"Can I help you, Miss?" the young man behind the bulletproof glass asked.

"Yes," Twilight answered. "I need to speak with Shining Armor. Go and get him, please."

"The captain?" the officer replied skeptically. "He's very busy. What's this about?" "The situation at Canterlot High School," Twilight answered. "You won't be able to help me. Let me speak with Shining Armor," she insisted.

"I can't do that, Miss," the officer answered. "I'll be happy to take a statement, but it's not something that Shining Armor needs to deal with personally."

Twilight barely held back a sigh of irritation. "Look," she said, "you obviously don't know who I am, so just take my word for it. He'll want to speak to me himself."

The officer's eyes narrowed. "Look," he mimicked her, "I told you I can't do that. You can leave a message with me, or you can go. We've got more than enough to deal with right now."

Twilight massaged her temples to relieve a building headache. "Alright," she groused, "sure. Give Shining Armor this message: His little sister has some information about Canterlot High School, and she needs his permission to work with the officers there to investigate further."

The policeman typed on his computer as she spoke, copying down her words. A moment later he realized what he'd written. "The captain's sister?" He looked at Twilight. "You're...?"

"Yeah," Twilight answered flatly.

The officer cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well," he said, "I can see if he's got a minute to talk."

"You do that," Twilight agreed.

The policeman, whose name Twilight hadn't bothered to learn, picked up a phone and dialed it. "Captain," he said, coming as close to attention as he could while sitting in a chair, "your sister is here. Yes, sir. She's asking to speak with you. What should I tell her? Yes, sir. Right away." He hung up and returned his attention to Twilight. "I'll take you to him," he told her begrudgingly.

"Thank you, officer," Twilight answered with a smug smile.

The young policeman stood up and opened the heavy wooden door next to the window. "Follow me, please," he said stiffly.

Twilight swept through the door and followed him into the station proper, past the curious looks of several other
officers, and down a hallway at the back. He came to a stop at another wooden door and rapped on it smartly.

"Come in," Shining Armor's voice called from inside the room.

The officer opened the door on a room that was half meticulousness and half clutter. The walls were lined with shelves and filing cabinets, with everything square and neatly arranged, but Shining Armor's desk was nearly buried under files and folders, as well as a bulky computer that was practically an antique—the city hadn't seen fit to upgrade the station's computers in years.

Shining Armor himself cut an impressive figure in his uniform. Tall and fit, with his hands folded on the desk in front of him and ice-blue eyes clear and cold as he studied a sheet of paper, he looked quite formidable. The effect was spoiled when he practically sprang out of his seat and enfolded Twilight in a hug.

Neither of them paid any mind as Twilight's escort exited and shut the door behind him.

"Hey Twily!" Shining Armor ruffled her hair in the way that she always complained about. "What brings you here?"

Twilight broke away from her older brother and fixed her glasses, then smoothed her hair. "Well," she began, "as you're no doubt aware, about six hours ago there was a massive energy surge centered on Canterlot High School."

"No kidding," Shining Armor groaned. "It's been a total mess over there ever since. Do you have any idea what it was?"

"No," Twilight answered, "but I know what it wasn't. It wasn't any kind of energy that I know of. It doesn't match up with electricity, heat, radiation, nothing."

"So what does that leave?" Shining Armor asked, confused.

"I have no idea," Twilight answered with a gleam in her eye. "But I want to find out, and that's why I need your help."

Shining Armor backed up a step. "Ohhhh no." He folded his arms. "I know where this is going, and it's out of the question."

"But—"

"Absolutely not," Shining Armor cut her off. He glared down at her. "I know you want to study this, but I'm not sure you understand just how bad things are over there. We're talking monsters, hostages, all kinds of crazy stuff."

"But I can help you!" Twilight protested. "If we understood what we were dealing with, we'd be better equipped to handle it."

"If you start poking around Canterlot High you'll be putting yourself and every student there in danger," Shining Armor answered sternly. "It's not happening."

Twilight groaned. She just had to study this phenomenon! She gasped as an idea blossomed.

"Hire me as a consultant!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'll be working for you, so I'll have to do what you say. You can keep me safe, and I can help you understand what's going on at that school!" Working directly for the police wouldn't be ideal, she'd rather have more freedom in her studies, but it would at least get her close to the action.

"A consultant?" Shining Armor's eyebrows drew together as he considered it. Finally, he sighed. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"No," Twilight replied.

"Okay. Listen carefully," Shining Armor said. "If—and this is a big if—I do let you in on this, you have to do exactly as I say, when I say it. No debating, no complaining, no questions asked." Seeing the outraged look on her face, his voice softened a bit. "I know you're smart, Twily, but you're not trained for this kind of thing. We are. I need you to trust my and my officers' judgment while you're out there. Can you do that?"

Twilight took a breath and smiled. "Of course, BBBFF."

"Okay," Shining Armor nodded. "We'll give it a try. Starting today, you work as a consultant for this department. Don't make me regret this."

"I won't," Twilight promised. "Say," she said as a thought occurred to her, "does this mean you have to pay me?"

Shining Armor groaned.

On the other side of the school, the sirens' music floated hauntingly through the air. They couldn't hope to match this spell's raw power, not yet, but whoever had cast it was an amateur at mind control. They, on the other hand, had centuries of experience bending others to their will.

It was like these three girls' minds were wrapped in absurdly large chains, too big and clumsy to hold them tightly. The girls could slip out themselves, if they could only see how. A push here, a nudge there, a slight loosening of the spell and a strong suggestion of what to do, and the children were able to escape their bonds. Little did they know that much finer, more comfortable shackles had taken their place.

The last strains of music faded.

"Welcome back," Adagio purred. She put a finger under the orange one's chin, tilting her head up so their eyes met.

"Wha?" the girl mumbled. "What happened?" She seemed to be having trouble putting her thoughts back in order.

"Why don't you tell us?" Aria said.

"Um..." One of the other two, a girl with a large bow in her hair, put a hand to her head and rubbed it, trying to arrange her thoughts. "It was the Fall Formal. That new girl won."

"Twilight," the last of the three filled in. "Twilight won the crown, and Sunset Shimmer didn't like that."

"That's right," the girl with the bow said. "Sunset Shimmer stole it and... well, that's the last thing ah can remember."

The three sirens exchanged annoyed looks.

"A dance and a crown?" Aria asked skeptically. "How exactly does that lead to this?" She gestured around at all of the brainwashed students.

The purple-haired girl sniffled. "There was a fight," she said. Her voice was suddenly choked. "Rainbow Dash fought back, but..." she trailed off.

The girl with the bow in her hair flinched, while the other's face became, if possible, even paler.

"Oh, no," the white-faced girl whispered. "Rarity..."

"Applejack," the other one sobbed.

"Sonata!" Sonata chirped.

"Urgh. Focus!" Adagio snapped. "Who is Sunset Shimmer? What did she do?"

"What about the crown?" Sonata asked eagerly.

"The Fall Formal crown," the pale one said, her voice subdued. "It's like a golden tiara with a purple star on it."

The sirens looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sunset Shimmer is a monster!" the purple-haired girl burst out.

"A demon!" the girl with the bow agreed. "Sunset Satan!"

"She was always the worst, and now she's even worse!" The last of the three seemed to have gotten her energy back.

A faint green cloud rose off of the three furious girls, and the sirens greedily drew it into their gems. They would at least break even on these three, but they stood to gain a lot more energy than that.

"Well," Adagio said to the girls, "how would you like to help us ruin all of Sunset Shimmer's plans?" A slow smile spread across her face as the three girls, not even suspecting that they were in her thrall, eagerly agreed.

"Sheriff, look!"

Silverstar whipped around at the urgency in the younger officer's voice. Normally the high school was outside of his office's jurisdiction, but the mayor had called for all hands on deck. He peered into the crowd of kids, looking for what had caught his deputy's attention. After a moment he saw it: a young man with bright blue hair had apparently broken through the blockade and was walking slowly towards them.

"Should we go get him, sir?" the deputy asked.

"Hold tight," Silverstar ordered. "They don't look like they're stopping him, but who knows what the kids'll do if we get that close. Just be ready to grab him."

"Yes sir, Sheriff."

It was an agonizing wait as the boy picked his way across the no man's land between the ranks of students and the lines of police. He barely seemed aware of where he was walking, and more than once nearly turned his ankle on a rock or an animal burrow.

"Looks like he's in shock," Silverstar observed. "Fetch a medic."

After what seemed like an interminable length of time, the blue-haired boy finally reached the officers. He was almost immediately swept up and wrapped in a heavy blanket, and sat down in the back of an ambulance while a paramedic examined him. He hardly seemed to notice what was happening.

"Can he answer some questions?" Sheriff Silverstar asked the medic.

"Make it quick," she answered sternly. "He needs food and rest."

Silverstar nodded and sat down next to the boy. "What's your name, son?" he asked gently.

"Um." He blinked slowly. "Flash Sentry."

"Well it's mighty nice to meet you, Flash. I'm Silverstar, I'm a local sheriff." Silverstar nodded toward the school. "Can you tell me what's goin' on in there? What's with all of your classmates?"

"It's... it's not their fault. We need help," Flash muttered.

"That's why we're here," Silverstar reassured him, "but I need to know what happened."

Flash started to speak several times, but his eyes clouded and his jaw went slack each time. It was as if he couldn't hold the thoughts, or couldn't manage to turn them into words. Finally, Silverstar sighed in exasperation and shook his head.

"Ah, it's no good," Silverstar said to the medic. "You take care of him, you hear? And as soon as he's ready to talk, you get a message to Captain Shining Armor over at the police department. This boy could be our key to unraveling this whole mess."

The medic nodded. "Come on Flash," she said warmly, easing him onto his back. "We're going to get you to the hospital. You can rest up and talk to the officers when you're feeling better. How does that sound?"

Flash twitched his head in what might have been a nod.

The medic shook her own head. "Poor boy," she muttered to Silverstar. "He may not be ready to talk for quite a while. Lord knows what they did to him in there."

Silverstar grimly agreed. "Like I said, if and when he's able to help, let the captain know. He's overseeing this whole operation."

"I will." She stepped back and shut the ambulance's rear doors. A few seconds later, the vehicle swung around and drove away, carrying the boy with it.

In the cafeteria that now served as her base of operations, Sunset Shimmer smiled.