With the powers of a demon on her side, Serenade felt stronger than she ever had in her entire life. While she was accustomed to being more powerful than the average pony, her powers were always limited by the fact that she could still be defeated by sheer numbers and the limitations of her abilities. Now, however, she felt like she could do anything.

The first few days with her newfound powers, she had traveled to a small village to see what kind of havoc she could unleash. She wanted to know the full scope of her new abilities before she started to formulate what to do with them. The mare could suck energy and magic clear out of another and use that magic for herself, though the process was taxing on her and at that point in time she could only perform it on a single pony at a time before she needed to rest to recharge her strength.

In time, she knew she could likely learn to master her energy-sucking ability to where she could use it limitlessly.

The village she chose to test her abilities upon proved competent practice for her powers and when she was done controlling ponies, draining their energy and seeing how far she could push them, she slaughtered the entire village, leaving none alive.

She felt invigorated like she was being born again almost. Using her siren powers was always an exhilarating feeling, but it was nothing compared to this. This was a whole new monster, something far better than she had ever dreamed of. There was no limit to what she could do now.

With this newfound feeling of purpose, Serenade had made her way to a small port town where ponies made a living gathering seaweed for food and catching oysters for pearls. She blanked on the name, but she longed for the ocean and had heard of this place in passing.

From the moment she arrived, she was getting catcalled left and right from horny stallions eager to “know” her. Most of them she ignored shy of the few she told she’d rip their genitals off if they even dared touched her. Most backed off after such a threat, but a small amount tried to challenge her only to have a hoof or two broken by her might.

It was so delightful to hold power over males, but Serenade was mostly just annoyed with them whenever they bothered her. A part of her always wondered why they were such a stupid species.

Making her way to the poorly constructed docks, she raised her head into the air and took in the nighttime atmosphere. After a few long seconds, she removed the toga around herself and allowed it to fall gracefully onto the dock.

With eyes closed, she fell forward into the water with a splash. Upon entering, she had transformed into her siren form and allowed herself to float there. While she appreciated her pony form, there was something magical and freeing about turning into her siren form and floating in the water. Going underwater, she opened her eyes and took a long look at the ocean below her.

Being closer to shore, the water was far from deep, but she could see crabs on the floor sifting through sand and seashells that held elegant designs just sitting there. The view underwater was so beautiful, so pure and untainted by the filth that was the pony race.

Ponies disgusted her, they had a way of perverting and ruining virtually everything they touched it seemed. It made her sick just thinking about them. One day, she would wipe them off the face of the earth, one day when she was strong enough, that much she swore.

There wasn’t a pony alive that she cared for, and she wanted nothing more than for them all to burn the same way her mother burned. The image wouldn’t leave her head, the image of her mother burning to a crisp, leaving nothing but charred bones. She shook her head and growled.

Serenade would spend a good hour or so just floating aimlessly in the water until she was finally satisfied. Coming back to the surface, she changed shape back to her original form and climbed up to the dock where she shook herself off, her wet mane draping over half of her face. She grumbled as she realized she was too soaked to put her clothing back on.

A gasp was heard in the distance that caused her to look in that direction to see a mare pointing at her yelling. “Monster! She transformed into some kind of sea creature!”

Serenade blinked and rolled her eyes, realizing that she would have to contend with the annoyance now.

“You best forget what you saw...” Serenade threatened as she approached.

The mare ignored her threat and instead screamed for help. “Help! Monster! She’s a beast of some kind!”

Serenade sighed and extended a tendril from her back. Quickly she pierced it through the mare’s open mouth and through the back of her head before pulling it out and allowing her limp body to fall to the ground where it began to create a pool of blood at her hooves.

Her screams, however, seemed to have attracted the attention of the townsfolk who were all now gathering outside of their homes, many already witnessing Serenade standing in front of the freshly murdered mare.

Once they had realized what was happening, they were all gathering their weapons from inside their homes, and many brandishing torches to come at Serenade with.

The siren sighed and cracked her neck before turning to the gathering crowd, tendrils flaring about as she stood her ground. “I guess I get to have a little more fun before I leave...” She smirked.

By the end of that night, there wouldn’t be a single pony from that town left to tell the story of the demon siren who slaughtered the entire port village. Serenade Dazzle made sure of that.

The assault on Cloudsdale was nerve-wracking for Glitch. Everything had to go according to plan or it would cause serious problems for the entire rebellion. They were nervous, but they couldn’t allow their subordinates to see that. The Glitch they all expected to see was tough, unwavering and confident.

With a long sigh, Glitch waited in their quarters as the other two prepared to set out. They chose to use this time to talk with Moondancer.

“Moondancer, do you think we have time to run another diagnostic before I head out in a few minutes?” Sunset spoke through her microphone to her friend back in the human world.

Moondancer’s face appeared in front of Sunset inside of her helmet with a raised eyebrow. “Sunset, the suit is functioning fine, I did a check just last night, remember? What could have possibly changed between now and then?”

“I just want to be extra careful...” Sunset said.

“You’re nervous, aren’t you, Sunset?” Moondancer frowned at her.

Sitting down, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I mean I’m betting a lot on this operation here. It’s a risky move, but I need to make bold moves if I want to get the best of Serenade. I won’t win by playing it safe forever, right?”

“I suppose that’s true, I mean to defeat your foes you need to hit them in ways they don’t expect.” Moondancer pushed her falling glasses back up her nose.

“I just don’t know if I can really pull this off...” Sunset admitted.

“What’s shaken your confidence all of a sudden? You’ve done a lot in the past year and a half, Sunset. This is no different.” Moondancer smiled at her.

She was right, however, Sunset didn’t quite know why all of a sudden her confidence was shaken. She assumed it was likely because she was starting to realize that a confrontation between Serenade and herself was going to occur sooner or later, and the fact that she still didn’t quite understand the full force of Serenade’s power meant that this was a blind fight.

“I’m just thinking about what’s going to happen when Serenade and I finally do clash, I suppose...” Sunset frowned.

Moondancer shook her head. “You have the suit on your side, your magic, and your army.”

My army. Sunset thought. She had forgotten that they too would play a role in the final battle beyond just getting her inside. She could utilize them in any way she saw fit after all.

“That’s true, and my army has really grown hasn’t it?” Sunset blinked.

“Definitely, hell that Cinder girl? She’s the real deal from what I’ve seen. Her sword work can’t be beaten, and she has a big enough grudge against Serenade for whatever reason that I’m pretty sure she won’t die on you before you reach her.” Moondancer reminded.

That was also true. Cinder was a fairly kindhearted girl, but her hatred for Serenade was extreme. Sunset had seen the fire in her eyes when she fought, but a fire even harsher would burn in them whenever the topic of Serenade came up. It was a fight that she was clearly looking forward to.

“Yeah, she’s tough... I guess a part of me is still praying for a miracle to come in and save us...” Sunset chuckled.

“You are that miracle, Sunset Shimmer. I’ve seen you do amazing things, don’t forget you were the one who defeated Adagio Dazzle, and avenged Shimmer.” Moondancer smiled at her friend.

Sunset bit her lip. “I didn’t do that alone, Moondancer. My friends helped.”

“And these ponies are your friends too. They believe in you, Sunset, just like I do and just like your friends back here do.” Moondancer nodded.

Laughing, Sunset stood up and nodded back. “I guess you’re right. You’re a good friend, Moondancer, I guess I needed that pep talk.”

“Any time, now get out there and show them why Serenade should be afraid of you.” Moondancer winked.

“Can do.” Sunset winked back before hanging up the call.

Water, that was all that could be seen for miles. Angel could feel herself floating, her body weightless as she floated seamlessly in the gentle tide. There was no ocean floor, and looking up didn’t present the surface of the water either. It was nothing for miles on end, no sea creatures, no plant life, nothing, and empty void.

She held her neck fearing she would drown, but when she finally couldn’t hold her breath anymore, she inhaled only to find she couldn’t feel any water enter her lungs.

It was dark, almost pitch black, but in the distance a light shined. She mustered up her strength and began to flap her arms to propel herself forward. After a few strokes, she had picked up some momentum and was swimming toward the light as fast as she could.

After a good eighty feet or so, a transparent image of Twilight Sparkle appeared before her. The image had her hair down and looked like an all-around mess as she clenched her hand to her chest and looked away ashamed. Then before her, another image of an equally exhausted-looking Sunset shimmer appeared and grabbed her hands and smiled to the girl.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen...” Twilight’s voice echoed through the open waters.

Sunset closed her eyes briefly before nodding. “I know, and going by my own experiences... They’ll forgive you...”

After the exchange, the two vanished from sight.

Instead of questioning it, Angel continued forward until another image appeared before her. This time it was of Rainbow Dash wearing a rather interesting poncho that appeared hand made before she placed her hand in the center of a ring of her friends. She wore a confident grin as she spoke up to the group. “Same thing we always do, save the day!”

Before she knew it, the image vanished as well.

What is going on? Angel questioned.

After a bit further, another image appeared, this time of two Sunset Shimmers, one standing at a doorframe, the other standing next to a vanity mirror. The other one was sporting glasses and a ponytail, not like the Sunset that Angel had come to recognize.

Two of them?

Suddenly, the bespectacled one pounded her fist into the desk of the vanity mirror and shouted. “BULLSHIT!”

The other Sunset inched back toward the door holding her hands up to calm the girl as she attempted to command the girl to stop. “Calm down!”

The effort was wasted as the first Sunset banged her fist into the counter again and shouted even louder. “I AM SO FUCKING SICK OF PEOPLE LYING TO ME! WHAT ELSE DON’T I KNOW!?”

The Sunset at the door finally shouted back. “STOP IT!”

There was a short pause between the two before the Sunset at the door looked away with a sad expression upon her face. “Y-you’re scaring me...”

The first Sunset looked at the countertop with the fresh crack she had placed in it and her expression changed from anger to shock. After witnessing what she had done, she looked to the other Sunset with eyes begging for forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Sunset... I told you before... I have a huge anger problem...”

With those words, the vision disappeared into nothing.

Angel pushed forward until the familiar vision of the cloaked woman appeared before her and spoke. “Are you starting to understand, Angel Song?”

“What is going on?” Angel asked.

“There’s still a lot you don’t know about these people, but you will find out as time goes on. All of them are connected to magic, and now you’re connected to them. In this world, anyone who can use magic is connected because Magic comes from the same source...” The woman spoke.

“What connects me though? And what connects Starlight?” Angel blinked.

The woman shook her head. “There is a strong connection between Starlight and another from Equestria.”

“What’s Equestria?” Angel squinted.

“Another world, different from this one, but it is the source of all magic here. This world and Equestria are linked, and because of that when a counterpart of one of you in Equestria sees and Adagio shade, it can mean the ones of you in this world see one as well and awakens a certain potential within you...” The woman explained.

“So there is another me in Equestria?” Angel blinked.

The woman chuckled. “Your connection is very unique actually...”

“Why?” Angel tilted her head.

“You’ll see in good time, Angel.”

With those words, the water around them drained rapidly until Angel found herself gasping for air and sitting up in her own bed. She blinked a few times and felt her face to make sure she was actually awake.

After she confirmed she wasn’t underwater anymore, she laid back down and let out a sigh. She didn’t mind the sudden bursts of insight from the dreams, but she wished they didn’t have to scare her half to death every time they happened.

Climbing out of bed, the girl wandered over to Starlight’s room and cracked open the door carefully. “Starlight? Are you awake?”

Grumbling could be heard as Sunburst stirred and looked through the dark to see a blurry image that he assumed was Angel Song, but without his contacts or glasses, he couldn’t tell. “Angel? What are you doing up?”

“I need to talk to Starlight...” Angel frowned.

Groaning, Starlight woke up and turned her head as she placed her hands upon their large pregnant belly. “Angel? What’s wrong?”

Approaching the bed, Angel placed her hands on Starlight’s arm. “Starlight, I had another dream!”

Blinking a few times, Starlight yawned and nodded. “Go on, details.”

“Apparently magic comes from this other world called Equestria, for starters,” Angel explained.

“Equestria? Sounds like a horse thing don’t you think?” Starlight squared her brow in disbelief.

Angel shrugged. “That’s what I was told, and apparently we can use magic because there’s another version of us in Equestria that has seen an Adagio shade like you saw. Apparently, when something extreme like that happens over there, it can awaken powers in the versions of us that’s over here too!”

Starlight rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of all of this. “So what you’re telling me is there’s another universe where this magic is coming from and other versions of us over there?”

Angel nodded. “That is the short of it anyway.”

Sunburst yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I have to say... This is the oddest thing I’ve ever been woken up for.”

“Stick around, I’m sure we’ll top it eventually.” Starlight smirked.

Cinder stood next to Applejack with a grin upon her face as she saw Glitch coming out of their quarters to approach the group. She looked over at the farmer and her face reeked of smugness. “So, you ready for me to fly you to Cloudsdale?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Let’s make somethin’ clear... Y’all drop me and there’ll be hell to pay.”

Cinder chuckled and covered her mouth. “Don’t worry, I’m too strong to drop something as light as you, though you’re definitely more muscular than most ponies I run into...”

Applejack huffed and looked away. “‘Ah’m a farmer by trade, so ‘Ah get my strength from work.”

“Nothing to be ashamed of.” Cinder shrugged.

“‘Ah ain’t ashamed...” Applejack hissed back at her.

“I didn’t mean any offense.” Cinder held up her claws.

The sound of Glitch’s voice interrupted the two’s banter. “Can you two stop flirting long enough to focus, please?”

“‘Ah wasn’t-“ Applejack began.

Cinder quickly finished her thought, though incorrectly. “I think Applejack was trying to impress me.”

“No ‘Ah wasn’t!” Applejack protested.

Snickering, Cinder covered her mouth once more.

“Alright, let’s focus you two...” Glitch replied.

“Fair enough, so we swoop in from here, land on the outskirts and stealth our way in?” Cinder asked.

Glitch shrugged. “That’s about the short of it, anyway.”

“Easy, let’s do this then!” Cinder flapped her wings in excitement.

“For a dragon as old as she is, she sure acts like a kid...” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“One of us has to be fun-loving and it sure isn’t going to be you.” Cinder snickered.

Glitch sighed and shook their head. “Let’s just go. Liftoff on my mark.”

Cinder gripped her claws around Applejack’s underside and nodded at Glitch who took a lowered stance ready to jump and rocket her way up when it was time. The group waited a few seconds before Glitch gave the signal and jumped into the air, activating their rockets and achieving flight.

Not far behind, Cinder gave a few flaps of her mighty wings and she and Applejack were airborne (much to Applejack’s dismay). “Uh... ‘Ah didn’t think the ground would look so small from up here...”

Focusing on flying, Cinder kept her eyes on Glitch as the group approached a cluster of clouds. “So this is Cloudsdale huh?” Cinder asked.

“I keep forgetting you’re not from Equestria...” Glitch responded.

“Yeah, it’s interesting, alright let’s shut up though, we’re about to land,” Cinder replied.

Nodding, Glitch quickly cast a cloud walking spell upon Applejack and themselves before the trio landed behind a building on the edge of Cloudsdale. With the cover of night, they had the advantage of not being visible. Glitch sighed and looked over at her teammates. “Alright, the prison is a good two miles from here... We’ll have to sneak through the back alleys to get there, but there shouldn’t be as many guards roaming around yet.”

“Let’s get movin’ then.” Applejack nodded in agreement.

Cinder just gave a thumbs up to confirm she understood her instructions and the group began to creep around the building they had landed behind and scan for any guards. Glitch held their hoof out and made the other two stop while they checked the infrared scanner in their helmet.

“Shit... Looks like there are a few wraiths out tonight, best be careful...” Glitch instructed.

“Great... Just what we needed...” Applejack groaned in complaint.

“What’s a wraith?” Cinder whispered.

“Oh right, y’all haven’t been on a night operation yet in an occupied city...” Applejack rubbed her neck.

“No, so what are they?” Cinder blinked in confusion.

“Hunters created by Serenade. Horrid abominations that can grab you with long fierce tendrils and squeeze the life out of you. Supposedly they were ponies at one point, but Serenade turned them into these monsters. They’re slow, but their tendrils are fast if you get in their range,” Glitch explained quietly. “They’re blind, fortunately, so they’re easy to avoid if you don’t make a lot of noise.”

“Sounds easy.” Cinder smiled.

“Not quite... It’s the maulers ya’ gotta worry about...” Applejack said.

“What’re maulers?” Cinder tilted her head.

“Pray we don’t have to explain them, now come on, the coast is clear, we can make a break for the building across the street.” Glitch pointed.

Deciding it was best to just follow orders and stop asking questions, Cinder nodded and followed the group as they dashed across the street and hid in another alleyway between two buildings. The group halted, however, when they saw what was on the other side of a fence that blocked off the end of the alleyway.

There behind a chain-link fence was a vile looking black leathery creature with slimy skin and long thin tendrils whipping about crazily. It moved in an almost unreal manner as it searched about for its prey. Cinder surmised that this foul creature must have been a wraith, but she didn’t see anything else with it, so she assumed that the aforementioned “maulers” were not with this one.

The group held perfectly still as the creature approached the fence and stuck a few tendrils through it, feeling around for any prey to ensnare.

Cinder looked at the other two who had frozen in place, not daring to take another step. She gestured her head toward the creature and the other two shook their heads.

Taking a step closer to the fence, Cinder noticed that Applejack and Glitch both reached out a hoof to object her movement, but it didn’t stop her. She took silent step after silent step until she was within range of the creature. It’s tendrils whipped about through the fence as its eyeless face with its oozing maw pressed against the chain links as it groaned with eagerness to catch something.

Cinder slowly drew her left katana in her right claw and positioned it. The creature heard the sound of her unsheathing it and flinched in excitement as it listened for any other noise to confirm its prey.

With one quick movement, Cinder stabbed the blade through the fence and through the open jaw of the creature, coming out the back of its head. It gurgled and struggled for all of a second before resting on her blade, its tendrils falling flat. Cinder pulled the sword out and flicked the black sludge that had soiled it off before turning to the others with a smile. “He wasn’t so tough.” She remarked.

“Sweet Luna, y’all could have gotten us killed!” Applejack spoke.

“But I didn’t, instead, I eliminated an obstacle in our way.” Cinder pointed out with a raised talon.

“That’s reckless!” Applejack barked.

“She does have a point, Applejack... Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all...” Glitch shrugged as she stepped forward ready to continue.

“Y’all are seriously takin’ her side?” Applejack raised a brow.

“It worked didn’t it?” Glitch replied.

Applejack crossed her hooves and sighed. “Well, ya’ got me there... Still, we should be more careful...”

“You’re talking to a pro. I’m always careful.” Cinder winked.

“Coulda’ fooled me...” Applejack grumbled under her breath.

“Let’s move before guards show up, alright?” Glitch suggested.

They all agreed on that idea and made their advance. The rest of their journey was far easier than the first few minutes. They would be forced to kill a few guards along the way and drag their bodies into the shadows, but nothing they couldn’t handle. Cinder’s sword work made light of virtually anything in their path, and when combined with Applejack’s strength and the technology that Glitch possessed, there wasn’t a challenge that could stand in the trio’s way.

It wouldn’t be long before they would arrive at the prison where they observed from behind its outer wall. Glitch looked directly at the wall and could see through it with her infrared sensor, noting a small gathering of guards around the front, back and west sides.

“Alright, it looks like they have the guards patrolling and that means slipping in from the east side seems to be the easiest at the moment. We can hop over the wall and sneak around to the front. Two guards are protecting the front, so if we can slip one of us around the other side we can take them both out at once before the other one can call for help...” Glitch explained her plan to the other two.

“Sounds like an idea. I’ll go around the other side, picking off guards as I do until I make it around. You give me the signal and we’ll attack at the same time.” Cinder offered.

“How are we getting over the wall though?” Applejack asked.

Cinder flapped her wings and grinned. “I can fly you both over. If Glitch uses their rockets, they’ll be way too loud. I can carry you both over.”

“Once again, you prove your usefulness.” Glitch nodded.

“Even ‘Ah have to admit, you’ve been pretty helpful thus far...” Applejack blushed and looked away, embarrassed that she had been giving the girl such a hard time.

“We can exchange apologies and forgiveness later.” Cinder shook her head.

The group managed to make it through the rest of the city mostly without much trouble. They slaughtered a few guards with Glitch and Cinder’s combined sword work which the dragon complimented the armored pony upon.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the prison, ready to storm in. Applejack gestured to a vent behind the building and the other two came running. She spoke in a hushed tone. “With Glitch’s suit, they won’t fit through there, but ‘Ah can crawl in an’ open the back door here.” Applejack explained.

“Take out any guards you encounter quietly...” Glitch instructed.

Applejack nodded before removing the grate and beginning her crawl inside.

The other two waited patiently with Cinder crossing her arms as she looked over to Glitch with a grin. “I’d say I’m making some progress with her...” Cinder commented.

Glitch chuckled lightly. “You and me, both. She isn’t a huge fan of myself either.”

“You’re a likable character, so I don’t see why.” Cinder giggled.

“Try telling her that.” Glitch shrugged.

The two would have to cut their conversation short, however, as the sound of the back door opening caused both of them to draw their blades. They lowered them quickly though when they saw it was Applejack granting them entry.

“Excellent work, AJ,” Glitch complimented.

“Let’s get Rainbow on outta here.” Applejack grinned.

With a bit of finesse and skilled sword work, the group was able to cut their way through the prison unnoticed and make it to the top floor where Rainbow Dash was being kept.

The only thing that stood in their way at this point was a single door that blocked the path to her cell. Cinder and Glitch stepped aside for Applejack to unleash her mighty hoofwork. The mare grinned with pride as she reeled back and bucked the door off its hinges.

Before the guards in the room had a second to even realize what was happening, Cinder and Glitch both dived in and impaled the only two guards with their blades, retracting them and storing them after they were confirmed dead. Cinder took a moment to scan for any other guards and once she was certain that they were alone she nodded.

Stepping forward the group could see Rainbow Dash sitting in a cell with chains on all four of her hooves. Applejack took note of the fact that the girl had lost quite a bit of weight, which told her the kind of conditions that Serenade was keeping her in.

While the rest of the group approached carefully, Applejack raced to the bars and gripped them as she pressed her face between them to call to her friend. “Rainbow, are y’all alright?”

Rainbow turned slowly and her face grew a weak smile as she saw her old friend before she got herself as close to the bars as her chains would allow. She looked weak, but her spirit was clearly far from broken. “AJ? I knew you’d find me! Twilight sent you, didn’t she?”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah... ‘Ah sorta’ feel like a horse’s ass for walkin’ out on y’all now...”

Rainbow shook her head dismissively. “If you hadn’t walked out on us, you’d probably be in one of these cages too, so we’d have no one to save our asses. So, I’d say we’re about even now.”

“If y’all say so... Still, ‘Ah shoulda’ been there with ya’.” Applejack frowned.

“Well, you can make it up to me by breaking me out of here.” Rainbow chuckled.

“Can do.” Applejack nodded.

She looked back at Glitch who stepped forward with Cinder. Glitch focused their magic to cast a heat spell, and Cinder used her fire breath in conjunction to melt the bars. Once the bars were out of the way, Cinder stepped in and smirked at the group.

Demonstrating her strength, she gripped the chains from the floor and pulled hard on the first one, shattering it with her muscle alone. It made Glitch question of her metal arm gave her any extra boost to her strength.

Cinder worked her way through the chains and shattered each one similarly.

Rainbow looked to her hooves and while she wasn’t happy about still having the cuffs of the chains attached to her, she was at least happy to be free in general. “Nice, who’re your friends, Applejack?”

“Oh, right, this is Cinder Razorclaw and Glitch. Glitch has sort of been leadin’ this rebellion against Serenade, so he’s the brains of the operation.” Applejack gestured to Glitch.

Rainbow blinked and offered a hoof to Glitch, which they took and shook. “A pleasure to meet you, Glitch. I take it Twilight recruited you?”

“That’s one way to put it.” Glitch shrugged.

“So what exactly has been going on while I’ve been locked up? How long have I even been here?” Rainbow asked.

Glitch sighed as they sat the mare down to explain what had transpired in the past year and a half. “Well, it’s been almost a year and a half, and in that time Serenade has taken over all of Equestria. Most of the country is under her occupation, but we’ve been able to make some serious headway in recruiting against her.”

“Impressive, how big is your army?” Rainbow asked.

“About eight thousand now, but we could use more. I figured with your help we can rally some of the pegasi of Cloudsdale to join our cause?” Glitch shrugged.

Rainbow nodded confidently. “Count me in, you broke me out, so I owe you one anyway. Besides, if Twilight approves of you, then you’re alright in my book.”

“She’s easy to win over.” Cinder crossed her arms and smirked.

“Well as for you, I admire your strength. When this is over, you gotta show me how you were able to break those chains with just your claws.” Rainbow grinned.

“Years of practice, kid.” Cinder rolled her eyes.

Rainbow nodded. “So, what’s the plan, Glitch?”

“We get out of here and start rallying ponies to join our cause from Cloudsdale. Think you know enough ponies here to get them to get behind us?” Glitch asked.

Rainbow smirked and nodded. “You have no idea.”

“Your majesty, I believe this place is called ‘Ponyville’ by the locals...” Abyss explained as the group trotted through the streets of the small village. What was odd about it, however, was the large castle off in the distance, which Golden had explained was a fairly recent addition created by the tree of harmony for the recently crowned Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle.

During their travels through Equestria, Golden had made it part of her duties to read up on any important information in the local libraries or converse with locals to understand the cultures of the land they now walked through. Knowledge was the key to conquering the challenges that laid ahead, after all.

Their royal ruler looked around at the quaint little village, noting that now it wasn’t much to look at with Serenade’s guards occupying most of it. The group’s clever use of their talents had slipped them past the borders without suspicion, and they were free to explore as they saw fit so long as they left before nightfall when the curfew was put into place.

“It’s certainly very...” Golden paused, unsure of how to finish her thought, but eventually popped in a word to finish it that she felt was fitting, “interesting...”

“It’s an absolute pigsty,” Abyss wretched, “this Serenade Dazzle seems to keep the entire country under her control in an atrocious state, it’s absolutely appalling.”

“That’s to be expected from a demon, they aren’t usually very concerned with cleanliness or order,” Golden pointed out.

“Evidently...” Abyss looked around.

“So why exactly are we here?” Golden tilted her head.

“We’re supposed to look around and find information about anything important, I guess.” Abyss shrugged.

Golden bit her lip and blinked. “So... Should we split up?”

“Probably a wise idea.” Abyss nodded.

She didn’t have to tell Golden twice, the opportunity to be away from the annoying mare was a godsend. “We’ll meet back here in an hour then?” Golden asked.

“Sounds good, let’s hope we’re not wasting our time...” Abyss replied.

Rainbow’s assistance had proven more than valuable to Glitch’s resistance, within only a few short hours, they had managed to convince a good hundred or so pegasi to join them, and collectively snuck them all out of the city with Rainbow’s help. After they had brought them all aboard the ship to bring them up to speed on what was going down, they spent the night drinking, celebrating and preparing themselves for training to undergo perhaps the riskiest operation yet.

In the same stroke, Cinder didn’t waste any time the following day to train her new student, Eclipse. He was scrawny and weak, but his heart was there in the fight, and she could see that. His skill with a blade wasn’t phenomenal, but she could see potential in him with every swing. There was something about the way he fought that suggested he could become something great to her.

Watching him slice with his hoof mounted blade made her nostalgic for her own training when she was just a hatchling. She watched him go through an exercise they had rehearsed numerous times, still fumbling a bit as he did and she laughed. “A good effort, kid, but remember to focus on your hoofwork. The trick is to try and stay light on your feet, keep your concentration there, and the blade will do the rest.”

Eclipse stumbled but caught himself before he fell. He sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Sorry, this isn’t that easy...”

“It takes time to become a master. It took me a long time to master the way of the sword, and I probably still wasn’t any match for my brother, Ash.” Cinder raised her claw.

“That good huh? What was he like?” Eclipse asked.

Cinder shook her head. “Words could not do what he did with a sword justice, my friend. He was a true artist, let’s put it that way.”

“You looked up to him?” Eclipse asked.

“Observant, but yes. Ash was my rival in life, and I wished that I listened to him more...” She frowned.

Eclipse could sense there was some tension there, a sore subject that had been left unchecked likely for years, but he wasn’t in a therapeutic mood, so he left it alone.

There was a pause and silence between the two before Cinder cleared her throat. “Say, let’s take a break. I haven’t had a bath in days, let’s go take one, shall we? There’s a big bath on this ship we could share, how about it?”

Eclipse bit his lip. He wasn’t sure how he felt about sharing a bath with a female, but he did like the idea. It had been too long since he had had a proper relaxing bath, and that desire won out in the end. “Yeah, sure.”

The trip to the bathroom was uneventful, and Cinder filled the large jacuzzi style tub for them and checked the temperature to make sure it was appropriate for a pony before stepping in herself. Submerging herself, she sighed with delight and then gestured for the stallion to follow.

Eclipse blinked but did as he was instructed and sunk in beside her. The water felt nice, it was perhaps the most soothing thing he had felt in a long time. How he missed proper baths. His mind was instantly filled with the times he and Galeal had bathed together, but then when his thoughts became more “physical”, he found himself blushing.

Galeal was a fairly energetic griffon, and as a result, he had a fairly large sexual appetite. That meant that while they were together, Eclipse was often “taking care” of him numerous times. His face was red just thinking about it, but he couldn’t tell if it was from desire or from anger. While he was mad at the griffon, he couldn’t deny that he loved being intimate with him. Galeal knew what he liked and he knew it well.

Cinder leaned her head back and rested her large wings as she cooed. “This is nice...”

“Are baths even common in Dragon Scar?” Eclipse asked, trying to get his mind off of his sexual fantasies with his ex-boyfriend.

With her eyes closed, Cinder gently shook her head no. “Nah, I sort of grew a love for them after I traveled a bit. I find them relaxing, which is good for a warrior, the last thing you want is to get sloppy due to poor self-care.”

“I see... You’re pretty worldly...” Eclipse remarked.

“You’re not too bad yourself, kid. I mean you told me before that you braved the wilderness to find this rebellion. Without any kind of survival upbringing that took some serious guts. What was the motivation?” Cinder asked.

He curled his lip in debate of whether he should tell the dragon about the griffon that had driven him to join Glitch’s army or not. After a few more seconds though, the words seemed to slip out involuntarily. “I originally left to find my boyfriend, Galeal.”

“A noble cause, so what happened?” Cinder asked.

Just remembering what it was like to find Galeal alright after all this time and how he responded to Eclipse seeing him again was painful. Eclipse wished things had gone differently, but they hadn’t. “Turns out he’s ashamed of being gay, and thus ashamed of me...”

“That’s a shame...” Cinder frowned as she opened an eye to see how the stallion was doing after such a sad story.

Eclipse shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s my past now, and I need to focus on my future.”

“A wise plan, but it’s also important for us to remember our past so we can learn from it.” Cinder raised a claw with a single talon up as she spoke.

“I guess so, but there’s really nothing left to reflect upon. We’re over, so there’s no sense in even dwelling on it...” Eclipse shrugged.

Blinking, Cinder could tell it was really a sore subject for the young stallion. She knew very little about equine romance, but she at least understood on a basic level as dragon mating was often a complex endeavor as well, though differing in many areas.

There was a pause before Eclipse asked his next question. “Why do you hate Serenade so much, Master Cinder?”

Cinder looked up and grinned. “Some people say that it’s always a good idea to put your past behind you... I actually disagree with that. Sometimes it’s better to hold onto it so you can use it to motivate yourself.”

“Do you think it’s possible to beat her?” Eclipse asked.

The grin on her face grew. “I think so long as we believe in our fighting spirit, we should do alright.”

After a few long conversations with various townsfolk who were willing to discuss anything not sanctioned by Serenade’s regime, Golden was starting to get a picture of what they should be looking for. Words echoed of a stallion named “Glitch” and his rebellion that was being led against Serenade.

The stories that Golden was told were likely exaggerated, but that didn’t matter, what did matter is that it seemed to be the biggest thing going on just about anywhere. She thanked the ponies that she had spoken to and returned to their agreed-upon rendezvous point.

Abyss raised a brow upon seeing Golden and their ruler stood there with her usual smile. She had ditched the braid in her mane and her curls had become more like slight waves which told them that she had likely curled her mane herself. Still, she was absolutely stunning to look at, which often made others jealous.

“So, what’s the word, Golden?” Abyss asked.

Golden rubbed her neck. “A lot of talk about this Glitch guy. Guess he’s trying to actually overthrow Serenade.”

“Yeah, I heard about him too. Sounds like a total idiot if he thinks he can beat her.” Abyss nodded.

“I have to admit that I agree, I mean I’ve heard ponies tell me about how strong Serenade is, and I have to say, anyone who thinks they stand even a fraction of a chance against her is insane.” Golden shrugged, it was rare that she actually found herself in agreement with Abyss.

“So now what?” Abyss asked.

As if to answer their questions, their leader stood up and smiled at the two of them with a nod. Golden blinked and looked at Abyss. “Any idea what she’s trying to say?”

“I think she wants us to track this Glitch down...” Abyss responded before looking at their green maned leader. “Is that it, your majesty?”

The gorgeous mare just nodded once more and shot them both a smile.

“Guess we got a rebellion leader to track down now,” Abyss stated.

Golden sighed and frowned. “And here I thought we were almost done. It’ll likely take months to track someone like that down. It’s not like they are just going to invite us over to see their secret hideout...”

“Well, then we best get started, huh?” Abyss glared at the scribe.

Golden pressed her hooves to her temple and shook her head. “I swear, I hate this journey more and more...”

Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. Only seconds before, she was on her knees about to be forced into servicing that despicable man and now his brains were blown clear out of his skull, much of which covering her. It all happened so quickly that she could barely wrap her head around it all. It almost didn’t even seem real; she pinched herself to ensure she wasn’t dreaming, and sure enough, she wasn’t.

There in front of her holding out a hand to help her up was a face she hadn’t expected to see, the face of Rainbow Dash with her hair pulled back and dirt on her face for camouflage.

Twilight looked over at the corpse and then covered her mouth. She wanted to throw up, but she held it in instead. The last thing she needed was to lose her lunch. “Holy shit...” She spoke quietly.

“Come on, take my hand,” Rainbow instructed as she inched her hand closer.

The wife of Sunset Shimmer was frozen, for the time being, she couldn’t get her body to do anything but steal glances at the fresh corpse sitting just a few feet away from her.

“Twilight, take my hand!” Rainbow demanded.

Snapping back to reality, she looked up at Rainbow and then stared at her hand for a few moments before finally gripping it in her own. Twilight reached forward and placed her other hand around Rainbow’s wrist and with a quick heave, Rainbow managed to pull her into a standing position.

Twilight’s lavender eyes were drawn once again to the body. She had never seen someone’s brains blown out before, but she imagined being in the army that Rainbow had seen it a few times.

“Y-you...” Twilight stuttered.

“Hm?” Rainbow asked.

“You killed him.” Twilight blinked as she found her eyes glued to the body.

Rainbow shrugged as she threw the strap of the rifle over her shoulder and let the weapon rest across her back. “Yeah, well I had to wait for the right moment, sorry I took so long. I didn’t want to risk the bullet going through him and hitting you...”

Twilight remained silent.

“I bet he regretted that blowjob.” Rainbow smirked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Rainbow...” Twilight was quiet.

Her friend Rainbow Dash was a murderer. She killed this man, and that was all Twilight could think of.

“What?” Rainbow asked.

“How are you so calm?” Twilight looked at her friend with concerned eyes.

“The army taught me how to focus in these kinds of situations. It’s part of what I was trained to do,” Rainbow explained.

Twilight shook her head. “You killed him, Rainbow! This is not good at all!”

“What’re you talking about? Of course, it is, the problem is solved now.” Rainbow nudged her friend’s shoulder.

“Rainbow, people are going to find out about this, and then it’ll be worse than before! I was just going to pay him off and keep him quiet!” Twilight’s face had turned almost white with fear.

Rainbow reached forward and gripped the girl’s shoulders. “Twilight, there was no certainty he wouldn’t tell after he got the money. This was the only way to be sure that the secret stays safe.”

“How can you justify killing this man!?” Twilight pushed her back, but Rainbow held onto her.

“Twilight, listen to me. You have to think about the bigger picture. If he told people about what he knew, what do you think would happen?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight bit her lip, that was something she had wanted to avoid thinking about. “Well... They probably would take Horizon away to study her, maybe even dissect her...”

“And then they would discover the portal to Equestria eventually,” Rainbow reminded.

That much was true as well. It would only be a matter of time before Sunset’s Equestria origin would be discovered.

“I suppose so, yes...” Twilight nodded.

“And what happens then?” Rainbow raised a brow.

Twilight paused before answering. “They’ll want to go there...”

“And what do human beings usually do in those scenarios?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight looked away. “I don’t know...”

“Twilight...” Rainbow scolded.

“Alright! They usually bring weapons!”

“And that is how wars start. If I didn’t kill this guy we were risking a war between our world and Equestria. Sure there is a chance it wouldn’t play out like that, but are we willing to take it? The price is one scumbag blackmailing piece of trash that no one will miss is dead,” Rainbow said.

She had a valid point. The chances of the US military or other militaries not wanting to go to Equestria were pretty low if they found out about it. They would see magic as something they could weaponize against their enemies. Before they knew it, they would have a full-scale war on Equestria to get said magic.

“What do we do now then?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow looked over at the corpse and sighed. “Well, I can burn the body, and then I can take the bones to the ocean and dump them. No one will find them there, and thus no one can link it back to you or me.”

“What about the fact that he was obsessed with me before he died? That surely will come up...” Twilight frowned.

Rainbow shook her head. “The guy was a nutcase, I fabricated some documents that suggested he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was suicidal. All the police will see is that the guy was nuts. I’ll go back to his apartment and destroy any evidence he had on you and just leave the usual nonsense that’ll just lead to dead ends.”

“How are we going to factor in the fact that he’s going to be noticed as missing? A person can’t just disappear...” Twilight suggested.

Rainbow waved her hand. “The guy had no family to speak of except a mom that he wasn’t on good terms with. I did my homework. All I gotta do is leave a suicide note in his apartment and people likely won’t even think to look for him until his rent is due or something. It’ll be a good month before anyone even notices he’s missing.”

“What do I do then?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow nodded and withdrew a box from under some brush and opened it, offering Twilight a black T-shirt and jeans to match, then she offered her a black garbage bag. “What’s all this for?”

“You are going to take your clothes off, put these on, and put your old clothes in the bag. But you’re going to go and rinse the blood off of you in the lake before you get dressed, I have a towel in here somewhere, I prepared for this scenario.” Rainbow grinned.

“And why am I doing all this?” Twilight blinked.

Rainbow pointed to the bloodstains on her clothing. “Just in case the police do poke their head in your direction, the last thing you want is forensic evidence in your car. Essentially you’re going to rinse off any blood from your person and then you’re going to burn those old clothes.”

“Really? I sort of liked that shirt...” Twilight frowned.

“Has to be done, now we don’t have much time, so we should set this plan into motion ASAP.” Rainbow gestured with her hands for Twilight to hurry up.

“Alright, I guess...” Twilight said quietly, not entirely comfortable with the entire arrangement.

Rainbow looked up and stopped her after she began to head toward the lake. “One last thing, Twilight.”

Twilight looked back with a raised brow. “Yes?”

“This entire thing never happened. You were never here, I was never here. We never talk about this again, and you mention it to no one, got it?” Rainbow’s face was stern and serious.

“A-alright...” Twilight nodded.

“Good, now get going and let me take care of cleaning all this up.” Rainbow smiled.

The entire ordeal had Twilight’s heart pounding. She was just involved in a murder, but it was almost overshadowed by how thankful she was to have a friend like Rainbow Dash who was looking out for her.

And we're back from the first-ever hiatus of the story! I had an awesome time at BronyCon! Thanks to everyone who went! It was an amazing vacation for me, but it does feel good to come back to Shadows and return to the old schedule.

And yup! It was Rainbow Dash. Loyalty runs deep.