Twilight kept peaking over at Sunset while the two sat in the car silently. She didn’t dare break the silence for a good fifteen minutes or so. Anxiety began to set in after a while as there was nothing to distract her from the awkwardness of their situation, not even the radio. Twilight peered down at the clock in the car to see that nightfall approached them hastily. Looking out to the horizon, Twilight could see the sun beginning to reach the ground, she wondered how much longer until night would be upon them.

She hadn’t a clue where the supposed safe house was, and since Adagio had stolen her phone, she didn’t receive the text message from the others telling her to meet them their either, but she started to get a familiar feeling inside of her as Sunset approached a street. She couldn’t place her finger on when she had been down that way before, but she was starting to feel déjà vu, in an unpleasant way, like this place held bad memories for her.

Looking over at Sunset, Twilight finally decided to ask the question that was on her mind. “Where’s this safe house exactly?”

Sunset’s eyes remained locked on the road as she answered. “A few miles back that way, but we’re not going there yet…”

“Where are we going then…?” Twilight tilted her head.

“There’s a place I need to stop at first, something I need to take care of… Then we’ll head back to the safe house with the others while I figure out what we should do…” Sunset replied.

Twilight was about to ask where this place that needed her attention was, but then seeing the look in Sunset’s eyes, she realized that it was unlikely she’d get an answer until they arrived. So instead, Twilight just nodded and rested back in her seat, trying to keep her head clear.

Sirens. She had thought. She knew about them from stories their friends told about the Battle of the Bands a little over a year or so ago, but she had never seen one before. Twilight was a little surprised they looked just like humans, but then again she figured it may have been a disguise, a shape they took to fool them. Or it might be similar to how Sunset changed shape when she entered the human world, she didn’t understand too much about how anatomy or shape-shifting worked in Equestria.

Briefly, Twilight internally giggled at the thought of how Sunset must have looked as a pony, but then returned her thoughts to Adagio after she imagined her with a bag of oats on her face.

It was starting to make sense, Sunset and their friends had defeated the Sirens in the Battle of the Bands some time ago, and now they were out for revenge for some reason, but that didn’t explain how Adagio got her magic back. Deciding to prod, Twilight looked at Sunset and spoke. “You said the sirens needed those amulets to use their magic, right?”

Sunset nodded. “The amulet houses their magic; sirens are odd in that their bodies themselves do not hold magic very well. I’m not sure why, I’m not exactly an expert in siren anatomy, but it’s likely there is something about their bodies that make housing magic difficult. A siren can only house a tiny bit of magic inside them, it’s strange but no one really understands why. Princess Twilight referred to their type as channelers, one who can’t do much internal magic but is excellent at manipulating magical objects.”

“You said that you guys destroyed those amulets before, right? That was at the battle of the bands.” Twilight raised a brow.

“Yeah, I saw them shatter that day…” Sunset answered.

Twilight thought it over. If Sunset and the others destroyed their amulets that meant that they somehow knew how to fix them, or get new ones. Was such a thing possible? Twilight knew she was still harnessing power from her amulet as she saw it around Adagio’s neck, but it didn’t appear broken to her.

“How do you think she fixed it?” Twilight asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Dunno, like I said, I don’t know much about sirens, hell no one does. Their history and culture are pretty mysterious. When I was a student under Celestia I had only really heard of them in a few books, they’re a fairly rare creature and they seldom show themselves. I don’t even understand how they are born really… Many even think they are mythical, that’s how rare they are. The only sirens we know of are old ones…”

Blinking Twilight took in this new information. “How old?”

Sunset shrugged. “I know that Starswirl sent them here over a thousand years ago, but I guess his magic sent them forward in time to this time period. So at the very least I know they are at least a thousand years old, maybe older…”

Twilight frowned, she was hoping that Sunset had more information to offer than that. “Was she always that strong?”

Sunset shook her head. “No. In the past, they were powerful in magic sure, but not the physical strength that Adagio has… It’s clear she has spent her time training her body for this… On top of that, her magic feels… Stronger than before, much so… I guess she was preparing for this day like I have been…”

Twilight noticed a hint of reluctance in Sunset’s voice. She leaned in to speak to her friend. “Something else?”

Biting her lip, Sunset grew a face of someone who didn’t want to answer the question. “Yeah actually…”

“What is it? It might be helpful…” Twilight prodded.

“It’s just…” Sunset paused, clearly not comfortable with discussing it.

“What?” Twilight pleaded.

Letting out a sigh, Sunset finally answered the question. “Something about her magic… There is like… A familiar aura to it, you know? Like I’ve felt it before… It’s weird, magic is sort of like a fingerprint in a way, we unicorns when we are versed enough in it can start to sense the familiarity of someone’s magic that we have seen before… Kind of like when Princess Twilight uses magic, I can tell it was her doing because I was around her enough so I am familiar with her aura… We unicorns can sense each other after a while…”

Twilight blinked and nodded, truly fascinated by this new information. “Interesting, but it makes sense… Scientifically anyway… Or rather as scientific as one can be when it comes to magic…”

“Right…” Sunset chuckled at Twilight’s attempt to try and equate magic to science.

“So only unicorns can sense this aura?” Twilight asked.

Sunset shook her head. “No, earth ponies seem to be able to sense magic in general, but not specific auras, I think it has to do with how in tune they are with nature, the more in tune they are with nature the better their ability to detect magic in general, get it?”

“I think so…” Twilight rubbed her temple trying to make sense of it all. Magic in Equestria certainly was a complex and confusing subject.

“So her aura is familiar? Like you’ve felt it before?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, but like… I can’t place my finger on it… I’ve felt it before but it clearly was an aura I’m not too familiar with, but I must have vaguely sensed in passing…”

“Is it possible that her amulet is someone else’s?” Twilight asked.

Shrugging, Sunset responded, “It’s possible, but that means that someone else I knew with magic was a siren and I didn’t even realize it…”

“Well… It is possible… I mean an amulet can be hidden fairly easily, it’s actually a pretty good survival advantage for sirens if you think about it… They can hide their powers or even get rid of them if they need to, making them pretty hard to track in that regard… They could also disguise their gems as something else and no one would be any wiser…” Twilight pointed out.

Sunset blinked as she realized Twilight had a point. She didn’t know much about sirens but all of what Twilight was saying was very possible. Anyone could be one and she wouldn’t know. Adagio could have allies hidden in plain sight, and her ability to control people against their will meant that she could enlist an army of slaves to keep her secrets hidden.

Was it possible that someone else she knew was a siren and she didn’t realize it? How else could she explain the familiar aura that Adagio was suddenly giving off unless there was another angle she wasn’t seeing yet. Still, it troubled her.

“Well, the possibility of someone else being a siren is a good theory… One I never considered, but I’ll keep it in mind from here on out, we have to be extra aware after all, there’s no telling what Adagio will do from here on out, as I doubt she’s given up her desire to kill me…” Sunset said.

Twilight nodded and looked back to the road seeing that they had pulled into a cemetery, it was obvious to her then what Sunset was taking them to do. She looked at Sunset as the car was parked and shut off. Sunset looked back to Twilight and smiled. “I wanted to pay my respects before we go any further, you know? I’m accepting the possibility that Adagio could succeed in killing me, so I might not get another chance…”

A frown came to Twilight’s face as Sunset said those words. The last thing she wanted to think about was Adagio succeeding her in her plans. “Don’t talk like that…”

“I’m just being realistic, something I think you of all people should understand…” Sunset smirked.

Twilight nodded but then shook her head. “Yeah… but… not about this… I just… Don’t want to think about that…”

Sunset smiled and reached a hand over, placing it atop of Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight looked at the hand and then met Sunset’s bright eyes with her own. She had such a calming face, one that Twilight knew every time she saw it she was set at ease. Despite Sunset's tendency to get too tense at times, she somehow knew how to set her friends at ease when she needed to.

“I am not planning on dying today, but I need to prepare for the possibility, you know?” Sunset stated.

Deciding that not arguing was the fastest path to ending the awkward conversation, Twilight merely nodded.

Satisfied by her reaction, Sunset removed her hand and opened the car door. “Come on, it’s a short walk.”

Hopping out of the car with Sunset, Twilight kept close and followed. The closer the two came to the grave in question, the more Twilight could sense Sunset getting more uncomfortable. Looking at Sunset’s hand, Twilight reached forward and grabbed it. Sunset paused and looked down at her hand and then at Twilight’s face. She had a look of sincerity and compassion on her face. Sunset smiled and gave her hand a squeeze and decided to continue walking with Twilight’s hand in her own.

Making it to the grave, Sunset finally released Twilight’s hand and frowned. “Can I…”

She didn’t even need to say it, Twilight knew she wanted to be alone for a moment. “Go ahead, I’ll stand back here, okay?”

A smile came to Sunset’s face as she nodded. “Thanks.”

Making it to the grave, Sunset placed her hands in front of herself and closed her eyes. She began to speak. “Shimmer… I know I haven’t come to visit that often, I just…” She paused and took a breath in. “I just don’t like thinking about you like this… I’m sorry… I’ll be better about that… I just am having a hard time is all…”

Twilight stayed quiet as she watched.

“I don’t know if you can see me now, but if you can then surely you realize that things have gotten out of control. I am trying everything I can… I am trying to stop your killer from hurting anyone else but… I just… I don’t know if I’m strong enough…” Sunset wiped at her face as she felt her eyes get misty. “Look at me… Falling apart now… When I need to be strong… Sorry…”

Twilight’s eyes wandered over to two strangers entering the cemetery and heading their direction. One of them with arctic blue hair tied into a ponytail with dark blue highlights. She had an innocent looking face, with expertly done eye makeup. Her lashes were thick and feminine, which complimented her seductive body.

Her posture was far from elegant however, she walked somewhat goofy and carefree, a direct contrast to her companion who seemed to have a permanent scowl plastered on her face. Her step exuded a standoffish aura, and her figure was far slimmer than the other one. She sported pigtails of a vibrant purple with aquamarine highlights.

Twilight could help but notice that both of them were heading their way and she took a step forward to Sunset and tapped her shoulder. “Uh… Sunset… I think we have visitors…”

Blinking, Sunset turned to face the two approaching strangers. Her eyes met the eyes of one of them and all three grew wide eyes as they stood in shock. Silence overcame all of them before Sunset’s face became overcome by anger, her face turned into a scowl as she balled her hands into fists. “You! How dare you have the audacity to show your faces here!”

Kill them. The voice in Sunset’s head commanded.

Rushing in their direction, the goofy looking one held her hands up defensively before Sunset leaped onto her and jammed her fist into her face. Her fists began to connect with the woman’s face over and over, the other one rushed to her defense to try and pull Sunset off only for Sunset to reach into her waistband and retrieve her firearm and point it at the scowling woman.

She raised her hands in the air and stepped backward. Sunset began to speak. “Aria Blaze… And Sonata Dusk…”

“I don’t understand…” Twilight spoke as she stepped forward cautiously.

“These two… Are also sirens, they’re Adagio’s entourage… Her allies…” Sunset explained before placing the gun to a whimpering Sonata’s head. “But you both made a terrible mistake coming here… now…” She jabbed Sonata’s temple with the gun. “Open your mouth…”

“Sunset…” Twilight tried to intervene.

“Shut up!” Sunset called out.

Sonata continued to sob and whimper as Sunset jammed the barrel of her weapon into her cheek. “Fitting that both of you get to die next to Shimmer after you helped Adagio murder her… Or maybe one of you did it? Which one of you pulled the trigger?”

“Sunset you can’t do this!” Twilight called out.

Sunset was about to respond to Twilight before she heard Sonata burst into tears and try to speak. “We didn’t know!”

Blinking, Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean, you didn’t know?”

“Adagio never told us this was part of the plan… We didn’t know we’d be killing people, she snapped and killed her… We didn’t have anything to do with it, I swear! We were just trying to get our magic back, Adagio went off the deep end though… She never told us that killing was a part of the plan…” Sonata pleaded.

Sunset kept her guard up and kept her weapon pointed at Sonata. “What is she planning?”

“We don’t know! She kept us in the dark! We left the moment we found out she killed your friend and haven’t spoken to her since, honest!” Sonata waved her hands in front of her face.

“Sounds like a trick to me…” Sunset growled.

“It’s the truth!” Aria finally stepped forward, her hands still raised in a defensive position.

“Then why are the two of you here?” Sunset raised a brow.

Aria reached down on the ground behind her and picked up an object that she had been carrying before Sunset pulled her gun out and presented it to Sunset. It was a lavish looking bouquet of flowers, lilies, daisies, and various other assortments all arranged expertly into a nice bundle.

“We came to pay our respects… We never intended this to happen, Adagio has gone off the deep end… We’re trying to atone and make things right…” Aria explained.

Sunset sighed and looked over at Twilight for her opinion.

Twilight looked at Aria, examining her face, then at the sniveling Sonata on the ground. Releasing a sigh, Twilight nodded. “I think they’re telling the truth…” She could see it in the two of them, there was a level of sincerity and if they had come to cause trouble they likely would have done so by now for sure. "Check them, your magic, remember?" Twilight gestured to the geode fastened around Sunset's neck.

Sunset looked down to it and nodded. She placed a hand on Sonata's forehead. The girl trembled in fear, but Sunset could at least feel her fear was genuine, however after a few seconds she could hear a familiar voice in her own head.

Kill her! Kill her now!

Sunset pulled her hand back and stared at it. Sonata's head was protected, shielded from being fully read by Sunset's magic at its current level, but she could sense her emotion still and it felt legitimate somehow.

With another sigh, Sunset stepped off of Sonata and offered a hand to help her up. Sonata hesitated at first, but ultimately took Sunset’s offer and pulled herself off the ground with Sunset’s help. “I still don’t trust you two, but if you are serious then you can help us…”

“Anything, name it!” Sonata pleaded.

“You’re going to help us stop Adagio…” Sunset instructed.

Aria nodded and let a small smile come to her face. “Done, Adagio has lost her mind… There’s no telling what she’s capable of doing now…”

“Why is she doing this?” Twilight asked.

Aria shrugged. “She kept a lot of the details secret, all she said is this all had to do with getting our magic back… I think she’s lost her mind over…” Aria bit her lip but then shook her head not wanting to discuss the matter with Twilight and Sunset, “forget it…”

“No, tell us…” Sunset commanded as she pointed her gun at Aria.

Sighing, Aria shook her head once more. “Alright if this alliance is going to work, you need to stop waving that thing at us…”

Sunset looked to Twilight who nodded. Obeying Twilight’s wishes, Sunset lowered her weapon and placed it back in her waistband. “Fair enough, now tell us…”

“I doubt you guys would understand, but it’s something called the Siren’s Curse, otherwise known as ‘Mother’s Scorn’, it’s a very ancient and old legend among our kind…” Aria rubbed her neck.

“What is it exactly?” Sunset tilted her head.

Aria looked a bit uncomfortable as she answered. “It’s… Well, it’s not important what it is… It’s sort of a subject that most of our kind don’t like to talk about, really old stuff from ancient times. The short version is that even if its origins are myth or not, it seems to be something that does legitimately affect sirens. Adagio may be feeling the effects of it and that’s why she’s acting like this… I’m not saying it’s right, but it may be at least a partial explanation as to why she’s snapped…”

Sunset wanted to pry for more information such as what this “Siren’s Curse” was, but it was clear from Aria’s expression that this small bit of info was all she was going to get out of her. While it was clear that her loyalty to Adagio was fading (though Sunset suspected it wasn’t too strong, to begin with given how she had seen the three interact in the past) she wasn’t going to give up precious secrets about her kind so easily, especially when it was clear that she didn’t exactly view Sunset as a friend.

“Fine…” Sunset stated plainly.

Twilight turned her head as she saw Sunset walking back toward the car. “Come on, our car is over here, you two are coming with us…”

Aria and Sonata looked at each other and then back at Sunset. With a nod, the two ran to catch up with her and Twilight, knowing that the next few hours would change their lives forever. There was a chance that they would have to aid in ending Adagio’s life, but it was a possibility they were prepared to accept.

The group arrived back at Sunset’s safe house after a few minutes of driving in silence. Sunset had handed Twilight her gun and told her that if the two sirens tried anything to shoot them. It took a good eighteen minutes of convincing her just to hold the thing, but eventually Twilight accepted that if she didn’t oblige that they would stay where they were and not move an inch. Sunset clearly wasn’t ready to openly trust the two new additions to their group so easily, and it was obvious that she expected the two to prove their loyalty before she’d take her watchful suspicious eye off of them. To their luck though, the two sirens seemed not to mind, almost as if they expected such treatment.

Parking the car, Sunset reached over to Twilight with an open hand. Twilight already could figure out what she was trying to get and nodded as she handed Sunset the gun. Taking it and offering Twilight a smile in return, she turned to the two sirens in the back seat and pointed the gun at them. “Alright, so when we get inside you two are going to help us in any way I see fit. I’m not fucking around here, and while I don’t want to hurt anyone, if you do anything to harm our friends I won’t hesitate to incapacitate you… And if it comes to it… I will kill you both. So just remember you’re on thin ice, and we should get along fine…”

Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Whatever, we already said we’d help.”

Sunset nodded and lowered her weapon. “Alright, let’s get inside then.”

The entire group exited the car except for Sunset. Twilight approached one of the lockers and inputted the code that Sunset had told her and opened it. Sunset carefully backed the car into the locker and stepped out. The group closed it behind her and made their way to the locker that their friends were waiting at.

Once that door opened they were greeted by a series of smiles that quickly turned to looks of shock as they saw the two sirens standing with Sunset.

“What are they doin’ here!” Applejack barked as she pointed an accusing finger at the two sirens that had now joined them in their safe haven, making it feel significantly less safe.

“Relax, they’re on our side… sort of any way…” Twilight attempted to explain, as she rubbed her neck nervously, the tension in the room clearly getting to her.

Ignoring Applejack’s inquiry, Sunset waved her gun at the sirens. “Come on, get inside you two.”

Aria and Sonata both sighed and did as they were told. The moment they enter though, the rest of the group took a few steps back to create some distance between them. Aria just stood with her familiar scowl and Sonata placed her hands behind her back and peered around awkwardly.

Twilight and Sunset followed after them and closed the door. “What the hell is goin’ on?” Applejack raised a brow, not enjoying being left in the dark.

“It’s complicated, but the short version is that Ghost is Adagio…” Sunset stated.

“Wait, wait, wait… You mean Adagio is the one who killed Shimmer?” Rainbow Dash spoke up, crossing her arms as she looked at the two new guests. “And that explains how we’re letting Adagio’s minions into our safe house… How?”

“I was getting to that…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

Aria sighed and rolled her eyes as she watched the girls bicker as they did. She wondered if friendship was always supposed to be this annoying.

“Anyway… they claim they had nothing to do with Adagio’s plans, or rather they ditched her shortly after she killed Shimmer, and they have agreed to help us take Adagio down, however they’re going to be on tight leashes until then…” Sunset explained. “First order of business, search them for siren crystals,” Sunset ordered.

Applejack and Rainbow stepped up to administer the search. With a groan and a sigh, Aria lifted her arms up to be patted down by Rainbow Dash who checked as thoroughly as she could to try and see if the two were holding out on them. Much to Rainbow Dash’s surprise, Aria didn’t have anything on her, not even a cellphone or a wallet.

Sonata was about the same, though Applejack did find a few coupons to Taco Bell on her. Stepping back Applejack nodded. “They’re clean.”

Sunset smiled and sat down in the revolving chair she had placed in front of the only computer in the room. She crossed her legs and let her hand holding her gun lay carelessly across her lap as she stared down the two sirens. “So… You two…”

Aria didn’t enjoy the look in Sunset’s eye. She could tell the girl was scheming something, she had seen a similar look in Adagio’s eyes before and hated it equally as much.

“You’re going to tell me Adagio’s weakness… It’s pretty clear that friendship magic isn’t going to be as useful this time around given that she’s become far more powerful, so tell me… How can we defeat her?” Sunset raised a brow.

It was obvious that their loyalty would be questioned based upon their answer. The two sirens looked to each other and contemplated if they should trust Sunset. She had the eyes of a mad woman, but they also recognized she had been put through much by Adagio. It was almost certain that Adagio may end up dead if they cooperated by they contemplated if they cared or not anymore.

Morality won out in the end. “You’re not going to kill her are you?” Sonata asked.

Sunset shrugged. “I… I don’t know… You’re accepting this deal between us knowing it’s a possibility though…”

Sonata bit her lip and then looked at Aria for answers.

Aria sighed after she weighed out their options. If they refused there was a good chance that Sunset would kill them, or at the very least make their lives extremely difficult. With that in mind, she decided that Adagio had already made her choice. She played with fire, and that meant she was already accepting the possibility of getting burned long ago. She knew she would face the potential of being killed when she pulled the trigger on Shimmer.

“Her crystal still houses her power… Destroy it and she becomes powerless just like before… Alternatively, you can take it from her… If you destroy it completely she won’t be able to make another one, she clearly made this one from the remains of the first… Siren crystals can only be forged from scratch back in Equestria, so destroy it completely and she can’t get another one without going back to Equestria, and I’m sure your Princess Twilight would be waiting for her there…” Aria explained.

Sunset nodded in understanding. “Excellent… You’ve almost proven your loyalty…”

“Hey, what gives!? We told you what you want to know!” Aria hissed.

“Yes, and now you’re going to aid in our acquisition of that crystal. You two will be coming with me when we take Adagio down ultimately…” Sunset waved her gun in their direction to demonstrate that she was serious.

“We cool with these conditions?” She raised a brow.

Aria sighed but nodded in agreement, unsure of what else to even say. She knew that it was best to bite her tongue and merely go along with whatever was being offered. Her and Sonata both knew that a better offer wasn’t coming along.

Sunset after being satisfied with Aria’s response reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone.

“Who are you calling?” Applejack asked with a raised brow.

“Shining, it’s about time I told him what’s going on, I could use his back up, we’ll need all the help we can get…”

The phone call with Shining was long and tedious, meticulously going over every single detail that Sunset understood, making sure not to skip anything no matter how insignificant it seemed. Shining was a detective and perhaps could put together things she was missing.

He remained relatively quiet as she explained over the next twenty-eight minutes before Sunset wrapped it up. “So that’s everything… I think anyway…”

“A siren, huh? With Equestrian magic… Sounds dangerous…” Shining replied over the phone after being told what a siren was and why one was after Sunset, along with a brief rundown of Adagio and Sunset’s history at the Battle of the Bands a little over a year or so ago.

“Yes, but we have some tricks up our sleeves, right now I’m sitting in front of the other two sirens and they agreed to help us… I know where her hideout is, so we can plan our next move…” Sunset replied.

“How are you sure she won’t move locations?” Shining asked.

“She’s overconfident, she will try to lure me there, but we can wait, bide our time and formulate a plan… I need you to do something though and I need you to do it as quick as possible… I’m not sure how much time Adagio is going to give us…” Sunset stated.

Shining sounded concerned. “What is it?”

“I need you… To go to Equestria and get Princess Twilight…” Sunset said.

Confusion filled the entire room as Shining waited for an explanation. “Look… Adagio can’t be dealt with here, it’s too dangerous… Twilight may know how to contain her and bring her back to Equestria where they have the facilities to keep a magical being like her locked up. She’s too crafty and resourceful; she will never face justice in this world. Not to mention we have a bunch of other problems such as explaining to the rest of the police how a magic siren from another world got here. I’m sure it’ll come up when they go to add her DNA to the criminal DNA database and see she isn’t human…”

Shining clearly understood her concerns, and they were similar to his own since he started the case, “I understand… I’ll get right on it, but please don’t do anything without me, alright?” Shining said.

“I’ll try…” Sunset responded before hanging up.

“Do you think Princess Twilight can really do anything about her?” Rainbow Dash asked after Sunset had stuffed her phone in her pocket.

Sunset shrugged. Truthfully she didn’t have much in the way of a plan yet, but she knew that strengthening her numbers definitely wouldn’t hurt. Adagio was strong, but with enough allies, Sunset might be able to overpower her, maybe even detain her.

“It can’t hurt…” Sunset replied.

The room fell silent as the phone in Sunset’s pocket began to ring. She blinked and pulled it back out to see a video call incoming from Twilight’s phone. She looked over at Twilight to see she was standing there with no phone in hand. It then dawned on her where Twilight’s phone was, Adagio had it. They had never retrieved it when they went to her hideout, and she was certain that was who was calling her now.

Gulping Sunset looked at the group. “It’s Adagio…” She said.

The group quickly huddled around her as she placed the phone in front of her face and positioned it so the other girls could see the screen with her. Hesitantly, she pressed answer. She didn’t know what Adagio wanted to discuss but she knew it couldn’t be good.

There on the screen was her familiar smug face staring back at them. Her bright red tinted eyes shining in the poor lighting. “Sunset Shimmer, thanks for answering my call, but do hurry up and answer sooner next time… A girl can get… Impatient…”

“What do you want, Adagio?” Sunset raised a brow, not enjoying how calm Adagio was being.

“I want you to come over and play, that’s all…” Adagio smirked.

“Oh is that all? Lemme grab my swimsuit we’ll hit the pool…” Sunset joked.

“Funny… Though you can wear whatever you like to our little get together, so long as you’re okay being buried in it…” Adagio chuckled.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t contain herself anymore and chimed in. “And what makes you think she’s just going to show up? Anyone with half a brain can tell you are just planning a trap over there.”

“Brilliant question and I assumed you were the dumb one of your group… Gold star for you…” Adagio patronized before she turned the camera on the phone around to reveal a large group of children all blindfolded and gagged, along with what appeared to be a teacher duct taped repeatedly around a support beam of a building.

“Say hello everyone!” Adagio’s hand could be seen waving to the squirming group.

“You’re sick!” Sunset hissed with anger in her voice.

“I’m flattered, truly I am, now here is how this is going to work…” Adagio began before bringing a handgun into the shot and pointing it directly at one of the children’s heads. Their squirms became more frantic and vicious the moment the cold steel touched their forehead. “In the next hour… One of them is going to die… Followed by another for every hour until you show up, and when they are done… I’ll get some more…”

“So that’s your master plan? Kill random people until I give myself to you?” Sunset smirked.

“Oh, I’m certain you’ll show up… I know you can’t just stand by and wait for people to die… You, mortals, are predictable in that regard… You have to stop the killing of good people and administer the killing of bad people… So I know you’ll show up…” She pulled her gun away from the child and stroked their hair before turning the phone back to her own face. “Like I said, one hour… See you soon.”

Adagio waved before hanging up causing Sunset to throw her phone in anger. “FUCK!” She screamed. She knew that Adagio was low, scum even, but she didn’t know she’d resort to killing innocents indiscriminately to get what she wanted. Sure she half expected her to try and use her friends as bargaining chips to get Sunset to give in, but not random strangers.

“Sunset calm down…” Fluttershy stepped forward with her hands raised defensively.

“I… I have to go…” Sunset said quietly.

“Sunset it’s obviously a trap…” Applejack attempted to reason.

“YOU THINK I DON’T FUCKING KNOW THAT!?” Sunset growled. “She has hostages! I can’t fucking stay here and wait for more people to die! I am not going to be responsible for that… I’ll get there… and stall her until Shining shows up…”

She could already start seeing a plan formulating in her head. Princess Twilight’s magic, that should have been enough to stop Adagio… Right?

“And what are you going to do if she uses magic again?” Twilight asked with a raised brow. “She is too strong for you to take on your own, and you know that…”

Not if you let me handle her… The voice in the back of Sunset’s mind called out. She wanted to scream for it to shut up, but at the moment she had so many other things on her mind that she couldn’t focus on it.

“I’ll… figure it out…” Sunset huffed and looked away.

We’ll kill her and resolve this problem with ease… With my power, you can take her…

Sunset shook her head trying to silence the voice.

“We’re going with you…” Twilight spoke up, placing her hand on her chest. Sweat ran down her temple, but she had a look of determination despite her obvious nervousness.

“W-we are?” Fluttershy whimpered with a terrified tone in her voice.

Applejack immediately agreed. “We can’t let y’all go alone, we’re comin’ too…”

“Girls… This is serious, you could get badly hurt or…” Sunset paused but Rarity finished her sentence for her.

“Dead? We’re aware of that possibility but what about you? The same could happen to you and I for one couldn’t live with myself if I stood by and did nothing while you risked your life… We’re your friends and we’re in this together…” Rarity smiled.

“Are you sure you’re-“ Applejack attempted to convince Rarity to stay behind but one look at the scowl she was given for even thinking such a thing and Applejack shook her head and dismissed the idea. While Rarity’s injury frightened her, she knew that when Rarity’s mind was made up it was impossible to get her to budge, one of the traits Applejack admittedly enjoyed about her girlfriend.

Sunset sighed but a smile found its way to her face. She was foolish to not rely on them in the first place, but she spent so long fearing them being hurt that she never realized that they were all the safest when they were by her side. There was strength in numbers and together there was little they couldn’t do.

“I guess I’m an idiot for not asking for you all to help months ago… I tried to go at it by myself to avoid anyone else getting hurt…” Sunset admitted.

“Yeah you are an idiot, but that’s okay… That’s why we love ya’.” Rainbow teased as she nudged Sunset’s shoulder. “Let’s go save the day.” Rainbow winked.

Coming to a stand, Sunset looked at all of her friends who placed their hands into a circle, waiting for Sunset to join them. With a grin as wide as she could make, she placed her hand into the circle and nodded. “Let’s finish this.”

“It’s all or nothing!” Rainbow Dash said.

“We’re in it together!” Twilight added.

“Yeah… I guess we are…” Sunset replied contently.

Sitting down, Adagio crossed her legs and retrieved a package of cigarettes from her jacket and drew one. Throwing her trench coat to the side, she leaned back and lifted a finger to make a small flame appear at the tip of it which she used to light the cancer stick.

One of her henchmen bowed and sat down in front of her as he studied his master carefully. Adagio didn’t need to mind control all of her minions and it served her to have a few with free will of their own as they could think more outside of the box that way. They posed little threat to her however as she was confident she could take any of them.

“Ghost- er… Adagio…” He corrected himself now learning the true name and face of the one he served.

“Adagio will do, however, if you prefer to call me master, that’s acceptable as well…” She smirked.

He nodded and continued. “Adagio… I don’t understand… What is going on here? Why are we doing all of this?”

She grinned and took a long drag from the cigarette before exhaling smoke into the room, creating a visible cloud.

“I don’t expect a mortal like you to get it, Smoke. However, if you pay attention you may begin to understand how pathetic you mortals really are… Chasing money, chasing drugs, chasing control… You seek such small prizes… Such pathetic rewards for your efforts…” Adagio began.

“Ma’am?” He tilted his head.

“I am going to show you that there are bigger rewards to be had… I have lived for thousands of years, endured much and it has made me stronger… I’m about to show you what true strength can accomplish… Soon you’ll be able to see what having bigger ambitions can net you… Maybe you’ll learn something…” She smiled.

“Thousands… of years?” He blinked, not truly believing what he was hearing.

Adagio nodded in response. “I can live forever if I so choose… Sirens like me… We don’t ever have to die if we don’t choose to. So long as there is energy for me to feed on, I can stay like this forever… Alive and young…”

“So… Your kind are immortal?” He asked curiously.

Adagio nodded. “Thus why I don’t have to worry about dying of old age, however, a common misconception is we can’t die at all… Either way, once we have Sunset I can begin the next part of my plan…”

“And what would that be?” Smoke raised a brow.

A smirk came to Adagio’s face. “Once we finish off Sunset and her friends we can move onto Equestria… I can exact my revenge on those worthless ponies and then you’ll see the true extent of my power…” Finishing the cigarette she tossed the butt onto the ground and stomped on it with her slightly heeled boots. “You haven’t even seen the beginning of what I’m capable of…”

Moondancer knew that after she had overheard Adagio contacting Sunset that she wouldn’t have much time to execute her operations. There was no doubt in Moondancer’s mind that Sunset would walk right into Adagio’s trap, and that meant she needed to prepare much quicker.

Typing away on her laptop she just finished up what she had been working on and checked to see how long it estimated it would take. She cursed as she saw it would take a good eight minutes for the program running to finish and wished she had bought a faster model. Nonetheless, she left it there and scooped up her bag as she made her exit from the room, making sure to keep low.

Adagio murdered Shimmer, and now she was trying to end Sunset and her friends, but Moondancer couldn’t simply accept that she killed Shimmer just to anger Sunset. It didn’t seem to fit, but she couldn’t make the connection as to why Shimmer was killed as well for Adagio’s plan. Why was Shimmer dying necessary? It just didn’t make sense, but Moondancer intended to find out.

All Moondancer really knew is that Sunset would be there soon and then either Adagio would meet her end or she would triumph over Sunset and begin the next phase of her plan. Moondancer wasn’t entirely sure of the details of that aspect, but she knew that if Adagio was successful that it may mean the end of everything. She had to be stopped at all costs.

It wouldn’t be long now before Sunset and her friends arrived.

Moondancer sighed and shook her head. “It all is riding on you, Sunset… You’re my trump card… Let’s finish this… Let’s avenge Shimmer.”

The big finale is upon us! Next chapter we will see the payoff of Act III! To those who have been with us since the start, thank you so much!

Applety's hands are starting to look amazing.