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."