//------------------------------// // August 16, 1:59 AM: Everybody Wants to Rule the World // Story: A Time of Reckoning: Seven Days in Sunny June, Book IV // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// Princess Twilight looked at the legions of ponies in armor, ready to die at a moment’s notice.  It broke her heart to do so, but from the first moment the northernmost buildings of Ponyville exploded into flame, she knew she had no choice.  Canterlot was in ruins and the Empire had fallen.  All that stood now was the Southern Army, commanded by the Princess of Friendship herself. Yeah, some Princess of Friendship I am, she silently rued.  Ready to declare war because I couldn’t win the peace.  She’d already heard rumors that the other princesses had fallen, and that the Hooves themselves answered to her, declaring her as their liegelady now.  Twilight knew what that meant, and a pit sank in her stomach. A great host of crystalline creatures marched and flew on them, closing in all around them.  And behind them, a monstrous figure to behold: Tirek, the Necromancer.  Tirek, the Damned.  Tirek, the Blackhearted. She turned to the gargoyle at her side, a mass of muscles and sinew underneath golden armor and a regal bearing.  “Are you sure about this?” “My brother is beyond hope now, if there was any hope ever to begin with,” sighed Scorpan.  He flexed his muscles, holding his spear in them.  He looked at the mare to his side.  “We fight alongside you now, Princess Twilight.  As allies and friends.” She nodded, smiling despite the situation.  “You have my thanks, King Scorpan.” He raised his spear into the air and summoned lightning from the beyond.  “ARMIES OF THE DISTANT LAND!” he bellowed.  “WE FIGHT TO EXPEL THE TRAITOR AND TO PROTECT OUR ALLIES!  TO WAR, TO WAR!” Twilight looked at her own armies, then to the blackened sky above – hundreds of pegasi and Equestrian griffons ready to strike at her command.  “FORCES OF EQUESTRIA!” she cried in the Royal Equestrian Voice.  “WE FIGHT FOR OUR PEOPLES!  DEFEND OUR LANDS AND PONIES!”  A massive roar of Equestrian rage sounded from the host, enough to shake the earth and drown out even her words.  She then finally turned to her friends, four of which were present with her, each wearing their Element.  “Best of luck, girls!” she told them. “Oh, posh, dear.  The mages under my command have practiced my shielding spell and we should be fine,” Rarity told her. “I’ll make sure the hospitals help anyone they can,” Fluttershy insisted.  Despite the danger, she was strangely calm, and that was a comfort to Twilight. “Every combat-trained Apple is ready and willin’ to dance,” Appleack said, wearing armor.  “Those bad boys ain’t learned a lesson until they tangled with Bucky McGillicuddy an’ Kicks McGee,” she boasted, gesturing to her forelegs. Pushing her party cannon into position, Pinkie shouted to the approaching enemy, “KLF IS GONNA ROCK YA!” “What?” Rarity asked. Pinkie giggled.  “It was something Sunny said that I should ever say should I be in a position where I needed to fight bad guys.  I guess it’s a human thing.”  She turned back to the front lines, adding, “ARE YOU READY?  ANCIENTS OF MU-MU!”  She then looked at Twilight.  “I’ll make sure the party artillery teaches them a thing or two, Twi!” Rarity sighed.  “If Sunset is pulling verbal pranks on Pinkie, I hate to hear what she told Rainbow Dash,” the fashionista confided to Fluttershy. Flying with her squadron above the majority of the massive flight, Rainbow called out to her flyers, “Okay, colts and fillies!  Lock S-Foils in attack position and commence attack on the Death Star!” One of the pegasi at her side blinked.  “Rainbow, what’s an ‘essfoil’?  And aren’t we supposed to be attacking Tirek’s forces?” “Yeah, like what’s a ‘death star’?” a second pegasus asked. “Er, right.  Yeah, do that,” she told the first.  Someday I’m going to have to ask Shimmer what the buck all that means.  The pegasus shrugged.  At least the strange unicorn was safe on her side of the dimensional divide. Gunfire raked across the space over Sunset’s head.  “And this was your idea of safe?” she shouted at Raspberry. “Hey, it looked perfectly fine!” the other girl shouted.  “It’s not my fault that I’m still not used to being human, so I’m still misjudging geometry!”  Raspberry ducked behind a grate that she was hiding behind, then poked her wand out and focused, burning a line of magical energy across the room, causing the SIRENs on the other side to scatter.  “You’d think they weren’t used to having someone throw magic at them,” Raspberry added.  “Think you can finish them off?” “On it!” Sunset called out.  She immediately hopped into the air, and as she did, she pulled back her arm and a bow of energy the color of the sky appeared in her hand.  Without a second to wait, she loosed the arrow into the ground, and the moment it impacted, energy tethers lashed out from the strike point, ensnaring all the SIRENs.  While still in the air, Sunset summoned a bō staff, charged with electricity and charged into the center of them, swinging and striking in an acrobatic form that left Raspberry slack-jawed. “And you said humans have no magic?” Raspberry said to Sunset as the last SIREN fell. “Look, humans have a long history of magic in their mythology, so imagination takes over from there.  Let’s just say I’ve had a lot of cultural influences that have let me adapt things and call it that, okay?  Now, let’s get going and figure out what the hell happens next, okay?” “Hey, I’m on your side, remember?” “Yeah, I know.  I’m just really worried about my family and how they’re doing right now.” “Well, look at it this way: if you’re going through Tartarus to save them like this, then you’re a keeper.  They’ll know that.  There’s no way they won’t.” “Yeah, I just have to save them first so that they appreciate it,” she huffed. As they continued down the stairs, going level by level, something seemed very wrong.  “If that sign is right, we’re hitting Sublevel 8 and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of stopping,” Sunset noted. “So?  There are plenty of deep places in Equestria – the caves underneath Mt. Canterhorn for instance,” Raspberry reminded her. “Yeah, well, this is California – you don’t put sublevel anything unless you’re absolutely sure it’s earthquake proof.  And even in Equestria when magic goes up against nature, unless you’re dealing with a strong spellcaster, nature wins every time.  The thing is, I have to—”  She paused.  “That’s it!  Stop!” “Stop?  Are you crazy?  We’re nearly there, I know it!” “No we’re not, Razz!  Can’t you tell?  This is a mobius path!” Sunset shouted.  “Think about it!” “Why the hell are you giving up?  Look, I’m going past you and don’t get in my way, okay?”  The look on Raspberry’s face became a mask of anger.  “You want to be a coward, fine!  But I’m going to save them!” Sunset grabbed her friend’s arms.  “Would you listen to yourself?” “Would you listen to yourself, you harridelle?  You abandoned Equestria and everypony when we needed you!  It’s not me that needs the attitude adjustment, it’s you!”  Raspberry’s eyes became pinpricks of hate.  “I don’t even know wh—”  A hard slap to the face stopped that. “Sorry, but it was the quickest way I could think of to break the compulsion,” Sunset told her as the other girl’s eyes cleared. “Wow, so that’s what it’s like,” Raspberry murmured.  “And thanks – I don’t know what I would’ve done.  So, since I’m not familiar with mobius path spells, so how do we get out of this one?” “Let me focus for a second.”  The flame-haired girl closed her eyes and a pulse of cyan magic rippled out from her.  She watched in her mind as the pulse reached out like a doppler wave, then pinged something and returned.  “Okay, I think I know how to get out of this,” she said as she climbed the stair railing. “Are you sure about that?” Raspberry asked as Sunset uneasily stood up on it, then looking down into the drop.  It had to be at least twenty more stories down. “Very,” Sunset insisted as she jumped… …and landed on solid ground.  The room suddenly revealed itself, a wide chamber with a single box on it that served as the railing and drop. “Okay, completely embarrassed now.  Should’ve seen that,” Raspberry sighed. “Hey, you’re depowered right now, so it makes sense that it hit you,” Sunset replied.  “No shame in that.  Besides, I’ll bet that door over there is the one we need to go through,” she said as she pointed at a door on the opposite end of the room.  “Since we came in that door, that’s the only logical one.” “Think we’ll run into another trap?” Raspberry asked. “Relax – we got this.  Once we get in there, we should be able to defuse the Gordian spell and then we can rescue my family, gather the SIRENs on our side and then turn this all over to the cops.  Easy Peasy!” Tracers scorched the air and gunfire crisscrossed the space between both friendly SIREN and antagonist SIREN. “You know, in all my years in the military or in law enforcement, I don’t think I’ve ever been in this big of a hot mess before,” Zephyr grunted. “So, you’re saying you miss the old days?” Sable asked as he returned fire. “Not really; for one, I’ve gotten used to taking hot showers on a regular basis,” the older man snarked, and glanced in the direction of the enemy combatants.  “Wonder if they ever have those sorts of thoughts?” “Probably not – from what I gather, they’re completely brainwashed, and zealots.  Only reason our SIRENs got away is because they were here before all this magic shit started to go around.” “‘Our’ SIRENs?” Vesper asked, poking her head up and firing.  “You guys seem awfully possessive for someone we just met.” “Figure of speech, Vesper,” Sable pointed out.  “Figure of speech.” “Aww, for a moment there I thought you were hitting on me.  I mean, sure, I’d go for you – going to need a cover identity when this is over and boyfriends are a great way to establish one – and hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?” the older SIREN snarked as she quickly ducked back under cover.  “After all, here I am, a sweet lovely young woman in her early thirties.” “Raising three well-adjusted teenagers, don’t forget that,” Aria chimed in. “Yes, we’re perfectly normal,” Sonata agreed, lobbing a grenade.  The grenade arced true, and the moment it hit, it detonated, taking out two more targets. “Absolutely ideal wife material,” Adagio said last, aiming and shooting at her target.  The SIREN in question moved at the last moment and returned fire, causing the teen to have to duck behind the wall for safety.  “Trust me, she has endorsements on this.” “Hey, don’t forget about us!” Side commented, referring to her and Pine.  “We’re in our mid-twenties,” she noted.  “Hot sweet young things, you know.” “Ladies after my own heart,” Zephyr commented, then turned and shot a tango trying to flank them.  “But could we keep the flirting to a minimum?  We have a job to do.” “Yeah, no making our ladies jealous until after we all live long enough to do so,” Sable chimed in. “You guys are no fun,” Vesper commented as a bullet narrowly avoided her head.  “Okay, I see you got a point.  But we’re the heroes!  Aren’t we supposed to engage in witty banter or something?” “Does that even work?” Aria asked. “Worked for my unit once,” Zephyr told them.  “We were in a place we weren’t supposed to be – the kind that ‘you don’t exist’ is the preferred euphemism – doing things that most Americans would be rather surprised to find their government doing.” “We used to work for a government known as the global nice guys – and that people would shit if they knew we existed,” Pine drolled.  “You were saying?” “Yeah, yeah, forgot about that,” Zephyr chuckled.  “Okay, this was happening during Desert Storm.  We got word that an Iraqi general had his hands on…let’s say some contraband that would’ve gotten him executed five times over if he’d been just a regular joe.  He had made a deal with some less-than-scrupulous Kuwaiti bandits that could’ve cared less that they were selling out their country for some Baghdad Boob for some extra dinars.  We got tapped to go in and our orders were simple: cut them down and destroy everything.” “Well that’s easy enough, just go in and kill everything, right?” “Yeah, but that’s when our company commander, a goofy-as-fuck but generally decent captain named Peanut Plant, starts talking about how we could one-up this shit; that if we played our cards right, we could turn both sides against each other and put at least one Iraqi general out of the fight.  Yeah, not that there was much of one, to be honest, but why risk it?” Gunfire ripped over the heads of the group, and each idly returned fire, but it seemed that for the moment, they were far more engrossed in the story.  “Go ahead,” Vesper told him. “Okay, so the captain decides he’s going to dress himself up as some fuckin’ sheik, okay?  Dead fucking giveaway – called himself Sheikh Al-Hambra.  I mean, it’s Goddamn obvious this guy is not a sheik.  And yeah, while he was Hispanic, man had a Tennessee accent thicker than mud, so there was no way he was going to pull this shit off, right?”  The man then grinned.  “At least, that’s what we thought.  Turned out the captain actually had some acting skill, and by the time we got to the Iraqi problem child, we were well on our way of getting him to eating out of our collective hands. “But to pull this off, we needed someone to fuck with the other side.  So, we bring in Sgt. Prism Glider.  Glider’s this huge honkin’ Muttwegian from Milwaukee—” “Muttwegian?” Aria asked. “His term.  His old man was from Oslo stock, but his mom was as black as they came.  He ended up with skin the color of a Starbucks latte.  Anyway, Glider decides to steal the general’s uniform and tweak it a bit and passes himself off as a colonel.  He goes and meets with the Kuwaiti assjacks and says that the deal’s off and that they’re gonna have to do better if they’re going to impress ol’ General Badass.  He then just walks off and when they pull a gun on him, Glider just says, ‘you guys aren’t important enough to kill’ – and then keeps on walking.  Here he is, guns pointed at him and he walks off like it’s a Goddamn Sunday afternoon. “So, not more than a day or two after that, we get a message from our colonel that a bunch of Kuwaiti ragtags and Iraqi irregulars are shooting at each other way outside of the theater of operations.  And it’s not like they’re paying much attention to the war, as they’re using enough hardware on each other that you’d think a second war was going on at the same time.  And I guess in a sense, it was.  Got a kick out of the whole damn thing and best of all, pissed off DEVGRU that we got the shit done and not them.”  He chuckled.  “Good times.” Sable was the first to notice the near-instantaneous change.  “Anyone think it got too quiet all of a sudden?” It was then that they heard the muffled thump in the background.  Behind them, something large exploded.  “Great, so looks like they broke out the mortars,” Pine grumbled. “How long do we want to—”  Vesper began before the area next to them exploded.  “SCATTER!” she shouted, and the group immediately moved as the enemy SIRENs began to restart their volleys of fire, tracers burning through the space where the eight had been just seconds prior.  The group immediately took shelter in the building that Adagio had been in earlier, not far from the still-burning wreck that was the grave of Intermezzo. “Well, anyone think going in here was a bad idea?” Side asked as the gunfire continued, rattling against the concrete of the building and shattering whatever glass still remained in the windows. “Well, I’d say we could head upstairs, but they have mortars and who knows how much longer before they break out bigger party favors,” Sable said, daring to poke his head out the door, then darting it back in as gunfire railed through where his head had been a split-second before.  “Either way, being here is a non-starter.” The gunfire then stopped.  “Hey, cunts,” a voice shouted in.  You little traitor bitches come out now and we’ll make your deaths nice and quick, got that?” “Sounds like Chief Glare,” Sonata noted.  “She was always a bitch.” “Oh, I remember her.  Always a big talker, but no spine to really back it up.  No idea how she got into the SIRENs, much less became a chief,” Aria added. “I’m giving you ten seconds or else….” “For fuck’s sake, she’s dragging this out,” Vesper told them.  “Someone hand me a sniper.” “No, someone hand me that FN.  I have an idea.”  They all looked at Sonata and said.  “Look, Mezzo’s gone and though she’s not admitting it, Dagi’s hurt.  I don’t want to lose anyone else.” “You had better not be sacrificing yourself,” Aria warned.  “Am I clear?” Sonata gave her older sister a smile.  “Ari?  Trust me.” Aria looked at her sister’s grin and somehow, she knew it was alright.  She’d seen that smile before, but oddly, it wasn’t from her sister. Strangely, it was somehow Sunset’s smile. Everywhere, time both moved and did not move.  Each atom, restrained by the ridiculously powerful Gordian spell, held its motion fast, though the kinetic energy within it continued to build.  The dance of reality was never meant to be stopped; sooner or later, things had to continue to flow, to move, to resume the endless dance of hours that was reality.  But with so much energy being stored up, it had to go somewhere.  That was just how the physical laws of the universe worked, and even preternatural and paracausal forces had to obey that at some point The Third Law of Classical Mechanics: every action has an equal but opposite reaction.  And right now, that reaction was building as pure energy.  And some point, it was going to react.  Everywhere. Standing on the Moon, the figure watched, transfixed.  If she were to leave now, she could escape the destruction of the whole of this universe.  It would actually be easy to do so; she was part of that paracausal nature here.  But she couldn’t leave.  She had to watch. She had to know if she was right… …and she had to know if he would be killed. His eyes bled again.  They always did when she was around. That old bitch – he should’ve done something about her a long time ago, but that was before he realized the truth of all things and his place in it.  Before he accepted who he was and what she really was as well. This was his realm, not that of the interloper.  This was his kingdom, and he would protect it as he saw fit, not meddling alicorns and their dumb dog, too. He wiped away the blood and slipped on his blackened glasses to hide his ruined eyes from the world.  He didn’t need them right now, admittedly; not with that damn Gordian spell out there wreaking havoc on a massive scale.  But for right now, it helped to preserve who the world thought of him as. Someone had made the first move on the chessboard, and someone else had responded in kind In time, he knew, he would have to remind them who owned the chessboard. “So, are you sure this is the place?” Raspberry asked. Sunset just noted the SIRENs she’d knocked out that had been standing by the door.  There had been nearly a dozen of them and all of them now lay, crumpled on the ground, their weapons not having been fired.  She’d been the cause of that, having used one of her videogame-specials-turned-actual-spells.  The other girls had been completely caught off guard, and went down like matchsticks. “Yeah, yeah, sorry, some of us don’t have magic right now,” Raspberry reminded her friend.  “So, the spell you hit them with…is that normal around here?” “Razz, I thought I mentioned earlier that there’s no magic.” “Yeah, but then you suddenly made this gun made of fire appear in your hands and you shot it in this weird way—” “It’s called hammer fanning.” “Whatever!  And it shot out magic bolts that hit each of them and knocked them out cold!” “Well, the technical version of the Golden Gun vaporizes its foes, but I’m not going to kill unless I have no choice.” “Golden Gun – so that’s the spell’s name?  Guess I’ll have to learn now to translate that into my magic and then get with Shining to see if we can have a white magic version of it written for the military.  That’ll be a—” Sunset summoned duct tape and started binding the unconscious SIRENs’ arms and legs together.  She then summoned a second roll for Raspberry, which she tossed to her.  “Don’t even think it, Razz.  I don’t want things to get worse in Equestria because somepony figured out how to do Destiny without having played the game.” “That’s assuming there’s still an Equestria to go back to,” Raspberry told her.  A thought then crossed her mind.  “I just realized I did not leave the battlefield in the most dignified of manners.  Hell, I’m not even sure how I got here, given that the last I remember, Tirek was just about to kill me.”  Another thought then crossed her mind.  “Oh my Celestia – my parents!  If they heard what happened to me, they’re going to think I died and….” “Razz, for one, now you know how conflicted I feel right now.  And two, we need to find a way to free my family and put an end to this shit.  I need your game face on, okay?  You told me to get it together, and now I’m telling you the same thing.” “Right.”  Raspberry softly slapped the sides of her face to get the point across.  “Okay, let’s do this human thing!” “Human thing?” “Yeah, well, haven’t you seen the….”  She trailed off.  “I guess you haven’t seen it, then.  There’s a play in town, one of those action kinds, like a movie sorta, where the hero, who isn’t a pony, says, ‘Let’s go do this pony thing!’  I guess it doesn’t translate well?” “Not in the least.” “Oh.” The pair opened the door, and found themselves standing on a platform.  Above them, enhanced by magic, was endless space.  Below them as well, the same.  In fact, the room would be a complete chasm to infinity, save for the pulsing, continually-moving mass of something at the center of it.  Throwing off an eerie red tone of light somewhere between the color of blood, feces and worms, the knot seemed to be almost alive, perpetually moving like a coil of worms in an orgy, a sick, organic tube that wound in on itself in mobius. “This has gotta be the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” Sunset commented. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Raspberry commented. “Yeah, well, we don’t have time for this,” Sunset replied as she charged up a spell, then threw it at it as hard as she could.  The blast, however, vaporized against the construct, with the only thing being the release of a noxious smell. “Oh God, this thing is like the literal shit of the world got used for a magic spell!” Sunset groaned, holding her nose. “I will never be clean, thank you very much,” Raspberry complained, then looked at the thing.  Without further ado, she pulled out her pistol and opened fire.  The round penetrated, and deep within you could hear something sizzling. “That does not sound good,” Raspberry stated as she put down her gun— —just in time for the knot to shrink in on itself briefly before launching out tentacles, like something out of a horror novel…or at least one of Fluttershy’s weirder manga volumes.  Sunset was able to dodge it, but it immediately grabbed Raspberry and started pulling her into the spell. “HELP!” Raspberry screamed and Sunset immediately did so, blasting at the tentacles to no avail.  When that didn’t work, she started to pull on Raspberry’s arms, trying desperately to stop her from being pulled in as the hole where the tentacles came widened into a massive maw, the monstrous looking thing becoming a demonic version of Pac-Man with a tentacle tongue. “Sunny, don’t let me go!” Raspberry screamed, turning with her free arm and grabbing for her gun once more.  She fired the rest of the gun, and when she couldn’t fire anything else, threw the pistol at the thing, which in turn swallowed it whole. “Razz, I’m going to pump everything I have into the spe—”  One of the loose tentacles slapped Sunset across the face, knocking her silly.  She quickly recovered, but in the process, she did the one thing she didn’t want to happen – she let go of Raspberry’s hand. The tentacles wrapped around the other girl like a cocoon, and a muffled scream could be heard as the spell construct swallowed her whole. “RAZZ!  NOOOOOOO!”   Sunset’s eyes blazed with power and she summoned a massive fireball, which she threw at the construct.  The construct swallowed it and suddenly grew to twice its size, and the room became a massive vacuum, sucking in everything.  Feeling herself being pulled towards the hole as well, Sunset did the only thing she could. There was a flash of cyan energy— —and Sunset found herself on the other end of the room.  She screamed in horror and loss, not being able to protect her friend – the only other person of her kind – from a horrible death.  And if what Raspberry had said was true, about the war on the other side and a monstrous centaur waging war against everything Sunset had ever known? She looked at her hand, knowing they might never be hooves again. Sunset had joked with Fluttershy earlier in the year about being the only unicorn here as opposed to the fictional Amalthea, the Last Unicorn of that cartoon.  But now there was a very good chance that not only was Sunset truly the last unicorn… …she was the last pony as well. The group sat, forlornly in their cage in this massive chamber, a place that looked like a Greco-Roman nightmare.  None of them uttered anything, for fear of the weaker ones in the group being hurt. Pinkie looked around and spoke softly.  “You know what?” “If you say ‘chickenbutt’, Pinkie, I swear I’m going to….”  Rainbow thought about it and decided not to finish her sentence. “No.”  She shook her head and tears were at the corner of her eyes.  “I’m afraid.  Right now, more than anything, I want Sunny to just take me, make love to me and tell me everything is going to be okay.” “It is, dear, I promise,” Rarity lied. “I’m ashamed,” she whispered.  “Here we are, in this situation and I want Sunny licking my—” “Ms. Pie, I don’t think that’s the most appropriate thing to discuss right now,” Celestia told her.  “Though I know how you feel.” “You do?” The woman nodded.  “The last memory I will ever have of my boyfriend is him being shot by those…murderers…and never being able to kiss him again.  You are a young woman and you are feeling love and loss right now.  I assure you that you are not the only one feeling anguish at this moment.” “Oh, so you’re saying that you want your boy’s hot dog in your bun—”  Rainbow was thumped on the head by Applejack.  “What the hell was that for?” “There are kids here,” she gestured to Spike, who was asleep on Velvet’s lap.  “Plus, Ms. Celestia’s our principal.  Have some respect.” “Yeah, yeah, I got it,” the Latina sighed.  “Sorry, Ms. C.” “Rainbow, it’s fine.  I would rather that you be honest in our final moments than anything else.”  Celestia sighed.  “You know, I never really had thought much of my life beyond being an educator until you all came into it.” “Really?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, you’re a special case, Fluttershy, given my past with your father.  But for the rest of you, yes.  You have all grown very special to me – and I daresay my sister as well – and I feel a bond between us that I can’t say that I feel with any of the other students.”  She smiled.  “Maybe…maybe there’s somewhere out there where our lives are vastly different and we all know each other through different means.” The five girls, all thinking of their counterparts and Sunset’s literally-divine mother, all drolled at once, “You don’t say.” Luna laughed.  “Tia, you’re being far too maudlin.  What my sister means is that while we educators care very much about our students for obvious reasons, you have all meant more to us than the regular.”  She turned to look at Twilight and Octavia.  “And you two as well.  Sunset binds us all together in ways that we never really thought we would be in.  I mean, I certainly never thought I could care about my students like family.” Despite the situation, Celestia smiled.  “Wow, someone’s growing up, I see.” “Fuck you, sis.” “And there went that brief moment of maturity.” “Well, I don’t know – I’d say that maturity is overrated when faced with the end of the world.”  The group looked up to see Divine Right standing there, holding an ancient spear in his hand and a long knife at his side.  He was dressed in ridiculously ornate robes and had a young woman dressed in very little clothing hanging on his shoulder.  “After all, you won’t live much longer.” “YOU BASTARD!  GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!” Solaire roared at him. He thought about it for a second and then said, “No.  She serves a purpose now, a greater one than you will ever understand.  Don’t you see?  Your darling little crotch dropping will be a footnote in history!  She will usher in an era of unprecedented greatness!  My greatness!” Solaire looked at him with horror.  “What are you going to do with her?” “I’m going to sacrifice her, of course.  What, did you think I would have my way with her?”  He laughed.  “As if I would sully myself with some teenage whore who has lusted after anything that looks at her!” Solaire launched herself at the bars.  “GIVE HER BACK!  GIVE MY CHILD BACK, YOU MONSTER!” Divine yawned and then looked at the SIREN on his arm.  “Teach her a lesson, won’t you?” “Are you sure about that, sir?” He nodded.  “Just…don’t ruin your voice.  I will need it in just a few short minutes.” She nodded.  “Aye, sir.”  The SIREN, moving like lightning, reached in and grabbed Solaire by the throat.  She then yanked back, pulling Solaire’s head with her.  There was a sickening crunch as blood sprayed everywhere, with the woman’s nose cracking from the impact.  She screamed and the SIREN thrust in with a second strike, jabbing her in the throat.  Solaire gasped for breath, stunned by the pain and unable to breathe through her nose. “That isn’t fatal, is it?  I don’t want her to miss any of this,” Divine noted. The SIREN shook her head.  “No, sir.  She’ll be in excruciating pain for a few more minutes, but she’ll live.” “Good job.  Remind me to have Cantata promote you first chance we get.” He looked at his wounded cousin.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do and a virgin to sacrifice for my needs.” Celestia looked at Divine.  “You’re going to pay for this.” He laughed.  “And who’s going to stop me?” “She will.” Everyone looked at Pinkie, who had stood up and glared at Divine, with her arms crossed.  “She will.” “Her?” Divine laughed again.  “She is no threat any more than you are!  And I see you haven’t learned your lesson from the last time I taught you, child.  Perhaps I should just do you a favor and kill you now.” “I wasn’t talking about her.”  The look on Pinkie’s face was deadly serious.  “You don’t deserve to know what’s coming for you.  You’re already so fucking stupid that you weren’t listening the last time.  It’s not my fault that you’re too Goddamn much of an idiot to realize when the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming fucking train.” “Are you trying to goad me again?” “Goad nothing!  Fucktard like you apparently can’t understand English.  Oh, and by the way, if you kill me?  It’ll just prolong your pain.”  Divine’s hand went down to his sword, and she smirked. Divine removed his hand from his sword.  “Almost tripped me up, you little minx.  But I won’t waste my time on killing you when I have greatness at the tips of my fingers.  You will just have to wait for your gruesome death.” “So you say.” He said nothing further and walked away. “Pinkamena Pie!”  Luna stood up.  “I will not have you throw your life away just to save the rest of us, do you understand?”  She went over and hugged the girl tightly.  “Please, Ms. Pie, do not do that to yourself.”  Pinkie looked up and saw tears in Luna’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” Pinkie replied. Luna then did something that no one had expected.  She gave the girl a maternal kiss on the forehead, the sign of a loving mentor.  “Even if we fall, I will not have you risk your life for me, any of you.  It is my job to do that for you girls.  Not the other way around.” Applejack looked at Luna.  “You know, it’s funny.  Just about all of us are tied together in some way or another.  Funny that we’re all gonna go together like this.” Twilight looked at Applejack and started to sob silently.  Octavia went over and wrapped her arms around her cousin in comfort. “You’re all wrong,” Pinkie said with surety.  “I feel it within my heart.  She’s coming and she won’t be stopped.” “Who is this ‘she’ you keep talking about?” Cadance asked.  “You have an awful lot of confidence for this mystery woman.” Several SIRENs pointed rocket launchers at the spot where the rogue SIRENs were hiding.  “I gave you twats the chance to surrender,” Piccolo Glare, the Chief Petty Officer in charge of the scene, spoke.  “Too bad you had to do this the hard way.”  She turned to the ones with the rockets.  “On my order, you can fire.” Suddenly the door opened up and a single girl walked out.  “So you decided to come out and face your death like a true SIREN,” Glare commented.  “That’s more than I can say about your compatriots.” “Actually,” Sonata said as she stood there, her hand on her rifle, “I came out to kill all of you before you take a single step.” Glare laughed.  “Do you really think you can challenge me?” “Oh hell yes.  And what’s more?  I’m going to beat you all.” “You have no chance, Seaman Dusk.  I am – we are – more than human now.  We are powerful, invincible.  And you are nothing more than a child with a toy—” With a speed Glare wasn’t expecting, Sonata rushed up to her and pointed the muzzle of her gun right into her mouth.  “I have a Fabrique National P-90TR with 5.7 JHPs and they will go in you and leave a nice hole going out.”  She looked at the others.  “You may be powerful and invincible…but I am still a SIREN!” “And what does that matter?” one of the others said. “It means you died the moment you faced me,” Sonata said, pulling the trigger without even looking at Chief Glare.  As her rifle went off, she dove forward and swept her quarry’s feet.  As the other SIREN went down and the other two started to react, Sonata grabbed the girl’s MANPAD and swung it like a club across the face of the third one.  The fourth one at this time had already started to pull out her pistol, and so Sonata did the only thing she could: she put the rocket launcher into position so that the other SIREN would be caught in the backblast and then she pulled the trigger.  The missile, already damaged by being used as a melee weapon, spun away from the tube for a bit before flying over the wall and exploding in mid-air.  However, the blast of flame set the girl on fire and sent her collapsing to the ground. Sonata heard the unnatural growl behind her and managed to hit the ground just as something whistled above her head.  She then heard the report of a shot, and chanced standing up long enough to see the glint from Aria’s sniper rifle.  She then turned around to see Chief Glare, mostly in a monsterized form, on the ground with a growing pool of blood building up around her. “Great shot, Ari!” Sonata shouted back. “Soni, you’re an idiot, you know that?” the middle triplet shouted back.  She then turned to the oldest.  “Dagi, our kid sister’s done being a retard.” Adagio laughed at that.  “Give her a break, Ari.  You know how kids are these days.” “Yeah, well I didn’t see you guys doing anything,” Sonata mock-pouted as the others cleared the building, heading towards her. “Well, elite trained operative or not, you should not have been able to do that,” Sable pointed out.  “Something is wrong with how they’re acting and reacting.” Zephyr agreed.  “Now that you mention it, you’re right.  Nothing against you, kid, but I….”  He paused.  “What the hell is that smell?” “This,” Vesper stated as she looked at the bodies of the two girls that Sonata had knocked out.  In theory, they were supposed to be alive, but from the rotting stench, that was clear that wasn’t the case.  And sure enough, the two bodies seemed to be in an advanced state of decomposition and going rapidly. Adagio looked at the dessicated skin, which quickly turned to bone before her eyes.  “Something must have gone wrong with what they were given that was supposed to turn them into monsters.”  She looked at Sonata.  “Put that brain of yours to work and logic this one out, please.” Sonata bent over the body in question as the bones themselves began to crumble away.   She reached out and picked up one of the bones; in her hand it crumbled away into ash that she scattered to the wind.  “Something went very wrong,” she mused.  “Maybe the spell wasn’t meant to be mass produced, or one serum given to everyone?”  She looked at the others.  “I don’t know, and this is way beyond me.  Maybe Sunny or that friend of hers has a clue.  I mean, I know chemistry, but this is probably alchemy and I bet even Twily can’t figure this one out.” “Well, we need to get out from the open,” Vesper warned.  “We’re sitting ducks here, an—”  She didn’t say anything further as her throat suddenly exploded in a blossom of blood.  Her body fell to the ground, her head severed by the blast. “VESPER!” Aria screamed, and had to be dragged to safety by Side and Zephyr as the ground where she’d stood exploded a second later.  Sable and the other three raced to the opposite end, and Adagio screamed as the wound in her shoulder tore open from the movement. Two more explosions rocked out from where they stood, followed by a deep, hellish laugh.  A dozen smaller explosions rocked the area, one of which desecrated Vesper’s corpse further. “Can you guys see what’s lighting up with the fireworks!” Zephyr shouted. “Not a clue!” Sable shouted back. “There!”  Pine pointed to someone just standing on what looked like the top of an antenna with a grenade launcher.  The SIREN in question had been completely transformed and was maniacally launching grenades as if it was nothing. “Okay, you guys stay here,” Sable told them.  “I’m going after her!”  He turned to Pine.  “You’re with me.” “Roger that,” Pine told him as she switched out her ammo. “NO!” Adagio shouted.  “We need to stay together or else that bitch is going to slaughter us!” “Look kid, that’s sweet and all, but you have no business doing this.  Either of you.”  He pointed at Adagio.  “You’re injured as is, and as for you,” he told Sonata, “you’re clearly the sensitive type.”  He groaned.  “I know this was how you were raised, but it’s just bullshit as far as I’m concerned.  I’m an adult and I had a chance to live a life before I signed the dotted line.  None of you ever did.  So you’re going to sit here and let me deal with this and then after this is done, the biggest problems in your life should be fashion and not getting pregnant at the wrong time, got that?” Both girls looked at him with surprise, while Pine uttered an amused chuckle.  “You’re just like Uncle Poutine,” she told him. “Who?” “Because of what we are, the SIRENs have always been commanded at the echelon level by a vice admiral – a male flag officer, specifically.  They believed it was both good to have a male role model in our lives, as well as a father figure who we wouldn’t question,” she explained.  “Poutine was the latest in the line.  Unfortunately for the powers that be, he actually wanted to fill that role for all of us.” Adagio continued.  “We all grew up knowing him as ‘Uncle Poutine’ rather than Adm. Poutine.  He was always there for we younger ones when we were training and there for advice for the older ones.  We could always talk to him, regardless of military protocol and he never stopped looking out for us.”  She fell sadly silent for a second before she admitted, “Then came the time when he told us he was tired of all of us being sent off to die illegally and he was going to approach Parliament with the truth that we existed.” “For the longest time, we thought that it was CSIS who had him assassinated or maybe the regular military,” Sonata added.  “The official story was that he was taken out by Quebecois separatists, but given that he was a part of ARROWHEAD and had worked extensively with American special forces prior to becoming the SIREN commander, it couldn’t be true.”  She sighed.  “And now?  I don’t know whether he did it or Cantata Blast did it to further her personal aims.” “Well, either way, I’m not going to put you at risk.  Not when you all are hurting so much.”  He pointed to the other side, and there was Aria, bawling uncontrollably and behind comforted by Side, while Zephyr had a distinctly parental look on his face.  “These older SIRENs were your mothers, weren’t they?” he asked Adagio. “In a manner of speaking.  They raised us and were essentially that,” she replied in a dead tone.  “And now we’ve lost them, and we are alone.” “Don’t worry, Adagio, you’re not alone,” Pine said, putting her arm around the girl.  “Neither of you are.” “She’s right,” Sable told them.  “We get out of this and I’ll figure something out for the three of you.  Or maybe Zephyr or someone will.  Either way, you’re not alone, kiddos.”  He set down most of his gear and added, “But in the meanwhile, we still have to take out the grenade bitch, so Pine’s coming with me.  You two stay here and signal to them what they’re doing; they’re going to have to provide cover fire for you.”  He looked at Sonata.  “Protect your sister, kiddo.” “Roger that,” Sonata replied. “On it,” Adagio said, wincing as she reached for her small flashlight so she could send telegraphic code to the others. Meanwhile, both Sable and Pine rushed back into the building where they had been.  Explosions ripped behind them and the deep laughter followed; however, they made it even as the final blast wave knocked them both into the building.  One last grenade followed them, much to their panic, but with the click of the item’s primer going off, it lay inert – a dud, by some small miracle. “Fuck me, that’s too close for comfort,” Pine gasped.  “Okay, we’re here, so what next?” “We’re going to the roof,” Sable told her as they climbed up the ladder and into the small space that led to the roof.  “After that, you’re going to lay down suppressive fire while I get up close and personal to kill her.”  He held up a knife he’d liberated from one of the dead SIRENs.  “This should do it.” “You do know we have guns, right?” Pine pointed out as they scrambled onto the roof.  “Now that we’re on the roof, we should easily be able to take that bitch out.” “Be my guest and open fire right now,” Sable told her.  She did…and the bullet harmlessly ricocheted off.  The reply to that was a volley of launched minigrenades that had them scrambling for cover anew. “What the fuck was that?  I hit her dead on and nothing happened!” “Yeah,” he told her.  “I was thinking about what Sonata said, that whatever they took that’s turning them into monsters may not have been meant to be mass produced, it means that the reactions might be different as well.  Whatever they were intending to create just went seriously wrong and they’ve probably ended up with a menagerie of creatures they can’t control.” “So we have to do this the old fashioned way, huh?” Pine asked and he nodded.  “Works for me.  Best of luck; I’ll get her attention.”  She opened fire and shouted, “HEY, OVER HERE YOU FAT PIECE OF SHIT!” The grenadier looked and launched blasts their way.  “Looks like I got unwanted attention!” she cried out and sure enough, a second later, bombs exploded around them.  Pine returned fire, drawing another volley in their direction.  Both of them sprinted away as the bombs flew towards where they had been and the structure they’d hidden behind turned into a burning fireball.  “Go!” she shouted.  “I got this!” she said as she opened fire again. Sable immediately sprinted around the far side of the building mostly under the cover of a small subwall, moving forward as he watched for the creature’s every move.  Instead of reacting to him, it continued to fire at Pine with abandon.  Still, he was going to have to move fast, or else she wasn’t going to have much cover left and that meant that her time would be up. Another blast of minigrenades nearly sent Pine flying off the building; instead, it slammed her into the rooftop wall, knocking the breath out of her and sending her rifle flying over the edge.  As she moved to recover, she realized her weapon was gone and was now reduced to her sidearm.  Worse, the creature now had a clear shot at her, which it aimed and continued to bark that demonic laughter, a guttural, chilling sound that burned through the SIREN’s soul. “Hey bitch!” a voice shouted behind the grenadier.  “How ‘bout picking on someone who can handle your shit?”  The monster immediately turned around and with a smooth move, stabbed the beast right in the eye.  The vaguely-female SIREN screamed in pain and dropped the grenade launcher, which was all that Sable needed.  As the creature swung wildly at him, he shoved the barrel in her screaming mouth, ducked and pulled the trigger at the same time.  The blast and blossom of red showered everywhere, and the body fell to the ground harmlessly, strangely turning into rock after it settled. Pine rushed up to him.  “Are you okay?” she asked. “I’m not dead yet; that’s a plus in my book.”  He handed her the grenade launcher while he tried to undo the extra bandolier as well as the backup SA80 she carried.  “You’re going to need this as well.  How are you holding up?” “I’m done with this shit.”  She sighed.  “After this?  I’m taking my sister and we’re going to go fucking hide in a place that’s never heard of SIRENs or Canada or anything like that.  I’m done with this life and with us being treated like puppets, okay?”  She began to cry.  “I just want a normal life.” She buried herself in his shoulder and he put a comforting arm around her.  He didn’t know what to say.  He’d signed up for the military when he was probably much too young to realize the shit he’d go through.  Girls like her or the triplets didn’t have that choice; it had been stolen from them by people who pretended to be saints in public and were soulless bastards in private. She should have had a chance to just be a normal girl, Sable thought of the young woman crying on his shoulder.  And you bastards took it from her – from them.   He grimaced. There’s not going to be a hell deep enough for you fuckers to hide when I find you.  And nothing is going to fucking save you if you hurt Tia or Luna you assholes!  Nothing. Seated in her command center, Cantata looked at the growing numbers with horror.  The fighting had gone on for less than an hour and already she had heavy casualties – and those casualties were not caused by the opposing forces, but by her own side. Out of all those who had been injected with the serum, only half of them had been under her control.  The rest…there was no way to explain it.  Some of them had lost their minds and started firing on their own people, some of them started to mutate uncontrollably.  A few had melted or spontaneously combusted.  There was even a strange rumor about one of them having suddenly turned into a man and turned on her (his?) sœur; the response had been ugly and now one of her troops was out, traumatized by her ordeal. And then there was the incursion forces.  They’d had reports that the three older SIRENs had been killed in the process, but their petite sœurs turned out to be even more lethally effective than anyone had ever suspected; Seamen Dazzle, Blaze and Dusk had, ironically, become the epitome of what it was to be a SIREN – and they were using those skills on the Sisterhood!  And right along side them were Petty Officers Side and Pine, who had formed a lethal team of their own.  If it wasn’t for the fact that they were traitors to the cause, Cantata would have probably promoted them on the spot for their perfection as SIRENs. And now worst of all, it seemed that American law enforcement was on site, represented by the two men who clearly had American special forces training of their own.  Were they HRT?  Local SWAT?  Or something else? And that was nothing to say about how any of them managed to get past what was clearly a foolproof plan to freeze time for the rest of the world while the forces on base prepared.  And now all of that had gone to shit faster than a handbasket headed to hell. “Admiral!”  A petty officer rushed up to her carrying a sheaf of paper.  “We have a new report!” “Now what?” Cantata grumbled. “The basilisks!  One of the SIRENs you assigned to watch out for them just reported that they’re getting slaughtered out there, ma’am!” “What?”  Cantata was stunned.  They don’t have natural predators out here – they are the predators!  “How?” “Read for yourself,” she said as she handed the captain the document. Cantata read and…dropped the paperwork in shock.  Somehow…somehow there was a green canary out there, blasting jade fire at her basilisks and burning them as if they were moths too close to the candlewick.  The canary also was reportedly chirping a tune that sounded like an old song from the 80s. Cantata slumped to the ground.  Her forces – her elite force of special operatives and assassins – were getting their asses handed to them by a small, ragtag team of insurgents…and a Goddamn firebreathing canary. She looked at the admiral’s stripes on her arm, put there because she believed herself to now be the ultimate military force on the planet. Now, she was in the middle of fighting a losing battle and hoping that Divine’s demon could actually turn the tide.  Because if it didn’t? They’d be dead. “Admiral!  We have another report!” Cantata looked up at the messenger, trying to keep herself calm.  It couldn’t get any worse, could it?  “Report!” “We have someone inside the base – and she’s….”  The messenger read the thing over as if she didn’t believe it. “Report, Petty Officer.” “Aye, ma’am.  It says that our reserve forces within the facility are engaged in a battle with a single teenage girl who is literally throwing magic at them.” “WHAT?” “That’s right!”  The warrant officer holding the radio shouted.  “Send backup to the central corridor on Subbasement Two!  We need—GURRKK!”  Her words cut off into a choking sound as she dropped the radio.  The reason for that was the band of cyan energy enveloping her. The energy was being supplied by girl burning with turquoise energy around her and her eyes the same color.  She summoned the radio to her hand and spoke into it.  “She can’t come to the phone right now because I’m busy kicking your thugs’ collective asses,” Sunset Shimmer intoned. “Whoever you are, you’re dead, do you hear me?” “I can hear you.  Question is, can you hear me?” Sunset seethed before throwing the radio down on the ground.  She then brought a foot down on it, shattering it to pieces and leaving a small crater behind.  She then turned her attention back to the person she was holding in her magical grasp.  “Talk,” she ordered.  “Where did you take the civilians that you assclowns kidnapped?” “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” the SIREN said. “Let’s get something straight: You fucktards are threatening the world.  One of my friends is dead, the others are putting their lives on the line, and you’re threatening my family and best friends with their lives.  Up until now, I’ve had a policy regarding the sanctity of life when Razz – the girl that’s now dead because of you monsters – said you’re not worth it.”  Sunset floated the girl down until they were face to face.  “Do you want to be the person who changed my policy?  Because I can easily arrange that!” “You don’t got the stones.” “You’re talking to a girl that singlehandedly enslaved a school with the intent of using them as her personal army.  I’ve casually caved in walls and destroyed vehicles just because I can.  Now talk, or else your ass is grass and I will be the lawnmower of the gods, do I make myself clear?” “Again, I know your type,” the SIREN laughed.  “You think you can be a badass, and maybe you can back it.  But at the end of the day, you’re just some sweet little princess who thinks everything can be solved with sunshine and rainbows in thirty minutes, like this is an episode of Filly Fantasia.” “Maybe,” Sunset conceded.  “But since you’re talking pop culture, let’s talk someone who doesn’t kill.  Batman.  And do I look like Billionaire Playboy to you?”  Before the SIREN could answer, Sunset landed a brutal side kick against the side of the SIREN’s head.  There was an explosion of power and the SIREN went flying, head first, crashing into a nearby wall, leaving a stain of blood. “I don’t kill – yet.  But I can still do a world of pain,” Sunset replied.  Sorry, Razz.  I got you killed and I’m still ignoring your advice. Sunset bent down and started rifling through the pockets of the other downed SIRENs for any information that could lead her to her family.  Everyone was risking their lives – and in Raspberry’s case, had actually given hers – to make sure Sunset’s family survived this as well as to stop whatever was going on here, something that Sunset still wasn’t entirely sure. I mean, seriously, outside of some of the B-films that Rainbow watches, who the fuck would believe that Canadian illegal child soldiers are trying to have a French prince raise an army of monsters?  Seriously, that just sounds like weird fanfic shit. She continued to search, and other than wallets, identification, some ammo and (in one case) condoms, there was nothing that she could use from any of the unconscious women.  Still, Sunset couldn’t let them run around, so she snapped her fingers and a second later, tape had tied them down where none had been a second before. I have to watch it.  I don’t have much more magic, and Razz had the wand on her when she….  Sunset wiped away a tear again; as much as she didn’t want to deal with her friend’s death right now, she knew she would have to sooner or later.  I’m going to have to be prepared to deal with anything should the matter come to it.  Even if it means killing, she admitted to herself. A flash of memory entered Sunset’s mind: the bloody corpse of her sister, smashed by the diesel truck.  Though that had never actually happened, the memories of what could have been still haunted Sunset regularly.  To her, it meant that her beloved sister was in dire danger. Not again.  NEVER AGAIN! Sunset snarled to herself.  Hang on, sis!  Even if you hate me until the end of time – I’m still coming to save you. “It is time.”  With those words, Divine Right smiled.  The world would be his. Standing a distance away from him, the SIREN who had assisted him disrobed and walked over to a stone plinth upon which was an ancient parchment.  Reading from it, she began to sing.  A sexual fire began to burn within her, but she ignored the ecstasy that it brought her and focused on her singing.  She began to let her hands course over her body, feeling her womanhood, but she continued to focus on the singing.  Finally, she succumbed to her own desires, dropping herself on the ground and doing nothing but pleasuring herself, her moans and sighs somehow still in time with the ancient song that coursed through her as well. From where they sat, Velvet covered her son’s eyes.  She considered doing the same for her daughter and her niece, but as much as she wanted to shield them from this, they were old enough.  She looked around them and not a single face showed anything other than disgust…except for Octavia.  And that sole, rapt look on her niece’s face worried her most of all. “Absolutely hideous,” Rarity seethed. “Sick as fuck,” Rainbow agreed. Octavia, to their sudden surprise, let out a moan.  She then turned and forced herself on Twilight, kissing her cousin in full, tongue probing, hands groping.  Pinkie, seeing what was going on, immediately rammed Octavia away, slamming her to the ground. “WHAT THE FUCK?” Twilight screamed, not noticing her shirt had been nearly torn off. The raven-haired girl looked at Pinkie with an animalistic rage.  “What the fuck are you doing, you lesbo cunt!  I was finally going to get me the pussy I deserve!” Applejack was on her in a second.  “You’re not Tavi,” she accused. “No.  I’m finally free, and if I’m lucky, that bitch is dead,” Melody snarled.  She looked at Twilight.  “Hey, whore, come here and sit on my face!  I ain’t your sister, but I bet I can tongue-fuck you better!” Twilight shrank away, and both Rarity and Fluttershy stepped in front of her to protect her. Rainbow looked at Applejack and Pinkie.  “Grab her arms, now.” The adults suddenly noticed something was wrong with the teens.  “Rainbow, what’s going on?” Celestia asked. Rainbow looked at the body of Octavia.  “I don’t know who you are, but I want my friend back,” she accused. “Fuck you, slit.  Maybe after I’m done with Twatslit over there, I can make you feel good too,” Melody snarled.  “I got fingers enough for both of you.” Night looked at Octavia and knew what was going on.  “She hasn’t had her medication, has she?” Rainbow looked at Octavia sadly.  “I hope you forgive me for this.”  She then slugged Octavia as hard as she could in the solar plexus, making the girl gasp.  She then quickly followed it up with a second blow to the side of the head, knocking her out.  “Someone hand me some shoelaces or belts or whatever.  We gotta tie her up.” “Rainbow Dash!  Was that entirely necessary?” Luna demanded. “Yes,” all the teens except Twilight said at once.  Twilight just turned away and was embraced by Fluttershy. Shining took off his shirt and gave it to his sister.  “What the fuck is going on here?” he asked. “THE MAIN EVENT!” Divine Right sang out.  He then pulled a switch and in front of him a portion of the floor slid away.  An angled stone rose from the ground, upon which was a screaming girl dressed in a pure white gown. “SUNSET!” Solaire screamed in horror. “SUNSET!” Velvet screamed in terror. Everyone looked to see the flame-haired girl fighting and screaming, yammering on in French.  Then, Celestia, Luna, and five girls looked at each other in surprise. “LET MY DAUGHTER GO, YOU MONSTER!” Solaire and Velvet screamed in unison, then turned and looked at one another. Sunset tried desperately to pull out of her bonds.  “Laisse-moi partir! Maman, sauve moi de ce monstre! Quelqu’un me sauve!”   She turned and spat at Divine.  “Merde, bâtard! J’espère que tu pourriras en enfer!” “Your daughter?” Solaire and Velvet asked each other, completely confused. Meanwhile, Divine raised his sword.  “GROGAR!  DEMON OF THE INFINITES, ACCEPT THIS LAST OF THE VIRGINAL GIFTS!”  He then tore off Shimmer’s clothing, leaving her naked before the world. Divine leered at her.  “Une honte; tu as tout à fait le corps après tout,” he said with a leer. “Go to hell,” Shimmer told him. “You’ll be leading the way,” he said as he raised the sword, then plunged it into her, dragging it down from her heart down to her mound.  Blood sprayed everywhere and the girl screamed once before choking on her own blood. And then Sunset Shimmer died. Standing there, looking at the crime just committed, Solaire fainted.  Velvet began screaming.  Night looked on in shock and a look of monstrous look of hatred suddenly came onto the faces of both Shining and Cadance.   Celestia and Luna looked at each other and then immediately moved to Velvet’s side. But it was Twilight’s words that cored everyone’s souls.  As the blood drained from the sacrificial stone, pouring down towards an ancient bell that now seemed to glow with a demonic red hue, Twilight snapped.  “SUNNY, I’M SORRY!” she screamed.  “PLEASE!  DON’T DIE!  I’M SORRY!”  The words ended off in a shattered wail, the elemental heartbreak of someone who committed a massive mistake that could never be undone. Fluttershy moved to help her friend.  “It’s okay,” she sobbed, feeling the shock hitting her.  “We’re here for you, Twily.” And then Pinkie started to giggle.  They all stared at her, but then she smiled.  “It’s not her!” she said.  “It’s not her!” “What?  Pinkie are you fucking nuts?” Rainbow shouted.  “Your would-be girlfriend just fucking got….”  The tears streamed from Rainbow’s eyes and she couldn’t finish the sentence. “No!  Don’t you see?” Pinkie said with a beatific smile as she walked towards the bars.  “That…is not her.  That is Sunset Shimmer.  That is not my Sunset Shimmer.”  She then got as close as she could to the bars and roared, “HEY ASSHOLE!  NOW YOU HAVE REALLY FUCKED UP!” And then the corpse that had been Sunset Shimmer started to laugh.