After their successful breach of Cloudsdale prison, Glitch’s army was able to not only recruit Rainbow Dash, but use her talents to convince an armada of pegasi to join their cause. The next step was all training, making sure they would be ready for the battlefield when the moment arrived. The process took a few months, and before Glitch knew it, they were entering year three of the war.

The mare under her mask longed to go home, she wanted to see her wife and daughter again, but she knew that victory was still well out of her reach. Serenade’s power was still far too much to challenge directly, and that meant that battles still had to be fought. Sunset was tired of the war already, but she had to keep her head up, she had to be the figure that others needed to see.

For the next few months Glitch oversaw the training exercises with Cinder and Rainbow Dash. The two had quickly grown to enjoy each other’s company, though Cinder did work hard to reduce the mare’s cockiness, to some positive effect at the very least.

Rainbow admired how strong Cinder was, and that made for a friendly rivalry between the two.

Glitch had to admit, Cinder was a valuable addition to the team, which was a surprise to many of her crew members. Even Applejack had warmed up to her, and now she was one of the most trusted creatures on the airship. There wasn’t a pony on board that didn’t speak highly of Cinder Razorclaw, be it her fighting ability or her general personality.

It was surprising to Glitch that a dragon of her upbringing combined with the hardships she had endured could be so kind-hearted. She was certainly an oddity by Dragon Scar standards for sure.

Still, her inclusion in their operations was effective, and Glitch was more than glad that she had volunteered to join them.

The next big move was upon them, and with enough ponies to do so, they were ready to execute it.

Glitch had called a meeting between their council, and sure enough, all of them showed up just as quickly as Glitch called them. There they stood in the war room, ready for the briefing on what the next move was to be.

Applejack looked around the room impatiently as she held her tongue, waiting for Glitch to break the silence first.

A part of Glitch didn’t even want to speak. The silence was relaxing, but they knew it couldn’t last forever and they spoke up, ending it. “So, I know it’s been a while since we formed this army...” They began.

“We’ve been fighting for going onto three years now...” Twilight reminded.

Glitch shuddered at that thought. They had to hold back ideas of how much their daughter has grown, or if she was talking now at the mention of time passed.

“Yes, and we grow closer to our goal, but there is still much that needs to be done. Our next major task awaits us in Manehatten,” Glitch spoke.

They all nodded but kept silent.

“What lays ahead will be quite a challenge. We must liberate the city by getting as many citizens out as we can. Our primary objective here is to gain as many bodies as we can to join our cause, while at the same time keeping as many alive as we can,” Glitch explained.

“Essentially, we want to save more than we take in casualties?” Aria asked.

Glitch nodded. “Precisely, glad you’re paying attention. This won’t be an easy task though, we’re going to need to lead this one in two fronts if we hope to win.”

“Two fronts?” Twilight tilted her head.

Glitch nodded. “One lead by myself, and another lead by a volunteer eager to prove themselves.”

“What volunteer?” Twilight blinked.

“Applebloom,” Glitch replied plainly.

Naturally, Applejack objected immediately to the notion. “No way! ‘Ah ain’t allowin’ that!”

“I figured you’d say that, so I brought her here to tell you herself,” Glitch responded as they stood up and headed toward the door. Opening it, a teenage mare with messy red mane trotted in and nodded at the group.

Applejack banged her hooves on the table as she objected while the door shut behind Applebloom. “Applebloom, this is way too dangerous! ‘Ah forbid ya’ from goin’!”

Applebloom sighed and shook her head in disapproval. “Ain’t a baby no more, AJ. ‘Ah’m old enough to make my own choices.”

“Y’all are only fifteen!” Applejack protested.

“Listen, AJ, ‘Ah joined this rebellion to fight, and ‘Ah’m ready to do my part!” Applebloom stood her ground.

She had joined up when they liberated a work camp where she was being held about a good year ago, and since then she had been training with the other recruits, forbidden from actually partaking in any missions at Applejack’s request. Glitch only went along with it because they knew that fighting Applejack on the matter was a waste of time.

Now though, Glitch couldn’t deny the request of Applebloom to get into the fight, even if it meant pissing Applejack off.

“She’s performed in the top ten in virtually every training exercise we’ve thrown at her, Applejack. She’s even done exceptionally well in the leadership training that we’ve offered her. I think she’s more than competent to handle this mission.” Glitch stamped their hoof on the ground as they defended Applebloom.

The young teen smiled at Glitch and then gave the same smile to Applejack. “Don’t worry, sis, ‘Ah’m gonna be fine. Glitch will be out there, and ‘Ah have faith in him.”

Applejack crossed her hooves and looked away. “‘Spose ‘Ah can’t stop ya’, but ‘Ah don’t like this one bit.”

“Duly noted.” Glitch shrugged.

“Can’t believe y’all are gonna let a teenager lead an assault...” Applejack complained.

Aria rolled her eyes and spoke up, getting a bit annoyed at the constant drama between the two. “Okay seriously, cut the fucking umbilical cord already, Applejack.”

“Excuse me!?” Applejack hissed at the siren, raising a hoof.

“Stop babying the kid. She wants to fight, let her fight, that’s how one grows up.” Aria sighed.

“What the fuck would y’all know ‘bout growin’ up?” Applejack raised a brow.

“More than you. When I was her age, I had to take care of myself, I had to learn to fend for food, protect myself, and how to survive. My parents ditched me the moment they figured out what I was when I was about five. So I know a lot more about growing up than you ever will.” Aria sneered.

Applejack blinked and blushed. She looked down apologetically, regretting even challenging the mare. “Oh... Well... ‘Ah’m sorry to hear all that...”

“Now kindly shut the fuck up and let Glitch go over the plan.” Aria leaned back in her chair and gestured for Glitch to continue.

Coughing, Glitch decided it was best to just keep moving forward. “Anyway...”

Glitch tapped a map of Manehatten on the table and gestured to a circled area. “Applebloom here is going to lead a charge through the sewer and tunnel system. While I’m sure Serenade is expecting this, what she’s likely not expecting is we’re going to use a tunnel that very few know about. One that’s not even in the royal archives, so there’s no way Serenade would have any knowledge of it to inform her army.”

Twilight chimed in, taking credit for the information. “It’s an old passage used to move supplies out of the city without being noticed. Only the royal family knows about it and the information was passed by word of mouth only.”

“What an odd way of retaining the information...” Cinder stated as she grinned.

“The only way to ensure something can’t be discovered is to never write it down,” Twilight lectured.

“Wise words.” Cinder nodded thoughtfully.

“Once Applebloom’s assault on the ground is underway, I’ll lead the charge from the sky with Rainbow Dash. We swoop in, create confusion and rain death from above. From there, we can begin to funnel ponies through the same tunnel that Applebloom came out of. We keep the airship close to the other end and we’ll be ready to take on plenty of bodies,” Glitch explained.

Sonata frowned as she heard the idea explained to her. “This all sounds really risky...”

“It is risky,” Glitch replied.

“Too risky...” Applejack grumbled.

“Like I said, we can’t win by playing it safe forever. Risks need to be taken to win, and I don’t want to hear anymore complaints on the matter,” Glitch commanded.

Applejack bit her lip, trying to contain herself, as Glitch glanced around the room and nodded. “Alright, let’s break for now. We need to go get ready after all.”

The group nodded and Twilight made her way toward the exit first only to be stopped by Aria and Sonata. Aria gestured for the mare to follow, which piqued her interest, so she decided to go along with the two on her way out, Discord slowly slithering behind them.

Glitch left Applejack alone with her younger sister and the pink dragon warrior who just sat there idly while Applejack approached her sister with a face of disgust and annoyance. She stomped her hoof in front of the young mare and growled. “What in the hay are ya’ thinkin’!?”

“Applejack, ‘Ah told ya’, ‘Ah ain’t a baby.” Applebloom turned her head away in offense at her sister’s overprotective nature.

Applejack turned to get the girl to look at her. “No, but y’all sure are stupid like one.”

“Pfft...” Applebloom huffed.

“Glitch is reckless, Applebloom. Yer’ gonna git’ yourself killed on that asshole’s behalf? Is that what ya’ want?” Applejack quizzed.

Applebloom squinted in anger. “Y’all don’t know what yer’ talkin’ about, sis. Glitch is a hero, ‘Ah seen it with my own eyes. He’s gonna save Equestria.”

“Maybe so, but he takes unnecessary risks. ‘Ah don’t wanna lose you because of his carelessness...” Applejack reached forward and touched her sister’s cheek.

Applebloom shook her head. “It’ll be fine, AJ. ‘Ah trust Glitch, and y’all should too.”

Applejack sighed and looked her sister in the eyes. It pained her to see that while this war was going on, while the fighting was ravaging Equestria, she had missed her sister growing up. She blinked and the little filly was now a young mare, almost as tall as Applejack was. She would soon be getting a boyfriend or girlfriend and talking about moving out.

Serenade took that time from Applejack, those moments of enjoying her sister’s youthful innocence. Now, all that stood before her was another soldier, ready to risk their life for Glitch’s war.

Could that pony even win? He had guts and that fancy suit, sure, but Serenade had sheer power and so much more. She was an old creature and that meant that she had years of practice when it came to fighting, tactical planning and killing. Glitch was just a pony who was ready to kill if they needed to, but Serenade was a nearly perfect killing machine. She turned murder into a profession and was likely the master of said profession. Only a small amount of creatures in Equestrian history had ever achieved such a high body count, and Serenade was definitely going to be in the history books one day if they ever defeated her.

Applejack wanted to trust Glitch more, but she couldn’t bring herself to trust a pony who refused to show their face. Glitch had the protection of their mask, but the rest of them had nothing. If Serenade put them on her hit list, they would be hunted until they were dead, but all Glitch would need to do is take off their mask and pretend to be someone else.

To top all of that off, it rubbed her wrong that Glitch would let a teenager lead a battle plan. It was insanity.

“There’s just somethin’ about that pony that ‘Ah don’t like...” Applejack looked away.

“And that is?” Applebloom raised a brow.

“He ain’t riskin’ what we’re riskin’ Applebloom. He has that mask on his face, he can run and hide from Serenade whenever he wants, leave us all high an’ dry. Not to mention he ain’t got anything to lose.” Applejack crossed her hooves.

Cinder let out a cough from across the room which caused both Applebloom and Applejack to turn their heads to see the dragon. The pink dragon was still sitting at the war table with a smirk on her face as Applejack called out to her. “Can ‘Ah help you?”

Nodding, Cinder came to a tall stand and approached the two ponies. “Your assumptions about Glitch are misplaced, Applejack.”

“How do ya’ figure?” Applejack blinked.

“That pony has already sacrificed so much to make it here, and they have plenty to lose.” Cinder defended the armored pony.

“How do you know?” Applejack huffed.

Shaking her head, Cinder placed a claw on Applebloom’s shoulder. “Not all are born warriors, some have to don the sword when the call of duty arrives. Glitch did just that. That takes guts. He can clearly see a warrior spirit in your sister here, and he wants to let her do her part. Why are you so against that, Applejack?”

“Applebloom is still too young, ‘Ah don’t want her gettin’ hurt.”

Cinder laughed. “If we all avoid letting the hatchlings leave the nest, they never learn to fly. Looking at her...” Cinder eyed the mare up and down and nodded. “She’s ready, let her go.”

“Fine... But if somethin’ happens to you, Applebloom...” Applejack shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to fight back potential tears.

Applebloom reached forward and touched her sister before smiling. “Everything will be fine, sis. ‘Ah promise that ‘Ah’ll come back okay.”

“You better.” Applejack grinned before nudging the girl.

A young Serenade looked to a group of teenagers playing together, splashing water from a nearby fountain at each other playfully, frolicking and laughing as they did. It reminded her of the days with her sister back on the farm, the scant few memories she had locked away in her mind that weren’t just more things to cause her more anger.

She wondered where Adagio was, and why it was so difficult to find her. The older siren and she had been separated for so long that she wondered what her sister even looked like at this point. If Serenade closed her eyes, she could remember her sister’s long curly locks cascading down her backside. Adagio always had an impressive mane, and with just a flick of it, she had stallions eating out of her hoof.

Those days on the farm with her sister were all Serenade had anymore. Every town was the same, she would arrive, try and blend in for a little while until ponies discovered she was a siren and then they would chase her out of town; she hated it.

The only thing that even mattered to her at that point in her life was finding Adagio. She fed, she searched and she survived, that was all she was doing. Serenade hated to admit that she was only living for the sake of staying alive, but it was all she could do.

Looking at those teenagers though caused a feeling inside of her that she hadn’t understood, one that made her chest feel tight and her heart beat faster. Had she been more learned, she may have been able to identify it as sadness, or even jealousy, but she wasn’t. Instead, she just stood there confused by this unwanted emotion.

She watched them play and felt a frown appear upon her face. Why did she care? She shouldn’t have, right?

Staring for so long though caused her to tune out the world, and eventually, she wouldn’t even notice that the group had noticed her onlooking. One of them whispered to another and before she knew it the entire group was approaching her.

Serenade blinked a few times before she realized she was surrounded by a group of ponies all larger than herself. As a petite little thing, this was a common occurrence, but she was now met with two mares and two stallions. The one mare was a redhead, fair on the eyes, but rather lanky. Her scrawny legs were disproportionate to the rest of her.

The other girl was chubby in the face, but she was cute in a way. Her wispy green mane was tied off to a ponytail on one side, which told Serenade that the girl likely didn’t like maintaining her locks. Her goofy smile though revealed that she had two buck teeth in the front of her mouth.

The first male was a tall drink of water, light brown coat with a short black mane. He wasn’t the most friendly-looking, and his brow reeked of Neanderthal. Still, he had a smile on his face, but Serenade had a difficult time discerning if it was genuine or not.

He tilted his head to nod at the girl before lifting it up with a smug toothy grin, showing his front tooth had a tiny little chip in it.

“What do we have here? A casual observer? Or perhaps a stalker?” He asked.

Serenade remained silent. She didn’t dare agitate the situation.

“Come on, Coal she’s clearly just looking at how desirable you are when your mane it wet!” The lanky mare teased.

“She has bad taste then...” The chubby-faced one made a fake gag to drive her point home that her friend was less than desirable.

“You’re so harsh, Rum! Coal is plenty to look at...” The lanky one looked over at the stallion they referred to as Coal and made a dreamy face that made Serenade want to roll her eyes and gag.

“Well, Lemon, look at her, she’s clearly way too good looking to be wasting her time fanning over a stallion like Coal...” Rum rolled her eyes.

Coal sat down and cross his hooves. “What gives? I’m a good looking stallion!”

“When you say that, how do you manage to not burst out laughing?” Rum asked.

“You two suck, you know that? She isn’t that good looking...” He grumbled.

The fourth member of their group stepped forward and adjusted the strap on his toga before eying Serenade up and down. Like his three friends, he too was a unicorn, but much taller. His light banana yellow coat seemed to go well with his dark brown mane, of which he had a lot of. It draped over him and covered one of his eyes, which were a shining silver.

“You’re wrong, Coal... Look at her...” The new stallion said gesturing at Serenade with his hoof.

The entire group stared at the siren, causing her to look away gently.

“Whoa, you’re right... She’s gorgeous...” Coal’s mouth hung open in awe.

“And thus way too good for a guy like you.” Rum teased, poking at his side.

The tallest stallion offered his hoof with a gentle smile on his face. He had a charming expression, and somehow Serenade felt compelled to shake his hoof. “Baler Stack, a pleasure to meet you.”

Serenade blinked and looked at his hoof and them up at his face. Since she didn’t answer, he continued by introducing the rest of his friends when he let go of her hoof. “This girl is Lemon Ale, and the other one is Rum Barrel.”

Serenade glanced over at the two girls who waved gently at her.

“And you’ve met Coal Ashes already.” Baler smirked.

Her eyes glanced again at Coal and then back at Baler. It had occurred to her that she hadn’t said a word for their entire encounter. She opened her mouth and her voice came out quietly. “Serenade Dazzle...”

“Serenade... That’s a lovely name. It suits you, it’s not often we see girls as pretty as you walking around with the commoners.” Baler winked.

Rum and Lemon both crossed their hooves and looked away with a “hmph” as he said that, clearly offended.

Shrugging, Serenade said nothing.

“Are you a noble?” Baler asked.

“No,” She spoke bluntly.

“How come we’ve never seen you around then?” Coal asked.

Glancing over at him, she proposed her lie. “I traveled here with my father.”

“Oh? So you’re a merchant’s daughter then?” Lemon leaned in with interest.

Serenade shrugged. “Sure.”

“That’s pretty interesting, what kinds of things does he sell?” Rum asked with genuine interest.

“Nothing anymore...” Serenade shrugged.

“Really? How come?” Lemon blinked.

“He died,” Serenade stated plainly. At least that part wasn’t untrue.

“I’m sorry to hear that... So you’re stuck here now?” Rum frowned.

“Not really, I can go where I want and do what I want.” Serenade shrugged again.

Baler chuckled and reached forward, caressing the mare’s cheek. Serenade blinked and glanced at his powerful-looking hoof before raising a brow at the stallion. “Such spirit for a lady, that’s not too common.”

“Thank you?” Serenade replied with a confused tone.

“You’re welcome to stick with us if you’d like.” Baler smiled.

Serenade wiggled her lip in thought before shaking her head. “Trust me on this, you really don’t want to do that.”

“Why not?” Rum blinked.

“I’m more trouble than I’m worth...” Serenade spoke honestly. These ponies had no idea what kind of creature she was, and therefore, they didn’t know what they were getting into. Wherever Serenade Dazzle went, trouble was sure to appear shortly after her arrival.

“Heh, so are we.” Coal boasted as he gestured to himself with his hoof.

Looking away, Serenade was trying to think of where she could go to get away from the group, but it became very clear they weren’t about to give up that easily. Baler brushed a lock of her yellow mane out of her face and smiled. “You don’t have anywhere to go, so why not be with us?”

There was a short pause, but Serenade smirked at him. “I can think of so many reasons, but I have a feeling that you’re not going to listen to them.”

He shook his head. “Nope, so what do you say?”

She shrugged and grinned at him. “Prepare for trouble.”

After her meeting with Aria and Sonata, Twilight became aware of some knowledge that she simply couldn’t ignore and that she couldn’t keep from Glitch. Time was precious and Glitch needed to know before their operation in Manehatten.

Taking in a deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes and tapped on Glitch’s door that prevented others from entering their quarters. Their voice echoed through the door, filling the mare’s ears with its robotic tone. “Enter.”

Nodding, Twilight opened the door and composed herself as she shut it behind herself. Glitch looked her over before tapping their chest and making their helmet vanish, revealing their true form to Twilight.

“Twilight.” Sunset nodded in acknowledgment of the mare.

Twilight nodded back. “Sunset...”

“The Manehatten plan is really coming together, isn’t it?” Sunset asked.

“Brilliant, yes. Excellent work...” Twilight rubbed her neck.

Sunset sat down at her desk and reached into a drawer to retrieve a small bottle of bourbon. Popping a glass out of the same drawer she poured herself a half glass and gestured the bottle to Twilight to see if she was interested. The Princess of Friendship expectedly declined.

Shrugging, Sunset lifted the glass in her hoof and took a mighty sip before setting it down with an audible thump as the glass tapped the desk.

“You’re drinking?” Twilight asked.

“Sometimes you need to take the edge off to find your nerves.” Sunset chuckled as she took another sip. “I’m more of a wine girl myself though if I’m being honest...”

“Maybe we can crack open a bottle from the Royal Canterlot Stock when this is all over?” Twilight grinned.

Taking another long swig, Sunset made an audible satisfied sound before raising a brow at the strange purple mare. “What’s wrong, Twilight? I recognize this behavior, what kind of bad news are you bringing me?”

“Well... I wouldn’t exactly call it bad news, actually it could be good news depending on how you interpret it...” Twilight rubbed her neck.

“You’re beating around the bush, Twilight. I don’t like it. Just out with it, please? I don’t have all the time in the world to play with here,” Sunset demanded.

Twilight chewed her words for a moment but then decided it was best to just get the information out there. “Aria and Sonata said they have noticed some interesting abnormalities just outside of Manehatten.”

“What kind of abnormalities?” Sunset blinked.

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t believe it a first, but our magic tracking has picked up two traces of magic energy that have... Familiar patterns to say the least...” Twilight coughed.

“Familiar how?” Sunset placed both of her hooves upon her desk as she listened to Twilight, eager to learn where this was all going.

“They were Discord’s and my own.” Twilight stood up tall.

That wasn’t the answer that Sunset had expected to hear. “How is that possible?”

“We’re pretty confident that Serenade has stored the power she stole from Discord and myself in a facility somewhere, likely in some kind of power orb,” Twilight explained.

The idea was preposterous. “That makes no sense, Serenade is a ruthless bitch who loves power, why would she purposefully stow power away rather than use it when she has the option?”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s an old mage’s trick. Powerful unicorns often stored their power over long periods of time into power orbs so that they could use it at a later date when they were drained or they needed an extra boost.”

“So Serenade is planning for some kind of rainy day then, that’s what you’re saying?” Sunset asked.

“More or less, yes.” Twilight nodded.

“This changes everything...” Sunset thought out loud.

“How so?” Twilight blinked.

Sunset looked up at the confused mare, realizing she was going to have to spell it out for her. “Twilight, Serenade making some kind of backup plan tells us something important.”

“Which is?” Twilight still wasn’t getting it.

“Serenade knows there is a chance she can be beaten. She wouldn’t make a backup plan if that wasn’t possible. That means that she isn’t invincible like she’d have us believe.” Sunset lectured.

Twilight blinked a few times, but after Sunset’s words processed in her brain, she couldn’t deny the truth in them. The fact that Serenade was preparing for an off chance that she would need more power meant that she had to have some kind of weakness; even the demon herself saw the possibility of a reality where Glitch got the better of her, and thus she prepared for it.

The only flaw in her backup plan is that she likely didn’t anticipate Twilight Sparkle finding out about it, and that meant they had the opportunity to make her backup plan useless.

“I suppose that makes sense...” Twilight agreed.

“So you know what I am going to request next then?” Sunset grinned.

Twilight nodded. “You’re going to ask me to try and steal the power back?”

“Not just you, it’s too risky to send just one pony, so I want you, Aria and Sonata to go together,” Sunset instructed with a gesture from her hoof.

Standing firm, Twilight gave a salute. “Understood. We’ll secret the power while you invade Manehatten.”

Sunset tapped another spot on her suit and a small compartment opened up where she levitated another black crystal out, similar to the one that her suit was housed in, but far more shabby looking and less polished. “There’s one more thing...”

Twilight tilted her head as the crystal was levitated over to her and placed around her neck. “This is the prototype for the suit. It’s very buggy and rough, but it could prove useful in a tight spot. It has a fairly decent resistance to dark energy, so it could be helpful if not for a few minutes.”

Touching the crystal with her hoof, Twilight smiled at Sunset. “Thank you, I promise I’ll use it wisely if I need it.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less of you, Princess Sparkle.” Sunset grinned.

“Well, if I don’t, then everypony may be calling you, princess.” Twilight winked.

Sunset scoffed in disgust. “What a terrible joke...”

“It’s no, joke, Sunset.” Twilight shook her head.

“How so? You’re the princess, not me.” Sunset grunted.

Twilight frowned, realizing she was going to have to explain herself. “Sunset... I named you my successor, should anything happen to me.”

“What? I thought Starlight had that job?” Sunset blinked.

Twilight shook her head. “She was captured already, besides nopony knows my teachings better than you. There’s nopony better for the job.”

“To hell with that!” Sunset hissed.

“Well, you better hope I come back then.” Twilight winked.

“You die and leave me with that responsibility, and I swear I’ll find a way to bring you back just to shove my whole hoof up your ass.” Sunset pointed and threatened.

“Now there’s the Sunset I know.” Twilight giggled before leaving the armored mare to her own thoughts.

What was she thinking? Making her, Sunset Shimmer, heir to her throne? The last thing that Sunset needed was whatever responsibilities Twilight had. She didn’t want to stay in Equestria, she wanted to go home to her family, Twilight knew that, but it was clear she simply didn’t give a damn.

A year had passed since Serenade had found her small entourage who would refer to her as their friend, but she always avoided such a term. If anything, to her they were nothing more than a group of ponies who accepted her company until they eventually would grow to despise her. The only difference is this time they were taking longer than normal.

Baler had taken a liking to her, and often he was the one to go out of his way to include her. They would get into mischief together as a group, but that was the life of the young. Most of them didn’t really regard the word of their parents very highly, and as a result, they didn’t seem to care when they got lectured about the trouble they caused.

At night, the group would split up and Serenade would retreat to the place she had made as her refugee camp. She had charmed an old stallion who owned several buildings to give her this small shack she would stay in. It didn’t have much, but it had the basics she needed to live. She dreamed of charming him out of his lavish mansion, but she had learned her lesson from the past about living too high on the hog. A mare with no parents and no income living in such a ritzy living quarters always got the townsfolk suspicious, especially when she was fairly new in town.

Since then, Serenade had always had to allot herself more modest living arrangements, much to her dismay. She knew she deserved better, but the prejudice of ponies dictated otherwise.

Sitting down on the hay stuffed mattress, Serenade let out a long sigh before running a hoof through her impressive golden and red mane.

The siren had resigned herself to a quiet evening at home, but a sound from the door surprised her. Turning her head, she saw a muscular hoof move the sheet aside that blocked the outside lights from entering the hovel she called home. The hoof was attached to Baler who grinned as he stepped inside and looked around. “Nice little place you got here.”

Serenade looked away in shame. A siren should have been decorated with the finest jewels, as she sat on the throne of a queen, and as such it often caused their kind shame when they were not displayed around the best of the best. “It’s trash, I know.”

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s great. I could really get comfortable in a place like this.”

Scoffing, Serenade avoided eye contact. “You don’t have to say things to make me feel better...”

He blinked and stepped closer before sitting down only a foot or so away from her. He tapped his hoof in thought a good eight times before he spoke again. “You’re a very proud girl, I noticed.”

She shrugged.

“I don’t get why though, you’re already absolutely gorgeous, what else do you have to prove?” He questioned.

“You wouldn’t understand.” Serenade rolled her eyes.

“Try me.” He shrugged.

Serenade took in a breath an exhaled before answering. “It’s very complicated, Baler, in fact so much so that as I’ve stressed before, I don’t even know why you all choose to associate with me...”

He laughed. “You’re out friend, Serenade.”

“Friend... That’s such a stupid word.” Serenade scoffed.

“You think so?” Baler tilted his head.

She nodded. “There are no such things as friends in this world.”

“How do you come to such a conclusion?” He asked.

Serenade peered at him from the corner of her eye. “Once ponies see what you are on the inside, underneath the mask you wear in public... they’re ready to turn on you when the going gets tough.”

“You think so?” Baler asked.

Serenade nodded. “I know so.”

Baler came to a stand and reached forward caressing the mare’s cheek. Serenade averted her eyes and refused to give him her full attention. He held his hoof there for a moment before smiling. “I can’t wait to prove you wrong one day.”

Serenade smirked back at him and shook her head. “You’ll find that Serenade Dazzle is never wrong.”

It had been a few weeks since Adagio had donned the persona of Ghost and lost her mind. Her quest for power had dipped into madness and Aria could no longer recognize the siren who once called herself their leader. Her love for a mortal had clouded her judgment and driven her to obsession.

The moment that Aria had learned she had actually murdered the mortal girl, she insisted that Sonata and she bail on her as quickly as they could. They left the apartment and made themselves scarce, staying as far away from Adagio Dazzle as they could.

The weeks were hard on them, and they struggled to get by, but with some good fortune, they had procured some camping equipment and took refuge in the Everfree Forest near Camp Everfree. The camp was relatively deserted when it wasn’t Summer or Spring, and even when it did have guests, they tended to stay out of the wooded areas where Aria and Sonata kept themselves.

With a little money saved up, they would alternate between taking trips into town and getting food to keep them going along with various ways to keep themselves occupied. Once a day, one of them would head into town and charge a bunch of battery packs to recharge their phones and Sonata’s Nintendo 3DS so that she wouldn’t complain too much.

Water was hardly an issue as a freshwater stream wasn’t that far away, and the arrangement was only intended as temporary anyway until the two could figure out what their next move was.

Aria had been at the nearby gas station picking up some snacks for the two for a good hour or so while she scrolled through her phone connected to the local WiFi. She had treated herself to a coffee while she sat at the table set up for those coming to use said WiFi while she charged all of the batteries she had brought.

After she was finished, she was making her way back to the campsite where the two had made their home, a backpack slung over her shoulder full of snacks, food, and batteries. She sighed as she stopped for a brief moment to catch her breath. She was already tired of living in the woods, but she knew that it was necessary for the time being. Truthfully, she didn’t really have much in the way of plans on how to get out of their current predicament. No documentation, no IDs and no education meant that job prospects were low.

Aria hated admitting that Adagio’s income helped keep them in an apartment, but it was the sad truth. Adagio had lied about how she made money, and instead of working at a department store, she was a drug dealer, but Aria couldn’t deny that the money she made took care of the rent and food with ease. In a way, she hated that she didn’t think of it first, but they had all agreed to keep a low profile after their defeat by the Rainbooms, a promise that Adagio clearly had broken very quickly.

She wanted to hate Adagio, she wanted to despise her, but a part of Aria simply couldn’t do it. Adagio was a complicated siren, one who kept to herself and only gave tiny bits and pieces of her life away, but she did lookout for the group for a long time, even if it was self-serving. Aria always knew that a part of Adagio was hurting, but she’d never own up to it.

The Adagio she knew, however, was gone and in her place was a lunatic who went around killing mortals. She wished she could understand what went on in the girl’s head, but then again she was thankful she didn’t.

Making it back to camp after a long walk, Aria squinted as she could hear laughter coming from their tent, laughter that was not Sonata’s but instead, a masculine sounding voice. She approached carefully to the tent and lifted the flap revealing Sonata sitting on the ground atop of her sleeping back with a dumbfounded look. Across from her was a young man with a chiseled face. His dark green hair seemed to match the trees around them, but his face was frozen in a look of confusion.

Aria crossed her arms and raised a brow as she tapped her foot. “And who might this be?”

Sonata blinked and gestured toward the stranger. “Oh, Aria, this is Timber Spruce, his family owns the camp.”

“And what is he doing here?” Aria asked, her voice reeking of impatience.

“Well, we are on his land...” Sonata frowned.

She had a point there, but it wasn’t one that Aria wanted to acknowledge. Timber cleared his throat and stood up. “Ahem, I came across Sonata out here a few days ago and I come by now and then to check up on her. You guys are free to stay here if you like, I don’t mind really.” He offered his hand which Aria just stared at and refused to shake.

“Thanks, but I don’t recall Sonata mentioning you coming by ever...” Aria peeked around him and glared at her siren ally who was now slinking down trying to make herself small.

“Must have slipped her mind, no big deal. Anyway, I get you two probably don’t want to be asked a lot of questions such as why you’re here or anything, so I won’t bother. This is a safe place, but if you need anything, you can come by the camp and I’ll see if I can help.” He smiled as he pulled his hand back, clearly unoffended by the fact that Aria didn’t shake it.

Aria scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks, can you please give us some privacy now?”

Removing his beanie he nodded and bowed slightly. “Yeah, of course. Sorry to have bothered you. I’ll see you later, Sonata.” He grinned as he looked over his shoulder at the girl who was now sporting a blush as she nodded back and looked away playfully.

“Yeah, bye or whatever...” Aria gestured for him to go with her hand.

Not testing her patience any further, Timber walked past her and out of the tent. Aria waited a good minute or so before speaking to ensure he couldn’t hear her. After about eighty seconds had passed, she poked her head out of the tent to make sure he didn’t linger around to eavesdrop. Once she was certain he was gone, she stormed back in, arms crossed and glared at Sonata who was still trying to appear small.

With a sheepish smile on her face, Sonata tried to break the silence. “So... Uh... How was the trip to town?”

“Don’t even try to change the subject.” Aria hissed.

Sonata frowned and looked down. “Right, sorry...”

“What are you doing talking to him?” Aria asked.

“It’s just lonely out here, that’s all. He came by once when you were in town and I was out for a walk and we got to talking, he’s actually very nice...” Sonata squeaked.

“You like him don’t you?” Aria raised a brow.

Sonata rubbed her finger on her sleeping back making little circles as she avoided eye contact. “Not that much...”

“Don’t lie to me, Sonata...” Aria grunted.

“Okay, a little bit...” Sonata spoke quietly.

“You can’t see him again, you know that right?” Aria asked.

“Why not!?” Sonata perked up and looked up at Aria with pleading eyes.

“Sonata, he’s a mortal. Mortals are dangerous, and I don’t want you making the same mistake that Adagio did, okay?” Aria frowned as she stepped closer and kneeled down to get to Sonata’s level.

Sonata avoided looking at her as she spoke quietly again. “Maybe it won’t end up like that...”

Aria let out a sigh. “Sonata, it always ends up like that. That’s the Siren’s Curse and you know that... If a siren ever falls in love with a mortal...”

“... Then they’ll be met with nothing but misery, I know...” Sonata’s eyes were welled up with tears.

Aria placed a hand upon her shoulder. “Look, I know I give you a hard time all the time, but we already lost Adagio to the curse, I don’t want to lose you too. We have to stay away from mortals, they’re dangerous.”

“Why is our kind cursed, Aria? I just don’t get it...” Sonata whimpered.

With a sigh, Aria recited the story to her fellow siren. “You know why. The legend says that the first siren fell in love with a mortal and bore his children. Those children grew up and could not find love themselves, so out of jealousy they killed their mother’s lover, then from that day on she put a curse on all sirens so they could never find love.”

“It’s just a legend though, maybe it’s not true!” Sonata pointed out.

Aria shrugged. “Maybe not, but one thing is true: any siren who has ever fallen in love with a mortal has had nothing but misery.”

Tears began to fall from Sonata’s face, causing Aria to reach forward and wipe them away. She sighed and placed a hand upon the girl’s cheek. “Sonata, ours is a cursed existence, and I’m not going to say it’s fair or that I understand it, but I do know one thing...”

Sniffling, Sonata looked up at her. “Hm?”

“You and I are together, we have each other, and I’m not going anywhere.” Aria smiled.

Wiping her face, Sonata looked forward with fearful eyes. “Promise?”

Aria chuckled and nodded. “I promise.”

Sonata lifted her hand and offered a pinkie. “Pinkie promise?”

Sighing, Aria reached forward and took her pinkie in her own. “I promise, that I’m always going to be there for you.”

When the time had come to take on Manehatten, Aria, Sonata and Twilight Sparkle all had confidence that Glitch could handle the battle without them. Their prize was on the orb that kept Twilight and Discord’s power stored just outside of the city limits.

Twilight lamented on how if she could just acquire her power back, she would be in a position to do more to help the resistance, however something they couldn’t have anticipated had transpired. While they had known the facility would only be lightly guarded, they didn’t foresee the level of security that Serenade had installed.

State of the art security systems that were relatively new to Equestria blocked almost every door they attempted to enter, and as a result, sneaking around became more challenging, resulting in the group having to slay every guard they saw before they were caught.

Twilight was able to disarm most of the security systems with time, but the task had proven longer than Twilight had anticipated. The group would eventually find themselves close to the storage area where the orb was being kept.

Killing the final guard that stopped them, Twilight stood in front of the group gazing through a thick glass wall that presented a room down below where the orb sat on a pedestal unguarded. “There it is!” Twilight pointed.

The group quickly found themselves looking at the only elevator in the room that lead down to the orb, but squinted as they noted that the large room looked unusually dark. The lighting from the room where they stood didn’t appear to even penetrate the glass to the room down below which made all of them suspicious.

Aria blinked as she noted a communication orb that seemed conveniently placed in the room where they stood. “Twilight...” Aria began by pointing to the communication orb.

Twilight blinked and looked to it with wide eyes. “This was a setup!” She exclaimed.

“Serenade wanted us to find this place... I should have known, the orb was bait!” Twilight hissed.

“I think she wanted to talk to us...” Aria added.

Grumbling, Twilight straightened herself up so Serenade at least wouldn’t have the satisfaction of seeing her flustered as she reached forward and touched the orb to communicate with Serenade.

Like clockwork, inside the murky ball Serenade’s face appeared with a very satisfied grin upon it. “So Glitch sent his rejects to handle this then? What a coward, afraid to go himself? No matter.”

“So this was some kind of trap?” Twilight raised a brow.

“Of course, you didn’t think I’d be stupid enough to leave something like that orb laying around did you?” Serenade chuckled.

“Pretty shitty trap don’t you think? We’re all still alive...” Aria pointed out.

“Not for long.” Serenade smirked.

“How do you figure that?” Twilight asked curiously.

Serenade gestured with her head. “The way I see it is that you have two ways to die that you may choose from.”

“Which are?” Sonata blinked as she joined the conversation.

Twilight found herself adjusting a spare headset she had been given to communicate with Moondancer should she need her expertise on the prototype suit as she listened.

“Well, you see when you entered that facility, I had the orb set to overload. The process takes a bit, but I figured by the time you realized what was happening it’d be too late. I’d estimate you have a little less than eight minutes now. So in eight minutes, that orb is going to unleash all of its power in a massive explosion, killing you and everything in a few mile radius,” Serenade explained.

“You’d be killing most of Manehatten then, your own stronghold.” Aria pointed out.

Serenade shrugged. “Who cares?”

Twilight could feel herself getting angrier just hearing how little Serenade was concerned about her own ponies, but she held herself back.

“And given the size of the blast, there is no way for us to escape now, is that it?” Twilight guessed.

Serenade nodded. “Yup, but you do have a second option if waiting is not quick enough for you...”

“Which is?” Aria grunted.

Gesturing once again to the room, Serenade smirked. “Go in there and die instantly. That room is filled with very potent dark energy. Any non-demon will die within seconds of entering. It’ll rip your body apart and destroy you.”

Twilight bit her lip. She wasn’t sure which death seemed worse, the one where they waited to be blown up, or the one where they died in painful agony by being completely ripped apart.

“You’ve got time to make a choice though, so good luck.” Serenade winked playfully before vanishing from the orb, leaving the team to their own devices.

Twilight hissed and turned to kick the orb, knocking it down and shattering it on the ground as she growled in frustration. “DAMN HER!”

“Guess she played us for fools... We effectively just doomed everypony in Manehatten fighting right now. There’s not even enough time to run to Glitch to warn them...” Sonata frowned as she realized the hopelessness of their situation.

Aria sighed and looked up, trying to think of what she wanted to do with her final moments. Her mind wandered to thoughts of how she missed Adagio in a way. The siren always knew what to do, even if she was a constant pain in Aria’s ass.

Her thought process was interrupted as she noticed Twilight was staring at the room below with a look of consideration. “Twilight, don’t tell me you have a plan...?” Aria blinked.

Turning back, a small grin was plastered on Twilight’s face as she nodded. “Just one.”

Glitch’s attempt on Manehatten had proven more than successful despite challenges. Manehatten’s defenses were strong, but with clever fighting and focusing efforts on choke points, Glitch was able to make it all the way to their goal: Rarity’s prison.

After all, was said and done, Applejack ironically was the first to rush forward to the cell where the mare was being kept. Gripping the bars, the blood-soaked Applejack grew a toothy grin as she saw her friend laying on the ground sleeping. “Rarity! Wake up! It’s me!”

Blinking, Rarity stirred for a moment before picking herself up and looking over to the bars. She was shocked to see a face she had longed to see for so long. She didn’t even remember how long she had been locked away, but somehow she knew that it would be Applejack who would come rescue her.

“Applejack!? How did you get here!?” Rarity blinked as she came close to the bars, gripping them as she smiled at her friend.

“Glitch over here raised an army, he’s a tough customer.” Applejack gestured to the armored pony standing behind her with Cinder who chuckled and crossed her arms.

“And who’s the dragon then?” Rarity tilted her head.

“Don’t worry ‘bout her. We’re here to get y’all out of here.” Applejack grinned.

Rarity reached forward and caressed the mare’s cheek. “Your coat is soaked in blood, darling... What happened out there?”

Applejack shrugged. “War, Rares. We’ve been fightin’ for close to two years now...”

Rarity frowned. “Then there’s no time to waste. Get me out of here so I can help!”

Cinder smirked and stepped forward with Glitch. The two exchanged a glance and nodded at each other. Cinder cracked her knuckles on her one real claw and then gestured for Rarity to step away from the bars.

The mare did as instructed and inched back so that Cinder could do her work. Gripping the bars in her claws, Cinder groaned for a moment as she pulled, but after about eight seconds the bars began to bend to her strength. Everyone watched in astonishment, even Applejack who found herself oddly jealous as she wanted to be the one who broke Rarity free.

Rarity blushed as she watched the dragon flex their muscles before Glitch walked in and gripped the chain tying Rarity down to the floor. With precision, a laser shot from their hoof from some kind of device that Rarity had never seen before and cut the chain loose.

Once Rarity was free, she raced forward and gripped Applejack in a tight embrace. The farm mare blushed but came into the hug.

The embrace wouldn’t last long, however, as Rarity’s eyes shot open as she remembered something important. “We can’t leave yet! Princess Luna is trapped here as well, she’s being kept in another facility not too far from here!”

Glitch nodded and gestured for Rarity to follow. “We better get moving then.”

“After this is over, I totally need a bath.” Cinder giggled as she placed her hands behind her neck. “Applejack here looks like she could use one as well.”

Applejack blushed as Rarity found herself giggling at that statement as well.

Glitch and her group which now included Rarity had met up with Rainbow Dash briefly to inform her that they were headed to get Luna who was trapped somewhere in the city. She was instructed to hold things down and buy them enough time to get their task finished.

Naturally, Rainbow Dash intended to go above and beyond. She had gathered some intel that told her where the big cheese of Manehatten was staying, the pony who Serenade had put in charge, and Rainbow Dash intended to put them down and show her army what happens when you messed with Rainbow Danger Dash.

Stepping into an office, Rainbow blinked, a bit surprised at the environment. She expected a room filled with weapons, a chamber loaded with traps or even a bunch of thugs waiting to jump her, but instead, it was just a regular office it seemed. This was where their enemy performed their daily operations? It didn’t seem very villain-y to her, but perhaps she had been reading too many comic books, reality was often less exciting.

Stepping forward, she flipped through some papers on the nearby desk to see if there was anything of interest, and sure enough, there was nothing. Most seemed to be daily reports about virtually nothing. Whoever ran the place wasn’t an iron hoof type.

“Like my new office, Rainbow?” A voice came from the doorway.

Rainbow turned quickly, ready to take a battle stance when her eyes opened wider as she gazed at the mare standing at the doorway.

She recognized that yellow mane and smug grin anywhere. “Lightning Dust!?”

“The one and only, Serenade gave me these sweet digs, pretty cool huh?” Lightning stepped into the room and wandered about aimlessly, not really paying much mind to Rainbow.

Her calmness made Rainbow suspicious. She always knew Lightning to be overconfident, but something was different about her, she was far more overconfident than usual.

“Why are you working with Serenade?” Rainbow asked.

Lightning placed a hoof on a bookshelf and sighed. “Isn’t it obvious? Our relationship is mutually beneficial. I help her and she helps me.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because I’m taking you down.” Rainbow smirked as her wings raised.

Lightning caught a glimpse of her rival through the corner of her eye. “Rainbow... You have no idea how powerful Serenade is or what she’s capable of. She’s given me speed that you can’t even dream of.”

Rainbow blinked and Lightning was gone. She searched the room and jumped when she realized the mare was now behind her. Rainbow readjusted herself and kept her guard up as Lightning lectured her. “You’re not the fastest in Equestria anymore. With this power... I intend to finally have my revenge, I can finally beat you and bask in the glory.”

Rainbow growled at the mare. “And what happens when Serenade is done with you? When she throws you aside!?”

Lightning shook her head, a smile still upon her lips. “I don’t care. Once I beat you and exact my revenge, I could care less about what happens to me or Equestria.”

“I didn’t think you were rotten to the core...” Rainbow spat.

“A lot has changed since we last met, Rainbow. After I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts things didn’t exactly go so well for me. My life hasn’t had much meaning since the day you beat me... I’ve longed only to prove I’m better than you, and Serenade promised me a way to do that...” Lightning explained.

“Serenade is a manipulator, she doesn’t give a damn about you or anypony else.

“I would think that I know Serenade a bit better than you do.” Lightning shook her head.

“Well if you trust her so much, why are you still going to lose this fight?” Rainbow smirked.

“We’ll see about that.” Lightning hissed before lunging forward to make the first strike.

Rainbow moved quickly to get out of the way but Lightning vanished before her eyes. She reappeared quickly behind Rainbow about to strike again with her back hoof, but Rainbow caught her hoof and pushed the mare back, deflecting the kick.

“You may be fast, Lightning but I will always be better than you because you fight for all the wrong reasons,” Rainbow explained, “It’s something that even I had to learn the hard way, but so long as you only fight to be the best, you’ll never actually get there.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lightning said as she vanished again.

This time, however, Rainbow couldn’t predict which direction she would come from and the mare was able to come at her side and give her a mighty kick in the gut, knocking the multi-hued mare back.

Rainbow gripped her side only to be hit from the other side just as quickly. She fumbled but kept herself upright. Lightning appeared in front of her with a laugh. “See, Rainbow? You can’t beat me. I’m too fast for you.”

“Speed isn’t everything, it takes heart to win too...” Rainbow groaned.

She adjusted herself and forced herself to ignore the pain as she released her side and took a defensive stance.

Lightning shook her head at her rival. “You should just learn when it’s time to stay down, Rainbow Dash. Then again, I prefer you this way. I don’t want to win so easily, I want you at your best so I can pulverize you.”

Gears were turning in Rainbow’s mind, she was formulating a plan, but as that was happening, Lightning Dust managed to get eight more powerful kicks in at lightning speeds, knocking Rainbow Dash down.

As the mare picked herself up, Lightning stood in laughter. “That’s it! Bow before your better!”

She moves so fast that I can’t see her. Rainbow thought.

Slowly she came to a stand as more thoughts went through her mind. I can’t trust my eyes. She moves at light speed, so that means I need another way to detect her.

Rainbow closed her eyes. I need to feel where she is, even if she’s moving too fast to see, she can still be felt. Vibrations can tell me where she’s been and where she’s heading. I just need to focus.

Her eyes remained closed as she waited, and sure enough, Lightning took advantage of the situation and tried to come at her from behind. This time though, Rainbow sensed she was coming and rolled out of the way. When Lightning’s attack missed, Rainbow delivered a kick to the mare’s rear, causing her to stumble for a brief moment.

The damage wasn’t much, but it was enough to anger Lightning. Rainbow’s rival came at her again, but again, Rainbow dodged and delivered her counter attack, all with her eyes still closed.

This process would repeat, again and again, eight times until Lightning growled in frustration from the ninth time where Rainbow kicked her directly in the jaw. Wiping the blood from her lip, Lightning cursed and looked over at Rainbow who was remaining still with her eyes closed.

How was it possible? She had become faster than she had ever been in her entire life, and yet Rainbow Dash was insulting her by fighting her without even moving from a single spot; fighting her with her eyes closed even!

“I don’t get it... I’m faster than you! I’m better than you!” Lightning growled.

Rainbow found herself smirking as she stood with her eyes still closed. “You may be faster, but I already told you: so long as you fight only to be the best, you’ll never beat me.”

“You always fought to be the best, so what’s the difference?” Lightning hissed.

Rainbow opened her eyes. “I have a reason to want to be the best, to protect my friends. You just want glory for yourself. It took me a long time to get where I am, but I now know that when I had your attitude... I was always going to be held back.”

“Fuck you!” Lightning hissed, lunging forward.

Her hoofwork was sloppy and Rainbow jabbed her in the chest a few times before kicking her in the face, causing the mare to tumble and roll onto the floor. She coughed and spat up blood as she looked up at Rainbow.

“What will you do now, Lightning?” Rainbow asked.

Lightning may have been proud and determined to beat Rainbow Dash, but she wasn’t foolish enough to throw her life away. If she continued, Rainbow would surely kill her. Even with her speed, Rainbow was too much for her, and she could feel her body weakening. Not to mention the city was close to falling and that meant Serenade wouldn’t be thrilled with her either.

There was only one option: run.

Picking herself off of the floor, Lightning spat out some blood and glared at Rainbow. “You may have won this time, Rainbow, but I won’t stop until I’m at your level...”

“I look forward to that day.” Rainbow grinned.

With those words, Lightning bolted past her and jumped through the window, shattering it as her wings spread and she took off to go lick her wounds. Rainbow had bested her once again, but she wasn’t ready to give up. One day, she would prove she was better than Rainbow Dash.

“So what’s your plan, Twilight?” Sonata tilted her head in confusion.

Twilight looked at the room below the group once again and then back at them before tapping the crystal around her neck which Sunset had given her. “Glitch gave me the prototype suit that Moondancer had built. It is capable of resisting dark energy.”

“So we just have somepony put the suit on and go down there...” Aria placed a hoof on her chin as she pieced it together.

“And they can decant the spell merely by touching it and focusing. It’s a relatively simple process with magic orbs like this.” Twilight nodded.

“Cool, so we’re actually not in a bad spot at all then!” Sonata beamed.

Twilight frowned, hating to disagree, but knowing she must. “Actually... It’s not that simple, Sonata...”

Sonata blinked and tilted her head.

“The prototype suit is far weaker than Glitch’s and given how high the dark energy in that room is, I’m almost certain that the suit likely could only sustain one for a moment or so down there...” Twilight rubbed her neck as she admitted the flaw in her plan.

“So what does that mean?” Sonata asked.

Aria spoke up, answering for Twilight. “It means whoever goes down there isn’t coming back.”

Sonata’s eyes widened as she looked over to Twilight hopefully, begging her with her eyes to say that Aria was wrong, but no such luck. “Aria is correct. It’s a one-way trip.”

There was silence between the three of them until Sonata broke it after a moment. “So one of us...” She bit her lip, “is going to die?”

Twilight nodded. “That would be an accurate description of the situation...”

“How do we decide who goes?” Aria asked.

Twilight reached into a pouch she had tied to her side and retrieved a single die. “Discord gave me this. He said that sometimes chaos requires you to leave things entirely up to chance, and that’s what I intend to do here. We roll for it, one or two means I go, three of four is Sonata, and five or six is Aria.”

“You’re going to determine which one of us dies from the roll of a die?” Sonata gulped.

“Have any better ways?” Twilight asked.

Aria wanted to speak up but found no words came out of her mouth.

“This is the only fair way,” Twilight reminded.

There were no objections.

With a deep breath, Twilight tossed the die onto the floor. All eyes locked onto the small object as it pattered across the floor, spinning and bouncing until eventually coming to a stop. Time stood still.

All three of them remained silent as they stared at the number that faced up at them.

Two.

Twilight exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment. “Well... I guess it’s fitting. I kind of deserve it after all I’ve done anyway... The captain must go down with the ship, right?”

Aria and Sonata were silent.

Composing herself, Twilight thought hard about what to say next. Her next words were going to be her final ones, she needed to make sure she articulated what she wanted to say perfectly.

“Can you two at least tell Sunset that I’m sorry for me? I never intended to hurt her life as much as I did, I was just desperate...” Twilight spoke quietly.

Aria stepped forward and shook her head. “Tell her yourself.”

“Huh?” Twilight tilted her head.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Aria drew the hoof mounted blade she held and jabbed the point into Twilight’s shoulder, and grabbed the crystal around her neck, cutting the string that held it there and taking the gem for herself before pushing the Princess of Friendship onto the ground.

“Ah!” Twilight yelped.

“What’re you doing!?” Twilight added as she gripped the wound, watching Aria bolt toward the elevator.

“This ship still needs a captain,” Aria replied before tapping the crystal to her chest.

That action caused a made cruder looking combat suit to form around her, though it was still very sophisticated by Equestrian standards. One who was familiar with Glitch’s suit, however, could tell it was an inferior version.

Once she was inside the elevator, she jabbed the button to close the door and head down.

“Aria!” Sonata called out as she rushed to try and stop the elevator.

“I love you, Sonata. I’m sorry that I’m breaking my promise...” Aria spoke up.

“What are you doing!?” Sonata screamed.

“Singing my swan song.” Aria smirked and at that moment the door closed just in front of Sonata.

Sonata banged repeatedly on the door and tried hitting the button to make the elevator come back, but there was no stopping the machine once it had begun its descent.

“No! Aria! Aria!” Sonata kept banging, tears streaming down her face. “Don’t do this! Please!”

Twilight gripped her wound and hobbled over to Sonata before sitting down in front of the elevator, using her other hoof to tap her headset to Moondancer.

“Moondancer, Aria has the suit and she’s exposed to a lot of dark energy right now!” Twilight yelled.

The response from Moondancer was instant. “I can tell, the suit is giving me all kinds of warnings now. Fuck, that’s a lot of dark energy!”

“Do something!” Twilight commanded.

“I’m trying. I’m going to see if I can take power from other non-essential systems to keep the dark shield up for a bit longer. It won’t be much, but it’ll buy us some time,” Moondancer explained.

“Do it!” Twilight growled.

Down below, Aria could feel the air around her constricting the suit, wanting to penetrate it and potentially destroy her body. She had to focus though, and she trudged forward toward the orb, reaching out and placing both hooves upon it. The mare closed her eyes and concentrated.

On Moondancer’s end, things were not going so well. Her computer that was used to monitor the prototype suit was displaying almost every warning that it had at her.

“Shields failing, Twilight...” Moondancer spoke into her headset.

Eight seconds passed and a new warning appeared. “Shields completely offline!” Moondancer felt a cold sweat run down her neck as she began to clack away at her keyboard, trying to think of a solution. The only one that came to mind was to push as much auxiliary power to the life support system.

“Come on, Moondancer! She needs more time!” Twilight screamed over the headset.

“I’m trying! I’m going to push everything into life support!” Moondancer replied.

Sure enough, like clockwork, another warning appeared. Life Support Systems Failing.

“Shit! Life support failing... And now... Life support not functioning!” Moondancer felt her heart begin to beat faster in fear.

“Moondancer! Do something!” Twilight yelled.

“I’m trying! It wasn’t designed to handle this!”

In front of the orb, Aria could feel the decantation finishing up as she grinned. “Not today, Serenade...”

With those words, the process finished and she could feel the magic in the orb release into a peaceful stream rather than a violent explosion. Aria grinned and sat down, already feeling the effects of the dark energy around her. She was tired and weak and knew that making it back to the elevator was impossible. This room would be her resting place, and she was alright with that.

Serenade may have bested her, but she wouldn’t beat Glitch, that much Aria knew. She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.

“Vital signs dropping, Twilight!” Moondancer was now flipping between monitors tapping away at her keyboard, trying to find any way to get the life support systems back online.

“Critical condition!” Moondancer gulped.

“Help her, Moondancer! Please!” Twilight pleaded.

Moondancer froze, however, when she saw a line go across her screen. Aria’s heart had flatlined. All vitals dropped to zero.

“Moondancer, are you there?” Twilight asked, concerned over her silence.

“I... I’m sorry...” Moondancer nearly whispered as she stared at the screen, her eyes welling up with tears. “I couldn’t do anything...”

“Moondancer?” Twilight asked again.

“Forgive me...” Moondancer trembled. “Please... Forgive me...”

This chapter was a challenge to write because so much was going on. I actually had to trim a lot out to make it not as long, but I’m still not entirely happy with it. Not my best work, I apologize.

There was a lot of content that simply had to moved to the next chapter because this chapter was already long enough.