//------------------------------// // The Matchup // Story: Sunset Heritage // by luckyboys121 //------------------------------// As Sunset watched the crowd around her start to argue she turned her attention the trio causing it as she began to walk towards the one in the center. Soon Sunset reached her as Adagio let her voice die down before turning towards the newcomer as she asked, "So, have you made up your mind little sister?" A large smirk began to cross Sunset's face as she said, "Oh of course I have big sister." This resulted in an equally matched smile from Adagio as she stepped to the side, letting Sunset take center stage. She soon opened her mouth to sing, but as she stared out at the crowd she saw the faint image of a man and a woman dressed in red staring up at her. As she began to feel torn between the pair in front of her and the three behind her... she woke up. Sunset found herself laying in bed drenched in sweet as she panted and looked around. She quickly used her glowing hand to grab hold of the water bottle by her bed as she pored most of it down her throat trying to calm down. She then reached over and grabbed her medication as she took it with the last swig of the bottle. As she sat up and calmed down though her dream began to replay in her head as she once again began to feel a pull between her thought to be parents and her Siren sisters. She suddenly blinked as she said, "Wait... my parents," as she talked a slight bit of green overtook her eyes, only to instantly shatter as she continued saying, "Aren't Sirens." She then smiled widely as she repeated, "They aren't Sirens the're humanoid that," she then glanced down at the cloak she was wearing as she said, "That's why they gave me this, and why it fits right now." She snuggled in it briefly before she got to her feet and ran out the door saying, "Fluttershy I'm sorry I doubted you I-" but instantly her words caught in her throat as she looked down from her balcony to see all of her friend except the one she was talking to. And she did mean all of them as a nervous looking Twilight Sparkle waved up to her saying, "Oh... hey Sunset." "Twilight what are you doing here and," she then glanced around before saying, "Did Fluttershy need to go home or something?" "About that..." said Applejack. "See's kind of... missing," said Rainbow Dash as she looked down in worry. In an instant Sunset's smile fell, and so did she as she instantly jumped over the railing of her balcony, landing on her feet and walking towards the others as she said, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MISSING!?" The others blinked at that for a moment before Pinkie Pie spoke up saying, "She went to try and find something to help you." "I believe she said it was called a 'Memory Stone'," said Rarity. "And you let her go alone!?" said Sunset. "Well... not exactly," said Applejack scratching her head. "She went with Celestia, the princess one," said Rainbow Dash. "What!?" said Sunset in disbelief. "That's why I'm here, when Celestia hadn't come back yet Luna asked me to come and get her... we all thought she had lost track of time comforting you.... but now," said Twilight as she looked to the side in a mix of fear and worry. Sunset blinked before saying, "Well why are we just standing around, we gotta go look for them!?" "Woah sugarcube, what do you think we've doing while you where asleep," said Applejack. "We've already been to her house and looked around the school but haven't found anything," said Rainbow Dash. "And I've been texting her non stop," said Pinkie as she pulled out her phone to prove it. Sunset began to slightly twitch as her arm flared up, however a thought occurred to her that caused her fist to clench and arm to glow brighter as she said, "The Dazzlings had to have done this!" "Now we don't know that for sure," said Applejack as she placed her arm on Sunset's shoulder trying to calm her, to no avail. Sunset simply stared back at her with intensity as the sclera of her eyes began to darken as she thought, "If they hurt my friends after one did so much for me and the other just came back into life I swear I'll-" Before she could finish that thought Rarity spoke up saying, "All we can do now is stop by the school and see if the're there, and if not ask around to see if anyone saw anything." The others nodded at that as Applejack said, "We'll leave to get changed, see you there soon." They all headed for the door as Twilight briefly paused and turned around towards her saying, "I'm just as worried about them as you are Sunset but getting angry and losing our heads isn't going to help." Sunset blinked slightly as her eyes and arm both faded back to normal and she mumbled, "I guess." Twilight looked at her in concern saying, "Do you want me to wait here until you're ready?" "No, I'll be fine, just go ahead with the others," said Sunset as she turned to go back towards her bedroom. Twilight rubbed her arm nervously, not sure what to say, but trying anyway as she said, "Well OK, but if you need to talk about school or anything just let me know." Sunset offered no response as she simply closed the door, resulting in a sigh from Twilight as she walked away thinking, "I know how she feels but... I can't help but feel like she's going to do something she'll regret." Sunset didn't even pay much attention as she grabbed some clothes out of her closet and got changed, as she went over to grab her bag though she briefly caught sight of a shiny black object as she barely thought before grabbing the Jade and putting it in her bag as she headed down stairs and out the door. As Fluttershy slowly blinked her eyes open she instantly felt the pounding on the side of her head as she saw nothing but a blur. She rubbed her head and tried to will her vision to focus as she heard a voice say, "Oh good you're awake." She slightly tensed up at hearing the voice before finally she managed to get a clear view as she breathed a sigh of relief saying, "Celestia, thank goodness you're OK." "I was going to say the same for you," said the royal as she sat up on the concrete floor opposite the girl. Fluttershy briefly smiled at that before taking in their surroundings, as she saw little more then the small concrete room illuminated by a single light bulb. "Where are we?" asked Fluttershy. "It seems to be a basement of some kind," said Celestia as she let out a sigh saying, "At least that's what I'd guess given the limited view from the window." "Window!?" said Fluttershy as she shook herself catching sight of the small pain of glass near the ceiling. She slowly walked up to it and stood and had to do a slight pull up on the shill to get a brief look at some bleachers as she said, "I think we're bellow the stage." Celestia nodded as she said, "Sadly the door is locked and rather sturdy and that window won't open and even if it could neither of us could fit through it," said Celestia. She then reached over to her side and grabbed a bottle of water saying, "Well there are at least a few of these and some chips so either the Dazzlings do not intend to starve us, or whoever was here last left it and they didn't notice." Fluttrshy nervously chuckled at that as she sat down with Celestia saying, "So then, we're stuck here until someone can rescue us." "I'm afraid so," said Celestia. Fluttershy sighed before having a realization as she said, "My phone!" as she reached into her skirt pocket. "Phone?" asked Celestia in mild confusion. "Oh, it's like the journal you use to talk to Sunset," she then took her empty hand out of her pocket before going to the other as she let out a sigh saying, "And it looks like the Dazzlings took it." Celestia let out a sigh of her own as she said, "I figured they took something from you as well," as she gestured towards her head that Fluttershy now noticed was missing a crown. Fluttershy then grew nervous as she said, "They didn't take the memory stone did they?!" Celestia breathed a slight sigh of releaf as she said, "Thankfully no," before opening her bag to show both it and the notes about it where still there. "They must have taken your phone to stop us from getting help and my crown in a mix of pride, I wouldn't be surprised if Adagio is wearing it as we speak, and to prove they had us to Sunset." "Sunset..." said Fluttershy somewhat wistfully as she said, "I'm sure she'll save us." "Oh I don't doubt it," said Celestia with a slight smirk, that only briefly faltered as she caught sight of one of the note pages about the stone, before looking away from it. As Sunset followed the others into the gym she instantly began to glance around looking for three girls in particular. The others didn't seem to notice as Applejack said, "Alright gang, lets split up and look for clues." "Ruh row," responded Pinkie on instinct resulting in glares from the others as she said, "Sorry, not the right time." Sunset didn't hear the joke though as she scowled at not catching sight of who she was looking for. She groaned before she closed her eyes to think, and it was in that moment she started to feel something. She briefly opened her eyes in surprise saying, "I'll head over this way," before she walked off a bit and closed her eyes. She didn't know how or why but she could feel a presence ahead as her arm slightly blinked. She looked down at it saying, "So you can do more then just sense threats, you can also point me towards them," she scowled at it as it fully flared up before she said, "Could have used that earlier." Sunset walked through a side door as she was greeted to a sight that made her blood boil. Leaning against the lockers was Adagio Dazzle as she smugly tapped the crown atop her head as she began to say, "Little sister so good to-" Before she could finish though she found Sunset on her in instant and holding a gun in her face causing her swagger to falter. Sunset simply glared at her as her eyes began to change and the red of her arm started flowing up to her neck as she said, "No calling me sister, none of your attitude, and no lies. Just tell me where they are or die." Adagio briefly flinched in a combination of terror and satisfaction as she could feel the absolute rage coming from Sunset. She did her best to compose herself though as her smile returned as she said, "I wouldn't do that if I where you." "I said no lies," said Sunset without faltering. Adagio briefly gulped before saying, "Haven't you noticed that I'm alone here... now where do you suppose Aria and Sonata are?" Sunset flinched at the question as Adagio stood taller saying, "Now then, I have an ultimatum for you, play along or the sun princess and butterfly girl die." Sunset backed away slightly as her rage briefly broke into fear, before returning with a vengeance as the red now covered the right side of her head and caused her ear to become pointed as she said, "I'll just find where they are." Adagio now feeling her pride swell up at regaining the upper hand had a dark look in her eyes as she thought, "You never lost the upper hand, getting her angry is part of the plan." She then smirked as she said, "I'm afraid you're not the only one with keen senses at the moment you get close to them well.... they'll be nothing left for you to save," as she let out a chuckle. Sunset flinched once again as she grit her teeth saying, "So what do you mean by play along?" "Well it's simple... let's turn this Battle of the Bands into a real battle. When my sisters and I take center stage for the finals you feel free to hit us with everything you got, and if you somehow manage to beat us we'll tell you where they are," said Adagio. "And if there's nothing left to tell me anything?" asked Sunset. Adagio chuckled as she made her way down the hall saying, "I doubt that will happen, but hey if all three of us are dead then you won't have anything stopping you from looking for them." Sunset stood in the hall absolutely fuming when Twilight approached her saying, "Sunset what are you-" she paused as the girl before her turned to reveal herself. For standing in front of Twilight was someone bearing both the features of Sunset's demonic form she had last seen at the Fall Formal and the girl she called a friend and whoever that someone was they where holding a gun and pointing it towards her. Twilight flinched as Sunset lowered the weapon and began walking towards the nearest exit as she said in a voice that seemed to echo with intensity, "Sorry just need to blow off some steam real quick." Twilight barely had time to comprehend the sentence as she followed Sunset out the door and watched as she pointed her gun straight up and focused all of her rage into it causing an entirely new symbol to form as the gun seemed to grow larger in her hand. The weapon now looking more like a rifle then a pistol discharged a large beam of red, the very shockwave of which knocked Twilight to the ground as she stared at this fire of pure hatred extending out into the stratosphere. Adagio briefly flinched as she sensed what happening. Part of her wanted to run in fear, but that part was quickly silenced by the red in her eyes as she mumbled, "Don't go wasting that power before I have a chance to take it." Aria and Sonata exited the gas station as Aria mumbled, "I guess we've been away long enough for Adagio's little trick." Sonata simply shipped on her slurpy ready to make a comment, but the two stopped as they saw the red light shooting into the sky and felt the very presence of it. Their own eyes quickly became red as Sonata chuckled saying, "Looks like you're right, the plan is certainly going off with a bang." After a good thirty seconds of firing Sunset finally cut off the beam as her own appearance and that of the Jade quickly returned to normal. She briefly stumbled before removing her pill case and popping one. Seeing the butterfly clasp threatened to rile her up once again but she turned her focus away from it and too the fearful Twilight as she said, "Let's go back to the others, and tell them how the Dazzlings just wrote their own headstones." Twilight barely had time to gulp in fear as she quickly got to her feet and began to follow Sunset.