It was the late afternoon when Sunset Shimmer was rushing toward Canterlot High. Rainbow Dash had messaged her and the other Rainbooms about an emergency that she needed help with. As Sunset ran toward the school's front doors, she saw that her other friends have just started to arrive as well. "I got your text, Rainbow Dash," Sunset said as she approached her friend. "Did something come through the portal? Is Equestrian magic on the loose? Did Twilight come back with a problem that only we can solve?!"
"Has a giant cake monster covered all the cakes in the world in cake," Pinkie loudly asked in excitement as she appeared next to Sunset with some cupcakes in her hands and ate them both at once.
"Um, not exactly," Rainbow Dash said as she kneeled down to open her guitar case and take out her instrument.
"I don't understand. What's going on then," Sunset asked in confusion.
"Well, Sunset, I was just tellin' Rainbow Dash here that a broken guitar string doesn't really qualify as an emergency," Applejack explained as she fiddled with the aforementioned string on Rainbow Dash's guitar.
"It totally does count," Rainbow Dash said as she brought her guitar closer to herself to get Applejack to stop playing with the broken string.
"Really, Rainbow Dash," Rarity scolded her friend for something so trivial. She currently had a pincushion on her wrist, a tape measure hanging off her neck and shoulders, and was wearing a red-framed pair of glasses. "I was in the middle of sewing a very complex appliqué on my latest frock when I got your message."
"And I was just about to tuck everyone in for the night at the shelter," Fluttershy said as she was petting her rabbit, Angel Bunny. "Now we'll have to start stories all over again."
"Why would you send all of us an emergency text for a guitar string," Sunset asked. "Shouldn't you have spares of your own?"
"Well, I was going to pony up and show our fans some awesome guitar licks, but I kinda need all six strings to do it," Rainbow Dash explained as she pointed to Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle (also known as the CMC or Crusaders), who were all waiting on the front steps of the school. "Plus, I forgot my spare strings at home. Got any extra?"
The others just groaned in annoyance as Sunset Shimmer pulled a spare guitar string from her backpack and handed it to Rainbow Dash. "Here you go. Good thing I make sure to carry spare strings in my backpack," she said to Rainbow Dash. "But everyone finished practicing for the day. I'm pretty sure all the music rooms are locked."
"No problem. The acoustics in the hallway are perfect for power chords," Rainbow Dash said as she finished replacing her broken string. Just as she played a power chord on her guitar to add to her explanation, everyone saw a flash of rainbow light and the nine girls turned to see what it was.
"Well, here we are! Canterlot High School," they heard a girl that looked similar to Sunset Shimmer say to someone from behind the Wondercolt Statue. Looking in the statue's reflective base, the girl paid attention to her hair before speaking up again. "Why is it that our hair keeps changing when we come here? I like my highlights."
"Don't know. But at least we can see our friends," a voice that sounded familiar to the Rainbooms said.
"Blaze? Azalea? Is that you," Sunset Shimmer asked as she walked toward the statue.
"No. It's the princess of Pony Land and I'm here to give you a knighthood," Rua Amaranth said sarcastically as she stepped into view and laughed at her joke. "How's it going?"
The rest of Fragment Hunter appeared from behind the statue before Pinkie ran toward them for a hug. Tackling Slate, Silver, and Vinyl, Pinkie was quick to give them all a tight embrace in her excitement. "Hey, guys! It's so great to see you again," she exclaimed with her usual chipper tone.
"Well, it's been a while since a friendly visit, so we decided to bring friends and family to show this place off to," Azalea said as she walked up to the Rainbooms. Everyone saw that instead of her green sweater and jeans, she was now wearing a sleeveless purple leather jacket, black leather pants, a fuchsia tank top, vambraces, and a new pair of boots. Not only that, but Azalea's black cow horns were on full display for everyone to see instead of being hidden by a bandana.
"Azalea, you look gorgeous! Why the new outfit," Rarity complimented. "I mean, it's always a good idea to change up your wardrobe every now and again. But why this kind of ensemble?"
Azalea looked over her attire and just shrugged before answering. "I felt that after finally dealing with some bullies that I was afraid of for so long, it was time for a complete change of how I show myself to others. I'm a new Azalea who's ready to be a Huntress," she stated.
"And you'll be a great one, princess," a deep voice said and everyone turned to the source. Stepping out from behind the statue was an enormous and muscular man with dozens of scars, red eyes, and large black bull horns that added six inches to his intimidating height. He wore a red coat, worn-down jeans, and heavy boots as he walked forward and introduced himself. "I'm Terracotta Gaia. Azalea's father and a professional Huntsman. Nice to meet you all," he greeted.
The Rainbooms and Crusaders were speechless at Terracotta's sheer size, barely able to utter a word until Pinkie appeared next to him. "Wow! You are big! We saw a photo of you before, but we didn't expect you be gigantic," she said as she circled around Terracotta.
Terracotta only laughed loudly at the girl's antics before a woman who looked very similar to Azalea appeared next to him, but she didn't have freckles and had white horns instead of black. "Oh my. It seems that we have some interesting characters in this world," she said and caught everyone's attention. "Hello there. I'm Azalea's mother, Ivy. A pleasure to meet you all."
Just like with Terracotta's size, Ivy's beauty had captivated the Rainbooms and Crusaders until someone snapped out of it to speak. "Mrs. Holstein, I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say this. You're absolutely divine," Rarity said as she stepped forward to inspect Ivy's attire. "Are these custom made? I would believe so with your... figure."
"Indeed they are. We have an old family friend in my hometown who runs a boutique and we're their best customers," Ivy said and she leaned against her husband.
"You'd be amazed how many shirts and jackets I go through daily," Terracotta said completely serious and deadpan.
"Is there anyone else waiting around that we should know of," Sunset Shimmer asked.
"We'll bring them over later," Lapis said before noticing Rainbow Dash's guitar. "You about to play something?"
"Oh yeah. Want to listen," Rainbow Dash replied. "Come on. We'll talk more in the school."
As everyone started to head inside, Applejack saw Sunset Shimmer with Azalea, Rua, and Rebecca. "You girls coming or what?"
"Just a minute, Applejack. I want to write to Princess Twilight," Sunset explained as she pulled out the magic journal she used to communicate with the princess.
"And we want to just relax a bit," Azalea mentioned as she stretched her arms over her head. Applejack shrugged and headed inside with the others as Sunset Shimmer began to write.
'Dear Princess Twilight, how's life treating you in Equestria? Any cool new magic spells? It's been pretty quiet here at CHS since the Battle of the Bands. We still pony up when we play music, which Rainbow Dash just loves to show off. But I still can't quite grasp what it's all about. I would love to hear what you think about it when you get a sec. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer. P.S. Fragment Hunter stopped by with Azalea's parents. Terracotta's bigger than the picture Azalea showed us before. You'll need to see him for yourself.'
As Sunset continued writing, Azalea and the others were relaxing when a bus pulled up and dropped somebody off. They were wearing a hoodie, so their face was hidden from view. The mystery figure pulled out a machine of sorts and began to search for something with it. As the stranger walked toward the Canterlot High School campus, the device started to react to something as they got near the statue. Circling around it, they noticed that the device they had began to show some different readings and placed a hand against the statue's base.
Sunset Shimmer looked up from her journal and noticed the unusual person near the portal to her original home of Equestria. "Hey! What are you doing," Sunset called out to the stranger and alerted the others to the situation. Seeing that they were noticed, the mystery figure ran away toward the bus stop as Sunset stood up. "Wait! Stop," Sunset called out to the figure.
"Don't worry! We've got this," Rua said to Sunset as she, Azalea, and Rebecca began to chase the unknown person. As they approached the road, Sunset had to come to a sudden stop to avoid getting hit by a car while Rua jumped on top of it before leaping off. The stranger managed to get across the street before Rua or Sunset and another bus just began to pull in. Grabbing onto a lamppost, they managed to swing around and run inside the bus just before it headed into the city. As Sunset missed the bus, Rua used her athletic skills as a Huntress-in-training to jump onto the roof of the vehicle. "Hehehe. Got you now," Rua chuckled to herself before noticing a lamppost approaching her. "Ah, Grimm paste," she muttered before hitting the post and falling off the bus.
"Whoa! Are you okay, Rua," Sunset asked as she picked up the girl.
"Yeah. I've taken worse hits," Rua said. "Thank you, Aura." The two girls saw the bus leave their sights as it left for the city. "I'd chase after it, but I need to know where I'm going to use my teleportation Semblance," Rua told Sunset Shimmer.
"Who was that," Sunset asked in suspicion. Looking around, she noticed that Azalea and Rebecca were missing. "Where are the others?"
As the stranger sat down at the back of the bus, they pulled down their hood to reveal their face. It was a girl with purple skin, purple hair in a bun that had three different shades of color, and a pair of glasses on her face. She sighed as the bus headed for the city, but didn't notice that she wasn't the only girl to get on the bus. Rebecca and Azalea were staying hidden with the latter's Semblance hiding them from sight, but they were shocked to see that the girl they were following was their friend, Twilight Sparkle.