Outside of the FBI’s office complex, a bus stopped at the station just opposite the towering building. From within the bus, five girls jumped out. Rainbow Dash was the first, her eyes glued to Trixie’s phone as she followed the yellow blip on the map.
Applejack jumped out second, her back and her legs aching as she carried the heavy load of Rarity’s bags on her back. As she slowly crept after Rainbow Dash, Rarity followed off of the bus after her. “Oh, please do be careful not to drop anything, Applejack darling.”
“No… promises,” Applejack grumbled in-between pants. Fluttershy was the next off of the bus, her eyes fixed to the pavement below her feet as she tried not to make eye contact with anybody.
Finally, Pinkie Pie hopped off of the bus, cheering loudly as she made her first step into a new land. “This is so, great! I’ve never been this far out of my village before, and I’ve certainly never cut class, much less cut class to go after our friend who was kidnapped by suspicious looking people in black suits! This calls for a party!”
“Pinkie Pie,” Rarity began, “No offence, but perhaps the party can wait until after we know that Sunset Shimmer is safe. And not up to anything while we’re not watching.”
“Y’don’ reckon this’s jus’ some sorta trick ta scheme behind our backs, do ya?” Applejack asked.
“Well we certainly cannot deny the possibility. Don’t you remember our first day out together? She vowed her revenge, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That may be the case, but Twilight trusted that she’d come around. And ah trust Twilight.”
“Hey guys!” Rainbow Dash called over to her friends. “This is it! The signal stops at this parking lot here! Which means Sunset Shimmer must be…” The five friends turned their heads skyward as they eyed the skyscraper standing before them. “… In there.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie asked as she skipped happily across the road. “Let’s go rescue her already!”
“Pinkie, wait!” Rainbow Dash called out, but it was no use. She and the other four girls gave chase after their friend, stopping when they saw Pinkie Pie being confronted by a tall, light-brown-skinned woman with grey hair. She was wearing a leather biker jacket, a white tank top, and a pair of ripped blue jeans.
“This place is off-limits,” the woman said, glaring at the pink schoolgirl. “Hey, shouldn’t you dweebs be in school right now?”
“School’s out today!” Pinkie said with a smile. “Hey, our friend’s in there! Mind if we go get her real quick?”
The woman lifted the cigarette in her right hand to her mouth, and breathed a cloud of smoke into Pinkie Pie’s face. Pinkie Pie quickly held her breath and backed away. “Nice try. Listen here, this place ain’t no place for dweebs like you, so either buzz off, or spend the night in a cell!”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash asked, handing Trixie’s phone over to Rarity and approaching the woman with a stern look on her face. She read the name badge on the woman’s shirt and then looked up into her eyes. “And just what’re you tryin’ ta hide in there, Gilda?”
“Nothing you need to know about! Now beat it, last warning!”
“Or else what?!”
“Y’happy now, Dash?” Applejack asked as she glared at Rainbow Dash from her seat on the not-so-comfortable bedding that was in their cell.
Rainbow Dash winced and flailed her arms as Rarity and Fluttershy tried to administer some first aid onto her wounded face. “I totally could’ve taken her if she hadn’t cheated and pulled out a weapon!”
“She was a security guard, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “I don’t think friendly competition was her goal in that fight.”
“Um, Rainbow?” Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, who was holding up two different plasters for her. “Would you like the sunflower pattern, or the rabbits?”
Rainbow Dash sighed and turned to Pinkie Pie, who was sitting in the corner playing a harmonica, her hair unusually flat. Fluttershy decided to choose for her and went with the plasters that had rabbits on them.
“Alright dweebs,” Gilda said as she approached the cell. Pinkie’s playing stopped and everybody turned to see what she wanted. “We’ve contacted your school, and they’ve contacted your parents. They’ll be here to pick you all up soon. Lucky for you, the head honcho here’s decided not to press charges for attempted trespassing and provoking the Head of Security, but if you try this again, y’won’t get off so easily!”
“Look, ah’m sorry for Dash’s behaviour earlier,” Applejack said, rising to her feet and approaching the bars, “But our friend really is in there, an’ we’re mighty worried ‘bout her! Can’t ya jus’ tell us what’s goin’ on up there? Her name’s Sunset Shimmer. Please.”
Gilda stared into Applejack’s eyes for a few moments, and then scanned the rest of the group quickly. “… Sunset Shimmer, right?” she asked, receiving a nod from everybody in the cell. “Fine. I’ll make a quick call. One sec.”
Gilda left the girls alone as she wandered back to her office. The five girls waited silently until she returned a few minutes later. “Well?” Rarity asked.
“Classified,” Gilda said, her tone of voice sounding more annoyed than it did moments earlier. “I can tell you that Sunset Shimmer is indeed up there, but I can’t tell you anything more.”
“What?!” Rainbow Dash asked, flinching as she felt a stinging pain in her face.
“I can’t tell you, ‘cause they wouldn’t even tell me anything! Whatever’s goin’ on with your friend, it’s on a need-to-know basis! And you guys don’t need to know!”
“But she’s safe, right?” Applejack asked.
“She’s under our protection,” Gilda said. “And that’s all I’m able ta tell ya.”
After that, Gilda left the five girls alone together in their cell. Applejack walked back over to the uncomfortable bedding and sighed. “… Girls, ah got a bad feelin’ ‘bout all this.”
Sunset Shimmer stood in-between Shining Armor and Cadance in the middle of a large, empty, white room. “Are you ready?” a voice asked over the room’s intercom. “We’re activating the portal now. Please standby.”
A spark of energy appeared in the centre of the room, followed by another, and another. Sunset felt her hair standing on end as she watched some sort of dark-purple aura forming in the centre of the room, and slowly start to expand. “That’s the portal?” she asked.
“It is,” Cadance said with a nod. “Once it goes blue, that means it’s stable.”
A few more seconds later, and a flash of light erupted from the aura. When Sunset Shimmer could see again, the aura was light-blue instead of dark-purple. “Jump in now!” the voice over the intercom shouted.
The three all charged together in unison, jumping into the portal that would take them to another world.
To Equestria.