Everything she knew about this world was wrong, decided Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Equestria and Leader of the Canterlot Free Alliance.
Very wrong.
She knew they were magicless. What she was quickly finding out was that this world didn’t need magic—it had science and technology that was so far above and beyond the norm of her own world, that she wasn’t sure which was the fantastic and which was the mundane.
At the moment, she was being kept in a large featureless room with her three followers. They’d all been stripped of everything, even their clothing, and were forced to wear strange orange garments that seemed to be made of an unfamiliar cloth and had lines on the side that glowed. She could see red lines—thin strands of light—outside their room and though her own magic (and likely that of her followers) wasn’t being blocked, she suspected that anything they did wouldn’t be of use at all.
“My lady, what is going on? We saved those people, but now we are jailed?” Indigo Zap asked, running her hands through damp hair that had mostly dried from the storm.
“Indie, we are alone,” Cadance said gently. “You may speak freely.”
“Thank the Goddess—you know I hate being formal, Cadance,” Sour Sweet groaned. “But Indie’s got a point. We are your retainers, paladins and friends, and we have followed you since our days in the Academy. Where you go, we go. But you never explained why we’re here.”
“Especially the risk to our remaining forces,” Sugarcoat chimed in. “We should have brought the whole party—we could have used Lemon, Sunny and Juniper to help us escape.”
“No—my husband’s forces are overwhelmed right now and he needs every hand that can be spared,” Cadance said softly. “I am forever grateful that you three volunteered to come with me on this quest … but now I wonder if it was worth it, or if I made a grave mistake.”
“Mistake number one was not telling us in the first place,” Sour pointed out.
“You’re right, Sour. I should have told you.” Cadance paused to take it all in, as if deciding to make a choice she should have done much earlier. “You know that after my parents’ death, my brother and I were taken in and raised by my aunt, correct?”
“You’ve always spoken of Queen Celestia as though she was a second mother to you.”
“She was. Aunt Celly loved Blueblood and I as if we were hers, but she had a daughter of her own, one who was like an older sister to me: Sunset Shimmer. Sunset taught me everything I knew about magic, about swordplay and, in truth, she had been the leader of the Paladin Guard even before my husband was.”
“I don’t recall you mentioning her before,” Sour noted.
“I do. I recall a small cameo painting in Cadance’s room of her and a proud warrior in golden armor. Red hair, cyan eyes, a true beauty and fierce in her pride. I take it that was her?”
Cadance silently nodded. “I haven’t talked about her much in a long time, because my loss was too great and it brought my aunt too much pain to even mention her. Blueblood was but a child and I suspect he probably doesn’t even remember her.”
“What happened?” Indigo asked.
“It was in the early days before the Usurper began her actions. Aunt Celly knew that the spell holding the Usurper at bay was weakening and she asked Sunset to investigate—starting with my parents’ death; Aunt Celly suspected that the Usurper’s forces may have had something to do with it. Sunset, knowing what was at stake, went on the mission alone, taking her trusted companion Princess Chrysalis with her.”
“Chrysalis? The queen of Torikaeko?”
Cadance nodded. “At the time, Chrysalis and my sister were the best of friends and Torikaeko and Equestria were much closer than they are now—it is the fault of the Usurper that political relations are strained with them,” Cadance explained. “In any case, something happened out there and Chrysalis barely survived what had happened. Of my sister, there was no sign, save for her sword. To this day, Queen Chrysalis blames herself for what occurred, though she doesn’t even recall the full details.
“Regardless, all of Equestria’s research—mine, my aunt’s and even that of my sister-in-laws’—all indicated that Sunset, somehow, had been thrown across the cosmos in some sort of Robinsonade Effect.”
Sugarcoat, the mage amongst them, looked astonished. “But Lord Robin himself said that it was only a theory, that a sonade was impossible!”
“A what?” Indigo and Sour asked at the same time, unfamiliar with the term.
“A sonade,” Rebecca Shimmer’s voice said as she approached, the footsteps of her boots sounding in the empty space in front of the holding cell. “Also known as an Einstein-Rosen bridge, a wormhole, or whatever you want to call it. A gateway between worlds.”
“And how would you know about that?” Cadance asked her. “That was theorized by Viscount Red Robin, the court mage of Equestria, over a century ago. This world doesn’t have magic, so you shouldn’t be able to discern such!”
“It was proposed nearly a century ago by our best mathematicians, with further work done by two more famed physicists before coming into its final theory some six decades ago,” Rebecca stated. “That’s not my specialty, but I have top men and women who know more than a few things about this stuff.” She then looked at Cadance and the others. “So, care to tell me who you are and why you’re here?”
“My lady refuses to answer such—we do not answer to your laws,” Sour spat at Rebecca.
“Cute,” Rebecca commented back. “Because where I stand, yes you do. Furthermore, given this military action on our soil, technically we view that as an act of war, regardless of who did what fighting or whatever. And yes, while you have that magic you use, the room is designed to put out a gas designed to knock you out. Should you make it out of the room, the lasers that are normally on trigger an alert and a ready team is fully-armed and will do worse to you than we did to that bimbo with the sword. Oh, and before you asked, she’s still alive—but she’s not going to like the result. So, again, care to tell me who you are and why you’re here?”
Indigo stood up. “It is only right and proper chivalry that those asking give their names before demanding due, especially to that of royalty,” she stated.
Rebecca shook her head as if in disbelief. “God, the British would have a field day with you; we train with RAMSES—that’s the UK’s Royal Arcane Matters Secret Executive Service—and they’re a bunch of hardasses compared to us.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s because they’re part of the actual military while we’re just paramilitary. Anyway, my name is Rebecca Shimmer and I’m the director of the US Paracausal Incidents Emergency Containment & Enforcement Service, or PIECES. And you are?”
Cadance nodded. “I am Mi Amore Cadenza, Crown Princess and Vicereine of Equestria. And these are my gallant paladins, Dames Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat.” The three paladins curtseyed, and Rebecca nodded.
Cadence then caught something. “Shimmer? That’s an unusual name.”
“Blame my husband’s family,” Rebecca commented. “My maiden name is Manzanas, but I really didn’t feel like hyphenating. Okay, now that the pleasantries are out of the way … not that you know or care, but PIECES is a black-ops independent agency that reports directly to the President of the United States about our usual mission, which is typically UFO shit. As you can gather, this is not Roswell-grade crap, insofar as I am aware. But I do know whatever it is, it’s gotten fucked fast.”
Rebecca brought up a tablet that she had with her. “Several dozen unidentified foreign nationals, dead. One young man, Warren Seaver, is in ICU and probably not going to make it. And that’s on top of me having to reveal to my daughters, niece and sister-in-law that I’ve been lying to them about being a state politician. I’m going to have to explain to my brother about the shitstorm that just happened and he won’t be happy about that; and I guarantee at some point the White House is probably going to tell my husband as well. So while my brother and my husband both know the truth, they’re not going to be happy that our family was in mortal danger. So right now, I’m in deep shit with them—and I can’t blame them for that. You, however, I can blame … so I think you all owe me some answers as to what the fuck happened on my property before I get creative!”
The glare in the woman’s eyes, Cadance felt, was familiar; it was the same she had whenever Sunset had admonished her for a costly error. To see it in the eyes of another woman … it brought her back to her childhood, and in a horrible way.
Cadance looked at her paladins and friends, then back at the woman. She sunk her head, deciding to come clean and let the cards fall, regardless of the result.
“I came looking for my sister, only to find two girls who look identical to her—but are younger. And neither knows me,” Cadance replied, looking straight at the woman. “We saved the others because it was the right thing to do—at best, Adagio’s men would have taken them back in chains and sold them into slavery. At worst … they would have been camp women for Canterwell and his lackeys.”
“Yeah, that pans out from what Jenny, Sunny and Rise said, so you’re off the hook for that and I owe you my thanks. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here. Not trying to be flippant but hunting extradimensional slavers doesn’t exactly sound like princess-y work.”
Cadance paused. “Lady Shimmer—”
“Director Shimmer. I’m not a noblewoman.”
“I see. In any case, Director, I came looking for my sister, because our world is in grave peril, and she may be the key to saving it. I do not wish to get into the particulars at this time, but my sister—Princess Sunset Shimmer of Equestria—was a knight elemental, the very embodiment of everything good and true in Equestria and its greatest defender. Our nation is under invasion, being usurped by a tyrant who may have killed the aunt that raised me like a mother and may have killed Sunset as well. My husband and I lead a shrinking force of loyalists and allies from other nations that are trying to stop the Usurper, but it’s like trying to push back time itself—even time is stronger than magic and the Usurper seems to have countered us in every way possible. And I was desperate to find Equestria’s last hope of survival! But it wasn’t just that,” Cadance said in a strained voice.
To the surprise of her friends and retainers, the strong-willed princess sobbed. “I just wanted to find my sister … to tell her I love her and I miss her. She was always there for me and the fact that she may be dead now rips a hole in my heart. Aunt Celly may be dead now and she will have never held her daughter again. Sunset may be the rightful ruler of Equestria, but without her, I am barely holding what’s left of our realm together! Each day I watch as my forces—my husband, brother and brother-in-law included—march off to battle and I may never see them again! Even Sunset’s best friend will not help us because she fears the Usurper more than she wishes to see her friend avenged! Everyone I love has a blade at their necks thanks to that damnable bitch and I feel like I can’t do anything right!
“And worst of all, I myself have no one to turn to for help! I must be strong for everyone and I feel like I am glass, ready to shatter at a moment’s notice! So that, Director, is my ‘un-princess-y’ quest, and why am I here in a strange land, risking everything … and have failed!”
Rebecca looked at the broken woman, her frown softening. She herself knew that despair, more times in her life than she could say.
Finally, she spoke. “I believe you …
“Cady.”
Cadance perked up at that. Her name was Mi Amore Cadenza, but everyone called her either Cadenza, or the more familiar Cadance. But only one person had ever referred to her as Cady.
To Cadance’s shock, Rebecca ran her hands through her hair. Red glows flickered around her fingertips, and golden streaks appeared in her long, shaggy red hair.
Cadance looked at the older woman, stunned. Finally, not sure if she was hallucinating, she voiced a soft, barely audible word, hoping against hope. “Sister?”
Rebecca Shimmer nodded, her eyes glistening with tears. “Yes, Cady,” she said, her voice choking. “It’s me.”
Seated in what appeared to be a conference room, Sunset felt numb, distant. Everything she knew made no sense and she began to wonder what that even meant anymore. The dreams she’d been having as of late now felt horrifically real, and seeing her mother in what looked like tactical gear? The mother she knew was a politician and a lawyer, not a soldier. Even her father, though he was in the Air Force, wasn’t a combatant—Thomas Shimmer was an information warfare specialist and though he was currently in Afghanistan, he was well behind the front lines. She hadn’t had a combatant in their family since their great-grandfather, who had been in the Army Air Forces and had seen fighting in Europe behind the stick of a P-47.
And now all of that had changed—hadn’t it?
And that was just her own numbness of her life changing. She had no idea what was going on with Warren and no one would tell her. Was he still alive? What had happened to him? He’d said he was cold and the last thing she did, instead of being there to comfort him, had been to stand up and face down that freak with a sword!
Why did she do that, for that matter—she wasn’t the fighter between her and her sister; that was Sunrise. She had no idea about anything like that. And yet … something compelled her to stand up and put herself between her loved ones and that woman. Not because it was the right thing to do, but because it was something she had to do. She couldn’t put a finger on it, but it was less like something compulsory and more like something that she just needed to do.
And thanks to that, nothing in her life made sense anymore.
She smelled familiar perfume and felt a gentle pair of lips on her forehead even as arms twined around her. “I brought you pizza,” Sunrise told her sister. “They ordered your favorite: Hawaiian-style, and Mom even got some cherry vanilla Coke for us. No idea how they managed to get pizza at two in the morning, but I’m not about to argue.”
She looked down at the paper plate as if it was a sickening thing before pushing it away.
“Wow, you’ve never turned down Giotto’s before. You sure you’re okay?” Sunrise asked, but the tearstained look on Sunset’s face said enough.
Sunrise lifted her sister’s face. “Sunny … you protected me. I always thought that when the shit hit the fan, I would be the one to protect you. But you had to go and do the big sister thing and protect me and Warren. That psycho bitch could’ve killed all of us and you stopped it! I know this is going to sound corny as hell, but I’m proud of you, Sunny!”
“Thanks,” Sunset said listlessly.
“I know you’re worried. So am I. I mean ….” Sunrise wordlessly gestured to her shirt, which had been stained brown with Warren’s blood. “I know you love him, sis. I’d … I’d be the same way if something happened to Todd. But I want you to know that I’m here with you, okay? We’re all here for you. Jamie, Aunt Jenny, the girls ….” Sunrise paused. “… and Mom, too.”
To Sunrise’s surprise, a look of anger came over Sunset’s face. “She lied to us, Rise! I don’t care if it was because she was protecting us, or she couldn’t talk about her secret or some bullshit! She lied to us!”
“I know.”
“And it doesn’t bother you?”
“Yeah, it does, not gonna lie. But she’s our Mom. She’s always looked out for us. And … we gotta give her the benefit of the doubt. Because if she hadn’t, that one bitch—Agadio or whatever her name was—was going to kill us.” She scrunched her lips slightly, then added, “That or that other weird girl who kept calling us her sister.”
“How the hell are you taking any of this so normally?”
“I’m not. I’m doing it because you need me right now. Once we get home and I’m by myself, then I’m going to cry my heart out, freak the fuck out and probably skip school for a couple of days. Also, by the way, I’m sleeping with you tonight. No arguments; I’m not leaving you alone.”
“We haven’t done that since we were kids,” Sunset said, wiping her eyes.
“Yeah, we’ll we’re sisters. Bonding and all that,” Sunrise said with a grin.
The door opened and Rebecca and a man following behind her spoke briefly.
“… and the Vice President is on Line Two and she wants to know what’s going on, Director.”
Rebecca sighed. “Keep her busy for a bit, Rich. I need to talk to my daughters. If she asks, then tell her exactly what I’m doing right now. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“I hope so, because otherwise they’re going to expect you on a flight to D.C.”
“Then you’d better contact the hangar and have them prep a bird. Let Runway Ops know as well.”
He nodded. “You got it, Boss.”
As that was done, she walked over to Sunset and hugged her daughters. “Sunny,” she said softly, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
The inhuman wail that came from Sunset, the absolute sorrow and emotional pain that radiated from her daughter’s anguish, Rebecca was sure that she was never going to forgive herself for. Ever.