off his fangs with an oddly satisfied expression. “Mm…almost like the real thing…” he mumbled as he cleaned his face and hands as well.

“Say what now?” Tiara inquired.

Only for Kei to shake his head. “Eh? Nothing. Let’s get going.”

“Uh-huh…anyway, you’re not as bad or creepy as I thought,” Tiara commented as she walked up to the register to pay, “Who knows? If you’re lucky I might accept you as my personal servant.”

“You serious?” he raised a brow.

Tiara giggled to herself. “Of course not. But I’m not ashamed to call you an acquaintance at least. Take it or leave it.”

Keiji rolled his eyes in response. “I’d rather just leave you here.”

“Sure you would--”

CRASH!

Everyone immediately turned their heads to the window when they heard the glass crack, followed by a thud as something--or rather, someone, hit the ground outside.

And Sonata was the first to realize who it was. “Pinkie?!”

Arc VII Episode V: Creepy Crawlers!

“Ugggh…” Pinkie groaned as she hit the ground. She didn’t go through the glass, but it had left her with a severely injured back. “Owowowow….can’t…move…” That’s when she realized…

Her geode had popped clean off her neck from the impact, so she couldn’t make use of her explosive abilities.

Pinkie’s coworkers rolled out to see what was wrong and picked her up off the ground.

“Pinkie!” one of the ladies cried out as they both picked her up, “Are you alright? What happened?!”

Moments later, the entire restaurant’s worth of patrons had run out to the front of the building to see what had happened--Tiara and Keiji included.

“What’s going on?!” Now wearing regular shoes instead of skates, Sonata squealed as she ran out and looked down at the injured, and temporarily paralyzed Pinkie, “Who did this to you, Pinkie? Where are they?!”

Pinkie coughed a few times and weakly pointed a finger down the street. “S-spider…l-lady…m-monster!”

“You’re hurt, Pinkie. C’mon,” her other coworker had grabbed her geode off the ground, “We’ll take you inside.”

“N-no! M-monster!” Pinkie sputtered aloud in a panic as she kicked her legs, “She’s here!”

Everyone looked up…

Clickclickclickclick--

And sure enough, a giant spider-like creature rounded the corner. Its legs were the length of human bodies, and its abdomen was the size of a car! However, the key difference was that unlike regular spiders…

This one was part human.

More specifically, the torso of a human woman was present where its mouth normally was. A spider “monster-girl” so to speak. However, unlike most humans, this spider lady’s face eerily lacked normal eyes and instead had spider-like eyes all around the side of her head with nothing but a mouth visible on the front of her face.

Needless to say, everyone was reasonably scared shitless--immediately flung into a panic.

“AHHHHHHH!”

The crowd of patrons immediately tried to fan out and run off in various directions. That is, until…

SWISH!

A wall of thick webbing was generated from the spider monster, creating a wall that was impossible to pass through and locked off the streets to prevent escape.

By now, Pinkie was in too much pain to speak, let alone fight back. But you know who was ready to fight back?

“I got this!” Sonata stood in between the crowd and the arachnid creature with her hands sparking, and looked back at her coworkers. “Tip Top, Sunny--get Pinkie and everyone else back inside. I’ll handle this.”

The two women weren’t in a position to argue. They started to usher everyone back inside the building as quickly as possible.

However, someone wasn’t moving…

“...Keiji?” Diamond Tiara turned her head when she realized her classmate wasn’t beside her, “Keiji what are you doing?!” she ran up to him and attempted to pull him by his arm, “This thing is dangerous! Do you wanna die?! C’mon!”

But the boy had been staring down at the ground the entire time, hiding his eyes from her. Out of nowhere, he yanked his arm away, and gave her a command, “Get back inside. Now.”

“But--!”

“Now,” he repeated himself, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’m more than capable of handling myself…but this hideous thing looks too strong for Sonata to handle alone.”

“...”

At the same time, while they were talking, Sonata had shot a few bolts of electricity from her hands at the spider while running to the left. “Over here ya big bug bimbo!”

…But each and every one of her bolts were blocked by web-like shields that appeared in front of the arachnid behemoth. It was ineffective to the point where she mocked Sonata by pretending to yawn.

“W-what?! It’s not working?!”

SWISH!

More webbing was shot out from one of the spider lady’s legs, which bound Sonata in a sticky gray substance.

“Grrrh! Can’t…break…out!” she grumbled while struggling against the webs.

“...” Tiara shot a vacantly fearful look in Sonata’s direction whilst slowly backing away. Her body trembled as she moved. “...D-don’t die, alright?”

He flashed a toothy grin beneath his hidden expression. “You should be more worried about her than me…” He then looked over at the spider lady and shouted. “Hey you! The eight-legged floozy!”

“Ghhh…!” Sonata had shut her eyes, flinching as she did everything in her power to look away--even as long, thick globs of drool landed upon her face. “Don’teatmedon’teatmedon’teatme….!”

The spider lady had opened her mouth wide over Sonata’s head with spider-like pincers protruding through her cheeks as she prepared to feast upon the girl. But the voice of the boy had distracted her.

“...Unh?” she turned around to face him.

“You’re encroaching on my turf…” He placed his left hand over his face while tilting his head upwards. Only one of his eyes were visible through his fingers as he started smiling with an unstable, sadistic expression. “You’d better leave now before things get ugly…”

Her attention was fully focused on the boy now, which enabled Sonata to start focusing on freeing herself from the webbing.

Meanwhile, the arachnid monster started to speak! “...Foolish human morsel. I do not answer to food.”

“In that case…” Keiji’s silver hair slowly became a shade of blood-red as he pressed his palm against his face. “Just don’t die before I tell ya to.” Once his hair color changed, he raised his hands into the air, and pulled something out of what appeared to be a black hole. It was…a katana?! But not just any katana, it matched the exact same red color that he had just changed his hair to.

“You…you’re from royal family of royal bloodsucker ponies…” the arachnid lady commented as soon as she saw him pull the sword out of nowhere.

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Keiji replied in a snarky tone as he rested the katana’s dull side over his left shoulder--holding onto the hilt with his left hand. “But I’m gonna give you one last chance’ta back away. Unless you wanna get the shit kicked outta you,” he went on with the widest grin he could muster, stalling purposefully to allow Sonata extra time to escape her bindings.

Meanwhile, the patrons who had holed themselves up in the restaurant were staring in awe at what they witnessed.

Diamond Tiara in particular had started to piece together the conversation she had been having with Keiji over the course of their friendly chat moments ago. “...Is he…is that made of…oh my god. I don’t know if that’s gross or badass.”

“You are a tyrant like your parents,” the spider lady continued as she began to charge at the boy--all of her legs clickclack-ing against the road with thunderous weight. “You cannot enforce your rule upon me in this world, monster!”

“Wait for it…” Even in the face of the dangerous arachnid creature, Keiji remained unnerved, peerless even. “Sheesh. Look in the mirror lately? If that ain’t the furnace calling the fireplace hot I dunno what is.”

The jeering remarks landed their mark. His arrogant tone visibly annoyed the spider woman as she launched several large, car-sized globs of yellow-ish-white, puss-like venom from her mouth in his direction.

SPLAT!

But he blocked each one with a shield that was red, crystalline in structure…and dripping. “Is that all you got?” he snarked once more, “Look. I don’t even know who you are, but you’re boring the hell outta me. Why don’tcha piss off somewhere else and we can--” But as soon as he got rid of the shield… “What the--?!”

The arachnid lady was gone.

SLICK!

“Woah!”

Keiji narrowly avoided another ball of spittle that was fired from above. He looked up to see that she had climbed onto the side of the nearest building and was attacking him from up there.

And as he would find out, that’s where she was most comfortable…

“RISE!”

From the spittle that had landed upon the ground, dozens upon dozens of smaller spiders emerged. While they were smaller than the spider queen herself, they were still rather large--clocking in at the size of dogs! Keiji soon found himself surrounded on all sides by what appeared to be a hundred of them.

“...So this is the power of the Arachne Ogumo…” he thought to himself, “Guess I’ll have to take this seriously.”

Arc VII Episode VI: Wash The Spiders Out

“KK!” Diamond Tiara squealed from inside, “Behind you!”

“...!”

One of the spiders lunged at the boy, which he narrowly dodged with a roll. Then another, then another. But soon, he found himself cornered with no other options.

“Guess I got no choice…”

The spiders all got ready to charge him at once and as soon as they leapt for him…

BSSHHHH!

“LYMPHATIC VORTEX!” Keiji stabbed his katana into the ground, causing a violent geyser of hard, red crystals to shoot up and impale every single one of the arachne’s summons, causing them all to disappear in a flash of yellow light. After which, he pointed his sword up at her in a challenging manner, “Pff. That was nothing. C’mon, you can do better than that, can’tcha?!”

“RRRGH!” Flummoxed, the arachnid queen flung more webs down in his direction via her legs.

And Keiji returned to playing defensively, all whilst mocking her each time he avoided one. “Aw, so close! Oops! No dice, coward! Come down here and face me yourself!”

BZZZZZ!

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck the spider queen, causing her to fall off the building and onto the street with a loud thud!

“AAAGH!”

Keiji looked to his left, and saw that it had come from Sonata who had recently broken free of the webby restraints. “Hmph. Was wondering when you’d break free. Care’ta help me out? This bitch just doesn’t know when’ta stay down.”

“Sure but like,” Sonata ran up to the boy, “How do we beat her? She’s so big and that exoskeleton of hers is too thick to shock her through completely.”

The arachne lady started to recover, rising to her legs…

“But I bet it’s thick enough’ta cut through,” Keiji replied while running his right hand down the side of the blade, then he rested the dull side upon his shoulder like before, “Here’s the plan…”’

Unfortunately, whatever plan they were cooking up was about to be changed. Why?

“RISE!” the arachne screamed.

More spiders appeared from the webbing…and started to make a beeline towards the restaurant, causing the patrons to scream and panic as the waitresses did their best to barricade the doors.

“Aw son of a--” Keiji grumbled as soon as he saw the eight-legged monstrosities swarm the place.

SMACK!

And while he was distracted, Keiji was swept off his feet and knocked away by one of the arachne’s legs.

“Oof!” he tumbled, but kept a fierce grip on his sword, refusing to let go of it even as he skid across the hard ground. “...Dammit…alright, change of plans! Save everyone else, Bluebell! I got this!”

“Blue--my name is--!” Sonata gasped as soon as she realized the spiders were headed for the innocent bystanders inside the building. “Ah! Hang on!” And without hesitation, she took off, shocking and killing the spiders by the dozens as each bolt would travel to another nearby target, resulting in effective crowd control. “Ewewewew! I hate spiders! Diediedie!”

Meanwhile, Keiji slowly rose to his knee and coughed as he spoke to the queen. “...You’re wasting your time. These humans aren’t gonna fall to your tricks, bitch.”

“Oh are they? COME!” she commanded.

Despite Sonata’s efforts, some of the spiders had managed to break through and into the restaurant. They had taken a few of the people hostage and wrapped them up in webs, then they proceeded to carry them out and towards the queen.

Among them? Diamond Tiara.

“Grossgrossgross! Somebody kill these things! KK, help!” she screamed as she squirmed helplessly while the spiders carried her.

And Rumble as well. “Okay, as cool as this is, this is really freaking me out!”

“No…!” Keiji was about to move, but the spider queen cut him off by stepping in front of him.

“Lower your blade or my children feast on their bones,” she hissed as Diamond Tiara and Rumble were carried over to her.

“What?!” Rumble called out, “Not cool, man! Can’t you just drown me in acid instead?!”

“Not helping, Rumble!” Tiara glared at him as she continued to fruitlessly struggle.

For the first time since the engagement began, Keiji was at a loss for words. “...No. I don’t want…they can’t die.” He was stuck. His usual, cocky banter wasn’t going to save the innocent people captured by a demonic spider and he knew that. The blank expression on his face said it all. “...”

“Clock is ticking.” The spider queen seemed intent on following through on her threats as she dangled both of Keiji’s fellow schoolmates from each of her legs upside-down and over the hungry, waiting spiders…

“Agh! Hey man! Don’t listen to her!” Rumble called out, “She’s just dicking with you!”

“KK…save yourself,” Tiara muttered under her breath so nobody else would hear, “I’m not worth it…”

Keiji shut his eyes, and stabbed his katana into the ground next to him. Then, he folded his arms. “Alright. You win. Let them go--agh!”

He was suddenly lifted off of the ground and pulled towards the spider queen with another pair of her legs. “You really think I would submit to you?” Her jaw practically dislocated itself as the pair of slobbery, brown pincers spread out from both sides of her cheeks, preparing to swallow his head whole! “DIE!”

POOF!

But before she could accomplish that…

POP-POP-POP!

Several, hot pink, sugary explosions could be heard from nearby.

“Icky-filthy spiders!” Pinkie screamed as she cast her explosive sprinkles from her sleeves, nuking the spiders out of existence alongside Sonata. It would appear that she had recovered from her injury after all… “Quit bugging us!”

This temporarily distracted the spider queen as she turned her head to find the source of the noise. “WHAT--?!”

And this left her open for Keiji to strike.

SHING!

“WORLDLY BLOODEDGE!”

In a quick flash, Keiji’s sword returned to his hand via levitation, and he sliced off the spider’s legs that held him in place.

“AGHHHH!”

Once he was free, he dealt another swift strike to the spiders that were threatening to eat his schoolmates. Lastly, he cut them free of the webs with surgical precision, allowing Tiara and Rumble to fall…

And promptly caught them both over his right shoulder, and placed them down on the sidewalk nearby.

“Jeez, stay outta the way, wouldja?” Keiji huffed as he placed them down, unable to properly express how anxious he was regarding their safety.

“Woah! That was awesome, dude!” Rumble replied as he stood up.

Tiara had managed to catch her breath. “Whew…that was a close one. Thanks, friend,” she muttered as she looked up at the katana-wielding boy. But something caught her attention….the smell of iron. “...You’re not human at all, are you?”

“What’s it to ya?” he turned around and sighed, “Ya’ll better stay back. I’m about’ta wreck her shit!” he took a few steps forward…

“GAH!” the spider lady screamed, “Why would you bother saving the skinsuits?! Aren’t you a vampire-pony? Shouldn’t you be feasting on their blood?!”

“Pfft,” he scoffed, his usual demeanor returning, “Who I feed on is none’a your business. You’re encroaching on my turf, so you’ll have to go.” He pointed his sword at her and went on, “Now I’m givin’ you one last chance. Leave now before I make ya.”

“I do not submit!” she yelled as she charged at him once more, causing his schoolmates to flinch and shiver behind him…

Little did she know. A bit of her blood had dripped onto the boy’s sword when he sliced at her limbs. This enabled him to perform another spell…

“It’s your funeral…” he cut his thumb with the blade and spread his own blood across the dull edge. Then he held out his hand and yelled, “ICHOR’S BINDING!”

“...!”

All the sudden, the spider queen was forced to stop in place--it was as if she had been frozen in time. But not quite. One could see her tongue and legs move ever so slightly. Why?

He had stopped her heart from beating.

But it wasn’t enough to kill her. Keiji needed to finish her off completely. So while she was stuck in place, he sprinted at her and delivered a quick slash to her torso…

“BORN IN A WORLD OF HATRED!”

SLASH!

Then another to her left set of legs.

“AGAINST ALL ODDS!”

SLASH!

Another to her right set of legs.

“I CHOOSE TO KILL!”

And lastly? He leapt into the air, and pointed his sword downwards, stabbing her right in the middle of her large arachnid abdomen.

SLICK!

And he promptly leapt off of her, posing on the ground by pointing his sword to the left with his back turned.

“Ketsuki Blossom Dance.”

CRACK!

Like something out of a comic book or a flashy movie, the spider monster would feel every slash and stab all at once. Her body could be seen cracking apart into numerous pieces before exploding into a flash of red light, disappearing completely.

And once the queen was dead, all of the spiders that Pinkie and Sonata had been dealing with also disappeared into flashes of red light.

“Hmph…” with a smug grin on his face, Keiji flung his sword on the ground, and it was stabbed into the road. “This battle is over.”

Arc VII Episode VII: My Schoolmate Is A Vampire Batpony?!

The webbing had all disappeared as well. And once it was all said and done, Diamond Tiara and Rumble ran up to their schoolmate.

“Yo! That was awesome!” Rumble cheered, “You were all like slash-swish-bam! Like some sorta anime! And is that sword made of blood or somethin’?!”

“...I dunno whether that’s gross or amazing,” Tiara added, “But you saved me--so I guess I can’t throw too much shade in your direction.” She looked at him with a smug smile. “So all that stuff about vampires was for a reason, wasn’t it?”

With a snap of his fingers, the katana disappeared and Keiji’s hair reverted to its usual silver color. “Yeah ya got me,” he replied as he looked at them, shoving his hands in his pockets, “I’m a vampony from Equestria and I can control blood magic. It’s outlawed over there so I was kinda banished to this world because of it.”

“...Harsh,” Rumble commented, “But I guess being able to stop someone’s heart on a whim like you did just then would be pretty OP. Still, they banished you just for showing interest in it?”

“Yup.”

Tiara jumped in and asked, “...Did your parents not have a say in it? Or…?”

Keiji rubbed one of his hands behind his neck, “Yeah, I’d rather not get into that. That shit still annoys me to this day. But what I will tell ya is that my name isn’t exactly Keiji Ketsuki. It used to be Count Bloodlust but I…changed it by translating it into my mom’s language.”

Tiara giggled. “Count Bloodlust? Wow, edgy much?”

“The hell’s that supposed’ta mean?” he grumbled.

“Hey, I think it’s pretty cool,” Rumble commented, “Though Keiji’s a pretty badass name too, I won’t lie. You were awesome out there, dawg.”

“For once, I agree with him,” Tiara added, “I wouldn’t exactly mind hanging out with you in the future if it means I have a free bodyguard--but seriously, thanks…I thought I was gonna die there.”

The compliments simply made Keiji roll his eyes. “...Whatever. You’re welcome, I guess. Just don’t start spreading rumors that I’m some hero, alright?”

“...I don’t think we’ll have to,” Rumble spoke up and pointed at the crowd near the diner. “Check it.”

Keiji turned and looked…

Once everyone had finished congratulating Pinkie and Sonata, they turned their attention to him next. More specifically, Rumble’s older brother Thunderlane who had been there with the former the whole time.

“Hey. Thanks for saving my bro,” he said as he walked over to hug Rumble, “As if we needed another reason to hate spiders.”

“Quit it, TL--” Rumble protsted, “Everyone’s watchiiiiing!”

“Yeah yeah,” Keiji replied flatly, “Don’t make a big deal out of--hrrk!”

Next, Pinkie’s coworkers approached Keiji and tightly hugged him from both sides.

“Thank you so much!” the pale-pink woman known as Sunny spoke first.

“He’s a hero!” the orange-skinned woman known as Tip Top squealed while pinching his cheek, “A sweet, adorable hero!”

“Can you like…not?” he mumbled through his teeth as his cheek was contorted. “I will bite you, lady.”

“You can come back for a free lunch whenever you want,” Sunny added while patting him on the head, “As our way of saying thank you.”

Keiji huffed while glaring at both women--his heart started to pound faster and faster, causing him to squirm anxiously. “Are either of you listenin’ta me at all? H-hey, get offa me!”

Diamond Tiara could be seen giggling in the background.

Soon enough, they let him go, and walked back towards the restaurant…only for him to be approached by Pinkie and Sonata.

“That was like, amazing!” Sonata chirped as she walked up to him, “What’s your secret?”

Keiji grit his teeth. “Oh god dammit--”

Pinkie chimed in right with her, interrupting him in the process. “I smelled metal--ooh! Do you control some kinda ruby or metallic--”

“Wouldja both shaddap and lemme talk?” Keiji spoke up to get their attention, “Anyway. I suppose it’s not worth trying to hide anymore. I can control my own blood and turn it into things like weapons and shields. In other words: I’m a hemomancer--a blood magic user from Equestria. I used to be a batpony, actually. Or a vampony--whatever fits.”

Sonata and Pinkie stared at him with open jaws and wide eyes--it was as if they had just seen a ghost.

Which rightfully freaked the boy out, and caused him to take a few steps back. “...Um. Right. With that being said, I’m gonna…go. I have a job to do.”

“Waitwaitwait! Blood magic?!” Sonata squealed, “The last time I heard anyone use that, it was centuries ago. Hasn’t Equestria, like, totally banned that?”

“They have. And that’s why I’m here now,” Keiji replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Anyhow. If you got more questions, you can ask me another day. I’m still working.”

“Working?” Pinkie tilted her head, “Doing what?”

“Babysitting a certain someone’s daughter,” he looked over in Tiara’s direction, “Hey, let’s go. Your mom is gonna be expecting us.”

“Excuse me?” she stomped up to him with a huff, “Babysitting? Just who do you think you are?”

Keiji rolled his eyes and kept up his smug expression. “Don’t get funny with me, you know your mother is gonna be looking for you. Now let's go before someone else tries to hug me.”

“C’mon, Sonata,” Pinkie said as she looked back at the building, “We got a looootta disinfecting to do.” “Gotta make sure I let Sunset know about this. She’ll know what to do.”

“Oh right! Coming!” Sonata followed her back into the building as the crowd of people dispersed.

Meanwhile…

As Keiji walked with Diamond Tiara back to her home, the latter was staring intently at the boy for most of the way. It to the point where he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Ugh--wanna tell me why you’re starin’ at me?” he commented while glaring at her. “That shit’s annoying.”

“Sorry I just…” she shook her head, “I never would’ve guessed that you actually were a vampire pony.”

Keiji stopped on a dime, and hung his head to hide his eyes from view. “...Do you think of me as some sorta freak now? Someone you’re too disgusted to be around?”

“...What? No! I mean…I won’t lie, it’s kinda weird and a bit crazy that you can control someone else’s blood if it gets on your sword…which is also made of blood. But that doesn’t make you a freak. Trust me,” she folded her arms, “I’ve seen loads of crazy things since I’ve been in this school. Nothing can freak me out at this point. I wouldn’t dare call someone who saved me from an icky spider death a freak. That crap was freaky.”

“Pff--I’ll say,” he replied with an audible shudder in his voice, “Blggh…I wonder how that arachne monster ended up here anyway. “

“...Think someone banished her here?” Tiara asked.

Keiji shook his head. “Nah. That thing existed as a spider monster back in Equestria just living on its own. Someone must’ve summoned her here. But…that’s besides the point.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just glad she’s gone.”

“Same here. I’m glad you were there. Although…” she shyly kicked the ground as she put her hands behind her back. “There’s something I wanna tell you.”

“What?”

She folded her arms, flipped her hair, and started walking again. “You need to work on your table manners. I can’t be seen eating in public with you if you’re gonna slather ketchup on your vampy teeth.”

“Oh you sonuva--” he scowled as he caught up with her, “Don’t tell me how I eat. You ain’t my mom.”

“Maybe not. But my mom’s the one keeping a roof over your head,” she shot back with her usual smug expression, “You’d do well to follow some standards.”

“Dis carbonite chick--you know I’m a noble too, right? My name was Count Bloodlust. Hello?”

“Was a noble,” Tiara corrected him, “But here, you’re no different than anyone else.”

While that was true, Keiji did recall just how much she enjoyed using her hands to eat. “Hm. Wait a sec--oh yeah, that’s right. You just ate a meal with your dainty little human paws, didn’t you?”

“...That’s different!’ she protested, “Besides…we were in a casual setting--”

Now it was Keiji’s turn to be the smug snake. “Well, well, well--just wait until Lady Rich finds out that her pampered daughter used her hands to eat like a barbarian. O the humanity! The scandalous nature of it all,” he put his hands against his cheeks to fake a dramatic state of shock.

“Dhhgh! Sh-shut it already!” she puffed out her cheeks, sulking as she continued walking. But after a moment, she came down off of the frustration and spoke candidly. “...Huh. That was new.”

“Eh?” he asked as he raised a brow.

“Silver Spoon’s my best friend--and she always will be--but…I’ve never had a moment of friendly banter with her like that before.”

Keiji put his hands behind his head and replied, “Well--that’s what happens when you’re surrounded by someone who always agrees with you.”

“...” Tiara paused as she processed what he had just said. At that moment, she had begun to realize why her mother had sent her away with him for the afternoon. “...Damn. You tell it like it is, huh?”

“No shit,” he said casually, “If I’m gonna say something about someone, I’ll say it. No reason to hide anything, right?”

Whether he realized it or not, Keiji’s words had cut deep and forged a realization in Diamond Tiara. “...You’re right, KK. You know what? I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”

“...”

“...KK?”

All the sudden, Keiji fell to his knees, and started coughing. “Agh! Dammit…that battle took a lot out of me…”

“...Are you alright?”

“...Yeah I’ll be--” He clutched his chest, his breathing became labored. “...F-fine. This…happens all the time. Gimme a sec…” And with a thud, he collapsed onto the sidewalk, much to Tiara’s horror.

“KK! Hang on…I’ll call someone who can help you…”

Arc VIII Episode I: Experiencing A New World

At the Siren’s home…

“...Another Equestrian is here?” Adagio asked, standing outside of the bathroom. “And he’s a vampony that uses blood magic…”

From within the bathroom, Sonata replied, “Yeah it’s super weird. I’m not sure what to make of it. But I think we should try and get on his good side before anything bad happens. He straight up like, gave this big ol’ spider-monster-thingy a heart attack.”

“...He what?!” Adagio yelped.

Aria had been eavesdropping on the conversation, and commented, “That sounds friggin’ sick. That’s the kinda shit we need on our side,” as she walked through the hallway past the bathroom door.

“Are you serious?” Adagio questioned her sister’s attitude towards the situation, “That boy is dangerous. We need to make sure he doesn’t abuse his abilities. The professor was one thing, but he’s a fully grown man that’s in control of himself. But this kid?” She turned her head towards the bathroom door once more to address Sonata. “How old did you say he was, Sonata?”

The door opened, and Sonata stepped out wearing a matching set of taco-patterned T shirt and sweatpants and her blue head of hair hung down past her shoulders from being wet. “Oh, um--I think he’s around the age of Scootaloo and the others. 16-ish?”

Adagio did some mental math and extended her fingers as she counted them out. “Carry the one…ah. Yeah. That still puts him younger than us in Equestrian years. How could he have mastered blood magic at such a young age…? Regardless, we should--”

“Go talk to him?” Aria interjected from the couch, “I got that, no problem.”

“Yes problem,” Adagio shot back, “I don’t want you using your intimidation tactics on him. That’d only make things worse.”

Surprisingly, Aria shrugged her shoulders and didn’t try to debate her older sister. “Hm. Yeah. That’s about right.”

So Sonata volunteered next. “What about me, sis? I could like, totally sweet-talk him.”

“That’s also what I’m afraid of,” she replied, “You’re sweet but from what you told me, it sounds like he has a hard time with those who are…too nice--for lack of better term.” Adagio took out her phone, and started to compose a text message. “But I have a good idea of who should approach him…”

Meanwhile, at the Rich Family Manor…

Diamond Tiara had called for her butler to pick them up in her family’s limo and take them to her home. Keiji wasn’t in critical condition and thankfully didn’t need to go to the hospital. He did, however, need some rest.

Tiara got out of the limo, and opened the back door where Keiji was seated. Then, in a rather selfless act, she helped him out and slung one of his arms over her shoulder to help him walk. “I’ve got you. You’ll be fine soon.”

“...” Initially, he wasn’t sure how to respond. After all, her attitude thus far didn’t give way to any indication that she’d be willing to help him herself. “...What gives?”

“What?” she tilted her head, looking at him with a concerned set of eyes, “You okay?”

“No I’m…I’m just shocked,” he looked down and coughed, forcing a small grin onto his face, “I didn’t think you’d be willing to dirty your precious princess hands helping me.”

Tiara rolled her eyes, and walked with him past the security guards positioned at her mansion’s front gate. “Oh shut it, dork. I’m doing this because you saved me earlier. One good turn deserves another and all that jazz. You know.”

“...Huh…thanks…I suppose.” It was such an alien feeling--being helped out by someone else that genuinely cared about his safety. Keiji was lost in thought for a moment. “Maybe the humans are better than the Equestrians after all…” But a part of him couldn’t shake his fears. “Wait…you’re not scared about inviting a vampony like me into your home?”

“Pfft. No way,” Tiara insisted, “Like I said earlier, nothing can scare me at this point after the things I’ve seen.” She flashed him another smug grin, “Certainly not some delinquent pretty-boy with an overbite.”

“Friggin’ wow,” he laughed but it quickly turned into a wheezing cough. “Ack…that’s rich. Where’d you learn that one? On one of those luxury cruises you mentioned?”

“Maybe,” Tiara replied without missing a beat, “Trade secrets can’t be divulged to just anyone. Now c’mon--let’s go, dummy.”

They had to walk up a small hill on a winding, marbled cobblestone pathway that led up to the large manor. The path was surrounded by beautifully cut grass and sculpted bushes made to look like miniature horses--Diamond Tiara’s favorite animal.

Soon enough, they were finally at the front door where Tiara unlocked it simply by looking into a camera that scanned her eyeball.

“...The hell?” Keiji commented.

“Security measures,” she replied as she pulled the door open, “C’mon. Mom’s probably in the kitchen.”

To absolutely no one’s surprise, the mansion was huge. The foyer alone was the size of a small house with beautiful pearlescent stairs that led up and to the left and right in an elegant ‘Y’ shape alongside perfectly chiseled sapphire handrails. That’s when one could see that the mansion was much bigger on the inside than what one could tell from outside. There were at least three stories that led to different rooms on different floors.

“...Damn,” Keiji said with a mildly impressed tone, “Reminds me of my castle. Except way more…advanced?”

Tiara made a mental note to ask him about that later. For the moment, her mind was focused on getting him the help he needed. “This way, KK.” She took him left, and led him to the dining room where everything was kept to pristine perfection as if it was the late 1800s with perfectly polished wooden floors, chairs, and a table that smelled like the freshest wood one could take in.

The vibe that it gave off was enough to make Keiji sigh wistfully. “...Now this takes me back…”

“Does it? I wonder…” Tiara was about to ask another question, but her attention was stolen when she heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“I can’t believe you!” a familiar voice that came from an older woman called out, “You miss Thanksgiving entirely and now you need to leave again?!”

“It’s just for a few days,” a man’s voice replied, “And need I remind you of who cooked all the food you ate on Thanksgiving? Me! That turkey alone took me hours to prepare!”

“This is your last chance, Filthy. You’d better not skimp out on Christmas this year or else.”

“Just make sure you don’t drink yourself into a frenzy like you did last year. I’ve already contacted all the stores in the area. They’re not to sell you a drop of alcohol.”

“Oh for fu--what makes you think you should be in control of what I put in my body?!”

“Clearly you’re experienced with that, aren’t you?!”

Keiji recoiled, leaning his head back as he listened to the exchange. He took a step closer and could see Filthy Rich and Spoiled Rich having a…slight disagreement. “...Oh dear,” he took a step backwards, “Is that your mother and father?”

“...Grgh…” Tiara sighed into her palm, “Yes. They’ve been doing this for the last few weeks.” She shook her head and quickly changed the subject as she pulled Keiji out of the dining room and started to walk him towards a different door. “Listen, let’s just--I’ll take you up to one of the guest rooms so you can shower and rest, alright? Just please forget what you saw and heard just now.”

“...Not again…here too?” A part of Keiji seethed at what he saw. Both of her parents arguing with each other over each other’s faults. It was a sad display that he simply couldn’t ignore. However, for the sake of respecting his Hostess’ wishes, he accepted Tiara’s request….for now. “Understood. Where are we headed? Up the stairs…?”

Ding.

Diamond Tiara led him to one of the many elevators located in the manor, and helped him inside once it opened. “Nah. This way. What, you didn’t think I was about to make you walk up all those steps were you?”

“...No. Absolutely not.”

Tiara glanced at him without saying a word, raised an eyebrow, and smiled at him knowingly.

Flustered, all Keiji could do was huff. “...Not a word.”

“I didn’t say anything, though,” Tiara replied, then snickered immediately after. “Don’t worry, K-Dash. I’ve got your back.”

Arc VIII Episode II: Old Wounds

Diamond Tiara had taken Keiji upstairs to the second floor where her room was located, and had instructed him to go have a bath in the room that was connected to it. While he was doing that, she went ahead and had one of her servants gather up his clothes and take them to one of the nearby laundry rooms to be washed. After that, she was standing in front of one of the hallway closets, picking out some clothes for him to wear until his current ones were clean.

“Let’s see…I’m sure dad wouldn’t mind if he wore one of his old white tees…” she muttered while looking over the piles and piles of extra clothes.

But then, her attention was ripped away yet again. Thanks to voices from down on the bottom floor.

“TWO WEEKS?!” Spoiled cried out, “Why in Lord’s name do you need to be away for so long?! Are you even trying to make it back here for Christmas?!”

“God-dammit, woman--don’t you realize how many flights to Canterlot City are being scheduled?” Filthy responded, “As the owner of the local airport, I gotta make sure their supplies are all in place so the employees can get enough vacation time.”

“Ugh--that’s fair I suppose,” Spoiled sighed in return, “But I want a call from you every two hours while you’re there. I don’t want you doing anything crazy out there. Remember last year?”

The man’s voice went cold. “D-don’t remind me of that--”

But Spoiled was still going. “Oh no. I’m going to keep reminding you of it. I’ll never forget that day I saw on SnapGap where you were knocked out next to some other harlot on the floor!”

“I told you, someone spiked my drink!” he retorted, “That shit wadn’t my fault!”

“Even so, I don’t want that happening again. You are to call me every two hours and that’s final. Understand?”

“Fine.” Filthy could be heard muttering something under his breath. “Talkin’ta me like I’m some child that can’t take care of myself…”

“Oh-ho!” Spoiled caught wind of the sarcastic comment and laughed hysterically. “Well isn’t that hilarious. This coming from the man who made phone calls to every store in the city telling them that his own wife--a grown woman--can’t buy what she wants with her money?!”

“I--b--that’s different and ya know it, woman!”

“You’re one to talk--what kind of man are you?!”

And all the while, Diamond Tiara listened to them argue from upstairs. She leaned on the second floor’s polished wood railing with a sigh as she rested her head on her arms. “Ugh…same old crap different day around here. I wish I knew what to say…”

“...Your folks don’t really get along, huh?” Keiji’s voice called out from behind her.

“Not recently, no,” Tiara answered with a huff, “Things have been getting worse but…that’s besides the point. I don’t wanna bother you with my personal problems.”

“Right…” Keiji replied quietly and changed the subject as he figured it wasn’t his place to comment on such a thing. “Anyway, thanks for helping me out. But uh…where are my clothes?”

“Oh, they’re being washed,” Tiara said as she finally turned around, “I’m gonna give you some of our spare--” But when she looked at him, she instantly stopped dead in her tracks and shut her eyes. “What the--you nimrod! What are you doing standing there with the door open?!”

Keiji was standing there with a towel around his waist and head--shirtless and completely oblivious as to what she meant. “Eh? What’s the problem? I was just looking for my clothes that I apparently need.”

“You’re--you’re supposed to wait inside the room until I give them to you,” she spoke in a hushed state of frustration.

“Oh…huh. I guess clothes really are a necessity here--unlike Equestria.”

“Oh that’s it. He’s from Equestria and ponies don’t normally wear clothes so he’s not used to it yet. That makes sense. At least he had the decency to put on a towel.” Tiara shook her head and opened her eyes. “Alright, well just know that we wear clothes here in the human world to cover up…parts of our bodies that don’t need to be seen in public.”

“Ohh…those parts.” Keiji understood right away and didn’t press the issue further. “Fair enough. So what were you about to give me?”

Tiara went to the hallway closet and pulled out a white tee, some black cargo shorts, and a pair of socks. “These used to be dad’s when he was younger, so I think they’ll fit you…” she trailed off as she looked down at his bare, somewhat muscular chest. There were about four large welt marks clear as day traveling diagonally across his chest that went around to his back--healed wounds that appeared to be from either a burn or electrical scarring. “...”

“...Is everything alright?” he asked, genuinely confused as to why she was looking at him so closely, “You’re looking at me like a mouse that’s found a cat.”

“...Your body,” she muttered, “Did you get those scars before or after you came here to this world?”

Keiji accepted the clothes and looked down at himself. “...Looks like my injuries did carry over into this world. Dammit all.” Unable to come up with a response, he simply turned his head and gave a quick answer. “Before.”

“...” As much as she wanted to ask what happened, she didn't want to pry further into something so personal. She could see how uncomfortable the questions were making him, so she decided to not press the issue. After all, it’d be rude to do the very same thing she requested of him just moments ago.

“...I see. Anyway…” She turned, and walked off towards her room. “Come join me in my room for a bit when you’re done changing if you want. I’ve got video games and movies if you’re into that.”

“Hm…” Keiji gave it some thought as he watched her walk away. “It would be rude to refuse the princess of this castle. She’s not like the others.”

Meanwhile, across town, at Sunset’s house…

“...Blood magic?!” she shouted over the phone as she wrote in her journal with her left hand, “Are you sure, guys? It wasn’t just red crystals was it?”

Over the phone, Pinkie would reply first. “Nonono! I’m serious! I could smell the harsh smell of metal in the air when he swung that sword around. It was like he was some kinda dragonblade-ninja!”

Sonata would speak up over the phone next--it was a three-way call. “Totes. From what I recall, blood magic is mega-illegal in Equestria. So I’m betting he was banished here because of it. But I couldn’t spend enough time with him to ask.”

“Where did you last see him?” Sunset asked.

“He was with Diamond Tiara and left with her--probably headed off to her place,” Sonata answered. “Not sure what that’s about but it’s all I got.”

Pinkie chimed in, “Oh. They were on a friendly get-together with each other. Ya know. What friends do.”

The entire line went silent for a moment.

“...Right,” Sunset finally responded. “I’m writing a letter to Princess Twilight as we speak. It’s possible that he’s got some kinda Blood Aether but I’m not sure if it’s okay to just let him do whatever. Then again, I don’t know how we should approach him. The last thing I’d want him to do is stop my heart….brrgh…I’ll keep you guys posted.”

“Got it. See you later, Sunset,” Sonata replied then hung up.

“I’ll keep a lookout for anyone that tries’ta suck my blood,” Pinkie added, “But don’t worry, I bet he’s friendly! Bye Sunset!”

Sunset put her phone down and continued writing a message in her journal to Princess Twilight. “Even so…this is still pretty scary. Dark magic is one thing. But blood magic? That’s something else…” she shut the book once she had finished writing and slumped down onto her couch. “...I hope I won’t have to wait too long for a response.”

Arc VIII Episode III: Human Technology Is Weird

Back at the Rich Family Manor…

Diamond Tiara’s parents had finally finished their…civil disagreement with each other and had retired to different parts of the house for the time being.

Keiji had put on the clothes that Tiara had offered him “Yeech…” He sighed to himself once the arguments had concluded at long last. “...Yeesh. For how different the human world is from Equestria, some things don’t change regardless.” He looked down the hall and considered the young woman’s offer. “I don’t know how much I’ll be able to find out, but I need to know if she’s doing okay here.”

With a heavy heart, he left the guest room and walked up to Diamond Tiara’s bedroom door--er, doors rather. Double-doors to be precise. And with his balled fist, he knocked…

Tap-tap-tap.

“Hey, uh--it’s me. Well you know who it is,” he muttered while casually putting his hands behind his head, “I guess I’m willing to take you up on that offer.”

Rrrrrrr….

The doors…mechanically separated and opened inwards to allow entry, leaving the vampire boy dumbstruck.

“What the actual heck is this world?”

And Diamond Tiara was standing there behind the door--though now she was in much more casual clothing than before. A plain purple tee with the name, ‘Crush 20’ written across it in big, bold blue letters and a basic pair of yellow shorts while wearing no shoes or socks.

“Sup, dork?” she asked, and stood aside to let him in, “Get in here. I’ve been itching to play a round of King of Iron Fighter 4 with somebody.”

“...Mind telling me what that is?”

“It’s a video game,” she pointed at the game console she had sitting on the TV stand--as well as the massive flat-screen TV that sat upon it which was located directly in front of her bed. The bed itself had pink wood with massive yellow pillars that stood tall on all four sides. “And then after that, we can watch a movie or two…if you want, that is.”

“...Did they have those in Equestria? I can’t remember.” Keiji thought about it for a moment as he looked around the room. He whistled, marveling at the sight of everything. “Wow. You even have your own vanity,” he noted the mirror in the middle of the room (which he could actually see himself in for the record). “Impressive. I always had to get out of my study to use the one we had.”

“A who-now?” Tiara asked.

“A study--a room that’s used for reading or experimentation.”

“Ohh…that explains a bit,” she nodded, “Yeah I think we have one of those too. On that note…” She walked over towards the television and continued, “What was it like back home? I bet your mansion was way bigger than mine.”

Keiji diverted his eyes for a moment as he thought up a response. “Erm…it was fine, I suppose. Equestrians aren’t exactly the most…hospitable, though.”

“...Whatcha mean?”

“Some of them will chew you up and spit you out,” he replied coldly, “It was fine and dandy until they figured I was unfit to live there. Then they kicked me to the dirt.”

Tiara stopped, and turned to give him her full attention with a worried look on her face. “’They’ who?”

“Gah…” he put his hand to his head, and collapsed to the carpet, sitting on his bottom. “...Nothing. Sorry. Brings back painful memories.”

“Dammit, Tiara! Stop asking personal questions!” As soon as he sat on the floor, she pushed a beanbag chair up against him so he could relax. “Here. Sit in this. It doubles as a massage chair with the push of a button.”

“...A what?” he tilted his head as he sat back in the blobby mass of softness.

Click.

With the press of a button from Tiara, the beanbag chair actually started buzzzzzing, and slowly working the stress out of the boy’s body.

“Wo-o-oaah…t-t-this…is…amaaaazzzing…” he muttered, his voice shaking along with the chair.

While she hesitated at first, she couldn’t help but ask… “Does your magic make you super tired?”

“Y-yeah…something like that,” he replied, “It’s…well, I utilize the actual blood in my own body to fight. So if I spend too much time fighting, I could burn myself out before I finish. That’s why I had to kill that spider monster as quickly as possible…” he looked down at himself. “...I have this ineffectively frail, good-for-nothing body. But dammit, I won’t let it stop me.”

“So that blood magic stuff is all his own blood? That’s…impressive. But how…” Tiara had pulled up a beanbag chair of her own and sat next to him. “Er…do you mind if I ask how it works?”

Surprisingly, Keiji was actually rather amicable in regards to that question. “Not at all. It’s actually a fairly simple process and I’ll explain it to you as quickly as I can. Essentially…I’ve ‘awakened’ the blood in my body so to speak.”

“...Awakened?”

“Well, as a vampire, you know we feed on blood, right?”

“Right.”

He flexed his arm, and pointed to his veins. “Well, I’ve found that if I drink too much blood and carry it in my system, it has nowhere else to go. So I spent months, years studying how to make it work…” he folded his arms with a proud smile on his face. “And I did it. I was able to essentially turn my body into a walking bloodmancer pool that I can instantly create things from.”

Tiara snapped her fingers. “Like that katana, right?”

“Exactly. The katana is an unorthodox weapon but its light weight allows me to deal with threats as quickly as possible.” He scratched the back of his head as he frowned. “...The only downside to being a walking magic reservoir is that you’ll burn out fast if you aren’t careful. So I have to dispatch my enemies quickly. And it’s a good thing I ate before that confrontation, because it constantly drains on my body’s digestive system as well.”

“Oh man…” she leaned up, almost ready to get out of her chair. “Are you hungry again? I can have the servants make you something.”

“It’s fine,” he shook his head, “I don’t want to start imposing on your castle. I’m sure your parents would get suspicious if they noticed such a thing.”

“Hmph…” As soon as that subject was brought up, Tiara leaned forward, bringing her knees up to her chest. “They barely notice anything regarding me at all. They wouldn’t even care.”

“...They don’t, huh?” he scoffed as he picked out something from his teeth. “Classy. My folks were kinda similar.”

Tiara looked up at him with a surprised set of eyes. “They were?”

“Oh yeah, for real,” he went on, rolling his eyes, “Every other day it was a damn screaming match up in there. The winner was usually determined by who could dole out a greater threat to the other.” He gave a sarcastic chuckle, then sighed. “Ah…and they were never really interested in my scientific pursuits either.”

“Wow…” Tiara looked down at the floor, “Here I was, thinking that everyone in the school had a more supportive family than I did. I felt…alone because of it.”

“Well you’re not alone, friend,” Keiji spoke candidly, “Not everyone can say they had it easy.”

She took a moment to reflect on his words. At last, there was someone else--someone her age that understood what it was like to live with parents that didn’t spend enough time with you.

All she could do was smile and say, “...Thanks, KK. I appreciate it. We clearly both have a lot of turmoil that we’re dealing with. You managed to get lucky enough to escape yours…”

Keiji looked up at the ceiling. “...I wouldn’t call it luck. More like…a happy accident.”

“...Oh…right…” Tiara found this the best time to change the subject and get back to what she had planned. “Anyway--let’s put a fork in that for now until we’re prepared to discuss our problems in more detail. I know it must be difficult for you to think about, so I won’t pry any further.”

“She’s a real piece of work, this one.” Keiji thought to himself. “Smart young lady with a good head on her shoulders. Just hope she doesn’t grow up to be like her mother. Or mine.” He sat upright, and interlocked his fingers and stretched them out to crack his knuckles. “Alrighty--so what are we doing here?”

Tiara handed him a controller, turned on the TV, and started up the console. Soon enough, they’d be met with a loud title screen that shouted:

“KING OF IRON FIGHTERS 4 ULTRA MEGA MATCH OF THE MILLENIUM 2055!!”

“...Seriously?” Keiji raised a brow, then chuckled, “You humans have weird entertainment styles.”

“Trust me, the game is way cooler than the name,” she said as she took him to the character select screen, “ The story is that these different schools that have sent their strongest students with supernatural magical powers to fight each other. My favorite is this chick: She comes from a rich family but has abandoned her father’s constant babying so she can do her own thing. She's got super muscular legs and can make the ground shake with a single stomp.”

Keiji looked at the TV screen, and looked at the portrait of what appeared to be a muscular schoolgirl senior dressed in a white uniform with a haughty look on her face. “...Oddly pertinent.”

Tiara didn’t quite catch what he meant and instead focused on the game. “Say wha--? No, seriously--ooh! And I think you’ll like the scientist guy who tries to raise the dead--he fights with potions.”

And that put a smile on his face as he stared at the cold, serious portrait of the mature-looking bespectacled senior. “Well now, that’s interesting…”

Arc VIII Episode IV: The Vampire Nerd

After a while of playing the game together for a while, it suddenly reminded Tiara of a question she wanted to ask.

“Oh yeah, by the way…what was with all the callouts you did earlier?”

Keiji tilted his head, not understanding what she was referring to, “Callouts? I beg your pardon?”

“Yeah you know the whole, ‘Blood Dance!’ and ‘Ichor Bind!’ stuff,” she recalled while mimicking his voice, “You sounded like something out of an anime or fighting game. It was weird.”

“Oh that.” Honestly--Keiji hadn’t really given much thought as to why he shouted his abilities at the top of his lungs--it was merely second nature to him. “I honestly couldn’t tell ya. I guess it’s a habit I’ve picked up from consumption of human media where characters do just that.”

Tiara snickered and rolled her eyes. “Oh my god. You’re such a dork--it’s almost adorable. But seriously--I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She put the controller down and stood up to stretch. “It makes sense in a game or an anime since the viewer needs to identify the moves--but in real life, your enemies are gonna know what you’re doing next time you do that nerdy crap.”

“...” Her words cut deep, but they were right. If he continued to do such an awkward, unorthodox thing, his entire stash of abilities would be known to whoever wanted to find ways to counter them. “...Damn. I suppose you have a point. I would be terrible if I lost a battle before it began because of that.”

“Exactly,” Tiara bent over until she was at eye-level with him, and stared him right in the face, “Don’t take it to heart, though. You’re already cool enough as a freaking vampire-pony-person with a sword made of blood. Don’t ruin it with silly callouts, okay? Actions speak louder than words, ya know.” She gave him a patronizing pat on the head, ruffling his hair.

“Gah!” Keiji huffed and tried to swat her hand away, “Okay okay, quit it!”

“Hmhm!” But she had already skipped away and was walking towards the door of her bedroom. “Goodie. Now, let me go make us some popcorn so we can watch ourselves a--”

BLAM.

The doors to her room were pushed open manually by her mother who stormed in with a disheveled head of hair. “...Ah. He’s here. Good. I trust everything went well between you two at lunch earlier today?”

“Oh, yeah mom. Totally,” she replied, and turned her head to the boy, “Give us a sec, KK.”

Keiji simply nodded and leaned back in the chair once more.

Diamond Tiara took her mother outside of the room and closed the door.

“Has he tried anything funny?” Spoiled asked with her arms folded.

“No, mom. Not at all. In fact…” Tiara went on to explain what had happened earlier that day…

After which, Spoiled hugged her daughter tightly. “...I’m glad you’re okay. Seems like more and more of these crazy Equestrian magic demons are appearing out of nowhere.”

“Yeah…but at least I got a friend that’s willing to back me up,” Tiara said as she held her mother close. “It seems like he actually gets me, ya know?”

Spoiled stood upright and looked down at her daughter with a knowing smile. “Oh…does he now?”

“What?” she could immediately tell what her mother was thinking right then and there and quickly denied it, “No no. Mom, c’mon. We just met and still don’t know each other very well. And between you and me, he’s not exactly my type.”

Despite that, Spoiled continued smirking. “Mm-hmm…”

“I’m serious!” Tiara’s cheeks were turning a shade of red as she scrunched up her face in a sulky manner, “I don’t like him that way. Can’t a guy and girl just be friends for once?”

“You say that now…but over time--”

“Oh cut it out!” Tiara cut her mother off, “I don’t wanna be in a relationship. You and dad make it look like hell on earth!”

“...” Spoiled was stunned into a silence at her daughter’s words. ‘Hell on earth.’ Was that how bad things have gotten? “I…” she paused, unable to look her daughter in the eye.

“Just give it a rest mom,” the girl huffed, “I dunno what’s going on between you two but…just fix it. Please?”

“...I can’t promise anything, sweetie.”

Such a response only made Tiara roll her eyes. This wasn’t the first time she had heard that. “Whatever. Can you just have the servants send us some popcorn? Oh, and some blood sausage--mainly for him. It’s one of his favorites.”

“Okay, Tiara,” she replied with a nod, “Just let mommy go get her…juice first.”

“I heard that!” Filthy Rich’s voice called out from a nearby floor, “Don’t touch that wine closet, you hear?!”

Spoiled turned and started walking down the nearby staircase towards the first floor. “Oh shut your yap, Filth!”

Diamond Tiara simply slapped the side of her face with her open palm and groaned. “Ugh. Will you both ever stop…?” She went back to her bedroom, and promptly flopped upon the beanbag chair. “Ugggh!” she threw her head back and groaned.

In reality, Keiji had heard the entire thing. But of course, he didn’t want to bring attention to what he had just heard, so instead, he carried on like nothing happened. “So! How about that mov--”

“My mom and dad are so annoying,” she blurted out of nowhere, “Sorry…just wanted to get that off my chest. I didn’t mean for you to bear witness to all of this malarkey.”

“It’s fine,” he replied nonchalantly, “At least I got to meet you--that makes it somewhat worth the suffering,” he said with a toothy grin.

Tiara couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks--glad to know that I haven’t scared you off like everyone else at school.” But deep down, she knew that things would only get worse as the evening transitioned into the night. “Maybe their attitude will change if he’s a guest for a longer amount of time…” She looked at the boy and asked, “Hey, KK. Wanna sleepover tonight?”

He raised a brow, puzzled by such a question. “...Excuse me? I thought such rituals were only performed with those of the same sex. Would it be appropriate for a male to have a sleepover with a female? What would your parents think?”

“Don’t worry about that,” she folded her arms and crossed her legs with a surefire smile on her face, “I know just what to do.”

Moments later…

“Pleaaaase daddy?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Preeeetty please?”

Filthy Rich sighed as he turned away from a table filled with plants and towards her. “...Promise you’ll leave the door open?”

“Obviously--I mean, yes sir!”

“...Then I guess you can. Now run along--I’m busy working on a project for the city’s plants…” he turned around, and faced the table once more.

“Thanks, daddy!” Tiara skipped out of the room, and resumed walking normally once she left. “Perfection.”

When suddenly…

“Hey--how did it go?” Keiji asked.

She turned to face him, “He said ye--” only to stop on a dime when she realized she wasn’t at eye level with him. “Uh…KK?”

“Up here.”

“Huh--WOAH!” Tiara looked up…and found Keiji hanging upside-down beneath the stairwell that led up to the second floor.

Arc IX Episode I: A Helping Hand?

Keiji dropped down to the floor, landing on his feet. “Looks like my tenacity for hanging is still there. Just wish I could still fly…”

“You friggin’ idiot!” Tiara grumbled and grabbed him by the arm to pull him along, “You nearly scared the crap outta me with your antics.”

“Jeez--sorry,” he rolled his eyes, “I thought you said you were unable to scare because you’ve seen everything at this point.”

Diamond Tiara pulled him into the elevator and huffed. “That doesn’t mean I’m just gonna casually brush off seeing a human hanging upside-down like Dracula.”

Keiji was quick to point something out with a smug grin on his face as the elevator door closed.. “But I’m not human, though.”

“Gah! You--just shut your stupid face,” Tiara muttered as she turned her head, flipping her hair in the process, “Anyway--dad said you can stay the night. I have a few movies that we can watch and I asked some of the servants to make you some snacks. Do you mind blood sausages?”

“Hey, so long as it’s got blood in it, I can feed off of it,” Keiji said as he leaned against the wall of the rising elevator. “...I appreciate that, though,” he added candidly in a more relaxed tone, “Back home, our food was obtained in…much more violent ways.”

She turned her head back towards him, giving him her attention. “Oh…I can imagine it was pretty difficult.”

“Yeah. Especially since the ponies of Trotsylvania feared the hell out of us. I almost felt bad taking their blood…so I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, KK.” “Damn,” Tiara thought to herself as the elevator took them up, “The people of his home were afraid of him too, huh? We have more in common than I initially thought. Maybe it was a good idea to ask him to sleepover. He might end up being a good friend after all.”

“Blech. Here I was thinking I’d be navigating this world on my own because they hate magical creatures. Guess I was wrong. And I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have a…companion or two. But this is all for Lady Rich’s sake.”

Ding.

The pair exited the elevator, and started walking towards Tiara’s bedroom when she popped another question. “Oh yeah. You live at the condo-complex across the street from the manor, right? The one mom owns.”

“That’s right, yeah,” Keiji nodded, “Why?”

“How is it over there? Nothing’s out of place or malfunctioning is it?” she asked earnestly, trying to find out how he was doing in their family’s land. “If anything’s wrong, let me know so I can make a call.”

For a moment, her concern caused him to stutter. “Huh--er, nah. Nothing’s wrong at all,” he replied, “But that’s kinda the whole reason I’m here working for your mom. She’s gonna pay off my rent until I can find a new job.”

“Hm…I bet my dad can help with that…”

Keiji stared at her for a second and held up his hands. “Eh? No way, Tiara. I’d feel like shit if I went to your father for help after your mother had already graciously extended her hand…”

“Well I’m not just gonna watch a friend fall to ruin and suffer to the elements,” Tiara said as she kept walking and eventually flopped down on her beanbag chair in her room. “So if you ever need help, lemme know, alright?”

“Understood,” Keiji replied begrudgingly through his teeth as he flopped down on the beanbag chair that was next to hers.

“Good. The chefs should be done with our snacks soon,” she picked up the TV remote and started flipping through icons on the screen. “Now where’s that movie with the city of talking animals…”

A few hours later…

Nighttime would soon fall upon the city. Everything was quiet and relaxed as always as the entire population was fast asleep in their beds. However, there was something stirring near the edge of town…

“Master Blueblood. I’ve found the professor’s home,” Wendy explained over the phone as she made a turn onto the street which Aidon lived, “So…I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

“I suppose so,” Blueblood replied, “But don’t worry. I’ll be there to clean up right after you. Your sacrifice won’t be permanent.”

With that in mind, Wendy was able to rest a bit more easily even if she didn’t entirely agree with it. “...Thank you, Master. I’ll see you again soon.”

“You too.”

Little did she know…

“Not.” Blueblood was sitting in his car just down the street where Wendy couldn’t see him. Once he hung up the phone, he smirked to himself. “Just another stepping stone to greatness. Sorry, Goetia, but I can’t waste time coddling along my weaker summons. As soon as you die…it’ll be time.”

And so, without a care in the world, Wendy slowly began to activate her magical aura. “You’re going to regret everything you’ve done, professor…” Then, in a flash, she started to whimper and sob while running up to the door and knocking furiously. “Help! Are you in there, Professor?! Help me!” she bawled.

It took a moment, but Aidon would soon answer the door in his all-black pajamas. “...Wendy? Wait a second…why are you here?” He balled one of his fists behind his back preparing to fight if need be. But to his surprise…

“No! I’m…I’m sorry, I just…” Wendy put on her best act and pleaded while down on her knees. “Blueblood’s been hurting me and I need a way back to Equestria. Please help me so I don’t have to deal with him anymore…” With tears rolling down the sides of her face and her hands clasped together, she made a convincing display of helplessness to gain the shadowman’s sympathy.

And unfortunately…it worked.

Unable to stand by and let a fellow Equestrian fall to ruin, Aidon responded. “...Look. I don’t know how to get back, but I’m sure Sunset Shimmer does. However…were you really being manipulated the entire time? Do you truly wish to return home?”

“Yes, please!” Wendy screamed, pleading even more, “He’s a horrible person and I realize my mistakes now. Please, just give me this one chance…and I’ll leave from this world permanently.”

“...”

Arc IX Episode III: Blueblood's Banal Belligerence

Once the light had disappeared, all that was left was Blueblood…in a completely new form with brilliantly golden angel wings that protruded from his back. With the power of Goetia’s essence, he had also acquired a magical wizard’s staff that matched the shining yellow color of the wings.

“It’s over for you, vermin.”

Aidon’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head once he saw the suited man transform into an angelic creature. In an instant, he had already figured out what Blueblood had turned himself into and what he used to acquire such a form.

“You…transmutated her into yourself to become an angel, didn’t you?”

“Mm…such a barbaric description…” Blueblood scoffed and pointed the staff in Aidon’s direction. “I’d prefer to call it…fusion. Regardless, I’m no longer in the mood for mistakes or games. This ends here and now. Demons such as yourself are a blight on this world and have no place here.”

Aidon grit his teeth as he stood up. Despite the cuts he had sustained from the explosion, he was prepared to fight back. “How do you know…how do you know anything beyond what your bias confirms? You’re trapped in a logical fallacy that only serves to add up incorrect values!”

“Enough!” Blueblood shouted as he cast a laser of light magic from the heavens to come down upon Aidon’s position.

“...!” Luckily, he was able to avoid it just in time with a quick evasive roll.

Blueblood went on, but his voice was a bit…different. As if it had multiple, reverberating layers that echoed when he spoke as his eyes turned the same shade of gold. “You are a creature of darkness and hatred. There is no way your influence won’t spread to the rest of the city and corrupt the masses. As a being of light, it’s my job to exterminate you.”

“A being of…oh shit no…” Aidon muttered to himself as he realized the implications behind what Blueblood had been saying. He hadn’t only combined Goetia’s essence, but the essence of another being entirely which he himself fused with in order to become…

“...He’s an Archangel. One corrupted by his own hubris.” Aidon thought as he looked at Blueblood’s watch and could practically smell the boundless magic coming from it. “That’s the source of his power. Some kind of program that allows him to fuse with the magic of otherworldly beings. I have to disable it somehow.”

“Any last words?” Blueblood’s voice boomed out to him, “Or shall I make your death slow and painful instead?”

While Aidon was usually rather hesitant to fight someone younger than himself, he had no choice for the sake of his survival. “I will not allow you to force your doctrine as gospel,” he said as he raised his right fist and took a defensive stance. “It is you who are corrupting this land with your pursuits of absolute values. Not me. I’m aware of my imperfections--you seem to be blinded by the light.”

“I won’t be lectured by some beast from Hell!” Blueblood shouted back with twice as much force as the veins on his neck started to bulge. “You will regret ever stepping foot in this world and infecting it with your scummy presence, vile creature!”

There was no stopping him at this point. The man was completely drowned within his own twisted morals that he refused to listen to reason. Aidon had no choice but to defend himself and fight back.

And so, Blueblood charged in and fired off multiple rays of light in Aidon’s direction--to which the man blocked them with a shield made of darkness…

CRACK!

Until Blueblood shattered it into nothingness with a single swing of his fist.

“Ghh!” The force was so great that Aidon was sent backwards a few feet with the soles of his shoes digging into the concrete below.

“YA!”

SHOOM!

With enough force to push the limits of the sound barrier, Blueblood flung his light staff straight at Aidon’s chest--aiming to kill him outright.

“...!”

It traveled so fast that dodging was simply impossible. So instead…

“Hrrrk!”

As soon as it grazed the side of his abdomen, he caught it with his bare hand. The wound it left had started to eat away at his cellular structure. Thankfully, when he had grabbed the weapon in his hand, it reacted to his dark magic by collapsing in on itself and disappearing into nothingness as only the tip of the staff was deadly.

“Dammit…what is that…?”

“Just a little something I’ve been working on!” Blueblood shouted as he leapt at Aidon with a flying kick.

But Aidon was quick on the uptake and reacted by catching the young man’s ankle, grabbing him, and throwing him against a nearby tree. With a loud thud!, Blueblood seethed as the tree broke in half and fell over behind him.

“Damn you…”

Aidon glared at him and spoke coldly, “Leave now before things get messy. You have no idea what sort of power you’re messing around with. Just because you claim to be a being of light does not absolve you from being in the wrong.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Blueblood muttered as he stood upright, “Fine then. I suppose I’ll have to resort to more…personalized tactics.”

“What--?!”

But before Aidon could say anything else, Blueblood took off into the air and started flying down the street. “Try to keep up if you dare, cretin!”

With no other option, Aidon had to take off after him. “No…if he’s going to do what I think he’s going to do…” As much as he didn’t want it to be the case, he could already predict what was going to happen. Aidon sprinted with conviction as his shadow-pony magic gave his body the extra stamina that he needed to run like a track athlete. “I won’t let you! Get back here!”

Aidon kept a close eye on the winged man and soon enough, he realized where he was headed…

Derpy’s house.

Arc IX Episode IV: Black & White

Indeed. Blueblood had been rushing towards Derpy’s home and, through use of his magic, had pulled the girl out of her bed without her parents knowing via teleportation. She was still fast asleep in her muffin-pattern pajamas…until she realized she was feeling the chill of the open, nighttime air.

“H-huh? Wha?” Her crossed eyes slowly opened up and she realized that she was being held aloft in midair. “Hey…what the--?!”

“Quiet, you,” Blueblood commanded while holding her close to his chest with an arm around her neck. “Shout and I’ll spill your blood on the pavement.”

“Blueblood…you meanie,” she muttered coldly, “Celestia’s gonna beat your butt for whatever you’re doing this time.”

“Assuming she finds out. Which she won’t,” he replied with a devious grin.

BLAM!

“AGH!”

From behind, one of his wings was hit with a spike made entirely of darkness and was promptly clipped and disintegrated into the air. The pain from the attack had caused him to stumble and drop Derpy.

“Ah! Help me!!”

And just before she could fall to the ground…

“I’ve got you,” Aidon said as he caught her and set her on her feet, “Now hurry. Get back inside. It’s not at all safe out here.”

“Professor--?!” she squealed, unable to process the fact that she had been saved, and quickly listened to his orders. “Y-yes sir!” And she quickly fled the scene, running back to her porch.

With one of his wings gone, Blueblood had a hard time flying and was forced to take a knee on the road. “Ghah…dammit. You…I can’t understand you for the life of me. You know these humans will turn your back on you at their earliest convenience. Why even bother helping them?!”

“Because,” Aidon readied himself to fight once more, “Unlike you, I actually hold value in the beings I’m surrounded by. You seem all too ready to toss away those who outlive their usefulness to you. Just like those rat bastards in Equestria that put me here. Those kinds live everywhere it seems…and I won’t let you do as you please here.”

“You fool…” Blueblood muttered as he stood upright, “You won’t get it until they actually betray you. But it’s fine. I’m going to make sure you don’t ever have the chance of corrupting anyone here with your darkness.”

“Tch…I almost pity you,” Aidon replied as his dark magic started to flare up, “Almost. You want to see corruption?” His entire body turned to its black shadow form, billowing from smoky darkness as his eyes turned solid white. “I’ll show you real corruption.”

Meanwhile, someone from one of the nearby homes had heard all of the commotion down below and went to her window…

And as soon as she took a look outside, she grabbed her phone and made a text. “Aria? You there? I see some crazy crap happening outside of my house. It’s Blueblood.”

At the Siren’s home…

As usual, Aria was up the latest out of her three sisters and couldn’t get to sleep as easily. And she’d be even more awake when she took a look at the notification on her phone.

“...Huh. If he’s there, I’m gonna…”

She thought about waking up her older and younger sisters, but decided against it. “I’m gonna go get revenge on that asshole. Adagio needs to rest and I don’t want Sonata in harm’s way. I should be back before they wake up…”

With her mind made up, Aria got out of bed, put on some jeans and a jacket, and took off down the street on her bike. “I’m gonna beat that ass so good…just you wait, Blueballs.”

Back near Derpy’s home…

While Aidon was more skilled and experienced, Blueblood outweighed him in terms of sheer power thanks to the extreme amount of mana he had gained from his fusion. The two were more or less evenly matched with a constant trading of blows. Punches and kicks were thrown only for them to be blocked and avoided by both parties--it seemed like neither could outmatch the other…

Meanwhile, Derpy got the bright idea to start live-streaming the fight from her phone while commentating… “Everyone. Don’t be fooled. This is Blueblood trying to hurt our dear professor from school!”

Funnily enough, across the street, someone else was having the same thought process. “This is totally lame and unjustified. Blueblood is just attacking this man for no reason. He’s--what we seniors call--a bastard.”

“Yo!” someone called out as they rounded a corner. Turns out it was Aria who had found the home of the girl that had sent her the message. “Sugarcoat, what’s the deal?”

That’s right--Sugarcoat, the coldly abrasive student from Crystal Prep was standing there on her front lawn watching the ensuing combat in her pajamas--a simple white tank top and blue sweats with bunny slippers. “Take a look for yourself. Celestia’s idiotic bozo of a nephew is trying to cause grievous harm to a teacher from your school.”

CRASH!

Aidon was suddenly flung into a nearby car that was parked on the street, hitting the ground moments later. “Ngh…dammit.”

“Know your place!” Blueblood shouted as he shot arrows of light from his palm. “Resisting will get you nowhere!”

“!” Aidon reacted quickly, performing a windmill-esque maneuver and spinning until he was able to spring upwards and off the ground via his palm, narrowly avoiding the blasts. He then cracked his knuckles and made a finger-gun gesture with his left hand…which created a swirling blackhole that threatened to absorb and consume Blueblood’s other wing.

“Too slow!” he called out as he leapt away from it, evading Aidon’s attack yet again. “Face it. You’re nothing!”

From the sidelines…

“I have to get in there,” Aria commented as she prepared herself.

Sugarcoat told it like she saw it, “You’d get your ass kicked. Blueblood’s power greatly outclasses yours. We’re talking on the same level of Midnight Sparkle and Gaea Everfree. You’re not ready for that.”

“...I can’t just stand here, goddammit!” Aria huffed, “The hell did you call me out here for then?”

Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses and said, “I never suggested you fight alone. Wait for the right moment, then jump in. Got it?”

“...I see…”

Arc IX Episode V: Putting Him Down

The fight raged on between the beings of light and darkness. Both Derpy and Sugarcoat’s respective live streams were getting hundreds of views and comments per minute as people started to wake up and watch what was going on. Sure, there weren’t any live spectators, but there were loads of people who were watching via internet connection.

Meanwhile, Aria watched closely, waiting for Blueblood to drop his guard so that she could jump in when it was most convenient for herself. “Okay…just gotta wait for it…”

Eventually, both men had started to tire themselves from the sheer amount of magic that they had expended in their fight with each other. The road was singed and ripped apart and several cars had suffered collateral damage. It looked like a tornado had swept through the street.

“Huff…huff…” Aidon was breathing heavily--his shadow form now dissipated as he was hunched over with his hands on his knees. “...Enough…this fight…is pointless,” he muttered between breaths.

Likewise, Blueblood was on bended knee, also trying to catch his air. “Whew…argh…I…I won’t submit to the likes of you. I won’t be outdone by some lowly, hellish creature…”

The words no longer got underneath his skin. All Aidon wanted was to end this senseless fighting peacefully and return to how things were before. But it was abundantly clear that that was becoming less and less likely of an option.

“...I haven’t killed someone in…forever. Do I really need to resort to such tactics again?” He contemplated the idea of actually putting someone down again…

Only for Blueblood to take advantage of his distressed state.

“Caught you.”

SHING!

As it turned out, the Blueblood that was tired as he was?--it was a mere refraction of light that had fooled Aidon into thinking it was the real one. In reality, Blueblood had been creeping up behind him the whole time in order to catch him off-guard with a well-placed, knifehand strike to the back of his neck, causing Aidon to drop to the ground with a thud.

“You fool…as I said before…the light will always cut through the darkness!”

But before he could finish him off…

SHOOM!

A gust of wind forcefully pulled Blueblood away from Aidon--the blonde man stumbled over himself as a result, and was sent right into a…

CRACK!

…hard bare-knuckle punch from Aria. So hard that Blueblood was forced to keel over and crumple from the sheer force that was applied to his body. As it turned out, she had--quite literally--knocked the air out of his body for a moment.

“Ah….aeegh…what the…?”

Aria followed this up by stomping the sole of her shoe directly onto his chest--hard enough for him to cough up spittle. “Enough with the bullshit. I’m sick and tired of jerkwads like you getting away with whatever they want. Now I’m gonna make you--”

ZZZZZZ!

Blueblood grabbed her ankle and started to burn her with raw light energy.

“FUC--AGH!” Aria squealed as she leapt back, and stumbled over onto her rear from how much pain she had suffered--her skin was burnt to a crisp with smoke coming off her leg, “Damndamndamn! Shit! You absolute dicknose!”

Since he was outnumbered now, Blueblood saw fit to leave the situation entirely as he knew he wouldn’t have a chance of taking them both on alone. As soon as Aria fell to the ground, he got up and started to run down the street…

But that’s when Aidon had recovered from the blow he was dealt moments prior. The moment he saw Blueblood try to flee the situation.

“He’s getting away…” Aria muttered as she forced herself to stand, leaning against a wrecked car.

“Not for long,” Aidon replied as he looked in her direction, “This is what I need you to do…”

“Fools…they think they’re so intelligent. I’ll be back…” Blueblood was barely able to run down the street and turn the corner at the end of the block before… “W-what?!”

WOOSH!

By some unknown force, he was lifted into the air and had no way of controlling himself or getting down. “Let go of me, dammit!”

“Professor, look up!” Aria pulled her hand towards herself…

And likewise, Blueblood was forcefully pushed by gale winds that barreled him right back towards the shadowman and the siren. The panicked expression on his face said it all--he knew that he was helpless and couldn’t fight back any longer.

Which Aidon took full advantage of.

With his right arm extended, Aidon charged forward and shouted, “I’LL END YOU!”

CRACK!

And he delivered a hard lariat to the young man’s face--so hard in fact that the air around them was frozen in time for a good three seconds--almost as if existence itself had to pause to calculate what had just happened. The force of Aidon’s arm had caused his dark magic to quickly overtake, corrupt, and force all of the light magic out of Blueblood’s body, rendering him powerless.

When reality started back up again, Blueblood was knocked out cold with his body having made an imprint in the asphalt road beneath him.

“Blech…” Once it was all said and done, Aidon looked over in Aria’s direction. “Are you alright, Ms. Blaze?”

Aria was limping from the burn that had been dealt to her ankle, but had managed to walk a little. “Yeah…shithead gets what he deserves.” She looked around at the sheer amount of collateral damage that had been caused to the cars and a nearby fire hydrant that was overflowing with water. “...Yikes. Thank hell there wasn’t a massive crowd watching, right? That would’ve been bad…”

“Yes…wait a minute,” Aidon looked over in the direction of Derpy’s home and noticed that the blonde girl had finished recording the events on her phone. “Ms. Muffins? How are you?”

“Hm?” she looked up from her phone and walked over. “Oh, I’m totally fine. That battle was super kickbutt! I got it all on SnapGap Live--about a million people watched it.”

“For real,” Sugarcoat added as she approached them all with her usual uninterested expression and half-lidded eyes, “It’s about time someone stood up to that crass little gobshite. He thinks that he can do whatever he wants just because his aunt is the principal of one of the local schools. If I were her, I’d send him straight to military school so a drill sergeant can whip his ass into shape.”

“It goes deeper than that,” Aidon replied as he looked down at the unconscious Blueblood. “But you all should get home while I get him to a hospital. I doubt he’ll have survived that attack, honestly…”

“That was so cooool!” Derpy squealed while clapping, “You were like a wrestler when you clocked him over the face with your arm! Good riddance to him, I say.”

“Damn, Derpy,” Aria commented with a small smile on her face, “I didn’t expect such a sadistic comment from you.”

“Blueblood’s a big meanie that tried to kill me and other students at school,” Derpy insisted, “The Professor had every right to fight back the way he did. I’m sure Principal Celestia would understand.”

Sugarcoat scoffed. “Pssh. Yeah. Let’s hope so. With Christmas coming up, folks like him don’t deserve any sympathy. But that’s just me.” She turned and began walking back to her house. “See ya.”

“Bye! Stay safe, okay Professor?” Derpy said as she left to return to her home.

Aidon looked over at Aria. “How’s your leg?”

“I’ll walk it off,” she muttered while limping, “I’m just content with seeing that bastard lose. Gimme a call if they pronounce him dead.”

“...I will.”

Arc X Episode I: Situation Report

Once a week had passed, word had officially gotten out about Aidon and Blueblood’s little scuffle. Everyone was talking about it--especially the CHS students who were rooting for their professor.

Principal Celestia meanwhile…

“...I can’t believe he would do such a thing,” she grumbled to herself as she looked over the documents in her office. “All this time…blech. What a disgusting man--lying, deceiving, attacking others simply for who they are and where they came from…” She rubbed the side of her head with her fingers to massage herself, “I can’t believe I’m related to him.”

Aidon entered her office and tried to explain himself. “...Ms. Celestia, I--”

But as soon as he stepped foot inside of her office, she shook her head. “Don’t worry yourself. I’m the one who should apologize. I feel…depraved for not taking care of him better to prevent something like this from happening.”

“Well, with all due respect,” the man tried to offer some logic, “He was a fully grown adult by human standards. If he couldn’t understand how his actions were hurting others because of how close-minded he was, that’s his own fault. Not yours.”

“I suppose you have a point,” Celestia folded her arms and sat back in her chair. “Oddly--I don’t feel anything despite the fact that he was confirmed to be dead.”

Yet again, Aidon would put his logistic tendencies to work. “Well that’s just it. If we don’t care for the person while they were alive, why should that change once they die? ‘Never speak ill of the dead’ is an omen crafted by sinister individuals. Martyrs even.” He turned his head and started looking outside of her office window at the various students that started to enter the school. “...People who don’t care for anyone but themselves but still want to be regarded as an important figurehead in death so that some other ignorant fool will carry on the legacy of a previous one.”

Celestia looked up at him with a concerned frown. “...You’re speaking from experience, are you not?”

He adjusted his glasses and turned to look at her once more. “Maybe. But that’s water under the bridge now. I’m just glad that the rest of the students are safe and can begin to enjoy the holidays without anyone breathing hatred down their necks.”

“...You know what? I agree,” Celestia replied as her expression softened. “We could all use a break. Though, I will say, the snow hasn’t arrived yet which I find odd.”

“Hm, yes,” Aidon added as he looked outside again, “Come to think of it, it’s not that cold either. I suppose Mother Nature has something else planned in terms of weather for this year.”

“Whatever the case, I’m just glad everything is right as rain--or lack thereof,” the principal said with a small giggle. “Is everything alright on your end?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod, “Don’t worry about me, miss. Happy Holidays to you.” And with that, he turned and left the office…only to be met with a few waiting faces right outside. “What the--?!”

…Several students including Derpy and Octavia were waiting for him outside of the principal’s office to shower him with admiration and praise.

“See?” Derpy said to the crowd, “I told you guys he was real.”

“I saw the stream yesterday,” Octavia added, “That was some exemplary combat technique. Just how did you manage?”

“Who are you working for and where can I get their info?” Bon Bon said as she took out a pen and notepad.

“What’s the physical and mathematical nature behind your magic?” Micro Chips asked.

“How can I become that Grrrreat and Powerful--?!” Trixie squealed and cleared her throat as some of the other students shot knowing looks in her direction. “Ahem. Not that I need to. Asking for a friend.”

Aidon sighed into his palm, but exposed the smallest of smiles on his face. “...They really like me, huh? Is this what being cared for feels like?”

Meanwhile, on the other end of the hall. A certain trio was making their way into school…

“I still can’t believe you did all that, Ari! That was totes-mega dangerous,” Sonata commented as they walked.

Aria had a bandage on her left ankle from the burn, but thankfully was able to walk without much issue. “Says the girl who was fighting a buncha spiders. What the hell was that?”

Adagio simply giggled. “You two are amazing, you know that? I stay home for one day and you guys start becoming guardians of the city like something out of a comic book.” She pulled out a list on a sheet of paper. “It’s actually given me more time to think about Christmas than I otherwise would’ve had….”

“Ooh!” Sonata tried to lean over her eldest sister’s shoulder and squealed, “Is that Santa’s list? I’ve been a good girl all year!”

Adagio sneakily put it away. “Relax, Sona. Santa won’t come if he catches you peeking.”

“Hmmmmph,” the blue girl sulked as she puffed out her cheeks.

Aria leaned in and whispered to Adagio. “...Are you seriously letting her think that--”

“Shhh. If she believes it, I believe it. And it seems that our professor has earned himself a bit of fame, hm?” the yellow girl commented as they happened upon the scene from afar. “It seems that everyone is more aware of the magic that’s seeping into this world from Equestria. That video stream…thing seemed to have let everyone know what’s going on at once, didn’t it?”

“However the heck it works, it doesn’t matter,” Aria replied with a grin, “Blueballs is out of the picture and won’t be causing anymore harm to us. Isn’t that right, Sonata?”

No response.

“...Sonata?” Aria repeated and they both turned around to find their sister had been talking to someone else. Namely Rainbow Dash.

The rainbow-haired senior was shivering as she stared into her locker. “Brrr…I’m telling you, it was super weird, Sonata. Are you absolutely sure you wanna hear it?”

“Of course I do,” Sonata insisted with a worried frown on her face, “You’re my friend. I’m willing to help you out no matter what, okay?”

“Okay…” Dash sighed and started to explain herself as she rubbed her hand behind her neck. “Essentially…I was having this weird dream. A dream that it was Christmas.”

Sonata nodded as she focused on Dash with a more serious expression. “Christmas. Got it. What else?”

“And then, uh…I found myself under a Mistletoe in my house. And somehow, someway…Zephyr Breeze was there, and he k-k-kissed me!” she groaned while shutting her eyes. “And you wanna know the worst part?”

Sonata revolted, and had to hold herself back from gagging. “Hrrk--! Ahem--um…oh my goodness…what else happened?”

Dash put her hands on Sonata’s shoulders as she opened her eyes--they were bloodshot from a lack of sleep. “I was enjoying it. Then he and I spent all of Christmas together! It was like my dream was being hijacked! No way in hell would I want to get that close to him!”

“...” All Sonata could do was stare and blink. She was speechless. “...I don’t…I don’t get it. How can someone take over your dream? We’re not in Equestria--and even then, Princess Luna’s the only one who can perform dream magic. I wonder…”

Arc X Episode II: Helping A New Friend

“Well whatever the case, I have no clue why this happened,” Dash muttered as she pulled away from Sonata. “But I can’t get to sleep. I’m afraid that my dream is gonna extend into--hrrk!--marriage or something…” she muttered as she felt her stomach turn.

“Don’t worry,” Sonata assured her, “If Equestrian magic is in play here, we like, totally got it. In the meantime, you should probably have a friend sleepover with you at your house so they can watch over you.”

Dash nodded as she pulled out her phone. “Good idea. I’ll see if I can get Fluttershy to come over…and possibly bring a bunny or two.”

“What for?” Sonata asked.

“...” Dash paused, and looked to her left, then her right to make sure no one was eavesdropping on the conversation. “...I like to cuddle the bunnies. But don’t let anyone else know that. It’s our secret. Got it?”

Sonata mimed the action of zipping her mouth shut. “Your secret is safe with me. I like the way bunnies feel too. They’re super cute with their twitchy noses and bushy little tails.”

“I know, right--?!” Dash squealed, and quickly re-adjusted herself to acting more serious as she cleared her throat. “Ahem--I mean, yeah. Motorcycles are awesome.”

From where Adagio and Aria stood, they could see the two having a conversation, but were unable to quite hear what they were speaking of.

“Whatcha think they’re talkin’ about?” said Aria.

“Who knows?” Adagio replied with a shrug, “It’s rude to eavesdrop you know. Don’t make yourself look so obvious.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Sonata soon walked back up to her sisters and started to explain what she could. “...Dashie’s having a bit of a problem, girls.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school…in the library to be exact.

Sunset Shimmer was idly chewing on the tip of her pen as she stared down at the blank pages of her journal, waiting desperately for a response from Princess Twilight. “C’mon…give me something. Anything. I need to know how to deal with blood magic.” She sighed, and slumped over, putting her forehead down on the book.

That’s when…

BZZZZ!

“Huh--wha?!”

She was getting a response. The words started to appear in front of her on the page via Princess Twilight’s purple magic aura…

“Hey, Sunset. Glad to hear from you again and Happy Hearth’s Warming. Now, I see that you’re in a predicament regarding blood magic. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I was busy studying up hemomancy throughout Equestria’s history. Turns out a looooot of it is restricted. Not even Princess Celestia knows too much about it. I had to ask Discordof all ponies. Can you believe it?”

Sunset wrote a response. “Yes, yes I can. Anyway, what did you manage to find?”

“Well, to make a long, arduous story very short and easy to understand--blood magic used to be practiced in ancient Equestria but was outlawed not long after Celestia and Luna took over--hence why there’s so little information on it. However, there have been written reports of such magic being utilized to treat rare, blood-centric diseases outside of Equestria. Unfortunately…there was also loads of abuse. Stopping someone’s heart, making one’s blood rush until a body overclocks and burns out, turning their blood into weird, puppet-like strings that--”

“Woah--okay, I think I get the picture,” Sunset wrote back as she gave a disgusted shudder, “I suppose that’s why Princess Celestia never got around to teaching me about blood magic. If it’s no longer allowed in Equestria, then it’s obviously never gonna come up again and serve as a problem, right?”

There was a pause.

It took Twilight about five seconds to respond, and when she finally did…

“...You have a point, Sunset. To tell you the truth, Princess Celestia and Starswirl never were the best at keeping track of all of the different magical artifacts and spells that had gone on within Equestria. That’s why it’s up to me now.”

“Right…anyway, what do you think I should do? Apparently, he’s a batpony--er, vampony. And he doesn’t appear to be hostile. In fact, he was making use of his blood magic to protect people. Apparently from a giant spider monster that had somehow gotten through here.”

“...Magic is still seeping in, huh?” the princess wrote back, “This isn’t good…”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. My friends and I are more than capable of dealing with whatever comes our way…once we figure them out, that is.”

“Well if he starts to become hostile, you’ll need to know how to use the antifibrinolytic spell that I’m sending to you right now. Before you ask--it means blood-clotting. That way, if this vampony-boy gets out of line, you’ll be able to show him who’s boss. And make sure you keep a close eye on him. What did you say his name was, again?”

“Keiji Ketsuki,” Sunset replied as she took a look at the magical runes that Twilight had sent her through the book. “It sounds very Eastern so I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to find.”

“...I’ll have to do some more research. That name does sound familiar but I’m not entirely sure. For now, go over the spell I sent you and make sure you keep a close eye on him. If he turns out to not be malicious, then try and recruit him to your side. He could prove to be a valuable asset in the fight against more Equestrian threats that the people of Earth can’t deal with.”

“I got it. Thanks, Twilight. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

“Merry Christmas, Sunset.”

Sunset shut the book, and sighed as she leaned against the table, resting her chin in her palm. “Blech…classic. The only way to befriend someone is to make sure we can claim their power first. It was the same way with Discord. I guess some things don’t change…” She started to lean back in her chair while racking her brain for answers. “But how are we gonna negotiate with a vamp--” She froze--her expression widening with realization…

That’s when she thought back to that news article about the local hospital’s blood bank being robbed!

“That’s it!” she said, snapping her fingers, “That had to have been him. No doubt about it. If he really is a vampire batpony, then he must rely on blood to live. Now how will we negotiate with him…”

“Do mah ears deceive me,” Applejack muttered as she walked from around a nearby bookshelf and towards the table Sunset was sitting at. “Or were ya just talkin’ to yerself about vampire ponies?”

Inspiration hit Sunset like a truck upon hearing the farm girl’s voice. “Aha! Vampire bats feed on the blood of cows, pigs, and chickens!”

“That they do,” Applejack said with a raised eyebrow, “But what in the hay does that hafta do with--?”

She was cut off when Sunset abruptly grabbed her shoulders. “I’ll explain on the way to our next class. C’mon!”

“...Hah?”

Arc X Episode III: Vampire Issues

Meanwhile, in the hallways…

Keiji walked up to his locker, and soon found himself being approached by a few of his classmates. “Eh?” he looked over to see Rumble and Button Mash in particular. “Whaddya want?”

Rumble started speaking first. “Just wanted to ask you something--”

But Button Mash was right there to interrupt. “You’re dating Diamond Tiara?! How--?!”

Immediately, Keiji’s expression turned sour as he grimaced at them with his sharp fangs on full display. “Who the frick starts off a conversation like that? And for your information, I’m not dating anyone. It was part of a job.”

Rumble cleared his throat and stepped between them. “...Ignore him. Sorry about that. He’s still trying to get over Sweetie Belle breaking up with him.”

“...Is that the white one? I’ve lost count,” Keiji replied as he shut his eyes and scratched the side of his head.

“Don’t go telling my business!” Button shouted at his friend and sulked, turning away from them.

“...Yikes,” Rumble muttered, “Still bitter…anyway…” he turned back to Keiji and continued. “I just wanna know how you managed.”

Keiji’s face scrunched up ever so slightly--his eyes remained shut. “Managed what?”

“To become friends with Diamond Tiara,” Rumble said as he looked down the hall at the girl in question who was busy chatting with her best friend Silver Spoon as usual. “I thought she only made friends with the popular kids or other rich kids. But you--”

At last, Keiji opened his eyes, only to shoot Rumble a cold, lazy stare. “Are you serious right now, my guy? Just--just tell me. Are you?”

“Oh, s-sorry!” Rumble stumbled over his words and chuckled nervously. “I didn’t mean to say that you aren’t cool. It’s just…hard to imagine.”

“I do what I do for a reason,” the green boy said as he pulled a bottle of red liquid from his locker and took a large sip from it. Once he was done, he put it back and licked the excess from his fangs. “That’s all there is to it. Nothing more, nothing less. If you wanna be real with somebody, be real with somebody. Don’t pussyfoot around like some teen-show protagonist.” With that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking.

“...He’s a mysterious one, that’s for sure…” Rumble commented as he walked off to his locker. “Wonder why he’s not trying to talk to anybody…”

Meanwhile, at gym class…

Keiji had arrived at the school’s gym wearing his mandated white tee and shorts like the other boys.

Meanwhile, the girls had more flexible options though. In particular, the seniors could wear yoga pants and sports bras if they so desired. Which is exactly what Sunset Shimmer and Applejack chose to wear. They were both stretching, and from the corner of their eyes, they could see Keiji enter the gymnasium.

“Speak’uh the scarecrows,” Applejack whispered to her friend, “There he is. Now how are we gonna get him’ta listen to us?” She was wearing a green pair of yoga pants with apples patterned all over and her sports bra had a matching color scheme.

“That’s him. Yup,” Sunset replied. She was wearing her usual purple yoga pants and a matching sports bra as well. “We need to approach him calmly and carefully. Plus, I looked ahead at gym class’s schedule. Just you watch…”

Applejack didn’t bother to question her words. She simply waited to see how this would play out…

Soon enough, the gym teacher would enter the room: Ms. Cheerilee in a yellow and pink-striped tracksuit. “Okay, everyone. Join up into groups of three so we can get started with our routine.”

“Ah…” Applejack muttered, “I getcha now.”

As soon as he heard the fact that he had to team up with others, the vamp-boy hissed to himself. “Blech…seriously? I’d rather run laps than--”

But before he could finish putting his complaint into words, Sunset Shimmer had already walked up beside him. “Hey uh…Keiji, right? Wanna team up?”

“N--”

Applejack flanked him from the other side, effectively trapping him between two much stronger girls. “A feller like yerself would benefit from learnin’ from experience. We can help ya.”

Keiji looked at them both and grit his teeth. His eyes couldn’t help but wander to their toned abdomens which made his knees shiver ever so slightly. “God…god dammit. Why am I stuck with these two and their…muscular bodies…” But since he was in no position to refuse, he accepted. “...Fine. Just don’t slow me down. I can’t carry you through this and I got Christmas crap to plan.”

“Oh ya do, do ya?” Applejack asked as she stretched one of her arms, “Tell me about it as we start.” She lied on the ground, and prepared to start her sit-ups. “Hold mah shoes, wouldja? Sunset, you keep track.”

“Got it,” Sunset replied as she pulled out a stopwatch.

Keiji avoided eye contact as he got down on his knees and held Applejack’s feet in place. “Hmph…” “I see what they’re doing. They’re trying to butter me up. Well it won’t work.”

As Applejack performed her sit-ups, she continued making idle conversation with him. “So. Whatcha plannin’ for Christmas, partner?”

“...I was going to do something for the school and bring food,” he replied as he kept his focus on her apple-patterned sneakers. “Or something like that.”

“That’s nice of you,” Sunset commented, “I didn’t peg you for the type to care about the holiday that much. You’ve always seemed so…isolated from everyone else.”

Keiji’s cheeks turned rosy as a result of his blood flowing uncontrollably. “...Yeah, well maybe there’s a reason for that. Ever thought of that?”

Applejack turned her head in Sunset’s direction and shot her a flat, judgemental look.

“N-no, what I mean is…” Sunset tried to rephrase her words, “...If you have any problems, you can trust us. We wanna help you just like everyone else.”

“Help me, huh…?” Keiji scoffed. “Hmph. You don’t even know me yet you’re extending your hand so readily for some reason…” he glared at her with narrowed eyes. “What’s your angle?”

“Nothing at all,” Sunset insisted, “And…you never know. There could be people here that relate to you more than you realize. People who feel and understand your pain.”

“Yeah right,” Keiji broke eye contact, turning his head away, “Who could possibly comprehend what I’ve been through?”

Sunset decided to come out and say it. “...I know you’re from Equestria. Just like me.”

“...”

Keiji paused, got up, and started walking away…

Arc X Episode IV: A Deal With The Vamp

“Is everything alright?” Cheerilee asked Sunset and Applejack as she watched Keiji step away from his gym class group and walk to the other end of the basketball court.

Sunset walked up to her and quickly came up with an explanation, “We’re just getting some water and doing a new routine. You know how it is.”

Applejack had gotten off the floor and followed. “Er…somethin’ like that. We won’t be long.”

“Okay…” Cheerilee replied with a hint of concern in her voice.

Soon enough, the girls approached Keiji who had been taking a drink from the red liquid in his sports bottle.

“...Keiji,” Sunset spoke out to him, “I can feel it. You’re a batpony who was put here because of an unfortunate circumstance. I know your pain…somewhat. But I can’t help you if you shut me out.”

“Is she for real?” Keiji thought it over to himself, “I’ve already exposed my back to one person. I don’t wanna get stabbed in it again. Not again…not ever again…”

It was true. In spite of his confrontational, delinquent-esque mannerisms, Keiji was ultimately rather defensive and insecure regarding who he should and shouldn’t trust. After suffering at the hands--er, hooves of his own parents, who could blame him, really?

Of course, the girls weren’t aware of this, but they did the best they could to comfort him with what little info they had.

“Wait a sec. Didn’t Applebloom mention a boy with an overbite? This gotta be him, ain’t it?” She took a closer look and…yup. A pair of little fangs that jutted out over his mouth permanently and they didn’t look fake. “I see…” Once she realized who it was, Applejack put her words of realism to use. “Listen, pard. I ain’t gonna lie to ya. This gal here is for real and for true with what she says. If you really are from Equestria and need some help, then we’re willin’ta make things easier for ya.”

“This world can be tough to navigate alone,” Sunset added as she took a step closer, “But if you have a few frien--er, acquaintances…it’ll become easier for you. Plus…we have a…christmas present for you,” she said with her hands held behind her back as she put on her best smile.

Naturally, Keiji raised an eyebrow. Such a claim wasn’t something he was prepared to throw all of his trust into. “...Whatcha mean by that?”

With a quick snatch, Applejack put her arm around his neck and forcefully pulled him in.

“H-hey!”

The apple girl went on without a care, unaware that her strength had pulled him in rather tightly to where the side of his face was pressing against her abdomen. “C’mon now, Kei. We ain’t gon’ hurt ya. We’re actually a rather friendly bunch once ya get’ta know us. Like Granny Smith always says…”

Unfortunately, since he was being pulled into her midsection with no sign of escape, his eyes began to wander…upwards. “...” His cheeks turned a shade of crimson as he started to stare at the underside of her…bosoms. He felt his heart pound and beat like a drum within his ears as his blood pumped through his body at a quickened rate and he was unable to think and began to tune her out while she was talking…

“...Applejack?” Sunset tilted her head to get a better look at the way she was holding onto him, “...Might wanna let up. I think you’re hurting him.”

“Hm?” she looked down and realized that there was a luminescent blush across his face. “Are you alrigh--” Once she found where his eyes were looking, reality hit her like a truck as she let him go. “What th--what in tarnation were you lookin’ at?!” She crossed her arms and shot him a mean glare.

Keiji stood upright and for a moment his mind was hazy from what he had seen. “...She has freckles. They were so--OH SHIT!” The blush disappeared as soon as he realized he was being called out. “...I uh…”

“...Appleja--AJ, relax,” Sunset tried to calm her friend down but to no avail.

Applejack took a step towards him, backing him into the nearest corner. “I asked you a question, boy. What were ya lookin’ at?”

Now cornered, Keiji was unable to come up with a response. “I--uh…y-you pulled me in so I…”

THUD!

Applejack slammed her hand on the wall above his head, causing cracks to appear outwards from where her fingers touched it. “Answer the question.”

“Dammit! May as well say it to her face.” With no other option, Keiji finally came up with an answer. “A-alright, fine!” he yelped, “Those…things on your chest. Males like myself don’t have them but I see the females of this world do. So…I was confused and curious. I don’t quite understand human biology, alright?”

“...I think he’s telling the truth,” Sunset approached them as she tried to ease the tension between them. “When I first came here, I was confused on a lot of things. And my new body was one of them. I didn’t even realize that my chest was different until I did some research. Cut him some slack, okay AJ?”

Applejack sighed and pulled her hand back. “Fine. But let’s get one thing straight, boy,” she lectured Keiji while staring him down, “Girls in this world have certain parts that ya can’t be gawkin’ at. Our--ahem--apples are an example’a such. Got it?”

“Yes…but may I ask…” he put his hands together, took a deep breath, and put on his best poker face, “Why not?”

“Uh--b--wh--?!” Applejack’s eyes widened hysterically as she put a hand to her forehead, “Why not? Ya just can’t, that’s why! It ain’t right!”

“Ahem…” Sunset cleared her throat and stepped between them. “...Let me handle this, Jacks. You take a break for a sec and cool off.”

“Hmph…fine…but I’m watchin’ you, boy,” she glared at Keiji while pointing two fingers at her own eyes and then in his direction while stepping away.

“...Yeesh,” Keiji put his hands behind his head, “I’m simply trying to understand this world the best I can.”

Sunset nodded. “I feel you. It wasn’t easy when I first got here either. But…it was only thanks to my friends that I was able to.”

The boy was unamused. His eyes narrowed as he raised an eyebrow. “...Friends. Right…”

“I’m not gonna force you to make friends right away,” she replied, “But…since it’s the season of giving, I want to give you something that’ll help…something like…access to blood? Legally?”

“...” Keiji put his hands down and crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”

“Meet me after school,” Sunset said as she turned and walked away, “There’s a few others here that know what you’re going through.”

Arc X Episode V: The Vamp's Past

Keiji did as requested, and as soon as school was over, he met up with Sunset right outside of the building on the sidewalk. “Hey…so what are we doin’ here?”

“Meeting with one of the people who are also from Equestria,” Sunset explained as she looked around at the crowd of students walking out of the building, “She should be here any second…”

“Like, heyyyyy!” Sonata chirped as she walked up to them.

As soon as he laid eyes on her, Keiji flinched, taking a step back from the sudden shout. Then, he rolled his eyes and muttered, “Oh…it’s you again. From the diner. Why are you here?”

“Like, duh,” the blue girl waved her hand sarcastically as she responded, “It’s because I’m from Equestria too, ya shortstack.”

“Don’t…don’t say that ever again,” the boy muttered, “Alright. Spill. What were you?”

“It’s not just me,” Sonata stopped to turn and wave at her sisters as they left the school also. “My sisters and I were like, these super deadly Sirens. We sank ships and caused mayhem over the oceans…until Starswirl banished us here because he couldn’t control us.” She put her hands on her hips and smirked proudly while standing tall. “Joke’s on him. Living here is totally better anyway.”

Keiji threw his head back and scoffed. “Tch. Is that so?”

“Yup-yup,” the blue girl replied without missing a beat, “I mean, it was kinda hard to adjust to having a job and needing to know how to drive…but we managed.”

“Oh god don’t even get me started,” Sunset interjected with a chuckle, “It took me forever to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Then getting my license was a pain in the ass.” She looked over in Keiji’s direction--the boy showed a minor spark of interest via staring at her when she mentioned motorcycles. “Hm? What’s up? Something on my face?”

“No,” he shook his head, “It’s just…I find the motor vehicles fascinating. J-just a little,” he quickly deflected while breaking eye contact and looking away.

The girls looked at each other with confident grins on their faces.

“We’re getting somewhere,” Sunset whispered, “Let’s take him to the farm next.”

“I’m so on it,” Sonata whispered back, “And maybe I’ll be able to find out more about him and why he was banished here…”

Sunset sighed. “Yeah…It’d certainly help us understand him more, that’s for sure….”

Fed up with their inaudible whispers, Keiji finally called out to them. “Hey. Are we going somewhere or what?”

“We are,” Sunset took the lead, “Follow me.”

They began to follow her, and in the meantime, Sonata tried to make conversation with the vamp-boy.

“So…what brought you here to this world, Kei?” she asked cautiously as to not set him off.

Keiji walked along with his hands in his pockets, and shot her a side glare. “You really wanna know, huh?” He sighed, and went on. “I suppose it’s only fair since you told me about how your experience and how you ended up here…”

“...Hm?” Sonata tilted her head.

“...I’ll make a long story short.”

As a noble in Equestria, Count Bloodlust was constantly pestered by his father--Archduke Rosangio--to learn from him in order to lead their small village located in Trotsylvania, Equestria. However, Bloodlust often refused his father’s desire to learn about politics and other affairs regarding their village. Instead, he spent most of his time in a laboratory he made for himself where he concentrated on developing blood-related enchantments from the supply of blood that he obtained from various subjects living in their territory. Subjects that wanted nothing more than to be rid of those controlling vamponies…

His mother? That was an entire situation unto itself. Archduke Rosangio was quite the charmer and had taken multiple mares in concubinage despite having a true wife that he was officially married to. But one in particular caught his eye…an earth pony mare that had come from a Far Eastern land: Japone.

Needless to say, he started up a relationship with her and she gave birth to a bastard child: His first son.

“All the children born before me were batpony mares,” Keiji continued, “But as the first stallion, I was given automatic seniority.” He crossed his arms and scoffed. “How goddamn ironic is that? I was given a direct path to a throne I didn’t want while my half-sisters were sitting there wanting it, much older than me, but couldn’t have it because of some dumbass traditional rule…”

“Oh…” Sonata mumbled, unable to think of how to reply to such a thing. “...What happened after that?”

“They treated me like shit and my parents argued back and forth every day and night so they didn’t not. And soon enough, mom couldn’t take it anymore…”

Indeed, Rosangio and his little affair-mare--Kamui--would routinely be at each other’s throats, yelling back and forth all day and night. Why? The vamp-stallion desperately wanted his son to ascend but the Eastern mare refused to allow it as he was unfit to rule and did nothing but stay in his lab.

…This led to an exchange of physical abuse from both sides as they would often attack each other, but never try to cause grievous, noticeable harm. Rosangio knew that he couldn’t match an earth pony’s strength, so it never went beyond minor scuffles and slaps.

To make matters worse, various sisters of the Rosangio Family would routinely mock, prank, bully, and even beat their half-brother for taking what was rightfully theirs. But not only that, they routinely faked injuries and shifted the blame onto him, conspiring against him to their stepmother--”Keiji’s” mother.

“He’s trying to use forbidden magic, mother. Can’t you see he’s a problem?”

“He’s going to sully our family name, mother. We need him to be dealt with.”

“All our lives we have waited for our chance but we mares are constantly kept down. It’s time we fight back.”

And you know what? The Japonese mare agreed. She wasn’t going to be a victim of a system that was designed to keep her down. So she would start with her own adolescent son…

Once she gathered the evidence she needed, she exposed everything about Count Bloodlust to the public. His lab that was filled to the brim with experimental documents, the cursed dolls he made in order to extract blood from ponies, and expose the fact that he was a bastard child…not from her of course.

“Take him!” she yelled to the crowd of Trosylvanian ponies down below, “He is the reason for your troubles! Make the Duke hate himself!”

“...Mother, why--?!”

And right before she forcefully dragged him out of that window, Kamui looked him in the eye and said, “I never loved you.”

And with a quick toss, the young bat-stallion was thrown to the crowd. Kamui had gotten the ultimate revenge against the stallion that had brought her into an unfortunate situation.

By the time he reached his son’s room in the castle, it was too late. “...You…you ticălosule! What did you do to my boy?!”

Without an ounce of remorse in her body, she turned and said, “I made things right. Now you watch him suffer.”

“...”

Arc X Episode VI: New Hopes

“...And after that, I was given capital torture,” Keiji went on, “...I was electrocuted until my skin was fried into numbness by charged thunderclouds from pegasi, flogged until I bled apart by the earth ponies, and lastly…burned to death by the unicorns. But something happened. Something…they weren’t expecting.”

“...What was that?” Sonata asked as she tried to keep her voice from breaking.

“...I had survived it all,” the vamp boy replied, “Turns out my years of experimentation had borne fruit and my blood had been magically enhanced. Needless to say, I wasn’t going to die by bleeding out. So…someone there who apparently worked for some guy named Starswirl--she banished me here thinking it would get rid of me for good.”

“Ouch…” Sonata looked down at the ground and sighed, “...You too, huh?”

Keiji nodded. “Yeah, I suppose we have something in common in that regard. Guess that crusty old bastard had quite a few followers all over that world.”

“No kidding,” Sonata raised her head up and looked at him. “But I can’t imagine being in a situation where your family is willing to abandon you like that…”

The boy scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t need your sympathy…but I suppose I’m grateful that you--”

Out of nowhere, Sonata pulled him against her for a tight hug while sobbing quietly. “I’m sorry…I can’t stand it. The fact that your sisters were so…mean to you as well as your own mom. I can’t imagine something like that. I was lucky enough to have two amazing older sisters that cared about me. But all of your older sisters did the exact opposite of what older sisters are supposed to do.” She started to gently caress the top of his head, patting him through the hug as tears ran down her cheeks. “They’re supposed to protect their younger siblings. Not hurt them…”

“...” For the first time since he arrived there, Keiji started to cry as well--though he kept his sobs to a minimum where they couldn’t be heard as the tears ran down his face. “...Yeah, well…there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s my situation and I have to make the best of--hrrk!”

Sonata broke the hug, and put an arm around his shoulder. “Listen…if you want, I can like…try to be your sister?”

The boy froze in place for a moment as he stared up at her. “...And just why would you wanna do that?”

“Because I…I want to make your new life better,” Sonata pleaded, “You deserve a good family too, you know.”

He broke free of her embrace and started walking off in order to catch up to Sunset. “I’ll think about it. For now, let’s just see what Sunset’s planning.”

“Guys, this way!” Sunset called out to them from the end of the street corner. “We’re almost there!”

“Coming!” Sonata called out as she turned to look at Keiji. “...Listen, little bro. Sunset Shimmer can feel and see everything you’ve felt with a touch of her hand. Let her in…and things will get better, okay?”

Since the blue girl had graciously extended her compassion towards him, Keiji couldn’t reasonably refuse that offer. “...I’ll…see if she’s willing to help out in that regard. For now, let’s just see what she’s talking about here…”

They followed Sunset all the way to the edge of the city where a certain farm was located…

“Here we are,” said the orange girl as she gestured towards the farm with an open hand, “This is our plan for you, Keiji.”

“...A farm?” the boy crossed his arms and raised a brow, “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“No, see…I know you’re a vampony and from what I’ve researched, vampire bats like to drink blood primarily from animals, right?”

“...Yeah…?”

Sunset put her hands behind her back and looked at Keiji with a knowing smile. “Weeeeell…what do you suppose we help you? You work on Applejack’s farm and she’ll give you all the animal blood you want.” She turned towards the farm and called out, “Right Applejack?”

“Yup,” said the farm gal as she exited the garage covered in oil and grease. “We know ya been stealin’ blood from them banks, Keiji. But we ain’t gonna expose ya to the authorities if you’re willin’ta work that off.”

The boy stopped for a moment and thought aloud. “...Blood costs money here, huh?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s right. The blood you took from those hospitals are used for transfusions and other medical procedures. Thankfully, they have loads to spare, but we can’t let you keep taking from there. If an emergency happens and no one can get the blood they need…”

“I see now,” Keiji replied as he closed his eyes, “As a man of science myself, I’d hate myself if I was the reason why other people couldn’t get what they needed to survive.” He looked over at the farm. “...So I’d be working here, and the money I make will be donated to the local hospital, yes?”

“That’s the long and short of it, my guy,” Sunset offered her hand, “Do we have a deal?”

“...” Keiji stared at her hand for a moment, and remembered what Sonata had just told him not long ago. From the corner of his eye, he could see the blue girl nod her head in approval. So…he accepted. “You’ve got a deal, Shimmer.”

And as soon as his hand came in contact with hers…

“...!”

Sunset’s eyes went solid white…and she was able to see everything. Every detail that Keiji had told Sonata moments ago, it was all true. And she bore witness to all of it. Every slap, every hit, every mean comment, everything that Keiji had ever suffered through up until he was executed and forcefully ejected into Equestria by another one of Starswirl’s followers…

“...”

When her eyes reverted back to normal, she looked down at the ground. “...I’m sorry.”

“...You saw it all, huh?” Keiji asked with a sigh, “Well there it is. Now you know the truth. Happy now?”

“No, I’m not,” Sunset answered pointedly, “In fact, it makes me furious that such a family would even exist and treat you that way.”

“Yeah well…” Keiji scratched the side of his head, “Ain’t much you can do about it.”

“...As much as I wanna ask about how his blood magic works, I can’t just ignore who he is as a person.” Sunset thought to herself. “I can’t just…appeal to him and force him to join our side just to have a powerful asset. That wouldn’t be right. He needs time to adjust so the least we can do is give him time to find his own way.”

With that in mind, she accepted his words. “I completely understand, Kei. Take your time and get used to this world. No pressure.”

Her words were rather…surprising. Keiji raised a brow and replied, “...Huh. Thanks…I guess?”

Applejack beckoned him over. “C’mon, milk-boy. I’ll show ya whatcha gonna be doin’.”

As Keiji walked over, Sonata addressed Sunset with a query. “Think he’ll be okay?”

“I hope so…oh yeah, by the way, Rainbow Dash said something about her dreams being messed with. Know anything about that?”

Sonata replied with a nervous frown on her face. “Oh yeah. About that…”

Arc XI Episode I: Holiday Cheer

A few days later…at the Siren’s home…

Adagio had finished setting up the Christmas tree and made herself busy wrapping up presents.

Sonata woke up soon after and groggily mumbled, “Moooorniiiing…”

“Morning, Sonata,” Adagio replied from the couch, “How did everything go with the new boy at school?”

At the mention of her new friend, she perked right up in an instant. “Oh yeah! We’re totally helping him get used to this world. Honestly, there’s a bit more to him than we thought. Turns out he had it a bit rough…”

“I know,” the eldest siren said with a frown, “Sunset filled me in on his past. His sisters were horrible and I hope they burn eternally.”

“Same here. But what can we do to help him feel more comfortable?” Sonata asked as she went to the fridge to grab some orange juice. “...I get the feeling that he has a hard time dealing with girls for that reason.”

“I’ve heard, yes…” Despite this, Adagio still wanted to do something for Keiji as she didn’t want him to fall to despair like they almost did. “Nevertheless, I have an idea.” She glanced down at the box she had been wrapping.

Sonata had drank down half a glass of juice and curiously asked, “Oh? Whatcha got in mind, sis?”

“I’ll let you know in more detail once Aria wakes up,” the yellow girl placed the wrapped box next to her and started on another. “But let’s just say, we’re gonna pay him a visit…”

That proposition made Sonata rock back and forth from her heels to toes with excitement. “Ooh! Ooh! Can I like, wear my reindeer outfit? I didn’t get a chance to last year!”

“Sure, of course,” Adagio replied with a smile, “I’ll be wearing my Mrs. Claus outfit and break out the ol’ thigh-highs. And Aria…well, she has a few options. I wonder what she’ll pick…”

Speaking of which, their middle sibling finally arrived. “Ugggh…” She entered the living room while groaning as she rubbed the side of her head. “Goddamn…I had a rough one last night?”

Adagio got up from the couch and walked over to her sister. “...Are you alright, Ari?” she asked as she grabbed onto Aria’s free hand with both of hers.

“Yeah, I just…had this shit dream last night,” Aria muttered.

Sonata’s eyes grew wide as soon as she heard the word, “‘Dream’? Uh…mind telling us what happened?”

Aria let go of Adagio and took a seat near the kitchen. “Well I had a dream where I was surrounded by these creepy little robotic dolls that sang in ear-piercing pitches. I couldn’t sleep for shit last night.”

“...That’s strange,” Adagio thought aloud, “Did you eat anything crazy last night?”

“Nope,” Aria answered while grabbing the carton of orange juice from the fridge, “We all had dinner together last night, remember.”

Sonata tapped her fingertips together in a nervous fashion. “Uh…”

Adagio glanced in her direction, able to instantly figure out that something was bothering her. “...Sonata? What’s the matter? If you know something, you can tell us. Don’t be afraid.”

“You both might wanna sit down…”

One explanation later…

“Dash suffered from something similar, eh?” Aria questioned, “Figures. Someone’s trying to screw with us.”

“But this is…beyond peculiar,” Adagio pointed out the absurdity of the situation, “To our knowledge, only Princess Luna has any control over dream magic. And she’s not here, so…”

Sonata nodded. “Exactly. That’s what makes this so freaky-deaky. Like, how does someone force control over dreams?”

“Whoever they are, they’re a real smartass,” Aria muttered under her breath, then spoke up, “Since Princess Luna isn’t here, there’s no way for anyone to stop this. She’s the only one who knows how to enter dreams.”

“But it’s not in her character to do something so devious…” Adagio mused, “Do you think someone from Equestria is…”

“If so, like, how?” Sonata asked, “You mean to say somebody learned how to control dreams and ran off to a world where they wouldn’t face any challeng--ohhhh…” she tilted her head upwards once the sensation of realization hit her. That was it alright. Someone was taking advantage of the vast capability of dream magic for their own benefit…

Aria snapped her fingers. “There it is. At least we figured something out. But we can’t really do much until we fall asleep again…”

“Don’t worry,” Adagio put a hand on Aria’s shoulder, “Tonight, we’ll stay up with you and hopefully catch the culprit in their tracks before they do anymore damage. I can’t imagine how it must’ve been for Rainbow Dash. Forced to spend time with a complete creep…blech…” she feigned a gagging motion with her tongue out.

“Thanks, you guys…” Aria drank her juice, and stretched her arms out. “Alright, so who are we visiting this year? Should I get my Gingerbread Girl outfit?”

“Are you sure?” Adagio asked, “You don’t have to push yourself…”

But Aria was adamant. “Nah, I’ll be fine. I know I wasn’t as into it last year, but this year? I’m ready to spread some holiday cheer to the faces that need it. Plus…I kinda like the way that dress feels. I’ve been…” she broke eye contact as she continued, “...trying it on in my spare time. And it still fits.”

“Yay!” Sonata chirped as she threw her arms around Aria to hug her. “I told you those weight loss plans work if they work for the humans.”

“Ech--yeah, yeah,” Aria rolled her eyes as she reluctantly returned the embrace. She then looked over at Adagio and asked, “So who are we headed to first, A-dawg?”

Adagio had walked back over to her boxes that she had just finished wrapping. “Well…I heard some things through the grape-tree as the humans call it--”

“Vine--” Aria corrected her.

“Whatever. Anyway, a certain someone needs a family to spend the holidays with. So we’re going to do our best to give him that experience.” She stacked a few boxes upright and said, “Get dressed girls. We’re heading out."

Arc XI Episode II: Something To Cherish

At Keiji’s home…

The vamp-boy was busy in his kitchen preparing some sort of food for when everyone returned to school after winter break. Flour was all over the place, but he seemed to know what he was doing even as he watched the deep fryer do its job.

“This should do the trick. Human technology really works wonders…”

Tap-tap-tap.

There was a sudden knock at his door. Keiji turned off the fryer, and went over to answer it. “Sup?”

Spoiled Rich was standing there with her sparkling purple purse slung over her shoulder. “Ah. Good thing I finally caught you. I’ve been meaning to give you a little something for accomplishing that little task I asked of you.”

“Really?” Keiji tilted his head in confusion. He had already been paid the money he was needed. What else could there be?

Spoiled reached into her purse and pulled out three small, wrapped gift boxes. “Here. Open them once I leave, please. And before I go, I want to ask you something.”

The boy accepted the boxes, and placed them on a nearby vanity. “Sure. What’s up?”

“...Do you think you’d be willing to accept a full-time position?” she offered, her stern expression fading in favor of a much more relaxed one, “I don’t know what it is, but you’ve seemed to have helped my daughter relax and be more outgoing towards others. In fact, she was asking me about possibly seeing you again.”

“Huh…” Keiji folded his arms as he walked back over to the front door. “Never thought I’d hear something like that. Guess she doesn’t hate me after all. Feels hella foreign, but I can dig it.” He looked up at the businesswoman and flashed her a small grin. “Hm. I might be willing to take you up on that.”

“Oh thank you!” the woman squealed as she reached down to pat him on the head. “I knew I could count on--”

Slap.

But Keiji whacked her hand away with his own and gave her an ultimatum. “However, if I’m going to be doing such a thing for you, you’ll have to abide by a request that I have.”

“Oh…and what might that be?”

“Communicate with your husband,” Keiji demanded as he stared her down right in the eyes, “Start talking with him some more in a calm way so you guys can sort your shit. Or go to therapy or something, I dunno.”

Spoiled rolled her eyes then sighed. “...I’m afraid you don’t quite understand what it’s like when adults argue. There’s a lot of…complex emotions that go down on both sides. A simple talk won’t fix everything.”

Oh, little did Spoiled Rich know…

“I’m afraid I do understand, actually,” he replied as cold as the winter’s air, “It’s a painful thing watching your parents fight.”

Despite his words, the older woman continued to downplay his problems. “Even so, you should count yourself lucky. Your parents are no longer around so…”

“That’s the exact reason why they’re not around,” he went on with a sigh, “Or rather, the reason why I’m no longer around them. They could never get their shit together and ultimately, it fell back onto me because I was used as a petty revenge tactic. Is that where you wanna end up? Huh??” His voice became louder as he took a step closer to her.

Which Spoiled reacted to with scorn. “Uch--wh--don’t you raise your voice at me young man. Do you have no respect for those above you?”

“Clearly you don’t have any respect for those below you,” he spat back, glaring into her soul as his eyes narrowed. “Otherwise, you’d be thinking more of your daughter than yourself.”

Now verbally backed into a corner, Spoiled vehemently avoided eye contact with the boy as much as possible. “I…I have somewhere else I need to--”

But Keiji wasn’t going to accept that.

Yoink!

He grabbed her by the middle of her suit, and pulled her down to where she was forced to bend over. “You listen here and listen well, woman.” With his other hand, he lifted his shirt to expose the old scarring and sealed wounds that were on his body. “My parents caused this. Do you wanna put your daughter through something similar or worse even?!”

Spoiled simply stared at the boy’s old wounds in a state of saddened horror--her eyes welling up with tears, though she didn’t let them fall. “...you…how did…?”

“They kept fighting,” Keiji continued, “And they never stopped until my mom decided to throw me under the bus to get back at my dad. Is that what you want? Do you wanna go down that path?”

The older woman was unable to answer. “...”

With a snap of the fabric, Keiji let go of her suit. “The next time you and your husband have a long-winded argument. Think of your daughter. Think of each other. Because I swear, if I see that either of you are gonna start throwing hands…I’m gonna step in and I don’t think you’d want that.”

Somehow, his boldness spoke to her, resonating as Spoiled covered her face with her hand. “You…” Ultimately, she gave up as she couldn’t come up with a response in that moment. “...Fair enough. For Tiara’s sake as well as yours…I’ll work on it.”

“That’s better,” he replied with a nod, “Now start thinking about how you’ll take things in a more positive direction once you get home, alright?”

“...I’ll do my best. No promises, though.”

And with that, she took her leave down the hall and out of the building.

Keiji sighed as he closed the door back and started to massage his forehead with his hand. “...Dammit. Did I lay it on too thick? Was showing her the pain I’ve felt too much?” He started walking back towards the kitchen when…

Tap-tap-tap.

There was yet another knock at the door.

“Hm? Is that her again?” Curious, he walked back over and opened it.

But no, it wasn’t the landlady he knew. Instead, it was…the three girls from school! Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were standing there. Adagio had on her santa dress with a red sack over her shoulder, Aria had on a sleek, gingerbread-pattered brown and pink skirt with matching leggings, and Sonata was dressed in a full-body reindeer suit complete with antlers.

“Merry Christmas, Keiji!”

“...”

Arc XI Episode III: Holiday With The Vamp

The boy stared at them all for a moment, eyeing them up in their…eccentric outfits. “...I…what?”

Sonata stepped forward and squealed, “We’re here to be your si--er, friends for the holidays! If you want, that is.”

“...Friends?” he asked, tilting his head.

“For sure,” Aria stepped forward with a small grin on her face, “We know what it’s like to be a fish out of water when it comes to living in this world. It freaking sucks.”

“Yeah, don’t have to tell me twice,” Keiji replied as he rolled his eyes.

Adagio stepped forward next, and patted him on the head. “But we’d like to give you an experience of having a fam--er, companions with you. And…we have some presents that we’d like to give you. For not only saving our beloved sister, but for generally being a good boy as well.”

A small shiver traveled through his spine when he heard that. The idea of someone calling him ‘good’ was…unexpected to say the least. “...A good boy, huh? You really think I am?”

“Sunset can see the past of anyone she comes in contact with,” Aria spoke up, recalling Sunset’s abilities, “From what we can tell, you’re mostly innocent aside from robbing the local blood banks.” She raised a brow. “But you got a job to donate money back to the hospital for what you took, right?”

“...Oh…” Keiji idly rubbed his index finger upon his cheek. “Y-yeah. I fully intend on correcting my mistakes and donating back to the hospital. You have my word,” he said with a bow.

“Ooh!” Sonata clasped her hands together, then threw her arms around him as soon as he raised up from bowing. “You’re adorable. I could just eat you up, you know that?”

“Mm--hmm?” he was forcefully pressed against her which caused his speech to become muffled, “Erm…okay…that’s enough--please!”

“Easy, Sonata,” Adagio giggled as she entered the apartment and pried her sister off of him. “You were crushing his face. You have to learn where to properly hug people.”

“Oh, my bad…” she put her hands behind her back while blushing from embarrassment, “Are you alright?”

Keiji rubbed his neck. “Yeah…no harm done.”

Aria entered and shut the door behind herself. “Alright. Now…let’s give him our little surprises, girls.” She looked at the boy and asked, “You ready? This is gonna be good.”

Keiji watched as Adagio reached into the red sack she had brought into the room, and sat on the couch. “I’m ready.”

The sirens looked at each other, smiled, and nodded together.

Meanwhile, across the city…

Sunset was in her home, relaxing in bed after all of her christmas festivities when she felt her phone buzz.

ZZZZ!

“Hm?” she picked it up and answered, “Yo.”

“Hey Sunset,” Sci-Twi said over the phone, “How have you been? Everything okay around the city where you are?”

“Yup,” she replied, “How is it at your family’s place?”

There was a pause over the line…

Twilight turned her head and watched as her mother and Cadence were busy in the kitchen and Flurry Heart could be seen gossipping to her cousins about Twilight’s school. Shining and her father were busy setting up the tree’s ornaments.

“It’s…mundanely chaotic as usual,” the purple girl replied, “Anyhow. Did you all communicate with Keiji yet?”

“We have. The sirens are supposed to be throwing him a little Christmas party right about now,” Sunset said with a small grin on her face as she imagined the possibilities of what they could all be doing together. “I bet he’s having a fun time with them all. Wish I could be there too, but I’m…” she yawned and stretched her arms out, “...suuuper tired from spending Hearth’s Warming Eve with Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia.”

“Hard to imagine the fact that my pony counterpart has such a good relationship with the counterpart to our principal,” Twilight pointed out with a snicker, “Hehe! But that’s good. I’m sure they’ll all get to know each other well as fellow Equestrians who are doing their best to adapt to this world. And Applejack has already given him a job too, right? Seems like everything is working out pretty smoothly for once.”

“Yeah…about that,” Sunset changed the subject, “I can’t say for sure, but it seems like we’re dealing with someone who can mess with dreams.”

“Oh yeah…Rainbow Dash texted me about what happened. Reminds me of this old horror movie from a while back. What was it called? Nightmare something…”

“Well this isn’t like the movies,” Sunset interrupted her, “Back in my world, Princess Luna was able to control other people’s dreams and keep them from having nightmares in the first place. But here? Well, she’s not here. It’s completely plausible that whoever’s doing this, knows this and are taking advantage of it.”

“Did you ask Princess Me about that yet?”

“Oh yeah…I’ve been so worried about our vamp-friend that that completely sorta…slipped my mind?” Sunset replied bashfully, “But I’ll get to that tomorrow….promise.”

“Alright. Well as long as you’re sure,” Twilight paused and then-- “Ah! Flurry! What did we say about playing with drones in the house?!” With an annoyed sigh, she gave her parting words to Sunset. “I’ll talk to you later, Sun. I’ve got a little punk of a niece to deal with.”

Sunset chuckled. “I don’t doubt it. See ya.” She hung up the phone, and lied down upon her bed. There was no way she could force herself to send Twilight another message--she had to stop and rest for a moment… “Yeah…tomorrow…”

Back at Keiji’s apartment…

The Sirens were busy helping Keiji set up decorations as well as giving him presents. In particular…

“Open this one, if you don’t mind,” Adagio offered him a neatly wrapped box with snowman-printed wrapping paper. “I made it myself. And…I hope you’ll find it suitable.”

“Suitable?” Keiji tore into the paper, and opened the box to find…a black and red hoodie. “Woah…is this…?”

She nodded. “Yup. I’ve noticed that you’ve been walking around without a jacket. It’s gonna get cold soon so you’ll need a--”

Aria rolled her eyes and interrupted her. “Hmph. What a ‘mom’ gift.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to--”

“It’s not a bad thing, but a boy his age need something cooler, and more dangerous,” Aria reached into the sack and pulled out a much larger package. “Something that’s gonna get all the girls’ attention.”

Adagio stared at her sister with a raised brow, as if she had grown an extra head.

“Here, Kei. This is what you need,” Aria placed the large box in his hands and took a step back, “No need to thank me. I am the best at giving gifts,” she added while placing a hand on her chest, basking in…whatever glory she could accrue.

“Oh, uh…thank you?” Keiji opened it up…

Arc XI Episode IV: Presents!

…A skateboard--with a helmet and pads too of course.

“Woah!” the boy’s face lit up with wonder, “These are the objects that humans use to propel themselves across land! I’ve always liked how these things appeared but could never figure it out for myself. Thanks a lot, Aria.”

Aria crossed her arms with a smug smirk, “That’s right. I knew you’d like it. Aren’t I the best at giving gifts?”

Adagio merely giggled and shook her head, unable to really give a proper response.

So instead, Sonata spoke up next. “Well if you think that’s cool, wait ‘til you see what I got you. It’s something that doesn’t even exist in Equestria. It’s totes the best gift.”

Keiji set the skateboard aside and looked around. “...Where is it?”

“Oh, it’s…downstairs in your garage,” Sonata said with a sly smirk, “Follow me, buddy!”

His attention was completely stolen as he got up to follow her. “...I can’t believe it. Do they actually care about me?” But he still had some reservations as far as trust went. “Hm…better see if this thing is real or not. Could easily be a bribe.”

Aria and Adagio followed from a distance and began to speak to each other. Interestingly, they were already wondering something similar.

“...Hopefully he sees that we want him to be happy,” Adagio whispered to Aria as they walked through the building’s hallway, “Is this coming off too much like bribery, Aria?”

The middle siren sister gave a rather…straightforward answer. “Pfft. Isn’t that what Christmas is basically about? Bribery for your loved-ones so they’ll continue to treat you well throughout the year?”

“B--hm...” Adagio looked down at the floor as she gave it some thought. The thing is, Aria was technically correct on some level. Christmas was a heavily commercialized holiday aimed at people’s materialistic interests. In a way, she had a point. “While that may somewhat be true, our goal here is to help him feel welcome. He’s just like us after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Aria agreed, “If anyone tries to pick on him, I’m gonna beat their asses.”

Adagio giggled. “Settle down. This is a time for happiness and positivity. Not hatred. Now…let’s see what Sonata’s got for him.”

Aria did a double-take, staring at her sister out of confusion, “Wait a sec. You mean you don’t know what she has for him?”

Adagio simply replied with a shrug. “Eh. She said she wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t want to pry so here we are.”

“This just went from exciting to concerning,” Aria commented as they walked downstairs…

And as soon as they arrived to the complex’s garage, Sonata had her hands placed over Keiji’s eyes so that he couldn’t see until she allowed him to. “Alrrrrighty! Ready, KK?” she asked gleefully while leaning over his shoulder.

“As I’ll ever be…” the boy replied with bated breath.

“Here it is!” Sonata lifted her hands…

And in the garage, right in front of him, there was an ATV. It was all red with some streaks of yellow lightning bolts. It was perfectly custom made too--just small enough for use on the road but with tires big enough to sustain off-road affairs.

“I…wh…how did you…” His jaw dropped the moment he looked at it. Keiji was left speechless. The sheer magnitude of such a present was difficult to process. “It’s one of those vehicles used for dirt racing! These don’t exist in Equestria at all!”

“Yup-yup!” Sonata chirped, “That was totes the point of it. I knew you’d be into that kinda stuff based on my research.”

“Well that’s a first,” Aria commented, earning an elbow nudge from Adagio, “Hey--it’s a compliment! I’m actually impressed that she went ahead and did some digging to find the perfect gift.”

Adagio giggled and added her perspective. “I’m impressed too. I’ve always enjoyed watching those gladiator-esque performances on television. Instead of chimeras, they fight on the back of mechanical beasts with massive tires not unlike those. It’s quite fun to watch. But…” she gave Sonata a concerned glare, “Are you sure that’s…safe, Sonata?”

“Pfft! ‘Is it safe’?” Sonata scoffed as she turned around while twirling the keys to the vehicle on her finger. “Of course it is. I’m gonna teach him how to ride it, obvs. With the help of some of my friends.”

“Wait a sec,” Aria butted in, “Since when do you know how to ride an ATV?”

“Practice,” Sonata said with a smug expression, “Lots and lots of practice. But that’s besides the point,” she looked over at the green boy and asked, “Sooo…whatcha think?”

Keiji walked up to Sonata and hugged her. “...I appreciate it. It’s something I never would’ve expected in a million years and I’m hella grateful.” He pulled back and looked up at her. “I’m more than willing to learn how to ride it by the way….” But he turned and looked down at the floor with a saddened frown. “But…it’s weird. After all of this, I kinda feel bad that I don’t have anything for you all.”

“Oh don’t worry yourself about that,” Adagio walked up and gave him a gentle pat on the head, “We just wanted to see you happy. As fellow Equestrians, we need to stick together. Right, girls?”

“Mm-hm! Totes!” Sonata quipped.

“Damn right,” Aria replied while flexing her arm, “If anyone gives you a hard time, just call on one of your big sisters. We’ll smoke the shit out of ‘em.”

“Sisters…” Keiji looked up at them as he mumbled the word. Could they really be worthwhile examples of the sisters he never had growing up? Only time could truly tell, but for the moment it felt as if he was actually cared for…loved, even. “I’ll think about it. For now, I wanna thank you all for what you’ve done.” That’s when he suddenly had an idea. “Oh. I got it. Why don’t you three come back upstairs? I’m making some special food to bring back to school once winter break is over.”

Adagio replied, “Well, if you’re offering--”

And was immediately cut off by Aria. “Aw, hell yeah. I’m starving. Whatcha got, big man?”

“Well it’s…fried chicken--homemade.”

As soon as he said that, there was a Sonata-shaped cloud of dust left behind where she once stood.

“...Well someone’s excited,” Adagio commented with a giggle.

Arc XII Episode I: Sourness

Meanwhile, with Aria…

Soon enough, she arrived at Sugarcoat’s house. The blue girl in question was already walking out of her front door wearing a pair of jeans and a black hoodie. “Sup,” she said plainly as she walked onto the sidewalk next to Aria. “You’re quite well-dressed.”

Aira looked down at her gingerbread dress and gave a witty smile in response. “Yeah. Thanks. I break this out whenever my sisters and I are doing charity work or something for a friend. In fact, that’s what I just got done doing. Spent a few hours with the new guy from our school.”

“Sounds like it was quite the time.” Sugarcoat also managed to catch the scent of fried chicken that was still freshly upon her. “Hm. Homemade battered and deep-fried poultry. You all must’ve eaten well.”

“...Woah,” Aria recoiled with wide eyes, “You could tell what I’ve been eating? Is it that obvious?”

Sugarcoat merely shrugged and replied, “The scent is strong. Take it however you please.”

“First of all, creepy,” she stood upright and continued walking, “Second off, you’re right. Keiji made it for us. And apparently he’s making it for the whole school. I’m sure he’d let you have some if you asked.”

“How nice of him,” she adjusted her glasses and changed the subject. “Anyhow, we’re almost there. Allow me to fill you in on the details of Sour Sweet’s affliction.”

Aria snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Now what exactly is she dealing with here?”

“This may be a bit difficult to explain, so I’ll get right to it,” Sugarcoat looked Aria dead in the eyes and said, “Sour Sweet is bipolar.”

This left the siren frozen in silence for a moment--she had no clue how to respond to something so…direct. “...Uh…”

“...Oops,” Sugarcoat frowned, “I suppose I should back it up a little. Sour Sweet has a bad habit of being overly nice and revolving between that and passive-aggressive statements--sometimes, they’re not even passive. Just aggressive.”

“Oh…” Aria started to understand a bit more. “I see now…she has a hard time expressing herself, right?”

Sugar stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and went on. “Well, there’s more to it than that. But that’s the gist of it, yes. Anyhow, the reason I brought it up is because you don’t know her very well. I want you to be prepared for any of her sudden…outbursts.”

“Ah…no problem,” Aria said with a nod, “I’m used to mean comments. Although, I bet this has something to do with the dreams she’s been having, huh?”

“Precisely, good guess,” Sugarcoat replied, “According to what she told me, her aggression is being used against her in these dreams. That’s why I wanted your help. You have more experience with the emotions of aggression than your sisters.”

“...” Aria raised a brow and asked, “Is that a genuine compliment or a backhanded one?”

“A compliment in this case. I came to you for a reason.”

At long last, they would arrive at Sour Sweet’s single-story home near the middle of the city and down one of the side streets.

“Here we are,” Sugarcoat stepped through the gate that led into the yard over a red cobblestone path through well-kept green grass. “Everything seems fine on the surface, but I have a sneaking suspicion something’s up with her.”

“Wait, she’s one of your closest friends and she hasn’t told you anything?” Aria asked with a disheartened frown. “Ouch…I wonder what she’s going through?”

“That’s what we’re about to find out,” Sugar replied as she walked up to the door and knocked…

“Little girl!” From inside, they heard a woman’s voice shout. “Answer the door!”

“Okay dammit, I’m going!” a young woman’s voice shouted back. More specifically? Sour Sweet herself. She was wearing a cyan tank top alongside a pair of black yoga pants. She flung the door open and practically barked at them. “The hell do you--?!” But once she realized who was there, she calmed down, “Oh. It’s you, Sugarcoat!” In fact, her tune changed on a dime--a complete ‘180’ so to speak. “How are you? Oh and you brought a friend? It’s nice to meet you!” she greeted Aria.

“...Yikes…” Aria bit her bottom lip as she thought through the implications to herself. “Zeus-be-damned. That was…unexpected.”

Sugarcoat shot Aria a subtle, knowing glare--silently letting her know that this was essentially the problem in a nutshell. Then, she turned her attention to her friend. “Hey. I got your message and decided to ask Aria for help. You said you had a really bad dream right?”

“Yes,” Sour responded right away, “It was so goddamn--I couldn’t even sleep from the shit that I--” But she quickly stopped herself and cleared her throat, lowering her voice. “Ahem…I mean…it’s just, it was really scary, so I didn’t know who else to turn to. Do you think you guys could help me?”

From nearby, the loud, female voice would shout again. “Who’s at the door?! Answer me, Sour!”

Sour turned and shouted back, “Just a friend, Aunt Squirty! Don’t embarrass me right now!”

“Don’t talk back to me like that!” the woman shouted again, “Treat me with respect, ya hear? Don’t make me get the cable!”

Sour Sweet’s eye twitched as she muttered under her breath. “Y-yes ma’am…yes…ma’am…”

Aria took a look at Sugarcoat--the blue girl’s expression remained neutral. Instead of continuing small talk there, she decided to take things elsewhere.

“Okaaaaaay, why don’t we take this somewhere else?” Aria suggested, “It’ll help you clear you’re mind if you’re able to think for yourself.”

“That sounds great!” Sour said with a smile, but then it quickly faded and turned into a frown, “...if I don’t get spammed to shit with loads of phone calls by a certain someone.”

Aria and Sugarcoat exchanged another glance with each other. This was going to be far more difficult than it sounded…

Arc XII Episode II: Sugary

So the girls took a walk around the neighborhood--away from Sour Sweet’s…interesting little abode where they could speak and think with clear heads as Sour began to explain the nature of her nighttime terrors.

“Alright, so,” she went on with the explanation, “To make a long story painfully short, I’m having these dreams where this weird…demon-looking thing is harassing the hell out of me, trying to get me to accept its power or something.”

Aria tilted her head and replied, “Wait…accept its…’power’? What kinda demon is that?”

“Sounds to me like something has invaded your mind,” Sugarcoat mused as she looked at Aria, “Do you think it could be Equestrian magic?”

“Hm…well it’s not impossible,” Aria replied, “Luna was the one who managed dreams back there, but since she’s not here, it’s likely that something from somewhere has spilled out into this world and caused some shit like that to happen. Not to mention, Sour here isn’t the first case. Though, she is the first case from somebody that’s not from our school…”

“Y-you mean it’s spreading??” Sour asked, her voice breaking under desperation, “T-that’s not good! I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’m dealing with…”

Sugarcoat put a hand on her shoulder, and a rare, compassionate smile appeared on her face. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re my friend after all.”

Sour noted the oddity of her friend’s sympathetic approach and acknowledged it aloud. “I…that’s unexpected of you. Thanks, Shuggs.”

“No problem. Now…what can you remember?” she asked, “Do you know what this monster looked like?”

“Yeah it’d help if I knew what I was looking for,” Aria commented, “There’s loads of Equestrian monsters that try to corrupt those who accept their power so I’m at a loss right now myself.”

Sour did her best to recollect her dream from the previous night. “Okay…let me think…” After a minute of racking her brain, it started to come back to her. “Ah. Alright. I think it was this…weird-looking elephant thing. It was trying to offer me its power for…some reason.”

“Hm…” Aria mumbled. The siren already had a hunch as to what it could be, but needed more evidence to assist her theory. “I see. And what do you think it was offering you power for?”

“...Maybe something to do with a certain someone you’re not happy with?” Sugarcoat suggested in a knowing fashion.

“...Oh…” Sour rubbed her neck. It was fairly obvious once she gave it some thought. “...My aunt. Maybe. I dunno. I just feel so…powerless when she talks to me.”

Since Aria wasn’t too familiar with the human customs of family, she was curious. “Why is that? Aren’t you close to being an independent young lady? What power does she have over you?”

“It’s…complicated,” Sour replied curtly, then muttered under her breath, “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to butt in so much…”

Sugarcoat cleared her throat. “Ahem. We’re trying to help you out here. And if you can’t explain everything to us, that’s fine, but we need more information, Sour.”

The yellow girl’s eyes opened wide--it happened once again. “...Did I say that out loud?”

Both the siren and Sour’s friend nodded in unison.

“Ugh…” Sour placed a hand on her forehead, “I’m sorry. I just…sometimes those thoughts slip out when I don’t mean for them to. Anyway, to answer your question…” She let out a sigh and continued, “That’s my aunt--Pulp Squirt. She’s been the one taking care of me ever since my parents…were no longer able to. So I kind of…never bothered saying anything to her. I figured I owed her, you know?”

Aria didn’t mince words as she spoke her mind. “That doesn’t give her the right to be a total jackass to you for no reason. What kinda stick up her ass does she have to wanna treat you that way in the first place?”

“No idea…” Sour answered while breaking eye contact, “But whatever the case, I think it may have to do with my dream.”

Aria snapped her fingers. “That’s it. The elephant demon must be trying to appeal to you on a personal level so it can take over. But where could it have come from…Luna’s magic doesn’t reach this far…”

“Regardless of where it came from,” Sugarcoat interjected, “We need to help you deal with this problem head-on.” She then looked at Aria. “I saw this movie once where the characters all managed to get into the same singular dream simply by dreaming about each other. Do you think it’s possible for that to happen here?”

“I don’t see why not,” Aria replied, and looked at Sour, “Would you want us to jump inside your head tonight and see what we can find? It’s all up to you, of course.”

There wasn’t much they could do at the moment, so Sour Sweet had no choice but to agree. If there was truly a way they could help, she was more than willing to accept it.

“...Okay. I’d appreciate it,” she replied with a nervous twitch of her eyelid, “But for now, I have to get back home. My aunt’s probably wondering where I am right about now…” And with that, she skittishly turned and walked off, back towards her home…

Sugarcoat sighed. “Bleck…it’s a crying shame. But I suppose there’s not much we’ll be able to do until tonight, right?”

“I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone else who’s been afflicted with this has gone through some similar crap,” Aria explained as she watched Sour walk away. “It’s like their inner hatred is being turned against them or something.”

“...’Hatred being turned against them,’” Sugar repeated, then scoffed, “Hmph. It’s like something out of a psychological horror novel. I can only imagine what the others are enduring. But one thing at a time I suppose.” She looked at Aria and asked, “See you tonight then?”

“That’s the plan,” Aria replied, “See ya then.”

And with their plan in motion, the girls went off to their respective homes…

Arc XII Episode III: Sweet Dreams

Later that night. At the Siren’s home…

Adagio was busy drying her hair off with a blow dryer in the bathroom and speaking to one of her sisters. “You should’ve seen all of the adorable little things he made.”

“Like, really?” It was Sonata--she was busy combing her hair in the mirror nearby. “I thought knitting was for old people--mainly grannies.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Adagio said as she turned the dryer off, “Humans have such an inconsistent culture that’s so…varied. It’s crazy when you can see how a fellow Equestrian interacts with it.”

“I know, right? Hey, did you make anything once he showed you?” Sonata asked with gleeful stars of excitement in her eyes, “If so, lemme see! Lemme see!”

Adagio looked away with a slightly bashful smile on her face. “Well…it’s nothing spectacular or anything. But I’ll show you.” Once she finished, she left the bathroom and retrieved the tiny crocheted trinket: A small penguin. “...Here it is.”

“Ooh! It’s so cute!” Sonata squealed as she exited the bathroom to get a better look at it. It was the iconic small, knit arctic bird--though the beak was somewhat lop-sided. This didn’t stop the youngest siren from adoring it. “And he taught you how to make this in a day? That’s amazing!”

“Well…” the yellow girl’s cheeks were tinted in a rosy blush as she shyly put the penguin away, “He’s the real expert. Not me. Apparently, he used to use items such as these for his magical blood experiments back in Equestria. One of the many things he was banished here…”

Sonata’s excitable expression melted away into a frown. “Oh yeah, that’s right…how is he doing, by the way?”

Adagio put a hand on her sister’s shoulder and offered an encouraging smile. “I think he’s doing just fine. He’s really happy after receiving all of those gifts we had for him. Though, I was surprised to see that you managed to purchase him an all-terrain vehicle of all things.”

And just like that, Sonata’s cheerful expression returned. “Oh! Well, that was thanks to Pinkie getting me a higher position at the restaurant. Business has been booming ever since that day we dealt with that icky spider monster.”

“Shit--you’re lucky,” Aria commented from her bedroom nearby, “Sour Sweet is dealing with this dream monster. I’m not exactly sure how we’re gonna handle it, but if either of you see me spaz out in my sleep, do me a favor and wake me up.”

Adagio leaned into Aria’s bedroom and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want us to join you within this little dream sequence of yours? We might be able to help.”

“Nah--well, not yet anyway,” Aria replied as she hastily drew something in a notebook. “That’s why I said only if you hear me have an issue in my sleep. Sour knows I’m coming but not you guys. I wanna keep this situation as stable as possible.”

“Alright, if you’re sure…” Adagio replied, putting a hand on Sonata’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get some rest, okay?”

Sonata huffed, agreeingly reluctantly as she left her sister’s room.

Once everyone was in their pajamas and resting down for the night, the sirens all fell asleep in their respective rooms. Aria in particular made sure to drink some warm milk to help herself fall asleep faster than normal.

And soon enough…

In her dreams…

The violet siren found herself floating in an infinite expanse of darkness. “What the--?! Shit, I need to start thinking about those two…” She rubbed her temples, and focused hard. Soon enough, the entire space-like backdrop would be replaced by…

An entire landscape filled with sweets and gelatin desserts?

“What the…” Aria muttered as her feet touched down upon the soft, cotton candy floors of the dreamscape. She looked down and realized she was still in her skull-patterened pajamas. “Wait a sec. Am I in Pinkie’s dream? I could’ve sworn I was thinking about Sour--”

“Nope, you’re in the right place,” Sugarcoat commented as she levitated down until her feet made contact with the ground as well. Like Aria, she was also dressed in her pajamas--a frilly, tutu-esque nightgown to be precise. “I can hear Sour Sweet’s voice coming from those gumdrop hills nearby.”

Aria looked over and sure enough--a path of peppermint would lead up a hill towards two massive gumdrops that were sitting right next to each other. “Hm…” she fell silent so she could listen in more closely. Sure enough, she could hear what sounded like ravenous chewing and haggard breaths. “Well then…I think we’ve found our mark.”

“Yup,” Sugarcoat added, “Let’s get going.”

The girls followed the path of candy. Sugarcoat’s facial expression was as neutral as always, but Aria couldn’t help but look around in awe. “Damn…is this what you humans tend to dream about on a daily basis?”

“Not usually,” Sugarcoat replied frankly, “My dreams are usually more centered around performative arts than edible goods.”

“Huh. I wonder…” While Aria was curious as to what that meant, there was no time to play a game of twenty questions. They eventually both made it to the top of the hill where the chewing noises had become even louder.

“Grrrh! Mmm-hmhmhm!!”

“Uh…” Aria took a tentative step forward, “Hello? Sour, is that you--?”

“HHHH!” her face popped out from behind a bush of cotton candy, “Mine…my precious--! Oh…” Thankfully, she calmed down as soon as she realized who it was. “It’s you two. Thanks for coming.”

“We’re your friends,” Sugar replied, “We’re not just gonna leave you in the lurch when we know you need our help. Now what exactly are we waiting for? The elephant demon, right?”

“That’s right,” Sour said as she stood up. Her full body could now be seen as she was wearing candy cane-patterned pajamas. “It should be appearing right about…”

SHOOM!

Suddenly, the candyland disappeared, leaving the girls floating in space again. That is, until…

THUD!

With a loud slam, the three of them landed upon what appeared to be the peak of a red mountain in the middle of a desert.

“Ow! Goddammit…this is not how it works in movies,” Aria complained as she rose to her feet and massaged her butt from the slight pain of landing upon it out of nowhere.

Sugar was doing the same, but as always, her expression remained neutral…until the ‘sun’ in Sour’s dream was blocked out by a shadow that grew until it loomed over them all. “...Oh shit.” Her pupils shrank, her jaw dropped, and she stood motionless for a second as her heart pounded faster and faster. “...It’s here.”

Arc XII Episode IV: Peerless Pachyderm

“The hell--oh, good god.” Aria groaned as she looked up--her tune quickly changed as soon as she realized what it was. “That’s…I’ve seen these before in Equestria near the South Neighsian Oceans, but…”

Standing above them was a tall, elephant-like humanoid with red skin, a massive belly, and holding a scimitar in each hand. Its tusks were long and sharp like knives and its trunk was longer than a person’s legs!

“Take my power,” it said, its voice ghostly and reverberating around the open air, “Fight back against those who wrong you.”

“Errgh!” Sour was on her knees, clutching the sides of her head with her hands, “I can’t…I can’t hurt her…I won’t!”

“And yet you continue to suffer under her roof,” the elephant demon continued, “You lack the will to find independence within yourself. You willingly choose to suffer in silence rather than fight back. Is that the life you wish to have? A life that isn’t your own?”

Sour Sweet fell silent. The tusked mammoth of a demon had a point. “I…suppose. But even so, how do I know you mean what you say?!”

The elephant creature continued, “...I know everything you’ve suffered through. Every punishment, every argument, every slap to the face…”

“Hey!” Aria cut her way into the conversation, “Nobody asked you to come snooping into somebody else’s mind, Trunky!”

“...Is that another voice I hear?” the beast spoke with a patronizing tone and shook its head, “No. It was probably nothing.”

Needless to say, Aria didn’t take this very well.

“Uch--you--excuse me?!” she yelled while taking a step forward, “I’m not gonna be ignored by some peanut-eating circus-freak!”

Ever the valiant one, Sugarcoat would bring logic into the situation. “It’s probable that it isn’t acknowledging us because it can’t. Or maybe…Sour doesn’t want us to.”

“Wait a sec,” Aria turned her head to Sugar, “How would she--oh right…this is her dream after all.” Then, from the corner of her eye, she watched as the yellow girl stood up and began walking towards the pachyderm. “Wait, what are you doing--?!”

“You didn’t hear anything,” Sour said casually to brush her friends off. All of her attention was now focused entirely upon the elephant in the room. “Now…what was it you said about seeing and hearing everything? Including the…slaps?”

“Indeed,” said the tusked monster, “You’ve dreamt painfully, restlessly. Unable to sleep soundly due to the abuse you’ve suffered. But no longer. You have the chance to fight back. Teach her that you will not stand for this. Then she will finally understand how you have felt. There is no other way…”

‘No other way.’ Sour was completely captivated by those words. If there really was no other option, then she had no choice. “I…I don’t want her to have control over me anymore.”

Seeking more depth to her reasoning, the demon asked, “And why is that?”

“She…she hates me!” Sour went on, raising her voice, “Ever since my Grandma Citrus left her fortune to me, she’s always despised me.” Tears started to roll down the sides of her face as she clenched her teeth. “It’s like I don’t even matter anymore. I try to put on a happy face and smile through it all but…it’s just so hard! I can’t do this anymore! It’s not who I am!”

“Then will you sit there and cry like the child you are?” the elephant boomed as it approached her, and from its trunk, it revealed a small dagger. “Or will you finally carve out your own path? And take back what that woman has stolen from you?”

Sour reached her hand out, and…

“Enough!” At last, Sugarcoat tried to intervene with a shout. “You don’t even know her. Don’t try and insert yourself into her life. She needs her friends and a proper family. Not some weird monster telling her what she--”

“Sugarcoat, Please…” Sour pleaded, “I need this. Aunt Squirty, she…she beats me!” she squealed as her voice began to break.

Sugarcoat paused, looking back at her. “Wait…she does?”

“Yes…she still spanks me over her knee like we’re in the goddamn 1700s!” Her voice slowly warped from a state of sadness to manic hatred. “Even for the littlest things she does something crazy like make me kneel on frozen peas for hours!”

“...She…she does all of that?” Sugarcoat muttered--almost in disbelief at what she was hearing. How could someone be so cruel to their own relatives? It gave her a new perspective as she started to think about what Sour’s life was like. “I…I suppose I can’t blame you. B-but listen. Killing her won’t solve anything.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Sour replied in her usually chipper tone, “I’m not gonna kill her…” But then, her tone changed--growing deeper as she reached around her friend to accept the dagger. “I’m gonna make her suffer just as much as she’s made me suffer!”

“Listen, kid!” Aria jumped in, “You don’t have to--!”

“Shut up!” Sour shouted, “My mind’s made up. Leave me alone and don’t either of you dare come back to my house!” She stood up, and pointed the small knife at them with her body starting to glow a shade of bright pink. “Now get out of my dream!”

Aria stood in front of Sugarcoat just before…

“Look out, kid!”

BLAM!

A magical explosion knocked the two of them out of her dream and back into their homes--waking them both up.

Aria in particular shot up from her bed, hyperventilating with cold sweat all over her body. “Agh! Huhh….hghgh…bleggh…” She looked around and realized that it was 6AM--the sun hadn’t even rose yet. “Okay…okay, we still have some time. Gotta stop her before she causes a big accident…”

Arc XII Episode VI: Waking Nightmare

“What--what’s up?” Tiara asked as she brought out her pocket mirror, “Is there something on my face?”

“Nah,” he pushed the mirror closed, and scoffed, “I just didn’t expect you to approach me in public. Won’t that ruin your perfect image?”

The pink girl scoffed and flipped her hair as she put her mirror away. “Ah--pfft. I could buy and sell the house of anyone in this itty-bitty city. That aside, I wanted to come thank you personally.”

Keiji raised a brow while folding his arms. “Tch. Thank me? What for?”

“The talk you had with my mom,” she went on, “She’s been talking more with dad lately and things have been getting better…for now. I haven’t heard any fighting in the last few days.”

“Good,” he gave a simple reply while leaning against his locker, “The last thing parents should wanna do is fight.”

Tiara took a step towards him and whispered. “...How much?”

“Eh?”

“...Do I owe you?” she asked with a pained look in her eyes, “You went through the trouble of helping us out, so I feel like I should do something for you in return. Isn’t that how it works?”

As a product of the nobility himself, Keiji was somewhat familiar with the utilization of money as a bargaining tactic. But given his personal connection with this girl, he refused her offer. “Nah. I don’t need your money. Your mom pays me enough as it is. And I didn’t really do much anyway--it was up to her whether or not she was willing to change.”

“I suppose you have a point, but--”

“Relaaax, we’re friends right?” he said with a small grin on his face, “We should do things for each other without expecting any ridiculously large payouts. My parents were experts at that crap and were so fake when it came to thanking ponies--er, people?”

“They were?” Tiara asked, “They sound a lot like mine…”

“Oh yeah, trust me, there are a lot of things our parents had in common…” To spare her the grisly details, Keiji didn’t exactly wish to divulge that information just yet. “But that’s for another time. Anyhow. I have a surprise for everyone once we get to class. I managed to change lunchtime around and get all the teachers on board as well.”

With the change of subject, Tiara followed with an enthused set of sparkling eyes. “Wait…you got the lunch schedule changed around? How did you manage to do that?”

“Bribing the principals with the same thing I’m getting for everyone else,” the vampboy snickered as he shut his locker and walked through the hall with his backpack slung over one shoulder. “You’re gonna love it, trust me.”

“Very few people in this school have my full trust,” Tiara commented with a raise of her brow, which then turned into an intrigued smile, “Can’t wait to see what you have planned.”

Meanwhile, as they continued walking, someone had been following them at a distance…

“...Why is she hanging out with someone like him? What’s their deal?” Silver Spoon grit her teeth as she watched her best friend walk off with a boy she--Silver Spoon--barely knew. “Is that the guy she mentioned when I came back? He doesn’t look like much…what’s his plan?”

Naturally, she didn’t trust him. Even less so once she got a good look at him. The bad posture, sharp teeth, and laid-back demeanor spelled out ‘delinquent’ clear as day to the uninitiated. That being Silver Spoon in this case.

“If you dare to try anything with her, I swear…”

At Crystal Prep…

Sugarcoat made her way to school and spent the morning before first period searching for her friend. “Don’t worry. I’ll save you, Sour. You’re hurt…I can feel it. Now where are you…”

Through the halls, she passed by one of her friends--a certain pink-skinned, green-haired girl with a pair of headphones that she was busy bobbing her head to.

“Lemon Zest--you got a minute?”

“Whaaaat?” the girl asked, unable to hear properly due to how loud the music was.

Sugarcoat removed the headphones, causing her friend’s headbanging to stop. “Have you seen Sour anywhere? I have a feeling something bad is about to happen.”

“Nope, but whatcha mean by that?” Lemon asked, “You mean ‘bad’ as in ‘awesome’ bad or ‘bad as in…”

“Bad as in terrible,” Sugar replied as she gave Lemon her headphones back, “I can’t explain everything, but I have a feeling she’s gonna do something really dangerous.”

Lemon turned her music off and put her headphones in her locker. “Ya know…if somethin’s real bad, then don’t hesitate to lemme know, yo.”

“Thanks, but I think I can handle this,” Sugarcoat denied her friend’s assistance and began to walk away, “Just text me if you find her.”

As Sugarcoat left, Lemon Zest was left disturbed--she folded her arms and stared coldly at her friend. “Hrm…yeah, this isn’t gonna end well. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know how this goes.”

Unbeknownst to her, Zest’s prediction had merit…

Sugarcoat hurried up a flight of steps to the next floor of the school. That’s when she came into contact with a few familiar faces. A group of students standing near one of the water fountains and talking to each other. Among them?

Upper Crust, Fleur-De-Lis, and Suri Polomare. Three girls who usually hung out here before going to class.

“You…” Sugarcoat confronted them with a cold glare, “You all need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

Upper Crust replied with a scoff, “Uch. And miss nacho day? Like--yeah, no.”

“And I can’t afford to miss another day, mmkay?” Suri replied in between blowing a bubblegum bubble and chewing.

“Just what’s your deal anyway?” Fleur retorted, “You wanna hog all the glory for yourself in science class, hm?”

Sugarcoat’s expression remained the same as she went on. “No. I know you’ve been saying mean things to Sour. You don’t have much time left before she finds you and--”

“Oh. Her,” Suri cut her off, “It’s not our fault that she’s such a flippity-floppity weirdo.”

“Yeah,” Upper Crust added, “The other day she tried to congratulate me on my cheerleading routine, only to mutter how much better she was under her breath. Crazy twat…”

“Not to mention she freaks out whenever I’m her lab partner,” Fleur continued, “I ask her a basic question and then she decides to snap at me, but when the teacher shows up, she’s all smiles and giggles.” She folded her arms and grumbled, puffing out her cheeks, “Tellement méchant!”

So that was it. They weren’t exactly ‘bullying’ her. Rather, they were annoyed by Sour’s unique…condition that was a result of her abuse. The inability to control her emotions around others had sparked rumors which only made things worse for her around the school.

And Sugarcoat had it all figured out. “I see now…you all just…have naturally curious responses and engage in idle gossip. While it’s not perfect, it’s better than what I thought. But listen--you need to--”

SKRRRT!

It was too late. At the other end of the hall, Sour Sweet made her appearance and called out to the girls, catching their attention instantly. “Aha! Found you! No escape now!”

Arc XII Episode VII: Daydream Pain

Sugarcoat stepped in front of them all--the trio of girls began to cower in fear as a result. “Listen, Sour. They just don’t comprehend what’s going on with you in your head. They’re not trying to hurt you intentionally.”

“W-we’re sorry we thought you were weird!” Upper Crust shouted, “None of us understand you!”

Suri spoke up next, “W-we just…have a hard time, uh…”

“You send mixed messages, okay?” Fleur came out with it, “We don’t know how to approach you and it’s getting to our nerves. But…we don’t hate you personally.”

“That’s right,” Sugarcoat added, “It’s just a small misunderstanding. I’m sure that--”

But Sour refused to comply--shouting at them like they were animals. “No! I don’t wanna hear it! Between them and my dumbass aunt, I’m sick and tired of dealing with this crap. You’re only sorry now because you know that you’re about to get your asses kicked!” Her eyes started to glow a shade of pink as a devious smile appeared on her face. “But that’s okay…as soon as she arrives here to start her usual librarian duties, it’s on!”

The girls tried to make a run for it…only to be stopped by a magical force field that prevented them from accessing the stairs.

BLAM!

“Merde!” Fluer cried out after slamming into the invisible wall, “We can go anywhere! We’re stuck here!”

“...Sour…don’t make me hurt you, please,” Sugarcoat tried to reason with her, her voice becoming softer, “You’re my friend and I don’t wanna see you upset…”

“Oh please!” Sour shouted back, “You’re always over there and off to the side with your ‘cool girl’ shtick like you’re out to impress someone. It’s amazing how little you care about anything!”

“I didn’t ask to be this way,” Sugarcoat raised her voice as much as possible, though it came off as a slightly disgruntled statement rather than a yell, “We all have our own problems. But we can only solve them if we’re open and honest with each other.”

Unfortunately for her, Sour was all-too quick to point out her friend’s inconsistent logic. “Oh! Like how you refused to tell Aria about what she’s going through?!” But as she went on, her voice changed from sounding human to something more…demonic as it switched perspectives. “What was the point of you inviting her over if you weren’t going to work towards solving the problem?!”

Sugarcoat bit her lip as she tried to think up an answer. “I…” But then, she noted just how different her friend started to sound and questioned it. “...Hold on. How did you know about that? You’re not omnipotent…unless…you can read minds?”

An explanation would have to come later. Sour Sweet had suddenly taken control of her own body again with her voice now in possession. “Ugh! Get out of the way, Sugarcoat! I don’t want to hurt you! It’s those three that need to be taught a lesson.”

“No,” Sugarcoat replied firmly as she stood in front of the quivering girls, “I won’t let you hurt them. They haven’t done anything to you. All you need to do is talk it out and then they’ll understand. I promise.”

“...Are you sure?” Sour asked, lowering her voice to that of a whisper.

“I’m sure,” Sugar replied with a relieved sigh, “You don’t have to listen to that power-hungry not-so-wooly mammoth. You’re your own person.” In a bid to release her friend from mind control, she reached out her open hand, hoping she’d take it. “Come on. I’ll set you free from this. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“I…you’re right…” Sour replied as she walked towards her. Sadly, the thoughts swimming around in her head betrayed the words she had spoken. “....Or is she? Who’s to say they won’t just go back to doing what they’ve already done once this is over?”

“You can’t go back now. The damage has already been done. They fear you. Make them understand how you’ve felt all these years. And then, do the same to your aunt.”

“...”

Eventually, Sour Sweet had gotten close enough to Sugarcoat to reach for her hand. Then…she gently grasped it with her own.

“There…how do you feel?” Sugarcoat asked.

“I feel…” Sour tilted her head down…

And a red aura surrounded her body.

“I feel…alive.”

CRASH!

Before Sugarcoat could react, she was flung back-first into the lockers to Sour’s right, leaving a massive, body-shaped dent from the impact.

“AAAAHHH!”

Fleur, Upper Crust, and Suri screamed in horror at what they saw, and started to babble a series of overlapping apologies.

“W-we’re sorry!”

“We won't do it again!”

“Don’t hurt me, please!”

Arc XII Episode VIII: Equestrian Assembly

Meanwhile, at Canterlot High…

In the middle of her science class, Twilight’s tablet device started to go off from within her backpack with a light buzzing noise. “Hm?” She pulled it out and placed it on her desk. Once there, she tapped upon it, and expanded the map of the city, only to come to the realization…

“Oh no…”

A big red dot with a pentagram was shining brightly upon her old school. But not only that, there were more of them blinking all over the coastline.

“Looks like we’ll have to split up again…the attacks are becoming more and more frequent. There’s no time…” She quickly scribbled down a note on a piece of paper to inform her teacher of where she was about to go, and quickly left the classroom.

Once outside, she sent a text message to all of her friends:

‘Everyone. Meet me in the hallway. We’re under attack by a pachydemon.’

Meanwhile, in the sophomore’s English classroom…

Keiji was busy taking notes in one of his notebooks, but from the corner of his eye, he could feel someone else’s eyes boring holes into the side of his head from how intense they were staring. “...?” He raised a brow, and turned his head slightly right…

Only to find that his suspicions were correct. It had been Silver Spoon glaring at him with narrowed eyes from her seat. She then made the classic, ‘I’m watching you’ gesture by pointing two fingers at her eyes, and then at him.

The puzzled look on his face said it all. The boy was utterly confused by this and didn’t know how to respond. But before he could…

Their teacher, Mrs. Cheerilee spoke up to everyone as she pushed a TV monitor on wheels into the room.

“Class? We have an interesting development going on outside that I think you all should take a look at.” She turned it on, and quickly changed it to the news where a reporter named Sunburst was performing a broadcast…in front of Crystal Prep.

“I’m standing here in front of Crystal Prep Academy where chaos seems to be unfolding right in front of me!” he said, as students started to run out of the school en masse, screaming at the top of their lungs about some sort of elephant monster. “Apparently some of the students reported seeing some sort of strange, supernatural being that took control of one of their peers and is currently causing destruction--”

BLAM!

An explosion was heard that blew out all of the windows, sending hundreds of shards of glass as far as the street corner! The loud noise followed by the dangerous projectiles even caused Sunburst to panic.

“Agh! Cut to commercial--cut to commercial!!”

“What the…?”

“Woah…”

“How…?”

The students in the classroom all began to mutter and discuss the situation among themselves. But then…

With a loud slam!, the door to the classroom was forcibly pushed open. By who? Sunset.

“Keiji! We need your help!” she then looked at his teacher and asked, “Mrs. Cheerilee, mind if I borrow him for a bit?”

“Him?” Cheerilee looked at the boy with the overbite with a confused expression on her face.

Keiji had his arms folded and his eyes shut, as if he was stuck in a state of deep thought for a moment.

A few of the students started to mutter in awe when Sunset requested his help.

“If anyone can do it, he can!” Rumble shouted.

Diamond Tiara would then voice her opinion next. “Totally. He’s unbeatable--I know, I saw him kill a giant grody spider-thingy,” she said while haughtily flipping her hair, “You know you can trust my word, everyone.”

“Hmph,” Silver Spoon scoffed at the idea of Keiji being a hero. “Yeah right. Probably trying to seduce you all.” But her negativity was drowned out by other voices.

Mainly Cheerilee’s recollection of the events she witnessed on the news sometime ago. “Oh. That was you? By all means, if you’re capable, please do what you can, Keiji.”

Keiji shrugged and got up from his seat. “Got nothing better to do anyway. This class was boring the heck out of me.”

“Really?” Cheerilee questioned him, “I thought the poem you wrote on cherry blossoms was rather moving.”

His cheeks turned rosy and he forced a cough. “...You know what, I’m gonna go now,” the boy hurried up and walked out of the room, much to the support of the others.

“Go get ‘em vamp-champ!” Applebloom called out.

“You got this, bro!” Rumble added.

“If they hurt you, I’ll sue their pants off!” Tiara cheered.

Sunset looked at him with a smug expression as they left. “Admit it. You like the emotional backing, don’t you?”

“Shut it, wench--” he hissed at her as they jogged through the halls, “Now what the hell are we doing?”

“You saw what was on the news, right? We need to hurry up and get over to Crystal Prep as fast as possible. Applejack is leading the others to the coast to fight some sort of tiger creature that’s appeared near the beach.”

“Yeah. Good thing I’m not headed that way,” Keiji thought to himself. The beach was easily one of his least favorite locations so he was grateful not to go there. “So I assume you want my help to deal with the shit happening at the Preppie School.”

Sunset slid to a stop on her heels in front of a certain math classroom and peeked inside. “Right--but, we’re gonna need some more help. Help from Native Equestrians like you and me. According to Twilight's notes, this thing is so powerful that only magic from that world can pierce its defenses.”

“Oh yeah, lemme guess--the mermaid heifers, huh?” Keiji casually referred to the sirens as such, “It’ll be great to see them again.”

“Not just them,” Sunset replied. “Dammit--the room’s empty. Let’s check the teacher’s lounge.”

“Who else are we after?” Then it came to him. “Oh…the guy with the dark magic, yeah?”

“Yup! He’s here!” Sunset called out from a few doors down where the teacher’s lounge was located. She knocked, and proceeded to open the door. “Professor Aidon! We need your help!”

The shadowpony-man was busy sipping from a cup of coffee, watching the events play out on the lounge’s own television as he was currently on break. “Hrm…are you sure you want my help? You know my power is…unstable.”

“Be that as it may, only beings from Equestria can match the power of this thing,” Sunset explained as she approached the table, “They need you…we need you.”

“Hey, don’t force him,” Keiji commented from nearby, leaning against the doorway, “If he doesn’t feel comfortable, then--”

But just then, Twilight appeared in the doorway, and spoke up to the group. “...Professor…please help me.”

Arc XII Episode IX: Rushing Into Battle

“Twilight?” Sunset asked, turning her head in her direction, “I thought you left with--”

“I’m not gonna stand by and watch my old friends get trampled by some heffalump beast,” the plucky scientist of a girl said coldly, “But with that being said, I’d like it if Professor Aidoneous would come along with us.”

Aidon looked at her with a confused frown. “...Are you certain? There’s a distinct possibility that my…abilities can make things worse.”

“That’s just it,” Twilight pulled out her tablet again, “From what my satellite is telling me, this particular demon is immune to magic carried by non-Equestrians. There’s nothing my friends and I can do about it…”

Sunset put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and continued speaking on her behalf. “That’s why we need you guys’ help. The Sirens have already agreed to help us, and I got Keiji on board--”

“Yeah can we hurry this up?” the boy casually mouthed off, “There’s ass out there that needs to be kicked and we can’t wait around for Teach forever.”

“Ahem,” Sunset cleared her throat in response to his snide comment and went on, “Of course…we won’t force you to join us, sir. The choice is yours.”

Aidon weighed his options. “The problem is that whatever’s causing this anomaly is far stronger than what we’ve dealt with thus far. If I’m involved, I fear I may cause more harm than good. However…” He looked up at Twilight, noting the distraught sense of terror on her face as she bit her lip. “...I can’t abandon them. I won’t. These are my students. And they need me.”

The professor stood up from his seat, and adjusted the cuffs on his suit. “Alright, tetragrams. If we’re gonna get there fast, we’re gonna need wheels.”

“...Eh?” Twilight muttered.

Sunset snickered and pointed at the car key that Aidon was holding. “He’s gonna give us a ride, I think. Totally makes things smoother.”

“Ugh, finally,” Keiji muttered as he started running towards the nearest exit to the parking lot. “Sāikō! Sāikō! Hurry the hell up!”

“He’s right,” Aidon added as he led the girls out, “Let’s meet up with the others and get going. There’s no telling what sort of destruction that thing has caused by now.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she hugged upon Sunset. “Thank you. And thank you, Professor…”

Sunset struggled in the embrace as she felt the wind leave her body. “Okay--okay--let’s--rrgh! Demons first, hugs later!”

“Oh, right--” Twilight let go with a faint blush on her cheeks and began to follow her teacher. “Let’s get going.”

Meanwhile, at Crystal Prep…

After being slammed into the lockers, Sugarcoat had fallen to the floor. By the time she came to, she realized that her glasses were missing and that her vision was blurred. “Shit. Shit. Where are they…?”

“STOP! STOPPIT! PLEAAAASE!!”

“Your soul is mine!” Sour embellished against the cries of her victims.

Soon enough, Sugarcoat would finally find her spectacles and put them on--only to be met with a rather horrific sight. “...Oh. My. God.”

Sour Sweet had the three girls pinned to the nearby wall and a pink magical mist was forcefully entering their heads against their will as tears ran down their faces.

“Yeah? Yeah! How does it feel?!” Sour screamed at them with her voice fully corrupted by a demonic reverb, “Feast upon the hatred you once bestowed upon me. Let it fester and mold your feeble minds until your souls leave their bodies!”

Even though it was her friend, she couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. However, Sugarcoat had to stow her personal biases and do what she could to free her friend from the elephant’s curse.

That’s when the magical aura started to flare up around her body once more. The next time Sugarcoat flexed one of her hands, she watched as her fist was coated and enhanced by a layer of crystalline material.

“What the…” Sugar looked down at her hand, but ultimately decided that now wasn’t the time for questioning something when there was a pachydemon possessing her friend. “Hey, asshole!” she finally rose her voice, screaming to get its attention.

“...!” Sour’s actual mental state took over for a moment--hearing her friend swear was…it was unprecedented from the usually-emotionless Sugarcoat. “...Sugar…gaaagh!” While she was forced to stop infecting the girls with her magic, the elephant demon took over even further. Its pink aura surrounded Sour’s body as her eyes changed to…a solid black color. “Do not interf--!”

PWOOSH!

With a quick leap forward, Sugarcoat threw a hefty punch at the elephant’s head, knocking it through the invisible barrier, and subsequently? The wall.

CRASH!

The bricks clattered to the ground outside from the gaping hole in the wall. Sugarcoat turned her attention to the trio of girls that were affected by its magic. “...Are you okay? Can you respond?”

“...”

None. Sugarcoat would have to perform a rescue all by herself.

Eventually, after getting them all downstairs and out of the building…

Sugarcoat would look around the front of the campus, only to find that the pachydemon had climbed to the top of the academy building and was holding onto something…or rather, someone.

“Take another step, and your beloved leader dies,” it called out to her from above. The elephant demon had now taken a more…anthropomorphic appearance. It stood on two legs--standing just above the average height of a human and now had hands--one of which was wrapped tightly around Dean Cadence’s neck. “Surrender your bodies to me.”

“No…I can’t…I can’t let this happen…” Sugarcoat muttered as both of her fists were now covered in blue crystals. “I made a promise…this is my burden to bear!”

As it began to fuse with Sour Sweet, the demon started to inherit more of her personality traits. Namely? The Sour parts.

“Oh please!” it called out in a rather feminine tone. “You can’t reasonably expect to save me with words! You’ve spent too long trying to act cool and collected when you’re just as flappable as everyone else! You really think you have what it takes to save your friend?”

“Yes, I do, bitch!” Sugarcoat screamed with obscenities as she slowly began to break down--sobbing in between her words, “You don’t even know me! I act this way because I fell on my head when I was--!”

HOOOOONK!

With a loud toot from her trunk, the elephant demon blew with enough force to send Sugarcoat flying across the street…

“WAAAAAAAGGGHHH!”

THUD!

…until she came in contact with a tree, knocking her out cold.

Meanwhile, about two blocks away…

“That’s it! It’s over there!” Twilight called out, as she pointed out of Aidon’s front window. “Sugarcoat!!”

The shadowman prepared to slam his foot on the gas. “Hold onto your asses, tetragrams…”

Arc XII Episode X: Prep Academy Scramble

“I can see Sugarcoat over there!” Aria shouted from the backseat of the SUV, “It has to be nearby!”

Sonata stuck her head out of the sunroof, and gasped at what she saw. “Ah! It’s on top of the building with Cadence’s body!”

“Let us out, gramps, we got shit to kill!” Keiji called out from the third row.

“Alright, kiddos. Undo your seatbelts and prepare to jump out,” Aidon muttered as he moved the stick shift of his vehicle with a chk-chk-chk!, “Don’t ever try what I’m about to do. Get ready!”

Everyone removed their seatbelts as instructed. With a press of a button, all of the seats went flat against the floor of the vehicle and the back door to the SUV was unlocked.

SKRRRRRT!

The man quickly swerved on the empty street, turning the steering wheel to its side so that his vehicle would spin, and allow everyone to jump out at a moment’s notice.

To which they all did--like something out of an action movie. Sunset, Keiji, and the Sirens all leapt out of the vehicle, and landed upon their heels, skidding to a stop in front of the building.

“This is…I’ve seen this before…” Adagio muttered to herself.

“Right??” Sonata replied in agreement, “Elephant monsters are all over Equestria near the Southern Oceans.”

Aria meanwhile, was her usual, gritty self in the face of the enemy. “That’s my friend, asshole!” she said with her fists raised and ready to fight, “Don’t make me screw your ass up! Because I will do it!”

“Dean Cadance…don’t worry, we’ll save you.” Sunset started to analyze the elephant creature with a keen set of eyes. It was familiar to her also thanks to her studies under Princess Celestia herself. “Wait a minute…I think I know what this is--!”

“Do you now?” the pachydemon called out to them all. Sour Sweet’s body was still limp, and unresponsive to the events going on around her from within the demon’s outer shell. “I suppose we’ll have to put that to the test, now won’t we?!”

“God dammit…” Keiji swore under his breath while looking at Sour. “She’s…just a puppet at this point. Disgusting as all hell.”

Meanwhile, Twilight had exited the vehicle, and prioritized her unresponsive old friend. “Sugarcoat! Speak to me!” She knelt down to her, and placed a hand on her cheek, and another on her neck. Her pulse, while present, was faint. “Okay-okay…sh-she’s fine…she’ll be alright. Just need to administer some medical aid…”

But as she got prepared to work on Sugarcoat’s ailments, her tablet started beeping off of the charts with a loud blaring noise.

EEEEE!

“What the--?!” Twilight took it out, and turned it on, biting her lip at what she saw. With a panicked, shaky frown on her face, she screamed, “Everybody get down!”

But it was far too late.

The pachydemon tossed Cadence’s body aside, and summoned numerous smaller demons to fight alongside herself. They appeared to have taken the shape of rhinoceroses…that were as big as the cars parked along the streets.

One of them began to immediately charge with its horns primed to stab at whatever unlucky soul was in its way.

“WOOOOAH!”

The entire group had to dive out of the way at the same time with an overlap of surprised yells. That’s when Aidon had joined the fray, and used his shadow mana to phase through the horde of rhinos and swiftly retrieve Cadence’s unconscious body from the campus battlefield.

Then, he teleported over to Twilight--where she had been busy treating Sugarcoat’s bruises, and placed the dean’s body next to hers. “Can you treat her as well?”

“I’ll…do what I can…” Twilight replied with a somber tone, “This is…I’m so sorry to have brought you into this, professor. I want to fight. I really do. But…Sour’s an old friend. I can’t bring myself to raise a finger against her.” This was the reason why she chose to stay behind and take care of her injured schoolmate from the past. Despite having some of the strongest magic in the group, it didn’t matter if one’s emotions took over…

Aidon knew this, and chose to not press her into the fight. “Don’t fret over that now. This is my fight just as much as it is yours. As your teacher, and a being from Equestria, I have to--no, I have chosen to do this.”

“Thank you…” Twilight replied with a sniffle as she raised her glasses to wipe her face. “For now, I’ll focus on keeping these two safe.”

“Yo, Teach!” Aria shouted from afar as she delivered a wind-powered kick to the face of one of the rhinos, sending it across the city. “Little help here?!”

“I’ve got you!” Aidon shouted and quickly re-joined the others.

While everyone else focused on clearing out the horde of rhino-shaped demons, Sunset and Adagio focused their efforts upon the ringleader itself.

“HYAH!”

With a loud grunt, Sunset swung her two-handed broadsword made of fire directly at the beast’s head, intent on decapitating it in order to force it to give up control over Sour Sweet’s body.

But it was quick for a pachyderm, blocking each strike with either its trunk or tusks. “Is that really your best? How can you honestly call yourself a warrior when you can’t even strike me?!” it jeered, taunting her with its defensive skills.

“I don’t give a damn!” Sunset roared back, “I’ll protect my friends even if it kills me! And that means removing scum like you from this planet!”

“But by definition, we are the same strain of scum! We come from the same world do we not?”

With a loud swish!, Adagio came up from behind the beast and attempted to jam a water blade through its head. “You merely desire power for the sake of causing destruction. We are not the same!”

THUD!

The pachydemon put its other hand up, forcefully stopping Adagio’s attack and removing the watery buzzsaw from existence. Now caught between the struggle of holding back both Equestria girls, it seemed as if it wouldn’t last for much longer until…

“You’re both pitiful and weak…just like these squishy humans…”

BONK!

While holding onto both of them, the elephant brought its hands forward in a clapping motion, slamming the heads of both girls together, and putting them out of consciousness instantly…

Arc XII Episode XI: Aching Heart

There was a faint ringing in the ears of both girls as they slowly began to recover from the deadly blow they were dealt. Having their skulls bashed into each other would have absolutely decimated a normal human, but thanks to their Equestrian biology, they survived without any major lasting injuries.

“Ugh…what…?” Sunset muttered as her eyes fluttered open. “What’s hap…huh…?” Her vision was blurry, but it eventually began to settle as her nervous system started to re-activate. That’s when she started to see what was happening in front of her…

“...over my dead body, witch!” Keiji shouted while attacking the elephant demon with his katana, delivering a series of wide-angle slashes and moving so fast that he seemingly teleported to the beast’s opposite side without using extra magic.

For the moment though, the boy’s sword did little to pierce the outer shell of the pachyderm as it seemed to have created a magical barrier with its bare hands to ward off each attack. Just how was it managing to match the vamp-kid’s speed?

It had grown extra faces and arms.

Three in fact. It was able to see his attacks coming from all directions no matter where he struck from.

“Pitiful,” said the feminine demon, “And here I thought the Rosangio family was worth something. Turns out it was all talk.”

Keiji performed a backflip to avoid being struck with a punch from three fists. “I…I don’t give a shit about that family!” he yelled through his shortness of breath while gritting his teeth, “You’re dealing with…Ketsuki Keiji. Nobody else! Got that?”

“Fine then,” said the multi-faced elephant beast, “You can die here. Alone and powerless!”

With one hand behind his back, the boy created a small secondary blade, and stabbed himself in the abdomen with it. “Ggrh! Mmff…as if!” The small blade disappeared, and his ether slowly started to overlock itself, causing his heart to beat faster, and thus, pump more blood through his body.

“Now just what is this…?” the pachydemon muttered with a mildly interested sense of curiosity.

By this point, Sunset had risen to one knee. She looked at Keiji and could see the veins on his body pulsate beneath his skin to an unhealthy degree. Her eyes grew wide the instant she knew what sort of spell he had cast upon himself--a highly forbidden one. “Wh…no! Keiji, don’t--!” she reached a hand out, but could barely stand due to her slightly delirious state of mind.

“AAAAAEE!” Keiji let out an inhumane--almost demonic roar as his body started to take on more bat-like traits--his teeth turned into fangs, his fingers turned into claws, and vampire bat wings sprouted from his back. It all took place over the course of about ten seconds and once his enhancements took over, he rushed forward, and immediately disappeared from view, bending the light around his own body in order to make himself seem invisible…

SLASH!

With a swift strike, he swung his katana upwards with enough force to send the beast a few feet into the air. Then, his katana disappeared as he jumped into the air and grabbed the pachyderm by one of its faces.

“I will break you!” he roared as he threw the beast back down to the earth, forcing it onto its back. Without hesitation, he followed this up by taking out his katana once more, and aimed it downwards, allowing gravity to take control with the blade prime to stab the multi-faced creature through all of its heads. “DIE!”

But just before he landed…

SWOOP--!

Keiji was forcefully stopped dead in mid-air, halting all of his inertia as he was now essentially frozen in place, barely able to move his lips. “Ghhh….h-how…hhhh--!” All the sudden, his body started to slow down by force, losing consciousness by the second,.

“Blood-clotting curse,” said the pachydemon as it stood up, “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.”

In a bid to desperately get back in the fight, Sunset tried to fight off her headache and attempted to make her fire-sword reappear by snapping her fingers. “Ugh! Come on…come on…!” Unfortunately, all she could generate was a measly spark.

This was also right around the time that Adagio started to regain consciousness, rising to her knees. “What…what’s happening…?”

Sunset’s mind was still frazzled which led to her being unable to focus hard enough to cast any magic. But she didn’t let that stop her from fighting for what mattered to her. “Screw it--!” she grumbled in frustration as she charged at the demon full-force and leapt at her with whatever magic she could muster while preparing to tackle it. “Let him go!”

CHING!

Sunset bounced off of its body and hit the grass on the campus grounds nearby. The pachydemon had cast a high level magic barrier that reflected all physical attacks!

“I don’t think so,” it retorted, “I’m merely carrying out the will of this girl. She’s the one who wanted those bullies and her abusive family member to suffer. This is all for her. Don’t you dare interfere with me! Don’t you agree that someone who routinely beats their child and tortures them with grueling punishments should be dealt with?!”

That revelation caught Sunset off-guard. For a moment, she paused and stopped to consider what all of this was about. “...Wait…what? You mean Sour Sweet has problems at home?”

The beast gave a hysteric laugh in response. “OH! Now you give a damn?! Only when the chips are down and your own well-being is threatened do you actually start to consider the perspective of others. I knew it. You’ve been tainted by the overwhelming selfish stench of the humans that live here. Well that’s all about to change…” It turned one of its faces in Keiji’s direction…

The boy was sweating with his pupils dilated. Extreme panic had begun to set in once he realized he was at the mercy of this creature. All he could do was stare at it with his teeth clenched tightly, silently begging to be set free…

“Wait--!” Sunset yelped as she did her best to reason with it, “Explain to me what her problem is. I can help. I swear! Just put him down, and let’s speak about this more calmly, alright?”

But the pachydemon had a sadistic trick up its sleeve. “I think you have bigger things to worry about.” With a spark of magic, the spell over Keiji’s body was lifted…and the accelerated blood began to rush through his body at such a fast rate that his heart couldn’t bear it all.

“GH….NAAAAAGHHH!” His body started to turn pale as his eyes rolled towards the back of his head, all sense of feeling went numb as he let out a scream of death. His body returned to normal and he fell to the ground, clutching his chest while shivering and twitching uncontrollably.

In short? He was having the most painful heart attack in history.

Back at Canterlot High…

And as the events unfolded on screen, the entire Sophomore-grade class gasped in unison once they witnessed what happened.

Diamond Tiara in particular ran up to the television and screamed, “KEIJI! No…c-come on…get up. Please!”

Silver Spoon had no such reaction. Instead, she simply scoffed and muttered under her breath. “Hmph. That’s what he gets…”

A few of the students that heard her comment, including Applebloom and Rumble, turned to stare at her with blank expressions on their faces.

Silver Spoon had put her legs up on her desk, sitting back while tapping on her phone. She felt the looming gaze of the others and responded with a slightly annoyed, “...What?”

Arc XII Episode XII: Sirens Ablaze

Tiara eventually took her seat, slumping down, and resting her head upon her arms.

Rumble meanwhile, decided to speak up to Spoon. “...The hell did you just say?”

Silver Spoon continued to tap on her phone with an uninterested, neutral expression, rolling her eyes. “I said that’s what he gets. Didn’t I say that? I believe I said that.”

“...Wow,” was all Rumble could say in response. Such a lack of empathy left him in disbelief--even by Silver Spoon’s standards. “Really. Wow. I can’t believe you’d say some garbage like that about him. He saved our lives, you know.”

With a pop! Silver Spoon blew a gum bubble and kept talking casually. “Yeah. And? You know how vampires are. One minute they do an act of goodwill and the next, they’re all like, trying to get you to join their weird culty-fetish group. Haven’t you read books on them? Seen TV shows? Anime?”

“Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” Rumble replied while grabbing the bridge of his nose, “Don’t tell me you unironically buy into that weirdo fantasy crap like the Moonlight books. They make vampires look mega-dorky for the sole purpose of forced love triangles and treating girls like they’re prizes to be won.” He folded his arms. “Not to mention the fact that they seriously drag werewolves down to their level and pit the two against each other.”

“Have you ever seen or dealt with a vampire before?” Spoon came back with a rebuttal.

“No,” Rumble replied and turned her own argument against her, “But neither have you.”

“Maybe, but all the books and TV shows have to be based off of something,” she snidely replied while raising a brow, “Don’t even get me started on Dracula. And you just admitted that Moonlight recounts them in such a way to where they feel gross and disgusting. I don’t think that’s someone that I’d wanna hang around. And neither should anyone else if they have any respect for themselves.”

Rumble simply stared off into space while looking at her. He blinked once, then twice, then started rubbing his temples with his hands as he sat back in his seat. “I can’t even…I don’t even--” He looked to Button Mash for some support in this conversation, “Do you hear the inane BS that’s coming out of her mouth, my dude?”

“...Uh…I-I think you might wanna keep watching,” Button replied while staring at the news, shaking nervously.

“Wha…? Oh no…”

At Crystal Prep…

“Stop!” Sunset pleaded, “You don’t have to keep doing this! Before you know it, you’re gonna end up regretting your decisions!”

“Insipid fool!” the beast screamed back, “I have no empathy for nor kind, nor do I desire to understand you. This world shall know malice!”

Once Sunset heard that, all bets were off. If her opponent wasn’t willing to see the error of their ways, then she had no real reason to hold back any longer. “Alright then…if you wanna play it that way…”

But before she could assert herself, she felt an uneasy presence nearby. Adagio, whose eyes had turned solid red, was twitching uncontrollably. Her voice was also abnormal, with a reverb similar to that of the hostile demon. “...Sunset…leave this to us.”

“...Are you sure?” Sunset asked, then promptly looked into the sky. Dark clouds began to form as it started to rain. The wind started to pick up, and small rumblings of thunder could be heard from above.

Moments later, Sonata and Aria had also stepped forward--their eyes were an equal shade of solid red. After having witnessed what was done to Keiji, the three of them were thrown into an emotional rage in which the magic within their bodies caused changes to the world around them. Just the same as when they had faced off against Sunset and her friends during the battle of the bands long ago…only this time, it was on behalf of someone else.

“Get him out of here,” Sonata said with an uncharacteristically deep voice that was just as imposing as Adagio’s. “That’s our little brother she’s messing with. She’s going to pay the price one way or another.”

“Okay but…make sure you don’t hurt Sour Sweet…” Sunset replied with a worried frown as she noticed the wind becoming more fierce and the air becoming more humid by the second with a sense of thickened dampness akin to fog out at sea…

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Aria added, “We’re gonna make sure she survives…but that overblown ingrate with too much trunk for its own good has gotta go.”

“I remember this now,” Sunset thought to herself as she watched the Sirens’ aura grow more potent by the second. “They’re about to revert back to their feral forms as sea monsters. This may be our only shot.”

The pachydemon scoffed, eager to see just how strong the trio was. “Hmph. This shall be interesting will it not? Take a hint and leave the battlefield, Orangie.” It started to pull swords out of its multitude of arms, preparing to fight back…

Sunset had no reason to doubt their power as she had seen it first-hand. With the severity of the weather being thrown into what felt like a seastorm, she had little time to dawdle. Her priority was getting the now-collapsed and unresponsive Keiji away from the situation. “Alright. Do you what you can, guys.” And with a burst of fire magic, she swiftly sprinted over and grabbed Keiji’s body, escaping from the situation with him.

“Ready girls?” Adagio muttered as the fog started to become thicker with a more intense sense of humidity around the campus, lowering the demon’s visibility, “Ready to show her what happens when you dare to cross our family?”

“Heehee! I do. Very much so,” Sonata said with an unhinged giggle as the darkened, cumulonimbus clouds above started to spark with more electricity messing with the demon’s sense of hearing, “I can't wait to kill it! She’s gonna feel this all the way to hell!”

“The devil won’t even want her there,” Aria added as the wind started to force trees to bend, and push the demon back ever so slightly off its feet. “Let’s just delete it from existence…!”

Arc XII Episode XIV: Justice Through Darkness

Back at Crystal Prep…

Sunset and the others started to regroup, when they noticed something from the corner of their eyes.

“Hold up,” Aria called out, pointing to the shaking bushes near the school’s property, “Think we missed someone.”

Everyone turned to look…

Sure enough, something was causing those bushes to shiver. It eventually revealed itself to be a woman with a similar yellow complexion to Sour Sweet. She had on a red business-skirt and heels--a form of dress fitting for one of the school’s staff members.

“What the--hey!” Sunset called out to her, not realizing who she was just yet, “It’s okay! Everything is safe now! You can come out!”

But oddly enough, the woman chose not to approach those who had taken their time to save the day. Instead, she snuck through the bushes and attempted to flee down the street…?

“Hey, wait!”

WOOSH!

But she was suddenly forced to stop on a dime. Why? A giant wall of black miasma suddenly appeared, cutting off her escape route. Moments later, hefty footsteps would slowly make their way through the darkness, and out emerged a certain shadowman…

“AH!” the woman yelped and tried to back away until her anxiety caused her to trip and land on her bottom, hitting the ground with a thud. “Wh-who are you…what do you want from me??”

The man paced towards her with a slow, threatening gait--each footstep echoed as soon as he took the next. The billowing darkness surrounding his body forced her into a state of dread with a cold sweat as he came closer and closer.

And when he spoke, it was a heartless, chilling tone that sent shivers through her spine. “What do I want? You’re clearly mistaken. You see, the fear of death is a patient mistress…unlike life. But I find it fascinating the lengths individuals will go to when they’re forced to face such fears…”

“W-what are you t-talking about?” the woman continued to deny any wrongdoing in a desperate attempt to save face. “I-I…”

But the shadowman wasn’t having any of it. He cut her off, and spoke with enough tranquil fury to cut into her soul. “Do yourself a favor and drop the pestilent, infantile persona that you use to shield yourself from the fact that you’re ultimately a neglectful, heartless, wretched speck of insignificant scum.”

“S-stop!” the woman rose to her feet and stared the man down, “Y-you can’t prove anything! You’re just trying to tear my family apart based on assumptions! You’re the one who--”

“Save it.”

The black miasma disappeared--and what did that proverbial curtain unveil? A police car in which a female officer exited, and walked out with a box of tape recorders. “On these tapes are audio files of every time you’ve caused your niece physical and emotional pain. Smart girl she was--able to gather all the evidence she needed so that we could put you to trial. You have the right to remain silent, Ms. Pomelo Squirty. Anything you say can and will--you know the rest.”

Pomelo was in disbelief. Some of the color had left her face from the initial state of shock that she found herself in.

Aidon deactivated the shadow form from his body, causing his voice to return to normal as he folded his arms. “Give up. You’d do all of us a favor by going quietly. Your niece has been through enough trouble at your hands, causing what is likely a lifelong personality disorder. Don’t make it any worse.”

“...” Pomelo’s arms and legs twitched uncontrollably, followed by her eyelids and her heart rate increasing twofold. A whirlwind of emotions swam through her head in that moment, causing rage to well up within her body--and with that, came irrational actions.

“What is it going to be?” Aidon asked, only to be met with--

“Shut up you homewrecking cretin! Stay out of my business!”

WHAP!

A rather unexpectedly strong right hook to his jawline. It didn’t hurt that much, but it did stun the man for a second, causing spit to fly from his mouth.

“Freeze!” the lady officer shouted as she drew her stun gun.

But the second time Pomelo tried to throw a punch--

GRIP!

Aidon grabbed both of her arms and held both of her wrists by one hand. “You’ve just earned yourself an assault charge as well. Anything else you’d like to add?”

“Piss off!” she screamed, “I hope you choke on glass and die alone you bitch! You ain’t got no right to tell me about how I raise my child!”

“...” Aidon shut his eyes.

“Lay into her. Wreck her shit for daring to harm you and your students. You can get away with it since she cast the first strike.”

“...No.”

His magic flared up ever so slightly, causing him to tighten his grip upon her wrists…but he ultimately let it--and her go, dropping her on the ground with a thud!, and walking away. “Get her out of here, officer.”

“Wimp.”

“I’m better than that.”

Even though he had tamed the darkness, there were still times such as this where the temptations tried to overtake him. But he refused to allow that, instead rolling with the punches.

“W-w--how dare you?!” Pomelo continued to yell as he walked off, “He hurt me! That was assault!”

“Tell it to the judge,” said the female officer as she put cuffs on the woman and escorted her to her vehicle, “You’re lucky he didn’t do more than that. Ladies like you need to learn how to not pick losing fights.”

As the police car drove off, the professor removed his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief he kept in his suit’s pocket. “Hrrrgh…” he grumbled to himself as he recalled the woman’s words. While they came from a petty mouth, to say they didn’t hurt would be a lie.

Sunset approached him moments later with a concerned frown on her face. “...Professor? Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” he replied with a sigh, “That woman is going to face repercussions for her transgressions. I couldn’t be happier.”

“I heard what she said though…” Sunset went on, “There’s a phrase that humans like to go by: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’”

“I’ve heard of it, yes,” said the shadowman, “How does that apply here?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck and explained, “Weeeell…let’s just say I absolutely hate that phrase. Yes, it’s important to not let words get to us, but some things, when said, they cut deep…deeper than any knife, sword, or magic laser ever could. My point is…it’s okay to feel hurt by that comment. It was rude, and stomped on a very touchy subject for you. But know that we’re here for you.” She offered him her best smile in an attempt to get him to smile as well. “Even if you aren’t my teacher, the last thing I want is to see another one lose their mind.”

And what do you know? It worked. With a small sigh, Aidon smiled, and accepted Sunset’s words. “...I appreciate that. Just as words can cut, they can also heal. You’ve displayed that perfectly, Ms. Shimmer.”

“Well thanks…let’s just say I’ve learned from the best,” Sunset replied with a bashful grin as she thought about Princess Twilight.

“But for now…we need to get to the hospital,” he spoke up, noting everyone else’s absence. “I assume Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, and the others are already there, yes?”

“Oh yeah. We need to catch up with them,” Sunset replied with a nervous sigh, “I just hope Sour’s okay after all of this…”

Arc XIII Episode XV: Prep Talk

At Canterlot City Hospital…

Sugarcoat had finally opened her eyes. There were several bandages wrapped around her abdomen as well as her head. Thankfully, the steady beeping of the EKG displayed that she was more than functional.

“Oogh…” she muttered out a low moan of pain, “What happened…I swear it felt so real…”

Next to her, Sour Sweet would have her own hospital bed and comment. “...Yup. It was real.” She was hooked up to an IV drip and had to get extra blood pumped into her body from the sheer amount of drainage she experienced while under the influence of the elephant demon. “Sorry I got…you involved, Sugar. That was…probably the worst thing I’d ever done.”

Surprisingly, Sugarcoat wasn’t upset at all. In fact, one could see the smallest of smiles on her face. “...Well, as long as you’re aware that taking power from a demon from another world was a bad idea and that you have no intention of doing it again…I forgive you.”

Sour gave a weak chuckle in response to her friend’s bluntness, “Heh…damn. As abrasive as ever, huh?”

“Can’t help it,” Sugarcoat replied as her smile faded away, “After that…terrible accident I had when I was younger, I simply can’t express myself like other people can. I actually envy you, Sour. You’re able to express such a wide range of emotions in a short amount of time…”

“True…” Sour’s expression also melted into a long, sad frown, “But that’s only because I have issues of my own too. If anything, I’m jealous of you. You can actually keep your emotions in check. Unlike my stupid little yellow dumbass…” she trailed off as a few tears started dripping from her eyes. “I’m an emotional wreck that nobody wants to be around. None of the boys at school even talk to me. I’m gonna die old and alone at this rate…”

“Hey…no matter what happens,” Sugarcoat spoke up, “You’re still my friend. And I care about you. Don’t let what your bitch of an aunt thinks formulate how you see the world. It’s up to you how you see the world.”

“But how…?” Sour replied with a few sniffles in between her words, “She controls every aspect of my life right down to what I can and can’t wear. I have no choice but to listen to her…”

Being the smug snake she was, Sugarcoat already had a prediction in mind. “Well, I’m almost certain that she’s gonna be arrested for what she’s done to you. So you won’t have to worry about her anymore. Not to mention, since you’re 19, you can live by yourself without issue.”

“...You’re right. But still…” Sour muttered with a looming sense of dread. “What about the girls at school? Do they still think of me as some weirdo with two personalities? How can I go back after all of this?”

“Therapy,” Sugarcoat suggested, “Some good, quality therapy should work wonders for us…we need time to figure out how to deal with these plagues in our heads. And we’ll work through it together. Alright?”

Sour smiled at her friend, and couldn’t help but sniffle from the tears she shed as a result of Sugarcoat’s words. “...Okay. Thank you. That helps a lot knowing that you’ve got my back in all of this.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Sugarcoat replied as she lay down in her hospital bed, “Or so they say.”

“Yeah…” Sour looked down at herself--all the medical wires that were hooked up to her and the pale blue medical gown that she had on. “Well…on the bright side, I’ve never felt more free than I do now…?”

Sugarcoat opened one eye and responded with a flat, “What.”

“L-listen for a second, hear me out--check this: These hospital gowns are pretty comforting aren’t they?” she said with a nervous smile while trying to make normal conversation. “I mean, you essentially get to let it all hang out, right?”

“...Heh,” Sugarcoat let out the tiniest of chuckles, “Your sense of humor is still the same. Hope that doesn’t change, Sour.”

“Yeah…me too…” Sour replied as she lied down as well in order to rest.

Back at CHS…

Silver Spoon made a request to use the bathroom with Diamond Tiara following right after. Once they were in the quiet hallways of the school, they headed to the girls’ bathroom to continue their conversation.

“As I was saying,” Silver Spoon went on, “I just think that that boy is bad news. He comes into your life while I’m away and you suddenly start fawning over him? It’s fairly suspicious if you ask me.”

Tiara sighed as she slapped her palm against her forehead. “It’s called having concern for my friends out of basic human decency. Unless--oh I’m sorry, is that suddenly a crime now? To be worried about someone?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow with her hands on her hips.

“No no. I just don’t like vampires and think he might’ve put you under some sort of hypnosis while I was gone. C’mon, Di. You gotta admit that he looks like a straight up vagabond. You can understand some of my suspicions, can’t you?”

“WHAT THE--No…don’t do what mom does. Don’t do what mom does…” Tiara fumed--her cheeks turned red as she took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. Once her mind was clear, she did her best to speak her mind without malice. “Maybe. But you’re being a bit unreasonable. He’s actually pretty nice--if not a bit of a dirty-mouth. Plus, I’d say he’s somewhat cute--in a platonic way that is. You know I’m not interested in romance…”

“Tch,” Spoon scoffed as she rolled her eyes, “Yeah…you have a point. Still--”

Tiara put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and made an offer. “Look. Why don’t I invite you both over sometime? Maybe you could get to know each other better that way?”

Spoon took a look at the pink girl’s pleading, desperate eyes. “She’s serious about this…dammit. She’s wrapped around his finger.” Despite her negative thoughts, she managed to eek out a positive response. “...Okay, Di. I’ll bite.”

And Tiara was none the wiser, accepting her best friend’s words without hesitation and with a hug. “Thanks. That means a lot to me. And you’ll see how much he means to me too. As a friend. Got it?”

“Yeah…got it.”

Arc XIV Episode I: Smoke And Mirrors

Meanwhile, elsewhere…

The feminine figure that was clad in a skintight, latex bodysuit to hide her presence had made her way across the city and into an abandoned warehouse building. She removed the bodysuit, and revealed herself to be a brown-skinned young woman with purple hair. She was also rather tall--about six feet--rivaling the height of Principal Celestia.

“Everything’s going as planned, boss,” she spoke with a slightly foreign accent, as she stripped down to workout clothes--a basic pair of shorts and a sports bra. “The dream demon I planted took a lot out of them. They’ll be powerless against the next stage of our plan.”

“Excellent work,” said another feminine, albeit raspy and aged voice from nearby, “I knew I could count on you. Equestria was so…stifling, wasn’t it, Lucide? A place where you couldn’t dare practice certain types of magic lest a certain someone get in your way.”

Lucide, the tan-skinned woman, flopped against a lone couch that was in the middle of the warehouse floor. “Don’t I know it. So what’s the idea behind the next stage of your plan again? How’s mind control gonna get where you’ll have your power back?”

Rrrrrr…

The whirring of an electric wheelchair could be heard as the source of the second voice wheeled herself towards one of the nearby windows. The key difference between her and the rest of those in this world?

She had hooves instead of feet.

But hands as well--which meant that she was anthropomorphic. The exact details were left unknown due to the fact that she wore a hood that concealed her face as well as most of her body.

“Kiddo, if there’s--ack!--one thing I’ve noticed about this world…” she explained in between coughs, “Is that these humans, their…brains. Their sense of self is on par with the ponies back home. Maybe--ack!--greater what with all these giant carriages on wheels and space lasers…”

“Cars and satellites,” Lucide corrected her.

“Don’t interrupt. Anyway--despite the advancements humans have under their belt, they do have one weakness that is all too easy to exploit, dear Luci.”

“...And that is?”

The cranky lady replied with a smug giggle. “Hmhmhm…hormones, my dear. These humans have little to no control over their endocrine system. Far less control than the average pony, dragon, or changeling…”

Lucide sat upright with a nervous expression on her face. “...Wait a sec. You really wanna use…ya know…that spell, ma’am? The forbidden one?”

“Absolutely,” the older woman responded with a chuckle, “Haven’t you noticed that whenever there’s a problem that needs to be solved or a demonic entity that needs to be put down, those girls are the ones who tend to fix things?”

“...Hmm…”

The wheelchair-bound lady continued while pushing her chair towards Lucide. “Just as well, the student body seems to be primarily made up of girls with only a small percentage being boys. Which means their…capacity to fall victim to the distractions of young adult hormones is great. And once they’re distracted, I can find out the source of Sunset Shimmer’s power, as well as any other Equestrians that are here.”

“Oh yeah,” Lucide called to mind what she had seen earlier that day. “So far, there’s two of ‘em. One of them seems to be a batpony stallion who can control blood. The other seems to be a shadowpony stallion who can control dark magic. The latter is much older though, and they’re both male.”

“I see…this could present us a--ack!--goddammit, Luci get me my pills. And then make sure we still have that necklace.”

The young woman got off of the couch and snickered in response to the order. “Damn, granny. Are ya sure this is gonna work? You can barely stand, let alone use any power.” She walked over to a nearby filing cabinet and grabbed a small medication bottle, then she tossed it in the older woman’s direction. “Sunset seems pretty powerful. I don’t think it’ll be enough to win her over.”

Without hesitation, she grabbed the bottle out of the air via a weak, green aura of levitation magic. “Hmph,” the older woman scoffed as she took one of the pills, “Never underestimate the power of age and experience, dear. I used to be quite the looker in my day you know. I know all of the best ways to catch a stallion’s attention. See when I was younger--”

Lucide rolled her eyes as she grabbed a book from a nearby bookshelf, and used the open cover to hide the fact that she was gritting her teeth. “Oh joy. Here she goes again with her tales from two-hundred years ago…can we just cut to something else, please?”

At the city hospital…

Keiji was cleared once the doctors had found that his heart attack wasn’t fatal. As soon as he was able to leave, Adagio was waiting for him outside of his hospital room, biting her lip from anxiety.

“...There you are,” she put down the magazine and approached him with a hug, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I couldn’t live with myself if I let our new baby br--er, friend… get hurt.”

“Geh…dammit…” he muttered under his breath, though he didn’t exactly make an effort to get away from the embrace. “Is that why you all went apeshit? After I got hurt?”

Adagio let go of him, and put her hands behind her back as she explained herself--though she was unable to make eye contact. “Well…yes. We like you, and seeing you in pain made us…lose our bananas as you might say.”

“...And why do you guys like me so much?” he folded his arms, “I’m an asshole. The Christmas crap was one thing, but you all really wanna hang with me outside of that?”

“...This may sound a bit harsh, but to be honest…” the eldest siren took a pause and sighed, “We pity you. Knowing that your older sisters treated you in such a way back in Equestria…it made us livid. I wish we could tear their heads off.”

Keiji shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Pfft. I suppose that’s one thing we agree on. But it’s not their fault--it’s the shitty state of our household.”

“Even so, it was no excuse for them to treat you with such…malice and contempt,” Adagio lamented as she put a hand on his shoulder, “So my sisters and I figured…we could try to be your real older sisters…if you wanted?”

The boy’s cheeks turned a shade of crimson as he was unable to answer right away. “...I’ll…I’ll think about it. Speaking of which, where’s Sonata and Aria anyway?”

“Aria went to Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat’s hospital room to check up on them. And Sonata…” A small smile grew on Adagio’s face. “...She’ll be back soon with a surprise.”

“...Uh-huh.”

Arc XIV Episode II: Hospital Visit

Down the hall…

Aria and Sci-Twi were both waiting outside of their friends’ hospital room. The latter was busy biting her nails while the former was occupied by her phone.

“Bro--Twizzlers--you gotta chill. Your old friends aren’t gonna wanna see you acting like a shaky nutcase over this.” Aria looked up from her phone to see Twilight rapidly breathing in and out of a paper bag.

“Huff…huff…sorry,” the purple girl put the bag down and sighed. She then removed her glasses and wiped the lenses clean with a disinfectant wipe. “I’m just…in layman's terms--annoyed at myself.”

Aria raised a brow. “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly…” Twilight lamented as she put her glasses back on, “I didn’t do anything to help an old friend who was being possessed. I was so caught up in my own emotions that I was afraid to take action. I’m a wreck…”

“...” Aria took a moment to think of a way to respond truthfully without coming off as callous. Once she did, she put her phone away and sat upright. “...Alright, listen. If I had to fight one of my sisters, then yeah, I’d feel like shit too. I wouldn’t know what to do but…I’d find a way to fight back. I wouldn’t want them to hurt anyone else, ya know?”

“Yeah, you have a point,” Twilight replied as she folded her arms, crossing one leg over the other. “I suppose I should’ve been more willing to help out. It’s my own fault for wallowing in my insignificance.”

“Hey, you said it, not me,” Aria snidely remarked while putting her hands behind her head, “But in all fairness, acknowledging your issues is the first step to solving them or whatever the heck. I’m not a therapist so don’t quote me.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle in response to Aria’s odd method of giving advice. “Once again, you make a good point without realizing it. I never would’ve pegged you for a conversationalist. You’re…actually very helpful in that regard.”

“Hmph…”

As much as Aria wanted to deny it, it was true. It had been a long time since she was a rather anti-social, hard-headed girl that refused to talk to anyone. It was only due to the welcoming company of others that she was able to find peace within herself and make friends outside of her circle of sisters.

“...Yeah yeah,” Aria muttered, rolling her eyes, “I do what I can I guess. I’m not like Adagio and Sonata. They view the world through different lenses--though I guess that technically applies to everybody huh?” She took a moment and looked at Twilight’s glasses--a smirk appeared on her face. “Heh--for you, doubly so--”

“Very funny,” Twilight deadpanned with a narrowed set of eyes, before quickly betraying her stoicism with a small snicker and snort. “...Okay, it was kinda funny.”

Aria chuckled in return. “Hm...Yeah. But for real, I…see the world for what it is. This place is unforgiving as shit, but it can also be forgiving sometimes…if you look in the right spots. So I figure why not try to add some forgiveness to the world? Make it slightly less shit or something?” She placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. “Blech. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now, honestly.”

“I think you do,” Twilight replied with a smile, “You simply want me to face things as they are but from a more supportive perspective. I can see why you and your sisters have such a close-knit relationship.”

“Pfft,” Aria scoffed with a sarcastic eye roll, “You can, huh?”

But Twilight was earnest with her words. “I do. I mean that. You three keep each other happy, grounded, and focused on what matters most.” She paused and rubbed her neck with a nervous grin, “...Don’t tell anybody, but I wish Shining Armor was more like that. Someone whom I could bounce off of more often.”

“Oh yeah…you guys don’t really hang out much, huh?”

“Not…really,” the nerdy girl replied with a meek smile, “But that’s a story for another day. I’m happy for you, Aria.”

Moments later, one of the nurses would exit the hospital room and address the two.

“...They’re okay. If you want to speak with them, keep it brief and quiet. Understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Twilight replied as she stood up, “Thank you.” She then slowly made her way into the hospital room. “...Sour Sweet? Sugarcoat? Are you both alright?”

“Mostly,” Sugarcoat replied from her bed, lying down and staring at the ceiling. “Sour went through the worst of it though.”

Twilight approached the yellow girl with a worried set of eyes, biting her lip. “I…I’m sorry I didn’t…”

Sour shook her head. “It’s not your fault. I was…too caught up in my own head that I took hold of some really unstable magic…” She sighed, and averted her gaze from her old friend. “But at least I know better now. I need some serious therapy…”

“I’ll be with you through every step of it,” Twilight assured her as she walked up to Sour’s bedside. “I promise. I won’t abandon you ever again.”

“...Damn…” Sour muttered under her breath as she forced a smile, “Even though you left CPA…it feels like you’re always there.” She let out a yawn, and turned her head to the side. “...Aaaah…make sure that applies to your new friends too, okay?”

“...I promise.”

Aria arrived moments later, putting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and whispering. “Looks like they’re about to fall asleep. Let’s skedaddle before the nurse calls us out or something.”

“Alright, let’s go…” Twilight replied as she silently waved goodbye to her friends, leaving them to rest.

Arc XIV Episode III: Smooth Recovery

To make a long story short, everything went rather swimmingly for the rest of the day at least. Sunset Shimmer and Aidon arrived not long after, only to be told by Twilight that her friends were in good condition and simply needed time to themselves after what had happened.

“Well that’s good to hear,” the professor confirmed with a nod, “With that in mind, I need to take my leave. Have a good day, young ladies.” With no further hesitation, the man left the hospital once his suspicions were confirmed. “...This reeks of corruption from my homeworld.”

“Oh…okay…goodbye, professor,” Twilight replied with a sigh, only to be met with a supportive Sunset Shimmer who placed an arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t sweat it,” she said in an attempt to encourage her, “He’s probably very busy right now and needs to keep track of a ton of different things. College entrance exams, potential career day field trips, demons that seek to ruin the lives of humans…the usual stuff.”

The way she spoke about it so casually caused Twilight to chuckle at her sense of dark humor. “Pfft--yeah, you’re right, Sunset. I’m just glad he was here to support all of us. His magic is insanely strong…Keiji also now that I think about it.”

“True, but…I don’t wanna start relying on them too much,” Sunset lamented as she thought through the implications of allying herself with those who had power to gain an advantage. “It…kinda feels…wrong? For lack of a better term.”

“Eh? What makes you think that?” Twilight asked.

Sunset let her go, and started to call to mind the way Princess Celestia ran things back where she came from. “Well…back home, there’s a tendency to befriend our enemies and make them into allies. But part of me wonders if it’s ethical since it can be seen as manipulation…” she shook her head and waved her hand, “Nah--never mind. I’m going on a tangent with no clear answer again.”

“I can see things clearly,” Twilight responded while adjusting her glasses, “And I say, if they wanna help us out of their own free will and conviction, let them. We’ve no reason to deny their assistance. After all, I don’t think we’d be able to control them even if we tried.”

Sunset giggled as she pondered exactly what Twilight meant. “Well you have a point. From what I learned from Celestia, dark magic is only something that can be controlled by ponies with strong mental states. Even she can’t use it for very long.”

“No wonder Professor Aidon always has a crazed look in his eyes when utilizing his abilities…I hope he’ll be okay.”

“I think he will be,” Sunset replied confidently, “He’s in a much better place now than where he used to be. And Keiji…he just seems waaay too stubborn to fall to mind control.”

Twilight scoffed with a smug grin on her face. “Ho-yeah I can tell. If anyone could potentially break out of a mind control spell, it’d be him. Almost to his detriment though, he seems to act on impulse rather than tact…”

“Yeah…” Sunset put her hand to her chin as she gave it some thought, “He’s gonna need some help. But I think the Sirens have got that covered. Speaking of which, where are they?”

“Oh, Aria told me on her way out,” Twilight tilted her head in the direction of the hospital’s doorway, “They’re all going out for tacos. A sibling bonding sort of thing I’d wager. School was about to be out anyways. I think our teachers would understand.”

“Well that’s good--and considering one of those teachers was literally fighting alongside us…I don’t think there’s much reason to doubt us.” Sunset interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms upwards, causing a few of her joints to pop. “...Aaaagh…we need to get some rest though. Human bodies aren’t exactly the most durable in the world.”

“Believe me, I know,” Twilight replied with an eye roll, “It’s why I’m still trying to develop nanomachine alloys so we can expend lots of mana without deterioration.”

It took a moment for Sunset to process what she had just heard as she began walking out of the hospital. “Er…yeah. What’s that mean?”

Twilight began to follow her friend at the same pace. “Ever see the one movie with the time-travelling robot endoskeleton with human flesh overlaid--”

“NOPE--” Having already seen the movie she was referencing, Sunset denied the suggestion outright, and began speed-walking ahead of her friend. “I am not risking an artificial intelligence takeover--”

“I’m kidding!” Twilight shouted as she walked after her, but immediately after, she snickered under her breath as the sunlight reflected off of her glasses. “...Mostly.”

The Next Day…

It was the weekend, so everyone was able to go about their day casually and without worry. No demons on the horizon, and no trouble in the city.

For now, we’ll focus on Aidon. Yes, of course our professor had a life outside of teaching. After all, the will to live would slowly diminish if all one did was work. What kept him motivated you might ask?

The man exited his vehicle and shut the door. On this day, he was wearing a blue shirt with a floral motif--red flowers to be exact, and brown cargo shorts with a pair of rather worn white tennis shoes. “Ah…a welcome change of pace. Now what do I need…” He pulled out a list…

The answer was shopping at the scramble crossing in the middle of the city where everyone was hustling and bustling through the open sidewalk. Specifically for items related to his personal hobbies.

“I need a new lens, a new tripod…can’t forget film…”

And so, he began to walk through the crowds and stopped at a few stores to buy what he needed. Nothing of any real note happened--that is, until…

He stopped dead in front of a window display with a telescope, and inspected it with narrowed eyes. “Hm…this could be beneficial during the next meteor shower…”

“Oh? You keep up with such events as well?” a silky, feminine voice called out next to him, “I expected as much from you, professor.”

“Hm?”

And standing there was a familiar blue woman--except she was out of her usual attire. Instead, she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, a dark blue tank top, and lastly, her hair was done up in a ponytail. “...Sorry, am I interrupting you?” she asked meekly with her arms behind her back.

“...” Aidon removed his glasses for a moment, and dusted them off before putting them back on. “...Luna? Huh…that’s unexpected.”

Arc XV Episode I: Fresh Start

“Unexpected…?” Luna scratched her cheek with her index finger. “...In what way, Aidon?”

“Sorry, I was simply surprised by your appearance,” he explained with a chuckle, “I suppose I’m not used to seeing you in such a way. You look nice. Anyway--yes, I do like to look at the stars sometimes, although I…generally don’t know where to look or what to look at.”

“Oh, I quite understand,” Luna went on, “Sometimes I get lost gazing into the night sky myself. The wondrous constellations and planetoids off in the distance always…distract me,” she said with a sheepish smile.

Aidon chuckled and gave a rather direct response. “Oh--no, for me, I quite literally have no clue where to look. But I’m deciding between that or a regular camera. For taking photos of birds and other animals during the day.”

“Bird-watching, hm?” While that was all well and good, Luna was already thinking of alternatives. “I suppose that’d be nice, but if you ask me, I think a night-vision camera would do wonders for you.”

The man tilted his head as he looked down at the bag containing the camera he had just purchased. “Really? Are there things that appear at night that I’m missing?”

“Oh most certainly,” the blue lady replied with an enthused nod, “Bird-watching during the day is one thing, but at night, it’s an entirely different ballgame. There’s owls of course, nightjars, nightingales--all very interesting birds in their own right.”

“Hm…” Aidon looked down at the camera and gave it some thought. “You do have a point. I might consider watching birds at night in the future.” Since she had so graciously listened to him and his hobbies, Aidon felt it was only fair to return the question, “How about you? Now that I think about it, we haven’t communicated very much off-campus, so I’m curious as to what you like to do in your spare time.”

Luna was all too eager to speak about herself, continuing with a big smile on her face. “Really? Okay, well…there’s the aforementioned stargazing, but I also enjoy chess, baseball, reading, art, and playing the odd video game or two on occasion.”

The man’s attention was captivated until she mentioned video games. It was out of left field and didn’t strike him at first until he replied with, “Wait…video games? Interesting.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Luna leaned in and whispered, “But I play the online ones under a fake name and the students have no clue it’s me.”

Since he wasn’t exactly well-versed in how some of this world’s mechanics worked yet, he accepted her words at face value. “Very interesting…though, if you’d like some suggestions on what to draw, I’m sure I could provide some inspiration.”

“That’d be most appreciated, Aidon. Thank you,” she replied with another nod. Admittedly, the conversation with what was essentially a co-worker had enthralled Luna. It had been a while since she spoke to someone candidly, and as a result, she was itching to keep such an interaction going. Just as Aidon was about to turn his head, she promptly asked, “Erm--would you be opposed to having lunch at one of the nearby cafes? I was just about finished shopping myself, so I’m free if you are.”

A nice day out with the potential to get to know a fellow educator better? Why not? Aidon was more than willing to accept. “Most certainly. Lead the way.” “Please. I have no idea where I’m going.”

Luna took him through the various shopping centers until she located a cafe located on a street corner that had outdoor seating. “This shall be perfect. They’re serving wine along with lunch today.”

“Hm…wait a moment, wine?” Aidon glanced at her with concern as he followed, “You’re willing to consume alcohol this early in the day?”

“...Oh, that’s right.” Luna sighed as she sat down at one of the cafe tables, “You’re not aware. Well, once you get used to dealing with the world around you being nearly destroyed dozens of times by magical and demonic entities, it really drives one’s stress level up. A sip of wine every now and then helps quell such stress.”

Aidon took a seat with her and started to think about what she had said. After all, because she was just a normal human, the effects of magic and its power weighed heavily upon her compared to the man who grew up with it as a shadowpony.

“...I see,” he replied with a nod, “Here’s hoping it doesn’t continue, right?”

“Meh, seems inevitable by this point,” Luna lamented as she slumped against the table with her elbows resting upon it. “There’s no permanent method to stop the supernatural fissures from Equestria that are corrupting our world. At least not yet anyway.” She rolled her eyes, and sat back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. “It’s…quite the burden, on top of all of the other things I’m dealing with.”

“I wonder…” Aidon leaned forward ever so slightly, and made a friendly request, “If you’d like, I’m willing to listen to what you have to say. They say communication is an important part of understanding your own problems.”

Since he was so willing to listen, Luna had no reason to bury her feelings. “What’s the worst that could happen?” So, she explained herself, “Well…to put it simply, part of me feels a tad…jealous of my sister--Tia.”

“...Just like in the pony world,” Aidon thought to himself about Nightmare Moon, “I wonder how this situation differs.”

“...Jealous?” he asked with a curious tone, “I’m afraid I don’t follow. What do you mean specifically?”

Luna picked up the cafe menu and started reading it over. “Maybe that was too strong a term. Perhaps it would be better to say…I wish I could be like her. Her charisma, her charm, the way she gets along so well with the students--it’s something I’d dream of having. But…she’s simply much better at social interaction than I.”

The shadowman started to mentally pick apart what she said. Charisma? Charm? Qualities that Luna assumed she lacked? This was a case of perceived self-inadequacy if he ever saw it.

But what was the root of it all?

“If you don’t mind,” Aidon replied, “Let’s start from the beginning. At what point did you feel that you were in your sister’s shadow?”

Luna sighed, and lowered the menu. “...The day she graduated CHS…leaving me on my own from Sophomore year onwards.”

Arc XV Episode II: Casual Conversation

But before they continue their conversation, who would their waitress turn out to be?

“Professor? No waaaay!” the cross-eyed angel herself walked out to them as soon as she caught wind of their presence. “And VP Luna? Oooh! Is this a special occasion?” Derpy interrupted them with a wide smile, staring at them both.

“No.”

“No.”

They spoke together in a tone flatter and dryer than sandpaper. The last thing they needed was a rumor spread around the school.

Thankfully, Derpy responded rather maturely. She stood upright and readied her pen and notepad. “Oh, alright. Sorry for the mixup--what would you guys like?”

“A salad and wine is fine for me,” Luna requested.

Aidon looked over the menu once more, and simply picked the item with the highest number of calories. “The deep-fried bacon sandwich, and a black whipped mocha.”

“Ooh, been a while since we had one of those ordered,” Derpy replied with an excited smile as she took their menus. “I’ll be back in a bit!”

As she left, Luna couldn’t help but shoot a blank stare at Aidon. “...”

Noting how fixated she was upon him, he addressed it, “Erm…something wrong?”

“...I’m simply surprised you would desire something so…hefty, is all.”

“Well, it boils down to dark magic taking up extra stamina from my body,” he explained while flexing his arm, “Even if I don’t use it, the power I was born with still takes a toll on me over time, so I need to consume foods that are high in calories.”

“I see…and what happens if your caloric intake…” Luna muttered while giving a concerned glance towards his bicep, “...gets too low?”

“Nothing pretty,” Aidon replied as he lowered his arm, “But the chances of that happening are highly unlikely as I’m in a much better place now than before. Anyhow…in regards to you…”

Returning to the topic of herself caused Luna to gasp and bite her lip out of surprise. Was it possible that she had hoped the conversation would veer away from it? “Ah! Oh…yes, right…” she started to idly twirl her finger around her ponytail, “Erm…okay. Tia was an all-star student in every area. She participated in all of the clubs and eventually became student body president.”

“I see,” Aidon nodded, listening closely, “Go on."

“And eventually…I found myself in a precarious position,” Luna went on with a frown on her face, “Because I was the younger sister of one of the best honor students at CHS, I felt pressured. Pressured to do just as well as her, but…I couldn’t.”

“Why not? You seem pretty capable to me,” Aidon replied.

While that may have been the case now, Luna needed to give him the whole store from about three decades ago. “Sure--maybe. But back then I simply wasn’t good enough. I was always more interested in art and fortune telling--as well as arcane mysteries of the universe such as tarot cards and palm readings. A nerd essentially. Not to mention…” she folded her arms, then rolled her eyes. “I hated social interaction back then. You’d have better luck trying to get a cat to bark than have me speak to someone else.”

“Oooh…” Aidon could already piece together where Luna’s sentiment was going. Between the way Celestia was praised and how different she was than her older sister…but the shadowman wanted to hear the rest of what she had to say. “So that led to things becoming…awkward for you in school, yes?”

“You have no idea,” Luna sighed, “When I didn’t meet the expectations that everyone had preconceived, I was ostracized for the most part. Which I preferred anyways as an introvert. Unfortunately, Celestia had already gone off to college. So for three whole years, I had to navigate high school on my own.” She rested one of her elbows upon the table, and rested her chin upon her open palm. “...But let me tell you, Aidon. Those three years felt like a thousand.”

“...” Aidon fell silent. “...’Felt like a thousand’? It’s an uncanny parallel…” From what he knew of their Equestrian counterparts, it felt all too familiar.

Before he could respond, Derpy had returned with their orders and set them on the table in front of them. “Salad for Luna, and a bacon sandwich for the professor.” She backed away with a smile, “If you need anything else, let me know!”

“Thank you,” Luna muttered under her breath as she idly grabbed the fork.

“Much appreciated, Ms. Muffins,” Aidon replied as the cross-eyed girl left the scene. What to say next had begun to elude him. How would he approach a delicate subject such as this when he had little to no idea how the school system treated her--all he could do was listen. “So…here’s a question, I’d like to pose: What was your motivation to become the vice principal here at this institution?”

Luna swallowed a bite of her salad and responded. “...To help young minds deal with the same problems that I went through when I was younger. Naturally, no one is to blame for what I experienced, but if I can help those youngsters make it through life without burying themselves under the pain of others…that’d be great.”

“I see…well, if you ask me, you’ve already done a fantastic job at that,” Aidon did his best to uplift her, “Your past…while rough, can no longer harm you. Take solace in your current position, hm?”

Luna chuckled as she continued eating. “Oh…you’re just a bundle of optimism, aren’t you? But I suppose you have a point. I shouldn’t be fretting over what happened a long time ago. I suppose I’ve just…haven’t found the time to be sociable and discuss such a thing with someone other than my sister.”

“...Hm?” Aidon put his sandwich down after taking a bite. Once he finished that morsel, he asked a question to sate his curiosity, “You don’t have any friends to lean on?”

“Ouch, professor,” she replied with a sarcastic eye roll, accompanied with a well-meaning grin, “You make it sound as if I’m a complete shut-in with no hope.”

“Wh--n-no!” he shook his head and tried to clear up his stance with an awkward smile on his face. “That’s not what I meant at all!”

The man’s embarrassed, over-the-top reaction only caused Luna to giggle further. “It’s fine! I’m merely jesting. Though I will admit, it’s a nice change of pace to see someone else stutter their way through a conversation for a change.”

“Yeah…heh…” Aidon adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.

Once the two were finished eating, Luna placed money on the table and asked, “I’ve got some more time to spend before I have to head home. Want to take a closer look at that telescope? There might be some other…items of interest there…if you don’t mind my presence that is…” she muttered while twirling her finger around her ponytail once more.

Much to her relief, Aidon replied amicably. “Not at all. I’m actually very interested in such topics but have no idea how to approach them. Lead the way, Luna.”

As the two left, someone from one of the nearby tables lowered a menu to peek at the pair. “...He’s going to be a problem to deal with.”

Arc XV Episode III: Off Days

Luna took the lead and helped Aidon navigate through to the shop that sold astrology and sporting equipment such as telescopes and fishing poles. As they both spent time looking over the devices, Aidon popped a question.

“So let me ask…do you still feel as though your sister overshadows you to this day?”

The question caused Luna to stop dead in her tracks while looking over one of the telescopes. There was no way she was willing to discuss her own insecurities without the input of another person, so it would seem that Aidon had already had that part figured out.

As a result, she had to give an honest answer. “...Admittedly, yes. On occasion. However, as you said a few moments ago, I can take pride in the fact that I am where I am now. In fact, I’m much better at socialization than I was thirty years ago--”

Aidon’s eyes shot wide open as soon as he heard that. “...Thirty?”

“That’s right, yes,” Luna answered with an innocent tilt of her head with her hands behind her back, “Did I not say that earlier?”

“...Huh,” was all he could say. Luna’s youthful appearance completely betrayed the fact that she was apparently in her forties. It was downright impressive for a human, and Aidon found himself looking over her body for a moment or two out of disbelief. “...Nothing I--”

It took a moment for Luna to realize what his issue was, and when the gears finally clicked, she let out a small giggle. “Oh, I see now. You’re rather perplexed by appearance given my age.”

“No--not at all--it’s just…” Aidon quickly denied such a thing, turning away and placing his hand on his forehead. “What are you saying? You’re only making this more awkward than it needs to be.”

Luna took a few steps forward and leaned around the man to check on him. “...Are you alright, sir? Apologies. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Ahem--it’s fine, it’s…fine,” he replied with a smile, “I was simply caught off-guard by that statement. Though it does make me wonder…”

“What?” Luna asked with curious eyes, “I’m all ears for anything you have to say, Aidoneous.”

“You’ve been around for quite a while--when was the last time you took some time off? A vacation with either your sister or yourself?”

Luna opened her mouth, but promptly closed it and began to think. “Wait a minute. When was the last time I took some extended time off?”

Aidon found it appropriate to clear up his stance. “...I only ask because it’s important to take care of yourself more than anything. I think that may be the root of the problem here. It’s important to manage your body and mind’s own stability before you can worry about anyone else’s.”

“...Okay, you make a good point,” she replied as she turned her attention to one of the antique astronomy map-copies that were on sale. “I suppose I’ve been focusing too much on others and not myself. Maybe it does stem back to my…social anxieties. As I said before--my sister was the more outgoing one. I still…have a hard time talking to others. Hence why I choose to play online video games instead, hehe…” she said with an embarrassed chuckle as she recounted the nights she would spend yelling at her teammates over the mic.

Aidon noted the star map that she was looking at and pointed out something rather obvious that occurred to him over the course of their conversation: “I see. Well, you seem to speak to me just fine. I wonder why that is.”

“Well…I suppose it could be because you’re pleasant to listen to?” Luna replied with her arms behind her back again, and while leaning back and forth on her heels. “Of course, you work at the school, so that helps as I’m somewhat familiar with who you are as a person. Talking to random people…still unnerves me. Blech--look at me. I’m a 40-something-year-old woman with infantile speaking issues…” She sighed, and turned away from him. “You must find it weird, don’t you?”

“Honestly? No,” Aidon admitted, “I have issues with speaking to others too at times--I’m still navigating my way through this world’s social structure…” With that in mind, Aidon gave a simple suggestion. “Luna. Spend time with those who you find comfortable with first, then branch out to others when you’re ready, alright? There’s no pressure.”

“You…do have a point, hm…” “Can I really overcome this?”

After spending some time in the shop, the pair of adults made their way towards their vehicles away from the marketplace. Aidon had purchased some more camera supplies while Luna had decided to buy herself a new telescope tripod.

“So, er…this was quite the day out, was it not?” Luna muttered as she approached her blue sports car with a starry paint job. “I feel like I’ve gotten to know you a bit better, professor.”

Aidon tossed the bags of items he had purchased into the trunk, and leaned against his SUV. “I can most certainly say the same. Just remember that no matter what happens, the students and your sister still love you.”

“Yes, you have a point indeed,” Luna replied as she put the telescope parts in her trunk. “Though, there’s something that’s eluded me about you for a while…” She took out her phone and started swiping…

Aidon took a step towards her and asked, “Erm…what do you mean?”

Luna turned to him, showing off her phone with a video playing. In it was the recording of the shadow-pony-man using his powers of darkness to keep Pomelo from escaping the scene. “Was this…you?”

“Yes actually,” he replied while looking at the video with a flat expression, then scoffed. “Hmph. Cameras made me look rather slender for a man of my stature…”

Needless to say, the blue woman reacted with a jittery sense of excitement, shivering in place with a smile. “W-w-wow, um…” Luna took a deep breath as she put her phone away. “Okay this may sound odd but…do you think I could read your palms sometime…? Maybe spend an off-day with you...?” she begged while leaning towards him. “I’ve been dying to test my theories on someone with eccentric power!”

“...” For a moment, Aidon said nothing.

That’s when Luna backed off and cleared her throat. She then tapped her index fingers together in a sheepish manner. “That is…if you’re willing…”

“Maybe it’ll aid in her social development. Hm…” Ultimately, he saw no problem with this. “Sure. The more I can learn about human culture, the better.”

“Yes!” Luna squealed as she pumped her fist out of joy. “Thank you, Aidoneous. You won’t regret partaking in my little experiment!”

Before he could say anything else, Luna had hopped in her car and drove off the lot.

A nervous bead of sweat ran down the side of the man’s face as he watched her drive off. “Well…she’s certainly something.”

Meanwhile, as Aidon drove off, the same individual from before was watching from afar…

“Bittersweet. But fitting. Now I know what makes him tic. Now to find the vampony-boy…”

Arc XVI Episode I: Pool Party

At Diamond Tiara’s mansion…specifically the backyard…

The pink girl herself had already acquired her best friend Silver Spoon’s favorite foods, and her newest friend Keiji’s favorite foods. Once that was done, she got dressed in her swimsuit--a black one-piece with shorts--and headed outside to the pool.

“Alright. Food is set. Shrimp for Spoon, blood sausages for Keiji, what am I missing…?” She looked over to the side of the yard where her father was busy manning the grill wearing a red flannel shirt and an apron. “Daddy, did you get everything I asked for?”

“Of course I did, sweetie,” Mr. Rich responded as his daughter approached him, “Now remind me again: Just how many friends of yours are arrivin’ today?”

“Just Keiji and Silver Spoon,” she replied, “I want them to try and get along with each other since she kinda has a thing against him.” She inspected her father’s choice of dress and promptly rolled her eyes. “Seriously, dad? Socks with sandals?”

“What? It’s an old-fashioned look,” he insisted while flipped the sausages over.

Tiara rolled her eyes. “There’s ‘old fashioned’ and there’s straight-up old. Just please don’t embarrass me in front of them.”

“Right, right--oh and go tell your mother everything’s almost ready. Been dying to see her come out near the pool again,” he said with a small smile on his face.

“Got it--wait--” Tiara stopped, double-taking as she looked back at her father, “You’re excited to see mom?” She asked with an uncertain half-smile.

“Let’s just say…we’re workin’ on communication,” Mr. Rich replied slowly as he tried to figure out how to explain it to her, “To make a long story short, we uh…went to therapy and were told--”

Before she got any more details, Tiara cut him off. “Ya know what? I don’t really care how you guys figured it out, I’m just glad you guys figured it out.” She stepped forward and put her arms around her father to hug him tightly. “The sooner you and mom start treating each other better, the happier I’ll be.”

The man gave a sigh of relief, but was unable to properly return the gesture due to being preoccupied with the grill. “Don’t worry, princess. We’ll be just fine. Now go on and get her for me, ya hear?”

“Of course, daddy!” Tiara squealed as she let go and ran back inside, “Hey mo--woah!”

“Hm?” Spoiled Rich was already on her way out towards her, wearing a well-fitted two-piece bikini with cougar print. “Does this make me look fat, Diamond Tiara? Be honest with me.”

“You look fine, mom. Don’t worry,” Tiara replied with a nod, “Just go on. Dad’s waiting for you…if you wanna see him, that is.”

Surprisingly, Spoiled continued walking with a grin on her face. “Good. I’ve been taking a look at myself lately and realized that he and I need to reconnect in a few ways. So I’m going to try and spend more time with him--and you of course.”

“Really…?” Tiara asked with an optimistic expression as she rubbed the back of her neck, “What inspired you to think of it that way?”

“Let’s just say…a little bat informed me of a different way to look at things,” Spoiled said with a wink as she walked outside towards her husband--the latter greeted her with an open arm as the two smiled at each other for the first time in what felt like months.

Meanwhile, Tiara started to piece together what her mother had meant by her words. “Bat…could she mean, KK--?”

Speaking of which…

The vamp-kid had arrived a few minutes later, and Tiara allowed him entry via her home’s automated door system.

“Agh…holy shit, I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” he muttered while picking something out of his ear with his pinky finger. In his other hand, he was carrying a small duffel bag--likely containing his swimwear.

“You’re here!” Tiara ran forward and startled the guy with a hug.

“The hell?!” Keiji was taken aback, recoiling from the embrace. “Hey, not so hard, dammit!”

She backed off, and cleared her throat. “Ahem. Sorry. But my mom was just telling me about how she and dad are getting along again. I think you may have something to do with that.”

“Right…and?” he raised a brow, “What they do in their spare time doesn’t concern me. So long as you don’t get caught up in the crossfire that is.”

“Aw, so you do care about me. Is that it?” Tiara said with a teasing giggle. “But seriously…thanks for…whatever you did.”

Keiji rotated his neck as he put a hand to his forehead. “Meh. Call it even, I guess. Anyway, where can I go get changed?”

“Oh, there’s a bathroom to your left. Can’t miss it,” she said, pointing down a hallway.

“Gotcha. Hopefully Spooner won’t hate my ass once this is over with,” he muttered as he trudged off in the direction of the bathroom.

“Yeah…me too,” Tiara agreed under her breath as she wondered where her best friend was. “...Did she ghost me? What’s going on?”

About ten minutes later…

Diamond Tiara was sitting on the side of the pool where the steps were, idly kicking her feet in the water. “Hrm…where is she…?”

Moments later, the green boy made his debut to the backyard pool wearing nothing but a pair of orange swim trunks. “Ahhhh…” he yawned, and stretched his arms upwards before approaching the pool. “Sup.”

Tiara turned around to see him, and her eyes were immediately fixated upon his abdominal region--mainly the scars that were on his body. She was immediately reminded of the day she brought him home and she saw him wearing nothing but a towel. “...What happened to him? What did he go through to get those painful-looking marks…” she thought to herself with a worried frown as she tilted her head downwards.

Keiji had noticed the way she was looking at him and called her out on it. “What’re ya starin’ at me for? Have some class, little lady. My eyes are up here.”

“Huh--oh, sorry…” Tiara turned around while consciously rubbing her left arm. “I couldn’t help but…uch--never mind.”

He sat down next to her on the pool’s steps and addressed the elephant in the backyard. “That’s a pretty neat pachyderm topiary you got over there,” he then looked her in the eyes, “Also, I bet you’re wondering why I’ve got these healed burn wounds.”

She turned to look in his direction. “...If you don’t wanna tell me…”

“Meh,” he put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers, “You’re nice enough so the least I can do is sate your curiosity since it’ll come out one way or another. Listen up, DT.”

Arc XVI Episode II: Emotional Support

One painful recounting of the past later…

“...And that’s it,” Keiji said with a sigh, “In short, my family screwed me over at every turn and I wasn’t able to find any safety until I came here.”

“Damn…” Tiara looked down at the pool--she was unable to face him after the chilling tale that she was just told. “That’s…horrible. I don’t have any siblings myself, but if they treated me like that I’d…I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Yeah well, save your sympathy,” he replied, “It’s in the past now. It can’t hurt me anymore…for the most part.”

At last, she turned to him. “...What do you mean by that?”

He put his hands down, and scoffed as he kicked some of the pool water. “Tch. Would you believe me if I told you I’m deathly afraid of being chased? Just…the sensation of something after me that I can’t fight against--it…sends chills up my spine. Pathetic, eh?”

“...What? No…” Tiara put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not pathetic at all. In fact, it’s…reasonable. You’ve been through a lot. And this ‘Starswirl’ bastard seems like someone who wants to abuse his power for the sake of serving as someone who claims to be ‘good.’” She let him go and used air quotes to emphasize her point. “I know because I’ve seen loads of people who use their wealth for corrupt means. It sounds like magic is essentially the currency of Equestria--it’s really not all that different from here.”

The boy fell silent as he listened to what she had to say. Maybe his fears weren’t abnormal? If someone like Diamond Tiara was willing to hear him out, then was he really the self-proclaimed ‘asshole’ he thought he was?

“...This chick is like a freakin’ morality angel on my shoulder. Blech.” His thoughts betrayed how he truly felt. He was genuinely grateful for her words as her well-being served as one of his few motivators.

“Well…I suppose you’re right. Fear is a natural thing that keeps us alive and all that jazz so…yeah.”

Diamond looked down at the water once more, and eventually came to a conclusion. “...You know what? I think I wanna be a sister to you as well. Just like the Sirens.”

“Oh god, not you too--” he rolled his eyes and casually licked his fangs, “Does everyone in this world just take pity on me?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. It’s more like…I’ve seen a lot of similar abuse cases where a kid gets abandoned because they have a terrible family or none at all.” She put her arm around his shoulder. “I don’t want that for you, ya know? I guess you can see it as me wanting to be your friend?”

Keiji sighed, but knew that it would be much more trouble to deny her offer. So he relented. “...Fiiine. I guess that works.”

Tiara dealt a playful punch to his arm. “It’s better than me having unfounded affections for you. No offense, but you’re not my type at all.”

“Thank goodness,” he returned the gesture with a friendly elbow to her midsection, “If I had to marry into your family, that’d be…hell no.”

Tiara raised a brow, then snickered as she watched her parents kissing each other from afar. “Blech. You’re right. Though, it’s nice to see them not fighting for a change…”

“I concur. It means things are gonna get better for you, which is all I really care about anyways.”

For all his arrogance, Keiji proved to be more sensitive than Tiara could’ve imagined. She was all too eager to point out this fact. “Ya know…for someone who turns into a demon bat just to kill things, you’re pretty nice. It’s like you’re the brother I never had--”

“Pfft. If anything, you’re stronger than I am,” he muttered as he stood up, “You’re willing to stand your ground against your parents. That’s something I wish I could’ve done when I was younger.”

“...Maybe, but still. Don’t sell yourself short, okay?” Tiara suggested with a well-meaning tone, “You’re a good guy with a messy past. I’m just…trying not to fall into the stereotypes of other rich teenage valley girls.”

Keiji stretched his arms out, crossing one over the other. It appeared that he was preparing to dive in. “Well, you’ve already done that much so don’t trip over yourself. Gotta say, this was weirdly…nice--talking things out, I mean. I should do this more often. Maybe I won’t feel annoyed all the time.”

“Hm…” Tiara subtly scooched over until she was positioned right behind him…

And he didn’t notice yet. “I mean, I was never given much of a chance to talk to anyone back home, so I guess I felt a bit weird regarding…speech with others. Believe it or not. Sorry--I’m just a bundle of issues, aren’t I?”

“No, not at all…” the pink girl assured him as she slowly raised her legs out of the water, “In fact, you’ve given me someone to listen to, so it’s worked out in the end.”

“Yeah, anyway--BWAH!”

SPLASH!

With a swift, albeit gentle push from her feet, Diamond Tiara pushed Keiji into the water. “Oops!” she giggled as she leaned forward and watched the green boy sputter about in the water until he realized he was floating. “Sorry about--WAGH!”

SPLASH!

In a quick turn of events, Keiji grabbed her hand and pulled her into the water after him, causing her to slash around nearby. “Gotcha.”

Tiara rose out of the water with a death-glare on her face which quickly turned into a series of light-hearted laughs. “Haha! I’ve been waiting to see how good you are at swimming. It felt like you were stalling for a bit there, KK,” she said with a teasing grin.

“Please, of course I can swim,” the vamp-boy flipped onto his back and started doing the backstroke casually. “I pretty much taught myself how when I arrived in this world near the oceans.”

“Woah, what?” Tiara gazed at him with wide eyes while holding onto a nearby floatie, “Tell me about--”

A familiar voice interrupted them. “Ahem.”

They both stopped on a dime and looked over at the sliding glass door where Silver Spoon was standing. She had on a basic purple, one-piece swimsuit and stared at them both through her glasses, pushing them up by the rims. “Am I interrupting a special little moment between you two or what?”

Arc XVI Episode III: Helpful Communication

“Oh, not at all, Silver!” Tiara looked over at the green boy, then at the gray girl. “Come on in, the water’s perfect!”

“I’m sure it is…” Spoon replied as she entered from the shallow end of the pool, and grabbed onto one of the many pool noodles to float upon--away from Keiji. “So, how ya been, Di?”

Keiji looked at Tiara and shrugged his shoulders. If Silver Spoon wasn’t willing to approach him, then he saw no reason to exchange effort where there wasn’t any. Instead, he simply resumed his backstroke routine towards the deeper end of the pool.

Tiara sighed to herself as she watched her friends separate. “I have to get them together somehow. At the very least to where they don’t actively dislike each other. But how…what do they both like. C’mon, think…”

As she combed her brain for ideas, her best friend spoke up to her while floating on one of the pool’s air-filled lounge chairs. “So! Got anything special in mind for Valentine’s Day? Maybe hand out candy to someone special?”

“Oh, uh…I haven’t thought about it very much actually,” Tiara replied casually, brushing off the holiday as unimportant. “It’s just a holiday meant to capitalize on people’s shortcomings and make them feel inadequate for not being able to get a date. Which is something I plan on not doing.”

Spoon paused for a moment and turned her head to the side. “...Dammit.” After a moment of hesitation, she cleared her throat and looked at her friend with an uneasy smile. “Yeah…of course, totally. I couldn’t agree more.”

But Tiara was more perceptive than Spoon thought. In an instant, she could tell something was off, and spoke up about it. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sil. It’s okay. Keiji’s way over there so he probably won’t even hear you.”

“Fine…” Spoon turned over onto her stomach, lying on the floatie-chair so she could speak with Tiara more closely. “I…like you, okay? And I don’t want you to hang around someone who could possibly break your heart.”

Tiara fell silent for a moment as she thought about what to say next. “...I’m flattered, Spoon. But I’m not looking for something like that right now. Not from anyone. But I want you to know that he’s not gonna break any hearts.”

Surprisingly, she took the rejection in stride. Instead, Silver Spoon was more focused on her friend’s safety than anything else. “Uh-huh,” the gray girl narrowed her eyes, “And just how are you so sure about that?”

“...He’s probably gonna kill me for spilling this. And he’d be completely justified. But I need to explain it so she’ll understand.” Once her mind was made up, Tiara decided to explain. “Because…his heart’s already been broken. In a dozen or so places. Notice those marks on his body?””

Spoon paused and tilted her head. “Wait…what?”

At the other end of the pool…

Keiji was swimming by himself, casually swimming about in a rather directionless manner. That is, until he heard his phone ringing from nearby.

“Eh?”

He hopped out of the pool and grabbed his phone from the nearby table he placed his bag earlier. “Yo.”

The phone engaged a video call between himself and Rumble. “Hey dawg, how’s it goin’?”

“I just got here. Don’t bother me, please,” Keiji rolled his eyes, then looked directly at the screen, “Where are you right now?”

The silver-colored boy was covered in sweat and sitting on a bench. “I’m at soccer practice with my buds. Caught a break and I figured why not check up on you? Never seen Diamond Tiara’s place before.”

“Right. Well anyway--”

Suddenly, another voice popped up followed by the appearance of another boy who was around their age range--maybe a bit older. “Who’s that, yo? Hey, is that the vamp-dude from school?”

Keiji looked closer at the screen, and eyed the other boy who was in the same blue and yellow soccer uniform as the other Wondercolts--albeit he was ahead of them in age as a Junior. The guy in question had pale-green skin, and a messy head of hair that was two shades of blue. “...Wait a sec, Sandbar? Well I’ll be damned. You’re actually doing something instead of lazing around. What happened to your glasses?”

“Oh yeah, those?” the boy casually replied with half-lidded eyes as he reclined on the bench, “Turns out I had a vision problem, yo. I felt so different once I was able to take ‘em off, ya know? Like I could be myself again. So I figured why not do some other things?”

“Huh,” Keiji raised a brow, “Well…I suppose I’m happy for you. I may as well ask--what else are you guys doing today?”

Rumble spoke up to answer that question. “Well after this, we’re gonna head to a secret little cove that Sandbar found. Then get some food. His dad apparently owns a food truck near the beach where he sells stuff from Jamhayca.”

“Jamhayca?” the vamp-boy scratched his head, “Where’s that again?”

“It’s where my dad is from. It’s in the ocean below the continent, yo,” Sandbar explained, “The Carribean? Don’t you remember your geography lesson?”

“...I can point out the Earth on a map?”

Rumble snickered. “Lay off him, Sand. He’s still getting used to all this stuff.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. You’re from Equestria with the magic ponies. Sweeeet,” Sandbar added as he threw his head back and drank from a sports bottle. “Anyway, we better get goin’. I think Coach Spitfire is about to put us in.”

Sure enough, the iconic, raspy tone of Spitfire called out to them from afar. “RUMBLE-BEE! SANDMAN! GET YOUR ASSES ON THE FIELD!”

“Go, Rumble, go!” Scootaloo’s voice could be heard in the background.

Followed by a thunderous shout from Yona. “Sandbar is best at association football! Smash enemy team!”

“And that’s our cue, yo,” Sandbar stood up, “Talk to ya later, Keiji. Let’s go, Rumble.”

“Ugggh,” Rumble rolled his eyes and took one last look at the camera. “See ya. Hope things go well at DT’s place.”

“Pfft. Worry about yourselves,” Keiji sassed back before hanging up. Once he put his phone down, he was about to turn back towards the pool until…

Both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approached him, having just gotten out of the pool themselves. The latter of which had a nervous expression on her face and was unable to look Keiji in the eye.

“...KK,” Tiara began, “Silver Spoon has something she wants to say to you. Don’t you?” she emphasized while glaring at her friend from the corner of her eye.

“...”

Arc XVI Episode IV: A Heartfelt Apology

Keiji folded his arms. “Well? Out with it, already.”

“...I’m sorry,” Silver Spoon muttered.

Keiji leaned forward while cupping his hand around his ear. “Say what?”

“I’m sorry,” Spoon amplified her voice while shyly looking down at the ground, “I was so caught up in my own fears that I didn’t realize that you had gone through abuse in your previous life before you came here. It…actually explains a lot. Including why you and Di got along so well.”

“Oh great. Now I have to deal with this too.” The boy leaned his head backwards and bit his lip. “So…you went ahead and told her.”

“...I’m sorry too,” Tiara admitted, “But it was the only way I could get her to stop hating you. Why? Well, I’ll let her explain.”

With the floor to speak on Spoon’s shoulders, Keiji looked in her direction with an expectant gaze. “Well?”

Silver Spoon took a deep breath and began to explain herself. “My cousin, Salad Fork--”

“Really?” Keiji interrupted her with a smug expression, “That’s her name?”

“Yes.”

“...Oh,” the grin faded and he returned to a state of listening, “Got it. Go on.”

“Anyway, my cousin Salad Fork went through the same thing--her parents didn’t really care for her at all and she pretty much stays at my place all the time. In fact, she and I are pretty much sisters if you can believe it.”

That was just it--he couldn’t believe it at first. The boy cocked his head to one side, blinking with a confused expression on his face. “...You care for someone other than Carbon Crown here? Really?”

Tiara chose to not allow that comment to phase her on the outside. “Huh. Guess he has been paying attention in science class.”

Silver Spoon nodded, and walked over to the table, grabbing her phone. “I get that you don’t see it--and I don’t blame you.” She turned it on, and went to her photos, showing various pictures of herself spending time with another yellow-skinned girl her age at the fair, at a monster truck rally, and simple things like braiding her hair. “She’s…kinda the reason why I’ve been so attached to Di. I didn’t wanna see her go through the same thing. It’s like my close circle of family, ya know?”

Keiji stroked his chin as he thought over what he was just told. As it turned out, Silver Spoon’s suspicion of him merely stemmed from her sense of protectiveness regarding her own family. In a way, he could almost relate to her. And in return, she felt empathy for his situation from his messed-up home life.

“So that’s it, eh? Fine. I guess you’re not the possessive psycho that I thought you were,” he replied with a yawn. “You have some shred of empathy, so don’t trip over yourself apologizing.”

“Even so, I realized where I made a mistake when it came to judging you,” Spoon went on while eyeing up the scars on his body. “...I’m still not entirely sure how vampire-people work, but if Di is willing to trust you, then so am I. You don’t deserve any more awful people in your life.” She stepped forward and offered her hand. “...So can we at least be…acquaintances?”

“Well I’ll be damned…” To say that Keiji was surprised by this would be an understatement. He was almost certain that Silver Spoon would give him enough of a hard time to last him a few months. But when he looked over Spoon’s shoulder to see Tiara’s relieved expression, it immediately clicked. “This must’ve been eating her up for quite some time now. If it makes her feel better, then I don’t have much choice.”

While he wasn’t entirely trustworthy of Spoon just yet, he was willing to start on a clean slate and give her the benefit of the doubt.

So, he accepted her hand and shook it. “Keiji Ketsuki--there. Do we hate each other less now?”

Spoon snickered once she pulled her hand back, enlightened by the boy’s sense of humor. “I see why she pals around you so much. You have no filter--it’s kinda refreshing actually.”

“I know, right?” Tiara agreed, “It’s much different from all of the stuffy asshole children of my dad’s business partners. They’re some real tightwads up there I tell you what.”

“...Wow,” Spoon tilted her head when she heard her friend swear. She wasn’t horrified, but rather…curious. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk like that before.”

“Meh, must be this guy rubbing off on me,” the pink girl nudged the vamp-boy with her elbow.

“Please don’t--don’t ever say that again,” Keiji deadpanned with narrowed eyes, “That’s a terrible way to say that.”

They were interrupted by Mr. Rich who called to them from the poolside cabana. “Food’s ready, everyone!”

“Oh finally, I’m starving,” Spoon commented as she sniffed at the air, “Is that shrimp I smell? You know exactly what I like, don’tcha, Di?”

“Hey, you’re my best friend,” she replied while wrapping one arm around the gray girl’s shoulder. “What kinda person would I be if I didn’t?” She then did the same to Keiji, roping him in with her other arm. “You too, bro. C’moooon.”

“Oh goddammit--”

Spoon then interjected with a question, “So you’re from Equestria, right? What’s your opinion of the magic system there?”

“It’s fulla shit.”

“Oooh, tell us more!”

Meanwhile, from a vehicle parked outside of the mansion…someone was observing them.

“Oh great. And here I thought they were gonna be at each other's throats. Now this presents another thorn in my side. I suppose we’ll have to up the intensity of our operation. Lucide better be ready with that toxin or else…”

Arc XVII Episode I: Valentine's Day

Once the weekend was over…

Lucide approached Canterlot High School early in the morning before anyone arrived. It was about 6AM. The tan-skinned woman then used magic to activate a communication portal to speak with her haggard boss.

“Alright, I’m here. Now one more time. What’s the plan?”

The wheelchair-bound figure had to cough her words out once again. “Spread that toxin throughout the school the first chance you get. Then, conceal yourself as fast as possible to avoid any suspicion. Got it?”

Lucide held up the bottle of red liquid in her hands--a vial that was marked with a simple skull-and-crossbones layered over a heart. “Hm…I got this, Cuz. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how to make potions just yet.”

“You better not. This world is a waste of space filled with garbage walking around on two legs, masquerading as the apex species. But once I have their power, I’ll be able to--”

“Ugh. Seriously?” Lucide interrupted her master’s words with a groan and a sarcastic eye roll. “You know multiple people have tried to do that. Hell, Sunset Shimmer herself tried that.”

The crabby woman responded with an ornery shout. “Listen’ta me you malignant ruffian! Ahem…and of course. I know that already, thank you very much. Trying to take over this world is a fool’s game. However, that’s not what I wanna do. I wanna destroy it!”

“Oh right. Totally. That makes complete sense.”

“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”

“Oh no, no, no!”

The hooded woman sighed and shook her head. “I’m not merely gonna destroy it for the sake of it. I intend to rebuild it from the ground up. Almost nothing here is magic-based and the humans are all that much weaker for it. But so long as Sunset and the Elements of Harmony’s human counterparts remain active…”

Lucide started to casually chew on a candy stick while listening to her boss speak. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you want me to use the potion in the vents of the school so everyone will breathe it in. And then what?”

“The girls will all begin to helplessly flounder about,” said the boss, “Don’t fret about the boys. They’re useless--they’ll certainly fall victim to the girls’ desires within the first hour.”

“Heh…” Lucide approached the school…and took the form of Principal Celestia. “Sounds fun to me. Let’s see how this shit works in action.”

Two hours later…8AM…

Everyone was back to school as always. All of the students and teachers approached the building. Inside, there were red and pink hearts adorning all of the hallways and classrooms. Seemed that Valentine’s Day was in full swing. Everyone was opening up their lockers and finding cards, exchanging them in the halls, and confessing their feelings to others.

Well, all except for a small group of individuals.

Sandbar, Button Mash, and Rumble were idly chatting in the halls, trying to keep a low profile with Keiji in the midst of their group.

“Remind me again why you two asked me to join you here?” the vamp-boy muttered with an annoyed tone.

“Duh, so no one tries to give us any valentines,” Rumble muttered while putting something in his locker.

Sandbar would comment next with a lazy grin on his face as usual. “Yeah, the last time someone tried’ta gimme a card, Yona scared ‘em all away. Really dunno why people even bother; if I’m already with someone else, why even run the risk, yo?”

“Guess they don’t care,” Mash commented with a roll of his eyes as he glared at all of the decorations. “Some people just don’t know when it’s time to stop. So they figure they can do whatever they want. You wouldn’t believe how many people think it’s okay to send cards to my mom. It’s actually kinda creepy and really makes me sick.”

“Well no shit,” Keiji hissed while sticking out his tongue, “The idea of someone daring to send either of my shitty parents a card is disgusting in and of itself. But whatever. Not my concern. All I wanna do is get through the day without any awkward shenanigans.”

In an effort to make him feel more comfortable, Sandbar put an arm around Keiji’s shoulder and consoled him. “Don’t worry, yo. I’m sure you’ll find someone soon enough.”

Unfortunately, Keiji was not exactly willing to hear any of that. “Get offame ya damn hipster,” he grumbled while wrestling free of the upperclassman, “That may be all well and good for you, but I have zero interest in romance….but those chocolates, I will take.”

Sandbar shot playful fingerguns at his friend. “Ahhh--knew ya couldn’t resist somethin’ about it, yo. I’m not really into candy, so you can have some of the stuff I’ve gotten. I tend to give my sister half of my Halloween candy too.”

“Sister, huh?” Keiji folded his arms as he thought about what Sandbar’s family life could be like. “And how old is she? Do you take care of her?”

Sandbar chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Pfft. Well, first off, she’s 14, yo. Second--I almost take care of her too much. Apparently she’s studying computer science-y stuff so she can become a hacker or something. But I always go through her history and make sure she talks to people of her age.” The young man sighed with his usual lazy grin. “...And she usually gets on my ass about it. But! It’s all for her safety.”

Keiji had shut his eyes for a moment to mull over Sandbar’s explanation. Once he was satisfied, he opened his eyes and looked at Sandbar with a mildly interested smile on his face. “...Good. Glad to hear it. I have no issues with you.”

Sandbar raised a brow, and wondered aloud. “Hm…what brought that on?”

Then, from the corner of their eyes, everyone could see Flash Sentry walking through the halls with his hands in his pockets and looking at the floor with a sorrowful frown on his face.

Rumble was the first to comment. “...Wonder what’s up with him?”

“...Ain’t nothin’ good about a face like that, yo,” Sandbar added.

Button Mash spoke up as Flash continued towards the end of the hall towards the back door of the school. “Should we say something? Gah…Pound Cake would probably know more about this. Too bad he’s home sick right now…”

“...Nah,” Keiji said after a few moments of silence, “It looks serious. Don’t wanna make things worse. Trust me. I know what that’s like…let’s approach him later on at lunch.”

With their minds made up, the boys made their ways to class…although, Sandbar remained suspicious, stopping in his tracks for a moment. "What's up with you, yo?"

Arc XVII Episode II: Love In The Air

Meanwhile…

The Sirens arrived at school moments later, each with their own respective reactions to the greeting card holiday.

“Ugh--this lovey-dovey crap is gonna make me break out in hives,” Aria grumbled as she walked with her sisters.

“Aw, c’moooon!” Sonata insisted, “I bet it’ll be super fun! And look!” she pointed at a poster that was plastered on the wall near the cafeteria. “They’re serving heart-shaped molten brownies! That has to be cool, right Dagi?”

There was no response from the eldest siren. Her gaze was averted in the direction of the boys that were busy on their way to class.

“...Dagi? Yoo-hoo! Anyone home??” Sonata repeated herself while standing on one foot and frantically waving her arm in front of her sister’s face to get her attention.

“Huh--wha? Oh…” Adagio rubbed the side of her head with an embarrassed smile on her face, “Sorry, girls. For some reason I was out of it for a second. I’m not sure--must be something in the air.”

Aria stuck out her tongue, feigning a gag, “Uch! Better not be ‘love’ in the air. The last thing I want is to fall for somebody that I don’t get along with. Though…” she tilted her head and started eyeing some of the boys herself. “I guess I can see the appeal--” But upon saying that, she immediately shook her head and gagged once more. “Blech! What the hell? Nah. No way--I must be crazy.”

“Ooooh!” Sonata sprouted from between her sisters and threw one arm around each of them. “Do my sisters have crushes? Oh this is so exciting!”

“Motherf--no I don’t!” Aria huffed.

“...I don’t think so,” Adagio denied.

However, just as her older sisters did before, Sonata also started to make faces at the boys, with a cat-like expression on her face--she even purred! “Rrrr…come to think of it, they’re not half bad--”

“Oh no you don’t,” Aria snapped her out of it by pulling her arm, “Let’s go. Not letting you fall victim to this love-crap.”

Sonata recoiled, skidding along her heels as she was pulled by force. “Hey! I was joking! C’mon, Ari!”

But this left Adagio perplexed. The orange girl stroked her chin as she thought about the sensation she had just experienced moments ago. “Was that…? No, it couldn’t have been.”

As they went through the halls, Aria and Sonata watched as the saddened Flash Sentry passed by them, now walking towards the front of the school.

“Huh? What’s up with him?” Aria asked.

“Not sure…” Sonata said as she yanked her arm back with a pop!

Aria scratched her head as he walked off. “Think we should say something?”

“Let’s not bother him, girls,” Adagio suggested, “He probably has a lot on his mind that we wouldn’t be able to help with. Best we leave him be for now.”

“Yeah…guess you’re right,” Aria replied with a sigh, “We don’t know how human problems go, so we don’t wanna make things worse…”

“Poor guy…wonder what happened…” Sonata pondered aloud.

Meanwhile, near the front of the school…

Sunset and Applejack were walking to school together and chatting about recent events.

“So ya’ll fought an ‘elephant’ demon?” Applejack commented with a chuckle, “Boy howdy--ya can’t make this stuff up. I know we should be used’ta it all by now, but every time somethin’ new happens, I’m still surprised.”

“Same here. But it begs the question,” Sunset replied as she looked down at the journal in her bookbag, “Just how much longer before we end up in a situation where both worlds collide? Do you think we’re headed towards uncertain danger?”

Surprisingly, Applejack scoffed at this with her sense of down-to-earth logic. “Pssh-yeah right. Sunset, that kinda stuff only happens in disaster and sci-fi flicks. There’s no way there’s enough magic’ta actually bridge the gap between two dimensions.”

“Are you sure?” Sunset asked with a worried expression, “Because it feels like we’ve been living through a constant sci-fi flick. Plus, ya know, I literally grew up where all this stuff came from?”

Even still, Applejack was confident as they entered the school. “Ah, tamaters, pataters--we’ve sent evil magical creatures runnin’ scared with their tails between their legs every other time.” She emphasized while punching her open palm, “Ain’t no way we’re gonna lose against any others.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Sunset replied with a giggle, “Sorry. Guess I’m just wrapped up in my own head again…” With a quick exhale to calm herself down, she then changed the subject. “Oh right--by the way, how’s Keiji been doing at your farm, Applejack?”

No answer.

The deafening silence caused Sunset to swiftly turn her head, “Applejack?”

Applejack was busy idly looking at some of the boys headed to carpentry class from afar with a blank stare on her face. It wasn’t until Sunset snapped her fingers in front of Applejack’s eyes that her attention was broken.

Snap.

“Yah! Whu--what’s goin’ on?” the farm girl panicked as she whipped her head every which way.

“Easy, AJ. You were staring off into space for some reason. Everything okay?”

“I’m fine--just found mahself lookin’ at the fellers for a sec. Dunno what came over me--”

Sunset teased her with a friendly nudge of her elbow. “Well, they do say things like love is in the air around this time. Don’t think I forgot about your childhood crush on Jonathan.”

“Gah!” Applejack gasped, then narrowed her eyes, glaring at Sunset with a pouty lip. “Who told you that?”

“Relax--your secret is safe with me--” Sunset stopped on a dime when she saw Flash Sentry pass by her, and walk out to the front of the campus where he’d take a seat on the steps. “...That’s weird…”

“Somethin’ the matter--ohh…” Applejack bit her lip when she saw the boy in question and immediately put two and two together. “...Heartache. Best we not bother him.”

“...Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sunset asked, “Maybe it’s the holiday that’s getting to him.”

As always, Applejack spoke honestly and from the heart. “Yeah, likely cuz ya’ll both used’ta date each other. If you approached him now, it might cause all those repressed feelin’s pop up again. Ya don’t wanna make it worse, do ya?”

And as much as she wanted to help out, Sunset was willing to listen to her friend. Applejack was usually right when it came to intrapersonal conflict, so why stress the issue? “Yeah, guess you have a point. He probably needs some space right about now. I’ll probably check on him later…” All the while her gaze was so fixated upon him that she nearly walked into her locker--!

“Woah, watch where yer goin’!” Applejack got between her and the metal doors at the last second.

“Oof. Sorry. Guess my mind is all over the place today…”

Arc XVII Episode III: A Lovely Surprise Visit

As everyone prepared to enter school for the day, Flash Sentry spent some time on the front steps of the building. The depressed look on his face said it all--something about Valentine’s Day caused a nagging sensation in the back of his mind.

“Why can’t I get over this?” he thought, “You’d think it’d be easy. I know she’s not coming back, so why is this bothering me? Blech…”

In truth, he was happy that Princess Twilight Sparkle had her own life, but nothing could ever take away what he had felt towards her in the past. You can’t simply un-love a person.

“And then there’s Sunset…really hope she’s still willing to hang out sometime. But knowing her, she’s probably too busy. Who’d wanna hang out with a nobody like me, anyways? In the end, I’m not gonna matter as much as her…or any of them, really.”

The other sad truth was that Flash’s status as the “cool guy” around school was utterly meaningless. At the end of the day, he was another face in the crowd, and once everyone graduated, it would all be for naught as the only thing anyone would remember would be the seven magical girls who had saved their world countless times--and the talking dog.

What brought all of this on? Valentine’s Day in particular. A day that reminded him and many others of their lonesome states. But for Flash specifically, all it did was remind him of both times he lost someone he thought he loved.

The young man didn’t cry, though--as much as he wanted to. Instead, he simply stared at the concrete beneath his shoes and wondered… “...No. I just need to move on. Suck it up, and forget about it. Just like dad said--it’s what being a man is about, right?”

Before he could stand up though, one of his fellow classmates finally decided to console him.

“...Jitters from the forced expectations brought upon by such a ridiculous greeting card holiday?”

“...What?” Flash looked up to see Micro Chips take a seat next to him. “Ah, yeah…uh…something like that.”

The computer whiz with intelligence rivaling that of Sci-Twi knew little about affairs regarding love. Despite this, he would attempt to offer his best advice. “Listen, while I don’t have the best expertise in this subject, I can tell that something’s eating at your soul. Is something the matter?”

“...” Flash opened his mouth to say something, but promptly closed it seconds later. “No offense, bud….but you probably won’t be able to help me very much. I’ll just spare you from wasting your time.”

“...Nah,” he answered half-heartedly, “I’m just thinking about what’s next for me after high school. Don’t worry about me.”

“Are you certain?” Micro asked, “I know it must be hard to reach out to others given your current position, but know that I’m willing to help if you’ll let me.”

Yet again, Flash denied his classmate’s assistance. “I’m fine. Really. I just need to take a walk and clear my head before I head back there.” With that, he got up and started a casual stride towards the sidewalk with his hands in his jacket pockets.

Defeated, Micro Chips would also rise from his seat on the steps and call out to let Flash know how much time he had left before classes started. “Alright, but--keep in mind there’s about twenty minutes left until school begins. And if you ever need to talk, don’t hesitate, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah…got it,” the young man muttered as he continued walking.

Meanwhile, Micro would enter the school as usual, dumbfounded by what he had just seen. “I don’t understand it. What could be hurting him so badly?” Unfortunately, he wasn’t paying attention, and-- “Oof!”

Bumped into someone--knocking his glasses off his face.

“Dammit, I always do this when I’m thinking too hard,” he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, “Sorry--whoever you are--I’m just worried about a friend of mine.”

“Story of my life,” a meek girl’s voice replied, “Here, let me help…”

Micro was picked up off the floor and the person who helped him gave him his glasses back. “Appreciated. These things are ridiculously overpriced for how easily they can fly off a person’s face.” Once he put them on, he could see who it was…

Wallflower Blush. The green-haired girl was all too ready to throw down some commentary off of what was just said to her. “Tch--right? Glasses are practically a scam with how overpriced they are, but nobody ever thinks of it that way. But anyway…no problem--Micro Chips, right? I’ve seen how well you do in robotics class. Twilight considers you something of a rival--aren’t you both trying to create nanomachines?”

“...Ahem.” He pushed his glasses up and continued walking. “That’s classified information.”

“Aw, c’moooon!” Wallflower was persistent in her approach as she demanded an answer…

“Take a number--your request for information will be processed in the order it was received--starting at number 666.”

“Pleeeease? I’m interested in that stuff too!”

…Admittedly, it seemed as if this conversation wasn’t headed anywhere fast. Why don’t we switch gears?

Outside…

Flash Sentry continued his little walk without a care in the world. The lengths one would go to to force themselves to repress certain emotions were painful--though not in the traditional sense. His mind was in tatters as he tried to figure out a way to permanently remove such thoughts from his head.

“Just…ignore it. Focus on yourself. Nothing else matters, right?”

Sadly for him, those words wouldn’t last in the long run. Why exactly?

He was about to have a date with destiny.

“...Flash? Is that you?” a familiar female voice called out to him.

“What?” he turned around…

And to his surprise, Twilight was standing there--not the Twilight of this world, but the Twilight Sparkle that he got to know. Flat hair, no glasses--in the flesh. “...It is you,” she said with a relieved exhale, “Thank goodness…”

“Wait, for real? Is it really you?” he asked with a concerned tone, wondering just what could’ve brought a pony princess back to this world. “What’re you doing here? Is something happening?”

“No…not at all…” Twilight looked down at the ground as she approached him, then placed a hand on his chest. “I really just came to see you, Flash…”

The boy’s jaw dropped--and it took him all of two minutes to respond. “...You…you did??”

Arc XVII Episode IV: Love Hurts

Inside the school…

Our professor was getting his class ready as always. In particular, the plan was to teach his students the history of chocolate and the cocoa bean to tie into Valentine’s Day. Why? To teach them economics of course. By going into how certain resources can affect the stock market, his aim was to teach those young minds how to use math to manage their money as they got ready to either head to college or search for a career freshly out of high school.

Plus, chocolate was a great dopamine reward to keep the mind active.

Though he also had a cooler filled with cold bottles of water at the ready--chocolate really did dry the mouth out.

“Alright, everything’s in place,” the man said to himself as he ran down the various items on his checklist. “Classes start in ten minutes, so I can take a breather for a--”

Tap-tap-tap…

The man’s train of thought would be interrupted the moment someone knocked upon Aidon’s classroom door.

“Odd,” he thought to himself as he placed his checklist on his desk. “It’s a bit early. Are they really that excited to get started?” Naturally, he went to check who it was. Surprisingly though, it wasn’t a student…

As soon as Aidon opened the door, he’d be greeted with Vice Principal Luna. The blue woman was standing idly at the door, biting her lip and staring at the floor with her hands behind her back. In short, something was eating at her, and uncertainty in the way her eyes darted back and forth displayed it all.

Aidon immediately noticed this, only to assume the worst. “...Ms. Luna? Is something wrong?”

She looked up at him and shook her head with a relieved expression. “Oh, no! No…not at all, I just…wanted to come see you and speak with you.” Just as the first time they met, Luna began to twirl some of her hair around her index finger with a nervous smile on her face.

“I see…” Aidon replied with a small smile, doing his best to help her feel more at ease, “Well, then--I’m all ears, Luna. What would you like to talk about?”

Before she could speak, a myriad of thoughts ran their way through Luna’s head. “Okay, Luna. Don’t mess this up. This is your one and only opportunity to make a good impression before classes start. Just say what you want to say…” Once she gathered her thoughts, she began to speak. “...I just wanted to give you--”

Clack-clack-clack!

The sound of heels rapidly approaching the door interrupted Luna. Just what was the source? “Oh, Aidon! Sorry--excuse me, sister--one second please.”

Aidon tilted his head as Principal Celestia suddenly walked into the door frame, “Er…?”

Perplexed, Luna would question her sister’s actions. “...Tia, what are you--”

“One sec, please, Luna,” Celestia held up her index finger to shush her sister, then quickly turned her attention to Aidon. “Anyway--I just wanted to give you a little something. You’re quite possibly the best teacher we’ve had here at CHS, and I’d like to personally reward you for your splendid performance…” she spoke with a tone that conveyed a sense of desire with narrowed eyes.

The man was taken aback by such words, and tried to deny her advances. “Oh, um…thank you? I suppose? But I really--”

“Here,” Celestia replied as she handed him a small, heart-shaped box, “Make sure you enjoy each and every one. I made them all myself, Mr. Aidon.”

“I…” Aidon stared at the woman for a moment and adjusted his glasses. Over Celestia’s shoulder, he could see Luna scowling and gritting her teeth. “...Thank you. But I really must get ready to start class. I’ll try them out later, alright?”

“Be sure you do,” Celestia replied with a wink as she walked away…smirking to herself.

“...Well that happened,” Aidon muttered as he looked over at Luna. “...Anyway, what was it that…” his speech slowed to a stop the more he looked at her. Luna was staring at the floor with a dark expression on her face--coldly neutral to the point of being unreadable. Aidon’s first reaction was to tilt his head and inquire, “...Luna? Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine,” she replied with a blunt tone as she began walking off in a different direction. When she passed by a trash can, she tossed a red envelope into it, and continued walking while trying her best to hold back tears. The veins on her neck and forearm started to flare up as a result of her frustration. “Just. Fine…”

This left Aidon in a state of confusion as he watched the sisters leave his sight. “...What the…something’s not right.”

Outside…

Twilight had started to explain herself to Flash. “...Yes. I knew you’d be lonely around this time--it’s your equivalent to Hearts and Hooves Day after all. I never should’ve left you in the dark like that. I’m sorry…” she looked down at the ground and rubbed her left arm. “...Can you forgive me?”

Flash approached her and brought her in for a hug. “Of course I can. You’re a busy person--er, pony who lives in another dimension. You don’t have to apologize…I just need to be stronger and get over it. Can’t let my emotions bring me down, you know?”

“...That sounds like just what a real man would say…” Twilight replied as she placed her chin on his shoulder, “You’ve certainly grown since last we met…”

“...You really think so?”

“Yes…” Unknown to Sentry, Twilight had begun to subtly move her left hand down, around, and behind his body--her eyes then flashed a shade of green as a wide, erratic slasher smile crept onto her face. “...I do.”

CHINK!

Flash’s eyes drew wide as his pupils shrank. All he could feel was a sensation of pain shooting through his body, unable to move or speak. “...”

“You loser…” Twilight shoved him to the ground, and wiped the bloody knife of her fingerprints with a rag, and dropped it to the ground where it clattered. “You really think your perfect little pony girlfriend would actually come back to see you? Now that’s a joke if I ever heard one. You’re nothing. Nobody likes you. Nobody cares about you. You’re nothing more than a popularity magnet meant to be used by others.”

Flash clutched his chest with one arm, and tried to crawl away with the other, only to watch helplessly as Twilight stepped in front of him. All he could manage to say was, “That’s not true...and you’re not her.”

“Congratulations--you have a functional brain.” The fake Twilight’s eyes flashed green once more as she folded her arms, “But who I really am isn’t relevant right now. The fact of the matter is…” she knelt down to the injured boy and cupped his chin in one of her hands, “You’re pathetic. No one sees you for who you are. They only see the surface-level stereotype you’ve made yourself out to be. That’s why Sunset Shimmer broke up with you. That’s why Princess Twilight Sparkle has left you and never returned.”

“No…I’m…I’m better than that…I am!” Flash pleaded while sobbing, “I’m not just another guy at school! I swear!”

“Too late for that pity party,” the fake Twilight let his chin go, and stood upright. She then placed her boot on the side of his head, forcing him into the ground with her hands on her hips. “Maybe next time, you’ll learn to accept who you are, rather than covering it up with some generic rocker-boy persona. I’ve got you and the rest of you humans figured out Flash Sentry. You’ll all succumb to your basest instincts and be remade in the New World. Your love for her will be a nice appetizer though…”

“Gghh…h-help…!” Flash sputtered weakly as he felt more blood leave his body.

“Nobody’s coming for you,” the doppelganger continued, “Sit there and die quietly like a good little--”

BLAM!

A hard force knocked the fake Twilight away and roll on the ground a few paces. A green aura forced her body to change back…into the tan-skinned woman known as Lucide. “What the--goddammit! Who dares interrupt my feeding process--?!”

Moments later, a young man’s voice called out. The source of it all? A fist made of sand. “...Step to us…and get shredded, yo!”

Arc XVII Episode V: Changelings Afoot

Flash turned his head up to see a boy a bit younger than him with green skin and a button-up shirt that was covered in a sea turtle pattern. “...What’re you…?”

Lucide stood upright and cracked her neck. “...so one of the boys does have some fight in him. I’m surprised. Just who are you, anyway?”

“I’m the Man…the Man of the Sand, yo!” Sandbar shouted back with his fists covered in a layer of sandy particles.

“What the--he can use magic?!” While the sight initially caused her eyes to widen, she attempted to laugh it off. “Seriously? You know that puns are the lowest form of comedy?”

“Oh really?” he replied with his usual, half-lidded expression of mellowness, “I thought sarcasm was, yo.”

“Ohhhh then it must be true,” the woman hissed in return, “because you’re the greatest genius ever to walk the earth!” With another flash of green magic, her body transformed--taking on a more muscular appearance as she became an anthropomorphic horse-like creature with a unicorn-like horn. Then, the horn lit up…

POOF!

With a spark of green magic, everything around Sandbar became dark, as if he was being transported away from the daylight and time itself seemed to move slower.

“Wait a sec, yo…am I dreaming? No…I can’t be…”

“Even now, your soul is being absorbed by my power,” Lucide’s voice called out to him from beyond. “Don’t struggle against your fate, human. Now let’s see what’s in that little head of yours…”

Sandbar fell to his knees as he began to clutch the sides of his head. The changeling’s magic had started to work its way into his mind, causing him to cry out in pain as he grit his teeth. “Ghhhgh! What the hell is your problem, man?! We didn’t do nothin’ to you!”

The disembodied voice of Lucide continued, “Maybe not to me specifically, but rather, your very existence is a sin within itself. You humans have no right to exist the way you do now!”

“Aggh! The hell do you have against humans, yo?!”

“It’s simple: In Equestria, we all have to follow the rules of the ponies and their pretty little princeeeees ruler!” she lamented in a mocking, high-pitched tone, “Oh how perfect they all are, forcing other creatures to conform to their ideas of friendship and harmony!”

Through the darkness, images of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her friends--the Elements of Harmony could be seen defeating various enemies. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, Starlight Glimmer, and so on…

Sandbar opened one of his eyes and questioned her intent as he watched what was essentially a playback of the ponies’ highest moments. “Ugh…I don’t see what this has to do with us, yo. Woah, is that my pony self? He looks gooooood,” he muttered as he watched his pony counterpart through some of the flashbacks.

“I’m getting there,” her voice resumed, “Now where was I--yes. So anyway, my master and I were both banished here simply because we refused to comply with the ponies and their shackling methods of love and tolerance. But now…”

The flashbacks changed to that of various, black-skinned changelings being zapped into another world by Starswirl the Bearded…

And those changelings would become humans. With Lucide among them.

“I have free reign here!” she went on with a hysteric tone, “Humans don’t have to follow one singular entity! They make up their own rules! But even so…I watch as various wars take place all over the world. You humans waste your precious time and resources killing each other…”

Despite her…insane methods, Sandbar couldn’t exactly disagree with her. “Yeah, bro. War sucks. Can’t exactly do anything about those in power who make the decisions for the people…so what’re you even tryin’a do here?”

“I’m going to take the best aspects of this world and re-recate them under my own banner,” she explained, “A single-power rule that can’t be toppled, all run by my own rules in a place where I won’t be put in a box by some miniature equines!”

“Dammit, yo…” While Sandbar understood her angle, he couldn’t agree with the idea of wiping out all life just to try and mold a better planet. “Even if that’s true, erasin’ all of what’s here ain’t gon’ help nothin’.”

However, what he didn’t realize was that the changeling had already tapped into his mind. Lucide had access to all of his deepest emotions and intended to use them against him.

“Oh you feeble-minded creature…” she mocked him once more, “Afraid that your little sister might get hurt? Don’t worry. In the end, she’ll have a better life too…”

The next thing he saw was a display of his little sister, Coral Currents--who was busy typing at a computer in her elementary school’s tech class…

For the first time since the interaction began, Sandbar’s eyes opened up completely. He moved his hair out of the way as he fiercely stared into the void with a fiery expression of hatred. “Don’t you dare start talkin’ shit about my sister, yo. She don’t need you or none’a your bullshit! You hear me?!”

Lucide chuckled in response. “Well now. Did I touch a nerve with that one? Don’t you realize that your own stubborn nature as a human is what’s holding you all back? Even now, all the girls at your school are succumbing to the effects of my toxin. Once my master gets her power back, we’ll be able to move on with our plan to improve this pathetic world.”

“I…” Sandbar slowly forced himself to stand upright--despite the draining effects of the changeling’s magic, he still managed to rise. Albeit weakly--his knees were shaking with every step he took.

“Hm? What’s that?” she asked, “Speak up, loser.”

Sandbar clenched his fists…with the particles of sand returning upon them.

“I. Don’t. CARE!”

BLAM!

With a hard strike, he punched the ground beneath his feet, causing an eruption of sand that would pierce through and cut the illusion, bringing him back to reality. “Where are you?! Come on out and face me, yo!”

…And Lucide was standing at the end of the next street corner, cowering next to one of the bushes. “...Dammit. That was not what I was expecting.”

“...Luci. Fall back. Now. My power is returning as we speak. Don’t waste your time on that impotent boy.”

“...Good call. Can't believe a stupid boy is making me run away though...”

In a flash of magic, she disappeared, leaving Sandbar alone.

Since he couldn’t find her, he had to focus on his injured friend. “Dammit, man, damn!” he cursed to himself as he looked at the now-unconscious Flash Sentry. “Don’t worry, bro. I got you. Guess we’ll have to deal with her later…”

Moments later, Micro Chips ran out to greet them--sweating and visibly out of breath with his clothes in tatters and various scratch marks on his face and mid-section. “Agh…I am not built for running.”

“Mikey, what’s wrong?” Sandbar called out to him as he picked up Flash’s body.

“...The girls have gone insane!”

Arc XVII Episode VI: Want Love, Need Love

“Whatcha mean, yo?”

Micro Chips began to explain what had happened moments ago. “As soon as it was time for class…”

About ten minutes ago…

All of the girls--yes, all of them--including the Sirens and the Rainbooms, had gone mad with hearts in their eyes. They smiled a sadistic, slasher smile from ear-to-ear but didn’t speak a single word. All they did was approach boys…with various items to hold them hostage.

“AHHHHHHH!”

All of the boys ran out of their classrooms, but ultimately, many were caught. They couldn’t resist the overwhelming magical power of Sunset and her friends--nor the Sirens. Specifically, they used rope and duct tape to capture them all, and take them to the school’s emergency bunker below ground level where they were tied to chairs. It was as if a spell had forced them to go after boys with no other directive.

But that wasn’t all. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had also come under the effects of the curse, as they were actively attacking each other in an attempt to break down one of the teacher’s locked doors.

“That’s insane!” Sandbar gasped, “Didja see Yona? How’d you manage to get away?!”

“I was able to escape through one of the school’s fairly unknown secret passageways through the ventilation systems,” Micro explained, “But I can explain more later. Right now, we need to get Sentry to the hospital. That knife wound looks fatal. What caused it?”

“...Dreamer-chick…” Sandbar grumbled under his breath, “But she’s gone right now. Let’s get goin’.”

Meanwhile, inside…

“HELP! Is anyone there?! Hello?!” Rumble shouted into the halls as he was cornered by the Sirens.

Adagio, Sonata, and Aria all approached him with large smiles and ghostly giggles slipping through their teeth. Whatever this spell/curse was, it wasn’t going to be easy to break. Even though he was completely helpless, they had no empathy nor comprehension of their actions. Adagio began to pull some duct tape off of a roll, when suddenly…

SKRRRT--POOF!

A cloud of red smoke appeared, and once it was settled, Rumble had disappeared, leaving the hypnotized Sirens without a target.

“Boyyyyyssss….” the trio muttered as they continued their search in a different direction.

Once they were clear of the smoke, they continued running and Rumble saw who had come to his rescue. “What the--hey, it’s you!”

Keiji looked to his side and shot him his usual, serrated grin. “Guess you could say that. I have no idea what’s happening though…”

“I’m just surprised you decided to show up,” Rumble went on, “When I first met you, you def didn’t seem like the kinda guy to stick your neck out for someone else. But time and time again you proved me wrong.”

“Yeah, well…I suppose I’m starting to comprehend the value of those I care about--but that’s besides the point. We need’ta get outta here before--”

But as soon as they rounded the next corner…

SWIPE!

Keiji was grabbed up by both arms.

“Will you go to the dance with me, Keiji?” a hypnotized Diamond Tiara droned while holding onto his left arm, clutching it to her entire body.

“What the--?!”

YOINK!

Before he could properly react, he felt his left arm snapped up in a similarly strong grip. To his horror, the perpetrator was Silver Spoon!

“No way! Pick me! He wants me! Not someone boring like you!”

“Boring?!” Tiara screamed, “How dare you?! KK is gonna be my hubby-wubby and we’ll have lots of dhampir children! Don’t worry--you can be the nanny, Spoon.”

While this was going on, Rumble noticed that he was near his locker, and opened it. “Aha! This’ll work!”

Keiji’s hair stood on end as blood rushed through his cheeks, turning his whole face red. “YOU’RE GONNA DO WHAT--?!”

“Like hell!” the hypnotized Silver Spoon shot back, “You can be the nanny to our dhampir babies!”

As the two continued to argue while clinging to his arms, all Keiji could do was let out a small, pained groan. “Auuugh…I think I’m shitfaced…I have to be. There’s just--there’s just no way…”

BOP-BOP!

The girls dropped to the floor, completely unconscious, and let Keiji go in the process.

The reason for this?

A soccer ball that bounced back towards Rumble, to which he picked up. “...Whoops. Guess neither of them are gonna be having kids anytime soon. Shaaaaame.”

“...You didn’t hit ‘em too hard, didja?” Keiji mumbled as he squatted down to check on the girls.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Rumble replied, “They’ll probably wake up in the next--”

“MINE--!” Silver Spoon suddenly screeched as she lifted her face off the floor with hearts still in her eyes.

“MINE--!” Diamond Tiara yelled as she desperately reached for Keiji’s ankle.

Which in turn, caused Keiji to squeal as he yanked his leg away. “Yikes! Nope! So much nope--time to go!”

The boys hopped over the girls and started running once more. Eventually, the pair of wealthy schoolgirls rose from the floor and started wandering the halls once more, completely unaware of which direction they went.

“God it’s like they’re zombies. If this is a prank, it’s a real shit one…” Rumble mumbled in a state of hushed panic, “Which way should we go, Keij?”

“Lemme think, lemme think! Gimme a sec…” Keiji grit his teeth as he tried to think of a way out of this situation.

Unfortunately, they’d be stopped yet again.

Derpy appeared--the hearts in her eyes were lop-sided, but that didn’t prevent her from being able to see that… “They’re over heeeeeere~!” she called out in a singsong tone, alerting the others of their presence.

“Aw, shit,” Keiji swore under his breath as he forced himself to come to a screeching halt on his heels. In an instant, he pivoted and turned the opposite direction.

Being a skilled soccer player, Rumble was able to stop on a dime and turn around alongside him. However, he had begun to panic. “Agh! Which way--WHICH WAY?!”

“I…gaaaaaagh! I don’t know!” he yelled back as Derpy chased them with the gait of a hardened track athlete alongside Pinkie, Octavia, Trixie, and even Lyra! “But there’s too many of ‘em. How many more hallways does this school have?!”

“I dunno man, but this is giving me a heart attack!” Rumble replied.

Each and every corner was cut off by more crazed, love-crazy girls that aimed to capture them. Several boys from their class and other classes--including Button Mash and Sandalwood--could be seen dragged off around corners with duct tape over their mouths. Keiji and Rumble couldn’t do a thing to help them--all they could do was run until they came down a singular path…towards a dead end.

Arc XVII Episode VII: Unforgettable Escape

With no way of escaping, Keiji started to panic even more. The last thing he wanted to do was bring out his sword and potentially hurt innocent people… “Dammit, dammit, dammiiit…we’re gonna be subjected to being girls’ pets for good--not to mention the Sisters…what sort of busted ass magic could’ve put them under mind control?!”

Rumble put a hand on his shoulder. “...Bud. If push comes to shove and we get kidnapped by love-hungry girls, then I just wanna say you’ve been one of the only few friends I’ve ever had that actually like me for me and don’t just wanna get close because my brother is a famous soccer player.”

“...Yeah, I’m with you,” Keiji replied with a sigh, “You actually took the time to listen to me and clung to me so I’d eventually chill out and not hate everything in this school. You’re alright, Rumble.”

As they were about to face their doom at the dozens of hands of lovestruck girls…

CLANK!

A ventilation grate above them was forced open. The source of it was a meek girl’s voice who was apparently not affected by the mind control. “This way, hurry! There’s not much time!” She reached her hand down to grab them.

“What the--?!” Rumble looked up into the vent and saw the hand, “How do we know she’s--?!”

“No time for that, dammit! Just go!” Keiji yelped as he hoisted his friend into the air so he could grab onto the girl’s hand, followed by a quick hop to leap into the vent himself, narrowly escaping the clutches of Derpy’s hands.

“Whew…I owe you one,” Rumble muttered as he looked up to see the person that had saved them. “...Oh hey, it’s…you…”

Wallflower idly rubbed her hand behind her neck with a sigh. “...Yeah. I get that a lot. Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for not remembering me. I…made a few mistakes in the past with a certain stone. Come on, I know the way out.”

“If it helps, I don’t even know who you are,” Keiji replied bluntly, “So thank you for saving us. I’m curious though, why aren’t you under the effects of the hypnotism like everyone else?”

“I’m not sure,” Wallflower replied as she led them through the vents, crawling ahead of them, “But if I had to wager a guess, I’d bet it’s because not everyone remembers me well enough so there’s nobody I can even be hypnotized into loving,” she lamented with a low tone of voice that sucked all of the tension out of the vents. She then tried to deny her feelings with a rapid change of tone. “Or maybe I’m just lucky! Haha…ha…”

So much so, that this was a rare instance in which Keiji wasn’t prepared to open his mouth with a snarky or witty response. “...Damn. I don’t have any words for that. If that really is the case, then that’s just sad.”

Even Rumble was stunned into silence for a moment, only breaking it after he had a moment to think. “Erm…well…thanks, Wallflower. Whatever the case, this is already insane. Loads of the other boys have already been captured and taken to god knows where!”

“I know…” Wallflower replied, “Whatever it is, it must be powerful if Sunset, her friends, and the Sirens are being controlled by it. I don’t know how we’re gonna save them…I don’t have any magic anymore, and I don’t know anyone else that does.”

“Well…” Rumble looked over at Keiji. “I think I know someone who does.”

“Who?” Wallflower asked.

“What am I gonna do…how am I gonna fix this? They don’t deserve this at all.” Keiji was staring off into space for a moment, so he didn’t respond right away. “...Huh? Wha? Sorry, my mind was someplace else.”

Rumble nudged him with his elbow. “Everything okay? Don’t worry. We’ll make sure everyone comes back to their senses unharmed…somehow….”

“If you have magic, that makes things a whole lot easier,” Wallflower replied as she made a right turn down the vent shaft. “But we’ll still need to figure out how to deal with them without hurting them. Let’s worry about that later though. For now…”

With a swift push, Wallflower knocked off another vent that led them outside of the school. She immediately jumped down and looked left, then right. She was at the school’s parking lot, and thankfully, no one was around.

“Coast is clear, guys. C’mon,” she called out and beckoned them to follow.

Rumble and Keiji jumped out moments later.

“Whew…I hate being in tight spaces,” Rumble sputtered in between deep breaths.

“That makes two of us,” Keiji added with a shudder, “Still. I’m glad we were able to escape.” He looked at Wallflower and said, “Thanks, Blushy. You’re quite the handiwoman to be able to make use of the ventilation system. Isn’t that low-key illegal?”

Wallflower rolled her eyes. “We can discuss ethical semantics later. Right now, we need to get going. Maybe there are others who’ve managed to escape and we could theoretically get their help.”

“Hoo-boy, everyone’s parents are gonna be worried as heck,” Rumble muttered, “Hopefully we can figure it out before things get worse.”

Keiji was silent the entire time and began to think about what Rumble had just said. “Shit. He’s right. Mr. and Mrs. Rich are gonna be extremely worried if they don’t see their daughter home tonight. How am I gonna explain this to ‘em?”

“...Sunset can’t save us right now. Now it’s our turn.” Wallflower felt the need to take charge as the eldest of the group. “...Alright. Here’s what we’re gonna do: You two come with me to my place so we can discuss what we’re doing and think up a plan. Just tell your parents you need to stay longer for some studying, alright?”

“No issues here,” Keiji replied, “Rum?”

“Beats hangin’ around with no idea what we’re doin’ next,” Rumble replied, “I’m in. Lead the way, Wall.”

Arc XVII Episode VIII: Finding A Way

Meanwhile, in the abandoned warehouse on the other side of the city…

Lucide would eventually return to her boss in a huff as she kicked the door in. “UGH! I can’t believe a boy made me fall back. This is ridiculous.”

“Now now…patience, my dear Lucide,” her boss replied. The woman who was once wheelchair-bound was now able to walk on her two hoof-like legs. “The love that I’ve gained from that magic siphon has worked wonders. The idiots of Equestria foolishly threw us out along with Prismia’s Pearl Necklace. It’s almost as if they were asking for trouble.”

“Have to admit, I feel a bit bad though,” Lucide went on, “Like, do we really need to delete all life in order to remake this world? Sounds a bit excessive, don’t you--”

With a loud hissss!, the bug woman stormed into Lucide’s face. “Are you mocking me? Do you have no faith in my abilities, Luci? Bear in mind: Who was the one who kept you alive as we waded through his hellish world?”

Lucide sighed, now unable to make eye contact as she mumbled a response. “...You did, Ms. Acida…”

“Exactly,” Acida replied with a snarl, “If it wasn’t for me, you’d have long since been abducted by human scientists and put to testing. They would’ve likely probed your body with violative methods. But I kept you from that. No one is going to treat your poorly again. So long as you do what I say.” With the magic having restored her body, she was now able to take a human form--and picked that of an office worker: a blue suit-skirt, heels--the whole nine yards. “This’ll work nicely…now I can properly infiltrate them.”

Lucide folded her arms and scoffed at what her superior wore. “I mean, I guess if you’re going for the look of those girls on those private websites, sure. But I’m just…I dunno, I see all these families here and it doesn’t feel all that different from the families we were a part of.” She placed her hands behind her head as she thought back to the boy she intimidated. “...He’s got a younger sister and seems pretty adamant about keeping her safe.”

“Please,” Acida hissed once more as she rolled her eyes, “Humans continue to ravage this world in ways they don’t deserve. All of this freedom should be reserved only for those of higher power. Not measly hairless monkeys…”

“Still…I think it’s a bit extreme,” Lucide shrugged her shoulders, and began walking off, “But if that’s what you wanna do, I won’t stop you.”

POOF!

In a flash of green magic, Acida teleported in front of Lucide, bending over to glare her right in the eyes. “And just where do you think you’re going?”

“...” Lucide took a step back, and sputtered her reply, “To uh…take a break?”

“I don’t think so. I think you’re in need…” Acida’s green aura surrounded her subordinate as she pulled her closer. “...of some calibrations.”

Lucide’s heart skipped a beat once she realized she couldn’t break out of the magical grasp. Her teeth began to chatter as she forced a nervous smile behind fearful eyes. “...C-c-calibrations?”

On the other side of the city, near the beach…4PM…

Micro Chips and Sandbar exited the hospital once Flash was admitted for his stab wound.

“Think he’ll be able to recover?” Micro wondered aloud.

“He’ll be fine, bro,” Sandbar replied, “I’m sure of it. We just need’ta figure out how we gonna save everyone else. If that crazy magical lady is true with her words, then we’re in for some shit, yo.”

Since Sandbar had explained to Micro what Lucide had told him, the intellectually inclined young man was already hard at work thinking about what it all meant. “Hm…I have to admit, it’s extremely concerning. The desire to rebuild the world from scratch it…it’s something out of an Orwellian Dystopia.”

“I ain’t got no idea whatcha just said, but it sounds terribad, yo,” Sandbar replied, “Now whattta we gonna--”

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a…rather violent ringtone.

‘IT’S ME! WHAAAAAT?! AGAINST THE WORLD!’

“Gah!” the shouting caused Micro to enter a flight response in which he jumped backwards with his glasses nearly falling off his face, “What in the world is that?!”

“Oh, sorry, yo,” Sandbar looked down at his pocket and opened up his phone to answer it. “Oh, it’s my sister. Video call too.” With the press of a button, he was connected and saw his sister--Coral Currents--she was busy doing her homework. “Hey, Cici--how ya doin’?”

“Hey, big brother--wait, how many times have I told you not to call me that?” the girl on the other end rolled her eyes as she continued scribbling in her notes. She was wearing an orange and black, horizontally striped sweater and a plaid, red bucket hat along with a pair of kelp-green shorts and sandals. Like her brother, she had a shade of green-ish skin--albeit leaning more towards the teal range, and a pair of dark blue eyes. Her hair was a two-tone shade of dull pink and blue.

“Sorry--you know you’ll always be Cici to me,” Sandbar replied with a well-meaning smile, “Anyway, wazzup, sis?”

“I’ve already figured out what’s going on at your school--it’s some kind of magical anomaly that’s related to the phenomena you experienced a year ago at the Friendship Games,” she said while typing on a keyboard with her left hand, “If you can come home for a minute, I can explain a bit more to you.”

“Uhh…” Sandbar’s eyes shifted over to Micro Chips. “...Mind taggin’ along, dawg? I don’t know half the things she be tellin’ me sometimes. Maybe you could translate?”

Any information was better than none--Micro knew he couldn’t refuse this chance to discover more. “If your sister is skilled enough to isolate and detect forms of magic before they can even appear, then we’re in luck. It’s now or never I say.”

“Alright, sis--we’ll be right there.”

Arc XVII Episode IX: Studying The Enemy

Sandbar led Micro Chips to a beach house that was located on a hill near the coastline. A two-story building that was built firmly on the ground to withstand any natural disaster that’d come its way.

“Quite the structural integrity you have going, Sandbar,” Micro commented on the style of the home. “I’ll admit, I’m rather out of my element. Usually, Sunset and the others solve all of the problems we face so I’m a bit…excited--and concerned,” his tone dropped as he explained how he felt.

“Yeah, I feel ya,” Sandbar replied, “Whatever this is, it’s some kinda…corruption nonsense. But what I wanna know is: What’s the point?”

“It’s obvious that they seek to weaken us,” Micro added, “Cutting off our only line of defense by reducing the girls to emotionally vacant, lovestruck zombies. As a result, Sunset and the others can’t use magic to ward off…whatever it is we’re dealing with. I wonder what it could be…”

Sandbar skipped ahead and started walking backwards. “Who knows, yo? Obviously, my sister knows somethin’ that we don’t. And I need you to translate whatever jargon she spews….please.”

“Pfft, not a problem,” Micro replied with a chuckle as he adjusted his glasses, “I’m certain I can understand her, given that she’s a middle-schooler.”

“Yeah that’s what I thought too--turns out she’s advanced.”

“How advanced, exactly?”

About five minutes later, once they were inside the house…

“There you are, big brother!” a voice called out over a surveillance camera that popped out of a nearby flower pot. “Come up to my room when you can. I’ve got something to show you.”

“Well now, that is impressive,” Micro commented with a grin on his face, “I’d like to see how this stuff works.”

“Be my guest, bro,” Sandbar said with a shrug, “Like I said, I ain’t got no clue how this stuff works.”

Moments later, a yellow-skinned woman with a head of messy pink hair rounded the corner of the stairwell in the middle of the hallway. She wore a casual white sundress and a pair of sandals--essentially able to hit the beach whenever she wanted. “Oh, Sandbar--how was school, dear? And you brought a friend? How sweeeeet,” she spoke in a tone reminiscent of someone who had their head in the clouds. That, along with her half-lidded eyes, pretty much gave it away.

“Sorry mom, but we’re on business right now. Coral wants me to see something she’s got going on upstairs. C’mon, Mikey.”

Micro Chips would address her before leaving. “Thank you for inviting me into your home, Mrs…Bar?”

The woman giggled and shook her head. “Oh nooooo. No need for that, dear. Just call me High Tide. That’s what everyone else calls me. Especially my husband when we--”

“Ma! Please!” Sandbar shouted, and beckoned Micro Chips to follow. “C’mon, bud.”

Micro had to hold back the desire to laugh as he climbed the stairs. “...Well…your mother is quite the character, isn’t she?”

“She’s usually snackin’ on these brownies we get from Tree Hugger. S’posedt’a help calm the mind or whatever. They’re pretty good, but I wouldn’t recommend ‘em unless you got the stomach for it.”

“Excuse me--stomach?”

“Yeah if ya eat too many of ‘em, ya start feelin’ hungry afterwards and it’s just not fun--I learned that the hard way, yo,” Sandbar explained with a chuckle as he thought about the past. “...Yeah. Those were the days.”

“...I’m not going to question it further,” Micro thought to himself, choosing not to dig any deeper into the subject.

The boys went upstairs and took a hard left--this was where Coral’s room was located. Sandbar knocked, and moments later, the door was opened by an automated device that twisted, and pulled the knob for her.

“Come on in, guys,” she called out to them from her computer desk against the wall, complete with multiple monitors as she typed on various keyboards.

“...Well now…” Micro gave an impressed gasp of approval, “A budding technological genius in the making. I’m sure Twilight would be interested in what you’ve got going here.”

“Nah,” Coral replied, “I’m more of a computer nerd--Twilight’s a biological nerd. Anyway, I think I know what’s going on. Come look at this, big brother--you too, Mic,” she beckoned them both over while pointing at one of her monitors.

They approached and took a look at one of the computer screens…

The display would begin to show a familiar-looking tan-skinned woman approach the high school and change into Principal Celestia, followed by her entering the building. Later on, she’d take the form of Princess Twilight Sparkle from the pony world in order to subdue Flash Sentry.

“I’ve found our culprit,” Coral explained as she tapped the keyboard of her right monitor. That screen would show the entire criminal database for the state! “But there’s no information on her at all. I cross-referenced her face with the faces of criminals and politicians all throughout the state and nothing came up. Which means we’re dealing with a threat from another dimension. Right?”

“Exactly,” Micro replied, “Seems that she’s capable of magic. This likely means that she was the one behind the reason why the girls at school are going crazy.”

“...So what’s this all mean?” Sandbar asked moments later while scratching his head.

“It means that we need to fight back, Sandbar,” Coral lectured him as she spun around in her swivel chair, and cris-crossed her legs. “But there’s a problem: How are we gonna convince everyone’s parents that nothing is wrong with their students being suspiciously unable to return home? If anyone’s moms approach the school, they’ll fall under its effects too…”

Micro snapped his fingers. “I got it. Leave this to me.”

Arc XVII Episode X: Sand and Coral

“Mind if I make use of one of your monitors?” Micro asked, “I’m going to make a few…edits to the school’s website.”

Such an idea intrigued Coral, so she slid over and took him up on his offer. “Be my guest, MC. While you do that, I’m gonna see if I can get in contact with anyone else that may have escaped from the school.” She turned to her leftmost monitor and began to type, which caught the attention of her brother.

“Woah, you can do that?” Sandbar asked with a sense of amazement in his eyes. “How?”

“Lots and lots of big-time agency tech, big brother,” Coral replied with a giggle, “But don’t worry, Sweetie Drops said it’s okay for me to use in emergencies and I think this counts as one. I knew something was wrong as soon as neither of them answered their phones.”

“Hot damn, so you’re really workin’ with ‘em, eh?”

Coral rubbed the back of her neck. She realized that this was the first time her brother had been informed of her work as an agent-in-training. “Well…I was gonna tell you at some point…”

Sandbar folded his arms and closed his eyes. “Normally, I’d chew you out for not telling me something like this and go into a whole spiel about how a little girl like you shouldn’t be doing all this on her own…”

“H-hey! I’m in the 8th grade, Bars!” she huffed, puffing out her cheeks in a defiant manner. “I’ll be headed to CHS next year anyway and you know it! I might even get into that new professor’s class!”

“...” The boy tilted his head back and started to chuckle, then laugh aloud. “Ahaha! You’re adorable, Cici!”

“...What?” Coral tilted her head, “Are you alright? Did you eat from mom’s stash again, big brother?”

“Not lately, no,” Sandbar shook his head, “What I mean is that I’m proud of ya.”

“Wait what--”

Before she could properly react, Coral was on the receiving end of a heartfelt pat on the head followed by a bear-hug from her brother. “I knew you were smarter than me! It was only a matter of time until you worked towards it!”

“...Wait…you’re happy? I don’t get it--” Coral was hesitant on the embrace, choosing to question what Sandbar meant for the moment. “It doesn’t bother you that I’m better with computers and math?”

“Pfft--naw,” he shook his head as he put her down, “I’m more of a sea leg guy myself--I know I’m not good with that kinda stuff, which is why I’m glad you’re here to help me when I have trouble.”

“Wow…I…here I was being jealous of you,” Coral muttered under her breath while twiddling her thumbs, “You’re so relaxed all the time and nobody makes fun of you for it. Heck, you even have a girlfriend. Wish someone would look at me the same way Yona looks at you…”

“Hol’ up--” Ever so quick on the uptake, Sandbar was able to pick out a piece of her statement and ask, “Who’s makin’ fun of you at school?” He cracked his knuckles. “They gon’ wish they didn’t.”

“Ugh--we can worry about that later,” she denied his concerns as she changed the subject, “What’s going on with you guys is more important. If that magical crap spreads and infects the whole city, we’ll have a big problem. Mom will fall victim to it--I’ll fall victim to it,” she placed her open palm against her chest, “We can’t afford to let that happen, Bars.”

“...Alright,” Sandbar agreed to her terms. “But when this is over, I’m payin’ a visit to your school. I used’ta go there too, remember?”

Coral knew she couldn’t stall her brother’s wishes for very long. She simply replied with an earnest smile and a nod. “...Okay. Thanks, big bro.”

Sandbar smiled in return, “No problem, Coco.”

“Guuuugh…” she threw her head back and groaned as she faced the monitor once more, “Quit it with the baby names, please.”

“Ahem--sorry if I’m interrupting,” Micro Chips spoke up from the leftmost monitor, “but I think I’ve got the solution we’re looking for.”

Meanwhile, at CHS…

Aidon opened his eyes, but he could not see.

He opened his mouth, but he could not speak.

“...?!”

Thankfully, he could still hear, but all he could make out was a faint giggle at best.

“What the devil is going on?!” he thought to himself as he tried to move his body but to no avail. As it turned out, his arms were restrained behind himself upon something that felt…hard, wooden… “...A chair? I’m being held captive?!”

The realization was enough to send a cold shiver down his spine along with beads of sweat. When he tried to move his lips, he realized that they were covered by what felt like duct tape.

“...What’s happening?! Where am I?!”

While the man of darkness could easily make use of his abilities to break himself free, his lack of spatial awareness was a key deterrent from doing so.

“No…I’ve seen how this plays out in movies. I’m probably lined up alongside a bunch of other captives at this very moment. To activate my abilities now would run the risk of harming those around me.”

His concerns had decent reasoning. Though in reality, he was sitting alone--tied to a chair with a burlap sack over his head--in an empty room beneath the school. An old supply bunker that was used in the event of emergencies with a long series of passageways that would lead to safety in case disaster struck.

Unfortunately, the bunker was being used for the exact opposite purpose on this day.

At long last, the sack would be removed, allowing him to see. And what he saw…shook the very confines of his heart to its core as his eyes started to bulge out of his head.

“MMM?!”

“...He’s mine, Tia,” Luna said as she stepped out of the darkness of the dimly lit room and into Aidon’s view. There were hearts in her eyes and a devilish smile on her face. “Don’t interfere.”

“On the contrary,” Celestia walked up alongside her with an equally unsettling grin, “I intend to fight you for him if need be.”

Arc XVII Episode XI: Group Call

Back at Sandbar’s home…

“Done,” Micro Chips said with a final press of a key. On the monitor, a website was created to advertise a field trip for the students of CHS. All the parents of the students needed to do was electronically sign their names. “This will buy us some time to keep everyone’s parents from getting suspicious. What do you think?”

Both Coral and Sandbar looked over his shoulder at the monitor. It read:

SCHOOLWIDE COLLEGE TOUR PLANNED!

THE STUDENTS WILL BE SPENDING ONE(1) WEEK AWAY FROM THE CITY TO EXPLORE THEIR POTENTIAL AT VARIOUS COLLEGE PROGRAMS AT LAS PEGASUS UNIVERSITY. SIGN HERE TO GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR STUDENT TO ATTEND: ________

As a fellow tech nerd, Coral was visibly impressed and gave him “Wow, you came up with this in like, what--five, six minutes? Pretty cool.”

“You think this’ll fool everybody though?” Sandbar asked, questioning the logic behind it, “What if they call their kids and ask? Nobody will be able to answer their phones and they’ll likely get worried.”

“Already thought of that,” he added as he rolled up his left sleeve and started tapping on an electronic wrist-device with his right hand. It had a small screen akin to that of a smartphone but with many unique programs including the one he was currently describing. “There’s a nice little program I’ve been working on that’ll block all access to cell tower communication for the next week. Everyone’s parents are gonna be confused and focused on dealing with the cell phone companies while they assume that their--young adult aged--children are off on a college tour.”

“Oooh…” Sandbar muttered with an interested look in his eyes.

“Wait, what?!” Coral squealed as she leaned forward, gazing at his arm device, “Lemme see that. How do you have such technology when you’re not even affiliated with any of the Mayor’s secret agent resources?!”

Micro pulled his sleeve back down and cracked his knuckles with a grin of satisfaction on his face. “Let’s just say that a lot of free time spent in one’s own computer lab grants you knowledge that you may not have considered before. This will buy us enough time to figure out what we should do next.”

“Oh yeah…” Sandbar rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about what Micro just said. The idea of where to go from here was a bit lost on him. “...What should we do next? Not like we can just rush into the school and slap the lovesickness out of ‘em.”

Such a crude suggestion caused his sister to giggle. “Wow, big brother, how long did it take you to come up with that?” she replied snarkily.

“Hey! Now’s not the time for bein’ a smartass,'' he huffed and glared at his sister, “Yona’s probably gone insane by now!”

“Oh…” Coral’s expression fell into a saddened frown. “That’s right, your girlfriend is probably suffering through this too, isn’t she?”

Sandbar relaxed and turned away, leaning against the nearest wall. “Yakistan people tend to be…a bit stronger than most,” he explained, “If she starts hunting down other guys, who knows how many bones she’ll break?”

“Yeah…sorry--I wasn’t thinking about that,” Coral apologized, “But still, how are we gonna get in there?”

While they had been talking, Micro Chips had been racking his brain for an idea. Someway they could get inside and undo the effects of the hypnosis. “Come on…you’re supposed to be the smart one. Think, darn you--think!”

BZZZZ!

“Agh!” he yelped, only to realize that it was his phone going off--catching the attention of the aquatic siblings. “Oh. Just a call. Wonder who it is…” Micro took his phone out, and was instantly met with a sign of relief. “...Oh thank goodness. There’s hope here yet.”

“Wha? Who is it, yo?” Sandbar asked.

Coral got up from her seat and looked over Micro’s shoulder. “Is it someone we know?”

“You could say that, if you remember her,” he showed them his phone--it was Wallflower Blush who was calling. “Guess we have some other survivors.” He answered it, and turned on video chat. “Hello? Is everything alright?”

Video chat was turned on from her end, and they would be able to see Wallflower holding the phone with her arm outstretched. “Okay, good. You’re still here. Glad to see you, MC.”

“Same here,” he replied with a relieved sigh, “Is anyone else with you?”

“Yeah,” Wallflower turned the camera to her side. She was in her bedroom and both Keiji and Rumble were lounging on beanbag chairs nearby. “These two,” she turned her head to address them, “Guys, take a look.”

“Hm?” Keiji looked up from where he was lying, and glanced at the phone. “Well, call me shocked. Some of you actually made it out alive.”

“Don’t be mean, Keij-match,” Rumble nudged him with an elbow as he approached the camera’s view. “Glad to see you guys are alright. Any idea how we’re gonna solve this?”

Sandbar was quick to reply with a rather important question, “No ide--wait--Plant-girl here isn’t under control. What gives?”

“Huh…” Micro muttered. “What gives indeed….we were both in the school not long before the effects took place. Are you sure you’re alright, Wallflower?”

“I’m fine, yeah,” she replied with a nod, “I think it might be because almost everyone forgot about me so I don’t exactly have any relationships that could be exploited through hypnosis. Any idea what caused all of this?”

“There was this weird lady with magic that let her turn herself into somebody else,” Sandbar explained, “She shanked Flash so I had to scare her off and now we’re here at my place.”

“I see,” Wallflower muttered, “That makes things a bit easier. Good thing I didn’t fall victim to that stuff--more heads are always better, right?”

Coral meanwhile, was a bit stuck on what she said a moment ago. “...Wait, does that mean you’re so unpopular that you didn’t even fall in love with anybody?”

Her statement sucked the tension out of both rooms as everyone on the call fell silent. Wallflower simply turned her head away from the phone and sighed.

“...What?” Coral asked before suddenly coming to the realization. “Ohh…”

Plock.

“Ow.”

Sandbar nudged her with his elbow and raised a brow while looking her in the eyes with a disappointed frown.

“Erm…I mean…s-sorry!” Coral quickly tried to rectify her misstep. “T-that’s not what I meant!”

Wallflower shook her head. “It’s fine. That was my own fault. But maybe it’s actually a good thing that it happened…”

In an effort to mend the awkwardness of the situation, Micro Chips spoke up. “...Alright, we should all try to settle down for the evening and come up with a plan that we can explain to each other tomorrow. It’s been a long day for all of us, and there’s still a few loose ends we need to wrap up over here.”

“Fine by me,” Keiji called out from the other line.

“Same here,” Rumble added.

“...If you guys come up with anything, call me back immediately. See ya,” Wallflower said right before she ended the call.

“...That wasn’t nice, Coral,” Sandbar lectured his sister, “You don’t have to bring up something so sensitive, okay? Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can hurt more than you think and leave a lifetime of psychological damage in the worst case scenario, got it?”

“...Don’t I know it…” Micro thought to himself as he looked at the monitor once more. “Don’t make the same mistakes I once did, kiddo.”

“Sorry, big brother. I’ll make sure I don’t do it again. Though…I’m more interested in how you used sand to scare that weird lady off…”

Arc XVIII Episode I: Anxiety Strikes

At Wallflower’s house…

Keiji and Rumble were sitting idly in Wallflower’s bedroom. The latter had gone downstairs to discuss the situation at hand with her parents, leaving the boys alone for some…idle chitchat.

“Auuuugh! This freakin’ sucks!” Rumble cried out, “Scootaloo is probably batshit crazy right about now and we’re sitting here on our asses!”

“...” Keiji stared at him for a moment with a confused eyebrow raise. “...Well then…”

“What?!” the gray boy yelled at his friend, “I bet my brother could figure this out. He knows how to do everything! But me? Oh no, I’m just--”

Smack!

All the sudden, Keiji smacked him upside the head--just hard enough to snap him out of it. “Relax. Panicking and throwing around obscenities isn’t gonna save your girlfriend. We need to be smart.”

“...Ow,” Rumble rubbed the side of his head and exhaled a heavy breath. “Phew…yeah, you’re right. Scoots wouldn’t want me to start freaking out like this. I just…I get worried about her, ya know? She kinda lives on her own without much help from her family.”

“Wait, for real?” Keiji tilted his head upon hearing that as it was something he could relate to. “What’s up with her family?”

“Nothing’s wrong with them, they just aren’t around much because they’re explorers and her aunts don’t really pay much attention to her,” Rumble went on, “...My big brother and our family--we’re pretty close, so I’ve let her come over to my place pretty often ever since we were little.”

“Ah…” Keiji folded his arms as he gave it some thought. “So her family isn’t composed of assholes. That’s good at least.” Then he spoke aloud, “...Childhood friend romance, eh? How sweet…take care of her--but don’t start flipping out on us right now? Wall’s currently trying to negotiate a sleepover with her parents. You have any idea how difficult that is--given that we’re boys and all?”

Only now did he consider how inconsiderate he was being with his attitude. Rumble rubbed the back of his head and replied, “...Yeah, guess I was being a bit mental right then. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Keiji replied with a relaxed sigh as he flopped on the beanbag chair, “I know this is stressful, but you gotta keep it together or else we’ll end up crashing and burning. Alright?”

“Got it, got it…” Rumble took a moment to process what had just happened and commented, “...Wow. Just realized something.”

“What?” Keiji asked.

“...You helped me calm down just now,” he explained in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, “In fact, that’s what you’ve been doing for the last few hours. It’s like…you--”

“I care about how you feel, yes,” Keiji huffed as he finished his friend’s statement for him, “Look, don’t rub it in. But I’d rather not lose someone who I deem a close friend…so don’t go dyin’ on me, alright?”

Rumble smiled from ear to ear and threw his arms around Keiji. “Thanks, Keiji. I knew I could count on you to have my back.”

“Ugh--yeah, yeah, alright--quit with the hugs--” he accepted the embrace for a moment before pushing Rumble off.

Moments later, Wallflower entered the room and explained the situation. “Okay…after lots of…awkwardly-laced pleading, my parents have agreed to let you guys stay over for tonight in one of the guest rooms.”

“Fine by me,” Keiji replied, “It’ll give us time to think things through. For one thing, we need to find a way to keep everyone’s moms from going near the school. Mrs. Rich is already scary enough as it is,” he said with a smug grin, earning a chuckle from Rumble in the process.

“According to what Micro told me, he’s already taken care of that,” Wallflower explained with a vacant smile on her face, “He’s usually on top of things pretty well, so we can trust him when the chips are down….anyway, follow me to the guest room, guys.” She opened the door and beckoned them to follow.

As they walked after her, Rumble nudged Keiji’s arm with his elbow. “Psst--look at her face.”

“...And?” the vamp-boy raised a brow, “What’s the big deal?”

Rumble had noted Wallflower’s expression when she mentioned Micro Chips, particularly the rosy tint on her cheeks. “She’s totally jonesing for the guy. It’s the same way my big brother looks at Flitter and Cloudchaser.”

“Oh joy--has he decided at all?” Keiji sarcastically quipped.

“Nope, but that’s a whole other problem,” Rumble replied, “Anyway, think she’s got a shot with him?”

“I dunno--don’t know either of them well enough, honestly,” Keiji answered earnestly, “I am kinda interested in how things are going between you and Scootaloo though. How did you guys meet?”

“...Long story. By the way, what was with that red smoke you used to save me back there?”

"Powdered, dried blood that can poof up into smoke on contact," Keiji replied, "Something I cooked up in my spare time."

Rumble's jaw nearly dropped. "Say whaaaaat? You're like a bloodmancer scientist!"

"...I wouldn't go that far."

Later that evening…

Night had fallen upon the city, and a certain little canine was sniffing around one of the suburban blocks for any sign of people from CHS.

“No…no one’s home there, not there, not there either,” he said in between sniffing at the air as he walked by several houses. “Darn it. Has nobody else survived the lovebug zombie-girl apocalypse at school? What am I gonna do if Twilight stays that way…?”

Sprong!

All the sudden, his body stopped on a dime as a familiar scent floated by his nostrils followed by his stomach letting out a loud gurgle. “...Steak. Lots of it. Maybe I can take a quick break and catch a meal…haven’t been fed all day…”

Arc XVIII Episode II: Family Pains

At Sandbar’s home…

Micro Chips, Flash Sentry, Sandbar, and his sister Coral Currents were all busy discussing what to do next in the living room. That was, until it was time for the schoolgirl to get to bed.

“Alright, Cici,” their mother, High Tide called out from around a nearby corner, “You need to get to bed early if you want to be on time for school tomorrow.”

“Ugggh…” she threw her head back and groaned upon hearing that nickname, “I’m not 7 anymore, mom.”

“Don’t worry, sis,” Sandbar said from across the room, “We’ll keep your plans hot for ya.”

Coral relaxed when she heard her brother speak up in regards to preserving her ideas. “Alright…but don’t start anything without me, got it?”

“We won’t, I promise,” Sandbar stretched his arms out and lied back against the couch.

Once Coral left the room, Flash took a moment to essentially sum up what he had been told. “...So we’re dealing with an Equestrian spell that reinforces feelings of lust to the point where nobody can think about anything beyond that. And just how are we supposed to deal with this?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Micro went on with an annoyed sigh, “...but I haven’t been able to come up with anything. It’s all confusing…”

Sandbar offered some words of encouragement. “Relax, yo. You’re the smartest one here. I’m sure we’ll figure it out at some point--” And all the sudden, his head fell back, and he was fast asleep, snoring softly.

“...Woah, are you alright?” Flash asked.

“He’s fine,” Micro explained, “It’s likely the amount of recreational substances in his system have finally caught up with him. He’ll be asleep for a while no matter how loud we speak. In fact, I think the only thing that could wake him up would be if his sister was in danger or something of the sort.”

“...I see…” With a heavy, yet quiet tone of voice, Flash got up from the couch and walked towards one of the outdoor balconies where he’d stand with his arms resting upon the rail.

Micro hesitated for a moment, unsure if he was capable of weeding out someone’s emotional conflicts, but he had no choice. Flash was still one of his friends after all. “I have to at least try,” he thought to himself as he stood up and joined Flash outside. “Is there something that’s bothering you? If so, then I’m more than willing to hear you out.”

“Well…it’s in regards to what happened earlier--I’m sure you saw it on those cameras,” Flash explained with a sigh, “That lady knew I had feelings for Twilight--er, the other Twilight and she took full advantage of it. Once again, I feel completely useless due to my emotions…”

Micro thought about what his friend had said and it turned out to be much more painful than he thought. Flash had been abandoned by two pony-girls from Equestria. The first of which had completely used him to gain popularity--though Sunset was a much better person now than she was back then. The second was arguably worse--as it was someone whom he thought he loved, only for her to leave without so much as a goodbye. Given that the latter was a princess in another dimension, there wasn’t much fault one could place on her actions, but even so, Flash couldn’t simply ignore these feelings.

And Micro knew this, which is why he addressed them. “Listen…I can only imagine what you’re feeling right now, Sentry. But I want to assure you that it’s not the end of the world--”

“Easy for you to say,” Flash lamented, “Yet again I’ve been manipulated by someone from the other side of that portal. It’s as if the universe hates me or something--like I'm in a cosmic joke and I’m the punchline. I wish I never became this popular to begin with…maybe then I wouldn’t have been a target…now our friends are in danger because of it.”

Micro shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one could have predicted that the people you were interested in were magical horses from an alternate world with their own motives.”

“But it’s not just that,” Flash went on, “There’s more to it than that. But…you probably don’t wanna hear it. I’d understand.”

Surprisingly, Micro was more than willing to hear him out. “No no--I’m right here. If there’s something you need to get off your chest, feel free to do so.”

With that in mind, Flash was willing to explain himself. “See…my mom works for Record’s Tower near the middle of the city--it’s where my love of music came from. But my dad? He was always against the idea of me being a musician claiming that it was pointless,” he rolled his eyes, “Honestly, I think he wanted me to simply coast through life on looks alone. And because he didn’t agree with mom…they tended to argue a lot.”

“So that explains the persona he used to put on. He was simply following what he was taught by his father,” Micro analyzed what he had heard, then spoke aloud. “I see…and the end result is someone who’s become frustrated with who he is now….is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” said Flash as he hung his head, “I don’t wanna disappoint either of my parents, but my dad’s ideas have really landed me in a sore spot. I wasn’t prepared to become cannon fodder for other people’s emotions, ya know? Hence why I wish that I didn’t gain as much popularity as I did. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been manipulated…”

“I see…maybe you should talk with Sunset about it,” Micro suggested, “If you lay your feelings down for her, maybe she’ll start to understand how much she hurt you. Unfortunately, we can’t do the same for Princess Twilight, but at the very least we can make a start.”

“Yeah, don’t worry…I already have,” Flash spoke up, “We’re on good terms now, but…this situation--being stabbed in the back…” He paused, and clutched his chest with his right hand. “...It served as a reminder of why I can’t let my emotions overtake me.”

“Even so…there’s still hope for you.”

Meanwhile…

The small dog sniffed the air and started panting once he saw a house near the beach with its lights on. “Aha! Sandbar’s place! He must still be around…maybe he can help…and give me something to eat.”

Arc XVIII Episode III: Mutual Situation

“What do you mean?” Flash asked, “It’s like I can’t escape from dealing with this horrible nightmare…I just wanna focus on my music, but it seems like every time I try to, I’m sucked back into some vortex of emotional damage.”

“...While I am no therapist, I can still do my best to offer advice to you through your situation,” Micro continued. “Believe it or not, I can relate to you on some level. Our situations are not exactly the same, but they’re similar in that we both have our own internal conflicts brought on by how we were raised.”

Flash raised a brow at such a thing. The idea that Micro Chips had been raised to be the way he currently was and the fact that it was comparable to his situation was…interesting to say the least.

“Wait, what?” he asked out of confusion, “But I thought research and science was your passion. Something that you enjoyed doing for the sake of it. Did your folks push you to be this way or something?”

“...Somewhat. How do I put this without sounding arrogant--my parents are…” Micro put his hands together and exhaled. “...not the most intelligent people. Which is completely fine--I love them all the same. But once they realized just how advanced I was, I was able to skip grades and became…isolated among my peers.”

The fact that he apparently skipped a grade or two brought an important question to Flash’s mind. “...Hang on, how old are you?” he asked.

“18,” Micro replied, “About a year younger than the average senior. Anyhow--I consistently felt like I was in the wrong classes growing up. Everyone was always two to three years older than I was, and thus, had slightly more developed minds and interests, leaving me with no one to really express myself with.”

“I see…so wait, where do your parents come in?”

Micro gave a sarcastic chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders. “Pfft. That’s the kicker: They don’t. Or rather, they didn’t. I often found myself annoyed because they generally wanted me to succeed but didn’t stop to ask me how my day was or how I was feeling about school or life in general. Combine that with having almost no friends outside of a select few who shared some common interests…I was somewhat pessimistic in my younger years.”

“Yikes…so it is kinda similar. They pushed you to be as smart as possible, but also ended up pushing you away,” Flash commented with a tone of painful realization. “...Ouch. I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you. Did you ever manage to get through it?”

Micro hesitated. He removed his glasses, wiped off the lenses, and placed them back on his face. “...I did, but that’s part of a much more…emotionally charged tale that I’m not exactly prepared to delve into right at the moment.”

Flash nodded. “That’s understandable. Even so, I appreciate the fact that you went out of your way to listen to me. What do you think I should do next?”

“Talk things out with your parents as well,” Micro suggested, “Your father needs to understand that you’re your own man now and won’t stand for anymore of this fighting between him and your mother. If he can’t accept who you are, that’s his problem, not yours. Your mother should also put her foot down and see to it that you’re allowed to have your own influence over your life. You’re nearly a fully-developed young adult, you have that right at the very least,” he turned and looked out over the horizon to the serene beach and calm waves that pushed against the rocks. “...At least, that’s how I see it. Again. Take my advice with a pinch of salt, as I am no expert on the matter.”

“...You’re right on that front,” Flash replied as he folded his arms, “I should be willing to take more of an active role in my own life. I never considered it until now because I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do or not…guess that’s what friends are for, huh? Thanks, Micro.”

“Not a problem. A good support system is important to have for any circumstance. After all, no one can survive this world alone. Magic can only get you so far.”

“‘Magic can only get you so far’…hmm…” Flash started thinking about those words and how they could be used. “I wonder if--”

Thump!

“OW!”

The boys’ focus was completely stolen by the sound of something hitting one of the balcony’s support beams. Flash and Micro looked over to find…

A purple and green dog carrying what appeared to be a small, black handbag around his neck. “Anyone here?!--woah, there’s more of you than I would’ve expected. That’s good--is Sandbar here?”

“Spike? Now that’s what I call unexpected,” Flash commented.

“He is,” Micro answered the question, “Glad you managed to find us. I suppose since Twilight is also under the effects of this spell, she’s not able to take care of you.”

“Funny you mention her,” Spike turned his head towards the handbag he was wearing, “I’ve got something that Twilight told me to use in case of emergencies. But first…” He clutched his abdomen with a paw as he grimaced, “I really need something to eat...I could’ve sworn I smelled steak from this direction…”

“That’s what we had earlier--steak tacos from the food truck that Sandbar's father works at,” Micro called out, “Come on around to the front door and I’ll let you in. Then we can take a look at this device Twilight was speaking of…”

With cheerful panting, Spike rose to the occasion and started skittishly scampering around the house towards the front door. "You had me at steak!"

Arc XVIII Episode IV: Sufferable Genius

Meanwhile…

Under the cover of nightfall, Acida took the bus in order to travel to the planetarium--the highest point in the city. Since she was all alone on the bus, there was no one to oppose her or make any attempts to suss out who she was. Having fully adapted a human form, she was on her way to enact her next stage of her plan.

“This is what happens when you place all of your larvae in one basket,” she thought to herself, “They’re so reliant on those human versions of the elements of harmony, that they aren’t even capable of defending themselves. It’s a pitiful existence and all the more reason why this world needs to be recreated. To think that those Sirens as well as Shimmer haven’t realized just how utterly pathetic this place is. No one can use magic naturally, everyone is focused on frivolous pursuits through their devices called ‘cell phones’--whatever that means. And they’re constantly at each other's throats. War after war….conflict after conflict…but soon, I’ll be the one in charge and they won’t have to fight ever again. They could be so much more, but they choose to wallow in stagnation…but that ends soon. All I need to do is launch my power off of the satellite in the sky with Lucide’s magic…”

At Sandbar’s home…

“You sure Sandbar wouldn’t mind me being here?” Spike asked, “I kinda don’t like dropping in unannounced.”

“Considering that the fate of the world is on the line…I don’t think he’ll have a problem.” Micro placed a bowl of meat on the floor for Spike--to which the latter immediately buried his face into.

Even now, Sandbar was still fast asleep on the couch. It was about 10PM at this point and pretty much everyone else around the house was in a state of slumber--thankfully with no dream demons hijacking their rest this time.

Flash was a bit more interested in the handbag that Spike had brought with him. “So what sort of device are we talking here? Is it something that’ll undo the spell on our friends?”

Once Spike was finished eating, he licked his face clean, leaving the bowl in a spinning, rattling state until it came to a stop. He looked up at Flash and responded, “Oh yeah…see that’s the problem. The device is so intricate and Twilight-y--” he japed with a smug smile before continuing normally, “That only someone as smart as she is can make use of it….”

Both Spike and Flash looked over at Micro Chips--to which the young man responded with a confused tilt of his head.

“W-wait--me?” he asked with a concerned tone, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I couldn’t imagine messing with a piece of Twilight’s technology. Out of respect for her as a peer, I--”

“Listen bro,” Spike spoke flatly while standing on his hind legs, eyes narrowed, “There’s no time for worrying about that petty little rivalry you guys have. You need to focus or else they’ll be stuck as lusty zombies forever.”

Micro shook it off, and pet Spike on the head. “You’re right, sorry. I need to focus if we want to get this done. Mind showing me the device?”

Spike reached into the handbag, and pulled out a small wooden box. “All yours, MC.”

“Thanks. Now…” With the box in hand, Micro took a seat on the couch and prepared to open it up.

Intrigued by what Spike had mentioned, Flash spoke up. “...Rivalry? These two? Huh. Figured they’d get along well enough and at least be friends or something.”

“Au contraire, mon frère," Spike snidely remarked as he walked over to Flash, “These two have been feuding since elementary school.”

“For real?” With a grin on his face, Flash was intrigued by this--the fact that one of his friends had apparently been in a constant rivalry with someone who seemed to be the smartest girl in their school made for interesting gossip. “Tell me more--” he looked towards Micro’s direction, “If it’s alright with you that is.”

As they spoke, Micro had been inspecting the contents of the wooden box with a multi-layered set of eye-glass lenses that seemed to pop out of his glasses so that he could see it better--akin to something jewelers would use when inspecting jewelry. “You may as well…this is going to take some time to figure out--but I think I understand it.”

“Alright, goodie.” With the floor to speak, Spike went on with his explanation. “So! This all pretty much begins as far back as I can remember from my days as a puppy…”

About 10 years ago…

Canterlot Elementary was home to pretty much every student that would eventually go on to attend Canterlot High or Crystal Prep. But in particular, there were two students in the second grade that seemed to be on another level of intellect…

“And in conclusion, that’s why the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” a younger--nine-year-old Sci-Twi spoke in front of her class, much to the awe of her fellow students and even her teacher who couldn’t believe what she had said.

“Very good, Twilight,” said their teacher, “Micro Chips, you’re up next. What’s your science report looking like?”

The eight-year-old Micro got up from his seat with a proud smile on his face. “Well, Mr. Sherman, I think you’ll like what I have to say.”

From behind him, Twilight scoffed under her breath so no one could hear. “Pfft. Yeah right. Won’t be any more significant or greater than mine…”

“Hold up, hold up,” Flash interjected, stopping Spike from speaking. “Just how do you know all of this?”

“Oh that,” Spike replied while scratching behind his ears. “She snuck me into school sometimes, so I was there to witness certain things. Now do you wanna interrupt me or do you want me to keep going?”

“No no, my bad,” Flash nodded, “Go ahead.”

Micro commented from nearby, “Oh dear--I think I remember the day you’re talking about.”

Arc XVIII Episode V: Smarty Pants

“Okay--okay--this is where it gets juicy--” Spike continued to tell the story from memory…

The young Micro Chips gave a presentation to his second grade class…on the subject of thermodynamics.

“...And in conclusion, that’s how equilibrium works when it comes to power exchanged via heat.”

“Woah…”

“Wow…”

“Oooh…!”

“Thank you for that…unexpected presentation, Mr. Chip,” said their teacher.C

Micro Chips gave an awkward smile as he sat down, much to the chagrin of Twilight who simply rolled her eyes.

The students in their class were much more entertained and enthralled by Micro’s work. Thankfully, their teacher remained unbiased and graded him accordingly. In the end, Micro and Twilight both ended up with the exact same grade, however the latter was unsatisfied with the reception she got.

“Hmph,” she huffed as she walked to her locker and opened her backpack to talk to Spike, “Micro thinks he’s soooo much cooler just because he knows about thermodynamics. I know about that stuff too!”

Spike, being a puppy that couldn’t communicate through words, simply whined and tilted his head. Essentially, he was uncertain in regards to what Twilight took away from that situation. To him, it didn’t seem as if Micro was trying to upstage her at all, but he couldn’t exactly tell her that…

Twilight took Spike’s little noise as a sign of sympathy and responded by petting him on the head. “Don’t worry, Spike. My invention is gonna rock the world and Micro won’t know what--”

“Hey Twilight--”

“BAWK--” Twilight screamed and quickly zipped her bag shut while turning around, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she realized that it wasn’t a teacher. “Oh…it’s you. Hi, Micro.”

“I have to say that I really liked your analysis on cell division,” he said with an earnest smile, “It’s something our teacher never would’ve expected, so I think you did a good job of making something fresh and engaging.”

“Oh…uh…thanks?” Twilight responded with an uncertain tone as she pouted and shoved her hands in the pockets of her denim shorts. “Your presentation was neat too. Thermodynamics are really cool.”

“I know, right?” Micro replied with sparkles in his eyes, “There’s so many ways heat can be used for energy. In the future, we won’t even need coats once I develop skin-based thermodynamic nanomachines!”

Twilight’s eyelid twitched as she forced an uneasy smile onto her face. “That’s…so…neat. I was…thinking about that too.”

“Really?” Micro asked with a hopeful tone, “Then maybe we could study them together? Come up with ideas?”

“Sorry,” Twilight replied bluntly while adjusting her glasses, “I have more important things to do.” With that, she swiftly grabbed her backpack and shut her locker, leaving a confused Micro Chips behind.

“...What was that about?” he muttered obliviously.

“...And that’s one of numerous examples,” Spike explained as he finished up recounting that moment from his younger days. “Twilight always saw Micro Chips as a goalpost of sorts. Someone she felt the need to outpace.”

“Damn…” Was all Flash could say in response. He knew that this world’s Twilight was different than the one from the pony world, but he didn’t realize just how much different she was. The look of guilt on his face said it all. “Maybe I should’ve gotten to know her instead of writing her off.” Then he spoke aloud, “So she and Micro have been like this for the last decade?”

“Nah, once she went to Crystal Prep and Micro went to CHS, they stopped seeing each other--in the literal sense, not the romantic one--but even up to 8th grade she always tried to nip at his heels.”

“Tis true,” Micro commented from where he was sitting, having sorted the contents of the box into petri dishes and inspecting it with a microscope. “At every spelling bee, every science fair, even the group projects--I could feel her eyes boring holes into the back of my head. It’s strange because we got along just fine off-campus and when it came to discussing our hobbies.” He sat upright and sighed, “But when it came to schoolwork, she simply seemed to want to outdo me at every turn.”

“Yup--even now,” Spike agreed and added onto that statement, “You should’ve seen her face when you were voted ‘Most Likely To Invent Cold Fusion’ in the yearbook,” he paused and chuckled at the thought. “Hoo-boy! She was so pouty that she started to turn blue!”

Micro rolled his eyes as he continued working. “And here I am, working on a way to save her and her friends. I’m sure she won’t at all be annoyed at that,” he muttered in a flat, sarcastic tone.

“I’d hope she’d be mature enough to put something petty like that aside,” Flash commented, “It sounds to me like you two had a semi-competitive sibling relationship in the past--but that’s in the past.”

“That’s just it though,” Micro went on, “I never did try to compete with her. Looking back, I think I was oblivious to how she felt.”

“Yeah it’s true. I don’t blame you,” Spike replied and looked at Flash once more, “Though there was this one time where they were actually paired up together to work on a project. The objective was to make a perpetual motion device…”

“UUUUUGH!” the young Twilight groaned into her book, “How are we gonna make this heavy metal pot move constantly? We’ve tried everything from rubber bands to chicken wire…”

“How about magnets?” Micro suggested, “If we use two magnets of opposite poles…”

“Then it’ll give off a zero-gravity effect and cause the pot to float forever! Mikey, you’re a genius!”

“I’m simply more of a planner…you’re the one with the--”

“Done!” Twilight had already assembled the motion machine powered via magnets and wire. The stewing pot was able to float just as they intended--which naturally drew the attention of their peers….mostly to Micro though.

“Did you come up with that yourself, Micro Chips?”

“That’s so cool! I knew he was the smartest!”

And even as he tried to clear it up… “Oh no, Twilight actually--”

But they didn’t listen and continued to fawn over him, earned an annoyed side glance from Twilight as she muttered to herself. “Tch…there he goes again…”

“I don’t think she ever realized he wasn’t trying to outdo her,” Spike explained with a shrug of his paws, “Shame. I think they could’ve been friends. But that’s what happens when you make sweeping assumptions about people you think you know, only to be utterly confused when those assumptions don’t line up with reality.” He leaned against the chair Flash was sitting on and raised a brow, looking for a response. “Know what I mean, brother?”

The realization hit Flash like a truck as his eyes shot open. All he could do was idly rub the back of his neck as he spoke, “Yeah…you make a good point.”

Arc XVIII Episode VI: Technological Know-How

Once Micro Chips had identified the exact nature of Twilight’s device, he was ready to share what he had found. “Alright--I’ve got it,” he spoke up at last. “These are…well, nanomachines.”

“Wait what?!” Spike yelped, only to be shushed by Micro.

“Shhhh! Everyone else is still asleep!” he said in a hushed whisper.

“Oh, sorry…” Spike lowered his voice, “I was just shocked to hear that since I thought Twilight had given up on that project.”

Confused, Flash would offer a question. “Why would she give up on something so important to her?”

“Remember what I mentioned in the story?” Spike asked, “Apparently Micro wanted to experiment with nanomachines as well for the purpose of…” he turned to Micro and requested more details, “What was it again?”

“Modular biothermal control,” Micro explained, “So that people who are less fortunate wouldn’t need to worry about keeping warm.”

Spike snapped his paw fingers and continued, “That’s it. I suppose Twilight decided to give up if she figured Micro Chips would be working on something similar.” His expression dropped as he looked at the ground and sighed, “Wish she had more confidence in herself. She’d be able to do amazing things if she just focused on herself instead of how other people think about her.”

Flash sat back against the chair and sighed. “Hmm…yeah, I can relate to that. Probably something I need to start doing too.”

“We can worry about that later,” Micro turned the conversation away from their past and towards what they’d do next. “I’ve already started to figure out methods in regards to how we’ll use this. Spike--doesn’t Sunset have a journal for communication of some sort?”

Spike nodded, wagging his tail, “That’s right. That journal is how she contacts Princess Twilight in Equestria. Buuuuut it’s probably in her locker at school. Why do ya ask?”

Micro Chips had started to clean up the petri dishes, and loaded the nanomachines into a syringe that he carried with his other supplies. “Because I think we’ll be able to make smarter moves if we know what our enemy is capable of. This is the work of Equestrian magic, so Princess Twilight should have the answers we need. These nanomachines will allow me to get inside of the school unnoticed and without conflict against the zombified girls.”

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Flash replied while eyeing the needle, “...But are you prepared to use that? Shouldn’t you test it first?”

“That’s just it,” Micro lamented as he stared at the needle, “There’s no time to run any sort of tests. We’re ultimately limited by whatever that weird, shapeshifting lady plans to do next. So if it means finishing Twilight’s work in order to save everyone, then that’s just what I’ll have to do.”

Spike opened his mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately after. There were simply no words to describe how grateful, yet fearful he felt. If there really was no other option, and Micro Chips was just as smart as Twilight, then that meant he knew best…right?

“...No. I can’t get all emotional,” the little canine thought to himself, “I trust him. We will save Twilight and everyone else.”

Since he wasn’t very knowledgeable in regards to this sort of technology, all Flash could do was place his faith in Micro Chips as well. “...As long as you know what you’re doing, bud,” he replied, “No matter what happens, we’re in this together.”

Micro looked at them both and replied with a quiet nod as he injected himself with the nanomachines. Surprisingly, it didn’t look as if he suffered any pain until…

“...”

Thud.

As soon as Micro placed the syringe down, his body went limp as he hit the floor.

“Woah, are you alright?!” Flash yelled as he got up.

Spike hurried over to him and placed an ear to his chest. Once he did, his expression of fear changed to that of relief. “Alright…he’s breathing. I think he’s just sleeping.”

Flash was relieved to hear this also. “Whew…alright, that’s good.” He yawned, and stretched his arms, “Aaah…we should probably sleep ourselves as it’s getting late.”

“Good idea,” Spike replied as he walked around in a circle and settled himself down on the carpet, “We’ll…have better states of mind tomorrow…”

“Yeah…g’night I guess,” Flash said as he tried to take a step…but immediately fell asleep on the carpet as well.

On the other side of the city…

Acida had gotten off of the bus and walked the rest of the way up to the planetarium. On her way there, she could see a lone groundskeeper who was busy raking leaves into a pile. “Perfect,” she thought to herself, “A nice little appetizer before the main course begins.”

She approached the worker and called out. “Excuse me. Is this place the highest point in the city?”

“Er, I suppose so?” said the groundsman as he stopped his raking in order to look up at her. “Why? You got something planned, miss--”

The man’s words were interrupted once a green aura was suddenly forced around his neck, causing him to struggle and squirm desperately.

But it was all for naught as Acida forcefully pressed her lips against his, and gave him a kiss of death--forcing the man into a shriveled husk who appeared to no longer be breathing…

“Hmmm…so humans do have some sort of power,” she muttered to herself whilst licking her lips, “I could get used to this.”

Arc XVIII Episode VII: Time To Get Up

The next morning…at CHS…

Aidon woke up, slowly blinking his eyes…only to realize that he was still tied to that chair. Not only that, but the principals were going at each other’s throats due to the effects of the lust-inducing spell causing them to fight over him unwillingly.

“He’s mine!” Luna screamed, “I’ve finally found a man who understands me and the first thing you want to do is take that away from me?! Just like you do with everything else?!”

“Oh please,” Celestia scoffed with an arrogant grin on her face. “You couldn’t hold a man down if you tried. All of the other ones you’ve met were scared of you--and rightfully so. Who wears black on a date?” She started to crank invisible handles beneath her eyes to represent years, “We get it, you like the darkness and you love to be sad. But no man with any self-respect would date someone like--”

SHOOM! CRACK!

A wooden chair was flung across the room at mach speed, breaking into hundreds of tiny pieces on impact.

Rivers of tears were running down Luna’s face as she hissed--almost like a bat--with veins bulging on her neck. “You’re not special, Celestia! Nothing about you is! You’re no different from any other woman! Quit trying to put me down to fluff up your own fat, insignificant posterior of a washed-up, middle-aged hag!”

Celestia fell silent--tension sucked out of the room.

“Yeah, how does that feel, sister?” Luna snapped, “Your age is getting the better of you. I’ve seen your health records. Yet you continue to gorge yourself on sugary confections! You’re not attractive!”

As the shouting continued, all Aidon could do was stare at the floor. He wondered just how much of this was brought on by the effects of the spell…or whether there was some truth to those words of theirs. But worst of all, what scared him the most was one simple fact: Whether or not they’d remember this once it was all over.

“...If they do remember, this will result in a lifetime of unearthed traumas that they’ll have to work hard to get through. If they don’t…then they’ll carry on with life as if it never happened, and I’ll be the only one that knows about their deepest feelings for each other--assuming these feelings are true. If that were to happen, it’d burn a hole in my chest just holding onto such info. Would they even believe me if I told them?”

Bottom line, there was no easy way to look at this situation. All Aidon could do for the moment was try his best to figure out a way out…without causing them any harm. “The longer I wait…the more potent this seems to become. There don’t seem to be many other options…”

At Sandbar’s home…

Everyone was awakened by the smell of breakfast. Sandbar had taken to waking everyone up with a few nudges and a loud--

“Get up, yo! Today’s the day we save the girls!”

“Huh? Wha…?” Micro Chips picked up his glasses and put them on. “Morning already? Ah, that’s right, we need to get ourselves in gear.”

From nearby, Coral Currents had slid down the stairs via sitting on the handrail and gliding down. “Big brother--guys--we got trouble. Apparently they found the dead body of a groundskeeper near the planetarium that overlooks the city!”

“What?!” everyone shouted together, causing Flash to jolt awake.

“W-wha--what’s going on??”

“This is some real shit now, yo--we don’t have much time left,” Sandbar grumbled to himself.

Coral folded her arms and gave a determined nod. “Hm. Don’t worry, big brother. I’ll make sure we--”

“Oh no you don’t, yo,” Sandbar placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. “You’re goin’ right to school and not getting involved in any of this crap. If I let you get wrapped up in this, I’d never forgive myself.”

As much as she wanted to protest, Coral couldn’t argue. “Alright…but make sure you keep your phone with you so I can tell you what’s going on. I can still help from afar.”

Just then, High Tide walked downstairs wearing a more business-oriented pair of pants and a suit. Her voice was also much more blunt than before, lacking any sort of slurring. “Alright, Coral. Let’s go. You don’t wanna be late for school, do you? By the way--breakfast is on the table, everyone.”

“No mom, I’m on my way!” she replied, and looked at Sandbar and his friends. “I’ll be in touch. Don’t do anything crazy.”

Sandbar scratched the back of his head as she left. “She’s always like this…can’t blame her though.”

Meanwhile, Micro Chips had taken the time to explain to Flash what had happened while looking it up on the news. “We’re running out of time. Our adversary is making moves by taking the lives of innocent people,” said Micro.

“Those nanomachines,” Flash called out, “We need to get back to school and use them to get Sunset’s book and speak to Princess Twilight on the other side. It’s the only way we’ll be able to figure out how to beat her. Right Spike? Spike?”

Everyone looked around. The purple pup was busy stuffing his face with some of the bacon on the dinner table. “...Morning?”

“C’mon man, focus up!” Flash clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, “I’ve already got an idea on how we can get this done before the day is over. We just need to give a quick call to Wallflower and the others.”

“Really?” Micro asked, adjusting his glasses. “But I haven’t even told you what they do y--why are you staring at me like that?”

Just then, everything except for Micro’s glasses turned completely transparent, giving the appearance that his glasses were simply floating in the air.

Everyone pretty much had the same reaction:

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

Arc XVIII Episode VIII: Time To Get Going

Moments later, he would pop back into existence. “Invisibility? This is amazing!” It seemed that Micro was able to make himself appear and disappear entirely at will. A most useful tool indeed.

“Oh, this is perfect!” Flash cheered, “Okay. This fits right in with what I was planning. But first, we’ll need to divide and conquer. That lady’s already killed some people and she’s making her move to do…something crazy. I’m not sure, but we need to send someone over there as fast as possible to slow her down.” He started dialing a number on his phone while calling out, “MC, where did that murder take place?”

“Uhh…near the planetarium--on that hill above the city,” he replied while looking up the information from his phone.

“Alright. Got it,” Flash engaged a phone call, and waited for it to start ringing…

While Sandbar stood there, utterly confused by the exchange he had just heard. “...Guys. Are you sure all this planning is gonna get us anywhere? We need to get going as soon as we can.”

“Don’t worry,” Flash responded confidently, “We’ll get started soon enough. Know thyself, know thy enemy…”

At last, the person he was calling--Wallflower--picked up her phone, answering in a groggy, slurred state. “...Yello…?”

“Wall? We’ve got a problem. Check the news!” yelled Flash.

“Okay, okay…I’m coming…just…ahhhh…” Wallflower continued to yawn sleepily, not fully grasping the intensity from the boy’s voice.

“Gah! Hurry the hell up!” Flash raised his voice, “This is not a drill. This is not a dream. Get your butt up and check the news already!”

That certainly did the trick. “Woah--wha--wah!” Wallflower fell out of her bed with a thud. “Sorry…I’m just a bit slow today. Not a morning gal by any means…” She stopped and turned on her TV. Sure enough, the news was raving about the death of a groundskeeper near the planetarium and how mysterious it was as no evidence could be found at the scene of the crime. “What the hell?!”

“It’s that weird lady, yo!” Sandbar shouted over the phone, “The one who I fought off and stabbed Flash in the back!”

“She’s also the one behind all this love-magic junk,” Flash explained in an annoyed tone, “Disgusting. But if you guys can find out wherever she is and keep her busy, we can undo the spell that’s affecting all of our friends at school.”

“...Sounds reasonable enough to me,” Wallflower said in between a yawn, “I’ll get the boys and head out that way when I can. How are you gonna fix that spell?”

Flash smirked to himself. “...Don’t worry about us. I’ve got a plan. You just get the boys and get going.” Without another word, he hung up.

“So…what are we doing exactly?” Micro Chips asked. “I have a lot of technical know-how…but me coming up with ideas would simply slow us down since I tend to…go overboard with large wo

“...I’m not the best with coming up with plans, yo,” Sandbar said.

Spike walked over and casually leaned against the couch. “Don’t look at me, I’m just a dog.”

“It’s alright, guys,” Flash turned to them with a steeled set of eyes, “I’ve got this. We’re going to get this done. Whether we win or lose, nobody can say we didn’t try--though of course, I’d prefer to win--but that’s besides the point. Now let’s get going--though…can any of you drive?” He clutched his chest again, “I feel better than I did yesterday, but I don’t think I’m cleared to drive just yet.”

Meanwhile, about 15 minutes later with Wallflower and the boys…

She rushed into the guest room where they were sleeping and shouted to wake them up. “Guys! We need to get going! There’s something going on at the science center!”

To her surprise though, none of that was necessary as they were already fully awake.

“Yeah, we know,” Keiji commented as he stood up and stretched, “We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for the last few hours.”

Rumble was lying on the floor, and looked up at the green girl with a pair of bulging eyes. “...Um…”

“What?” Wallflower raised an eyebrow. She was wearing an oversized gray T shirt with sunflowers on it that draped over most of her body with no clear sign of anything being worn on her lower half. Seemed as if she was a rather lazy sleeper. “The hell are you looking at?”

For the sake of his own safety, Rumble chose to not say anything. “N-nothing--nothing at all.” He simply got up and stretched as well. “So what’s the plan?”

Thankfully, Wallflower continued as if nothing happened. “Flash just told us to get to the planetarium as quickly as possible while everyone else deals with what’s going on at school. If we hurry, we can probably cut her off before she hurts anyone else.”

“He’s calling the shots now?” Keiji responded with what sounded like an impressed scoff, “Hmph. Didn’t think he had it in him. But whatever--I’ve got no issues with that. Now that we know where that hoe is, let’s wipe her off the face of the earth. You ready, Rumble?”

Rumble punched his fist against his open palm. “Oh hell yeah. When she messed with scoots, she messed with the wrong man. I’ve got a few choice words for her…”

Arc XIX Episode I: School Raid

Meanwhile, with Flash and the others…

Sandbar was driving himself, Flash, Spike, and Micro Chips towards the school.

“Alright. What’s the plan, yo?” Sandbar asked as he made a turn.

Flash would reiterate his idea. “Micro is gonna get in there and retrieve Sunset’s book--the one she uses to communicate with Princess Twilight. Then, we’re gonna write to her and figure out what the hell’s going on.”

“I can do that no problem,” Micro Chips responded as he tapped the device on his wrist, “Whatever the problem is: If it’s caused by magic, it can be solved by magic.”

“What about me?” Spike asked from the middle seat, “What should I do?”

Flash snapped his fingers and asked, “Tell me everything you know about magic and/or any information that might be beneficial to us right now. You’re Twilight’s dog, right? I bet you know a decent amount about this stuff.”

Spike scratched behind his ear with his hind paw and replied, “Yeah, you got a point there. There’s actually quite a bit I can tell you. But what’s most important right now: The Aether.”

“The what-now?”

“It’s why humans can use magic,” Spike elaborated, “I noticed that Sandbar can use sand now and I realize that it had to do with that stuff Twilight talks and writes notes about. She and her friends were just normal humans before Sunset came here and gave them her power. Maybe that power’s now being spread to the rest of the population, giving you guys a means to fight back.”

“So that’s why I can control sand?” Sandbar asked from the driver’s seat, “Wicked! Now I can protect everyone even better than before! Hang on, Yona!”

“Wonder if any of that will have rubbed off on us by now…” Micro Chips mused while looking at Flash, “It would certainly make things a lot easier.”

“Only one way to find out, we’ll need to put ourselves into action. And that starts with you, brother.” Flash replied to Micro, then spoke to Sandbar. “Oh and--stop us one block away so they don’t know we’re coming.”

“Got it, yo.” Soon enough, Sandbar stopped one block away from the school as instructed.

Micro Chips left the vehicle and activated the nanomachines that turned him invisible--except for his glasses. “...Think they’ll notice a floating pair of glasses?”

“Probably,” Spike commented as he scurried up to the window, “You should take them off at least until you make it out. Don’t want anyone to catch onto your presence.”

Micro sighed and removed his glasses. “It will make it that much more difficult to see…but I’ll deal with it.” He pocketed them, causing them to disappear into his invisible pockets. While his vision was a tad blurred, he was still able to make out large objects and walk down the street. “Alright. Watch my back. Your phones will be tapped into whatever my COMP sees.”

“Your what-now?” Spike asked.

“The device on my watch,” Micro replied as he started walking, “You’ll be patched in momentarily. I’m going in.”

The boys took out their phones and just like clockwork, they were able to have a wrist-eye view of everything going on in front of him.

Since he was invisible, that made things a bit easier for him. The campus doors hadn’t been locked so entry was simple enough. Micro walked inside, entering the school which was suspiciously quiet.

“Alright. Nobody is around here. That means I can keep going.”

The only problem was getting into Sunset Shimmer’s locker without making any noise and alerting them of his presence.

“Now how will I…”

Just then, footsteps rounded the halls. Micro Chips turned his head to see…a vegatative Sunset Shimmer walking around idly with saliva hanging out of her mouth. Followed by a barely conscious Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Derpy walking after her. Most of the color had been sapped from their faces as they shuffled along like undead drones.

“Diabolical…malnutrition is slowly setting in. They won’t last for much longer at this rate. I need to break into her locker and snag this magic journal of hers.”

Soon enough, they had passed by, walking onto the next hallway, leaving Micro alone to get into the locker. Even though it was locked, he had already thought of a way to break into it discreetly. He reached into his pocket…and pulled out his glasses.

“No, that’s not it…” He put the glasses away and pulled out a small, spider-like mechanical device and placed it upon the locker before backing away as quickly as possible before consulting the device on his wrist. “Alright. Now I need to start the welding laser process…”

Little did he know, a pair of eyes was watching from around the corner…

From outside…

Flash and Sandbar were watching their phones from the perspective of the camera on Micro’s device.

“Alright, he seems like he’s doing fine so far,” Sandbar commented as he watched the process of breaking into the locker play out.

“So far so good,” Flash added, “Just needs to keep a low profile so he doesn’t draw any attention.”

Spike was watching the camera with a frantic expression as he chewed on his tail. The sight of the physically drained girls made him fearful for Twilight’s safety. “...Oh man oh man…I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. I hope she’s okay…”

“Don’t worry,” Flash said while petting him on his head, “No matter what happens, I’ll make sure we get her back. And everyone else too. I know what it’s like to lose someone important to you--and I won’t let that happen here.”

The little dog was able to relax from the contact, but tilted his head upon hearing Flash’s words. “Wait…you do?”

But before he could respond…

CHRRRRRRRR!

Their phones would start to flicker with static and white noise.

Sandbar was the first to react, “What the--MC, what’s goin’ on, yo’?!”

From the other end of the line, they’d hear him shouting alongside overlapping, zombie-like moans and groans…

“Abort! Abort!” Micro yelled in between the static, “They….got….can’t…escape!”

Chrrrrrr….

Nothing but pure static from then.

Arc XIX Episode II: Sound Barrier

“Oh no…hell no…” Flash grumbled as he put his phone away and stepped outside of the car. “This is bad. I can’t let him go out like this.”

“Wait wait--hold up!” Sandbar shouted as he got out and tried to follow Flash, “What are you doin’, yo?!”

Spike joined him as he hopped onto the ground and said, “Yeah, wait up! Don’t tell me you’re going in there by yourself!”

“Don’t follow me,” Flash commanded them as he kept walking, “You both need to stay here in case anything else goes wrong. Micro is one of my friends and I’m not gonna sit here and let him get abducted by some evil witch’s scheme.”

“But…” Spike looked down at the ground, unable to come up with a response. “Still…you can’t…!”

“Argh…” Flash clutched his chest as he kept walking. The pain from that knife wound had started to creep up on him again, but he refused to allow it to stop it. “All this arguing is making my chest hurt. I’m not taking no for an answer. Stay behind: That’s an order.”

“...Flash…Flash, c’mon!” Spike barked, followed by a low grumble as he looked up at Sandbar. “Grrr../Sandbar, say something!”

But Sandbar was resigned to Sentry leaving. He was leaning against the car with his arms folded and eyes shut, thinking about what Flash just said. “...he’s ordering us.” With a sigh, he talked Spike out of trying to convince Flash to change his mind. “...Let him go, Spike. He’s got a reason for this.” He then looked up at Flash and said, “You good, bro. Go ahead.”

Flash nodded and continued walking as he clutched his chest. It seemed as if nothing would stop him since he knew that one of his closest friends was in danger. “I won’t let you suffer…not like this.”

As they watched him walk off, Spike asked Sandbar a question.

“Why did you let him go?” he asked.

There was a silence for a moment until Sandbar finally said, “His grandparents were in the Coast Guard for Canterlot.”

“Oh…military…” Spike’s ears drooped as he thought about it some more. “I guess I can understand that. He probably has a very strict mindset--explains why he’s trying to lead us. But I hope his grandparents are okay--”

“They’re dead, Spike,” Sandbar cut him off, taking all of the air out of the surrounding area and silencing the wind with his words.

“...”

Inside the school…

Flash ran through the halls until he found Micro Chips. The latter was being assaulted by various girls who had found him--he was now completely visible to boot.

“Dammit!” he shouted as found himself backed in with no way out, “They got me cornered--but how---?!”

“Don’t worry!” Flash yelled as he ran forward and dove in to protect his friend, “I’ve got your back, brother!”

And as soon as he put himself between Micro and the girls…something extraordinary happened.

Or rather ordinary if you were used to the magical nonsense that invaded the human world.

Magic started to manifest within him--whether it was from Equestria or not was left up for debate, but it was a light green aura that surrounded his entire body. And as soon as he put his hand up, a small blast from his hand would release a musical wave that pushed the girls back.

“Woah…how did you…?” Micro Chips stood upright and adjusted his glasses as he witnessed the events unfold in front of him.

“No time for that--we need’ta get outta here and come up with another plan. C’mon!”

Without hesitation, the boys ran out of the building. Once outside, Flash huffed in order to catch his breath. “You alright, MC?”

“...Better than alright,” Micro replied, “Not only did you save me…” From behind his back, he pulled out Sunset Shimmer’s journal. “But in the ensuing chaos, I managed to snag Sunset’s book! We just need a pen so that we can contact her…”

Moments later, Sandbar and Spike approached them both.

“You guys okay?” Sandbar asked.

Spike scampered over to Flash and nuzzled the latter’s leg. “Glad to see you’re safe. Had me worried there for a second.”

“Oh uh…thanks…” Flash replied with a relieved sigh as he pet Spike on the head. “Nice to know someone cares about me. But that aside, I think I got some kinda…sound magic? I have no idea what to call it--but right now, we need to contact Twilight--er, the other Twilight.”

Sandbar offered him a pen with leaves on it. “Here, yo. Use this.”

“Don’t read through too much,” Micro suggested, “You don’t want Sunset to find out you’ve read her private conversations.”

Flash rolled his eyes at the notion. “As if I’m interested in her private conversations.” Eventually, he came upon some blank pages that he’d start to write in. “Alright--here we go.”

“Dear Princess Twilight--this is Flash Sentry. We have an emergency.”

Less than a minute passed before words started to flicker on the opposite page with quick sparks of purple in a rather rushed fashion.

“What the heck?! Flash Sentry?! How did you get ahold of Sunset’s book?!”

One brief, written explanation later…

“I see now,” Twilight wrote back, “Everyone’s gone love-crazy due to a Changeling that happened to make her way into your world. Great. Another one of Starswirl The Bearded’s pieces of trash that he’s left behind…”

Flash raised a brow. That name was familiar given that he had heard Sunset throw it around on occasion, but he needed to be sure. “Uh, who’s that?” he wrote.

“Long story,” the alicorn wrote back, “Just know that he’s the one responsible for banishing various creatures to your world. Including the Sirens and possibly many others that walk among you.”

“Ohhh…like that shadowy professor and the vamp-kid from the freshman class,” Sandbar pointed out as he read off the page. “Wonder how they was brought here…”

“We can worry about that later,” Flash responded as he continued to write. “Alright. So what do you think could be causing this, Twilight?”

“There’s only one thing that can force a sense of lust on a mass scale. An artifact that Princess Cadence thought she had destroyed when she was younger: Prismia’s Pearl Necklace.”

Arc XIX Episode III: Blackened

Meanwhile in that underground bunker below CHS…

By this point, Celestia and Luna had started to fling insult after insult at each other. It was a full-blown argument--the kind that people would often back away from as soon as they stepped into the room it was taking place in.

Unfortunately for Aidon, he had a front-row seat for it. The problem wasn’t even a matter of whether or not he could escape. It was about timing his escape so that he could make sure that the sisters wouldn’t end up killing each other from their rage.

“You’re just upset because dad paid more attention to me than you!” Celestia screamed, “But who’s fault is that? You never tried to express yourself and always stayed hidden away in your room!”

“GAGH! It’s because you were always stealing his attention!” Luna sobbed hysterically, “Ever since mother was hospitalized, you always tried to monopolize his time because you couldn’t learn how to manage your own feelings! Always overeating until you nearly fell into obesity!”

“...”

SLAP!

Celestia delivered a heavy-handed slap to her sister, leaving a red handprint on her blue cheek. “...You have no right to speak of that. You weren’t around to support me during that time so don’t you dare let another word of it leave your lips.”

Taken aback by the strike, Luna’s eyes suddenly grew a shade of dark blue as she ran forward and tackled her sister. “That’s because you kept pushing me away when I tried to help!”

Celestia’s eyes became solid red as the two began to tussle, actively wrestling on the floor. “You lie! All you do is lie!”

That’s when Aidon had had enough.

“That’s it.”

Almost instantly, he broke free of his restraints, forcing the two sisters to stop on a dime. Their clothes were disheveled and ripped apart with scratch marks all over their bodies. They stared up at the black, smoky miasma of a man that slowly trudged towards them.

“Unlike their Equestrian counterparts…nobody is giving them the time of day. The desire to jump out and help an elder is much less common here than it is in the human world. Well not on my watch.”

Before they could react, both Celestia and Luna were held in the air by their necks--one of Aidon’s hands around each. He took care not to squeeze or make things too uncomfortable for them, but it would be just enough to restrain the two and keep them from fighting any further.

“Listen. I don’t know the fullest extent at which your problems run, but I’m not going to allow you to attack each other any further over this. You’re both being manipulated--conned into believing that the other has it out for you. When that isn’t the case at all. Don’t let this foolishness overtake you. You love each other more than some awful spell would have you believe.”

“Oh please!” Even when cornered, Celestia responded with scorn in her voice, “You don’t know us at all. Stay in your lane, mister.”

“Don’t speak to him that way!” Luna hissed at her sister, “You’re the one who’s always starting--”

Aidon was quick to shut them down. “Enough. As a blackened being with a black heart and a black soul, I can feel the darkness within you both. You’re both tainted beyond belief from this magic due to your hidden feelings towards each other. You’re a few paces away from becoming wraiths.”

Before they could say another word, the spell slowly but surely, pulled out of Celestia and Luna by force. A smoky, pink aura left their bodies and was transmitted into Aidon through the air. Once then, he let go of both women, dropping them on the floor as he stumbled and grabbed his head.

“Argh…just get rid of it…” Aidon muttered to himself as his miasma went to work--actively fusing the magic into his own body and promptly destroying it--eating away at his own cells in the process. Such a sensation caused his entire body to tremble as he stood there, writing in agony. “HEEEEAUGH!”

Luna opened her eyes…and realized what was happening around her. She had finally come to her senses and watched as a demonic figure with dozens of rows of teeth stood over Aidon, absorbing the magic that he wanted to get rid of. All she could do was watch in horror with her jaw open as she muttered his name, “...Aidon…”

Celestia’s eyes opened seconds after and she hung her head in shame, not wanting to witness the eldritch magic that was active in front of her. “...I failed yet again…”

Soon enough, the toothy beast disappeared, allowing Aidon to move freely. He started walking up the stairs to the upper level of the school with his miasmatic black aura returning. “That’s better...you two should stay down here so you don’t get affected by the spell again. I’ll delete it myself.” With that, he left the bunker, and traveled back upstairs…

And thankfully, not a single zombified member of the female student body was attracted to him, allowing him to move throughout the school with no conflict whatsoever.

Soon enough, he’d approach the front doors and see some familiar faces. “...What are the boys doing here?”

Arc XIX Episode IV: Fighting Back

“...Pearl Necklace?” Spike tilted his head upon reading the paper, and one of his ears flicked in response to the trio of boys snickering at the name. “What’s so funny, guys?”

“...Nothing,” Flash replied with an uneasy grin, “Just some immature humor. Regardless, at least we know what we’re looking for. We need to get to the planetarium as fast as--”

But before they could make any further motions to enact a plan, they were interrupted by a fairly monotone voice.

“I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to do that,” the voice spoke from the middle of the road nearby.

The boys looked up to see the source of the voice and found a dark-skinned woman with purple hair standing in the middle of the street. Her pupils were dilated and her tone of voice was rather robotic, expressing little to no emotion.

Flash closed the journal, and upon seeing her, shot her a suspicious side-glance as something about her was scarily familiar. “Hold on…what the heck…? Anyone know who this is?”

“Bad news, yo,” Sandbar commented, “Sis captured her on the cameras outside of school. She’s the one who stabbed you!”

“...” Flash clutched one of his hands over his chest as he recalled that painful wound he was dealt a few mere days ago. “So it’s her…”

Micro Chips was quick to point out the logic in her appearance. “She seems to be here in order to keep us distracted so that we can’t assist Keiji and the others. How malignant.”

Spike ran out in front of them, growling fiercely as if he was looking for an excuse to go rabid. “Rrrrrrgh…you…I’ve been waiting to sink my teeth into you. You made a big mistake infecting Twilight with your disgusting magic. So you’d better have a good explanation for what you’re doing--unless you wanna end up as specks of bone between my teeth!”

Once again, Lucide spoke with an empty, blank tone of voice. “You will not interfere with Lady Acida’s plan. She will assimilate all of humanity into her own hive so that she can become the all-powerful ruler of this realm, and the others.”

“Which is why you preemptively took out Sunset and her friends as well as the Sirens--who all just so happen to be female,” Micro commented while adjusting his glasses, “Smart. Very smart indeed. But what you failed to take into account was just how strong we’d be.”

“Error in logic,” Lucide spoke coldly once more as her eyelid twitched, “You’re nothing. You’re all inferior specimens with no power or ability to fend me off. Your chances of winning are far below five percent.”

Her new speech patterns caused Sandbar to ball his fists and raised a brow. “...The way she’s talkin’...it’s creepin’ me the hell out, yo.”

“It’s almost as if she’s under some sort of mind control,” Micro muttered, “But I can’t sense any magical influence in the air.”

Flash shook his head. “No…it’s not mind control. Remember when Sunset brainwashed us during the Fall Formal? There’s no way that’s what’s going on here. It’s like she’s been reprogrammed from the ground up.”

Near the ground, Spike could still be heard growling. “I don’t care what it is. I’m gonna tear her to pieces and bury her six feet under!!” And with that, he immediately took off, running at the woman as fast as he could while screeching, “Release the spell or I’ll end you!!”

“Spike! What are ya doin’, bro?!” Sandbar shouted and immediately ran after him.

“All for Lady Acida. Begone with you,” Lucide muttered in her eerie tone as she raised her hand, causing a set of runes to appear on the ground in front of Spike.

Unfortunately, the purple pup could only see red, charging at the woman with reckless abandon. “Give. Her. BACK!!” he snarled, only to--

SHING!

Plop.

…fall asleep as soon as he set paw on one of the runes. But it didn’t stop there. Spike’s sleeping body was immediately consumed by green, thorny tentacles which seemingly consumed his body, much to the horror of the boys.

“...No…not him!” Flash screamed as he ran towards Lucide with the sound-based magic flowing through his outstretched hands. “You sonova--let him go!”

“You’re gonna have hell to pay, yo!” Sandbar shouted right alongside Flash with his fists covered in sand.

Once again, Lucide simply muttered in a low, empty tone. “Your friend shall serve as an example of the price humanity will pay for not submitting cooperatively.”

Before either of them could attack, their pupils widened as the shadow of a large, oncoming object approached them.

“HIT THE DIRT!” Flash shouted as he dove down--his back slammed against the ground due to his panicked state.

CRASH--HOOOOOONK!

An entire parked--well, formerly parked--car had been flung in their direction, shattering upon impact as it collided with the magical statue that sat at the front of the campus.

“Shit!” Sandbar swore as he picked himself off of the sidewalk, having scraped one of his arms against the pavement in the process of narrowly avoiding the vehicular projectile. “That was a nut hair away from taking my whole goddamn face off, yo!”

Lucide was about to strike once more, looking to catch the boys off-guard as they recovered from the falls they took. Unfortunately for her--

SHING!

“...!” her pupils shrank as she gasped quietly…

Dark spikes had risen through the ground, piercing her limbs and impaling her--keeping her locked in place.

And before she could even think to react, Micro Chips de-cloaked from his invisibility right behind her and without hesitation--

CRACK!

Delivered a backhanded punch to her jawline. Enhanced by the nanomachines in his body, the strike was hard enough to send her flying, and skidding against the asphalt on the road until she came to a stop a few feet away.

“...Ghhh….how…? How…??” Lucide muttered hysterically under her breath in complete disbelief. Were there really people capable of defending themselves who weren't element bearers?

Arc XIX Episode V: Final Stand

“You’re not as smart as you think you are,” Micro Chips commented as the nanomachines surrounding his body had formed into a white lab coat--in which he placed his hands in the pockets of. “We’ve got you figured out. Isn’t that right, professor?”

As if rising from the depths of Tartarus itself, Aidon appeared from within the ground, clawing his way to the surface to make his entrance into the scene.

“I concur. This one has made a grave error in judgement.”

“...No…no errors,” Lucide forced herself to stand upright with a wide, unstable smile on her face--completely in denial over the current state of affairs. “I won’t concede to some lowly humans and their pathetic talking dog.”

Micro Chips smugly pushed his glasses up against his face and retorted, “You mean this talking dog?”

“...!” With a fearful gasp, Lucide turned her head in the direction of the dog she had thought she entangled in magic-sapping thorns.

In reality, those anti-magic thorns had caused Spike to tap into his own personal supply thanks to the Aether.

“She’s such an idiot…” he thought to himself.

BOOM!

A small implosion of violet magic occurred around his body, consuming the thorns that had him ensnared. But what was left over was not Spike the Normal Dog…

“Rrrrrgh…”

From the ashes of the implosion, rose what appeared to be a seven-foot tall purple and green werewolf with sharp claws, long, jagged sets of teeth, beaming red eyes, and intense muscular definition along his arms and legs which gave the impression of a strong, agile figure.

Spike had become a Wolfman.

The mere sight of the canine beast caused Lucide to take a step backwards--her legs quivered, her knees shook and multiple beads of sweat ran down the sides of her face. “No…n-no…how is that…that’s impossible!”

First off, Spike could still speak--however, what was new was the fact that his voice was now filtered through multiple, demonic layers that projected his voice further, befitting his new appearance. “...You don’t know anything about the Aether, do you? As long as there’s magic in the air, I can call upon it for myself. I’ve been through many magical shenanigans as Twilight’s dog--and she’s always been the one to protect me. But now…it’s my turn to protect her.” With a shing!, green claws were exposed from his fingertips--each one appeared to be as sharp as kitchen knives.

With Lucide effectively backed into a corner, she was stunned into silence.

A silence that Flash Sentry broke as he and Sandbar joined the others in standing against her.

“Give it up, lady,” he called out, pointing in her direction, “You’re outnumbered and outclassed. You don’t have to be some harbinger of destiny to make a difference. What matters is being your own person--not some puppet held aloft by the strings of fate. Is that what you are?” he continued as he took a step forward, “Someone else’s plaything? A toymaker’s creation inside a crystal ball?!”

Flash’s words caused Lucide to grit her teeth as she held the sides of her head. It was all true--she had been unable to break free of her own shackles and couldn’t see what was plainly in front of her: Mortality and its sense of free will.

Instead, she lashed out.

“Shut up…shut up…SHUT UP!” she wailed as she retrieved something from her pocket--a pipe-shaped device with a small red button on top. “Take another step, and you can kiss your precious girlfriends goodbye!” she cackled hysterically with a deranged smile as she revealed a set of explosives strapped to her own body.

“...” As soon as he saw the detonator, Aidon de-powered himself, reverting to his usual human form. He pulled Flash back, positioning himself in front of his students. “I won’t let you do this! These humans have done nothing to you--you don’t need to succumb to insanity--!”

Once again, Lucide burst aloud in crazed laughter with her thumb twitching against the surface of the detonator. “Ahaha! Cut the shit, Aidoneous! You’re no different than us! Why bother sticking around with these lame, boring, uninspiring, cookie-cutter humans when you can have all the power in the multiverse and make everything as you see fit! A playground of your deepest desires! Not to mention: Revenge on that crusty old bastard, Starswirl The Bearded!” she said while viciously balling her free, left hand into a fist.

Spike was on all fours like a proper wolf. His tail swayed, itching to take off at a moment’s notice.

But Aidon knew that the potential risk was too great. He held out one hand in Spike’s direction and gave him a command, “Heel.” Then, he held out his other hand towards Lucide. “Listen. This isn’t worth it. I don’t know what it is you’re going through, but petty violence in an attempt to exact a wrong isn’t justice.” He looked over his shoulder at Micro Chips, Sandbar, and Flash Sentry who had been standing behind him, cowering in fear of the woman’s bomb. “These kids…these young adults are going to change the future of this world. I’ve come to accept where I belong: Here helping them rise above challenges in order to turn out better than I did. Something you clearly don’t comprehend.”

Lucide’s left eyelid began to twitch as she retorted, “What in the shit are you talking about?”

“Good. She’s distracted from thinking about pressing the button.” Aidon stood upright, and stroked his chin with an oddly casual frown given the situation. “You and your boss clearly think lowly of yourselves. So lowly that you’d go on an entire tirade just to try and reshape an entire world after already being rejected from one…you’re the one who needs pity. Not me. I’ve made the best of my situation. But there’s still hope for you. If you just gave this world a chance instead of blindly following your superior…”

Lucide tilted her head downwards, staring at the ground. “...You’re wrong. Nothing you say will sway me from my goal. Even if I have to give up my own life, Lady Acida will succeed!”

In the moments that led up to Lucide pressing that button on the detonator, Flash was already thinking.

“It’s a remote detonator which requires a radio signal in order to provide feedback for the device to receive a command. If I can somehow manage to stop her before she sets it off…”

Flash could see her thumb move to press the detonator, and he instantly jumped into action, running out in front of the group. “NO!!”

“FLASH!” everyone shouted immediately after--right before--

Click.

Arc XIX Episode VII: No Easy Way Out

“So it seems that you’re a bit stronger than you let on…no matter,” Acida chuckled as she tapped the largest pearl of the necklace she wore. “I have more than enough to keep you all busy.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Keiji asked with a confused tilt of his head, “Teach and the others have beaten your little cronie and they’re likely on their way now to help us with kickin’ your ass.”

With a flash of green magic, Acida merely replied with a cocksure, “...I don’t think so.”

Moments later, Wallflower’s phone started to ring. “...Huh? It’s Flash. What’s going on…?” she muttered while looking at the screen.

The woman chuckled with a smug, snake-like grin on her face. “Go ahead…pick up the phone.”

After swallowing a lump of anxiety in her throat, Wallflower gingerly drew her finger across the touchscreen in order to answer it.

And on the other end, came loud, overlapping screams of panic!

“Spiders…everywhere!” Flash’s voice called out from the phone, “We can’t help you guys! There’s too many of ‘em! Professor, look out!”

With that, the call hung up, leaving nothing but an idle dial tone before shutting off completely.

“Well well well..” Acida called out from atop the building with her hands on her hips, “Looks like your little friends won’t be able to come help you after all.”

“Son of a--” Rumble stomped his foot out of anger, “You only did that because you know Professor Aidon would whoop your sorry butt, lady!”

Meanwhile, Keiji had started to think. “Wait a minute…spiders…” His eyes went wide upon realization. “You…that spider attack on the diner a few months ago. That was you, wasn’t it?” he questioned with an accusatory tone.

“So you are more intelligent than you let on!” the changeling woman clapped her hands in a patronizing manner, “Congratulations! I knew the product of the Bloodlust Duchy was worthwhile. It’s why I need you above all else. With your power, I’d be unstoppable.”

“Hella gross. No thanks,” Keiji hissed in return, “I’d rather sell my organs than offer anyone my power. No one’s getting at this body, got it? I’m pissed enough as it is because you hurt the people I care about with your shitty magic. Diamond Tiara was saying shit about Dhampir babies! Do you know how disgusting that is?!”

“Sounds to me like someone is in denial of their feeliiiiiings…” Acida mocked him in a singsong tone.

Rumble stepped forward and shouted, “Leave him alone, ya old bat! All you’re doing is wrecking the girls’ mental state! Scootaloo can’t stand being isolated for this long! Do you know what it’s like to be someone in a family that’s constantly forgotten?!”

The woman paused for a moment and shut her eyes.

Rumble would call out once more, “Huh?! Do you?!”

But Keiji could feel that something was wrong in the air, and immediately turned to Wallflower. “Hey--if you can’t fight, then take cover in the parking lot. This is about to get messy.”

“...I won’t let you guys do this alone,” Wallflower replied as she looked down at her hands, “Come on, magic…give me something I can use--!”

BIZZZZZ!

Their voices were immediately drowned out by the overlapping noises of millions of insect wings flapping. The sun was blocked out as Acida shed the humanoid exoskeleton she had utilized in order to gain power with Primsia’s necklace, and revealed her true form:

A gigantic, fly-like creature with massive red eyes and a blue body. The pearl necklace had increased to scale in order to match her size with each pearl enlarging to the size of a human skull.

Keiji’s jaw dropped open as he stared up at her. “...She’s a goddamn Beelzebub…”

“A what?!” Rumble shouted, “What does that--hey!” He was cut off as a barrage of larvae was sent his way. Acida scattered green, pus-filled sacs in their direction, which caused Rumble to instinctively react with a flurry of kicks to deflect each one. “Gah! If you’ve put my brother through any of this garbage so help me--!”

CHING!

“Hey, hey, hey--stay focused!” Keiji warned his friend while slicing the larvae apart with his sword. “You can’t save Thunderlane and Scoots if you start getting bent outta shape here.”

Meanwhile, Wallflower had retreated behind her car, cowering in fear with her hands over her head as she sat on the ground. “Come on…if any spare magic is out there, I need it right now. Please…” Her eyes grew wide as fear started to set in--everyone was locked in a state of combat against this woman’s insectoid and arthropod army and she was unable to do anything. The desire to fight back was strong, but she knew she couldn’t do a thing to retaliate. All she could do was grit her teeth as the sound of exploding bug sacs popped and crackled in the air behind her. “...This is too much…it’s insane! I can’t fight back against this! This is some weird sci-fi shit!” Panicked tears started to well up in her eyes as she tugged upon her hair, now frozen in place from her anxiety. “I can’t…I can’t do this…”

Meanwhile, the boys up front were too preoccupied with the barrage of gross green eggs to notice what was going on with her.

“God dammit…lady, just give it a rest why don’tcha?!” Keiji yelled, “Stealing love from everyone else won’t fill the void in your sad, old heart!”

“AAAARGH!” That comment merely enraged her further. With another flap of her wings, more developed insects were flung their way--miniature versions of her Beelzebub form with their own acidic pincers.

“Holy shit!” Rumble cried out, “Take cover!”

Without hesitation, the boys dover behind another parked car nearby, gaining momentary relief from the barrage of insects.

Rumble took a deep breath and gave a panicked whisper, “...What the hell is her problem? Is she so desperate for love that she’ll steal it from some innocent schoolgirls? Did nobody love her when she was little?”

“...” Keiji made his sword disappear, and started to think about Rumble's words. “...That could be what this is. An act of desperation since nobody loved her. The changelings had a rough ass time under Chrysalis, so maybe…” With his mind made up, he stood up. “...Watch my back, brother. I’ve got a plan.”

“Without your sword? What're you doing, man?” Rumble asked, as he reached out to grab Keiji’s arm.

The vampboy pulled away from his grip. “...I know what it’s like to not be loved. Maybe, just maybe if I can show her that she can be loved too…”

Rumble would try to reason with him. “Dawg, she’s killed people!” he called out with his palms outstretched.

“I need to at least calm her down--we can’t win this battle with brute force. It’s do or die.”

With a sigh, Rumble relaxed his posture and asked, “...You sure about that?”

Keiji walked around in front of the vehicle. “It’s not a suicide; it’s a warriors’ mind.”

Arc XIX Episode VIII: Arachnomania

At Canterlot High…

Just as the phone call to Wallflower had described, Aidon and the others were all heavily backed up by a swarm of spiders that threatened to consume everything they came in contact with--including people like them. Trees, cars, entire houses--nothing was safe from the pincers of these bug creatures.

This was Acida’s plan all along.

As he fought them off, Micro Chips was quick to point this out. “They’re trying to convert the natural energy found in all forms of matter into magical energy so they can reshape the world around us!” he shouted in between flinging some nanomachines to eat away at some of the spiders in front of him.

“Son of a--we need to keep them from eating us!” Flash yelled as he fired more soundwaves from his fists, constantly turning to shoot more arachnids that came his way. “If that happens, we’re really screwed!”

“Then we gotta drop the beat, yo!” Sandbar shouted from his end of the street while punching the air in front of himself, creating giant fists made of sand that gathered the spiders within the mass of coarse rock, and slamming them together, with a heavy clap from those sand hands--disintegrating them in the process.

Spike was having a field day with his new werewolf form. He actively chased down groups of spiders and sunk his teeth in them to rip out their abdomens and tear them apart. If his mouth was occupied, his claws were strong enough to squish them into green paste outright.

And at the center of it all, Aidon would force ripples into reality itself with a wave of his hand. From these ripples, spikes of darkness would emerge--making them appear seemingly from nowhere as they branched out, and skewered the arachnid pests, deleting them and forcing them to melt into nothingness from his magic.

But their efforts wouldn’t last them forever.

For every spider they killed, it seemed as if ten more had risen to take their place. It forced Sandbar, Micro Chips, Flash Sentry, and Spike into a corner--or rather a circle where they had no choice but to back up until they reached Aidon. Now, the group was standing in a circle--at the epicenter of an invasion of demonic spiders that threatened to overrun them with all they had.

“...There’s too many of ‘em, yo…” Sandbar muttered under his breath, “I don’t think we can do this…”

“I can calculate about one thousand…” Micro Chips grit his teeth as he looked at the endless amount of eight-legged beasts that seemed to expand across the horizon and the school building itself.

“I won’t give up,” Spike snarled--seemingly unfazed by the enemy’s sheer numbers, “I don’t care if I die--I’m not letting Twilight suffer anymore!”

Upon hearing this, Flash’s eyes sparked wide open. “No! No one dies today,” he swore while balling his fist, “There’s nothing we can’t do for the sake of the people waiting for us. We just need to keep fighting. Right, professor?”

With one hand on his chin, Aidon had shut his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. “...There’s one way. It just might kill me. But there’s a way.”

Interestingly enough, Flash could tell by the look on Aidon’s face what the latter was thinking. “Professor. Professor! Don’t even dare think of sacrificing yourself. We’re all in this together, sir.”

Silence from the man of shadows. Eventually, he replied with a small chuckle. “Hm…you read me well, young man.”

Flash raised a brow and snarkily replied, “Yeah, well--let’s just say that I know a certain woman at school who’d be sad if you disappeared.”

“...Right,” Aidon gave a delayed response, and quickly changed the subject. “Stick together and make use of your magic as best as you can, everyone. Your abilities are rather new, so don’t overdo it.”

“Got it, yo!”

“Yup!”

“Mm-hmm.”

The boys gave overlapping replies of agreement as they prepared themselves…and began to fight back.

Meanwhile, at the Planetarium…

“Listen lady,” Keiji walked out to Acida with his hands bare. “I don’t know who you are, or who must’ve hurt you. But none of this crap is gonna solve your problems.”

The large bug woman paused mid-flight out of curiosity. “That’s rich. Just what does he think he’s doing?”

Keiji balled his fists and grit his teeth--the strength needed to muster his words was palpable as he stumbled his way through speaking. “I…I know what it’s like to not be loved. My own family--they…they didn’t give a flying shit about me and I was banished from Equestria just like you. But you don’t need to do any of this. Just look at me: I’m in a better place now than I was before.”

Acida hovered down to the ground and landed. Having stopped her attacks, was it possible that she was taking the time to listen to him? There was no way to tell…

“Now look…I’m not gonna just let you off the hook immediately--you did just kill some innocent people after all. But I know damn well that you’ve got the capability to reset their lives and make things right. Don’t you?” Keiji folded his arms and raised a brow.

Silence. Eventually, the swarm of bugs had ceased, and Acida reverted to her human form. Once she did, she asked a simple question. “...Do you truly understand my pain? Someone as young as you…”

“I do,” Keiji reiterated bluntly, “This world isn’t perfect, but neither was Equestria. We’re living proof of that shit right now. All you’re doing is being a hypocritical asshole that’s making things worse for the folks living here.”

Acida stared down at the ground--her eyes welling up with tears as she started to comprehend her actions up to this point. Was it possible that Keiji had gotten through her layer of insanity?

The boy scratched behind his head, unsure of what to do next. “Argh…never good with this…talking stuff. Hopefully she’s willing to cooperate now.” After some quick thinking, he approached her and offered, “Listen. You can make this right--don’t end up in the same spot as Chrysalis, alright? You’re gonna clean yourself up and change for the better. Just like I have.” He reached out and offered his hand to her, “What do you say?”

The bug woman stopped sobbing for a moment, looked at the boy’s hand, and looked up at his face--there was a sense of sincerity in his eyes as he stared at her, hoping she’d accept. And you know what? She did.

But not in the way you’d expect.

“Keiji! Behind you!!” Rumble screamed at the top of his lungs.

CHHK!

“...” Keiji’s face widened in horror--his mouth opened with his jaw slack, breathing desperate puffs of air. He stared at the woman with dilated pupils, then looked down at himself…to see something sharp jammed into his body.

Arc XIX Episode IX: Squishing The Bug

Acida continued speaking with a wide, slasher smile on her face. “...I’ll never agree to the terms of some pathetic waste of filth. Friends, family, love--those are links that can and will be used against you by those who’ve cast away everything. I have no one to love, and refuse to love anyone else. That’s what makes you weak.”

“N-no…” Keiji muttered with what little breath he had left, “You’re…you’re wrong…”

“You got stronger because of yourself and your own abilities,” she went on, bending over to look him in the eye, “All of these friends and family you’ve gained have done nothing but make life worse for you and invite people like me to rip it away. If only you had stayed on your lonesome, none of this would be happening.”

Keiji scrunched his face up, gritting his teeth as he held back tears. At this point, it was harder to tell if he was experiencing more pain from the stab in his abdomen, or her words themselves.

“You…complete moron…I’m stronger because of--”

SLAP!

She drew her hand back, and slapped him across the face hard enough to make his head turn almost completely to the left. “I’ve heard enough out of you! It’s time you see what all these friends and family get you!”

But before she could act any further--

“HYAH!”

BLAM!

Rumble had rushed up towards her, and delivered an upward kick to her chin from below--so hard that small splatters of blood flew out of her mouth. “And I’ve had enough of your bullshit, lady!”

Acida landed a few feet away with a thud!, collapsed onto her back. “Dghh! How…dare you…”

Rumble then unhooked Keiji from the pincer that had risen from the ground to impale him. “...How you feelin’ bro?”

Keiji clutched the side of his body, and seethed as he grit his teeth. “...I’m okay--I’m alright. But she…she needs to go. I don’t care anymore--she needs to die.” He hissed as he pulled out his sword once more.

“...” There was a pause from Rumble who shut his eyes and folded his arms. He truly thought that his friend would be able to get through to this woman, but now that she had taken advantage of his kindness and proven that she was willing to continue killing innocent people…there was no other choice.

“Alright, Keij. I’m with you,” Rumble soon replied as he readied himself into his fighting stance, bouncing on his heels, “Let’s waste her ass.”

By then, Acida had finally stood up, recovering from the blow she was dealt moments prior. “...You insignificant ingrates…so over-reliant on each oth--!”

Before she could finish that sentence, Rumble attacked her with another kick, this time, flipping her over his body and into the air so that Keiji could follow up with another attack.

“...I tried to give you a chance…never again.” Without hesitation, he raised his blood-red katana above his head, and performed a quick series of slashes that were impossible to perceive to the human eye. All one could see were a series of red, electrical lines that flew through the air along Acida’s body.

And once gravity had taken control of her body and pulled her back down to earth, Rumble would perform a quick roundhouse kick to her midsection to send her flying into a nearby wall.

CRASH!

The woman landed, and the effects of Keiji’s sword soon took over. The cuts along her body started to produce red light that caused her body to shake violently. “...You cretins…will fall to your emotions…” And with that, she evaporated into a fine, red mist--completely destroyed and removed from the world entirely.

“Gah…argh…dammit…” Keiji collapsed to the ground while clutching his chest. The pain from all of the injuries he suffered through that fight had finally caught up to him. “...Why…why couldn’t she just…accept my compassion…?”

Rumble collapsed a few moments later, rubbing each of his legs due to the soreness inflicted on his body from that battle as well. “No idea…guess she just didn’t wanna be saved, bud. Agh…that was the first time I fought a real opponent in the streets…my legs are killing me.”

Keiji had fallen silent as he ran his hand through his hair--quietly crying to himself with tears running down his cheeks. “Why…why couldn’t I save them? I failed…”

“...” Nearby, Rumble’s eyes darted back and forth once he saw his friend crying. For a moment, he was stuck in silence as well, until finally… “...Keiji? I’m here for you, dawg. Don’t worry.” He reached his hand out, nearly pulled back, but continued until he could put an arm around Keiji’s shoulder. “We did what we could. She can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

To which the vampboy responded with a sigh as he wiped his face with his shirt. “...Thanks, Rumble. I just…wish we could’ve fixed everything…but I guess that’s not how it goes sometimes.”

“Can’t save everyone,” Rumble replied, “That’s what Thunderlane tells me. And I’m starting to think I understand what he means.”

Moments later, Wallflower emerged from behind the parked cars. Her face was awash in relief once the battle was over, but as soon as she laid eyes on the boys, her face dropped as guilt took over. “...If only I wasn’t so weak…” She ran over and approached them to check on their condition. “...Are you guys alright?”

“Been through worse,” Rumble commented, “Gonna be feeling this one for days.”

Keiji blinked his eyes twice--but he remained silent.

“...I wish I wasn’t such a scaredy-cat,” Wallflower lamented as she put a hand on Rumble’s shoulder, “I hope you can forgive me.”

“This is some crazy crap,” he replied, “Don’t worry about--” But just then, he paused, and realized that he could begin to feel his legs again. The strain had been lifted off of them! “...Woah. I feel better already.”

Wallflower looked at her hand and realized that it had been glowing a distinct gold color. “...Wait a minute--is this…magic?”

“Sweet,” Rumble said as he stood up and stretched his legs out, “Looks like you’re a Healer. We could use some more of those.” From the corner of his eye, he noticed Keiji and requested, “Oh! Use it on Keiji. It should help him out too.”

“...If it’s not too much trouble,” the vampboy muttered under his breath.

“It’s perfectly fine--here…” Wallflower did the same to him, placing a hand on Keiji’s shoulder next.

And soon enough, his wounds were closing up. While the pain would need time to subside, he could at least walk again. “Yeah…that’s good. Thanks, Wall.”

“No problem,” she said with a relieved smile, “I’m just happy to be able to contribute something--”

BZZZZ!

Wallflower took out her phone to see that she had received a text. “...It’s from Micro Chips. He says we should head back to the school immediately.”

Arc XIX Episode X: Complete Hospitalization

Back at Canterlot High…

With Acida’s defeat, the spiders had begun to disappear into black puddles and waste away into nothingness. At long last, their newest adversary had been defeated thanks to everyone’s combined efforts.

“...Ayo, did we win?” Sandbar asked as he watched all of the arachnid monsters fade away.

“That would appear to be the case,” Micro responded as he finished sending a text message to Wallflower, “I suppose we managed to come out on top after all, everyone.”

“Yes!” Flash cheered as he pumped his fist proudly, “We did it!” But just then, he turned his attention to the school. “The girls--c’mon, we need to make sure they’re okay.”

Aidon walked ahead of him and gave a warning, “Stay behind me. We have no idea what sort of state they’ll be in once this is all over. Spike?”

Surprisingly, Spike had reverted to a humanoid appearance instead of a quadrupedal canine. “Woah…gimme a sec, I need to get used to this…” With every step he took, his knees visibly wobbled like wet noodles. Thankfully, the forces of magic were kind enough to grant him clothes alongside his new appearance--a purple hoodie with green shorts to be exact.

“Hm.” Aidon nodded, and continued towards the school doors. Slowly but surely, he pushed the door open, causing it to creak and echo into the empty halls like a desperate cry for oil. “...I wonder where everyone is--”

“PROFESSOR!”

“AHK!” the man yelped and turned his head to the left. The source of the voice was a lethargic Sunset Shimmer. Aidon responded with relief which slowly turned into horror as he took a closer look at her face. “Whew…it’s just y--Sunset…you look like death itself.”

Indeed--Sunset’s eyes were puffy and red, representing a lack of sleep. Her face had lost most of its color, and she was drooling extensively due to malnutrition. “...We were put under mind control…but it’s over now…you gotta…save the others…” Her legs were on the verge of collapsing as she leaned over--raring to fall.

“The others--w-wait, hold on. I’ve got you,” Aidon caught her in his arms before she could fall. “If the other girls are suffering the same way you are, we need to admit you all to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“Zzzzzz….” Sunset had fallen asleep--unaware of the world around her by this point.

Moments later, Flash appeared from the doors and stopped next to Aidon. “Sunset--Twilight--where are--” And to his left, he saw one of the people he was looking for. “Good…she’s okay. But we still need to find everyone else.”

Just then, Luna would appear from around one of the hall’s nearby corners and inform them, “...Aidon--the rest of the girls are in the gymnasium.”

“Great…” the shadowman replied with a hint of fear in his voice.

About thirty minutes later…

Wallflower, Keiji, and Rumble arrived on the scene to see Lucide escorted away via police and pretty much the entire female student body who was being taken away by ambulances.

Needless to say, the boys’ reactions were visceral.

“Scoots!”

“Dazzles!”

Rumble and Keiji shouted as they hurriedly rushed out of Wallflower’s car and rushed over to the scene as it unfolded.

First, Rumble was able to locate the stretcher that Scootaloo was being carried on, and tried to speak to her as the paramedics rolled her towards the ambulance. “Scoots--talk to me. You alright?”

The orange-skinned girl visibly flinched upon hearing his voice, and tried to open her eyes. “...R…Rumble?”

“Oh thank god! You’re alive!” he squealed with tears welling up in his eyes.

“...You softie--but…that’s what makes you cute,” Scootaloo muttered weakly, “I heard about what you did to save us…thanks. Come visit me when you can, okay?”

“Yeah…I will…” Rumble replied as he stopped walking, and watched as she was wheeled into the back of the ambulance.

Meanwhile, with Keiji…

“Adagio, Sonata, Aria--where are you…?” He swerved his head left, then right, and eventually located them on their own stretchers that were being wheeled towards an ambulance on his left. “There you are…are you okay?”

Adagio opened her eyes first, then smiled. “...There he is. Our baby brother’s a hero…”

“...The professor told us everything,” Aria added, “You really kicked some ass, Keiji…”

“Vampybrooooo…” Sonata called out in a state of delirium. “Glad to see you’re okay…”

“Yeah…you guys too.” With that, Keiji gave a sigh of relief, content with their current state as he watched them leave on the ambulances. From the corner of his eye, he would also see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon escorted away, safe and sound. “Good…everything is much better now…”

Just as well, Sandbar could be seen running over to Yona in order to check on her.

“Yona! You okay?!”

“...Yona need rest…” the tall, muscular girl replied.

As did Spike when he went to see his owner…albeit in his humanoid form.

“Twilight? I’m right here! Speak to me!”

“...My head…hurts so much…I think I’m seeing things. You look like a person, Spike…”

At the same time, Flash and Micro Chips were busy helping the boys leave the campus. While most of them were unharmed, they were all lethargic as well due to starvation.

“...Today was a difficult day, wasn’t it?” Flash asked as he watched everyone leave and folded his arms.

“Indeed. But tomorrow’s another day,” Micro replied as he shoved his hands in the pockets of the labcoat made of nanomachines.

All the while, Wallflower watched them from afar, thinking to herself. “Of course he handled everything so well. He’s the smartest guy in school. But what should I say to him…?”

Meanwhile, nearby…

Aidon sat on the steps of the campus and watched as all of the people were taken to the hospital and as the boys left the school utterly dumbfounded by what had just happened. His eyes were fixated on Celestia and Luna in particular. With his fingers interlocked, the man was in a deep state of mind, thinking to himself. “I can’t let something like this happen again. Something needs to give. Isn’t this why they have magic schools in Equestria? To keep students safe in case of emergencies?”

Then it dawned on him.

“...That’s it. That’s exactly what I need to do next. The only way we’ll be properly prepared for another threat is if everyone was properly trained on how to use their newfound abilities.”

Arc XX Episode I: Friendly Chat

The next few days were…difficult for everyone. The news of a magical threat that caused everyone to be rushed to the hospital spread rather quickly and caused mass concern among everyone’s parents. The combined efforts of everyone involved made it evident that the school--and the city as a whole--were in capable hands when it came to keeping everyone safe. That was the silver lining. However, Aidon wasn’t going to let it stop there, as he publicly announced that he would take up the sole responsibility of helping everyone understand their magical abilities via classes that he would teach--magic training classes to be exact.

Thankfully, there was no opposition to such a proposal. Given Aidon’s role as a key member in stopping the threat, everyone was more than willing to accept that he’d be willing to teach their children how to defend themselves.

However, once he made the announcement and came home…that’s when the realization of responsibility hit him.

“Goddammit…” Aidon muttered to himself as he tossed away his suit and flopped onto the couch in his living room. “What in Hades’ name did I just agree to? Will I really be able to handle all of this myself?”

Twas true--he was more experienced as a math teacher than as a magic teacher. But this change would need to be made for the sake of everyone’s safety. If another threat tried to attack the city or worse--merge the dimensions of Equestria and the Human World, having everyone able to fight back, rather than just a select few would increase their chances of success in defending themselves.

The problem was that this man was, as he noted, unsure of himself. Could he really accomplish so much on his own? After all, his own abilities were still extremely unstable. Then again…

“...Maybe this would be good for me too,” he mused, “Give me an outlet to make use of my abilities more often so I can keep my sanity up. Hm…”

Before he could think about it for much longer, his train of thought was interrupted by his doorbell ringing.

DING-DONG!

“Hm?” Aidon got up from the couch and answered the door. “Hello?”

And behind the door, wearing her casual skinny jeans and tank top, was Ms. Luna, holding one of her arms in a bashful manner. “...Aidon? Good--er, are you busy?”

“Oh no--what am I wearing-?!” Aidon looked down at himself and realized he was in rather casual clothing as well: A white tank and some khaki shorts. Nothing damning. “...Not at all. Come in.” He stood aside to let her in, and closed the door behind her. “I take it that you’re feeling better after what happened last week?”

“I am, thanks,” Luna replied with a nod, “I was wondering if I could speak to you more…candidly about what happened on that day.”

“...” The man paused and took a deep breath. “...You remembered everything, huh?”

“...We did,” Luna replied, “We all did. I just want to extend my gratitude for what you did to help us through. Celestia and I have been talking, and…we’ve agreed to take some time off for a while.”

At first, Aidon was completely on board with this idea. “Well that makes sense. You both deserve some time to yourselves to think things over and evaluate life--” But then, the elephant in the room mentally ran him over as he scratched his head. “Erm…but who will take over as active principal while you’re both gone?”

“That’s exactly why I came here to speak with you…I want to know if you’re willing to take up the mantle as principal. At least for a few days while my sister and I work things out.”

Aidon’s eyes shot open, and he silently walked past Luna, shuffling towards the kitchen where he could be seen reaching into his fridge and taking out what appeared to be a bottle of alcohol and a shot glass.

With a concerned tilt of her head, Luna walked over and asked, “...Aidon--are you alright?”

He poured himself a shot of what appeared to be a black-colored drink, and immediately downed it in one sip before coughing once, twice into his fist. “Ahem! Sorry about that. I just needed something to help me process what I just heard you say.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Luna squealed while shyly pressing her index fingers together, “I just…you’re easily the most capable one here and my sister and I need time away from school to think about what we both want for ourselves and each other. You’re the only one I could turn to--oh, but don’t worry! We have already hired someone to manage the other classes and act as a substitute for math should you accept…” She interlocked her fingers, pleading with her blue eyes in a broken state. “...Please. It would mean a lot to us.”

“For the sake of their mental health, they do need a break. I won’t make things more difficult by refusing.” Once Aidon had mentally rationalized it, he agreed. “Alright. On one condition though.”

“Hm? What is it, sir?”

“That you and I go shopping again once you return,” he requested, “I think I enjoyed more time with you than I realized on that day. You’re a great friend, you know that?”

Luna blushed while idly twirling the end of her ponytail around her left index finger. “...Thank you. You’ve no idea how much I’ve been looking to make friends outside of work. It’s…not been the easiest thing in the world.”

“No problem at all,” he agreed, “We’ve both got our own demons to work through. It’s better when someone has your back through it. If you ever need someone to simply speak with, I’m here.”

“Agreed--er…” Luna gazed at the bottle in his hand. “What exactly is that?”

“Oh this?” Aidon raised it. “It’s a black licorice lager from Shetland’s Brew. It’s a kind of drink that I used to enjoy back home. Thankfully, they exist here as well. It’s quite bitter but it helps clear the sinuses. Want some?”

“...Poor man. He likely hasn’t had anyone to hear him out either.” Luna thought sympathetically to herself before answering. “Sure. Though…I’m more interested in you. What was it like--in Equestria I mean?”

“...”

Arc XX Episode II: A Dark Past

Aidon hesitated, debating on how much he should state about his homeland. “Well…I didn’t live on the surface. Not sure if I stated this before, but my home was Tartarus to be exact. Those on the surface didn’t quite take kindly to shadowponies such as myself.” He paused, and poured himself another shot and drank it immediately. “Ah…so, I mostly tried to keep to myself.”

“Oh…so there was a bit of a problem regarding tension among races, I take it?” Luna asked with a nervous frown on her face. “I don’t know what to say. We humans have some problems regarding that here, but not the point where one has to shy away from the public entirely…”

“That’s how it was for me--not to mention Tartarus was filled to the brim of pathetic life forms that tried to engorge themselves on the weak,” he explained as he sat down on a chair at the counter. “None of it was fun to sit through. So I rose to the top and became Tartarus' equivalent to an Overlord from Hell once it was all said and done...killing, spearing others with darkness in a vain attempt to protect others who couldn't defend themselves, but it was all for naught." Aidon tilted his head downwards as he lamented his shame, "Even after all I did, I was still cast out and seen as a threat solely for being a product if darkness. In a way, the banishment did me a favor since I could at least practice my dark magic in public and not be feared by all for it. Equestria’s sensibilities and what it considers taboo or not is so…myopic.”

Luna hung her head for a moment. His case was worse than hers and she had only begun to realize it. “He hides his pain from us so that we don’t have to see it. That’s…that’s exactly what I do. I can’t afford to let him stand by idly and suffer.”

“...I agree--it seems as if Equestria was all too eager to cast you aside without considering your side of the story,” she muttered with a hint of guilt in her voice.

“Seems so,” Aidon replied with a shrug. “But what can you do? At the very least, I can say that I enjoy my new life here. At least everyone here is willing to accept my darkness.”

All the sudden--

“Aidon, would you like to go out with me again?”

Luna stood up and placed her hands on the counter to make her statement in a rather dramatic fashion. So dramatic in fact, that it took Aidon a second to realize he wasn’t asleep.

“...Excuse me?” he asked while staring directly at her with widened eyes.

The realization of what she had said started to set in. Luna’s face turned red as she squealed to herself, “...craters!” She then cleared her throat and explained herself. “Ahem…what I meant to say was that I’d like it if the two of us could spend some time together akin to how we spent the other day. Maybe go shopping, grab a bite to eat, play miniature golf…” Once again, her words caught up to her, causing her to stutter as she waved her hands in the air. “A-a-as friends of course! A completely friendly, platonic, non-romantic--”

“...Pfffhhhhhkz…!” Aidon couldn’t help but wheeze to himself as he hid his face behind one of his hands. The man tried desperately not to laugh, but the way Luna awkwardly tried to make her point was too humorous to ignore.

“H-hey!” Luna stuttered as she scrunched her lips together in a pouty manner, “Don’t laugh at me! That’s bad manners, sir!”

“Ugh…my apologies,” Aidon replied as he calmed himself down, now able to look her in the eye, “I don’t mean to laugh. I just find it adorable the way you’re speaking. And humorous as well; do I really intimidate you that much? I’m not really that scary right now. Or at least, I’d hope I wasn’t.”

“Well, I…this is the first time I’ve tried to speak to a guy my age on a personal level since…the eighth grade,” Luna admitted as a dark shadow of shame covered her eyes momentarily. “...So please forgive me. I really do just wish to get to know you better--I have no interest in you romantically.”

That made Aidon breathe a sigh of relief. “Whew--that’s good. I don’t really know about the potential dangers of someone from Equestria settling down with someone from this world and I quite frankly do not want to test that out.”

More specifically, the idea of having a child with someone from this world was something that both intrigued and mentally frightened him. Honestly, who wouldn’t be? Pony and human DNA mixing to create someone with the enhanced capabilities of both would be unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield…

“Oh-ho-ho no!” Luna chuckled while waving her hand, “I wouldn’t imagine something like that. Things are hard enough as it is just dealing with myself--I can’t imagine dealing with somebody else in my life all the time.”

“Tell me about it,” Aidon agreed as he folded his arms, “Regardless, we need to do what we can in order to ensure these kids turn out better than us, yeah?”

“Absolutely. But back to my question--would you be willing to spend some more time with me when I’m free?” Luna asked just as shyly as before.

“Of course, no problem,” Aidon replied with a smile, “I’ve actually been looking into astronomy but I have no idea where to start.”

“Oh! I can help with that!” Luna raised her voice, then promptly lowered it. “Erm…of course--once I introduce you to the substitute that will be working your math classes for you.”

Aidon got back on track--now firmly interested in who this person was. “Ah. That’s right. What’s their name?”

“Parabola. I’ll formally introduce you when school is back in session next week.”

The name inspired confidence in Aidon, but he was skeptical for the moment. “A mathematical term for a symmetrical open plane curve. A name like that gives credence to skill. But we’ll see about that for ourselves.”

Arc XX Episode III: School In Session

A few days later, once school was back in session…

Aidon would arrive at the campus a few hours before school was set to begin so that he could meet with Celestia and Luna and discuss the nature of their temporary vacation along with the substitute he’d be working with while they were away.

“Alright…” The shadowman looked at himself in the rearview mirror of his SUV and took a deep breath. “Let’s go teach some kids how to magic.”

He got out, and went inside the campus building from the employee parking lot. From there, he knocked on the door to the principal’s office and he’d get a response within a few moments.

“It’s open,” said a voice from inside.

Aidon opened the door, and walked in to see Celestia and Luna wearing casual clothes, preparing to leave for the day. The former was wearing a red floral polo and the latter was wearing a blue one.

“Ah. There you are, sir,” Celestia noted as he entered the room, “Alright. Luna should’ve gone over everything with you the other day. Is there anything you’re confused about?”

“No, I think I understand everything quite well,” he replied as he looked over a checklist that he had brought with him into the room. “I’ll be acting as Sub-Principal for a while as I teach Magic Training. And a substitute will take over my duties for math. Where is this individual, anyway?”

Luna looked at her watch. “She should be arriving at about…”

Tap-tap-tap.

Someone knocked on the door, to which Luna looked up and replied, “Speak of the devil--come on in.”

Aidon turned his attention to the door as well.

Once it opened, a rather tall woman about Celestia and Luna’s age stepped through. Her skin had a gray tone with black, horizontal stripes that went up her legs, arms, and face--akin to that of a zebra. She wore a black, form-fitting business suit-skirt combination, white heels, and a few bracelets on her wrists. She was also rather curvaceous--a trait that stood out to Aidon rather immediately.

“Hello,” she spoke in a somewhat husky, yet feminine tone, “I’m here for the position of substitute math teacher. My name is Parabola.”

“Quite nice to meet you, Miss Parabola,” Celestia replied, “We aren’t going to be gone for too long, but I hope the students can warm up to you.”

“Oh don’t worry about that, ma’am,” Parabola replied with an easy-going smile and half-lidded eyes, “I’ll make sure they listen.”

For a moment, Aidon was speechless--unable to take his eyes off of her. “Quit staring! Stop staring!” Luckily, he caught himself, and blinked his eyes a few times before looking at her directly to address her. “Ahem. Nice to meet you, miss.”

“Nice to meet you as well, Mr. Iota--hope we’ll get along nicely,” she said with a nod. “I’ll be off to the classroom to set everything up.”

Celestia grabbed her belongings and prepared to leave for the time being. “Alrighty. Seems as if everything is working out just fine. Right, sister?”

Oddly enough, Luna responded with an apathetic roll of her eyes and a flat tone. “Hm? Oh yeah…just great.”

Aidon was quick to point out how estranged her response was. “Are you sure? Do you want to talk about something?”

“No. It’s nothing,” Luna shook her head, and got ready to leave as well. “We’ll leave everything to you, Aidoneus. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call us.”

“Understood,” he replied as the sisters left the office, “I’ll take care of everything.”

“Goodbye, Aidon,” Luna left the room with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

As they walked down the hallway and out of the school, Celestia could sense something wrong with her sister and decided to ask, “...Something eating at you, Luna? Worried about all this?”

Luna relaxed a bit as she rubbed the back of her neck. “...I suppose you could say that, yes.”

“Don’t worry…” Celestia put an arm around her shoulder. “I won’t abandon you like I did before. That’s a promise.”

Those words gave Luna extra confidence as her face lit up with a bright smile. “...Thank you, Celly.”

A few hours later, once school began…

Everyone would approach the campus as usual, and interestingly enough, there were places for the students to sign up if they wanted to join Aidon’s class to learn how to make better use of their magical abilities.

Sunset was the first to sign her name, and Sci-Twi was the second.

“You’re interested too, huh?”

“Obviously,” Twilight chimed back while adjusting her glasses, “The professor is going to need as much help as possible to teach everyone about the Aether and the magic they’ve obtained from it.”

“You’re right. Still…” Sunset rubbed the side of her head, “Can’t believe we were duped so easily by another Equestrian invader…one who forced us into a love-based coma to boot.”

“Love magic is rather common in Equestria, huh?” Twilight asked as she pulled out a pencil and paper to take notes.

Sunset shook her head. “Not really, no. It’s kinda like dark magic and soul magic--love magic is a biiiig taboo back home. It’s one of those things you just aren’t supposed to mess around with.”

Just then, a familiar voice would enter the conversation, “Oh don’t I know it. It’s the exact reason why my sisters and I were banished here in the first place.” Adagio walked past them and wrote her name on the board. “So many rules that you have to follow. It’s much easier living here than there.”

“Got that right,” Sunset agreed, then asked, “Also--how are ya? Have you and your sisters managed to recover as well as the rest of us?”

“Something like that,” Adagio replied while looking at her nails, “No amount of corruption-based magic will keep us down forever. Though, I was impressed by the fact that Keiji and the others managed to save us. Have any of you seen him around? I’d like to thank him more personally.”

“Nope,” Sunset replied with a perplexed look on her face, “Haven’t seen him.” She then looked in Twilight’s direction, “How about you, Twilight?”

No response.

“...Twilight?”

The purple nerd was busy writing down notes from their conversation with a wide, ecstatic smile on her face.

“...Even after a near-death experience, she’s already looking to study it,” Adagio commented with her arms folded and an impressed grin on her face, “She sure is something, isn’t she?”

“You could say that,” Sunset replied with a giggle, “Go on ahead. We’ll meet you there.”

“Alright then,” Adagio responded as she began to walk off towards the classroom. “...I just hope Keiji is alright.”

Arc XX Episode IV: Understanding Each Other

What was going on with Keiji, anyway?

Well, the vampboy had spent most of his time resting to recuperate from the amount of energy he had expended from that fight. And now? He knew he’d be fashionably late for school, but it didn’t bother him--not as much as what was currently nagging at his mind as he flopped out of bed into his messy room with clothes strewn about the floor.

“Agh…gotta get up. Another day, another potential attack on my friends and family…”

In reality, there was a reason why he wanted to be late…

“If I get there last, it’ll stop anyone who’s potentially looking to cause trouble. I can’t afford to let that happen. Not anymore. I’ve got too much to worry about and too many people to look out for.”

But before he could walk down the street and make his way towards school…

Honk-honk.

A familiar limo pulled up to him from the side of the road, and stopped once the tail end of it lined up with him, earning a confused, raised brow from the vampboy.

“...The hell?”

The window was rolled down, and the door was pushed open to reveal Diamond Tiara. “...Hey, Keiji. Want a ride to school? There’s something I’d like to talk with you about that I’d prefer to do here.”

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately saw no harm in it. “May as well. Not like I got anything better to do.” With one hand on his backpack, he hopped in, and took a seat, closing the limo’s door behind himself. “Alrighty. I’ll bite. What’s going on, Deets?”

That nickname caused her to double-take, and tilt her head. “W-wha--’Deets’?”

“Got a problem with it?” Keiji asked earnestly, “If there is, then I won’t call you that.”

She chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. “Nah, it’s--you’re fine.” With a clap of her hands, the driver started the limo once more, pulling away from the sidewalk and into the road. “Anyhow…I just wanna say thank you.”

“For…?”

Tiara folded her arms and crossed one leg over the other. “Uggh! Don’t play dumb. This is like what, the third or fourth time you’ve saved my ass? I’m…super grateful for it. Hell, my parents are too. It honestly makes me feel kinda…” she looked down at herself, her eyes dropping along with her tone, “...terrible.”

Keiji paused, then leaned forward with a confused shrug of his shoulders. “...Eh? Why would you feel bad over something I did?”

“...” Tiara simply placed her hand against her forehead and sighed. “Agh…do I need to spell it out for you? The fact that you’ve saved me so many times makes me feel like a burden--like dead weight that can’t do anything for herself. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

“I…oh…” Admittedly, Keiji had never considered such a thing. All the boy could do was idly rub the back of his neck as he muttered aloud. “I guess I’ve been so focused on staying to myself that I never really cared about how others felt…until recently anyway.”

Tiara looked up at him and shook her head, folding her arms once more. “Gah…you’re so naive. Guess I can’t be too mad at you for it since you’re still getting used to how the human world works. But yeah…it’d help if you started to think about others--or at least the people close to you, ya know?”

“I think I get it,” Keiji replied, “I’ll try my best. So…you feel like a burden, huh? What do you wanna do about that?”

“...Well I’m hoping I can get magical powers of my own,” she went on, “I don’t wanna be caught in another situation like that again. I’m sick and tired of being a useless little rich girl who just sits on her ass and waits to be saved like some princess in a fairytale. Do you get what I’m saying now?”

Keiji shut his eyes for a moment as he rationalized what she had to say. “You wanna be more proactive. Take charge of your own life and protect your parents in case shit gets bad.”

“...Yes,” Tiara replied in hesitant disbelief with a small gasp as her eyes shot open. “You…that’s pretty much it. But that’s why I wanted to talk to you about it before we got to school. These magical abilities can be kinda dangerous…so I wanted to let you know in case something happens to me.”

The vampboy opened his eyes, and nodded. “Alrighty then. If that’s what you wanna do, I’ve got no room to stop you.”

Tiara scoffed and raised a brow. “Pff--what? That’s it? No lecture about how dangerous it is or anything?”

“...The magic in this world seems to inhabit whoever it wants,” he replied while looking out of the window of the limo. “The people here are gonna start gaining powers at random even more frequently now. Someone has to keep things in order and make sure those powers aren’t abused.”

“You think you’ll be able to manage fighting against it?” Tiara asked with a concerned tilt of her head.

“Oh no, screw that,” Keiji gave a snappy reply as he turned to face her again, “I’m no authority on who should and shouldn’t use magic. But if someone starts trying to hurt people with it, I’ll be there to beat their asses.”

Tiara glared at him for a moment with narrowed, flat eyes. “Of course. Typical Keiji.” Unable to remain stoic for long, she started giggling. “You’re such a lovable dork you know that?”

“Is that a compliment or what?” he raised a suspicious brow.

“I mean it in a good way. You’re…eccentric--it’s hard to describe, but I like how blunt you are. Makes it easy to have a conversation with you. You just need to learn how to comprehend how other people feel around you. Not everything can be solved with sarcasm. Okay?”

“Yeah…” Keiji muttered as he started to think about the other people that had recently come into his life. “...I’ll work on it.”

Arc XX Episode V: Magical Gathering

Keiji and Diamond Tiara arrived at school rather fashionably late, and they both went their separate ways when they headed off to their respective first classes of the day. But before he could get there, he was stopped by a familiar face.

“Oh! Keiji! Hey, hey, hey!” Sonata stopped on a dime and turned her head in his direction before walking over. “I’m soooo glad to see you! I was getting worried when you never answered my calls or texts!” she pouted while holding up her phone.

“...Oh that’s what those are?” Keiji pulled out his phone and saw that he had dozens of unread messages. “...I could never really figure out how to use this damn thing. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Sonata replied as she threw her arms around him to give him a hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay after all we’ve been through. Thanks for saving us last week. You’re the best, you know that?”

Despite the praise, all Keiji could do was sigh and idly accept the embrace. “...Yeah. Sure. No problem,” he replied with a defeated tone.

Sonata pulled back, and took a proper look at him, giving him a concerned stare. “...Something wrong, little bro? You don’t seem too happy today.”

“I’m good, I’m just thinking about some stuff--got a lot on my mind, ya know?” he replied while scratching the back of his head. “Need to make sure none of this stuff happens again…among other things.”

“Ah, pffff,” Sonata replied with a raspberry while wiggling her fingers, “There’s no way you can prevent everything bad from happening. That’s what we’re here for--!”

Keiji narrowed his eyes and stared at her blankly for a moment. “Shinken ni--for real? That doesn’t exactly help inspire confidence, Sona.”

“Oh nonono! That’s not what I--” She grit her teeth with a panicked expression on her face. “W-what I meant is that we all have each other’s backs. So you don’t need to try and do everything yourself.”

“Yeah…I guess so,” the vampboy folded his arms and kept walking, “Even so, it still feels bad when not everything pans out the way you want. As if you could’ve done more but…”

Sonata reached a hand out to him as she followed. “...You wanna talk about it, Kei?”

“...Nah. It’s nothing,” he muttered under his breath, “Nothing you can deal with anyway. So there’s no point in asking for help.”

“Oh…um…” Sonata stopped, and allowed Keiji to walk on by himself. “Well, if you need anything, let us know, okay?” And once he rounded the corner of the hallway, she was left alone, and sighed to herself. “Darn…”

Moments later, Aria approached her from the hallway behind her. “Yo, Sona. What’s goin’ on? Why the long face?” In an instant, her expression turned cold as she balled her fist, “Did somebody hurt you? Who was it? Bring ‘em to me.”

“Nono! It’s nothing like that!” the blue siren quickly cleared the air. “It’s Keiji. He seems a bit…off today. Like something’s eating at him. But he didn’t tell me anything.”

Aria relaxed herself as she thought it over. “Hm…well, he’s probably just stressed over these last few weeks. I wouldn’t blame him. Shit’s been rough since he kinda had to save us all with help from the other guys.”

“What can we do?” Sonata asked, “We can’t all be there for him at once all the time…”

“Nah, but I’ll handle it,” Aria said as she interlocked her fingers and cracked her knuckles. “I’ll see what’s up with him. I’m good at getting answers out of people. You just focus on your classes, okay? With the summer festival coming up, we’re gonna need all the good grades we can get to keep that looming dread off our ass.”

With newfound hope, Sonata replied with a smile, “Oh…alright, Ari. I hope you can handle it.”

“Pfft. At this point, I’m prepared for anything,” the violet siren smirked with confidence.

Later in Aidon’s class…

Sunset and Twilight were the first to appear in the man’s classroom due to a rather…eager request they had in store.

“Professor! Professor!” Twilight squawked as she opened the door with a hysteric set of dilated pupils, “Can I be the TA for this class? I know all about how this magic is working; it’s due to The Aether!”

“Oh no ya don’t,” Sunset playful jabbed her friend out of the way with her hip, “You’d go into so many side tangents that the class would fall asleep from your overly technical terminology.”

Twilight paused, and shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah. You’re right. I would. But still--!”

“Ahem,” Aidon called out to them both, “I’m more than willing to allow you both to help. We’re going to need as many hands on deck as we can get. The summer festival is approaching and it feels like a prime spot for nonsensical mayhem.”

“The what-now?” Twilight asked.

“Summer Festival for Canterlot City,” Sunset went on, “We hold one every year--it’s usually based on Far Eastern traditions with kimonos and other junk--I’m just in it for the food.”

“Ohhh--like that sushi place you work at the mall?” Twilight rolled her eyes from realization.

“Something like that--anyway, we’re getting off topic,” she looked at Aidon, “I’m ready to get crackin’, sir.”

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Twilight had pulled out a series of charts and graphs. “I’ll be needing some of your chalkboard space for this, Professor.”

Aidon placed his palm over his face and shook his head. “...Oh dear Solomon’s Key…”

Arc XX Episode VI: Getting Prepared

A few hours later…

The first magic class of the day would begin. Among them included Sunset, Twilight, Adagio, Flash Sentry, Micro Chips, and…

“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset chuckled upon seeing her multi-colored friend take a seat at a desk. “What’re you doing here?”

“Meh,” she shrugged her shoulders as she folded herself in, and put her legs up on the desk, “I’m using this as a way to get away from Fluttershy’s sleazy brother. He’s been taking over music class with his ‘informative jazz’ routine and I want no part of it.”

“Sounds like someone’s in deniaaaaal-” Sunset teased with a snicker, eliciting a grumble from Dash.

“Rrrgh! Don’t mess with me like that!” she hissed with a balled fist at the ready.

“Hey, hey, I’m joking,” Sunset cleared up her stance, “I get why you’d wanna get away from him, honestly. He gives me bad vibes too.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding. But learning about magic is way more interesting than dealing with him.”

From nearby, Adagio would comment, “If it gets any worse, you could always file a restraining order against him. I had to do that once for Sonata.”

“Say whaaaaat?” Dash muttered with wide, horrified eyes, “Someone was legit stalking her??”

“Long story,” Adagio scoffed while looking at her nails. “I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

“By the way, do any of you know what happened to Spike?” Twilight changed the subject, “Last week I thought I was dreaming, but now he’s able to move around on two legs like a person! It’s wild, guys!”

Aidon looked up from his desk and decided to address it as a part of the first lesson. “Ahem. Well, I’m glad you asked--apparently it’s due to the Aether which has given your dog a new life as a wolfman. It seems to function rather indiscriminately, and hand out magic to whoever it deems most convenient.”

“Yup,” Sunset agreed, “That’s why there’s no real way to stop it. It’s like trying to rebuild a dam that’s already broken apart.”

“...Sorry about that,” Adagio muttered while rubbing her arm, “Never would I have predicted that so much trouble would be caused by us crossing over.”

“Well it wasn’t your fault. That’s the main thing you have to keep in mind,” Aidon assured her with his words, “For the moment, let’s begin the topic of how magic interacts with your bodies. Twilight? Care to assist me?”

“Affirmatively,” Twilight got up from her desk, and pulled out a pointer which she used to tap on a diagram of the human body on an easel she had brought with her. “Now. Long story short, Aether is present in every living creature, but we humans have more of it than anything else on earth. Now that Equestrian magic has started to manifest itself within us, we need to be more careful and avoid any potential…more selfish use of such power.”

Everyone in the room started taking notes for themselves.

Then, Flash would bring up a rather noteworthy question. “Uh--yeah. Question: What are the potential side effects of all this foreign power in our systems? Will we have a harder time dealing with it than you gals?” he asked in reference to Sunset and Twilight’s friend group.

“Don’t worry,” Aidon answered him, “We’re going outside to the soccer pitch to perform some testing.”

“Auch--finally!” Rainbow Dash rudely threw her arms into the air as she hopped out of her desk and stood up. “I’ll finally be able to start teaching you peeps how to use your magic! This school just got 20% less boring!” She folded her arms proudly, “I might even end up becoming captain of this little squad.”

“Hmmmm--Yeah--no,” Twilight interjected flatly with narrowed eyes as Adagio and Sunset could be heard giggling behind her. “That’s not gonna happen. I’m literally the one with the magical expertise here--” she adjusted her glasses and continued under her breath, “Not to mention a liiiittle bit ahead in the brains category.” She made a somewhat competitive glare at Micro Chips--

Which caused him to reach his hand beneath his glasses and grab the bridge of his nose. “I need to talk to her about this and put it to rest.”

Aidon cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Ahem. If you’ll all follow me outside, we’ll begin our first lesson. Get your gym clothes on and let’s go.”

As everyone got up to leave, Micro Chips stopped Twilight when the two were alone. “Hey, Twilight. Listen…”

“...I know what happened last week,” she replied under her breath as she folded her arms, “Spike brought my failsafe to you and you helped save everyone. Just what I was expecting of someone with an intelligence level similar to my own.”

He raised a brow. “...I don’t get it. You’re not annoyed at the fact that I was the one who had to help save everyone while you were incapacitated?”

“Oh no, I’m still miffed--” Twilight replied in a matter-of-fact fashion as she started walking out of the classroom, “At myself though. Not you. Never should’ve let my guard down…I’m smarter than that.”

Micro followed her and replied, “Well…I’ve learned a long time ago that no matter how smart you are, there’s always going to be something you miss. Best we can do is accept that we’re gonna fall short sometimes and look to others for help.” He pushed up his glasses. “So long as you can accept that, I think we’ll be fine going forward.”

“Yeah…you have a point,” Twilight sighed in response, “People always say intelligence is a ‘gift’ of some kind when they don’t realize how isolating it can feel.”

“You have a point--but hey, your friends have your back, and that’s what matters. Just…do me one small favor, please.”

“What’s that, MC?”

“...I’d like you try and keep a lid on the competitive aspect of our friendship if possible. I see you as a peer, not a rival. You get what I mean?”

Twilight looked down as she realized her spiteful nature towards Micro Chips had stemmed from the similar levels of intellect. In fact, it was due to that nature that she thought of him as a perfect failsafe for her nanotechnology in the first place.

“...Yeah. I get you, brother,” Twilight replied with her hands behind her back, “You did a good job out there, so you’ve more than earned my respect. I’ll try my best to keep things civil from now on.”

“Good to hear,” he replied with a satisfied smile, “Now let’s get going. With Summer coming, I want as much time for my research as possible--away from all of this.”

“Pfft,” Twilight scoffed in disbelief--there was no way they’d catch a break that easily. “You and me both.”

Arc XX Episode VII: Artistry

Meanwhile, in the art period class that was taking place at the same time…

Keiji was mindlessly tapping his fingers against the side of his face with his chin in his hand as he stared at the blank canvas. Not only was no inspiration coming to him, but he was more focused on the pains of his experiences in this world thus far.

“Dammit…some people really just don’t wanna be saved, huh? Guess there’s not much I could’ve done for her. Unless I approached it a bit differently…? What if one of my closest friends turned evil like that? Gah…so many potentially shitty outcomes.”

“Hey, pard--”

“DON’T TOUCH ME--!” Keiji screamed at the top of his voice as he entered a defensive judo stance with his arms raised…only to realize that he had earned the attention of every student in the room who stared at him for a few moments of awkward silence. “...”

Thankfully, it didn’t last long as everyone slowly turned their heads and resumed their idle chatter as they painted on their canvases--save for the individual who spoke up to Keiji in the first place.

“...Keiji--ya got any extra red?” Applejack asked in a more hushed tone as she leaned over. “...Also, are ya feelin’ okay?”

“M’fine,” the boy huffed as he offered her the red paint, “Just thinking about stuff. Don’t worry about it.”

“...” Applejack silently accepted the paint from him and returned to her canvas. “Wonder what’s up with the lil feller today…”

“Relax, Jacks,” Aria got up from her seat nearby, “I think I can get through to him since we’re a bit closer.”

“Just be careful, ya hear?” the Apple girl warned her, “When Big Mac gets in a funk like that, it usually don’t mean nothin’ good.”

Aria shrugged her shoulders as she walked past Applejack, “I’ll take my chances. He’s my little brother after all.” A few moments later, she stepped up to Keiji and asked, “...Hey bud. How are ya feelin’?”

Just as she predicted, Keiji was more willing to speak with her than Applejack due to how close they had gotten thus far. “I’m…just worried about some stuff,” he muttered, “Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m just…I dunno.”

“Hmm…could it be that you’re worried about the future?” Aria asked as she pulled up a stool and sat next to him. “Maybe in regards to other Equestrian bullshit?”

“...Yeah, that’s about right,” he replied with a sigh, “Just can’t shake my head clear of these thoughts. I’m…worried that I might have to do what I did to that lady again to someone else in the future. As well as how soon that future might be…”

“Yeah…I feel ya,” Aria replied, “But living in fear ain’t gonna getcha nowhere.”

He raised a brow in response. “For real? Ms. Grumpy’s gonna lecture me on emotional balance?”

Aria couldn’t help but giggle thanks to Keiji’s quip. “Heeeeh. Fair point. But that’s why I’m like this all the time. Helps me appreciate the happy moments more. Not to mention, our childhoods essentially made us into who we are. I was never exactly an excitable Siren--even back then, I mostly kept to myself, ya feel? But even then, I still open up to ‘em so I know what they’re feeling, ya know? Helps me get mentally prepared to kick some ass.”

“Huh…” Keiji thought about what she had said for a moment and cupped the side of his face with his hand. “So you keep up your ‘hardass’ tendencies to stay on alert as much as possible for the sake of everyone else…”

“Pfft,” she scoffed at Keiji’s analysis as she casually put her hands behind her head, “That’s one way to look at it, sure. That’s just how I’ve always been. My point is: Don’t be afraid to let others in. Not everyone is out to get us, okay?”

“Yeah…I guess you have a point,” his nerves were eased by the siren’s words of encouragement. Keiji started to smile ever so slightly. “Not much else I can do but keep moving forward, right?”

Aria patted him on the back and replied, “That’s the spirit, lil’ bro. That aside, I’m hearing some crap about this Eastern-style Summer Festival or whatever. Think you’d be interested? It’s got similar stuff to the place where Mistmane came from.”

“Yeah…” Keiji nodded in response, “I’ve been hearing about that lately. Might be a great place to spend time and unwind. Especially if they have those little fish games…”

Now intrigued, Aria would lean in and ask, “Oh? So you’re into them, eh?”

“Er…somewhat?” he replied while idly rubbing his finger on his cheek, “I don’t mind. Been meaning to pick up a yukata at some point. Now’s the perfect time.”

That’s when Aria fell silent as she got an idea. “Ooh…I know just the thing to get him excited.”

Meanwhile, outside on the school’s soccer field…

The students were seated on chairs as Aidon gave his lecture.

“The way magic works in Equestria is by channeling one’s inner mana and expressing it outwards,” Aidon lectured his class on how it worked, and looked at Sunset for a demonstration. “Ms. Shimmer?”

“Yes sir,” Sunset stepped forward and stretched her arms, interlocking her fingers. Then, with a snap of her fingers, she generated a flame in her hands that everyone immediately fixated their eyes upon. “See? Easy. Just think of what you wanna create, and it’ll appear.”

Flash Sentry would then ask a question, “Okay but like--how do you do that without burning yourself?” Such a question caused some interested murmurs among the students.

“Good question--basically it just amounts to keeping your mind in check as you use it. It’ll come naturally, passively,” she then looked at Adagio, “Dagi. C’mere. I wanna experiment with something real quick.”

The orange siren had been idly kicking her leg one crossed over the other. “Wait--me? Seriously? What are you planning, Shimmer?” she questioned her as she stood up.

“Trust me, this is gonna be good,” Sunset replied with an eager grin on her face, earning and concerned shake of the head from Aidon.

Arc XX Episode VIII: Magic Training

Adagio walked over to the empty side of the field as she rolled her eyes. “This better not be an attempt to embarrass me.”

“C’maaaawn--you trust me, don’tcha?” Sunset asked as she playfully leaned forward with her hands behind her back.

“No,” Adagio replied flatly with a hand on her hip, “But I’m interested in seeing what you have planned. Fire and water don’t exactly get along well. So how exactly are we going to combine these abilities?”

“Like so--” Sunset created a whole fireball and started tossing it back and forth between her hands. “Just skim a little off the top and keep your mind focused on the aether you’re creating. Right, Twilight?”

Nearby, the purple nerd was busy with her nose buried deep in her notes. So deep that all she replied with was a silent thumbs-up.

“A-heh…yeah…” Sunset awkwardly bounced off of Twilight’s silence.

All while Adagio giggled as she generated some water from her hands. “Okay then. Sounds simple enough. What shall we do next?”

“Look over here,” Sunset tilted her head towards the other end of the soccer field, then turned around. There were several test dummies made of cardboard that had been set up for the sole purpose of training. “Now watch this. A regular fire attack does something like this…” With a wave of her hand…

FWOOSH!

The fireball flew and burned the target to a crisp. “Simple and easy to understand, right? Your turn, Adagio--hit that other one for me, please.”

“Alrighty…” Adagio flung her hand forward and shot a blast of water at the next target--

SPLASH!

It was so powerful that it bore a hole right through it, causing it to fall over moments later, resulting in more interested murmurs from the students.

“Alright, good stuff,” Sunset added, then stood alongside her, “Now…let’s attack at the same time and see what’s different.”

Adagio shrugged her shoulders and raised her hand once again. “If you think it’ll work…”

Both girls focused their power…and--

SPLASWOOSH!

The fire and water combined and turned into a blast of steam that fanned out over the field. It was so hot and moist that it caused the rest of the dummies to wither away until they disintegrated!

“Huh…” Adagio muttered as she watched the targets disappear. “Well that’s certainly new. I guess we should start combining our new abilities more often, hm? How do you know so much about this?”

“I studied this quite a bit back in Equestria,” Sunset replied with an uneasy smile, “...until I started to fall off due to slacking just a tad. But--but! I’m back at it full force--”

Suddenly, she was cut off by an impatient Rainbow Dash who ran up to, and stood between them, throwing her arms over their shoulders. “Less talking--more magic blasting! That was so cool! I wanna do that too!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Rainbow, we’ve been over this--your thing is speed--I don’t think you can weaponize it into a projectile.”

“That’s what you think!” she replied while folding her arms, “I’ve got the Speed Force! You know what I can do with that--?!”

Aidon got up from a nearby chair and cleared his throat. “Okay, everyone, take your seats.” Once the trio of girls sat back down, he’d then carry on with the lesson. “Alright. As Sunset described there are ways to mix magic together and create brand new spells that one can’t create on their own. Now who wants to begin testing this out?”

“ME!”

“ME NEXT!”

“OVER HERE!”

Various overlapping shouts erupted from the group of students as a result. They were clearly invested and wanted to learn as much as possible, so Aidon would grant them that wish.

“Alright the next key steps are…”

He would then proceed to lecture them more on how to combine certain spells to create new ones, such as Rainbow Dash’s speed combined with Flash Sentry’s soundwaves in order to create a literal sound barrier to block out incoming damage, and Sandbar’s sand abilities mixing with Micro Chip’s nanomachines to create a sandworm that was capable of phasing in and out of reality! Granted, it wasn’t all perfect, as the intense strain left them all extremely drained and short of breath afterwards, but the spectacle was still there for the brief moments it was present.

Once class was over, and most of the students had left for their next class for the day…

Aidon stretched his arms out and took a breath--even he was winded from how much micromanaging he had to perform in order to keep everyone in check throughout each lesson. “Whew…that was a bit harder than I would’ve expected. But at least everyone’s learning.”

Then, from the corner of his eye, he’d see an orange hand offer him a bottle of water. “Hm?”

“You might want this, sir,” Sunset offered, “Sorry--that was way more intense than I would’ve expected.”

“No kidding,” he replied as he accepted the water and took a sip of it. “I’m honestly surprised that you were willing to help out with such a task.”

“Well, it’s got a lot to do with how I was raised,” Sunset continued as she sat down next to him on the bleachers, “Princess Celestia was pretty much the only family I had since my folks weren’t around too much. She was like a weird combination of a teacher and a guardian of sorts…until I turned my back on her.”

“Mm…” Aidon shut his eyes for a moment as he recounted Sunset’s past…

Sunset took a sip of her own water and went on. “...but ever since I made up with her, I’ve decided to dedicate my time to protecting this world instead. And that’s pretty much the reason why I joined this class--so I can pass on Celestia’s methods of how she taught me onto other people.” She rubbed the back of her head while looking down towards the ground. “A bit of a cheesy reason I know, but--”

“Perfectly valid,” Aidon cut her off, “While I’m not the biggest fan of Princess Celestia as an individual, I heard her credentials as a teacher were top-notch. Respect begets respect as they say.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Sunset replied with a nod, “she was far from perfect, but she helped me get to where I am now. Can’t deny that. Even if I was a biiit off my rocker when I was younger.”

“Good to hear,” Aidon got up from his seat and stretched his arms out. “Alrighty. Time to get ready for the next class. You should get going as well.”

“Hold up, Professor!” Sunset quickly jumped up from the bench and walked after him, “There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

Aidon turned to her. “Hm? What is it?”

With a nervous smile on her face, Sunset twiddled her index fingers over each other. “Well…I was wondering if you ever had any spare time…could you teach me dark mag--”

“No,” Aidon said bluntly as he turned and kept walking.

“Dammit--well, it was worth a shot…” Sunset huffed to herself as she pouted.

Arc XX Episode IX: Festival Prep

Moments later, Adagio appeared from behind the bleachers with a smirk on her face. “Did you really think he was going to teach you such deadly magic, Shimmer?” she mocked Sunset in a playful tone. “You wouldn’t even let us use our amulets to consume hatred, remember?”

“Yeah…sorry about that,” Sunset replied with an uneasy frown.

Adagio scoffed and waved her hand in a dismissive fashion. “Pfft. Don’t be. You’re just lucky that our bodies have adapted well to enjoying human food enough to where we can survive. Mentally, it’s a whole different school of fish…”

“Well, at least things seem to be looking up as far as adaptations go,” Sunset went on, “Trust me, learning how to drive when I first got here was not easy.”

“That’s one thing we can agree on--” Adagio started walking along the pitch back towards the school. She then changed the subject. “On another note, how have you been lately? Since the whole magical lust incident?”

“I’ve been fine actually,” Sunset replied as she walked alongside the siren, “Been trying to ease up lately in time for that Summer Festival. Think Keiji is gonna be interested? He’s essentially from the Equestrian equivalent of the Far East.”

“It’s possible,” Adagio answered, “No telling what that little gremlin of a child is thinking on a regular basis. But I think some relaxation is in order after what he’s been through.” She put a finger on her chin and looked down at the ground. “But what exactly do humans do at such a festival, I wonder…”

Suddenly, Sunset appeared in front of her with a beady set of wide eyes. “It’s only the coolest fair event ever!”

“Waagh!” Adagio was momentarily taken aback, leaning away from Sunset when she made her sudden outburst. “...Please don’t do--”

Despite this, Sunset simply kept going, riding her high of excitement. “There’s booths where you catch fish, shoot corks to knock down targets, and get masks--it’s so much fun!”

Adagio stood upright as she listened to Sunset ramble on. “I see…and what sort of attire do we need for this event? I’ve seen Eastern shows on television, so do we need to emulate the culture to participate?”

“Not quite--buuuut it is recommended. I’m actually gonna go shopping for a yukata later. It’s basically like a kimono but way more casual since the robes are nowhere near as heavy. Wanna come with?”

“...Me?” Adagio pointed at herself with a puzzled expression on her face, “You want me to join you for…shopping?”

“Sure, why not?” Sunset rescinded amicably, “We can even stop by the sushi place where I work if we get hungry.”

Adagio shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Hm. Alright. I might be able to find something for Aria and Sonata while I’m there. This could be a new learning experience for us all.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sunset cheered as she nudged Adagio’s shoulder with her elbow, “The best way to learn is through experience. Princess Celestia taught me that one.”

“Did she now?” Adagio chuckled to herself in response, “...that explains some things.”

Elsewhere, in the school…

As everyone was traveling through the halls, Keiji would be stopped by a gray-skinned girl with glasses.

“Hey, Keiji?” Silver Spoon called out as she approached the vampboy.

And said vampboy was busy digging for something in his locker. “Sup?” he replied without missing a beat nor turning his head.

“I just wanted to make sure you were gonna attend the Summer Festival. My parents and DT’s parents are funding it, and I know for a fact that she’s gonna wanna see you there,” she folded her arms, “So you better show.”

Keiji shut his locker and tilted his head towards her with a flat, sarcastic set of narrowed eyes. “Fujin’s hand--for real? Jeez, I didn’t realize I was valued that much.” He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Next thing you know, they’re gonna throw me a festival.”

Silver Spoon leaned forward with her hands on her hips. “Cut the crap--you know she cares about you. And admittedly, I do too. So don’t mess around. Please? There’s been too much money funneled into this for all that good food to go to waste.”

“Hold up--what kinda food?” Keiji raised an inquisitive brow, “I haven’t had traditional Eastern food in a long ass time, so this better be good.”

“Hmph, “ Spoon stood upright and pulled a brochure out of a purse she was carrying over her shoulder, “Take a look and read up on it for yourself. You might find something you like in there.”

Keiji started to read through it. Inside, he found various dishes including ramen, seafood, and various types of curry available at the festival. All of which were being prepared by seasoned Eastern chefs.

“Interesting,” he muttered, “Hey, are they gonna do anything with lanterns?”

“Yyyyeah no. Apparently the last time something was done with lanterns in this area, the fire department was called,” Spoon replied as she visibly shuddered and grit her teeth, “Brrr….not how I wanna spend the night again.”

Such an explanation caused Keiji to stare at her and blink his eyes a few times before shaking his head. “...Nope. Not even gonna ask.”

“Anyway,” Spoon turned and started walking off, “Make sure you show up looking nice. Don’t embarrass us, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Keiji responded with a sneer. Then he scratched his head. “Now how am I gonna get something good? The girls aren’t gonna be able to help. I need a guy’s opinion on how to dress for an event like this.”

Moments later, he’d have his answer. “Hey, Keiji--yo!”

The vampboy turned his head to find Sandbar heading his way. “Oh hey. What’s up?”

“I’m takin’ Yona and my little sis Coral to go shopping for these ‘Eastern’ clothes,” he said with airquotes via his fingers, “But I have no clue what to get for myself. Think you can help me?”

“How conveniently inconvenient,” Keiji thought to himself, and answered aloud, “Sure. I got time to kill.”

Arc XX Episode X: Confidence Issues

Meanwhile, inside the school…

Aidon had returned to the principal’s office for a coffee break when the phone had started to ring.

“Hm?” he answered, “Hello?”

And on the other end, Vice Principal Luna’s voice could be heard. “Aidon? Is everything going well there without us?”

“Just fine, Luna. Just fine,” he replied with a smile, “And how are things going on your end?”

To be more precise, on Luna’s “end” both she and Celestia were at a water therapy facility, swimming in an indoor pool and was currently sitting in a locker room before she got ready to head out. “Just fine. We’re about to get ready to start our first therapeutic procedure. I knew leaving the students in your capable hands was the right call.”

“Well…I wouldn’t go that far,” Aidon downplayed her words, but accepted them, “But I do appreciate your acknowledgement.”

“Good to hear. Also…” Luna began to idly twirl her hair upon her index finger as she spoke, “I was wondering if you’d like to--”

But just before she could finish her thought, their conversation was interrupted once someone stepped into the office in front of Aidon.

“Excuse me, sir,” Parabola spoke up as she walked into the room, “I just wanted to say that your students cooperated beautifully today. You taught them very well.”

Aidon held the phone down for a moment and replied, “Oh. Er…thank you, madam. I always do my best when it comes to them…” he said with an uneasy smile on his face.

Parabola giggled in response, and pointed to the phone. “My apologies. Are you speaking with someone?”

“Yes,” he replied and held it up, “Vice Principal Luna. Would you like to speak with her?”

“Yes please,” Parabola stepped forward and took ahold of the phone, “Hello?”

“Ms. Parabola?” Luna spoke up from the other end, “How has everything been?”

“Oh just fine here,” the striped lady responded in a sultry tone, “This man you have here is a shining example of how to treat students. They’re all so well-behaved that they were easy for me to deal with. He definitely deserves a raise if you catch my drift.” She shot a wink in his direction as she spoke on the phone.

Which caused the shadowman to react with an unstable smile, sweating as he tried his best to stay professional. “...You don’t have to say all of that, haha….ha…”

Meanwhile, Luna’s response was a bit more cut and dry. “I see. I’ll take that into consideration. May I speak with him again, please?”

“Of course,” Parabola handed the phone back to Aidon, and prepared to take her leave. “See you later, hm?” She walked out of the office while looking at him over her shoulder with narrowed eyes and a wide smile.

“Y-yes of course…” Aidon stared at her for a moment and nearly dropped the phone in the process. “Ah! Ahem. Luna? Are you still there?”

“Yes…yes I am,” she responded flatly, “She’s quite the character, isn’t she?”

“Weelll…I dunno about that,” he mumbled with a nervous smile on his face and quickly tried to change the subject. “Anyway…I recall that you were about to ask me something a few moments ago. What was it?”

White noise from the other end. Luna hesitated for a moment, and eventually remarked, “...Nothing. Nothing at all. Keep up the good work, Aidon.”

And while he wanted to question it, he kept things as professional as possible by moving right along with the day. “Understood. I will. Have a nice day, Luna.” With that, he hung up the phone.

At the locker room, Luna sighed to herself as she lamented the conversation she had with Aidon. “...I should’ve guessed that it wouldn’t work out. But I guess I didn’t lose out on anything.”

“Lose out on what, dear?” a woman’s voice called out as she entered the locker room.

“...Stellar Flare?” Luna called out, “You take therapy here too?”

“Take it? Honey, I’m your coach,” the tan-skinned woman wearing a one-piece swimsuit of her own replied with a chuckle as she grabbed a whistle from a locker. “But it sounds like there was something wrong with you. Care to speak up on it?”

“No no, it’s…just to do with a guy I--”

Stellar immediately cut her off as she waved her hand dismissively, “Ohhhh. I see it now. Hun, don’t worry about it. I know just what that feels like. It’s exactly why my ‘man’ and I broke it off after a year. Nothing was working out between us. Ya don’t wanna get caught up in something you’re not prepared for, understand?”

“Yes…” Luna replied with a nod, “I suppose that’s true. Thank you, Stellar. You’re rather inspirational.”

“Eh, I try my best. If you need anyone for some more…private talk, then speak to me once the therapy session is over, okay, Luna?”

Luna got up from her seat on the locker room’s bench and replied, “Yes, ma’am. Understood.” “She’s so…confident in herself even after everything she’s been through. How I wish I could be like that...”

Arc XXI Episode I: Matchmaker

Concurrently, at the same time Parabola left Aidon’s office…

Sonata had been walking by, and noticed the expression on the striped woman’s face as she left the office. “Hm?” She stepped forward, and noticed Aidon’s smitten expression right before he cleared his throat and finished his conversation on the phone.

It didn’t take long for the blue girl to put two and three together.

“Eeeee!” she squealed to herself. “Aidon’s interested in the new teacher lady! But he looks so shy about it--I bet he’ll have a hard time asking her out. Unless….ooh, Sonata, you’re a genius!”

As soon as she finished that thought, Sonata raced to her locker and opened it up to grab some art supplies. She then immediately started to scribble down on two pieces of red construction paper. “A bit of this here, a bit of yellow there…this’ll be perfect for the both of them.”

Normally, Aria or Adagio would be there to help her reconsider such an…impulsive idea. But the two wanted to allow their baby sister to have a bit more independence, so they agreed on having less classes where they would cross paths.

Naturally, this was the result. A gremlin of a siren who acted on her first instinct. While her heart was in the right place, she’d soon find out whether or not her efforts would be deemed as such.

Once Sonata had finished her creations, she reveled in her accomplishment. “Hooo-boy! Can’t wait to see the look on their faces!”

This could only end well.

Regardless, she went through with it, and delivered her creations to both the principal’s office where Aidon was, and the math room where Parabola had been working via slipping them under the door. They were small, folded invitations made of red construction paper…

Aidon was the first to notice the invitation slipped to him, and picked it up off of the floor. “Eh? What’s this?” He opened it, and it read:

“Meet me at the cafe near the city crossing at 5PM. I’d like to ask you out to the Summer Festival in person. Signed, your secret admirer.”

It was written with brilliant cursive calligraphy using a blue, sparkle-gel pen that mixed nicely with the card’s red background along with a few hearts for good measure.

Now see, Aidon was rather quick on the uptake. Something like this stood out to him as odd, however… “This could easily be a trick…however, it might not be. I’d better answer the demand in case it’s a trap. Better stay alert.”

Nothing was getting past this teacher.

Meanwhile…

Sonata was idly skipping down the halls towards the exit while humming a tune to herself, clearly satisfied with what she had done. “This is gonna be perfect!”

“What’s gonna be perfect?” Aria asked as she rounded a corner, and went through the front doors of the campus with her sister. “Don’t tell me you pulled some kinda prank on someone. If you did, you should’ve invited me--I would’ve made it way better.”

“Pffft! No!” Sonata laughed at the idea and replied, “I just…did a bit of divine siren justice!” She triumphantly hoisted her fist into the air for emphasis.

To which Aria put a hand up and promptly lowered Sonata’s. “Rrrrright. Just don’t get carried away, alright? You know it’s only recently since we started letting you go places by yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m practically a grown woman,” Sonata asserted while placing a hand on her upper chest.

“Pff--yeah. A grown womanchild,” Aria muttered under her breath with a snicker.

“I heard that!” Sonata huffed, “Don’t you make fun of me or I’ll shock you.”

“Easy, sis. I’m just dicking with you,” Aria nudged her with her elbow, “You’re doing great. But I still worry for ya sometimes. That’s all.”

“Aw, you do care!” Sonata clasped her hands together with beady eyes.

Only for Aria to roll hers in response. “Seriously? Since when have I not? I’ve pretty much been the one who’s up and ready to kick ass for all of us…” She paused and stretched her arms upwards. “...But I’m actually looking forward to being able to unwind at this festival. We could use a break.”

“Oh yeah! That reminds me, did you invite Keiji?”

“Of course I did,” Aria kept walking with her hands in her jean pockets, “Little bro deserves to have some fun too, doesn’t he? But in case you’re wondering, Dagi is off getting herself ready by scoping out the Eastern clothes with Sunset at the mall.”

“Ooooh…” Sonata started to skip alongside her sister, “That sounds nice! Can’t wait to see what she comes up with. I’d like to see if--”

“No,” Aria cut her off with a flat tone, “There are no yukatas with taco-print patterns.”

Sonata smirked at her sister with a wide, cocksure grin, “Yet.” But then, she remembered something that stuck out in her mind. “Those invites! I need to see what happens!” Then, she made a hard left for the inner city, “I’m gonna actually start looking for myself right now, byyyyye!”

As Sonata ran off, Aria could only manage a dumbfounded glare in her direction. “...Yeah, she’s up to something. Do I have the energy to find out? Nope.”

Arc XXI Episode III: Fishtakes Were Made

Meanwhile, across the city…

Having followed the card he was mysteriously given, Aidon took a drive down to the inner city where he previously had tea with Luna.

“It can’t be her,” he thought to himself while driving, “She’s at therapy. So who could this possibly be from?”

Of course he wasn’t aware of the fact that Sonata had given it to him as a setup to meet Parabola for a blind date. Nope--he was under the impression that there was something far more sinister going on that he was unaware of.

“Let’s see…same place,” he muttered as he parked his vehicle outside of the shop and got out. Then he checked his watch. “4:45PM. So I’m right on time with it. Whoever this is, whether it’s a prank or a threat, I can’t just stand idle.”

As Aidon approached the cafe, he’d notice a familiar face from the corner of his eye--one that called out to him.

“Oh, professor! I didn’t know you came here when school was out,” Twilight spoke up, “Come say hi, Spike.”

And moments later, the humanoid canine of a boy walked up next to her and added, “Yo.”

“That’s right…you’ve become human,” Aidon muttered and replied, “Hello you two. How have you adapted to walking on two legs, Spike?”

“Could be a whole lot worse. I could be on two legs, and look like you,” he said with a chuckle.

Aidon glared at him for a moment and replied, “It’s a shadow-thing isn’t it?”

“N-no! It was a joke!” Spike tried to clear up his point with a nervous stutter.

But then the shadowman started laughing as well. “Ah, I’m just screwing around with you, kiddo. I’m glad you’ve managed to adapt to walking around. Do you plan to enroll in school?”

“Uhhh…” Spike mumbled as he looked towards Twilight for an answer.

And she responded, “...baby steps. He’s still got the intellect of a talking dog--not a regular human male.” Then she decided to change the subject as she adjusted her glasses. “So--what brings you here today, sir?”

“Hm…don’t want to risk getting her involved at the moment,” he thought to himself, “Whoever left me this note could be watching…” So Aidon gave the best answer he could come up with on the spot. “I’m just here for a quick bite to eat before I head home. Don’t mind me, hm?”

“Oh--you don’t want us to join you?” Twilight asked.

“NO!” was his knee-jerk mental reaction, but he kept a relaxed facial expression on the surface. “Nah. It’s alright. You two go on ahead and enjoy yourselves.”

“If you’re sure--c’mon, Spike.” Twilight beckoned her canid-friend to follow her.

“Hope we see ya at the festival, teach,” Spike said as he walked off, following Twilight.

“I just might…” he replied aloud, then mumbled under his breath, “...If I can live to see it.”

As per the instructions, Aidon went to one of the outdoor tables at the nearby cafe. He took a seat and waited patiently for the person who sent him the card to appear. “What is it that you want exactly…?”

Well, it wouldn’t be long before he had his answer.

About five minutes later, Parabola appeared wearing more casual clothing--jean shorts and a small, black fur coat with white fur on the inside. She raised the sunglasses she had been wearing off of her face and tilted her head. “...Mister Iota?”

It took a moment for Aidon to register her appearance. “Wait a minute…did she send me this? Is she secretly plotting something? Better address this carefully.” Then he answered, “Oh…Ms. Parabola? Did you invite me here?”

“No…” she shook her head and reached into her coat, pulling out an identical red card to the one Aidon had received. “...Did you?”

“No…” Aidon responded plainly, “That’s quite odd…I was certain that--...never mind.” He paused, and started to think some more. “Well at least this means it isn’t another evil threat, which is good.”

Similarly, the zebra-striped woman thought, “...That puts me at ease. However, I should tell him right away to avoid confusion.”

From a nearby bush, Sonata had been watching with a pair of binoculars. “Yes! I’m a total genius! And my sisters think I can’t function on my own…hmph. Well I showed you guys!”

And the couple sitting at the table next to her reacted with confused stares.

“...Is that a talking bush?” the girl asked.

“Just ignore it,” said the boy, “that’s easily the least insane thing that’s happened in the last few months in this city.”

At Aidon’s table…

“I’m afraid someone must have misunderstood us and tried to set us up on a date,” Parabola explained with a giggle as she placed her hand against her forehead. “Ah, how adorable…”

“...And awkward,” Aidon added with a forced grin on his face, “This is not how I expected this situation to go at all.”

“Well, since we’re here, I may as well lay it all out on the table,” Parabola took a seat opposite of Aidon and began to explain. “I’m…not interested in you, sir. Don’t take it the wrong way, but I simply don’t harbor any attraction to anyone. It’s not you--I’m simply not interested in that sort of thing.”

Aidon nearly bit his tongue as sweat rolled down the side of his head. The rejection struck him hard, but he was willing to accept it. “Ah…okay. I completely understand. Thanks for clearing it up now.”

“But don’t worry,” Parabola looked at him with a smile, “There may be someone else out there that could have interest in you.”

“...I suppose you're right," was all Aidon could manage to speak through his stiffened tongue and neutral expression.

But before Parabola could say anything else, she felt her phone buzz, and she took a look at it. “Shoot…I have an appointment with my sister I need to get to. Sorry, but I can’t stay to chat any longer.” She hurriedly got up from the table and started hustling towards her car. “Hope you have a nice rest of your day.”

As she drove off, Aidon waved, “You too, miss.” But once she was gone, he put his elbow on the table, and sighed with his face buried in his palm. “...How embarrassing.”

Moments later, Derpy approached him--ready to take his order one moment, but then her crossed eyes gave off an impression of concern the next. “...Are you okay, Mr. Aidon?”

Aidon replied without looking at her. “Honestly, Ms. Muffin? I don’t really know.”

And from the bush she was sitting in, Sonata could easily read the situation as she grit her teeth. “...Aw, fishpaste.”

Arc XXI Episode IV: Keeping Calm

At the mall…

Sandbar noticed that Keiji had been silently seething and decided to carefully speak up to him. “...Ey bro, something wrong?” he asked with a concerned frown on his face. “You look a bit…miffed.”

It took a moment for the vampboy to respond, but at long last, he’d speak up. “Huh? Oh nah just…just thinking about some stuff that got me annoyed,” he replied while scratching the back of his head.

Of course Sandbar didn’t buy this. “C’mon, bro. I’ve got a little sister. I know when someone’s angry.” He put a hand on Keiji’s shoulder and continued, “You can tell me anythin’. Come on, what’s eating at ya?”

“...” Keiji silently tilted his head towards another store…

To which Sandbar’s gaze followed and laid eyes on the girls that had been talking about Yona behind her back. They could be seen giggling while looking in her direction as they walked off with their shopping bags.

“Ah…” Sandbar replied with a sigh, “Yeah. Don’t mind ‘em. That’s been happenin’ more than usual lately.” He flashed his usual, casual smile, “Nothing to worry about.”

“Wh--are you for real?” Keiji asked with a furrowed brow, “Come on, you don’t have enough honor to defend your girl from that slander?”

“Honor? Whatchu on about, man?” he recoiled with a puzzled expression on his face, “I could care less what them folks say about her. Just ‘cuz she’s from Yakistan doesn’t mean she’s here to cause trouble.”

“So wait--you don’t get mad at any of that? That’s…odd,” Keiji muttered, “Has this happened before?”

“Yeah, loads of times,” Sandbar replied with a shrug. “But of course I’m mad about it. Wish the lame comments would stop. But I can’t make people think a certain way.”

Keiji shot him a blank stare for a moment, then turned his head towards the direction of those girls, and back to him. “...So you do get upset. You just try not to let yourself get visibly angry over it.”

Sandbar placed his hands in his pockets. “Yup. The last time I got angry…” he forced another smile, “Actually, let’s not talk about it. I’d rather stay happy today, ya feel me?”

“...This dude is a trip,” Keiji thought to himself, “Everyone here seems to harbor some kinda issue with their past that they don’t wanna bring up. Just like me. Guess the human world isn’t so different after all…”

Moments later, Skeedaddle would return to the front of the store. “Alright, guys. I got everything you need back here. Just follow me!”

“Sweet!” Coral replied and beckoned the others to follow her, “This way, guys. Skeed’s got the best stuff for us waiting back there!”

Meanwhile, at the home of the Sirens…

“Yikes…” Sonata muttered as she flopped on the couch. “That is so not what I was out to accomplish. How was I to know that Ms. Parabola doesn’t like anybody?”

“You could’ve like, I dunno--asked?” Aria snidely retorted from the kitchen, “Just be glad it didn’t blow up in your face like the last time you had a plan, huh?”

“Don’t--don’t remind me about the birthday party I did with Trixie,” Sonata groaned, “I’m still reeling from those nasty card tricks that I messed up.”

Aria took a seat on the couch next to her and went on, “Listen, sis. Your heart was in the right place, but you need to let love fall wherever it wants to fall. It’s like playing jenga--if you take one piece out of place, then you’ll potentially knock over a whole tower.”

“Yeah…I suppose you’re right,” the younger siren replied with a sigh, “I guess I just feel bad for the professor. I mean…he’s been through so much more than we have over the years between being persecuted in Equestria and forced to live here where it was difficult to adapt…” She rested her head on the arm of the couch with her arms folded beneath her chin. “And he’s got this vacant look in his eye….like he’s missing something.”

Aria rolled her eyes and spoke with a flat, unamused tone, “And you think that ‘something’ is a quick fling, eh?” She teased Sonata with a devious grin, “Didn’t know you were that dirty, Sona.”

“Th-that! No!” Sonata sat upright and pouted with her cheeks puffing out, “That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

Aria snickered under her breath, “Sorry. But real talk, I think you have some good ideas, Sonata, but you can’t go around doing that kind of stuff with just everyone, okay?” Her expression softened and became more sincere as she put her hands behind her head. “...Adagio and I wanna give you more time to yourself because we know you’re getting older…but please don’t do reckless stuff like that, alright?”

Sonata relaxed and nodded her head. “Yeah…don’t worry, Ari. I’ll make sure I think about what I do before I do it next time.” She held her hands close to her chest, “But I still wanna help the professor in any way I can.”

“...Let’s give him some time to himself,” Aria suggested, “I think he’ll appreciate that a bit more.”

“Yeah, that’s fair I guess,” Sonata sighed, “I’ll make sure I avoid stressing him out anytime soon.”

“Good to hear--”

Suddenly, the front door swung open, revealing Adagio wearing a casual purple kimono with white lilies patterned across it. “I’m back, girls! How do I look?”

“...”

“...”

Arc XXI Episode V: Sisterly Bonds

“You look amazing, sis!” Sonata squealed as she hopped off the couch and inspected Adagio’s yukata. “These look just like the ones they wear over in the East!”

“Yeah, kinda reminds me of the stuff we used to see over near Mistmane’s village,” Aria commented as she recalled her time living in Equestria. “Of course, it was a bit different since they were only used for special occasions given that ponies didn’t have to wear clothes all the time. Here though, it’s way more common.”

After closing the door behind her, Adagio walked inside and stood in front of the full-body mirror in the hallway, doing a few poses with her hands on her hip and below her chin. “I love how it’s more common. Since clothes are mandatory in this realm, it makes everything that much more special. It’s like a bathrobe but you can wear it anywhere. It’s unexpectedly comfortable.”

“Sweet!” Sonata chirped while eagerly rocking back and forth on her heels, “That means it’ll be our turn to go shopping next, right?”

“Of course,” Adagio replied, “Shimmer was quite helpful with getting me to pick one out. I wonder how she feels about all this as a pony who’s adapted to human culture?”

“She clearly knows about it more than we do,” Aria commented from the couch, “Not much else to it than that. I for one, am hoping we can get to relax for once.”

“For realsies,” Sonata groaned as she flopped back down on the couch. “Dealing with the monster of the week is kinda fun and all, but I’m just really hoping nothing messes this up for us and the humans. They don’t deserve this again, ya know?”

Adagio took a look at her phone. “...Oh yeah. That’s right. Summer vacation begins as soon as the festival starts. The humans are gonna have a lot more free time on their hands…” She sighed as she sat down in a chair adjacent to the couch. “Which means the individuals who seek to abuse magic will too.”

“Goddammit,” Aria rolled her eyes as she folded her arms, “I just wanna experience a new holiday without some malignant evil creature’s bullshit smeared all over it.”

“Bleh,” Sonata stuck out her tongue and quickly retracted it, “That sounds disgusting, Ari! Don’t say things like that!” she yelped while squinting her eyes out of distaste for what her sister had said.

“Well, whatever happens,” Adagio went on, “I’ll be here for you both. You can count on me to keep you safe.”

While touched, Aria responded with a snarky comment to hide her feelings. “Yeah well…just don’t end up getting yourself sick like last time. We don’t want none of that again, do we, Sonata?”

“No way!” Sonata opened her eyes and agreed, “We’re not letting you go it alone this time. Plus, we’ll have all our friends there. And I’m sure the Professor will be there as well. Don’t worry!”

Adagio looked down at the floor and smiled as she realized just how much her sisters cared for her in their own ways. “...I love you both, you know that?”

“Aw, we love you too, Dagi!” Sonata jumped up and tackled her sister, locking her in a tight hug and causing Adagio to yelp--

“Awk!”

“Love ya too, sis,” Aria replied with a smile as she stood up, “I’m gonna go get dinner ready. It’s spaghetti night tonight.”

“You…” Adagio struggled from the hug and spoke up, “Make sure you add garlic powder to mine!”

“Fish sauce for me!” Sonata added.

“Gotcha. Gimme thirty minutes,” Aria said as she went into the kitchen to get everything ready.

Meanwhile at the local gym where Celestia and Luna’s therapy was taking place…

The sisters had finished their water therapy and were drying themselves off. Once Luna had gotten dressed in her regular clothes, Stellar Flare approached her.

“You did amazingly out there, hun. How are you feeling?”

“A bit better I believe,” Luna replied as she pulled up her yoga pants. “The strength required to swim against such powerful jetstreams in the water have helped clear my head.”

Stellar looked at her with an interested smile. “Ooh! And what are you thinking of now, Ms. Luna?”

“Well--I was thinking about you,” Luna continued as she pulled her shirt down over her head, “That…mmph!--that you managed to move on despite your husband leaving you behind. Maybe I should do the same and accept that there really probably isn’t anyone out there for me.”

Just like that, Stellar’s invested expression switched to concern on a dime. “What? Oh no, sweetie--you shouldn’t think like that. There might be someone out there for you. You just need to know where to look. Who knows? They could be right under your nose…” she said with a wink.

Luna was dumbfounded for a moment as her heart raced from the kind gesture of the woman. “Oh…thank you, Ms. Flare…”

She chuckled and replied, “No problem. And…you know if you ever need a quick way to relieve stress, I may have just the thing for you. Stop by my place tomorrow and I’ll…give you what you need. For now, I need to get going, but think about it, hm?”

“Oh…I will. Thank you, Ms. Flare,” Luna replied with a stutter as Stellar left the room.

Moments later, Celestia appeared and commented, “Some one-on-one therapy, hm? Interesting. That might be good for you, but I hope you’ve considered all options when it comes to your personal life. At the end of the day, I’ll always be here for you, alright?”

“Of course…thank you, sister,” Luna replied with a nod, “Though I do think I should at least see what she has to offer.”

“Fair enough. But after that,” Celestia put her hands on Luna’s shoulders and giggled, “We’re having a sleepover at my place. It’ll be just like when we were little except with more movies and less awkward games of spin the bottle.”

Luna’s first reaction was to gasp, then she groaned at a painful memory of the aforementioned party game. “Ugh. Don’t remind me. I can’t believe I kissed Platinum on the lips for a dare!”

“But you both loved it--she certainly didn’t mind, did she-?”

“Yes well…thankfully I didn’t either--” Luna quickly changed the subject as she stormed off, “B-but anyway! We should get going. Summer vacation starts alongside the Festival soon. The day is young and I am not.”

Celestia walked after her and muttered under her breath, “...You certainly don’t act like it.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Luna shouted from afar.

“HEEEEGH!” Celestia wheezed.

Arc XXI Episode VI: Trying New Clothes

Back at the mall…

Skeedaddle had taken the entire group to a back room within the department store where several articles of Far Eastern clothing were held up on hangers. But the ones he had saved for them inparticular…

Were all yukatas in various colors with a pair of twin dragons traveling up and along the robes and more dragons traveling down the arms and ending at the sleeves.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here we have the extremely rare and expensive uh…” Skeedaddle paused and took out his phone to read something from his inventory screen. “Cho…Choten Ryu collection. Yeah that’s what it’s called. Sorry, my Nihonese isn’t exactly perfect.”

Keiji folded his arms and commented on the name, “Hm…’Apex Dragon’ eh? What an interesting name. Sounds kinda…familiar.” A small smile crept on his face, “I like it.” Then he laid eyes on a deep blue yukata whose dragons were silver in color. “...I think I’ll take that one.”

“Oh-ho! I told you you’d be into this, man!” Sandbar remarked on Keiji’s choice with a friendly nudge of his elbow. “This stuff is awesome, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…it is,” he replied with a nod.

Coral was overjoyed, throwing her hands around Skeedaddle with a wide smile on her face. “My dude, you really came through for us! I won’t forget this, ya know that?”

“Hey, hey, hey--not so rough!” Skeedaddle groaned, “I need my uniform to stay in good condish or the boss will throw a fit.”

Meanwhile, Yona had already picked out the color of robes that she liked the best. “Yona like…that one. Brown with gold dragons. It’d make Yona look fierce.” She turned to Sandbar for his approval. “Does Sandbar agree?”

“Heck, you’d look good in anything--but the brown works well with your hair--we could even style it for ya!” Sandbar mused ideas while looking at the yukata.

“Sandbar willing to do Yona’s hair?” the large girl asked inquisitively while idly tapping her looped braids, “I didn’t know Sandbar was stylist.”

That’s when Coral jumped in. “Oh, he’s not. But my big brother does my hair all the time!”

Even Skeedaddle was interested in the conversation now, and added his own input, “Wait seriously? You?”

“Ehhh…just for special occasions,” Sandbar admitted while rubbing the back of his head, “I’m not the best with braiding, but I know how to comb pretty darn well. Helps for when sis needs to look good for a ceremony or something special at school.”

Coral scoffed and put her hands on her hips. “Ah--pfff! Don’t be so modest, Sandbar. You always know how to fix my messy ‘do. It’s why I usually wear this hat,” she pointed to her patched bucket hat and removed it, causing her frizzy two-tone head of pink and cyan hair. “It’s almost as bad as yours, Skeeds.”

“Nah,” Skeedaddle replied with a chuckle as he flicked one of his messy hairs back into place. “Nothing is as bad as this. You know some people call this ‘anime’ hair? Crazy right?”

As they all continued their conversation, Keiji stood back and watched with an idle, vacant smile on his face. “...Yeah, this is worth fighting for. Good people like them deserve to live peacefully. Love to see it.”

About 20 minutes of trying on later…

In the end, the group had made their purchases. To elaborate, Sandbar had picked a red yukata with black dragons, and his little sister Coral had picked a pink yukata with gray dragons. Everyone had their items secured in bags so no one could see what they had purchased as Skeedaddle rang them up.

“Alright--that comes to about 400 dollars,” he said as he pulled out another chocolate stick to idly nibble upon, “Who’s paying?”

“I got this,” Coral put a hand against her chest as she took out a credit card, “Use this a-please and thank-ya.”

Keiji raised a brow and glanced at Sandbar. “Wait a sec--aren’t you the older brother? Should you be the one handling all the important stuff like money?”

As his sister paid, Sandbar simply responded with his usual easygoing smile and a shrug. “Meh. I’m not good with memorizing credit and banking stuff. I let sis handle all that since she’s smarter than me.”

“Kami on a bicycle--” Keiji muttered, “You’re like a damn turtle--” he then noticed the pattern on Sandbar’s shirt that featured the shelled reptiles. “Any more patient and you’ll start growing a shell.”

“That’s why Sandbar is so much fun to be around!” Yona proclaimed, “He never gets angry when Yona needs to take time to understand Canterlot culture and language.” She folded her arms and pouted. “When Yona first got here, nobody bothered to help. It was annoying.”

As soon as she started to speak negatively, Sandbar put his arm around hers, “Hey, hey--c’mon, Yona--don’t start thinking about the bad times. I’m right here for ya.” Then he had an idea, snapping his fingers. “Yo, here’s a thought--why don’t we go get corndogs and lemonade? My treat!”

Yona’s attitude was quickly swayed by the words of the surfer boy. “That sounds great! One question: What is dog of corn?”

Once her purchase went through, Skeedaddle handed Coral her card back. “Here ya go.”

“Thanks--Hey, Skeeds…are you looking for a partner to go to the Festival with?” she asked while idly swaying back and forth with her hands behind her back.

Skeedaddle turned his head left, then right to check his surroundings. “...Kweyh? Say what-now? Is this is a prank? I feel like this is prank.” He looked at her while biting the candy stick. “Are you serious?”

“Of course--!” she replied as she nudged him with her shoulder, “I’m just more surprised nobody’s asked you out yet. You’re smart and responsible--not to mention pretty cute as well-”

“H-hold on! You can’t just barge into my store and ask me that kinda question!” he sputtered with his cheeks having turned rosy. “...In any case, I think I might be free.”

“Sweet--I’ll call you the day before,” Coral started backing out of the store while making fingerguns in his direction. “Don’t let me down, Daddle-”

“Stop--just stop talking--” Skeedaddle sighed into his palm as Coral left.

And as Coral left, she had been still walking backwards until she bumped into someone who was walking into the store she had just left out of--

“Oof! Sorry!”

“Hoy, bantayan mo kung saan ka pupunta--be careful, dammit!” a girl with reddish-orange skin and pinkish-purple hair hissed as she stormed her way in.

“Jeez…what’s her deal…?” Coral wondered, only to have her attention stolen by her older brother.

“Hey, Cici, c’mon! I’m payin’ with my tips from work today!” he shouted.

“O-oh…coming!” Coral turned and immediately ran to catch up with the group.

Arc XXI Episode VII: Troubling Threads

Moments after running into Coral, the girl stormed up to the desk where Skeedaddle was still working. She wore a white tanktop, denim shorts, and athletic shoes along with some blue hoop earrings that gave her a distinct look.

“Hey--I’m looking for those yukatas,” she asked the boy behind the register, “Got any?”

“Nope,” Skeedaddle replied with a shrug, “Sorry. All out.”

“I see--so those ones they got really were the last ones, huh?” The young woman eyed the boy up, and suddenly had an idea. “Maybe I can play this to my advantage.”

Skeedaddle would do his best to reply professionally and keep things positive. “Yeah, that’s how it goes sometimes. Can I interest you in anything else?”

The girl folded her arms and continued, “Nah. But…I find it kinda odd that they were the only customers in here and managed to get some of those Eastern robes that everyone else has been wanting. So much so that every other store in this mall is crowded.” She leaned forward and placed her hand on the counter with a smug little grin on her face, “Isn’t that a bit suspicious, lalake?”

“...Uhhh…” Skeedaddle’s eyes darted back and forth for a moment. He then turned away from her while looking up something on his phone. “...Oh, so that’s what that means.” Then, he faced her once more and cleared his throat. “...I have no idea what you’re talking about, miss…?”

“Fiery Fricket,” she answered with her hands on her hips. “And you’d best remember that. My boyfriend just so happens to own half of the stuff that goes in and out of this city. So if you’re playing favorites with the products that you’re selling, that could potentially compromise your job.” She leaned on the counter with her elbow and her chin resting on her palm as she stared at the now panicky boy. “And maybe even more than that. Like your entire social life.”

“W-what?!” Skeedaddle took a step back with his hands shaking. Then, he meekly started tapping his fingertips together. “...P-please don’t do that. It was just one time and--wait--darn it!” he buried his face in his palm upon realizing that he had just been verbally outplayed. Fricket had managed to elicit his acts from his lips without him realizing until it was too late.

And she stood upright, smirking down at him. “Of course you sold those beautiful pieces of clothing to that wildebeest of a girl and her friends. Typical goody-good…”

“...” In an instant, his tone shifted from one of fear to absolute disgust as he narrowed his eyes at her. “...Wait. Are you serious? That’s why you’re mad? Dawg, she’s from Yakistan. She can’t control the fact that she’s buffer than you. Everyone from there is just built different.”

“Keep talking and I’ll make sure my boyfriend shuts you down, kid,” she hissed in return, “Her kind are known for damaging whatever they touch--I’d rather they not come into our clean city and mess it up.”

“Woowwww…” Skeedaddle took a step back while holding his hands up, “I’m…I’m speechless. I’m without speech. I’ve never heard something so…mean before. I don’t know how your boyfriend puts up with a muppet like you.”

Fricket’s eyelid twitched. In a split-second, she had grabbed the boy by his employee uniform, and snarled in his face. “Ano?! What did you just say, punk?”

“Don’t show fear, don’t show fear…” The boy shut his eyes when she screamed, and swallowed the lump of fear in his throat. And as he opened them, he grit his teeth and growled, “You better ease up outta my face before something bad happen to ya.”

“...” That’s when Fricket realized she was on camera, and quickly let the boy go. “...Don’t forget what I said. This isn’t over, loser.” She turned and stormed out of the shop.

Skeedaddle huffed and took a moment to sit down behind the counter out of anyone’s view as he pulled out a small rope and began to tie and untie it into several knots. “...Take a summer job, mom said. It’d be fun and engaging, she said…”

Meanwhile, with Keiji and the others…

They had all gone to the food court to partake in some corn dogs as well as other mall fare like pretzels. Yona and Coral were busy chatting away with the latter showing the muscular girl how to apply mustard to her corn dog--a confection that she had never come across before in Yakistan.

“You guys seem like you know and appreciate each other pretty well, huh?” Keiji commented as he nibbled on a cinnamon pretzel.

“Yeah--it’s the best part of havin’ a family,” Sandbar replied as he put his hands behind his head. “Not sure how well I’d do as a dad but you get the idea.”

“Well I certainly think you’d be good at it,” Keiji replied, “You’re pretty patience but don’t let people walk all over you. Wish I had any semblance of mental fortitude like that.”

“Aw, thanks man--and hey, if you ever do the same, I already know you’re already gonna do way better than the way the folks that birthed you did.” Sandbar gave him a pep talk and patted the vampboy on the back. “You’re amazing, ya know that?”

Keiji paused with a sigh, and eventually looked up at the older boy with a smile. “...Thank you.”

“No prob, bro,” Sandbar was about to continue eating, but from the corner of his eye, someone caught his attention. A lone Flash Sentry who was eating by himself at a table just a few feet away. “Ayo, Flash? Like, get over here man.”

“Huh?” When he turned his face, they could see that he was covered in what appeared to be black soot and dust.

“...Kuso--what happened to you?” Keiji asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

All Flash could say was, “...long story.”

Arc XXI Episode VIII: Japonese Scion

“Go ahead and explain yourself,” Keiji said as he kicked out one of the chairs towards Flash. “Not like we’re going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Oh, uh…thanks?” Flash replied with a surprised tone--he hadn’t been invited to sit with someone in a while, so it was a bit unexpected. Nevertheless, he sat down and started to explain himself. “Anyway, so I don’t think I ever told you guys about my uncle. He has a job here at the mall on one of the lower levels near the outside. So I decided to help him out, right? Give him some extra elbow grease since I really didn’t wanna hang around my dad today…”

Sandbar and most notably, Keiji were both fixated on his story to the point of surprise when he slowed down to a stop.

“Yeah?” Sandbar asked, “What happened, yo? Keep goin’!”

“...Huh, I…okay.” Yet again, Flash was surprised, but it was a positive surprise. “Sorry if it’s a bit of a ramble, I just…haven’t chatted with anyone like this in a bit.”

Keiji shrugged his shoulders. “Go ahead, my dude. We’re listening. We’re your friends or whatever, right? It’s what we do.”

“What he said, bro,” Sandbar added as he sipped his lemonade and rolled his free hand, motioning for Flash to continue. “Go on. Tell us what happened.”

With newfound excitement, Flash continued to describe what he had just experienced earlier that day. “Alright, so this guy comes in and starts complaining about the transmission we did on his truck, saying that someone did it wrong and starts blaming one of the girls that worked on it…”

Meanwhile, at the nearby elevator that led to the food court’s level…

“That’s them over there,” Fricket explained to the boy standing next to her with her friend and her boyfriend in tow as well. “They were the ones who bought up all the robes from that store. Their little friend held them back from other customers. Sneaky insekto!”

The boy in question was a Crystal Prep student--though he wasn’t in uniform. He had dull-blue skin, a head of short, neatly-trimmed black hair and wore jeans and a white tee with a leather jacket over that. The spitting image of a ‘Greaser’ as it was often called.

“I see…that’s grounds for fraudulent exchange if there was no advertisement or contest. My father will be the first to hear about this if it’s true. And you said the larger girl insulted you, yes?”

“Her whole presence is insulting!” “Yeah. Tell ‘em off, Shinji,” Fricket urged him with her fists shaking down at her sides, “They don’t deserve any of that stuff they’ve got. Not with that walking, beefy menace around…”

“Makase nasai--this won’t take long,” the boy replied as he slowly walked towards the table where Sandbar and the others were seated. As he walked through the foodcourt, a few of the patrons seated at other tables stared up at him and started to mutter quiet words of confusion and predictions…

And at their table…

Flash had just begun to wrap up his tale. “...So essentially, this dude was blaming one of the girls working there and claimed she did it wrong even though it was one of our guys. When he realized how wrong he was, he shut down like a clam and just kept silent as we fixed the problem.”

“Damn, bro--” Sandbar grit his teeth while shaking his head to express shame, “Them kinda people have no hope in this world.”

“Love how he assumed the chick was at fault just for being a chick,” Keiji scoffed with a grin, “If I was her, I’d have volunteered to fix his shit just to piss him off more.”

“That’s the best part, she did!” Flash went on with a laugh, “Ah, it was hilarious. Wish you could’ve been there to see it.”

A few moments later, their conversation would be interrupted by the young man who had been approaching them. His voice caused everyone at the table to turn their heads towards him.

“Hello--excuse me,” he called out to them, and bowed, “My name is Shinjiro Hishima. According to what my lady told me, it seems that you’ve purchased those items from a store that isn’t supposed to reserve them. Is this true?”

Keiji shut his eyes and folded his arms. “‘Hishima’? Why does that name sound so familiar…?”

Sandbar was about to answer first, “Well--”

But his sister quickly interrupted him, “Nah. It ain’t. We just got lucky. Now if you’d leave us be, that’d be cool, Mr. Hishi.”

“Hmph,” Shinji folded his arms, “Very well. But know that the Hishima family imports many things from the East to Canterlot from apples to clothes, silk, and various pieces of technological hardware. You’d do well to treat those products with respect and not use under-handed tactics to purchase them.”

“Nothin’ underhanded here, dawg,” Keiji explained, “We purchased ‘em fair and square. I mean, Coral did but--ya know.”

“I see…” Shinji looked over in Yona’s direction. “And is it true that you spoke poorly of my lady? She claims that your foreboding presence scared her into submission.”

“W--huh?!” Yona squinted her eyes as she tried to rationalize what she just heard. “Yona hasn’t said two words to anybody but her friends since coming here. What’s everyone’s problem?!”

A few of the nearby patrons started to idly gaze at Yona with concerned looks.

“Apologies--forgive me,” Shinji replied, “It’s just…you…Yakistan folk have a nasty habit of leaving destruction in their path. I’d hate for any of my valuable pieces of property to be crushed by your…meaty fingers.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Flash stood up, meeting Shinji eye to eye. “You got a problem, bro? What’s with the prejudice? She’s done nothing to warrant your suspicion!”

“You’d better watch your tongue, ‘bro’,” Shinji responded with airquotes, “My family has quite a lot of influence in this city that you aren’t even aware of.”

Sandbar had put an arm around Yona to console her, and urged Flash to cease his actions. “Hey, man. It’s no big deal. He’s not worth the energy,” he said while still maintaining his relaxed smile, but Coral could tell that it was forced due to the way his free hand was twitching.

“...Big brother…don’t let yourself boil over.”

“You heard him,” Shinji added, “There’s no reason to fight.”

“You ain’t got one, but I do!” Flash retorted as he cracked his knuckles, “Leave her alone before I make you.”

By this point, the other patrons had cleared out of the food court. Though some were still watching from afar…

Arc XXI Episode X: Kiwami Shakedown

Keiji was instantly met with resistance--one of the boys behind Fricket started to fight him. He leapt at Keiji with intent to kick him into the air--only for the vampboy to counter this by dashing forward, ducking under the kick, and retaliating with a swift chop to his neck--hard enough to send him to the floor in an instant.

By then, Flash had recovered and returned to the fray, tackling one of the cronies and shoving his knee in his back before flipping him over his head. But then, he was nearly caught off guard by a hefty sumo-like slap from another boy that he barely blocked in time with his arm, forcing the two into a struggle. “Gah! Why are you all working for someone like that, anyway?!”

“Kazoku!” the boy yelled in response.

“What?!”

In the midst of dodging the attacks of another member of the group, Keiji would shout, “It means ‘family’! Must have close ties to each other or some shit!”

“That still doesn’t explain why you need to attack us!” Flash yelped, “And all the smacktalk against Yona is just uncalled for! Should we use our--?”

“Nah,” Keiji replied as he kicked another gang member to the floor, “We don’t wanna kill these idiots. Just mess ‘em up.”

Meanwhile, in the nearby restroom…

“...You okay, Yona?” Coral asked as she watched Yona wipe her face of tears.

“No. Yona is not okay,” she muttered with a sniffle, “Sandbar is out there fighting Yona’s battle when Yona should be the one fighting. I’m the whole reason they’re bothering us. Maybe Yona should just go home…”

Coral tried to console her by patting her on the back. “Hey now…we all like you. Who cares what those losers think. If you ask me, you should go out there and give ‘em one good rockin’ and sockin’ until they ain’t walkin’!” she said while punching her fist at the air for emphasis.

Yona raised a brow, looking down at the girl. There was one little problem with Coral’s plan. “...Yeah. And confirm mean kids’ biases by acting like behemoth who smashes things? That would just prove them right.”

“Oh…” Coral lowered her arm and folded them against her chest. “Darn…I guess you’re right. Don’t wanna give them ammo to use against you…” She started tapping her foot on the floor--her lips scrunched up out of frustration. “Grrrr….well I’m not gonna just stand here idly while my big brother risks his neck!” With that, she prepared to storm out of the restroom, only for Yona to ask…

“Wait, what is Coral doing? It’s too dangerous!”

“Maybe for me,” Coral reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “But not for a piece of hackable tech.”

Outside, as the fighting raged on…

Keiji and Flash had actually managed to hold the gang of Shinji’s crew quite well. Either that, or they weren’t really trying hard enough to completely subdue them. However, Sandbar…well, he was still moving with one goal in mind.

“...C’mon, Fricket,” one of her girl friends called out, “Let’s leave the guys to handle this and get outta here.”

“Yeah,” the other girl added, “They’re not work dealing with, mm’kay?”

“Not until she apologizes to Yona,” Sandbar called out from afar, laser focused on Fricket, and casually brushing aside any gangster boy that tried to attack him with a shove from his shoulder. “I’m not leaving until you apologize for what you said.”

“...What the--?” Fricket turned her head and took a step back, gritting her teeth as her pupils quivered out of fear. “...H-how are you still standing?!”

She and the other girls watched in horror as Sandbar was nearly punched by one of Shinji’s goons…only to grab his hand, shove him aside and keep walking. This would rinse and repeat twice, thrice…four times…all while Sandbar walked at a turtle’s pace.

“Apologize,” Sandbar growled as his eyelids started to twitch. The boy’s patience was finally starting to run thin from all of the chaos surrounding him and his friends. “And call off your friends. Please and thank you.”

One of Fricket’s friends shouted, “Just give up!”

“He’s like one of those terrifying robot freaks from the movies!” her other friend yelped, “Fricket?!”

But Fricket was a deer in headlights--stuck in a frozen state of anxiety as she watched Sandbar effortlessly toss aside the rest of the gang members--having saved Keiji and Flash in the process to boot!

“Last chance,” Sandbar snarled as he stepped up to Fricket--now at arm’s length from her. “What’s it gonna be? Are you going to apologize to Yona now?”

“...” Fricket had collapsed to the ground, and started backing away until her back collided with a nearby potted plant. “W-why…why do you care about her so much?” she whispered from her quivering lips, “I-It’s that loser behind the desk at the store’s fault that I’m here in the first place.”

“...” Sandbar took a moment to take a deep breath, and allowed the deafening silence to instill more fear within her for a moment. “...So…you messed with Skeedaddle too, huh?”

“...!” When she realized she had been caught, Fricket started to stumble over her words. “I-I well…u-uh…”

“Get up.”

“W-wha…?”

“On your feet. Now.”

“...”

In a last-ditch attempt, Fricket would employ a rather cheap tactic.

“Touch me…and I’ll call the cops on--HRRK!”

“Okay then,” Sandbar complied maliciously. With his control over sand, he created a projection of his fist large enough to wrap around and clench her body, carrying her as he walked towards the restrooms. “Now, you’re coming with me, and are going to apologize to Yona for what you said about her. Please be so kind as to think about what you’ve said and consider how you’d feel if it was you on the receiving end.”

As she was carried off, Keiji and Flash stared on in silence, and visibly shaken by Sandbar’s change of demeanor…

“I fear nobody…” Keiji muttered, “...but the fury of a patient man…”

Arc XXI Episode XI: Kill The Itch

Coral had stepped outside of the restroom with her phone in hand. Once she saw Sandbar carrying Fricket, she immediately perked up and ran up to him. “Oh! Big brother! Big brother?”

Upon hearing his sister call for him, Sandbar was all smiles as usual. “Hm? Oh, what’s up, Cici?”

Her cheeks puffed up in response to that. “I said stop calling me--whatever,” she shook her head, and pointed to the teen girl’s hoop earring device, “Can you hand me that earring of hers? I think I can hack it to undo the spell she cast on everyone in the mall.”

Sandbar created a small projection of his hand made of sand to pluck the earring from Fricket’s ear, and used his real hand to offer it to his sister. “Here ya go. Go hack it, kiddo!” he added as he affectionately patted her on the head. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” he continued walking along towards the restroom as Coral started to inspect the device.

“...This is some interesting stuff here. I wonder…” Coral took a closer look at the earring, and found the words, ‘Hishima Zaibatsu Inc’ written in small font near the buttons on it. “Of course. It figures--the Japone folks always have the leading tech. Doesn’t mean I can’t break into it though.”

With Keiji and Flash…

The two had sat down in nearby chairs as they recovered from all of the fighting they had done. The gang of boys had already run off by then, and they were far too tired to give chase.

“The hell….were those guys…?” Flash asked in between huffs to catch his breath.

“No--blegh!--clue…” Keiji replied as he coughed dryly, and took a sip from a blood vial. “Someone always…has to come out of…the damn woodwork…and mess with us.”

“Yeah well…” Flash tried to lighten the mood with some humor, “At least they weren’t magical this time, eh?”

“I suppose,” the vampboy huffed in response. “...Honestly didn’t expect you to stick around, Sent. Guess I judged you wrongly.”

Flash put his fist to his chest as he closed his eyes. “I made a promise to myself that I’d never leave anyone behind. It’s why I’ve always found myself helping others out whenever I can.” He chuckled and added, “...Even if it means helping the girls stop a giant Toaster Transformer.”

Keiji started to think back to the details that Sandbar had told him a while back, and agreed. “Yeah…you got my respect--wait Toaster Transformer? I think there’s some context I’m missing here--what the hell--?”

Near the restrooms…

“Hey Yona, come on out,” Sandbar called out to his well-built girlfriend, “She’s here to apologize.” He slowly turned his head towards Fricket--who was still restrained by the fist made of sand, and spoke with a casual smile, eyes closed, “Aren’t you, miss?”

Fricket stared down at Sandbar’s smile--her pupils shrank and shivered about within her irises. “Y-y-yes! Yes! I’m here to apologize! Q-quit looking at me like that, please!”

“I will once you apologize,” Sandbar refuted her and continued to smile.

Moments later, Yona walked out of the restroom with a stern, gruff frown on her face. “...Do you mean it? Are you truly here to say sorry or are you acting facetious to save your face?”

“No no!” Fricket shook her head, “I-I’m really sorry! I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you by saying those awful things! Y-you’re not a destructive meathead! I take it all back! Just please don’t hurt me!”

Yona huffed hard enough to cause steam to appear from her nostrils, but then she relaxed with a sigh. “Fine. Sandbar, let mean girl go.”

“Alrighty-roo,” Sandbar literally did just that, making the sand-hand disappear and dropping her on the hard tile floor.

“Oof!” she yelped as she rubbed her butt from the fall.

“Oops,” Sandbar replied nonchalantly with his expression returning to his usual lazy smile, “Sorry about that.”

Not to be outdone, his little sister appeared moments later and flung her earring back at her with the motherboard for the magical device removed. “Here. This is yours. Whoever made it clearly had no idea what they were doing. For the record, I’ve dealt with harder tech to crack made of toenails and bubblegum,” Coral tossed the motherboard on the ground and stomped on it under her shoe.

FWOOSH!

And in an instant, the mall returned to normal and the people within it continued to walk as if nothing happened.

“And for Yona’s record. Yona don’t smash things at random,” the muscular girl finally defended herself, and took a step towards Fricket, leaning down to get closer to her face. “But if Yona hears mean girl make more passing comments about Yakistan or other foreign people, Yona will find you. And Yona will smash you.” She was about to stand up, but paused and added, “...and not in the good way.”

“Y-yes…okay! I’m sorry…I’ll never judge anyone for where they come from ever again!” Fricket hurriedly got up, and started running off.

“Aw man,” Coral huffed, “I was hoping to see some actual smashing. She deserved it by this point!”

Yona shook her head. “Yakistan people know that karma catch up to mean people. She won’t get away with it scott free.”

Sandbar was quick to change the atmosphere of the situation with positivity. “C’mon, we should check on our buds anyway--we’ve been through a lot, and I wanna make sure they’re okay too.”

Arc XXI Episode XII: Cooldown

Once everyone met up at their table, they all had a talk and discussed what had just happened as well as made sure everyone was in good condition.

“Who were those guys?” Flash commented as he dusted himself off, “Why bring an entire set of gangsters to a petty little confrontation in a mall?”

“...If he is who I think he is…” Keiji replied, “Then he’s probably used to having a lot of backup surrounding him at all times.”

Coral, being the little tech genius that she was, had flipped up her cellphone and converted it into a small laptop with a keyboard. “Let’s see…Hishima, Hishima…ah, got it. They own and manage imports from the East into Canterlot City and other places like Las Pegasus and New Yorkshire. Shinjiro is one of their sons and he goes to Crystal Prep. They’re also funding the Summer Festival and have a large stake in the production of alcoholic beverages. Hm--got their priorities straight I guess.”

“...What does all that mean, sis?” Sandbar leaned over her shoulder as she typed, “Did we just anger a whole dynasty or somethin’?”

“For some reason, he booked it when he noticed Keiji…” Coral muttered, “Since he’s from Equestria, I wonder if he knows anyone with a name similar to his.”

“Hmph. Guess it’s plausible,” Keiji replied, “Now I suppose we have to attend that festival or else we’ll potentially miss something.”

“Best if you guys don’t draw attention to yourselves,” Coral replied as she pocketed her phone. “We’ll need to be discreet to avoid any drama and keep each other safe--” That’s when it hit her; something she had been forgetting this whole time. “Skeedaddle! I need to go see if he’s okay.”

Yona would offer her help and ask, “Want Yona to follow?”

“No…he’s…” Coral rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to explain. “When he gets nervous, it’s best if he’s not surrounded with too many people, ya kno? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him. I know him well.”

As Coral left, Keiji turned to acknowledge Sandbar. “...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry before, bud. That was…an experience to say the least.”

Sandbar frowned and started running his fingers through his hair as he leaned against the table. “...Yeah, I don’t like it. Anger makes me feel…shitty, ya know?”

“...Yikes,” Flash added while gritting his teeth, “I don’t think I’ve even heard you swear before. Is there something you wanna talk about?”

“Uh…” For the first time in what seemed like forever, Sandbar appeared to be visually uncomfortable as his eyes darted around the room.

That is, until Yona put a hand on his shoulder. “...Sandbar doesn’t like to talk about the last time he got angry,” she spoke up for him, “Maybe he’ll tell you later.”

He turned to her and smiled. “...Thanks, Yona. But I think I should at least give them the gist of it so they’ll understand.” He turned back to the boys and continued. “...To make a long story short, the last time I really got angry, I ended up hurting way too many people trying to defend someone else.”

“Was it her?” Keiji asked.

Sandbar shook his head. “No actually. Another friend of mine. Gallus. He’s from Griffinstone down South.”

Flash’s eyes bulged open when he realized what Sandbar had just said. “Is that the place with the…no…oh no…”

Meanwhile, Keiji knew of Equestria’s Griffonstone, and if this Griffinstone was anything like that place… “...I think I can see where this is going.”

“I’m not gonna get into details, but yeah it’s…it wasn’t my best moment. After what happened on that day, I vowed to never let anger overtake me and to be as chill as possible so I don’t get mad.”

As much as Keiji wanted to pry for specifics, he didn’t want to hurt the poor guy with a bombardment of questions. Instead, he accepted his words at face value with a nod. “...I understand. I can relate. Only recently have I been able to cool off from my overly-bitter phase. So don’t worry, I get you.”

“Same here,” Flash added, “If you ever wanna talk about it more, know that we’re here for ya.”

Sandbar gave a brief exhale, and got up from the table. “Thanks, guys. Think I’mma head on home now though. Today’s been…rough.”

Yona got up and started to follow him while carrying their bags full of the Eastern robes they had purchased. “Let’s go get Coral--she’s at store with Skeedaddle.”

Flash took a look at his phone and realized that he only had five minutes before his shift resumed. “Oh damn--I gotta get going too. Take care, alright?”

Keiji regarded them all with a nod. “See ya.” Then he turned to look at the bag that contained the yukata that Coral had bought for him. “...If I don’t go, everyone will be at risk. I gotta make sure they’ll be safe.”

Meanwhile, at the store…

“...Hey, Daddle-Paddle?” Coral had hopped over the counter to find the boy sipping on some water. “...How you holding up?”

“I’m alright now, thanks…” he replied with a sigh, “Def gonna file a complaint against that stupid chick…”

Then, Coral’s eyes flashed a devious shade of electric yellow as she pulled out her phone. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. I don’t think she’ll be able to hack her way through what she just did to you.”

The security camera footage of what she did to Skeedaddle had been hacked into Fricket’s social media page. Her social status was already plummeting with loads of scathing comments from her friends and parents!

“Woah…” Skeedaddle muttered as he looked at the mountain of angry comments on Fricket’s page. “You hacked into her PonyGram?!”

“Yuh-huh,” Coral replied with a snort, “I won’t do it willy-nilly though, don’t worry--oof!”

Skeedaddle cut her off with a tight hug. “...Thanks.”

Coral paused for a moment and put an arm around him in return. “...No problem. You don’t deserve what happened to you.”

Arc XXI Episode XIII: Last-Minute Help

Meanwhile, at Stellar Flare’s home…

The tan-skinned woman had just finished having a discussion with a client. A yellow-skinned woman wearing a purple business suit and a rather…curiously coincidental name.

“Alright, Ms. Stormy Flare,” Stellar Flare had just finished up a conversation while walking the woman to the door. “Make sure you let your daughter know what you intend to do.”

“Oh I will,” Stormy replied with a roll of her eyes, “Spitfire is always worried about the most mundane of things. I keep telling her that I’ve gotten over my husband’s death in combat, but she still doesn’t believe me.” She sighed while cupping her hand against the side of her face. “Ah…poor thing. Most military kids don’t ever want their parents to re-marry or find new love, but for her it’s the exact opposite. She thinks I’m going insane without a man in my life--can you believe it?”

“Oh no I understand completely,” Stellar replied, “My boy Sunburst desperately thinks I should ‘get laid’ or some other nonsense. I have a job to do. Regardless, just review the notes I’ve given you and you should be set, alright?”

“Indeed,” Stormy nodded and walked out of the house, leaving the yard. “I’ll catch up with you before the festival begins!”

“Please do!” Stellar waved her off, and looked at her notes. “Alright, who’s next…”

Moments later, Luna got out of her car, and walked up to the woman’s home. “...Ms. Flare? May I speak with you?”

Stellar looked up from her notes and pointed her pen in Luna’s direction. “Ah. You. I know just what you need.”

Luna hesitated for a moment, raising a brow, “...you do?”

Ten minutes later, inside…

“...Are you certain this is a good idea?” Luna asked, “I’m practically spilling out of this…”

“That’s the point,” Stella replied with a giggle, “It’s to give you that ‘elegant shrine maiden’ look. He’ll fall for it instantly.”

Luna stepped out to her, wearing a pink yukata that was tightly clinging to her form along with some platform sandals. To be more specific, it was a bit tight around her chest area, causing her bosoms to lightly bounce with each step, giving the illusion that they could fly free at any moment.

“...Are you sure this won’t come loose?” Luna asked as she looked down at herself, “I’d hate to have…a fashion emergency.”

“Oh no, that’s what the hidden buttons are for,” Stellar replied with a wry grin, “You’re almost certain to get his attention now.”

“...Who’s attention?” Luna blushed and looked off to the side.

Stellar grabbed the bridge of her nose. “Are you serious, hun? Everyone at your school can see it, your sister sees it, and even I can see it. You’ve got a true romantic interest in that Aidon fellow.”

Luna started to sweat, and began to fan herself with her hand while laughing in an awkward fashion. “Haha! Er…is it hot in here? I believe it got a bit warmer in here.”

“You won’t catch any honeybees with that attitude, hun,” Stellar assured her, “What’s got you so worried.”

“...The fact that he might be interested in someone else,” Luna muttered while idly tapping her index fingers together. “That he might’ve moved on from me.”

“...And do you know this for sure, or are you basing this off of your anxiety, dear?”

Luna paused and chuckled at herself. “...Well, when you put it like that, I suppose it is a bit silly that I haven’t asked.”

“As they say, ‘You miss one-hundred percent of the shots you don’t take,’” Stellar added with a confident grin as she put an arm around Luna’s neck. “Just be yourself, and let your…moons do the rest of the talking, hun,” she said with a snicker.

“My m--” Luna looked down at her chest and rolled her eyes. “...You are not funny. But I think I like these robes. They’re…comforting against the warm summer’s air.”

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere!” Stellar added, “Now let’s get you fitted the rest of the way…”

Meanwhile, at an office building downtown…

“...Shinji, I’m sorry, I--!”

Shinji put away his phone once he finished looking at the security footage that was uploaded to social media. “You wasted our time, lied to us, and nearly got me involved with the Ketsuki family?! Do you have any clue what you’ve just done?” Shinjiro placed his palm against his forehead as he looked through some files. “...Whatever. You’ll pay the price for what you’ve done. I just need to make sure this festival gains enough money so we can continue our research…”

Fricket nervously tried to reach out to him. “...Y-you still love me, right?”

“...” Shinji walked away from her, and out of the supply cabinet without a single word.

And from behind Fricket…several shadows loomed over her.

"...please be gentle."

Arc XXII Episode I: Down On The Farm

A few days later…

With school out, and the Summer Festival starting in two days, everyone was getting everything ready. The city streets were already set up with various booths and games based on Eastern culture and fireworks were already pre-ordered by the Mayor to get the event rolling. All that was left, was some freshly made apple juice made from the finest fuji apples to compliment the entire thing.

And who better to get it done than the Apple Family?

Unfortunately though, Big MacIntosh was busy helping organize and set up booths with Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith was working with the Mayor to get all of the food properly sorted, which left them a bit short-staffed at the farm on this obscenely hot day.

However, they did have some help in the form of a certain green-skinned, white-haired daywalker…

“All ya need’ta do is help us with some’a the apples,” Applebloom said as she walked down the sidewalk, “Can ya do that fer us, Keiji?”

And next to her, the vampboy who served as their employee in exchange for state-issued bloodpacks would have no choice but to agree. “Yeah. Doesn’t sound so bad. Just some little red fruits--how are can they be?”

“Good,” Applebloom replied as they rounded the corner and walked up to the Apple Family farm. “‘Cuz we’re gonna need all the help we can get,” she turned her head right--towards the farm, and called out for her sister. “Right, Applejack?”

Applejack had just stepped outside of the barn wearing daisy dukes and a minimalist, red front-knot top to secure her chest in place, leaving the rest of her muscular abdomen exposed. “That’s right.” She held up her hand to shield her face from the sun and whistled, “Soo-wee. Sure is hot today. Better stretch so I don’t pull nothin’.” And she stepped off the porch and began to stretch, starting with her arms, then bending down to stretch her legs and back.

“Good idea,” Applebloom added, “Ready’ta get started, Keiji?” She looked to her left, but the vampboy was no longer there. Rather, it was just an outline of dust that resembled his shape. “...Keiji?”

Down the street, Keiji could be seen sneaking away like a criminal that had just stolen a bag of cash from a bank.

“Keiji! What are ya doin’?!” Applebloom called out.

“That body of hers is--”

But Applebloom wasn’t having it today. She angrily tapped her foot on the ground and shouted, “Boah! If you don’t getchyer garlic-not-havin’ behind back here right now!”

Keiji came back moments later and smirked, “I’m joking, I’m joking…mostly.”

“Yeah well, it’s 99 degrees fahrenheit out here. That ain’t no joke,” Applebloom scolded him as she started walking onto the farm.

“Yeah it’s…yeah, sorry about that,” Keiji replied as he followed her, unable to take his eyes off of Applejack.

That’s when Applebloom took notice. “...Oh. I see how it is. Ya little horndog,” she playfully punched his arm and snickered.

“H-hey--it’s not! Gah…” he wasn’t in the mood to argue, so he didn’t bother responding. The heat had lowered his ire on this day.

Once she had finished stretching, Applejack walked over to them and prepared to give out orders. “Alrighty, ya’ll. First things first--Keiji. You might wanna ditch yer shirt. It’s mighty hot today and I don’t want ya passin’ out on us.”

Keiji looked at the T-shirt he had on and realized that there was already a ring of sweat around the neck of it. “Damn…you have a point.” With a nervous sigh, he lifted his shirt off of his neck, and threw it onto the porch. “Alright, what’s next?”

“Next, we’re gonna clean our feet--we’re gonna be stompin’ apples into juice. Follow me to the barn, ya’ll,” Applejack beckoned them to follow her.

Keiji followed with a neutral expression on his face, visibly embarrassed by being shirtless and exposing his old wounds to them.

Applebloom tried to acknowledge it to help him feel better. “Honestly, fellers like you are lucky ya get’ta wander around with yer shirts off. Makes me a bit jealous.”

From nearby, Applejack sighed as she grabbed multiple washbuckets. “I feel ya, Applebloom. But you know good and hell well why we gals can’t do that. Just roll up yer shirt and much as ya can and tie a knot on one side.”

“Yeah yeah, I getcha,” Applebloom did just that, and removed her shoes and socks before stepping into one of the wash basins.

Keiji had removed his shoes and stepped into another water-filled basin nearby. “...So we’re just making manmade apple juice from eastern apples, huh? Seems simple enough.”

“Eeyup,” Applejack replied as she turned off the hose and started to wash her feet off as well. “Ma and pa used’ta do this all the time. With apples, pears, cherries…” She sighed at the thought of her parents, her expression turning a bit somber…

“Huh.” Keiji commented, “Thought you all were strictly apple-only. Guess I’m wrong.”

“Psssh!” Applebloom scoffed as she stepped out of the water. “Are ya kiddin’?! Don’t get me wrong now, apples are mah favorite, but life would get hella borin’ if that’s all we ever ate.”

The swearing snapped Applejack out of her saddened stupor. “Hey now, watch yer language, sugarcube,” she warned with a stern raise of an eyebrow, then continued, “But she’s right. In fact, I’m a big fan’a strawberries, myself.”

That caused Keiji to chuckle as he walked out of the water and up into the giant vat of apples. “Wow. That’s the most surprising thing I’ve heard all day.”

Applejack started to laugh as she began smashing apples into juice. “What? Ya makin’ it sound like we’re the types’ta walk up’ta people’s doors and yell in their faces about how apples are the best fruits or somethin’.”

Keiji began to stomp on the apples alongside Applebloom, and replied, “...Yeah that’d be hella weird, wouldn’t it?”

“Language, boah.”

“Sorry.”

Arc XXII Episode II: Workin' Hard

…It was a long, hard process. But soon enough, gallons upon gallons of apple juice were made thanks to the efforts of the three and their strong legs. Well--the Apple sister’s strong legs at least. Keiji meanwhile had to force his way through a new experience with strained use of his legs that demanded he stomp as hard as possible to squish apples into juice. But he managed…barely.

Once it was all said and done, he was given a seat on the living room couch where he put his feet up on a stool after washing them clean of apple bits and was given an ice pack that he kept on his head to beat the heat of the hot summer’s day.

“Argh…” he huffed with the ice pack dripping from his head. “That was…not fun. But at least I’m getting some blood out of it.”

Zzzz-zzz!

His phone started to buzz, and he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it; it was a video call from Adagio.

“Yo,” he answered it, watching as the screen showed Adagio sitting on her bed in her room, and brushing her monstrous mane of poofy orange hair. “What’s up?”

“Ah, Keiji. Glad you picked up,” she put the brush down and looked at him through the phone, “How’s your work with the apples going?”

“Pain,” the vampboy said with a groan, “But it’s worth it for these extra blood packs I’m getting in exchange.”

Adagio smiled and continued brushing her hair, “Well that’s good to hear. Our little brother is already adapting to having friends like we are. Isn’t that adorable?” she said in a teasingly sweet manner.

To which Keiji rolled his eyes. “Don’t patronize me, woman. I’m still working here. Though…I noticed Jacks seemed to…” He stopped himself and shook his head. “Nah, forget it.”

But Adagio was already interested, demanding to know more. “...No no. Go on. What’s wrong with Applejack?”

“When she mentioned her and her siblings’ parents a bit ago, she seemed to have this…this--I dunno--vacant? Empty? Hollow? Her eyes just kinda seemed off.”

Adagio stroked her chin as she gave it some thought. “Hmm…I’ve heard rumors about the fact that they’re deceased. But you’re better off not bringing it up if you can, Keiji.”

Good luck trying to get this kid to listen when the mental state of others were on the line. “...Right. Anyway, I gotta go. But thanks for checking up on me--or whatever.”

Adagio giggled, “Aw, he’s learning to accept others’ feelings! See you at that festival soon, hm?”

“Yeah yeah, bye--” Keiji hung up the phone and pocketed it. He threw his head back and sighed while looking up at the ceiling. “Uhhhhgh…”

Moments later, Applebloom stepped into the room and made a left towards the kitchen. “Everythin’ alright, Keiji? Were ya talkin’ta someone?”

“Just Adagi,” he huffed, “Checking up on me as usual.”

“Mm-hmm, eyup, that sounds about right,” Applebloom replied as she kicked the fridge door closed and opened up an apple soda, “Bigger siblings are always watchin’ out fer the young’uns. Ah can’t take a simple run down to the store to get some hoes without Applejack worryin’.”

Keiji’s eyes popped open for a split-second until he realized what she meant. “...Oh, garden hoes. Right--yeah guess that seems to be a common trend around here.”

“Can’t really blame ‘em…it’s a dangerous world ‘round here,” Applebloom lamented with a sigh as she sipped her drink, “It’s why ma and pa are…” She stopped herself and shook her head. “Sorry--nevermind. Anyway, ya did a good job out there, Keiji. And between you and me…” Applebloom walked over to the couch…

Keiji raised a brow. “...Eh?”

Applebloom lowered her voice and continued, “She likes havin’ ya around. May not look like it, but she finds it easy’ta speak to ya.”

“And why’s that?”

“Yer honest. Like she is, and like pa was,” Applebloom added, “Ya don’t mince words--even if ya get a biiiit batty sometimes. But that’s what she likes aboutcha.”

“Yo that’s a slur where I come from,” Keiji sniped back with a chuckle, “But yeah I can see that. Makes me wonder…”

Their conversation would be interrupted as Applejack walked into the room from the sliding glass door that led to the backyard behind the farmhouse and called for her sister. “Applebloom. It’s yer turn’ta gather the corn.”

“I know I know,” the younger Apple girl replied as she finished her drink and tossed the can in a nearby recycling bin. “Butcha better make sure thatcha come fish huntin’ with me at the Festival!” she called out while pointing at her sister as she walked past her.

Applejack patted her sister on the head and stepped inside. “Of course. Go on now, git goin’.”

And as Applebloom left, Keiji looked up at the orange farm girl. “You sure know how to run this place. Thought Mac would since he’s the oldest.”

“Naaah,” Applejack replied as she walked over to the kitchen and opened the freezer, “He’s in a relationship with Sugar Belle. Old dog prolly wants’ta help her with her bakery which means I’ll be runnin’ this place when I get older.”

“Huh. Even though you’re the middle child, it’s like you’re everyone’s mom,” Keiji said with a scoff, “Guess I can’t blame you when you’ve got a senile old lady under your roof.”

“You’re outta line, but yer right,” Applejack admitted with a sigh, “Granny needs’ta take a break sooner or later. And I’d rather it be sooner….” She shook her head and decided to change the subject to something less…morbid. “Anyway, I’m putin’ yer shirt in with the wash. Hope that’s alright.”

“Oh…thanks--no problem at all,” Keiji replied after a moment of hesitation, not expecting such an honest gesture.

“Want a popsicle, kiddo? Ya look mighty winded,” Applejack offered. “They’re made from fresh blueberries we picked from our yard.”

Keiji rubbed the back of his neck bashfully and replied, “...Yeah, I’ll take one. Thanks.”

And Applejack obliged, arriving at the couch and taking a seat next to him and offered him a frozen treat. That’s when Keiji noticed: she had stripped down to a gray pair of boxers and a frilly red bra.

“...” The vampboy gingerly accepted the blue popsicle from her as she took her seat next to him, putting her muscular legs up on the nearest ottoman. “...All that work makes you hot, huh?” he said with a slight blush on his face as he took a look at her.

“Hm?” Applejack had already bit into hers and wiped some of the blue juice from the side oher face. “Yeah--but it helps build yer resistance. You’ll get it the more ya work out in the fields, little feller. I’m used’ta workin’ in hundred-ten degree heat at this point.”

His eyes started to wander down to her thunderous thighs, thinking about just how strong her body had to be to resist temperatures that high. “...Yeah no. I don’t think I’ll ever get there.”

Arc XXII Episode III: Apple Family Tales

It didn’t take long for Applejack to notice and call him out on it. Though, she did so in a more playful manner this time. “...Gettin’ a good view there, sugarcube?”

“...!” Keiji flinched, fully expecting to be struck for looking at her, but was visibly surprised when she didn’t. “...Um…sorry. Sorry--just not used to seeing such…hefty legs in this world. Much different from pony legs.”

“Guess they are, huh?” Applejack looked down at her thighs, “I ain’t no pony. Wasn’t exactly born with these here legs’a mine. Had’ta work for it long before I got extra power from that there magic Sunset gave us.”

While his heart raced, Keiji found himself more interested in holding a conversation with her about biology. “Interesting…you must’ve been training really hard to get to this point. Wonder how you got so well-built.”

Applejack idly sucked upon her popsicle and answered him after a moment. “...All thanks’ta pa, really. Got stronger from workin’ the fields day and night with him. He’s the one who inspired me’ta work harder.”

“Well that sounds noble,” Keiji replied as he bit into the rest of his syrupy ice treat, “I wasn’t really taught the value of hard work until recently, so I can respect that.”

“Heh--you’d be surprised at what a little elbow grease can accomplish.” Applejack got off the couch and tossed her popsicle stick into the nearby bin from afar. “Fun fact: Ya know them Fuji apples we stomped into juice out there? Pa was actually the one who led the research on how’ta make ‘em.”

The revelation caused Keiji’s eyes to bulge out in amazement. “...Really now? But I thought Fuji apples had to be imported?”

“They do,” Applejack walked over to a nearby globe and spun it around until she tapped her finger on an island in the Far East. “He flew all the way over yonder to Japone to work on it. Now they import us Fuji apples while we grow Honeycrisps and Red Delicious ones here.”

Keiji shut his eyes for a moment as he thought back to some familiar words he heard not too long ago…

“...know that the Hishima family imports many things from the East to Canterlot from apples to clothes, silk, and various pieces of technological hardware…”

That’s when it hit him.

“Apples…they…they import apples? So wait…could that have something to do with…?”

Yup. He’d go against what Adagio told him like clockwork.

“Hey, Applejack…?”

“Sup, Keiji?”

Keiji got up to throw away his popsicle stick and asked, “Where are you guys’ parents? I’ve heard you talk about ‘em quite a bit but they don’t seem to be around like your Granny is.”

“...” Applejack fell silent, shut her eyes and folded her arms, looking to be in a deep state of thought as she tapped her index finger against her arm.

The silence was deafening, to the point where only the idle chirping of birds could be heard outside. Over the course of the next ten seconds, Keiji had started to reconsider the question--his expression of curiosity changed to that of fear and a restless frown rather quickly.

“Shit. I knew I shouldn’t have asked. Welp, if I have to get my ass kicked, I’ll deal with--”

“C’mere,” Applejack spoke up a few moments later, and had already begun walking upstairs.

“...” Keiji was frozen from fear as he watched her walk away, unable to move or speak.

Applejack leaned over the stairwell and called out to him. “Ya asked a question--don’tcha wanna know the answer, boah?”

“Oh, uh…” Keiji snapped out of his shocked state and followed her up the stairs. “It’s just…I didn’t expect you to be willing to tell me.”

“Sunset trusts ya,” Applejack replied as she beckoned him to follow, “I ain’t got no reason not to either. Plus, you’ve been workin’ hard ‘round here, so I think it’s only fair that I sate yer curiosity. Just do me a favor wouldja?” She reached the top of the stairs and stopped in front of her bedroom door, waiting for him.

And Keiji soon met her at the top, doing his best to look at her face only. “...Yeah?”

Applejack opened the door to her room, took her hat off of her head and placed it on a nearby coat rack to rest it. “...Please don’t go speakin’ about this to nobody,” she said in a low tone, “I don’t really tell this to nobody, and I’m trustin’ you with my word. Can ya do that for me?”

He nodded without hesitation as he followed her inside. “I promise. Don’t worry.”

“Good,” she shut her bedroom door, and squatted down to grab something from under her bed. It was some kind of brown folder filled with papers and photos sticking out erratically from all sides. She then turned around and took a seat on the side of her bed while patting the spot next to her. “C’mon over here, lil’ feller.”

Keiji took a seat next to her on her bed and took a closer look at the item she had. “...Is that a photo album? It’s what humans use to keep track of their families, huh?”

“Yeah…” Applejack glanced down at the album with a soft smile that betrayed the sadness in her weak, green eyes. “I’ve got loads of pictures of ma and pa in here and I wanna show ya how much they meant’ta us before I answer yer question. That alright with ya?”

The vampboy was more than willing to oblige. Applejack’s parents sounded as if they had a lot of significance to their whole family. Compared to the awful parents that he had back in Equestria, Keiji was more than interested in learning about what it was like to have good ones…

So he replied with an interested, respectful smile. “Yes it is. So…tell me about them, huh?”

Applejack opened the album…starting off with photos of Pear Butter and Bright Mac as children. “It all started back then…”

Arc XXII Episode IV: Emotional Comfort

To spare him the painful retelling of Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s story, Applejack took a quick jump to the most important part of their relationship: When they got married.

“...and here’s their weddin’,” Applejack pointed to the photos of a fair-skinned man wearing a leather vest, jeans, boots, and a hat that was eerily similar to the one Applejack wore, and fair-skinned woman with a messy head of orange hair wearing similar attire--albeit with a slimmer vest and daisy dukes as the Mayor stood behind, and married them. “...After all his research in Japone was complete, pa came back home and ma refused’ta listen’ta Grandpear.They got married and…had three lil’ rascals ya might be aware of.”

Subsequent photos showed a young Big MacIntosh born first, then him getting older and following in the footsteps of their father as a farmer as Applejack was born, with Pear Butter appearing more weary with each photo despite her smile. Lastly, once Applebloom was born, she appeared to be more confident than before as she watched the teenage Big Mac and adolescent Applejack grow older.

“Goddamn,” Keiji muttered in amazement, “Your mother was a freakin’ goddess. She managed to power through having kids and still never lost her looks or her smile.”

“Ya got that right, sugarcube,” Applejack said as she wiped a tear from her eye, “Ma was always an inspiration, powerin’ through everythin’ that got in her way. Even while pa was off farmin’ in the late hours, she’d always be in here cookin’ up somethin’ nice and makin’ sure we did our homework. And even then, she never lost a shred of her charm--routinely goin’ out and spendin’ time with Mrs. Cake and the Mayor…she did it all, Keiji.”

Keiji nearly bit his tongue. Now, part of him didn’t even want to know what happened as he felt like the truth would twist a proverbial knife in his side. However, he knew he had to see it through to the end, so he asked…

“That sounds amazing…but when…how did they die?”

“...They passed on not long after Applebloom’s 7th birthday,” Applejack huffed as she lied down on her bed. “Hit us all like a truck full’a bricks. Never did find out what happened to ‘em…”

“...No cause of death, or anything?” Keiji asked.

Applejack simply responded with a quiet shake of her head, and continued moments later. “But we buried ‘em not too far from here…”

“...Where exactly?”

Applejack then got out of bed, and walked to one of her bedroom windows that overlooked the backyard which included the corn fields where Applebloom had been working. Beyond that, there was a cabbage patch, a chicken coop, pig sty, and a few cows grazing. And way off in the distance, surrounded by other trees…

…was an apple and pear tree that had intertwined and grew around each other.

“Over yonder,” Applejack pointed out the tree, “That was where they declared their love for each other and got married. We felt it was only fittin’ta lay ‘em to rest there.”

“...Ouch…uh--I--man…” Keiji stumbled over his words as he scratched his head while trying to figure out what to say. “You…you were a lucky one. All three of you.”

“...What makes ya say that, Keiji?” she asked while leaning against the windowsill.

The vampboy folded his arms as he formed a more concrete thought to reply with. “Well…your folks were beautiful people--people who fought tooth and nail just to stay together against the wishes of both families at first…only to be taken away from you.” He opened his eyes and walked up next to her, leaning against the windowsill as he looked down at the ground outside with a regretful, pained look of anguish in his eyes. “Meanwhile…my folks were terrible ponies--er, people. Terrible people who fought tooth and nail…because of me.”

“...Keiji…” Applejack’s expression fell as the boy started to break down in front of her.

“...Me and my entire existence…they were spiteful towards each other because of some stupid throne laws, never once considering how I felt…” Tears started to fall from his face and onto the ground outside as he clenched his teeth. “As if I didn’t matter, Applejack…what I wouldn’t give to have parents like yours…”

“...” Applejack was speechless. The vampboy who had been rough around the edges was so emotionally moved by the tale of her parents that it caused him to fully let his guard down, rending himself emotionally vulnerable for the first time since he arrived here.

“...And…and I just want someone to look up to…someone who I can rely on once in a while,” Keiji sobbed, his voice breaking as he spoke in between a sniffle or two. “And your parents…they sounded so perfect, so loving…just seems so unfair! They didn’t deserve to be taken away from you all like that!”

Applejack silently put an arm around him, holding him close for a hug as she gently patted him on the head with her left hand. “Shhh…no matter what happens, sugarcube--I’m here for ya.”

Keiji had been pressed against her abdomen, and his sniffles slowly came to a stop as he looked up at her caring, almost motherly smile. “...You are?”

“A’course I am--and Sunset, the Sirens--we all are,” she went on, “We’re yer family now, Keiji. It doesn’t hafta start with blood. Family begins with you, lil’ buddy.”

“...I suppose it does,” he replied with his arms now around her body, holding onto her for comfort. “But it still sucks that your parents were removed from you guys’ lives so early…”

Applejack gave a content sigh as she placed a hand beneath his chin to tilt his head upwards. “...Keiji. I don’t see it that way. They weren’t taken from us. It was simply their time. I don’t know what made ‘em pass on, but…I’ve made peace with it. We all have. Ma and pa wouldn’t want us’ta live in sadness all the time.”

“You have a point…” Keiji muttered, “Doesn’t it eat you up that you don’t know why they’re gone though?”

Once again, Applejack shook her head and gave an honest answer. “No. Because I know that my life is my own. And I’mma live it to the fullest fer the sake of who’s still here with me. That goes fer Big Mac, Applebloom, my best buds at school…and you, ya lil’ fruit bat,” she said with a teasing smile as she ruffled his hair again.

The bat comment made Keiji chuckle a bit. “...You’re lucky that was funny. But I think I see why you’re so…capable and mature. You don’t let the past dictate how you feel in the present. I wish I had that strength…”

“Ya don’t need strength, lil’ feller,” Applejack denied as she continued to comfort him with a hug, “Ya just need people who care about ya, ya hear? Strength alone ain’t nothin’ compared’ta comin’ home’ta a lovin’ family after a hard day’s work.”

“...You’re absolutely right,” Keiji replied with a nod, “I’ve been going about it all wrong…I need to watch out for those around me and live in the present. Not the past.”

Applejack flashed a wide grin, “Now that’s a strong lil’ man. Yer growin’ up nicely…don’t let anyone tell ya otherwise.”

“Got it, Jacks…and thanks,” he held onto her more tightly, “I think I’m starting to understand myself a bit better thanks to you.”

She scoffed and laughed it off. “...Shucks--I’m just a silly ol’ apple girl tryin’a get her degree in environmental science and develop better soil’ta solve hunger. Don’t go around spinnin’ tales about how I’m a miracle worker or nothin’ alright?”

“Fair enough,” Keiji replied with a fanged smile as his stomach rumbled, “...Got any extra food? I’m kinda hungry after all that farm work.”

“I think I can whip up somethin’ fer ya and Applebloom as soon as she’s done with--”

Just then, the bedroom door was opened up by the youngest Apple sibling in question who stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw the two hugging each other. “Heya, Applejack I…oh. Am I interruptin’ somethin’?”

Arc XXII Episode V: Farm Fun

“Nah, I’m just givin’ yer little friend here some compassion,” Applejack replied, still holding onto the vampboy. “I told him about ma and pa and--”

“Ohh…” Applebloom immediately caught on as she knew how…emotionally charged the tale of their parents were. “Don’t tell me--ya made him sad talkin’ about ‘em, eh?”

“Hey--hey now, he asked,” the elder apple sister replied, “And I ain’t gonna shy away from our family history. Ma and pa are the only reason why we’re well off as we are now. You should be more proud of it.” She looked down at the saddened Keiji and continued. “A’course…I’m not sayin’ start blabbin’ about it’ta everyone. But if they ask, then be honest about who ya are, alright?”

Applebloom put her hands on her hips and looked down at the floor. “...I getcha, sis. I’ll think about it.” She then started to think of a way to lighten the tone of the current situation. “...Aha! I got it! They’re in season now!” When the idea came to her, she placed her fist in her open palm and ran off, “Hang on, ya’ll. I got somethin’.”

“Hey wait, didja finish yer…” But Applebloom had already left before Applejack could finish her sentence. “...chores.” With a sigh, she turned to Keiji once more. “...How ya holdin’ up, lil’ man?”

“...Fine, thanks,” Keiji replied as he let go, and smiled at her, “I…suddenly feel more grateful for everyone around me. Can’t thank you enough for that, Jacks.”

“Hey I was just helpin’ out a friend,” she denied with a wave of her hand, “Though, to be honest, I think I learned somethin’ too.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Applejack pointed to his fanged teeth. “Well, yous a vampire…pony, right?”

“Yeah?”

“...Ya coulda bit me fer my blood, butcha didn’t,” she said with a chuckle, “I knew some’a them rumors weren’t true.”

He folded his arms and replied, “Yeah well--I don’t just go around biting people at random. Sure, my teeth get itchy sometimes, but I can usually sate that by chewing on fruit rinds.”

“Oh, I think I can find somethin’ that’ll help ya with that--”

Suddenly, they were interrupted by Applebloom’s voice from downstairs. “Hey ya’ll! I got somethin’ ya might wanna see!”

Keiji and Applejack rushed downstairs and outside to the backyard where Applebloom was. The younger sister had pulled up a cart filled with watermelons!

“The watermelons are ripe and juicy!” the yellow girl squealed, “We can donate ‘em to the festival for the--”

“Suikawari…” Keiji spoke up, “Also known as watermelon splitting. It’s a pretty big summer activity from the East.”

“Is that so?” Applejack asked with an interested look in her eyes, “I wonder…”

But the massive melons alone weren’t Applebloom’s sole plan. She grabbed one, and held it aloft in one arm, showcasing just how strong the Apples were. “Hey, Keiji--check this out. Mah sister can split a melon with her thighs!”

Applejack’s expression and tone became flatter than cardboard as she narrowed her eyes. “Say what.”

“C’mon, it’s Eastern tradition!” Applebloom pleaded, “You wouldn’t wanna disappoint our visitor, wouldja?” she said in reference to the vampboy.

“...T-thighs--?” Keiji shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it--”

But Applebloom was persistent--she got closer to Keiji and made him reconsider, “C’moooon…don’tcha want us to be in on yer traditions?” She then shot him a wry grin, “Besides--I think you’ll like how strong Applejack’s legs are--”

“W-what-?!” he stuttered.

“That’s enough, Applebloom,” the elder sister spoke up as swiped the melon away from her younger sister. “Playtime’s over. Go wash up and get ready fer dinner.”

Applebloom pouted her lip, then quickly changed to a more cunning expression as she knew her older sister’s one weakness. “Ah…alrighty then…” she started walking off with her hands innocently behind her back, then stopped and added, “I guess you ain’t confident in yerself enough’ta break that little thang open. It’s fine--thought mah big sister was strong, buuuuut…”

Like a moth to a bug zapper, Applejack’s mood changed as soon as her abilities were challenged. “Now wait just a corn-pickin’ minute…”

With her back turned to Applejack, Applebloom snickered with a sinister smile. “Hook, line, and apple…” She then turned around and faced her with an innocent smile. “Hmmmmm? What’s wrong, big sis?”

Keiji tried to quell the situation by talking her down. “...Jacks, you don’t have to do this. I-I don’t need to see it-”

“No no,” but the stubborn orange girl wasn’t going to back down now, “Mah sister thinks I can’t do it, so I’mma show her she’s wrong. I’m more than able’ta crush a measly melon ‘tween my thighs.” She looked at Keiji with a confident smile, “Watch this here, lil’ man.”

“Oh…y-yes ma’am…” he glanced aside towards Applebloom with narrowed eyes, only to receive a teasing giggle from her in return.

Applejack sat down on a nearby tree stump and placed the melon--that was easily twice the size of her head--between her thighs. Her sister and Keiji both watched--the former with an expression of excitement as she took out her phone to record her, and the latter with a shocked, but curious gaze as he focused on her legs…

“Alrighty,” Applejack looked at the camera and counted down, “Three…two…one…”

SPLOOSH!

With almost no effort, she crossed one leg over the other, forcing enough pressure to instantly decimate that poor melon between her thighs. Bits of red melon pulp flew all over as the upper half of the rind flew into the air…

…and eventually came back down, landing in Applejack’s outstretched hand to which she took a bite out of the remaining red fruit inside. “Mm…tasty.” She gave a thumbs-up for the camera, and Applebloom saved the video.

“That was friggin’ amazing!” the younger Apple sister called out, having caught numerous bits of watermelon fruit on her face. “Don’tcha think, Keiji?”

Keiji was stiff for a moment, also covered in red melon pulp. “....Y-y-yeah…a-awesome…” he muttered with a wistful smile on his face as he felt his heart race more and more--blood pumping through his veins.

Applejack chuckled as she stood up and wiped the messy fruit’s contents off of her boxers. “Alright now we really need’ta go wash up. C’mon, ya’ll. Time for the hose.”

The vampboy snapped out of his state of confusion upon hearing that, and yelped, “...Wait what--?!”

Arc XXII Episode VI: Waterworks

Applejack spared them no time--having already grabbed the garden hose from the side of the house with its jet-powered nozzle active. “Ya’ll better run, sugarcube!”

“Ahhh!” Applebloom squealed playfully as she grabbed onto Keiji’s wrist, “We gotta move!”

“...I don’t get it--blagh!” he yelped once he was pulled by force, “Don’t we want to get clean?”

“It ain’t about gettin’ clean!” she insisted, “It’s the thrill’a the chase--Applejack is six feet’s worth’a muscular young woman--that makes it fun!”

“...I think I see the appeal now--”

SSHHHH!

A fierce blast of water from the hose jetted towards Keiji who barely managed to drop to the ground in time. “C’mon, ya’ll, quit messin’ around! Getcher behinds out here so I can blast ‘em!”

“You’ll never take us alive!” Applebloom protested as she ran out from behind a bush.

“You won’t catch me!” Keiji had fully given in, and started running as well, cackling the entire way as they both ran towards the watermelon patch. “I’m the fastest man here!”

“Ugh!” Applejack huffed as she ran after them, “Don’t make me get mah rope. I will get mah rope. You will not like the rope!”

“Wait what--hey!” Keiji dove under another blast of water, “The hell?! That thing has select fire now?!”

Next to him, Applebloom was hiding under a set of melons and she replied, “Mm-hmm. Helps us save on water when we wanna just catch a thing or two instead’a runnin’ too much of it--”

Suddenly, the sun was blocked out by a massive figure standing over them. The pair of teens turned over and their eyes bulged out of their heads when they saw the annoyed, muscular apple girl standing over them, holding the hose’s nozzle like a weapon.

“Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” she flicked the hose nozzle as if pulling back a hammer on a pistol. “Ya’ll best give up now before I make it hard.”

Keiji froze--unable to take his eyes off of her chiseled form. “...yeah that’s already--”

“Save yerself!” Applebloom pushed Keiji out of the way.

Psssshhh…

Applejack had turned the nozzle to a much less powerful shower to clean the sticky watermelon bits off of her sister.

“Ah! Hehehe!” Applebloom laughed as she was sprayed, and stood up--now dripping wet. “Alright, alright--I’ll go on inside.”

Applejack then directed her gaze to Keiji, “Alright, boah. Don’t try runnin’.”

“Yeah, and what if I do?”

She leaned forward and playfully teased him with a grin on her face, “Then I’ll do to yer face what I did to that there melon. Wanna keep tryin’ me, lil’ man?”

“...eeep!” he squealed like a mouse and shook his head, “N-no ma’am!”

“Good. Now getcher self on over here.”

Defeated, the vampboy huffed and puffed out his cheeks as Applejack sprayed him with the water. “Hmmmph…”

“Ya know I was messin’ around, right?” Applejack put an arm around him, “I’d never hurt ya like that, kiddo.”

The honest gesture put a smile on Keiji’s face as he tried to play it off. “Yeah…I mean…I knew that--I was just testing you-”

“Riiiight…” she replied with a chuckle. “Once Applebloom’s done, you can head on to the shower next I’ll put yer clothes in the wash, alright?”

“Sweet, thanks…you’re a swell bunch, ya know that?”

“We try our best, buddy,” she turned off the hose and pat him on the shoulder, “Go on. I got yer back no matter what.”

As he walked back to the barn, Keiji smiled to himself, looking rather…content with how life had played out thus far. “...Never thought I’d find myself thinking that I’d put my life down for someone else if push came to shove. But here we are.”

A few hours later…

Once everyone had gotten cleaned up, Granny Smith and Big Mac had returned just in time for dinner--to which they all invited Keiji to remain as their guest for the evening. Of course, normally he would’ve rejected the idea, but given how…much he had learned over the course of the day, he was more than willing to accept their offer out of courtesy towards them.

When he had finished eating, Keiji took his empty plate to the kitchen where he’d find Mac washing the dishes. “Thanks…I never knew chili could be made out of blood sausage. Nor did I expect you to know how to cook.”

“Eeyup,” was all Mac said as he took his plate.

“Wow, you really don’t talk much, huh?”

“Nope.”

Keiji rubbed the back of his head. “...Yeah I should’ve saw that coming; didn’t miss a beat and already washing the next dish.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over to see the rest of the Apple family still talking at the dinner table--completely occupied by the conversation of Granny Smith’s experience setting things up for the festival. “...Hey Mac, do me a favor, wouldja? Take care of your little sister--Applejack to be exact. Part of me thinks that--”

“Lemme guess,” Mac cut him off with a surprisingly long question, “She told ya about our folks, yeah?”

“...Y….yeah,” Keiji replied with wide eyes, clearly not expecting Mac to speak that much.

“And you think she’s not entirely over how they passed cuz she still wants’ta know the truth, yeah?” Mac asked again.

“....Yyyyeah,” Keiji muttered, unable to put how it made him feel into words. “You know, huh?”

“I’ll talk to her about it. Don’t worry,” was all the eldest Apple sibling said in response, wanting to end the conversation there.

Luckily, Keiji was able to take the hint, and left it be. “Gotcha. Thanks for listening.” He left the kitchen, and was preparing to leave the farmhouse entirely before he was stopped by Applebloom.

“So uh, Keiji--you got anyone yer takin’ witcha to the festival tomorrow?” she asked with her hands behind her back, “Someone…pink-colored, maybe-?”

“Would you cut the crap?” he rolled his eyes, “I’m not taking or going with anyone.”

His mind started to wander back to what Shinji told him regarding apples, as well as the fact that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s parents were also funneling money into this festival alongside the Hishima family. It all spelled potential disaster, but he didn’t want to spell anything out just yet. After all, there was a chance that he could’ve been completely off-base and stress everyone out over nothing.

But he wasn’t about to take that chance.

“I’m just…gonna watch over the festival and make sure nothing bad happens,” he admitted while shutting his eyes, “I can’t be everywhere at once, but I can damn well try.”

“...So yer not even gonna enjoy yerself?” Bloom lamented his intent, “...Kei. Ah think you at least deserve a bit of a break, ya know? If ya keep frettin’ over somethin’ that might happen, ya won’t get’ta enjoy what will happen. Like earlier today when we played outside in the water…wasn’t that fun?”

There was no arguing that. Keiji knew that if he wanted to be able to relax, he had to put aside his concerns at least for a little while in order to find enjoyment in life. The hard part was finding a way to lay those concerns to rest…

“...Yeah,” he opened his eyes and looked at her, “You’re right. That was honestly the most fun I’ve had in a while.”

Applebloom pulled him in for a hug. “Exactly. Whatever happens, we’ll all be here with ya. So don’t worry…”

“...” Keiji put his arms around her as well, accepting her embrace. “...Alright. I’ll try.”

Arc XXIII Episode I: Festival Time

The next evening…

The Summer Festival was finally upon us. Everyone was dressed up in a variation of Eastern clothing to match the occasion. And with school out--students and teachers alike could enjoy the festival without worrying about what would happen next.

But first, focusing on those who had no experience with this event before...

“Wooooah…” Sonata gazed at the surrounding booths with sparkles in her eyes as the sun began to set. Her yukata had a floral motif with violet roses on a blue background. “This all looks so cool! I can’t wait to start shooting for fish!”

“I gotta admit, the humans know what they’re doing,” Aria commented with her usual, smug grin, “Back home, we didn’t get to celebrate anything like this underwater. I wonder what all that food tastes like.” Her yukata was a solid black with gold-colored fishes that ran throughout it.

“Remember, girls, we need to stick together so we don’t get lost,” Adagio added as she approached them, wearing her purple yukata with white lily patterns. “And if we see Keiji, we need to make sure to have him join us at least for a little while.”

Aria scoffed at the proposition. “There’s no way he’d join us. He’s probably gonna be wandering on his own to make sure everything is accurate.”

Sonata interjected with her usual perky positivity, “Or--or, maybe he’s found a date to bring along and he’s showing her around! We wouldn’t wanna interrupt our baby brother’s courtship now would we?”

“Him? Involved with literally anyone?” Aria rolled her eyes and laughed, “Ah…no. I don’t see that happening.”

“Aria--try to be supportive,” Adagio commented in response to her sister’s dry witticism. “Today--or, tonight is meant to be a time for positivity. No evil or crazed--MMPH!”

Suddenly, Sonata was clinging to Adagio, cutting her eldest sister off by putting her hand over her mouth. “Shhhuuuushu! Don’t jinx it--don’t jinx it! If you say the bad things, the bad things happen!”

“While I normally don’t say this, she’s right,” Aria added as she opened up a pamphlet detailing all of the facilities and booths that were open at the festival. “Feels like every time we’ve spoken about not wanting someone to come wreck our shit, someone proceeds to try and wreck our shit.”

Adagio pried Sonata’s hand from her mouth, and went on. “Fair enough. Alright girls, what do you want to do first?”

“Food,” said Aria as she made a hard right, “I’m headed this way. C’mon.”

“Yay, food!” Sonata skipped along, following her.

“Hey, wait up you two!” Adagio hurried after them.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fairgrounds…

Diamond Tiara was dressed in rather formal pink robes and was standing next to Silver Spoon--dressed in perfectly pristine silver ones--seemingly waiting for something…

“...Are you seriously waiting on him, Di?” Spoon asked as she started scoping out what booth she wanted to go to first. “You know how much he doesn’t like to hang around others.”

“I know, I know…”

Luckily, it wouldn’t take long for her prayers to be answered.

Keiji would show up a few moments later, wearing his blue and black dragon yukata and approached the rich girls first. “Yo. I’m here. Was just…scanning the area.”

“Finally,” Spoon commented, “Where were you? Hanging upside-down in a tree?”

“...”

About ten minutes earlier…

Yes. That was legit what happened. Keiji was somehow hanging from the bottom of his feet against a tree branch in a tree on a hill that was overlooking the entire festival grounds in the middle of the city’s crossing.

“Hhhhhhh…” he hissed against the air to make use of echolocation, and found…nothing sinister for the moment.

Back to the present…

“Yes,” he answered without missing a beat, “I was actually. It’s a thing we batfolk can do.”

“Woah…” Silver Spoon replied with a genuine sense of wonder in her voice. “That sounds like a neat party trick that I’d love to see at my Halloween parties--”

Keiji rolled his eyes. “I’m not a circus clown. I don’t perform for anyone.”

“What if I paid you in bloody wagyu sausage?” she offered with a smirk.

“Okay I’d consider it--” his tune changed immediately, earning a giggle from Diamond Tiara. “...What’s so funny?” he asked.

Tiara shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just glad to see my two friends getting along with each other. I was scared at first, but I’m happy to see you guys treating each other well.”

“Well, you know how it is,” Silver Spoon pushed her glasses up by the side of the rims, “It’s hard for me to trust people who get close to you, but once I realized he’s harmless, I didn’t have anything against him.”

Keiji placed his arms behind his head and replied with his serrated, toothy smile, “Well that’s good. I’ve had bad experiences with aristocratic bitc--er, losers in the past. But you guys? You’re…worth sticking around to keep safe.”

“Aw, does Keiji love us?” Tiara teased while leaning on his shoulder, “Maybe we should both take him, huh, Spoon?”

“H-hey, get offa me you nutcase!”

Silver Spoon simply reacted with a smile as she shook her head. “Alright--let’s get going. My parents are actually running one of the ramen booths nearby. I think I saw your dad over there, Di.”

Tiara let go of the vampboy, and walked up to Spoon. “Oooh--that sounds good. C’mon, Keiji. Join us…please?” she turned to him and asked with a bashful smile, worried that he’d go off on his own again.

But much to her delight, Keiji responded with an amicable answer. “Yeah, yeah I guess I’ll tag along and watch your asses.”

“I hope you don’t mean that literally,” Spoon chided.

“Maybe, maybe not,” he shot back.

Tiara put an arm around them both and started walking with them. “This is gonna be great! The more you guys get along, the better!”

Arc XXIII Episode II: Festival Games

About ten minutes later, on the other side of the fair…

Aidon arrived wearing an all-black set of Eastern robes, interested in seeing what this festival had to offer as the sun started going down. “...The smell of the food. The entertainment…this is a nice change of pace indeed,” he remarked to himself as he took a look around at the various booths with games and various food stands. Loads of idle chatter could be heard as everyone was busy enjoying themselves.

“Maybe we’ll finally catch a break,” he thought to himself, “Now what should I do first…”

Before he could make a decision, he was shortstopped by a familiar raspy voice.

“Yo, teach!” Vinyl turned around from participating in the cork-shooting game, holding the toy gun in the air. She was wearing a set of short, white robes that didn’t go past her knees. They were patterned with blue, lightning bolt-esque horizontal stripes. “Didn’t expect to see you here!” she shouted.

Octavia turned and grabbed Vinyl’s hand with both of hers, slowly forcing her to put the gun down. “Shhh--Vi, you’re going to attract unnecessary attention.” She sighed and waved at Aidon. “...Hello, professor.”

“...We’re not even in school right now and you girls are set to graduate,” Aidon chuckled as he approached them, “You can call me by my name here. It’s perfectly fine.”

“...Yeah that’d be a bit awkward,” Vinyl admitted, “It’s like that one game where the characters are talking to the protagonist who’s their teacher and they don’t say the player’s name because it’s customizable--it just feels out of place to say it, right Tavey?”

Octavia stared at her girlfriend, dumbfounded for a moment as she tried to process what she had just heard. “...Wot? I mean, I suppose I can comprehend your perspective. We don’t really refer to him as anything other than ‘professor’ normally.”

“I see…” Aidon idly scratched the back of his head. “Well…whatever works best for you is okay with me. What sort of game are you playing there?”

Vinyl quickly adapted to the change of subject and beckoned the professor over to them. “Oh yeahyeahyeah--alright, okay so with this game here, you shoot at whatever prize you want, and if you can knock it down,” she shut one of her eyes with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth and…

POP!

Plunk.

“Augh!” she threw her head back and huffed as she placed the toy gun down. “Dammit--no dice on that rice.”

Aidon adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes, squinting at the red shelves and the wall of prizes that stood about five feet away from them. “Hm…what were you aiming for, exactly?”

Octavia would answer by pointing it out. “That little electric violin at the top,” she explained, noting the shiny violin made of sleek, black wood, “It’s something we could both get use out of, but nothing she should break her back over.” She put a hand on Vinyl’s shoulder, “Come on, luv. Don’t hurt yourself over--”

“I refuse to lose!” Vinyl protested as she took aim once more.

As they were talking, Aidon was busy observing the area around them. From within his point of view, he could see various numbers and equations line up with each other followed by dotted lines to show the trajectory of the cork bullets fired from those toy guns. Soon enough…

“Hold on,” he commanded, getting the attention of both girls, “You’re not factoring in the wind. Aim a bit to the left.”

“Are you sure about that, teach?” Vinyl questioned him, much to the visual chagrin of Octavia, who was busy pressing her hand against her face in reaction to what the DJ girl had just said.

“He’s our maths professor, Vinyl,” Octavia added as she put her hand down, “I think he knows what he’s talking about.”

It took a moment for Vinyl to realize who she had been talking to. After a pause, all she could say was, “...Oh.”

Aidon simply chuckled in response. “Don’t sweat yourself. Just give it a try--I think you’ll hit it.”

“May as well,” Vinyl shrugged and took aim once more…

POP!

Ding!

“He-hey! I got it!” Vinyl pumped her fist as she was handed the electrical string instrument from the woman running the stand, “Thanks, teach!”

“As expected from our professor,” Octavia added, “Oh and by the way, I believe Luna was looking for you.”

Stunned, Aidon had to re-adjust his glasses upon hearing that. “...S-she is? That’s…interesting.”

Vinyl stared at him with a neutral expression on her face. “...can he really not tell?” she muttered under her breath.

“He’s from another dimension,” Octavia whispered back, “He’s not too keen on human social cues just yet.”

“What was that?” Aidon asked.

“Nothing,” Octavia shook her head, and pointed down one of the paths, “I believe she’s at the fountain in the middle of the festival at the moment.”

“I see…” Aidon cleared his throat as he continued walking, “Well, if I see her, I’ll let you know. Enjoy the rest of your evening you two.”

The girls waved as he left, then Vinyl checked her phone.

“It’s a text from Micro,” she said, catching Octavia’s attention, “He says that Luna is on her way there.”

“Oi--perfect,” Octavia clasped her hands together with a smile on her face, “We’ll finally be able to help them.”

Arc XXIII Episode III: Festival Pest

At another corner of the festival…

“And then I said, ‘That’s why you can’t score--you keep ratting near the goal!’”

Fluttershy giggled in response to Rainbow Dash’s joke. “I get it--it’s a joke about how rats like to hide away in their little holes underground,” she nodded, “That’s a great one. I didn’t know you could use that as a term to describe how people act.” She was wearing a set of Eastern robes with pink rabbit ears patterned across them.

“...Fluttershy, you really need to get out more,” Rainbow Dash said she missed yet another set of fish that were swimming around in the tank in front of her. “Gah…they keep running away from me.” Her robes were black with streaks of lightning jetting across each side.

“Technically, they’re swimming away,” Fluttershy leaned over and waved at the small koi fish. “It’s really nice of the local aquatic protection agency to offer these adorable little guys as pets you can win.”

With a flat, neutral expression on her face, Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Ugh--you sound like Maud’s boyfriend. C’mon--I said I’d win you at least one of these little knuckleheads. Gimme another shot!” she yelled as she put more money on the counter, and the man running the stand sighed and offered her another scooper with an attached filter.

“Oh Dashie…” Fluttershy sighed as she placed her hand on her own forehead, “You don’t need to do all of this for me. If you don’t win one, I’m sure someone else will and take good care of--”

“I’m not giving up until I get one of ‘em for ya! Believe that!”

Fluttershy sighed again, this time with a more hopeless breath. “Ugh…yup--that’s how it usually goes with her and these kinds of games.”

Unfortunately, their enjoyment would soon be interrupted by a certain someone…

“Ayo, Rainbow--funny seein’ you here--”

Upon hearing that voice, Rainbow’s expression fell as she shuddered. “...Oh dear god.”

Fluttershy turned her head to see her younger brother, Zephyr Breeze, dressed in casual clothing like many others, wearing a simple cherry blossom T-shirt and jean shorts. Immediately, she raised a brow and stepped to the right, cutting in front of him with her arms folded.

“Breeze. What did I say about harassing Rainbow Dash?” she asked with a calm, yet firm tone, glaring daggers at her brother.

“I-I’m not harassing her--I haven’t even done anything yet!” he insisted while dramatically placing the back of his hand on his forehead, “You wound me with your accusations dear sister.”

“Look--we’re just trying to have fun, so kindly leave her be and I’ll join you in a minute,” Fluttershy offered with a smile, “Okay?”

By now, Rainbow Dash had essentially shut down--trying to remain as still and quiet as possible to avoid Zephyr’s gaze.

“Can I just please talk to her for a--”

“No.”

“But I just--”

“No.”

“Sis I’m not gonna--”

“Get any closer, and I’ll start the paperwork to file a restraining order against you,” she vocally retaliated as she took one step closer to her brother. “Mom and dad let you do what you want, but I’m not complete pushovers like they are.”

“Ugh, you are so unreasonable,” he complained with a huff.

With her hands on her hips, Fluttershy stared at him with a neutral expression. “Wanna try me, brother? Do you really wanna go there in public?”

“...No…” he admitted, taking a step back in defeat as he tried his best to look away from her empty expression.

“I didn’t think so. Now go on. Shoo,” Fluttershy waved her hand off, “Go do something--anything. Make some friends of your own and enjoy yourself. Understand?”

“Fine…” And with a huff, Zephyr walked off, leaving them alone.

Soon enough, Rainbow Dash would speak up. “...is he gone?”

“...yup,” Fluttershy replied, putting emphasis on the ‘puh’ sound in the word, “I love him. I really do. He’s a creative guy, but it seems as if his obsession with you is getting in the way of that.”

“Gah--I just wanna have some fun and relax with a friend,” Dash complained, “Not worry about some stalker. It’s hard to imagine that he’s your younger brother, Shy.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Argh…when your parents are complete softies who don’t discipline their kid, you end up with someone who can’t understand the concept of being told ‘No.’”

“...Ouch,” Dash recoiled at the implications, “That bad, huh?”

“Yeah…” Fluttershy shook her head and smiled. “But don’t worry about it. School’s out and we should be focusing on having fun.”

But Dash’s mind was already elsewhere as she stroked her chin while thinking aloud. “I wonder…” And from the corner of her eye, she noticed Adagio walking by. “Oh hey--Adagi!”

“Hm?” the siren turned her head, “Me? Is…everything okay?”

“Not quite--hey, you’ve got two younger siblings right?” Dash asked as she walked over.

“...Yeah, why?” Adagio asked tentatively while tilting her head.

“Fluttershy’s younger brother is a real--”

“Pain in the butt,” Fluttershy added as she approached them, catching onto what Rainbow was talking about.

Dash pointed at Fluttershy and went on, “Yyyyeah--that. I was wondering: How are your sisters so…well-adjusted despite being Equestrian monsters? Did your parents teach them or--?”

“Hmm….admittedly, I don’t remember our parents at all,” Adagio replied, “Sirens are born swimming and are left to fend for themselves. But the three of us were born in the same set of eggs, so we grew fond of each other. Ultimately though, I guess it came down to us being banished here and having to learn--ech--human manners so we could live without being arrested and experimented on.”

“So you just…learned as you got older?” Rainbow asked in a dumbfounded manner, “Then how the heck has ZB not--”

“He was given everything he wanted since he was a baby, Dashie,” Fluttershy droned in an annoyed tone of voice, “Never had to endure any hardship because our parents coddled him like he was a precious ‘gift from above,’” she said with airquotes, “Blegh. Nevermind the fact that he always started fights, bullied others in elementary school, and routinely lied just to get people in trouble just because he didn’t like them.”

Adagio stared at Fluttershy with a blank expression for a moment. “...what--what?? That sounds…ridiculous. He’s clearly never been clocked upside his head one good time.”

“I know,” Fluttershy huffed, “But oh no--let him do what he wants, they said. He’ll follow my example, they said…--they being our parents of course.”

“Well sooner or later, he’s gonna get what’s coming to him,” Dash ranted, “If he sniffs my hair, I’m gonna--gah! I can’t even say it because kids are around right now.”

“...I might have an idea,” Adagio went on, “You may not like it though.”

“What is it?” Dash asked with her hands clasped together, “I will do anything to get him off my ass!”

“...I’ll explain in a bit,” the siren replied, “I need to catch up with my sisters first. But then I’ll explain to you what I have in mind.”

Nearby, as the girls were talking…

A small, white cat that with yellow eyes had been resting underneath one of the stalls awakened from its slumber. “Interesting…the Master should know about this.”

Arc XXIII Episode IV: Festival Food

The white cat roamed through the festival grounds, elegantly jumping under, over, and around various stalls. But when he laid eyes on a certain vampboy…

“...That’s him. The blood-mancer boy. The Master has been looking for him. Time to observe further…”

The cat strode up to a nearby stall that sold fox masks, and rested atop it, looking down at Keiji with cold pools of gold and black eyes…

Down below…

Keiji, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon were all enjoying bowls of ramen at a table near one of the booths that offered Eastern food.

“Mm…this takes me back,” Keiji said with a smile on his face as he used the chopsticks to bring noodles to his mouth.

“You ate this all the time back home, huh?” Silver Spoon asked curiously, looking to know more about him.

“Hm? Oh yeah,” Keiji answered with an uneasy tone as he was further reminded of home. “...Whenever my mother wasn’t completely ignoring me, she made food just like this. Probably the only half-decent thing I remember from back then…”

Spoon frowned as soon as she heard that. “Oh…I’m sorry, Keiji. I didn’t realize you had it rough. If anything, I can empathize with you.”

“You can, huh?”

She nodded as she prepared to use her chopsticks, “Yeah. My folks ignored me quite a bit growing up. It’s why I latched onto DT so quickly.”

“It’s true,” Tiara added, “She and I pretty much relied on each other when we were younger…but you didn’t have anyone, huh?”

Keiji scoffed as took the boiled egg from the ramen bowl in his chopsticks. “Nope. Guess that’s why I was so standoffish, eh? But it’s thanks to ya’ll that I’ve learned to be less…irritable around other people. So thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome, but still,” Spoon went on, “I wish we could do more. Like, you didn’t deserve any of that abuse.”

“Meh--don’t worry about me,” he replied casually, “You guys just make sure you take care of each other and hold onto each other no matter what. You’re good people.”

Tiara gave an encouraging reply, “Hey, so are you ya know? Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Yeah I won’t--” he blinked and noticed that they were both having some trouble with their food. Both girls were trying to grip the various pieces of meat, noodles, and egg in their bowls but consistently dropped them.

“Ugh--” Silver Spoon huffed as she flinched from a few drops of hot broth splashing onto her face as a result of dropping a piece of meat in the bowl. “How do you do this?”

Tiara was busy flicking her tongue to get the noodles off of the stick, nearly tilting her head until it was parallel with the table. “Almost…aaaallmost…”

“...You both are hopeless,” Keiji commented flatly, then flashed a grin as he prepared to give them a demonstration. “It’s all in the muscles.” With perfect precision, he flexed his fingers and showed them how to hold the sticks properly… “Like this.”

…But that wasn’t enough. They both managed to acquire the bigger pieces of meat, but still had trouble with the noodles.

“Darn…how do the Eastern folks manage to eat any of this stuff?” Spoon complained as she adjusted her glasses.

“With a lot of patience,” Keiji replied, “I could show you by hand, but I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

Tiara shrugged and said, “I don’t mind. Beats embarrassing myself. Show me how to hold ‘em, please.”

“Alrighty…”

Keiji got up and went to her side of the table, grabbing a hold of her right hand with his to show her the proper way to hold onto chopsticks. “Step 1: Firmly grasp them. It’s actually not that different from a pencil. Step 2: Thread the needle. Get all of the food you want in your grip. Step 3: Scoop it up.”

“Ohhh…I see now,” Tiara replied as Keiji let go of her hand--now she was able to use them properly.

“Ahem--what about meeeee?” Silver Spoon whined, feigning jealousy, “I dunno how to use them either!” she added with a giggle.

Keiji rolled his eyes and gave Silver Spoon the same demonstration with his hand on hers to help her adjust to using the chopsticks, guiding her through the process. After which, he sat down at his seat once more, and resumed eating.

“Alright--how’s that working out for ya?” he asked, watching their technique.

“Mmm…I can actually eat now,” Silver Spoon snarked, “And to think, we own a utensil company and have never heard of these things…”

“You should totes do that,” Tiara added, “Maybe my dad should start doing more business with the East so we can have more of their stuff all the time.”

“Yeah I dunno about that,” Keiji thought to himself as the pair continued to chat, “The Eastern folks in high places tend to be the most dangerous.”

“...Keiji? KK!” Tiara called out, snapping him out of his thought process.

“Huh? Wha?” he replied as he looked up from his bowl.

“I’m gonna go look for my dad,” she explained as she got up from the table, “You both wait here, alright?” And without a second thought, she got up and left her best friend with her newest friend.

That’s when Keiji realized.

“She totally just kinda ghosted us for a bit so we could get to know each other better, huh?”

Silver Spoon snickered, “Hm! You’re starting to catch onto her pretty well. So--tell me about yourself.”

“Holy shit this just turned into a date,” he said with a cackle, “This is exactly how they all start off.”

“No it’s not and you know it,” Spoon rolled her eyes as she pushed up her glasses by the side of their rims. “No offense--you’re cute but…anyway let’s get back on topic.”

“I like kicking ass and eating food,” the vampboy said snappily, “Next.”

“Oh lord, you’re insufferable,” Spoon grabbed the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah because I refuse to suffer anymore,” he misinterpreted her words, “I’ve actually got a future here. I might spend time documenting rare species of bats.”

“...I can respect someone who’s brave enough to do that,” she replied, “Me? I dunno…my family’s business seems easy enough to inherit, but…I wanna do my own thing. Like fund new construction projects for the city and start working on initiatives to clean up the beaches. And maybe do some things in my spare time like play video games, practice my rollerblading, and maybe take up knitting.”

“...Sounds like you wanna grow up to be a politician--don’t get corrupted like half of ‘em out there.” But then, he realized the last thing she had said. “...Did you say knitting?”

“Yeah…doing that and reading books late at night is why I’ve needed glasses.” She raised a brow out of curiosity. “Why do you ask?”

“I like to crochet,” he went on, “it’s kinda similar except it’s done with one rod instead of two. It takes way longer but the results are usually harder to unravel.”

Silver Spoon’s expression slowly changed from dubious to amazed as Keiji spoke--her eyes widening as she opened her mouth to speak. “Wow…I’m…impressed. I didn’t think someone like you would have the patience for something like that--no offense.”

Keiji shrugged his shoulders. “It’s fine. No big deal. But yeah, I used to do crochet dolls to take blood back home. I kinda…don’t need to do that anymore, so I just make ‘em out of habit. It’s like…comforting or whatever?”

“...You gotta show me your work,” Spoon asked with a husky sense of enthusiasm, “I’m excited to see what a guy like you could come up with since I’ve only run into girls who are into yarn arts.”

“...You might not like everything you see,” he answered hesitantly, then smiled, “But sure. I can do that for ya.”

Arc XXIII Episode V: Festival Management

With Aidon…

The shadowman would eventually arrive at the fountain in the middle of the festival grounds…where Luna was nowhere to be seen.

“Huh, that’s strange,” he muttered to himself, “I could’ve sworn that’s what Ms. Scratch and Ms. Melody said. Unless…”

“Unless they were simply trying to get rid of me…maybe they were uncomfortable with me around on their little outing together. Probably shouldn’t have interrupted their moment with another lecture.”

He placed his hand on his forehead as he gave it some extra thought--until it was broken by someone’s voice.

“...Professor? Is everything okay?”

Aidon looked to his left and saw Sunset Shimmer who was dressed in a simple set of short robes akin to the ones Vinyl was wearing. They had a red and rose-gold color scheme and additionally, her hair was done up in a bun held together by two red hair sticks.

“Hm? Oh yes--I was just wondering…it’s nothing, don’t worry yourself over it,” he shook his head and changed his tune almost immediately. “How are you doing?”

“I’m actually doing something I probably shouldn’t,” Sunset admitted with one hand behind her back.

“...And that is?” Aidon asked with a concerned, raised brow.

From behind her back, she pulled out a list that had all of her friend’s names on it. “I’m trying to spend as much time with as many people as possible. Flash Sentry is up next actually. Still been trying to repair those burnt bridges…”

“I know how that feels,” he replied, “Though, in life, you learn that some bridges are unsalvageable. Not everyone is going to be willing to agree with you and accept your world, Ms Shimmer.”

“I know--still, can’t hurt to try, right?” she asked with a hopeful smile. “I know I can’t repair my relationships with everyone but, it’s still good to try. It’s the only reason why the Sirens are on our side now.”

“Admirable indeed. Even so, don’t push yourself too hard,” he went on as he looked up at the sky, “Sooner or later, you will come across someone who won’t want to change--someone who’ll never listen to what you have to say. You need to accept that sooner rather than later. If you hate those whose beliefs differ from your own, you’ll come to hate everyone eventually.”

“...that is a good point,” Sunset replied slowly, “Maybe I’m in over my head, huh?”

Aidon looked down, making eye contact with the young woman once again. “I wouldn’t say stow your beliefs completely. Just take your time to think critically about what you want and then act upon it at a moment’s notice.”

Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle, prompting a question from Aidon.

“...what’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just--that’s pretty much what Princess Celestia used to tell me. You’re pretty wise, you know that?”

“I’m just some dark old fool,” he denied, “But come now. This is a time to enjoy yourself. Make the most of it, hm?”

“Yeah. You’re right….” Sunset put her list away and got to thinking about what she should do next. “Flash might appreciate something different…”

Aidon took a look around the central area of the festival, and started walking off towards a stall. “Mm…that smells good. I’ll be seeing you, Sunset.”

“Hm? Oh right…no problem, professor--see ya!” But as soon as he left, she checked her phone and started to send a text:

‘guys, where is luna?’

Soon enough, she’d get a response from Micro Chips.

‘Wait, is she not at the fountain?’

‘lol no. Wtf is going on???’

‘...’

‘I believe I see the problem. She is currently distracted by a stall--wait, now she’s moving to the fountain--’

‘OMG HE’S ALREADY LEFT HERE WTF’

Sunset grabbed the bridge of her nose once she finished typing. “...It’s like trying to get pandas to see each other--Celestia almighty-”

“What’s wrong with my sister?” Luna approached with an innocent look on her face, mishearing Sunset.

“Oh! N-nothing…”

Meanwhile, in an office building overseeing the festival…

“...I won’t get bested by them next time, father. I promise. They simply got lucky and happen to be working with the Ketsuki family.”

“The Ketuski family, hm? Well now that’s just another bothersome thorn in our side that we don’t need, Shinji…”

“Their records don’t even indicate that they have a son!” Shinji slammed his fist on his father’s desk. “It’s as if he’s just popped up out of nowhere just to ruin our lives. Like he’s been hiding in plain sight the entire time.”

The dull, peach-skinned man dressed in a white suit with dragons tattooed on his body that ran up to his neck got up from behind the desk, and walked to the window that overlooked the festival grounds down below.

“Foolish child. This is your last chance to impress me,” he went on, “Otherwise your elder brother shall take the reins of this family.”

From nearby, a young man dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans commented from a leather couch. “Tch--yeah no shit. You really trust Shinji with this crap, old man? You’re getting more senile by the second…”

“You know he possess a unique affinity for…the magic of this world,” their father continued, “This rests on his shoulders…for now.”

Shinji folded his arms and glared at his older brother. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tatsu. You are such a helpful inspiration to someone like myself.”

“Ha!” Tatsuya Hishima--the elder brother to Shinji--laughed it off. “You won’t last ten minutes with that Ketsuki kid. Just you wait--Tachibana, Ryuji and I will have to come behind you and clean up the mess ourselves, little Shinster.”

“Please don’t start,” Shinji replied with a huff, “I’ve got enough bullshit on my plate to deal with.” He turned to his father and asked a question. “I can dispose of them properly this time. I just need to use my…hidden potential.”

“That thing you’ve been experimenting with?” the suited gentleman sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. “Ugh…I suppose we have no other options. If you think you can beat the blood-boy with it, go ahead. Just don’t be surprised if Sunset Shimmer tries to take it away from you. Those girls seem as if they demand a monopoly on all magical abilities…”

“It’ll be their downfall, father,” Shinji glared at Tatsu for a moment, and pulled out a book…a book that was eerily similar to the one that Prince Blueblood used at one point. “They’ll be converted…or fall forever. Now where's that little feline friend of mine…?”

Arc XXIII Episode VI: Festival Woes

“...I really don’t want to do this,” Shinji muttered to himself as he walked down the hill towards the festival. “...Sunset and her friends don’t seem like they’re evil, but father’s right. The way they monopolize magic is a serious problem…”

“I see what you mean…” a smooth, stoic voice of a hardened warrior called out from below the young man. “If those girls keep forcing control over all magic, then it won’t be long before someone becomes rebellious and uproots the system entirely. But here’s my question to you, Shinji: How do you solve this problem without falling into hypocrisy?”

Shinjiro stopped and looked down at his companion--a small white cat with a simple red collar and yellow eyes that served as the background for wide, black irises.

“...That’s the problem, Jules. I’m not exactly sure how I’d go about it. Maybe make them get rid of their magic? But that sounds equally authoritarian. Unless…”

The cat--whose full name was Julius--hopped up onto a nearby stall and started batting his paws at various toys while the owner’s back was turned. “Your father is a crazed man, driven by his lust for power and control. He wants you to use you as a pawn in his game. Are you prepared to die for him if the chips are down?”

“No…of course not,” Shinji replied as he shook his head. “But at the same time, I can’t disappoint him. At the very least, we can’t afford for them to try and take our magic away…”

By the time the stall owner had turned her back, Julius had already hopped off and resumed walking alongside his owner.

“That is true…it’s the only reason why I’m able to communicate with you, after all. I wouldn’t want to lose something like that over a petty disagreement regarding ideals,” he continued. Apparently the sight of a young man speaking with his cat out in the open wasn’t exactly abnormal given that no one batted them an eye.

That, or everyone was so distracted with the state of the festival that they didn’t care.

“At the very least, I want to investigate them,” Shinji continued, “Just to see what they’re like before I take action.”

“They don’t seem like hostile people,” Julius mewled, “They simply seem to be looking to enjoy the festivities. I say we let them do that much.”

“You’re right,” Shinji replied with a nod as he eyed up Sunset Shimmer from afar. “...Still. It can’t hurt to be prepared.” He zipped up the hoodie he was wearing, and grabbed a fox mask from a nearby stall. With it on, no one could tell what he looked like, and he would still be able to keep an eye out on those whom his father warned him about. “Now which way is Keiji…?”

“Follow me, Master,” Julius took the lead, opening his mouth to taste the air. “If we find trouble, you know I’ll gladly defend your life with my power.”

“I appreciate it,” the boy replied from beneath the mask, “You’re the only one I can rely on when things get rough. Hopefully I won’t need your power, but…”

“This way,” Julius cut him off, carefully prowling through and around some food stalls towards where he last saw the vampboy.

Meanwhile, with Diamond Tiara…

“That’s weird…I can’t find dad anywhere,” the pink girl stopped to ponder what happened to her father. She pulled out her phone and dialed…no answer. Next, she’d stop to look at the texts she had sent him over the course of the last hour. “...Still on read. Dammit, daddy, where are you? We’re supposed to be enjoying this together…”

“Sup, Tiara?” Applebloom appeared, wearing her best set of eastern robes with apples all over that had been custom made by Rarity. She was suckling on a candied piece of sushi with apples in it. “How ya’ll doin’ tonight?”

“I’m fine,” she replied with a smile, “Just looking for my dad. Have you seen him?”

“Oh yeah--I think I saw him headin’ up’ta one’a them there buildin’s nearby,” she explained while pointing at once of the office buildings near the fairgrounds, “Guess he had’ta handle some business.”

“Darn…” Tiara sighed, slumping her shoulders, “Here’s hoping he doesn’t take too long. Thanks for the heads-up, Applebloom.”

“No prollem…” the apple girl decided to quickly change the subject in order to make things better. “So…how’s yer lil’ date with Keiji?” she asked teasingly.

“Wh--it’s not a date,” she huffed in response, “He’s just…watching over Silver Spoon and I--”

Applebloom simply snickered with a sly grin. “Hot damn. He’s baggin’ both of ‘em? Lucky feller he is.” She then spoke aloud, “It’s alright. You ain’t gotta tell me. Buuuuut I can tell he’s a bit more social and involved cuz of ya. Whatever ya did, ya did him well.”

Tiara shyly kicked the ground. “...All I did was treat him like anyone else would.”

“That’s the thing--not everyone’s willin’ta treat people the same way. Some people are mean and treat people differently just cuzza where they came from. I mean, honestly…” she rolled her eyes from merely thinking about it. “But you didn’t--you showed him kindness and now he likes ya both.”

“I…don’t see how that’s possible,” Tiara replied with a nervous chuckle and shook her head, “I’m not exactly…anyway, it was good talking to you, but I gotta go!” And with that, she ran off, leaving a confused Applebloom to simply shrug and be on her way…

“I can totally see it happenin’.”

Arc XXIII Episode VII: Festival Chat

With Aidon…

The shadowman was busy taking in the scenery of the festival scenery when he bumped into someone familiar.

“Oh, hey teach,” Aria spoke casually as she stopped in front of him. “Looking for someone? Wait, no--of course you are. You’ve got this sorta…hopeful look in your eye.”

“Hello Ms. Blaze and…” he adjusted his glasses and replied, “...I do? How can you tell?”

Aria rolled her eyes with a slight smile on her face. “All you ‘adult’ folk tend to get like that when you’re missing something.” She folded her arms. “Lemme guess, you’re looking for Luna, huh?”

“W-well…if she’s available…” Aidon replied with uncertainty. “If not then…it’s not a big deal.”

“....Come on, guys, gimme some info.” Aria turned around and looked at her phone for a moment. Once she received the text message she was looking for, she turned to Aidon once more and told him what she knew. “Oh uh…I think one of my friends saw her walking up one of the hills towards the springs.”

“That does sound like her,” he agreed, “That woman doesn’t generally enjoy an overload of flashing lights and colors. Who can blame her? I imagine that’s why this only comes around during the Summer.”

Aria shook her head and pushed Aidon in the direction of the hill. “Listen, uh…I’m almost certain that she’s up there. Go on and have a chat with her. I’m sure she wants to see you too. And make sure you call out for her so she doesn’t leave off before you get there.”

“That’s…a good idea,” he muttered as he started walking off towards the hill. “I’ll be seeing you, Ms. Blaze.”

As Aidon left, Aria sighed to herself and looked at her phone again. “Good. He’s on his way there. Now we can rest easy knowing they’re finally gonna meet up with each other.”

Meanwhile, Aidon continued to walk away from the festival grounds and up the nearby hill. Eventually, he’d finally find who he was looking for: a blue-skinned woman in eastern robes sitting on a lone bench at the top of it.

“...Luna?” he called out to her.

And almost immediately, she perked up, calling out his name with a hint of excitement in her voice. “...Aidon?!” she paused to gather herself. “Ahem…I mean…what are you doing here?”

“...the brightness and sensory overload of the festival itself was a bit much for me after a while,” he explained as he reached the top of the hill. “I prefer the nice, quiet confines of my home or office where I can think to myself, you know?”

“Yes…I can certainly feel that,” she replied while pushing her index fingers together, “Although, there is some fun to be had when things go right.”

“For sure,” he said with a smile, “There’s so many different ways to apply equations to solve the problems that some of these festival games present. It’s actually quite intriguing…” He caught himself mid-sentence and stopped. “Er…but you probably don’t want to listen to me explain all that.”

But to his surprise, Luna was ecstatic to hear more, actively patting the empty seat on the bench beside her. “Nonono! I mean…erm…please. I do wish to hear more about your passions. Come sit with me, Aidon.”

“Oh…alright…” He did just that, taking a seat on the bench next to Luna, to which the blue woman would continue with another question.

“So…Aidon--you are from Equestria, yes?”

“...correct,” he answered carefully.

“And you have the powers of a shadow…?”

“No…I am shadowpony,” he explained, “We’re a rare breed. Aside from King Sombra and The Pony Of Shadows--both of whom were purged--there aren’t too many of us left in the known dimensions.”

Luna’s expression fell as she looked at the ground. “I see…” she then looked up at him once more. “That…is unfortunate. However, what I’d like to know is: Where exactly did your passion for mathematics come from?”

“...Hm?” Aidon tilted his head.

“Well…I highly doubt Tartarus has anything in the way of education,” she continued, wondering about the land he hailed from, “And it sounded as if you were banished here almost immediately after leaving the underworld. When did you have the time to study math in such…interesting depth?"

Aidon folded his arms and sat back against the bench as he gave it some thought. “Well…I suppose it came about when I was first brought into this world. It was actually about…10 years ago, believe it or not. I had become so…distressed and displeased with myself that I had fallen into…I suppose you could call it a depressive state?”

“...Depressive…?” Luna muttered in horror as she looked away for a moment, taking time to reflect on her own life and the similarities to the man sitting next to her. “I…I can empathize with that. But please, do go on, Aidon.”

Aidon nodded and continued upon her request. “...Alright then. So…to distract myself and keep myself from becoming a destructive force due to my sadness, I decided to focus on something else. Something that would keep my mind distracted for as long as I needed it.”

“...Math, correct?” Luna asked.

“Bingo.”

Arc XXIII Episode IX: Festival Companions

A few minutes before the fireworks, with Keiji and Silver Spoon…

The vampboy had gotten up to refill his drink, when he noticed a peculiar white cat from the corner of his eye. “What the…? Again?”

But the next time he blinked, the cat was gone--disappearing as if it was never there in the first place. “Gah--must be a Lucky Cat Statue,” he reasoned to himself, “Not gonna let any crazy magical bullcrap ruin today--er, tonight.”

Soon enough, Diamond Tiara had returned to their table, and started to chat with Silver Spoon.

“So, how was he?” she asked her gray-colored friend.

“...for a ruffian, he’s actually very insightful,” Spoon remarked as she glanced at Keiji from afar, “I honestly think he just uses that ‘tough-guy’ exterior to cover up his softer side. I mean, he likes to knit, embroider, and crochet--though the last one is his best skill.”

“Wow, for real?” Tiara asked with an interested tone, “But did you get a feel for him as a person? What’s he like around you?”

Spoon raised a brow, then smirked. “You seem to be rather interested in how he is when you’re not around. Gettin’ a bit jelly, Di?”

“No,” she replied flatly, “I just wanna know how well he held a conversation with you.”

With her elbows on the table, Spoon interlocked both sets of her fingers and went on, “It’s crazy because as I said--he’s not a dickwad like most of the ones we see. He kinda…puts it on. Like a mask that he sometimes takes off.”

“...So you’re saying his antsy, ‘I hate everything’ side isn’t the real him?” Tiara asked.

“Not quite…” Spoon shook her head. “I think a better way to put it would be to describe him like an onion: He’s got layers and each one is actually more powerful than the last. There’s more to him than what’s on the surface.”

“I see…” Tiara nodded as she placed a finger on her chin, “I suppose that makes sense. We all kinda act differently depending on who we’re talking to, ya know?”

“Yeah…exactly,” Spoon added with a sigh, “Just wish we could help him embrace his real self around us.to where he’d feel comfortable treating us as close friends.”

“...Or maybe…” Tiara thought to herself as she stared off into space for a moment.

Which Spoon quickly snapped her out of. “Hey. Are you thinking about--”

“N-noI’mnot!” Tiara cut her friend off, preemptively denying any accusations with an uncertain smile. “I mean…I’m not thinking about anything at all.”

That’s when Silver Spoon realized what the nervous look on her friend’s face meant. “Ohhh…I see now. You think we should totally take him on as our--”

“A what-now?”

Keiji suddenly appeared, placing a drink for Silver Spoon and himself, “What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing!” Tiara replied with a nervous smile, “We were just talking about…stuff. Like…uhh…” she desperately looked to Silver Spoon for a response with her eyes widening.

“How we’d love to go get masks once we’re finished eating,” Spoon commented as she sipped her drink through a straw, “There’s so many nice little trinkets we can find out here that we’d like you to show us where to go next, Keiji.”

“Yeah--you’re an expert on all this stuff, right?” Tiara asked with a pleading grin.

Keiji rolled his eyes, then gave his usual grin of serrated teeth. “Of course…sure, why not? Although, did you find your dad, Deets?”

Tiara shook her head. “Nah…apparently he went to a nearby office building to do some business. I guess someone running the festival needs his approval for something.”

“...Strange,” Spoon commented, “I hope he’ll be okay.”

Keiji started to think to himself about what he heard from Shinji the other day. “Hm…is it possible that….?”

FWOOOOOSH--CRACK!

Just then, the fireworks started to go off, lighting up the sky above them with various flashing colors.

“Oooh…” Tiara and Spoon both stared at the sky with wide eyes as they took in the beautiful, sparkly visuals.

“I need to make sure they’re both safe.” That’s when Keiji had an idea. “Okay, girlies--change of plans. We’re gonna head to one of those hills and watch the fireworks--uh, together.”

Silver Spoon shot him a teasing smile. “Well, aren't you just the smooth little romantic all the sudden.”

Tiara playfully nudged Spoon with her elbow. “C’mon, Silver. Don’t be mean, he’s just trying to show us a good time. Can’t blame him for that, can you?”

“Nah, I’m just screwing with him,” Spoon added and looked at Keiji. “Lead the way, big guy.”

“Sure--just follow me.”

With that, Keiji would lead them to one of the hills away from the bright festival lights where they could all sit on the grass and watch the fireworks with a much clearer view. The vampboy sat in between the two rich girls as they all looked up at the sky.

“...Now this is much better,” he commented as he lay upon the grass on his back. “Now we can properly see everything as they go off.”

“He’s right…” Tiara muttered with a wondrous tone, “The sky is much prettier when we’re away from the festival’s lights.”

“Makes sense,” Spoon remarked as she adjusted her glasses, “Being a vampire-pony, it’s only natural that he’d know the best dark spots to hang around. Next thing you know, he’ll try and bite us to make him a part of his little vamp-harem.”

“He wouldn’t do that!” Tiara playfully snapped back as she pinched Keiji on his cheek. “Would you, my widdle vampy friend?”

“Ugh--can you like, not?” Keiji complained and swatted her hand away. “You’re cramping my style. Don’t do that.”

“Jokes aside, I think you’re pretty fun to hang out with, Kei,” Spoon commented as she put an arm around Keiji’s shoulder, “You just might be worth our time after all.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied with a grin, “Nice to hear that people actually care about me in this world.”

Not to be outdone, Tiara put her arm around him as well, effectively hugging him between the both of them. “Hey now, I care about him too. He’s like, a really close friend!”

“Oh really?”

“Really.”

"Really?"

"Really."

They both glared at each other for a moment before devolving into immature snickering.

Keiji shook his head and laughed along with them. “...Ya’ll are something else.”

Arc XXIII Episode X: Festival Confusion

Inside of a nearby office building…

“The money’s all there, sir,” Filthy Rich huffed as he slammed a bag on a desk in front of him, “After this, we’re through, ya hear me?”

“Of course you’d like things to be over that quickly, old friend…”

Rich slammed his hands down on the desk and yelled at the tattooed man sitting behind it. “Old f--listen here, Mr. Hishi. I ain’t workin’ with you no more after this. You can kiss all that blood money goodbye.”

“And I suppose you can kiss your daughter’s safety goodbye as well, hm?” he replied as he casually lit up a cigarette.

“Don’t play games with me, Hattori,” Rich continued, “We’re here on my turf. I run this city and everyone in it. You don’t wanna go to war with me.”

And yet Hattori, the boss of the group, would laugh it off. “Your threats are empty. I’ve already eliminated those that I’ve found a nuisance, and I’ll do it again if necessary. Your daughter would merely be another insect in the grand scheme of things…”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Rich hissed in return, “You’d die tryin’, old timer. Age don’t mean nothin’ unless ya got the skills’ta back it up.”

“You say that now, but don’t forget that we have the Apple Family wrapped around our fingers,” the man continued, “That’s your primary source of income, is it not? It’s currently under our control without them or you even realizing.”

Rich raised a brow, not quite believing what the man was saying at that moment. “Hmph. Even if that were true, there ain’t no way, I’m lettin’ you threaten my daughter. You can damn well try all ya want, but it ain’t gonna change, nothin’!” And without giving his business partner a chance to respond, Rich stormed out of the room, and subsequently left the building.

Hattori sighed as his eldest son, Tatsuya, emerged from the shadows.

“Want me to rough him up, pops? I think it’s time that old bastard learned his place among us.”

“Baka--don’t be foolish,” his father replied, “This is his city. Not ours. We have to play by differing rules compared to back home. For now, simply observe whatever you can--lest your horrid younger brother mess up his position yet again.”

Tatsu folded his arms and scoffed. “Tch. Trust me. I’ve been preparing for the day he makes a mistake just so I can take my rightful place as the boss. But you insist on giving Shinji another chance, so eh. Don’t blame me if something doesn’t go right, pops.”

Outside…

After talking to Flash Sentry, Sunset had just received a text that confirmed that their newest maths professor and the vice principal had finally hit it off.

“Yes. Perfect!” she cheered to herself, “Now I can relax knowing that they’re alright.”

But just then, she felt an odd sensation of something rather magical in the area. Something…abnormal that sent a strange aura up her spine.

“What the heck…? Where could this feeling be coming from?” she thought to herself while carefully shifting her eyes around the festival grounds.

And from the corner of her eye, she could see a white cat that swiftly pounced in, and out of existence.

“Could that have something to do with it? Just looks like a normal cat to me. Hmm…well, if there’s anyone who knows animals best, I need to ask her for her help as soon as I see her.” With that in mind, she set out to find Fluttershy…

Nearby…

“You think that’s what’ll get him to stop harassing me?” Rainbow Dash asked Adagio, “Are you sure that’s completely ethical?”

“Is it ethical for one person to constantly harass another?” Adagio asked in return, “No. I don’t think so. By working a bit of my magic, it’ll be better in the long run before he gets his face smashed in by either you or the police.”

“...Yeah, you’re right,” Dash agreed, and looked to her friend, “Any objections, Fluttershy?”

Surprisingly, the usually-calm girl was in a state of unrest, throwing her hands up right before grabbing her drink off of the table they were all sitting at. “Eh. Do whatever you want. My patience with Breeze is running so thin you could snap it in half like a strand of dry spaghetti. Since mom and dad never bothered to discipline him, it kinda falls to me as his older sister.” She put her drink down and put her hands together. “Buuuut…since I don’t exactly know the best way to go about doing that, I’m enlisting your help for that reason, Adagio.”

“Trust me,” Adagio replied as she placed a hand on her chest, “After engaging my little plan, he won’t even think about putting his hands on your friend.”

Dash shuddered in her seat. “Good. The last thing I want is to have to worry about walking home by myself. Or worse: Knocking one of his teeth out and being labeled a public threat for harming a civvie.”

“...I don’t think it’d go down that way, Rainbow,” Fluttershy tried to reason with her.

“Pfft. Yeah right--that’s how it is all the time in comics,” Dash went on, “Superheroes are often taunted or baited into attacking someone and then the public hates them for defending themselves because the person in question made it look like they--the civilian--were the victim.”

Adagio tried to comfort her, “Well this way, we can absolve you of any and all--”

But their conversation was interrupted by a wild Sunset Shimmer appearing.

“Fluttershy. Glad I found you--mind if I steal you for a bit? There’s this…cat that I think is…lost,” she danced around the real reason.

And like that, her expression changed to concern for a lost little animal. “Oh no…don’t worry. I can help. Show me where it is.” She then turned to Rainbow and Adagio, “You two can keep going. I’ve got something more important to deal with.”

“No prob,” Dash replied, “I’ll text you if I see a cat roaming around here.”

“Fine by me,” Adagio said.

“Great. This way, Fluttershy,” Sunset beckoned her, to which Fluttershy promptly followed…

Arc XXIII Episode XI: Festival Observations

“Okay, Sunset--where did you last see the kitty?” Fluttershy asked with a concerned tone, “With the numerous festivalgoers walking around, it’s likely that its little tail might get stepped on.”

“Actually, it’s a bit more than that,” Sunset continued as she stopped and addressed Fluttershy directly, “I just didn’t wanna mention it in front of Rainbow because she’d--”

“Fly off the proverbial handle as soon as she gets an inkling of an idea that the cat could be magical?” Fluttershy asked with a raised brow.

Sunset paused and stared at her with an impressed expression--mixed with a hint of shock, “...wow, Fluttershy. You pretty much hit the nail on the head. How did you--”

Fluttershy giggled and replied, “I’ve known Dashie since we were little. She’d always jump at the chance to protect me if something looked bad…even if there was no problem to begin with.”

“Of course, if there really is something going on, I’ll be sure to tell her,” Sunset explained, “But I just wanna make sure this cat is really a magical cat. Otherwise, I think I’m just panicking over nothing as usual…”

“Don’t worry, that’s what I’m here for,” Fluttershy proclaimed while pointing at herself with her thumb, “Now which way did it go?”

“I think it went this way,” Sunset pointed down one of the paths that led to a trail away from the festival, “C’mon. Follow me.”

The pair walked down that trail, away from the bright festival lights. It wasn’t long before Fluttershy’s magical abilities would activate, and give her the impression that a wayward animal was nearby.

“I can feel it,” she spoke up, “A small white cat with yellow eyes. You were right to be worried, Sunset. I can sense something…particular about it. I can’t quite put my finger on it though.”

“Hm…whatever the case, lead the way,” Sunset replied, “You’re the animal expert here, so I’m following you--”

But before Sunset could finish that sentence, Fluttershy had already taken off, running ahead of Sunset and leaving the latter speechless.

“...or just run off ahead before I can finish speaking,” Sunset snarked as she started walking after her, “That works too.”

Fluttershy kept looking around, and knelt down on one of her knees as she rounded one of the trail’s corners. “Aha. There he is.”

Sure enough, there was a white cat looming over the horizon of the night. Its tail swishing about as if it was on the prowl, looking for a field mouse…

“Okay,” Sunset squinted her eyes to get a better view of it in the distance. “How should we approach this thing?”

“Let me take point,” Fluttershy declared with a steeled expression on her face, “This little guy might not actually be lost. You never want to approach an animal with the intent of asserting dominance. That’ll only cause it to go on the defensive. A cornered beast will bare its fangs--remember that, Sunset,” she turned to look at Sunset before slowly walking towards the cat, nearly crouching to the ground.

“Wow--I didn’t realize Fluttershy was so intense about animals,” Sunset commented as she watched Fluttershy sneak into a bush. “Guess there’s still some things I don’t know about my friends, huh?”

With Fluttershy…

Slowly but surely, she approached the cat and when she was close enough, started to observe its movements.

“Alright, now what are you doing out here, little friend?”

She was about to have her answer.

Moments later, Shinji appeared and walked up to his cat. “Alright. I believe I saw them just around the corner. We should be able to get a proper read on their power once we get closer, Jules.”

“Are you certain?” Julius replied with a flick of his tail, “One wrong move and we could be spotted with our operation could be blown wide open before we even begin.”

“Don’t worry,” Shinji tried to comfort his companion by patting him on the head, “I’ve got everything we need. Including the Compendium should we need to access it,” he said in reference to the book he was carrying under his arm. “Though I highly doubt we’ll need to use it. Their strength pales in comparison to yours--we won’t even need to involve my father in this nonsense. His methods have always been far too extreme if you ask me.”

“I’m fully aware, Master Shinjiro. The way your father handled situations such as the Apple Crisis five years ago was highly unnecessary. Do you think you can break free of his methods?”

“I do,” Shinji confirmed with a nod.
Julius hopped down off of the fence he had been resting on, and started walking ahead of him. “Then let’s go secure our place in this world. I won’t let anyone pull the rug out from under you, my friend. You don’t deserve that, no matter what happens.”

“Thanks…I can rest easy knowing you feel that way, Julius. Now come on,” Shinji replied as he started to walk off towards the festival grounds once more.

Once they were gone, Fluttershy emerged from the bush she had been hiding within, and stroked her chin as she put her mind to the scenario that she had just watched unfold in front of her.

“Hrm…very interesting indeed,” she muttered to herself, “So the kitty can talk like Spike could, and he and his owner have access to some sort of power that we don’t know about yet.”

“What did you find out?” Sunset asked as she walked up to Fluttershy.

“Something about an ‘Apple Crisis’,” Fluttershy relayed, “Could it have something to do with Applejack?”

“No use standing around and wondering,” Sunset replied, “I’ll go ask her. You keep an eye on on new furry friend.”

“Oh-ho don’t worry,” Fluttershy reached into her robe and pulled out her phone. “I’ve got more plans for that than you know, Sunset.”

Arc XXIII Episode XII: Festival Concerns

With Applejack…

Surprisingly, the farm gal had actually purchased herself a set of festival robes. They were rather plain and simple with a mere red color scheme with apples across it, but to her, it was a much better alternative compared to having Rarity make one for her…

But with her sister Applebloom off busy with her Crusader friends, and her elder brother Big Mac likely resting with Sugar Belle somewhere in the festival, Applejack was on her own, idly nibbling on a caramel fuji apple as she watched the fireworks.

That is, until Sunset appeared--having spotted her due to noticing the Apple gal’s iconic brown hat.

“There you are, AJ,” she greeted her as she approached, “How’s it going?”

“Oh it’s swell,” she replied with a chuckle, “Everybody’s havin’ a grand ol’ time. Mah sister’s off with her friends, and I think I saw Keiji hangin’ with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.” She chuckled at the thought. “Lil’ feller is out there makin’ moves.”

“Wow, he must be a piece of work if he can manage to get on their good sides,” Sunset remarked, noting just how rough around the edges Tiara and Spoon could be from the gossip she had heard. “While that’s good, I’ve actually got a question to ask.”

“Yeah? What’s up, Sunset?”

Sunset took care to choose her next words carefully. “Okay. This is gonna sound weird but...I heard from a talking white cat with yellow eyes that said something called the ‘Apple Crisis’ from five years ago. It was walking alongside this boy with blu-ish green skin. Know anything about that?”

“...”

Applejack froze in place and averted her gaze from Sunset for a moment as she gave it some thought.

“Five years ago…that’s when ma and pa…”

Applejack shook her head and tried her best to stave off those feelings of doubt and guilt. Unfortunately, the one thing she wasn’t exactly good at was telling a lie.

“N-naw…? A-at least, I don’t think I know nothin’ about that,” she danced around the subject rather poorly with her eyes darting around as she scratched the back of her head. “Nothin’ you need’ta worry about is ringin’ a bell.”

Naturally, Sunset was skeptical of this, as she could always tell when Applejack was trying to avoid the truth. Being the most honest person in town did come with drawbacks such as not being able to properly cover your own tracks--something Sunset was able to tell right away.

However, given how sensitive Applejack appeared to be regarding the subject, Sunset wondered if it would be okay to pry deeper at all.

“...should I even ask anything else? I don’t wanna make her feel uncomfortable.”

“Alright, well…if you’re sure,” Sunset brushed it off, “It was probably a baseless rumor put out there just to throw you off anyway. Don’t let it get to you, alright?” she tried to console her friend by putting her hand on Applejack’s shoulder.

To which the farm gal replied with a nod and a forced smile. “Thanks, Sunset. That makes me feel better already.”

“Anytime,” Sunset replied as she took a step back, “If you need me, I’ll be hanging with Fluttershy over by the park.”

Meanwhile, with the nobility trio…

Diamond Tiara was idly watching the fireworks with Silver Spoon and Keiji when she suddenly felt her phone buzz. “Hm?” She looked down, and noticed that it was because of a text message that she had just received. This caused her to immediately rise from her seat on the grass. “Shoot--it’s my dad. I’ll be right back, okay guys?”

“Want us to come with you?” Keiji asked, noting the amount of concern in Tiara’s voice.

Silver Spoon paused for a moment when she realized that Keiji had asked her friend how she felt. “...He really does care, huh?” Then she focused on Tiara herself and asked, “Yeah, we could probably provide you with some moral support. Is everything okay, Di?”

“I dunno…” Tiara looked at her phone for a moment, then at her two closest friends. She ultimately decided in favor of them. “..but yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m sorry, guys. I know we’re trying to relax, but I feel like my dad could be in danger.”

“No sweat,” Keiji tightened up his robe and stood up alongside Silver Spoon. “We’re here for ya. Right, Silvy?”

Spoon simply rolled her eyes in response to the nickname, and put a hand on Tiara’s shoulder. “He’s right. You’ve got us to rely on, so we’ll be here for you. Don’t worry.”

With this in mind, Tiara was visibly more relaxed as she started walking down the hill. “Thanks, guys. Alright, he’s right down this way…”

The trio walked down the hill towards a park near the festival--away from all of the excitement where Filthy Rich was. The man could be seen sipping from a flask of some kind.

Tiara would approach her father and question him. “...Dad? Is everything alright? Please don’t tell me you and mom are fighting again…”

“No no, nothing like that,” he explained immediately, “It’s nothin’ to do with her at all. Just…a work friend of mine. I know you were concerned, so I wanted to explain it to you in person. Hope I didn’t freak you out, sweetie.”

The explanation put Tiara somewhat at ease because she was relieved that it wasn’t an issue involving her parents. However, she was now more curious over what exactly it was her father was dealing with.

“Well that’s good, but…is everything okay at work?” she tilted her head, “You seem…kinda stressed out.”

Rich placed his hand over his face to hide the fact that he had actually been crying. “I’m…I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I just needed to…call it quits with a certain someone, let’s say.”

Tiara sat next to her father on the bench and tried her best to console him. “Don’t worry…no matter what happens, we still have each other, right?”

“...You’re right.”

As the two continued talking…

Keiji and Silver Spoon observed from where they stood.

“Does your old man ever get like that?” Keiji asked Spoon, “Poor guy looks like a nervous wreck.”

“No…his job is actually relatively cushy because he works at his own pace,” Spoon explained with a sigh, “It’s why I worry for Di so much. Her family seems like they’re always stressed out for some reason or another when mine is so relaxed. It’s why I hang around her so much, ya know?”

“Admirable…” Keiji folded his arms. “Admirable indeed.”

Meanwhile, in a nearby tree…

“They’re all here. Pops is gonna have to respect me if I bring ‘em in.”

Arc XXIII Episode XIII: Festival Demons

The festival…for the most part would continue without much of a hitch surprisingly enough. While Shinji was busy observing Sunset and her friends from afar--that’s genuinely all it amounted to: Observation. Both he and Julius simply took note of the power they possessed and kept a close watch on the girls from a safe distance. They knew full well that attacking someone with so many people around would get them spotted and immediately taken down.

Outside the festival, however…

Tatsuya had carefully hidden himself within a tree while watching the conversation that Mr. Rich and his daughter were having. Then he laid eyes on Keiji and immediately redirected his focus to the vampboy.

“Shit. It’s gonna be twice as hard getting through them with him in the way. Guess I’ll need to figure out what his potential weaknesses are before I get too close. The old man wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I went down first. Maybe I’ll just let Shinji handle the grunt work and come in to clean up when his dumbass inevitably shits the bed.”

Meanwhile…

One of Keiji’s ears wiggled, and he tilted his head slightly to the left. With his enhanced hearing, he could suss out the fact that someone had been watching them.

“Hm…”

Silver Spoon noticed the look of concern on his face and asked. “...Keiji? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, just…got this weird feeling that someone’s looking at us,” he spoke in a low tone to keep his suspicions from being recognizable, “Dunno for sure but we need to be careful.”

“Looks like he can sense my presence,” Tatsu thought to himself as he slipped further away into the shadows of the bushes surrounding the park, “Guess I better make my exit before they find me out. Wouldn’t want them to see me before I’m ready.”

As soon as his presence was gone, Keiji found himself at ease. “Hm…maybe it was nothing. Nevermind.”

BLAM!

The sound of an explosion followed by the sound of broken wood could be heard from the other side of the festival! Most of the festivalgoers didn’t realize what it was due to the noise being somewhat drowned out by the fireworks. But Keiji--with his enhanced hearing--was visibly startled and shaken by it as he collapsed to the ground and took a knee while clutching his chest.

“What the--?!”

Silver Spoon knelt down next to him with a wide, concerned set of eyes. “What happened? Did you feel something else?”

“...an explosion on the other end of the park,” Keiji explained as he stood up. “I need to go. You guys stay here!” And without another word, he took off towards the source of the noise…

The cause of it?

Ten minutes earlier…

Applejack was thinking hard to herself about what Sunset had told her. “Apple crisis…five years ago. Where in blue blazes did that come from? That can’t have just come from nowhere.” She sighed, lamenting the fact that she didn’t ask her friend for more information. “Darnit. Wish I woulda been more open instead’a dodgin’ the question like some emotional wreck. What’s wrong with me?”

That’s when she laid eyes on Shinji--or rather, noticed him from the corner of her eye. And down beside him was a white cat with yellow eyes…just as Sunset had described.

“Could that be them? Are they startin’ up trouble?” Applejack wondered to herself. “No…gotta act rational. Can’t just fly off the handle. Keep yerself together, ol’ girl.”

But the next time she blinked, she watched as both Shinji and his cat suspiciously looked around themselves and quickly faded into the crowd of the festival--as if they were satisfied with what they had seen.

“No…they was definitely spyin’ on me,” Applejack thought to herself, “Sunset’s words were probably a warnin’. I need’ta git after ‘em before they do anythin’ weird.”

With her mind made up, Applejack chose to follow the young man and his cat, eventually finding herself on the other end of the festival lot searching for them.

From their perspective…

“We’re being followed,” Julius notified Shinjiro, “It’s entirely plausible that one of them have caught onto what we’re doing here. We can’t be too careful.”

“I see…” Shinji replied, “Don’t worry. Whoever it is, we’ll smooth things over and make sure they’re none the wiser.”

Julius flicked his tail. “The energy I’m feeling is rather hostile and unstable. Whoever’s after us is rather powerful and should be considered dangerous, my lord. I suggest we remain on our guard.”

Shinji was not prepared for Applejack’s appearance as she walked up to confront both him and his cat.

“Howdy,” she said with a low tone, eyes narrowed, “I noticed ya’ll were lookin’ at me for quite a while back there. Do ya need somethin’?”

“Isn’t that one of the Apple family’s children?” Shinji passed his thoughts to Julius via telepathy. “She’s probably pissed at us for what my old man did.”

“Stand down. I’ll handle her myself if I have to,” Julius responded as he stood in front of his owner, “You need to get yourself somewhere safe.”

“Bullshit. I’m not leaving you!”

“Hello?” Applejack called out, having stood there in silence as they communicated with each other mentally. “Anybody home? Or are ya just a mad dog that likes oglin’ gals?”

“That’s…not it at all,” Shinji replied defensively, “I just happened to be looking in your direction. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

“Yer lyin’,” Applejack snapped coldly as she took a powerful step forward. Cracks in the hard asphalt spread out from where she stomped. “Don’t mess around with me, boah. I’m not that many apples short of a bushel as I look. I ain’t gonna ask you again: What was ya lookin’ at me for?”

Threatened by Applejack’s strength, Julius refused to wait any longer. “Enough of this. She’s going to attack!”

Shinji looked down and yelped, “Jules, no!”

BLAM!

An explosion occurred…and when the dust settled, there was a giant white tiger with gray stripes along its body in place of the small domesticated cat from before. It was easily as large as a car!

All Applejack had to say was, “WHAT IN TARNATION--?!”

Arc XXIII Episode XIV: Festival Combat

“Master Shinji, save yourself,” Julius retained the ability to speak in his giant white tiger form. “I’ll deal with her myself.”

In an instant, Applejack was able to read between the lines and figure out that they weren’t exactly being honest with her. “You…I bet ya’ll had somethin’ta do with mah parents. Didn’tcha?”

“No!” Shinji refuted her outright, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I had absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of your parents!”

Applejack took another thunderous step towards them, causing another crack to appear in the ground beneath her. “...How do ya know they disappeared? Only close family was even told that. Ya’ll know somethin’ thatcha ain’t tellin’ me!” her voice rose in loudness as she spoke, becoming more enraged even in the face of a massive demonic feline.

“Hmm…” Julius’ hesitance indicated that there was some knowledge that he truly was privy to, but the way he shut his eyes indicated that he was unsure of how to respond to her in that moment. “No good. No matter what I say, she’ll end up too enraged to listen to reason.”

Having tapped into the thoughts of his companion, Shinji stared at Julius with a concerned pair of eyes with shrunken pupils. “Jules. Do you know something that I don’t?”

By now, Applejack’s eastern robes had started to flow in the wind from the sheer power that was her magic flaring up, granting her a fiery orange aura that surrounded her body along with most of it concentrating into her fists.

“I don’t wanna hurt ya’ll, so this is yer last chance. Tell me whatcha know. Now.”

At last, Julius opened his eyes and replied, “If you desperately seek to open Pandora’s Box, then come at me. Only if you can manage to defeat me will I explain anything to you.”

“What are you saying?!” Shinji yelped, “You don’t need to fight her off. This is a waste of our time.”

“It’s only the fair thing to do as a creature of honor,” Julius replied, “For your own safety, I suggest you vacate the premises immediately.”

Applejack punched her right hand into her left hand’s open palm. “Ya’ll wanna go, then? Alrighty. I’ve been lookin’ta flex mah magic anyway. But once I beat ya, yer gonna tell me everythin’ ya know about mah folks, understand?”

The big tiger took a step forward, “Yes. That is the condition I have put forth for the proposed battle. We shall commence immediately--”

“HOLD UP, BITCHES--!”

SHING!

With a slash of his sword, Keiji made his entrance, interrupting the conversation they were having and forcing Shinji to dodge the attack. In a rare moment of critical thinking, he assessed the situation at hand, and purposefully engaged Shinji in combat to separate him from his feline companion.

“Ayo, you and me, dawg--we’re doing this now,” he commented while sidestepping away from Applejack and the tiger.

“Grrr…seems I have no choice now,” Shinji took out his book from before. “Just a reminder, you brought this on yourself.”

“That book…it looks familiar,” Keiji thought to himself then spoke aloud while tapping the dull side of his sword over his shoulder. “Yeah yeah that just kinda comes with the territory. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I quite frankly just want a normal day where nothing goes wrong for me and my buddies. Is that too much to ask? Because I feel like that shouldn’t be too much to ask--”

“Has anyone ever told you you talk far too much?” Shinji shut the tome closed and from behind him, a giant, humanoid demon with red skin holding a spear. “Come forth, Oni. Lend me your power.”

In a flash, Shinji absorbed the power of the demon, giving him a powerful red aura from his body that emitted as he grabbed onto the spear.

Keiji was visibly taken aback for a moment as he watched Shinji absorb its power, taking a step backwards as he glared at the guy. “That’s one of the demons from my homeland. How was he able to just summon one out of the blue like that?”

But before he had any more time to think about it, Shinji leapt into the air with intent to strike him down with a swing from the polearm blade.

CLANG!

Sparks flew as the tip of the spear collided with the pavement where Keiji once stood. “Woah!” Keiji gasped right when he dodged just in time, leaping backwards in equal measure with his right hand grasping at the ground--his sword still clutched tightly in his left.

This was then followed up by Shinji lunging at Keiji with the spear, spinning to attack him with it from the right side. Due to the fact that the lance was able to outrange the sword--or the spear and katana in this case--Keiji was at a disadvantage and consistently kept on the back foot.

The vampboy was forced to dodge yet again, and raised his sword to block the tip of the spear at the last second when Shinji went in for another strike. They were locked in a momentary struggle in which they tried to overpower each other with their respective weapons, granting a quick space to speak.

Keiji grunted through the struggle, and bemoaned Shinji’s presence “Grrrr...What’s your deal? Why do you insist on popping up and making things more stressful for everyone at every turn? Can’t you just let a guy have a break for once?!”

“Blame the apple girl,” Shinji replied coldly, “She refused to back down even after I had repeatedly stated I had no idea what she was talking about. This is the exact problem with her and her friends! They’re abusing their power to assert themselves over others! They don’t deserve to have them!”

“What--?!” Keiji was cut off as Shinji kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying into the nearest bush with a thud! and shaggy rustling of the leaves. “Oof…what the hell is he talking about…?”

Arc XXIII Episode XV: Festival Defeat

With Applejack…

The apple gal was locked in a fierce battle against the giant tiger. From its maw, Julius breathed a wide gale of electricity that fanned out in a beam in the surrounding area. Applejack managed to dodge just in time--jumping out of the way and skidding across the ground.

Thankfully, the robes she was wearing managed to withstand most of the damage in the fight. Likely thanks to augmentations from a certain someone. Nevertheless, Applejack recovered quickly by hopping onto her feet. That’s when she noticed a rather large log sitting in the grass next to her.

When she stood upright, she could see the tiger running at her with thunderous weight underneath its paws. With his claws unsheathed, Julius was prepared to lunge at Applejack, but she seemingly wasn’t intimidated. In fact, Applejack stared the beast down, narrowing her eyes as if she was waiting for just the right moment to retaliate…

Applejack cracked her knuckles and reached for the log, grabbing it by the sides and swung it directly at Julius--!

THUD!

The result was a severe physical attack that caused the log to disintegrate on contact with the tiger’s face, and shatter into thousands of tiny splinters that would become lodged in his body as he was tossed aside from the force of the attack. Julius flopped along the ground, and gave a painful hiss as he slid into a nearby tree.

But Applejack wasn’t done. She immediately followed this up by sprinting at the tiger, and tackling him against the tree before yelling in his face. “What do ya know about mah parents?! Answer me, ya oversized varmint!”

“Dgghh!” Julius screeched under his breath. Applejack held him in place with enough strength to keep him from moving. It was enough to impress the magical cat monster. “I suppose I may have underestimated this situation as well as this young lady’s abilities. I don’t want to throw my life away, Shinji. We may have to retreat.”

With Shinji…

The two had resumed their battle. Keiji had activated his vampiric abilities which gave him even more strength and agility given that they were under the cover of nightfall. Once he shut his eyes, he could predict Shinji’s movements with his innate echolocation and seamlessly dodge his attacks.

Unfortunately, he was still outmatched. Due to the sheer length of Shinji’s spear--dwarfing that of Keiji’s katan given that it was twice the size of the vampboy’s weapon--all Keiji could do was right defensively and wait for an opening to present itself.

And ultimately, Keiji would get rather lucky when Shinji would end up distracted by his companion’s telepathic message…

“...You might be right. We can ill afford defeat here--”

BLAM!

Keiji had used a bit of his own blood to conjure a magical projectile that he cast at Shinji from his hand. Upon contact, it exploded, which sent the viscous, coppery substance everywhere and temporarily obstructed Shinji’s vision due to being caught in what was essentially a small dome of red.

“Kuso!” he swore to himself, “I can’t see shit in here…this isn’t looking too good, Jules…”

With Applejack…

Since the tiger had no other options in that moment, all he could do was honor the young lady’s wish.

“...Your father was working with the Hishima family on growing Fuji apples,” he explained, “All I know is that someone from our syndicate was sent to meet both him and your mother. Whether it was for the sake of a meeting or something more sinister, I genuinely don’t know. If you want more details, then you should ask Shinjiro’s father. He knows all details regarding business deals between families.”

Applejack paused, then fiercely gripped the tiger’s fur as she growled, “...and just where is he?”

Just then, the ground beneath them started to rumble as if an earthquake had gone off. Then, immediately after, a small, controlled shockwave fanned out over the horizon of the park where they were located, and momentarily interfered with everyone’s magical abilities.

Applejack lost her strength for a moment, Keiji’s vampire abilities were removed as his blood cloud disappeared, Julius’ tiger form was deactivated, causing him to return to the form of a small cat and escape from Applejack’s clutches, and Shinji’s demon was temporarily removed from his arsenal as well as the battlefield.

They all looked on as the source of the shockwave came from a suited, older gentleman that approached them all. “Shinjiro. We leave now.”

“Yes, father,” Shinji answered without missing a beat and quickly walked over to his father alongside Julius.

Not one to accept an intrusion, Keiji ran up to the man and tried to attack him with his sword at the ready. “Where do ya think you’re goin’, ya mother--!”

BLAM!

“AUCH!”

Only to be met with a punch so powerful that the aura of a dragon could be seen around the man’s arm as he slammed Keiji into the other side of the park--all without causing a single wrinkle in his suit no less!

Upon impact with the ground nearby, Keiji coughed up blood and his sword disappeared--barely able to stand as the effects of the punch hit him moments later. Blades of air traveled through his muscles and narrowly cut at his triceps, causing him to crumple to the ground until they wore off. “Ow….ow…shit…”

Hattori straightened the collar of his suit and turned to leave without another word--his son and their cat following close behind.

Meanwhile, as much as Applejack wanted to pursue them, she stopped and quickly ran to Keiji’s side to check on him. “Keiji! You alright, kiddo?”

“They were…too strong,” he groaned while clutching his chest with both arms, “Ergh…but at least nothing bad happened to anyone else at the festival. Just…need to check if Tiara and Spoon are okay.”

“Hold on now, let’s get you to the infirmary first, alright?” Applejack picked him up in her arms, “Sunset and Fluttershy should be close by…”

“...And what in tarnation did they do to ma and pa…?”

Arc XXIII Episode XVI: Festival Conclusion

It wasn’t long before Diamond Tiara arrived on the scene with Silver Spoon to witness Keiji’s defeat at the hands of her father’s boss.

“Keiji?! Keiji!” she called out to him and gasped as soon as she saw Applejack carry him to the nearby medical station located near the fairgrounds. She immediately ran over to see how he was doing and followed them into the tent. “Is he okay? What happened to him?!”

“Easy now, let him relax,” Applejack warned her as she placed Keiji down on one of the medical beds and ushered Tiara away while the nurses began to work on him. “I think he’ll be fine. As far as I can tell, it’s just some muscular damage.”

Diamond Tiara sighed as she stormed out of the tent. “Argh…this is my fault. If only I was there for him. If only I had some sort of power to keep him safe.”

Silver Spoon arrived a few moments later and tried to console her. “Di…you can’t reasonably take care of everyone. Life doesn’t work out that way.”

“I don’t care,” Tiara replied with a low huff, “If I can’t keep him safe, then dad’s gonna just see this as yet another dangerous city that we’ll have to move away from.”

Applejack walked out of the tent and joined them, adding in her own perspective, “Say what now? Every city in the world’s got its own form’a danger. Ain’t no place truly hundred-percent safe.”

“Yeah well he did it before, and I’m sure he’ll--”

But before she could finish that sentence, Mr. Rich appeared from around a corner and quickly ran over to hug his daughter. “Tiara…I’m so glad you’re safe. Listen. We can’t stay here. It’s way too dangerous for you. I saw what happened to that boy you like. I’m sorry but--”

“Augh!” Tiara broke free of his embrace and hissed at him, “This is exactly what I was talking to them about just now! As soon as you think danger is coming, you wanna uproot my entire life to some remote island! I don’t wanna do it again, dad!”

“Sweetie, please,” he tried to plea with her, “I just don’t wanna see you get hurt. After all, that man was one of my old business partners. But now it seems like there’s more to him than I thought.”

“W-well, we can figure it out and put him behind bars!” Tiara insisted with a desperate tone as her voice broke. “Plus, I can fight too!”

“I don’t know…” Mr. Rich shook his head. “...It’s not like you got any crazy magical powers like this one over here,” he gestured his hand towards Applejack.

“Hey now, ya don’t need superpowers’ta be a powerful person,” Applejack countered, “After all, don’tcha control half the darn city? Can’tcha just hire the entire police force and get ‘em’ta investigate?”

Rich raised a brow and asked, “And what stake do you have in this, Ms. Applejack?”

“They know what happened to mah parents. Someone from there was involved in mah folks’ passin’,” she went on, “Our families have been close as honey and flies for years. Seems like the Hishimas are threatenin’ us both. Which means we should work together, yeah?”

“Hmm…”

Applejack would explain in more detail. “You use yer influence’ta get what info ya need…” she then cracked her knuckles, “And I’ll wipe ‘em off the map lickety-split. Ya won’t even need’ta fear fer yer family’s safety. I promise.”

Caught between Applejack’s reasonable offer and his daughter’s pleading gaze, Mr. Rich eventually caved and accepted her words. “Alright. I trust your word, Applejack. You ain’t exactly the type to lie.”

Applejack would remove her hat and solemnly swear, “I swear on mah pa’s hat and my ma’s jam. I will do whatever it takes.”

“Alrightty then…” he then turned to his daughter, “Ya got five minutes to speak to him before we head home for tonight, hun.”

Tiara hurried into the infirmary where Keiji had properly been taken care of with bandages along his abdomen and arms.

“Keiji…”

The vampboy sighed as he sat up and placed his forehead in his palm. “Hey…got my ass kicked…ow…”

“Everything feeling better?” she asked while sitting in a chair next to the bed.

Keiji sighed and continued. “Nah. I mean, I’m gonna live but…I’m starting to realize just how bad I am, Deets.”

“...whaddya mean?”

“Shinji fought me to a standstill,” he explained, “I couldn’t land a single hit on him. And then his old man comes out of nowhere and utterly wrecks me in one hit.” With his face resting in both hands, Keiji had started to…sob? “And then they just walked off. If they really wanted, they could’ve destroyed you guys while I would’ve been helpless. I…I’m just not good enough…”

“...” His lack of confidence was staggering. Enough to put Tiara into a silence as she looked down at the floor--her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to figure out what to say. That’s when it hit her.

“Keiji…why do you fight the way you do?” she finally asked after a moment of silence, “With the overconfident tone and hammy callouts? I…just realized I’ve never stopped to consider why you’ve done that.”

Indeed. Such a question took a moment for Keiji to process. But once he did… “You wanna know why? I do it because I’m…afraid of the possibility of losing. After being beaten down by so many people in the past and treated like garbage by my own biological family, I…guess I use that to cover up how scared I really am.”

Tiara placed her hand on his. “...I think I get it now. Fear is what drives you. But Keiji…I’m here for you. You don’t need to be afraid anymore.”

“...You mean that?”

“Of course I do,” she insisted.

“Me too,” Silver Spoon added as she walked into the tent seconds later. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but overhear. I’m right with you both no matter what. You’re my best friend, Di and I don’t wanna see you sad. And Keiji…” she paused for a moment, then went on. “I’ve seen how much you care about her, but you need to start caring more about yourself too. Even if you are afraid, you shouldn’t let it get to you.”

For a moment, Keiji was unsure as to what she meant. “...and you’re saying that because…?”

Silver Spoon would sit on the opposite side of him and explain. “Because you don’t have to worry about anyone abusing you here. We…like you and value you. And we don’t wanna see you hurt. Right, Di?”

“Right, Silv,” she added, “You hear that, Keiji? We know you’re amazing, so you don’t have to feel afraid when you’re out there, okay?”

“I….you…” Keiji forced a smile on his face as he held both of their hands. “You two…are awesome. Thanks. I think I’m starting to get it now. I have a lot of thinking to d--”

“...”

“...”

And they interrupted him with a quick kiss to his cheek--both girls smooching him on the sides of his face. Tiara on his left, and Spoon on his right. The end result was a shocked Keiji whose heart began to beat in a rather rhythmic fashion…but it wasn’t painful.

After what felt like forever, both girls backed up and gave him some space.

“...That should drive the message home, I think,” said Tiara, “Come on, Silv. Let’s get going before my dad freaks out. See ya soon, huh Keiji?”

"See ya, big guy," Silver Spoon waved.

As they both left, Keiji sat alone and thought to himself about what he had just experienced.

“...I have to be strong…not just for them. But for myself.”

Arc XXIV Episode I: A New Day

Back in the office building…

“Father, do you think what you did was necessary?”

“Son…you’ll find out soon enough that certain displays of force need to be carried out if you wanna get anywhere,” Hattori explained to his son. “Now, let’s see what dirt your elder brother has dug up on those girls that we can use against them.”

And just like clockwork, a certain someone burst through the doors with some information.

“Ho-lee-shit. You guys won’t believe what I just found out!”

Meanwhile…a few days later…

With the Summer Festival over and having gone off mostly without issue, everyone got on with their summer vacations as normal.

Except for the Sirens that is.

“Wait, so Keiji was attacked and we didn’t even know about it? The hell kinda shit is that…” Aria grumbled as she applied paint to her fingernails.

“That’s what Applejack told me,” Adagio replied as she brushed her currently poof-less orange hair that went down past her waist. “Thankfully, he was mostly alright afterwards, but I have reason to believe that there was something else going on there.”

Sonata--who was busy applying a white facial mask to herself in front of a mirror--would chime in. “Apparently he was attacked by some kid named Shinji. I looked him up and apparently he’s with the Hishimia family or something. Some kinda Far East conglomerate that imports goods into Canterlot City. Apparently they also provided funding for the festival itself.”

“Yakuza,” Aria commented out of the blue, earning a delayed stare from both of her sisters.

“...”

“...”

“Come on. A suspicious Japonese company that’s somehow linked to a major event that occurs at the festival they themselves are funding,” Aria went on while shooting a snide, raised brow at her sisters, “Not to mention they attacked our bro, Keiji. He’s from the Equestrian counterpart to this world’s Japone, so it rings all too suspicious that he was just attacked for no reason.”

“Hmm…” Adagio stopped to consider her sister’s words. “Now that you mention it, his name does have a root in that language. It’s entirely plausible that he was attacked for a reason. Applejack though…I haven’t the slightest idea.”

“Probably something super personal,” Aria added as she held up her nails, then blew on them. “But if I had to take a stab at it…”

Sonata would come up with a logical explanation. “...It’s probably her parents. You’ve noticed how she gets around Family Day at school, huh?”

The entire room went quiet for a moment as the girls weighed upon the thought of Applejack’s lack of parents. While the trio didn’t have their parents around, their emotional connection to them wasn’t as strong as Applejack’s was to hers. Hence why they could only sympathize.

“So what can we do?” Adagio asked, breaking the silence, “I’m sure Applejack is devastated by this right about now and Keiji just as well.”

“I’m sure the local law enforcement is already on it, Dagi,” Aria commented, “Not much we can do but wait for them to give us an answer so we can move forward. For now…I guess we should spend time helping our friends out?”

Sonata snapped her fingers. “I got the perfect idea. Adagio--you should go help Applejack any way you can. You’re easily the most mature out of all of us.”

“I…” For a moment, she was unable to properly respond to that. “...suppose? It merely comes with the territory of being an older sister. It’s nothing to write home about.”

Sonata raised her arms and shrugged her shoulders with a supportive grin on her face. “Yeah well, like still. Applejack’s an older sister too. Anyway, Ari--”

“Why do I feel like I’m about to get dragged into something ridiculous?” Aria huffed as she rolled her eyes. “What do ya want me to do?”

“It’s nothing crazy,” Sonata replied, “Just spend some time with Keiji. He needs some emotional support too right about now I bet.”

“Yeah…you’re right. Little bro needs at least one of us to be there for him,” Aria mulled over her sister’s idea, but then something rather alarming came to mind. “Wait a sec--what exactly are you gonna do while we’re out doing that?”

Adagio would jump in, “She makes a good point, Sonata. You’re rather quick to get us out of the house today.” She smirked at her sister and teased, “Are you planning on inviting someone over without telling us?”

Sonata folded her arms and pouted. “Ew. No way! I’m gonna be busy making dinner tonight. Right after I go do some shopping. Don’t mind me!” she squealed as she slipped into the bathroom to clean off her facemask..

Aria chuckled as she walked off. “She’s growing up hella quick, huh?”

“I feel that…” Adagio sniffled and rubbed her eyes. “But let’s not dwell on it too much. She’s an adult just as much as we are now after all.”

“Yeah yeah, don’t get sappy over it,” Aria hopped off the couch and stretched. “I honestly didn’t have much planned to do today anyway. A walk over to Keiji’s place could do me some good anyway. I’ve been lazing around the last few days after the Festival tired me out.”

“I know, right? Who knew such an event would be that tiring?” Adagio added with a sigh. “But we did get plenty of nice mementos out of it. And getting out of the house will help us think more about those demons that were present…”

“The oni and the white tiger, eh?” Aria muttered as she tied her shoes. “Yeah, not much going for us there. But if I see anything weird, I’ll let ya know. See ya.” She then grabbed her helmet and some kneepads, catching the attention of her elder sister as she left.

Adagio raised a brow. “...what is she planning on doing with him?’

Arc XXIV Episode II: Rising Moon

Meanwhile, at Luna’s house…

The resident vice principal was spending her day lounging in her loosely-fitting gray duster-gown with crescent moons patterned across them. She was on her couch, reclining as she nibbled into some toast that she had prepared for herself. The bags under her eyes denoted that she had been tired for the last few days after the festival. Her hair was also rather frizzy and running down past her shoulders. Though, there was a rather faint smile on her face…

“Ugh…waking up alone again was…rather lonesome. I wish Aidon and I could spend more nights like that together. He was so…wonderful to listen to. Not to mention he treats a woman like a complete dream…”

BZZZZ!

“Eek!”

The vibration of her phone caused Luna to jump when it interrupted her daydreaming. She picked it up off of the couch cushion next to her and answered it. “Hello?”

It was her therapist, Stellar Flare on the other end. “Hey, dear! How did your night with Aidon go at the festival? Did he treat you well? Did he hit all the right buttons--”

“Y-yes! Yes!” Luna quickly cut her off as her face turned red. “You need not mull over the finer details, ma’am. After the festival, he brought me home and we…continued to treat each other well. That’s all I’ll say--”

Stellar could immediately tell what Luna was saying and started to squeal. “Ooooooh! She nailed him! Yes! Now how does that make you feel, hun?”

Luna thought about it for a moment and replied. “I feel…better. Far less lonely now that I have someone I can speak to both as a friend and…possibly a lover. He’s actually a rather enthusiastic man when it comes to aeronautics and mathematics. A far cry from what his initial impression would have you believe.”

“Doll, the man can apparently make math fun enough for those crazy kids of yours to pay attention to,” Stellar snarked over the phone, “If he can do that, then I’m sure he can do anything.”

Luna giggled and replied, “Yes. You do have a point there. But him aside, I think I’ve got a much clearer head on how I want to approach the rest of my life.”

“Oh? Do tell, Luna.”

“Well…I want to start taking more time for myself,” she went on, “I still love my job as a vice principal, but I want to take up something…more on the side if you catch my drift.”

“I follow,” Stellar replied, “You deserve to take time for yourself. After all, you can’t love others until you love yourself. I learned that the hard way when I was younger.”

That’s when Luna got an idea…

“Hey…why don’t invite you both over tonight?” Luna asked with a sly grin that Stellar couldn’t see. “You could see the exact sort of methods that Aidon used to help me with my stress. I can tell you have some…unsolved tension too, Ms. Flare.”

“Uh-wh--” Stellar stuttered for a moment, coughed, then finally answered. “Hm…I might take you up on that. But in any event, I’m glad you’re alright for the moment. Call me back if there’s anything else, hm?”

“I will. Thank you, Stellar.” Luna hung up her phone and flopped onto her couch. “Gotta plan a nice dinner. Maybe…oysters? I should go down to the pier for some…”

Meanwhile, with Aria…

The punky Siren made her way to Keiji’s luxurious condo home and knocked on the door. “Yo, K. It’s big-sis Aria. Wanna go put that ATV of yours to the dirt?”

The door opened up moments later with Keiji having just put down his crochet supplies. “Oh yeah. Haven’t found any good time to go riding that thing. Anyway, sure. I’m game. I mean, I had a whole day of non-social activities planned, but I can spare a moment for you at least.”

“Sweet. Go get your helmet and meet me at the public BMX track near the edge of the city.”

“Wait--you got your own--?”

“You’ll see,” Aria cut him off with a grin, “You’ll see.”

About 20 minutes later…

Keiji arrived at the dirt bike track with his quad bike, and waited to see what exactly Aria would show up with.

“Alright. I’m here. Now where is she…?”

And just like clockwork, Aria would show up on a purple dirt bike with a motor attached. “Yo,” she took off her helmet--which somehow held her twin ponytails inside of itself. “Nice to see that you made it, Keiji. We’re gonna have some fund today without any of the craziness.”

“Shit that’s cool,” he commented on her bike and leaned against the handlebars of his quad, “Ugh. But I doubt we’ll actually get a peaceful day for once. Seems to be cursed no matter what happens.”

“I don’t think so, lil’ bro,” Aria consoled him as she put her hand on his shoulder, “Besides, it’s just us here. Nothing’s gonna happen since we’re pretty much away from the rest of the city.”

Her words must have worked because Keiji was now more focused on getting his quad in the dirt. “Alright…if you’re sure. Now…let’s see just how fast this baby can go, huh?”

“That’s the whole point,” Aria said with a grin as she put her helmet back on. “I wanna see that thing in action for myself. You ready?”

“Hell yeah, sis!”

Arc XXIV Episode III: Darkness Boardwalk

Meanwhile, near the pier…

Aidon was wearing his casual summer clothes as he walked along the boardwalk, looking to simply catch some fresh air near the beach.

“Ah…what a relaxing day,” he muttered to himself, “The festival seemed to go off perfectly the other night with absolutely no threats.”

None that he knew of anyway.

“But no matter how many times I come here, I can never get used to this fresh environment,” he commented on the serenity of where the ocean met with the sandy shore. “A far cry from the brimstone and smoke that I was exposed to all the time back home.

After a bit of walking, Aidon would stop and lean on one of the railings that overlooked the beach. That’s when he looked down and noticed someone familiar from work.

“Hm. Is that Ms. Parabola?” he focused his vision and spotted the woman with black and white striped skin lying on a beach towel. She wore a brown, two-piece swimsuit that accentuated her figure as she was lying on her back.

“So it is,” he mumbled, “I wonder how she’s doing. Hopefully she’s having a good day.”

Aidon continued walking and left her be. Though, Parabola looked behind herself and did notice him walking away…

“Oh. He’s here. I wonder how he’s doing.”

Meanwhile, the shadowman continued to walk until he found himself entranced by a nearby stand that offered…rather interesting delicacies.

“...A kelp and seaweed milkshake? Sounds odd, but interesting.”

“It’s much better than it looks,” a raspy feminine voiced called out next to him, “Everyone else claims it’s terrible but I think they’re crazy.”

Aidon looked to his right and saw Rainbow Dash in her summer clothes--dripping wet from having just finished surfing. “Ms. Dash? Ah, how are you today?”

“I’m cool, teach. How ‘bout you?” she asked, then shot him a smug expression, “I heard you and VP Luna finally got it goin’ on. Eh? Ehhhh?”

“...please don’t start,” he shook his head, then answered. “But…yes. I suppose you could say…something like that. In truth, she’s a rather beautiful woman inside and out. Honestly surprised that I’m the first one to approach her.”

“One of the perks of not being very sociable,” Dash continued, “You’re way less likely to be harassed by guys off the street.”

“...I suppose that’s a good thing?” Aidon replied out of confusion. “Regardless, I’m just happy to be there for her.”

“Just make sure you stick by her, alright?” Dash warned him, “Emotionally distressed gals like her need someone who’s gonna stay there all the way. So try to make time for her when you can, alright?”

At first, Aidon was impressed to hear such mature commentary from someone so young, but then he remembered. “Well, she is the Element of Loyalty after all. It makes sense that she’d say something like that.”

“Don’t worry,” Aidon replied, “Admittedly, I don’t have too many friends or other people that I tend to hang around, so I don’t think I’ll ever find myself preoccupied to the point of not being able to speak with her.” He then rubbed the back of his head and added, “...huh. Kind of sad now that I say it out loud.”

“Whaddya talkin’ about? You’ve got loads of friends!” Rainbow nudged him with her elbow, “Your students love you, and I’m sure Principal Celestia considers you a good guy for her sister.”

“I--well, my students aren’t--”

“Anyway, I’d better get goin’,” Rainbow Dash patted him on the shoulder before hopping over the railing and into the sand below the pier. “Those waves aren’t gonna shred themselves!”

Aidon waved as she left, “Be safe out there!” Then, he started to think about the conversation they had. “Hm…should I try to find more friends? I don’t want to bombard Luna with my presence. Or am I just overthinking it?”

“Hello, Mr. Iota,” Parabola’s voice called out to him. “I noticed you were here, and wanted to come greet you.”

“Hm?” Aidon turned to see her standing in front of him and replied, “Oh, hello, miss. And I’m quite well actually.”

“Oh? I take it you’ve found a partner then?” she asked in reference to their last conversation.

To which he replied with a smile, “Yes I have. Luna and I have hit it off rather well. Though for the moment, I’m actually trying to take time to myself. Just out looking for some fresh air, you know?”

Parabola hesitated for a moment, as if she didn’t expect that answer. “...Huh. Well good for you both I suppose. I’m also here to enjoy myself and take in some sun. Would you like to join me?”

“I would, but I’m not…interested in getting sandy at the moment,” Aidon declined with a polite tone, “But thanks for the offer. I’m gonna continue my walk.”

“...Understandable. Have a nice day, Aidoneous.” Parabola replied with a stoic tone as she muttered under her breath. “...typical man. Now that he’s in a relationship, he refuses to at least be friendly with me. Men and their social stigmas…”

Aidon tilted his head, swearing that he heard her say something, but it slipped past his mind when he saw a set of crows flying overhead. “...That’s new. Are they supposed to be around during summer? Hm…” And with that, he kept walking…

Arc XXIV Episode IV: Friendly Competition

“CHECK THIS OUT!”

Keiji yelled at the top of his lungs as he went over one of the larger ramps on the dirt track, landing perfectly and kicking up a dirt cloud as the tires on his ATV churned to a stop. “Aw man that was great! I can’t believe this thing goes so fast!”

Aria stopped on her dirt bike next to him, and stood with one foot on the ground. “Damn straight, kiddo. That’s why we got it for ya. We knew you’d love getting out more with something that simulates humanity’s love of daredevilship.”

“Whatever the case, I love it,” he agreed with a smile, “Thanks a lot, Ari. This is kickass!”

Aria patted him on the head, ruffling his already messy hair. “Hey, anything for you, little bro. Things have been crazy lately and you deserve some time away from the bullshit.”

“...I do, huh?” he sighed and leaned against the handlebars of the ATV. “Thanks…though I wish I had a crowd cheering for me and witnessing how badass I am--”

Aria rolled her eyes with a playful grin. “Don’t push it, buddy-boy.”

“I’m joking--mostly,” Keiji said under his breath, then spoke aloud, “Anyway, how did you get so good at this stuff anyway?”

“Monster Truck Rallies are kinda my jam,” she went on with a smug expression, “At first, I thought it was a coliseum in which humans train actual monsters to fight with.”

Keiji paused for a moment, blinked, then snickered. “Ah…yeah, me too--”

“But in reality they used these big trucks that are ridiculously oversized with tires that shouldn’t even function,” she went on with an ecstatic smile on her face, “They make no sense but they’re so damn badass that I couldn’t help but keep watching.”

“...So you were the one that suggested this gift for me, huh?” Keiji asked as he put the mental pieces together.

Aria rubbed the back of her head with a rare, nervous smile. “Well…yeah. I figured you’d like something like this after all. You…you do like it, right?” she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

“...Damn. Never seen her get like this before,” Keiji thought to himself then spoke aloud, “Of course I do. This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten. The fact that all three of you guys pitched in to get it for me is something I’ll cherish for as long as I live. Plus, I’m gonna make sure I outdo ya, and get you something even better next Christmas. Just you wait.”

“Heh. I’ll be waiting for that,” Aira replied with a confident smile, “You’re a good kid, ya know that?”

“Yeah, yeah don’t lay it on so thick,” he replied while scrunching up his cheeks. Then, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. “Hm? Looks like someone decided to join us today.”

Aria tilted her head to look around him. “Huh? Is someone else here?”

Indeed there was. A few moments later, they’d witness someone riding up on a flaming red motorbike of their own, perform a flip and stop next to them with dust flying in the air.

Once the dust cleared, the rider took off their helmet and revealed herself, “Sup,” Sugarcoat said to them both. “You guys come around here often?”

“Sometimes,” Aria replied as she ruffled Keiji’s hair once more, “But I got this little vamp here with me today.”

“That’s right,” he added--ignoring Aria’s gesture. Instead, he approach Sugarcoat’s motorbike. “Sick ride. Did you get it from a dealership or is this custom?”

“Custom,” Sugar replied flatly as per usual, “I’m actually here with a friend of mine--hey Sour. Come on out!”

Sour Sweet appeared moments later on a deep-blue, sparkling electric scooter. “...I was trying to avoid speaking to anyone--I mean…hello, you…Keiji and Aria, right? You were the ones that helped save me that one time.”

Keiji folded his arms with a surefire smile on his face--his overbite fangs protruding from his upper lip. “That’s me--us alright. In the flesh and still standing tall.”

Aria let out a rare giggle and looked at Sour. “Yeah. I’m just glad you’re okay though. Not too many humans can recover from demonic possession like that. You must be pretty strong.”

“...Well I’d like to think that--even if it does come off as pitiful…” she shook her head and smiled, “But I appreciate your kindness.”

Sugarcoat would add her own take, “You guys earned my respect for that too. At the very least, I gained some kinda weird crystal power that I can use to defend us if we get into danger again in the future.”

“Sick,” Keiji replied, then changed the subject. “But anyhow--since we’re all here, why don’t we have some fun with a little race?”

“Think you know your way around this track better than me?” Sugarcoat asked with the slightest hint of competitive smugness in her voice, “I’ve been coming here since before you were born, little man.”

“Oh yeah? Bring it on, four-eyes. I’m so skilled I can run circles around you,” he playfully jested in return, causing Sugarcoat to smile ever so slightly.

“Try me, bloodsucker.”

Arc XXIV Episode V: Concerned Apple

Meanwhile, on the Apple Family farm…

Applejack…was not out in the fields like she normally was. This came as a visual shock to Adagio who approached the farm with a surprised set of eyes.

“...that’s odd,” she muttered as she approached the farm and saw Applebloom working the fields with Big Mac handling another end.

“...Since he’s not much for conversation, I’ll talk to her instead,” Adagio thought to herself. With her mind made up, she approached Applebloom. “Hello, Apple--er, bloom, right?”

And she’d respond after placing a case of corn down. “Howdy, Adagi. Need somethin’?”

“No no--well, I’m just here to check up on Applejack,” she explained with a concerned tone, “Apparently none of her friends have seen her in a while and I was wondering if she’d be willing to speak with me.”

“...Yeah, that might be a lil’ hard,” Applebloom replied as she bit her lip with a worried expression on her face.

Adagio tilted her head and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well…”

Inside, in Applejack’s room…

The Apple gal was busy pushing thumbtacks into pieces of paper on a corkboard that lined up with string along a map of the city. With stressed bags of restlessness under her eyes along with her fifth cup of coffee downed in the last hour, it was painfully clear that she was not exactly…calm.

“So they was hidin’ out at the buildin’ near the fairgrounds, yeah?” she muttered to herself while tapping her finger on the map, “And they know somethin’ about ma and pa. So now I gotta start waitin’ fer Mr. Rich’ta call me. As soon as he does…I’ll get ‘em. I’ll get ‘em for ya, ya’ll…” Applejack shed a tear as she grabbed a framed photograph of herself, Applebloom, Bic Mac, and their parents when they were all younger.

Tap-tap-tap.

There was a knock at Applejack’s bedroom door which prompted her to put the photo down and answer it. “...Yello?”

“Applejack? Oh…you don’t look so good--” Adagio caught herself and quickly tried to clean up what she said. “Er…I mean…you look--”

Applejack cut her off as she rubbed her eyes. “...Ya ain’t gotta tell me. I’m in pretty bad shape. I can see that with my own two eyes, missy.”

“...Your friends and family are worried for you,” Adagio continued, “Hell, I’m worried for you as well.”

“Thanks, Adagi--I ‘ppreciate it, but I don’t want none of ya’ll gettin’ involved in this,” the farm gal shook her head, “...family matters and whatnot. You understand, right?”

Adagio folded her arms, but ultimately decided to respect her friend’s words. “...I suppose. Even so, I’m here if you ever need my help with anything.”

Interestingly enough, Applejack would actually respond amicably to her offer, albeit with some hesitation.

“...well…there is actually one thing I’d like’ta ask ya for.”

“Anything, name it,” Adagio replied.

“I’d like ya to join me as I head out to a certain little…’store’,” she said with airquotes via her fingers, “It’s where one of mah leads is takin’ me.”

Adagio nodded. “Alright. That sounds simple enough. Are any of your friends gonna join us or…?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah. The owners of this store already know all of mah friends. But you? Yer a fresh face that they don’t yet recognize. They ain’t got no read on ya.”

“Hmph, some classic manipulation,” Adagio mused with a scheming tone, “Sounds delicious. I’m most certainly interested now.”

“Implyin’ ya weren’t before?” Applejack raised a brow, then let out a laugh, “Heh--just jokin’ witcha.”

“Ugh--don’t scare me like that!” Adagio huffed, “Anyway. What kind of store are we headed to exactly?”

“That’s the neat part--”

One 10-minute walk later….

“‘Flim and Flam’s Trinket Store’?” Adagio read the black and white sign located above the brick-clad building. “Sounds rather…gaudy.”

“That’s what Rarity said,” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes, “Now I see what she means. But I have a feelin’ they know somethin’ about all this.”

“What gives you that idea?”

“They’re con artists,” AJ went on, “Absolute snakey sidewinders…but they always stay one step ahead’a the bull. This time, I’m takin’ it to ‘em.”

“I see…” Adagio reached behind her head and started to fiddle with the scrunchie that held her poofy hair in place. “Let me go first. I have a knack for dealing with people who like to try and bullshit me.”

“...ya know what? Go right ahead.”

Arc XXIV Episode VI: Sussing Them Out

With her hair done up in a more casual--yet poofy--ponytail, and her left hand on her hip, Adagio strutted into the store with her usual swagger. Upon entering, she could see it was a knickknack shop with various novelty items on shelves. Including--but not limited to--model airplanes, toy cars, snow globes, vinyl records, gramophones, and Christmas ornaments; many of which may or may not be functioning.

“Humans have such an interesting obsession with old objects…” she commented to herself as she passed by a fellow shopper wearing a brown longcoat that covered his chin who was busy looking at the items on the shelf in front of him. “But I can’t blame them I suppose. We all have our vices.”

Then she’d arrive at the register that sat atop a transparent glass display case filled with other random items. Oddly enough, despite the store clearly being open, no one was at the register.

“Hmm…” Adagio did the only logical thing, and pressed the bell that was located next to the register.

Ding!

“Hello?” she called out, tilting her head towards the door marked ‘Employees Only’ located behind the register.

No answer--at least not for a good five minutes. With her arms folded and a judgemental glare aimed at the door, the siren had visibly been losing her patience over the short amount of time. Luckily, she wouldn’t have to wait for much longer…

“Sorry, sorry!” a man with faint yellow skin and red hair rushed out of the door to greet Adagio, “I was busy sorting through some of our inventory in the back and I didn’t hear the bell!”

“...Right,” Adagio replied with a suspicious raise of her eyebrow as the brother took his position behind the register. “Anyway--I’m gonna cut right to the case.” She placed both of her hands down on the glass display case and went on, “You know Applejack, right? You and your brother purchase her family’s products rather often, don’t you?”

“Er, well--yes,” Flim replied, “We do. Why do you ask, miss?”

“She’s currently going through a bit of a rough patch regarding her missing parents,” Adagio continued sternly, “And we have a feeling that you might know something about that.”

Flim looked away--upwards and to the left as he took a step away from the register. “Er…I’m not exactly at liberty to answer that. But if you’re looking for a neat, early Christmas present, we’ve got you covered on that front!” he tried to change the subject as he offered her a stuffed mermaid doll that was missing an eye and had a torn tail.

Adagio’s eyes grew wide as she stared at the man. A stare so cold and flat--she was looking at him as if he was the leading cause for the world’s polluted oceans.

She raised her hand and gently pushed the doll away from her face. “...I’m going to ignore that little thing you call a trinket and redirect the conversation back to--”

“Sorry, but I can’t help you!” Flim panicked, dropping the doll as he fled into the ‘Employee’s Only’ door that led him to the back of the store.

To which Adagio acted by casually walking after him, and forcing the door open with a blast of water from her hand. “You don’t just run from me like that,” she turned to her right and heard faint footsteps scurry down one of the hallways.

“Brother, I think we have a problem--” Flim yelped as he pushed a door open to the office where Flam was located, “We have a guest that’s asking about Applejack’s family--”

Upon hearing this, Flam visibly panicked as he rose from his desk with a wide-eyed gaze. “Say no more, brother! I have our escape vehicle already prepared--!”

But they were both stopped dead in their tracks as rectangular bodies of water consumed them from the bottom and started to travel upwards along their bodies, slowly waterlogging them.

“Agh! What is this?!” Flim cried out as he looked down at the water in horror.

Flam tried to reply, “I don’t know but--!” he was cut off by--

“Hold on for a moment,” Adagio boomed as she entered the room, having been the one who casted the water. “You both clearly know something about Applejack’s parents. I’m not going to drown you, but I will submerge your store if need be.”

“Okay okay!” Flim shouted with his chin just above the blob of water, “We’ll tell you anything! Just please don’t ruin the merchandise!”

Adagio sighed with a roll of her eyes. “Alrighty then…”

About five minutes later…

Adagio left the store and approached Applejack who had been waiting outside.

“What’d they tell ya? Did they swindle their way out of it?” she asked and started to follow the siren who had been walking ahead of her.

“They told me plenty,” Adagio replied, “Whoever was involved in dealing with your parents and the Hishima family has a particular set of skills. They’re not just going to send out some random average human to ‘meet’ your parents for business.”

Applejack slammed her fist into her open palm. “A’course. If ma and pa were…taken out, then it had’ta be done by somebody who does it fer a livin’.”

“A hired gun,” Adagio replied, “Someone that a yakuza family would be more than happy to appoint in order to make use of plausible deniability--if what Aria said is correct that is.”

“...So where we headed now?” Applejack asked as she rubbed her temples, “All this thinkin’ is turnin’ mah brain inta applesauce.”

Adagio knew the real reason--Applejack tended to bury her emotions under an unfeeling exterior which was slowly starting to break. With that in mind, she tried to alleviate her pain.

“If it’s too much for you…”

But Applejack was stubborn. “No. It’s not. I’m perfectly fine. Now where we goin’?”

Since there was no debating with Applejack, Adagio simply nodded and replied, “We need to speak with someone who has knowledge of military tactics and technology. If it was an assassin that killed your parents, we need someone who can find their patterns.”

“Hmm…I got it,” Applejack pulled out her phone and dialed someone’s number. “I know just the feller who understands that kinda malarkey.”

Soon enough, someone would answer the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey, Sentry? We need yer help.”

“...wait what? Me? Y-you want my help??”

Arc XXIV Episode VII: Tactical Necessity

At Flash Sentry’s house…

Adagio and Applejack explained the situation to him including what they had found out thus far.

“...and that’s where we’re at,” Applejack explained, “I dunno much about the secret world of ‘espionage’ or ‘secret military procedures’” she said with airquotes, “But if you know anythin’, anythin’ at all about who coulda did that to mah folks…”

“Hmm…” Flash stroked his chin, then turned around in his desk chair, starting to type on his computer. “Let’s take a step back for a second and talk motive; If someone really did kill your parents, what reason do you think they might have for it?”

Adagio silently wondered the same thing, though she hadn’t asked because she was unsure how to approach the question in a respectful manner. All she could do was shyly rub her arm as she waited for Applejack to answer--if she wanted to that is.

It took a moment for her to answer. Applejack leaned forward in the chair she sat in with her elbows on her knees as she brought her hands together and took a moment to exhale.

“...If I had’ta make a guess, I’d say it’s because they couldn’t stand seein’ ‘em get together.”

Flash tilted his head. “...care to elaborate? Or is it too touchy of a subject?”

Applejack shook her head and continued, “I ain’t told this’ta too many people, so keep it on the down-low, wouldja mind?”

“Of course--I’m all ears.”

“This goes fer you too, Adagio,” Applejack spoke up to the siren.

“No problem,” she replied, “I won’t speak a word of it to anyone.”

“Alright then. Long story short, my ma was from the Pear Family, and there was a huge uproar over her and pa gettin’ together. In the end, my ma--Pear Butter--would end up defyin’ her whole family just’ta be with my pa--Bright Mac.”

“Yyyyikes--that sounds awful…” Flash muttered after hearing the story and quickly tried to piece things together. “So essentially, what we’re dealing with here is a case of perfected cleanup. Their deaths aren’t marked in any database nor is the cause known--is that right?”

Applejack nodded. “That’s right. Nobody knows. Not even the law enforcement or the coroners.”

“No wounds on their bodies either?”

Applejack shook her head.

“Interesting…just what I was afraid of,” Flash continued typing on his computer.

Adagio spoke up next, “...do you have any idea of who could’ve done such a thing?”

“No…but I have a good idea of what could’ve done it,” Flash pointed at his computer to which the girls both took a look as well. The monitor showed a chemical compound alongside various monochromatic photographs of bombs and missiles. “Zarin is a gas that’s completely odorless and undetectable under normal circumstances. It was created for use during the Second World War, but it wasn’t finished in time. It was then used for other operations such as the Chilled War and various terrorist attacks across the globe.”

“Hrm…I know a bit about history, but I never knew this kinda stuff could still be in circulation,” Applejack muttered as she looked over the text on the screen.

Adagio however, was a tad lost. Given that she was still getting acquainted with how this world worked, she wasn’t entirely up to speed on the historic aspects of warfare. “This…demands more study.” “Also probably shouldn’t have slept through those History classes…”

“Check this out,” Flash continued, “Says here that loads of Japonese soldiers acquired several canisters of this stuff from their allies during the Second World War. Meaning that it’s possible that your yakuza ‘friends’ could have used that on your parents.”

“But when…how??” Applejack shivered in place with her eyes darting back and forth--unable to comprehend the possibility. “We was always together, how could we not be there’ta save ‘em…I can’t…I can’t…”

“L-look, I know this sounds bad, but it’s just my best guess,” Flash tried his best to explain, “There could be any number of potential factors but it’s merely what I think could’ve happened. There’s no guarantee this stuff is even out there.”

Applejack hung her head in shame and wiped tears from her face. “Sorry I just…need a moment. Mind if I use yer bathroom?”

“First door down the hall,” Flash pointed towards the direction of his hallway. “Can’t miss it.”

And with that, Applejack silently left the room, leaving Adagio alone with him.

“...She’s really taking this hard,” Adagio muttered.

“I can relate,” Flash added, “I lost my grandparents in a war, so I can’t exactly blame her.”

Adagio crossed her arms and rubbed each one with the opposite hand. “...my sisters and I never really knew our parents. I suppose it’s a blessing in disguise; you can’t really feel the pain of losing someone if you never had them to begin with.”

“The world can be a pretty painful place, yeah,” Flash replied as he rubbed the back of his head, “But at least we’ve got families and friends who support us, right?”

“Yeah…though I’m curious about this Zarin compound; I want to know what it was originally created for.”

Flash turned back to his computer monitor and read a few more lines of text. “It’s uh--yeah, just like I remember; it was originally created as a pesticide for…farming…” his speech slowed as his eyes went wide from realization. “Farming--farming! That’s it--that’s--the Hishima family must’ve used it to kill AJ’s parents!”

“It’s…a very solid argument indeed,” Adagio bit down on one of her nails as she shuddered to imagine the extent of which that compound was used. “But…we’d need proof before we find anything conclusive.”

“I got this--that’s where I make one of my special calls,” Flash cracked his knuckles and pulled out an old green rotary phone. “Never thought I’d have to use this. But here goes.” He spun the numbers, and picked up the phone--before long, he’d hear someone pick up on the other end…

“Corporal Sentry?”

“Yes sir, I need a favor.”

Arc XXIV Episode IX: Strategy In Motion

“...sorry,” Adagio replied, “I had no idea that’s what you were feeling. I think we all need to start doing a better job of asking our fellow humans how they’re doing. There could be loads more of them in our age group who don’t speak up about their problems.”

“Yeah…what she said,” Applejack replied, “I’m sure yer cousin’s gonna always be there to come back to ya, Sentry. He don’t sound like no pushover’ta me.”

Flash replied with a sigh and smiled a tad. “Thanks. I still worry for him sometimes, but knowing someone else cares helps more than you know.”

“I may not be familiar with the logistics of human warfare, but I agree with Applejack,” Adagio added, “You’ve been through quite a lot and have proven to me that humans are stronger than I initially gave them credit for. If your family is anything like you, then I think you’ll all turn out just fine, Flash.”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Ah….I wouldn’t say that. I’m not exactly the strongest guy around, but I appreciate hearing that all the same. Feels good to get that off my chest actually.”

Adagio started to muse something under her breath, “Hmm…I wonder if he and Sunset Shimmer should try and--”

Applejack cut her off, “Let’s not dig up old hatchets now. He’s got enough on his plate as it is.”

Now that he was motivated, Flash then spoke up about what he intended to do next. “Alright. Now that I can think…I’m gonna send Micro Chips down there once he finds the location of their current base of operations. The Hishimas are no longer located at the building next to the fairgrounds after that incident, but I think we’ve got a lead on them.”

“Already?” Applejack asked with an impressed tone as she gazed at the computer monitors in front of Flash, “That’s much quicker than I woulda ever guessed.”

“Well, Mr. Rich is the primary source of budget for the country’s military,” Flash continued, “He’s pretty much been pouring everything he’s got into figuring out where these people are. After all, these are foreign invaders which essentially demands the use of our armed forces to counteract. Though, we’re trying to stay cool before we go hot.”

“...which means?” Adagio asked curiously.

“We don’t want to start raiding random buildings,” Flash continued as he took out his cell phone, “But if we act a bit more covert…then we can figure out what to do next.”

Applejack and Adagio looked at each other with curious expressions for a moment, then back at Flash’s computers as they watched him work.

One phone call later…

“...alrighty, thanks MC,” he hung up his phone. “Okay, so Micro Chips is gonna start snooping around and look for a job at the building where this gang has moved to. Once he’s inside, we’re gonna have a funnel of information we can use against them and send in a strike team to take them down.”

“Hm…” Applejack thought about it for a moment. “...well, that’s somethin’ I never woulda came up with on mah own. I say let’s go for it. And…thanks fer this, Sentry. Goin’ outta yer way’ta help me square up what happened to mah folks and all.”

“No problem. Like I said, I know what it’s like to lose family,” he replied casually, “So if I can help someone else gain some closure on their loss, it’ll all be worth it. All we need to do is wait until Micro replies with some info. And then…” he snickered while holding his hands open--pressing his fingertips together in a ‘cunning’ gesture, “I’ll be ready to jump in.”

“...You?” Adagio asked out of concern for his safety, “Are you certain you’ll be able to handle fighting out there alongside us? Sunset wouldn’t be happy if you got hur--”

Applejack nudged her with her elbow and glared at her with a raised brow.

“Hey, I’m not wrong, am I?” Adagio protested.

But Flash was more than confident as he got up and went to one of his closets and pulled out an airsoft rifle based on a modernized military design. “Oh don’t worry about me. I’m ready to give ‘em a SCAR-E.”

At the beach…

“...and that’s the long and short of it,” Aidon concluded, “Someday, I hope to bring Starswirl into this world to show him what it’s like to live here and experience the callous decision-making he’s made throughout the years.”

“Hmph. That’d be the least of the things I’d do to someone like that,” Haven replied as she crossed her legs, “I’d make sure he’d experience the pain twofold and publicize his failures for all to see…among other things.”

Aidon paused and adjusted his glasses, stunned into silence by the woman’s rather…deadly proposal. “I…well, that’d certainly be one way to go about it. I’m actually rather surprised you’ve accepted my tale so readily.”

Haven then turned over onto her front--lying prone so the sun could hit her back. “Oh dear--please. I’ve been witnessing every insane little magical event that occurred in this world thus far. Your presence would be silly not to take seriously. The safety of you and your partner should be your top priority.”

“Oh trust me, it is,” he replied with a nod, “Luna’s been through enough as it is. I don’t want her to deal with any more than she needs to. If only I could show Starswirl the error of his ways…”

“Hm…I might be able to help with that, Aidon.”

“...Oh?”

Arc XXIV Episode X: Begin The Operation

Aidon and Haven continued to talk with each other while her daughters--Pipp and Zipp--were busy playing a game of beach volleyball. Though Pipp would often stop the game to take photographs of herself--much to Zipp’s chagrin.

“If you ever do manage to bring him over, bring Starswirl to me so that I may personally show him the dangers of this world and the suffering he’s put your kin through,” Have offered as she sat upright and opened a tanning mirror.

“...you’d go out of your way to do that for me?” he asked with a surprised tone.

“Of course. You’ve saved this school--and by extension this entire side of the country--multiple times from what I’ve seen on the news. You’re a living legend, good sir.”

“...I just do what I can for the sake of my students. Though since we’re currently on summer vacation, I won’t have to worry about teaching for a while. I might take more time to myself and Luna…”

Haven sighed and shook her head. “Lucky her. What I wouldn’t give to have a nice man that I could boss ar--er, have some fun with every now and again.”

Aidon paused and realized what she meant. The woman was essentially raising her two daughters all on her own! But how to respond to such a thing…

“Well…I’m sure the right gentleman is out there for you somewhere,” he said with his best smile, “You just need to have faith.”

“I suppose. What I wouldn’t give to have the right man fall into my lap, right on my--”

“MOM STAHP--!” Zipp shouted from nearby, “We’re like, right here!”

“Oh please,” Haven waved her hand dismissively, “You’re going to need to learn a thing or two someday if you ever hope to find yourself a good partner.”

“Ughh…don’t remind me,” the girl huffed as she tossed the ball back to her sister.

Aidon couldn’t help but snicker to himself, noting just how interesting their relationship was. “Well they have quite the dynamic don’t they? Still, I suppose she has a point. Starswirl won’t know exactly what it’s like to live here unless I bring him here myself. But just how would I go about doing that? I don’t quite have the power to create my own portals between dimensions…yet.”

Nevertheless, he wanted to express his gratitude towards the lady for listening to what he had to say.

“Thank you for hearing me out,” he said, “I’m glad someone here is willing to take my issues seriously.”

“It’s no problem at all, sir. Tell you what…if you and Luna ever need a private vacation spot…” She handed him a business card with detailed information on Zephyr Heights. “You can come on up here. We’d love to have you.”

Aidon accepted the card and read it over. “Hm…you know what, one of these days, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Glad to hear it,” Haven chuckled to herself. “It’ll be a getaway you’ll both love…”

A few days later…at Flash’s house…

The young man in question was busy raking the early fall leaves off of his lawn when he got a phone call. “Hm? Yo?”

On the other end, it was a video call from Micro Chips. “Hello? Are you there, Flash?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” he replied.

“I’ve located their new compound,” Micro went on, “It seems to me that they’re using the local baseball stadium as a way to cover their tracks. Figures--baseball is a pretty big thing in their culture.”

“Meh, I prefer ice hockey,” Flash commented on their preference of sports, and resumed the conversation, “What’ve you been doing to cover your tracks? Do they realize who you are?”

“Nope. But getting in was the easy part. The hard part will be locating where exactly they make this Zarin compound. I’ve been doing my research, and I’ve found it to be a more advanced form of the Sarin compound. A chemical that’s so hard to detect, that you’ll be dead as soon as it reaches your eyes.”

“....Yikes,” Flash visibly shuddered, “I don’t even wanna imagine how that stuff is used. Just be careful alright? The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.”

With Micro Chips…

“Please. No one’s going to suspect a thing from a lowly custodian,” he replied as he put on a dull-blue janitor’s uniform and grabbed a mop. “I just need to get closer. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I find anything.”

“Alright,” Flash replied over the phone, “I’ll let the boys on the ground know when it’s time to start moving.”

As soon as Micro hung up his call, there would be a knock on the outside of the supply closet that he was currently hiding in.

“Hey, new guy. Get to work. I need this place spotless!” a raspy young man’s voice shouted.

Micro exited the closet with the supplies he needed to start cleaning. “No problem, Mr…?”

“Tatsu--that’s all you need to refer to me as,” the green-skinned young man with blonde hair addressed him, “My old man is expecting this place to be fresh for when his business partners arrive later today.”

“Business partners?”

“Yeah, that’s all you need to know,” Tatsu sneered as he walked off, “Get to work already.”

Micro thought to himself about what he had just heard. “That sounds about right. If my perceptions are correct, it could be more people he plans to sell that chemical to. Or it could be people who just like baseball. Either way--I won’t know until I try. Come on, don’t let your fears stop you now.”

He took a deep breath and started mopping. As much as he tried to deny it, the overwhelming sensation of knowing just how much on the line there was had started to eat away at Micro’s confidence. But all he could do for the moment was push it deep down as he worked.

“I have to do this. I can’t fail.”

Arc XXV Episode I: Starting Things Up

The next day…

Sunset decided to pay Applejack a visit to see how she was doing. The apple gal was busy picking apples from one of the trees in the farm as usual which put Sunset at ease as she approached her.

“Hey, Applejack,” she called out to her, “Adagio told me how you were doing and I wanted to come check on you. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah I feel a bit better knowin’ there’s lots’a folks out there workin’ on findin’ the truth about…mah parents,” Applejack rubbed her neck as she sat beneath one of the trees. “It’s somethin’ I wasn’t prepared’ta deal with mahself.”

Sunset would then join her and sit next to her in the grass. “...does anyone else in your family know about this little operation?”

“Are you kiddin’?” she asked sarcastically, “Ain’t no way I’d subject Applebloom, Big Mac, or Granny Smith’ta bein’ stressed out over our parents…and her son.” She removed her hat from her head and glanced down at it with a somber frown, “That’s the last thing I’d ever want for any of ‘em…”

“I understand…but don’t worry. From what I heard, it sounds like Flash is already on top of things…as nervous as that makes me,” Sunset admitted as she hung her head.

Applejack placed her hat back on her head and gave her own perspective. “...Honestly, I think this has been a long time comin’.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think about it, Sunset. Imagine how he feels after bein’ on the sidelines all this time. He and his friends were what saved us from that love potion a few months back, so I think he wants’ta continue to show how useful he can be.”

Despite this, Sunset was still visibly shaken by the idea. “I…guess, but--I dunno. I just feel…guilty? Scared?” she said while holding both of her hands up and raising each one upon saying each word, “Because well--it’s my fault that he’s got wrapped up in all this stuff anyway. If he were to get hurt now, I’d…well I don’t know what I’d do.”

Applejack paused, then chuckled as she patted Sunset on the back. “Hm…guess yer feelin’s for him haven’t waned after all these years, huh?”

Sunset let out a small squeal akin to the noise a horse would make as her cheeks turned red. “Hegh!--what? No, I just…I’m…worried about him, that’s all.”

But Applejack--being the Element of Honesty--could see right through her and simply glanced at Sunset with half-lidded eyes to tease her. “Mm-hmm…well, if you say so. Point is, I think he would’ve joined in to help at some point or another regardless. Don’t fret yerself over it, sugarcube.”

Sunset huffed, puffing her cheeks out for a moment then exhaled. “Argh…yeah I guess you’re right. I can’t keep everyone from fighting since this world is all of our homes. Especially since the professor’s been teaching everyone how to use magic--even during summer vacation.”

“Well that’s a nice’a him,” Applejack replied, “Glad’ta know some’a yer folks from Equestria are decent folks. Between him and Keiji, things are lookin’ much better than they were last year.”

“Hey, don’t forget the Sirens,” Sunset remarked with a snarky tone, “They managed to improve themselves too ya know.”

“I was gettin’ to ‘em!” Applejack protested with a snicker.

Just then, Sunset’s phone started to buzz, playing the Post Crush ringtone. “Hm?” She looked at the contact and it read,

FlishFlash

Applejack simply continued snickering while Sunset glared at her in disapproval.

“Not a word.”

“Hehe--I ain’t said nothin’,” Applejack sputtered through self-contained laughter.

Sunset rolled her eyes and answered the phone. “Wassup?”

“Hey, it’s me, Sunset. This may sound crazy considering everything that’s happened: But I actually need your help this time around. And Sci-Twi if she can come along as well.”

“...Applejack told me everything,” Sunset replied while looking at the farm gal in question, “Do you want her to help out too or…?”

The line was quiet for a moment, indicating Flash’s hesitation. “...It’s up to her. But I’d really rather her not get involved just yet if she can help it.”

“It’s alright,” Applejack confirmed with a nod, “This is a bit…rough fer me, and it’d be hard for me’ta stay focused in the middle of a fight if things got messy. Ya’ll go on ahead. I need’ta spend time…to mahself.” With that, she got up and continued her work for the day, leaving Sunset alone.

“...She buries her emotions so much…I feel bad for her,” Sunset muttered.

“Yeah. I know what that feels like,” Flash replied over the phone, “Not easy when you have to try and keep up a strong face for everyone else.”

“...Hey, uh…wanna meet up somewhere so we can discuss what you have planned?” Sunset asked as she nervously bit her lip, “If you want, that is. No pressure.”

“Yeah that might be a good idea,” Flash replied with an uncertain tone, “I think my dad is getting a bit antsy with girls in the house. Stupid old man…”

“Let’s meet up at that diner where Pinkie works,” Sunset suggested, “I’m kinda hungry and can’t think on an empty stomach anyway.”

“Alright. See you there.”

Arc XXV Episode II: Mission Accepted

“...long story short, that’s why this mission is so important and why I’ve decided to take control,” Flash concluded to Sunset, “If any of you guys get involved, it’d be over in an instant because they’d easily recognize you from how many times you’ve been on the news.”

“...yeah, that’s fair,” Sunset replied with a sarcastic chuckle, “We are pretty famous. For better or worse. In this case, it makes it worse.” She sighed and started to think more on the motivation behind their efforts. “...and this is all in a bid to find out what happened to Applejack’s parents, huh?”

“Possibly more than that if MC’s data is correct. It’s entirely possible that they’re the reason behind the disappearances of loads of other family members…”

Sunset paused for a moment as she tapped her fingers on the table and thought to herself about her own parents back in Equestria. “...Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“...Something wrong?” Flash asked.

“...” Since Sunset knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it from the guy who knew her the best, she was honest with him. “Yeah. My parents went through something similar back home. It’s nothing that you need to worry about though. I ended up getting closure on it the last time I went there.”

Flash nodded and replied, “Alright. But if you wanna talk about anything else, then don’t be afraid to speak up.”

“Thanks…I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Sunset replied with a half-hearted smile before changing the topic of conversation. “But let’s get back on track here. If I can’t be directly involved, just what do you need my help for?”

“That’s the neat part,” Flash reached into his backpack on the seat next to him, and retrieved his laptop computer. “Every soldier needs a command center to watch over them from back home. You’re pretty much the best option for it.”

As Flash opened his computer and started typing, Sunset blinked her eyes with a nervous, uncertain tilt of her head.

“Erm…are you sure I can handle that?” she asked, “I dunno if I’d be cut out for it exactly.”

“C’mon--you’re essentially the leader of your own group of superheroines, right?” Flash tried to motivate her.

To which she replied hesitantly. “...weeeeell…”

He snapped his fingers and continued, “Oh--oh! And you play online games that make use of mics. You’re always the one giving orders and keeping your team together when you play games like Battleherd and Colt of Duty, right?”

When her gaming skills were complimented, Sunset couldn’t help but accept it. “...okay maybe you got me there. So what would I be doing exactly?”

Flash turned his computer around to her and showed her his screen that displayed the schematics of the entire baseball stadium that Micro Chips was currently in. “We’d just need you to guide us through. Block off exits, set off fire alarms--stuff like that.”

“Huh…” Sunset stared at the screen for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Alright. That looks simple enough. Though I might have Twilight come in and join me just in case.”

“Good idea,” Flash agreed, “Thanks, Sunset. I’m glad I can count on you in a situation like this.”

“Of course,” Sunset replied with a smile, “I’m just happy that we’re on better terms now and can put the past behind us. If I had known how silly I was back then, I would’ve throttled myself for trying to hurt you.”

Flash chuckled at the idea. “Sounds like a Judgement Neigh situation. But don’t worry, it’s water under the bridge now. I’m just glad I can talk to you without worrying about whether or not you’re sincere with me. I’ve…had issues with trusting people, as I’m sure you can tell.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck as she recalled the way Princess Twilight ghosted him. “...yeah. I feel you. I need to write to a certain someone next time I get the chance.”

“I’d appreciate it,” the boy replied with a content sigh, “...so, have you thought about your future? What you’d like to do once you graduate?”

“Well I’m still working at the sushi restaurant in the mall. I might consider moving up to a manager then striking out with my own business if I get the chance.”

“For real? In between all this fighting and keeping the city safe?”

Sunset scoffed with a small, tired smile on her face. “Heh--well, I’ll have to manage somehow. This life certainly isn’t for everybody. How about you?”

“Might try to get an album published,” Flash replied, “I’ve got multiple songs on the backburner that I’m trying to get picked up by Records Tower.”

“That place with the big yellow sign downtown?” Sunset asked with amazement, “If you can manage to get a CD there, then you’d be on your way to the top of the charts in no time! Your music is really good.”

“...Thanks, but I’m not doing it for the fame. It’s mostly just for the art and showing people that they can still make something pretty even if they don’t feel that good about themselves, ya know?”

“That’s pretty sweet of you,” Sunset encouraged him, “I’ll be sure to be on the lookout for your music. I always need some good tunes for my workout but can never find anything when I’m ready to run on a treadmill.”

“Oh! I think I’ll have something just for that--”

Just then, Pinkie Pie rose from seemingly out of nowhere and plopped menus onto their table. “Hey guys! Lemme guess--do you want the couples’ special--?”

Both Sunset and Flash paused for a moment before laughing.

“...no thanks, Pinkie,” he said after catching his breath.

“Just some hot wings are fine.”

Pinkie paused for a moment, and glared at them with narrowed eyes and a sinister smile. “Riiiiight. I got you. Wink. Wink,” she said aloud while winking as she rolled backwards on her roller skates.

Much to the chagrin of both the young adults at the table.

“Oh god what’s she gonna do--?” Flash asked while grabbing the bridge of his nose.

Sunset was about to get up, “...We should probably get outta here--” but she stopped herself. “...but dammit…I’m actually pretty hungry now.”

“Well, maybe Pinkie won’t make that big a deal out of it…right?”

Arc XXV Episode III: Target Located

About a week had passed since Micro Chips started working at the local baseball stadium undercover. In his time there, it turns out that he had indeed uncovered exactly what he was looking for: Traces of the Zarin compound that could be used to silently and swiftly kill people before it left their bodies--leaving no trace of the chemical behind which could give any autopsy report a serious headache.

Where exactly? Well, Micro Chips would make his report from the janitorial supply closet.

“It’s hidden beneath the stadium itself,” Micro spoke into an electronic watch that he had on, “If my estimates are correct, they must have 100 gallons of it below ground.”

On the other end of the call, Flash Sentry would respond, “Okay. That’s good to hear. But we still need photographic evidence before we can move forward. We don’t want them using any of that stuff on the people watching the ballgame there--or something even crazier than that.”

“My nanomachines and I have taken all of the pictures you need for your evidence, Flash,” Micro replied as he connected a small, spider-like robot to the watch via a cable. “I’m sending you the information right n--”

Chhhhhr!

“What the…?” Micro muttered when he heard the static noice.

“What’s wrong?” Flash asked.

“Someone’s jamming the signal,” Micro replied, “Which shouldn’t be possible. All of my tech is running on its own wavelength away from any other phone or radio lines.”

Flash put two and two together and raised his voice. “...Okay this may sound crazy, but this is bad. I think you’ve been made, Mike.”

“...Are you certain?” Micro shuddered at the thought, “But how could they…?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Flash continued, “You need to get outta there now. Make sure no one sees you leave.”

Micro paused as he thought about the possibility of bailing before completing the mission. “...But what about my objective?”

“Damn the objective, man--your life is more important,” Flash called out, “I’m not letting you die out there. I’m coming to get you myself. Meet me out in front of the stadium.”

With a heavy heart, Micro knew that risking his own life would only make things worse for everyone involved. All he could do was agree. “...Alright. See you then.” The transmission was cut, and he proceeded to gather his supplies as normal.

“Alright. Just need to get outta here…”

Unfortunately, he was spotted the moment he left the closet.

“Hey, new guy,” Tatsu’s raspy voice called out to him from down the hall, “You’ve been doing pretty well lately and my old man wants to talk to you.”

Micro froze as a cold sweat ran down his spine. “...”

With Flash…

The young man ran out to his car while dialing Sunset’s number on his phone. “C’mon…pick up…”

Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to wait for very long.

“Flash? That you?”

“Yeah, I think we have a problem, Sunny!” he replied in a panicked tone, “Are you at your computer?”

Moments later, she’d reply with the same information that Flash had gotten from Micro not too long ago.

“I can see everything. Everything except…” she replied while typing on the keyboard, “Dammit! Something’s messing with his signal and I can’t locate him anywhere in the stadium!”

Flash grit his teeth as he tried to come up with another idea. “Shit…okay…think…is there anyone else we know at the stadium right now? Anyone at all?”

On her end, Sunset tapped the side of her head as she racked her brain. “Hmmm…oh! I think Aria went there with Keiji today. I saw it on her PonyGram feed.”

“Good. Okay, that works--they can help us out. There isn’t much time. If you see anything else going on down there, you let me know immediately. Got it?”

“Don’t worry, Flash. I got you,” she groaned over the call, “Ugh--if only I had the skills of Twilight or Sandbar’s little sister. I’ll probably call them both just to be safe.”

“Good idea. But I’m gonna hang up before I get there. We’ll be too easy to track if I stay on the line for too long. Good luck, Sunny,” Flash said before hanging up his phone and starting his car.

“I’ve only got one shot at this. If things get bad, I’ll have to use the chopper…”

Arc XXV Episode IV: Rounding The Bases

At the stadium, during a game…

“So this is where you guys made it during the playoffs, huh?” Keiji asked as he bit into a chili dog.

“Damn right,” Aria replied confidently, “Though it wasn’t just my badass batting skills. It was thanks to ol’ Ajax’s pitching that we were able to get the win.”

“Ajax? Who’s that?” Keiji asked.

“Eh, just one of my classmates,” she went on with a sigh, “Poor guy had to transfer due to getting accepted into a major league team across the country. Now we’ll need someone else to fill the void of his skillful rumble pitch.”

Keiji frowned in response. “Ah…that sucks. Hope he’s okay wherever he is. Do you still keep in contact with him?”

“Oh yeah we chat sometimes, don’t worry--” Aria’s attention wa stolen by the game going on down in the field. “Yo, look! They’re about to steal and get a game-winning point!”

Keiji watched with bated excitement and a hint of skepticism. “...I dunno. That third baseman is gonna tag him before he--”

CRACK!

“Yoooooo!” Aria rose out of her seat and started clapping for the player running the bases to the end, scoring enough points for the Canterlot Professional Home Team to win. “Yes! We did it! We beat the Griffonstones!”

From his seat, Keiji simply chuckled in response to Aria’s outburst. “...never seen you this happy before, Aria.”

“...Yeah well…” she blushed rolled her eyes, “I can get excited for stuff too.”

“I’m joking,” he said with a grin, “You made a good prediction there. I think you’ll go pro just fine one day.”

Aria sat back down and ruffled his hair with her hand. “Heh. Thanks little bro.”

“...stahp.”

With Micro Chips…

“...Your father wants to congratulate me for my efforts? That really isn’t necessary…”

Tasty put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the office. “Please. He insists. You don’t wanna be rude now do you?”

“...I s-suppose not,” Micro replied, his voice shaky as his heart started to race from anxiety. “I’ll see what he wants from me.”

“...You’d better,” Tatsu muttered before disappearing seemingly from out of nowhere, which caused Micro to turn around and dart his eyes out of fear.

“...Wha…?”

With Flash…

He was on his way to the baseball stadium, driving as fast as he could while abiding the traffic signals until he got a call from Sunset which he activated from the digital call screen on the dashboard.

“Go ahead,” he said.

But it wasn’t just Sunset this time. Thankfully, Twilight had joined in and was right at her side.

“I’m here. As much as I wanna be out there helping you, I can see why you didn’t exactly want us to join in--they’d spot us from a mile away,” Twilight explained with a sigh, “Guess we really can’t do everything ourselves…but that’s besides the point. I think I’ve found what you’re looking for, Flash.”

“Do you have any leads on MC’s location?” Flash questioned in an urgent tone as he rounded a corner.

“According to what I’m seeing here, he’s located in the northwestern side of the stadium. Possibly in or around some kind of office…?”

“Argh…I was afraid of that. Looks like I have no choice,” Flash muttered.

Worried by his words, Sunset would ask, “...wait, what do you mean?”

“No time to explain. I have to hurry if I’m gonna save him,” was all he replied with before hanging up. Then, he’d send Micro Chips a quick text message…

With Micro…

He took a quick look at his watch and received a message that read:

‘Meet me on the roof in ten minutes. You’ll know when I’m here.’

Since he didn’t have much of a choice in that moment, Micro stowed his fear and stepped into the office.

“...You wanted to see me, sir?”

Tatsu and Shinji’s father--Hattori was sitting at his desk and got up when Micro entered. “Ah. There you are. I just wanted to thank you for the work you’ve been doing around my lovely little stadium.”

“...Thank me?” Micro replied hesitantly, unsure what to make of the man’s words just yet. “Er…thank you, sir? I know I’m still new but I’m trying my best to keep things clean around here. Baseball is a huge passion of mine--I even collect the cards and--”

“Very nice,” the older gentleman interrupted him as he walked towards Micro. “Fancy a walk with me to the roof? There’s something I want to show you up there regarding the ventilation systems.”

“...Odd. I wasn’t initially assigned for roof cleaning. Something’s off,” Micro kept those thoughts to himself and answered casually. “Oh. Sure. No problem.”

Arc XXV Episode V: An Explosive Strikeout

When they arrived at the roof, Micro was surprised by the sheer lack of guns drawn or anyone waiting for him there.

“...Strange. I could’ve sworn he had me found out,” he thought as they reached the top of the stadium’s office, “No…there has to be something else happening. I’m sure of it.”

“...Young man,” Hattori started off, “The reason I brought you here was to speak to you in confidence.”

Micro adjusted his glasses as he listened carefully. “...excuse me, sir?”

“You’re a young man who’s entering his stage of adulthood,” Hattori went on, “I just want to explain something to you: Don’t force yourself into a line of work that you’ll end up regretting later on as you get older.”

“...You regret being the head of a baseball stadium?” Micro asked inquisitively, “I don’t think I quite understand.”

“...You’re not foolish. I know you aren’t. You and I both know full well what I’m really capable of. I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now. All of what I have…is not something to admire, young man. If you were hoping to get involved, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go.”

Micro raised a brow. “...and by ‘let me go’ you mean…?”

“Go home,” the older gentleman continued, “Live a life of a young man and grow into someone better than myself. I’m almost certainly going to die sooner or later and I want you to have no part of this. It’s bad enough that both of my sons are involved. But you? You’re not a part of this.”

“...So not only does he know, but he’s also rather reasonable,” Micro thought to himself, “I guess at the end of the day, he’s still a father. Even if he is a mobster from the East, he still wants his kids to be okay.”

With a deep breath, Micro replied, “Well if that’s what you want…”

Chk!

“Son of a bitch old man, I knew you were getting soft!” Tatsu shouted as he walked onto the roof with a machine pistol in his hand--the PM-9 to be exact. “This asshole’s been keeping tabs on our shit the entire time and what--you’re just gonna let him walk all over you? Are you--have you lost what little brain cells you have left you senile crock of shit?!”

“...!” Micro held his hands up as Hattori approached his son.

“This is none of your business,” the old man chastised his child, “Put the weapon down and leave.”

“Are you for real--? He’s about to blab all of our secrets to the feds!”

“Really?” Hattori folded his arms, “And where is your proof?”

“Search him! He’s probably got some kinda--!”

While they were arguing, Micro would hear a message over his watch.

“Egghead--I’m coming out of the sky to get you now. Sit tight.”

As the baseball game ended and its patrons began to leave the stadium, Micro Chips could see what appeared to be a helicopter round the nearest bend from the corner of his eye with a rope ladder unfurled for him to grab onto.

“Section, don’t approach--repeat, do not approach,” Micro whispered into his watch but it was far too late at this point. The chopper was well on its way and he had no choice but to follow.

Soon enough, the argument between Tatsu and his father was drowned out by the loud, whirring blades of a helicopter that flew over them…taking Micro Chips with it.

“...Wait what?!” Tatsu yelled out as he watched Micro fly over the now-empty stadium, holding onto the ladder. “Mother of god--you see what you did ya old bastard?!” he tried to point his gun at the helicopter but was quickly stopped when his father grabbed him by the wrist.

“Let him go!” Hattori insisted as he forced his son’s hand back. “This has nothing to do with him!”

“...You still don’t get it, do you?” Tatsu dropped the gun…and immediately pulled out a communicator that he’d bark an order into. “Ren! Hachi! Take it down!”

“NO!”

It was too late to take anything back. Mere seconds after the order was given, the two people--a young man and a young woman--that Tatsu had called for had leapt out into the middle of the empty baseball stadium and fired off homing missiles from shoulder-mounted rocket launchers!

And from within the helicopter…

BEEEP!

Flash watched in horror as the flares went off. The flare’s heat was able to divert one of the missiles to the bleachers where it exploded harmlessly. But the other…

“BAIL, MIKE!” he yelled as he leapt out of the driver’s seat of the chopper.

“SHIIIIT!” Micro screamed as he leapt off of the ladder.

BLAM!

The chopper was consumed by a fiery explosion as the boys landed on the baseball outfield’s turf in a rough tumble that left them paralyzed for a moment.

“Daaagh! Can I catch a break just once? Once?!” Flash groaned after hitting the ground.

“We can’t stay here…” Micro groaned as he got onto his hands and knees. His glasses were broken into pieces with each lens cracked open, “We need to…”

“I don’t think so,” the young woman wearing a black suit--Hachi--approached them--followed by at least a dozen more people in similar attire, “You’re coming with us.”

With no way out, both Flash and Micro held up their hands in defeat…

Arc XXV Episode VI: RBI Chance

“You got ‘em, right Hachi?”

“Yup. They’re both history. We’ll use them for ransom to lure those magical girls out of hiding,” Hachi continued, “I know for a fact that Sunset Shimmer still harbors feelings for the blue-haired one. It’ll all go perfectly as planned, Tatsuya.”

Tatsu folded his arms triumphantly as he watched his goons toss a bound and gagged Micro Chips and Flash Sentry into a food storage closet. “Swe-heet…my old man is off his damn meds. These two are gonna be perfect bait to get exactly what we want.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” the woman rolled her eyes and turned to leave, “We need to make sure that nobody witnessed what happened down in the field.”

Tatsu followed her out and his workers shut the door on the boys, leaving them to imprisonment for the time being.

Soon enough, once they were gone…

Flash had managed to bite through the rope keeping his mouth from moving. “Ptoo! God…dammit! How are we gonna get outta this one?”

“Mm…mmm….” Since he was still gagged by rope, Micro Chips couldn’t speak clearly, but he was gesturing his bound hands in some sort of way as if he was loosening one of his sleeves…

“What? Hang on, lemme see if…”

But Flash didn’t need to do anything else. The spider-bot that Micro had been using earlier had cut a laser through his bindings and allowed him free movement of his hands. It then did the same for Flash as Micro removed the rope around his mouth.

“Agh…alright. So things aren’t exactly…good right now. But there’s a way we can escape if we’re careful enough.”

“Okay egghead, enlighten me,” Flash muttered in a pessimistic tone, “Even if we manage to get outta here, we’re completely surrounded on all sides. You heard what that chick said: They’re gonna use us as bait so Sunset and the others try to come save us. It’s all one big trap…”

Micro wasn’t sure how to respond to that at first. All he could do was sigh as he worked on his watch. “...maybe. Maybe not. If there’s one thing living in this city has taught me, it’s that you can only make it as far as you push yourself. Now if I can just connect Maximus again…”

“...Wait. That’s it!” Flash suddenly had an ephiphany, “If you can--”

“I’m way ahead of you. Just one second…”

But from a nearby corner, they’d hear a small voice call out to them. “H-help me…”

Meanwhile, topside…

The old man, Hattori, was sitting at his desk with a regretful frown on his face. “Hm…was that the right choice to make?”

Tatsuya burst into the office moments later to speak to him. “Everything’s under control old-timer. Don’t you worry. Those girls are gonna be here to rescue their boyfriends in no time. Then we can siphon off their powers.”

“...So long as you don’t harm those boys, then I don’t care what you do,” the old man spoke coldly, “I don’t want to spill any more innocent blood. Something that you seem to be all too keen on doing as of late.”

“Please,” Tatsu scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I only do what’s necessary. As your oldest son, it’s my goddamn right. Just ‘cuz Shinji can somehow resonate with the magic doesn’t automatically make him more worthy than me, ya know?”

“Even so, you’re still going about this in a reckless--”

“Enough bullshit!” Tatsu yelled as he slammed his hands down on the desk, “I’m sick and tired of playing second fiddle all because Shinji has a Resonance while I don’t. Just ‘cuz he can use the magic in this world doesn’t make him anymore valuable than me!”

Hattori looked away and shook his head. “...You don’t understand. I just don’t want you to get hurt. He is the only one who can make use of these newfound abilities. I myself have used them only for my body to--” he paused to cough in between his words, “Ack!--waste away further from the strain. I can’t keep doing this, my son. And I don’t want you to endure the same--”

But Tatsu refused to listen. Instead turning to leave the room as he reloaded his machine pistol. “There you go again--you know what? No. I’m done listening to you old man. I’m gonna keep this family business going whether you want me to or not. Hey, Ren! Activate the sprinkler systems! Flood the lower levels!”

“...” All Hattori could do in response was slam his fist upon the desk as his son left the room…

Outside the stadium…a few blocks away…

“Man that game was somethin’ else!” Keiji cheered, “I’m not usually one for sports, but somehow that game was more entertaining with you there, Aria.”

“Suppose I have that effect on people,” Aria replied confidently as she sauntered alongside him, “Stick with me little bro, and we’ll have loads of fun in ways you never could’ve--”

Just then, her phone started to buzz.

“Hm?” she picked it up and answered… “Yo?”

And she was met with immediate panic from Sunset Shimmer on the other end--

“Aria?! Are you down there?! There’s something really wrong and I need your help!”

“Wait what?” Aria flinched from the sudden shouting and tried to reason with Sunset, “Hold on. Slow down and start from the beginning.”

Arc XXV Episode VII: Close Splitter

Flash perked up from where he was sitting as soon as he heard the cry for help. “...did you hear that?”

“No?” Micro replied as Flash got up and walked to the back of the storage room, “What’s going on?”

Once there, Flash looked around and uncovered some boxes to find.a young woman with a pale skin tone, silver hair, and a brown bomber jacket. “H-help…”

“Who are…wait a sec, I think I remember you…you’re Gilda, right?” Flash asked as he knelt down next to her. “What happened to you? Do you recall how you ended up here?”

Gilda shook her head, unable to answer at the moment.

“Someone you recognize?” Micro asked from nearby.

“Yeah, it’s Gilda,” Flash replied as he lifted the girl onto his shoulder, “She looks hella banged up. Like she’s been down here for--”

“Weeks,” Micro sorted it out as soon as he laid eyes on her, “We can sort out the details later. For now, I think I’ve just figured out our ticket out of here.”

Intrigued, Flash would ask for more info with a more hopeful tone than before, “Alright. We’ve got nothing to lose. Lay it on me, egghead.”

“Remember the nanomachines from a few weeks ago? They’re still with me.” Micro stood aside…

And revealed his spider-bot that had grown to the size of a small car!

“I used them to give my drone a bit of an upgrade so that we can get ourselves out of here.”

“Shit that’s pretty impressive,” Flash commented, “But is it gonna work at that size? Won’t it need more power?”

“I’ve got that figured out. Don’t you worry--”

HSSSSSS!

Just then…the sprinkler system went off…

Outside the stadium…

One emotionally charged phone call later, and Aria and Keiji were sprinting to get back to the now-empty baseball stadium.

“...so our boys are captured by those bastards, huh?” said the vamp-boy, “If they so much as harm a hair on their head I swear…”

“Don’t get emotional,” Aria scolded him, “You lose focus when you let your emotions get the better of you so don’t let it start now when our friends’ lives are on the line.”

“Right…I’m just annoyed that we’ll have to be dealing with these idiots again,” Keiji huffed as he ran alongside her, “But at least we’ve figured out their new base. Can’t believe they were right underneath us the whole damn time…”

“I’m just as shocked as you are,” Aria replied, “But there’s not much we can do except focus on getting them out. Sunset is counting on us, remember? If she came down here, they’d take her power and we do not want that.”

Keiji audibly shuddered at the thought. “Blegh…I do not like the idea of one of my strongest friends losing her power to some other jackass. C’mon, let’s go!”

Back in the supply closet…

“C’mon, egghead, how much longer?!” Flash yelped as the water rose past their ankles.

“One sec!” Micro called back as he bent down to configure his spider robot. “It needs…dammit, it’s jammed!”

“Your GCM must be stuck!”

“What?!”

Flash kicked the spider-bot’s abdomen…and it immediately started up and fired off explosive paste that blew the door open.

“There! Un-stuck!”

As the dust settled, the boys would walk out of the supply closet. Micro was tapping on his watch while Flash carried Gilda over his shoulder.

And from down the hall…

“What the hell--how did they get--SHOOT THEM!” Tatsu screamed, ordering his goons to fire at them.

A barrage of bullets would rain their way--Flash took cover behind a nearby potted plant while Micro stood behind the corner of a wall.

“What’s our next move, captain??” Micro raised his voice over the gunfire.

“...here’s what we’re gonna do,” Flash reached into his jacket and pulled out his rifle. Imbued with the sound-based magic he had acquired a while ago, as soon as he pulled the trigger--

BLAM!

A massive soundwave was launched down the hall, blowing all of the yakuza members backwards and forcing them to tumble to the ground.

“We take your photos and get Gilda outta here! That’s the exact compound that was used to kill Applejack’s parents. I just know it.”

“Right behind ya!”

Meanwhile, at the stadium’s enctrance…

“Dammit, the door’s locked,” Keiji huffed once they got close enough, noting the set of chains that locked the double-doors from the outside.

Aria simply cracked her knuckles and punched the door, blasting it open with a gust of air from her fist. “Now it’s unlocked,” she muttered casually as she ran inside.

“...Well that’s one way to--hey, wait up!” Keiji yelped as he ran after her.

“They should be close by,” Aria continued as they ran through the halls of the stadium, “That explosion probably had something to do with it.”

“...You mean the downed helicopter in the middle of the field?!” Keiji pointed out the destroyed black hawk surrounded by burned patches of grass.

“...That’s…guess we should follow it. Sunset should be here soon to back us up.”

Arc XXV Episode VIII: Strikezone

“Mark the targets!” Flash shouted, “Try not to kill them all if you can help it!”

“Easier said than done!” Micro yelped as he ducked under another set of bullets being fired off in his direction which shattered some of the wall above him. “We’re gonna be pinned down if we can’t manage to get outta here fast enough!”

Micro’s spider robot would shoot a non-lethal webbing to tie up most of the gangsters in their path.

From the other end of the hall…

Keiji and Aria were making their way through as many of them as possible as well. The vampboy cut through their gun’s bullets with his sword before slashing at their shins to disable them as he forced them to bleed.

Meanwhile, Aria simply walked down the hallway after him at a more casual pace, throwing windbound punches that sent those goons through multiple walls as they tried to jump out and attack her.

“Yawn. These guys aren’t putting up much of a fight at all,” she snarked.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Keiji reminded her, “There could be someone much deadlier that we aren’t--”

Just then, in between both groups, Tatsu would rear his annoyed, gravely voice upon the scene as he exited from a nearby restroom.

“Ho-lee-shit! What do we have here? As soon as someone’s boyfriend gets hurt, the entire Class of 3000 shows up,” he cackled with his right hand in his pocket.

“Guys! You’re alright?!” Keiji called out, then focused on Tatsu, “You…you’re Shinji’s brother, aren’t you? Where’s that lowlife?”

“That lowlife’s been benched,” Tatsu scoffed as he folded his arms, “I’m in charge now, so you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter which one of you it is,” Flash called out, “We’re gonna take you down--dead or alive if need be. We know about the chemicals you used to kill Applejack’s parents.”

Tatsu would mock him by putting his hands over his eyes and turning his wrists, faking the act of crying. “Oooh, look at me! I’m shaking in my widdle-baby boots,” with a laugh, he returned to his stance from before with one hand in his pocket, “It’s gonna take a lot more than some empty words to scare me. And for your information, I wasn’t the one who killed them--though I did sell exactly what Mr. Bartlett needed to finish his job.”

“Maybe a swift kick to the nuts oughta get the rest outta you,” Aria sneered from where she stood.

Tatsu raised his free hand and pointed at her. “...chicks like you are exactly why my old man’s no-hitting women policy is horseshit.”

“Listen you sock puppet,” Keiji rattled off, “There’s like four of us and one of you. Better stand down before you really get hurt.”

While they were talking, Micro had been using his technology to analyze everything that Tatsuya was capable of. “...Strange. He doesn’t possess any innate magic at all. In theory, this should be an easy battle…” But when he looked at that tall, muscular young man with evergreen skin, a sharp twinge of fear struck him in the back. “This isn’t good. It’s as if he’s hiding his true power. Like a set of fangs waiting to be unsheathed. And that name…Barltlett. Is that not a variety of pear?”

Since his opponent was unarmed, Flash tossed his gun aside and cracked his knuckles. “Alright then. Let’s make this a good one.”

Keiji would do the same, returning his sword to the void from whence it came. “This walking artichoke really thinks he can take us all on at once…”

Aria balled her fists--albeit hesitantly as she took a deep breath, but she had no time to think. “...I dunno about this…but the least we can do is stall until Sunset gets here.”

With that, Micro made sure to keep himself and Gilda safe behind some nearby crates. “Our odds of winning are…slim. He possesses a combat ability far beyond that of what we’re normally used to.”

But there was no more time for planning. Only action.

Flash lunged forward, taking the initiative to deck Tatsu across the face with a hefty punch. The latter took it surprisingly well and quickly recovered, blocking what would’ve been a second punch right before swiftly kneeing him in the gut, and tossing him away.

Keiji would begin his attack right after, flying at Tatsu with a jumping kick. Unfortunately for him, the latter blocked the attack with his free hand, grabbed his ankle and tossed him aside. But then, Keiji quickly recovered and started to attack with a series of swift kicks that Tatsu managed to dodge almost casually--much to the vampboy’s visual shock via a gasp.

“...!”

Suddenly, after dodging once more, Tatsu had grabbed him by the throat. But just as he did that, Aria would come from behind and wrap her arms around his neck, putting him a chokehold that forced him to let go of Keiji.

Tatsu would then respond by throwing his elbow backwards, hitting Aria dead in her face with his limb and forcing her off of him, causing her to stagger for a moment. Just as he tried to throw a punch, she grabbed his fist with her open palm, and used her opposite hand to deliver a swift uppercut to his chin which sent him up into the air.

Before he could recover, Aria would punch him once, twice, then leap into the air, grab him by the neck, and piledrive downwards, dunking him into the pavement below so hard that a crater was left upon impact.

“Damn…not bad…” Tatsu muttered as Aria leapt backwards.

“You guys okay?” Aria asked.

Keiji dusted himself off and stood up. “I’m still here.”

Flash had also recovered, dusting himself off. “Damage minimal.”

From behind cover, Micro would speak up. “Everyone. I’m trying to get a read on him, but I’m not detecting any discernible weaknesses!”

“That’s right,” Tatsu agreed with a chuckle as he stood up and cricked his neck to pop his joints back into place. “See, you bozos rely so much on magic that you’ve never stopped to consider how strong someone could get without it. You ain’t got shit on me.”

“Maybe not,” Keiji replied as he rolled his neck, “But you’re not invincible.”

“Just need to hold out a bit longer until Sunset gets here, guys…” Aria stated as she readied herself once more, “I don’t think we’re strong enough to beat him even with our powers.”

Flash jumped in place as he prepared himself once more. “Well I’m no quitter. I’m through running. We keep going until there’s nothing left. Semper fi and all that. But I’ve got one question for ya: What exactly was Gilda doing down there?”

Tatsu rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed groaned. “Ugh…I can’t tell if you’re all brave or just mental. But go on. Keep telling yourselves that. Fighting me won’t bring back that country bumpkin’s parents, nor will it restore that Griffonstone chick’s home.”

Flash raised a brow. “Say what now?”

“How do ya think we got all these guns, genius? Arms dealers are much more common down there than back home. All we needed to do was bleed them dry,” Tatsu said with a devious grin, “Poor bitch must’ve been trying to complain about it. What a joke.”

Everyone simply stood in silence as they processed what they had just heard.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Arc XXV Episode IX: Foul Play

The fighting would begin. Even when the three of them tried to attack Tatsu all at once, they couldn’t get too far. The second Keiji tried to bring out his sword, Tatsu would strike one of his nerve endings with a precise chop to disrupt his magic. Same went for Aria as well, who was unable to even think about using her air-based magic due to Tatsu constantly striking her where she least expected. A sweep here, a punch to the gut there…

And Flash wasn’t even able to reach for his weapon, let alone fire it. Tatsu would charge at him with a shoulder tackle, sending Flash into the nearest wall before he could blink. Even though he lacked magic, he was simply too skilled and strong for them to fight--even with the few hits they did manage to land as evidenced by the handful of bruises on his body.

Eventually, the three of them were collapsed on the ground as Tatsu scratched the back of his head.

“Jeez. I actually had to try for that one,” he muttered as he coughed up some blood, “But I think you all should just give up. It’s clear to me that all these so-called ‘gifts’--these blessings you were just given have made you all soft. I can’t use any of this magical crap yet I’m still kicking your asses.”

“I’m…not done…yet,” Keiji said in between heavy breaths, “Whether you have…magic or not…you’re still a piece of shit.”

Tatsu scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Tch. And I bet it’s just a total coincidence that all the people who have magic just so happen to be the ones who decide who can and can’t do what’s what.”

Flash quickly put two and two together. “Are you…implying that the girls are…policing everyone?”

“Ding-ding-ding, give this man a prize,” Tatsu continued, “Every single goddamn time something bad happens, they’re always the ones who get the final say on what the person should or shouldn’t do to redeem themselves. It’s kinda ridiculous if you asked me. Not to mention alienating to outsiders like us…”

Aria would refute his point. “What the…are you serious? Keiji and I aren’t even from here and you wanna talk about being an outsider?!”

“Don’t you get it? It’s a system designed to keep people pinned down,” he replied coldly, “Some of my family members have their own style of magic and wanna be able to practice it freely without being told what we can and can’t do. Some bitches that aren’t even in college yet who are younger than I am don’t have any right to tell my folks how to use their powers.”

By now, Keiji had managed to force himself to stand up. “Idiot…it’s different when you’re slaughtering people on their lands! You’re the reason why Applejack’s parents are dead.”

“Hey, I didn’t pull the trigger on that,” Tatsu replied with a wink, “I was just supplying a buyer with what they needed. Whatever they did with said product is beyond my control and doesn’t reflect who we are.” He then took a moment to pause as he pulled out a piece of hard candy to nibble upon. “I am utterly sick and tired of your holier-than-thou mentality. You guys preach about fwenshwip and tolwerwance,” he said in a mocking tone while cupping the sides of his face together before speaking normally, “Only to steamroll and force change onto those who don’t follow what you think is right. It’s nonsensical. It’s like a cult.”

“That’s not true!” Flash called out, “Sunset has never forced anybody to change if they didn’t want to.”

Tatsu folded his arms and shifted the piece of candy to the other side of his mouth. “Alright wise guy. Name me one time that she solved a problem that wasn’t due to the magic that you all brought into this world.”

“...”

Tatsu clapped his hands. “Oh-ho! Now we get it! See, the funny shit none of you realize is that we didn’t sign up to play a part in this sadistic ass play of yours. We were living our lives as normal and bam! Magic creatures started screwing up our family’s business. So we developed ways we can fight back on our own terms. Which includes the use of all the products and weapons we’ve happened to acquire over the years from places like Griffonstone. We did it to survive. Not to cause unnecessary bloodshed.”

Keiji started to think hard on what his enemy was telling them.

“...I get it now. You guys are dealing with the problems caused by the magic in your own way and don’t wanna be policed by the group of people who had a part in the problem.”

“Exactly! Thank you!” Tatsu shouted with a grin, “That’s all I wanted to get across. Now we can move on--”

“Hold it,” Aria butted in, “The one thing you don’t get is that we didn’t ask to come here. Hell, my sisters and I never wanted to come here in the first place. We were deported here by force a long ass time ago.”

“My situation went the same way,” Keiji added emphatically, “I was dropped off here against my will by the same asshole. Same goes for our professor as well.”

“...Really now?” Tatsu raised a brow, suspicious of this newfound info. “...And who exactly was the one that put you here in the first place? ‘Cuz if that’s the case, my gripes are with them. Not you..”

Keiji and Aria would speak together…

“His name is Starswirl The Bearded.”

Arc XXV Episode X: Reporting The Scores

“...I see. And is there any way I can speak to this ‘Starswirl’?” Tatsu said with airquotes, “Because this magic shit has been the source of our family’s troubles this whole time.”

Aria bit her lip and explained, “...we’d need to bring him through an Equestrian portal. Something that only happens every so often. But we can make one ourselves with the right kind of magic.”

“Believe me, I hate his ass too,” Keiji added, “But getting to him won’t be easy. It’ll take us some time.”

“Hmph,” Tatsu scoffed under his breath. It was anyone’s guess as to whether or not he believed what they were saying. But for the moment, he knew he had to cut his losses and move on. “This is a pain in the ass and it’s only gonna get worse the longer I hang around. Gotta bail.”

“Well?” Flash spoke up, “What’s it gonna be?”

Tatsu held up his free hand. “Alright. You’ve bought yourselves some time…for now. You’ve got one week to bring me this ‘Stargirl’ bastard or whatever his name is. I’m running out of patience and we’re gonna take matters into our own hands if you can’t prove anything to us.”

Since they were at a standstill, there was no way to resolve their current situation without their alibi. The group had to concede.

“...Fine,” Keiji muttered, “I’m too tired to kick your ass anymore anyways.”

“So that’s it, we’re letting him go?” Flash grumbled.

“Nothing else we can do right now,” Aria replied, “We’re all tapped out and he’s got the advantage against us.”

Flash huffed and tried to step forward, but stumbled down to one knee. “Gah…dammit. I suppose a tactical retreat is in order.”

“See you losers later,” Tatsu gave a salute with two fingers and threw a smoke bomb on the ground.

Poof!

And he was gone in an instant.

“...Huh. After seeing Trixie fail at that about 69 times, I never expected anyone would actually use it right,” Aria quipped.

“You seriously kept count?” Keiji asked flatly, “For real, sis?”

Aria shrugged her shoulders. “I thought friends were supposed to memorize stuff about each other.”

“Not like--ugh, nevermind,” Keiji rolled his eyes.

Moments later, Sunset and Rainbow Dash would appear on the scene, running up to the group.

“We’re here! We’re here!” Dash yelled as she looked around, gritting her teeth, “Whose ass do I have to kick?!”

“...For the fastest one around here, you were pretty slow on the draw,” Aria commented, “You just missed ‘em.”

“Aw come on!”

Sunset had her fire sword at the ready, but snapped it out of existence as she went to kneel down next to Flash.

“Flash! Are you okay? Gah…I never should’ve let myself allow you to do this,” she lamented as she tried to look over his bruises and wounds. “Can you look at me?”

“Yeah, I’m…well, if I said I was fine, I’d be lying,” he said with a forced chuckle before keeling over as he held his chest, “...agh--yep, there goes the internal bleeding.”

“Hang on…I’ve been practicing white magic for just such an occasion,” Sunset placed her hand on his neck, and a gold aura would shine from her hand…

“Why’d you let the bad guys’ boss get away?!” Dash complained, “Don’t you know that’s how they always come back stronger?”

Micro stood up and spoke, “We won’t have to worry for too long. They shot down a military vehicle on our home soil. The authorities are gonna be tracking them down for that and they’ll be found within days.”

“He’s right, agh--” Flash added in between a grunt of pain, “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself. We just need to make sure to report everything that’s happened. You got those photos, MC?”

“...Some of them, yes,” Micro replied, “I’m hoping our efforts won’t have been too late for an investigation to get started.”

“It’s already happened, kiddos,” a man’s voice called out from afar.

Everyone turned to see a gray-skinned detective wearing a brown trench coat, a female police officer with bright yellow skin, and a younger male officer with thick-rimmed glasses next to him.

“Quick Draw, call it in. Corkscrew, get a report filed.”

“Yes sir,” the woman replied.

“On it!” the young man replied.

The detective approached everyone and got out his notepad. “Okay…one at a time--”

But before he could even speak, Aria, Rainbow Dash, and Micro Chips all started talking over each other as they tried to explain what happened.

“The Yakuza shot down one of our national guard’s black hawks!”

“I’m almost certain they got illegal weapons.”

“Some of them ran off before we could kick their asses!”

“...One at a time, please,” Pale muttered as he shook his head. “...I need a clear report to give to The Mayor. She’ll need to know what to do to keep the city intact.”

Arc XXVI Episode I: Contingency Plans

A few days later…

Once the police report was filed, everyone went home to catch some rest and recover from the extreme circumstances they had found themselves in. The police were able to move in, arrest the remaining gangsters and recover the Zarin compound that was below the baseball stadium. It was henceforth turned over to the military to be disposed of and everyone had to think about what they would do next…

To make things simple, Sunset had set her computer’s webcam and spoke to as many of her friends that she could at the moment.

“...so to make a long story short, we need to find Starswirl, and bring him here so Tatsuya won’t cause anymore damage.”

“And just how are we gonna do that?” Rainbow Dash asked, leaning lazily in her chair.

“To my understanding, the portal opens at random points,” Sci-Twi spoke up, “We’ll have to get lucky to find one that can take us there and back reliably.”

“And pray tell--why are we trying to reason with a foreign terrorist?” Rarity asked while filing her nails, “Doesn’t strike me as the most…intelligent of ideas.”

Sunset took a deep breath and interlocked her fingers. “...it’s a tactical measure. More people are gonna die unless we bring them the guy who caused all of this magic in the first place. According to what Flash told me, was practically unbeatable…”

“Look, no offense--but that was a skeleton crew,” Dash commented, “If we just pony up and waste the fools, this’ll be over faster than you could blink! We can’t just sit on our asses and hope for things to get better, Sunset.”

“Don’t worry. Next time, we’ll bee prepared,” Sunset insisted, “I’m not gonna let Flash go out there on his own again.”

Rarity giggled, “You do know that there was more than just him, present, correct?” She then glared at the camera with a teasing set of narrowed eyes, “Or was that your heart talking faster than your lips, darling?”

“...I don’t know what you’re--” Sunset blushed, and quickly changed the subject with a hysteric grin on her face, “Uh…hey! Anyone know how Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack are doing?”

“...Applejack’s taking time to process the information,” Rarity explained with a sigh and a more somber tone, “I don’t think we’ll be seeing her for a while.”

“I think Pinkie’s working as usual,” Dash added. “I think the Diner’s packed today.”

“Fluttershy’s working too,” Twilight added as well, “She’s busy mapping out a nature reserve near the mountains--wait a sec…” She turned her head away from the computer…

Sunset tilted her head, “What’s up, Twilight?”

“Everyone, turn on the news right now.”

They all tuned into the news…

And on TV, Starlight Glimmer was speaking…

“Major upset today as Shinjiro Hishima turns himself in to Canterlot City Police Department. This young man was reportedly missing a finger when he gave himself up. All signs point this to ties to the Yakuza boss that was rumored to have been working out of the local baseball stadium. Whatever information we find, we’ll bring it to you as soon as we can.”

“...I need to speak to the professor,” Sunset muttered and turned back to her computer screen. “I need all of you on standby. When I give the signal, you know what to do.”

The girls all nodded in unison before the call ended.

An hour later…

“Professor? Professor Aidon?!” Sunset called out as she ran towards his home. “Are you there?”

She could see his garage door was wide open, and went in for a look…

And there she found Aidon dressed in a lab coat as he drew out multiple numerical values and math problems on a board in his garage.

“No…that’s not right at all. That equation…what was that equation again?”

“Professor--?”

“Gjfhjf! Great Scott!” Aidon yelped and jumped backwards, “...Ah. Sunset. You nearly scared the heart right out of my chest. I was just trying to figure out a safe way to open a portal to Equestria.”

“...You already know about what’s happening? Well that saves us some time, then.”

“Once the police told The Mayor, The Mayor told her administration, then Luna told me,” he went on as he erased a part of his board, “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what I should do to get us to Equestria and back safely. If we need to bring Starswirl here, then we have to be swift, but careful. Too much magical energy could cause widespread corruption in our--er, this world.”

Sunset tapped her foot as she gave it some thought. “Hrm…what if we only made a one-way portal? Starswirl could just poof us all back when we got there.”

“Of course! That would be far less risky. We just need to find ourselves a magical instability fissure so that we could get started. But where…?”

“Lemme give Twilight a call,” Sunset suggested as she pulled out her phone, “She’ll know where these things pop up. She’s got the tech for it.”

Aidon snapped his fingers. “Ah, yes. I keep forgetting those devices exist. A friend of mine who recently moved here from Europa was trying to show me how they worked and I had the most difficult time.”

“Oh?” Sunset asked with an interested tone, happy at the fact that he was making more friends. “What’s their name?”

“His name is Jascha. He’s a fellow mathematics professor and apparently his great-great grandfather served in The Second Great War of this world. The more you know, huh?”

“Sounds like you’ve got a nice support system going even without us,” she replied, “I’m proud of you, sir.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Ms. Shimmer. But for now, we have to get back…to Equestria!”

Arc XXVI Episode II: Horsing Around

“...Ey, pops. You seein’ this shit? Your bastard son gave himself up.”

“...”

“Pops? Izanami on a bicycle man you’re getting more senile by the second. We can’t let him just blab all of our secrets to the feds. We should at least kill him ourselves for betraying the business.”

“...Don’t be reckless, child.”

“Of course not,” Tatsu chuckled as he tapped on his phone, “I just sent a text out to Ren. He can handle it way better than I could.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city…

Just as Twilight described, Fluttershy was busy near the mountainous range just outside of the city drawing up plans for what would be a future nature reserve with the help of some of her friends from school who volunteered.

“This is gonna be perfect,” she muttered in a quiet, yet excited tone, “A place where horses, deer, and moose can roam freely without fear of being shot at by hunters.”

Next to her, a horse gave a whinny of approval.

“Oh, of course, Sigfried. You’ll be super safe here,” Fluttershy replied to her equestrian friend while petting his mane. “And I’ll be sure to come by and take you out for rides as much as I can.”

“...How do you manage to remember all of your animal friends’ names, Fluttershy?” Wallflower Blush asked from nearby as she hammered some wooden stakes into the ground to form a fence. “I don’t think I could ever manage something like that.”

“I suppose it comes naturally,” she replied innocently with a giggle, “Eventually, you come to know them like they’re your human friends. Isn’t that right, Sigfried?”

The horse simply flicked its tail in response.

“That means yes.”

“...Impressive.”

Nearby, some of her friends were busy helping out in various ways. Including an unexpectedly motivated Diamond Tiara…

“Where…ngh…do you want this…bag of mulch…?” she asked in between strained grunts as she hoisted the large bag of wood chips on her back.

“...Goodness. Don’t hurt yourself, Diamond Tiara,” Fluttershy replied as she walked over to help her, “You’re not as strong as Applejack, you know.”

From nearby, one of the boys they knew from school, Sandalwood, grabbed the bag to literally take the weight off of her shoulders. “Here, lemme get that for ya.”

Once he took it, Diamond Tiara huffed and folded her arms with a pouty expression on her lip. “Hmph. I almost had it.”

“...Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, “You’ve been trying to move a lot of heavy things around here lately. It’s concerning me.”

“I’m just trying to build up muscle, alright?” Tiara replied, “I…just wanna get stronger for the sake of the people I care about.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” she replied with a smile while patting Tiara on the head. “But you can’t get stronger if you hurt yourself. You have to ease into it before you put too much strain on yourself. Or at least, that’s what Rainbow Dash tells me.”

Tiara sighed and shook her head. “...Yeah. I guess I get what you mean. Still doesn’t make it any easier to cope with though. Knowing that the guy I like is out there fighting his ass off just for my sake…”

“Don’t think about it like that,” Fluttershy tried her best to console the girl. “Just focus on doing what you can do for him when he needs you. Keiji will like you back no matter what happens.”

Tiara paused for a moment, and blushed once she realized Fluttershy knew. “Y-yeah…well…whatever.”

Fluttershy then realized her phone was buzzing, and she had numerous missed texts from her friends informing her to check out the news.

“Hm?” she opened her phone and started to scroll through various news feeds… “Oh dear. I wonder what caused that to happen.”

“What’s going on?” Tiara asked, leaning over to check out what was on Fluttershy’s phone.

“One of the people who attacked our friends has turned himself in to the police,” she explained with a sympathetic tone, “I suppose he couldn’t bear the weight of his actions anymore and wanted to come clean. Poor kid…”

“Serves him right,” Tiara turned her nose up at the news, “Never should’ve tried to hurt us in the first place. Idiot.”

“Even so, we can’t judge until the court makes a decision,” Fluttershy explained, “Never make an assumption until you have all of the details. Come on, why don’t we take a break and rest our feet for a while, hm?”

Tiara sat down on the grass below. “I guess…it’ll help me relax and clear my head.”

Fluttershy then offered her a little rabbit to interact with. “Here. Petting bunnies have been clinically proven to reduce stress.”

“By whose study?” Tiara asked with a grin as she took the rabbit…and started to pet its ears, much to its delight as its tail swished about. “...wow. This does feel nice.”

“My own,” Fluttershy replied with a smile, “I’ve been working on my degree in animal science for a while now. I’m gonna make the world a better place for us all when I get older. And work on more humane methods for acquiring meat and fur.”

“That sounds pretty nice. I’ll be sure to grant you as much funding as you need,” Tiara added, “I’m gonna run this city when I get older--or at least take over from my mom and do better than her.”

“Well it’s good to know that you’ve got a supportive family and apply yourself,” Fluttershy nodded, then rolled her eyes. “...my brother on the other hand…”

Meanwhile, in front of Rainbow Dash's house...

“Nope. Get him outta here. I’ve given him too many chances. Take his ass to jail!”

“I didn’t know she was in the shower, honest! Officer, please have mercy on me--!”

Zephyr Breeze was shoved into the back of a cop car by a tall, dark-skinned man. “Oi. He's a pissy little tot, innit?”

“Tell me about it!” Rainbow Dash complained, standing there in her bath towel with her skin steaming from moisture, “I’ve tried time and time again but I don’t care anymore. He deserves what’s coming to him. Maybe this’ll get him to think twice before opening my window!”

“Calm yourself, little bird,” the officer replied as he wrote down the info for the report. “I’ll make sure he learns his lesson.”

Dash sighed with relief as the officer got in the car and drove off. “Whew…thanks, Officer Flash Drive.”

The entire time, Skeedaddle had rounded the corner and stared at the scene that had played out in front of him. To which Rainbow Dash stared back.

“...”

“...”

“...The next time you go to the mall and see me at the sporting goods store, I’ll spot you a free new pair of shoes if you don’t mention this to anyone. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Arc XXVI Episode III: Taken

Meanwhile….

“OOF!”

Sunset landed, and realized that her arms and legs had been traded for her usual pony limbs. It took her a moment to stand upright with her knees wobbling, but she managed to get up eventually.

“Alright…the portal from the lady's dressing room in the mall worked out,” Sunset commented as she flicked her tail and took a look at herself. “We managed to close it just before anyone got corrupted.”

Moments later, Aidon would rise from a pile of leaves and toss a bra off of his head. He was now a billowing gray pony of shadows whose body constantly flowed in nonexistent wind. “...Am I…aha! Yes it worked! We’re here!”

Sunset blinked and stared at the professor for a moment. “...Wow. You look much different than I anticipated. I suddenly have a ton of questions but I’ll save them for now until we get back.”

“Alright then. Now where do you think Starswirl would be?”

“I think Twilight knows. I can teleport us there. Just…” Sunset’s horn lit up and sparkled… “One…second…”

POOF!

…Surprisingly, they both appeared in Canterlot Castle on Sunset’s first try. In the throne room specifically.

“...Wow. Didn’t expect that to go well. And I’m still in one piece. How about you, professor?”

Aidon shook his head and rubbed his horn. “...A bit frazzled from all of the magical displacement, but otherwise alright. Though the throne room seems to be completely empty. Any idea as to why?”

Sunset looked around and sure enough, Princess Twilight was nowhere in sight. “Hm…she might be taking a break. Follow me, professor.”

“I hope you’re right. We don’t have much time, Sunset,” Aidon warned as he trotted after her.

With Fluttershy and Diamond Tiara…

A bird soon perched on the former’s shoulder, and started chirping into her ear…

“Hm?...what? He did?!” she called out, then grabbed the bridge of her nose with an annoyed groan.

Naturally locked out of the loop, Tiara couldn’t help but ask. “Uhh…what did he tell you?”

“My brother’s been arrested for criminal mischief,” Fluttershy scowled, “Apparently he was caught peeping on Rainbow Dash while she was showering.”

“...Oh my god,” Tiara’s jaw dropped, “That’s…disgusting. Can’t believe he’d actually do such a thing like that. Hard to imagine that he’s your brother.”

The comparisons caused Fluttershy to shut her eyes and take a deep breath. “...Yeah. It is hard to imagine, huh? Never heard that one before,” she muttered sarcastically.

Tiara quickly tired to clean up what she said, stuttering with a nervous frown. “O-oh no! I-I didn’t mean--”

Fluttershy cut her off as she stood up and got ready to leave. “It’s fine. There’s no need for you to apologize, Diamond Tiara. I’m used to hearing that by now.”

“It’s just…you’re so nice and he’s so…icky,” Tiara explained slowly so as to not offend her, “You’re the older sister, right? Did your parents treat him completely differently or something? Or maybe he lashed out because they treated you differently?”

“No, and no,” Fluttershy replied as she folded her arms, “In fact, my parents gave him too much attention if anything. He just acts the way he does because they dote on and spoil him, claiming he does nothing wrong. It’s why I moved out as fast as possible. I couldn’t stand living with them with him still under the roof.”

“...Yikes,” Tiara muttered, “So it sounds like he’s been coddled too much by your folks, huh? He hasn’t learned how to act and behave around others by now?”

“His stupid ‘crush’ on Rainbow Dash has been the main issue for a while now,” she shook her head, “It gets to a point where you just have to give up because the amount of energy you’re wasting on someone that refuses to change no matter what you try to do for them…” She paused mid-rant and took a deep breath. “Sorry…I know it must sound blasphemous for the element of kindness to disown her own brother, but…”

Tiara got up and tried to console her. “No no…it’s perfectly understandable. Everyone has a limit on how much crap they can take. Element or not, you don’t deserve to deal with a horrible manchild as your brother who refuses to take responsibility for his actions--especially as a full-grown adult. I’m saying that as a kid!”

“Yeah…even so, I think I should still go down there and check things out for myself,” she started walking off, “I’ll be back later, alright?”

“Don’t worry,” Tiara replied, “I’ll hold things down here.”

Fluttershy would leave the sanctuary and head into the city. Eventually, she’d reach the police station and she stepped inside where she was greeted by a young man behind the front desk.

“Excuse me,” she spoke in a low tone, “...I heard Zephyr Breeze was arrested today. Can I go see him?”

“...and who are you?” the desk clerk asked.

“Oh, I’m his sister, Fluttershy,” she replied.

“...”

Fluttershy tilted her head, noting how the clerk stared at her blankly. “...sir? Is there something wr--?!”

Before she could blink, she was blinded by something that covered her head…

Arc XXVI Episode IV: Squaring Up

“This is Ren. I’ve managed to acquire a high-value target. Fluttershy--one of those girls from the school. We can hold her here for a ransom…”

From Fluttershy’s perspective, the world had gone dark. When she tried to move her hands, she realized they were stuck together. When she tried to move her mouth, she realized it was taped over.

“Mm! Mmm!” she panicked--kicking and screaming into nowhere as she writhed about.

“Alright. I’ll take care of it,” Ren hung up his phone and removed the burlap sack from Fluttershy’s head, allowing her to see. “Terribly sorry I had to do that. It’s just standard procedure you see.”

With her hair in a disheveled mess, Fluttershy had stopped crying, and took a look at the young man that was about her age. A young man with ghostly white skin wearing a police officer’s uniform that he had taken from the real desk agent who was tied up in the nearby closet.

“Mmm-mmm?! MMM?!” Fluttershy angrily muttered behind the tape as she glared at the guy.

“...I came here at a lucky time. The local Detective and his posse are still out investigating what little crumbs of information we intentionally left behind at the baseball stadium. Amazing what a swift infiltration can accomplish, hm?” he asked rhetorically while tapping his fingertips together.

“MMMM!”

“...I suppose I should at least grant you the right to speak your mind, seeing as you’re my pawn in this game,” he reached forward and yanked the tape off of her lips, causing Fluttershy to cry out.

“Ow!” And immediately after, she called him out. “...What do you think you’re doing?! Who are you?!”

“I’m here on a mission to recover Shinjiro,” Ren explained, “But as soon as your brother was brought here, I figured his presence would bait you into coming here.”

Fluttershy grit her teeth. With that in mind, she wondered if it was even worth coming down here in the first place. “...Great…just great. So what are you gonna do to me in the meantime? Violate me?”

Ren visibly recoiled at such a proposition. “...ew, no. I’ve got far more respect for myself than that. No, you’re going to remain there and serve as our trail once we make our escape.”

“...Disgusting,” Fluttershy muttered under her breath.

This surprised Ren further, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “...My. And here I thought you were the shy, softspoken one that was afraid of her own shadow. I suppose the rumors were incorrect.”

“Oh please,” Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “I’ve been through numerous life-threatening situations before. There’s almost nothing you could or say that could scare me.”

“...I have no time to waste with you,” he shook his head and turned around, “You’re lucky you’re a woman, or I’d have shot you down moments ago.”

As he walked off, Fluttershy continued to rant. “Oh suuuuure! Everybody just assumes that innocent little Fluttershy can’t handle herself. You’ve got another thing coming, mister!”

But he had already left, presumably with Shinji in tow…

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and looked at one of the trees outside of the police station where a squirrel was gathering nuts. “Aha. Pssst…over here!”

The squirrel noticed her, and hopped through the open window. Then, it jumped down, and chewed through the ropes that bound her hands. “Thanks, Mrs. Nutsworth. But I’ve got a problem. Can you call Siegfried for me?” She petted the squirrel on the head and rubbed her wrists to relieve the rope burn she had experienced. “...I need to mount up.”

Meanwhile, in Equestria…

“This way, professor. I think I hear Twilight’s voice down this hall.”

Aidon continued to stumble after her--the billowing smoke off of his body traveling with him. “Oof…I am absolutely not used to the pristine floors of palaces like these. Wait up, Ms. Shimmer.”

Soon enough, Sunset would come to the end of a hallway where Princess Twilight Sparkle had been speaking to Starswirl The Bearded.

“...and that’s my plan for Equestria going forward,” Twilight finished her explanation, “If there are any changes you think I should make, let me know.”

“Hmm…” the elderly unicorn looked over the itemized list. “Everything seems to be in order. You’ve got no issues from me.”

“Yes!” Twilight squealed, then quickly cleared her throat to calm herself. “...Er--I mean, thank you. It’s nice to know that I have your approval, sir.”

“No problem,” Starswirl turned to leave…but stopped dead in his tracks when he laid eyes on Aidon. “...”

Aidon did nothing but stare right back at him, glaring with his solid white eyes. “...”

The two stallions simply approached each other, staring each other down as if sizing each other up in preparation to fight…

Twilight teleported over to where Sunset was standing, and spoke in a hushed tone. “...Sunset. It’s great to see you but…any idea what’s going on?”

“...I don’t think we should interrupt them,” Sunset whispered back, “Whether in the human world or pony world--when guys get like this, it’s never a good idea to get between them. No matter how strong you are.”

Arc XXVI Episode VI: Coming Back Home

“Is that some idle threat?” Ren asked.

“It’s not a threat…it’s a promise,” she said with a cocksure grin on her face, noticing who had appeared behind him.

Sensing something’s nearby presence, Ren slowly turned around…to see a massive bear standing behind him, growling with thick swabs of drool dripping from its maw.

“...mother of fuc--”

CRACK!

With a single slap from its massive paw, Ren was sent flying into the nearest tree thanks to the bear. Then it was immediately teleported away by Fluttershy--disappearing as soon as it had appeared.

“Nice one, Francis,” Fluttershy commented as she rapidly dodged the punches being slung at her from the knuckle-wearing assailant. “Yikes!” And as soon as she leapt backwards, she fired off another arrow that hit the ground and exploded in a burst of light magic.

Her attacker dodged it and immediately rushed forward, tackling Fluttershy to the ground and tried to throw a punch in her face. But the latter blocked it with her hand, locking them in a struggle for who could overpower the other first…

Meanwhile, Ren had picked himself up off of the ground and tried to retaliate by aiming a pistol at Fluttershy’s head. “...you worked hard for nothing--”

BLAM!

He was interrupted by a weighted object that knocked the gun out of his hand and cut in in half in one fell swoop--followed by someone literally jumping into the battle, slamming an axe down in front of Ren, causing a shockwave that threw him off-balance yet again.

“Eeegh! What…?”

With her left hand on her hip, Diamond Tiara raised the double-sided axe over her shoulder with her right. “...I’ve got the power now.”

“...Boss said she had no power,” Tohru commented as she stared at Tiara in awe. “What the hell is this?”

“...I’m not entirely sure,” Ren muttered, visibly shaken by having been thrown off his balance yet again. It was a struggle for him to simply be able to stand on his own two feet at this point. “...Ergh…but I don’t think we’re in a position to negotiate.”

“Damn right you aren’t,” Tiara pointed the axe directly at him, “You’d be smart to give up now. I’ve got too many friends--and a boyfriend to protect.”

Fluttershy had kicked Tohru off of herself and got up to greet Diamond Tiara. “...Diamond Tiara? How did you?”

“I…I have no clue,” she replied, “When your horse was teleported back to the reserve, I could feel something was wrong, so I followed you here. And I guess…I managed to get some magic within me somehow. Believe me, I’m just as confused as you are.”

“The aether in the air must’ve reacted to your desire to come help me,” Fluttershy mused, “Or at least--that’s what I think Twilight would say.”

“Regardless, these guys are gonna be in big trouble once my dad gets ahold of them,” Tiara muttered as she walked up to the now-disabled Ren. “Explain who you’re working for. Now.”

Meanwhile…

Sunset, Aidon, and Starswirl stepped through a portal back into the human world just outside of the city. Now human, the latter was finally able to experience the world where he had cast many a creature away to in the past.

“...Here we are,” Sunset announced once they all arrived. “It may take you a bit of time to get used to walking here, sir. But--”

To her surprise, Starswirl walked through on two legs without much issue. “...This place certainly has changed since the last time I was here.”

“...You’ve actually been here before?”

Starswirl looked around at the various buildings and roads. “When I first checked on this location, there was nothing but empty wilderness as far as the eye could see. I never imagined an entire civilization would someday erect itself here…”

“...I see,” Aidon replied quietly as he thought about the wizard’s words. “So you didn’t intentionally want to bring destruction to the beings of this world. You simply thought it was uninhabited.”

“In a word, yes,” Starswirl replied, “Though now I can see that this place isn’t exactly ideal for dumping rogue creatures….you have my apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset shook her head, “I’ve been able to deal with the problems for the most part. However, the reason we called you here was actually to bring a human gang out of hiding. They’re the ones causing problems this time because they don’t agree with our methods.”

“Normally we’d be open to discussion,” Aidon added, “But considering that they opted for violence instead, we’ve decided to retaliate in self-defense.”

“So you want me to serve as bait?” Starswirl raised a brow then rolled his eyes. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something as ridiculous as that. Though I suppose I have no choice if it means keeping the people of this realm safe.”

Sunset took a breath and put her hands together. “...So you’ll help us? Thank you so much, sir. This…this is an honor beyond what I ever could’ve--”

“Yeah, yeah, big deal, blah blah blah,” the wizard simply took a step forward and started walking, visibly annoyed at Sunset’s praise. “Let’s just get to the extermination, shall we?”

“...Damn,” Sunset muttered, “Guess he’s a bit more strict in person…”

Aidon put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t sweat yourself. He’s probably bored of being known as a legend. The man isn’t foolish--he knows he’s not perfect and doesn’t want to be paraded as such.”

His words put Sunset at ease. “...Fair point. Though I’m surprised at how calm you are. I guess realizing that his intent wasn’t malicious has helped quell your stress, huh?”

Aidon removed his hand and folded his arms. “You could say that. Then again, I’m also rather grateful that I came here. I got to help mold young minds that I wouldn’t have been able to mold in Equestria and...there are some rather nice people I’ve come to know--”

Sunset giggled, then teased him with a grin, “Like Vice Principal Luna--?”

“Shut your mouth, child--”

Arc XXVI Episode VII: Witnessing New Power

“Hm? Fluttershy’s calling me…” Sunset took her buzzing phone out of her pocket and answered it. “Yo.”

“So, um…hi, Sunset. Diamond Tiara and I have apprehended some of those Yakuza goons. I think we should take them in for questioning.”

“Perfect. If they tell us where their base is located, we can use Starswirl’s presence to bait them out.”

Fluttershy responded hesitantly. “...are you sure that’s a good idea? You’re not putting him in danger or anything are you?”

“...I’d be more concerned for the people who wanna talk to him,” Sunset replied with a chuckle, “He still has most of--if not all of his magic. He may look old, but he’s far from a pushover.”

“If you’re sure. I’ll go ahead and take these guys back to the police station where they belong. Meet you there,” Fluttershy hung up her phone.

Sunset looked at Starswirl and Aidon. “Alright. We’re headed to the police station. The guys we’re looking for are gonna be waiting for us there.”

“Alright. Let’s get this done,” Aidon added.

“Very well,” Starswirl replied, “Lead the way, Sunset.”

Meanwhile…at Keiji’s apartment…

The boy was busy swirling chemicals together in his self-made laboratory. “Hm…if only there was a way to trace that stuff. Then we’d be able to figure out who killed her parents…”

ZZZZ!

His buzzing phone interrupted his train of thought, causing him to nearly drop the beakers he was holding. “Wh--shit--”

Luckily, he caught the red liquid in another tube before it spilled onto the floor and set it aside before answering his phone. “Yello?”

“Hey, Keiji,” Silver Spoon spoke from the other end, “Turn on the TV right now. You’ll never believe who’s on the news!”

Puzzled, Keiji stopped what he was doing and removed his white labcoat and goggles before heading into his living room where he turned on the television and flipped to the news. There, he would see helicopter coverage of Fluttershy and Diamond Tiara apprehending those rogue Yakuza agents.

“...holy crap, she’s out there fighting, huh?” Keiji muttered with an impressed tone, “I guess the magic of this world musta finally deemed her worthy of holding some power.”

“It’s super cool,” Spoon replied, “She got this neat axe and made quakes so strong that she didn’t even need to chop anyone’s head off! Hope I get something like that soon. I wanna be able to keep you guys safe too.”

Before, Keiji was apprehensive in regards to his friends fighting out in the field. But now that the evidence showed that Diamond Tiara was more than capable of defending herself…

“Yeah,” he admitted, “I’d like to see that happen someday too. Wonder what kinda crazy-ass power you’d get.”

Not one to let things slip, Silver was quick to point out how quickly he had accepted her words. “Ohhhhh, wait a sec. I thought you were worried about DT and I getting hurt. Now you’re curious as to what sort of ability I’d possess? What changed, big guy?”

Keiji groaned to himself before responding, “Hrmmph…I just…figured that I’d be able to protect you two much better if you were out there alongside me instead of waiting for me to come back. Keeps you from being captured and such.”

Spoon simply snorted and continued, “Ah. You’re adorable you know that? Keep that up, and we’ll all stay great life partners even as we get older. Speaking of which, you’re coming to my birthday party, right?”

“Oh shit yeah of course, uh…” Keiji paused for a moment, “How old are you turning?”

“Seventeen ya bat-snack,” Silver teased, “Same age as you two and most of our other friends. I’m pretty much inviting our whole class and their older siblings if they wanna stay. It’s gonna be at my mansion that overlooks the city.”

“Sayin’ hwat?” Keiji asked in a confused tone, “That big ass military base on that hill is yours?!”

Spoon simply rolled her eyes and giggled. “Ha-ha. Very funny. But yeah, that’s the one. I’m gonna ask our chefs to make pizza. You like blood sausages, right?”

“It’s only the best food in the world…and it keeps my stamina up, so yeah.”

“Great. I think those will go great on pizza-”

Keiji paused for a moment and eventually replied with utter bewilderment. “W…wait--you can put that on pizza??”

“...Yyyyyeah?” Spoon answered in a slow tone, “You can put almost anything on pizza if you chop it up small enough. Some people like pineapple but I don’t get down with people who’re factually wrong.”

“That’s…good to know. Didn’t know pizza was so versatile. Anyhow, I need to get back to work.”

“Hm?” Spoon asked, “Whatcha working on?”

“...Just trying to see if I can discover a way I can trace a certain chemical,” he replied with vague information, leaving out the details regarding Applejack’s parents. “Nothing major you need to worry about.”

“...Working hard for yourself, huh? That’s a refresher,” Spoon commented. “Too many kids out there who just lean on their rich parents to get anything done. They all end up being fake.”

“Don’t I know it,” Keiji said with a snicker as he recounted his days as a batpony noble. “One minute everyone loves you, then the next, they’re hiring sellswords to come slit your throat for a bounty. Though it seems like that’s not a thing here, huh?”

“Not since the 1800s,” Spoon replied with a shudder, “Eegh…glad you feel safer here, Keiji. If someone tried to hurt you I don’t know what I’d do to them…”

The thought of Silver Spoon viciously beating someone up made his heart race. “Erm…well…yeah let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Anyway, I gotta get back to this synthesis. Call Deets for me when you get a chance, Spoon.”

“Pfffftt--yeah, I’ll do just that,” she said with a laugh.

Arc XXVI Episode VIII: Kindly Interrogation

“Alright, wise guy, what’s the deal?” Fluttershy put her hands on the interrogation table as the dim light hung over both herself and Ren.

Officers Pale, Quick, and Cork had all returned to properly apprehend the criminals and to keep watch over them while the girl went to work on the criminal with hard-hitting questions.

Something Quick Draw was uncertain of.

“...are you sure she knows what she’s doing?” Quick whispered to Diamond Tiara, “She doesn’t seem like the proper type to work an interrogation. She’s not even chloroforming him.”

Tiara stared at the officer for a moment. “...you actually do that??”

Quick chuckled and shook her head. “I’m kidding. But seriously, do you think she’ll be alright?”

“...don’t underestimate the power of kindness.”

In the interrogation room…

“I am under no obligation to tell you anything,” Ren replied, “I’ve been on the brink of death and survived countless beatings at the hands of skilled professionals. There’s absolutely nothing you could do to possibly--”

Suddenly, a hamster crawled onto the table, and stared at Ren with its big, bulgy eyes, demanding his attention and his sympathy.

“...” And the young man found himself staring back through his messy head of black hair.

Fluttershy folded her arms and went on to explain herself. “I know you used to have a pet hamster that was taken from you when you were younger. He was your best friend and some bullies in your school drowned the poor thing. In your moment of weakness you were taken in by the yakuza and the rest is history. Isn’t that right?”

Tears started rolling down his face from behind his hair. Ren could no longer uphold his cold outer shell as he pet the hamster on the head. “I…don’t regret my decision to join them. This is my life now…”

“But it doesn’t have to be,” Fluttershy insisted, “You can do the right thing by serving time for your crimes and help us stop the other gangsters from causing anymore trouble. Think of all the poor, innocent animals that could get hurt if they were allowed to run amok…”

From outside the interrogation room, Quick observed her with an impressed scoff. “Heh. She’s good. No idea what sort of trick she’s pulling, but it must be good if she’s making a hardened gangster cry in front of her.”

“I told ya,” Diamond Tiara said with a shrug, “Don’t underestimate how strong kindness can be.”

“Well…I think I’m…in a bit of a bind here…” Ren muttered as he looked at the hamster, “It wouldn’t be right for me to betray them all…but I suppose I have no choice. At this rate, they’re going to destroy themselves if someone doesn’t intervene.”

“...So will you tell me what I wanna know?” Fluttershy asked.

“...I’d like it if this ‘Starswirl’ fellow was here to listen as well. They’re looking for him.”

As if right on cue, Sunset, Aidon, and Starswirl had all arrived at the police station moments later where they were quickly briefed on the situation by Sheriff Pale.

“...and to think we came back and found the station in this state,” he muttered, “they were smart to attack while we were gone, I’ll give them that much.”

“Now I see why the princesses always had a royal guard stationed around the clock,” Sunset wondered aloud, “But I guess that’s not as practical for humans, huh?”

“Not really, no.”

Meanwhile, Starswirl had entered the interrogation room and regarded the young man with a suspicious glare. “I take it your superiors wish to speak with me.”

“...something like that, yes,” Ren admitted, “They refuse to conduct any more business until they find the one responsible for bringing magic into this world.”

“Which falls to me in turn,” the old man rolled his eyes, “Of course. It’s no different from Equestria. Everyone always has to come back to me because I somehow left something somewhere.” He sighed as he scratched his head. “...don’t get old. Otherwise you’ll all end up like me, and that’s not something we need.”

“...Anyway…” Fluttershy spoke up, looking in Ren’s direction. “Are you willing to cooperate with us now? It’ll go much smoother if you simply tell us where they’re located.”

At last, Ren was willing to comply. “...alright…”

In the hall nearby…

“...Diamond Tiara?” Sunset asked with a hint of concern in her voice. “You fought alongside Fluttershy? Were you okay?”

“Uch--don’t treat me like some baby,’ Tiara huffed with a hand on her hip, “I’m more than capable of fending for myself…but I appreciate your concern either way.”

“I just wanna make sure,” Sunset continued, “I know Keiji would be devastated if something happened to you. You guys care about each other and I wouldn’t want something bad to happen, ya know?”

Tiara’s expression softened as she listened to Sunset’s words. “I see…well in that case, thanks. At this point I’m mostly invested in trying to find out who was really behind the death of Applejack’s parents. Keiji said he was working on a way to trace the chemical but…”

“He’s smart. He’ll figure out a way, trust me,” Sunset did her best to encourage her with a hand on Tiara’s shoulder. “In fact, I bet he’s already figured it out right now and is gonna congratulate you on your new powers…and take you on a quick date to celebrate--”

The pink girl blushed and stuttered. “W-wh--Sunset, quit teasing us! He’ll…do what he wants. That’s what I like about him.”

“Exactly,” Sunset replied smugly with a wide grin, “You know what I’m talkin’ about.”

Just then, Fluttershy walked out to them and spoke up.

“Alright, Sunset. We got the info we need. We mount our attack tomorrow evening.”

Arc XXVII Episode II: Setting Things Up

The next morning, near a different suburban area of the city…

“...Alright, Wallflower--you need to get in there and tell him how you feel,” Wallflower spoke to herself as she walked down the street. “Just ask him out for a simple dat…time out together at the new dinosaur exhibit at the museum.”

Wallflower took a deep breath as she walked up to Micro Chips’ house, and knocked on the door. She idly tugged on the sleeve of her sweater as she stood outside and waited for him to answer.

And she wouldn’t have to wait for very long.

“Hm? Oh, hey WF,” Micro said as he opened the door, “What brings you by today?”

“I just wanted to talk to you. Are you busy?”

“Well I’m preparing myself for our attack on the Yakuza’s new trading post later this evening,” Micro explained, “But I have just enough time for a quick chat.”

“Okay. Stay calm!” Wallflower mentally prepared herself as she stepped inside of his home. “Wow…your place has changed quite a bit since the last time I was here.”

What she was referring to was the escalator that had replaced what was previously a staircase in the boy’s home as well as a small robot that was walking around and picking up pieces of scrap metal with its little magnetic fingers.

“Aw…who’s this cutie-patootie?” Wallflower squatted down to the robot and patted it on the head.

“That is XJ12,” he explained, “An assistant robot I programmed to pick up whatever little pieces of metal I may leave behind. Also, I had the escalator installed for whenever my father or myself come home with a load of supplies that we need to take to the upper level. Makes things far more convenient since we don’t have to worry about tripping.”

Wallflower stood up and observed the moving metal staircase. “Pretty smart…I’d love it if I didn’t have to worry about tripping over my own two feet in my own home. You’re so lucky…”

Micro shrugged. “That’s what happens when your father is head of domestic technologies at C-Corporation. It’s what brought me into the field of science when I was younger.”

“C-Corp? Oh! Is that the CPU company that makes all our devices?”

Micro tilted his hand back and forth to indicate that her answer was half-correct. “Erm…in a nutshell? Yes. They make everything we use and ship technologies out to other countries as well. Though, we’re also working on more environmentally sound technologies like plant-based fuels and generators.”

At the subject of plants, Wallflower perked up with starry eyes. “Ooh! I love that. Maybe we could use the carnivorous ones to generate even more clean energy. They’re so cute with their little teeth.”

“Hmm…” Micro stroked his chin at the idea, “Not a bad plan at all. Though I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s no telling which way the wind will blow on that. But enough about me. What brought you by today, Wallflower?”

“Oh uh…I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me to the museum…” she pulled out a flier that mentioned the exhibit she was referencing. “I-I know you’ll be busy later, so maybe we could go this weekend?”

“Fascinating…” Micro looked it over, and agreed, “I didn’t think anyone else would be interested in this sort of thing. I’d love to go with you. It’ll be the perfect place to get my life’s dream in order.”

Wallflower gazed at him with intrigue as her heart skipped a beat. “...dream, huh? You wanna change the world in some way?”

“Yes,” Micro sat down on his living room couch and pressed a button on a remote that lowered a diagram of the human body down on a projector. “Long story short, our bodies won’t be able to resist the effects of magic on this world forever. So I want to make a world where we can all be at an even keel. No matter if you’re already disabled, have bone density issues, or weakened organs, you’ll still be able to function if you enhance parts of your body with the nanomachines I’ve been developing.”

“...Are those safe?” Wallflower asked as she walked over to the diagram.

“Of course. They’re still experimental. But if I can make them work to where they can accelerate cell growth and repair organs and bones…we won’t have to worry about health problems ever again.”

Wallflower paused for a moment as she weighed what Micro explained in her mind. “Woah…he’s so thoughtful and selfless. And he actually takes what I say seriously instead of ignoring me…”

“...What do you think, Wall?”

“Huh? Oh it’s…a great idea! At the very least, you’ll be able to rid the world of disability and the stigma that comes along with it.” She tugged at the collar of her sweater again. “...I uh…or something like that.”

Micro looked at her for a moment, then smiled. “Don’t worry. You won’t be an outsider in this future that I have planned. These machines will be able to work on developmental disabilities as well…once I get everything in motion of course.”

“...” Wallflower squealed internally, and hid it behind an awkward giggle. “Oh…you. You’re such a philanthropist. It’s adorable.”

Micro adjusted his glasses and exchanged an awkward chuckle. “...Well I don’t know about that, but--”

Z-Z-Z-Z-ZZZ!

Just then, his watch went off…

“Huh? Go ahead,” Micro answered.

Sunset Shimmer was on the other end, and she gave him a command. “Micro Chips. Get ready. We’re on, and we’ll need both you and Flash Sentry to help the girls and I.”

“I’m prepared to see this through,” he replied before hanging up, “Sorry, Wallflower. I need to get going. This is my first step towards that future I have planned.”

“I get it, no problem,” she replied amicably as Micro walked her to the door, “Go get ‘em, tiger. Come back in one piece now, alright?” she teased him with a playful nudge of her elbow.

“Of course…see you later,” Micro smiled and closed the door.

Once she was gone, he grabbed his box of nanomachines which conformed around his body into its usual shape of a white labcoat.

“I’m not leaving a single part of myself behind. I won’t run away anymore.”

Meanwhile, outside...

"She's the one."

Arc XXVII Episode III: Laying Siege

Later that evening…

“An abandoned warehouse near the edge of the city,” Aidon commented with a chuckle, “How absolutely cliche.”

“Not quite different from the heretic cults that existed near ancient Canterlot,” Starswirl replied. “I suppose this will be no different.”

Both gentlemen were walking towards the very building they were describing. A plan had been laid out by Sunset Shimmer that involved them making contact at the front of the building first.

“Do you remember what we need to do, old man?” Aidon asked, “I don’t want you croaking in this fight. You know we have unfinished business.”

“Indeed…and I wouldn’t expect you to forget,” Starswirl replied with a sigh, “But for the moment, Sunset wants us to draw their attention while she and the rest of her friends raid them from the back side of the building.”

“Correct,” Aidon said with a nod, “If all goes well, this should be over in a few minutes. But for extra support, Micro Chips and Flash Sentry are joining us on our side of the operation.”

“I’m impressed,” the wizard quipped, “The students here show more potential than the ones Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns. And that’s saying something.”

Aidon raised an eyebrow at such a statement. “...really? You don’t hold the highest opinion of the princesses do you?”

“If she had her way, that world would be six hooves--er, feet? Six feet under by now. But that’s a topic for another day. The point is, you should take pride in how well you’ve taken care of these brats. I sure wouldn’t have the patience for it.”

“...Huh,” Aidon muttered as he processed what Starswirl just told him. That was the absolute last individual that he would’ve expected a compliment from. “...Thank you? I’m not really sure what else to say. I’m somewhat blindsided.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” Starswirl replied, rolling his eyes, “I seem to have a habit of coming off as far more irritated than I actually am. That’s what 100 years of stress does to a person I suppose.”

Soon enough, they arrived outside of the building where Flash Sentry and Micro Chips had already been waiting. The latter was typing on a small laptop that he had brought with him.

“Alright,” Micro spoke up, “I think we’re ready to get started.”

“Are you sure you wanna join in?” Flash asked, “I know you’re not the type to throw yourself in the middle of a fight so I--”

“I’m doing this for myself,” Micro replied, “I’ve found the strength in adversity to continue and I don’t want to shy away anymore. I’m standing on my own two feet ready to handle whatever comes my way, brother. I just hope you can keep up.”

“Keep up? Me?” Flash scoffed at the idea of falling behind. “I’ll run circles around these fools. I just feel bad for the ones Sunset and the others are gonna deal with.”

Starswirl approached them and said, “Seems you gentlemen are prepared. That’s good to see. When do we get started?”

Micro cracked his knuckles and started to give them the run-down. “As soon as you see the magic from the girls activate from the technicolor rays of light that come down from the sky, you’re going to make your entrance to give them the impression that you’ve come to talk.” He then looked at Aidon. “Professor, you’ll surprise them with your best usage of dark magic. I fear there might be more to Tatsuya Hishima than he lets on from appearance alone.”

“What do you mean by that, son?” Aidon asked cautiously.

“...When I studied that guy…the longer I looked at him, the less I felt the presence of a human. It was as if…” he hesitated for a moment to gather his thoughts, “It was as if something was augmenting his biology. Something unnatural. But it wasn’t magical. In fact, his body possess zero ability to possess magic at all.”

“Then what could…” Aidon weighed the possibilities, but couldn’t draw any conclusions. “No. there’s no time to speculate. All we can do is make our move and handle the situation as it unfolds. On your feet, boys.”

As if right on cue…

SHOOM!

A shimmer of rainbow light came down from the heavens just behind the building. As expected, this was Sunset and her friends activating their abilities in order to prepare themselves as they stormed the building from the rear.

“It’s time. Let’s go end a life or two I suppose,” Starswirl remarked as soon as he saw the light, and walked up to the building to force the doors open with his magic. Aidon, Flash and Micro would all follow close behind.

The layout of the building was simple. Two corridors--one to their left and one to their right--existed as split paths. But the path that the gentlemen were taking was through some double-doors into a room straight ahead of them.

And inside that very room…

“Failure after failure…nobody can seem to do their jobs right,” Tatsu grumbled to himself as he flexed his hand. “Well not this time. Even if we go down, they’re not making it outta here in one piece.”

“Your augments are ready to go, boss,” one of his gangster goons spoke up form a nearby computer, “I just installed the update into your arms and legs.”

“Heh…good. I beat ‘em once and I’ll beat ‘em again.” Tatsu cracked his knuckles…which emitted a small burst of electricity. “Humanity’s overrated anyway.”

Arc XXVII Episode IV: Scumbaggery

“Well isn’t this just adorable?” Starswirl scoffed as he entered the room and laid eyes on Tatsu. “You’re all alone. Do you expect to reasonably take us on yourself?”

Tatsuya was surprisingly confident as he glared at all four of them. Each of them staring him right back with menacing glares all while he gave a lackadaisical grin.

“...You gonks don’t know a damn thing about how we operate do you?” he cackled, “This may be your city, but I’ve got eyes and ears all over the place.”

“What are you talking about?” Flash spoke up, “You’re done! There’s nowhere left for you to run and all of your other cronies are being subdued by our friends as we speak.”

“Mm-hmm--yeah, small price to pay,” Tatsu rolled his eyes and shoved his right hand in his pocket. “But I think you should check yourselves before someone gets hurt.”

Micro tried to refute his statement. “Excuse me, but you’re the only one here who’s at risk.”

“Am I?”

With the press of a button, a chair was lowered from the ceiling…and Wallflower was sitting in it--strapped to it by metal clamps around her arms and legs with a bloody towel in her mouth. She was visibly bruised from her head down to her abdomen with her sweater torn in various places…and still fully conscious.

“...Wallflower?!” everyone minus Starswirl shouted her name in horror upon seeing her.

Micro immediately took a rage-filled, bloodlusted tone, “You…y-you…” but the fumes of rage were quelled when he looked at her damaged face. “How…how could…?”

“Relax, she’s alive,” Tatsu spoke in an alarmingly casual tone, “Screamed like a damn bitch when we shocked her--”

“You shut your goddamn mouth you son of a bitch!” Micro screamed, “Touch her again and I’ll rip your eyeballs out of your skull!”

“And I’ll feed ‘em to you!” Flash added to back him up, “What kinda sick, twisted freak are you?!”

“Hey for the record, I haven’t touched her,” Tatsu evaded the question entirely and held up a small remote in his hand. “But here’s the thing. I can press this and shock her again. So I suggest you all comply with what I have to say.”

“...Rrrrrrgh…” Aidon grit his teeth and held back his inner darkness.

“...I don’t want a dead child on my conscience,” Starswirl muttered to the shadow man, “What should we do?”

“Wait to hear what he says,” Aidon replied, “Don’t make any sudden movements…”

“Alright now--you old farts,” Tatsu spoke to Aidon and Starswirl specifically. “Back your asses right on up outta this room. This is between me and them. Do it now or I’ll fry the green girl’s brains out.”

Aidon came up with a new plan on the spot.

“...We leave. These two are strong and can handle themselves,” said the shadow man, “We’ll find another way.”

With no room to complain, Starswirl would follow Aidon as he backed out of the room, eventually leaving Flash and Micro by themselves against Tatsuya.

After which, Flash would try his best to negotiate with the enemy in a calm manner to ease the tension in the room.

“Alright…they’re gone. Now what do you want?” he asked.

Micro Chips was seething with his fists balled up and aggressively shaking in place.

With the press of another button, the doors would lock automatically, and become blocked off further by a set of silver-colored laser beams.

“There. The anti-magic barrier will keep them from getting in and you guys from getting out. Like it? Developed it myself,” Tatsu chuckled as he leaned against the table. “Now let’s get down to business here: I have something you want--this girl. You can let me go and this’ll all be over. Or! You can keep acting like the beastly boars you are and watch her suffer.”

Flash was quick to toss that offer aside. “After all the trouble you caused? Yeah right, buddy. We’re not letting you get away anymore. You got some nerve to call us animals when you’ve been the one scurrying away like a sniveling little rat!”

While they were talking, Micro Chips had actually sneakily controlled some of his nanomachines to crawl around the floor and up one of Tatsu’s pant legs. It seemed as if the latter didn’t even notice until…

Crack!

“Seriously?” Tatsu had actually managed to not only detect them, but pull them out of his body with his fingertips that appeared to be able to attract metals. Then he crushed the tiny mechanical particles in his hand as if they were nothing. “You may be smart, but your little tricks don’t work on someone who’s simply way stronger than you. Guess we’re doing this the hard way after all…”

“Agggh! Damn you!” Micro screeched as he charged directly at Tatsu.

“Hang on!” Flash called out as he joined in…

BLAM!

…only for them to both be subdued immediately by a punch so hard that the air around Tatsu’s fist caught ablaze and blew them backwards, sending them crashing into the nearby wall.

“...Heh…I always knew my enhancements would come in handy when I needed ‘em. Now it’s time to play a game.”

Arc XXVII Episode V: Painful Sacrifices

Outside of the room…

Both Aidon and Starswirl had fired off everything they had at the door, but their magic simply couldn’t pierce through. Whatever Tatsu had programmed into the doors really did keep their magic from getting in.

“I fear the only thing that could pierce through would be the magic of the Elements,” Starswirl lamented. “We need to find those young ladies as quickly as possible.”

“I was afraid of that,” Aidon huffed, “I loathe the idea of leaving my students behind…so we’ll have to be swift.”

Both men hurried to the other side of the building where Twilight, Sunset, and the others were…

Inside the room…

When the boys finally came to, they’d find themselves strapped to chairs similar to the one that Wallflower was bound to. In fact, they were all next to each other in these contraptions of death.

“...What…what’s going on?” Flash muttered as he opened his eyes, “How…what??”

“Where…where is he?” Micro groaned as he awakened, “I’ll kill him myself.”

Tatsu was standing in front of them with a baseball bat.

“I know when I’m beat. My time is almost up. But I’m not about to let you bitches get off scott-free without sacrificing something. So we’re gonna even the score a little…”

“Wait…what are you saying?” Flash asked as he became aware of how stuck he was. “What the--?!”

Micro also tried to move, but couldn’t. Once he realized this, he tried to control his nanomachines…but realized he couldn’t as they had been removed from his body. “Agh…dammit! What do you want from us, you cretin?!”

“For you assholes to suffer as much as possible before I’m put away,” Tatsu replied plain and simply, “I think…I’ll smash your head in one good time to screw with your brain,” he threatened Micro Chips by pointing the bat in his direction, then did the same to Flash Sentry, “Then I’ll smash your kneecaps in to screw with your athletic skills. Since you’re taking away my livelihood, it’s only fair that I take away something that you both value.”

“You wouldn’t!” both boys screeched in unison.

“Okay then,” Tatsu complied maliciously as he aimed the bat at the bruised Wallflower, “Then I suppose I’ll just kill her instead. Unless you guys wanna make a decision. You got ten seconds before I merk all of ya. So what’s it gonna be?”

In his fit of desperation, Tatusya presented the boys with a devious choice. SInce the yakuza gangster knew that he’d be taken into custody regardless, his final stand would involve an act of spite that would radically change their future in some way.

But without hesitation, Flash willingly gave himself up.

“Alright, fine! Take me, you coward!” he screamed as he shook his arms within the restraints, “Do it!”

He approached Flash with the bat, seemingly ready to attack him until… “You really think I’m stupid, don’tcha?”

Micro turned to the unconscious Wallflower and quickly muttered, “Don’t worry…I’ll get you out of this, and we’ll go to that museum togeth--!”

CRACK!

Before anyone could even think to blink, Tatsu swung the bat upside Micro’s head hard enough to knock him out instantly and shatter his glasses as blood ran from his nose and mouth.

“NO! You piece of shit!” Flash wailed as he thrashed about in his restraints, “I’m gonna feed you your own heart! Undo this shit so I can kick your ass!”

“...And that’s exactly why I made my choice,” Tatsu replied coldly, “Even if I am beaten, you’re not getting away without suffering.”

CRASH!

At long last, Twilight and Sunset had combined their magic to overpower the anti-magic mechanism on the door.

“We’re here! We--!” Sunset’s expression immediately dropped when she saw the state that her friends were in. “...”

Tatsu tossed the bat aside and held his hands up with a smug, shit-eating grin on his face. “I surrender. You wouldn’t hurt an unarmed guy, wouldja?”

“You monster…” Twilight muttered as she stepped forward as Sunset violently seethed with a fiery disposition, “I’m gonna--”

Aidon stepped in front of them both. “No. You need to escort your friends out of here. Starswirl--use whatever healing magic you’ve got locked away in that centuries-old head of yours and fix my students. Please.”

“...I’ll do what I can,” the wizard replied as he teleported Micro, Wallflower, and Flash out of the room. “Come, young ladies. Let the demon exterminate the demon.”

Sunset wiped tears from her eyes as she silently left the room with Twilight in tow--though not before the purple girl spoke to her teacher one last time.

“...Show him no mercy.”

“I feel no mercy,” Aidon replied with a smile, “You go meet up with the rest of your friends. I’ll take care of him myself.”

As soon as Starswirl left with the girls, Tatsu mouthed off one more time.

“Ya know, I expected students taught by you of all people to be a bit smarter,” he scoffed and shrugged his shoulders, “Guess I was expecting too much from some dark old guy.”

But little did he know…

The second Aidon turned around, he was no longer himself. His entire body had transformed into a billowing black miasma of smoke that filled the room and increased the pressure which essentially made gravity feel five times as dense around Tatsu’s body.

“...What the…?” he muttered, caught by surprise for the first time since the siege began. “...what the hell is thi--argh!”

He screamed as he was impaled by dark spikes that jammed themselves through his body and caused a burning sensation that never dulled or lost intensity.

“...h-hey man…I-I was just following family tradition!” he yelped defiantly.

But his words fell on deaf ears. All around him, rows upon rows of jagged, pointed, serrated teeth would rise up out of the floor towards him--as if a mouth had risen from the depths of Tartarus itself. Then another identical mouth appeared on the wall in front of him, behind him, beside him, and the ceiling above.

The mouths would speak in an inhumane, guttural tone. A voice that only one could hear in their nightmares:

“You will not be spared. You will not be saved.”

“No…nonono…wait…hold on I….SHIIIIIT!”

Arc XXVII Episode VI: Recovery Time

In the hospital…

Micro Chips eventually awakened in a hospital bed with his head heavily bandaged up. “Ach…my head. What happened?”

“You were struck with a violent blow to the head,” the doctor explained, “Your condition is stable, but you might suffer from short-term memory loss for a while.”

Thankfully, Micro was able to remember just enough about what happened before he was struck. “No…I…what happened to Wallflower? Where is she?”

“...calm down, son. You need to rest yourself,” the doctor urged him to keep himself calm. “And your friend is just fine as well. She’s actually sharing this very room with you.” He pushed the curtain aside to allow Micro to see that yes--Wallflower was indeed lying in the hospital bed unconscious with her EKG beeping steadily.

“Okay…that’s good…argh…” Micro groaned as he clutched the side of his head and lied back down. “I…can’t think of anything else right now, though.”

“Unfortunate, but not unexpected,” the doctor closed the curtain, “You need to relax your mind. The more you stress, the less likely you are to recover your memories, young man.”

And Micro knew he couldn’t argue with that. To overwork his mind in a time of distress would be disastrous and only make his friends worry about him even more. “...understood,” was all he could say as he lied back down.

The doctor would leave the room, and outside Flash Sentry was waiting.

“How is he, doc?”

“He’ll be fine. But I recommend waiting to speak with him for a while. He needs to get his bearings before he tries to communicate.”

Flash sighed, and sat down on the bench nearby. “...I understand. Thanks for doing all that you can, doc.”

As the doctor left down the hallway, Aidon approached the room and sat next to Flash.

“...I just spoke with the medical professionals,” Aidon muttered, “They said he’ll recover but be stricken with spotty amnesia for a bit. Is that correct?”

“Yeah…wish I could’ve killed that bitch myself…” Flash grumbled as he trembled with anger in his seat.

“...Calm yourself,” Aidon warned him, “What’s done is done. What ultimately matters is that your friends continue to live. As for the one who attacked them…he shall suffer the weight of his actions.”

“You’re for sure?”

Aidon nodded. “I am. Right now, the best thing you can do is be strong for them both. They need someone like you to keep them motivated.”

“...Me, huh?” Flash looked down at himself and chuckled at the idea. “...I think I can try.”

“No. I don’t need you to try. I need you to do it, Flash,” Aidon persisted. “You can’t try your way through life--as we’ve clearly witnessed tonight. You need to take proactive measures and start making your own decisions. Got that?”

“...Yes, sir. I get you.”

“Good. Think about that for me, eh?” Aidon got up, and walked towards the front lobby of the hospital to give Flash some space and time to think. After everything that had happened, he was simply grateful that his students were alive.

“Hopefully that entire crime family gets what’s coming to them. Now I just need to talk to Starswirl about--”

But before he could finish that though, he was interrupted by a frantic Luna that arrived with a loss of breath as she threw her arms around the shadow man.

“...Aidon! I heard what happened. Is everyone okay?”

“...Mostly,” he admitted with a heavy heart as he put his arms around her in return, then let go after a moment. “Micro Chips is suffering from severe head trauma and there’s no telling how long it’ll take him to recover.”

“Oh…” Luna looked down with a sad frown on her face, but then raised her head to look Aidon in the eyes. “Okay then. I’ll do all I can to help him--”

“Then we should start by focusing on each other,” Aidon cut her off, “There’s little we can do for him at present, and to stress further would simply make things worse for him, Luna.”

The blue woman pouted for a moment, then accepted what he had to say. “Alright then. At least tell me that the one who harmed him is in custody…right, Aidie?”

“Oh, trust me, they’re suffering underneath the weight of their actions more than you could imagine. For I feel no mercy for--” He caught himself mid-rant and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Now isn’t the time to get worked up. We need to let everyone heal at their own pace and since Starswirl is currently speaking with the girls on how their magic works, I’m left to my own devices for the moment as I figure out what I should do next. Before that young man kicked the bucket, I managed to pry exactly where he got his cybernetic implants from…”

“...That being?”

“C. Corporation.”

Arc XXVII Episode VII: Picking For The Truth

The next morning, at Keiji’s home…

“...So our lead takes us to that guy’s place, huh? Yeah, I was afraid of that,” he muttered as he spoke to someone over his cellphone. “Petty ass bastard deleting someone’s parents because they can’t accept the fact that they’re together. I’d have killed for parents that good in my own life…”

On the other end, Adagio did her best to console him. “...Keiji? Are you alright?”

The vampboy sniffled and wiped his nose. “...I’m fine. I’m just letting you know what I’ve found before I make any moves. Whatcha think we should do with this info?”

“Let her decide what she wants to do,” Adagio replied, “This is her family matter, so allow her to make the final choice. Want me to come with you?”

“Nah…” Keiji respectfully declined, “I know the kinda person Jacks is. She doesn’t do well with too many eyes surrounding her when she’s in an emotional state of turmoil. I know because that’s exactly how I get sometimes.”

Adagio would respect his wishes with a small, satisfied sigh. “Ah…our little brother has grown to become so emotionally mature and empathetic. It’s wonderful to watch.”

“...Yeah, well..thanks I guess,” he muttered under his breath. Keiji still wasn’t exactly used to accepting compliments so he quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, I’m gonna head on over to her place. I’ll let you know if anything major happens or if I need your help, Adagi.”

“Alright,” she replied, “My sisters and I are going to have a little chat with Starswirl today since he’s decided to pay our world a visit. I’ll keep you posted.”

With their little phone call completed, Keiji headed out for the day and walked down the street to the Apple Family Farm.

The vampboy would spot Big MacIntosh first. “Hey, Big Man--you seen your sister around? The older of the two.”

“Eeyup,” he replied and pointed to the farmhouse. “Just be careful. She ain’t exactly feelin’ too good.”

“Jeez…this has been eating away at her, huh?” Keiji muttered, “I guess she never really moved on from you guys’ parents’ passing and needs the closure.”

“...I’d like’ta know too, honestly,” Mac admitted, “But I think it’d be best if she heard it first. Just lemme know when yer absolutely sure who it is. Alright?”

“Don’t worry,” Keiji replied as he walked on ahead, “If it were me--and my family was as good as yours--I’d want the same thing done for me. I won’t keep you and Applebloom locked out of the loop, bud.”

Big Mac went back to working as Keiji walked up to their home. Applebloom passed him by on the way.

“Hey, Kid Drac--how’s it goin’?”

“Can you like, not?” he rolled his eyes at such a nickname and continued, “I’m here with news on what lead I have in reference to you guys’ parents. But I wanna explain it to Applejack first so she can decide what she wants to do.

“Ah…I getcha,” Applebloom sighed. “...Honestly, I wanna know the truth so I can move on with life, ya know? It hurts me too, but I don’t wanna spend sleepless nights thinkin’ about ‘em like that. It’s not what they woulda wanted.”

Keiji nodded and replied sympathetically, “I know. But if this is true, then we can finally bury that hatchet. Just need to get her word first and then I’ll get back to you.”

“Got it, buddeh,” Applebloom patted him on the back, “You’ve really shaped up in ways that I didn’t expect.”

“I hope that’s a good thing,” Keiji muttered as he went upstairs and knocked on Applejack’s bedroom door. “Yo, Jacks. Got a minute?”

“Yeah? I’m here,” she replied from behind her door. “C’mon in.”

With her permission, Keiji opened the door and saw Applejack sitting on her bed. The farm girl was flipping through channels on her TV while wearing naught but her daisy dukes and her usual flannel front-tie top.

“Alright, so, I’ve got some information you might be interested in,” he handed her a few files held together in a yellow folder. “Apparently the guy that bought the chemical that killed you guys’ parents goes by the name of Barlett--which is a variety of--”

“...Pear,” Applejack’s voice groaned in a hoarse state of disbelief. “...I had a sinkin’ feelin’ that somebody from that side of the family had somethin’ta do with it. But I kept tellin’ mahself that believin’ in bad blood would only make things worse.”

Keiji paused for a moment to allow her time to absorb the information. A few moments later, he’d speak up again.

“Well…I turned this evidence over to the police first and they’re investigating it as we speak,” he explained, “Should they find anything that incriminates this guy, then we’ll have our answer.”

Applejack flashed him a soft, yet defeated smile and patted him on the head. “...Yer a good boah, Keiji. Thanks fer doin’ whatcha can. But at this point, I think I’m ready’ta face this issue mahself alongside mah family.”

“...Are you gonna be alright?” he turned his head as she walked past him, “I mean, once you have the proper answer I mean. I’m sure Granny is gonna be satisfied too--knowing who killed her son and daughter-in-law in all.”

“That she will,” Applejack replied as she slipped into a jean jacket. “But if the cops got the info we need, then we’re gonna head on down there. Care’ta join us, little man?”

“Me?” Keiji muttered in confusion, but ultimately accepted her offer. “A chance to hang out with the Apple Fam? I’d be a fool not to. Assuming they’re all free that is.”

“Oh don’tchu worry about that, sugarcube,” Applejack continued, now having put on her boots. “I think we’re all ready for this chapter of our lives’ta be over.”

Arc XXVII Episode VIII: Like A Knife Through Pear Butter

With the Applebloom, Appejack, and Big Mac together, Keiji walked with them all to the police station. The vampboy had previously stated that he had turned over all of the evidence to them and was currently awaiting a verdict.

“Once the officers and his crew are done, we’ll finally have the answer, you guys.” He stopped and turned to look at the Apple Siblings to ensure that they were ready for the truth. “But I gotta ask--just wanna make sure here: Are you all prepared to hear what they have to say? Can you bear to face the one who killed your parents?”

“...Sugarcube, I’ve been preppin’ fer this day for the last dozen or so odd years,” Applejack replied as her hands twitched and balled into fists. “I won’t ever forgive the varmints, but I just wanna know why.”

“Same here,” Applebloom spoke up, “I got’ta spend the least amount’a time with ‘em and they was taken from me. I want an answer.”

Keiji looked at the eldest sibling. “...Mac?”

For a moment, Mac had been staring off into space with a neutral expression on his face before hearing Keiji call his name. He spoke in a low, oddly sinister tone, “I want ‘em to know pain. That’s all.”

“Brrrgh…” Keiji shuddered to shake off the cold sweat that went down his spine from Mac’s words. “Ya’ll are…ya’ll are scary when you’re upset. Remind me to stay off your bad side.”

“Don’t fret none, sugarcube,” Applejack replied as she kept walking, “Yous a family friend, and ain’t done nothin’ta warrant us directin’ our ire at ya.”

“Yeah, bud,” Applebloom consoled him, “Yer a mighty fine guy ya know that? Tiara and Spoon have been in a better mood thanks to ya, which I’m grateful for.”

“For real? You guys were rivals at one point, right?”

“Somethin’ like that. But we cool now,” Applebloom explained, “You done quite a bit for us, so I’m happy yer around, Keiji.”

“No problem. You’re good people,” Keiji replied, “You deserve to have a better life even if your parents aren’t around. They loved you guys, and I’m sure they would’ve wanted you to know the truth.”

The group approached the police station, and Applejack took a deep breath.

“Welp…no time like the present, ya’ll.”

They all entered and were greeted by Officer Pale Vestige who had been reviewing the details of the evidence that Keiji had brought in the day prior.

“Ah. I’ve been waiting you all. After careful understanding of the evidence and witness reports, I was able to make an arrest--”

Applejack stormed up to his desk and slammed her hands down upon it--causing cracks to spread all over the wood! “You caught someone? Who is it?!”

“...” Pale hesitated for a moment, “...if you would please be so kind as to give me some room, I’d gladly explain.”

“...C’mon, Applejack,” Applebloom urged her sister to relax while holding onto the latter’s arm, “Give him some space, yeah?”

Applejack backed away and idly grabbed at her hat. “...sorry, sir. I’m just a bit--it’s like I got ants in my drawers.”

“Perfectly fine,” Pale replied as he stood up. “But I have to ask that you please do your best to keep your emotions in check as I reveal who was behind all of this. Can you all do that for me?”

“Yes, sir,” Applejack answered.

“I’m ready,” Applebloom spoke up with a stoic tone.

“Eeyup,” Mac added.

“Alright…first, follow me,” Pale beckoned them all to follow him to the back of the station where he kept criminal files.

Once there, he pulled a file out of a cabinet, and handed it to Applejack. “This is the woman that killed your parents.”

Applejack opened up the file and they’d all see a mugshot of a middle-aged woman with pear-green skin, dirty blonde hair, and pink eyes.

“Her name is Pomme Barlett. We found her at her home having mixed together loads of different chemicals using the natural chemicals in pear seeds. We also found that she was peddling illegal substances to people at various parties. The usage of pacifiers immediately tipped us off to ecstasy.”

“Gyatdamn…” Applebloom blurted out reflexively as she stared at the woman’s file with fire in her eyes, “This…this gardenin’ hoe drugged our parents?!”

“I’m afraid so,” Pale continued, “We couldn’t exactly decipher a motive, though it’s interesting to note that she is a member of the Pear Family. Grandpear’s daughter to be exact.”

Big Mac remained silent, tilting his head downwards so that his hair casted a shade over his eyes, rendering his expression unreadable.

Applejack meanwhile…she was visibly shaking. The file slipped out of her hands as she let go of it--which Keiji quickly caught and handed to Pale before it hit the ground. But the middle sibling was like a rumbling volcano--her fingers twitched with each knuckle bone cracking into place before she balled her fists. The floor beneath her boots had started to crack. She ground her teeth together as tears streamed down the side of her face. Her aura of pure hatred had caused the tension in the room to boil to the point of being thick enough to cut through.

Now that she finally knew the truth, she only had one question.

“Where. Is. She.” Applejack huffed in a low tone.

Pale took a step backwards. “...We’ve arrested her and she’s currently awaiting her hearing in court. We would like you to be present to give testimonies if possible. But please, do not let anger overtake you, Ms. Jack.”

“...Guys? Guys!” Keiji yelped to catch their attention.

“When’s the hearin’?” Applejack asked.

“Tomorrow,” Pale replied, “I will do everything in my power to ensure that she’s brought under the highest order of the law. As far my job allows, anyway.”

After all, once Pale had done his job, it was out of his hands. It was up to the court to make a decision on the woman’s sentence.

“...Alrighty, then,” Applejack turned and left the room. “We’ll be there. Won’t we, ya’ll?”

“That’s right,” Applebloom replied as she followed her sister.

“Eeyup,” Mac muttered as he left the room last.

Keiji breathed a sigh of relief as they left. “I swear, it’s like when they’re angry--it’s like a goddamn…black hole.” He held his hands in an orb-like shape to add emphasis, “A black hole where all the tension gets sucked in and you feel like you can’t even breathe!”

Pale sighed as he adjusted his hat. “...it’s just another one of those days. We’ll need you to be present as well, Keiji. You were the one that gave us the evidence to make the arrest.”

“Alrighty. I’ll be there. Don’t you worry,” he said with a proud armfold. “...For their sake.”

Arc XXVII Episode IX: Apple v. Pear

The next morning…

The court case was set to begin at City Hall with the Mayor presiding as judge of course. Keiji, being a natural morning vamp, had already gotten himself up bright and early to get ready. In fact, he was intent on being the first one there before anybody else!

“This should be easy,” he thought to himself as he sipped from a blood vial as he walked down the street, “But why’s my heart beating out of my chest? I feel like something really bad is about to happen.”

Just then, Aria turned the corner and started walking with him. She could immediately tell something was off by the way that she tilted her head. “Sup, Kei? You feeling alright?”

“...Hey. I’m…a bit concerned? Nervous?” he replied with a shudder, “Today’s the court case involving Applejack’s parents’ murderer and I’m not really sure how to feel.”

“...I know,” Aria sighed as she took out an envelope, “I got called in for jury duty for this very case. Beats having to talk to Starswirl all day about my personal experiences in this world. Think Applejack is gonna try and do something?”

“I don’t know--and that’s exactly the problem,” Keiji explained, “There’s absolutely no telling what she might do, and I honestly don’t know if I’d be able to blame her. I mean, there’s some people I’d love to get revenge on, but the laws here are way different from Equestria’s.”

Aria scoffed as she folded her arms. “Tch. Got that right. Can’t exactly do whatever you want or seek vengeance in any way you please here. Witch-hunts pretty much gone and it’s disappointing. Loved seeing them every now and again.”

Keiji raised a brow. “Seriously?”

“I’m kidding, bro,” Aria replied with a chuckle as she nudged him with her elbow, “I just watch old horror flicks to get my fix of that stuff. I don’t actually wanna see that happen to anyone.”

The vampboy hissed in response. “Ugh. Don’t screw with me like that. I don’t feel very good. I think this is the first time in a long ass time that I can openly admit that I’m genuinely, 100% scared.”

“...Yeah, I feel that,” Aria replied earnestly as she shoved her hands in her pockets. “Takes a brave man to open up about his fears. You’re not alone though. I’ve seen what Applejack can do and I’m kinda…not ready to see more of it. I once saw her lift a boulder the size of like, three cars or something. She could easily kill someone if she wanted to.”

“Yeah, not helping,” Keiji narrowed his eyes and rubbed the side of his head with his hand. “Argh…let’s just get this over with so we can all go home. I don’t wanna see a friend end up in prison for manslaughter.”

And soon enough, they’d arrive in the courthouse where they would be directed to a specific room by a man and a woman who both wore black suits and sunglasses. The man had dark blue skin, green hair, and a prosthetic arm and the woman dull crimson skin, black hair and two prosthetic legs that were hidden by her pants. Their badges indicated that they worked with some form of law enforcement.

This was then backed up by the arrival of Officer Pale Vestige and his crewmates--Quick Draw and Corkscrew. The three of them would approach the two standing near the doorway and Pale would speak first.

“...They called us all down here, huh? They must think it’s going to be a nasty situation.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” the woman replied, “Neon’s brother Flash Drive is already inside and giving the judge the rundown.”

“Guttersnipe’s right,” the man--Neon--replied, “Whatever this case is, it’s gonna be a right shafty one I’ll tell you that much, bruv.”

Quick Draw would speak up, “We need to secure the perimeters. Corkscrew--you man the door with Neon. Guttersnipe, with me.”

Pale dusted off his hat and sighed. “Let’s just hope this goes better than the Fidel Canto case.”

As the law enforcement agents split up, Keiji and Aria muttered to each other.

“...Goddamn. This is bigger than we expected if they got six officers down here to make sure nothing goes wrong,” Keiji shakily spoke through his teeth.

“I know,” Aria replied as she took a breath, “But there isn’t much we can do for the time being except to deal with things as they come. No matter what happens, I’ve got your back little brother. Got it?”

Keiji replied with a spontaneous hug as he threw his arms around her. “I’ll hold you to that. Literally. I don’t plan on ending up in the hospital today.”

“No prob. I promise that won’t happen,” Aria replied confidently as she patted him on the head before letting go so that she could take her seat in the jury pew. “Alright. You might wanna take your seat. It’s about to start in a bit.”

Keiji did just that. And soon enough, the pews of the courtroom would be filled with various citizens who were also called to serve with many of them joining Aria in the jury booth.

It wasn’t long until the plaintiffs--represented by Applejack would walk down the aisle. Her expression covered by her hat, leaving her mental and emotional states unknown to everyone in the room. Her brother and sister would soon join her, as would Granny Smith who took their seats next to her.

And a few moments later, Pomme was brought out in handcuffs. Escorted in by two officers. The woman was wearing a typical orange jumpsuit befitting that of a prisoner with an eerie, unhinged smile on her face as the officers sat her down.

Flash Drive stepped forward to announce the start of the case. “All rise, mates. Judge Vera Infernium presiding.”

The judge, a young woman with gray skin, red eyes, and long black hair approached the bench and sat down as she reviewed the documents related to the case.

“The case of Apple vs Barlett will now begin. Does the plaintiff have an opening statement?”

Applejack, who had been bouncing her leg on the floor with her arms folded for the last two minutes, would eventually respond in a hushed, coarse tone that cut through the air in the room and echoed quietly.

“I do, Your Honor.”

Arc XXVII Episode X: Evidence Evaluations

“Ah, shit. This is already screwing with me,” Keiji thought to himself from his seat, “Keep it together man. You got this. Huh? Didn't realize Silver Spoon was here.”

Indeed. Silver Spoon had been present as one of the congregation members sitting in the pews...

Applejack would stand up and speak, “I want justice’ta be served. Our parents loved each other. They loved us. I don’t understand why she’d do somethin’ like this?” she turned to look at the woman, “Do ya realize you killed yer own sister?!”

From where he stood, officer Pale thought to himself. “That sinking feeling is returning. This is absolutely not going to end well.”

Judge Vera slammed her gavel down in order to get everyone’s attention. “Order. Does the defense have an opening statement?”

Surprisingly, Pomme was more than willing to speak. “...I did what I did for a reason, ya’ll. My sista dyin’ in the middle of it was the only thing I regret. I was just gunnin’ fer that Apple boy.”

“You sayin’ what now?!” Granny smith shouted from her end of the room, which caused the judge to bang her gavel yet again.

“Order. Please.” Vera looked at Pomme and asked, “So does that mean you’re pleading guilty to the murder?”

“Keepin’ the Pear family line intact without none’a them Apples messin’ it up is the only thing I plead, Your Honor,” she replied with a devious grin on her face. “However they died ain’t somethin’ I recall.”

Applejack huffed a deep breath as she continued bouncing her leg. Her hand started to twitch idly as Applebloom tried to console her.

“...I’m right here with ya, sis. Don’t worry,” she tried to convince Applejack to calm her nerves, but it was a tall order. Her older sister’s idle motions wouldn’t cease as the stress became harder and harder to overcome.

“Let’s step back a bit,” Vera shook her head and looked at the jury, “We have several witnesses who corroborate the fact that you’ve been dealing in illicit substances. District Attorney?”

Guttersnipe, acting as DA, would approach the bench to present evidence. First? A baggie that she had put on gloves in order to grab. “Exhibit A: A powderized methamphetamine. Designed specifically to not cause enough mental overdose, but just enough to keep the subject addicted for a lengthy period of time.”

She placed the baggie down on the evidence table and picked up a small container of syringes. “Exhibit B: Needles with her fingerprints on them used in deals towards minors as our anonymous witnesses have corroborated.”

“Ya’ll can’t prove nothin’,” Pomme objected, “And even if ya could, ya don’t even know who that malarkey was goin’ to. Why, that stuff coulda been planted on me for all you know.”

The judge would challenge her statement. “And on what grounds do you base that claim of yours?”

“Well I can’t remember a darn thing,” the woman feigned a voice of desperation and defenselessness, “You can’t possibly book me for somethin’ when I can’t even recall it. What if I was the one who was drugged and ya’ll got the wrong gal?”

But Applejack wasn’t falling for it. As the Element of Honesty, she could tell that the snake of a lady was lying through her teeth in order to lighten her sentence.

“Sassafrassin’ lyin’ ass piece’a manure,” she thought to herself while shutting her eyes. “I ain’t gon let her desecrate my family like this.”

With her patience running thin, Applejack was about to open her mouth to speak, but was preemptively cut off as Guttersnipe grabbed the last piece of evidence off the table: a VHS CCTV tape.

“Allow me to take you to Exhibit C: Video evidence that we found.”

“...hm?” Pomme raised a brow with a nervous, empty expression on her face. “What sorta video are ya’ll on about?”

Flash Drive had wheeled out a television with a VHS player that Guttersniple pushed the tape into. Once it started playing, it showed a video tape of what appeared to be a woman standing outside of a gas station in the middle of the night selling items of ill towards people that looked like they were of similar age, but were ultimately identifiable due to the grayscale coloration of the footage.

“Ya’ll can’t be serious,” Pomme laughed it off, “That coulda been any ol’ Jane out there. You still ain’t got nothin’ on me.”

Judge Vera stared at her incredulously. “Mm-hmm. So why don’t we review the evidence that we managed to find at your place of residence, shall we?”

“Ain’t nothin’ there. Yer wastin’ yer time,” she insisted.

“A member of the jury was a part of the investigation,” Vera turned to them and called on person in particular. “Mr. Ketsuki. Please provide the court with the information you found.”

Keiji stiffened up as soon as his name was called, having been biting his nails moments prior. “Oh uh…m-me, right?”

“No pressure, boy. You just need to explain what you found. No more, no less,” Vera spoke to him with a relaxed tone in order to ease his nerves. A witness that couldn’t properly explain what they saw due to anxiety was a key factor in why many court cases fell through.

Knowing this, Keiji accepted her words and took a deep breath as he got up. “Alright, so uh…I got this here potion that functions like a blacklight, see?” He held up a bottle of liquid to show everyone what the investigation entailed. “And with it, I was able to trace a compound that she had purchased from an organized crime syndicate here in the city. The compound that we found that you killed their parents with. Got anything to say for yourself?”

“I don’t know what happened,” Pomme continued to deny her involvement. “It was they own fault fer messin’ with our family. Stupid Apple boy dickin’ down my sister and poppin’ out them halfbreeds over there…”

Crash!

Applejack forced her way out of the chair, causing it to tip over as she took a heavy, weighted step towards the restrained criminal. Her fists were curled with so much intensity that the veins on her arms were bulging!

“Ya wanna repeat that? Go on ahead. Say it again. I dare ya. I triple zippin’ flippin’ dog dare ya,” her voice thundered like a low, rumbling storm--the tension in the room rising as everyone stared at her…

Arc XXVII Episode XI: Calling Witnesses

Meanwhile, at Aidon’s home…

The shadowman had brewed himself a cup of black coffee and turned on the television. It had automatically been interrupted by the court proceedings being broadcasted live.

“We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news as the Apple v. Pear case begins.”

“PBBFT!” Aidon spat his coffee into the sink upon hearing the reporter on TV and turned around to watch. Sure enough, there was live camera feed of the courtroom being broadcasted to him on TV--and likely to a lot of others around the state.

“Oh no…in Equestria, we’d have just decided this with a simple execution. But here? The legal system is such a tangled web that there’s no telling how Applejack is going to react.”

Suddenly, he’d start hearing his home’s telephone ring. He picked it up and answered. “...Hello?”

“Aidon? It’s me, Jascha,” his old friend spoke over the phone, “Are you currently watching the court proceedings on television?”

“Yeah I am,” Aidon replied, “Why? What’s going on?”

“That woman…” Jascha muttered, “She’s part of the reason why my daughter is in an asylum as we speak.”

“What?!”

At the courthouse…

“Order,” the judge called out, “Applejack. Take your seat, please.”

Every officer in the room was prepared to draw their weapons and restrain her if need be. But thankfully, Applejack complied and picked up her chair before sitting in it, leaning backwards as she tapped her fingers on the table in front of her.

“...My apologies,” she muttered under her breath.

Keiji scratched the back of his head and continued with his spiel. “Er…so anyway. The potion I created allowed us to see the Zarin compound via a distinct trail that led us right to your apartment in the middle of the city. Proving that you purchased and owned it.”

“Bullshit!” Pomme screeched in retaliation, “There was loads’a them crackheads in my place. You can’t prove that that shit was mine!”

Keiji put his hands together at his fingertips. “So you admit that there was a drug trafficking system in your home? And you just somehow didn’t manage to figure this out?”

“Who knows what they was cookin’ up in there?! I sure as shit don’t!”

“Order,” Judge Vera commanded, “Thank you, Mr. Ketsuki. Now, Ms. Bartlett--would you like to call for your own witness?”

As Keiji hopped back over to his seat, Pomme would speak, “I call my pa to the stand.”

Sure enough, Grandpear was indeed present. The older gentleman needed a cane in order to walk up to the witness box before he was able to speak.

“...In all my years I swore to myself I’d never return to a courtroom…” he grumbled in disappointment. “I loved all my kids. I really did. I initially was against the idea of Pear Butter and Bright Mac getting together. But…I never realized how much they loved each other until they were gone.”

Guttersnipe would approach the gentleman and ask, “Mr. Pear. Did you have any knowledge of your daughter or anyone else in your family harboring ill-will towards Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s relationship? Or was everyone able to accept it immediately?”

“Europa wasn’t built in a day, missy,” he replied with a sigh, “Of course I knew many of ‘em didn’t wanna see ‘em together. But there wasn’t nothin’ I could do about it. At the time, I knew it was their lives and they had the right to be with whoever they wanted’ta be with.” He looked over in the direction of the Apple Family. “...it wasn’t until I had a heart-to-heart with ya’ll that I realized how important that was.”

Applejack gave a small, relieved smile, Applebloom wiped her face to dry up her tears, Big Mac simply sighed with his arms folded, and Granny Smith nodded in agreement with Grandpear’s words.

“So you were aware that there was still some animosity among your family,” Guttersnipe went on, “At any point, did you ever get the feeling that your daughter would desire to kill them?”

“No,” he replied as he shook his head, “She never gave me that impression--”

“AHA!” Pomme shouted from her seat, “I told ya’ll. Ya’ll ain’t got shit on me!”

“Order,” the judge interrupted her and looked over at Grandpear. “Continue, sir.”

“...That’s all I got,” he admitted with a sigh, “I don’t know what all she’s got herself mixed up in. But if she’s found guilty, then I’m gonna be disappointed. Well…even more than I already am, anyway. Can’t believe she still hasn’t let it go after all these years…”

The older gentleman got up and returned to his seat. Judge Vera would then look at Applejack and her side of the room. “Would you like to call your own witness now, Ms. Jack?”

“I would. I’d like’ta call one of our pa’s old friends: Burnt Oak.”

The dark-skinned man with an unmistakable handlebar mustache and a cowboy hat stood up and made his way over to the witness booth. Guttersnipe would then question him as she did to the previous witness.

“Alright, Mr. Oak. Have you ever caught the feeling that someone in the Pear Family was conspiring to kill your old friend?”

“...I always had it in the back’a mah mind,” the man began, “Considerin’ the worst-case scenario should someone wanna try and stab my partner in the back. Whatever sick, twisted individual thought that was a good idea must’a been mighty foolish.”

Guttersnipe raised a brow and questioned him further. “That’s an interesting way of putting it. Why do you think that, sir?”

“Cuz,” Oak continued, “Whoever thought they could dissolve the Apple Family by killin’ my pard was plumb loco. All it did was force his kids’ta saddle up and become stronger once they was gone. Can’t imagine bein’ raised by just a little lady all on her lonesome was that easy. No offense, madam.”

“None taken, dear,” Granny replied, “Yer right. It was hard. Harder than pickin’ apples on a cold winter’s night with no flashlight I tell you what.”

The DA mulled over his statement before asking him another question. “So what you’re saying is that the culprit’s attempt to divide the family failed miserably, correct?”

Pomme’s facial expression changed to visible confusion.

“Darn tootin’,” Oak replied, “Mac had’ta age much faster and grew up just as strong as his old man. If not stronger. Applejack--I mean, do I even need’ta get into it? She’s not even a fully grown lady and she’s already saved the world many times. And little Applebloom is a prime example of how kids mature so fast nowadays. She and her friends have helped loads of other kids they age figure out what they wanna do with their lives.” He chuckled. “Brings a tear’ta my eye. It’s like watchin’ nieces and a nephew become they own people.”

His entire statement brought grateful, bashful smiles to the Apple kids…

But for Pomme, it brought nothing but disgust and anger. She grit her teeth once Oak had finished his piece. His words must have resonated on a personal level with her.

“...Objection!” she called out, and caught everyone’s attention. “Them little inglorious bastards are a byproduct of a mix between two families that ain’t shoulda never interfaced! That’s malarkey is irrelevant and ain’t got no bearin’ on the current situation! Little shits shouldn’t even be here…”

SHOOM!

Applejack’s patience had run out. Before anyone could blink, she had practically teleported over to that side of the room and grabbed Pomme by the collar of her jumpsuit. “Keep mah family's name out yer damn ugly mug!”

“Applejack, stand down!” Officer Pale shouted from his end of the room as he approached her.

The tension in the room started to rise once more as everyone stared at them both.

Pomme smirked at Applejack, mouthing off to provoke her further--seemingly unafraid of the superhuman young woman. “Go on. I’m sure yer bastard pa ain’t raise no pussy. Hit me. Or are ya as spineless as he is?”

“...”

Arc XXVII Episode XIII: Judgement

“Applejack. Hands up where I can see ‘em,” Pale grumbled with a sigh. “Though given how strong she is, this probably won’t do much. But the law’s the law.”

“Sis…?” Applebloom muttered in a concerned tone.

“...Hmph,” Big Mac simply scoffed at the situation that played out in front of him. The young man opted not to let his opinion show.

“Yeah…she’s just like her pa,” Granny Smith said to herself as she watched Applejack get restrained by the officer.

Even though she could easily break out of them, Applejack sat down, accepting her position in the restraints. “I don’t regret what I did. Ya’ll all saw it. I ain’t got no excuses.”

Pomme was placed back in her seat by Flash Drive and the case would resume.

“Ahem…now that order has been re-established. Is there any other evidence to bring forth before the jury reaches a verdict?”

Keiji had taken his seat next to Aria. The latter immediately held onto him with a tight hug.

“...Dammit, little man. You almost gave me a heart attack when you did that,” she huffed with a rare, worried tone of voice. “Don’t you ever approach a dangerous criminal like that again, okay?”

“Yeah…it was a risk, but I took it,” Keiji replied as he put his hands behind his head.

One of the jury members, Cheerilee, spoke up.

“...Your honor, please review the courtroom’s camera footage,” she requested, “I’ve got eyes like a hawk, and I saw something happen between those two right before Applejack kicked her.”

“...You what?” Pomme gasped with a nervous tone. “...You didn’t see nothin’.”

Cheerilee raised a brow. “I’ve been a teacher for twenty years. I’ve trained myself to watch everything in a room more closely than you could ever hope to imagine. Unless you’re trying to hide something from us…?”

Pomme looked on in confusion with a thousand-yard stare. “...”

“Order,” Vera called out, “If it can be used as evidence, then we will review this room’s footage. Mr. Drive?”

Flash Drive would retrieve one of the CCTV tapes from the cameras, and put it into the VCR. There, they would see a playback of the events that had just transpired moments ago.

“Slowing it down,” Flash Drive commented as he played the video frame-by-frame. “...well I’ll be damned.”

It would reveal that, somehow, some way, Pomme had a syringe needle in her jumpsuit that she was about to stab Keiji with, but it was stopped by…a silver shuriken flung by what appeared to be Silver Spoon in a flash of white light so fast that it didn’t register as Pomme’s hand was struck by it, saving Keiji from being stabbed right before Applejack kicked her to the floor.

Everyone in the room went dead silent. As if the air had been sucked out into a void. All eyes were on Pomme, glaring with utter contempt and hatred.

“...That wasn’t mine--”

Judge Vera felt no mercy, “Officer Quick Draw, strip search her.”

Quick Draw held Pomme down as she performed a search around her body. Sure enough, she found the needles that she was going to stab Keiji with. “An attempted murder weapon. A used one at that. What’s wrong with you, woman…?”

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with me!” Pomme screamed from the floor, “What’s wrong is them bastardized half-breed retar--”

“The shit you sayin’ about us?!” Applebloom had cut her off and leapt out of her seat. “Resortin’ to the R-word is hella immature ya damn witch!”

“Order!” Judge Vera slammed her gavel to get everyone’s attention. “There’s one more thing I need to clarify before I hear any closing statements. That little…what was that a star-shaped dagger?”

Silver Spoon stood up and admitted to it. “Yes. That was me. I didn’t mean to get involved, but I wasn’t just gonna let her stab my boyfriend in the back!”

Keiji clutched his chest with a relieved smile on his face. Her swift actions had saved him from being infected with an unknown number of bacteria and/or parasites.

“...she’s finally got her own power now,” he thought to himself, “That makes the both of them. Guess I don’t have to worry for their safety too much anymore…”

With all of the information presented to her, Vera was ready to draw the case to a close. “Has the jury reached a verdict?”

After some deliberation, Aria took it upon herself to announce their findings. “We find her guilty of all charges. It kinda goes without saying, but she needs to be kept off the streets.”

“And so she shall,” Vera had her sentencing in writing and slammed her gavel down. “Lifetime imprisonment without parole. Adjourned. As for Applejack, you may release her, Officer Pale.”

Pomme was hauled away by Quick Draw, glaring daggers at the Apple Family as she was taken away. Her father, Grandpear, had left without a word.

“It’s over…” Applejack muttered as she was set free of the cuffs. “...it’s finally over.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Pale sighed, “We still have to consider what you did to her, miss.”

Applejack leaned back in the chair and folded her arms. “...Understood. I’ll face whatever punishment ya give me.”

Arc XXVIII Episode I: Settlement Aftermath

A few days later…

Wallflower flopped out of bed wearing nothing but her undies and her usual oversized white tee. As soon as she hit the floor, she woke up and looked around to find that her phone had been ringing off the hook.

“Hmmrgh…?” she yawned and answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey! It’s Trixie!” a rather boisterous voice spoke over the phone, “I heard about what happened. How you holding up, Wall?”

Wallflower yawned once more and squinted her eyes shut as she spoke. “Arghg…I’m much better. But MC’s still at the hospital. They aren’t releasing him until tomorrow.”

“...Poor guy,” Trixie muttered, “That rat bastard must’ve done a number on him, huh?”

“Yeah…but he was taken care of by our professor so don’t trouble yourself,” Wallflower mumbled as she blinked her eyes open. “I’m just glad he’s gonna make it out okay. I’ve got a whole bunch of things planned for us to do together once he’s out.”

“That’s great! But uh, until then, wanna join me and Sonata today?” Trixie offered.

Wallflower’s eyes shot open upon hearing such a thing. “Er…” It’s not that she hated spending time with her friends, but given Trixie and Sonata’s more…bombastic demeanors, she was unsure if she’d be a good fit. “Uh…you don’t wanna invite someone like Pinkie instead?”

“No way, silly,” Trixie giggled, “We’re gonna go shopping for our Halloween costumes. Pinkie already got hers in July, so there’s no point in bringing her along.”

The notion that Pinkie Pie had already planned three months in advance for a holiday was a bit amusing to Wallflower--who reacted with a chuckle. “Heh…yeah, that sounds like Pinkie alright. I guess I can spare some time. I don’t exactly know what I’d dress up as. Maybe something that’d go with whatever Micro wears…”

“Well you won’t get any ideas hiding away like some hermit crab,” Trixie scoffed, “We’re gonna come pick you up. A-byyyye!”

“Wait--!”

But it was too late. Trixie hung up on her, Leaving Wallflower in a disheveled mess. “Ugh…hermit crab suits me just fine. Hm. Maybe I could do that…oh crap, I gotta get ready…”

About 10 minutes later…

Both blue-skinned girls had shown up at Wallflower’s home. Sonata knocked on the door while rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Ayo! Wall! What’s happenin’?” she called out.

Wallflower answered the door, having barely put on her sweater. “Ugh…my hair’s still a mess. Can’t you give me at least ten more minutes?”

“Oh, sure. No prob. We can wait--right, Trix?” Sonata looked at Trixie.

Trixie looked at her nails and rolled her eyes. “Hmph. I suppose Trixie can spare a bit of her patience for you. Though, I’ve got a bit of gossip to share. Have you heard what happened to Applejack after that court case the other day?”

“...No?” Wallflower answered, “What?”

At the Apple Family’s Farm…

“Hr…HEYAH!”

CRASH!

A workout sandbag had flown across the basement’s room and crashed into the wall, pulverized into numerous flayed pieces.

Applejack flexed her hands, cracking the joints in each of her knuckles as the sweat from working out ran down her chest and abdomen. All the way down to her legs…where an ankle bracelet could be seen.

For assaulting a criminal in court, Applejack was barely able to escape a hefty fine and got her sentence lowered to house arrest. Thankfully, it’d be stricken from her record should she follow the rules and not leave her house for a few days.

In a way, it was really a way to calm the unstable country girl down. Having been faced with her parents’ killer and losing her mind, she needed to find some time to herself to relax and thanks to a suggestion from Officer Pale Vestige, house arrest for a week should be just enough time to get her mind on straight.

“...How ya feelin’ dear?” Granny Smith asked as she stepped down into the basement.

“...weirdly empty,” Applejack replied with her hands on her hips. “Just kinda…directionless now that I know the truth.”

“...I loved your ma and pa more than anyone,” Granny encouraged her, “They’d both be proud of ya for showin’ restraint in a situation like that. Don’t forget ‘em, and that’ll be enough.”

“...yeah. You right,” Applejack replied with a smile, “I just need’ta…move on. Can’t let ‘em haunt me anymore.”

“That’s the spirit. Now go get yerself washed up. Ya turnin’ our basement into a gym bag, hun,” Granny commented while spraying apple-scented air freshener around them both.

Applejack responded with an embarrassed blush as she hustled upstairs. “...yeah that’s prolly a good idea. I’ll meet ya’ll for dinner in a bit.”

Meanwhile, outside…

“Thanks fer comin’, Keiji,” Applebloom was pulling the vampboy’s hand along as they walked, “Applejack’s been mopin’ around like a shaggy old dog for the last few days. Was hopin’ you could--”

“Ach! Hey hey!” Keiji yanked his hand back and rubbed his arm. “No need to drag me, I was already more than willing to help. I’m just glad she didn’t absolutely wreck the lady’s shit--even if she may have deserved it.”

“Yeah…though what did Silver Spoon do’ta save ya? That was wild…”

“Not sure…but I get the feeling I might have an answer to that question soon, Blooms.”

Arc XXVIII Episode II: Formal Invitation

Keiji walked into the farmhouse, and greeted both Granny Smith and Big Mac. There, he found out that Applejack was upstairs and likely in her room, so that’s exactly where he went with Applebloom close behind.

“I just hope she’s willing to talk to me,” Keiji muttered, “I know it must’ve been hard for you all.”

“Water under the bridge,” Applebloom scoffed, “I actually feel way better know that I know the facts. And I’m sure Applejack does too. She don’t never mince words when it comes’ta how she feels.”

“That’s good to hear,” he replied with a smile, and looked down the hallway. “Now where is she…?”

Applebloom listened closely--she could hear running water that had just been shut off. “Oh. I think she’s in the shower. Might wanna wait fer a spell.”

“Yeah that’s--”

Creak.

Applejack stepped out of the steaming bathroom with a towel around her body. Her wet, blonde hair ran down past her shoulders as she walked out to greet them.

“...Howdy,” she said half-heartedly, “Didn’t think you were comin’ta see me, little man…”

“...” While stunned by her appearance for a moment, he forced himself to overcome it in order to speak to her. “...because--and I know this may come as shock--but you’re a friend. Don’t we support each other or some shit? Come on, I’m not gonna leave you high and dry in a moment of vulnerability.”

Applebloom took note of the way he spoke. “Wow. He’s becomin’ a bigger man each day, ain’t he? Tiara and Spoon are gonna have their hands full.”

“...Yer a good man, Keiji,” Applejack chuckled as she turned to enter her room. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

When she shut herself behind her door, Applebloom would remark on what she heard.

“Well now, somebody ain’t so caught up on women’s bodies no more, is he?” she playfully mocked his ‘condition’. “Guess havin’ two girlfriends kinda cured ya?”

“I will bite you.”

“Ooh! Make me a vampgal too, please!”

“...on second thought, no--how about I just toss you like Cal Dracula would-”

Applebloom tilted her head. “...who?”

“Oh yeah, you don’t know him, but he’s a legend where I’m from. The first ruler of Trotsylvania. Caltrop Dracula--also known as Cal The Impaler. He was most famous for the way he took control of the entire Trotsylvanian landscape as well as all of Roamania itself.”

“Hmm…” Applebloom tapped her finger on her chin until she perked up. “Oh! We learned about somebody similar in our class!”

“Yeah, but this world’s version of him is woefully inaccurate. He didn’t just impale pon--er, people. Regardless, he’s still one of my favorite historical figures. In fact, I was thinking about dressing up as him this year for Night--er, Halloween. We used to throw a celebration where we’d visit his statues all the time too…”

“That sounds like a good idea. You’d basically be dressin’ up as an Emperor.” Applebloom folded her arms. “...if only there was a way we could bring yer tradition here.”

Keiji shook his head. “Nah, don’t trouble yourself. My old life is gone and so are all the things I knew along with it. Candy doesn’t sound like a bad idea though. I’d never turn down the option for free treats.”

But Applebloom was persistent in her efforts to make Keiji feel happy. “I’mma need some help, but I’mma make sure I get it done.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a surprise visitor.

“Hey, guys,” Silver Spoon called out as she walked up the stairs, “My mom wanted me to come by and check on our pumpkin order. Is it ready, Applebloom?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Yer order’s on my list. Gimme a sec,” Applebloom confirmed as she ran off to her room.

Keiji rubbed the back of his head and looked on in confusion. “...she’s starting to take orders on herself, huh? Guess that’s what happens when we get older, huh?”

“Yup. She’s actually been 17 for the last few months--even though she doesn’t look it, she’s got a lot on her plate and I respect her.” Spoon leaned against the wall and went on. “I’m the same way, really. Mom and dad got me working in their glass-blowing sector handling deliveries for our art. It’s a hard job, but it works. Honestly, I’m kinda jealous of you for that reason, Kei.”

“Yeah. I suppose not having to worry about parents is a plus,” he replied, then sighed. “...but it does kinda suck not having anyone to acknowledge or praise what I do when I get home.”

Spoon’s expression dropped, then she approach him with an arm around his shoulder. “I get what you mean. But don’t worry, big guy. You’re amazing and I mean it when I say that you’ve made my life way better and far more exciting. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiara said the same thing.”

The sentiment melted his heart and put a smile on his face. “I’m glad to hear it. Thanks. I’ll be sure to make life way better for ya both as long as we live. Speaking of which, when’s your birthday party again?”

“This weekend. Hopefully you come…my stupid dad’s inviting loads of rich asshole kids that we know from business,” she adjusted her glasses with a scoff, “Absolute bores. Someone like you could set them straight.”

“Hmm…”

A chance to firmly plant himself among the elite and show them up in front of Silver Spoon? Keiji would be a fool not to accept.

“...you sick bastard, I’m in.”

Arc XXVIII Episode III: A Nice Outing

“...So this is how you make it in this world, hm? I’m impressed, really. And here I thought you and your sisters simply would’ve gone mad from existing here. Clearly, I’ve misjudged you all.”

'No shit, old man. We’re not brainless hacks like the rest of those ponies in Equestria that blindly follow you.'

Adagio kept those thoughts to herself as Starswirl spoke to her. The young siren lady had acquired a new job at a music store run by both of Octavia Melody’s parents on a favor from her friend. As much as she didn’t want to accept the offer initially, Octavia insisted due to the fact that Adagio had essentially saved her life from a cold, numbing death.

“Yeah. Well…thanks, I suppose,” Adagio responded as she stood behind the counter, tapping her fingers against her arm in a restless manner. “We’ve come far from being the mindless creatures of wanton destruction we were initially labeled as. I’ll admit that we were a bit…off the hook, though.”

“Ah yes. Flooding an entire village to which I had to save on my own,” Starswirl would jest as he brought up the past. “Yes, yes--only slightly off the hook indeed.”

“L-look…shut up, old man…” Adagio stuttered. “Anyway. Now that you’ve seen what we have to offer, are you gonna go off back to Equestria now or what?”

“Nope…I believe your professor and I have some unfinished business with each other. After banishing him to this world as well, I should at least hear what he has to say also.”

“Yeah this isn’t gonna end well. Hopefully they take the fight far away from the city.”

“...I see,” Adagio replied hesitantly.

Starswirl looked outside of the shop’s window at the various vehicles parked in, and driving down the street. “I’m also curious as to this world’s forms of transportation. Large, metal carriages with rubber wheels instead of wood…”

“...They’re cars,” Adagio explained with a raised brow. “And trucks, and buses--and lots of other motorized forms of transportation. I’m far from an expert on the subject though, so I recommend you ask literally anyone else.”

“Hrm. I venture that this world’s version of Rainbow Dash may hold the answers I seek regarding such a topic. For the moment, I must be off. Take care of yourself and your sisters, Ms. Adagio.”

As Starswirl left the building, Adagio let out a hefty sigh of relief as she flopped down in the chair behind the counter and kicked her legs up. “Ugh…speaking to him feels worse than listening to my teachers. I can’t imagine how Princess Twilight Sparkle deals with him on a daily basis. I need to take my mind off of this.” She grabbed the bridge of her nose as she brought her phone to her face. “Hm…wonder how Sonata’s doing today.”

At the mall…

It was all smiles as the trio of girls made their way towards the newly opened Halloween store for their costumes.

As usual, Trixie spoke of herself in the third person with her usual swagger. “Trixie doesn’t normally need to dress up to impress the masses, but she does enjoy a bit of a costume change on occasion.”

“...isn’t that what most magicians do?” Wallflower asked plainly, “...change into stuff? Then change out of stuff?”

“Don’t poke holes in Trixie’s fantasy!” Trixie squawked, causing Sonata to giggle.

“It’s great to see you out and about for a change,” Sonata commented as she put an arm around Wallflower, “I was starting to get worried about you, ya know.”

Wallflower’s heart raced upon hearing that. The sensation of knowing that someone else cared for her was still new and very much welcome. “Wow…really? Er, I mean…thanks, Sonata. I’m…kinda jealous. I have no idea how you manage to stay so positive all the time. How do you do it?”

“Well, it helps when you just kinda go with the flow of things,” Sonata replied as she wiggled her arm to mimic an ocean’s wave. “Instead of stressing yourself out, just keep calm and stay happy. Even in the toughest situations. It’s what keeps my sisters from being complete gloomy-guses.”

That was a shock to Wallflower. She never would’ve guessed that someone like Sonata was capable of keeping multiple people together. She looked down at the floor for a moment, then up at the blue siren. “Wait…seriously? I don’t mean to be rude, but I thought your sisters would get annoyed by you.”

Sonata wasn’t offended by the inquiry at all. She merely scoffed at the notion, making duck lips in the process. “Pbbt! We all kinda get on each other’s nerves sometimes. That kinda comes with the territory of having sisters. But more often than not, we all keep each other balanced. Me? I keep them motivated with my elegant whimsy and charms so that they don’t fall into depression.”

“...Wish I could’ve had someone like that throughout my life,” Wallflower muttered with a slight hint of contempt in her voice, but put on a smile. “I’m happy for you though. It sounds like you all really care for each other.”

“Totes. Though, I’m here if you ever wanna talk,” Sonata offered, having picked up on Wallflower’s doubt, “You’ve got loads of friends who care about you, so don’t be afraid to speak up, kay?”

“...of course, thanks,” Wallflower replied with a wider smile, “But enough about that. I’m trying to figure out what I’m gonna dress up as and--hey, where’s Trixie?”

Sonata paused and looked around--the magician of a girl was nowhere to be seen. “Uhhhh….”

But she was mostly certainly heard--from one of the nearby shops to be precise.

“BEHOLD TRIXIE’S UNPARALLELED BODY!”

Wallflower simply smacked her forehead. “...Do I even wanna find out?”

Arc XXVIII Episode IV: Keen Observations

“C Corp…C Corp…aha. Here it is.”

Aidon had traveled downtown to the inner city near Vanhoover. There, he’d park outside a rather large office building, and exit his SUV. Next, he’d read the information he had gotten from Tatsuya’s cybernetic arm…

“‘420 Elm Street’,” he read the back of the motherboard chip, and looked up at the building. Sure enough, the number ‘420’ could be seen on the very top which meant that he had the right place.

“Very odd indeed,” Aidon muttered as he pocketed the motherboard. “But whatever they’re doing, it can’t be allowed to continue. Selling these sorts of devices to crazed individuals with no sense of self is no better than drug dealers peddling their wares to the weak-minded….”

As he started walking towards the building, his phone rang.

“Hm? Hello?” he answered it.

“Yeah, Aidoneus? I’ll be down there in a few days.”

“Jascha? Wait what? Are you on a plane right now?”

“Boarding one soon. I’ve got a job opportunity that requires my immediate attention. What about you?”

“I’m currently investigating some strange new technology that I don’t recall the state approving,” Aidon explained, “One of the yakuza members I engaged in combat made use of such things and I have reason to believe it was obtained illegally.”

“I see…” Jascha sighed over the phone, “This isn’t good. I’ve got family down there, you know. Maybe I should plan a longer stay.”

“My friend, what in god’s name has had you stuck across the Atlantic for so long?”

“The students of Edinburgh have needed me for the past few years. I’m sure you know what that’s like. But ever since I retired, I’ve got no real reason to stick around. Plus, they all sort of encouraged me to come down here and visit you. I heard that you’ve recently hit it off with a certain someone, yes?”

Aidon cleared his throat. “Er…well, that is to say, yes. Luna and I have been spending more time with each other recently. Though I’m unsure of what would possibly be a good place to take her next. Though, I did get a recommendation to head to Zephyr Heights…so that might be where I go next.”

“Good luck, my friend,” Jascha replied with an amicable chuckle. “And I hope you can figure out whatever illegal activity that’s going on down there. My sister and her family are still down there and I plan to visit them for the holidays.”

“How nice,” Aidon supported his friend’s decision, “Be sure to tell me how they’ve been once you make it.”

“Of course. My flight is on its way now. I’ll be seeing you, friend.”

“See you when you get here.”

With that, Aidon hung up his phone.

“...what secrets does this place hold, I wonder…”

Meanwhile, from a window in the upper level of the office building…

“..so he’s here. Guess we’re both more than just teachers, aren’t we, Aidon?”

Meanwhile, at the Apple Farm…

As Applebloom prepared Silver Spoon’s order out in the pumpkin patch, Keiji walked with the latter as they followed the farm gal.

“By the way,” Keiji started off, “That weird magic you used to save me the other day in court…where did that come from?”

“Oh that…I’ve got no idea, honestly,” Spoon replied while she thought back to that moment. “I just…felt some unknown force overtake me and it allowed me to fight back to stop that lady from stabbing you.”

“Must be that ‘aether’ crap Twilight was talking about,” Keiji muttered as he scratched behind one of his ears. “Since the magic is kinda everywhere, it kinda latches itself onto whoever it wants. For you, it must’ve been something related to ninjas given that shuriken.”

Spoon held her hands behind her back and turned to stand in front of Keiji. “Alright, listen. You can’t tell anybody about this.”

Keiji paused and tilted his head with a confused expression. “Um…what coil--”

“I like manga! And anime…and other stuff from Nippon!” she squealed in a hushed tone, “That’s…kinda why I found myself interested in you.”

“...” The realization hit him, and Keiji replied with a shit-eating grin as he bared his vampire fangs. “You’re a goddamn weeaboo, aren’t you, Silver Spoon?”

“Er…” her face flushed a shade of pink as she stared back for a moment. Then, she fidgeted in place and pushed her glasses up. “I…t-that is to say--yes?”

“Huh, that’s pretty nice,” Keiji dropped the grin and replied with a casual shrug, “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m just surprised someone high-class like yourself would be into that shonen stuff.”

Yet again, Silver Spoon turned her head up and scoffed. “If you must know, it’s…because I have a certain level of attachment to the type of characters I see in those comics.” But then, her tone changed--becoming more solemn as she recalled her past, “...They reminded me of an old friend I used to have. He used to be so…kind and noble, wanting to strike it out on his own despite his parents’ wealth…until he was bullied out of school…” she looked up at Keiji and idly kicked the ground. “Er, sorry…didn’t mean to get too emotional there.”

Keiji shut his eyes for a moment and thought about what he heard her say. The fact that he wasn’t the first guy she had met and gotten to know painted a clearer picture as to why Silver Spoon acted the way she did towards Diamond Tiara.

“...I see now…”

“Nah, don’t trip,” Keiji replied as he opened his eyes, “You’re good. And I’ll make sure I don’t kick the bucket.”

“You better not…” Spoon begged in a spiteful manner, betraying her true feelings of being grateful for his words, “I…I-I won’t have anyone to emotionally throw myself on when Diamond Tiara isn’t around!”

“Riiiiiight…” Keiji chuckled and shot her a wink with his serrated smile, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Spoon’s cheeks went pink again as she stuttered, “...g-grrgh…stop looking at me like that!”

“You want some water? You look thirsty as fu--”

“I AM NOT-”

Arc XXVIII Episode V: Fulfilling Promise

Applebloom approached the two as they were talking and shot them a teasing smile. “Hey, are ya’ll havin’ a bit of a lover’s quarrel--?”

“NO WE ARE NOT!”

“NO WE ARE NOT!”

They both shouted in unison which made Applebloom flinch with a grin on her face.

“I’m just messin’ with ya,” she teased and explained the details regarding Spoon’s pumpkin order, “Anyway. Yer order’s just about ready, Silver Spoon.”

“Thanks,” Silver Spoon replied with a nod, “I think I’ll call my driver to come pick everything up.” She turned and looked at Keiji. “I’ll see you later, yeah? Don’t forget my invitation.”

“Don’t you worry,” he said with his usual smirk as Silver Spoon went on ahead with Applebloom, “I’ll be there. Hopefully alongside some of our other friends too.”

Eventually, he’d be surprised by the approach of Applejack who leaned upon his head with one of her elbows. “You’ve come a long way, ain’tcha, lover boy?”

“Ghhgk!” he gasped and turned around which earned a giggle from the now-clothed Applejack. “Don’t do me like that. I have a habit of reacting with violence.”

“My bad, kiddo,” she replied earnestly, “but it looks like you hit it off with Silver Spoon pretty well, huh? Does Diamond Tiara know?”

“Well…yes? You see…”

Keiji would then go on to explain the nature of their relationship…

“I see now. All three of ya’ll wanna stay with each other because the girls love each other…and you. Guess I don’t see a problem with it. So long as you keep true to yerself and to the both of ‘em. You love them gals, don’tcha?”

“Of course,” Keiji answered with a serious tone, as if offended by the mere idea of such a question. “I mean, I’ve come to value all of you guys, but Tiara and Spoon are…a bit special. They’ve both got detachment problems in their own unique ways--not unlike myself. And we just so happen to have similar taste in hobbies--albeit not entirely. So it’s kinda like a weird close friendship-slash-relationship that we all have. It’s weird but--”

Applejack cut him off by patting him on the head. “You’re gonna make a fine man for those two. Just make sure you got enough stamina to keep up with ‘em, yeah?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve already figured out how to keep myself emotionally available for when they need someone to lean on. Don’t worry.”

“Alrighty then,” Applejack replied with a smile, “I got confidence in ya. Anyhow, wanna join us fer lunch? Just made some fresh apple cider.”

Keiji looked up at her with a surprised, yet impressed scoff. “Mm. You’re in a good mood despite everything that’s happened. Think you’ll be able to deal with your little…punishment okay?”

“I’ve made peace with my choice, Keiji,” she spoke in a more relaxed, calm tone as she walked with him to the farmhouse. “I ain’t proud’a what I did, but I ain’t got no excuse for it. All I can do is live with my decision.”

“Hey…I’m sure your folks would’ve understood what you did,” Keiji encouraged her as he followed along, “Don’t beat yourself up. Just be glad that she’s finally been brought to justice. You can now bury the proverbial hatchet on that.”

Applejack couldn’t deny that he was correct. At long last, the one behind the death of her parents was finally dealt with, and she no longer had to worry about the truth. It was a freeing thing, knowing that she could finally let go of her ghosts.

“...You right,” she responded with an amicable tone, “I’m sure they proud of us from on high. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.”

“Damn straight,” the vampboy boldly declared with his usual fanged grind. “Now lemme taste some of that cider…”

Meanwhile, at the office of C Corporation.

Aidon entered the facility, and was greeted by a front desk clerk.

“Hello, who are you looking for, sir?” she asked, as she could instantly tell that Aidon was not a usual entrant.

The shadow-man walked up to the desk and spoke, “Yes. I’m looking for--”

But before he could finish his sentence, he was met with a familiar, monochrome face.

“Well hello! If it isn’t Mr. Iota,” Parabola walked out to greet him in her professional attire--a black and white business suit-skirt. “I never would’ve expected you to come here.”

“...Huh. Ms. Parabola?” he paused in his tracks as he took in the fact that she worked here. “I never would’ve pegged you for a business type. This must be your true occupation when you aren’t teaching, yes?”

“Indeed. One of your students has a relative that works here in fact. Micro Chips, I believe,” she explained with a casual, yet off-puttingly sweet smile, “But I’m curious as to what might’ve brought you here. We don’t normally ever have unplanned visitors as this is a rather covert facility that I have full control over.”

Now at a loss for words, Aidon had to choose his next ones carefully.

“...What an interesting development.”

Arc XXVIII Episode VI: Cyber Initiative

“But I’ve come here to explain something I found,” Aidon took out the motherboard chip from his pocket and showed it to them. “I found this on a young criminal. A member of a former local yakuza branch that I had to recently put a stop to along with some of my students.”

One of Parabola’s workers approached him and took the motherboard from his hand.

Aidon would continue, “I don’t know how they ended up with such technology in their possession, but you’d be wise to keep tabs on who you’re selling your products to.”

“So it would seem,” Parabola commented as she inspected the piece of technology that had indeed come from the very building she was standing in. This revelation caused her to gasp to herself--which visibly indicated that it was true. “Grrrgh…”

Something that Aidon was quick to pick up on. “Is something wrong, miss? Do you know the exact nature of when such a sale was made?”

Parabola quelled her own anger with a quiet breath through her nose. “...I do not. It’s not something I can confidently say that I was aware of. But I’ll be certain to find those who are responsible and deal with them promptly.”

While sufficient, Aidon wasn’t entirely satisfied with such an answer. “Hang on. If I may: What is the exact nature of the products manufactured here?”

‘Persistent fool, he is. Admirable, but annoying,’ Parabola thought to herself as she hid her annoyance under a passive-aggressive tone. “Such information is on a need-to-know basis, sir.”

“Considering the lives of my students were put into grave danger because of the enhanced power of the cybernetic arm that the mobster used,” Aidon continued with a firm tone, “I believe I have a right to know.”

The woman behind the desk spoke up upon hearing Aidon’s side of the story. “...Hang on a moment. Is that the story I heard about on the news last night? They said one of the boys had multiple fractures in his skull.”

“That was Micro Chips,” Aidon replied to the desk woman, before glaring at Parabola with a frown of contempt--causing the woman to stare back with a surprised set of eyes. “The son of one of your own employees. I don’t think I need to speak any further on why this presents a very damaging situation for your entire company. So I’m only going to ask this one more time: What is the nature of the products that your company makes?”

There was no backing down at this point. Parabola’s eyes darted back and forth until she eventually closed them in defeat. “Argh…I suppose I have no choice but to explain. To make things simple for you, I’ll start off with a short answer: We develop weapons and armor for the military as well as prosthetics in case they ever lose any of their limbs in combat. How someone on the street managed to acquire my work…I have no idea.”

“Interesting. I’d like to see your process if you don’t--”

But Parabola was quick to shut that idea down. “No can do. My work is delicate and only for high-ranking officers to view. I’m sorry, but it would be against the law for me to allow it. Even if I wanted to.”

Well, he couldn’t exactly refute that. For the moment, Aidon would simply shrug his shoulders and cut his losses. “Fair enough, I suppose. I won’t press the issue further. But know that there will be dire consequences if you do not keep better tabs on who is distributing your products. If they aren’t meant for civilian use, they should not be in civilian hands. Period.”

With that, he turned and left the building with a swift pep in his step, eager to get away from the facility as quickly as possible.

‘There’s something suspicious about that place. I know it.’ Aidon thought to himself as he drove off.

Meanwhile, inside the building…

The woman behind the desk looked up at Parabola. “That was a close one, ma’am. Shall we send some of our people after him?”

“No,” Parabola answered, “I’ll deal with him myself.”

Later, once Aidon got home…

The shadowman sent Micro Chips an email via their school server--one that nobody else could have access to.

‘Micro. It has come to my attention that your father is working with some rather unsavory individuals who have possibly allowed the technology he works on to fall into the hands of criminals. Please inform him of such information and ask him to get law enforcement involved if necessary.’

Once the email was sent--

Knock-knock!

There was a knock at Aidon’s door. The shadowman’s eyes and ears perked up immediately out of suspicion--an old Equestrian habit.

“Hm? Who…?”

He approached the door gingerly…until he realized Luna was there.

“Ah,” he sighed with relief and opened the door to see the blue woman in her casual attire. “Hello, Luna. How are you?”

“Hi, Aidon! Erm…I was wondering if you were free to…” her face started to flush red as she tried to get her words out--she pushed her index fingers together involuntarily. “...spend some time with me today?”

“Oh, of course!” he replied with a smile, “What would you like to do?”

“...My sister recommended that we ‘watch movies and relax’ to get into the swing of Halloween. Are you up for it?”

“For you? I’m always up, Luna. Come on in.”

Arc XXVIII Episode VII: Shopping Spree

At the mall…

Wallflower and Sonata caught up with Trixie who had been posing dramatically in front of a mirror--bending over with one hand on her knee. She was wearing a skin-tight latex catsuit with cat ears and a tail.

“This makes Trixie look purr-fect,” she made cat-like noises while smiling like one. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It makes you look like something alright,” Wallflower bit back her snickers and took a look around the costume store. Beautiful outfits of all shapes and sizes lined every rack in front of her. Monsters, princesses, pirates, robots--anything anyone could think of. “...we’ve got a lot of options,” she took a deep breath, “...whew. Almost too many options…”

Sonata would approach Wallflower and tried to ease her nerves. “It’s fine. You don’t have to force yourself to pick from everything. That’s what friends are for. I can help narrow the options down for you!”

“...You can?” Wallflower asked with a rather surprised tone, “I don’t really…go shopping for clothes all that so I don’t know how to make those kinda choices.”

“You don’t?” Sonata gasped with a shocked inflection, “But that’s…shopping is so…” But then she realized the kind of person that Wallflower was. “Ohhh…right. You prefer not to be around so many people at once. So lemme ask: How do you get all your shopping done?”

“Well I mostly shop online,” Wallflower admitted, which ultimately came as no surprise to Sonata who gave an understanding nod as the former continued. “It’s much easier than having to worry about…talking to people when I go buy stuff,” she explained in a hushed manner.

“Ah. I getcha now,” Sonata replied compassionately, “Don’t worry, we won’t force you to talk to anyone you don’t know. All we wanna do is get you into something sick. Something that’ll knock Micro’s rocks off!”

“...” Wallflower’s face turned a shade of red upon hearing Sonata explain that in such a way. “Erm…the expression is knock one’s ‘socks’ off, Sonata. When you say ‘rocks’ like that, it kinda implies--”

“Ooh!” Sonata cut her off and pointed in the direction of a nearby rack of clothes. “I found something that you’re totes gonna enjoy. You like carnivorous plants, don’t you?”

“I like all plants, but yeah. Those are great. Why?”

“A Venus Flytrap costume!” Sonata pulled her over to one of the racks and showed her an outfit that opened up from both sides to reveal multiple sets of fake teeth that would open and close if the wearer clapped their hands. “How do you like it?”

“Woah…it looks…awesome,” Wallflower muttered, “I think I’ll give this one a try. Thanks, Sonata.”

Sonata patted her on the back, “No probs. Now go on. I wanna see how it looks on you!”

With her costume picked out, Wallflower would go into one of the nearby dressing rooms. Meanwhile, Trixie could still be seen posing in her catsuit, much to the humor of the siren who couldn’t help but giggle at Trixie’s absurd mannerisms.

‘Humans never cease to amaze me,’ she thought to herself as she started looking for her own costume next.

Nearby…

On the other side of the mall, Skeedaddle and Coral Currents were busy picking out their costumes in a more kid-oriented store. It was a miracle for the latter to manage to get away from the house without her brother Sandbar watching over her.

Then again, he trusted Skeedaddle more than any other guy with her safety.

“I’m still shocked Sandbar let us come out here together,” he muttered while looking through a rack of costumes, “Are you sure he’s gonna be fine with us out here?”

“Don’t worry, Daddle,” she consoled him, “Sandbar knows how we feel about each other at this point and mom's just around the corner at the food court.” She put her fists on her hips in a proud stance. “Besides, it’s not like there’s dangerous magical malarkey just waiting to pounce on us from around the corner.”

“H-hey! Don’t jinx it!” Skeedaddle griped with a nervous shudder, “Y-you never know what could happen when it comes to magic. It’s all so random that it’s hard to keep track.”

Coral frowned and paused for a moment to hear him out. The asthmatic Skeedaddle had a rather frail body and she knew how bad things got for him when his anxiety took him over.

“I understand. But don’t worry. I’ve got a few things up my sleeve that’ll keep us safe should we ever need it. A hack or two that could give us a leg up,” she encouraged him with her words and a hug, “I’ve got your back, alright Daddle-Paddle?”

Her words eased his mind and allowed him to relax. “...Alright. Sorry, Coral. I think I was letting my mind get away from me for a bit. I want you to have a good time while we get ready for Halloween.”

“That’s the spirit,” she replied as she let him go. “Now, what are we going with…”

“I was honestly hoping to go as a legendary archer,” Skeedaddle mused, “Like Robin Hood…”

“Then Robin Hood is what you’re gonna be,” Coral replied supportively, “Come on. I got the perfect plan. Follow me.”

The store clerk had overheard them talking and sat back, wondering to herself. ‘...hacks? What is that kid talking about?’

Arc XXVIII Episode VIII: Discount Kid Deals

With Wallflower…

She exited the dressing room wearing the venus flytrap bodysuit, and looked at herself in the mirror. “...I dunno. How does it look on me, Sonata?”

“Totes adorbs!” Sonata squealed with her eyes becoming hearts for a brief moment. “I think Micro’s gonna love it too!”

“Yeah, he would,” Wallflower replied with a thoughtful smile on her face, “He’s into a lot of my botanical stuff more than I ever would’ve expected. I mean, he’s a tech guy so you never would guess how much he knows about plants….”

Sonata giggled and sighed a wistful sigh. “Ah, to feel love like that. It must feel super great, huh?”

“Oh yeah…very,” Wallflower said, then asked, “Have you ever felt that way towards anyone yourself, Sonata?”

“Oh. Loads of ‘em,” she replied with a scoff, then tapped the side of her face with her finger while looking up. “Hm. Then again, that could just be because I’ve got little control of who I’m attracted to. I kinda fall for boys easily,” she explained with a nervous smile as she scratched the back of her head.

Wafflower stared at her in disbelief with a flat expression. “...That’s just you lusting after the hottest guy you see. Not really the same as love.”

“Okay okay, maybe I am a bit…on the ‘down bad’ side as they say,” Sonata replied with airquotes as she dismissed the rebuttal. “But it’s still a form of attraction. You can’t deny that.”

“...Right,” Wall simply opted to change the subject. “Anyway…I think I like this costume, Sonata. It was a good recommendation. Now what about you? What do you plan on going as?”

“Hmmm…?” Sonata looked around at the various costumes around the store. That is, until one of them in particular managed to catch her eye. “Oh! How about…”

At the kids’ costume store nearby…

The shopkeeper approached Coral and Skeedaddle with a smile on her face. She wore a black sweater with orange pumpkins on it, black yoga pants, and had a dull-gray complexion with long, blonde hair, and green eyes. “Can I help you two angels find anything?”

“A good idea,” Coral mulled over the idea of ‘angels’ and eventually shook her head, “But nah. I’m looking for a Robin Hood style costume for my BF here. And for me? Well--I’m up to being surprised honestly.”

“Just make sure she has something that looks good,” Skeedaddle added, “Coral deserves to look great alongside me.”

“Hmm…I can handle that,” the shopkeeper woman replied with a wide smile as she tilted her head, staring intently at Coral. “Why don’t you follow me to the back room where I can help you pick out something nice, hm?”

‘What’s with that look giving me?’ Coral hesitated for a moment before agreeing with a low tone of voice. “O…kay. Hey, Skeedaddle, I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Alrighty, I’ll be right here,” he replied with a nod as he continued to look through the rack of costumes. “Now let’s see…”

“Great. Now come this way…” the shopkeeper walked towards a door located behind the register, which Coral followed her to.

“So like I was saying, surprise me. I wanna look good in something I’ve never had on before,” she requested as she walked into the employee’s only door.

The shopkeeper followed her in…

Click.

And immediately locked the door behind herself.

“Oh don’t worry, I have lots of options for you--”

Coral swiftly turned around, raring to press a button on a wrist-mounted device she had up her sleeve. “I knew--”

But before she could do anything, the shopkeeper tackled her, bound her arms with rope, and covered her mouth with tape. “So what do we have here?” She pulled Coral’s sleeve up and found her special little watch device. “As expected. You’re not some normal brat. You work for the government, don’t you?”

“MM-MM!” Wide-eyed and panicked, Coral squirmed fruitlessly under the woman. While she couldn’t speak, she was glaring daggers at her with a mean scowl.

“Sure you don’t,” the woman took the watch and placed it on the counter nearby. “A kid like you is gonna be worth a lot of money. Oh don’t worry, I’ll give you right back to your family as soon as they offer up a decent ransom.”

‘She’s despicable!’ Coral thought to herself as she continued to squirm about, ‘I have to figure out a way out of here before Skeedaddle gets hurt!’

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t have to wonder for very long…

Just outside of the door, Skeedaddle was still looking around for costumes. It had been about ten minutes since Coral had left, and he was starting to feel concerned as he looked towards the Employees Only door.

“Hm…I hope she’s okay. Maybe I better go check for myself…” he would approach the door and knocked…

Meanwhile, a few feet away at the other store where the girls were…

Sonata had dressed herself in a mermaid costume and took a look in the mirror. “Hm…nah. Too obvious.”

“I think it makes you look good,” Wallflower encouraged her.

Just then, Sandbar appeared with a Halloween bag in his hand, interrupting their conversation.

“...Ayo. You girls seen my sister anywhere? She and Skeedaddle were supposed to stick near this area with our mom.”

“...No, sorry,” Wallflower replied, “But if I see her, I’ll let you know.”

“Same,” Sonata added, “She can’t be too far away, righ--?”

“HEL--” the voice of what sounded like a small child squealed before being quickly cut off, causing everyone to visibly flinch and whip their heads in the direction of the sound as soon as it reached their ears.

“...What was that?” Sonata asked plainly.

“...Might’ve been a rowdy kid,” Wallflower wrote it off, not wanting to get involved in someone else’s business. “I don’t think we should intervene.”

But Sandbar wasn’t in the mood for standing on the sidelines. “Naw man. Somethin’s up. That sounded familiar…I’mma check it out.” He set his bag on the floor as he hustled over to the source of the noise…

“Hey wait--crap--” Sonata hurried back into the dressing room to change back into her usual clothes and when she exited, she gave Wallflower a suggestion. “You might wanna stay here in case things get bad.”

“...trust me,” Wallflower muttered as she watched Sonata run off, “I’m good at staying in one spot.”

Unbeknownst to her however, a magical aura would work its way into her body...

Arc XXVIII Episode IX: Sales Drop

Sandbar skid to a stop on his heels as he approached the store where he heard the scream. His mind was already racing as he thought hard about the potential outcomes of a situation like this.

‘Dammit…where’s mom at? I could’ve sworn I heard Skeedaddle’s voice from over here. I don’t see any sign of him or sis either…’

Sonata arrived and stopped next to him. “Hang on…are you sure you know who it is, Sandbar?”

“I think my sister and her friend are both in danger,” he explained as he took a look around the shop, and that’s when he noticed a distinct lack of a cashier at the register. “Yeah…this is gettin’ more suspicious by the second, yo. Why ain’t nobody here?”

“...good point,” Sonata replied, “It’s kinda weird for a shop to not have anyone watching over it. Think they’re on break?”

“Maybe, but I’m not sure. Let’s be careful here, yo.” Sandbar casually approached the register and slapped the bell on the counter to let the shopkeeper know that a customer had arrived. “Ay! Anyone around here, yo? Hellooooo?”

Ding-ding-ding!

Inside the employee backroom…

The shopkeeper woman had successfully bound both kids with rope and covered their mouths with tape so that they were unable to scream. But as soon as she heard the bell on the desk, she scowled and balled her fist.

“Perf--shit…of course someone had to come around right about now…I’ll deal with you two later,” she muttered while glaring at the kids as she quickly left the room.

“Mm--mmm-mmm!” Skeedaddle started to panic with his eyes forming tears. His asthma was starting to act up, making it difficult for him to breathe due to the fact that his mouth was covered, resulting in a massive strain on his airways. It wasn’t long before he started to cry, bawling as he resigned himself to his fate.

“Mmph!” Coral would’ve tried to console him, but she was unable to speak. All she could focus on was retrieving her watch that the woman had left on one of the shelves nearby.

‘Poor guy…don’t worry, I got this. Okay. I have to be quick and careful. I can’t really move, so I need to start inchworming my way over there so I can knock it down off of the shelf. Yeah. Should be easy enough, right?’

With her mind made up, Coral started to wiggle upon the floor, flopping like a fish out of water for a moment until she flipped herself over onto her stomach. Then, she started to wiggle further and inch her way towards the shelf as Skeedaddle’s sobs quieted down…

In the shop…

The woman walked out of the door and approached the counter with a casual smile on her face. “Sorry about that. May I help you?”

“Yeah,” Sandbar spoke in an equally casual tone as to not show his hand too early, “We were just walkin’ around and we thought we heard a scream from this way. Ain’t that right, Sonata?”

“Yeah,” Sonata added with a nod, “We were just curious as to what that noise was is all.”

“Ah. That must’ve just been some kid,” the shopkeeper tried to play it off. “You know how they are when it comes to this time of year…”

But Sandbar wasn’t quite buying it. In the back of his mind, he could almost sense that something was wrong. Call it brotherly instinct, call it intuition, but the woman’s words didn’t exactly ring as soundly believable.

“...Uh-huh,” he replied slowly, “Mind if we take a look around just to be safe?” He asked just to see what sort of reaction she’d have to such a question.

For the quickest of split-seconds, the woman’s expression turned to a scowl before she forced a smile on her face. “...okay then. I have no problem with that at all.”

Sandbar turned around and walked away from her by a few paces with Sonata next to him.

“...yeah, somethin’s up, yo,” Sandbar whispered to her. “There’s somethin’ she ain’t tellin’ us.”

“Are you sure? Well, I guess it can’t hurt to be careful,” Sonata replied. While hesitant at first, she had to admit that something did indeed feel ‘off’ about the woman’s response. “..she did seem kinda weirdly cryptic. I dunno--maybe I’m just looking too deep into it, but…”

While they were talking and had the full attention and unwavering gaze of the shopkeeper, a seemingly invisible force pushed the door open to the employee room and gently closed it behind itself.

“...Hm?” the woman watched as the door closed shut with a confused tilt of her head. ‘...Was that wind? From indoors? Strange.’

Well, it was certainly something from indoors, but it wasn’t the wind at all. In fact, it was someone who was more than used to going unnoticed. To the point where being invisible was one of her trademark qualities.

Inside of the backroom, Wallflower deactivated her newfound power of invisibility and flexed her hand. “Wow…” she muttered, “I can’t believe that worked.”

Both Skeedaddle and Coral looked up at her with relieved smiles as they squirmed.

“Shhh…” Wallflower hesitantly looked behind herself and knelt down in order to remove the restraints from their bodies. “Let’s try and stay quiet, alright? I’m here to help.”

Once she removed the tape and rope from their bodies, both kids ran up to her and gave her a hug.

“Thank you so much,” Skeedaddle huffed a quiet, shaky remark of thanks as he held onto her, “I-I thought we were goners.”

“You can say that again,” Coral replied with a sigh, “I can’t believe I managed to let her get my watch off of me. Thanks, Wallflower.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got your backs. But mind telling me exactly what happened?”

Arc XXVIII Episode X: A Keen Eye

Meanwhile, with Trixie…

“Alrighty. I think I’ve got my costume all picked out,” she monologued as she made her purchase, having changed back into her regular clothes and carrying out her cat costume. But just then, a magical aura overtook her--seemingly out of nowhere and without her even realizing it…

And then, all the sudden…she could start hearing things that nobody else could.

‘...that woman is a prime target for my scheme.’

“What the--who said that?” Trixie muttered as she looked around and tapped the side of her head. “...Am I hearing things or…?”

At the kids’ shop nearby…

“Big brother! Sandbar! Over here!” Coral shouted as she fled the backroom with Skeedaddle and Wallflower in tow--much to the visual panic of the shopkeeper.

“Cici?” Sandbar gasped as he turned around, and quickly approached her for a hug. “Whew…glad you’re okay. What happened? Where didja go?”

“The lady who runs this store freaking kidnapped us!” Coral pointed to the now empty front desk. The woman was gone.

“What the--where’d she go, yo?!” Sandbar cracked his knuckles as he grit his teeth. “I need’ta file a complaint.”

Sonata was equally confused and asked, “Wait a minute--wasn’t she just there a second ago?”

“The bitch probably ran off,” Wallflower muttered, "but Coral caught her on video via her smartwatch. Show them.”

Coral would then show them the events that had transpired from her watch’s camera. True to her word, everything she had described had taken place was on video--including the woman’s desire to hold Coral for ransom as well as kidnapping Skeedaddle.

“She’s a monster,” Skeedaddle grumbled, “If I didn’t have trouble breathing, I would’ve--I--...”

Coral put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Easy, Skeedaddle. I don’t want you getting worked up over this. However…I don’t know where she could’ve gone. We need to start looking for her before she escapes the lot.”

“I’m on it,” Sandbar started running towards the mall’s northern entrance. “I’ll take the North. One of ya’ll take the South.”

“Oh no you don’t. I’m coming with you, big brother!” Coral hurried after him, and encouraged Skeedaddle to follow. “Come on, Daddle!”

“O-okay!” Skeedaddle ran after her as well, leaving Sonata and Wallflower to handle the Southern entrance.

“Guess we’ve gotta handle this side,” Sonata commented, “You with me, Wall?”

Wallflower nodded, then put on a face of conviction. “Of course…she needs to be held responsible for kidnapping some innocent kids.”

Everyone started to head out to their respective sides. However, they didn’t account for one more:

There was a small Emergency Exit on the Eastern side of the mall’s map. Which is exactly what the woman used to escape.

‘Dammit. Those bastard kids ruined my plans to get rich. Whatever. I’ll just have to pick after the next richest kid I see.’

But then, she was stopped by an invisible, supernatural force.

‘...take my power, and you’ll have what you desire.’

‘...’

Inside the mall…

Inside, Trixie scratched behind one of her ears. “There it is again. Power? What power? Who was that person? Or…is it even a person at all?”

Her curiosity got the better of her, and Trixie followed the voice towards the source…the Eastern end of the mall. It wasn’t exactly a voice inside her head, rather, it was akin to a radar in which she was able to hear it louder and louder the closer she got to it.

And once she found the exit, she saw the woman who had been overcome by a sickly green magical aura. It had put so much strain on her body, that she was down on her hands and knees.

“Erm…hello? Miss? Is there something wrong?” Trixie asked while approaching her, “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re a bit…overcome by magic. And as an expert on magic, I’d be more than happy to--”

The woman’s voice had become distorted as she stood up and spoke. “...I don’t need your help. In fact, I can get everything I want now!”

Behind her, the ghostly apparition of what appeared to be a floating eyeball with wings appeared to be possessing her!

“What the--?!” Trixie shrieked as she leapt backwards. “Is that a Malocchio?!”

“Correcto. And you’ll be my first victim, young lady!”

A blast of poison was fired from the woman’s palms, to which Trixie screamed as she jumped out of the way.

“ACH!” she dove behind the nearest trash can and started dialing Sonata’s phone number. “Come on…pick up!”

Arc XXVIII Episode XI: Thracian Might

On the Southern side of the mall…

Sonata and Wallflower had found nothing thus far. However, their search efforts were interrupted as soon as the former got a phone call.

“...Hello? Trix--?”

“I’MUNDERATTACKANDINEEDYOURHELP!” was all that could be heard over the phone before it hung up.

“What? Where…?”

BOOM!

Wallflower pointed towards the Eastern side of the mall. About 100 meters from where they currently stood. “Over there! We have to hurry!”

Back with Trixie…

“Argh! Trixie is a magician, not a demon slayer!” she screamed as she took cover behind a lamp post that was immediately destroyed by another blast of magic from the evil eye.

“You can’t escape!” the woman’s distorted voice continued as she flung another poisonous bolt in Trixie’s direction, “I am but one of many. We will take over this world and--!”

SHNK!

CRASH!

All the sudden, the poison bolt was grabbed out of mid-air by an enlarged, sand-coated fist and crushed into nothingness from the strength of the grip. With this opportunity, Trixie started to haul herself towards the mall as fast as her legs could take her.

Sandbar had appeared with quite the annoyed scowl on his face as he approached the woman with parts of his body turning into sand in order to pre-emptively counterattack whatever she had to throw at him.

Needless to say, the low tone in his voice carried a rather…displeased aura as the parking lot started to fill itself with sand.

“I am sick and tired of shitty people like you. You got a lotta nerve tryin’a kidnap my sister, yo. You ain’t gettin’ away. But go ahead and try running. That’s just gonna gimme more time shoving my foot up yo conniving bitch-ass!”

With little options left, the Malocchio decided to use its magic to summon lots of smaller demons in order to protect itself. The end result was a bunch of large, dark green, anaconda-sized snakes that littered the parking lot!

“Do whatever you want…” Sandbar muttered and started to fight off as many as he could, turning his fists into sand-like axes in order lop off as many snake heads as he could as he rushed through the horde. “I ain’t stoppin’.”

“That’s my big brother!” Coral shouted from nearby.

Skeedaddle grabbed her arm. “Coral, we gotta get back inside before we get hurt! The only way to kill these things is to damage their heads and we don’t have any--!”

But it was too late. Various snakes started to surround the two, leaving them helpless…

ZZZZ!

That is, until several bolts of lightning came and shocked them into nothingness.

“Get inside!” Sonata commanded with her hands sparkling with yellow bolts as she stood in front of them to fend off the horde of demonic serpents, “Now!”

Hearing her speak so candidly caught the kids off-guard for a moment until they started to run towards the mall entrance where Wallflower and Trixie were. They were almost free until--

SHINK!

“OWWW!” Coral squealed as one of the snakes bit down on her leg.

“Coral!” Skeedaddle refused to let her go and continued pulling her with what little strength he had. “Let go of her!”

“It’s--agh! It’s not budging!” Coral cried as she felt the fangs sink deeper into her skin. “Just go! Save yourself!”

“...No. No I won’t!” he shouted back as more snakes started to surround them, now preventing them from reaching the mall at all.

“Skedaddle, I don’t want you to die because of me!” Coral pressured him to focus on himself, “You deserve better than this! I’m sorry!”

“No…” But he was persistent, and thought quickly. He drew one of the arrows he had on him from his back pocket, and stabbed the snake in the head with it, causing it to release its grip on Coral’s leg and retreat! “I won’t!”

“...Skedaddle…” Coral mumbled as she fell to the ground, and looked around at the sea of snakes they were now in. “...You really risked everything for me, huh?”

Skeedaddle took out his bow and drew one of his arrows against it. “I’d be shaming my favorite heroes if I didn’t stand by you. Even if I go down--I’m going down for a reason…”

But he wouldn’t have to worry about that. As if the cosmos itself was impressed by his display of bravery to defend Coral, a magical aura would enter his body as well as his bow and arrows…

And the next time he drew his arrow back, he felt increased torque and strength from his arms, as if a supernatural force had gifted him power to use in this exact moment. Then, he let it go…

SHKSHKSHK!

The arrow turned into a small bomb that pierced through at least a dozen snakes before exploding!

“Huh…what the…?” he muttered and looked behind him…where he saw a ghostly magical figure standing over him for a split-second. “Is that…?”

“...You’ve got the Bow of Odysseus now,” Coral looked at Skeedaddle’s bow that was now shining a brilliant sapphire color, matching his own color scheme. “The magic in the world must’ve decided you were worthy of his power.”

While he wanted to revel in such a boon, Skeedaddle drew his bow once more and faced the snakes with newfound bravery. “Less talking, more snake hunting!”

Arc XXVIII Episode XII: Shutting The Eye

With his newfound power thanks to his ghostly magical partner, Skeedaddle’s archery skills were enhanced with explosives that allowed him to fire off a multitude of arrows that pierced the snakes and blew them up with enough force to erase them completely.

And with that, the wound on Coral’s leg disappeared also.

“...Whew. Hey. I feel better…” she took a look at her watch and started to analyze their surroundings. “I see. If we get rid of them, then any destruction they cause will disappear too.”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Skeedaddle shouted as he ran forward and fired off a series of arrows while sliding along the ground. The sea of serpents would continuously disappear from the blasts of energy just as fast as they were spawned!

Watching Skeedaddle fight inspired the hiding Trixie.

‘...I have to help them somehow,’ she thought to herself before putting on a bold face as she stormed back outside, much to the confusion of Wallflower.

“Hey, where are you--?!”

“I’m not great or powerful if I can’t do what I can to help!” Trixie called back, and jumped out there to inform Sonata of what she knew. “Sonata! I can read its thoughts! Its entire backside is a blind spot!”

“Okay,” Sonata replied while shocking another snake that was flung her way. “...I just need to get behind it somehow. Maybe…”

That’s when she realized Sandbar was still on the proverbial battlefield. On the opposite end of where she stood.

‘Come on…come on…you can do this, Sonata…take control. My sisters can’t give me guidance forever.’

In a difficult bout of split-second thinking, Sonata managed to bark an order to Sandbar from her end of the parking lot. “...Sandbar--Sandbar! Pressure her from behind!”

With an order, Sandbar had a sense of direction and knew where exactly he should focus his power. “I got you, yo.”

And without hesitation, Sandbar started walking towards the possessed woman until his body dispersed into grains of sand that spread out against the pavement. Due to how his body disappeared, it looked as if he was walking down into the earth itself…

Unable to see its target, the eyeball monster shifted its gaze around the lot…

But by the time it realized what was happening, it was too late.

FWOOSH!

A mass of sand that turned into Sandbar himself would rise from the depths of nothingness beneath the ground, and he’d grabbed the woman by the throat with a sandy fist. He applied just enough force to paralyze both her and the monster, but not enough to kill her. He grit his teeth, and bit back his desire to end her life right then and there as he grumbled to himself.

“Gah…you lucky…”

In a swift motion, Sandbar spun around and let go, flinging her towards Sonata. “Take out this trash, yo!”

“With pleasure,” Sonata replied with a confident smile on her face as she prepared herself by opening her electrified hand…

Trixie’s eyes shot open, and she promptly closed them. “Don’t look directly at it!”

Heeding the warning, Sonata closed her eyes and caught the woman by her neck. True to Trixie’s word, the evil eye had prepared a curse that would demand eye contact, but it failed due to Sonata having her eyes shut.

“...How…how did you all--?!” the possessed woman’s voice droned.

“You don’t deserve an answer…for with the power of Zeus, I cleanse thee.”

ZZZZAP!

The sky suddenly turned dark as bolts of yellow and blue lightning flashed all around them, striking the woman’s body and destroying the evil eye--purging it from her body with just enough power to keep her alive.

And once it was all over, she let the woman go, causing her to flop on the floor.

“...did we win?” Trixie slowly opened her eyes, “...I mean…not that I’d be surprised…”

Sonata placed her hands on her hips as she opened her eyes as well. “...Yup. It’s over, everyone. That demon is gone.”

“That was so cool!” Coral squealed as she hugged Skeedaddle, then placed a kiss on his cheek, “You straight up got the power of one of the Thracian Heroes!”

“...I did, huh?” Skeedaddle blushed, “Guess I did…I am pretty good with a bow.”

“And you!” Coral turned to Sonata, “You created a thunderstorm out of nowhere like Narukami or something! That was so dope!”

Sonata replied with an embarrassed smile, “...it was nothing, really. I just did what I could--”

“And Wallflower was the one who saved us,” Coral turned to give the green-haired girl acknowledgement, “Thank you so much.”

“Oh, uh…well, I--” Wallflower stuttered and simply gave her best smile. “No prob…”

“And Trixie--you could read its mind?!” Coral rushed up to her, “You’re like a real magician! That was like a Houdini trick!”

“It was--?” Trixie swiftly accepted the praise, “Er, I mean…of course it was! Thank you for noticing~”

“Now where’s my big brother--?” Coral turned to look at Sandbar. The latter held his arms open and she ran up to tackle and hug him. “You’ll never stop being the coolest guy around.”

“...I just do what I can, Cici,” he replied with a smile while holding onto her. “You’re my little sister--it’d be stupid of me not to keep you safe. Even if it kills--”

“No no no,” Coral playfully glared at him while pouting her lip, “Don’t you dare say that. We’re all gonna live until we’re old and have grandkids of our own. You promised.”

Sandbar chuckled, and sighed. “...yeah, I did promise that, huh? Come on, we gotta find, mom.”

Fortunately for them, they wouldn’t have to look very far.

“Sandbar! Coral!” their mother approached them in a huff as she appeared from out behind her car. “We saw everything! You two are so brave!”

“...hol’ up, ma,” Sandbar tilted his head, “Whatcha mean by ‘we’?”

That’s when all of the people of the parking lot exited their vehicles…and cheered for everyone with a series of overlapping shouts and clapping.

“...Guess that answers that question,” Sonata added with a shrug.

Arc XXIX Episode I: Casual Chat

At Aidon’s home…

As he and Luna were watching a horror film on TV, it was interrupted by the news which had started to cover the events that had recently transpired at the mall earlier that afternoon.

“It’s amazing how unlikely heroes can come together at any moment,” Sunburst commented from the scene, “As expected of Canterlot City’s defenders.”

A certain great and powerful magician took slight offense to that comment though. “Unlikely?!”

Luna chuckled as she watched the events unfold. “Ah, we really do have nothing to worry about with them around, hm?”

Aidon however, gave a half-hearted smile as he watched the news coverage of the situation. “...You’re right. Still I…” he shook his head. “No…I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. The fact that they’re safe is what matters most.”

But Luna wasn’t so easily fooled when it came to the emotions of others--especially someone she cared so deeply for. “...Are you sure, Aidon?” she asked gently, “You can tell me if there’s something wrong. I’m more than willing to listen.”

Her words eased his concerns, so he’d go ahead and explain himself.

“Well…I don’t know. Part of me wishes that I could be there for them,” he admitted, “It feels as if I’ve been absent during major events and conflicts such as these. Conflicts that I know for a fact would be over in mere seconds had I been present.”

Luna nodded and started to think of a similar situation that she had found herself in from time to time. “Well…I know how you feel. While it’s not quite the same, there are many times where I feel as though I missed out on an opportunity to assist a student with something that was ailing their mental health. But…” she turned to look at the TV where everyone could be seen on camera. “...as I get older, I slowly start to realize that I can only do so much. Ultimately, they have each other to rely on and they can often do more for each other than I can do for them.”

“I see…” Aidon replied with a sense of understanding, then let off a sarcastic quip. “What? So you’re saying that I should accept my place as a useless old geezer early?”

“W-what? No!” Luna shook her head with a nervous smile…until she realized he was joking by the way he grinned at her expense. “That’s not funny…okay, maybe it was a tad funny,” she admitted while giggling herself, then explained her point further. “But what I mean is that it’s okay for you to not be there all the time, Aidon. You simply can’t be in every place at once when something bad happens. Of course, if you’re in a position in which you can assist, then by all means, do what you can. But don’t think less of yourself because you weren’t present for a scuffle that you weren’t aware of, okay?”

“You have a point,” Aidon replied amicably, “I can’t just mope over what I couldn’t do. I suppose it’s better to focus on what I can do when I’m able. Sorry for bringing the mood down with my…insecure question.”

“Don’t be,” she encouraged him with a hand on his shoulder, “You deserve to let it all out sometimes. Outside of my sister and my therapist, I don’t find myself speaking to people in my age range very often.”

“Tell me about it,” Aidon agreed with a scoff, “Tch--I’ve got this one friend that lives overseas, but we rarely get to speak often due to his job. I really gotta get out more…”

Luna giggled--though not at his expense. It was a small laugh of understanding. “Yes, I agree with you there. But I often find myself perplexed on what to do or where to go…then my mind races and I simply decide to flop back into bed because it’s less work that way.” She blushed and started to fiddle with her ponytail. “...especially when my hair doesn’t agree with me.”

“I can understand that,” he replied as he slicked back his own hair, only for it to end up a wrinkled mess again. “I look absolutely dreadful when I don’t get myself properly done up. Though as far as a place to go, I believe Zephyr Heights might be a good option when we’re both free.”

The way his hair moved caught her attention for a moment.

‘Honestly…you look dashing regardless of style.’

But she was snapped out of her thought process when he mentioned Zephyr Heights. “Oh! I’ve heard of that place. I believe it’s a rather expensive tourist destination though.”

“Don’t worry. Ms. Haven herself invited us,” he turned and retrieved the business card from off of the coffee table in front of them and showed it to Luna. “She said we could go at any time we wished. It might be a good option.”

“Hmmm…” Luna tilted her head, then looked upwards--deep in thought. “Where exactly is it located, though?”

“Ah! That’s right!” Aidon called out as he hopped off the couch and pulled down a roll-out poster map of the country from the ceiling and tapped the landmark in question. It was about 20 miles west of Canterlot City. “It’s on this map that I recently had custom-made in case I ever got lost. I often get turned around in this place…mainly because I’ve only been here for a few years but--”

Luna got up and inspected the map with an intrigued glint in her eye. “...you have a map of the entire country you use for reference?”

“Hm? Yes, I do,” Aidon answered then bit back his tongue with a worried tone. “...That’s not off-putting is it?”

‘Please don’t think I’m strange.’

Fortunately for him, Luna would respond amicably.

“Hm? No! Not at all! I…actually have a map of my own that I use for such things at home,” she admitted with a bashful tone, “I’m actually quite fond of maps. They’re especially useful for hiking.”

Relieved, Aidon would continue the conversation with newfound energy. “Indeed! Oh, did you know that some of these hiking trails used to be trade routes that we’d use in order to make contact with the vikings from Scandinavia?”

“Really?” Luna’s eyes lit up, fully invested by this newfound information. “Tell me more, please!”

Arc XXIX Episode III: Party Time

Later that night, at the Sirens’ home…

Sonata would get a phone call from Trixie, to which she answered while lying in bed.

“Hey, Sonata,” Trixie spoke with a worried tone, “That battle today was rough, huh? You alright? Just wanted to check on you.”

Sonata sat up in her bed. She had on taco-print pajama shorts and a white tee with a blue leviathan on it. Her long head of blue hair with purple streaks was down and loose--travelling down to her waist.

“Agh…yeah, I’m fine,” she yawned as she properly answered Trixie, “Needed a long shower after that one. I was too tired to even tell my sisters what happened.”

“...Ouch. Sorry about that. But I’m sure they’re relieved you’re okay, hm?”

“You shoulda seen them,” Sonata rolled her eyes, “As soon as I stepped in the door, they were both watching the news about what happened and they panicked trying to get me to explain what happened as they helped me relax with some sea salts.”

“Sea salts?”

“We’re Sirens,” Sonata explained, “Ya know? Pretty mermaids who sing? Smell of the ocean calms us down.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Trixie replied, “But it does sound like they take really good care of you. Must be nice being the little sister of the three, huh?”

“Yeah…” Sonata muttered in a half-hearted tone. “But today…hoo-boy. Today was like, a completely new experience for me, Trix.”

Trixie took a moment to comprehend Sonata’s point of view, then came to a realization. “Ah…you’re not really used to being in charge of anything, huh?”

“Nnnnnope,” she replied in a drawn out, flat manner, “Today was super scary because I knew that if any of us got hurt, it’d be on me if I didn’t take control somehow.”

“...Sonata. You don’t have to force yourself to be a leader,” Trixie offered her words of sympathy, “We all fought that icky eyeball demon together. As a group. Putting all of that on yourself isn’t gonna help, ya know? Trust me--Trixie knows exactly what that feels like.”

“Ya do?”

“Pfft. Of course!” Trixie scoffed and continued, “As a magician, I’ve always prided myself on being as amazing as possible. Buuuut and this is a big but--I realized a long time ago that I can’t just do everything on my own. Sometimes, it’s good to have the help of an assistant--or even a partner. Heck, a whole group of performers often make a show better when we’re all working together. Get what I mean?”

It was a strange analogy, but Sonata was able to pick up on it.

“Yeah, I get you,” she replied with a sense of understanding, “I guess I just need more practice when it comes to being the leader of a situation. Thanks for the kind words, Trixie.”

“...I may not always be right, but I try my best when it comes to my friends,” Trixie admitted in a sincere tone, “Nobody has all the answers, Sonata. But that’s what makes dealing with life fun sometimes.”

“Good point….aahhh…” Sonata yawned and flopped back down into bed, “For now, I need to get some sleep…g’night…”

“G’night, gal-pal,” Trixie replied before hanging up, leaving the two to sleep in peace for the night.

A few days later, at Silver Spoon’s manor…

“Alright. Everything is set up. Food, games, live entertainment and so on…” she went over a list of items that she had covered for her birthday party. Everything was set up in her massive backyard with various tables for the food and one small table for presents, and lastly, the swimming pool had just been freshened up and cleaned so everyone would be able to go for a swim.

“Just hope it’s not gonna get cold today,” she muttered as she looked up in the sky to get a feel for the weather.

Just then, Silver Spoon’s cousin--Salad Fork--would make her appearance and put an arm around her. “Hey, cuz--how you doin’?” She had similarly grey skin with a head of long, white hair, green eyes, a black tee with a pentagram on it, and slightly ripped jeans with blue tennis shoes. “Can’t believe you’re turning 17. I remember when I was that young…boys were all over me.”

“Ugh. Can you not,” Silver Spoon demanded with a disgusted grimace on her face. Her cousin was about five years older than she was. “I don’t wanna hear about your numerous girlfriends and boyfriends.”

“Hey now, you gotta cast your line before you find out what kinda fish you like,” Fork took a seat in one of the nearby chairs--sitting in it backwards with her arms resting upon the back of the chair. “Speaking of which, have you and DT hit it off yet?”

“Well…yes but with a catch…” Silver Spoon admitted as she adjusted her glasses in a nervous fashion.

Somehow, Fork was able to precisely guess based on her cousin’s body language. “Ah, lemme guess. You both somehow ended up liking the same boy and decided to all just enter a committed triangular relationship.”

“...I…” Spoon’s face turned red for a moment as she pushed up her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “...How did you guess?”

“When you swing for both teams, it can be kinda hard to know which one you wanna settle down with,” Fork continued, “I know exactly how it feels since I often found myself wondering who’d treat me better.”

Spoon put her glasses back down and asked, “...so what did you do?”

“Oh I haven’t found the right person yet,” Fork replied, “But it sounds like you’ve got it figured out. Just be mindful that both of them are gonna require your emotional attention. Are you prepared for that?”

“Of course I am,” Spoon replied confidently, “I love them both and I’d never be able to pick between them.”

“Alrighty. If you’re sure. Speaking of which, who’s the lucky guy that managed to snag not only you but DT as well?”

As if on cue, she’d have her answer.

“Wassup mothersuckers?” Keiji called out as he strode out to the backyard, nibbling on a blood sausage. “The chefs in your place really know how to cook, Silv. Alright, now where are the boring-ass corpo bastard kids that also got invited?”

Salad Fork chuckled upon seeing him. “...I see what you see in him.”

“Hey, he keeps it real,” Spoon insisted. “Unlike the riffraff that’s being invited.”

“Yeah, what she said,” Keiji confidently jumped into the conversation without a clue as to what they were talking about.

Arc XXIX Episode IV: Corpo Ladder

It wasn’t long before the party was in full swing. Various other teenagers and young adults that were the children of close friends of Silver Spoon’s parents’ had arrived and made their presence known.

Unfortunately, nearly all of them were rather facetious and self-centered, speaking only of themselves and how successful their own families were while simultaneously ‘one-upping’ each other with tales of their parents spending or the frivolous, expensive items that they had owned.

“My dad just bought an entire yacht company and is having one custom made for my whole family,” one girl commented.

“My dad just purchased an entire stake in a robotics company to fund mech suits for future use,” one boy snidely fired back.

“That’s nothing. My mom’s gonna buy out the entire fishing business so we can start getting rare fish to eat. Fancy some angler, anyone?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes as she listened to them from afar. She stood near one of the food tables next to Keiji where she sipped from a soda can.

“Ugh,” she grumbled to herself, “I don’t understand why dad wanted them here.”

“Probably to curry favor with their parents,” Keiji explained in a matter-of-fact way, “I’ve seen this kinda crap all the time where I’m from. Guess the nobility is still the nobility even between different dimensions, huh?”

“Guess so,” Spoon scoffed at this, but she ultimately wasn’t surprised by it. “Still, it’s just annoying when you’re forced to interact with people that you know you won’t get along with and have no interest in. I get that sometimes you gotta try things out, but trust me, I’ve already tried with these corpo-kid bastards.”

Keiji picked a piece of sausage out of his teeth. “Blech. Don’t worry, if any of them bother you, they’ll deal with me. Though, where’s Deets? And your parents? Shouldn’t they be here for your own party?”

“...They’ll be here. I hope,” Silver Spoon muttered in a tone that indicated a sense of doubt. She looked up to see one of her butlers arrive with the pizzas that had been made by the chefs and place them all on the table.

“Salvadore,” she addressed the man, “Are my parents gonna be here in time?”

“Your mother is on her way. Your father is running late due to a prior engagement,” he answered promptly before patting her on the head. “Don’t fret, hm? They truly do love you and wouldn’t dare miss this.”

Silver Spoon sighed. “...Thanks, I guess.”

But as her butler left, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was being genuine or was merely telling her what she wanted to hear.

Keiji was equally curious, having a similar thought process as the man left. “Hm…well if they truly care, they’ll be here like he said.”

“Yeah,” Spoon folded her arms. “Sorry, I guess I just have to be up front with you: I’m jealous of Diamond. Her parents seem like they love each other enough to put their differences aside and come together for her. Mine on the other hand…” she cast a side glance towards the other young adults at her party.

“Yeah, I feel ya there. Her folks had a rocky relationship for a while, but it seems like they’re managing to get it together. Wish I could say the same for my own folks. After all, it’s kinda the whole reason why I’m here to begin with.” He chuckled. “...if anything, I’m grateful that Starswirl put me here. But that’s a topic for another time.”

Fortunately, Silver wouldn’t have to worry for too much longer.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Diamond Tiara called out as she approached her favorite vampboy and bespectacled girl, “Traffic was kicking my ass out there. Happy birthday, Silver!” she squealed while offering her a wrapped box.

“Hey…I told you you didn’t have to get me anything,” Spoon sighed with a smile, “Just having you here is enough for me.”

“Take the damn thing, wouldja?” Keiji interjected, “Show her you appreciate the thought or whatever.”

“As blunt and tactless as ever, huh?” Tiara commented with a smirk in his direction.

Spoon giggled and accepted the box. “He’s right though. It’d be messed up of me not to accept your gesture, Di. So thanks. C’mon, enjoy yourself. My chefs just finished making the pizza for us all.”

“You’re damn right I am,” Keiji proudly answered, “Er--the part about me being right anyway.”

Suddenly, Salad Fork joined the group, shooting finger-guns at Diamond Tiara. “Heyyyy! It’s my cuz’s girlfriend! She talks quite a bit about you and how you motivate her through school. It’s adorable.”

“She does, huh?” Tiara asked as Spoon started to nervously rub her eyes beneath her glasses out of embarrassment. “Glad to know I’ve left an impression on her family.”

“Cuz, please stop,” Spoon begged with a groan, “You’re exposing my private life. Back me up on this please, Keiji?”

No answer.

“Keiji?” Spoon turned her head to see that he was no longer standing there.

As it turns out, the vampboy was engaging in some ‘friendly’ conversation with some of the other partygoers.

“Mind repeatin’ yourself, choom?” With his hands in his pockets, Keiji approached one of the guys that was in attendance, catching the attention of the entire group of five. “I thought I heard you talkin’ about me and I just wanted to hear what you had to say. I must be pretty popular if an entire group of noble kids are chatting me up. Go on.”

“I was just mentioning how surprising it is that gutterwash like you got invited,” the boy snidely jabbed in return, “You don’t look like the type to regularly rub shoulders and cavort with the upper echelon of society.”

“...wha?” Keiji simply scratched his head with a confused, yet put-off grimace, displaying his serrated teeth. “Geez. Hopefully one of you got Silver Spoon a dictionary. Then maybe I’ll be able to understand whatever the hell you just said.”

Angered by the back talk, the boy huffed, “Don’t mock me, fool! My father is the culinary ambassador to Edinburgh!”

“Does it honestly look like I give two shits?”

The boy started stomping up to Keiji with his fists balled, mocking him. “Care to repeat yourself, choom?”

Arc XXIX Episode V: Fight Breakup

“Oooh, a fight!” Salad Fork stood with an excited grin on her face, earning a glare from Diamond Tiara which caused the former to swiftly change her tune. “I uh…I mean…oh no--I should probably intervene as the responsible adult--”

Silver Spoon was already walking towards the group…

But someone else had already stepped in.

“Hey hey hey--that’s enough,” Flash Sentry stepped in, getting between both boys. “Don’t make me toss you outta here, kid.”

The boy who instigated the situation grit his teeth and stepped away…

“Huh,” Keiji gave a surprised gasp, “Didn’t expect to see you here, Sent. What’s the deal?”

“Silver Spoon wanted live entertainment for her party and called me up,” he explained as he tilted his head in the direction of the nearby stage. “She’s paying us an amount that’s…almost ludicrous.”

“Yeah, that’s Spoon for ya,” Keiji added, “Always generous as possible whenever she has the chance. So how have things been goin’ for ya since we last talked?”

Flash scratched the back of his head, hesitating for a moment until he realized that he was being asked about how his life had been. “...oh! Still not used to that, sorry. Anyway, I’ve been great actually. I recently got signed into a contract with Fortuna Entertainment--it’s a company from the Far East--Nihon I think.”

“Sweet--sounds like you’re moving up in the world,” the vampboy complimented him with a pat on the back. “Looks like you really don’t need to worry about us down here at the bottom, eh?”

“Hey, I’m not gonna just abandon where I came from,” Flash replied with a scoff, “Sure, it’s come under attack by monsters and demons numerous times and the folks at the top are a bit questionable, but dammit this is my home and I love it.”

Keiji sighed and replied with a wistful smile. “Good answer. Glad to see that you humans still care about each other.”

“It’s the only way we’ve been able to continue as a species after all.” Flash started walking back towards his stage and started tuning his guiltar. “Sure, we’ve gone and done a whole lot of warring against each other, but we keep each other safe when the time calls for it.”

“As expected. Good on ya. Hey, think you could teach me some of that?”

“Hm?” Flash looked up from the strings, “Guitar? You sure?”

“...Yeah, I’ve been thinking…” Keiji glanced over at Silver Spoon who had resumed speaking with her cousin. “...about how I’d like to learn how to make music.”

Flash hesitated--it had been ages since someone had asked him to share his talent with them, to the point where he was unsure if he was the right choice. “Sure you don’t wanna learn from Sunset? Or Applejack? Or Rainbow Dash? They all play too ya know.”

But Keiji wasn’t having it. “Bruh, if I wanted to ask them, I would’ve asked them. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cool to hang around, but I’m starting to understand more and more about how humans work.”

“Oh really?”

“The males and females of this world are built different from each other,” he shrugged his shoulders, “I guess that’s not really too different from how it works back home, but still. As a guy myself, there’s only so much I can learn from the gals, ya feel?”

“Ah. I see now,” Flash nodded, “You’re looking for some ‘bro’ time. Don’t worry, I feel ya. In fact, it’s kinda why I wished I had a little brother sometimes. Thunderlane’s lucky he’s got Rumble. Me? I don’t really have anyone to share my passion with, ya know?”

“Well ya do now,” Keiji shot him a grin, “I don’t exactly have a guy-figure to talk to either when I need advice, so it’d be nice to chat with ya.”

“Advice? What’s going on, Kei?”

“Well…I’m asking you specifically because I wanna know how to be more emotionally available for a girl.”

“Hm….”

Nearby, with Silver Spoon and the others…

“Whew…I’m glad that didn’t get any worse,” Spoon commented with a sigh.

“Hey kiddo. Who’s that hunk over there?” Fork asked her cousin, looking in the direction of Flash who was currently speaking with Keiji.

Spoon adjusted her glasses. “Hm? Oh that’s Flash Sentry. He’s a talented musician and I wanted his style of music here at my party. Why? Wait--don’t tell me you--”

“Oh nononono….” Fork denied her cousin’s accusation with an uncertain smile on her face. “I’m not looking for anyone else at the moment anyway. I was just…curious as to who he was.”

With her hands on her hips, Silver Spoon raised a dubious eyebrow. “Uh-huh…just don’t do anything weird with your adult-level hormones.”

“I won’t! I promise,” Fork said with a forced cough as she stepped away from her cousin.

Silver Spoon sighed into her hand.

Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara had gotten herself a plate of food and intended on sitting at a table when she noticed Coral Currents sitting by herself nearby.

“Oh, hey! Aren’t you Sandbar’s little sister?” Tiara called out to her in an attempt to be friendly.

“Hm? Oh yeah, I am,” she replied while tapping on her tablet before putting it away. “Sorry, was just talking to a friend of mine that lives overseas.”

“Oh? Like a pen pal? What’s her name?” Tiara inquired as she nibbled a slice of pizza.

“...Kurumi,” Coral replied, “She’s from the Far East and is a bit of a tech whiz like myself.”

Tiara reacted with an interested tone, “Ooh…you kiddos grow up so fast, huh? When I was your age, I could barely figure out my math homework. Yet here you are coding and hacking drones.”

Coral stretched her arms out. “Mmm…yeah, I do it for my brother and our family mainly. Still, it doesn’t beat being a kid and having fun sometimes,” she said with a small grin, “Halloween was a massive haul this year. Skeedaddle dressed up as Odysseus and I dressed up as a wraith utilizing some stealth tech I borrowed--”

“...say what?”

“Nothing!”

Tiara rolled her eyes and smiled while leaning against the table. “Well, as long as you guys had fun. That’s what matters. Speaking of which, is Skeedaddle with you here?”

“Oh yeah, he’s getting food for us both. Can’t believe we actually got invited…”

“Pfft--well I could wager a guess,” Tiara scoffed with a grin.

“Eh?” Coral tilted her head.

“I’m willing to bet Silver Spoon wanted you here as like a form of mobile security,” Tiara explained as she pointed at Coral’s backpack. “Don’t you have all your stuff in there? Betcha got a drone flying around above us watching over everything right now too.”

Coral reached in her backpack to press a button on her tablet, causing something to whizz across the sky.

“...no?”

Arc XXIX Episode VI: Amanita Engage

Silver Spoon relaxed as she watched her party play out, noting how everyone was getting along. Now all that was on her mind…

‘Come on…where is he? I only turn 17 once…’

Keiji appeared next to her a few moments later and asked, “Hey, wassup? Why aren’tcha enjoying your own party?”

“Huh? Oh…” Spoon was snapped out of her stupor as she turned to him. “I was just…hoping my parents would show up. My dad especially. He’s usually too busy to even see me when I come home from school. Why do you think he invited all of his stupid co-workers’ kids? He barely knows who I hang out with…”

“Yikes…” Keiji grit his teeth, but did his best to keep his emotions from boiling over. Another uncaring father figure that he made a mental note of dealing with at some point in the future…

For the moment though, he wanted to try his hand at consoling her.

“Hey…uh…regardless of what happens, we’re here for ya. I know what that’s like, so I feel for ya, Silv,” he explained as best he could with his eyes darting around, unable to make contact with her.

Silver Spoon sighed, then looked at him with a smile. “...thanks, Keiji. I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it. Even if it’s…kinda hard,” she huffed while running her hand through the side of her hair and looked down at herself. “...and I got this new black dress just for this event and everything. I wanted my parents to meet you too.”

“...yeah given the kinda shit your old man invited,” Keiji hissed in reference to all of the snobby, corporate teens that were still talking amongst themselves, “I highly doubt he’d like my ass.”

“Man, you really don’t mince words do you?” Silver commented on his blunt nature, then smiled. “Then again, that’s what I love about you. You’re not afraid of some rich jerkface’s influence.”

“Hell no,” he scoffed as he scratched the back of his neck, “I’ve been on that side of the social ladder. Those bitches never see the forest past the trees.”

“That’s understandable. Can you believe my dad actually tried to have me married off?”

That information caught Keiji off guard. He raised an eyebrow and started to flex his fingers, popping each of his knuckles’ joints. “...Huh. That….that doesn’t surprise me at all, honestly.”

“Aaaand now that I’m 17, I full expect him to send me more marriage options,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses with a sigh. “And they’ll all get ignored. Arranged malarkey is annoying…”

‘Yikes. She’s got a shit time going. Still…if I can somehow figure out if her parents are--oh hey. That’s Sandbar’s nerdy sister. Hm…’

Keiji tapped his foot as he thought hard about what he wanted to do and say next--gears turned in his head. His ultimate goal was to act on behalf of Silver Spoon in order to make her life better. Or at least cut down on the disappointment she’d face on her birthday.

She noticed how hard he scrunched his face up while thinking and asked, “...are you okay, Kei? You look like you’re about to short-circuit--”

“No! No…I’m fine, I just got an idea,” he said with his usual, shark-like grin as he started backing away, “You’re gonna like this if it works out. Gimme a mo!”

“...What?” Silver Spoon raised a brow, then chuckled as she shook her head. “...he’s so strange sometimes…it’s adorable. Better go make sure my cousin doesn’t embarrass Flash.”

Once Diamond Tiara left the table, Keiji hurried over to greet Coral Currents, sitting down in the chair and nearly falling over in the process.

“Heeeyy--woah!”

Coral glanced at him with a confused look on her face. “...uh, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah I’m fine, look. Can you do me a favor--”

“No, I'm not gonna hack into the school database and change your grades.”

Keiji paused for a second. “...you can do that?”

“...”

“...”

“What do you need?” Coral asked, simply wishing to move away from that subject as quickly as humanly possible.

“You got drones in the air, right?” Keiji pointed up at the dimming afternoon sky as the sun set, “I need you to see if you can find Spoon’s parents for me.”

“Hmmm…” Coral pouted, pursing her lips together for a moment before shrugging her shoulders with her hands raised. “I suppose I can help you since you’re a friend of my big brother. Skeedaddle doesn’t seem to mind you either.” She pulled out her tablet. “Let’s see here…”

Keiji leaned over, “So how does it--”

“At-tut-tut!” Coral cut him off while raising her finger, “Shhhh. I need supreme focus. I’m an agent after all.”

“Eh?” He stopped to think for a moment. ‘Agent of what? She’s a crafty one, isn’t she?’

As Coral continued using her drone, she’d get a notification from her superior.

Are you and your friends in position, Coral?

Roger. We are.

Good. If we can nail Mr. Spoon, we can find out who exactly he’s funding and why.

Coral shifted her eyes around and noted a few other boys and girls her age that were scouting about in trees surrounding the mansion. Nobody was the wiser, not even the perceptive Keiji who could see well in the dark due to his vampiric vision.

“Ah, there he is,” she commented once she noted a presence on the map via her drone’s bird’s eye view. “Heading…away from here. Hm. That’s not good.”

“Shit…” Keiji lamented with his arms folded. “Dumbass should be here for his daughter’s birthday. At least her mom’s on the way, right?”

“Gimme a sec,” Coral replied while tapping her tablet, “I’ll see if I can find her.”

All the while, she sent a message to her fellow agents:

Fellow Amanita: Search and destroy.

Arc XXIX Episode VII: Deadly Interrogation

“Looks like Silver Spoon’s father is gonna take a slight detour,” Coral replied as she set her tablet on the table, “Though not for the reason you might think. He’s got a few things he needs to answer for.”

Keiji scratched the top of his head. “Jeez. Poor Spoon can’t catch a break around here, can she?”

“Yeah you might wanna go chill with her for a bit. She deserves to enjoy herself, ya know?”

“Yeah I know,” Keiji replied with a huff as he leaned back in the chair. “Just make sure her dad isn’t held up for too long, huh?”

Coral held up her hands in a defensive manner. “Hey, it’s beyond my control at this point. Mr. Spoon’s just gotta answer a few questions and we won’t have any problems.”

Keiji got up from the table. “Fair enough, I guess. Her mom should be here soon though, right?”

As if on cue, an older woman who was a spitting image of Silver Spoon appeared and greeted her daughter who immediately jumped into her grasp for a hug.

“Well, there’s your answer,” Coral said with a smirk as she sipped from a soda can. “Better go meet your future in-law.”

“...say what?”

Meanwhile, in a limousine about one block away…

“Driver, the next turn,” a silver-colored, suited man who shared Silver Spoon’s appearance spoke up from his seat.

Except…the driver stopped on a dime, and parked the vehicle.

“Excuse me,” the gentleman called out to his driver as he opened the partition view the front seats of the vehicle, “I didn’t believe I told you to st--”

Click.

A short, pale-blue skinned young woman appeared from behind the partition with a handgun aimed directly at the man’s head.

“Hey, old man. How’s it goin’?” she asked in a casual, almost friendly manner. “Everything good? How’s the wife?”

In response, he held up his hands to show he had no intention of opposition. “...I’ll give you all the money you want. Just--”

"Hm. Hella tempting," the girl casually tapped the pistol against the side of her head and pointed it at the man once more. “But nah. This is whatcha gonna do for me, choom. I’m gonna need some info. What do you know about C Corporation?”

Back at the party…

“Okay. I feel a bit better now that my mom’s shown up,” Silver Spoon commented to her cousin.

“See?” Salad Fork grinned in response while shoving some pizza down her throat. “I told youff they’ff be here.”

Spoon couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of her older cousin speaking with a full mouth. “...you’re certainly something alright.”

A few moments later, a certain man showed up to greet his daughter with a large, wrapped box.

“Daddy?!” Silver Spoon yelped with enough force to nearly throw her glasses off of her face. “I…I didn’t think you were coming!”

“And miss my daughter’s 17th birthday? No chance,” he replied as he approached her and gave her a hug. “You’re practically a young woman already, so at least let me spoil you like a kid for a bit longer, huh?”

Silver Spoon wiped her eyes from beneath her glasses with a sniffle. The resulting shock from her father actually having made an appearance was enough to make her cry. “...thank you so much. I missed you, dad.”

Even Salad Fork was impressed. To the point where she had no witty remarks to make. All she could do was fold her arms and watch in near-silence. “...huh.”

All the while, Coral could be seen with a smug, cat-like expression on her face as she sat at her table with Skeedaddle.

A facial expression that Skeedaddle knew all too well. Whenever Coral accomplished something, she tended to make such a face. “...Did you--?” the boy asked.

“What? Me?” Coral scoffed while pointing at herself, “Perish the thought, Daddle-paddle. I’m just working for the sake of fairness for everyone. After all, Silver Spoon deserves a happy birthday where she gets to finally have both of her parents present, doesn’t she?”

“...she does,” Skeedaddle replied as he raised a brow, “But it sounds to me like you may have doctored something up. Knowing how smart you are, I can’t help but think you had something to do with it.” He then smiled at her, “Not that I’m complaining.”

And from where he stood, Keiji could relax knowing that Silver Spoon’s family had made their appearance.

“Good,” he muttered to himself, “Girl deserves herself a happy one. Are things actually getting better for a change?”

“Seems like it,” Diamond Tiara commented as she appeared next to him. “I was honestly getting worried and wondering if they were gonna show up. Turns out they really were just stuck in traffic, huh?”

“...” The realization that the request he made to Coral might’ve actually done something hit him like a truck. But ultimately? He decided to keep himself humble and withhold that information.

“...guess it worked out, huh? Feels…good helping someone else out and getting her to smile.”

“Probably,” was all he replied with, “Come on. Flash is gonna start playing in a bit and I’ve got some dance moves I wanna share.”

“Oh? You dance?” Tiara asked with an interested tone as she followed him, “This oughta be good.”

Arc XXIX Episode VIII: Vampire Savior

Flash Sentry and a few of his bandmates began playing some contemporary hardcore rock music that everyone at the party started dancing to.

Keiji in particular was looking to show off, spinning and breakdancing his way through most of the music as Tiara and Spoon watched with impressed expressions before joining in as well. It seemed as if everything was all well and good for everyone and her party was able to go off without a hitch…

Once it was over, Silver Spoon presented everyone with gift bags to thank them for attending. Due to essentially having everything she could ever want as it is, she felt the need to share her wealth with her friends by giving them gifts to show her appreciation for their attendance.

However, she specifically saved Keiji’s bag for last.

“Hey…” Spoon commented while idly rocking back and forth on her heels. “...did you…have anything to do with why my dad showed up tonight?”

“Eh?” Keiji opted to play dumb, wishing for her to accept the situation at face value. “What’re ya talkin’ about? I was hangin’ out the whole time.”

But Silver Spoon saw right through his approach. She spoke more candidly as she adjusted her glasses. “Don’t play silly with me. I saw you talking to Sandbar’s sister and she told me that you asked her to make sure my father showed up.” Then she lowered her voice and spoke with a bashful tone, “...is that true?”

“Aaaagh…you’re pulling my leg here,” Keiji hissed as he shifted his eyes to look away from her. “Yes…I did. I wanted to make sure your dad showed up so I had Coral do whatever technical shit she does in order to find him on the map and redirect him here.”

“...”

“Look if you’re mad at me--”

Silver Spoon cut him off by leaping forward and smooching him on the lips for a moment. When she finally broke the kiss, she replied, “Thank you so much…that’s easily the best gift I could’ve ever gotten. No matter what happens next, I’ll always remember that my dad was there for me when I turned 17 and became a young lady…and I have you to thank for that, Keiji.”

“...” Keiji stared at her for a moment with a pink color tinging his cheeks. Then he finally gave in and smiled back. A genuine smile that lacked any pretense of sarcasm or sass. “...You’re welcome, Silv. I’m just happy that you were able to celebrate your birthday with your family. It’s something I never got so…”

“I know…” She put her arms around him, holding onto him more tightly. “Which is why I’ll do whatever I can to make sure yours is special when it comes around.”

“Count me in for that too,” Diamond Tiara rounded the corner of the stairwell near the front of the mansion and jumped into the conversation. “We both love you, Keiji and you’ve proven yet again why we like you so much.”

Keiji sighed, then looked at her with a smile. “Is it my dashing charms or my hatred of snobby assholes?”

Tiara giggled as she walked up to them, “A mix of those things, among other things. The sentiment you have towards us, beyond our wealth is something we value, right Silver Spoon?”

“...Mm-hmm…” Silver Spoon nodded while burying her face under Keiji’s neck.

“...God…dammit…” the vampboy hissed once more, as he scratched the side of his face with his index finger. “When you guys get like this, I don’t ever really know how to respond, ya know?”

“It’s okay, we understand,” Tiara replied as she put an arm around his neck, holding him close to her. “Looks like someone needs help getting in touch with his softer side, huh, Spoon?”

Silver Spoon looked up at Keiji and asked, “...Wanna stay the night? I kinda wanna spend the rest of my birthday with you guys. If that’s okay…”

“Sure, no prob,” Keiji replied with a smile, “I’d be happy to stay. This place looks hella interesting and a bit different from Deets’ place so I was hoping I could get to see more. What’re your favorite places to hang out in this giant-ass castle of yours?”

“Oh that’s easy,” Silver Spoon backed away from him, and grabbed his hand--pulling him along with her. “We have our own built-in sauna system. It’s perfect for when we wanna relax. Come on. We can all have a steam together!”

“Wait, together--?” Keiji sputtered as he nearly tripped, following after her. “Sounds…fun?”

“Oh it will be,” Tiara caught up with them and shot Keiji a wink as she followed her best friend upstairs.

“...man these two are crazy…but that’s what I like about ‘em,” Keiji muttered as he continued onwards.

Meanwhile…

“We found the information we needed, sir. Mr. Spoon has been funding C Corporation’s operations so that they can start coming up with artificial tech to sell to people on the street.”

“...seriously? Why?”

“We don’t know, sir. It’s possible that he just wants to profit off of chaos.”

“Does Parabola know?”

“We’re looking into that now sir. But at the moment, we have nothing solid to go off of. My superior has given me clearance to tell you pretty much everything that we know at the moment, so I’ve got nothing to hold back from you.”

From his end of the call, Aidon sighed. “...thank you, Ms. Currents. You’ve done more than enough to help me keep my students safe. If anything else comes up, please let me know.”

“Of course,” Coral replied from over the visual call, “See ya.”

Once they both hung up, Aidon took a look at that building via a webpage he had pulled up on his computer. “Hrm…what are you hiding, Parabola?”

Arc XXIX Episode IX: Scheduling A Meeting

Meanwhile…

As Flash Sentry was packing up and getting ready to leave, he was stopped by Silver Spoon’s cousin.

“Hey you!” she called out while approaching him.

“Hm? Me? Show’s over ya know,” he said casually, “You guys only booked me for one day, remember?”

“Yeah I know that,” Fork replied with her hands behind her back, “I’m just…looking to know more about you, bud.”

Flash hoisted his guitar bag onto his back and faced her. “Really? What’s up?”

“Welll…” she got straight to the point, “You seeing anyone?”

“It’s…complicated,” was all he could respond with. In truth, he had no real way of answering that due to the fact that he was unsure of how Sunset Shimmer felt towards him at that point. All he wanted to do was end the conversation as quickly as possible. “But I don’t want you bothered with that.”

Fork stopped in her tracks as Flash left, visibly disappointed with a sigh. “...Damn. Thought I could finally land a good one for a change…”

At Aidon’s home…

The shadow man was busy typing on his computer, trying to piece together the information that Coral had given him.

“Let’s see…”

He knew for a fact that Parabola was in charge of “C” Corporation and that one of Micro Chips’ family members worked there. But what he didn’t know…

“Just how was some criminal able to get their hands on her technology?” he wondered aloud, “And why is someone like Mr. Spoon funding their exploits? Could it be mere philanthropism or something else?”

Ultimately, all of his trails ran cold. With no evidence to back him up at the moment, he couldn’t exactly inform the authorities either. The only thing he could do was allow them to continue as they were.

Unless…

“What if someone went in undercover? I wonder…”

That’s when his thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. When he answered it, he was met with a familiar voice on the other end.

“Aidon?”

“Jascha? What’s going on, friend?”

“You’ll never believe what I just found out,” Jascha continued with a rather excited tone in his voice. “You know the robotics company that’s been working in the region near here?”

“Yes?” Aidon replied with an interested, yet concerned voice, “...what’s going on? Did you find something that could possibly explain how gangsters could acquire those parts?”

“Even better, friend. As it turns out, someone working there seems to have access to all of the equipment and is leaking it to the public. Somehow it’s being done so sneakily that not even the higher-ups are fully aware of what’s going on.”

Which would explain why Parabola seemed to be somewhat, if not completely unaware of what was happening right beneath her nose. The only problem would be getting her to understand that she needed to take her time to address these issues. And given her stubborn nature, Aidon knew that such a thing was easier said than done.

“Of course,” Aidon groaned, “It’s only natural that someone would try to be as stealthy as possible. The only problem is getting Ms. Parabola to recognize that there’s a rat in her walls.”

“What’s the matter?” Jascha asked, “Don’t think she’ll be willing to listen?”

“Absolutely not. Which is the inherent problem. But all I can do is warn her of the potential problem that this presents to her and her company. Not only could she face a complete shutdown, but if she’s found to be complicit…”

Jascha sighed. “...yes. We generally don’t wish for the lives of others to be ruined and jobs to be lost. But what must be done must be done. Do you want any further assistance?”

There was no way Aidon would allow his friend to put himself in anymore danger. “No way, old friend. I have a lot to think about. You simply take some time to yourself and your family. That’s the whole reason you came over here, right?”

“Indeed. I suppose I’ll leave you to it, then. Have a good night, Aidoneus.”

Aidon hung up his phone and carefully considered his options.

Who could possibly infiltrate that building and figure out what’s truly going on before it’s too late?

The next day…

“You want…me? My help to get inside some tech base?” Adagio asked as she sipped from a cup of tea.

Aidon had called her down to the local 50s-style diner where Pinkie worked so that he could speak with her about what he had planned. The two of them sat in a booth with Aidon sipping from a cup of blackened coffee.

“There could be a whole lot of crazy things going on down there that we aren’t aware of,” he went on, “I’m asking you because your face is completely unknown to them. You and your sisters aren’t familiar or even known by most of the local population here. It could serve as a good chance for us to figure out what’s really going on.”

“Hm…now that you’ve mentioned it,” Adagio replied as she looked down thoughtfully at the table. “My sisters and I were approached by this guy who was trying to advertise that company’s technology to us. What was his name? Sprout something…”

“...excuse me?”

Arc XXX Episode I: Discussing Infiltration

“Yeah, he was pretty strange,” Adagio continued, “He muttered something about planning on becoming the main sheriff of this city. Outside of the humans’ cowboy movies, I honestly have no clue what that means.”

“Must be looking to assert himself as someone noteworthy,” Aidon replied, then thought back to the woman that approached him not too long ago. “Hm…”

Adagio noticed his thoughtful expression and decided to ask, “Hm? What’s up, professor?”

“I’m just thinking,” he replied as he looked up at her, then out the window, “I remember speaking with this woman who seemed rather adamant about her son becoming a well-known, remarkable sheriff that everyone would have to respect one day.”

“Yeesh…” the siren shuddered as she sipped from her cup. “I can’t imagine being smothered to such a degree. From the way he was talking to us, it sounded like he wasn’t even able to think for himself, let alone make tough decisions.”

“That may just be our ticket inside,” Aidon replied with a surefire grin, “If you can somehow speak to him again, and possibly get a tour…”

“Then we could possibly find out what’s going on inside,” Adagio agreed, “Sounds like a plan. After seeing what happened to Micro Chips and Wallflower, I really don’t want to see anymore of my human classmates suffer.at the hands of the corrupt ones. Gangsters, murderers, drug dealers…” she counted out each one on her fingers, “In spite of magic being far less common here, it seems that the population is still quite dangerous.”

Aidon sighed and shook his head. “Even then…magic has become increasingly more common as of late. I sense it might be due to the state of equilibrium in Equestria that’s causing more instability here. At some point, I fear something terrible might occur.”

“...You’d be surprised,” Adagio muttered, “This world has collapsed and nearly imploded numerous times. Surprisingly, not because of me and my sisters.” She gave a sarcastic chuckle, “We didn’t even get to that stage before Shimmer de-powered us.”

“Still bitter about that?” Aidon asked, looking to pick her head for a bit.

“Nah,” she rolled her eyes, “At most, I see her as a rival--a friendly one! Though I'm honestly impressed by her. She’s been through a lot and still continues in spite of everything. In fact, you’ll never believe what she told me.”

Aidon raised an eyebrow, concerned over whether it was something that was meant for his ears or not. “Erm…are you certain that it’s okay to divulge such information?”

“It’s fine,” Adagio said with a giggle. “It’s in reference as to why she went down this path in the first place. It has to do with Princess Celestia. To make a long story short…she somewhat resents the fact that she never bothered to teach her about dark magic. Good thing you didn’t turn out to be evil, huh? No way we’d be able to take you on…”

Aidon wanted to chuckle at such a statement, but took some time to think. While dark magic was rather risky to use, he couldn’t help but wonder why Celestia wouldn’t at least take her time to teach Sunset the basics regarding it. That way, should she ever come across a villain that made use of dark magic, she could find out ways to counter it.

As a result, Adagio’s words shook Aidon to his core. What if he had been as deranged and uncontrollable as King Sombra or the Pony of Shadows? Would anyone be able to stop him from razing this world to the ground?

To add to that, what if someone else with equivalent dark powers decided to try and claim this world for themselves?

“Huh…that…paints quite a bit of perspective on certain things,” he replied.

Adagio took another sip, and put a sly smile on her face. “Hm…you know what, professor? I think I’m more than willing to help you--for a price.”

“...where did that come from--”

“Take some time to help Sunset learn dark magic, please?” she asked with a slightly manipulative grin.

“Honestly? I was considering it for a while now,” he replied, “Surprised he hasn’t approached me about it by now.”

“Seriously? Shimmer isn’t exactly the type to seek those sorts of things out--at least according to what she told me,” Adagio explained with a more regrettable frown on her face. “After what she did in the past, she simply tries to take a more passive approach towards these types of things. But I think you could be a positive influence on her, sir.”

Aidon shut his eyes and thought about how much he had impacted their lives thus far. “You really think so, hm? I think I might have to follow through on that and see what I can teach her. If she’s the designated protector of this realm, then she needs to know as much as possible for the sake of keeping everyone safe. If I can help, then I can’t stand idle on such an issue.”

“Well that’s good,” Adagio said with a smile, “I was worried I’d have to spend extra time trying to convince you. Now…where’s this robotics facility located?”

“Ah…” Aidon took out his cellphone and started tapping upon it to access the GPS and map. “Let me…hm. Hang on, I haven’t used this in a while.”

Arc XXX Episode II: Sisterly Bonding

Meanwhile, at Luna’s home…

“Alright. Just about finished making the casserole. What else do I need…”

The blue woman was racing around her kitchen while cooking various dishes all at once. Her pink apron was covered in various splatters of food and other drippings.

All while Celestia watched from nearby, wearing a simple T shirt and jeans with her hair done in a ponytail. “Are you sure you don’t want my help? The family dinner is supposed to be a group effort, Lun.”

“No way!” Luna insisted with a fierce pout, “This Christmas is going to be much different than the last. I will make something that won’t make everyone--”

“Furiously shit themselves?” Celestia cut her off with a smug expression, causing Luna to fume even more.

“Hmph! I’ll show you!” she snarled as she turned around to focus her attention on a pot she had on the stove.

“By the way,” Celestia spoke more casually this time, “Are you going to invite Aidon? You’ve known each other for…how long has it been?”

“About six months or so I believe,” Luna replied, “But I’m not so sure. This is a family gathering and he’s…I’m not sure how the rest of our family would react to his presence…”

Celestia’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head, then she raised a brow. “Wait a minute…you haven’t told anyone you’ve found a boyfriend?”

“I-I’ve been so enamored with him and under so much stress lately…” she squealed with her eyes shut, then sighed. “Can’t believe I’ve neglected to inform anyone…”

“Well mom and dad are gonna find out sooner or later,” the sunny sister said with a chuckle, “Mother especially. She’ll be livid that you didn’t let her know.”

“Oh yeah? What about you?” Luna turned the conversation back around. “How’s your little love life going?”

Celestia snickered. “Oh my man and I are doing just fine, thank you. But he’ll be busy during the holidays so I don’t think I’ll invite him.”

“Hm…fair enough. For Aidon at least, I’d like it if I could get him to socialize more. And then…spend some time with him to myself,” she muttered with a small swoon, “I…I just want to make sure I get this right.”

Throughout all of this cooking, something rather vital occurred to Celestia. “Erm…Luna. Have you asked Aidon what sort of food he likes?”

“I have,” Luna replied with a sigh, “And he said he doesn’t have a particular favorite due to the fact that most food hasn’t stood out to him since he arrived here.”

“Yeesh,” Celestia recoiled and gritted her teeth, “Either his taste buds are effectively dead or he’s been tasting the worst food that we have to offer around here.”

“I know! That’s why I’m trying my best to make something that will catch his attention. Our family’s mac and cheese recipe should do it.” Luna proudly went over to the oven and pulled out a massive tray of liquid gold noodles before kicking the oven closed with her foot.

Celestia sniffed the air and gave a satisfied hum as her sister placed the glass tray of mac and cheese down in front of her. “Mmm…smells good, Luna. And yes, it does smell like you remembered the secret ingredient that grandmother used.”

“Alright, good. Now give it a try, Tia,” Luna encouraged her as she scooped out some of the stringy golden goodness to offer her sister in a small bowl.

“Okay…” Celestia took a fork, and tried some of it…then her eyes shot open before she scarfed down the rest in the blink of an eye. “Oh wow. You really nailed it, Luna. I’m guessing you added quite a lot of--”

“Yes I did,” Luna cut her off with a smug expression on her face. “Bet you feel rather silly now, sister.”

Celestia threw up her hands. “Fine. You win. You clearly know what you’re doing. I just hope it’ll be enough to wake Aidon’s body up…” she paused and shot Luna a knowing grin, “...among other things.”

Luna pouted and yelped, “S-stop insinuating suggestions in relation to my love life!” Her face fumed, much to the enjoyment of her cackling elder sister.

“Ah! You’re hilarious! You’d always get like this whenever I mention someone you like,” Celestia snickered with a clap of her hands. “I’m starting to see why you’re both perfect for each other. If you ask me, you should go ahead and spend the entire night with him on Christmas.”

“Are you sure?” Luna asked hesitantly, “I wouldn’t want to abandon our family…”

Celestia scoffed, “Pffft. As long as you spend time with everyone on Christmas Eve, you’ll be fine. When you have someone you love and want to spend time with, it’s only natural and normal to be with them during the holidays. After all, he needs you…you both complete each other, Luna.”

“...You think so?” Luna asked with a tentative blush.

“I know so,” Celestia replied confidently, “Now come on, show me what else you have cooking here.”

Arc XXX Episode III: Gentleman's Banter

As Aidon was walking home…

The shadowman would be approached by the pony-turned-human wizard Starswirl who rounded the corner and started walking with him. Although, instead of his robes, he was now clad in what appeared to be jeans and a leather jacket.

“Aidoneous. Good to see you in good health.”

“You’re still here?” Aidon remarked with a surprised scoff, then a half-smile. “Hmph. That’s unexpected. Taken in your fair share of culture, I see.”

“...I’m starting to enjoy this place, yes,” the wizard replied, “Moreover, I’m starting to understand how much…different it is to live here for the average Equestrian.”

“Oh?” Aidon raised a brow.

“Just the other day, some local peasants offered me their coin as they thought I was a squatter!” he huffed, “A squatter! Me?”

Essentially, someone had mistaken the man with a bear and a wizard costume for a homeless person. It didn’t take long for Aidon to put it together.

“Ah. I see,” he nodded with a snicker, “Yeah I know what that’s like. When I first appeared here, someone mistook me for an asylum escapee and reported me to the police.” He then paused and took a moment to think about it for a bit longer. “Hm…yeah, and then after that I was instructed to find work so that I could afford a place to live.”

“Augh! The rent system in this world is ridiculous!” Starswirl bemoaned as he recalled the paperwork he was forced to sit through. “In Equestria, you could simply ask for shelter at an inn and be fine. Here? You need to sign contracts, then prove you can pay and all sorts of other malarkey.”

“Not so easy, is it?” Aidon folded his arms and spoke with a laid-back, yet smug tone, “Now imagine being forced to live here.”

Starswirl shook his head, then sighed. “Alright, alright, I concede and apologize for any undue difficulties I may have caused you. But do be aware that I wasn’t aware of what sort of world that existed on the other side of the portal I was sending the Sirens and other creatures to.”

“I understand,” Aidon replied, “Just do be cautious when it comes to transporting threats from now on. Hades knows what sort of other worlds out there that may exist with living people. You don’t want to drop a hydra or a qing-long upon innocent people.”

“Very true…hence why we’ve resorted to turning most threats to stone, though lately, executions have come back into play as well.”

Aidon shuddered at the idea, but accepted it. “Argh…guess there’s no avoiding it in some cases. But it’s much better than playing a game of hot potato with such threats.”

“...hot what?”

“It’s an expression based on a game played here in the human world--” Aidon stopped himself, concluding that it would take far too long to explain properly. “...nevermind. Just know that deleting these threats outright is much better than merely putting them somewhere else.”

“Yes, yes, I can very much see that now,” Starswirl replied, “...so that’s it, then?”

“Hm?”

“You wish to remain here, yes?” Starswirl asked.

“Indeed,” Aidon replied with a nod, “I’ve not only grown accustomed to living here, but…I value the people here. Let’s just say that I’ve found synergy with this world’s version of Princess Luna.”

“I see…do be careful now,” Starswirl warned, “For I can’t predict what might happen if she gets a taste of magic. Hopefully she doesn’t become Nightmare Moon here as well.”

Aidon laughed off the idea. “Of course not. Don’t worry. If something like that happens, I’ll make sure to put a stop to it before it can hurt anyone. For the moment though, I’m going to be taking closer care of Sunset Shimmer.”

“Celestia’s failed student, hm? She’s still trying to make something of herself in this world?”

“I’d say she already has,” Aidon clapped back, “The problem is that, to my understanding, Princess Celestia didn’t allow her to study dark magic out of fear and that’s what drove her away.”

Starswirl paused for a moment to reflect on what he just heard. He’d eventually respond with a solemn tone, “...you can’t create world peace out of fear, shadow.”

“...you’d be surprised,” the dark man replied grimly, “Human history is filled to the brim with dictators who have tried to create world peace out of fear. Perhaps horrifically, some have even succeeded to a fault.”

“...Maybe there’s more to this place than I thought,” the wizard admitted, “I might stay here a bit longer to conduct further study so that I’ll have documentation upon my return.”

“You do that,” Aidon agreed as he turned to walk down a different street corner, “I have some business to take care of. Best of luck to you, old-timer.”

“You as well…Overlord Demon.”

Arc XXX Episode IV: Surprise Gifts

Later, at the Siren’s home…

Adagio had just arrived home and saw Aria on the couch. “Hey,” she called out to her middle sister with a mockingly smug grin, “Good to see the house is still in one piece.”

“Ah shaddap,” Aria huffed. The purple siren was wearing a white tank top with some equally white yoga pants. “Did you manage to place our pre-order at the chicken place?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” Adagio replied with a sarcastic eye roll as she placed her jacket on the nearby coat rack. “Honestly, not worrying about having to cook this year will make things much more relaxing.”

“Can’t believe people in the Far East eat fried chicken during Christmas,” Aria commented with an impressed scoff, “Heh--that’s genius if I ever heard it.”

“I think it’s because their culture is a tad different from the Western side of this world, Ari,” Adagio replied on her way to the kitchen, “They don’t eat that sort of food very often, so to them, it’s like a rare, national treasure.”

Aria chuckled and put her hands behind her head. “Well, glad to see they’re finally making cultured food choices. Also, about your text from earlier; what did you need to go see teach about? Aren’t we on holiday vacation or whatever?”

In the kitchen Adagio had poured herself a glass of apple cider and had taken a sip. “Mm?” She answered after finishing it. “Oh, that’s right. The professor wanted me to see what I could find regarding this weapon’s facility. Apparently they’re the ones responsible for the weapons that those Yakuza goons managed to get.”

“Ah, so we’re castrating the minotaur on this one, huh?” Aria gave a rather grim expression she used to utilize in Equestria. “I’m down.”

“...in human terms, it’d be, ‘cutting them off at the source’ but I get what you mean,” Adagio corrected her as she walked out to the living room. “Just make sure you don’t say that around any human males. It’d make them extremely uncomfo--”

“Yeah yeah, I got it,” Aria rolled her eyes, “Now c’mon. Gimme the details on what it is we’re gonna do here.” She folded her arms with an excited smirk on her face, “You know I’m always down to kick some scummy human ass, sis.”

Adagio placed her glass on the coffee table and sat down next to her sister. She then took out her phone to show her the GPS map that Aidon gave her with the company’s address.

“There,” she called out, pointing at the building on her phone, “That’s where it is. No idea how we’re going to get in though.”

“Oh you just leave this to me,” Aria suggested, which put a nervous grimace on Adagio’s face.

“Um…maybe we should come up with a plan first?” Adagio asked with a raised eyebrow, “Maybe get Sonata’s input as well?”

Aria sighed and leaned against the arm of the couch with her cheek resting on her hand. “Ugh…fiiiine. I suppose it would be a bad idea to head in without a plan first. Where is Sonata anyway?”

“I think she’s with Trixie today,” Adagio replied as she swiped through her phone. “Give me a minute, I’ll call her.”

Meanwhile, across town…

On his way home near his suburban neighborhood, Aidon would be flagged down by a familiar face.

“Oh! Professor! Good timing!”

“Hm?” he turned to see who it was, and it was Sunset Shimmer rapidly approaching him with a wrapped box. “Ms. Shimmer?”

“Whew..” she huffed and offered him the red box with blue ribbon. “I wanted to give you this ahead of time since I’ll be away for a bit when I spend Hearth’s Warming with Princess Celestia back home.”

“For me?” he accepted the box hesitantly. “...are you certain?”

“Of course,” Sunset confirmed with a nod. “As a fellow Equestrian, I wanna make sure you’re having a good time here. I know adapting to this world must’ve been hard for you, and yet you’ve been a great teacher and an even better protector. It’s like…like you’re everyone’s dad or something,” she added with a teasing chuckle.

Aidon replied with an uneasy chuckle in return. “Naaaah. Not even close. But I appreciate that you see me as such, Ms. Shimmer.” He then turned his attention to the box she had given him. “Now I wonder what’s in here…”

But Sunset quickly cut him off, waving her hand in his face. “Nonono! Don’t open it until Christmas Day! It’s…a special something that I think you’re gonna like.”

“Hm? Very well,” Aidon agreed to her terms, then thought about what to give her in return. “Let’s see…ah! I know. How would you like a magic lesson from me?”

“...magic? From you?” she asked with a breathless tone.

“...I’ve learned about your past, Sunset,” he went on, “And I believe you’re ready to learn at least a little bit about dark magic so that you’ll be able to deal with such threats in the future. What do you say?”

“...”

“...Sunset?”

She simply stood there, eyes wide, mouth agape in disbelief…

Arc XXX Episode V: Ghost Factory

“...I’ll have to think about it,” Sunset admitted after a moment of shock, “I don’t want to jump into it right away, sir.”

Aidon nodded with a smile on his face. “That’s the best answer you could’ve given me, Sunset. I can tell you’re shocked and want time to process what I just told you. I merely want to help increase your power to make sure your skills haven’t dulled.”

“Seriously?” Sunset folded her arms and feigned taking offense to his statement. “I am perfectly skilled, thank you.”

“Come now, I can tell you don’t mean that,” he replied with a grin.

Sunset eventually started to laugh, and admitted, “...yeah, you’re right. But seriously, I really appreciate that you’d go out of your way to help me with my magic. Nobody’s done that for me in a while…” she muttered with her expression turning somber.

“...not since you had Celestia teaching you, I take it?” Aidon surmised, “It’s alright. I think someone should take on the responsibility of teaching you what you don’t currently know. May as well be someone who’s already tangled with the darkness before, hm?”

“...thanks, professor,” Sunset replied with a soft smile, “You remind me a lot of my dad, you know that? At least, what I remember about him, anyway.”

Aidon paused. While he wanted to inquire more, that wasn’t something he was quite experienced with, nor did he want to make things awkward for her. Instead, he simply moved forward with the conversation.

“...thank you for the compliment, Sunset,” he replied casually, “I’d like to think I could set a good example for everyone here if it’s possible.”

“Well I also kinda say that because you’re really the only positive male role model I’ve had,” Sunset explained, “It feels…different, but kinda not? I dunno, it’s hard to get across,” she shook her head. “...forget I said anything.”

“I get what you mean, miss. Don’t worry,” Aidon assured her that he knew exactly what she meant. A positive influence had to come from somewhere after all. “I’ll do what I can to continue being that for you.”

And with that, he turned and resumed walking down the sidewalk, bidding her goodbye as he went along.

“I’ll see you after winter break, hm? Be sure to enjoy it as graduation is approaching for you soon.”

“Yeah…thank you, sir. I will,” Sunset replied with a smile as she left.

The next day, with the Sirens…

With Adagio at the wheel, she drove their mini-van towards the address that Aidon had given her. Next to her in the passenger seat was Aria with her legs up on the dashboard and her arms folded. Sonata was in the back seat lying across with music in her headphones.

“Seriously?” Aria complained, “We’re doing this right before Christmas, why exactly?”

“Because nobody would expect it,” Adagio replied as she made a turn, “Since everyone is about to take their winter vacations, they aren’t going to be guarding whatever it is that’s powering the research and development of these illegal weapons.”

“Right,” Aria snapped back, “And we’re supposed to just casually waltz up in there, take whatever plans they have and leave?”

“Precisely,” Adagio answered casually with one hand on the wheel. “After which, we’ll head to the chicken place to pick up our order--”

Suddenly, Sonata sat up and shouted, “Hey! I think I see something totally sus going on over there!”

“...Where?” Adagio looked around, only to come up confused. “I don’t see anything.”

“Park right up there,” Sonata requested, “You’re driving and can’t look up.”

Taken aback, Aria blinked and looked outside the window. “Up?” she muttered as she stuck her head out and squinted her eyes to look up at the building.

Sure enough, Sonata’s word was correct. The smokestack attached to the building…wasn’t giving off smoke at all. It was something only they could see.

Glittery bits of black magic.

“...that’s hella abnormal,” Aria commented as her sister put the van in park in a nearby lot.

Adagio got out and looked up at the sky, shielding her face from the sun with her hand. “...magic. Dark magic at that.”

“I knew it!” Sonata yelped as she got out next, “What kinda corrupt nonsense are they using?”

“I dunno,” Aria added as she stepped out and cracked her knuckles, “But I know for a fact that that shit isn’t kosher. Can’t let ‘em abuse that power. It’s on us to take it down.”

“Alright, girls,” Adagio stepped forward, “I’ve got a plan. Listen closely.”

Meanwhile, inside the building…

Parabola stared outside of her window.

“...they’re here.”

Arc XXX Episode VI: Calculated Infiltration

Before the girls could make a move…

Sonata got a call on her cell phone that she immediately answered.

“Like, hello?”

Over the phone, Coral Currents would speak to her. “Hey! Uh. You guys are walking dead into a trap.”

“Is that Sandbar’s sister?” Adagio asked, looking towards Sonata.

Aria rolled her eyes. “Of course. There’s always a catch.”

“I’ve been working on doing an entire scan of that building for weeks now. When I spotted you girls on the nearby cameras, I had to stop you,” Coral went on, “Now listen carefully. I’m sending you guys all the information you need in order to get inside without tripping any alarms or defense mechanisms--”

“The fu--?” Aria rubbed the side of her head and repeated what she had just heard. “Defense mechanisms? Are you kidding me? Is this an office building or a military base?”

“Yes,” Coral replied matter-of-factly, “You’d be surprised at the kinda crap you can find when you start digging through everyone’s history and records.”

Adagio spoke up to get the conversation back on track. “Okay, so what exactly are we about to do here, Coral?”

“Follow my directions…”

Inside the building…

Parabola walked into her office and procured a weapon from a hidden cache; a handgun that seemed to radiate an unstable, gray energy…

“They want to play dirty…I’ll show them just what I’m capable of. And this will teach Aidon to cross me and speak to me that way.” She muttered as she loaded the pistol. “We’ll see how you like it when your precious students are on the line…”

Now armed, Parabola left her office and gave instructions to all of her workers. “Get the magic siphons ready. I want all hands on deck when any magical creatures arrive here.”

Her workers left to various software development rooms in order to prepare everything that she had requested. Parabola herself would approach the front doors, looking rather excited in anticipation for the arrival of the Sirens…

Outside…

With Coral’s direction, two of the Sirens went to the other side of the building near the outdoor ventilation system that they could slip into in order to access an underground channel. Adagio had stayed behind at their van nearby in case they needed a quick escape, and stayed on a joint phone call so that she could hear her sisters communicate with Coral.

“Okay,” Coral continued to speak to them over Sonata’s cell. “What you’re gonna need to do is follow the underground passage that I’ve highlighted on your map. You’ll sneak in, grab the magical doo-hickey she’s using to power her crap, and haul butt outta there.”

“Wait a sec,” Aria jumped in, “You don’t even know what we’re after??”

“Hey, I’m not perfect,” Coral insisted with a huff. “I’ve only got access to the cameras outside the building. Not the ones inside….not yet anyway,” she added with an impish grin.

“Oohhhh…” Sonata replied with realization, “That’s what you want us to do, then huh? Get you in so you can shut this place down from the inside out?”

“Among other things,” Coral replied with a smug tone. “Now get going. I don’t see any enemy activity, so you guys have free reign to head inside.”

Aria cracked her knuckles and cricked her neck as she entered one of the vents. “Alright. I’ll go first. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get our food and head home together.”

Sonata followed her closely with her phone still active in her pocket so they could continue to speak to Coral. “Alright. Which way are we headed?”

“Down. Left. Then down again. Once you reach a control panel, point your phone’s camera at it so I can start hacking it remotely,” Coral explained the essence of her plan as the girls continued.

“Whatever. You do the brain stuff, we’ll make it through this place,” Aria commented as she dropped down into what looked like a supply storeroom. “Left? This way, Sonata.”

“Hang on, wait up!”

Above, on the main floor…

Parabola looked around, and noted that no one was present. ‘Strange,’ she thought as she glared outside into the snowy parking lot. ‘Could they have turned tail and run away like cowards?’

The woman shook her head and huffed. ‘What was I thinking? Letting some stupid kids rile me up in such a way?’

Well, her theories were about to be proven in just a few moments.

“Ma’am!” one of her workers called out, “We’ve got some suspicious activity in the lower level supply room!”

“...” Her eye twitched as she cocked her gun. “Oh really now?”

Arc XXX Episode VII: Smash And Grab

“You’re being targeted!” Coral shouted over the phone, “They’re aware of your presence and they’re trying to find you.”

Aria took this in stride with an excited smile on her face. “Well, we’ll just have to say hello in the nicest, most respectful way possible.”

“Be careful,” Sonata advised her sister, “We don’t know what sorta stuff they’ll have up their sleeves.”

“Pssh. You worry too much about details,” Aria scoffed as they continued deeper into the facility through its hallways.

And when they came across a group of goons with guns, they immediately took shelter behind a corner. That’s when Aria approached them and called out.

“Hey, losers! Don’t you know you’re working for someone crazy who’s using power they don’t understand?”

The guards didn’t stop to think about what she said. Instead, they simply opened fire, shooting live bullets at her!

Thankfully it wasn’t enough to stop her, as Aria was quick enough to create a tornado that blew the bullets away before sending a forceful gale from her palms that knocked the guardsmen back into the nearest wall, knocking them out instantly.

“Huh. That was almost too easy,” she commented as she flexed her hand, then beckoned Sonata to follow. “This way. Come on!”

Sonata followed her sister deeper into the facility until they came across a pair of weighted doors. The sirens paused for a moment as they felt what appeared to be a magical signature coming from the other side.

“It’s here,” Aria commented, “I’m sure of it.”

“Your opposition has been rather light thus far,” Coral commented over the phone, “I’m honestly pretty suspicious of what this could mean.”

Sonata weighed in, “Either they’re scared of us or prepared for us.”

“Or both,” Aria replied with a sigh, “But we don’t have time to stand around and wonder about it forever. Come on.”

With a weighty, air-powered kick, Aria smashed the doors open which revealed a small laboratory where dark magic crystals were being refined in various test tubes and jars.

“...well that explains that,” Aria muttered.

Then, Coral called out. “Behind you guys!”

They turned to see Parabola standing there with a gun drawn at them. “...I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist falling into my trap. So what if I’m using your world’s magic to power my devices? It’s all fair game for corrupting my home, isn’t it?”

“W--do you even realize what you’re doing?!” Sonata yelled out as she put her hands up, “Dark magic is highly unstable and could result in loads of catastrophic effects if you’re not careful! Even I know that!”

Parabola snickered as she approached them a bit more closely. “Exactly…it’s just what I need to send you and your wretched teacher back where you came from. And…I see you’ve got a little accomplice helping you, hm?”

Aria played it off, “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking ab--”

But suddenly, they heard Coral’s voice over the phone…

“Hey! Lemme go! Agh! Hey, quit touching me there, creep!”

“Coral?!” Sonata tried to reach for her phone, but the call was suddenly cut off and hung up. “...what did you do to her?!”

“I didn’t do--”

Aria, who had just about enough of her talking, cut her off with a swift, powerful gust of air from her palm. It was just enough force to blow the gun out of her hands.

“Sonata. Grab that big crystal and let’s go. I honestly couldn’t be assed as to what her plan is.”

Without hesitation, Sonata shocked the test tubes around the room, destroying the smaller crystals before grabbing the biggest one and running off with it. “We need to find Coral! I’ve got no idea what just happened to her!”

As Aria followed her sister out, she looked around but didn’t see any sign of Parabola. Maybe their might had scared her off? Whatever the case, she was more focused on saving Sandbar’s little sister.

Soon enough…

The girls rushed back to the van where Adagio had been waiting at the wheel.

“What’s going on?” the eldest siren asked as she opened the doors, “Did something happen?”

“Big problems,” Aria called out as she hopped into the van. “Coral’s been screwed up. Something’s wrong.”

“Where is she?” Adagio asked.

Sonata jumped in and shut the doors. “She just texted me her location. It’s one of her hideouts that’s around the corner from here.”

And as soon as Adagio got that information, she shifted the van’s gears and put her foot on the gas. “Hang on, girls. We’re about to hightail it.”

Arc XXX Episode VIII: Close Call

It wasn’t long before the sirens were out on the road. Adagio drove just under the speed limit in order to reach Coral’s hideout as fast as possible.

“Which way are we headed?” Adagio called out to Sonata, “What was the last location that Coral’s device was transmitting from?”

Sonata had activated the GPS on her phone to pinpoint Coral’s coordinates. The hacker girl was smart enough to leave a trail of digital breadcrumbs for them to follow in case she came into trouble.

“An alleyway,” she called out, “Shop front, right side near the crossing!”

“Right? Hang on!” Adagio made a swift turn to follow Sonata’s directions.

“Waagh!” Aria yelped as she was tossed to the other side of the van. “Goddammit, Dagi, slow down. We don’t wanna get pulled over again.”

“I’m not letting Sandbar’s little sister die on our watch. Come on.”

Soon enough, Adagio would stop their van on the side of the road near the alley and jump out. Her sisters followed her, and they would eventually see a door that had been forced open by what looked like explosives!

“The door!” Sonata called out, “That must be it!”

The sirens rushed over with their magical abilities at the ready…

But what they saw on the other side caused them all to stare in awe…

“Haaaa! Try me again!”

The small, scrawny-looking hacker girl had been fighting off several armed agents. In between punching and kicking them into the nearest walls of her hideout, she loaded what appeared to be a Colt 1911 and fired multiple, non-lethal shots at them to stun and electrify them.

“This is ridiculous!” one of the agents complained, “She’s just some kid!”

“I am not just some kid!” she yelled back before firing off another shot to immobilize him, “You don’t have any idea who you’re messing with!”

The agent groaned as he dropped to the floor from being hit with intense volts of electricity. “Gah! How are you this strong?!”

“Because unlike you, I worked for this power, dammit,” she huffed as she kicked the guy while he was down. “Don’t ever step to me or my brother again or you’ll pay the price.” Then she looked up and noticed the sirens standing in her doorway. “...oh, hey. You guys, we need to get outta here. They’re gonna be looking for us.”

“...I was just about to say, it looks like you’re able to handle this on your own,” Adagio commented as Coral ran up to them, “But you need our help after all, hm?”

“Let’s bounce,” Aria beckoned them over to the van where she had gotten in the driver seat, “I’m calling the shots this time.”

Sonata had joined in, and Coral followed closely behind Adagio who asked her another question.

“...So Parabola. Is she trying to gain control of our technology?” she asked as she picked Coral up and helped her into the van.

“Something like that. Parabola’s company is gonna try and hijack most tech firms and override their stuff with her own,” Coral went on as she took her seat, “If that happens, she’ll basically be in control of the whole city and then the whole country. I dunno about you, but I really don’t want that.”

“Let’s hurry up and get home,” Aria muttered as she drove the rest of the way through the alley and out of one of the side streets. “We can talk more there.”

Eventually, about ten minutes after they left…

“What’s going on? Did any of you manage to find out what happened? Where did that girl go?” Parabola arrived at the alley and took a peek inside of the room…

One of her agents tried to warn her. “Wait, miss! Don’t--”

BOOM!

An explosion of…harmless foam bubbles erupted from the room and pushed the restrained agents out. Greenish-blue spheres of air pushed Parabola down to the ground where she’d find a small card left behind that read…

‘...You’ve been Coral’d.’

“Grrrgh!” the woman balled the card up and threw it away as she stood up. “Yet again she evades me. How does she keep doing it?”

One of her agents tried to say something. “Well--”

“Don’t answer that,” she cut him off, “I’m surrounded by idiots…now we’ll need to bring out the heavy weapons. Load everyone up with their biochips.”

At the Siren’s home…

After finally getting their coveted fried chicken holiday dinner, they invited Coral inside and called her parents to let them know where she was. Thankfully, her parents and Sandbar trusted the Sirens well enough to allow her to stay for dinner.

At the dinner table, they would converse with the little hacker.

“...and ultimately, I have reason to believe she’s trying to start an uprising,” Coral explained, “By augmenting us humans with chips that’ll force our bodies to move and act faster than normal. She’s essentially trying to rush us into the future.”

“Yeegh,” Aria grit her teeth as she took a sip from a soda can. “Sounds to me like she wants to rush this city into being wrapped around her finger more than anything. Can’t believe someone like that actually exists…”

“Honestly it’s no different than how Tirek or King Sombra used to act,” Adagio recounted their past experiences. “...us as well to an extent. However, instead of using magic, she’s using human advancements through technology.”

“Major bummer,” Sonata added with a shiver, “I’ve read light novels and watched a few movies and anime about tech companies asserting themselves into power over the population. They…were not very fun reads.”

“Tell me about it,” Coral replied, “But ultimately, I already know Parabola’s next move and how we can foil her for good.”

“...Eat first,” Adagio encouraged her, “Pro hacker agent or no, you’re still young and need your nutrients.”

“Got it, mom,” she teasingly replied before resuming chowing down on chicken. “Mmm…are you guys sure it’s okay? You didn’t really account for me in your order…”

Sonata scoffed. “Pfft. Nah. Derpy got us covered and gave us pretty much all the extra that they had after the holiday rush. Eat up, kiddo. The mashed potatoes are really good.”

“Thanks…you guys are really cool, you know that?” Coral said with a smile, “I see why Keiji likes spending time with you. You’re like, the best big sisters ever!”

“...I wouldn’t go that far,” Adagio muttered with a blush on her face.

“Damn straight,” Aria said with a flex of her arms.

“We try our best,” Sonata added.

“...yup,” Coral replied in between bites, “That’s exactly why.”

Arc XXX Episode IX: Data Collection

The Sirens would take their time to plan their next move after dinner. However, Adagio would receive a phone call in the midst of her thoughts.

“...Hello?”

“It’s Sunset,” a familiar voice spoke out from the other end, “Sandbar’s sister is with you, right? She told me about what happened and that you guys found some kinda…dark magic crystal, right?”

“Mm. We did,” Adagio answered as she glanced at the crystal that was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. “Honestly, I’m utterly confused as to how and why she managed to get her hands on this.”

“Doesn’t matter. A dark magic crystal is dangerous stuff and I need to analyze it. Mind bringing it over to my place when you get a chance?”

Adagio agreed, then had an idea suddenly come to her. “Not at all--ah! I believe Aidon should be able to help us identify it, hm?”

“Yup,” Sunset replied, “But it’ll also be a good learning experience for me since I’m not all that familiar with dark magic just yet. There’s so many different ways to apply it and I’m aware of the many types of spells that exist, but…”

“Say no more,” Adagio encouraged her, “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help you achieve your goal of learning more?”

Sunset giggled. “I can feel your smugness through the call. You’re just happy to finally have a leg up on me in terms of who we’re dealing with, aren’t you?”

“W--huh? No…” Adagio shook her head vehemently. “...You know I’m past that, Shimmer.”

“I know,” Sunset quipped in a sassy manner, “I just like hearing you flustered.”

Adagio blushed and grumbled in response. “Ghh…can we focus on the topic at hand, please?”

“Sorry. Of course--anyway, I’d be super grateful if you could help me out here. I’m not too familiar with robotics, but a society run by them doesn’t exactly sound…safe to me.”

“Doesn’t one of our friends have a connection to this place?” Adagio tried to come up with a way they could gather more evidence to support their case. “Someone in one of our classes perhaps?”

“Hrm…ah!” It didn’t take long for Sunset to come up with an answer. “Micro Chips. I think his dad works there! I’ll have to call him up tomorrow to see what he knows.”

“Perfect,” Adagio agreed, “His father is our only other source inside. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about going back there ourselves now. Are you going to give him a call or should I?”

“I’ll do it,” Sunset proclaimed, “This is ultimately on me since I’m in charge of keeping this place safe. You just bring that thing over to me whenever you’re free, okay?”

“Got it.” Adagio hung up the phone and took a look over at Coral who had gathered her stuff and prepared to take her leave. “Ready to go home, Coral?”

“Thanks for having me over,” she said with a smile, “That chicken was great, but I gotta get back home. Big brother is gonna get real worried if I stay out for too long.”

Adagio raised a concerned eyebrow. “...you’re going to walk.”

“Uh, yeah?” Coral answered matter-of-factly. “Duh.”

“Oh no ya don’t,” Aria took control of the situation and grabbed the van’s keys, “I’m dropping you off there myself. No way am I letting you just head out on your own.”

Coral puffed out her cheeks as she folded her arms. “Ugh…fiiiine. But only because I know arguing with you won’t get anywhere.”

Aria walked her out. “I’ll see you guys later, huh?”

“Bye!” Coral waved as she left with her.

“See ya!” Sonata waved.

“Be safe now,” Adagio warned them, “Don’t drive recklessly.”

“Yeah, yeah, mom.”

Meanwhile…on the other side of town…

Keiji was on his couch, crocheting a few dolls into the shapes of animals when he got a phone call. The vamp-boy pressed the answer button on his phone and activated the speaker.

“Sup?” he called out as he continued with his needles.

On the other end, Sunset Shimmer spoke, “Keiji? Are you free? I wanna show you something.”

“Yeah, I guess I got time,” he paused and put his tools aside to pick up his phone. “What’s up? Find something interesting?”

“It’s something I had to contact Aidon about,” she went on, “And I’d like you to come over so you can see it for yourself. It’s something from Equestria that a woman was using to power her bio-terrorist weaponry.”

“Aw shit,” he muttered under his breath, “Guess I better motor. See you in a bit.”

Arc XXX Episode X: Data Analysis

“Alright, so let’s take a look at this…” Sunset muttered as she investigated the contents of the crystal while reading into one of her books of magic that she had obtained from Celestia a while back. “Aha…just as I suspected.”

“What are you getting from it?” Adagio asked, “Do you sense any major changes?”

“No, but what I do sense is that this was brought over by one of the forces that’s causing the rifts between our world and Equestria,” Sunset continued as she looked through her book, “Dark magic is…highly unstable and needs a delicate touch to handle.”

“I certainly have no idea how it works,” Adagio admitted with a shrug, “Hypnosis we can handle. But darkness is something else entirely.”

Sunset shook her head. “You’ve done enough just by bringing it here to me, Dagi. Thanks. If I need you for anything else, I’ll let you know. Right now, I’ve got Keiji and then Aidon coming over to see what they can tell me. And then maybe we can all figure something out…”

Looking to bring some levity to the situation, Adagio smirked and started to gossip. “Speaking of Aidon, have you heard what’s going on between him and the VP?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean Vice Principal Luna,” Sunset replied with a nod, then a giggle. “Yeah, it seems as if they’re getting along well, huh? It’s crazy…Luna’s felt super cold and distant from others in both worlds. But I’m glad this one’s been able to find someone who loves her.”

“I wonder…those two together…” Adagio muttered tentatively. “...hrm…it’s probably nothing.”

But Sunset somewhat had an idea as to what she was thinking about. “...lemme guess. You’re wondering the implications of an Equestrian having a relationship with a ‘human’ huh?” She sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “To be perfectly honest, I’ve been wondering that myself ever since I was interested in Flash Sentry.”

“Mm…what sort of offspring would the combination of the two beings have….” Adagio muttered aloud, which caused Sunset’s cheeks to turn pink.

“Th-that’s not what I meant!” the magical pony-girl stuttered, “I’m just thinking of…any sort of magical issues that could pop up if two people from two different worlds got close to each other.”

“Is that why you decided not to pursue a relationship with Flash Sentry?” Adagio asked out of concern, “Because you were afraid of what might happen to him should you both get any closer?”

Sunset slumped back in her chair. “...among other things, yeah. There’s just too many risks involved with it for me to consider going any further, ya know? I just…never really found the time or place to tell him.”

“...Ouch,” Adagio muttered, not really knowing how to respond. “...I feel you though. I haven’t really had much time to think about my personal life with everything that’s been going on around here. I guess that’s one of the drawbacks of life as a superhero, hm? Come to think of it…what about Keiji?”

“Hm?” Sunset asked, “What about him exactly?”

As if on cue, the vampboy flew up to Sunset’s window, “Yo--”

“AH!”

“AH!”

He crawled into the open window with a toothy fanged grin on his face. “Sorry, didn’t mean’ta scare ya. What’s going on up here?”

“Well, a few things,” Adagio explained, “But I’d like to ask you a more personal question if you don’t mind.”

“Shoot,” the vampboy replied as he reclined upon the windowsill.

“...how’s your relationship with Diamond Tiara going?”

“S’fine,” he replied with a shrug, “I like her, she likes me. We both like Silver Spoon too. So it all kinda works out.”

Sunset snickered and teased him. “Wow. Look at Mr. Anime Protagonist pulling multiple girls.”

“Shudduuuup,” he hissed and rolled his eyes. “It’s really only because they’re inseparable and extremely bisexual. They have a lot of feelings for each other, but me as well. I’m not gonna just leave them behind and choose one over the other. It’s like they’re twins or something, ya know?”

“Well that’s certainly an honest way of putting it,” Adagio replied with an impressed scoff. “But beyond that, how have they been doing ever since you’ve gotten closer to them? You’re from Equestria so we want to know if your makeup has caused any magical anomalies within them.”

Keiji scratched the back of his head. “...They seem happier, I guess? Mainly because I pay attention to them or something. Might’ve also played a part in fixing their family situations I think?” He paused, then continued. “...oh you mean on the magical side, yeah? Well they’ve started to develop a taste for blood sausage I guess?”

Sunset thought logically. “Eh…could just be sharing in their boyfriend’s eating habits. Probably not magically inclined. Whatever the case, let us know if anything changes, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Now didja call me down here to ask about my love life or something actually important?” Keiji huffed, wishing to move on to something else.

“This crystal,” Sunset held up the case that contained it, “Have you seen anything like this before back home?”

“...dark magic,” he identified it immediately, “You should ask Teach about it. He might know.”

“...can’t,” Sunset sighed, “I tried to contact him, but apparently he’s at Zephyr Heights with Luna right now until winter break is over.”

“Ooooh…” Adagio muttered with a sly grin, “I suppose they’re going to have a rather fun time, hm?”

“Good for them,” Keiji shrugged and stretched his arms. “Until then, we just need to beat the crap out of whoever tries ot take this from us, right?”

Sunset hesitated for a moment, then answered, “...right. You just make sure you keep putting in your hours on Applejack’s farm, kiddo.”

“Aaaaaaugh,” he chittered in annoyance. “Yeah…I am.”

Introduction

The Sirens were having a good life for the most part. Once they started to get along with the other students at CHS, they were able to start making friends and enjoy time away from each other for a change.

Adagio had been spending time with Octavia and refining her musical skill on the piano. She was so good at it that Octavia would call on her for assistance in the events that her regular pianist couldn’t make it. However, she had also recently acquired an actual job that she had a steady income from.

Sonata had gotten along well with Trixie, regularly helping her out in her magic shows and acting as her assistant with various props. Whenever Pinkie joined in, it was an absolute riot that everyone found joy in--even if Trixie continued to assert herself as the best.

Aria had made herself busy with extracurricular activities. Namely sports. Soccer and baseball were her favorites. The latter of which more so because she was able to put her aggressive nature to work by hitting baseballs out of the stadium and into the city. She had gotten so good at it, that she was easily the star player of their team--even above Rainbow Dash!

In fact, that’s where this story begins. A baseball game against the Abyssinian Tigers--Abyssinia’s high school team that was known for their strong base-hitters, quick-footed base-stealers, and agile catchers.

The Canterlot Wondercolts were down by three with the bases loaded. Rainbow Dash was eagerly waiting to steal from third to home, Applejack was on second with her knees bent, ready to take off, and Rumble was on first, taking deep breaths as he nervously waited for their next batter.

As this was happening, an announcer would begin to narrate the events to the full bleachers of people.

“This is it, folks. Bottom of the 9th inning. The score is 17 for the Tigers and 14 for the Wondercolts. With the bases loaded, this is their one and only chance for the entire season to make a comeback and win this game!” The announcer was Sunset Shimmer, who actively cheered her friends on from the booth and tried her best to stay impartial, but she simply couldn’t hide her excitement at the fact that her school may finally have a chance to beat the legendary Tigers. “Please be a strong hitter next, please be a strong hitter next,” she chanted to herself while crossing her fingers and shutting her eyes tightly.

The next time Sunset opened her eyes, she’d be greeted with something she never thought she’d say.

“...And up next to the plate is Aria Blaze! If she can hit it out of the park, this game is over!”

Indeed. Aria was up next to bat. As a lefty, she stood over the right side of the batting box as she prepared herself, holding the bat upright with a firm grip. She could feel the intense gaze of everyone in the audience, her teammates that were in play, and of course the rival team. “I can do this. I just hope Adagio can make it in time…”

In the bleachers, she could see Sonata sitting there with a big grin on her face and wearing one of the iconic blue and yellow jerseys that matched the school’s colors.

Adagio had recently gotten herself employed at a local novelty store that sold old musical instruments. She was a lot more busy as of late, so all Aria could do was hope that her sister could be there for the final moment of the game.

But for the moment, there wasn’t much she could do. Aria had to get ready for the pitch that was about to be thrown.

The Tiger’s pitcher narrowed his eyes, reeled his arm back, and threw a fastball straight down the middle.

FWOOSH!

Like a speeding bullet, the ball soared over the grass at breakneck speeds. With a swoop!, Aria swung and missed the first ball as it hit the catcher’s glove.

“Strike one!” shouted the umpire.

“...!” Aria tightened her grip on the bat, and focused harder.

With a confident smirk, the pitcher threw another fastpitch, curving it over the mound, and causing Aria to swing and miss a second time.

“Strike two!” shouted the umpire.

Her teammates on each base stared with anxious expressions and bated breath as they desperately hoped she would hit the next pitch.

Even Sunset was starting to fall apart--her teeth chattering as she bit her nails while observing the events of the game.

Then, all the sudden…

Adagio made her way to the bleachers and flopped down next to Sonata wearing a dusty black apron. “Whew...I’m here...I made it,” she huffed in between breaths as she looked down at the baseball game below. “My boss gave me a really hard time--but I’m here now. So what’s happening? Did they win yet?”

Sonata put one of her arms around her sister and didn’t take her eyes off of the game. “Nuh-uh! Not yet. But if Aria knocks this one out of the park, we’re gonna win for sure!”

The eldest siren looked down at the field, and realized that the bases were loaded. With her younger sister up to bat, she started to comprehend the stakes a bit more. “...Come on, Aria. Show them what you can do.”

Down at the home plate, Aria could see that Adagio had arrived in the bleachers from the corner of her eye. “She’s here? Yes! Finally…” With her confidence restored, the purple girl was prepared to take on her opponent’s last pitch.

The ball suddenly came hurdling down towards the plate--just as fast as before. The entire crowd fell silent, watching with wide, anxious eyes as CHS made its final attempt to stage a comeback for the fall season.

And then…

CRACK!

Aria hit the ball hard so hard that it was sent flying out of the field and clear across the city. Everyone stared in utter silence as they watched what had just happened. The students of both schools stared into the sky, mouths agape in disbelief.

The Tiger’s reign was over.

“...I...wh--she did it!” Sunset screamed into the microphone, “With a final score of 18 to 17, the Wondercolts have officially beaten the Tigers after a losing streak throughout the entire season! Whoooo!” She was so overjoyed that she leaned too far back in her seat and...THUMP! “Ouch! I’m alright!”

CHS’s side of the bleachers cheered and hollered. Doubly so for Sonata and Adagio who screamed their heads off as their sister won the game for the team.

“YEAH! That’s my sister!” Sonata cheered.

“You get ‘em, girl!” Adagio yelled, clapping her hands.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rumble, and the rest of the baseball team went over and hoisted Aria into the air, cheering her name.

“BLAZE! BLAZE! BLAZE! BLAZE!”

The attention was a bit overwhelming to the point where it caused her to blush a little with the smallest of smiles as she looked down at everyone’s adoring faces.

And within the audience, a certain violet bespectacled nerd was making some observations… “Hm...if she’s that strong, she’d be super helpful in dealing with those demons…”

After the game…

The Sirens made their way home towards a more suburban area of the city near the hills that surrounded it. Aria was carrying her game-winning bat over her shoulder within a duffel bag.

“You were so amazing, Aria!” Sonata squealed with glittery eyes, “The way you hit that ball--you were so strong!”

“I have to agree,” Adagio added, “Your batting arm is so strong that it could kill.”

Aria blushed as they walked together, unable to look her sisters in the eye. “...Thank you. I guess all that practicing paid off.”

Sonata then called to attention her eldest sister’s absence for a majority of the game. “But hang on a sec. Like, where were you, A-dawg? You missed most of it!” she pointed at her with an accusatory tone, which caused Adagio to defensively hold up her hands.

“I-I didn’t mean too. Honest. I was...just very busy with work.”

“Oh…” Sonata brought her hand down with her expression changing to a frown of acceptance, “That’s understandable. I’m sure you’ve been working hard to prepare us for Thanksgiving…”

“Don’t be sad, Sonata,” Adagio comforted her youngest sister by putting an arm around her shoulder, “I said I was going to make sure we had the absolute best possible Thanks...giving celebration thing that these humans do--and I’m going to deliver.” She glanced to her right and pulled Aria in as well. “That goes for you too, Aria.”

“Hm--wah!” the gothic siren yelped as her sister pulled her in, but didn’t fight the embrace once she was caught, “Hmm...if you say so. But don’t trouble yourself. Humans have...very weird traditions compared to those in Equus.” She started to rattle off examples while extending a finger to count off each one, “They gather to watch giant metal monsters called trucks crash into each other, use this thing called the internet to make videos for people to watch publicly without leaving their homes, apparently have to wear clothes at all times, and you have to have a job to survive. You can’t just wander and do whatever.”

It was true. Even though they had been living in Canterlot City for quite a while, they hadn’t gotten used to all of the traditions on offer. Thanksgiving was especially new as Equestria--to their knowledge--had no such equivalent holiday.

But that wasn’t going to stop Adagio from granting her sisters that experience.

“While that may be the case, just leave everything to me. I’ll make sure I hunt down the biggest, fattest turkey, and score us the juiciest pig available for a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner!” the yellow girl proclaimed with a hungry look on her face, which prompted a small snicker from Aria.

Sonata was idly tapping on her cellphone, and replied, “Uh, you don’t need to hunt for them. Just buy them at the store, see?” She tilted her screen towards Adagio, showing her where to buy turkeys and ham.

“Oh...right...of course,” she said with a small blush and a nervous laugh. “I was only kidding, you know.”

Once they made it inside their home…

They all showered and got ready for bed. However, just as Aadgio got her pajamas on, she saw that her phone was buzzing. “Hm?” The caller ID displayed that it was her boss. “That’s weird. I wonder what he wants at this hour…” She picked it up and answered. “Hello? Mr. Blueblood?”

“Adagio? Ah, good. You’re there,” a charming, yet sly voice replied over the other end, “I have a proposition for you, Adello.”

“It’s Adagio,” she corrected him with narrowed eyes as she sat on her bed, “What is it, sir?”

“Whatever.” Blueblood continued, “Anyway, I know you’ve been working hard to earn extra money for you and your sisters. So...I’m offering you a raise. But be warned, you’ll have to work extra hours for me…” he subtly purred over the phone.

Adagio gagged inaudibly, sticking out her tongue for a second. But then she started to think, staring up at the ceiling as she weighed her options. “If I make more money...then I could afford to not only make them a great Thanksgiving dinner, but get them all the things they want for Christmas too.”

“Well?” the young man egged her on over the phone, “What’s it going to be, miss?”

Despite her distaste for Blueblood, he paid well which is what kept Adagio in his employ. As a result, she readily accepted his offer--thinking more of her sisters than herself. “Yes sir. I’ll be ready.”

“Excellent...bye now, dear,” he replied before hanging up.

Adagio flopped upon her bed, crossing one leg over the other. “...Don’t worry girls. I’ll make this the best human holiday for you yet…”

Arc I Episode I: New Faces

The next day, Sunset and Twilight were both walking to school together, discussing what they had seen yesterday at the baseball game and how strong Aria must have been to have hit a ball clear into--

“What is probably the stratosphere!” Twilight squealed, “Can you believe it? So, I’m proposing that we ask for their help the next time we have a problem.”

“...I think we can trust them, Twilight. They’ve helped us out before, haven’t they?”

Twas true. The Sirens had previously offered their assistance to Twilight and Sunset when they took a trip back to Equestria to help Princess Twilight against a few threats that were going to harm her world.

“Very true,” Twilight replied with a nod, “If we’re going to keep this world safe from uncontrollable Equestrian magic, then we need all the help we can get. Enlisting the help from fellow Equestrian natives--like yourself--would aid us in squashing these problems before they arise.”

“Makes sense. I’m just worried whether or not they’ll be willing to help us,” Sunset muttered with a concerned expression, “I’m not sure if those three have fully adjusted to living here yet. What if they get lost in the city or met with something they don’t know how to defend themselves against?”

“Relax, Sun-buns,” Twilight tried to assure her friend by calming her down with a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure they’d be willing to help once they realize it’s serious.” She then reached into her backpack and retrieved a tablet-like device that displayed a doppler radar. With each passing rotation of the signal, more and more red dots appeared on the screen. “After all...if my suspicions are correct, then it’s entirely plausible that the gateway to the Underworld is weakening with every passing second…”

Sunset reached into her own backpack and retrieved the book that she used to communicate with Princess Twilight. “Ach. Still no answer. I don’t get it--are you absolutely sure it’s demons?”

“Positive,” she replied while adjusting her glasses, “These readings indicate quite the...how do I say: Corrupted influence. Along the lines of dark magic.”

Sunset stopped dead in her tracks and asked, “...Did you say dark magic?”

“...Unfortunately, yes.” Twilight sighed as she put the tablet away. “Highly resistant to our own magic, these demons are going to be difficult to ward off if they appear.”

This was an inevitability and they both knew it. Magical fissures that leaked essence from Equestria would only get stronger over time, and it forced them to either adapt or get left behind.

“Great,” Sunset lamented with a roll of her eyes as she continued walking, “Just great. You expect a nice, quiet Thanksgiving for one year, and you have potential demon readings that could surprise you at any moment.”

“I know. I was looking forward to spending it with my family too,” Twilight agreed, “But we have an obligation to this city. It’s an important responsibility that only the most prestigious and stalwart….”

Twilight would then fall into a series of lectures and rambles about taking care of oneself and their fellow human beings. It caused Sunset to completely check out as her mind wandered in its own direction.

“...The more hands we have on deck to stop these threats, the less I’ll have to worry about losing out on spending time with my friends and family.”

By the time they arrived at school, Twilight had finally finished her lecture.

“...and that’s why you should always look both ways before crossing the--” she cut herself off and a rosy blush appeared on her cheeks. “...Oh. I...I was rambling again, wasn’t I?”

Sunset simply shot her a knowing sort of grin. “It’s alright. I’m sure we’ll figure something out--brrrr…” Her grin faded as her teeth began to chatter out of nowhere. She rubbed both of her arms to try and stay warm. “...What the...do you feel that?”

Twilight was in the same position, suddenly feeling the same chill that Sunset did. “S-strange...there’s not much of a b-breeze today…”

“Let’s get inside as quickly as possible,” Sunset proclaimed as she ran up to the campus doors, “F-fall weather is catching up fast…”

As soon as they entered the school, they’d sigh with relief at the newfound warmth they had from the central heating the building offered.

“Ah…” Twilight took a deep breath, “Much better…”

Then they both took a look to their right and heard various overlapping cheers and cries of happiness.

“Hm? What’s going on?” Sunset muttered as she walked in the direction of the noise with Twilight close behind.

They found various students crowded around a locker and cheering for Aria for having won them their first game of baseball against the tigers. It got so crowded that Sonata had to step in and say.

“Ahem! Give her some space, guys! She’s super tired!”

And just like that, the crowd respectfully and quietly dispersed with everyone heading to their own lockers.

“Wow,” Twilight commented, “Quite the turn of events for these girls.”

“I’ll say,” Sunset agreed, and took a step closer. “Hey! Uh...Aria?”

“Sup?” the former siren replied as she grabbed something from her locker.

“You were great yesterday,” Sunset went on, “Your batting arm is amazing--especially for a lefty. Don’tcha think, Twi?” she glanced in her direction, only to be met with an unfocused Twilight who was neck-deep in her own locker.

“Divide the principles, carry the one, quantify the zeptagrams…”

It wasn’t until Sunset gave her friend a gentle nudge with her elbow that she noticed anything.

“I said, don’t you agree, Twi?”

With a quick gasp, Twilight looked up from her locker in confusion. “Huh? Wh--? Oh! Right--right.”

“...Thanks, I guess?” Aria responded absent-mindedly while rubbing her neck. The fact that someone went out of their way to compliment her was something that’d take getting used to.

Moments later, Rainbow Dash could be seen speeding by on a pair of rollerskates. “Hey gang! Sweet grand slam yesterday, Blaze!”

“...Thanks…” she replied while idly twirling a bit of her hair around a finger.

The sporty girl would momentarily stop next to Sunset. “Oh, by the way, Sunset. The new girl is here.”

Sunset folded her arms and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Why am I always the one that gets the job of showing the freshman around again?”

“Hey, it’s like your thing at this point!” Dash proclaimed with an arm around her friend’s shoulder, “You’re easily the most approachable of anyone here. Right, Twilight?”

“Hm?” Twilight looked up from her book, and nodded profusely. “Oh, uh--yes! She has about 28% more First-Time-Friend potential than any of us. Minus Pinkie of course.”

Sunset shot her purple friend a smug look. “You just made up that number, didn’t you?”

“...No?” Twilight replied unconvincingly.

Dash snickered in response, and started speeding away on her skates. “Anyway--see you gals later!”

Unable to refuse the prospect of helping someone new fit into this environment, Sunset gave in. “Ugh--guess I may as well get going too,” she turned to Aria, “I’ll chat with you later if that’s okay.”

“Oh uh...no problem…see ya…”

Sunset started walking away, which left Twilight alone with the two Sirens.

“Alright--since she’s gone, I may as well make the request myself.”

Aria stared at the purple girl in front of her with a blank expression. “...Request? Like, you mean you want our help?”

Sonata peered over her sister’s shoulder with an apprehensive glare of suspicion plastered over her face. “For real?”

“Absolutely,” Twilight reached into her backpack once more, and showed them her tablet that displayed the magical dots on the radar system. “Look here. These are magical runes, aren’t they?”

The sisters took a closer look at the radar and squinted their eyes to get a better visual. A few moments passed before they could finally make out the shape of those red dots…

Runes.

“Wait...I know these,” Aria said as she stared at the symbols, “These remind me of the runes that Starswirl used for his magic....”

“Oh yeaaaah!” Sonata agreed with a nod, “I totes remember those squiggly drawings. Wonder if that means it’s summoning magic or something?”

Twilight had been idly chewing the tip of one of her pens the entire time. “Summoning magic…Hmm...”

BRRRRRRIIIING!

“Shoot!” Twilight gasped as she put her tablet away, “Class starts soon. Let’s discuss this some more at lunch, okay?”

“Um...okay, sure…” Aria replied as she watched Twilight run off. “Hm...wonder what it could be…”

Sonata grabbed onto her sister’s arm and pulled. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late for shop class! We’re gonna learn how to do all the best shopping!”

Aria snarled as her sister forced her along, “That’s not what shop class is, you boob!”

Meanwhile, near the West Wing of the school…

Sunset had walked around, looking for this new student that supposedly had enrolled. The idea that it was one of Rainbow Dash’s pranks did cross her mind, though. “...I swear if it’s another one of her jokes, I’m gonna get her back twofold.”

Well, not this time.

As soon as she rounded the next corner, Sunset spotted a lone girl sitting on the floor by the lockers. Her skin tone was a soft white and she sported a long head of blue hair that went down in a ponytail to her shoulders. Her outfit consisted of blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

“...What the…?” Sunset approached her carefully to avoid setting her off. “...Hey there...are you the new student that recently arrived?”

The girl looked up at Sunset--her eyes were a shade of gray. “...Y-yes. I-I am…” she squeaked.

“I see, well...my name is Sunset Shimmer,” she said, offering her best smile, “What’s yours?”

The new girl stood up, unable to look her senior in the eye. “W-wendy…Wendy Goetia…”

“...Goetia? That’s a pretty nice name. Where have I heard that before?” Familiarity aside, Sunset felt more comfortable once she had her name. “Nice to meet you, Wendy. You’re gonna love it here.”

BZZZ-ZZZ!

“Eeek!” Wendy squealed out of shock, raising one of her legs off the floor until she realized that it was just her phone in her pocket. “Oh...sorry. That’s just...someone I know who wants to make sure I made it safely.”

“Oh,” Sunset shrugged her shoulders with a casual smile, “Not a problem. Oh--but make sure you keep that phone off during lectures. Mr. Cranky Doodle would def take it away.”

“Y-yes...understood. E-excuse me…” Wendy turned around, and quickly sprinted down the hall until she found the girl’s bathroom.

“...She’s shy. But she’ll do just fine.” But as soon as the new girl left, Sunset started to shake and shiver once more. “W-what...why is it so...c-cold again…?” She looked down and noticed that her breath came out as visible puffs of white against the cold air. With no idea of what could be the source, she turned her head upwards to glance at the ceiling. “...Is the ventilation system of the school borked or something? I should inform Principal Celestia…right after I warm up in math class.” She hurriedly ran out of the hallway towards the other end of the school for her first lesson.

Meanwhile, in the girl’s bathroom…

Wendy answered the phone with a newfound, stoic expression. “Yes, Mr. Blueblood, sir?”

“Ms. Goetia. Have you infiltrated the school?”

“Yes sir,” she answered curtly like a soldier prepared to storm into battle.

“Any sign of my...little orange peach?” he asked in reference to Adagio.

“No sir,” Wendy replied, “I have visual on her sisters, but not her. Will update when I find her.”

Blueblood gave an annoyed grumble in response. “Ghh! Make sure she’s there. After which, you need to ensure that she arrives at the shop immediately after school. If anyone gets in her way...you know what to do.”

“Absolutely, sir,” she said with a smile, “Anything for you, Master Blueblood.”

Arc III Episode I: Professor Who?

The rest of the weekend was rather uneventful for the most part. Thankfully, there were no signs of any demonic activity that caused the Equestria Girls or Sirens to jump into action. It really did seem like things were calming down at long last.

So, we’ll skip ahead to the following Monday.

Today was a special day. One of the Advanced Placement classes was opening up. More specifically: a college-level preparation class that Canterlot High was expanding into. It would allow the students to work on college credits while still enrolled there. Good for those interested. The class specifically?

Projective Geometry.

Yup. As one could probably tell by the name alone, this class wasn’t going to be for the faint of heart. In addition, a new teacher would host this class, but they hadn’t arrived yet. So the students were free to talk amongst themselves.

Those sitting in would include (but not be limited to): Twilight--obviously, Micro Chips, Lyra, Octavia, and…

“Adagio?” Twilight commented as she watched the yellow girl enter the room. “You made it into projective?”

Adagio raised a brow with an inquisitive glare. “And just what’s that supposed to mean?”

“N-nothing!” she replied with an awkward laugh, “Ha...ha...was just surprised to see you here.”

“Mm-hmm…”

“Hm? Adagio,” the gray musician of a girl called out with her light British accent. “Over here.”

The siren went and sat down next to Octavia. “Hey. How’s everything been with your band?”

“Oh it’s been marvelous,” Octavia replied as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a brochure for a musical tour around the region, “We’re starting to play all round the county now. Looking into going abroad as well,” she offered it to Adagio. “Tis a shame you can’t come with us…”

Adagio took the flyer and stared at it for a second until her face turned somber with a small frown. “Heh, I know right?” she said with the slightest hint of regret, “But being there for my sisters is easily more important than any band. Oh--er, no offense…”

Octavia shook her head. “None taken, friend. Vinyl and I know all about how difficult it ease. Even as we’ve been dating, it’s hard to keep track of each other.”

“...So how do you manage? The band sounds like a big responsibility…with a rough schedule,” Adagio muttered while thinking about her own situation.

“I simply make myself clear to my managers,” she replied with a confident expression, “I tell them what I’d like to be done and negotiate my time off as best as I can. That way, I have time for Vinyl as well as my own family.”

“...Make yourself clear, huh?” The musician’s words were music to the siren--but sadly, they were more flat than sharp. “I wish I had your confidence, Tavi. It also doesn’t help that I’m working for the Principal’s nephew who could throw a wrench into my education at any time….”

For a few seconds, Octavia looked at Adagio with a concerned look on her face. “...Hey,” she said at last, “...’Dagio. If you’re in a similar situation, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself. You’re stronger than that. I know you are.”

Her response was delayed and slow. “...You think so, huh? You underestimate how much I don’t believe in myself.”

Now twice as concerned, Octavia turned in her seat and put a hand on her fellow musician’s shoulder. “I’m serious, ‘Dagio. I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true. Of the time we’ve spent together, you’ve never let something get you down in such ways. Whoever you’re working with, you need to let them know the truth before things go down the pipe.” She let go and turned back to where she was facing forward. “It’s the only way I’ve managed to survive in this career.”

“...” The siren had a lot to think about. Should a queen of the ocean really kowtow to some human? At the very least, she made up her mind to have a discussion with Blueblood when the opportunity presented itself. “...I see,” she said softly as she handed the flyer back, “...Thank you, Tavi.”

“No problem, mate,” she accepted her words and put the folded paper away. “If you ever want to talk, you have my number.”

Tap--tap--tap…

The sound of footsteps approaching the door to the classroom forced the entire class into a state of silence. Everyone faced forward with their eyes hyper focused on the board…

And their college-prep teacher made his entrance.

A tall man with a gray complexion and blue eyes. He wore brown pants and a black suit with a red tie. There were a handful of notebooks under his arm which he quietly placed on the table.

“...Alright, tetragrams,” he said as he flipped through the pages, “I’m your Pro-Geometry teacher.” He turned around to the board, and wrote his name in large, excellent cursive calligraphy. “My name is Aidon Umbros Iota. But Professor Aidon is enough.”

While most of the class respectfully nodded in response, two students in particular started to think about this man’s name.

“...Umbros?” Adagio thought to herself, “Why does that sound familiar?”

“Umbros...hrm…wait a second.” Twilight also started to think, but quickly realized something and raised her hand. “...Mr. Aidon, sir?”

“Yes...Ms. Sparkle?” he answered.

She put her hand down and went on. “You called us tetragrams, yes? Pardon me, but I believe a tetragram refers to a group of four letters.”

“Ah, yes. That’s one meaning,” he turned to the board and drew a triangle with multiple lines crossing through it, “However, a tetragram is also an old term one can use for a complete quadrangle or quadrilateral. The former is what I just put on the board, see?”

The rest of the class ooh’d at the realization, but Twilight still had another question. “I see...and why call us that?”

“Because…” a small grin crept onto his face, “You’re all the foundations of what we’re going to be studying.” He spread his arms wide. “Alright, get up from those desks of yours.”

Multiple students around the room reacted with a variant of:

“Huh?”

“What?”

“I don’t get it.”

In particular, Octavia paused and narrowed her eyes. “...Wot? Is he taking the piss? What sort of Professor allows everyone to be out of their desks while working?”

“No idea,” Adagio replied as she stood up with a casual expression on her face, naught a care in the world. “But I’m not gonna question a chance to make math class more interesting.”

“...Hah?” Twilight said with a concerned tilt of her head due to being equally confused. She raised her hand and spoke once more. “Excuse me, sir. But is that allowed?”

“Of course it is,” he said with a smile on his face, “I asked your principals before I arrived here and they gave me approval.” He then brought his hands together--his left fist colliding with his right open palm, “Now c’mon tetragrams. Out of your desks and move them to the sides of the room. Projective Geometry is easier than you think.”

With curious, excited expressions, the entire class got up from their seats and started to move them out of the way. Once that was done, everyone was standing in the middle of the room.

“Alright, so that’s done,” Twilight commented as she adjusted her glasses, “Now what--”

“Catch,” the professor tossed some measuring tape in Twilight’s direction.

“Bwah!” she gasped, but managed to catch it, “Huh? What are we doing?” She looked to her side, and noticed that Adagio and Octavia also had measuring tape tossed in their direction.

The gray musician of a girl tilted her head. “...Curious.”

And Adagio reacted with a delighted grin. “Oh, I see where this is going…”

“Alright, kiddos,” Aidon pointed to various students and started doling out orders on where to move. “You, here. You, there. Ms. Sparkle, down in front. Measure out your variables and factor in your equations as you make your own quadrilateral.”

As he spoke to the class, Twilight noticed a very faint, but bold black aura that fanned our behind the professor. “...That...can anyone else see that?!” She glanced over in Adagio’s direction.

Sure enough, the siren gal paused for a second while looking at the eccentric teacher. “...His aura seems oddly familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.” Since she was enjoying the lesson, she didn’t put too much thought into it.

Octavia certainly was--once she understood the purpose of it of course. “Oh! I get it now--he wants us to stand around the room and make a triangle so that we can measure it. Bloody brilliant that is. I wish normal math was this fun.”

“That’s it, Tetra-Melody,” Aidon complimented her enthusiasm from the front of the room, “See if you can solve for X once you measure it out.”

Our resident nerd wasn’t as enthused though. The man’s dark aura was far too suspicious for her to ignore. “Hhrgh…” Twilight looked down at the measuring tape in her hands and sighed. “May as well humor him. Will this method even work?”

Only one way to find out.

Arc VI Episode III: Family Isn't Always Blood

Soon enough, the girls would arrive at the professor’s home and notice him lying down on a lawn chair.

“Yo, prof!” Vinyl shouted loud enough to make her voice echo off of the building, “Gotcha somethin’!”

“Ah!” he gasped as he was called out to, and fell off his chair onto the grass. “Huh? Oh…” Upon realizing that he was being approached by some of the students from school, he cleared his throat and spoke cautiously. “...Hello.”

Vinyl was puzzled for a second. “Uh…” she raised a brow. Since she didn’t take his class and only heard about him from Octavia, she was surprised to find that he was rather stoic. “...Hi?

But Aria could tell what the problem was right away. “Listen, sir. We know that you’re worried about those incriminating pictures, but don’t let that get to you. It’s just baseless rumor mill bullshit.”

“...Ohhh…” Derpy came to a realization. “So that’s what you were upset about last week. Right, mister?”

“...” Aidon avoided eye contact with them for a moment.

Sunset stepped forward with her hand on Aria’s shoulder. “What she means is that we know who you are and that you wouldn’t hurt us. I’m sorry that you’re being put through this--it wouldn’t happen like this in Equestria.”

‘Equestria’? That stole the man’s attention right away. He looked up and in her direction. “Wait a minute...you’re from Equestria also?”

“Yup,” Sunset replied, “I used to be a unicorn who studied under Princess Celestia. But...long story short--things didn’t work out but I found my place here.”

“Same here,” Aria added, “Not sure if we told you or not, but my sisters and I are sirens from Equestria. You know, the sea monsters that sing and cause conflict among the general population…” She rolled her eyes and huffed, “And are depicted horribly inaccurately in human movies. We don’t seduce sailors--we aren’t succubusses--succubi--whatever.”

“...I had a feeling,” Aidon mused while thoughtfully staring at the ground, “I could feel the presence of Equestrian mana on you and your sisters--though I didn’t question it because it felt out of place. But now I know for sure.”

“The Goetia bitch is too,” Aria went on, “But she screwed herself as soon as she decided to turn against the humans. Look--the point is, you’re a good guy. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.”

Aidon paused--unsure of exactly what she meant. “...Excuse me?”

“You went out of your way to keep my sister safe,” Aria explained, “I can’t just ignore that.”

Vinyl would then follow up with her own input. “Yeah--and the fact that you kept Tavey safe is--I’m hella grateful for it. Thank you.”

“...Your gratitude is acknowledged,” Aidon said with a nod, and turned away. “But even so...forming a bond with you all could prove damning to my reputation and possibly land me in a similar situation as before. It’s probably better off if I remain alone...as I did before I came here.”

Sunset took a step forward. “But that’s not true. You’re no different than Aria and her sisters or myself,” she said, pointing to the purple siren and then placed a hand on her chest, “We all left Equestria for one reason or another and ended up here, feeling out of place. It’s the same for you. You don’t have to force yourself to be alone. I’ve seen what isolation can do to a person--hell, I’ve lived through it…”

“...That’s right…” Aidon muttered, recalling the incident that Sunset caused a long time ago when she became a demon. “But regardless...I’m still no one. I have no friends--no family. All I have is...regret.”

Sunset had only heard a bit of Aidon’s story from Twilight. But now? She wanted to hear it straight from the horse--man’s mouth. Or at least visualize it. “...Hold out your arm, please?”

“Hm? What for?”

“Just...for a sec.”

Aidon sighed and held up his left arm. “Like this?”

And as soon as he did, Sunset placed her hand on his arm and her eyes became a shade of solid silver, glistening as her powers activated. There, she was able to see the full story regarding Aidon’s past…

She’d witness an angry Starswirl in the act of banishing the Shadowpony. With dozens of other corpses lying around the open field.

“Your kind is unwelcome! You have no right to enter this realm and claim to be a mortal! You’re a monster. A beast. An untamed creature hellbent on destruction.”

“N-no I’m not!” the shadow pony cried as he was being pulled into an abyss of darkness, “My family! If you just let me explain--”

“I don’t need to listen to some vile cretin’s explanation,” the pony wizard spat back, “Someone such as yourself could never have nor understand the concept of family. You’re just like Stygian and the others.”

Surrounding them were dozens of other unicorns who were all pooling their magic together to assist with the spell. These were Starswirl’s companions and followers who hunted down and banished any and all creatures who were deemed unfit to live in Equestria.

“You...” With his fate sealed, Aidoneous fell into a state of rage as he was dragged into the magical pit of nothingness. “I hate you….I HATE ALL OF YOU!!”

“...So that’s what happened…” Sunset’s eyes reverted to normal as she let go. “Starswirl banished you on nothing more than an assumption…”

“...Yikes,” Aria commented, “That’s...that’s just uncool. You didn’t even do anything.”

Aidon didn’t say a word. He simply folded his arms once Sunset let go.

Both Sunset and Aria exchanged an uncomfortable look with each other for a moment. Then Sunset asked…

“...Your family. Were they among the…?”

“The bodies that littered the soil that Swirl and his followers scorched in their usual act of witch hunting?” Aidon snarled just thinking about it. “Yes. They’re dead. I have no one left in that world, this one, or any other…even now. Rumors about me continue to work their magic even here. I...I can’t escape it.”

There was an awkward silence around the man’s front yard. That is, until Derpy came forward.

“Th-that’s not true, sir!’ she cried, “We all accept you for who you are--no matter what the rumors say. I know just how you feel.”

“...?” he raised an eyebrow as he looked in her direction. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was slightly dubious. “...do you?”

“Yeah--everyone thought I was unintelligent just because my eyes look funny,” she explained as she pointed to the side of her head, “But I proved everyone wrong and nobody takes me for a fool anymore!”

“...I see…”

Sunset bounced off of this with a supportive claim of her own. “When I first arrived here and became a demon, everyone still thought I was mean even after I calmed down. But...I didn’t let that stop me.”

“You didn’t…”

Not one to show much emotion, Aria made her piece whilst looking at her nails. “People thought my sisters and I were stuck-up bitches--which may have been true at one point. But who gives a shit what people think? Just focus on the ones who care about you?” She shrugged. “Or something like that, I dunno.”

“...As wordy as ever, hm.”

The girls then looked in Vinyl’s direction.

With all eyes on her, she stumbled over her words as she shuffled her foot against the ground. “Huh? Who? Me? Uhhhhh….” she scratched the side of her head, “Everything thinks I’m a stoner or something. I don’t even smoke. Except for this one time at a party but that was a wild time that I’d rather not get into--”

Aidon couldn’t help but chuckle from Vinyl’s testament and smile from their words. Maybe they had a point. It’s usually better to focus on those who care about you. But in this case...who was that for the professor?

“It’s quite alright,” he said with a smile, “I think I understand what you mean…”

“We’re here for you, sir,” Sunset replied, “As a fellow Equestrian, you’re like family to us. Right, Aria?”

Caught off-guard by the statement, Aira looked up and stuttered. “H-huh? Oh...yeah…” She cleared her throat and repeated herself. “That’s right. Equestrians take care of their own. Anyone screws with you, they’re screwing with my sisters and I. Adagio would be dead if it weren’t for you. So...here,” she offered him the box of cookies with one hand, “Take these. Please.”

Aidon accepted them without hesitation. “Thank you...thank you very much.”

“And even though we aren’t Equestrian,” Derpy chimed in, “We’ll still support you too. Right, Vinyl?”

“Hey--he rescued Tavey and she likes his class. No qualms from me.” Vinyl placed the box of peach treats in his hands--on top of the previous one. “And trust me, if I see that Goetia chick again, I’ll waste her ass.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Sunset said with a sassy grin, “Hit her with your wubstep bazooka?”

“Yes actually.”

“...What?”

“Don’t ask questions you aren’t ready to know the answers to,” Vinyl replied while sticking her tongue out, and turning to walk off, “C’mon, Muffin-Top. See ya, Prof! Happy Thanksgiving?”

“Oh, coming!” Derpy nearly tripped and continued walking slowly, “Bye, Mr. Professor!”

Aidon stared down the street as Vinyl left. “...Ms. Scratch is quite the character, isn’t she?”

“So long as you don’t get burnt out dealing with her musical taste,” Sunset snarkily quipped, “Then sure.”

Aria’s eyes shot open once Sunset finished talking. “...Burn? Burn! We need to get back to the house!”

“Uh...I don’t think Pinkie’s capable of burning a turk--eeek!” she shrieked as Aria suddenly tugged upon her arm.

“See you later, Professor. C’mon, Sunset--don’t make me carry you.”

Aidon chuckled to himself as they left. “...What a crazy world I’ve found myself in.” And taped to the bottom of the box of pastries that Vinyl had given him was a letter...from Derpy? "Hm?"

Arc IX Episode II: Equestrian Betrayal

The man was too compassionate to allow a fellow Equestrian fall to the wayside because of someone else’s gross negligence. Maybe, just maybe, if he could make a difference for her, she could begin to comprehend what it meant to look out for someone else…right?

“Come in. Quickly,” Aidon instructed as he stood aside to allow her entry, “I’ll allow you to stay here for the night for the sake of your safety, but come tomorrow morning, you’re going to apologize to Twilight, Adagio, and Octavia, understand?”

“Y-yes sir…then what?” she asked as she stepped inside.

Aidon then closed the door and continued. “After that…we’ll have to consult Sunset Shimmer. She knows far more about the workings of how both worlds connect than I do. I was simply banished here out of nowhere with no clear understanding of how such magic worked.”

“I see…” Wendy sat down on the couch in the living room. “And what about you, sir?” she asked with an innocent tilt of her head, “Do you want to head back to Equestria too?”

It’d come as a shock to the wendigo girl when Aidon shook his head. “Absolutely not. I have no intention of returning to that place. Of course, if you want to head back, I understand completely. But for me? That world wants nothing to do with my kind.” He walked into the kitchen. “Good riddance, I say.”

“Wow…” Wendy paused for a moment to think about what she had heard from him. She knew he was a shadow pony and that they didn’t exactly take too kindly to such creatures back in that world, so it started to open up some new perspective for her. “He’s still trying to make the best of his current situation despite that…wait. What am I thinking? He’s the enemy. I have to be strong.”

Just before she could begin to activate her magic, Aidon interrupted her with a question. “Would you like anything? Are you hungry? Injured?”

“N-no…no…” Wendy swiftly denied the offerings and lied down upon the couch. “I’m fine. I just…I just want to rest.”

“...I understand.” Aidon had originally entered the kitchen with the intent of making a cup of coffee for himself. But instead, he thought it was best to give the girl her space as quickly as possible so that she could get some sleep. “She’s been through a lot. I’m just glad she managed to break free of Blueblood’s hold upon her.” With that in mind, he turned off the light and exited the room, heading upstairs. “Goodnight, Wendy. I’ll make sure that you won’t suffer anything of the sort again.”

“...Thank you, sir,” she replied from the couch, “Goodnight.”

And as soon as Aidon went upstairs…

Wendy smirked to herself.

“What a complete imbecile. Falling for such a clearly made-up trick. I’m beginning to wonder how he’s survived for this long in this world. But no matter…I just need to start gathering my magical energy. And then I can begin…”

Back at the Rich Family Manor…

Spoiled had heard from her husband that their daughter was allowing their little friend to stay over for the evening. Naturally, since it was a boy her age, she threw on her nightgown and instantly ran over to her room when she found out.

“...What was he thinking letting him stay here?!”

But when she got there, she simply found the two sleeping in separate sleeping bags on the floor.

“Whew…” Spoiled whispered to herself as she walked away from the bedroom, only to be met with a snide remark from her husband.

“I told ya you wouldn’t have much to worry about,” Filthy commented from a nearby room, “And you were passin’ judgement just cuz he’s a boy, weren’t ya?”

Spoiled glared judgemental daggers in his direction as she walked towards her own room in the manor. “Quiet you. You know how some people can be. You never know who’s trying to get involved with our family for the money.”

“Aren’t you the one who hired him?” Filthy quickly pointed out, “If he’s here cuzz’a the money, then it’s gonna be your own damn fault. Not mine, not his.”

As he was talking, Spoiled had lit up a cigarette, huffed it, and coughed smoke in his direction. “I didn’t ask you, buckface. Mind your own business.” And she promptly slammed the door to the room she was sleeping in.

Filthy sighed to himself as she shut it. “Dammit…how did it come to this? Wish there was a way to fix all this for her sake. Hope that boy can at least take her mind off things…” With that in mind, he retired to his room for the night as well.

With no clear answer from either side, the Rich Couple were estranged from each other despite doing their best to communicate. It was solely because of Diamond Tiara that the two tried to make things work. After all, a child was the ultimate binding contract…stronger than any amount of money in existence.

Back on Aidon’s street corner…

Blueblood had exited his vehicle and started tapping a smartwatch that was on his left wrist. “Perfect. It won’t be much longer now…activate your power, Wendy. You’ll be missed, but I have bigger, more important fish to catch.”

And inside Aidon’s house…

Wendy had been readying herself, her magic was flaring up once more until a frozen aura had begun to billow around her body. Then, her body started to crack and break apart like she had been made of glass with each piece of herself exposing more and more raw, unfiltered mana that started to become more and more unstable.

Soon enough, the entire room where she stood had frozen over. Everything was covered in a layer of ice and snow…

And upstairs…Aidon had started to notice the drop in air quality.

“What the…did I leave the window open…?” he muttered as he rose out of his bed, only to realize, to his horror…

The windows in his room were frozen shut.

“...!!”

His body reacted and kicked into overdrive as he leapt out of bed and scrambled down the stairs…only to slip and land on his rear end at the bottom of the staircase with a hard thud. “Oof! Mother of god--what--?!” he looked up to find that the stairs had frozen over and standing in his living room…

Was the last remnant of Wendy Goetia.

“Face erasure.”

Aidon tried to reason with her, but it was too late. “WHY--?!”

KABLAM!

In a violent, torrent-like explosion, Aidon’s entire house was covered from top to bottom in shards of dry ice. The man was flung through the living room window and into the street with a loud crash and crackle of glass!

“AGH!”

It took him a moment to recover, but once he rose up on his elbows and knees, he looked over to see his home…shredded. Reduced to nothing but small pieces of atomic matter.

And standing in the middle of the street, right in front of him was a familiar face that stood tall above him.

“...I knew that wasn’t going to be enough to finish you off. But now that I have her out of the way…I can use her essence to become stronger and rid you of this world once and for all, you wretched cur…”

“You…” Aidon rose to one of his knees. “You really used her?!”

Blueblood reached his hand out and ripped Wendy’s essence from the Aether, transferring it to his watch. “Of course, you fool. I don’t intend on bringing her back at all. Nay--she’s serving a much greater purpose…”

“...Master Blueblood…?”

The young man pressed a button on the watch, and a surge of white magic started to overtake him from the sky.

“Now…I will exterminate you with the power of light!”

Arc XI Episode V: A Family Meal

The vamp-boy and the sirens all sat down for a nice meal together and spent time talking to each other for what seemed like hours…

“MMm! This is so darn good!” Sonata squealed as she ate through multiple pieces of fried poultry goodness. “Where did you learn to make this? This totes doesn’t exist in Equestria.”

“It’s a human recipe,” Keiji explained, “The humans of the Far East like to eat fried chicken around the holidays so I figured…well, why not, ya know? But I needed taste-testers to confirm whether or not my dish was good.”

“It was stellar,” Adagio said while looking down at her empty plate, “I finished everything. Bones and all.” Indeed--all due to their origin as sea monsters. Mere bird bones were an extra delicacy added onto the tastiness of the meat.

Aria in particular had just finished sucking the marrow out of a bone. “Hot damn. This was good. What kinda seasonings did you use?”

“Well, a few peppers in particular--and ones that I can’t quite reveal,” he replied with an uneasy smile, “Not all of it is of this world.”

BZZZ!

“Hm?” Aria looked down at her pocket, realizing that her phone was vibrating. “‘Scuse me, guys.” She washed her hands of the greasy chicken oils and proceeded to walk away from the table to take the call. “Yo.”

And who was on the other end? Sugarcoat.

“Hey Aria, I could maybe kinda like, use a bit of your help.”

“What’s up, Shuggs?” Aria replied as she sat down on the couch.

“It’s about Sour Sweet,” she went on in her usual, stoic tone, “One of my friends. She’s been calling me about having weird dreams lately and frankly, I’m at a loss as far as what to do. Think you could come by her place with me and see what her deal is?”

“Another case of this stuff? Okay, this is getting way out of hand now,” is what she thought to herself before giving a verbal response. “Yeah, no problem. Are you free right now?”

“Sure,” Sugarcoat replied, “That’d be just fine. See you in twenty minutes.” And without any extra words, Sugarcoat hung up the phone.

“Damn…” Aria muttered to herself as she looked at the call time displayed on her phone--one minute exactly. “She sure knows how to keep things brief and to the point.”

“Who was that, sis?” Sonata asked.

“Sugarcoat,” Aria said, “Something about one of her friends having a dream issue.”

That’s when Keiji spoke up. “Seriously? Rumble phone-messaged me something similar. I wonder if the situations are related…”

Sonata stopped sipping from a soda can to say, “This is getting freakier by the second. Ugh. And I really wanted to ask you about your powers…”

“Don’t trip,” Aria said as she got up, “I’m gonna go on ahead. You guys can chill here if you want. Merry Christmas, Keiji.”

The boy replied with a smile. “Y-yeah. Merry Christmas.”

“Bye, sis!” Sonata said.

“See you later,” Adagio added.

“Yeah yeah, see ya’ll both soon.”

As Aria left the room and eventually the building, Sonata turned to Keiji and asked. “So…I wanna know something. Your powers. And all the blood and stuff. Do you really need blood to survive?”

“Yeah it’s…kinda unavoidable as a vampony,” he replied as he took a seat at the table, “Batponies can get by on fruit, but vamponies need blood so it’s a bit more difficult for us.”

“Ohhh…I haven’t met one before, so I was just checking,” Sonata replied.

Adagio turned to him and asked, “Do you need help with finding blood? I’m sure there’s a way we could acquire some for you.”

Keiji shook his head. “Nah, no need. I’ve…already got something set up in place just for that.”

“Well that’s good,” Sonata replied, “I’d have thought it would’ve been super hard for you, but you’ve totally nailed living and surviving here up until this point. It took us quite a while to figure things out.”

“Don’t remind me,” Adagio commented.

BZZZZ!

Sonata looked down at her pocket and tilted her head. “Hm?” She took out her phone, and realized who was calling her. “That’s weird. What could Trixie want? Be right back, guys.” She turned and left the room to step into the hallway.

In the meantime, Adagio took a look around the room, and noticed a little crocheted doll that was sitting on the coffee table in the living room. “Hm? What’s that over there?”

Keiji looked over to what she had been referring to and acknowledged it. “Ah. That it’s…well, it’s complicated.”

“I’ve got time,” Adagio got up and washed her hands, waxing poetic with a giggle, “Hopefully no one decides to spring me with a random phone call next.”

“Yeah I’d hope not,” the boy lamented in return as he walked over to the couch and picked up the little knitted doll. It was about the side of his hand and shaped like a mosquito. “Anyhow…this is one of the things I would use to extract blood back in Equestria. It was enchanted with a hex that allowed blood to flow into it and dispense into say, a beaker or a test tube that I could then use for…testing.”

“Woah…” The orange siren was in awe as she took a seat next to him. As disgusting as real mosquitoes were, this plush version was actually somewhat inviting. “It’s…oddly cute. So blood would go into the doll itself?”

“Something like that,” he put it down and went on, “I basically used magic yarn that I crocheted into these things that would allow blood to pass through the yarn itself…almost like blood vessels if that makes any sense.”

Her face lit up with an invested smile. “Oh no, it does. I think I’d like to know more if I’m being honest.”

Moments later, Sonata entered the room and made an announcement. “Sorry guys, I gotta get going. Trixie said she needs my help with something…weird. It’s an emergency apparently.”

“I see,” Keiji nodded, “Don’t worry, I understand completely. Thank you for everything, Sonata.”

“I hope she’s alright…” Adagio said, “Let me know if you need my help, alright?”

Sonata waved her hand and scoffed. “Pfft. I got this. I’m Blitzen. Blitzen handles everything around the holidays!” And with that, she turned to leave the room.

As Sonata left, Adagio looked at Keiji with a request. “Do you think you could show me how to make those? Non-cursed ones of course.”

“...Huh…” he processed the fact that she was interested, and eventually agreed. He got up from the couch and said, “No problem at all. Let me get the supplies.”

Arc XII Episode V: Dreams Come True

The next morning…at Sunset’s home…

She was rudely awakened by the vibrations of the book she used to communicate with Princess Twilight.

BZZZ!

“Bwah! Oof!” she rolled off her bed and onto the floor without realizing, and opened the book. “Dammit…I really need to adjust the settings on this thing. Now let’s see…”

On the inside, it read:

“Oh! Sunset. I think I know what your problem is. You’re dealing with an entity known as a Koshmarn. A beast known to bring nightmares to all those it comes in contact with. It’s somewhat similar to the Tantabus that Luna used on herself and it can take the form of…anything, really. Starswirl must’ve banished it to your world under the impression that it wouldn’t cause anymore trouble without its magic. What you need to do is find and exterminate it as quickly as possible.”

Sunset looked at the words on the page and grumbled to herself. “Well that’s just great. Another monster that the old man unexpectedly dumped on us all. I swear, if he drops off one more thing here…”

She began to write back.

“Alright. Got it. If it’s anything like what the Blueblood of our world did, then I suspect someone might be able to take control of that thing. We’ll see what we can do…”

“The last thing I want is another crazy, power-obsessed lunatic trying to control power beyond their understanding trying to ruin everything…”

Sunset looked in the mirror, and promptly placed her palm over her face. The scathing words she said moments prior had caused herself to chuckle as a result.

“Ha…ah, I crack myself up sometimes…”

Meanwhile…

Aria had hurried back towards Sour Sweet’s home…only to realize that she girl in question wasn’t present. “What the--did she--?!”

“Don’t even bother,” Sugarcoat appeared from behind a nearby tree, “She’s already on her way to school. Thankfully, from what I can tell, she hasn’t done anything to her aunt…yet.”

“Ugh, I don’t get it,” the siren girl grumbled, “What’s she planning?”

“No idea, but don’t let it get to you,” Sugar recommended, “She’s my friend and you have to head to your school before you’re late. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her and make sure she doesn’t do anything crazy.”

As much as Aria hated being told what to do, she accepted Sugarcoat’s words with a reluctant eye roll. “Fine…you have a point. You clearly know more about her than I do. Just…please make sure she doesn’t try to hurt anybody with it. That power is nothing to screw with.”

But as always, Sugarcoat’s facial expression remained neutral as she adjusted her glasses. “Like I said, you won’t have to worry. That dream left behind more than just bad memories…” And as she began to walk off, Sugarcoat’s body began to emit a soft, purple hue…

To which Aria reacted with a blank stare. “What the…does that mean that the dream we were in…no. No way. Dammit. There’s no time to mess about. I have to let my sisters know.”

Unfortunately, Aria was not privy to all of the information that Sugarcoat knew. The blue girl rushed after her friend to Crystal Prep in order to catch up with her.

“I can’t let the bullies at school talk to her. She’s going to make everything worse…”

At Canterlot High…

Aria showed up, huffing and completely out of breath from running. “Whew…barely made it.”

Nearby, at the front of the campus, her sisters were waiting for her with worried frowns on their faces.

“There you are!” Adagio called out as she approached her younger sister, “You disappeared on us like a wild banshee and we had no idea where you were.”

“We were like, super worried!” Sonata squealed.

Adagio nodded in agreement and asked, “...Is everything okay? Does it have to do with Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet?”

“Yeah…something like that,” Aria replied while rubbing her neck, “See what happened was…”

After a quick summary of the events she had witnessed in Sour’s dream…

“...Ouch,” Sonata winced from the painful retelling of such a story, “I can’t imagine what life at home behind closed doors must be like. Are you sure she’s even okay with you telling us this?”

Aria had considered keeping things confidential, but the worried frown on her face said it all. “I know…it’s a very personal matter, but this is linked to everything we’ve seen thus far in other students. It can’t be a coincidence that this is happening specifically to students around both schools. It’s targeted. I’m sure of it.”

Adagio put a hand on her shoulder. “Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do, girls,” she beckoned Sonata over, to which the blue siren joined in, making it a full sports huddle. “Throughout the day, ask around. See what you can find in regards to anyone else suffering through bad dreams or nightmares. Then, after school, we’ll bring whatever we find to Shimmer.”

“Oh, I get it!” Sonata spoke up with an excited grin on her face, “Since we’re from Equestria like her, we’re the perfect ones to figure out how to counter such a thing.”

“Exactly, Sonata. You’re much quicker on the uptake lately, I see,” Adagio complimented her with a playful boop of her to her sister’s nose with her index finger. “I’ll also ask Mr. Aidon, and maybe Keiji. They’ll probably know something too…”

RIIIIIIING!

At the sound of the bell, Aria was the first to break the huddle. “Okay, we better get going. Class is starting soon and we’ll only have a limited amount of time, guys.”

Her sisters began to follow her without hesitation--Sonata with a skip in her step, and Adagio with a normal gait.

Meanwhile, inside within one of the hallways…

Keiji was busy grabbing some items from his locker when a familiar voice spoke out to him an oddly friendly tone.

“Whazzup my vampire brutha?”

“...?” The boy scratched the inside of his ear with his pinky finger out of disbelief. “Was that…?”

Yup. He wasn’t dreaming.

Diamond Tiara approached him, and even nudged him with her elbow to get his attention. “Like, hey, I’m talkin’ to you.”

He turned his head to look at her directly. All he had to say was, “...Huh.”

Arc XII Episode XIII: Poseidon's Maelstrom

For a moment, the elephant beast was caught off-guard. It could no longer see them through the fog, the imminent rumbling of thunder made it difficult to listen for anything, and its body was unable to remain still with the fierce winds that started to push it around. For the first time since the battle began, it actually started to seem concerned for itself.

“...You…how…?”

As it used all of its faces to look around in all directions, desperately trying to locate any magical signatures, it began to hear a creepy set of distant laughter.

“Heeheehee…”

“Hmhmhm…”

“Ehehahaahaaaa…”

“Wh--who…?” the demon found itself at a loss, and was broken down to a state of confusion and fear as it spoke more cautiously. “Sh-show yourselves, cowards! W-we’re on dry land! Y-you have no power here…!”

The laughter eventually came to a stop and was replaced by a set of three voices singing a rather eerie tune…

“One…two…no one is coming for you…”

“Three…four…you’ve lost this war…”

“N-no…this is impossible…” the demon muttered as the voices haunted its head, “My master never prepared me for this…get out of my head!”

“Five…six…your soul belongs to Styx…”

“Seven…eight…and shall be consumed by hate…”

The voices grew louder, causing the multi-faced demon to slowly lose its sanity as it reverted to only having one face. The charming voices of the Sirens were irresistible, even to demons of the underworld. “Agh…stop! I can’t…!”

Various flashes of gruesome imagery flickered before the demon’s eyes. Such as seeing itself impaled via dark spikes or being reverted to a mortal and having all of its blood sucked out through its face. It was an all-out mental assault on a being of hatred…

“Nine…ten…you’ll never sleep again.”

“OKAY! I’ll give her back!” it screamed as it ejected Sour Sweet from her body, and started to back away…further into the fog. “I-I was just doing what my master told me. I-If I didn’t, she would’ve killed me! You know how it is, r-right?”

A blur of darkness quickly snapped up Sour’s body, removing her from the battlefield…

And with that, all was silent--for the most part. Nothing but the ambient sounds of hazy white noise that came from being lost at sea in the middle of a storm could be heard. Everything was gray. In all directions--it was all fog.

That was, until…

The three pairs of red eyes made themselves known, cutting through the fog with flaring beams of light like a knife through butter.

“...Y-you?!” the elephant called out. Once it saw its enemies again, it chose to put on a brave face to save face. “I-I’m not afraid of you! Come on! Do your worst, fish-bitches!”

Their worse, they did.

CRACK!

With a bolt of lightning striking the ground from up high, the wind started to blow more and more. The fog was soon lifted…and exchanged for a massive ocean wave the size of a house.

The mere sight of it caused the elephant’s ears and trunk to flop. “...Master…have you forsaken me?”

SPLASH!

The tidal wave of water came down upon the demon, submerging it instantly. Then, three large leviathan-esque creatures--one blue, one purple, and one yellow, all darted through the water in a uniform pattern.

“RRAAAJAAAAH!”

With a mighty roar that was powerful enough to sink the largest of ships, they dove in. Each one used their razor sharp, shark-like teeth to chew and shred through the demon’s body in unison like a pack of gargantuan piranhas. After which, they surrounded it in a triangular formation and opened their mouths wide…

“HHHHHHYAAAAH!”

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata each fired a high-pressure beam of their respective element. A blue, torrential water beam, a yellow, sparking electricity beam, and a green, wind-energy beam. All three came into contact with the pachydemon and coagulated into a ball of magic that tore it apart on a molecular level. Its body started to disappear into shreds of cellular dust not long after being struck with it…

“MASTERRRR….!”

Underwater, no one could hear it scream.

Soon enough, the water disappeared, as did the fog, the thunder clouds, and the wind came to a stop. While the ground was a tad damp, the power of magic kept everyone and everything else from being swept up into the Siren’s all-out attack.

“Ugh…” Adagio muttered while rubbing her head as she reverted back to her human body, “...Did we do it?”

“I…think so…” Aria droned while putting a hand on her neck and rotating her head, “Shit that was hard…”

“Ow, ow, owww…!” Sonata squealed as she rubbed her hindquarters, “That wasn’t fun at all. But…yeah, I think she’s gone.”

“You did it!” Sunset approached them with an eager smile on her face, “You guys nailed that thing and nuked it out of existence! I knew it was a good idea to trust you with this.”

Adagio glanced at Sunset with a weak smile on her face and wrinkles under her eyes. “...Thanks, Shim. The fact that you’re willing to acknowledge us even now makes me happy.”

“Hey, what are friends for, right?” the sunny girl replied while lifting Adagio off of her knee, “Come on. Let’s get you guys outta here so you can rest.”

“Hold up,” Aria stopped everything on a dime while looking around the now-empty campus. “Where the heck did Shadow-Teach go?”

They all started looking, and couldn’t spot Aidon anywhere…

Meanwhile, from atop one of the nearby buildings, a figure clad in a black, latex bodysuit would disappear in a puff of smoke. "It worked. Just as she intended. Now to start phase three."

Back at Canterlot High, in the Sophomore classroom…

To say that everyone was over the moon at the display that the Sirens showed off would be an understatement. Everyone was cheering and hollering for their successes…except Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon--but for vastly different reasons.

“Whew…okay. That weird elephant thing is gone. I just hope Keiji is okay…”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Uch. Can you get your mind off of him for two seconds? You’re starting to worry me, ya know? It’s like that boy’s weaseled his way into your head or something. Don’t tell me you’re falling for him.”

Appalled by her friend's words, Tiara leaned back in her seat and shot her a glare of confusion. “Uh…what? No I--he’s a friend. Don’t I have the right to be worried about him?”

“‘Friend,’” Spoon replied with air quotes, “Yeah. Right. Sure.”

Tiara narrowed her eyes, now glaring at her with suspicion. “...Is there something you wanna say, Silver Spoon?”

Arc XVII Episode XII: Magical Recovery

Micro tilted his head as he observed what happened on the monitors via Coral’s security cameras placed around the school. That’s when he came upon the footage in which Sandbar used sand to fight off the lady who could change her form right after she had stabbed Flash Sentry.

“That’s right…it must be Equestrian magic in play,” Micro turned to him and asked, “Just how did you manage to do that?”

“I dunno, yo,” Sandbar looked down at his hands, “I guess it just sorta…happened? Once I saw a buddy of mine was in danger, I was overwhelmed. Not sure how long I’ve had this though.”

Coral Currents approached her brother and started gazing at his hands, then she grabbed his arms to get a sense of texture. “Coooool…your arms don’t feel any different than normal, so that means you can activate and deactivate these powers at will.”

“If I had to wager a guess,” Micro went on, “It must be due to the overexposure to magic we’ve endured over the last few years here. Our bodies have begun to react to it in ways that allow us to weaponize its effects.” He smiled to himself as he began to muse, “I wonder what nature of magic I have obtained…”

Sanbdar started to rub the temples of his head as he processed what had just been told to him. “Woah…so I’m like, magical now for real? This is way trippier than usual…”

“Hmph,” Coral folded her arms and pouted, puffing out her cheeks again, “I wish I could be magical and shoot things from my hands like the people do in anime and comic books.”

“Relax, Cici,” Sandbar consoled her while patting her on the head, “You’re already a superhero as is. Ya don’t need any powers to prove that. You’ve got a whole crime set with hacker skills right in front of you!”

Her pouty face deflated and contorted into a hopeful grin as she looked up at her brother. “Yeah…I suppose you’re right. You guys are gonna need all the help you can get if you wanna figure out what’s going on. So consider me your official HQ Girl!”

“...What?” Micro asked hesitantly.

“She’s been playing a lotta video games lately, don’t mind her,” Sandbar replied with a chuckle.

Their friendly conversation was eventually interrupted by Sandbar’s mother calling out to them from the doorway with a luminescent blush across her face.

“Heeeey everyone--sooooooo, there’s a friend of yours who just got dropped off by a nurse from the hosssssspital…do you know him?”

Micro Chips and Sandbar took one look at each other and spoke in unison.

“Flash is back!”

Two minutes later, once everyone was downstairs…

Outside, Flash Sentry could be seen exiting Nurse Redheart’s personal sedan.

“...You really didn’t have to bring me here,” he said--his tone filled with guilt, “I could’ve walked--and my folks live on the other side of the city so--”

“Don’t worry--I’m sure your friends will take care of you,” Redheart replied with a smile, “Just make sure you get some rest, okay? That wound should heal by tomorrow. If you have any problems, give me a call.”

He nodded as he exited the vehicle. The bandages that were wrapped around his upper back were indicative of how much damage had been done. “I got it. Thanks, Nurse.”

As Redheart drove off, both Sandbar and Micro Chips would approach Flash.

“Whew--you’re okay, bro--lookin’ much better than I would’ve anticipated,” Sandbar commented with a relieved sigh.

“Indeed--what was the nature of your injury?” Micro asked in a more concerned tone, “Are they certain it’s alright for you to be released so early?”

“Yeah, they said I can just rest it off,” he replied while clutching his right arm over his upper chest. “Should probably call my folks and--”

“You shittin’ me?” Sandbar blurted aloud while putting an arm around Flash’s neck, “Nah bro. It’s sleepover time.”

“Huh?” Flash tilted his head.

“I beg your pardon?” Micro asked.

“Ya’ll can sleep over while we try to figure out what to do next,” Sandbar offered, “Bein’ separated is only gonna make it take longer, ya feel?”

In his current state, Flash had no room to disagree. Getting home would be much more trouble than it was worth. “Fair enough. Not like I have anywhere better to be.”

“Would your parents be alright with that?” Micro asked, “Your mother seems rather easygoing, but what about your father?”

“Pops? Oh yeah, he’s out workin’--one sec--” Sandbar let go of his friends and took out his phone. “Yo, pops!”

On the other end, they could hear his father speak with a thick, caribbean accent, “Ey, Sandbar--what’s up?”

“A few friends of mine are gonna have a sleepover if that’s cool. Can you bring us the leftover food from your food truck? That way it won’t go to waste.”

“Sure, no problem,” his father replied, “Did they parents agree to it too?”

“Uhh…yeah!” Sandbar spoke up on the spot while looking at his friends and shaking his head, “Don’t worry. We’ll mostly hang out in my room.”

“Alright den, mon--see ya when I get home.”

Sandbar hung up the phone and immediately exhaled. “Ugh…don’t like lyin’ to pops but we don’t have a choice. C’mon guys--you haven’t seen my room yet so you’re in for a treat.” He started walking ahead of them, leading the way.

Flash simply stared blankly at Micro Chips for a second. “Uhhh…”

“As a man of science, I’ve learned that some things in this world aren’t worth questioning,” he replied as he followed Sandbar, “Come along. We’ve much to discuss in order to get you caught up.”

“...Just what happened in the amount of time I’ve been to the ER?” Flash asked as he followed Micro.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away…

“Twilight didn’t come home like she usually does and the school is overrun with love-crazed zombie girls. I have to find someone--anyone who’s still around that can help me...”

Arc XIX Episode VI: Dead Woman's Hand

It all happened in the blink of an eye. So fast in fact, that nobody could process what had occurred. In order to explain it, everything needed to play out in slow-motion.

To be frank, Flash’s knowledge of explosives came from his background with his grandparents having been a part of the Canterlot City Coast Guard. It was a risk, but there was only one way to deal with the situation of this high intensity:

Disarm the opponent completely.

To do this, Flash made use of his new abilities and control over the soundwaves in the air. He charged forward and in a split-second, punched the air in front of him. Thanks to the speed of sound being insanely quick, the blast of soundwaves resulted in a musical cacophony that played every note from A to F around the sides of her head at once:

BWA!

The result of this was a forced state of paralysis as the loud noise scrambled Lucide’s brain, causing a mispress that rendered her unable to properly activate the explosives.

“...AGH!”

Immediately after, Flash reached into the explosives and tore out the wires and severed their connection to the detonator, disarming them completely. And to finish her off, he grabbed ahold of her from behind with his arm around her neck, bent her back with his knee, and kicked her forward so that she’d faceplant against the ground, subduing her completely…

…or so they thought.

“DIE DIE DIE!” she screamed as she rose up off of the ground, looking to attack them one final time…

“RRHF!” But with a quick tackle from Spike, she was taken down once more and for the final time as he pinned her head to the pavement with one of his claws. “You’re not going anywhere…”

Now silenced thanks to the large werewolf that kept her held down, their mission was a success…for now.

Aidon sighed and shook his head. “...Starswirl…you’ve caused us a lot of problems. I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done.”

“Everything alright, teach?” Sandbar asked.

“Call the police,” Aidon commanded, “We need to get her into custody while we keep the school secure…and hope the others can track her down…” “Should I join them or remain here?”

“I should text Wallflower about what we’re dealing with,” Flash said as he pulled out his phone, “It’ll make things much easier.”

At the planetarium…

Wallflower had parked her car outside of the building, and exited alongside Keiji and Rumble. It didn’t take very long to find their target--the changeling woman who was sitting atop the building with her legs crossed.

“You’re just in time,” she commented from above with a smug expression on her face, “I’m just about to begin turning this world upside-down and making it into something better. To where you humans won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

“Holy shit lady,” Keiji rolled his eyes while scratching behind one of his ears, “I know I can be a cynical asshole sometimes, but you’re really reaching--and I mean, reaching.”

Acida raised a brow and stared down at the boy. Once she got a good look at him, her eyes lit up. “...! Wait a second…aren’t you one of those vampire-ponies from Trotsylvania? Why are you alongside them when you can claim this world for yourself?”

“Because--as cheesy as it sounds, I’ve realized that surviving in this world isn’t possible unless someone’s there to watch your ass,” Keiji proclaimed as he put one of his arms around Rumble’s shoulder, “And this guy here is one of ‘em. Not to mention some of the chicks you put under mind control. Ever heard of the Sirens?”

“...What he said!” Rumble pouted angrily--unable to come up with anything to add, but he still stood proudly alongside his friend.

“Uch--you’ve become soft. Just like those pitiful young ladies. Unable to stand up for themselves. But no problem--they’re going to be getting a rather bestial upgrade once I take over. Not even Chrysalis could step to me!” she cackled and placed her hand on the pearl necklace she wore around her neck.

Wallflower immediately laid eyes on it and thought, “That’s what Flash texted me about. The Pearl Necklace from Equestria. We need to find a way to get it off of her.”

Once he thought about what to say, Rumble took a step forward and shouted, “Listen you! Scootaloo’s got enough shit going on in her mind without you infecting it with your lovey-dovey corruption! Either undo the spell or we’ll make you, dammit!”

Keiji chuckled as he watched his friend make such a bold statement. “Heh. Guess he’s picked up a thing or two from me.” “What he said,” he added, mirroring Rumble’s words from moments ago. “We’ve got weapons and we aren’t afraid to use ‘em.”

“You’re not worth my time,” Acida replied as she sat upon the building in a casual manner. “I’ve already acquired all of the magic I need to start remaking this world. If you wish to be the first victims, then so be it.”

From a void, Keiji pulled out his blood-red katana. “We’re gonna make you eat those words, ya old hag!”

“OLD?!” Her hair flared up from that comment as she flicked her finger, releasing what appeared to be an insect larvae the size of a small car from her person, and firing it off as a projectile that was set to explode--!

Keiji poised himself to cut it with his sword, but before that could happen…

“Look out, brother!” Rumble yelped as he jumped in front of his friend, and destroyed the giant insect sac with a windmill kick that was so powerful that his entire body was consumed by what appeared to be a silver aura that allowed him to fight alongside Keiji.

“WHAT?!” the changeling woman screamed as she watched her larvae disintegrate, “How can you make use of such power?! You’re a feeble…boy-thing!”

Rumble hopped back and forth on his feet, assuming a fighting stance. “I have no idea--but I learned a lot from Grandmaster Doo-San!”

“...Well I’ll be damned,” Keiji muttered. “Seems like the magic from my world is picking and choosing who to give power to. Whatever gets us through this shit faster I suppose.”

Arc XXI Episode II: Shopping Trip

With Keiji and Sandbar at the mall…

“Aw, this is my favorite part, yo!” Sandbar remarked as he walked along with his hands behind his head.

“Shopping for overpriced clothes in an oversized building?” Keiji snarked in return, “I don’t envy the people who work here.”

His words rang true. With the festival on the horizon, there were loads upon loads of people clamoring towards the stores to buy Eastern-styled clothing ahead of time.

But Sandbar wasn’t worried.

“Ah, don’t sweat it, man. I’ve got a plan. Or rather,” he pointed towards his sister who had been walking ahead of them alongside Yona. “Coral’s got a plan.”

“That I do, big brother,” Coral replied with a triumphant tone, “There’s a secret shop that only geniuses like me know about. Hold your applause please.”

Next to her, the tan, muscular girl wearing her typical Yakistani dress would ask, “...Yona have to wear special clothes at festival, yes? Will it help Yona look better?”

“Hey now, you look great as you are,” Sandbar replied with his usual lackadaisical demeanor, “In fact, you look great in anything, really.”

Yona giggled in response. “Sandbar always know how to make Yona feel better. That’s why Sandbar is best boyfriend.” she said as she wrapped her bicep around his neck, nearly causing the boy to choke-

“Hrrk! Y-yeah--totally…” he muttered under his breath with a smile.

Keiji walked ahead and asked Coral a question. “Is he okay?”

“Oh yeah,” Coral replied with a grin, “Big brother loves big girls like Yona.”

From the corner of his eye, Keiji could still see the pair smiling at each other as they walked along. “His body must be made of steel instead of bones, holy cow.”

“Right? In all seriousness though, he’s been the only one who really spent any time with her and helped her fit into Canterlot City.” Coral scratched the back of her head as she went on. “For some reason, people around here give her weird looks. I guess it’s cuz she’s not from around here, but still. Kinda crappy.”

“...Where’s she from again?” Keiji asked.

“Yakistan,” Coral answered, “It’s a region that lies a bit East of Europa though not really into the Far East--anyway, anyway--” she waved her hands and continued, “Lots of people seem to give her weird looks for some odd reason. Neither of them try to pay any attention to it, but it still sucks, ya know?”

Keiji folded his arms and scoffed. “Hmph. Being judged entirely based on how you look. I know what that’s like.”

“It’s a bit worse in this world though,” Coral went on, “Some people here like to judge others solely based on where they come from. Sad, honestly.”

“Shit for real?” Keiji asked as he started to recall his past. “And to think I thought my situation was far more isolated.” He then replied, “Sounds rough. Any idea what they say about Yona?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’d tell you, but that wouldn’t help much. So don’t take my word for it. I’m sure some idiots will make some passing comments by the time we get to the store.”

“Hm…” With a curious set of eyes fixated on the store they had been approaching, Keiji started to wonder if what Coral was saying held any weight or not. “Only way to find out is to see for myself, I suppose.”

On a dime, Coral switched gears and chirped, “Hey big brother, this way! One of my friends from school runs this place with his mom.”

Everyone followed Coral into the store and all around them were basic department store clothes like jeans, shirts, and sweaters. Nothing at all oriental.

Naturally, this left Sandbar confused. “Uh…Sis?” he asked as he walked up to her, “I don’t really see anything Eastern here. Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

“Pfft. Of course we are,” Coral scoffed as she approached the counter and addressed the boy standing behind it. “Skeedaddle, my dude--how are ya?”

The blue-skinned boy with a spiky head of blue and yellow hair wearing a store uniform was standing behind the counter and tapping on his phone with a chocolate candy stick in his mouth. But as soon as he heard Coral’s voice, he looked up and removed the candy stick with his free hand. “Oh hey, Currents. You’re here for…’the stuff’ right?”

“That’s right,” she replied in a low tone of voice, “Make sure nobody else sees.”

Skeedaddle pocketed his phone, and continued nibbling on the candy stick. “Gimme one second, eh?”

Keiji tilted his head and silently glared at Sandbar, looking for an answer.

Sandbar simply responded with a vacant shrug as he shut his eyes, as if to say, ‘Don’t ask me, bro.’

Yona simply stood eagerly, rocking back and forth on her heels with a smile on her face. “Yona can’t wait to see real Eastern clothing!”

“Well at least someone’s excited,” Keiji muttered under his breath. But then, from the corner of his eye and just barely within earshot…he’d hear some people from a nearby store talking.

“Omigawsh,” a girl said with a snicker, “She looks way too big to fit anything in there.”

Another girl next to her would follow up with a comment, “Pfft. Are you sure that thing is actually a girl? She looks like friggin’ wildebeest with all that weight.”

“You are sooo right. If she shows up at that festival, she’s gonna be so embarrassed. Can’t imagine anyone dating that walking meathead.”

Keiji simply froze in place as his hand curled into a fist. Unsure if anyone else had heard those comments from the strangers, he did his best to remain calm even though his hand was visibly shaking. “...You’re shitting me.”

Arc XXI Episode IX: Art Of Fighting

“Ochitsuke--you’d better ease up before you get hurt,” Shinji responded, then muttered under his breath, “...dare to torihiki shite iru no ka wakarimasen.” As soon as he said that, a few more of his friends appeared seemingly from nowhere to back him up…

Keiji opened his eyes--he immediately knew what language the hostile boy had been speaking. “Wait a sec. That’s…that’s mom’s tongue. Didn’t realize that people from this world’s Eastern front lived here too.” With this information in mind, he decided to use it to his advantage. “Hey, chucklenuts.”

Shinji stared at him and hissed, “...Are you speaking to a Hishima with contempt?”

Without missing a beat Keiji added, “Orokamono. Sono gengo o hanasu no wa anata dakede wa arimasen.”

Shinji took a step back once he realized someone else at the scene could understand him. “Well now…I suppose that little card of mine is off the table. Guess you’re from the East as well, hm?”

Everyone else at their table glanced back and forth between the two. Sandbar was the first to speak up.

“...I feel like I’m in one of those movies without subs, yo. Any idea what they’re sayin’, sis?”

Coral could only shrug. “I’m taking Saddle Arabian--not Japonese. Come to think of it, I probably should have done both…”

“Somethin’ like that,” Keiji replied, “I’m also starting to wonder if that’s your real name or just an alias. Regardless, before this gets any messier, you might wanna back off.”

But before anyone could say anything else, Fricket jumped into the conversation like a wailing banshee. “Oh no you don’t! You’re not getting outta here with those robes! That behemoth of a cow girl over there would completely stretch and ruin them with her huge body!”

“...” Yona stared at her for a moment, grit her teeth…and immediately started sniffling. She got up from the table and started walking off to the nearest restroom where she could be heard crying.

Sandbar took a deep breath, and got up as well. But didn’t say a word--all he did was glare at Fricket with a fiery intent behind his neutral, emotionless expression--seething silently with his right fist twitching…

And ultimately, he left without a word as well, presumably off to console Yona and help her through her moment of vulnerability.

“...You dun goofed, ya brainlet,” Coral spoke up on his behalf, and took another glance at Fricket, realizing she had bumped into her in front of the store earlier. “Wait a sec…you didn’t mess with Skeedaddle, did you?”

“Pfft, so what if I did? Brats like him and you are always screwing things up for us older, more mature people,” Fricket scoffed while giggling, “Lousy kids defending someone who shouldn’t even be in this city.”

“Alright, buddy you are now cheesing me off!” Coral yelled, aiming to get up from the table…

Until Keiji held her back, and silently shook his head at her. “...Go to your brother. Don’t argue, just go.”

Coral pouted, but listened to Keiji’s words and hopped up from her seat at the table, hurrying off to find Sandbar and Yona.

Flash grabbed the bridge of his nose. “What is wrong with you people? Do you take satisfaction in hurting people’s feelings, or something?”

“Anyone who opposes the Hishima family doesn’t deserve my pity,” Shinji replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “Now I suggest you all remember that or else you’ll have a problem. After all, we’re the ones funding that Festival you’re all about to enjoy. Would be a shame if it were canceled due to the actions of some not-so-respectful people…” he said with a smug smile, daring them to try anything.

“Grrrgh…” Flash folded his arms and looked off towards the floor nearby. His hands were essentially tied.

Likewise, Keiji refused to take action against him. However, he did ask a question. “...Does the name, ‘Bloodlust’ or ‘Ketsuki’ ring a bell?”

“...Ketsuki…I’ve heard of--” Shinji stared at the vampboy for a moment and immediately took a step back. “...I have to go. The rest of you--Ryuji, Jin, Goro, Yagami--leave a message in my stead.” And within seconds, he disappeared behind the crowd of boys in leather jackets.

…who began to surround Keiji and Flash, preventing them from escaping.

“Shit,” Keiji muttered, “What do you dillweeds want?” “All those names…extremely familiar. This is NOT good.”

Fricket stood front and center among the gang of boys and proclaimed, “Gonna make sure you don’t bother us again. Ain’t that right, guys?”

Each of them nodded.

“How ironic,” Flash retorted with a snide tone, “Your boyfriend chickens out and leaves you to do the dirty work. That’s not cowardly behavior at all.”

“How dare you?!” she yelled back, “Hishima has more important things to do than waste his time with trash like you! And just for good measure…” She removed one of her blue hoop earrings and pressed what appeared to be a tiny device on it.

BLING!

A transparent aura of energy fanned out all around them, freezing all of the other patrons and mallgoers in place.

“What the…?” Keiji looked around and noticed what had just happened, then his eyes traveled to the earring. “...Is that some kinda freaky-ass magic? What did you just do?”

“Make sure we have no witnesses,” Fricket replied as she re-attached her earring. “They won’t see the horrible beating you’re about to get.”

Just then, Sandbar walked back into the scene with a rare frown on his face, glaring daggers at Fricket. “Hey…I’m gonna need you to apologize to Yona, please.”

The girl placed a hand on her chest and laughed with a scoff. “Ah-ha! As if I’d apologize to that walking freak of nature.”

Sandbar refused to accept that, and began slowly walking towards her with a slow, thunderous gait as each step he took radiated with more intense anger that had been building over the course of the last half-hour. “No, no, see. I’m not asking you. You’re going to apologize to Yona.”

Flash could see one of the boys behind Fricket reach into his pocket. “...Hey, bud. You might not wanna--!”

POW!

In quite possibly the most unexpected turn of events, Fricket had punched Sandbar so hard that he took a tumble and hit the floor. “Back off, loser! Don’t you dare get in my personal space!”

Keiji and Flash stared like deer in headlights--completely dumbfounded at what they just saw as they watched Sandbar rise to one of his knees.

His expression didn’t change--the frown on his face conveyed a sense of slight annoyance as he wiped blood from the side of his lip. “...I’m still looking for you to apologize to Yona.”

“You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

Without a second thought, Flash attempted to tackle her…only to be met with a kick from one of the boys that sent him flying into a nearby row of trash cans. “Agh! Oof!”

Keiji ran in front of Sandbar, and called out, “You screw with my friends, you screw with me! I’ll bite your throat out and feed it to vespertillions!”

Arc XXIII Episode VIII: Festival Romance

“...That’s astonishing,” Luna replied with a puzzled tone, “I figured that the people of this city were more than willing to assist others in need.”

“...I suppose I should mention that I didn’t specifically arrive in this particular city,” Aidon went on, “I actually arrived in Griffinstone first--a rather hostile location filled with people that wanted nothing to do with each other. Then I made my way through Las Pegasus, and Vanhoover--which were both much more friendly though the former was too loud with its bright colors and flashing lights…”

Luna nodded. “Yes…I’m aware of the feeling. I don’t really enjoy ‘big city’ life akin to such a location. But how did it go for you?”

“Well…I realized that the people of this world were just as apprehensive to individuals they don’t understand as the pony world. To be honest, I can’t blame them though, I mean, look at me,” Aidon gestured to himself.

For a moment, Luna found herself staring at the man. “W-well…what’s not to enjoy looki--er--eep!” she squealed, cutting herself off in the process as she turned away from him, blushing furiously.

“...Is something wrong?” he asked.

Luna fanned herself by waving her hand in front of her face and replied, “Y-yes of course. I’m just feeling a bit hot and bothered…” she cleared her throat and continued the conversation, “So overall…it sounds to me as if you found solace in mathematics, yes?”

“Absolutely,” Aidon said with a smile, “Math has a strict set of rules that don’t ever change. It’s something I take comfort in because I know it’ll always remain the same when I think about it. I believe that’s why I wanted to teach it to the younger folks so they’ll have a better understanding of the world around them. Of course…I’m no fool--I know math won’t be utilized in every facet of life but…”

“It’s still admirable,” Luna encouraged him, “You’re trying your best to take one of the most vehemently hated subjects and turn it into something enjoyable. No one else can say that they’ve done that before.”

Aidon glanced at Luna with a confused expression. “...I know math isn’t the most beloved subject in the scholarly world, but is it really hated that much?”

“The last two math teachers we had ended up quitting because they gave up on trying to keep the students engaged,” Luna explained, “But you…you’ve done more for these kids than any of them have. I think you’ll end up going down in history as someone that’s made a lot of lives better with a positive influence on them.”

“You think so, huh?” Aidon chuckled at the idea. “...I’m not really interested in becoming a legend or anything, but if I can make someone’s lives better, then I’ll be satisfied knowing I did something to make someone else happy.”

“Well, I can certainly say that you’ve already done that…for me at least,” she added quietly.

“...Excuse me?”

Luna gave an honest smile and said, “...you’ve made me happy, Aidon. You’ve really opened my eyes to how foolish I was being regarding communication with my sister. I have you to thank for that. No one else has taken the time to help me understand my own flaws…so I’m grateful that you were there for it.”

“...You really think so?” Aidon replied with a sigh, “...To be honest, I’m the last pon--er, person that should be praised for something like that. I’ve still got a lot of growing to do in terms of understanding my own flaws.”

And yet, Luna would do her best to encourage him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “And that’s perfectly okay. Because now, I can be here to uplift you as well in order to return the favor…” She removed her hand and looked off to the side as she rubbed her index finger against her cheek. “Er…if you’d be willing to deal with me that is…”

“Wh--you make it sound as if it’d be a chore,” Aidon responded with a caring tone, “Nah, don’t you work yourself. I’m more than willing to let you in--though be warned, it’s not something that just anyone can deal with--”

“I could say the same for myself, honestly,” Luna said with a chuckle as she gave a toothy grin, “It appears we both have little hangups that we’re afraid to burden each other with. But…I still want to bear that burden with you, Aidon.”

When she put it that way, the shadowman couldn’t exactly turn her down. “Well…if you’re certain. Then I’d love to have you, Luna. You’re…quite the woman indeed.”

“O-oh…am I?” she replied with a nervous blush, shivering in place, “I just…try my best…”

That’s when Aidon noticed exactly what she was wearing due to her bosoms jiggling about in those robes. “...Erm…are you comfortable in that?”

“Hm? Oh…” Luna rolled her eyes, “Ugh--just some foolish garment that my equally foolish sister and therapist suggested I wear to try and get your attention. Supposedly, the ‘illusion’ of my chest swaying about and threatening to come loose was supposed to attract you. In reality, not only did it not work, but I’ve managed to hold a conversation with you without the need for it.”

“Ah, I see now,” he replied with a laugh, “Adorable for them to look out for you in such a way--even if it is a bit misguided.”

“Hmph. They clearly don’t know me well at all,” Luna huffed as she folded her arms under her chest, accidentally pushing them up in the process and making them more pronounced. “Such dirty tactics don’t become of me.”

And yet, Aidon’s gaze didn’t change whatsoever as he focused on her face. “Don’t trouble yourself. You’re beautiful no matter what you wear, Luna.”

“...really?” she asked with a smile as she idly pushed some of her hair behind her head.

“As beautiful as the night sky itself,” he went on, gesturing to the darkened horizon that was now filled with stars. “In fact, did you know that Polaris is around 300 or so lightyears away from us at any given time?”

Luna giggled at this fact, and asked, “Really? I didn’t know that. The moon is my personal favorite thing to study. Did you know it only faces us with one side at any given time? It’s due entirely to how it and the earth rotate.”

“Ohhhh--so that’s why I find myself staring at the same cute dimples each time,” he flirted with a slight, half-grin on his face.

To which Luna immediately called him out. “...Was that an attempt to woo me, Aidon?”

“Er, well I--”

“...”

And just as the fireworks started to go off over the festival…

Luna grabbed Aidon by his robes and pressed her lips against his, making fiery, yet caring eye contact with him the whole time.

“Mmm!” While he was taken aback at first, he slowly came to accept the embrace, and put his arms around her. “...Luna, you…?”

“...I don’t think fate brought us together, Aidon,” she went on with her arms around his neck, “You…you are…can you please be mine?”

“...Of course,” he replied with a smile, “Forever and al--ah!”

He was cut off as Luna practically tackled him onto his back upon the bench, holding him close as she straddled him. “...Thank you so much. I’ve…secretly been hoping that you and I would get along well. You…understand me better than most. Not to mention…you’re wonderfully handsome--”

“And you’re equally enchanting with the visage of a goddess...I’m just glad I know you feel the same way, Luna--hrrk!” he was cut off once again by her lips--and her body--pressing against his. Aidon simply responded by putting his arms around her, keeping her close and safe…

Arc XXIV Episode VIII: Tepid Conversation

Aidon would eventually take a break from walking and have a seat on the beach next to some of the rocks near the edge of the shoreline. As he looked out over the ocean’s horizon, he was lost in thought as he sat there with his arms folded, and eyes shut tightly behind his glasses.

“Those crows…what could it mean? Usually a murder like that denotes some form of--”

Bonk.

But before he could finish that train of thought, he was hit upside the head with a beach ball, followed by a young woman’s apologetic callout.

“Oops! Sorry!”

“Hm?” Aidon opened his eyes and saw a young woman--who looked to be a few years younger than Sunset and her friends--with pale, almost milk-white skin approach him. She was wearing a pair of pink and blue shorts that matched her hair as well as a white sports bra.

“Sorry about that,” she spoke at a normal tone once she got closer, hands on her knees as she panted to regain her breath, “We were playing a game and lost control. Hope I didn’t hurt you.”

Aidon shook his head. “Not at all, miss.”

“Zipp! Is everything alright?” an older woman’s voice called out, “I saw you hit him with that thing.”

“Yes, mom--it’s all good! And I didn’t do it on purpose--!”

“Invite that young man over here,” the older woman’s voice continued. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

Zipp rolled her eyes and spoke to Aidon in a whisper. “Ughhh…my mom has poor eyesight. She probably thinks you’re like, 20 years younger than you actually are. It’s super embarassing.”

Aidon chuckled at the thought. “I’m sure your mother means well. Try not to think ill of her, hm?”

“Pfft--you really don’t know my mom--”

Moments later, an older woman with purple skin wearing a rather skimpy two-piece bikini approached them both. “Zipp--what did I--oh…oh my.” She took off her sunglasses so that she could get a better look at the man and stuttered for a moment. “O-oh…I thought you were my daughter’s age! Ha…ha…imagine that,” she said with an awkward laugh to hide her embarassment over her blunder.

“It’s fine, ma’am. No harm done,” Aidon replied, “Your daughter was rather respectful towards me, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Zipp sighed and tried to quickly remove herself and her mother from the confrontation. “Welp, that settles it. You heard him, mom--let’s go--” she tried to pull her mother along, but the older woman quickly snatched her hand away.

“Hold on a minute--I should at least invite him to sit with us for a moment out of courtesy--” she turned to him and asked, “If that’s okay with you. I wouldn’t want you hold a grudge against us for being rude.”

“...Don’t worry about that, ma’am. I only have a beef with one person in this universe. You’re far from it.”

“You do?” Zipp asked, now intruged by his words, “Who?”

“...it’s a long story,” Aidon replied.

But the older woman was more than willing to hear him out. “No no, it’s fine…oh--where are my manners? My name is Haven and this is my daughter, Zipp.”

“Sup?” the girl said.

“I work as the Mayor of Zephyr Heights. It’s a little city near the mountains. I’m currently on vacation though.”

“Well now, that sounds quite interesting. As for me, I’m a mathematics professor,” Aidon replied, “I don’t envy your position though. I couldn’t imagine being in control of an entire city.”

Haven laughed it off and replied, “Don’t worry. It doesn’t put a strain on this perfect body of mine,” she said as she flipped her hair. “I wouldn’t blame you for staring, good sir. Follow me over to our spot in the sand.”

Zipp merely reacted with a roll of her eyes as she whispered to Aidon, “Don’t mind her. She’s just likes attention from dudes.”

Aidon chose to ignore that little comment, and continue the conversation as normal as he followed them. “I see…anyway. The individual I hold a grudge against is a pon--er, man by the name of Starswirl…”

At Flash Sentry’s house…

Once he finished making his call, he hung up the phone. “Alright. It’s done. It’ll be about a week before everything can get set in motion.”

“...I see,” Adagio replied, “What do we do until then?”

“Locate their base so my buds can drop their strike right where we need it. My cousin is still in the force, so I…had to pull a few strings here and there.”

Adagio’s eyes went wide as she processed what Flash just told her. “Huh…I didn’t realize humans still needed an active army. That’s…rather impressive.”

“Well the girls can’t exactly be everywhere all at once,” Flash said with a shrug, “Plus, our tax dollars gotta go somewhere I guess. It’s a viscious cycle, but hey--if it works.”

Applejack walked back into the room a few moments later. Having overheard the tail-end of their conversation, she’d speak up about it, “...Some of yer folk are riskin’ their lives out there, huh? That must weigh on ya pretty hefty.”

“It’s fine, really. I’ve come to terms with the fact that some of them may not make it back,” Flash replied with a sigh, “It’s already happened before, so I’m used to it, honestly.”

“...Are we the first people you’re speaking to about this?” Adagio asked with a concerned tone, “Because you shouldn’t bottle up your pain…we’re here for you if you need someone to talk to.”

“Well…it’s kinda hard to open up about certain things when nobody really talks to you very much or even asks how you’re doing. You’re often left wondering if it’s worth speaking up at all because you’re unsure if they’ll even listen…” Flash leaned against his desk with his chin on his palm. “So you just keep quiet to avoid an awkward conversation even though you know it’ll end up hurting you more in the long run.”

“...”

“...”

The room went silent for a moment as neither Applejack nor Adagio could figure out how to respond.

“...See?” Flash broke the silence a few moments later. “That…that’s just what I was talking about.”

Arc XXVI Episode V: Chasing Daylight

After a moment of long silence in the room, and an awkward cough from Princess Twilight, Starswirl would finally speak.

“...So you’ve finally managed to crawl yourself back to this world, haven’t you?”

“Oh yes I have,” Aidon replied with an ironic grin on his face, “Good to see you haven’t keeled over and died yet, old bastard. I still want the opportunity to throttle you myself.”

“Assuming you get the chance,” Starswirl huffed, “I may have slowed down due to my age, but my skill still remains unparalleled. I wouldn’t bet on an easy victory.”

“Well then, by all means,” Aidon chuckled, “Let me show you what I’ve picked up in the human world you’ve so callously thrown me and many others into.”

Twilight tried to interject, “AHE--”

But Sunset put her hoof over her mouth. “...Don’t. This isn’t our place. Let them come to a middle ground, Twilight.”

“...Seriously?” Twilight raised a brow.

Sunset’s words would eventually be put to the test…and proven correct.

The stallions stared at each other and both were able to silently decipher that there was something else going on. A much larger reason for Aidon’s return than simple petty revenge.

So Starswirl decided to wax poetic.

“...but unfortunately, I’m currently not able to duel with you. I can tell there’s something amiss with Ms. Shimmer over there.”

“...correct,” Aidon replied with a subtle, matter-of-fact tone to change the subject, “She came here to explain something to you.” He then stood aside.

Sunset glanced at Twilight with a smirk. “See? Told ya--guys can sort their beef out pretty easily.”

“...Interesting,” Twilight muttered.

Sunset then turned to Starswirl and approached him. “...Sir. I’m so sorry to bother you, but there’s an emergency in the human world that you need to come help us solve.”

“...Is there now?” the old unicorn asked with a confused tone, “I didn’t even think that realm had suitable, habitable conditions--much less actual life. That’s why I sent so many threats to Equestria there.”

“...Sir,” Sunset bit her lip with a pained expression on her face, “...you’re not going to like what you see when you get over there.”

“She’s right,” Aidon added, “We have to be swift.”

Back in the human world…

“Transporting him now,” Ren said over his phone as he drove a getaway car away from the city and towards the mountains--having ditched the fake officer’s uniform for a more rugged look. “We won’t have any witnesses for what we’re about to do.”

But little did he know…

“Onward, Siegfried!”

Fluttershy was hot on his tail, riding her horse companion whose hooves galloped and thundered against the country road that led into the mountains that Ren was driving into. Their appearances had also changed.

Fluttershy was wearing a set of medieval, pink and turquoise-colored armor befitting that of a knight. Siegfried the horse was also clad in this same armor around his head, sides, and flanks. This was all conjured up by Fluttershy who had taken the extra measures to make sure they’d be safe during this battle.

With a quiver filled with magical, golden arrows on her back, Fluttershy would summon an equally brilliant, golden bow to fire them from as Siegfried continued his stampede towards the car, keeping up with it at an alarming rate for a horse!

“Steady now,” she called out as she raised the bow and pulled back on the string until she had the arrow of light fully drawn. “I just need to…”

Fwip!

Boom!

With a perfect shot, Fluttershy fired the arrow perfectly into the car’s left rear tire!

“What the devil--?” Ren looked in his rearview mirror and noticed the girl on the horse that had been chasing him. “...So she proves herself to be much more capable than I initially gave her credit for. As usual, the quiet ones are the biggest thorn in my side. No matter. She’s just another insect to squash…”

A loud screech of the tires was heard against the road as Ren swiftly turned the car around and stopped it before exiting.

“So you’ve come to fight me, have you? You know I’m not above striking a woman.”

“It wouldn’t be fair if you weren’t,” Fluttershy remarked as she dismounted from her horse. “What you’re doing is dangerous and I’m here to put a stop to your actions. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, mister.”

“Tohru, get in here!” Ren called out.

In a split second, Fluttershy and her horse jumped out of the way of a punch so deadly that it lit the air around their fist ablaze.

A young woman with brass knuckles on her fists appeared. She wore a simple pair of jeans and leather biker jacket. But what was most interesting about her was that her face was half-tattooed with a dragon that went up from her neck with its mouth open across the left side of her face.

“...” Fluttershy quickly cast a spell from her hands to teleport her steed back to the sanctuary. “I don’t want you getting hurt, Siegfried. Stay there, okay? If they’re not going to surrender without a fight, I’m afraid I’ll have to subdue them.”

“Looks like you’re a bit outnumbered,” Ren spoke up from her other side. “Do the smart thing and set down your weapon while you’re still in one piece. I’d hate to have to squash that nice face of yours under my boot. You must be scared to death right about now,” he added with a chuckle in an attempt to intimidate her.

Fluttershy’s knees visibly shivered as she weighed the situation in front of her. She knew there was no way she could do this alone, but even so, she forced herself to ignore her fear as she drew her fingers back on the bowstring to draw an arrow.

Her knees suddenly stopped shaking, she took a deep breath, and spoke plainly:

“I’m going to break everything but your necks.”

Arc XXVII Episode I: Scientific Calculations

That evening…

While Sunset and her friends were busy coming up with a plan on how to finally stamp out the intrusive Yakuza force once and for all…

Keiji was on the brink of a breakthrough.

“Aha…” he marveled at the creation of his new, blood-based potion and began to conduct a test.

In which he rigged a test tube filled with it to explode all over his kitchen via wires that were attached to it! With a small detonator in his hand, he took cover behind his living room couch and started to count down…

“Alright. Three…two…”

DING-DONG!

“God-jeez--mother of balls--!” Keiji swore up a storm due to being startled by his doorbell, nearly dropping the detonator and quickly catching it by diving for it upon the carpet. “...Too frickin’ close. Now who in the hell could that be?” He set the remote aside and went to the door…

“Yeah?” he called out upon opening it.

“Keiji? Ah, good it’s you, darling,” Rarity approached him and greeted him with an affectionate pat to the head, causing him to hiss under his breath. “Applejack wants to know how things are coming along.”

Once he shook off her gesture, Keiji raised a brow and glared at her with suspicion. “Are you sure she wanted to know how I was doing?”

“Well…” Rarity held her hands behind her back and pushed the door closed with her foot. “Okay…I’ll be honest. I’m just rather anxious about all of this. I want to confront whoever committed the atrocity that was her parent’s murder. So…would you mind telling me how far along you are…pretty please?” she begged with a nervous smile on her face.

To which Keiji rolled his eyes. “Easy now, Goldilocks. I’m still working on it. In fact, I was just about to conduct a test to make sure my new potion that’ll allow me to trace any fluid kind of like how a blacklight does it.”

“I see…” Rarity took a step towards his work and peered at the tubes filled with red liquid with an intense stare. “Looks…dangerous. Are you sure you know what you’re doing, darling?”

“Don’t baby me,” he huffed, and grabbed her by the hand to pull her behind the couch.

“Ack!” Rarity gasped and stumbled after him, “Ahem! Watch where you’re grabbing a lady. For future reference, this is not how you should treat Diamond Tiara when you’re both out together.”

A shadow of embarrassment briefly appeared over his head before he replied, “...Yeah yeah--anyway! Watch closely.”

Rarity kept watch over the beakers as Keiji got ready to press the button…

Beep.

POOF!

Red smoke went everywhere, creating a thick cloud of red that was nearly impossible to see through for a moment. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t toxic and didn’t cause them to choke. Once it cleared, they were able to see…lots of multi-colored lines on the ceiling of his apartment.

“Aha! It works. It’s identified all the chemicals that I’ve used over the course of the last few days.”

Rarity looked at his ceiling with a worried expression. “Erm…and are you sure it’s a good idea for you to be breathing all of that in?”

“Oh don’t worry, I keep my window open when cooking stuff,” Keiji explained as he pointed to the kitchen and living room windows which were indeed open wide. “I’d have suffocated a long time ago if that were the case.”

“Very well…” she muttered while staring at the ceiling, “Now…pray tell, dear Keiji--how exactly do you intend to use this to locate the chemical used on Applejack’s parents?”

“Oh I got that. I just need to ask the police station for a tiny bit of it and mix it in with my solution here so it’ll give me a trail--”

Rarity suddenly had her detective’s fedora on her head. “Oh no you don’t. Not without my supervision.”

“Where the hell did you get--”

And in the next moment, she had her detective’s coat on, and everything had gone black and white. “We shall get to the bottom of this matter together. For Applejack’s sake.”

“Ayo what the f--why are we in the style of the old Draculas--”

“Follow me, dear boy. We have answers to find,” Rarity started walking, leaving a confused Keiji behind.

“Hmmmph--and she didn’t answer me. Whatever--I guess I need someone over 18 to accompany me anyway. Stupid rules…” he grumbled as he followed her out.

Meanwhile, at Aidon’s home…

“We've got him right where we want him. We can just kill him now and get our revenge.”

“We could. But that’s not the point. Even if we did, there’s no guarantee that we’d feel better afterwards. After all, aren’t we tired of drowning ourselves in darkness?”

“I suppose I am…yes. I don’t want to live in fear anymore. It’s not fun…and I don’t think Luna would like that.”

“Exactly. I know who I am now and I’ve come to terms with what happened between Starswirl and I all those years ago. I do intend on giving him a good wallop at some point, but killing him would be a bit…well, overkill.”

“I guess you--er, I make a good point.”

Once he had finished stewing in his thoughts, Aidon had placed down one of the dumbbells he had been using to work out with. Wearing only a tank top and shorts--the shadow man had started to sweat as he worked both his mind and body

“...That self-help exercise book has done wonders for me,” he said to himself as he passed a mirror and looked at his chiseled biceps. “I just hope that Luna doesn’t mind. Now to prepare for the attack we’ll be staging tomorrow…”

But before he could take a step towards his room--

DING-DONG!

“Ach…the most inopportune moment…” he huffed as he went to the door and opened it. “Yes? May I help you?”

And standing there was a woman in a pink business suit-skirt. She had peachy skin, curly blond hair, and wore a pair of pink glasses. She was standing there, arms folded and pushing up her chest to assert her importance. “Finally. I’m here on behalf of Luna and she wants to make sure you have all of the necessary paperwork for the next school year.” The woman handed him a folder filled with documents.

“Oh right. Of course,” he accepted the folder with a nod. “I’ll be sure to look over it promptly. Thank you Miss…?”

The woman stared at him for a moment with a suspicious glare. “...this is the math teacher? He looks like an outright vagabond…hmph…though he is rather good-looking, that doesn’t absolve him of suspicion. What is that complexion of his…?”

“...Miss? Madam?” Aidon spoke up to get her attention.

“O-oh! Er…yes,” she blinked and shook her head, coming down from her distracted state, “Phyllis Cloverleaf. Good to meet you, Mr. Iota. I trust that you’ll have everything done on time?”

“I will. Don’t worry,” Aidon replied then decided to explain himself, “Apologize for the sweat. I had just finished exercising. Don’t worry, I don’t show up to work this way,” he added with a chuckle.

“...You’d better not,” she huffed, “My son is training to become a sheriff and he will be upholding everyone to a high standard once he does.”

“That sounds nice. I’m sure you and your husband are very proud,” he complimented her efforts to encourage her son.

To which Phyllis reacted with hesitation. “...Er…it’s just me and him. Now if you’ll excuse me…” She quickly turned and walked away as if she was in a hurry.

“Oh…I understand. Have a nice day, miss,” Aidon replied and shut the door. “What was that all about?”

As Phyllis left, she grumbled to herself as she found her head swimming and unable to focus. “Gah…stupid good-looking men and their stupid beautiful arms. Why do they all have to be taken?”

Arc XXVII Episode XII: Self-Acceptance

At the hospital…

Wallflower had started to stir and awaken. “Urgh…my head…Micro? What’s going on?”

“You? Wall…Wallflower, right?” Micro mumbled as he tried to jog his own memory. “Wait no…now I remember. I…I was strapped to a chair and I…augh, my head.”

Wallflower sat up on her bed and looked over at him. “No no…don’t stress yourself out. I’m starting to recall what happened, and…it’s opened my eyes quite a bit to say the least.”

Micro sat up as well, and asked, “...Hm? What do you mean?”

"...I used to not care whether I lived or died,” Wallflower explained in a soft tone as she clutched her chest with a regrettable sense of dread in her eyes as she looked away from him. “There was a time where I figured that, if I suddenly myself dropped off the face of the earth, nobody would care the next day. It’s why I did the whole thing with the memory stone last year…”

“The…ah…I think I remember,” Micro replied, and thought hard about what she had said moments ago. “But wait…were you genuinely unconcerned for your own life?”

“I was…in fact, part of me still was. Up until recently that is,” she continued with a shudder. “...coming to a near-death experience like that has shown me how…short-sighted I was thinking. I never realized just how important I was to you and the others. Wanting to…kill myself was not the answer, and I’m sorry for ever thinking that.”

“Hey…you were in a dark place,” Micro consoled her, “There’s no need to apologize. If anything, I’m sorry that I didn’t notice how you were feeling much sooner. Had I did, I would’ve been able to diagnose and help you get you the proper treatment you needed without the need for a traumatic experience.”

Despite this, Wallflower seemed to be content with where she was now, as indicated by the faintest of smiles on her face.

“Maybe…but this traumatic experience has really opened my eyes up, Mike. I appreciate you in particular for listening to me ramble on about my dreams…no matter how futile they might be,” she muttered while idly twirling her finger around her hair--her cheeks red from embarrassment.

“They’re not,” Micro insisted, “You’ve got plenty of great ideas that I’d like to see through to fruition alongside you.” But he had to pause for a moment as he held his bandaged head in his hand. “Argh…if only I could remember any of them.”

“...Don’t trouble yourself,” Wallflower tried to comfort him in return as she got up from her hospital bed. She wasn’t hooked up to any machines which allowed her to take a few steps. “...I’m just glad you’re still here with me.”

And before Micro could say anything in return, Wallflower had pressed her lips against his with her arms wrapped passionately around the back of his head to hold him close. The unexpectedly bold gesture caused Micro to blush and stare at her in shock…until he shut his eyes and accepted her.

After about a minute or two, Wallflower pulled back and let a heavy breath slip through her lips as she swooned. “Mmm…god you’re so cute,” Wallflower squealed to herself then cleared her throat. “Er…I mean…sorry, I just wanted to try that. I uh…have never actually kissed anyone before.”

“...Unexpected but not unwelcome,” Micro adjusted his glasses. “...I need to do more research into affectionate gestures. I’m not exactly experienced myself, so don’t worry.”

“Eeek…!” Wallflower cupped her hands against the sides of her face as she grinned from ear to ear, blushing upon hearing him say those words. “I love it when you start looking into things with that big hefty brain of yours…”

“Well it’s not that big, but…”

BZZZ!

Their idle chatter was interrupted by Wallflower’s phone ringing.

“...hello?”

“Turn on the TV in your hospital room right now!” Aidon shouted from the other end, “The court case with Applejack is happening as we speak!”

Micro immediately grabbed the nearby remote and pressed the button to turn the TV on. Sure enough, the news coverage was displaying everything for them to see.

“Oh no…”

At the courthouse…

“Applejack…” Applebloom called her name with a worried tone as she got up from her seat.

“Yer better than this,” Big Mac called out, “Let her go. She’s tryin’a get inside yer head.”

“Hey, hey, hey…” Keiji also jumped in, holding out his hands as he approached them. “Come on…there’s no need for this.”

It all happened so fast that Aria wasn’t able to react in time. “Ke--shit…” she grumbled as she opened her hand and prepared a small air blade…

“Applejack! You will be held in contempt of court if you don’t release her,” Judge Vera called out, “Don’t make a foolish mistake. Please.”

“You better listen to her. Unless you wanna end up like your pathetic old man!” Pomme continued to egg her on.

Keiji slipped his way in between them both, pointing at Pomme first, then looking at Applejack. “You shut your bitch-ass up. And Applejack, don’t let her do this to you. You’re only going to make yourself feel worse. Think about what your parents would’ve wanted you to do.”

Applejack shut her eyes for a moment. With Keiji in between her arms and blocking her from reaching Pomme, she let go.

“Everyone have a seat,” Pale commanded from nearby. “Don’t make me have to resort to force. Remain silent unless spoken to.”

From where she was sitting, Silver Spoon squinted her eyes and could see something protruding from Pomme’s jumpsuit sleeve. “...Wait…is that…Keiji!” She was unable to speak in her state of panic as a solid white magical aura surrounded her body…

But even then, Pomme would make a snide remark under her breath that only Applejack could hear. “...looks like yer pa raised a candy-ass after al--”

FWIP!

BANG!

CRASH!

Before anyone could react, Pomme could be seen on the floor with a bootprint across her chest.

With all of the officers and judge staring at her in disbelief, Applejack lowered her leg, tilted her hat up, and folded her arms.

“I was spoken to.”

Arc XXIX Episode II: Learning New Things

“Okay, so you’re aware of how we live in Kanata, yes?” Aidon pointed out the Northernmost country in North America on his map. “Formerly known as Newfoundland.”

“Yes,” Luna nodded enthusiastically and added, “Also known as ‘Mapleland’ to many due to how many maple trees exist here.”

“Exactly. And below us, we have the United States of Vinland. Now see, Vinland is actually the name that the vikings used to refer to this entire landmass when they first arrived in about 1000AD, yes?” Aidon asked to make sure she had been able to keep up.

Luna got closer to the map and gasped. “Ah! Yes, that’s right. That’s well over five hundred years before the Coltlumbus expedition.”

“Indeed. The Norse adventurers from Europa were the first ones to make contact with this side of the world. You’d be surprised at how many people tend to think that Coltlumbus was first. When they beat him by five hundred years as you said.”

“Hm…you know, you would make quite the history teacher in addition to your already impressive skill as a maths professor, Aidon,” Luna complimented him with a smile, “I never thought we’d be able to find a teacher that could actually make math exciting for the students, and yet here we are.”

Aidon blushed in response to that. “Well…it is a very difficult, albeit mandatory subject to teach. However, I do recognize that it does have limited application once most of them find their careers.” He thought hard about it for a moment, and considered exactly what he had just said.

Maybe a change in hobby wouldn’t be so bad? Then again, Aidon was far from an expert on the history of this world.

“Well, there’s no need to force yourself to change your entire focus in life,” Luna encouraged him, “If you enjoy what you do, then there’s no harm in staying on that path. After all, I’ve only just now realized what I enjoy doing.”

“True, but if there’s other things you want to do in addition to your main work, it doesn’t hurt to branch out either,” Aidon replied as he glanced back at the map. “The history and foundation of this world is simply much different from Equestria’s. To the point where I’d like to study more in my off time. Of course, helping the students learn will also remain my top priority.”

“Admirable--but do remember to take some time for yourself, yes? You’re not obligated to focus on everyone else’s problems forever. It’s as I mentioned with what we saw on the news earlier.”

Aidon couldn’t argue with that. If he spent most of his life worrying about other people, he wouldn’t have enough time to take care of himself and what he needed--as well as wanted--for his own future.

“Once again, you’re right. You seem to know exactly what my pains are whenever they come up, hm?”

“Just the perks of being a school VP for so long,” she explained with her bashful tone once more, “It’s nothing to really write home about.”

“I’d say it does. The fact that you’ve managed to hold down such a position without tearing your hair out is impressive in and of itself,” he explained with an ironic chuckle. “I’m amazed that you’ve managed to maintain your good looks in spite of it. Most people would’ve succumbed to stressful aging.”

“I…er…” Luna stuttered as she looked down at herself, “...my figure is also not very remarkable, but I appreciate the fact that you’ve noticed. I…like to exercise quite a bit, you see. It keeps my skin and body looking well. Though I prefer to do it at night myself. Much more peaceful.”

Aidon’s eyes shot open in amazement. “Really? Me too. Though, I tend to work out whenever the opportunity presents itself. Even if the gym is unavailable. What are your preferred methods, Luna?”

“Well, I do so very enjoy a nice run through the city park at night,” she admitted with a smile on her face, “I know it’s not exactly the safest idea in the world for a woman like me, but it’s simply much more enjoyable than trying to deal with other people during the day. Not to mention all of my favorite animals are around such as owls, raccoons, possums--I actually have one as a pet believe it or not.”

“Oh I agree. I actually like rats myself--” Aidon paused mid-sentence and tilted his head. “Wait, you actually have a pet possum? And here I thought humans hated their existence…”

Luna scoffed and placed a hand on her chest. “Hm. Well I am not like ‘most humans.’ Sure, many of them are wild, but they’re not the savages that the media portrays them as. They actually limit the spread of lyme disease that ticks often carry. And they’re actually extremely resistant to rabies. Not many of them actually carry it.” She then folded her arms and pouted. “Everyone’s afraid of them for no good reason. My little Tiberius is a sweet little thing that does no harm to anyone.”

Aidon’s eyes went wide as he considered the possibilities of the falsehoods he had been fed about humans and their relationships with animals.

“...Very interesting indeed. If given the chance, I’d love to meet Tiberius. It might actually help me learn more about the fauna of this world--and you as well.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Luna agreed, “I’ve been meaning to invite you to my home for some time anyway. I would so love to show you the same hospitality that you’ve shown me as a guest, Aidon.”

“Sounds just swell,” he agreed with a smile, “Though for the moment, I’d like to take you onto my roof. I have something that you might like to see once it gets dark.”

“...Is it a telescope?” she guessed with a chipper tone--her hands clasped together in excitement.

Aidon paused for a moment, then replied with a grin. “...yes, actually. Follow me.”

“Eeee! I love studying the moon and the stars! I’m elated to have found someone else that shares such an interest. It’s as if we are perfect for each other--” Luna squealed as she followed him upstairs, blushing as she realized what she had just said, “Er…I mean--”

“...I agree,” Aidon replied as smoothly as he could while hustling upstairs, leaving Luna a flushed wreck as her whole face turned red.

“...He’s so caring and dashing…” she muttered to herself, “...what a beautiful man.”

“...did you say something, Luna?”

Unfortunately, she was too nervous to repeat herself. “...I said that sounds like a plan!”