EQG Series Finale (new) - Part 2

Chapters

Prologue
The Call + Setting Out
Discussion
Encounter
Meeting
Interrogation + Busted
Into the Unknown
The Mission Begins

Prologue

Somewhere on the edge of a small suburban town was a path that led into a nearby woods. On the other side of the woods was a grassy field where the sun shone brightly overhead. Walking through the field was a young teenage girl with yellowish skin, yellow and red streaked hair, and pigtails. Accompanying her was a boy with slightly darker orange skin and hair, and a girl with light purple skin and purple hair with a blue streak, both of whom were a little younger than she was. The trio lay down in the field and stared up at the bright clear sky. They had no idea their lives were about to change forever in a very bad way.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” asked the orange skinned girl.

“I love days like this” said the boy.

“So what are you guys gonna do first when we get back to school?” asked the light purple skinned girl. It was currently the last day of autumn break. Tomorrow they would resume their respective school years, high school freshman year for the older girl and the final year of middle school for the younger two “I’m probably gonna go to the library during lunch and check for new books.”

“If you find anything on mechanics —.” started the boy.

“I’ll make sure to tell you, Mr future inventor.” the light purple girl interrupted playfully.

“That certainly makes sense.” teased the older orange girl.

“Right” said the boy, rolling his eyes “As if you both don’t read books too sometimes.” He was hoping to be an inventor when he grew up.

“We’re not as obsessed with machines as you, Sunburst” replied the older girl with a smirk. “As for me, I’m gonna look for a music class.”

That got the other two’s attention. “You mean-“ asked the purple skinned girl.

“Yep.” said the older girl confidentially, standing up and putting her hands on her hips “I’m gonna try to start singing to everyone.”

The other two kids jumped to their feet in excitement “Sunset, that’s great!” Sunburst exclaimed, hugging her.

“About time, too!” commented the younger girl, joining in on the group hug “Everyone’s gonna love your voice!”

“I certainly hope so.” said Sunset, frowning slightly in doubt.

“Come on, Double S.” said the younger girl “You know we’ll be cheering you on the whole time.”

“Thanks, Starlight.” she sighed.

Sunset had been a good singer since she was only four years old, when she came up with a lullaby to put three year old Sunburst to sleep (with some help from their mother). Every now and then she would sing for him, their parents, Starlight, and sometimes even their other neighbors, who all loved hearing her beautiful voice. However, she was considerably shy about sharing her talent any further than that, which was part of the reason she mostly kept to herself at school, aside of course from her brother and Starlight, her best and only other friend since childhood. Now though, it seemed she was finally ready to step up and take a big challenge.

“And if you want” Starlight continued “I can join at some point and help you out.”

“That means I’ll have to cheer you both on!” Sunburst commented in surprise.

“Thanks for offering to help Starlight” said Sunset “But I think it’s best for me to start this off on my own merit.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Many miles away in the city of Canterlot, one of the four walls of the pedestal underneath a statue in front of another high school started to glow mysteriously.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Back in the field, Sunset suddenly felt a huge jolt of pain in her stomach out of nowhere, making her double over and the other two let go of the hug.

“Are you okay?” said Sunburst.

“I … think so.” Sunset groaned. “What the heck was that?”

Then they all noticed something incredibly alarming. Sunset’s hands were disintegrating into dust and floating away into the sky in an eastward direction.

“What’s happening to you?!” cried Starlight.

“I don’t know!” Sunset exclaimed. She looked down and saw the same thing was happening to the rest of her body.

“Sunset!” cried Sunburst, trying to grab his sister again, but much to all their horror, his hands went right through her.

Sunset then ran in the opposite direction as where “her dust” was going, with her companions following alongside, but that did nothing and when she got to the end of the field she was engulfed by it.

“GUYS HELP ME!” she screamed at the top of her lungs just as there was a massive flash of light and a wave of energy that knocked the other two of their feet.

When the light had cleared, Starlight and Sunburst glanced back up at their surroundings and found the area to be absent of one. Sunset had vanished.

“Sunset?” Sunburst meekly asked to the field as they got to their feet.

“Uh, Sunburst?“ Starlight said, prompting him to glance at her “WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!”

“I have NO idea.”

“Where’d she go?”

They ran into the woods and started looking around, hoping this was some kind of prank the older girl has played on them.

“Sunset? Where are you?!”

“Okay, very funny Double S! You got us! You can come out now!”

But no matter how much they yelled, there was no reply from the voice they were listening for. Just dead silence.

“No, no! This can’t be happening!” Sunburst started to hyperventilate.

“Kids!” The two turned to see three adults running their way, a married couple and a single woman. “What’s going on? We heard screaming. Are you alright?” asked the woman.

“No, Mom.” said Starlight running to her in tears “We’re not.”

Sunburst, also in tears, collapsed to his knees.

“Sunburst?” asked his father, coming over and putting his hand on his shoulder “Where’s your sister?”

All Sunburst could stammer was “G-g-gone.”

“Is she hiding?” said his mother in slight annoyance “I thought I told her-“

“N-n-no.” the boy managed to get out “She’s disappeared.”

Sunburst’s parents and Starlight’s mother, who was still holding her sobbing daughter, could only look at each other. It took a moment, but realization finally hit them. This was no joke. It was horrifying reality.

Sunburst tearfully yelled out to the sky.

”SUNSET!”

The Call + Setting Out

Four and a Half Years Later

Very far away from Canterlot, at the National Security Agency headquarters, the phone rang. The man who was the head of the department answered it.

“NSA.”

A male voice came. “Mr NSA man.” Then there was some coughing on the other end and the voice came again. “I’m calling from Canterlot. I know this will sound ridiculous and crazy, but there’s crazy scary stuff happening. It’s real magic. And a group of girls here are connected to it somehow. Especially one of them.”

The person on the other end of the line was clearly trying to make his voice sound different and not doing very well. After some more rambling about the dangers of the mysterious happenings in the city, the head of the NSA finally had space to respond.

“Do not worry, sir. We’ve actually been hearing about these strange happenings for a while now. I assure you we will get to the bottom of this somehow. I do ask however that you never call her about this again afterward. Understood?”

“Y-yes, sir.” said the person, trying to sound nervous.

“Can I get your name?”

There was a few seconds of silence from the person on the phone, and then the reply came.

“Flash. Flash Sentry.”

“Thank you for this information, Mr Sentry. I’m sending my best agent.” The head of the NSA hung up and then called someone else. “Agent Shadow, I have an important task for you.”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Three days after the NSA received that call, in Canterlot, Flash Sentry stood by his car with his best friend Comet Tail, his other friends Micro Chips Derpy Muffins and Sandalwood, Comet’s twin sister Moondancer, Moondancer’s friends Minutte Twinkleshime and Lemon Hearts, and Comet’s friend Cheese Sandwich. They were at the edge of a road that lead toward the edge of the city and onto the highway. Just four nights prior, Flash and the twins had discovered something alarming.

“So you all know the plan, right?” Flash asked the group.

“Yes” Sandalwood replied in slight irritation “We went over it 10 times.”

“I still don’t get why YOU guys have to do this.” said Micro.

“Because if we don’t, nobody will.”

“Not even the Rainbooms?”

“Especially not them.”

“But couldn’t we just tell-“ Cheese started.

“NO.” Flash said sternly “If anyone, especially they, knew about this, they’d just try to stop us. Everyone’s gotten a bit too used to Sunset being here, especially them. She’s only going to accept the truth if the proof is right in front of her.” He sighed “And this is not gonna be easy.”

Derpy spoke up next “And what about … your feelings? Don’t you still like Twilight?”

Flash was silent for a moment. “Frankly, I could care less about that at this point.”

“Hey, you misspoke!” Minuette protested “You mean you couldn’t care less!”

“No Minuette, I mean I COULD care less. That whole thing I had for the other Twilight? It was a lost cause, and this one’s gone nowhere, and it’s not going to go anywhere else. She and Sunset have both made that very clear.” He held the article out for them all to see. “THIS is what I care about now.”

“So what happens after this?” Lemon Hearts mentioned “Don’t we still have one more year in the same city as CHS?”

“We just keep to our own school. As far from them as possible.” Comet answered.

“Sounds easier said than done.” Twinkleshine commented.

“What isn’t? One sec, guys.”

Comet then pulled Flash and Moondancer aside to talk privately. There was a bush that just happened to be there.

“Listen. Assuming this works and the world goes back to normal, what are we gonna do about” he whispered even quieter “You Know Who?”

“Honestly, he can just do whatever he wants to do with his life. Or I should say, their life.” Flash replied with a tinge of sadness. “It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. As long as he makes her happy, it’s fine with me.”

The boys turned to Moondancer, who was fuming in her mind that her new friend was seeing the one who had tricked her so badly.

“Moony?”

“Oh! Sorry guys. Yeah, I agree with Flash. He can just do him. As long as it doesn’t involve us.”

The boys nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's gonna be especially easier said than done." Comet pointed out "Aren't you and Twilight friends now?" Moondancer just frowned at that.

"Give him a chance, guys. She probably has changed him." Flash insisted. The twins still didn't agree with that, but gave reluctant nods. The trio had a quick group hug.

“Alright Comet, let’s do this.” said Flash. They went to Flash’s car and had just opened the doors when Derpy spoke up again.

“Guys, one more question. What if she sees the proof and still refuses to leave?”

Comet looked at the group and, without a tinge of regret, responded “Then I’ll just smack some sense into her myself.”

Everyone, even his twin and Flash, were surprised at his declaration.

“You mean YOU’LL get smacked for trying to do that.” Moondancer said, giving her brother a warning look.

“Let her try.” Comet retorted.

“Come on, Comet” said Flash tapping the dashboard “We gotta get going.”

“Right. Let’s do this.” They got in the car and shut the doors.

“Guys, please try not to do anything too unnecessarily rash.” Moondancer quickly added “Comet, I’m looking at you.”

“You know I can’t promise that.”

“Remember,” Flash said to the rest of the group “watch the city for nosy people.” And with that the two of them drove off.

“Alright, you heard Flash.” Micro declared. “We’ll take this side.”

“We’ll take this side.” Cheese commented.

"And we'll take this side." said Lemon Hearts.

And everyone dispersed going in separate directions, not noticing someone behind a bush nearby who had recorded their entire conversation on her phone. She slipped away and ran off when they were gone. None of them saw her.

Discussion

When Flash had first transferred to Hayton Central, he was in the mindset that it was best for not just him, but also his friends and family. His unrequited crush had consumed part of his life to such an extent that it was effecting his time away from school. Not to mention that everyone else at CHS seemed to not care about his band all that much anymore, since they all loved the Rainbooms and their magic powers so much. So since there was nothing really positive keeping him there, leaving sounded like the best solution.

However, the guitar player’s sudden absence hadn't gone as completely unnoticed as he believed. The first full week of the second semester, several kids who had always enjoyed watching him play started to notice he hadn't been showing up too much lately and began to wonder where he was. Even though the Rainbooms were amazing, Flash and his band were still good and they couldn't just forget about them. Several other students also took notice. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, who had occasionally done behind the scenes partnerships with Flash’s band and received music records from the guitar player, missed having him around. They were rather fond of the nice boy. Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops AKA Bon Bon, who sometimes hung out with Flash and his little group, also noticed the lack of one of their companions.

Of course, the only ones who knew the full story were First Base, Derpy, Sandalwood, and Micro. Lots of the popular students started to bombard them with questions about Flash’s whereabouts, all of which they either gave vague non-answers to or just completely ignored. Luckily, Base tended to not run into them much, if at all, since he was still in the middle part of the school. Except for one particular student around his age who was especially upset about it.

This started a gossip chain, until it was revealed, after Moondancer and her friends met the Rainbooms, that Flash had gone to HC. The only thing that stopped everyone from sending tons of messages to him asking him to come back was Flash blocking all of his contacts from CHS, except for a select few. Well actually, they still sent him the messages, but he never saw them. The only thing that kept Base from starting a fight with them was Flash’s talks with him. He did however, squabble with the student his age who was the most upset because they hadn't told her. Once it had even led to a full out physical brawl, which earned them both serious lectures and temporary groundings.

—————————————————————————————————————————

The Rainbooms were at Applejack’s barnhouse discussing some recent events.

“Did you see how she flinched when Twilight said Timber's name?” asked Rainbow. “It was like she knew him.”

“She’s hiding something.” Pinkie declared. “They all are. And we need to find out what!”

Twilight meanwhile was laying out on the hay bails, feeling very all-over-the-place. She had broken up with her first boyfriend, she had met the first other person she knew who was as enthusiastic about science as she was, and now not only did her new scientist friend have connections to the boy who had liked her pony counterpart since her brother was his best friend, but apparently they knew something about Timber that she didn’t, and that unsettled her. She had no idea what to do about it.

Just then there was a knock on the barn doors. Applejack opened the right door to reveal their school’s self proclaimed “Great and Powerful” magician, Trixie Lulamoon.

“What do YOU want?” The farmgirl asked annoyed.

"I need to talk to you."

“Well, we don’t need to talk to you.” snapped Rainbow.

“This is important.”

“What we’re talking about is important.” retorted Rarity.

“This one’s a little more your thing.”

“I don’t think so.” Applejack almost shut the door, but Sunset gave her a look. As annoying as Trixie was, she had helped her during the memory stone incident. Applejack sighed, opened the door again letting Trixie in, and shut it again.

“What’s up, Trixie?” asked Pinkie cheerfully.

“Earlier today, I was walking through town, just getting some scenes, when I came across the bailed guitar player and his new gang from that tiny weird school. And they all seemed so preoccupied that I just couldn’t ignore, so I snuck close to them and-“

Twilight jumped up. “Bailed? Flash didn’t bail on anything. He just transferred to another school.” She exclaimed angrily. “Take that back!” The other girls all looked at her weirdly. After a few seconds, she sat back down feeling slightly embarrassed. She had done it again.

"You know, I bumped into him and those twins a month back and the smart one said my magic was phony! And the other called it a waste of time! Can you believe it?!"

“Uh, yeah.” Rainbow said bluntly. The rest of the band just nodded, making Trixie go red in the face.

"Um anyway, you were saying?" said Fluttershy meekly.

Trixie recomposed herself “Right, right. Sunset, have you ever worn eyeshadow?”

Sunset’s face went blank at the magician’s bizarre question. “No, I don’t think I have.”

"Take a look at this." She held out her phone for them to see.

The Rainbooms watched the Hayton/CHS mixed group’s entire conversation, and by the end they each had a different reaction. Pinkie and Fluttershy were sniffling, AJ Rainbow and Rarity were frowning, Sunset looked guilty, and Twilight had an unreadable expression.

“You spied on a private conversation??” Rarity finally broke the silence.

“Says the biggest gossiper in the school.” Trixie retorted smugly.

“That’s different!” She spluttered.

Trixie rewinded the video she took, stopped at the point where Flash was holding the paper out, and zoomed in on it as much as she could. “You’ve never worn any of this stuff?” She asked the fiery haired girl again, who shook her head “Then who is THAT?”

Sunset looked closely. The girl in the middle of the photo clearly resembled her almost perfectly expect for the eyeshadow and dark colored clothes, and the girl to her left did indeed look nearly exactly like Starlight Glimmer, but the boy on the right was on the far edge of Trixie’s shot and couldn’t be seen fully except for his hand and the edge of his head. His skin and hair colors did feel familiar to her though, but she couldn’t quite place it. She did however have an idea who the other two were. “I think I know.”

“And what are THEY doing with that picture?”

“Good question.” Twilight narrowed her eyes at Flash and Comet on Trixie’s phone “What are you two up to?”

Encounter

Out on the highway just outside the city, Flash and Comet were driving away from it, heading in the general direction of their destination. They had been discussing how to approach the two people they had to speak with for the past hour, since this would no doubt be quite the personal and sensitive topic for them.

“You know, there’s no way they’re gonna believe us about any of this other dimension baloney.” Comet said with a look of dread.

“I know I wouldn’t if I was in their shoes.” Flash agreed grimly. “But we have to try.”

“And if they want nothing to do with us?”

“Which probably will happen. We’ll just leave them alone and have to come up with something else.”

At that moment, a black suspicious looking vehicle passed them going the other way. Then a few minutes later it was behind them. The boys looked at each other in terror. They knew a government vehicle when they saw one. “You don’t think -“ Comet said quietly.

Flash pulled over to the side and stopped. The black car stopped behind them, and the agent driving it stepped out. She came up to the front window, and the boys could see she had dark reddish skin, lighter red hair, and an emotionless expression. Flash rolled down his window. “Can we help you?”

"Good day, boys.” said the woman. “I'm Agent Tempest Shadow of the National Security Agency. We received a call from Canterlot city about unusual and mysterious activity happening. Do you know anything about this?”

The boys shared a very quick nervous look. “N-no, ma’am.” Flash stuttered, keeping his composure as best he could.

Agent Shadow gave them an intimidating look. “Do not lie to me. This could be a national security threat. What are your names?”

Flash took a deep breath. “Right, sorry. I’m Flash Sentry and this is Comet Tail. We have heard about this ‘activity’, but we always thought it was just crazy people making up crazy stuff online. People do that all the time.”

“Very true.” Agent Shadow proceeded to note all of this, but then she looked at Flash again with recognition. “Wait, Flash Sentry?” He nodded. “Step out please.”

Flash did as she requested, briefly turning to Comet and whispering “Don’t panic.” Agent Shadow led him to the front of her car.

“Mr. Sentry, we got your call. Whatever you and your friend know, I need to know now. And don’t try to trick me, I’ve dealt with many people who were professional liars.”

Flash was about to answer but then realized what the agent had said “Wait, what? I didn’t call you. I didn’t call anyone.” He was beyond confused. He Comet and the others had discussed beforehand about the government. This was not good.

The agent’s face hardened “So this doesn’t ring a bell?” She pulled out a recorder from her car and hit play.

Flash heard a voice to describe the girls as dangerous and a threat, empathizing Twilight and Sunset as the most “evil”. And then whoever it was called themselves by his name. Flash was clenching his fists by the end of it. He had heard of prank phone calls, but this was the next level. He regained his composure and faced Tempest again “No. That’s not me. I didn't make that call.”

Tempest played the recording again, looking back and forth between Flash and her recorder. Her face softened. “My sincere apologies, Mr. Sentry. It seems you’re a victim of a misunderstanding.”

Flash was rather surprised that the agent was taking it this smoothly. Comet was even more surprised. “Wow, that was a lot easier than I thought.” He said from the passenger seat, looking back. “Usually, the agents don’t believe anyth-“

“He’s watched several movies where this situation goes badly.” Flash cut in with a quick sideways look that Comet understood. He stopped talking and returned to his seat.

“Don’t worry” Tempest chuckled. “I actually get that a lot.”

“So wait, you believe that wasn’t me? Because I’m being serious, that wasn’t me who called you.”

“Yes I do, Flash. You’re free to go.”

“Thank you, Agent Shadow. Hold on, can I hear that call one more time?” Tempest nodded and played it again.

Flash listened closely. Something about the voice on the recording sounded familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place it. When he explained this to the agent, she asked how often he had left the city throughout his life.

“Only a few times a year. Usually just to visit my dad at where he works. Why?”

“Any people from there or here who don’t particularly like you?”

“Not really. Why do you ask?”

“Because whoever called must be someone from Canterlot who has some kind of issue with you. Do not worry, whoever it is I will make sure he or she answers for this.” Tempest opened her car door and was about to get back in when Flash spoke up again.

“Agent Shadow?” She stopped and faced him “Those girls whoever called you talks about, I know them. They do have special abilities but they’re not dangerous, at least not on purpose. That’s the best I can say. Please don’t judge them too quickly.”

“I’m glad you told me, Flash. Thank you.” She returned to her driver seat and left, getting onto another road going back toward the city.

Flash returned to his own car, where Comet instantly on him “Dude, what the heck in the world was that?”

“Someone called the NSA pretending to be me, and calling the Rainbooms a threat to national security. But who would do that? And why?”

“Maybe someone who has beef with you.”

“Like who?”

“No idea.”

“We’ll find that out later, Comet. Right now we need to hurry.” They got back on the road and continued on their way. “But we need to warn Moondancer and the group!”

“Way ahead of you.” Comet quickly texted their group chat “NSA AGENT INCOMING!”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Back in the city, everyone received it.

“Seriously? It’s only been an hour. Is this a practice alarm or something?” came Micro Chips’ reply.

Comet clarified this was not a joke and explained the situation. After sending the text, he then turned to Flash “Hey, do you think maybe-“

“Don’t. Even. Say it.” said Flash curtly. “HE can’t be behind it. There’s just no way.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

A few hours later, Tempest arrived in Canterlot where she was greeted by a CPD officer. “Hello Officer.” She greeted “Agent Tempest Shadow. National Security Agency.”

“Greetings Agent Shadow. I’m Officer Shining Armor. Welcome to Canterlot. What can we do for you?”

Meeting

After several hours of driving through unfamiliar territory, the boys pulled up to a gasoline station to refill and discuss how to best approach the two people they were looking for.

“How about I approach them first and you hang back and wait until I can get things to go smoothly? I know how people like this can get, and you can be a little - ” Flash made a hand gesture to prove his point. Comet, remembering how he butted in during Flash’s talk with Agent Shadow, agreed.

“Yeah, probably the best plan. There’s no need for both of us to go charging in.”

Another half hour further on, they arrived at the town mentioned in the article. It didn’t take them too long to find the high school there. It was closed for the week of course, but there was one group of people who seemed to be doing some kind of outside work. And luckily, they knew where the principal lived.

After another drive, they pulled up a house. Flash knocked on the door and a few moments later, it opened to reveal a light gray skinned man with a black beard. “Can I help you gentlemen?”

“Yes sir, you can. We’re looking for Starlight Glimmer.”

The principal narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What do you want with her?”

“We believe we know what happened to a friend of hers that went missing a few years back.”

The principal gained an expression of anger “Ah. I don’t think so.” He attempted to shut the door.

“Please!” Comet stopped it with his hand. “This isn’t a prank or anything! We’re being serious!” Flash grabbed his arm to make him stop.

The principal reopened the door with his expression unchanged. “Miss Glimmer has already had enough emotion trouble from this and plenty of people have gotten on her and Mr Sunburst’s case about this. They don’t need any more.” He tried to shut the door again, but Comet held it open.

“Mr Neighsay sir, we’re well aware of that. We’re just trying to help.”

Principal Neighsay was only getting more annoyed. “I know tricksters when I see them. Now leave or I will call the police.”

“On two boys coming to talk to you?” Comet snarked.

Neighsay glared “Yes.”

“Look Mr Neighsay,” Flash cut in, “If you want to call the cops on us, you can afterward. But first we need to talk to them. Please.” Comet looked to him aghast, but Flash gave him a look that made him relent.

The principal, clearly not having expected to be given permission to have them arrested, was surprised. He was silent in deep thought for a moment and then faced them again.

Another drive later, the boys found a nearby karate school. According to Principal Neighsay, this was where Starlight went in her spare time. It was her form of anger management.

They parked in front of the building and got out. “How angry and messed up can something make you that you take martial arts to vent all of it out?” Comet said as they looked at the building.

“Extremely.” Flash replied. “Wait here. I think it’s better if I do this one.” Comet agreed, and stayed at the car.

“Hello, miss.” Flash said to the woman in front inside.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, miss. I was just hoping if you could give me a minute of your time.”

After talking with the woman, Flash came back out and stood next to Comet. “She’s gonna come out and talk. Remember, try to be as easy about it as you can.”

“Right.”

A little while later, the girl they were looking for came bursting out carrying a bag over her shoulders. The second she saw them, she came storming over and gave them a glare that could melt steel. “Who are you two?” She growled.

Comet was slightly intimidated, but Flash kept his stance. “I’m Flash Sentry. This is Comet Tail. We’re from Canterlot. We need to talk to you and your friend Sunburst.”

Starlight grabbed their hands, spun them around, and pushed them against the car, causing them both some moderate pain. All in the span of half a second. “Don't try and pull one on me. I’ve seen this before. You’re here to laugh at us too, aren’t you?”

Flash frowned in sympathy despite the pain in his arm. He could only imagine what the two had been going through.

“Starlight, please. We-”

She twisted their arms further, causing them both to groan loudly in pain. “Don’t. Call me my name.”

“Look at us!” Comet pleaded “Do we look like we’re here to pull a joke on someone who’s been through something like that?

She looked into their eyes for 20 full seconds, and after seeing the genuinely serious look they both had, released them. Comet held his arm and gasped in relief.

“Fine. I’ll take you to Sunburst. But if either of you tries anything funny, you’ll both regret it.”

“No need to tell us that.” said Comet.

Starlight got in her own car and started driving, and the boys followed in Flash’s. She led them to a cabin in the nearby woods that looked decently put together.

She knocked on the door. “Sunburst, two weirdos from Canterlot are here to make fun of us.”

A voice from inside spoke “Sun-“ there was some coughing from inside and the voice came again, this time trying to sound different “Sunburst is not home.”

“Hey! We told you we believe you!” Comet said annoyed. Starlight returned his glare full measure. Flash however did not intervene right away. Hearing the word “weirdo” had stung him slightly, causing some unpleasant memories.

After a few seconds he shook off the feeling and got in between the two. Once they had backed off, he approached the door himself.

“Listen, we’re not here to laugh at you. We know what happened to your sister. We just want to talk.”

“No, no! You trespassing! I contact authorities!”

"Sunburst, you don't trust the authorities. My name is Flash Sentry. My friend and I are from Canterlot and I’ve seen a lot of crazy unusual stuff recently. It’s because of this weird energy.”

The door was suddenly flung open and Sunburst appeared. “Like paranormal activity, right?” He said in his normal voice.

"Yeah."

"Come in." Sunburst stepped aside and Flash and Comet made their way in, Starlight keeping them in her sight the whole time.

Sunburst looked awful. His hair was grown out wildly, he had massive bags under his eyes, and he clearly had not washed in quite a while. He was also under immense mental stress, if the enormous amount of papers around the cabin’s interior were any indication.

After he and Comet introduced themselves to Sunburst and heard his first hand account, Flash relayed his own story to the duo. Starlight rolled her eyes multiple times while Sunburst never took his eyes off him or spoke once until he was through.

“So this other Sunset from this alternate dimension showed up at your school at the exact same time our Sunset vanished?” asked Sunburst.

“Pretty much” replied Flash.

“There has to be a connection.”

“My thought exactly.”

“Sunburst, you can’t seriously believe this.” Starlight scoffed. “Magic? Another dimension where everyone is a talking pony? That’s crazy!”

“You have your own explanation?” Comet retorted. Starlight fumed, but relented.

“Here’s the thing though.” Flash continued. “She’s gotten a bit too close to everyone else she’s met here to just up and leave. And I have a particular- ” he briefly paused “reputation in CHS so she’s definitely not going to believe it from either of us.” Flash had been thinking about this long and hard the previous day, and eventually had come up with an absolutely insane idea that had a slight chance of working.

“So here’s what I’m thinking.” He gestured for the others to come closer, they leaned in, and he whispered his plan to them. Their eyes all widened, Comet’s in excitement, Starlight’s in bafflement, and Sunburst’s in curiosity.

“You can’t be serious. Why in the universe would we go anywhere with the two of you, let alone do something like THAT?”

“Because this is your only chance of getting her back and our only chance to fix everything.” Flash said simply.

Sunburst pulled his friend aside. “Starlight look, I know this is beyond crazy, but this is the information I’ve been trying to find for four years. We have to take this chance.”

After a few moments of silence, Starlight sighed “Fine. Let’s do it.” She then turned to Flash and Comet “You two are insane.” She deadpanned.

“Maybe we are.” replied Comet cheekily.

“Oh, Sunburst?” said Flash.

“Yeah?”

“Not trying to be rude, but you might want to get cleaned up first.”

He looked over himself and gave a sheepish expression of agreement “Sure thing.”

————————————————————————————————————————————

Back in Canterlot, the Rainbooms were practicing their music and discussing amongst each other at the park when police cars pulled up and several officers got out, Shining Armor in the lead. “Sunset Shimmer. I’m placing you under arrest.”

“Shining! You’re not arresting my best friend!”

“Don’t worry Twily, we’re taking you all in. Tag and bag them.”

The Rainbooms were hussled into the police cars and driven to the station, most of them protesting all the way.

Interrogation + Busted

While Flash and Comet were meeting their new acquaintances, back in Canterlot the Rainbooms were driven to the police station and brought into an interrogation room. As they sat down at the table, Tempest walked in.

“You must be the Rainbooms band. Nice to meet you young ladies.” She then narrowed her eyes at Sunset “Especially you, Sunset Shimmer.”

“What do you want with us?” snapped Rainbow. Applejack gave her a “shut up” look.

“Agent Tempest Shadow, NSA. I’m here to talk to you about a security threat that I have reason to believe you all possess.”

Shining Armor came and stood next to Twilight, who would not look at him. The other officers watched outside from the viewing window, but left after Shining gave them a hand motion.

“Have any of you noticed any strange, perhaps supernatural occurrences happening in this city?” Tempest asked quite pointedly.

The girls all looked at each other with dread. "Well we didn't mean for anyth-" Pinkie suddenly started to ramble before she was silenced by a glare from the others (except Fluttershy who was too scared).

Tempest simply nodded “I thought so. Listen girls, the cameras in this room have been switched off. I’m part of a top secret bureau, a highly classified private cooperation between the NSA, FBI, and CIA. We investigate weird unusual things that the disbelieving higher ups don’t have time to." She looked at them closer "We’ve heard plenty of reports from this city and you’re always involved. Right in the middle in fact. Now tell me, what do you have.”

The girls continued to look at each other, before Twilight ultimately gave in and levitated the table with her hands. Shining Armor was stumped while Tempest merely acknowledged it with a look.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“I’m from another dimension. I’m not even human, I’m just in a human body. I’m actually … a unicorn.”

Tempest remained expressionless while Shining Armor stared in utter bafflement. “Really?”

“Yes. In the dimension I come from, everyone there is a talking pony. Everyone who’s a human in this world anyway. Other creatures there include various creatures from human myths. And their counterparts here are various animals.”

“Counterparts?” Tempest was intrigued by that detail.

“For everyone here, there is a double of that person in her dimension.” Rarity spoke up “Same name, same voice, same colors, same overall personality, same …. everything.”

“Including all of you? And even possibly myself?”

The girls just nodded. Sunset knew about Pony Tempest from her messages with Pony Twilight.

“So what does this have to do with the recent supernatural activity here?” asked the secret agent.

“It’s magic from her world. That’s what’s been causing all the recent events.” Twilight explained, still not looking at her brother.

“I see. And how exactly is it here?”

The girls looked at each other again before sharing a look of agreement. “There’s a portal between the two worlds in the statue in front of our school.”

Shining Armor, who was feeling like the entire world had just been redefined all around him and trying to keep steady and not collapse from it all, spoke up, “Agent Shadow? If I may ask, who summoned you here?"

"Well that's the thing. I don't know. Whoever called my director was impersonating someone else and I only know that because I ran into the person he was impersonating on my way here.”

“Tell me” she pulled out the recorder and pressed play “Do you know who this voice belongs to?”

Shining Armor listened to the call twice, first quietly and then out loud. He frowned. “No. I haven’t heard this voice before. I don’t know who this is.”

“Excuse me. Can we hear that?” asked Sunset. Tempest complied and played it for them.

The girls’ eyes all widened in shock anger and disbelief. “That’s Timber!” Twilight exclaimed before slapping her hands over her mouth. The two adults faced her at once.

“Who’s Timber?” Shining raised an eyebrow at his sister.

“Twilight has something to tell you.” Applejack said as she stood up and pulled Twilight up with her, not budging when her spectacled friend glared at her in annoyance.

“His name’s Timber Spruce. He’s …. an acquaintance of ours.” She stammered.

"Twilight Sparkle, right?" asked Tempest. The glasses wearing ponytailed girl nodded.

"Come with me. If you know this Timber, take me to where he lives. I must speak with him."

—————————————————————————————

One tension filled drive to Camp Everfree later, Tempest, Shining Armor, and the Rainbooms emerged from his police car and the agent’s car and walked to the front cabin where they were met by Glorasia Daisy.

“Hi girls, good to see you.” She greeted her friends before noticing the adults “Can I help you?”

"Yes you can, Miss Daisy.” said Tempest. “Tell me, does this voice ring a bell?" For the fifth time that day, she played the recording of the call to her boss.

The dark pink camp director went from shocked to dumbfounded to furious in the span of 12 seconds “Timber!” She shouted. Her green haired brother came running until he saw who she was with and ran toward the cabin door before realizing it was locked.

Tempest sighed “Oh boy. Let me handle this.” She walked over and cornered him. “Timber Spruce?”

“Yes?” The voice confirmed it for the agent.

“When the government receives an emergency call, we prefer the caller identify by her or his real name.”

Timber started sweating profusely, clearly not having expected his plan to backfire at all, let alone this badly this quickly.

“Miss Sparkle, what kind of acquaintance is he to you exactly?”

“He’s her ex.” Fluttershy squeaked out. Twilight glared at her in terror while Sunset just gave her best friend a deadpan.

Shining Armor pulled his sister aside. “We’re going to talk about this later. All of us.” He said seriously. Twilight just hung her head.

“Do you have anything against a young man named Flash Sentry?” Tempest asked the shriveling camp counselor.

“Uuuuhhhh - no?”

“Really? Then why use his name and not your own?”

Timber’s eyes darted back and forth between everyone who was now staring him down.

“You thought that if you could get the government here and frame Sentry for the call, then everyone would hate him for getting them in trouble and you could do something to make yourself look like a hero that would make her come running back to you like a lovesick damsel.”

Timber’s face widened in terror and horror and then fell miserably. He had been figured out.

“You don’t look too surprised by the absurdity of this situation.” Shining Armor commented.

“When you’re in a top secret government agency as long as I’ve been, you get some pretty weird calls.”

"I was paid to call you!" Timber suddenly exclaimed.

Tempest eyed him again "What?"

“About two weeks ago, I got a visit from someone saying she had the key to stop everything. But she was falsely accused of horrible things and couldn’t call you, so she asked me to do it instead.”

“Did this woman tell you her name?”

“No. I-I don’t know who she is. I never even saw her face.”

“Agent Shadow, if I may.” Sunset placed her hand on Timber’s arm and her eyes glowed white for 5 seconds before she glared at him. She had seen everything. “He’s telling the truth. At least he is now.”

“Well even if you were paid by her to call me,” said Tempest, shaking her head in disgust at the young adult “it doesn’t change the fact that you tried to use this situation to your advantage. Not to mention you also showed what you truly think of your ex-girlfriend.”

“Agent Shadow, could you please give us a moment to handle this?” asked Shining Armor, just barely holding back his own anger.

“I’ll let you all deal with him.” She said seriously. “But we need to talk afterward.” And with that, Tempest walked back to her car and waited.

Twilight stopped her brother as he started to advance and gave him a look that said “It’s okay, we’ve got this. Trust me.”

“Uh, a little help?” He pleaded to his sister.

Glorasia just shook her head. "Sorry Timber. You gotta take responsibility for your actions and answer for this." And she took a few steps backward.

As all the Rainbooms gave him murderous death glares, Twilight in the front, all Timber could do was smile in terror and say “Heh heh heh heh ……. oops?”

——————————————————————————————

70 miles away, two cars sped toward Canterlot. Both cars had two occupants, all of whom were wearing facial expressions of fierce determination.

Into the Unknown

Flash, Comet, and their two new companions were driving back toward the city. Sunburst was in the front passenger seat of Flash’s car while Comet was in the back right passenger seat of Starlight's car to make sure the new group stayed together. The latter two were still at each other’s throats, hence the extra space between them.

About 10 miles out from the city, Flash spotted a pull over area and voice texted Comet, who said “Flash says to pull over just up ahead.” Starlight didn’t respond, but did so right behind the others.

“What’s this about?” Starlight demanded as they got out. “I thought you wanted to get on with this crazy plan ASAP.”

Flash kept a straight face “We do. But you two need to know something else important. A few days ago someone called the NSA. Thanks to whoever it was, there’s now a government agent monitoring the city from within. And from what we’ve seen, she is no nonsense.”

“Well the last thing we or you need is attracting her attention on this.” said Sunburst. He wasn’t fully trusting of his new companions either, but he was at least trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Exactly. So when we get to the city we’re not gonna drive all the way straight to the school.” Flash explained “There’s a mall with a parking garage near our house. We’re gonna park there and try to sneak in the rest of the way.”

“Don’t worry though. It’s not too far of a walk.” Comet added “Just about an hour or so.”

“Wonderful.” Starlight groaned.

Comet’s phone rang for FaceTime. It was Cheese. And he looked quite irritated.

“Comet, did you tell some kind of scary story or something about the Rainbooms to everyone at school?”

“Uh, no? And keep your voice down. That agent could be listening.”

“Then what’s this post on HSE?” HSE (Hayton Social Emergence) was the Hayton social site. Cheese read the post, which was trash talking the Rainbooms, saying they were destruction bringers and calling them the “Rainbow witches” and “Raindooms”.

Flash narrowed his eyes on his best friend. “What. Is. That?”

Comet glanced away. “Nothing?” Flash and Cheese continued staring “Okay, alright! I may have made up a little something with another friend from school.”

Flash facepalmed. “I told you I didn’t want you doing anything like that!”

“I had to let everyone at school know not to mingle with them somehow!”

“By calling them world ending witches?!”

“It was effective.”

“You just made this post to spite them, didn’t you?”

“Sort of. I say they deserve it!”

“Well it’s not exactly gonna help our case.” Comet’s face fell at that.

“Where are you guys?” Cheese asked.

“A little ways outside the city.” He then mentioned to their new associates. “This is our friend Cheese Sandwich. Cheese, this is Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst.”

“Hello.” Sunburst waved. Cheese gave a friendly smile. Starlight just snorted.

“Listen, we’re about to do something that is possibly the most incredibly stupid and dangerous thing we’ve ever done.” Comet said to Cheese “And if anyone finds out and word gets back to her, she is going to kill us.”

“She is going to kill us. Not you two.” He quickly clarified to the others.

“Which ‘she’?” Cheese cut in. “Twilight, Sunset, other Twilight, or the scary government lady?”

“All of them!“ Flash iterated. “Agent Shadow is gonna kill us … you know, because she’s with the government, and Sunset and both Twilights are gonna kill us if they find out what we’re going to do!”

“Talk about a maze of dead ends.”

“So Cheese,” Sunburst stepped forward “We need you to make sure no one else finds out about what’s about to happen until our Sunset has been found.”

“Uh, sure. What exactly are you guys doing?”

“We’re going to go find her ourselves.”

“Wait. You mean you’re gonna—“ Flash and Comet just nodded.

“That’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard in my life.” He then shared massive grins with the pair “Good luck, guys. I got you covered.” He made a zip motion over his mouth.

“Thanks.” Flash ended the call and turned back to his companions “Let’s get moving. That agent probably picked up the phone signal and heard that entire conversation.”

“Let’s get something clear here.” Starlight cut in “There is no “we” or “us” here.” She said gesturing to all four of them. “There’s just us and you two. Understand?”

“Fair. Now come on.” Comet retorted. He started to get back into her car when Flash stopped him.

“Delete that post.”

Comet didn’t need telling twice. He reluctantly texted his other friend to do so.

———————————————————————

At the police station, Tempest waited inside the interrogation room with the rest of the girls while Shining Armor had a serious talk with his sister outside. After about 20 minutes of arguing, they came in.

“I’m very sorry about what happened with Timber.” said Twilight meekly.

“Don’t be.” said the agent “You had no idea.”

"Disgraceful! Disgusting! Despicable!" Rarity fumed.

“Where'd you get that from?” asked Applejack.

“I heard it somewhere.”

“This is quite the interesting scenario.”

“This other boy. Who is he?” asked the brother officer.

“Just someone who used to go to school with us. He transferred to another school at the end of last semester.” Twilight said hastily. Her face then turned pink. This was the third time she had jumped to Flash’s defense and she had no clue why.

“Listen Officer Armor, I know this isn’t my place to intrude,” cut in the agent “but he certainly seems like a much more pleasant person to me. And so does his friend for that matter. In fact he actually refuted everything the other one said, so I don’t think you have to worry about them too much.”

“What exactly did he say?” Sunset asked.

“He said that he knows you girls, you are good people, that you can be trusted, and you shouldn’t be judged on your powers.”

Twilight felt touched by that, and she and the others all smiled in appreciation. Sunset was also touched. Despite what she did to Flash before, he had defended them. She also felt guilt for that. Shining Armor meanwhile was still wary, but felt appreciative.

“But that doesn’t chance the fact of this very real national security threat.” Tempest’s next words returned the worry to their faces. “Girls, listen to me. This is a very serious matter. In the wrong hands, this energy could start a global war like nothing else. This has to end somehow.”

“You mean we have to-“ Fluttershy gulped. “Get rid of our magic?” Tempest just nodded, to the girls’ shock and horror.

“But-but-but we love our powers! We’ve used them to help our classmates so many times!” Pinkie whined.

“I can certainly believe that, but the fate of the entire human race is more important than one school. I’m not trying to be callous, just truthful.”

“What if we manage to clean it all up?” Twilight asked “Give us some time, and we can make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Tempest thought for a moment “Okay. Here’s the deal. You have 25 days. If it’s not all gone by then, I’m calling my boss and co-workers, and we’ll handle this security threat ourselves. Do you understand?”

“Deal.” said Sunset “We will do that.”

“We will?!” Rainbow exclaimed. The others gave her a look “I mean, yeah we will.”

“For everyone’s sake, I certainly hope so.”

———————————————————————

It was evening when Flash, Comet, Starlight and Sunburst reached the parking garage. They parked on the fourth floor, right across from each other. Before they had started driving Sunburst had shaven, taken a shower, and put on fresh clothes. He had also brought a backpack that Starlight had put something else into from her house.

Flash led the way as they made their way down the stairs to the ground outside. “This way. Keep your eyes out for street cameras.” The walk to CHS began uneventful, but about 10 minutes in Flash spotted four figures.

“Over here!” They ducked behind a dumpster and watched and listened quietly. Despite having only seen them each once before, Flash instantly recognized all of them and developed a hateful glare.

“Who are those people?” Sunburst whispered.

“She’s the former principal of Crystal Prep.” Flash snarled through gritted teeth. “She blackmailed Twilight into winning the friendship games just to keep her reputation. Those three are from the other dimension. They used magic singing to brainwash everyone at CHS into a band battle a while back. Including me.” His face fell as some unpleasant regretful memories resurfaced.

That’s the bad girl we love to hate!
I want to win this Twilight!

“What are they doing together?” Comet asked also glaring, bringing Flash out of his thoughts.

“Trouble, whatever it is. Which I’m not interested in finding out. Come on.” They snuck out from their hiding spot and ran in the opposite direction of the bad women to behind a corner. Fortunately, the villainous quartet didn’t seem to notice them. Once they were gone, the foursome continued on their way. 50 more minutes later or so, they reached Canterlot High.

“There it is.” said Flash, pointing to the statue. They approached it and Sunburst put his hand to the portal side, and immediately recoiled in amazement after it passed through. Starlight’s jaw dropped.

“After all these years and so much searching through paranormal information …” he pulled his hood down “Finally, I’ve found what I’ve been looking for.”

“I can’t believe it. It’s true.” Starlight said after regaining her voice. “We’re actually doing this?” Sunburst gave her a look that said everything.

“Remind me,” Sunburst said to the other duo “you said that we’re going to apparently turn into some of those sapient ponies.” Flash had informed them ahead of time that their bodies would change to equine forms to “suit the dimension” as he put it.

“Yeah. Don’t worry though, it won’t be too much of a problem. At least I hope not.” Flash replied.

“Well, I guess that doesn’t make any less sense than just about everything else in this crazy city.” remarked Starlight.

“Hold onto my key until this little trip is done. And our phones.” said Flash, handing Sunburst two of the items in question while Comet handed over his.

“Sure thing.” said the coated boy. He put them into his bag, along with his and Starlight’s own phones and her key. Something else could be heard rattling inside.

“What else is in there?” Flash asked.

“If you must know, my lucky magic eight ball.“ came Starlight's blunt response. “It helps me feel confident.”

Flash and Comet just shrugged. They turned to each other.

“You sure about this? This is really happening?” asked Comet.

“Yeah. It’s happening. It has to, or this will never be fixed.”

“Okay, I’m with you. Ready?”

“Yeah.”

"B" Comet began making a sign with his right hand.

"F-F-F" Flash continued making another sign with both of his and reiterating it twice.

"L" Comet finished making one more sign with his left “Let’s go.”

"You two ready?" Sunburst just looked at them with determination.

Starlight moved to behind the duo. “To make sure no one backs out.” she said.

“See you on the other side.” With that, Sunburst stepped into the statue wall and disappeared.

"Let's do this!" Flash said, determination all over his face. He dived into the wall, Comet right behind him.

“This is officially the weirdest day of my life” Starlight muttered, her voice full of anxiety “Here goes. We’re coming Sunset!” She shut her eyes, charged forward, and vanished into the portal after the boys.

The Mission Begins

After a rollercoaster like zooming ride through swirls of rainbow colored lights, Flash Comet Sunburst and Starlight reached an end to the sort of tunnel and quite literally shot out the other side. Sunburst tumbled across a floor for a few seconds and stopped only to have the others smash into him from behind, sending them all into a jumbled pile.

“Ow.” Flash groaned when he had regained his senses "Well, here we are."

“What the?! Where are my HANDS?!” Starlight shrieked as she looked down at herself.

“Shut up!" Comet snapped " We told you about this, remember?”

Once they had disheveled and managed to stand, Flash took a proper look at their location. They were in what appeared to be a massive library that he vaguely recognized. It was the library of Pony Twilight's gemrock tree shaped castle in the town of Ponyville. He and all the other CHS students had passed through here when the yacht sank.

He took a look back at the mirror they had just emerged from, which still also had the use of a regular mirror. While the other three were all ponies with a horn on their heads, Flash could see that he lacked a horn but instead had wings on his body. He was what the human dimension's mythology called a pegasus, which meant his counterpart native to this dimension must be one as well and the others' were also unicorns. This had happened the last time he was here too, but he hadn't noticed because he was too focused on just getting back.

"Oh my goodness." Sunburst was amazed by his new form. "The physical form altered through dimensional gateways. This is incredible." Comet and Starlight both simply stared at themselves in stunned silence.

"What's that? Who's there?" The quartet froze at that new voice which sounded much like Starlight but had not come from her. They heard what sounded like footsteps coming toward them quicky.

Flash glanced to the others and mouthed “Run.” And they did. Luckily there happened to be a door to a balcony just off to the side. “Jump!” They leaped over the edge (after a few seconds of convincing), fell several meters, and quickly took cover in some nearby bushes after a rough landing and some brief complaining. A figure that looked just like Starlight appeared on the balcony above and glanced all around. She looked past their bush then turned and went back inside.

The foursome sighed in relief. “Come on.” Flash declared. They ran from the castle as best they could in the opposite direction of the nearby town until it was out of sight.

"Okay we've made it into this other dimension and we're in horse bodies." Starlight spoke up when they had caught their breath "Now what?"

"Now we track down Sunset. Your Sunset." Flash answered.

"And how exactly do we do that?" Sunburst asked.

Flash and Comet looked at each other in silence, their faces going blank.

"You crazy guys, you don't even have a plan, do you?!" Starlight exclaimed.

“Well I had as much of a plan as I could have at the moment, alright?!" Flash stressed "Now I come up with another!” Sunburst just rubbed his face, already stressed out himself.

“I can’t believe this." She groaned "So we’re just gonna randomly wander this whole planet until we find her?”

“Yeah I guess so.” Comet shot back.

Flash began to ponder. "Okay, another dimension with no idea what terrain is ahead. Or what dangerous creatures might be out there. This is quite the dilemma."

“Flash, I hate to point out another obvious fact," Sunburst pointed out "but we’re basically outnumbered a whole other world to four. I mean two and two.” He corrected after Starlight shot him a look. "What do we do if we get discovered by the natives?"

Flash shrugged "Run away and hide, I guess."

“Well isn’t this the most interesting scenario I’ve ever seen?” Another voice from nowhere made them jump together. A sudden burst of white light zapped in front of them and the most bizarre looking creature Flash and Comet had ever seen appeared. “Greetings, natives of the mirror world!” The four human-turned-ponies just gawked for several seconds.

“Who and what the heck are you?” Flash managed to stammer.

"Oh how rude of me. I am Discord, the Lord of Chaos. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to our realm."

"What do you want?" Comet demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing. You are the trespassers, remember?"

"Oh right."

"If you must know, we're looking for someone from our world who got stuck here a few years ago." Flash said.

Discord began to ponder "Now that you mention it, back when I was still imprisoned in stone in Canterlot (don't ask about that) I did sense a strange kind of magic imbalance one day. It was inside the castle at first, but then shot out from the castle way past the horizon until it wasn't even in range of Equestria. And that same day Celestia's first student was reported missing."

"Do you have an idea of which way it went?" Comet asked.

"Why tell when I can show?" Discord snapped his claws or fingers, there was another white light zap and they found themselves at the edge of a vast plain like area. "I teleported us. This is the edge of how far I could feel that shooting star of magic until I lost it." Discord explained to the bewildered foursome. He zapped up a decent sized paper and handed it to Flash. It was a map of the terrain far ahead. In the far distance across the ocean Flash could faintly see some sort of green on the edge which must have meant a forest. "This is as much as I know is out there."

"Why are you helping us?" Flash questioned.

"A few certain ponies don't know you're here. The later they find out, the more inconvenient it will be for them, which will be even more entertainment. And also I want to try solving a problem on my own for once without troubling them."

Flash raised an eyebrow "That last part sounded a little contradicting to the rest of what you said."

"I tend to be that way. One second." Discord snapped his fingers again, making the map glow white for a second. "There, now it's waterproof, untearable, and unlosable." He pointed out toward the plains. "Follow the trail. Good luck!" Another snap and zap and he was gone.

"Wait! What trail?!" Starlight exclaimed at the spot where Discord had been "Thanks so much for the help!" She shouted sarcastically.

Flash looked at the map and then out at the land before them "Let's get moving."

"Wait, wait. So we just believe that ... whatever-he-was about that 'shooting star magic' being her?!"

"Yes." Sunburst said firmly "This is the only lead we've got. And probably the only one we're going to get."

"What if he was lying? He did say he's called the 'lord of chaos'."

"That's a risk we'll just have to take. At least this way we don't have to worry about laying low."

Flash agreed with a nod “It's far too risky to spilt up. It would definitely cover more ground, but we would never even find each other again. I guess we just head in that general direction and hope for the best."

"Works for me." Comet said. "I'll keep hold of the map."

“Better than just sitting here doing nothing.” Sunburst agreed. "Starlight?" He glanced at his best friend who desperately wanted to object but couldn't find a good argument and so begrudgingly gave in. "Fine."

“In that case, onward!” Comet declared. He and Flash set off with a determined march across the plains the way Discord had pointed, Sunburst close behind.

“How did we get roped into this?” Starlight grumbled in a sulk as she followed.