//------------------------------//
// August 15, 9:45 PM: The Spider's Strategem 
// Story: A Time of Reckoning: Seven Days in Sunny June, Book IV 
// by Shinzakura 
//------------------------------//

“Here, drink this.”  Knowing how hard it was for a pony to use hands, Sunset held the water bottle to Raspberry Beryl’s lips while the naked girl drank.  Something was very wrong, and right now her friend was as weak as a kitten.

“Sunny, you want to explain what’s going on?” Adagio asked.

“It’s a long story,” the flame-haired girl replied.

“Hey, we have all the time in the world – quite literally since Fucktardio von Asshole decided to do his ‘turn reality into a nuke’ spell,” the eldest triplet drawled.

Finally, Raspberry performed a weak gesture that might have been waving off, then looked at Sunset.  “Give some to Heelee, too!  He’s—”

“He’s fine.”  Aria approached, and sitting on her shoulder was Heliodor, looking none the worse for wear.  “You have an interesting canary here,” she said as she scratched under his beak, which made him puff up with joy.  “Strong little guy.  Actually got up before you did.”

Raspberry gave her pet a warm smile, and on instinct he tried to land on her horn…and then fell just before Sunset caught him.

“Wrong world, little guy,” she told him, and he chirped in thanks.

“So, Razz?  What are you doing here?” Sunset asked.

Raspberry leaned forwards, grabbing Sunset in a panic.  “I’m glad I found you!  C’mon, we gotta get back!”

“Back…what?” Sonata asked, who was looking at the mirror.

“Tirek!  He’s….”

“Oh, great, an Evil Centaurs Inc. fangirl, just what we need,” Aria groaned.  “Sunny, we needed a mage, not a groupie.”

“What?  You know what?  Nevermind.”  Wine-hued eyes gazed with horror into turquoise.  “We’re under attack!  Equestria is under attack!”  She stumbled and Sunset caught her.  “Tirek!  He’s been taking magic from everyone!  He’s taken mine!  We have to stop him!”  She looked at Sunset, desperation in her eyes.  “We need you back!”

“Razz, we have problems here!” Sunset explained.  “I just sent a letter to Twilight, because we have a madman who set a Gordian spell on the whole Goddamn universe and it’s going to blow unless we stop him!”  She helped her friend to her feet.  “We have to stop him or else there’s not going to be a home for me to come back to!  There’s not going to be anything for me to come back to!”  Cyan looked to burgundy.  “I need your help, Razz!  I didn’t ask for you, but I’m glad you’re here!”

Raspberry turned away.  “I don’t know if you will be,” the other girl replied.  “He stole my power.  I’m…magicless, Sunny!  It’s all gone!”


Adagio looked at Sunset, and then her friend, who Sonata would’ve likely called “palette-swapped”.  Aside from the fact that she was naked, she had hair the same style as Sunset’s, but in locks of cornflower and lilac.  Her eyes were a deep burgundy, and her skin was roughly the same tone as Rainbow’s, maybe a tad lighter.  If the teen had to take a guess, she would’ve said the girl was of Arabic descent, but given that she clearly came through the mirror, that was probably not the case.

But the biggest thing was her left thigh: it was heavily mangled, and though it looked as though it healed over, the kind of damage that must have happened must prevent her from walking normally.  “Aria, find the museum’s offices and see about a first aid kit.  They should have a cane or something that she can use.”

“On it.”  Aria rushed off, heading towards the other end of the museum.

“Sunny, is there a way to tell objective time?” Sonata asked.

“Yeah, my cellphone should still be working, why?”

“If we’re going to hit that place, we’re going to need to do precise timing, and well, knowing what time it is, usually does that.”

Sunset handed her friend her phone.  “Go ahead and sync yours and Dagi’s, then Ari’s when you she gets back.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to show Razz here the joys of wearing clothing 24/7.”

It was at that point that Razz suddenly realized.  “Wait – why are you all human?”

Adagio facepalmed.  “Real winner you picked here, Sunny.”

Sunset, however, looked at her friend with sympathy.  “Razz…welcome to Earth.”  Sunset was about to say more, when she heard a loud hum, which turned into an ear-splitting whine.  She turned just in time to see the mirror glowing a sickly green, before beginning to audibly crack.

Sunset pulled Razz away from the mirror.  “GET BEHIND ME!” she shouted as she quickly threw up a shield, seconds before the mirror detonated, sending billions of shards of glass slamming into Sunset’s barrier, followed a second later by an intense pulse of dark magic and an unnatural scream that after a second, sounded like a neigh.

Sunset lowered the shield as the glass fell back to the ground.  “Everyone okay?” she asked.

Adagio pulled the strange girl to her feet.  “Yeah, quick thinking,” she told Sunset.

“What the fuck is that?” Sonata asked, pointing at the mirror.  Now that the mirror was shattered, there was a demonic picture of a black alicorn staring at them, its eyes glowing red with flame.  Even though it was nothing more than a painting hidden behind the mirror’s glass, it looked eerily lifelike, and to Sunset, it seemed as though it was particularly glaring at her.

But it was the words that sat above the dark creature’s head that said it all:

At last now you’ve unearthed these words
And my visage as well,
And now you realize our trade’s complete
And then thus ends this spell.

The gifts we’ve swapped will serve our needs,
Your wife will be my toy,
And as for what I’ve given you?
I hope she gives you joy.

And now the time comes for the end,
I give you words to claim:
Though you will be a mage ‘mongst men,
Son’s son will bring you shame.

The alicorns know of this world
And use it as a gaol –
There are worse things upon these lands
Son’s son will find the trail.

A hidden altar he will make
Then murder the very sun
If you allow this act to take
Your world will be undone.

A smart man, scholar learned art you,
A king, future’s aweigh
But your blood will raise doom upon Earth
Not now…

But perhaps…

Someday.

Sunset looked at the remains of the mirror.  “He knew,” she said angrily.  “That bastard knew.”

“Who knew?”

“This was a message for Cavalcanti, from the black unicorn!” Sunset explained.  “Sombra!”

A second later, Aria showed up with the first aid kit.  Looking at the damage all around, she sighed.  “You guys always have fun when I’m not around, don’t you?”





A door clicked and it creaked as it swung open, catching the attention of all in the room.  A muzzle was raised, barking a single report as a bullet slammed into the concrete ceiling below.

“I hate to interrupt your pity party,” an anonymous female thug surrounded by four other women shouted, “but maybe you’ll want something to eat – a last meal before you all die!”  Four more SIRENs came in and dropped a bunch of steaming boxes on the ground, then the octet left and slammed the door shut.

Feeling a little more intact, Shining forced himself to his feet.  “You guys stay back,” he told them.

“Shining, dear, you’re hurt,” Velvet told him.

“Better my life than yours,” he told them, before he approached the boxes.  They looked like pizza boxes, and after a quick check, they were pizza boxes.  Unfortunately, they were from Mambo Italiano, probably the worst pizza place in all of Canterlot.  A box of lukewarm Shastas sat next to the boxes, and a roll of paper towels as well.

“Yeah, it looks safe…well, that is, if you can stand eating Mambo Italiano.”  A bunch of simulated gagging could be heard, especially by those of Italian blood.

Luna shrugged.  “Hey, anything’s good when you’re hungry or drunk out of your mind at two in the morning.”

Celestia sighed.  “Lu, this is not the time to mention that, especially in front of some of our students!”

Luna looked at her sister.  “Sis…I don’t know if we’re going to see tomorrow.  At this point, I don’t care what they know about me.” She turned and looked at the girls.  “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I made out with another girl on a dare?”

Velvet sighed.  “Luna, please, not now.”

“I thought you were straight, Ms. Luna,” Twilight asked.

“Well, I am – but you know that song ‘I Kissed a Girl’?  Well, you’d be surprised the things you’ll do when drunk.”

“LUNA!”  Celestia’s shout rang through the room.

Luna sighed.  “…and that’s why you shouldn’t drink too much or let someone take advantage of you, no matter how hot he is,” Luna droned.  “Because they might make you do something that you might think is fun and you’ll end up with another girl begging you to take them to bed because—”

“Aunt Luna, I love you dearly, but please shut up,” Cadance groaned.

“No, I wanna hear this story!” Rainbow said.

“Yes, by all means, let the walking Gay Pride Flag hear the story,” Rarity muttered.

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Rares.  Don’t be such a prissy bitch.”

“Ladies,” Celestia said primly, “no.  And if we die and you don’t listen, I will find a way to issue you all detention in Heaven, am I clear?”  The girls all nodded, and Celestia looked at Luna.  “And if you’re going to tell them that story, why don’t you add the part where Jalapeno Salsa stalked you to the point you had to get a restraining order.”

Luna facepalmed.  “Don’t remind me.”

“Your sister is…unique,” Solaire told Celestia.

“Yeah, a little too much,” Velvet added.

At this point, Shining had moved the boxes over to where everyone else was sitting.  “Sorry, but this is as good as it’s gonna get.  We’ll just have to live with it.”  Seeing his father still prone, he asked, “Mom, can you get Dad up?”

“I’m up,” Night said, turning and trying to sit up despite the bruises.  “Looks like they got you good, son,” he told Shining.

“I’m more worried about you, Dad,” Shining told him back.   “You’re not getting any younger.”

“That’s what you think,” he said with a laugh.  “Maybe if a multiverse exists, I’m some kind of magical wizard or something.”

“I severely doubt that,” Velvet told him.  “If you were, I’m pretty sure you would’ve gotten us out of this by now.”

“Who knows?” he laughed, then winced from the plain.  “Maybe I’m just waiting for the most dramatic moment.”

“Then I’d really appreciate if you’d stop waiting now, Night,” Celestia told him.

“Yeah, right, Tia,” he told her.  “I’m just getting started.”


The teens wordlessly passed out the pizza, and then they broke into groups again.  “What’s going to happen to Spike?” Fluttershy asked nervously.  It was already bad enough that she had to suffer this hell, but poor Spike was only a little boy.

“Ah guess the same thing that’s gonna happen to the rest of us,” Applejack said morosely.  Fluttershy immediately wanted to go over and hug the young child, but that would only make it harder in the end, she knew.

“C’mon, we’ve been through worse!” Pinkie assured them.  “We’ve always made it through with flying col—”

“Stop!  Pinkie, please, just stop!”  Twilight’s eyes glistened with tears.  “I got my sister killed, and now we’re lying to my parents!”

“Twily, we don’t know if Sunny’s dead,” Octavia told her.  “I’m worried about her too, but I have to believe she made it out okay, that, ironically, you telling her to go away was what made sure she’s safe.”

“Well, I for one, believe in her,” Rarity said.  “As long as I’ve known her, she’s been capable of…well, things that will surprise you.  She certainly surprised us all many a time,” the fashionista insisted, with the other girls agreeing.  “You have to have faith in your sister, Twilight, dear.  And I guarantee that faith will be rewarded.”

“Look, even Ah have some faith in Sunny to pull off things that’re like magic, but seriously, Rares, we’re in over our heads!” Applejack told her.  “Not even we can get out of this situation, sugarcube!”

“I have faith.”  They all looked at Pinkie, who didn’t look worried in the least; in fact, it was more than a little odd to see the teenager so completely calm and composed.  “I know she’ll come for us – for all of us.  We are all tied together by destiny, and our future calls to us.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “Uh, did you get hit a little too hard, Pinkie?  You’re starting to sound like that one stoner girl in class—”

“Rainbow Dash, that’s uncalled for!” Fluttershy admonished.  “Especially now of all times!”

“I’m afraid she has a point, Rainbow, dear,” Rarity said admonishingly.  “Besides, Perfect Paisley constantly falls asleep because she has narcolepsy, the poor dear.  She has to take a cocktail of medicines and that slurs her speech too, so everyone thinks she’s taking illicit drugs.  I think you owe her an apology when we get out of this.”

“If we get out of this,” Twilight said, worriedly.

Pinkie looked at the rest of her friends and their morose state, then at the adults and their situation, although given what they’d been through and might be facing soon, they were all adults now, the teen realized.  Spike, fortunately, was asleep and spared the mind-numbing thoughts of what might come next.

She then reached in her pocket for her keys and opened her locket, gazing at a picture of her and Sunset.  It had been just after she’d learned to forgive herself for wanting to commit suicide and before she realized what Sunset meant to her.  But if someone looked closely, there was something in Pinkie’s eyes back then, something she knew, that said her destiny would forever be entwined with the flame-haired girl.

“Come back to us, Sunny, we need you,” Pinkie said softly, bringing the picture to her lips and kissing Sunset’s image.  “Come back to me.”





“Can you stand?” Sunset asked her.

Raspberry nodded.  “I…I think so.  Am I trapped here?”

“Until we get Platinum’s mirror fixed, yeah, I’m afraid so.”  A heartsick look came over her fellow unicorn’s face and Sunset hugged her.  “At least you’re not alone, Razz.  I’m here.”

Raspberry returned the hug.  “Yeah, you’re right.  Thanks, Sunny.”

Aria looked at the two.  “Look, we need to get going, so I suggest you do something about Discount Godiva here, okay?  Even with nothing moving out there, I don’t think it’s wise to take her out like that.”

“Yeah, and we gotta do something about this little guy, too,” Sonata replied, rubbing Heliodor on the top of his head.  “I swear, he’s the smartest canary I’ve ever met.”

“Oh, he’s not a canary, Soni,” Sunset explained.  “He’s a phoenix.”

Adagio looked at the naked girl, then the small housebird that was apparently anything but, then back to her friend who she knew was a unicorn.  “And here I thought my sisters and I were going to be the weirdest things here,” she commented in bemusement.

“What’s the military term?  ‘Adapt and overcome?’”

“That’s an Americanism,” Aria pointed out.  “Usually for us Canucks, it’s just ‘destroy and worry about later.’”

“Um…okay.  Anyway, let me take care of one problem.”  Sunset cast a spell, then a flash of cyan surrounded Raspberry before it went away, and a second later, she was wearing one of Sunset’s Discord t-shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes.

“This feels weird, Sunny.  Are you sure this is normal?” Raspberry asked, picking at her clothing.  “Also, does this thing say ‘Discord’?  Why would you have that lunatic’s name on a shirt?”

“Because here’s he’s a rock star, not a chaos god,” Sunset explained.  “Plus, he’s Fluttershy’s father.”

“Really?”  When Sunset nodded, Raspberry sighed.  “This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

“Uh, ladies, we’re up against a clock?” Sonata reminded them.  “A clock called the constant energy of the universe, remember?  Personally, you might have a backup emergency reality, Sunny, but the rest of us don’t.  And I like not being turned into scattered quarks because everything went kablooey!”

“Okay, let’s get going.  You ready, Razz?”

“Not really; I’m still getting used to being a ‘hyu-mahn’.”

“Human,” Aria corrected.

So it was to everyone’s surprise that the new girl began walking on her legs and hands, balling up her fists and hunching over at an odd angle.

Sunset looked at the triplets.  “No.  Just…don’t.  I already know what you three are going to say and…just no.”  She moved over to her fellow former unicorn and said, “Razz?  Humans are bipedal.”

Raspberry looked at her with a mix of embarrassment and surprise.  “Yeah, I kinda forgot that.  Let me try.”  She stood up and gingerly took a step forward.  “Okay, this isn’t so bad.”  However, it was the second step, moving her left leg that a searing pain exploded in her nerves and she collapsed to the ground, screaming.

Sunset was there immediately.  “Sorry, I forgot about that – your wounds carry over.  You okay?”

“No, I’m not okay!” she shouted.  “I’m hurt and in a strange body, I don’t have my magic anymore, I have no way to make it back home according to you and I might just die here!  What part of okay is this?”  Raspberry looked at Sunset, and there were tears in her eyes, not entirely from her pain.  “I’m afraid,” she said softly.  “I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Heliodor flew down to comfort his mistress, but to his surprise, he was caught in mid-flight by Adagio’s grasp.  He glared at her and was about to blow a flame, when she looked at the bird and said, “Let me handle this.”  Heliodor, surprised to be addressed, nodded, and flew over to Sunset’s shoulder.  She then looked at Sunset.  “Sunny, let me deal with this, okay?”

“Sure,” Sunset replied, wondering what Adagio was going to do.

“Sunny, come with me,” Sonata said.  “We need to find a table for you to work on, because I have an idea that might get your friend walking.”  Intrigued, Sunset followed the ponytailed-girl out of the room.


“They’re gone,” Aria said a second later.

Adagio wordlessly nodded.  “GET THE FUCK TO YOUR FEET!” Adagio ordered.  “THIS AIN’T NO PITY PARTY!”  Raspberry looked at the girl with utter surprise, so Adagio grabbed her by the arm and literally pulled her to her feet.

“Let’s get something straight,” Adagio said, hissing at her.  “I get that you’re one of Sunny’s friends, and that she cares about you, I do.  But we care about her too.  And I will not let her die just because you want to have a Goddamn ‘woe is me’ session!”

Raspberry’s look of surprise immediately turned to one of anger.  “I don’t like your tone.”

“And I don’t like your attitude,” Adagio retorted.  “I owe Sunny.  She literally saved my life.  I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for her, and before that she was one of my closest friends.  And now her family and friends – my friends too – are all in the hands of a madman trying to destroy the universe.  That’s not some bullshit hyperbole, this is the real fucking deal.  And I don’t have time to carry some freaked-out little girl because she can’t get with the program!

“I get that you’re afraid, I do.  I was nearly killed a few hours ago, and I’m scared shitless.  My kid sisters watched me nearly die, and do you think they’re in any better condition?”

“We’re not,” Aria agreed.

“But Sunset seems to think you’re some sort of hot shit from her world.  And right now, that’s what we need.  I get your world is under attack and believe me, I sympathize wholeheartedly.  But I’m not going to throw the ones I care about most in this world to their deaths because you can’t get your shit together!  So either shape the fuck up or sit here and wait for the world to end, because I don’t have the ammo to spare to put one through your skull.  So what’s it going to be?”

“You had better watch out when I get my powers back,” Raspberry growled.

“Good.  You can hate me all you want, so long as you get the job done.”  The two glared at one another.  “Take whatever time you need to compose yourself, but the moment you step out of this room, I want your game face on, got that?”  Nothing more to say, Adagio went off in search of Sonata and Sunset.

“And you guys are soldiers?” Raspberry asked Aria.

“No, we’re special operators,” Aria explained.  “And we shouldn’t exist in a perfect world, any more than Sunset should.  But this isn’t a perfect world – and it’s the only one we have.  I hope you take that into consideration.”  Aria then followed her sister out of the room.

A few seconds later, biting through the pain and forcing herself to walk, so did Raspberry.  She took step by painful step, and though her body screamed with agony, she forced herself to move, roaring sting repeatedly, towards the door.

The first thing Raspberry heard when she stepped out of the room was a loud slap, followed by Sunset shouting, “That was uncalled for!”

She looked to see Adagio rubbing her face.  “Look, Sunny, I get that you and she come from a world that shits rainbows and looks like a Lucky Charms cereal box exploded.  But you’ve lived here on Earth for about five years now, right?  And she’s going to have to adjust to being human as well.  This isn’t the background of Robot Unicorn Attack, this is real life, warts and all, and we’re now at war.”

“Still uncalled for.”

“I’ll apologize to her later after we save the world and we’re all okay to sit around and have a beer, okay?  And before you ask, yes, I’ve had to drink as a part of missions – and I’ll be glad to give that up.  I don’t even like beer.”

“Now,” Sunset insisted.

“Fine,” Adagio replied, going over to Raspberry and offering her hand.  “Okay, I’m so—”  Adagio’s response was ended when Raspberry backhanded her across the face.  “Okay, I guess I deserve that a little,” she admitted.

“She learns fast,” Aria said to Sonata.  “I think I’m going to like her.”

Sunset pointed to a chair, then moved over by Raspberry.  “Lean on me, Razz.  We’re going to get you to a seat.”

“Why?  You’re not going to leave me behind, are you?” the girl asked worriedly.

Sunset sighed.  “Razz, would I do that?”  Raspberry turned away but Sunset was firm.  “Razz, look at me.  Do you really think I would abandon you right now?”

“I…I don’t know.  I thought you had to save your world?”

“We do, but I’m going to need your help.”  She then gestured to Sonata, who was carrying something in her hands.  “And you’re going to need this.”

Sonata bent down and started wrapping a series of metal tubes around Raspberry’s leg.  “Hope I got this right,” she said.  “This is just purely experimental shit I’ve read about and I’m not that good at bionics.”

“Is anyone?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, the mad scientists at DARPA.  I can build shit, but even some shit’s above my paygrade, know what I mean?”  She slid the straps around Raspberry’s leg, checked the servos one more time, and muttered, “Seriously, if this works and we save the world, I’m going to Maker Faire with this shit,” then stepped away.

Sunset walked a bit away and held her arms out to Raspberry.  “Okay, now walk to me.”

Raspberry looked at Sunset.  “I…can’t.”

“You can,” Sonata said, “and you will.”  Raspberry flinched and Sonata put a comforting arm on Raspberry’s shoulder.  “Don’t worry, I’m the stupid one.  I’m not as forceful as my sisters are.”

Aria rolled her eyes.  “Yes, the geek/nerd/twidget’s the stupid one.  Of course everyone’s going to believe that.”

Sonata stuck her tongue at Aria, then looked back at Raspberry.  “Ignore her.  Just do it.”

“Oh God is she going to do that horrible imitation of that one actor again?”

“Hopefully not,” Adagio commented.  “I kinda think it’s dorky, too.”

“Trust me,” Sonata told Raspberry as she ignored her sisters.  “And if Sunny’s your friend, you’ll trust her too.”

Raspberry looked at Sunset, then back to Sonata, and then down at her leg, in the weird straps and contraption.  She closed her eyes, took a breath, then counted to ten…

…and stood.

She walked over to Sunset with a slight limp, but otherwise, not feeling any pain.  “What magic is this?” she asked, shocked.

“Not magic at all,” Sunset told her.  “Welcome to a world where technology rules.  Soni just built you a leg brace, designed to let you walk and run.”

Raspberry turned and looked at Sonata as though she was a god.  “It will deliver extra power to make up for whenever your leg can’t take it, and it’s self-charging via energy recapture,” the SIREN explained.  “There are better models that DARPA and other agencies make; this is just bare bones science fair stuf—WHOA!”  She found herself buried in a deep hug by Raspberry.

“Thank you,” she sobbed into Sonata’s shoulder.


Adagio pulled Sunset aside.  “Hey, between you and me….”

“No, Dagi, we’re not going to leave her behind and I don’t know if I trust you around her right now.”

Adagio sighed.  “Look, you have my word I’m not going to touch her again, okay?  I’m doing what I can to keep us alive right now.”  When Sunset looked at her, the SIREN told her, “You figured out a cancellation path around this time freeze spell, okay?  That probably means Divine Right has as well, which could very well mean that we’re still in danger.  We need to get to our hideout before they find it.”

“That works for me.  What else?”

“When we get to our hideout…when we go against Divine, I strongly recommend you leave your friend behind.”  The look in Adagio’s eyes was serious.  “She’s going through trauma right now…PTSD.  She’s not going to be of any use to us when we get out into the field.  Hell, if this were the old days, someone would’ve used MINDMAGIC on her—”

“Mind magic? I thought you said you didn’t have access to magic?”

“It’s not like that.  MINDMAGIC is a code name for a drug cocktail that our government came up with to get rid of SIREN washouts.  For anyone under legal age, they use it to wipe their mind, give them a new identity since the drug also makes you susceptible, and drop them off in an orphanage in various parts of the world, mostly the US.  If you’re an adult they do the same thing, except you’re signed up for the regular RCN for four years, then sent completely on your way and into a new life.”  Adagio paused.  “Of course, I wouldn’t do that – I know what the stuff does and I was there when they used it on a SIREN candidate.  Anyway, your friend is going through a lot right now, and I don’t think she’s going to be of any help.”

Sunset nodded, not sure of how to respond to that.  Instead, she said, “Okay, get us to where we need to be.  We need to start preparing for what happens next.”

“On it.”





Queen fed, and it was glorious.  One of the Old Things they used to be, back when they were weak, wandered into their territory, and Sister attacked, killing the Old Thing instantly.  And now they fed.

Mate, however, was doing something curious, pulling off the Old Thing’s skin.  Queen vaguely remembered something about the part where the legs met, and in a few seconds, Mate did what came naturally, and Queen remembered why.

Sister growled at Mate and swiped him.  That was a good thing.  One did not play with their food like that or waste vital energy.

Queen lifted her tail, presenting herself before Mate. Mate responded, and a few minutes later, Sister did the same.  Mate would have to expend that energy on them before sitting down to eat.  After all, as big as the Old Things were, there was more than enough.

Queen and Sister looked at each other.  Males, they thought in unison.





Divine slipped on his specially-made outfit for the occasion, walking around the chamber, checking everything.  The only addition he’d made since was a cage for his “guests” who would be here to witness his triumph.  He would command a demon and he had armies.  The reign of Emperor Divine Right would soon begin and the Earth would be his.

Then after that, maybe the world his father of father’s mentor the Black Unicorn came from.  It had been long enough, and he was sure the Black Unicorn no longer lived, and that world probably now suffered for a lack of a real ruler.  Perhaps he would find a fitting descendant of that creature and make that individual a governor of that realm in memory of the being that had led him to this moment.

All of that would come in due time, though.  For now, came the hard work.

He looked at the obelisk that would host the final mark.  The blood would run down the channel and then pool underneath the bell.  At the same time, the singer would sing her song, and would cause vibrations in the bell, which would wake up the demon within.  And then Divine would cast the second spell that would bind the demon to him and make it his.

Oh, sure, he expected some rebellion from the creature; you didn’t control a thing as powerful as it without some problems, but he was sure that he would have everything under his control.  After all, he froze time and stopped his enemies.  His armies were building, and soon he would have command of a great demon and thus the armies of Hell at his fingertips.

He wondered how Divinerightia would sound as a name for the rechristened Earth.

He would make this town Divinerightopolis, the capital of Divinerightia, the first of the worlds of the Divine Dynasty.  It had a better ring to it than “Canterlot” or “Earth”, after all.

He walked over to a small pedestal by the sacrifice stone and looked in a demonic bestiary, flipping it to the correct page, that of a massive blue demonic goat, with long, twisted black horns, red eyes and hooves of flame.

In just a few hours, you will bow to me, Grogar, Divine thought to himself with a grin, looking at the bell.





“Shimmer, how did you escape?”  Zephyr had his hands on her shoulders and was looking at her with panic.  “Where’s your mother?  What the hell happened to you?”  The look on his eyes was one of recognition, and that simple gesture poured ice water down her veins.

Somehow, he knew Sunset Shimmer – the other Sunset Shimmer, the human one.
Which meant that she was in town…
…and worse, she was with the enemy – and her family!

“I’m not who you think I am,” she told him.

“No, I know who you are.  Sunset Shimmer, Princess of House Bonaparte, and I’m here to protect you and your mother.”

Sunset’s jaw dropped.  “Princess?  Other me’s a princess?”

“I thought you were a princess too, Sunny,” Sonata asked.  “You said your mother’s one back in Equestria.”

“What are you talking about?” Zephyr asked Sonata.

“Look, Zephyr, I don’t know what you’re going on about, but I recognize this girl; she’s one of my girlfriend’s students,” Sable told him.

“Look, I see there’s going to be an explanation needed,” Sunset told everyone.  She then turned to Aria.  “Can you check up on Razz?  You’ve already heard it, so you’re not going to miss anything.”

“Yeah, no problem.  She’s still a little rattled, so she’s probably still sleeping it off.  That bird of hers is something, though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he looked bored, so we got one of the laptops we weren’t using and put a movie on.  Only one we had is Top Gun, but he seems absolutely fascinated.” Aria shrugged.  “Maybe because he’s never seen aircraft before, I dunno.  Anyway, I’ll go check on her.”

“Thanks.”  Sunset then caught the attention of the others, and said, “Now, listen up, because what you’re going to hear is true.  You may not believe it, but if you don’t, realize that time has been stopped right now, and the only thing keeping you in motion at the moment is me.”  She held her hand out and an aqua ball of spellfire came into her hand.


Aria entered the room silently, watching the girl fitfully toss and turn in her sleep.  She knew what that was like; since her introduction to what could be considered a normal life, she’d had a few of those herself.  She opted to leave the girl alone, and then went into the adjacent room where the TV was set up.  The credits to Top Gun were playing and to Aria’s surprise, the bird flew over, hit the stop button on the laptop, then hit the full reverse one, then quickly hit start again.  How he’d learned to do that was nothing short of amazing.  Sunny was right – this bird was anything but normal.

She plopped down in the seat next to him.  “Liking the film, little guy?”

In response, the canary perched atop a rifle tripod they brought in for him to use, and he looked at her before chirping something.

“I guess.  Anyway, your…mistress needs to sleep a little more, but if she wakes up, you come get me, Soni or Sunny, okay?”  To her surprise, the bird pulled off a perfect salute with his wing, and Aria couldn’t help but salute him back.

It wasn’t until she walked out of the room that she realized…bird wings don’t bend like that, do they?


She walked into the living room with everyone staring at Sunset in shock with the exception of Adagio, who had a bored look on her face; and Sonata, who was too busy prepping her gear.

“Did you know about this?” Vesper asked Adagio.

The eldest triplet nodded.  “She told us everything – she was the reason we went south, and it turned out that they were trying to capture her, but as to why, we don’t know.”  She then looked at Zephyr.  “But I bet you do.”

“I was assigned to protect a French VIP: a princess of the former French Imperial Family and her daughter.  This became all the more urgent after my partner was murdered in this shitshow you got going on here in Canterlot.”  He looked at Sunset.  “The daughter looks just like you and is also named Sunset.”

“She’s…probably my counterpart on this world,” Sunset admitted with some reluctance.  “I’m not human, though I look like it right now.  I’m actually a unicorn from a parallel dimension.  So is my friend that I brought in.  She’s going through something like what I went through when I first came to this world four years ago.”

“Seriously?  I mean, yeah, you’ve got magic,” Evergreen said aloud.  “But a unicorn?”

“Greenie, she’s telling you the truth.  We saw it for ourselves,” Aria replied before walking over to Sunset and leaning against her.  “And even if we didn’t…she’s our friend.  We take her at face value.”

Adagio took the other side.  “Completely.”

Sonata hugged them all.  “Absolutely.”

“Uh…okay.  But can’t she just…I dunno, change back into a unicorn or something?”

Sunset crossed her arms.  “Look, I’m expending a lot of magic I can’t afford to right now, keeping the laws of physics running in this room.  I used up most of it getting her and trying to keep things under control and that was after I saved Adagio from nearly dying.

The room suddenly got so quiet that you could’ve heard a pin drop.

Intermezzo gave a sickly-sweet smile and looked at everyone who wasn’t a SIREN.  “Okay, make yourselves scarce, we have some keelhauling to do.  Go outside and smoke or something.”

“I’ve limited the spell to the perimeter of the house,” Sunset explained.

“Then you two—” Vesper said to the men, “—go watch Top Gun with that strange bird of theirs.  And you,” she said to Sunset, “go check on your friend.  From what I gather, she’s been through a lot and if this other world you’re talking about is going through a war of its own as she said, she might have PTSD.”

Sunset nodded.  “Good idea.”

She went into the other room before the screaming started.

“Sunset?”  She turned to see the man named Sable approaching her.  “Tia’s talked about you a lot.  She’s pretty proud of you, and says you’re one of her top students.”

“No, I’m not,” Sunset admitted, “but I’m getting there.”

“Did she, ah, cover for you?”

“She did after she found out.  It’s the only reason I’m not at the Blanks, or worse, even though I deserved to end up there after everything.”

“Well, from what I gather, you really turned your life around.”  He thought about for a second, then added, “Sorry, that probably sounded insensitive.”

“Not offended, don’t worry.  Besides, it’s true in more ways than one.”

“Well, I’m going to let you check on your friend, but just wanted you to know that in case you see her.”

“See her?”

Sable nodded.  “Tia and Luna were captured by these guys as well.  From what I’m gathering, if you look like this other Sunset, then either Tia or Lu may look like the other Sunset’s mother.”

A cold breeze seemed to surround Sunset at that moment.  Practically everyone involved in her life was being hunted for reasons she had yet to understand, and if it was all just coincidence, it was the worst intersectionality in the history of ever, as Pinkie would’ve said.  And now she was getting to throw three more friends into the fire to save everyone else, and possibly even the world, when her secret was now exposed to people who knew her in-universe counterpart.

She silently wandered away from Sable and towards the room where her fellow unicorn slept.  That was something else she had to consider as well: what if the gate to Equestria never opened, or worse, it did only to find their home a wasteland?  What if Raspberry had nothing to return to?

What if….  She thought about the white alicorn who had been so central to her life, her mother.  How could she reconcile her mother with the other female who was going to be her mother as well?  Forget Heather Has Two Mommies – Sunset had to reconcile that before it got reconciled for her, and that time was likely to be coming a lot sooner than she ever wanted.

Was she on the verge of losing everyone and everything she loved?

“Are you okay?”  She looked up to see Raspberry, lying on the bed, looking up at her.  “Sunny?”

Sunset looked down at her friend.  “Yeah, I just realized that I’m going to lose my life here if I save this world.  And I am going to save this world; there’s too much in it that I love and wouldn’t want to see hurt.”  She shuddered.  “But after this, I’m going to lose my family, the ones I love.  I’m…I’m going to have to start life over again.”

Raspberry sat up.  “What about our home?  Your mother?  My parents?”

“I don’t know.  We have to save this world, or we won’t be able to go back.  And I know from what you said, there’s a war going on over there, too – and there’s no guarantee that world will survive.  I’m sure my mother will do something, but….”  A bleak look came over Sunset’s face.  “I’m going to lose the ones I love.  Even if I save them, I’m still going to lose them.”

“I’m sorry,” Raspberry said.  “At the end of the day, I still have Heelee.  But….”  She looked at herself.  “I’m this human thing now.  A human mare.”

“Girl,” Sunset corrected.  “We’re not adults yet, so we’re girls.  Once we hit adulthood, then we’ll be women, woman singular.”

A curious look came over Raspberry’s face.  “But I thought ‘girl’ was a colloquialism for a female friend in Equish?  I….”  She shook her head.  “This is going to be confusing.”

“Yeah, it’s not the differences that’ll throw you off, it’s the similarities,” Sunset said with a grin.  “You lost your magic?”

Raspberry nodded.  “I’ve been working with the Princess’ Hooves all this time.”

“So you know about them, huh?”  When Raspberry nodded, Sunset smiled.  “They were my bodyguards while I was a young filly, though I think I frustrated them a lot since I was a brat.  How’s Acapriccio Inferno doing?”

“Who?”

“Acapriccio Inferno – she was the castellan of the Hooves and like a big sister to me.  Or at least she tried to be.”

“Sunny, the current castellan is Marimba Rondo.”

Sunset looked shocked.  “But Mari was just a junior Hoof when I was a….”  Sunset sighed.  “I should’ve taken the time to talk to some of them when I was in the castle, to let them know I was okay.”

Raspberry smiled.  “They know.  In fact, they fought valiantly to try to get me to the portal so that I could come get you.  Celestia’s speech was quite moving during the war commission, and once the Hooves knew you were alive, they made it a priority to get me to you.”  Raspberry looked at the ground.  “Some died to that end.  And they may think me dead now.  I certainly feel it.  I can’t feel anything anymore.  It’s like….”  She sighed.  “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I do.  You feel more than just empty, you feel like a fake.  I was that way the first few months I was here on Earth, before I learned how to mine the ambient magic from the lunar cycle.  Took me a long time to learn how to do that and when I felt drained that feeling came back.  Now that I have my magic back in full, I still remember those times.  I don’t envy you at all.”  She grinned.  “If you’re stuck here, I’ll teach you how to do that.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll learn how to use white magic.”

“Yes, but if I’m stuck here, where will I stay?”

“I’ll talk to Mom – you can stay with us and—”  The smile instantly fell from Sunset’s face and Raspberry immediately wished she could take away what she’d just said, as reminding Sunset of her situation made things worse.  “I…I’ll figure something out for us.  I still have to save this world, no matter what.”

“Even if it costs you everything?”

Sunset nodded.  “My family may not care about me if they find out what I really am.  They may even hate me – my sister already does, and she doesn’t know the full truth.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t love her, or the rest of my family, or my friends.  And the innocents of this world don’t deserve to die, or be under the jackboot of a man like this Divine Right guy.  And last, I am the Archmagus of Equestria and the Child of the Sun.  It is my duty to make things right, no matter what.”

“Then what about me?”

“I want you to stay here.  Heelee can guard you if need be.  But the girls and I and the others – we have to face off against this evil.  Too many people have been killed already and too many are still in danger.  I can’t stand by, Razz.  I can’t.”

The pair were silent for the longest time.  Then Raspberry spoke.

“I want to help.”

Sunset sighed, realizing that her desperate optimism regarding her friend’s magic earlier would make her a hypocrite now.  “Razz, you can’t.  You’re just a normal girl now.  And I can’t risk that.”

“I’m not just a normal girl, okay?  I’m an Archmagus, too!” Raspberry retorted.  “You even said you needed my help back at the museum!”

“An archmage without her power is no different from anyone who hasn’t trained at all.”

“That’s not true and you know it!  I can still see what to look out for!  And you need all the help you can get!”  She then pointed at the door.  “And just outside these doors are normal mares and stallions – I mean, women and…wait, what are adult human males called?”

“Men.”

“Ah, right.  Gotcha.  Anyway, there are normal men and women out there, magicless, who are going out to fight beside you!”

“Yes, men and women who are trained better than most guards,” Sunset explained.  “Think of the SIRENs as the equivalent of the Hooves, and the guys…well, I don’t know their skills, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they know their way around a gun.”  Sunset shook her head.  “I can’t let you do this, Razz.  Believe me, if you had your magic I wouldn’t hesitate.  But you’d just be throwing your life away right now.”  She sighed.  “As it is, I can’t afford to use much more magic to protect you and I’m nearly drained to begin with.  I’m going to have to tap the lunar cycle one more time.”

Raspberry pled with Sunset.  “I’m not letting you go out there alone!  If our world is gone, you’re the only other one of our kind left, Sunny!”

“No.  What it means is that if our world is gone…we’re two of seven billion people on this world, because we will never be ponies again.”

But that wasn’t the detail Raspberry focused on.  “Seven…billion?  With a B?”

“Focus, Razz; that’s not important.  If you’re going to be of help, we need to think of how.  You can’t just run out there with a gun and expect to make it all better.”  She got up from her chair and called out towards the other room.  “Hey girls, you done arguing yet?”

Adagio popped back.  “Yeah.  Safe to say from a parental standpoint we’re grounded until the next century, but at least military-wise we’re too valuable right now to get into real trouble.  What’s up?”

“This is going to sound crazy, but do you know any way for a human to use magic?” Sunset asked.

“Wat.”  Behind Adagio, Aria looked at her friend as if she’d gone mad.  “Sunny, we just found out earlier today magic is real and now you want to turn us into witches?”

“Hey, can I be Bayonetta?” Sonata asked, popping up behind Aria.  “I want to fire guns with my feet, wear clothing made out of my hair and have expensive fashion glasses!”

“Why me?” Adagio facepalmed.

“Dearest sister mine, Bayonetta was a videogame.  And you’re an idiot,” Aria told her younger sister.

“But…but…but….”  Sonata began to pout.

“Soni, don’t do that.  You know you’re not allowed to use lethal-level pouting,” Aria said.

“But Ari...!”  Sonata went over to Adagio and started tugging on her arm.  “Daaaaaaaaagggggggiiii!  Ari’s picking on me!”

“Little sister, be serious, okay?  For Sunny’s sake?”

Sonata immediately dropped the act.  “Okay,” she replied calmly, a change so fast Raspberry looked at Sunset as though the girl with the powder-blue hair was a changeling.

“Good.  Now, seriously – is there anything in human culture that can give someone the ability to use magic spells?” Sunset asked.

“Sunny, that’s the problem – it’s not that there’s anything, there’s a lot of things,” Adagio told her.  “I could probably sit here for the rest of my life and tell you all the magical things that have been in media since the dawn of time.  I take it that it’s for her?” she said, pointing at Raspberry.

“She has a name,” Raspberry growled in a sing-song tone.

“I didn’t get your name,” Adagio said back in the same inflection.

After proper introductions, Sunset looked to the former unicorn, then the teenage militiawomen, then back.  “Okay, now you know each other and are on the same side so you don’t kill each other or make snarky comments.  And now that we’re done with introductions, everyone put your Goddamn heads together so that we can figure something out, okay?”

“I’ve got it!  Phoenix’s Dream!” Sonata said a second later.

“Phoenix’s what?” Sunset and Raspberry asked at the same time.

“Oh, that’s right!” Aria chimed in.  “Sunny, you read the Spellbound series, right?”

“Yeah, Amelia’s my favorite character, followed by Sharon Rose, Amelia’s rival.  He’s as dangerous as they come.”

“How far have you read?”

“I was about halfway through The Spelljackers – got to the scene where Sharon faces off against his evil half-brother.”

“Well, in the climax of that scene, the—” Sonata began, but was cut off immediately by Adagio, who covered her mouth.

“You bothered by spoilers, Sunny?” the carrot-topped girl asked.

“Huh?”

“No, seriously – are you bothered by spoilers?  Because this is an important scene in the book and I don’t want the story spoiled for you, especially if you like the series.”

“Uh, Dagi?  Fate of the world?  Little more important.”

“It’s a simple question, really.”

“Yeah, just looking out for you, Sunny,” Aria added.

Sunset sighed.  “Yes, I am, but right now the fate of the world is at stake and I have no one but myself to blame but at least there will still be a world where I can bitch that the story was ruined for me!”

“Okay, just remember we could’ve given you the Twitter version,” Adagio warned as she removed her hand from Sonata’s mouth.

Sonata continued as if she hadn’t been stopped.  “—fact is that Sharon is seriously injured, while his brother Ruska is going for the kill, while Amelia is trying to save the last known phoenix before Ruska kills it.  She finally gets it to the Arbiters, then has to go back and save Sharon.  Unfortunately, at this point, Ruska has ingested too many Laerian mushrooms, so he’s practically a magical monster and if Sharon can’t stop him, no one can.

“But then the phoenix, realizing that she needs to go in and save Sharon and stop Ruska, flies over to a nearby stonebirch tree and tears off a branch, then cuts itself with the sharp, jagged edge, bleeding on it.  The phoenix then rips out one of its own feathers and uses magic to fuse it to the end of the branch.  Then with its last breath, it dies, giving Amelia the wand.  The moment she touches it, her power increases immensely!”  Sonata’s eyes grew wide with excitement as she added, “Then she charges in with what she calls ‘Phoenix’s Dream’ and beats Ruska singlehandedly, saving Sharon!  It’s then that Sharon and Amelia look into each other’s eyes an—”

“Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!”  Sunset immediately covered her ears.  “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!”

Adagio shrugged.  “I warned her.  Did I not warn her?” the eldest triplet stated.

Aria gave her older sister a pat on the shoulder.  “You did your best, sis.  I’m proud of you.”

Meanwhile, Raspberry caught that immediately.  “No!  Are you kidding?  It’ll kill him!”

“Don’t phoenixes set themselves on fire and rejuvenate themselves?” Sonata asked.

“Yes – when they’re adults!  Heelee is only five years old!  Phoenixes usually don’t do that until their first century!”

“Plus, I hate to tell you this, but stonebirch trees don’t exist,” Sunset added, “though I’m shocked that…Amelia and Sharon?  Seriously?  Ashley is much better for her!  Ash loves Amelia!  How could she betray him like that?”

Aria shrugged.  “Well, in the next book you find out that—”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll turn you into a toad.”

“Noooooooo!!!!!!!!” Aria ducked behind her sisters.  “Save me?  Please?”

“I’m still mad at you for calling me an idiot,” Sonata huffed.

Raspberry got back to her feet.  “I will not let you hurt Heelee and that is final!”

The three jokes stopped immediately.  “Well, looks like she does have something worth fighting for,” Adagio said, looking at the girl with a calculated grin.

A similar one was on Aria’s.  “Yup, loving pet will always do it.”

Sonata went over and patted Sunset on the shoulder.  “It’s what we do, sorry.  And besides, I made up the part about Sharon and Amelia.”

“You three are creepy sometimes, you know that?” Sunset told them.

“Yeah, we’re working on it,” Adagio said, a wistful look coming onto her face.

“So you guys spoiled the most important part of The Spelljackers just to try to see if she’s got a spine?”

Adagio sighed.  “What happened to ‘Fate of the world?  Little more important, Dagi’?”

“That’s not the point!”

“You know, you should’ve just asked me about the time I stopped a werewolf invasion of Equestria,” Raspberry drawled.  “That wasn’t easy – my leg injury is proof of that.  Oh, and there was the time I faced down a horrific spell that was the manifestation of my homicidal biological father!  And let’s not forget the time I had a ruthless unicorn coming after my plot when she thought I’d hurt her sister!”

“Well, technically you were responsible for what happened to Twily, Razz.” Sunset replied.  “And you forgot the part where we look similar, so I thought you were some evil doppelganger.”

“Yeah, forgot about that.  And as for Twily, I promise if we get out of this, I’ll apologize to her personally, okay?”  Raspberry then turned to Adagio.  “You are really pushing my buttons now, and I don’t like that.”

“Back off,” Aria warned.  “You’re not going to get a second warning.”  As if that wasn’t enough, Sonata’s hand went towards her sidearm.

“ENOUGH.”  The word was said softly, but Sunset put enough power behind the word that it practically snapped the attention of the other girls right onto her.  “I see I have your attention,” the flame-haired girl intoned.  She looked at Raspberry first.  “Razz, when I said these girls are a match for the Hooves, I mean it.  Maybe not a complete match, but they are what we call special operators, the most elite kind of warriors on the planet.  They have been trained since childhood and they are lethal.”

She then turned to face Adagio.  “Dagi, stop it with the mind games.  Razz holds the same rank as me in Equestria, and she’s going through a lot, not the least of which is changing species.  But I believe that when push comes to shove, she will be there.  And I want her to have a gun.”

“Sunny, I’m not sure that’s a good idea—” Adagio began.

“You have until Ari, Soni and I get back to get her trained on how to use one,” Sunset said in a tone that implied royal authority.  She looked at the other two sisters.  “Let’s go tell them where we’re going, and that I’m taking you two as backup.”

Now it was Sonata’s turn to parrot her sister’s words: “Sunny, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Raspberry recalled the rifles the girls had carried earlier and said, “You’re right; I have no idea what those magical rod things they were carrying—”

“Magic wands,” Adagio corrected.  “What you’re talking about is different from our rifles and are called magic wands.”

“Or rods, or staves or staffs, or—” Sonata added, only to be interrupted by Aria.

“What are you, a dictionary?”

“I’m serious about this,” Sunset told them.  “We will be right back.  I’ll go explain it to the others.  They might slip out of time for a moment or two, because I haven’t given them shielding, but you know how that is.”

“Well, you haven’t given me any shielding,” Raspberry commented.

“Just tie a line between you two,” Sunset told her.  “I’ll still need time to strip the remaining ambient magic off the moon.”

“Wait, I thought you said with this spell—” Adagio began.

“Yes, even magic is bound to the natural laws of the universe,” Raspberry intoned, “but it doesn’t mean that the magic is unrecoverable.  It just becomes a case of more mining than fishing.”

“Wow, you just impressed me.”

Raspberry huffed.  “Clearly, impressing you is the easiest thing I’ll do all day.”





“Grow up, child,” Divine Right looked at Shimmer for the last time before the ritual.  He’d come here to gloat as well as bring her a last meal – he wasn’t a monster, after all.

“Why are you doing this to us?” Shimmer screamed, only to be backhanded by Divine.

“And here I thought your mother had taught you some manners,” Divine told the girl.  “Do you realize what you are?  How special I’ve made you?  You stupid little bitch.”  He got in her face.  “You know, your mother could have been special.  I could have made her Empress!  But no, she had to go rut with the commoner your father is and have you.  And you will pay for that.”

Out of desperation, Shimmer threw a punch at him.  Divine easily grabbed her arm and slammed her against a wall.  “You are a princess, even though you are hardly deserving of the name.  Act like it.”  He backed off and looked at the pathetic thing on the floor.  “Now, if I had my way, I would make your mother my bride and give you as a plaything to the troops – after all, you are half-commoner, so you must enjoy nothing but carnal pleasures.”

He looked at her in a salacious manner, and a second later she saw why.  She adjusted her top, then glared at him.  “Creep,” she snarled.

As if a spell was broken, his glance turned to a cool rage.  “You almost bewitched me, you little trollop,” he hissed back.  “For a moment…nevermind.  You aren’t worth it.”

Shimmer realized what he was discussing and she blanched.  “YOU MONSTER!” she shouted.

“Perhaps,” he told her.  “But I will be a monster that rules the universe.  And you will be a footnote in my path to greatness, child.  It’s just the way of the world and the woof and weave.  But don’t worry: if there is an afterlife, you and your mother and that pathetic fool you called a father will be reunited and you can tell him all about how you were a good little whore.”

It was then that a thought occurred to Shimmer and she laughed.

“And what simplistic thought, praytell, amused you so?”

“Oh, I just had a thought,” she mused.  “I hope the last thing you see as you go down is my face.”

“As if that will ever happen,” he told her and left the cell.


Shimmer leaned against the wall, still in pain, looking at the food she’d been brought.  She didn’t know how long she was going to be here, but she knew that her mother’s cousin was insane and that definitely meant that he was clearly dangerous.  She reached for the cold pizza and a Sprite, then closed her eyes and remembered when she was so much younger.

“Daddy!  Lookit me!”  Somehow she’d managed to get her mother’s formal gown from the closet and her tiara and gloves from the dresser.  Not really understanding what they meant, she put them on and stumbled her way over to her father’s office.

“Hey, princess!  You look so pretty!  But does your mom know that you have her stuff?”  Shimmer shook her head no and thought she was going to be in trouble.  But her father just scooped her up in his arms and said, “We’ll just make this our little secret then, okay?”

She put her arms around his neck.  “I love you,Daddy!”

“I love you too, princess.”

Of course, hindsight was twenty-twenty and now she realized when he called her princess he’d meant it metaphorically and literally.  He’d died a couple of years later and now she didn’t know whether that accident was genuine, or whether it had been something Divine Right had caused in order to lay his plans towards fruition.

She curled into a bundle and whispered, “Daddy, if you can hear me…I need help.  Mom and I need help!”

Of course, no answer came.  It never would.

Her eyes filled with tears, once more, she remembered something her father told her: if she was ever afraid, all she would have to do is put out her hand, imagine what the thing she was afraid of was, then remember him and close her fist.  There would be magic, and it would make her problem go away.

She knew it was just something he said to her to make her feel better.  But for the first time in her life, she dearly wished it was true.

She wished that when she opened her palm, there would be magic.





A palm opened, and flash of cyan energy flared into the surrounding space as a spell completed.

Sunset looked at the now open door, and gasped.  “Really starting to wind myself here,” she told the other SIRENs.  “Hope this works.”

Aria moved next to Sunset and helped her up.  “Lean on me,” she advised.  “Soni, take point.”

“Against what?  We’re the only things moving out here!”

“That we know of,” Aria told her.  “Take point.”

“Roger that.” Sonata brought her M4 to the ready and went in, ready to do her job.

“You okay?” Aria asked while Sunset leaned on her.

“No, not really,” she admitted.  “But I’ve been through far worse.  I’ll manage.”

“Heh, we’ll make a SIREN out of you yet, Sunny.”

“I thought you were done with that after we win this?”

“Yeah, but who says we can’t start a new SIREN corps?  We can be like The A-Team!”

“The what?”

Before Aria could respond, Sonata walked out of the building.  “Coast is clear,” she told them.  “You guys can come in when you get the chance.”


As they walked into the Merrie Wytch, Sunset was both creeped out and sad at the same time.  She saw Harmonic Convergence reading from a thick book that she probably thought contained magic but was just as likely some 18th century mumbo-jumbo.  Next to her, Trixie stood, fiddling with something on her phone, probably more of the prestidigitation that she loved so much.

Sunset went over and patted her friend on the shoulder.  “Trixie, I wish you could know what it feels like to be actually magical,” she said to the still girl.  “Sometimes it’s not all what you wish it would be.”

“You know her?” Sonata asked.

Sunset nodded.  “This is Trixie Lulamoon, one of my good friends.  That’s her mother, Harmonic Convergence.  Mrs. Convergence is the ultimate granola-chomping hippie chick that thinks that magic is real.  Trixie’s a stage magician and a member of the famed Lulamoon family.  Neither of them know that magic is real.”

“You should tell them.”

The flame haired-girl shook her head.  “Trixie grew up believing in magic being one way all her life.  Her family is filled with generations of magicians, all entertainers.  What if I told her magic was real – and she couldn’t use it?  Do you know how that would devastate her?”

“Probably less than anything that would devastate these two.”  Both looked over to see Sonata, who was by the book section.  Sunset walked over and then rolled her eyes.  Leaning against one of the bookshelves, across from a disused broom, two girls were in the middle of liplock.

“Celeste-haired one’s Lyra Heartstrings; the other one is Bon-Bon.  As you can guess, they’re girlfriends.  Lyra works for Mrs. Convergence here in the shop, plus, from what I understand, Lyra and Trixie almost have the same kind of relationship that Twily and I do.  They love each other dearly.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Aria said, looking at Lyra’s left hand, which was currently in Bon-Bon’s pants.

“Lyra and Bonnie…also love each other,” Sunset said, blushing slightly as she figured out what Aria was talking about.  “So much so that I’d wager if one was a guy, the other would probably be pregnant by now.”

“I can see that.  Anyway, aside from meeting three of your friends, two of which are seconds away from a porno video in practice, what are we looking for?”

“Something that I remembered that Lyra mentioned last time I was talking to her.  One of the ‘mundane’ things they sell here in the store is some collectable stuff from things that Mrs. Convergence likes.”  Sunset wandered over to a display on the far wall.  “Like stuff from Spellbound, for instance.”  The display held several items from the series, such as small resin statues of Amelia Grund and other characters, autographed books, and various other bric-a-brac.

“Is this…a replica of Phoenix’s Dream?” Aria asked as she picked up a box.

“It is, but it’s not what we need,” Sunset told her, taking it from Aria.  “Magic isn’t going to channel through plastic.  It needs a natural pathway to go through.”  She then threw it back to her friend, adding, “And sorry, but something like this isn’t going to work.”

“Then what is?” Aria asked, and in response, Sunset pointed to a small sign against the wall that read COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS AVAILABLE AT COUNTER.

Sonata, however, had already looked and said, “I think this is what we’re looking for, girls,” she said, pulling out a small wooden box with golden inlay all over it.  The box additionally had some fanciful lettering on it as well as “magical runes” that probably spelled out buy more Spellbound merchandise, assuming they spelled anything out at all.  Lastly, on a small glued-on golden plaque there was a small inscription that this was number 349 of 500 made.

Sunset took it and pulled off the cover, revealing a thin wand sitting on a silken pillow.  Taking it in her hand, she looked it over.  “Looks like it’s made from wood, but it actually feels like granite.  It’s got some heft to it, more than a polished stick would.”

“Made from hand-carved axinite,” Aria read from the box, then looked at the price tag.  “Well, for as much as someone would have to shell out for this thing?  I sure as hell hope it isn’t plastic.”

“This’ll have to do,” she said.  “Let’s get going.  But first….”  She walked over to where Lyra and Bon-Bon and with some embarrassment pulled Lyra’s hand out of Bon-Bon’s pants.  “When this is over, I think we need to have a talk about propriety,” she scolded the non-responding pair, before walking back to where the SIRENs were.  “Okay, let’s get going now.”





Cantata took a drink of her champagne and smiled.  “The finest sobriquet yet, my dearest betrothed.”

Divine refilled her glass as they lay there in bed.  “In just a few hours, you will be Empress of All, my dear.  How does that feel?”

She smiled.  “An Eternal Empire, under us.  There will be those who disagree, of course.”  A smile came over her face.  “Allow me some time to crush them.  Don’t let our pet demon do all the work.”

He smiled.  “Oh, I intend to do some crushing of my own, my dearest Cantata.  After all, if I am to be the Emperor of All, then I must be fit enough to be,” he told her.

“Are you fit enough to go again, my love?” she asked, setting down her glass and getting on top of him.

“For you?  Of course,” he said, bringing her body down to him.





Queen could feel it in her bones.  Something big was coming.  She might have been able to explain what it was when she was Other, but she was no longer Other and she was now what she was.  Better, sleeker – more everything.

Queen looked to Sister, who sat there, watching the blinking lights on the wall; and then to Mate, who was so tired from spending himself on them that he needed rest at least for a while.

Queen looked about this place, with its strange geometric stones and lights in the walls and strange markings everywhere.  When she was Other, she would have had other ways of identifying this place.  But she didn’t need that now.  This was Home, and that was all it needed to be.

Something big was coming, Queen knew, and it would be the first step towards her species’ domination of the world.





Sitting outside, glowing like a small incandescent star, Sunset sat in meditation.  From above, a huge moonbow encircled the natural satellite above, raining down a steady stream of aqua light towards the girl.

“If I was asked, I don’t think in a million years I’d be able to explain this,” Zephyr admitted to everyone around.  “She really isn’t the girl I thought she was, was she?”

“Neither of us are,” Raspberry told them.  “Somewhere on this planet, I have a counterpart, too.  She and I don’t belong here – but she calls this place home and she wants to save it.  Even if it means that her life will be ruined as a result.”

Everyone looked at Raspberry, and then to the glowing girl.  Raspberry walked out into the red outdoors, looking at the complete motionlessness of everything around and the absolute silence of a world never meant to be – a world likely cacophonic compared to hers.  Sitting down next to Sunset, she asked, “So how goes it?”

Without opening her eyes, the flame-haired girl said, “I’m lucky.  The moon is full tonight, so I’m stealing as much as I can.  Unfortunately, without motion to the world, there’s only a finite amount I can drain.  I can try to steal some from the statue holding the portal, but I don’t know if that’s going to cause problems in the long run, so I’m going to leave that be.”  She handed her friend the wand and ended the spell, dissipating the aura.  “It was cool of Heelee to cough up a feather, but I don’t know how much it’s going to help because he’s not a phoenix right now.”

“He can still breathe fire, and you have no phoenixes here on Earth, so how do you know that they don’t look like canaries?” Raspberry joked as she gratefully accepted the wand.

“Okay, you may have a point.  But how are you feeling now?”

“I don’t know.  I want to help you save this world, because you’re my friend and Sonata seems nice enough.  But Aria’s still a bit standoffish and Adagio?  That friend of yours is a complete bitch.”

“Ari will grow on you once you get to know her better.  And Dagi just feels protective of me,” Sunset explained.  “Trust me, once you get into the fight, they’ll back you, too.”

Raspberry nodded.  “What happens if I can’t make it back?”

“Then you can come live with me and my family.”  Sunset then sighed.  “Assuming I still have one.”

“Tell them who and what you really are, Sunny.  If they love you as much as you love them, they’ll understand.  Remember, I had to tell my adoptive parents as well, and it’s going to be tough when I meet their children – I have brothers and sisters I have yet to meet, and that’s going to be a headache and a half all over again.”

But one former unicorn looked at the other and said, “I hope you’re right.”

“I know I am.  You’re the daughter of Princess Celestia, Sunny – if you’re anything like her, you’ll succeed.”

“Yeah.  I’m still wondering how I’ll tell Mom that not only is my ‘biological’ mother alive and well, but that she’s as human as I am.”

“Well, remember that stanza from Countess Coloratura’s song,” Raspberry reminded her, then sang:

“I’m only pony,
Of flesh and blood I’m made
Pony
Born to make mistakes…”

“Hey, when you two are done singing Human League songs, you mind getting back in here, so we can talk strategery?” Zephyr asked.  The two looked at each other and walked in.

Inside, the others were in military attire: The SIRENs were wearing their CADPATs, while Zephyr and Sable had slipped into ACUs.  Looking at the two not currently in camouflage, Intermezzo suggested, “You two don’t have to, but I strongly recommend you two change into the same kind of attire we have.”

“Well, we do have formal robes as archmages,” Raspberry suggested.

“Are you kidding?  One, they’re ugly as sin,” Sunset said, ticking the reasons off on her fingers.  “Two, they’re designed for pony sensibilities, not human ones.  The point of pony military gear is to be seen.  The point of human gear is to not be seen, so they don’t shoot at you.  And three, no way in hell am I wearing them.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.  You want to walk around with your bare ass sticking out because a tail’s not there, that’s your call, but not me.  Besides, you can test that wand by changing our clothing to match theirs.”

“Fine,” Raspberry said, lifting her wand.  The wand flared with cyan and green light, which soon spooled around the two teens, and a second later, they were in duplicates of the SIREN gear.

“That looks handy for changing into,” Vesper said as she presented two gunbelts to the girls.  “I know one of you is trained on this; I saw Adagio do it herself.  What about the other one?”

“I’ve…had some practice shooting,” Sunset admitted awkwardly as she slipped on the belt.  “My brother is a cop, and he took me to a shooting range once just to see how guns work.  I don’t care for them, but I know how to use one.”

“Good.  You’ll have four magazines each on the belts.  Keep in mind that your pistols should be considered a defensive weapon, not offensive.  If you’ve gone through half your ammo supply, you’ll want to get out of the area quick or use your magic to put down the threat.  You do not want to be in a long, protracted firefight with a pistol, because they have time, manpower and extra ammo on their side.  If worse comes to, you need to retreat.  We cannot afford to lose you two, because you two are the only ones who know how to stop this spell, got that?”

“Crystal,” both unicorns replied.

Intermezzo guided them to a table, upon which had a rough drawing of the lair.  “Now, we know that we’re going to run into opposition here, here and here,” she said, looking at them all, “so our best point is to punch their funnel – we go through the front gate, then start shooting until we have their attention.  That will draw almost all of the red forces towards us, and by stopping our vehicle here, we protect a doorway that our two, uh, ‘specialists’ can get into.”

“Nothin’ doing – I need to find and save Solaire and Shimmer,” Zephyr told them.

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?” Side told him.  “We get our little mahō shōjos in there and they should do all the hard work.”  Everyone then looked at them.

Sunset caught that instantly.  “The first priority is the Gordian spell, because we don’t know how stable that is,” the flame-haired girl explained.  “Once we do that, then we’ll go in and take down Divine Right.  I don’t know if we’ll be in time,” she admitted, “but saving the world takes priority over the others.”

Everyone could see the look of anguish on Sunset’s face.  Sable walked over to her and said, “This is war, Sunset.  There are no good answers here, because when you get to this point, the good answers are gone.  I once had to kill boys not much younger than you in order to save lives.  I’ve had to do things I don’t like, because other lives were in the balance.  And if something happens to Tia, I don’t know what I’d do.  But I know that she couldn’t live with being saved if it meant millions of others died.”

“Sunny, I don’t want anyone to die,” Raspberry told her.  “But I’ve had to take lives even before I was archmagus.  It’s not easy and it will haunt you.  But if others die – innocents or worse, the ones you love – you will never be able to live with that.  I know it’s antithetical to our way of life as ponies, but our people are fighting for their very existence on the other side of this portal, and if the situation were different, I’m sure humans would be too.”

“Fuck yes we would,” Evergreen said with a grin.  “If there’s one thing that humanity’s probably too good at, it’s hurting people and breaking things.”

“And now we’re going to break more baddies and their toys, right, sis?” Side said, putting her arm around her sister’s waste.

Evergreen hugged her sister in response.  “Damn right.”

“Can’t do this without you, Sunny,” Adagio told her.  A second later, she sighed.  “Or without you, Ms. High Maintenance.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Raspberry replied.  “I think.”

“Okay, we make sure that everything is good to go, and then we start tearing up everything,” Sunset told them.  “We take back this world and we take back our loved ones.  And when we’re done?  Somebody’s going to learn the hard way why fucking with magic should only be done by a professional.”





Deep within a dimension beyond space and time, there was nothing but primordial, inky blackness, shadows cast without light.

Something slithered, wet and putrid, within the ebon.  Something screamed with an unnatural sound, followed by a deep, bassy chortle, and then a crunching sound as if something masticated.  Soon the sound was gone once more, as if it had never been.

Milky white eyes opened, glowing with a baleful light.

Soon I will be free, the creature thought, and there was almost a malicious glee in those words.  Soon….