The Human World. Canterlot Town. Sunset Shimmer's home. Day.
It was a sunny day here in the Human World. And an exciting one for Sunset Shimmer. Due to her current movements, getting ready for today, she was a happy camper.
"It's gonna be my day today!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. "Can you feel it, you four?" She turned to her Pokemon. Litleo, Braixen, Fletchinder and Volcarona. They shared her enthusiasm greatly, cheering for her. "Glad you all feel the same! Return, for now!" She then recalled them all.
Sunset Shimmer got herself ready, straightening her hair, placing the necessary Pokemon essentials within her bag and was prepared to spend some time at Canterlot High. With a bright grin on her face and the sun perfectly beaming through her home, she had opened the door, ready to let the day fly. "Let's do this!" And the moment she opened the door, three police officers could be seen.
"Sunset Shimmer?"
"Yes?" She said with happiness in her voice and expression.
"You're under arrest." And just like that, everything had dropped drastically as Sunset Shimmer's hands had been restrained via handcuffs. Two seconds later and Sunset soon realized what had just happened. In those two seconds, she blinked rapidly, the clouds covered the sun and her happy-go-lucky spirit of the day had been crushed, smashed and torn apart before she knew it.
"Eh?"
Canterlot High. Day.
Over at Canterlot High, lessons had already begun and school was underway. However, while mostly everyone was here, one individual was missing. Sunset Shimmer. Her friends watched as other students roamed the school, but none were Sunset Shimmer at all.
"She's not here yet. Safe to say she's off sick?" Twilight theorized.
"Running late's not uncommon." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "Besides, no one's ever called in sick before. Mostly because it never works. Believe me, my little sister has tried it before."
"Well, I was sick once. But that was kinda my fault. Ate too much." Pinkie Pie confessed, raising her arm. As they wondered and were almost ready to move on about Sunset Shimmer's absence, Principal Celestia had approached them.
"You all." She spoke, grabbing their attention. "It was the best option to come to each of you since you're so immersed in well...oddities."
"Us? Oh, you've got a point." Rainbow Dash agreed on that. "We're the students that do the most in this school, don't we? Haha!" And just like that, she started stroking her own ego. But it was true either way.
"Right. I should inform you about one of your friends. It's Sunset Shimmer. She's been arrested."
"Arrested?!" The group shouted with their voices echoing throughout the hallway of the school. This revelation made them all aghast in different ways. Confusion, distraught and near-sadness.
"I just got a call today from the Police Station about this. They said one of my students had been arrested as of recently. Just this morning. Sunset Shimmer's already been taken to court at this point."
"How?! Why?!" Twilight and Applejack both questioned.
"Oh, you're all not aware of what happened a few weeks ago? A shopping mall in the big city had been terrorized with visible damage. Mostly done by Pokemon and their trainers. And among one of those trainers, Sunset Shimmer was found to be one of them, resulting in her arrest."
"Sunset would never do that! Right?" said Fluttershy with a worried tone.
"I had to let you all know. Due to everything I've seen so far, it's not impossible to suspect that something is wrong. Sunset Shimmer wouldn't go back to the way she was like that. Neither would she hang around with bad company. There's a possibility to help her. Court cares can have retrials. Help her and see if something is amiss."
"Uh, we don't know a thing about that!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she and her friends were not that experienced with court cases or anything related to it. But they still wanted to help Sunset Shimmer.
"I do." Twilight raised her arm. "I was thinking of maybe becoming a lawyer one day, but that changed years ago. But I'm not sure they're going to believe us since we're so young and..."
"Something like this can't stop you all, can it?" Celestia circled them. "If you can tackle She-Demons and rampaging Pokemon, you can most definitely help your friend. I want to do the same."
Thanks to Celestia's encouragement, they felt some extra confidence to help Sunset Shimmer out and try and plead for Sunset Shimmer. They would be stepping into one of the most fearsome and intimidating forces in the world. Court cases. All they had to do was back up their evidence. But that would be an issue.
"Um..H-How are we gonna get proof?" Applejack was the first to ask as they needed something for this defence.
"The footage can be found online after the news covered it. Take a look at it and see what you can find," said Celestia as they had their first proof to go off of.
A courtroom out in the city.
"Guilty." The court case for Sunset Shimmer had ended. The footage they had used was strong enough to cement this. Due to her matching the girl in the video, the odds were stacked against her.
"Ah...Ah..." Sunset Shimmer's jaw dropped as she didn't even have anyone to help out. She didn't exactly have a lawyer, neither did she think to get one in the first place. Her Poke Balls had also been taken away from her earlier this morning on the way to the courtroom to prevent any retaliation.
With all these odds, Sunset Shimmer was seemingly done for. And there was one other thing that didn't help her case. And it had to do with her counterpart that she was not aware of.
"Weeks after you had just left juvie, Sunset Shimmer and you go ahead and pull this? For the destruction of the mall and assisting in thievery, I hereby sentence you to three years in juvenile detention."
"Three years?!" She screeched.
"Much longer than your original time." The judge pointed his gavel at Sunset Shimmer.
"I told you, that's not me! I mean... it is me but-" Sunset Shimmer tried reasoning with them, but it was hard to do so when she was seen on the screen. Despite it being a different story in truth. However, the decision had been made final as she was already being taken away. "That's my counterpart! I didn't think it was possible, but I have a counterpart in this world too! That's what it is!"
But no one was believing her about the counterpart bit. No one at all. This case had already been decided, however, the other people who had also robbed the mall and were involved with its destruction were still at large.
Sunset Shimmer looked over at her Poke Balls as they would no longer be kept under her property. It was unknown what would be done to them as she feared for her partners.
Elsewhere.
Straying away from the current predicament, there was something else of great importance occurring. Mainly concerning the siren family. They were currently focused on their quest to find the rest of their species and reunite them all. With the help of their mother Vivace, they had greater supervision that extended beyond Adagio. However, the world was large and none of them were willing to go on foot to find all of them.
"Instead of walking...we'll use this." Vivace stood before a van. A camping van. The perfect vehicle to use that would help in their journey. It was big enough to fit them.
"Hm...Looks tacky." Adagio uttered. "But I guess it's the best we can do."
"Wait, mom. How are you gonna afford that?" Aria asked. "You don't have any of this world's currency do you?"
"Not at all. There's a far better option than buying for it." Vivace placed her hand on the van. "And I think you three know what it most definitely is, don't you?"
"Uh..." Sonata gawked for a bit, trying to answer her mother's question. But Aria and Adagio already figured out what it was as they made a collective gasp. Soon, Sonata figured it out seconds later. "Wait, you're gonna steal it?"
"I may no longer share a hatred for others...but that hasn't negated my drive to take chances," Vivace smirked as she was already choosing to steal this van and use it.
"Mom..." Aria lowered her eyes for a bit before shrugging. "Eh. That's so like you." Surprisingly, Aria wasn't that bothered by it at all. "We're not that experienced with this world so it doesn't matter anyway."
"That's my girl." Vivace was proud of Aria. "This world doesn't hold much meaning to us. Once we find them all, I hope that I never have to come back here. Home and the POkemon World seem like the better option honestly."
"Aren't we gonna get caught?" Sonata asked. "And won't the owner find out that it's gone?"
"Your mother's magic didn't deteriorate, girls." Vivace prepared for this. This van was among many vans surrounding the area. This was a Van Detailing Shop. As for the owner AKA the dealer, Vivace pointed to the window of the shop.
Through it, the dealer could be seen completely asleep along with others inside. No one else was awake or aware to witness their movements. Their mother was still cunning even after all of these years. That siren spirit will never fade away no matter what as Vivace had also taken the keys from the workers.
"Now then. Hop in."
She unlocked the door, grabbing the best possible van in this lot. Then again, the best one wasn't exactly extravagant to look at it. It was a van at the end of the day, but it would suffice. However, while the outside may be dull, the interior of the van said otherwise.
Its worth definitely showed when inside. Sonata instantly made herself comfortable, relaxing on the soft seats and taking up immediate leg space. Thankfully, there was enough room for them all.
"Do you know how to drive this thing, mom?" Adagio asked.
"I spent years in this world, trying to adjust myself before I ended up in the Pokemon World previously. I have some experience with it." Vivace replied, already starting the engines.
Aria took a moment to better gaze at this interior before noticing a TV screen on top. She approached it, searching for a way to turn it on. But Sonata already did as she had found the remote for it. The TV had been turned on by her, showing a drama show.
"You kids haven't yet mastered the full capabilities of what Siren Magic is capable of," Vivace said. "With my expertise of magic, I can track down other sirens that go beyond just singing. This will make our search easier."
"You can do that? You have to teach us how!" Adagio was eager and so was Aria.
"Later, later. Right now, let's get going. We'll stop by one of the cities later on." Vivace then started driving as they were finally on the move, using a stolen van as their main form of transportation. Aria sat down, watching the TV with Sonata as some channel surfing had begun.
Sonata was looking for something interesting to watch. Perhaps a show that could grab her interest on hours on end. She rapidly pressed it, scrolling through many channels before passing one of them that had Sunset Shimmer's face on it. Aria was the one to notice this as she gasped, grabbing the remote.
"Hold on! Go back!" She cried out, reversing the channel option. There, she stopped on a news channel that had someone reporting about Sunset Shimmer. Adagio and Sonata soon took a look. The image was made clearer once they saw Sunset Shimmer standing behind what seemed to be a mug shot. Aria rewound the footage to get better context.
"Just recently, a high schooler by the name of Sunset Shimmer has been found guilty at her short court case and will be spending three years in big city's local juvenile detention. Apparently, longer than her previous go."
"Sunset got arrested?" Aria gasped. "How in the-"
"Is she a friend of yours?" Vivace asked.
"Yeah, Sunny is." Sonata nodded. "She also comes from Equestria and decided to start living here. How did she get arrested? And why?"
"She used to be like us, remember? Though not so extreme." Adagio shrugged before crossing her arms. "Perhaps she just got back into that previous mood and went wild."
"That doesn't seem like her," Aria said otherwise, pausing the channel to stay on this one image of Sunset Shimmer. The image showed her with tears, already messing up her eyeliner as she truly did not want to be there. "Something's up with this."
"I agree with Aria." Sonata stood up. "I mean, we're most likely to do something bad...like with this van right here, but not her. I say we go and help her!"
"Help her?!" Adagio exclaimed. "Uh, we have something far more important than that, if you forgot? The rest of our species could be out there and we have a good chance of finding them. Slowing down just because she messed up on something isn't going to fly."
"But isn't she our friend?!" Sonata shouted back.
"Never saw her as my friend. You two are more close to her than anything. That's that." While Aria and Sonata saw Sunset as their friend, the same could not be said for Adagio, who didn't care that much for her.
"Well if that's the case..." Sonata growled, forming her hand into a balled fist. "Then we'll help her out! Mom! We're heading to that city, right? When we stop by there, let's help Sunny out."
"Hm...She is your friend. So, why not?"
"What?! Mom!" Adagio was appalled that her mother chose their side, putting someone else over their own species to assist currently. "What gives?!"
"Family is important. But you should never ignore your friends either. I learned that with my time at the Sea Temple. If your friend is in trouble and you believe her to be in the right, then why not help? We'll be dealing with that, no doubt. You should help as well, Adagio."
"Tch...This is pointless." Adagio crossed her arms as she was not happy about this decision. The odds were stacked against her as her mother made her way to the big city.
"Perhaps a more forward approach might work..." Vivace theorized. "An influence of my magic here and there, and we might make this an easy rescue, no doubt."
"Just wait for us Sunset," said Sonata and Aria as they were determined to save their friend. But Adagio was of a different opinion entirely, seeing this as just a waste of time.
The big city. Juvenile Detention Centre.
Speaking of which, Sunset Shimmer, after being found guilty was already being placed in a room with this centre. Her magic certainly wasn't going to kick in now with how things were and it certainly wouldn't help her if she did.
"But I'm innocent!" She cried out before being placed within the cell as the doors were shut. "I'm telling you, I have a counterpart!"
"I'm sure you do." One of the guards said before walking off. There was no point in arguing about it now. The area she was within was a cafeteria and there were already other people around her age range eating. She turned around to see the cafeteria, already witnessing some fairly intimidating people. People that she would have to stay with. Some had already caught the attention of her presence, approaching Sunset Shimmer. She stayed completely still, shaking as she didn't want to be involved with whatever would come next.
"Sunset Shimmer? You're back so soon?" One of the inmates spoke as she observed Sunset Shimmer. "That didn't last long, did it?"
"Uh..." Sunset Shimmer chose to stay unresponsive.
"I told you she wouldn't stay out of trouble when she got out. But it's great to have you back, Sunset." Another one of the inmates chuckled, wrapping her arm around Sunset. Sunset Shimmer trembled, already feeling grave danger. And none of her Pokemon were there to protect her. "How did you mess up this time?"
"Mmm..."
"You left abruptly though. There is some unfinished business you have here and we're not too happy about it. No-no-no." The inmate chuckled. "Plus, we're kinda jealous that you of all people got out before we did."
"Ooh..." Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes, trying to keep herself safe. She then opened one eye, looking at the food being served "I think I'm hungry...I'll go and grab something to eat."
"Hey, hold on." But as she tried walking away, the inmate held her back. "You just got back. Why not have a reunion here, eh? With your reputation here, it needs to be grand, doesn't it?"
"T-That can happen later."
"What's with you? You're not usually so nervous. Something happen in those past weeks that changed you?" They were starting to get judgemental about her as Sunset Shimmer managed to slip away, backing up before bumping into a nearby table. "Feels kinda weird."
"Too weird, if you ask me. Maybe those TV shows aren't exaggerated if that's the case. Well, what is it, Sunset?"
"Uh...Um..." Sunset Shimmer wasn't sure how to respond. Everything was happening so fast the moment she got here. "Y-You know...stuff happens and..." Other inmates started gazing at her, making her nervous as the other two approached her.
The reputation that the other Sunset Shimmer had in this centre was not the prettiest as the two inmates held some sort of passive-aggressive grudge, judging by the way they were approaching her. Sunset Shimmer could already sense some physical terror incoming as one of them gripped onto her shoulder tightly. There was one response that Sunset Shimmer managed to find. And it wouldn't be a pretty one. "Food Fight!"
She tossed the plate of food instantly, causing it to get on the first two inmates. Upon doing so, everyone else had responded to this action accordingly. They also took part in the food fight. They started grabbing their food and trays, tossing them haphazardly as immediate chaos had broken out.
This would give Sunset Shimmer a chance to head elsewhere as she ducked underneath all of the flying mush and trays. However, one of the girls who had been hit with the food that Sunset had thrown, growled. She wasn't too happy as she charged at Sunset Shimmer. "You!"
"Oh!" Sunset Shimmer gasped before witnessing the enraged inmate approaching her. The best course of action was to lose her in the crowd. And she did. The enraged inmate ended up crashing into someone else, causing further conflict to ensue. All the while, Sunset Shimmer would seem untouchable so far.
That is until she ended up bumping into someone, causing her movements to end. And that someone ended up being the cafeteria lunch lady. She crossed her arms, looking at Sunset Shimmer with disdain in her eyes, knowing that she started this.
"Uh...Hehehe." Sunset could only chuckle nervously at this. The lunch lady had then grabbed Sunset Shimmer by the ear, dragging her along. "Ow! Hey!" She cried out as she was brought out of the cafeteria. The other inmates would be left to have their food fight while some of the guards entered the cafeteria in response to the commotion.
Afterwards, the lunch lady handed Sunset Shimmer over the guards, revealing the trouble she had caused. Because of this, Sunset Shimmer would find herself in a room separate from the others. A room where instant troublemakers are placed in for a while, exempt from everyone else.
"You've got 6 hours to be in there." The guard said before causing the door to shut. This was a solitary room with minimal space. Enough to make almost anyone nervous. And Sunset Shimmer was one of them. She wasn't just nervous, she was afraid. She sat down in the corner, doing the only thing that she can at this moment.
Cry.
Sunset Shimmer was at her most defenceless. Tears coupled with whimpers came out of her with her knees huddled up to cover her face. This all happened so suddenly. Everything seemed as if it would go well in the morning, only for it to spiral into this.
A crying Sunset Shimmer thought about her friends mainly. Her friends in this world, her original home Equestria and most of all, her Pokemon. She already missed them as she wasn't sure that they knew of her arrest and current status. Sunset Shimmer was around strangers she had no idea about. She could only guess that her counterpart had a reputation here.
"I wanna go home..." She said to herself, knowing that no one would respond to her cries. All she could do was wait for this solitary moment to be over. But if anything, this moment of solitude is what she would need to have time for herself.
However, little did she know, that her friends were already focused on helping her. Friends from this world and friends from another world who were once enemies. Both had different approaches to helping their friend and one group was already making their way to this city as the journey continues.
Chapter 680 End.