“That’s Sunset Shimmer… Horizon’s mom…” Jasper spoke in a nearly whispered tone. He was still in disbelief, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The woman before him, they were all certain was dead; all the evidence pointed to it after all. There simply was no way that Sunset Shimmer was alive, and yet there she stood, alive and well.

Sunset ran a hand through her lavish locks that nearly touched the ground and smiled at her daughter, Horizon, who stood before her with her usual empty expression. “Horizon… It’s good to see you again, it’s been a long time…” Her smile seemed genuine enough, and she stood examining her daughter from head to toe before continuing. “You’re all grown up now… You look so much like Twilight…”

With a nod, Horizon kept her blank expression. “When time passes, one ages. That is the natural flow of things, after all.”

“Yeah, that definitely sounds like something Twilight would say…” Sunset chuckled before taking a step forward. The woman placed a hand atop Horizon’s head and removed her mask so she could ruffle the girl’s messy hair. Their height difference was drastic, as Sunset stood a good head or so taller than her pygmy daughter.

Horizon took her mask from her mother and nodded. “Thank you for your assistance, but we have to get going.”

Sunset tilted her head in confusion as the young teen stepped away from her and turned to leave. “Come on guys, we have to track down Serenade and figure out her next move,” Horizon instructed.

Jasper blinked as he watched Horizon walk away.

Bolt whistled and looked over at Sunset. “Yeah, safe to say you’re not too popular… That was cold.”

“I surmised as much.” Sunset placed a hand on her hip with a grin on her face.

Bolt gestured for his brother Cloud to follow him, and the two began to head in Horizon’s direction. Nova followed along with Jasper. Before they knew it, the entire group shy of Candy and Yuna had left Sunset there by herself.

Candy approached the older woman with a scowl on her face. Sunset gave her a gentle smile, but it didn’t seem to soften the young girl’s gaze. After clearing her throat, she spoke up to Sunset. “That’s tacky…”

“What is?” Sunset tilted her head.

Candy pointed up to the geode on Sunset’s neck. “Pinning that geode to garbage like that…”

Sunset looked down and touched her neck and quickly got the insult. Candy spit on Sunset’s shoe and left to meet up with her friends. The woman laughed as she looked over at Yuna with a smile. “I guess I had that one coming, huh?”

Yuna calmed herself and approached Sunset. The tall woman tilted her head with interest as Yuna approached. The young girl stood before Sunset in silence with a serious expression. Sunset merely laughed. “What? Are you gonna spit on me too?”

Yuna bowed her head respectfully. “My family owes a great debt to yours…”

Sunset squinted, trying to examine the girl. After eight seconds, she could see a resemblance. “You must be related to Moondancer, right?”

Nodding, Yuna spoke. “Yes, she is my sister… Your sister and she…” Yuna bit her lip, not wanting to finish that sentence.

“They were lovers.” Sunset grinned.

Yuna blushed. “Y-yes… They were…”

“My sister adored Moondancer. She wanted to marry her, and I’m sure Moondancer would have been a wonderful wife to her. She’s a good person, and her heart is strong. You’re lucky to have her in your life.” Sunset nodded.

Yuna couldn’t deny that. Her sister was her best friend and her mentor. Moondancer was someone that Yuna knew she could count on no matter what.

“I’m glad to hear you say that…” Yuna then looked back toward where her friends were headed, she would need to run to catch up with them. Looking up at Sunset, Yuna stood firm. “The others might not be keen on this, but I feel compelled to give this to you…”

Sunset blinked in confusion, as Yuna grabbed Sunset’s left hand, and then tapped her phone to the one on Sunset’s wrist. A gentle chime was heard signifying some kind of data transfer. Releasing Sunset’s hand, Yuna nodded and smiled. “I better get back to my friends…”

Sunset waved. “No worries, I’m sure we’ll meet up again real soon.”

Nodding in agreement, Yuna darted off to catch up with her friends.

Sunset stood there and looked down at her phone on her wrist, unsure of what just happened.

Jasper ran as fast as he could to catch up with Horizon, Bolt and Cloud huffing and puffing to keep up with him, but when the group finally did catch up with her, Jasper took a second to catch his breath before speaking.

“Horizon, are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She gave her usual deadpan tone.

Bolt rolled his eyes.

“Listen, it’s okay to be upset, what just happened back there… It was…” Jasper paused as he noticed Horizon’s expression hadn’t changed.

“I told you, I’m fine.” She shrugged. “We really should get going though,” she added before turning around to leave.

Jasper reached forward and grabbed the girl’s wrist to stop her, but he himself froze when he felt it. She was trembling. Her wrist was shaking ever so slightly and Jasper could feel it as he held it. Horizon said nothing, and Jasper let her go. The young teen wandered off after he let her go.

The group was silent for a moment as Candy had just arrived after taking her time to spit on Sunset, an action which she was very proud of, though her mother might have had a thing or two to say about it.

“Wow…” Bolt broke the silence.

“I’ve never seen her so angry…” Jasper thought out loud.

“Angry? That was angry? How can you even tell?” Bolt questioned.

Jasper shook his head. “Y’all don’t know her like I do. She doesn’t let her anger out like we do. Ever since we were kids, she had always contained her emotions, but when I felt her arm… And felt it shaking, it was like… She has reached a limit and some of it is finally seeping out…”

“Is Horizon really that deep though? No offense, but she comes off as oblivious most of the time…” Bolt said.

Nova cleared her throat as she stepped forward and gave her input. “I think I have to agree with my not-so-subtle friend here… Jasper, Horizon is pretty deadpan most of the time, are you sure she was angry? She seems socially… stunted.”

Jasper sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, I know that Horizon isn’t exactly socially conditioned, and I know she comes off as cold and uncaring, but I assure y’all that she has emotions, she just ain’t good at showing them. What I just saw, she is madder than she’s ever been in her entire life.”

“Should we be there to console her then?” Cloud asked.

Bolt nudged his brother. “You saw how she reacted to Jasper trying to do that, and he’s known her for her entire life…”

“I suppose that’s true…” Cloud nodded sheepishly.

Bolt gave a comment to his brother in Japanese, to which Cloud responded in the language. The two began a brief foreign exchange which Jasper wished he could understand what the two were saying, as he surmised that Bolt might have been poking fun at him.

Key Lime stepped between the two and said something in Japanese as well, which caused the two of them to freeze while they stared at her. “You can speak Japanese?” Bolt asked.

She nodded and giggled before tapping Bolt’s nose. “A little, I took a few classes because I was bored.”

“You really do have a long list of random talents don’t you?” Bolt blinked.

The teen leaned in, a smirk on her face as she came inches from his face. Bolt could feel his cheeks heating up as she spoke. “Ara ara…” she gave a low seductive purr to her words.

Bolt felt a shiver go up his spine as he heard her speak. She pulled herself back and began to laugh uncontrollably at Bolt’s expense.

Jasper cleared his throat to get the group’s attention. “Can we please focus on Horizon? She just found out her mother who was supposed to be dead is still alive.”

Bolt and Cloud both frowned. “Sorry.”

Nova sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “Guess things are going to be a little awkward for a while now… I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Sunset Shimmer for sure.”

“I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet…” Jasper frowned.

“Every time we learn something new, it seems like things become eight times more complicated…” Cloud commented.

“I get a feeling that may be the norm for Sunset…” Bolt added.

“You have no idea…” Jasper replied.

Sunset lifted her wrist to check her phone so she could inspect whatever data that Yuna had given her. Once the hologram of her Home Screen had appeared before her, she noticed a new application shaped like a dog bone was there. Casually, she tapped the hologram and opened the new app.

Upon booting, Sunset noted the Sundancer logo that Moondancer had made years ago at the bottom. Yuna must have adopted her sister’s branding.

After a short boot-up, a hologram of a German Shepard standing on two feet stood before her. He bowed before her and gave a smile to the redhead. “Ah, you must be Sunset Shimmer, we meet at last!”

“You know who I am?” Sunset asked curiously.

The dog nodded happily. “Indeed. Miss Yuna has input plenty of data regarding you. It seems as though Miss Horizon and she spent quite a bit of time trying to uncover many mysteries surrounding you.”

“I guess you have a lot of questions then?” Sunset guessed.

“It is in my programming to gather information, after all.”

“What’s your name, fella?” Sunset asked.

Blinking, the dog looked away bashfully for a brief moment. It was amazing to think this was merely an AI, he was able to come off as genuine. “Right, how rude of me, I’m Moon. I was named after a dog of the same name.”

Sunset recalled Shimmer’s dog well. “I’m familiar with him…”

Moon frowned again when he realized how she would know him. “Oh, right. Sorry, I suppose that was redundant information…”

That got a small chuckle out of Sunset.

“You’re quite emotive there, Moon. Are you sure that you’re just an AI?” Sunset asked.

Moon’s ear twitched. He stood up proudly before reaching behind himself and pulling a lab coat seemingly out of nowhere. He donned the coat before placing a pair of large glasses upon his face to complete his scientist look.

“I am. I am an advanced learning AI designed by Miss Yuna. I am able to learn and mimic human behavior with ease.” He sounded so proud of himself.

“And what exactly were you designed to do?” Sunset asked.

Blinking, Moon seemed to be caught off guard. He removed the lab coat and glasses and tossed them aside. The items seemed to simply vanish.

“I was originally designed to assist Miss Horizon in her endeavors with demons. I am able to record battle data, demonic data, and various other functions all related to aiding Miss Horizon. I also can check vital signs and give readouts on enemy energy levels.” He spoke as if he were reading from a manual.

“That all sounds pretty useful… Why would Yuna give a copy of you to me, though?” Sunset wondered out loud.

“Knowing Miss Yuna’s nature, she likely felt indebted to you. You and her sister have quite a bit of history after all,” Moon answered.

That did make sense to Sunset. Moondancer was a good friend, and Sunset had gone out of her way for her, and not only because she was her late sister’s girlfriend. Moondancer was a good person, and she looked past Sunset’s flaws, something even her own friends had trouble doing at times.

“I’m going to guess you never studied a demon directly then, right?” Sunset asked.

Moon shook his head.

“Well, I suppose you’re about to get a lot of data, huh? Tell me, is the data I give you shared with Horizon and Yuna?” Sunset questioned.

Moon nodded. “Yes, all data is shared. I operate in real-time for all of my copies, so it’s as if I’m in two places at once as the saying goes, or in this case… three places at once.”

Sunset nodded. That meant any data she gathered would benefit Horizon. It was clear the teen would never accept Sunset’s help directly, but she would have it anyway. Even if it was only a small service, Sunset could aid her daughter at least in some capacity for the time being.

“We can talk later, okay, Moon?” Sunset stated.

He gave a salute. “I shall eagerly wait on standby for you, Miss Shimmer!”

Sunset rolled her eyes at how formal he was being but decided not to comment. Instead, she closed the app and cleared her head. Wandering toward her motorcycle, she knew she had a few stops to make before she continued her hunt for the demon siren.

Hopping on her motorcycle, Sunset picked up her helmet and sighed. “This is going to be a very awkward stop…”

She revved the engine and took off.

Sunset retrieved a key fob she had and pressed a button to open a familiar gate to her home. She was thankful that Twilight hadn’t changed the locks, which also made her hopeful that her wife might be at least a tad bit happy to see her. She had left on semi-problematic terms, and the length of her departure likely only added fuel to the fire. Sunset had never anticipated being gone this long.

Parking her motorcycle, the woman removed her helmet and looked at her phone. A hologram of Moon had come up again.

“Hey Moon, you wouldn’t happen to have any relationship advice, would you?” Sunset spoke, half-joking.

The dog frowned. “Sorry, Miss Shimmer, I’m afraid that’s not my area of expertise as Miss Yuna wasn’t quite versed in the subject either.”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not exactly great at them either… Well, wish me luck then.”

Moon gave a thumbs-up with his paw. “Best of luck, Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset nodded before closing the app. “Yeah… I’m gonna need it for sure…”

Taking a deep breath, the woman unlocked the front door and entered the mansion before her. Once inside she noticed that Twilight hadn’t redecorated much. Much was still the same as when Sunset left it. She found herself staring at a photo near the door of their wedding. Sunset reached out and touched it, a smile on her face as she remembered the happy times. She had just gotten pregnant with their daughter and was about to marry the love of her life.

Sunset sighed, wishing she could go back to simpler times. Times before Serenade showed up in her life. Times before Adagio reappeared. It was as if there was a force in the universe trying to keep her unhappy.

Sunset’s attention on the picture was broken, however, by a set of footsteps coming from the large stairwell behind her. It was the same stairwell that she had met Shimmer on.

Glancing in that direction, a woman with long purple hair stood a few steps from the bottom and paused there. Her expensive glasses complimented her face so well. She had grown older, but more attractive. Her sense of style had improved too. She was sporting tight black jeans and a form-fitting white sweater with a turtle neck. Her attractive legs were easy to spot in such attire.

Sunset suddenly felt very underdressed for such a reunion.

The two stared at each other in silence.

“Um, hey…” Sunset broke the silence.

“Eight years and all you have to say is that?” Twilight asked.

Sunset rubbed her neck nervously. She never imagined she could feel so uneasy around Twilight of all people. “I’m not as good with saying profound stuff like you are…”

“Many skills seem to elude you.” Twilight pointed out.

Sunset felt a twitch as Twilight said those words. It was clear she had no qualms about giving Sunset a difficult time.

Clearing her throat, Sunset attempted to brush by the comment. “H-how’ve you been?”

“I’m alive,” Twilight responded plainly as she came to the bottom of the stairs, crossing her arms as she examined the redhead.

“You’ve lost weight… You’re not eating enough, are you?” Twilight pointed out.

Sunset touched her own stomach and nodded. “Yeah… Eclipse is always on a diet, and sometimes just dealing with him is such a hassle I forget…”

“Who is Eclipse?” Twilight’s brow shot up at the mention.

“Eh, he’s just an annoying tag-along. Hell-bent on killing Serenade…” Sunset explained.

“Is he now?” Twilight’s tone didn’t sound pleased.

Realizing that her wife might be jealous, Sunset waved her hands defensively. “It’s not like that! He’s just another person who wants her dead, he’s gay anyway!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “It’s none of my business who you choose to fraternize with…”

“Twilight…” Sunset frowned.

“Don’t start, please…” Twilight pressed the bridge of her nose.

There was silence for a brief moment.

“I uh… I ran into Horizon, she’s grown quite a bit.” Sunset changed the subject.

“Mhm, no thanks to you.” Twilight nodded, a wry smile on her face.

Ouch. Sunset thought, but she couldn’t argue with it. Horizon had grown up almost completely independent of Sunset.

“Okay, I deserved that one…” Sunset sighed.

“Oh, you do? Thank you for giving me permission to pin your own fuck ups on you…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Alright, go ahead, get it all out…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

Twilight stepped forward and placed a finger on Sunset’s neck. “You have a lot of nerve coming here… You’re lucky I’m not Applejack, or I’d have punched you in the stomach by now.”

“Twilight, you know I didn’t want to leave…” Sunset attempted to reason with her wife. “My daughter and you are the most important people to me, you know that.”

“My daughter, you mean.” Twilight corrected.

That line struck a chord with Sunset. “Oh I’m sorry, I missed the part where you gave birth to her…”

Twilight gripped Sunset’s shirt by the neckline as she pulled her in to scold her, her voice filled with venom. “You lost any right to call her your daughter when you walked out on her, and like an idiot I forgave you, but you did it again. Our lives go on while you’re gone, Sunset…”

Sunset looked away shamefully.

Twilight released the woman from her grip. “It was better when I could just assume you were dead… It was much easier just being a widow, after all, I’ve lived like one for all this time…”

It was clear to Sunset that Twilight wouldn’t let up.

Sunset turned to leave, realizing that her wife’s pigheadedness wasn’t going to let up any time soon. She would return when the bespectacled woman had calmed down, but just as she stepped a single foot in the direction away from her, words cut through her resolve.

“I want a divorce, Sunset.”

The redhead bit her lip, she tried to hold her indignation in. She centered herself and turned back around, a calming tone in her voice. “Twilight… When this is over, we can…”

“It’ll never be over. I know you, I’ve tried to stop you so many times, but I realize now I can’t…” Twilight's words were filled with pain.

“And what is it that you think you know?” Sunset gritted her teeth.

“You’re on a never-ending quest to destroy yourself, and I won’t have any part of it, nor will my daughter. I won’t let her watch you do this anymore, the last thing she needs is to turn out like you.”

Like me? Sunset thought. Those words rang over and over in her head: the worst thing for her daughter was to turn out just like her.

“I have a responsibility, Twilight, I didn’t choose this!” Sunset raised her voice but to her surprise, Twilight's volume far surpassed her own.

“BULLSHIT!”

Sunset flinched.

“You had a responsibility to that little girl. You failed her, I was there to pick up the pieces. Do you think our lives just pause while you’re off playing hero? We carry on, and I helped that girl grow up. I was the mother that you weren’t.” Twilight hissed.

“I had to…” Sunset muttered.

“Why?”

“BECAUSE I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO PROTECT HER!” Sunset smashed her fist on a nearby railing, denting it severely.

Sighing, Twilight shook her head. “What she needs protection from is, you. She doesn’t need you popping back into her life and confusing her anymore. Why did you bother coming back?”

Sunset growled and removed the detached sleeve over her arm and the leather glove covering her hand on the same arm. She presented her demonic appendage to her wife. “Do you think I wanted this? That I wanted you to see me like this?”

Twilight glanced at the woman’s corrupted hand and pointed to it. “You chose that, just like you chose to leave. Now, why are you here? It’s better you just get what you came for and leave…”

Sunset realized that Twilight was serious. There was no forgiveness in her heart, she couldn’t bear to carry the weight of continuing to love a woman named Sunset Shimmer, it had finally become too much for her.

“So that’s it then? Those vows we took mean nothing now?” Sunset asked.

“They still mean something to me, and I’ll always carry my vows…” Twilight placed a hand upon her heart.

“How can you say that when you’re talking about divorcing me?” Sunset groaned.

Twilight sighed. “I promised to always love you, that hasn’t changed, but I never promised to watch you kill yourself. I never promised to let you put us through the pain you have… I’ll always love you, and I’ll always wish you could stop… But I never promised to let you destroy me too… If I stay with you… I’ll only keep hurting myself, I can’t keep waiting for you to come home, I can’t keep wondering if tomorrow is the day I will have to stand there at your funeral. When we got married, you promised you’d make sure I was happy… I have to help you honor your promise… by leaving you…”

Sunset had no words. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say that would aid the situation. Twilight had made up her mind.

“I came to get some things… I need to check some stuff to figure out how deep in this, Horizon is…” Sunset spoke.

Twilight nodded. “You’re free to gather anything you need, but please leave after and don’t come back.”

“I won’t… When this is over, we can begin the paperwork.” Sunset had a solemn tone.

“Good, take your time. I’m going to go get some work done… Help yourself to your things, and if Horizon returns, please do not talk to her,” Twilight instructed.

“I doubt she’d want to talk to me anyway…” Sunset said.

Twilight nodded before heading back up the stairs, likely to return to her personal study. Sunset wondered what kind of work she must have been doing, but knew it wasn’t any of her business.

She decided it was best not to linger. Quickly she made her way up to her office and downloaded her old files, and checked if anyone had accessed her files. Sure enough, Horizon had already hit up all the data she had stored there.

Once she was done, Sunset grabbed a gun from a drawer and decided more firepower wouldn’t hurt. She tucked it into her waistband and headed out the door. She looked back one more time before sighing and shutting the large door to the mansion behind her. She sighed before she heard the voice of Moon speak to her. “That certainly wasn’t pleasant…”

Sunset flinched upon hearing his voice before turning her phone to make his hologram appear before her. “Oh… You were listening to all of that…?”

“My apologies, Miss Shimmer. I didn’t mean to intrude…” The dog frowned.

Sunset shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, you’re just doing what you were programmed to do after all… But yeah that definitely could have gone better…”

“May I ask a question, Miss Shimmer?”

“You can call me Sunset, and sure.”

The dog tilted his head. “Why did you leave in the first place?”

Her face contorted to one of discomfort. “It’s just like I said… I didn’t think I was strong enough to protect Twilight and Horizon… To get to me, Serenade wouldn’t be above going for them…”

“I suppose that is a logical decision.” Moon nodded.

The redhead let out a sigh. “Yeah, we’ll logical decisions seem to keep fucking me over, to be honest… The irony is I left to keep Horizon out of this… and I come back to find out she’s knee-deep in this shit.”

“Like mother, like daughter.” Moon grinned mischievously.

“That’s not helping, Moon.” Sunset groaned.

“I’m sorry, Sunset but it really does seem like Horizon shares your inquisitive nature. The girl probably can not simply accept how things are without explanation,” Moon suggested.

“You’re probably right if she’s anything like me though… Then I really need to be looking out for her…” Sunset replied.

“That would likely be wise, I can keep tabs on her as well for you.” Moon bowed.

“That’s good, and Moon… Please keep this conversation between us,” Sunset instructed.

He gave a gesture as if he were zipping his lips. “I shall store it in my protected banks until instructed otherwise.”

Sunset chuckled. “You’re quite the obedient little helper, aren’t you?”

Moon nodded and bowed. “I was designed to serve after all.”

“I feel like we’re going to get along just fine.”

After a brief rundown of what they knew and what they should do next, Horizon and the group decided that heading home was the best course of action for the time being. Jasper insisted on coming home with Horizon to make sure she was alright, but Horizon dismissed him repeatedly until he finally gave up and agreed to go home to his own home. Horizon took her Audi back to the house, sitting in silence as the car drove.

The silence was broken by Moon who decided to check on the teen. “Miss Horizon, are you alright?”

Horizon tilted her head in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s not every day one’s mother returns from the dead, is it?” Moon questioned.

Horizon shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t say how frequently it happens, but it’s not like Sunset hasn’t reappeared after disappearing before.”

Moon detected a story there. “She’s left before this?”

Horizon nodded and leaned back in her seat, allowing her car’s autopilot to direct her home. “I was about three or four when she came back. She left right after I was born, Twilight almost started to believe she was dead.”

“And what about you, Horizon?” Moon asked.

Horizon stayed quiet for a moment. She didn’t know how to answer that question at first. “I was fine, I suppose. I guess I was able to accept she wasn’t coming back easier than Twilight, but then again I hadn’t met her yet.”

“That must have been hard on Twilight, what did you think after you met her?” Moon asked.

Horizon shrugged. “Maybe it’s me because I’m not exactly that skilled at social interaction, but Sunset is a hard person to know. She doesn’t talk about herself often, she always wants to listen to what you say. I don’t think she told me much about herself during the years she was there, but I was little after all.”

“Maybe she just didn’t know how to open up? Like mother, like daughter after all.” Moon surmised.

Horizon shrugged. “Who knows, Sunset isn’t someone that I can say I understand…”

“Maybe I can assist in some capacity.” Moon gave a smile.

“If you’d be so kind.” Horizon nodded as her car reached her home, pulling into their large garage next to the many other expensive models. When the teen stepped out, she pressed a button on her keychain to lock the car.

The projection of Moon vanished as Horizon entered her home, Twilight was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked as though she had been crying recently. Seeing her daughter though, Twilight wiped her eyes and cleared her throat before standing up. “Horizon, welcome home.”

Horizon merely nodded.

“I heard you saw your mother today… She came by here just a little bit ago…”

“You knew,” Horizon said plainly.

Twilight bit her lip. “I knew she left, she didn’t tell me where she was going…”

“No, you knew she wasn’t human.”

Twilight grimaced at the statement, her face contorted to one of discomfort. “I… Yes… I knew…”

“When were you going to tell me?” Horizon asked.

Twilight sighed. “I wasn’t. You weren’t ever supposed to know.”

“Is it logical to keep the fact that I’m not human from me?” Horizon asked.

Twilight grunted. “You’re still half-human; but yes, you’re half-equestrian like Sunset is… We didn’t want to tell you because this was supposed to stop the last time Sunset left. We were supposed to have a normal life… So much for that.”

“It seems impossible to live a normal life under these conditions.” Horizon pointed out.

“You’re angry with me.” Twilight nodded.

Horizon shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have the ability to comprehend any of this…”

Twilight knew that their daughter’s stunted understanding of emotion was partially her own fault; something she wished she had been able to fix.

“So Sunset isn’t a very good person, is she?” Horizon asked.

It pained Twilight to hear Horizon refer to her mother by her first name. A part of her knew that she should have probably been softer on the woman when she had stopped by earlier. “She tries to be, believe me, she tries…”

“Why’d she leave then?”

Twilight stepped forward and put an arm around Horizon’s shoulder before sighing. “It took a lot for me to forgive her the first time, believe me. She didn’t want to talk about it, but your mother had to go home, she had to save her world from a demon named Serenade…”

“So Sunset really did defeat her once before…” Horizon concluded.

Twilight nodded. “She spared her life though, and now she feels responsible for what’s happening now.”

“So now she’s trying to finish what she started?” Horizon guessed.

Twilight nodded once more. “I love your mother, I really do, and if you wish to not forgive her, I don’t blame you, but I do feel compelled to at least say she may be messed up, but she loves us both… The only problem is she hates herself more. She’s very self-destructive, and maybe it’s better she wasn’t around; neither of us wanted you to become like that.”

“Sunset is a demon…” Horizon said.

Twilight sighed. “Yes… she is… I guess it’s just one more way for her to destroy herself… She can’t stop, that’s why I told her not to come back here.”

“I guess I understand, at least I think so…” Horizon was quiet.

Turning her daughter to face her, Twilight gave Horizon a serious look. “I didn’t lie to you to hurt you, Horizon, I just wanted to protect you, as did your mother. She does things in a strange way, but she cares about you. I don’t want you to think I intended to turn you against her, that’s why I never said anything, and I don’t intend to tell you what to do, but I will say… Your mother may end up disappointing you. I’d be remised if I didn’t tell you that…”

“If I’m not human, what does that mean?” Horizon asked, changing the subject again.

Twilight bit her lip, but she found the resolve to continue the discussion deep inside herself. “Again, you’re half-human, but it means you’re special, Horizon.”

Horizon looked down at her hands and focused on them. She recalled how she had summoned light from them, how she had defeated foes with that light, and how it felt the first time she wielded it. She wasn’t completely human, but that didn’t matter. So long as she knew what to do with her abilities.

“I want to stop Serenade.” Horizon spoke plainly.

Twilight frowned, afraid she would say that. “I figured you would… And while I don’t want you going down the same road your mother has… I can’t stop you from following what you want to do…”

“Do you think Sunset would be helpful in that regard?” Horizon tilted her head.

Adjusting her glasses, Twilight pushed back the emotional part of her brain and focused on a logical answer. “I would love to say no, but I know that Sunset is in over her head. She’s going to need your help, Horizon. She can’t do it on her own. So while I’m not keen on you being around her… If you see her, help her if you can.”

“Aren’t you worried that would put me in unnecessary danger?” Horizon asked.

Twilight shook her head and smiled before petting her daughter’s cheek. “No. As much as Sunset has damaged this family, as much as she’s been a lousy mother and wife, I know one thing remains true: she would die to protect you. So long as she’s around, I know you’ll be safe.”

“It sounds like you want to forgive her, Twilight.” Horizon suggested.

“I do, I really do, but I can’t. I can’t keep letting her hurt us. She loves us, and I love her, but she will keep hurting us, it’s just in her nature. She will protect you from anything, but she can’t protect you from herself,” Twilight explained.

“Marriage sounds complicated,” Horizon retorted.

A chuckle escaped Twilight, “Yes, yes it is.”

Sunset had been driving back to the rendezvous point to meet up with Eclipse, but she had to take a detour due to construction being done. She was a good eight minutes past when they agreed to meet, so she was sure she was about to get a few messages from him deriding her for being late.

Her mind was focused on her encounter with her daughter though, and what Twilight had said. Sunset knew she hadn’t been the best mother, but she didn’t see any other way. The irony was that the very thing she wanted to prevent happened regardless. Horizon was following in her footsteps, and her inquisitive nature had caused her to dig up the truth about who Sunset really was. There wasn’t a thing she could do to take anything back now.

With her eyes on the road, she noticed black smoke begin to form up ahead, creating some kind of wall. She pushed on the brakes of her motorcycle and came to a halt. “What the…” she spoke as she removed her helmet and flicked her hair.

A beep came from her phone as Moon appeared before her. “Sunset, I’m detecting a large build-up of demonic energy up ahead!”

“Figures… it’s an ambush, Serenade must have known I was coming this way…” Sunset spoke.

The redhead stepped off her bike and placed the helmet onto the seat as she began to walk forward. She preemptively removed the sleeve over her arm and the glove concealing her demonic appendage, tossing them to the side as she flexed her fingers. The tendrils on her wrist and forearm moved violently as she stepped closer to where the energy was building up. Once she was within range, a group of eight shadowy figures appeared, all taking a fighting stance with claws drawn. Each one of them had razor-sharp teeth and glowing white eyes.

“Apparitions…” Sunset stated.

Moon blinked. “I don’t follow.”

“Serenade can summon them from pieces of dark energy within her… Soulless, mindless drones that can fight for her… You mentioned you collect combat data right?” Sunset said.

Moon nodded. “That is correct.”

A smirk came to Sunset’s face, “get ready to take a lot of data in.”

Sunset readied her demonic claw and swiped at the first demon, slicing its midsection with such force that its body split in two before evaporating into a cloud of smoke. The second came running at her, but Sunset knelt down and pushed her arm into her own shadow on the ground, causing it to come out of the shadow produced by the demon. Coming up behind it she grabbed its leg and pulled it down so it fell flat on its rear. With a quick follow-up attack, she stomped on its face with all her might, crushing its head and causing it too to evaporate into smoke.

The remaining six circled her as she grinned. “Pathetic that this is all Serenade can do, I’d have expected better…”

Two of them lunged at her, their arms turning into blades as they attempted to impale her, but Sunset escaped within her shadow and reappeared in the shadow behind them. Quickly, she mustered up a blade of light in her good hand and diced the two up before they even had a chance to realize she had repositioned herself.

Astounding. She can travel through shadows, quite a useful battle tactic. Moon recorded. Sunset’s ability already had him processing all the unique possibilities it created. He could come up with at least eighty different applications for such a useful technique.

With four remaining, Sunset conjured her bow out of nowhere.

“Incredible! He did you do that?” Moon asked as Sunset drew an arrow and impaled one of the demons between their eyes.

“A little trick I picked up, I call it the abyssal pocket. I can create a pocket of dark space that takes up almost no space in regular space, I can then summon any items I place in it.” Sunset explained as she readied another arrow while two of the remaining demons charged at her.

She jumped out of the way of one and shot the other, eliminating it right away. With the last two, she lunged forward and grabbed one in her demonic claw, crushing its skull as she did, and quickly swiped at the other, cutting its head off with ease. She chuckled at how simple the ordeal was. “What a waste of Serenade’s energy that was…”

Moon reappeared before Sunset with a warning symbol displayed next to him. “Hold on, Sunset. I don’t think that was all of them! I’m detecting at least eighty more energy readings building up all around us. I think this was just a setup to keep us in one place long enough to summon more!”

Sunset scoffed as she saw more demons begin to appear. She wasn’t concerned, she knew a way to take care of all of them quickly. “Moon, you better pay close attention to this next part…” The redhead instructed.

Moon’s scanners began to work overtime as Sunset placed her demonic hand over half of her face, covering one of her eyes. The claw started to emanate visible dark energy as she focused all of her power into it. She spoke calmly as she recited a chant. “My body is yours… Your power is mine… Together, we are one…”

When she removed her claw, the woman’s eyes began to glow with a fierce teal fire. The spines down her claw grew and her other hand began to emit black smoke. Moon was shocked to see that her energy readings had gone up over eight times their normal level, and demonic energy was flaring around her.

Taking a fighting stance, Sunset bolted so quickly forward that her movement was barely visible to the naked eye. She hacked through a good few of the apparitions in her strike, gripping one in her claw that struggled to get free. When the woman spoke her voice had become distorted as if it were two voices combined. “You’ve got a flight to catch.”

With those words, she tossed the demon as if it were nothing, toppling a large group over on impact. She followed up with a jump attack where she pounded the ground with such force, it cracked the pavement, knocking a few more down. The woman growled in anger as she charged into the ones still standing, squaring off with them as she did. With a few slashes, and many successful parries she took out a good dozen.

One of the demons had attempted to sneak up behind her, only for her to duck from its incoming attack which impaled another demon instead. Then when it stumbled, she thrusted her claw right through its abdomen, destroying it in a split second.

After only a minute, Sunset had nearly cleared all the demons out. With only a handful left, she held out her claw and let a large blast of black energy take out the remaining few. A band upon her claw began to beep signaling that eighty seconds had passed. She felt a prick in her wrist, and within a few seconds, she slowly returned to normal, panting lightly as she did. The girl composed herself and retrieved her sleeve and glove, carefully putting them back on.

“That was incredible, Sunset! What a talent!” Moon appeared before the woman.

Sunset smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I call it demon state. It allows me to tap into my demonic power for a great boost in abilities, but it does come with some serious drawbacks…”

Moon nodded. “Yes, I noticed your overall demonic corruption expands when you use it.”

“Yeah, and on top of that, I can’t control it for longer than eighty seconds, that’s what this band is for.” Sunset pulled up her sleeve to show the band on her wrist, it appeared to have a timer on it as well.

Moon observed it with curiosity. “Fascinating, what is it, though?”

Tapping it, Sunset explained. “The timer will start to countdown if it detects I’ve entered demon state. Once the timer hits eighty seconds, it’ll auto-inject me with a serum I made that reduces demonic hold. It’s just enough to pull me out of demon state when needed.”

“Amazing, you’ve managed to harness this power for yourself, most wouldn’t be able to control demonic power… You’ve managed to do just that, Miss Yuna was correct, the Shimmers truly are a family of geniuses.” Moon was in awe.

Blushing, Sunset rejected his sentiment. “Nah, Twilight is the genius, I’m just really resourceful…”

“Modest, I see.” Moon grinned.

“Pride can make one do foolish things, Moon. How do you think I was able to defeat Serenade the first time?” Sunset stated.

“Perhaps you can exploit a similar weakness now?” Moon suggested.

Sunset shook her head. “Nah, Serenade would never fall for the same trick twice. Besides, the first time I literally had an army behind me. An army, a high-tech battle suit, magic, and an ancient enchanted bladed spear that could halt her power…”

“It takes that much to take down one woman?” Moon tilted his head.

“You have no idea…”

“I’ll make a note of it then. Serenade certainly is one tough customer,” Moon said.

“Thus why I worry about Horizon…” Sunset sighed.

“Miss Horizon is quite resourceful herself, as well. I have observed it firsthand, perhaps she inherited such a trait from you?” Moon offered.

Chuckling, Sunset nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Somehow you know exactly what to say…”

Yuna had been analyzing all the data they had collected from their encounter with Serenade when she heard her elder sister’s call from downstairs. “Yuna, your friends are here!”

The girl flinched. She still wasn’t used to anyone coming to see her, but she composed herself and adjusted the pajama bottoms she was wearing before exiting her bedroom and made her way down the stairs to meet them. There standing near the entrance to her home was her older sister, Moondancer, as thin as ever, the girl had probably forgotten to eat again a few times this week. Next to her, Yuna could see Horizon standing there, with their new acquaintance, Thorn.

“Horizon, I thought you went home?” Yuna blinked.

Horizon shrugged, her demeanor ever-unchanging. “I surmised that Thorn would need to be caught up on what happened since she wasn’t present.”

Yuna had a feeling that Horizon wasn’t being entirely truthful, but she decided not to pry. “Right… Did you both want to come upstairs?”

Thorn gave a warm smile. “If Horizon would be so kind as to show me the way.”

Moondancer had been holding a pen in her left hand, likely because she had been doing some work prior to their arrival. She pointed with the pen. “It’s just that way.”

Thorn chuckled. “I’m sorry miss, but I’m blind so I can’t see which direction you’re pointing.”

Moondancer blushed and rubbed her neck sheepishly. “Oh… Sorry, my bad…”

“It’s alright, you couldn’t have known, I’m not carrying my walking stick after all, Horizon said I wouldn’t need it, so it’s in the car.” Thorn’s tone was as chipper as always.

“Well, if you girls need anything, just let me know, alright?” Moondancer stated.

“Of course.” Horizon nodded in agreement.

With those words, Moondancer departed, leaving the three girls to themselves. Horizon took Thorn’s arm and began to guide her up the stairs to Yuna’s room. Once they were inside, Horizon guided the girl to a chair to sit in. Taking a seat, Thorn placed her hands in her lap as she waited patiently for their briefing to be underway.

Horizon sat on Yuna’s bed as the studious Yuna sat back at her desk. She pulled up a hologram of Moon, with a series of charts next to him. “So, here’s what we understand so far. Serenade Dazzle is supposedly a contender for the demon lord. I was able to obtain a lot of data from Sunset.”

“How?” Horizon asked.

“S-sorry… I sort of gave a copy of Moon to her… I felt her information would be valuable to us…” Yuna frowned, she knew she should have just lied, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so to Horizon.

“I suppose that’s true.” Horizon nodded.

Thorn tilted her head. “Sunset? As in, Sunset Shimmer? I thought she was dead?”

“So did we, but we met her after our encounter with Serenade. She’s very much alive, but it appears as though she is part demon or something now. I’m not sure about how or why, but she obviously had demonic powers…” Yuna explained.

“Damn, this entire thing you guys are wrapped up in just gets weirder and weirder… People coming back from the dead now?” Thorn laughed.

“It’s impossible to return from death. Sunset didn’t die in the first place, that’s the only logical explanation.” Horizon corrected.

Yuna bit her lip, knowing the entire conversation was awkward for Horizon. “Yes… Well, given what we’ve seen, it’s hard to say what’s logical and what isn’t anymore… Serenade was supposed to be in a prison back in Equestria, somehow she broke out though… I imagine her supporters aided her.”

Thorn leaned in with interest. “Is she really as messed up as Horizon told me on the way here?”

Yuna nodded regrettably. “Well, if the info I got from Sunset is accurate… She’s far worse than any of us could imagine. Hundreds of thousands are dead because of her. She was a siren in Equestria, and that means her siren abilities are still present here. On top of all of her demon abilities, we have that to contend with… Fortunately, all of your magic should make it harder for her to control you two…”

“A demon siren…” Horizon commented.

“If she weren’t out to kill us, I’d likely be fascinated by her… Regardless, It’s clear she wants the fragments for some purpose… Sunset didn’t upload that information, and I didn’t feel right inquiring from her directly…” Yuna frowned.

Thorn was confused. “Why not?”

Yuna just glanced at Horizon for a second without speaking, then realized that Thorn wouldn’t catch a non-verbal cue. “Err… Let’s just leave it at its awkward…”

“Alright then… So, this Serenade is really strong then, yes? Like super strong?” Thorn asked.

Yuna blinked as they got back on subject. “Oh, very much so. Moon’s readings on her demonic power dwarf that of any other demon we’ve encountered up to this point, and we’re both fairly certain that she’s hiding her true strength. A demon that strong likely wouldn’t want others knowing their true ability.”

“I suppose Sunset wasn’t exaggerating when she said she saved our lives then?” Horizon asked.

Frowning again, Yuna rubbed her neck. “Well… More than likely… Yes… You’ve grown so much stronger in such a short time, Horizon, but I don’t think even everyone teamed up would stand a chance against her at the current moment…”

“So it would be wise to avoid a forward attack then? Focus on taking out her subordinates until we have a more concrete plan of attack?” Thorn suggested with her finger raised.

“That would be the best plan, the only problem is I am not sure how to come up with any kind of attack plan on Serenade herself… She’s just way too strong, and I don’t see how we could beat her, even if everyone gets twice as powerful as they are now…” Yuna admitted. She felt ashamed that she could not be relied on in this regard. The team depended on her to be a problem solver, yet she could not find a solution to their greatest problem.

Thorn cleared her throat. “What if we added Sunset to our ranks?”

There was a short silence.

“I mean… my readings on her aren’t fully detailed yet, but her power… it could give us a fighting chance at least… Not inherently turn the battle in our favor, but it may be enough to at least give us maybe… an eight percent chance of victory?” Yuna adjusted her glasses.

“So it makes the most logical sense to recruit her into our ranks?” Thorn smiled.

Yuna bit her lip once more and glanced over at Horizon. “Well… It’s Horizon’s call, she’s sort of our leader after all…”

Horizon laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, her usual blank expression on her face, leaving Yuna in the dark about how she really felt about any of the discussion. She contemplated what was said and then gave her answer after a small pause. “I suppose it does make the most logical sense to recruit Sunset, doesn’t it?”

“It may be our only chance at winning…” Yuna reminded.

Horizon nodded as she looked over at Yuna. “I guess it’s decided then, Yuna I’ll leave that job to you, I’m sure she will listen to you, I mean Moondancer and Sunset are friends after all.”

“Gonna be pretty exciting to see her in action, figuratively speaking, obviously! I mean it sounds like she has some moves, maybe even some stuff we could learn.” Thorn grinned.

Yuna wasn’t too sure. She knew it made sense to team up with Sunset from a tactical standpoint, but she wondered how it might affect Horizon. While she didn’t display any outward disdain toward her mother, the fact that she referred to her only by her first name suggested there definitely was some level of animosity toward the woman. Would it be alright for her mental health to be in close proximity to her mother?

Glancing at Horizon, Yuna could see her usual expression hadn’t ever changed. She had drawn Horizon so many times, and each time she tried to capture her as she was, but not once had she ever seen the girl smile, nor could she imagine what her smile looked like, yet somehow the more she got to know Horizon, the more she fell in love with her. She wanted to see her smile more and more with each passing day. To hear that girl laugh would be everything to Yuna.

Yuna was weak, feeble, and useless, but for Horizon she would do everything she could to be strong, sturdy, and useful. And in this case, that meant she needed to keep a watchful eye on the situation with her mother. She would do that for her, she would be the bridge that brought them together or the wedge that drove Sunset away if she hurt Horizon. That was her role now, and she intended to stay true to it. Nothing would hurt Horizon, not while she was around; she only wished she had the guts to tell the girl how she felt about her, how she longed to be wanted by her.

“With Sunset’s aid, we may be able to understand how demonic powers work a bit better… Her data sent to Moon alone will be a valuable tool in turning the tide of battle in our favor, I’ll have him working around the clock to analyze anything she uploads,” Yuna stated.

“How will you get in contact with her?” Thorn asked.

Moon spoke up, “I can facilitate that. I am linked to Sunset and Miss Yuna’s phone, after all.”

“This is gonna be so cool, I am so pumped for this, there’s so much for us to learn from Sunset!” Thorn squealed excitedly.

Yuna wished she could match the overly positive demeanor of Thorn. For a blind girl, there didn’t seem to be much that got her down. A bit odd for such a gothic girl, but then again their entire group had their oddities. In that respect, Thorn fit in perfectly. The perfect companion to join their group of misfits.

“She may prove to be a valuable ally, but we must never forget she is a demon, so we should be cautious, no matter what,” Horizon chimed in casually.

That was true, Sunset was a demon.

I know it's been a while, I've been working on this chapter for quite a while, but I've been super busy. So as I've stated many times now, Part III is the final part of Act VII, and the end of the story. The only thing after that is the epilogue which is mostly already written. The epilogue will go up pretty much the day after the final chapter goes up.

If you've been here since day one, raise your hand!

P.S. How many people want to see Key Lime saying "ara ara" to Bolt?