The Game

by FourShadow

First published 22nd of April, 2018

The Song Of The Sea have been called to play a game...

Friends are going missing. But why? Why are they missing? And what is this 'game' they have to play?

Rated T for mild suggestive moments and drama.

Chapter 1: Problems

Author's Notes:

Bet you Shattered people didn't expect this to come out, did you?

Now I want to state that this is not the official sequel to Shattered. This is more like... a special, if that makes sense. Like those three Equestria Girls specials, like Movie Magic, Dance Magic, ya know. I've been thinkin' about this one for a while now and I think I can make this good.

So anyways, here's our start! Wanted to start out nice and calm first before entering in the real drama. So anyways, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more!

Adagio's head hung low. She was in defeat. What she hoped would be a success, was sadly not successful. All she wanted was to turn around Sunset Shimmer's state, change her away from her evil goals. But her end result was all but fraught and sad.

She recently visited Sunset Shimmer at the Canterlot State Penitentiary. She hoped that paying her a visit and her words of wisdom could change her, but it didn't. She didn't change. She was never going to change. And it looked as if this was how it was going to be. Defeat still ran rampant in her brain, saddened by her failure. This wasn't anything new to her, of course, but it still hurt knowing that she couldn't help someone.

"Adagio?"

She tilted her head up, looking at the cute little dork sitting across from her.

"Are you okay?"

Adagio sighed. "I am, just... I don't know. I'm feeling a little blue."

Trixie opened up her arms. "Want a hug?"

Adagio for once, smiled. "Oh, why not?"

Both girls got up from their seats and held each other in a hug. Trixie could feel her new lover finally relaxing in her arms, sighing in relief and moving ever so closer.

"There, there." Trixie said, patting her back.

Both of them split off from the hug and sat back down, but not before Trixie gave a quick peck to Adagio's cheek. Adagio's face only went red from Trixie's affection. She valued every second she got to spend with her, and it was like pure heaven.

"Never let this woman go, Trixie? You hear me?" Vinyl asked.

"I don't think it'll be a problem, Vinyl." Adagio replied. "I know so."

"Actually, Adagio, if you don't mind my asking," Octavia asked, trying to adjust the big spiked up piece of hair that was covering her eyes, "Why are you down, actually?"

"I don't know, its just... I went to visit Sunset Shimmer over in prison and, I unfortunately had no luck." Adagio pouted.

"Adagio, you know some people aren't going to change, you know?" Aria asked.

"I know, but--"

"Adagio."

Adagio looked back at her younger sibling, who looked at her with a worried face.

"You can't just let this eat you. Look, its sweet you tried, but there's no use. Sunset Shimmer's not going to loosen up any time soon, and I doubt she'll ever forgive you or any of us for what happened at the Battle Of The Bands. You need to let her go."

"But, I..." Adagio stuttered.

Aria and Sonata both glared at Adagio, looking at her with the same motherly faces that she often had given them. Now it was there turn to be the voices of reason.

"I suppose you're right," Adagio sighed, "what's the use? Its not like she would even listen to me anyways."

"Well you don't have to worry about her now. She's gone for good. Hopefully," Sonata quipped.

"Hope the security guards aren't daft," Octavia remarked, sipping down a soda can.

"I doubt she'll make it out of there. With hundreds of dangerous criminals that exist in the world, and a good handful of criminals in that prison, I don't think they'll let her survive for a second," Vinyl replied.

"Not what I've seen. It seems her physical condition was just fine," Adagio answered.

"Maybe so, but... still."

Adagio held her head. "There's still something that concerns me though."

"What?" Octavia asked.

"Well, she said that we should watch our backs and be careful with what we post on social media. And you know something? I think she might be right..."

"Adagio, you're not seriously--"

"Wait, wait. Lets hear her out," Sonata raised a hand.

"Think about this. Sunset and the Rainbooms found our secrets through online history. She linked us all together with just a few clicks of our names. We've been in several pieces of history, and someone out there could track us down. Worse, someone just might be able to find us and learn where we live!"

"Adagio, you're being paranoid. Look, the entire school put a vow to never show your faces on social media, and any photos we took of you we've only kept in our stashes and scrapbooks. No one is ever going to put your profiles up online, ever, nada, zip!" Sonata chirped.

"I hope not..." Adagio quietly murmurred.

Hoping to get the thought off her mind, she turned her head over to one of the tables. She saw some more groups of friends just hanging out, looking calm and relaxing. Nothing bad or out of the ordinary was found. Just their classmates having lunch.

At another table, she could see the Rainbooms all huddled at their own table. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. They were still looking sad and miserable as usual. She knew that they deserved what they had coming to them. Which was everyone in the entire school hating them and never letting them forget about it.

Feeling a little sympathetic, she pulled out of her chair and started to walk towards them. Applejack caught first glance, and she tried to hide her face under her hat.

"Apples, I know you're there."

Applejack groaned. "Adagio, I'm not lookin' to talk to ya right now."

"Believe me, no one is." Rarity scowled.

"You do realize I could have just let you be taken off to prison?" Adagio raised a brow.

All four of them went from their scowls dropping straight into guilt.

"We're so sorry, please, please don't take us to jail!"

"We'll do anything, just don't take us to prison with that wretch!"

"Hey." Adagio hollered, silencing them. "I'm not taking anyone to prison, but I do expect you to be a little nicer to not just me, but each other. Okay?"

They gulped and nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." They replied in a robotic tone.

"Now, if I may... I have a few questions. Have you or any of your friends or family posted pictures of me or my sisters on any social media as of late?"

"N-No, never!" Rainbow said quickly, "Well, not that we can... we're all grounded."

"And our parents shut down our social media accounts," Rarity whimpered.

"Well that answers one question. My second question is where is Fluttershy?"

Pinkie was the one to groan this time. "Why don't you ask Skittles, Miss Dat-Azzle?"

Adagio sneered. "Never call me that name."

"Oh, uh, sorry..."

"Where did you even get that name?" Adagio held her face.

"We did manage to sneak a few peaks online and, well... some of the guys and girls had some odd names to refer to your... posterior."

Adagio rolled her eyes. "Somehow I knew that name would come up again... look, just get to the point, where is Fluttershy?"

"She and Rainbow had a bit of a fight, and well... we haven't heard from her since and I don't think she's going to be coming back as long as she's here." Applejack replied.

"Well hopefully she'll be back to school soon." Adagio nodded.

Turning around, she left them back in their small little social group and sat back down with her friends.

"So what was that all about?"

"Fluttershy's sadly not here today. I don't know why, but, hopefully she'll be back tomorrow."

No one else said a thing. They just continued to eat away at their food.

"You know, we probably should talk to them, maybe provide some comfort?" Adagio asked.

"Absolutely not!" Octavia barked. "Let them stew in the misfortune. They brought all of this on themselves, if they wanted to be alright, then they shouldn't have made deals with inter-dimensional psychopaths from a technicolor world with car pastel colored horses!"

The three Sirens raised a few brows, looking at her. Octavia blinked.

"Oh, sorry. Been a bit ragey today. Rushed out the door, barely got breakfast."

"Its fine," Aria said, patting her shoulder.

Awkward silence filled among the group.

"So... want to see our plans for the Halloween party?" Octavia asked.

"Sure."

"Why not?"

Vinyl and Octavia pulled out a big sheet of paper, and displayed the entire room that was set for the party which was all drawn in crayon. With a single pointer stick, they slapped it down on each location of the room. And as Adagio locked her eyes on the plans, she felt a little bit of relief just looking at it. Some stress was going away, finally. And hey, this was something their friends needed help with. Well if they needed help, she'd help!

Chapter 2: Important Announcement

Author's Notes:

Now its time for the dramatics. I hope you enjoyed this!

The day went on as normal, and Adagio and her sisters returned back to their penthouse. As the usual, they worked on homework, goofed off for a bit, had some dinner, attempted to finish their work, and eventually started to go to bed.

Adagio pulled out the band in her hair, allowing her big poofy hair to hang down behind her head, which extended down to her back. In her comfy PJs, and with no worries left that filled her mind today or for tomorrow. So Sunset may have left her with a bit of a scary warning, it wasn't something bad to be worried about. After all, they could always come up with alibis. Plus the entire school all signed an agreement to never put any pictures of them online.

Finally brushing her teeth, rinsing, and cleaning herself for the night, she got out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. She pulled herself under the blankets of her bed, resting her head on her puffed up pillow. Covering herself for warmth, she hiked the blankets up even more. Looking to her left, she turned her gaze to the night stand. Her alarm clock, fingerless gloves, and cup of water weren't the only things there to be seen. Right near her she kept a photo of herself and Trixie, holding each other in what looked like an abandoned theater-like setting.

The sight of that adorable little geek made her smile. She was so adorable, she couldn't help it. Her heart warmed up every time she saw her, or was even near her. Being with her made every passing day even more better.

Her finger graced the photo, and then she set it back down on the nightstand. Curling up in her bed, she finally settled in and let the clutches of sleep take her in for the night.

3:00 AM

The Dazzlings penthouse was completely quiet. Not a sound to be made, not a noise to be heard. Nothing. The only things still running that night were a few lights so no one could trip each other in the hallways, maybe a few electronics that needed to stay plugged in, but other than that, there was nothing else. The penthouse was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop, or a piece of crumb that didn't cleaned up fall right off the countertop.

Unbeknownst to Adagio or her sisters, the night wasn't going to stay quiet. Down in the main living room, the front door started to jiggle slightly. The knob twisted and turned, but there was no entry. After a few more seconds of jiggling, the person on the other side of the door stopped shaking the door. But they didn't go away.

A small credit card could be seen gaping through the crack of the door, and it slid down nice and easy like on the lock. Once the lock was undone, the door opened up slightly, but not until the chain on the top of the door stood in the way. The person who attempted to get in looked up, noticing the golden chain that kept it together. A small chuckle escaped its voice, a voice rather distorted and garbled.

Through the gaping crack of the door, a pair of bolt cutters raised up, with its jaw open and fitting right into the chain. With a careful snap, the chain snapped into two, finally destroying the lock.

The door opened up even wider, creating a small eerie creek as it opened up into the penthouse. A pair of black boots stomped into the open apartment, and another distorted chuckle escaped the mouth of the person within. Opening up a small pocket, a covered hand reached in and pulled out a small stick; a blow dart, to be precise. Raising it up and twirling around in its glove, the person let out a soft growl.

"Let the game... begin."

Trixie's hands shook and tapped against her locker door as she waited. Adagio and her sisters couldn't have been late, could they?

"Trixie!"

Turning her head, she watched as her British messy-haired friend rushed down to see her.

"Trixie, what are you doing out here? Class is going to begin in a few minutes!" Octavia pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really concerned right now. Adagio and her sisters haven't called, and I don't know if they're coming or not."

"We can't worry about that right now. Come on, we've got to get to class!"

"But Octavia---"

"Trixie. I promise you, they'll be here. I'm positive those three probably had some bad luck on the roads. Just give them time, they'll get here."

Defeated, Trixie hung her head and she walked closely with Octavia and off to class. But she couldn't help but check behind her if they were near. Were they close? Were they finally arriving? No. No they weren't. Well hopefully they would be here soon.

11:30

Everyone got released for lunch time, and like a pack of wild buffalo, everyone stampeded in the hallway trying to get to the cafeteria to eat. No sense in wasting the only time they got to eat.

The Song Of The Sea made it to the cafeteria just in a nick of time too in fact. Right before the lines got stacked up even more. This was one of their very rare days of making it before the rest of the packs did. Smiles and friendly faces were all around, no denying how happy they were about the day. Well, almost all of them.

"Trixie, are you still down about that?" Bon Bon asked.

"I'm sorry, I just... its not like them to not show up. Wouldn't they have sent us a note or at least an email?" Trixie asked.

"Maybe. But maybe they have some problems that are holding them up. Who knows, maybe repair guys are over and they can't leave unless they're finished."

"Wouldn't they have planned that sort of thing if it was on a school day?" Amethyst asked, twirling her chopsticks around.

"Maybe, I don't know!" Bon Bon shrugged.

Bon Bon and Lyra's head turned, their eyes now looking towards the Rainbooms. Still miserable, still alone. Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary.

"You think Fluttershy finally snapped and decided to heck with them?" Lyra asked.

"Wouldn't be surprised considering how soulless they all are," Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"I hope they're miserable..." Octavia stewed, ferociously gnawing down on her chicken.

"Pretty sure they are, Octavia. And they have all the time in the world to think about what they've done..."

The school day went on and there was still no sign of the Dazzlings. No call, no emails, no letters, nothing. They would have expected a text, but knowing the Dazzlings they would never use that as a means of communication. They said so themselves that they refused to use texting. They tried calling them back, but even then there was no reply.

They had no choice left. It was time they go and see them. If they were intentionally staying out of contact with them, they had to find out why.

The elevator doors dinged, allowing the band to step off from the elevator. Walking down the only hallway, they approached the front door, all standing lively.

"Alright, now lets approach this calmly. For all we know, they could have had some severe problems and were afraid to tell us." Vinyl calmly addressed.

"What problems could they not want to talk to us about?" Octavia asked.

"Girls."

Trixie's hand slowly pointed at the door. Looking to where her hand was pointed, they could see the door was ajar. Not closed. Not locked. Not sealed tightly. Everyone's eyes gazed to each other, both confused and worried. They would never let their apartment be open like that.

Carefully, Trixie pushed the door open, with no problems getting inside. Once inside, the girls all stepped in, looking around. The place still looked normal. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

"Adagio? Aria? Sonata?" Trixie called. "Its us! Sorry, we didn't mean to break into your apartment, but we've got to talk! You girls here? Everyone?... Anyone?"

No reply.

"Okay, now I'm seriously worried," Trixie panicked.

"Trixie, stay calm. We'll figure this out." Vinyl patted her shoulder. "Octavia and I will check upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Lyra and Bon Bon will search downstairs to the offices, the swimming pool, and their extra, unneeded and boastful entertainment rooms. That will leave Amy and Trixie to search this floor. Sound good?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Then lets spread out and search for them. But stay together. I'm not sure about you girls, but I have a bad feeling that we may not be alone..."

"Then if there's someone here," Amethyst chuckled, reaching into her bag and pulling out a Rubik's cube. "We'll be ready.

"Yep!"

Lyra's hand made a swoosh, and spontaneously out of nowhere three shurikens appeared, intertwining between her fingers.

"Ready? Break!" Everyone clamored.

Lyra and Bon Bon rushed down the stairs, wandering into their basement floors. Opening up the first door, they opened up the office room. Turning on the lights, they saw nothing but old computers, a few bins, and tons of paper and files scattered everywhere. The room was a pigsty, like it hadn't been cleaned in, well... years!

Bon Bon let out a hard cough, her breath blowing away some of the cobwebs and dust.

"Okay, gross. This room needs to be condemned!"

Closing the door with a slam, she and Lyra and walked to another room. Opening up another door, they walked into an entertainment center. Which to them was more of a gaming room. Inside there were a few seats all close together, aligned in front of a bigger TV than what they had in their living room. On a few corners of the room there were some posters, some speakers, and there were even a few gaming consoles and gaming machines mounted near the walls.

"Alright, how rich are these girls!?" Lyra's hands slapped her sides. "This is outrageous, how are they able to afford any of this stuff?"

"Pay their bills on time?" Bon Bon asked. "That's the only solution I can think of."

Upstairs, Vinyl and Octavia started to open up doors, trying to look for them some more. Shamefully, Vinyl opened up the bedroom to Adagio's. She felt so much shame and remorse for stepping inside uninvited, this felt like a major violation of privacy to her. But if she was going to find her, she had to go in.

Looking inside, she found the room was a giant mess. Clothes scattered about, bed not made, some random toys and knick knacks on the floor, and even assortments of CDs laid about.

"Alright, I hope you're in here..."

She walked in some more, checking every square inch. The ceiling? Nope. What about under the bed? Getting on all fours, she raised the bottom of the blanket, allowing her to look inside. Using her phone, she shined a light inside, trying to look. Nothing. Only thing she could see were a few shoes, some plastic bins, and from what little she could see, she saw a small pair of silver handcuffs, and a few books and or movies that she could see had big X-ratings on them.

"Whoa, okay! I didn't need to see that!"

She pulled out just in time, covering that corner up with the blanket. Her cheeks were bright red, just from the mental image now in her head.

"Great. Now that's in my brain forever," Vinyl moaned, holding her head.

But there was one room she didn't see yet. The closet? Hopefully she was not in the closet... Her hand slided the door open, checking inside. Nope. No girls or humans inside. All she could see were some shirts and coats and dresses hanging nice and neatly. On the floor, she saw some more heeled shoes and other articles of clothing around, probably for different occasions and dates.

"Adagio, you need to consider getting a maid," Vinyl shook her head. "How can you keep your closet clean, yet everything else in here is not?"

Back downstairs, Amethyst and Trixie kept on sweeping the place. They still couldn't find them. Where on earth could they have gone? Where? When? Why?

And since they were unsure, they turned the television on just for safety. Better to have some background noise to let the girls upstairs know they were still here. And even more to fill the uncomfortable silence in this silent solidity. Amethyst checked the balcony. Nothing. She checked under couches and chairs. Nothing. Where could these girls have gone?

Trixie could only pace back and forth, looking up and down scanning every inch of the main floor. Why did they vanish like that? How could they have vanished? But wait.

She looked towards the door. The golden chain on the lock. It was in two. It wasn't one. It had been cut! Someone cut that lock!

But before she could even point it out, right at that moment, the TV screen started to flicker. Everything turned into a static, dropping into a test screen pattern.

"Oops. Must be a power surge," Trixie said.

But two seconds later, the screen turned back on again. Only it wasn't the TV show they were watching. A new image flashed on screen, only this one was of a dark and scary looking question mark, taking up all the center of the screen. Not expecting anything else, Trixie nearly jumped when she heard a garbled and distorted voice start to speak.

"We interrupt this program to bring you an important announcement..."

Trixie felt her spine go cold. "Girls? You may want to see this!"

Hearing her cries, all of them came out of where they were searching, running back into the main room. Everyone gathered around the TV, looking intently on the screen.

"Trixie, did you change the channel?" Amethyst asked.

"No, I didn't do anything. I thought we had a power surge, but then this came on." Trixie replied.

"Greetings, Canterlot." The unidentified voice said. "I am... the Markless. I finally got released from a hostile environment. You may be thinking I'm here to resume the work I've started... hunting down all of those who hurt me in the past and those who ruined my life. Well, that's not why I'm here now. I'm here because I've learned something very interesting about some individuals here in your city."

Octavia and Vinyl gulped simultaneously.

"Please don't let it be..."

"I hope it isn't..."

The distorted and garbled voice only spoke even more.

"Your city may not know this... but living among you all were three, immortals. They've lived here more than I can remember, and long before any of you or our current society was ever forged."

All across Canterlot, the broadcast played. It played in media stores, it played at the police station, news channels, everywhere across Canterlot.

"And now, I have finally found them. And I have them detained..."

The girls gasped.

"He's bluffing. They can't be, no one can contain them!" Lyra stuttered.

"How do we know its a 'he'?"

Three new images flashed on screen. All of which were zoomed in images of the three Dazzlings, all from the present day time. Most of which were caught of them hanging out with their friends.

"These three have been roaming this planet; feeding off the energy off us humans. They have been terrorizing our world for hundreds of years to come... and now they've cast their spell on your people. Six, of your people to be precise. Six who believe these girls are they're friends... but all they are is mind-washed adolescents who believe in what they're doing is right."

The screen flashed back onto the question mark, still hiding the person who was speaking.

"I'll make my words clear for you all. I have no intention of killing these girls, and I have no intention of harming them, or anyone on this planet. But they are threats that need to be contained... and I have contained them. Do not try to find my location. You won't find these three anywhere..."

All six girls looked at each other in fear, their bodies turning cold. Hearts were racing against their chests, and cold sweat ran down their heads.

"One more thing. If those 'friends' of these three monsters wish to see them again... you'll keep your eye out and listen for me. If you ever want to see them again, you will do as I say. And just in case you were believing I was lying..."

The screen flashed again, only this time it was a sight more horrific. The three Dazzlings were on screen, but they looked beyond terrified. They were screaming as much as they could, but their voices only came out as muffled under the amount of tape on their mouths. In addition, their limbs were tied behind their backs, each one of them tied to a pole, making it impossible to escape. Tears streamed down their faces as they tried to plead for help. Thankfully, none of them looked like they were physically hurt, but the one detail they noticed was the red pendents around their necks were missing.

"You six have been warned. Do not try and find them. Await my call... and I just may let you see them again. This has been a message from The Markless."

Like a snap, the TV was left back into its normal static once again. The message had been sent, and the girls could only blankly stare into the TV screen. The reality of the situation hit them like an anvil. And none of them knew what to do...

Chapter 3: Who?

Author's Notes:

Okay, so I made a few changes to this story, (if you can even notice em) but after taking in the first amount of comments and criticisms, I decided to maybe lighten this up a notch. So its not gonna be extremely grim, I want this to still be somewhat light-hearted so its not going to be incredibly grim or depressing. If that makes sense. It does seem to be quite out of left field to turn into this dark route. So I'm going to try and keep this in the spirit of the original while also putting some new touches to it.

Anyways, just thought I'd let ya'll know. Hope you continue to enjoy this adventure!

The next half hour after that broadcast was spent trying to calm Trixie down from a severe panic attack. And ten minutes of that time was spent getting ahold of police officers who showed up at the penthouse to do a search of their own, and question the girls.

"Trixie, breathe, breathe--"

"I can't stay calm Octavia! Some pyschopath is holding our best friends hostage! That guy's got my girlfriend, and if anything happens to her then I don't know what I'll do!"

Trixie was shaking like a leaf, and her trembling body was shaking the entire couch. She had been distressed before, but this was a whole other level. More than any other time she endured high anxiety.

"Trixie. Stay calm. You need to breathe."

Octavia grabbed a paper back from off the side, handing it to Trixie for her to use. She held it, and she started to breathe into the bag, trying to calm herself down.

"Easy does it... calm down...."

Trixie's breathing started to go a little slower, and they could hear her calming down. No more was the hyperventilating.

"Okay, okay... okay... okay..." Trixie breathed, trying to stay calm.

"Ma'am?"

Trixie looked up to the police officer standing before them. He along with a handful of a few other officers came to investigate the apartment, in order to perform a search. So far they came up with nothing, but they weren't giving up on their investigation.

"Alright, Ms. Lulamoon, if you're calm now... we have some questions for you and your friends."

Trixie nodded. "O-Okay..."

"Ma'am. We just want to help. We all saw the broadcast, everyone in Canterlot saw the broadcast. But if you know something about those girls, we need you to tell us," the officer replied.

Trixie cleared her throat, trying to calm herself down some more.

"Okay, okay... alright. I'm ready."

"Okay ma'am," the officer pulled out a notebook, "So. We already have your names, we need to ask you some questions."

"We understand sir," Vinyl nodded.

"Good. Okay, what was the place you remember seeing those girls before they were announced kidnapped on the air?"

Trixie gulped. "We were hanging out with them after school. We were at my house, all of us were just hanging out to work on homework, and that was it. The sisters did seem like they would come back to school as usual, but we never saw them today. We didn't want to assume the worst but... I think we can now!" Trixie panicked.

The police officer stayed calm.

"What was the first thing you noticed when you first stepped into their apartment?"

"All we saw was the door ajar. And later when we got inside, we saw that the chain on the lock had been snapped."

Writing down notes with perturbation, he still talked with them.

"Was there anything unusual or out of the ordinary for you girls?"

"The beds were still made and didn't look as if they were slept in, but their floors were messy. But we don't know if that's how they usually keep their rooms or not. And when Trixie had the TV on, that's when the broadcast just turned out, right out of nowhere," Lyra replied.

The officer nodded. "I see."

"Streetwise, I'm afraid we haven't found anything out of the ordinary. All we did find is this."

The second officer who stepped into the room opened up her palm, exposing a small dart.

"Blow darts?" Trixie gasped.

"Whoever took them wanted to do this as quietly as possible," the officer replied.

"Put that into an evidence bag. We'll need to run some scans and fingerprints on them."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Vinyl asked.

"You six? I'm afraid not. We've got all we need, and it doesn't seem like there's any leads to go on. With that said, I think you girls need to go home."

"Go home!? Our friends are out there, possibly being harmed at this very moment, and you expect us to calmly go home about this?" Octavia snapped.

"Ma'am, we're just doing our job. I promise you, we're going to track down whoever took them. But the best thing we can ask you all, is to stay in touch with us. If you see anything weird, please contact us immediately."

The girls sighed.

"Alright. Well, thanks anyway," Trixie slumped, starting to walk out of the apartment, "Come on girls. We better go."

"Wha-ja-you're just walking away like that?"

"We can't interfere with their job, after all..." Trixie opened up the door, getting everyone to go out of the apartment. Once they were clear, they stepped into the elevator, starting to go down.

"... After all we just simply cannot trust them to do their job as fast as possible!" Trixie said quickly. Since none of the police officers were around, she could finally talk again.

"Do what?" Amethyst asked.

"We can't trust a bunch of police officers to try and find them!" Trixie's hands slapped her sides. "Think about this, every scenario involving this usually ends up with the law enforcement doing an awful job, not even putting time and effort to find the missing people!"

The girls blankly stared at Trixie.

"You do know those are just cliches in movies, right?"

"It can happen!" Trixie snapped. "Look, as much as I want to believe the cops will do their job, I don't think we should just let them do everything while every waking second our friends could be in serious danger."

"Well then what do suggest?" Bon Bon asked.

Trixie looked at all of her friends with a serious face, playing her words completely straight.

"Well, this is going to sound unorthodox but... I think we need to find this psycho, on our own."

"Us?" Everyone asked.

"Trixie, that guy could be hiding anywhere. How do we even know its a human? What if its some Equestrian manifestation that made it through here?"

"We don't know, and we won't know unless we do something. And I know for a fact we can do this. All of us have survived six sociopathic high school students, a confrontation with three Equestrian sirens, and a raging she-demon. If we can face all of them, then we should have no problem facing whoever is behind this. Are you all with me?"

They knew she was right. Equestrian magic was one thing, but as far as they knew, this could have just been someone just using technology in their own world. And the Dazzlings were their closest friends, they had to save them! And if they were somewhere out there, then they would find them.

"If you're going to try and find them, then I want in." Octavia said, with a single stick out of her tongue and her hand making a rock on sign.

"I agree," Vinyl said, raising the fiddle for her violin.

"If we're gonna find this guy, we're gonna need to be armed and dangerous," Amethyst smirked, holding two Rubik cubes.

"Perhaps with a hint of ninja arts?" Lyra said, twirling a pair of nunchuks.

"Anything that we can to try and take down that guy, we'll need it."

"But where do we begin? How do we even start this search?" Bon Bon asked.

"I have an idea. Like any mystery or a crime, there's always suspects. All of us are suspects, but I have a feeling we have some friends at CHS who might be viable suspects as well..."

All of the girls got up bright and early for the day. There was no wasting time or joking around now. This was a serious matter, and they needed to be on their A-game.

On their way out, they noticed the number of police officers and law enforcement have gotten bigger. Squad cars were out on patrol, everywhere. Police officers were practically around every corner. They too were buckling down to try and find their friends.

"Alright girls, so in a population of what, over 2,000? 3,000? Over one of those numbers, we know a few select number of people. And we know a few people who have actually known the Dazzlings. We just need to track down everyone who knew them, or have recently talked with." Trixie said, holding a notepad and paper.

"We're all with you, captain!" Amethyst saluted.

"Please, don't call me captain. Anyways," Trixie clicked the pen in her hand, "Lets talk motive. Who could be so driven and mad to kidnap them, and make a broadcast wide and loud enough for everyone to see?"

All six girls looked around in the hallways. Who could be possible suspects? Who? Who could it be? And who could have done it?

"I have a few possible suspects..." Trixie said, flipping the pages in her notebook.

"Who?" Vinyl asked.

Trixie gulped. "Muffins."

"Oh... her..."

"Okay, why are you getting scared all of the sudden?" Amethyst asked, raising a brow.

"Muffins compared to Sunset Shimmer, is the second most toughest girl in the entire school! Okay, maybe third, cause, well, Aria's stronger but--she's scary!"

"She's not that scary. Yes, her eyes are in different directions, but its a condition!"

"That's not what we're scared of. She's uh... well, rumor has it that if you cross her the wrong way, she'll beat you up hard." Trixie shivered.

Amethyst sighed. "Look, tell you what, I know her. You may not know this, but she's someone I can trust. Maybe I can get some info out of her, maybe she knows something we don't."

Trixie nodded. "Well that's one."

"What about the Rainbooms? Aren't they viable?" Bon Bon asked.

"I didn't get to them yet." Trixie replied. She looked through her notes, and pointed at some writing in the paper. "The Rainbooms are just as viable."

Bon Bon rolled her eyes, "Well, obviously."

"And the only other ones I can think of are Flash Sentry, Micro Chips, and Sandalwood. These are the only people I can think of who have had contact with the Dazzlings."

"Then lets get moving then," Vinyl nodded.

First suspect on the list; Muffins.

The cross-eyed student slammed her locker shut, sealing up her things. It was break time! So, what to do? Hang with friends? Maybe get a snack?

Her little train of thought continued, but it came to a direct halt seeing the small colorful box that landed in front of her. She looked into the small box, and watched as the slides and panels began to switch and flip all around on its own, with no hands moving it. Backing away slowly, she watched as it made its final click.

A flash of bright light hit her eyes, but then vanished away. Looking away, she turned her attention to the girl in the retro clothing who was leaning against one of the lockers.

I looked at the cross-eyed dame, terrified of the Rubik's cube explosive. She had every right to be, considering I'm extremely unpredictable with my bombs. Her denim jeans hugged her legs, and that black jacket hid away the straps of her tank top it looked as if she just wore a small shirt underneath. I could tell she wasn't one for conversation, so I decided to make this as fast as possible, Amethyst thought to herself.

Muffins however had very similar thoughts too.

At first I thought about who could have thrown that bomb, but when the source was revealed, it suddenly clicked. Only one girl in this entire school had this much of an obsession over 1980s pop culture to go so far as to dress like its still that decade. Her hair may have been modern, but her fashion was old-school. In her eyes, I could see a little twinkle as she looked at me seriously. I don't know what sort of game she wishes to play, but if she wants to play one, then I will too.

After a total of a minute of complete silence, Amethyst let out a cough to break it.

"So... Muffins."

"Amethyst."

Amethyst let out a smirk. "Good to see you're still in good shape as usual. At least the Rainbooms didn't scare you out."

"The Rainblooms or whatever they are, they'll never scare me away. Now... what's up? I know you come to me when you need a word on the street," Muffins replied, pulling out a small candy bar from her bag.

"I need some info, if that's cool with you."

"We never had issues in the past, why start now?" Muffins shrugged.

"Alright. When was the last time you talked to the Dazzlings?"

Muffins rubbed her chin, thinking back in time. Once her thought came, she looked dead straight into Amethyst's eyes.

"The last time I remember talking to them was around last week. I hurt myself really bad, and they were kind enough to get me to the nurse's office."

Amethyst nodded, writing down on a piece of paper.

"Did they say or do anything rude to you?"

"No. The only thing they said was to try and get better, don't pick at my wounds, and stay alive," Muffins replied.

"And they didn't say anything to make you mad?"

"No. Well, Aria did make some back-handed comment about my eyes, but she caught herself and she did apologize to me. I just let it go because I knew she wasn't intending to insult me."

"I see, I see..." Amethyst scribbled. "Is there anyone you think could have kidnapped the Dazzlings?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the Rainbooms. They're toxic to the core with no redeeming qualities whatsoever and they deserve to go to jail. Still frustrates me that they aren't in jail with Sunset Shimmer, the lowlife..."

All questions done, nothing more to say. Amethyst put a check mark next to her name in the notepad, closing it.

"Thank you for being cooperative, and for answering my questions."

"My pleasure. Hope you find the Dazzlings soon. I can't imagine what they must be going through right now," Muffins shuddered.

"We'll get them back. I know it."

Once she was done, she ran off down the hallway, allowing Muffins to go back to her business. Now it was onto a new suspect!

Chapter 4: Worst Detectives

Author's Notes:

And so our investigation, continues!

The interrogations had begun, and already the Song Of The Sea were spreading like bugs trying to find every person that had any contact and or close and personal connections with them. This however was a bit problematic; almost everyone in the school had talked to the Dazzlings. This only made their search even more difficult. Thankfully for them, they knew a select group of people who had recent contact and were ones who they talked to the most.

Vinyl Scratched briskly walked towards the front door of the Principal's office. Upon the slamming the door, a series of thoughts ran through her head like a bullet train.

I could tell right away she was surprised by the way I slammed the door hard. I strut into her office like I was on a runway, keeping my serious face like I knew I something was up. The older dame sitting at her desk looked at me in shock from the door slam, to which an harsh blush of embarrassment fell. But I brought my support beams back up, and stayed on task. This required 100% focus, and I was on top of it!

"Sorry for slamming the door in your office," Vinyl shamefully replied.

"Is there something wrong, Vinyl?"

Vinyl cleared her throat and straightened her posture. "Yes there is! My friends are missing, and we've got to find our psycho no matter what!"

"Right, The Markless," Principal Luna remembered, "I am deeply sorry for the news girls, believe me. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Yes there is." Vinyl replied, pulling out her notepad. "I need to ask you some questions, as they may help me on my investigation."

"I will answer whatever you have to ask."

"Excellent."

Vinyl placed her bottom into the chair across from Principal Luna, holding the piece of paper and pen in her hand. Principal Luna calmly sat back in her chair, with her elbows on the desk, giving her undivided attention.

"When was the last time you saw the Dazzlings?" Vinyl asked, holding her pen ready.

"I saw them like every other student here. They were minding their own business, attending their classes as they should be, and as far as I could tell nothing out of the ordinary was to be found about them."

Vinyl scribbled ferociously into her notepad, writing down everything that Principal Luna said.

"Good, good... did they do or say anything to you that would have made you cross or mad?"

"No. They did not." Principal Luna replied, still staying calm and looking Vinyl in the eyes.

"I see..." Vinyl wrote down another note. "Where were you the night that the Dazzlings were kidnapped, roughly Monday evening stretching over to Tuesday morning?"

"My sister and I were on our way back to our home after we had closed everything up here at school. We bought Chinese takeout, filed some papers, answered some emails, and just went to bed. But at no time that evening did we leave to go visit the Dazzlings."

Still writing, Vinyl nodded. "Mmm... Okay. Now here's something I have to ask, do you have any possible ideas on who could have kidnapped the Dazzlings, Principal Luna?"

Principal Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I would have suspected the Sonic Rainbooms, but I know they're struggling to earn everyone's respect so I doubt one of them would have done this. And I sincerely doubt Sunset Shimmer did anything because as far as I've heard, she's in jail."

Vinyl nodded. "I see."

She put a check mark next to the question she got the answer to, and folded up the book. She stood up from her chair, looking down to the principal.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Principal Luna nodded. "If there's anything I may of be help with, please tell me. It's imperative we get them back safe and sound."

"Believe me, I know."

Vinyl walked out of her office, carefully closing the door shut. Looking back into her notes, she sighed. "Well, there goes any suspicions of the principal."

Lyra Heartstrings strut down another wing of the school, twirling her flute around in her hand. She turned her gaze to every square inch and corner around her, looking for anyone who could be a possible suspect. Who did she know last speak to the Dazzlings? Who was in most recent contact?

Looking back ahead of her, her eyes sparkled when she saw someone. She recognized this boy. Maybe he could be of some help?

"Konichiwa, misutāsentorī," Lyra greeted.

The boy turned his attention to her, and a friendly expression did turn. His skin was pale, but his hair was spiked up blue. A black jacket with a single blue stripe streaking around covered up his white T-shirt which had a logo of a shield with a lightning bolt. Lastly, a pair of blue jeans over his sneakers. This boy was known around here as Flash Sentry. Guitarist, and lead singer of his own band; Flash Drive.

"Lyra, hey. What's up? Oh, I heard about the news. Really sorry for what happened," Flash said, speaking to the Japanese-American.

"Its okay. Its not your fault... or is it?" Lyra said, raising a brow with suspicions. But she raised her brow back down. "Just kidding! Anyways, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you some questions."

"Go ahead. Shoot," he replied, leaning against his locker.

Lyra, just like everyone else, pulled out a notepad and pen to write down the responses from the suspects.

"When was the last time you saw the Dazzlings?"

"Just like everyone else. I was just minding my own business, not doing a thing." Flash shrugged.

Lyra raised a brow. "So you weren't doing anything, is that right? I find that hard to believe."

Flash rolled his eyes. "Okay, I was practicing on my guitar, but the noise got a little loud and I was told to stop."

Lyra's hand scurried with the pen, dribbling down her notes in Japanese.

"Who complained about the noise?"

"Well... actually, it was the Dazzlings."

Lyra looked back at Flash. "Them, huh? Did they do anything to make you mad?"

Flash shook his head. "No. They asked me nicely if I could turn it down a notch, and I said, 'sure, whatever'."

"Yes, yes, I see..." Lyra muttered, writing down his responses. "Did you have any personal feelings or thoughts on the Dazzlings? Or any of the individuals?"

"Well... I don't know if I should say..." Flash rubbed the back of his head.

"Flash, please. This could really be helpful." Lyra pleaded.

Flash took a deep breath. Inhale... and then exhale.

"Alright, I... I had a crush on Adagio, there, I said it. I found her cute, she was really nice to me, and she practically saved our school and all of us. How could I not?"

Lyra nodded. "You do realize she has a girlfriend now, right?"

Flash sighed. "I know. I'll admit, I was devastated when I found out she was already seeing someone, but you know, nothing I can do to stop it."

"Mmm..." Lyra said, looking at Flash with some thought. There was more that he wasn't telling her, she just knew it. "So you respect Adagio's bisexual relationship?"

"Yeah, I--wait, she's bi?" Flash blankly stared. "Why didn't I know that?"

"Some things aren't worth questioning, Flash. But we're getting off-topic. Do you respect her relationship?"

"Yeah, I do. If she's dating someone, then its cool. I'm perfectly fine with being friends with her." Flash replied, sounding a bit frustrated.

Lyra scratched off another question in her notepad.

"Do you have any thoughts on who might be crazy enough to kidnap them?"

Flash scoffed. "Why don't you go talk to the Rainbooms? Considering how much they're hated and since the Dazzlings ruined their plans, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them kidnapped them. Or even if one of their families could have done it."

Lyra blinked. "If you think its one of their families who could have done this, who do you think would?"

"Honestly, probably one of the Pie sisters. Pinkie Pie has a crazy family, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them was the one who kidnapped them," Flash stated.

"I see, I see..." Lyra finished her note-taking, then folded up her book. She looked back up to the guitarist, offering a friendly smile. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"Its no problem."

Lyra smiled one last time, and then walked down the hallway back on her mission. Her mind did think about possible suspects, but mostly she was thinking back on that conversation. Flash had a crush on Adagio? Even stranger was that there was still some feelings for Adagio. Could he have taken his crush for her too far?

Not too far ahead in another hallway, were the Sonic Rainbooms who were in their own cluster. Trying their best to avoid contact with any of the other passing students, they intentionally veered away from any of their faces. Thankfully Bon Bon was near by and was there to act in the case that Trixie was gonna go too far.

"Alright Trixie, lets try to approach this calm as possible." Bon Bon asked.

"Oh, I plan on it... And if no one gives me an answer, Trixie's going to let the beast out." Trixie grit her teeth.

"I'm sorry what?"

"You'll find out..."

Trixie and Bon Bon's shoes hit the ground as they walked towards the Rainbooms. But they still didn't let up their guard, or even look back to anyone around them.

"Hey."

The Rainbooms still didn't react.

"I'm talking to you girls," Trixie grit with a less than happy tone.

That cold voice was enough to make them turn around and look at the angry geek that was in front of them.

"Oh, Trixie, hey! Uh, h-how's it going?" Rainbow Dash asked, rubbing her head.

Trixie sneered, flashing her teeth.

"Uh, Trixie, not to be rude but uh... you've got uh a wee, something of uh, well..." Rarity cringed. "You've got a piece of bacon stuck in your teeth."

Trixie closed her mouth, feeling the piece she referred to. One flick was all it took to get it out, and she opened to speak again.

"If you girls aren't busy which I know you are not, I need to ask you all some questions," Trixie crossed her arms.

"About what? Oh wait, is this about that freaky broadcast with the guy who said he kidnapped the Dazzlings and then showed that he actually did?"

Trixie growled, "Yes."

"Oh. Right. Oopsie," Pinkie rubbed her head.

"Why do you wish to talk to us?"

"First rule of mysteries, Rarity, everyone is a suspect. And that includes all of you."

All four of the Rainbooms gulped.

"Oh, well, okay. We'll try to cooperate as best as we can." Applejack nodded, scared out of her mind.

"Come on, we don't have a lot of time right now, we've got--"

Rainbow didn't finish for she felt her body being slammed against the locker. Looking down she could see Trixie grabbing her by the shirt, and with a snarling face so angry she could burst into flames.

"Let me make this clear to you, Rainbow Dash! My friends, my own girlfriend, is out there and being held by a complete pyschopath! I don't know what is happening to them right now, but so help me if you girls make this difficult, I will not hold anything back!" Trixie yelled.

Rainbow Dash felt sweat running down her head, and she gulped. "Y-Yeah, of course..."

"Good."

Trixie let go of Rainbow's shirt, allowing her to get her back off the locker.

"Alright." Trixie clicked her pen. "Where were all of you on Monday evening?"

"I was home asleep in bed," Applejack answered, sounding sincere.

"Chores."

"Homework and trying to run a store at the same time," Rarity moaned.

"Homework," Pinkie Pie slumped.

Trixie grunted. "Just... helpful... Okay, where is Fluttershy?"

"She still doesn't want to talk to us, I'm afraid. We've tried to call her, all we get is her voicemail. We've tried email, visiting her house, nothing. She isn't around."

Trixie's eyes jolted back up. "You say Fluttershy isn't here?"

Applejack nodded.

"And you have no idea where she's gone?"

The girls nodded.

Trixie huffed. "Wonderful."

She scribbled another note into her notebook.

"Well if you don't know where Fluttershy is... then when was the last time you saw her?" Trixie asked, glaring at them.

"We saw her last week. She was no different, still the same raging, ranting, and raving girl we know," Rarity replied.

"Was there a reason for why she was angry?"

Applejack shook her head no. "No, nothin' that we know of."

Trixie and Bon Bon glared at Applejack. Her response was very quick, and they could see her turning her gaze almost everywhere but the two girls who were questioning them.

"You're lying, Applejack. I bet you know she was angry, but you just don't want to tell us."

Applejack sighed, "Alright fine! Look, she was ravin' cause she hated the probation and she said she wished she never had any of this happen to us."

"Enough to want to kidnap the Dazzlings for revenge?" Bon Bon asked.

"No! I know Fluttershy, she would never do that!" Applejack pleaded.

"Sure she would..." Trixie snarled, writing down more notes. "Now back to business. If you girls want to claim you're not the reason they're gone, who do you think would have done it?"

"We don't know. Honestly, we don't know who." Rarity frowned.

"Can I just say something right now?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Trixie and Bon Bon both turned towards Pinkie.

"Yes?" Trixie asked, impatiently.

"Okay, first of all, the only one I could guess is... nah. Maybe my sister Limestone, but I don't she'd do it. She's more grumpy. Also, I know this is probably a bad time but..."

From out of nowhere, she pulled out a single cupcake with sprinkles and white frosting in her hand, extending it to Trixie.

"I did make cupcakes and I wanted to ask if maybe you wanted one? Maybe as a start for a new friendship?" Pinkie asked, winking.

Trixie scowled as she looked to the cupcake, and back at Trixie.

"My girlfriend is missing... and all you can think of right now is offering a cupcake?"

"Well..." Pinkie rubbed the back of her hair.

Trixie shoved the cupcake towards Pinkie Pie, refusing her offer. Some of the frosting smeared on her jacket, but Trixie showed no regret.

"Keep your drugged infected cupcakes, Pinkie Pie. I don't need your stupid food right now!" Trixie snapped, stomping away from the Rainbooms. Steaming could be seen coming out of her ears as she walked away, and she huffed and puffed. Bon Bon groaned as she held her head, and followed Trixie closely behind.

She turned her head for a second, and could see a little bit of a few tears pushing past her eyes. Should she have talked to her that way? Maybe. Maybe not. But she could tell Pinkie Pie was a little hurt by her accusations. While she couldn't blame her for the stress about what had happened to their friends, she did feel only a small glimmer of remorse. Maybe they went a little too far.

"Trixie, I think you stepped over the line there." Bon Bon called out.

"Now's not the time, Bon Bon!"

"Its official." Trixie said, holding her head as she stared down at the collection of notes from the interrogations. "We are the worst detectives, ever conceived in history."

The Song Of The Sea were all gathered in an empty practice room, with all of their notes gathered together. Only a handful of suspects, and only a few seemed like possible suspects.

"I'm sure you're over-exaggerating," Bon Bon stated.

"We've talked to almost everyone in the school, and we've come up with only a few leads. Fluttershy, Flash Sentry, Muffins, we barely have anything to go on!" Trixie's hands slapped her sides.

"I have a suggestion. What if the person who kidnapped them wasn't someone who goes to CHS...?" Octavia asked.

Their heads looked at Octavia.

"You think so?"

"Its a possibility, is it not? We have some friends outside of school, perhaps they could be just as guilty as some of these guys."

Trixie nodded. "I suppose its worth a try. And I know just who to start with."

"Who?" Octavia asked.

"You all are about to find out..." Trixie tapped a few numbers into her cellphone. She raised it to her ear, and once it answered, she spoke. "Hey! Oh its... no I'm... How are... okay can I just talk!? Thank you. Sorry, I'm a bit on edge right now. Listen, something big has been happening, and I wanted to ask, would it be alright if I could see you?"

Everyone waited patiently, listening to her conversation.

"We can? Oh, great! Thanks! What time? Okay, that works perfectly! Okay, thank you!"

She hung up the phone, putting it back in her pocket.

"Girls, I think we may have another possible suspect..." Trixie replied.

"Who? And can you please be a little less vague than what you are being now?"

"Trust me Octavia, we're going to see her later today. If she knows something, then we're going to need to have a little chat..."

Chapter 5: Glimmering Friend

Author's Notes:

Well gang. Looks like we've got another chapter on our hands

After making her call, everyone hopped right into Amethyst's SUV and hit the streets. Trixie sat up front in the shotgun seat with her, while everyone else took the back seats.

"Alright so tell us, who is this girl you just called up out of the blue?" Amethyst asked, turning the wheel around.

Trixie took a deep breath and sighed. "She's an old friend of mine. She attended CHS but... she doesn't anymore."

"Expelled?" Vinyl asked.

"No, she was scared out. The Rainbooms scared her really bad." Trixie answered.

"But you still talk to her, right?"

"Well... not as much as I like, but I do when I get the chance."

Vinyl and Octavia looked to each other, both sharing interesting glances. Trixie's change in tone didn't sound too good. Sounded more like there was more to this girl than what she was telling them right now.

"But what makes you think she's a suspect?" Bon Bon asked.

"Because even though she doesn't go to CHS, I think I've talked to her about a few things regarding our new friends. I haven't told her the big secret, though!"

"Well that much is good," Bon Bon shrugged.

"Yeah... maybe. Oh, here's the place! Just park it here!"

Amethyst parked the car directly into the parking space, and turned off the engine. Everyone got out of the car, all carefully following right behind Trixie.

"So how do you want to approach this? Good Cop, Bad Cop? Stalk her?" Lyra asked.

"No, and I don't think any of that would work. We should talk to her as calm as possible, and as much as I don't want to do this... I think we may have to do a bit of snooping. Does that make me an awful friend?"

"No, it doesn't. Trix, we know you wouldn't do this out of your own personal gain."

"Well, I... alright. Here goes nothing."

Trixie tapped the button on the side of the door frame, ringing the doorbell. The girls waited for a moment or two. When the door opened up, they were met with a sight that wasn't quite new. On the other side, bare a teenage girl who opened up the door.

She wore a black sleeveless vest over her green shirt, a pair of leggings with some holes showing her bare skin, and a little purple sparkling beanie on her head.

"Trixie?"

Trixie sheepishly turned her head to the side. She couldn't get herself to look her in the eye.

"H-Hey, Starlight..."

Trixie braced herself. By now she had been anticipating some hate, or even a bit of some angst. This was a girl she hadn't spoken to in a long time. But it never happened. Instead she was nearly thrown around in the air as the girl grabbed her into a giant big hug.

"Trixie! Its so good to see you!" She smiled.

Trixie looked back at her old friend. "You're... you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad? I haven't seen you in forever!" Starlight smiled, hugging her again.

Trixie was a tad bit confused, but she eventually opened up some more. She smiled and she hugged her old friend back.

"Its good to see you too, Starlight. Oh, girls, this is Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer, meet Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Amethyst," Trixie greeted, showing the beanie wearing girl her friends.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Glimmer," Vinyl greeted.

"Yeah, pleasure to meet all of you! Oh, please, come in, come in!"

The girls politely walked inside, one by one. Once they made it in, they each took of their shoes, putting them near the front door.

"Trixie told me about what happened with your friends. Also, I saw that news broadcast that everyone else got which was right out of nowhere." Starlight said with some sympathy. "I'm really sorry girls..."

The Song Of The Sea had a few snarls and gritting teeth on their faces.

"Believe me, we want them back as fast as possible," Octavia growled.

"And we are going to get them back," Vinyl confirmed.

Starlight nodded. "Anything you girls want me to do to help?"

"Mmm... maybe. Maybe not. We'll have to wait and see..." Amethyst said, looking at Starlight with a look of suspicion. The girl was just left in the dark.

"Sorry, we've all been really stressed out right now," Lyra stated.

"I understand. Really, I do," Starlight replied. "Oh, where are my manners, I'm so sorry. Please, make yourselves comfortable, I'll go get some drinks." Starlight said, walking into the kitchen. But she stepped back out after a few seconds. "Um... perhaps you all could tell me what you'd like?"

"Allow me to help," Trixie said, walking into the kitchen with her.

Once the two went away into the kitchen, the band started to gaze around her house. A few family pictures hung on some of the walls and on a few tables. On some of the shelves in the main living room, there were a few books and some movies all stacked together nice and neatly. A video game console sat in the shelf underneath where the TV was mounted. And off to the side in the hall that was directly to the door, they could see a small paper kite was resting against a wall.

"So Starlight, do you own this place?" Octavia called.

"Sort of! My father's a landlord, and this is the place he wanted us to stay in!" Starlight called back.

"Oh okay!" Octavia replied.

Vinyl turned her gaze towards the dining area. Walking over, she could see several papers and folders all out, spread over. There was also a single black laptop with the lid closed, and a few stickers placed randomly over the lid. Some of the papers were assignments that clearly had been printed off, with Starlight's handwriting in the empty spaces that required them.

"Are you taking an online school, Starlight?" Vinyl asked.

"Yep!" Starlight called out.

Vinyl just shrugged and kept looking around.

"Hey Starlight! Do you have a restroom?" Lyra asked.

"Go up the stairs, it should be the first door down the hallway."

Lyra dashed up the stairs in a flash, instantly darting into the bathroom.

"You think she's going to snoop?", Amethyst asked.

"Yes. Yes I do."

In the kitchen, Starlight opened up the fridge and started to pull out a few drink cans and some other refreshments.

"Okay, so what do your friends like? We've got soda, OJ, purple stuff..."

"Amethyst and Octavia like soda, Lyra would probably prefer herbal tea, Vinyl and Bon Bon like milk and--"

"--You'd probably prefer milk but with a twist of chocolate powder mixed in, right?"

Trixie looked back at Starlight with a smile. "You know me so well."

"Always have, Trixie." Starlight smiled.

Trixie sighed, pulling out some of the cups from the cupboard.

"Um, Starlight?" Trixie asked.

"Yeah?"

"I... well... do you... do you still, like me?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" Starlight asked, putting some soda cans out on the counter.

"Well, I just... I know we haven't seen each other in a long time and I... I just feel awful for not staying in better contact with you."

"Trixie, its fine. Look, I'll be honest, I haven't been as good a friend as I should have been as well," Starlight said, pulling some baked goods out from a plastic bin. "I mean, all I've been doing these days is trying to get a good education with my online school, and I can't remember the last time I've even talked to a friend face to face."

Trixie frowned a bit, putting some hot water into a kettle.

"But if I can be honest Trixie? I'm glad you came. I haven't seen you in a long time and... it makes me glad that I still have you."

Trixie smiled back, a little bit of some relief lifting off her shoulders.

"And I'm glad I still have you," Trixie's frown came back, "Sorry I haven't contacted you as much as I should."

"Hey, don't hurt yourself over it. Its okay," Starlight said, speaking calmly.

Trixie nodded. "Okay, I'll... I'll try. But there's no saying I'm going to stay as calm as I should given what's going on right now."

"I understand. But if there's anything you want me to do or need me to do in order to help, I--"

"Um, Trixie? You may want to see this!" Vinyl called from the living room.

Trixie and Starlight looked confused. What could be so bad that they needed her? The girls scurried out of the kitchen and gathered around Vinyl. Looking down they saw the image on her phone was going into an intense static, and several blurry images hiding behind the static.

"Vinyl, what's wrong?"

"Well, I think I have a bad feeling about who's calling us..."

The screen turned black, but only for a second. A question mark flickered on the screen, accompanied by the same distorted and demonic voice.

"Hello ladies."

They all gasped.

"The Markless?" Starlight asked.

"You guessed correctly. So. I've heard you all have been on an extensive case. Looking everywhere, asking everyone... doing what you can to find the girls you treasure so much..."

Octavia and Bon Bon growled like hounds.

"Listen you criminally insane psychopath, if you dare harm our friends back we're going to--"

"--No, you need to listen. Listen carefully girls, I have no interest in harming these girls. In fact, I'd like to reunite all of you as soon as possible. These three... they're innocent. Sexy, slender, and innocent..."

If Trixie's eyebrows could have grown thicker, they would.

"Well if they're innocent then why did you KIDNAP THEM!?"

"Because I knew I couldn't invite you all willingly, so I had to put in some extra leverage to try and get you interested."

Trixie's teeth grit together. "Listen Mr, Markless or whatever you're called, you don't want to mess with me when I'm mad. If you don't give them back to us now, I'll show you just how awful I can be!"

"I wouldn't do that. You wouldn't want to put the safety of your friends in serious trouble now do you, Miss Trixie?"

Trixie's eyes widened. "How do you know my name!?"

"Trixie, don't question them, its an evil overlord, they'll know everything." Amethyst shook her head.

"I know plenty, Miss Lulamoon. But as I've told you before, I don't wish to harm them. In fact, I'm making sure they are kept in good health as we speak."

"But you just said--"

"--I KNOW WHAT I'VE SAID. Now listen up. You all want them back alive, correct?"

"Yeah," everyone clamored.

"Then I'll give you all a chance to get them back. I want you all to play a game. Its a game I've played many years ago, and while my memories of it are not fond... I'm positive you all will have more fun with it."

"What kind of sick game are you having us play?" Vinyl asked.

"Its not sick, Vinyl. Its a rather simple game of rudimentary knowledge. Apply your skills, your wit, and your intelligence and you will do fine. There isn't going to be any life-or-death challenges. Succeed and beat my game... and I will bring them back to you unharmed, and you will never have to hear from me again."

The group of seven looked at one another, everyone looking worried and a tad concerned.

"I don't know," Lyra bit her lip. "Something doesn't seem right here..."

"How do we even know you'll keep your word?" Trixie sneered.

"Listen to me girls. I know you all are really bright. I know you all value your friends. If you truly love them... you'll come and find me. Don't worry though... I'll make sure you all will be able to see them."

They still were not sure. Whoever this person was, man or woman, wasn't making it reassuring that the Dazzlings were okay.

"Ugh, fine! But I swear to the gods above, if you put one finger on them--"

"--Your message is made loud and clear, Lulamoon. Once the game is set, I'll be sending you all coordinates of where you must go. Have a nice day."

"No, wait, where do we--"

She never got to ask her question. The phone dropped to a dial tone, the message coming to a close. And all that was left on their faces were scared and angry. Grunts could escape their lips, and they all shared equal feelings and tone.

"Girls. We're playing that madman's game."

"How do we know we'll--"

"And how do we know we won't get them back? I know there's a lot at stake here, but if we don't find out, then we could lose them forever. And we can't." Trixie stated. She sighed for a moment and looked to Starlight. "Starlight, I'm really sorry you got dragged into this, and I'm--"

"--Wait, wait, wait, just a moment. You girls are going out there to try and play this madman's game by yourselves?"

"We have no choice." Octavia frowned.

"Well there is something you can do."

"And that is?"

Starlight smiled and reached to the coffee table. Her hands grabbed the two green fingerless gloves, and she laced them onto her phalanges and palms. Finally strapped on, she clapped together, making sure they were tight enough. "Let me in. I want to help you all. You're going to need all the help you can get."

Trixie wanted to desperately say no. A series of pros and cons ran through her head. Pro; an additional friend tags along. Con; an additional friend could get hurt. Pro; I could finally get to catch up with her some more! Con; She may not really want to hear what's happened with me on my end. Pro; I could finally show her what I've done. Pro; I could tell her about the cool adventure that I had in September! Pro; I could get her to come back to CHS!

Trixie's face after a few seconds, crept with a smile. "You know something Starlight? I think we'd be appreciative to have your help."

"Trixie, I don't know, we barely know her, you sure you can trust her?"

"She's an old friend of mine. She always has had my back. And I always have hers. I trust her." Trixie said with sincerity.

The other band members didn't look convinced.

"Well, I suppose so... I guess it wouldn't be so bad to have some extra help on our side."

"Then its settled. Once we have the location, all seven of us will go and play this challenger's game. Until then, we better prepare ourselves for any tricks she may put on us."

"You think they'll keep their word?" Bon Bon asked.

"I don't know. But if they're not... then I'd like to be prepared."

Chapter 6: The Call Signs

Author's Notes:

Just a bit of some filler for ya. Fluffy fluff fluff and fluffed up fluff.

Special thanks to Twilight_Shimmer for a contribution at the end of this chapter.

A few days passed by and everyone kept their ears and eyes open, wondering when The Markless stranger would give them a call. Thankfully their call had been made. Around Friday evening, one by one, everyone had been sent a message. The coordinates of where they had to go were made, and they knew just what to do.

Saturday morning, at roughly 8:00 AM, everyone had pulled themselves together and were rushing out their doors and grabbing their materials. Food, their cellphones, and most important at least in their heads; weapons. While none of them had access to real firearms, they did at least have a few arsenal of secondary weapons to help them out. Well, with the help of the Dazzlings and Amethyst, of course.

There was just one place that Trixie needed to go first.

"Trixie, why are we at a storage facility?" Starlight asked.

"Because I need something in here. I remember a while ago, Adagio gave me a set of keys to pull out some stuff that they kept in storage. And I know just what I need."

Trixie dashed off towards the right, leaving Starlight Glimmer by herself. She tapped her foot against the ground, and she turned her gaze around, looking to see if anyone was around or nearby. No one. It was just her and Trixie out here.

After a few moments, Starlight turned her head around to look towards the shiny finish that was attracting her eyes. Pulling out slowly and nicely was a red, shiny, and absolutely stunning sports car. Its body was slender, making it long in length. The finish was perfect and clean with no scratches or stains. It was practically spotless. And on the hood of the car, right near the grille was a small hood ornament with a small dolphin.

She looked and saw Trixie's head poke out the side window, grinning.

"Like it, Starlight?"

"Whoa... how did... what... did she--"

"Uh, Adagio and her sisters are really good at paying their bills! Plus they saved up a lot of stuff, so they got this!" Trixie said. "Come on, get in!"

Starlight walked over the shot-gun seat, and climbed in. Inside, she could see it was just as pretty as the outside. Its seats and cushions were a nice shade of tan. The dashboard was alive and steady, and the seats looked so comfortable she could relcine back into it if she wanted.

"We need something fast to get there, and this is the perfect thing for it. Now lets go find the girls!" Trixie said, her hand pushing against the stick-shift.

The engine roared and hummed. The powerful beast was coming to life, and it was ready to clock some miles. With a windup, it sped its wheels and the car sped out of the storage facility and onto the road. Now it was time to meet up with the girls.

The sports car slammed its breaks outside of Canterlot High. Now all she would do would be to wait for the others to arrive.

Looking down, she felt her phone buzzing. Pulling it out, she looked down and saw a text which made her smile.

Vinyl: The Song Of The Sea has been gathered. We'll be meeting you soon, and we shall shout out our call signs!

Trixie grinned and chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, as silly as this sounds... the girls are coming, and they've got call signs for themselves."

"Wait, what?" Starlight asked, tilting her head.

"I don't know, but they said they'd be here soon," Trixie replied. She turned her head to the side. From a small decibel, she could hear the sound of a song blasting out of a stereo. Big stereos. "And that would be one of them now."

Trixie and Starlight adjusted the windows, pulling them down so they could get a better look and sound. Coming from the corner with a screech was Vinyl Scratch in her music car. Big beats of a song were blasting from the stereos in the back, and grins could be seen on their faces.

"Alright, what's your so called, 'call signs'?" Trixie asked.

Turning the music down, Octavia in the seat next to Vinyl, replied. "Considering we've helped save the world, I figure it's best that we have our own superhero names!"

"Octavia, we're not superheroes," Trixie said, shaking her head.

"Maybe now, but just you wait, we'll be them eventually! And after all, we're on a rescue mission, are we not?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"--Then we're getting superhero names! Vinyl, care to start us off?" Octavia shouted with excitement.

"Oh boy," Trixie held her head.

Vinyl sprung out of her car, landing on her feet nice and easy-like. In one of her hands was the fiddle for her violin which she twirled around in her fingers, intertwining it so nice and easy. She wore a neon blue tank top over shorts with the same color, and running shoes to match with her tank top. Lastly, a pair of sunglasses rest on her eyes, hiding her magenta colored pupils.

"Class Act, ready and standing by!" Vinyl cheered, grinning with enthusiasm. "Alright, take it away Octavia!"

Octavia played a few chords on her guitar, rocking her head out like she was performing at a concert. "Rocktavia, ready to rock and roll!"

Around another corner, came a girl on a green motorcycle. She sped up with an intense amount of power, and with a swerve she flipped the parking part out on the bike and jumped off of it like a ninja. Jumping into a fighting stance, she extended a katana that was hanging on her back along with a shuriken.

"Gurīn ninja! Junbi ga dekite, tatte iru!"

"Great to see you Lyra!" Trixie grinned.

Rolling out from the same corner was a black SUV, and there was an equal amount of music bleeding through the speakers. Jumping from the open door, was Bon Bon. Dressed in a baker's outfit, and twirling a cooking knife in one hand and a rolling pin in the other.

"The Baker, ready and standing by!" Bon Bon grinned. "Amy, you ready to kick some madman's butt?"

Amethyst smirked and grinned as she pulled herself through the sunroof of the van. She adjusted the padding in her shoulder pads, trying to make herself look better than before. And in one of her hands, she gripped a black and white colored Rubik's cube.

"Retro Girl, ready and standing by! Alright Trix, you got yours?"

Trixie awkwardly looked at everyone, and her finger drooped. "Um... no."

If a record could scratch, it would. But instead, the music just shut down, and everyone stared at her awkwardly.

"Okay seriously, do you not have a superhero name?" Amethyst asked.

"Here's my question, why is this of all things your biggest concern right now?" Trixie asked, folding her arms.

"Because if we're gonna fight a bad guy, we should at least have individual names!" Octavia shouted.

"This is not a priority, Octavia!" Trixie called back.

Amethyst and Octavia groaned.

"Fine. Party pooper," Octavia grunted, getting back in the shotgun seat of Vinyl's car.

"You do have weapons on you though, right? Anything useful?" Amethyst asked. "I've cooked up plenty of explosives for all of us to keep on ourselves just in case."

"Well... I did bring some smoke bombs?" Trixie said, bashfully.

"Anything else?" Vinyl asked, rolling her hand around.

"Okay, I did bring a few magic tricks and items that I think could be useful," Trixie admitted.

"It'll do! What about Starlight? She bring anything useful in our ragtag band of geeks?" Lyra asked.

"Lyra!"

"It was a compliment! We're all a little geeky."

Starlight shrugged. "Well, I did bring something with me. I have it sitting in the back seat, actually."

"Good enough!" Amethyst called.

Trixie closed up the windows of the car, and everyone got back in their seats. Reaching to her belt, Trixie grabbed a small radio and spoke into it.

"Okay, first of all, thank you Vinyl for taking radios into consideration," Trixie spoke.

"Copy that, Trixie. You're very welcome."

"Alright, so if I remember correctly, all of us are connected here. Anything we have to say, we'll all be in the know so if anything goes wrong, we'll know about it. If any of you sees or knows something that needs to be addressed, let us know. We're all in this together now. Our friends lives are on the live, and they need us. I know I can count on you girls, and I know we've got each other's backs."

"Hear hear!" Bon Bon spoke.

"Alright. Song Of The Sea--"

"--We really need a better name for our group, just saying," Octavia interrupted.

"--Lets dazzle the crowds and make it loud!"

She expected to hear replies. Or really, anyone's thoughts. But all she was getting was a 'really?' look from Starlight.

"I couldn't think of anything on the fly," Trixie sheepishly said.

Starlight just chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Lets just go."

"That was just terrible."

"You know I can hear you." Trixie sneered.

"I'm only saying," Bon Bon said.

"You probably should work on that some more."

"This is not important right now! You are wasting a lot of time right now!" Trixie snapped, no longer able to hold it in. Her face was a bit red from yelling, and she could feel herself shaking. "... S-Sorry."

"No, its fine Trix." Amethyst replied.

"Lets not waste anymore time."

"Right. Lets go!"

Trixie's hand hit the stick-shift, and the car began to purr. With a big rev of its engine, it swerved out of the area and made a right turn to exit out of the CHS area. Lyra hopped back on her motorcycle and she followed straight after as well. Not long after, Vinyl's car was next, and lastly Amethyst followed.

Four vehicles, seven girls, one mission. It was now or never. Everyone's hands gripped the wheels of the vehicles they were driving, not taking their eyes off the road for even a second. They needed 100% focus, and this wasn't something they were going to lose.

Trixie's hands stuck to the steering wheel as if she had glue attached. She wasn't going to let go for even a second. Thankfully, Starlight wasn't complaining. She just laid back in her chair and looked through a few CDs and cassette tapes for some music to play. On the dashboard, Trixie had put a picture of herself and Adagio close. The photo itself was taken of the two of them outside the abandoned theater, the day they officially declared themselves partners.

A smile graced her lips and her finger slowly wiped on the picture, focused on the beauty that was Adagio Dazzle.

"Don't worry Adagio. We're coming to save you all. I promise."

Unbeknownst to the group, they were watched by a pair of eyes. Two pairs, actually. They had watched them pull up in front of the school, and they watched as they departed to the destination that was unknown.

"Do you think it is wise for them to go?" Vice-Principal Celestia asked, watching the final car go.

"Do you think it would be a good idea to stop them?" Principal Luna asked. She smiled as she watched the group leave, staring ahead at the rising sun.

"Bring them home girls," Principal Luna whispered, watching them go.

Chapter 7: I Want To Play A Game

Author's Notes:

Let the game... begin

The pack of automotive vehicles stayed huddled together as they drove out on the open road. Thankfully, with no traffic, they were making great time and there was almost no sign of anything bad around. The only concern was that their trip was taking them far away from Canterlot, and they had no idea of where they were even going. The coordinates that they were tipped were real coordinates, that they could tell, but they were a bit scared as to where this trip was going to take them.

After half an hour of driving, everyone's tires skidded on the gravel and stones, grinding to a halt. Their eyes looked to where their trip had taken them, and everyone was in immediate shock. What they were expecting was maybe an open field, an old farm, at least a haunted house. That's not where they were taken to.

Before their eyes, standing tall as some of the factories they had back in Canterlot, was a giant, disgusting, decrepit, and completely abandoned steel mill; parked right in front of a mountain. It was nothing like they had ever seen before. They saw abandoned places in films, shows, and even in pictures, but never before had they had the opportunity to be near one up close. It looked worse than they could have imagined it to be. Several pieces of windows were either gone, boarded up, or completely shattered. The paint that was once there was now nothing but left in peeled remains. Plants and moss grew around the remains, making it look more disgusting than it was.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this place..." Vinyl shuddered.

"This isn't about the disgusting state, is it?"

"No, I'm just scared to even step inside," Vinyl replied, a hint of shakiness in her voice.

"Girls, it's going to be fine. But just in case... you got your masks?"

Lyra pulled up her hood, covering her entire head but her eyes exposed. Vinyl slipped a white mask to cover her nose and mouth, and purple tinted glasses to cover up her eyes. Octavia... well she just put on sunglasses. Bon Bon hid herself in another mask, just like Vinyl. Amethyst put on a red headband to keep her hair up and standing (along with some hair gel to make it stick up like a mullet) and she wore a neon blue visor to match her shoulder-padded jacket and parachute pants. Last ones left, Trixie and Starlight just took small masks to cover up their noses and mouths. But they knew it wasn't really going to hide their faces. The Markless knew who they were.

"Okay, why are we wearing masks again?" Starlight asked.

"We don't need trespassers knowing who we are," Bon Bon replied.

"But we're the only ones trespassing, and The Markless knows us."

"At this point, we might as well prepare for any contingency," Trixie shook her head. "Now, you said you had a weapon with you?"

"Huh? Oh right! Hold on."

Starlight dug into the back of the car, behind the seat she sat in. Carefully, she pulled out what appeared to be a wooden looking stick, with two sharp ends to make a staff.

"A stick?" Bon Bon asked sounding less than thrilled.

"Yeah! I'm good with twirling, and I know how to fight with these kind of weapons. I call this, The Staff of Sameness!" Starlight said, grinning under her mask. Then just for fun, she twirled the staff around in her arms, making it spin around like a pair of helicopter blades preparing for lift-off. Not dropping, not even letting go, she twirled that staff with an iron grip.

"How's that?" Starlight asked, holding it carefully in her arms.

"Perfect! Now," Trixie said, flipping out a few shiny cards in her hands, "Lets go inside and find where we're supposed to meet this Markless person or whatever he is. But keep a lookout."

Huddling together, the girls all kept their eyes on everything, everywhere. They moved like one single army, bracing themselves for anything that would be on the horizon. They knew they couldn't be alone out here, and they didn't want to bet on the possibility of being by themselves. Their weapons stayed out and they kept pointing them at every direction, looking for anyone who could be nearby, and to also show how brave they were.

"You think we're the only ones out here?" Bon Bon asked.

"I sincerely doubt it. The Markless could have some friends by his side."

"What if its a her?" Lyra asked. "We don't know who it may be."

"Either way, I have definite belief we're not the only ones out here."

Their footsteps crunched on the hard gravel, and bumped into a few stones along their walk. With no other entrance that they could see, the walked right into the giant gaping doorway. It was as big as the front of their school, with two doors that could have slide open or closed by control. When they walked in, they could see the interior of the place was just as disgusting.

Parts of machines including random pieces of metal sheets were all scattered about on the ground. Several tubing and coils dangled from the ceilings, disconnected from the sockets they needed to be hooked to. More peeled paint, faded signs, broken glass, graffiti art, it was all there.

"Okay, so, where do we even go now?" Octavia asked. "There's no way to tell where to go now."

Trixie took a few steps forward, but as she looked down she stopped. She raised a hand for everyone to stop moving, and she pointed down. There were a few white painted arrows on the ground, all of which were freshly painted. Trixie looked to where the arrows were pointed, all of which led straight to a single dusty and broken table which somehow was standing.

With precaution, Starlight extended her staff out and poked the desk. For all they knew, the Markless could have rigged the table with some traps or devices. But it didn't seem like it was happening. There was no effect on the staff, and it didn't look like the table was standing on any traps or underneath any possible traps.

"Welcome."

Everyone jumped at the distorted voice that spoke above them. Looking up, they could see where the voice came from. The speakers on the PA system where the sources of the call.

"Hello girls. I want to play a game..."

"Don't say that, that's creepy!" Vinyl shuddered.

"We're already talking to someone who's creepy enough as it is!" Trixie snapped. "Alright, so what's your game!?"

"Patience, Miss Lulamoon. We'll get to it soon. But more importantly... who is that new girl with you?"

Trixie's heart sank. "Oh, uh... she's... uh..."

"Starlight Glimmer."

"What!? How do you know my name?" Starlight freaked out.

"I know more than any of you could imagine."

"Well if you don't mind, why are we in an abandoned steel mill?" Amethyst asked.

"Its simple. This place had been abandoned for a long period of time. No one used it, no one wanted it... just sitting here, left to rot and become nothing more than a forgotten memory..."

The girls now understood why. This place was so disgusting that was practically inhabitable. But maybe not for a psychopath.

"Alright, well, we're here now. What's your game you want us to play so badly?" Trixie huffed.

"Its a simple game my little friend. Don't worry, it'll be fun...."

"You're not going to be using people against us, are you!?" Lyra growled.

"They kind of are already," Bon Bon shrugged.

"Before we begin, I want to reiterate I have no intentions of harming those three girls. I thought I made that clear to you all, but apparently you girls are so dense you aren't even hearing me."

They let out a few scowls and huffs.

"Here's how this game will work. See the cards on the table? I've laid six out. Six intended for each of you... but since there's now seven of you, and I think one of you will have to take an extra with you. But I'm sure that won't be an issue."

Trixie shook her head. "No. Then what?"

"I've put some puzzles and riddles on your cards. What you need to do is solve the riddles that have been given to you, and go from there. Don't worry though... I've made sure the riddles fit into each and every one of you. Your personalities, your knowledge, your beliefs... they will all fit into the game."

"Seems a bit odd, but go on," Vinyl shivered some more.

"Your riddles are going to take you all around the entire steel mill, including the mine that's in the mountain. Solve the riddle, find the place you need to be, and I will be giving you your first puzzle. Solve that puzzle, and you'll move onto the next riddle."

"What if we can't solve a particular puzzle you give us?" Starlight asked.

"You girls are intelligent, I know you can solve those puzzles. An infant, could solve those puzzles. But that's besides the point. You'll know when you get to the challenge. Complete all the challenges I've laid out for each and every one of you... and you'll get your friends back. First girl to finish all the riddles will be allowed to set those girls free."

The girls were expecting challenges that were asininely difficult, but it didn't sound like it would be. Simple rules, maybe a simple challenge. Shouldn't be too bad.

"I'll allow you girls to contact each other so you can keep on how everyone's handling the challenge. But be warned... I will be listening. And if I find out that you're trying to call for help, the game will be over. And you'll never get your friends back..."

Trixie gulped. "O-Okay..."

"Good. Now I'll let you get right to the game. Fair warning though... be careful. This place may be the setting I picked for you all to play, but I must warn you, you might see some very interesting things in here..."

"Wh-What does that mean!?"

Trixie expected a reply, but she never got it.

"Uh, hello? Markless? Hey! What do you mean!?" Still no reply. Defeated, she sighed, "I guess that means he's not gonna talk to us right now."

"But what did he mean by seeing interesting things in here?" Octavia asked.

"Bad guys are going to be vague, we'll just have to find out on our own," Lyra shrugged.

Everyone's eyes adverted to the table. Indeed there were some cards, and on each and every one of them there were labels for their names on each one of them.

"I guess this means we'll have to split up then?" Amethyst asked.

"I think so. But what about Starlight?" Octavia asked, raising a brow. "What should she do?"

"She'll be coming with me. Besides, I think I've got some catching up to do with her, and she may need to know a few things."

"Well... alright, if you say so. Just keep your eye on her, okay?" Vinyl said.

"I will. Good luck girls."

Everyone grabbed a piece of paper, taking the first riddles given to them. A quick read, and everyone dashed off to the first places they needed to be. Now Starlight and Trixie were on their own.

"Okay, so, lets do this."

Trixie picked up the paper. Flipping it over, she read off the first clue.

Every place of work has its perks
And every place has its jerks
Look for the common place
Where every employee shows their face

Starlight snapped her fingers. "That's easy, the office!"

"Well, how do we know that's true?"

"One way to find out. Come on, lets go see if its still standing."

"Right with you!"

And Starlight and Trixie were off on their first riddle. What a stroke of luck, an easy riddle. But it seemed almost too easy to be true... The Markless couldn't have started them off with some easy like that, right? Or were they intentionally making it easy to start?

Little did they see, but The Markless viewed everything. Sitting at a desk, with a few TVs and computers set up, they could look through on the screens with different shots of the mill. Hidden away were a few spy cameras that The Markless prepared so they could monitor the game. And it was only the start.

"Good luck my little ladies. It'll only get harder as it goes on... like all games do."

Chapter 8: Shurikens And Sledgehammers

Author's Notes:

Okay, first start of the actual Game. Hope you enjoy it!

By the way, had some free-time on my hands and I was still feeling motivated, so that's why you get another bit of content.

Vinyl Scratch's traced her footsteps towards a set of stairs as she began her first puzzle. She walked up a flight, and then found herself going into a hallway. The hall itself was just as disgusting as everything else they saw. More peeled paint, dusty furniture, it was all the same.

"Okay, I'm in the right place... now what?"

Vinyl walked further down the hallway, looking for what else could be out there. She approached a set of double doors, and stopped. The doors had been marked with a fresh set of paint, in the shape of the electric note that she wore on her suit. This was the right place. But was it the right spot? Or was she about to fall straight into a trap?

Carefully, she pushed the doors open and walked through. She held her fiddle out, holding it like a weapon, ready to swing at any given moment.

Nothing.

Still standing on guard, she walked right into the room. Inside she could see it was set up just like any ordinary office, but there was some noticeable differences. Mounted on a stand was an old TV with knobs to adjust. And on the desk were three particular items. One was a violin, another was a piece of sheet music, and the last item was a small slip of paper, no bigger than a business card.

Before she could even react, the doors behind her slammed shut. She ran back to them and pushed and pulled on the handles, to no success. Now she was trapped in the room. She was all set to straight up panic, but--

"Welcome Miss Scratch."

Vinyl turned her head and looked over to the TV that flickered on. Just like before, only a visible question mark was shown, and no clues or indication given on who could be the mastermind. Carefully, Vinyl slowly walked towards the desk, and looked at the TV.

"I'm glad to see you surpassed the first riddle. I knew you were smart."

Vinyl gulped. "So... what's your puzzle?"

"Its rather simple, Miss Scratch. I told you girls that your first challenge would be easy. And this is no exception. With your intelligence, answer three questions correctly. Answer all three correctly, and you'll be moving on to your next riddle."

"W-What kind of questions?"

"You're about to find out. Look on the desk in front of you."

Vinyl did as she was told.

"The violin in front of you is an older violin, one belonging to a former employee who used to work here. I know you're a violinist yourself, but how much are you truly passionate about violin music? What is the date that violins were first made?"

Vinyl took a moment or two to think. She looked down at the brownish violin that was on the desk, and she could see a bit of some of the shiny coating that was put on the instrument. A few seconds later, a light-bulb appeared over her head.

"The first violins recorded to have been made date back as far as the early 16th century. Its said that the first ones made were created by Andrea Amati of Cremona, in 1542 and 1546." Vinyl answered with a calm demeanor.

She waited. She felt her heart pounding, expecting to hear a reply that said 'no'.

"That is correct."

Vinyl sighed in relief, wiping the sweat off her head.

"Here is your second question. The sheet music that lays in front of you. Identify the piece of that score."

Vinyl's eyes gazed down to the sheet music. Lifting it up, she looked at the notes that were displayed in front of her. Her eyes squinted, and she looked at the notes. And as she read, a somewhat small smile came to her face. She recognized these notes, and she knew she replicated the score before. She knew she did!

"Winter Wonderland," Vinyl answered.

"Correct again. Now here is your final question. Are you ready?"

Vinyl nodded.

"Good. Here is your last question. The very first day you met those sirens, you gave one of them something. Something that you believed they'd want... what did you give them?"

Vinyl just stood there unamused. She raised a brow, and rolled her eyes.

"I gave them their phone number."

"No, you are--wait. That is correct. My mistake, Miss Scratch."

Vinyl crossed her arms. "You're not sounding confident in your own skills, now are you?"

"Silence."

Vinyl stopped talking.

"You have passed the first challenge, and now you will move on to your next challenge. The door on your right has been unlocked, and you'll be allowed to pass through. And in addition, I will leave your next riddle behind."

The TV shut off on its own, allowing Vinyl to take in the situation. She couldn't help but feel a bit happy. First challenge, and already she passed. This wasn't going to be so bad after all... or was this only the start?

Lyra jumped from a wall, out into the outside of the mill. She made plenty of loud grunts and groans as she jumped, continuing to bounce around like a gazelle. She gripped her katana blades like they were glued to her, and she wasn't going to let them go for even a micro second. She didn't want to take any chances.

She made a step forward, and held her katana out. Would there be a foe ready to taste the cold steel of her sword? Or would there be cowards who would surrender?

Ever since she got her first clue, she had been wandering around the lot, trying to find the place she needed to go. Her clue was a bit vague, but she had somewhat of an idea of where she needed to go. Not 100% positive it was the right spot, but she would check it anyway.

Lyra walked through some more of the lot, looking at the big smoke stacks that towered above the building complexes and even more of the actual factories. So old and rusted, it looked like they could deteriorate right there and right now.

She looked above; was anyone spying on her from above? No. No one. Her eyes looked back down, looking at some more of the abandoned buildings in front of her. As she took another step, she felt her foot hit something hard. Looking down, she lifted her foot up and stepped back.

With its handle sticking up in the air, was a wooden sledgehammer. The hammer piece was metallic, and the handle was wooden, obviously, but she noticed something in particular about this sledge hammer. Near the bottom of the handle, there was a small gaping hole directly through the wood, cut perfectly. A perfect circular hole created. And directly at the bottom was a small metal band wrapped around it. And no engraving of initials, or any indication of who it belonged to.

"What kind of sledgehammer is this?" Lyra asked.

She picked it up, and examined it some more. Nothing else really out of the ordinary, outside of the metallic band and gaping hole.

About to set it down, she listened to the sound of crunching gravel coming from behind her. Her ears twitched and her eyes zoomed up in front of her. No one was in front of her. But the noise did come from behind. Carefully setting it back down, she reached for one of her weapons.

Then when she heard the crunch made, she instantly threw the shuriken and screamed. The throwing star hit something with a loud slam, and she heard a scream of terror.

"Easy!"

Lyra turned her head, looking to where she threw the star.

"Flash?" Lyra asked, raising a brow.

The throwing star punctured right through the jacket of Flash Sentry, thankfully nowhere near his skin. But the star did pin him right to the metal that was on the wall.

"Watch where you throw those things, someone could get hurt!"

Lyra dashed over to where she threw it, and yanked it out, allowing him to get out.

"Flash, what are you doing here?" Lyra asked.

Flash looked towards the ninja, a face just as confused.

"Lyra? Is that you?"

"A girl in a green ninja outfit, skilled with ninja weapons, and with green skin and yellow eyes is talking to you. Who else could it be!?"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry, I didn't expect you to be here."

"What are you even doing here?" Lyra asked.

"Oh me?"

Lyra nodded.

"Oh, I, uh, well..."

Lyra raised a brow and held her throwing star out.

"Careful Flash, you're treading thin ice right now..."

"I'm not doing anything wrong, I promise. I just, thought I'd hang out here..." Flash tried to say with as much confidence as he could. Lyra could tell this guy was pretty nervous right now.

"Oh really?" Lyra said, sounding unconvinced.

"I swear, I'm not doing anything."

"Sure... just stay right there for a second."

Flash was about to get up, but Lyra threw the throwing star back, puncturing his jacket again.

"Hey! The shurikens are not necessary!"

Lyra just ignored his cries. Moving as far as possible, she stood far as she could so he couldn't listen to her. This was an interesting development...

"Hey girls. If anyone's out there, I've got a heads up for you."

"What's up, Lyra?" Bon Bon asked through the walkie-talkie.

"We're not alone here. Flash Sentry's here. I swear that guy was sneaking up on me."

"Think he's the Markless?" Octavia asked.

"Not sure. But if he's got the hots for Adagio Dazzle, he could be crazy enough to kidnap her. But I think for the safety of all of us, I'm going to keep my eye on him for a bit, see if he's up to something. I'll report back to you when I have something new."

Lyra clocked out of the radio, and walked back to where Flash was still pinned. He struggled to get out, but to no avail. Only with Lyra yanking it out did he get free again.

"Okay seriously, how are you able to get those out? Those were like dug into that wall."

"I work out," Lyra shrugged. "So... mind telling me why you're here?"

"I suppose I should. Come on, let me show you where I've parked."

Lyra put her katana swords back in their holsters, but she still stayed ready and on stand-by. If Flash was gonna do something, she was gonna be ready. So the two walked out of the courtyard, and completely ignored the sledgehammer that was standing. They didn't even look back to see if it was still there. They didn't even realize that the sledgehammer was now gone...

Chapter 9: Furnaces And Old Friends

Author's Notes:

The plot thickens some more

Octavia's fingers kept clicking and snapping as she stretched them, walking in one of the lower levels of the facility. She too had received the call of Flash Sentry's whereabouts, just like everyone else. But she was too busy to even focus on that. Right now she was trying to find her way around the basement area, looking for her first challenge.

Opening up a door, she walked into the room. She didn't see much, but she did see a few things. A few power boxes, an alive furnace with a few puffs of smoke coming out of it, and just like with Vinyl, there was a TV mounted on the wall.

"Welcome, Octavia."

Octavia didn't jump, but instead looked up at the TV.

"Mind telling me why the flying feather I'm doing in the furnace room? Also, that furnace doesn't look very well put together!"

"It's nothing of your concern, Miss Octavia. Sure, its not perfect, but its nothing bad to worry about."

Octavia didn't buy that for a second. She knew something bad was gonna come of it, she just knew it.

"Alright, so what kind of challenge do you have for me?"

"A simple one, Miss Octavia. You are in the furnace room, as you can clearly see. Look on the wall in front of you, the panel that's open with the red switches and circuits."

Octavia did just that.

"In front of you is the control box. Every switch needs to be set to green, virtually none of them can be red. Set them to all green, and the power will flow throughout this abandoned place nice and evenly."

"There's more to this, isn't it?"

"There is... as we speak, several other contestants, your friends, are in some areas that require power. Succeed in keeping the power running, you'll not only be helping me, but you'll be saving your friends as well."

Octavia moaned. "Very well... let us fix this jalopy."

She looked at the control panel, keeping a single piece of light on it so she could see. The room wasn't very lit, and was almost impossible to see. Only reason she could see was with the red lighting. But with the help of the light from her phone, she had clear vision and could see what she was doing now.

In front of her was a grid like panel, with light-up buttons on each panel, and little circuits that could be switched around. Nine squares in total, and circuits on each to connect to one another.

"Alright, lets hope this works."

Octavia reached her hand to the top left corner of the grid, adjusting the switch to face down. Then on the small switch next to it, she turned it to face the middle. Both of the lights that she switched turned from red to green.

"Ohhhh... I get it now!" Octavia said, grinning a grin.

She reached her hand to the bottom middle switch, and turned the the circle knob around to point down to the connector piece. With a circuit open on its left side, she turned the bottom left circuit around, and connected it to the other, making the next two knobs light up with green.

"So tell me, Mr. Markless. What do you truly wish to get out of all of this? You say you don't wish to harm the Dazzlings, but it seems an awful lot of trouble to make a broadcast, and force us all to play this game."

"Its a complicated story, Miss Melody. One that you wouldn't understand. Only one of your friends would understand..."

"Really? Who?"

"Why spoil the fun now when there's so much more to play?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Okay, let me ask you this, do you want us to die?" Octavia flipped another switch on the panel, turning more of the circuits around.

"I never said I wished you all to die."

"Then why have us go through these outrageous puzzles? Why the elaborate disguise? Also," Octavia coughed, "Why do you not have anything fixed on that furnace? I'm getting some rather bad fumes from it."

"That furnace has been like that for the last few days. Its old, but it serves its purpose."

Octavia looked back at the furnace with a worried glance. With how old it was, and how rusted it looked, it didn't look like it would hold together for every long. It was like if you touched it for even a second, something would fall off.

"So, did you have any other guests here? Outside of us?" Octavia asked some more, turning the final switches around.

"Other than you girls? There is only one person here outside of your siren friends... ME."

Octavia gulped. The sound of this didn't sit well with her stomach, and she didn't like what she heard. But it wouldn't have to be for long. She adjusted the final switches, and soon she found every switch and button on the panel was glowing green.

"Its done!"

"Excellent... now you may move on to your next puzzle. Be warned... your next challenge will a little harder."

"I expect nothing more than difficulty from here on out," Octavia said, walking through the open door. She walked up the stairs, finally gone from the basement. Thank goodness, she wasn't sure if she could be there any more. It was so humid down there, she felt her clothes sticking to her like glue.

Finally out of the basement, she was now back on the ground level. Or at least, above ground. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she found a piece of paper laying on the ground marked with her name on it. Picking it up, she opened it up and read the clue to herself. Once she read the clue, she folded it up and put it in her jacket pocket just in case.

Making a turn around the corner, she stopped and gasped. Were her eyes deceiving her? Was it true?

"Aria?" Octavia gasped.

A glowing girl, baring much resemblance to the one she cared, was there. She made a single turn, looking towards Octavia. Her face was blank, void of emotion of any kind, and her eyes sunken in and with no distinguishable pupils. She slowly started to walk towards her, with more and more grimacing look as she came near.

But after a few seconds, Octavia found herself turning away, and closing her eyes, not daring to look back. Was she going to attack? Was she going to do something that she wasn't going to like?

Standing brave as she could, she opened up her eyes to look back for only a small glimpse. But after a second or two, they opened up all the way in shock. The girl that she was seeing wasn't there anymore. She wasn't there, at all!

She slapped her own face, groaning in anger. "Keep it together, Octavia. You're not going to let anything distract you. The Dazzlings are counting on you, you need to focus!"

Not thinking for any more seconds, she began to run down the hallway, not willing to slow down no more. She tried desperately to think about what she was going to do when she would face the next challenge, but she couldn't. All that took her mind was the glowing Aria Blaze that she saw in front of her. Was she really there? Did she vanish? Was she seeing things?

Starlight and Trixie's path on the game quickly began. After a careful read of their clue, they got the spot for where they needed to go next. Now it was traveling time.

They walked outside of the main factory areas, looking at the rust and decaying buildings around them. So much moss, so much rust, and it was all decrepit and old.

"Such a disgusting place. Who would even run a game here?" Starlight asked.

"Probably a psychopath bent on torturing me and my friends," Trixie said, less than amused.

"Sure does make a good place to hide," Starlight replied, looking at some of the decaying debris.

"Yes. Yes it does..."

Starlight looked back at Trixie who's head was focused on walking ahead. She looked at her with a frown.

"Trixie, am I annoying you?" Starlight asked. "Its okay, I can stay quiet."

Trixie sighed. "No, its not you, Starlight. I'm just... I'm still trying to figure out who could this guy be. We've talked to almost everyone we know in our past, and virtually none of them have given us any sign or indication that they could be the one. We did think about talking to people outside of CHS, but we only ran into you, and I sincerely doubt you'd be the one."

"Well, why not think back some more. Who else could want to get back at you? You make any bullies when you were younger?"

Trixie continued to look around, her head deep in thought.

"Well... there was a friend I had back in 6th grade. But she and I both agreed to go our own ways, so I don't think she'd be one. I do remember this one girl I met back in 8th grade. She was pretty quiet, and although I kept messing up her name, I don't think she would go so far as to kidnap my friends. Though if I'm honest, I don't think she goes to CHS anymore."

"Do you remember anything about her?"

Trixie raised her finger... and then dropped it. "Nope. Again, I haven't talked to some people in a long time. Oh wait, I do remember this one girl... what was it, Moon Lover, Moon Shaker... I can't remember, but anyways, I remember her, but I don't recall any hate between us so I don't think she'd be responsible for this."

Trixie and Starlight made another turn around a corner, and stopped when Trixie hit her foot. She looked down and saw something strange. What appeared to be regular sized hammer was laying on the ground. But when she picked it up, she could see a strange metal band wrapped around the bottom of the handle.

"Who leaves their tools lying around?" Starlight asked.

"No idea. But if these belong to the Markless... then well, these aren't really telling us anything."

Trixie just shrugged, and she kept walking forward with Starlight right by her side. Up ahead, they could see the spot that they needed to go to. Now they just had to go right for it. They picked up their feet, starting to skip towards the spot, not even paying attention to the hand that picked up the hammer from the ground, walking away from the site...

Bon Bon was still on her run, trying to do her part in the game. So far, no sign of where she was supposed to go. She didn't even understand what to do on her riddle. So, she would need to take some time to think this out.

Thankfully for her, in one of the empty areas, she found herself an outdoor table to sit to try and think. In addition, she munched on a few homemade snacks that she brought with in her bag. She munched down on a muffin that she baked herself, and looked at the card that had her riddle. She had read it back to back, multiple times and with no idea as to how to even solve it.

She held her head, groaning. "This is impossible!"

"What are you reading?"

"Oh I'm just--DAH!!!" Bon Bon jumped off from the bench and grabbed her kitchen knife. She held it up and pointed it at the person who spoke to her. Standing behind her and in fear was someone she expected the least; Muffins.

"Muffins? What are you doing here?" Bon Bon asked, still holding the knife out.

"I heard you were having some issues and I wanted to see you," Muffins replied, bashfully.

"No, I mean, what are you doing here? In an abandoned steel mill?"

"Huh? Oh!" Muffins realized. "Sorry, I didn't understand. I've been here since this morning, actually."

"For what purpose?"

"I've been doing some practicing."

Bon Bon still didn't lower her weapon down.

"Practicing for what?"

"For the Friendship Games! I wanted to audition, but I needed to work on my archery skills."

"But why out here?" Bon Bon asked, moving a little closer.

"I-I'm not sure I want to say..." Muffins replied, looking ashamed.

"Muffins?"

She looked back to Bon Bon who was slowly starting to open up a bit. Not all the way, but enough that she could move a little closer.

"How long have you been out here?"

"I've been here since 8:00 this morning," Muffins quivered, still looking at the sharp knife. And a few moments later, she could hear her stomach churning and growling. Bon Bon could practically hear it.

"Hungry?" Bon Bon asked.

The cross-eyed girl nodded.

"Okay. Tell you what. You want a muffin?"

"Oh, I'd love one. Please?"

"I'll allow you to have some of my food... but you have to show me exactly what you're doing out here. Okay?"

The girl sheepishly nodded.

"Okay. Help yourself."

Muffins' hand instantly reached out and grabbed a muffin from her bag, happily munching into it. The taste of it made her shiver in delight. The sweet pastry that was baked to perfection, with the sweet hint of blueberry spliced within.

"Feel better?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Okay, well, now that you've got some food, how about you show me what you're doing here?" Bon Bon asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course. Follow me!"

Muffins happily led Bon Bon away, and although she was still suspicious, Bon Bon walked behind the gray-skinned blond. But she didn't tuck her knife away, she kept it out, and she didn't tuck it back away. Who knew what exactly Muffins was hiding from her...

Unbeknownst to the gang, Flash Sentry and Muffins weren't the only people in the area. A pair of boots walked among some gravel, stomping on the ground. The boots walked towards a crater that had been formed in one of the spots of the mill. It was an area that wasn't being foreseen by the Markless or any of the band members. It was an area that was being dug up for quite a while. In the crater, as far as the eye could see there was nothing but rocks.

But what appeared to be the hands of metal tongs reached down and grabbed one of the rocks. Raising it the rock up, the person could see a small sliver of some light, reflecting off of the crystals on the rock.

"Hmm... Excellent."

Chapter 10: Change In Direction

Author's Notes:

Okay, I'll admit, this chapter was a bit of a mess. I intended to progress on from everything that has already been shown in previous entries in this universe, and following up on continuity from some of those parts, if that makes sense. However, I think I may had thrown somethin' out of left field here. You'll find out what I mean soon enough.

Still, hope you enjoy it!

Amethyst Star had no problem making it through the first challenge. The questions wee beyond easy, and it was no struggle at all for her. In fact, she felt so good that she turned on some music from her media player.

Never took this road before
Destination unknown
Oh-whoa-whoa...
Destination unknown

She turned around a corner, jumping over a desk and landing on her feet. Still on truckin', she kept on runnin'.

"Alright Markless, whoever you are, you think I'm gonna back down from a challenge? I'm not gonna back down."

She opened up another door, entering in another room. This one had a bit more wider space than the last room she was in. Within, she could see a giant glass window to oversee the work done in the factory. And if anyone were to fall, it wouldn't be too big of a fall, luckily. But it didn't help that the window glass that was once there was now completely shattered, with no window there anymore. One wrong step and she'd fall right out.

Just like before, there was a TV for the Markless to speak through. And on that TV, the single question mark flickered on screen, and the distorted voice came through again.

"Amethyst Star. Still stuck in the past, I can see."

Amethyst huffed, blowing a piece of her hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, so what? We've got our obsessions. Now what's your challenge, Jigsaw wannabe?"

"I said your next puzzle would be a lot harder. Now here's your puzzle. As you can see, behind you is a gaping windowless window. That will be your escape into your next part. But you won't be able to get down onto the ground safely without any equipment. When you pass this challenge... you'll be given the equipment necessary for making it down to that floor safely."

"Bring it on!" Amethyst cheered. "So, what's my challenge? Repair work? Trivia?"

"Your honesty."

Amethyst gave a deadpan look. "Honesty, really? You couldn't think of anything better? This is my puzzle?"

"Do you want to see your friends, or not?"

"Alright, alright. What do you need me to be honest about?" Amethyst asked, sounding less than thrilled.

The Markless was silent, but then spoke after a few seconds.

"Everyone comes from a dark past. And within every person, there's always a dark truth to their nature and identity. And you are a part of it... You were adopted, were you not?"

"Yeah, I was. My dad adopted me from an orphanage," Amethyst nodded.

"Oh sweet Amethyst... there's so much more that you don't even realize." The Markless said, a small chuckle escaping the voice.

Amethyst started to feel a chill go down her spine.

"D-Didn't you say this was a game? What's even the game here!?" Amethyst said really quickly.

"I just need you to come to grips with the reality... and you will be allowed to move on."

"W-What reality!?"

"You may have been adopted... but you were not the first child your father had. Look down on the desk."

Amethyst didn't want to, but she did it anyway. On the desk was a vanilla folder. Opening it up, she found a few pieces of text from medical journals. Her eyes skimmed through them, but only a look of horror remained on her face. The notes only got worse and worse as she read them.

"You weren't planned for adoption. Your father was happy with the family he had... until he had driven them straight into their own tombs."

"No... no... no it can't be! That's not true!"

"Your father had been feeding you lies... All of this time you were told that you were the only child he ever had. And he never had the courage to tell you the truth... The truth that he is responsible for the death of two individuals, who would never have been your family. Without their deaths... you wouldn't have been adopted. Will you accept the reality... or are you going to continue to stay in the past and let the terrors and past trauma consume you?"

Amethyst felt her head pounding. The thoughts, the memories. Everything she had remembered that was told to her... everything she remembered having lived with her father... the reality of the situation was being told to her as if it was the final note she would ever read.

A ringing hit her ears as a high frequency pitch from the television made her scream in agony. Even worse, she felt the room start to get humid. It was all too much. The noise, the memories, the heat... it was all too much for her to handle and she could see her vision become more and more blurry.

For a glimpse of a second, she swore she saw a specter of light glowing. A girl with purple skin and pigtails appearing in her vision. She gasped and panted and heaved, trying to breathe. But her vision was only getting more fuzzy. It was starting to get too much when right then, everything went black.

All lights went out. Her body came limp, and all of her weight started to go backwards. Her body went straight over the ledge, and broke straight through an old desk. Her body broke the desk on the impact, but she wasn't awake. She was unconscious. And worse, The Markless saw her fall. And they could see the place that she fell through. And none of her friends even knew.

"When you wake up, Amethyst... you'll be ready to face your final challenge. Only it'll be much more painful from there..."

Lyra kept following Flash, still on guard and still staying ready in case anything were to go wrong. Specifically, if he was gonna do something backhanded. She doubted he would, but she still wanted to stay ready just in case.

After a few minutes of walking, she followed Flash outside of the main entrance of the steel mill. Parked outside with the rest of their cars was an RV type of car. Nice and shiny paint, clear glass, it was a nice looking ride.

"You're here in an RV?"

"Yep. Well, its not my RV, its actually..." Flash almost trailed off but he came to a stop. He didn't speak anymore on that part.

"Who? Who's RV is it?"

Flash gulped. "Its, uh... Fluttershy's."

Lyra raised a brow. "I see... Now why are you here? Care to explain that?"

Flash nodded. "Of course. You see, Fluttershy and I have an assignment for our Media Arts class, and we have to take pictures of places that aren't remembered as much. So I talked to her, and she agreed to come here at this place since it wasn't really well known or even talked about as much."

Lyra still wasn't convinced. "Do you have any pictures?"

Flash reached into his pocket, pulling out a camera. Turning it on, he showed it to Lyra, showing photos that were taken of the mill area. Most of them were rather unique shots, taking them from different angles, positions, and even the lighting. But as Lyra moved to the next photo, she found a picture that she found a bit scary. Flash took a selfie of himself with a goofy grin on his face.

She looked at the guitar player with a face that screamed 'really?' Flash only chuckled nervously.

"I was on a break, I figured I might as well have a bit of fun."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Okay, here's my other question, do you have any other reason for being here?"

"Uh, no." Flash said, quickly.

Lyra still sneered at him with a glare.

"I'm not playing games with you Flash. Why are you out here?"

"I swear, I only came here for my project!"

"Sure you are," Lyra said, flipping a nunchuk from her back. She swung it around in her arms, flawlessly throwing it around and raised it up with a tight grip. She stood in a fighting stance, making Flash back away. "The truth Flash, now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you the truth!" Flash said, trying to stay as calm as he could. "Look, I'll admit... I'm not proud of this but... I heard where you girls were going. And as much as I didn't want to, I thought I should follow you all and find out what exactly this 'Markless' person is having you do. As paranoid as this sounds, I was worried that he was gonna have you all kidnapped in a matter of seconds so I thought I should at least keep an eye out and see if he or she was going to do that."

Lyra could tell Flash wasn't joking. He looked her, dead in the eyes with a straight face. There was no hint of hiding the truth, he was full on honest. Relieved of any hostility feeling, Lyra put her weapons away, tucking them back into the pouches and holsters on her back.

"Well if you're here to make sure we're alive, then I suppose that's no reason to point my weapons at you. Sorry about that," Lyra sheepishly replied.

"No, its okay. I don't blame you, really."

Shrugging off, Lyra looked around. "So you're borrowing Fluttershy's RV?"

"Actually, she came with me to take photos. That's part of how I convinced her to come with me. But I haven't seen her in an hour, honestly."

"How long were you here?" Lyra asked.

"We've been here for about 45 minutes. But Fluttershy walked off, said about needing to vent her frustrations out on something non-human. But I haven't seen her since."

Lyra's eyes bulged. "Why did you let her go on her own!?!"

"I thought it was safe, there wasn't anyone else out here at the time!"

"Well then we have to find her! For all we know, she could be the Markless!"

"How could she be the Markless and arrive with me?" Flash asked.

"I don't know, my brain's not working today, and I'm stressed out, okay!? Come on!"

"Right behind you!"

Lyra began on a fast run, and Flash chased right after. Now it was time to get serious. Their footsteps hit the gravel like a pack of lions running in the Amazon.

"You're here mostly for Adagio, aren't you?" Lyra called out.

"Uh... maybe?" Flash replied, trying to keep up.

"Dang it, Flash! She's dating, we discussed this already!"

"I can't help it! Look, even if she's just a friend, I don't want to see her harmed!"

Lyra just rolled her eyes, groaning as she kept running like a cheetah.

Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon stood in complete silence. Right before their eyes, laid the entrance to a mine. Within the mountain. The sight alone had frightened them. It looked abandoned, and there laid a sign that read 'Stay Out'.

"The Markless wants us to come through here?" Starlight asked.

"That's what the clue said." Trixie nodded, nervously shaking her head.

"Oh boy...", Starlight shivered, "I don't know about you, but I'm scared to step anywhere near that mine, let alone go inside."

"As much as I don't want to either, Starlight, we have to. Our friends lives may depend on it."

Starlight sighed. "I suppose you're right."

The two of them reached into the bags that hung on their shoulders, pulling out flashlights.

"Here goes nothing," Trixie ordered, walking straight inside.

The two walked inside the mine, leaving the bright sunshine of the outdoors. The more they walked, the more dark it became. After all, they were going straight inside a mountain. Upon walking in, they could see a few typical things they expected in a mine. A few old lanterns about, some lights hung up on the ceiling, and they saw a few wooden support beams hoisting the entire place up.

"So, Trixie, is there anything special about these girls we're looking for or are they just old friends?" Starlight asked, brushing the hair out her eyes.

Trixie was about to respond but then a thought had reached her mind. She had never told Starlight about any of the Dazzlings. And for that matter, she had kept Starlight out of the loop of stuff going on in her life currently. She never told her the adventure she had with them when they first came to CHS. And for that matter, she didn't tell them that they were from a parallel dimension! And not human!

Sweat ran down her head just thinking about it. What was she going to tell her? She couldn't lie to her. But she couldn't just tell her the truth, she'd never believe her. Heck, how would she react to knowing she was dating a girl?

"Oh, they're just, uh... old friends, that's it... heh, heh..." Trixie said, clearly nervous out her skull.

"That doesn't sound like they're old friends," Starlight replied, raising a brow.

"I-It's a long story, Starlight. One that I'm sure you wouldn't believe," Trixie looked away, her eye locking on the various signs that were hanging about.

"Come on, try me. Who are these girls?"

"They're uh... Well, they're um..."

Trixie didn't finish her sentence. Her foot went forward again, and she hit her toe into something hard.

"Ow!" Trixie yelped, nearly falling on her back. She held onto her foot, feeling the pain that she had just endured. Starlight shined a light down on what she hit, and looked down. On the ground was another tool. A small pickax, to be precise. And just like the other tool that they hit, there was a metal band down the end, and a small circular hole drilled through the handle.

"Who keeps leaving tools lying around?" Starlight asked.

Trixie rubbed her hand on her toes which were within her shoe. But a small sliver of light caught her eye. Looking up, she could see that the rest of the lights in the ceiling were on. Odd, they weren't odd when they walked inside.

"We're definitely not alone in here. Come on, we better keep going."

Starlight grabbed the tool, and started to run down the mine. Not too far behind was Starlight who tried to pick up the pace with her.

The run took them around a few bends, going in several directions through the mine. They would have run more if not for the new sight that attracted their eyes. On their right, there was a giant hollow area that was dug out. Looked like it had been dug for a long time. But within that small little area, they could see things like common household items and other things were sitting there. A few cots with fresh linen sheets, a small cooler, silverware, some first aid kits, and so on.

In addition, there were a few empty bottles laying in a pile along with some candy wrappers, a lantern hanging above the ceiling, and there was a small folding table mounted up. On that table there were a few plates and forks and knives scattered about on it. But there was also a small notebook on it as well.

Curiosity enticing her, Trixie picked up the journal and flipped through some of the pages. Maybe there was something useful in here? But as she flipped through the journal, she just grew annoyed really really quickly. There was nothing of importance to be found. No identities, no pieces of information or a single clue to be found. But wait--

"You found something Trixie?" Starlight asked.

Trixie flipped through the book again, finding the page that had caught her interest.

"... Oh, here it is! Operations are going smoothly, but that one girl is starting to become a nuisance. Not even helpful. Keeps taking my tools and never gives them back. Starting to get really annoying..." Trixie trailed off, "And there's just a lot of swearing from there after."

"Any clue for who kidnapped the Dazzlings?"

"No, nothing. All the journal says is that there was a girl who's becoming a bother to them... and I have a feeling that our girl may just be The Markless." Trixie said, rubbing her chin.

"And also... wait a minute." Starlight said. She looked down at the tool Trixie held onto, and then looked onto the ground next to some crates. A few more tools all strapped together with similar looking bottom ends all were in a row. "This tool matches just like the others. Metal band, perfectly cut circular hole."

"But why would anyone have their tools have those specific details?" Trixie asked.

"I don't know. Maybe its..."

Starlight turned her head, and she stopped talking. Down the mine where more light was shown, she heard the sound of a metal piece slamming against something hard. Then another pound. And another, and another. Even so, she could hear the sound of some music.

"Someone's here." Starlight whispered.

Trixie jolted her head up and looked down the hall where Starlight was looking. She could hear the music as well. Slowly, but not so much to waste their time, she got back up and walked out of the hollowed out room. Her feet walked right back onto the gravel, and she slowly started to tip-toe down with Starlight right beside her.

At the end of the hall, they could see an even bigger area than before. They weren't in any hallways anymore. They were standing in what looked like a big cavern to them. There were some more support beams holding the place up, a few more lanterns, and they saw what appeared to be some tracks with a mine-cart sitting on them. And in the cart, they could see several amounts of diamonds and crystals piling up.

Their eyes looked around, in awe of the underground facility. They had never been in a real life mine before, so this was all new to them. But as they listened to the sounds some more, they nearly gasped in shock. With a knee out, there appeared to be someone who was digging into one of the rocks, trying to break it apart. They couldn't see much but they did see a bit of gray skin with hair reaching the shoulder length behind the head. There was also a headlight strapped to her head, shining the light on the rock she was breaking apart.

"Oookayyy, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, we just came into this place uninvited," Starlight shivered.

"We better get out before we're spotted," Trixie whispered.

She took one step behind, and unfortunately she stepped on a piece of rock. The sound made a crackling noise, grabbing the attention of the miner who rose their head up.

"Go, go!" Trixie whispered.

Not even thinking for another second, the two girls started to run as fast as they could down the mine, running in the complete opposite direction from where they were. They picked up their feet as best as they could, not wasting a second of time in the cave.

"Where do we go!?" Starlight cried.

"Back outside, back outside!"

But just as they made another turn, the two of them came to a halt. They didn't realize it when they walked through, but they came out of a single hall on their walk inside. And it was out of two passageways that they could have come from.

"What do we do now!?" Starlight panicked.

"Split up! If you make it outside before me, try to find the others, anyone you can, tell them I'm inside the mine!"

"Okay!"

Trixie ran into the left mine, while Starlight ran into the right. Now the two had split up from each other. Trixie held her flashlight up to provide her guiding vision as she ran. But it didn't help that there was barely any light for her as she was running. She could only guess that the miners never went down the passageway she was running into.

Without realizing it, she felt herself bumping into a few parts of the wall, rubbing against some rocks. She grunted from the pain, but she still kept going. And without even seeing, she tripped on a stone. She would have saved herself, but she hit her head against a part of the wall, and found herself falling straight down a few more rocks into a bigger cavern.

She moaned as her body hit some more rocks until she landed right on her stomach in the pit of the cavern. She tried to pull herself up, but she didn't have the strength to get back up again. And a few seconds later, the lights around her began to go dark and her eyes slowly closed.

Fortunately for her, a flash of light shined on her. But she wasn't awake to see who it was. The sounds of feet sliding down on some of the rocks and landing on the ground with a perfect landing echoed throughout. Once the feet had landed, they walked forward looking at the passed out girl who fell.

"Hmmm..."

But as the figure shined the light some more, they moved towards some of the sparkles on the wall. Moving towards it, the figure stopped as the sparkles hit her eyes. The light shined on the some of the rocks, and the sound of metal clapping together made the new sound. Two handles like a pair of tongs reached forward, plucking a piece of the shiny material off the rock. With a whirring sound, the tongs moved around like it was on a turntable, moving it so most of the material was facing towards the figure's face.

The figure looked down at the shiny geode, to which a smile flashed a sparkle of gold.

"Excellent."

Chapter 11: Misdirection

Author's Notes:

Okay, so finally got this done! *wipes sweat off forehead* thank goodness. ... Still a bit of a mess, looking at it though. But I can guarantee, next one will have a better focus.

Now, I've got a good chunk done for the next chapter, so if I can lock on and focus, I'll see if maybe I can get the rest of that one done, so then you guys could get an extra chapter today. Maybe. I'll have to see what I can do first, and what time I've got on my plate today.

Anyways, hope you enjoy it folks!

Starlight Glimmer held her hands on her knees as she finally made it to the outside of the mine. Sweat ran down her head as she tried to pull herself together from the intense run. She looked back, praying that Trixie was still there. No. She wasn't. She remembered them splitting up to to try and throw the miner off their back.

"I'll be back Trixie. I promise."

Starlight picked up her feet and ran farther from the mine, running into the more open areas of the steel mill. Hopefully there were some girls still outside for her to get some help.

Thankfully for her there were still some girls outside. Lyra was still running around with Flash, trying to find Fluttershy. And as for Bon Bon? She was finally at the spot where Muffins had led her to.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" Bon Bon asked.

Standing far from Bon Bon and Muffins were a few target beams that Muffins had set up. She had straightened some pieces of sheet metal, and on each one she had sprayed painted some bright colors to mark the spots she had to hit. However, what Bon Bon could plainly see was that the arrows that had been fired at the beams were all around the beams... except for the beams. Not a single one of them hit the targets. Not even a square inch.

"I said I was practicing. But I can't really hit any of my targets," Muffins admitted, shamefully. "I'm seeing double! I see one spot, I see another, and I just can't fire straight."

Bon Bon tapped her foot on the ground, looking at the targets that Muffins had failed to fire. All right in front of her, and none of them even got knocked down.

"So... this is all you're doing?"

Muffins shamefully nodded.

"Not here for anything else?"

"I don't really have anything else to do on a Saturday," Muffins replied, rubbing her head, "I would hang out with friends but they're all busy."

Bon Bon nodded. "I see."

She looked down to the ground, seeing where the bow was resting. Then off to the side, she found the quiver holding a collection of arrows was resting. A smirk came to her face and she looked to Muffins with a small smile. Picking it up, she handed the bow to the cross-eyed girl and held an arrow out for her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna help you," Bon Bon smirked. "You may be crossed eyed, but that doesn't mean you can't do this. Now come on, lock on target."

Muffins relaxed herself, and she picked up an arrow. She stretched her arm out, carefully setting the arrow into position. She closed an eye, trying to get herself ready for the attack. Muffins was about to let go, but she didn't. Her ears twitched, hearing the sound of running footsteps.

She looked to where the source was coming from, confused to where it came from. Bon Bon heard it too, and she looked back as well. Just from beyond the courtyard was Lyra who was darting head first directly to where they stood. Looking at to who was standing she moved her feet just in time and skidded across the gravel, creating a skid mark behind her.

"Hey Bonnie! Who's--DAH!" Lyra held her sword out, "Why is she here!?"

"Lyra, hey!" Bon Bon jumped. "Calm down, its okay. She's not doing anything."

Panting far behind, and holding onto his knees was Flash Sentry. He raised a hand up, gesturing he was alright. Looking back up, there was visible sweat running down his head as he looked to the three girls.

"You're not even tired? Not even a little!?"

"I've had years of hard work and training, Flash." Lyra shrugged. "I'm a ninja after all."

"I... I guess that makes sense," Flash panted, trying to catch is breath. "Just give me a sec, alright? Not all of us were born for speed."

"Hello to you too, Flash," Bon Bon glared. "Why is he here?"

"Don't worry about him. He's clean," Lyra replied, putting her sword away. "Now about Muffins...?"

"She's clean too."

Lyra and Bon Bon sat in awkward silence, everyone looking at each other. Two people who they believed were the prime suspects had no freaking clue or really anything shocking or surprising enough to be the culprit.

"Well this is going nowhere. Shall we check in with the others?" Lyra said fast, breaking the silence.

"I guess so."

"Girls! Girls!"

All four of them looked to the left. Running and heaving for air, was Starlight Glimmer. She held onto her stomach, trying to get herself to breathe and calm down.

"Boy, I'm out of shape for this!" Starlight yelled, trying to breathe.

"Where's Trixie?" Bon Bon asked.

"S-She... she's... she's still in the mine!"

"What?" Lyra and Bon Bon asked in unison.

"Trixie and I were following the Markless's instructions for the game, but when we did, we just went into a mine shaft. We found some people working there, and we panicked, and Trixie and I split up from each other! I don't know if she made it out or not, but I said I would go back to try and find you girls."

All four of them looked at her as she started to calm down, clear distress on her face. But Bon Bon and Lyra weren't really convinced. Starlight had been left with Trixie all by herself. And they didn't know a thing about Starlight, outside of being an old friend.

"So you left her alone, huh?" Lyra asked, sounding less than thrilled.

"I-I didn't want to, but she told me to run!"

"Sure she did..." Bon Bon said, sneering.

Starlight was confused. "Wait, what are you--" Starlight nearly jumped back and stepped as far as she could. Lyra held her sword out, pointed at her.

"You left her! How could you leave her!?"

"I had no choice, we were going to get captured! I don't even know who we saw!"

"You say we a lot, but how do we know you're not the one who got her into that cave?" Lyra barked.

"Why are you accusing me of all of this? I barely even know any of you, and I would never harm Trixie!"

"Just like you said. Only, we barely know you, but we know you know a lot more about Trixie than any of us..." Bon Bon said, holding her whisks out.

"Enough!"

Everyone stopped. To their right was Flash who broke the silence.

"Look at all of you! One second after meeting up with someone, you threaten them! Is this what Trixie would want? Is this what any of the Dazzlings would want? I thought you were all here to save your friends, not hurt them!" Flash yelled. "I don't know who kidnapped the Dazzlings, but accusing people at random isn't going to help you find them any faster."

Lyra and Bon Bon looked back at the guitar player. Then over to Muffins who stood there, looking confused. Lastly, they looked to Starlight Glimmer, and then each other. Both of them let out a sigh and held their heads.

"What are we even doing?" Bon Bon moaned. "Starlight, look, we--"

"No, no, you don't need to apologize. I know you two are under a lot of stress right now, and I would be to if my best friends were in a situation like this."

"And Trixie's your best friend, yet you're calm."

Starlight nodded. "You don't know her like I do. She may be a bit of a scaredy-cat sometimes, but she's smart and quick. I know she'll be okay."

"If you say so," Bon Bon said, sounding unsure. "Well, either way... if none of you all are the ones who kidnapped our friends, could you maybe... help us? Please?"

Flash smiled. "I'd be happy to."

"Of course!" Muffins cheered.

"And if you're still with us Starlight?" Lyra asked.

"I wouldn't leave you girls in something like this. Never."

Bon Bon and Lyra smiled.

"Well, if we're gonna do this, we better check in with the others," Lyra said, reaching for her radio transmitter. "Amethyst, this is Lyra. Come in, Amethyst."

She waited for a reply, but she just got static out the other end.

"Amy? Amy are you there?" Lyra asked, sounding concerned.

Bon Bon decided to give the radio transmitter a try. "Octavia, are you there? Please tell me you're--"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Bon Bon was so startled she dropped the radio and everyone jumped.

"What's going on!?" Muffins panicked.

"I don't know, but we better move, fast!"

"Right! Come on girls, we better find them!"

Vinyl, having read her set of instructions, walked into a new room. An office, just as abandoned and gross like the other rooms she had wandered into. Her second challenge was about to commence any given second now.

"Miss Scratch. Welcome."

Vinyl jumped, but stopped when she recognized that same demonic tone.

"Alright, lets just get straight to the challenge, I'm getting sick of trying to understand your clues and riddles."

The Markless groaned.

"Because its a puzzle, you dummy, its supposed to be hard to solve! But because you're so eager, I suppose I could speed things along... your challenge is going to be a bit harder though. I need... your honesty."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Please, I can be honest all I wish. I have no secrets."

The Markless let out a chuckle. "Sure you do..."

Vinyl felt a chill go down her spine. Her body started to tense up, hearing that laugh.

"Let me ask you something, Miss Scratch. You and Octavia had a falling out a long time ago... and I know you two have reconciled and have made up, haven't you?"

Vinyl gulped and nodded. "Y-Yeah..."

"And while I think its sweet you two are friends again... there's something deep inside you know you have been hiding from Octavia."

"L-Like what?"

Spontaneously out of nowhere, a light shined on the desk. A new set of papers was shown, one in a vanilla folder.

"Read the file."

Vinyl slowly walked towards the file in the folder. She slowly started to reach for it, but she tensed up. She couldn't bear to read it. A number of things could be there for her to read, and she didn't want to be reminded of what could have been there. But she knew she had no choice.

She picked up the folder and she started to read the file.

"You and your family all agreed to never speak of this information. Not wanting to relive the pain and horror of the day this happened... but you know that this would have to be talked about again. Your mother put a member of Octavia's family away... for good."

Vinyl dropped the file and she bent over, nearly falling. She held her arms out on the desk, keeping herself from falling.

"No... no... no, please!"

"You cannot deny it Vinyl... you put Octavia's father away... and you never had the courage to tell you that you were partially responsible for his imprisonment."

Vinyl felt her heart pounding and her lips were quivering. Tears started to stream down her face, and she whimpered.

"Please... please, just stop!"

"All you have to do... is tell me right here, loud and clear--"

"--Alright! Look, her father held my parents at gunpoint in their own store! I had it all collected on tape and sent it to the authorities, and that's how we got him in jail! What could I even say to her!? Her father was going to kill my family!" Vinyl pleaded.

The Markless waited for a moment or too. Vinyl felt herself crying some more and more, holding her face.

"The guilt runs heavy in you. Something you always felt was your fault..."

A single door opened up, and Vinyl turned her head looking more scared.

"You're free to go."

Vinyl cried and sobbed some more. Picking herself up, she walked out of the room, crying even more. What was she going to do?

A hand wrapped in a black glove tapped its fingers on a desk. The Markless watched as Vinyl cried more and more as she left the room. And on another camera, they could see Octavia fleeing for dear life down a hallway, screaming in terror. But oddly enough, they could see her screaming... but there wasn't a single thing that appeared to be following her. Not one. No one.

And Amethyst? She was still knocked out, with her body sprawled in the desk she crashed through. The speakers could still pick up the music playing from her media player.

"Only three actually bothered to participate in my game... it won't matter. They'll be reaching the final round very soon. I'm sure they'll love the surprising I have in store for them..."

Chapter 12: Revelations

Author's Notes:

And so, a revised and repaired chapter is up. I do plan on explaining more when we get to the next chapter. Hopefully this one is a bit better.

Enjoy.

Trixie's eyes slowly started to open up. Her vision was a bit fuzzy, but the images in front of her starting to become clear. Right before her eyes, she could see a small light shining in her face. And what appeared to be a person right before her eyes as well.

Once her eyes fully opened up, she saw the girl in front of her offer a cup with a liquid.

"Here. Drink this."

"Wha... what is it?" Trixie moaned.

"Something to make you feel better. It'll help with the pain."

Trixie wasn't sure what was going on. Should she accept it, or should she not? Without even thinking, she accepted.

"O-Okay..."

The girl gave her the cup and Trixie took a single sip.

"There you go."

Trixie cringed a bit. "No offense but... yuck," gagging and sticking her tongue out in disgust.

The girl didn't reply with a nasty tone or even any anger. In fact, her face was so vacant she had almost zero expression on her face. All she could see was just this blank neutral face that didn't express anything. But she took the cup and set it on the little table next to her.

"Ugh, Maud! Please tell me we don't have to take her to the hospital," a gravelly voice yelled from the side.

The girl turned her head. "She's going to be alright."

Trixie rubbed her eyes and pulled herself up. But her attempt made her wince and groan from the pain, feeling the bruises and the cuts she put into herself from the fall.

"W-Where am I?"

The girl blinked for a second, but still looked at her blankly. "You're in our camp out, here in the mine shaft. Limestone and I carried you in here after we heard you screaming and falling deep into an unchecked cavern."

"Unchecked is an understatement. How did we not even see it!?" The gravelly voice yelled from off the side. The sound of gears turning and whirring followed suit. "Still, I have to hand it to her. She found herself a whole lot of gold."

"I-I found what?" Trixie said, feeling her forehead.

"You found gold. And because you found it, we gathered a bunch for you. Considering you found it."

"Oh, well... t-thanks, I guess," Trixie felt her jaw, "Agh, ow... wait a second. Wait a second. Why am I missing a tooth!?"

"You hurt yourself really bad when you fell. Limestone and I checked, and you lost a tooth from the fall."

Trixie cupped her mouth, screaming into her hands.

"Oh my god, my teeth were fine and now I've lost one!?"

"Relax."

She turned her head and looked up at the girl who was standing before her. A girl with gray-bluish skin and short haired stared down at her. Most noticeable thing about her was the limestone colored eyes, and the gold tooth she was flashing at her.

"You can get yourself a gold tooth, easy. You found it, so you can get a new tooth to replace it," Limestone replied, sounding a bit bitter.

Trixie wasn't sure how to respond. "O-Okay, I guess. W-Who are you two, anyway?"

The girl who sat by her bedside had much more gray skin, but with longer hair that reached her shoulders. But even her blank expression carried to her voice. Her voice was monotonous as it got. She could pose as a robot and no one could tell the different.

"My name is Maud Pie. And this is my sister Limestone."

Trixie blinked. "Wait... Pie? Are you two by any chance related to Pinkie Pie?"

"Yeah, we are. Why?" Limestone asked.

"Well, do you know that--"

"She was turned into part of a Hydra monster, and was blackmailed by that Sunset Shimmer girl all this time. We know, she told us everything. Pinkie was practically melting down by the time we picked her up from school last month."

Trixie slowly pulled herself up, feeling a little better than before.

"Well, if you know then, is there any chance you know if she's with you, like, right now?"

"She's home right now. And we got a call from her saying you hurt her feelings."

Trixie was appalled. "Me? How did I hurt her?"

Limestone grabbed her by the shirt, yanking her close and staring her dead in the eyes.

"She tried to be kind to you and you rebuffed her affections. Look, I know she hasn't earned your trust and all that, and she tried to kill you like a few times, but she's an extremely fragile kid."

Trixie huffed. "How was I supposed to know? And why should I be kind to her since she kept bullying me without end mind you?"

Limestone huffed and glared at her. "Because even though Pinkie Pie screwed up, hard, she's not entirely bad. And I can tell when she's trying to be genuine. She said specifically she made you a cupcake as a means to start anew."

Trixie raised a brow. "How?"

"Lime Sense."

Trixie just shook her head, confused.

"Okay, I won't understand how that--OH MY GOODNESS!" Trixie shrieked and nearly jumped back.

"What?"

"Y-Y-Your..."

Limestone looked down and rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know."

"Your arm!"

Limestone raised her left arm up, which made a whirring sound effect. To Trixie's total shock, there was no arm. Only up to the elbow was there real flesh. But the rest? There was no hand or flesh there. It was all a mesh of spare parts of bronze, steel, and mechanical engineering. A small hatch was locked on the top of where her wrist would be, and sticking out of a hole was a small pick axe.

"You... you have a... prosthetic arm?" Trixie stuttered, trying to take it all in.

Limestone sighed. "Yeah, I do."

"That's... that's kinda cool, you put your tools through there? How does that work, do you just slide them in that hole, is there some kinda opening and placing thing you have there?" Trixie asked, sounding a little less scared.

Limestone rubbed her temples with her other hand. "You know, the idea of it is a lot cooler than the reality."

"I know, its just... I'm sorry, this just looks so cool to me! H-How did you put this all together?"

"That's not a question we really ask her," Maud said.

Trixie's cheeks flushed. "Oh, uh, sorry, sorry about that, I uh..."

"Don't sweat it, okay? But as long as we're talkin', do you know where any of my tools went?"

"Um, no, I don't."

"Dang it!" Limestone ranted. "I swear, Maud, we have to find that girl, what was it, Moon Lover... Moon Shaker... whatever her name is, and tell her she can't just take what's hers." Limestone beat the pickax against a small geode, breaking it in half. Within were a few shiny blue crystals within.

Trixie instantly jumped off from the bed she was in, right back up on her feet. A serious look came to her face and she looked to Limestone.

"Wait. You're saying there's a girl stealing your tools? Any chance you can describe her?"

"I don't know but... actually, I honestly don't really know. We barely see her, and she barely says a word. Not really a talkative type." Limestone shrugged, beating her pickax against another rock.

"I do know where she is though."

Trixie perked up. "Really?"

The three of them made it outside the mine, staring at one of the brick walls of the steel mill. Up above, they could see several windows once retaining glass were now reduced to nothing but shards. But there was something amiss. A few of them had been boarded up like if no one was to see inside. But those boards didn't look old...

"She's up in that third floor, room on the left." Maud pointed.

"How do you know that?" Trixie asked.

"Maud Sense. It allows me to find whoever I'm looking for," Maud looked at Trixie. "How come you're trying to find her?"

Trixie looked back to Maud and Limestone. "Its a long story, I'm afraid it'll take too long to explain. But all I know is, she's got my par-dah, I mean friend! Friends!"

Limestone raised a brow at her. "You know, if you're dating another chick its not something to be ashamed of."

Trixie's cheeks went red. "R-Right, of course."

"Is there something going on with her?"

"Sort of. Its hard to explain, I've gotta go!" Trixie ran off.

Maud and Limestone watched as she left, running for the inside of the building. Limestone raised her fake limb up, the tool being replaced with a pair of tongs which clapped together.

"You know something Maud... I have a feeling whoever is inside wants to do something bad to Pinkie Pie. I can feel it," Limestone growled, the gears in her arm turning and whirring.

Trixie ran inside the building as fast as she could, gunning for the stairs. She ran up as fast as she could, but she slipped when her foot went through the floorboards. Rotten and weak, but at least she'd be out soon.

Coming up the stairs, she turned around and headed straight for the other set of stairs. But she stopped when she heard the sound of running footsteps. She stopped and she waited. Where were they coming from? When just at that moment, from the corner of her eye, she saw a girl running down the hallway.

"AAAAAAHHHH! Aria's going to kill me!"

Octavia dashed screaming and panicking right past Trixie, not even realizing she was there. She was too scared and frightened to even look back. Confused, Trixie looked down the other hall, looking to where Octavia had been running from. Nothing. Not a sight, not a sound, not a thing.

Shrugging, she ran up the second set of stairs, finally reaching the third floor of the mill. Now she was finally at the top. Now it was just finding her location. She walked towards one of the windows, gazing outside. She could see right into the courtyard. Only on the side from the wall she needed. Walking down the hallway, she stood before a set of three different doors. Remembering Maud's words, she walked towards the third door which had a big number 3 painted on it. The other ones near her were labeled 1 and 2. Obviously a final challenge.

"Oh, you're done now... you think you can hide from me? I know who you are now," Trixie growled. Thank you Limestone...

She put her fingers against the door, feeling the weak wood that was peeling away. Then with the fuel within, she useed all her might to use her foot as a battering ram. Trixie kicked the door open, allowing it to slam against the side of the wall. Her nostrils flared and her fists were clenched so tight they could turn pale. She stomped into the room, not caring about what damage she could cause next. She turned her gaze to the black head that was seen in the chair.

The rolling chair slowly spun around, facing Trixie. A black mask covering the entire body and head, making the identity impossible. Well, not entirely impossible. The spandex was so tight it stuck to the body, showing off the figure's curvy hips and chest.

"Trixie. I'm surprised to see you here. But I am glad to see you're here. Nice costume by the way," The Markless replied, calmly.

“Just give up the act. I know its you, Moon Dancer!”

“... You’re a buzzkill, you know that?” The Markless spoke.

The Markless slowly rose up from the chair, moving as slow as possible. Then, reaching behind the head, the figure unbuckled a few straps, allowing the mask to fall off. Once it was off, a spandex tight head piece was yanked off as well, allowing the figure to reveal the true colors beneath. Underneath that mask was exactly who she had expected. A girl with red hair with a purple streak, and yellow-tan skin.

“Remember me, Trixie?” She said.

Trixie gasped. She recognized this girl. It was all coming back to her now.

“I KNEW IT! I knew it was you!“ Trixie yelled. “But wait… why?”

The girl let out a small chuckle, with malicious intent.

"Oh Trixie... you don't get it, do you? The Rainbooms need to pay for their sins. They've been let off time and time again for the crimes they committed, completely unpunished... and there's only one way for them to finally be rid."

"But this makes no sense! Why go after my friends if you just want to get back at the Rainbooms?"

Moon Dancer quietly giggled. "Oh... because there are no innocents here. No one is innocent here. Those Dazzlings, living here for over 1,000 years, inflicting pain onto the great people of our nations... They need to go away, for good. And when I found out their existence, oh the people... those I once called my friends, and those who I thought were my family... they all claimed I was crazy. But deep down, I knew who they really were. Monsters."

Trixie didn’t like the sound of her voice, especially that condescending and mischievous demeanor. She gulped, hearing the disturbing chuckle from her throat.

"I begged and begged, but they wouldn't hear it," Moon Dancer said with a joking demeanor, "so they sent me to a mental institution, claiming I was crazy. But they just didn't know it... So I spent a year or two in that mental institution, awaiting for the day I would be released. But I vowed to never give up until I hunted them down..."

Trixie felt her body trembling. All of these words coming from her former friend. She only thought they were going to get worse and worse as she talked.

"Oh, and take a look at this..."

She threw a single folder at Trixie. Trixie unfolded the papers, and she skimmed through some of the documents as quick as she could.

"Abusive parents... claims existence of immortal sirens... extensive family history of unstable mentality..." Trixie gasped. She dropped the folder, completely in shock. Her eyes bulged out of her glasses as she looked back at the girl standing before her with a crazed grin on her face.

"Oh, what's the matter Trixie? I thought you knew. You're my friend, aren't you?" Moon Dancer giggled.

Trixie growled and she slammed the folder down on the ground still holding the doctor notes.

"You're not my friend. You were never my friend! Not after everything that's going on right now!"

Moon Dancer's smile turned the other direction, her smile slowly starting to turn into a grimace snarl. Trixie felt her heart sink. She didn't even realize what she had just said until now. But she was still mad.

"Moon Dancer, listen to me. You are not thinking straight, you're not well, you're clearly unstable, just listen to me right--"

"Oh I'm not going to listen to you. You've made it clear, I'm not your friend. Well... if I'm not your friend... then I will be... your enemy."

Trixie's blood began to boil and she grit her teeth together, exposing the hole of the lost tooth. "Shut up," Trixie growled.

Moon Dancer glared. "I'm sorry?"

"Shut up! Just, shut up already! Where's my friends? Tell me now!" Trixie ranted.

"No need to get angry, Trixie. I've got them right here."

She hit her hand on a button, and off to the sides, two single doors raised up. And behind both of them were Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Both of them were terrified out of their lives, and they were still bound and gagged just like they were in that video broadcast. Their hair was messy and they struggled to get free of their bonds, but it was no use.

Trixie was horrified to see them in this current state. She couldn't have imagined what they were going through right now. But there was one little problem…

"When I said I wanted my friends back, I meant all of them. Where is Adagio?" Trixie growled. But then, she stopped. A thought hadn't occurred to her before. "Wait a minute... how do you even know that they’re Sirens!?"

"Oh, Adagio? She's very close, actually. Always has been," Moon Dancer said, not even caring. She slowly began to walk to her desk, but she looked back to the girl with the lost tooth. A small leering grin crept up on her face, heavy mischief all over. "But as for how I know everything… You never knew this, but I was always watching you. And you never realized how much I've been close to you and your social activities. Oh, and next time Trixie? If there is a next time, watch upon whose toes you step in. Watching where you step, wouldn't hurt either."

Trixie blanked. What could she possibly--oh no. Looking down, she saw her feet were standing directly onto a big circle with a red X on them.

"Oh no," Trixie quivered.

"Oh yes."

She looked back up, and she felt a sharp needle pinch her shoulder. Looking down, she saw a small dart had hit her in the right spot. She went to try and pull it out, but she felt a little funny. Her vision was starting to get a little blurry, and the room started to get a little dark.

"I'm sorry Trixie. But I can't let you do this. I didn't want to do this, but you broke the rules. So... I'm gonna have to confine you to another spot."

Trixie tried to keep herself awake, but her attempts were futile.

"I'll get you for this... Moon.. Shaker… thing..."

Trixie fell down like a sack of potatoes. She didn't even see the shadow of Moon Dancer looming over her. And it was all lights out from there...

Chapter 13: Sick In The Head

Author's Notes:

Repairs have been made to the last chapter. And in doing so, I've got this short piece. Hope you all enjoy it! We'll get some more action in the next chapter!

Octavia still ran as fast as she could from the specter that she saw not too long ago. She wasn't going to die today, that wasn't at all on the list of things she wanted to do today!

But as she looked back, she stopped running. The specter she thought was there was no more. It was gone, thank goodness. But she still didn't feel safe with the precarious situation they were stepping in. As she walked forward some more, she felt her head pounding against her. It rattled and pounded, making her hold her head and cry from the pain.

"Agh, oh god...", Octavia moaned, her back hitting the side of a wall. Her teeth grit together, and she could feel the pain immersing through her. But it didn't help when she could feel stronger pain hitting her stomach. She held onto her stomach, nearly bent over about to fall.

But she wasn't about to let that stop her. Slowly moving, she kept walking forward with the pain in her head and her stomach.

"Octavia!"

Octavia winced from the loud sound, holding her head again. "V-Vinyl, please... please, no loud noises..."

She looked up and she was thrown off by a surprise hug from Vinyl. Her eyes sleepily looked at the tuft of blue hair near her, and she could hear the sound of heavy crying. She moved her hands up and she patted her on the back.

"V-Vinyl? W-Why are you crying?"

"O-Octavia... I'm so sorry... I am so so sorry," Vinyl sobbed, holding her friend as close as possible.

"Vinyl... w-what's wrong?"

Vinyl pulled out of the hug, her cheeks heavy and her hair tattered.

"O-Octavia, I... I have something to tell you."

Octavia's eyes winced, but she tried to keep them as open as she could.

"I-I... I'm.... I'm the reason your father is in jail!" Vinyl cried.

"W-What?" Octavia moaned.

"I'm the reason he's in jail! I didn't know how to tell you, but I'm the reason he's in prison! He was going to kill my mother and father at gunpoint, and I didn't no what else to do!" Vinyl cried.

Octavia's eyes tried to stay open, but she did hear and understood everything that Vinyl had spoken to her, under that sad mess. Her hand slowly went up, gracing Vinyl's cheek. Vinyl looked back up and could see a weak smile coming on Octavia's face.

"V-Vinyl... its okay. Y-You did... you did the r... right thing," Octavia tried to speak.

"B-But, he's in jail, don't you miss him?"

Octavia sighed, and she held onto her stomach some more. "Vinyl... ever since I've gotten older, my father has wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He said it right out in the open he didn't care about me anymore, and he hurt my mother. If anything, I'm happy I don't have to see that disgrace anymore. Don't beat yourself up about it, lass."

Vinyl sniffled. "R-Really?"

Octavia nodded, but she groaned as she held her stomach again.

"Octavia, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, its fine. I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You don't sound well."

Vinyl raised her hand to Octavia's forehead, feeling her temperature.

"You're burning," Vinyl gasped. "How long has this been going on?"

"I-I don't know, I-I guess... maybe an hour, hour or two... i-it doesn't matter, I... excuse me for a second!"

Octavia leaned over a railing, looking at the downstairs. Vinyl wondered what she was doing, but she cringed as soon as she heard the sound of Octavia retching, throwing up the contents in her stomach.

"Octavia?"

Octavia gasped and panted as she let her contents out. "V-Vinyl, I-I'm fine, its just a small sickness."

"This isn't small. You weren't this sick when we came here. I don't recall you ever being sick when we got here. Actually... wait a minute. Octavia, what was the last spot you went to?"

Octavia raised a hand up, and she pulled herself off the railing, collapsing onto her behind. "I... I solved a puzzle in the boiler room. There was a furnace, very poor construction into it... r-rusted, old... lots of smoke..."

Vinyl caught on.

"Okay, that's it. Octavia, I'm sorry, but as your friend, you're out of the game."

"N-No, Vinyl, you don't need to--"

"You're sick, Octavia. You've been exposed to something highly toxic, and its making you sick!"

Octavia moaned some more as she held her stomach. Knowing what to do, Vinyl reached for her radio and spoke.

"Vinyl here. Please, if anyone has their radio on, please, pick up."

"Lyra here, what's going on Vinyl?"

"Lyra, where are you? Is Bon Bon with you?"

"Yep! And Starlight Glimmer. Oh, and Flash is here too. And Muffins," Lyra explained, "We've got a big crowd. What's up?"

"Listen, I need you two here as soon as possible. I don't know where Amethyst is, and there is a high chance Octavia has been exposed to some possible toxic fumes," Vinyl stuttered with some stress in her voice, "I don't know if I'm correct in assuming so, but that's the most as I'm going to guess at this point."

"Understood! Bon Bon and I will be there shortly. Green Ninja, out!"

Octavia moaned some more. "Oh gosh..."

"Octavia, look at me."

Octavia's eyes winced as she looked up into the magenta colored eyes of her best friend.

"Its going to be okay. We're going to help you," Vinyl said, starting to calm down.

Octavia slowly nodded, breathing heavily.

"Just breathe, its going to be okay."

Octavia breathed some more, holding onto her stomach. "W-Where... where is Amy?"

Amethyst's body still stayed unconscious and out cold in one of the old factory rooms. Her body was sprawled through the destroyed desk, and she wasn't awake. The only sound even left in that room aside from some of the crackling of peeling paint and walls, was just the music coming from her media player.

Back outside

"Alright, Starlight, sorry, but we've gotta leave ya right here with these two."

"What? What's going on?" Starlight asked.

"Friends are hurt right now. And since you three are innocent, we need you all out of the danger zone," Bon Bon said, grabbing her medical supplies. "We'll be back real soon, just call us if you see something. Okay?"

"Okay," Starlight nodded, confused as Lyra and Bon Bon ran as far as possible.

With the two of them gone, it just meant Starlight to stand alone with Flash and Muffins who stood in complete silence. The two of them looked at each other and then back at Starlight.

"So... got any hobbies?" Flash asked.

"Well, uh... I like... kites," Starlight chuckled, nervously. "What about you?"

"Well, I like music," Flash said, holding his guitar.

"And what about you?" Starlight asked, looking at Muffins.

"Um," Muffins blanked. Instead, she just reached behind her, grabbing the tray off the bench which had a few muffins held. "Muffin?" She offered with a sheepish grin.

Unbeknownst to anyone, there was some activity going on that they didn't know. Not even the revealed Markless knew of such. But down in the boiler room, with the old furnace, something bad was beginning to unfold. The grate in front of the furnace rattled and shook, until it fell down with a hard slam. But it didn't stop. A small spark of flame jumped from the furnace, dancing on the ground. It only lasted for a second, and then went away.

The sparks however began to multiply more and more. And more and more began to burst, until the sparks began to ignite into small flames. But soon more and more began to jump, and a small fire began to burst. All the way down in the basement...

Chapter 14: Reunited

Author's Notes:

Short chapter this time. But a continuation either way. Hope you enjoy it!

Trixie's eyes slowly opened up to a bright light above. From where she was, it looked like she was far from where the light was. Looking up, she found a bunch of walls surrounding her body, and a giant hole above where the light came from. And just above that hole was Moon Dancer. Her eyes twitched and she had a crazed grin on her face as she stared down at Trixie.

"This is what's known as the end of the line, Trixie. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but you left me no choice."

Trixie groaned. "Moon Dancer, please, you're not well! You're not thinking straight! Listen, I know you want back at the Rainbooms, I completely understand why. Trust me, I do! I've had to deal with their bullying and terror for two years now!"

"Its not the same Trixie. You never had to deal with them like how I did..."

"How does that even make sense, they never even came together until Sunset Shimmer came here! And you never even attended CHS anymore!"

"You're so blind Trixie... but I guess it won't matter. You've made the changes to this game a lot more... interesting."

Trixie gulped when she listened to her change in tone. "W-What do you mean?"

"I said I wasn't going to hurt your friends, I promised that. But since you're beyond redemption... it's only logical that you and your friends fall. But don't worry, the Rainbooms are the only ones who will suffer. With several decades behind bars!" Moon Dancer declared.

Moon Dancer got up on her feet, starting to walk away from the giant hole that Trixie was in.

"Moon Dancer, get back here! You're not thinking straight!"

"Sorry, I can't Trixie. We're not friends anymore, remember? Hope you're not afraid of the dark!"

Moon Dancer walked away from the hole, leaving Trixie all on her own. Trixie just growled as she looked up, hearing the sound of her footsteps walking away.

"No, fortunately, I am not."

She groaned from the pain, as she tried to pull herself up. She felt her pockets to see if she had anything. No. Her phone, and her radio were taken. Of course. She felt her jaw, yep, still lost tooth. That was going to be bothering her for a while.

Looking down, she saw that same vanilla folder that she skimmed through. But why? Why were Moon Dancer's files with her? And did she intentionally throw the folder down with her?

Picking it up, she pulled out the first document.

"Patient #195, name Moon Dancer. Patient has unresolved childhood trauma, with the inclusion of an abusive father," Trixie read. Her face looked away from the paper with a deadpan look. "Of course..."

Shaking her head, she continued reading.

"Patient has made claims that three particular girls are in fact immortals, but our attempts to try and see through her eyes has been unsuccessful. She has also been very unstable with her emotions, as the therapist has described her mentality as unstable. Many violent fits of rage and anger targeted towards six individuals who she calls the 'Sonic Rainbooms'. We do not believe she is ready to go back out into the public until she regains control of her mentality and brain..."

Trixie groaned and she tossed the paper to the side, her head hitting the wall behind her.

"She's beyond redeeming," Trixie sighed. "Just wonderful... but how am I gonna get out of here?"

Trixie was about to get up when she heard the sound of legs sliding on the ground. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She wasn't alone in here, she could feel it.

With caution, she slowly turned around and gasped. She wasn't alone after all. And the person she was with? It only made her burst with joy. Against a wall, sitting on her behind, was Adagio.

"Adagio!"

"Mmm... Trmxmm?"

"Oh, right, hold on..." Trixie said.

Trixie leaned over, moving towards Adagio's body. Her hands were cuffed together in front of her, and she could see a blindfold and gag on her mouth. She removed the blindfold, allowing her eyes to wince at the burst of light. But as her eyes readjusted, a twinkle of hope ignited in her eyes. The girl she loved was right before her... and it was a sight that was nothing short of beautiful.

Trixie carefully peeled the duct tape off Adagio's mouth, and pulled the cloth that had been balled up and jammed. As soon as her gag was completely off, Adagio let out a hard cough, finally able to breathe again.

"T-Trixie... is... is that you?" Adagio coughed.

"It is!" Trixie beamed.

She tackled Adagio, giving her perhaps the biggest hug she could give. Adagio tried to hug her back as well, moving with what she could. A few soft whimpers escaping her throat.

"Hey, its okay," Trixie softly said. "Its okay, I'm here..."

Adagio sniffled, "I... I was so scared... I thought she was going to do something to you, and I... I just... I don't know what I would have done if she did something to you."

Trixie pulled out of the hug and looked to her girlfriend with a hopeful smile. She wiped a tear away from her face, giving her the most calm and gentle look she could offer.

"Its okay. I'm here now," Trixie smiled.

Adagio for once in those few days she was away, felt happy. A small but weak smile formed on her face.

"I... I can't believe you came all the way out here. F-For us?"

Trixie nodded with a smile. "I would never leave you Adagio. Never. You're my girlfriend. And I'm honestly happy just to see you again. Are you okay?"

"Well I can safely say I am glad to see you too, although I am not happy you got dumped down here with me, but now that you are here, I'm more happy to see I'm not alone. Am I making sense?" Adagio said quickly.

"Sort of. Just, please, try to stay calm. Are you okay?"

Adagio sighed. "Well, I'm thirsty, and I'm starving of course, and until you were thrown down, it was pretty lonely in here. But otherwise, I am fine. I don't like the bonds though," Adagio struggled to yank the handcuffs off, but to no avail. "Trixie, I'll admit... I... I kind of enjoy being tied up... and gagged," Adagio blushed, "But this? This isn't fun or okay for me. At all."

Trixie's cheeks heated. "That was more information than I needed to hear..."

Adagio blushed again. "S-Sorry..."

"... anyways... I'm just happy to see you again," Trixie said, holding her close. She gave her a kiss on the lips, to which Adagio tried to pull her closer, sharing a longer kiss. Her lips still tasted like sweet candy, something she always treasured about her.

"But how are we going to get out of here?" Adagio asked.

"I don't know. But we have to get out of here fast. Moon Dancer's completely lost it. She'll kill everyone if we don't put a stop to her!"

"But why?"

"She's a psycho, Adagio! There isn't any sense or logic left in her brain now! Its just nothing but wasted memories and boiled up rage... I wish I could convince her otherwise, but there's no use."

"Anyone need a lift?"

A flash of bright light hit the hole they were in. Looking up, Trixie gave a smile. Just above them were Maud and Limestone who looked down at them.

"Maud! Limestone! How did you find us?"

"That Moon Shaker girl practically gave you two away. We just asked what she was doing, and she just said she threw you in a hole," Limestone shook her head, unamused. "Why would she even give away her plan?"

"She's lost it Limestone! She's completely insane, that's what it is! And if we don't stop her, she'll kill our friends, and worse, she could kill your sister and her friends."

Limestone's eyes twitched. "WHAT!?"

Trixie and Adagio flinched.

"That's it! We're kicking that girl's butt! If she's gonna be messing with Pinkie Pie, she'll be messing with me!"

"Yeah, mind getting us out first?" Trixie asked.

"Hang on. Let me check my tools first," Limestone called.

"Limestone should have a tow cable with her gear. Just tie the rope to yourselves, and she'll pull you up."

Limestone reached to her tool belt, pulling out a line. She flipped open a panel in her prosthetic limb, replacing the axe with the line. On a side of the tool, there was a small lever to move in a circular motion. Using that lever, she lowered the rope down to the bottom of the pit, allowing Trixie to get ahold of it.

"I'll get you out first," Trixie smiled, tying the rope around Adagio's cuffs. "Be careful when you pull Adagio up! And if you have something strong to cut through metal, I suggest pulling that out! She needs her cuffs off!"

"I have some sheers. Don't know how strong they'll be, but we'll give it a shot!"

Adagio used her legs to try and climb on the wall, while Limestone tugged and tugged to yank her up.

"So who is this Moon Shaker girl that threw you down here?" Limestone asked.

"Long story! We'll tell you on the way, but we've got to get out, fast! I hope everyone is okay though..."

Chapter 15: Round Up

Author's Notes:

So sorry for not updating this, I've had a lot of projects on my plate I was preoccupied with. Real life projects, not fanfic stuff. But its up, and I thank you all for your patience.

Anyways, hope this chapter was worth it! And if you see any mistakes, let me know. Kinda did this all in one day, so there's bound to be some errors.

Enjoy!

Octavia still stayed on the floor, her back against the wall while Vinyl stayed put and kept her company. Thankfully, right around the corner, Lyra and Bon Bon came rushing inside. And with Bon Bon; a medical kit.

"We came in as soon as you called and--oh my gosh, Octavia!"

Octavia moaned in pain, "H-Hey, Lyra... B-Bon... B-Bon..."

"Shh..." Vinyl whispered, pushing her back so she didn't move. "Don't move. Bon Bon, you're the closest thing we have to a doctor, can you take a look at her?"

"Of course," Bon Bon took a knee down and looked Octavia in the eyes. "Now, Octavia. Did you break any bones?"

Octavia slowly shook her head, still in pain.

"Where is the pain emanating from?"

Octavia held her stomach, patting herself.

"Did you eat anything before we walked in here?"

"Bon Bon, I just told you, she inhaled some fumes!" Vinyl said.

"Okay, okay, I'm just asking. Now, where was she when she took in these fumes?"

"Boiler room. Faulty furnace," Vinyl answered.

Bon Bon nodded. "Well right now, the best thing we can do is get her out of the building and with the cars. And as soon as we get her out, we got to take her to a hospital."

"But what about the Dazzlings? We can't leave them!"

"We're not going to leave them. One of us will need to get her to the hospital, but everyone else will still be working on this messed up game," Bon Bon said, reaching under. Carefully, she reached at Octavia's sides, and hoisted her up, holding her in her arms. "Now I just want you to stay calm. Its going to be okay."

"She's perfectly calm to me," Lyra pointed.

"I was telling myself that," Bon Bon replied. "Now where's Amethyst?"

"That's the other thing, we don't know. Wev'e tried calling her time and time again, but we're not hearing anything," Vinyl's hands slapped her sides.

"Well maybe she's--"

Lyra shushed them. She raised a hand up, and she looked down to one of the vents. She put her ear to it, listening. A soft but audible sound came through. What sounded like a man singing.

Now I gotta cut loose, footloose
Kick off the Sunday shoes

"Its Amethyst, definitely her."

"But where's it coming from?"

Lyra put her ear to the vent again, listening for the sound.

"Down a level," Lyra gestured, urging Vinyl to follow.

"I'll take Octavia to the cars," Bon Bon said, rushing out the hallway with her sick friend. Now Vinyl and Lyra were on their own.

The two of them ran down stairs, and they kicked a set of double doors open. Inside, they saw more abandoned equipment lying about. Treadlines, along with broken pieces of robotic arms were strewn about, more broken windows and peeled paint, and a bunch of dust enough to make a giant pile to jump in.

Lyra coughed as she wiped away some of the dust.

"Where is she?" Lyra asked.

Vinyl turned her head and gasped. "Lyra... I found her."

She skipped to the broken desk, observing the unconscious girl. The media player clipped to her belt was still playing music.

"I-Is she..."

Vinyl leaned down to her chest. She listened closely, and she sighed with a happy relief. "Thank goodness. She's still alive."

Carefully, the two of them raised Amethyst up, and Vinyl swept her into her arms.

"Lyra, do you see anything broken? Any splinters, possibly cracked bones?"

Lyra looked at the exposed skin that Amethyst had. Nothing. She shook her head.

"Well, that's good. Though I imagine that fall must have hurt really bad," Vinyl cringed, thinking about the pain. Together, the two of them ran out of the assembly room and on their way outside to where the others were.

By the time Vinyl and Lyra made it outside with an unconscious Amethyst, they found Flash, Muffins, and Starlight gathered to where Bon Bon was, over with the rest of the vehicles. They watched as they went into the RV, and ran inside with the others.

Bon Bon carefully set Octavia down onto the couch, with the others beside her.

"I'll turn on the cooling system," Flash said, going to the main driving controls.

"I'll get her some water and a trashcan," Muffins added, walking away from the sick girl.

"And... I guess we'll just stay here."

Flash turned the key around in the ignition, flipping on the cooling system from the air ducts above. And Muffins came too, putting a trashcan beside Octavia's side in case she needed to let some contents out, and a cup of water in case she needed it.

"Flash, mind if we borrow your other couch?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Vinyl set Amethyst down on the other couch, moving all of her limbs onto it so they weren't sticking out.

"What happened to her?" Starlight asked.

"She fell through a desk. It doesn't seem like she's in worse shape, but I'd suggest taking her to the hospital with Octavia, just to be on the safe side," Vinyl said.

"But what do we do now? Trixie's still out there, and we can't just give up on this game."

Starlight watched everyone's faces and reactions. None of them were good. Trixie was missing, two of their teammates were out, and there were still kidnapped girls for them to find. But since she knew Trixie, she had a guess that she was okay. But not knowing what her current state was, there was only one option in mind.

"I have an idea."

All eyes peered to her.

"Well?"

"You girls try and get help, while I go in there and try and finish this game."

"What!?" Everyone yelled.

"You can't be serious."

"Are you insane!? You can't just go in there alone!"

"I'm not," Starlight answered. "That's why I want Muffins and Flash with me."

"Huh?" The two tilted their heads.

"They need to attend to their friends, and right now, you two are all I can ask for right now. Whoever this Markless person is, she or he is all on their own. But if there's more with me--"

"-- there's a bigger chance of taking them down, including finding our friends. I like it," Flash grinned.

"Me too!" Muffins smiled.

"You know, this doesn't really make sense, why not just--"

"--Gotta go!"

Starlight, Muffins, and Flash all whipped out of the RV in a puff of smoke. One minute they were there, the next they were gone. And they didn't even get another word of dialogue out to them.

"And that's the last time I try to point out the flaw in someone's logic," Vinyl said, her hands slapping her sides again.

The three ran inside the building once again, only this time, they ran straight for the main office building. The assembly rooms were huge, but Starlight had an idea for where the masked person could have been hiding. And just in case they would need to fight, Starlight held her 'staff', Muffins had her bow and arrows, and Flash had his guitar held on his back.

"Forgive me for asking, but how do you know where they would be hiding?"

"Well, think about out. If you were a super evil villain, where would you hide if you were in an abandoned mill?"

"Probably somewhere dark and damp," Muffins sheepishly said.

"Well if I was evil, I think I would be up in a space that's not being used, and would probably be the last place to ever be found."

"Well that's exactly where we're going to be looking. And if I'm wrong, then we'll keep looking," Starlight approached.

Up another floor they went, and the three of them got up to the top of the third floor. As they walked up, they looked on the ground and saw a set of painted arrows leading down a hallway. The trio, cautiously, walked down the hallway following the painted arrows.

Once they turned around, they found a set of three doors, all of which had painted numbers on them. But one door in particular they found stood out a little more. Door number 3. In fact, the door looked like it had recently been put back up, like someone had finished fixing it and put it back up.

Carefully, she moved her staff towards the door and gave it a small tap. Without even doing a thing, the door slowly creaked and it fell down inside the room. All three of them jumped through, going inside the room. And sitting in the chair, was the masked 'Markless'.

"Starlight Glimmer. I'm surprised to see you still around. I thought you would have left by now," Moon Dancer said, still using the distortions in the mask.

"Why would I have gone?"

"Because Trixie's friends don't trust you. After all, you never met any of them, and considering the circumstances, I estimate that you would be considered rather... untrustworthy."

Starlight didn't act viciously, despite the insult given to her.

"Trixie can trust me, I'm her best friend!"

"Forgive me, but I fail to see how you're her best friend. Especially in regards with some certain information she hasn't told you. You two haven't talked to each other for a long time, correct?"

Starlight's anger slowly loosened.

"Yeah..."

"So then how can you be friends if you haven't talked in like, forever?"

It was Flash's turn to speak. "Because even if you haven't talked to someone in a long time, saying hi every once in a while is a sign that you still hold onto them as a close friend! And you don't know what goes on, for all you know, they could be too busy to talk!"

"Oh really?" Moon Dancer said, standing up. A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Oh Starlight Glimmer... I feel so sorry for you. Not only are you clueless as to what I'm talking about... but also what's gone on in her life in general."

"She tells me about her life!" Starlight yelled.

"Really? Well if she tells you everything, then I'm sure you can guess as to why I took those Dazzling friends of hers."

"Well, uh..." Starlight was a pause. She didn't know. She really didn't know. All she knew was that these girls were friends that were being held hostage by a madman, but that was it. She had no idea of what relevance or purpose they were even taken for.

Moon Dancer laughed. "You don't know? Seriously? Wow, Trixie must really not trust you."

Muffins and Flash stayed silent and looked at each other. They knew exactly what she meant. Only question was how was Starlight going to take it?

"What are you talking about?" Starlight asked, pointing the staff at the masked figure.

"You're an idiot."

"Just tell me!"

"Don't get mad, now, I'll explain. You see, Miss Glimmer, you don't know this... but this world's seen some things. And I've seen some things. And never in my life did I expect immortals to exist. And that's exactly what those special friends of Trixie are. Nothing but pure, immortals."

Starlight blanked. "I'm sorry, what? I'm confused."

"What part of pure immortals do you not understand?"

"No, I hear what you're saying. But that's impossible, no human can be immortal."

"That may be true. But these girls... they aren't human. They never were human. They are something far greater... Sirens."

Starlight looked back at Muffins. Then she looked at Flash.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little--"

Moon Dancer laughed.

"So its true then. Trixie doesn't trust you. She doesn't trust you enough to tell you that her new friends, and her new girlfriend for that matter... are immortals. Sirens. Monsters. Beyond this world!"

"Okay, we get it! Just let them go!"

"Oh no girls and boy, we're not done yet. You see, I called Trixie and her friends here for a purpose. They're here to play the game I've had to play many years ago... But after a talk with Trixie, she convinced me to engage in a new plan. I promised I wouldn't kill, but that option is out the window. So, my choice is clear. Kill you all... and then when the evidence is brought together... and place it on those Sonic Rainbooms."

All three of them took a step back.

"WHAT!?"

"You want to murder them!?" Flash yelled.

"Why would you want to do that!?"

"Because, Muffins... the Sonic Rainbooms need to pay for their crimes on this world, and there's only one way to do it," Moon Dancer eerily chuckled, "I've got no sanity left to lose. If I have no friends, no family, they're all no more. I'm nobody. And because no one believed me when I offered hard cold evidence... then its time I took matters into my own hands. And I'll show them, I'll show them all! Even those crooks at the mental institution, I'll show them the truth! And when they find out, oh, they'll be begging, I'll make them beg for forgiveness!"

Flash was disgusted. "Are you kidding me!? You're just gonna go straight to flat out murdering people?"

"Yes, I am. But because you all know my plans, I'll have to kill you all too."

But she didn't get to finish her sentence. The sound of knocking was heard against the brick wall on their left. Everyone's head turned, and they could see a few pieces of concrete brick falling and crumbling. And soon the pieces began to grow bigger with each one that fell. And more and more and more came down.

Curious, Moon Dancer stood up, and grabbed a knife from the desk she worked at.

But with zero warning, the entire wall was completely smashed down. And the source was a heavy pound sledgehammer, held in the prosthetic limb of Limestone pie. Her teeth were seething and her nostrils flared. And standing beside her was Maud; still emotionless as ever.

"I would put that knife down if I were you," Maud said, monotonously.

"And when she gives a warning, she doesn't repeat it!" Limestone growled, holding the sledgehammer with her other hand.

Moon Dancer froze.

"Well. If it isn't the two Pie sisters. I thought you were mining for gold."

"They were."

Trixie stepped over the debris, walking into the room with everyone else. And right by her side was Adagio Dazzle who was beyond infuriated.

"What!? How did you get her out?"

"You're not exactly subtle, Moon Dancer. And telling people your plans is one of the stupidest things you could have ever done," Adagio spat. "Now, I like to suggest you hand over my sisters, now."

"And what are you going to do about it? You have no magic, no powers, no transformations. You have nothing."

Adagio raised a brow, and a smirk crept on her lips. A small chuckle left her lips, and Trixie had a smug look standing next to her.

"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

"You are quite dense, Moon Dancer. You think we rely on our magic to survive? The only reason me and my sisters are still alive, is because we learned to live in your world. We learned how to survive and adapt with your people," Adagio said, walking off to the side. She walked idly past her friends, and started to move towards the two doors. "And even with how intelligent you were, you wouldn't have died either way. Hurt, yes. But death?"

Adagio softly giggled as she kept Moon Dancer's attention. "Death is inevitable, but immortality is a blessing. Well, for us."

Moon Dancer had no idea what was happening behind her. She was too focused on Adagio that she didn't even see Trixie sneaking up to the desk behind her. With a single touch, Trixie pressed the big red button on the desk which she saw Moon Dancer press before. She knew what that button opened up.

And in a split-second, the doors slammed open to show Aria and Sonata still being held in captivity.

Everyone gasped, finally seeing the two remaining Sirens.

"Oh my god," Limestone said, legitimately horrified. "You are a monster."

"No, no, stay away from them!" Moon Dancer shouted.

"Or what?"

"Or... I'll... I'll turn on the force-field!"

Adagio gave a deadpan look at Moon Dancer, completely unamused. Not even caring, she just walked through one of the doors, and helped Aria walk out. And then to the other, and helped Sonata out.

"How insane are you?" Flash asked.

"She's completely lost it Flash, that's all there is to it. She may be right about who the Dazzlings really are, but she's going out of her way to try and prove their existence. She doesn't care about who she hurts anymore, she just wants to prove herself right!" Trixie snapped.

"So its true then! They are Sirens or whatever they are?"

Trixie and the Dazzlings all turned their heads at Starlight who looked shocked beyond relief. Adagio had a nervous grin on her face, chuckling nervously.

"Um... yes."

Starlight blinked. "How long did you know about this?"

"I found literally a few weeks ago," Trixie answered with complete honesty. "I was still trying to take all of this in, the thought of telling you never crossed my mind at that time!"

"That's kinda true, we're still trying to get used to this," Flash added.

Adagio carefully pulled the gags off Aria and Sonata, who coughed heavily, finally being able to breathe again. But still keeping precaution, Starlight kept her staff pointed at Moon Dancer.

"But wait, something doesn't add up. If they're all here then... where's Fluttershy?"

Moon Dancer chuckled. "Oh, you mean her?"

She slammed her fist on the control console, and a new door opened up. And behind that door, tied up and gagged, was Fluttershy. Same restraints as the Dazzlings, and just like them, she was absolutely terrified. She looked scared beyond belief, and she never wanted to be here.

"Fluttershy!" Everyone shouted.

Aria and Sonata, now freed pulled her out of that enclosed space, helping her out. And to keep Moon Dancer from doing anything else, Limestone equipped a harpoon gun and pointed it at the masked girl, while Maud stayed on her other side.

"Bleugh!" Fluttershy coughed, disgusted. "Keep... that girl... away from me!"

Her words sounded mad, but they could see it in her eyes, she was more scared than angry.

"Don't worry. This girl isn't going to be near you for some time," Aria growled.

"What do we do with her?" Limestone snarled, biting her tongue.

"I say I pull out my mace and strike her weak points," Sonata tightened her fists.

"No, that isn't enough. I say, give her the Charisma Grimstone treatment," Aria said.

"Wait."

Trixie got everyone to stop speaking.

"I just want to say something right now. Moon Dancer... I'm sorry."

Moon Dancer looked at Trixie with a confused and yet deranged look. Not that it could be seen under that mask.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm sorry. Look, I know we were friends once, and we didn't talk to each other for a really long time... but you know something. I'm honestly glad I'm didn't see you again."

Everyone gasped again.

"After everything that you've done, kidnapping our friends, forcing us to go through your sociopathic episode, and now having plans for murder, I don't know what would have happened if you met my friends just casually!" Trixie yelled. "And for that matter, what would you have done if you got close to the Rainbooms that way? And believe me, I understand where part of your hate is coming from them, believe me, I do. In fact, I'll admit this, I've got no shame in this... But I wanted them far away and hauled off to prison!"

Fluttershy took a step back, in awkward silence.

"Yeah, I'll admit, I wanted them gone! I wish they never came together, and I wish they didn't try to make my life a living Tartarus! But you know something? I'm glad they did, because if they didn't, then I probably would never have met any of the Dazzlings or any of the friends I have now! Yes, I wish I could have met them without being the socially awkward and coward that I am, but I never did anything to try and murder them!"

She took a step forward, gazing Moon Dancer's eyes through the goggles.

"Its one thing if you want revenge, but its another thing if you've got murder into your revenge plan," Trixie snapped.

As Trixie spoke as loud as she could, with everyone's attention, Starlight just stayed quiet and listen. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but at the same time, she was happy to see Trixie was alive. But having friends who were immortals? And a girlfriend? It was all news to her.

Unfortunately her eyes were caught on something else. From the vent behind her, she could see some black smoke puffing from the grate.

"Uh, girls?"

"--And I don't care what you say Moon Dancer, if you wanted back at them so bad... then you should have gotten them back at them in a non-violent way."

"Is there really any non-violent way to get back at someone?" Sonata asked, tilting her head.

"Girls?"

"Its possible, I know it. I mean if Amethyst can put paint-bombs in someone's locker, I'm sure she could have done something non-lethal like that. Only damage that would have happened was getting coated in paint and staining your clothes," Trixie shrugged.

"Girls?"

"Yes, Starlight?" Trixie asked.

"Why is there smoke coming from the vent?"

Trixie blinked with confusion. And everyone else for that matter. Everyone's pupils turned their gaze towards the vent, seeing black smoke rising from it.

"Moon Dancer, did you set off a trap in there?" Trixie sneered.

"Admittedly, nothing ever came to mind with the vents," Moon Dancer replied, taking the mask off.

Starlight took a whiff of the smoke from the vent, her nose scrunching.

"Is something... burning?"

Aria's jaw lowered. "B-B... Burning?"

Worried, Trixie led everyone back through the door, and out into the hallway. More smoke had been rising above, as the entire ceiling was nothing but a giant cloud. And even more so, everyone started coughing from the smoke.

"Fire? FIRE!" Trixie shouted.

"Everyone, out of the building, now!"

Taking her chance, Moon Dancer belted Limestone and Maud in the stomachs, putting her mask back on and started to run.

"M-Moon," Trixie coughed, "Moon Dancer's getting away!"

She coughed some more and she started to run.

"Trixie, wait! Where are you going?"

"Someone's gotta stop her! I can't just let her get away!"

"Well then I'm going with you!" Starlight shouted.

"Me too!" Limestone added.

"I'm with you."

"Same here!" Muffins added.

"Count me in!"

"Wait!" Adagio interrupted.

"Adagio, I have to stop her, we can't just--"

"No, listen to me. She has our pendents!"

"Why does that matter?" Starlight asked.

"Its more important than you realize, Starlight!" Trixie yelled, coughing and wheezing.

"But wait, if you're going then... then stay safe."

Trixie smiled back to her girlfriend. "We'll get them back. I promise. Come on, we gotta stop her! Everyone else, go outside and stay with the others! Lets go!"

Everyone screamed with as much rage and fury as possible, and they started to run down the hall where they saw Moon Dancer flee. Adagio watched as they departed, well, mostly. The smoke made it hard to see, but she could see where their feet had run.

Adagio whimpered softly. Stay safe, Trixie...

Chapter 16: Burnin', Burnin'

Author's Notes:

Alright, so we are close! Now if I'll be honest, I feel like the climax is going to take a little longer, so I'm gonna dedicate the next chapter to be the big climax. Hope this was worth the wait, and hope you enjoyed this!

Stay tuned, we're almost out of the fire!

The fires continued to billow, a smog forming above the sky just above the factory. Black as the night with a mixture of coal. Adagio, her sisters, Fluttershy, and the rest of the SOTS (who were still awake) watched as the fires burst out of control. But what made it worse is one of the giant stacks suddenly burst and exploded, creating a bigger fire than before.

The boom made them all flinch from the sound, as well as the shake of the ground.

"Oh Trixie, where are you?" Adagio whimpered.

Trixie and her substitute gang of allies all ran down the hallway, chasing Moon Dancer. Their energy kicked up higher and higher as they ran, mostly because they were getting clear of smoke. But the mission was still in their heads; stop her and don't let her get away.

"I wish I had a Gatling gun built into me!" Limestone shouted as she pointed the harpoon weapon in her arm at Moon Dancer up ahead.

"Save that, we might need it for later!"

"Are you kidding? Its retractable!" Limestone grinned.

She winded her arm back, and with her mind honed to the circuits, a sharp arrow launched from the firing hole and right down the hallway with a chain attached to it. The arrow didn't hit Moon Dancer, but it penetrated right through a broken wall. Groaning at her failed attempt, the arrow yanked itself right out and flung right back the launching mechanism like a magnet.

"Save that gun for later!"

The girls chased Moon Dancer up a flight of stairs, following her right through the door she slammed shut. But once it opened up, everyone stopped moving when they looked at where they stood. They were on a bridge, high above the factory. But the bridge wasn't the scary part! The scary part was the inferno down below...

"Oh my god!" Limestone yelled.

The fire that smoked the inside of the building had clearly shown to have spread. The fires had grown much bigger, and they were quickly spreading. No more were they contained in the boiler room. They now went straight through some of the stacks, and continued to get higher and higher.

"Keep running!"

Everyone didn't look down, but looked straight ahead and followed Moon Dancer down the other door. The door led them down a spiral staircase, and everyone rushed to get straight down to the bottom.

"So what do we do when we find her?" Muffins asked.

"We're gonna stop her from escaping, we've got to do that first!"

Once they made it down the stairs, Trixie slammed the door open, with everyone following close. They were in another assembly room, and the smoke was high in the ceiling as well. But there was no sign of Moon Dancer.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Flash asked. "Lets go!"

"Hold it, lover boy," Limestone snapped.

She bent down and touched the gravel on the floor with her real hand. With the black dust visible on her finger tips, she raised them to her face and sniffed.

"She's here."

She turned her other arm to the left, the harpoon gun whirring and whizzing. With a timer ding, the arrow sprung from the barrel and broke right through a desk, and into the wall. Everyone's heads turned, looking at the desk she broke through. But the desk itself started to creak and moan from the pressure of the shot. Chips started to fall off and the wood began to fall into splinters, until the entire desk fell apart in half. And not even surprised, everyone looked to see Moon Dancer behind the desk.

Moon Dancer snarled and she picked her feet, going off on the run again.

"Lets get her!"

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up!" Limestone shouted, trying to yank her harpoon arrow out of the wall.

And just like that, the chase was back on again. Following her some more, they chased her down another hallway which was less smoky. Moon Dancer glared at them a few times as she ran.

"You won't get away, Moon Dancer. You've got nowhere to go!"

"Just you wait. The entire place is gonna burn down, and you all with it!"

And Moon Dancer grabbed a random rock, throwing it back at them.

"Just get back here so I can kick your butt!" Trixie shouted.

They turned around another corner, and all of them came to a grinding halt. Moon Dancer smirked at them, and for good reason. Right before them was a giant gaping hole in the floor. Too big for them to jump across.

"Can't jump from this ledge, now can you? And its too bad, you would have gotten these."

Moon Dancer dangled one of the pendents in her hand, the string intertwined with her fingers.

"Its a shame really, now those Sirens will forever be human. No singing, nothing to grant them their powers anymore--"

Trixie looked to Muffins who still had her arrows on her. "Muffins, if you can, shoot an arrow at the pendent. Try to get them out of her hand."

"Isn't she going to see me shoot at it?"

"Yes, but she's also a complete idiot, and she's mono-logging right before us and wasting time."

Muffins wanted to argue, but there was no time. At this point, she wasn't going to question anyone's logic, especially since they were on a very time-sensitive situation. So with Moon Dancer completely oblivious to the situation (and making everyone in front of her question her stupidity), Muffins pulled out her bow and arrows, ready to shoot.

Her eye locked onto the pendent, and she held the arrow out as far as possible, given how strong the string was. Then, she let go of the string, allowing the arrow to fire.

The arrow had some wide fins, and as it flung towards the pendents, the strings got caught in the fins, all of which were snipped from the strings and tapped onto the floor and out of Moon Dancer's palm. She gasped when saw the arrow zip past her and snarled. Her fists were clenched tighter than a bolt screwed into a car.

"Okay so you got the pendents, but how can you catch them from this big a gap? And how can you stop me if you can't even catch me?"

Moon Dancer ran down the hall, leaving everyone in shock and confusion. Now how were they going to chase her? They couldn't exactly jump across that big gap, none of them would reach it! Not only that, but they didn't know how low the floor underneath them was, so there could have been a chance of them possibly getting in more pain if they tried!

But right down below them, they saw a girl in black spandex and the same red hair running on that floor.

"Going down!"

Acting upon instinct, Flash sat on the ledge and jumped down, his feet landing on the second floor.

"Not that big a jump guys! Just slide yourselves down!"

"But the pendents!" Trixie cried.

"I'll get the pendents!" Muffins said. "You guys, just keep going! I'll get them to the Dazzlings!"

Trixie smiled. "Okay, thanks Muffins!"

"Anything for a friend!"

Trixie and Starlight sat on the ledge, and they jumped down to the next floor. And so with Flash, the three of them ran off once more. And Muffins? Well, she looked at the pendents which sat alone on the ledge in front of her. Well... if the others could get down, and if Moon Dancer clearly just ran down a floor... then she could too.

She sat on the ledge, and carefully pushed herself to try and slide off. Just a few more centimeters, and she'd be off. One last push, and she was off the ledge. Unfortunately, her body didn't act to land on her feet, and instead she slammed onto the floor, on her stomach, her arms and legs spread like a spider.

"OW!"

A cloud of dust spread around her when she hit the floor, a soft moan of pain emitting from her lips.

"Now I need a doctor..."

Flash, Trixie, and Starlight all chased Moon Dancer down some more hallways, occasionally bumping into more destroyed junk along the way. But the further they charged at her, the more smoke came their way. The smoke around them became blacker and blacker, and it was almost as if they were heading directly for the source. And making their way through another door, they all stood frozen, in spite of the heat.

The flames had gotten to the corridor of the building they were standing in, and they were blazing all around. They were up on the walls at this point, and the smoke had risen up the ceiling.

"Holy..."

"Smokes..."

Starlight and Trixie looked behind them. Was Moon Dancer going to strike there? Was she going to attack from the right, or the left? No, she wasn't there. But--

"Hiya!"

They looked in front and both of them screeched from the pain of hard metal hitting their faces. Falling down, they looked up at the raging revenged-crazed woman before their eyes. In her hands was a piece of sheet metal which she used to smack them.

"If I can't have my revenge today, then I'll be happy to finally put the stomp on you girls!"

"Hey!"

Moon Dancer looked behind and gasped. Flash held his guitar like a baseball bat, and smacked her right across the face with it, making her growl.

"You... You son of a--"

A support beam dropped from the top of the ceiling, falling onto the ground near them. Moon Dancer only growled some more, and ran off once again. This time making an escape through a single door.

"Alright. Lets--"

"Wait, I know where she's going!" Starlight yelled. "She's heading right for the main floor, where all of the hot metal is poured! We can cut her off there!"

"Okay, well lets go then! Flash, you get out of here!"

"But shouldn't we--"

The two girls didn't listen. Instead, they ran through the single door while Flash grabbed his guitar and started to walk towards the exit.

"Well, okay then. That's... that's happening."

Flash ran outside just in a nick of time. And there, he could see the rest of their friends gathered by the collected vehicles. Muffins thankfully grabbed all of the Sirens pendents, and all of the Dazzlings were clutching them with relief. But they were still worried about the remaining people inside, and the fires that were getting bigger and bigger.

"Where is Trixie?"

"And Starlight, for that matter?" Lyra asked.

"They're still inside!"

"WHAT!?"

"They told me to run out, they're gonna cut her off in the main entrance!"

"But this place is burning faster than a forest, they can't stay there any more, they gotta get out!"

The flames reflected in Adagio's eyes, watching the fiery inferno before them. A dark thought lingered in her head, her inner heart praying that it would never be the case. But thankfully, her dark thought was interrupted for a split second. The sound of firetrucks blaring their horns, along with police cars and ambulances started to hit their ears. And the sounds got closer and closer...

Chapter 17: Tricks In The Fire

Author's Notes:

And so this fight has been done! I hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned, we're not done yet! We've still got a few more chapters to go!

Hope it was worth the wait!

The fire department, along with police crews and ambulances arrived at the scene. There, they could see the fire breaking out and dressing the entire steel mill. For the safety of the teenagers, they all moved them far away from the fire so that the firemen could pull up and deal with the flames. The hoses were turned on, and so one by one, everyone moved to try and remove the flames that were engulfing the building.

"Officer please, you need to let us in, there are still three girls in there!"

"We have crews stepping in as we speak, but we can't let you through," The officer sternly said.

"Sir, please! They could die in there!"

"Ma'am, I'm just doing my job, but I swear we're going to get them out."

While Adagio was stressing out of her dear life, everyone who was still awake could only look at each other in worry. Hopefully Trixie and Starlight would be okay....

Back inside, the fires spread even more in the big hangar. Starlight and Trixie were struggling to try and find Moon Dancer, wherever she was. She had to be in there somewhere. They beat her to the punch, and they were going to finally take her down! At least they hoped.

"You've got nowhere to run, Moon Dancer! Why don't you come out now, and this won't have to end horribly?"

Moon Dancer's snarl could be heard, even with the intense flames.

"You ruined everything!" Moon Dancer yelled. "Why can't you see that they need to go!?"

"Because killing us and probably them isn't going to solve any of the problems! It may be easy, but it solves nothing!" Starlight yelled.

"Moon Dancer, I know where you're coming from! Yes, what they did was awful, incredibly awful! Heck, you know what? I actually wanted them to go away and never come back to CHS ever again! But that's not going to automatically solve the problem here, especially if they will still live in the same area and find where you live! And for the record, I don't think killing any of us will be pinned on them, its going to lead directly to you!"

"As if! I've got just enough evidence to make them look like the ones at fault... the ones who were always at fault... and if I can't kill them... then I think I'll kill you!"

Trixie's heart dropped. She heard the sound of a loud yell as Moon Dancer came running out of nowhere, ready to stampede Trixie to the ground. Jumping just in time, she watched as Moon Dancer charged into a pile of junk, failing to jump on her.

"Ow!"

Moon Dancer jolted back up, and heaved as she looked at Trixie and Starlight. Trixie braced herself and she flicked out a few magician items she thought could be useful for this situation.

"You really think a few toys are gonna--"

Trixie threw a smoke bomb at her face, making her cough and blinding her vision. Trying to blow the smoke away, she ran forward, hoping she could charge at her oppressor. But when she cleared the smoke bomb, they were out of her way. Whipping around she was met with a punch in the face from Trixie; a hard punch.

"OW!"

Moon Dancer yelped from the punch and nearly fell back, but didn't. She cupped her face and looked into her hand. Blood had come from her nose, which only made her more enraged.

"Didn't take you for a fighter, Trixie!"

Trixie growled and she pulled a magician's wand. Only it wasn't a tiny black and white stick. With one pull, it extended into a full fighting bow, long enough for her to carry in both hands.

"Your broadcast terrorized our city, your mind games scared my friends, your tactics kidnapped my girlfriend, your insanity led you on a downwards spiral, and you hurt my family!"

Trixie's teeth grit together and she held the bow as tight as she could. And by her side, was Starlight Glimmer. She held her staff with a tight grip like Trixie's, and she pointed the prongs at the unstable girl.

"I'm not leaving until I see you defeated, and off to jail!" Trixie yelled.

Both Trixie and Starlight charged at Moon Dancer, and the fight was on. Both of them threw their bows down to smack Moon Dancer, both of them hitting the sides of her face, and her thighs. Moon Dancer growled and she pulled out a knife, a switchblade to be precise.

As she took a few steps back, she found herself backing into something hard. Looking back, she smirked. A few metallic barrels containing gasoline. Just the thing she needed to buy a bit more time. She punctured the knife into the barrel, and yanked it out. A gush of gasoline began to spill from the barrel and onto the ground. Then she punctured another one, allowing more to spill.

Now that she had just enough out, she went back into the fight. She swung her knife at Trixie who tried to get away from every knife slice that had been attempted. No way was she having her skin sliced open! She lost a tooth, she wasn't going to lose any blood!

She swung again, her arms flailing like the inflatable characters you would see outside of car dealership places. She clearly had no control or idea on how to make a proper attack, which only made this fight easy for Trixie and Starlight. For five seconds.

Upset with her lack of progress, Moon Dancer grabbed a blunt piece of steel that she could carry with her hands and began to swing. This time, she swatted Starlight in her back, throwing her onto the ground and on her stomach. Upset to see her friend down, Trixie swung again, this time in a locked position with Moon Dancer. Two pieces of weaponry against each other, neither moving or sliding to make a new attack.

"You know what's funny Trixie? I almost thought about saying hi to you and considered talking to you and your new friends," Moon Dancer chuckled, "But I guess its too late for that now, because you're going to die today!"

Moon Dancer, having her chance, punched Trixie's jaw, and as she was distracted to tend to the punch, she swatted the piece of metal and hit her right in the head. Her head swung to the side, and with it, her body collapsing to the ground. She tried to get herself up, but her eyes slowly closed from the pain, and everything went black.

Moon Dancer's legs were wobbling and shaking from the fight, but she wasn't about to give up so easily. Not when she had the chance.

"And you know what else, Trixie? You're the worst friend that anyone could ever have," Moon Dancer growled, getting ready to swing. But as she was about to throw it down on her body, it was stopped just in time. A long stick of wood coated with protective covering blocked the swing.

The unstable girl was confused. Until she looked back up and realized who had blocked the attack. Still standing, was Starlight. Starlight used her staff to move the steel off and jabbed Moon Dancer in the gut and forced her away from her down friend.

Moon Dancer sneered. "You...", she pointed at Starlight. "How can you still be friends with her? She never called you. She doesn't trust you enough to even tell you that those girls were monsters."

Starlight looked back down at the knocked out Trixie, and then back to Moon Dancer with a straight face.

"Because I know there was a reason she couldn't tell me. And she's still my friend, regardless of what she does or doesn't tell me. Friends don't have to share every single secret. And if there was something big about those girls, then it's fine if I don't know. But what's not fine with me is when their lives are put on the line from a psycho who has no sense of reality anymore!"

Starlight twirled her staff around, and pointed the prongs at Moon.

"Just you and me now," Moon Dancer chuckled. "Well your luck has just run out!"

She was about to point her knife back at Starlight and throw it. She swung her arm back, and she threw it as hard as she could. But it didn't hit her. Instead it just flew under Starlight who ducked from the throw and it hit the ground behind her. Starlight stared back in complete unamusement.

"You're really bad at this."

Moon Dancer went to swing at her again, but Starlight swatted at her fists with the stick. Every punch she tried to swing, she used the staff to either block the punch, or move her hand the other way. Moon Dancer just growled at every failed attempt to take her out.

"Give it up Moon Dancer!"

Starlight swung the staff around and swatted at her foot. Then once she stopped moving and turned to the pain in her leg, she swung the staff again this time hitting her in the gut. One more hit and she'd be done! She swung it again, and smacked her hard in the face, forcing her to drop to the ground on her back.

Starlight tapped the staff onto the ground, as a sign of victory. She panted heavily, looking down at the defeated girl. But Moon Dancer wasn't down for long. She pulled herself up, and stood up on her own two feet. Up above, she watched as one of the support beams fall down and break into pieces on the ground, behind Starlight and Trixie.

"Time for us to part ways, Starlight. Sure I may have failed today, but I can guarantee to you and those girls that I will come back one day, and I will finish you all!"

"That's every cliche in the book, can't you think of something else?" Starlight groaned.

"We're all going to die in five minutes, you pinhead! Later!"

Moon Dancer dashed from Starlight's view, running straight out of the open hangar door. She ran as fast as she could, an expression of anger and revolt on her face. Unfortunately, she didn't think about the police officers ahead who could see her. Even more so with the girl with the prosthetic limb pointing her out.

Just as she was about to charge through, her body was hit with a strings which sent mild electric shocks through her body. The tasers made her jolt and convulse, until she fell to the ground from the shocks.

"Mind if I break her bones?" Limestone asked, raising her prosthetic limb up, showing the sledgehammer now in its place.

"Sure. That is if you want to be arrested with her," The police officer replied sarcastically.

Limestone rolled her eyes. "Buzzkill."

Starlight was about to pick up Trixie until she saw more of the ceiling start to crumble and fall apart around her. Scared out of her mind, she picked up Trixie with all of her might. But as she was about to go, she looked down. Somehow in all of the heat and flames she saw a strange liquid-like substance spilled all over the ground. Her eyes bulged. The gasoline. And worse, it was slowly leaking its way towards the fire.

Now was the time to go. She went to pick up Trixie, grabbing her with all of her might. She swung the staff on the strap on her back, carrying both with her. With the strength of a lion rising inside her, she ran out of the hangar, as fast as she could. She had to run, she had to run now!

Just up ahead, she saw a group of police officers and firemen who were keeping people away from the impending destruction. Just a few more feet and she would be safe.

Inside, the gasoline had moved all its way to the fire. A single touch of the flame, and the flames began to dance on the gasoline, following the single path that it had been streaming. And it would only be a matter of seconds before it would hit the gasoline barrels.

Running harder and harder, Starlight didn't look back. And right at that very moment, the entire building began to be completely engulfed in flames, with the sound of an enormous explosion followed with it. The gasoline tanks exploded, and it began to blow the walls of the hangar away. Walls came tumbling down, steel pieces and parts hailed the skies, and tiny sparks rained down.

As the walls were destroyed from the explosion, the entire room of the hangar began to fall down, and with it, more of the walls until the entire hangar was nothing more than a fallen house. Everything came falling down, nothing was standing anymore. And with it; the rest of the steel mill began to come part of the death. More of the buildings came down, lines and pipes melting away, and smokestacks tumbling down from the weak supports.

By the time the explosion went off, Amethyst and Octavia had been moved into the ambulances.

"Sir, please, you have to let us through! They're still in there!" Adagio pleaded.

"Ma'am, we have search crews already moving in on the double, they'll find those girls, I promise."

"That's what you always say, and then you never do!" Adagio panicked.

"Wait, Adagio, look!"

Just up ahead, in the smoke, they saw a shadow. A shadow of a girl walking towards them. And when the smoke began to clear a bit more, the Dazzlings including the other awake Rainbooms could see it was Starlight Glimmer. And in her hands, was an out cold, and covered in dust, bruises, and cuts; Trixie.

"Oh my goodness, Trixie... what did she do to you..." Adagio whimpered.

Starlight walked towards the group, holding the girl close to her. A scared look was visible on Starlight's face as she brought her out, and everyone else was just as horrified. Jaws were down, eyes glued. And no one said a thing.

"Is... Is she--"

Starlight looked back to the former Siren with a worried look. She wasn't sure. Adagio leaned her head to her chest, listening carefully. A small sigh escaped her breath, but she was still scared.

"Her heart is still beating," Adagio moaned.

"So she's still alive, that's great!"

"Yes, but she's hurt!" Adagio cried. She looked up at Starlight with a whimpering face. "P-Please... m-may I?"

"O-Of course..."

Carefully, Starlight carried her over to Adagio's open arms, allowing her to hold her close. Adagio held her as close as she could, hugging her. The girls could hear her sobbing as she held that unconscious girl close. None of them could even imagine how upset she must be right now.

"I'm so sorry... I should have gone in to help you..." Adagio wailed.

"Miss Adagio?"

She looked up, tears streaming down her face. In front of her was a police officer and two paramedics who had a small flatbed to help put Trixie on.

"We're gonna get her to a hospital. I promise she'll be alright. And for the sake of all of your health, you all are coming with us so the doctors can take a look at you all. One of you said something about being exposed to some fumes?"

Vinyl nodded, "Yes, I did. My friend, Octavia, she was exposed to some flames in the boiler room, and that's when she started to get sick."

"All the more reason for you all to come to the hospital," the officer replied.

"But what about Moon Dancer?" Starlight pointed at the girl in handcuffs, being shoved into the squad car. Moon Dancer glared back at her with a 'your dead to me' look.

"She's going to be going away for quite some time. Kidnapping, hacking into television networks, attempted murder, and the inclusion for what she forced you all to go through," the officer said, staring back at her. "I can guarantee, she's not going to be getting revenge anytime. The judge is going to conflict some pretty heavy punishments for her."

The police car blared its siren as it drove away with the scowling Moon Dancer. Everyone watched as she was taken away from the scene. Hopefully for good.

"Now we better get you all to the hospital, stat."

A crew of paramedics picked up Trixie, moving her onto a medical flatbed and into the ambulance.

"Wait! Please, may I ride with her?"

"You may."

Adagio got into the back of the van, standing close to Trixie with absolute distress. Starlight joined as well, moving in with her. Everyone else who was still stable enough to drive got into their cars, with the inclusion of some police officers joining them.

The sirens of the first police car went off, and he led the group. Soon after, Lyra and Bon Bon followed, with two ambulances behind them. Not too long after, Flash's RV came to follow the group, and the last ambulance and police car. Everyone was off and moving at a fast speed.

Adagio looked down to Trixie, holding her hand. Only the sounds of the sirens were sounds she could hear. Everything else was nothing but deaf to her. Praying she would still be alive, her hand wrapped around Trixie's as tight as possible, unwilling to let go.

Chapter 18: Recovery

It had been dead silent ever since they made the trip to the hospital. For Adagio, felt like all senses around them were now completed muted. No smell, no taste, no sound. Only sight.

Hours went by after everyone had been taken to the hospital, the time now being 5:00 PM. Amethyst and Octavia were put into a room that they all shared together. But Trixie was set in her own room. The clothes she had on her body were replaced with the hospital gown. No IV unit, for she was only asleep. For hours now, she had just been asleep in that bed. Adagio never left her side. She never wanted to leave. She wanted to pray that Trixie would be okay, and she hoped she would be okay. But her body wasn't responsive, and it only made her tear up just looking at her.

Time went by fast for everyone else. For everyone who was still awake, they had emergency checkups done. Thankfully, the doctors found nothing that was toxic or unhealthy in their bloodstreams or in their immune systems. Octavia had been taken in for a bit of a checkup, and luckily the doctors came to help her right away.

Everyone who wasn't in need of intensive care sat out in the waiting room. Aria, Sonata, Vinyl, everyone. Even some of the others like Flash, Muffins, Limestone, they were all gathered with them. And Fluttershy, Fluttershy of all people was sitting with them! But what surprised them even more was even with her presence... she didn't act like herself. She wasn't ragey, ranting, angry, nothing. Instead she quiet. Extremely quiet. In fact, she looked shaken up. Of course, no one could blame her, having being held hostage and possibly planned to die. But it was like a whole new person was before them.

"F-Fluttershy? Are you okay?" Vinyl asked.

Fluttershy didn't answer her. Instead of answering her in the same ranting tone, she just looked away from her with a shy voice.

"I... I-I'm fine..."

Vinyl wanted to ask again, but considering Fluttershy's current state, she would probably prefer to have been left alone. So she didn't bother badgering her with more questions.

"How's Adagio doing?" Lyra asked.

"Not good. She hasn't left Trixie's room since we got here. Nothing's enticing her to get out," Aria shook her head.

Lyra frowned. "Poor girl..."

"What about Octavia or Amethyst? Are they--" Bon Bon asked before she was interrupted.

"Excuse me. Are you girls with Miss Star and Melody?"

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. In fact, Amethyst is up and awake, and Octavia seems to be recovering from her sickness."

Everyone gasped. "They're okay?"

"Seems oddly fast," Bon Bon commented.

"Yes. But we're going to have to give them some time to get their strength back. When they've fully recovered, we'll let them come out and join you girls."

"Their recovery won't be long, right?"

'Shouldn't be, no. But once we can confirm they're completely okay, we'll let them out so they can join you girls."

Getting their confirmation of understanding, the doctor walked away, leaving the cluster of teenagers in the waiting room. Accompanied silence fell upon them.

"Soo..." Starlight said, holding a coffee cup she purchased from the nearby cafe, "Um... Mind if I ask you girls something?"

"Of course."

"Okay, so... I'm still trying to comprehend all of this, but is it true? Are... are those two Sirens?" Starlight said, without any subtly.

Aria and Sonata scowled.

"How long do you think it'll take for her to put it all together?"

"No, no," Sonata said with her hand up, "Lets let her figure it out... make it a little more fun."

"So... um... is there is something I'm missing?"

Lyra held her head, scrunching her forehead. "Kore wa shibaraku jikan ga kakarimasu..."

"Okay, is no one going to tell me what's going on?" Starlight complained.

"Anata wa kanojo ni shinjitsu o tsutaerubekida to omoimasu ka?" Lyra asked, looking to Bon Bon.

"Maybe if Trixie wakes up and everyone's okay, we can discuss everything at dinner," Bon Bon replied.

"Wait, does she really not know?" Flash asked.

"No, she doesn't. Well, mostly."

"Why does everyone keep calling them Sirens, I don't get it!"

Limestone rolled her eyes, watching the gears in her prosthetic limb turn and whir.

"Pinkie explained everything to me. Took a while to digest, but the thing with her, is you don't question her. Period," Limestone shook her head, bouncing a small bag in her hand.

"Oh everyone, look!" Muffins called.

Everyone's eyes turned to the TV, broadcasting a local news station.

"--And in other news, the mystery man, or should I say mystery woman who calls herself 'The Markless' has been apprehended. Local police were reported to an abandoned steel mill outside of Canterlot where she along with a handful of teenagers had been found..."

The cameras displayed the entire steel mill, engulfed in the flames.

"... Witnesses explained that this Markless person had put them through a life and death struggle to try and get the kidnapped girls back. The girls who had been held hostage have been rescued, and the mystery woman has been apprehended by the police. I can guarantee we won't be seeing that masked maniac for a long time. Adding on to that piece of news that I am telling you all here today, it would appears that masked villains aren't the only things we have here in Canterlot."

Video footage outside of CHS caught the SOTS team all in their masked outfits and costumes, talking among themselves in the morning that they made their trip.

"As you can see from this person's camera, it would seems as if there are indeed superheroes in Canterlot, as these girls were found at the scene, rescuing the kidnapped girls. And if you don't believe me, take a look at this!"

Another video was put on, gluing everyone's eyes to the screen. Starlight's eyes bulged out of her sockets from what she was seeing. This was... real? All of what she was seeing was happening before her eyes? This couldn't be...

On the news, there was footage caught of a blazing, fiery, raging she-demon attempting to thwart off the SOTS's attacks. All the while a Hydra-like manifestation was fighting a three-headed creature; with corresponding colors of the Dazzling and long necked sea-pony heads. The very night the final Battle Of The Bands took place.

"Make what you will of it folks, but those same girls who had rescued the girls, had been found in the last week of September, fighting what looks like a giant raging she-demon in front of Canterlot High!"

Starlight blinked and rubbed at her eyes. "Is... is that--"

"--Oh, its real," Flash smirked.

The camera caught a few shots of the girls fighting with their small forms of attacks, mostly from the handheld common objects that were all they could afford as actual weapons. After a few shots of that, the camera went around to the three-headed Dazzling creature who was clawing at the Hydra.

"I think I speak for dozens of Americans today, in which I can tell you right now, monsters are in fact, real. This was caught in the public eye, along with several passer-byes catching that three-headed beast stomping downtown with those girls. Could this beast be a secret weapon of these heroes, or possibly a close ally?"

Aria and Sonata were now the ones smirking, both of them fist bumping each other. Starlight slowly looked back at the two sisters, her jaw hitting the floor. Eyes as wide as fried eggs.

"Is... is that... are you two--"

"Only 2 out of 3 of us. The other one is keeping her eye on Trixie," Aria said with a smug look.

Starlight slowly shook her head. "H-H... H... HOW!?"

"All of that stuff about us being Sirens? Well, its real. What you are seeing right now, are two inter-dimensional seaponies from a parallel dimension," Vinyl said completely straight.

Starlight still had a hard time trying to buy everything. "How are you... how can you say that with a straight face?"

"Starlight, these girls brought us all together. They patched up my friendship with Octavia, they helped us not be afraid of who we are, and they saved our planet. They're not just strange creatures from another world to us, they're... they're family."

It was Sonata's turn to smile, "Aww, Vinyl... that's so sweet of you!"

Vinyl blushed. "Oh, you..."

"If I may... Perhaps we can go back to the fact that we were shown on the news?" Bon Bon asked with some concern. "What if our parents see that, they'll know what we all went through!"

"--None of us can get a clear photograph of these superheroes, but we cannot deny how proud we are of their heroic acts and bravery in the midst of saving those girls. What are they hiding, who are they really? We may never really know," The news reporter said.

The camera changed back to the man who sat at the desk, reporting on the news.

"But if there's a chance those girls are watching this channel right now... This is coming from me, thank you. We cannot express how thankful we are to see such bravery and heroism in the most strangest and horrifying of situations. This is Incognito Mike, here from the Canterlot News Network. Back to you, Wiretap."

The broadcast ended, and the channel changed into its commercial break. Starlight was nothing but short of shocked.

"Um... uh... what... I... can't..."

"Oh boy. This is going to take a while," Bon Bon shook her head.

6:30

Adagio stayed put by Trixie's bed, nothing but distress stayed on her face. Trixie's limp body still wasn't responding, or waking up. Adagio sniffled as a tear went down her face.

"T-Trixie... if there's any sign that you're still awake and can hear me... I... I want you to know that... I love you. I love you more than life itself, and if you're not coming back... then I hope there's some part of you that will still be alive to hear one final song."

Adagio whimpered as more tears fell down her face.

Upon one summer's morning...
I carefully did stray...
Down by the Walls of Wapping
Where I met a sailor gay

Adagio's hand moved, touching Trixie's palm. Her fingers intertwined with hers, and more tears ran down her face.

Your hair it did in ringlets
Your heart as black as coal
May happiness attend you
Wherever you may go

My heart is pierced by Cupid...
I disdain all glittering gold...

Adagio felt a choke in her voice.

There is nothing can console me...
But my jolly... sailor... bold...

Adagio's head hung and her tears hit the concrete floor. She let her disheveled hair hang down, and with it, her sorrow. Her eyes slowly closed as she sniffled some more. But as she hung her head, her eyes jolted wide open. She felt a small tug on her hand.

Lifting her head up, she looked to where her hand was gracing Trixie's. Nothing. It didn't look lively. Or even like it was moving. Frowning, she put her head down again. But there it was again.

She saw Trixie's fingers slowly moving in her hand. And they started to move some more and more. Even more so as she held her hand all the more tightly, not wanting to let it go. Adagio gasped and she looked up, gazing at her face. She saw those blue eyelids slowly start to open, and wince at the bright light above.

Those same purple eyes continued to open even more, and looked to the side, seeing the girl with puffy orange hair by her side. Adagio couldn't believe it. Was she truly awakening? Was she...

"Am I... am I your Jolly Sailor Bold?" Trixie asked, a smile slowly moving on her face.

That single word was nothing but music to her. And that voice? It only sounded more majestic. A smile graced her face as nothing but pure joy took control of her. She pounced on Trixie's body, placing her weight on the bed. Trixie grunted from the impact, but she still allowed Adagio to give her one giant hug. She held her tight, never letting go.

"Y-You're... you're okay!"

Trixie was completely awake now, having the big jump on her bones from her taller girlfriend. But she hugged her back, smiling to embrace her true love once more. Adagio beheld that adorable face. There was no worry, no fear on Trixie's face. Nothing but pure unbridled joy. Just the way Adagio liked it.

"Adagio? A-Are you okay?" Trixie asked.

Adagio pulled from the hug, looking at Trixie with the most happy look she had ever seen.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Adagio cheered, more tears of joy coming down her face.

Trixie's other hand cupped her face, her finger stroking her cheek. The way Adagio leaned into her hand was just downright adorable. And those eyes? Oh, those eyes just made her cuteness even more adorable.

"What happened? H-How... how did I get here?" Trixie asked.

"I think we can answer that. If maybe Adagio can get off of you," a voice chuckled.

Adagio blushed as she got her body off of Trixie. And coming into the room were none other than Starlight Glimmer and the rest of their friends.

"Starlight? You're okay!"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I... I thought that--"

"Moon Dancer didn't beat me. She escaped before I could take her down, but thankfully there were some police officers who tazed her silly."

Trixie blinked. "Okay then... So she's--"

"She's going away for a really long time, Trix. For good!"

Standing by Starlight, was Octavia. And she didn't look sick. Wasn't moaning in pain, she didn't sound sick, she looked as healthy as a horse!

"Not only that, but Octavia and Amethyst are back to their good old selves again," Sonata smirked.

"Good as new again, victory!" Octavia cheered, shouting loud.

"Octavia, shush! There are people trying to sleep!" Vinyl called out.

Octavia grumbled, "Sorry..."

"So... what else did I miss?" Trixie asked, sounding unsure.

"Nothing much really. Every one of us got a checkup, we're all okay," Amethyst shrugged.

Trixie stared at Amethyst. "Are you... are you sure you're okay? None of you have any other issues going on that need addressing?"

"Well... I did learn a little bit more about a little something with my dad..." Amethyst sighed, holding her head.

"Whatever you heard, it can't be true, right?" Vinyl asked.

"I don't know. Moon Dancer had vital information about us, and I don't know if I saw was true. Only way I'll know is... if I talk to my dad about it," Amethyst said, sounding a little worried.

"I'm sure whatever it is, it's gonna be okay. He loves you doesn't he?" Adagio asked.

"Yeah..."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Adagio smiled.

"Ugh. I hope so," Amethyst shook her head.

"Okay, well... are we... allowed to leave? Or..."

"Actually, I checked with the staff. They said as soon as you woke up, you should be allowed to leave. They did a complete check of all of your vitals, you're 100% healthy!" Adagio grinned. "Although the lost tooth is a bit of an eyesore..."

Trixie flicked her tongue at the spot where it was lost, her hands cupping her mouth.

"I think I may need to go to the dentist... oh, no, not the dentist!" Trixie muffled.

"It'll be fine. But in the meantime," Bon Bon said, "We agreed to invite some new friends of ours out to dinner, and we brought a fresh set of clothes for you!"

Carefully, Trixie got off of the bed, and stepped onto the cold floor, barefoot. She happily accepted the set of clothes from her friend, while Amethyst and Octavia looked out the big window, gazing at the city down below.

"Thanks," Trixie accepted the set of clothes handed to her.

"So really, just a change back and--" Octavia turned around, and for a split second, her eyes bulged out of her head and she looked away, --Whoa! Whoa! Whoa, alright then..."

"Well, well, well then," Amethyst cringed, looking to the other side.

Both girls stared away as they stood behind Trixie.

"What? What's wrong?" Trixie asked, looking back at Octavia and Amethyst, with only her head.

"Trixie. You're nude."

"All nude, yep."

"Well, duh, I'm wearing a hospital gown," Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but I can see your butt for crying out loud, I don't want to see that!" Amethyst cringed.

"Can't you tie that down?" Octavia gagged.

"Girls, I'm not going to be wearing it for much longer, besides I'm gonna change out of it soon," Trixie said, shaking her head.

"Seriously though, at least cover that at up! I don't need to see that!" Octavia shouted.

"Ugh, she's so nude!" Amethyst revolted.

But unfortunately a pair of socks fell from her grip and fell on the floor. She was about to bend over to get them but--

"No, no, no, no!" Octavia cried, cupping her eyes. "At least let us get out of the way..."

Amethyst and Octavia slowly stepped from the back view of Trixie, standing with the rest their friends who could only see the front of her.

"Great, that's going to be in my brain forever," Amethyst moaned.

"Blimey. I'm going to have to watch a gore-fest to get that image out of my head," Octavia stuck her tongue out.

Trixie could only blush a little bit, a small chuckle escaping her lips. But Aria and Sonata looked back at Adagio, and the two of them shared a cheeky grin.

"I think Adagio likes what she sees," Sonata giggled.

Trixie glanced back, and looked to see Adagio turning the other direction so Trixie couldn't see her blushing.

"She was checking you out Trixie," Aria laughed.

"No, no I wasn't," Adagio said, unconvincingly.

"Yeah you were!" Sonata shouted. "You were totally gawking at her!"

Trixie's face heated up, and a nervous grin came onto her face. She looked back at Adagio who was sharing the same look.

"You were... you were checking me out?"

Shamefully, Adagio could only give a single nod. No use in trying to lie to her girlfriend. Starlight was the one to speak this time, with a little bit of giggling.

"Perhaps we'll leave you two alone for a bit?"

"No, no, its fine. I'll just uh... I can just change real quick, and then we can head out for dinner," Trixie said, her face practically on fire.

She stepped into the bathroom, closing the door while everyone just waited. And Aria and Sonata were still giving Adagio the most mischievous looks ever. They were going to have so much fun from what they saw.

"So, Adagio..."

Adagio chuckled with a red face. "W-What?"

"You were totally checking her out," Amethyst smirked.

"No I wasn't!"

"Yeah, you were. You're just as bad as she is when she was checking you out."

"No, I'm not!"

"Why you lying Adagio, you can't deny it," Amethyst shook her head.

Adagio's face only went more red.

"Wait, is she--"

"Her girlfriend? Yes. Yes she is," Octavia replied.

"How did she get a girl like her anyway? I'm not trying to be insulting or anything, but isn't she a bit out of her league?" Starlight asked.

"Yep," everyone said in unison.

"So how did she even get her?"

"Trust me, its a lot harder to explain," Vinyl shrugged.

One second later, Trixie stepped out of the bathroom with her new set of clothes on her body.

"Ah, that's better," Trixie sighed, stretching her limbs. And without warning, she was given another big hug from Adagio who swept her off her feet; both figuratively and literally. Trixie giggled from the hug, holding her in a big embrace.

"Welcome back to the land of the healthy, Trix," Octavia smirked.

Trixie smiled. "Thanks Octavia."

Starlight giggled. "So, what are we going to--"

This time, Trixie was the one giving a surprise hug. Out of nowhere, she grabbed Starlight and held her in a big hug, Starlight was surprised for a second, but she reciprocated the hug and rubbed her back.

"Thank you," Trixie whispered. "For everything."

Starlight smiled as she hugged her, "Really, you don't need to thank me."

"Starlight, a proper thanks is in order. You helped us out when we needed it, and without you, I'm not sure what would have happened to Trixie," Adagio said.

"And, I believe some apologies are in order for not trusting you, so... I'm sorry for how we acted towards you," Vinyl rubbed her head.

"Girls, that didn't bother me," Starlight said, poshly moving her hands. "I understand you were all under a lot of stress, and quite frankly, I don't think I could blame any of you if I was in a situation like that."

Trixie smiled.

"Well it doesn't matter now. We're all back together again, and we're all alive still."

"Group hug!"

Everyone joined together for one massive group hug, sounds of relaxing and calmness coming from each one of the girls. They were back together again. They were free! The mission they had hoped to complete, had been completed!

"Now what do you say we go out for dinner and celebrate? We're heroes, are we not?"

"Not really, no," Bon Bon bluntly replied.

"Still, some dinner would be good! You know, after we pay the medical bil and... check in on everyone else and... yeah we've got to pay the bill first," Vinyl shook her head.

After paying their bills and everything else they needed to, the group of 10 walked back to the waiting room where Flash, Muffins and the others were hanging out.

"Hey guys. Say uh, I don't know if you were interested or not but maybe... want to go out to dinner with us? Our treat. After all, you guys did help save the day."

"I love to but I can't. I need to get home soon," Muffins said, shaking her head.

"Same here. My dad's probably worried sick about where I've been," Flash added.

"Well, what about you two?" Starlight asked, looking to Maud and Limestone.

"Look, you go out to your fancy-pants dinner, we've got to get home. Well, after we've taken Pinkie's friend home," Limestone complained.

Fluttershy still didn't say a thing, still scared, still worried.

"Um... are you sure, I mean we could--"

"We'll get her back, I promise!" Limestone yelled.

Maud only looked up to Starlight and Trixie with her usual monotonous look.

"We'll make sure she gets home safely. I'm sure Pinkie Pie and her friends will be relieved to see her okay."

"Well, alright, if you insist..."

"One more thing."

They looked back at Limestone. She stomped over and stared down at Trixie who felt like a mouse compared to Limestone's height. Her fierce glare and her curled up lips made her look like she was about to start ranting again.

"You still need to talk to Pinkie Pie. Just make things up with her, and she'll automatically love you."

Trixie blinked. "Um..."

Lime rolled her eyes, "Not literally!"

"No, no, I got that. Just... okay. I'll talk to her Monday morning, I'll apologize to her, and I'll try to make things better."

"You either do or you don't. There's no trying. You just do."

Trixie nodded fast. "Right, right. So, uh, okay, very nice meeting you both and, thanks for the healing concoction and--"

"Hold. Up."

Trixie felt herself shaking again. What was Limestone going to say to her now? She looked back to her, and for once that evening, Limestone's face changed to a more friendly outlook. Trixie heard her prosthetic limb whirring and turning, and Limestone taking Trixie's hand, opening it up. When she had her palm open, she looked to see Limestone holding a small sack which was bigger than her hand, but it was tied with rope at the top. She plopped it into her palm with the tongs, and then put her arm back down.

"You helped my sister and I strike some gold. Only fair you get some gold as well. Get a gold tooth, splurge out on junk food, or whatever it is you teenagers do these days."

Limestone walked away, leaving Trixie dumbfounded.

"Oh, well, uh, thanks!" Trixie called back. She turned around, joining the rest of her friends who walked together, side by side, leaving the hospital. Their faces were nothing but smiling, happy to be back together. No more were they in the prisons of fear and darkness. Now they were free, back in the land of bright sunshine and big cities.

Author's Notes:

Don't leave just yet, we've got one more chapter to go!

Hope you enjoyed this one!

Oh, and a shoutout to CSC for allowing me the use of one of his OC's for this chapter!

Chapter 19: The End

Monday came. And the girls were coming back to school once again. And just like usual, everything was back to its calm self. Well, mostly calm. Students still rushed around trying to get to classes, but they didn't care. They were happy to be back in a place where there was a lot of people around. Trixie stayed by Adagio's side, keeping her close and providing comfort. Her hands graced her girlfriend's, and she felt proud to be walking with her. She was happy to show everyone that Adagio was hers, and no one else could have her.

Walking in, almost everyone's eyes turned to the nine girls who entered. It was like stepping on a twig in an owl habitat, and all of them had their heads facing them.

"Um... hello."

The silence was in the air for a few more seconds, as everyone's heads and faces turned to happy and joyful. Many voices overlapped with one another as they started moving towards the returned girls.

"They're back!"

"The Dazzlings are okay!"

"Who was that girl who hurt you?"

"Way to go Trixie!"

"You rock, Song Of The Sea!"

"Everyone, stop!" Trixie boomed.

Everyone stopped talking, allowing Trixie to speak.

"Look, that girl who kidnapped them? She's a nobody, and that's all there is to her."

Everyone groaned.

"Well, at least they're back. You girls okay?" One of the students asked.

"We're fine. Really, we're fine. But from this point on, we're taking extreme caution. If any of you see anything or hear anything that's wrong, tell someone, immediately," Adagio instructed. "I don't want the same thing to happen again. None of you need to go through what we did."

Everyone calmly nodded and murmured, understanding the seriousness of her voice and tone.

"But wait, what about the stuff on the news? All of Canterlot has seen you guys, they know who you are."

"Actually, they just saw superheroes and a three headed monster. They don't know its us. Oh, geez, no, I just admitted it," Sonata cupped her mouth.

"Hey, its alright," another student called out. "Look, we know you guys were trying to protect us, and we know you were all just trying to get your friends back. And as far as I'm concerned, we've all made an agreement not to tell the world or anyone who you girls really are."

Everyone nodded. But before anyone could say anything else, the bell rung.

"Awww!" Everyone whined before rushing off to get to their classes.

Trixie still held Adagio's hand as they went to their classes. She looked to her face with a hopeful smile.

"Looks like they still have our backs," Trixie grinned.

Adagio smiled for a brief second. "Yeah, I... I guess so."

As the day went on, the girls were welcomed with a lot more appreciation and sincerity from those around them. Praises all around for their efforts in saving the Dazzlings. And even stranger, Fluttershy was seen back at school, but oddly, no one bullied or harassed her. Everyone left her alone.

Word got out from the Dazzlings of her kidnapping and the attempt on her life. Fluttershy was scary enough as it was, but this was a different kind of fear. The only fear seemed to be from Fluttershy, and it was like she was scared to even talk to anyone, or say anything. Just like the SOTS saw before, it was like a completely different person from the one they knew.

Meanwhile, Trixie turned around another corner, and she stopped. Pulling stuff out of a locker, was Pinkie Pie. A small glint of guilt plagued her head again, remembering how she acted when the Rainbooms were only speaking the truth. Sure, yeah, they still had work to do to gain their trust, but she had to admit, she acted rather rash towards them. But how to build up the apology was the question.

Turning around so she could think--

"Hi!"

"Ah!"

Trixie fell on her back from the surprise. Looking up, she found Pinkie Pie standing above her with her more natural puffy and energetic hair with a grin.

"Whoopsie! Sorry!"

She helped Trixie get back up with a simple yank, throwing her off guard.

"Oh, uh, hey Pinkie. How are you?"

"I am amazing! My sister Limestone came back after a really really reaally long time! And she's still a big grumpy-pants!"

Trixie tilted her head.

"Eh, anyways, what's up with you, silly?" Pinkie grinned.

"Oh, right, um... look, about what happened last week, I... I wanted to say I'm sorry. Look, I was upset, I was scared, but--"

"Hey."

She stopped and looked Pinkie in her big blue eyes. She patted Trixie's shoulders, providing an understanding look.

"Its okay. You just wanted them back, I understand. I know that not everything can really be solved with cupcakes," Pinkie nodded, understanding.

Trixie's lips drooped. "You uh... you do?"

"Yep!"

The bespectacled girl was left in a cross.

"I'm... okay. I... I don't know where we go from here."

"Let me. I wanted to say I'm sorry for not being helpful when you needed it, and, well," Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a cupcake that looked completely fresh and out of an oven. "I kinda, sorta, made an apology cupcake for you!"

"Oh, uh, well, thanks," Trixie accepted, sounding unsure. She took a bite into the pastry, and her entire body stopped moving. Her eyes were bulging, and Pinkie Pie smiled even more. "Oh my gosh... Pinkie, this... this is amazing, how did you do this?"

"Oh, I work at a bakery as a job! Also I love every kind of sweets and candy! Cakes, cupcakes, candy bars, donuts, muffins, every one of them!" Pinkie beamed.

Trixie gulped down her piece of cupcake. "How did you know my favorite flavors were?"

"I know everyone's favorite flavors! Its how I stay in business and its how I can get their orders done right away!"

"Oh. Ooookkkaay then," Trixie said, a little creeped out.

"Oh, sorry! Did that scare you, I'm sorry!"

"No, no, its fine. Just... how do you know all of that stuff?"

Pinkie shrugged. "I just do."

Trixie wanted to question it, but knowing Pinkie Pie's unpredictability just only made her stop questioning it entirely. Trixie could only smile and open her arms up for a hug. Pinkie grinned and she gave Trixie a big hug, making her smile.

"So... I know we still got a lot to do to try and earn your trust but... could we maybe start over?" Pinkie asked.

Trixie thought for a second, and came to a small nod. "I suppose we could. But you do know, you're going to have to try and gain everyone's trust again."

"Oh, I know. But believe me when I say, as your girlfriend the immortal god as my witness, I shall change from here on out, and dedicate myself for good, for duty and humanity!" Pinkie cheered, pointing a loaf of bread high at the ceiling like a sword.

"Wait, where did you get the bread?"

"Oh, I brought it for lunch," Pinkie giggled.

Adagio leaned against a locker, watching Pinkie Pie and her girlfriend talk. She felt herself beaming at the sight. Her girlfriend actually having a peaceful talk with one of their enemies, and there was no anger or backlash from either. Just a nice conversation was all she could ask for.

"What do you know. I made the right choice in defending them after all," Adagio said to herself.

As she watched her dorky little girlfriend start to hit things off (sort of) with Pinkie Pie, she turned her head. Leaning against a locker, and eavesdropping for that matter, was none other than Flash Sentry.

"Flash."

The guitar player jumped. "Oh, Adagio, hey. So... um... what's up?"

"Nothing much. Couldn't help but notice you staring," Adagio winked.

Flash chuckled. "I'm sorry. I don't really stare, but--"

"I don't blame you, Flash. Quite a sight isn't it?" Adagio asked, looking at Pinkie and Trixie. "A Rainboom getting along with one of our friends? Something I never thought I would see."

"You did give them a second chance to start over," Flash added.

"Yes, I suppose I did."

Flash looked back to Adagio. Then he looked back, looking at her girlfriend who was slowly starting to hit it off with Pinkie, albiet quite strangely and out of nowhere. He looked at Adagio again, and cleared his throat.

"Adagio?"

"Yes?" Adagio asked.

Flash cleared his throat. Then he spoke.

"So... did any of the girls say anything about--"

"Actually, yes," Adagio bluntly stated. "And, look... I'm not mad that you have a crush. If anything, I'm rather flattered. But I'm afraid I'm not available for dating."

"Its okay, I understand," Flash nodded, frowning. "But if its okay, maybe we could just be friends?"

Adagio smiled. "I would like that."

Flash opened his hand up, and Adagio smiled and shook his hand.

"So, guess I'll see you around?" Flash said.

"See you around, Sentry," Adagio winked, making the boy chuckle.

As Flash walked away with an appreciative smile, Adagio looked back to her girlfriend who was still chatting away with the bubbly baker. A giggle escaped from her, enjoying the happy and silly faces she was seeing. Maybe there was hope after all...

While the Dazzlings felt safer knowing that Moon Dancer was gonna be off to jail, the Song Of The Sea were still reluctant to be allowing the Dazzlings to be living on their own for a bit. Not knowing when someone could possibly break in again wasn't comfortable for them, nor the three sisters.

So as a precaution, a few of the members agreed to have some sleepovers at their penthouse so they could calm down and feel safe once more. Luckily for them, it wasn't going to be a permanent thing. But it would be for a bit of time, at least until they felt completely safe.

Amethyst slept in Aria's room in her own mattress, with Lyra and Bon Bon accompanying Sonata, while Trixie stayed in a sleeping bag in Adagio's room.

However, Adagio couldn't sleep. Her eyes stayed wide awake, staring at the poster above her ceiling; a poster she shamefully held onto which was of an unidentified girl in a beach bikini, staring back down at her with a seductive look that could challenge her own. But not even looking at the poster could distract her from the thoughts and stress inside.

Her eyes kept darting back forth, looking from the balcony outside, the closet, and the door that left her room; rinse and repeat. She couldn't help it. Remembering the night she was kidnapped was when she was asleep, she wasn't awake to bare witness to Moon Dancer's break in. The thought of her breaking in again frightened her, and she didn't want a repeat of those events. So just in case, she hid a pair of handcuffs under the blanket that covered her bare body, a revolver under her pillow, and she kept her pendent around her neck in case she needed to start singing. She was taking no chances!

Her upper body arched up, to get a better look. Holding the blanket over her chest, she gazed down to the crack of the door, checking to see if any shadows were to appear in the small blue light in the hallway. None were seen, thank god, but she couldn't help but imagine someone would come through.

"Adagio?"

Adagio nearly gasped when she heard the voice, but sighed in relief, knowing who it was coming from. The voice was from none other than her girlfriend who slept in the sleeping bag. She was about to get up to get a drink when she noticed her girlfriend was wide awake.

"Oh, uh, T-Trixie, um... w-what are you doing up?"

Trixie yawned. "I was going to go get a drink. I'm thirsty. Why are you up?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, just, just nothing."

Trixie was one to raise a brow in disbelief.

"Adagio, is something wrong?"

Adagio looked away, clearly in denial. "No, nothing's wrong."

Trixie walked over to her side and sat on the edge of the bed, so she could give her full eye contact.

"Adagio, something's bothering you, I know it. Please, its okay. You can tell me."

Adagio sighed, and she held her head.

"T-Trixie, I'm... I'm scared."

Trixie's brow lowered as she looked at Adagio.

"Of what? What's scaring you?"

Adagio sighed, her voice sounding a little shaken up.

"I'm... I'm scared of Moon Dancer coming back. I-I know she's locked in jail but... anyone can escape from jail if they're witty enough. Moon Dancer figured out how to break in our apartment even when it was fully locked, and she found a way to contain me without my powers! If she comes back, I don't know what she'll do! And that entire Saturday with you girls... it was just too close... And I don't know what will happen if she comes back and does it again..."

She cupped her face into her hands, and Trixie could hear whimpering and some soft crying.

"No, Adagio, please, don't cry," Trixie moved close and held her in a hug. "Its okay, shh..."

Adagio wrapped her arms around Trixie, and Trixie could her her soft crying.

"I'm so scared... I don't want to lose you, or anyone else around just because we're... monsters..."

"No, Adagio, don't think about that... shh... its okay, shh..." Trixie whispered, holding her close and rubbing her back. She stayed put, giving her comfort, allowing her to cry some more. She could feel her entire body trembling as she held her.

Pulling out of the hug, Trixie looked at Adagio's reddened face. The tears, the redness, and her tattered hair.

"Adagio?"

Adagio looked back at Trixie, her eyes water-heavy. Trixie's hand stroked her cheek, and she offered a friendly smile.

"Its okay. You don't need to be afraid. We're not going to let that happen. I'm not gonna let it happen again. No psychopath is going to take you away from me. I promise. And no matter what you say, you're not a monster. Because you, are the most beautiful, most kind, most adorable creature that has ever been put on this planet."

Adagio face went red as velvet cake. And for once, she was smiling. Adagio's smile was the most beautiful thing in the world in the eyes of Trixie. She stroked her cheek some more, making Adagio giggle. Feeling more comfort, Adagio pulled Trixie in and gave her a big kiss, followed by a bigger hug.

"Trixie... thank you," Adagio whispered into her ear, accompanied by a kiss to her cheek.

Trixie blushed. "Aw, shucks..."

Adagio's hand stroked Trixie's cheek, making her giggle this time. A sigh escaped her breath, but she jolted her head to the outside door, checking for any shadows outside. Trixie looked back, seeing for anyone on the other side. No one.

"But I don't know if I'll be able to sleep... I know I'm just paranoid, but I can't help but shake this feeling that Moon Dancer could be behind that door at any given moment."

Trixie frowned. But a smile came right back up on her face as an idea formed in her head.

"Hey, Adagio? Maybe, I could sleep with you tonight?"

Adagio looked back at Trixie with a raised brow. Trixie's cheeks flushed.

"No, no, not like that, that's not what--" Trixie facepalmed, "That's not what I meant!"

Adagio giggled, seeing her reaction.

"I mean, maybe I could sleep in the same bed as you, and keep you close? I could protect you."

Adagio paused, thinking about it. A small grin came to her face.

"And thinking about that some more... if we did, it could be the first night we slept in bed together as a couple."

Trixie smiled. "So? A-Are you..."

Adagio smirked and pecked her cheek. "Nothing would make me sleep more knowing that you're by my side."

Trixie blushed. "Let me get my drink first, then I'll come join you."

Trixie got off from the bed and walked to the door. But before she walked towards it, a small but mischievous idea came to her head. She still remembered Adagio checking her out when a particular part of her body was exposed. Even remembering being guilty of checking Adagio out herself. But was she going to stare at her some more?

"First thing though..."

Smirking and bending over, she pulled her pants down, allowing them to drop to the ground, showing her butt covered with black panties. Looking back to her girlfriend, indeed she was right. Adagio was staring at her, again. Adagio smirked and made a purring sound, which only made Trixie blush more.

"I can't tell if you're trying to invite me, or you're trying to get back at me for staring at your butt," Adagio tilted her head with a racy grin.

Trixie giggled before walking out of her bedroom to get a glass of water. The thought alone and the mere sight of watching Trixie strip sent some dirty thoughts in Adagio's head. Oh my.

A few minutes later, Trixie came back with a cup of water which she set down on the nightstand. And before she moved to the bed, she saw Adagio had opened it up to her and patted the spot next to her to get comfy in. Trixie blushed adn she moved under the covers, snuggling close to Adagio. She opened herself up, allowing Adagio to move closer and snuggle up next to her, nuzzling her cheek. Trixie's arms wrapped around Adagio and gave a kiss to her cheek.

"Your skin feels smooth," Trixie commented, making Adagio laugh. "Is that a lotion, or...?"

Adagio looked up at Trixie with those big beautiful magenta eyes. She kissed her cheek and nuzzled her as she finally relaxed.

"Thank you, Trixie." Adagio said.

"Its okay, Adagio," Trixie smiled, kissing her forehead. "I'm right here for you. Sweet dreams."

Adagio relaxed some more, yawning. "Good night, sweetie."

Watching Adagio curl up in Trixie's arms, and comfy and cozy, and without any stress or fear was the most beautiful thing in the world. She took a moment to just watch her sleep. It was one of the most adorable things she had ever seen. The way the moon light from the window shined upon her; it was like she was glowing. The most beautiful thing she had ever seen, but then again, Adagio was always beautiful.

"I'm here for you Adagio. I love you, my beautiful Siren."

And with a Siren asleep, Trixie's eyes slowly closed, allowing herself to go right into the dream realm. And all was silent.

The penthouse became quiet once again, and everything was at peace. No sounds outside of the machines still working, but everything else was dead silent. Just the way they liked it.

For about five seconds.

Down in the main living room, the front door started to jiggle again. The knob twisted and turned, but there was no entry. A small credit card was gaping through the crack of the door, and it slid down on the lock. Once the lock was undone, the door opened up, and worse, no chain to lock the door up. The man chuckled as he finally got inside.

"Well, well, well," said the man who walked in as quiet as possible. "This is gonna be a lot--"

Without even a second, the man was suddenly thrown violently out of the door and slammed against the brick wall with a hard slam. He collapsed to the ground from how hard he was thrown, and he listened to the sound of a ranting girl.

"NO! ABSOLUTELY FREAKING NOT! I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE, WITH PEOPLE TRYING TO BREAK INTO OUR HOUSE! YOU WANT TO STEAL SOMETHING YOU BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED PUNK!? GO TO OUR NEIGHBOR DOWNSTAIRS, HE'S GOT FREAKING COMIC BOOKS THAT ARE WORTH MORE THAN OUR CRAP!"

Aria slammed the door with a loud bang, echoing throughout the hallway. The man was about to get up to try and walk away, but he couldn't. From out of nowhere, a giant metallic cage dropped from the ceiling and on top of him, trapping him like a lion.

And Aria opened the door up again.

"Sorry, change of plans, you're going to jail! I'm done!"

And Aria slammed the door hard again. The man just slumped his arms, in defeat.

"Should have just taken the job at the bank..."

Author's Notes:

And so we've reached the end. I thank all of you for reading this fic, and taking the time to read it. Now... yeah, its got a lot of issues. But honestly, my main focus for this fic was to put it on the Song of the Sea team to show that they can handle things on their own without the Dazzlings. Mostly.

But either way, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you all so much for reading. All of you are amazing, and don't you ever forget that.