“So, you’re really not going to stay?” Sunset asked.
The following morning after the slumber party with Tempest, the Gang made their way to CHS with their new friend and now stood before the portal back to Equestria.
“I have to go. There are people, I mean ponies, waiting for me back in Equestria, and not just the ponies. The Storm Kingdom needs to be informed about the Storm King’s apparent death,” Tempest replied.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about that,” Twilight said, “Storm King had no biological heirs so leadership would fall to whoever his second was.”
Pinkie gasped, “You mean-?”
Twilight nodded, “Tempest is the next in line for the Storm Kingdom throne.”
“Wow! Hey, that’s great, way to go!” Rainbow cheered.
“Oh my! I’m feeling quite a bit underdressed now,” Rarity said.
“I don’t want it,” Tempest whispered.
“Are you kidding me? You gave me that big speech last night and now you’re wussing out on this responsibility? Tempest this is your chance to make the Storm Kingdom into something new, something better. Put that Magic of Friendship-”
“Registered trademark!” Pinkie interrupted.
“- to work,” Sunset finished.
“That… isn’t my name,” Tempest countered.
“... Really?” Sunset asked, earning a nod, “Okay, so what’s your real one?”
Tempest blushed, then waved Sunset in closer and whispered, “Fizzlepop Berrytwist.”
Sunset's eyes widened. The edgy, black-clad, badass, and former righthand woman of the Storm King was named...Fizzlepop Berrytwist!?
“Uh…” Sunset droned out, then whispered back, “Yeah, pro tip. Only let your close friends call you that. I don’t think ‘Storm Queen Fizzlepop Berrytwist’ is going to inspire much loyalty.”
“What’s wrong with that name!?” Pinkie Piped in, startling Sunset and Fizzlepop. “That’s an awesome name! I wish my name were Fizziepop! Heck, I’d name my kids Fizziepop.”
“What, both of them?” Trixie asked.
“In a heartbeat,” Pinkie replied.
“Please don’t call me Fizziepop,” Fizzlepop cringed.
“Aw, yer name ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of sug’,” Applejack said.
“Pinkie’s… exuberance about your real name aside, she’s right. You should never be ashamed of the name you were born with,” Twilight said encouragingly.
“Twilight’s right, though if it would make you feel any better, I could tell you my father’s real name,” Taro said.
“You mean the Father of Ultra?” Wallflower said with a degree of wonder.
“Yes.”
“Whatever his name is, it can’t be worse than mine,” Fizzlepop said.
“His name is Ken,” Taro said.
An awkward silence now filled the space.
"Ken? That's it?" Fizzlepop asked.
“Yes. What of it?”
“No offense meant but I was expecting something more… Well, more,” Fizzlepop said in disbelief.
“Expectations are a beautiful thing, but they should always be tempered. But yes, his name is just Ken. If he has more to it than that, I have yet to hear it,” Taro explained.
“So, is your mom’s name Barbie?” Pinkie asked.
"No, Marie."
"Close enough."
"Ultraman Ken and Ultrawoman Marie," Rarity remarked. "Quite ordinary names for such grand beings."
"Well, wait until you meet Beth, Scott, and Chuck."
“Do all of you guys have such lame names?” Rainbow asked.
“Not all of us. My best friend was named Tregear,” Taro countered, though Sunset picked up an odd inflection in his tone at the name.
‘I guess they had a falling out,” Sunset thought.
“Regardless, you see? Your given name is not some horrid thing to hide away from,” Twilight said. “You should wear it proudly, without shame, and if anypony does give you a hard time over it, buck ‘em.”
“Pardon? How would kicking them very hard help?” Rarity asked, only for Sunset to pull her and the rest of her friends into a huddle.
“She doesn’t mean that,” Sunset whispered, “When ‘buck’ is said in that context in Equestria it’s basically like dropping an f-bomb.”
“Really? Well that’s plum confusin’. Why not just have a dedicated swear for that?” Applejack asked while scratching her head.
“Have you ever noticed that I’m the only Equestrian you know that swears?” Sunset asked, “Swearing in Equestria is more about how specific words are used in context rather than having actual words for it.”
“Oh, so Equestria has no specific swear words, just contextual phrases,” Fluttershy said, “I like that.”
“Goddamn that sounds like a little girl’s show,” Rainbow said, unimpressed.
“Well, that’s Equestria for you,” Sunset replied, dismissing the huddle. "We basically have a natural filter for these things."
Sunset then walked over to Fizzlepop and Twilight who were still deep in conversation, “Look not that I want to rush, but today’s a school day, and unknown people of your age are typically unwelcome on these grounds.”
Twilight sighed, “As much as I hate to say it Sunset’s right. We should really finish up before the school staff arrives.”
“Some things are universal it seems,” Fizzlepop sighed, recalling a few strange ponies being removed from the grounds of her old school.
“You know, it’s only been an evening, yet Trixie is somehow sad to see you go,” the magician said.
“Eh, don’t sweat it Trix, she can always just come visit,” Rainbow replied.
“Yeah, we’re friends, after all. She’ll be back,” Pinkie said.
Fizzlepop chuckled, “Yeah, definitely.”
She turned and took a couple of steps towards the portal but then seemed to realize something and looked back, “By the way, Sunset?”
Sunset shot to attention at her name.
“Don’t let him win,” Fizzlepop said, then jumped through the portal.
“I really should have warned her not to physically jump through the portal,” Twilight cringed.
“Why’s that?” Applejack asked.
“It preserves your momentum,” Twilight replied.
*////*
“WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME THAT PORTAL DOES THAT!?” The presently buried broken horned unicorn screeched from beneath a pile of books.
Nearby, a certain beleaguered purple-scaled dragon assistant named Spike sighed, knowing he was going to have to clean that mess up.
*////*
Sunset sucked in through her teeth, “Ooooff. Yeah, we should’ve mentioned that.”
Wallflower reflexively rubbed her back while remembering her own tumble through the portal, “Maybe we should leave before she comes back to yell at us.”
A chorus of agreement sounded from the group that now tried to sneak away from the portal. The sound of Sunset’s phone ringing suddenly caused the Gang to jump in fright.
“Sorry,” Sunset sheepishly said before answering. “Hello? … Oh, hi! … Yes. … She is!? Really!? That’s fantastic! … Huh? … Yeah? … Are you serious!?”
This continued for a bit longer until Sunset hung up and turned to her friends, “Okay, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is: Lightning has been cleared for visitors.”
The Gang cheered at this upturn of events, but that swiftly changed when Sunset added, “The bad news is: so’s Adagio. And she’s asking for me.”
Never let it be said that Rainbow Dash didn’t have a talent for summarizing the opinions of an entire group of people in one word:
“Crap.”
*////*
Watching this exchange from her lair, Fall dispelled her magical spy window and reclined back in her seat.
“Sunset Shimmer is in a vulnerable place right now. If there was ever a time to strike, it would be now. But how? How do I leverage this moment to completely break her spirit? Who can I send that can finish the job Storm King started?” She pondered.
“Then perhaps I can be of assistance,” a cruel voice offered.
“Oh?” Fall said, turning to face the fanged, black-skinned woman before her. “And what does oh so esteemed Chrysalis have in mind?”
“I’ll ignore that tone and the fact that you failed to address me by my title,” the displaced Changeling Queen said. “I am Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changeling hive. I have impersonated kings, queens, and princesses, all to get the love I so richly-"
“SNERK!”
Chrysalis glared at the source of the rude snort that had interrupted her.
“I’m sorry,” Fall said in a manner that clearly said she wasn’t. “It’s just, you actually believe your own hype. Like, holy shit! How conceited are you? AH! HAHAHAHAH!”
Chrysalis couldn’t believe it. The absolute nerve of this cretin. Here she was, espousing her merit, and this little hellion was laughing at her! With a massive snarl on her face, Chrysalis shot her fist out in an effort to teach Fall a quick lesson, only to find her former hoof encased in a cyan aura.
Fall was not laughing anymore, “Wow. You are either really really brave, or very stupid to come at me without magic. Let me put this in a way your tiny insect brain can understand!”
Chrysalis now found herself launched across the room in magical shackles and pinned to the opposite wall.
“Rule one of spy work: don’t get caught. What was that thing you did early in Equestria’s history? Oh yeah! Get yourself and your people trapped in a volcano. Rule two: don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. You managed to make Twilight suspicious of you within seconds of meeting her. Spy work is a series of roleplaying game campaigns and whether you like it or not, you have to play the role you’ve taken. And before you say anything, fooling Celestia isn’t an achievement, it’s the lowest bar you had to clear. She’s an idiot incapable of blowing her own nose, and the others had never met Cadenza. You literally had one pony you had to convince and you failed. Let’s be perfectly honest here, you’re not here for any intelligence on your part, you’re here as dumb muscle, nothing more. Understood?”
Chrysalis could only growl out, “Yes.”
“Good. Now get the hell out of here.”
Fall threw Chrysalis to the floor then began returning to her seat but then a thought occurred to her.
“Before you leave, you wouldn’t happen to know where one of my geodes went would you?”
Chrysalis stoped in the doorway and turned to Fall with the nastiest snarl she could muster, “No.”
Fall matched Chrysalis’ snarl with an even glare, “Fine, I guess I’ll just have to look harder then. Dismissed.”
With a final furious scoff, Chrysalis stormed out of Fall’s office.
*////*
*CRASH!*
“THE ABSOLUTE BUCKING NERVE OF THAT BITCH!”
As one could see, Chrysalis was handling rejection with all the grace and maturity expected of a being of her old age.
“I’m clearly the best shot she has right now, where does she get off telling me that I’m dumb muscle? I’ve been alive longer than she’s even existed, yet I’m the dumb one? GAH! I HATE HER!”
Chrysalis threw yet another fake potted plant into a wall in her tantrum. Despite all of the Alien Baltan’s forgery skills, Chrysalis and her temporary allies were instructed to spend light and were limited in what electronics they could use. While Baltan was certainly skilled with technology, it was lacking in true Baltan resources, meaning that corners had to be cut. For example, while the alien was able to rig up a perception filter that disguised the refurbished building they resided in as the dilapidated eyesore it once was, but it used so much electricity that they mostly had to charge their phones in the nearby grocery store. As for “spending light”, Fall had explained that a sudden influx of money in the economy would draw too many eyes to their operations.
Fall, and all of these other problems, were about to become the least of Chrysalis’ problems.
As she picked up something else to throw, a wicked voice stopped her.
“He hehe. Yes, you are doing excellent work proving her wrong.”
“Who said that?” Chrysalis asked.
“After all, screaming and throwing things like a child that has been denied candy is a perfect way to prove your intelligence,” the voice continued undaunted.
“How dare you! Come out here and face me so I can kick your flank!”
The voice suddenly lost all humor, “Oh we dare, Chrysalis. Have you forgotten our arrangement?”
“Arrangement?”
“Hm… Either you have truly forgotten, or you have completely lost the narrative. Very well. If you insist on playing dumb, then we will just have to remind you.”
Suddenly the space in front of Chrysalis cracked then shattered like glass, revealing a swirling void of various shades of red, within which dwelled a being with piercing glowing eyes.
Chrysalis could only utter a terrified, “Oh,” before she was sucked in through the rift kicking and screaming.
*////*
“I don’t think I can do this,” Sunset said while fidgeting before the door that currently housed the first villain she ever faced.
“Sunset, it’ll be fine,” Rainbow said, “She doesn’t have a gem or a Dummy Spark, she’s completely harmless now.”
“It’s not how she can harm me physically that worries me, Rainbow. I’m worried about how she can get in my head. She nearly made me doubt our friendship and during Anon-A-Miss, what the Sirens said came back to me.”
“Oh,” Rainbow said dejectedly, “Well even then, you’ve beat her before. What makes this any different?”
“What makes this different, Rainbow, is that I saved her. Before we were mutually at each other’s throats and that was nice and simple. Now though, she owes her life to me, and that changes everything. There is no telling how she’s going to take this.”
“Then what’s there to worry about? Just go in there and throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. You can always just walk away if it starts going south.”
“And what if she doesn’t let me walk away?”
Rainbow seemed to consider her response to that question for a moment before saying, “Well, you’re not going to get anything done here. Now you get in there so I can go see Lightning.”
Rainbow suddenly opened the door and shoved Sunset into the room.
“Hey! You jerk!” Sunset fumed but the door had already closed behind her, stranding her.
With no other options, Sunset turned to face her former enemy.
Surprisingly, the other members of the Dazzlings were not in the room with Adagio, which Sunset didn’t mind as it meant fewer problems. Adagio herself, however, seemed utterly devastated, laying on the hospital bed facing away from the door.
“She looks like she could break at any moment. I better play this carefully,” Sunset thought.
“Uuuhhhh… Hi.”
Needless to say, Sunset was off to a great start.
*////*
After leaving Sunset to her uncertain fate in the hands of Adagio Dazzle, Rainbow had gone in search of Lightning Dust.
“HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO FIND A SINGLE ROOM!?” she shrieked to the disapproval of the hospital staff.
Sadly, without Sunset to navigate and being too stubborn to just read the signs, Rainbow had gotten herself hopelessly lost. She had already been up and down several elevators, and several flights of stairs after she somehow decided the elevators were the problem. Even worse? She happened upon a certain… procedure, that was fairly sure was going to scar her for life.
Fortunately, Lady Luck had decided to smile upon Rainbow as a storm of highly colorful swears drove coach Iron Will scrambling out of a nearby room like a tiger was in it. After uttering some choice words himself, he noticed Rainbow and quickly attempted to make himself presentable.
“Dash,” he said.
“Coach,” Rainbow replied, “She’s still holding the drug test against you, huh?”
Iron Will scoffed, “I don’t know why, that was months ago now.”
“Dude. Your excuse was based on something she had no connection to, why are you still shocked that she hates your guts?”
“Whatever. Perhaps you should come back later, she’s in a bit of a mood right now,” Iron Will suggested.
“And whose fault is that?” Rainbow retorted.
Iron Will puffed up indignantly but said nothing as he stormed off, allowing Rainbow to enter Lightning’s room.
“Goddamn it coach I told you to-! Oh, hey Rainbow. Sorry, I thought you were coach coming back for the final word,” Lightning said.
“Yeah, sounds like something he would do,” Rainbow replied while pulling up a chair. “He actually had the nerve to say he didn’t know why you’re still holding the drug test against him.”
“Jesus Christ, you know he only showed up because he lost the respect of the team since then right?”
“Well obviously. A stunt like that doesn’t exactly win you any friends. So, how’re you feeling Dust?”
From her seat Rainbow could see that Lightning looked a right mess. On her left arm was an ugly, crude-looking cast that seemed like little more than several pieces of mismatched plastic, cotton, and cloth. Her left leg wasn’t much better, being elevated by a complex-looking collection of various pulleys and chords, and was wrapped in the unmistakable pattern of external pins. Then there was her face. Apparently, her helmet had come off at some point, allowing the right side of her face to be scraped badly enough to require an entire bandage covering it.
“Eh, like absolute shit. They’ve got me hopped up on so much crap that I’m barely awake as is,” Lightning explained. “In fact, you’re probably the last person I’m going to see today.”
“Yelling at the coach took the life outta you huh?” Rainbow joked weakly. “What about-? You know.”
“Oh. Well, I’m not going to be in any condition in time for the Friendship Games if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Screw the Friendship Games, I wanna know if you’re ever going to be able to play again. I know how important sports are to you Dust, and I hate the idea of that being taken away from you.”
Lightning’s face fell, “They say that I’m gonna be able to play but I’m not convinced. My leg is gonna be fine, if hole-filled, but my arm needs a plate, Rainbow, and I’ve seen how much it sucks to fall on one of those.”
Rainbow cringed, “I… I’m sorry.”
“For what? There wasn’t anything you could’ve done Rainbow. If the man upstairs has decided that I can’t play anymore then… we’ll all just have to suck it up and move on. Heh, maybe I’ll become an egghead to make up for it.”
“I will not be caught dead watching you turn into an egghead!” Rainbow cried, drawing laughter from Lightning followed by some gut-wrenching coughs.
“But really, this sucks,” Lightning continued, “Did you know that I’m allergic to Hydrocodone? I didn’t, and strictly speaking, I’m not, but that’s about as simple a way to describe it. That shit drove me absolutely friggin nuts and made my legs restless as hell, and when you’ve got a bum leg like mine, restlessness is the exact opposite of what you want, and that’s not even getting into the sleep deprivation. That’s why it took so long to get them to let visitors in. A crazy patient looks bad for the hospital.”
Rainbow tried to suppress a shiver. While taking hits was to be expected in sports she had never taken one as severe as what Lightning was currently suffering through.
“So,” she began, “is your arm…?”
“Not yet,” Lightning replied, “They couldn’t keep me under long enough to do both operations, so they had to pick one to start with. Seeing as how walking is pretty damn important, they decided to start there.” Lightning yawned, “I’m sorry, but I’m feeling really sleepy now.”
“Hey, don’t force yourself to stay awake on my account. Sleep all you like, we can always come back later,” Rainbow said.
“But-”
“Ah ah ah, stop that. Heal first, talk later. Take all the time you need,” Rainbow said while standing up and walking out the door.
Upon leaving the room, Rainbow was greeted by the sight of a horde of doctors, nurses, staff, and more rushing through the hallway.
“Hey! What’s going on!?” Rainbow called to the nearest person.
“Ultraman Ginga’s outside!”
“HE’S WHAT!?”
*////*
“... and then Pinkie said, ‘Read it? I already ruined it,’” Sunset awkwardly laughed, to the complete non-reaction of her siren companion.
Sunset had been at this for a while now, attempting all manner of different conversations to get a reaction out of Adagio. So far, despite all her efforts, the siren had remained frustratingly silent.
Sunset rolled her eyes with a sigh, “Adagio, I can’t even begin this conversation if you don’t speak to me.”
Silence.
“Am I being pranked? Are Aria and Sonata going to jump out with cameras like one of those Haytube channels?”
Adagio took in a breath to- keep quiet. Sunset’s patience was beginning to fray.
“Is this funny to you? Is getting me to take time out of my day to come here to talk to you and then wasting my time, funny?”
Once more, Adagio’s mouth remained shut. It was at this moment Sunset realized that the time to go gentle had long passed.
“You know what!? Fuck you, Adagio, I don’t have to take this silent treatment bullshit! I didn’t have to come here, but I did because you specifically asked me to. But now I see you only wanted me here to waste my time. Well, guess what bitch, I value my time too much to let it get flushed down the drain by some stuck up bimbo too proud to do the one thing she asked of me. So how about this? You either start talking, or I walk out that door and just keep walking. And don’t bother sending for me again because I won’t answer.”
Silence.
“Fine,” Sunset huffed then stood up and made to leave, “See you again never.”
As Sunset reached the door a tiny whimper reached her ear, “Why?”
Sunset stopped, “Why…?”
“WHY DOES EVERYONE INSIST ON RUINING MY LIFE!?” Adagio wailed in an unexpectedly high voice.
In the admittedly short time she had known Adagio, Sunset had known the siren to have a deceptively deep voice, so to hear such a shrill sound from the singer threw the redhead for a loop.
“I mean, I kinda figured she was pulling a Rarity with her voice, but I didn’t expect to be proven right,” Sunset thought but quickly bit her tongue to avoid addressing it.
“What?” She asked.
“It never matters what I do, everyone seems predetermined to hate me. What have I done to deserve this rotten existence? What is so wrong with wanting more?” Adagio sobbed.
Having gotten over her initial shock, Sunset took a moment to digest just what the siren said, “Are you kidding me?”
“Hm?”
“You think that my friends stopped you just, what? Because? Are you seriously telling me that the cruel, intelligent leader of the Dazzlings is little more than a brat with a victim complex? Were I a crueler girl I would laugh but mostly I’m just shocked by this twist. I always thought you were the most put together of the three of you.”
“Oh like you’re much better Miss She-Demon,” Adagio hissed.
“Hey, I own that I was an immature snot, can you say the same Miss Fish-Lips?” Sunset countered.
“I am not immature.”
“Haven’t met a lot of kids then huh?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Because you would’ve noticed the similarities if you had." Sunset took a deep breath to calm down. "Adagio, have you ever heard of the golden rule: 'treat others the way you want to be treated’?"
“Oh don’t give me that PSA bull,” Adagio scoffed.
“It’s not bull, it’s an honest fact of life! I realize that there are some real asshats that seem to make it their mission to make others miserable; but when people like us get persecuted, it’s usually for a really good reason. Look at me. I had to put up with being the school’s pariah twice, but did I whine about how I didn’t deserve it? NO! I stole, lied, blackmailed, and mind-controlled an entire school. I earned their scorn.”
“Even with Anon-A-Miss?” Adagio asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sunset briefly deflated at that reminder, “Okay, not so much that, but I at least had a history to give a shred of credibility to their accusations.”
“That so? Then what ‘oh so terrible thing’ have I done to earn my lot in life.”
Sunset’s jaw dropped, “I thought you knew exactly what you were doing, you seemed to be reveling in pressing my sore spots when I tried to confront you in the hall back during the Battle of the Bands. I know that this might seem wild to you, Adagio, but people, be they ponies or humans, generally don’t like others going around starting fights. So no, your crime wasn’t wanting more, it’s that you tried to force the universe to revolve around you. Then when you suffered consequences for it, rather than change anything about yourself, you just kept doing it and lost even more than you already had. You got punished for stealing from the cookie jar and still tried stealing from it anyway.”
“Well if you girls didn’t get in our way we could’ve gotten back to Equestria and taken our revenge on that old bearded bastard.”
“Wait, you mean Star Swirl?”
“I refuse to indulge him with a name.”
“Oh no.”
Adagio paused, “I do not like the way you said that.”
“Oh, Adagio you poor unaware girl,” Sunset said pityingly.
“Stop being vague and tell me!” Adagio barked.
“Getting revenge on Star Swirl will be very difficult since you’re about a thousand years too late,” Sunset said.
Something slightly cracked in Adagio at that particular sentence, “Wh-what?”
Adagio didn’t manage to get clarification as at that moment, Rainbow Dash burst into the room.
“Sunset! We’re in trouble!”
*////*
Chrysalis from her cylindrical prison could only screw her eyes shut from the nauseating assault of swirling lights and colors of her captor’s realm.
“Please, I’m sorry,” she pathetically begged, “I know I haven’t exactly done my job. But if you just give me another chance, I promise that I can get you into Equestria.”
“We do not care about your promises, Chrysalis,” the echoing voice put down. “Those who pledge their allegiance to us are expected to perform their duty the first time. You were to grant us access to Equestria’s dimension in exchange for escaping the volcano. However, you used our inability to enter it directly as a way to escape your obligations to us. We will not forgive this transgression.”
Chrysalis attempted to crack open an eye to look upon her tormentors, but only managed to catch a glimpse of several dark pointy-headed figures moving among various complex devices before the sensory assault forced her to close it again.
“However,” the voice continued, “You still have some use to us. With the corrupted geode and the Doragory Spark Doll, you shall serve us again as our new Choju!”
Gas began flooding Chrysalis’ prison as her captors cackled at her horrified screams.
*////*
Sunset and Rainbow reached the hospital’s entrance to find their friends already outside gazing at the giant outside.
“Ah!” Rarity gasped as the pair reached the group, “There you are. How is Miss Dust?”
“Sleeping now, but that’s not important, what do we got here?” Rainbow replied.
“Somethin’ that looks an awful like Ultraman Ginga but ain’t,” Applejack replied.
“We can see that thanks!” Trixie smarmed.
“Any ideas Taro?” Wallflower asked.
“Several, but none that line up with our current information,” Taro replied. “A number of aliens have the capability to assume our form, and at least one race is infamous for building robotic duplicates of us. However, all of them fall short in some regard, like the Zarab who consistently fail to get the eyes correct, or the Babalou that physically imitate us perfectly but fall short in behavior.”
“And the robots?” Sunset asked.
“All of our powers and fighting prowess, but blatantly fake for the visible metal and rivets. Something that this imposter lacks,” Taro explained earning a gag from Rarity. “Since we know that Baltan is presently the only known active alien and it lacks those flaws, I believe that we can rule out those options.”
“And if we were in Equestria I’d say changeling, which would fit since we know Chrysalis is here, but I’ve never seen her assume such a large form, and it’s unlikely that she has magic. So that’s out,” Twilight added.
“Well let’s stop talking about what he isn’t and just beat him!” Rainbow said. “Ready to go Sunset?”
Sunset smiled and pulled out the Ginga Spark, but stopped as her face darkened.
“Sunset? What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
“N-Nothing, it’s just… I don’t want to end up killing whoever’s inside again,” Sunset replied.
“Oh,” Fluttershy sadly said.
“Yeah, but for all we know that was a fluke,” Rainbow said.
“Even if it was, it was a fluke too much for me,” the redhead countered. “I don’t want to kill anyone.”
“Sunset, I know this is difficult to hear, but there are times that you do what you must to protect those under your watch,” Taro advised. “Even an innocent monster who is oblivious to the destruction they cause must be dealt with to prevent the loss of countless lives. We try to avoid killing them unless we have no other choice.”
“But this isn’t just some animal operating on little more than instinct. This is a thinking, feeling being, though admittedly probably a pretty nasty one, but still. I don’t want to be judge, jury, and executioner.”
However, unbeknownst to the gang, one Pinkie Pie had developed a growing tremor.
“I don’t think you’re gonna have much of a choice,” the bubbly girl said.
“Why’s that Pinkie?” Wallflower asked.
“BECAUSE I’M PRETTY SURE HE’S ABOUT TO TAKE A SHOT AT US!” Pinkie screeched pointing at the false Ultra that had just reached out a fist in preparation for a Ginga Cross Shoot.
Sunset gasped and reflexively activated the Ginga Spark, allowing Ginga to barely catch the imposter’s incoming ray with a Hyper Barrier. However, the power of the attack threatened to push him into the hospital regardless, forcing Sunset to go to the Harmony Bracer.
“ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! POWER TO GINGA! GINGA HARMONY!”
With a flash, Ginga Harmony now stood against the fake Ginga. Now supercharged by magic, Ginga reflected the imposter’s attack back into him, earning a shower of sparks.
"Consider yourself lucky all I did was reflect that, now who are you?" Sunset questioned as she attempted to peer into the fake Ginga's body to see who was controlling him.
However, despite Sunset’s scrutiny, no answer came, and the imposter himself remained silent.
“That’s- that’s not possible. I can’t see you!” Sunset gasped.
The fake Ginga assumed a combat stance, then rushed at real one into a grapple. Ginga, still standing near the hospital, spun his imposter around, then threw him back to his original position.
“I don’t wanna fight you!” Sunset pleaded.
The false Ultra made to charge again, but this time, Ginga was faster as he dashed in to attempt to restrain his opponent.
“Stop, this isn’t you!” Sunset begged.
Ginga’s enemy remained silent as the fake got his right arm free from the grapple, punched the Ultra in the stomach, then performed a hip throw. Ginga rolled into a kneel and barely managed to block the imposter’s flying elbow, before deflecting another punch and attempting a rear choke.
“Fine then, I’ll just put you to sleep,” Sunset said, now losing her patience.
The Zenshin crystals on the fake Ginga's body glowed yellow as he summoned up electrical energy to repel Ginga with the Ginga Thunderbolt attack. Stunned, Ginga lost his grip and recoiled. The imposter used this chance to drive his foot into Ginga's midsection with a back kick, throwing him to the ground.
The imposter leapt upon Ginga and began trying to punch the Ultra’s face in. Ginga avoided several punches before reflexively firing a Ginga Slash at his enemy, launching the fake back.
“NO!” Sunset cried and rushed Ginga over to the prone form of his imposter. “Please be okay, please be okay..."
The imposter threw his body at Ginga, nailing him with a scissor kick.
"What's Sunset doing? She's never been this sloppy." Rainbow said.
"She's so worried about hurting the person inside the other Ginga that she's holding back." Twilight replied.
Fall stood atop a nearby building, scowling. She wanted to see Sunset humiliated, but watching her other self flounder in this battle made her ashamed that she was ever born from her.
"C'mon, Sunset! What the hell are you doing!?" she growled, biting her knuckles in agitation.
It was in that moment the Alien Baltan teleported in next to Fall.
“Ah, Baltan. Do you have the identity of our mysterious body snatcher?”
Baltan slowly nodded then pointed its pincers at the floor to summon several holographic projections. Fall stared at the information thoughtfully.
“And you’re certain that this data is accurate?” she asked. The cicada nodded again. “Damn it. As much as I need Ginga defeated, these guys jeopardize the operations of everyone, Lugiel included. Perhaps she requires some motivation. Baltan, would you be a dear and skin that cosplaying bitch for me?”
The alien slowly nodded once more then hopped up on the railing and fell from the roof.
Ginga at this time was forced to kneel as his opponent wrapped his hands around the Ultra’s neck to strangle him. Several flashes of light suddenly announced the arrival of a giant Baltan.
Laughing eerily, Baltan aimed his claws at the back of the fake Ginga and fired, scoring a direct hit. He released Ginga, yelling in pain. The imposter grunted and turned to face Baltan.
Suddenly, like a ninja, Baltan speedily moved in a circle and created after-images which turned into flesh and blood duplicates. The Baltans fired at the fake Ginga simultaneously, shooting concentrated beams of energy.
“Woah, woah, what!?” Rainbow gaped.
“Baltan just shot the fake Ginga!” Rarity said with matching shock.
“But why!? Aren’t they supposed to be on the same team!?” Trixie asked.
“I don’t like this,” Twilight said.
“What is it, your highness?” Taro asked.
“Baltan wouldn’t have attacked the imposter if he was with Fall,” Twilight explained.
“But that would mean he’s not with Lugiel neither,” Applejack pointed out.
"Or maybe Fall doesn't want anyone else to beat Sunset but her," Trixie suggested.
“No, Lugiel wouldn’t stand for Fall interfering in his work. The fact that Baltan actually carried out that attack means that it has Lugiel’s implicit endorsement!” Twilight countered.
“But if that fake isn’t with either of them, who is he with?” Fluttershy asked.
While the Gang carried on their debate, Pinkie had become aware of the signs of an encroaching threat.
“Hey!” she called, drawing attention, “What’s that!?”
The Gang now looked up to the sky emitting a multitude of phantom flashes of light.
"No!" Taro cried out.
The fake Ginga fell from Baltan's onslaught as the alien reabsorbed his duplicates.
"SUNSET SHIMMER!" Sunset gasped and looked through Ginga's eyes as she saw Fall standing atop a rooftop. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? FIGHT! FIGHT, IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE! YOU'RE AN ULTRAMAN, AREN'T YOU!?"
Sunset glared at the comparatively small demon and made to berate her, but the tremendous sound of the sky cracking like glass cut her off.
“YAPOOL!!!!” Taro cried.
The sky shattered apart into a swirling void of colors as the extradimensional entity of hatred dropped out of the gap. Immediately after landing, Yapool fired a crescent-shaped energy attack at Fall but Baltan swiftly teleported her away.
Yapool
Alternate Dimension Superbeing
“Wretched creature! We will get to you eventually!” the extra-dimensional being threatened. Yapool then turned to Ginga, “We suppose that the cat, as you humans are so fond of saying, is out of the bag.”
Sunset struggled to keep from vomiting at the sheer hatred being aimed directly at her, “How could so much hate be contained in a single entity?”
“What… are you? And who have I been fighting?” Sunset weakly demanded.
Yapool laughed, “Who? You think you were battling some mere Dummy Spark user? No. The being before you is something far greater.”
The imposter burst into green fire and began standing up like he was possessed.
“Meet our new choju,” Yapool continued, “Borne of our science, bolstered by magic, and fueled by our eternal hatred. We give you: Gorealis.”
Gorealis
Fused Shapeshifting Terrible Monster
The flames dissipated with a puff to reveal the choju inside. It was a slender, feminine thing though this did nothing to obscure the power behind its form. It was covered in a black, chitinous shell with greenish-blue plates on its stomach and a pair of green-tipped moth wings hung from its back like a cape. Its legs were equine-shaped and filled with holes while its arms were tipped with four-fingered talons covered in a leaf-like sleeve. A gnarled twisted horn sat upon a horse-like head with deep green compound eyes, a mane made of green fire resting between a pair of crests, and an orange fang-filled mouth. Lastly, the now-familiar shape of another geode sat on its chest in a cruel mockery of an Ultra color timer.
There was only one Equestrian Sunset could think of that matched the features she could see.
“Celestia. What have you done to her?” Sunset hissed in disgust.
“Like our work?” Yapool asked dismissively, “Using a geode taken from your demon, we have fused the Changeling Queen and the choju Doragory, we have created the ultimate form of both. And best of all, it is completely subservient to us.”
“So, I can save her by ending you,” Sunset said.
Yapool laughed loud and hard, “HAHAHA! You think that we ascribe to your film cliches? No. Even if you strike down this vessel, our hatred is eternal, and our hatred is all that Gorealis feels now.”
Sunset’s eyes widened then narrowed into a glare as she shot Ginga past Goralis, “YOU BASTARD!”
Before Ginga could reach Yapool, however, a whiplike tentacle wrapped around his neck and pulled him back to Gorealis’ arms, revealing that the choju had changed its arm.
"Isn't it magnificent? Its shapeshifting makes it the ultimate living weapon!"
“Her life wasn’t yours to play with!” Sunset snarled.
“On the contrary, her life was forfeit to us the moment she decided that she could get away with evading her end of our arrangement,” Yapool countered.
“This is absolutely unforgivable! You’re an absolute, unforgivable monster!”
“Your forgiveness means nothing to us. However, we are not entirely without mercy, and we would prefer you to struggle before you fall, allow us to reveal a little secret.”
Yapool stepped closer to Ginga, “Your demon killed the Storm King.”
Sunset’s eyes widened as the fire that had dimmed in her heart blazed once more. Ginga suddenly shot a front kick into Yapool’s stomach to push them back, then gave Gorealis a right elbow. The Ultra then grabbed her fangs and threw the choju over his shoulder and ran at Yapool.
Ginga threw a left jab that Yapool batted away and countered with a swipe of their bladed arm, but Ultraman was prepared for it and blocked it while delivering a couple of chops with his right hand. The interloper answered this transgression with a kick to Ginga’s side and a punch to his face, but Ginga spun with the strike into a roundhouse kick then ducked low to grab Yapool’s legs and flipped them over his shoulder.
At this time Gorealis had gotten back to her feet and had shifted her right arm into a massive cannon to fire upon Ginga. The first volley successfully struck the Ultra who collapsed backwards. The choju, emboldened by this, let loose another round of cannon fire, but this time Ginga rolled back out of the way and to his feet then leapt over the third volley into a flying kick to Gorealis’ chest.
The terrible monster stumbled back but it regained its balance, bringing its cannon up again but Ginga kicked the barrel away and countered with a spinning backhand into a straight punch to the gut. Ginga prepared for another attack but Sunset soon heard the telltale beeping as Ginga's color timer began to blink, alerting her that she was running out of time.
Gorealis shifted the cannon back into its clawed hand and swiped Ginga across the face, then bashed the back of his head sending him into a kneel, and finally kicked him to the ground, allowing Yapool to pin him under their foot.
“HAHAHA! Did you think we would have told you that information if we were unsure of our victory? No. we knew you were out of time, now that we have had our fun, it is time to end you,” Yapool said.
Fall watched with Baltan, eyes narrowed. She could not let things end like this, not until she had proven her superiority over Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset’s friends also watched with worry.
“Damn it!” Rainbow swore, “If only she didn’t waste so much time at the start.”
“What is that thing anyway?” Trixie asked.
“Yapool. The extradimensional entity of hatred and progenitor of all choju. That monster you became back in December Trixie, Lunaticks? They created it,” Taro explained.
“They?” Applejack asked.
“Yapool is a collective of beings that all operate under a singular consciousness. The form you see out there is merely their avatar in this world.”
“Riveting, but unhelpful,” Rarity replied, “Sunset needs physical aid right now.”
As if proving her point, Ginga punched Gorealis in the chest twice only to become frozen by Yapool’s telekinesis and clobbered by the choju again.
Twilight, meanwhile, was absolutely sickened by Yapool.
“If there were any being that could be pointed at in an argument against a benevolent all-powerful deity it would be this one. How could something that only knows how to hate ever be allowed to exist in any plane of existence?” she thought.
“Rarity’s right! We need to help her!” Rainbow declared.
“But how? We can’t go inside Ginga since our wristbands were fused together,” Fluttershy said.
“And it’s not like we can just will a Light Spark into existence to hop into the fight,” Wallflower added.
“I DON’T CARE!” Twilight suddenly screamed.
“T-Twilight?” Applejack asked, wide-eyed.
“I don’t care what we have or don’t have, I’m going to find something to help Sunset! I’ll even use those rocks Sunset picked up if I have to, it doesn’t matter! My friend is in danger and I will not let anything get in my way!” The young princess decreed.
There was a moment of silence until Fluttershy gasped, “Twilight, your hand!”
Twilight blinked before looking at her right hand to find that it had begun glowing.
“No,” Twilight amended staring into the light, “perhaps shining is the better word for it.”
Gradually, the light within the princess’ palm coalesced into the shape of a blue, crystalline dagger, a Light Spark.
Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized exactly what she had, “Quick, the bag!”
Wallflower flinched but handed Twilight the item regardless.
“No. No. No,” Twilight muttered as she rummaged through the various Spark Dolls until one, in particular, jumped out at her. “What about this one?”
Taro made an odd sound and replied, “An excellent choice, but among Ultras Yapool holds particularly strong hatred for him. To use him might make Yapool even more dangerous.”
“Or it could give them tunnel vision and leave them vulnerable,” Twilight countered and raised the Light Spark and Doll.
“Wait,” Taro said, earning a pause from Twilight, “I may not be able to talk you out of using him but know this: on Planet Ultra he is known as the Master of Beam Attacks. So do not go gentle with them.”
Twilight nodded, then activated the Light Spark.
Gorealis jumped into Ginga’s chest and kicked off him like a grasshopper, sending him to the ground once again.
“Fight Sunset! We cannot let them win,” Ginga pleaded.
“How? I spent all my energy trying to restrain Gorealis. I have nothing left,” Sunset countered, as the choju and Yapool gathered energy for their finishing blow.
“Not yet!” A familiar voice cried to Sunset.
“Twilight?” Sunset asked.
Suddenly a giant glowing red ball flew into Gorealis, then bounced into Yapool before landing in front of Ginga kicking up a massive dust cloud. As the dust settled, a humanoid shape took shape, a single fin sprouting from his head a hole through it, near perfectly oval eyes, and a blue color timer upon his chest. Yapool stood back up and scanned furiously for who would dare strike them but when they saw the new challenger, something seemed to utterly break within them.
“ACE!”
Ultraman Ace
Master of Beam Attacks
Indeed, another Ultra had come to Sunset’s aid.
“Twilight!” Sunset cried happily standing Ginga back up.
“Sunset, what’s going on?” the lavender former unicorn asked.
Sunset’s joy immediately reverted back to anger, “It’s Queen Chrysalis. Yapool’s somehow stamped out her original personality. She’s little more than a slave to their hate now.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped as she turned back to Yapool, “In my time battling villains in Equestria, I thought I knew evil. But beings like you keep finding new levels of depravity to sink to.”
Twilight charged Ace forward, prompting Yapool to order Gorealis to match him, but Ace dropped down into a slide, sweeping out the choju’s left leg from under him, allowing Ginga to tackle her to the ground. Ace immediately rose to his feet again and into melee range of Yapool, blocking a punch and countering with a shoulder ram, grabbed their arm blade, and transferred into an over-the-shoulder throw. Yapool swiftly got back to their feet and slashed Ace twice across the chest earning a shower of sparks, but when they attempted a chop Ace caught the bladed limb, kicked the entity twice in the side with his right leg, pushed away the limb to deal a series of punches to Yapool’s chest, then used a dropkick to gain distance from his archenemy.
During Ace’s duel with Yapool, Ginga had been pummeling Gorealis as the choju was on the ground before standing up, taking a leg under each arm and swinging her around in a hammer throw. The Ultra made to attack again, but Gorealis revealed another ability by turning her head 180 degrees to fire lightning at Ginga from her eyes.
“Yeow!” Sunset cried as she dodged Ginga out of the way of the attack, “That was freaky.”
Gorealis turned her body around to match her head and attempted to gore Ginga with her horn, but the Ultra was ready and caught the tip between his palms. From there, he shifted to a better grip to deliver a right chop and elbow to the back of Gorealis’ head, then a couple of kicks with his left leg, finally Ginga lifted the choju’s head to plant his hand against her chest to throw her down the street.
“It must drive you nuts, to have all this hate and not have it be your own. I get it, I spent an awful lot of time in this world with a demon in my head. So please understand that this isn’t personal, I just can’t allow you and Yapool to run rampant in this world,” Sunset explained, as she used the Harmony Brace to summon the Twilight Slugger.
Gorealis rose to her feet and changed her arms into a black-colored pair with glowing yellow blades in place of hands. Undaunted, Ginga lunged towards Gorealis as the choju built a massive fireball between the blades turning the Ultra’s charge into a race to who could finish the other first.
“Ginga Harmony Finish.”
A race in which Ginga was faster.
Gorealis released her fireball a second too late as Ginga swiped the Twilight Slugger through the choju’s neck, leaving a glowing scar in its wake.
“Sleep, Chrysalis. Hate no longer,” Sunset softly said in remorse as Gorealis’ head began falling off backwards before exploding.
While Ginga held off Gorealis, Ace had engaged Yapool in the Ultra equivalent to a magic duel.
“VERTICAL GUILLOTINE!” Twilight cried while bringing Ace’s hands across his chest, then spreading them vertically to cast a crescent-shaped blade of energy at Yapool.
Yapool shattered the attack with their own blade and responded by firing multiple energy bullets.
“SLASH BEAM!” Ace destroyed a number of Yapool’s bullets with his own before cartwheeling out of the way of the last few before retaliating with, “TIMER SHOT!”
Ace fired a rainbow-colored ray from his chest, but Yapool intercepted it by opening a portal to their dimension and casting lightning from it.
“ULTRA NEO BARRIER!” Ace traced a rectangle in front of him to form a light wall to block the assault before casting it aside and crossing his fingers over his Ultra Star, “PUNCH LASER!”
Yapool matched the beam with a laser of their own causing both attacks to meet in a titanic explosion. Yapool never got a chance to ready themselves before Ace came leaping out of the fire and smoke brandishing the metallic katana called the Ace Blade. The legendary weapon struck true, earning a shower of sparks and sending Yapool tumbling away.
“Twilight!” Sunset called as she approached with Ginga.
“Sunset, are you okay?” Twilight asked.
“I’m fine, Gorealis is toast.”
“I see. Then all that’s left is Yapool,” Twilight replied, dismissing the Ace Blade, “Shall we?”
“Damn straight! Let’s bury this bastard!” Sunset cheered while using the Harmony Brace.
Ginga brought his hands together then in a circle while Ace swung his arms back and to the left before they assumed a cross and “L” position respectively.
“HARMONY MIRACLE RAY!”
“METALIUM KOSEN!”
The beams struck the now standing Yapool, yet despite the attacks slowly breaking them down they remained defiant, “Do you think you’ve won? This is but a setback! As long as our hate endures, we will come again and again to destroy you all!”
“Save the villain talk Yapool! You’re done!” Sunset declared.
“You can’t harm anyone anymore!” Twilight added.
“Heh heh heh, you do not believe us. Ask your precious Taro and despair at the futility of your resistance. We have all of eternity to achieve victory, can you say the same?” Yapool taunted before detonating with a final scream.
*////*
After Yapool’s destruction, Sunset returned to Adagio’s side and filled her in on everything that had happened.
“And that’s pretty much it,” Sunset finished.
Adagio, for her part, seemed attentive but uninterested by the story, “I’m sorry. But how is it, that when the Storm King vanished your first thought was: ‘the Elements killed him’?”
“Hey, look here! The Elements of Harmony are still a massive grey area in Equestria’s knowledge! They can cleanse and redeem you, banish you, seal you in stone, there’s no telling what they’re going to do anytime they’re used!” Sunset argued.
“Whatever, I don’t care about your heroics,” Adagio said dismissively, “What did you mean I’m a thousand years too late to get revenge?”
“Oh yeah, I suppose you would want to know about that,” Sunset said before pausing in thought. “Okay, look, there’s no real way to lay this on you gently, so I hope you don’t mind if I just rip this band-aid off.”
“Get to the point!” Adagio barked.
“Star Swirl the Bearded disappeared, died I assume, about a thousand years ago,” Sunset said, earning a despondent look from the siren.
“No. No, that’s not possible. We’ve only been here for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months at most!” Adagio desperately denied.
“Facts don’t exactly care for feelings, Adagio. Whether or not he intended it to happen, Star Swirl threw you and the others through time as well as space. Whatever it was in Equestria that you three were trying to get back to, it’s gone now, I’m sorry” Sunset explained.
Adagio’s eyes grew wide and her breathing became quick and ragged, signs that Sunset knew all too well from her time after the Fall Formal. Adagio was about to have a breakdown.
Acting quickly, Sunset lunged forward and wrapped Adagio in a massive hug that, to her relief, she accepted.
“First my home, then my magic, my pride, what more is this world going to take from me!? My life!?” The siren wailed.
“Hey! HEY! None of that!” Sunset sternly said, taking Adagio’s face between her hands. “This world does not want you dead. If anything it wants you to stop making enemies before you get yourself and the others killed.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Adagio sobbed.
“No. It’s a wake-up call. Let’s run some numbers here. There are only three sirens, you, Aria, and Sonata. In this world, there are over seven billion humans across the globe. Seven billion, Adagio. That’s more humans than there are ponies in Equestria. Do you really think you could have enslaved all of them before some sniper gunned you down from a mile off, or some guy wearing earplugs jumped the stage with a knife? Were you able to control people through disks or other media players? I doubt it since the only times I’ve seen you cast that spell it was in a concert setting, which seems to indicate that you need to be in the same area as your targets to inflict your will on them.”
That put things in perspective for Adagio, who could offer a drawn-out, “Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh.”
Sunset continued, “Don’t you see? This world has been trying to keep you girls safe. But your disregard for the dangers of this world, despite already getting in trouble once in Equestria, forced it to take more drastic measures to protect you. Now, to be fair, I’m not much better. After all, I’m the dumb broad who thought I could take Equestria with an army of teenagers. But then I’m not an immortal who should’ve known better.”
Suddenly, Adagio’s eyes widened and she began laughing with what sounded like… relief?
“Uh? Did I say something?” Sunset wondered, utterly baffled by Adagio’s sudden shift.
Adagio’s laughter subsided with a sniffle and she said, “Well, at least everyone else got out okay. That’s a relief”
“Eh?”
“Sorry. I guess I don’t have much of an excuse to hide this now,” Adagio said to Sunset’s surprise. “I’m a teenager.”
“I know you are in this world how is that a big-.”
“No. I mean, we were teenagers when we got kicked out of Equestria.”
That didn’t sound right to Sunset. After all, she was a grown mare when she jumped across the portal, so there were clearly some time differences between worlds.
Fortunately, Adagio noticed Sunset’s confusion and clarified, “You have to understand here, Sirens are not immortal. What we are, is incredibly long-lived, and because of this, we don’t reproduce very often. Sadly this also means that we stay in the dumbass teenager phase significantly longer than every other race, which is why Siren parents would seem abusively strict to other races. There just aren’t enough of us to allow members of our people to die or… get banished.”
“That… explains a lot,” Sunset thought, “So where are the other Sirens?”
“I’m not telling you!” Adagio barked. “I might have been bad at following them, but the Sirens have rules. Stay out of sight, don’t squeal, don’t rock the boat too much, and if you get into trouble, don’t expect anyone to come save you.”
“I see,” Sunset said, rather disturbed by the Sirens’ willingness to sacrifice members of their race despite their apparent low population. “So, where do Aria and Sonata fit in?”
Adagio’s bluster drained again at the mention of her cohorts, “Remember how I said I was a teenager?” Sunset nodded. “Well, my dumb ass thought that our powers and long lives meant that the Sirens deserved to rule Equestria. When I brought it up to the elders I was ridiculed and called an idiot, so I gathered up my friends to go prove them wrong. I suppose the only thing I proved that day was that the Sirens were right to hide.”
Sunset looked on sadly at her former enemy, but before she could say anything further, a nurse entered the room.
“Excuse me. Visitation time is over, I’m sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to leave.”
Sunset sighed and stood up to leave but Adagio grabbed her hand, “Wait, you’ll be back, right?”
Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise but then softened as she leaned in so the nurse couldn’t hear, “Provided Fall and Lugiel behave themselves for long enough, definitely.”
With that, Sunset left the room.
*////*
Upon leaving the hospital, the Gang retreated to Sunset’s apartment for pizza.
“Friggen’ unbelievable. The greatest threat before Lugiel and they were just a few teenagers,” Rainbow said.
“I think it’s tragic,” Rarity said, “Ah, the impulsiveness of youth.”
“Rarity, most ‘youthful impulsiveness’ don’t involve getting kicked out of a universe,” Wallflower countered.
“Or mass enslavement,” Twilight added.
“Or coercing attempted murder,” Trixie supplied.
“What!? When did that happen!?” Rarity asked, alarmed.
“What? Did you think anyone would’ve come looking for you if Twilight’s dog got locked up in that room with you?” Trixie pointed out.
“Oh,” Rarity replied, then whispered, “Way to take the wind out of my sails.”
“I’m inclined to agree with everyone else on this one, Rarity,” Sunset said. “Breaking your arm because of an idiotic dare is a ‘tragedy of youth’. What the Dazzlings suffered was more like karma that skipped the reincarnation step.”
“What perplexes me is how the Sirens gain enough negative energy to feed even their small population,” Taro wondered. “Going off what Miss Dazzle said, there should be no possible way for the Sirens to feed themselves and stay unnoticed.”
“I actually have a theory about that,” Twilight said. “Before Equestria existed, there existed ice spirits called Windigos that fed on the same kind of emotions the Sirens do. Back then, the three pony tribes (Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies) absolutely hated each other, which supercharged the Windigos so much that they caused a near-apocalyptic ice age. It wasn’t until the first Hearth’s Warming, which was the day that the Pony tribes finally dropped their hostilities, that they were driven out.”
“Twilight, darling, not that we don’t appreciate the context, but what does this have to do with the Sirens?” Rarity asked.
“The point is that Windigos are nothing but hate and strife, so to catch one would be akin to a full three-course meal for a Siren. Plus, the stories about them don’t seem to imply any great intelligence on their part, like the ice age they caused was just a byproduct of overeating. I think that the Sirens just cause small, localized pockets of disharmony, collect the Windigos that show up, and then leave before they get noticed,” Twilight concluded.
“Wow. Those sound way less scary than the ones we have,” Pinkie said, earning a flinch from Sunset.
“Oh crap!” Sunset thought, “Uh, Pinkie? I don’t think that particular story is very appropriate for Twilight.”
“TELL ME!” Twilight cried having gotten a notebook and pencil from… somewhere.
“Nonononono! Really Twilight! If you think Pony myths can be a bit messed up, humans can come up with so much worse!” Sunset pleaded.
“Be that as it may, Sunset, I must press on. If I don’t, how could I bear to call myself a scientist. Now, please continue, Pinkie.”
“Oh, they’re just forest-dwelling, man-eating monsters that can do stuff like imitate your friends’ voices, mess with time, and reorganize the woods to keep you lost,” Pinkie explained.
“... Well that’s not too bad-”
“Oh! And they’re created when someone lost in the woods resorts to cannibalism,” she finished.
Twilight dry heaved and cried, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? WHY WOULD YOU EVER COME UP WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?”
“I warned you,” Sunset hissed as everyone laughed at their bookish friend’s disgust.
“Getting off the… morbid topic of human mythology, whatever happened to Chrysalis?” Taro asked.
That simple question
“Twilight and I tried to find her, believe me, Taro, but I think Yapool had no intentions to allow her to survive regardless of if she won or lost,” Sunset answered.
Taro made the closest approximation to a nod that he could with a sigh, “I wish I could say that I was terribly surprised, but I would be lying. Yapool is not one to forgive failure.”
“Why’d he grab her anyway? Isn’t Equestria supposed to be, like, isolated from your universe or something?” Rainbow asked Taro.
“Yapool was pretty tight-lipped about the specifics, but I assume that they had some kind of arrangement with each other,” Sunset answered in his place.
Following Sunset’s train of logic, Twilight continued, “And because they couldn’t enter Equestria, Chrysalis figured that she could skip out on keeping her end of the deal.”
“Hm… So whatever they wanted out of her would allow them to enter Equestria,” Taro mused, then twitched in realization, “Could they have been after the Mirror Portal?”
Applejack’s eyes widened, “HOOOOEEEEE! You guys dodged one HELL of a bullet there Twi!”
“But how!? How could Yapool know about it if they can’t enter Equestria unassisted!?” Twilight asked fearfully.
“There is an important rule when Yapool acts: always assume they know. What do they know? Doesn’t matter, for they seem omniscient. In Ultraman Ace’s time with TAC, they seemed to always be aware of whatever secret project the force was developing. Like when TAC got the idea to study a boy’s trained pigeon to develop an unmanned aircraft. I’m sorry Fluttershy, but Yapool kidnapped the bird, and… transplanted its brain into the Choju Black Pigeon,” Taro explained.
To Sunset’s great surprise, Fluttershy didn’t become a frothing rage monster. However, for those who had known her longer, the subtle shiver, emotionless face, and growing growl in the back of her throat told them that she was well on her way to that point.
“Woah, Woah! Chill ‘Shy, it’s not like he can hurt anyone now,” Rainbow said placatingly.
“I’m afraid not,” Taro interrupted.
“What? You can’t honestly be telling me Yapool survived that?” Rainbow scoffed.
“Oh, they didn’t, but I can say with absolute certainty that they will not stay that way,” Taro clarified.
“That’s a load of bull and you know it,” Applejack accused.
“As crass as that is, I’m inclined to agree. No one is able to just come back from the dead, dear,” Rarity agreed.
Taro shook his body, “You don’t kill Yapool, you merely delay them. By my count, this is Yapool’s fourth death, and make no mistake, they will be back. They always come back.”
The little Ultra’s ominous warning cast a dark shadow over Sunset’s apartment. What could they do against an enemy too evil for redemption, too powerful to be sealed, and had all the time in the world to keep trying?
Realizing the mood he had created, Taro asked, “Do you want to hear about the Choju Yapool hid in a child’s bedwetting stain?”
“What the f-!?” Came the unified cry.