A long few nights of coffee, energy drinks and snacks had left Moondancer exhausted. Her assistance in Sunset’s conquest over Serenade was nearing its conclusion. In the coming days she would know if they were successful, or if all of Equestria and then all of humanity was doomed. Sunset had to win, or it would likely mean the end of both worlds as there was no telling what Serenade would do.

The only thing that Moondancer thought she could do to save the world if Sunset lost was to destroy the portal itself, but even that was no guarantee. For all they knew, a new mirror could be made, or others existed. There was also no telling if Serenade’s power would ever become great enough to where she could just open a portal herself.

Opening a portal between worlds as far Moondancer understood it was a feat that would take a tremendous amount of power, but Serenade definitely fit into the category of creature that was likely to be strong enough to pull it off.

Despite Sunset insisting that such a thing was likely impossible even with Serenade’s impressive abilities, Moondancer couldn’t be sure. She had to be ready for anything.

She thought back to when her and Sonata spoke when they first met. How the girl trusted her, how she had faith in her. It was an odd feeling at first, but she didn’t want to let her down. Sonata saw her as a friend and that meant she had to do her best not to let her down just like Shimmer always told her. Friendship meant you always had to give everything your best for your friends.

Nodding in agreement with herself, Moondancer sighed contently as she opened the drawer in the room and peered at the gun that was left there. Carefully, she picked it up and stared at it. The last time she had almost used a gun was to nearly kill Adagio. Sunset had talked her out of that, but now she ironically was telling her she might have to use the same gun to end Adagio’s sister.

For the past three years she occasionally wondered if she could even pull the trigger if she needed to. She had told herself she would do what was necessary, but was that actually true? Could she actually end the life of another? Even if Serenade was a murdering psychopath, Moondancer wondered if she had what it took. She wasn’t strong like Sunset was, after all.

Removing the clip, Moondancer examined it and determined once again that it was fully loaded. Letting out an exhale, she decided there and then what she would need to do. If Serenade came through that portal, she would unload an entire clip on her to make sure she was truly dead and then destroy the portal behind her. That was what she needed to do, there was no “ifs” about it. She would push herself to her limits.

The bookworm reloaded the weapon and placed it on the table. From there, she lifted her arm and sniffed under her armpit. She smelled horrid, but that was to be expected as she had been up so long. She wondered when the last time she had washed the white undershirt she was wearing was, but determined it was likely days ago.

Yawning, the girl checked the clock, noting it was 8 AM. A shower sounded divine, but she knew she probably should get in touch with Sunset and do some last minute diagnostics. Sunset would need every advantage she could get after all.

With a grumble, Moondancer booted up a program designed to automatically check for issues with the suit and report them back to her. Yawning, she pushed herself away from the desk and wandered over to the coffee maker to refill her cup decorated with teddy bears and with laziness in her step, she made it to the pot only to find it was only partially full, enough to fill perhaps half a cup with lukewarm black liquid.

She shrugged and poured a healthy helping of skim milk in, figuring it would at least fill the cup, albeit make the coffee cold. Once she had the milk in, she threw about eight cubes of sugar in and wandered back to her desk already sipping on the liquid energy. She caught a glimpse of herself in the monitor and giggled. She looked about how Shimmer always remembered her: a mess, though Shimmer would describe her as a “hot” mess. Sunset had said she looked “cute” when she was working like this though.

She had come to appreciate her signature look though. Messy hair, very non-form fitting outfits, and her cute glasses that never seemed to sit right. Before, Moondancer never thought of herself as attractive, but now she knew that she just had a different kind of charm.

Moondancer had considered dating again, but she didn’t even know where to begin. While she still loved Shimmer deeply, it had been years since her death now and she had moved past it. While she still wished she could be with her, the pain was mostly gone now. She was ready to meet someone again, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She’d let them come to her, and that was just fine.

A smile came to her face as she considered what Shimmer would say about her if she could see her at that moment. Probably that she was proud of her, and that she was excited that Moondancer was a part of something as big as taking down Serenade. Truthfully it was her greatest achievement thus far shy of being with Shimmer in the first place.

She wondered how Twilight was taking it all, but then quickly pushed the idea out of her head as guilt was starting to overtake her at just the thought of Twilight Shimmer. The poor girl was raising Sunset’s daughter without even an inkling on where Sunset was, and yet Moondancer knew everything and was saying nothing. She had the power to do something, but she wasn’t.

It wasn’t her place though. Sunset had to tell her own family what she was up to and if she didn’t want Twilight involved, that was her business.

Sighing, she placed her headset back on and began to speak. “Alright, good morning Sunset, how are you holding up?”

The deeper voice of her friend Sunset answered. “I’m doing alright, just ready to get this done. Hard to believe this may actually be over soon.”

“You and me both, Princess Twilight, what about you, are you up and about?” Moondancer asked.

The voice of the princess answered on the secondary headset that she had provided Sunset with. “Yeah, I’m here. Ready to go when you two are.”

Moondancer sighed and nodded. “Alright, let’s do some last minute checks and we’ll get started.”

It felt good to be home after a long overnight shift, and Angel Song was taking advantage of it. She sat down and yawned, as she hadn’t slept in so long. Her life had changed so much in the past few years to the point of insanity almost. Most of their off time they spent traveling, looking for answers to the mystery that was Starlight and her power.

They would be away for days at a time but return in time for work. How they managed to budget it all was incredible to Angel, but it meant they had little time to unwind most of the time.

Angel set her bag down and loosened her tie before leaning back on the couch and throwing her head back, her long blue curly hair cascading over the back of the couch. With a sigh of content, Angel closed her eyes, only to open them again a few seconds later when the sound of footsteps rang through the small hallway. Footsteps that she already knew belonged to her roommate.

Peering over at Starlight, Angel noticed she was only wearing a button up shirt that was a size or two too large and it was unbuttoned halfway, exposing her breasts to Angel who gestured with her hand for the girl to cover up. On her legs, she was only sporting a black pair of lacy panties.

The girl’s hair was a complete mess and her eyeliner was the definition of “fucked up”, but she didn’t seem to care as a silly grin was plastered on her face as she sat down on the loveseat and nodded at Angel. “Sup?”

Angel sat up and gave her a squared eye. “I take it things went well?”

“Oh, they went very well...” Starlight nodded happily.

“So are you dating him now?” Angel snickered.

“After a fuck like that? I wanna marry him...” Starlight smirked.

Angel laughed and rolled her eyes. “He didn’t seem that experienced... I mean you said yourself he wasn’t exactly a ladies man.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he’s only been with two girls, but sweetie, what he lacks in experience he makes up in effort. That boy ate me out like I was a buffet...”

“That’s gross.” Angel make a fake gag.

“Angel, I kid you not... eight times, just from the foreplay...” Starlight shuddered in delight just remembering the experience. “He either got really lucky, or I was just really feeling it, but I’m pretty sure he was hitting my spot every time. I couldn’t even walk after it was finally over.”

“Again, unneeded details...” Angel shook her head, trying to get the mental images of Starlight on her back moaning out of her head.

“You’re my gal pal, you’re supposed to listen and go ooo and ahhh about this stuff, damn it!” Starlight protested.

Sighing, Angel shook her head. “Okay fine... Do you love him?”

Starlight nodded. “Yeah, I feel like I always did since we were kids, but now I’m very sure about it.”

Angel bit her lip. “You know that means he will have to find out about our... Situation, right?”

The thought had crossed Starlight’s mind. She knew that if Sunburst was to be a part of her life that she would need to drop the whole “I have magic powers” thing on him, but it wasn’t an easy topic to bring up.

When the two of them arrived at her apartment they didn’t even get a chance to talk, as Starlight’s raging hormones had taken over and she mauled him the moment the door closed. The memory was still vivid in her mind, her pressing him against the door as she locked lips with him, his hand running down her back, and her hand reaching down to feel his bulge.

She shook her head, not trying to get hot and bothered a second time. “Yeah, I know... I just don’t know how to tell him...” Starlight frowned as she watched Angel shift around in a bowl on the coffee table where the two kept various oddities.

Angel blinked and coughed as she retrieved an object from the table. “Well... You may have to tell him sooner rather than later...”

“Why’s that?” Starlight tilted her head.

Angel tossed her a familiar ring of pills. Starlight caught it and noticed that there was one too many before she could feel a cold sweat run down her neck.

“Because he may be a dad soon...” Angel replied.

Glitch had called yet another meeting among Aria, Sonata, Twilight, and Applejack which left all of them perplexed. It had only been a single day since her last planning session where she discussed their upcoming plans to steal an airship from Trottingham’s shipyard. Applejack wondered what she could possibly be planning now, or what matters required further discussion among the group.

Looking around the room, it seemed as though the others were just as confused as she was, leading her to believe that what was to come was not planned or discussed with even Princess Twilight.

That brought up an interesting thought to Applejack, how much of Glitch’s plans was Twilight in on prior to them happening, and how much of them was Twilight just going along with without any prior knowledge. Was Glitch keeping secrets from even Twilight? No doubt existed in Applejack’s mind that Twilight knew who was under that helmet. She was privy to the stallion in the armor, and she wouldn’t tell anypony about them.

This meant that Sonata and Aria also knew who Glitch was, and no doubt they were in a similar position as Twilight, which annoyed Applejack. These two strangers were more in on what was happening than her, Twilight’s longtime friend.

Applejack crossed her hooves and closed her eyes, wondering what Rainbow Dash would have to say about all of this. Surely, the loyal mare would be annoyed with Twilight’s behavior, right? She was showing more loyalty to these complete strangers than her own friends. Was Glitch influencing her behavior? That was a distinct possibility after all. Glitch still had magic, and strange technology which none of them would explain where it came from.

That kind of armor that Glitch wore didn’t exist in Equestria, and Applejack knew that. They had to have gone through some shady means to acquire it. Judging by the look of it, it had to be custom made.

Applejack wondered if it had been built by creatures outside of Equestria. Truthfully, she wasn’t too worldly and had no idea how most of the world lived. Was it possible that other species that lived outside of Equestria were enjoying technological advances that Equestria only dreamed of? She briefly recalled hearing stories of how dragons who lived outside of the dragon lands lived in clans and many of them were quite impressive blacksmiths. When she was a teenager she had seen a serrated blade crafted from the Far East by dragons.

Her grandmother had told her that the blade was designed for slicing on one side and sawing through bone and thick dragon hide on the other side, and it had made her cringe just thinking about it.

Stories echoed across Equestria of the kind of armor that dragons could build, but none of it even sounded close to what Glitch was sporting. Dragon armor was light and often full of opening as it was a trade-off to keep mobility, but Glitch’s armor was thick and while the pony had full mobility, it offered no weak spots. Not a single spot on their body was exposed. It was excellent craftsmanship and the hard worker in Applejack could appreciate that.

Glitch didn’t seem like much of a craftsman themself, so Applejack assumed somepony else had to have built it.

Looking at Aria, Sonata and Princess Twilight, Applejack could see that all of them were carrying similar tech on them, though far from the advanced piece of equipment that Glitch was carrying.

Twilight made eye contact with Applejack which caused the farmer to look away, hoping to avoid conversation as she wasn’t in the mood to have her brain picked at that moment and she knew that Twilight could detect deep thinking from just a glance.

Her mind wandered onto Serenade next. Glitch’s suit was impressive, but Applejack had gotten a small taste of Serenade’s power, there was no way that a fancy suit of armor would make a difference against her. That demon could rip it apart like scraps of metal and probably snap the bones of the pony inside of it without even trying. Serenade’s power was massive, and Applejack wondered if Glitch even had an idea of how strong she truly was.

Her thoughts would be cut short, however, as Glitch finally made their entrance, nodding at Twilight, Aria, and Sonata and then finally at Applejack last. The two shared a long glance at each other before Glitch turned away and took their seat at the head of the table.

They waited for a second before speaking with that annoying synthetic voice they had. Applejack desperately wanted to know what their true voice sounded like.

“Good morning, everypony. It’s good to see everypony is still in good spirits...” Glitch began.

“What’s goin’ on, Glitch?” Applejack asked.

Glitch clearly knew that Applejack would be the first to question the reason for their summoning, and it was obvious as well that they had already planned for that.

Nodding, Glitch glanced at the rest of the group. “Alright, we’ll skip the pleasantries. As you all know, we are going to begin our operation to commandeer an airship in some time from now...”

“Yeah, so why are we meeting now if that’s not for a while?” Aria raised a brow with her question.

Glitch placed their hooves on the table creating a gentle clank sound as the metal touched the table.

“We have another mission that we’re going to partake in before that goes down,” Glitch explained.

Twilight seemed noticeably nervous about those words, to the point where Applejack even noticed she was getting fidgety. The two of them must have talked about something prior that gave Twilight reason to be nervous.

“What mission?” Sonata asked.

Glitch tossed a map onto the table with a spot on it circled. It was in a section in the northern part of Equestria, one that none of them were tremendously familiar with. “My intel says that Discord, Twilight’s mentor is being kept in a place called Horseshoe Keep. It’s a prison designed for mystic creatures such as him, and it looks like Serenade kept him alive there for whatever reason, my guess is to try and squeeze him for information.”

Twilight blinked and leaned forward with her hooves on the table. “I object to this mission!”

Glitch shook their head. “You haven’t even heard what is happening yet...”

“And I don’t need to! I know exactly what you’re about to suggest.” Twilight shook her head.

“Good for you, now stand down, Twilight.” Glitch commanded.

Applejack chimed in, unsure of why the two were arguing, but she did know that Glitch shouldn’t be commanding around the Princess of Friendship like that. At that moment, Twilight was the only authority left in Equestria.

“With all due respect, Glitch, y’all are outta’ line.”

Glitch shrugged. “Thanks for the input, Applejack. However, I’m calling the shots around here, that was agreed upon already.”

“Fuck you! ‘Ah never agreed to that! On top of that, Twilight here is the rightful ruler to Equestria right now, y’all can’t just-“ Applejack began.

“In case you haven’t noticed, there is no Equestria anymore. As of the fall of Equestria, she’s nothing more than another mare now,” Glitch replied.

Applejack was fuming already, her temper already taking control of her mouth, causing her to simply spew out her thoughts without filter. “Who the fuck do y’all think ya’ are!? Ya’ can’t just walk in here and call the shots and tell everypony else t’ just pound sand!”

Glitch stood up and walked around the table and came to Applejack’s face, only inches away, Applejack could see her own reflection the pony’s black visor. She wanted to turn around and buck them right in their stupid face, but a part of her knew that the helmet they were wearing would likely just hurt her hooves.

“Listen to me, I’m not really in the mood for your attitude today, so you’re either going to sit down or I’m going to lay you down. I don’t have time for this bullshit today,” Glitch spoke.

Their synthetic voice made it difficult to tell how much venom was in their words, but Applejack suspected a lot.

“Why not take off that suit an’ ‘Ah’ll kick yer’ ass so hard yer’ granny’ll feel it?” Applejack responded.

“Take your best shot, tough girl. I’m in charge around here, and while you can give your input, I am not obligated to give two crocks of shit about it. Sit the fuck down before you do something you’ll regret.” Glitch pointed to the chair.

Instead, Applejack puffed out her chest and inched closer. “What gives y’all the right? Why do y’all get to tell everypony what to do? We’ve all lost more than y’all, ya’ know? What have y’all given up that gives ya’ the room to do whatever ya’ want?”

Twilight upon hearing those words chimed in, clearly taking objection to Applejack’s words. “Applejack! That’s enough.”

“But, ‘Ah was defendin’ ya’.” Applejack raised a confused brow.

Twilight just shook her head. “It’s fine. Glitch knows what they are doing, I just have my own personal objections, but they are right... I’m not in charge here... Glitch is.”

“Why him!? Fuck this tin can wearin’ asshole! Twilight, yer’ the leader, y’all have always been. Why are ya’ lettin’ this pathetic excuse of a stallion push ya’ around?” Applejack questioned, curious as to what would make Twilight Sparkle bow down to another pony’s will.

The Princess frowned and looked away. “It was part of our agreement. I took things from Glitch... Things I can’t give back. They have a bigger stake in this than you realize. They’ve already proven how committed they are, just please... Let them do what they need to do...”

Applejack frowned, but felt her temper slowly fade, not wanting to upset Twilight further. She looked back at Glitch who was standing perfectly still then at her seat.

“Twilight, ya’ don’t owe this puke anything...” Applejack attempted to reason.

“I do, but even so, I have very little magic left, Applejack. Glitch has a fresh supply, perhaps the only magic left in Equestria. They have given us a small army, they’ve saved Appleloosa and even killed one of Serenade’s advisors... And they did it with very few resources. The reality is that without Glitch we wouldn’t have even made it this far...” Twilight explained.

As much as she wanted to argue, Applejack couldn’t deny any of that logic. Glitch had done quite a bit in a small time span, but that didn’t mean Applejack had to like them.

Accepting defeat, Applejack sat down and crossed her hooves, her emerald eyes locked on the armored pony who trotted back to their seat and sat down and clearing their throat. “Right, as I was saying... Horseshoe Keep is where Discord is being kept...”

“And you’re suggesting we break him out?” Twilight guessed.

Her assumption was correct, as Glitch nodded. “Yes, a small team will sneak in and help him escape.”

“And you’re doing this because of me... That’s what I take objection to.” Twilight shook her head.

Glitch shrugged. “I’ll admit, that I am doing this on your behalf.”

“And I’m not comfortable with that. You’re risking pony’s lives for my desires and that is not ideal. I won’t be responsible for the harm of others like that, Glitch.” Twilight crossed her hooves.

“Your opinion is noted, but I really don’t care about your thoughts on the matter right now.” Glitch shrugged once more.

“Harsh...” Aria coughed.

Twilight looked away in shame.

“The reality is, you’re distracted without your mentor, and I need you at your top form. Having him around will get you back on track, not to mention he could prove a valuable trainer and tactician for our army. I see only benefits all around, but yes one of the reasons is because I wanted to get him back for you...” Glitch stated.

“You don’t have to do that for me... This isn’t right...” Twilight kept her eyes averted from Glitch.

“I’ll do whatever I see fit, Twilight and you’d be wise to remember that,” Glitch stated.

Twilight wanted to protest more but knew that it was a waste of time. The reality she was in was one where Glitch held all the cards and that meant that Twilight would have to do as Glitch desired. Their motivation for wanting to do something on Twilight’s behalf perplexed her though.

The Princess of Friendship knew that under that mask, behind that armor was the face of Sunset Shimmer, who admittedly wasn’t particularly fond of Twilight at this point. It didn’t make a lot of sense that she was going out of her way to help her.

Twilight nodded, but did take notice of Applejack biting her tongue as she sat in painful silence. Twilight knew it was taking all she had to hold in her rage, but a part of the mare was proud of the farmer for being able to do so, as she knew that Glitch was being beyond frustrating.

Aria had spent the time that the group was bickering to actually take a few looks at the map that Glitch had produced and try to make sense of their plan. With how long the entire ordeal had taken, she had found the time to go over the map in a decent amount of detail and thus was able to raise a point.

The siren cleared her throat and began. “That’s all fine and good, but this place is a fortress, Glitch. If Discord is in there, it’s not going to be easy to get him out. No doubt if we show up with an army to brute force our way in, they’ll just tighten up security in a pinch.”

Glitch pointed at her and nodded approvingly. “That’s more like it; we should be focused on how to make things happen, Applejack and Twilight, you both should be taking notes, you could learn a thing or two from Aria over here.”

Both Twilight and Applejack met eyes, and Twilight’s glare was definitely one of shame, but Applejack’s only showed how incredulous she had become from that comment. Who was Glitch to suggest that she take notes from a siren of all things?

The comment went without a retort thankfully, and the group was able to continue conducting business. “You’re correct in that the keep is not going to be easy to get into, but there is a flaw in the security that I have discerned.”

“Leave it to Glitch to find a way through an impenetrable fortress! Way to go!” Sonata smiled and chimed in.

Glitch shook their head. “It won’t be that easy, Sonata. See, the dungeon where I am certain Discord is being held has a security override. Two magic stones create a locking mechanism and one of them is just in front of the gate that opens the basement door.”

“So I assume you’re suggesting we override the spell by having two ponies activate the stones at one time?” Aria asked.

Pointing once again to her with an approving nod, Glitch offered her praise. “You’re spot on today, Aria. Yes.”

Twilight was starting to understand her plan. “So in that case... We won’t need an army?”

Glitch nodded. “Correct, just a small task force to get the job done.”

“So we sneak in with a hoofful of ponies and break Discord out?” Applejack asked, hoping she was following this asinine plan.

“Yup,” Glitch replied.

“Can’t say that ‘Ah’m too keen on that massive pain in the behind comin’ back, or that ‘Ah’m thrilled at the idea that we’re riskin’ our keisters fer’ him, but ‘Ah also can’t deny that y’all got some valid points. Discord does think outside the box, and while ‘Ah’m not a fan of y’all, Twilight learnin’ that from him brought ya’ to us, and you have been doin’ a bang-up job...” Applejack rubbed her neck, not enjoying being humble toward Glitch.

To her good fortune, Glitch didn’t seem interested in rubbing it in. Instead, they shrugged. “Thank you, Applejack, but it won’t be me leading this mission.”

“Really? Then who?” Sonata blinked.

Glitch’s armored hoof pointed in Twilight’s direction. “Twilight will be in charge. So long as you follow the plan that I outlined, you should be alright. The facility has holes in its security that will allow you to slip through undetected. The dungeon itself is not that heavily guarded from the inside. You get in, get Discord, and escape through the emergency tunnel exit that I circled on the map.”

Twilight looked down at the map and gulped. Glitch’s plan was incredibly detailed, right down to the last thing, but Twilight still felt nervous that she couldn’t pull it off with the same finesse. Still, she had to be strong for the others, so she sat up straight and nodded. “I won’t let you down, Glitch.”

“Excellent, consider this meeting dismissed, you all head out in a few hours.” Glitch waved their hoof to gesture for them all to leave.

Sonata and Aria were the first to go, gently chatting about how exciting this all was as they made their exit, followed by Applejack who kept a good eight feet behind them to avoid being dragged into any conversation.

As Twilight got up to leave as well, Glitch’s voice rang in her ears. “Hold up for a second, Twilight.”

Twilight looked back at the armored pony as her hoof was just about the reach for the door. She raised a brow of confusion.

“Shut the door for me...” Glitch nodded.

Sighing, Twilight did as she was told and shut the door, locking it promptly after. She turned around and looked at Glitch with uncertain eyes.

“Please, sit.” Glitch gestured.

Another long sigh came out of Twilight as she nodded and sat down in the offered chair. Only seconds later, Glitch began by tapping their chest, making the helmet upon their head vanish and revealing the face and long red mane of Sunset Shimmer.

Since the start of their conquest, Sunset had really started to let her mane go, and it was starting to become a bit shaggy, but it was a look that suited her. Her powerful eyes were as serious as ever though.

“You have some reservations about this mission?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. “I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of others risking their lives over my desires...”

“You need to focus, Twilight and you’re not going to do that unless you are free of distractions. Discord being back will motivate you,” Sunset explained.

“I don’t know about that...” Twilight shook her head.

“I know you have feelings for him, Twilight,” Sunset bluntly accused.

Twilight stammered for a moment, unsure of how to respond to such a statement. “I-I... What?”

“Maybe you won’t admit it, but I can tell that you feel strongly enough to where you’ll be distracted so long as he’s away,” Sunset stated as she ran a hoof through her sloppy mane.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what I feel, but I do know that I’m going to follow my orders as best I can. I am going to do my part...”

Sunset nodded. “That’s good to hear, hopefully this mission proves your resolve will pay off. If all goes according to plan, Discord will be in this facility by late tomorrow.”

While she still had her reservations, Twilight actually hoped it was true.

Starlight paced back and forth checking her watch frantically. She looked over at Angel who was staring at the pregnancy strip that Starlight had utilized only seconds ago. She lost her nerve when had finished her business and demanded that Angel read the results for her.

“Is it done yet?” Starlight asked shakily.

Angel rolled her eyes and smirked. “It’s been literally eight seconds...”

“This is a long fucking eight seconds!” Starlight groaned.

“You really should learn a thing or two about patience, you know I saw a program on TV about a guy who was always fidgeting but then started an orange farm and now he’s got the patience of a saint.” Angel gave an approving point to Starlight as she said that last bit.

Running both of her hands through her silky hair, Starlight shook her head. “Great, I’ll just ask Sunburst to marry me and we’ll go live on a fucking orange farm to raise our love child and everything will be hunky-dory.”

“Sarcasm is a relatively common coping mechanism.” Angel snickered, somewhat enjoying how flustered Starlight was.

“You don’t say!?” Starlight roared.

More snickers escaped Angel. “I see you’re coping just fine.”

“Can we just get on with this? I need to find out how much more I should be panicking right now...” Starlight hissed.

Deciding not to tease her anymore, Angel sighed and looked back down at the strip. By now it had been a good minute or so, and the results were in. She stared at the space and sure enough, the two lines that were expected to appear did indeed appear.

“Well, that settles it... You’re pregnant...” Angel stated calmly before setting the test on the table and placing her hands in her lap.

“There’s no way! You have to have read it wrong!” Starlight shook her head in disbelief.

Angel sighed. “Starlight, there are only two possible outcomes.”

“Maybe we took the test too early!” Starlight said.

Angel shook her head. “It’s been a good week or so since your last period, the reality is that you’re pregnant.”

Starlight blinked a few times and sat down on the couch next to Angel, resting her hands on the knees of her torn jeans before exhaling. The girl shook her head lightly as she contemplated her situation.

“What am I going to do, Angel?” Starlight asked.

Angel shrugged. “Hard to say, I’ve never been pregnant...”

“Me neither, until now obviously. As if my life wasn’t complicated enough with everything going on...” Starlight shook her head.

Angel reached forward and placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, offering her a smile from the side that Starlight just barely caught. “Hey, it’s not the end of the world...”

“Yes, it is...” Starlight sighed.

Angel shook her head in disagreement. “No, it isn’t. You said it yourself that you care about Sunburst right?”

“I love him...” Starlight admitted.

It was something that both of them knew but hadn’t been acknowledged out loud.

“Then tell him... You two can plan this together, he deserves to know...” Angel said quietly.

That was exactly what Starlight was afraid of.

“What if... He runs away? I mean, I spent so long trying to not scare guys away with the stupid shit that comes out of my mouth, and now I have to worry about the shit that comes out of my vagina doing the same?” Starlight frowned.

Angel held in her giggles.

“If he cares about you, he’ll stay. You have to have faith in him, do you have faith in him?”

Starlight paused, having to think about it for a moment. Sunburst had been for her when she was a child. They did everything together, and he had always been there when she needed a shoulder to cry on and he had always gone out of his way for her. The boy offered to donate a kidney once when she was in the hospital. Thankfully she didn’t need it, but she could tell he was serious.

They had done so much together, and only a little over a week ago, the two had made love. It was different than other experiences as well. While she had played it off as purely pleasurable, but it was more than that, it was sensual, romantic even. There was a connection there that neither of them could deny.

She would be lying if she said she wasn’t somewhat happy about the entire thing. She was going through an uncontrollable cocktail of volatile emotions.

Starlight took a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I do... I love him, and you’re right... He deserves to know.”

Angel giggled and offered a hug to her friend which was taken almost instantly. Starlight squeezed tight onto the girl. Angel was scrawny and somewhat bony, but she was a good hugger, tight and firm, and she nuzzled into them properly. It was a crime that she lacked a boyfriend really.

“No matter what happens, I’m going to be here for you, Starlight. I’ll be your new kid’s aunt.” Angel nuzzled.

Those words put her at ease. “Thank you, Angel... That means a lot to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Releasing her from the hug, Angel smiled at her as she rested her hands on her lap, her simple dress complimenting her form. She was so cute.

“You’re my best friend, Angel Song... I don’t think I could do any of this without you,” Starlight spoke.

“Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” Angel smiled.

“Only one other hurdle to overcome...” Starlight bit her lip and looked away as she chewed at her thumbnail.

“Which is?” Angel asked.

“Telling Sunburst that we have supernatural powers...” Starlight smiled sheepishly.

Never in a million years did Eclipse imagine that a simple earring would give him such a huge headway in his quest to find a way out of Canterlot. A card game that had ended in his favor had won him the lucky earring of a rather brutish type and desperate to obtain it back, the stallion pleaded with Eclipse.

The only thing the young gay stallion was interested in, however, was a way to get out of Canterlot. Luckily for Eclipse and the stallion he had won the earring off of, the older pony had information about a rebel group that met in the sewers under Canterlot. He had been told how to get there and when they met in exchange for the earring back.

The entrance was far at the other side of the district, and they met at night sometime after curfew which meant braving the streets after Serenade had forbidden any pony to be out.

Eclipse took a deep breath and placed his hoof on the door of his residence but paused to look out the small window upon the door. There walking down the street with a sloth-like step and an oozing trail was the sight of a creature that Eclipse had been warned to avoid like the plague.

The body resembled a pony only vaguely, but its skin was hairless and slimy. It even left a small bit of black residue everywhere it went.

Its eyes had molded shut from whatever coated its body, but it had a big gaping jaw with black fangs as it stuck its head in the air and made what resembled a gasping sound. Most of the younger ponies in the area said that the beast was screaming in agony, a side effect of the never-ending torment that Serenade had put them through.

Its most important feature, however, were its long tendrils that stretched out a good four feet. They whipped and felt all over, looking for prey to ensnare. These appendages acted as its eyes, using touch and sound to find targets. They would strangle and pull any in to be devoured that dared cross its path.

These were what they knew as wraiths, they only came out at night, wandering aimlessly as they searched for any dumb enough to head outside after curfew. They were the minions of Serenade that kept order in her absence, or at least as much order that could be kept.

At one point, they were ponies, but they had been transformed into these husks by dark energy. Nopony truly knew the full process, but it was rumored to be not only incredibly painful but horrifying.

Eclipse watched carefully as the creature passed his home and moved onto the next area that it was to patrol. He let out a breath and composed himself, trying to mentally prepare for heading outside. Once he had gotten himself to a calmed state, he gently opened his door and flipped the hood of his black hoodie up and made his way toward the sewer entrance he had been told about.

The number of guards out that night was minimal, so he was able to easily traverse the main streets until one of the wraiths crossed his path. He covered his mouth and slowed his breathing so that the creature wouldn’t hear him.

The beast meandered around for a few minutes searching inside of trash cans. It was evident that these creatures weren’t that smart, which he supposed was at least beneficial to him.

He took a step back and heard some leaves crunch under his hoof, causing a cold sweat to run down his neck. He gulped and kept his eyes focused on the wraith which was now turning its head in his direction. It took a few purposeful steps toward Eclipse before the sound of a gutter rattling caught its attention.

Its open maw before it, the creature began making its way toward the said gutter, ignoring Eclipse.

He let out a sigh and thanked the gods that there weren’t any maulers nearby. He needed to hurry and get down into the safety of the sewers.

Finally locating the grate in question, he could see why it hadn’t been noticed. It was tucked away in an alleyway behind a large trash can that looked like it was abandoned. The dump hadn’t come for this can in eons, which meant there was never a reason to go to this alleyway. That also hopefully meant that the guards and the wraiths didn’t have a reason either.

Composing himself, Eclipse knelt down and lifted off the grate and began to descend down the ladder. He pulled the grate back to close off the entrance as he made his way down.

The stallion’s nostrils were flooded with a foul odor the moment his feet touched the floor. The sewers were just as disgusting as he imagined they would be.

He held his breath and made his way through the tunnels, eventually reaching the place he had been told about.

Before even entering the room, he could hear talking which was a good sign. Coming around the corner he gave his best “nice to meet you”, smile only to be met with scowls. A group of about eight ponies came to a stand all glaring at him. They were a ragtag bunch, most of them male, but two of them were female.

“Who the fuck are you!?” The biggest male of the group barked.

“He’s cool, he’s with me,” a familiar voice rang in Eclipse’s ear from behind. He turned and sure enough, there was the face of Rose Inkscape. She winked at him and ran a hoof along his jawline as she passed him and stood in front of the group.

“He’s a friend of mine,” she added.

The biggest one (which Eclipse assumed was the leader) grunted and looked away. “Doesn’t mean he can just wander on in here. Might have led the wraiths right to us.”

Rose shook her head. “Eclipse is smarter than that. He wants to join the resistance, isn’t that right, Eclipse?”

Eclipse blinked and felt fortunate that there was someone there to vouch for him. He turned back to the group and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I want to get out of Canterlot, I don’t want to just sit here...”

The big one looked over at the girl next to him who nodded at him. He smirked and then looked back at Eclipse. “Very well, but you’ll need to be tested before you can join.”

“Just tell me what to do...” Eclipse bowed and nodded.

“We want you to bring us the cloak of one of the elites of Serenade,” The stallion commanded.

Eclipse was vaguely familiar with these elites. They wore red and yellow cloaks with an odd emblem on them to signify that they were the top dogs in Serenade’s order. Only a hoofful existed and there was only a small amount in Canterlot comparatively.

“How am I supposed to do something like that?” Eclipse asked.

“Figure it out, you’re the one that wants to join so badly. Now get lost and don’t come back until you have the cloak.” The biggest stallion barked.

Eclipse sighed and nodded, realizing he had no choice in the matter. He would have to find a way to get one of those cloaks, but the question now, was how?

Glitch’s plan was now underway, and the small team had made their way through the complex that was Horseshoe Keep with ease. Sonata and Aria had taken their position at the basement level, taking out the guards silently and waiting for the signal that Princess Twilight had reached the other switch.

The plan was simple, once Twilight activated the switch on her end, they could activate their’s and open the gate. From there they would head up ahead, secure the area and await Twilight’s arrival. Everything had to be timed flawlessly, or they would risk exposing themselves.

Aria and Sonata had taken out the guards as planned and donned their cloaks so that if others came by, they would be none the wiser. It was all up to Twilight now.

Twilight’s training had certainly paid off, the mare was more than a match for the multiple guards at Horseshoe Keep. With finesse and cunningness, she was able to take all of the ones blocking her path to her destined location out and without a single causality while she was at it. All she needed to do now was hit that magic stone and then make her way to the basement level where she could meet back up with Aria and Sonata, that was the plan after all.

The mare tapped an odd deep purple crystal, activating it. With a content sigh, she turned to make her way to the basement until a blast of energy hit her, sending her flying. The mare smashed into a brick wall and tumbled and rolled in agony before coming to a stand.

Looking in the direction of the blast, Twilight’s mouth hung open in shock at what she saw. There standing only a few feet away was the ever-confident Serenade Dazzle. She stood proud and eager, her familiar cloak gracing her body, as black tendrils swayed in the wind. A single one pointed to Twilight like an arrow as the mare stood her ground.

“Twilight Sparkle, how nice of you to deliver yourself to me. I’ve been waiting to kill you, and it’s very noble of you to ensure that I won’t have to spend anymore time hunting you down...” Serenade smirked.

Twilight needed to escape, but she couldn’t risk Serenade following. If she caught wind of the fact that Aria and Sonata were just in the basement, it was all over, they’d all be dead before they left, possibly Discord too. She needed to think, but she needed time.

“Serenade, it’s been a while...” Twilight grinned, feigning confidence.

“Save the talk, Sparkle.” Serenade shook her head.

A few of the guards that Twilight had knocked out had risen back up, rubbing their heads. The brief interruption caused a scowl on Serenade’s face before she looked at the guards and then back at Twilight with a gentle smirk. “Excuse me for a moment...”

With those words, a series of her tendrils whipped about so face that they cleaved every guard’s head clean off, dropping their bodies to the ground with spurts of blood exiting the new wounds.

Serenade stepped forward with two of the tendrils pointed at Twilight. “Sorry, I can’t stand failure, and I make it a point to swiftly punish it every time I’m forced to witness it.”

Twilight stood strong, but she was far more nervous than she was letting on. “Ruthlessness is often a sign of overcompensation.”

“You tell me if I’m overcompensating then...” Serenade grinned as one of the tendrils whipped at Twilight.

She was too fast, and the blow connected, slicing Twilight’s side open and causing the girl to fall, gripping the fresh wound.

As she looked toward Serenade, the only thought in Twilight’s mind was one that she knew she would think eventually.

This could be it.

“So, is this what you wanted? Is this the world you envisioned, Twilight Sparkle?” Serenade spoke as she took a triumphant step forward. “Is this the way you expected your end to come? The way you expected to die?”

Twilight groaned in agony as she laid helpless, unable to do anything as Serenade stepped over several fresh dead bodies to reach the mare, taking her time, savoring the moment, savoring the victory that she had so longed for. With everything else out of the way, she could claim her prize that she had wanted for so long, the prize that had eluded her. Twilight had cheated her so many times. Originally, all she wanted was her power, but now that wasn’t good enough, this mare had to pay for humiliating her, for wasting her time and taunting her.

Saying nothing, Twilight gripped her side, a fresh wound dripping blood, she gripped it tightly to stop the bleeding. Her magic was limited, she contemplated using it to sear the wound and close it, but that wouldn’t help her get away in time from Serenade.

Taking another confident step forward, Serenade chuckled and found herself only a few feet away from Twilight. “I never would have imagined your arrogance would make you believe you actually could walk into an obvious trap thinking you could overcome it... I never imagined you’d just deliver yourself to me.”

Trying to pull herself away, Twilight crawled carefully before realizing it was moot. Serenade could easily do whatever she needed to close the distance between the two, and Twilight was in no position to get away. She couldn’t fly, she couldn’t teleport, she was a sitting duck, completely at Serenade’s mercy.

“It’s funny how these things work out, isn’t it? No one can save you now. Your friends all belong to me now, and there isn’t a soul alive who would dare challenge my power now... You, mortals, are always so pathetic, clinging desperately to life, even though you’re all destined to die... Your only purpose in this world is to meet death, and yet you resist it so much.” Serenade laughed.

“You’re pure evil...” Twilight commented between pants.

A tendril reached forward and touched Twilight’s nose, caressing it gently. Twilight remained perfectly still.

“Is it evil to believe that the vermin of the world who have conquered it don’t deserve their throne? That rats shouldn’t rule the planet? Or is your idea of evil just anyone who doesn’t conform to your views? Anyone who sees the world differently than the pile of trash your kind have created?” Serenade questioned.

Twilight didn’t answer, she didn't even want to give the siren the satisfaction of a response.

“No, child. I am just the reckoning. I am your destiny, but I’ve come early. Why wait for your kind to die off or wipe itself out? Since death is your ultimate fate... I may as well end your misery now, right? Get it out of the way. After all, you’re all going to die regardless of what I do, it’s the fate of mortals!” Serenade explained.

“There is a difference between waiting for death and running from it... a difference that I’m pretty sure you don’t understand, given that you’re just another creature. You don't know what it's like to face death and walk willing toward it, to do something so noble... Have you ever done a noble thing in your pathetic life?” Twilight groaned.

Serenade shook her head. “I am merely the reaper, carrying out the job that needs to be done. For a new shining empire to be built, the trash must be cleared out of the way first. The strong conquer and the weak get tossed aside, that’s how the world works...”

“You’re wrong... In our world, we protect the weak...” Twilight managed to get out.

“Such a waste of time and power.” Serenade shook her head.

“The only waste of time and power here is you,” Twilight retorted.

Serenade squinted in annoyance at her words. “You talk a big talk, but no one can save you now, Twilight Sparkle. You die right here, right now.”

Twilight closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. She knew that this was likely it, and she didn’t intend to give Serenade any pleasure in it. She wouldn’t beg, she wouldn’t scream, she wouldn’t cry. She’d die unceremoniously just to piss her off one last time before she went.

Serenade’s tendril whipped at Twilight only to hit stone. She blinked and noted that Twilight wasn’t there anymore and instead was replaced by a rock. “What the?”

Behind Serenade, a computerized voice that sounded about as fake as one could imagine rang in the air. “Picking on a girl who can’t defend herself? That’s low even for you...”

Turning around, Serenade got a good look at the armored pony. She had never seen armor so advanced before, and she had lived in Dragon Scar for many years. Dragons were capable of interesting feats of blacksmithing, but this was a league all of its own. It looked futuristic almost in its design.

Stamping her hoof on the ground in anger, Serenade grunted. “Who are you?”

The armored pony raised a hoof and a blade extended from it. Was it magic? How was that possible? Serenade had all the magic in Equestria after all.

“You may call me Glitch. It’s a name you would do well to not forget, as I’ll be the one who ends your reign of tyranny over this land...” Glitch spoke.

Serenade let out a hearty laugh. “You’re kidding, right? You’re going to beat me? I’d like to see you try. So what if you have a fancy suit? I’ve killed ponies with far more, and foes who were far more impressive than you are.”

Glitch wiggled their sword and gestured for Serenade to approach. “Let’s go.”

“I like your attitude at least, it’ll make killing you that much more rewarding. I’ll rip that helmet off and watch your face as you die in horror,” Serenade boasted.

Glitch waited patiently for the first strike, and predictably, Serenade took a swing with her mighty tendrils, only for Glitch to shuffle to the side and block one of the remaining ones that nearly clipped their armor with her sword, deflecting it.

Serenade laughed and nodded. “So, you have some fight in you? I like that. Makes the kill that much more exciting!”

A few more swings and Glitch continued to dodge every attack, not even offering a counter-attack which was only proving to piss Serenade off more. She began to aggressively swing faster and faster, only for each attack to miss.

The siren hissed and attacked once more but again to no avail.

“What’s the matter? Afraid to fight me?” Serenade laughed.

Glitch stopped moving and lowered their weapon, allowing Serenade to make her next move without retaliation. The black tendril of the creature slashed at Glitch, and while Serenade expected to hear the clink of the pony’s armor resist her attack, but instead, her tendril went right through it, causing no discernible damage to the pony.

She swung again and the attack went through the pony again who stood proudly without faltering.

“An illusion...” Serenade quickly discerned.

“I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out...” Glitch responded.

“No one sleights me, Glitch. I don’t take kindly to being toyed with, so I hope your little laughs were worth it...” Serenade sneered.

Glitch shook their head. “You fell right into my trap.”

“What trap?” Serenade squinted.

“You’ll see soon enough, but it is the first step in your downfall...” Glitch stated.

Serenade hissed and swatted at Glitch again, but to no avail, the tendril swung right through Glitch and with the missed attack, Serenade only became angrier.

“You’re too afraid to fight me yourself, aren’t you, Glitch?” Serenade growled.

A chuckle escaped Glitch. “While I’m eager to end you, I’m not so foolish as to take you on before I have prepared my blade. One day, we will meet in battle, and only one of us will walk away...”

“You best pray that I may your death quick then...” Serenade replied.

With those words, the illusion vanished.

Twilight almost passed out from all the pain, but her wound was sealed thanks to a healing spell by Glitch. It wasn’t much, just enough to stop the bleeding, and she would need proper first aid when they got back, but she would survive rather than bleed out in front of Serenade.

With Glitch helping her up, the two made their way through the gate that Aria and Sonata had opened, Twilight conversing with the armored pony as they walked down the hallway that they had opened up. “You said that I was leading this mission and it would only be Aria, Sonata and me... What happened? Why are you here?”

Glitch kept their focus on the path ahead, not even looking at Twilight as they answered. “I stayed close by for back up in the event that Serenade showed up, which she did, so it was probably a good thing that I came.”

“I should be mad that you mislead me, but I guess I’m grateful you were there, otherwise I’d be dead... Using that substitution spell and an illusion spell at the same time is pretty impressive...” Twilight said.

Glitch nodded. “My illusion will distract Serenade long enough for us to be well on our way out of here, but we should still hurry.”

Twilight agreed, and the two fast stepped down the hallway and eventually they could see Aria and Sonata in the distance waiting for them. As they all met up, Aria nodded at Glitch who nodded back.

Twilight took note of the fact that neither Aria nor Sonata seemed surprised by Glitch’s presence, which told her that the two of them knew that they were hiding not far from the action. It annoyed her that Glitch would keep her in the dark, but she rationalized that it was likely for the best and calmed herself.

“So, are we ready to do this?” Aria asked.

Glitch nodded.

The group broke down a door that lead to the basement level which all of them proceeded to descend. At the bottom of the stairs, at the end of a long narrow dimly lit room was the long snake-like body of a draconequus that Twilight had come to know all too well.

He was locked behind iron bars and appeared to be sleeping as his back rested against a wall and his chest came up and down.

A breath of relief escaped Twilight as she raced to him, ignoring her recent injuries. She placed her hooves on the bars and looked to Glitch who caught up just as quickly. Without wasting another second, Glitch cast a spell, melting the bars so that Twilight could slip into the cage.

Discord stirred in his sleep before his eyes finally opened and a yawn came out of him. As he rubbed his eyes and looked down, he could see something he hadn’t expected to see again so soon, the smiling face of Twilight Sparkle, his student.

His eyes caught a glimpse of Glitch and he chuckled. “I like your new friend, Twilight. I’m a big fan of ponies who melt things, and ones who can perform prison breaks.”

That was his way of dealing with things; making jokes and Twilight knew that, so she let his odd behavior slide.

“We are bringing you back to our stronghold. We’re going to defeat Serenade, and with your help.” Twilight smiled.

He laughed and came down to her level to speak directly to her. “You’re a determined student, you know that?”

“I learned from the best...” Twilight blushed and looked away.

“Well, I’m terrible at gratitude so... Thank you for saving me...” Discord rubbed his neck with his claw.

Twilight shook her head and reached forward with both hooves, gripping his fur and pulling him in, she locked her lips with his. There was a soft moan that escaped her, and the entire room fell silent for a moment with Aria and Sonata looking away bashfully.

When the kiss broke, Twilight grinned and stared into the creature’s eyes. “Don’t mention it...”

There's a lot going on here, and that is even after I trimmed down the chapter some. We've got Starlight getting pregnant, Glitch having a go at Applejack, and of course, the kiss that I'm sure everyone wants me to talk about, but we best leave that for the next chapter as more about what's the deal with that will come then.

Hey, let's instead talk about how painful it is to write AJ and Glitch (Sunset) fighting. It sucks because I like both of them and they are ironically me and Applety's favorites but their headbutting feels natural when writing it.

Oh yeah, and you may have noticed this drawing was done all digital this time.