Sunset made her way up the last of the fire escape, crawling through an open doorway with a grim expression. Stepping into the hallway, she muttered to herself, “I got a headstart, but I still need to find another way out of here.”

Quickly looking around, she soon found another door with a sign on it that read, “Rooftop Entrance.” Testing the door and finding it locked, she growled, the demonic sound reverberating around the hallway. Tightening her grip on the door handle, Sunset pulled back, breaking the door free from its hinges.

Stepping through into the stairwell, she heard from behind her a person yell out, “Hey, hold it right there.” Quickly looking over her shoulder with a sick grin on her face, she saw two police officers running towards her as one of them yelled, “I said freeze!”

With a light chuckle, Sunset released the door, running up the stairwell towards the roof, getting back outside a few moments later. Looking across from her position, she saw another building about forty feet from her building.

“If I can make it to that building,” she said, smirking, “I know I can get away. Then, it's off to find Anon-a-Miss and make that bitch pay for what she took from me.”

Hearing the officer's footsteps as they climbed the stairwell, she quickly ducked behind the rooftop access while waiting for the cops to get outside. She didn’t have to wait long, as she soon heard the door slam open a few seconds later.

One of the cops, upon seeing the apparently empty rooftop, yelled out to his partner, “She's gotta be behind us. You go left, I’ll take right, and we'll corner her.”

It wouldn't take long for them to find her. Sunset wasted no time in charging the one on the left, slamming her fist to his temple, knocking him to the ground. With a swift boot to his groin, the fight was swiftly taken out of him. Quickly kneeling down, Sunset ripped his radio from his utility belt and threw it over the ledge of the building.

“Now for the other officer. I need to make sure he can’t call for backup,” Sunset said to herself, getting back up.

Sunset started to make her way back to the rooftop access, when she suddenly found herself tackled to the ground. “You're under arrest!” she heard.

“Bad idea putting your hands on me, pal,” Sunset said, quickly reversing the grapple, kneeing him in the groin as the two wrestled. “I’ll make sure you won’t get up for a little while.”

Sunset managed to push the officer off of her. Quickly grabbing him by his belt, Sunset flipped the officer over her, causing him to land near the ledge of the building. Seeing he was about to get up, she quickly lunged in, punching him in the temple and knocking him over the ledge. With a scream, the officer fell, only to be saved as Sunset reached out, grabbing him by his right leg. Dangling him over the ledge, she said, “Give me your radio now, or I swear I’ll let go of you, and you’ll become a nice, greasy stain on the sidewalk.”

“Pull me back up, now!”

“Radio first!” Loosening her grip to get her point across, Sunset continued, “Do it or die. It's your choice. Make it now.”

“Alright, fine! Take it.” The officer unclipped his radio, tossing it over to her as he continued, “Now pull me back up.”

Catching the radio, Sunset threw it back over the ledge, watching as it hit the ground below. After getting a good look at her prey, who nearly pissed himself from fear, she yanked him up and quickly cracked him over the head with her fist, knocking him cold.

That done, Sunset turned to face the other officer, who was just getting back up. “Follow me again, and you’ll both wind up in a worse situation than this,” she said, her voice deep and inhuman. She effortlessly tossed the downed officer into the one that was just getting up, knocking him back to the ground.

“Hey, get back here!” the officer yelled, pushing his unconscious partner off of him.

To his complete shock, Sunset ran towards the ledge of the building. Worried she was about to jump to her death, the officer quickly gave chase, screaming out, “No, don’t do it! We're ten stories up. You’ll be killed!”

“This is gonna be fun,” Sunset said, planting her right foot into the ledge of the building as she pushed off of it, sailing through the air from one building to the other with little effort.

Landing on the other rooftop with a bit of a roll, Sunset got up and looked behind her, calling out to the officer, who was helping his partner back to his feet, “Hey, you two wanna just give up already? This cat-and-mouse game is getting old fast.”

The partner, having regained consciousness, looked through slightly blurry eyes, saying, “How the hell did she get over there?”

“You won’t believe me even I told you,” the other officer replied, helping his partner to stand up straight.

Watching the officers for a few seconds, Sunset smiled to herself, heading towards a nearby roof access door. Finding that the door was locked, she again let out a demonic growl, ripping the door from its hinges. Looking back over to the officers, she yelled out to them, getting their attention, “Hey, assholes!” Throwing the door towards them, she shouted, “Catch!”

Seeing the door flying through the air towards them, both officers quickly dove to the ground as the door hit the roof access behind them, wedging into the opening. It'd be hard work getting back through. The officers looked back over to Sunset, who was flicking both of them off. One officer said as he climbed back to his feet, “You know what? Fuck this. Chasing normal criminals is dangerous enough, but this? We don't get paid enough for this shit. If the sergeant wants that lunatic, she can fucking get her herself.”

The second officer, brushing himself off, said, “Yeah, fuck it! I don’t care what happens to us for this. This was not in our job description.”

Seeing that the officers were no longer after her Sunset, headed inside the building, soon finding herself standing in front of an elevator. Pressing the button to head down, she took out Dumbbell’s wallet while she waited. Opening the leather wallet, she took out the credit cards, causing the folded up piece of paper behind them to fall to the floor. Seeing the piece of paper, she knelt down and picked it up, saying, “What the fuck is this? Some kind of receipt?”

Sunset opened it up, her eyes instantly widened with anger as she beheld a photo of Trixie and Dumbbell together. Trixie had her arms around Dumbbell, giving him a kiss on his cheek. A happy smirk adorned Dumbbell's face.

“So, Trixie is Dumbbell's girlfriend, huh? Good. I've been meaning to pay her a visit anyway, and this'll make it all the sweeter. Let's see how much he likes it when a girl he likes is…..harmed.”

Pocketing the photo and credit cards, Sunset stepped into the elevator, pressed the ground floor button, and after a short walk, she soon found herself headed back in Gilda’s and Summer’s apartment. Making sure she had not been followed by any further police officers, she entered the building, getting to the sirens' room a few minutes later. Hearing lively music playing inside the room, Sunset opened the door and watched in amusement while Sonata danced in the living room.

"Having fun, Sonata?”

Caught off guard, Sonata yelped, falling onto her butt. Sunset walked into the living room, helped her up, then headed into the kitchen. Getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator, she took a drink before saying, “Where is everyone?”

Before Sonata could answer, the front door opened, and Adagio, Aria, Summer and Gilda all walked in. Seeing her two sisters, Sonata rushed over to them, throwing her arms around her oldest sister, saying, “Thank all the seas in Equestria that you two are back! Where were you two? I was so worried.”

"We were out feeding and finding ourselves a new home. I think we found a good one."

"For realizes? You mean we don't have to stay in this dump any longer? That's great!"

Seeing Sunset in the kitchen, drinking their water, Adagio yelled out, “You!”

“Hey, Adagio. What's up?” Sunset replied in a mocking tone. “You look mad. Wanna talk about it?”

“Sonata, what the fuck is she doing in our apartment!?” Adagio yelled. “I thought I made it perfectly clear that Sunset and her friends are not welcome here!” Looking at Sunset's facial scars Adagio continued, “The scars are a nice improvement. You look....cute.”

“Fuck you, Adagio! And just so you know, I won’t be staying long. I just came to wash up a bit. I have some…business to attend to, and I don't have time for your bullshit.” Sunset stalked down the hallway, turning to look back at them as she warned, "I'm gonna take a shower. If any of you but Thirteen bothers me, I'll rip your throats out!"

The living room was silent as Sunset entered the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. After a minute or two of silence, the only sound being the running shower, Gilda spoke up. “I have a question for you, Summer,” she began. “When Sunset mentioned Thirteen, she was talking about you, right? Why'd she call you that? And why did you keep calling Sunset Fourteen?”

Summer rubbed the back of her neck, not making eye contact. “Well, it's kinda complicated. But, I guess after all this time, you deserve at least some explanation." Summer sighed, pausing for a few moments before continuing. "You see, without getting into too much detail, Sunset and I are...clones of Princess Celestia’s daughter. I-I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! It's...why I've been so obsessed with finding her; we're connected, in a way, and I need her. We're the only ones left.”

Gilda leaned back in the couch, letting it sink in. "Clones, huh? Yeah, I guess that explains a lot of the last few months.”

Seeing Gilda's apparent acceptance and belief in Summer's story, Summer scooted closer to Gilda, who unconsciously wrapped her arm around Summer's shoulders as she processed everything that happened over the last few months.

As the two cuddled, Adagio said, “Ah, I just remembered. Sonata, we have something for you.”

“Oh, goody," Sonata said sarcastically. "What could it possibly be?”

"Oh, don't be like that," Adagio said impatiently. "You know we love you."

“Well, you have a weird way of showing it!" Sonata snapped. "All you two do is make fun of me and yell at me!" Sonata softened and said sadly, "I just wanna go home. Our real home, in Equestria. I forgot just how wonderful it was until I went there a few weeks ago. Can't we just forget this world and go back?"

Seeing the hurt in her sister's eyes, Adagio snapped her fingers. Aria, taking her cue, got up from the floor, opening her vest as she took out one of the three blue heart stones. Adagio said as she held it up for Sonata to see, “Sonata, this is hard for me to say. Aria and I are going back to Equestria. You'll be staying here. Use this to protect and feed yourself. Stay here, and be happy.”

Looking up with bloodshot eyes, Sonata stared at the blue heart stone, saying, “Why don’t you want me to go home with you?”

“Sonata, honey, listen to me. So long as the prophecy hangs over our heads, I will not allow your part in it to come to pass,” Adagio replied softly.

“But, Equestria is my home, too, Adagio. What gives you the right to say that I can’t---”

“I have the right because I am the rightful heir to the throne of Cantlantis. You're going to stay in this world, at least until I'm sure your part in the prophecy will not come to pass.”

Looking down and taking the blue heart stone into her hand, Sonata said with a sad expression on her face, “Alright, I’ll stay. But I'm not happy about it. I'm....I'm just not happy.”

As the argument settled, the girls heard the shower stop, and soon enough, Sunset came out, fully dressed and unhappy. She quickly walked toward the front door, saying, "Alright, I'm off. Don't wait up."

Adagio followed her, saying, “Hold up, Sunset. What exactly are you going to do?”

“Mind your own business!" Sunset snapped without turning around.

Unfazed, Adagio said, smirking, “Well, wherever you're going, try to pick up another scar or two. They really do look good on you; they really pull the whole 'monster' look together.”

Having heard enough, Sunset whirled around, glaring at Adagio with darkened sclerae. "Keep pushing, Adagio!" she said angrily. "Just keep pushing, and see what this monster can do!"

Seeing she touched a rather dangerous nerve, Adagio held a nervous silence, swallowing to work moisture into her suddenly dry throat. Sunset, satisfied that Adagio wasn't going to keep going, turned around without another word and stalked off.

By bus, it didn't take Sunset very long to arrive at Canterlot High School. Entering the empty halls, the students all in class, Sunset soon found herself staring at a bulletin board, looking at a flyer that read

Dance’n’Greet

$25 dollars per ticket

Get yours today!

See Misty Shores or Vice Principal Luna for tickets

Grinning as she tore the flyer off the bulletin board, Sunset said to herself, “Perfect! Show-off that she is, Trixie won’t be able to resist this dance. And, as a bonus, I’ll be able to find out if my ex-friends actually cared about me or if it really was all just a lie. Two birds with one stone.”

Seeing a phone number on the flyer, Sunset quickly called Misty Shores and arranged to meet her after school hours in the park, making sure to disguise her voice and use someone else's name. Laughing sickly to herself, she headed off towards the park to get the ticket she needed for the dance.

Next Chapter: Bloodbath (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 9 Minutes