//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Old Friends 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata waited outside the palace, Twilight's palace since Spike was so kind enough to tell them where they had been staying the entire time they had been out, which was only a few hours, though that gave them some time to stare at the transformed ponies that were walking around. Many of them were going about their days, as if their lives had never changed, and others were actually practicing their fighting skills with each other, since four little kids could be seen off in the distance doing just that, but so far it appeared that nothing terrible had happened. Despite the changes in their bodies, and the fact that they had to wear clothes all the time now, none of the ponies they saw seemed to mind the sudden change, even though Spike also informed them that each of them had willingly gone through the change when it was first introduced to Equestria. One thing that surprised them was that many of the ponies, whose human counterparts they knew from Canterlot High School or the shops around the city, actually said hi to them and treated them like friends, even though they had no idea who they were or what they had done in the past, something that many didn't seem to care about, since Spike informed them that Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, had been reformed during her adventure as well.

As shocking as that was, however, there was one person that they encountered for a few seconds before she hurried off to join Applejack and some of the other in their training session, as that was Rainbow Dash and she told them that she was interested in seeing what sort of powers they had unlocked during their adventure.

"Don't mind Rainbow," Sunset said, to which she, Celestia, and Twilight stepped out of the castle and joined the sisters, even though they had a chance to spot Rainbow before she went on her way, "She and Applejack can be a bit different at times, at least in terms of what happened to everyone else, though once you hear what they had to deal with you'll understand what I mean."

"Is there something terrible about their story?" Adagio asked, though at the same time she and her sisters gathered around Celestia, who was standing in the middle of the group, before a perfect sphere formed around them and they started to ascend towards the atmosphere, "What's going on here?"

"This is just how we travel through the space between planets," Celestia replied, to which she moved them up into the space above Equus' atmosphere, where the Dazzlings glanced around at the stars in shock for a few seconds, before she locked onto their destination and sped off towards the planet Sunset wanted to visit, all while leaving a slight rainbow colored trail behind, "And no, they're story isn't all that horrible. In fact, if you were to ask them what happened, one of them will eventually tell you that they both died during their adventure, only for them to recover from their ordeals and gain even greater strength from their deaths."

"How's something like that possible?" Aria inquired, because that wasn't something that could be found in Equus, and she knew that since she and her sisters had looked into a way to cheat death in case it turned into a battle between them and Starswirl and they were mortally wounded, only for their banishment to happen.

"Well, they were sent to a place that had seven spheres that were called the Dragon Balls," Twilight explained, recalling what she knew about the magical wish granting orbs that Rainbow and Applejack had told her about, including the couple of variations that they had discovered along the way, "From what I was told they are numbered with a star, ranging from one to seven, and all seven of them are of the same size, though when they're gathered together you're supposed to speak some sort of chant or incantation to awaken the magical wish granting dragon that it summons. That dragon, from what I have been told, has the power to resurrect the dead, erase the memories of whoever the speaker wishes, can crown anyone ruler of some location, and even bring back an entire planet, if the dragon in question is powerful enough to do that when the wish is made."

"Wait, did you say they were called the Dragon Balls?" Sonata asked, though she wasn't the only one that had caught onto that fact, as both Adagio and Aria had noticed the terminology as well, but when Twilight nodded her head Sonata had to chuckle for a moment, "Oh man, if Zeke was here he'd be throwing a fit or something."

"I take it this Zeke was a friend of yours?" Sunset inquired, where she found all three of the Dazzlings nodding their heads, which was a good sign considering what Discord had told her about them during their adventures, "Why would he care about the Dragon Balls?"

"Because he watches a show called 'Dragon Ball Z' and the Dragon Balls are a major part of the story," Adagio replied, to which she remembered something else that had happened when Zeke talked about the shows he had seen on the television, before the Blast took them out and likely ruined his collection, "He also talked about a show that seemed to be a version of what happened on Equus... though we're not sure how accurate it is, seeing how he only knew of it's existence and he, as well as our friends Cole and Trish, were shocked when we told them where we were from."

Sunset thought about that as Celestia moved them through the space between planets, as it was odd, in her opinion, for there to be another civilization that had knowledge of events that happened in Universe 7, from her own universe, and the only reason she knew that was because of the mention of the 'Cell Games', something that both Rainbow and Applejack had told her about in great detail, or at least their version of it. As the Dazzlings continued to talk with both Twilight and Celestia, answering questions and asking their own in return, she found that, in the end, it honestly didn't matter how they found out about the Cell Games, as it sounded like someone had made it up and had no idea that the world they wrote about was actually real. It reminded her of the Codex, something that she and Starlight had found fragments of during their adventure together, as it also detailed the same events that the Dazzlings had mentioned, yet it was possible that the civilization that created the device had 'seen' the events in some manner before their planet had been destroyed... but there were too many unanswered questions revolving around that device and she knew that it wasn't all that important, not when what they were going to do was even more important to all of them.

She sighed as she glanced at the stars they were passing, knowing that she had screwed up by not returning to this one planet when she first returned to Equus, though she had to wonder how the others were doing without her and the Dazzlings in their lives... and if they managed to keep the planet intact with the magic that had leaked into their world, before Discord fiddled with the portal anyway.





It took them a few hours to get near the planet that Sunset and the Dazzlings had called home for many years, even though the Dazzlings spent a thousand years, at the very least, on the planet while Sunset had only called it home for a few years, before her own departure. When Celestia reached the space above the planet she stopped the sphere they were in and started the descent towards the ground below them, allowing them to breach the atmosphere before any of them could see what was happening below them, where the Dazzlings spotted the city of Canterlot, not the Equus one, directly below them. Despite the fact that Celestia actually had no idea which building they were heading towards, since she had never been here before, both Sunset and Twilight pointed out the high school that was their first destination, to which she angled them towards it as they descended. The Dazzlings, on the other hand, stared down at the high school as they drew closer to it, because they had no idea how the students were going to react to them returning with Sunset and telling them that they managed to turn over a new leaf and become good.

Sure enough, when they drew closer to the high school, the group found that students were stopping in their tracks to stare up at them as they descended from the clouds, moved down until they came to a stop near the broken statue that used to house a stable portal between worlds, before Celestia tapped her staff and the sphere came undone, allowing them to touch the ground once more.

"Canterlot High School..." Sunset commented, staring at the building that was sitting in front of them, her memories of what happened here coming back to her for a few seconds, before she sighed as she wondered if the girls were still around, or if they had given up on her, "I should have come back here after I regained who I was."

"It's okay, Sunset." Twilight said, though at the same time she was feeling the same way, as both of them had left behind friends when they were last here, especially since Sunset was sent to a whole new world and she was trying to make sense of what Discord did while balancing her job as the Kaioshin, "I'm sure that the girls aren't too upset over the fact that it's been some time since they've seen either one of us."

"I did leave them my book, so they could communicate with me," Sunset pointed out, to which she glanced at the students that were staring at them, as some of them were pointing at her, mostly because they knew that it had been some time since she had been here and that the Rainbooms likely missed her, "Oh well, we're here now. Come on, let's head inside and find the..."

"SUNSET!!!!!" a familiar voice called out, one that all of them recognized, because there was only one overly excited person that the voice could belong to, even if her opposite was one of the transformed ponies, to which Pinkie appeared behind them and attempted to hug Sunset, only for Sunset to move out of the way, let her pass by her, and then smiled as she hugged the shocked girl.

"How are you doing, Pinkie?" Sunset asked, though at the same time she pulled away from the party girl, knowing that the others were on their way if she was already here, while also noticing that the Dazzlings seemed surprised by the speed she used to avoid the hug that they had barely noticed until it was too late.

"Now that you're back, I feel even better than ever!" Pinkie replied, to which she stepped away from Sunset for a moment and stared at the group, where she nodded her head a few times as she thought about something, "I'd say let me guess what happened, but I think I'll wait for the others to show up... oh, and here you go."

Sunset, recalling what she had asked Pinkie, as the was the only one out of the group that had time to do what she had asked her, held her hand out as her friend withdrew the bronze key that would allow her to get inside her apartment, as she didn't want to lose it when she went to Equus, which was a good thing considering what happened to her.

"Thanks for holding onto this, Pinkie." Sunset said, as she was glad to have the key back in her possession, since there were a few items she wanted to collect from her apartment while they were here, before letting the girls sell off whatever she didn't want to take with her, "I could have used the spare one to get into the apartment, but having the actual key makes things much easier for me in the long run. Did anything happen to my place while I was gone, or to the city and it's people for that matter?"

"Save for Midnight coming up every now and then, nothing exciting has happened," another voice said, to which Sunset and the others turned their heads and found Science Twilight, or Sci Twi as Starlight jokingly called her one time, standing nearby with the rest of the Rainbooms, though she noticed that all of them were shocked by what they were seeing at the moment, "though it seems that you had more excitement than we did... Sunset, what happened to you?"

"Plenty happened to me." Sunset replied, to which the Rainbooms looked at her for a few seconds, studying her new attire and her new demeanor, and she was certain that Rarity was trying to create a new dress or something for her in her mind, before she got to the matter at hand, "Suffice to say that I went through a number of adventures to restore my mind and body to what it had been after my first adventure, along with coming to an understanding of the power that I was able to gain at the same time."

"Power?" Sci Twi asked, though at the same time she raised her hand a little and it seemed like Midnight agreed with her in some manner, as the familiar arcane glasses appeared over her face for only a few seconds, because the moment she looked at Sunset and the others through them she had to force them to disappear as sweat rolled down the side of her face for a moment, "What... what was that? All three of your powers were so strong that it was like I was looking at three suns or something, and that I had to take the glasses off to avoid going blind."

"That's easy to answer, we're gods." Celestia answered, to which the group of girls in front of them stared at them with a look of pure shock on their faces, as if they didn't believe what she was saying, before she glanced at Sunset and Twilight for a few seconds, "Twilight, Sunset, I think we might need to show them what I'm talking about."

Twilight nodded and noticed a rock that was laying near the base of the statue, where she pulled it out of the ground and wove a little of her power over it, where some green vines started to grow all over the stone, much to the shock of the girls in front of them. Celestia followed that up with waving her hand and a weighted training suit, one that their version of Rainbow and Applejack told them about, materialized in front of them, causing the group to raise their eyebrows when they realized that she had created something from nothing, even though her creation powers paled to the overall power that their Twilight commanded. It was in the following moment that Sunset's dark purple aura wrapped around her for a few seconds as she raised her hand towards the suit, where she uttered the one word that activated her power, 'Hakai', and the suit broke apart before their eyes as she erased it's existence.

"Allow me to explain, Twilight is the Kaioshin for our universe," Sunset stated, to which her aura died down and she returned her hands to her side, as she felt that behind the back wasn't the best choice at the moment, while noticing that Sci Twi was already taking notes on what she had discovered, "That means that she's my counterpart god, as it's her duty as the God of Creation to watch over the many planets that exist throughout the universe, help nurture planets that are still developing, and even create the spark that will bring new planets to life in the future. Celestia is my Angel, meaning that it's her duty to watch over me, make sure that I don't go overboard when I'm doing my job, assist us when we're trying to communicate with some special individuals, and a few other things that we're still figuring out."

"And you, darling?" Rarity asked, though at the same time she had a good idea of what she could do for Sunset while she was still here, as she knew that she could easily replace whatever she was wearing with something that was even better, "What sort of god are you supposed to be?"

"The Hakaishin, or the God of Destruction," Sunset replied, where she noticed that the others were shocked, and she knew that their shock was only going to grow when she told them exactly what she did for the universe, "It's my duty to destroy individuals that threaten the balance of the universe and even destroy entire planets, and, to further prove my point, Celestia will show you what I did about a week ago."

Celestia nodded and tapped her staff on the ground, where the image of the galaxy that Chrysalis had been sent to appeared before them, even if the Rainbooms had no idea that such a thing happened, though that was shortly before the entire galaxy started to break apart, just like the suit did... though that did nothing to reduce the shock that the Rainbooms were showing them.

"Sunset had no choice but to destroy that galaxy." Twilight said, as she had thought about it long and hard when she heard what her friend had been planning on doing when she discovered the state of that galaxy, and she had to say that their universe was better off not having to worry about it anymore, "It was almost entirely dead, with massive constructs made of flesh threatening to devour the rest of humanity... so we rescued the survivors and purged the galaxy from the face of our universe."

"But we didn't come here to talk about all that," Adagio spoke up, as she and her sisters had been quiet the entire time since their arrival, and it was only now that the Rainbooms noticed that they were standing there, along with the fact that their bodies matched Sunset's body and that they had their pendants back.

"No way, you have your pendants again?" Rainbow asked, as she couldn't believe that after all the hard work they went through to defeat the Sirens and destroy their pendants had been undone, while at the same time ignoring the different color that the three gemstones possessed.

"In a manner of speaking," Sonata said, lifting up the blue gemstone and took a moment to stare at it, something that her sisters did when she looked at hers, before glancing back at the Rainbooms, "The world we went to allowed us to unlock our own unique powers, over the elements and not over something like what Sunset and Twilight gained, and, after some time, we gathered together and attempted to use our singing abilities to break the mind-control that someone was placing on the people of the city we were trying to save. Our plan worked and our innate magic realized that we were finally turning over a new leaf, so it restored our old powers to us and gave us some new pendants, along with giving us a more powerful form that we've only used against enemies that were worthy of its power."

"Th... that's good to hear." Fluttershy commented, as she was one of the few students that had felt that the Dazzlings had been misunderstood and that they might actually be heroes, though that was if they were given the chance to prove that they were capable of change, which was why she was happy to hear that they had become heroes to an entirely new planet that they didn't know about.

"I... I have so many questions!" Sci Twi stated, because this opened the door to an entirely new frontier that she knew nothing about, and she could feel Midnight stirring with a similar excitement for a few moments, and she turned towards Sunset as she considered what she was going to say, "Is... is it possible for me to come along and see what else the universe has to offer us? In terms of knowledge and technology."

"Well, it shouldn't be too hard to ask Ratchet and Starlight if they were willing to take on another person that wanted to live on the Starship Hyperion and learn more about the universe," Twilight commented, as she was used to Starlight telling her all the details about what happened and what she needed to do at any given moment, before she glanced at her counterpart, "though before you do anything, I'd suggest running it by your parents... and maybe Celestia and I should be there to help explain what it is that you want to do. There's also the fact that we might want to show you how to gain more control over your powers and see Midnight not as an enemy that you need to push away, but an ally whose powers can be a benefit to you and those that are around you, and we'd be able to do that in a controlled environment."

"I'll let the two of you do that," Sunset said, to which she glanced down at her hand for a moment, where the key to her apartment was resting, and knew what she had to do before they left this planet, since it was possible that this might be the last time she visited this place, "The girls and I will head back to my place for a moment... there's a few things I need to gather before we head back to Equus, and some things that I need to set straight while we're here."

Celestia nodded and together, with both versions of Twilight, set off for the house that Sci Twi lived in, so they could see what her parents said about what their daughter wanted to do, leaving Sunset with the rest of the Rainbooms for a moment, who smiled at her as she focused on the students that were around them for a few seconds... though even as she did that she found a familiar young adult approaching them, one that was hard to mistake for anyone else considering his two toned sapphire blue hair.

"Flash Sentry, it's been a while since we last saw each other." Sunset commented, though at the same time she smiled at him, because she easily remembered what the two of them had done when they were boyfriend and girlfriend, which was yet another time she had gotten over when she was regaining who she was, "How are you doing?"

"Good... considering that it's not everyday that I find out that one of the girls that I had a crush on just so happens to be a god, while my ex-girlfriend is also a god." Flash Sentry replied, though at the same time he rubbed the back of his head, because it had been slightly embarrassing when he discovered that both Sunset and Twilight were ponies from another world, which had hurt his reputation, though now he had no idea what to think, "So, you're a God of Destruction? I guess that makes you the most dangerous person in the entire universe, and the one that you don't want to piss off, regardless of whats going on around you."

"Technically, I'm the most powerful individual in the universe, not the most dangerous." Sunset stated, though at the same time that same saying would be correct for some of the other universes, as some of the other Gods of Destruction were more dangerous than she was, "Besides, I haven't destroyed a planet because I was bored or angry, I've only done that to ensure the safety of the universe and the remaining planets that exist around us."

"That's... good to hear." Flash said, though at the same time he stepped forward and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder for a moment, while at the same time she could see that something about this meeting was incredibly awkward for him, "It was good to see you again, Sunset. And who knows, maybe you'll find someone better than me out there."

Sunset barely had time to say anything before Flash withdrew his hand and headed back into the high school, his movements telling her that he must have held some feelings for her still, despite the fact that she had used him when she first came to this world and had only recently seen him like a friend, before she sighed and turned to the Rainbooms, who were eager to get underway to her apartment. She'd come back later on and tell Principle Celestia that she wouldn't be returning for the final year, not like the majority of her friends were going to do, but for now she headed to the front of the group and started to walk in the direction of her apartment. While the group followed after her, however, she had to answer several questions that they wanted to ask her, though for the most part it was just Rainbow asking her how she gained her powers, if she had to beat up the previous God of Destruction to gain them, and how many planets she had to destroy since she became what she was. She had to explain that she was predestined to become a God of Destruction, even having to explain that ascending to an alicorn was just a step in the road for her, and stated that she had only destroyed a few planets, as she felt that mentioning the loss of a galaxy would freak them all out... and then she had to explain her new body to Rarity, just so she knew how she acquired it.

The Dazzlings, not knowing what else to do in this situation, followed after Sunset and also answered several questions, though they all pertained to their own adventure and how they managed to turn good, but eventually that came to a stop when they reached the building that Sunset was bringing them to.

What they found on the other side of the door that Sunset unlocked was a decent sized apartment, as the size looked like it could be two of them combined thanks to the height of the room they entered, though one thing they all noticed was the decent sized television near the back of the room. As Sunset closed the door behind them, however, she glanced at the area around her and let her memories come back to her, as it had been a long time since she had been here, before sighing as she glanced at the pile of mail that would have to be taken care of before she left this world behind. After that she spotted her equipment that allowed her to use some of her guitars, which was when she glanced at the wall that the stairs to her 'bedroom' rested against and looked at the two electric guitars and the one acoustic one that she owned, all treasures from her past life before she walked through the portal and went to Nirn.

"Nice place you got here." Adagio commented, though she and her sisters stayed down on the lower level, as they felt that it would be inappropriate to head up to what was essentially Sunset's bedroom, while at the same time taking a moment to look at the guitars that their god was staring at, "And those are some nice guitars as well."

"You know, this just makes me want to ask another question," Applejack said, because she, as well as a number of the other girls, had been wondering something since they found out that Sunset was from another world, though they had never bothered to ask her until now, "How did you get the money to pay for a place like this? I know the prices here are cheaper than everywhere else, even though the buildings are well maintained and the grounds are clean, but I've never been able to figure out where you got the money to pay for everything."

Sunset sighed and headed up to the bedroom area, where she found two shelves with books, pictures, and other items that she liked, before she approached the stand that her alarm clock was resting on top of, which Pinkie seemed to have unplugged so the sound of it continuously going off didn't annoy her neighbors. She opened the drawer almost all the way and reached into the back part of it, where she grabbed onto the pouch that was back there and pulled it out, before closing the drawer and walking back down the stairs, where the others gathered around a small table as she poured out the contents. The others were shocked to find a number of golden coins, called Bits in Equus, and gemstones, a few rubies, sapphires, and the occasional emerald, that had been stored inside the pouch, before they glanced at Sunset for a few seconds, telling her that they had never considered her having all this.

"Back when I was leaving Canterlot, to come here, I snuck into the royal treasury and swiped a few odds and ends for my stay in this world," Sunset replied, looking down at the Bits and gemstones for a few seconds, because while they had allowed her to pay for a place she still felt a little ashamed for taking them in the first place, "Every now and then I'd sell a few Bits or a gemstone and be set for a few weeks to a month, since the purity of the gemstones was better than what the people I was selling them to had ever seen in their lives. Honestly, after I turned over a new leaf, I planned on finishing high school and getting an actual job to pay for everything else, but now, since that plan has been dashed, I guess I actually don't need these anymore... why don't you guys take them and distribute them among yourselves."

"Really? That's quite generous of you." Rarity commented, as she never expected someone with such beautiful gems to part with them, but at the very least the group would be able to put them towards improving their own lives, which might have been why she was letting them take them like she was.

"I don't actually need them anymore, so I might as well hand them over to someone that can use them," Sunset said, since she was technically living in Twilight's castle until she determined a better place to live and create her own palace, but for now she focused on what was happening at the moment, "Though, since I'm no longer going to be living in this apartment anymore, there are a few things that I should collect and take back with me..."

"We can have a party helping you pack up!" Pinkie declared, though that was when she headed out through the door they had walked through and went out to Sugercube Corner, while at the same time Sunset and the others stared at each other for a few seconds as the Rainbooms started to discuss how much stuff, in addition to her guitars, that Sunset should take back to Equus when it was time for her and her fellow gods to leave.

Sunset chuckled for a moment as she joined the others, because for now it felt like nothing had happened to her since she stepped through the portal, and she was planning on savoring the time she had with the Rainbooms, before she, Twilight, and Celestia headed back to Equus to get the Dazzlings settled into their new lives as residents of the planet they had previously been banished from... and then they could look forward to the return of the remaining missing ponies that were still out there, among the many planets that rested throughout their universe.