In the beginning, the legends spoke of an immortal who would seek to become more than they had been born as, more than they could have achieved on their own. Their ambition would be fueled by their hatred for the mortal kind.

In her heart, she would hold no love, no affection, only hatred. As she grew, she would find more hatred, more anger and her heart would afford no room for anything else. Anger would be the only emotion she understood, hatred her pure driving force.

When she was born, the high demons whispered of her presence, speaking highly of her as she would ascend to become their new master. From birth, they cultivated her and influenced her. They watched as mortals would abuse her, waiting for that abuse to affect her so they could whisper in her ear and speak of the power they could offer her.

The process was a project of patience, but within time, she would accept their offer of power.

A series of trials she was given, and the first she passed with brutality and cruelty that the umbral plains had never seen. In her rage, she showed the potential to be the most merciless demon to ever set foot in these cursed lands. No amount of demons thrown in her path stopped her, and no amount of battle would slow her down.

It was decided from then that she would be granted the gift of demonhood, and from that point, she would be tested many times to see if she was truly worthy. Each test she passed, more brutal than the last, and as she grew, so did her thirst for blood and vengeance.

Hell could not contain her for long, as her thirst for the blood of mortals outgrew hell’s ability to feed. With hatred fueling her, she walked among mortals ready to deliver swift justice to all who opposed her and those who had wronged her.

Her power continued to grow beyond that which was believed possible, and she would soon find herself standing among the most elite demons in hell. As she slew them all in a display of impressive supremacy, she stood before the throne of hell ready to ascend it. Her final test would have her kill the lord that sat upon the throne.

As she left that day, she promised she would return with enough power to rip his head clean off of his body and then she would sit upon the very throne that deemed one worthy of being the demon lord.

Hell waits for that day with eagerness for its new master.

She would rise to the land of mortals once more and begin a new conquest. With ease, she was able to overpower even the strongest of the mortals on the surface world, and take their kingdom as her own. To insult them in their defeat, she would construct monuments to her vanity and dismantle all they had built.

One mortal stood in her way, however, a mortal that continued to cause problems in her plans, a mortal with ambition in their heart. This mortal whom had once given into the dark temptations of demonhood would continue to sleight her and threaten her seat of power.

In the hopes of thwarting her enemy’s plight, the future demon lord would send her to the very plains that she had once walked through, hoping that hell would be the mortal’s undoing.

She was mistaken, however. The mortal would conquer hell with nothing but blades and willpower, defeating the trials of the damned to return to the world above so that she may live to do battle with the future demon lord.

With a blade forged in ancient times, she possessed the ability to give pause to the immortal being’s power itself. With this blade in tow, she would go to challenge the future demon lord.

That same mortal walks ignorant that she too possesses the same gift that could turn her into the demon lord one day.

As their mights approach their inevitable clash, only one shall emerge victoriously. Whoever that one is, stands a greater chance of becoming the lord of all demons. So it is written.

Their names are Serenade Dazzle and Sunset Shimmer.

What had Adagio done? She had done something that a siren should never do, and she knew that. It was one thing to kiss her, it was another to lay with her. Sirens were forbidden from loving mortals and forbidden from having sex, and yet she had fallen for a mortal’s lure and allowed herself to be taken by her.

She laid there with a cigarette pressed between her fingers before taking a long inhale of the cancer stick and letting out a cloud of smoke. She had just damned herself, and she knew it, but her body couldn’t resist what was being offered to it. Feeding off of negative emotion made her feel powerful and shot excitement through her entire body, but this was something far greater than that. The pleasure that she felt when she allowed this mortal to touch her far exceeded that.

The redhead that had just shown her how to make love to a woman smiled at her and kissed the taller girl’s cheek.

“Not bad for your first time.” Shimmer smiled.

Adagio gave a half-grin, trying to keep her usual “tough girl” demeanor before taking another inhale of her cigarette.

“Yeah, well I’m not really supposed to do those kinds of things...” Adagio blushed, trying to avoid eye contact.

Shimmer blinked and moved in closer, forcing the siren to meet her eyes. “Really? Why not? Who said?”

Adagio felt incredibly warm when she felt the girl crawl more onto her. Her sizable breasts now resting on her right arm that was tucked under a blanket. How could they be so soft? More importantly, why did that matter to Adagio?

Everything about Shimmer’s skin was soft and smooth, and somehow that was insanely appealing to the siren. She couldn’t believe what was happening, she a temptress was being tempted by a mere mortal.

“Bad stuff happens to my kind when we do this kind of stuff...” She stated, trying to keep it as vague as possible. She couldn’t tell this mortal girl she was a siren, at least not yet.

Shimmer seemed unsatisfied with that answer. “Your kind?”

“Let’s just say that my family has a bad history with love and sex...” Adagio glanced away, trying to avoid locking eyes with the redhead.

“How so?” Shimmer pried.

Damn, she doesn’t give up, does she? Adagio growled internally at Shimmer’s persistence.

Adagio finished her smoke and patted the still lit end into an ashtray before sighing. “My mother was murdered for loving someone...”

The girl’s eyes widened at that statement. “Murdered!? For loving someone!? How does that happen!?”

Adagio reached over and pet the girl’s head which caused her to release a gentle coo. “People didn’t take kindly to their romance... My father did nothing to defend her and watched as she was burned alive.”

Shimmer’s eyes now were not only wide open, but her mouth was starting to hang open. “How did they get away with that!? Did the people who did it ever get caught?”

Adagio twitched as she realized she may have given more information away than she intended. If she continued to slip, Shimmer would discover she was from another world. Quickly, she thought up a feasible excuse.

“No. I came from a place where the law didn’t really care what happened to people like me...” Adagio said, not entirely lying.

“That’s terrible... Maybe you can still do something?” Shimmer suggested.

Adagio grunted, wanting the girl to drop the subject. “Sunset, I am a drug dealer who has gotten by with fake IDs and falsified records. The government doesn’t care what happens to me or my family, which I no longer have. Besides, the people who did it are all dead now, and even if they weren’t, going after them wouldn’t change anything...”

Shimmer frowned. “Oh... I guess that’s true...”

There was silence between them for a solid eight seconds before Shimmer broke it. “That doesn’t mean you should avoid love. I mean, if anything, you need it now more than ever.”

Adagio smirked at the thought. “Anyone who loves me will find a world of trouble, I think I’ve told you this before.”

Shimmer smirked right back at her before leaning up to kiss her neck. “Then consider me in deep.”

Serenade stood with a changeling at her side, staring off in the distance at the mighty land of Equestria. They stood there at the outskirts of the nation, gazing at the marvel of the world. Equestria had risen to the most advanced, wealthy and resource-rich land in the world in its few thousand-year history.

The unification of the races under its flag turned diversity into its strength very quickly. Unicorn, earth pony, and pegasi all worked together to build the nation into what it was today. Now, Equestria stood as a peacekeeping nation that utilized its might to thwart fighting between nations outside its borders. In other words: Equestria became the police of the world almost overnight.

The young-looking changeling stared, unblinking at the nation which both creatures didn’t exactly have the best experiences with.

“See that, Arax?” Serenade pointed and gestured with her head at the mountain in the distance where one could see the crown jewel of Equestria perched on its edge ever so precariously.

It was the city of Canterlot, home of the two royal princesses who controlled Equestria from their thrones. Along with the help of a few others, the entire country was governed by a small hoofful of ponies, all of which selected by Celestia herself.

Arax had seen the city before, but it was still quite appealing to the eyes to see it from a distance. Whoever designed the city was a genius of an architect.

“What of it?” Arax questioned, not truly interested, but instead obligated.

“I’m going to rule the country one day. We start small, and by this time next year, all of Equestria will be mine, and you’re going to help me do it...” She smirked at the changeling.

Arax scoffed and looked away with annoyance. Already, her ambitions sounded far too great to ever realistically achieve, but then again, he had already witnessed her other-worldly powers. Serenade certainly possessed abilities that were unique and not easily replicated, even with magic, but to take over an entire nation? Was such a thing possible? Surely it wasn’t.

Even with her demonic powers, there was no way she could actually dethrone the two alicorn princesses. Celestia and Luna were at least over a thousand years old, mastering their abilities in all that time, after all.

“Not to be a downer here, but that whole plan sounds impossible. Celestia and Luna are-“

“Relics of the past.” Serenade interrupted.

He sighed and shook his head. “Only metaphorically speaking. If we are speaking logically, they are more than formidable. You know what they say though? Pride cometh before a fall.”

Serenade gave him a dismissive hoof gesture as she stomped her other hoof to get his attention. “You forget... You haven’t seen all that my power can do yet...”’

That was just like her, really. Serenade always seemed to have just one more secret hidden up her sleeve. She kept many secrets, and in the short time that Arax had known her, he felt as if he hadn’t gotten to know her at all.

She looked over at him with a grin. “You must be getting tired, let’s camp here for now.”

A brief setup went by, and they were sitting in front of a warm fire as the sun went down. Arax gazed at the sunset in awe. “It’s beautiful...” He commented.

Serenade scoffed, refusing to even look in that direction. “I hate Sunsets.”

He blinked as he held out a stick with some vegetation upon it over the fire, roasting it. “Do you like anything?”

“That’s a stupid question.” She rolled her eyes.

He supposed it was, and dropped that subject entirely, not particularly interested in it anyway.

His other hoof moved over to his chest as he felt his beating heart for a brief second before glancing back over at the siren who was just poking at the fire with a stick, no food in tow. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I don’t need to eat,” she said plainly.

“Not hungry?” He pulled his own stick out of the fire and took a bite of his food.

“I don’t get hungry.”

He chuckled as he tried to create light conversation, realizing that this girl clearly wasn’t one for small talk, but if he was stuck with her, he figured he should at least get to know her.

“Small appetite then?” He questioned.

Finally, she looked up at him with serious eyes. Her stare was powerful and a bit frightening, but he kept his composure.

“I don’t get hungry ever,” she stated.

Arax blinked and tilted his head slightly in confusion. “How is that possible?”

A small smirk came to her lips. That was the odd thing about her, she never smiled unless it was a sinister one. “A demon as old and as powerful as I has evolved past the need for such a thing. I have enough demonic energy that I need not sleep, eat or drink. All of those things are pointless activities to me now.”

“So you haven’t slept in a long time then?” He asked in amazement, his mouth slightly ajar.

She nodded. “Hundreds of years.”

“Why did you become a demon, if you don’t mind me asking?” He finished off his food and leaned in to hear her better. This time he genuinely was interested.

Serenade had an annoyed look on her face as he asked. “Damn, you really like asking a lot of fucking questions don’t you?”

“We’re stuck together, so I may as well try to understand why you’re doing this, and who you are, right?” He shrugged.

She sighed and grumbled but answered his question, regardless.

“I was on the path to demon hood at a young age. I’ve hated mortals for a long long time. Almost my entire life, I’ve wanted to do nothing but cause mortals pain. After I became a demon, I spent all of my days honing my powers, trying to become strong enough until the day where I could wipe the world of them,” Serenade explained.

“Why though?” He blinked.

“Mortals are a disease, a sickness upon the world. They’re nothing more than a virus masquerading as civilized creatures.” She glared, her eyes narrowing as she spoke those worlds. Arax could already tell: she truly meant them. That was precisely how she felt.

At first, the changeling didn’t know what to say, but somehow eight words came out of his mouth, almost absentmindedly. “Why are you doing something about it now?”

“It finally got more personal...” She growled, clearly not comfortable answering so many questions.

“And what do you need me for?” He asked.

That truly was the mystery. Serenade seemed powerful enough to where a single changeling should not be of much help to her, yet as if reading his mind, she stood up and her long mane bounced as she did. She smirked at him and gave a cunning gaze. “That’s to be determined. Show me what you’re capable of, and we may have a very healthy working relationship.”

“And if I fail?” He blinked.

She chuckled and shook her head. “I wouldn’t worry about that. If such a thing happens... You only need to know that you’ll regret it dearly.”

Glitch pushed the door to the briefing room on their airship open and waltzed in with a clipboard in tow as they quickly began reading off instructions. The room was full with Sonata to the left of Princess Twilight who had a confused look upon her face as to why Glitch was being “all business”, but then she surmised that the armored pony didn’t want anything to go wrong.

“Alright, listen up, I need everyone to pay close attention because we can’t afford anyone to fuck anything up, alright?” Glitch commanded.

The room was filled with silence as Glitch pointed toward Applejack. “Applejack, you’re on front line leadership. You’re going to command and guide the team attacking from the South Gate. You can do so from the airship after you create an entrance for us.”

“Wait, that’s the primary entrance. Shouldn’t y’all be doin’ that?” Applejack raised a brow.

“I trust you with the task. I have a far more important job that will require my attention, so you have to do it. I can’t think of another pony who is better suited for the job.” Glitch barked.

Applejack grew silent and decided it was best to simply accept the honor given to her and let Glitch continue, as he didn’t appear to have much in the way of patience that day.

“Twilight, Discord, I have a special job for you. In Canterlot there are two control towers that are used to amplify magic. Commonly these are used for amplifying shield spells over the city. One of them is discharged completely and I need both of you to head to that tower and charge it with your magic. Combined, you should be more than enough to do so,” Glitch commanded.

Twilight blinked. “Why though?”

Glitch sighed, realizing they were going to have eight thousand questions along the way.

“The two towers can amplify magic, I intend to coordinate it with my location in the prime center of the city. If we can get both towers online and me in position, the suit’s power combined with my own may be enough to send a blast Serenade’s way that will immobilize her,” Glitch explained with their hoof waving.

The entire room seemed to squint and lean in with interest. “That sounds pretty risky...” Twilight commented.

“I love it!” Discord chimed in with a devious grin. “It’s daring! It’s chaotic even!”

“It’s our best chance at winning, so I need you both to get to that tower to power it back up.” Glitch grunted.

Discord gave a salute in Glitch’s direction. “You can count on me, mysterious masked commander.”

Twilight didn’t even get a chance to chime in, as the draconequus placed a claw around his “student” and pulled her close as he grinned at her. She smiled back sheepishly before turning back to the armored pony with concern.

“What about the other tower?” Sonata asked.

Glitch paused and looked across the room. “The other one will be a bit more complicated. While it’s still powered up, the main route to it is destroyed. Serenade really leveled a lot of the city when she took over.”

“And as far as the reports suggest, the tower’s outside is corrupted with dark magic, so we can’t even use the outside entrance if we wanted to, because we’d have to pass through the dark barrier.” Twilight frowned as she pointed out the fact.

Glitch smirked under their helmet, though no one could see it. “I know, but that’s why we’re not going to use the outside entrance.”

“What do y’all mean?” Applejack asked.

“There is an underground tunnel way that leads in through the sewers. It can get one past the barrier by going under. Someone can go through the sewers to get to the tower. Since it’s already powered, they would merely need to switch it on,” Glitch stated plainly.

“Are you forgetting that even if we go under the barrier; while the damage from trying to pass through it is negated, there is still the high level of magic potency in the air...” Twilight reminded.

Glitch let out a sigh, a bit surprised that the princess had so little faith in their abilities that they had assumed they hadn’t accounted for that.

“I know, but that’s why Cinder is going to be the one to do it.” Glitch pointed to the dragon who blinked once but then grew her usual determined face as she nodded at the masked pony.

“How will that change anythin’?” Applejack crossed her hooves.

“For the love of Celestia, please, can anyone around here do some research or read a book or something?” Glitch placed a hoof upon their head trying to quell their headache.

Cinder had already figured out what Glitch was getting at, but she chose to enlighten the others, though she suspected a few (namely Twilight) had also figured it out.

The dragon cleared her throat before speaking. “Dragons are resistant to magic. Not immune, but our bodies are poor conductors for magic, thus its effects are weakened on us.”

“Meaning that Cinder should be able to navigate the tower with no problems...” Twilight placed a hoof upon her chin in thought.

Glitch really had thought all of this through. They had an entire attack plan ready, and it appeared as though they intended to utilize every single asset at their disposal. Needless to say, Princess Twilight was considerably impressed by Glitch’s planning; but the question remained if they would have the skill to pull all of it off?

Failure at this stage would be catastrophic. They wouldn’t just go back to square one, they would be out of the game entirely. If Serenade and Glitch’s might both met in battle and Glitch was not the winner; it would be the end of days for the rest of them.

They couldn’t afford to let that happen.

“Sonata, you’re going to lead a group with Kiz, as she so graciously offered.” Glitch bowed their head gently at the siren lord who nodded back.

Sonata didn’t understand this siren. What was her motivation? Why was she helping them? It didn’t make much sense to her, but at least if she was by her side, she could find out. Sonata had a personal attachment to all of this, and hoped to find a place for herself in Equestria when it was all over, but what about Kiz? She had nothing to gain by trusting Sunset with a weapon that could kill sirens with ease, so why did she?

She also wondered if the legends were true and the siren truly was as old as she claimed. Either way, she somehow trusted her, regardless of all of that. Kiz had voluntarily given her amulet up, but something told Sonata that she was powerful enough not to need it.

“What about you, Glitch?” Twilight chimed in.

Glitch glanced over at her, before focusing themselves back upon Cinder. “Once you have the towers operational, turn on the lights so I know. Then, I should be able to use the help of a small attack team that will slowly push through her defenses. At that stage, a frontal assault is feasible, but I wouldn’t worry about such a thing, chances are Serenade will try to use some kind of attack to stop us, so I intend to use the energy we gain to push through.”

“In layman’s terms?” Twilight tilted her head.

“A big ass energy blast, yes?” Cinder chuckled.

Glitch paused but nodded. “As Cinder so elegantly put, yes a large energy blast. I just need to concentrate and I might be able to tap into some of my unused power.”

Twilight instantly knew what she was referring to. Sunset had written to her about her transformation during the Friendship Games into Daydream Shimmer. If she was fighting for the right reasons and centered herself, there was a possibility she could do it again.

The power boost she got as Daydream could be exactly what they needed, provided Sunset could still do it. A lot about the girl had changed since that day, and while she was able to tap into that power once during her fight with Adagio, she was a lot less hardened back then. The Sunset that stood before her under that mask was one full of resentment and negative emotions after all (many of which caused by Twilight).

Was it still possible for her to move past all of that to become Daydream? Twilight was curious herself as she couldn’t fathom an answer just yet.

“All sounds risky t’ me.” Applejack crossed her hooves.

“Risks net rewards, and at this stage, we have to convince Serenade that we are a force to be reckoned with. If we can trip her up, she might get sloppy, which is enough to exploit a victory for us,” Glitch countered.

Applejack couldn’t even argue with that logic, so she remained silent while Twilight chimed in. “Use psychology to gain an advantage? That’s actually quite brilliant.”

“You can call it brilliant when we pull it all off... If we can that is...” Glitch said.

Twilight stood with her longtime friend Rarity and watched with her from her porch as her blonde haired wife worked the fields; her son carrying baskets to help while Horizon merely observed from a distance. Horizon hadn’t exactly been shown to be a very labor-oriented girl after all.

While Twilight was merely just gazing in the general direction, Rarity was keeping her eyes on her wife’s tight and attractive muscles as she worked. The woman could already feel herself sweating as she watched the woman flex her taut muscles.

There was silence between the two until Twilight finally broke it. She didn’t look at Rarity, instead, she kept her eyes on the fields in front of them. “Rarity, do you ever keep secrets from Applejack?”

“Of course.” Rarity’s answer came a bit quicker than Twilight had expected. The nature of her answer also surprised her.

Blinking, Twilight turned her head to face the fashionista, whose eyes were still focused on the farmer.

“You do?”

Rarity nodded. “Sometimes things are better left unsaid and there are parts of yourself that you simply can’t show to anyone, even the people you love.”

Was that true? Twilight wondered. Could there possibly be parts of herself that she had never shown anyone? She pondered for a good eight seconds but couldn’t think of anything that she hadn’t at the very least, told Sunset before.

“I can’t think of any part of myself I’ve denied or not shown in front of Sunset... I mean, I’m pretty sure she knows pretty much everything about me...” Twilight frowned.

Rarity was quiet for a moment but responded with a tone to Twilight that suggested regret. “Sometimes it’s not easy for people to be their entire self even around the people they love.”

Now Twilight was certain that Rarity was speaking from personal experience. “Is something on your mind, Rarity?”

The woman snapped back to reality and looked over at Twilight. “Hm?” There was a brief pause followed by her first growing a sugary grin that Twilight suspected wasn’t genuine. “Oh, nothing, either way, whatever secrets Sunset keeps are likely not to hurt you.”

Twilight squinted. “I guess... I just wanted to know if I should accept that she’s never going to come back...”

Rarity’s demeanor changed. Her face became serious and somewhat somber. “I can’t tell you what to do in that regard, but Twilight... It has been three years. You have to think about yourself and Horizon at this point. And accept the real possibility that...” She bit her lip. “Sunset might even be dead...”

Dead. Somehow that thought brought Twilight comfort. It was better that Sunset’s excuse for not coming back was that she died than because she just didn’t want to be with her, right?

“I... I don’t know...” Twilight frowned.

Rarity reached over and placed a hand atop of Twilight’s, causing her to look up to the girl’s serious blue eyes. Even as she was getting older, Rarity continued to look just as pretty as she always had.

“Moving on is a process, Twilight,” she stated.

Horizon and her guardian sat at the breakfast nook table eating from some salads which Horizon was hardly poking at. The girl wasn’t much of a fussy eater, but she certainly was a slow eater. She often took a good hour to finish what she was eating, but Twilight seldom made a big deal out of it. As long as the girl got her nutrition, Twilight was content.

Looking at her daughter, Twilight could see a lot of Sunset in her. The texture of her hair seemed to match that of Sunset’s and if she grew her hair out, it would probably look very similar. Though her face had her brother’s sharper nose rather than the rounded nose that Sunset had.

This girl had become Twilight’s entire life outside of school over the past three years.

She was thinking about what Rarity had said to her, and it had occurred to her that when Horizon wasn’t around, Twilight was very lonely. She tried to keep up with her friends, but as they got older, they all had busier lives and that meant a lot of nights when Horizon went to bed, Twilight sat up by herself with a glass of wine trying to bury her mind in books.

Maybe it really is time to move on. Twilight thought to herself. Sunset was either dead or not coming back.

Twilight reached across the table and placed a hand atop of her daughter’s hand. The little girl didn’t even look up as she poked at her salad with a tiny fork, and decided upon a piece she was content with eating before shoving it in her mouth. As she chewed, Twilight smiled at her.

“Horizon...” She began.

“Hm?” Horizon looked up.

“You know I love you, right?” Twilight asked.

Horizon just nodded.

“How would you feel if I made some new friends?” Twilight asked.

She decided to use the word “friends” as she felt that “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” was too assuming as Twilight had been out of the dating game for a long time.

Horizon shrugged. “Do what you want, Twilight.”

What an odd child. Twilight thought. Horizon had always been a fairly agreeable little girl, who seldom fussed over anything. Then again, Twilight saw no reason to set arbitrary boundaries, so she found that her daughter was an inquisitive little girl.

“They might start coming over here though,” Twilight warned.

“That’s fine.” Horizon shrugged once more.

It had occurred to Twilight at that point; Horizon was so used to her mother not being around, that if someone came in and slowly took on the role of a second parent that it would not phase the girl. She had never met her mother properly, at least not while she was old enough to retain any memory of her.

Twilight was holding onto a memory for her daughter’s sake that her daughter didn’t even have.

Maybe Rarity is right. Maybe it is time to try and meet new people.

With determination in their hearts, Glitch’s rebellion had arrived just outside of the Canterlot city limits. As expected, the city was heavily fortified, and Serenade had brought in virtually every resource she could spare to protect it. Canons stood at the walls, and warriors lined virtually every single street. A few airships circled the city and several pegasi flew patrol around it.

Glitch’s army had arrived with eight airships, but all of them heavily fortified and advanced prototypes that they had stolen from shipyards. Along with their primary ship which was at least twice as large as the average airship.

In terms of firepower and advantage, Glitch’s airships were kings of the sky. Standing at the helm, Applejack waved to signal for them all to open fire.

On deck, several ponies readied their weapons, prepared to take down any would-be attempts by the flying pegasi to land upon their ships and their canons all began to load up and rain cannonballs down on their enemies.

The mare watched as their enemy’s ships began to rip apart and fall from the sky after a few strategically placed shots. A dozen or so cannonballs and each of their foes would fall as their narrowly dodged return fire themselves. They would sustain a few hits, but the crews onboard were quick at patching them up.

Glitch and Twilight had done an excellent job at training the crews at how to perform their duties on the ship and they refused to let them slack off so they had grown efficient. Serenade did not appear to have been on top of such, then again her arrogance had gotten the better of her.

Applejack kept her eyes on the battlefield even as Glitch trotted into the observation deck with her and spoke at her side. “You seem troubled, Applejack.”

Applejack didn’t turn to face the armored pony, but spoke, regardless. “Been troubled fer’ a long time.”

“It’s Applebloom, isn’t it?” Glitch asked.

“Ya’ know, at first ‘Ah hated you.” Applejack grunted.

“I think I could tell that from the moment we met if I’m completely honest...” Glitch gestured.

Applejack couldn’t tell if they were being sarcastic or not, but she didn’t press the matter. “Y’all saved Applebloom’s life, but when she died, ‘Ah wanted to blame you. ‘Ah wanted it to be your fault, but ‘Ah can’t...”

“Why’s that? You never had a problem with doing that in the past?” Glitch joked.

Applejack ignored their demeanor and continued. “Applebloom might’ve been followin’ in yer’ hoofsteps, but y’all inspired her to do somethin’ bigger than herself. ‘Ah can’t hate y’all for that. Applebloom would want me to help y’all finish what we started. She died to end this, an’ ‘Ah’d be doin’ her wrong if ‘Ah didn’t make sure that happens.”

Glitch paused for a moment before answering. “That’s very mature of you, Applejack.”

“When ‘Ah first saw what Serenade’s power could do... ‘Ah ran. ‘Ah ain’t proud of it, but it’s what ‘Ah did. ‘Spose ‘Ah’ve been compensatin’ since then. Y’all showed up and toughed it out from the start. All ‘Ah ever did was give ya’ a hard time...” Applejack frowned.

She finally turned to Glitch and smiled. “Truly, ‘Ah’m sorry. ‘Ah guess ‘Ah was coverin’ up for my own mistakes by hatin’ on y’all. You’ve been dedicated from the start and ‘Ah gave ya’ a hard time.”

Glitch shook their head and placed a hoof upon Applejack’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter anymore. This ends today. We finish what we started three years ago.”

Applejack nodded back at her. “Y’all ain’t why Applebloom died; Serenade is. We put an end to her today. Do me a favor an’ make sure you get her good.”

Glitch nodded and removed their hoof. “I intend on it. You got it from here it looks like. Create a path for us to land our ground parties in the city, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Understood, cap’!” Applejack saluted before returning her attention to the battle in front of them.

Glitch returned the salute before exiting the room, getting ready to head out.

Applejack watched as explosions colored the sky and airships were turned into shards of wood and metal that fell unceremoniously from the clouds to the earth below. It was child’s play for Glitch’s hardened warriors to take down the lazily prepared troops that Serenade had protecting the city.

Overconfidence had beaten Serenade long ago, and she had it in her head that numbers would be all that was necessary to deter any attack on Canterlot. Regular training and battle strategy reviews were not on her schedule and now she was paying the price.

Applejack laughed as another airship was blown to pieces right before her eyes. From her seat, she had a front-row ticket to the fall of Serenade. At first when she was told she would take command of the ship and sit back away from the battle, she was a tad annoyed. It wasn’t in Applejack’s nature to sit back and watch others do the hard work, but now that she actually was there, she was thankful for the position. She could watch Serenade fumble and fall in full view.

From where she sat, Applejack would see the lighting of the towers, the blast that Glitch was to perform and thus the retaking of all of Canterlot right before her very eyes. For once in her life, she was actually thankful to be given a position where she wasn’t on the frontlines.

A communication orb sat next to her at the captain’s chair which she rubbed with her front right hoof to get in contact with the ship to her left. “Move forward, don’t let up fire.” Applejack commanded.

“Yes, ma’am!” The pony controlling the other ship saluted.

“Relay the message. ‘Ah want every ship gettin’ closer with every enemy they take down. Box ‘em in!” Applejack commanded.

“Of course, ma’am!” He saluted once more before the orb returned to a state of emptiness.

Applejack closed her eyes as the sounds of cannons rang through the sky. It was early afternoon, and by sunset, Serenade would be no more.

“This one’s for you, Applebloom...” Applejack thought out loud.

Rainbow Dash swooped in with a blade attached to her hoof, spiraling and twirling through the sky as she shredded up any flyers that tried to halt the progress of their airships. With her incredible unwavering speed, she was able to take down any potential flyers that posed a threat to them in record time.

Nothing slowed Rainbow Dash down, and with her willpower, the enemy continued to be pushed back as Applejack moved the ships closer and closer. Within the first eight minutes of battle, all enemy airships had been taken out of the sky, leaving only pegasi to try and fight back.

All of it was futile on Serenade’s part, however, as with Rainbow Dash’s determination and Applejack’s might, there was little that could be done to stop Glitch’s rebellion from reaching her doorstep. As she took another flyer out, she grinned noticing three more took aim at her.

Quickly she barrel-rolled out of the way, and came at their undersides, slicing rapidly as she did. Entrails fell out of them and down to the earth below as their bodies soon followed. She laughed as she landed on one of their own airships, perched on a balcony before giving an approving hoof gesture to the crew onboard loading up yet another canon.

“Impressive flying, Rainbow!” One of the dark-colored crew members grinned.

“Ain’t even trying yet. Serenade’s as good as toast, how close are we to landing?” She tilted her head.

“About eight minutes out by my calculations.” Another voice called out.

Rainbow turned her head and there with Discord at her side was Twilight Sparkle. She had donned her usual battle armor, and messy mane, though this time she had opted for a helmet to cover most of it.

“Then you two should get flying down there now,” Rainbow instructed with a nod of her head in the direction of the tower down below.

“Roger.” Twilight nodded, and Discord and she took off from the ship and headed down below toward the tower.

Rainbow Dash watched them go, wondering if Glitch’s plan really could work. While they had an early battle advantage, in order for things to continue working in their favor, they were relying on everything falling into place. No one could mess up their roles, and that meant they were only as strong as their weakest link.

Twilight was strong-willed, as was Discord, but none of them had any clue what Serenade was capable of. She was viable to do anything when she was backed into a corner, and up to that point, no one had ever seen what she was like when she was on the ropes, as it had never happened.

“Let’s see what you got, Serenade...” Rainbow grinned.

Twilight and Discord had to blast a few opponents out of the sky, but ultimately, their journey to the ground below was relatively simple. After landing, however, they were instantly met with a rather sizable group ready to fight them.

Discord let out a hearty chuckle as he readied his hand with an aura of potent magic, Twilight doing the same with her horn. “I guess Serenade sent us a welcome party, how sweet of her. We’ll have to send her a thank you card.” Discord laughed.

Ordinarily, Twilight would find herself very solemn in a situation like this one, but Discord’s demeanor was contagious and instead, she found herself joking around with him. She truly was his student after all.

“I might have to hold to my promise...” Twilight grinned as she unleashed a blast, sending half of the crowd circled around them back and vaporizing most of them, leaving the remainders as nothing but corpses. She detested using magic to kill, but in these dire circumstances, she needed to tune out her emotions.

Following his student’s example, Discord unleashed a salvo of blasts that eliminated the other half as more began to surround them. “What promise is that?”

Twilight unleashed a beam of energy blasting directly through eight opponents, leaving a gaping hole in each of them before they collapsed.

“Remember what I said during our training when you said you’d teach me to defeat Serenade?” Twilight grinned.

Discord remembered all too well. “I remember. I said she didn’t stand a chance.”

“And I said with your guidance there was no way we’d amount to anything, and you assured me otherwise...” Twilight continued as both of them remembered the exact conversation while they continued to dice up enemies in their wake.

Discord grew a devilish grin as he recalled the rest. “And you said that if managed to help you beat Serenade you’d marry me.”

She had definitely recalled that part, though she had said it in jest at the time. It was intended as a sarcastic exaggeration.

The two lined up their beams and blasted through a large crowd coming their way, leveling them out. Discord floated with his claw smoking, as Twilight stood at his side with a smoking horn. She looked over at the draconequus and smirked. “I guess I better send out wedding invitations when this is all over.”

“You’re such a dramatic one.” Discord teased with a snicker.

Regaining their focus on the work at hand, the two-eyed the tower not far in the distance. By Twilight’s estimation, they were a good eight minutes away from it, and clearing a path wouldn’t be too difficult.

As if right on a cue, a large volley of cannonballs hit the ground in their vicinity. The soldiers on the ground looked up to the skies to see Glitch’s airships approaching, and from those ships, fully armed warriors began hopping off, ready to fight.

With the new distraction available to take advantage of, Twilight and Discord felt another wave of confidence. With their enemy distracted, it made their plight far easier; everything was going insanely smooth. Twilight wondered why their luck had changed to their advantage so much but decided it was best not to complain and instead to accept it as a gift.

As warriors made their way onto the ground, they began dicing up virtually every soldier that worked for Serenade in sight. Glitch’s army had grown to impressive numbers, and with the vigorous training they did, each was at least twice if not three times as formidable as their opponents. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in skill.

Sonata arrived with Kiz, Golden, and Abyss at her side, smiling at Twilight. Twilight bowed her head gently when she saw Kiz, but Discord naturally didn’t seem to care too much about her presence.

“Miss Kiz, a pleasure to see you once more.” Discord grinned.

“Thou art most pleasing upon thine eyes, master Discord.” She smiled back at him with her usual demeanor that suggested she wasn’t even remotely concerned about all the death happening around her.

“You guys are heading to clear a straight path for Glitch, right?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Yup! We’ll have it taken care of in no time, just focus on that tower, okay you two?” Sonata leaned in with a toothy grin. She was always a fairly overly exuberant girl, but she seemed extra chipper that day, which was odd, given the circumstances. Twilight imagined that she was just putting it all out of her mind.

Discord reached forward and took Kiz’ hoof and made a kissing gesture at it, but didn’t touch his lips to it. He grinned at her and glanced over at Twilight who was giving him a peculiar look. “My apologies, I think Twilight would get a little jealous if I actually kissed your hoof.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and scoffed as she gestured for him to follow.

He released Kiz’ hoof as the siren laughed gently. “Thou hath displayed thee faithfulness which is a virtue to behold. Fear not, Twilight Sparkle, for such intimacy is impermissible to mine self.”

The siren gestured to herself gracefully.

Twilight already knew that, but she also knew that most sirens didn’t admit such a thing out loud. Kiz, was certainly mysterious for a siren and it made Twilight stop to speak, even if she had to hurry.

“Kiz... Can I ask you something?” Twilight tapped the creature’s shoulder.

Around them, their warriors kept all enemies at bay, affording them the luxury of being able to converse for a moment without much concern. Sunset wanted them to hurry, but Twilight couldn’t ignore the strange feeling she got from Kiz a moment longer. She had to understand the creature’s motivation.

Kiz adjusted one of her dreadlocks and tilted her head gently, her smile never leaving her. “What troubles thee enow to cease in thy hasty duties, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight stepped closer and looked the mare in her innocent eyes. What had those eyes seen, she wondered. Kiz had been alive for so long that she surely had seen some horrific things in her time, and yet she seemed so collected and innocent, like a child that had never even heard a curse word.

“I have to know... Why are you helping us? There’s nothing for you to gain, and everything for you to lose...” Twilight asked.

“What is th're to loseth?” Kiz asked, her face not changing.

“For starters, the Siren’s Bane. You gave it to Sunset, and we’re all ponies... Your kind don’t exactly have a great history with us, and you just handed a weapon that could be used to wipe your kind out over to a pony...” Twilight pointed out, but she suspected that Kiz was not only aware of that, but she also knew that Twilight would figure that out herself.

The only question though was why she didn’t seem to care.

“The legend sayeth yond the bane wast forged in the beginning. A weapon did create by the mother of all sirens. Should’st it beest hath used to wipeth our kind out because of Serenade, then yond is the fate we hath earned. I did trust the blade to Sunset Shimmer because the lady wouldst beest the one to decideth what fate we has't did earned,” Kiz explained calmly.

“So that’s it then? If Sunset were to turn around and wipe out all sirens with that blade, you wouldn’t care? Twilight asked.

“Life is far more enriched with reward when thou doth relinquish control to fate.” Kiz grinned.

For the leader of an entire country, she seemed far too carefree. By her logic, the fate of her entire pool of subjects was entirely up to whatever Sunset chose to do with that weapon. Twilight knew that Sunset wouldn’t abuse the gift, but how did Kiz know that? There was no way she actually believed that there was even a chance that Sunset would betray her, not if she was as old as she said she was. A creature that old would be far too wise to trick.

That meant that whatever she was doing at that moment must have been some kind of partial act. Twilight surmised that Kiz had been around so long that she was nearly immune to panic and stress.

How could a ruler of sirens not care if a pony wiped their entire kind out, and she was the one that enabled such a thing?

“You still haven’t told me why you’re helping us...” Twilight reminded her.

Discord, growing concerned moved in and placed a claw upon Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, maybe these are questions best left for another day? We have a mission to complete.”

She swatted his claw away as she stared Kiz down. “I want to know now. I can’t proceed if I don’t understand where your loyalty is.”

Rubbing his claw, Discord turned to Kiz, who didn’t seem to be even remotely affected by Twilight’s sudden rudeness. The siren smiled as warmly as she always had and spoke up.

“Many sayeth yond I am the oldest siren to ever liveth,” she began.

“Are you? I heard you’re anywhere between 70,000 to 100,000...” Twilight asked.

“At which hour thee receiveth to beest mine own age, thee cease counting. Howev'r, there wast one older than myself,” Kiz explained.

Twilight blinked, this was a development she hadn’t expected. A siren older than Kiz?

“Is she still alive?” Twilight blinked.

The siren shook her head, but her positive looking demeanor didn’t falter even a sliver. “Nay, the mare wast a valorous eighty years mine own elder. She wast mine own sister, Kalor. The lady wast putteth to death by ponies some eight thousand years ago. They burn'd her at the stake much liketh other sirens at the time.”

A tinge of guilt overcame Twilight, but she pushed past it and focused on logic. “If ponies killed your sister, then you have even less reason to want to help us.”

“Her whole life the lady hath spent helping mortals. The siren ceased feeding off of their negative energy eons ago, and in her final years the lady spake diff'rently. The lady spake of her life as finite, as if it were to end soon...” Kiz’s voice trailed on as she became lost in thought for a brief second, but before Twilight could try and snap her back to reality, she seemed to regain her focus.

“At which hour those ponies burn'd her, the mare hadst a smileth upon h'r lips. I has hath lived these many years, unwilling to allow mine self to perish until i und'rstood wherefore the lady wenteth so willfully. After many a’centuries, thine hath come to finally understand her.” Kiz smiled at Twilight.

“Why did she do it then?” Twilight asked.

Kiz’ smile only seemed to grow at that very question. “Whilst ponies may has't been h'r endeth, and hath brought violence upon h'r, the siren couldst perish joyous knowing she didn’t contribute to yond violence and yond the lady wouldn’t beest did sway from helping oth'rs and making those folk joyous. Yond is the way yond I wisheth to teachest mine own subjects in how to liveth anon now that thine is accustom to that.”

Twilight was a bit surprised by it all. She hadn’t expected a creature so old to actually learn anything at her age, however, she was foolish to think such a thing. There was always more to learn, and Kiz. Now was only another reminder that that always rained true.

“You are far nobler than you let on...” Twilight admitted.

“‘Tis but decades of wisdom, gathered in an abundance of time. Thou shalt reacheth such a point in elderhood.” Kiz smiled at the young alicorn.

“Twilight, we really need to get going...” Discord encouraged as he gestured toward their destination.

Blinking, Twilight looked in that direction and then back to Kiz. “I have to go...’

“Thou shalt meeteth with thine self again. Make haste for Glitch awaiteth your progress,” Kiz encouraged.

Twilight bowed gently before leaving, the siren just watched as the two made their way to the tower.

With Serenade distracted by the conquest in Canterlot announced by Glitch, her defenses in neighboring areas had dropped significantly. Ponyville had been left on low guard duty, making ample opportunity to get inside. The ship would leave its nearby rest stop by morning to make the final portion of their journey to Canterlot to begin their assault on Serenade’s keep.

This gave enough opportunity to Eclipse, who aimed to enter Twilight’s castle in Ponyville while it was only lightly guarded.

With his training by Cinder, Eclipse had become exceptionally skilled with a blade and knew how to tie toe around foes and hide in the shadows.

His training combined with the cover of nightfall afforded him plenty of chances to get the jump on the few guards that were actually patrolling the area. Eclipse suspected that they mostly were just trying to give the impression that everything was okay, and thus they were much more inattentive. His impressions proved correct, as the more he explored the castle, the more he found that there was barely a skeleton staff guarding the place.

It perplexed him how Serenade wasn’t even keeping tabs on Twilight’s castle, but then again, he imagined the siren had a one-track mind, and that mind was currently focused on stopping and killing Glitch to keep the rebellion at bay. Glitch had proven to be exceptionally skilled at avoiding death, however, and that meant that Serenade was working full time to try and take him out.

This all translated to ideal conditions for Eclipse, who had killed virtually every guard in his way, leaving a clear path to his destination, Twilight’s private records. Everything that the princess did was recorded in such a room, and much of Equestria’s secret knowledge, reserved only for the royal family was safeguarded between the castles in these such rooms, and Eclipse had stepped inside of it.

He was practically drooling with excitement as his eyes scanned the many tomes and scrolls within the room. In the center of the room, however, he observed a desk with perhaps the most comfortable looking chair he had ever seen. Shrugging, he retracted his hoof mounted blade and sat down on the chair, blinking a few times before leaning back. It was far more comfortable than he had imagined, but he surmised that Twilight likely enjoyed a good place to sit if she was reading or writing, as princess duties likely required a lot of sitting.

After his moment of basking if what it must have felt like to sit in a throne, he returned to a stand and began to scan the room with his eyes, attempting to find anything of interest.

Most of the papers were on various adventures that Twilight had partaken in and documented her discoveries. Many were on the virtues of friendship and why it was “magical”. Eclipse was rolling his eyes just thinking about it, but he pushed through to find a tome of particular interest.

Off the Record Documentation

Curiously, he flipped it open and began to skim through its pages. A good half hour would pass and he found himself learning of all kinds of things that Twilight and her friends had partaken in that were never revealed to the Equestrian public, such as her execution of Adagio Dazzle, Serenade’s sister. It was all starting to make sense now, and Eclipse was beginning to understand why everything was happening the way it was.

After another hour or so of flipping through the pages, a certain page caught his attention, and his eyes lit up upon seeing the information that was being presented to him. His mouth moved slowly as he read it.

“No fucking way...” He nearly whispered. This was big.

Arax was watching Serenade pace in her throne room while he waited for her to calm down. It had been going on for a good hour. “How did they manage to set hoof in the city already!?”

Arax rubbed his ear from the ringing she had caused by yelling. “I told you, their airships were well fortified, they were able to make a big impact relatively easily. Glitch clearly has been training them this entire time. Combine that with their superior airship models and it was only a matter of time before they managed to get into the city.”

“How are our ground forces handling them!?” Serenade barked.

He rubbed his ear once more and grumbled. “Not well... Glitch’s warriors are fighting with nothing held back. There’s a passion in their hearts that is driving them to win...”

“Passion, my ass! Why can’t we fucking kill these misfits!?” Serenade screeched.

If Arax stuck around too long with her at this level of anger, he was certain he would go deaf. He tapped his ear once more and gave it a rub before replying. “Perhaps you should prepare to fight Glitch head-on?”

Serenade shook her head. “No, that’s exactly what he wants me to do... I can’t fall for his tricks, he’s too crafty.”

Arax wasn’t certain what Glitch could possibly do in a one-on-one fight, but Serenade clearly had deemed him a bigger threat now that he had survived the demon world. Truthfully, that meant he could do virtually anything. Glitch was an unknown variable at that point and that clearly was intimidating even Serenade.

Could he actually win though? Is such a thing even possible? Arax wondered to himself.

Pacing once more, Serenade stopped in her tracks and looked at Arax with serious eyes. “I have no choice. I have to use the oubliette. I can’t take any chance, I have to wipe that piece of trash out before he has a chance to even get close to this castle.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Arax tilted his head.

Serenade stepped forward and gripped his neck with one of her tendrils, giving it a squeeze. Not enough to strangle him, but enough to cause trouble breathing and great discomfort. “Do not underestimate him. If he survived those trials, he is far stronger than he is letting on, and for a mortal no less!”

Arax could not reply until she released him from her grasp, causing him to cough about eight times before he could recover. Once his windpipe had returned to normal, he rubbed it with his hoof and tried to answer her. “You have to do what you have to do then.”

Serenade stepped back and nodded slowly, she was visibly shaken, something that Arax had never seen, but he kept himself from commenting further as he valued being able to breathe too much.

“Go, I have to prepare. This process could take me some time, and I want you to ensure I’m not interrupted...” She commanded as she gestured toward the door with her hoof.

Her changeling subordinate bowed his head and exited from the throne room and glanced over at his slave that waited for him outside. She was standing at the end of the hall and a small came to her face when she saw him. He smiled back briefly before the two were close to each other.

“So, what’s happening? I saw Glitch’s warriors are ripping Serenade’s apart out there.” Starlight tilted her head.

Arax bit his lip, trying to choose his words carefully. “Serenade is going to use the oubliette...”

“Huh?” Starlight was confused, understandably so, as he hadn’t explained the full scope of what the oubliette could do.

“We have to make sure no one disturbs her,” he commanded.

“What’s going on though?” Starlight asked.

He didn’t dare answer her though. The oubliette could either be Serenade’s saving grace, or the very thing that became the instrument of her undoing. The attack would exhaust most of her power, leaving her vulnerable. She’d still have some power left thanks to all the magic she had siphoned, but she’d be exhausted.

The oubliette could also kill her if she wasn’t prepared for it. It was a master-level attack for demons that only a demon lord generally could manage. Was she truly ready for it?

If the oubliette failed, then the consequences would be drastic. Serenade would have to resort to even more risky tactics to win her fight with Glitch if that happened.

If she could pull it off though, there wasn’t a chance in hell that Glitch could survive. It was all a matter of time though, if Glitch could knock her door down before Serenade had a chance to use the attack, then it was possible that he’d win this fight.

Arax didn’t know how this would play out, and that concerned him. The future of Equestria and his own future hung in the balance. Everything was riding on chance.

Jumping down from the manhole cover into the area below, Cinder made a large splash in the disgusting sludge that moved through the sewers of the city. She cursed and groan in annoyance as she wiped her good arm off and adjusted herself. Her blades were dipped partially below the sludge (that she imagined had plenty of feces in it) causing her to frown gently. Her precious family heirlooms were covered in filth, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Tapping a headlamp she had brought with her, she illuminated the poorly lit sewer.

“This is really going to change the meaning of when I say I’m going to ‘get into some shit’, for sure...” She thought out loud.

Part of her wondered how Sunset convinced her to take the most disgusting job of them all, but then again the part where she was going through an actual sewer seemed to be the lowest point of focus.

The smell was horrendous, but the dragon managed. She had smelled rotting corpses before, and nothing compared to that.

Wading through the water, she took note of the fact that because the water was up to her waist, her movement would be hindered. The channels were too short to fly in and with her lower half submerged, she was not going to be able to move very fast. That would mean any attack coming her way would need to be met with counters and blocks, there would be no dodging under those conditions.

That didn’t bother her too much, as she had enough brute strength to overpower most foes with her body alone, but it still was less than ideal.

Pushing through the waters, she shined her light on a few skeletons in the sewer. Taking note of the bones, many of them were recent, they hadn’t aged much at all. “I guess it’s true...” She thought out loud.

Serenade often killed rebels within the city, but there were rumors that their bodies were just thrown into the sewers to be carried away. There wasn’t much care for respecting the dead in Serenade’s mind and that meant that throwing them into the sewers was the most logical solution. Dispose of them quickly and efficiently, and there was an added bonus in humiliating them to other would-be rebels.

It made Cinder burn with anger, but she withheld it. Serenade had been a source of anger and motivation for the dragon for centuries, but the very thought that she would go down soon brought her tremendous joy.

Cinder couldn’t even remember the kind of dragon she was prior to meeting Serenade that fateful day. It had been so long, and she was just a young thing when they had met. At only nineteen years of age, she had run into the creature that would shape the rest of her life.

I never should have helped her. Cinder thought.

If only she could go back and undo what she had done back then, maybe Serenade would have never survived long enough to become what she was. But no, she knew that wasn’t true. Serenade was far too resilient, far too determined to die so easily. Even without Cinder’s help, Serenade would have likely found someone else to train her, she was cunning like that.

She had taught the siren the ways of her family, the art of combat passed down only to members of her clan, and for what? She was foolish to do so. She was too naive, too trusting, and now she was paying the price for that. Back then, she thought herself a visionary, she thought herself ahead of the rest of the clan and so she did unconventional things, but she would come to find out that some traditions had reason to exist.

I’ll never allow myself to be tricked like that again. She thought.

With her mind full of distractions, she didn’t notice right away a stirring in the water ahead of her. Fortunately, she came to notice it just in time to draw her sword, ready to fight.

From the depths, a disfigured and sludge covered body emerged. It’s mouth hung agape as it tried to reach for the dragon. It’s face was black and leathery, but most of its skin had begun to rot, giving it a feral appearance with its glowing red eyes.

She stepped back and stabbed it directly through its eye with her katana. It stopped moving relatively quickly as she held it there, examining it.

Looks like a demon. She thought.

It resembled many of the lesser demons she had encountered in the underworld that after enough time began to just resemble zombies. They were nothing more than husks acting upon violent instincts, after all. She grumbled as she raised her foot out of the water and kicked it off of her blade.

“I swear, ever since I’ve begun to hang around ponies, I have been attacked by demons on a regular basis...” She joked out loud, wondering if perhaps ponies just had trouble follow them all around.

She had to keep her guard up, there was no telling what lurked in the waters in front of her, and she wasn’t about to take any chances. The trek to the tower was a long one, and thus she’d be trapped in the sewer for some time.

As she trudged onward, another demon popped out of the water, this time with little time to react. It lunged at her, it’s sharp teeth ready to tear at her. She grabbed it with her claws and pulled it back before snapping its neck and throwing the lifeless body into the water. “Holy shit!” She remarked.

She wouldn’t have any time to recover, however, as another two came up out of the water, one in front of her, and one behind her. Thinking quickly, she drew her swords and twirled with the blades extended, cutting both of them with her razor-sharp edges.

The slice proved effective as the tops of both of their heads came off and slid off their skulls while their bodies collapsed back into the water with a splash.

Cinder couldn’t waste anymore time, she needed to move quickly, there was no telling how many more of these things were in the sewer.

Picking up her step, she hastily made her way toward her destination, only to be stopped by a dam blocking her path. It appeared as though it was used to divert water from one waste dump to another, and the one she needed to get into was blocked off.

Stepping forward, she placed a claw upon the dam to get a feel for it. Tapping it a few times, she could tell it was reinforced with steel, and was at least a good three feet thick, meaning she wasn’t going to be able to punch her way through it, even with her artificial claw.

There was a wheel next to the dam which she assumed was to move it. Shrugging, she gripped it and tried to get it to move, but with no luck. The wheel refused to turn and the dam remained where it was. She cursed and looked the wheel over, noting a sign above it in red.

Dam Lock Engaged.

Please release dam lock to lower dam.

As far as she recalled from the map she studied prior to entry there were no other ways to reach where she was heading, so she would need to find a way ahead.

Blinking she noticed another map carved into a wall next to a ladder that lead up to one of the surface manholes. She gave it a look to see if there was anything of use.

Sure enough, luck was on her side. Down the other path that was opened because of the dam was a control room on one of the upper levels. She could make her way to it and release the dam lock and then circle back to lower the dam. It would add more time on her journey, but she didn’t have much of a choice. Sunset would have to hold out longer.

Cinder began her trudge down the other pathway, hoping it wouldn’t take her too long.

It had taken some time to reach the top, but Discord and Twilight both found themselves stationed at the top of the tower. As they stared at the large gemstone at its peak, they both looked at each other for a moment, pleased at what they had accomplished.

Twilight grinned as Discord bowed to her. “Well, I must say you’ve proven yourself quite the student, Miss Sparkle.”

“I’ve had my fair share of great teachers.” Twilight rolled her eyes playfully as she ignited her horn with magic.

Discord followed suit and his paw began to glow as the two focused their energy on the gem. “I would hope that I am on that list.” Discord smirked.

“Right at the top,” Twilight stated as they both released the magic from their appendages onto the gemstone.

It flashed eight times before finally lighting up a gorgeous bright green. The stone shined as the entire tower lit up with all of the lights along it coming back to life. Discord looked over the edge of the tower to observe and nodded with approval. “Quite a sight to behold.”

Twilight had seen the towers lit up in the past, but she never thought anything of it back then. She had taken the beauty of her home city for granted for many years, but now she looked at it with a new appreciation.

Much of the inner city was damaged thanks to Serenade, and there was little doubt in Twilight’s mind that the city would take on even more damage before they were done, but that was all okay to her. Damage could be repaired and the Canterlot they would build after taking Serenade out would be bigger and better than before.

She smiled at her mentor and approached him with a bowed head. “You’ve been quite a great help to Equestria, Discord... I don’t know how to thank you.”

He shook his head and glanced over at her with a smile at the side of his mouth. “Think nothing of it. Equestria is my home as well.”

Twilight approached and kissed his cheek before sitting down at his side and staring at the battle going on below.

“Now what do we do, my princess?” Discord asked, placing his paw around her, resting it upon her shoulder.

Twilight stared at the fighting down below before giving her answer. “Now, we wait.”

Cinder found herself fighting off lesser demons the entire trek through the second tunnel, many of them attempting to bite through her tough hide, but none succeeding. She was a bit banged up from the journey, but she held out.

She had reached the halfway mark to the control room, and at this point, she didn’t walk a single step without both of her blades drawn and ready to cut down any creatures that stood in her path.

Looking up a ladder, she gripped onto it and began to climb up only for the claw of what appeared to formerly be a griffon reach out of the water and grab her leg. She grunted and struggled before using her other leg to kick the creature in the face, causing an audible snap as its neck broke.

“Fucking shit...” She cursed before continuing her path up, lifting the hatch above and peaking inside.

The room was poorly illuminated, and she could see many different pipes along the walls, along with the control panel that managed the entire sewer. Crawling up, she left the hatch open as she came to a stand, quickly noticing the eight demons that began to creep out of the shadows, all hissing and growling as they approached her.

The dragon drew both of her (now dirty) twin swords and readied herself for yet another battle.

The first demon came at her and she quickly sidestepped it, running her blade down its side, cutting it open. With a flawless motion, she drove her other sword down and cleaved one in the skull before pushing it back with her foot.

Two of the remaining demons ganged up on her and grabbed her, one gripping her shoulder and laying its fangs into her thick hide. While her scales protected her mostly, the creature still managed to puncture her shoulder, causing blood to trickle out of the wound. Cinder let out a grunt before grabbing the creature’s skull and twisting it.

An audible crack signaled its death and she quickly did the same to the other one.

The last four shambled toward her mindlessly which she used to her advantage as she cut each with a quick slash of her swords, the last one refusing to go down even after a powerful hit. Charging it though, Cinder pierced it with her right sword and then pulled the blade out carefully.

Once it fell, she sighed and wiped her shoulder to free it of blood. She was fortunate in that the skin was only barely pierced, so most of the creature’s teeth didn’t penetrate. Still, she was growing exceedingly tired of demons.

Reaching the control panel, she scanned the map next to it and tapped the lock she was trying to remove and then began to look for it on the control panel itself. It only took her roughly eight seconds to find it. It was part of section 8H, and the lever for it looked fairly sturdy. Cinder wondered if the dam’s flow had ever been changed.

Gripping the lever in her powerful and muscular arm, she squeezed the release and pulled as hard as she could. At first, the lever didn’t want to budge, but after a few seconds of effort, she could hear it creak and then finally lock into its new position. Cinder grinned and looked down at her own arm; impressed by her own strength once more.

There wasn’t any time to waste though, Sunset was counting on her to make haste to the tower and she was already behind schedule.

Heading back down the ladder, she cut through any remaining lesser demons before hopping off the ladder and into the water below. A loud splash echoed through the tunnels before she grumbled and began to wade through the disgusting water once more.

Coming down only a few feet from the junction where she was trying to reach, the water stirred in front of her. Cinder paused and gripped her swords tightly, waiting to see what would come out of the water.

To her surprise, it was a creature, unlike anything she had ever seen. Long whipping tendrils at least a good few feet long covered its black sludgy body. It burst out of the water like it was gasping for air, but the more she looked at the thing, she was certain that it likely didn’t need air and the sounds it made were actually just it releasing cries of the unspeakable torment it lived in.

It lacked eyes as it wandered around on four legs aimlessly, whipping its tendrils about.

Cinder kept her swords ready, realizing she wouldn’t be able to pass it without a fight. Those within the city limits came to know this creature as a “wraith”, a specialized hunter-killer that lurked at night to ensure curfew was followed.

Guess there’ll be one less demon in the world after this. Cinder thought.

Eclipse ran ahead of the group that was laying siege to the city of Canterlot under Applejack’s command and found himself blinking as he stared down the home he had originally been assigned when he first arrived. It was insane to think that so much time had passed and that he had truly come full circle now.

Stepping forward, the young unicorn gently pushed the door open, before stepping inside and lowering his guard.

Everything was precisely how he left it. Not a soul had stepped foot in the house and that meant that no one even really noticed he was gone. Serenade didn’t send anyone to make sure he hadn’t escaped the city because he was that insignificant. Not a soul cared if he was there or not.

A voice echoed through the room causing his ears to twitch. “Sad isn’t it?”

He turned his head and there on the other side of his former living room, sitting on his cough was a mare with orange mane with a yellow streak. His mane was long, lavish and curled, but it went well with her young and well-sculpted face.

“Who are you?” He quickly raised his hoof and extended his hoof blade.

The girl didn’t seem too intimidated by his weapon. Instead, she stayed seated and just smirked as she watched him give his display intended to make her submit. “I’m only a phantom now. A memory if you will.”

“What’re you saying?” Eclipse tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s actually very simple really; I’m gone, dead, vanished. Thus, a phantom,” the girl said, running a hoof through her luscious mane.

He squinted and approached carefully, his guard not dropping as he faced her. “So who were you then?”

She smirked once more and glanced at Eclipse with a cunning smile. “In life, I was Adagio Dazzle. I was Serenade’s sister before your kind put me to death...”

Eclipse blinked, he had never heard of an execution in Equestria in recent years until he had read Twilight's records, most that had transpired were done in olden times, long before he was born. It wasn’t common to have an execution in Equestria, so he imagined that such a thing would have made the news.

“That’s not possible, if there was an execution, they would have put it on the news, ponies would have heard about it...” He shook his head in faux denial, as he had already read the records to prove it was the truth but continued a facade to hide the knowledge was not supposed to possess.

Adagio let out a chuckle and shook her head as well as she approached, her tail whipping and brushing just under his chin playfully. “You seem to think that everything the royal family does is reported and that everything is on the up and up. The reality is that the royal family keeps plenty of secrets from you and everyone else in Equestria. They put me to death and made it ‘off the record’ for the general public like yourself.”

“If you’re dead and any of this is true, then why can I see you right now? What are you? Some kind of ghost?” Eclipse asked, though he found his own question stupid, as there was no such thing as real ghosts, was there?

Adagio held out a hoof and watched as electricity formed around it. “I suppose what I am is just the memories leftover from Adagio. I manifest where I am capable of being, and for some reason, I’m capable of being here with you right now, so I suppose you’ve met the criteria for some reason.”

“Why are you here though?” Eclipse blinked.

She laughed and stomped her hoof onto the ground, sending electricity in every direction. “To see if you’re really strong enough...”

Adagio didn’t waste any time as she quickly jumped and twirled, whipping a long lash made of lightning at Eclipse.

Narrowly, Eclipse managed to dodge, but he still managed to see a bit of his fur stand up on end after the first strike.

She was a phantom, yet her magic attacks seemed quite real. “If you’re just a phantom, how can you damage me?”

The creature spoke simply. “When the fragments of me that were released went out into the world, they had a small fraction of my power. Thus, each one can manifest that power.”

That information was vital to Eclipse. A fraction meant that this creature was far from the full strength of the real thing, and that meant he could destroy her with ease more than likely. She was more looks than anything else.

Without wasting time, he prepared for a strike, but he would need to get a direct hit and he knew it. He would need her distracted long enough to pull it off.

“Why did Princess Twilight want you executed? Surely, she had a reason?” He raised a brow.

She chuckled. “Heh, you assume ponies have a good reason for anything that they do. Why not ask her yourself?”

“Maybe I will...” Eclipse smirked.

There was a brief silence before Eclipse lunged forward, impaling the siren’s shadow with his blade. She gasped and pulled back, pulling herself off the blade before gripping the wound that seemed to be leaking a blue smoke rather than blood. She coughed and smiled.

“Heh, maybe you are strong enough...” She spoke quietly.

Lowering his blade, Eclipse turned his head. “Strong enough for what?”

“To learn the truth... Good luck, kid...” She grinned before her entire body quickly turned into the same blue smoke. Just like that, she was gone.

A young Serenade slept carefully tucked into the corner of a steel cage. Many ponies surrounding her, most of which she preferred to be far away from. She loathed all of them, but especially the ones that were kiss asses such as the girl who they called Cocoa Cream.

Morning was about to come, and she knew it meant another day of obeying and pleading for the mercy of their master.

She had been a slave for a good eight years after she turned nineteen. Her power was too weak to do much about it, and she was caught off guard and her master took her amulet from her, leaving her defenseless. Since that day, she had been his property; a disgusting stallion named Crack whose name was fitting as he seldom spared his whip.

He had two idiot assistants though who often handled the beatings and commands for him, which were far worse. Dusty Chaps and Vinegar Sip were both power-hungry and stupid, a terrible combination for ponies who tended over slaves for sure.

Both of them were just as brutal as the master, but the master seemed more whip happy at times.

One of the girls in the cage stirred as Dusty and Vinegar approached the cage with a set of keys in their teeth. Vinegar held the keys as the other earth pony beckoned all of the girls. “Everypony back up!”

All of them stepped back, shy of Serenade who was already seated in the corner.

He unlocked the cell and gestured for them all to head out. The two wandered ahead of the group and one of the younger girls raced to a pony that had been laying on the floor outside of the cell all night. “Spice!? Are you alright?” the young girl whom Serenade recalled was named Ruby said.

There was no response from Spice, she just laid there in a pool of dried blood as the lacerations on her back had begun trying to heal up.

“She’s dead,” commented plainly.

“What!? No!?” Ruby cried, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

“Face it, they whipped her to death, and if you want to join her you should stay right where you are little girl.” Serenade growled.

The young mare looked up at Serenade with pleading eyes. “Why!? She didn’t hurt anyone!”

Serenade turned away and scoffed. “Mortals don’t care about that kind of thing. They will kill anyone who doesn’t obey them.”

“That’s not true! I would never!” Ruby retorted.

“You’re just not in a position to do so...” Serenade commented.

“Fuck you!” Ruby hissed.

Dusty seemed to have grown impatient with the two lagging behind and stepped forward. “Hey! Get your asses moving!”

With those words, he drew a whip from his side and with his hoof wrapped around it, he cracked it, catching Serenade in the neck. Pain stung through her, but she gritted her teeth and refused to allow tears to come. She stood up strong and trotted in his direction, ready to follow orders.

Ruby resisted for a moment, hooves over Spice’s corpse as she cried. “You monsters! You killed her!”

“You’re next if you don’t hurry your little ass up!” Vinegar called from behind his “co-worker”.

“Fuck you! Fuck you both!” Ruby cried.

“Alright, that’s it...” Dusty stepped forward but Vinegar stopped him with his hoof extended and a grin on his face.

“Let’s do what she says...” He grinned.

Dusty’s face lit up as he nodded. “Sounds good...”

“The rest of you back to work! Now!” Dusty barked.

The entire group headed upstairs through the main house made of sandstone and marble, passing the earth pony master named Crack that was seated in a beautiful toga with a crooked smile on his face as he watched his “assets” walk by.

He glanced at Serenade and grinned at her. “Serenade, my favorite girl... How was your sleep?”

Serenade turned away and gave a grimace. “Cold, and uncomfortable... About what I imagine sleeping in your bed would be like...”

The other girls gasped and raced ahead of her not wanting to catch the master’s scorn.

He chuckled, however, and responded in a friendly tone. “Always feisty, I like that. Maybe one day I can tame you, but for now, I need you to attend to the livestock outside.”

“Sure thing, master.” She bowed her head with a fake grin as she headed out the door.

Today was the day. No more waiting, no more biding her time. Today was the day that she would escape this place and be free again. She needed to get her amulet back from the master’s daughter who wore it and then she could charm her way out. It had all been carefully planned from the start, and Dusty and Vinegar deciding to lag behind to have their way with Ruby played well into her plan, though unexpected.

They both would be in a good mood after getting their rocks off and thus easier to deal with and more likely to let things slide. There was no doubt that when they were through the master would send one of them to keep an eye on her after all.

Making her way to the chickens being kept outside, Serenade kept quiet when she noticed Vinegar making his way over. She rolled her eyes as she noted the smug look on his face after he no doubt did unspeakable things to Ruby. Serenade had gotten lucky in that she was seen as “too feisty” for any of them to take the risk of trying to have their way with her. They said she had the look of not fearing death and was viable to do anything.

Keeping silent as she spread the seed out for the chickens to eat, she looked over at Vinegar and gave him her best fake smile. “You look parched, sir.”

Vinegar blinked and reached a hoof up to rub his own throat, agreeing with her. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“May I get you some water?” Serenade asked.

He smiled at her and nodded. “Yes, please do. Perhaps you’re catching on after all...”

Serenade bowed her head gently and began to head back toward the house, passing him as she did. When his back was turned, she had to act quickly as she pivoted around and grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth and muzzle with her hoof as he began to struggle.

The stallion attempted to call for help, but with his snout covered, he couldn’t get a word out. Serenade squeezed her other hoof around his neck, tightening his access to oxygen until he began to resist less and finally passed out.

Serenade checked his pulse, he was still alive. Dragging his body into the chicken coop, it would be out of sight for the time being.

The siren pilfered his set of keys before making her way to the house as casually as she could to avoid suspicion. This time, however, the girl went to the back door to get inside, hoping that slipping through the back would make her go unnoticed.

Sure enough, the keys worked and she found her way into the back of the house, poking her head in carefully at first. There were no signs of the master near the back door entrance. She crept in and began an ascent up the stairs to where the master’s daughter lived.

Serenade was swift and sneaky as she found her way into the room. To her amazing good fortune, the entire home seemed unguarded. Even if she was caught though, she intended to say she was merely looking for an item for the master.

Creeping into the room, the young teen who was Crack’s daughter laid there sleeping on her elegant bed. Serenade cursed under her breath that she had decided to wear the amulet to sleep.

She could see its red shine as she approached the bed with silent hoof steps. Everything had led up to this moment. When she had first been captured, they kept her on tight chains, she was unable to go anywhere outside the distance of the chains. She spent years building the master’s trust so he would give her enough free range to formulate an escape plan.

The master’s confidence that he had her under control would be his downfall.

Reaching forward carefully, she placed her hooves upon the amulet only for the green eyes of the girl wearing it to pop open and see her.

Serenade quickly reached reacted and smacked the girl in the head with her hoof so hard that it knocked her out. She couldn’t risk her calling for help after all.

After she was certain that the girl was unconscious, Serenade removed the necklace and stared at it for a brief moment. Finally, after eight years, she had it back, and it would be her ticket out.

“Freedom at last...” She purred as it was placed back upon her neck.

Instantly, the siren could feel her power coursing through her once more.

With confidence, she marched down the stairs, no longer caring if she was seen or heard, she had the power to do what she pleased now.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, instead of going out the back, she decided she would triumphantly leave through the front entrance. With a smirk, she walked past where Crack was sitting. He blinked and scrunched his nose as he saw her.

“I thought I told you to tend to those chickens?” He grunted.

Serenade smirked as the amulet upon her neck gave off a marvelous sheen. He gasped when he saw it.

“I don’t think I’ll be tending to any more chickens...” Serenade replied.

Before he could even draw his whip, Serenade opened her mouth and let out an angelic tune. Immediately, the sound of her song captivated him and made him half-close his eyes.

The stallion fell into a stupor and became obedient almost instantly. “You’re going to let me leave here now...” Serenade instructed.

He nodded. “Yes... Of course...”

She giggled and turned to the door, flicking her tail as she did. “See you around.”

“Bye then...” His voice droned on as he remained in his trance.

In the field just outside the door, Serenade could see the other slaves still working. Dusty turned to her as she casually stepped through the field toward the front gate of the property. “Hey! Back to work, slave!”

Once again, she flexed her mystical powers and let her voice control him. Within seconds, he was in obedience as well. “You’re going to let me walk out of here now, understand?”

“Yes, of course. You may leave as you please...” He responded, his eyes now glowing with a red tint.

Serenade nodded in acknowledgment and walked toward the exit, the other slaves trying to follow but Dusty quickly cracked his whip. “Where do you think you’re all going!?”

Ruby who was now covered in lacerations looked to Serenade with pleading eyes. “Serenade, aren’t you going to help us too? We are trapped here just like you were...”

Serenade turned around and looked the mare in the eye. She narrowed her gaze and spoke cold words. “I can’t help you... You have to help yourselves...”

Ruby’s mouth hung open as Serenade turned away and walked out that gate, never to return. She screamed and cursed at the siren. “YOU SELFISH BITCH!”

It was too late though, Serenade had already left.

The wraith’s tendrils whipped around looking for any prey to devour. Cinder had to keep still, as even moving slowly would make the water she stood in make noise. Quickly, she had figured out that this creature was blind, which at the moment was the only advantage she had over it.

Given the conditions of the place they were in, movement would be slowed on her part, but the creature’s long tendrils gave it extra reach which meant the advantage was to it.

Fuck me running. Cinder thought to herself as she kept her swords clenched tightly in her claws.

Everything from here on out would require careful movement and delicate planning. One wrong move and she could end up in the creature’s grasp. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was capable of, but she didn’t want to find out.

As it waded through the water to try and locate potential intruders, Cinder took her time studying it. She counted eight long tendrils on its back, each about eight feet long, which meant if she wanted to get close enough to attack, she would need to remove most of them.

She couldn’t say for sure, but she imagined the tendrils it had were strong like snakes so that it could constrict its prey.

Cinder took a breath and exhaled as she prepared herself mentally. Her best chance was to make the creature come to her and try to block every tendril that came her way. It was a risky move, but one she had to make. Closing her eyes for a moment, she relaxed herself and then opened them. Once her eyes were open, she parsed her lips and whistled.

The sound of her whistle was like a homing beacon; the creature turned its head abruptly like a bird would and the rest of its body followed. It only took a few seconds before it bolted in her direction at top speed. Cinder attempted to parry but was only able to slice through one of the tendrils before another one gripped her left wrist, squeezing tightly as it moved in, trying to pull her closer as it opened its disgusting maw ready to try and devour her.

She struggled to break free as its grip was far stronger than she would have guessed, but she continued to tug until the monster closed the distance between the two and bit down on her shoulder.

The dragon’s scales made it take a bit more effort for the monster to pierce the skin, but it was ultimately successful as it bit down hard, puncturing her shoulder with its razor-sharp teeth.

Cinder yelped in pain before punching the creature a few times in the head to try and get it to let go. Once its mouth was off of her, she jabbed it again in the jaw and pushed it back with all of her strength. Quickly she severed the tendril that was holding her and readied her blades for another attack.

The monster, still hungry came at her again, but this time she sidestepped and sliced another two tendrils off, causing it to screech in pain.

Cinder covered her ear holes and shook her head. Its cry was painful enough on the eardrums that she imagined it could potentially burst them if one was exposed to it long enough. She imagined this was part of the way it made up for not being able to see its targets; if it could immobilize them, sight was optional.

Aren’t you a pleasant little fuck. Cinder thought, remembering not to speak aloud so it could hear her and thus find her easier.

It began to wade through the water looking for her, but Cinder moved quietly backward as she prepared her swords. She took a stand ready to pierce the monster and waited for it to get close enough. With most of its tendrils gone it was a significantly lower threat, but she could see that the ends of the tendrils continued to move, which suggested to her that they would grow back eventually and she didn’t intend to find out how long such a process took.

Once it was close enough, she thrust her left-handed blade forward, piercing the monster’s chest and pulled the sword out, watching as black sludge poured out of the wound. The creature moaned in pain but continued to slog through the dirty water toward her. She blinked and slashed at it with her other katana, slicing half of its jaw, causing it to hang on a single hinge.

Even that damage wasn’t enough to stop it as the last of its tendrils closed the distance and grabbed Cinder’s right arm. She blinked and looked at the tendrils trying to squeeze tight enough to crush her arm, but she was fortunate enough that they had grabbed her metal arm.

“You’re tough for a disgusting mutant, but I’m afraid that was a mistake...” She grinned.

With a mighty tug, she pulled her metal arm back and gripped the tendrils in her palm. With a yank she gripped them with both claws now and pulled as hard as she could, ripping them off with an audible groan.

The wraith screeched in agony, and with enough damage to its body it slunk down. Cinder tossed the severed tendrils aside and thrust forward with her metal claw, catching the creature’s skull in her palm. With a tight and powerful squeeze, she crushed it in her claw and watched the monster fall back into the water.

Once the monster was dead, she turned around and began searching for her katanas that she had to drop in the water. Just as her left claw located one of them, she heard a voice come from behind her.

“Well, it looks like Serenade’s mentor is even trying to stop her...” The voice spoke.

Cinder glanced out of the corner of her eye to see a yellow unicorn standing in the water with long orange mane with golden streams throughout it. Her hair was wild and curly and the resemblance to Serenade was uncanny.

“I suppose you’re wondering who I am then?” The obvious siren asked.

Cinder didn’t respond, instead, she pulled herself out of the water and back onto two feet with one of her swords located.

“You see, I’m sort of what is left of the memories of Adagio Dazzle, and-“ The siren was cut off as a katana flew through the air slicing her in half. The katana stuck into the wall behind her as the creature disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Standing with her back still turned, Cinder grumbled as she returned to search for her other sword now that that annoyance was taken care of. “I couldn’t give less of a damn who you are...” She thought out loud.

Once she found her brother’s blade in the water, she stood back up and wandered over toward her sword in the wall. The dragon pulled it out and sheathed both of them as she made her way to her destination of the other tunnel. She was running late, but she had confidence that Sunset would be able to hold out long enough.

Serenade sat in solitude in her throne room concentrating her power. Ordinarily, a demon lord level demon would be able to channel the power necessary for the oubliette in a matter of minutes, but since she was attempting it with far less demonic energy and experience, the process would take considerably longer.

She had issued an order for Arax to prevent any from entering her throne room while she channeled her power and prayed that he would not be as useless about it as some of her other disciples when she gave them an order. Just thinking about how Lightning Dust failed her annoyed her to no end.

She concentrated on that hatred, and on all the hatred she had ever experienced in her life. Hatred was the source of power for her demonic energy and to channel the amount she needed, she would need to focus on nothing but hatred, nothing but negative emotion.

Serenade hated mortals so much, she hated them beyond words, beyond understanding. The more she thought about everything that mortals had put her through, the more she hated them. She hated how they murdered her mother, abused her, beat her, enslaved her, used her and how they killed her sister. What she hated most though was how they not only called what they did to her kind “justice” but how they pretended that they had changed and that it suddenly absolved them of everything they had ever done.

Mortals were so self-centered, they believed that everything revolved around them and that the world belonged to them. Their fear of losing their short insignificant lives always drove them to commit unspeakable acts and then believe that because they stopped such acts that the rest of the world would forget.

Mortals killed her family, and destroyed any childhood she could have had. They demolished any chance of her living a “normal” life long ago. They could say they were sorry and claim they had changed, but they couldn’t give her that time back, they couldn’t bring her mother or her sister back to life. Their apologies were as empty as their souls.

Red energy began to gather around the siren as she prepared herself. In time, she would be ready to face Glitch, and surprise him with something that he would never expect. The oubliette had enough power to not only disintegrate him into nothing but also to split the entire planet in half. There was no way he could stop it, even at her power level which was far from a demon at mastery level, she could destroy him with ease. It didn’t matter if he too bore the mark of demonic potential or that he passed the trials, right?

She would come out superior; she had to. She refused to be number two to anyone. She would rule the world or watch it burn, it didn’t matter which, she’d rather be dead than a slave to mortals once more.

Most of all though, she hated Glitch. He represented a wrench in her plans, a thorn in her side that threatened to undo all she had worked to create. He couldn’t succeed, he needed to be stopped, he needed to die.

With Serenade focused on channeling her power, Arax met with a guard outside of the throne room chamber. The guard gave him a salute which he nodded to before the guard was at ease.

“No one has gone in there, right?” Arax asked with Starlight at his side.

The guard shook his head. “No sir, I have followed our strict orders, no one sees Master Serenade for any reason.”

Arax nodded. “Good, if anyone goes in there, we’ll all regret it...”

“Sir, if I may ask... What exactly is Master Serenade doing in there? There’s a fight outside and she’s locked herself in the throne room...” The guard asked with concerned eyes.

Arax bit his lip, unsure of how much he should divulge. “Let’s just say that the fate of this battle will be determined by the outcome of what goes on in there...”

With her hoof on a chain, Serenade yanked a mare along behind her. The other end of the chain connected to a collar around the mare’s neck as she yelped from the tug. Serenade gave her a stern look and squinted. “Listen, you’ll be better off if you just cooperate. You don’t want to die, and I want to get paid, so the less you struggle, the better. However, if you’re interested in getting roughed up a little, then I am more than happy to oblige, the choice is yours.”

The mare spit on Serenade, hitting her on the cheek. The demon siren reached with her other hoof and wiped the spit away. “Alright, cunt now you’ve pissed me off.”

Before they could even muster a response, Serenade whelped her with the back of her hoof and gave her another eight hits for good measure.

The young earth pony stumbled as blood dripped from her lip, but Serenade closed the distance and pressed her up against a nearby wall, pinning her there. “Do that shit again and I’ll make you regret it, understand?”

She struggled to respond but managed to get words to leave her throat between coughs. “You’re bringing me back to slavery, how am I supposed to respond?”

“That’s the beauty of Dragon Scar...” Serenade smirked before releasing the mare.

The brown maned mare rubbed her throat and raised a brow as Serenade picked the chain back up. “There isn’t any law...”

“How can you just bring someone back into slavery after they escaped? What kind of monster are you?” The former slave asked.

“Don’t ask me, kid. They pay me to bring your kind back when you run away and I just do what I’m paid to do... Besides, if you really wanted to be free, you’d be free and wouldn’t have let me catch you...” Serenade sneered.

“How can you say that?” Tears rolled down the mare’s cheeks as Serenade tugged the chain forcing her to walk with her through the town.

“I was a slave once too, you know?” Serenade grinned as the mare finally became compliant, realizing she wasn’t about to escape her fate. “I escaped and I never went back, so clearly you’re just too weak. Slavery is the best place for someone so weak out here in Dragon Scar, really...”

“So you know how awful being someone’s property is, and yet you are willing to aid in continuing the cycle? Where is your heart?” The mare asked.

As they approached a local tavern, Serenade wrapped the other end of the chain around a steel beam holding the awning over the entrance up. She padlocked the chain to ensure that her prey wouldn’t escape.

Stepping closer and gesturing for the mare to sit down, Serenade grinned. “There’s no room in my heart to feel sorry for wastes of life. That’s all your kind really is too, a big giant waste of life. Were you born outside of this place you’d be acting like the world belonged to you, just like the rest of your kind. You disgust me...”

The girl didn’t say a word as she sat down, instead, she just stared with eyes that suggested she didn’t understand.

Reaching into her saddlebag, Serenade retrieved a second collar and snapped it onto the mare’s neck above where the chained one was. Quickly locking it into place with a combination lock, she tapped the collar and looked the mare in the eyes. “If you somehow find a way to escape, that collar is set up to send a magic signal to an orb in my bag. If you get more than 80 feet away from it... It’ll explode.”

The mare gulped as Serenade stood up and petted her on the head before heading inside the rowdy tavern.

A few of the patrons gave her a nod, and a few of the stallions gave her a little more than that which just caused her to roll her eyes. While she hated mortals, she had a minor bit more tolerance for this crowd. They engaged in all the shitty things that mortals did, but they at least didn’t pretend they were good creatures in the slightest. There wasn’t a soul in Gale’s Water Hole that would tell anyone they were a decent being.

Approaching the bar she tapped a gruff-looking griffin on the shoulder.

The griffin turned around and stroked his graying feathers out of his face. He had a crack along his beak on the right side, which Serenade assumed was either a fight wound, or he pissed off his mate at some point. His name was Geoff, and he loved his booze and the sex that often came with it, but that was obvious to anyone who got within range to smell him. He reeked of alcohol at all times.

Serenade would be annoyed at his drunken behavior, but it led to carelessness that often allowed his slaves to escape and thus created work for Serenade in bringing them back.

In Dragon Scar, most towns operated independently of each other, and as a result, there was no centralized law. Most towns were just constructed out of scrap metal and old junk and Scrap City was no exception. Most of the town was held together by poor weld jobs, and it wasn’t uncommon for the limited wildlife that could survive in the harsh country to get into people’s homes through various holes.

The griffin sized Serenade up and down and smiled as he raised a glass filled with cheap whiskey in his claw. “Serenade, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

As per usual, Serenade kept the conversation all business. “I found your slave. I have her tied up outside if you wish to inspect the merchandise before you give payment.”

He shook his head and reached onto the bar top, grabbing a coin bag and tossing it to her. “No need, you always return quality work.”

“If that’s how you feel, then how about you buy me a drink?” Serenade smirked before sitting down in the spot next to him, placing her hooves atop of the bar.

He nodded and tapped the counter. “Bartender, get this girl a full glass of your roughest whiskey!”

“The roughest or the most expensive?” The young dragon behind the counter chuckled.

“I ain’t made of money.” Geoff grunted as he crossed his arms.

Shrugging the dragon placed a chipped whiskey glass in front of Serenade and filled it to the brim with a foul-smelling whiskey. “Bottoms up, kid.” The dragon laughed.

Without much effort, Serenade lifted the cup and gulped it all down in a single motion; gaining awe and praise from both Geoff and the bartender. “Slow down, girl. You’re going to get fucked up way too quickly that way.”

“Alcohol doesn’t affect me...” She responded plainly.

“Technically it dehydrates you...” Geoff pointed out.

“First of all, I’m surprised a drunk idiot like you even knows that, second of all, it doesn’t matter. I don’t need to drink water...” Serenade reminded him.

He slapped himself in the forehead as he cursed himself for forgetting. “Oh right, that’s a demon thing. So it also means you can’t get drunk either?”

“Correct,” Serenade replied plainly.

“Being a demon sounds like it sucks... You don’t drink, you don’t eat... You don’t even sleep...” Geoff coughed as he tried to finish his sentence while swallowing his drink.

Sleep was when most people did their self-reflection and their brain processed things that were too difficult to deal with when one was awake. For that reason, Serenade was thankful she didn’t have to partake in that activity anymore; there were many things she would prefer to stay tucked away in the recesses of her mind.

“Try not to lose your slave again...” Serenade changed the subject back to business.

“I don’t get how a girl who was a slave herself at one point feels nothing about returning runaways. I mean I ain’t complaining because y’all saved my ass a lot of money, but still...” Geoff squinted in thought.

“I couldn’t care less... It’s none of my business what she is... I only care about myself, that’s how I’ve survived this long...” Serenade spoke quietly, a bit annoyed that he was clearly probing her for inflammation.

“I guess it’s true then...” Geoff laughed.

“What is?” Serenade raised a brow.

“Demons really do give up their heart.” He smirked.

He had no idea how right he was.

Demons were not commonly seen in the world, but while still rare, they were a common enough occurrence in Dragon Scar to where most locals paid them little mind. Most only knew anything about them in passing from old stories told by a man who knew a man who knew a man.

“I gave up on having a heart long before I was a demon...” Serenade admitted.

“You must have seen some things in your time then...” Geoff concluded.

Finally climbing out of the sewers, Cinder flicked muck and filth off of herself and cursed as she crawled out of a trap door inside the tower. She was behind the magical barrier, but still, she could feel the intense magical presence. It was almost too much even for a dragon, and if she were younger, it likely would have immobilized her.

As a dragon aged, their ability to resist magical energy tended to go up until it peaked around when they were about eight hundred years old, depending on the breed. She belonged to a fairly long-lived breed that took a good five thousand years to reach full size and usually would die of natural aging by ten thousand, though most of her kind died long before then due to their warrior nature.

She could see a long spiral staircase that led up, which she began to follow to the top rubbing her scarred shoulder in annoyance as she did. The wound had stopped bleeding, but it was still uncomfortable.

“Fucking hell...” She groaned as she made it up the stairs. To her good fortune, the creatures from the sewers didn’t seem intelligent enough to climb ladders and thus she was alone in her ascent.

She made it to the top of the tower with ease and activated the gemstone at the center top. Once it was powered up and the tower began to shine, she sat down and laid her back against the wall. The trip through the sewers had taken a toll on her and while she wanted to be the one to cut through Serenade, she knew that it was a job for Sunset Shimmer. She would put her faith in Sunset, as at this point she was the only one capable of fighting the demonic monster.

Cinder pondered what would happen now. Would the amplifying effects of the towers be enough to magnify Sunset’s power or would she fall to Serenade’s might. She supposed it wouldn’t matter, as if Sunset did fail, they would all be dead by morning.

Her thoughts locked onto Serenade and Cinder began to wonder if she could have done anything differently. Serenade would have likely died one day in Dragon Scar had Cinder not trained her. How could she have been so foolish? Why didn’t she listen to her brother when he said that they shouldn’t be training outsiders.

Cinder wanted to be different, she wanted to become a better clan leader when her brother passed the torch after her parents passed. She wanted to be one who accepted outsiders and taught them their ways. She wanted strength through unity, and couldn’t think of a better place to start than enlisting a pony (though she ended up being a siren in disguise in the end).

She was told it couldn’t be done, that there was no way that a pony could pass their trials, but Serenade proved them all wrong and it was with Cinder’s guidance she was able to do that. In a way, she was proud of herself, as Serenade’s strength was partially due to her mentoring, but she only wished that the girl used her strength for good and not evil.

Cinder reached onto her belt and into one of the few pouches that were behind her. Carefully she drew a flask filled with vodka, though while ponies called it “cheap”, it was far better than the stuff she had grown up with.

Sipping from the flask, she let out a long sigh as she stared into the distance toward Canterlot castle. It wouldn’t be long before Sunset approached that same castle, Cinder just hoped that she was enough of an assistance to make a difference when the final confrontation happened.

Taking another long swig, she placed the cap back onto the bottle. There was no point in going anywhere, even if they lost. There would be no escape if Serenade defeated Sunset, so Cinder closed her eyes and decided that some rest was what she needed.

“It’s all up to you now, Sunset Shimmer...” She muttered before dozing off.

“All systems prepared, Moondancer,” Sunset spoke over her headset to Moondancer who appeared in a video window within Sunset’s visor.

Moondancer looked down at her keyboard and tapped a few keys before looking back at Sunset. “All systems optimized. The Siren’s Bane amplifier seems to be working at optimum levels.”

“Sounds good.” Sunset nodded.

“You’re ready to kill a siren.” Moondancer smirked as she crossed her arms.

“Guess so,” Sunset replied.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” Moondancer asked.

“How so?” Sunset tilted her head.

“Years ago, you stopped me from killing a siren, and now you’re about to do just that...” Moondancer pointed out with a finger raised.

Her voice didn’t have malice or sarcasm in it. She spoke as someone just pointing out a fact.

Sunset hadn’t noticed how much she had grown up over the past three years. Moondancer looked older, she was more womanly now, though still maintaining her boyish charm. If the girl cut her hair, she could easily pass herself off as a young man, but it was somewhat cute in a way.

While Sunset found herself more attracted to more effeminate girls, she could see a glimpse of what Shimmer saw in Moondancer. It occurred to her though that perhaps Adagio had similar qualities. She must have if Shimmer had fallen for her at one point, but that was assuming that she wasn’t under Adagio’s spell.

When Sunset first found out, she wanted to assume it was just Adagio’s powers, but that didn’t make sense did it? Adagio supposedly wasn’t able to fix her amulet until after Shimmer was dead, so it wasn’t possible for her to use her powers on Shimmer.

That meant that she could only have manipulated her with words and trickery. There was no way in hell that Adagio won Shimmer over honestly.

“This situation isn’t the same. This girl won’t stop until...” Sunset didn’t get a chance to finish as Moondancer held up her hand and shook her head with a gentle smile upon her face.

“You needn’t explain. Let’s just focus on taking her down, shall we?”

Sunset nodded and looked up to see both of the towers she had orders to be powered up were now both glowing. “Awesome, time to get into position.”

There was silence as Sunset stepped into the center of the street where the two towers pointed. She readied herself until Moondancer disappeared from her screen and switched to voice communication, concern in her voice. “Uh... Sunset... I’m detecting a huge energy spike...”

“What kind of energy?” Sunset asked.

“Demonic. These levels are skyrocketing and it’s all coming from Canterlot castle. I’ve never seen readings like this, Serenade must be up to something...” Sunset could hear Moondancer’s keystrokes as she investigated.

“Figures... I guess she really does always have a trick up her sleeve. Can you get an analysis of what might be going on in there?” Sunset asked.

“Sure thing,” Moondancer responded.

Eight long seconds passed before Sunset could hear Moondancer gasp. “Whoa! These readings are insane! Sunset if I were you, then I’d use your Daydream Shimmer form!”

“I can’t just turn into that when I want, it requires a deep connection with my friends to be nearby...” Sunset replied.

“All of your friends are all around you right now. I can switch the suit to use magic to broadcast your voice to all of your allies right now. You need to power up though because this kind of energy could destroy the entire planet in a single shot!” Moondancer warned.

“What!?” Sunset was a bit surprised by that.

“Switching now, you should tell them all now. It should still send your synthesized voice too...” Moondancer said.

Closing her eyes, Sunset began to speak out loud. “Everyone who can hear my voice, I’m using my power to talk to all of you. Serenade is preparing some kind of attack. I need all of you to lend me your power as my friends and allies.”

The short silence was followed by Twilight’s voice ringing in her ear, which surprised Sunset. Moondancer didn’t mention they would all be able to speak back to her. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but my power is yours.”

Instantly, Sunset felt a beam of energy come from the tower where Twilight was down to her, hitting her and her body took it in.

Discord’s voice followed shortly after. “A friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine too, count me in.”

Like Twilight before him, another beam of energy came down and hit her. Her body began to feel stronger and stronger with each beam that hit her.

“Thank you both...” Sunset nodded.

“You sprung me loose, so you can definitely expect my loyalty!” The proud voice of Rainbow Dash sang before another beam from the skies came down and hit Sunset.

A voice that Sunset didn’t expect to hear followed. “Y’all can count on me. ‘Ah ain’t gonna forget all that ya’ve done fer’ us all. We ain’t always seen eye-to-eye but ya’ got my strength on yer’ side too.”

Applejack was one of the ponies that Sunset expected to be annoyed with her until the very end of their quest, but it looked like she finally came around which was at least partially a relief.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Cinder’s voice rang in Sunset’s ear, causing her to be surprised.

“Cinder? You too?” Sunset asked.

“Of course. You have accepted me as part of your rebellion and you’ve been helping me avenge my clan. We drank together, and I would wager we’re great friends now. You have my power at your side, Glitch. Go bag us a siren and end this...” Cinder’s voice echoed off.

Feeling all of the power from her friends coursing through her, Sunset knew she had the strength to do this now. She focused her magic and could feel her body begin to transform. Her hooves felt lighter than air and her entire body lifted off of the ground, combat suit and all.

Within seconds, she could sense under the suit that she had become Daydream Shimmer. With her eyes opened, she was ready. Standing in position of the towers, her power was amplified even further.

It wasn’t a moment too soon either.

It was finally ready! The oubliette. Serenade could feel it, she had succeeded in charging it, and now it was ready to be unleashed. While it wouldn’t be at the full power of a demon lord, it would be more than enough might to turn Glitch into nothing more than blood and a pile of scrap metal.

“This power... It’s...” She whispered to herself as she felt dark energy swirling about her.

Horrible isn’t it? Yet, you can’t help but feel drawn to it, can you? You want more. You want to taste what else being a demon lord has to offer, don’t you?

Serenade made her way to the balcony that overhung the entire city where she looked down to the town square. Sure enough, there standing at the ready was her armored “rival”.

“So, you came all the way here... You wanted to die personally, did you? I mean I suppose it would be a shame if you walked all the way to my keep only to be slaughtered by some minion of mine...” Serenade spoke to herself, knowing he was way too far away to hear her.

From that distance, he looked like an ant almost, which was fitting as that was exactly what he was in comparison to her power.

Serenade levitated off of the ground, dark energy carrying her as it swirled around her. She needed to unleash it soon, she couldn’t delay or the power would rip her body apart.

“Prepare to die, Glitch...” She whispered before placing her hooves in front of her.

From her hooves, and her horn, a dark blast exited and headed directly toward Glitch who responded by firing a sizable blast of their own.

The two energy blasts hit each other and paused as they both attempted to push past the other. Serenade growled and funneled more power into her attack. “RESISTING IS POINTLESS, GLITCH! ACCEPT YOUR FATE AND DIE!”

Glitch didn’t obey, instead, they focused their power to counter the attack as best they could but it wasn’t working too well. The oubliette blast was slowly pushing toward them and they could feel themselves losing the fight.

“I need... More... Power...” Glitch commanded.

“We’re with you Glitch!” A voice called out.

Before Glitch knew it, hundreds of other voices entered their head the same way that their friends had. It was all of their warriors that they had led on the rebellion. All of them were calling out to them, lending them their strength just as their friends had.

“Thank you...” Glitch responded as they felt their body grow stronger and before they knew it, they were able to push back against the oubliette. The blast grew smaller and smaller as Glitch’s own grew closer and closer to Serenade.

“No! It’s not possible!” Serenade hissed as she tried to muster up more power, but it was no use, her body was too drained to give any more.

“I can feel her power waning!” Glitch called out to her friends.

“NO! NO! NO! NO!” Serenade kept chanting until finally her blast was deflected and sent up to the heavens where it vanished into the sky.

The next thing that happened was her body being hit by the tremendous might of Glitch’s blast, sending her flying back into her throne room, shattering the throne that Celestia once sat upon on impact.

She struggled to stand and dusted herself off as she could feel her body weaken. Glitch had actually done it, he had beaten her oubliette.

Serenade was panicking, but she was far from beaten. He would still need to face her head on.

Quickly, Serenade began to use her magic to try and heal her body as much as she could, but she was struggling. Glitch’s power had weakened her significantly and she could feel much of the stolen magic she housed leaking out of her. Creatures outside were regaining the magic that she had stolen ever so slowly.

She needed to hold it in, she needed to keep it together.

“This fight isn’t over yet...” Serenade muttered.

Arax suddenly sensed a strong pinch inside of him. He blinked in astonishment as he realized what it meant. Looking at Starlight, he had to make a decision and he needed to make it fast.

He took the girl’s hoof without explanation and ran downstairs. The two made their way directly to the entrance of the castle where he turned her to look him in the eyes. “Starlight, there isn’t much time. You need to run as far as you can, you have to find Twilight Sparkle and her group and flee the city.”

“What’s going on?” Starlight tilted her head in confusion.

“Serenade’s oubliette was defeated...” Arax stated.

“What!? How can that be!?” Starlight blinked.

“It doesn’t matter. Glitch is too strong, he is coming to stop Serenade now... He’ll arrive in a matter of minutes no doubt, and you don’t want to be in the wake of the fight...” Arax explained.

Starlight shook her head in disbelief. These last three years she had come to understand Serenade as seemingly all-powerful and now Arax was telling her that Glitch was about to defeat her?

“I thought you said that Serenade was unkillable?”

Arax shook his head and placed a hoof upon the mare’s chin, tilting her head up to look him in the eyes. “She is flesh and blood just like you or I and thus she can die. With the oubliette a failure, she is far weaker than normal. Glitch will win this fight, no doubt. It’s a matter of when not if. By sunset tonight, Serenade’s empire will be over...”

“This is insane... You really think Serenade will lose?” Starlight looked up to him with concerned eyes.

He nodded at her. “Definitely. Now you need to go...”

“But...” Starlight touched the collar on her neck. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Arax raised his brow.

“What is going to happen to you when she falls?” She had a look of genuine concern.

He shrugged. “I face the same punishment, probably. I was involved after all...”

“You don’t have to though! I can convince Twilight and them to go easier on you! I know you didn’t do most of that stuff of your own volition, Serenade made you!” Starlight stepped forward and placed both hooves upon him.

He sighed and pushed her off and shook his head. “No. It’s too late for me. You have to go back to your friends now... It’s been a good three years, but it’s over... I release you...”

With those words, he grabbed the collar upon her neck and like magic, it released itself and freed Starlight of its hold. Arax gripped it in his hoof and gestured toward the door. “Go now.”

“I won’t leave you behind, Arax... I... I love you...” She blushed and looked away embarrassed.

“No you don’t, that’s just the power of my bite telling you that you do...” He sighed.

“No, it isn’t! I know what love it, Arax! And you can’t tell me that you don’t feel it too! I have seen how you are to me, you could have been far more cruel to me, you could have mistreated me, but you never did! You were always kind and giving...” She stated, her heart warm with all the memories of the past three years.

“All lies. An act to keep you placated...” He shrugged.

“That’s not true and you know it! Why are you doing this!? You can’t even look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t love me, can you?” Starlight stepped forward with tears in her eyes.

He looked away and blushed. “It doesn’t matter. You have to go...”

“Let me help you, Arax... Please...” She reached for his hoof.

He pulled his hoof away. “I’m beyond help, Starlight. I’m in too deep. Now go...”

Stepping forward she placed a kiss upon his cheek and stepped back. “Goodbye, Arax... I’ll never forget you...”

With those words, she bolted out the door and toward safety. Arax sighed as he looked at the collar in his hoof. He gripped it tightly and turned to leave. “Goodbye, Starlight...” He whispered.

With Serenade’s blast repelled, Glitch made their way to the castle with haste. Their powered up form was fading, but they still had plenty of magic left to burn as they cut through any force that stood in their path. It would only be a matter of eight minutes between the deflection of the blast and Glitch bursting through the castle throne room doors where Serenade sat on her now cracked throne.

The mare was a mess, her mane a disheveled monstrosity, but Glitch could see a small set of horns growing out of her head. They were nothing compared to the vision she had seen when she walked through the underworld, but they were clearly the start of what would eventually become the same horns she saw.

Serenade sat up and smirked as Glitch entered, the light from the sunset outside shining through the stained glass windows making the room glow multiple colors, an effect that Glitch would have appreciated more under different circumstances.

“The sun is setting, and not just outside, but on your empire too; give up, Serenade. You don’t stand a chance...” Glitch warned as they conjured up the Siren’s bane and held it in a hoof, ready to strike.

Serenade laughed. “Even at my diminished power, I’m more than a match for a single unicorn. Your tin can suit won’t make much of a difference to me...”

Glitch stood their ground. “I gave you a chance to surrender, just remember that...”

Coming to a stand, Serenade’s tendrils flared out around her. “Ha! Do you think that you are going to offer mercy to me? I’ll destroy you! I’m going to rip that mask off and see your true face before I kill you though...”

“Then give it your best attempt...” Glitch challenged.

“With pleasure!” Serenade hissed before bolting forward, her tendrils whipping at the armored pony as she did.

Anticipating the attacking, Glitch planted their hind hooves and sliced with the bladed spear at the tendrils as she held it in two hooves. The cut hacked many of them clean off as the spear glowed with a yellow light. It’s power seeming to get stronger around a siren.

Serenade blinked as her tendrils were cut off, but she wasn’t fast enough to retaliate against what would come next. The blade came down in a swipe, hitting her face and cutting her left eye. She screeched in pain as she gripped the eye with her hoof, staggering back as she did. The pain was unbearable, it was clearly no ordinary blade as she could feel a burning sensation run through her entire face.

Attempting to heal the damage, she found herself unsuccessful. “IT BURNS! WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Serenade screeched.

Glitch twirled the spear and jabbed it forward, piercing Serenade in the chest with it. She screeched once more and stumbled back as Glitch let go of the spear, letting Serenade stumble about with it stuck in her.

The pain was unbearable, but she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. Huffing, Serenade grabbed the spear with two hooves and pulled it out of herself, black blood oozing out of the fresh wound, that like the other could not be healed it seemed. She gripped her chest and her eye as she felt all of her magic leaving her body.

“What did you do!? How!?” Serenade asked as she looked up at the armored pony.

“I had a little help, that spear is no ordinary blade, it is the Siren’s Bane and it has the power to give pause to a siren’s power, even a demon one it seems...” Glitch explained.

Serenade had heard of the blade but assumed it was only a myth.

“I don’t understand... How did you escape the demon realm? You were supposed to die there... Who are you?” Serenade asked.

Glitch shook their head. “It doesn’t matter who I am.”

There was a silence between them followed by Glitch explaining their next intentions. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

“Why not? Are you too soft to do it?” Serenade smirked.

“It’s definitely within my power, but killing a siren is what started all of this in the first place. On top of that, I don’t intend to be like you, nor does Equestria. You may be upset over how we were in the past, but we can at least have a future without unnecessary killing...” Glitch said.

“How pathetic... It doesn’t matter anyway, in my eyes you’ll all always be nothing more than slime.” Serenade spat.

“Your words have no meaning now, I would save them for Princess Twilight Sparkle...” Glitch spoke.

“One day, I’ll kill you, Glitch. I’ll find out who you are under that mask and I’ll hunt you down, mark my words...” Serenade threatened.

Glitch shook their head and shrugged before pulling a set of hoof cuffs from her suit that she latched onto the siren’s front hooves. The cuffs had the added bonus of blocking magic use.

“Until that day, you’re going to be enjoying a nice long punishment...” Glitch said.

Over the next few hours, Serenade’s control over all of her mind-slaves was broken, her kingdom was no more and the damage was beginning to be undone.

Most of her disciples and higher enlisted officers went into hiding after her defeat, and all that she had imprisoned were set free. With a little help from Glitch, the royal family had been able to take back the castle and begin the process of rebuilding Equestria immediately.

With all the magic back to the citizens, the process would be hasty, which was good.

Princess Twilight stood in the town square with a sheet over a large object that stood exactly where Glitch did when she deflected Serenade’s Oubliette. Clearing her throat for all the citizens around her, she spoke loudly. “In honor of the duty and sacrifices that Glitch has made for Equestria, we commemorate their achievement with this statue!”

Twilight pulled the sheet down to reveal a life-size replica of the armored pony. The crowd around her began to cheer and stomp their hooves with excitement as they all began to gaze at the gorgeous marble carving of the newest mysterious hero of Equestria. Though few knew who they were under the helmet, they all were grateful for their selfish deeds.

“We all owe our lives to Glitch, let this statue remind us that sometimes one must rise well above the call of duty for the sake of others. Glitch demonstrated the true meaning of leadership and patriotism for one’s homeland. We could all stand to learn from their example,” Twilight continued.

The crowd cheered, whooped and stomped in approval at those words.

Twilight stuck around for a little longer to shake hooves and make small talk with the townsfolk before taking her leave to head back to her room in the castle that she had been staying in for the cleanup effort. Eventually, she would go back to Ponyville to take care of her duties there, but at that moment Celestia wanted all hooves on deck to clean up Canterlot, especially since Luna was still shaken up from her experience and Cadence was far from 100%.

Once she entered her room, there still clad in her armor was Sunset Shimmer, though sans helmet. She was leaned against a wall with her hooves crossed. “Done with your little tour?”

Twilight frowned. “You know, you could have chosen to show yourself and actually at the very least get some credit for all you’ve done...”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t want ponies praising me and looking up to me anymore, especially when I’m not going to be here anymore...”

“I guess I can understand. Still, I owe you a great deal, Sunset.” Twilight smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood.

Sunset scoffed and looked away in disgust. “More than you know, Princess...”

Twilight could hardly blame her for being upset with her. She wasn’t a parent, but she did understand the gravity of what it meant to take Sunset away from her child.

“I consider us even now, Princess. Don’t ever call on me to come here again, got it?” Sunset raised a brow.

Twilight nodded and bowed her head. “You’ve gone far above and beyond...”

“So what will happen from here?” Sunset asked.

“Well, Kiz agreed to be in communication with Equestria to finally gain acceptance and better treatment of sirens. She appointed Sonata as the official Equestrian ambassador and I intend to work directly with her to ensure that this all becomes a reality,” Twilight explained.

Sunset looked up at the ceiling and a small smile found its way to her face. “The irony... Sirens caused me nothing but pain and here I am... Happy that they finally see equality in my lifetime.”

“It’ll be a long road as there will always be skeptics, but I hope to enact equality laws for them right away. Sonata’s assistance and Aria’s sacrifice will definitely aid in getting plenty on our side for this matter as well.” Twilight’s voice was filled with hope.

As much as Sunset was upset with her, she couldn’t help but feel some joy in seeing Twilight passionate about something, though it was nothing like her Twilight.

There was a long pause followed by Twilight clearing her throat. “Listen... If you can’t go back home after... Well after all of this, then you’re welcome to come here. I know it’s not much, but...”

Sunset stepped forward and placed a hoof over the mare’s mouth as she spoke. “I’d rather take my chances there if it’s all the same...”

Rarity had just finished placing her earrings on as she looked herself over in the mirror. She smiled at them and checked her entire figure over. Her sexy cocktail dress complimented her body so perfectly right down to her black heeled shoes.

As her leg stood out one could see a tattoo right above her ankle of a pentagram with a dotted circle around it.

Stepping back from the mirror she ran a hand through her neck-length hair and grinned. “Rarity, you look absolutely stunning...” She told herself.

Her self-admiration was interrupted though by the sound of the doorbell followed by a call from the upstairs bathroom where Applejack was getting ready for them both to go out to dinner. “Rares can y’all get that?”

Sighing, she stepped out of the bathroom and wandered toward the front door. Opening it, she was shocked to be greeted by a face she hadn’t expected to see in a long time. Teal eyes and wild red hair that had grown considerably and was now down below her rear and messier than ever before greeted Rarity.

The girl was malnourished for sure as she looked a good twenty pounds lighter as she stood there with her hands tucked in her pockets and a sheepish smile upon her face.

“Hey...” Sunset began.

Rarity stepped forward and with all of her might punched the woman directly in the face. Sunset turned in time for it to hit her cheek, and though she staggered, she didn’t go down. Rarity had a surprisingly strong punch for a woman her size. She was dainty but strong.

“Alright, I deserved that...” Sunset admitted as she kept tall.

Rarity delivered another punch, this time to the woman’s stomach. The second punch was far more effective as it knocked the wind out of Sunset and she wheezed as she gripped the spot.

“Okay... I probably deserved that too...” Sunset managed to get out before another punch hit her in the face again.

“Okay, I think you’re going overboard now...”

Rarity crossed her arms. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m glad Applejack didn’t answer the door?” Sunset shrugged.

“You’re damn right you are. She’d have punched you so hard that you’d be dead right now.” Rarity nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t come here to argue with you, I just needed to get some clothes. I know I left some here but as you can clearly see the ones I have seem to have gotten a bit too small, guess I grew a little while I was gone and I didn’t want to see Twilight like this...” Sunset rubbed her neck.

Rarity sighed. “You know, you have a lot of nerve coming here asking for favors and then telling me that you’re going to just waltz back into that woman’s life as if you didn’t do anything...” There was a pause as Rarity bit her lip, “but, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you had a good reason for leaving.”

“Thanks, Rarity...” She sheepishly smiled.

“Though Applejack is not going to feel the same way...” Rarity shook her head.

At that point, Sunset had accepted Applejacks in any universe not liking her that much.

“I actually was wondering if you guys would come with me... Moondancer is already in the car, I can explain a bit of what happened on the way.” Sunset grinned pathetically.

Rarity sighed and nodded. “Yes, let me just fetch Applejack and Jasper and we’ll tag along in my car.”

“Thanks, you guys are true friends,” Sunset replied.

“Mark my words, Sunset. While I understand what it’s like to have to do things that you’d rather not talk about and even things that you have to keep from others... I am doing this for Twilight, not you. She is going to need a lot of support through this,” Rarity stated.

“You have my thanks, regardless.” Sunset nodded.

After a short car ride to the Shimmer Estate, Sunset punched in the code to get the gate to open and the two cars made their way to her front door where they both parked in front of the building. Sunset let out a long sigh as she looked over at Moondancer in the same car. “I guess this is it...” Sunset half-smiled.

“What’re you nervous for? You took down a demon siren! This is nothing!” Moondancer encouraged with a thumbs up.

Sighing, Sunset stepped out of the car as Rarity and Applejack pulled in behind her. She decided it was best she went first as she knew that Applejack had plenty to say.

Ringing the doorbell, the others all stood at the bottom of the steps eagerly awaiting what would transpire.

Sunset brushed herself off and adjusted the long sleeve plaid checkered shirt she was wearing under her leather jacket. She inhaled and exhaled as the large door swung open on its own. Stepping inside she could see Twilight coming down from the steps and Sunset was instantly in awe. Twilight had become more of a woman in the past three years. Her legs had filled out and she had started to wear her hair down.

Her legs were now covered in some torn up skinny jeans and she was sporting a fuzzy sweater that was a size too big for her, but it cut off at her midriff.

She blinked as she walked forward seeing Sunset standing there. The woman who had left three years ago had lost some weight and her hair had grown considerably. Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes as she stopped breathing before coming within inches of her wife.

There was silence between the two for a solid minute. The silence ended when Twilight reared back and punched the girl square in the cheek. Sunset stumbled back but caught herself before she fell, gripping her cheek. “I really wish people would stop punching me today...” She grumbled.

Once she came to a proper stand, Twilight took another swing, hitting her in the shoulder. This hit, however, didn’t prove to be as effective, but Twilight continued to pound on the girl’s upper chest with her balled up fists in anger as tears began to stream down her face, making her eyeliner run.

“Why did you come back!? I had finally accepted you were gone!” Twilight cried as she continued to pound on the girl.

Sunset grabbed the girl’s hands and pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her wife, petting her hair as she did. Twilight resisted only for a second before finding herself at home in her lover’s arms. “I thought you were dead...” Twilight cried.

Hushing the girl, Sunset tilted her head up to lock eyes with her. “I’m sorry...”

“Where have you been?” Twilight asked.

“To hell and back...” Sunset giggled.

“Quite literally actually, I can vouch for that...” Moondancer spoke as she came in from behind the redhead, though her volume decreased as she approached the end of her sentence unsure if she should even be talking.

“What in tarnation is she talkin’ about?” Applejack’s voice came from behind her as she and Rarity entered the room, Applejack’s arms crossed as she waited to hear Sunset’s explanation of where she had been.

“It’s a long story, the short version is...” Sunset began, but a voice she hadn’t expected rang through the air interrupting her.

“Actually, I can explain.”

The entire group turned and there at the doorway was Princess Twilight Sparkle and at her side was Sonata Dusk and what appeared to be another Applejack, this one appearing quite younger than the one they all knew.

“What the!?” The human Applejack blinked.

“Well, this is quite the development...” Rarity spoke as she held Jasper in her arms.

“Just a wild guess and y’all are this world’s Rarity?” The pony Applejack snickered as she examined the human version of her long-time friend.

“That would be correct, but I’m also your human self’s wife.” Rarity smirked.

The human Applejack rubbed her neck as her pony version stared at her in disbelief. “Yer’ kiddin’!” The equestrian girl said.

“What of it?” The human counterpart raised a brow.

“Ahem...” Princess Twilight cleared her throat and stepped forward, causing both Applejacks to grow silent with the pony one muttering something about Rarity under her breath.

The entire group grew quiet as the Princess spoke. “Sunset’s absence is my doing, Twilight. I apologize, but the circumstances were dire...”

“A demon siren had taken over Equestria, she was Adagio’s little sister, Serenade!” Sonata chimed in.

Twilight blinked and looked up at Sunset. “Really!?”

Pony Applejack nodded. “Yeah, really. Glitch- err... Sunset here saved us all. If’n she hadn’t shown up we’d all be dead, no doubt.”

Twilight looked to her wife with wonder. “Y-you saved the world?”

“Not this world, but I guess yeah...” Sunset shrugged.

“Please, don’t be angry with her. I forced her to help us, it was wrong of me, but I was desperate. My entire home was about to be destroyed...” Princess Twilight frowned.

Twilight looked over at the group and then nodded as she looked back at her wife. “Just... Don’t ever do that again...”

“From here on out, I’m staying in this world...” Sunset smiled as she took her wife’s hands.

“I suppose we should all give you two some privacy, you have a lot to catch up on...” Princess Twilight gestured for the group to leave.

Sunset let go of her wife and watched them all go, waving as they did, but one stopped and turned around to speak to her directly, it was the pony Applejack who locked eyes with the woman and stared for a few minutes before smiling at her. “Ya’ know, we ain’t really been gettin’ along this whole time. But y’all saved my sister’s life and ya’ got our home back. It’s a shame that she died, and ‘Ah’ll miss her forever, but at least she went emulating a great pony...”

Sunset shook her head. “Her actions were her own. I was honored to have such a great teammate.”

“It’s weird... Seein’ yer’ face after all this time... Y’all don’t look anything like ‘Ah expected ya’ to... Hell, ‘Ah didn’t expect y’all to even be female.” Applejack chuckled.

“Reality is often stranger than fiction, isn’t it?” Sunset smirked.

“Ain’t that the truth... Either way, we ain’t gonna see each other again, so ‘Ah guess this is goodbye... But... Thank you. For everything, Sunset...” Applejack offered her hand.

Looking down, Sunset took it and shook the woman’s hand with a smile. “Have a great life, Applejack.”

“Thanks, though ‘Ah’m a bit surprised to see that I married Rarity in this world...” Applejack laughed.

“Why? Hiding feelings for her in your own?” Sunset smirked.

Taking her hand back, Applejack’s face turned a shade of red as she stammered. “U-uh... ‘Ah gotta get goin’...”

She turned and left quickly trying to catch up with the others as Sunset snickered while the door closed behind them. She looked back at her wife and smiled. “I know this hasn’t been easy on you and this will be a process, but I want us to be a family again... I know I have no right to ask this and-“

Twilight cut her off. “It’s not up to me.”

“Horizon...” Sunset replied.

Twilight nodded. “It’s time for you to see your daughter...”

Taking her hand, Twilight led the redhead up the stairs back to the room where she had left Horizon to keep playing while she got the door. Releasing Sunset’s hand, Twilight opened the door carefully and slipped inside with Sunset just outside the door as she knelt down to Horizon’s level as the girl played with a set of blocks. “Horizon, sweetie... There’s someone that I want you to meet...”

The little girl looked up at her mother with confused eyes. Her muted purple hair with their messy red tips danced as she turned her head abruptly to see her guardian, her big pink eyes looking at her with curiosity.

“Who is it?” Horizon asked.

Twilight gestured toward the door and called to Sunset. “Come on in now.”

Carefully, Sunset opened the door and walked in slowly, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

“Horizon... This is your mom...” Twilight spoke.

Horizon blinked a few times and took a few steps in Sunset’s direction. The tall woman got down on her knees and smiled as she placed her hands upon her lap. “Hello, Horizon.”

“You’re the lady in all the pictures...” Horizon commented.

Sunset nodded. “Yes, but many of them are my twin sister. However, yes, I’m the woman in many of those pictures, and I gave birth to you, that makes me your mom.”

Horizon blinked. “Why’d you leave?”

Sunset’s eyes had welled up with tears that she wiped away. “Believe me, I never wanted to go. Sometimes though things happen that you can’t control though...”

“Are you going to stay here now?” Horizon asked.

Sunset could feel her heart warm up from those words. “That’s what I’d like to do from now on...”

The woman opened her arms and Horizon walked casually over and took the redhead into a hug which Sunset held tightly onto as her cheeks stained with tears. “I promise, it’ll take the end of the world to pull me away from you again, okay?”

“It’s a promise, mom,” Horizon spoke.

It was odd, her daughter was such an agreeable child despite her absence. She seemed to be very collected for a girl her age, but Sunset was just happy to have her in her arms again.

Twilight wandered over and took both of them into a huge, crying far more than Sunset was even.

“Why’re you crying?” Sunset asked between sniffles.

“I’m just so happy that we can all finally be a family again...” Twilight whispered.

“There’s nowhere in the world that I’d rather be...” Sunset replied.

“I’m just glad that you’re finally home...” Twilight said.

Sunset gave her wife and daughter a tighter squeeze. She was finally back with the two women who mattered the most to her. Over the past three years she had been many things, a warrior, a leader, a mystery mare, and even a rival, but the most important role that she had and the one she was the most thankful to have was to be her daughter’s mother.

She had missed out on years of her daughter’s life. Her first words, her first steps, so much had she missed and she didn’t want to miss anymore. She vowed to herself that she would never set foot in Equestria again. While that was where she was born, her home was here with her wife and her daughter, Horizon.

While her adventure saving Equestria was over, her greatest adventure was only just beginning.

Okay, easily the longest chapter to date by a long shot. I was contemplating splitting it in two, but I decided it felt better as one. Sorry it took so long to push out, but I had a lot going on over the holidays.

Thank you so much to everyone who read through Act VI and for those of you who have been here since day one, wow, we’ve come a long way haven’t we?

This is it though folks. After a few intermissions, we will be in Act VII, the final act. We are at end game. I’m sure you’re all eager to know what happens and how Sunset’s story concludes, but you will have to stay tuned to find out! This has been a crazy project that I’ve been working on for three years now, and publishing for over two. I’m super proud of how much I’ve done in that time and I’m thankful to everyone who reads what I have written.

Applety really outdid herself this time with not one, not two, but EIGHT illustrations. I literally didn't even expect that myself.

I look forward to seeing you all in Act VII.