It was a beautiful morning in Equestria.

Celestia’s sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as Twilight cheerfully brewed herself a cup of coffee, humming a tune under her breath. She had briefly been stirred from her slumber last night by the sound of her book vibrating—a letter from Sunset, no doubt. The timing of it had been odd, but truth be told the Princess of Friendship had been so exhausted from her part in rebuilding Ponyville, and it had been so late at night, that she had rolled over and gone back to sleep.

The book was the reason she’d gotten up so early this morning, though. Rested and refreshed, the purple alicorn felt ready to tackle whatever question her fellow student was asking, or participate in whatever gossip she was passing along, or… anything, really. Talking to Sunset was fun, and Twilight looked forward to it regardless of what time the former unicorn sent her messages.

Continuing to hum her little tune and checking to make sure she hadn’t stirred Spike from his slumber—baby dragons needed their sleep, after all—Twilight sipped from her coffee and set it down on her desk, her horn glowing with violet magic. She located the book with ease and levitated it over to settle in front of her, flipping to the latest page. The ink was no longer glowing, which didn’t surprise her; this was an hours old message at this point, after all.

Twilight took another sip of coffee and began reading Sunset’s message.

As she read, the cheerful tune she had been humming since waking up slowly but surely died off into silence, her eyes narrowing. Celestia’s sun inched along the sky, the light shining brightly through the window and happily ignoring the princess’s darkening mood.

By the time Twilight finished Sunset’s message, the sun was shining warm and bright, and her coffee had gotten cold. The purple alicorn sat there for a long moment, before she lifted the mug up and tried another sip to calm her nerves. She closed her eyes, letting the taste of cold coffee wash through her mouth and down her throat, trying to clear her mind as her ears flicked back.

It didn’t work, and she opened her eyes again.

“I,” she said softly, “am going to kill her.”

It was a chill running suddenly down her spine that woke Sunset with a jolt, and the sharp movement sent a stab of pain through her face. The redhead grimaced and touched her cheek, gingerly pressing her fingers to the bruised flesh. She’d need to look in a mirror to see if it had faded at all, but the fact that it was still so tender wasn’t particularly promising.

Sunset lay there for a moment, almost hoping that she would drift off to sleep again, but alas, it seemed that the universe was conspiring to keep her awake; now that she was up her mind was racing a mile a minute, not exhausted at all by the fact that her sleep had been consistently disturbed by nightmares and terrors. Taking the sign for what it was, she sighed deeply and dragged herself out of her sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes and running a hand through her hair as she glanced around.

Being the most injured of the group, Rainbow and Pinkie had gotten Sunset’s bed for the night; they had both protested the decision, but in the morning light it was obvious that it had been a wise one. Their wounds wouldn’t heal immediately, but a night of sleep in a warm, soft bed had clearly done them both some good.

Sunset had placed her sleeping bag right next to the bed, a strategic decision in case anyone got ideas about trying to do something stupid in the middle of the night. Applejack had set up her sleeping bag at the end of the bed with something similar in mind, but that same sleeping bag was now empty; by the look if it, its owner had left it awhile ago. The former unicorn sniffed the air—an old habit from her pony days—and was surprised to pick up the smell of cooking.

Perhaps Applejack had decided to rise early and get started on breakfast?

Mindful of the fact that Rainbow and Pinkie were still asleep, the redhead moved on light feet from her room into the hall, letting the smell guide her. Before she’d gone to bed, Rarity and Fluttershy had set up their sleeping bags in the main room, and Sonata and Aria had been fighting over which one of them got to sleep on the couch.

The fight must have ended in a tie, because currently the two sirens were curled up in the grumpiest ball of sleep Sunset had ever seen. She paused for a moment just to stare at them before she realized Applejack was seated at the counter facing into her kitchen are and, therefore, not the one who was cooking.

Sunset moved carefully, mindful of Rarity and Fluttershy, as she made her way over to the farmer. “Applejack?” she called softly.

Green eyes never once budged from the kitchen, even as Sunset settled in next to her. “Hey, Sunset. Mornin’.”

“Good morning.” Curious to see what had her friend’s attention, Sunset turned her eyes to the kitchen—and once again, found herself staring at something she had never expected to see.

On some level, Sunset knew it was logical to assume that at least one of the sirens would know how to cook, and that it would probably be Adagio Dazzle who actually bothered with it. They had eaten human food during their stay at Canterlot High School, so it had been obvious that the idea of eating and cooking wasn’t a foreign one to them, and of the three Adagio seemed to be the most likely to be patient enough and stubborn enough to learn how to cook.

It made logical sense, but there was still something jarring about seeing the orange-haired girl actually in the kitchen, moving around easily and cooking like she didn’t have a care in the world. If she was aware of Sunset and Applejack watching her, she didn’t acknowledge them as she went about her task.

“… How long has she been doing this?” Sunset asked, if only to fill the slightly awkward silence as they continued to watch Adagio cook.

Applejack shrugged, absently adjusting her hat. “No idea. When Ah get up, she was already in th’ kitchen. Dunno how long she’s been at it, but by the smell Ah reckon she’s been goin’ awhile.”

So Adagio had been up before even Applejack, and Applejack got up early even on a bad day. Sunset blinked as she did some quick math in her head. “Did she even sleep last night?” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

Applejack shrugged again, choosing to respond. “No idea. We were all out pretty fast, but at least it’s a good sign she’s not causing trouble.”

“Right,” Sunset murmured, deciding to not question it. Things were crazy enough as it was; if Adagio was willing to step up and cooperate, she wasn’t going to think too hard about it until things settled down some. “Well. I’m glad to see food is taken care of, since honestly I wasn’t in much of the mood to cook.”

“How’s yer cheek?”

“It’ll heal.” The thought still made her rub it gently. “How’re you?”

The blonde chuckled at that, shifting a bit in her chair to get more comfortable. “Headache’s faded, for the most part. Back still aches a bit, but like ya said, it’ll heal.”

Sunset watched Adagio move around the kitchen for a moment, then made up her mind and slid off of her chair. “Well,” she said lightly, “I’m sure some coffee and sweets will speed the healing process along, since Adagio is being so gracious about breakfast.”

Adagio’s soft snort made it clear she’d heard her fellow Equestrian, but Sunset ignored her.

“Sounds like a plan ta me.” Applejack started to ease herself off of her chair after Sunset, but a shift in her expression indicated her back disagreed with the plan, and she ended up staying put. “Ya need money? I can go grab it real quick.”

The redhead patted her friend gently on the shoulder. “Stay still, Applejack, your back’s still bothering you. I have plenty of money.”

Applejack pressed her lips together, a familiar crease forming between her eyebrows.

“… And you can pay me back whatever you owe me,” Sunset quickly added, deciding it was best to change tactics and play along with her friend. Even when she was hurt, Applejack was driven to protect and nurture; the fact that she couldn’t move around to her fullest capabilities and couldn’t protect her friends from Venus no doubt stung at the cowgirl’s pride.

That seemed to soothe her friend, as she settled back down without complaining. “Sounds good. Ah’ll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

Sunset gave a small mock salute, lips quirking when the gesture earned a small chuckle from her friend. She headed back down the hallway and changed quickly—a shirt and jeans, with her customary jacket thrown over it—and held up her phone on the way out so Applejack could see it, letting her friend know they had a way of staying in contact while she was away.

Applejack held up her phone in response and tipped her hat, and this time Sunset couldn’t help the smile despite the situation as the door closed behind her with a soft click.

Back in the kitchen, Adagio sighed deeply. “Cute,” she said. “Very cute.”

Applejack turned back to her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Thanks.”

“I hate you both so much.”

“… That sounds more like the Adagio Dazzle Ah know.”

Adagio didn’t throw anything at her, but judging by the look on her face as she turned back to her meal, she was clearly thinking about it.

As if to completely contrast the horrors that had been occurring during the night, the morning was bright, sunny, and warm; Sunset didn’t even have to try to listen to hear the sound of birds singing as she made her way into the heart of Canterlot City. The heat of the air was a constant reminder that summer was rapidly approaching, and it was almost easy to forget everything that had happened since she and her friends had noticed Venus’s hunting pattern and had gone to confront her.

Almost, Sunset thought with a sigh, except for the fact that her cheek still stung from the events of last night, and her book hadn’t yet vibrated with a message from Twilight. The former unicorn knew she’d sent her message out late at night, but she’d really been hoping that she would wake up to a message from her friend on the other side of the portal.

But so far, her book had remained stubbornly still.

Sunset was almost tempted to spam Twilight with messages until the Princess of Friendship finally responded, but she knew that wasn’t fair. She had no way of knowing what was going on, and only had Sunset’s word on how bad the situation was. No doubt the princess had gotten her message and was either too busy to immediately address it, or was looking into a method she’d discovered that could help them all deal with Venus quickly and easily.

Twilight would help them; she always had in the past. Sunset just had to be patient and give her a chance to respond, and thoroughly ignore the small part of her that whispered that, considering who she’d seen when she’d been approached by Venus, it was probably for the best that Twilight was taking her time. It gave her a chance to compose herself and not think about it.

Sunset sighed deeply, rubbing at her temples as she made her way into the coffee store. Yeah, okay. She was doing a very bad job of not thinking about it, and she had the feeling that having Twilight around in the flesh wouldn’t make her confusion any easier to grasp or sort out. It was just something she’d have to endure until Venus was taken care of.

Thankfully, the act of ordering coffee and paying for it was enough to get her mind off of that particular tangent, even if the act itself was laughably simple; no one in their small group of friends liked particularly fancy drinks, and she figured the sirens would take anything that was hot and tasted good. Maybe buying those three coffee was a bit much, but Sunset figured every little bit helped cement some sense of trust between the two groups.

If she was really going to suggest her plan to Twilight when the princess came over, they would need every little bit of trust they could get. But the situation was still young, and the redhead was still hopeful that they wouldn’t even need to consider her plan.

Cradling the ordered coffee in one hand, it was only a short walk down to where she and her friends regularly spent their after school hours. The bell that hung over the door announced her entry, and from behind the counter Mrs. Cake gave the student a brilliant smile. “Sunset! Good morning, dear, I didn’t think you would be coming in so early.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Cake.” Sunset carefully set down the coffee set, mindful of the hot liquid each cup contained. “It’s not too early, is it?”

“Oh, it is never too early for sweets, especially if you listen to Pinkie—Sunset Shimmer!” Mrs. Cake promptly forgot what she was working on behind the counter as she stared, eyes wide and concerned once she got a good look at the teenager. “What on Earth happened to your face?!”

That motherly tone was enough to make Sunset wince as if she’d been caught sneaking in late; a particularly impressive feat, considering she wasn’t even related to Mrs. Cake. Her hand flew up to her face instinctively, and she hissed out a breath when her fingers brushed bruised skin and she remembered the mark Venus’s backhand had left on her.

It had faded from last night, but the bruising was still very much apparent and impressive, and among her friends Sunset had completely forgotten how it would look to someone that was unaware of the situation. Thankfully, she hadn’t been considered Celestia’s most prized student for nothing. “Pinkie caught me in a prank I wasn’t expecting,” she lied smoothly, lowering her fingers from her face. “It was an accident and she felt really bad about it. It’s not as bad as it looks, I promise.”

Mrs. Cake’s nose wrinkled and she groaned, easing away from the counter as she slowly but surely relaxed. “That girl, honestly,” she sighed as she began to rummage through her stock, fishing out the usual sweets she knew each girl in the group liked. “One of these days she’s really going to hurt someone with one of her pranks. I keep telling her to be careful, but does she listen to me?”

Mentally, Sunset sent an apology Pinkie’s way and made a note to let her friend know about the lie she’d told; it wouldn’t do any good for the pink girl to get caught off guard by the story when Mrs. Cake inevitably brought it up in her list of complaints regarding her usual pranks and antics. “You know how she is,” she said lightly. “And she meant no harm, really. She still hasn’t stopped apologizing to me about it.”

“Her heart is in the right place, at least. It’s probably the only reason any of us have any patience for her; we all know she means well, deep down. She’s just got a unique way of showing it.”

Sunset smiled, despite the situation. “She’s got a good heart.”

“That she does, that she does.” Mrs. Cake settled the boxed order on the counter, sliding it to the redhead. “There’s your usual, dear, I assume you’re running a pick up for your friends. I tied it so you can carry it without having to worry about that coffee you’ve got with you. Is there anything else you want?”

The former unicorn hesitated, then made up her mind. If she’d already ordered coffee for the sirens, she might as well go all out and make the peace offering complete, if only for her own sense of satisfaction. And Sonata, at the very least, looked like she had a sweet tooth. Even if she was the only one who appreciated the gesture, it was at least one member of the trio on their side. “Can I have three chocolate chip cookies?” she asked, leaning against the counter. “Some of Rarity’s out of town city friends stopped by unexpectedly, and I don’t want to leave them out.”

Everyone loved chocolate chip cookies, right? It seemed like the safest bet. Sunset hadn’t ever met anyone who disliked chocolate chip cookies.

I wonder if Twilight’s ever tried a chocolate chip cookie over on this side of the mirror?

Because that mental thought process was both incredibly unhelpful to the current situation and a reminder to Sunset of things she really didn’t want to think about, the girl gave herself a hard mental smack to get her thoughts back on track. Thankfully, Mrs. Cake provided a much needed distraction as she slid the cookies Sunset had requested across the counter and rattled off the total cost. She fished out the required amount and passed it to the older woman, grabbing the box easily and balancing it carefully; as Mrs. Cake had promised, she had tied it in such a way that it wouldn’t interfere with the coffee she was also scooping up.

“Are you sure you’ve got that, dear?” The woman looked ready to come around the counter and help, if Sunset couldn’t handle it herself.

“I’ve got it, thanks Mrs. Cake.” She would need to move carefully, but considering one half of her load was hot coffee that had always been a given anyway. Now she just needed to move carefully because of the hot coffee and because of her delicate treats.

“Well, if you’re sure, Sunset.” Mrs. Cake rested against the counter, then blinked as if she’d just remembered something and called out as the teenager was almost out the door. “Oh, Sunset!”

Sunset paused, glancing back at her. “Yeah?”

Mrs. Cake hesitated, clearly torn between something, before she made up her mind. “The sun is out and people are starting to wake up and go outside, so I won’t send Mr. Cake with you to go back to your apartment.”

“… Okay?” Sunset asked, utterly confused about where this sudden and deep concern for her safety had come from.

“Just, be careful? Go home quickly, okay? Everyone’s a bit on edge because of the news this morning, and the girl was your age and went to Canterlot High, so…”

“Mrs. Cake, what are you talking about?”

That brought the older woman’s concern to a grinding halt, blinking as she realized that the girl at the door had no idea what she was talking about. Her eyes narrowed as she frowned. “Do you mean to tell me you haven’t heard anything about what happened last night?”

“No, ma’am. I only woke up a little while ago, to be completely honest.” Sunset suddenly had a cold, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Something happened? You mentioned a girl, and… she goes to Canterlot High like my friends and I?”

Something shifted and darkened in Mrs. Cake’s eyes, and that cold, sinking feeling in Sunset’s stomach crept all the way up to her chest as she realized that the look settling on the woman’s face was one of mixed horror and sadness. A part of her knew what was about to be said, even before she heard it.

“She went to Canterlot High with you and your friends, dear. She was… the poor thing was murdered last night, and the police still haven’t figured out why or who did it. So just… be careful on your walk home, okay? And tell the girls to be careful, too.”

Sunset nodded, too numb to even speak, and as she pushed the door open and headed outside, she felt so cold that the sun couldn’t even warm her.

When Sunset opened the door to her apartment, she found she didn’t need to ask if the girls had been waiting for the news; if the tense, crushing atmosphere hadn’t done the job for her, the sound of a news report on the situation certainly would have. It seemed someone had turned the television on in an attempt to fill the place with noise and keep things peaceful, and had stumbled across the story.

Well. It was better that they knew, at least. And it saved Sunset the problem of having to tell her friends about the story herself. It still didn’t do much to settle the ache in her chest when she saw Fluttershy’s hands pressed to her mouth, Applejack grimly gripping her hat, Rarity nervously biting her nails, and Pinkie and Rainbow both looking a little bit paler than they had been that morning.

The sirens, in stark contrast, looked like animals ready for an attack. While her friends were clearly unhappy and tense about the news, Adagio’s face was unreadable as she listened to the report, and Aria and Sonata were both so still that Sunset might have mistaken them from statues. They seemed to be picking up some wordless cue from Adagio, and whatever she was sending out told them the best decision they could make was not moving at all.

“I’m back,” Sunset called, and immediately all eyes turned on her. Swallowing and trying to smile—it mostly came out as a grimace, but she liked to think she got points for trying—she held up the sweets and coffee she’d gone out to get. “I have something for everyone, if you’re all still in the mood.”

They didn’t look like they were in the mood, but her friends approached her anyway and accepted their drinks and snacks, murmuring their thanks before they settled back down. There was a moment of uncertainty before Adagio sighed and approached her first, grabbing a coffee and a cookie without a word, and her acceptance of the gesture seemed to be enough for Aria and Sonata. Sonata still broke out into a delighted grin and small cheer when she bit into her cookie, but what truly surprised Sunset was Aria’s gruff “Thanks” as she went back to her fellow sirens.

Then it was silent again, as they all listened to the news report conclude. It told them all the exact same thing Sunset had learned from Mrs. Cake: there was no known motive and the killer hadn’t been caught. Sunset sipped her coffee, if only to have something to do once the news switched over to regular weekend programming.

“Before any of you ask,” Adagio sighed, and all eyes immediately turned to the siren leader, “no, Venus has never killed anyone like this before.”

“You’re kidding,” Rainbow growled, eyes flashing dangerously.

Adagio shrugged. “Believe me or not, but it’s the truth. It’s not like we monitored her regularly, but when she was in the area we had a good beat on her. Venus has never committed a murder, at least not while we were around to observe it.”

“Oh, that’s a load of—“

“She may have a point, actually,” Fluttershy murmured.

“How so, dear?” Rarity jumped in, if only because Rainbow’s eyes had narrowed when she heard Fluttershy backing up their former enemy.

Fluttershy swallowed and shifted nervously from foot to foot, playing with her hair before she found the words to express what she wanted to say. “Venus is a predator,” she explained. “Yes, she may have human intelligence and magical abilities, but that’s what she is at the end of the day. Predators don’t take action that will spook their prey, it only makes hunting more difficult to them. If she’d gone around regularly murdering people, it would have been a lot harder for her to stay in one area to do what she wanted. Everyone would have been on high alert.”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Aria chuckled, and held up both hands defensively when Rainbow and Rarity turned on her. “Hey, that was a compliment, relax.”

“… Was it really?” Fluttershy asked, and sighed when the siren ignored her and went back to her cookie and coffee.

“You really made her mad,” Sonata said, taking a bite out of her cookie. “She’s never murdered anyone before, at least not around us. You should be, like, proud!”

“A girl just died. A girl from our school. Ain’t nothin’ ta be proud of.” Applejack’s grip on her hat, if possible, tightened.

Sonata swallowed, wiping at her mouth. “And that like, totally sucks. But it’s not all bad! It means she’s still here, right? That means it’ll be easier for you guys to find her and beat her up like you did with us so she won’t keep killing.”

An incredibly awkward moment of silence passed before the blue-haired siren realized how her words could be interpreted.

“She’s the one killing. We never killed anyone,” she clarified, then paused. “Not on purpose, anyway.”

“The hell does that mean?” Rainbow growled.

Blissfully, before Sonata could reply and possibly dig an even deeper hole for herself to crawl into, Sunset heard the faint but recognizable sound of her magic book vibrating from her room. The former unicorn had to resist the urge to sag with relief, even as she shot out of the room and down the hall. “That must be Twilight,” she called over her shoulder, if only to break the gathering tension.

Twilight may have taken her time to reply, but in that moment Sunset was immensely grateful. She grabbed her book off of its usual place on her shelf and flipped to the latest page, heading back to the room as she skimmed the contents of what the Princess of Friendship had written.

“Didn’t know you were into long distance dating, Shimmer,” Adagio commented, and smirked when the redhead nearly tripped over her own feet at the unexpected comment, blushing almost as brightly as her hair.

Sunset grimaced and shook herself, ignoring the quiet snickers from Sonata and Aria. “She’s coming through the portal right now. She apparently did some research and has a lot to tell us. Is everyone okay with going?”

There was no need to ask—and frankly, the logical part of Sunset knew that she should have insisted that their truly wounded should stay home and rest—but after what they had learned, she didn’t want to leave any of them alone.

Everyone seemed to share her opinion, since Rainbow and Pinkie followed them all out of her apartment without complaint. The trek to the statue of Canterlot High School was long and silent, and briefly Sunset wondered about whether or not to worry about the sirens seeing the portal before she remembered that it didn’t matter; so long as the book was minded on the other side, none of them would be able to cross over. Even if they could, their main source for gathering magic had been destroyed.

“Well, that ain’t good,” Applejack murmured, and the concern in her voice jolted everyone out of their own dark thoughts. They all exchanged nervous looks before working up the courage to check out the statue.

The good news was, Princess Twilight Sparkle was there, leaning against the base of the statue with her arms crossed over her chest. The bad news was, judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t in a particularly good mood. She managed a smile and a wave when she saw her friends approaching, but a dark look settled on her face when she glimpsed Sunset.

“Oh boy,” Sunset murmured, wincing.

“Twilight seems angry,” Pinkie observed.

“Yeah.”

“She seems angry at you, Sunset.”

“Yeah, Pinkie.”

“She’s coming over here.”

“Yeah, thanks, Pinkie. Do you guys mind waiting here a second?”

Sunset didn’t wait for her friends to respond, gently nudging through the group and heading out to meet Twilight before she met the rest of them. The purple girl worked out what was going on and stopped, waiting patiently for her fellow student to meet her halfway as she crossed her arms over her chest again. If nothing else, it at least seemed she was willing to not chew the former unicorn out in front of her friends. That was one good thing about her otherwise obvious bad mood.

“Twilight,” Sunset started.

Twilight jabbed a finger in her face, and Sunset immediately shut her mouth. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” she snapped.

The redhead swallowed, tucking her hands back behind her back. “I know.”

“Do you know how stupid what you did was?”

“I know.”

Twilight glared for a moment, then sighed and relaxed as her shoulders slumped. She reached out, gently taking Sunset’s hands. “Are you okay, at least? Injuries from last night aside, I mean. I know you aren’t okay physically but, you know…”

Sunset swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, the memory of Venus taking Twilight’s form fresh and vivid in her mind’s eye. Her grip on the princess’s hands tightened, even as her mind raced a mile a minute on the best way to answer the question. Those gentle, questioning purple eyes certainly weren’t helping matters.

If there was one thing Sunset had learned from the Battle of the Bands, it was that keeping things to herself and hesitating over speaking was bad. Had she been willing to be open and honest right from the start and talked to her friends about the problems she had seen brewing in them and her own feelings, a lot of pain could have been avoided and the sirens might have been stopped before they became such a large problem.

On the other hand, there was a time and a place for certain things. It was the logic Sunset had used in keeping quiet about the anger and hatred that had been aimed her way by her fellow students, before the Battle had occurred; it wouldn’t have been right to voice her own frustration over the situation when the wounds she had caused were still so fresh and only just healing.

In this, too, there was a time and a place. Even as Sunset wanted to be completely honest—ached with it, really, just wanting to talk to someone about it and what it meant, even if that someone was the same girl Venus had manifested as in the first place—she knew now wasn’t the moment. She could lie to herself about what it had been all she wanted, but she had learned all too well that she couldn’t avoid matters of the heart forever.

But with an angry, wounded succubus still in the city murdering innocents and trying to keep the sirens at bay, now was hardly the time to start talking about her own personal feelings. And the situation with Mrs. Cake had demonstrated to the redhead that she was still perfectly capable of lying with a completely straight face and no hesitation, when it suited her.

The thought stung, but it had its uses.

Sunset gave Twilight’s hands one last squeeze, and smiled. “I’m okay,” she assured her. “I promise. We already know I can’t be around Venus again, so…. I’m okay. Or at least, I’ll be okay.”

Twilight sagged with relief, then pulled Sunset into a one-armed hug before she let her go. “Good,” she said. “I’m glad.” She stepped away completely, finally seeming at least a little bit happier than she’d appeared to be when she had gone through the portal—and then glanced over Sunset’s shoulder, froze, and stared. Sunset followed her gaze, saw where it landed, and winced.

Standing a bit apart from the Rainbooms, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata realized Twilight’s eyes were on them. Aria snorted and studied her nails, Adagio smirked, and Sonata gave the princess a cheerful wave.

“… I thought you were kidding when you mentioned in your message that you’d found the Dazzlings,” Twilight murmured.

Sunset sighed heavily. “No, I wasn’t kidding. I was pretty vague on the details, though, so I don’t blame you for thinking that I was.”

“Well. At least they helped you out and held off Venus. That was better than I expected from them, honestly.”

Sunset thought of the plan that had been knocking around in her head since the events from last night, and could feel a headache forming. For all their sakes, she could only hope Twilight had managed to come up with a better way of defeating Venus.

“Come on, princess. The girls want to say hi and we have a lot to tell you. Things have changed since I wrote to you last night.”

Author's Notes:

This fic, it lives! Behold!

Thank you all once again for your patience. I know there was a huge delay in this chapter getting up due to real life issues, and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one did.