ACT FIVE
The next day, all the friends, again, went about their businesses as if nothing was wrong, especially Sunset.
Lightning had been informed of the situation, and told Krysta to keep close tabs on Sunset, from up high in the sky, or keep watch of her without getting too close.
Sunset went about her daily routine-- working at the hospital, shopped at the mall with Rarity and some of the girls, then she met with Artie for lunch, and they shared a big chocolate malted with two straws.
“Aww…” Pinkie Pie cooed, forgetting she was supposed to be serving the other tables.
Meanwhile, some of the others kept their eyes on their friends too-- peeking around corners, sitting on benches, and peeking up over their magazines or newspapers.
Their plan was to lure Human Sunset out into the open, knowing she would probably confront Sunset herself, and if she tried they would be ready!
But by nightfall they were growing impatient.
“We’ve been following them all day, and nothing’s happened.” groaned Spike.
Twilight preferred to keep watching, “Most creeps and thugs like to work at night. Maybe now Human Sunset will come out and make her move.”
“My thought’s exactly.” agreed Celesto.
Artie and Sunset were having a romantic walk in the park.
The stars were shimmering beautifully, but all they could do was gaze at each other.
But suddenly, they both felt they had to go to the bathroom, and the portable toilets were unoccupied.
They both went in at the same time, unaware of the movement occurring in the bushes nearby.
It was Human Sunset, and while she couldn’t be detected by any electronic equipment, she laid low so as not to be seen by anyone else.
However, Rhymey and Fluttershy were nearby on a romantic walk of their own,
“I think I see movement there.” whispered Fluttershy
Rhymey narrowed his eyes at the shrubs, and whispered back,
“Come with me,
…But quietly.”
The two crept round a large tree and were now just near the shrubs by the cubicles.
Rhymey then picked up a rock, and tossed it at the figure in the shrubs.
“Oh!” Human Sunset groaned, and fell unconscious.
Artie and Sunset both heard the noise and came out.
“What was that?” snapped Artie.
“We got her!” cried Fluttershy.
She and Rhymey rushed into the shrubs to pull out the unconscious body, and pulled off the ski-mask, exposing the other Sunset’s face.
Sunset was most amazed, “Unbelievable.” she said softly as she looked in closer, “She looks just like me.”
Rhymey then noticed that the unconscious lady had not a single mark or bruise on her head to show where the rock had hit her.
“Looking for someone!” someone then called, and the gang looked up to see yet another Sunset.
“What the what?!” cried Artie.
That’s when the Sunset, on the ground, her eyes snapped wide open and she bolted upright onto her feet.
Then there were two more Sunset’s that jumped into the picture, and four more.
“They’re robot droids!” cried Sunset.
More Sunset droids appeared, and Sunset quickly used her communicator to call for backup from the others.
The Sunset droids rushed in, and the fighters stood ready.
The boys transformed first,
“STARFLEET MAGIC!!”
Then Fluttershy…
“Harmony Hour, Friendship Power!”
Then Sunset tapped her energizer once, unleashing her magical energy, and transforming in her Shining Angel form.
“Alright, let’s get’ em!” she said to the others, and the fight was on.
Artie attacked one of the droids, but the droid grabbed his fist with a lot of strength, and flipped him over, and then she flipped over to kick him while he was down, but he zipped out of the way.
He then blasted her with a shot from his horn, but the droid defended itself with a small magical shield it had conjured.
“What?” he cried.
Sunset herself was shocked! “That’s my magic!”
“How is that possible?” cried Fluttershy.
The droids were closing in,
“No time to wonder that now,
Let’s knock ‘em flat now!”
Sunset agreed, “They may have my powers, but let’s see how well they use them!”
She rushed forth to attack one of the droids.
The droid swerved as apparently it was just as skilled in fighting and swiftness as well.
Sunset zipped herself and managed to meet the droid’s fists with hers.
Back and forth, their fists flew blocking each other’s attack.
Faster and faster the fists flew, but the droid didn’t seem to get too tired.
“What’s with this thing?” Sunset groaned, and suddenly, the droid blasted her with a shot of magic, sending her tumbling backward in midair.
Suddenly, in her spinning, Sunset fired a blast of her own at the droid’s head, blowing it up and knocking the wreck down.
“Yes!” she cheered, only to then be bombarded by a Paint Bomb attack, just like Artie’s… but he wasn’t doing it!
“They-- they’re using my powers too!” Artie cried.
Many of the droids then smirked wickedly and held out powerful Super Staves, identical to Artie’s weapon.
“Oh, my!” cried Fluttershy.
Rhymey clenched his fists,
“WARD SWORD”
Clutching his blade tightly, he charged into action, parrying the staves with his sword.
“SUPER STAFF” shouted Artie, and he grabbed his weapon, “Let’s make this interesting!”
Three droids rushed at him, and he charged straight at them, parrying their staves with his, and attempting to blast them with his magic, only for they to defend themselves with their own magic, and attack him with their Paint Bomb attacks. They didn’t even have to shout out the attack to work it!
“Whoa!” Artie shouted as he leapt away from all the explosions!
Fluttershy was having trouble battling the droids, unarmed, as they ganged up on her, until she realized that she had another way out of this.
One droid swung its staff at her, and she ducked down causing the droid to hit another dorid instead.
“Missed me.” teased Fluttershy.
The droid actually looked angry and fired powerful magical blasts!
Fluttershy made a spin-jump on an angle avoiding the shots, and three more droids were blasted instead.
“Missed me again.” she said with a smirk.
The droid was infuriated and raised its staff to slam her down, only for Fluttershy to finally rush forth and kick it out of the droid’s hands, and stomp hard on its head, knocking it to the ground.
“Take that!” Fluttershy snapped, but her glory was short-lived as all of the droids sprung back up on their feet, despite the damage they had all taken, they still seemed ready for more…
…And more and more droids seemed to appear all over the park.
The fighters felt they were badly outnumbered, until there was a barrage of blasts that rained down from up high.
Sunset looked up and saw the rest of the gang, along with Lightning.
“Sorry we’re late,” Lightning called “Had trouble rounding up the gang.”
Pinkie Pie was amazed to see so many Sunsets all over the place. She rubbed the front of her visor to make sure she was seeing clearly. “I never knew you had twenty-five identical twins.”
“Those are the droids, Pinkie.” snapped Buddy “Come on; let’s get ‘em!”
The team landed on the ground, and the brawl heated up big time.
“Be careful!” Artie called to everyone “They’re using Sunset and My powers!”
Rainbow suddenly realized this truth by getting zapped by a magical blast,
“Thanks, that was real helpful.” she grumbled.
Altogether, the team put up a valiant effort, but these droids just wouldn’t stay down no matter how much damage they sustained, and just kept right on coming.
“This is crazy!” shouted Dyno.
“How can you keep down a robot that doesn’t feel tired?” groaned Myte.
“Well, if we can’t tire them out!” said Starla as she armed her bow “We’ll just knock ‘em out!
STARLIGHT ARROW”
POW!! She shot a droid right at the droid’s head, blowing it up and shorting out some of its circuits, and the droid collapsed dead just like that.
“Right!” snapped Sunset “Go for it, guys!”
The team agreed and rushed into action, aiming directly for the heads of the droids.
Punching, kicking, or blasting at them.
Pinkie Pie even body just grabbed a droid by the head and pulled it off like a cork.
The droids began to fall, and they didn’t get back up, but then there was trouble…!
Three droids came after Sunset, and she powered up as much as she could,
“SHINING FORCE”
Firing a strong beam of burning light right at the droids, passing right through them blasting their heads, and shorting them out.
Then, suddenly, without warning, Sunset was grabbed from behind.
Human Sunset had been in the area the entire time, cloaked under her camouflage device, waiting for the right moment to capture her counterpart!
Before Sunset could try anything, Human Sunset held up a small device to her neck, injecting her with a knockout solution. Sunset was out like a light, and de-transformed too.
Artie saw this, “SUNSET!!” he shouted as he ran to help his wife, but it was too late, for Human Sunset dragged her into the invisible field and out of sight.
The last of the droids were downed, but Artie called for the guys to help find Sunset.
Even though they couldn’t track Human Sunset, see, or hear her, they noticed the motorcycle tracks on the ground heading out of the park.
“Let’s blast her!” shouted Buddy.
“No, don’t!” cried Applejack “You may hit our Sunset!”
Artie was starting to fret, “SUNSET!!!”
“Don’t worry,” said Lightning “This is exactly what we planned for.” and then he whistled loudly for Krysta.
The little robin flew out from the trees, where she had been sitting all this time, and flew off after Sunset. “Don’t worry…” she shouted to the others, “She can’t hide from me.”
Then she was gone, perusing Human Sunset’s invisible bike.
Artie clenched his fists furiously, and angrily punched a huge rock, shattering it to bits.
“Artie, calm down!” said Fluttershy.
“Don’t get worked up, man,
This is all part of our plan.” added Rhymey.
Artie tried to maintain his cool, but the fact his wife actually got taken was harsh on him!
Back at the base, Celesto and Twilight were tracking Krysta, via, a tiny communication electrode, attached to her leg.
Celesto had planned for this all along, including the anticipation of Sunset being kidnapped.
“I knew there had to be some kind of setup. Those droids were just decoys so the real Human Sunset could capture our Sunset while she was tired from the battle.”
Twilight agreed and continued to track Krysta down, “Robins have a strong sharpness in their eyes that can sense magnetic-fields, and they can also see colors invisible to humans.”
“I get it.” said Spike “It means Human Sunset can’t hide from us now, but I still don’t get why we let her kidnap Sunset.”
“We need to find out where she’s being taken.” answered Twilight “It may be the only way we can find out who’s really behind all this.”
“Exactly,” added Celesto “If those droids we equipped with magic that taken from our friends, we need to find out who’s creating them, what they plan to do with them, and put a stop to it.”
Twilight and Spike agreed. Just seeing those droids and how powerful they were already could only mean something dangerous was coming along!
Human Sunset had carried the unconscious Sunset behind her, and she was positively fraught with anxiety. Here, she had her counterpart and her big chance to do what she always wanted with her, but she had her orders from her employers-- to bring her back alive!
She had already contacted them both, and Jewel and Richard were very pleased.
“Return to where you first docked on the island.” said Richard “Transport will be with you shortly.”
“And then…!” said Sunset “When I return, I expect you to hold your ends of the bargain!”
Jewel sighed “Yes, yes… you report back to us, you get your pay.”
Sunset agreed and logged off, but she still had her own little plans to carry out as she thought, “I’m going to get more than just my payment, I’m going to get a little repayment!”
She arrived at the far side of the island by the dirt road where she first came ashore, and could do nothing now but wait to meet with her colleagues, and it wasn’t long before two men arrived in a rubber life raft to take her and the other Sunset back to the submarine that was far offshore.
…Unaware that Krysta had followed Sunset all the way and was keeping tabs on her and the crooks.
The men were surprised to see both her and the second Sunset at the same time.
“Will you two move it!” snapped Sunset “I want to get my money and fast!”
The two men grumbled as they helped get the unconscious Sunset onto the boat.
One of the men suddenly looked up and saw her fluttering in the sky, “Hey, what’s that?”
The others all looked up and saw Krysta as she fluttered into the thick leaves of a tree on the ledge.
“It’s just a little birdy.” said the other man “Nothing to worry about at all.”
“…That’s what you think.” Krysta whispered to herself.
As the villains began to pull out with the two Sunsets and the motorcycle, Krysta flew out of the tree, and flicked her transmitter so it landed clear on Human Sunset’s back.
She didn’t feel anything.
Then Krysta flew away to get back to the team.
The transmitter on Human Sunset’s back was traced all the way to the submarine, and Twilight and the team continued to track it as the blip on the map headed straight out to sea.
Then it stopped right out in the middle of the Pacific.
Artie was growing antsy. “Is that it?” he snapped “Is that the location of the hideout?”
“NO!!!” the others all shouted.
“Artie, you can’t questioning them every time they stop.” said Twilight “We know you want to save Sunset, and we will.”
Artie tried to keep calm as he sat down again, and Fluttershy and Rarity comforted him.
Suddenly, the blip started to move again, much faster than it did before, which suggested the submarine rendezvoused with a jet to take the passengers the rest of the way to their destination.
A few hours later, the blip had stopped and hadn’t moved again, in London England.
“That must be where they’re based at.” said Rarity.
“Well what are we waiting for!” snapped Artie, and he got up to rush recklessly away, but Applejack lassoed him, “Hold on there, boy. We can’t go rushin’ in like this.”
“Applejack is right,” Lightning said “They could be expecting us to come after Sunset. I fell for that trick many times in my travels.”
Celesto just got off the phone, “Right, come everyone.”
Soon, they were all off in the air, aboard one of his fantastic super jets, capable of flying six times the speed of sound, which would allow them to reach England in only a few hours. This way would be less conspicuous than flying directly to England themselves, as well as save power.
Celestia, Luna, and the children joined them.
They were fast asleep on one of the sofas. It was well past their bedtime, but Celesto insisted they come. He didn’t like the idea of leaving his family behind, and he felt that Celestia would be needed on the mission too.
Celestia covered her darlings up with soft blankets and watched them sleep with her husband.
Luna promised she would look after them while the grownups went on their mission.
The others all sat always up from the area so the children could sleep.
Rarity stretched out in one of the armchairs “Ah, First-Class or No-Class. My way of traveling.” she sipped a drink she had.
The Twins agreed as they sat in massage chairs.
But Artie sat by himself at a window, looking really grim and worrying about Sunset.
“Artie,” said Lightning “It’ll be alright. Sunset’s a fighter like the rest of us. She’ll be okay.”
“I know,” said Artie “She wouldn’t be the leader of our team if she wasn’t, but I just can’t stop worry about her.”
“It’s just a typical marital emotion.” Celestia assured him “I’ve had my share of worry about Celesto, especially seeing as I nearly lost him several times.”
Her husband agreed, remembering how often he worried about Celestia too, and he hated worrying her even if she said she understood.
Artie still didn’t feel any better, and wouldn’t until he got his wife back, “I’d still like to know who did this to her.”