Trixie and her Sunny assistant

It was a clear and sunny Saturday afternoon. In front of Canterlot High School stood what remained of a statue's base. This, however, was no ordinary plinth. It held a magical portal to another land. A land known as Equestria, where horse-like creatures with human intellect were the prominent species.

Not too long ago, the statue was destroyed when the human world's Twilight Sparkle was transformed into a magical dark-angel like being, who tore inter-dimensional rifts between the two worlds. The tears had been closed, but raw magic would leak through to the human world like water seeping through a crack in a glass.

Unlike water, however, the magic did not simply linger where it was. Instead it went out into the world, seeking an object for the power to possess.

Not far from the school was an outdoor stage. On this particular Saturday, the stage was the scene of a practice magic show. On one side stood a wooden box, more than large enough to fit a person.

It was that box which the magic found, the briefest glow emanating from the surface as the energy infused into it.

On the other side of the stage stood the greatest magician of her generation as far as she was concerned: Trixie. She was dressed in her stage clothes, the pointed wizard hat on her head, and one arm holding her cape out at her side.

"And now," Trixie announced to the audience, "The Grrrreat and Powerful Trixie will require the aid of her assistant!" She pointed off-stage with the last word.

A second passed with nothing happening. Then another.

"Eh-hem," Trixie coughed out. "Trixie requires her assistant!"

Several more seconds passed.

"SUNSET!"

"Just give me a moment!" Sunset called back, then whispered, "Can't believe I agreed to this."

After another second, Sunset Shimmer stepped out onto the stage. At the moment she was dressed in a red leotard, with a stylized red and yellow sun on her stomach, a pair of fishnet stockings a shade darker than her skin, and red heels. Her arms were crossed over her chest, covering them as she hunched over.

In the audience area sat six girls. As Sunset came out, three of them -- Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight "Sci-Twi" Sparkle -- clapped normally, two of them -- Fluttershy and Rarity -- gave small but polite applause, and one -- Pinkamena Diane "Pinkie" Pie -- applauded as loud as she could with the occasional whistle breaking it up.

"How did you talk me into this?" Sunset grumbled as she continued to cover herself.

"By pointing out that friends help each other out," Trixie replied. "Plus, I did help you out not too long ago."

"First," Sunset stated, "I wouldn't call standing around and passing me tools with a dramatic flourish while I fix my bike 'helping.' And second, I don't mean helping you with your trick. I meant letting you and Rarity dress me up in this." She motioned at the costume with one hand, turning to glare toward the audience.

"It's a traditional magician's assistant's costume," Trixie stated.

"And it does look rather lovely on you," Rarity called out. She brought a finger up to her chin, tapping on it. "Or... rather it would if you would stand up and stop trying to hide your body."

Sunset let out a huff and rolled her eyes. For a moment, she considered using one of her own fingers to express what she thought of Rarity's opinion. Instead, she straightened up to her full height and pulled her arms away from her chest, putting one hand on her hips as she raised the other toward Trixie.

She could not help but notice that some of the girls were very interested in her body. Surprisingly to her, she actually did not mind it as much as she thought. She even managed to flash a wink.

Trixie walked away from the center, moving toward the box, with Sunset following. Each of them took a side, bringing it out toward center stage.

"Behold! The Great and Powerful Trixie's Magic Box of Mystery!"

Several fireworks went off around the stage as Trixie finished her announcement. This was met with one "ooh," several polite applause, and one squeak of surprise and fear. Sunset took a hold of the box, walking in a circle as she turned it around for the audience to see all four sides. She then pulled open the door to reveal the mirrored interior.

"Now, Trixie's assistant shall step into... The Magic Box of Mystery!"

Taking a deep breath, Sunset moved to the box and stepped inside. As she did, she was able to see herself from every angle. And she had to admit, she looked pretty good. As much as she did not like the outfit, she had to admit that Rarity knew how to accentuate the right parts, and cover up the ones she was not so fond of.

The door was shut, and there was darkness for a second before Sunset's necklace started to glow, giving off a faint orange light that filled the entire little box.

Trixie stepped forward, flinging her cape behind her as she lifted her arms up high above her head.

"Now, watch! And be amazed!"

With a quick downward thrust of her hand, there was a pop as a cloud of glittering smoke appeared, engulfing Trixie and hiding her from sight.

The box exploded, chunks of wood and shards of glass flying in every direction. A ball of orange energy shot up into the air above the stage before breaking apart and shooting off to who knows where.

In the audience Twilight grabbed her own pendant and threw up an arm, creating a shield to protect her and the others from the debris.

Alas, for one, it was too late.

There was an ear-piercing shriek, causing the other five to jump and looked at the injured party.

"It's horrible!" Rarity cried out. "It's awful! Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst, possible, thing!"

"Rarity?" Applejack called out, standing up. "You a'right? What happened?"

Standing up, Rarity turned around, glaring at Applejack.

"I most certainly am not 'aw right,'" she snapped. Grabbing a lock of hair, she held it up in front of her. "Look at this!"

The other five looked at the hair being held up to them.

"What about it?" Rainbow Dash finally asked.

"'What about it?' 'What about it?!'" Rarity held it up more. "Look at it! An entire quarter of an inch has been cut off! It's ruined! And it ruins my entire hairstyle!"

"I don't think anyone is going to notice."

"Of course you would think that," Rarity snapped, turning her full attention to Rainbow Dash. "Your hair looks like you cut it yourself with dull child safety scissors!"

Before Rainbow could respond, Applejack stepped between them.

"A'right you two," she cut in. "How 'bout we stow it 'fore we say something we regret, and get back to the magic show?"

Rainbow and Rarity gave each other one last glare before turning away from each other, looking at the stage. There, Trixie stood where the box had been, her back to them as she slowly turned around.

"That was a pretty impressive trick," Twilight stated, pushing up her glasses as she did. "The explosion especially. It's kind of dangerous, though. While it would thrill an audience, someone could get hurt."

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Trixie replied, turning to look at them. "That was not how Trixie had planned it. We were supposed to switch places so that Sunset could appear on stage, then open the box to reveal Trixie inside. There weren't any explosives set up."

"So, where's Sunset?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know."

"Oh! Oh!" Pinkie cried out, jumping up and down on the bench and raising a hand. "Maybe she's in the space under the stage! You know, like when Trixie was jealous us of being allowed into the finals instead of her because of the sirens' brainwashing Principal Celestia and Vice-principal Luna, so she activated the trap door to get the six of us stuck down there, allowing her to go on in our place, and sending us into a spiral of anger and in-fighting which allowed the sirens to feed off our negative emotions, in turn supercharging their brainwashing powers and allowing them to manifest massive energy projections of their Equestrian forms which we had to defeat by working together to summon a giant magic alicorn which blasted them all away with a giant magic rainbow!"

The others all stared at Pinkie a second as they tried to figure out what all she had said. Well... most of them anyways.

"How is she able to say all that without pausing for breath?" Trixie asked.

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "None of the test I ran were conclusive, and I'm not allowed to run more intrusive ones because 'that's not something friends do,' or 'legal.'"

Once they had figured out what Pinkie had said, the seven of them headed to the door that led under the stage. And it was not a pleasant place. The cement floor was slimy from moisture and had signs of rats or mice having been there. The wooden supports were discolored and rotted, and the metal was rusted. Spider-webs filled the little corners here and there, with many still in use. In one corner stood a seven foot tall statue of a clown, its colors faded and the teeth splintered and broken as it stared with red around its eyes.

"It's like it wants to eat my soul," said Rainbow Dash as she stared at it.

However, there was no sign of Sunset Shimmer.

"Well, she ain't here," Applejack finally declared as the seven of them left. "Any other ideas?"

As they stepped out, the sounds of birds filled the air, drawing Fluttershy's attention.

"Oh?"

"How far have you ever teleported anyone?" Twilight asked, turning to Trixie.

"Are you sure?"

"Only a few feet," Trixie replied. "I've never had a reason to try and use it further than that."

"Excuse me."

Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"That means we don't know the range. She could be as close as anywhere in the park, to as far as the other side of the country. Or even the world."

"Girls?"

"I doubt it would send her that far," Rarity said. "She should at least still be somewhere in town."

"Girls!"

"Maybe the school?" Twilight suggested. "It's a place where the magical anomalies are pretty strong, and a common location where Trixie and Sunset both spend a lot of time."

"Okay," Rainbow Dash called out, puffing up her chest. "I can run to the school no problem a--"

An ear-piercing whistle brought an end to the conversation as it filled the air. Six of the girls brought their hands to their ears, trying to keep them from bleeding as they turned their attention to the source.

Fluttershy stopped. A blush formed on her cheeks as she slouched her shoulders, looking down at her hands.

"Sorry. But, Mrs. Jay said that something shot from here and landed near her tree. She doesn't know what, though, but maybe it's Sunset?"

"Well..." Applejack said slowly. "Reckon it's as good a place to start as any."

"Even if not," Twilight added, "if something did come from what happened, we should check it out. It could be a threat, or something that needs help."

With Mrs. Green Jay giving directions and Fluttershy leading, the seven of them made their way through the park. The group was led to a patch of trees not far from one of the picnic areas. No one else was around at the moment, but if the raccoons around the trashcans were any indication, there had been some people who had lunch there not too long ago.

Reaching the area, the group stops, staring in surprise.

There was Sunset Shimmer.

...sort of...

Lying on the grass was an orange coated unicorn. If it were standing up, it would be around four feet in height, and the legs were thicker than a typical horse's. The unicorn's coat and mane were red and yellow mixed together, and on its flank was a picture of a red and yellow sun, almost like a stylized yin-yang symbol.

Although none of them had ever seen it directly, all the girls instantly recognized it.

"Oh my gosh!" Fluttershy squealed out. "Look at her. She's so adorable." Running up, she crouched down in front of the unicorn, reaching out to touch it.

With a groan, unicorn Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, but there was some amorphous yellow blob moving toward her face. With a shriek of terror, her horn lit up, lashing out with raw magic at the presumed attacker.

A yelp escaped Fluttershy as she was knocked back.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cried out, rushing over to her friend.

"I'm okay," Fluttershy assured, holding her nose. "Just startled her a little is all."

"Fluttershy?" Sunset asked as she stood up. With a groan, she rubbed at her head. "What... what happened?" Blinking, she looked around. "Where am I?" Her gaze locked and the girls, blue eyes going wide. "Wh-why are you human?"

"We've always been human, darling," Rarity answered. "The question is: why are you in your pony form?"

Before Sunset could answer, cellphones started ringing.

Author's Notes:

Surprise?
Originally, I posted the idea of something like Crisis of Infinite Twilight happening to Sunset Shimmer in the Blame Defender2222 group forum. Originally, it was to share the idea with others in case anyone wanted to try it. I wasn't confident in trying it, because my writing style is so different from Defenders as is my sense of humor. The idea stuck with me, however, and ideas kept coming. So after struggling with something else, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

It will be a while before I post the next, but I thought I would post this now.

Siren's song

In the farthest, darkest corner of Cherry Popper's Bar and Grill sat Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk: known collectively as The Dazzlings. The three of them had once been sirens, monstrous horse-fish like creatures in Equestria that could cause chaos and fighting among creatures, allowing them to feed off the negative energy created. The trio was then banished from that realm, tricked by The Pillars of Equestria and sent to the human world. There, they were given human forms as well, and struggled to find enough magic to feed. Over a millennium later, the three of them had found a place where Equestrian magic had come through, allowing them to go grow so powerful, they were able to brainwash an entire school into worshiping them and unlock energy constructs of their siren forms. Unfortunately, it was short-lived as the same power was used by a group to destroy their avatars and gemstones, taking away their powers and making them human.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

Well, not completely human, as it turned out. They were still faster, stronger, more durable, and healed quicker than normal humans were capable of. Although now, they could get hurt, or sick.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

Or drunk.

That was one of the reasons they chose Cherry Popper's, because it was one of the few places that was willing to serve them alcohol despite the fact they looked like they should still be in high school.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

Not like anyone would believe that they were actually thousand year old magic sea monsters from another dimension who had been magically displaced and transformed into teenage girls. One of the few times they had tried, Aria had wound up in an insane asylum. And while she had enjoyed feeding off the negative energy and mentally torturing the staff (and it turned out enjoying electro-shock therapy way more than she should), it had been a pain to get her out and for them to find a new place to live with new identities.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

So the three of them sat there, drinking their drinks: Adagio with her glass of red wine, Aria with her beer, and Sonata with her Shirley Temple (just because they could get drunk did not mean she wanted to put up with the gross taste of alcohol).

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

"Ugh," Aria groaned out, slamming her bottle on the table. "This is boring. Can't we go to, like, an arcade or something?"

Adagio's lips pressed tight as annoyance and frustration coursed through her. Setting the glass down, she clasped her hands together and took a deep breath.

"There's only one arcade left in town," she pointed out, "and we were banned from there because somebody --" she gave a pointed look at Aria "-- was smashing the machines, while somebody else --" she turned her glare to Sonata "-- shook down kids for their prize tickets."

An act that had wound up being pointless since they ended up punching out several staff members, tossing a bunch of cheap prizes to a crowd of cheering kids, then stole the good stuff and ran.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

"That was just an example!" Aria snapped. "I'm just saying, this sucks and its boring."

"Yeah," Sonata huffed, rolling her eyes. "It's not like Aria can act pissy and anti-social anywhere or anything."

The air around the table grew colder and darker. Aria sloooowwlyy turned her head toward Sonata, neck muscles audibly creaking with each movement. Her lips pressed thin as her purple eyes narrowed, giving the other girl a glare that could freeze blood in veins.

"Is there something you want to say?" Aria growled out.

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

Setting her glass down, Sonata turned to face Aria, trying to match the glare with one of her own.

"Yeah," Sonata retorted. "I've been listening to you piss and moan for centuries. Always complaining about the plans and how they won't work, and how much this world sucks! You know what I never hear, though?" She pointed a finger at Aria. "You actually trying to come up with a plan!"

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

With a growl, Aria smacked Sonata's hand away.

"You mean like when you came up with a plan?" Aria snarled out. "When we had to leave France before they tried to cut our heads off?"

Adagio groaned and rubbed her eyes, feeling her own frustration rapidly growing. Why did she even still hang out with the idiots? Not like she needed them anymore since...

Wait a second.

"Fine!" Sonata shouted, throwing up her hands. "So things went too far, and we ended up starting a revolution that nearly got us killed. But we managed to get a lot of negative energy out of it, and it shows Adagio listens if you come up with a good plan."

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

"Girls," said Adagio.

"All you do is complain about how much things suck and how you should be the leader," Sonata yelled. "But you know what?"

"What?" Aria asked, rolling her eyes. "Come on, brain dead, I can't wait to hear this."

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

"Girls!" Adagio snapped.

"I don't think you actually want to lead!" Sonata declared. "Because to be a leader means you would actually have to do something. You would actually rather complain about Adagio's plan and do nothing instead of actually coming up with a plan yourself!"

Aria's hands slammed into the table as she stood up.

"You shut your mouth or--"

"Or what?" Sonata cut in, standing up. "You'll make a snarky comment and threaten to hit me?"

"Ah-ah. Ah-ah."

"GIRLS!" Adagio yelled.

"That's all you're good at!" Sonata continued. "Either punching things, or acting like someone pissed in you cereal."

"I know you did that!" Aria roared out. "I can't prove it, but I know!"

"I wouldn't touch your stupid boring cereal even to piss in it! And if I did, it would only make them taste better!"

With a roar of frustration, Adagio Dazzle stood up, grabbed Sonata and Aria by the back of their heads, then slammed the two of them together. Their foreheads met with a loud, bony echo as they hit.

"Larry! Curly!" Adagio shouted. "Both of you shut up and listen!"

"You're totally Larry," Sonata grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"That's fine," Aria huffed, rubbing her head as well. "Curly was the one that got replaced."

"Would you two quit and pay attention for five seconds?" Adagio snapped.

Aria turned to scowl at her.

"What's the big deal? Not like people haven't seen us fighting before."

"Except they aren't watching us fight." Adagio made a waving motion with her hand. "They aren't watching us at all."

That got Aria and Sonata's attention. Even without their powers, they were still three attractive young women, with a bit of danger about them. As such, people were often staring at them and checking them out. Not that they got upset over it. The three of them enjoyed attention, and it made it easier to get people to do what they wanted. Also, humans do tend to get very interested in watching others fight. Especially in public. Sure, some would pretend not to notice, but they were listening.

So, although they wanted to be left alone and made it very clear, the idea of no one paying attention to them -- especially with all the yelling -- was absurd.

No longer caught up in their fighting with each other, Aria and Sonata noticed that everyone else in the bar was actually arguing among themselves as well.

"What's going on?" Sonata asked, eyes wide as she tried to take in what she saw.

"Look down near the floor," stated Adagio.

The pair did as they were told, and could not believe their eyes. A familiar looking sickly green fog covered the ground, writhing and roiling as it moved among the crowd, feeding off their anger and annoyance as they argued with each other.

"It looks like when we used to feed," Sonata said. "But... that's impossible." She turned to the others. "Right?"

"I would say so," Aria conceded, "but there's the evidence of it right in front of us." She motioned at the crowd.

"Which means someone has to be singing," Adagio added. "And now that you two are done hate-flirting, you can help me try to find them."

The three of them then started to look around, their ears straining. The person or people responsible would be singing, or doing something to use their magic which should be noticeable. At the same time, they would try to keep themselves from being too obvious, not wanting the crowd to suspect anything as it was going on.

"There," Sonata hissed out, pointing. "I bet Aria's entire video game collection that's them."

"If you touch my Dreamcast, I will turn you into taco meat," Aria growled as she looked to where Sonata was pointing.

At another table sat a single figure. They were dressed in a dark red hooded sweatshirt, with the hood pulled up to cover their head. The wicked green fog writhed toward them, disappearing under the table and from the trio's view. They could guess what it was doing though.

Now that the sirens were paying attention, they could hear the faint sound of singing under all the arguments.

"That must be them alright," Adagio decided.

"So, what do we do?" asked Sonata.

"She's still feeding, so she's pretty distracted."

Adagio turned to Aria.

"Aria, sneak up on her, and when she stops, cover her mouth and hold her in place." She held up a finger. "Do not hurt her. We want to talk to her first."

"Ugh," Aria groaned out as she got up. "Have to take the fun out of everything."

Straightening up, she walked her way over toward the mysterious figure. With the noise from people arguing and the target distracted, it was easy for Aria to move without being heard. Disappointingly easy, in fact. Even with the thick, heavy biker boots she tended to wear, Aria could move as silently as a cat, unnoticed until it was too late.

Aria slipped into the booth behind her target, knees on the plastic seat as she raised herself over the backrest.

The moment her target stopped singing, Aria struck. As quick as a rattlesnake, her hand shot out grabbing the target's chin and clamping over their mouth. Her grip tightened, pressing up on the underside of the chin to hold the jaws shut.

"Don't try anything," she growled out. "We're not going to hurt you if--"

A stun gun was brought up and pressed against Aria's arm and turned on. The air filled with the crackle of electricity and smell of burning hair. The muscles tensed and twitched as they were shocked. There was also a tingle of pleasure that shot down along her spine.

A smirk spread across Aria's face as the electrocution came to an end.

"Such fun," she purred out. "Not really in the mood for the rough stuff right now, though." Striking out with her free-hand, Aria grabbed the stun gun and yanked it free. "I'll just keep this for later."

She then stuffed it into her pocket.

"Good job!" Sonata called out as she and Adagio reached the table. "Now to find out who are secretive siren really is." Grabbing the figure's hood, she gave it a yank.

The sweatshirt's hood fell away to reveal long yellow and red hair. A golden skinned girl looked up at them, her green eyes narrowing as she scowled at the trio.

"Sunset Shimmer?!" the trio cried out in shock.

"But that's impossible!" shouted Sonata. "Sunset's a pony, not a siren."

"But we saw her using siren powers," Adagio pointed out. She then pointed at Sunset's throat. "And there's the gem to prove it."

At the base of Siren Sunset's neck was a black choker with a ruby against her throat. It still glowed with energy, the last bits of green mist swirling around the edges as it was pulled in and disappeared from sight.

"This is weird," declared Sonata. "I totally have to tell Pinkie about this." Pulling her phone out, she quickly started typing.

"You have her number?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She wanted all of us to have it after The Battle of The Bands. So there were no hard feelings and if we wanted to hang out with her or anything, we could call. Adagio wasn't interested, and you tore it up while frothing and swearing." Sonata smirked. "She was even the one who helped me make your last birthday cake." The smirk quickly disappeared into a scowl. "Although I still don't know how she knew your favorite flavor..."

Aria turned to Adagio and tried to raise her eyebrow higher.

"And you knew about this?"

Adagio gave a shrug.

"Not like they're going to defeat us and destroy our jewels a second time." Her eyes then narrowed. "Now, you better gag her so she can't try to sing or anything."

The other two recognized the face she was making.

"What are you planning?" Aria asked.

Adagio Dazzle leaned forward, her smirk taking on the wicked sexy look she often used when scheming.

"Either this isn't their friend, and they'll want to see her just to find out who she is," she explained, "or it is her friend, and something happened to turn her into this. Either way, they'll want to see her." Reaching out, she placed a hand on the siren Sunset's cheek. "Which means that we now have a very nice little bargaining chip." She gave the cheek a gentle pat.

"You might just be our ticket home."

Sun and Shadows

Crystal Preparatory Academy was seen as one of the most prestigious schools in the state. Some would even claim the entire country, or even the world! A school where the best and brightest were challenged, provided they were willing to work hard and their parents could afford it. There, the students faced some of the toughest classes when it came to math, science, physical education, and the fine arts. Many of the graduates would go on to be massive successes in the professions they chose to pursue, be it acting, engineering, politics, or anything in between.

A small number of them had psychotic breaks and spiraled into depression, but such was the cost of success.

In light of recent events, it has become clear that there is one place, however, where Crystal Prep does fall short: socialization. Not only was it the best school, but the most competitive. Every student is taught not to rely on the others, but to see them as competition, someone who will take them out to improve their own standing. In the extremely rare case of a group project, team members would try to figure out how much to share and how much to keep to themselves, also while trying to undermine the other teams. It was not just enough to be the best, or even the best of the best, but the number one absolute best of the entire school, which was the best of all schools.

This eventually culminated in, during what was supposed to be a friendly inter-school competition (it was even called "The Friendship Game), the previously mentioned event of Twilight "Sci-Twi" Sparkle's magical transformation and attempted destruction of the dimension in an attempt to understand and control the magic of the other world.

After Dean Cadance took over due to the principal resigning, she and others had been attempting to rectify the issue, and encourage the students to see each others as friends whom they could trust. Large changes take time, however, and while some progress had been made, there was still much tension and distance among the student body.

This is what led to five of the students being there on a Saturday.

Having students on campus during off-hours or over the weekend was not unusual. There were clubs, personal projects to spend time on, and Crystal Prep had dormitories for students whose home were too far for them to commute every day, be it a few hours, or an entire other state. The students were still teenagers, however, and many enjoyed doing typical teenage things in their free time. As such, rendering them unable to do such was still a viable punishment, hopefully dissuading the student from repeating whatever activity got them in trouble in the first place. Additionally, even if a student had planned on staying on campus for one reason or another, the removal of a choice in the matter could still be frustrating. Thus, being forced to stay on -- or come to -- campus on a Saturday was still a way to deal with negative student behavior.

That, however, was not all that the five of them were doing. Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare were the top five students at Crystal Prep, academically and athletically. They had even been at The Friendship Games during Twilight's "incident," and -- as much as they hate to admit it -- were even participants in pressuring her to unleash the magic. Although, when things did go bad, they stayed to try and help, and once it was all over, they all admitted to their role and apologized to Twilight.

Since then, the five of them had become friends... sort of...

The group had spent time together, and started talking to each other. Their conversations were always a little guarded, though, none wanting to accidentally give one of the others information that can be used against them at a later time. Most of them also kept notes on the others, gathering anything that may be useful should one of their "friends" turned against them. The only exception was when they were working together to accomplish something.

Although "conspiring" would be more accurate. It turned out that they were quite good when it came to scheming and plotting together.

This was why the five of them were at school on a Saturday, pulling up and replacing burnt linoleum. Each of them was dressed in protective white coveralls, goggles, and face mask, with the ones that needed to either having their hair pulled back, or pinned-up and covered. With large, flat, metal scrapers, they pried the old, damaged tiles before putting down the new ones. No rushing, and they had to make sure the tiles were properly lined up, or else they would have to pry up them right back up once again.

"Uuuuaaaaagh!" Indigo Zap groaned out, tossing down the scraper. Grabbing the safety goggles, she lifted them up until they rested over the sports goggles she was still wearing. She then pulled down her face mask, taking a deep breath.

"This is stupid!" she grumbled crossing her arms.

"Oh, Indigo," Sour Sweet said in an overly-sweet tone with a smile on her face.

The smile then turned into a scowl.

"Of course it's stupid," she growled out. "That's the whole point of it being punishment."

"Now, Indigo," Sunny Flare spoke up, "keep in mind that our being here is largely because of you and Lemon Zest."

Lemon Zest was oblivious to the gazes that were turned to her as she continued to scrape up tile, head bobbing in time to the music on her headphones.

"First," Indigo retorted, "it may have been our idea, but all of you went along with it."

"Which is why we are all here doing it instead of just you two," Sugarcoat pointed out.

"And second," Indigo continued, "in Lemon's defense, how was she supposed to know that the acid was flammable? There was no warning sign on the container or anything."

"Oh, of course," Sour Sweet cooed. "Who would think to keep acid away from open flame without a warning label." Her eyes, narrowed.

"Oh, I don't know," she growled. "Maybe everyone with the smallest bit of common sense?"

"Just like everyone with common sense knows not to use a drill through a live electrical wire?" Indigo retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Sour Sweet glared at Indigo Zap for a long moment before huffing and turning away. She grumbled something that was both anatomically impossible and would be quite painful that Indigo could do with a cactus, but dropped the subject. Indigo smirked, taking that as a sign of her victory.

Putting her own scraper down, Sugarcoat stood up, pulling off her own mask and goggles.

"I need a break and don't feel like listening to this argument again," she stated. "I'm going to take a break and getting something to drink."

Sour, Sunny, and Indigo all turned to look at Sugarcoat.

"Yes, I'll bring everyone else drinks as well."

There was a small round of cheers.

"Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?" Sour Sweet asked in a sweet tone.

Sugarcoat turned to Sour, raising an eyebrow. The seconds stretched as she stood there.

"What?" Sour finally asked.

"Just waiting for the biting angry part of your comment," Sugarcoat answered.

"Just go get the drinks already!"

"Like that," Sugarcoat said, turning away and heading to the vending machines.

Here could be found one of the features currently unique to Crystal Prep. One of the previous students who had gone on to become an engineer had come up with an idea: "Quiz-Vendors." Instead of paying money for drinks and snacks -- which was still an option, as there were regular vending machines -- students could answer questions about math, science, history, literature, languages, and the arts to earn points, which could then be redeemed for the desired items. Additionally, the machines were linked in to the school's network, and allowed students to store up additional credits for later use. It had even become a point of competition among the students to see how many points could be collected.

There was also a competition to see who could hack the system, but no one had admitted to being able yet.

While not in the top group, Sugarcoat did have quite a credit to her account. Enough that she could have six snacks and three drinks a day every school day until graduation, with more than enough to spare. As such, getting five drinks was not an issue for her.

Alicorn-cola for her and Lemon Zest, Diet Alicorn for Sunny, Wonderade for Indigo, and honey-sweetened lemonade for Sour.

Maybe she should have brought one of the others with her. Picking up and carrying the five bottles was kind of awkward.

As she made her way back, the sight of another student caught her attention. At first, she was going to just walk past, but something about them caused Sugarcoat to stop, turning to get a better look.

The other student was a female, and dressed in the basic Crystal Prep uniform: a white blouse, dark red blazer, with matching skirt and cross-over tie, white knee-socks, and black Mary Jane shoes. She had golden colored skin, red and gold hair, and a pair of black rimmed glasses over cyan colored eyes.

Deciding she needed another opinion, Sugarcoat continued back to her friends.

Her arrival was met by a cheer from Lemon Zest, who had come out of her own little rock and roll world at some point. Grabbing a bottle of Alicorn-cola, she popped it open and chugged down half of it. The rest of the girls came up to grab their own, moving at a more casual pace.

"Sugarcoat?" Sunny Flare asked as she grabbed her Diet Alicorn. "Is something the matter, dear?"

"Yes," Sugarcoat answered. "Either I'm hallucinating, or something strange is going on. I just saw Sunset Shimmer in one of our uniforms."

Indigo, Sour, and Sunny all stared at Sugarcoat, processing what they just heard.

"You know," Indigo said, "if anyone else said that, I would think they were joking."

Lemon let out a loud, belch, the sound filling the air, as well as the odor of carbon dioxide mixed with stomach acid.

"Wooh," she cried out, waving a hand in front of her face to disburse the aroma. "Who's Sunset Shimmer?"

"She was the girl who stopped Twilight from destroying reality during The Friendship Games," Sour Sweet answered. "Maybe if you paid a little more attention to the world around you, you'd know that."

"But the real world suuuucks!"

"Ahem," Sunny coughed politely. "If we could please keep focused on the conversation at hand?" She then turned her attention back to Sugarcoat. "Now, are you certain it was her?"

"As can be without actually asking her," Sugarcoat replied. "I don't know any students that go here with similar skin and hair the latter of which is rather unique."

"There's only one thing to do!" declared Indigo. "We need to go look for Sunset Shimmer and find out what's going on."

"You just want an excuse to get out of work."

"Well, yeah," Indigo admitted, "but would you rather we all continued to work on the floor, or that we try to find out if you saw Sunset, and what she's doing here?"

None of them wanted to keep pulling up and replacing tile (and something something friendship or whatever), so the five of them went to investigate. Starting with where Sugarcoat had seen the possible Sunset Shimmer: the vending machines.

"Now," Indigo called out, placing her hands on her hips, "if Scooby-Doo has taught me anything..." she paused, brow furrowing "...well... it would be that most of the time, the villain is some old dude that's trying to scare people away so they could get rich somehow or other... BUT one of the things that I've learned is that normally there's a secret passageway or hidden access somewhere." She pointed at the vending machines. "And I'm betting it's behind one of these. So we just have to pull them away from the wall, and we'll find the secret passage that Sunset Shimmer used."

The other four looked from Indigo Zap to the machines and back.

"I'm not doing that."

"What a wonderful idea, getting out of work by giving ourselves hernias!"

"I could probably knock it over..."

"Indigo," Sunny Flare spoke up, "perhaps it would be better if we based our methods on investigations that were more literary and less... animated..."

"Ughhhhhhh," Indigo groaned, rolling her eyes. "Fine. What do you suggest we do, miss priss?"

Sunny let out a little hum as she moved to walk around the little space. Her hands clasped behind her back as she looked up. Her heels clicked against the floor as she did, the others giving her a moment to think.

"We aren't near the front entrance," she said aloud, "so she must be this far back for a reason." She turned to look at the machines. "There are vending machines closer to the front as well, so if she was using this, it must be because she's somewhere nearby to us." Turning, she looked around. "As far as we know, Sunset has never been here on her own before, but she's friends with Twilight. So..." she turned to the girls. "Perhaps we should check Twilight's old laboratory?"

"Sure," Indigo huffed, crossing her arms. "If you want to use 'logic' and 'reason,' instead of wondering aimlessly until we either find a clue or run into the monster."

Lemon Zest turned to Indigo, eyes narrowing.

"You just want one of those musical chase sequences, don't you?"

"No!" Indigo snapped. A blush then started to form. "I mean, I wouldn't say no to one, but I doubt it will happen anyways..."

Sunny now took the lead as the group made their way to what used to be Twilight Sparkle's lab. It was actually easy to miss if someone did not know what to look for. It was just an unassuming blue door that looked like it would lead to a closet or janitor's room. No sign, or markings. Not even any sort of fancy advanced locking systems. Just a regular key lock.

Fortunately, the five of them knew where it was and Sugarcoat even had a key.

A gasp came from the other side of the door as it started to open. It then slammed shut hard, the impact knocking Sugarcoat back until she fell, landing on her backside with a grunt.

"Occupied!" a voice called out as the door locked again.

"Let me handle this," said Sour Sweet as she moved forward. Reaching out with a hand, she gave a very light, gentle tap.

"Sunset," she said in the sweetest, nicest voice she could manage, "we would like to come in please."

Her smile turned into the scowl as she took a step forward and slammed her first against the door hard enough to echo through the entire hallway.

"So, you have until the count of five to open this door before I break it down!" she roared out.

"ONE!"

"Okay! Okay!"

There was a click as the door was unlocked. It then opened to reveal none other than Sunset Shimmer, in glasses and a Crystal Prep uniform.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"That's what we should be asking you," Lemon Zest retorted. "What are you doing here?"

Sunset turned to her, lips pressed tight as her brow furrowed.

"It's my lab," she stated. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

"...I'm calling Twilight," declared Sugarcoat.

BIG SUN, little star

Celestia, principal of Canterlot High School, crouched in her yard, working on her garden. It was something she did every Saturday, finding it very peaceful and relaxing. As much as she loved her job and her students (well, most of them), there were times when it could be pretty stressful or frustrating, and did not require much in the way of physical activity.

That was why she enjoyed gardening so much. A chance to get outside in the sun, work up a slight sweat while making things a little more beautiful, and let the stress of the work week melt away before she had to go back to the grind.

Plus, it was nice and quiet, which she appreciated all the more after the whole singing flowers incident.

"MOM!"

Straightening up, she pressed her hand against her back, rubbing at the tender spot from her being bent over so long. It was such an annoyance. Used to be, she could work nearly the entire day on her garden, hunched over for hours on end, and feel fine. Maybe a little sore, but nothing that a good stretch and long, hot soak could not handle. Now, her knees and back would ache after a few hours and would still feel stiff in the morning.

"MOM!"

Celestia took off her hat, fanning herself with it. She leaned back, closing her eyes to look up and let the warm sun shine down on her directly for a moment. She may not have been a millennium-old alicorn pony princess who was able to move the sun itself (which was a comparison that, until earlier this year, she never would have even imagined, much less one that was possible), she did enjoy it still. And while she had to be careful not to be out in it too much or get burned, but it was nice to feel its warmth against her skin for a little while.

"Can I have a popsicle?" a child's voice asked.

Celestia turned toward the voice, and stopped. She had been expecting a child, but one that lived in the neighborhood that for some reason or other was either being very social, or had confused her for someone else.

What she was not expecting, was to see a child that looked like one of her students.

Celestia found herself staring down at what looked like a child-version of Sunset Shimmer. She had the same skin, the same eyes, and the same hair color. This little version was less than half her normal height though, with her red and yellow hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt, and held a stuffed white unicorn with a pink mane and tail under one arm.

"Mom?" little Sunset asked, brow furrowing with concern. "Are you okay?"

Was she? Celestia knew she never had a child, and certainly not Sunset Shimmer. It was not the sun getting to her, was it? She had not been out that long. Maybe she was having some sort of psychotic break? There had been a history of psychological disorders in her family. Even her sister, Luna had suffered from depression, then had a psychotic break which ended up putting her in a hospital for a couple months. As such, it was not so far fetched that Celestia would finally have one, and imagining herself as a mother to a girl who it turned out saw her as a mother-figure (technically, her other world counterpart was the mother-figure, but it was likely some of that emotion would transfer between worlds).

Reaching out, Celestia placed a hand on top of little Sunset's head. She could feel the warmth of the girl's body, and the softness of her hair. That meant that it was not a hallucination, right? If she was imagining it, she would not actually be able to feel the child, would she? Or would her mind also include the other sensory feedback required for touch the same as it did for sight and sound?

"Mooom," Sunset whined out. "You're messing up my hair."

Celestia could not help but smile at that. That did sound like something a child version of Sunset would say.

"So, popsicle?"

"I don't think we have any," Celestia finally answered. She then leaned down, putting the two of them closer to eye level. "Besides, have you eaten lunch yet?"

"...no," Sunset answered, looking down.

It was a simple enough trick for Celestia to figure out. Students had tried it on her before. Wait until an authority figure was distracted, then ask them something in a specific way, hoping they would not catch on.

"Let's get some real food first, then we'll see about ice cream."

"Okay," little Sunset cheered out. Turning around, she ran for the house as fast as her little legs could carry her. She was such a cute little...

Celestia mentally slapped herself. What was she doing? There was a little kid version of one of her students at her house, calling her Mom, and she was acting like it was normal or something.

First, she needed some sort of evidence to prove that there actually was a little Sunset Shimmer in her house, and not something that she was imagining very, very, very vividly.

After making them some sandwiches, an idea came to her. Pulling out her phone, she turned on the camera and pointed it at Sunset.

"Smile."

Sunset smiled around a big bite of her sandwich as her picture was taken. Celestia then sent the picture to her sister, along with a quick message.

Do you see anything strange?

She was able to eat her own sandwich before getting a message back.

Who is the child?

Well, that meant that Luna could see it as well. So that was something. Now she just had to figure out who to call about it. Sunset would be the one who makes the most sense, but she was not really an option considering she was a child and right in front of Celestia. One of her friends then. Preferably one that was good with children.

Two possibilities came to mind at that.

Stuffing the rest of the sandwich into her mouth, Celestia got up and headed to her home office. She should have Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's numbers listed there.

Fishy negotiations

Once upon a time, in a classic high-fantasy universe, there was a magical kingdom. This kingdom was ruled by the Mage-Queen Celestia the Immortal. Said to be born of the sun goddess, the Mage-Queen ruled for over a thousand years, guiding her kingdom into a time of great advancement.

One day, Celestia found young girl by the name of Sunset Shimmer on the streets of the capital city. Although the child did not look like much, she showed great talent when it came to magic. So the queen decided to take Sunset home, and train her in the ways of magic.

At first, everything was wonderful. Sunset was a brilliant student and talented mage, quickly learning and casting any spell she was taught, and studying the theories behind them. She also idolized the queen, looking up to her and hanging on her every word. As time passed, a darkness began to take the child's heart. She started to desire more and more. Not simply of magic, but also of wealth, and political influence. She had even begun to felt that the queen was holding her back. Intentionally.

One day, Sunset stormed into Mage-Queen Celestia's quarters, and made two demands. One was that she be granted access to all the spell books Celestia had, even the most forbidden. The other was that she be given the titles of High-mage and Princess, along with all the power and authority that went along with it.

Celestia refused, stating that there were spells which Sunset was far from ready for, and that the titles must be earned. The fact that she would barge in on the queen and demand such things was proof in itself that she was not ready for such things. More so since Sunset forgot that with the titles came great responsibilities.

Although that was not the end of things between the pair, it was a giant step in them falling apart. Celestia tried to continue teaching Sunset, but found herself trying to discipline the younger woman more and more, arguing with Sunset, or trying to teach her about morality and compassion, only to be blown off. As for Sunset, she took to sneaking around, finding books hidden in the oldest corners of the libraries, and studying the spells contained, no matter how dangerous or above her level the queen believed them to be.

It all came to a head when, during a lesson, Sunset used one such spell against one of the guards. While no serious injury or anything had occurred, it had been the final straw for the queen. Not only had Sunset used magic she was not ready for, but could have killed someone with it.

So Sunset Shimmer was stripped of her position and banished from the castle. Perhaps time out in the world could teach the young lady things that Celestia could not. As Sunset was dragged from the castle, she swore that Mage-Queen Celestia would regret this decision.

At this point, fact and rumor begin to diverge greatly. According to rumor, Sunset Shimmer set off to visit other kingdoms and the darkest corners of the world, learning the most powerful magics possible, and making deals with monsters for a portion of their power. Some day she would return, an army of horrific creatures at her command, to lay waste to the kingdom and destroy her former mentor. Celestia, however, is not merely waiting for such to happen. Instead, she has taken on a new student, one of breeding and with great power in her own right. Not only is the new student, Twilight Sparkle, being trained in powerful magic to help defend the kingdom, but sent out to seek ancient and powerful artifacts that could protect entire cities with their power. This will allow Twilight to wipe out the monster army, leaving Sunset to stand alone against her and the queen.

The facts, however, were a bit different. During her time as the queen's student, Sunset had discovered a magic mirror, which was a portal to another dimension. While she was being dragged away, Sunset broke free, knocked out the guards, and fled through the mirror. There, she discovered a world filled with magical talking ponies. There, she plotted revenge.

When the opportunity arrived, Sunset slipped through the portal, stealing the magical artifact that Celestia's new student (now an archmage and princess in her own right) had gotten. She brought it back to the pony world, where--

"Let me guess," Rainbow cut in. "You used the magic to try and do something evil in the pony world, like brainwashing everybody, but the other world's Twilight managed to use magic and friends like us to stop you."

Unicorn Sunset Shimmer turned to look at Rainbow Dash, mouth hanging open and eyes wide.

"How did you know?"

"Well, it is very much like what happened to our Sunset Shimmer," Rarity answered. "Although, the roles of the pony world and the human world were interchanged." She rubbed her chin. "And we didn't really have magic prior to her arrival."

The three of them, along with Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack, sat in the back of Trixie's van, with Trixie driving, and Pinkie Pie navigating the way to their "super special top secret meeting place" to meet up with The Dazzlings. Although some of them were suspicious, Pinkie assured them that they would not be calling without a good reason. Plus, if they actually had found something to do with Sunset, it would be irresponsible not to at least look into it.

And if it was a trick, they outnumbered the sirens seven to three (not including pony Sunset), with six of them having magic while they had been stripped of their powers. Applejack alone could probably pound the three of them into fish paste.

"WE'RE HERE!"

Pinkie Pie's declaration caused the entire van to jump, Fluttershy letting out a yip, and Rainbow Dash knocking over a box of ("totally legal," according to Trixie) fireworks in the process. Trixie slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a stop and making Pinkie Pie slam face first into the windshield since she was not wearing her seat belt.

Once they recovered, the side door was opened and the girls all looked out to see where they were. It looked like an old gothic mansion. Only not. Or not like an actual gothic mansion. It was more like an exaggerated concept of a gothic mansion as it would appear in a cheap horror movie or television show. The place was covered in what was clearly vinyl siding, made to look like it was old, rotting wood, with peeling black paint. A wrought iron fence encompassed the yard, with spear points on every other bar. The yard itself was dirt and rocks, with the occasional patch of weeds poking out. Wrought iron spikes also lined the edges of the uppermost roof, about three stories high, and gargoyles sat on the corners of the lower two.

What ruined any illusion of realism, however, was the massive, flashing, neon sign above the front door.

"'Doctor Heebie's House of Jeebies,'" Rarity read aloud. "I was not aware that our town had such a thing."

"I remember this place," Rainbow declared. "Went here when we were like six or seven." She rolled her eyes, letting out a snort. "It was so lame. Not even Fluttershy was scared of anything."

"...I wouldn't go that far..." Fluttershy murmured, looking down at her fingers.

"So, where are we meeting the fish-brains anyways?"

"Applejack!" Rarity chided. "We may not be on good terms with them, but there is no reason to be insulting or rude." She straightened up, running a hand down her skirt to make sure it was smooth and clean. "Especially since they are willing to help us."

Applejack let out a huff, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the side of the van.

"I bet the only reason they're helpin' is to get somethin' out of it themselves."

"You say that like we tried to hide it from you," Adagio stated. The siren now leaned her shoulder against the corner of the van, her own arms crossed as well. Her eyes were narrowed and she had a wicked smirk on her mouth. Her sudden appearance caused a squeak from Fluttershy and a yelp from Twilight, who threw herself against the far wall of the van.

"Hi, Adagio!" Pinkie Pie cried out, pulling herself halfway out of the window and waving one arm as vigorously as she could imagine.

Adagio's smirk failed as she watched the enthusiastic greeting.

"Yeah... hi..."

Applejack straightened up and turned to face Adagio. She placed her hands on her hips, trying to look as large and intimidating as possible. A scowl formed on her face as she glared at the other girl.

"A'right, Adagio. We're here like you told Pinkie Pie. Now, what did ya want to show us, and what do ya want?"

Adagio's smirk returned as she turned her full attention back to Applejack.

"Well, hello there Applejack," she said in the sweetest, most upbeat and friendly voice she could manage. "We're fine. Well... as fine as we can be all things considered. And you? Farm doing well? Family okay?" Her eyes narrowed as she bared her teeth. "How 'bout that there fine-lookin' brother o' yours? He seein' anyone?"

"Hey!" snapped Applejack. "If you touch my brother, I'll--"

"Do nothing," Adagio cut in. "Because any touching between him and me would be completely consensual."

"Adagioooooo!" Sonata whined out.

"We promised not to hit them or anything. You didn't say anything about snide or snark."

"...I'll keep it in mind for next time..."

"Just get on with it already!" Aria yelled. "I'm getting tired of holding this thing."

"Fine," Adagio huffed, rolling her eyes. She cleared her throat and straightened up.

"Sonata tells me that you met this world's Twilight Sparkle."

"Yeah?" Applejack replied. "So?"

"I want to negotiate with her."

"Me?" Twilight asked, poking her head out from the van. "Why me?"

"Because without Sunset Shimmer, you are the closest thing to a representative to Equestria that we have. Since you're pony counterpart is a princess, and we can't ask her directly, you have the best chance of knowing how she will respond to our demands."

Twilight climbed out of the van and stood up, making sure to keep Applejack between her

"Well, I don't think I can really speak for her," she said. "But, if you want to tell me what they are, I'll try my best to make sure she knows."

"It's simple," Adagio stated. "We want to go be allowed to return to Equestria, with amnesty. We give you what we found, and in exchange, we get to go back to Equestria, and have no charges pressed against us for what happened over a thousand years ago." She raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you say?"

Several seconds passed in silence as Twilight stood there, the eyes of her friends and Adagio on her. None pressured her directly, letting her take time to consider what she wanted to say.

"Well," she said slowly, "from what I've gathered about Equestria, they don't really hold a grudge against their criminals. And since it's been a thousand years, there's probably no one still alive who remembers what all you've done." Twilight adjusted her glasses, considering a moment longer. "Although, you probably will still be held accountable for anything you do that is illegal after your return."

"That's fine with me."

"Okay. We'll still have to ask Princess Twilight but--"

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash called out. "Hold on. Twilight might agree to this, but I don't."

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out.

"Just hear me out."

Rainbow Dash turned to Adagio.

"You want to go back to your world and have your record wiped clean, right?"

"That is what I said, yes."

"And in exchange for all this, you're just going to hand over someone who you say looks like Sunset Shimmer."

"Yeah?" Adagio replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I don't think that's good enough!" Rainbow retorted. "We know that there are at least two others we need to get, and I bet that there are more than that." She pointed a finger at Adagio. "I think that if you really want to convince Twilight to let you go back, you should help us find as many as possible."

The air filled with tension as everything went silent. Adagio Dazzle and Rainbow Dash stared at each other a moment, air crackling with energy as they did.

"I think it's a good idea," said Fluttershy.

All eyes were suddenly on her, making her let out a squeak and pull back. She looked down at her feet, taking a deep breath.

"Well...it's just... I mean... It would show that you are serious about going home, and helping us would probably help sway the other Twilight's opinion of you so she's more likely to consider it."

"For fuck sake, Adagio!" Aria shouted. "Either accept the terms or tell them to fuck off! I'm tired of standing around playing prison guard!"

Adagio's eyes narrowed as her lips pursed. Her fingers of drummed quickly against her arm as she let out a small hum.

"ADAGIO!"

"Ugh," Adagio cried out. Turning away from the others, she turned to face Aria and Sonata. "Why do you always have to ruin my dramatic moments?"

"Why do you always have to be such a drama queen?" Aria called back.

"We are performers! Being dramatic is a part of performance! Just like your act of being surly and short-tempered!"

Adagio let out a huff before turning back to Twilight.

"Fine. We help you find some other Sunsets, and in return, you help convince pony Twilight to let us return to Equestria with a clean record. Deal?"

Twilight gave a shrug before saying, "That sounds acceptable."

"Great. ARIA! Sonata! Bring her out!"

The two came out of their hiding spot, siren Sunset Shimmer between them. The siren that looked like their good friend was gagged, with her hands tied behind her back. As she came into view, her eyes narrowed to glare at the group of girls in front of her.

"Excuse me," Rarity spoke up. "Am I to understand that you just carry a ball-gag with you?"

"It was in the back of the Jeep," Adagio answered. "Besides, we had to gag her somehow." Her eyebrow quirked up. "Or would you rather try and deal with her using her powers to try and stop you from keeping her prisoner?"

"Pretty sure it wouldn't affect us," Applejack stated. "Just like your magic didn't work on us when you had it."

"Perhaps," Adagio conceded, "but it would still affect others. Which means at best, you would have to try to explain what you're doing, and at worst, fight off a bunch of mind-controlled people who will do anything in their power to save her."

Applejack let out a grumble, but couldn't really argue.

"So, what next?" Fluttershy asked.

"Adagio, darling," Rairty said. "You said that you have a car?"

"I have a car," Aria cut in. "Specifically, a Jeep." She turned to Adagio and smirked. "Of the three of us, I was the only one smart enough to actually get one prior to losing our powers."

"Okay," Rarity acknowledged. "Well, with The Dazzlings, we now have ten people and two cars. As such, perhaps we should split into two groups. One goes with Twilight to Crystal Prep, while the other goes to Principal Celestia's."

"Wait," Twilight spoke up. "We also need to get Sunset's journal."

"Oh!" Pinkie cried out. "You mean the journal Sunset Shimmer uses to write to Princess Twilight with, right?"

"Right," Twilight confirmed.

"Twilight," Applejack said, "should't we find Sunset Shimmer first before we talk to her?"

"But see, that's just it. I've been thinking that the princess could help us. If she can't come across to actually search, she might have been through something similar or be able to research something like it that had happened in their dimension."

The girls went quiet as they considered that. Equestria had much more experience with magic, lifetimes of it as opposed to it being a recent development on this side of the mirror. Plus, a lot of the magic problems was somehow tied to Equestria. The Dazzlings and The Memory Stone were the most direct examples of that, having come from that dimension directly. Although, "being dumped" would be a more accurate description since they were basically tossed there by ponies to keep Equestria safe, not even thinking about the possible consequences for where it ended up.

"Normally she carried it with her," Twilight continued, "but she didn't have her backpack with her during the magic show. So, it's either at school in her locker, or at her apartment."

"I can go get it," Rainbow Dash offered. She then smirked. "And hey, with my necklace, I can run to the school faster than a car."

"Okay. So, you can go to the school and look for the book, then let us know if you found it or not. The rest of us can split up to go to Crystal Prep and Principal's Celestia.

"...Now... who goes with whom?"

Solving problems one fist at a time

Aria Blaze's Jeep was a black number, with radioactive green accents on it. The front doors had biohazard symbols on them, with "Zombie Hunter Unit" written underneath. On the front panel were five little skulls and crossbones, with red X's over them. Aria drove with Sonata riding shotgun since she called it, leaving Twilight and Rarity in the backseat. The satellite radio was set to classic radio shows, which was currently playing some old detective show.

As it came to the end, Rarity cleared her throat.

"So, you all seem to be doing well since our... encounter..."

"You mean when we used our magic to turn the school music show into a battle of the bands and instilled animosity and competition not only between the other students and faculty, but also you and your friends as well, allowing us to gather up enough Equestrian magic to do the siren equivalent of ponying up, creating full-size energy projections of our true forms, and brainwashing the entire school into following our every whim and even able to defeat you, you friends, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, until Sunset Shimmer joined you, creating a giant astral projection of an alicorn which defeated our projections and shattered our gemstones, leaving us unable to sing or use magic, as well as making us mostly mortal, albeit with still above average to superhuman capabilities?" Sonata asked.

A growl emanated from Aria, her grip on the steering wheel tightening until her knuckles turned white.

"...yes..."

"Well, we're fine most of the time," Sonata answered. "Adagio and Aria are still a little mad about it, so about once a week we go to a bar so they can drink and complain." She burst into a wide grin. "It's great for me because since I don't drink, I get to be the designated driver, which is like the only time I get to drive, and Aria lets someone else behind the wheel."

"I still remember what you did to our first car," Aria grumbled.

"That was like..." Sonata stopped brow furrowing. "Sixty years ago? Seventy?" She shook her head. "Whatever. They were like brand new and no one knew how to drive them."

"They were still never meant to fly!"

"Well we didn't know until we tried."

"Yes! We did! Adagio and I both told you. There was nothing aerodynamic about it."

Sonata just blew a raspberry at this.

"So, everything is fine?" Rarity asked. "You're not struggling to find food, or a place to live or anything?"

Sonata looked at Rarity, then at Aria, then back at Rarity. She then threw her head back and started laughing.

And laughing.

...And... laughing.

She kept it up until she was sprawled out in her seat, struggling to breathe while still giggling a little.

"It's not that funny," Aria stated.

"I fail to see how it's funny at all," Rarity huffed, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Sorry," Sonata wheezed out. "Sorry." Reaching up, she wiped a tear from her eye and took a deep breath. "It's just that money is not a problem for us at this point. After..." she looked away, licking her lips "... certain events... Adagio worked on a plan that made sure we had plenty of money no matter what happened."

"Admittedly, we lost a lot of it during the depression," Aria added.

"But we've made a lot more back since. And modern technology has made it all the easier. Open an account, put money in, take it out, close it, and never have anyone see you or notice you aren't getting any older. So we aren't Rockefeller or Microsoft rich, but we could live off it for a century without working and be fine."

Sonata shifted to turn around and look at Twilight Sparkle seated behind her.

"So, you turned evil and tore holes in reality, huh?"

Twilight let out a groan as she squished down her seat. She looked out the window, her cheeks taking on a pink tinge.

Before the conversation could go any further, another new program started playing on the radio, with this one being a dark science-fiction anthology series. As soon as the opening started, Sonata gasped out and turned forward again, forgetting everything else as she listened.

The program came to an end with the human killing the visiting alien dignitary in order to keep a secret about earth safe, when they pulled up to Crystal Prep.

"Wow," Aria rasped out as she looked at the school. "This place must be a pain to clean."

The four of them got out and made their way to Crystal Prep's doors, with Twilight taking the lead since she was the only one who was actually familiar with the place.

As they stepped inside, Sonata let out a gasp, throwing herself against a wall as she clutched at her chest.

"This... place..." she gasped out. "So... boring..." She slid down the wall. "Sucking... all... fun... from me..." She then went limp, rolling her eyes back and letting her tongue flop out of her hanging open mouth. One leg gave a small twitch.

"Are you done?" asked Aria.

Sonata Dusk popped up and brushed herself off. She then gave a smile to the others.

"Yeah." Sonata then turned to face Twilight. "But seriously, this place is boring even by high school standards. It's like someone saw the dullest, boringest, blandest office ever, and decided to use it as a blueprint for how education should be run."

"How would you even know?" Aria asked. "You've never set foot in a regular office."

"Yes I have. I just never actually worked in one."

"So where are we meeting the girls?" asked Rarity.

"They said they would meet me at my lab and make sure their Sunset didn't leave," Twilight answered. She then started walking.

Then stopped.

Then turned and walked the other way.

And stopped again.

Bringing a hand up to her mouth, she chewed on her fingertip as she looked back and forth.

"Something wrong?" asked Rarity.

Twilight turned to face them and put on a sheepish smile. Her hand pulled away from her mouth as she curled her fingers together.

"It's been a while since I've been here, and the halls all look more alike than I remember," she admitted. Her gaze shifted down, looking more at the floor than her companions. "I... may have forgotten where my lab is."

"...Seriously?" grumbled Aria, raising an eyebrow. Twilight could only shrug in response. Aria let out a huff then took a deep breath, bringing her hands up to her mouth.

"HEY! WE'RE HERE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

The sound bounced off the walls, echoing through the entire building.

Twilight looked up at Aria, her face drained of all color and eyes wide in horror.

"Aria!" she cried out, her voice cracking so the second half of the name came out as more of a high-pitched squeak than an actual recognizable syllable. "You can't use language like that here. This is a school!"

"So?" Aria waved an arm around. "No one is here. And even if they were, what are they going to do? Ask me to leave?" She rolled her eyes and brought her hands up to the side of her head, palms out. "Ooooh. How scary. I'm shaking in my boots."

Sour Sweet came down from the hall that Twilight had started toward originally, with Sugarcoat following not far behind. Sour put on a big sweet smile as she approached.

"Twilight!" she cooed out. "So good to see you." She then turned to the others. "And you must be her friends."

Aria let out a snort and rolled her eyes.

"How nice to meet you. Welcome to our school."

Sour's smile turned into a scowl.

"It must be so much better than the barn you were raised in," she snarled out.

"Actually, we were raised in a highly competitive and predatory society that lived deep in the oceans on another planet," Sonata explained.

"Well, I guess that still explains the idea of not understanding being indoors." Sour smiled. "We're more than happy to help you out of course," she scowled, "but wouldn't it be easier to text us?"

"No," Aria answered. "And it would take longer too."

Sour Sweet turned to look at Aria, her eyes narrowing. She then took a step forward, moving so they were nose to nose.

"Sour," Sugarcoat stated. "You might want to back away."

"Listen to your friend," Aria said, eyes narrowing. "This is not something you want to do."

"Awww," Sour cooed. "How cute you think you can intimidate me."

"Aria," Sonata said.

"Sour," called out Twilight.

"Last warning, preppy," Aria said. "Back off or else."

Sour Sweet straightened up, crossing her arms more. Her eyes narrowed more as she scowled.

"Or else...what?"

A predatory grin spread across Aria's face. Clenching her hand into a fist, she pulled it back as far as she could.

Crystal Prep's bell rang, announcing that it was time for lunch. Bitter Chocolate hurried as much as she could without running to get to her locker, grab her lunch, and head toward the cafeteria. As she arrived, several of her friends were already taking their seat.

Including Berry.

Berry Sweet, the cutest boy in all of Crystal Prep. At least that was how Bitter saw him. With his dark blue eyes, green hair, and that slightly lopsided way he smiled.

And the seat across from him was empty.

Bitter's own smile grew wider as she hurried over, grabbing the empty seat before that two-faced, lying, manipulative bitch of a former best friend Twilight Velvet could beat her to it. She did not care what that liar said, or how well she played innocent, Bitter knew the truth.

Those thoughts were forgotten as soon as Berry's eyes locked on her, lighting up with excitement as that smile formed on his face. It sent a thrill of excitement through Bitter's body and her own smile grew wider. Setting her lunch down, she leaned forward.

"Hi--"

Pain exploded across the left side of Bitter Chocolate's face, her vision filling with a flash of white and pink. She flew out of her seat and across the room, hitting the linoleum for and sliding across it with squeeeeaaak before coming to a stop. The entire cafeteria went quiet as all attention was focused on her.

Bitter Chocolate shot up, the left side of her face turning red and starting to swell, Her violet eye glared out from the good side of her face, darting around the room.

"Who punched me?!" she roared out. Getting to her feet, she looked around, fists clenched until her knuckles were white. "Who did it? I will knock all your teeth out and shove them down your throat!"

Sour Sweet laid sprawled out on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as it spun around, and around, and around. Did she hear birds? She definitely heard laughter.

"I see London, I see France," Sonata Dusk sang out.

Some part of Sour's mind tried to figure out what the song was about, and what Australia had to do with anything. Her body, however, knew exactly what was meant. One hand grabbed the edge of her skirt, pulling it down to cover her exposed panties. She then started to pull herself up, working into a sitting position. Just when she was about to, though, someone decided to turn the entire school on its side.

"Was that necessary?" Twilight asked as she and Sugarcoat moved to Sour Sweet and helped her up.

"I warned her," Aria replied, "which is a lot nicer than what I normally do." She crossed her arms. "Plus, I didn't kick her after, either."

"Just... don't hit anyone else."

"I can make no such promise."

Twilight sighed and shook her head. She had imagined herself returning to visit Crystal Prep some day, but this was nothing like it. She would not have imagined coming to find some sort of Sunset Shimmer... something or other... and definitely not with a pair of psychopaths, one of which was prone to violence.

Although, considering some of the things the other girls have done, maybe the two of them would have fit in during Cinch's reign.

Putting the thoughts aside, Twilight turned to Sugarcoat.

"Should we take her to the nurse's office?"

"No," Sour said as she pulled away. "I don't need to see a nurse." She brushed down her shirt and straightened up. "Just need an aspirin or something."

After taking a step forward, Sour Sweet had to grab onto her friend to keep from falling over.

"I better take her, anyway," Sugarcoat insisted. "Your old lab is down that way. The other girls are standing outside it, so you should be able to see it no problem." She then started leading Sour away.

Once again on their own, the four of them headed down the hall, making their way to where the others were waiting.

"Twilight," Sunny Flare called out, "Rarity, how good to see you."

"'bout time you showed up," Indigo Zap huffed out. Her brow then furrowed. "Where's Sour and Sugar?"

Twilight considered a moment before answering. She was pretty sure that the blunt and simple answer would lead to an attempt at retaliation, and Twilight was pretty sure that Indigo would not stand a chance against Aria. While she may not be close to her former schoolmates, she did care for them a little, and did not want to see any of them end up in a hospital because of a fight.

"Sugarcoat is taking Sour Sweet to the nurse," she finally answered. "There was a small incident, and she hit the floor pretty hard."

Indigo's eyes narrowed as her lips pursed.

"Small incident, huh?"

She then turned to focus on Aria.

"I'm guessing you're the one that 'incidented' her?" Indigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aria crossed her arms, glaring back at the sporty girl.

"And if I was?"

"Alright, everyone," Rarity cut in, stepping between the two. "Let's not escalate things any further. Indigo, please do not start another physical altercation. Aria, please do not try to antagonize her into attacking so you can retaliate or claim self-defense."

Indigo bristled at Rarity, fixing her with an angry gaze.

"You mean to tell me that I should just walk away?" Indigo growled out. "That she" -- she pointed a finger at Aria -- "gets to hit my friend, and I'm supposed to do nothing?"

Rarity took a step closer, holding up a hand.

"I understand your frustration," she said in as soothing a voice as she could manage. "Believe me, if it had been one of my friends, I would be furious myself."

Indigo made a coughing huff with the back of her throat, rolling her eyes in the process.

"However," Rarity continued, ignoring blue Rainbow Dash's reaction, "we are here for something important, and fighting will help nothing. At most, it will likely cause physical injuries and further resentment. As such, I am asking you to let this go and allow us to find out what's going on."

A second passed in silence as Rarity let Indigo think about this.

Indigo let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging a little.

"Fine," she cried out, throwing up her hands. "But if I ever see her again, I'm kicking her ass."

"Just try it," Aria growled out. "You'll be eating through a straw for a month."

"Aria!" Twilight hissed. "What did Rarity say about antagonizing?"

"I was only asked to," Aria retorted. "I never actually agreed to it."

Twilight sighed, taking off her glasses to rub at her eyes. She could feel a headache coming on. Age was supposed to bring maturity, right? So why did the two oldest here also seem the least mature? Had they spent the entire millennium acting like a bunch of moody, petulant teenagers?

Focus, Twilight told herself. Forget about it and focus.

"Okay," she said as she put her glasses back on. "So, I take it she's still in there?"

"Indeed," Sunny Flare replied. "She knows she is Sunset Shimmer, but seems to otherwise be much like you were prior to The Friendship Games." Sunny turned to look at the door. "She even seems to think that Cinch is still Principal."

Twilight turned to Rarity.

"Do you mind if I talk to her alone a moment then?"

"By all means, darling," Rarity replied, making a motion toward the door.

Twilight walked up, knocked, then pushed the door open and stepped in, shutting it behind her.

"Well, I'm betting this'll take a while," Lemon Zest said, coming out of her musical isolation. "I say we go back to the cafeteria and grab some ice cream while those two talk nerd."

Rainbows and MAGIC!

Rainbow Dash ran as quick as she could, leaving a short-lived rainbow contrail behind her. True, it was not necessary for her to use her full speed, but Rainbow was not one to half-ass things. At least, not when it was something that she was actually passionate about. And she loved running. She would use her super-speed all the time if she could. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be an option. Using the magic too often ended up having consequences. Now, whenever she had the opportunity, she would go in with her whole ass.

After everyone went their ways to deal with things, something occurred to Rainbow: maybe the journal was at the park. While there were no changing rooms for someone to use (which in this case, meant that Sunset changed at school), but there was a backstage area where a book bag, and they were so busy trying to figure out what happened to Sunset Shimmer, none of them thought to look for her bag. That plus the fact it was closer to where they had met with The Dazzlings had Rainbow checking on it before going to the school.

What she saw made her come to a stop, staring with wide eyes.

On the stage was Sunset Shimmer, but not the Sunset Shimmer that she was familiar with. This Sunset stood on the stage, dressed in a wine colored suit with a pastel yellow dress shirt underneath. A black cape with red lining rested on her shoulders, and a top hat was placed on her head.

She was not alone on the stage either. Before her was a magic box, laying on its side, with the head and feet of a familiar blond pain in Rainbow's ass sticking out.

"Rainbow, baby!" Zephyr called out from his place in the magic box. "You gotta help me out here!"

"And now!" magician Sunset called out, "The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset shall saw her assistant in half!"

Sunset Shimmer then pulled out a chainsaw. With a hard yank of the cord, she started it up, the engine roaring to life as the chain started to spin.

Zephyr Breeze's eyes went wide at the sight of the machine made to chew through things a lot tougher than he was. He then let out a shriek so high pitched, that the dogs in the neighborhood started howling.

Two things went through Rainbow's brain as she watched. One was that as annoying as Zephyr was, he was Fluttershy's little brother, and she and their parents would be very upset if something were to happen to him. The other was that if she did save him, he would read into it as her liking him, which would make him pursue her all the harder.

"Don't worry!" Sunset called out as the chainsaw idled. "This won't hurt one bit." She then gave a wide, psychotic grin. "I won't feel a thing."

"I don't want to di-ie a vir--ir-gin!" Zephyr cried out.

Sunset revved up the chainsaw again as she lifted it high over her head.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash called out. "This is actually safe, right? You're not actually going to saw him in half or anything, right?"

Magician Sunset stopped, lowering her chainsaw.

"...Well... this may be the first time that The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset has performed with an actual person." She shifted, licking her lips. "And none of the test dummies made it through in one piece..." She then straightened and grinned. "But hey, first time for everything, right." The chain revved back up as magician Sunset lifted it up once again.

That was so not the answer that Rainbow Dash was hoping for. If it had been a standard trick, she would not have worried about it at all. If it had been a trick "The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset" had done some times before, she would have been willing to risk it. As it was neither, however, Rainbow had to step in. She may have found Zephyr a creep, but that did not mean she wanted him to end up dead. Plus Fluttershy would be angry with her, and an angry Fluttershy could be very terrifying.

Activating her magic, Rainbow Dash used her super speed to push Zephyr Breeze out of the way, getting a good twenty feet from the stage before the chainsaw had started to move, much less for Sunset to notice.

Zephyr stopped screaming and blinked. His head shifted as he looked around.

"I'm alive," he called out, voice cracking.

His gaze then turned to Rainbow Dash, and his eyelids lowered as he smirked.

"I knew you liked me, Rainbow baby."

And with that, Rainbow Dash was already regretting saving him.

"Not wanting you dead is a very low bar," she grumbled as she undid the latches on the box.

As soon as the top lifted, Zephyr jumped out and went to grab Rainbow in a hug. This was immediately stopped by a punch to the stomach, causing him to whuff out as he doubled over, grabbing his now sore abdomen.

He was lucky. Rainbow had also been considering his diaphragm, and his crotch.

"I can still stick you back in the box," she warned.

"HEY!" magician Sunset shouted. "I'm still here!"

"Oh, right."

Rainbow ran back to Sunset, grabbed the chainsaw from her hand and let it shut off as she put it down (she kind of wished she had a tool so she could dismantle it at super speed like in the comics). She then ran back, grabbed Sunset, and shoved her in the magic box which Zephyr Breeze had previously been occupying.

Pulling out her phone, she took a quick picture, and sent it to the others, along with a message.

That done, she turned to Zephyr Breeze.

"I have some stuff to do, so I can't stay around," she stated. She then pointed a finger at him. "So, I need you to stay here and keep an eye on her until the others show up."

She took a step closer, eyes narrowing.

"Do not, under any circumstances, let her out of that box until they get here. Understand?"

Straightening up, Zephyr threw up a hand in a mock salute.

"You can count on me, Dashie baby."

Rainbow Dash let out a small hum as her lips pressed tight. She was pretty skeptical about that. Still, she was on a mission, and had to give him a chance.

She took off again, heading toward the school, and leaving the two of them there.

...

"I have to use the bathroom," called out Sunset.

"Oh, right," Zephyr said as he turned around. "Here, let me help you out of there."

Salty apples

Trixie zipped her hoodie up all the way and turned the air conditioner down. Way down. Off. She even considered turning the heater on. Despite the warmth of the day, the inside of her van was freezing. Tilting her head, she looked in the rearview mirror (which quite honestly was pretty useless for its named purpose in this thing) at the source of the arctic level cold.

In the middle area of the van sat Adagio Dazzle and Applejack. Adagio sat in one seat, legs crossed as she filed her nails. Applejack sat facing Adagio, one leg resting on her knee and her arms crossed as she watched the former siren with a scowl.

"You know, Applejack," Adagio said as she looked at her cuticles, "I get the feeling that you don't like me very much."

"Really?" Applejack asked in as flat a tone as she could manage. "What reason could I possibly have for not liking you? You just spent untold years using magic to manipulate people into fighting, then went and did the same thing to my school, putting pressure on my friends and me until we ended up arguing, then used the power you collected to try and turn everyone into mindless zombies to do your every whim."

Adagio turned to look at her, eyes narrowing as she smirked.

"Oh come now," she purred out. "Sunset did similar with the intent of having an army to invade Equestria, as well as years of bullying beforehand, and your Twilight tore numerous holes in the very fabric of reality." Her gaze flicked toward the front. "Plus, it was actually dear Trixie who trapped you, if you recall."

"Sunset..." Applejack looked in the back where pony Sunset and siren Sunset sat "... our Sunset expressed genuine remorse and regret for what they did, and tried to make up for it." She pointed a finger at Adagio, nearly touching her nose. "You have shown no remorse whatsoever, and your only regret is the consequences of your failing."

Adagio tilted her head, and made her eyes as wide as possible.

"Would it help if I said I was sowwy?" she asked, pursing her lips and batting her lashes.

"Maybe if you could do it with any sincerity. Even then, don't mean I'm gonna trust you right off. You know the story of the scorpion and the frog?"

Adagio turned to face Applejack full and directly now. She raised one eyebrow.

"You honestly think I would do something to you, even if it meant harming myself in the process?" she asked.

Applejack leaned forward, moving to rest her arms on her knees as she looked Adagio Dazzle right in the eye.

"I think you're a lying manipulator," she said, "and you've been doin' it for a long time. I think you know enough to do it even without your magic." She leaned in more. "More importantly, I think you're so used to it, that you'll double-cross us to your benefit without a second thought just because it's how you are." She then straightened up. "Because you've been doing this stuff so long, you don't know how to be honest with anyone."

Adagio's eyes narrowed as her lips pressed tight. She let out a snort through her nose.

"You want honesty?" she growled out. "Fine. I'll show give you an honest little bit of information about me."

Adagio lifted her leg up, pulled off her boot and dropped it onto the floor. She then pulled off her sock and stuck her now bare foot into Applejack's lap.

"Take a look at that."

Applejack looked down at Adagio's bare foot.

It was not what she expected.

If Applejack had actually put any thought into what Adagio's feet, she would have imagined them like the rest of her. With smooth, soft, healthy skin in her pale yellow tone, and carefully cultivated to be as perfect looking and sexy as possible. Maybe with some bright red paint on the nails or something.

In reality, it was nothing like that. It was almost entirely scar tissue. Large patches of skin that was red, and far too smooth and shiny, interrupted by raised lines of white and the occasional patch of dark brown. The toes were just as bad, with the smaller four looking like the melted remains of candles, and missing the nails.

"...What happened?" Applejack finally managed to ask.

Adagio pulled her foot away and started putting her sock back on.

"Some people tried to burn me at the stake for witchcraft," she answered. "Not for anything I actually did, either." She grabbed her boot. "Being three unwed maidens was enough to rouse suspicion at the time in itself, meaning that they distrusted us to begin with, and suspected we might be witches already. So when one of the 'devout' and 'pure' wives decided they didn't like how her husband was looking at me -- or maybe it was a mother about her son who was 'of age' -- I was accused of using black magic to enchant the men to do my bidding." She held up a hand. "And yes, I'm aware of the irony on that. Anyway, I couldn't exactly prove myself innocent of it, even though I didn't, and plenty of men were willing to let me be accused of enchanting them instead of admitting their own hormonal lust. So, I was found guilty, and sentenced to burn at the stake. And with my magic, I was able to survive it long enough for Sonata and Aria to save me. Although, as you saw, even with my abilities, I didn't get out unscarred. And speaking of the morons, they have stories of their owns as well. There's a reason Sonata never exposes her back, and Aria's bracelets aren't just for punk fashion."

Leaning forward, Adagio brought her hands together, pointer fingers touching each other, and brought them up to her face.

"Now tell me, Applejack, do you think my being honest and telling them the truth would have saved me from what happened?"

She touched her fingers to her lips as raspberry eyes stared at Applejack, unblinking. She kept at it until Applejack turned away.

"I thought so," Adagio said, giving a smirk before turning away.

"Uhm... do you want to trade places?" Fluttershy asked from the back, where she sat between pony Shimmer and siren Sunset.

"I'm fine," Applejack mumbled.

"I've spent enough time with fussy sirens, thank you," replied Adagio.

"Mm fmmk msmlf!" shouted siren Sunset around her gag.

"I know what you said," Adagio retorted, "and that is not very polite or proper."

"Mmf!"

The rest of the drive was in silence, although the interior was not as chilly as it had been. The entire thing did still have a note of tension in the air, but it had eased a little at least.

When they pulled into Principal Celestia's driveway, Pinkie and Trixie got out, with Trixie stretching a little. Fluttershy made her way toward the side-door, climbing out.

"I think I'll stay here," said Applejack. "Keep on eye on the siren in back."

"I should stay as well," offered Adagio. "Considering all that happened, I'm sure that the principal would not be too happy to see me."

Fluttershy poked her head back in, looking into the backseat.

"Do you want to come with us, Sunset?" she asked. "Give you a chance to walk around, and children like ponies, so your presence may help."

"May as well," unicorn Sunset said as she made her way toward the door. "It will give me a chance to see how this world compares to my own."

The house was pretty nice, especially for someone who worked in public education and was single. It was two stories tall, painted a soft yellow, with red shudders. The yard was well tended, and there were several small garden areas set around it. The entire thing was even surrounded by a white picket fence.

"Huh," Pinkie Pie said as she looked up at the place. "I was expecting something more... castle-y."

Trixie turned to look at Pinkie, raising an eyebrow.

"You do know she's not actually a princess or anything, right?"

"Of course, silly," Pinkie replied with a grin. "I knew that."

As soon as Trixie looked away, Pinkie's eyes went wide and filled with tears. Pulling out a notebook with THEORIES! written on the front, she flipped to the Principal Celestia section, and crossed out "secretly royalty?" She then slipped it back before anyone noticed.

The four of them, three humans and one unicorn pony, made their way toward the house. Pinkie took the lead, bouncing ahead of everyone else. Reaching the door first, she pulled her arm back as far as she could, then gave a machine-gun fast series of knocks.

Principal Celestia answered the door, and she also was not how they expected. For starters, her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail, a scrunchie holding it in place. She was still dressed in the worn out old jeans with the grass and dirt stains on the knees, and a faded purple shirt.

"Glad you girls could..." the rest of Celestia's statement drifted off as she caught sight of the small orange unicorn near the back of the group.

"Is... that..."

"PONYYYYYY!"

Little girl Sunset shot out through the doorway, smacking against Celestia's leg in the process, but did not care if she even noticed. She bolted past Pinkie and Trixie toward the unicorn, slamming into hard enough to force it to take a step back as she wrapped her arms around its neck in a hug.

Unicorn Sunset froze as she found herself being hugged by a small, human version of herself. This was weird on so many levels. Should she say something? Like, not simply to the child at all, but should she admit to being capable of full speech? There was no reason to keep it secret, but there was no reason to admit it either. Plus, it was kind of weird to see another human version of Celestia. And this one was a Principal?

"This is amazing!" little Sunset cried out. She then turned to look up at Fluttershy. "Where did you find it?" She then turned to look at the pony again, eyes going wide. "It looks just like me."

Fluttershy got on her knee and crouched down, getting eye level with little Sunset.

"Maybe you should let go," she suggested softly. "She doesn't know you very well, and needs to be able to breathe too."

The girl looked at the from the pony, to Fluttershy, then at the pony again. Slowly she pulled away, unwrapping her arms from around the neck.

"Okay."

"We have some apples and peanut butter," Principal Celestia offered. "Maybe Fluttershy could prepare a snack for you and the pony while I talk to Trixie and Pinkie Pie."

Sunset looked at Celestia, then at Fluttershy. Somehow, her eyes managed to grow wider and wider, pleading without saying a word.

Fluttershy smiled and stood up.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt."

She then held out her hand to little girl Sunset. It was immediately grabbed as she was yanked forward, running along to keep from being dragged into the house.

"A snack does sound good," unicorn Sunset said to herself as she followed along.

Once the three of them were inside, Celestia turned to the other two girls.

"Now, why do I suddenly have a little girl version of Sunset Shimmer in my home, who thinks I'm her mother?"

"I don't know," Pinkie Pie answered with a shrug. "One moment, we were watching Trixie do a magic trick with Sunset, and the next, KA-BOOM! --" she threw her arms out as wide as she could "-- The box exploded! Next thing we know, we find unicorn Sunset under the stage, and you, The Shadowbolts, and The Dazzlings are all calling us with even more versions of Sunset."

"Trixie would like to take this time to state her innocence for the record," said Trixie. "It was a perfectly normal box bought at a magic supply shop, and Trixie only has the power to teleport herself, which was to switch places with Sunset. There was nothing that should have caused the explosion or... " she motioned toward the house "...that..."

Celestia let out a sigh, rubbing at her head.

"I had so many options when I was younger," she grumbled to herself. "I could have been an actress, a model, even a writer. But noooo. I had to decide to go into educational administration. 'How hard could it be?'" She then rolled her eyes as she looked up toward the sky. "End up being in charge of a school that is the door to another reality, and where magic is actually a thing." She let out another sigh. "Maybe the TARDIS will show up and take me away from all this."

"Pretty sure this is the wrong genre," Pinkie replied.

"Thank you! Pinkie Pie."

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, working to compose herself. It actually took a lot of work to appear calm, cool, and collected at all times. Especially when things were not going as hoped. That was one of the nice things about having weekends, it gave her time to work out the stress from the week.

She did not know how her pony counterpart could deal with running a whole kingdom every day for a thousand years.

Although... if she had been doing for so long, she probably had lots of practice and knew a lot of helpful techniques.

Given the choice, however, Celestia would rather deal with teenagers than aristocracy. At least with teens, you could blame youth and hormones for their behavior.

Feeling calmer and more collected, Celestia returned her attention to the two girls in front of her.

"Okay," she said in a professional tone. "So, may I ask what you are planning to do?"

"Well, so far, we're trying to find all the Sunsets we've been told about," Pinkie answered. "And Rainbow is going to see if she can find Sunset's journal. Then we're all going to meet up at Sunset's and see if Princess Twilight knows anything that can help us."

Celestia studied the two of them a moment longer, then let her gaze drift toward her house.

"You said that The Dazzlings called out about one. Where is she?"

"Tied and gagged up in the car."

"Pinkie!" Trixie cried out. "You can't... just... you can't!" She then turned to Principal Celestia, arms waving frantically. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I swear."

"Right," Pinkie agreed. "It turns out that she's actually an evil siren, who can manipulate people with her magic through singing, causing them to fight each other and allowing her to feed off their negativity. So we have to keep her gagged and tied up, or else she'll try to use her powers against us." She let out a gasp. "Like using them on a police officer, to convince them that we kidnapped her, and so having them shoot all of us."

Once again, Principal Celestia looked up at the sky.

"How did my life reach the point where something so outrageous was actually plausible?"

No answer came from above, so Celestia returned her attention to earth.

"In that case," she pointed toward the house, "those two are staying here. I'm not letting a child ride around in a van with essentially a supervillain."

The magic of NEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRDS!

Shutting the door behind her, Twilight stared at... Sci-Set? No, that sounded too... shippy... Shadow Shimmer? No... that sounded... supervillainous... Sun-nerd? No. That was just insulting. Still, this was not her Sunset Shimmer, but... actually, now that she thought about it, Twilight still did not know what exactly this was.

Still, Twilight studied the Sunset in front of her, which looked like Sunset was dressing up as Twilight. Even had the same kind of glasses. The only real difference was that Sunset's sun symbol was embroidered on the skirt instead of Twilight's pink starburst.

"Sunset? Do you know me?"

"Should I?" Sunset asked, looking up from her seat.

I was hoping, Twilight thought. The girls did say that she seemed to be like me before the friendship games, and I only met Sunset and them just before it started. It would have been nice though.

She let her gaze drift around the lab, taking in much of what she could. There were some inventions that she had left behind still around.

Maybe that could help?

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight stated, "and as hard as it is to believe, this --" she motioned around the room "-- was actually my lab until a not too long ago."

Sunset shifted to look at Twilight more directly, crossing her arms as her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

"I'm afraid, you're mistaken," Sunset replied. "See, this is my lab, and has been since I came here."

Twilight moved, walking over to the desk and leaning against it.

"That's technically true, but not in the way you mean." Twilight took a deep breath. "You see, you weren't here until today. Or... maybe not in this version of reality? We're not entirely sure."

Sunset pushed the seat away and stood up.

"Are you implying that I'm from another dimension?"

"More like stating that it's a possibility. You see, we don't know exactly what happened but you are most certainly not the Sunset Shimmer I know of this world. For example, you think Abacus Cinch is the Principal, correct?"

"Yes?" Sunset replied. "Are you saying she's not?"

"I am," Twilight answered. "You might want to sit back down while I explain."

Sunset's lips pressed thin as she looked at Twilight a long moment, eyes narrowed. Twilight could practically see the conflict going inside the other girl's head: the skepticism of what she was being told conflicting with the curiosity of what she may potentially hear.

And as often was the case with Twilight, Sunset's curiosity won out. Grabbing the chair, she sat back down.

Twilight took a deep breath.

"So, a while ago, Crystal Prep had The Friendship Games with Canterlot High, and..."

"And that's how we ended up here," Twilight finished.

"That is all very fascinating," Sunset conceded. She then leaned forward. "However, I think you can understand my skepticism of the whole thing. I mean, you're asking me to believe that" -- she held up a finger -- "one, magic is real," -- she held up another -- "two, there's a dimension filled with magic, talking, ponies, " -- another -- "three, a version of me came from that world to this one," -- another -- "four, she, you, and your friends now all have anime style magic girl powers," -- her hand turned around as she held up her thumb -- "and five, I am not the Sunset of this dimension, who was somehow caught up in a magical explosion." She then dropped her hand. "Honestly, I'm not sure why I believe you at all. This sounds like a prank Lemon and Indigo are trying to pull on me or something."

Twilight smiled and stood up, walking toward the center of the small room.

"I understand," she replied. "It is a lot to take in, and if I were in your position, I would be skeptical about it myself." She faced Sunset, and brought a hand up to her pendant. "I can prove it to you. Although, while more dramatic of the two, I'm not certain if this will actually work. So bear with me for a moment."

"What are you going to do?"

"The other's call it 'ponying up.' It's a minor transmogrification that causes us to grow equine ears, have our hair grow longer, and in the case of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and myself, sprout wings. We don't entirely know what causes it, as it either occurs when we are facing some sort of danger, or for some reason, playing as a band. It has to do with harmony, however, so I think it has to do with our connection as friends, and that the music works because the synch..." She gave a shake of her head. "Nevermind. We can discuss it later."

Twilight then tried to transform into her magical hybrid form. "Tried" being the key word. Although she had tried before, Twilight had never figured out how to "pony up"when she wanted to. She had done so during dangerous situations, and when she had been singing with the other girls, but had yet to figure out how to do it when she simply wanted. It was like being able to see something from the corner of the eye, but not from straight on. She knew it was there, just not how to see it.

And unfortunately, it seemed that today would not be the day she figured it out. No matter what she tried, what she thought, what pose she struck, or what muscles she flexed, Twilight just could not get herself to pony up.

Although she might have pulled a muscle she was not even aware of until then.

Sunset was not impressed.

"Okay," Twilight relented. "So, that didn't work. Fortunately I still have my contingency method." Reaching up, she took a hold of her pendant. "You might want to brace yourself."

Tightening her grip on the pendant, Twilight reached out with her other hand, fingers spread wide.

A rose-colored aura encompassed Sunset and the chair she was sitting on. They then began to float up, lifting off the floor. A yelp of surprise escaped Sunset as she noticed, her hands gripping the side of the chair and holding on as until her knuckles turned white and nails dug furrows into the plastic.

Twilight then lowered the chair and girl sitting on it.

Before the thump of reaching the floor had even finished, Sunset Shimmer was up and out of it, eyes wide as she glanced between the chair and Twilight Sparkle. After a moment, she took a deep breath, and brushed her shirt and skirt back into place.

"Was that sufficient?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Sunset replied. "Yes, that was sufficient." She took another deep breath, collecting herself. "At least in the proving that you have some sort of telekinetic-like abiilty which would be seen as magic." She wrapped her arms around herself, gripping at her elbows and giving them a rub. "Are you sure you're not mistaken about me, though? Is there any possibility that I'm the Sunset from this reality, and that you were somehow transposed to it?"

Twilight considered this a moment, before giving a shake of her head.

"While I will concede there is a possibility, the events leading up to my arrival and talking with the others has lead to such being so highly improbable, most would consider it an impossibility. Because not only would I have to have been transported, but so would my friends, The Dazzlings, and the Shadowbolt girls. Not to mention the possibility of Celestia being transported as well, and at that there are at least three other versions of Sunset Shimmer."

She adjusted her glasses.

"I'm sorry, Sunset, but given what I know, it seems far too unlikely."

"...Right..." Sunset conceded. "Assuming I accept all this, and it is still hard to do, what happens now?"

Twilight shrugged.

"I don't entirely know," she said. "We're trying to find other Sunsets, as well as her journal. That way, we can talk to Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria."

She took a step closer.

"You should come with us. Between the three of us, if not more, I'm sure we can come up with a solution that will fix things here and get you back to your reality."

Sunset stood there a moment, thinking, before giving a nod.

"Okay. I'll help if I can."

Before either even realized it, Twilight had lunged forward and gave her a hug.

"Great," declared Twilight.

She suddenly tensed and pulled back, blushing as she put her hands behind her back.

"I mean... welcome aboard. I'm sure the others will be glad to have you with us."

Sunset smiled, a small part of her regretting that the hug had ended so abruptly.

A Harry situation

Normally, on weekends, Canterlot High School was locked up, keeping students out of it until the next school day. There were exceptions, though, such as with some of the school clubs. Some of them would meet on weekends or after school, and one of the officers would be allowed a key to access the school. Sunset Shimmer -- their normal Sunset Shimmer -- had been given one because of all she had been doing to help make up for what she had done, and so she could get onto campus in case of something happening with magic. And, although it was not technically a school club, Rainbow Dash had managed to convince Principal Celestia to let her have one so that The Rainbooms could practice at the school instead of finding somewhere else to rehearse.

Once inside, Rainbow Dash made her way to where Sunset's locker would.

Only then did she realize a major problem.

She had no idea what the combination to Sunset's locker was. Rainbow had never paid attention to Sunset unlocking it, and it was not like she could just call and ask. Also no way to really guess based off of what she knew about Sunset since the school programmed the combinations. Maybe one of the other girls knew? Fluttershy may have noticed when she was being unobtrusive, or Twilight might have picked it up. Actually, Pinkie Pie might be the best choice. That girl picked up all sorts of weird bits of trivia here and there. Rainbow was willing to bet that Pinkie had even put something in Sunset's locker at least once. Like a cupcake, or something to explode confetti to celebrate Sunset not being a bully anymore.

Rainbow came to a stop as Sunset's locker came into view.

Which was open.

With Sunset Shimmer standing in front of it.

This Sunset was taller than the one Rainbow Dash knew, with her hair cut extremely short in a style that Rarity probably knew the name of. She was dressed in a black leather jacket that went down past her knees, and had multiple piercings in her ears.

"Ah-ha!" she cried out, pulling out Sunset Shimmer's journal.

Slipping up behind her, Rainbow snagged it right out of her hands.

"That's not yours," she declared, stepping back.

The new Sunset turned to face her, and Rainbow noticed that this one was older than her friend. It was like in a movie where they got some thirty year old to play a teenager.

Sunset's eyes flicked up and down Rainbow before narrowing. She stood up straighter, crossing her arms. Hanging from a necklace was an amulet that looked like Sunset's symbol, with the yellow part of gold, and the red a single ruby.

"Listen, kid," the older Sunset said, her voice deeper and raspier than regular Sunset, "you don't know what you have there."

Rainbow straightened up, scowling.

"I know exactly what I have."

She then smirked as she spun it by the base of the spine on one finger.

"More than you do. That's for sure."

Sunset took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Rainbow Dash."

Sunset let out a fake laugh as she rolled her eyes.

"Right. Sure. Seriously. What's your name?"

"Rainbow Dash," Rainbow repeated.

Sunset's eyes narrowed and brow furrowed. She took a step forward as she looked Rainbow Dash up and down.

"You do... kind of... but you can't... she's... you..."

Taking a step back, she rubbed at her head.

"Something's not right here."

"Understatement of the day," Rainbow mumbled as she took a step back.

Holding up a hand, Sunset took a deep breath and gave a shake of her head. She turned her full attention back to Rainbow.

"Look, kid, this is going to be hard for you to believe, but that's not an ordinary book you have there. I--"

"It's magic," Rainbow interrupted. "I know."

"... you do?"

"Yeah," Rainbow replied. "I mean it's not a secret. It's all part of something else I really don't have time to explain." She then rubbed the back of her head with her free hand.

"Actually, maybe there is?" She raised an eyebrow. "Don't supposed you would willingly come with me to meet up with my friends? I mean, yeah, the whole thing will be kinda weird, bu--"

"Look out!"

Instinct kicking in, Rainbow Dash activated her magic and darted to her left. Just in time to avoid being tackled by the Sunset Shimmer she was talking to. As well as some sort of energy blast that struck the lockers instead.

"Awww," a voice moaned out. "You made me miss. And she was such an easy target."

The new arrival was another Sunset Shimmer. This one had longer hair, with the yellow being replaced with black, and her clothes following a similar color scheme. Even her nails were painted red and black. Her skin was also paler, the yellow looking more sickly than golden tan she normally had. She turned her attention to the other Sunset.

"Ventus ira!" she called out, throwing her hand out. The sound of howling wind filled the hallway as the first Sunset was thrown into the lockers with a slam, causing her to grunt out.

"Hey!" Rainbow cried out, running over to short-haired Sunset, crouching down to check on her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," this Sunset replied. "Just... had the wind knocked out of me."

Rainbow then stood and turned her attention back to the black and red Sunset.

"What's the big idea?"

Red Sunset pointed a finger at Rainbow.

"You." Her eyes narrowed. "What does that book do?"

"The book?" Rainbow asked. She then held up the journal. "You mean this book?"

"No," Red Sunset huffed, rolling her eyes. "I mean the other magical book that you've found. Yes, that one!"

Rainbow stepped away from short-haired Sunset, clutching the journal closer and readying her magic.

"Okay." She took a breath. "It's my Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook." She grinned. "Yeah. See, I have some homework, due Monday, and I forgot my book. So I had to come get it."

"I could set you and fire and bounce you off the walls like a flaming pinball," Red Sunset growled out. One of her hands clenched into a fist. "So, tell me what I want to know, or I'll do just that." Her gaze then flicked to the prone Sunset. "Or... maybe I'll use her instead."

"No," Rainbow cried out, moving to step between the two Sunsets. "Okay, but it's not that big a deal."

"I'll be the judge of that. Now spill."

"This journal is connected to one in another dimension," Rainbow Dash explained. "Whatever is written in it can be read in both of them, as can whatever is written in the other. Although, as far as I know, it only works between the two of them." She then held the journal up. "This isn't even the original. It's and the other one are copies made when the first pair were full."

Seconds passed in silence as Red Sunset stood there, staring at Rainbow Dash. At the same time, the short-haired Sunset, got back up to her feet, rubbing her back where it had slammed into the locker.

"You're serious, aren't you?" Red Sunset finally asked. "You're not making it up. That's seriously all it does?"

"Yeah," Rainbow answered. "That's it."

On a technical level, and as far as Rainbow actually knew anyways. In total truth, the other half of the original journals had been used to open a gate to the other dimension, although it was one that already existed and was simply closed because of something to do with time and moons or something.

No reason to tell either of these Sunsets about that, though.

"Why would she send me for something as stupid as that?" Red Sunset mumbled to herself. "Whatever." She then spoke up louder. "Toss it here."

Rainbow's grip tightened on the book as she got ready. She was certain that she could outrun both of them, and probably avoid any spells thrown at her. She would have to be aware of what was being thrown and where, though.

"Ventus glacialis!" short-haired Sunset called out, throwing up one of her own hands. Again, a wind howled through the school hallway, but this one was ice cold, sending a chill up Rainbow Dash's spine. Fortunately, she was not the target. Instead it went past her and hitting Red Sunset. The cold wind knocked her back, slamming her into the wall as she did short-haired Sunset earlier.

The wind did not end there, though. Instead it kept blowing, coating her in a layer of frost.

Short-haired Sunset stopped, turning to Rainbow.

"We should go before she recovers or back-up arrives. You said something about meeting friends? I could give you a ride."

Rainbow looked between the two Sunsets, then gave a nod.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here. Don't wanna see her mad."

Harmony Sentai

"Are you alright, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked as their group was back in Trixie's van. "You've been pretty quiet over there."

"How can you tell?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know statues that make more noise."

Fluttershy blinked, turning to look at the other two girls. She sat there a quietly, blinking as her attention returned to the real world around her. Now fully seeing Applejack and Adagio, she gave a gentle smile.

"I'm fine," she answered. "It's just..." she shifted, letting her gaze drift back toward the door. "I know that Principal Celestia is right, we don't know what other versions of Sunset we'll run into, or what they might do, so it's better that they stay there with her. But at the same time... I feel bad about leaving them behind like that."

"I understand your worry, sugar cube," Applejack replied. Reaching out, she pat her friend on the knee. "But it is better this way. If somethin' does happen, we don't have to worry that little girl gettin' caught in the middle or somethin'."

"Plus," Trixie called out, "would you really want a sweet, innocent, little girl anywhere near Adagio?"

This got Adagio's attention. Leaning forward, she raised an eyebrow and stared at the driver's seat.

"Are you implying something, little miss two bit stage mage?"

"That you are not above manipulating a child to get what you want," Trixie retorted.

Adagio Dazzle sat there a moment, lips pursed and looking up toward the ceiling. She gave a nod as she leaned back.

"Yeah," Adagio admitted. "I would totally do that. No reason to deny it."

"I know," Fluttershy said. "As I said, I know it was for the best, but I still feel bad about it. Like we're abandoning them there, or dumping our problems on Principal Celestia."

"Hey!" Pinkie called out. "Maybe we'll end up running across a dog version of Sunset, or something. Then you ca- LOOK OUT!"

A hiss escaped from Trixie as she slammed on the brakes. The wheels squealed as they tried to stop tons of steel from moving thirty miles per hour. The entire van screeched to a halt, stopping hard and causing the people inside to jerk forward. A yelp escaped siren Sunset as she was thrown from her seat, landing face first on the floor.

Standing in the road was (you guessed it) another Sunset Shimmer. This one was dressed in gold armor with red accents, and held a massive staff with the outline of her icon and a red gemstone in the middle on the top of it.

"Ah-ha-ha!" she cried out. "At last, we have found what we were looking for."

For some reason, her lip movements somehow did not match up with what she was saying.

"Imps!" she cried out, holding her staff in the air. "Arise!"

Red lightning shot out of the gemstone and struck the ground. From it appeared a group of humanoid creatures, with burnt orange skin, claws on their fingertips, and demonic wings.

"Attack!" armored Sunset called out, pointing her staff at the van. The imps ran toward the van, wings flapping behind them as they went.

"Hang on!" Trixie cried out. Shifting into reverse, she slammed down on the accelerator as hard as she could. The van jerked backwards, tires screeching as they tried to get traction. Again, the girls were jerked forward by the momentum, the ones with seat belts feeling it dig into them. Trixie then turned the wheel, wishing she could jerk it hard and turn the whole thing fast like in the movies, but worried that actually trying such would cause the van to flip or something.

She then put it back into drive and hit the gas, hard, getting the old thing all the way up to its maximum speed of fifty miles per hour (which was normally not an issue since she was driving around town, which topped out around forty, but not that impressive when trying to flee at high speed).

The escape attempt was short lived as one of the tires was destroyed. There was a loud bang as it popped, followed by the shaking and thump-thump-thump of a flat. The imps then quickly surrounded them, forcing Trixie to stop.

Pinkie rolled down the window while reaching into her pocket. Pulling out a handful of miniature marshmallows, she charged them with her magic before throwing them at the imps. The small pieces of fluffy sugar exploded in a burst of light, noise, and sticky sweetness.

Several of the imps made their way toward the panel door, grabbing the handle, they yanked it open, nearly ripping it off the slide rail in the process.

Adagio sat in her chair by the door. She leaned forward, pressing her arms against her chest to make her breasts stick out more. Her lips pursed out as she let her eyelids droop.

"You don't want to actually harm, little ol' me, now do you?" she asked, fluttering her eye lashes.

One of the imps bared its fangs and let out a hiss.

Adagio sighed, leaning back and giving a shake of head.

"I'm guessing that's a 'no,'" she said. "Shame really." She then shrugged. "Oh well."

She then kicked out, driving the tip of her boot into the creature's stomach. It fell backwards (although, it looked like it threw itself back), then laid there, wriggling its limbs around and thrashing.

Applejack moved toward the entrance and threw a punch. Although she aimed for the creature's face, she somehow managed to hit it in the chest. Much like the previous one, this imp "fell" back and squirmed on the ground.

More of them showed up, grabbing Adagio, Pinkie, and Applejack, to yank them out of the van and throw them on the ground. The imps then made their way in, grabbing Trixie and Fluttershy. Two of the creatures grabbed a hold of siren Sunset, picking her up and carrying.

With the five girls captured, the armored Sunset Shimmer turned her attention to the siren one. Again, she held up her staff, and red lightning shot out of it, destroying the ropes and gag while leaving siren Sunset untouched.

Free of her bounds, siren Sunset stood up and brushed herself off. She then stretched, rolled her head back and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out.

"It's good to be free again," she said before returning her attention to the world around her. She then turned her attention to the prisoners, a hungry shark grin spreading across her face. She stalked toward them. The gem on her neck began to glow.

"Now, to deal with you."

Dramatic heroic music suddenly filled the air, as did the sound of a motorcycle. A bright red one made its way along the street, heading right toward them. The rider suddenly jumped off, flying through the air. They flipped forward once before kicking out with their boots, hitting two of the imps and freeing Fluttershy. The rider then landed on their feet, the motorcycle somehow coming to a stop but not crashing not far away.

"Who are you?" armored Sunset asked, pointing a finger at the new arrival.

The rider stood up and turned to face her, dressed in black jeans and a red leather jacket. They removed their flaming bird helmet to reveal...

Sunset Shimmer.

"Hope I interrupted something important," she said, smirking. "Can't just let you attack people like that, now can I?"

"Get her!" armored Sunset ordered.

Helmet disappeared, biker Sunset threw up her left arm, the sleeve of her jacket falling down to reveal a gold bracer with a sun on it attached to her wrist.

"HARMONY POWER!" she cried out, tapping the symbol. A golden light engulfed her form as she transformed. Her normal clothes were replaced by a skintight red jumpsuit with gold accents on the gloves and boots. A flaming bird appeared overhead before flying at her, becoming a piece of armor for her shoulders and upper chest. A red and gold helmet engulfed her head, a black visor shaped like a pair of extended bird wings covering her eyes.

She struck a pose, standing wide with her arms thrown out to her side.

"The eternal flame of Justice!"

She then took a step forward and threw her fist up in a fighting pose.

"PHOENIX RANGER!"

Flame exploded from behind her, which somehow did no damage to any of the surrounding people or monsters.

"Imps! Attack!" armored Sunset shouted as she pointed at Super Sentai Harmony Rangers Phoenix Ranger Sunset Shimmer.

"Phoenix Blade!"

A large, curved, double-bladed dagger appeared in one hand. Ranger Sunset held it out in front of her and charged forward. As she ran past the imps, she made slashing motions, swinging left and right. At one point, she even did some sort of gymnastic spin-kick-flip motion for no obvious reason, and seemed to accomplish nothing. In fact, the Phoenix Blade seemed kind of pointless as well. Because, although she did make slashing motions with it, none of the imps ever showed signs of being cut. Instead, they would just fall and fly backwards and land on the ground, squirming there but not getting up.

The imps then all just disappeared. One second they were there, and the next they were gone.

Ranger Sunset then turned her attention to siren Sunset and armored Sunset.

"You haven't seen the last of me," armored Sunset called out. She then held up her staff above her, her and the siren Sunset balls of red light before shooting up into the sky and out of sight.

Ranger Sunset brought her hands up, crossing her wrists at eye-level before tossing them down to her sides. A light engulfed her form, disappearing to show her back in her normal clothes. She turned around, facing the others.

"Now, someone care to explain to me what's going on?"

One Hell of a first meeting

"Can I touch your arm?"

Aria Blaze turned to look at the extra nerdy Sunset that was now sitting in the passenger seat beside her. Sunset Shimmer was staring at her arm, eyes wide, and mouth hanging open with a bit of drool at the corner. Ever since the two of them had been introduced, Sunset had stared at Aria the same way that Sonata stared at ice cream sundaes. Not a comforting thought when the way said siren ate said sundae could easily be described as "brutally."

She did not care what Adagio said, Aria still maintained that one had actually cried out in pain and terror.

"No!" she snapped. Aria then turned her attention back toward the entrance of Crystal Prep. There stood this world's Twilight Sparkle, talking to the Crystal Prep students. For some reason or other, they had wanted to talk to Twilight alone, because they were sort of friends or something? Well, whatever it was, it meant that Twilight was talking to them while the rest of their little group were sitting and waiting in the Jeep.

Aria slammed her hand down hard on the horn, holding it down to honk it very loudly for a very long time.

"HEY TWINERD!" she shouted out. "Shake a leg already. Just give them your phone number and you can figure out the orgy stuff later!"

Twilight buried her face in her hands, her cheeks so bright red, they could have been used on a fire truck.

"Really, Aria," Rarity asked from her spot in back, "was that necessary?"

"No, but it was fun, and I'm ready to get going already."

"Surely you could have waited another minute or two."

"Yeah," Aria replied. "I could have. I also could have licked by finger and shoved it in the lighter slot to shock myself."

Which, in all honesty, she would have actually enjoyed it quite a bit. In reality, though, she had actually mentioned it not only because it was silly and sounded unpleasant, but something that Sonata was actually still defensive about.

So, it was actually surprising when she did not speak up to defend herself.

"Sonata?" Aria asked, turning to try and see the other former siren.

"Aria?" Sonata asked as she was staring out the window. "What's that?"

Aria moved to try and get a look at what Sonata was pointing at. Floating in the sky was a figure. It was little more than a silhouette, making hard to catch any real details, but Aria made out a pair of demonic wings.

Whatever it was, she was sure that it was not here for anything nice.

Multiple thoughts went through Aria's head at once. Two of them were tied to typical fight-or-flight response. One was that she wanted to fight that thing: to try and take it down and beat it into submission like when she had been in a full siren and had beaten up a great white shark. Another was that she should flee: just start the engine and get out of there because that thing was out of her league and not her problem. Adagio's voice spoke up in her head, pointing out that leaving would mean abandoning one of the people she had come up with, which would mean the others would get upset, and likely go back on the deal to try and let the three of them return to Equestria. Another voice pointed out that it did not matter if they were allowed to go back to Equestria or not if they were dead, and since they were mostly human now, they could die. Also, for some reason, the song Highway to Hell was stuck in her head.

With a groan of frustration, Aria Blaze threw open the door to her jeep and jumped out, running toward Twilight and her friends.

"GET INSIDE!" she shouted. "Get back in the school! NOW!"

The four girls stopped talking, turning to look at the quickly approaching Aria.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know," Aria replied, "but I'm pretty sure that" -- she pointed toward the flying figure -- " is a bad sign." She turned toward the Crystal Prep students. "So get inside."

The students turned and started running toward the doors.

They did not get far before rings of pale blue energy came down, collapsing around the top of their heads. As it did, they stopped, turning around to face the figure. Their eyes were sightless, nothing but glowing magic could be seen from them.

"Sunny?" Twilight asked, looking at her friends. "Lemon? Indigo?" She held up a hand, waving it back and forth in front of their faces and getting no reaction. The rational part of her knew that she should get away, but between the emotional shock of the situation and the curiosity, she found herself unable to as she tried to figure out what happened.

"Grab her!" commanded a voice, so deep and gravelly that it barely sounded human, much less female.

Lemon and Sunny moved toward Twilight, grabbing her arms and holding them down, while Indigo grabbed her around the waist.

"You," the voice commanded. "Let her go."

Indigo let go and took a step back, allowing the new arrival to stand eye to eye with Twilight. Twilight recognized her instantly, and could not believe it. She had seen pictures of her, and heard the story, but not, she was looking at her in the flesh.

The red, evil, horrendous flesh.

Sunset Satan.

Cyan irises surrounded by black sclera stared at her from burnt red skin. Bearing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth in a grin, she reached out one clawed hand, taking a hold of Twilight's chin.

"So, you're this world's Twilight Sparkle," she growled out.

"What do you want with me?" Twilight asked, trying to pull back from the grip.

"You?"

Throwing her head back, Sunset Satan let out a laugh that sounded like a heavy metal rocker gargling with gravel.

"I don't want you," she replied. "I just want to make sure that you don't use your magic to interfere."

She then turned toward the Jeep, demonic wings flaring out behind her.

"Or you, Rarity," Satan called out. "Either of you try anything, and you very well might hurt one of these poor, innocent girls who simply can't help themselves. And you wouldn't want to do that, now would you?"

Rarity stopped, halfway out of the Jeep. Her eyes narrowed and lips pursed as she scowled at Satan. With a huff, she sat back down, crossing her arms.

"Good girl."

Satan turned toward the mind controlled girls.

"You, --" she pointed at Indigo, "-- and you, --" she pointed at Aria, "-- go bring me the Sunset Shimmer in that car. Now."

Indigo Zap turned and started walking toward the Jeep.

Aria Blaze stepped forward, turned and punched Sunset Satan in the stomach. More specifically, right in the solar plexus muscles. The impact knocked the air out of Satan's lungs, causing her to drop to the ground and hold her stomach as she tried to catch her breath.

Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and Lemon Zest all blinked and shook their heads, with Sunny and Lemon releasing Twilight as the magical glow of Satan's mind control disappeared from their eyes.

"What happened?" Sunny asked, rubbing her head. "I feel... fuzzy..."

"Wow," Zest said, looking around. "I feel like I was back at The Rainbow Sphincters concert."

"Last thing I remember," Indigo stated, "we were talking to Twilight when -- OH DEAR SWEET MOTHER OF BASKETBALL SHORTS! WHAT'S THAT?!" She pointed at the prone Sunset Satan on the ground.

"That's another form of Sunset Shimmer," Twilight answered, rubbing a hand down along the front of her shirt. "I've heard stories and even seen a picture or two, but never thought I would actually see it for myself."

"Yeah, really interesting or whatever," Aria said, stepping forward. "But we need to do something about her before--"

The rest of her statement was lost as Sunset Satan shot a fireball. While the humans were recovering from the sudden blast of blistering heat and blinding light, Satan took flight, launching herself up into the air and above the crowd. She unleashed another pair of fireballs into the ground, creating a cloud of hot dust that burned at eyes, noses, and throats.

With the crowd distracted and blinded, Satan turned her attention toward the Jeep, flying toward it as quick as she could manage. Her eyes narrowed more as a predatory smile spread across her mouth, like a hungry shark that scented blood in the water.

Rarity stepped the rest of the way out, focusing her gaze on the rapidly approaching evil Sunset. One hand grasped at her pendant as she lifted the other up in front of her.

"Now, darling," she said in a calm but firm tone, "I don't want to hurt you, but I will defend myself if necessary. As such, I am asking you to not force me to do something we shall both regret. Although, really, it would be best if you chose to assist us in this matter."

Satan rolled her eyes, letting out a snort.

"Oh, really, darling?" she asked, spewing acid with the last word (not literally, thank goodness). "You think that just because you have a taste of real magic, you can defeat me alone?" She leaned in, eyes narrowing. "And what, pray tell, darling, are you going to do? Throw one of your little shields at me?"

She suddenly shot forward, grabbing Rarity's wrist and pointing her hand upwards. Satan's grip tightened, squeezing until it Rarity felt like the bones were being ground to dust.

"I could snap your neck, or burn you into a pile of ashes if I wanted," she growled out. Sunset Satan then leaned in closer, her nose almost touching Rarity's. "Just be grateful I have no interest in doing such a thing."

She then threw Rarity, launching her into the air. Rarity screeched as she flew, like a hysterical missile.

With her out of the way, Sunset Satan turned her attention to the Jeep, and her target.

As the driver's door was ripped open, Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer pressed against the passenger side, trying to make herself as small as possible and hoping that it would be the one moment where the infinitely improbable happened as she managed to phase through the solid matter behind her.

The view in front of her was pants wettingly terrifying (again, not literally) that student Sunset was having a hard time believing it despite the evidence being right in front of her. A demon with her face. One that was able to fly and launch fireballs. One that was coming after her. And Sunset doubted it was a friendly greeting. There was no fruit basket or anything that said "welcome," or "let's be friends," but plenty that said "I will eat your flesh and suck the marrow from your bones."

One of Satan's twisted, red, clawed hands stretched out toward student Sunset, reaching for her ankle. Images of her sock and flesh burning away flashed through her mind. Sunset's breath caught in her throat, leaving her unable to breathe as her entire body froze, paralyzed with fear.

"Whack-a-mole!" Sonata Dusk shouted as she popped up from the backseat. She then swung down hard, slamming the tire iron down on Satan's wrist. There was a loud slap of heavy metal against flesh and Sunset swore she could hear the crack of bone fracturing.

Sunset Satan screamed out in pain as she yanked her hand back, clutching it to her chest. She glared at the smiling Sonata, baring her teeth and snarling.

"You... little... bitch!"

"Try anything and your nose is next," Sonata warned as she held up tire iron. "Or your jaw. Or anything that gets in reach, really." She gave a shrug. "I'm not picky."

With a snarl, Satan reached out and grabbed a hold of the iron, gripping it tightly. She gave it a yank, but Sonata yanked back, not letting go.

Satan's eyes narrowed as her grin grew wider.

Smoke began to rise from the metal tool, curling around the clenched fingers. The metal began to glow a cherry red around Satan's grip.

"Think you can take the heat?" Sunset Satan asked.

The glow grew brighter, the red moving further along the surface of the tire iron as the area around Satan's hand grew lighter and lighter until turn white. Smoke started to rise from Sonata's hand, the air taking on the scent of burning meat.

With a hiss, Sonata Dusk finally let go of the tire iron, blowing at the palm of her hand.

Sunset Satan tossed the tire iron, the molten metal twisting and warping as it hit the asphalt of the parking lot.

"STOP!" a voice called out from above.

Another version of Sunset Shimmer had shown up. The angelic being that had helped save The Friendship Games: Daydream Shimmer. She floated in the air on wings of light, a white dress floating around her. One hand was held out to her side, with Rarity floating in a glowing ball beside her.

Daydream came down from the sky, floating just above the ground. She lowered Rarity before dispersing the orb, releasing the other girl.

"Never thought I would see you again," Daydream said, staring at Satan.

"And I was hoping to never see you," Satan retorted. Turning she glared at Crystal Prep Sunset.

"This isn't over," she growled out before taking off.

Daydream watched her go before walking toward the Jeep. Seeing the other Sunset inside, she smiled and held out a hand.

"Are you okay?"

The mighty sun scepter

Rainbow Dash sat in the passenger seat of a black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, looking at her cellphone. She let out a huff as she re-read Fluttershy's message. She could not really get upset for them having trouble beyond their control, but it was frustrating all the same. Yes, she had a key to Sunset's apartment, so she could wait there for them to show up, but it still meant waiting, and Rainbow Dash hated waiting.

Putting the phone away, she looked around.

"There," Rainbow called out, pointing. "That's it."

The Sunset Shimmer that was driving, which Rainbow Dash had decided to call Streetmage Shimmer, pulled into the parking lot of an old apartment building. The once red bricks had dulled and darkened, the original color barely noticeable. All the steps were outside the building, not even wide enough for two people to fit shoulder to shoulder on them. Similarly, the parking lot was also small, with barely enough spaces for each apartment to have a spot for one car, even if two of them were not currently taken up by a dumpster. Although, it did not help that the lot was also so narrow, it was almost impossible to turn in and out of the spots without hitting another car.

Miraculously, Shimmer was able to do just get in an empty space without a single scratch or ding, and did not even have to back out to adjust the angle. It was almost like magic in its own right.

Which left Rainbow wondering if maybe the car was somehow magical in its own right. Like, maybe it could drive itself, or fly or something.

Trying to avoid hitting the car next to them, Rainbow and Shimmer opened the doors just enough to try and squeeze through, backs rubbing along the car in the process. Rainbow Dash took the lead, heading upstairs to the walk way and "porch," which again was not even wide enough for two people.

Now came the most dangerous part of trying to get into Sunset Shimmer's apartment: the door.

How can a door to an apartment be dangerous? Well, to start with, the door faced west, and there was no overhang. As such, the sun would shine on it from noon until night time. Add to that the fact that not just the knob, but the entire door, was made of metal, and it would all get painfully hot for hours on end. To that end, there was almost no way to open it without the person burning their hand.

Almost.

If a person was careful, and had they key, they could use it not only to unlock the door, but open it as well. This was the method that Rainbow Dash used to let herself in without leaving her palm tender for hours after.

As soon as she was inside, Rainbow heard something that she had not been expecting: running water.

Someone's here? Rainbow Dash thought as she went further into the apartment. And showering?

Despite not needing to, Rainbow Dash crouched down, moving slowly and quietly as she made her way toward the bathroom. Leaning, she pressed her ear against it, clearly hearing the sound of the shower running inside. One hand reached down, taking a hold of the knob. Giving it twist, she slowly pushed it open enough to peek through and see the shower.

And wow, did she get an eyeful.

It turned out that yes, there was another Sunset Shimmer in there as Rainbow Dash had expected. What she had not expected was that this version of Sunset Shimmer was male.

Definitely male.

Pulling out her cellphone, Rainbow Dash set it to camera and pointed it at the shower.

...Then pulled it back and shut the door.

With a sigh, she switched back to text and sent a message to her friends.

You'll never guess what I just saw, she sent. Then putting the phone away, she headed back toward the living room.

It would have been so easy. She even had her phone out. Just a quick picture, then send and all of her friends would have seen it. And it had been so tempting.

But then she had to hear Fluttershy's voice in her head asking "how would you feel if someone did that to you?" and the answer would have been "pissed off." If some guy had done that to her, she would have hunted him down and kicked his ass. Then kick the ass of everyone he had sent the picture to.

As she flopped onto the couch, she heard a kssht come from the kitchen. Turning, she found Streetmage Shimmer coming out with a can of Alicorn-cola.

"What?" Shimmer asked. "This place is sort of mine in a way, and I don't think your Sunset Shimmer is going to care."

Rainbow let out a snort and rolled her eyes, but could not really argue. She herself had even raided the fridge a few times when they were hanging out or sleeping over.

The shower stopped.

Rainbow's phone went off, getting her attention. Several of her friends had replied in the group chat, asking her in various ways what she had meant.

at Sunset's apartment she wrote. found another sunset this ones a dude

The door opened as Mister Sunset Shimmer stepped out of the bathroom. He only had one towel, which he was using to dry his hair. He stopped as he looked at the living room, turning to face it.

"Rainbow," he called out. "Thought I saw you at the door." He smirked. "Didn't feel like joining me?" He gave a wink.

Rainbow's eyes glanced down between his legs before she looked away, a blush forming on her cheeks. Rainbow was not really interested in sex at this time, with either guys or girls, being more interested in sports, finishing school, and dealing with saving the world with her friends. However, she could still "appreciate the human form," as Sci-Twi would put it.

"Wow," Streetmage Shimmer called out from the kitchen. "So that's what I'd look like as a dude?"

Male Sunset yelped out, grabbing his towel and wrapping around the waist.

"Why didn't you tell me there was someone else here?"

He then turned to Shimmer.

"Hello. I'm Sunny Haze."

"Sunset. Sunset Shimmer. I'd shake your hand, but I think I'll stay over here until you get some pants on."

"Right," Sunny said as he headed toward the bedroom. "Let me just get dressed. I'll be right back."

The two watched him go, shutting the door.

Streetmage Shimmer sat down on the arm of the couch.

"This might be narcissistic," she said, "but I'm hot as a dude."

"Yeah," Rainbow replied, trying to sound indifferent. "I guess."

Shimmer took a drink of her soda.

"So... do you think he'll find any clothes that actually fit him?"

Fears of the Fluttershy

The Great and Powerful Trixie stood on the sidewalk, watching as her precious van was pulled up onto the flat bed of the tow truck. Her hands were stuffed in the pockets of her hoodie and shoulders hunched on themselves as she stood there, lips pressed thin against each other.

Pinkie Pie popped over and wrapped her arms around Trixie, giving her a big, tight hug that made Trixie's not so great or powerful spine pop and crack.

"Don't worry, Trixie," Pinkie assured her. "You'll have new tires and back on the road in no time."

"First, they're not going to be new," Trixie stated, wriggling to try and get loose of Pinkie's iron-tight grip. "Trixie is on a budget after all."

Pinkie finally let go. Straightening up, Trixie adjusted her hoodie, then turned to face the other girl.

"Second..." Her face softened as she turned to look at the van again. "It's not just about the van. There is a stage magician version of Sunset Shimmer out there. Trixie should be there, so that she could challenge Sunset to a magician's duel." She then straightened up, grinning as she put her hands on her hips. "Then The Great and Powerful Trixie could show the world her skill, and help stop the Sunset Shimmer invasion!"

"I don't think it really counts as an 'invasion,'" Applejack stated as she joined them.

"It will when I tell the story to my many excited fans."

Trixie then slumped again.

"Instead, I have to wait here for the tow truck while Fluttershy gets to go to the park and meet that Sunset."

"Well it is her brother at the park," Pinkie pointed out, "and only one of us could fit."

"Wonder how she's dealin' with the motorcycle," Applejack asked.

Sentai Sunset's motorcycle roared as it went along the street. It wove through traffic with feline grace, slipping from lane to lane and slipping between cars as it moved forward.

Fluttershy, however, was not happy about this. Or the whole situation for that matter. She was grateful for the helmet, but wished she had more. Like full body armor. With magical and electric shield generators. The entire thing was going way too fast for her: which in this case was "moving at all."

Why had she agreed to this?

Because it was her little brother who was stuck watching the Sunset that Rainbow had found, and he was her responsibility in a way since she was the big sister. It would not be fair to pawn it off on one of her friends. Plus, while she was willing to give the Dazzlings the benefit of the doubt, she honestly did not trust them. Adagio especially could have Zephyr wrapped around one of her smooth, well-manicured fingers with a few words from those shapely lips of hers. He would just follow her around like a horny little puppy, hoping for a treat. Aria would probably murder him and Sonata... Fluttershy was not sure what Sonata would do, but it doubted it could be anything good.

So here she was, riding on the back of a high speed death machine, driven by an adrenaline junkie who liked to beat up monsters while dressed in brightly colored spandex. That had to be some sort of indicator of mental instability... and probably a fetish for a few people to watch...

...or maybe not just watch.. There were probably people who would enjoy dressing up like a monster so that a girl in skintight clothing could beat them up...

Fluttershy gave her head a shake, not wanting to follow that train of thought to its station.

Unfortunately, that meant she was back in and paying attention to the present, which was terrifying. Closing her eyes, she buried her head into Sunset's jacket.

Happy place, she told herself. Just go to your happy place.

It was a beautiful, clear, warm, sunny spring day. The trees of the forest were lush and green, with birds singing happily. The meadow was covered in soft green grass, patches of clover, and blooming wild flowers. There was a small pond, the water clear and calm, letting the fish be seen so easily beneath the surface. Beside the water was a large rock, flat, smooth, and perfect for laying on and sunning.

Which was exactly what Fluttershy was doing. She stretched out on her rock, naked, enjoying herself. The warm air caressed her bare chest and stomach, and the heat of the sun baked rock soaking into her back and butt. It felt so nice be outside in the au naturel. Just her and her little slice of natural heaven, with nothing between her and the world.

She wished she could stay like this forever.

The birds turned silent as the sound of bubbling water filled the air. Opening her eyes, Fluttershy sat up, looking out at the water. The once calm surface was churned, the formerly clear surface white and foamy.

Fluttershy leaned close, trying to get a better look at what may have been causing it.

The water exploded outward as the surface tension was broken. A massive figure burst up, looming over the shore and Fluttershy. It had the basic head shape of a horse, and the forelegs as well, but was covered in glistening golden-yellow scales, and had fins on the side of its head.

Fluttershy did not feel afraid, though. Instead she felt... excited.

The creature opened its mouth, showing the razor sharp teeth and lunged toward Fluttershy.

A squeak escaped Fluttershy as she jerked back to reality, snapping her head up and blinking rapidly. She was suddenly very aware of how uncomfortable the inside of the helmet was. Her face felt burning hot and sticky with moisture. Similarly, she was also aware that motorcycle's seat was warm and water-resistant.

No one would notice when she got off.

Or so she hoped.

Once they reached the park and stopped, Fluttershy felt relieved for it to be over. She was tempted to jump off the bike immediately, but two things stopped her from doing so. One was that she was worried that if she did so, she would risk throwing the motorcycle off-balance and risk damaging it, or worse, having it somehow land on Sentai Sunset. The other was that her legs still tingled from the motor, and she was not entirely sure if they could support her weight.

So instead, Fluttershy sat there a moment, taking off her helmet. She lifted her head up, and took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill her lungs and wipe the hot dampness from her face. Once that was done and she felt collected, she climbed off. Her left leg wobbled slightly as she put her weight on it, but did not give out or anything.

It was not long until they found the stage they had been using, which Rainbow had said was where she had found a stage magician version of Sunset Shimmer.

What Fluttershy found there was, sadly, not that surprising, although it was still disappointing.

"Hey, sis," Zephyr Breeze called out, putting on his biggest smile. "Glad you could make it. Think you could... uh... help me out of this thing?" He motioned with his head at the magic box that he was laying in. "I really need to pee."

Fluttershy sighed, bringing her hand up to her face as she shook her head.

"I don't even want to know."

"It's not my fault," Zephyr declared, kicking slightly. "You see, what happened was--"

"I said I don't want to know!"

Writing Collect

Aria parked her Jeep across the street from Sunset Shimmer's apartment, not wanting to risk having it damaged by trying to get in one of the parking spot or having someone be reckless and scratch it when pulling out. Twilight and super nerd Sunset were the first out, with Twilight leading Sunset across the street, where Daydream Shimmer landed, having flown along behind them.

Frankly, Aria was glad to be free of them.

When they had first left Crystal Prep, Sun-nerd had been very quiet, which was totally understandable considering she had seen both demonic and angelic versions of herself, with the demon one coming after her for some reason. That all had to be very hard to process. Then Twilight started talking science with her, and the two would not shut up. Law of conservation of matter, law of conservation of energy, molecular and atomic manipulation, stuff Aria could not understand even if she was trying, on and on and on! It was all very boring to her.

Aria herself was the last out of the Jeep, making sure the doors were locked.

"Sonata!" she called out. "Come here and give me your hand."

Sonata Dusk stopped and turned to face Aria. She let out a huff, crossing her arms.

"I'm not a child," she snapped, stamping her foot. "I can cross a street by myself just fine."

"First," Aria retorted, holding up a finger, "yes you are, and no you can't. And second, that's not why I'm asking. Now show me your damn hand already!"

Sonata's lips pursed out and eyes narrowed as she pouted for a second. Finally she complied, holding up her right hand for Aria to take and look at.

While there was nothing too serious, it did not look good. Blisters were already forming, swelling with liquid as the skin turned dead white in color. The largest of them was on the palm, near the thumb, and was the size of a quarter. In other spots, the skin was dark and burnt, with a few spots torn and peeling to reveal the tender, shiny, live skin underneath.

Aria let out a sigh, letting the hand go.

"Nothing permanent, but it's pretty bad," she said out loud. "Hopefully they have a first aid kit or something so we can clean and bandage it up."

"Awww," Sonata cooed out, grinning. She then moved closer and turned, pressing her shoulder against Aria's chest. "You do care." She looked up at the other siren, fluttering her eyelashes.

Making a noise of disgust, Aria rolled her eyes and gave Sonata a shove.

"Shut up," she growled out. "And don't act like it's a big deal or something."

"Youuuuu caaarrre," Sonata sang out, albeit off-key. "Youu-uuu caarr-rrre. Aria loves me. Aria loves me."

An idea suddenly came to Aria, and she just could not resist.

"Sonata." She held up her hand. "High-five."

Sonata's face lit up with excitement at the prospect, having never gotten a high-five from Aria before. Raising up her hand, she swung it to hit Aria's, slapping it with all her might.

Then immediately cried out in pain.

"Owie owie owie!" she cried out, clutching her hand to her chest. "That hurt!"

"Who would have guessed," Aria said flatly. "Come on." She started walking across the street toward the apartment.

Only to be grabbed by the belt and yanked back. Just in time to have a car drive by, horn honking at her as they went by.

"What was that about crossing the road?" Sonata asked, smirking.

The initial shock wore off quickly at those words. She pulled free of Sonata's grip and looked at the apartment, ignoring the sense of embarrassment she felt.

"Shut up." Aria grumbled under her breath. She then made her way across the street and toward the building, a giggling Sonata following her.

At the building, Twilight Sparkle reached the door to Sunset's place. She gave a knock, trying to avoid burning her hand against the hot metal in the process.

The door was opened by one of the Sunsets. This one was taller than Twilight by a noticeable amount, with a pixie cut hair, and piercings in her ears. Her brow furrowed as she looked at Twilight a moment, lips pressed tight. She then let her gaze drift past her, looking at the other two Sunsets, Rarity, then Aria and Sonata.

"Weirder and weirder," this Sunset said before moving aside. "C'mon in."

Inside, Twilight found Rainbow, Fluttershy, and two other versions of Sunset Shimmer, including the male one. For most people, the angelic, demonic, or even mythological forms of a person they knew would be the strangest, but for Twilight, it was the guy. Twilight had seen Daydream before, had not only been told about the demonic form, but had seen pictures of it, and was aware of Sunset actually being a unicorn from another reality, so they were all things she could understand and expect. Seeing Sunset as a male though, was something she had never expected.

Plus, she found him attractive, which made it all the weirder.

The guy then winked, giving a small smile before looking away.

"Do you guys have a first-aid kit?" Aria asked as soon as she was inside.

This got a gasp from Fluttershy, who shot up from the couch and appeared before Aria.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Aria took a step back, suddenly very aware at how close the other girl was, and how for someone who was so shy, was suddenly very bold.

"I'm fine," she stated. "Sonata's the one that's hurt."

Shoving Aria out of the way, making her fall over the arm of the couch, Fluttershy took a hold of Sonata's hand, looking at it. Her eyes went wide as she looked, pulling it closer.

"Oh, you poor thing," Fluttershy said softly. "Don't worry though, we'll have you patched up in no time." She then grabbed Sonata by the wrist and pulled her toward the bathroom.

"Pretty sure Sunset has a first-aid kit in here. Pinkie should have given her one for emergencies."

"Pinkie?" Aria asked as she watched Fluttershy and Sonata disappear. "Wouldn't she just fill the kit with, like, candy and streamers or something?"

"While I am certain she has those stored around for various 'emergencies,'" Rarity said, making finger-quotes on the last word, "Pinkie would not go so far as to replace actual proper supplies in a first-aid kit with them." She then tapped her chin. "Although, she would likely supplement it with them, and possibly choose band-aids that have cute and cartoony images on them."

"Candy!" Sonata shouted from the bathroom.

Twilight Sparkle turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Did you write to Princess Twilight?"

"No," Rainbow answered. "Catch." She then tossed the journal at Twilight.

Twilight let out a yelp as she reached out to try and catch the journal. It bounced off the palm of one hand, then the inside of her arm. She grabbed at it, having it fall below her fingers as she was a bit too low. For some reason, she tried to catch it with her foot, kicking it across the room instead. The book landed with a thump as it hit the floor, sliding across it and under the couch.

"Smooth," Rainbow stated.

With a huff, Twilight walked over to the couch and crouched down, looking underneath.

"Why did you do that?" she asked as she tried to retrieve the journal.

"Didn't realize you were that bad at catching," Rainbow retorted. "Besides, I figured you should be the one to write to Princess Twilight. I mean you are her counterpart and all, and have the best chance at explaining all that science and magic junk since..."

She stopped looking around.

Her initial reply was going to be "since Sunset's not here," but that did not seem entirely accurate. There were like five different versions of Sunset Shimmer here. That was not even all of them either. Who knew how many were out there. At the same time though, none of them were actually the Sunset Shimmer that she knew. Some of them were similar to her, but not really her. It was like taking the book, and comparing it to various interpretations in other media like movies, games, or even comics: yeah, there were similarities, but there were also a lot of changes made.

Twilight was skeptical about that explanation. After all, Rainbow could have just written "yo, Twi, something weird happened to Sunset. Think you can help us out?" or something. Then, if Princess Twilight could make it, they could explain it all to her face to face. If not, Rainbow could at least give the basics, and Twilight or someone else could fill in the details of Princess Twilight asked for more information.

Still, no point in arguing about it now. Plus, full disclosure, Twilight appreciated an excuse to finally write in it. Sunset did the writing most of the time, and Twilight never really had an excuse. She was hoping that by doing so, it would give her some idea on how it worked beyond just "magic."

Grabbing a pen, she flipped through to the first blank page.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, she wrote. This is your human counterpart: Twilight Sparkle. I am writing you due to the fact that something has happened to Sunset Shimmer, and we could use your advice, if not your assistance.

Before she could get any further, something strange happened. A drawing of an hourglass appeared on the page, below where she had been writing. Somehow, the blackness that represented the sand poured down into the bottom, then when the top was empty, the entire thing flipped over and repeated.

After several rotations and what Twilight figured was twenty seconds, a message appeared.

"Huh," Twilight said as she stared at it.

"What did she say?" Rarity asked, sitting down not far from her.

"She didn't say anything." Twilight looked up, turning her attention to as many of her friends as she could. "I just got an error notice, saying my message didn't go through."

Wish we had a portal

Big Macintosh pulled his old pick-up truck to the curb in front of Canterlot High School. He watched as Trixie got out of the cab, while Applejack, Adagio, and Pinkie climbed out of the bed.

"Thanks for the lift," Pinkie called out as she hopped down.

"Yes," Adagio said as she made her way to the driver side window. She leaned against the door, giving a great view of her cleavage (which Macintosh immediately looked away from, staring at the windshield). "If there's anything I can do to show you my... appreciation" -- she gave a wink -- "please let me know."

"I have a girlfriend!" Macintosh blurted out, still staring forward and not looking at Adagio.

"That's fine," Adagio replied. "I don't mind there being three of us." Her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped deeper. "And if you live up to your nickname, Big Macintosh, then I'm sure there's more than enough of you for both of u--"

The rest of Adagio's flirtatious comment was cut off as she let out a yelp of pain. Applejack had grabbed Adagio Dazzle by the ear like a British nanny would a naughty child they were watching, and now proceeded to pull her away from the truck by it. This was most certainly not an enjoyable experience for Adagio, as demonstrated by her repeated utterance of "ow, ow, ow," as she was pulled along.

Giving it one last twist and tug before letting go, Applejack turned to Adagio and fixed her with the firmest, angriest glare that she could manage.

"This was why I didn't let you ride shotgun," she stated. "I saw the look you were givin' my brother, and I don't want you anywhere near him."

"Oh, come now," Adagio replied, straightening up and running a hand over the assaulted ear. "He and I are both consenting adults fully able to make our own decisions." She then turned to glance back. "Besides, look at him." Her attention then returned to Applejack, looking her up and down.

"Are all the members of your family as big and strong looking as you two?"

Applejack straightened up, her head pushing back before she looked away. Her lips pressed tight as her face took on the red colors of her brother's.

She then returned her attention to Adagio.

"Why're you hittin' on him, anyways?" she asked. "Aren't ya planning to take your sisters and go back to Equestria?"

A smirk tugged at the corner of Adagio's lip. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing.

"If you were about to come back home after a year in Europe, wouldn't you want to get one last taste of the country?" She then licked her lips.

Applejack shuddered and took a step back.

"Let's not talk about this," she stated. "Ever again."

She then started for Canterlot High, with a snickering Adagio Dazzle following behind her.

It looked like the four of them were the last to arrive. The rest of their group had already arrived, and were standing around near the pedestal, with Twilight standing the closest to it.

"So, when's Princess Twilight showing up?" Applejack asked.

"She's not," Rainbow Dash asked. "For some reason, the journal wasn't able to send a message to Princess Twilight."

"Then why are we here?"

Rainbow pointed at Twilight Sparkle.

"She wanted to check the actual portal."

"That's the portal?" Adagio cried out, eyes wide. "Are you telling me the way home was under that horse's ass in front of the school this whole time?"

"Probably not the whole time," Pinkie Pie replied, appearing beside them. "The school wasn't built until nineteen-sixty-three, and the statue was made ten years later, so it couldn't have been there before then. Then there's the fact that originally, it only opened for three days about every two and a half years, and had closed the same night as the night Sunset was blasted by our Harmony magic, which you saw and what was drew you here, and that in turn led to Princess Twilight Sparkle figuring out how to open the portal when she desires and not simply being forced to wait until the proper astro-chronal events line-up permitting inter-dimensional magic to occur naturally in creating the trans-dimensional gateway through pre-constructed reflective forces. So, in a way, you being able to use it is thanks to you attacking the school, and even if you had found it, you still would have waited until the proper time." Her brow furrowed. "Although, I suppose tha--"

"I don't care anymore," Adagio said before turning and walking off. She caught sight of the other two sirens, and noticed that Sonata's hand was wrapped up.

"What happened to you?"

"I hit a demon version Sunset Shimmer with a tire iron!" Sonata Dusk declared, puffing out her chest and giving the biggest grin that she could manage.

"Seriously?" Adagio asked, turning Aria Blaze and raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously," Aria confirmed, giving a nod. "Demon Sunset showed up to try and grab Crystal Prep nerd Sunset from my Jeep for some reason. That's when Sonata Dumbass here --" she pointed with a thumb "-- decided to whack her in the arm with my tire iron." She turned to glare at Sonata. "Which you owe me a replacement of, by the way." She then returned her attention to Adagio. "Because demon Sunset turned the metal red hot, and someone wouldn't let go of the thing until then. So it ended up burning her hand."

"Well, Aria punched someone!" Sonata said, pointing a finger at her.

Adagio let out sigh, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"I swear I can't leave you two alone," she huffed out. "You two are like a pair of coked out monkeys."

"That was a fun party," Sonata said with a giggle.

"Speak for yourself," Aria retorted. "You weren't the one who had to try and clean up after."

"Okay," Adagio snapped. "You two. Stand here, shut up, and don't touch anything."

Turning, she then shouted, "What are we standing around waiting for? We're all here already."

Twilight Sparkle was willing to admit that it was a valid point. Really, there was no reason for them to wait for everyone to be there, or for anyone else to be there at all. Maybe two at most: one to check the portal, and another to tell the others if something happened to them. After the journal issue, she decided to come check the portal itself, and everyone decided to come along (or maybe felt obligated?).

Well, not everyone. The five Sunset Shimmers stayed behind.

Still, it had only needed one or two, then all of them that where at the apartment decided to come to the school, and Applejack and the rest were told to meet up with the group here.

Now, all that remained was actually to check the portal.

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself, Twilight took a step toward the pedestal. She reached out with one hand, placing her palm against the surface. It started to sink in, shifting around her hand like water.

Then, it suddenly pushed Twilight's hand away, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her butt.

Three electronic beeps came from the portal.

"We're sorry," a robotic but feminine voice said, "but the dimension you are trying to travel to cannot be reached at this time. Please try again later. If problems continue, contact your local magical technician." The three beeps repeated. "We're sorry, but.."

That was not what Twilight had been expecting. She had been thinking that either the portal would work as normal and they could talk to Princess Twilight directly, or it would not and she would just be putting her hand on a piece of glass. The idea of having the portal reject her and getting an automated message had not really been a possibility.

"Are you alright, darling?" Rarity asked, holding out a hand to the fallen girl.

"Yeah," Twilight answered as she took the offered had. "I"m fine." She brushed at the back of her skirt, then turned to look at the portal, which had now gone quiet. "Just not what I expected."

"So, what should we do now?"

That was a good question. They had a strange and highly magical situation, but with no way to reach Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset being a victim of said situation, there was no one with the knowledge and skill needed to try and deal with it. Plus, what were they supposed to do with all the different versions of Sunset Shimmer they had found? Especially the evil ones? It was not like they could just let them go, but they did not really have a way to catch and hold them either.

"Maybe we should all go home for the night."

Everyone turned, eyes wide with surprise not only at what was said, but who had said it.

"Applejack?" Rarity asked, taking a step forward. "You can't seriously be suggesting we give up."

"I ain't suggestin' that in the slightest," Applejack retorted. "But we don't know what to do and it is gettin' late. While I don't entirely like the idea, it's probably best we all go home, try 'n' get some sleep, That way, we can try and come up with somethin' to do while refreshed, and not stumbling around in the dark hoping to accomplish something or other." She crossed her arms and gave a shrug. "Maybe the portal and journal will work tomorrow, or maybe someone will get a new idea."

Silence reigned for a long moment as the others considered it.

"Applejack's right," Twilight conceded. "Getting some sleep would mean we would be able to look at this thing with fresh eyes." Her lips then pressed tight. "Although... considering what happened with siren Sunset and Crystal Prep Sunset, I'm not sure how I feel about leaving the others alone..."

"You kidding?" Rainbow replied grinning. "Between Daydream Shimmer, Power Rangers Sunset, and Streetmage Shimmer anyone who tried to mess with them will probably get blasted to dust. Probably the safest place in the city." Her brow furrowed. "Well, except for like a cool super secret hidden hideout, like the batcave or something."

She shifted, looking away.

"Which we so totally need."

"So, we're done for tonight?" Sonata asked.

"Unless someone has a better idea," Applejack offered.

None of them did.

The music, man

In one part of town, there was a cafe called That One Place. This was an intentional choice by the owner and manager, thinking that it would be fun when people were trying to figure out where they wanted to go or meet up. They served a variety of drinks: hot and cold coffees; hot and cold teas; smoothies; juices; sodas, which were their own locally made kind, and not major brands; and their most popular beverage, "The Thing," which was chocolate soda poured over a scoop of strawberry ice cream, served with a banana flavored whipped cream, and a cherry on top. While not as wide a selection as their drinks, they did have some food as well: sandwiches, salads, soups, and a small variety of baked goods, many of which were served with a mystery sweet syrup or sauce known as "That Stuff."

However, it was not just the drinks and snacks that drew the attentions of its patrons. That One Place also had a small stage set up, where people could perform. Poetry readings, music, even the occasional stand-up comedy routine were all performed there. Some nights, they would have specific people or performers do so. Others would have a specific theme, such as Thursday night being a poetry slam. Friday and Saturday were open mic nights, where anyone could sign up for a slot and perform anything. Within reason, of course. Which was a stipulation they had to add after one person decided to try performing a strip tease.

The open mic night was the reason that Flash Sentry was there that Saturday evening. After The Battle of The Bands and his behavior, Flash had admittedly been a little shaken. Fortunately, The Friendship Games was approaching, which gave him a great excuse to avoid playing his guitar. He had even left it at home when they went to Camp Everfree.

Except, he found he could not really leave it alone, altogether. As good as life seemed, Flash Sentry was still a teenager, leaving him in that part of life where he was no longer the innocent and free child that he already remembered youth like nostalgically, nor was he a fully grown adult who understood the world and his place in it as he imagined all adults to be. As such, good or bad, he needed a way to express himself, and with all the training and practice he had with the guitar, it was the best way.

So, he had picked it up, dusted it off, and started playing again. Sometimes, just for himself, sometimes, a riff to entertain classmates, and sometimes, just sort of idly as he tried to think.

Now, he was deciding to take a big step. After his break up with Sunset, he had written a song, "Beautiful Face, Ugly Heart," which had been a way of dealing with how horrible she had been, and his feelings for her at the time. He had considered playing it during The Battle of The Bands, but, honestly, he had still been afraid of Sunset Shimmer at the time, as skeptical as everyone else about her supposed change of heart (even the sirens' brainwashing could overpower the mental image of ending up in the hospital, having to explain how an entire guitar had managed to be shoved into his backside in one piece). Finding and looking over it more recently, he considered some of the lyrics.

"Sunset Shimmer, the bitch with harpy claws. Rip out your heart, and laugh while eating it raw."

Rather poetic, but pretty cruel.

So, he decided to make some changes, mostly by taking Sunset's name out of it. Although that did sometimes require massive re-writes to fit the rhythm that had been set. Now he was planning on performing it. A debut of a new song, and a greater return to performing in public with real music. Granted, he was no celebrity, so most people did not care, but it felt like a big step for him.

Although he still had a while to wait.

The current performer, a green skinned girl with orange dreads, was finishing up some poem about nature, the joys of it, and being one with it. It was easy to imagine her running around in the forest without an inch of clothing on her body.

It was also pretty easy to guess that her "being one with nature" included smoking a little bit of it from time to time.

"Thank you, Tree Hugger," the host said, giving a small round of polite applauds. "That was..." his smile faltered a second before reappearing "... some interesting poetry." He let out a small cough and turned his attention to the small crowd.

"Our next performer is one we haven't seen here before, and tonight is planning on performing an original musical performance. Please, a warm welcome for: Phoenix Dawn."

Much to his surprise, he recognized "Phoenix Dawn" as Sunset Shimmer. The sides of her head were shaved, and one ear had multiple piercings in it, but the hair that was there was the same color, as was her skin. She even had Sunset's insignia on her guitar.

"Thanks," Phoenix said as she sat down on the stool. "This is something that I've been working on for a while. It's all very personal to me."

After a little more tuning, she straightened up, took a deep breath, and started singing.

The crowd was silent as Phoenix Dawn quickly made her way offstage. Her face was down and she was not looking at anyone, but Flash could make out the mark of tears on her cheeks as she went by. While he was pretty sure that it was not his ex-girlfriend and current platonic sort-of friend Sunset Shimmer he was seeing, she did look a lot like her, and she was still lady who was upset. As such, Flash Sentry felt he should at least check on her.

"Thank you, Phoenix," the host stated. "That was a very personal. Hopefully, our next performer can follow up and help bring up the mood. Let's show some enthusiasm for Miss Maud Pie."

"What's the difference between assault and basalt?"

It was a joke that Flash would never hear the punchline to, although it must not have been too funny as he did not hear any laughter, but not too bad since there were no audible groans either.

Although she had gone down the hall toward the bathrooms, Phoenix had not actually gone in. Instead she was facing a painting on the wall, wiping a little at her face as she collected herself.

"Sunset?" Flash asked automatically. "You okay?"

Phoenix jumped slightly at the name, her body tensing. She turned to face him, eyes narrowing. One hand slipped into the pocket of her jacket.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

Flash then froze, realizing what he did, and not really sure how to explain. Telling her that he did not know her, but knew a version of her from another reality seemed... insane. And... he could not think of any excuses spur of the moment.

"No," he admitted. "I just--"

"Then how do you know my name?" she asked, eyes narrowing. She took a step back, putting her feet shoulder width apart.

Flash took a step back, holding his hands up to show they were empty.

"Hey, sorry. It's nothing like that." He then slowly lowered them. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed pretty upset after that song back there."

Phoenix stood there, her body tense, as she stared at him. Flash could feel himself being, studied and judged; Phoenix taking in as much of him as she could, and deciding how to respond. Either she would thank you for the concern and ask to be left alone, or get a swift, hard, kick in the testicles. Flash Sentry was hoping for the former, but his legs were tensed and ready in case she decided on the latter.

With a sigh, Phoenix noticeably relaxed. She looked away from Flash Sentry, turning her attention back to the painting on the wall: one of those generic pictures where a couple were sitting in a rowboat.

"Yeah," she said softly. "It's... a pretty personal song." She gave a shrug. "Guess I wasn't as ready to perform it as I thought."

"...Yeah..." Flash responded as he let his gaze drift to the painting as well. "I can relate." His brow furrowed. "Or... maybe I'm about to?" He turned toward the stage. "I'm about to play a song of my own. Kind of came from a bad place. Kind of hard to keep those emotions out of it.

"In fact, I should probably get back there. Pretty sure my turn is getting close."

Phoenix gave a nod, saying nothing.

Flash watched her a moment, then started back toward the stage. Although, he was not happy about it. He had been hoping to help somehow, and felt like he had accomplished nothing.

He would just have to put it aside until after he was done, and hope they could talk more after.

Auntie Moon

Celestia's sister and vice-principal, Luna, sat in the chair in Celestia's living room. She held a glass of water in her hands, one finger tapping on it in an absent-minded rhythm. She stared at the yellow and red unicorn that was lying sprawled out on the couch across from her. A small part of her attention was actually on said unicorn. Another small part was considering the small girl which had called her "Aunt Luna," who was currently taking a bath, while most of it was focusing on coming to terms with everything her sister had told her.

"So, just to be sure I understand this," Luna said slowly, turning to look at her sister. "A small, child version of one of our students shows up at your house, proclaiming you are her mother. You contact her friends, and they show up, along with --" she motioned toward the couch "-- an actual unicorn version of that same student. Then, not only do you refuse to allow the child to go with them, but insist on having the unicorn stay here. Is that all correct?"

"They had a siren version of Sunset Shimmer with them," Celestia stated. "Tied up and gagged in the back of a van. It also turns out that they had Adagio Dazzle with them. I could not in good conscience let them take an innocent with them in that state. More so since there were already other versions out, and I am willing to bet not all of them are kind, gentle, or friendly. The same goes for her." She motioned at the unicorn. "I couldn't let her get in a dangerous situation as well, even if she is able to take care of herself. On top of that, her being here kept young Sunset calmer, and if something happened, the girls would not have to explain having a unicorn with them."

"I understand," Luna replied. "I get why you would do it, and in your place, I would probably do the same."

Setting the drink on the small table, Luna leaned forward, lacing her fingers together as she rested her arms on her knees.

"What I'm worried about is you becoming emotionally attached to the young Sunset Shimmer. You have always wanted to be a mother, and tend to be quite emotionally attached to things rather easily."

"I do not," Celestia replied, straightening in her seat, and sticking her nose up slight.

Luna turned to face her sister fully, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I need to remind you of the bite marks I still have on my calf?"

"You took Philomena!"

"Yes," Luna said, "I -- a five year old child -- took Philomena -- your stuffed bird -- to use as a parrot while I played 'pirate,' which you -- three years older than I -- got so upset over, that you bit me on the calf hard enough to leave a scar, even all these years later."

"Hold on," unicorn Sunset called out. "You had a stuffed bird called Philomena?"

"Yes," Celestia answered. "Is that odd for some reason?"

"Not in itself. Do you remember what kind of bird it was?"

"I don't believe it was ever established. It was just a red and orange stuffed bird."

"Oh." Sunset gave a nod. "Because the two other Celestias I knew each had a pet phoenix by the same name." She tapped her chin, looking around. "Although, I suppose they don't exist in this reality."

"No," Luna replied, "or at least not more than as myth in these times if they ever truly existed."

"Which, in light of recent events, is a possibility," Celestia added.

Luna then motioned to unicorn Sunset.

"She also proves my point about my worry."

"Me?" Sunset asked.

"Yes," Luna answered. "According to your own story, you were essentially raised by the Celestia of your home reality, correct?"

Sunset nodded, then added, "And taken in by one for the world I went to."

"And while the latter had not occurred," Luna stated, "the Sunset Shimmer we know was also essentially raised by her Celestia. Young Sunset calls you her mom, meaning either she is your child, or you adopted her." She returned her full attention to her sister. "Either way, it does not change the fact she sees you as such. This does seem to me to indicate a pattern. One which you may have repeated, had you met Sunset at a younger age."

Celestia shifted, saying nothing. As much as she wished, she could not deny it. There had been something about Sunset that always affected her. So much so, that she had been far more lenient on the young woman than she should have been as Sunset's Principal. In retrospect, it may have been better if she had stepped in sooner, trying to provide discipline for Sunset to keep her from going as far as she did.

Although, she could not deny that it worked out well for Sunset Shimmer in the end.

The rest of the city not so much, what with the various magical events that had occurred since then.

Luna got up and walked over to her sister.

"I know you are doing the right thing but..."

She stopped talking as she heard the sound of a door opening.

Not long after, the child Sunset Shimmer came into the living room, dressed in an over-sized shirt and hair still wet.

"I'm done with my bath," she announced.

Celestia smiled and got up, moving past her sister and over to the child.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

Sunset nodded, giving a big grin to show her teeth.

Grinning back, Celestia reached down and picked up Sunset.

"Let's get you ready for bed, then," she declared, carrying the young girl down the hall.

Luna watched her go and sighed, rubbing at her head. She had been aware that her sister was going to get emotionally invested in having the child, but felt the need to try and warn her.

She made her way back to the kitchen, grabbing one of the remaining slices of pizza Celestia had asked her to bring over for dinner. It was suddenly very disappointing: the crunchy, crispy thin crust now tasted like a cheap, unsalted cracker; the tomato sauce that had been warm and tangy was no better than refrigerated ketchup; once hot and gooey cheese was now just so much greasy rubber; and the toppings (all vegetables for reasons that became obvious once she arrived) had lost all their flavor.

Luna did not know what exactly was going to happen, but if Sunset Shimmer's friends succeeded -- and she was pretty certain they would -- then the child version of Sunset would go back where she belongs. And that is going to completely and utterly destroy her poor sister.

Some minutes later, Celestia returned, smirking at her sister.

"Someone wants Aunt Luna to tell them a bed time story," she called out.

Luna felt that she should decline. Doing so would mean allowing herself to emotionally bond with young Sunset as well, and while not as prone as her sister of doing so easily, nor would it be as close since she was an aunt instead of mother, it would make it all the more difficult for her as well when the child was gone. That, in turn, would make it more difficult for her to be there for Celestia when things went bad.

At the same time, could she really say no? Would a child understand? Maybe. More likely she would not, and simply be hurt or upset that her aunt refused to spend time with her.

Deciding it would be better for her to be the one upset than a child, Luna made her way to the spare bedroom that young Sunset Shimmer was using. There laid the young girl, all tucked into bed and cuddling her unicorn. Sunset's face lit up at the sight of Luna, causing her to smile in return.

"So, you wanted me to tell you a story?" she asked.

"Yeah," little Sunset answered with a nod. "You're the best storyteller ever."

"Oh?" Luna asked, moving further into the room and raising an eyebrow. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "What about Mom?"

Sunset's brow furrowed and lips pursed before she answered.

"She doesn't count," the girl stated as though it were obvious fact. "She's Mom. She's the best at everything."

Luna had to make an effort not to roll her eyes in front of the child. A part of her vaguely remembered going through a similar phase herself, where a child saw their parents as all-knowing and all-powerful: they were the best at what they could do, and they could do anything and everything.

Now, she just need to come up with a story. Something that would be entertaining for a little girl. Something like a fairy tale. Hansel and Gretel? Sleeping Beauty?

An idea suddenly came to her. It would not be completely original, but with a few tweaks, a real life event could make quite the fun little fantasy story.

"Okay," Luna said. "I got it. Ready?"

Sunset nodded.

"Once upon a time, there was an entire kingdom made of crystal, ruled by a very harsh and stern queen..."

Horse and dog show

Big Macintosh Apple pulled the old truck into the driveway of his family farm. Since his sister, Applejack, had no idea how long she and her friends would be busy, and was perfectly capable of finding her own way home, she had told him not to bother waiting. As such, as soon as she and her friends were off, so was he, and honestly glad to be.

That Adagio girl would have been frightening even if he had been unaware of what she and her cohorts had done at Canterlot High. Macintosh could easily see her as a siren... or a black widow spider.

It made him appreciate his sweet and kind Sugar Belle all the more. Enough that he was going to call her and set up a nice date for them once he was parked.

The old barn turned garage soon came into view, the doors wide open as he had left them.

It was good to be home. Hopefully, there was still some supper Granny Smith made left for him. He was hungry enough to an entire steer, hooves, horns, and all.

The engine gave an extra sputter and loud clunk as it stopped, which it was not supposed to do. He was going to have to check it some time tomorrow. Hopefully it was something simple that he could fix himself. Having the truck out of commission for a day was not something he was looking forward to.

Making his way toward the door, he gave the horse a gentle pat on the flank as he went by.

As Macintosh gripped the barn door to shut it, realization struck him. Stepping back in and turning on the light, he looked around.

Sure enough, he was right. There indeed was a horse in the barn. It was not one they actually owned either. This one had a yellow tinged coat and reddish mane and tail. It even... had...

Macintosh moved closer to get a better look. Which confirmed that, yes, it had a brand on its flank in the shape of a sun.

"Nope," Macintosh declared. "Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope."

Turning around, he turned off the light and shut the door. He was not dealing with this. He was not getting involved. If Applejack wanted to deal with it, that was her choice, and Apple Bloom could as well when she was older (although he really hoped she did not), but he absolutely refused to be dragged into this. That horse could just stay in there until she dealt with it.

Stepping into the house, he made his way straight for the kitchen.

"Apple Bloom," he called out as he walked past the young adult, "tell AJ that there's somethin' in the garage that she needs to deal with when she comes in."

"What is it?" Apple Bloom asked, sitting up from her spot on the couch.

Big Macintosh never answered, the door to the kitchen shutting behind him.

"Bet it's somethin' weird and magical."

In another part of town, another person was also just getting home, with the intent of heading straight to the kitchen and getting something to eat.

"Fluttershy?" a soft feminine voice called out. "Is that you?"

"Yes, mom," Fluttershy called back. She continued her way to the kitchen. All the running around and being terrified had left her famished.

She now felt she had a deeper understanding of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.

A small giggle escaped her as she imagined her in the role, although with her rabbit Angel Bunny taking the place of the titular great dane. Except there were too many of them. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle could fill the other roles on the team, but that would leave out Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Pinkie Pie.

Opening the fridge, Fluttershy reached out to grab the plate of food for her. As she did, she noticed another one, with Zephyr's name on it.

"Zephyr's not home yet?" she called out.

"He said something about going to a gym," her father called back.

Fluttershy let out a sigh, rolling her eyes as she pulled out her plate. This was not the first time that something had caused her brother to find a gym and sign up. Or the second... third... probably the fifth time if she bothered to keep track of it. However many times, it always seemed to go the same way: Zephyr would sign up, spend less than an hour there, then never go back. Hopefully, he would use his own money and pay for the one time, instead of forcing their parents to pay for a month and try to cancel the membership.

Once her dinner -- a zucchini and lentil spaghetti with sliced eggplant -- was nice and warm, she added a bit of cheese and headed up to her room. Her parents would not mind, and she needed some time to think. They all did, really. Something had happened to Sunset Shimmer, and not only was Sunset Shimmer not able to help because of it, but they were also unable to reach Princess Twilight Sparkle, which means there was no one else who they could turn to.

Admittedly, Fluttershy was scared, but she had to do something. A friend of hers was in danger, and she could not look at herself if she did not at least try to help.

Maybe she could find something online? Although that was a long shot. One time, when she tried to look up magic, she found multiple sites that claimed to teach real magic spells, and a few that were about stage performance. Another, she tried looking up human-to-pony transformation.

That... was something she was still trying to forget.

So... many... pictures.

As soon as she was inside, she set her plate down on her desk.

"Finally," a familiar voice called out.

Fluttershy froze at the sound, eyes going wide. Slowly, she turned around, looking for the source of the voice.

There, sitting on her bed was a small dog. It had a yellow coat, but there was a tuft of red on its head. It scratched at one of its red ears, looking at Fluttershy with its big cyan eyes.

"I'm starving," the dog said, speaking in the voice of Sunset Shimmer. "And could really use a walk. Your parents and brother never came up to let me out or anything."

Fluttershy felt her knees give out, making her drop into her chair.

Second thoughts

In one of the older apartment buildings in the city, there was a large basement apartment. Originally, it had been built for the building's owner to live in peace, leaving the apartment and roles of superintendent and manager to be used by someone else. The place had not been used in a while, the current owner now owning multiple apartment buildings, and even a few houses. The most recent owner had "forgotten" about the basement apartment thanks to some "help" from The Dazzlings, allowing the three of them to live there without having to pay rent or utilities.

The three of them were there now, enjoying their private little place. Sonata Dusk had just finished taking her shower, and was now sitting naked on a towel covered chair to dry off. The other two were still dressed, waiting for the small heater to refill so the next could go. Aria Blaze lay sprawled in a chair, watching some nineteen-sixties era detective show on the television, while Adagio Dazzle was looking at Sonata's burnt hand.

"Well it's not too bad," she decided. "Have to keep it clean and dressed for a few days, but it should all heal up fine and have no scarring."

A moment of bitterness tingled at the back of Adagio's mind. Used to be that something like this would be completely gone in a day or two (less if they had recently fed well on negative energy), and with something so minor, scarring would not even be a question. Now, while they were still, stronger, faster, and more resilient than mortals, they were still far more susceptible to things than they used to be.

But Adagio Dazzle was a leader and mastermind, even now, and as such, could not -- would not -- let her emotions get the better of her.

She smacked Sonata Dusk on the shoulder.

"What were you thinking?" she snapped.

"I wasn't," Sonata replied.

She then turned to face Aria.

"Shut up," she stated, pointing a finger.

Aria rolled her eyes and shrugged.

Sonata returned her attention to Adagio.

"I just saw demon Sunset going after nerdy Sunset, and felt I should do something. The tire iron was the closest and heaviest thing to me so..." She gestured.

"Not that part," Adagio stated. "Why is it that when she turned it burning hot, you didn't let go?"

She then picked up a tube and burn cream and popped the top open. Taking a hold of Sonata's wrist, Adagio poured a generous amount into the open palm.

"Oh," Sonata replied. "Uhm... well... that's a little harder. Because, yeah, at first, it didn't really hurt, and I was kind of worried she'd try to use it on me or the other Sunset. Then, when it did start to hurt, I couldn't let go. It was like my hand wouldn't listen to me."

"Or maybe the skin had already fused to the metal," Aria offered.

"Not helping," Adagio stated. She continued to work the cream into the palm and fingers.

"Not trying," Aria retorted.

"Yeah," Sonata agreed. Her grin widened as her eyes narrowed. "She already showed how much she loved me when we got to Sunset's apartment."

A small squeak escaped from the back of Aria's throat as she tensed. Her cheeks grew deeper in color as she focused on the television with greater intensity. This caused Adagio to look up, raising an eyebrow.

"Did she now?"

"No," Aria huffed.

"Yes," Sonata replied.

"Shut up," Aria snapped, still not looking at them.

Adagio returned her attention to Sonata.

"And how, precisely, did she doe that?"

"She checked my hand when we got there, because she looooves meeee," Sonata called out, sing the last to words.

"No I don't," Aria growled, finally turning to face them. "Shut up."

"So, you didn't check her hand?" Adagio asked.

"Yes, I checked her hand," Aria retorted. "Don't want the doofus to suffer all the time or something."

"Because you care," Sonata stated.

"Because you'd never shut up about it, and one of us would probably have to help you with everything because you couldn't use your stupid hand!" Aria threw herself into her chair, arms folding as she looked away. "I'm not helping you wipe your ass or feed you."

"Uh-huh," Adagio said. She grabbed the fresh roll of bandages and started wrapping Sonata's hand. Aria and Sonata turned quiet, letting the bickering and teasing come to an end for the time being.

It would not last. After being together for so long, they were closer to each other than any family, be it by blood or marriage, and they bickered like ones as well.

"Are we really going back to Equestria?" Sonata asked.

The question made Adagio paused a second before continuing her work. She could feel Sonata's deep red eyes focus on her. From her seat, Aria turned to look as well, her purple eyes narrowed and studious.

"That's the idea," Adagio answered. "The girls said they would ask Princess Twilight for us, and she in turn will probably allow us to go back."

Several more seconds passed in silence as she continued to work.

"Do you want to?" Sonata asked.

That made Adagio pause again. This time, she looked up at Sonata in surprise, raising her eyebrows. Aria did the same, neither of them seeming to have expected the question.

"You don't?" Adagio asked.

Sonata bit her lip. Her gaze drifted from Adagio, to Aria, back to Adagio, then off and away from them both. She gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"I don't know," Sonata admitted. "I mean, it was something we talked about wanting to do since we got here, but it had always seemed like wild speculation. A way to vent about what happened to us. Now that it's actually a possibility..." She gave another shrug. "I don't know."

Aria moved to face them more. She leaned forward in her chair, looking at Sonata closer.

"Don't you miss it, though?" Aria asked.

Sonata's good hand started drumming on the armrest as she shifted her weight, getting more comfortable. She turned to look at Aria.

The movement reminded Adagio what she was doing, and she resumed her bandaging.

"Well, yeah," Sonata answered. "Of course I do. I also miss when were England during The War of The Roses, and France when we were part of the aristocracy before the Revolution."

She paused, letting the other two comment if they wanted. Adagio loved The War of The Roses. She had been friends with both sides of the family prior to their falling out, and had actually been quite key not only in "encouraging" both sides to fight for their right to rule, and then "advising" them as the war went on. She was very proud of it. As for Aria, she enjoyed reminding Sonata that The French Revolution was -- and the need to flee to what was then The Colonies to avoid decapitation -- was Sonata's fault.

Neither said anything.

"I don't want to go back to them though," Sonata continued. "It's kind of the same way with Equestria. Yeah, I miss it, but I don't really have a strong interest in going back."

"But.. It's our home," Aria said, her own gaze drifting down to the floor. "Are you honestly saying that you don't care about whether you go home or not?"

Several seconds passed in silence as Aria and Adagio continued to look at Sonata.

"You guys are my home," Sonata stated.

Another moment passed in silence. Adagio turned to look at Aria in surprise. Normally Sonata saying something like that would get Aria to groan and call such a thing childish in some form or other. Instead, she said nothing, just sort of sitting there.

"In all our years, we've lived in a lot of places," said Sonata. "From ratty little shacks to mansions and even castles. From penthouse suites to..." She motioned with a hand to their little basement apartment. "We've been rich and poor more times than I can count, and through it all, we've always had each other. Yeah, we take shots at each other, but we've always been there to help each other up when things go bad, and save each others' asses when things went to shit. We explained ourselves as sisters just to make things simpler, but it's become true. We've become family. Sisters." She grinned. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

She then leaned forward.

"If you two want to go back to Equestria, I'll go too. Same thing if we stay. Because wherever you two are is home."

Adagio finished wrapping Sonata's arm, taping it up to keep it in place.

"I'm going for a walk," Aria Blaze announced, getting up and heading for the door.

"Aria," Adagio called out, turning to look at her.

Aria stopped, not turning around.

"What do you think?"

"You normally don't ask that."

"I normally don't feel we need to. Most of the time, it feels like I'm trying to keep you two focused while Sonata does her flighty thing and you stew in anger." Adagio turned, moving to sit on the floor. "But you each seem to be taking this very seriously, so I'm willing to listen."

Sonata smiled, looking up. She had pointed out before that Adagio was willing to listen to them if they had an idea, and this proved her right all the more.

Aria let out an audible sigh, her shoulders sagging.

"I don't know," she announced. "Like she said, this is something we've been talking about it for so long, but now that it's actually possible..." She gave a shake of her head. "I don't know."

She started for the door again.

"That's why I'm taking a walk. I actually need think about this. Figure out how I feel on my own."

She stopped right in front of the door.

"It's weird, trying to do that."

Aria then opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind her. Surprisingly to the other two, she had not slammed the door hard as she normally did, but had actually pulled it closed gently behind her.

The only sound was that of the still on television.

Adagio got up and brushed her hands down her clothes.

"Well, if she going to be out for a while, then I'm going to take a nice long soak in the tub."

Sonata watched her leader go to the bathroom, leaving her alone in the living room. She then looked down at her hand, which had been so carefully wrapped in bandages.

Of the three of them, Sonata saw herself as the most in touch with her emotions. Adagio often put hers back, trying to keep focused and objective while coming up with and executing plans. Aria mostly just let herself be angry in one form or another, covering up most of her other feelings that way.

But right now, Sonata was not sure how she felt. Or maybe she was feeling too much at once. She felt proud of herself for speaking up, and expressing her opinion on going back to their world. She felt bad that it seemed to bother the other two, not upset them, but definitely got to them. At the same time, she was happy that they actually listened to her, and took that opinion so seriously.

She also felt like bad about sitting there. She should do something, but what? She had already said what she wanted, more than she had intended, actually. Both Aria and Adagio now needed time to think about it on their own. She had to leave them alone so they could do that. It still felt like she should do more, though.

Taking a deep breath, Sonata decided to push the feeling aside for now. There was no way she could force them to do anything, and she did not really want to either. Like she said, as long as it was together, Sonata did not care where they were. So, now, they just needed to figure out how they felt about that as well.

Moving over to where Aria had been sitting, she grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

At least she could have a mature cartoon on to keep her distracted until they were done.

Nightly thirst

As it was most Saturdays, The Nightmare Moon was pretty well packed. Dozens of people in various states of dress, or lack thereof, were dancing, drinking, talking, and enjoying things of questionable moral and legal standing. Brightly colored lights flashed and dance, moving in time to the music. The air smelled sweat, hormones, alcohol, and... other things.

Chocolate Cherry sat near the dance floor, watching DJ Pon-3 performing on the stage. There was a feeling of envy at the sight. Cherry wanted to try her hand at being a DJ herself, but could never get up the nerve to make the effort.

She took a long drink of her soda.

Why was she even here? She did not feel like dancing, and was not drinking alcohol. Really it was to watch the DJ and listen to some music. She was not even really that interested in hooking...

The rest of the last thought was forgotten as she caught sight of someone. A woman stood on the opposite side of the dance floor, and Cherry could swear she was looking her right in the eye.

The other woman stalked across the dance floor, straight toward Chocolate Cherry. The people around her never stopped their dancing, or even looked at the woman, but always got out of her way, never even touching her. The woman's eyes never left Cherry, always focused on her as she came closer and closer.

Everything about the woman screamed "danger" to Cherry. That the woman was a predator, stalking its prey. That Cherry should get away lest she be eaten.

However, there were two problems with that. One was that like many prey, Cherry was frozen. All she could do was sit there, immobile, watching as this hungry jungle cat approached, moving closer and closer, with each silky smooth step. The other was that Chocolate Cherry was drawn to the woman. While she knew the dangers that went with it and often told herself it was not worth it, Cherry always found herself to the "bad boy" type. Or "bad girl." On whatever non-binary equivalent would be. She did not really care.

The woman came to a stop in front of Cherry's table and leaned forward. Her red -- no, blue (why did I think they were red?) -- eyes glowed in the darkness and dancing lights. A snarl -- grin -- spread across her face, perfect, white, glistening teeth. She held a hand out to Cherry, claws spread wide.

Slowly, never looking away from the woman's face, Cherry took it. The coolness of it sent a chill up her arm and down her spine.

Everything becomes blurry and runs together, making it hard to really remember anything. Cherry knew that they did not talk, but what did they do? Did she finish her drink? Have another? She remembered dancing, but how long? One song? Multiple? Was it over an hour?

The next thing that Cherry knew, they were outside the club, making their way down an alley. As they passed under a street light, she was able to get a better look at the other woman. She had skin such a pale yellow, it was almost white, and her hair was red and blond. There was definitely black in her clothing, but it was all over too quick to get a real good look.

When they were deep in the alleyway and well out of sight, Cherry was pressed firmly against one of the walls, pinned in place by her shoulder. One claw traced along her jaw and down her throat as the women moved closer. Her red eyes glowed in the darkness as she leaned in, smiling to reveal her sharp white teeth.

The woman brought her mouth down to Cherry's throat, crimson lips touching the dark red skin gently. Something hard and sharp pressed against the sensitive flesh.

Chocolate Cherry could not remember anything about her night after that.

The mysterious woman -- a vampire version Sunset Shimmer -- bit down, letting her razor sharp teeth pierce the soft skin and letting her taste that warm, salty, life-fluid. Her eyes close as she savored that first taste, a small moan of pleasure escaping her, and from her meal as well.

Tightening her grasp, she began to drink, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of that precious, nourishing blood. She could feel the stolen life spreading throughout her body, the stolen warmth of it. Her skin darkened, moving closer to the darker golden color she had when she had been alive.

Oh, how she enjoyed the feeling.

Alas, it was forced to come to an end all too soon.

With a wet pop, she released her grip on the girl's throat, swallowing the last mouthful of blood. Her tongue slid out, lapping across the spot. As it did, the holes closed up, leaving delicate neck looking perfectly untouched. She then looked the girl in the eye once more. Sunset's eyes glowed brighter, drawing the half-conscious mortal further into her power.

"Go home and to bed," vampire Sunset did. "You will remember nothing after the club, and have dreamed about meeting a handsome and well-built young man. Understood?"

The girl gave a nod. As soon as she was released, she turned and headed toward the street. Her gait was a little wobbly as she went, stumbling from side to side as she went. Between that, her glassy eyes, and where she was coming from, most people would simply assume she had been drinking, not noticing she lacked the aroma of alcohol emanating from her.

"Letting the meal get away alive?"

Vampire Sunset turned toward the deep gravelly voice. Not far from her stood a she-demon, with burning red skin and fiery hair. A grin spread across the demon's face, baring her own fangs, as her wings fluttered behind her.

The vampire relaxed, straightening up.

"A dead human can't be fed on or breed more," she stated. "Besides, bodies draw the attention of the police and The Slayer."

The demon smirked, moving closer.

"I don't think you need to worry about that last one." She paused. "Or, at least not in the way you're thinking about."

That got the vampire's interest. Turning toward the demon, she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And why is that?'"

With a chuckle, the demon stepped closer.

"Oh, come now Sunset," she purred as much as such a deep, gravely voice was capable. "Do I not look familiar?" Lifting her head, she placed a hand on it as she turned from side to side. "Do you not see a resemblance?"

"As if that's supposed to prove something? The idea of a demon taking a familiar form -- or knowing things people shouldn't -- aren't exactly unheard of."

"A fair point," Sunset Satan conceded. "However, this is not the case." Her eyes narrowed as she grinned wider. "To put it simply, this isn't our world, and we aren't the only Sunset Shimmers here. I met quite a few so far, and half of them are considered evil to one extent or another."

Moving closer, she held out a hand.

"That's why I came looking for you. The friends of Sunset Shimmer in this world are looking for her, and they are finding some of the 'good' versions. You can be sure that they will be working together. As such, we need to develop an alliance of our own. A group of us to stop the other Sunsets and their friends, so we can make this world ours as we desire."

Vampire Sunset looked at the hand then took a step back, placing her hands on her hips.

"You honestly expect me to trust you? Or any of them for that matter?"

Satan looked at her a moment. She then let out a long low, rumble that was an attempt at laughing.

"You shouldn't," she finally answered. "We're all out for ourselves, and will destroy each other once we get the opportunity, letting only one of us be the queen of this world." Her gaze drifted up for the night sky. "But, for now, we have a mutual enemy, and we need to work together to stop them." Her gaze then shifted back to the other Sunset. "Our best chance is at least a temporary alliance until they are dealt with. Then we can deal with each other."

Turning to vampire Sunset fully, Sunset Satan put her hands on her hips as well.

"Besides, wouldn't it be better to know where the people who were going to screw you over actually were, instead of trying to look over your shoulder on your own?" One eyebrow raised. "Maybe you'll even pick up some clues on their weaknesses, or ideas on how to take them out first."

The vampire Sunset Shimmer narrowed her eyes, looking at the demonic one in front of her for a moment. She seemed pretty confident in herself. Then again, she was a demon. Probably felt pretty cocky about being able to handle a single vampire.

Or maybe it was because she was a Sunset Shimmer, and Sunset Shimmer was a cocky bitch no matter what form she took.

Whatever the case, vampire Sunset did not like the idea of working with others versions of her former human self. At the same time, the demon did make a valid point.

Hopefully, they would all be too busy studying each other to make a move soon.

"Alright. I'm in."

Sunset Satan grinned.

Author's Notes:

A kind, gentle, and shy young woman in the city of Canterlot has been chosen as The Slayer, the one who will stand against and fight the evil that lurks in the darkness. Can she balance this new life with her old desires, and do what she must when she often prefers not to hurt anyone or anything? Find out in Fluttershy: The Vampire Slayer. Coming this fall to EQTV.

Come Little Children

It was a quiet and peaceful night, with stars twinkling and the waxing crescent of the moon shining what light it could. No breeze, no rustling of leaves, not even a single cricket daring to interrupt the moment with a chirp, nor a frog or toad letting out a croak.

So of course it could not last.

In a spot on the sidewalk, the air shimmered and twisted, taking on red and gold colors. Parts of it shifted and solidified, taking on humanoid form. The forms emerged, revealing two versions of Sunset Shimmer. One was the sentai villain Shimmer, dressed in her gold armor and carrying her staff. The other was Siren Sunset Shimmer, looking human with the exception of the glowing red gem around her neck.

The two of them turned to house they now stood in front of.

"Why are we doing this?" Siren Shimmer asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest and scowling at the house.

"Having second thoughts?" the other Sunset asked.

"I don't see the point. In fact, the whole thing seems like a bad idea. At best, it will mean we're stuck with a whining brat until we win, and at worst, it will piss the 'heroes' or whatever you want to call them off further, meaning they'll have even more reason to kick our ass."

Sentai villain Sunset turned to look as Siren Shimmer, and narrowing her eyes.

"If you don't want to do this--" she started, only to be cut off.

"I'll still do it," Siren Shimmer replied. "You and Sunburn are the ones who'll probably take the brunt of it when things go tits up, anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You two are supposed to be our big and powerful ones, her with her massive, flaming balls, and you with your big, hard staff." Siren Shimmer smirked. "Pretty sure that you two would be the ones that the heroes blow away first." Her eyes narrowed. "Especially that Power Ranger Sunset, or whatever she called herself. Pretty sure you're the one that she would love to blow more than anyone else."

S.V. Sunset threw her head back and let out a massive huff.

"Are you done with your juvenile innuendos?" she asked. "Can we get this started and over with?"

"In a hurry to get home and polish your staff?"

"And I'm very tempted to impale you with it!" S.V. Sunset snarled.

"Not even going to buy me dinner first?" Siren Shimmer asked. As she got a glare in response, she turned, letting out a chuckle as she walked onto the lawn.

"Okay, okay," she called out. "Please do that voodoo that you do so well."

S.V. Sunset let out a huff of annoyance, glaring at the siren and considering possible violence that may or may not be lethal. She then stepped onto the grass herself and lifted her staff as high as she could. Bringing it down hard, she stabbed the base into the ground. The red lightning of her power shot out of the top and into the sky. Reaching its peak, the magic curved out and came back down to strike the ground, encompassing the house and its yard, with the two of them on the inside. It then shifted into a solid dome before fading from sight.

"There," S.V. Sunset stated. "Now no one outside the dome can see or hear what's going on."

Siren Shimmer smirked, taking a step closer to the house. One hand went to the jewel on her neck, activating her siren powers.

In one room of the barrier surrounded house slept unicorn Sunset Shimmer, stretched out across the bed that the young, human Sunset Shimmer slept in. It had been by unicorn Sunset's own choice. If she had wanted, she could have slept on the couch, or have Luna sleep on the couch and take the second spare bedroom, but for some reason, unicorn Sunset had decided to sleep in the same room as the human child version. As such, she now laid spread out at the foot of the bed, sleeping more like a dog than a human or pony.

She was having a wonderful dream where dozens of handsome stallions and beautiful mares were all around her, worshipping her, telling her how much they loved and desired her. Her own little pony harem. They were just putting on some sexy music and pulling out bottle of lubricant and... other things... when something woke her up.

Unicorn Sunset's eyes popped open as her ears perked up. She lifted her head, turning it from side to side as she tried to catch whatever it was which had waken her just as she was getting to the good part.

After a while, she thought she heard... singing?

Getting up, she circled around the room, ears twitching and shifting as she tried to pinpoint the source.

It sounded like it was coming from outside. But this was supposed to be a nice, quiet neighborhood, and it was the middle of the night. None of the neighbors would be playing music so loud it could be heard by others so late, would they?

Pushing the blinds open, she peeked outside.

Two figures stood on the lawn, and from what she could tell, it was safe to guess that both were other versions of Sunset Shimmer. One was dressed in some sort of armor, holding a staff that had a glowing red gem on the top. The other was dressed in clothes that were from this world, and had something glowing red around her neck.

It was easy to figure out that they were using magic. One of them had to be singing.

But why?

Behind her, the young human Sunset sat up in bed. She opened her eyes, their normal color hidden by the red glow of magic. She climbed out of bed and stood up, shoulders slumped and half-swaying. She slowly walked toward the door, her body moving as though she were a marionette having her strings pulled. One hand flopped at the wrist as she reached up and took a hold of the doorknob. Nerveless fingers tried to tighten around the smooth metal, slipping free as she tried to open the door.

After the fourth attempt, unicorn Sunset took a gentle hold of the young human one in her magic. Carefully, she lifted the child up and set her back in bed. Unicorn Sunset quickly ran for the door, pulling it open, then slamming it shut behind her as quick as she could.

Hopefully, putting her back into bed will cause young Sunset to go back to sleep. That was a highly unlikely seeing as she was under some sort of magic mind control though. The more likely possibility was that she would get back up, and try again, in which case, unicorn Sunset had to hope that the child would have trouble with the door all over again.

As quick as she could, unicorn Sunset Shimmer ran down the hall toward Celestia's room, giving a knock before throwing the door open.

"Celestia!" Sunset shouted.

Celestia did not respond. She simply kept sleeping. They Sunsets outside must be doing something to keep her asleep, allowing them to do whatever they were planning.

But unicorn Sunset was a Sunset Shimmer as well, and clearly whatever they were doing did not work on her for some reason. Maybe she could do something that would wake Celestia up.

One idea suddenly came to mind. Admittedly not the best, but there was a time limit. So the unicorn Sunset Shimmer conjured her magic, horn glowing pale blue with energy, which she then turned to electricity.

There was a crackle and pop as the magically created electricity shot through the air and hit Celestia's exposed foot. This caused Celestia to yelp out in surprise (and maybe pain), and roll over, falling out of the bed in the process.

"Celestia!" Sunset called out again. "There are two Sunset Shimmers in the yard, and I think they're trying to get the child Sunset."

Celestia was still mostly asleep, barely awaken by the figurative shock of the literal shock, and with having unicorn Sunset speaking so fast that all her words ran together into one long syllable, it was hard to tell what was actually being said. However, one thing managed to get through to her.

A child was in trouble.

Getting up, Celestia ran for the door as fast as she could, dressed in nothing but an old shirt and her panties. Her bare feet slapped against the carpeting and linoleum as she made her way through the house and for the front door. After throwing the door open, she stepped outside, walking out onto the lawn.

There, she saw the two Sunset Shimmers. She did not know what they were called, nor did she care. All that mattered to her was that they were a threat.

The two of them stopped a moment at the sight of Celestia approaching. Siren Shimmer had stopped singing, she and S.V. Sunset taking a step back.

"How is she still awake?" Siren Shimmer asked. "My magic should have put her to sleep."

Celestia came to a stop, looking at the two. Her gaze turned hard and lips pressed tight. Her shoulders went square as she straightened up to her full height. She gave a tug of her shirt, making it as straight and smoothed out as she could. Celestia then placed her hands on her hips.

"I will ask this politely once," she stated. "Please stop what you are doing, and leave quietly."

The two Sunsets looked at Celestia, then to each other, then burst into laughter.

Siren Shimmer stopped first, walking over to Celestia and putting her hands on her hips as well.

"And what if we refuse?" Siren Shimmer asked. "I don't know how you were able to beat my sleep spell, but you're still just a normal human, with no magic. What could you--"

Celestia stepped forward toward the siren and attacked. Her hand shot forward, fingers curled but knuckles straight, driving the second joint into Siren Shimmer's throat.

Siren Shimmer stumbled backwards before falling onto her butt. Her eyes were wide as she clutched at her throat, gasping for air. Every breath hurt, like she was trying to swallow a baseball. The only noise she could make was a horrible rasp.

She could not sing like this. Which meant she could not use her powers.

"Been working on that since the sirens took over my school," Celestia stated. "Nice to know that it would work."

"Imps!" S.V. Sunset called out, raising her staff. Six of the small orange demons appeared between her and Celestia, baring their teeth and letting out hisses. They wove back and forth as they spread out, circling around Celestia and trapping her in a ring. One lunged forward, swiping at her with its claws.

Celestia was able to jump back in time to avoid a direct hit. However, the imp's claws managed to snag her shirt and rip the front of it, tearing it off to expose Celestia's bare d-cup breasts and pale pink panties.

All of the imps froze, staring at the now bare-chested authority figure. They then all shot backwards and hit the ground as far more blood than even a full-grown elephant could contain shot from their noses in seven foot high twin fountains.

Sentai Villain Sunset Shimmer let out a groan, rubbing at her face.

"Well that was a waste," she sighed out. Gripping her staff she started to raise it up. Before she could get it very high, a pale blue aura engulfed it, giving it a hard yank. S.V. Sunset grabbed onto it with both hands, keeping it from being pulled from her grip.

At the door stood unicorn Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes were narrowed, ears pulled back, and tip of her tongue sticking out between her lips as her horn glowed. She tried to pull the staff from the other Sunset Shimmer's grip, but was not used to using her magic against someone who could directly fight her like this.

Luckily, she was not alone. While S.V. Sunset was fighting the unicorn's magic go keep her staff, Celestia charged forward, grabbing a hold of it as well. A tingle of power shot up Celestia's arms and through her body as she held it, twisting and yanking to try and pull it free of S.V. Sunset's grasp.

There was an explosion of pain and loud thump as Siren Shimmer punched Celestia right where her shoulders met with the base of her neck. A cry of pain escaped from Celestia as she was hit, the blow making her entire body going numb and limp for a second. Siren Shimmer grabbed a hold of Celestia before she could fall to the ground, and catapulted her across the yard.

The air was knocked from Celestia's lungs as she hit the ground, her shoulder giving a loud pop as she landed on it and skidded across the grass. She could feel bits of her skin being scraped away in the process. Pain started to course through the entire left side of her body. Everything turned gray and colorless, darkness edging at her vision.

The sound of laughter filled her ears.

"Well, this is more entertaining than I expected," S.V. Sunset declared, staff no longer being tugged by someone else. "But it's time we finished." She turned to Siren Shimmer. "I take it you can't sing right now."

Siren Shimmer gave a shake of her head, giving Celestia a glare.

Get up! Celestia thought to herself as she tried to do so. Get! Up! She placed the palm of one hand against the grass, her arm shaking as she tried to support her weight with it.

"Well," S.V. Sunset continued, "I guess I'll have to get her myself." Her eyes narrowed as she started to walk toward the house, a predatory grin spreading across her mouth. "Even if it means going through an annoying little unicorn." Gripping her staff, she turned to point it at unicorn Sunset. It hummed as the jewel started glowing with energy. Pulling the staff back, S.V. Sunset then thrust it forward, unleashing a blast of red lightning.

Time slowed down for Celestia. She could see the staff being pointed at the door to her home, and the unicorn standing in front of it. She knew what was coming. Her body finally found the strength to get up. To run toward the danger. Celestia could see the electricity crackling around the gemstone before shooting out, traveling through the air toward unicorn Sunset.

She was not going to make it.

She had to.

In a flash of warm golden light, Celestia appeared between the villain Sunset Shimmer and the unicorn one, the red lightning now coming directly at her. There was another flash of golden light as Celestia threw her hands up, a shield of energy forming between her and the attack. The shield glowed and hummed as it was struck, taking on an orange tint where the opposing energy hit and was dispersed.

"What?" S.V. Sunset cried out. "How is that possible?"

Upbeat instrumental music began playing as the golden glow surrounded Celestia, lifting her off the ground. A pair of ears appeared on top of her head, covered in white fur. Celestia's hair grew and grew until it reached her ankles, then began to float and shimmer, looking less like hair and more like the aurora dancing across the sky. Feathery white wings sprouted from her back, spreading wide around her. The remnants of her clothes vanished, to be replaced by a long, white silk dress. A gold belt wrapped around her waist, as did bands around her wrists and ankles, and a circlet around her head. A piece of golden armor formed around her shoulders and down across her chest, ending with a point that rested against her cleavage.

The principal turned angelic goddess reached a hand out, fingers spread wide. The magical staff yanked itself free of Sentai Villain Sunset Shimmer, flying directly into Celestia's grasp. As soon as her fingers grasped the shaft, the red gem at the top exploded, being replaced by a glowing amber-colored one that filled the entire sun symbol.

With a swipe of the staff, Celestia sent out a wave of pure golden energy.

The barrier around them shattered.

Celestia held the staff up above her head.

"Now," she called out, "be gone!" With another wave, she released another wave. Sentai Villain Sunset and Siren Shimmer let out cries as they were hit, they and the downed imps vanishing from sight.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Celestia released her weapon. She then collapsed, reverting back to her human form and torn clothes as she passed out.

A disturbing but handy tool

The dark street mage version of Sunset, who had decided to call herself Darth Phoenix to separate herself from the other versions of Sunset Shimmers (and yeah, she thought it sounded cool, and who cared what the others thought), pulled up in front of the apartment building in the car that she had "borrowed." She smirked to herself as she looked at the building, her red and black nails tapping on the steering wheel.

So this was where this world's Sunset Shimmer normally lived, and where several of the "good" Sunsets were staying.

It looked like a total shithole. The kind of place that people only lived in because they could not afford to be anywhere else.

Her gaze drifted to the small bag she had with her, considering the contents inside. How would it work with an apartment building? It was supposed to affect everyone in a house, even if it was a large manor. Since it was all one building, it could possibly put everyone in it to sleep if she used it in one apartment. On the other hand, there were houses that shared walls, and, supposedly, it had no affect on the two houses attached to the targeted one. Like that, each apartment could be seen as its own house, which means that it would have no affect on the neighbors.

Grabbing the bag, Darth Phoenix slipped out of the car, shutting the door as quietly as she could manage. She made her way toward the steps, leading toward the floor she had been told. Her thick boots thumped against the rusted metal of the stairs with each step she took.

At the door, she stopped, looking at it for a long moment. Reaching out, she pressed her hand against it, closing her eyes.

"Permittere meus auscultare."

The door became a giant microphone, allowing Darth Phoenix to listen in the room with greater detail. Supposedly, it was possible to expand it to a larger object, or even use it as something akin to sonar, allowing the caster to "see" the interior of a room (or multiple), but she had never figured out how to do it.

From what she could hear, everyone inside was asleep.

Now there was a question of if they were trusting and stupid enough to leave the door unlocked.

Turning the knob, she gave it a small push. The door opened, no chain appearing in the gap.

After closing the door, Phoenix reached into her bag and pulled out a Hand of Glory: the left hand of a hanged criminal (preferably a thief), that had undergone a special ritual to preserve it. It had a sickly white-yellow color to it, with bits of the paper thin skin peeling away to expose the dried out, leathery flesh and bits of similarly colored bone. The nails had fallen away at some point before had gotten it, with no sign they had ever been there in the first place.

Darth Phoenix then pulled out a candle, supposedly made of virgin wax and the fat of the same hanged criminal, with bits of their hair made into the wick. As she lowered the candle toward the hand's palm, the fingers shifted, gripping on and holding it in place. With that done, she then pulled out a match, and lit the wick, muttering a small incantation under her breath.

Opening the door, she stuck the burning candle inside the room, then stepped inside. There was the barest feeling of resistance at it, the threshold's power extremely weak and taking a negligible portion of her power with it. She made her way further, setting the hand down on the coffee table, then looked around.

Several human Sunset Shimmers were spread out in the living room, sleeping like they were at a slumber party. Included among them was the mage version of Sunset Shimmer that Darth Phoenix had run into earlier.

There was something about this particular Sunset that she hated. Not simply because Phoenix had been beaten by Sunset and Rainbow Dash, although that was a part of it. The instant that she had seen her, Phoenix had hated mage Sunset and wanted to kill her.

It was tempting to do so here and now. Being asleep, she was completely vulnerable, and none of the others would wake up while the Hand of Glory was burning. Just slit the girl's throat, do what she had come to, and leave. She would be long gone by the time the body was found.

Except she had been told not to. Sunset Satan wanted the other Sunsets alive and with minimal harm as possible. They were vital to the plan or something.So, as much as she hated it, Darth Phoenix let the good mage Sunset Shimmer live for now, turning her attention to find the Sunset Shimmer she was looking for.

The Crystsal Prep student Sunset Shimmer laid curled up in one of the chairs, using her blazer as a blanket. Her shoes were on the floor, and tie and glasses had been set aside. Prep Sunset's head was tilted back against the armrest, a bit of drool running down one cheek.

The girl did not look impressive. Why Satan wanted her, Phoenix could not even guess. Still, it her mission to capture this Sunset and bring her in.

Reaching into her bag, Darth Phoenix pulled out a small bag. Undoing the string, she took out a pinch of powder.

"Somnum penitus," she whispered as she sprinkled the powder over the girl's head.

Crystal Prep Sunset let out a single cough, but otherwise did not move.

Really regretting not learning that stupid marionette spell now, Phoenix thought for a moment. Unfortunately, she never had, and it was too late for her to try and use it. More so since she did not have the materials required.

Instead, she grabbed a hold of the unconscious girl's shoulders and pulled her from the chair. She then reached under Sunset's arms and wrapped her own around the girl's chest.

With a grunt of effort, Darth Phoenix began the slow and painful process of dragging the sleeping Sunset Shimmer to the car. Getting her to the door was not too bad, although she did have to try and avoid hitting any of the furniture. The trip down the stairs, however, was quite the pain in the ass. She had to walk down backwards, trying to keep from stepping too far and falling, or too close and hitting her foot on the edge of the step, while dragging what anyone who saw would assume to be a dead body.

Hopefully no one would hear, or maybe the hand somehow worked and everyone in the crappy apartment building would stay asleep.

Through some miracle or dark aid, she managed to make it to the car without breaking her neck or having the cops called on her. After dropping the girl onto the street (yes, she could have set her down, but her back was hurting and the girl was heavy, damn it!), Phoenix opened the back door, then wrestled the rag-doll of a girl into the back seat.

With that done, Darth Phoenix headed back up the stairs and into the apartment. Grabbing the hand, she rushed for the door, shutting it as quietly as possible just in case, and headed down the steps. Once at the bottom, she pulled a small bottle of milk from her bag, ripped the top off, and poured it over the candle to extinguish it.

She then ran for the car as fast as she could, wanting to hurry out of there just in case someone woke up.

A devious plan

The sentai villain and siren versions cried out as they were thrown through the air. The pair hit the bare cinder block wall, letting out grunts of pain as they fell to the concrete floor. Sunset Satan loomed over the two, floating in the air. She glared down at the two of them, hands engulfed in flames.

"So, let me be sure I'm clear on all this," Satan growled out. "You failed to get the child, you lost your staff, you lost your voice--"

"Not forever," Siren Shimmer rasped out.

"-- you somehow managed to get Celestia to pony up, and you threatened to kill the unicorn?"

"You never said anything about the unicorn being off limits," Sentai Villain Sunset stated.

With a snarl, Satan threw one of her fireballs at the wall, scorching it. The flames sprayed out, causing the other two to flinch away. Although neither Sunset was harmed, the heat of the attack did singe away some of their hair.

"That's because I didn't think I would have to!" Sunset Satan roared out. She threw another fireball. "You were there when I told Darth Phoenix." She threw another. "I didn't think I would have to repeat myself to you two!" She then threw one last one.

Each blast had been stronger than the previous, burning more and more of the wall, and forcing the pair to move or risk getting hurt themselves. Neither had been seriously hurt, but they could feel the tenderness from the heat on their skin, and bits of their hair had been burned away.

Sunset Satan stared at the pair a moment longer before pulling away. She straightened up and took a deep breath, extinguishing the fire still around her hands.

"You two are done for now," she stated. "Get out of my sight."

The two hurried off, leaving the room as quick as they could and getting as far from the flaming Sunset as possible.

"Not even my first day, and things are already falling apart," said vampire Sunset. "Your little villain alliance is not looking like it will last very long."

"They failed their mission," Satan replied, "they created someone who could be a new threat to us, tipping the odds against us even further, and they have left themselves weaker for it." She turned to glare at the vampire. "One has to recover her voice, and the other has far less magical control than before." She let out a growling sigh. "The only advantage is that it might distract the other group into try and finding out why we wanted the child, hopefully keeping them busy, and leading them down the wrong path."

That got vampire Sunset's attention. Straightening up from her spot at the wall, she walked closer to the demonic girl.

"Are you saying you don't actually need the kid?"

Satan smirked.

"She would have been more of a hostage and bargaining chip than anything. Something that the others would worry about more than anything." Sunset Satan gave a shrug. "Maybe we could have swayed her to our side, have her give in to the temptations that we did, but I doubt she would have been much of a spy for us if we were to return her to the others unharmed."

Her eyes narrowed and she turned to where the other two Sunset's had run off.

"Besides, one of them loses on a weekly basis to a team of spandex clad heroes, and the other only cares about food and fame. Do you really think I would trust them with anything that was actually of importance?"

Vampire Sunset considered this a moment before nodding.

"A fair point," she conceded. "So, what is your plan?"

Satan smirked, then held up a finger.

The Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer let out a gasp as she suddenly woke up, jerking upright. Her head looked back and forth, eyes flicking as she tried to figure where she was. It was not her bedroom, nor had she fallen asleep while working at her lab again. It came back to her that she had last been sleeping in a chair in an apartment filled with other versions of herself, but she was not there either.

There were, however, two versions of Sunset Shimmer nearby, one of which was the demonic Sunset Satan that had attacked her outside of Crystal Prep.

Preppy Sunset cried out, moving off the bed. Her eyes shot around the room, looking for something to use to defend herself. She had never been very religious, always relying more on science and facts. Now, not even a full day, and she had learned that magic was real, had met several versions of herself including one that could best be described as an "angel," and was facing a demonic version of herself for the second time. What did one use to get rid of a demon? Garlic? Wolfsbane? Burning oregano? Maybe she could find something large and heavy. Everything should be susceptible to severe blunt force trauma to the head, right?

The other Sunset Shimmer suddenly appeared in front of her and reached out, placing a hand against Preppy Sunset's cheek. Their eyes met, and she found that she could not look away. Something about this other Sunset seemed wrong to her, but she could not place exactly what.

"Relax," this strange new Sunset said. "You're not in any dangers."

Preppy Sunset felt herself relax, and found herself believing what she was being told. Still, a part of her could not help but think about earlier. She turned toward Sunset Satan. Although not enough to break full eye contact with the other Sunset.

"She attacked my school."

"Yes," Sunset Satan admitted. "I did." She then took a step forward. "It's not all bad though." Her eyes narrowed as her grin widened. "We actually have something that you would be interested in." She then leaned forward. "Something that would help you study and understand magic."

That got Preppy Sunset's interest.

"What do you mean?"

Satan stepped away, and Preppy Sunset found her attention returned to the other Sunset Shimmer. She found herself drawn to the other woman's gaze, the rest of the world seeming to fade away. Her gaze was so mesmerizing. Her eyes seemed to be glowing, dancing between blue and red. It was like... like...

A set of blueprints was set down in front of Preppy Sunset, getting her attention. It was a device that would have fit in her hand, with a variety of electronic components integrated into it. A variety of notes and mathematical formulas were written around it, giving additional information.

It was a bit of a struggle, but she found herself slowly figuring out what it was telling her.

"What is this?" she asked. "It looks like a device that can--"

"Detect, absorb, and analyze energies," Satan finished. "Yes. With it, you could study and understand magic like no one else. Just imagine what that could lead to. Regular physics. Quantum physics." She leaned in close, putting a hand on Preppy Sunset's shoulder. "It could even lead to advancements in Zero Point Energy, or scientifically reproducible teleportation." She brought her mouth close to her ear, her voice just a whisper. "All thanks to you, and this device."

Preppy Sunset stared at the blueprints with wide eyes, taking it all in, and trying to wrap her head around the implications. What all could be possible if she was able to study and understand magic, and apply it to science? Could it improve food growth? Restore deforested regions? What about reversing global warning? Space travel?

A part of her felt doubt. There had to be a reason this villain was offering her this. There must have been a danger. A downside.

She looked up, catching the eyes of the other Sunset Shimmer.

The doubts faded. They hardly mattered anyways. Even if there was some downside (and that seemed unlikely now that she considered it), it was too good an opportunity for her to pass up. So much could be accomplished. It would be foolish to pass it up for a few minor issues.

Besides, that was if she actually applied or shared what she found out. What was the worst that could happen if she just built one little device for analysis.

"I'm going to need some sort of lab," Preppy Sunset stated, "and some tools and electrical materials."

"Oh, don't worry," Satand replied, grinning. "I'm sure we have everything you need for this."

Too early for this

"And cut!" the director shouted out. "Okay, everyone, that's five. Take a break, and get ready to set up the next scene. Adagio, great job as always!"

Adagio Dazzle let out a sigh as she hopped off the "roof" she had been standing on. Grabbing a hold of the cat mask, she pulled it up and off, her magnificent orange hair which had been hidden by the mask's hood poofed out to its normal incredible and beautiful fluffiness. She then wiped at her face. Not that she needed to. Adagio Dazzle did not sweat, no matter how hot the studio or her costume was. Just like she had a body that was perfect for playing a superhero in a skin-tight suit.

Which made the fact that the next scene was as her character's civilian identity a bit of a mixed blessing. She would not get to wear something which showed off every perfect, shapely curve of her body, but she would likely get to wear some cute outfit or other.

Once inside her dressing room, Adagio quickly stripped out of costume, letting it fall to the floor. She then slipped her hands up under her scalp, grabbing it and pulling it up. The top of her head gave away, revealing a fin hidden beneath it. She continued to pull, stripping away the human skin and letting it fall to the floor as well.

Free of her human from and back in the horse-fish mix that was the siren, she let out a sigh. It quickly turned into a yawn as she stretched her entire body.

"And how are my little pets doing?"

On the counter by her make-up mirror was a small fishbowl. Inside it was a pair of tiny sirens, about the size of goldfishes. As Adagio leaned down to look at the pair, they stuck their tongues out at her. With a smirk, she grabbed the siren feed and sprinkled it into the top. As soon as the combination of fish flakes and tiny beads of concentrated negative emotions hit the water, the two of them rushed for it, smacking each other as they tried to get to each piece first.

"Miss Dazzle," a deep, masculine voice called out.

Looking up from her fishbowl, Adagio got quite an eye full of a sight.

There stood Big Macintosh, without a single stitch of clothing on him. A thick patch of hair covered his chest, with a trail of it traveling down his washboard abs before disappearing into another thick patch. Every muscle was perfectly sculpted, with his bare skin glistening. His orange hair was thick and luxurious, running all way down past his hips and waving magnificently behind him.

"Are you ready for your massage?" he asked, holding up a bottle of massage oil.

"Oh, yes," Adagio purred out, smiling widely. "More than ready, in fact."

Floating through the air, she made her way to the massage table and laid down. A flicker of excitement ran down her spine, causing her glistening golden scales to twitch in anticipation of being touched by those strong hands.

*BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!*

"ADAGIO!"

Did they need her back on set already?

*BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!*

"ADAGIO!"

Adagio Dazzle's eyes shot open as a third round of machine-gun knocking opened fire on her door, followed by another ear-splitting shout of her name. As a fourth started, she turned to look at the clock.

It read six-forty-eight A.M.

Anger flared up in her chest, emerging from her mouth as a bestial growl. She had laid awake in bed, tossing and turning until some time after three in the damn morning, thinking about what Sonata had said. Now, not even four hours later, and the same one who had left her considering if she actually wanted to go back to Equestria or stay on earth was now ruining her precious beauty sleep all the more, by waking her up way too early!

*BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!*

"ADAGIO!"

Throwing the sheets across the room, Adagio jumped off the bed and stormed across the small room to the door. Ripping it open (and off the hinges), she then caught a hold of Sonata's wrist before she could unleash another barrage.

"Sonata!" Adagio snarled out. "What is the rule when you wake up first?"

"That I quietly eat my cereal and watch cartoons until you and Aria wake up," Sonata replied as she pulled her arm free, "but this was important and couldn't wait."

"Running out of Marshmallow Breezie Bites is not an emergency."

"Not that," Sonata replied. Her brow then furrowed. "Although I am getting pretty low. Might have to get some more later."

Adagio groaned, rubbing her face and slowly counting to ten.

"It's not even seven," Adagio said slowly, "I barely got any sleep, and haven't had any coffee."

She turned her full attention to Sonata, glaring at the childish siren.

"Get to the point!"

Sonata put her hands on her hips, straightened her back, puffed out her chest, and put on the biggest grin that she could manage.

"I, the amazing Sonata Dusk, have come up with a way to help bring back this Sunset Shimmer!"

There's got to be a morning after

Flash Sentry laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He had been awake for a while, although he was not sure how long, but had not been willing to move. His bladder was becoming more and more insistent that he get up. However, the feeling of the warmth of Phoenix Dawn sleeping against him, her body pressed against his, made him stay where he was for as long as he could.

He asked himself the same thing he had asked repeatedly since he woke up. How on earth had this happened? After he had finished his own set, Flash and Phoenix had taken a seat near the back of That One Place. Each of them ordered "The Thing," and talked for a while.

Then somehow, in a "one thing led to another" way, the two of them made their way to his place, up to his bedroom, and into his bed... together... naked... together... pressed against each other... naked... together...

It had been one of the best nights of his life. Also one of the weirdest. He was sleeping with someone who looked and sounded a lot like an ex-girlfriend, and kind of acted similar to the way that same girlfriend started after they broke up and she had been blasted with a rainbow colored beam of magic after turning into a literal demon.

It felt like he was kind of sliding backwards. He had been with Sunset Shimmer longer than he should have, looking the other way as she became more and more corrupt and selfish before ending things between them. He had moved on, finding someone else that he liked. Admittedly, it did not work out since she was actually from another dimension where she was a magical pony princess and hero who saved their world numerous times, and had only come to this world in order to stop threats to it that had started because of things that happened in her home dimension, but it had been a step forward.

It also became more complicated when this world's version of the girl he liked had come to Crystal Prep, looking very similar, but acting very different, and having no idea who any of them were, or having any interest in him specifically, but that was beside the point.

Although, maybe not entirely. Sunset had eventually explained that she was from the other dimension as well, and had never met her earthly doppelganger, or knew anything about her.

Still, he had moved on, Then, during their time at Camp Everfree, he had tried to be friends with Sunset, and mainly got ignored. In truth, as much as he hated to admit it to even himself, a small part of him kind of hoped that maybe they could start patching things up. He knew it would never happen, and that it would be a bad idea, but he had hoped.

Now, here he was. In bed. Naked. With someone who was so much like Sunset Shimmer most people would not be able to tell the difference.

And at this point his bladder had declared would wait no longer. Flash Sentry either got up and relieved himself, or it would be forced to start relieving the pressure at its own volition. All over his sheets if necessary. Slowly so as not to wake her, he rolled Phoenix off him, then slipped his arm out from under her.

It was beyond numb. His arm did not have the tingle sensation like it was asleep, it had no sensation at all. He could not even move it, no matter how hard he tried. The muscles just would not respond. He could even grab his own wrist and wave his hand up and down without feeling a single thing.

Once he was thoroughly relieved and had regain enough feeling and control to move his fingers, Flash Sentry washed his hands, then splashed some cold water in his face. He then looked up at himself in the mirror.

What should he do? This had been great, but he could not possibly pursue this in any serious way. Not only would it be impossible to keep from comparing Phoenix and Sunset, but he would likely always think of her as such. Plus, the longer he was involved, the more likely it was that the two girls would wind up meeting each other. Sooner or later, he would have to explain to them what was going on, and telling someone the truth in this case was pretty much a guaranteed relationship ender since no one would believe it without seeing at least one of the things that happened around here with their own eyes. Even then, it could be a little iffy at times.

Flash let out a sigh. As nice as this had been, he could not continue it. Could not pursue it. It had been great, but it would have to remain a one time thing.

He would have to figure out how to tell Phoenix.

As soon as he opened the door, he found himself face to face with a naked Phoenix standing in the hall.

"Are you going to come out so I can use it?" she asked after he stood there for several seconds. "Or are you going to stand there and stare at my tits?"

Flash blinked and shook his head, looking away from her chest and into her eyes.

"No, no," he replied. "I mean yes. NO! I mean..."

He gave another shake of his head and stepped out, moving aside.

"It's all yours."

"Thanks," Phoenix said as she headed toward the bathroom. She then stopped and turned to him, her eyes narrowing as she looked him up and down. With a smirk, she stepped forward, placing her hand on his chest and stroking down.

"Maybe when I'm done," she purred out, "we could go back to your room and have a little more... fun." She emphasized the last word with a squeeze.

Releasing her grip, Phoenix Dawn turned and head into the bathroom, giving her hips extra sway as she did so. She then turned and gave him a wink before shutting the door.

...Maybe he could wait just a little longer before ending things...

Sonata's master plan

After receiving a text message from Pinkie Pie (which was sent far too early for most of them, since it was just after seven) about Sonata Dusk having a plan on how to get Sunset Shimmer back, and everyone eventually woke up (with the exception of Applejack who was already awake) and read it, the group all decided that they should all meet up back at Sunset Shimmer's apartment to hear what Sonata had in mind.

It was also suggested they try to bring several cars, since they would likely have to separate for multiple tasks again.

Despite not having a car, Rainbow Dash arrived at the apartment complex, using her super speed to run there. She quickly made her way up the stairs, heading for the door.

Before she could reach it, she could hear what sounded like shouting. The words were difficult to make out, but it was pretty loud. The fact that it sounded like Sunset Shimmer was arguing with Sunset Shimmer did not really matter since there were like a bunch of them in there.

As soon as the door opened, everything went silent. Rainbow Dash found herself staring at Daydream Shimmer and Streetmage Shimmer, who were both looking at her, and definitely not each other.

"What's going on?" Rainbow asked, looking at the pair.

Daydream and Streetmage looked at each other. Daydream motioned her head toward Rainbow. Streetmage shook her head, then motioned it toward Rainbow. Daydream's eyes widened and lips pressed thin as she jerked her head more adamantly. Streetmage again mirrored the movement.

At a stalemate, the two decided to resort to an ancient and long-respected tradition of deciding who must do something when none involved wish to.

Rock, paper, scissors.

The two shook their hands, counting off before throwing their choice.

Both threw rock.

The two tried again.

Both threw scissors.

They tried again.

This time, Streetmage Shimmer threw scissors a second time, while Daydream Shimmer threw...

Rock.

After giving a stomp of frustration, Streetmage Shimmer took a deep breath and turned her full attention to Rainbow Dash.

"Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer disappeared during the night," she finally answered. "We're pretty sure that the other Sunsets grabbed her, but we're not sure how."

She then turned to face Daydream Shimmer with narrowed eyes.

"There's also a bit of an argument on who's to blame."

Daydream turned to return the glare. Seconds passed as the air around them began to grow warmer.

Literally. Rainbow Dash could feel it, making her face heat up. She should probably do something before something burst into flames. Like her.

"Do we need to get Sun-dude out here, so he can wave his dick around too, and all three of you can see who's the biggest?"

The two Sunsets turned to look at Rainbow in surprise, looked back at each other, then looked away as much as they could. Streetmage Shimmer's face noticeably blushed, and it was a safe guess that Daydream would have been doing the same if not for her more magical nature.

"Now," Rainbow continued (pushing the thought of Sunset dick as far from her mind as possible), "can't either of you guys track her? You know, just --" she raised a hand and wiggled her fingers "-- cast a spell or something and figure out where she is?"

The two continued to look away, the blush fading as Streetmage wrapped her arms around herself. Daydream ran a hand through her hair, wrapping her fingers around a lock and giving a tug.

"While remote viewing is something that can be done in Equestria, it's supposed to be very rare that only a few unicorn can learn," Daydream admitted. "Plus, I never studied it. Figured I was smart enough to find anypony I wanted on my own and outwit any who went against me. Even with the additional abilities I have with this form, that's not one of them."

"Scrying requires a lot of preparation and supplies I didn't bring with me," replied Streetmage. "I do know a spell that would be able to let me follow her scent, but considering how many Sunsets there are and how we all probably smell the same..." She gave a shrug with one shoulder, holding out her hand.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh as she pulled out her phone.

"I'll let the others know. Hopefully, some of us can go look for her while whatever is going on with Sonata's plan." She then wrote out a quick message to the group chat, sending it to all the others.

As the rest of the group showed up, several asked the obvious questions: what happened, how did it happen, and like Rainbow asked, was there a way to find her? The first two were the hardest to answer, because none of them knew. All they knew was that she had been sleeping in the chair, then when they woke up, she was gone. Her shoes and jacket had been left behind, so it was doubtful she just got up in the middle of the night and walked out without saying anything. For the specifics, though, all they could do was speculate, and without a full knowledge of what all they other Sunset Shimmers could do, the possibilities were numerous.

The sirens were the last ones to show up, ten minutes after the agreed upon meeting time and carrying cups of coffee with them.

"Seriously?" Applejack asked, arms crossed and raising an eyebrow. "We're all waiting for y'all to show up and tell us this plan, and y'all stop for coffee?"

Adagio's eyes narrowed as she scowled. Not breaking eye contact, she took a long slow, loud slurp.

"We ain't all used ta gettin' up 'fore that thar sun," she said in the thickest southern accent she could manage. "Besides," she continued in her normal voice, "I had a hard time getting sleep and Sonata woke us up stupid early to tell us about her 'oh so brilliant' plan."

"So, what is this amazing plan?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Sonata Dusk grinned and stepped forward, only to be stopped by Adagio Dazzle holding up a hand.

"Before we get to that," Adagio stated, "there is a matter of our deal that we need to discuss."

"Is this really the proper time for that?" Rarity asked. "The wicked versions of Sunset Shimmer are out there, doing who knows what, and it seems they have taken Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer for some reason or other. As such, is now the best time to try and renegotiate for additional benefits?"

"Then I will make this short and simple," Adagio replied. "Instead of simply going back to Equestria, we want to be able to visit it for a week, then decide whether or not we want to return."

"That doesn't really sound all that different," Fluttershy said from her spot on the couch, puppy Sunset sitting in her lap. Her brow then furrowed.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem," Adagio stated.

She then lowered her hand.

"Sonata, go ahead."

With a grin, Sonata took a step forward, straightening up. She took a moment to enjoy being the center of attention on her own before finally speaking.

"Okay," she said. "So, I was watching Power Patrol cartoon, and it was this episode where Battle Rager was split in two."

"Oh! Oh!" Pinkie cried out, bouncing up and down in place (much to the annoyance of the downstairs neighbors). "I've seen that one. It's where the rage mode gets loose and starts beating up on all the other team members."

"Right," Sonata cried out, jumping a little as well. "It was totally awesome." She then shakes her head. "But not the point. Anyway, the rest of the team have to capture Rager's rage form, and fuse it back with her normal form. And in order to do that, they have to get the pair together and reverse the accident that separated them in the first place, which they do.

"That was when I realized that Power Patrol wasn't the only cartoon where something like that happened. A bunch of them had episodes like that. Something would cause a character to be fractured into separate entities, then a friend or friends would have to gather them all up, bring them back together in the same place it happened, then the character is back to normal, and normally the friends learn a lesson."

"Hold on," Trixie called out, holding up her hands. "Are you saying that we need to find all the copies of Sunset, gather them all at the park, and send them back through the magic box that Sunset had been in when this all started?"

"Exactly!" Sonata cried out, pointing a finger at her. "That is exactly what I'm saying!"

"There is one major problem with that," Trixie replied. "The box exploded. It's a bunch of chunks of wood, shards of silver painted glass, and pieces of twist metal. There's no way to send anyone through it."

"Except that we have Twilight and Daydream," Sonata retorted, "and they have magic."

The power of egos

The collected group decided that their were two main objectives: one was to go back to the park to try and reassemble Trixie's magic box and see if it could help bring back Sunset Shimmer; the other was to try and find where the evil Sunset Shimmers were, and try to rescue Crystal Prep Sunset. A lesser third objective was to figure out if there are more Sunsets that they had yet to find, and, if so, find them.

The group that was going back to the park consisted of Trixie, Daydream Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Sonata Dusk.

The Great and Powerful Trixie made it quite clear as they left that if anything happened to her van again, someone else was going to pay for it one way or the other. She worked hard to keep it well-maintained, but her budget was limited, and she had just paid for towing and new tires after what happened yesterday. She could not afford to keep up with these shenanigans.

The drive was pretty quiet, with none of them talking for the moment. Trixie was driving, Sonata was making faces out the window, Twilight Sparkle was curled up in her seat, writing on a piece of paper, and Daydream Shimmer was sprawled out in the back to keep her wings from getting uncomfortable.

As Trixie drove, a figure on the sidewalk caught her eye. A woman dressed in a dark red suit. A black cape rested on her shoulders, and a top hat sat on top of her red and yellow haired head. Trixie recognized her instantly as a magician, and as a version of Sunset Shimmer.

Trixie slammed down on the gas, the entire van jerking and engine growling as the rest of it tried to catch up with the sudden increase in speed. It eventually got fast enough to catch up with and surpass the magician Sunset Shimmer. Trixie quickly pulled off the accelerator and onto the brake, bringing the van to a screeching halt as she pulled up to the curb.

After putting the van in park, Trixie threw open the door and jumped out.

Or tried to at least.

She then unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out. As quick as she could, she ran to the sidewalk, stopping in front of the magician Sunset Shimmer. Trixie placed one hand on her hip, throwing her cape out with the other.

"So!" Trixie cried out. "You are The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset!"

The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset stopped and straightened up, grinning. Throwing her own cape back, she took a hold of her top hat, removing it as she took a large, sweeping bow.

"Indeed I am," she announced, a wide grin on her face as she straightened up and put her hat back on her head. She then placed her hands on her hips, lifting her chin. "It's nice to know that my reputation as a great and powerful magician precedes me!"

"There is only one great and powerful magician in the world!" Trixie yelled, stomping her foot. "And that is The Great and Powerful TRIXIE!!"

"Who's that?" the magician Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.

"ME!" Trixie yelled. "I am The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"You?" magician Sunset said. Her gaze slowly drifted up and down Trixie, taking in the pointy, floppy hat, and the star covered cape, worn over a dark blue zip-up hooded sweatshirt.

She then threw her head back and laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

With each passing moment, with each chest shaking guffaw, Trixie's face grew redder and redder, her jaw clenching tighter and tighter.

"It's not funny!" she finally snapped.

Sunset finished her laughing, returning her attention to Trixie.

"Look at you." She held out a hand, waving it up and down the length of Trixie's torso. "You look like something out of a cheap kid's cartoon."

A low growl emanated from Trixie as she bared her teeth. Her hands clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms.

"You're one to talk!" she retorted. "You look like you should be performing at birthday parties for six year olds!"

The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset took a step back as she let out gasp, looking like she had just been slapped.

"You take that back!" she ordered.

"I will," Trixie replied. "IF... you beat me in a..." She through her cape open and placed her hands on her hips
"Magician's duel!" Fireworks went off behind her as she held the pose.

"So be it," magician Sunset said, straightening up and puffing out her chest. She pointed a finger at Trixie. "I'll duel you! Any time! Any place!"

"Great," Trixie said.

She then turned and walked toward the van.

"Come on. Hop in."

The magician Sunset Shimmer stood there, her hand slowly lowering. The confidence she felt a moment ago quickly gave way to confusion as she watched the other girl walking away.

"What?" she finally managed to ask.

Trixie stopped and turned around.

"We're not going to duel right here and right now," she said. "Since we're going to the same place, I might as well give you a ride." She then turned and continued walking. "Besides, I don't want you making an excuse about how you were tired or something when I beat you."

"Ha!" Sunset called out as she finally recovered herself and walked toward the van. "As if someone like you could defeat the likes of me!"

Trixie climbed back into the driver seat and shut the door, buckling herself back in.

The side panel opened, letting the magician Sunset climb in.

"Trixie, what are you doing?" asked Twilight.

Trixie turned to look at her.

"Challenging Sunset to a magician's duel," she answered. "Was that not clear?" She shifted to look at the others, raising an eyebrow. "I thought I made that clear."

"I got it," Sonata Dusk announced, holding up a hand and grinning.

Trixie turned back to Twilight.

"See? She got it."

"No," Twilight replied. "I mean we..." she turned her head, looking at the magician Sunset Shimmer, now buckled up beside her. She was quiet a moment, licking her lips and studying the new arrival.

Taking a breath, she started again.

"We are going to the park for a very specific reason," she said slowly. "One that does not include you fighting another magician."

Trixie gave a snort and dismissive wave of her hand as she returned her attention to driving.

"You girls can handle that," she said as she put the van back into drive. "You don't need me for it." Her eyes narrowed. "Besides, there's a matter of my reputation as the greatest magician in the city being at stake."

Shocking sexual realization

Applejack was not a part of the group sent to try and restore the magic box that had started this, nor was she a part of the rescue for Crystal Prep Sunset. Instead, she was going to take Fluttershy, puppy Sunset (or "Sunset Snoopy" as Applejack liked to think of her), and Aria Blaze to her farm to see about the actual horse Sunset Shimmer.

Before doing that, however, their little group were going to make a little stop off at Principal Celestia's. The idea was that the unicorn Sunset Shimmer would be helpful with the horse one, sort of like assistance for Fluttershy. Plus, having another equine around might help keep the horse calmer.

As they drove, Applejack glanced over at Aria. The former siren had offered to come along, saying she liked horses and had not seen one in a while. Applejack still did not like or trust any of them, but Aria was the one that she could tolerate the most. Adagio was the mastermind, which meant that she was always plotting, scheming or looking for an angle. Sonata acted very child-like and naive, but after spending a lot of time around Pinkie Pie, Applejack was well aware that there was more going on that Sonata showed. Aria, however, was pretty straight forward. Yes, there was probably more going on than on the surface, but she seemed a pretty blunt person, preferring to take things straight on when she could. It by no means meant that Applejack liked the girl all things considered, but it was more along the lines of distrusting her the least.

If Aria double-crossed them, it would be to their faces.

Applejack's gaze flicked to Aria's wristbands before returning to the road.

"Mind if I ask you a personal question?" she asked.

"Yes," Aria answered. "You can ask, doesn't mean I'll answer."

Applejack took a deep breath, choosing to just straight out ask.

"Adagio told me that the wristbands weren't just decorative," she said. "That they were hidin' scars of some kind."

Aria turned to look at Applejack, raising an eyebrow.

"And you want to know if it's true, and what the story is behind them."

Applejack shifted, looking away as best she could. It had been her idea, but now things felt kind of awkward.

Aria smirked, shifting to turn toward Applejack. There was a pair of metallic snaps as she undid the buttons on her studded bracelet. She then held up her bare arm. A pair of scars in the form of raw, glistening pink encircled it in two different spots, just narrower than the bracelet she had been wearing.

"There," Aria said before putting the bracelet back on. "And yes, I have another set on my other wrist too."

"Can I asked what happened?"

Aria did not answer right away. She looked down at her arm, adjusting the accessory.

"After being here for so long, we got pretty used to humans," Aria stated. "None of us have a strict sexuality, but Adagio would call herself straight, and I'm basically a lesbian." She smirked. "Not a big deal back home, but it became such a 'horrible' thing around here."

A huff escaped her as a bitter "ha."

"Like, fifty or sixty years ago," she continued, "there was this girl." Sitting back, looking out the window and up at the sky. "Can't quite remember her name now, but she was cute, shy, kind of like..." She pointed a thumb towards the back.
"Caught her checking me out a couple times, and I thought she would be fun. One of those people that was very button up and quiet in front of everyone, but gets very loud and wild when you get them alone." Aria turned toward Fluttershy and smirked. "Bet you and Rainbow know what that's like."

There was a small squeak from the back, followed by silence. Applejack shifted, looking into the rear-view to see a very blushing Fluttershy hiding behind a confused looking puppy Sunset.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.

"It was a one time thing," Fluttershy blurted out, face getting redder. "We were kind of curious and..." The rest was lost as she got quieter, talking more and more into the back of the dog's head.

Aria let out a chuckle as she set back into her seat.

"So, with a little coercion, we started hanging out," Aria said. "Then we started dating, although not 'officially.'" She rolled her eyes. "As far as everyone else was concerned, we were just two girls who were friends. Eventually, one thing did lead to another and.."

She held up a hand, two fingers up to create a V, then stuck her tongue out,flicking it back and forth at the intersection. She then held up her other hand, making another V, and smacked the two V's together, humping them against each other. Each time she thrust them together, Aria let out a small grunt of pleasure. Finally, she let her hands drop, letting out a sigh of exhausted pleasure.

"Was that really necessary?" Applejack asked, staring out the window and trying to ignore the heat of her cheeks.

Rarity probably would have fainted at the sight.

"No," Aria admitted with a grin, "but it was fun, made my point, and made you uncomfortable."

The grin disappeared as she turned to look out the side window, squishing down in her seat and crossing her arms.

"It didn't last long. Some people found out about us, and weren't to happy about it. They decided that it was my fault. I was some sort of lesbian predator that tempted this poor, innocent, naive girl into 'such atrocious behavior.'"

She suddenly turned back to Applejack.

"At that time, homosexuality was seen as a mental disorder!" With the last two words, Aria tilted her head to one side, eyes wide and grinning larger than Pinkie Pie. "So guess who got sent to the insane asylum!" She suddenly turned flipped her head to the other shoulder, bringing up a finger to press against the upward cheek.

The grin faded as her hand dropped again.

"They didn't really care about making us 'better' though. It was mostly just a way to keep certain people out of the way when they couldn't just be arrested, and torture them a little under the guise of 'making them better.'" She held up an arm. "These? They're from electro-shock therapy. They strap you down, stick electrodes to your head, and then: BKZZZZT! Raw electricity right through your skull. Your entire body tenses and jerks, pulling at the straps with all your might. Tends to cause them to dig into it your skin until you're raw and bleeding. Even our healing abilities couldn't keep up with it. So by the time it was all over, I was left with scars from where their straps had cut into me again and and again and again."

Applejack decided not to follow up the conversation any further.

Fluttershy, however, had other ideas. Having unbuckled her seat belt, she lunged across the seat, wrapping her arms around Aria in a hug.

"Oh you poor thing!" she cried out, eyes wide and filled with tears.

"Let go of me," Aria growled.

"No one should have to go through that."

"I don't want to be hugged."

"You're so brave."

"I'm not afraid to hit you, girly."

"You'll never have to go through anything like that again."

"I'm well aware of that," Aria stated. "Now, let me go."

But Fluttershy did not let go, and Aria did not punch her like she had threatened. Instead, they stayed like that, with Fluttershy hugging Aria, and Aria Blaze not actively participating in it, but not resisting it either.

Applejack thought it was actually kind of cute. A small chuckle escaped her as she imagined Aria blushing and telling Fluttershy, "It's not like I actually like you or anything... Baka!"

"What's so funny?" Aria asked, turning her glare to Applejack.

"Nothin'," Applejack answered, looking away. She let out a small cough. "Just tsundere in my throat."

Aria's eyes narrowed, but she did not say anything about what Applejack said. If she had caught it at all.

Arriving at Celestia's house, something caught Applejack's eye.

"Is that a burn mark?"

Getting out of the car, the four of them headed back toward the road to get a better look. Applejack crouched down, running a finger along the black mark on the cement.

"It's in the grass as well," puppy Sunset pointed out. Sure enough, there was indeed a line of black cutting through the lush green of the grass.

"Looks like it goes all the way around the house," Aria pointed out.

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked.

"Suppose there's only one way to find out," Applejack replied. Getting up, she made her way toward the front door.

Adagio talks to a "friend"

"Canterlot. A bright and shining city. One filled with hope and looking toward the future. But the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows. Like how some of the best sweets can give you a tummy ache. Or how someone will clean a room, but ignore under the furniture, leaving a couch that can look really nice, but have a lot of dust underneath."

"What are you doing?" Adagio asked, turning toward the backseat.

"Narrating," Pinkie answered.

"Dare I ask 'why?'"

"This feels like a scene from an old black and white detective story," Pinkie explained, "and they tend to have the gritty, hard-boiled detective narrating what's going on. We don't actually have a proper full detective though." She pointed a finger at street mage Sunset Shimmer. "She's the closest thing we have, but isn't doing it, and Rarity isn't around, so I'm filling in."

Adagio Dazzle rolled her eyes as she turned to the front again.

"Well I don't think it is actually necessary in this case."

"A lot of things that are fun aren't considered 'necessary,'" Pinkie replied, "but we still do them because they're fun and we enjoy them."

It was a strange point, and not exactly one that Adagio could argue if she wanted to. Besides, while not the weirdest conversation she ever had by far (that currently went to when Sonata discovered "shitting dick nipples," and Adagio and Aria had to explain human anatomy and how such a thing was not possible, with the pictures of such likely being a strange fetishistic art trend or something), it was one that she did not really have an interest in continuing. So, she decided to just drop the subject.

Until a thought occurred to her, making her turn around again.

"Why can't I be the one narrating?"

"Because you're the femme fatale," Pinkie answered. "The dame with a mysterious or shady past, who has a body that won't quit, and knows how to use it, that the detective knows is dangerous, but finds alluring, only realizing too late how dangerous she truly is. That also means you can't be the narrator, because then you lose some of your mystery."

Adagio liked the sound of that. Plus, it seemed a pretty fitting interpretation to her. She knew how to use her body, could not exactly share her history with most people, and knew how to get people to do what she wanted. Some probably even knew that she was dangerous, but went through with it. It was nice to--

Wait! Shit!

She had been so caught up in talking to Pinkie, she had not been paying attention.

"Stop!" Adagio called out. "That was the road we needed to turn on."

Sunset slammed on the brakes, the car skidding to a stop. After checking behind to make sure there was no other traffic, she switched into reverse and backed up, turning down the demanded road.

"You sure this is the place?" she asked.

Adagio turned to her and smirked.

"What? You don't think that I could have connections in the seedy and rundown parts of the city?"

"Oh, I'm sure you do," street mage Sunset answered. She then leaned to get a better look outside. "Just doesn't looks like a place where someone could find shelter for long."

Adagio turned as well, looking out at the streets, alleys, and old buildings. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced up an down, taking in as much of it as she could.

"No," she finally replied. "But it's a good place to keep away from the cops and such for a while. And in answer to the original question, yes I'm sure. I've been keeping track of him in case we need to move suddenly."

She pointed ahead at an alleyway.

"Stop there."

Street mage Sunset pulled closer to curb and parked.

"You two wait here," Adagio ordered as she opened her door. She grabbed the plastic bag from the convenience store they had stopped at quickly, taking it with her as she made her way down the alley.

Standing near a rusting dumpster was a tall, lanky man. Long, greasy, blue hair hung past his shoulders and covered most of his face. He leaned against the wall, dark green skinned arms wrapped around his chest. A dark shirt hung off his form, whatever the picture on the front of it had been faded and worn away to just a hint it even existed. The cherry glow of a cigarette could be seen emanating from near his mouth.

"Pickle!" Adagio called out, smiling.

Pickled Peppers turned to Adagio, his eyes going wide as he got a look at her. He dropped his cigarette and moved away from the wall, straightening up.

"You alone?" he asked, voice raspy and cracking.

"My sisters aren't with me," Adagio answered.

Pickle let out a sigh, shoulder slumping. He resumed leaning against the wall, reaching into his pocket to pull out a packet of cigarettes.

"Good. That blue one scares the shit out of me."

He lit the cigarette, taking a puff.

"So, what brings you to my office, today?"

Opening her bag, Adagio Dazzle reached in and pulled out the content. Pickle turned to look at it, brow furrowing.

"What is that?"

"A granola, fruit and yogurt parfait," Adagio answered. "This one has strawberries and blueberries."

With one of her nails, she snapped the plastic ring that held the lid on. Pulling it open, she then opened the compartment for the granola, pouring it into the cup.

"For me?" Pickle asked. "Why?"

"Because you can't live off of jerky and junk food." Adagio stirred the granola in, mixing it with the fruit and yogurt. "You need some grain and oats, some dairy, and fruit." She held it out to him. "It also has vitamin C, so you don't have to worry about scurvy."

Pickle's lips pressed tight as his eyes narrowed, staring at the proffered cup. Slowly, he reached out, taking a hold of it. He gave it one more stir before scooping some of it up.

"So what are you doing here?" he asked again. "Didn't just come out to make sure I was eating right."

"I'm looking for a place. One where a bunch of people can hide out without being noticed."

"Like an evil lair?" Pickled Peppers asked, giving her a grin. "With all the strange things going on, thinking about going supervillain? Try and take over the city and all that?"

"No," Adagio replied, waving a hand. "Been there, done that, got the tee shirt."

She actually had. Somehow, three shirts with "I tried to take over the world, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" written on them showed up the day after they were defeated.

"It's not for me," she continued. "We're looking for someone who got taken by some people." She held up a hand. "Don't ask. It's complicated and weird. The point is we need to find a place where a lot of people can hide out, and hold someone being held hostage without anyone noticing."

She moved closer, crossing her arms.

"So, any ideas?"

Pickle took a large spoonful of his parfait and ate it, considering the question.

"Well," he finally replied, "if you want to go with the full cliche..."

Adagio considered a moment before giving a shrug.

"As good a place to start as any, I suppose."

Her mind took a hold of the thought, processing it.

"There's some abandoned warehouses," Pickle stated. "Big, empty, and not a lot of people around, 'specially on the weekends. Be easy for someone to set up a big hideout or lab or something, coming and going at all hours. Perfect for a villain from a comic book or cartoon."

Adagio gave a nod, rubbing her chin as she thought. Some of these Sunset characters did seem more like they would be at home in cartoons and comics, or some form of fiction. Maybe they would play to the same kind of ideas. And seeing how "Sunset Satan" was among them...

"Is there a place with a monster theme?" she asked. "More specifically, demonic or devilish? Where a person that might look like one wouldn't be as noticeable?"

Pickled Peppers turned to face her, brow furrowed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," Adagio confirmed. "I very much doubt you would believe me if I told you all that happened, but I am seriously and sincerely asking this."

"You know what?" Pickle straightened up and turned toward her. "Try me."

"Really?"

"Really. Tell me what's going on, and we'll see if I believe you or not."

Looking up at the sky, Adagio took a deep breath and asked for patience. Still, if he was asking, may as well tell him. Worst case was that he simply would not believe it.

"Short version: magic is real, and so are other dimensions. Yesterday, there was a magical explosion and a person was caught in it. As a result, a bunch of different versions of her are running around the city, including a group of evil ones that kidnapped a teenage genius version. So now I'm trying to help find them, so her friends can save the genius, and try to bring back the original."

Pickled Peppers stood there a moment, staring at her.

"So... that video of the girl sprouting wings and 'tearing holes in reality?'" he asked.

"That was real," Adagio confirmed. "Not special effects or anything."

Pickle gave a slow nod, moving away from her. Adagio waited, letting the news seek in and waiting to see how he was going to react. Hopefully, whether he believed her or not, he would still answer the question.

Speaking of question, there was one about how this would affect their future interactions.

But she would have to get through this first.

"Well," said Pickle, "now that you ask: there was an old amusement park by the name of... uhm... Hunny Bunny's Fun-stravagnza or something?" He gave a shake of his head. "Anyway, it's been closed for a couple years. It was supposed to be renovated, but with Equestria Land opening up..." He gave a shake of his head. "And in answer to your question: they had one of those all year round haunted houses, with the entrance being the mouth of a giant laughing devil." He rubbed his chin. "Was probably even outlined in glowing red neon too."

A small smirk tugged at Adagio's lips before she let out a chuckle.

"That sounds like the perfect place to start."

An amazing duel

The Great and Powerful Trixie's Mystical Magic Wagon pulled into the parking spot, not far from the outdoor stage where this had all begun.

Yesterday.

It was kind of hard for Trixie to believe it. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she had been working on a magic show with Sunset Shimmer as her assistant.

Now she was back here, about to face a version of Sunset Shimmer in a battle of her magician skills.

Trixie thought that last part would make an awesome anime episode.

The Anime-ted Adventures of The Great and Powerful Trixie!

She really liked the sound of that.

Pushing the thought aside for now, Trixie climbed out of her van and made her way toward the stage. She made it a point not to look behind her as she did. After all, a part of being a stage magician meant confidence and misdirection. At the moment, there was not much need for misdirection since she was meeting her opponent up on stage, but she had plenty of reason to appear as confident as possible. The Great and Powerful Trixie did not know what The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset was capable of, so Trixie needed every edge she could think of.

Reaching the edge of the stage, she easily hopped up onto it and turned around, watching the magician Sunset Shimmer make her way there as well.

"We'll use this side of the stage, so we don't interfere with what they're doing," Trixie explained, motioning to Twilight, Daydream and Sonata. "Now, since I challenged you, you get to choose: do you want to go first, or do you want me to?"

"I'll go first," magician Sunset announced as she jumped up onto the stage. She gave her cape a flick. "And I'll even start simple. That way, you aren't too embarrassed too fast."

She slipped a hand beneath her jacket and into a pocket.

"Behold!" she announced as she pulled out an object. "An ordinary number two pencil." She held it out at arms length, letting Trixie get a good look at it. "A small rod of graphite, encased in wood with a ring of aluminum holding a piece of rubber on one end."

Pulling the pencil in close, she grasped it with both hands. With a loud grunt, she twisted her wrists, as though breaking something in two. In the opposite hand from before, she held up the pointed end of the pencil.

"Easily broken with a little strength. And normally, impossible to fix. But!"

Magician Sunset puts her hands together again, reversing the motion of breaking. She then holds up the entire pencil.

"With a little magic, it's as good as before."

The sound of clapping got the pair's attention. The pair turned to find that Sonata Dusk was watching, using the unharmed back of her bandaged hand against the palm of her uninjured one to applaud.

Magician Sunset smirked and gave a small bow.

"Shouldn't you be supervising the others?" Trixie asked. "You know, for your master plan and everything." It was totally just out of curiosity and had nothing to do with the fact that the applause were for someone else.

"They're doing a bunch of boring math stuff right now," Sonata answered, leaning back and rolling her eyes. She then straightened up, grinning. "Besides, this is much more entertaining to watch."

"Then please hold applause until the end," Trixie requested. Her eyes then narrowed. "Or, maybe not since that might be the only applause she hears."

Magician Sunset turned to face her again, glaring.

"Big talk for someone who hasn't even gone yet!"

"You were the one who wanted to go first and 'start easy,'" Trixie retorted. "Now, for my first trick," -- she held her hand -- "I would like the pencil, please."

Sunset's eyes narrowed as she looked at Trixie extended hand. Slowly, she lifted the pencil and gave it over.

"Thank," Trixie said as she took it. "Since you've already talked about what it's made of, we can skip that part." Bringing the pencil close to her, she held the eraser between two fingers of one hand, with the tip being held between between two on the other.

"Now, watch as The Great and Powerful Trixie makes it disappear!"

She quickly pulled her hands apart wide, then slapped them together fast and hard. Pulling her hands apart, Trixie held them out, fingers spread wide for all to see.

The pencil was gone.

She even flipped them back and forth to show that nothing was behind them either.

"Great," Sunset said in the flattest tone possible. "Now, can I have my pencil back?" She held her hand out.

"Sorry," Trixie replied with a smirk. "That's a trick for later. Maybe. You'll just have to wait." She ran a finger along the brim of her hat. "Anyway, it's your turn again. Hope you have something a lot more impressive up your sleeve."

Magician Sunset let out a huff, rolling her eyes.

"Fine." She pointed a finger at Sonata. "How would you like to come up and help me for a moment?"

With a squeal of excitement, Sonata jumped up and ran for the stage, leaping onto it. She was grinning far wider than humanly possibly as she looked up at The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset.

"Behold!" magician Sunset called out as she pulled out another a small box. "A deck of cards." She opened the box and pulled the cards out. "Fifty-four in total, with thirteen of each suit from ace to king, and two jokers." She passed the deck to Sonata. "Please shuffle these."

Sonata took the deck and did as she was asked. With her left hand doing most of the work, she split, shuffled, mixed, and cut the deck of cards before finally handing them back.

Magician Sunset took the deck, fanned out the cards and held it out to Trixie.

"I believe you know the routine." Sunset's eyes narrowed. "Or do I need to explain it?"

Trixie stuck her tongue out before grabbing a card and looking at it.

Seven of spades.

She then slipped it back into the deck.

Magician Sunset cut the cards, then cut them again, and a third time. She started a fourth cut, but instead putting the cards back together, she held up half the deck, revealing the face of one of the cards.

"Is this your card?"

Trixie looked at the exposed card.

Queen of diamonds.

Trixie let out a chuckle.

"Well, that is a card I feel represents me quite well," she answered, "but it is not the card that I drew."

Sunset's eyes went wide. She tilted her head to look at the exposed card, then back to Trixie. A small smirk tugged at her mouth.

"Oh," she said dramatically. "You thought I meant this card?" She shook the queen of diamonds, then let out a chuckle and shook her head. "No, no. I meant this card!"

With a flick of her thumb, she revealed the top card of the other half of the deck.

Seven of spades.

Trixie let out a huff, scowling at the card and the other magician.

"Yes," she spat, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's my card."

Letting out a victory chuckle, The Spectacular and Amazing Sunset flipped the card back over before setting the rest of the deck back on top. She then held the deck out to Trixie.

"Your turn."

Trixie took the deck and passed them over to Sonata.

"Go ahead and shuffle them again."

While Sonata did that, Trixie considered her options. The pencil had been easy enough, but that was because Sunset had done a very simple and basic one. The card trick she used, however, had already been one of the more advanced ones. So, Trixie would have to come up with an amazing and rather complicated one.

The problem was that Trixie did not really know a lot of card tricks. Yes, she had learned the basic ones since it was a part of all magic tricks, but had not really gone past basics or even practiced those in quite a while. They were just not flashy or impressive enough for her liking. Plus, they were so common. Every two-bit hustler that called themselves a "magician" knew at least one card trick.

An idea came to her.

"I have to grab something, quickly."

She turned and headed for backstage.

"Giving up?" magician Sunset asked, eyes narrowing as she smirked.

"Ha!" Trixie cried out, turning to face her. "You wish." She struck a pose, holding up the cape with one hand. "The Grrrreat and Powerful Trixie doesn't know the meaning of 'give up.'"

She then resumed her walking.

"I just have to see something quickly, is all."

Sometimes, after a show, people would leave props behind. It could be because they were tired from performing, distracted with other matters, or just did not care. Usually, whatever got left behind would remain there until some other group would clear it out so they could store their own stuff for whatever was being done. If Trixie remembered right (and of course she did; The Great and Powerful Trixie had perfect memory), the last thing that had been done here was some Greek tragedy play or other. That meant that someone would have gotten stabbed, which in turn would mean prop knives. Normally, the retractable type, but some times it would include rubber knives, metal ones which were made dull, and even the occasional properly sharpened knife. If she could find one, she could use it in her trick.

Alas, it seemed that luck was not on Trixie's side. There was not a knife to be found.

There was a dart though. Maybe she could use that instead.

Pocketing the dart, Trixie made her way back to the stage.

Not only was The (so totally not) Spectacular and Amazing Sunset Shimmer and Sonata Dusk there, but Daydream Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle had joined them as well.

"Well, we've managed to reassemble it," Twilight explained as Trixie approached the group, "and Daydream and I even poured some magic into it, sort of like we were charging it up." She adjusted her glasses, looking back toward the magician box. "But, we won't actually know if it works until we somehow test it."

"That's great," Trixie said as she walked up. She took the deck of cards from Sonata. Fanning them out, she offered them to magician Sunset.

Magician Sunset took out a card, showed it to Daydream, Twilight, and Sonata, then slipped it back into where it had been.

Trixie then folded the cards back up, and cut the deck.

"I need a voluteer," she stated. "Someone who preferably won't flinch."

"I can do it," Twilight offered. "What do I need to do?"

Trixie handed her the cards.

"Wait right here."

She then made her way across the stage, counting off the steps. Reaching the spot she thought was best, Trixie turned around and pulled out the dart.

"Now, hold the cards up and at arm's length," she ordered.

Twilight gave a nod and took a hold of the deck at the bottom. She then held it out in front of her as far as she could reach, the images facing toward her.

Trixie took a step back, and -- hoping she had calculated everything close enough for this -- threw the dart with all her strength at the cards.

The dart flew through the air perfectly, heading straight for the deck.

Something else shot through the air, hitting the dart and knocking it to the floor.

"Hope I'm interrupting something," a voice called out.

The five of them turned toward the sound, looking up at the top of the stage where a figure stood.

A horse of course

Fluttershy gave another long look at the magic staff they had picked up from Principal Celestia's house. After they had been filled in by Luna about what had happened the night before, and picked up unicorn Sunset, Luna had insisted they take the staff with them, figuring it would be safer with them than at Celestia's. Which made sense since they were able to use their regular magic still.

Hopefully the little girl Sunset Shimmer would be safe at Vice-Principal Luna's house.

But, how did the evil Shimmers know that she was there? And what did they want her for?

Fluttershy's attention turned to the back, where unicorn Sunset was, along with puppy Sunset. The two of them had wound up taking a nap, with the smaller dog curled up on top of the small unicorn.

It was all still so surreal. There were numerous versions of their friend, Sunset, including those two, and a regular horse as well. Now, not only that, but Principal Celestia had somehow managed to pony up. What was next? Vice-principal Luna turning evil? Someone from a long time ago being alive? Them being sucked into a book? Facing shape-shifters? Sprouting horse dicks?

...Well... probably not that last one...

But the fact that it even existed in the realm of possibility was disconcerting.

Fluttershy had wanted a nice, quiet life where she helped take care of animals and find them forever homes. Being a magical hero was one of the last things she wanted to be... or it would be if she had even considered it a possibility. She did not want to be key to protecting the city. She did not want to face evil on a semi-regular basis.

Well, at least she was going to spend some time on Applejack's farm. Admittedly, it was not for an entirely normal reason, but it was something that she could easily handle.

And hopefully it would be weird enough so that something weirder and scarier does not happen. Just a nice little conversation with a horse that happened to be another version Sunset Shimmer, with no mind control, magic songs, holes in reality (or more holes since the theory was that the Sunset Shimmers were torn from their own dimensions somehow), or magic rocks that could either super-charge their powers or wipe memories.

As they reached Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy pushed the thoughts aside and looked out the window, taking in the sight of the farm.

How she wished she could live somewhere like this. A place far from other people, with plenty of space for animals to run around and play. If she had a place like this, that is what she would do: turn it into an animal sanctuary. Then all sorts of creatures could live there. From butterflies and lightning bugs to cows and horses. Even as big as giraffes and elephants if necessary. Plus, there would be areas set up to give all them a feeling of being in their natural habitat and safe.

It was not much longer before they were pulling up to the barn turned garage.

"Y'all ready?" asked Applejack.

Fluttershy gave a nod.

"Not really much to get ready for," Aria stated. Shoving the door open, she climbed. After stepping a few steps away, she tilted her head back and spread her arms wide, closing her eyes as she did. Aria then took a slow, deep breath through her nose, her chest expanding as she inhaled as much air as her lungs could manage.

"Uhm... are you okay?" Fluttershy asked as she got out.

Shoulders slumping, Aria Blaze let out a sigh.

"Yeah." She then straightened up, her lips pressing into a scowl. "You know, ever since industrialization, I keep hearing about 'fresh country air,' and how sweet it is, but I honestly can't tell a difference. I think it's one of those psychosomatic things humans convince themselves is true and become a part of the pop-culture beliefs."

As soon as she got out, puppy Sunset Shimmer floppy ears perked up and tail started wagging. Her eyes went wide as she looked around.

"So... many... new.. smells!" she cried out, shaking with excitement. "And so many places to mark! Where do I even start?"

She then darted to the closest fence post, gave it a good sniff, and started marking the grass around it.

Unicorn Sunset Shimmer made her way directly for the barn, Applejack not far behind. Horn lighting up, she took a hold of the doors with her magic and pulled them open, stepping inside.

As she had been told, there was indeed a full-sized, regular horse version of her. It turned toward the door, looking at the new arrivals, then threw its head back and let out a neigh.

"What'd she say?" Applejack asked.

Unicorn Sunset turned from the horse to Applejack, glanced back at the horse, then at the human again. Turning to Applejack, the unicorn took a deep breath, her entire body swelling with the effort, and let out the loudest, worst sounding impression of a horse neighing any of them had ever heard, which broke into a coughing fit.

Once the coughing stopped, Sunset returned her attention to Applejack.

"But seriously," unicorn Sunset said, "what makes you think I know what she's saying?"

Applejack took a step back, her face taking on a pinkish hue. She reached up to her hat, pulling the brim down over her eyes.

"Well," she answered, "she's a horse and you're a pony. Figured you'd be able to understand each other."

"Technically, I'm a human from a magical dimension, in the body of a pony-sized unicorn from a pony dimension, who was magically transported to this dimension while still being stuck in this form," Sunset stated. "On top of that, they've all talked the same language, none of which were the same as normal horses. Now if you wanted me to speak elvish or saddlean, I could help, but plain horse?" She gave a shake of her head.

"Figured it was a far shot, anyways," Applejack replied. "Fortunately, Fluttershy here can talk to her just fine." She turned to look at her friend. "Can't ya, Flutters."

"Of course," Fluttershy answered with a smile. It then disappeared as she turned to look at the horse. "So... uhm... what do you want me to tell her?"

"Uhh..."

Welcome to a lousy park

The Firebird pulled up to the entrance of Hunny Bunny's Fun-stravagnza, giving the girls a good chance to look it over. At least, that was where their directions had told them they were. There had been no street signs in town, and if there had been any near the entrance of the park itself, they had either been taken down or broken.

Hopefully, there was not more than one abandoned amusement park in the city.

"Oooh," Pinkie Pie cried out as she stared at it through the window. "It looks like it came straight out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon."

"Except we're not dealing with greedy business men in rubber masks trying to scare people away for some convoluted money scheme," Adagio pointed out.

Pinkie moved to place her head right beside Adagio's looking her eye to eye.

"Or are we?" she asked, moving closer until their noses and foreheads were touching.

With a growl, Adagio grabbed Pinkie by the face and shoved her backwards.

"I swear, you must be related to Sonata," she huffed out.

That gave Pinkie pause.

"Is that possible?"

"I suppose so," Adagio answered with a shrug. "We've all had kids at some point or other. Couldn't exactly keep track of them over the centuries, and not like we could meet our grandchildren since it would raise questions of how we were still young. We could have descendants anywhere."

"Well, let's go investigate the creepy old abandoned amusement park," Street Mage Sunset declared. Getting out of the car, she made her way toward the gates. Adagio and Pinkie were not far behind, following after her.

"So what kind of spell are you going to use?" Pinkie asked as she moved closer to Sunset. "Are you going to melt the lock? Turn it to rust? Levitate the gates off the hinges?" She let out a gasp. "Maybe you could turn the bars into licorice, and we can eat our way through!"

"I can't do transmutation," Sunset answered, "and while I could maybe do some of the others, it would take a lot of energy and time." She gave a smirk. "Let's see if we need to break in first."

As it turned out, there was no need after all. They were able to walk past an empty ticket booth and through a broken turnstile. Shortly after, the stood in a fake town center, with the ground a circle filled with cobblestones. In the center was a statue of an anthropomorphic rabbit girl standing on top of a honey pot.

"So, I guess that's Hunny Bunny," Sunset said, looking at the statue.

"I remember her," Pinkie said, pointing at the statue. "She was like a big cartoon hit back in the nineteen-eighties or something. It was brightly colored and about her and a bunch of other girl animals all living in a magical forest." She put her hands on her hips. "It was super popular when it was made, but is really boring by modern cartoon standards."

"As 'exciting' as this is," Adagio called out, "we are here for a reason, and it is not to reminisce about vapid cartoon shows." She turned away from the statue. "We need to find the haunted house attraction and see if the wicked Sunset Shimmer society is set up there."

"Normally, places like this have maps posted," Sunset offered. "There's probably one nearby." She looked around. "And if we're lucky, it might be legible enough to figure out where we need to go."

Alas, luck was not on their side that much. The group did find what had been a map display of the park on the opposite side of the statue from the entrance. Or at least, that is what they guessed it had been. The display had been knocked over, the glass of it shattered. The map had been torn up, with only a corner of it remaining and recognizable. The wood that had been behind it was covered in carving and spray-painted pictures, mostly of dicks.

"Well, guess we're doing it the hard way." Sunset turned to the other two. "The park isn't that big, so we should be able to find it if we just walk around." Looking up, she took in the multiple paths around them. "Any ideas which way to start?"

"That way!" Pinkie Pie declared, pointing down the left-most path.

The other two looked at it a moment.

"Any particular reason?" Adagio asked.

"Yeah," Pinkie answered. "Most people, when choosing a path with no real reason, will often go the same way they do when reading: left to right."

"Is that true?" Sunset asked.

Adagio shrugged, having no idea.

Pinkie then turned, pointing at the next path

"That path, is the way to the concession area, which means all the food and beverages would be served there." She then turned to the final path. "Which means if they had the big and scary rides over there, it would make people get sick all over their park." She returned to the first path. "So, it would be best to have those rides near the beginning. That way, visitors would have time to let their stomachs settle from all the excitement so they'll be ready for food, then they can have a nice, relaxing time at the end of it."

Neither Adagio nor Sunset could really argue. Both because it sort of made sense, and because neither knew enough about amusement parks to know if what Pinkie said was true or not.

So the three of them started down the left-most path. They left the cobblestone circle, heading along the broken remains of the cement path, with Adagio being the slowest to avoid twisting her ankle. The three of them looked around as they went, taking in the sights of the old abandoned amusement park.

Adagio Dazzle suddenly stopped, looking around. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back the way they had come.

"Anyone else feel like we're being watched?" she asked, rubbing at the back of my neck.

Pinkie and Sunset stopped, turning to Adagio.

"I've been feeling that way since I found myself in this reality," Sunset answered. Her eyes narrowed as she looked past her ally and at the area behind them. "Kind of frustrating, honestly. Makes it hard to tell if there's an immediate threat I need to worry about or not."

"I feel that way from time to time too," Pinkie said. "Haven't felt it around here though." She gave a shrug.

Adagio continued to rub her neck as she looked around, eyes narrowing as she tried to take in more of the place, and trying to figure out what was wrong.

With a sigh, she gave a nod.

"Probably just this place," she decided. "Come on." She started walking. "The sooner we check this place out, the sooner we can either get the little Shim-nerd and get out of here, or just leave."

The three of them continued on. They moved past run down booths, broken displays, and what looked like it had been the bumper-car arena. At the entrance to a roller coaster ride Adagio grabbed a large, broken off chunk of cement and hurled it at the sign, hitting a red-headed squirrel with an extremely large and shapely chest fluff right in her buck-toothed grinning face. She refused to say why she did this, but did grumble something about "nut jokes."

During they trek, they did find more former map displays. Much like the first, however, they were all vandalized. One had even been set on fire or something, as the big hole and pile of ashes in it could attest to. So, they were forced to continue, wandering along the path and looking for the haunted house.

It turned out that Pinkie Pie was, as Adagio Dazzle so delicately put it, "pulling shit out of her ass." The three of them wound up passing through the concession area of the park after all. They were surrounded by buildings only one or two stories tall, that had been brightly colored, and had hanging signs like "Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe." The color from most of them had become lost though, the painted faded from the sun without fresh coats, and peeling away to reveal the fake stonework underneath. There were large areas that must have been sitting areas for people who wanted to take a break of have something to eat, but no tables or chairs were there.

"This isn't what I imagined it would be like," Pinkie finally said. She looked at one of the buildings, then down to one of the empty eating areas. "I was expecting it to be more... abandon-y. Like all sorts of things would be left behind, like toys, food, everything. Like people just up and left all of a sudden."

"Which looks great in movies and cartoons," Sunset stated, "but doesn't really happen in the real world." She motioned at the empty eating area. "When an actual place goes out of business, they try to sell off as much as they can. Including furniture."

"Besides," Adagio added, "it's better this way." She motioned around her. "This place being so empty means that it was properly abandoned, with the people having plenty of time to finish their business and leave. If it had been left looking like people had either fled spur of the moment or disappeared..." she let it drift off into implications.

After much more walking, and a moment of rest while Adagio complained about how she should have worn more sensible shoes, they finally reached their destination: the haunted house. The front of it was a large, cartoon devil head with bright red skin. Its mouth was a wide laughing grin, which was also the entrance.

"There it is," Pinkie Pie announced proudly.

"Way I see it," street mage Sunset said, "we have two choices. One, we go through the front. Two, we go around and see find the maintenance door that we use instead."

"The front," Adagio declared as she started walking for it.

"Why?" Pinkie asked as she moved to follow.

"Because it's obvious. They think they're smart, so they'll do something clever to guard the less likely entrance, thinking it will be the one people use, believing no one would be stupid enough to just walk through the front."

She smirked.

"However, Sonata has taught me that sometimes stupid works."

Sticking around

Trixie, stage magician Sunset Shimmer, Daydream Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and Sonata Dusk all stared at the silhouetted figure standing on top of the theater's roof.

The figure then leaped from said roof, doing a forward flip before landing, dropping onto one knee and pressing one palm against the stage floor, the other extended backwards. Up close, it was easier to make out that the figure was indeed female. She was dressed in a dark red, skin-tight jumpsuit, with a cowl that was open on top to reveal her red and gold colored hair.

This got a shout from Sonata, who clapped as fast as her hands could manage.

As she stood up, a large, golden spider insignia became visible on her chest and stomach, its limbs extending around her own. She turned to face Trixie, the reflective golden lenses somehow growing smaller as though her gaze was narrowing.

"I don't know what your plan is," the masked superhero stated, "but it won't work."

"My plan," Trixie snapped, "was to show up this upstart wanna-be!" She pointed a finger at magician Sunset. "And it would have worked if you hadn't interrupted and shot my dart with your..." She turned to look at where the dart had gone, trying to figure out what had knocked it out of the air.

It looked like...

"...webbing?"

"Who are you supposed to be, anyways?" Sonata asked.

The masked Sunset Shimmer turned to face Sonata. She then straightened up, placing her hands on her hips.

"I am... The Golden Spider!" she announced.

Sonata burst into laughter, falling to the ground as she did.

"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

Daydream Shimmer cleared her throat, taking a step forward.

"Listen," she said softly. "I understand everything can be confusing right now, bu--"

The rest of her statement was lost as Golden Spider shot out an arm, firing her webbing at Daydream's mouth. It was quickly followed up by several more shots, pinning Daydream to the ground as her feet were covered to the ankles, and around her body, trapping her arms against her side.

"No confusion," Golden Spider assured, returning her attention to Trixie. Her "eyes" again narrowed and her voice took on a harder edge. "This isn't the first time, you've tried something like this, after all."

Trixie gulped as her mouth suddenly went dry. She took a step back, holding her hands up and fingers wide to show they were empty.

"Now listen," she said in her firmest and most professional tone. "I don't know what you think is going on, but you've got it all wrong."

A smirk tugged at the edges of Golden Spider's mouth as she shifted, body tensing.

"You're acting's gotten better," she stated, "but if you think you can fool me with that trick again, you're about to be sore-ly mistaken."

She then leaped into the air, launching herself at Trixie.

Only to be caught by a glowing rose-colored energy, stopping her mid-jump.

Twilight Sparkle stood not far away. One hand was grasping her pendant while the other was outstretched in front of her, glowing with the same color of magic.

"I think this has gone on far too--"

Golden Spider twisted in mid-air and aimed at Twilight, firing off her webbing. This was not a singular quick shot as she had been using however, but a long line more like a thin rope, with one end hitting Twilight in the chest, and the other being grabbed by Golden's hand. She twisted her entire body as she gave it a hard yank, pulling Twilight Sparkle from her feet and throwing her into Daydream, who had just finished removing her own web based bindings. The two were knocked over the fell to the ground, the impact breaking Twilight's concentration.

Free of the grip and having lost all forward momentum, the spider themed superhero Sunset Shimmer dropped toward the stage floor. Having been ready for it, she pushed forward enough to land on her hands, then used them to flip off and launch herself back into the air. Landing on her feet, she again lunged through the air and made her way toward Trixie.

Seeing the brightly colored character flying at her ready for a fight, Trixie did the only thing she could think of.

With a long practiced to the point of instinctive flick of her wrist and flourish of her hand, she conjured one of her smoke bombs. She threw it down at her feet hard, causing it to shatter with a loud POP! A cloud of silvery smoke rose up from it, engulfing Trixie and hiding her from view.

Golden Spider passed through it, hitting nothing as she landed on the other side.

Trixie was no longer on the stage. Instead she was on the ground in front of the stage, along side Sonata.

"This is bad," Trixie whispered, grabbing the brim of her hat and pulling it down.

"Are you kidding?" Sonata asked as she took some popcorn from the carton she had and shoved it into her mouth. "I've never gotten to see a live superhero action scene before."

Trixie lifted her hat enough to turn and glare at Sonata.

"Come on!" Sonata huffed out. "You have to admit this would be awesome to see in a cartoon or movie."

"Not when it's happening to me!" Trixie hissed. "There has to be something we can do to keep her from creating a pile of Trixie paste."

"Okay, okay," Sonata replied. "I'll try to get Twilight and Daydream to come up with a plan." Her eyes narrowed as she smirked. "Bu-u-t... that means that you will have to keep miss spider Shimmer busy until we come up with something."

Trixie's glare turned into a scowl. She hate-hate-hated the idea of going back up there and dealing with an angry Sunset Shimmer that had decided she was some sort of master supervillain. She especially hated that she knew Sonata was right. Trixie was the target, and -- as annoying as it was to admit -- of the four of them, Daydream and Twilight were the smartest, so they would be the best to come up with sort of plan.

That was all too much for Trixie to admit to herself though, to say nothing of another.

"I hate you so much right now," she growled out at Sonata.

Sonata just smiled, looking so smug.

Bitch.

With a huff of annoyance, Trixie produced another of her smoke bombs and threw it down at her feet.

"Wh-what happened?" asked a very confused stage magician Sunset, suddenly on the ground where Trixie had been a second ago. "How did I get here?"

"Magic!" Sonata answered, throwing up her free hand and spreading her fingers wide.

She then shoved the carton of popcorn into Sunset's hands.

"Here. Help yourself. I've got work to do."

Show time

Trixie stood back on the stage, in the spot she had traded for. She turned to face Golden Spider, needing to keep her busy until the others came up with a plan.

The question: how in the hell was she going to do that?

The first thing Trixie decided she needed to do was get back into character. She was a magician. She was on stage. All attention was on her. As it should be. She was smart, and skilled, and she may not have had real magic beyond teleportation, but damned if she had not practiced long and hard. She was the best magician in the school. The city. The entire fucking state! She was, is, and always will be The Great and Powerful Trixie! And no one, not a two-bit wannabe magician, not some goofy costumed superhero, not even some actual magic using demi-god, was going to show her up.

Spotting the cards where Twilight had dropped them, Trixie reached down and picked them up.

"Hey, Goldie!" she called out. "If you thought as quickly as you shot your white stuff all over everything, you might actually be able to come up with a good idea."

That caused Golden Spider to pause, turning to face her. Did her lenses somehow get bigger? How was that possible? How expressive were they?

"That... was not your usual quipping," she finally said. "I mean normally it's all 'me me me,' and 'I'm so smart.' 'Great and powerful' blah blah blah." At the "blah blah blah," she held one hand and made a matching motion with it, like a goose that was honking. "Any shots at my intelligence or normally something like, 'you cannot possibly comprehend'... whatever you're doing." Her gaze then narrowed. "You've never gone for innuendo or obscenities."

So, she was expecting pompous and arrogant? Trixie could do pompous and arrogant. There was no one more pompous or arrogant than The Great and Powerful Trixie! Widening her stance, she straightened her shoulders and puffed out her chest. Grasping her cape with one hand, she tossed it behind her.

"Perhaps if you did something truly impressive," she called out, "you would be worth The Grrrrreat and Powerful Trixie making an effort." With a huff, she lifted her chin. "So far, all I've seen is a child running around in her underwear, pretending to be a superhero."

Keep it going, she told herself. Keep it going. She thrust her hip out, placing a hand on it. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to watch Golden Spider.

"I bet... I bet..."

She looked around, trying to think of something.

"I bet..."

The girls were suddenly waving at her, trying to get her attention. She had to get to them.

"I... bet..."

Her hands glanced down at the cards, and an idea came to her.

"I bet you couldn't even hit the broad side of a barn!"

She shifted the cards in her grip, splitting the deck in two.

"Really?" Golden Spider asked, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head slightly. "That's the best you could come up with? Making fun of my aim?"

Trixie shifted, the brim of her hat covering her eyes as she gave a massive grin.

"How about a test then?"

"Behold!" The Great and Powerful Trixie cried out, raising her hands. "A deck of ordinary playing cards!" She fanned the cards out. "Fifty-four in total! With thirteen for each suit, ranging from the ace, through two to ten, and finishing with jack, queen and king, and two jokers that are as wild and unpredictable as yours truly!"

"HEY!" magician Sunset shouted from her spot by the stage. "That's my patter your stealing, you two-bit stage whore!"

"HA!" Trixie cried out. "As if The Great and Powerful Trixie would ever even consider copying some no name, no talent, no finesse, wannabe!"

She returned her attention to Golden Spider. With a flick of her wrists, the cards folded back up.

"That means that if I choose a single, specific card, you have a one in fifty-four chance of picking it, if I pick the joker, that's two in fifty-four, if I pick a specific number or other face card, that's four in fifty-four, and if I go with a suit, that gives you a high chance of thirteen in fifty-four."

"So you can do basic math," Golden Spider stated. "What's your point?"

"At the count of three, The Great and Powerful Trixie shall toss the cards high into the air. If you're a great shot, you should be able to hit the queens and no others."

Golden straightened up, crossing her arms.

"Why would I want to do this."

Because you're Sunset Shimmer, Trixie thought, and even if no longer a bully, Sunset Shimmer still needs to prove herself.

At least, that's what Trixie was hoping.

"One."

She readied herself.

"Two!"

Golden Spider tensed, ready to act.

"Three!"

The Great and Powerful Trixie threw the cards high into the air, letting them scatter as they did. Before the last one had even left her hand, Trixie conjured another smoke bomb, throwing it at her feet.

No smoke arose as the bomb struck a pillow of webbing instead of the floor. Across the stage, Golden Spider was crouched down, one arm still extended out in front of her. Her lenses narrowed as she smirked, slowly standing back up.

"Did you really think I would fall for that?"

"Well... I was hoping..." Trixie answered, taking a step back. She looked around, trying to come up with a new idea. Clearly, she could not get to the others as easily as she had hoped. It was looking like--

With a yelp, Trixie jumped out of the way as Golden Spider lunged at her. Not ready for it, Trixie hit the stage floor hard, somehow slamming her funny bone against the hard wood and sending a flash of pain and numbness from her elbow to her fingertips. Letting out a hiss, she kept moving, rolling to get back to her feet. She wanted to look to the others, but was afraid to take her eyes off her opponent.

As she stood, she undid the clasp for her cape, holding it in place (Plan A). Her other hand slipped behind her, conjuring up another of her smoke bombs (Plan B).

"You sure you're not supposed to be a bull?" asked Trixie. "You sure seem to charge around like one." She let out a chuckle. "You have all the accuracy of one as well." She closed her eyes. "I bet I could stand here with my eyes closed, and you won't even touch me."

She then cracked her eyes open enough to see without it being noticed.

To her credit, Golden Spider did not fall for the obvious trap and charge again. Instead she dropped low and fired her webbing at Trixie's ankles, wrapping them up. She then gave a hard yank, snapping the feet close together and pulling Trixie off-balance, making her fall backwards.

The moment Trixie hit the ground, the smoke bomb she was holding behind her exploded, covering her in smoke.

When Golden Spider yanked her web, all she got was a pair of empty boots.

Behind her stood The Great and Powerful Trixie. Yanking her cape off, she threw it over the superheroine and yanked it tight.

"Hey!" Golden cried out.

From one of her sleeves, Trixie pulled out a set of tied-together scarves and wrapped them around the cape like a rope. Around and around she went before tying them off. The Great and Powerful Trixie then gave the hero a swift kick in the butt. This caused The Golden Spider to fall forward with a thump.

"Victory is Trixie's!" she declared, smiling.

"This is so embarrassing," Golden Spider grumbled. "Times like this, I wish I had a sixth sense or something."

A golden aura wrapped around the bound hero, lifting her off the ground. She was floated across the stage and toward the reassembled magic box.

"Now to see if this works," said Twilight.

Daydream made a motion and tossed Golden Spider in.

There was a flash of light as she disappeared.

"Well that confirms it," Daydream declared.

"MY CAPE!"

News travels fast

Nothing. Nothing. NOTHING! The three of them had walked through Hunny Bunny's Fun- fucking - stravagnza, they had found the piece of shit "haunted house," and what did they have to show for it? NOTHING! All they had found was a broken down ride, some shattered alcohol bottles, bits of tobacco and marijuana cigarettes, and a used condom.

They had found a place where kids hang out, get "wasted," and have sex, not the secret hideout of a cabal of villainous Sunset Shimmers collaborating for who knows what.

The entire thing had been a waste of time, and Adagio was going to have blisters because of it.

Worse, it also meant that they were not done yet. With that a failure, they were going to have to go to the industrial section, find where the warehouses were, then try and find some that look old and abandoned. Then, if there ends up being more than one, they will have to check each of them. Likely on foot so as not to be noticed too soon.

Why did she agree to this? They were no longer even sure they wanted to go back to Equestria. The could have just called up, told them Sonata's plan, and say the deal was off. Or maybe decide that if it worked as Sonata expected, that they more than kept up their end. That way, they would not have to go gallivanting all over the city, but still get their end of the deal if they decided to go after all. It was really feeling like she was getting the short end of the stick, and she hated getting the short end of anything.

"Hey, Adagio," Pinkie called out. "I've been thinking."

Adagio held her tongue.

"You said you've all had kids, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes."

"And you can't know what all happened to them because you don't age, and that would draw suspicion, right?"

"Again, yes."

"And it's been a thousand years since you got here, so your own kids would have had generations to flourish and propagate, having children of their own. Right?"

Adagio turned toward Pinkie Pie, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose so."

"And the three of you are ancient, immortal and magical, because you come from Equestria, where magic is a lot more prominent and powerful, right?"

"What's your point?" Adagio Dazzle asked, having finally gotten tired of playing Fifty Stupid Questions.

"What if... the six of us are descended from the three of you?" Pinkie asked. "That the Twilight Sparkle of this world and the five of us who defeated you with Princess Twilight and Sunset are able to harness and use Equestrian magic because it's in our ancestry, so that kind of magic and the use of it is in our blood?"

Adagio shifted, considering that. The five humans that beat them and the nerdy counterpart of that little princess that defeated them actually related to her, Aria and Sonata? Was such a thing possible? Adagio supposed so. They all had children at one point or another. Even Aria had found a few guys she did not mind actually having sex with. As she had previously mentioned, they had never been able to see their children much after adult-hood, and that was when whichever of them was able to keep and raise the child.

Shady, Adagio thought. She squeezed her left hand as she looked out the window, a six-hundred year old pain welling up once again. She pushed the memory away, trying to wipe the newborn face from her mind and focus on the present and the question at hand.

While all of their children and following offspring could have died off, it seemed extremely unlikely. It also seemed unlikely that all of their children would have only one child of their own. The same could be said about them moving from the countries they had been born in, and that did not include the ones that had been born since they emigrated to The United States. Their descendants could be anywhere in the world at this point, and with who knows how many out there.

So the six of them could be descended from the three sirens. While the exact possibility was beyond Adagio since she never really learned much beyond basic mathematics, she knew it was something that could happen. And considering how it sometimes seemed that the magic of that world was capable of some sort of thinking and planning (more so since she learned about The Elements of Harmony), it would not surprise her if the magic had somehow brought the six of them together.

This led to a strange mix of feelings in Adagio. There was a part of her that was annoyed at the idea of her own children defeating her in one of her greatest moments and the closest she ever came to success. Another part was kind of proud that her potential offspring could accomplish something as impressive as defeated a group of magical megalomaniacs and save the city, if not the world.

Then there was a part of her was mad at the idea of Equestrian magic being such an asshole as to conspire to stop her in an entirely other dimension. It made her want go to Equestria, find an embodiment of magic, and beat the ever-loving shit out of it until it begged for mercy. And she would show none. None!

From the corner of her eye, she caught Shimmer turning on the radio and turning it up. The sound of classic rock music filled the cab, covering the silence that had probably gotten awkward.

After driving along, not talking for three and a half songs, Adagio felt her phone going off. One hand reached out to turn off the radio as the other pulled out the cell phone so she could check the name.

Sonata Dusk.

A quick flick of a finger answered the call.

"What is it Sonata?"

A high-pitched ear-piercing squeal came from the phone, threatening to blow out the speakers and causing everyone in the car to jump in their seats. A painful reminder to Adagio that she needed to find out if there was a mute button on the phone, and how to use it when in the middle of a call.

When it finally and mercifully ended, she was still forced to wait a while longer until the ringing in her ears came to an end.

"Damnit, Sonata!" Adagio said in a voice that was trying to yell in anger without actually yelling. "I've told you before: do not shriek into the phone! If you break it, we're not going to replace it for you."

"IT WORKED!" Sonata finally cried out coherently. "My idea worked Adagio! We were able to fix the box! And even threw a Sunset copy through it! And it worked!"

Adagio felt her anger subsiding, a small smile tugging at her mouth. As annoying as Sonata's more child-like tendencies could be, there were also times when it could be cute and endearing. It had been one of the few reasons that neither she nor Aria had actually gotten annoyed enough to kill or just ditch her. This same behavior had also lead to quite a few people underestimating Sonata, much to her victim's regret.

"That's great," Adagio said. "Good for you."

"Yeah," Sonata agreed. "Now we just need to figure out a way to find all the Sunset Shimmers and throw them through it as well."

Before Adagio could reply, Sonata continued.

"Anyway, I still need to call Aria and rub it in her face that I was right! TTYL. Kiss-kiss."

She then hung up.

TTYL? Adagio wondered, staring at the phone. Kiss-kiss? When did Sonata talk like that? Giving a shake of her head, she put the phone away.

"Well, that's one last thing we need to worry about. Now we just need to see if we can rescue mi--"

There was a thump as the car hit the curb, coming to a stop. Although shaken, surprised, and a little sore, none of them were injured. Stretching her neck, Adagio turned to street mage Shimmer, wanting to know what happened.

Shimmer's eyes were glowing a pale blue color, hints of black leaking out from it and running down her cheeks.

This was not an isolated incident. With the exception of Satan and her allies, all of the other Sunset Shimmers were going through the same thing, from the puppy and child, to the horse and adults. While none of them went so limp as to simply fall over, their bodies did have an unnaturally relaxed look. Something more in line with sleepwalkers than a waking person. Their eyes were lost in the pale glow of magic, black tears running down their cheeks.

"Attention friends to all Sunset Shimmers!" Sunset Satan's voice said from all their mouths. "As you have now noticed, I am capable of reaching out and taking control of any and all Sunset Shimmers, should I desire. To demonstrate."

All the possessed Sunset Shimmers that were capable reached up with their left hand, and slapped themselves on the cheek so hard, the SMACK! echoed through the air, leaving a bright red mark on the collective cheeks. They then returned to staring at the people near them.

"As just proven, I have control of their motor skills," Satan continued, "and could easily do far worse if I were so inclined."

A second stretched on before passing.

"Fortunately, I am not so inclined. Yet. Instead, I am sending this message for another reason. To the six friends that are very close to this world's Sunset Shimmer, specifically. As you are no doubt aware by now, I have taken your Crystal Preparatory prodigy version of Sunset. First, she is not harmed. Second, if you wish to get her back, then you and... whatever you call that little alliance of Sunsets of yours, will meet us at Canterlot High at nightfall. Otherwise... well... that will be on you and not me, now won't it?"

So what now?

"What do we do now?" That was the question that most of the little group was asking. After the "announcement" by Sunset Satan, it was quickly decided that they should all return to the apartment, and talk. Although one, Trixie, had decided to stay behind and guard the box just in case. Once everyone else had returned, the question was brought up.

One thing that most of them agreed on was that they were definitely going. The only real voice of dissent was from Adagio Dazzle.

"We agreed to help, and we have," she declared. "However, we are now talking about a situation where charm and smooth-talking will not be much help. I can't simply be a lovely distraction while you handle the matter, and while I am more than capable of defending myself against a few simpletons, that is simply not the case. Additionally, since we no longer have our siren abilities, we can't use them to charm the opponents or cause them fight among themselves." She let out a sigh. "As much as I hate to admit it, we are out of our element."

"But Dagiiiiii," whined Sonata. "We've tried so hard and come so far." Her eyes were wide and puppy-dog, with a hint of tears in the corners. "Please don't tell me that in the end, it didn't even matter." Her lower lip poked out and trembled. "We have to see it through."

"Sonata actually did come up with a plan," Aria pointed out. "Should have the chance to see if it works or how spectacularly it fails."

"And you not having punched anyone in a while has nothing to do with it?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course that has something to do it!" Aria snapped. "You have no idea how badly I want to punch someone in their stupid smug face! I can almost taste it. It's taking everything I got not to try and provoke those two." She motioned at Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Seeing as the two were actually kind of agreeing on something, and Adagio had nothing better to do, it seemed like there was little choice in the matter.

A later subject that was a bit more passionate what to do about Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer. Specifically, the cancellation of their attempt at rescuing her.

"What?" Rainbow Dash cried out, standing up with her hands clenched. "You can't seriously be saying that we should leave that poor egg head in the hands of those monsters?!"

"Now, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy called out, taking a hold of the other girl's wrist to hold her back. "I'm sure there's a reason for it."

"Better be a dang good one," Applejack grumbled, crossing her arms. "I don't like the idea any more'n Rainbow."

"I know none of us like the idea," Twilight stated, "but at this point, it does seem like the best move. Sunset Satan said that she was safe and would be at the school at nightfall. Strategically, our best move is to wait until the meeting."

"And how do you know she was telling the truth?" Rainbow asked. "Or that she'll keep her word?"

"Uh..." Twilight started, brow furrowing. She glanced around, trying to think of an answer. "I... I guess--"

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Adagio cut in. She turned to Rainbow. "Are you saying you really believe that she wouldn't keep preppy Shimmer unharmed as she promised before the meeting she wants on her terms?" She then turned toward Twilight. "And you didn't think to reference -- say -- past experience with villains or some study about psychology or whatever to point out that she would be safe as promised until said meeting?"

"You seem to have a strong view, darling," said Rarity. She quirked an eyebrow. "Care to share it with us?"

Adagio let out a sigh, and rolled her eyes.

"Seeing as how we are the actual ones who were ever intentionally villainous here, I suppose one of us should." She snapped a finger. "Aria, explain."

"Why can't you--"

"Because told you to. Now go!"

Aria Blaze let out a huff and crossed her arms, slouching. She scowled at the floor a long moment before straightening up.

"Okay," she finally said. "Those of you that knew the pre-rainblow job Sunset remember how much of a arrogant, egotistical bitch she was, right?"

No one said anything, but the looks on certain faces made it clear they remembered. There were even some faces among the Sunsets that indicated they might remember having their own similar phase at some point.

"Keeping that in mind," Aria continued, "especially since we are dealing with someone who is essentially an evil bitch version of Sunset, what seems more likely: that she would waste the energy to deal with one thing, but not the others, or she would wait to get everyone in one place to gloat about her success?"

"Gloating," Pinkie called out. "Definitely the gloating."

There seemed to be several voices of agreement. And while not everyone was entirely happy with the conclusion that they had come to, none of them could come up with a good reason to disagree and try anyways. As such, with some pouting, it was decided.

Slowly, the group came to the biggest question: what to do until then. None of them really felt like waiting around doing nothing until then, and there was not a lot they had to do. The biggest and main thing was to go get the magic box and take it to the school, that way they could try and use it to start sending Sunset Shimmers through: hopefully with Satan being the first.

The only other thing actively going on was that street mage Sunset Shimmer wanted to go out and get some supplies she could use for magic. According to her, she felt out of her league after what happened with the mind control, and the stories of more powerful magic being used, so if she was going to fight (and she was certain this was definitely going to end up in a fight), then she would need to get whatever edge she could manage.

With that all planned and set up, the rest found themselves in a frustrating position of being stuck. There was nothing they needed to do, but they were all to tense to just sit around or do something relaxing.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

Sunsets and night falls

The last rays of the setting sun shined its pink lemonade light across the front of Canterlot High School. While the campus was normally empty on the weekends, on this Sunday evening turning night, it had quite a little crowd around the front. The cooling soon to be night air was filled with tension about the pending night time event.

Although not everyone was treating the moment as somber and serious. Pinkie Pie stood on top of the magical box now turned magical box, a tri-cornered captain's sailing cap on her head. She held a telescope to one eye, scanning along the front and the road leading to the school.

"Ship ahoy!" she cried out, pointing.

A black sports car pulled into the school's parking lot. On the hood was a familiar symbol: a blue shield with a yellow lightning bolt in the center of it. Its headlights shined across the front and all gathered there as it pulled into an empty spot. The engine cut out and lights went off, the doors opening.

"Flash?" Fluttershy called out. "What are you doing here?"

Flash Sentry held out a thumb, pointing it across the roof toward the passenger side. There stood another Sunset Shimmer.

"This is Phoenix Dawn," Flash explained. "I met her at an open mic night yesterday." He shifted, shrugging some as he looked around. "After what happened earlier, I thought it would be best if I brought her here."

He glanced around and his eyes went wide.

"I figured there'd be more," he said, "but actually seeing it..."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow cut in, walking up. "Look, things are about to get nasty here, and no offense, but you aren't much of a fighter, and you don't have any magic." She paused, eyes narrowing. "Do you?"

Flash and Phoenix shook their heads.

"Right," Rainbow replied. "So, you should either clear out somewhere safe, or hide in back near the horse."

"...horse?" Phoenix repeated.

"Yes, horse. Go see for yourself."

After Phoenix pulled her guitar case out of the backseat, the two of them headed closer to the school entrance and away from the parking lot where all the others were watching.

Sure enough, there was indeed a horse there, along with a dog and what looked like a three foot tall unicorn.

"Why'd you ask about actual magic?" Pinkie asked from her perch.

Rainbow shrugged one shoulder.

"Figured it couldn't hurt. I mean after hearing what Principal Celestia did, and having Street Mage Shimmer with us, it's possible."

"Uh-oh," Pinkie cried out, her body tensing. "Pinkie sense in overdrive. Something's happening."

Pulling out a bullhorn, she turned around to face everyone.

"All hands prepare for combat!" she called out. "All hands..."

She stopped talking as an icy chill ran up her spine, making her look up. The others quickly followed suit.

As the last rays of sunlight faded, thick, black clouds roiled out of the east, oozing across the sky above them and blocking out the stars and moon before they could even be seen. Acid green lightning twitched and spasmed among them, yet without a single even distant rumble of thunder to accompany it. It continued to infect the sky, covering more and more until it was all that the group could see.

A single, massive bolt shot down, punching the parking lot. The light of it blinded everyone there, and the earth-shaking explosion that announced it left an ear-ringing silence behind.

Standing in the half-inch deep circle left behind by the explosion was Sunset Satan, her associates, and Crystal Prep Sunset. The last was standing between the siren Sunset Shimmer and one that none of the recognized or had seen before, the two resting a hand on Crystal Prep Sunset's shoulders. She was slightly slumped over, her hair sticking out in all directions, and her clothes wrinkled and un-tucked. Her hand clutched at something at close to her chest, holding it right over her heart. Her eyes finally focused at the crowd, and she gave a tired smile.

Sentai Villain Sunset Shimmer hunched over, hands on her knees. Her body rose and fell as she panted, sweat dripping from her face.

"Is she okay?" Pinkie Pie asked, pointing at the panting villain.

"I'm fine," S.V. Sunset answered, holding up a hand. "I'm fine."

"Just stupid," siren Shimmer replied, turning to glare at her.

"Hey," S.V. Sunset shouted. "Shut up." She straightened up, still panting. "Theatrics are important." She then bent over again, although not as far, and grabbed the right of her stomach.

"Got a stitch."

"Not so important that it uses all your magic, and makes you useless for the possible battle," siren Shimmer pointed out.

"I have plenty of magic left!" S.V. Sunset retorted. "It's just harder to channel it without my staff."

"You mean this?" Adagio Dazzle called out, holding up the staff which ponied-up Celestia had taken from Sentai Villain Sunset and given to Fluttershy. Adagio's grin grew wider as she held it up higher. Her eyes narrowed as she gave the shaft a long, slow, gentle stroke with one hand, letting her finger tips just barely caress along the length.

"Such a lovely thing," she purred out.

"That doesn't belong to you!" Sentai Villain Sunset Shimmer shouted.

"From what I've been told," Adagio retorted, "It doesn't actually belong to you either." She then pulled it closer, pressing the staff between her breasts. "Besides, I think it's such a wonderful accessory for me." She traced a fingernail along. "So big and powerful."

"Alright," Daydream Shimmer called out as she stepped forward. She focused her attention on Sunset Satan. "Let's get to the matter at hand. We're here." She glanced toward Crystal Prep Sunset. "Is she okay?"

Satan grinned and took a step aside, motioning to the girl in question with an outstretched arm.

"As you can see for yourself, there is no harm," she stated. "A little disheveled, yes, but that is due to a lack of sleep brought on by curiosity."

She then turned to the others on her side.

"Go ahead."

The siren and vampire Sunset Shimmers released their hold on Crystal Prep Sunset's shoulders. There was a moment where she wobbled, like she was going to drop, but instead took a step forward. Then another. And another. They were slow, plodding, but she was moving from one group to the other.

Daydream Shimmer took a step forward to meet her.

The siren's gem and vampire's eyes lit up, glowing with a blood-red energy.

"Tirek," Sunset Satan hissed.

Crystal Prep Sunset stopped, blue, black, and red flicking across her eyes as they glassed over. Extending her arms, she held out the spectrometer, pointing it at Daydream Shimmer, and pressed a button.

The spectrometer opened.

Daydream Shimmer shrieked in agony as golden light was ripped from her heart, her lungs, her soul, where it had all been for so briefly, but seemed like it had been an eternity. It was torn from her, sucked from her, and fed into a machine no larger than a thick make-up compact.

As more and more of the magic was yanked from every atom of her being, a change came over her. Or more accurately, a change back. It started with her hair, the red and gold locks losing their anti-gravity abilities and falling around her face and neck. The glowing light that created her "horn" dimmed, then grew shorter and shorter before disappearing. The streak of red across her eyes like a mask followed, peeling away at the edges until her face was uncovered. Wings of pure light gave way to ones of feathers, which fell away one by one until none were left. The magnificent white gown shifted to the clothes she had worn before: leather jacket, baby-blue blouse, skinny jeans, and biker boots.

With an audible POP! the last of the magic was yanked from what had been Daydream Shimmer and was now an ordinary Sunset, the spectrometer snapping shut like a steel trap. Released from the machine's claw, Sunset dropped to the ground, panting, and tears running down her cheeks.

Crystal Prep Sunset took a step back and turned around, walking back

"Sunset!" Fluttershy cried out, running over to the former Daydream Shimmer. She crouched down, placing a hand on the Daydream's back. "Are you okay?"

Daydream did not respond.

"What did you do to her?" Fluttershy growled, turning a glare that would stop a rampaging rhino in its track at the group of villains.

The four of them took a step back as chills ran down their spines. Satan was the first to recover, straightening up (and grateful for the dark red skin to hide her embarrassment).

"Oh, come now," Sunset Satan said. "Surely you remember the spectrometer." She made a motion toward Crystal Prep Sunset. "We had your friend here build a slightly modified version of it."

She turned her full attention to the Crystal Prep Sunset and held out a hand.

"Give it to me."

Crystal Prep Sunset stopped, blinking quickly as her eyes came into focus again. She took a step back, clutching the spectrometer to her chest.

"N...n-no..." she gasped out, trying to shake her head. "Y-you... you can't..."

Satan let out a growl, the flame of her hair flickering and brightening. Her eyes flared with dark magic.

"Give it to me!" she repeated, baring her fangs.

Crystal Prep Sunset kept shaking her head, her body shaking as she tried to step back more.

"Sunset," the vampire Sunset Shimmer said, her eyes glowing brighter, "let her have it."

Eyes glassing over once again, Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer held out the spectrometer and pressed the button.

Sunset Satan screamed.

A burning star

"Why?" Sunset Satan groaned out, trying to push herself up from where she had fallen to the ground. Unlike Daydream, she had not fully changed back to a normal appearance for Sunset Shimmer. There were some changes. Her hair no longer pointed up, and the sclera of her eyes was white again. The wings had vanished, as had the tail. However, her skin was still the burnt red color it had taken during her transformation, and she was still wearing the tattered red and yellow dress.

"You said it yourself," vampire Sunset answered. "We shouldn't trust each other." Her eyes narrowed as she smirked. "After all, we're all out for ourselves and will destroy each other given the opportunity. Then you just had to go and make yourself the biggest, most obvious threat." Tilting her head, she raised an eye brow. "Did you really think we would let you have more power?"

Sunset (formerly) Satan's legs wobbled as she stood up. It had been so long since she properly used them instead of floating, and with no magic to help support them, they had become quite weak.

"I had thought you wouldn't be so stupid as to attack me just before a fight."

"Fight?" vampire Sunset cried out. "Fight?" She threw out her hands. "What fight?" She pointed a finger at Sentai Villain Sunset. "She was useless even before losing her staff," she then shifted to siren Shimmer, "she wants to go back to an Equestria, not be trapped on a human world, and I just want a place where I don't have to worry about The fucking Slayer coming after me." She glanced toward the group of heroes, then to Satan. "With you and Daydream out of the way, I'm sure I can escape." She gave a shrug. "Maybe even find a few willing people to have as my brood."

"You're forgetting one thing," Satan stated as she straightened up. "And in this case, it might be pretty important."

"What's that?" the vampire asked, raising an eyebrow.

Grinning with very normal, human teeth, Satan held up one hand, spread her fingers wide, and wiggled them.

"There were five of us."

Vampire Sunset's brow furrowed.

"What does tha--"

Although faster and stronger than humans, vampires are not the most powerful or dangerous of monsters. Among the ways to kill one is a wooden stake through the heart (although some stories say it must be made of one specific wood or another, and treated in a certain way to work), and burning it.

The arrowhead poking out through the vampire Sunset Shimmer was not wood at all, the bits of metal not covered in blood glistening in what little light there was. The shaft was not wood either, but some sort of high-density plastic-ceramic composite. Shortly below the head of the shaft, however, was a gap where a glass vial had been. Said glass vial could be filled with a variety of substance, the impact of the tip causing the glass to shatter, and releasing the contents.

In this particular case, the vial was filled with an alchemical mixture that burst into flames once shattered.

The vampire Sunset Shimmer, for lack of a better term, burned alive from the inside-out. She was not even to scream or cry out, as her lungs were incinerated near instantly.

It was not long before all that remained of her was a pile of ash.

Darth Phoenix, the dark street mage version of Sunset Shimmer, walked up, a crossbow in hand, loaded and pointed at the siren.

"Don't move," she ordered. "If you try anything, even singing a single note, then you will get to find out what literal heart-burn feels like." Her gaze flicked to the sentai villain Sunset. "Goes for you as well." Her smirk widened wickedly. "It'll be a lot slower and a fuck-ton more painful for you, too, seeing as you're a hundred percent alive."

The two glared at her, but did not say anything.

Sunset Satan returned her attention to Crystal Prep Sunset.

With Satan stripped of her power, and the vampire dead, Crystal Prep Sunset found herself free of their mind control influence. Turning around, she ran over toward the others.

"I can fix it!" she called out as she came to a stop in front of Daydream. She held up the device. "I should be able to reverse the process." One finger moved to the button. "All I need to do--"

"NO!" Daydream, Satan and Fluttershy all called out.

But the warning came too late. Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer had pushed the button, opening the device and releasing the magic contained within. A small burst of blood red and sunny yellow energy shot out, knocking all the others away. The ball of swirling dark and light grabbed a hold of the girl, holding her as it expanded, pulling her inside.

Eyes wide in terror, she turned toward the others as much as she could.

"Help! Me!" Crystal Prep Sunset cried out.

None of them could. The energy surrounding her kept any from helping. Not even with magic. Twilight was unable to grasp Sunset with telekinesis, her power more bouncing off the outer layer than anything (an entirely new experience for her that she would love to study under different circumstances). Rainbow Dash's speed and Applejack's strength were just as useless, the two of them being pushed (or in Rainbow's case, launched) backwards in the process (which in the case of Applejack, left massive furrows in the ground). Pinkie Pie even gave an experimental toss of a magically infused sprinkle, but it just bounced off and fell the ground harmlessly.

As such, all they could do was watch as the blood and sun magic engulfed the poor girl.

"What's happening?" Sonata asked, watching the girl disappear.

"I fear we are about to meet the equivalent of Sunset's own Midnight Sparkle," Rarity stated. She reached up to her pendant with one hand, ready to throw up a shield in a split-second.

"Ah, yeah," Aria purred out. With a wicked grin, she rubbed her palms together. "This is going to be so awesome."

Sonata Dusk moved to stand behind Rarity. She did not know what a "Midnight Sparkle" was (although she did think it a great name for a toothpaste), but if it got Aria "I'm so fucking metal I'll punch a sword blade first" Blaze was excited about it, it had to be dangerous.

When the energy finally pulled into the former Crystal Prep Sunset Shimmer, revealing her newly changed form, it was not quite what those that had seen or heard of "Midnight Sparkle" had been expecting. A pair of bloody red wings spread out from her back, but they were not entirely matching. One was covered in feathers, the longest one at the tip glistening along the edge with razor sharpness. The other was a dragon's wing, the claw on the thumb of it a burning ember. Her hair did not simply stick upright, but waved back and forth, glowing with energy. Her eyes opened, revealing that one had turned black with smoke pouring off it and along the side of her face. Ruby-red lips split into a grin, revealing perfect white teeth with way too long incisors in both the top and the bottom.

One arm stretched out in front of her, her gaze focusing on the long, listening nails that shimmered and shifted with energy.

"Oh my," she purred out in what sounded like three voices talking at once: her own; a high and soft angelic voice; and a low and raspy growl. "This... this is simply incredible." Her gaze then drifted up, looking at the sky. "I... I can see... I can see so much."

"Yes," a voice called out. "Yes! You can feel it. See it."

The dark angel looked down, noticing the former demon that stood grinning up at her.

"Now you can defeat this pathetic group, and we can rule this world how we see fit?"

Dark Angel Sunset raised an eyebrow a second as she studied Sunset Satan. Her gaze then narrowed as she smirked, letting out a deep chuckle.

Everyone shifted, feeling shivers down their spines, although one -- Aria Blaze -- was actually with excitement.

"There are two problems with that idea," Dark Angel Sunset said. "First," she returned her attention to the sky, "I don't need you. Especially now that you have no power."

Satan frowned, but said nothing.

"Second --" Dark Angel Sunset held up a hand, the nails glowing brighter and pulsing with energy "-- why should I be satisfied with only one reality?"

She made a slashing motion.

Reality shrieked in pain.

The sky tore open.

Sun-sun-sun-sun

Reality was torn open, the hole showing a bright and bustling city. Through the portal came Sunset Shimmer, swinging on a web-line and dressed in red and gold.

Reality was torn open, the hole showing a bright and bustling city. Through the portal came Sunset Shimmer, swinging on a red tentacle that formed from the creature bonded to her body. She let out a shriek, revealing razor-sharp teeth.

Reality was torn open, showing a piss-yellow sky and the shattered remains of a once great city. Sunset Shimmer limped through, her clothes in tatters. She pointed a shotgun before, firing a shot that took the head off a zombie.

"EAT IT, WALKERS!"

Reality tore open to a massive forest with a full moon glowing above it. A massive wolf stepped through, its red coat so dark it was nearly black. It threw its head back and let out a howl.

Reality tore open to a forest. Sunset Shimmer stepped through, her cloak flowing around her as one hand rested on the hilt of her sword.

Reality tore open. Sunset Shimmer stepped through.

Reality tore. Sunset stepped through.

Reality tore.

Reality tore.

Reality tore.

Dozens of rifts appeared around the school, created every time Dark Angel Sunset made a slash with her claws. Each led to a different reality, and each had a different version of Sunset Shimmer pass through it (with one notable exception: a rift that only revealed glowing light, which grumbled something about trying to fix the universe while sealing the portal). The friends of this reality's Sunset Shimmer and their allies all stood there, eyes wide and jaws hanging open as they watched what was going on.

Adagio cleared her throat.

"First, Aria, please stop drooling."

A blush formed on Aria's cheeks as she turned away, wiping an arm across her mouth. If she had known that the nerdy little girl could become such a hot and amazing bad girl like that, she totally would have let the little egg-head feel up her arm. Maybe then, she would get to return the favor. Or more. That dress really showed off her body. And those nails.

Aria wiped another line of drool from her mouth.

"Second," Adagio continued, "shouldn't we do something?"

"Right, right," Rainbow Dash agreed. Her brow then furrowed as she looked up at the Dark Angel Sunset Shimmer. "Any ideas on how to do that?"

"Our best chance is to talk her down first," Twilight offered. "We might be able to convince her to close the portals, then all we have to worry about is the Sunset Shimmers that have already come through."

"Any ideas on how?" Applejack asked.

"Still working on it." Twilight shifted, looking around. "In the mean time, we need to contain all the Sunset Shimmers here so they don't go who even knows where."

"I call dibs on the werewolf!" Sonata shouted and bolted off.

"Wait!" Twilight cried. "No. I don't..." She trailed off as she felt Adagio's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," Adagio stated. "Sonata might have her problems, but when she gets an idea and puts some effort, she can take care of herself. Besides," she pointed up, "you do have more important matters."

Twilight scowled, but nodded.

"Getting back to the previous matter," street mage Shimmer said. "I think I can help with keeping everyone contained." Her brow furrowed as she looked around. "It's going to take some time, though, and I'm gonna need some help."

"Get all the help you need," Twilight said. "Girls, stay with me. I have an idea. Everyone else try to keep all the Sunsets here." She bit her lip. "I'd tell you to send them back through their portals, but I don't think that's very likely considering all that's going on and..." She gave a shake of her head. "We have no way of knowing what would happen if we sent them to the wrong dimension."

"Aria," Adagio called out, "you deal with the one that used to have this." She held the staff. "I'll deal with our dear inter-dimensional sister."

"Do I have to?" Aria asked, even as she already started walking. "I mean, she's such a wimp without her staff." She turned to look ahead, eyes narrowing. "Pretty sure that armor's completely decorative. Doesn't even cover any of her vital organs."

"Then you should be able to deal with her quickly."

Sonata Dusk stopped by one of the Sunset Shimmers, and turned to her.

"I need your sword."

The Sunset turned to her, looking out from under the hood of her cloak. One eyebrow raised up.

"Why?"

"Werewolf," Sonata answered. She held out her hand.

Brow furrowing, Sunset pulled the sword from its sheath, and passed it over.

"I'm afraid it won't do you much good. There's no silver, and i have yet to get it enchanted."

Holding up the sword, Sonata gave it a few test swings, getting a feel for its balance.

"That's fine," she replied. Resting the flat of the blade on her shoulder, she resumed skipping along. "Just means I get to play with it longer." She then stopped and turned back. Eyes narrowing.

"Wanna help?"

Grinning, Sunset Shimmer pulled out a bow.

With no tall buildings around to swing off of, The Golden Spider found herself at a massive disadvantage. Especially as she found herself fighting a creature that called itself "Ravage." She had a symbiote-bonded enemy in her own world, and had faced them a few times, but there was a big difference between one that was bonded to Wallflower Blush, and one that it turned out was bonded to another version of herself.

It also seemed that Ravage did not like there being another Sunset Shimmer, seeing how they kept talking about how they really hated clones.

Golden Spider landed in a crouch, looking at her villainous counter-part.

"You sure we can't talk this out?" she asked. "Maybe over a cup of coffee?"

With a noise between a roar and a hiss, Ravage charged forward. Its right hand shifted into a large ball, then spikes poked at of it, and it threw a punch with it at Golden Spider's face.

"So, I take it that's a no?" Golden Spider called out as she dove out of the way.

Two Sunset Shimmers floated in the air, without wings, circling each other. Both were dressed in skintight outfits, and had an aura of energy glowing around them: one green, the other red. The air between them was thick with tension, each waiting for the other to act.

The red one acted first. Opening her mouth, she spat out a ball of glowing blood, nearly as large as her head. The bloody sputum burst into flames as it short through the air, leaving a streak of fire as it shot forward.

The green one threw up a hand, a green ring igniting with similar colored energy. It created an energy construct with the proportions of an Equestrian earth pony, but the size of an earth Clydesdale. The construct turned around and kicked out with its hind legs. One burned away by the fireball before it was launched up in the air and away from them both. It even managed to go through the rift that the red Sunset Shimmer came out of.

"That had to be worth some points," the green one declared.

Twilight Sparkle picked up the spectrometer, giving it a quick once over. She could make out a few of the modifications, but the initial design was definitely hers, and it looked like everything was functioning as it should.

Turning around, she faced the other, holding the device up.

"Okay," she said calmly. "I think I know what to do." She held up the spectrometer. "I use this to collect some of the harmony magic in each of you, then use it on myself."

There was a second as the other five stared at her, processing what she said.

"You sure you wanna do that?" Fluttershy asked. She pulled at one of her thumbs. "I mean, you've gotten better, but considering how scared you were at Camp Everfree of reverting back to Midnight Sparkle..."

Twilight took a breath and let it out.

"Want to?" She gave a shake of her head. "No." She turned to look at Dark Angel Sunset from the corner of her eye. "But..." She rubbed her face. "Can't believe I'm going to say this." She looked to her friends again. "I think this is what I have to do."

"What'cha mean?" Applejack asked.

"Alright. To start, I may not watch as many cartoons as Sonata, but I have watched some. And I'm sure you're all aware that I've probably read a lot."

"It is why I call you egghead," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Right," Twilight sighed out, rolling her eyes at the nickname. "Well, that does include a wide variety of fiction." She held up the spectrometer again. "My using this to transform and stop Sunset Shimmer would create a literary symmetry to the story. A sense of poetic justice. I would be doing for her what she did for me."

There was a second of silence.

"Well," Rarity spoke up, "far be it from me to interfere with an action straight out of a romantic novel. Do we need to do anything?"

The others quickly agreed.

"Just brace yourself," Twilight said as she pointed the spectrometer at them.

Aria Blaze walked up to the sentai villain version of Sunset Shimmer. Said Shimmer turned to her and puffed up, smirking.

"What's this?" she asked. "I have faced greater challenges than you could imagine. What do yo--"

Aria punched her in the stomach, driving her fist deep into the sternum. There was a meaty thump of impact, followed by a grunt from the Sunset as the air was knocked out of her lungs. The villain dropped to the ground, curled in a ball and holding her stomach a Aria pulled her fist away.

"Like I said," Aria said, shaking her head, "not covering any vital organs."

Adagio Dazzle walked up to siren Sunset Shimmer and stopped. Normally, she would cross her arms, but holding onto the scepter with one hand made that an extremely difficult maneuver to do comfortably. As such, she shifted to place more of her weight on the staff, sticking out one hip and placing her empty hand on it. Her eyes narrowed as her lips pressed thinly together.

"I must say, I'm pretty disappointed," Adagio Dazzle stated, turning her nose up and away from the other siren.

Siren Sunset turned toward her, scowling.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "And why should I even care?" With this last part, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, for the second, I don't suppose you should," Adagio conceded. She shrugged a shoulder. "I mean, sirens have never really cared what we thought about each other beside how useful the other might be... or possibly how edible..." She gave a shake of her head, pushing that thought away. "As for the first." She pointed a hand at Sunset Satan. "You should have been able to take charge of her little group."

Siren Sunset's body tense and scowl deepened. She turned to look away, hugging herself tighter.

"I tried," she mumbled. "They all were resistant, and I couldn't try harder without being caught."

Adagio Dazzle's face grew colder.

"Which makes it all the more disappointing."

Street mage Shimmer, Sentai Shimmer, and Trixie came out of the school carry cans of paint, the labels of which identified the color as "eggshell."

"Okay," mage Shimmer said. "Right now, they're all still in the parking lot. So we use the paint along the edges and sidewalks to create a large circle around the whole thing." She looked up at the other two. "It's very important that there are absolutely no breaks. This is already iffy on this scale and with the uneven spots, but if the line is not completely connected all the way around, then it absolutely will not work. Understood?"

The other two nodded.

"Good." Street mage Shimmer pointed at Trixie. "You will pour the paint." She pointed at Sentai Shimmer. "You go with her, in case anyone attacks."

After another nod, two of the paint cans were opened. They started to pour it onto the ground, moving in opposite directions.

The werewolf roared.

Sonata roared back.

The monster lunged forward, snapping its jaws hard.

Sonata hopped to the left, being missed by the attack. She then spun in a circle, slashing out with the sword. The blade cut into the creature's cheek.

Unfortunately, just like the previous blows she had landed, it was already healing, the wound closing up before Sonata's very eyes.

Meanwhile, the cloaked Sunset Shimmer was on the other of the werewolf, firing arrow after arrow into it while Sonata kept its attention focused on her.

The werewolf turned its head and Sonata jumped out of the way, slashing down. The blade sliced through the nose, severing it from the creature's face. The werewolf threw its head back, crying out in pain.

The damage was too extensive to heal quickly.

"HEY!" Sonata picked up the severed piece of flesh and held it up. "GOT YOUR NOSE!"

A new rift in reality appeared. This one was the largest so far, towering taller than the school and nearly as wide at the base (which thoroughly destroyed the trapping circle plan). The portal was a blackness, nothing beyond it could be seen.

A loud booming thump, like something heavy had hit the ground, echoed from the portal. It was followed by another, louder one, and another still. The ground began to shudder with each impact. People and other creatures stopped what they were doing, turning their attention to source of the sound out of curiosity.

The head of a dragon emerged through the massive portal. It had golden-yellow scales that glistened even in the cloud-covered night, broken up by spots of obsidian blackness. As it continued to emerge, its great wings spread out, giving a flap and knocking those nearby off their feet.

Sunset Shimmer sat on the creature's back, riding between its shoulders. She was dressed primarily in brown leather armor, with pieces of iron attached to it. Most notable was the iron dragon on her chest, its head nestled between and wings cupping her breasts. She also wore a helmet made to look like a dragon's skull, complete with horns, and glowing red gemstones in the eye sockets. In one hand, she held a staff, a crystalline staff with a large red gemstone at the top, held in place by three points that were reminiscent of a dragon's claw.

The stone in the staff's grip and the ones for the helmet's eyes lit up.

The dragon opened its mouth, revealing great, sharp teeth, and unleashed a massive yellow flame into the air as it roared.

Fire and rainbows

Twilight Sparkle pointed the spectrometer at Fluttershy.

"Ready?" she asked.

"As I can be, I guess," Fluttershy replied, bracing herself. Her fingers gripped the sides of her skirt, but should stood up straight and did not look away. That was one of the more admirable traits of Fluttershy: she may have been shy and easily startled at times, but when it came down to it, she would not look away or back down.

With a nod, Twilight Sparkle hit the button. The spectrometer activated, drawing the magic energy of Kindness from Fluttershy.

As soon as it ended, Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed forward, catching a hold of the girl and keeping her from falling. The two then helped her into a sitting position, where she was provided by Pinkie Pie with juice and a cookie.

With that, all five of them had been drained of their sympathetic harmony magic. It had been collected and was stored, waiting for Twilight to release it.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the device in her hand, memories of the last time she used it passing through her mind. She had gone mad with power, disregarded the lives of those around her, and began tearing holes in the fabric of reality between her world and Equestria.

The shaking grew worse.

She had told her friends it was the best way, and she had meant it, but what if she was wrong?

Her heart pounded in her ears.

Reality was being torn around her, and would she fix it, or make it worse? What would happen if she gave in? If there were two of them ripping the universe apart?

Twilight suddenly realized that the shaking was not her, nor was the pounding simply in her ears.

A massive gust of wind knocked her off her feet and out of her thoughts.

"IS THAT A DRAGON!?" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Twilight rolled over and looked up to to find...

"Yep," Applejack called out. "That's a dragon alright."

Rarity was up and grabbing a hold of Twilight's arm, pulling her to her feet.

"Darling, wha--"

The dragon roared, spewing out a plume of flame.

"DO IT NOW!" Rarity screeched, eyes wide as she grabbed and shook Twilight.

Grabbing a hold of the other girl's arms, Twilight gently freed herself from the death grip and took a step away.

"Okay," she said calmly. "Stand back. Just in case."

Once all the other girls and moved back and created a wide space for her, Twilight took a deep breath and braced herself. She then lifted the spectrometer high above her head, and threw it down at her feet as hard as she could.

There was the sound of glass shattering as white light poured out, engulfing Twilight's body. As she was consumed by it, Twilight could not help but notice how it felt different from the previous time. When she had become Midnight Sparkle, it felt like the magic had forced its way into her: a parasite that bit and clawed its way into her body and took over, driving her darkest desires and thirst for knowledge to the forefront. It did not take over her mind completely, but it did affect how she thought.

This time, it was soft, gentle, a caress across her skin. Almost motherly. She could feel it wrapping around her, like a comforting hug, followed by a kiss on her forehead.

The ball of light grew smaller and smaller, absorbing into the transformed Twilight Sparkle. She spread her massive wings wide out, the tips shifting from purple to blue, back to purple, and to red. A dress of rainbows covered her body, glowing with magical light. Her hair had grown longer, running down to her ankles, with a streak of pastel yellow on one side of the pink streak, and a lime green one on the other. A horn of crystalline light rose from her forehead, glowing white at the tip.

Twilight opened her eyes: eyes that glowed white before shifting into a rainbow of colors, and finally returning to their normal deep purple color. She lifted her hands, palms out. The six pointed rosy starburst the represented her in at least two worlds appeared in front of them, glowing with raw energy before unleashing it.

The dual beams of magic punched the dragon in face, causing it to step back. The blasts continued on, pressing against the massive creature and slowly pushing it back, back, through the portal from which it had come.

It actually took more effort than Twilight had been expecting. It was also a strange sensation. Like Twilight was straining every muscle in her body, but doing so with muscles that did not physically exist. Would she be able to feel it later? Like an ache from over-exertion?

The lapse in focus for scientific curiosity caused her attack to weaken. The dragon jerked forward, and Twilight felt herself being pushed backwards.

A pair of hands grabbed a hold of her, stopping her from moving backward. Then came more and more, bracing her in place.

"It's okay, sugar cube," Applejack's voice said from behind her. "We've got ya."

Twilight could not look back, but she knew they were right. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were all behind her. And they all had her back.

Before Pinkie could say "obvious symbolism," Twilight returned her attention to the dragon, and pushed out more. Five additional symbols formed around the starburst, unleashing their own beams of energy. The new beams spun around the older one, creating two swirling rainbows of light. These stronger blasts quickly pushed the dragon back through its portal, with the rift quickly being sealed after.

"What are you doing?" Dark Angel Sunset called out.

As much as she would have liked to have the others with her, this was something that Rainbow Powered Twilight Sparkle would have to do on her own. Stepping away from them, she floated up into the air, her wings spread as wide as they could reach, but not needing to flap. A trail of rainbow light trailed behind her. Her hands continued to point outward, unleashing beams which sealed the rifts around them, and occasionally pushed one of the new arrivals back through it.

"I'm doing for you what a friend did for me," Rainbow Twilight stated. "I'm helping to keep you from doing something that you'll regret."

"Regret? Regret?" Dark Angel Sunset let out a throaty huff, rolling her eyes. "I have power like no other." She motioned around her. "I have entire worlds of knowledge and magic at my fingertips. I can access them with a single movement of my hand." She made a slashing motion, creating a new portal. "What do I have to regret?"

Twilight's magic reached out and caught a heavy armor battle-mech that was likely piloted by a Sunset Shimmer, and sent it back through, quickly re-sealing the rift.

"I understand that feeling," Twilight replied. "I've been there too." She floated closer. "But believe me, it's not worth it. You're going to hurt a lot of people."

Dark Angel Sunset crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.

"So?"

"Sunset," Twilight said softly, her voice almost a whisper, "can you honestly tell me that there is nothing in this world you care about? That there is nothing you will miss if its destroyed?"

Sunset froze, shifting in mid-air as she looked away from Twilight. The smoke around one eye vanished as her gaze turned distance. Her arms wrapped around her, hugging her tight as she drifted toward the ground.

"...This isn't my world..." she said, a single voice -- her normal voice -- barely above a whisper.

"No," Twilight admitted. "It's not." She held out a hand. "But we can get you back to your world. I'm willing to bet that our counterparts are there, and more than willing to be your friend when you meet."

Sunset shifted, tilting to the side. Her gaze drifted down to Twilight's outstretched hand. A tear formed from the corner of her normal looking eye, glittering with rainbow light as it ran down her cheek. Her own hand reached slowly stretched out, reaching for the offered one.

Then stopped.

"I can fix this," she said softly.

"I can fix this," she repeated louder, pulling away.

"Sunset?" Twilight called out.

"I can fix this!"

Angel Sunset threw out a hand, wrapping magic around Twilight, gently setting her down with her friends. Releasing her grip on Twilight, Sunset reached out again.

The magic staff flew up into the air, taking Adagio Dazzle with it before she let go.

"Ow," Adagio grumbled as she hit the ground butt first.

Staff in hand, Angel Sunset Shimmer flew down and toward the magic box. A golden glow engulfed her, a small star in the night. Eyes closed, Sunset gripped the staff with both hands, pointed the top toward the box, and thrust it forward.

All the energy shot forward, pouring directly into the open door of the box.

Sunset poured more and more of her power into it. Teeth gritted and eyes closed, she kept at it. Her hair dropped back to around her shoulders, the glow fading from it and returning it to its typical red and yellow. The wings on her back grew smaller and smaller, shrinking back into her shoulders. Her clothes turned back to her Crystal Prep uniform.

The last of the energy drained away, leaving Crystal Prep Sunset holding a staff with a faded amber gemstone in the shape of the sun at the tip. Her hair fell across her face and around her glasses. Her chest rose and fell as she panted.

Golden light exploded from the magic box. It spread out and out and out, further and further, covering the parking lot, the school, the entire town. Any rift it touched vanished. The clouds in the sky were blown away as the light spread, covering everything it touched with a soft, golden glow.

The light then imploded, moving across the city once more as it was pulled inwards, back towards the box.

It did not return alone. Every Sunset Shimmer was pulled in as well. From wherever they were, they were brought to the school, the box sucking them in as they vanished in a flash of light. Regardless of size, shape, or abilities.

With the last one pulled in, the box pulled shut.

The world was so silent, it was like there was no air for sound to even be able to travel through. Twilight's form shifted, the rainbow magic vanishing from her as she reverted back to normal, dressed in her regular clothes. Looking around, she caught sight of her five friends and fellow magic wielders, The Dazzlings, Trixie, and Flash. They all looked around, the area so much emptier now.

The silence was broken by a creaking sound, getting everyone's attention. They watched as the door to the magic box opened.

Sunset Shimmer stepped out, still dressed in her red leotard, fishnets, and heels. She stumbled slightly as she walked out, her green eyes blinking as she looked around. She turned to look at her friends.

"Did I miss something?"

Instead of getting an answer, Sunset Shimmer found herself being hugged by seven other girls.

A question of consequence

After a nice shower and change of clothes, Sunset Shimmer now sat on her couch with a box of hot sesame noodles. Her friends, Trixie and the six she used magic and fought Equestrian dangers with, had come back to her apartment with her, and filled her in all that had happened while she ate. They talked over each other a little, filling in as much of the information as they possibly could. It did get a little difficult to follow, but Sunset felt she managed.

The strangest part of it to her was the idea of her apartment being some sort of Sunset Shimmer inter-dimensional motel. On one hand, it was kind of like having a bunch of strangers staying in her apartment (which, she supposed, made it more like an inter-dimensional Air B&B?). On the other, they were not entirely strangers seeing how they were supposedly different versions of her. It would be kind of like a ten year old being mad at their six year old self.

Or being mad at someone in this dimension for something their pony counterpart did in Equestria: which, Sunset Shimmer was loath to admit, she had done.

As the story continued, Sunset's thoughts drifted away from contemplation of her apartment and its recent visitor, and toward other matters. Or more accurately, the implications of the matter. Her attention turned to the nearly empty container, not really paying attention to the noodles. She poked at them with her chopsticks, stirring them around in the sauce at the bottom.

She did not even notice that her friends had stopped their story telling for several seconds, all watching her.

"Sunset?" one of them called out.

Blinking, Sunset Shimmer looked up from her noodles, her mind returning to the present as she noticed seven looks of concern direct toward her.

"Is something the matter, darling?" Rarity asked.

"You do look like something's eatin' at ya," Applejack added.

The rest gave their own comments of agreement.

A small smile tugged at Sunset Shimmer's lips at the sight. It was nice to be surrounded by friends, and to have so many that were concerned for her. Even if it felt to her like she had only seen them watching her in a magic performance just a few minutes ago.

The smile vanished as she looked down again, mind going back to what had caused it in the first place. After licking her lips, she let out a sigh.

"I'm just worried about what is going to happen because of it," she said.

"I don't think it will be too bad," Rainbow replied. "I mean, yeah, we'll probably have to fix the parking lot, but none of us did any..." She shifted, brow furrowing. "... much property damage." She then smirked. "And if anyone saw one of your other versions doing something, we have others elsewhere that could totally alibi you out."

Sunset Shimmer looked at Rainbow Dash, brow furrowing as she considered what she was just told. She had known that Rainbow Dash had a penchant for pranks, but had it actually gotten her into some legal trouble at some point?

"Thanks?" Sunset said. She then gave a shake of her head, pushing the question aside. "But that's not what I mean."

Lifting up her chopsticks, she waved them at the girls, sort of pointing at them.

"Look at what we've dealt with since we got our geodes: Gloriosa Daisy, Juniper Montage and her mirror, Vignette Valencia and her cellphone. That doesn't even include things like Wallflower Blush finding The Memory Stone, when Principal Celestia's greenhouse garden started singing, or Trixie being able to teleport. And those are the ones we know about. Who knows what else hasn't been found, or reported, or activated."

She set the Chinese food container down on the table and leaned back.

"All that pretty much came from one place: Equestria," she continued. "Now we have exposed this world to magic from a bunch of other worlds, there's now a magic box that could be an actual magic box, and even Principal Celestia has ponied up." She gave a shake of her head. "I can't believe all that could happen and we could just seal it all up again, having everything return back to the way it was before."

Tilting up, she looked at the ceiling for a long moment in silence.

"So, you think that the introduction of new, multi-dimension energy may have somehow created an increased change in our own reality?" Twilight asked.

"Pretty much."

Another few seconds passed.

"Well, so what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"You're not worried about what will happen?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and blew air out from between her lips.

"Like Sunset said, we've dealt with all sorts of weird stuff already, and that didn't even include when she and Twilight went all evil, or the sirens. Could what happened change things?" She gave a shrug with one shoulder. "I don't know." She then smirked. "But even if it does, it's not going to be a big deal. Because whatever magic gets thrown at us, the seven of us together can handle it. Right?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie cried out, jumping up and pumping her hands in the air. The rest came around not long after, expressing their own agreement.

"Yeah," Sunset agreed, grinning widely. She still did not know what was going to happen, but a reminder that she had such great friends that would stick with her through whatever happened made the idea easier to deal with.

There was a knock on the door, getting everyone's attention.

"I'll get it," Pinkie offered, zipping over to the door. She pulled it open, and let out a gasp.

Equestria's Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped into the apartment, in her human form. She looked very much like the Twilight Sparkle of the human world, only with her hair down and not wearing any glasses. Her eyes glanced around, taking in everyone before stopping on Sunset.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I came as soon as I got Twilight's message."

"I guess that the portal is working again," Sci-Twi said, adjusting her glasses.

Sunset Shimmer smiled and motioned toward an empty chair.

"Have a seat. We'll fill you in."

Monday frustrations

On Monday morning, school still opened and went on as normal. The events of the weekend -- even the ones that happened in the very parking lot -- were not considered a sufficient reason to cancel classes for the day. There was damage to the parking lot, the sidewalk, and parts of the grass around it, but none of it was enough to be of any danger.

Not everyone showed up for the day, however. Principal Celestia had decided not to come in. Not that Vice-Principal Luna could really blame her. Her sister had always wanted to be a mother, and even if it had only been a day and a half, she had developed an emotional attachment to the child Sunset Shimmer pretty quickly. Having the girl leave was kind of hard, made all the worse by the fact that it was very sudden and Celestia did not have time to brace herself or even say good-bye.

Luna had actually checked on Celestia that morning, finding her asleep in front of her laptop, with an adoption site pulled up on her web browser.

So she had sent her older sister to bed to get some proper sleep, and would be taking care of school matters all on her own for the day. With the events of the weekend, it would be a few days, if not weeks, until another magical event affected the school somehow or other. There were not a lot in the way of meetings, and the few that were could be re-scheduled. Although, she was the vice-principal, few of the students or faculty members were as willing to come to her as they were with Celestia, so it was less likely they would, only doing so if they felt it could not wait until Celestia's return. As such, she only had to worry about the typical paperwork, and maybe a few matters here and there.

It also meant that she could not institute some of the changes she wished that Celestia often rejected as Principal, although it was tempting. How long would it take until they were noticed?

A knock drew her attention from her paperwork, looking up to find a familiar white skinned woman with dark brown hair standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Ms. Inkwell?" she asked, putting her pen down.

Their secretary, Raven Inkwell, cleared her throat.

"Superintendent Neighsay is here to speak with you."

Vice-Principal Luna's jaw clenched as she bit back the profanities that came to mind. Of all the times for that arrogant, pompous, sanctimonious, snobby, blow-hard to show up, he of course just had to choose a day after an "incident" where Celestia was unavailable to show up! Even on her best days, Celestia struggled to keep her composure while dealing with him. For her part, Luna either stood with her sister in silent support, or out and out avoided the man altogether.

Alas, neither were options for today. With the Principal out, it was up to the vice-principal to deal with shit like this.

"Please send him in," Luna stated, sitting up straight and putting on her most professional face.

Raven gave a nod and stepped aside. She was quickly replaced by a man whose gauntness made him seem taller, and -- with how white his skin was -- very skeletal. The black hair and goatee made it apparent there was at least enough skin for there to be hair. His beady eyes made it hard to say what color they were, especially when narrowed as they always tended to be. Similarly, his lips were pressed so thin, they were non-existent.

Luna quickly reminded herself of two things. The first was to not think about the fact that the superintendent's suit was likely so expensive, the money from it could have done quite a lot for the school district in general, and Canterlot High specifically. The second was to not ask about how his family was doing: reminding him of his wife's dismissal from Crystal Prep would likely raise his ire even further.

"Good morning, Superintendent," Luna stated calmly. "Can I offer you a cup of coffee?"

"I will not be staying longer than necessary," replied Neighsay.

Luna gave a nod, but went ahead and refilled her own mug.

"No Celestia today?" Neighsay asked.

"Celestia was feeling unwell this morning, unfortunately," Luna answered, turning back to her desk and him. "She should be feeling better and back on duty by tomorrow, if you would rather wait." She raised an eyebrow.

Please say yes, and go. Please say yes, and go. Please say yes, and go.

"It hardly matters. I'm certain that you will be informing her about the matter regardless."

Neighsay's gaze narrowed, his mouth tightening more as he gave her a sour look. Luna took a sip of coffee.

"I could not help but notice the damage to the parking lot this morning."

"Yes," Luna replied. "Quite strange. Something must have happened to it over the weekend. Fortunately, it seems that no one was hurt as far as we can tell, and most of the damage is superficial. We should be able to have it all fixed over a long weekend without any trouble."

She took another drink of coffee. As she did, she could feel the superintendent's eyes on her.

"I have decided that the education board should perform and official inquiry into Canterlot High School, as well as into the faculty," Superintendent Neighsay stated, "with a specially in-depth look into you and Celestia."

A very, very small part Luna was grateful that he had waited for her to swallow before telling her that, or else she might have done a spit-take. On the other hand, if she had done a spit-take, it would have given her an excuse to spit hot coffee right into hist stupid, smug face.

She could throw the rest of it in his face. If she timed it right and was very lucky, she might actually be able to get it in his eyes and blind him.

After weighing the temporary pleasure she would get from such an act against the guilt from it, the resulting criminal charges, trial, and jail time from it, and the loss of coffee, Vice-Principal Luna instead simply set her mug down, and returned her attention to the superintendent.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I believe you heard me quite clearly," Superintendent Neighsay replied. "I am having the board look into you, your... sister... and how the two of you have been running this ..." he motioned around him with one hand "... school... to see if it is still up to the proper standards of the school district." He gave a sniff. "A question which I have been wondering about for quite a while."

"You mean since The Friendship Games?" Luna spat out before she could stop herself.

The look she got caused the heater to turn on.

"Are you trying to insinuate something, Miss Luna?"

Well I've already poked the hornets' nest, she thought to herself. May as well go full pinata on it.

"To put it bluntly, it seems as though you have had taken a personal issue with us since Cinch's dismissal from Crystal Prep after said games occurred."

Steepling her fingers, Luna leaned forward with narrowed eyes of her own.

"Although, that wouldn't exactly make sense, now would it? After all, it was interviews with Principal Cadance and Crystal Prep students which led to her dismissal, not something that we at Canterlot High have done."

"Yes," Neighsay replied. "Yet, isn't it interesting that the student who gave the key testimony not only transferred to your school after the games, but has also been shown on videos being at the school and interacting with Canterlot High students beforehand."

Luna held her tongue at that, watching as Superintendent Neighsay smoothed down his tie. After all, the school board did not believe in magic, and it would be very difficult to come up with a logical explanation of how someone who could look so much like one of Crystal Prep's students happened to attend Canterlot High for a short while.

"However," Neighsay continued, "this is only partially related to said games. In the sense that it was when the statue in front of the school was destroyed. When combined with the current state of the parking lot, and the events around your 'Fall Formal,' it means that we now have three cases of this school suffering massive amounts of property damage in less than a year. That does not include any minor damage that may have occurred in the interim -- such as the rumors of what may have occurred at Camp Everfree -- nor whatever public property may have been destroyed during your musical exhibition."

"Oh, come on!" Luna snapped. "The student who damaged the front of the school fixed it with almost no money being used from the school budget for it, we haven't asked for money to replace the statue either as we are currently having it as a student project, and the parking lot happened over the weekend. There is no way you can blame us."

"Perhaps," Superintendent Neighsay conceded, "but I believe we both know who was very well involved with the last."

One of Luna's eyebrows shot up.

"Do we now?"

"Indeed." Neighsay stepped forward, leaning slightly over Luna's desk. "Tell me, when do you think we will get to see Miss Sunset Shimmer's next movie on the internet?"

"Sunset Shimmer?" Luna repeated. Her mind was working through what she heard, and it was starting with the part that made sense. "You think Sunset Shimmer... made the videos?"

Neighsay let out a snort as he straightened up.

"Come now. She is the main focus of each one, even if the story is a bit cliche. Plus, while impressive for a high school student, the special effects are rather obvious if you know what to look for."

Luna felt a throb in the front of her head, and wondered if she could actually fell her brain cells dying. She had been aware that some of the... "events" had been recorded on phones and posted on-line, and that most people had dismissed it as fake, with make-up, practical effects, and digital effects all mixed together. This had even gotten more traction after a certain music video entry. But to actually hear it, right in front of her was too much.

Taking a deep breath, she counted to ten, and reminded herself that the superintendent had not seen it himself.

"Thank you, Superintendent," she said as calmly as she could manage. "I'll be sure to let Principal Celestia know about this, and be assured, The Board of Education will have our full cooperation."

"I certainly hope so," Superintendent Neighsay said as he turned toward the door. "Also, do keep in mind that when you are both dismissed, nepotism will not be able to get you a new position."

And with that, he walked out.

A Dazzling arrival in Equestria

Once more, the weekend had arrived. Also, once again, the front of Canterlot High School was not as empty as it would normally be on a Saturday. Sunset, her friends, and The Dazzlings stood out front of the school, near the base of what had once been a statue of a horse rearing up.

Adagio Dazzle took a step forward. Her brow furrowed as she placed her hands on her hips, looking the pedestal up and down.

"This is the portal to Equestria?" she asked. "You mean to tell me we could have come here and gone home at any time?"

"It is where the portal is, yes," Sunset answered. Her lips then pursed out though. "I don't know if it was always here, though. I mean a thousand years ago, none of this existed. Where it might have been before then?" She gave a shrug.

Adagio let out a hum, eyes narrowing more.

"As for whenever." Sunset shook her head. "Originally, it was only once thirty moons, bu--"

"Uuuugh!" Aria groaned, throwing her head back. "I forgot about the whole stupid 'moons' thing."

"But," Sunset continued, "Princess Twilight was able to use a pair of magic journals which were capable of communicating with each other even through inter-dimensional barriers during such time as they portal was closed to circumvent the time restriction. Now she is capable of deciding when the portal opens and for how long, but doesn't leave it open except when intended to be used. That way, we don't have to worry about ponies or people trying to sneak through."

One of the girls coughed slightly.

"So, what's going to happen when we go through?" Sonata asked.

"Well, when you go in, you will find yourself in kind of a weird place," Sunset answered. "It's kind of like one of those funhouse spinning halls, but made of rainbow colored light. You'll also get spun like you're in a washing machine a--"

"That's a feeling Sonata's familiar with," Aria stated.

"Shut up!" Sonata snapped. "It was one time. One!"

"-- and feel like you're being stretched like taffy." Sunset smiled. "So, good news, the transformation doesn't hurt, but it does feel pretty weird. As a result, you will be feeling pretty disoriented when you arrive in Equestria, made all the more so by the fact that you'll have to readjust to your Equestrian bodies. Once you are through and regain your senses, you will find yourself in Twiligiht's castle in Ponyville, with her there to greet you. Possibly with some friends."

"You mean guards," Adagio said, turning to look at Sunset again.

"No," replied Sunset, giving a shake of her head. "No guards, no other princesses. Just some of the friends from her world." She pointed a thumb toward her friends. "Some of who might look familiar."

She paused, brow furrowing.

"So, you might have to worry about Rainbow Dash getting in your face and telling you that she's watching you, but that should be the worst of it."

Adagio turned to face Sunset Shimmer fully. Her eyes narrowed as she looked the unicorn turned human up and down. Her lips pressed thin as she chewed on them.

"Either the princess is very trusting," Adagio said, "or you are a very good liar."

"Well I am a pretty good liar," Sunset replied, grinning widely.

It quickly vanished.

"But this is a matter of trust. Twilight is the princess of friendship, and part of friendship is trust. According to her, you deserve a certain amount of trust and freedom as a chance to prove your sincerity in wishing to return to Equestria and live peacefully." She gave a smaller smile. "The fact that you helped deal with the latest incident didn't hurt either."

Adagio studied Sunset a moment longer, stony faced. Her fingers tapped a quick little rhythm on her elbow as she considered it.

Finally, she gave a nod.

"Alright," she said before turning around. "Guess we'll see you when we get back."

"You mean you decided to stay already?" Pinkie asked, grinning widely and with her hands behind her back.

"No," Sonata answered, "but we did figure out that if we do decide to stay, we need to figure out what to do with all our stuff in this world." Her eyes flicked to Aria, and she grew a wicked little smirk. "After all, Aria can't take her Jeep with her, now can she?"

This got a growl from Aria Blaze, which made Sonata look all the smugger.

"Alright," Adagio called out. "Let's get going already. Sonata first."

"Yay!" Sonata cried out. She then started running before diving head first into the portal.

Aria was next, walking toward it. She stopped just before going in and turned around.

"Since I won't be able to do this while I'm there."

She held up both hands and gave everyone the finger.

"Ba-blam, bitches!"

She then jumped backwards into the portal.

Adagio let out a sigh, shaking her head. She walked toward the portal, the last one to go through. Like Aria, she stopped just before going through, turning. With a smile, she kissed her hand and blew it.

"See you all again soon," she purred out before returning to the portal and walking through.

As she entered the portal, it was as Sunset Shimmer described it. The entire thing was a tunnel of rainbow colored light, twisting and spinning, with all the colors running into each other and shining so brightly, it was hard to see. It was made all the harder to see when she felt herself being lifted and spun, made all the more confusing and frustrating by having nothing to focus on. Adagio could feel her body being changed and re-shaped. It did not hurt, but felt strange. It was a combination of being stretched like a rubber band and squeezed like a handful of clay.

Her ears popped as the twirling rainbows and body shifting sensations came to an end. A blinding white light flashed across her eyes as she fell out of the a portal and onto a floor. It felt kind of nice. The coolness of it against her body, seeping into her belly.

"Adagio!" Sonata cried out, rushing over.

Adagio felt herself being shaken as she tried to get a grasp of her mind and body again.

"Adagio! Get up!" She felt herself getting pushed hard. "Something went wrong! Really wrong!"

"Alright!" Adagio snapped. "Just give me a second!"

With that, the pushing and shaking stopped. With a sigh, Adagio moved to stand up, using a hoof to push her hair out of her face.

Adagio paused. Something was not right. She looked down at her hoof. Was that the problem? No. No. She was back in Equestria, and she had hooves there for her forelegs. That was not it.

"Dagi?" Sonata said, in a soft, scared voice.

Adagio turned to look at Sonata, and paused.

Sonata was not a siren.

"You're a pony," Adagio blurted out.

Sonata nodded. And indeed she was. An earth pony. Sonata was her typical blue, but it was the color of the furry coat that now covered her otherwise bare body. She still had her hair band, holding her long blue ponytail in place (a part of Adagio -- probably the hysterical part -- burst into giggles at that). There was also a cutie mark on Sonata's flank: a purple heart with a eighth-note on it, the body of which had the jagged look of a lightning bolt to it.

"Does... does that mean that..."

Sonata nodded again.

Adagio looked around for a reflective surface to use as a mirror. Fortunately, they were in a castle made of crystal, and there were plenty around.

Adagio got a good look at herself. She was covered in a coat of golden-yellow fur. A massive pile of curly orange and yellow hair covered the top of her head. One noticeable difference was the horn sticking out from her forehead. Adagio turned her body slight, catching sight of a thick, fluffy tail. Also on her flank was a cutie mark. Hers was of an orange gemstone with a diamond shape to it, and a Treble clef behind it.

Okay. She had seen herself. She had seen Sonata. That only left one other.

"Where's Aria?"

"Over there," Sonata answered, pointing with a hoof.

Adagio followed the direction pointed, and found what she was looking for, although not the way she was expecting.

Aria Blaze was floating in mid-air, but not under her own power or volition. Instead, she was being held there by a rose-colored aura of magic. Aria had a pair of pegasus wings sticking out from her shoulders and flapping. Her front hooves were stretched out in front of her and she was clearly yelling something.

Adagio turned to find the source of magic, and Aria's ire: Princess Twilight Sparkle. The princess's wings flickered against her side as she gave a nervous look at Adagio. The horn continued to glow with magic.

"I can explain," she started.

Adagio held up a hoof.

"No, no," she cut in. "Let me guess. Aria noticed this --" she motioned at her own body "-- and decided that it was somehow your fault." She turned to look at Aria. "So, naturally, she decided to attack you. Also, naturally, you defended yourself." She motioned toward the magic around the raging mare. Adagio tilted her head, feeling her ears perk forward. "I'm guessing that there's also some sort of sound dampening spell as well, to keep us from listening to her tirade of profanity laden threats."

Twilight blinked, then blinked again.

"Uhm... yeah," she finally managed to say. "That's exactly how it happened."

Adagio let out a chuckle as she walked over.

"I've lived with these idiots for more than a millennium," she stated. "I've gotten pretty good with guessing what they are going to do in certain situations."

She turned to look back.

"Sonata! You're on restraint duty."

"Is that a good idea?" Sonata asked as she walked up toward where Aria was being held. "I mean..." she held up a foreleg and waved it back and forth.

"Believe me," Adagio huffed, rolling her eyes, "I haven't forgotten. Not like I could." She held up a hoof of her own, looking at it.

Then she gave a shake of her head.

"It's probably enough like when we were human that you can manage," Adagio continued. Her brow then furrowed. "Although... with you being an earth pony and her being a pegasus, you're probably a lot stronger than her. So, be careful not to hold too tightly."

"Okay," Sonata said, giving a nod.

Adagio nodded back before returning her attention to Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Okay. You can set her down now. Just put her down in front of Sonata."

Twilight's eyes flicked from Adagio to Aria. She licked her lips and gave a nod of her own. She then did as she was told, lowering the angry siren-turned-pegasus on the ground before releasing her magical hold.

"-- be farting out feathers for fucking weeks!" Aria continued to shout, now audibly with the magic censorship removed.

Before Aria could realize that she was free and lunge at the princess again, Sonata pounced on her. The sudden weight of a pony on her back caused Aria to fall to the floor, pinned under the weight. Sonata then wrapped her forelegs around Aria, pinning her wings to her side, then leaned back, picking her up while holding her in place.

"Lemme go!" Aria snapped, flailing her forelegs wildly. "Lemme go so I can put little miss princess in a full body, hoof, and wing cast, having to eat through a straw."

Aria yelled, and flailed, twisted and squirmed, but never actually made to hit Sonata.

Adagio then stepped forward, standing between Twilight and Aria.

"That's enough, Aria."

"But Adagio," Aria groaned out. "Look what she's done to us!" She held out her forelegs. "She turned us into fucking ponies!"

Adagio let out a sigh, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"Come on Aria. Do you really think she could do that?"

Aria paused, lips pressing tight in a scowl as she considered it.

"Could you?" Sonata asked.

Aria and Adagio turned toward the princess, all three of them staring at her curiously. Twilight's lips pursed and brow furrowed as she considered the question.

"In theory?" Twilight answered, brow still furrowed. "I mean, I would have to study the portal extensively first, maybe have Starswirl come visit and explain his spell-work for it. It does seem capable of tra--"

"Hold on," Adagio cut in. "Back up a little." She tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "What was that about Starswirl?"

Twilight blinked, then her eyebrows shot up as her eyes shot wide.

"Oh, right," she cried out. "I didn't tell Sunset, so she wouldn't have told you." She then let out a nervous chuckle as she shifted her weight from side to side. "Well, it turns out that sometime after defeating you, Starswirl and the other Pillars -- that's what their group ended up being called -- banished a creature know as The Pony of Shadows into limbo, but ended up banishing themselves as well. Then, a few months ago, we were able to free them, so they're back a--"

"I think I have heard enough," Adagio cut in again.

She turned to the other two sirens.

"All in favor of return to the human world immediately." She raised a hoof. "Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"It's unanimous. Let's go."

The three then ran for the portal.

Author's Notes:

And with that, the story is at an end. If you have enjoyed this, please feel free to leave me a couple dollars at my ko-fi here.

Yeah, I'm posting the final chapter early. Thinking that when I complete and post my next long story, it may be on Wednesdays (or near to it depending on what happens) instead of Saturdays.