Dispose of Carefully

Chapters

Something's Amiss
Preparation and Evaluation
Infiltration and Observation
Deceptive Reunion
Ancho(red) In Reality
All Is Well In Canterlot
The Root Cause
Countermeasures
Conversations
Correspondance
Transmission, Part 1
Transmission, Part 2
Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

Something's Amiss

There was a great flash of light and the girl in the middle of the square was gone. In her place rose a creature one could only call demonic. Fiery red wings sprawled from the creature's back, their slow flapping somehow able to keep it stable in the air. Yellow streakes interchanged with red waves on the creature's dress, a similarly colored tail sprouted from the creatures waist. It stretched and cackled madly, sending cyan and white rays from its hands and into the two students below. The pair was engulfed in bright light, and when it dissipated, two demons stood in their place.

To Thunderlane's horror, the creature finally noticed the group of students huddled near the school's entrance. She approached them, just as the last student closed the door behind them.

"I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight just to get my hands on this crown, and it really should've been mine all along!" She scowled, and Thunderlane felt himself shrink under her scornful gaze. Is her eye twitching?!

"But let's let bygones be bygones" She adopted a kinder expression, the action too sudden to be genuine. "I am your Princess now" The same energy sparkled in the middle of her forehead, a cyan ring enveloping her hand. "And you will be loyal to Me!

Just as Thunderlane reached for his phone, a large chunk of the entrance was torn and cast asunder. Students ran around screaming, desperately trying to get away from the demon. With shaking hands Thunderlane began filming the creature, all the while backpedalling away.

Suddenly all the students stopped dead in their tracks, hypnotised by the creature's magic. Thunderlane was unable to look away as the incessant gnawing burrowed into his mind and assaulted him into submission. His phone impacted the rubble-filled floor, laying at just the right angle to record the bright rainbow that descended on the beast, swallowing it whole.

From: webbot@foundation.org 16.09.2016
To: damniel@foundation.org
Subject: Manual Evaluation

Foundation experimental analytics AI "Silver" has detected extranormal occurances depicted in the following video file.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=█████

The material is free of Cognitohazards or Memetic agents. Verify or disprove the detection and report to Site 42 Senior Researcher Michael █████.

This is an automated message, do not respond.

A drab olive hand scartched at the irratated skin under the man's stubble, not helping with the itching sensation that bugged the human for the better part of the day. He sighed and reached for his cup of coffee, hoping the rush of caffeene will be enough of a distraction. Another night, another session of digging through his work email, hoping against hope nothing too urgent has been lost to the pitless abyss that was his mailbox.

He clicked on the link and watched the video in full, a bit of drowsiness dissapating with every passing frame. Demonic-looking creatures? Check. "Magic Beams"? Check. Local destruction? Check.

Oh yeah, that was most certainly something abnormal. He drafted a quick responce to his superior, recommending further investigation and hit send. He yawned and checked his wristwatch. 03:13. Dang it, he's done it again. He worked overtime for the fifth time in a row, and judging by the fact that the last bus home departed a good while ago, he'll have to sleep at his desk. Again.

The things he does for 401(k).

He lamented the distinct lack of pillows at Site 42's break room as he picked up his laptop and stepped out of his comfortable, if small, office. The last drop of coffee dribbled off the cup's edge and into his mouth as he walked through the white corridors of his workplace.

"Might as well get a sofa for my office," He grumbled to no-one in particular. "probably should've done that before putting a coffee machine there, but oh well." He slammed into the door shoulder first and stumbled into the thankfully empty break room. He plopped onto the decintly soft sofa, placing a surprisingly half-full box of donuts on the nearby table and opening his laptop that was comfortably sitting on his belly.

Ready for a night of a substandart movie experience accompanied by periodic attempts at doing whatever work he had left to do before his well-deserved paid vacation, he cracked his knuckles and searched through his computer for a comfy movie to fall asleep to. He was about to put his favourite movie about a certain web crawler, when his eyes drifted to his mailbox, that all of a sudden had one more incoming letter. He lazily moused over the pop-up and clicked.

From: michallen@foundation.org 16.09.2016
To: damniel@foundation.org
Subject: Workplace Protocol

Danny, I have recieved your report, and I have only one question for you.

Aren't you tired yet?

I understand that your position may not be the most exiting one in The Foundation, and that occasional pranks help to liven up the workplace, but this is unacceptable.

This AI was created with a singular purpose of aiding with the discovery and containment of anomalous items and phenomena, and any conscious attempts at disruption could be ruled as sabotage. You and I know that you are qualified enough to see through this blatant CGI. I bet you thought it was hilarious to rope your Canterlot buddies into this, didn't you? Five minuetes of fame, huh? Well, I refuse to open an investigation and veto any further attempt to open one in the future, Lord knows I've got enough false reports in one day.

Need I remind you that there are worse positions in the Foundation? I understand that our line of work can be tiring, so perhaps it's a good thing you're cashing in your vacation. Plenty of time for reflection.

Best wishes,

Michael Allen.

Daniel raised his eyebrows as he finished reading the letter. Was Mike out of his mind? He'd bet any of his fingers that what he'd seen was real, but just to be sure he clicked the link again. He watched and rewatched the video for the next half an hour, meticulously searching for any imperfecions in the so-called CGI. Now, he wasn't an expert on computer graphics by any means, but what he was an expert in, was most things anomalous.

And fuck him gently with a chainsaw if he was wrong about this being anomalous. He whipped up his phone and called the only person he had on speed dial. Seconds passed as rash ringing pierced the silence of the break room, until finally someone picked up the phone.

"Who's this?" A tired voice inquired over the line, a voice that Daniel heard many times in his life.

"Hey Al, It's me Danny-"

"Danny!?" Alex shouted over the phone, promting a bout of tinnitus in Daniel.

"The one and only." He replied, clearing his ear with his finger. "Did you really need to shout?"

"Danny, It's almost four in the fucking morning. I'm morally, and legally, liable to tell you to go fuck yourself and go back to sleep, so if you've got something important to say - spill it." The man grumbled, tossing in his bed.

"Right, right. Have you, by any chance, recieved an email from the new AI they were testing today?"

"Yeah, it was nostalgic to see Canterlot High after all this time, what of it?" Daniel bit his lip before replying.

"What did you think of it?" The man on the line stifled a yawn before replying.

"Another demon invasion, another thursday for containment teams, what's the big deal?" Alex replied, irritation creeping into his voice.

"I've got the same email today. When I verified that it was real, Mike said I was full of it, that I 'roped' you and other Canterlot guys into pranking him."

"Same here, I didn't pay it much mind though, was too busy enjoying my paid vacation." Daniel could hear the shit-eating grin Alex was wearing.

"The thing is, you're the only guy I know from Canterlot," He pulled up the Foundation's database and skimmed through what was available for his measly level 2 clearance. "don't you think its strange that all of us marked the video as real, and the one guy who isn't from there says it's fake?"

"It could be coincidence..." Alex trailed off, thinking about something.

"You know it better than I that there are no coincidences in our line of work." Daniel's eyes went wide as he found something he was looking for, or rather hasn't found. "There's no file on Canterlot in the database."

"What?!" Alex shouted once again, sending Daniel's ears ringing once again. "Maybe your clearence isn't high enough?"

"Doubt it, there'd be an 'access denied' or 'data redacted' plaque if that was the case." He double checked his search and sighed. "But there's nothing." He heard the sound of commotion on the phone. "What are you doing, Al?"

"I'm going down to Canterlot to see things for myself." Sounds of running water filled the line. "Something's fishy going on in my hometown, and I don't like it."

"Like hell you're going there without me!" Daniel said, grabbing his laptop and runnig to his office to grab a backpack and a few necessities.

"Didn't count on it, Danny." Daniel heard the sound of a running motor on the phone. "You at work right now?"

A defeated sigh escaped the man's lips as he stepped out of his office. "Where else could I be?"

Twilight Sparkle ~~trotted~~ strolled through the empty halls of Canterlot High, making her way to ~~Princess~~ Principal Celestia's office. If not for the fact she was about to leave this world and return home, the constant need to adjust her language to this world's standarts would've given her an aneurysm. She was relieved that everything went the way it did, even if the school will require some urgent repair work. Sunset has seen the way of friendship, the crown was returned to its rightful owner, and everything was set right.

Right?

Still, there was something that was bothering Twilight, something too important to leave unattended before going home. In her short time on Earth she's learned about many mind blowing technological wonders humanity came up with. Cars, phones, television, everything was new and exciting, but there was one thing that rendered her speechless the first time she saw it.

The Internet was truly a wonder, a bottomless pit of information, an ocean of insight comprised of innumerable droplets of individual human knowledge. Yet among the veritable goldmines of useful expertise, there were the inevitable time sinks of great evil dubbed 'social media' and 'video hosting service'. The thought alone made Twilight shudder, how could so many ~~ponies~~ people waste so much of their time?

It was because of these time sinks Twilight was standing in front of Celestia's office right now. She knocked on the wooden door three times, waiting for an answer.

"Come in." A motherly voice replied, prompting Twilight to do just that.

Despite the late hour, Celestia's office was bathed in golden light that, while completely artificial, was pretty close to the real deal. From behind a wooden table housing a broad selection of assorted office clutter a weary smile of a familiar, yet alien ruler greets Twilight. The young woman returns a smile in kind, taking a seat on a conveniently placed chair at her side of the table.

Principal Celestia finished writing something on a piece of paper and moved it aside before facing Twilight. "Twilght Sparkle, I must express my thanks for your actions in the past few hours. If not for you, I shudder to imagine what Sunset would do." She shook her head and sighed. "But you're not here to recieve my gratitude, are you?"

Just as perceptive as I remember."Yes, Your Hi-" Twilight faked a cough. "Yes, Principal. Something's been bothering me for the last few hours, and I couldn't leave without sharing my worries with you." Celestia nodded, urging Twilight to continue. "When Sunset put on the crown and transformed, there were a lot of students that saw it, and I couldn't help but think..." Twilight sighed. "How many of your students have personal phones?"

Celestia's brows furrowed. "I see what you're getting at, I've already implored our students not to upload any footage thy managed to shoot. Furthermore, I asked to delete anything that was uploaded already, although I might've been too late."

"Too late? What do you mean too late?!" Twilight questioned in distress. Celestia's warm smile melted her concerns just a tad.

"There's a saying, Twilight. 'Nothing can be completely removed from the internet.' An exagerration, of course, but a rule of thumb nonetheless." Twilight wondered how human appendages were relevant to the discussion at ~~hoof~~ hand, but let it slide.

"So what if somebody sees what happened? Wouldn't it cause a panic?" In a world devoid of magic such... violent demonstrations of spellcasting would surely attract attention, right? Celestia shook her head and allowed herself a small chuckle.

"Believe it or not Twilight, but many would write such outstanding occasion as a mere advertisement campaign, or an amateur movie." Seeing Twilight's uncertainty, Celestia leaned on the table and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "I assure you, there is nothing to worry about."

Twilight wasn't completely assured but she saw no other way to adress the issue. She had to leave post-haste, lest she'd miss her only chance to go home in a long time. She had no other choice than trust Celestia's word on this matter. Besides, the Principal knew this world far better than Twilight did, and had much more experience with the Internet and life in general. She sighed and nodded, flashing Principal Celestia a smile.

"You're right, Principal. I'm probably overthinking things."

A light breeze ruffled Daniel's short hair as he gazed at the night sky, especially at the moon. In his line of work he saw many things most consider mind blowing, both in the good and the bad way. From eldritch insight beyond human comprehension to a self duplicating cake, he's seen a lot. Yet despite it all, the night sky always grabbed his attention. What secrets could the distant stars hold? What lies beneath the crust of the pale blue orb in the sky? What-

"What are you doing, standing here all by yourself?" A calm voice of a checkpoint guard sounded like a thunderstorm in the quet of the night, making the man jump a little. "You've missed the last bus by a good few hours, so unless you want to freeze your ass off, I'd recommend you stay the night at the facility." Daniel huffed and turned to face the road, ignoring the man.

"I'm expecting a pick-up, a friend's gonna come any second now." He paid no mind to the snort coming from his side.

"Yeah, like hell you're waiting for a ride in five in the morning!" Just then, a silver Ford F-150 appeared over the horizon, rapidly making its way towards the chekpoint along the asphalt road. Daniel turned to the guard with a shit-eating grin.

"Told you."

The guard rolled his eyes and huffed. "We'll see, maybe it's the morning shift." Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"At five in the morning?"

"Shuddup!"

The car stopped at the gate, and a window rolled down. Before the guard could ask for identification, a biege hand jutted out, holding an ID card. The guard squinted before nodding and opening the gate. Daniel dashed to the car and opened the front passanger door, but not before casting the guard a condescending glance.

"Glad you didn't bet on it, huh?" With that, he shut the door and made himself comfortable in the leather seat, yawning a little as he fished a full thermos out of his bag.

"Good to see you, Al." Daniel placed the thermos by his side as the car backpedalled out of the chekpoint, before doing a U-turn and speeding off into the distance, leaving the facility behind.

"I'd say the same if it wasn't five in the morning, Danny." Alex grumbled, keeping his eyes on the road. He perked up as a familiar smell entered his nostrils. He glanced at Danny and saw him drinking a steaming brown liqud. "Is that coffee?"

"Yep. Never leave home without it." He smiled as he took a sip of his beverage, before holding a cup to Alex. "Want some?"

"More than anything." Alex grabbed the cup with his left hand, keeping his right one on the wheel. He took a sip of the drink, and found it pleasantly warm. He poured the remains of black coffee down his throat before returning the cup. He shivered as he savored the taste. "Ahh, good to see you too, Danny."

"That bad, huh? It could've waited 'till morning, you know?" Daniel chuckled lightly, packing away the thermos. His mirth disappated as he looked at his friend's hardened expression.

"It can't wait, and you know why. Whatever happened there, it ain't right. Why does the Foundation have no files on Canterlot? Why have Mike ignored whatever happened in that video?" He gripped the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white. "The whole setup reeks of trouble."

"You can say that again." Daniel said, kicking back in his seat. "I've done some digging while waiting for you, and results are... concerning." He pulled out his laptop and opened it. "There's lots of info on Canterlot on the web, but not a speck of it on our Intranet. Usually there's a couple of false alarms, persons of interest, catalogued anomalous events, you get the idea. And guess what?"

"Nothing?" Alex inquired, already knowing the answer.

"Fucking zero, zip, zilch, nada!" Daniel exploded, throwing his hands in the air, hitting the roof of the truck in the process. "Ouch!" Alex shook his head.

"Calm down before you kill yourself, or worse: damage my car." He smiled at his own joke as he heard a growl from beside him.

"Hardy har har." Daniel sighed and opened his email. "I've also asked some coworkers about what happened, and found something very interesting. The guys from Canterlot more or less said that they thought it was real, while everyone else were practically foaming at the mouths, trying to convince me it was fake."

"That is... unusual." Alex replied, eyes still glued to the road. He blinked as he realised something. "Wait a sec, how did you get in touch with so many people, in the dead of night no less?" A nervous laughter to his side wasn't promising.

"Well... Some of them were still awake, it's saturday morning, after all." He said it with a certain finality, like he didn't want to proceed.

"And the rest?" Alex pressed anyways.

"I've pestered them until they responded." Daniel responded timidly. Alex shook his head and sighed.

"That's why you have no friends."

"I have you." Daniel snorted.

"That's 'cause I got to know you before you were an asshole." Alex retorted, prompting Daniel to chuckle.

"Birds of a feather flock together, eh?"

A deafening silence hanged over the car, but lasted for a second before two friends hollered with laughter. A good minuite or two passed before the pair recovered. Daniel closed his laptop and put it away, leaning towards the stereo system. Noticing this, Alex decided to intervene before something disasterous occured.

"Don't touch the stereo, or I swear to whatever diety that listens I'll throw you out." The threat did nothing to discorage his friend, who began to fiddle with the device. After a minuite of fruitless searching, he decided to change his approach.

"Al, pass me the aux." Alex was about to decline, but after carefull consideration decided that driving in complete silence would be worse than listening to what his friend played.

"Fine, but you better not play trash." Alex replied, unlocking a glove box and pulling out the coveted cord.

Daniel snatched the wire and connected his phone to the stereo, searching for a song on his phone.

"Trust me, this is a certified bop."

A smile split Alex's lips as the melody filled his car.

"For once in your life, Danny, you did not disappoint."

Author's Note

MLP and SCP, two of my favourite abbreviations finally coming together! Hopefully this product of my pathological graphomania will interest and entertain you, to the best of my abilities, anyway.

As always, leave a comment if you've got criticism, I'd love to hear it!

You wouldn't believe how much restrain it took not to link this song.

Preparation and Evaluation

A quiet snoring reverberated through the room Daniel occupied, the lack of furniture amplifying the sound. What was he dreaming of, you ask? Probably a warm bed and a raise.

A loud slam jerked Daniel out of his no doubt pleasant dream, forcing him to look around. Plain white walls surrounded him on all sides, the floor and ceiling following the same pattern. To his surprise, Daniel couldn't spot a door in the room, but decided he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it.

His most pressing problem as of right now, seemed to be an imposing figure leaning on the table, towering above him. He, and judging by the lack of breasts it was indeed a 'he', wore a strict black business suit, but his facial features were somewhat hazy, the only discernable thing was a big 4 covering most of his face.

"Doctor Daniel!" The figure bellowed, prompting the aformentioned doctor to sit ramrod straight. The voice while easy to hear, sounded... changed. Like it was run through one of those pitch-change programs.

"Sir!" Daniel yelped, coming to his senses.

"I, O5-4 would like to congratulate you on the success of your mission, and award you with Foundation's Medal of Honor." The man stretched his strangely disproportional arms towards Daniel, pinning the medal on his white lab coat.
"Furthermore, I promote you to Senior researcher, and allow you a six month paid vacation." Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"What about Mike?"

"Michael will be demoted to junior researcher for his unability to ascertain danger." Somehow, dispite not having a mouth, the figure smiled. "He'll be placed under your command."

"Fucking sweet." Daniel smirked, kicking back in his chair. He blinked when he rememberd something, or rather someone. "My friend, Alex-"

"Has been promoted to head of Security Department." The man's smile disappeared with a blink of an eye. "He also needs you to wake up." Daniel felt the earth go out from under him, plummeting into the darkness below.

Wake up, Danny.

"Wake up Danny, we're here!" Alex's voice bellowed from beside Daniel, forcing him to jump a liitle, hitting his head on the car's roof. Daniel groaned and turned to glare at his friend with as much strength as his sleepy body could muster.

"I hate you." He mumbled, reaching for his thermos, only to find it empty.

"I take it you slept well then? Can't fathom how you fell asleep with that kind of music on stereo." He smirked, pulling to a stop on the side of a relatively empty city street. Alex turned to Daniel, only to see him glaring daggers. "Don't give me that look, I'm the one who's been driving nonstop for the past-" He looked at his wristwatch. "-five hours, I needed that coffee far more than you did."

"I suppose so." Daniel sighed, relenting. He looked out of the window, appreciating the scenery. Canterlot's surely grown since the last time he's been there, no doubt about it. Still, he appreciated the relatively small houses that stayed mostly unchanged. He fondly remembered the mom and pop shops that used to be there, the grassy lawns in front of Canterlot High. The familiaf campus with that odd horse statue-

Wait a second.

"Why are we at Canterlot High?" Daniel raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Isn't that why we're here?" Alex replied, stretching his sore limbs to the best of his ability.

"You do understand we need a place to stay in? This'll likely take more than a few days to resolve." Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

Alex snorted before replying. "Finding a hotel in this town is a pain in the ass, found nothing on the net." He rolled his window down and looked for passersby. "Our best bet is asking the locals for directions and hope there is a working hotel in this shithole." His eyes widened as he elboved his friend and pointed at something.

"Danny, isn't that the girl from the video?"

Daniel turned to see a pair of girls walking down the road in the direction of the school. One of them had bright red and yellow hair, their resemblence to bacon would've made Daniel smirk if not for the person they belonged to. She wore a black leather jacket, a purple skirt and black boots. Next to her was a stetson-wearing blonde girl, who wore a blue denim skirt as well as a white shirt with a picture of an apple. High cowboy boots, as well as her rugged appearance solidified the fact that the girl was most likely working on a farm.

"Most likely, but what is she doing here? Wasn't she a demon, like a day ago?" Daniel said, scratching his stubble. "And who's that girl with her?"

"Well, why don't we find out?" Alex said with a smirk, lowering his car's window. "Hey, miss!" He waved his hand at the pair, getting their attention. "Yes, you with the bacon hair, can you come closer?" The two girls shared a glance and shrugged, approaching the car.

"Hi there fella, yall wanted somethin' from Sunset here?" The blonde asked, her friendly voice hiding her suspiscion well from an untrained eye.

"Yes, I'm afraid we're in need of directions." Alex replied with a friendly smile.

"We?" Sunset squinted at the man, trying to peek around him.

"Yes, my friend and I were visiting Canterlot and wondered if there were any hotels availible." He sighed in mock frustration. "Unfortunately we couldn't find any on the internet, and I hoped to get some help from the locals." He finished with as sincere smile as he could muster. Daniel peeked from behind his friend and waved his hand to the two girls.

"Why, of course Ahl help!" The blonde girl said, leaning on the car and giving directions to Alex. All the while Daniel continued staring at Sunset, who, after a minute or two, noticed it. She glared at the man, recieving a small smile in return.

"What are you lookin at?" She growled at the man, catching the attention of both the blonde and Alex.

"Sunset Shimmer! That's ain't a way to talk to a friendly stranger! " Applejack scolded, placing a hand on Sunset's shoulder. The fiery girl gave the blonde an angry glare, but sighed, her shoulders sagging. Applejack nodded towards the man and Sunset turned to Daniel with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry, I'm new to this 'friendship' shtick. I'm not used to-"

"Being nice?" Daniel teased, wincing as Alex elboved him in the stomach. He sent a glare Daniel's way before adressing Sunset.

"Forgive my friend here, he's insufferable at the best of times, and his recent lack of sleep worsened the situation." He forced a smile, adressing the blonde girl. "I'm afraid we have to go, so many things to see in Canterlot!" He chuckled, pretending to be amused. "Thank you for your help, miss..."

"Applejack." The blonde smiled, offering him a hand which he shook. "It was no trouble, really!" She was about to ask for the stranger's name, when the roar of an engine startled her, the two men driving leaving the girls to bite the dust.

The two men were silent for the entire ride to the hotel, which, embarassingly, was a few streets away from Canterlot High. After paying an exorbetent price for such a shitty hotel, in Daniel's opinion that is, the thoroughly exhausted coworkers trudged into the room and plummeted onto two separate beds that were graciously made by the hotel staff.

Both exhaled as they were finally allowed the opportunity to relax, although the comfortable silence didn't last long.

"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" Alex wondered with a due amount of annoyance. Daniel shifted on his bed, suppresing a yawn.

"C'mon, Bacon Hair basically set herself up, it'd be a shame to pass such opportunity up!" The man pouted, eliciting an irratated snort from Alex.

"This 'Bacon Hair' would probably mop the floor with you if it weren't for Applejack's guilt tripping her into apologising." Alex scolded.

"Guess I'm lucky Hayseed came to my aid." Daniel retorted.

"They have names, you know." Alex remarked. "'Sunset Shimmer' and 'Applejack' are not hard to remember." Daniel groaned in responce.

"Every time I say one of those ridiculous names out loud, a part of me dies inside." He replied in a dead-serious tone, prompting Alex to chuckle. "For real though, I'm super glad dad talked mom out of naming me something ridiculous, otherwise you'd be talking to Olive Branch, or some stupid shit like that!" The two of them hollered with laughter.

"You would've been one hell of a peace negotiator then!" Alex retorted. "For real though, I suggest you stop throwing our cover before we evan began collecting data on them."

"Cover? We don't have cover yet." Daniel argued, rising into a sitting position and pulling out his laptop. "Although I can come up with one."

"Shoot." Daniel replied in a tired tone. "Just remember that we'll need to get onto the school grounds to investigate, and we'll need to be there for some time. I doubt the school will let two thirty-something strangers wander its grounds."

"Aha, but you're mistaken!" Daniel excalimed, typing away at his laptop. "If things go my way, by tomorrow we'll be two members of American Schools Association, sent to inspect the quality of Canterlot High's education."

"You're a real bastard, you know that?" Alex replied with a smile.

"I take pride in that fact."

"I'm telling you Applejack, there's something fishy going on with those two!" Sunset poked today's porridge unenthusiastically as the pair sat in the school's cafeteria. The bell just rung, and the cafeteria was rapidly emptying, but the two girl's weren't in any hurry to attend class, there was a window in their schedule, after all.

"Darn it Sunset, I'm telling ya for the hundrenth time, just 'cause a guy spaced out doesen't mean they're up to somethin'!" Applejack retorted, choosing to ignore the porrige in favor of Granny Smith's special apple jam.

"I didn't say they're up to something." Sunset retorted. "I'm just... wary, you know? With all that's happened lately, I can't help but feel... helpless." She sighed, pushing the food tray aside. "Not too long ago if I wanted to know something, all I had to do is pull a few strings to get the full picture." She grasped her head in her hands an leaned on the table. "Same thing if I wanted to get things done, but now?" She shook her head. "Those days are over."

"An' that's good, right sugarcube?" Applejack questioned with a supportive smile.

"Of course!" Sunset nodded frantically. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, I just..." Sunset went quiet for a few seconds, searching for the right word. "Miss being in control, I guess."

Applejack patted Sunset's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Ya don't need to be in control all the time, Sunset. Not when ya got friends!" The cowgirl flashed Sunset an honest smile, but all she got in responce was a mirthless chuckle.

"Has anyone told you you're a terrible liar?" A pained smile graced Sunset's lips. "None of the girls even tried to approach me for the past few days, barring you, of course. And when I try to talk to them they always find an excuse to leave." Sunset shook her head. "I'm not saying we should become best buddies right off the bat... But I'm not blind either." Her shoulders sagged, promting a frown from Applejack.

"Now that just ain't right to avoid ya like that! I'll talk to the girls and ya'll be good friends in a week or two!" Applejack was pleased to see an honest, if small, smile for on Sunser's lips.

"Thank you, Applejack." Sunset's smile receded. "Do you think I'm worrying over nothing? With those guys, I mean?"

Applejack wanted to say yes, by Faust she did. But in this very moment, when she stared into Sunset's hopeful, cyan eyes that pleaded her to tell the truth, she found she couldn't lie.

"Ah... Ah'd like to say that you've got nothin' to worry about... But ah' can't." Applejack shut her eyes and exhaled. "The fella that asked for directions, he wasn't truthfull, not fully, at least."

"What do you mean?" Sunset inquired.

"He said that he's just visitin', right?" Sunset nodded. "Well, that's not all they're here for. Ahm' sure of it."

Four girls were quetly chatting in a small classroom. That classroom was usually reserved for after-hours activity, such as club meetings, board game tournaments, or additional lessons for students struggling with school program or those that want to better prepare for their exams. On rare occasions, however, when the classroom was left unattended, the key easily obtained from a security guard on the first floor. All you had to do, was to write your name in the guard's journal and return the key before going home, simple as.

Fluttershy wasn't sure why Applejack asked all of the girls to gather here after class, but as a good friend she arrived in time. Perhaps Sunset's done something? Something Applejack couldn't talk about in public in fear of Sunset overhearing her? Whatever it was, Fluttershy was there to listen and help.

The door opened a little too forcefully, and in came an angry-looking Applejack, a single look at her made Fluttershy wince. Rarity the next most startled by Applejack's entrance next to Fluttershy, was the first to speak.

"My Goodness, Applejack! Was there really a need for such an... uncouth entrance?" Snapping out of her momentary stupor, Rainbow followed her friend's example.

"Yeah, AJ, what's the matter? First you call us to gather here after class without explaining anything, then you barge in here like you own the damn place!" The colorful girl complained.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know what's the matter!" Pinkie perked up, practically shaking in anticipation. "Are we throwing Sunny a 'Elcome To The Bright Side, So Glad You Didn't Destroy The School As A Scary Demon' party? I think she could really use a party right now! I've actually been planning one for her aaaaall day, so much so I didn't have time to talk to her!" She babbled exitedly, stopping when she noticed Applejack's serious expression.

"W-what happened, Applejack?" Fluttershy inquired meekly, hoping her calm approach would diffuse the situation. "Is it something Sunset has done? Because if it is-" Her euestion was cut short by a rather harsh retort.

"Nah, this here meeting ain't about Sunset." Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, one that wasn't menat to last. "It's about ya'll! Or rather, your treatment of Sunset." The room remained silent, three out of five occupants having nothing to say. The first one to break this silence was, of course, Pinkie.

"I know I might've been a little dismissive of Sunny-" Pinkie's hair deflated a little, her poofines coming back with a vengeance a moment later. "But I only did it so she wouldn't suspect I'm planning a party for her! Besides, she's got you girls to keep her busy, right?" Pinkie searched her friends for confirmation. Fluttershy hid from Pinkie's gaze behind her hair, not wanting to admit she was too scared to approach the bacon haired girl. Rarity pursed her lips and decided that the ceiling patterns were quite unique and divinely fitting for the room. Rainbow was the only one who met Pinkie's now accusatory gaze head on, crossing her arms with an unapologetic expression on her face.

Finally, Pinkie looked to Applejack, who was standing in the middle of the room with a stern expression on her face.

"W-were you the only one who talked to Sunny?" Pinkie's question came out more like a plea.

"Eeyup." Applejack answered, causing Pinkie's hair to deflate.

"Bu-but that means..."

"Ahm the only one who's been talking to Sunny all day, right after promised to teach Sunset about friendship!" The room was silent again, as Applejack stared down her friends. "Why are yall doing this to her?"

"I don't want to talk to her, plain and simple." Rainbow retorted angirly. "She kept the people on this school at each other's throats for what feels like forever! She manipulated others for her own gains! She drove us apart!" Rainbow all but yelled. "After all that, do you think she deserves this second chance?" She snorted. "Forget it."

"I'm afraid I'll have to side with Rainbow, for once." Rarity began, somewhat unsure of herself. "I remember how... daunting it was to attend Canterlot High when Sunset was a 'queen bee' as it were." She shifted in her seat a little at the memories. "She was exceedingly good at manipulation, darling. All I'm saying is... What if it's just another scheme of hers?"

Applejack turned to Fluttershy who eep'd from the sudden action. Applejack's features relaxed slightly at that, giving the shy girl enough courage to speak.

"I-I was too afraid to approach her." She began, tweedling her hair in the process. "She could be very mean if she wants to, and I can't get over that this quickly." She hid further away behind her hair. "Sorry."

Applejack sighed and shook her head. "Now listen here yall, ahm' not saying yall should act buddy-buddy with her, and ah understand that it isn't easy to get over all the things that she's done, but for Faust's sake, give the girl a chance!" She turned to Pinkie with a kind smile. "Pinkie, it's harder to not expect a party from you, no offense, so I'd say it's safe for you to talk to Sunset."

Next on the line, Fluttershy. "Shy, I get that Sunny can be intimidating at times, but she's trying her best." She offered the shy girl a warm smile, one she returned in kind.

"Rarity." The word came out harsher than she expected. "Ah'll agree that live 'under' Sunset was hard, and it's hard to give the benefit of the doubt to someone like her." She put a hand on the seamstress' shoulder. "But people change, and Sunset can change too. Just give her a chance." A loud snort from her side brought Rainbow to mind.

"And you, Rainbow! Don't think ah don't remember your sophmore year!" She jabbed a finger at the rainbow-haired girl. "You've been an arrogant, self-centered and boastful hoofball player, and some would argue you're still are." Before Rainbow could say anything, Applejack continued. "But ah know better. Because all of us gave you a chance, we got to see a side of you that no one seen 'fore." She circled the girls present in the room with her hand. "We saw a girl who'd do anything for her friends, who'd protect the weak even if it meant getting over her own ego. In short, we saw a loyal, reliable friend." Mere inches separated their faces. "Where's that friend now?" She finished, turning sharply and returning to the center of the room.

Silence fell over the room, one that lasted for a while as Applejack waited for a rebuttal that never came.

"Tomorrow, yall would at least try to give Sunset a chance, promise?" She held out a hand, and soom enough four more hands joined, overlapping eachother.

"Promise."

Author's Note

I can't for the life of me write Applejacks accent correctly. It either gets too redneck-y, or too normal.

I am in a state of constant agony over this. :raritydespair:

Two chapter in two days! Can you guess for how long I can keep this rate? (Hint hint, not for long.)

Any and all critiscism is appreciated, especially if it is expressed in the form of a comment! :raritywink:

Infiltration and Observation

A cold morning breeze swept through the hotel room from an open window as Daniel looked at his fake ID badge. It was decent, all things considered, not many are able to make a practically perfect forgery in less than a day, but his contact managed himself quite well.

The door behind him opened and closed, and a classy suit and tie landed on the bed beside him. He looked at it, and the man who brought the dress with a raised eyebrow.

"You bought a suit?"

"Rented." Alex replied from his own bed, getting out of his blue jeans and shirt into a more formal attire. "Two, actually. If we're posing as some big government inspectors, might as well look the part."

"True, I suppose." Daniel shrugged, placing his badge on the bedside table and changing into the black suit. It was a little small for him, but nothing he couldn't manage.

"Aight', before we head out I'd like to discuss our plan of action." Daniel said, testing how much he could stretch in his suit. Beckoning Alex to come closer, he pointed at a crudely drawn plan of the school sprawled on his bedside table.

"We get in through the main entrance and scout as much as possible until someone eventually calls the Principal." Alex began, pointing things out on the map. "The first one of us who gets 'caught' will introduce himself to her and feed our cover story, she'll then give a tour of the school, trying to show off the best and sweep the rest under the rug."

"Her?" Daniel interjected. "Don't you think there could've been a change of leadership?" Alex shook his head.

"As far as I know, Celestia's still in charge."

Daniel frowned, scratching his stubble. "Could she recognise us?"

"Highly doubt it. It's been a good while since we both last saw her, besides, a ton of students graduated under her, she can't remember every single one." Alex argued.

"Fine, what If we both get sent to her office?" Daniel offered.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Then we improvise. You can't account for everything, Danny." The man nodded, allowing Alex to continue. "One of us then gets into her office and skims through student profiles, finds one on Sunset Shimmer, and gets out of there ASAP. The other will hold the facade of an inspector, observing Sunset if possible."

"That's all fine and dandy, but what about the crown?" Daniel said, rapping his finger on the table. "Isn't it important?"

"I don't think so. If she's a type green-"

"Type green? You mean reality bender?" Daniel inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's what I meant." Alex replied with a nostalgic chuckle. "Had a jonied field op with some GOC guys a month or so ago, couldn't get their lingo out of my head." Daniel shook his head.

"Is that why you went on a paid vacation, Al?"

"More like forced to." Alex replied grimly. "Last type green was a tough son of a bitch." He shook his head. "Nevermind, we got sidetracked. As I was saying, if she's a type green, she doesen't need that little trinket to do all that crazy shit we've seen." Daniel scratched his stubble thoughtfully.

"Still, she might not know what she can do, most reality benders are unaware of their capabilities and write it off as luck." He started pacing around the hotel room. "She might think her powers are tied to the crown, thus consciously limiting their use." He stopped in place and turned to Alex. "Furthermore, she could be a 'type blue' as our part time friends from the UN call it, or, under our classification, people without innate magical abilities who learned to manipulate reality around them through thaumaturgy, occult ritual, or any other means." He approached Alex and leaned on the bedside table, looking at the crude map. "It's all speculation, of course, but we can't rule out such possibilities."

Daniel felt a hand patting him on the back.

"Attaboy, Danny! I didn't even think about type blue, good work." Danuel shot his friend a sly smile before replying.

"Why thank you, Al! But don't you worry, you won't have to think too much. After all, I'm the brains of this operation, busy yourself with being the brawl."

"Still an asshole though."

Sunset concentrated on the sound of dry leaves crunching under her feet as she made her way to Canterlot High. Her motivation to attend was mostly nonexistent, the only reason she got up today is to not disappoint Applejack, something she felt oddly terrible about doing. It was somewhat refreshing to care about what others thought of her, it was something she stopped doing right about the time she came to this world, right after Celestia-

No. That train of thought wouldn't lead to anything good, so best stop it before it departed from the station. Best to focus on the satisfying crunch she heard with every step. A bubbly voice broke her out of her thoughts, accompanied by the sound of a rapidly approaching steps. She braced for the inevitable impact, but was pleasantly surprised when she was enveloped in a fluffy, pink ebrace.

"Sunny!" She heard an excited voice call out her name from within the confines of the fluffy prison.

"Pinkie Pie? What are you doing?"

"I'm hugging you, silly billy!" She squeezed harder, and Sunset swore she heard her ribs groan from the pressure.

"Y-yeah, I noticed." She breathed a sigh of relief when Pinkie relented, relinquishing Sunset from her grasp. "What I meant is why you're hugging me."

"Because that's what friends do! They cheer each other up when they're down!" Pinkie exclaimed with a large smile, one Sunset couldn't help but return.

"Thank you, Pinkie." Sunset rubbed something out of her teary eye. "I think I needed that."

"No problemo! We should probably get going though, Mrs. Harshwinny gets really cranky if students are late to class!" Pinkie said skipping towards Canterlot High with Sunset in tow, the latter now residing in a considerably better mood. The closer the pair came to Canterolt High, the cleaner the sidewalks became, and soon enough there were no leaves left to crush with each step.

Soon enough they entered the school proper, noticing a peculear commotion just beyond the entrance hallway, where a group of students seemed to have circled around something. Having to pass the crowd on her way to class, Sunset's interest piqued when she heard the familiar and uncharacteristically peeved tone of Principal Celestia.

"Why wasn't I notified of this 'inspection'? Usually such affairs are scheduled preemptively."

Inspection? That's... unexpected. Sunset miraculously managed to avoid last one, arriving to Canterlot High right after such event. She groaned inwardly remembering all the trouble she got to, all in the name of hiding the fact that she didn't really have any paperwork to give to the school.

"That's becausse it's a surprise inspection, can't have one if you're notified about it, after all!" A chill went down Sunset's spine as a familiar male voice chuckle at his own joke.

"He has a point!" Pinkie pointed out, nodding her head with a thoughtful expression as Sunset wormed and pushed her way towards the front of the crowd.

"Still, I will write a letter to the ASA to clarify the situation." Celestia smiled pleasantly, even though she was displeased with the situation. "I'm sure you understand."

Sunset's eyes almost went out of orbits as she finally saw the source of the voice. A drab olive man dressed in a classy suit with a badge that read Damien, the same one she apologised to yesterday, was standing before her eyes, a friendly expression on his face.

"Of course, of course!" He assured with a smile and a wave of a hand. "I understand your concerns, and I'm sure by the end of today we'll be laughing at this little mistake over a cup of tea!" His enthusiastic smile died down into an impassive one. "Still, I must insist you do that during or after the inspection, my time is money, after all." His smile turned into a smirk. "I'm sure you understand." Celestia seemed to be in thought for a second before finally replying.

"Very well. I'll notify Luna to contact The ASA, while I accompany you during your inspection." She took out her phone and started typing, sparing the man a glance before continuing. "You wouldn't mind, I assume?"

"Not at all." He replied, the two of them slowly walking away from the crowd and in the direction of a random classroom. "Although I must ask, who is Luna?" He ask with clear interest. "If I'm not prying, that is."

"Not at all. Luna's my Vice-Principle," Celestia replied without hesitation. "and my sister."

Whatever words Damien wanted to say died in his throat as his breat hitched and he went into a coughing fit. Celestia layed a hand on his back and started patting.

"Are you alright? Should we call a nurse?" Celestia asked, clearly worried. The man shook his head, clearing his throat.

"No need, no need. My throat's drier than usual, is all." He tried to recover form his lie with a strained smile. The Principal squinted, observing his feature, prompting him to look away.

"Do I know you?" Celestia inquired, trying to get a better look at him.

"Don't think so, ma'am." He retorted, purposefully turning his head away from Celestia. He checked his wristwatch and fixed his tie. "Time's a wasting, Principal. I must conduct the inspection immediately." With that said, he marched away deeper down the hall, Celestia in tow.

Sunset wanted to tell Celestia not to trust the man, wanted to tell her that she saw him yesterday, but her words were drowned by the reverberating ringing of the school bell.

The wooden door opened with a draw-out creak, much to the displeasure of a biege man in a classy suit. He thanked the stars that the school bell had rung just in time to conceal the sound, lest he attract some unwarranted attention. Stepping over the precepice and closing the door behind him and cringing once more from the awfull noise, he looked over the room.

The whole office was bathed in golden light that poured into the room from the window, complimening the decor quite well. An assortment of office clutter, from papers to pens, to ink correctors were sorted into neat racks on the table, everything staying in its place as intended.

It was for this reason Alex, or rather Alan, if his ID badge was to be believed, felt a slight twinge of remorse when he started browsing through the papers, fumbling to find what he was looking for and likely leaving enough evidence to put him behind bars for breaking and entering.

"Beginning to wish they'd burn off our fingerprints, that would've came in handy right about now."

Diving head first into his third drawer, he was pleased to see it was full of folders stacked in an alphabetical order, and when pulling a random one titled 'Applebloom', he was assured that it as the drawer he was looking for. Putting that particular folder back, he skimmed through the rest, his eyes stalling over a file titled 'Applejack'.

"Better safe than sorry." He shrugged, opening the file and snapping a number of pictures before putting it back in its place. Sifting through the catalogue, he slowed down after approaching his target.

"Sandbar, Seaweed, Somersby... Aha! Sunset!" Alex yanked the file out and skimmed through it. The more he read, the bigger the pit in his stomach grew. "No social security, no passport, no id... Who the hell is this girl? He snapped a picture of the file for future use. "At least we have a home adress to work with."

A sound of approaching steps coming from behind the door forced him to put the file away and look for a place to hide, or a way out. Finding literally no place to hide, his gaze fell upon the window, and he accepted the inevitable. Opening the door, he hirled himself over the ledge, holding onto it for life. For where he was hanging it was a two-story fall, definently not the worst he's had. Just as he heard the tell-tale creak he let go, plummiting to the ground and landing gracefully into a rose bush.

"Hello?" A woman called out from inside the office. "Is anyone here?" Alex pressed his arms and legs against his body, hiding himself fully in the prickly bush. His eyes grew wide as a woman peeked out from the window, looking around for a while before shrugging and closing the window. After a minute or two of waiting, he breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the bush, cursing and muttering obscenities in the process.

"Stupid fucking piece of shit bush." He dusted himself off, looking around. "I swear, I'll-" Words died in his throat as he noticed a gray-skinned blonde girl sitting on a bench, staring him down with her crossed eyes. She extended her arm towards him, a fresh muffing in her palm.

"Muffin?" She asked with a smile.

"Thanks." Alex replied, gathering his wits and accepting the muffin. "You saw nothing, okay?" He asked, recieving a smile and a nod in return, before sneaking away and over the fence, beyond the school grounds.

"Danny, I've got what we're looking for." Alex said through the phone, out of the comfort of his car. "I'm waiting to pick you up in front of the school."

"No can do boss, I'm still busy with Canterlot High." Daniel replied in a stern tone.

"Really? 'No can do'? Who the hell talks to their boss like that?" Alex shook his head, starting the motor. "Nevermind. I've got the address, I'll be delivering the package."

"Uh-huh."

"Meet me back at the hotel when you're done, alright?" He pulled into a driveway, searching for the address online.

"Gotcha, I'll do my best." Daniel replied, hanging the phone.

Alex expected everything. It was his job, really, to expect and account for every possibility, even the most far-fetched one. A dingy apartment? The most plausable outcome. A billion dollar manor? Unlikely, but it wasn't unheard of amongst reality benders to build themselves a lavish lifestyle before The Foundation comes a-knockin'. That is the reason why he had to take a second guess when he finally arrived to his destination.

A run-down dockyard warehouse certainly wasn't on his top five apartments for a literal small-scale god, but sometimes you just have to accept what life throws at you. Still, one should never judge a book by its cover, for all he knew the insides of this humble abode were larger than the outsides, and stretched for miles and miles on end.

Or it could be a shithole, both on the outside and on the inside. Un(?)fortunately for Alex, his last assuption proved to be correct as he walked through the surprisingly homey insides of a derelict warehouse. Stitched rags resembling a blanket layed on top of a tattered sofa, a small leather journal with a red and yellow sun mark dead in its center. A small diesel generator had a number of wires leading to a number of appliances. A lamp, a fridge, an old discarded television, all had smal black wires leading to the only power source, all stood lifeless.

"Well, for a reality bender this place really looks like a shithole." Alex remarked, sitting on the sofa and grabbing the journal. Opening it on the first page, he saw golden writing in big, bold letters.

PROPERTY OF SUNSET SHIMMER

A small writing seemed to be added post-factum lower on the page.

"Note to self: Don't write past page 100, or it'll get sent straight to the princess.

"Sent to the Princess?" Alex mused aloud. "This is getting intresting."

"Yeah, this is getting pretty interesting." Sunset remarked from behind the man, before swinging a table leg at his head.

Author's Note

Should've bit my tongue about daily updates. :raritydespair:

In my excuse, real life caught up to me so I'm afraid no more daily updates for the fic from this point on, not like it became a habit, anyways.

Deceptive Reunion

"And that is why honeybees are much less likely to sting a person. Any questions, class?" Cheerilee, a ceriece skinned primary school teacher, asked her students with a genuene smile.

"No, Miss Cheerilee!" Was the unanimous answer, one that was followed by a lond riinging sound of the school bell.

"If that is so, then you are all dismissed." A wave of yay's assaulted her senses, as the students gathered their belongings and pouring towards the exit, but not before saying goodbye to their favourite teacher. Silence would've fallen upon the now empty classroom, if not for a quiet snoring sound eminating from the sole male occupant of the room.

"So, Mr. Damien, what do you think?" Cheerily approached Daniel with a smile, awaiting his reaction.

"W-what... were we talking about? No... It... It wasn't round..." He mumbled in his sleep, not listening to the teacher.

"Ahem." Principal Celestia, who was sitting at the desk to his right tapped his shoulder, stirring him out of sleep.

"Wuh?" He opened his drowsy eyes, looking around like he didn't know where he was. When his eyes fell on the expecting teacher, he straighted his posture and cleared his throat. "Oh, right. That was a most wonderful lesson, Miss Cheerilee. I believe you meet all of the ASA guidelines." He said with a confident smile, hoping she'll buy his lie. It was only a half-lie, to be honest, since he hadn't the foggiest idea what the ASA guidelines actually are.

"Thank you!" Cheerilee replied, packing her things and moving for the exit. "I've got another class in ten minutes, goodbye."

The door shut behind her with a soft click, leaving only Daniel and Celestia present, plunging the classroom into silence once again. Celestia was currently looking at the man with a rather pensive exprsession, her hands crossed. Feeling a little uncomfortable under her gaze, Daniel thought it best to say something.

"So, Principal Celestia, I think I've seen enough to make a descision." He said in a serious tone, pulling out a clipboard full of immature sketches. The past few hours were really boring. "I'll inform the commitee your school is up to the high standarts set by the ASA." He said with a smile, drawing a doodle of Celestia getting hit by a car. "I'll be heading out now, my time is money, after all."

He prepared to stad up, but the Principle's hand laying on his shoulder stopped him from doing so, prompting the man to look at Celeatia instead.

"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere, Daniel." Despite the warm tone of her voice, the words that it carried sent a chill down Daniel's spine.

"My name's Damien, I think you're mistaken." He replied as calmly as he could under the piercing gaze of his ex-principal.

"Did you really think I wouldn't recognise you?" She said with a small chuckle, a bead of sweat rolling down Daniels' brow. "You were always a great student, and I'm glad to see you've landed a job at AMA!" She praised, making Daniel's heart skip a beat.

"At least my cover's not blow." He thought, inwardly sighing with relief. "Hope this buys you enough time, Al."

"Come on, don't be shy, tell me how's your life been!" She asked in a cheery, motherly tone, one that Daniel always felt guilty lying to.

"It's been alright," Daniel began, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible. "after school I went to University, graduated with a degree in biology. Wanted to work in that sphere..." He trailed off, looking down at his suit. "but it didn't work out." He but his tongue, hoping she wouldn't see through his lie. "It's only half a lie, cryptozoology isn't something they teach you in uni."

"Still, it's impressive you've got a government job, especially in the modern job market." Celestia encouraged with a warm smile, and it took all of Daniel's resolve not to say 'you don't know half of it' out loud. "Say, are you still in contact with any of your classmates? I know your class wasn't the most close-knit one, but still..." She trailed off with a certain hope in her voice, one that made Daniel's heart pang with guilt.

"I've been staying in contact with Alex, if you remember him..." Daniel said, hoping that she actualy doesn't remember. To his dismay, the woman looked at him hopefully, a small smile on her face.

"The one that won us our first Hoofball cup? Of course I remember him!" Celestia's smile widened as she remembered her student, a nostalgic feeling creeping into her soul. "What's he up to now? She asked, genuenly curious.

"We don't talk much about work, but last I heard he's got a lot on his plate." He said with an awkaward smile. "Field agents do have a lot of work..."

"I do hope he's doing alright, I'd hate to see-" Whatever Celestia was about to say was cut short by a sudden ringing noise coming from her phone. "Oh dear, I'm sorry, but I have to answer the phone, it might be something important." She excused herself, taking her phone out and answering it.

"Alright, this just might be my chance." Daniel thought, quitly standing up and taking the first step towards the door as Celestia turned her back to him.

"Hello? Sunset Shimmer, it's great to hear from you." Her words made the man stop dead in his tracks. Perhaps finding more about what Sunset is doing is worth lying to his ex-principal's face.

"Oh? You want to show me something? Alright, I'll turn the video chat on." Daniel heard a soft click, followed by a voice that made his heart sink.

"For the second time, I'm Allen, a part of the ASA inspection. I was sent here to gauge the school's capability to take care of their students, including housing." Alex recited his cover story, Daniel's hands getting colder with each word. "Principal? Principal Celestia!?" The man asked in a higher voice as the video feed turned on. "One of your students assaulted me with a table leg, I demand an explanation!"

"It's nice to see you too, Alex." Celestia replied in a half-amused voice, Daniel turning to face her. "It seems we've got outselves an impromptu reunion."

A deafening ringing filled Alex's ears as he came to, slowly forcing his eyes open, only to shut them once more when a cavalcade of black and white dots filled his vision.

A throbbing pain radiated from the back of his head, the hair feeling wet. He tried to move his hands, only to find them cuffed behind his back.

"Feels like agent training all over again." He thought mirthlessly, tugging at the cuffs. "Except Major Gurlukovich knew what she was doing when she set up our final exam." He reached into the back pocket of his pants, trying to find a paperclip. "Come on, I know you're there somewhere... Aha!" He celebrated inwardly, leaving the paperclip in his pocket for the time being. "Now to look around."

He slowly opened his eyes, the familiar dingy-looking interior of the warehouse greeting him. He was sitting in a corner, his two captors standing beside a sofa, a heated discussion between them. One of them he knew, the bacon-haired demon-turned-girl was hard to forget even outside of supernatural circumstances, but the girl she was arguing with was completely unknown to him.

The bright pink skirt coupled with a white t-shirt and a blue short jacket went well with the ever-present pink color, the fluffy hairstyle adding to her extravagant look. All in all, the two girls clashed violently with the enviornment around them, looking very out of place amidst the dilapidation around them.

"No one in the right mind would live here if they had other options... Just who the hell is this girl?" Alex thought, taking the paperclip and straightening it out, before beginning his attempts to open the lock. He closed his eyes as he worked on the lock, all the while straining his hearing in an attempt to hear what the debate was about. Try as he might, only brief parts of the conversation reached his ears, mostly accented and heated reprimands.

He cheered inwardly as he felt the lock click open, the handcuffs releasing their hold on him. He began thinking up a way to escape, when he heard footsteps approaching him, thinking it best to remain still, for a while longer at least. He steadied his breath, slowing it to imitate sleep and relaxed his muscles, thoughtfully stuffing the paperclip into his back pocket.

"See, I told you he's still asleep." Sunset said with a huff. "Still, he looks like a tough guy, thought he'd be up by now." She said in a somewhat irritated voice.

"Hmm..." A second voice, one that Alex presumed belong to the second girl, sounded inches away from his face. "Let's see if that's true!" She chirped happily in a gleeful tone that didn't bode well with the man.

"Pinkie, wait-" Sunset's attempt to stop her firend from doing something drastic were in vain, as Pinkie pulled out an airhorn, put it next to Alex's ear, and pressed the button.

Now, Alex thought himself as a professional, and having gone through many a field mission, from infiltration to first contact, pretty resistant to loud, unexpected sounds. He, however, took refuge in the fact that Daniel wasn't present to see him flinch at the deafening sound that left his ears ringing.

"See, I knew he wasn't sleeping!" The words of the pink girl barely reached Alex's ears as he tried his best to hear past the ringing. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at Pinkie as she stood with a proud expression on her face.

"No shit, Pinkie! Only a deaf could stay asleep through that!" Sunset retorted, turning to look at the man. She narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps toward Alex, givning him an appraising look. "Still, it's a good thing he's woken up at last."

"So, tell me Allen, who are you and what are you doing in my house." Sunset tried to give her voice an edge to seem intimidating, and Alex had to give it to her: coupled with the crossed arms and the hard expression she was giving him and Alex's disadvantageous position, it probably would've worked on any ordinary person.

Fortunately, Alex wasn't an ordinary person. Unfortunately, Sunset was a she-demon in disguise, a reality bender, or something a few magnitudes worse than that, which made her intimidation attempts actually successful. "And here comes a choice. If I manage o hit her temple, that'll at least stun her enough for me to get away... If she's got the same anatomy as a human, at least. Alternatively, I can try to get her to talk, and get the jump on her when she's distrated..."

Alex groaned, looking around with a shocked expression on his face. "W-what? Where am I?! What have you done to me?!" He asked in a disstressed tone of voice, struggling against the handcuffs. He breathed an inward sigh of relief as the girl seemed to have bought his lie, if her smug expression was anything to go off.

"Oh, you know exactly where you are!" Sunset retorted, jabbing a finger at his chest. "Just what were you doing in my house?!"

"H-house?" Alex said weakly, blinking a couple of times as if trying to concentrate before answering. "You mean the abandoned warehouse?" He asked, tilting his head. "I'm part of the ASA inspection..." He finished, taking a deep breath.

"ASA?" Pinkie replied from beside him, looking at him quizzaly. "Aren't they supposed to look into wether the school is competent or not? Why'd you go snooping around Sunny's house?"

"They are." Sunset said, not giving Alex a word. "And he has no right to be here." She finished coldly, crossing her arms on her chest, glaring at the man.

"Judging a school's competence requires looking into the well-being of its students..." He said, looking around the dilapidated surroundings. "And what I see doesn't inspire much confidence. Abhorrent living conditions? Battery of a government official?" He shook his head with a morose expression. "Seems like CHS has got some explaining to do."

"Don't change the subject!" Sunset retorted, poking the middle of his chest. "You were rummaging through my journal when I came in, that's a violation of privacy!"

"I did no such thing." He said in a calm and even voice. "I merely picked it up to see what it was, no harm done."

"He has a point." Pinkie interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention. "When you bonked him on the head, your journal fell to the ground, it could be a coincidence it was open." She said, adressing Sunset, who rolled her eyes in reply.

"Doesn't matter, I know you're up to something, you and your friend." She said in a smug tone of voice, expecting a reaction.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked innocently.

"Don't play coy, when you asked Applejack and I for directions a yesterday, you had a friend with you. Where is he now!?"

"He is a part of the ASA inspection, just like me. He's probably busy with inspecting the school grounds right now." He said in an even voice, looking directly at Sunset.

"Oh, really? So you wouldn't mind if I called the Principal to see if what you're saying is true?" She said, whipping out an old looking smartphone, dialing the number.

"Only if you're ready to explain tying up a government official." He shot back, hoping she wouldn't see through his bluff.

"Hmpf." Was Sunset's reply as she began her call, walking away from the tied man to talk, leaving him in Pinkie's company.

The girl stayed surprisingly silent, choosing instead to stare intently at Alex, seemingly trying to burn a hole through his face. Somehow that was even worse than if she started talking, and as the seconds passed under her unblinking gaze, Alex felt a chill go down his spine.

"Should've guessed there's something wrong with her friend." He thought, his gaze drifting back to Pinkie, who, upon squinting her eyes and giving him a final look-over, spoke.

"Who are you really?"

"For the second time, I'm Allen, a part of the ASA inspection. I was sent here to gauge the school's capability to take care of their students, including housing." Alex recited his cover story, just as Sunset returned with her phone, Celestia's patient expression looking at him through the screen. "Principal? Principal Celestia!?" Alex called out, grabbing the woman's attention. "One of your students assaulted me with a table leg, I demand an explanation!"

"It's nice to see you too, Alex." Celestia replied in a half-amused voice, the sudden name drop leaving Alex speechless. "It seems we've got outselves an impromptu reunion." She said, turning her phone to face the uncomfortable-looking Daniel, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he froze in the middle of his attempt to leave the room.

"My, uh... My name is Allen." Alex managed to say, finding it hard to lie under Celestia's scrutinizing gaze. "And I'm afraid it's the first time we meet face to face." He said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

"You're a better liar than Daniel, I'll give you that." She said with a tsk, turning the phone to herself. "But he's already told me why you're here." Worry boiled inside Alex, but he contained it best he could.

"He did?" He said evenly, thinking through how fast he could get to his car, and to Danny. "Right hook to the temple, grab chair, knock the second girl out, run to the car... Ten to fifteen seconds to get to it, ten minutes to get back to the school. Twenty more to get backup from the nearest Site, if they send any, that is. Too bad we don't have Iota-10 in this shithole, would've been a whole lotta easier to contact DEA. Still, not bad, if Sunset doesn't go demon-mode again."

"Of course, what are the odds of you both getting a job at ASA?" She said excitedly, derailing Alex's train of thought straight into a bottomless ravine. "I'm so proud of the both of you!" She said with a warm smile, further confusing him.

"I... uh..." Alex caught himself speechless, desperately trying to find something to say.

"But no matter how proud you make me feel..." She began with a sigh, her tone changing to one of a mother reprimanding her child. "You've still broken into Sunset's house, and no, 'ASA inspection' excuse isn't going to cut it." She said with a stern expression. "There's something more to it, isn't there?"

"Fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK. Alright, calm down, she doesn't know the whole truth, you can still spin the story your way."

"Truth be told... There is." He said with a sigh, carefully choosing what to say is. "Your ASA inspection wouldn't be due until a few years later. It would've been, that is, if a certain video didn't catch our attention." He said in a steely voice.

"Ah, so you've seen the courtyard recording." Celestia said, a ting of regret in her voice. "I knew people might've seen it, but someone from that high up..." She shook her head. "No matter, I believe I owe you an explanation, on one condition."

"Condition? What condition?" Alex asked, silently praying it wasn't a blood pact. "I am not looking forward to changing my blood type again."

"Promise me not to tell any of what you hear to your superiors." She said with an almost pleading look on her face. "No one can know about what happened here, I shudder to imagine if the world finds out about..." She caught herself before she said too much, once again adressing the two men listening to her. "Do you agree to these terms, the both of you?"

"Is she relying on me being honest? No tricks, no pacts, no contracts? Biggest mistake of her life."

"I promise not to-"

"Do a Pinkie promise." Alex turned to the source of the voice, finding an uncharacteristically serious Pinkie Pie looking back at him.

"Excuse me? I don't know if you noticed, but my hands are tied." Alex retorted, not sure if he liked the look on Pinkie's face.

"No, not like that." Pinkie shook her head. "Repeat after me: Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She finished, going through the motions.

"What the hell-"

"Just do it." Sunset cut in, a tired expression on her face. "She'll keep her pestering until you do."

"Fine." Alex said, repeating what Pinkie said, looking at her expectingly. "You happy?"

"Your friend has to do it to." She said in a determined voice.

"Really? Fine, Danny! Do what she said!" Alex yelled at the phone, causing Celestia to turn the camera towards Daniel who, after a second of stuffing something into his pocket, repeated the action.

"Now I'm happy!" She chirped, before her face turned dead-serious for a second. "Nobody breaks a Pinkie promise." She finished, before flashing Alex a wild smile, and plopping down on a nearby couch.

"I feel like I've just made a grievous mistake." The two men thought in unison, completely unaware of their synchronicity.

"To begin with, there is one crucial fact you need to understand." Celestia began, her voice regaining it's motherly chime. "Our world isn't the only one out there." She paused to give the men time to come to terms with this revelation, continuing a suspiciously short amount of seconds later. "There is at least one other, a land of Kingdoms and Princess', of sentient ponies and mythical creatures. A land of Magic. Our worlds are connected through a mirror, a portal of sorts that opens once every couple of moons. As you might have guessed, Sunset came to us from the other side."

"She's an alien?" Alex asked, giving Sunset an unsure look. "A demon alien kind of thing?"

"An alien, yes. A demon alien, no." Celestia answered, ignoring the dirty look Sunset shot at Alex. "She came here a year ago, integrating into CHS with my help."

"How'd you manage that? I doubt she has any documents on her person." Alex noted, before asking another question. "You helped an alien from another world?"

"It's been a challenge, but I did my best, and we made it work. And I didn't know she was an alien until not too long ago." Celestia said with a sigh. "To make a long story short, Sunset stole a powerful artifact from her world to gain power in order to conquer it." Sunset was visibly uncomfortable at Celestia's words, but remained silent.

"That artifact's responcible for the demon we saw on the video?" Alex asked.

"Yes, but it won't be a problem anymore. A Princess from the other side of the mirror came here to stop Sunset."

"I take it she succeeded?" Alex glanced at Sunset, who currently tried to look anywhere but at the man.

"Yes, Twilight showed Sunset the way of friendship, and went home, closing the mirror behind her." Celestia finished, letting the information sink in.

"That's the whole story?" Daniel broke the silence first, standing beside Celestia. "Sunset doesn't have any magical powers, no world conquering tendencies anymore?" He asked in a disbelieving tone.

"People change, Daniel." Celestia said sternly. "It's a lesson I've hoped you learned after your time in CHS."

"All of this is well and good, but can we go now? It's been a hot minute since my last report, the bosses at ASA might get twitchy if I don't report in time." Alex stated, flexing his arms behind his back.

"You're free to go, but please, keep your word." Celestia's tone had an unusual pleading inflection to it, one that little to no people ever got to hear. "The world isn't ready to know about magic, I shudder to imagine the consequences..."

"I'll keep that in mind." Alex said, standing up and putting the hancuffs on the chair, much to Sunset's shock.

"How? When?" She manage to say as Alex walked past her towards the exit.

"Whoever sold you those hadcuffs is a scammer." Alex said, before walking through the door, out of the warehouse.

"I knew it, I fucking knew that things were worse than I expected." Daniel said, nervously pacing around the the hotel room the two friends were renting. "A portal to another world, aliens, magical artifacts... This is another 1322 waiting to happen!"

"No kidding." Alex replied, sketching a report on his phone. "And we've almost missed it too."

"A Universal Overlap class scenarios are usually hard to miss... What the hell was DEA doing?" Daniel ranted, growing more agitated by the minute.

"What if they missed it for the same reason Mike did?" Alex proposed, putting his phone down on the bedside table.

"If it's antimemetic and is targeting non-canterlonians..." Daniel stopped, rubbing his chin. "That would explain a lot, but it'd also make it a pain in the ass to deal with." He said, resuming his pacing in an accelerated rate. "Before we can get in contact with someone from the Memetic Division, and convince them to start working on a memetic vaccine, they'll have to use mnestics. A lot of mnestics." Daniel concluded, plopping down onto his bed.

"That's one hell of a way to start a vacation."

"Amen."

Author's Note

Yay, this fic is not dead!

Sorry for the very long wait between chapters, had a nasty writers block that has (hopefully passed).

Let us hope then next chapter comes out sooner, rather than later.

Ancho(red) In Reality

From: damniel@foundation.org 19.09.2016
To: burningmemory@foundation.org
Subject: Universal Overlap

To Research Site 12 Director, Burning Memory.

As of 18:30, 19.09.2016, I, Researcher Daniel Miller alongside with Agent Alex Cawthon, have discovered an anomalous effect, affecting an unknown percent of population. It is my belief that any and all mentions of anomalous activity regarding the city of Canterlot Virginia, is completely ignored by any and all individuals born ouside the city. The exact characteristics that trigger the anomaly are still unknown, due to limited resources on our part, but the general pattern is clear.

Before sending this letter to you, I've contacted around a dozen researchers and site directors, none of whom shared my expressed concerns regarding the situation. Out of all of them, you're the only one whose lineage I can trace back to Canterlot, thus you should remain unaffected.

Preliminary research consisting mostly of pattern observation and correlation speculates the nature of the anomaly to be anti-memetic, however further inquiry is required.

There is another subject I must inform you on, something that may be related to this anti-memetic effect.

An unknown amount of time ago, a year ago if local sources are to be trusted, a stable two-way 'portal' was created, leading to 'another world'. Whether or not the portal is inter-dimensional or not, alongside with whatever lies on the other side of it is unclear, since, as of the time of writing, the portal remains closed, set to open 'in a few moons'. Around a year ago, an alien arrived through the portal, with intent to infiltrate the human society, intent on amassing power to conquer their 'original' world.

A few days ago, it crossed the portal once more, stealing a powerful artifact from the monarchy of their world, returning to 'our' world intent on using its 'magical power' to reach its aformentioned goals. It was, however, stopped by a member of the monarchy arriving in its stead, confronting it and returning the artifact to 'their world'.

Said confrontation was recorded and published on a video hosting service, with the original now deleted with the purposes of conspiracy, the locals being unaware of the anti-memetic effect. The first alien remains in Canterlot, having refused, or not given the option in the first place, to return 'home'.

Information regarding the alien's arrival, as well as its motivations was recovered from local sources, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm sure I don't need to explain what an alien race, one prominent in thaumaturgy no less, covered up by an anti-memetic anomaly would mean to the Foundation.

I implore you to take this letter seriously, and begin the production of counter measures to the anti-memetic effect. Mnestics would be a good start, at least until a proper memetic vaccine could be developed.

Once sufficent counter-measures are developed, I recommend a complete lockdown of the city, detainment of any POI's with further interrogation, and an in-depth research of this anomaly. It should be noted that, as far as I know, the city of Canterlot has no undercover Foundation personell, despite being a major city center.

Best regards, Daniel Miller.

"Aaand... Send." Daniel said, pressing the button on his laptop and reclining into the car seat. "Let's hope and pray Director Memory's immune to whatever it is we're dealing with."

"With a name like that, I'd be more surprised if he wasn't." Alex replied with a huff, taking the right at an intersection, all the while looking for something on his phone. "Where the hell is this drive-through..." He grumbled, stretching his neck to look around for the coveted emporium.

"That's strange." Daniel muttered, picking up a small black box with a simple lcd screen.

"I agree, you'd think there'd be a billboard advertising the place or something." Alex replied, slowing down and looking through his phone again.

"Not that, the Kant counter's dipped just now." Daniel frowned, tapping the screen.

"The what now?" Alex inquired, the car coming to a stop at a red light.

"The Kant counter." Daniel repeated, tsk'ing when Alex raised an eyebrow. "The thing we use to measure the ambient Hume level. Does that ring a bell?" He finished with a hopeful expression.

"Sounds vaguely familiar..." Alex said, rubbing his chin. "Does it have to do something with reality benders?"

"Yes. It's basically is a way to determine the strength and/or amount of reality in a given area." He sighed, seeing the confused look Alex was giving him, thinking for a few seconds before continuing. "Picture that everything in the universe is covered with a thin layer of sand. This is the baseline level of reality - one Hume. When some of the sand is removed, by any means, there is less sand around, and the level of reality has dropped. When sand is added, there is more reality around."

"I... alright, I get it... I guess..." Alex said, taking another right once the lights turned green. "I still don't understand how that relates to reality benders though."

"These people have a twofer effect on reality. Firstly, reality surrounding them is usually slightly less real than normal. Secondly, their own personal Hume reading is usually a little higher than is normal." He explained, keeping an eye on his Kant counter. "Stop!" He hollered, Alex slamming on the brakes more out of reflex than conscious effort. "Park somewhere near, we dipped below 0.8."

"Could've said that before screaming bloody murder." Alex huffed, pulling up to the Sugarcube Cafe.

"And that's why Sunny wanted to gather us all here, besides getting to know you all better, of course!" Pinkie finished, her usual chipper attitude remaining despite the tense atmosphere around her. Applejack was eyeing her up suspisciously throughout her retelling of yesterdays events, but otherwise stayed silent, choosing to trust her eccentric friend. After all, it wasn't the craziest thing Pinkie's said that turned out to be true.

Fluttershy sat through the whole story with a worried expression on her face, although her concern was mainly placed in Sunset's subpar living conditions than government officials taking increased interest in the lives of high schoolers. Truth be told, she agreed with the fact that her most recent friend needed to move out of the docks, but the methods said government officials employed to find that out? They were a little hard to get behind.

Rarity's concern was placed much in the same vein as Fluttershy, but was partially directed inwards. The way Sunset had one, maybe two outfits in total to wear to school, how her clothes looked presentable at a quick glance, but under careful scrutiny were tattered, the colors looking faded, it was so obvious in retrospect, yet she never paid it any mind.

Of course, given Sunset's status as the school bully at the time she couldn't blame herself too hard for not noticing... But there was an idle thought that if she showed her kindness, expressed concern over Sunset's situation, asked some questions, then maybe she'd have avoided the whole 'magical crown' debacle.

Rainbow's arms were crossed on her chest, a hard expression never leaving her face throughout the entirety of Pinkie's retelling. Although she'd never tell her friends this, mainly out of fear of being ostracised, she held a firm belief that Sunset was a tough nut to crack, and was capable of looking out for herself. This, however, was beyond Sunset and her shitty home or whatnot.

Rainbow Dash was a prolific athlete, and has attended many a competiton in her relatively short life. Thus she's met and competed with a large number of fellow athletes, some of which she's stayed in contact with even after said competetions. Some of these athletes, not all of course, but a small contingent had a direct, first hand experience with the nightmare that was the beuracratic system, be it while gathering documents to transfer to a different school, or trying to get an athlete's stipend.

Point is, the government never cared about the students' well-being, and the ASA's sudden interest, coupled with the fact they've admitted to seeing the video of Sunset going bonkers didn't improve Rainbow's trust in those guys.

"That's not all though." Sunset interjecting, catching everyone's attention. "Those guys, Alex and Daniel, we've seen them before." She said, looking directly at Applejack. "Remember when two guys asked us for directions two days ago?"

"The two fellas in a car? One of them tried gettin' under your skin?"

"Exactly. That was them." She stated, her voice gravely serious.

"It could be a coincidence." Fluttershy offered, wilting under the look Sunset gave her, the reaction prompting the latter to look away bashfully. "Just food for thought..."

"Fluttershy has a point, darling." Rarity added, her lips pursed into a thin line. "Someone new to Canterlot is bound to get lost, so what if they asked for directions?"

"I don't know Rares, this just reeks of trouble. If they're some big shot government officials, how come they don't know the town they're coming to? Why'd they pick Aj and Sunset out of all the other people to ask for directions?" She asked, her voice full of suspiscion. "I'm with Sunset on this one."

"This does sound mighty weird to be a simple coincidence..." Applejack agreed, rubbing her chin. "But that don't mean we should jump to conclusions." She said, turning to look at Pinkie. "What do you think, Pinkie."

Just when the pink girl was about to answer, the bel hanging over the entrance to Sugarcube cafe rang, causing her to jump in her seat.

"Excuse me, duty calls!" She chirped, rushing to the counter, a bright smile plastered on her face. "Hi, welcome to Sugarcube cafe! How may I help you?"

"Two cups of black coffee, no sugar, and two slices of apple..." The man began in a calm voice, trailing off as he realised who he was speaking to. "Pie." He finished, looking straight at Pinkie, doing his best not to show his surprise any more than he did already.

"Yep, that's me, Pinkie Pie!" She said in a cheery voice, writing down his order on a piece of paper. "Fancy seeing you here, Alex!" Five heads turned at the mention of that name, ten eyes narrowing on the only man in this establishment. "How's the day been? Didn't get chewed on for being late with your report?"

"No, I managed to stick to schedule." He replied in a calm voice, reaching for something in his pocket. "How much will it be?" He asked, opening his wallet.

"$20, please!" she smiled as the man handed her the requested bill, stuffing it into the register. "What table do you want to reserve?" She inquired, the genuine tone of her voice doing little to mask her intent to make him stay a little longer.

Alex raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the five pair of eyes observing him from one of the tables, all but two heads turning away from him. "I think I'll order takeout." He said, looking at Sunset and Rainbow, both of them glaring at him. "How long until the order's done?"

"Fifteen minutes!" Pinkie chirped before disappearing in the cafe's kitchen area, leaving Alex alone with the girls.

"Don't be a stranger, Alex, take a seat!" Applejack proposed, noticing the man glancing at the exit. "Don't worry, we don't bite." She said with a smile, urging the man to comply.

"Actually, my friend's waiting for me in the car, excuse me." Just as he turned to walk towards the exit, Sugarcube cafe's door opened, an olive-drab man in a casual shirt and jeans combo matching his colors walked in, an irratated look on his face.

"Al, I know you told me to wait for you to check things out, but I simply couldn't wait any longer!" The man exclaimed, fiddling with a small black box, completely missing the pained expression on his partner's face. "I've recalibrated this thing twice already, but it's still below 0.8!" He said in amazement, completely oblivious to the amount of attention he was drawing to himself. "I haven't seen it go so low ever since we tried..." He trailed off, looking up to see the expression on Alex's face, who was poiting to the girls with his eyes.

"Oh." Was all he could say as Alex grabbed him by his hand, dragging him towards a free table, one that coincidentally was the farthest away from one the girls occupied.

"That's why you techies stay out of field work." He hissed as he sat down at one of the tables, his voice low enough for the girls not to hear him. "What did I tell you to do?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm fucking five." Daniel spat in reply, kicking back in his seat, crossing his arms on his chest. "Just because you're not couped up in a lab 24/7, doesn't mean you get to boss me around." He said with a huff.

"I'm not bossing you around, I merely suggest you be a little more patient. We still don't know what exactly we're dealing with, and there's no guarantee we're getting help any time soon." Alex reasoned, a hint of remorse appearing on Daniels' features.

"You're right..." Daniel said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezed shut. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just on edge, is all. Who knew shit like that could happen here of all places?" He said, grabbing the Kant counter and fiddling with it, paying no mind to the ding that rang out from the counter.

"I'll go grab our food." Alex said, but before he could stand up, Pinkie rushed to their table, dilivering their order. "Or not." Alex deadpanned, before giving Pinkie a kind smile. "Thank you, Miss Pie."

"No problemo! Here at Sugarcube cafe, we pride ourselves on our top notch customer service!" She beamed, before returning to her table with the other girls, who've been keeping a close eye on the pair during the whole arguement.

The next few minutes passed in relative silence, the girls keeping a light conversation, all the while observing the two men. Alex looked calm, slowly consuming his meal, scrolling through his phone with an impassive expression. Daniel, on the other hand seeed to have borrowed Pinkie's uncanny ability to defy the laws of nature, stuffing a puzzling amount of food down his throat, all the while fiddling with the small lack box in his hands, glancing at the girls from time to time.

Suddenly Daniel frowned, tapping the screen a couple of times before looking at the girls, his eyes narrowing on Sunset. He glanced at the device, his eyes going wide as he choked on his food, reaching for his cup of coffee to wash down whatever was lodged in his throat.

"You alright there?" Sunset asked, looking at the man in concern, who has doubled over in his seat, coughing into his fist.

"Y-yes." He croaked, stuffing the box into his pocket, standing up and patting Alex on his shoulder, nodding towards the exit. "It's, uh, been nice getting to know you all, but I'm afraid we have to go." The two of them hurried towards the exit, stopping just a few feet before the door, a rainbow-haired girl blocking their way.

"Like Tartarus I'm letting you go this easy! First things first, you tell us why you're stalking Sunset!" Rainbow said, arms crossed on her chest.

"Not stalking anyone, we're just here to grab some food." Alex came to his friend's aid, who looked rather worried as he tried to get past the multicolor obstruction. "That ain't a crime, last I checked."

"Yeah? Last I checked, the government didn't send a couple of goons after a girl just because of some video on Youtube!" Rainbow retorted, cutting any of Daniel's attempts to side step out of her way short.

"We're just doing our job." Alex said with a shrug, a nonchalant expression on his face. "Besides, we did find something out of the ordinary here, didn't we?"

"..." Rainbow found herself at a loss for words, begrudgingly accepting that, even if what they did wasn't strictly legal, they had enough reasons to do it.

"Thank you for your understanding." Alex said with a smile, that rubbed Rainbow the wrong way as the latter stepped out of the couple's way with a huff.

The duo disappeared behind the doors of the establishment, leaving a thoroughly befuddled group of girls behind.

"I'm telling you, Bacon hair's Humes are above 1.5!" Daniel exclaimed worriedly, typing away on his keyboard as the two friends drove back throught the dark streets of Canterlot, the sun having already set the time they departed. "And the rest are only marginally better... 1.1 ain't nothing to scoff at!"

"Still not sure what that means." Alex replied, his eyes on the road.

"They're essentially 'denser' than reality around them. What that means is that they're able to affect anything with a lower Hume count that themselves. In layman's terms, things that are more 'real' can affect things that are less 'real'." He paused, kicking back in his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Problem is, by doing so they 'dilute' the reality around them, and that's a whole another can of worms..."

"You're saying they've got some super powers, but we've seen none of that in the past few days." Alex argued, continuing when he noticed Alex's miffed expression from the corner of his eye. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're all clear. They just look pretty normal, is all."

"Looks can be decieving. Sunset's Hume range allows for things like telekenisis, low-level persuasion and telepathy..." Daniel trailed off as a notification popped up on his work email, grabbing his attention. "Looks like we got a reply.

From: burningmemory@foundation.org 19.09.2016
To: damniel@foundation.org
Subject: Re:Universal Overlap

I have greenlit a series of tests regarding the anomalous phenomena you have reported.

Stay put, continue to observe and monitor the situation. Report any irregularities and await further instructions, support will arrive as soon as sufficent counter measures are developed.

Secure. Contain. Protect.

Burning Memory, Site 12 Director.

Author's Note

What?! A new chapter in less than a month of waiting? Surely it must be some kind of anomaly! :ajsmug:

As always, write a comment if you feel like saying something to me, and have a nice day!

All Is Well In Canterlot

Memetic Inoculation Required

By continuing to read this document, you are voluntarily consenting to treatment with a Class II memetic agent that will allow you to normally perceive the essence of the anti-memetic nature described herein. The action of the memetic agent is long term. Employees assigned to work with SCP-4004 are required to undergo the treatment.

To undergo the treatment, look carefully at the file attached to this article. Subjects who have been successfully processed will be able to perceive the phenomenon exactly as it is described.

Item #:SCP-4004

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: Due to the anti-memetic nature of the anomaly, little containment measures are required on the behalf of the Foundation. Foundation Web-Crawler AI "Gaslight" is to monitor social media for any presense of SCP-4004-2, launching disinformation campaigns against these individuals.

MTF Epsilon-7 "The Forget-Me-Nots" is to impede the development and distribution of mnestics among the civilian population.

Undercover Foundation agents are to be inserted into all governmental positions in the city of Canterlot, USA as soon as possible.

Description: SCP-4004 is an anti-memetic phenomenon, currently affecting 9█.█% of the global population. Any information regarding anomalous happenings in the city of Canterlot, USA is dismissed as false, and is soon forgotten by the subject (SCP-4004-1 from hereon). The time of information retention differs from individual to individual, and positively correlates with one's Cognitive Resistance Value (CRV). The use of Class X, as well as Class Y mnestics has proven to be effective in negating the anti-memetic effect.

The following conditions must be met for the phenomenon to occur:

-SCP-4004-1 percieves the happenings to be out of the norm;
-SCP-4004-1 percieves the information to be truthful;
-Canterlot is either explicitly stated, or implied to be where an anomaly has occured;

SCP-4004-2 is the remaining 0.█% of the global population, which remains immune to SCP-4004 effect. Instances of SCP-4004-2 differ in race, sex, upbringing and beliefs, save for one defining characteristic. Each SCP-4004-2 instance can be traced to have been originated from Canterlot.

Due to the number of SCP-4004-2 instances, and their widespread presense no restrictive actions are to be taken regarding them. Each SCP-4004-2 instance currently employed by the Foundation are to be analyzed for any other markers that allow them to be singled-out among the crowd.

Addendum 4004-1: Dr. Theory Test Log

Date: 19.09.2016

Subject: D-88123

D-88123 is shown footage of demonic possesion taking place at Canterlot High School. The location is diliberately pointed out.

Result: D-88123 dismissed the footage as a 'promotional campaign' for an unspecified movie, noting the low-quality of visual effects. Approximately three minutes after seeing the footage, D-88123 was once again asked what he thought of it, but claimed to have no memory of it. When events taking place in the footage were described to him, D-88123 stated that he had never seen it. When asked what he was doing for the past ten minutes, D-88123 appeared nervous and confused, unable to answer the question.

"Just like Dr. Daniel reported. " - Dr. Theory.

Date: 19.09.2016

Subject: D-88123

Note: D-88123 was amnestecised before the experiment.

D-88123 is shown footage of demonic possesion taking place at Canterlot High School, however all landmarks that point to the specific place of the accident is redacted.

Result: The subject reacted in an agitated manner, asking multiple times wether or note the footage was real or not. A positive reply did not trigger SCP-4004's effect. Half an hour later, D-88123 was able to recall the footage shown to him with no issues.

"It seems like SCP-4004 triggers only when the anomalous event is diliberately stated to be from Canterlot, simply seeing the footage from CHS does not trigger it. Let's try it again, without obscuring landmarks." - Dr. Theory.

Date: 19.09.2016

Subject: D-88123

Note: D-88123 was amnestecised before the experiment.

D-88123 is shown footage of demonic possesion taking place at Canterlot High School. The subject was not informed on the location of the accident.

Result: The subject reacted in an agitated manner up until he noticed CHS's name sign, calming down significantly from thereon. When asked wether or not the footage was authentic, D-88123 denied the notion. Approximately three minutes after seeing the footage, D-88123 was once again asked what he thought of it, but claimed to have no memory of it. When events taking place in the footage were described to him, D-88123 stated that he had never seen it. When asked what he was doing for the past ten minutes, D-88123 appeared nervous and confused, unable to answer the question.

"Good to know information gained by deduction also triggers SCP-4004's effect. Prepare the subject for tomorrow's testing." - Dr. Theory.

"I'm overruling Dr. Theory's orders. D-Class are far cheaper than amnestics, and they're a dime a dozen, use more than one." - Director Memory.

Date: 20.09.2016

Subject: D-31347

Dr. Theory strikes a conversation with the subject, casually mentioning a made-up extranormal event that happened in Canterlot in an attempt at humor.

Result: D-31347 brushed the comment off, commenting it was "the worst joke [she] ever heard". Thirty minutes later the subject was able to recall the conversation in full.

"It seems the subject has to take the information seriously for SCP-4004's effect to trigger." - Dr. Theory.

Date: 20.09.2016

Subject: D-31347, D-11883

Note: D-11883, earlier exposed to the effects of SCP-████, is convinced that the movement of trees causes wind and the fact is completely normal. Any attempt to rectify this to date has been ineffective.

Both subjects are given a fabricated document containing 'proof' that wind is caused by movement of trees in the Canterlot area.

Result: D-11883 read the document with a disinterested expression, asking researchers "why [they] provided [her] with elementary school level material". Thirty minutes later the subject was able to recollect the experiment fully.
D-31347 expressed initial shock, but calmed down considerably when SCP-4004's anomalous effect triggered. Curiously, the two subjects would begin a heated debate on the credibility and authenticity of the document. The experiment was stopped when D-31347 assaulted D-11883 when the latter refused to "drop this stupid joke".

D-31347 couldn't recollect the experiment thirty minutes later.

"The subject needs to consider the information anomalous for SCP-4004 to take effect. Curious." - Dr. Theory.

Author's Note

A little shorter chapter this time, and in a more familiar style.

I must say that there is more to SCP-4004 anomaly, and this is but a first iteration of the document.

When more information is gleaned by The Foundation, the document will be updated.

The Root Cause

The rhythimic clicking of a cricket song pierced the otherwise silent darkness of a Canterlot night, a fitting sound accompanying the only two people still on school grounds. Two hooded, completely inconspicuous dark figures approached the entrance to Canterlot High, one of them wearing a backpack, the other holding a small, black box in his hands.

"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Alex asked, looking at the staircase leading to the glass doors of Canterlot High.

"Sure it is." Danny replied, fiddling with the Kant counter in his grasp. "Not like it stopped you before." He remarked, tapping the lcd screen a couple of times.

"An abandoned dockyard warehouse is not the same thing as a working school, Danny." Alex replied, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

"Oh relax, Al, this'll get scrubbed from official reports anyways." Daniel said, his face lighting up with a smile as he aimed the device at the doors of the school. "Jackpot."

The olive skinned man practically flew up the short staircase, stopping once he reached the soon-to-be opened doors of CHS, turning towards his friend with a pensive expression once he noticing the lack of the latter's presense.

"Whatcha waitin' for?" An irritated expression dawned on Daniels' features as he rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet."

With a small sigh of defeat and a determined few steps up the staircase, Alex joined his friend's side, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm waiting for our backup to arrive, so we could conduct an investigation without interruption," He retorted, taking a knee in front of the door, pulling out a paperclip out of his pocket. "not to mention in broad daylight." He added with a huff, fiddling with the lock.

"Afraid of the dark much?" Daniel teased, fiddling with the device and pointing it at random things around him out of boredom.

"Cautiously mindful is a better way to put it." Alex stated dryly as the lock clicked open, the man getting to his feet and turning to look at his friend. "There you go, open and ready to commit a felony."

"Laugh all you want, but I bet my ass whoever Memory sends from Site 12 will be thankful when they find that we've already scouted the school for potential skips." Daniel retorted, striding past his friend and into the dim confines of the building. A clanking sound of a closing door, followed by rhythmic steps on the laminated floor that sounded a tad eerie in the complete silence of the school. A soft click reverberated through the space around the two, a beam of light illuminating the halls of Canterlot High.

"Whatever you want to do, let's do it quickly." Alex said, shining a light down a hallway. "The less time we spend here, the better." Daniel grunted something in agreement as he tracked the readings on the Kant counter, Alex falling in step just behind him.

"Don't get your hopes up, we need to check the entire building with this thing." Daniel said, shaking the black box in his hands a little. "All the major hallways at least." He grumbled, looking at the less than inviting partially lit hallway in front of him.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Alex wondered aloud, burning away the dark with his flashlight. "It can't be something too obvious, the civvies would've noticed it before us, but it can't be nothing either." He peered at the black box in Daniel's hands, noticing the numbers on it changing from time to time. "This thing of yours is picking up something."

The duo approached a staircase, a small frown appearing on Daniels' face as they finished going through the first floor. "Think of Hume level as a symptom." The man began, carefully ascending the staircase. "It, alongside other, more obvious signs of paranormal activity, can be used to determine the general nature of anomaly at hand." He stepped into an eerie corridor of the second story of the school, the hallway lighting up moments later as Alex caught up to his friend.

"Something simple as, say, a humanoid able to punch through thirty-centimeter concrete walls with ease, would have little to no effect on the ambient Hume level, since while he can bend steel beams like clay, he doesn't affect reality around him on a fundamental level." Another pitch-black hallway passed, another part of the building cleared. "On the other hand, something capable of instantaneous transformation and reorganization of matter, with matter neither appearing nor disappearing, would inadvertanly leave a 'mark' on the local reality."

"What does it mean to us?" Alex inquired, raising a finger before his partner could continue. "And in english, please." He added, the duo rounding another corner.

"Something as powerful as a portal would definently leave a mark, one we're capable of tracking." His face scrunched up as the duo hit the dead end of the final corridor. "That's... troubling." He remarked to himself, knocking on the Kant counter's side.

"Something's wrong?" Alex asked, monitoring the hallway for any abnormalities, while causciously peeking at his friend.

"You can say that again." Danny said, worry slowly creeping into his voice. "The ambient Hume level around the school is higher than normal, sure, but it's surprisingly even."

"Is that bad?" Alex inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm..." Came Daniel's thoughtfull reply as he cupped his chin and stroked his stubble. "When you turn over the hourglass, the sand slowly starts to seep to the other side, and for a short while it forms a hill, that's our initial 'spike' in the ambient Hume level." He began to pace in circles, thinking aloud. "But what happens when, say, a minute passes? Ten minutes? An hour?"

"All the sand seeps to the other side," Alex began, following his friend's line of thought. "until it eventially..."

"Evens out." The two said in unison, looking at each other, worry clear on their faces.

"That's a big hourglass to fill, though." Alex said, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.

"So it must've been open for a long time." Daniel finished, a panicked gleam in his eyes as he resumed his pacing. "If we presume that the 'sand' cannot seep in while the portal is closed, and the portal opens once in a couple of moon cycles..." His face fell at the realisation. "It's been open for a long time." His gaze flicked to the Kant counter once more, before hurriedly switching to look at his friend.

"We need to get out of here, right now. You were right, we should've waited for backup to arrive." He said, the duo making their way down the hall and towards the exit.

Alex had something witty to say in responce, but his answer died in his throat when another voice came from down the hall.

"Don't move a muscle."

The steady hum of overhead lights melded with the steady ticking of a wall-mounted clock, the resulting background noise a little too mind-numbing to call manageable.

A figure, hunched over a worktable in a position that couldn't have been comfortable, was writing something in the myriads of papers sprawled before her. She tore her eyes from her work momentarily, flexing her shoulders and castng her eyes to the clock, groaning when she found she stayed late again.

"Tia will have my head if I she finds me here after hours... Again." Luna mumbled to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose, a yawn threatening to break her expression. Her eyelids turned heavier with each passing moment her attention lingered on the ASA papers Tia left in her office a good three hours ago, Luna having stayed later than usual to finish the mountain of forms and applications needed to request information from the association.

Her brows furrowed as her mind wandered to the reason behind her late-night early-morning crunch, her lips curving downwards just a tad. Her sister told her of the impromptu student-teacher reunion that took place a day ago, and despite the older sister's assurances, Luna wasn't too keen on letting the whole incident go.

"What are the chances ASA sends two people to check things out so soon? Same as them keeping their word." The thought of news of the situation spreading outside Canterlot both scared and infuriated her. "All the years of hard work, thousands of graduated students, all of that ruined just because Tia's a bleeding heart that took in a Jane Doe that just happened to be an alien?" The absurdity of the situation almost made the woman chuckle. Almost.

The deputy director shook her head, turning to the documentation with renewed determination. She had to know if these two were legit or not, and even if they were, the paperwork would grind things down to a halt for the time being, hopefully giving Tia enough time to-

"...in english, please...

Luna's eyes darted towards the ajar door of her office, her mind racing to figure out whether she was hearing things or not. The woman held her breath for prescious few seconds, listening to the distant sounds of the empty school. Supposedly empty.

The tips of her fingers tingled as she heard distant footsteps, followed by the sound of conversation. Indistinct and hushed, but still discernable in the quiet of the night. Luna slowly stood up from her chair, careful not to make a sound as she tiptoed towards the door, her breath still and her muscles taut as she leaned over the precipice, listening in on the gradually approaching source of the noise.

"That's a big hourglass to fill, though." The voice was strained, concerened as the man spoke, two figures rounding the corner far down the hall. Luna squinted in an attempt to discern the duo's features, the attempt vain in the darkness of the halls.

"So it must've been open for a long time." The man's partner replied, the same worry in his tone mixed with curiosity as he continued his line of thought. While Luna couldn't see the details, she could see the duo's postures were tense, but not for any appropriate reason. If they were afraid of getting spotted, they would've been less talkative.

A tinge of dread entered the seconf man's voice as he spoke, fidgeting in place as called out to his partner. "We need to get out of here, right now. You were right, we should've waited for backup to arrive."

Luna's mind went into overdrive as she processed the words. "Did they spot me? Doesn't look like it. Is the school in danger? He did sound awfully worried..." Luna shook her head as she saw the two making moves to escape. "Can't let them escape, tresspassing's still a thing."

Gathering all the gusto she had in her Luna stepped out of her cover, mustering her voice to be as intimidating as possible, she adressed the two intruders.

"Don't move a muscle."

Daniel's eyes darted towards the source of the noise, sillouethe of a woman standing just beyond the doorframe her arms crossed on her chest. Her posture appeared confident, and the tone of her voice reminded Daniel of being scolded by his parents and teacher any time they caught him skipping class.

Now I'm being scolded for not skipping class.

"I don't know who you are, but you have no right to be on school grounds after hours."

Danny turned to look at his friend, his face obscured by shadows, yet leaving just enough details visible for Danny to discern a look of recognition on Alex's face.

"Well, are you going to explain yourself, or am I going to have to call the police?"

It happened so fast, Danny barely managed to stay on gis feet.

In a blink of an eye, an iron grasp settled over Daniel's arm, the shape of his friend turning into a blur as he darted in the general direction of the exit, dragging Daniel with him, who was clinging to the Kant counter for dear life.

A distant stop! echoed down the hall as tge duo sprinted through the halls of Canterlot high, their footsteps overlapping with the ones following in their stead.

He all but tumbled down the stairs, panting and gasping as the he breached the entrance of the school, Alex standing still for a moment, his head on a swivel, before dragging him behind the horse statue in the middle of the yard.

Hitting the ground hard, Danny leaned against the statue, his hand over his frantically beating heart. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he put it agsist the cold stone of the statue, a pleasant coolness spreading at the contact.

He crscked one eye open to see his Alex peeking out of the corner of their hiding place, his posture tense as he syrveyed the school yard.

Daniel watched the agitation drain from his friend's frame with an exhale, the world around him turning just a tad sharper as Danny's heartbeat slowed and breathing steadied.

The rush of blood in his ears has quieted enough for the man to notice a faint beeping coming from the device in his grasp, the sound causing the researcher to stumble away from the statue with a strangled yelp.

Alex turned with a quirk of an eyebrow to notice his friend's victorious yet terrified expression.

"Relax, she's not following us." He rubbed his chin, casting a dubious look at the building before his gaze returned to Daniel. "The worst she can do now is call the police. Still, we better get moving."

His words had a commanding air to them, yet the researxher didn't move, his gaze glued to the Kant counter in his grasp.

"Danny, I said we need to scram, ASAP." Alex said, cautiously approaching his friend when the words failed to stir the man out of his near catatonic state. "Are you deaf? I said we need to-"

"Scram." Danny replied, shaking his head and stuffing the Kant counter into his pocket. "Let's get the hell out of here." He said with a nod, following Alex's footsteps as the duo made their way off of CHS grounds.

From: damniel@foundation.org 20.09.2016
To: burningmemory@foundation.org
Subject: Entry Point

To Research Site 12 Director, Burning Memory.

Entry point located. Horse statue on the grounds of CHS.

See calculations regarding the portal's age and Hume disturbance output in the attached document.

Send reinforcements ASAP.

-Daniel Miller

From: burningmemory@foundation.org 20.09.2016
To: damniel@foundation.org
Subject: Re:Entry Point

O5 Command has authorised a full lockdown of Canterolt City. You are to establish and take command of a temporary Site on the premices. For further details regroup with reinforcements at 497 North Parker Drive.

Secure. Contain. Protect.

Burning Memory, Site 12 Director.

Countermeasures

A deafening high-pitch screech echoed down the dimly illuminated streets of the night city as a F-150 screeched to a halt near an abandoned two-story brick building, for sale advertisements peppering the structure's walls. Heavy breathing filled the car as Alex watched his friend kill the engine before practically jumping out of the car, slamming the door shut with much more force than necessary.

Following his friend's example, albeit with more care towards the vehicle's condition, he left the car and approached Danny, all but fuming as he clasp a hand over the researcher's shoulder.

"The hell was that about? That's the last time I'm letting you drive, Danny!" His rant went unanswered, the man continuing on his way towards the seemingly abandoned building. Not satisfied with the cold shoulder he was getting, Alex turned Daniel around, his hands clasping the researcher's shoulders with a death grip.

"Talk to me, man! What's so important you risk crashing into a brick wall just to meet up with Memory's people?" He saw indescision in the researcher's eyes, the man chewing his lower lip nervously, the freshly scabbed flesh ripping open once again. Taking a calming breath, Daniel ribbed the bridge of his nose and spoke in as level a tone as he could manage.

"That portal has been open for a long, long time. Think thousands of years old, perhaps even older. Can you imagine what kind of things could've crawled out of there in that time?" He shook his head, Alex's grip on him weakening as the man mulled over Danny's words.

The researcher stopped just before the broken down door, beckoning Alex inside.

"The faster we get this situation under control, the better."

A stray ray of sunlight krept up the worn-down faux leather sofa, sliding onto the thick moth-eaten blanket that stood between a somewhat comfortable warmth and hypothermia. Golden locks interchanged with fiery red shifted as sunlight tickled amber skin, lips curling upwards at the much welcome warmth. That smile turned upside down once sunshine moved up towards closed eyes, dreams of home and good old times dissapating with each second the light lingered.

A tired groan broke through the silence of the room as Sunset cracked her eyes open, turning to lay on her other side in a vain attept to return to a blissful slumber. The coveted sleep never came, the incessant ringing of an alarm clock dashing away any hopes of rest.

With a defeated sigh and a lethargic movement of limbs, Sunset reached for her phone, blindly tapping the screen, finall silencing the dreaded alarm. Rubbing her eyes clean of sleep crust, her blurry gaze attempted to focus on her phone a bold 7:00 staring back at her, accompanied by around a dozen messages from her new friends, all asking her to stay the night in their place instead of a warehouse.

Sunset yawned, scratching he back of her neck as she stood up and pocketed her phone, walking towards what constituted a bathroom. Her shoes hit the cracked the tile floor hard, her reflection tired and fragmented in the cracked mirror. A bottle of water stood on top of the sink, and right beside it was a cup filled with an acient-looking toothbrush and a near-empty tube of toothpaste.

She began her morning routine by picking up the two objects from the cup, unscrewing the bottle cap and filling the cup around halway with water, dipping the brush into it and sloshing the water around for a moment. Covering the damp brush with paste, she went through the motions of keeping her teeth in a presentable shape. Once she was done, Sunset dipped the brush into the cup once more, before filling her mouth with water, sloshing it around and spitting the mix into the sink.

The weight in her pocket made itself apparent again, her finger tingled as she fished the phone out, her friend's messages lingering in the notifications all night, left unread. Grabbing a box of probably stolen flakes, Sunset poured herself a plate, flopping into a rickety wooden chair, the furniture groaning dangerously under her weight. The dry food crunched, grating at the roof of her mouth as she tapped the notifications, reasoning her friends deserved to know she at least seen their offer.

Even if she'd never take them up on it.

Disappointment greeted her as the messages failed to load, prompting a sigh from the woman. Her internet was being a bitch again, and as experience taught her, there was no use in contacting the provider.

With a half-filled stomach and a miffed expression on her face, Sunset rose from the dinner table, snatching her schoolbag from besude the sofa, before making her way for the door.

The unicorn-turned human stepped into the chilly morning air, a lungful of relatively smog-free oxygen breathing hope for a better day into her.

The door shut behind her with a quet thid, the bacon haired girl walking into the sunrise.

"That's insane, Pinkie." Sunset retorted, lazily scanning the pages of a physics textbook, fighting a smirk at the thought of how many times Pinkie must've heard that phrase in her life. "The Internet can't be down for everyone at school, it's probably maintanance day, or a screw up on the provider's side." She closed the book, judging she wouldn't get much more mileage out of it before the day's test, and stuffed it into her bag, her attention now squarely on the hyperactive pink girl.

"But that's the thing, Sunny, it's not just one provider that's having trouble, it's every provider in town!" Pinkie argued passionately, practically vibrating in place with worry.

"And how do you know that, Pinkie? You know everybody in Canterlot?" Sunset's reply meant to sound sarcastic, but as she thought about it, she realised that Pinkie probably did know everybody in town. It was a somewhat ominous conclusion.

"I know my fair share of people around town, and all of them had troubles with the internet this morning!" A frown made itself apparent on Sunset's features as the memories of past few days resurfaced once again. She wanted to believe those ASA guys would hold their word, but this seemed a little to convenient to be a coincidence. Government suits come in to investigate strange things, and not sooner than two days later the Sun-damned Internet goes down?

I'd better call AJ, see if she's having any trouble with Internet. If she even uses it, that is.

"Pinkie, do you mind if I make a call?" Recieving a smile and a shake of head, the girl continued.

Sunset scrolled her rather expansi e contact list, one she'd been building up long before the fall formal. In the bad old days, she'd call any name on that list, and the person had to pick up nore or less immidiately, or suffer the consequinces. Now though, practically everybody from that contact list had Sunset's number blocked, ever since the rainbow beam of ~~death~~ friendship incident.

Which was a good thing. Sunset reminded herself.

Zeroing in on a photo of a freckled face, Sunset tapped the call icon, holding the cellphone to her ear, patiently anticipating each coming beep.

"Hey there, Sugarcube! Is there somethin' I can do for you?" Applejack's voice sounded cheery, even painfully so.

"Hi, AJ, are you busy right now? I just wanted to ask you something important."

"I'm in a bit of a pickle right now..." Applejack trailed off, coughing once to change the subject. "But, If you're callin' bout the 'net bein' out, then yeah, I've noticed that too."

"How'd you-"

"Pinkie called me first thing in the morning." There wasn't any malice in the girl's voice, but it had an irritated pitch to it.

"AJ, are you in trouble right now?" Sunset asked carefully, not glossing over her friend's previous words.

"No trouble as far as I know, just some complications, is all." The quiet that set over the line indicated Applejack could continue if she liked, and continue she did.

"Big Mac was 'sposed to make a delivery just outta town, a half an hour detour, then he'd give a ride to school." Sunset peered at the time, her eyebrow quirking up.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but you're probably going to be late."

"Figured that out some twenty minutes ago, sugarcube." Applejack replied, irritation clear in her voice. "We couldn't even get out of town! There's a mean traffic jam on all the major roads 'n highways from what I heard." A worried weight stirred in Sunset's stomach as she listened, her brows furrowing.

"A traffic jam?"

"E-yep, some folks here say they've been tryin' to get out of the city, driving around from highway to highway, but everythin's jam packed-." The sound cut out for a moment at the tail end of her sentence, not easing Sunset's worries.

"AJ? Can you repeat that? Something's wrong with the reception."

"Sun- -hear- -someth- -rong-" Her words devolved into seemingly tansom syllables from that point on, and soon enough the conncetion severed, peaving a thoroughly bewildered Sunset and a somewhat worried Pinkie.

"What did she say?" Pinkie asked with a tilt of her head.

"I think we better go see Principal Celestia about this."

The room's interior was surprisingly clean in stark contrast to its exterior, freshly painted walls leaving an intoxicating smell to linger over the room. A set of lightbulbs illuminated the tables and chairs in warm hues, three shadows occupying the sitting places. A pine green skinned woman donning a dark blue suit sat opposite of the other two occupants, pages of documents laid out neatly upon the table.

"I assume you two are comfortable?" The woman asked, but her words commanded no rebuttal. "Let us begin then." The woman cleared her throat, fixing a strand of her apple green hair behind her left ear, before pushing one of the documents towards the two residents.

"Two hours ago, after a number of reports regarding SCP-4004, the O5 Council had gathered for an emergency meeting regarding questions of interdimensional security. While the exact details of the meeting are classified, certain key points and observations are availible in the presented documents, which you may peruse through at a later date."

Her blue eyes left the papers laid out on the table and focused instead on the two men sitting opposite of her. Noticing the nervous expression on one of the man's faces, she strove to rectify the situation.

"You are not in trouble, Daniel, if that is your concern." She noticed the Daniel flinch at the namedrop, his gaze flicking to the man beside him. "And neither is Alex." The latter simply nodded, his impassive expression unchanged.

"Due to the urgency of the situation I will spare you the details, and get down to brass tacks." The woman swept the documents into a neat pile at the side of the table, revealing a map of Canterlot city and the surrounding area. She pulled out a red marker from the breast pocket of her suit, pulling off the cap and setting it against the map.

"An hour ago, MTF Epsilon 5 "City Slickers" were mobilised, their primary directive is to block major highways and city roads to isolate the city." The woman crossed roadways and motorways on the map. "Furthermore, additional forces will be patrolling rural areas and outskirts of the city to prevent tresspassing. Any runaways will be restrained, questioned and sent back into the city." Raising her eyes from the map and focusing them on Daniel, she calmly stated.

"These forces will not be reporting to you." A puzzled expression appeared on the scientists face at the statement, his associate merely raising an eyebrow. "Director Memory is in charge of the lockdown effort, as such these forces will be reporting directly to him." She turned her attention to the map again, circling a familiar building in the city.

"Due to unforseen side-effects of the memetic inoculation, personell stationed within city grounds had to be picked from the pool of individuals not affected by SCP-4004, which greately reduced potential candidates for the job. As such, until the Memetic Division is done with troubleshooting their vaccine, we will, unfortunately, have to deal with a limited amount of personell." She sketched a small symbol on top of the previously marked building, a symbol familiar to any Foundation employee.

"Thus it was decided to set up a temporary base of operations, one that would be undercover and discreet." She pulled out a folded pamphlet out of her pocket, unfurling it and laying it flat on the table.

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"By tomorrow this place will rebrand and become our temporary base of operations. Research personell as well as limited amounts of other necessary staff will arrive by then." She stood up, clasping her hands together and looking expectedly at the two men. "Any questions?"

Alex and Daniel shared a look, the latter clearing his throat before replying.

"Who exactly are you?"

The asnwer made the woman blink owlishly, soon recuperating and pulling out and ID out of her breast pocket.

"Pine Petrichor, Head Of Security of Temporary Site 11." A small smile made its way onto her face, the first emotion Daniel's seen from her during the entire conversation. "Reporting for duty, Director Miller."

Sunset practically flew up the staircase, uttering sorry's on her way as she did her best to avoid shoulder checking stray students on her path. That won't do any good to my reputation, that's for sure. Screeching to a stop just before the principal's office, Sunset abandoned knocking the door, choosing instead to enter unannounced.

Principle Celestia sat behind her worktable with a pensive expression, glaring daggers at a familiar man wearing a black suit. The man turned to look at Sunset, a small smile gracing his features.

"Ah, miss Shimmer, speak of the Devil." Alex said, pulling out a notebook with a pen out of his pocket. "I believe we have much to discuss."

Conversations

"Sunset? I can't hear you none, somethin's wrong with the reception." Applejack spoke into the reciever, recieving garbled noise followed by a prolongued beep. Cursing under her breath, whipping her head to check wether or not Mac had noticed her foulmouthing, the cowgirl breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed her brother was none the wiser.

Playing with the phone in her hands, Applejacks gaze drifted towards her brother's broad back partially obscuring the side of a unmarked black van blocking the road. Worry stirred in the pit of her stomach, mixed with stomach-churning unease. Applejack wasn't one to jump to conclusions, Granny raised her better than this, yet each passing moment gave the cowgirl more and more reason to rationalise her fears as something more than that.

The noise of agitated conversation reached her ears, and with a weary sigh the Applejack stuffed the phone in her pocket, taking long, purposeful steps towards her brother's broad back.

"Sir, please get back into your car, the situation will be resolved shortly." A man's voice spoke with practised level and authority, expecting to be obeyed.

"That's what you told me fifteen minutes ago." Big Mac's reply seemed even on the surface, but Applejack could see irritation under the thin veneer of calm. "And I ain't seeing any less cars on this road."

"We are currently rerouting incoming traffic back into the city, sir." The man donning a road worker's attire replied, emphasising the last word. "You must understand it takes conciderable time and effort to do this with entire city's worth of traffic."

"Then how 'bout you let people out of the city? That'll clear the road in no time." Big Mac replied, his arms crossed on his chest. The construction worker's face fell a little, the man all but rolling his eyes as he replied.

"I told you a hundred times already, there's a sinkhole forming under the road. Until it collapses, we can't let anyone through." The man was about to return to his post, when Big Mac's reply forced him to stay.

"Can't you lead cars around the sinkhole? How many sinkholes even are there?" The farmer's tone took an accusatory turn. "Don't pretend this' the only road outta the city that's blocked, people are talking, you know."

"Listen, cowboy, I don't know more than you do. You want answers? Go to City Hall or something." The workman snorted, shrugging his shoulders, before walking off to supposedly return to his work. Big Mac's squinted, following the man with his gaze before shaking his head and turning to Applejack. He nodded towards the pickup truck, earning a sigh out of Applejack as the two proceeded to take their seats in the car.

Applejack was about to open the door when she heard an annoyed voice behind her.

"First the demon girl, now this? What's going on in this city?"

Applejack frozen in place as her mind went into overdrive. She's talkin' 'bout Sunset? The girl ain't no demon, she just took a bad turn! Everyone deserves another chance... Nevermind that, how does she know about what happened at CHS? After a second's indescision, the Applejack's curiocity and sense of justice won over, the girl turning sharply towards the source of the noise.

A plain, white-yellow t-shirt layered over pine-green skin, well-worn blue jeans ending in grey-green sneakers. Clean, apple-green hair were tidied up into a ponytail, blue eyes half-hid behind squinted eyelids staring at the multiple mile long traffic jam behind her.

"What in Tartarus are you talkin' about, lady?" Applejack's question came out brazen, but was successful in grabbing the woman's attention.

"The demon girls from CHS?" The woman said, turning to Applejack with a disbelieving eyebrow-raise. "Don't tell me you haven't seen it, it's all over the Internet!" The woman gave Applejack a look over, her eyes widening in recognition. "Aren't you one of the girls from CHS?"

"Well, uh..." Applejack stumbled, taken aback as the woman turned tables on her, gaining the initiative.

"Oh my God you are!" The woman exclaimed, causing Applejack to look around to see if any of the drivers had noticed. Thankfully, nobody did. "You're one of the girls who stopped that monster with the rainbow beam thingy!" Applejack nodded instinctively, and before she could utter a word, the woman was back on her, continuing her tirade. "We all owe you girls for stopping that thing." Applejack cringed visibly as the woman referred to her friend in that fashion, anger bubbling up from within her. "With powers like those, who knows what that monster could've-"

"Sunset's ain't no monster!" Applejack all but shouted at the woman, her face taking on an owlish expression at the cowgirl's outrage. "She's a girl who made some bad descisions, I ain't denying that, but that don't mean she's a goner! Everybody deserves a second chance! She's my friend, for Lord's sake!" Applejack pointed a finger at the woman, flashing her an accusatory glare. "And I ain't take too kindly to people badmouthing my friends."

The woman took a step back, raising her hands defensively. "Sheesh, calm down, girl. I'm just telling you what I heard, word of mouth is all." A pregnant silence fell upon the two, the woman sighing, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry for all that about your friend, didn't mean any of it."

Applejack mulled over the words, nodding after them figuring they were truthful enough. "It ain't me you got to apologise to. Just be more mindful next time, okay? Ain't right spreadin' rumors about people."

A sheepish smile appeared on the woman's features. "Yeah, I'll take that to heart..." She trailed off, seemingly losing interest in conversation, before animating suddenly. "So you're friends with this girl?"

"Yep."

"She's a special cookie, right?" The woman chuckled at Applejack's questioning expression. "No offence, but you don't see girls with bat wings and a crooked horn everyday, do you?" The cowgirl bit her lip, debating on wether or not to speak more about her friend. "I don't doubt your friend can change, it's just-" The woman sighed, shaking her head. "I worry, alright? Haven't gotten a nick of sleep since I've seen that video. If that can happen to a girl who's not that bad, who's willing to change... What happens if that kind power ends up in wrong hands?" A shiver ran down the woman's spine as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, sorry... Didn't mean to offload all that onto you." She cleared her throat, turning to walk back to her car. "I better go, forget I said anything..."

"Wait." Applejack spoke, her voice barely above a whisper but it made the woman stop dead in her tracks. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." Applejack winced as the woman recited an unusually grim rendition of a Pinkie promise, but nodded.

"Sunset... well, she ain't exactly your average kind of gal." Applejack began, still unsure about revealing this kind of information to a stranger. She did make a Pinkie promise...

"What do you mean?" The woman said with a tilt of her head.

"She... ain't round from here." Applejack sidestepped the question, uncomfortable half-truths not being her best suit. "And that stuff you've seen? That magic? Something that powerful ain't common from where she's from." The woman's mouth turned into an O at the words.

"She must be real powerful then." Applejack shook her head.

"Sunset's real bright, and she ain't exactly scrawny, but what you've seen was the crown's doing, not hers." The woman's eyes turned to dinnerplates at the words.

"She's royalty?!"

"No-no-no!" Applejack waved her hands in denial, the woman's expression turning to confusion again. "It's not hers..." Only after the words left her mouth, did Applejack think of their weight.

"So she stole a powerful magic crown from alien royalty?!" The woman's voice turned panicky, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. "What if they're coming to get it back?!"

"No-no-no, Twilight's already took it back!"

"They've been here already?" The woman's expression was all but horrifyed.

"Twilight's not holdin' any grudges, she came and left in peace!" Applejack's voice was desperate as the woman staggered away from her, backpedaling in the direction of her car. "It's all fine, Sunny's turned a new leaf! Everything's gotta be alright!"

"If you say so." The woman blurted, practically jumping into her vehicle and slamming the door close.

Applejack almost jumped when a heavy hand was laid onto her shoulder, but a familiar voice grounded her.

"Get back into the car, sis." His voice was as even as ever, but had a nervous edge to it. "Quit causing a scene."

"Scene?" Applejack retorted, hurt and confusion clear in her voice. "I ain't causing no scene-" Words died in her throat as she noticed drivers all around them staring at her with either confused or unnerved expressions.

Applejack coughed, her ears burning as she followed her brother's advice.

Sunset's going to kill me.

"Ah, miss Shimmer, speak of the Devil." Alex said, pulling out a notebook with a pen out of his pocket. "I believe we have much to discuss."

A multitude of question darted through Sunset's head as she watched Celestia's perturbed expression shift into that of disappointment. Was she directung it at Sunset? At her former student?

At herself?

The girl fought off the urge to shake her head, focusing instead on the sole man in the room.

Sunset always took pride in her ability to read people. It's what got through the bloody battlefield of intrigue and betrayal that was Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the constant cutthroat competition between conniving classmates shaping her up to be one of the privileged few ponies who got the title of Princess'personal pupil. Her towering ambition and ruthless determination made her a force to be reckoned with, one that was all but destined to rule Equestria, for that was what she deserved.

But fate had other plans.

Fate had nothing to do with it, and you know it.

Even after her abrupt change in morphology and the definition of people in her lexicon, Sunset remained who she always was: a ruthless pragmatic, and a violently versitile one at that.

With new restrictions came new possibilities, new points to pressure, new strings to pull.

But her goals remained the same.

Neutralise the opposition, accumilate power, get the title she deserved.

It all felt surreal in hindsight. Take Equestria by force? By force of what, one hundred and fifty teenagers? Even with the power of the Element of Magic, her chances against an entire country's worth of military might were slim to none. Walking through that portal would've been a suicide mission.

So why did she want to do it?

A dull pain resonated from her shoulderblades, accusatory and vitriolic.

You know why you did it. Why you always do these things.

Her memories of the night were hazy at best, the actual timeline of that faithful evening javing been reconstructed from flashes of images and sounds, coupled with her new friend's accounts. But there was one thing she remembered clearly, one thing that she will never forget.

The rush of it all.

The euphoric, mind-numbing excatsy that came with holding all the cards, the sheer amount of magic coursing through her body bringing a never-before felt high with it.

One I'll never feel again.

She fought past the lump in her throat as a distant echo of the feeling returned, sending a shiver down her spine. She feared it. Feared, that if even a tiny sliver of it returned, she'd turn back, fight for it, burn all the bridges she'd built just to feel it again, if for a passing moment.

Not much left to burn, anyways.

She feared, that whatever the Elements did to her, while was undoubtedly for the better, carved some integral part of her out, apart that made her, her, and left a gaping hole in its stead. Or worse.

What if the Elements replaced something?

The thought terrified her, because it was too likely of an outcome. Too real.

If you slowly replace each part of a ship, until not a single original part remains, is it still the same ship?

Was that why now when looking at Alex, instead of reading him like an open book, she felt confused? His posture was firm and adamant, refusing to yeld or be ignored. His smile was the closest to arrogance she'd seen on the man, but wasn't close enough to be called that. His eyes, in stark contrast with the rest of his body, had a strained look to them.

Just a week ago, Sunset would've had him pegged on the spot. Now though?

Now I don't know what to think.

Not one to give up easily, Sunset cleared her head as much as possible, her voice brash as she spoke.

"I don't have anything to tell you, said enough at the docks already. You know, that time you broke into my house?" She huffed, not missing the disapproving look Celestia gave her. "Besides, weren't you supposed to go away already?"

"We were" He began, his brows furrowing as he looked through her. "but the roads are blocked. Risk of sinkholes, or something like that."

"Why don't you call them? I'm sure they'll let a pair of big shots out of the city." Sunset said with a snort.

"I'd love to, sarcasm aside, but the phones as good as dead, no net or reception." He tapped the pocket of his jeans, the shape of a phone protruding from within. "So I've got spare time, why not spend it reminiscing?" He flashed a smile at Celestia, who rolled her eyes in responce. He turned to focus on Sunset. "All the while clearing a few things up."

"I don't want to talk." Sunset said curtly, her arms crossed. "Not now, not ever." She added, once she saw the beginnings of a retort forming on the man's lips.

"One, just one question." The man said, raising a finger to accentuate his point. "And I'll leave you be."

"Alex, I think it is best if you leave my office." Principal Celestia said sternly, her steely gaze centered on the man.

"One tiny question, and I you'll never have to worry about me again." Alex ignored his ex-mentor, eyes squarely on the bacon-haired girl.

"Alex." Celestia's voice was as calm as ever, but Sunset felt a shiver go down her spine at the cold intonation it held, the only saving grace being that it wasn't directed at her.

Unlike last time.

"It would be in your interests to end this discussion now." Her tone made the Alex stop, not quite freeze in place, but reconsider.

"I-"

"What do you want to know?" Sunset said with a sigh, a tiny sliver of self-satisfaction bubbling up inside her as she saw both of their faces adorn a surprised expression.

"Sunset, you don't have to." Celestia replied after a moment of silence, her voice full of almost parental concern.

The resemblance is frightening.

"If I don't, he'll either tell his buddy to pester me, or break into my house again." She spoke, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "So I'll ask just this once. What do you want to know?"

What do you want to hear?

The man didn't gloat or pause, he didn't do much of anything but ask, calmly and evenly.

"Of what use is the portal to your people?"

Sunset didn't pause because she hadn't anticipated the question, but rather because she'd struggled to find an answer.

Why did Celestia create the mirror? For what purpose?

Decades of academic knowledge flashed through her mind's eye, and the answer she found wasn't particularly promising.

"Exile for magical creatures was one use." She began, her thoughts wandering to the sleepless nights she spent in the Royal Library prior to her escape. "Those that were deemed too dangerous to hold in prison, but too powerful to execute." She grimaced as the word ledt her mouth. It wasn't a nice page in Equestrian history, not reflective of the country's modern-age peace and tolerance shtick.

No wonder they censored practically all of it.

"So you people thought that stuffing all highly-powerful magic creatures into one place was a good idea?" Alex said with a raise of his eyebrow.

Second question, asshole. But I'll bite.

"There's not much magic this side of the portal." She shrugged. "With all of them on one side, they'd run dry by just staying alive." She cleared her throat. "Maybe they can't even guarantee that."

Alex was about to ask something else, when Sunset raised her finger.

"Nope, no more questions. I was generous enough humouring the second one." She pointed her thumb towards the door. "Out."

After a moment's indescision the man nodded, strolling towards the door, stopping just shy of it to flash the girl a small smile.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Before she could come up with a responce, the door shut close.

"So?" Daniel spoke from his desk, breaking away from sorting his soon-to-be staff personell files to adress his already-staff.

"Shimmer's story held up." Pine replied from her seat in the small office relegated to her superior. "Miss Applejack really thinks she'd turned over a new leaf, keyword thinks." She passed Daniel a torn notebook page. "No hard feeling either, from what I gathered, you can find the whole transcrpt here." She cleared her throat, glancing at her wristwatch. "Of course, I'd still recommend a proper interrogation of everyone involved as soon as our resources would allow it."

"Great work, Pine!" Daniel replied enthuseastically." Have a pizza, on the house."

Pine heard a sigh from the seat next to her, ignoring it to address the Site Director.

"We don't have pizzas yet, sir. The staff's still furnishing the kitchen."

"Guess we'll have get takeout?" Daniel chuckled as the man beside Pnie groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"You gave this asshole an office? Really?" Alex pouted.

"Someone doesn't like pizza, it seems." Daniel cracked his knuckles in a failed attempt at intimidation, before shooting a good natured smirk at his friend. "Got anything for me, Agent Cawthon?"

"Sure, Director Miller." Alex said with a roll of his eyes, crossing his arms on his chest. "Apparently, Shimmer's people ised the portal as a prison for powerful magical creatures, to powerful to kill or contain." Anticipating Danny's question, he continued. "Apparently there's not enough magic to sustain them, so best case scenario, they're dead or powerless."

A fown etched itself into Danny's features as he ran the information through his head. "Good job, Al, I'll report to Memory, see if he can hurry those reinforcements up. Lord knows we don't need any more trouble coming our way."

A dreadful though visited him as he opened his work email, typing away a report.

Shouldn't have said it outloud.

Correspondance

Sunset should've felt happy that Alex left, supposedly to never bother her again, however unlikely that was. She should've been glad to be relieved of his presence, finally able to have a heart-to-heart with Principal Celestia about the stuff that's been bothering her.

And therein lies the problem.

Sunset had dealt with many struggles in her life even before she started thinking with portals, you don't get out of an orphanage straight into Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns and not have your wits about you. But what she'd dealt with after her departure had truly shown her what she was made of.

Crawling out of poverty was hard one time, but doing so in an alien world, with practically no knowledge about it? That was on another level.

Eventually, she'd grown influential enough to have any student in CHS move whichever way she wanted with a twitch of her fingers, grown powerful enough there were no obstacles left in her way.

Except one.

She was the one single she couldn't tackle, one rock she couldn't move, no matter how she tried. A sword of Damocles, hanging over her head every waking moment of her life.

Celestia

Whether Princess or Principal, her mood soured each time she heard the name, her blood boiling as years of perceived injustices and unfounded denials flooded into the forefront of her mind.

That was part of the reason Sunset kept a low profile in the school, doing her best not to draw suspicion from the mirror copy of her ex-mentor.

It was why she was all but mortified when the Principal's voice spoke, the intonation painfully familiar.

"Sunset" the girl froze in her place, thankful she had her back turned to the Principal. "Is that true?"

"Huh?" Sunset spoke, still facing the office's window. "I doubt it, Alex doesn't look like the type that keeps promises." She watched the autumn leaves fall, acutely aware that playing dumb wouldn't work.

Not with her.

"You and I both know that's not what I meant." Sunset chewed on the insides of her cheek, the metallic taste failing to distract her through the hole she felt being burned through her at the moment.

"What you said about the portal, about magical creatures exiled here, is that true?"

Celestia's tone felt familiar, painfully so to the very last inflection. It was a tone she'd heard many a time before frem her ex-mentor, like a mother trying to make a child confess, despite already knowing what they've done. She wanted to lie, she really really did.

No, no it wasn't. I lied to that idiot so that he'd go away and stop ruining everything.

But she didn't.

"It's true." Sunset replied with a shaky breath, still refusing to see Celestia's face. She held her breath, waiting for a reply that took entirely too long to come.

"For how long have you known about this?"

For how long have you been keeping it secret?

"Since I came through the portal." She answered truthfully, her ears burning from the act.

"Why didn't you-"

"Tell you?" Sunset turned sharply to face the Principal, suppressing a flinch as she met Celestia's concerned expression. Sunset scowled as she noticed signs of pity in that look. "As if you would've believed me then." She scoffed, looking away from the woman's judgemental expression. "You know what kind of rumors were popular that year."

"Why not tell me after the Fall Formal?" Celestia's voice was soft, but carried an all too familiar undertone of disappointment. "Can you imagine how many lives you're putting at risk? What if something dangerous comes from the other side, or some long-exiled prisoner wants to return?"

"Oh, so it's my fault now?!" Sunset's voice raised on its own, the girl crossing hands over her chest. "News flash: I wasn't the one who opened the damned portal, it's been in use for generations."

"That's not what I meant." Celestia said sternly, continuing before Sunset could retort. "What I meant, is that you're the only person this side of the portal who knows what it was used for. Why not warn us? Warn me?"

"Why? So you'd worry yourself to death?" Sunset scoffed, not paying attention to Celestia's hurt expression. "What could you have done, realistically, to stop whatever crawls out of the portal from making mincemeat out of everyone in this school?" She chuckled nervously, rubbing her forehead. "Save your nerve cells, they don't regenerate."

She shut her eyes, soldiering past the Principal, pointedly ignoring the disappointed look on her face, one that looked a little too familiar.

I've got enough of that on my way out.

The door slammed shut behind her, the glass rattling as she stormed away.

Sunset didn't flinch when small pieces of plaster crumbled from the worn down ceiling upon her entrance, dropping her bag haphazardly to the floor. She stomped past her worn-down sofa, past the rickety table and chair held up by good will and probably magic, stopping in a seemingly unassuming spot in the middle of her very, very humble abode.

Sunset prodded a floorboard with her foot, dropping into a crouch once she heard it creak in response. Hooking her nail between the floorboards and pulling it gently, Sunset worked her finger under it, pulling it off completely. In the empty place beneath the boards, laying on the cold cement floor was a plain shoebox.

With trembling hands, Sunset pushed the lid open, nausea hitting her the instant she saw the red and yellow sun emblazoned on a brown leather of a journal. The book shook in her hands, a pair of eyes attempting to burn a hole through it.

Sunlight diffused through the stained glass windows of the throne room, coloring the pristine marble floor in an array of rainbow hues. A comfortable silence reigned over the throne room, periodically broken by careful sips, followed by the sounds of cake-decimating self-indulgence. The room was empty of guard and staff, and would remain so for at least the following hour, a generous estimation, considering Celestia's penchant for chocolate.

Three cautious knocks disturbed the carefully constructed peace of the moment, prompting a silent sigh out of the Tetrarch. All good things come to an end, she concluded, setting her cutlery aside with a golden glow, wiping her muzzle free of the confection, her face drawing into a mask of neutral pleasantness.

"You may enter."

She spoke with practiced calm, a single guard entering the throne room, a twinge of nervousness visible under the guard's ever-present stoicism. The Princess' stomach churned with unease as the guard saluted, moving silently towards the golden throne. The royal guard was well trained, their discipline unrivaled by any special force before them, but it wasn't often Celestia's seen one act with such curtness.

The mare stopped just shy of the throne, reaching into her saddlebags to pull out a brown faux-leather journal, a golden sun emblazoned on its front. Celestia's heart did a heartbeat as the mare offered the journal on an outstretched hoof, standing still as seconds passed, the Princess giving the book a thousand yard stare. It shook with a certain rhythm, a subtle glow emanating with each vibration.

A bead of sweat rolled down the guard's forehead, the mare clearing her throat to grab the alicorn's attention. "The guards heard some commotion in your quarters, Your Highness. They thought it to be an intruder of some sort, but when they tried to apprehend the culprit, the guards found this thing." The mare's tail wagged nervously as Celestia remained motionless, transfixed by the strange journal. "The royal archmage checked it for any hexes or spells, but came up empty." She cleared her throat, failing to grasp her ruler's attention once again. "He sent me to deliver it to you, Princess. Said you'd know what to do with it."

Celestia let out a ragged sigh, one of the few precious moments she allowed to appear vulnerable in front of her little ponies, levitating the book with her magic.

"Express my gratitude to Night Light, Mighty Shield." She said calmly, the guard saluting her swiftly before vacating the premises. Celestia gripped the cover with a golden aura, her heartbeat quickening for the first time in a long, long while.

"Again? We have to re-shelve the whole library again?" Spike pouted, walking down the stairs of Golden Oak library, his short legs turning each step into a small jump. "We did that last weekend, remember?"

"It never hurts to be thorough, Spike." Twilight said with a roll of her eyes, levitating the small drake to sit on her back, much to the latter's chargin. "Besides, I'm expecting a sizable book donation later today, so its best we start early." A dreamy look overtook the mare's face as she spoke, paying no mind to the less-than content Spike on her back. "Just imagine, Spike, books from all over Equestria, gathered here, in Ponyville!" Her eyes full of excitement, she failed to notice her number one assistant's face scrunch up suddenly, a news-bearing rumbling reverberating through his stomach.

Twilight yelped as green flames licked her mane, miraculously only singing stray ends as a letter formed from black ash, caught by a purple aura moments before it hit the floor. Turning her head Twilight shot her little brother a concerned glance, met by an affirming nod and a coughing fit.

The parchment alone betrayed the letter's royal nature, the cream-colored surface was tied close with a red band, a crimson sun pressed into wax sealing it shut. Releasing the letter free of its bindings, Twilight had a fraction of a second to react to a flash of blinding light that enveloped her, the feeling of being pulled coupled with nausea and a sudden shift in environment subtly hinting at a teleportation charm being placed on the letter.

Twilight preferred casting the spell herself, thank you very much.

Keeping her head as still as possible in an effort to avoid disorientating herself further, Twilight slowly opened her eyes, coming face to face with one and only, mirror-dimension doppelgangers notwithstanding, Princess Celestia.

Twilight was about to greet her ex-mentor, stopping when her eyes focused on Celestia, a feeling of wrongness overtaking her desire to speak. The Tetrarchs usual reserved pleasantness was gone from her features, replaced by a steely forwardness, her magenta eyes piercing Twilight, pinning her in place.

"Please excuse the transposition charm, dear Twilight, but the matter at hoof required immediate attention." Having said that, Celestia turned ro Spike, giving him a motherly smile. "Forgive me Spike, this charm is known for causing dizziness, even more so than usual teleportation." Spike gave a cautious nod, shaking his head only to regret it moments later, his face turning a shade of green. "Oh dear, let's get you to a doctor."

Spike's eyes grew wide as Celestia's horn sparkled with a golden aura, but contrary to the drake's fears he remained in place, a white-coated stallion clad in medical attire appearing next to him in a flash of golden light.

"Dr. Fracture, would you please see to it that young Spike gets some medical attention? I'm afraid he's a little dizzy from a teleportation charm." Celestia addressed the doctor, who gave her a curt nod after steadying himself for a moment, waiting for the world to cease spinning.

She spoke once more after the throne room doors closed shut, Turning to Twilight with an outwardly concerned expression that made the younger alicorn feel uneasy.

"When you came back through the mirror, what state did you leave Sunset in?" Celestia spoke evenly, and despite her voice sounding far from accusatory, Twilight's ears were pinned to her head.

"She was still recovering from the Fall Formal." Twilight put a hoof to her chin, trying to recollect the details. "She was purified by the elements, and was pretty weak as a result. I met with CHS's Principal, expressed my concerns about the public finding out what happened, and came through the portal."

"You used the Elements on Sunset?" Celestia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"She was warped by Equestrian magic! She mind controlled the entire school, what was I supposed to do!" Twilight said defensively, before sighing. "Princess Luna was purified by the Elements, and she's fine! So why shouldn't Sunset be?"

"Yet you haven't told me earlier." Celestia said reproachfully, her brows furrowed as Twilight remained silent. "Nightmare Moon wasn't born out of the power of the Elements, but out of the loneliness and pain that I caused." She stated, Twilight biting her tongue to refrain from interrupting her ex-mentor. "When you and the other Bearers freed Luna, it was her own magic influenced by a thousand years of bitterness and self-loathing that was flushed out of her, not one of the Elements." She paused, letting the gears turn in Twilight's head.

"You're saying it was Sunset who warped the Element's power, not the other way around?" Twilight watched Celestia's gaze soften a little, although her expression remained unchanged.

"Depends on the extent of her transformation." Celestia offered, prompting Twilight to furrow her brows in recollection.

"Sunset had fiery red skin, leathery wings, like those of a thestral, and a crooked horn resembling that of a changeling queen." She felt a jolt of satisfaction when the sun princess nodded,followed by shame as Celestia's expression molded into one of concern.

"If what you're saying is true, she must have ascended into alicornhood, or at least attempted to." She went silent for a moment, thinking over what her prized pupil had said. "I would say she influenced the Element as much as it did her."

"Is this a problem?" Twilight intoned, her spirits falling as she noticed her mentor's expression turned thoughtful. "The Elements fixed whatever was wrong with her, right?" The moment those words left her mouth, Twilight wished she could take them back. Disappointment mixed with anger flashed on Celestia's face, the brief expression burned into Twilight's mind for ages to come, despite soon changing into one of eerie calm.

"There is nothing wrong with Sunset." Celestia spoke evenly, tranquil fury behind each word. "She made mistakes, she stumbled, but so did everypony at least once in their lives." Her expression turned somber as she spoke. "The difference was that she had nopony to help her realize that." The words hit Twilight like a freight train, but before she could say something, Celestia continued.

"Here, take this." A brown journal floated in front of Twilight, held aloft by a golden aura. "Read it as soon as possible, and return it to me." The book was lowered onto Twilight's back with a soft thud.

Celestia's expression softened as she sighed, her voice going quieter. "It is not often that I ask favors, Twilight, yet here we are. I ask of you one thing: can you help me figure out a way to cross the portal earlier than the moon cycle intended?" Confusion that was bubbling in Twilight's mind must've been written plain on her face, as Celestia continued.

"You'll see my reasoning once you read the journal, but please, go no further than the last written page." Twilight nodded, no less puzzled. "You do not have to give me an answer straight away, but I will be thankful to hear from you in the morning." She leaned, encompassing the younger alicorn in a wing-hug. "A guard will escort you to your room." She nuzzled her prized pupil. "Be well, Twilight."

The royal size bed creaked as Twilight landed on its velvet sheet with a sigh, the journal suspended inches above her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, mulling over everything that happened. What happened to Sunset to warrant such a swift and decisive reaction out of Celestia? Last time Twilight checked, the girl was fine, wasn't she? Twilight bit her lip. Truth be told, she was in such a hurry to return home, Sunset's condition completely slipped her mind.

Twilight opened her eyes, focusing on the book floating above. What will she find on the inside?

No time like the present to find out.

Princess Celestia.

It's been a while since we've talked, hasn't it? Not without reason, of course, we both said things that we still regret. Things that I still regret. Things that, I sincerely hope, you no longer regret.

You wouldn't believe how many times I had to re-write this.

Ever since I stormed off through the mirror, indignant and furious at your rejection, I swore to do right by me, to prove you that you were mistaken, that I knew what was best for Equestria. I blackmailed, lied, and threatened my way to the top of the food chain, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, when everything I ever wanted was within my grasp, you sent her.

That goodie four-shoes, the little miss perfect that solved all your problems, according to the Element, anyhow. Were you proud of her success, or afraid when you noticed the similarities? Did you send her to that middle-of-bumfuck nowhere town in hopes she genuinely makes some friends, or out of fear of another student going rogue? It doesn't matter in the end, of course. Your gander has paid off, and now you have everything you ever wanted. Luna is back, free of whatever influence that failed her, that old draconequus is apparently 'good' now, and your precious little student is finally going to become a ruler.

A truly happy ending, one that has no place for me.

Was something wrong with me? Something so utterly, fundamentally broken that you thought wasn't possible to fix? Something not worth fixing? You could've sent me to one of those hick towns, Maker knows equestria has no shortage of them, to force me to make friends. You could've sat down and explained what the mirror was used for, instead of having the same bullshit 'You'll learn it when you're ready' non-answers.

But you didn't.

Was it because her foalsitter was your niece? That annoyingly sweet pink alicorn who couldn't keep her eyes off of her brother? Was she so much better than me that you thought her to be a better replacement? Or did you see somepony with enough potential to rule Equestria, somepony young and impressionable enough to mold, something that was obviously not working on me anymore.

This was my thought process for the longest time, but ever since the Fall Formal, something changed. I don't know whether to attribute the change to the Elements' magic, or a reality-check, but I suppose it matters little in the end. Everywhere I went, I did what I thought was right: accumulate power, destroy the opposition, achieve my goals, and yet my plans failed both times. My first instinct, I must admit, was to recourse to blaming you. You and your thrice-damned student that ruined everything I've built, everything I strived for. That was the case up until a single thought changed everything.

If everypony else is always to blame, then maybe the problem is with me.

I was too bold, too confident to last. Divide and conquer works up until you stumble inseparable, and in the end, I was outnumbered. Each one of the girls was formidable on her own, but together? They all but mopped the floor with me, something I tried to prevent by driving them apart.

It wasn't the lingering pain in my shoulder blades that broke the floodgates, neither was the familiar shame of defeat. No, what caused me to cry my eyes out in front of the entire student body of CHS was a simple action of one kind girl, too kind for her own good, in my opinion.

What Twilight did, was baffling to me then, and it's baffling to me now. Why give me another chance? Why even bother with me, when she was going back to Equestria in a few hours anyway? Only now do I realize that the person towering above me as I kneeled in the crater, was me.

A better me, one that learned to trust others, learned humility and found something in her life that I was missing. One that, in the end, exceeded mr in every possible way. I don't regret taking her hand at that moment, how could I? It was either this, or...what, exactly? Go back to pretending nothing ever happened? Ignore the possibility of leading a better life that was staring me in the face, just so I could prove a point to a pony that has gone far past caring about me? Knowing that I even existed?

The girls are kind to me, far kinder than I deserve, to be honest. The students aren't nearly as vengeful as I expected, trust me, a cold shoulder and an occasional dirty look is far from the worst people are capable of. Things were actually starting to look up, and I was beginning to think I had a chance at a happy ending.

A fat chance, as it turned out.

I won't bore you with the details, Maker knows this letter is long enough already, but someone high up found out about my standoff with the Elements. One thing led to another and now people can't leave the town, and all communication with the outside world is cut off. The Internet's down (ask Twilight), phone lines are dead, and I doubt there's any point in trying to mail a letter.

All in all, we're fucked.

One of them visited again today, spoke with the Principal, asked me a couple of questions, and said they were worried something dangerous would come from the portal. Or, more worryingly, that something dangerous has already passed through, some millenia ago, and somehow survived all this time. You took it out of the history books, but I'm positive this mirror was a jail for high-risk magic users.

Right, about that.

This world isn't completely devoid of magic, as it turned out. I noticed the ambient magic field way back when I first crossed the mirror, but without a conduit to push it through, it felt like trying to withdraw bits from your bank account but forgetting your password.

I haven't felt it once since the fall formal. I chalk it up to seal team six using up the field around here, mainly because I'm not too fond of other explanations.

This is it then, Princess. Canterlot is being taken hostage, who knows how many more Equestrians are roaming this side of the portal, and soon enough there'll be people trying to get through the mirror. And as a person who's lived here for some time, I'll tell you that it's very, very bad news.

Why am I writing this? Closure, probably, possibly vindication. Or maybe I'm just trying to vent, all the while burning a few of the bridges I have left.

Don't bother coming here.

Destroy the mirror, for your own good.

For the good of Equestria.

Your Faithful Failure,

Sunset Shimmer.

Transmission, Part 1

Celestia's nerves were taught as a string as she remained outwardly stoic, a skill that came with both work experience and, eventually, with age. The rhythmic march of a wall-mounted clock hammered on her eardrums in the emptiness of her office, Celestia steadying her breathing as she reached for her phone, entering a number, all but praying that what she had in mind would work.

Her fingers tapped to the beat of a song she remembered fondly from her youth, the gesture mildly effective at calming her nerves as she heard the ringing over the line. Seconds passed as she waited, and just as Celestia began to wonder whether or not she put in the correct number, a voice spoke over the line.

"Hello? Who's this?" Alex spoke calmly with a hint of disinterest in his tone.

"Alex, this is me, Celestia. Do you have a moment?" In her mind's eye Celestia saw the man's brow quirk in the silence that followed.

"How did you get my number?" His voice did little to betray his surprise, the beat of silence between replies doing most of the work.

"CHS keeps records on each student that studied here, I went through some old ones and found your number." She chuckled, mainly to diffuse the atmosphere. "Lucky you haven't changed it, right?" Alex snorted in reply, a surprisingly genuine sound.

"You can thank Danny for that. Never had the heart to change the number ever since he got us nearly identical ones back in middle school." Celestia's lips quirked upward as she reminisced alongside her ex-student. "Can you imagine? Just one digit difference!" He sighed, all mirth gone from his voice as he finished. "I suppose I have a minute to spare. Lay it on me."

"I've been thinking about what Sunset said at our last meeting." Celestia began, her eyes glued to the girl's profile laid out on her table. "Perhaps I might have overestimated myself." She paused, waiting for a responce that never came. "If something dangerous came through the portal, something that threatened the lives of my students, of people of Canterlot... What could I do to stop it?" She shook her head. "I am out of my depth in this matter."

"For once we agree. But I fail to see why you've called me." He answered calmly. "Why not go to the police?"

"Because they wouldn't believe a word I say? Because all calls out of the city are still blocked? Because you and I both know you're not from the ASA, and neither is Daniel?" Celestia felt her nerves taught once more as silence took over the conversation. Deciding not to wait for a responce, she continued, a little bolder than before. "I am asking for your help, Alex. I may not completely agree with your methods thus far, but I understand some things are a necessity. I hope that if I know what you are trying to achieve, I can help make the lives of my students, and the people of Canterlot, safer."

A tense silence was broken by a defeated sigh.

"Meet me at Spicy Crust Pizzeria, 497 North Parker Drive, at 13:00."

Clip-clops of hooves hitting marble reverberated off the walls of the throne room as Twilight paced nervously from one end of the room to another, glancing periodically at a contraption of her own making standing in the corner. Each glance sent another wave of nausea through her, prompting her to stop after a couple of times in fear of painting the marble floor with her breakfast.

It was a really nice breakfast, after all.

It had to work, Twilight reasoned, taking deep, slow breaths as her sister-in-law instructed her. She'd checked it a dozen times already, and all of her calculations predicted it to work all but flawlessly. So what was bothering her? Or, perhaps, who?

A silly question, all things considered.

Twilight has never seen Celestia so tense, not when Discord was released from his centuries long stony cage, not when Chrysalis was on the verge of taking over Canterlot, the closest she'd been to being this harried, was on the eve of Twilight's journey to the frozen north.

Sunset means a lot to her, it seemed.

Twilight bit her lip as a momentary jealousy was squashed by an overwhelming sense of shame. Was she really jealous of Sunset? The girl who was currently stranded on an alien world, supposedly alone and in the middle of something sinister, a girl who, while not completely innocent, tries to do better, to become a better person.

A better me...

A shiver went down Twilight's spine as she remembered the letter in vivid detail, despite seeing it a week ago. She never intended to come off as Sunset's superior, never wanted to stick all of the girl's mistakes in her face, never wanted to look like a replacement.

She wasn't a replacement, right?

A single tear impacted the marble floor, thunderous in the surrounding silence.

"Your Highness!" A dozen voices spoke in unison as Celestia entered the Castle barracks, a corresponding number of ponies saluting the Tetrarch as she went. She nodded at her little ponies, moving past the lines of guards to approach a quartet standing right opposite of her.

As the rest of the royal guards, the ponies wore enchanted golden armor, painting their coats a snow white color. A unicorn, Gleaming Shield if Celestia remembered correctly, took a step forward, saluting her.

"Your Highness!" Celestia replied with a curt nod, one she'd regret under other circumstances. "We are ready to move on your orders." The captain reported, his firm voice failing to conceal an unsure gleam in his eyes.

"Something the matter, captain?" Celestia asked with a raise of her eyebrow, the tone reassuring the mare she was in no trouble. "I would like to know of any complications before our excursion." She saw the captain flinch as he caught himself starting to trot in place, the stallion regaining his composure and looking at Celestia directly.

"It's nothing serious, ma'am, I just... Would like to ask for a boon." The captain finished, his breath hitching mid-sentence.

"Speak your mind, captain."

"My wife sent me a telegram, saying my little Sunshine's ain't feeling any better since my last visit." He looked at the ground and cleared his throat, just in time to miss Celestia's gaze softening. "I know it's a long way to the frozen north..." He took a deep breath, looking the Tetrarch square in the eyes. "After this excursion, would you mind if I took a few days off? I'll pull a double shift for a month if necessary!" He added, voice nervous but gaze unwavering.

A warm feeling spread through Celestia's body at the sight. Who would she be to deny a father a chance to see his sick daughter? Even in a time like this, she couldn't put her own interests over those of her subjects.

"This won't be needed." She said with a warm smile, one that put the captain at ease. "You are free to visit your daughter, captain, if you hurry, you may be able to catch today's train to the Crystal Empire." She curiously watched the captain's expression shift from relief to confusion, to distress, finally settling to a mix of the three.

"Thank you, Your Highness, but I assure you I can attend the excursion." His features harden for a moment, a commanding inflection entering his tone. "It is my duty as a captain if a royal guard to protect you, wherever you may go." His mouth quirked into a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Next train won't be in Canterlot for a couple of days, anyhow."

"Very well." Celestia said with a nod, gesturing to the quartet of guards to follow her. "Although I must ask, are you feeling well, Gleaming? It wouldn't do stressing yourself if you're sick." Her tone carried a motherly concern that never failed to fluster her little ponies.

"I'm quite alright, Your Highness." The captain replied, clearing his throat and shushing a snicker or two coming from his squad. "I caught the Cutie Pox when I was a colt, so I'm in no trouble." He said with a nostalgic smile, one that shifted into a frown as he continued. "Sunshine's a different story, though..."

"Oh?"

"Ruby's the one left caring for her most of the time, with me being away and all, and I feel the filly's a little too sheltered." He said ruefully, although Celestia could tell the emotion wasn't directed towards his loved ones. "Didn't catch it in time like all the other foals, now it's harder on her." A small frown graced Celestia's features as he finished, disappearing as she turned her head to address the captain.

"Perhaps you'd like to be stationed at the Crystal Empire instead?" Celestia offered.

"I'd love to, but the law enforcement there is jam packed with locals. Can't blame them, honestly, I'd be wary of outsiders if I were in their place." He said with a shrug. "Anyhow, It's not my place to complain. The pay is great here, and it's an honor to serve in the capital, Your Majesty."

"I'm glad to hear." Celestia offered, smiling warmly at the captain as the group stopped in front of massive double-doors.

A steaming black liquid slid down the man's esophagus, burning the tissue on its way down, bringing a mix of mild pain and a comfortable warmth that seeped into his core. A wave of wakefulness washed over Daniel as the man shivered, rubbing his eyes as he took another document from a stack, giving it a look-over.

Available Personnel, the paper read, followed by a depressingly short list of candidates. Truth be told, things have been looking up this past week, the flow of workforce steadily increasing as The Foundation's HR got its act together, but the options presented were still worryingly sparse.

"Not to mention the lack of people without Canterlonian descent. The hell is our memetic division getting paid for?" Daniel wondered silently, going over the list of his soon-to-be co-workers.

"Let's see here... "

'Dr. Time Turner, MIT Doctorate in Physics. Occupation: Senior researcher. NOTE:Previously involved in an accident with SCP-███, creating a self-sustaining time loop.'

Daniel took a sip of his coffee, rolling the black liquid with his tongue as he mulled over the red material.

"Doesn't state any casualties, so that's a good start, plus MIT is nothing to scoff at. Might want to keep him away from timey-wimey things though." Gulping down his coffee, Daniel read along.

'Braeburn Apple. Construction Major in Knoxville. Occupation: Containment Specialist. Field of expertise: containment of aggressive entities. NOTE: Due to the Specialist's familial ties with one of the POI (refer to SCP-4004 file for further information) , the employee is to be monitored closely at all times to prevent conflict of interest.'

Daniel groaned into his mug. "Jesus Christ, why don't we just drag the whole Apple family into this mess? Last thing I need is a goddamn family feud."

He blinked away the morning blurriness from his eyes, wiping away the crust that coagulated over the last sleepless night.

"Alright, last one for tonight." He took a peek at his wristwatch, the number slowly crawling towards 7 in the morning. "Scratch that, last one for today."

'Starlight Glimmer. Occupation: Head Of Internal Security/Mandatory Site Counselor.'

Daniel's eyebrow craned upwards as he re-read the rather short description, lips tugging into a frown.

"Shit, really hoped I could push Al' into ISD, especially after Pine took the other position." He chewed on his lower lip, the perpetually scabbed skin tearing into a copper taste in his mouth as he looked over the attached picture of a lilac skinned woman. "And she's a damn shrink, just my luck. With a stellar work record to boot." He squinted, going over the entry again. "Wonder where she graduated from."

Just as he went to grab another document from the mountain of paperwork, the door to his office slammed open, sending the entire stack of papers tumbling to the floor.

Danny stared amusingly at the exasperated form of his friend, hisface brimming with a mix of worry and urgency.

"You better have a good reason for making me pick all this up, Al." Danny mock pouted, getting up from his desk and bending down, grabbing a handful of papers. "Or no on the house pizza for a week-"

"The portal's opening." Alex said curtly, cutting Danny's banter short.

"What?!" Danny yelped, fumbling the papers and shooting up straight, turning on his heels to face Alex. "I thought it wasn't going to open-"

"For a few moons." Alex finished for him. "One of the field boys reported unusual activity a minute and a half ago, we scrambled what security we have and concentrated them around the portal." The man explained, exiting the office as he recounted the story, Daniel falling in step beside him.

"I'm heading there right now, Pine's waiting in the car." He checked the straps under his business suit, making sure his holster was in place. "Thought I should let you know."

"I'm going too." Daniel blurted out without a second's hesitation, stopped just short of the pizzeria's exit.

"No you're not." Alex said curtly, not letting him through. "You're the Director, and this is a first contact situation. If anything happens, we need you to keep things operational."

"That's exactly why I have to go!" Danny protested, pushing past his friend to no avail. "I'll help with negotiations, and just to be safe, stick to the back." When his arguing brought no fruit he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, fine." Daniel relented, crossing his arms on his chest. "I'll go back to my office, see if I can draft a report about this to mainland." He sighed, his features softening. "Just keep me posted alright?"

Alex tapped the headset in his left ear, turning to leave when Daniel's voice stopped him once more.

"Oh, and one more thing. Try not to die, aight?" Daniel's voice carried a hint of humor, but was surprisingly serious for the man.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Danny." Alex replied, the door ringing behind him.

"What in tarnation is going on here?" A southern drawl cut through the murmur of a crowd, as its owner observed a gaggle of construction workers fussing over a statue in the middle of CHS, going back and forth, motioning to an excavator stationed not too far away from the statue. The sculpture had a deep row dug around it, soil and tile set into neat piles right beside a large Area Under Renovation sign. "They can't have this thing on school grounds, right?"

"How'd they get it past the Principal!?" Rainbow hollered, not addressing anyone in particular. "First they dig on school grounds for a week, and now they bring a damn excavator! No way Celestia's okay with this!"

"But what's the alternative?" Sunset asked dryly. "That she's been missing all this commotion the whole week?" She snorted. "Give me a break."

"Whatever their reason for being here, It ain't exactly reassuring." Applejack caught the questioning look from her rainbow haired friend. "I ain't one to jump to conclusions, but if the Principal's allowing these fellas to rummage around school property, they must've found a way to convince her."

"You think they threatened Celestia!?" Rainbow retorted with a scowl, turning to glare at the construction workers, the latter thankfully unaware of the girl trying to burn a hole through them with her gaze.

"Maybe." Applejack replied, wearing a perturbed expression. "Or maybe they didn't have to."

"Huh?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You think they bribed her?"

"No, you airhead!" Applejack retorted, rubbing her forehead. "I'm saying that they found somethin' on the other side that was scary enough to make Celestia let them do their thing."

Rainbow snorted, arms crossed on her chest. "Twilight came from there, and she was fine! So was Sunset!kinda..." She muttered the last part under her breath. "I just can't see anything scary coming out of that statue!"

"It's not all sunshines and rainbows on the other side, Dash." Sunset cut in, looking wearily at the surface of the statue, one she could've sworn was starting to shimmer.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Rainbow tempted fate with a roll of her eyes.

Just then, a surprised gasp followed by a startled scream cut through the murmur of the crowd, drawing everybody's attention.

"Look, the statue!"

The sculpture in question was usually quite a sight, expertly crafted and regal, it never failed to draw the attention of both students and teachers alike, no matter how much time they spent daily on CHS grounds. Now though, the craftsmanship of its creator was overlooked in favor of the uneatrthly shimmer that took over the base of the statue, followed by a twist and turn of the base's surface, one that slowly shifted into a progressively more lilac whirlwind of color.

Precious seconds of silence passed in a blink of an eye, finished with a terrified shriek from the crowd.

Students began to backpedal away from the construction site, some scrambling to get away at all costs, some pulling out their phones to film during their retreat. Other stood still, transfixed by the supernaatural occurence, while a small contingent had their phones to their ears, trying to reach emergency services.

At a glance it would seem that the workers had scrambled as well, but a closer look proved their reaction to be the polar opposite. A pair of workers scrambled to put barriccades in front of the statue's base, putting the plastic barriers in a semicircle. Another group turned to shooing away the students, urging them to leave the immidiate area. Curiously, they made no efforts to confiscate phones. One of them was holding a hand to his right ear, his lips moving, words drowned by the surrounding pandemonium, his distressed expression giving away the severity of the situation.

Applejack was broken out of her stupor when she heard sirens wailing in the distance, the sound close enough to become uncomfortable by the time she turned to see its source. Two black cars screeched to a halt way past the schools parking zone, a person jumping out of the first one before it stopped completly.

He wore a familiar business suit, his posure firm as he rushed towards the workers, stopping beside the one who spoke earlier, asking him something.

Alex? What's he doing here?

Applejack's eyes went wide as she saw another person get out of the car, the driver's side door opening to reveal familiar apple green hair tied into a ponytail. The cowgirl gawked as the woman hurriedly approached Alex, her much more casual attire consisting of blue jeans and a denim jacket worn over a plain white shirt.

That lady from the roadblock! She knows Alex?

Soon enough four more people in casual attire approached, settling into their positions around the statue as Alex ordered them around, periodically glancing at the other woman with an unreadable expression on his face.

Applejack took a step towards the group, stopping when she felt a pressure on her shoulder. She turned to see Sunset shake her head with a wary expression on her face. Before she could argue, a purple flash coupled with angry shouts forced her to turn towards the statue.

"We've got company!"

"We've got company!" Alex spoke over the commotion around them, loud enough for his fellow agents to hear. He watched the swirling vortex of he portal accelerate, forcing his heartbeat to steady. "Fire in retaliation, unless I say otherwise." Alex's grip tightened on his .45 HK USP as the man cast a side glance at Pine, the woman having no objections with him taking the lead.

Head of security my ass.

He kept the portal in his crosshairs as white light began to stream out of it, six shapes crossing the precipice, turning fully corporeal as they stopped before the impromptu plastic barricades. Outwardly Alex remained stoic, his posture steady and his muscles taut, his expression one of cold proffessionalism. Inwardly, the man gasped as he registered who came through the portal.

She wore a long regal white dress, one that looked tailor-made for her, her multicolor hair moving gently in the breeze, shimmering as it did. Her gaint was graceful and light, her posture regal and commanding, yet without an air of a tyrant. Magenta eyes assesed the situation, a glint of worry appearing for a moment as she looked at the devices aimed at her group, despite having to prior knowledge of what they were, she understood what the gesture meant.

Alex was gratedul for the surrounding silence, for he was at a loss for words as he stared at Celestia, one that looked much like the Principal he knew, yet so different at the same time. His gaze flickered to another figure standing just behind the other-Celestia, peeking to look at the group with a surprised expression.

Her purple hair reached her shoulders, a long streak of magenta melding very well with her attire. She wore a pale blue shirt with a grape colored bow, and a skirt matching her hair color, high similarly colored boots adorning her legs. The girl's surprised expression scanned the enviornment, turning fearful as she noticed the weapons aimed at them, the girl tugging on other-Celestia's hand.

This one recognised our weapons. Could she have been here before?

Alex registered movement from behind the two figures, four more people donning golden armor that looked like something out of a low-budget middle-age fantasy movie moved to stand before other-Celestia and the purple girl, pointing their spears at Alex's fellow agents, standing at guard.

"Freeze!"Alex hollered, taking aim at one of the figures. "No sudden movements!" He watched one of the guards scowl, their features softening when a white hand was gently laid on their shoulder.

His gaze flickered to other-Celestia, the woman wearing a frown.

"Is this neccessary?" She asked, looking square at Alex, her gaze not sitting well with the man. "We came here in peace."

"State the reason of your arrival."Alex spoke evenly, not lowering his weapon.

Celestia sighed, her frown lifting into a worried expression. "We came here to visit a friend." She spoke patiently, her tone akin to a parent explaining something to a child.

Well, there's another similarity.

"Her name is Sunset Shimmer." She continued, her words prompting Alex to stifle a swear. "Do you happen to know where she is?" She asked with a small smile. "We are worried about her greately, and it would help greatly if you helped us find her." Alex thought over his next words carefully, hoping that the bacon haired girl had the presense of mind to retire form the premises before the new arrivals spotted her.

"I have no knowledge of a person going by that name." He watched the smile fade from other-Celestia's expression, a mask of disappointment taking its place. "Nor do I know their current whereabouts." His gaze flickered towards Pine, the woman reaching to her earpiece, her lips moving in a whisper.

At least she knows where this is going.

"Now, if you are inclined to negotiations, you need to follow us to a more private area." He watched the guards brace for a fight, squeezing his own weapon tighter. "It's simply a matter of security, I'm sure you'll understand." He watched other-Celestia stare him down for long moment, as if gauging his intentions.

"Very well." She said with a slow nod, once again motioning her guards to lower their spears. "My guards and I will follow you, but please make it a swift trip. I have matters of state to attend to."

The words hit Alex like a sack of bricks. Matters of state? Is she a queen or something? Shit, that complicates things. No way we can hold them in a cell without risking an alien SWAT coming out of that statue. He glanced at Pine once more, the woman nodding at him.

"The meeting room isn't far, follow us through the school." Pine ordered, lowering her weapon, motioning the others to do the same. Alex waited a second or two before lowering his own.

"I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement." Other-Celestia said with a smile, turning to follow Pine as the woman began making her way towards the school buiding.

Alex watched the aliens move, the guards walking on both sides of Other-Celestia and the girl, reaching for his earpiece. "We managed to get things under control, for now anyway. Danny, get your rear in gear and send me the full list of questions we have for our arrivals." He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, shifting slightly to see what the commotion was about.

"Sunset!" The purple girl yelled, rushing past the golden guards towards a girl in the crowd. "Sunset, we were so worried about you!" Before she could come close to the crowd, one of the agents grabbed her hand, holding her in place. "Let me go! Sunset's right there!" She protested.

"Hey, no stepping out of line!" Alex commanded, jogging towards the girl. "Leave your questions for later, now go follow Pine to the meeting room." He gave the girl a glare, one that only riled her up.

"You lied, you knew where she was! Sunset was right, you're one of the guys who locked the whole city down!" She fought against the agent, the man holding her down with little effort. "Let me go!"

"We agreed to do this peacefully." Alex spoke slowly, not too keen on resorting to intimidation. "But we can always void our agreement."

"Woah, slow down there, partner!" A southern drawl came from the crowd, the students parting to reveal a familiar cowgirl. "What give you the right to threaten Twilight like that!"

"Yeah!" A scratchy voice confirmed its rainbow-haired owner stepping to support her friend. "Get your dirty hand off of Twilight!" Alex raised an eyebrow, at their outburst but remained otherwise unfased. His reaction was apparent, however, when a third girl approached the two.

"You better listen to them both, you know." Sunset spoke lazily, reluctantly looking at both Twilight and Alex. "Twi's more powerful than she looks, and that's not taking into account how much you'll piss off Celestia if anything happens to her."

Shit. She just had to stick her nose into this.

"Sunset?" Other-Celestia's voice was surprisingly soft, but their weight felt like a mountain on Alex's back.

I really shouldn't have picked up my phone that night.

Author's Note

There it is, a new chapter! Hope you like it :)

Transmission, Part 2

"Sunset?" Celestia's soft voice was like a nails against chalkboard to the fiery-haired girl, the name's bearer doing her best not to flinch at the sound. Sunset looked away from her ex-mentor, not ready to see the disappointed look the Tetrarch would undoubtedly give her.

"Sunset Shimmer." Celestia spoke once again, her voice harder this time around, a commanding undertone hidden beneath the level delivery. "I have no intent to harm any citizens of this land, and neither do my companions. Please, refrain from making threats anypony's behalf in the future." Sunset refused to look at her ex-mentor, but took a step back, her arms crossed on her chest.

"Applejack." Celestia turned to the cowgirl. "A warning regarding sudden movements was issued previously, was it not? Twilight's rash actions were met with a sufficient response. Do not let your bias cloud your judgment and conceal the truth." Applejack seemed to be at a loss for words, quietly nodding and stepping back into the crowd.

"Rainbow Dash." She turned to address the aforementioned girl. "As I previously stated, actions taken against Twilight were well within the limits of a proportional response. Your assistance is not needed at the moment, and I implore you to keep your loyalty from influencing your decisions." Rainbow Dash bit her lip, taking a step back, however reluctantly.

"Twilight Sparkle." Color drained from the girl's face as Celestia addressed her, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead from the Tetrarchs tone. "Whether or not information was concealed is of little importance right now, not when negotiations are to begin shortly. It does not give you the right to step over previously set boundaries. It would serve you well in the future, to learn how to set priorities." Twilight nodded weakly, looking at the agent holding her to let her go. He did so soon enough, after getting the green light from Alex, releasing his grasp and motioning her to return to the rest of her group.

"I apologize for my companions' rash actions, I assure they did not mean to cause harm." Celestia said, turning to look at Alex. "Shall we proceed?"

Alex remained silent for a moment, his eyes drifted from Celestia to the three girls. The alien was reasonable enough, perhaps he could push his luck. He looked at Pine, nodding at her to continue with the plan, the woman ushering the procession to move further towards CHS.

He turned to the trio of girls currently following the alien group with their eyes, clearing his throat to get their attention.

"You three are coming with me." He stated matter of factly, his authoritative tone commanding no rebuttal. Rainbow looked like she was going to argue, when Sunset spoke, her words staggering the athlete for a moment.

"Sure, lead the way." She more than noticed Rainbow's confused glare, prompting a follow-up. "The faster we get this over with, the better."

Rainbow searched for support in Applejack, but instead was left flabbergasted when the cowgirl sighed.

"I'm afraid she's right, sugarcube. Better get this done and dusted now." She replied, tilting her hat to cover her eyes from the look Dash was giving her.

The athlete had no choice but to pout silently, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Fine." She spat.

"After me." Alex led the trio to the black car he arrived in, settling into the driver seat once the girls settled into theirs. A soft click signaled the point of no return as the car doors shut, the engine roaring to life with a twist of a key.

"Seat Belts." Alex said matter of factly, reaching for his earpiece as he drove out of the school grounds, ignoring the snort from beside him. "Director Miller, this is Cawthon."

"Hearing you loud and clear Al." Daniel's voice carried over the radio, quiet enough for only Alex to hear. "I take it you're not alone?"

"Affirmative, relocating three subjects for questioning." Alex noticed Sunset giving him a dirty look out of the corner of his eye. "Requesting necessary accommodations. ETA 5 minutes."

"Jesus, are you trying to scare them to death? You're colder than dry ice!" Alex rolled his eyes as his Director chuckled weakly at his own joke, before continuing. "I'll send someone to prepare the necessary stuff, maybe throw a complimentary pizza slice or two. What do you think?" Alex looked at the rearview mirror, his eyes scanning over his passengers.

"It is up to you, sir."

"Right, right..." Daniel trailed off, his tone almost disappointed. A quiet moment passed, cut short when the Director's voice came back, anticipation and worry bleeding together in his tone. "I'll send the questions to Pine, hopefully she'll manage to clear some things up. "

Nails dug into the leather of the steering wheel as Alex's grip hardened.

"We can only hope."

Her motions were precise and calculated to a tee as she moved at the helm of the procession through the halls of Canterlot High, her posture straight and her head high. Pine Petrichor was confident in her ability to carry the task ahead of her, it wasn't her first interrogation, after all. Moreso, it wasn't her first interrogation of something inhuman either, although the regal woman following her steps was actually similar enough to a human, where one could confuse the two.

She didn't let the thought fester into something nasty.

Her eyes caught an opening into a lecture hall, her trajectory shifting as she led the group into the room. She proceeded to take the lector's seat as security personnel moved one desk directly opposite of her, a single chair accompanying it. She cleared her throat, looking up with an impassive expression to meet an equally calm Celestia looking back, a nervous wreck of a girl standing beside her.

"One of you has to leave, this is a one-on-one questioning session." She spoke cooly, gauging their reactions. Twilight immediately turned her head to look at Celestia, the latter simply nodding.

"I understand. My guards will look after Twilight while we speak." Aliens clad in gold began to move, when Pine's left hand raised into the air, her own security personnel ready to act on her word.

"We have questions regarding your companion, it is best if you wait outside for now." She started, clasping her hands together and laying them on the table in front of her.

The regal alien waived for a moment, her eyes shutting for a moment too long to consider the motion a blink.

"Very well." The girl next to her flinched at the words, concern marring her features. Celestia turned to head for the door, briefly laying her hand on the girl's shoulder and giving it a squeeze as she walked past her, her guards shutting the door behind her.

"Please state your full legal name-" Pine began, her cold and professional tone cut off by the sound of the girl's voice.

"We didn't mean to offend you, I swear! We were just worried about Sunset!" Twilight began, her voice begging and exasperated. "I've forgotten all about her after the Fall Formal, and then Princess gets this weird message from her, and then-"

"Slow down." Pine cut Twilight's tirade short, her words firm as she raised her hand for the girl to stop babbling. "Nobody's accusing you. Speak clearly and concisely, stay on topic. Have I made myself clear?" Pine said before turning once again to her notepad, keeping the girl in her peripheral vision, the latter seemingly doing some kind of self-calming exercise, her chest rising and falling in a specific rhythm.

"Crystal." Twilight finally answered, the redness gone from her face, her heartbeat steadied somewhat.

"Wonderful." Was Pine's dry response, the agent clearing her throat before continuing. "Once again: please state your full legal name, age, occupation." She watched the girl take a deep breath, before finally speaking.

"Twilight Sparkle, 18, Princess of Friendship."

A lesser person would've blinked, raised an eyebrow, perhaps. Pine Petrichor merely stopped writing for a moment, lifting her eyes from her notebook.

"Princess of Friendship?"

"Yes?" Twilight's puzzled expression coupled with the inflection of her voice conveying her confusion.

"You govern a concept?" Pine offered, returning to her notebook. "Oversee interpersonal relations over the globe? Approve them?" She wasn't condescending, just curious. Mostly.

"N-no, of course not!" Twilight fought a smile as she formulated her response. "I help govern Equestria!" Her face fell for a moment, the girl rubbing the back of her neck abashedly. "Erm, I'm learning how to help Celestia and Luna govern Equestria."

"A protégé then?" Pine offered, writing in her notepad as she received a nod in response. "Royal family, I presume?"

Twilight's face scrunched up in thought for a moment. "I guess you can say so? My sister in law rules the Crystal Empire with my brother, so I suppose I'm royalty? Besides me being a Princess, of course!" She finished sheepishly.

"Is this 'Crystal Empire' a part of Equestria? Or an independent country?" Pine inquired.

A political marriage? Sounds... antique.

"It's recognised as a sovereign nation, but they rely heavily on Equestrian aid, they were missing for a thousand years, after all."

Pine's eyebrow creased, but the woman remained stoic otherwise.

"It was isolated for so long?"

Twilight nodded, her expression growing stern as she recalled what sounded like a mix of textbook history and, later, lived experience.

"Crystal Empire was seized by a twisted unicorn over a thousands years ago, plunging it into despair and slavery. The Princess' managed to stop him, but the maniac managed to cast one last spell, sealing it away for a thousand years, vowing to have his revenge upon its return." She grew solemn for a beat, her voice quieter than moments before. "Some say this was the beginning of Princess Luna's downfall, the loss of crystal ponies driving a wedge between the two sisters."

"Princess Luna?" Pine interjected before the girl had the chance to change the topic. "As in the same Princess Luna you help govern your country?"

"Well, yes." Twilight gave a look Pine could only describe as condescending, like the head of security had just said something profoundly stupid. "Luna and Celestia are known for their longevity, as all other alicorns. I thought it was common knowledge..."

"Perhaps on the other side of the portal." Pine's dry reply forced a blush out of Twilight, the girl seemingly forgetting where she was right now. "Over here such lifespans are unheard of, myths and legends notwithstanding. Any idea how they achieved this longevity?"

"Magic, most likely." Twilight said with a shrug. "Scholars still debate the exact mechanics behind The Princess' long lives, but the general consensus is that their extensive magic reserves allow them to repair telomeres at a high rate, thus explaining their thousand year rule." The girl seemed to have receded into her teacher mode, giving Pine more than enough time to formulate a response.

Now, Pine Petrichor was no scientist, but even she understood the importance of information Twilight just shared.

If MC&D get their hands on this kind of technology, we'll have an unprecedented crisis on our plate. Immortality commercialized...

"I assume this longevity isn't a common occurrence?" Pine asked evenly, drafting a report to Director Miller. "You said extensive magic reserves are a requirement. How extensive are we talking about?" Twilight cupped her chin for a moment, calculating the absurd amount of magic required for a continuous fine-tuning of cellular structure. Finally the girl nodded to herself, coming up with an answer that she deemed acceptable.

"In layponys terms, enough to move the sun and moon, which is to say - unfathomably high for a regular pony."

Pine's heart skipped a beat at the mention of moving celestial bodies, her mind racing to decide whether or not to question the legitimacy of the information.

"Just to be clear, you are making an analogy, correct?" Her voice remained as unphased as ever, but her nerves were dangerously taut. "Your Princess' don't actually raise the sun and moon."

"No, Luna and Celestia are heralds of Night and Day respectively, keep the moon and sun spinning." Twilight raised an eyebrow as Pine's frozen frame failed to react to her words. "Is it not the same here?"

It could be nothing. Pine found herself repeating it in her head in an attempt to calm herself. Propaganda and mystification exist everywhere, regardless of world or culture. A continuously failing attempt, mind you. Even if she is being truthful, which is a big if, this side of the portal has a low magic saturation, if Director Miller's reports are to be trusted. Pine's heartbeat steady as she rationalized her situation, acutely aware that the supposedly Sun-moving Princess was currently just outside the door. She can't move the sun here. Hopefully.

"Thank you for your time, Twilight." Was Pine's polite response, one that managed to draw a surprised response from the girl sitting opposed to her. "You've answered my questions for the time, please vacate the room and tell the Princess it's her turn."

Twilight sat motionless, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to digest what Pine had just said. Finally, just when Pine was about to repeat herself, the girl finally spoke.

"Are you afraid of Princess Celestia?"

Alex wasn't happy.

His vacation was cut short, his quick in and out 'a few days at most' homecoming has been extended indefinitely, and his comfy if somewhat lonely apartment was substituted by an hotel room he had to share with his lifelong friend, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you, just a little jarring.

I get not bothering to give me a room, agents are likely a dime a dozen, but Danny's a God damn director now, are we really that stingy? Or did we spend all our budget on that pizza place?

On top of that, the alien congregation just had to arrive the week they began working on moving the damn statue. Just when things were starting to look up...

Oh, and Danny snores like a bitch.

Alex noticed the commotion in his rearview mirror, the farm girl stirring from her position in the backseat. Choosing to strike preemptively, Alex cleared his throat, emerald eyes darting to his reflection in response.

"Got something on your mind?"

"I ain't usually one to pester folks on road trips, that's Pinkie's calling, but, well, are we there yet?" She tried to appear stoic as she spoke, but Alex could see her nervous fidgeting and clenched fists. He wasn't driving for that long, mostly stalling to give people back at base enough time to prep everything he needed. And to clear his thoughts, that too.

"Aren't you glad she isn't here?" The snarky voice to his right interrupted his train of thought before he could respond to the farm girl. "We'd be kissing the nearest wall at breakneck speeds just to get her to stop yammering for a change."

Alex cursed himself as the corner of his mouth quirked up for a moment, Sunset's words eliciting a snort from the backseat, followed by a dull thud.

"Ow!" A scratchy voice cried out. "What was that for?" Alexed watched Rainbow rub at her arm, casting a glare at the stetson wearing girl next to her, one Applejack returned in kind.

"Pinkie can be a chatterbox, that's for sure, but that don't mean you have to be mean about it! Behind her back, no less!"

"Why not? I'm just saying what everyone is thinking." Sunset remarked dismissively. "You're just too polite to say it."

Alex watched mirth drain from Rainbow's expression, her fists clenching as she leaned forward in her seat, anger and concern vying on Applejack's face as she put a hand on the athlete's shoulder in an attempt to rein her in.

Before the situation could escalate any further, Alex slammed on the brakes, the car screeching to a halt before a very convenient red light. Seat belts played a key role in holding the three girls from smashing headfirst into the car's interior, their momentary confusion giving Alex precious time to speak his mind.

"You all want a fight? Do it in your spare time, I'm not exactly looking forward to fixing a broken nose or two. Now, Skittles?" Rainbow's eyes traveled to his reflection, glints of ire in her eyes as she heard the nickname. "You treat every asshole running their mouth like that, you'll end up in an alley with a knife between your ribs before thirty. Some fights just aren't worth starting." Rainbow's glare faded a little, the athlete receding back into her seat.

"This goes for you too, Hayseed." Alex continued, his eyes centering on emerald ones of Applejack's reflection. "You don't have to prove anything to random assholes, even if they're badmouthing your friends." If anything, the farm girl's glare hardened, his speech having riled her up.

"And you, Bacon Hair-" He turned to his right, fixing the girl with a hard look. "need to stop pushing away the people that care about you." Judging by her stunned expression, his words weren't what Sunset expected.

Alex turned away, fixing his eyes on the road, watching the red light turn yellow.

The car was silent the rest of the way.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath, the smell of petrichor filling her lungs as she watched the midday sun crawl through the tapestry of the sky. The movement surfaced a conflicting feeling within Celestia, the woman tempted to reach out for the star, her innate magic warning her against doing so.

It wasn't her sun after all, and besides that, this sōl already had a guardian.

It would be fruitless anyways, the saturation on this side of the portal was remarkably low, even more so than she expected. It was short of a miracle the diary even transferred Sunset's message. The Princess hid a frown under a mask of impassiveness as her thoughts turned to the reason behind this whole incursion.

Sunset... How much damage have I done? Can you ever forgive me?

Would you even want to?

Heavy clouds peeked over the horizon, spurned on by gusts of moist air, obscuring the sun. A cavalcade of noise from behind Celestia made her turn around, just in time to witness a most peculiar scene.

Gleaming Shield, seasoned captain of the royal guard, well-built stallion and a proud father, was currently flailing his arm in a desperate attempt to dislodge something small and furry from it, all the while a butter-skinned girl mounted her own offense in an attempt to help him.

She was a familiar sight, yet subtly different from what she remembered. For one, she was definitely younger than the Fluttershy she remembered, perhaps less experienced, given her rather inefficient attempts to free Celestia's captain from the furry menace.

Celestia set her eyes on the guard, intent on righting at least some wrongs, her hand flexed as she drew magic from her natural reserves, the action alien enough to force Celesta to suppress a flinch. The assailant let out a small squeak as Celestia pried it off of Gleaming, guiding it into Fluttershy's grasp.

"My gosh, Sally! What has gotten into you?" The girl's voice was barely above a whisper as she berated the dazed animal, stuffing it into a carry case. "I know you're not feeling well, but it's no excuse for assaulting anyone!" She frowned as the animal emitted a low growling sound, thrashing in its cage. "What has gotten into you..."

The classroom door opened with a creak, one of the guards all but pushing Twilight outside. Said guard seemed a little sheepish as he called for the next person to come in, the title a little off putting to him.

"Erm... Princess Celestia, please come in. Miss Petrichor waiting for you." Celestia couldn't help but cast a worried look at her perturbed student, the action not going unnoticed.

"You will be given ample time to recuperate and converse with your companions, but there are important matters to attend to right now."

Celestia nodded in response to the guard's question, silently following him into the room, offering her worried student a supportive smile on her way in. The Princess made her way through the classroom, taking a seat at the table, opposite a familiar woman donning a black suit.

The woman reached for a recording device placed on the table pushing a button and clearing her throat. "This is Pine Petrichor, Head of Security of Site 11, SCP Foundation. The date is 07.10.2016, 14:20 local time." She turned to Celestia, her look cold and calculated as she took a printed list from a folder. "We represent the United States Department of State, as well as the interests of the United States of America and her people. Any and all threats against us will be considered as made against the United States of America, and will be reacted to accordingly. " Her eyes darted towards the paper for a brief moment, before returning to Celestia. "Before we continue, state your full legal name, profession and affiliation."

"Celestia Radiantes, ruling Tetrarch of Equestria." The Princess replied evenly, her posture straight and her voice professional. Pine waited for the woman to continue, speaking her mind once a few seconds of silence had passed.

"At 13:00, local time, you and a squad of armed combatants had illegally crossed our borders, constituting an act of war." She waited for Celestia's reaction, making her point clear once more when no reaction came. "Based on your willingness to cooperate and non-threatening behavior during our preparations, we assumed there to be a misunderstanding, we hope you can clear things up before the situation escalates further."

Celestia took a deep breath, making sure to do it discreetly enough for Pine not to notice.

"We had no ill intentions when crossing the portal, I can assure you of that. The only reason I had decided to go was out of fear for the wellbeing of one of my ex students." Celestia did her best to conceal the pain swelling up in her chest. "I merely wished to visit her, is all."

"Why did you see it necessary to bring armed personnel on this 'visit'?" Pine inquired, meeting Celestia's in expressionless mask with one of her own.

"I was bound by legislation, I'm afraid. A Princess must have a squad of royal guards with her during international visits." Pine raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't think to contact government officials? Organize an official diplomatic visit?" Pine paused for a moment, the lack of response from her interrogatee prompting her to continue. "Come to think of it, what channels did your ex-student use to contact you? Our current theory suggests they was magic-based, correct?" The Foundation employee paused, this time waiting patiently for Celestia to answer.

"A one of a kind artifact was used, one I created to stay in touch with my student when government affairs separated us." Celestia sighed, composing herself. "Sunset took this artifact when she ran away, but ignored my attempts to reach out to her for years... I acted rashly when her letter arrived, that much is true, but please understand that I did so only out of fear for Sunset's wellbeing." Pine nodded cautiously, writing something in her notepad.

"Has your student gone AWOL? Is she dangerous?"

"When she first ran away?" Celestia's heart was heavy as she spoke, but these words had to be said, better to hear it from her than someone else. "She was unpredictable, cunning, and ready to do whatever was necessary to achieve her goals." She watched closely for any reaction, but was met with the same cold and professional facade. "Now? From what I gathered, she is lost and afraid, she needs guidance and, above all, companionship."

"This artifact you speak of, it wasn't the only one that ended up on our side of the portal, correct? Our sources indicate that this portal was used as a prison for highly powerful magical entities, as well as a 'dump' for unwanted artifacts, is that right?"

"It is an ancient practice, one born in times of rampant banditism and anarchy." Celestia began, her thoughts wandering down memory lane. "Equestria was being torn apart by a civil war, coupled with conflicts of interests among nobles, and an attempt at a coup by one of the rulers, the country was on the verge of collapse." Celestia blinked, returned to the present by the sound of pen scratching paper. "It was a necessary evil, banishment was a most severe sentence, eclipsed only by capital punishment."

"Why? You must have known the portal was a two-way affair, weren't you afraid of retaliation?" Pine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This world is far less saturated with magic than our own, it shouldn't have been able to support magic-heavy artifacts or creatures. This practice fell out of fashion once the country stabilized, and has been mostly forgotten." A heavy silence descended on the classroom as Pine tapped her pen against paper, before taking a deep breath and looking straight at Celestia, her eyes reminding the Equestrian Tetrarch of the haunting cold of a windigo.

"This is what we're going to do." Pine started, the tone of her voice brooking no interruption. "Your guard will vacate US territory by tomorrow, no delays and no excuses. You will allow our researchers full access to the portal, as well as any artifact and entities they may find. Furthermore, we require a full list of entities and artifacts that passed through the portal, the sooner we get it, the better. While you may request extradition of entities and/or artifacts, we retain the right to deny said requests. All matters regarding capture, containment and experimentation are left to the Foundation, while information regarding our activities remains on a strict need to know basis. In return, we will not constitute your arrival as an act of war, and consider establishing diplomatic relations. If said relations reach a position of mutual trust, we may entertain exchange of scientific knowledge, but the nature of exchanged information will be up to Foundation officials. You will not impede testing, unless it poses a risk of declassification and/or widespread awareness of The Foundation among the populace. Finally, you will not, under any circumstances, notify anyone of the existence of The Foundation. If there is no alternative, you must consult Foundation Officials before informing anyone of our existence."

Pine leaned forwards on the table, her eyes all but burning a hole through the Sun Princess.

"Have we reached an agreement?"

"So? How did it go?" Danny couldn't hide a nervous jitter in his leg as an exhausted Pine Petrichor entered his office, followed by a similarly spent form of Alex.

"The documentation is still being finalized, our lawyers are still looking for loopholes, but Celestia all but agreed to the deal." The woman said, taking a seat at the table, lowering a sizable folder onto the desk, a thousand of small sticky notes jutting out of the pile of documentation. "Director, I've highlighted points of interest for you to inspect, as well as boxes that need your signature, the deadline is 8 AM, tomorrow."

"Thanks, Pine, what would I do without you..." Danny said with a sigh, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow at the sheer amount of paperwork he now had to sift through. For the time being, he turned to Alex, the man plopping unceremoniously into a faux-leather sofa to the right of Daniel's table. "Any news about Sunset?"

"Kid's a pain in the ass, but that's hardly newsworthy." Alex said with a scoff, before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "She didn't say anything new, and neither did her friends." His eyes drifted to the Head of Security, noticing her perturbed expression. "Got anything to say?"

"I'd recommend keeping a close eye on the girl. Celestia said she wasn't dangerous, but take her words with a grain of salt. In my opinion, she didn't want to place the blame on her ex student, regardless of how dangerous she might be." A silence fell over the room, allowing Pine to think through what she was about to say. "With that said, Celestia isn't a saint either. She's definitely trying to hide something." She noticed the raised eyebrows the two friends were giving her, rushing to explain herself. "If she wanted to, she would've dismissed the guards before coming here, but she didn't. She could've followed her student here, or at least sent someone to pick her up or check up on her, but she didn't. Finally, if she knew there was an entire world on the other side of the portal, why didn't she explore it? Or at the very least make sure high schoolers aren't able to go through as they pleased."

"Right." Daniel's eloquent reply pierced the awkward silence that filled the room, forcing a snort out of Alex. "The bulk of our personnel is arriving tomorrow, I'd say we've got our work cut out for us. You've all done well today, go get some rest, tomorrow's going to be a long day." Pine simply nodded, offering a curt thankful smile as she exited the office. Daniel's gaze drifted towards Alex, specifically, the shit eating grin plastered over his face.

"What?"

"If this 'director' position doesn't work out, you can always be a spokesman, Danny." Daniel rolled his eyes as Alex stood up from the sofa and approached his desk, opening the massive folder. Noticing his friend's confused look, Alex replied. "I know you, Danny. There's no way in hell you're finishing this by tomorrow all on your own." Dragged a chair next to Danny, plopping down and rummaging through the documents.

"Nah man, I'll be fine. Go get some rest-"

"Danny, I will not let your ass embarass us tomorrow if front of an alien Princess. I'm doing this, wether you like it or not."

Daniel's lips stretched into a genuine smile.

"Thanks, Al."

"That's what friends are for."

Author's Note

First chapter of 2023, let my upload schedule be better than last year!

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

"Still, I insist you reconsider the decision to utilize D-Class personnel in this endeavor. Not only do we risk of triggering the anomaly's secondary effect, we also run the risk of creating an international incident." The man didn't so much as flinch when Daniel raised an eyebrow, inviting him to explain himself. "As you most certainly know, D-Class personnel are a rambunctious bunch, oftentimes with a history of either violent, or similarly deplorable actions. If any of our otherworldly partners found out about the history of these test subjects, it could sour further diplomatic relations."

"I worked with D-Class before, and while they can be hard to work with, they often provide the Foundation with enough information to make up for the troubles they cause." Daniel trailed off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "With that said, I understand your concerns, Dr. Turner. However, if you wish to exclude their involvement in the testing process, you need to find a suitable replacement."

Doctor Turner tugged at the collar of his white coat, seeming uncomfortable for the first time during the interview. "This is why I've come straight to you, Director Miller. A researcher like myself would surely understand the unique circumstances of our situation. From what we understand, the other side of the portal is safe to inhabit, considering the aliens' sudden arrival and prolonged exposure to our atmosphere caused them no harm. As such, I have a proposition: we use security personnel as test subjects, with their permission and a sufficient pay raise, of course. And if the situation warrants D-Class personnel, then we'll hopefully be able to devise a cover story and instruct the D-Class on how to behave." Time Turner stood with bated breath, each second dragging for way too long.

"No." Daniel spoke slowly, each word careful and deliberate. "We've made enough concessions already, more than enough, I would say." The Director fished out a document from a neat stack of papers, a pen scratching his signature on the marble white surface. "For this partnership to flourish, both sides need to reach a compromise. They'd find out about D-Class eventually, so it's best if we act blunt. I'm not risking the lives of my people, just because a skip got upset, and neither are you." Daniel leaned forward, giving the Doctor a stern look. "Have I made myself clear, Doctor Turner?"

"Crystal."

John Smith wasn't a lucky man. It seemed that from the very moment of his birth, the Universe took a dislike for the man, intent on making sure he never had a good thing going for him. His childhood years, however much he could remember, were spent in fear and disparity, the laughable facsimile of a family abandoning him to the whims of the country's foster system.

Kids can be cruel, and to prosper one must fight fire with fire. He hardened his heart against his jeering peers, and fought them with wounding words and cruel intent, employing more physical means of persuasion once diplomacy inevitably failed.

Yet his reign of terror was not meant to last, his coming of age thrusting him into the maelstrom of adult life, where one rule prevails.

Sink, or swim.

What little dead-end job opportunities presented themselves were far too monotonous for him to keep, forcing the man to come up with a new source of income.

Shoplifting and petty theft slowly yet surely established themselves as his main professions, steadily escalating in both frequency and severity as his demands soared to new heights. What little comfort was dashed away once again after a particularly nasty holdup went wrong, resulting in a fresh stain on his conscience and a hefty prison sentence.

He was content to serve his time, hoping fate would allow him a small chance of redemption. It is for that reason, when a man in a business suit offered him a reduced sentence, along with a chance to serve his country, he grasped it like a drowning man would a lifeline.

He didn't ask any questions about his number or the clothes, and neither was he bothered by the blindfold and the silent treatment from the guards.

This was his chance, he knew this.

John blinked away the stupor that inevitably came to him in his musings, focusing instead on the labcoat donning man, looking at him with a sort of resigned indifference.

"D-4558, you are to enter the threshold and document your findings, be it verbally via the equipment provided to you, or graphically. Rest assured, you will be met on the other side by allied forces." The doctor seemed to recognise the hint of uneasiness in John's features, continuing his speech. "Be warned, you may experience dizziness, disorientation or vertigo. Remember that no matter what you feel, you are in no danger." The doctor cleared his throat, sitting down into a plain white chair.

"D-4558, you are free to begin."

John sighed, looking around the rather spacious white canvas tent set up around the statue. He steeled himself, fixed the straps around his body and put a hand against the mirror, feeling a fleeting tingle spread from the point of contact.

Something tugged forcefully, dragging him into a whirlwind of colors and shapes, his whole body going numb.

Disoriented didn't begin to cover what John was experiencing at the moment. He laid sprawled on the cold, marbled floor, subtle headache making itself more apparent with each passing moment of wakefulness.

"Hello? Are you alright?" A worried yet melodic feminine voice inquired, sending a jolt of pain through his head. His cranium erupted with pain as the figures around the man rushed to help him, his headache reaching his peak as he was raised to stand, on all fours for some reason, prompting the man to shut his eyes to escape the pain.

"Something's the matter? Are you in pain?" A different voice asked in an almost motherly tone, her words just as pleasant to the ear as the previous speakers.

"Yeah," John replied, feeling a hand on his shoulder. "Head hurts like a bitch. Everything's so loud and bright." He took a deep breath, feeling something trickle out of his nose, a metallic taste present in his mouth. He tried to wipe his nose with the back of his palm, but found himself unable to unclench his fist.

Finally, the headache subsided, replaced by a subtle yet rhythmic hum in the back of his mind, one that soon faded into the background, becoming completely unnoticeable. Opening his eyes to survey the situation John found himself surrounded by strange beings that looked like horses, all of them leveling worried looks in his direction.

As his vision cleared, fear began to grip his heart as the D-Class got a better look at his entourage. Two horses were wearing white hats with a red cross on them. His gaze drifted to their faces, sending shivers down his spine. Their eyes were big, too big for a normal horse or even a pony, the spark of intelligence coupled with their front-facing position reminded him of something he learned during one of the lessons he miraculously didn't skip as a child.

Predators have front facing eyes.

Sensing his distress, another pony took a step closer, this one bearing both wings and a horn, her purple fur all too unnatural for what he was used to seeing.

"Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you!" He recognised her voice, the first one he heard since passing through the weird mirror. Hoping she'd be a tad bit more normal, a mix of fear and disappointment stirred in him as he faced the same eerie features that all but activated his fight-or flight response. "Are you a prisoner? How about a warm meal and a roof over your head?"

Her words weren't in any way malicious, but he couldn't help but to panic when she pinned him as an outlaw. His breathing quickened when a different voice, the motherly one, called out to him. "We will not mistreat you, but please, speak to us." He looked in the direction of the voice, and was met by something quite hard to put into words.

She was beautiful. Radiant and regal, she was almost hard to look at, the man having to squint in order to witness her glory. And yet, despite her nigh heavenly beauty, the same feeling of wrongness persisted, albeit dying down as melody in the back of his mind intensified for a moment.

Deciding it was finally his time to act, he tried to stand on his legs, finding it unusually hard to keep his balance. Wobbly and unstable, he caught the questioning expression of the tall regal mare, before losing his footing and falling backwards toward the same portal he entered through. Just before he reached the shimmering surface, his leg slipped mid-fall, moving him just enough to fall awkwardly to the tile floor, an echo of a resounding crack echoing through the room.

He didn't feel the tingling as the portal sucked him in, didn't see the horrified looks the ponies leveled at his corpse, didn't hear their screams of terror.

And thus his life ended just as it began: with an unlucky accident.

Twilight stood paralyzed as she watched the mirror consume the body of a pony she didn't even get to know the name of. A life that ended so abruptly, an accident so unpredictable it might've been funny to somepony with a more morbid sense of humor.

Begrudgingly, Twilight's thought process moved past the untimely demise of a pony, and straight to the fact that their otherworldly colleagues sent a live representative, and received a dead one, all within the span of five minutes.

Resolute to explain the situation before it could get out of hoof, she stepped through the mirror.

"Please tell me this is an out of season April fools joke." Alex's words hid a hopeful undertone, but were otherwise very dry. Deep down the man knew that the foreman wasn't one to joke, but hope is the last to die.

The well built man shook his head, his arms crossed on his chest. "We've had a dozen workplace accidents and equipment malfunctions per day ever since we started trying to move this statue." His brows furrowed as he counted the digits of his hand. "The trucks popped tires or stalled, the electronics kept frying on us, and even the damned pickaxes and hammers were either breaking after a single strike, or would slip out of our hands every other minute." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his expression turning grim as he continued. "Worse still, we found a vacant bunk bed after yesterday's shift."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, standard issue bunkhouses don't come with any extra space?" The man shook his head in response.

"No sir, it has just enough space to fit one working brigade, no more and no less. And one more thing..." He rummaged through his pocket, pulling out a wrinkled photo. "Take a look at this." He handed the thing to Alex, who studied the photo with utmost diligence. A group of eight men, all covered in dirt and dust from a day's hard work. He couldn't put a finger on what was exactly wrong, but the longer he looked, the more anxious he got. Finally, after a good ten seconds of standing still, he managed to voice the one thing that came to his mind.

"Aren't brigades supposed to have-"

"Ten?" The brigadier finished, his voice low. "Yeah, we're s'posed. And maybe we've had ten people when we came here." He took the photo away from Alex, stuffing it into his pocket. "Maybe that statue did something' to my people, messed with 'em, like it did with the machinery and tools. Or maybe it didn't, and it's nothing more than a logistical error. Whatever it is, I'm not willing to find out."

"I'll look into it." Alex said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "In the meantime, try building a tent over it or something." The brigadier nodded, walking off to gather his remaining colleagues, leaving Alex with an errant thought.

Just what the Hell is wrong with Canterlot?

The statue's surface rippled and bent, signaling the arrival of the first of the many D-Class to partake in this series of tests. Dr. Turner nodded at the nearby guard prompting the latter to approach the statue, ready to catch the returning human in case of disorientation.

Both men were reasonably surprised when a distinctly equine shaped form fell out of the portal, dropping like a bag of bricks to the concrete floor. An audible crack reached Time Turner as a pair of glassy, unseeing eyes stared at the researcher, a slow trickle of blood beginning to form a small puddle under the form's head. A bright orange jumpsuit concealed most of the body, a surprisingly bulky recorder strapped to it, the buttons all too large for the human hand.

The guard squatted, checking the creature's pulse. "He's dead, but still warm. Whatever killed him, it wasn't all too long ago." Doctor Turner sighed, gathering his belongings from a nearby table.

"Keep a close eye on that portal, in case whatever kills our D-Class comes through. Speaking of, get him to medical, I want to see a coroner's report ASAP-"

Violent ripples across the marble's surface announced the arrival of a second visitor, the bipedal form of a young woman, her wet violet eyes darting from human to human. Her lips trembled as she noticed the still form on the concrete, her words interrupted by sniffs and hiccups as she spoke.

"I - I can explain. W-we didn't mean to scare him..."

Twilight took a step towards the doctor, freezing when the guard aimed his HK417 at her.

"Ma'am, not a step further." Shock and confusion blended into fear as she watched the guard motion to his colleagues. "We need you to answer some questions, please, follow us." Time Turner watched the girl as she began to shake, the genuine fear in his eyes leaving the man with no choice but to intervene.

"Miss Sparkle is clearly distressed, no need to terrorize her further!" Turner put his hand on the guard's weapon, only to be met with resistance. "This is entirely unnecessary, a civil discussion will surely work." The guard scoffed, refusing to concede.

"With all due respect, sir, it's my job to keep you safe. This thing hurts you?" He pointed the barrel at the young woman, who flinched in response. "I get the blame." Turner rolled his eyes.

"Well then, be sure to notify Miss Petrichor that my untimely demise, if it's to occur, was out of my own volition, and I am wholeheartedly responsible for it." Time Turner forced the guard to lower his gun, picking up his notepad from the table. "But in the meantime, we're just going to talk."

The pandemonium of the first few days was mostly gone, but the student body of Canterlot High was abuzz with wild theories regarding the white tent erected around the monument on the school property, and the mysterious figures swarming around it. Rumors born through hushed whispers spread like wildfire throughout the school, the subjects of these rumors ranging from the odd roadblocks preventing exit from the city, to the unusual amount of students calling in sick.

Being the center of everyone's attention, it is no wonder that when a black body bag was carried out of the tent by two armed guards, the entire school was hit with a veritable tidal wave of paranoia. The teachers were thankfully able to quell the panic that followed, if just barely. It was during recess when a group of six gathered around a lunch table, talking about, what amounted to, latest gossip.

"I heard Teardrop saw what was inside that bag!" Rarity's voice was down to conspiratorial whisper, the general noise of the cafeteria obscuring her musings from prying ears. "She thinks it's someone from Twilight's world!" Her voice was a little shaky from the thought of something like that going on near her, yet the juicy-ness of the gossip overruled any fear she had.

"That girl ain't know for thinkin' all too much." Applejack retorted, rubbing her neck sheepishly once she noticed the odd looks the others were giving her. "Pardon me, Teardrop's been mighty observant as of late, is all." Rarity raised an eyebrow at her friend's words.

"Are you implying she's making it all up?" Applejack sighs, playing with the food on her plate with a spoon.

"Listen, all I'm saying is she's been running her mouth ever since this whole mess started. Shoot, half the stuff everyone's talking about came from her. Some of it has been fake, she ain't no prophet, I'll tell you that much."

"I'm not into gossip, but who knows what these suits are doing here?" Rainbow cut in, much to everyone's surprise. "You can't tell me all the students just decided to call in sick at the same time. There's, like, only half the students in pretty much every class!" The athlete's gotten worked up by the end of her speech, harboring no sympathy for the people disrupting her daily school life.

"For Chrissakes Rainbow, it's the flu season and you know it!" Applejack retorted, her appetite long gone. "I know things are wild as of late, and I know we're all scared, but spreading rumors won't make things better." She let Rainbow's grumble pass, I'm not scared..., choosing instead to change the topic. "Say, Fluttershy, is that critter of yours feelin' any better? Err; what's her name again..." Applejack snapped her fingers a couple of times trying to recall the animal's name. "Sammy, was it?"

"It's Sally, actually." Fluttershy paused, a frown making its way to her face. "Was, Sally..." She sighed, her shoulders sagging. "She had rabies, we had to, uhm... put her down..." She was on the verge of tearing up, the only thing keeping her from breaking down being a supportive pink hand wrapping around her shoulders.

"So it wasn't all horseapples, huh?" Sunset mused, the abrupt ending of her silent spell grabbin everyone's attention. "There are rabid animals in the Whitefall woods." She took a bite of what was supposed to be pizza, but looked more like a piece of colored cardboard, and tasted just the same. "There's at least two things that attention magnet got right in her life."

"Sheesh, what got you worked up, Shimmer? Not enough attention?" Rainbow sneered.

"No, just thinking I should've broken that damned mirror when I had the chance." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes. "Or better yet, not coming through in the first place." The awkward silence that settled over the table was soon broken by the one and only Rainbow Dash.

"Wouldn't that be swell?"

"Rainbow!" Applejack reaches to smack the athlete on the back of her hand, only to be stopped by a pearly white hand on her shoulder. She settles down under Rarity's calming gesture, the seamstress turning to address her rainbow-haired friend. "That was uncalled for!"

Rainbow shrugged. "Just think about it: if she wasn't here, neither would these guys! We wouldn't have been separated from each other either!" The girl was about to continue her rant, when Pinkie finally spoke up.

"Rainbow Dash, quit being such a big bad meanie, or I'll bake you a typographic cake and make you eat those words!" Cast still by the party girl's sudden outburst, Rainbow remained silent as Pinkie turned to Shimmer. "And you, Sunset," Her voice went down a notch, gaining a sympathetic tone. "should really stop blaming yourself for everything. We're always here to support you, Sunny. Even if some of us are bad at showing it."

Sunset opened her mouth to answer, but whatever she wanted to say was drowned out by the sound of the school bell, the cafeteria erupting into motion as students hurried to get to class. Sunset stood up, shaking her head.

"See you girls after class." Was all she said before leaving the girls, the tense atmosphere remaining despite her departure.

Preliminary testing report

13.10.2016
It seems that the portal's effect only triggers if a living subject crosses the threshold. Further testing employing braindead subjects, and those in a deep coma, revealed that the item requires human brainwaves for the effect to trigger. Using helmets made of ████ that worked as a miniature faraday cage, we were able to isolate the subject's brainwaves, thus allowing one to pass through the threshold without experiencing its effect. This will certainly make further research regarding the 'Equus' easier, although various personnel reported a feeling of 'unease' that seemed to fade as time went on. Notably, the feeling persisted if the subject continued wearing the helmet, returning to those who previously reported it gone.

The autopsy of D-4558 revealed cause of death to be damage to █ and █ cervical vertebrae, which resulted in near - instant death. Due to the threshold's effects, D-4558's body resembles the threshold's residents. The subject's anatomy, later described as an 'earth pony' by our mirror colleagues, largely follows that of an Equus caballus. Notable differences include:

-Noticeably larger eyes
-Larger brain, comparable in size to that of an average adult human male
-Unusual coloration of fur on the subject's flanks, forming an upside-down horseshoe
-Unusually high concentration of sensory neurons in the subject nervous system, particularly in the legs
-A set of cells composing an entirely new system, seemingly auxiliary to the nervous system, purpose currently unknown

For a full autopsy report, refer to Doctor Lychee.

Personal note: Most of the D-Class personnel reported something we can describe as an 'uncanny valley' when looking at the ponies on the other side. I'd be tempted to say the front-facing eyes are to blame, but the fact that said feeling returns after putting on our 'faraday helmet' concerns me. I recommend continuing to research this phenomenon, something doesn't add up here.- Dr. Time Turner.

Director Daniel Miller skimmed through the report on his table, putting it aside with the rest of the paperweight crowding his table. He rubbed his temples in an attempt to quell the headache he was getting from being cooped up in his office all day, having to deal with myriad reports from agents embedded in the local healthcare institutions. It wasn't anything major, headache, dizziness, sometimes fever.

And yet, sparse reports of smallpox - like symptoms: colorful bumps filled with thick fluid and a depression or dimple in the center coalescing into odd shapes, mostly everyday objects, followed by hallucinations, delirium and uncontrollable muscle spasms. The patients weren't violent, but they seemed to be unable to stop 'trying out new things' as some put it.

Daniel took a deep breath, thinking on what to do next. He really didn't want to get CEDA involved in this, or whatever embedded Foundation staff they had, anyways, but he might've had no choice. One thing was certain, he wasn't betting on his side being the indians.

Gleaming Shield trudged through the empty streets of the Crystal Capital, the heart of his homeland. Despite the shield protecting the midnight streets from the biting cold of the frozen wastes, the stallion couldn't help but shiver.

Gleaming Shield was cold.

Not a cool breeze on a particularly sunny midsummer morning, or a brain-freezing but nonetheless welcome sting of a delicious ice cream, not even the contrasting chill of air conditioning after a lengthy workout session.

No, this cold seeped into the core of her very being, numbing his limbs to the point of losing any and all sense of touch. It was a cold one would feel lost in a blizzard of the frozen north during the last moments of their life, the biting cold that soon turned into sweltering heat.

Gleaming Shield was hot.

Not the pleasant kind of hot one might experience with a significant other, not one would feel in a sweltering room of a sauna, not even the uncomfortable heat of a heavy blanket compared to this.

No, this was a sickly kind of heat, like from a particularly nasty bug caught during a flu season, or a Cutie Pox that found a particularly sheltered kid-turned-adult. The kind that made your fur feel oily, that made bed sheets cling to the body. One that retreated once you left the comfortable confines of the bed, leaving an ever-present nausea instead.

He stumbled, his bleary eyes failing to discern anything in the well-lit streets of his hometown. He leaned on a nearby lamp post to halt his descent, a meaty thud followed by the sound of tiny pitter-patters hitting the crystal ground. Bile rose up his esophagus, burning as it poured onto the ground with a sickening gurgle and a shameful splat.

The stallion almost slipped on the puddle of his own shame, barely able to keep himself from face planting into the ground. The sound of his own hoofsteps rang thunderous in his ears, each step forward bringing a new jolt of pain. A pathetic whine escaped his lips as he covered her eyes, hoping to protect them from some non existent irritant. There was a ringing in his ears that refused to go away, a thousand church bells going off from within his skull.

In this whirlwind of pain and confusion, Gleaming Shield stumbled through the empty streets, miraculously arriving at a familiar apartment door. Fighting through pain and fatigue, Gleaming Shield knocked on the door, gritting his teeth until he heard something crack.

"I'm coming, dear!" The muffled sound accompanied by footsteps made the stallion grimace. In a sudden explosion of sight and sound the door flew open bathing the stallion in a ray of light, revealing the reason for his arrival.

What stood before the stallion, could only be called a pony with a most generous definition. It stood on four legs, wearing a white and blue dress revealing the similarly white coat of fur. That was where the similarities ended, though. The mare's features were sharp, angular and contorted beyond belief. A look of hatred was plastered on her face, eyes glowing red as mouth opened just enough to reveal a row of sharp fangs.

"Gleaming, honey, are you alright?" The stallion didn't hear the terrified tone of the mare, didn't see her eyes go wide, and he certainly did not notice the small form behind her duck into the room.

He reacted in an instant, his mind going into overdrive at the assault to his senses.

What stood before him was a monster.

He was a guard, who took care of monsters.

And he was going to take care of her, for the good of everypony.

His mouth stretched into a snarl, teeth clamping shut with enough force to crack one or two loose. An high pitched screech mixed with an animalistic growl as it left his throat, rearing up as he pawed at the air with her hooves, before lunging for the monster.

A shrill scream filled the apartment as the monster shut the door in his face, followed by the crash of hooves against crystal. That monster had done something to his family, and it was going to pay. In his ferocious assault he didn't hear the creak of hinges, followed by rapidly approaching hoofsteps.

Something tugged at his armor, tearing him away from the door, a sizable hole streaming light out of the apartment. Gleaming Shield turned to see more monsters grabbing at him, to keep him from fulfilling his duty. He bucked the assailants with as much force as he could muster, a resounding crack filling the apartment complex as he turned to face his now stunned foe.

The monster laid flat on the crystal floor, clutching at its nose in an attempt to staunch the flow of his essence. It raised its front leg in a pitiful attempt at defense as Gleaming raised his own.

He was going to do what had to be done.

His leg came down upon the monster's body.

Agan.

And again.

Until it stopped moving.

Something heaved dead ahead of Gleaming Shield. The second monster was vomiting on the floor, leaving it open for attack.

He was a guard, who took care of monsters.

And he was going to take care, for the good of everypony.

Author's Note

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Hey, had to take care of some shit IRL, sorry for the massive delay! Hopefully the next chapter will come out before autumn. :ajsmug: